Dhokla

Why am I not blogging regularly? Hmm.. no excuses, but just that there are too many things on plate currently. And lot of travel also during this time of the year, and hardly any time to catch up with a lot of activities.
Had made this Dhokla sometime ago but wasn’t able to post it immediately. The vegetable decoration was made by D’s aunt who had visited that day, who is a big food enthu, and teaches me at least one new recipe every time she visits us :)
I found too many variants of this Dhokla, and then tried this one below.... it was good enough.

Dhokla

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: Gram flour / besan - 1 cup Sour Curds - ¾ cup Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Sugar - ½ tsp, vary as per required taste Yellow food color/Turmeric - 1 pinch Lemon juice - 1-2 tsp, as per taste For Tempering: Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp Curry leaves - A few sprigs Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Green chilies - 3-4, slit Asafetida - a pinch, powdered Coconut - 1 Tbsp, grated Coriander leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped Method: • Mix gram flour in curds and keep aside for 30 min • Boil water in a steamer and grease the tin and keep ready • After 30 min, add salt, sugar, soda, color if using and mix • Add water if necessary to get a idli batter consistency • Add a packet of eno/fruit salt (abt 1 tsp) and immediately pour the mixture to the prepared tin • Steam for 15 to 20 minutes on medium heat • Once done, allow to cool for a couple of minutes Tempering • Pour lemon juice over the dhokla • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves, slit green chilies, hing • Pour the tempering over the steamed Dhokla • Garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander • Cut into cubes and serve with pudina chutney Tips n Tricks: • One of the recipes told to keep the mixed flour for a couple of hours, I tried without any waiting time also, and the result was good • If you want a moist dhokla, add a few teaspoons of water and a little sugar to the lemon juice

Shortbread Cookies

This was another of the saved baking recipes I had got from Joy of Baking. The shape and color had me bowled over and I had to try these. Especially for the newly bought, still unused heart shaped cookie cutter! Followed the recipe almost as is, though I didn’t follow the measurements exactly. The outcome was good, and was well received. This is sure to be a keeper, especially with the variations in texture that can be made.
Here’s how to make them....

Shortbread Cookies

Preparation time : 15 min + resting time Cooking time : 15 min Makes : ~20 Ingredients: All purpose Flour (maida) - 2 cups Unsalted butter - 1 cup, in room temperature Powdered Sugar - ½ cup Vanilla extract - 1 tsp Salt - a small pinch - ¼ tsp Method: • In a bowl mix flour and salt well • In another bowl, beat butter till creamy for about a minute or two • Mix in sugar and continue to beat till fluffy for another few minutes • Add vanilla extract and mix thoroughly • Fold in the flour and mix to combine. Do not knead. • Flatten the dough, wrap it in a sheet and place it in refrigerator for 30 min • After half an hour, remove from refrigerator, and flatten it using a rolling pin and cut out desired shapes. • Place these on a greased tray, till all the dough is used up • Place it in the refrigerator for 10 more minutes to firm up, so that the cookies retain the shape when baking • Preheat the oven at 180 ºC and bake for 15 minutes. Check after about 10 minutes and adjust the time, not to over bake or under bake. A slight golden at the edges should be enough • Let the cookies stand on the baking sheet till cool enough, else they crumble when tried to lift when hot • Allow it to cool completely and then store away the rest in a tight container Tips n Tricks: • I found the dough too brittle to roll and cut. So I pinched out a small ball and flattened it on palm and cut the same with a cookie cutter Variations: • For a slightly crunchy texture replace 1/4 cup of the all purpose flour with rice flour • For a more delicate tasting shortbread, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, replace 1/2 cup of the all purpose flour with cornstarch (corn flour).

Sending these to Champa's Bake-off event.

Semiya/Shavige Kesaribath

Whenever mom felt like pampering me with some sweet quickly and immediately her choice would be this!! Be it in my college days when she felt like packing an extra box for me with some sweet dish or now when I give her a quick visit, her choice would be this. And I thoroughly enjoy this mom-made sweet anytime, and with or without anything else. One good thing about the Semiya kesari bath is that it takes much much lesser ghee when compared to its regular soji/rava counterpart. And it tastes good when cold too.

Here’s the recipe...

Semiya/Shavige Kesaribath

Preparation time : None Cooking time : 10-12 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Semiya - 1 cup Milk - ¾ cup Water - ¾ cup Sugar - 2 Tbsp, adjust according to your taste Ghee - 1 Tbsp Raisins - 10 - 12 Cashews - 10 - 12 Saffron food color - a pinch Method: • Dry roast semiya in a heavy bottomed pan till light golden and transfer to a plate • In the same pan bring milk and water to boil • Once the milk starts boiling, add semiya into it and continue heat in medium to low flame • Add a pinch of saffron color • Stir gently in between, and allow for semiya to cook till done. This will take about 4-5 minutes. Do not overcook the semiya. • Add more water if necessary, but ensure that the cooked semiya is fairly dry • Now add sugar and stir gently. The mixture now becomes a little liquidy. • Continue heating for another 2 minutes, put off the flame• In a small skillet, heat ghee and roast cashews and raisins till they turn golden • Mix in the cashews and raisins and serve warm. Tips n Tricks: • Do not overcook the semiya

Wheat, Oats and Sesame Crackers

After a few failed attempts at baking and a loooong time, I desperately wanted to bake something. I had saved so many recipes from co-bloggers that I had to bake something. I chose Suma’s Sesame crackers with oats and wheat flour mainly for its simplicity and few ingredients. And oats and wheat make it way healthier than the regular all purpose flour.

