Stuffed mini Bell Peppers

Hi all, we're back with a long. 2 months long vacation to India. It was quite a relaxing and a memorable trip, as got to spend some quality time with my parents and brother family. It's so wonderful to be around them. It's always exciting to see the kids getting along with their cousins and having fun, sleep and stay together. I treasured this vacation and hope to see more of this in future.

Once the vacation is done its time to get back to the routine and your normal life, kids r ready n excited to get back to school and I am ready to start the new year running with them all day. I wish them great success and lots of good memories. Saying all this I want to get to the dish I made today.

It's stuffed mini bell peppers, I am not a big fan of stuffed dishes but lot of people have asked me or mentioned about this and I had to try out to see what's the big deal about stuffed. Indeed it's worth all the time and effort as it tastes and looks yummy. It takes a little extra time in preparation than in cooking, so if you make more and freeze it save a lot of time in cooking.i loved the colors and the sweetness in this dish. Only complaint with this dish was its dry for roti/chapathi and my family likes a gravy dish. But I loved the taste and texture and more than all it's easy to make. Thanks to my cousin Savitha for sharing the recipe .

Ingredients:

5-6 Mini bell peppers

1 tsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp Jeera seeds

1 tsp peanut

1 tsp sesame seeds

4-5 Red chillies

1tbsp Dry coconut

1/2 tsp tamarind paste/powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves

1 tsp Olive oil.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 300*F .Wash the bell peppers and dry and keep aside. In a frying pan, dry roast coriander seeds, Jeera seeds, sesame seeds, peanut, red chillies and dry coconut. Once it's cooled, grind it into fine powder and add tamarind and salt and keep aside. Now take the peppers one at a time and slit open in the back till 3/4th for all of them. Now fill the filling well and place them in an oven safe dish. Sprinkle some olive oil on the top. Now cook in the oven for about 20 mins or till the peppers have wrinkles on the skin. Once done decorate it with chopped coriander leaves and serve warm. It's good as an appetizer or with rice or roti.

Dal Makhani

A punjabi dish rich and flavorful, as the name says it uses butter  and cream to make rich. It is a high protein dish(as it includes lentils) and very simple to make. Here is a simple version of it. It goes very well with Nan/Kulcha and so with roti/ chapathi(tortilla). 

Ingredients:

1 cup Black whole Urad dal & Rajma(kidney beans) mixed and soaked overnight

1 cup Tomato puree

1/2  onion( big pieces)

1 Big clove Garlic

1 piece Ginger

1tsp Cumin seeds

1tbsp oil

1 whole garam masala( or 1 tsp powder)

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp kichen king masala

1 tsp Kasoori Methi

1 tbsp Cream

1 stick butter( I used 1 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

First pressure cook the lentil mixture in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles and cool it. Now, grind the onion, ginger and garlic into a fine paste and keep aside. In a frying pay take a tbsp of oil and add cumin seeds when hot, then add the onion paste and fry until brown. Then add tomato puree and lower the flame and cover a bit if splutters. Then add all dry masalas and fry until oil leaves the pan. Add the cooked lentils no and mix well and add salt to taste. Add water here if it's too dry as the lentils start to absorb water. Once it comes to a boil add Kasoori methi and butter and mix well. Finally add cream and serve hot with your favorite bread.

Bisibelebath in crockpot

Crockpot is also called slow cooker. This was something new to me and have been thinking of investing in for a while. Since we're rice eaters and use rice cooker quite a lot, almost everyday you can say, wasn't sure it will be of any use for me. Last november I went ahead and bought one of these and I fell in love . It's easy, simple and heavy of course. Have been trying dishes which might reduce my cooking and staying in the kitchen time.( my long cooking time, that's why I said I love it).

I have tried couple of dishes now and I still go and check every now and then to see if it needs any more liquid or is it boiling or is it burnt :P. But now have got an idea and still up for experiments. This one is of those experiment dishes I did and know now what changes I need to make next time. Crockpots are perfect for working ladies and whose family demands for fresh hot meals.

