October 31, 2014

Nellikai Sambhar / Gooseberry Sambhar - Without Sambhar powder and Tamarind

Have you tried Sambhar without sambhar powder, Chilli powder and Tamarind ?

 

My today's recipe "Nellikai Sambhar" is prepared without sambhar powder and Tamarind juice. Just an addition of few green chillies and lemon juice enhances the taste of sambhar and gives a refreshing flavor. This can be served either with hot rice, Idly or Dosa. 



Ingredients :
  • 2 Onions, sliced
  • 1 Tomato, Finely chopped
  • 5-6 Green chillies, sliced ( adjust according to taste bud )
  • 1 Small Lemon - squeeze out the juice and keep aside.
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 
  • 1 Cup Toor Dal 
  • 1 Tbsp Oil
  • 1/4 Tsp Jeera
  • A pinch of Hing powder
  • Few curry leaves
Method :

Wash and pressure cook dal by adding 2 cups of water for 5-6 whistles.

Remove and mash it. Keep aside.

Take a deep kadai or vessel and add sliced onions followed by tomato, gooseberry / nellikai, green chillies, 1 Tsp salt and Turmeric powder.



Add 1 - 1/2 Cups of water and cook it for 10 minutes or till the gooseberry gets cooked in a medium flame.



Now add the mashed dal and mix well.



Adjust salt and add water, if the sambhar is very thick.

Cook it for another 3-4 minutes and garnish with curry leaves.



 Heat oil in a small pan and add Jeera followed by hing.

Add it to the sambhar and switch off the flame.

Now add lemon juice and mix well.

Serve hot.



Serving Options :

Serve with hot rice.





October 30, 2014

cheesy Corn cups



I believe that few combination of Ingredients compliment each other and gives a delicious recipe. One among them are "Corn and Cheese" which is widely used in pizza, pasta and sandwiches. When corn gets cooked with the cheese, the aroma of corn and the flavor of cheese blends so well to give a finger licking tasty dish. Corn and cheese snack is one of my favorite munch during rainy days. Just a cup of cooked corn with a grated cheese will not only make my tummy full, it also brings a complete joyous in each spoon. Diet Watchers, excuse me ;)
Cheesy Corn Cups, a baked yummy cups filled with cheesy corn and flavored with pizza seasoning can be served as a starter or evening snacks. As this recipe goes to my favorite monthly event "5 ingredients Fix Challenge", I have used only 5 ingredients with CORN as the main key ingredient. 5 Ingredients Fix Challenge is a monthly event hosted by Lakshmi Vimala from Cookingclub17 in which 5 Ingredients were given and an innovative dish should be submitted before end of the month. And for October month challenge, the twist of challenge was to prepare a recipe using Corn as the key Ingredient.

Check out my previous entries which were prepared with 5 Ingredients.

Watermelon Rind Kheer
Papad Pockets
Veggie Macroni Soup
Veggie tart with an Indian Twist
Strawberry Kulfi
Chicken and Spinach Soup

If you are Interested to participate in our 5 Ingredients Fix Challenge, mail to vimalalakshmi2010@gmail.com

Ingredients :
  • 1/2 Cup Fresh corn kernels
  • 3 Cubes Cheese, grated ( I have used Amul cheese in this recipe )
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 Tsp Pizza seasoning 
  • 6 Puff sheets
Method :

Thaw puff sheets according to the instructions given in the box.

Grease the muffin tray with little oil or butter.

Take one puff sheet and place it in the muffin tray. keep aside.

In a small bowl or plate , add grated cheese followed by corn kernels, pizza seasoning and salt.


Mix well and fill the puff sheet cups with corn mixture.



Bake it for 15 minutes at 180 degree Celsius in a pre-heated oven.

Once done, remove from the oven and serve hot.


Serving Options :

Serve hot with Tomato sauce.




 

Linking this recipe with  Lakshmi's "5 Ingredients Fix Challenge"





October 29, 2014

Watermelon Rind Puli Kuzhambu / Watermelon Rind tangy gravy

,

Here comes my another interesting recipe using Watermelon Rind after my Watermelon kheer. As I had mentioned in my previous post, our weekly shopping never ended without watermelon. So, instead of throwing away the white parts (rind), I started using it in a different forms of cooking as it is healthy too. Puli kuzhambu is a south Indian famous tangy gravy which is served with hot rice. Puli kuzhambu can be  prepared with lots of veggies like pumpkin, ash gourd, brinjal etc but for a twist, I tried this kuzhambu with watermelon rinds. As it is a water filled fruit, the rind absorbed all the flavors of gravy and tasted very delicious with a lip smacking tangy taste. Any veggie stir fries like beans poriyal, potato podimas, cabbage poriyal etc goes well with this kuzhambu and personally I loved it with a simple egg omelet. 


