zucchini patties

We can make these patties in many ways.This is one of the quick n tasty way way to make .. This you can eat as a evening time snack.These patties are very tasty with less oil.They are really appetizing :)

Ingredients:

Rice Flour-1 1/2 cups

green chilli-5(finely chopped)

zucchini grated -1 cup

grated Ginger-1 tsp

salt to taste

cilatro -1 bunch(finely chopped)

water-little if required

Preparation:

1.Mix all the above ingredients except water and make a dough like consisitency.

2.Take a small size dough and press in b/w your palms and keep it aside.Do the same for atleast 6 to 8 or untill you think those are sufficient for a single time fry on tawa.

3.Take a dosa pan and heat it ,pour 1/2 tsp of oil on it and place the above zucchini vadas in the pan and shallow fry it on a low flame untill the patties becomes golden brown.

4.Enjoy the tasty patties with ketchup.

Bing.........Microsoft new search tool

Hi friends..

how are you all?I missed all your wonderful dishes from the past 2 weeks..i am sorry friends :( I just came from long vacation..i will update my blog with new dishes soon :)

I came here with one good news today..Microsoft introduced a new search tool in competition with google.It's really cool ..just now my husband told me abt this..i just searched for the shopping mall ,gas prices,weather etc..bing is recognizing our loacation and showing the the search results near to our location..check it.

http://www.bing.com/ (Microsoft search engine)

MSN/Live search is changed into bing with new features i guess :)

Try it and Let me know your comments friends..

Lemon squares

A recipe for lemon squares, a popular dessert made with a cookie/buttery short bread crust with tangy lemony topping. I hope everyone loves to eat Lemon bars. When making these bars we have to pre-bake the shortbread crust and pour the lemony filling on the crust and bake it untill it sets. check the video how to make lemon squares/bars from food networks.

This is my 50th post,i am celebrating this happiest moment with this mouthwatering dessert :)

Ingredients:

For Crust:

unsalted butter-11/2 sticks,
sugar-1/4 th cup
all purpose flour-1 cup
pinch of salt

For Filling:

sugar- 2 cups
eggs-2 to 4
fresh lemon juice-1 cup
grated lemon zest -2 tsp
All purpose flour -1/2 cup

For Topping/Garnishing:

Powdered sugar

Lemon zest

Preparaation:

1.FOR CRUST: Using mixer,cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and mix until the it forms a dough.

2.Pour above mixture into a greased pan ,Press into the bottom of your pan and bake/chill for about 20 minutes, or bake until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

3. FOR FILLING: In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine.

4.Add the flour and mix well. Pour this mixture/filling over the freezed/baked crust and again bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and allow it to cool.

5.Cut into squares or your desired shape and dust with powdered sugar.

Note:

Follow the recipe given by food networks..the recipe i had given is different in proportions..i have altered the proportions in my desired way..

Plantain fry

I hope many of you knew the health benifits of plantain....so use plantain in your meals :))

Here is the recipe for plantain fry..

Ingredients:

plantain -2 small
onion -1 big (finely chopped)
pinch of turmuric
salt to taste
lemon juice-3 tsp
oil-2 tsp
seasoning ingredients
shredded/grated coconut -2 tsp
garlic cloves-4
coriander powder-1 tsp
red chilli powder-1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1.Heat oil in a pan add all seasoning ingredients (chanadal,uruddal,cumin seeds , musturd seeds ,dry red chillis,curry leaves) and fry few min and then add onions fry till onion becomes transparent.

2.Now add plantain pieces , turmuric and salt , mix everything , cover and cook on a low flame until plantain pieces become soft.

3.Finally add red chilli powder,coriander powder,coconut ,garlic( mash it n add it) ,mix well and fry for few min.Atlast add lemon juice and mix well and switch off the stove.

4.serve hot .Its good with rice along with rasam/sambhar.

I am sending this to "15 Minute Cooking" hosted by mahimaa's kitcen hosting by Mahima..

Mango icecream

Mangoes have been one of the very favorite fruits in the Indian sub-continent...called the "King Of Fruits".I am carving for the mango icecream from many days..I made tongue licking mango icream today becoz i have purchased a new icecream maker last weekend.

Mango tins can be found in many Indian Grocery Stores. You canalso use the mango pulp too in the recipe.Here is the recipe..

Ingredients:

ripe mangoes-1 to 1 1/3 pound (2-3 mangoes)
sugar-¾ cup
whip cream-½ cup
curd-2 tsp
vanilla extract-¼ tsp
freshly squeezed lemon juice-1 tsp

Preparation:

1.Peel the mangoes, slice them into quarters, stir them in the sugar, then blend it using blender,add mango puree with the whip cream, curd, vanilla and lemon juice and blend until smooth.

2.Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator abt an hour, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

3.Mango icecream is ready !!

I am sending this to following event:

Announcing : MY FAVOURITE THINGS EVENT - Frozen Desserts hosting by aquadaze and is conceived byBindiya

Samiya pulihora

I tried this recipe from mahimaas kitchen.This came out very well..It really tastes like pulihora only.Thanks alot mahimaa..we had wonderful light dinner yesterday with this..

