Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Chekkara Pongali

Ingredients
Sugar - 1 Kg
Rice - 1/2 Kg
Plain Moong Dal - 300 gms
Ghee - 200 gms
Cashewnuts - 50 gms
Kismiss - 50 gms
Elaichi (Cardomom) -10 gms

Procedure
In a shallow frying pan heat some ghee and fry the moong dal for around 5 min. Wash rice and in a rice maker (Cooker) cook rice and moong dal together (For one glass of this mix, add around 1 1/2 glass of water). Remove from flame when the Rice is cooked (Usually after around 4 whistles if you are using Cooker).

In a frying pan, add the ghee and heat it. Now fry the Cashewnuts and Kismiss and put aside. Switch off the flame. In a bowl, take the sugar and a glass of water and heat to prepare Sugar Syrup. The syrup should be single thread (When you dip a spoon in the syrup and hold it above it should drop as a single thread). Add the cooked rice to it and also add ghee, Cashewnuts, Kismiss, Elaichi Powder and mix well. With this your Chekkera Pongali is ready.

Author's Note
This is one of the most important sweet dish for all the festivities in Andhra Pradesh. Most importantly, this is distributed as Prasaddam in Tirupati. A simple dish to prepare yet very tasty.

Sabudana Pakoda

Ingredients
Sabudana - 1/4 Kg
Rice flour - 1/2 Kg
Plain flour (Maida) - 1/4 Kg
Curd - 1/4 Kg
Onions - 4 Nos.
Green Chillies - 5 or 6
Ginger - Small piece
Red Chilli
Salt to taste
Coriander
Curry Leaves

Procedure
Wash Sabudana clean and soak in curd for around 5 to 6 hours (you can soak them overnight). To this mix of Sabudana and Curd, add Rice flour, Plain flour, Red Chilli powder, Salt, Chopped Onions, chopped Green Chillies, finely chopped Ginger, chopped Coriander, Curry Leaves. Add sufficient water to this and mix well. Prepare into a batter.

Now in a deep frying pan, heat oil on medium flame. Take small amoun tof dough in your hand and release into the heated oil in small quantity to prepare round pakoda's. Fry till golden brown. Prepare all your pakoda's in similar way.

Author's Note
These pakoda's are very tasty and can go as evening snacks. The batter should be just thich enough to be able to release them in the oil into small pieces (The same way we prepare the Onion Bhajji's).

Sabudana Vada

Ingredients
Sabudana - 1 cup
Boiled Potatoes - 2 (Big)
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 (chopped)
Ground nut powder - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Procedure
Wash Sabudana clean and soak in water for around an hour. Now remove the excess water. Soaking in water would make Sabudana softer.

In a bowl crush the boiled potatoes and add chopped green chillies, ground nut powder, Cumin seeds, Salt and the soaked Sabudana. Mix all these ingredients well.

Now heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Make sure you heat the oil on low flame. Take small amount of dough in your hand and press to make small round shaped vada's. Once the oil is heated, release these vada's slowly in the heated oil and keep stiring. Fry these till golden brown on both sides. Similar way prepare all your vada's.

Author's Note
These goes very well with Tomato Ketchup as an evening snack. This is also prepared during fasting days. The most important thing to consider while preparing these vada's is the dough. It should be just thick enought to prepare into vada's.

Sabudana Dosa

Ingredients
Sabudana - 1/2 cup
Curd - 1 cup (Sour)
Rice Flour - 1/2 Kg
Salt to taste

Procedure
Wash Sabudana clean and soak in the curd for around 8 hours (overnight).

Add Rice flour to this mix of Sabudana and curd. Add salt to taste and mix well into a batter. Batter should be thick enough to prepare the dosa's.

In a non-stick pan take a big tbsp of the batter and spread from the middle towards the edges to prepare dosa. You can garnish this with a mix of onions, green chillies and coriander and your Sabudana Dosa is ready.

Author's Note
This is a simpler dish to make and goes well with the Idli chutney.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Coconut Dosa

Ingredients
Rice - 2 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Coconut - 1
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 4 or 5
Salt to taste

Procedure
Take one medium sized coconut and grind well by cutting into pieces or grate well.

In a bowl take the Rice, Urad dal and wash well. Soak in around 3 to 4 cups of water and leave aside for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the excess water and set aside for grinding.

In a mixture/grinder jar take the rice, urad dal, grated coconut, ginger, green chillies, salt and grind all these. Leave aside for 2 hours and your batter is ready. Prepare the dosa's in the non-stick pan and your Green Dosa's are ready to savor.

Author's Note
This dosa goes very well with the Groundnut Chutney or Idli Chutney.

Green Dosa

Ingredients
Rice - 3 cups
Urad dal - 3/4 cup
Fenu Greek (Methi seeds) - 1 tbsp
Coriander - 1 cup chopped
Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup
Tomato - 2
Green Chillies - 4 nos

Procedure
In a bowl take Rice, Urad dal, Fenu Greek and wash well. Now add 5 cups of water to this and put aside for 4 to 5 hours. Now remove the excess of water from this.

In a mixture/grinder jar take the above ingredients and add Coriander, Curry leaves, Tomatoes, Green Chillies and grind well. Add sufficient amount of water while grinding (The grinded paste should be just enough fluidy to maste the dosa's).

Now ferment this batter overnight and the next day morning before making dosa's add salt to taste and mix well. And prepare the dosa's in the non-stick pan and your Green Dosa's are ready to savor.

Author's Note
This dosa goes very well with the Groundnut Chutney or Idli Chutney.

Idli Crush Lemon Bagar

Ingredients
Idli's - 4 nos
Groundnuts - 2 tbsp
Lemon Juice - 3 tbsp
Coriander - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Green Chillies - 2 or 3 nos
Red Chillies - 2 nos
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1/4 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 7 or 8 nos
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Hing (Astofida) - 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Oil to taste

Procedure
In a bowl crush the Idli's and add Lemon juice to this and mix well. Heat oil in a frying pan, add dry ground nuts very well. Then add red chillies, mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing and green chillies (cut lengh-wise but not chopped). Fry very well and then remove from the flame. Add this into the above Idli mixture. And your Idli crushed Lemon Bagar is ready to savor.

