Methi Pakora !

We have finally reached the last day of Blogging Marathon.To make this more exciting,I am here with crispy methi pakoras from Aarthi's Yummy Tummy.She is the one wonderful chef I have been paired for the day.Luckily I found a suitable recipe for the mini bites series.I simply followed her recipe and it has turned out perfect for me..

Ingredients

1 cup Kasuri Methi/fenugreek leaves,soaked in water for some time.

1 medium sized onion sliced

1 medium potato chopped finely

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1 tsp chilly powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 cup gram flour

1 tbsp rice flour

1 tbsp fennel seeds powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp baking powder

salt

water

oil,as needed

Method

In a mixing bowl,mix all ingredients except water and oil.Slowly add water to make a medium consistency.I used almost 1/2 cup water.Heat oil in a kadai and make balls or small portions of batter.Drop them to the boiling oil and cook in medium heat till crispy.Serve with chutney or sauce.

Do check my fellow marathoners for more exciting recipes from them !

Vattilappam !!

Vattilappam takes me back to childhood again.The wrinkled hands,the passionate hugs and tempting aroma wafting in the kitchen.My Grandmother ! She was outstanding in almost whatever she was doing at home.A perfect host,an excellent cook,a smart lady..Whenever we visited her,I used to roam around her kitchen,watching the magic of her hands.She knew several tricks to entertain us,the children folks.The large,brown coloured bottles at her kitchen cabinet spoke in volumes.It was just natural for my eyes to follow her hands picking up the valuable ingredients from the jars and how easily she convert them to edible,sweet and melting etables within minutes.Vattilappam was her special dessert to make us happy.I guess,perhaps the best dessert one can assemble using the available ingredients at home.Eggs,coconut milk and jaggery.All available plenty at home during that time.But it's an amazing sweet,with subtle sweet flavours exploding to sheer enjoyment in our mouth.My girlie loves to hear real life stories,of people.Most of them originate at our kitchen.Luckily,I can relate most of the food to someone and the chat begins.It's going on here,enriching both me and my little princess...

Vattilappam is my 6th entry to Blogging Marathon.Do check all our marathoners for splendid dishes !

Ingredients

6 whole eggs
1 cup grated jaggery
2 cups thick coconut milk
Few drops of vanilla essence/half tsp cardamom powder

Method

Beat the eggs in a bowl till creamy.Add grated jaggery to this and mix well.To this mixture,slowly pour coconut milk and mix till they all get blend well.Add the cardamom powder/vanilla essence.Grease a pan with ghee and pour the mixture to this.Steam it in medium heat for 20-30 minutes.Serve as a dessert.

Bonda / Urulakkizhangu Bonda / Aloo Bonda !

Bonda was my childhood favourite.We had a small shop at our place where they had hot bondas with spicy potato masala inside.It was divine and my Daddy used to buy me those.Bonda is a nostalgia,to remember and cherish.Here I am presenting you bonda with a spicy potato filling.The masala definitely is very homely which I have spiced up to suit our taste.

Days are moving so fast that we reached fifth day of Blogging Marathon.Do check my fellow Marathoners for  a better experience.Now,on to the recipe..

Ingredients
2 medium sized potatoes,boiled,peeled and mashed roughly
1 medium onion,chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 green chilly,chopped
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilly powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
2 sprig curry leaves
salt
oil,as needed

For batter
1 cup gram flour/kadala mavu
pinch of turmeric
1 tsp corn flour
salt
3/4 cup water (approx)

Method

Heat oil in a medium skillet and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.Throw ginger,garlic and green chilly.Fry for a minute and add chopped onion.Roast till light brown and add all powders reducing heat level.Mix in the mashed potato and mix well till the spices are wrapped over potatoes.Switch off and allow it to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the batter mixing all the ingredients mentioned in the section.Batter should be of medium consistency.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet and heat oil.The heat should be minimum.Now make balls of your interest and dip it in the batter.

Fry both sides in oil till golden..Serve hot with chutney or sauce.

Jalebi / Jilebi !

Kids love sweets.So do my little princess.Jilebi or jalebi is one of her desi favourites.As a parent,I don't want her to have more of these.Hence we have slowly developed a system where all types of sweets are presented to her only as a special gift,mostly when she achieve something.Safe game,isn't it ?