Ingredients :
  • 2 Big Onions, Finely chopped
  • 2 Medium Tomatoes, finely chopped
  • Half of Watermelon rinds, chopped into pieces
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 1 1/2 Tsp Chilli powder
  • 2 Tsp Coriander powder
  • salt to taste
  • lemon sized Tamarind
  • Few Curry leaves
  • 1 Tbsp Oil
  • 1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds
  • 1/2 Tsp Jeera
  • 1/2 Tsp Methi / Fenugreek seeds
Method :

Soak tamarind before starting the process with 1 cup of water.
Heat oil in a pan and add Mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add Jeera followed by Methi seeds.
Add the chopped onions and saute well for couple of minutes in a medium flame.


Add the chopped tomatoes and saute well till it turns soft.


Fry it for a minute and add the chopped watermelon rind pieces.


Now add Turmeric powder followed by Coriander powder and chilli powder.


Mix well and fry it for a minute in a medium flame.
Meanwhile, extract the juice from soaked Tamarind and keep aside.


Now add the Tamarind juice followed by one cup of water and salt.


Close and cook for 10 - 15 minutes in a medium flame or till the rind gets cooked .


Add curry leaves and switch off the flame.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with hot rice and veggie stir fry or papad. 

October 27, 2014

Indusladies "100 Kids Lunchbox Recipes"

Packing lunchbox for kids is a major task for all mothers, as this generation kids expects more varieties and innovation in their menus. As a mother, it is our duty to fulfill their wish to make them eat happy and healthy. Generally, we surf a lot to find out some Interesting recipes for kids but our Indusladies, made our work easier by their recent release of ebook which has 100 recipes for Kid's Lunchbox. I am very proud and excited to be part of it by contributing my recipe. As I had mentioned in my earlier post, participated with 3 recipes and my "Tofu Aloo paratha" got selected and published in their ebook. Thank you so much Indusladies :)

Click the below link and download the recipe book to get indulge in all mouthwatering recipes for kids.
 http://www.indusladies.com/food/kids-lunch-box-recipes/


    

October 20, 2014

Ragi Sweet Balls


Power cut has become one of the major issue in our place and the foods which have been kept in the fridge, especially milk and batter is making me more worried and crazy. In fact, I started boiling milk for twice a day but the batter gets its sourness in 3-4 days. Though I make it in very less quantity, one or two cups of soured batter will be my leftover. To avoid the wastage of food, turned those soured batter into sweet and delicious balls using Ragi and Jaggery which is very healthy too. And Interestingly, my 2 secret Ingredient for shhh cooking challenge are also Ragi and Jaggery which is given by a lovely and active blogger, Rafeeda from Bigsweettooth.
As I had mentioned in my earlier posts, shhh cooking challenge is a lovely and friendly challenge in which 2 bloggers were partnered and shared 2 secret ingredients. And the most Interesting part is guessing the secret ingredients of others recipe which will get posted on 16th to 18th of every month. Special Thanks to Priya Suresh from priyasversatilerecipes for creating such an amazing friendly event. 

And coming to today's recipe...

Ragi sweet balls is a delicious snack which is prepared with the leftover Idly or Dosa batter. I have used only 4 ingredients to prepare these yummy balls but nuts and fruits can also be included to make it more healthy. It can be prepared with oil and ghee but personally I feel that, ghee gives a yummy aroma and taste. This can be served as breakfast or can also be packed for kid's Lunch box. 



Ingredients :

  • 1 Cup Dosa / Idly Batter 
  • 1 Cup Ragi flour (I have used sprouted flour)
  • 3/4 cup - 1 Cup Jaggery powder (Increase according to taste buds)
  • 3 Tbsp Coconut pieces
  • Ghee or oil for cooking 
Method :
  • Take Dosa batter in a bowl and add Ragi flour and Jaggery.
  • Mix well to avoid any lumps and add coconut pieces.
  • Mix well and keep aside for 15 mins.
  • Heat Kuzhipaniyaram / Appe pan and smear ghee or oil.
  • Mix the batter again and pour it in a pan.
  • Close the pan and cook it in a medium flame.
  • Once the base part gets cooked, slowly turn the balls and close the lid to cook the other side.
  • Once done, remove from the pan and serve hot.


Serving Options :

Serve hot with little honey or it can eaten as such without any side dish. 




October 19, 2014

Time for Diwali treat !

Celebration mood started here with colorful lights hanging around, twinkling crackers bursting everywhere and the aroma of sweets from my neighborhood place bringing me all the joy of diwali and eagerly waiting for the big day to enjoy our traditional sweets and foods.
Diwali is a special day which brings me a lot of nostalgic moments of my childhood. Waiting for the holiday, discussing about mom’s delight with friends, trying to burst crackers without showing the inner fear ( yes ! I am scared ;)) , distributing sweets and savories to our neighbors to show off our new dress to get compliments will never come back in our life. As we grow, these kind of fun and excitement vanish away but we get hooked up with another pleasure of cooking delightful sweets for our family members. The joy of making them happy with their favorite foods is immeasurable.