More excited than me for baking was my little niece Hima, who eagerly waited for me to knead the dough and was desperately waiting to cut the cookies. Once done, she was hooked in front of the oven, waiting for me to get the crackers out of the oven. She tasted a little piece and said 'Wowwwwwww atte!! Suuuper'!! It came as a surprise to me as I was expecting her to like the sweet cookies I was making in parallel, than these. The next couple of days she'd suddenly remember about the crackers stored in the kitchen counter and demand a couple of them! Ok, Suma, the credit goes to you :)

Here's the recipe with a slight change from the original...

Wheat, Oats and Sesame Crackers

Preparation time : 15 min + resting time Cooking time : 18-20 min Makes : 35-40 Ingredients: • Wheat flour (Atta) - 1 cup • Oats - ½ cup ( I used Quaker) • Oil - 1 tbsp • Butter - 2 Tbsp • White sesame seeds - ¼ cup • Salt per taste • Baking Powder - ½ tsp • Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp • Chili flakes - 1 tsp • Water - as required to knead the dough Method: • Coarsely powder oats • In a bowl add the wheat flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Add ginger powder, chili flakes, sesame seeds. Combine well. • Add oil. Melt the butter and add at this stage. • Add water little by little to form a thick chapathi like dough. Keep aside undisturbed for 30mins. • Divide the dough into half. Roll each half thin and cut into squares or sticks or any desired shape. Combine the scrapings and repeat the same with the other half too. • Preheat oven to 180ºC. Place the squares on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until the crackers are crisp. The baking time depends on the thickness of the squares and the oven settings • Allow it to cool completely and then store away the rest in a tight container • Tastes great with a cup of tea Variations: • The original recipe by Suma had garlic paste instead of ginger and chili flakes • I increased butter to 2 Tbsp

Sending these to Champa's Bake-off event.

Gojjavalakki

Whenever mom made this in my college days, she would pack me 3 boxes for lunch instead of one. One for me, one for a friend and another large one for the remaining friends and almost for everyone in the class! People would fight to get their share of this delicious spicy food. I still love it when mom makes it, though I too make it fairly good. Here’s the recipe...

Gojjavalakki

Preparation time : 20 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: Avalakki/Poha/Beaten rice - 4 cups (Use thick variety) Tamarind - 1-2 lemon sized ball, soaked in ½ cup water Rasam powder - 2 tsp, vary as per your taste Jaggery - 1 small lemon sized ball Salt - 1 tsp, vary as per taste Desiccated coconut, grated - ½ cup For powdering: Fenugreek / methi seeds - ½ tsp Cumin seeds - 2 tsp Sesame seeds - 2 tsp For tempering: Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Groundnut seeds - 1 tbsp Chana dal - 1 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp White Sesame seeds - 2 tsp Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs Red chilies - 1 Turmeric - 1 pinch Method: • Dry roast all the ingredients under ‘For Powdering’ and when slightly cool, grind to powder and keep aside • Take the avalakki in a mixie jar and pulse it a couple of times, just enough to break it into very coarse powder. Do not over do this • In a wide bowl, mix tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt and rasam powder and add a little water, enough to dissolve the ingredients • Now wash the broken avalakki, by pouring water into it in a big vessel and immediately drain off the water, ensuring that it is not soaked • Add this drained avalakki into the tamarind water prepared above and leave it undisturbed for 2 minutes till the avalakki absorbs the liquid. • Mix it a couple of times to ensure uniform soaking and absorbing of the taste • If the avalakki seems too hard even after soaking, sprinkle a little more water and let it absorb • Once done, in a big skillet, heat oil and make the tempering: o Add mustard seeds and allow to splutter o Turn the heat low, add groundnut seeds, and stir o After the groundnuts are half-done, channa dal and urad dal o Add curry leaves and red chili pieces and stir for half a minute till all the ingredients are properly roasted. o At the end add sesame seeds and turmeric powder • Now mix in the soaked avalakki into the tempering, add the spice powder prepared above, grated coconut and stir well to combine • Check and adjust the taste if necessary • Heat it while stirring just till it is hot and mixed well • Serve warm or cold Tips n Tricks: • Do not over powder the avalakki. • Each type of avalakki needs a different amount of water, so use a little initially and increase later if necessary Variations: • You need not heat it after adding tempering. That gives a slightly different taste. I like it if heated.