This is my 4th day of Blogging Marathon,mini bites.Hope you all are enjoying this.Do check some awesome dishes my friends prepare for Marathon.

Over to the recipe..

Ingredients

1 cup Urad dal / de husked black gram,washed and soaked in water for one hour
1/4 tsp orange food colour
Oil,as needed


For sugar syrup

2 cups sugar
1.25 cup water
1 tbsp rose water

Method

Grind the soaked urad dal adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup water to a smooth paste.The batter needs a dropping consistency.Add the food colour to this and mix well.Now shift it either to a clean cloth having small button hole or an utensil / small bottle with thin hole (I used my sauce bottle).Meanwhile make the sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water.When it start boiling add the rose water and reduce the heat to minimum.Don't switch off.On a nearby stove heat oil in a medium skillet.Fix the heat to medium.Now squeeze the batter to round shaped thin coils and fry both sides.Shift this suddenly to the sugar syrup.Repeat this process in batches.You may shift each batch from sugar syrup to a plate.Remember one thing,the syrup needs to be warm.Check the syrup in between whether it's going thick.If so,adjust with water and continue making jalebis.

*Recipe Source:Lakshmi Nair

Aloo Tikki - Potato Cutlets from India !

Aloo Tikki needs no introduction from my side.It's a common snack in northern part of India.When being served with channa masala,it's a complete meal in itself where as with tomato sauce,it can be a delicious snack   ! Aloo tikki is the spiced potato mash,fried and then served hot .So, to prepare the spice mix,which invariably decides the flavour and taste of tikki,you may have to personalize it to your taste.This one is my version,which we thoroughly enjoy here !

This is my third day entry for Blogging Marathon Mini Bites series.Do check what my other friends are serving too !

Ingredients

1 cup,boiled and mashed/grated potatoes
1 tbsp cornflour
few bread crumbs
2 green chillies,chopped
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of garam masala
handful of chopped coriander
2 tsp lime juice
salt
oil,as required

Method

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except oil.It's always good to use your hand.Now make lemon sized balls of the mixture and flatten to small discs.This can be done in your palm.Heat oil in a medium skillet and shallow fry the discs in medium heat till they turn golden brown and crispy outside.Do the same with other side.Shift them to a paper towel.Serve with tomato sauce or chickpeas curry.

Kaara Appam ! (Rice & Poha Mini Bites)

Today I am here with Kaara appam,mini bites comprising rice and poha/rice flakes.In shape it resembles unniyappam/paniyaram where as in taste,bit of a mixed feel.Both sweet and spicy.Worth trying I must say.This is my second entry for Blogging Marathon,where I run with my friends whose wonderful dishes you may please check here..Over to the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups rice flour

half cup rice flakes/poha

100 gm sugar

pinch of fennel seeds

water

salt

oil as needed

Method

Soak the rice flakes in water for 20 minutes and then grind to a fine paste.Mix in the rice flour,sugar,salt and fennel seeds.You have to add water to covert it into a dropping consistency.Now heat the appam maker (the small utensil having tiny compartments,the very same we prepare unniyappam/paniyaram) and pour oil in each cavity.Once heated,drop spponfuls of batter into the oil and cook in medium heat .Cook both sides till golden brown and shift to paper towels.It taste better when cool.

Sharkkara Dosa / Jaggery Dosa !!

Another week of Marathon,BM#6 starts here.This time I have opted for Mini Bites.To be honest,I am looking forward for a challenging session,remaining days of the week.Please check other Marathoners who are there with amazing dishes of their choice..

Jaggery Dosa is my first post in the series .This is a simple and fast dish I prepare for my daughter.Hope you all are going to enjoy !!

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/3 cup grated jaggery
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup milk/coconut milk
pinch of salt
few drops of vanilla essence (optional)
ghee,as needed

Method

Sift the wheat flour,rice flour and salt.In a small bowl melt the jaggery in water and strain.Now pour this to sifted flours.Pour in milk and mix well without lumps to a perfect dosa batter.You mad add drops of vanilla essence for flavour.Heat a pan and rub ghee over.Pour spoonful of batter and flatten to small dosa.Sprinkle ghee over and flip dosa once the other side is cooked well.Continue this till the batter finish.Serve with fruits of your choice.

