Kukuku Kuruma (Vegetable)

Spicy, Very Indian, Very Veggie, Tasty are the words that describe Kuruma... There is a tamil song which goes ... "Chappathi kku kuruma kuruma...." which means the best that suits for chappathi is kuruma as a combination... I love it, Have a look...



Ingredients:

Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Chopped Beans - 1/4 cup
Chopped Carrot - 1/4 cup
Chopped Potato - 1/4 cup
Chopped Cauliflower - 1/4 cup
Boiled Peas - 1/4 cup
Clove - 2
Peeled Garlic Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Corriander seeds - 2 tsp
Saunf/Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Lemon Juice - 2 tsp
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green Chilli - 4
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - As per taste

Preparation:

1. Add oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf. When these get a little brown, add onion and fry
2. Add tomato and salt. Wait until the tomato gets melted.
3. Add all the vegetables except peas. Add some water and cover and keep the heat to medium so that the vegetables get cooked.
4. In a separate pan, add oil, add corriander seeds and fry, add green chillies, garlic and fry. Add coconut to this and fry until the coconut is a golden brown. Remove from heat, cool this and grind this mixture along with the fennel seeds.
5. Add the ground mixture to the boiling vegetables and boil it. Add chilli powder if required. Add the peas alongwith.
6. Remove from heat and add corriander leaves and lemon juice.

Hmmm U don't need to talk about Kuruma, the smell would do all the talks...And your neighbours would knock your door!! So smell, eat and enjoy!

Special Tips: You could add any vegetables to this kuruma except beetroot as it changes the colour.

Dam Dama Dam Dhokla

Dhokla is a gujarathi dish and is easy to make and is very healthy... And can be a quick evening snack...



Ingredients:

Besan/Gram Flour - 2 Cups
Curd/Yoghurt - 1 cup
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Grated Coconut - 2 table spoons
Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
Eno (lemon flavour) - 2 tsp(You can also use baking soda 1tsp, but eno is more healthier!)
Lemon Juice - 2 tsp
Green Chillies (chopped straightwise) - 5
Salt - As per taste

Preparation:

1. Mix Gram flour, curd, trumeric, ginger paste, salt and eno to make a smooth batter. There should not be any lumps. Keep aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The flour would raise.
2. In a pressure cooker, take the inside vessel and spread a little oil on it. This is to make sure the flour batter does not stick to the vessel.
3. Add the flour mix in the vessel, keep it in the pressure cooker for pressure cooking (no whistle). The cooking is similar to the making of idli. Keep it for 10 to 15 minutes and lot of steam should come out.
4. By the time the dhokla is getting prepared, add oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, let it spatter, add the green chillies and finally add the coconut but don't let it get fried up, just a light touch of oil to the grated coconut is perfect, and remove from heat.
5.Remove the dhokla when it is prepared, cut to square pieces and garnish with the chilli cocunut mix on top of it. Add lemon juice on top and add corriander leaves for further garnishing.

So that's how is the tasty and delicious Dhokla prepared...

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake Mmmmm Yummy

I know its so many months that I could squeeze some time and post something...Well, here it is, Yummy, Tasty and Delicious... And Eggless Banana Chocolate Chip Cake!!!

Ingredients:

Maida/White flour - 1/2 Cup

Butter - 1/4 Cup

Sugar - 1/4 Cup

Ripe Bananas - 2 Big

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Chocolate Chips - 1/4 cup

Vanilla Essence - 4 drops
Cake mould - either silicon or tray base

Preparation:

1. Mix maida/white flour with baking powder and baking soda.

2. Mash bananas into a smooth paste and keep it aside. You could use a little milk or water if the bananas are not as ripe to mash them.

3. Blend butter and sugar together with a hand blender. If you don't have one, you could melt butter slightly and then mix it with sugar and make a fluffy paste.

4. Now add the butter+sugar mix to the flour mix little by little and keep mixing it to make a smooth paste.

5. Add the banana paste to the flour mix little by little and keep mixing again to make a very smooth paste. There should be no lumps in the flour.

6. Add the vanilla essence and mix.

7. Finally add the chocolate chips and mix.

8. Take the cake mould, put little butter and spread it on it's inside. Spray some flour and then remove the extra flour on the mould by just dusting it off. This makes sure the cake does not stick to the mould.