Burnt Eggplant in Coconut Chutney

This is one side dish that comes into my mind instantly when I see eggplant! I used to dislike this veggie earlier, but now with a wide variety of dishes that can be prepared with the eggplant, I actually started liking it. This is quite easy to prepare - cook the eggplant on stovetop till the outer skin is burnt, after which the skin is removed and the inner part is added to a ground coconut chutney. Tastes great with chapathis, rottis, esp Ubbu rotti, and even with rice.

Burnt Eggplant in Coconut Chutney

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Eggplant - 3, medium sized, preferably purple ones Coconut - 1 cup, grated Green chilies - 5-6, depending on taste Channa dal - 2 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Coriander leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped Cooking oil - 1 tsp Jaggery - a small pinch (optional) Tamarind - a small marble sized ball Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Turmeric - 1 pinch For Tempering: Cooking oil - 1 tsp Curry leaves - A few sprigs Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Asafetida - a pinch, powdered Method: • Wash the eggplants, make sure there are no holes on the outer skin, which means there might be bugs inside • Smear a few drops of oil over the eggplant • Switch on the gas and place these eggplants directly over the flame • Turn it around every now and then and ensure an even blackening of the outer skin. This will take around 2 minutes per eggplant. • Poke the back of a spoon or a knife to check if it is cooked soft inside. • Repeat this for all the eggplants and set aside to cool • Meanwhile, roast green chilies, curry leaves and chana dal in a few drops of oil till they change color • Grind the above with coconut, turmeric, salt, tamarind, jaggery, coriander leaves, adding a little water if needed • Transfer the ground chutney to a serving bowl • Once the burnt eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel the outer charred skin. A thick layer comes out easily. • Mash this slightly or cut with a knife to get small pieces • Add it to the ground chutney and mix well For tempering / tadka: • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves • Garnish with tadka Tips n Tricks: • Do not make the chutney too smooth – a little coarse consistency will give a better taste • You can just bake the eggplant in oven too. But make sure to prick some holes all over, to prevent it from bursting inside the oven!

Ubbu Rotti - Rice flour roties

Where was I all these days? Well I was right at home and at office but too tied up with lots of work and expectations. Well, the last month - Shravana masa as we call it will generally be quite hectic with me, with all those poojas and festivals. Though there were quite many special dishes cooked, I didn’t have any energy or enthu to click and blog. So just stayed back from blogging. Now here I am, back in full swing!

Coming to today’s dish, we have what we call Ubbu rotti - a roti made of rice flour, which just puffs up like poori when making, and is very soft and melts in your mouth. Not very difficult to make, though requires a little more time than the usual chapathis or so, but its really worth a try.This tastes great with some chutney, vegetable palya, esp any side dish made of brinjal/eggplant. The side dish recipe will soon follow.

Ubbu Rotti

Preparation time : 20 min Cooking time : 20 min Makes : 8-10 Ingredients: Rice flour - 1 ½ cups + for dusting Water - 3 cups Salt - ½ tsp, or as per taste Cooking Oil - 2 tsp Method: • In a heavy bottomed pan, boil water by adding salt and a few drops of oil • Once water starts boiling, add rice flour and let it remain for 10 minutes on medium low flame • At the end of 10 minutes, take a strong ladle and continuously stir, avoiding lumps • Cook for a couple of minutes more. The resulting dough should be similar to that of papad dough - soft, but non sticky • Let it cool for a couple of minutes so that it can be handled • Divide the dough into 3-4 parts and knead it well, smearing a few drops of oil. See tips and tricks below for easier ways. • Once the dough is kneaded well into a soft but firm dough, take big small lemon sized balls and roll it using rolling pin like a chapatti/roti. Use a little amount of rice flour if it feels sticky • Heat a griddle on high flame and cook the rolled rotti on both sides by flipping. Ensure not to brown the rotti. Appearance of light brownish spots indicates that it is done. • Repeat the same with rest of the dough • Serve hot with some palya/gojju/chutney Tips n Tricks: • To avoid your palms getting burnt while kneading the hot dough, fill it in thick polythene and cover it in a towel / thick cloth and knead it over it. This way a smooth and soft dough will be ready in a jiffy • It is easy to knead the dough when hot rather than juggling it when it gets colder • Knead it, make into balls before you start rolling. This saves time and effort, and it gets easier to roll and then cook simultaneously • The better you knead, the easier it is to roll. If the dough is not kneaded well, while rolling the rottis start cracking and gets difficult to handle Variations: • The same can be prepared with fine soji or maida instead of rice flour. But the one with rice flour is a far healthier one.

Ashgourd Dosa

Ok, now you have saved that ash gourd pulp after making majjige huLi, right? Well, soak some rice and dal for a soft, and fluffy dosa! Don't waste any edible part of any veggies, is my policy! Especially if it can be converted into a new variety of dosa! Though i'm not a big fan of this actually nice and healthy veggie, i never say no to it in dosa form!
Go ahead and make these and you'll surely love it!