Sending this dosas to Kid's delight event hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian,originated at Spice your life of Srivalli

And to Show me your Dosa event hosted by Divya Vikram of Dil se.

Paneer Paratha !

Seventh and last day of this week's Blogging Marathon.It was fun and plenty of enthusiasm converted to unfathomable creativity.For the final day,we have been paired to cook from other's blog.Vardhini of Vardhini's Kitchen happened to be my pair and so here comes something special from her place ! Paneer Paratha,stuffed with the nutritious paneer and other subtle flavours, is a pleasure having.And if you are bestowed with a little angel like I am having,you are surely going to prepare this every week for her ! I just followed Vardhini's recipe and it was perfect here ..Do check the other marathoners and what they cook !

Ingredients

For filling
1 heaped cup of paneer,grated
1 tsp chopped green chillies
handful of chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp chilly powder
salt

For paratha
1.5 cup of atta/whole wheat flour
salt
water as needed

Method

Prepare the paratha dough first.Add water slowly and knead well to make an elastic yet rough dough.Close the dough with a clean wet cloth.Now mix everything in the filling section well with a spoon.

                                

Make lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it into a circle or press it in the palm to make a hole in the middle.

                                  

   

Drop spoonfuls of filling in the centre and close it from all sides.Press to seal and slowly roll it to another circle.Heat tawa and once heated reduce the heat to minimum.Place the paratha over and once when the bubble start coming flip it over and sprinkle some oil.Flip again and apply oil on this side too.
                               
Now slowly cook both sides and shift to a plate.Serve with raita/pickle/curd/curry.
                             

Aam Panna ! (Raw Mango Drink)

I have been thinking to post something cool for the season.So here is Aam Panna,the raw mango drink,perfect for the season in all respects.The basic recipe belongs to Tarla Dalal,which I modified a bit to my convenience.Do check this one since you might be having lots of raw mangoes sitting idle in your refrigerators I am sure.The season demands lots of liquid no ?

By the way this is my 6th day of Blogging Marathon,where my friends are showcasing something special too....Do check for more here.

Ingredients

2 medium sized raw mangoes
1 inch piece of ginger
2 tbsp sugar (or to your taste)
pinch of black salt
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
few mint leaves
ice cubes
Water,as needed

Method

Wash,peel and cut the mangoes.Pressure cook the mangoes along with seeds and ginger adding little water till the mangoes are well cooked and soft.Allow it to cool and then mash it properly.Throw the seeds .If the pulp is too thick you may add more water.It all depends on the consistency you need.I love to have few small pieces of mango inside while drinking.Now,add the salt,sugar and roasted cumin powder and mix well.Arrange two large glasses with ice cubes.Pour in the mango mixture.Drop more ice cubes on top and decorate with mint leaves.

*Sending this to Priya and Aipi's Bookmarked Recipes Event happening every tuesday !

Khajoor-Kishmish Chutney ! (Date & Raisin Chutney)

Here I am with a chutney for you.Khajoor and Kishmish chutney can be awesome as a side dish especially when you are having a spicy dish or biryani..The subtle sweet and sour flavour of the chutney makes it unique.

Since I am running a Marathon with my friends,you may check theirs as well here at Srivalli's.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dates/khajoor, de seeded and cut into strips
1/4 cup raisins,washed & soaked in hot water (30 minutes)
1 big lemon sized tamarind
1/2 cup grated jaggery
1 cup water
1/2 tsp chilly powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder (sonth)
salt

Method

Soak the tamarind and jaggery in one cup of water for 30 minutes.Mash  the tamarind well and bring this to a boil.Now strain the mixture and keep the  juice.Add chilly powder,cumin powder,ginger powder and salt to this juice and mix well.Boil this again to remove the raw smell of powders. Switch off the stove and add the date strips and soaked raisins.Mix well.Keep it for at least one hour before serving.

Dum Karela !! (Spicy Bitter gourd roasted in slow fire)

For all those who keep their mouth away from bitter gourd,just taste a little from Dum karela..You have nothing to loose,I assure you.In my whole life,this is the best dish I have ever tasted in bitter gourd.With the spices being used and mustard oil to roast,the method of dum bringing out all goodness of the divine vegetable,nothing can replace this bitter gourd dish..

