My blog baby turns 4 today. it all started with searching recipe in google for enna kathrikkai kuzhambu, somehow i landed on mahanandi. i explored the site the same day and read few comments and clicked some commenters names and went over their blogs. that was when i discovered blogging. what attracted me towards food blogging was drool worthy pictures. so when i started the blog, i posted just the pictures and not recipes. i was also lucky to have my college-mate to pinpoint my mistakes. she corrected me a lot in initial days and i still respect her comments and ideas.



My point and shoot camera was just 2 weeks old when i started blogging. everything was new to me at that time. even my son was just 6 months old. but i should say blogging helped me to come out of my postpartum depression blues. i should say blogging and my  son helps me all these days to relieve my stress.


I want to thank all my blog readers and blog friends this day, for all your support and beautiful comments you say whenever you visit me.


also thanks to my friends! sharmi thanks a lot for always keying me. also thanks to my hubby, for patiently taking me around the city, whenever i want to shop some props for blog and taste-testing all my ventures!!


Happy Birthday Rajinikanth!!

i intentionally started my blog on superstar's birthday!!

I prepared these sweets for diwali. will make a separate post on how to make carrot and apple sweet in few days. sorry for not posting with recipe.

Enjoy blogging, while i go now and catch up BABA movie.

I love to prepare one pot meal quite often. one thing i love about it is, kitchen turns less messy while i prepare one pot meal, especially this easy chana biryani. though named as biryani, not much effort goes in like in biryani. this protein packed biryani is so easy to make and makes a good choice for lunch box. my kid always love this.

Soup song, flop song - why this kolaveri kolaveri di??. first i did not understand the meaning of what is soup song, then wiki helped me as it always do. yes kolaveri viral attacked me too. so from soup song to cream of tomato soup...



I already have posted tomato soup recipe, but i got inspired to try out in a new way from a pic that siri posted on her photo blog. along with the inspiration married with tarla dalal recipe gave a perfect soup just like we have in restaurant. me and my son liked most, though i prepared this soup to start our meal, we finished the meal with just soup and bread.


I added lots of herbs like oregano, basil and rosemary. you may add whatever herbs your are available with. but i tell you, adding oregano(karpooravalli) and basil(thulasi) really made us feel better when we suffered from cold.

Ingredients:
serves 2 adults

set 1:

Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon stick - 2'inch size
Cloves - 2

Ripe Red Tomatoes - 3 large one's
Garlic - 3 cloves
Beetroot - a small slice

set 2:

Butter - 1 tbsp
Maida / All purpose flour - 1/2 tbsp
Water - 1 cup
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh cream - 1/2 tbsp

Herbs to add:

1/2 tsp oregano(karpooravalli)
1/2 tsp basil(thulasi)
1/2 tsp rosemary

Method:

In a wide pan, add olive oil, cloves, cinnamon and garlic. saute them all together. now add beetroot slice and arrange the tomatoes cut into half horizontally over the pan so that olive oil coats all the tomatoes base part. sprinkle salt and herbs over the tomatoes. let them get sauteed in medium flame for about 3-5 minutes. in between, turn the tomatoes upside down so that either side gets sauteed. when the tomatoes peel their skin off, remove from flame and let it cool.

(or) using microwave,

In a Microwave safe bowl, add 1tbsp olive oil, cinnamon, cloves and microwave for 30 secs at high power.
Cut the tomatoes into half,  horizontally. place the tomatoes in the bowl so that tomatoes sits over the olive oil. add beetroot slice and garlic. sprinkle little salt and choice of your herbs over the tomatoes. microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds at high power. the tomatoes would have peeled off their skin by now and looks juicy. cool them all.


Remove the cinnamon, cloves and tomatoes skin, discard them. grind the tomatoes along with beet and garlic  with 1/4 cup of water into a smooth puree. if herbs added, herbs wont be grounded smoothly.

