Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Curry / Theeyati Pulusu

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 20 Mei 2013
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Collecting cookbooks interests me a lot! after collecting so many book's, i felt that only few book's are worth saving for life-time. now a days i restricted myself in buying cookbook's. only if i desperately long for a book, i buy it. Cooking at home with Pedatha was one book, that i wanted to buy for a long time, when hubby gifted me the book for my last year's birthday, i was so excited about the gift! maybe the warmness and love filled recipes in the book or my favorite andhra recipes should have been the reason for excitement! Today's recipe is from Cooking at Home with Pedatha! do try, you will love this curry as it will have balanced taste of sweetness of jaggery, tangy from tamarind and spicy from lots of chillies!

Theeyati Pulusu

I almost cook just an hour before the lunchtime. mostly i don't plan my meals, i go and check my refrigerator and decide on that. some times i call and ask my hubby on what to cook, he always leaves to my choice!! I wanted to try this curry for a long time, luckily had vegetables in hand and went ahead! Do you plan your meals the previous night?

Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Curry


                                           Theeyati Pulusu / Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Curry

Serves - 3
Preparation time - 20 minutes
Cooking time - less than 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Vegetables :

Bottle Gourd - 1
Sweet potato - 1
Drumstick - 1
Raw Mango - 1/2
Pumpkin - 1/4 
Brinjal - 1

Tamarind - 1 small lemon size
Sambhar powder - 2 tbsp
Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Green Chillies - 3 or 4
Corriander leaves - 1 tbsp

For Tempering:

Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp

To grind into powder:

Split urad dal / udaicha ulundhu / minapa pappu - 1 tbsp
Bengal gram / kadala paruppu / senaga pappu - 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds / ellu / nuvvulu - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat a pan, and dry roast the split urad dal, bengal gram and sesame, till they reach golden color  let them cool and grind into a fine powder.

Boil 1/4 cup of water and remove from flame and add tamarind to it and let it soak for 10 minutes and squeeze the pulp.

Wash the bottle gourd and peel it's outer skin and chop into big chunks. do the same to sweet potatoes. chop the other vegetables into big chunks.

In a pan, heat oil, add mustard and let it splutter, add fenugreek seeds, asafoetida powder, green chillies and curry leaves. Then add all the vegetables together and mix well with the tempering. add enough water to cover the vegetables and let it boil for almost 10 minutes, till all the vegetables are cooked well.

Meanwhile, To the squeezed tamarind water, add 1 cup of water then the grounded powder, sambhar powder and mix well. also mix in the jaggery ,mix with your hands. this way, you can mash the jaggery and also mix well.

Now, after the veggies are cooked, add in the tamarind water and mix well with the vegetables. Let the curry boil for 5 minutes in medium flame..

Garnish with corriander leaves and curry leaves.

Serve warm with rice and ghee!

Bellam Pulusu






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sweet potato halwa ~ shakarkandi sheera

Diposting oleh adiba
Rabu, 15 Mei 2013
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shakarkandi halwa

I have not posted any sweet recipes after diwali. When i was going thru gujarati cuisine, i came across this halwa and also found some sweet potatoes in my kitchen waiting to be cooked. so here you see this easy halwa that i made today in minutes!

sakkaravalli kizhangu halwa



                                                                 Sweet Potato Halwa
serves- 4
preparation and cooking time: 30-35 minutes

 Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes - 250 gms
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 6 tbsp
Milk - 5 tbsp
Saffron - 4 strands

To Garnish:

Ghee - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 4
Almond - 2
Dry Grapes - 1 tsp

Method:

Soak the saffron in luke warm milk for about 15-20 minutes.

Scrub and wash the sweet potatoes in running water. Peel it's skin and chop then into pieces. Transfer the chopped sweet potatoes into a bowl, which has to be kept in pressure cooker for pressure cooking. pressure cook up to 3 or 4 whistles. let the steam escape and let the sweet potatoes to cool and then mash the sweet potatoes finely.

Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan, add the mashed sweet potatoes and cook the sweet potatoes in medium flame for upto 1 or 2 minutes. once the ghee gets absorbed, add sugar and mix well. Then add milk(at room temperature) to the pan and mix well. now cook the halwa in slow flame for about 5-7 minutes, till the halwa turns thick and comes together to the centre of the pan.