This is my 4th day of Blogging Marathon,showcasing Delhi Recipes.Do check all my other friend's recipes who are running with me here...

Ingredients

2 large bitter gourd,cleaned and sliced into 4 pieces each (picture below)*
1 potato,peeled and sliced into 6
1/4 to 1/2 cup mustard oil (approx)
2 green chillies,chopped finely
pinch of asafoetida
small piece of jaggery
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/ tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp onion seeds (kalonji)
1 cup yoghurt,beaten
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder (sonth)
1/2 tsp kashmiri chilly powder
1 piece of ginger,crushed
salt

Method

Heat the mustard oil in heavy bottomed skillet till smoking level and then reduce to minimum.Fry the bitter gourd pieces and potatoes till golden.Remove and keep aside.Now in another pot,preferably one with a tight lid to keep in 'dum',heat the remaining oil and add cumin seeds,asafoetida,fenugreek seeds,green chillies,onion seeds and jaggery.Be careful not to burn.When they splutter,mix in the fried bitter gourd and potatoes.Mix well till the spices get coated with them.Then add the yoghurt,ginger,chilly and coriander powders,ginger powder and salt. Sauté well for 4-5 minutes and now close with a tight lid and slow cook (dum) in slow fire for 20-25 minutes.You may check and sauté in between.Within this time the bitter gourd will be soft and roasted well with spices wrapped up.Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

*If the bitter gourd is really big in size,you may cut it into 6 as well.

Shahi Halwa !! (Quick Semolina Pudding from Delhi)

In an effort to come out of yesterday's extremely spicy chana, today I am here with an easy-to-make desi sweet.Personally I am not much into sweets.Perhaps the only sweet I love to have is Prathaman Payasam which we prepare for Onam or Vishu.But my little angel is much a 'dessert' person.Before each meal,she curiously check with me what's for dessert.At times she asks me how can I go without chocolates and Ice-creams.Obviously,these are the two things she can't live without.

So for the day, we have pretty desi shahi halwa, a sweet from Delhi,which, you can cherish with  a homely feel.Having sublime saffron-cardamom flavours,it's a divine sweet to have and that too with minimum job ! Here is the recipe for Shahi Halwa,my 3rd entry for the prestigious BM#6.

Ingredients

1 cup semolina/suji

4 tbsp ghee

 For sugar syrup

4 cups of water

1/2 cup sugar

4 green cardamoms,crushed

few strands of saffron (kesar)

To Garnish

few almonds,blanched

Method

Prepare the sugar syrup by boiling water,sugar,cardamoms and saffron.Boil it for 5 more minutes

Heat ghee in a deep bottomed skillet and roast the semolina in law heat till golden brown.You have to sauté properly without burning.After being golden brown slowly pour in sugar syrup and sauté with the spoon carefully with the other hand.

Mix well and cook till ghee floats over and semolina leaves from the side.Shift it into a pan you love to serve.Garnish with almonds.

Do check my friends who are running marathon with me here..

Sookhe Kabuli Chane ! (Spicy Black Chickpeas Cooked Dry)

As for the second day of  BM#6,I am presenting you a side dish from Delhi.This is an extremely spicy dry preparation which can very well get along with roti and chapathi.Very easy to prepare and healthy to have,kabuli chana ya nahi black chickpea is something both kids and elders love to have..

Ingredients

To Pressure cook
250 gm chickpeas/kabuli chana,soaked in water overnight
1 tea bag
salt
2 cups of water

For the Final cooking
1 tsp kashmiri chilly powder
1.5 tsp anar dana (pomegranate seeds) powder
1.5 tsp amchur powder (mango powder)
1 tsp garam masala*
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
4 tsp coriander seeds (dhaniya seeds)
1 tbsp ginger juliennes, fried
handful of potato fingers,fried
2 tbsp vegetable oil

For garnishing
Few onion rings
ginger juliennes
Red dry chillies

Method

Pressure cook the chickpeas adding water,salt and the tea bag.After the first whistle,reduce the heat to minimum and cook.It may take 7-8 minutes.Don't over cook.After cooling,open the lid and throw out the tea bag.The water level should be minimum now.If you have more water just boil it again with an open lid.When the water level reaches to a nearly-dried up stage,reduce the flame and add all the spices,powders,fried potato fingers and ginger .Mix well and slowly make it dry.Now heat oil in another skillet and pour in the chick pea mixture .Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.This process is very important.It is for the spices to get roasted and blend with chick peas.Check salt and garnish with onion rings,red chillies and ginger juliennes.Serve with Roti/Chapathi/Naan.