Author's Note
A very tasty and easy to prepare dish. All you need is few idli's (usually you have idli's left over from your previous breakfast, you can use those to
prepare a good evening snack).

Idli Chops Chat Masala

Ingredients
Idli - 4 nos
Mirchi Bhajji - 2 nos
Murmure - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Tomato - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Green Peas - 1/2 cup boiled
Coriander - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp
Mint - 1 tbsp chopped
Green Chillies - 2 to 3 nos
Chat Masala - 1/4 tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/4 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
In a bowl take murmure, onions, chopped green chillies, bhajji's, peas, coriander, mint, red chillies powder, chat masala, garam masala, salt and crushed idli's, tomatoes. Mix all the above ingredients well in a bowl.

Now add the lemon juice to the above mix and mix well. And your Idli chat masala is ready to eat.

Author's Note
This is very tasty and very simple to make. Specially, children would like it most. All you need is few idli's (usually you have idli's left over from your previous breakfast, you can use those to prepare a good evening snack).

Idli Curd Bagar

Ingredients
Idli's - 4 nos
Yoghurt - 2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Coconut (wet) - 1/2 cup
Coriander (chopped) - 2 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 or 3 nos
Red Chillies - 2 nos
Curry Leaves - 5 or 6 nos
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1/4 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
In a bowl take yoghurt and milk and mix well. In this bowl add the grinded coconut, Coriander, chopped green chillies, and salt. Mix all these ingredients well. Now crush the idli's and mix in the yoghurt and milk mix.

Now in a frying pan heat oil and add red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and pour over the above mix to serve hot. And your idli bagar is ready.

Author's Note
This is very helpful to reduce the body heat and easy to prepare once you have the idli's ready.

Thairu Bhajji

Ingredients
Gram Flour - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Baking Soda - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Yoghurt/Curd - around 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Procedure
In a bowl take Gram flour, Rice flour, Baking soda, Green Chillies paste, Ginger paste, with sufficient yoghurt. Mix well all the above ingredients and max a hard paste (The paste should be relatively thick).

Not heat oil in a frying pan. Put small small bhajji's in the oil and fry till golden brown. In a plate take the kitchen paper and remove the excess oil after frying. Make all your Thairu bhajji's like this.

Author's Note
These Bhajji's are easy to make and very tasty to savour. When you have sudden guests at any hour of the day these comes in handy and goes very well with a ketchup.

Potato Bhajji (Aloo Pakoda)

Ingredients
Gram Flour - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Potatoes - 3 or 4 (Big cut into round slices after peeling them. Alternately, you can keep the Potato cover without peeling.)

Procedure
In a bowl take Gram flour, Rice flour, Baking soda, Red Chilli Powder, Salt and mix well by adding sufficient quantity of water (It should be semi-fluidy paste). Keep aside for soem time.
Take the potatoes and peel them (if you don't want to have the cover) and cut into round slices. Soak them in salted water and keep for half an hour. Remove the Potato slices from the water and let dry.

Now heat the oil in a frying pan. Dip the potato slices in the Gram flour paste and heat in oil. Fry it till golden color. In a plate take the kitchen paper and remove the excess oil after frying. Make all your potato bhajji's like this.

Author's Note
Similarly you can prepare Banana Bhajji's (Banana Pakoda's), Karela Bhajji, Kidney Beans Bhajji, Spinach Bhajji, Pan ke Patte Bhajji, Brinjal Bhajji and so
on. These Bhajji's go very well with Tomato Ketchup (Preferably Hot 'n Sweet).

Monday, November 26, 2007

Mirchi Bhajji

Ingredients
Gram flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Baking Soda
Long Green Chillies - 5 or 6
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

For filling the Green Chillies - Take 2 tbsp of Ajwaine (ova) and salt and grind well to make powder.

Procedure
In a bowl take add gram flour, rice flour, baking soda, salt and mix well with water. Add sufficient water to make fluid thick batter.

Cut the green chillies length-wise to open up the inside. Remove the chilli seeds and make the inside hollow. Now fill this with the Ajwaine powder that we prepared earlier.

In a deep frying pan heat the oil on medium flame. Now dip these filled/stuffed green chillies into the gram flour batter and replace into the heating oil for deep frying. Fry till golden brown from all sides. And your Mirchi Bhajji's are ready to savor.

Author's Note
The most important part of making the Mirchi Bhajji's tasty is to make sure that the batter is not very watery and is sufficiently thick to form a layer around the chillies when dipped.

A good and spicy snack to go with the chilli in the air during that aromatic Rainy season.

Onion Pakoda (Onion Bhajji)

Ingredients
Onion - 1 1/2 longer slices
Gram flour (Besan) - 1/2 cup
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Ginger - small piece
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Coriander
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Baking soda - 1 tbsp
Oil to fry

Procedure
In a mixture/grinder jar, put the green chillies, Ginger, cumin seeds, Coriander and turmeric and grind into a paste. Keep aside.

In a bowl take the onion slices, gram flour, the green chilli paste, salt, turmeric, rice flour, baking soda and mix well by adding small quantity of water. The mixture has to be very hard so make sure that you don't put too much of water while mixing.

Heat the oil in deep frying pan. Using hands for releasing the pakoda's in oil slowly release them into the heated oil by squeezing the paste in your palms. Let the pakoda's come out as they are coming out from your hand while squeezing. Fry to medium flame and remove when fried to mild brown. And your tasty pakoda's are ready to savor.

Author's Note
To serve prepare the red-chilli chutney. Cut a medium sized onion into small pieces and add to it 1/2 tbsp of red chilli powder, 1 tbsp of heated oil and mix well into a paste. Onion pakoda's along with this Red-Chilli chutney is fabulous combination. It's just too good to savor these pakoda's when the rain drops on the roof-top: Garma-garm Kanda Bhajji...