Ash gourd Dosa

Preparation time : 30 min, excluding time for soaking Cooking time : 2 min per dosa Serves : 4 Ingredients: Dosa Rice - 2 cups Ash gourd (inner part) - 2 cups (chopped into chunks, deseeded) Beaten Rice / Avalakki - ½ cup Urad dal - 1 Tbsp Salt - ¾ th tsp or according to taste Cooking oil - to make dosas Method: Batter: • Soak the rice & dal in enough amount of water for 4-6 hours, and soak avalakki for about 15 minutes • Chop and deseed the ash gourd • Grind the rice-dal mixture along with avalakki and the ash gourd in a mixie or grinder and prepare a smooth batter. Batter should be like a thick milkshake. • Let the batter ferment overnight or for about 8-10hours. Batter would slightly rise by then. Dosa: • Add salt to the batter & mix well. • Heat the griddle • When the griddle is hot, smear a few drops of oil • Pour 1 to 1 ½ Tbsp of batter on the griddle. Do not try to spread it thin like for normal dos. Just allow it to spread itself or slightly spread it, making a thick pan cake like dosa • Cook on medium heat, covering. • Turn over the dosa and cook on the other side too, till it becomes light golden brown • Serve hot with coconut chutney. Tips n Tricks: • Do not cook the dosa on high flame. They’ll not be done in the middle but get brown on the outer layer, since these are thick

Sending this to Akila's event: Dish name starts with A.

Ashgourd in yoghurt sauce (Majjige HuLi)

What do you do if you have excess of curds or buttermilk? And some juicy vegetable like ash gourd or cucumber or bottle gourd? In our house it is Majjige HuLi, a special side dish for rice having veggies in a spicy yoghurt sauce. And this is generally accompanied by baLaka/majjige menasinakai (salted, fried green chilies) and sandige (fritters).It makes a nice change from the usual rasam and sambhar and in a very healthy way.

This time it is Majjige HuLi with ash gourd. Peel off the gourd and chop the outer part of the gourd for this. And what do you do with the inner pulp? Well, deseed it and save it in the refrigerator for another exciting recipe coming soon!
Here’s the recipe...

Ash gourd Majjige HuLi

Preparation time : 15 min, excluding time for soaking Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4-5 Ingredients: Ash gourd - 2 cups (chopped into chunks, outer part) Chana dal - 1 Tbsp, soaked for at least ½ an hr Cumin seeds - 2 tsp Ginger - 1” cube Green chilies - 5-6, depending on taste Coconut - 3 Tbsp, grated Coriander leaves - 2 sprigs Curds - 1 cup Buttermilk - ½ cup Turmeric - 2 pinches Salt - 1 tsp or according to taste For tempering: Oil - 1 tsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Method: • Soak the dal in enough amount of water • Cook the chopped ash gourd in enough water till tender. Do not over cook • Meanwhile, grind the soaked dal, cumin, coriander, ginger, green chilies, turmeric and coconut to a fine paste, adding a little water • Once the vegetable is cooked, add the ground paste and salt and bring to a boil • Add curds and adjust the consistency with buttermilk and continue to boil for a couple of minutes. • Make tempering with cumin seeds, add and serve with rice. Tastes good even when cold Tips n Tricks: • Do not overcook the ash gourd • Let the sauce not be too thick. Adjust the consistency with more or less buttermilk Variations: • Veggies like ash gourd, cucumber, winter melon, bottle gourd make this dish good • The same can be prepared with greens too

Sending this to Akila's event: Dish name starts with A.

Hurali Saru, Usli (Horsegram Rasam and Palya)

When it is raining and cold outside, and you’re craving for some simple food here’s the best thing that can pep you up! A simple rasam made out of horse gram stock and an accompaniment of usli/palya (a stir fry of cooked horse gram). This tastes good when hot and tastes better even when cold. An ideal combination to beat the cold!

HuraLi Saru

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 20 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Horse gram / HuraLi - 1 cup Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp Dry red chilies - 8-10 (byadagi or guntur variety based on your taste buds) Cumin seeds - 2 tsp Fenugreek /Methi seeds - ¾ tsp Cinnamon - one small stick Maratha Moggu - 2 Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Coconut - 1 Tbsp, grated Onion - 1 small, chopped into chunks Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste Jaggery - 1 inch cube Tamarind pulp - 2 tsp Coriander - A few sprigs For tadka / Oggarane Cooking oil - 1 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Asafetida - a small pinch Method: • Cook horse gram in pressure cooker with sufficient water till tender and cool it • Meanwhile in a skillet, roast the spices - coriander seeds to curry leaves till aromatic • Allow to cool slightly and grind to a smooth paste along with onion and coconut. Add water to facilitate the mixie/blender • Drain the cooked horse gram and separate the liquid. Keep the gram aside for usli • To the liquid, add tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt, ground paste, coriander and bring to boil. • Adjust consistency by adding water if required. Let it boil for at least 10 minutes. For tadka / Oggarane • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter • Add asafetida • Garnish the rasam with tadka and a few coriander leaves • Serve hot, with piping hot rice and ghee. • It tastes great when cold too Tips n Tricks: • Check the horsegram at least twice for little stones. Generally, even the cleaned variety will contain a few stones.

