Punugulu

Punugulu is a quick to make snack with idly batter at hand. Tastes very good and can be prepared in 10 minutes flat. This dish does absorb a little more oil than other dishes. This can be reduced to a larger extent by adding a pinch of salt to the hot oil which is used for deep frying.

Punugulu tastes much better when the idly batter is a little sour.

Pepper Jeera Rasam

While I was just browsing through few recipe videos on youtube, I hit upon a video posted by geetradhu with title seera rasam. I found the way of preparation very unique and tried it today for lunch. Trust me it was yummmmmmmmmmmmm... Anyone would instantaneously fall in love with this rasam.

Aratikaya Ava Koora

This raw banana (plantain / aratikaya / vazhaka) curry is in mustard base. The slight bitterness from the mustard paste gives a very interesting taste when combined with raw banana.

My mother prepares this curry once in a while instead of raw banana fry.

Home remedy - Common Cold

Common Cold is inflammation of the upper respiratory tract caused by infection of viruses. This is very commonly occurring illness. I wouldn't call it illness but when it becomes very severe, can be dangerous too. More than anything, cold is most annoying. Blocks the nasal passage, leaves you with runny or stuffy nose, can cause you trouble in breathing especially in the nights and can also cause mild aches in head, around the nose and sometimes other body parts.

As they say, "whether or not you take the medication, it goes away only in 7 days.". There is a famous dialogue in the tamil movie "Chandramukhi" told by Rajnikanth. "You take the medication the cold goes off in a week; and you don't take medication it goes off in 7 days".

But with these home remedies you are sure to reduce the severity and feel much much better.

• Honey - In a glass of warm water, add 1-2 tsp of honey and have it several times a day. Gives good relief.
• Lemon and Honey - It is said that increasing the intake of Vitamin C helps in fighting colds. So what more best than having it the natural way? In a glass of warm water, add lemon juice squeezed from 1 lemon . Add 1-2 tsp of honey. Mix well and drink it couple of times a day.
• Turmeric and Milk - This has been given by my mother since my teens. This works perfectly for cold and throat infection. Boil a glass of milk with 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp coarsely powdered pepper. Boil it over sim and make a thick concoction. Drink it once in the morning and once in the night before sleep. This can relieve you of cold to a larger extent. If you are unable to have the concoction without sugar, just add a little. Works better without sugar.
  
• To clear the nose - Nasal sprays work to clear your nasal passages. What best than making your own spray at home? Salt is known to fight the bacterial infection and reduce the inflammation in the nasal passage. Boil 1 glass of water. Cool the water and add 1-2 tsp of salt. Mix well. Spray 2-4 drops of the mixture into both the nostrils and blow. Repeat for a couple of times. If you cannot find a sprayer, hold the salt water in your palm and inhale with the nostrils. The salt water would enter the nostrils and then blow hard. This way the nasal passage remains clear atleast for 2-3 hours. I do it a couple of times in the night so that I don't find difficulty in breathing while asleep.
• Vapour Inhalation - This is the first thing anyone would suggest you for getting relief from cold. In the vapourizer, add 2-3 drops of eucalyptus oil and inhale the vapours. Remember to cover yourself in a bedsheet. This will enable the concentration of the vapours. You can even use zandu balm or amrutanjan if you do not have eucalyptus oil. If you do not have a vapourizer, boil the water in a container and add the oil/balm. Inhale the vapours the same way.
• Balms - You can also rub vicks over your nose, the throat and chest. This will also help.
• Hot water bath - People think that not taking bath will help in reduction of the cold. But I've found that hot water bath helps you feel much much better.
  

Gongura Pachadi

Gongura is a green leafy veggie which has a sour taste. Its a quintessentially a Andhra cuisine. If you visit any of the aunthentic Andhra restaurants, you would definitely find gongura pickle on your platter. With this leafy veggie we can prepare gongura pachadi, gongura pickle or gongura dal. Non-vegetarians even use gongura in combination with mutton and is a specialty in itself. Gongura is a very rich source of Iron, Folic Acid. Gongura is known as "pulichakeerai" in Tamil.

