Monday, August 23, 2010

Complan Pedha and Horlicks (or Boost) Pedha in Microwave

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
As I told earlier, I never thought I can make pedha at home!! But, its become fun for me to try making Pedhas. And I am loving these Pedhas again.(it my childhood love!!! )
Here are another two recipes for Pedhas which will make you drool and I am sure you will try these as soon as possible.(am I over confident? )
When I made the pedhas first time, I was nervous as I was not sure about the outcome! but the result was amazing! I thought of trying again with some other flavor.
Last week, when I was cleaning the kitchen shelf, I saw a complan box, which I bought it last month, as my younger kid loved it. But now a days, she stopped drinking milk at all. So that Complan was just lying in the box. 
Then, when I was planning to make Pedha, suddenly I remembered it. Thought of giving it a try.
Here is the recipe:
Milk Powder - 1/4 cup
Complan (Kesar & Badam flavor) - 1/2 cup
Sweetened condensed milk - 1/8 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp 
Milk - 2 tbsp
Milk  - 2 tbsp (if you feel the mixture is more dry)

Take 2 tbsp milk in M/W safe big bowl. Keep on HIGH for 30 seconds. 
Take the bowl, add the milk powder, complan powder, sweetened condensed milk and 1 tbsp ghee. 
Mix well to remove lumps.
Keep HIGH for 3 minutes in M/W. Keep stirring after 1 minute.
Now add Cardamom powder, ghee and 2 tbsp milk. 
Mix well and Keep on HIGH for 5 minutes.
TAKE CARE TO STIR IN BETWEEN AFTER 2 MINUTES. 
Check the consistency. 
The mixture will start leaving its sides. Then remove it from the M/W.  It may happen within 5 minutes or may take 2 minutes more according to your M/W power.
My M/W gives 800 as HIGH.
Allow it to stand for 5 minutes.
Take a tbsp or more ready dough. Give shape of balls and repeat with other dough.
Store in a airtight jar.
Makes around 10 Pedhas.

Now, 
As you know, my elder daughter loves Chocolate pedha, I planned to make normal Chocolate pedha. But then thought that how about trying it with Chocolate Horlicks or Boost. The method is the same, but I skipped the condensed milk.
Here is the recipe:
Milk Powder - 1 cup
Cocoa  powder - 1/4 cup
Boost or Chocolate Horlicks - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Almond flakes - 1 tbsp


Take milk in M/W safe bowl. Keep on HIGH for 30 seconds.
Remove,
Add milk powder, Cocoa powder, boost or horlicks and 1 tbsp ghee. Mix well to remove lumps.(just few seconds)
KEEP on HIGH FOR 2 minutes. Keep stirring after a minute.
Now add cardamom powder and 1 tbsp ghee. Mix well.
KEEP on HIGH for 3 more minutes or more till you see it starts leaving its sides. 
You can add more milk if you feel its dry. 
Its trial and error as the procedure take its time according to your M/W power.
Open and add almond flakes, M/W for 15 seconds.
Allow it to cool.
Take the desired quantity of dough to make the balls. Press slowly to make pedhas. 

Sending these Pedhas to two events:

Jagruti (of Joy of Cooking) 
(started by me)
AND 

Srivalli's 



Keep Smiling,

Jowar Rotti upma (ರೊಟ್ಟಿ ವಗ್ಗರಣೆ ) reposted for the event.

Tried and tasted by Nivedita 
Hi All,
Reposting my favorite breakfast from North Karnataka.