This crockpot  is a very basic one and has only 3 settings and there're quite in the market with automatic ones. This one is working well for me. I would definitely recommend who wants to buy a crockpot, don't hesitate give it a try. 

I guess it was big into on CROCKPOT, now lets get talking about the dish, Bisibelebath a South Indian Dish very well known and favorite for most of them. It's a main dish with lentil and rice with vegetables. It's a super filler and very tasty. It can be altered according to your spice levels/tastes. It is usually eaten with a yogurt dip(Raitha) and chips. My kids call this dish as BB Bath and we do have started to call it that way. So let's see what all we need to prepare it.

Ingredients:

1 cup Toor Dal

2cups Rice( uncooked)

2 cups fresh/ frozen vegetables( I used Greeb beans, carrot, peas, potato, capsicum)

1 medium sized onion chopped

1-2tbsp BBbath powder

1tsp tamarind paste

A small ball of jaggery

1 Tomato

Few curry leaves

1tbso oil

1/2tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Urad dal

5-7 Peanuts

1tsp turmeric powder

Method:

First cook the Toor dal in pressure cooker for 3 whistles. In a small pan add oil and once it's hot put mustard seeds, as the splatter add urad dal, peanut & curry leaves. Now add capsicum and fry for couple of mins until the capsicum is soft. Now pour this into the crock pot and add cooked dal, washed / thawed vegetables, and the rest of the ingredients except rice. Give it a nice stir and add rice.  Now add 8 cups water and salt to taste. Finally cover it and turn it on to low for 5 hrs or high for 2.5-3 hrs.. It's a perfect warm meal for any day.

Serve it with Raitha, chips and ghee.

Tips: 

1. Never add Dal/lentil directly before you precook it. Otherwise the Lentil will not break down and it will get to that consistency. 

2. Check for enough water, as each rice needs different amount.

3. Choose any vegetables you like.

4. 2 cups rice yields for 4 people easily.

Eat it warm with Raita and chips.Enjoy! Happy Cooking. My next dish would be vegetable Lasagna in Crockpot.

Paneer Butter Masala

This is one of the easiest dishes I have ever prepared. It was as yummy as you get it in a restaurant. I was wondering why restaurants charge such huge price on this simple and easy dish. So I recommend you all to give it a try and see. You can alter some of the fatty items here, but substituting butter might not be that tasty as name itself says butter masala. I made this dish from Vahrevah.com website and his video. So here is the link for the same. Enjoy.

Video:-

Recipe:(This link also has the video)
http://www.vahrehvah.com/Paneer+Butter+Masala:3536http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rSygSz7aj9w

Khaman Dhokla

Dhokla is a Gujrathi snack similar to Idly. There are different forms of Dhokla and Khaman Dhokla is one of them. Here is the recipe for an Instant Khaman Dhokla which is perfect for an evening snack with tamarind chutney or corainder chutney.

Ingredients:

1 cup Besan/Gram flour
Pinch of Turmeric powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp citric acid crystals or juice of one whole lemon
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tsp soda-bicarbonate
Oil for greasing and tempering

For tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds(optional)
Few curry leaves
hing
Finely chopped coriander
grated fresh coconut
Method:
Mix all the dry and wet ingredients(except oil) and make a thick batter, similar to Idly batter. Grease the bowl and pour the batter into it and steam it for about 15 minutes and cool it before taking it out of the bowl. Make the tempering with oil, mustard seeds,curry leaves and hing. Put the dhokla on a plate and add tempering on the dhokla and garnish with cilantro leaves and coconut. Serve warm with chutney.

Avalakki Bisibele Bath

Avalakki is a kannada term which means Poha/ Beaten Rice. This is a simple dish to make and its as yummy as the regular Bisibele Bath. Instead of Rice here we use Avalakki/beaten rice. This is a best dish for Breakfast/Bunch or at Snack time. This can be made heavy meal with lots of vegetables or can be kept simple with just onion. I usually do only with Onion but this time I tried with lot of vegetables as I made it for Lunch on Sankashti, as I'm not supposed to eat Rice/ Toor dal.

