Peanut sesame powder

I tried it at one of the community friends home and loved it. I got some from my relative the same and my kids loved to eat it with sambar rice or yogurt rice. So I tried it at home and still enjoying it. Hope you like it too. This can be accompanied with several options like with plain white rice or a side dish for yogurt rice, idli or upma etc. So try it with whatever you like ..... explore your options and here goes the recipe..

Ingredients
Peanut powder - 1 cup (roasted and grinded coarsely without the skin)
Sesame powder - 1 cup (roasted and grinded coarsely)
Coconut powder (preferably dry but I used the frozen grated one)
Amchur powder  - 2-3 spoons
Red chilli powder - (according to your taste and spicyness of powder)
Salt - according to your taste
Dhania powder - 1/4 cup ( Roasted and grinded)
Jeera powder - 1/4 cup (Roasted and grinded)
Cilantro - wash, dry and cut into small pieces

Method of preparation
Mix all the ingredients nicely with hand. Make sure the powders and mixed properly and the taste is spread out even. Taste it to adjust salt and red chilli powder. Your powder is ready to go...Enjoy.

Beans Cauliflower Curry

One of the simple curries which can be made regularly can home without any hiccups is this. I love both the veggies and here is the simple recipe for it. Go ahead and try it for simple dinner.

Ingredients
Beans - chopped
Cauliflower florest
Tomatos
Oil
Mustard seeds
Jeera
Red chilli powder
Turmeric
Salt
Coriander to garnish

Method of preparation
Add oil in a pan(kadai), and let it heat. Add mustard seeds after oil is heated. Let them splutter. Add jeera and then add the veggies (beans and cauliflower). Add red chilli powder, turmeric to it. Mix it and cover and cook for some time until veggies are almost cooked. Once they are cooked, add salt and tomatos. Cook until tomatos are done and serve after garnishing with the coriander leaves. Enjoy !!!

Gongura pulihora

We tasted it at my friend's place and I liked it. I requested my mom to do it for a potluck and they all liked it.  So here goes the recipe for it.

Ingredients:
Gongura (Sour greens)
Peanuts
Chana Dal
Mustard seeds
Red chillies
Green chillies
Coriander

Method of preparation:
1) Cook rice as usual. Make sure the rice grains are seperate after they are cooked. Mostly we use Sona       masoori rice or basmati for this type of rice.
2) Take a kadai (pan) and add 2-3 spoons of oil in it. After oil is heated add the chopped Gongura leaves to it. The leaves will be cooked in very less time. Add salt to it and turmeric. Mix thoroughly and put it aside.
3) Next is preparation of the tadka (popu/poni) for the pulihora. Take a small kadai and add sufficiant oil to it. After oil is heated properly, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add red chillies, asafoetida (Hing/inguva), peanuts, chana dal and little urad dal to it. Cook till all the dals turn color and the peanuts and well fried.
4) Spread the rice in big bowl easy to mix. Add the fried gongura mixture as well as the tadka to it. Mix all of them thoroughly till each grain of rice color is changed. Do not mash or use much pressure while mixing (otherwise the rice will become sticky or mushy, Rice should be seperated to get the exact taste). Garnish with coriander and serve.

Banana Bread (Eggless)

 This is a recipe which my cousin Hema gave me long time back. As I am not a banana lover nor banana bread, I never attempted it. This time I really wanted to do something with those riped banana's and there goes my experiment. It turned to be good. Simple easy recipe from her.... here it goes:

Ingredients

1/2 cup oil or use 1/3rd cup applesauce ( I used oil)

1 cup white sugar 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 very ripe mashed bananas 

1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla

1/4th cup walnuts roasted

Method of preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a loaf pan.In a large bowl, cream the oil  and sugar and add vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Blend in the mashed bananas. Stir in the nuts and pour batter into prepared pan.(dust with butter and flour ). Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until it tests done with a toothpick.

Bhendi Tomato fry curry

Ingredients
Bhendi - I used one frozen packet
Tomato - 1 chopped finely
Red chilli powder
Salt to taste (I used 1 spoon)
Oil - 5 spoons
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Jeera - 1/4 teaspoon

Method of preparation
This is a simple curry. Can be done by even bachelors also. Add oil to kadai and after the oil is heated then add mustard seeds and let  it splutter. Add jeera to it. Add bhendi and let it fry nicely. Add salt to it (around 1 tea spoon). Once the tangleness of bhendi goes, add the tomato and then red chilli powder also. Your curry is ready.

Note: Add some yogurt like 1 or 2 spoons to make the bhendi detangle fast.