Heat a small tadka pan, add ghee, roast the nut's, raisins and garnish the halwa.

Serve warm!
sweet potato halwa


Notes:

After pressure cooking the sweet potatoes, taste it and decide on how much sugar to add, depending on the sweetness of potatoes.


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Paneer Makhani ~ Paneer in tomato gravy

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 29 April 2013
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IMG_2272

Makhani is referred to gravy, which is cooked in ghee and with tomatoes. Never mix up paneer butter masala and paneer makhani. both are different. Paneer makhani gets a little bit of tangy taste from tomatoes and there are whole spices and garam masala in it. You will find the difference, once you try this absolutely delicious paneer gravy!

IMG_2277

Never compromise on few ingredients to make this gravy, like kasuri methi, fresh cream and kashmiri red chilli powder(for the colour of the gravy)!

Starred Photos

Paneer Makhani

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serves                |                 preparation and cooking time
2 or 3                |                   less than 30 minutes
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Ingredients:

Paneer - 100 gms (cut into cubes)
Onion - 1 (very finely chopped)
Ginger - 1' inch size (very finely chopped)
Ghee - 2 tsp's
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1 and half tsp
Corriander powder - 1tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Kasuri Methi / Dried Methi leaves - 1 tsp
Fresh cream - 3 tsp's

To Blanch the tomatoes:

Tomatoes - 2
Cinnamon - 1"inch size
Bayleaf - 1
Cardamon - 2
Water - 1 cup

Method:

1. First to blanch tomatoes, in a cup of water, add cinnamon stick, bay leaf and cardamon and boil it for 5-7 minutes, till the skin of tomato puff's up. cool the tomatoes, peel it's skin and grind the tomatoes alone into a fine puree.

2. Heat a pan, add 2 tsp's of ghee, add finely chopped onions and ginger. saute till the onions turn translucent.

3. Add corriander powder, cumin powder and saute them along with onions for at least a minute.

4. Now add Tomato puree to the pan and let it boil. add little bit of water and mix well. add chilli powder and garam masala to the pan and mix well. add salt to taste. let the gravy boil for 2 minutes in medium flame.

5. Add the paneer cubes to the gray and give a mix. Crush the kasuri methi with your hands and add to the gravy. Switch off the flame and add 2 tsp of  fresh cream to the gravy and mix well. see to that the gravy is not too runny.

6. Take  a small cover. to one of  it's inside corner, drop a spoon of fresh cream. just cut a very small nick of the corner of the cover, as we cut our mehendhi cone and draw lines over the gravy!

Serve with Chapathi, or with pulao.


IMG_2298

Notes:

Add chilli powder and kasuri methi, according to your taste. add little salt, kasuri methi may have salt sometimes.

If you are serving the gravy little late, it is better to add the paneer just an hour before serving. otherwise the paneer get's sour with the tanginess of tomatoes.

To de-frost the paneer, put them in warm water and let it rest for about 10-15 mins.

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Watermelon Ginger Juice

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 08 April 2013
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It's year after year i am complaining, how hot it is in chennai. This year water scarcity joins the club. so you should imagine my state(TN). Let's hope this coming monsoon gives enough rainfall!!

Watermelom Ginger Juice
 
Having a slice of water melon during summer is such a relief. You will feel chill inside on consuming, but you will be standing under the sun!! When i did my college in chidambaram, we had to cycle 2 kms from hostel to college, then return for lunch and then cycle back to college. We always manage to have a slice of water melon on our way to hostel for lunch.
 
Watermelon Juice

 In summer day's, i do not like cooking/eating, and i can just survive on water melon, tender coconut water and with curd rice. that's what we yesterday did.

Watermelon juice served with pudhina

Hubby suggested me to add a piece of ginger in the juice. believe me, i did not get  the taste of ginger in juice. so why not hide a piece of ginger in your glass of watermelon juice herein? Mint gave a refreshing look to the juice. i just served with mint sprig. you can also add 5 mint leaves while blending the melon.

