Kai-Sasuve Chitranna / Coconut mustard Rice

I would like to wish all a very Happy Belated Ugadi Wishes. I wanted to post this last week on Ugadi but somehow couldn't. So here it is a Rice item which is very different from the usual rice item. I usually do this on festivals and when I have fresh coconut, otherwise it doesn't taste that good. The main ingredients in this is Mustard and coconut other than Rice. Its simple and it dosent need any raita to the side.

Ingredients:

1tsp Mustard seeds
1cup Freshly grated coconut
1tsp Red chilli powder(or 6-8 Red Chilli)
1/2tsp Jaggery
salt to taste

For tempering:
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp Musatrd seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
1/4tsp turmeric powder
1tsp Peanut
5-6 curry leaves
Hing


Method:
First grind mustard seeds, coconut, red chilly/chilly powder, jaggery, salt. If needed add few spoons at a time water, otherwise try to grind it without. Once you grind it to a paste, prepare tempering with oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, peanut, turmeric powder,hing and curry leaves. Add the paste and saute it for couple of mintues in low flame. If you have added water while grinding then saute it a little more otherwise 3-4 mintues should be fine. Add this mixture to the cooled rice and mix well. Serve warm.

Khaju/Cashew Masala

The name itself says how rich, creamy and elegant this dish is. Its one of my favorite dishes I used to have when I used to go to a Restaurant called "Gokul" in Bangalore. Its a small restaurant but this dish was one of the best there. I wonder now how I used to eat this and burn the calories in it. This is a very royal dish so don't make it quite often. Last time I had this dish was 2 yrs ago when I visited B'lore and learn't this dish in a cookery class. Once in 3-4 months is ideal. If you are fan of veggies in curry then this can be a side dish , as there are no vegetables in this dish its just cashews. Cashews are one of the healthy nut and its good if you eat 4-5 nuts daily. For more information on cashews you can refer this link. Now lets move on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

1cup Whole Cashews
1/4cup Khova/heavy cream
2tsp Ghee
2 Onions chopped & paste
2 cloves
2 cinnamon
2 cardamom pods
1/2 cup Tomato puree
1tsp G+G+G[Ginger+Garlic+Green chilli]
2tsp Coriander powder
2tsp Red Chilli powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp cashew paste[5-10 cashews and 1tsp water and grind into fine paste]
1/2cup Fresh coconut slices
few curry leaves
1tsp Kasuri Methi

Method:
Fry Whole cashews in oil and keep aside. Heat ghee/oil in a pan add whole masalas, onion paste, G+G+G and saute for a minute. Then add tomato puree and dry masalas. Now fry till the oil seperates. Add 1/2 to 1 cup water[depending on the consistency required] and salt , when it starts boiling add khova/cream and fried cahews. Cook for few minutes. Finally add cashew paste, coconut bits and cook for 2-3 minutes and serve warm with chapathi's/ roti.

Simple Salad

Here is a simple salad but very tasty.
Ingredients:

1 cup Lettuce roughly chopped
5-10 Grape/cherry Tomato cut into half
1tbsp chopped walnuts
5 Pineapple bits(from can)
1tbsp Cooked Garbanzo beans(or Canned)
1/4cup Green bell peppers(roughly chopped)
salt and pepper
1tbsp Olive Oil

Method:

Place a serving bowl and add lettuce, tomatoes, pineapple, walnuts, garbanzo beans, bell peppers, salt and pepper. Now add a spoon of olive oil and toss it. Serve chill.

Tips: You can add any dressing or vinaigrette .This is one simple version.

Instant Jalebi

This is my blog-anniversary Post. Its been a year I started to blog. I started the blog with a dedication to my brother and am celebrating today with a dedication to my son who just loves these. "Jalebi" the word itself is mouth watering. Its one of the tastiest Indian dessert. Its my son's favorite sweet and he can trade his lunch/dinner for this. Its actually very good for Acidity patients, they say "If eaten with a glass of milk every morning then the acidity will be cured". But I am not sure how much it is true. Its high in calories for sure as it fried and dipped in sugar syrup so will add few pounds. But its fine to eat once in a while.

