SAMBHAR POWDER(SPICY CURRY POWDER, RE POSTED)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

The World goes bland without spices.. There is no food without using at least a single spice. Jagruti's idea of having an event especially for introducing these spice powders will help many of us. Each region of the world or you can say each corner of the world has its own flavor or aroma of mixed spices.

So here is my entry for her event, its from the archive posts.

I have just copied and pasted the whole thing here.. and given a new name to it, as the old title is confusing.

They all met in a kitty party!!! to unite into one...

Aromatic food makes you feel hungry even after you have finished your food few minutes back!! Each food has its own flavor and taste depending on the spices we use.

South India is famous for its unique spice powder or masala powder or Sambhar powder to be specific. The preparation differs after every 40Km.

I am always hungry to have hot rice with any delicious sambhar!! Here is the sambhar recipe I learnt from one of my friend:

Do these bowl of spices won't look like women at a kitty party!! showing their new jeweleries or saree or accessories???

Giving the quantities for making  powder. You can keep it for a month or a week more. The aroma will go as the days pass. The quantity depends on the size of the cup you take. Its better to make in a little quantity and check the taste.

Ingredients :

Cumin Seeds - 2 cups

Dry coriander seeds - 1 1/2 cups

Curry leaves - 3 cups, if you add more also it tastes good.

Methi or Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 cup

Pepper corns - 1/4 cup

Urad dal or black gram(skinned) - 1/4 cup

Chana Dal or Bengal gram -1/4 cup

Raw rice - 1/4 cup

Dry Red chilly - 20 to 25

Dry coconut - 1 cup

Asafoetida (stoned) or hing - 1 pinch

or Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds - 1/2 cup(Optional)

Dry roast each ingredient and keep to cool.

Mix all and make into a fine powder. Store in an airtight jar.

You can use it for Sambhar, Bisibele bath, Cabbage rice or sambhar rice.

Sending this to  JAGRUTI  's ongoing event which is her brainchild,

Announcing an event - Grind Your Cooking Masala !!...

Keep Smiling,

LADOOS FOR NAGA PANCHAMI (Remixed and Re posted)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

 Hi All,

WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY SHRAVANA MONTH, A VERY AUSPICIOUS MONTH FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW IT AND

RAMADAN KAREEM TO ALL THE  MUSLIM FRIENDS.

AS THE  HAPPY NAGA PANCHAMI  FESTIVAL IS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY, I WAS BUSY THE WHOLE DAY MAKING THESE LADOOS.

ONLY THE LINKS AND THE PHOTOS...

ENJOY..(I AM POSTING THE LAST YEAR PHOTOS, I WILL UPDATE THE POST WITH THIS YEAR LADOOS AFTER MONDAY :-)  )

HAPPY NAGA PANCHAMI TO ALL :-)

Pea Nut Ladoo :

Sev Ladoo (ಸೇವಿನ ಉಂಡಿ) :

Til Ladoo(Sesame Seeds ladoo) :

Keep Smiling,

JUMBO CHOCO CHIP COOKIES(food remake)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Cookies!!!  are always welcomed in my house.. any shape, any ingredient but only with one condition, the cookies should have chocolate in it. So when ever I  try new recipe for the cookie I have to replace at least 2 tbsp of flour with cocoa powder.

It was a long time that I baked anything at home. Few days back my younger daughter told me in the morning "mamma, you have become very lazy now a days, you are not baking any cake or cookies for us" That was it,, I started to search the recipes from my other blogger friends and I landed in   Priya  's blog. And wanted to give a try to this Chocolate Chips Butter Cookies. But again came the problem of Cocoa powder., and the answer was simple, Replace little amount of flour with cocoa powder.

When I started getting the things to bake these cookies, my daughter came into kitchen. She always love to help me in the kitchen and she is always curious about the ingredients and how to make it. When I prepared the dough, she told me to make biggggggg cookies as she wanted to have it more at a time. Then I remembered my mini flower cup cake baking moulds  which I brought from Pune. 