9. Add the flour paste to the cake mould and then pat the mould on a flat surface so that the paste settles evenly on the mould.

10. Add some chocolate chips on top also.

11. Keep the mould now in the oven 220 degrees (preheated for 20 minutes recommended). It depends on specific ovens how much time it usually takes. Usually, it takes around 40 minutes.

12. To find out if the cake is done, put a knife into it, in the middle and it should come without any thing sticking to it.

Special Tips: You can also make this cake in the microwave oven with the convection model, use the same temperature but the time would be very short..around 10 to 15 minutes.

Also You could only make banana cake without the chocolate chips or for decoration, sprinkle sugar powder or instead of the chocolate chips, you could add roasted walnuts - another gr8 combination.

Hope you make it and relish the taste... Do let me know how you did it.

Sizzzzzling Salad

Finally, I am back with the healthier post...Its simple to make and is tasty, delicious and very very healthy and nutritious...Here is how I make a salad...


Ingredients:

Iceberg Salad - 1 whole chopped into large square pieces
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Wine vinegar - 4 tsp (You can use Balsamic vinegar too, but I like Wine vinegar)
Sunflower seeds - 3 tsp
Soya flakes - 2 tsp (optional)
Basilica and Tomato flavoured bread crumbs - few (optional)
Mustard paste - 1 tsp (optional)
Marine fine salt - As required (You can use marine spicy fine salt also)
A big bowl - Believe me it's a necessity

Preparation:

1. Put a pan in heat and add the sunflower seeds and dry roast the seeds just for few minutes, so that the colour is a little brown.
2. Take the large bowl, add the chopped salad leaves (I use iceberg salad but you can use any kind of salad, it depends on your taste. I like the crunchy taste of iceberg salad)
3. Add all the other ingredients in the bowl(except the bread crumbs), also the roasted seeds and then here is the trick for a great salad. Take two big flat spoons and start mixing the salad. Keep mixing at least for 5 minutes so that each salad leaf gets the same amount of salt, sourness and all the other spices. Only when the salad is mixed very well is the salad very tasty...Add bread crumbs if you are using and mix again.
4. Serve the delicious colourful salad in a bowl with a fork and knife.

Some more ingredients you can add to the salad is tomatoes and apples...Yes apples...they give a gr8 taste to the salad!!! So try your combination and let me know which ones you liked the best...

This is a very nutritious salad and with a home made salad dressing. This salad dressing has very less fat. And the basic concept of salad is that no boiling or cooking, so all the nutrients are kept intact. Eat this daily once and have your skin shining...Yes, thatz true!!! Enjoy!

Happy Deepavali - Malai Peda and Seedai

I wanted to add a nutritious recipe, but here is Deepavali, So I made many goodies for Deepavali. First, I would like to wish all readers, bloggers, web community and their families a Happy and Prosperous Deepavali. And here is what I made - Seedai and Malai Peda. The recipe follows:



Malai Peda

This is my mom's favourite sweet so I sent her in India Malai peda and thought of making too :-) It's a famous north indian sweet and is made in Gujarat lots. This is a short method so it needs very less time.


Ingredients:

Condensed Milk - 1 tin
Butter - 4 table spoons
Milk Powder - 8 Tablespoons
Almond/Pista - For Decoration [Almond soaked, peeled and cut into pieces]
Saffron - 8 to 10 strands


Preparation:

1. Heat a pan, add butter.
2. After butter is melted, add milk. Put the heat in sim and add milk powder slowly little by little and keep stirring.
3. Add Saffron powder and keep stirring until the mix has become a little brownish and lot thicker. You can wait until the mixture does not stick on the pan. The consistency should be as little less than halwa... ;-)
4. Remove from heat and let it cool.
5. After it is cold, make small balls out of it and press a little bit on top. Decorate it with Almond or Pistachios.
And thatz it, the making time is just 10 minutes.... So Enjoy!!


Seedai

This is a very popular festive snack in Tamil Nadu. Its tasty and an all time favourite snack.