You can eat this as breakfast,Brunch,lazy/quick/light Meal too :)

The basic recipe is same..mine is a bit variation in quantity of ingredients or its my refined version of recipe :) .Anyway i am giving the recipe here..you can check original recipe here

Ingredients:

Vermicelli-1 cup

water-1.5 cups

greenchilli-2(slit)

peanuts-1/2 cup

tamarind-3/4 th of small lemon

seasoning ingredients(cumin,urud dal,chana dal,mustard seeds,red chillies)

curry leaves

salt to taste

turmeric powder-1/8 th tsp or a pinch

oil-3 tsp

Preparation:

1.First soak the tamarind in little amt of water and keep it aside.

2.take a pan ,heat 1 tsp od ol and roast samiya till golden brown and transfer that to another bowl/plate and keep that aside.

3.In the same pan,add remaining oil & add all seasoning ingredients along with peanuts and green chilli and fry till peanuts become golden brown.

4.Now squeeze water from tamarind (this should adjust according to your samiya quantity for 1 cup of samiya ,tamarind water around 1.5 cups),add this to the tadka/seasoning and increase the heat to med-high and let it heat untill the water is boiled.

5.Add salt,turmeric and mix well.Now add samiya and mix well.Keep the heat in med-high till the all the water evoparated from the samiya in b/w mix the samiya,and then reduce the heat to low and continue to cook till samiya becomes dry..

6.Samiya pulihora ready..serve hot..

Note:1.If you feel tamarind is not healthy..add shredded/grated unripe mango in the tadka fry for some time and add normal water.

2.You can also use dry mango powder and use normal water instead of tamarind water.

3.If at all you have a doubt in your mind,how it will tastes..just use lemon juice in samiya upma..:) then next time go for this!!

4.Be cautious while adding water to samiya...if you add more..samiya becomes mushy!!

Kottimeera/Cilatro chutney

The leaves of the Coriander plant are referred as coriander leaves, cilantro .fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the most commonly used in cooking.The fresh leaves are an essential ingredient in many South Asian foods (particularly chutneys), in Chinese dishes and in Mexican cuisines. Chopped coriander leaves are also used as a garnish on cooked dishes such as dal and many curries. As heat diminishes their flavour quickly, coriander leaves are often used raw or added to the dish right before serving. In some Indian and Central Asian recipes, coriander leaves are used in large amounts and cooked until the flavour diminishes.The leaves also spoil quickly when removed from the plant, and lose their aroma when dried or frozen.The dry fruits are known as coriander seeds or coriandi seeds.(source :google)

check health benifits of cilantro here ..

I make this cilantro chutney in 2 ways.one is first fry the cilantro and grind this fried cilantro with all other ingredients like tamarind,salt n jaggery and do tadaka at last onther one is just blend raw cilanto and fry the paste in tadaka.Here is the recipe for second one....

Ingredients:

cilantro-2 bunches
tamrind paste-small lemon size or 2 to 3 tsp thick paste
chilli powder- 3/4 th tsp
salt to taste
sugar /jaggary-1 tsp
seasoning ingredients:urud dal,chan dal, cumin and musturd seeds,dry red chillis,curry leaves
oil-2 tsp

Preparation:

1.Cook tamarind paste on a low flame until it becomes thick like paste or till its raw smell is gone.

2.Take a mixi bowl,add cilantro leaves,cooked tamarind paste ,salt, chilli powder and jaggary grind to a smooth paste along with few table spoons of water.

3.Heat oil in a pan add all seasoning ingredients ,fry till golden brown and then add cilantro paste and fry till raw smell of cilantro gone .

4.Serve with Rice,dosa,chapathi etc.

This is my entry for JFI - JHIVA FOR CILANTRO @ Cilantro and the event started by Indira of Mahanandi

Note:Check Good info on cilantro Here

Tulip Festival Skagit Valley

Tulips are in full bloom. It was a great treat for eyes compared to previous week.We started early in the morning thinking if we get bored, we can move on to San Juan Islands.But when we reached Rozen Garden, we were mesmerized by the beauty of colorful tulips. what a god creation... It was so so gorgeous, we ended up spending time going around the fields like kids. we canceled the San Juan Islands trip and we roamed around skagit valley. We really enjoyed watching the full bloomed tulips. It was awesome trip we had till now. My husband bought a new lens and he took hundred of snaps. he was so happy that he get a good place to test his new lens. I love tulips!! I missed this last year because i was sick that time...now i really enjoyed with lovely tulips :))

My hubby got a nice snap of red rebel tulip among yellow ones..

Other clicks..Vista background image...he got a similar one as vista background image.

Here is one wall poster ...

you can check the photos here for Beautiful tulips

Aratikaya/Plantain perugu pachadi & Tulip Pics

This is very tasty and takes very less time too...you can make this chutney within 15 minutes itself.