There are two variations to making these pakoda's.
1. More of Onions and less of gram flour will make your pakoda's crispy
2. Less of Onions and more of gram flour will make you soft pakoda's. This soaks more oil while frying.

Similarly, you can prepare Methi-Spring Onion pakoda's (Bhajji's).

Kaju Nut Pakoda

Ingredients
Besan (Gram flour) - 1/4 kg
Kaju (Cashewnuts) - 1/4 kg
Baking soda - 1/2 tbsp
Pure Ghee / Dalda - 1/4 kg
Oil - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp

Procedure
Heat 1 tbsp of oil for a minute. Now in a bowl take the gram flour and add salt, baking soda, red chilli powder and the above heated oil. Mix well all the above ingredients. Now add the Cashewnuts and mix well. Add some water while mixing to make a reasonably thick dough.

NOTE: - While preparing the dough make sure that dough is make hard enough by adding sufficient water to the gram flour while preparing the dough.

Now in a deep frying pan, heat the Pure Ghee / Dalda. Now take some dough in your palms and release them into the pan slowly into small pakoda's. Fry until golden brown on low-medium flame. Make sure that you don't fry them more. Now prepare all your pakoda's like this and your snack is ready.

Author's Note
This is a very good Evening snack and can be preserved for around a month's time. Once prepared, store in an air-tight container and savor whenever you feel like munching upon something.

Chakodi - South Indian Snack

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Ajwaine (Ova) powder - 3 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Procedure
Boil water in a bowl and slowly add butter, ajwaine powder and rice flour. Make sure you add the rice flour slowly to avoid formation of balls. Now add salt to taste. Remove from flame and cover with a lid. Set aside for around 3 to 4 hours, to cool.

After around 4 hours, mix the above into a dough. Take a small portion of the dough and roll into a long rod-like form. Cut this into small logs of around 2-3 inches. Move these into expanding spiral to form the wonderful chakodi's. In the same way prepare all your chakodi's with the dough.

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot enough to deep fry, slowly deep fry the above prepared chakodi's.

Author's Note
A very tasty snack easy to prepare and can be preserved. Once prepared, store in wair-tight container and they will last for around 1 month. These are very good tea-time snacks.

Rava Dosa

Ingredients
Suji (Sooji) - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Curd - 1 cup (curd should be little sour)
Maida - 1/4 cup
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Garnishing -
Onions - 1 big finely chopped
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 finely chopped

Procedure
In a bowl take Suji, rice flour, Maida, cumin seeds and salt. Add to this the curd and mix well into a batter. Keep aside this batter for an hour.

Add some water to this batter and mix well making sure that the batter is not very watery nor is it very hard. The whole idea is to make the batter just perfect.

Now take a shallow frying pan and heat 1 tbsp of oil spreading it across. Now take the dosa batter (around 1 big spoon) and prepare the round dosa by slowly expanding it from the middle (alternatively you can use a small katori / steel cup). Add a little oil at the edges and fry on both sides till golden brown.

Once the dosa is fried, before serving sprinkly the finely chopped onions and green chillies. Fold the dosa and serve hot with Coconut Chutney or Idli Chutney.

Author's Note
Idea of Rava Dosa is to prepare the batter just perfect and fry on both sides till golden brown.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Moong Vada

Ingredients
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 7 or 8
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Onions - 1 (big finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 small finely chopped
Curry Leaves
Coriander
Poha - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

Procedure
Soak poha and moong dal in water for around 2 hours. After 2 hours wash well and remove all the excess water. In a mixture/grinder jar take this poha-moong dal mix and grind into a coarse paste (Paste should not be very smooth). Keep aside.

In the mixture/grinder jar take ginger, onions, green chillies, curry leaves, coriander, salt and jeera. Grind well to a paste (do not add any water while grinding). Now mix this with the moong dal paste. Mix well, but do not add any water.

In a deep frying pan heat some oil (sufficient for deep frying). Make small round shaped vada's by hand with a hole in the middle. And fry these slowly in the oil. Pleae make sure that the flame is on low/medium while frying. This is required for the vada's to be completely fried. Light golden brown color at the outside would confirm that the vada's are ready to savor. And your delicious vadas are ready.

Author's Note
While frying make sure that the flame is kept on low/medium. With high flame vadas might be fried from outside but inside it will still be uncooked. These
vadas goes very well with curd mixed mango pickle.

Cheese Gobi Paratha

Ingredients
Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Cauliflower - 1/2 cup chopped and boiled
Cheese - 1/4 cup
Green Chillies - 4 or 5
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Butter - 1/4 cup

Procedure
Take the wheat flour in a bowl and add 1/4 tbsp of salt to it and prepare the dough. The dough should be hard enough to prepare the chapati's.

In a bowl take the boiled cauliflower and add salt to it. Mix the chopped chillies, Garam Masala and Cheese with this, thoroughly.

Now prepare the chapati by taking a small amount of dough and when a small chapati is made put the above prepared cauliflower mix and close from all sides to stuff it. Roll slowly into a chapati. While rolling into a chapati, please roll evenly so that the stuff goes to all the parts of the chapati.

In a pan put some butter and heat for a minute. And now fry the chapati on slow/medium flame. Fry on both sides and if needed add some butter at the edges
while frying. And your Cheese Gobi Paratha is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This Paratha goes very well with Mango pickle. Also you can have this with curd (Salt or Sweet).

Maharashtrian Poha

Ingredients
Poha (Rice flakes) - 1 cup
Potatoes - 1/4 cup finely chopped (cut in small pieces)
Onions - 1/4 cup
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 (cut in small pieces)
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1/4 tbsp
Hing - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil

Procedure
In a deep frying pane add 5 tbsp of oil. Heat it for a couple of minutes. Now add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, turmeric, salt to taste and potatoes. Fry for some time till potatoes are softer and a little crispier.