Here is the recipe, 
One day old rotti or crispy rotti - 8 to 10
(Click Jowar rotti(Jolada rotti) for recipe)
Onion - 1 big
Curry leaves - few
Chilly powder - 1 tbsp or
Green chilly - 3 chopped
(in this photo I used chilly powder)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Tomato - 1 small
(my mother used to put 1 tbsp tamarind paste, you can choose according to your taste)
Salt to taste
Haldi - 1 pinch
Water - 1 cup apprx.
Break the rotti into pieces and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard when it starts popping up, add jeera and curry leaves. Add onions and saute for a minute.
If you are using green chilly, now only add it with onion.
When the onion changes its color, add tomato mix it properly and wait till the tomato is half cooked. Add salt, haldi and water. Once the water starts boiling, add the rotti pieces. Mix properly. Take care not to put more water.
Cook for few minute, mixing in between.
Jowar rotti upma is ready to eat with ghee, onion and pickle.



Sending this to PJ's very useful event 

Keep Smiling,

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Fennel Seeds for digestion

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
Indian dishes are full of spices, chillies, oil and ghee. One needs something to digest all these wonderful food. 
It is a must in many houses for regular after food intake. It has many medicinal values. It is good for digestion but it is a good appetizer too. There are many dishes where this gives great taste. But I am giving a recipe where this Saunf of Fennel seed  is the main ingredient. 


Saunf Masala is very easy to make at home and store. Avoid betel nuts if you are giving to children.

To Fry :
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 cup, cleaned
Betel nuts (powdered) -  1/8 cup(optional)
Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp
Dry coconut - 2 tbsp, thinly sliced
Cloves - 2, powdered
Cardamom - 3, powdered

To mix
Salt a pinch
Sugar - 1 tbsp(if you are not adding small sugar stones)
or
sugar - 1 tsp(if you are adding small sugar stones)
Colored jeera seeds(available in the market) - 2 tbsp(optional, but kids will love it)
Small sugar stones (Kallu sakkare, available in the market) - 2 tbsp(again optional but good for health)


Take a thick bottomed kadai. Add ghee. When it melts, keep on low flame, fry all the ingredients adding one by one the way I have written. Add salt and mix well.
When cool, add colored Jeera or Cumin seeds. Store it in a airtight box. You can store it for a month.



After every meals,
enjoy it just like that or with betel leaves or paan and lime paste(choona).


Sending this to Priya's ongoing event  

Fennel seed logo

Keep Smiling,

Friday, August 20, 2010

Cheesy Oats Paratha from Priya

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
Now a days, Oats and Cheese have become regular members of my kitchen. They help me to give good food to my kids. Two days back, I was wondering what to make for dinner(universal and very common question) and was browsing for Indian flat breads. Then I got this one where my both the new members were involved!!
I made these for dinner and we all were happy for having a tasty and healthy dinner.

Thank you so much Priya of (Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes)for sharing this yummy  Cheesy Oats Paratha recipe. Visit her blog for the recipe, as I have followed it 100%, with only rolling it into square other than round shape.

My kids did not allow me to take more photos. I wanted to open it half and show the cheese!! 
But I am sure the kids will love to have it.
Sending this to the event BB5 Round-up, A Bonus Sandwich, and on to BB6 hosted by Nupur of One Hot Stove
Keep Smiling,

Cheese Stuffed Potato Cutlets or Tikki and Sandwich

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
When I got married to a Sindhi, I got few Sindhi cooking books from my friends and my brother. 
I took the book by Anita Raheja and I have tried most of the recipes from her book. And I can manage to cook many Sindhi dishes with her cooking book.
Last week was the Sindhi Food week for me, I prepared Sai bhaji, Sindhi Curry, Bhooga chavar, Seyal Dabal and yesterday I made Aloo tikki.
Still Independence month is going on :-)
But I thought to do some variation in this. Now a days, I am using more dairy products for my kids, as my younger daughter does not drink milk everyday. I keep Cheese in my fridge, whenever it is available. Today I had Mozzarella cheese. I thought of stuffing it in the tikki and try. And for sure, tikkis came out very well. I enjoyed it with green chutney, my younger daughter had mini tikkis and the elder one had it as a sandwich filler.