Check our tulip photos @ Skagit valley

Ingredients:

Plantain-1 medium size
salt to taste
green chilli-4
turmeric powder-1/8 th tsp
curd-2 cups
Talimpu/seasoning ingredients
Cilantro leaves

Preparation:

1.wash n cut the pantain with outer cover.Cut each plantain into 3 or 4 parts.Boil these pantain pieces in a microwavable bowl in microwave for about 10 min.Dont overcook them.

2.Meanwhile you just take a pan and do tadaka ,once it is completed,keep a lid on the pan,after 10 min Peel the outer layer of cooked plantain pieces and keep it aside.

3.Take a mixi bowl add salt,turmeric,green chilli and grind it into a paste,then add palntain pieces and grind well and then add curd into it and just blend it for 1 min.Take whole mixture into a bowl.

4.pour tadaka into perugu pachadi and mix well....that set..aratikaya perugu pachadi is ready !!

I am sending this to "WYF- Side dish" hosted by Easy crafts and "15 Minute Cooking" hosted by Mahimaa @ Mahimaa's kitchen

Pound cake

A traditional Pound Cake recipe would specify one pound each of the following ingredients. These quantities are too great for most modern families, but an excellent cake can be made with half quantities. It is usual to weigh the eggs first and then use the same weights of the other ingredients,with a traditional pair of kitchen scales, the eggs are simply used instead of weights.(source:google)

But i have changed these proportions, but it is still tastes awesome with a lovely golden brown color.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour-1 cup (200 gms)
unsalted butter, room temperature or ghee-1 cup (2 sticks)
sugar-1 cup (200 grams)
eggs-4
vanilla extract-2 tsp
baking powder-2tsp
pinch of salt
Zest of a lemon or orange (optional)

Preparation:

1.In a large bowl, mix all purpose flour(sifted), baking powder, and salt.

2.using mixer,first grind sugar finely ,add ghee/butter to it and blend/grind again.Later add eggs and mix well. Add the vanilla and lemon zest beat/mix untill all are mixed properly.

3.Add the flour mixture and mix well. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.I have used this loaf pan..size as shown in fig..i have changed my photo back ground color ..is it good??

4.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and place the loaf pan in the oven.Bake for about 60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown or untill a toothpick is inserted in the center ,which comes out clean.

5.Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely and cut according to your choice.

This is really very tasty ..i made this cake today..its already completed :)

I am sending this cake to Mithai Mela Cooking 4 all Seasons's @ Cooking 4 all Seasons's

My blogging friends Pooja ,varunavi,priya sreeram,phanitha shared this award with me...i would like to share this award with all my blogging friends.Feel free to pick up your award friends :)

Yesterday we went to tulips festival near to seattle,we enjoyed alot n had great time there with beuatiful tulips n daffodils.I will give you a photos link in the next post :)

Strawberry icecream without icecream maker

My husband loves icecreams.We always buy strwberry icecream from stores.I guess this is strawberries season,I found many stores full of strawberries, I had stock of strwaberrys in my fridge,so i thought of making something with it,so why not stawberry icecream??even through i dont have icecream maker,i tried searching for this recipe.I found this recipe from the fellow blogger @http://passionateaboutbaking.blogspot.com/,I was excited to try this and i tried it! Its very easy to prepare with very few ingredients!!I am thankful to her ..check her blog..its very wonderful!!

This method of making ice cream requires quite a lot of time, effort and patience but for those who don't have an ice cream maker it means you can still enjoy our ice cream recipes.

I am happy with the results. It's Creamy, and full of strwberry flavour.I had taken same measurements and i followed the same procedure too!!

Ingredients:

palin/valila whole milk yogurt/hung curd -1 cup (240g)
strawberries, rinsed and hulled-1 pound (450g)
sugar-2/3 cup (130g)
fresh lime juice-1 teaspoon

Preparation:

1.Tie the yoghurt in a cheesecloth and let it sit in a strainer in a bowl overnight or for atleast 2 hours. This will help drain off all the whey and result in a very creamy frozen yoghurt dessert.

2.Cut the strawberries and toss it in the sugar until it begins to dissolve.


3.Blend it together until it forms a consistent puree.

4.Next, blend in the yoghurt and lime juice until the mixture is smooth.


5.Freeze the mixture in a wide dish or plastic container (larger the surface area, quicker the freezing – since we have to pulse this mixture a couple of times).Make sure you have a bowl that’s quite wide to use for the churning/freezing process .

6.Keep checking on the mixture every 30 minutes or so and use the stick blender to break the icicles. I did it 6 to 8 times.

I am soo happy with the results,it is really wonderful!!This is my entry for My Favourite Things - Frozen Desserts that is hosting by Aquadaze of Served with Love, and is conceived by Bindiya.