Parallely in a bowl take 2 cups of water and soak the rice flakes in it. Soak for a couple of minutes and then squeeze all the water from it. Add this into the above frying pan and mix well. Keep stirring while adding the rice flakes. Heat for around 5 minutes on medium flame. And your delicious Maharashtrian Poha is ready to savor.

Author's Note
Poha goes very well with lemon pickle. You can also add groundnuts and/or green peas.

Palak Paratha

Ingredients
Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Palak (Spinach) 1/2 cup finely chopped
Butter - 1 1/2 tbsp (will taste good if it's prepared at home)
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1/4 tbsp
Green Chillies - 4 or 5
Coriander
Ginger and Garlic paste - 1/4 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil

Procedure
In a bowl take wheat flour and put all the above ingredients including the finely chopped spinach (Wash the spinach before adding to the wheat flour). Since spinach inheriently contains some water you will not need to add water initially while preparing the dough. If need arises then add some water to prepare the dough. Dough needs to be hard enough to prepare the chapati's. Set aside for 5 mins.

Add 1 tbsp of oil to this dough and mix well. Now take some amount of dough to prepare the chapati's. In a shallow frying pan put 1 tbsp of oil. Heat for a minute and now fry the chapati's. Fry well on both the sides. You might want to add some oil at the edges while frying. Prepare all the paratha's with the same process and your delicious palak paratha's are ready to eat.

Author's Note
This paratha goes very well with curd with sugar or salt. You can add a tinge of butter while serving. The same process can be applied for -
Methi Paratha - Instead of finely chopped Spinach you will need to add finely chopped Methi and prepare the dough.

Mooli Paratha - Instead of finely chopped Spinach you will need to add finely grated Mooli and prepare the dough.
Kakdi (Cucumber) Paratha - Instead of finely chopped Spinach you will need to add finely grated Cucumber and prepare the dough.
Cabbage Paratha - Instead of finely chopped Spinach you will need to add finely chopped Cabage and prepare the dough.
Parmel Paratha - Instead of finely chopped Spinach you will need to add finely grated Parmel and prepare the dough.

Aloo Paratha

Ingredients
Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Potatoes - 5 or 6 medium sized boliled potatoes
Onions - 1 finely chopped
Green Cillies - 2 or 3
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1/4 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Kasturi Methi - 2 tbsp
Ginger & Garlic Paste - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
Take 4 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and heat for a couple of minutes. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, chopped onions, green chillies, garam masala,

Coriander powder, Red Chilli powder, Ginger Garlic paste and salt and fry for a couple of minutes. Now add the potato pieces and mix well all the above

ingredients. Heat for some around 4 to 5 min. This will make sure that all the Masala is ingrained good into the potato pieces. This would make the paratha's

very tasty. Now switch off the flame and add kasturi methi to it and cover with a lid. Adding kasturi methi would give a unique distinct flavor to the potato

curry/masala. Put this aside to cool.

Using wheat flour and salt with 1 tbsp of oil prepare dough. Now prepare small chapati using the dough and put a big 1 tbsp of the above potato curry. Close

this chapati from all sides to stuff the curry. Now slowly roll this into a chapati (making sure that you don't press too hard while making the chapati).

Make the chapati's evenly so that the entire curry is distributed through out the chapati.

Now in a shallow frying pan add 1 tbsp of oil and fry the stuffed chapati. While frying you can add some oil at the edges and fry till a light brown tinge on

both sides. Make all your stuffed chapati's like this and your Aloo paratha's are ready.

Author's Note
Aloo paratha goes very well with Curd with sugar or salt. Also Mango pickle goes very well with this.

Using the same procedure you can prepare Gobi Paratha (using boiled Gobi) or Mixed Paratha (using boiled cauliflower, grated carrot, tomato and peas).

Monday, November 12, 2007

Masala Khichidi

Ingredients
Rice - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1 tbsp
Ginger & Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp (This is readily available in the market. Alternatively you can also prepare it at home by grinding to paste Ginger and Garlic Flakes)
Curry Leaves
Green Chillies - 3 or 4
Garam Masala - 3/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil for tadka
Coriander

Procedure
Soak Rice and Chana dal in water for 1/2 hour before we start the preparation. Remove the excess water and keep ready for the next stage.

In a rice container (Pressure Cooker) heat the oil for a minute or two. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, Green Chillies (chopped), Curry Leaves, Ginger & Garlic paste, Garam Masala and Salt and shallow fry for a minute. Add Rice and Chana dal to this and fry for another minute or two. Now add 1 1/2 cup water to this and heat it for one boil.

Now put the Pressure cooker lid and heat on medium flame for 3 to 4 whistles. After this switch off the cooker and allow the it to cool for 5 minutes.

After this remove the rice from the cooker and garnish with Coriander leaves. Your Masala Khichidi is ready to serve.

Author's Note
Curd Mirchi or Papad or Poppadum goes very well with this dish. Also Maharashtrian Kadi or Tak would go very well with this.

Curd Rice

Ingredients
Cooked Rice
Milk - 1/2 ltr (Luke warm)
Curd - 1 cup
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves
Coriander
Green Chillies - 1 or 2
Salt to taste
Hing - 1 pinch
Oil for tadka
Ginger - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped

Procedure
Take the already cooked rice and put this in the bowl containing the milk. Add curd to this and leave it overnight for fermentation (4 to 5 hours of fermentation is also good enough).

To this fermented rice add salt to taste.

Now, in a frying pan (Kadai) heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, hing, green chillies (chopped), curry leaves and Ginger. After couple of minutes remove this from the gas/burner and add this to the above fermented rice.

For garnishing, cut the Coriander leaves and garnish from above. And your Curd rice is ready to serve.

Author's Note
A simple procedure, yet very tasty. The crux is to make sure that rice is also added to the curd during fermentation. This way the sourness of the curd will go inside the rice giving it a delicious flavor.