Now, some information about the nutrition values of Potatoes and Cheese.
The potato is the best source of Carbohydrate. And contains vitamins and minerals. And potato is very good food for kids if given every alternative day in any form such as curry, paratha, fry or baked potatoes.
And now about cheese : Cheese is valued for its portability, long life, and high content of fatproteincalcium, and phosphorus.(Cheese) And Cheese is a very good source of calcium which is a good option for a mother of those kids who does not like to have milk.

Here goes the recipe,

Potato - 6 medium
Shelled Peas - 1/4 cup(optional)
Bread - 2 pieces
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp

For stuffing,

Mozzarella Cheese - 1/2 cup, grated for stuffing
White pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt a pinch
Mix the three ingredients slowly and keep it in a fridge till you prepare the tikki dough.

To make paste :
Fresh coriander - 1 tbsp
Green chilly - 2 or more if you like it spicy
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Salt to taste 
Make fine paste with above ingredients. 

Oil to fry the Tikkis

1. Boil the potatoes. Peel and smash it or grate it.
2. Boil the peas and smash it.
3. Soak the bread pieces in water for a minute. Drain the water.
4. Take the grated potatoes, peas, chilly paste, corn flour, mashed bread and oil in a big bowl or plate. 
5. Mix well to make a soft dough. 
                                
6. Divide the dough into equal portions.
7. Take one portion, press in the middle and put 1 tsp cheese. 
8. Carefully close it and give a ball shape, taking care of not pressing hard. 
9. Flatten it to make round tikki.
10. Repeat with other dough.

                                        

11. Heat oil in a kadai.
12. Deep fry in hot oil till golden color.
13. Serve hot with  GREEN CHUTNEY or ketchup.

My elder daughter's sandwich with these tikkis

                                         


                                                       

My younger daughter's mini tikkis as she did not like the big ones. 

                                                       

Linking it to
http://sindhirasoi.com/link/potato/
Sending this to
Neha's (of Home Made Food

Kids Menu Event

Keep Smiling,

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Recipe for "COOK AND CLICK" : MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBALS

Tried and tasted by Nivedita 
Hi All,
Here is my second recipe for the event   "Cook and Click" . This is for August 21st to August 31st.
I think my first recipe was not so good for you all to try it. So trying to give you all a simple but healthy and tasty recipe to prepare and click the photo to send it to my event.
Read the rules in above link for participating in this event.
Event round up for August 10 till August 20 will be posted in 2 days.
I am going to share the recipe for Sambals.
SAMBALS are amongst the many accompaniments you will find with an Asian meal. It is a very common dish in most of the Asian countries.
sambal is a chili based sauce which is normally used as a condiment. Sambals are popular in IndonesiaMalaysiaSingapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Netherlands and in Suriname through Indonesian influence. It is typically made from a variety of peppers, although chili peppers are the most common. Read  here for more.
This is also from the same book "INDIAN COOKERY" by "Bay books gallery collections"
Giving you two recipes for Sambal :


SAMBAL DRESSING :
Oil - 2 tbsp
Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
Garlic - 1 clove, chopped
Green chillies - 2, finely chopped and seeds removed
Ground ginger - 1/2 tsp
Ground Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ground turmeric - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 pinch

1. Heat oil in a frying pan, sauté onion until tender.
2. Add remaining ingredients, stir over low heat for 2 minutes.
Sambal Dressing is ready.

Serves 2

Now, the second one,

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBALS:
Carrot - 1, finely diced
Shelled Peas - 1/4 cup
Green beans - 30 gm, cut into 1 cm length
Potato - 1, finely diced
Green chilly - 1 finely chopped
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Desiccated coconut - 2 tbsp

1. Cook vegetables in boiling water until tender, drain.
2. Add chilly, lemon juice and oil, stir until combined
3. Serve sprinkled with desiccated coconut.
Serves 2
 Prepare any one or both, as you can use the Sambal dressing for the second recipe instead of fresh chilly, lemon juice and oil.