Usli

Ingredients: Cooked Horse gram / HuraLi - 1 cup Coconut - 1 Tbsp, grated Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste Coriander - A few sprigs For tadka / Oggarane Cooking oil - 2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Bengal gram dal - 1 tsp Black gram dal - 1 tsp Green chilies - 4-5 (based on your taste buds) Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Method: • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter • Add the dals and stir till golden brown • Add slit green chilies, curry leaves and sauté • Mix in the cooked horsegram, add salt, grated coconut and stir well • Garnish with a few coriander leaves chopped • Serve with rice and huraLi saru.

Avarekalu Akki Rotti

Indian beans, or avarekaLu is one of the specialties of South India, especially Karnataka. There are a wide variety of dishes prepared from this bean. The taste, flavor and texture of these beans are just awesome. Almost every other famous regional cuisine here, can be modified to include these beans, which then give an entirely special variety.
Along with making unique dishes with it, you can add these beans to Rasam, Sambhar, Upma, Bisi Bele Bhaath, make pulav out of it, add to lemon rice, so on and so forth. And the most special one is akki rotti with avarekaLu, which is considered as a real specialty. The taste and flavor it adds to the already mouth watering akki rotti is simply unique. Especially when made directly on a skillet, and served hot with a coconut chutney!
Check out the recipe....

Avarekalu Akki Rotti

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : ~3 min per rotti Serves : 4 Ingredients: Rice flour - 2 cups Avarekalu/Indian beans - 1 ½ cups Coconut - ½ cup, grated Cumin seeds - 1 tsp, optional Cooking oil - 2-3 Tbsp Ginger - 1 tsp, grated Curry leaves - 2 Tbsp, finely chopped Green chilies - 2-3, optional Coriander - 2 Tbsp, finely chopped Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Method: • Cook Avarekalu/Indian beans in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water and ½ tsp of salt for 3 whistles, or till cooked soft • Once cool enough to handle, add rice flour, grated coconut, cumin seeds, chopped coriander and curry leaves, green chilies, grated ginger, more salt if required and mix • Add more water if necessary. Do not make the dough too watery, neither too tight. • The consistency should be soft enough to pat it with fingers easily, without sticking • Take a skillet, preferably non stick, or otherwise a well seasoned one, and smear a teaspoon of oil on the inside, till about ¾ths from the centre • Take a ball of the dough (for a medium sized kadai take a small orange sized ball) and place on the centre • Pat it with your fingers, and spread it evenly till the ¾ths, where oil was already smeared • Make sure that the rotti thus patted is evenly spread. Since it contains beans, it cannot be patted too thin, do don’t worry about that • Smear another teaspoon of oil over it • Place the kadai on medium high flame and cover with a lid/plate • After half a minute, remove the plate and let it crisp for another half a minute as per your choice • Once done, the rotti comes out of the skillet very easily with hardly any effort to remove it manually • Cool the skillet and repeat the same for the other rotties (See tips below) • Serve hot with a coconut chutney Tips n Tricks: • Use at least two skillets if you have to make this for 2 to 4 people. Use one, by the time it is cooking pat on the other. When the second one is cooking, cool the first one and reuse. This way, time can be managed well • To cool the skillet keep it under running cold water, inverted. Do not wet the inside, only outside should get wet and cool • Any sized kadai can be used. The small, iron skillet used for making tempering is the best. Vary the size of the dough taken and the cooking time based on the size • Use tender, fresh Indian beans for the best taste Variations: If you are pressed for time and cannot afford to cool the pans and pat each rotti, then, here’s an alternative: • Use a thick polythene sheet and cut it into a circle of desired size (size that fits on you tawa), or use a plantain leaf • Smear the sheet with oil and pat the dough on it. • Heat the tawa and invert the sheet over and after a few seconds remove and let cook on the tawa on both sides. Meanwhile pat another one and keep ready before removing the first one • This is easier in preparation, saves time and also consumes less resource like heat and water. However, you’ll be compromising a great deal on the taste. I do not say it tastes bad, but the one made on skillet cannot be compared for sure.

Sending this to Akila's event: Dish name starts with A.

Carrot Baby corn Masala

The next few posts of mine will be some old dishes that I had saved as drafts but not posted. Some of them are even as old as last year, and now comes the time to post them all....

I’ve messed up with my camera, or rather Dee’s camera. I tried doing a favor for a friend by recovering her mistakenly deleted pictures and borrowed her card. Just as Dee was trying to stop me from inserting that card into his camera, I just inserted it, and whew.... the camera broke down :(. Now it can’t write on any card nor can we take pictures. I felt so so bad about it that I almost spoiled a couple of days over it.....
Now we should get it fixed over the weekend, and till then no way of clicking food pics. I don’t even have my other old camera here and may be if I get it, I can click some in the next week. So till then, no new recipes to post. But well, I have loads of them in drafts and will be posting them one by one!
This one is a dish I had tried out sometime last year, but hadn’t posted. Here it goes....