Instant Mor Kuzhambu / Instant Majiga Pulusu

Mor Kuzhambu (as known in tamil nadu) or majiga pulusu as known in andhra pradesh is a gravy that is made with sour buttermilk. Mor kuzhambu comes from Kerala and is made with lots of coconut. There are many ways of preparing mor kuzhambu. I'm giving below the instant version of it which was given by Chitra Viswanathan of IndusLadies.

A variety of veggies can be used for its preparation like yam, colacasia ( senaikizhangu/chamma gaddalu), carrot, ladies finger, bottle gourd (sorakai/sorakaya), snake gourd (podalanga / potlakaya), white pumpkin etc.

Apple Rabdi

This is an exotic dessert which you would fall in love immediately. I'm sure you would try it atleast a couple of times in a week; as my mother did , after i told her the recipe which i had learnt from Sanjeev kapoor's Khazana. People would definitely ask you for a second or third serving. :)

Banana Stem Raitha

Am sure some of you must be knowing it. Here's how my mom makes this utterly delicious yet simple dish which can be had with rotis, rice etc. Banana stem is called Vazha thandu in tamil, arati dindu/doota/davva in telugu.

 

Dal Tadka

'Dal Tadka' simply put is seasoned lentils. You can season your lentils with simple one or go ahead and add in your favorite spices. There is no specific way of doing it.

 

Instant Oats Oothapam

My friend Padma requested for some recipes for breakfast as she was bored with idly, dosa, upma. So was thinking for a while and came up with this instant oats oothapam recipe. The taste is really yummy, similar to that of maida dosa. I bet if anyone would find out its oats oothapam just by tasting it.

Spring Onion Paratha

I had bought a big bunch of spring onions. Was wondering how to finish it off apart from using it in regular soups, dals etc. I then tried this paratha. The taste was awesome. You'll fall in love with this paratha. And what else, its healthy.

MICROWAVE TIPS 2

I'm giving few tips for cooking in Microwave.These are tried and tested and have been updated here. I've not checked the coconut shell tip alone.

• Always give the dishes a minimum standing time of 2 minutes before removing from the oven.

• Boiling milk - To boil 1 litre milk, cook on full power for about 7-8 minutes. Then cook on 60% power for 5 minutes. Do not close the dish when boiling milk. Initially when boiling, keep the timings lesser than mentioned and try increasing by 30seconds or 1 minute till you find the right time else milk can boil over.
• Melting chocolate - Chocolate can be melted in microwave avoiding the double boiler. Microwave on 50% for about 2-3 minutes.
• The skin of garlic pods are easier to peel when microwaved for 30 seconds.
• Before squeezing lemons, microwave them for a minute. The juice is easily squeezed.
• Similarly, warming oranges for a minute would yield more juice.
• When making recipes with milk, use deep bottomed vessels to avoid boiling over.
• Tur dal is best cooked in pressure cooker. Other dals can be cooked in microwave. Before microwaving, soak in hot water for 30minutes outside and then microwave until cooked.
• To remove the coconut from its shell, microwave it for 3-4 minutes.
• Glass jars can be sterilized in microwave before using them to store pickles, curry leaves etc.
• Roasting peanuts - Place peanuts in a small bowl and microwave for a minute and slowly increase the time by 30seconds periodically checking on them. If left for a longer cooking time, peanuts can get charred and the odor would be difficult to get rid of and even your neighbours would know that you've burnt something. ;-)
• Re-crisping biscuits - Have the biscuits gotten soft. Its simple to get them back to crisp state. In a paper towel, place the biscuits and microwave for a minute.
  

Cooking Rice - Rice can be cooked in microwave. If rice is used directly without soaking, the time taken is more. For example, a small cup of rice would take 10-12 minutes on full power and another 8 minutes on 50% power. Again the timing is to be increased if the rice is not cooked.

The rice cooked in microwave is best used for pulaos, biryanis, all variety rices where we want the grains separate and not sticky.