Here are the jumbo cookies which got vanished within a day.

Planning to bake some more from Jagruti's place, which are prepared with wheat flour and oats..Mixed Nuts, Oats and Whole Wheat Cookies !

Ingredients: 

All purpose flour(Maida) -2 cup

Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup

Butter - 1/2 cup(room temp)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Egg - 1 

Baking powder -1/4 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

                                    

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180degree c.

Take all the dry things in a bowl and mix well.

Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Beat in  the egg, mix well.

Then goes the dry flour mix.

Add the choco chips

Mix well to make a soft dough. 

Take small ball from a dough, press slowly it from in your palm. Repeat with the remaining dough. hey, wait, I pressed the dough in to the mould I had.

Arrange these in a baking tray with a little space in between(if using baking tray)and keep in the oven., I kept the mini moulds directly in the oven.

Bake these for 10-12 minutes.

Remove and allow it to cool. They will be crispy after sometime.

Enjoy these with hot cup of coffee, tea or a glass of milk.

Keep Smiling,

BITTER GOURD CHIPS AND CURDS

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Bitter Gourd!!! Do not close the page.. Read it full and you will be tempted to try this out. A very tasty side dish. 

Past few days, my daughter wants to have it often and bitter gourd is in my fridge always.

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd - 2 big

Corn flour  - 1 tsp

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste(less as we use salt to clean the bitter gourd)

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Ajwain - 1/2 tsp

Oil to fry

To clean the bitter gourd
Salt 1 tbsp or to cover the bitter gourd
A pinch of turmeric powder

For CURDS
Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - a pinch





Method:

Wash the bitter gourd.

Peel the skin and cut into two parts.

Remove the seeds.

Mix the salt and haldi and apply it well to both the sides.

Keep it for an hour or two.

Squeeze and wash the pieces twice.

Cut into thin slices and allow to dry.

Heat the oil.

You can either shallow fry or deep fry. But I felt the deep fried chips took less oil than the shallow fried ones.

Keep it for some time till they get crispy.

Just before serving 

Prepare the curds with given ingredients.

Add the crispy chips and serve it.

These fried bitter gourd chips can be kept for 2 days.

Before it is served on the table, it gets over as my hubby and my daughter fights to have it first and finish.


Keep Smiling,

Beetroot Stir Fry

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Dinner time is sometimes very tiring.. Many days, after a long day, I do not have energy to spend more  time in the kitchen. Then comes these stir fry recipes which are really handy and healthy also. Carrot, Beet, Cabbage, Fresh beans stir fry tastes very good and I feel fresh after having. 

Here is the food which is good for health and luckily my both  the kids love beetroot. I keep trying new recipes with beet. 

This one is quick and simple.

Ingredients:

Beet root - 3 big

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few

Dash of hing

Ginger - 1 tsp, grated

Dry red chilly - 3

Fresh coconut - 2 tbsp+1 tbsp, grated

Lime juice - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the beetroot, peel the skin and grate it. Keep aside.

Heat the oil in a kadai.

Add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter.

Add the curry leaves, chilly, hing and ginger. Saute for a minute. 

Add the grated beet and stir fry for few minutes.

Add the salt and 2 tbsp coconut, mix well. Cover and cook for a minute.

Remove from the heat. 

Garnish with a fresh coconut and serve hot. 

I spread this on a chapati and turned it into a roll and served to my kids.

Jai ho Stir fry :-), 

Keep Smiling,

Fresh Green Chutney(Coriander and Mint Chutney)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

 Hi All,

Are you wondering where I was all these days? Sorry guys for not posting for almost 2 months. This year is not for me, I mean I am not able to get time for myself or anything new to learn. My whole time is going in cooking, cleaning, taking kids to the class. I have turned totally a Home manager(I hate the word House Wife!!). Two months flew like two minutes. I traveled to many places. From Hubli to Pune, Panchgani, Mangalore, Shimoga, Gulbarga and  ended with the visit to Bangalore. I was not well for a week.