Here it comes:




Ingredients:

Rice flour - 2 cups
Rava/Semolina - 3/4 cup
Butter - 2 table spoons
Jeera - 5 tsps
Asafoetifa/Perungayam - 2 tsps
Oil- For frying
Salt - 2 tsps or As Required


Preparation:

1. Dry Roast rice flour and Rava together(in low flame) in a pan until the raw smell goes. Once done, remove from heat, let it cool.
2. Heat the butter in a pan and when it is hot, add it to the flour rava mixture. PS: This would make sure that less oil is being used up for frying. This is my mom's super trick.
3. Add Jeera and asafoetida and mix this with some water and make sure the miture is dry such that you can make small ball of it.
4. Heat oil in a pan for frying. Now add the seedai in the oil and fry in low flame.

And Voila, here is some crunchy, crispy and tasty seedai.

I hope you liked the sweet as well as the savoury. Let me know!

This is my contribution for JFI Nov '08 Festival Treat. This is my first contribution to these round ups. I am happy that I made it this time. Thanks for hosting Srivalli.

Is it Krazzy Kesar Kulfi Or Baasundi??

Kesar Kulfi...hmmm Yummmyyyy thatz what comes first when anybody would think about it. And I wanted to publish the recipe finally (Couldn't quite manage to do in the summer thanks to my super busy schedule) at least before the last week of change in the day light saving time...

This recipe is also about a different Basundi too... So this is two in one...Basundi and Kesar Kulfi...

Here it comes melting in your eyes....



Ingredients:

Milk - 2 Litres
Cardomom powder - 1 tsp
Saffron - 10 to 15 Strands
Sugar - 4 Table spoons and as per taste (I usually put medium sugar)
Almond - 2 table spoons (soaked, peeled and broken)



Preparation:

1. Boil milk in a heavy nonstick pan and reduce heat to sim and keep on stirring the pan. Reduce the milk to almost 3/4 litre.
2. Add Cardomom powder, Saffron strands & sugar and mix it.
3. Add almond and reduce the milk further
4. When it is quite thick, in the way that you see semisolid milk with more almonds and saffron strings, remove from heat.
5. Ok here comes a break :-) You can serve this as Basundi. It tastes Yummy and awesome... Yesss Cool it before you serve.


6. Now we move on for the Kesar Kulfi! Make ready the kulfi moulds (or matkas if you are lucky to get them). Dip these moulds in cool water, remove dripping water, pour the milk mixture or Basundi into the moulds.
7. Let it cool in the room temperature first and then freeze it. Cover the mould or matkas with silver foil.
8. When it is done, remove foil and serve. You can eat from the moulds with the kulfi sticks and if you are using matkas, then use a spoon to eat.

I made it with a mountain mould I bought. I am sure it is quite impressive!!



Just Enjoy!! Next time with a nutritious recipe...Wait for it!

Cha Cha Cha Chana Masala!

Chana Masala, The name makes my mouth water. This is one of the dish I make most of the times @ home. It's quick and easy to make it and what to say about the taste, this is the most delicious side dish, Yummy!!!



Ingredients:

White Chana/Chickpeas - 1 cup [Soaked overnight and cooked, Don't throw the water!!!]
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing powder)- 1 tsp
Onion - 1 1/5 Medium size
Tomato - 2 Medium size
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chilli - 2 finely chopped
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Chana Masala powder - 4 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Corriander leaves - few
Salt - as much as needed



Preparation:

1. Finely chop one onion and one tomato.
2. Grind one tomato and half onion into a fine paste. You could also use tomato puree also instead of grinding the tomatoes.
3. Add oil in a pan, add jeera, let it splutter, add green chilli, and after 2 minutes, add the chopped onion. Add ginger garlic paste and asafoetida.
PS: All the cooking should be done only in medium flame and never high flame.
4. When the onion is fried golden brown, add the chopped tomato and salt. Let the tomato cook nicely and it should be like a paste.
5. Now add the tomato-onion paste and stir nicely. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add little water(which you used for boiling the chickpeas) and let it cook for few minutes.
6. Then add the boiled chickpeas to the pan and add the water which was used for boiling the chickpeas. Let it cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add chana masala and garam masala and mix and cook for another 3 minutes. You can add water if you want.
8. Add lemon juice and garnish with corriander leaves.

This is a delicious wonderful dish, the chana masala becomes thick only with the tomato onion paste so never skip that step and the chana masala gives a little tangy taste which makes this dish very tasty.

You can eat it with poori, bhatoora or nan. Or you can have chana and rice! It works out either ways! And after eating you would say Cha Cha Cha !!! :-)