Chinthakaya Pachadi

(Took lot of break for posting this ... but finally did)
I loved when one of my colleague actually got this for lunch. I loved it so much, that I had to ask for recipe and share with you all. Her version ( I do not know the name), was much spicy and yummy tooo but since I use less green chillies the taste came out to be a little different. Here goes the yummy pachadi recipe:

Ingredients
Chintakaya paste - 3-4 spoons (generally we get it from india - green chintakaya paste)
Garlic (few pods)
Red chillies
Green chillies
Peanuts
Sesame seeds
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds
Jeera(Cumin seeds)
Dhaniya powder/seeds
Asafoetida
Curd
Tamarind - little bit (soaked and get thick water of it)
Curry leaves

Method of preparation
Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds and red chillies.
Grind green chillies, garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts and red chillies.
Add the Chintakaya paste, curd, tamarind liquid and grind together. Add salt as needed and very little water for it to grind and mix thoroughly.

In a pan, add some oil. Add dhaniya, mustard seeds (let them splutter), jeera, and curry leaves. Take a small bowl with little water and add asafoetida to it. Mix it and then add it to the above and close the lid. After couple of minutes add the grinded paste from above. Cook for about 5 - 10 minutes until the oil leaves the sides of hte pan or floats on top. Enjoy it !!!!

Aloo Bajji's/ Potato Fritters

I am sure every kid will love it..... even  lot of elders too, except when they are watching their weight or trying to look for healthy stuff. I can be sure that once in a while it is ok to have some fun stuff. Especially food like bajjis. I remember that one of my husband's uncle make awesome potato bajji's. Although these are not that range.. but are definitely worth and try and easy and simple to use. When there's a party or somebody coming over for chai.... these are best company. So no more talking only reciping...... haha

Ingredients

Potato - Peeled and chopped into thin slices ( you can use a mandolin to do that, but I find it easier and thinner when done with hand and knife :) )

Besan (Chick pea flour)

Red chilli powder

Salt to taste

Ajwain/Jeera - little bit

Water  - to mix the batter

Oil to deep fry

Sooji (Semolina ) - 1-2 spoons (this brings the crispy nature of fritters)

Method of preparation

Mix besan, red chilli powder, salt and little jeera (I used jeera powder). Add water to it and mix it like a paste (the consistency should be little thin than the paste so that it sticks to the potato pieces when dipped but not too thick that it coats like a thick layer).

Dip the potato pieces in the besan mixture made above. make sure there is batter on both sides of the potato  and put it in the hot oil. 

Deep fry till it is lightly golden and drain it on a paper tissue. Serve hot with any sauce or ketchup. Enjoy !!!

Pine-Berries Smoothie

This was not my idea of making juice..... but once I tasted a lady doing at Whole foods... and yummy without sugar in it (fresh juice), I was amazed. Since it was healthy and yummy I had to do it at home and make my kids get used to it slowly. So that they get all good things from fruits. The recipe is simple and nothing much to do with it. Here goes my recipe for making this Pine Berries juice.

Ingredients

Ice 

Strawberries - 1 cup

Blueberries - 1 and 1/2 cup

Pineapple - 1 cup (if ripe then it is very good)

Orange juice - 1/2 cup (I had orange carrot juice so I used it, its good it you have no pulp). This is to just give it little liquid instead of adding water or milk and a good taste too.

              

 Yummy Yummy ingredients picture in blender with ice.

Method of preparation
Add cubes to the blender first and use the ice button to crush it. Now after the ice is little crushed, add all the fresh cleaned fruits from above and blend it. Your juice is ready once they are crushed and ready like juice/smoothie. I wanted to use the blackberries also, but could not find them at the aisles where I went for shopping. So next time may be I will use them also. But this smoothie is full of anti-oxidents and healthy stuff. Try it and let me know...... oh .... make sure your pine apple do not have any of the thorns of sharp stuff on them because we do not need to filter it also. Enjoy !!!!.....

 Our breakfast juice ready for today.... one for me and one for my husband along with two small cups for my kids. for you.... a visual feast  :).

