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