Mutton curry

I love mutton compared to chicken n fish.I was tempted by the many fellow bloggers who made mutton dishes recently..i did this today..it came out very well.Sorry i didn't take good pictures :(

Ingredients:

Mutton-1/2 kg or 500ms
Ginger& Garlic Paste -3 tbsp
cumin seeds/jeera-1 tsp
green chilli-2 slit
Turmeric Powder- 1/2tsp
garam masala powder-11/2 tsp
red chilli powder-1/2 to 1 tap varies with your spice level
Curry leaves

salt to taste
curd-3 tsp

Oil -4 bsp

Optional ingredients:

Cinnamon stick -4 small ones
Cloves -3
Bay leaves -2
cilantro and mint leaves

Make paste: use below ingredients and make paste using mixer/food processor.

onions-11/2 big
tomotoes-2 medium

Preparation:

1.Marinate mutton with turmeric powder ,salt ,red chilli powder,ginger-garlic paste and curd and keep it aside for abt 15 min.Heat oil in a pressure cooker add cumin seeds and curyy leaves and green chilli.Add onions paste ,fry till onion paste becomes light brown .

2.Add tomatoe puree and fry the mixture till the raw smell of tomotoes goes off.

3.Add the marianted mutton pieces and mix it all well. Fry the mutton with the masala in medium flame till the oil seperates from the muton .Add garam masala and fry for couple of min.

4.Now add one cup of water into it. Stir it well so that all of the ingredients mix together and close the lid of the pressure cooker.

5.Pressure cook it until the 4 or 5 whistle goes off. After that remove from heat and keep it aside.

6.If you feel the gravy looking liquidish,again cook in the same pressure cooker or transfer it into a seperate pan and boil for few more min or till all water evoparated from the curry.

7.Garnish it with coriander leaves.This is good to eat with rice or chapathi n parathas n pooris too :)

scrambled egg/egg burji with bottle gourd

Scrambled eggs is a dish made from beaten whites and yolks of eggs .Beaten eggs are put into a hot greased pan and stirred frequently, forming curds as they coagulate.Scrambled eggs are made special with chopped veggies and green onions.You can mix any vegetables..here i have mixed bottle gourd.You can also mix tomoto,cabbage,cauliflower etc.

The main adavantage of mixing other veggies is ,if you are health concious,dont want to eat many eggs in a single day and also you need the quantity of curry should be more especially if you have invited your guests to dinner/lunch..this curry will be easy to make and no need to use many eggs in the curry just add other veggies inorder to gain the curry quantity :)

Even if you added bottle gourd,the taste doesn't change..it tastes more with bottle gourd rather than single egg!!

Ingredients:

Organic/normal Eggs-3
Onions-1 small
bottle gourd-1/2 small one
green chilli-2(slit)
salt to taste
red chilli powder-1/2 tsp
turmeric powder-1/4 th tsp
garam masala powder-1/4 th tsp
cilantro and green onions for garnishing -optional

Preparation:

1.cut onions finely,peel the skin of bottle gourd and shred the gourd using food processor.

2.Heat enough oil in the pan,add all seasoning ingredients and fry till golden brown and then add onions and green chillies, fry untill onion becomes transparent.

3.Now add shredded bottle gourd to it and fry till all the moisture evoparates in it.Add turmeric and salt and mix well.

4.Move the above whole mixture to the sides of the pan and break the egg and pour egg yolk and whites in the middle of the pan.

5.If you want bigger curds,dont mix freequently..otherwise mix freequently and fry till all the egg mixture is fried/cooked properly.

6.Add red chilli powder,garam masala powder to it and mix well and let it fry for 2 min and then remove from the heat.

7.This is good to eat with rice/chapathi's.

Vangi bath

Vangi bath is a Karnataka specialty that you can eat as a brunch/full meal.Other typical karnataka dishes include Bisi bele bath, Jola Rotti, Chapathi, Ragi rotti, Akki rotti, Saaru, Huli, Khara Bath, Kesari Bath, Davanagere Benne Dosa, Ragi mudde, and Uppittu. The famous Masala Dosa traces its origin to Udupi cuisine.Plain and Rave Idli, Mysore, Masala Dosa and Maddur Vade are popular in South Karnataka.

When i was working in bangalore,i always used to eat vangi bath in my off cafeteria,there catering people always make set/masala dosa or idli for breakfast and afternoon lunch includes either bisi bele bath or vanghi bath along with other karnataka dishes.Becoz of that i didn't like set dosa n vangi bath,after many days ..again i did vangi bath today in my kitchen ..now it is awesome :))

Ingredients:

raw Basmathi/long grain rice -1 cup
Italian eggplant/indian brinjals-1 big size/7-8 brinjals
potato-1 big size -optional
peas-1/2 cup
MTR Vangi bath powder-2 tsp
seasoning ingredients
curry leaves
roasted peanuts-1/2 cup
mixed nuts/Cashews-1/2 cup-(dry roast/roast them in ghee)-optional
dry roasted chana dal and urad dal powder-3 tsp(optional)

Ingredients needed for making paste :

green chillies-6
coriander-1 small bunch
ghee/oil-4 tablespoons
shredded coconut powder-1/4th cup(optional)

Preparation:

1. Cook the rice with a pinch of turmeric once rice is done,Let it cool for some time and seperate each grain of rice.

2. Dry roast the shredded coconut and grind this with green chillies and coriander leaves to make a paste using Food processor/mixer.