Carrot Baby corn Masala

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Carrots - 2, cut into 1’ x ¼’ pieces Baby corn - 8-10, cut into 1’ x ¼’ pieces Onions - 3 medium sized, chopped Tomatoes - 2 medium sized, chopped Green chilies - 2, slit Garlic - 6-8 flakes Almonds - 12-15, soaked in water for sometime Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Ginger Garlic paste - ½ tsp Coriander powder - ½ tsp Garam masala powder - ½ tsp Red Chili powder - ½ tsp Kitchen king masala - ½ tsp Method: • Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and saute half of the cut onions till golden brown• Add the cut tomatoes and cook till done • Once cool enough to handle, add soaked almonds and grind to a puree • Heat the remaining oil in a another pan, and add ginger garlic paste and slit green chilies • Add the remaining chopped onion, and stir till golden brown • Now add the chopped carrots and baby corn and cook till tender. Sprinkle a little water if needed. • Add red chilli powder, garam masala powder, kitchen king masala and coriander powder • Now add salt and the ground paste and bring to boil • Add water if the consistency is too thick and boil for 3-4 min, stirring intermittently. • Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander • Serve it with rotis/phulkas/chapathis. Tips n Tricks: • Do not overcook the veggies, let it be slightly crispy

Matodi Palya - Methi and Dal Stir fry

Here’s one of my mom’s trademark recipes. It’s a combination of methi/fenugreek leaves and chana dal. It tastes and smells so heavenly, and is a great combination to have with rice and a spoon of oil or ghee. Mom mostly plans to make this when I visit her, and I just sit and hog it with rice.... When you’re making it, the flavor of the methi and dal is just tantalizing. I recently made it myself too in a large quantity and saved it in the fridge for a couple of days. It tasted good when mixed with rice and packed for lunch too. Some people call it matodi palya and some call it matwadi palya. I am not sure why the name of it is so, but whatever the name, it is one must-try dish. It takes in very few ingredients and easy to make too. Here’s the recipe....

Matodi Palya

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : 25 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: Chana dal - 1 cup Methi leaves - 4 cups, picked, washed and chopped Coconut - ½ cup, grated Green chilies - 5-6 Dry red chilies - 5-6, vary as per taste Cooking oil - 2 Tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Turmeric - a pinch Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Method: • Wash and soak chana dal for at least 3 hours • Pick and wash methi leaves and chop finely • Once the dal is soaked well, grind it along with chilies, salt and coconut and salt to a coarse mixture. Do not add any water for grinding • In a non stick / heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds allow to splutter and turmeric • Add the methi leaves and sauté for a minute • Add the ground mixture and mix thoroughly • Cook well for at least 15 minutes on medium heat. Stir frequently and ensure the mixture is evenly cooked. • Turn off the flame and let it cool. This can be saved in refrigerator for 4-5 days and outside for ay least 2 days when cooked well. • Serve with hot rice and a teaspoon of oil. Tips n Tricks: • Do not grind the ingredients very finely. Let it be coarse and let there be a few whole grains of dal. This adds a nice taste to the end product. Variations: • The same can be made with other greens, but don’t expect the same taste and flavor as that of methi.

Sending this recipe of mom to Walking Through The Memory Lane hosted by Gayathri

Chili Cookies / Khara Biscuit

Here’s one variety of cookies that I prepare quite often and it always comes out good. I generally bake this along with some sweet biscuits, so that they make a good combination. FIL who has restrictions on sugar intake loves these cookies as he can have them guilt-free.

A hot cuppa chai and these hot cookies make a good evening snack on a weekend.

Here’s how to make them....

Khara Biscuit

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15 min Makes : 15-20 Ingredients: Maida - 1 ½ cups (All purpose Flour) Butter - ½ cup Baking soda - ½ tsp (or Baking powder - ¾ tsp) Salt - a small pinch Green chilies - 4-5, vary depending on taste Curry leaves - 4-5 sprigs Ginger - 1” cube grated Curd - 2 Tbsp White sesame - 1 Tbsp, optional Method: • Preheat oven at 180ºC • Grease a baking tray with a little butter and keep aside till the dough is ready • Finely chop green chilies and curry leaves • In a bowl mix flour, soda and salt well • In another bowl, beat butter till fluffy • Fold in the flour, add green chilies, curry leaves and grated ginger. Mix well. • Add the curd little by little, ensuring the mixture is just bound well • Make small balls of marble size, of the dough with the help of your palms and flatten it • Optionally coat one side with white sesame • Place these on the greased tray, coated side facing up, leaving enough space for expansion • Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes. Check after about 10 minutes and adjust the time, not to over bake or under bake. • Let it stand in the oven for 10-15 minutes before serving hot and melting cookies • Allow it to cool completely and then store away the rest in a tight container Tips n Tricks: • Do not forget to preheat the oven Variations: • Finely chopped and sautéed onions and chopped coriander can be added

Sending this entry to Champa’s Bake off event.

Jackfruit Seeds Gojju/Gravy

‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’, I read somewhere. And for me, it’s raining jackfruits this season! Well, I am a big fan of jackfruits. You get me a big ripe yum jackfruit and peel it for me (yeah, I can’t do it myself) and I’ll finish half of it before you even peel it fully!
This year, Dee is getting home jackfruits very often and I promptly do the honors :). And our next task would be to count the number of seeds to see if the amount we paid was worth it!