All Dal Vada

Ingredients
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 1/2 cup
Green Chillies - 5 or 6 nos (depending upon how spicy you like it)
Ginger - 1 small finely chopped
Coriander
Onions - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Curry Leaves
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
Soak Moong Dal, Chana Dal and Urad Dal in water for 2 hours. Remove the excess water and grind well. Make sure the batter is coarsely grinded. Keep aside.

In the grinder jar take the Green Chillies, Ginger, Coriander, Onions, Curry Leaves, Cumin seeds and salt and grind well to a paste.

Mix the above two ingredients (Grinded batter and the Green Chillies paste). These should mix very well.

Now take a wet cotton cloth and on it pour a small amount of the batter and prepare Vada in the shape as required. In a deep frying pan heat the oil for around 5 min in medium flame. Now fry the above prepared Vada's in this oil on medium flame, till crispy brown color. Lower the flame and constant stirring would make Vada's more tastier.

Author's Note
As a side dish, take the Mango pickle and add a tbsp of Cream (Malai) to it. Mix well and serve with the hot Vada's. This combination is just too delicious to resist.

Moong Dosa

Ingredients
Plain Moong Dal - 1 cup
(If you have Green Moong Dal, then soak it in water for 3 hours and remove the green covering)
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
Soak Moong Dal in water for couple of hours. Remove the excess water and wash well. Grind this in a mixture/grinder for a coarse paste. Add water while grinding, if required. Make sure that the paste is not too liquidy. Add cumin seeds and salt to this while grinding. Your batter is ready for making Dosa's.

Take a non-stick pan and take a small bowl full of dosa batter and spread it round. Heat on medium flame. And your delicious Moong Dosa is ready.

Author's Note
Moong Dosa with Groundnut Chutney is a perfect combination.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Upma

Ingredients
Upma Rawa - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Cashewnuts (pre-fried in Pure Ghee) - 5 or 6 nos
Urad Dal - 1/2 tbsp
Chana Dal - 1/2 tbsp
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (mustard seeds) - 1/2 tbsp
Lemon - 1/2 cut
Green Chillies - 2 nos
Ginger (finely chopped)- 1/2 tbsp
Pure Ghee - 3 tbsp

Procedure
In a frying pan take the Pure Ghee and heat it for a minute. Add Urad dal, Chana dal, Cumin seeds, Mustard seeds, Green Chillies and Ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes. Add Upma Rawa to this and fry for around 3 to 4 min. Make sure you constantly keep stirring to avoid over heating of Rawa. Put this aside.

Take two cups water in a frying pan and boil it. Add salt to this. Now add the above fried Upma Rawa to this water slowly by continuously stirring the mixture. This is to avoid the formation of balls of the Upma Rawa. After heating for another 3 to 4 min to a smooth mixture, add Cashewnuts and a tbsp of Ghee to this. Stir thoroughly to mix well, all the ingredients.

And Voila! Your Upma is ready to serve and savor.

Author's Note
Serve hot with a slice of Lemon.

There are few variations to this Plain Upma. Follow the steps below:
Onion Upma - While frying all the ingredients, before adding the Upma Rawa, add finely chopped Onions (1) for a minute or two. And then add the Upma Rawa and fry further. Follow the second paragraph above.

Carrot Upma - Take a carrot and cut it in small pieces. In a container take a cup of water and add salt to it and allow it to boil. Add the carrot pieces to this and let them boil for some time till carrot pieces turn soft. While frying all the ingredients, before adding the Upma Rawa, add these boiled carrot pieces and fry for a minute or two. Then add the Upma Rawa and fry further. Follow the second paragraph above.

Mutter Upma - While frying all the ingredients, before adding the Upma Rawa, add Mutter (Lightly boiled Peas) for a minute or two. And then add the Upma Rawa and fry further. Follow the second paragraph above.

Tomato Upma - While frying all the ingredients, before adding the Upma Rawa, add finely chopped Tomato (1) for a minute or two. And then add the Upma Rawa and fry further. Follow the second paragraph above.

Also you can add potatoes or a combination of all the above to make a good mixed Upma.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Medu Vada

Ingredients
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Baking Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure
The the urad dal in a bowl and wash well. Add water to it and set aside for 3 hours. Remove the excess water from the bowl and put this in a Grinder/Mixture jar. Grind well for a thick paste/batter. Add cumin seeds, salt to taste, baking powder to the batter and mix well. Take a butter paper and on it take a small amount of the batter. Give it a thick circular shape to it and in the middle of the circle make a hole with your index finger. Parallely take a deep frying pan and heat the oil With care remove this vada from the butter paper and deep fry in the heated oil on medium flame. Keep it moving in the oil till the vada is fried golden brown. And your delicious vada's are ready to serve.

Author's Note
Medu vada goes so very well with the red chilli chutney, coconut chutney, idli chutney and sambhar.

Uttapa

Ingredients
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Rice - 2 cups
Methi Seeds (fenu greek seeds) - 1 tbsp
Poha - 1/4 cup

For uttapa special
Onion - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Green Chillies - 5 or 6 numbers finely chopped
Coriander - Finely chopped
Coconut - Finely grated

Procedure
Take all the above ingredients in a bowl. Clean/Wash well with clean water. Add sufficient water (a little above the total ingredients) to this bowl and set aside for 4 hours. Remove the excess water from the bowl. Put all the above in Grinder/Mixture jar and grind well. Add water to make a fluid paste. Ferment this batter overnight. Next day morning add salt to this batter and beat well to make it ready. Add Onion's and Green Chillies and 1tbsp of cumin seeds to this and mix well. Take non-stick frying pan and heat it for a minute. Take the batter and pour the batter for thick uttapa. Add oil to the edges and in the middle and heat well on both sides.Garnish this with finely chopped coriander and finely grated coconut.

Author's Note
Uttapa is much thicker than Dosa, so make sure that you pour sufficient amount of batter for a thick uttapa. Uttapa goes so very well with Idli Chutney and Coconut Chutney.