Ingredients:
1 cup Beaten Rice
1/2-3/4 cup Moong Dal
1/2 Onion Thinly sliced
1 Tomato chopped
1 cup Vegetables of your choice(I added Beans, Lima Beans, Carrot and Capsicum)
1tbsp Oil
1tsp Mustard seeds
1tsp Urad dal
Hing
Few Curry leaves
10-12 Peanuts/Cashew nuts/both
salt to taste
1tsp Tamarind Paste
Jaggery to taste
1-2tsp MTR Bisibele Bath Masala

Method:
Cook the Moong dal with tomato & vegetables except Onion & Capsicum in a pressure cooker. Meanwhile if the beaten rice needs to be soaked for long time do it now otherwise you can do it at the end. Once the cooker is cooled pour the dal in a heavy bottom pan and get it to a boil and add 1-11/2 cups water and add tamarind paste, Masala, jaggery and salt. Let it boil for 2-3 mins. Meanwhile get the tempering ready with Mustard seeds, urad dal, peanuts, curry leaves, turmeric powder and add onion- capsicum and fry for 2 mins till its soft. Now add the beaten rice to the boiling dal and let it mix well, now keep stirring as it will get thick and burn at the bottom. Finally once it reaches the consistency add the tempering with onion-capsicum and let it cook for 2-3 mins. The BBB is ready, serve it with a spoon of ghee.

Zucchini-Carrot Kofta

Malai Kofta is one of my favorite curry, but thinking of the deep fried kofta's and lot of butter, cream involved in it scares me away. So I tried a healthy version with some vegetables and baked kofta. It was as yummy as you eat it at a restaurant with guilt free. I have used Zucchini, carrot and potato, but you can use any vegetable of your choice. But I am a big fan of Zucchini so, I tried this.

Ingredients:
2 Zucchini grated
1 carrot grated
2 Potato cooked and mashed
1cup Soy Chunks(I grinded it into fine powder-Nutella Brand)
salt to taste
1tsp Lemon juice
1-2 green chillies(optional)
1tsp Cashew nuts and Raisins

For gravy:
1tsp Oil
1 can tomato Puree(No salt and low sodium)
1 Onion finely chopped
1tsp Ginger-garlic paste
1tsp garam masala
1tsp Chilli powder
1tsp Kichen King Masala(optional)
1tbsp Kasuri Methi
1 bay leaf
1tsp Sugar
salt to taste
1/4tsp turmeric powder
1tbsp Heavy cream

Method:
Squeeze all the water from Zucchini and mix it with grated carrot and mashed potato. Add green chillies, cilantro , lemon juice, salt to taste and cashewnuts-raisin. Mix it well and divide into equal parts and give it a round shape and roll it in soy chunks powder and bake it in the oven at 350*F for 20 mins with a little sprinkle of oil on each of the kofta balls.

Gravy:

Saute the onions with a tsp of oil and add ginger-garlic paste and saute for few more mins. Now add the tomato puree and all the dry masalas, turmeric powder and cover it and let it boil for 2-3 mins. Lower the flame and keep stirring every few mins till the oil seperates. Add salt and sugar and finally add Kasuri Methi and cream. Keep the gravy hot till you serve. Add the kofta's before serving otherwise they get soggy. Enjoy with Naan/ Chapthi.

Sago/ Sabbakki Idly

I was cleaning my pantry and found some Sabbakki/Sago seeds. The only dish i knew with this was sabbakki payasa/Sago kheer, Which I wasn't in a mood to make but wanted to try something new with this. Upma is one more dish I know, but nobody likes that in my family. So I started my hunt and found this recipe on some blog, So I thought why not give it a try and ....it turned out so good and I liked it. So its a keep for sure.

Ingredients:

1cup Sabbakki/Sago seeds
1cup yogurt
1/2cup Fine sooji
cilantro leaves chopped
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
1/2tsp channa dal
1-2 green chillies chopped
salt to taste
3/4tsp ENO/fruit salt
Method:

Soak the Sago seeds in the yogurt overnight or at least 6 hrs with additional water if necessary. In a pan make tempering with oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, green chillies and broken cashew nuts(optional), add sooji and roast it for couple of minutes. Cool it and add it to the tapioca-yogurt batter. Add chopped cilantro, salt and eno and mix well. pour it into Idly stand and steam it for 15 Min's. Enjoy with sambar/chutney of your choice. Eat it warm.It is similar to rava idli's but has a little taste of Sago seeds.

