Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Winner's Choice Giveaway

u read it right!! u can choose what to win...

check here for more details and do participate


Saturday, April 20, 2013

Fifty-2 weeks of 2013 week 16

This is for week 16 of the Fifty-2 weeks of 2013

Theme for this Week, given by Aparna Balasubramanian - "If you could choose any one place in the world to be your home, where would it be and why? Feel free to choose anywhere in the world, even if it's somewhere you haven't been." - Writing or Photo 


I would like to be in a place where "google search is enabled"! :) I want a home where i can simply go and ask google to find my things, my specs, my bike keys, my handbag. I want google to answer all the questions  asked by my mother with pleasing reasons such as why i forgot to buy the things she has told me, why i slept late, why i woke up late.......among many others. I want google to stand by me and read out the recipe while i try to cook something. How much i love Google search!!!!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

jeera-ajwain mix for parathas





Jeera- 1 tsp
ajwain- 1/2 tsp

Dry roast jeera in a pan until u get a nice aroma and let it cool. Add ajwain,transfer to a clean and dry mixer jar and blend to a coarse powder.
This powder can be made in bulk and keeps good when stored properly in the room temperature. The mix should be stored in an airtight container, should be handled without moisture.
This jeera ajwain powder can be added to various parathas like aloo paratha, methi paratha etc. while kneading the dough.

check here for Methi paratha.


sending the spice mix to Homemade Spices :: Store To Bowl hosted by nabanita das of  eshoboshoaahare


Methi paratha

Fenugreek leaves have a number of health benefits, are very rich in iron. Beneficial to hair growth, can be used as facepacks to remove acne and pimples, effective in the removal of black heads. I have a read a lot about the benefits but have never tried using them as they have a bitter taste. So i tried making parathas and didnt feel any bitterness at all. Fenugreek leaves can also be used to make fenugreek dal, aloo methi curry, methi-moongdal dal etc.
 Methi paratha a very simple filling breakfast

Ingredients:

Wheat flour- 1 cup
Methi leaves- 1/2 cup
salt- to taste
red chilli powder- 1 tsp
paratha spice mix- 1 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
curd- 4 tsp
water- to knead the dough


Clean the methi leaves, add curd, salt, turmeric powder, chillipowder, spice mix and mix well. Add the flour in small quantities and keep mixing. Add water and knead to a smooth dough.


Now add a tsp of oil to the dough and knead well again. Let it rest for half an hour. Divide the dough into equal sized balls.


Take a ball and spread into a round roti dusting with wheat flour as needed.



Heat a tawa, spread a tsp of oil and carefully place the roti and cook till brown spots appear.



Serve hot with pickle or simple raita.





and to Soul food show hosted by viji of virunthu unna vaanga

  bookmarked recipe event by pallavi and swathi of zesty southindiankitchen

 

 

sending to  Know Your Dairy - Yogurt of Jagruthi's cooking odyssey hosted by PJ of seduce your tastebuds





Friday, April 12, 2013

Bobbatlu

Bobbatlu


 With the reserved channadal stuffing from Poornalu, i made Bobbatlu. This is a very easy recipe that gets done in less than half an hour, Make the dough, stuff with the filling and cook on a pan, serve hot with ghee, tastes yum. A rich, filling yet very easy recipe for Ugadi or apt for any festive occasions.

Ingredients:
Maida- 1 cup
salt- a pinch
turmeric powder- a pinch
baking soda- a very little pinch
oil- 2 tsp
milk covers/ banana leaves- for making the poli
warm water- for kneading the dough
Ghee- for shaping and frying the polis
Kneading the dough: Mix maida,salt,baking soda, turmeric powder, a tsp of oil, mix well, add the warm water and knead the dough very smooth like a chapathi dough. Now add another tsp of oil and knead well and let the rest for atleast half an hour. The more resting time the better polis you can make.




Meanwhile, shape the poornam into small balls and keep them ready.
Make equal sized balls of the maida dough too.




Now grease well a banana leaf or any other polythene cover(milk covers etc).

                     Take a maida ball and spread on the leaf with your hands using ghee for spreading.





Now keep the sweet filling at the centre and close from the four sides like you do for a paratha.

With the help of ghee, flatten the dough into a cirlce as thin as possible.




Heat a pan, drizzle half a spoon of ghee and flip the poli on to the hot pan by inverting the leaf over the pan.


Apply ghee to the polis and cook on medium flame.

Once cooked, flip to the other side and cook on a medium flame carefully till brown spot appears.





Delicious polis are ready. Can be eaten as such or relish them with homemade ghee.

Bliss!!



Notes:

The maida dough should be very flexible. Adding oil while kneading the dough definitely helps.
The polis should be flattened very thin, other wise the outer cover becomes hard when cooked.
Adding turmeric powder gives a very natural golden colour.
Maida can be replaced with wheat flour for a healthier version.





Linking this to


My culinary trial room

 

 

and to Soul food show hosted by viji of virunthu unna vaanga






sending to Foodabulous Fest Event organised by Simply TADKA and hosted by Pramitha love cooking

  bookmarked recipe event by pallavi and swathi of zesty southindiankitchen

 

 

and to Pari's 'Only' cooking series-legumes hosted by nalini here

 

 






Poornalu

Poornalu


Happy ugadi everyone!!!