To shorten the cooking time, soak the rice in hot water for about 20-30mins outside and then microwave.

Do not put all the water necessary for rice at once. This can lead to overflowing of the water when the rice is boiling. Add half the required quantity at first and the rest when almost no water is left. Or use a large bowl with all the required quantity of water at once.


Steaming, Cooking vegetables -Any vegetable can be steamed in a oven. There are a couple of things to keep in mind.

• Its very important that you cut all the pieces of approximately the same size. This will ensure even cooking.
• When cooking / steaming, stir once in 2-3 minutes. This will ensure the vegetable getting cooked evenly from all sides.
• Never pile food one on top of other.
• When cooking an assortment of veggies, keep the hard veggies at the bottom and tender ones at the top. This will ensure that all the vegetables get cooked at the same time and none is over-cooked or under-cooked.
• When boiling whole potatoes, make few pricks with fork and place over the glass table. Note here that we are placing it directly on the glass plate of the oven. Cook for 6-7 minutes. its important to make pricks to avoid bursting of whole potatoes. This applies to big brinjals as well.
• Here's a pic of the vegetable steamer that am currently using. The one on the left is the bottom most which would hold water. The 2nd dish is the one that would sit on top of the water holding container. The veggies would be placed in this. This will be covered with a lid that has adjustable vents for the steam to escape.

• Steaming veggies - Cook on high power for 5 minutes. Then cook on 50-60% power for another 3 minutes. This way the veggies get cooked well. If the veggies are not cooked still, increase the cooking time. This varies with each veggie.
• Extracting tamarind juice - For making rasam, sambar, if you do not have tamarind paste at hand, this tip would work the best. In a small bowl, put the required amount of tamarind with little water and put in microwave for 1-1.5 minutes. The tamarind would tenderize and extracting juice is just kids play.
• I've found that when tomatoes are cooked and pureed and used in gravies, rasam, sambar, the dish taste awesome. For this place cut tomatoes in a small bowl with little water and cook for 4 minutes. Blend and use.

Preparing instant coffee or tea -

• To make instant coffee directly in a glass (best when making for 1-2 persons) -Place milk in a microwave safe glass and microwave for a minute. Keep a watch since milk can boil over. Add instant coffee powder, sugar. Stir well and put it back into the oven for another 30 seconds.
  
• For tea, place tea leaves with required water in a microwave safe pot and microwave for a couple of minutes.
  

Reheating Food - Most people use microwave for reheating purposes. Here are few tips for reheating food.

• Reheat idlies by sprinkling very little water over then and cover with a cling film.
• Reheat rice by covering with a cling film and make small incisions on the film for the steam to escape. You may even reheat without a cling film.
  
• Never cover dishes with lids while reheating for more than a minute in a microwave safe plastic dishes.
• Other foods may be simply reheated without covering the dishes even with cling film.
• UPDATED (30 Aug 2011) - Reheat chapathis in a closed microwave safe container for a minute. If reheated in open, the chapathis would get harder once they cool down. By reheating in a closed container, the moisture from chapathis is retained and even when little cooled down would remain soft.
  

MICROWAVE TIPS - 1

Initially when I had purchased my oven, I was wondering how to use it more effectively. I googled and found few. I started using it regularly for my cooking. Microwave has definitely made my life easier. :)

As you might know, in MICROWAVE MODE we cannot use steel, aluminium utensils (even spoon) in the microwave when cooking. It would lead to the creation of sparks. When in CONVECTION MODE , one may use aluminium tray for baking. I've never used GRILL MODE so am not in a good position to give tips on that.

One can use microwave safe plastic bowls, ceramic bowls, glass bowls for cooking. Its best to use the microwave safe plastic bowls for reheating purposes rather than for cooking. Use glass or ceramic bowls for cooking.

There are a few things that you would need to buy apart from the starter kit provided. Few of them would be a vegetable steaming basket, pot for boiling milk, few microwave safe bowls. Also you may need a single or a pair of gloves to remove the dishes from the oven, tissue box and a cling film.