Mysore Dosa

Ingredients

Urad Dal - 1 Cup

Rice - 2 cups

Methi Seeds (fenu greek seeds) - 1 tbsp

Poha - 1/4 cup


For dosa filling

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tbspOnion - 1/2 cup finely choppedSalt to tasteHeated oil 2 tbsp.
Mix all these ingredients very well and your Red Chilli Chutney is ready.

Procedure

Take all the above ingredients in a bowl. Clean/Wash well with clean water. Add sufficient water (a little above the total ingredients) to this bowl and set aside for 4 hours. Remove the excess water from the bowl. Put all the above in Grinder/Mixture jar and grind well. Add water to make a fluid paste. Ferment this batter overnight. Next day morning add salt to this batter and beat well to make it ready. Take non-stick frying pan and heat it for a minute. Take the batter and prepare round and thin dosas. Put some oil at the edges and in the middle of the dosa. Once the dosa is ready on the pan, take 1 tbsp of above red chilli chutney and apply over the dosa. Fold the dosa in pyramidal shape (more like Samosa) and your delicious Mysore Dosa is ready.

Author's Note

Serve hot and enjoy the taste!

Plain Dosa

Ingredients
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Rice - 2 cups
Methi Seeds (fenu greek seeds) - 1 tbsp
Poha - 1/4 cup

Procedure
Take all the above ingredients in a bowl. Clean/Wash well with clean water. Add sufficient water (a little above the total ingredients) to this bowl and set aside for 4 hours. Remove the excess water from the bowl. Put all the above in Grinder/Mixture jar and grind well. Add water to make a fluid paste. Ferment this batter overnight. Next day morning add salt to this batter and beat well to make it ready. Take non-stick frying pan and heat it for a minute. Take the batter and prepare round and thin dosas. Put some oil at the edges and in the middle of the dosa. This makes it crispy. And your plain dosa is ready.

Author's Note
Coconut chutney and Idli chutney goes very well with this dish. It's a good morning time breakfast and any time snack.


A variation to Dosa is to prepare Uttapa, using the same batter.


Plain Bonda

Ingredients
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Idli Rawa or Rice - 2 cups
Poha - 1/4 cup
Green Chillies - 2 Nos
Onion - 1 (Big)
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
Prepare the batter as described in the idli section. Take 1/2 cup Idli battar and add 1/2 cup Maida to it. Add to this 2 finely chopped Green Chillies, one big finely chopped Onion, 3 tbsp of heated oil, 1 tbsp of cumin seeds, salt to taste and 1 tbsp of baking powder. Mix all the above ingredients and leave for 5 min. Heat the oil in deep frying pane. Take a handful of the batter in your comfortable working hand and slowly release in the heated deep frying pane to form small balls. Fry on medium flame till golder brown and crispy. And your delicious bonda's are ready.

Author's Note
There are very good for evening snacks and should be served hot for optimum pleasure. Lal Mirchi ki chutney (Red chillies chutney) goes very well with this. Procedure for making this chutney - Take 1/2 cup finely chopped onions, 1 tbsp Red chilli powder, Salt to taste, heated oil 2 tbsp. Mix all these ingredients very well and your Red Chilli Chutney is ready to be served with Plain Bondas.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Idli

Ingredients
Udad Dal - 1 cup
Idli Rawa or Rice - 2 cups
Poha - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

Procedure
If using Rice - Soak udad dal and rice together in a bowl, add sufficient amount of water. Soak for around 3-4 hours. After this wash them well and add Poha to this with water. Leave this for a couple of minutes. Remove the excess water. In a Grinder/Mixture jar take the above ingredients and grind well for smooth paste. Add water is required during grinding.

If using Idli Rawa - Soak udad dal in a bowl for 3-4 hours. Add Poha to this and leave it for a couple of minutes. Remove all the excess water from this. In a Grinder/Mixture jar take the above ingredients and grind well till hard and smooth paste and put this aside. Wash the idli rawa and hard squeeze the water from this. Add this to the already prepared hard and smooth paste of udad dal. Mix well.

Now we need to ferment this overnight (Good fermentation means the paste has to swell good). Next day morning add salt and some water to the paste. In the idli container put a little oil so that the idli's don't stick to the container. Put the idli paste on the idli container and heat this for around 15 min. And your idli's are ready to serve.

Author's Note
Idli Chutney, Coconut Chutney, Ground Chutney can be used as side dish along with Idli.

A small variation to the normal/plain Idli would be to make Masala Idli. Prepare the batter as explained above and allow it to ferment overnight. Follow the below steps -
In a frying pan, take 3 tbsp oil, add 1 tbsp of Jeera (cumin seeds), 1/2 tbsp of Chana dal, 1/4 tbsp Rai (mustard seeds), 1/4 cup coarsely chopped onions, 5 or 6 nos. of Green Chillies chopped, 2 small carrots grated and salt to taste. Fry these for around 5 min.
Allow this to cool for some time and then add it into the batter. Mix well and using Idli maker/container prepare the delicios Masala Idli's.

Methi Puri

Ingredients
Wheat Flour (Atta) - 1 cup
Fenu greek (Methi) - 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 (depending upon how spicy you want)
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 6 or 7 flakes
Curd - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp

Procedure
In a Grinder/Mixture jar take Green Chillies, Garlic and Cumin seeds and grind well to make a paste. Add all the remaining above ingredients in a bowl. Add to this the paste prepared and make a dough, add water if required (make sure the dough is thick enough to make the puri). Make the puri's from this dough.

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil. Fry the above prepared puri's in this oil and your Masala Puri is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This dish is very simple to prepare. The most important part of the dish to making the dough properly. You can have these puri's with either tomato ketchup
or with curd (salted or sweet).

Masala Puri

Ingredients
Wheat Flour (Atta) - 1 cup
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Jeera (cumin sees) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
Butter - 1/4 cup

Procedure
In a bowl add all the above ingredients and prepare a dough for making the puri (make sure the dough is thick enough to make puri). Make the puri's from this dough. In a deep frying pan, heat the oil. Fry the above prepared puri's in this oil and your Masala Puri is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This dish is very simple to prepare. The most important part of the dish to making the dough properly. You can have Potato curry with these puri's. Adding butter while preparing the dough gives Puri a nice taste.