The last date for submitting this recipe is 31st August,


Hoping to get more clicks from your cameras!

Send the following details to nivedita.mt@gmail.com with subject "COOK AND CLICK" :
your name, 
blog name, 
url of the link  and 
the photo attached.
Non bloggers can send the details to my mail.
NO need to retype the recipe. Just link back this one in your post.
Please share your experience about this dish.
If you already got this recipe in your archive, share the experience.

Any suggestions, new ideas are welcome. 
(If you have any special recipe which you want cook with others here, you can send it to me. I will add it in the event with your details, whenever possible)

Keep Smiling,

Spinach : Green and white for rolls

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
Spinach is one green veg. which is not a favorite option to choose. It has more nutritional value but because of its taste, most of the people and especially kids don't like to have it.
Thats the reason I will be finding the ways to use the spinach in my regular menu, and I get the ways too.
Where there is a will, there is a way!!
Here are two options to use spinach in the menu. And these are best for chapati rolls for kids. My daughters enjoyed these rolls.
Here are the recipes :
The first one is
Green Garlic and Tomato Spinach:

Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 big bunch, cleaned, washed and finely chopped
Onion - 1 small, chopped
Garlic - 8 to 10 flakes, crushed(medium what you get in India, but if you are using big flakes, use 4 to 6)
Tomato - 1 big, cleaned and chopped
Salt to taste
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Oil - 1 tsp
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Heat oil in a kadai. Add chopped onion and garlic. Fry till the color changes. Add tomato, salt, turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Fry for two minutes. Now add chopped spinach and mix it well. Keep on stirring. Add 1 tbsp of water. Cover and cook on slow heat for few minutes. Open, add lime juice. Mix well. Remove from the heat. Its ready to serve. You can roll into chapati or can have it as a side dish with rice.

The second one is,

Creamy Green dip:
I took this recipe from LG book given to me while buying my microwave oven. I have changed the ingredients as  per my taste. And  instead of using as a dip, I used it for chapati rolls.
Ingredients :
Spinach - 1 small bunch, cleaned, washed and finely chopped
Coriander or Parsley - 1/2 cup, cleaned, washed and finely chopped
(I used coriander)
Water - 1/4 cup
Green chilly - 1 finely chopped
Onion - 1 small, finely cubed
Garlic - 1 tbsp chopped
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sour Cream - 1 cup
OR
One day old hung curd - 1cup(for healthier version and it is easily available at home)
(I used normal(not hung) curds, I just kept it in a muslin cloth for half an hour as there was not enough time to make hung curd)
Salt to taste
White pepper powder to taste

In a microwave safe bowl and chopped spinach, onion and garlic in 1/4 cup of water and microwave for 3-4 minutes at 100% power.
Drain out  the excess water if any. Keep it aside and allow to cool.
In a blender or with hands, mix curds(or cream), salt, pepper, red chilli and keep it aside.
In another microwave safe bowl microwave butter at 100% power for 30 secs. Add flour and microwave for 2 mins. Stir in between.
Add milk slowly stirring it till thick at 100% power for 2 to 3 min to make a thick sauce. 
I did this on gas stove.
When cool combine everything and store it in a refrigerator for some time before serving.
This can be done totally outside, on the gas stove too.
Actually this can be used as a dip with chips, French fries or French bread.
But my chapati rolls were hit and rolled into my kids stomach in no time.

Here are the rolls :



Sending these rolls to 

image
Keep Smiling,

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Apple and Onion Bake

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
Here is my preparation for my event " "Cook and Click".

Click APPLE AND ONION BAKE here for the recipe.

I took half the quantity of given recipe as I felt if I take the given quantity, it will be too much for my family. 
The taste was good, but I felt that we should add less water than told. I had it as a side dish with my normal food.
Before it went into the oven, 

After the baking,


In to my plate,

Sending this to Akila's event Event: Dish Name Starts With: A

                                 

Keep Smiling,

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