                                                               WATERMELON  JUICE
                                                          ---------------------------------------


makes - 2 glasses
preparation time - less than 5 mins.
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Ingredients:

Water Melon - 2 cup's (diced)
Ginger - an inch sized
Ice-cubes - 3
Mint Sprig - 2 to serve

Method:

Put the diced water melon, with or without seeds, a piece of ginger, ice-cubes in your mixie jar or in your blender, grind them for about 15-20 seconds. strain the juice out. serve chilled and see how your tummy enjoy's this chilled drink!

Notes:

1. Either you can discard the seed's before you blend the melon. i prefer blending the water melon and then to strain the juice out. This works well for kids.

2. If using already refrigerated water melon, you need not use ice-cubes seperately. also there is no need for sugar and water to be added while blending.

 

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Spinach pie with spring roll sheets

Diposting oleh adiba
Sabtu, 06 April 2013
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 Very few times, we have the ingredients and mood to prepare a dish, that was just shown on TV. This spinach pie is such one dish, which i saw in TLC, prepared by donna hay. instantly, i tried and served for break-fast!
 
 
I bought some spring roll sheets months back, and they were lying in my freezer, the idea of making spinach pie in spring roll sheets was instant and am glad that it worked out perfect.
 

 
We all liked this pie, the spiring roll sheets were crisp and the filling was too good and tasted cheesy. who will say no to a iron rich and protein rich filling!
 
                                                      
                                                      Spinach Pie with Spiring Roll Sheets
                                                      ----------------------------------------------
makes 2 pie's
serves - 2 to 3
preparation time - 50 minutes
baking time - 35 mins
recipe source - Donna Hay

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Ingredients:

Spring roll sheets / Filo pastry - 6 sheets
Butter - 40 gms (melted)
Fresh Spinach leaves - 200 gms
Panneer - 200 gms
Egg's - 2
Grated Mozzarella cheese - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Thaw the spring roll sheets for about 30 minutes, before starting.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C /350F.

Wash the spinach leaves and drain them. chop the leaves finely and set aside.

Crumble or grate the paneer and transfer it to a large bowl. add in the chopped spinach leaves to the bowl. crack two egg's into the bowl, mix well with a fork or spoon.

Add salt and pepper to taste. then mix the filling thoroughly. add in the grated cheese and give a final mix.

Line a baking tray with butter paper. Now lay a spring roll sheet on a parchment paper/ foil sheet/ butter paper, brush the melted butter on the spring roll sheet. place another spring roll sheet on top again brush, then top it with another spring roll sheet. Now place the filling in the centre of the sheet and fold the four sides of the sheets. brush butter on top of the folds. if the folds don't hold, just prick in tooth picks to the four corners of the folded sheets. like wise make another pie.

Bake them for about 35 minutes, till the filling is completely set and the spring roll sheets should have turned into light brown and crispier.

Serve the spinach pie warm.
 

spinach pie

 Notes:

This is the best way to make the kids eat greens. if serving for kids, add more grated cheese to the filling.

Serve warm, else it's not so good to eat. you can re-heat before serving.

 

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Vatha Kuzhambu ~ வத்த குழம்பு

Diposting oleh adiba
Selasa, 19 Maret 2013
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Brahmin style Vatha kuzhambu

This Vatha kuzhambu recipe is the perfect recipe. Making perfect vatha kuzhambu and mor kuzhambu remained  as a dream to me before. Now i have a favorite tutor on youtube, from where i learned to make perfect traditional brahmin style vatha kuzhambu. i have prepared vatha kuzhambu with same ingredients, but now i know, the order in which the ingredients should be put to cook. simple tricks! come on i will teach you, what i learned.

Meal with vatha kuzhambu, sambhar, poriyal

The tricks i learned this time is to roast the sambhar powder, before adding the small onions and garlic. next trick is allowing the kuzhambu to boil well and let the kuzhambu leave oil in the sides of the pan.

Sundakka Vatha kuzhambu

Traditionally vatha kuzhambu is made in kalsatti, it seams the kalsatti made kuzhambu is extra special in taste. Still in many brahmin house-hold, making vathakuzhambu in kalsatti is in practice. When i visited a mess in west mambalam, few people were having curd rice and vatha kuzhambu as the side dish. even i started to eat like that way back home, Its better than eating with pickle! Try for yourself!