There was no time at all to try new recipes or to write down any thing here. 

Now I am back into the blog world, hoping to post more and more recipes and share my experience about the food, the life and everything..

So how are you all? Life moves on with me or without me!! But for sure, I am the looser if I am not here.. I missed everything here, your new recipes, your comments... Welcome me with best wishes and your support.

Today again I am restarting my post with the simple Chutney recipe. Chutneys are very common and sometimes very much essential in a daily food in South India. We make chutney out of anything. I wrote the same in the previous chutney recipe(Ivy Gourd Chutney) also. 

Today is the very basic and simple green chutney which goes very well with anything. Try it and you will agree. I know many of you already have the recipe and you have tried it many times too. And this is my version to share with you.

Ingredients:

Fresh Coriander - 1 big bunch

Pudina or mint leaves - 1/4 bunch

Green Chilli - 4 to 6 (depending on how strong the Chilli are, I added 6 as I wanted my chutney very spicy)

Garlic - 1 big bulb(8 to 10 cloves)

Fresh Coconut - 3 tbsp, grated

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar 1 tsp

Lime Juice - 1 tbsp

For Tempering

Oil -1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 8 to10

Method:

Wash the fresh coriander and Pudina leaves and pat dry.

Add all the ingredients except the lime juice to the leaves.

Put in the grinder to turn into fine paste.

Remove in a serving bowl. Add lime juice.

Adjust the seasoning.

Heat oil in a kadai.

Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.

Add curry leaves and remove from the heat.

Add it to the chutney once cool.

And 

the chutney is ready to serve. Do you believe that I ate it just like that. I liked the tangy, spicy and minty flavor :-)

I will be very soon here again with  more recipes. 

Sending this to Kaveri's on going event "Event Announcement - Guest Hosting EP Series - Fenugreek Leaves and Green Chili in her blog Palakkad Chamayal which is the brain child of   Julie.

Keep Smiling,

Lime Juice Concentration

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Summer is here..  We always search for some refreshing juices. The supermarkets, shopping malls are full with lot of juices, Juice Concentration, Squash, Tang, Rasna are available in many flavors. I always like the lemon flavor as it is more natural and refreshing, but always prefer to make the juices at home and enjoy the real freshness.

Lemon.. is there any house which never has used it? It has lot of benefits. Having lime juice and honey with warm water everyday in the morning in the empty stomach makes you loose your weight. I have tried it. Lime is used in making many dishes. It is used in medicines. It is best for the scalp to remove dandruff. The list goes on... I like it the most as juice and just add little salt on it and squeeze it directly on your tongue. Feel the taste. I lovvvvvvvve it.

There are two ways to make this fresh juice. One is directly making it when ever you need it. Add 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp lime juice and salt  to one glass of water.  Mix well till everything is dissolved. Add Cardamom powder and powdered pepper(I like to add). Serve chilled. My younger daughter loves it.

But as it takes lot of time when you are in a hurry or you have to make for more number of people. So I prefer to make the concentration and keep it refrigerated. This concentration is really good to preserve for a week or so(if your town has 24X7 power supply)

Ingredients:

Water - 1 cup

Sugar - 1cup

Big size lime - 8 to 12(depends on the juice)

Salt - 1 tbsp

Cardamom -2(optional)

Method:

Mix the water and the sugar and keep on a medium flame. Boil it till its almost single layer syrup. It may take 20 minutes. You will come to know if you see the water color. It becomes slight golden brown. Don't boil it more time to make it thick syrup.

Remove from the heat and allow it to cool.

Once cool, add salt and lime juice. First add 8 lime juice and check the taste. You will have to see and judge whether to add more juice or not. Because some times the limes are very sour and you may need very less lime. Check and adjust according to the taste.

THE TASTE SHOULD BE STRONG IN SWEETNESS AND SOURNESS TOO..

If you want you can crush 2 cardamoms and add in the juice. 