Vegetable Cutlet

Ingredients
Boiled Potatoes - 2 or 3 (big)
White Bread - 8 slices
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 (depending upon how spicy you want)
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
Oil to fry
Salt to taste

Procedure
In a bowl take some water and dip 4 Bread slices. Squeeze the water from the bread immediately and keep seperate. Put remaining 4 slices in Grinder/Mixture jar and grind for a min. Now in a bowl take smashed potatoes, dipped bread slices, Jeera (cumin seeds), Green Chillies (finely chopped), Ginger-Garlic paste, salt and mix well. In a deep frying pan put oil and heat in low flame. Make small triangular shaped tikki's with the above mixture. Dip this in the grinded bread on both the sides. Now deep fry this in the heated oil (remember to keep the flame low). And your Veg Cutlet is ready to savor.

Author's Note
This dish goes very well with Tomato Ketchup. For the health conscious, instead of deep frying we can shallow fry in a shallow frying non-stick pan. Heat the
frying pan and put 1 tbsp of oil. Then put the above prepared tikki's on the pan and shallow fry.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mixed Chutney

Ingredients
Dudhi - 6 pieces
Tomato - 2 Nos
Brinjal - 3 Nos
Green Chillies - 5 or 6 (depending upon how spicy you want)
Garlic Flakes - 6 or 7
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1/4 tbsp
Tamarind
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
In a frying pane add 1 tbsp of oil and heat for a couple of minutes. Add the Dudhi pieces, Brinjal and Tomato to this pane and fry till soft. Then add the Green Chillies, Turmeric, Cumin seeds and fry for a minute or two.

In a the Grinder/Mixture jar add all the above ingredients, Salt to taste, Garlic Flakes. Grind well till smooth paste.

In a frying pane take 1 tbsp and heat for a minute. Put couple of red chillies (dry), cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, a pinch of aestofida (hing) and the above paste. And your South Indian Cucumber Chutney is ready to serve.

Author's Note
All season chutney goes well with Chappattis.

Mango Chutney

Ingredients
Raw Mango - 1 (cut in small pieces)
Red Chillies Powder - 2 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 6 or 7 flakes
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure
In the Grinder/Mixture jar add the mango pieces, Red Chilli powder, Jeera, Garlic Flakes, Salt to taste. Grind well for a minute.

In a frying pane take 1 tbsp and heat for a minute. Put couple of red chillies (dry), cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, a pinch of aestofida (hing) and the above paste. And your South Indian Cucumber Chutney is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This chutney goes very well with Chappatis and Rice.

South Indian Cucumber Chutney

Ingredients
Cucumber - 1/4 kg
Green Chillies - 6 or 7 (depending upon how spicy you want)
Ground Nuts - 50 gms
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
Tamarind
Garlic - 6 or 7 flakes
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp

Procedure
Cut the cucumber is small pieces. In the frying pane take 1 tbsp oil and heat for a couple of minutes. Add Green Chillies, Groundnuts, Cumin seeds, Tamarind and Turmeric to this pane. Shallow fry for 3-4 minutes.

In the Grinder/Mixture jar put all the above ingredients and add Garlic flakes to it. Add salt to taste and half the cucumber pieces. Grind well till smooth paste.

Add the remaining cucumber pieces to the above paste. In a frying pane take 1 tbsp and heat for a minute. Put couple of red chillies (dry), cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, a pinch of aestofida (hing) and the above paste. And your South Indian Cucumber Chutney is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This chutney goes well with Dal/Rice combination.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Hari Mirchi Chutney (Green Chilli Chutney)

Ingredients
Green Chillies - 10 Nos
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 6 or 7 flakes
Tamarind - 1 or 2 flakes
Salt to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp

Procedure
In a frying pane take 1 tbsp of oil and heat for a minute. Put Green Chillies, Turmeric, Cumin seeds and shallow fry for 3-5 min on medium flame. Shut down the flame and add Coriander Leaves to it. Cover it and leave it for 5 min.

In the Grinder/Mixture jar put the above contents in it. Add to it Garlic flakes, Tamarind, Salt and grind fine. And your Hari Mirchi ki Chutney is ready.

Optionally, you can give a Tadka to it. In a frying pane add 2 tbsp of oil and heat for a minute of two. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds to this and add the above chutney into it. Heat it for couple of minutes and your chutney is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This chutney goes very well with Bhakri (Jwari ki roti) and Chappatis.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Idli Chutney

Ingredients
Coconut (grated or cut pieces) - 1/2 cup
Groundnuts - 1/4 cup
Green Chillies - 4 (depends upon how spicy you want)
Tamarind - 1 or 2 flakes (depends upon how khatta you want)
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 tbsp
Rai (mustard seeds) - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic - 6 or 7 flakes
Salt to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp
Curry Leaves

Procedure
In a frying pane heat 1 tbsp of oil for a min. Put Coconut pieces, Groundnuts, Green Chillies, Jeera in the frying pane. Shallow fry for about 5 min till the coconut pieces are turning brown at the edges.

Put the above contents in Grinder/Mixture jar for grinding. Add Garlic flakes, Salt, Tamarind and a little amount of water for smooth paste. Grind well till smooth paste. And your Idli Chutney is ready.

In a frying pane take 2 tbsp of oil and heat for a minute or two. Put in 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, couple of Red Chillies (dry), few Curry Leaves and shallow fry for a minute. Add the chutney to this and fry for a minute or two. And you have given the "Tadka" to it.

Author's Note
This is a perfect side dish with Idle or Sada Dosa, Moong Dosa or Upma. This chutney has to be consumed in a day or two (storing in freeze if for more than one day).