This vatha kuzhambu will be bitter, tangy and spicy. a bit of jaggery makes all the taste get balanced. No wonder, this vatha kuzhambu remains as favorite to many people.



Vatha Kuzhambu Recipe

Meal with vatha kuzhambu, sambhar, poriyalPrep Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 20 mins  
Serves: 4
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Curry

Ingredients:


Sundakka, Manathakkali vathal - 1/4 cup
Old tamarind- 1/2 a size of lemon
Small onions - 1 cup (15 no.)
Garlic - 1/4 cup (10 no.)
Sambhar powder - 3 tsp's
Jaggery - a tiny bit

For Tempering:

Sesame oil / Nallennai - 1/4 cup
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek / vendhayam - 1/4 tsp
Cumin / Jeeragam - 1/4 tsp
Chana dal / Kadala paruppu - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp


vatha kuzhambu ingredients

Method:

1. Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water for about 10-15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and get the extract in a bowl. repeatedly add water to tamarind and squeeze it twice. this helps in taste.

2. Peel the outer skin of small onions and garlic and keep aside.

3. Heat a tsp of oil in a small pan and roast the sundakka and manathakkali vathal in medium flame for about a minute.

vk prep 1


4. Heat a thick bottomed pan, add 1/4 cup of sesame oil, when the oil is hot, drop in the mustard and let it pop, then add chana dal, jeeragam, fenugreek, dry red chilli, asafoetida powder and curry leaves.

5. Next add in the sambhar powder in slow flame. roast the sambhar powder in slow flame for about 1-2 minutes, till you see change in colour.

vk prep 2

6. Then add the small onions and garlic, roast the onions and garlic in slow flame for about 5 minutes, till the shallots and garlic turn soft and cooked.

vk prep 3

7. Now, when the small onions and garlic are cooked, add in the tamarind water and some curry leaves. add salt to taste and stir well. let the kuzhambu boil in medium flame for about 5 minutes.

vk prep 4

8. The oil should seperate from the curry, only on seeing that, add in the roasted sundakka vathal. Add a small piece of jaggery at the end. again let the kuzhambu boil for about 2-3 minutes.

Switch off the flame and serve hot with rice and appalam. Few people like to have this vatha kuzhambu as a side, for curd rice.

வத்த குழம்பு

Notes:

I have added medium amount of tamarind, you may increase to a small lemon sized one, if you prefer more tangy kuzhambu!.

Vatha kuzhambu stays good for 2-3 days in room temperature.

While you want to prepare food for travel, prepare this kuzhambu the earlier night. prepare it little thick. next day, mix the kuzhambu with hot rice and pack for your travel. it should keep well for 6-8 hours.

Add little salt to the kuzhambu, as the sundakka vathal and manathakkali vathal has salt in it. so it will get  balanced in the kuzhambu.






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Spicy Chilli Hot Chocolate

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 25 Februari 2013
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I love shopping online at jabong. When bharathy asked to send entries for her spicy recipe event, i wanted to prepare a recipe with red chilli, just to suit her blog logo! i tried chilli bread sticks, chilli-mint flavored paneer. no dish looked sexy and hot with dry red chilli!

Hot Chocolate drink

I still do not know, whether bharathy will accept my entry or not, as the deadkine for the submission  just closed yesterday.

Chilli Hot Chocolate

serves - 3
preparation and cookin time - less than 5 mins

Ingredients:

Dark chocolate - 45 gms
Milk - 250 ml
Red chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1" inch size stick
Sugar - 4 tsp

Method:

Heat Milk in a pan, add dark chocolate and cinnamon stick and keep stirring, till the chocolate melts.
add sugar and mix well. bring the milk to boil and reduce the flame. let the chocolate milk simmer for about 1 or 2 minutes. finally remove the cinnamon stick and add red chilli flakes. remove from the flame. Serve hot to your loved ones.
 

Chilli Chocolate drink

Note:

To prepare dry red chilli flakes, take 3 o 4 dry red chilli and remove the stalks of the red chillies. grind coarsely so that you get chilli flakes.

Just a pinch of chilli flakes will do for a serving.

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