3. Dry roast the chana dal and urad dal and grind to a powder using mixer.

4.Cut the brinjal length wise and keep it in salt water,cut onions finely.Peel the potato and cut into medium size cubes.In a large pan, heat oil/ghee and do tadaka/seasoning by adding chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds,cumin seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and fry for few min till all seasoning ingredients become golden brown.

5. Add the finely chopped onions and fry till onions become transparent.Add potatoes, brinjal pieces and fry until all veggies are cooked.Atlast add peas ,cook for few more min and mix gently without breaking them.

6. Add above grinded paste , vangi bath powder along with ghee, salt to the rice and mix well.

7. Add cooked brinjal mixture to the rice , mix well.Atlast add roasted peanuts and nuts to vangi bath and serve hot with raita or any chutney .

Note:If you already added salt in the brinjal mixture..don't add salt again to rice..add either to rice or brinjal mixture.

I am sending this recipe to Announcing Cooking For Kids Rice Event hosting by trupti and is started by Sharmi of Neivedyam Sharmi of Neivedyam

white brinjal with green peas/vankaya bataani fry

Vankaya Bataani fry is one of Andhra Style vegetable dry curry. It is very good in taste and here we are including legumes in simple vegetable curries making it highly nutritious.In andhra,this cuury usually serves in marriage functions.

Usually with white/green brinjals,chutney will be good but you can also make this dry version of curry.You can serve this as a side dish and it is good to eat with either rice or chapthi's.

Health benifits of brinjal:

1. It is believed to be a cholesterol regulator, and it is anti diabetic.

2.It is rich in Vitamin A and B and it is low in calorie content.

3.It can block the formation of free radicals, help control cholesterol levels and is also a source of folic acid and potassium.

4. In South East Asia, it is used to treat stomach cancers and measles.

Ingredients:

white/green brinjals-1/2 kg
Frozen/dried peas-1 cup
onion-1 big(lenghtwise/finely chopped)
seasoning ingredients
curry leaves
ginger-garlic paste- 1 tsp
green chilli-2 slit
red chilli powder-1/4 th tsp
turmeric powder-1/4 th tsp
salt to taste
garam masala powder-1/4 th tsp
oil-3 tsp
cilantro for garnishing-optional

Preparation:

1.If the peas are dried ones,soak them in water for 6 hours or overnight.Later,you can cook it in the pressure cooker up to one whistle or you can cook outside on the stove and par boil it(inside should be slightly soft and firm on the outside).I used frozen peas.

2.chop onions lengthwise or finely and cut the brinjals lengthwise (it should be of length atleast half of your finger size)and place it in salt water untill you put these into the pan.

3.Heat oil in pan,add all seasoning ingredients(cumin seeds/jeera,mustard,chana dal,uruddal, and curry leaves.) and fry these for a min and then add onions and green chilies fry untill onion become translucent.Add ginger-garlic paste,turmeric powder and fry for few min.

4.Now add brinjal pieces , keep frying till brinjal gets softened,if you want you can keep the lid on the pan for some time but not whole cooking time. Now add red chili power, garam masala powder and salt and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes over low flame till the oil separates. At this stage add the frozen/cooked green peas (draining all water) and toss gently without breaking them. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve as a sidedish for rice.

This is my entry to the WYF : side dish event at Simple Indian Food

Plantain chips

Hi friends..

I made plantain chips today..becoz everyday my husband asks some snacks once he returned from work ..now a days i am not making much..but he is always eating chips which are brought from the stores.Today i decided to make some quick snack replacing his store brought chips :) so i found this recipe from other blogger friend.After seeing her blog n seeing her recipe pics..i couldn't stand without making any of her recipes.Atlast i have decided to make these quick chips.

You can deep fry these chips or you can also bake in oven @ 350 F about 25 to 30 min untill chips becomes light golden brown,in between turn once.Next time i will try baking..

I sliced these chips using food processor..It just takes 2 min for slicing!!

You can check her recipe here..Plantain Chips @ http://www.tastypalettes.com/2007/05/plantain-chips.html ..sorry my links are not working..

I am sending this to SWC-Meals on Wheels event hosting by lakshmi

Tomoto with taro root curry

This is another way to use taro root other than stew and fry.This tastes to good with rice or chapathis.


Ingredients:

Tomotoes-5
taro root/chamadumpa-4
green chilli-1 (slit)
onion-1 (medium size) finely chopped
seasoning/talimpu ingredients
turmeric powder-1/4 th tsp
salt to taste
red chilli powder-1/4th -1/2 tsp
garam masala powder-1/4th -1/2 tsp
cilantro for garnishing
Oil

Preparation:

1.First wash taro root and peel the outer layer and cut into cubes (or) boil taro root for abt 15 to 20 min and then remove the skin and cut the boiled taro into medium size cubes.

2.Take a pan ,heat enough oil,Shallow/deep fry the taro root pieces under medium heat and keep that fried taro root pieces on a paper towel in a seperate bowl.

3.In the same pan ,keep only 2 tsp of oil and remove remaining oil.Add seasong ingredients and fry for a minute and then add onions and fry till onions become transparent.In the mean time cut tomotoes finely.