Heat a pan, add butter and let it melt, then add maida / all purpose flour and fry it for 30 second on slow flame. then add the grounded tomato puree to the pan and give a stir. add 1/2 cup water, salt to taste and little pepper powder. give the soup a mix and let the soup boil for few minutes in slow flame. remember to keep stirring in between. soup gets thicker so its enough to boil for 2-3 mins.

Remove the soup from flame, add pepper powder according to your taste. add fresh cream(1 tbsp is very much enough). and give a mix.

serve hot with bread of your choice.


its been my nightmare to draw white circles with cream on top of soups. finally i made it. i just added 2 spoons of fresh cream to milk cover and i chopped the corner of it, like we chop our mehendi cone and drawed circles. next time i have to experiment more shapes.

before this month ends i made a post, phew...lots come in between planning and execution, including my great laziness and facebook hops.

I made few changes to Paneer butter masala and got this recipe. its so simple recipe and also it tastes so so good. my words and the pictures may not do justice to the dish. You have to try and find how tasty this gravy turns out.


Oh this time i'am trying out with step by step pictures. i am finding very difficult to handle the camera on one hand and ladle on other. sometimes hot smoke hits the camera lens, it was a new experience to me. i salute blogger's who make step wise pictures on every post!! without any more excessive talk, i will take you straight to the recipe.




Ingredients:

for 100gms of Paneer and 1/4 cup of Green peas.

set 1:

2 medium sized onions
2 medium sized tomatoes
1/4 cup corriander leaves
4 - 6 cashews (depending on size)
a pinch of turmeric powder
1 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp oil
1/8 cup water
salt to taste

set 2:

1 onion of very small size (or) 2 tbsp's finely chopped onions
1/2 + 1/2 tsp of kasuri methi
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp butter
1 tsp fresh cream
1 tsp oil
chopped corriander leaves to garnish

Method:

(1) De-frost the Paneer either by soaking the paneer with its wrapper in a bowl of water for about 30 mins or microwave the paneer for 1 minute at high power.

(2) Boil 1/4 cup of green peas in 1/4 cup of water or alternatively microwave for 4 to 5 minutes.

with set 1:

(3) Heat a deep pan, add one tsp of oil, add onions and fry till it turns light pink and translucent. Add cashews to the pan and saute it for a minute.


(4) Add chopped tomatoes to the pan and saute it together with onions. add salt to taste, turmeric powder and kashmiri chilli powder. mix them all together till they become soft. remove it from flame, add corriander leaves and mix all together. then let all cool down for 10 minutes.


(5) On cooling, transfer them to a mixie jar and grind into a smooth paste by adding 1/8 cup of water.


with set 2:

(6) Heat another pan, add one tsp of oil, following it add very finely chopped onion. fry it till it turns light brown. Add 1/2  tsp of kasuri methi, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder and mix them all together.


(7) Now add the grounded smooth paste to the pan and give a mix. Gravy changes in colour. Now add Paneer cubes and green peas to the pan and give a mix. also wash of the mixie jar with little water so that not even little grounded paste is left-over, and add it to the pan. (anjali, i updated this line for you, sorry for not including earlier, i assumed every one will do that).


(8) Add 1 tsp of butter and mix. close the pan with its lid, put the pan in medium flame for about 5 minutes.

(9) After 5-6 mins, oil seperates from the gravy and the gravy changes colour, switch off the flame. add 1/2 tsp of kasuri methi and 1 tsp of fresh cream.

Garnish with corriander leaves and fresh cream.


Serve with chapathis or roti's.

Notes:

- Key taste maker of this gravy is kasuri methi and butter. so do not skip it.
- Adding fresh cream and cashews is optional. though the gravy wont be creamy.
- No spices are added to the gravy which makes easy on digestion.
- I also suggest you not to skip corriander leaves.

check my video of making Boondhi Laddu.

important tip i learned: Laddu's cannot be shaped, when boondi is so hot. leave it to cool down, when the boondi mixture is just warm, start making laddu's. its so easy to shape laddu's.

i referred cilantro and jeyashri's kitchen for making these laddu.