These seeds taste good when cooked with veggies and added in sambhar, which we do quite often. Other than that, this season, since the quantity of the seeds was more, we had to make something else to use it up, so here is a gojju with jackfruit seeds. It does taste good, with rice or chapathis.

Jackfruit seeds gojju

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15-20 min Serves : 4-5 Ingredients: Jackfruit seeds – 18-20 medium sized Cooking Oil - 2 tsp Turmeric - a small pinch Chana dal – 2 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds - ¾ tsp Red chilies - 10 -12, byadagi variety (use Guntur variety for spicier version) Coconut - 1 cup, grated Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 15-20 Jaggery - 1 big marble sized ball Tamarind - 2 big marble sized balls, washed and soaked Salt - 1 tsp, vary acc to taste Method: • Peel and break jackfruit seeds. • Pressure cook with a little water and a little salt for 2-3 whistles or till cooked soft. • Meanwhile, in a separate pan, dry roast chana dal, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, red chilies and remaining curry leaves for 1-2 minutes till they become aromatic and golden brown • Allow to cool slightly and grind the roasted spices with grated coconut, salt and jaggery, tamarind pulp adding water if required • Add this ground paste to the cooked jackfruit seeds, and bring it to a boil • Add water to maintain gravy-like consistency • Put off the flame after 5 minutes of boiling • Make tempering with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add to the gravy. • Serve with rice / rotis/ chapathis/ dosas Tips n Tricks: • To break the jackfruit seeds, hit it with a rolling pin or some heavy object. It breaks into smaller pieces, after which it is easy to peel the outer thick skin. Variations: • Green chilies can be used in place of dry red chilies

Carrot Soup

Had seen a carrot soup recipe in Sushma’s beautiful blog and had made a mental note that I should try it out. Last weekend, when it rained heavily, Dee wanted some kind of soup for dinner. I went into the kitchen and saw that there was just one small little tomato and a couple of carrots. Ok, I thought, I’ll try out carrot soup. Frankly, I didn’t remember the recipe so went ahead and made it in my own way. And it did come out well. All of us licked our bowls clean ;)

Carrot Soup

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4-5 Ingredients: Carrot - 2-3 medium sized Tomato - 1 small Butter - 1 tsp Ginger - 1” cube Black pepper powder - 1 tsp Red Chili powder - ¼ tsp (optional) Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Salt - ¼ tsp or as per taste Water - 2 cups, change acc to consistency Corn flour - 2 tsp Milk - ¼ cup Fresh cream - 1 Tbsp (optional) Method: • Peel and chop carrots into large chunks • Heat butter in a pan and add ginger and chopped carrots • Add water and bring to boil • Add tomato and cook till carrots are cooked soft • Let it cool for a few minutes • Grind the cooked carrots, tomato and ginger adding the water used for cooking the veggies if necessary, to make a fine paste • Strain the puree to a vessel • Add salt and chili powder and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. • Mix corn flour with half a cup of cold milk/water without lumps and add it to the boiling soup • Add enough water so that a right consistency of soup is maintained – neither too thick nor too thin • Let it boil for a couple of minutes more • Put off the heat and add fresh cream and stir well • Add pepper powder and serve hot Tips n Tricks: • Use chili powder only if you want the soup spicy. Normally, the ginger and pepper are enough for spice. Variations: • A small onion can also be added to give a different flavor • Sushma uses coriander as well, which gives yet another different flavor

Aloo Paratha - South Indianised!

Are we all not so accustomed with tastes that are native to us? Whenever we learn something new from some other place, we make sure that we tweak it to suit our tastes... this is especially true with elders who are so used to their taste familiar to them. They find it hard to get used to some new taste.....

A similar situation has given rise to this South-Inidianised form of parathas! My inlaws, esp my MIL, likes her south Indian form of cooking with lot of coconut and stuff, rather than garam masalas, ginger garlic pastes and so on! And since we all love parathas, and she too wants to have it but in her form, she has tweaked it so much that it hardly resembles the actual paratha in taste, except that it has stuffing of aloo in atta dough! She uses the famous south Indian aloo palya - that we serve with Masala dosa, to make these parathas. And the accompaniment here is the very familiar coconut chutney, and not pickle and curd.

However, I must confess this is a great weekend breakfast item that we all drool over. It is worth a try, if you want variety in your usual parathas....
Here’s her recipe....

Aloo Paratha - South Indianised!