Oatmeal Dosa(crepes)

Oatmeal Dosa is a one of the easiest and healthy Dosa I have eaten. Dosa is something I do every weekend and was so bored of soaking and grinding process. Since I was on a diet and not eating Rice items I was in hunt of a healthy version of Dosa and gave this a try. It was a gr8 hit in my house and tasted good too. Its simple to make and can be eaten any time of the day. Just mix and soak for an hour and its ready to make. The aroma of oatmeal on the griddle is superb. I enjoyed making and eating it.

Ingredients:

For Dosa
~~~~~~~~
1cup Instant Oatmeal
1/2cup Rice flour
1/2cup Yogurt/curds(if sour its still better)
1/2cup Semolina/fine Sooji
1tsp Finely chopped Green chillies
1tsp Cumin seeds/powder
1/2tsp Sugar
salt to taste
1tbsp Chopped Cilantro

For Rasa
~~~~~~~
1tbsp chopped Onion
1tbsp Tomato
1tsp Rasam Powder
salt and jaggery to taste
1tbsp Dalia/hurigadale Powder
1cup water+1tbsp
1tsp oil
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
a little Hing
cilantro for garnish

Method:

Soak oatmeal , rice flour, semolina and yogurt together. Soak for atleast an hour , add the other ingredients to the above mixture and make a semi-thick batter.Pre-heat a tava/griddle and pour a big spoon of batter and make a thick dosa or else they break while they are turned to cook on the other side. Put a spoon of oil on the sides serve hot with chutney/sambar/Rasa. Eat this dosa hot from the griddle, if cooled dosen't taste that good.

Rasa:

In a small pan make the tempering with hot oil ,mustard seeds and hing and let it splutter.Now add onion and fry till they are soft . Add tomatoes and 1 cup of water. Add Rasam powder, salt and jaggery and bring to a boil. Mix the hurigadale powder in a little water and make a thin batter and add it to the rasa with a low flame bring it a boil for 3-4 mins and garnish with cilantro. It tastes good with Dosa. (don't add too much jaggery it will taste like gojju, It has to be a little sweet and little spicy at the same time.)

Vegetable Jalfrezi

Jalfrezi is Indian version of Chinese stir-fry. This word is derived from different languages...Jhal/jal is a Bengali word which means spicy hot and frezi a slang for fry-zee. Zee is Urdu word and it means fry.Together this Jalfrezi makes a spicy hot fried dish. This is really interesting how a dish gets its name an its equally interesting to eat. Its a perfect Indian stir-fry, it spicy, tangy and filled with vegetables. Our family enjoyed every bite of it. Here vegetables have to be a little raw and crispy, you should not fry/cook it completely. But if you have somebody in your family who doesn't like the half cooked vegetables then cook a little more but fry less.

Ingredients:

1/2 Onion (cut into long thin strips)
1 Bell Pepper (cut into long thin strips)
1 Potato(Skin peeled and cut into long strips like french fries )
1 tomato(preferably hard cut into long strips after De-seeded)
1Zucchini(cut into long thin strips)-optional
1 Carrot (cut into long thin strips)
5-6 long cut Tofu/Paneer pieces
5-6 Baby corn
1tbsp oil/butter
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Garam Masala
1tsp Chilli powder
1/2tsp Dhania-Jeera powder
cilantro for garnishing

Method:
Put the potato, baby corn and Carrot in a microwave safe bowl and boil the potatoes for 5 Min's, till they get tender and not mushy. Heat the oil in a frying pan add cumin seeds and once they splutter, add turmeric powder and onion. Fry till they r soft, now add bell peppers saute them for few Min's and then add zucchini and saute them, now add cooked vegetables and finally add tomatoes. Meanwhile shallow fry/deep fry the tofu on a griddle. Once all the vegetables are saute well add tofu and dry masala and few drops of water and fry them few Min's till the masala's are well blended. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Note: If you want this to be a gravy version then add some water and bring to a boil andd 1/2tsp cornstarch powder mixed in 1tbsp milk. Mix well and serve hot.