This is a very easy recipe and makes Jalebi's perfect ,crispy and instant every time. Just follow the recipe as it is. I have done this couple of times and would do it whenever my son wants. Its healthy since we'll be using fresh oil and right ingredients. Since its Instant you cannot store it and eat later, it has been eaten warm. So prepare this at the nth moment. You can add any color you want to make look like jalebi's.

Ingredients:

For the jalebi batter
1 cup plain flour (maida)
1 teaspoon Bengal gram flour (besan)
1/2 teaspoon fresh yeast, crumbled
1 tablespoon melted ghee
1 teaspoon sugar
2 to 3 drops of lemon yellow food colouring
For the sugar syrup
2 cups sugar
a few saffron strands
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Other ingredients
ghee/oil for deep frying


Method:

For the jalebi batter-
Sieve the plain flour and gram flour together. Dissolve the yeast in 1 tablespoon of water. Mix the flour mixture, yeast solution, ghee, sugar and lemon yellow food colouring with 2/3 cup of water to make a thick batter, making sure that no lumps remain. Keep aside for 10 minutes till the yeast ferments.
For the sugar syrup-
Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup of water and simmer for 5 minutes till the syrup is of 1 string consistency. Add the saffron and lemon juice and mix. Remove from the fire and keep aside.

Heat the ghee/oil in a broad saucepan [about 1" deep]. Fill the Jalebi batter into a piping bag/ketchup bottle with a single hole nozzle or a thick cloth with a small hole in the center which is finished with button-hole stitch. Press out round whirls of the batter into the hot ghee/oil working closely from centre to the outside of the whirl. Deep fry the Jalebis till golden brown and transfer into the warm sugar syrup. Drain immediately and serve hot.
Tips
Do not allow the Jalebi batter to over ferment. Fry the Jalebis immediately once the batter has rested for 10 minutes.

"Recipe from Tarla dala(dot)com"

Spinach Chapathi/ Tortilla with Zucchini Palya/sabzi

"Go Green"would be the best name for this dish, as everything is green.In my last grocery shopping I was looking for some tortilla's for making chips and found spinach tortilla and liked the color but I didn't feel like buying as I felt its kinda old. So i thought how about i try it at home and see how it tastes. It was really tasty, healthy and a lovely color. Its simple though as we do regular methi chapati. I usually have the baby spinach bag in my refrigerator, so it made my life a little simpler.

Ingredients:

Chapati:
1 cup Baby spinach
2 cups Wheat flour
1tsp salt
1tsp oil

Palya/Subzi:

4 Zuchhini
2tsp huli pudi/curry powder
1tbsp fresh coconut grated
1tsp oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
salt to taste
jageery(optional)
1tsp cilantro for garnish


Method:
Chapati-
Grind the spinach with a little water in a blender/food processor. Now mix that with the wheatflour, salt and oil and make a dough. Now roll each ball and roast it on the griddle for 2 mins on each side.

Palya/Subzi:
Cut the zucchini into cube shapes.Prepare the tempering with mustard seeds and ural dal. Now add the chopped zucchini and fry for 2-3 mins and then add salt and saute for a min more. Now add huli pudi/ curry powder, jaggery and coconut. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with chapati.


I am sending this post to 'Healing Foods Event'-Spinach, hosted by Divya.

Crochet Poncho

This is my first big project in crochet and I took around 3 months to complete but it looks amazing and I am very happy that I tried it. The white yarn looks neat and goes well on any color dress. I used to have one in my childhood which my Mom had crochet it for me and I had it for a long time.I even remember the color of it...RED. I saw this in a book that I borrowed from the library.
I fell in love the time I saw this and started of right away. But I couldnt spend much of my time on this so it took me 3 months to complete but I think its perfect for Spring.Don't you think so?