4.Add tomotoes ,turmeric powder,salt and mix well ,fry till tomotoes cooked completely.Now Add fried taro root pieces and mix well and let it cook for few more min.

5.Atlast add garam masala powder and mix well.Add cilantro for garnishing.

Varsha Vipins and Priya passed me this award..i am honoured to recieve this award from you friends..Thanks varsha n priya!!

I am sending this recipe to Sanghi's tasty bites,'Tomato Event'

I am dedicating this recipe to my friend sunanda..becoz i dont know this vesion of using taro root before..i have learnt this recipe from her..so i am dedicating this to my friend sunanda...Thank alot sunanda!!

Sorry friends links are not working..i am editing all these through html mode..i dont know why still the links are not working..

My Specials for Ugadi ..

Today we are celebrating Ugadi(yuga-means era or year+adi-means start/new) ,the Telugu New Year Day, which is the first festival of our Telugu calendar and it is a special festival for all Indians especially for Andhra,Maharastra,karnataka people.Our Andhra festival is known by different names in different states of India like “Gudi Padwa” in Maharastra and “Ugadi” in Andhra Pradesh and "yugadi" in Karnataka.It invites the dawn of Vasanth Rutu (Spring Season),which is considered the first season of the year (Chaitra Maasam) .

This day is considered very auspicious to start new ventures.It is generally held that Brahma created the world on this day. Also Lord Vishnu is said to incarnate himself, as Matsya. Brahma is the chief deity worshipped this day. On Ugadi the predictions are made for the New Year among abt our health,politics,buisness etc. With the coming of Ugadi, mango season is in full swing with fresh green mangoes .People also decorate the entrance of their houses with fresh mango leaves which signifies prosperity and general well-being and draw colorful floral designs in front of the houses. The women prepares special dishes to mark the occasion.I have taken all these info from net.

Ugadi pachadi/pickle:significant tradition of Ugadi is beginning the new year with the preparation of savoring a unique flavored pachadi (chutney),this pachadi is a kind of a drink with all flavours explains the essense of our beautiful life.This drink is the mix of sweetness,sournes,bitterness,spicyness,pungent and last saltyness(shadhruchulu/ six tastes).This chutney is a symbolic reminder of the myriad facets of life both joy and sorrow and prepares one to face both good and bad in the year to come or in a sense prepares us for the year ahead. We should take both happyness and sorrow equally in our life and take it as in the part of life and should enjoy every part of it..... ofcourse telling is easy..but its very hard to follow ..i knew it..:)

Ugadi Pachadi is a special preparation prepared in every Andhra home on Telugu New Year’s day.Its made with fresh tamarind,jaggery(bellam),fresh mangoes and neem flowers (vepa poota).One can add coconut and bananas n other fruits also.The sweetness of jaggery,the sourness of tamarind,the bitterness of neemflower and the pungent flavor of the green mango skin,spice of the chilli powder ,and lastly salt form the shadhruchulu or six tastes of the ugadi chutney.

I made today the special pachadi,mango pulihora with the use of raw mango along with other special foods Poornam/sweet balls and moong dal vada.

Ugaadi pachadi/Ugadi pickle:

Ingredients:

raw fresh mango (cut into small pieces along with skin)-1 cup
margosa flowers (neem tree flowers)-1 tbsp
grated jaggery-1/4th cup
tamarind -small lemon size
red chilli powder-1/4 th tsp
salt to taste

Preparation:

1.Wash the tamarind and soak it in water for abt 10 min and squueze the juice from it.

2.Mix all the above ingredients to tamarind juice to form sauce like appearence.Add little water if required.

3.You can also add small pieces of ripe banana,pomogranite seeds,grapes,oranges along with the above ingredients.But i dont like them to add.

Today i dont have neem buds/flowers..so i have addded bitter gourd pieces.

Elders will say that,Ugadi Pachadi is a healthy where the Neem flowers , new tamarind, jaggery and fresh raw mangoes contain nutrients that cleanse our body and it prevents any illness.
Mango pulihora:

Ingredients:

rice(raw)-1 cup
grated green mango -1 to 2 cups(It may vary with the sourness of the mango)
green chillies - 4 pieces( slit lengthwise)
peanuts -1/4th cup
chana dal-1 tsp
urud dal-1 tsp
cumin seeds-1/2-1tsp
mustard seeds-1/2-1 tsp
curry leaves-10
dried red chilli-4
turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
oil-3 tsp

Preparation:

1.Peel the skin of mango and grate the mango using grater. usually for 1 cup of rice it takes 1/2 cup of tangy grated mango..sometimes the mango may not be that sour..so adjust the grated mango to your taste depends on sourness of mango.

2.Cook the rice seperately in electric cooker or outside.The rice should be dry and grains should be seperate n it shouldn't be mushy.

3.Take a pan, heat oil in it. Add all seasoning ingredients along with peanuts and fry all ingredients until light golden brown color.(first add cuminseeds,urud dal,chana dal,green chillies,peanuts,dry red chillies and curry leaves) and switch off the stove.