Indian Pav/ Dinner Rolls

Pav....at home??you all must be thinking why would u do it at home when u can get it in store for an affordable rate. I also thought the same when I saw this entry in DK's Blog. But looking at those amazing pictures and so good step-by-step explanation I was carried away to try this at home. I really wanted to see 'is it that easy?' I have never baked a bread at home so far. But believe me its that easy and taste's way better than the store bought. Mine was super soft and perfect. If u have a day which u wanna bake try this. You can refer the method and ingredients in DK's blog but for my future reference I shall have the method and recipe. I haven't changed anything in the recipe, since it was my first attempt in baking a dinner roll and I wouldn't do it either now.

Ingredients:

3 cups Bread flour ( or use all purpose flour) plus few more for dusting
1 packet/21/4tsp Dry active yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1-1/4 cups milk
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
Method:

First warm the milk and add the butter and let it melt. Meanwhile take the yeast in a cup and add sugar and warm water and set aside for 10 mins so it rises. Now take a bowl and add the bread flour and salt and mix well. Combine the Milk and butter mixture slowly and then add it to the flour and mix well. It will be pretty sticky don't add any more flour to it. Now the flour the counter and put this sticky dough and start knead the dough, till the stickiness is gone. For about10-15 mins. Now grease a bowl and place this dough and cover it with a plastic wrap and let it rise double in volume.

Once its raised well take it out on a floured counter and roll into a square shape. Cut it into 12 equal parts and make a ball shaped with each piece. Place them on a baking sheet about11/2 inches apart. Let it raise again till they stick to each other. Pre heat the oven to 350*F and bake for about 25mins or till its golden in color. Let it cool for 10 mins before serving. We had this with Bhajji and it was awesome.

Thanks DK for this wonderful recipe. I was very excited it turned out great.

Note: Use Bread flour and dont replace it with APF. It makes a lot of difference.

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.

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.

Rava Dosa/Crepes

Dosa's are everyones favorite. This is an easy to make Dosa which needs no fermenting time or soaking. Just mix and do whenever you feel like.That's what I like most about. The Rave in this makes it crispier thats why kids love them. They are not as heavy as the Masala Dosa. Its perfect for evening snack.

Ingredients:
1/2cup Rava/Fine Sooji
1/2cup Rice Flour
1/4cup Maida/All purpose Flour
1tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
1tsp Cumin seeds
2 Green chillies finely chopped
Salt to taste
Method:
Mix all the flours and Sooji with salt , cumin seeds, green chillies and coriander leaves in a big bowl. Now add water to make a very thin batter. It has to be double the quantity. Now heat a griddle and sprinkle the batter with hands/Big spoon. It should be a very thin. Leave it for a min and add a spoon of oil. Let it cook and starts to leave the griddle, then turn over and cook for a min. Serve hot with chutney.

Bisi Bele Bath (2 versions)

Bisi Bele Bath is a kannada term which means Hot lentil Rice. Its one of the tasty rice and everyone loves it.Its a rich and heavy food as it has a combination of both Rice and dal. My son loves this and he calls it BBBath. Its been a while since I made it at home as I am on a strict diet.

My New year resolution(lol) is to shed some weight and its been going on good and I am happy that I am able to keep up my first resolution for the year. So I am in hunt of just good, healthy food and under 400 calories.So obviously BBB is not under 400 calories or you can't stop with just few spoons. Then today suddenly i realized of experimenting it with cracked wheat which is one of my common food now a days. As we all know wheat is healthier than Rice and I wasn't disappointed. It was very tasty and I loved it. I have even tried doing Pulao, Pongal and kheer.All are yummy and tasty.Will post those recipe soon.