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 3 Nos
Groundnuts - 2 tbsp
Green Chilli - 5-6 (depends upon how spicy you want)
Garlic - 6-7 pieces
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Tamarind/Lemon - 1 flake (depends upon how khatta you want)
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure

Cut the tomatoes into medium sized pieces. In a frying pane heat the oil for a minute. Fry the cut tomato pieces till they release water and are a little softer. Add turmeric powder to this while frying tomatoes. Put this aside. In the same frying pane add 1 tbsp oil and fry the Green chillies adding to it Groundnuts and Jeera to the same. Fry for couple of minutes on medium flame.

Mix all the above shallow fried things in a Grinder/Mixture jar. Add Garlic flakes, Tamarind and salt to taste. Grind well to a smooth paste. And your Tomato chutney is ready.

In a frying pane put 1 tbsp of oil, add to it some jeera, couple of red chillies (dry) and add the above paste to it. Fry for a minute and your Tomato Chutney is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This chutney goes very well with Chapatis and Rice dishes. This is instant, ready to use chutney to add spice to your meal. This has to be consumed with a day or two (storing in freeze for more than one day).

Dudhi Chutney

Ingredients

Dudhi - 1/4 Kg
Green Chilli - 5-6 (depends upon how spicy you want)
Garlic - 6-7 pieces
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Tamarind/Lemon - 1 flake (depends upon how khatta you want)
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure

Take the oil in a frying pane and shallow fry the dudhi pieces untill golden brown (till the edges are a little fried in oil). Fry on very low flame to make them a little soft. Add jeera, chilli pieces & turmeric to the pane and fry for 8-10 min. This will shallow fry jeera and chilli pieces along with the coconut.

Put this in a grinder/mixture jar. Add to this the garlic flakes, salt to taste, tamarind/lemon and water (very little for easy grinding/mixing). Grind for 3-5 min under medium speed of the grinder/mixture. Add coriander to this and grind once (This is purely for taste purpose, if you want).

And hurray! your coconut chutney is ready.One last step, though! Put some oil in a frying pane and add couple of pulses along with red chilli (dry) and some Curry Leaves (Kadipatta). Fry this for a minute and then add the chutney and fry to a minute. And your chutney is ready for serving. We call this as "Tadka Lagana".

Author's Note
This chutney goes very well as a side dish while main meals. It's equally well with chapatis and rice items. Served with plain dal, this makes a beautiful combination. This chutney has to be consumed in a day or two (should be stored in freeze if for more than one day).

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients
Coconut - 1/2 (cut to small pieces)
Green Chilli - 5-6 (depends upon how spicy you want)
Garlic - 6-7 pieces
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Tamarind/Lemon - 1 flake (depends upon how khatta you want)
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure
Take the oil in a frying pane and shallow fry the coconut pieces untill golden brown (till the edges are a little fried in oil). Add jeera, chilli pieces & turmeric to the pane and fry for 8-10 min. This will shallow fry jeera and chilli pieces along with the coconut.
Put this in a grinder/mixture jar. Add to this the garlic flakes, salt to taste, tamarind/lemon and water (very little for easy grinding/mixing). Grind for 3-5 min under medium speed of the grinder/mixture. Add coriander to this and grind once (This is purely for taste purpose, if you want). And hurray! your coconut chutney is ready.
One last step, though! Put some oil in a frying pane and add couple of pulses along with red chilli (dry) and some Kadipatta. Fry this for a minute and then add the chutney and fry to a minute. And your chutney is ready for serving. We call this as "Tadka Lagana".

Author's Note
This chutney goes very well with Idli or Dosa. Also, this can go very well with medu vada. This chutney has to be consumed in a day or two (should be stored in freeze if for more than one day).

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Chocolate Brownie

Ingredients
Eggs - 3
Dark Chocolate - 130 gms
Butter - 180 gms
Brown Sugar - 130 gms
Walnuts - 130 gms
Vanilla Essence - 2 tbsp (can be anything depending upon your flavor)
Plain Flour (Maida) - 130 gms

Procedure
Beat egg white seperately and egg yellow seperately and set aside. Boil the water in a container and simultaneously melt the dark chocolate in another container. After the chocolate is melted add Brown sugar to it and heat it for 3-5 min. Add Butter to this and cool the batter.
After cooling add egg white (already beaten) into the batter. Stir thoroughly. Add egg yellow (already beaten) to the batter. Stir thoroughly. Add Essence to the batter. Add plain flour to the batter and stir well till a smooth thickish batter. Take an oven container and apply butter on the inside and put some plain flour evenly (to make sure that the brownie doesn't stick to the container). Pour the batter into the container and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree celcius for 30 min. To make sure the brownie is ready use a knife and dip it in the center of the container till the base and see if the batter is sticking the knife. If not then your Chocolate Brownie is ready, else bake for 5 more minutes and it's done.

Author's Note
A delicious Chocolate Brownie is good to go as a dessert or a snack time savor. Shelf period for this is from 2 days to 4 days.

Bread Pineapple Pudding

Ingredients
Bread Slices - 8
Milk - 1 Cup
Khoya (Mawa) - 1/2 Cup
Dates - 5-6
Pineapple - 1/2 Cup chopped
Cherries & Cashewnuts for Garnishing
Butter or Ghee - 5 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 Cup

Procedure
Remove the sides of the Bread slices (remove the brown part) and cut them into triangular shape. Put some Butter/Ghee in frying pane and fry these triangular cut pieces of Bread, both sides and put aside. Now boil the milk and add Khoya (Mawa) into it. Then add sugar to this and slices of dates. Stir well making sure that the milk is not getting burned at the bottom. Allow it to boil for 3-5 min and then add pineapple slices to it. Allow this mixture to cool.
Take the already fried Bread slices and put them in a flat serving plate. Pour this cooled mixture over the bread slices. Garnish with Cherries and Cashewnuts. And your dish is ready to serve.

Author's Note
A very healthy food for those who wants to gain weight a more healthier way. A perfect desert for a perfect dinner when you invite someone over.