My oven's output is 750W. The cooking time mentioned would vary for different outputs. Adjust accordingly.

I have categorized the tips into general tips and cooking tips.

General Tips

• Read the manual provided thoroughly before starting to use your oven.
  
• Do not keep the oven too close to the wall. Allow atleast a feet from the wall.
• Do not close the vents of the oven.
  
• Do not cover the oven with oven cover while cooking. Once the oven has cooled down, you may cover the oven.
• Get a cling film roll. You can use the cling film to cover the dishes while cooking foods that have no or very little water. This will help the food to cook faster, retain the moisture and tenderize it. Not all cling films are microwave safe. So look for microwave safe and food grade cling films.
• If you are not comfortable with cling films, you could use a special microwave safe lid for covering dishes. These are lids have few vents for the steam to escape.
  

• Have your glove handy. Fix it near the microwave. I've put mine to a hook fixed to the side of the fridge next to the oven.

• Have a tissue box near the microwave always. Whenever there are spills, you can wipe them off right away, saving your time in cleaning the microwave glass plate. I've just put the tissue box over the vent to take a pic. Never close the vent. :)
  

• To remove bad odor from the oven, place a small bowl with a cut lemon and little water in the oven and cook for 2 minutes. The odor would vanish. :)

• You can have a tissue paper placed over the glass plate to avoid messing the glass plate from spills.

• Clean your oven interiors with a mix of vinegar (1 tbsp), water (1 tbsp) and a 1 tsp of baking soda. It'll leave your oven sparkling.
  

Brinjal Tomato Curry

I love anything made with brinjal. I can go head over heals for it :)

When brinjal is cooked over naked flame and is used in dishes, it has a heavenly taste. Following dish is one such which can be had with rice, rotis.

Paatoli / Paruppu Usili

Patoli as known in southern Andhra Pradesh, especially in Nellore is similar to Paruppu Usili of Tamil Nadu. This is also called 'Sandeega Podi' in Nellore. This curry requires little more oil than any other curry but the taste is heavenly.

Nawabi Curry

This curry is a royal dish. Can be served with pulaos, rotis etc. I've on purpose skipped adding sugar and saffron. Veggies such as cauliflower, beans, peas, potato, carrot, babycorn may be used.

Vepudu Karam

Recipe adapted slightly from gayatrivantillu.

This masala can be used to spice up any vegetable.

Parwal Fry

Parwal is a vegetable belonging to the same family as cucumber and squashes. It is known as Potols in Telugu (from Bengali) and 'Pointed Gourd' in English. It looks very similar to 'Ivy Gourd' ( Dhondakaya / Kovakai) but is much larger in size than it.

When I googled I found the following information about it.

It is often called green potato, colloquially in India. It is widely cultivated in the eastern part of India, particularly in Bengal, Assam, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. It is a good source of carbohydrates, vitamin A, and vitamin C. It also contains major nutrients and trace elements (magnesium, potassium, copper, sulphur, and chlorine) which are needed in small quantities, for playing essential roles in human physiology.

Vegetable Juice

These days with lesser healthy food and lots of junk, its become essential to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables. In our house, we have started to have the vegetable juice on a daily basis. Morning I wake upto barley, lemon, honey water instead of tea. In the evening when my husband is back from work, I prepare fresh vegetable juice. I'm even getting used to green tea after breakfast.

Sweet Corn Rosemary Rice

Saw the recipe on a TV show.

The taste and aroma is heavenly. The original recipe used only rosemary herb. But I've also included basil and parsley. You can find these herbs in 'Nilgiris', 'Nuts n Spices' outlets in Chennai and Hyderabad. I bought these at the 'Spencers Hyper' in Hyderabad.

The Rosemary herb is native to Mediterranean region and is basically used for flavoring meat dishes. This perennial herb as evergreen needle-like leaves. The results of a study suggest that carnosic acid, found in rosemary, may shield the brain from free radicals, lowering the risk of strokes and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's.