Preparation time : 20 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: For the stuffing: Potatoes - 4-5 medium sized Onions - 3-4, medium sized Oil - 2-3 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Green chilies - 3-4, depending on taste Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs, leaves chopped Coriander leaves - 2-3 sprigs, chopped Turmeric - a pinch Salt to taste For parathas: Atta / Wheat flour - 3-4 cups + more for dusting Salt to taste Water to knead the dough Oil - for smearing on the parathas Method: For the stuffing: • Cook potatoes in a pressure cooker till done • Peel and mash roughly • Meanwhile chop onions finely, slit green chilies • In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seed and allow to splutter • Once done, add the urad dal, curry leaves, green chilies and sauté till done • Add chopped onions and stir till translucent. Add turmeric. • Once onions are done, add roughly mashed potatoes, salt and chopped coriander • Mix well, and sauté for a couple of minutes • The stuffing is ready. Allow to cool for some time • One cool, make small lemon sized balls For parathas: • Knead the flour and salt into soft dough using required amount of water. • Allow to stand for 15-30 minutes • Make lemon sized balls of the dough • Roll it into a 3 inch circle, with the middle thicker than the edge • Place the stuffing ball into the middle and cover the edges evenly and pat the ball flat • Roll it using a rolling pin dusting with atta, ensuring the stuffing does not come out. Do it very gently. • Heat a tawa and cook the paratha well on both sides, smearing teaspoon of oil for each till brown spots appear. • Repeat for the remaining dough and filling • Serve hot with a dollop of butter and some coconut chutney. Onion-coconut chutney tastes best with this version of parathas. Tips n Tricks: • Knead the dough to be soft, if it is too tight rolling parathas will be difficult. • Roll gently to avoid the filling to ooze out • Mash the boiled potatoes so that there are no lumps, which otherwise will be hurdles while rolling

Onion Coconut Chutney

Make a little tweak in the ingredients of chutney, and off you get a totally different variety! Replace one ingredient with another, and you get a new variety. This way you’ll end up not repeating the same variant, and making the variant that most suits the main dish.This chutney is almost like any other coconut chutney that I’ve posted here, but with onions. And taste wise, I bet it’s totally different from all of these....
This tastes best with dosas, (South Indianised) aloo parathas (coming soon).

Onion-Coconut Chutney

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 5 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Coconut - 1 cup, grated Onions - 2 small sized, chopped into big chunks Green chilies - 5-6, depending on taste Chana dal - 2 tsp Coriander leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped Cooking oil - 1 tsp Jaggery - a small pinch (optional) Tamarind - a small marble sized ball Coriander and Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs each Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste For Tempering: Cooking oil - 1 tsp Curry leaves - A few sprigs Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Method: • Roast chana dal, green chilies and chopped onions in a tsp of oil till the mint leaves change color • Grind the above with all other ingredients, adding a little water if needed • Transfer the ground chutney to a serving bowl For tempering / tadka: • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves • Garnish the chutney with tadka Tips n Tricks: • Do not make the chutney too smooth – a little coarse consistency will give a better taste Variations: • Use raw onions and you get yet another version!

Carrot Muffins

Seeing a huge number of events around the blog world, I realized how infrequent I am in participating in them..... This may be because I am not so comfortable in cooking within constraints - cook this in this month, use these ingredients, and so on. Though I make a mental note when I see some event, it slips off my mind, and I realize I haven’t participated, once the event is over!
But of late, i decided to take part in as many events as possible, seeing the effort and passion with which co-bloggers host events....
Well, coming to this "Tried and Tasted" event hosted by Champa and started here, I must confess I had forgotten totally about it till last week. Luckily, I wasn't too late this time! So noted down this Carrot Muffins' recipe from Divya's blog and tried it out with some modifications over the weekend, in a hurry. I tasted it, and felt it could have been sweeter; didn’t serve it to anyone that day since we were all heading for a wedding. I didn’t have time to click pictures as well that day and just left that part of the work for the next day.

And guess what? By the time I returned home from work next evening, there were only two of them, saved for me!! I was happy that folks at home had liked it! Took pictures of the remaining two :)
Made the following modifications to the recipe, though:

• Omitted eggs - replaced it with butter and yoghurt
• Omitted the nuts
• Added Brown sugar as well as I wanted to use up some

Carrot Muffins

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : 20-25 min Makes : 12 muffins Ingredients: Grated Carrot - 2 cups All Purpose Flour – 2 cups Sugar – 1 ¼ cup Brown sugar - ¼ cup Melted Unsalted Butter – ¼ cup Yoghurt - 1/3 cup Vegetable oil - ¼ cup Grated coconut - ¼ cup Baking Powder – 1 tsp Baking Soda – ½ tsp Ground cinnamon - ½ tsp Salt - ¼ teaspoon Grated coconut - ¼ cup Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon Method: • Peel and finely grate carrots • Preheat Oven to 180 degrees C. • Line the Muffin tray with the Muffin Liner Paper Cups. I simply greased and dusted the muffin tray. • In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon • Add grated carrots and coconut • In a separate bowl whisk together the melted butter, oil, yoghurt and vanilla extract. • Fold the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. • Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes on low rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took exactly 25 minutes. • Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes Tips n Tricks: • Do not over mix the mixture. Let it remain crumbly. Variations: • Chopped walnuts/pecans can be added • One beaten egg can be added to get smoother muffins, in place of butter and yoghurt • Coconut can be replaced with crushed pineapple

Sending this to Champa's Bake-off event as well.