Poori with Aloo kurma

The moment you hear the combination, it at least reminds me of the back home breakfast. When you are outside, especially in a hill station or somewhere ..... having poori and aloo kura at outside hotel ... hmmmm very yummy. Yesterday, my husband asked me to do it in general way and not my way. So I started looking for recipes of the Aloo kurma just to see... what else I see different. Since I have to do it Nut Free (to give it as lunch to my preschooler son- his preschool is nut free facility), I was checking multiple recipes. Found out that the base ingredients that reminds me or anybody else when you say Kurma is Poppy seeds and coconut (gasagasalu & kobbari). So sorry my dear husband, he has to go in my way only except I added yogurt and tomato for a little sour flavor of it. Tasted good and was finished too. Am happy about that, and my kids loved it too. Nothing is more satisfying than... to realize that you made something and it got finished after everybody ate it. So no more gossip and here goes my recipe for Poori and aloo kurma.
oh ... btw I am going to add a new tag as Nut free recipes, so that people who are allergic to nuts can use it to make it. shh..... go and read more on the recipe now.

Poori

Ingredients
Roti floor(Wheat floor)
Water
Oil for deep frying

Method of preparation
This is the picture of poori presser I used. you can use the poori presser or do the regular one with belan.

Press the poori's just as you would do for a roti but do it with a little oil and very smaller round. Once they are done, deep fy them by putting them in hot oil and lightly pressing them until they are like a blow into round globe.Turn the poori gently on the other side and after couple of seconds remove it and drain it on a paper towel. You poori is ready to serve.


Aloo kurma

Ingredients
Potato's - 5
Onions - 1 big - chopped finely
Oil - 4 spoons (my table spoons are the regular spoons with which we eat)
Tomato - 1 big - chopped finely (Optional)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Yogurt - 1/4 cup or 3 spoons (modify according to your taste)
Red chilli powder - 1 tea spoon
Garam masala - 1 tea spoon
Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon
(Adjust the masala's according to your taste)
Grind to paste
Gasagasalu (Poppy seeds) - 1/2 tea spoon
Coconut (grated - I used frozen version) - 1/2 cup
Water (enough to make paste)
Add very little water initially so that the poppy seeds give out a foamy flavor of water, then add more if required and run the blender again.

Method of preparation
Add oil to a kadai and after it is hot enough add the cumin seeds, then immediately onions. Now add the ginger garlic paste and let the raw smell of all go away. Add the potatos, pinch of turmeric and tomatos too. Let them get cooked. Now add the poppy seeds and coconut paste. If needed add a little water and rest of the ingredients including salt. Let me cook covered for couple of minutes and your curry is ready to go with the Poori. Garnish with fresh Coriander for nice look and taste. Enjoy !!!

Kalakand

This is another recipe from Hema (Cousin). I tried it yesterday at lalitha puja at my co-sister home and it came out well. Except for the quantity was small... I am happy that it all got finished. So here goes the recipe I did and mostly from Hema.

Ingredients
Milk - 1/2 gallon (for making Channa/Paneer)
Milk - 1/2 gallon [I used half and half for making my life easy. Use less milk if you are using half and half or thick milk(from my experience). If you are using regular milk, then use 1/2 gallon].
Sugar - Equal amount as paneer made from step 1.
Cardamom powder - 1/2 spoon or depends on your choice


Method of preparation
1) First step is to prepare channa or paneer. To do that,  take a deep vessel and bring the milk to boil. Add little lemon/vinegar for milk to break. Do not turn off heat, but keep stirring for few more seconds. This will make the fat content of milk and water to seperate out.  Drain the water and squeeze the extra water. I strained it using a thin strainer and made it stay for few more minutes and that let the excess water also out.

2) Now take the milk (or half and half) and put it on the stove, let the milk become half in quantity. Keep stirring at very regular intervals because you do not want to have the milk stick to bottom.

3) Once the milk is thick enough or reduced to half, add the paneer made in step 1 to it. Now keep mixing and stirring until it is kind of solid or thick enough for making it as a pieces. Make sure you have the stove on high heat and stir rigorously to avoid the lumps falling on you.

4) Once the milk is almost ready , now add the sugar to it and mix it. This will be again a couple more minutes of mixing and once it is closely ready, turn off heat, add little rose water (optional) and cardamom powder to it. spread it in a dish and after few minutes, cut it into shapes you like. You can also make it into round shapes as laddoo and serve them in cup cake wrapper (Suggested by Hema).

Hope you try the recipe and enjoy the delicious taste....

(will post pics when I make next time, as I could not take some this time)

Happy Sankranthi

Happy Sankrathi to all the viewers of this Blog....

My first ever Bommala koluvu at my home. 

Happy New Year 2012

Many more wishes for a new, joyous and happy new year. This is the first time I made the cake with frosting/decoration. Decoration was simple and light from my side. I have added whipped cream and had melted little chocolate to write "Happy New Year: and the lines in between. Cherries and chocolate chips made the rest of the decoration. Hope you all have a wonderful new year.