Basil herb is nothing but Tulsi. But there are a variety of Basils available. The one used in Italian cooking is Sweet Basil. We get basil as dried herb in the stores. Basil is mostly added at the end of the cooking process so that the flavor of it is not destroyed.

Instant Sambar Powder

This recipe is given by Chitra Vishwanathan of indusladies.

This is probably the easiest way of preparing sambar and guess what; you do not need to have cooked tur dal for the preparation. Yes. No cooked tur dal required for sambar since we would be incorporating the tur dal in good proportion into the powder.

This sambar powder can be stored in air tight container for a couple of months.

Aratikaya / Vazhaka Curry

Banana plant is such a versatile one. Right from its stem, flower, leaf to fruit finds its use.

Raw banana/plantain is a yummy vegetable which can be cooked in a variety of ways. One of the simplest one is the following one.

Mixed Vegetable Pakoras

Yummy, crunchy are the words that come in my mind when I think of vegetable pakoras. They are best for evening snack, starters for lunch or dinner or just for crunching in between meals. :)

Here are some of the most commonly used veggies for the pakoras - Onion, Capsicum, Brinjal, Cauliflower, Raw Banana. The veggies are cut as thin slices and dipped in a besan based batter and deep fried.

Macaroni in tomato sauce

Macaroni is one of my favorites. I prepare this when I'm lazy enough to cook a meal for myself.

I make macaroni either in white sauce or tomato sauce. Both taste great but I prefer macaroni in tomato sauce since its tangy. :)

I use olive oil when I prepare macaroni. You may use any vegetable oil. I use blanched tomatoes and onions for a nice flavor. It also helps in cooking of the sauce faster since its half cooked already.

How to blanch vegetables

Blanching is a technique which is used to keep the vegetables crisp and tender. This process helps kill the bacteria in the vegetables. Blanching helps preserve the color and flavour of the vegetables. In this process, the vegetables are put in hot boiling water for a couple of minutes and then immediately transferred to ice cold water.

In the following article, I'm gonna explain blanching of tomatoes in specific.

Tomato is one of the most common vegetables that is blanched. The blanched tomato can be used to make sauce or ketchup.

Maida-besan Chakli

Chakli is the north version of our crispy murukku. I decided to stock in some murukku for snacking in on evenings or for side dish in lunch. Since I was trying chakli for the first time, dint want to take a risk. I checked it out from Smt. Chithra Vishwanathan's recipe on indusladies.

Nippatlu or arisi thattai

My mom gave me this recipe after watching it on a cookery show on TV. She told me that it tastes awesome and my dad just loved it. The fact that it is made from rice flour it absorbs very less oil. I tried it today and it came out really well. I think you should just give it a shot. As usual I tweaked the original recipe by adding chopped cashews.

Idly batter

Idly is something I wake up to every morning. Its been my breakfast for almost 24 years. The batter is prepared either with idly rava or with rice. I shall post both the recipes.

At my in-law's place, we prepare the batter with idly rava. My MIL prefers fermenting the batter and adding the cooking soda and salt the next morning. So I too follow what she has been doing for years. :)

Dosa Batter

Idly and Dosa are the commonly prepared breakfast in south india. So today thought of sharing the recipe to prepare dosa batter. It isn't difficult or not known to people. I just want to make it easy for the newly weds :)

Rava Kesari

We had some guests coming over for dinner on Sunday night. I had planned a very simple menu comprising of capsicum sambar, bhindi fry and rasam; ofcourse curd rice, chutneys and pickles being indispensable. So was left with the dessert. After quite a lot of thinking, I decided on Rava Kesari ( sooji ka halwa).

Sambar

Sambar is one dish which is almost made on a daily basis across households and hotels in South India. This simple dish, gets the flavour from the veggies and the sambar masala used accompanied with the tamarind extract and dal. The usage of sambar starts right from the morning breakfast to the evening dinner. There are different varieties of sambar. Infact the sambar made for tiffins is different from the sambar made for rice. But I only prepare sambar for lunch and have tried making sambar for breakfast just once.