I had made Poornalu, Bobbatlu and Ugadi pacchadi for this ugadi. The channadal stuffing is same for poornalu and bobbatlu. 
 The poornalu turned out crisp outside and the filling was aptly sweet. Off to the recipe.




Ingredients:

Rice- 1 cup

urad dal- 1/2 cup

jaggery- 1 cup

channadal-1cup

salt- a pinch

cardamom powder- a generous pinch

Ghee- 1 tsp

For making the outer cover:  Soak rice and dal sepearately for atleast 5 to 6 hours and grind them together to a smooth batter with little water, should be slightly thicker than the usual dosa batter. Add a pinch of salt and keep aside.


Poornam for the stuffing: Soak channadal for 15 min, pressure cook with 2 cups of water for 1 or 2 whistles, let the steam out, drain the water completely and mash the channadal in a mixer. Grate jaggery and add to the channadal and pulse again. Transfer the mixture to a nonstick pan with a tsp of ghee (gives super nice aroma), add the cardamom powder and cook till the mixture becomes dry and cool completely.




Making the poornalu: Shape the poornam into smooth even balls and dip them in the rice-dal batter and deep fry on a medium heat .




Notes:

Drain water completely before pulsing the channadal.
The batter must be of a slightly thick consistency. Add rice flour if it gets runny.





Linking this to

Traditional Indian Sweets Event and Giveaway at Zesty South Indian kitchen . Swathi is organising this event/give away associated with 27coupons.com. 






and My culinary trial room

 

 

and to Soul food show hosted by viji of virunthu unna vaanga

 

 

sending to Foodabulous Fest Event organised by Simply TADKA and hosted by Pramitha love cooking  

 

  bookmarked recipe event by pallavi and swathi of zesty southindiankitchen

 

  and to Pari's 'Only' cooking series-legumes hosted by nalini here

 

 

Monday, April 8, 2013

Week 14: The Fifty-2 Weeks of 2013

The theme for Week 14 is "These are a few of my favourite things"!

I almost missed the week's theme
I was so engrossed in enjoying the favourite things of the "Fifty two week FAMILY" and relating many incidents to mine that i forgot that i havent posted my entry.

My favourite things list:

It may sound silly that i had a note like that when i was in my first year of college. I had neatly drawn double borders on an A4 size paper and had written point wise abt the list of things i would love to posess which had

A computer at home
Unlimited internet connection
A two wheeler(not less than an activa) { i dont remember what i was thinking ??not less than an activa??}
A mobile phone
A part time job!! (so that i can pay the internet bill:() {  i never searched for a part time job because no one would offer me salary in advance enough to buy a computer :P}

Some roses and cartoon figures sticked to make the sheet look attractive :)

But five years from then, now i sit at home sipping hot coffee browsing the internet and writing about my dreams at one time that are my favourite things now, i have a pleasure (not an activa and still very happy about it).
I have a job now so i completed post graduation in part time mode(distance)...

I thank god for all that i have today which were almost impossible dreams five years ago and happy to remind myself that i have all reasons to be happy.....

Saturday, April 6, 2013

SOUL FOOD SHOW & GIVE AWAY ANNOUNCEMENT @virunthu unna vaanga

Viji dharmaraj is a very active blogger as far as i have observed. Actually i was surprised when i saw the event announcement on the blog's first anniversary, the variety of recipes in her blog dont let you think that it is not even a year old. Do check her space for wonderful recipes.

Soul food show!! I loved the event name and the very apt logo Check the event here and participate along with me.

Friday, April 5, 2013

2 min eggless cup cake




Refer "HOMELY FOOD" for the recipe here. i just loved the simplicity of the recipe and tried these in my oven safe bowls. They were almost doubled in size to my surprise.                                                                   

                                                                        3 tsp of maida
 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8th tsp baking soda
1/8th tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp drinking chocolate powder
1 tsp chopped cashew
1 tsp chopped almond
1 tsp tutti frutti
1 tsp oil
2 tsp milk

These cupcakes can be done very easily in no time, Just mix up everything well, bake and serve.



1.Mix up all the ingredients in a cup or bowl (that is oven safe). 


The mixture should be a bit thick as shown above, i added cashews, almonds and tutti frutti and replaced instant coffee powder(as in the recipe link) with a spoon of drinking chocolate.



2.Preheat the oven at 200deg temp for 10 min and bake the cupcakes at 180deg temp for 13-15 min. You will know when they are done by the texture and smell itself.


Remove the tray from the oven let cool for sometime and serve as it is. You will surely get surprised as it tastes so good as if you have spent a lot of time preparing it.

These can be made in any moulds (read ovensafe)



i also referred to the recipe here @ sharmispassions.com for the otg timings and temperature. she has a wonderful post about how to use an otg and the baking essentials for newbie bakers.

This post goes to "- Try my recipes & giveaway-" hosted by meena of  "HOMELY FOOD"


  bookmarked recipe event by pallavi and swathi of zesty southindiankitchen

 

 


Try my recipes Event/ Giveaway @chatter musings

A very nice concept of an event!! All We have to do is to try any recipes from her space and link back . Check the recipe index for many wonderful recipes.



and wait, there are also two very cute prizes for maximum entries and best presentation. 


Do participate along with me!!