Do check my fellow bloggers in Marathon here...

*Garam Masala mentioned here in Delhi cuisine contains green cardamom,cinnamon,cloves,black cardamom,cumin seeds,nutmeg,black cumin (shah jeera) and mace.We have to dry roast and powder them.I will come up with a seperate post on this after BM .

**Sending this spicy chickpeas to Cook It Healthy Event hosted by Shobha Shyam.

Badshahi Naan !! (Deep fried flour bread from Delhi)

Badshahi Naan marks my entry to  Blogging Marathon #6 at Srivalli's.For this first time ever running,I have opted for the regional flavours of India.To be precise, Mélange is going to display Delhi specialities for the coming seven days.

In fact,I wanted to recall or bring back my Delhi days here,to tell you how I devoured the awesome flavours of our capital city ! Delhi food I must say,is a perfect blend of many cultures & regions.The invaders,natives,peasants,traders,amirs,all have contributed in their own special way to refine or define the so called 'Delhi Cuisine' of today.As usual, there were many timely inventions like 'chaat' which I may describe later here.

Today,I have come up with a bread,I mean a royal one for you.Badshahi Naan..A bread that carries it's royal origin ! Well,It's an awesome bread doing justice to the name I bet ! Here comes the recipe..

Ingredients

5 cups All purpose flour/maida
1tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast (depends on the variety you are using)
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 egg beaten
10 gm butter
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 tsp kalonji (onion seeds)
salt
oil/ghee to deep fry


Method

Combine the yeast,water and sugar.Keep closed in a warm place to rise.This may take 10 minutes.In a bowl,sift the flour and salt.Mix in the butter with your hand till it becomes crumbly.To this,add warm milk,beaten egg and yeast mixture.Mix well with your hand to form a ball.Slowly knead it to a soft ,elastic dough.If it's too tight,you may wet your hands in milk and continue kneading.

Cover the dough with a wet cloth and keep in a warm place to rise.That's till the dough rises to double the volume.I just keep it inside the the oven with light on.This only took 12 minutes.But here two things are important.The quality of yeast you use and the temperature it is resting in.

Now when it's doubled,knead again and divide it into 8 balls.Roll out into a 3/4' thick disc.Arrange them in a greased tray and sprinkle the onion seeds over.

Keep it again till they double in size.Heat oil/ghee in a wok/kadai and deep fry the naans till golden brown.Shift it into paper towels.Serve hot with any curry.

If you are curious to know about the other foodies running the marathon and what they are offering with,do visit Blogging Marathon Page .

Friendship Chain Event ! -Kinnathada,my guest post at Kaarasaaram ...

Dear all my foodie folks out there..

By now you might have read and heard about a fresh event called Friendship Chain,originated at Taste Junction of Anamika Arun.It's quite a jovial concept of inviting one of our blogger friend to guest post someting special and traditional from our native place.So,this is an oppotunity for us to showcase the food where we come from.Isn't that exciting ? The event is conducted by one person for a fortnight.During the hosting period the blogger would have found the 'mystery blogger' who will guest post in her blog and thus the chain continues...Spreading heart warming friendship among us and propagating the awesome traditional food we celebrate !!

My friend Reva of Kaarasaaram has invited me and so you can see my guest post at her place now..The recipe I  showcased was Kinnathada,a special snack we, in north Kerala ,prepare for the celebration of Malayalee New year,Vishu ! In a way it can be called as Kerala's own multi layered snack since it's been steamed/baked in layers.I always see a similarity of this dish in Bibinca of Goa ! How amazing ? Compared with bibinca,Kinnathada is a pure vegetarian dish and fat side is much lesser...You may check out the dish at Reva's Kaarasaaram..

  Now for the coming fifteen days I will be hosting the event and do check this place to see the mystery blogger on 1st of July.And if you love to be part of this event,please feel free to write to anamika.arun@gmail.com...