4.Take hot cooked rice in a big bowl,add some curry leaves to this hot rice..so that it smells good then add grated mango to hot rice ,and cover the grated mango with hot rice.Once the rice is cooled little bit,take little oil in your hand and mix turmeric to oil in your hand and add that to your rice and keep it aside.Becoz of adding this grated mango and turmeric to hot rice,the raw taste of mango and turmeric will be gone.

5.Once the rice is cooled,and all the above fried ingredients to it and add salt to it and mix well.

6.serve hot.This is very easy to prepare and tastes very good.

Sweet Balls (Poornam) Recipe:

Ingredients :

rice - 1/2 kg
white lentils/black gram dhal/urud dal - 1/4 kg
chana dal/bengal gram dhal - 150 gms
jaggery - 150 gms
cardamom - 10
salt - 1 tsp
oil for deep frying

Preparation:

1.First soak the rice and black gram dhal for five to six hours or one day before you want to make.

2.Wash and soak chana dal in water and Boil the chana dhal in water in pressure cooker and keep it for 4 to 5 whistles.

3.Grind the rice and black gram dhal like a paste and add salt to it and take the batter into a seperate bowl.

4.Mash the boiled chana dal/bengal gram dhal and add jaggery and elaichi(powder the seeds ) and cook it till dry. Dont add water here ,we have to cook till all the water in the mixture is evoparated and when you think the mixture is too thick ,then you can able to make the balls with it,switch off the stove.

5.After cooling the above dal mixture,divide the dal mixture into even sized portions.Shape each portion like a ball (size as you like,usually lemon size balls).

6.Take the oil in frying pan once the oil is heated enough,take the dal ball and dip it in the batter and take that covered batter ball and slide it into the oil,fry the covered dal ball till light golden brown color.

Moong dal Vada/pesara garelu recipe is already there in my prev posts..

Today most of the dishes ..my husband helped me..especially he made mango pulihora..without applying turmeric all over the rice ..anyway taste is good:)

Once again..I wish you and your family a very happy & prosperous Ugadi friends ...

Taro root stew/chamadumpa pulusu with chips

People use Taro roots all over the east and south asia,so you can find them in south asian,chinese,korean groceries.Taro is also known as Yam in most parts of the asia , so dont confuse it with the american yam,which is often mistaken as sweet potato.Taro is an intresting tuber,which has mild distinctive taste and mimics as a starchy potato.This root is most well known as the ingredient of the hawaiian dish poi or mashed taro root.

Taro root,It's hairy outer coating looks like coconut.The hairy outer layer is always removed with caution since skin irritation can arise by the juice secreted by the taro root.Taro root is toxic in it's raw form,so cook it before eating. These tubers take on a nut like flavor when cooked.Select the taro root that are straight,firm with no wrinkling.

My husband loves all kind of stews/pulusulu...sometimes i feel angry..becoz he will eat anything with sour taste to be dominant along with more salt and spicy.I used to make these kind of stews atleast twice a week.But now a days i am not doing these much..somehow i skipped it :)

After many days,i did this stew/pulusu today..it tastes too good with any fry.I am posting all the pics at the same place becoz today something is happened to my blog,i am unable to edit my content:(

Ingredients for pulusu:

Taro roots/arbi/chamadumpa-6 (medium size)
green chilli-2 split
salt to taste
red chilli powder-1/4 th tsp
turmeric powder-1/8 th tsp
tamarind-lemon size
ginger-garlic paste-1/2 tsp-optional
garam masala-1 tsp-optional
onions-1big finely chopped
cumin seeds-1 tsp
oil-2 tsp, sugar-1tsp
cilantro for garnishing

Preparation:

1.Wash the tamarind and soak the tamarind in water.Boil the taro root in pressure cooker similar to potatoes .In the mean time,take a deep pan, heat oil ,add cumin seeds and fry for a min and then add green chilli and chopped onions and fry it till the onion becomes transparent.

2.Squeeze the tamarind with water,pour that tamarind juice into the pan.Add water if required,the consistency of the stew/pulusu should be thin at the starting.Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder and salt to it and mix well.

3.Reduce the heat to medium and keep the lid on the pan and continue to cook for abt 15-20 min or till the stew/pulusu beccomes little thick.

4.After boiling the taro root in pressure cooker (i mean after 2 or 3 whistles),remove the taro root from the cooker and keep it under cold water and remove the skin of taro root similar to the potato( peel the skin with hand after cooking).After Peeling, cut the taro into medium/big size pieces/rounds.

5.Add these cooked taro root pieces to the stew and let it boil for few more min.Add sugar at the end and mix well.Atlast, add cilantro leaves.

6.This is good to eat with rice along wiht some fried chips.

I made chamadumpa fry/chips along with this stew today.I had already written the recipe for this fry/chips.Check my prev posts becoz i am not able to copy and paste that link here today..some problem today in my blog ( I have used type 1 in my recipe for making this chamadumpa fry).

Hot and Sour soup

This soup is really hot..my husband likes it!!This is one of the famous soup other than tomoto soup.This soup is really good for cold.This recipe serves for two to three people.