The onions or the pearl onions give an excellent flavour to the sambar. The pearl onions especially give an excellent flavour. Probably thats why they are commonly known as the sambar onions.

Egg substitute

The egg in the cake does add to the fluffiness and the eggless cakes some what lack there. So why not give your cakes the same fluffiness without adding eggs but using egg substitutes?

One substitute which I commonly found while googling was the FLAXSEED. Flaxseed is also known as Linseed. It is called 'Avise Ginjalu' in Telugu, 'Ali Vidai' in Tamil, 'Alsi' in Hindi. I hunted for it big time at Big Bazaar, Spencer's Hyper but failed. I finally bought it when I made a trip to Chennai. I found it easily at Nilgiris. You can also find flaxseed in 'Nuts and Spices' outlet and there is one in Hyderabad too.

To substitute 1 egg, add 3 tbsp warm water to 1 tbsp flaxseed powder (in stores you get flaxseed in the powder form) and let it stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes you would find that it gets quite the same texture as that of an egg. It serves the binding purpose that the eggs are used for in the cakes. These days most people are using flaxseed instead of eggs for its health benefits and for the lower calories as compared to eggs.

Flaxseed can also be used in soups. Checkout my Tomato Oats soup recipe for the same.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

When I had bought the microwave oven last December, one thing I wanted to try quite desperately was the eggless chocolate cake. I had bought a couple of tins for baking the cake and had got all the ingredients ready. I googled for various eggless cake recipes and tried this one for the new year. :) The 2nd one I baked came much better. So what I learnt was that the measurements need to be exact and not approximate for baking cakes. Also, don't beat the mixture for too long or short.

Making tamarind paste at home

Life and cooking gets simpler when we have things planned out. One ingredient which we south indians use mostly on a daily basis is tamarind for making rasam, sambar, kuzhambu etc. Soaking the tamarind to extract the juice is sometimes boring. And there can be times when we suddenly decide to make rasam but we need to soak tamarind then and there. So one simple way is to have your tamarind paste ready at hand.

This paste can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 months. I googled for the procedure and combined two methods after quite experimenting and arrived at this recipe. I make this and store in a bigger air-tight container in the fridge and have a small container to take and use it.

Ingredients

• Tamarind - 500gms
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 cup (standard measuring cup)
• Oil - 150 ml ( would make upto 1/3 of a standard measuring cup)
  
• Fenugreek / Methi seeds / Vendayam / Menthulu - 2 tbsp

Procedure

• Remove seeds and threads as far as possible from tamarind.
• In a pressure pan, add the tamarind. Pour water such that tamarind gets immersed.
• Add salt, turmeric. Cook for 2 whistles.
• Open the lid after 1-2 hours.
• If you find threads or seeds remaining remove them now.
• Meanwhile, dry roast the fenugreek and powder in a mixer.
  
• In a pan, add oil and once hot add the tamarind paste, fenugreek powder.
• Stir it once in a while and cook it till its quite a thick paste like sauce.
• Cool and store it in a air-tight container in fridge.

Things to remember

• Since you've already added salt to this paste, take care while adding salt to your recipe.
• To make sambar for 3-4 persons, you can use 2 tsps of paste.
  
• Always use a dry spoon or have a spoon in your small container and take care not to have water into it.
• Since this paste is already cooked, your gravies need not be cooked for a longer time. We generally cook gravies for a little longer time after adding tamarind to eliminate the raw smell and taste. Here that is not required.
  

Pindi Miriyam

This gravy is a Andhra speciality. It mainly gets its name from the fact that the gravy has quite a strong taste of pepper which is called miriyalu in telugu. The rice in the masala which is ground specially for this gravy gives thickness to it. This is good to have when you have cold or sore throat. You'll find it soothing. Colocasia / Arbi / Chamagadalu / Cenna kizhangu is best suited for this gravy. You can also use potatoes and other veggies.

Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi

This pachadi was introduced to me by my mom. Ever thought of throwing away the peel of veggies like ridge gourd, chow chow? Next time don't throw them away. Save them to make a delicious pachadi which your entire family would love. And most of them wouldn't even guess what the pachadi is made of.