This is the only festival we make sure to be with all our family members as we have lots of interesting custom, so our travel booking preparation starts 3 months before the special day. We do pooja in the early morning (before sunrise) on the Diwali day followed by special menu and if full moon falls on the same day, then it’s fasting for our ladies till evening nombu. And finally the day ends with feast, fun and crackers. 

Diwali is nothing but full of treats and for this Diwali, I had few plans to gift my husband who encourages and brings out my confident in cooking with yummy chocolates which is his most favorite munch while watching television. While browsing for some chocolate recipe, found an interesting site which redirected to a page “27coupons.com” and had lots of online shopping sites with amazing discounts. Books and kitchen stuffs were the first thing in my list whenever I login online shopping sites. Being a blogger, that’s our priority right ? Interestingly, I found a yummy book for chocolates by Nita Mehta with 20 % discount. Will I miss this deal ? No way ! With no second thought, made my order with cash on delivery option and to my surprise, I got a message that my book got dispatched within 4 hours of my booking time. I am on cloud nine and waiting for my copy and treat my husband :) And yes, you can also expect yum yum chocolaty recipes as my virtual treat on my blog :)

27 coupons is an online site which has tie up with flipkart, amazon, ebay, dominos etc.. where you get extra percentage of discounts. I have made few screenshots while booking my order which might be useful for you all and I have to mention that I felt, diwali bash deals was amazing in all categories and this is a time to grab our favorites by paying less.

Here is the sample screenshot of my purchase……. 

Open webpage and get registered with 27coupons.com








After activating your confirmation mail through mail. Login with your username and password.

Here comes a loads of deals... I have selected amazon for my shopping and my favorite category Books, especially cookery books.


Save the coupon and follow the instructions.




Finally found my Interesting book...



After selecting the book, click "Add to cart" and follow the instructions by entering your delivery address and by choosing delivery options.


















Select the mode of payment in which I selected "Cash on delivery".



Click "place your order" to confirm the order.

Hurray .. My order is done ! Waiting to get my gift and treat my husband :)


                                     Thanks to 27 coupons to shower us with loads of deals.      

Sending this to 27coupons "Blogging contest"                                                                          

October 13, 2014

Potato stuffed cheesy crust pizza


Hope you all doing good Friends :) Back to blogging after a short break and I really missed my blogging and lots of delicious recipes of my friends. My life has become very busy with new commitments and am trying my best to be regular on my passion field. Please do shower your love and encouragement like before with your valuable comments.
And coming to Today's recipe, Prepared this delicious Innovative pizza for a competition few days back. It tasted very delicious and yummy.

Here is my Innovative Pizza...

Ingredients :

1 ½ Cup Maida / All purpose Flour
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1 Tsp Salt
! Tbsp olive oil
½ Cup Water

1 Cup Tomato Sauce
1 Tbsp pizza seasoning

3 Potatoes
200 gms Mozzarella cheese, grated (1/2 Cup for crust and remaining for pizza)

1 Medium Green Bell pepper, sliced
1 Medium Yellow Bell pepper, sliced
2 Potatoes, Cut into cube shaped
2 Tsp Oil

Method :

Take large bowl and add Maida/All purpose flour followed by yeast, salt and oil.

Add water little by little and knead well to form dough.

Now place the dough in greased pan and cover it with damp cloth or cling foil.

Rest it for 3-4 hours or until it gets doubled.

Knead again and divide the dough into two balls. Keep aside.

Heat 2 Tsp oil in a pan and add the cube shaped potatoes.


Pan sear them and remove from the flame. Keep aside.

Boil 3 potatoes in a pressure cooker and grate it after it gets cooled.

Take grated potatoes in a small bowl and add 1/2 cup grated Mozzarella cheese.


Mix well and keep aside.

Take one ball from the dough and roll it using rolling pin into large circle (like chapathi / Roti).


Now place the rolled dough in a baking plate and fill the grated potato – cheese mixture in the corners leaving ½ inch dough.


Now close or seal the edges and keep aside.



Place the potato stuffed rolled pizza on a pizza baking plate. (I have covered a round cake tin pan using Aluminium foil and used the base for baking pizza ).


Take Tomato sauce in a small bowl and add mixed pizza seasoning.


Mix well and spread it on the pizza dough.


Now sprinkle cheese on top of tomato sauce.


Place green bell peppers, yellow bell peppers and pan seared potatoes.


Sprinkle some more grated cheese and bake it for 20 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. ( I have used microwave convection mode)


Once done, remove from the oven and repeat the process for remaining dough.


Season it with pizza seasoning and serve hot with Tomato sauce.




Serving Options :

Serve hot with Tomato sauce.