Ingredients:

Regular BBB
=========
1 cup Rice
1/2cup Toor Dal
1tbsp MTR BBB powder
1tsp Tamarind paste
1/2tsp jaggery
salt to taste
1cup vegetables(beans, carrot, peas,speckled beans, lima beans, potato)
1/2cup Onion and Bell peppers

For tempering:
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
1tsp Peanut
3-4 curry leaves
pinch of hing

Method:

Cook the Toor dal in the pressure cooker. Now a deep frying pan heat 1/2tsp oil and saute onions and bell peppers till its soft(by frying these seperately it stays crispier and bell peppers give a nice taste in BBB) and keep aside. Now take the cooked dal in the same pan and boil it and add vegetables, masala powder, tamarind paste, salt and jaggery. Once it boils for 2-3 mins then add rice and keep adding boiling water(always add boiling water to BBB so u dont vary the temperature and the taste remains the same) to get to a consistency. Once the rice is cooked add onion and bell peppers and tempering and boil once and serve with Raita.

[Note: By adding the onion and bell pepper in the final keeps them crisp and dosent melt with so much of boiling. You can even add everything and pressure cook it, but cooking in an open vessel has a different taste.(This is my mom's tip)]
BBB with Cracked Wheat.
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(substitute rice with cracked wheat the rest remains the same)
Ingredients:
1/2cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup toor dal(even less will do)
The rest follow the above ingredients.

Method:

Roast the cracked wheat with a little oil in the pan till u get a nice aroma out of it. then add the dal, vegetables, masalas, tamarind, jaggery,salt , tempering and cook till the wheat is cooked and the consistency is reached.Serve hot with Raita and baked Chips.
[Note: 1/2 cup is quite a filling for 1 person.]

Heerekai Huli towe/ Chinese Okra Dal

"Heerekai Huli towe" is one of favourite towe's and my mom makes it perfect and tasty.Here I have tried to reach her level, but can never match Mom's cooking. For this the Heerekai/Chinese Okra should be fresh and tender, so it gives a nice taste. It can be substituted with any other vegetable, I even do it with Cabbage. Its a thick Dal, so it goes well with Chapati/ Rice. If eating with Rice add a spoon of peanut oil and it tastes yummy! but if you are dieting you can skip that, simple.

This post is to one of my Good, First and Family friend in USA. She always calls me and prepares this recipe when she wants to make it. On her demand I am putting this Recipe, Here you go Shilpa.

Ingredients:

1/2cup Toor Dal
1 big Heerekai/Chinese Okra
1tsp Tamarind paste
1tsp Rasam Powder
a little jaggery

For Tempering:
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
3-4 curry leaves
a pinch hing
Method:

Pressure cook the Dal for 3 whistles. Peel the Chinese okra and cut into cubes and cook in a boiling water for couple of minutes till its cooked.[It can be pressure cooked but it melts by the time the Dal is done]. With a little water add the cooked Dal, rasam powder, salt to taste, tamarind paste, jaggery and boil for few minutes and add the tempering and serve hot.

Cabbage Pakoda

Its similar to Onion Pakoda.

Ingredients:

1.5 cup Shredded Cabbage
1/2cup onion
1tsp Cumin seeds
1tbsp Besan flour
1tsp Rice flour
a pinch of hing and turmeric powder
1-2tsp Red chili powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix the onions(cut them into long thin strings, like you would usually do for onion pakoda) and cabbage in a bowl and sprinkle salt on in and mix well and keep aside for about 5 mins. Water starts to separate from onion. Now add Besan flour, rice flour, chili powder, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and hing and mix well. Make equal portion of balls and deep fry in oil and serve warm with chutney or sauce.

[Note: U can add finely chopped ghee chillies too if you like the pakoras spicey]

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup Evaporated milk
1 cup Sugar
2tbsp Condensed Milk/Khova
a pinch of cardamom powder
few saffron(optional)
2tsp each Cahew nut and Raisins
1tsp Ghee(purified butter)

Method:

Put the shredded carrots in a non-stick/hard anodized pan(as it dosent stick to the pan and there is not wastage and no need to add lot of ghee).Add Evaporated milk and let it boil till it thickens. Now add sugar and condensed milk and mix well till it reaches the halwa consistency. Finally fry the cashew nut and raisins in a spoon of ghee and add it to the halwa with cardamom powder and saffron. The Halwa can be served hot or chilled, it can be even served on top of a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.