I had to gain a lot of confidence to try boondi, as i remember my mom's first attempt of making laddu was a failed attempt. after referring so many blogs and mallika badrinath's sweet book, i went on to try boondi yesterday. Yesterday i discovered that, Laddu is one of easiest traditional sweet to make. The trick is on besan flour mixed with water. it should not be thick or watery, just like our dosa batter. if this is kept in mind, every other things make you way for perfect laddu. also keep washing the boondi karandi after every batch and wipe it dry with a clean cloth before starting the next batch.this will make all boondis look even.

Prep Time: 10 mins 
Ingredients:

1. Cashews - 30 / 1 cup (125 gms)
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup
3. Water - just to the level of sugar immerses ( 4 tbsp)
4. Ghee - to Grease your Palms.
5. Milk - 2 or 3 tsp's

                                                      
For Pista filling:  

Pista - 4 tbsp 
Sugar - 1/8 cup

Roast the pista for 2 minutes in medium flame and let it cool. Grind Pista and Sugar together to a coarse powder. set aside.
(or)
Roast at 100c for 10 minutes and powder the pista along with sugar.

- Wash and dry your mixer, without wet.
- Grind the Cashew to the powder form.

The Ratio between Cashew Powder and Sugar is 2 : 1.
Take half cup sugar(3 oz.) in a thick bottomed pan, and pour water till it get immersed (say 4 tbsp of water).

Keep checking every half minute..

 Soon after the sugar water starts to boil, have a little in a spoon and touch it with your fingers. it will be very sticky to your fingers.( pisukku patham)

Second stage is, just drop a drop of sugar syrup on a plate, and tilt the plate, sugar syrup will start flowing.

Third and required stage for Kaju Katli is Single String Consistency.

Drop a drop of sugar syrup in a bowl of water, it should get set on bottom of the bowl and when touched, it should not dissolve in water.

When the syrup attains the third stage, put the cashew powder to the syrup and keep stirring it to avoid lumps. even break the lumps if any formed.


Keep the flame Low and keep stirring for at least 3-4 minutes.

When you see bubbles coming and blowing off from the cashew burfi and the cashew burfi should all come together without sticking to the kadaai. switch off the flame and remove from the stove. (just takes 3 - 4 minutes in slow flame)

Let it cool for about 10 minutes in tha kadaai / Pan itself. Let it Cool till your palms could bear the heat for kneading.

Grease some ghee(1/4 tsp) on your palms and knead the cashew burfi dough for about a minute or 2, till they all come out to a big ball shape. (Kaju Dough is ready). 

if you want kaju katli, knead the kaju dough for 2 minutes and roll with rolling pin(like we do our chapathi's) and make slices.


Hope you can guess next post, yes it is Kaju Apple Sweet and other ideas with kaju katli dough.

Now for Kaju Pista Roll,

After you have made Kaju Katli, add about 2 tsp's of milk one at a time and knead the kaju katli dough, so that dough turns little flexible, you can feel the dough's flexibility stop there and make lemon sized ball's. (while kneading, the dough may release oil. dont get panic about it)



1.Take a Lemon size of Kaju Katli Dough and roll it down with the help of rolling pin in rectangle shape, about out palm size.

2.Take a spoon full of pista-sugar filling and place it on one side of the rectangle shaped dough.

3.Slowly roll it over tight. 



4.Roll it on a board with your palms to smoothen the roll without any cracks. 

5.Trim either corners with knife, so that the pista stuffing peeks out.

Like wise you can make few rolls. (or)
Roll a big ball of dough in rectangle shape place the pista filling on one end of it and roll it tight. then slice them into rolls each of 3 cm length.
One more way, which i have guessed is, 

                          Badam Halwa (yields 12 pieces, each of 20 gms approx)