Veg Noodles

As I was shopping at Spencers Hyper at Musheerabad, Hyderabad, I came across the plain veg noodles pack. I picked it up and it lay on the shelf unused for days. One day I decided to try it out. I asusual, added in the sauces that were available at home. My husband loved it instantly. :)

One good thing about this noodles is that it does not carry any masala sachet as that in maggi. So you have the freedom to experiment.

Brinjal Curry - with homemade curry powder

I just love this brinjal curry. I would thank my mom a zillion times for this recipe. I since my childhood had loved the stuffed brinjal curry. But since it would require more oil, my mom tried this recipe once and I just fell for it. Tender small green brinjals taste best for this recipe.

brinjal curry hot in kadai

Dal Powder - jiffy version

This dal powder known as 'annam lo podi' in telugu is something you cannot miss when you make a visit to any of the andhra hotels. This version of dal powder is easiest to make and tastes heavenly when had with hot rice with a little ghee. My mouth is already watering :D

This dal powder is the jiffy version and not the conventional way of making the dal powder. In the conventional way, it is made with 4 types of dals and this shall be posted later.

Aakura Pappu without masalas

As I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, I make greens without adding any masalas. But it still does taste great. Do try this one and see how heavenly food can be without any masalas.

Bhindi Gravy

My husband just loves Okras. But I get fed up making the same old bhindi fry. So sometime back I just experimented on this recipe and he just loved it. Once in a while I make this gravy. I just added whatever masalas I felt like adding and that were available on the countertop. :D

Bhindi gravy

Poha - The microwave way

While I was browsing through few blogs, I came across Srivalli's blog which was hosting a MEC event on 365 days of microwave cooking. So here I'm editing my previous post to send an entry to the same.

This is for Srivalli's MEC event, from http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2007/08/announcing-microwave-easy-cooking-event.html

Never thought poha would be so delicious when made in the oven with just 2 tsps of oil. Yes...2 tsps of oil..can you believe that? I did try it out and believe me it tastes so good.

I make poha either for breakfast or as an evening snack. It actually is a full meal in itself.

Senaga Pachadi

Senaga Pachadi is similar to the Parupu Thugayal of Tamil Nadu. When you substitute red gram dal with tur dal Kandhi Pachadi is ready. This pachadi tastes yummy. The consistency of the pachadi is thick and can be refrigerated in an air tight container for about 2-3 days.

Aakura Pappu / Parupu Keera

Doctors suggest us to have greens atleast 4-5 times a week. So some days I cook the greens with dal and on few days when I don't prepare sambar or any other dish without dal, I prepare the greens with dal. So here's one of those recipes greens with dal. Here I have used spinach. You can substitute spinach with any greens of your choice.

Masala Pori

This snack is probably the fastest one that can be made. My husband loves this snack. When I'm out of time or ideas I make this one in a jiffy, ofcourse with all the ingredients at hand. :)

Semiya Dosa

I would like to share with you the recipe for semiya dosa which I had learnt from my aunt several years ago. It tastes yummy even without a side dish.

Tip to store curry leaves

Here's a simple tip to store your curry leaves fresh for weeks....



As soon as you get the leaves from the market, separate the leave from the stem. Wash them and dry them under the fan until there is no moisture content. Store the leaves in a GLASS JAR. Your leaves stay fresh for weeks :)




Try it to believe it. :)

Tomato Oats Soup

In my quest to weight loss, I googled for various low cal recipes. One of them was the Super Duper Tomato Oats soup which I had hit upon a blog in www.indusladies.com.

I prepare this soup first thing in the morning and stock it. When ever I'm hit by the hunger pangs, I have a bowl of this soup and I feel full for the next 2-3 hours. And what I liked about this soup is that no thickening agent like corn flour is required :) Oats bring in the thickness to the soup.

I tweaked the recipe to my taste. I added in onions and cloves which gave an excellent taste to the soup.