Ingredients:

water-4cups( cup means 100 ml quantity)
chillisauce-1 1/2 tsp
soya sauce-1 1/2 tsp

black pepper-1 tsp

Grated ginger-1 tsp
cabbage-1/4 th cup shredded
corn-1/4 th cup
carrot-1/8 th cup shredded
peas-1/8th cup
sugar-1/2 tsp
Lemon juice-1 tsp

salt to taste
tomotosauce-2 tsp or tomoto-1/2 medim finely chopped/grinded
corn flour/corn starch-21/2 tsp
Green onions for garnishing optional
Preparation:

1.First take a bowl and heat 4 cups of water in it.After 2 min ,add chili sauce,soya sauce,black pepper,salt,sugar,tomoto sauce and mix well. Later add grated ginger to it.

2.once the above mixture comes to boil,add all the finely choped/shredded veggies into it along with corn and peas.

3.Continue to heat the soup for couple of min till all the veggies are cooked and then mix cornflour in very small amt of water and add that mixture to soup for thickening.Add lemon juice to it and mix well.

4.continue to stir the mixture/soup till you feel the right consistency for soup and garnish the soup with green onions and serve hot.

Note:you can add your veggies whatever you like to soup..and reduce the spices quantity ,if you are used to less spice.

kulcha or Naan ???

kulcha is basically a punjabi recipe,baked flat bread made with all-purpose flour(Maida).kulcha can be plain or stuffed ,both tastes too good.This is good to eat with chana masala(chole),paneer butter masala any non veg/veg gravy curries.

Actually i thought of making kulcha from many days..i searched in the internet..and took the recipe (fusioned it from many sites )and prepared it but finally this has turned out ..... i don't know what to call..but i am describing this as kulcha only :)

I dont know the exact difference betweeen naan and kulcha except one(kulchass can be stuffed with any vegetables like paratha's but not naan's)

This is my first time making , reviving my college days.During my college days i used to eat naans and kulchaas on every weekend.We had lot of dhabas near by my college,and usually we don't have dinner on every sunday,they will just give evening snacks on that day.We people every weekend ,used to go to dhabas and eat these along with non veg curries.I am a big fan of kulcha....Finally i did it today but end up in a confusion what it is finally turned out :)

Suggest me any changes that i have to make for the preparatin of kulcha and naan and tell me the difference b/w naan and kulchaa friends.. ,so that i will make next time with your changes without any fusion confusion!!

Ingredients:

Maida (All Purpose Flour)- 3 Cups

Salt- 1 tsp

Baking Powder- 1 tsp

Dry yeast- 1 tsp

Warm water- 1/4 Cup

curd/ Yogurt - 4 tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp

oil-few tsp

Ghee - 1/8th cup

Milk /water to make dough

Maida for dusting and rolling dough

Preparation:

1.Mix dry yeast in luke warm water and keep it aside for 5 to 10 min or till foam comes on top of water.

2. sift Maida and add salt, sugar,and baking powder to this flour.

3. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add dissolved dry yeast with water , Yogurt ,oil and knead it.

4. Mix evenely with your hand and if needed add water/milk to make soft dough. Knead the dough for 5to 10 minutes.

5. Gather the dough to form a ball. Lightly apply oil on the ball. Cover with damp kitchen towel or a plastic film wrap. Let it rest about 2 -4 hours at room temperature.

6.After the rest time,Knead the dough for about five minutes. Divide dough in to 8 equal small balls. One dough ball will make one Kulcha.

7. Preheat oven to 450º F.

8. Lightly dust the rolling surface with Maida. Put a Dough ball. Flatten the dough with hand. Roll the dough out to form a round, or oval shape about the 1/4 inch thickness.

9. Brush the Kulcha with Ghee. Put the Kulcha on a greased Baking sheet. Bake about 3 to 5 minutes.

10.Instead of using oven you can also use flat pan .I have used flat pan for frying the kulcha.Heat the pan and put kulcha on it,when you see bubbles on it turn the other side apply ghee on it.fry it till golden spots observed on both the sides of the kulcha.

11.Serve kulcha with chana masala/chole.

plain Dosa/Rice pancake

I guess everyone knows this ..but still i am posting becoz i just want to include some basic recipes too in my blog :)

I will post Instant/different types of dosa's in my future postings!!

Ingredients:

Rice-3 cups
Uruddal/black gram -1 cup
salt

oil

Preparation:

1.wash and soak both dal and rice seperately .soak it 6 to 8 hrs before you want to make.

2.Grind seperately both dal and rice using little water.Mix both grinded rice and dal mixture.Add salt to the batter atlast and keep it outside for atleast 12 hrs,so ferementation occurs and dosa tastes more after fermentation.

3.take tawa,heat it and add one tsp of oil ,pour the batter on to the tawa and spread it and fry it on both sides till golden brown.

4.Enjoy dosa with peanut chutney/any chtney!!

I am sending this to Announcing: My Legume Love Affair: Ninth Helping(MLLA9) hosting by Laurie Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska and the creator of MLLA is Susan The Well-Seasoned Cook