BUT if you are planning to use this concentration for the juice adding FRESH PUDINA OR KALA NAMAK OR JALJEERA, it may NOT taste good.

The lime juice concentration is ready. Store it either in a glass jar or good quality plastic bottle(I prefer TUPPERWARE :-) ).

NEXT TIME WHEN YOU WANT TO HAVE A GLASS OF JUICE,

JUST ADD 1 PART OF THIS CONCENTRATION AND THREE PARTS OF CHILLED WATER.

ENJOY IT COLD ON THESE HOT SUMMER DAYS(EVEN NIGHTS TOO :-) )
This quantity makes around 10 - 12 glasses of juice..


CHEERS :-)

Keep Smiling,

Ivy Gourd Chutney

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Ivy Gourd!!! I am not much fond of this vegetable. I like to have it fried with lot of grated coconut... But the other day, mom prepared chutney out of this... and it was very tasty..

When it comes to chutneys I love to have any kind of chutney... I have posted many recipes also like.. Raw Mango Chutney, Fresh Green chana chutney, Raw Tamarind Chutney, Red Chilly Chutney, Pineapple Chutney in M/W, Hottt chilly chutneys and the list goes on...

• Please check what my dearest friend JAGRUTI  who is a great blogger too has written about  me in her words:
  Nivedita has so many mouthwatering recipes on her blog, I have tried so many of them but especially she is expert in making chutneys...I should give her a nick name here..." Chutney queen"...:-) Nive please don't mind..this is just for fun..but let me tell you  recipes are lip smacking..Trust me !!,
  Thanks Jagruti for the title.. and this chutney is to keep my title rocking :-)))
  Check her site  http://www.jagrutidhanecha.com/  for more details...  
  
  

Here is the recipe of the chutney:

Ingredients:

Ivy gourd - 12 to 15

Green chilli -2 to 3

Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Salt to taste

Jaggery - 1 tbsp

Tamarind - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

 Method:

Wash and pat dry the ivy gourd.

cut them into slices.

Heat kadai and add the oil(actually mom says to deep fry but being health conscious(am I????), I thought of shallow frying it.

and the slices. Fry these on medium fire. After they become little crispy(it may take around 8 to 10 minutes), add green chilly, cumin seeds, curry leaves and tamarind.

Fry for some more time.

Transfer it into a plate and allow it to cool.

Add salt and grind it till you get the chutney texture. (as per your liking)

Adjust the seasoning..

Chutney is ready to serve with anything you like.

I had it with Methi Paratha and peppered curd

Keep Smiling,

CHENNA PODA FOR ICC MARCH

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

 Hi All,

I am really in a hurry to post this one in detail. Sorry. But when there is a deadline one has to finish it on time.

This time  Srivalli has chosen a sweet dish for  Indian Cooking Challenge for the month of March. Chenna Poda  is a special delicacy of  Oriya. And I loved the taste of it. Actually I love anything made of paneer or cheese. And this one is totally different. 

There were many mistakes from me while baking this but still the taste was awesome.

My first mistake was I prepared only 1/4th  quantity from given qty in the recipe.

That did not allow the Chenna poda to raise properly and get the spongy texture. I think Srivalli and my experience were same while preparing this one. 

Valli has taken this recipe from Shibani of Any one can cook and she had given the link of Titilating Tastebuds for the same recipe.

Go through her recipe CHENNA PODA for the details. I am giving only the pictures here. And please do not laugh at my photos as I turned the Chenna poda into laddoos.

Sorry Valli, my challenge did not come out well. Hope for the best in the next challenge. But what ever the shape or size, we all loved the taste.

Keep Smiling,

PEA NUT POLI(ಶೇಂಗಾ ಹೋಳಿಗೆ)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

North Karnataka is famous for Poli or stuffed sweet rolls or ಹೋಳಿಗೆ (Holige). We stuff any possible edible and make it into poli. But the special thing is each festival has its must stuffing.. For Diwali we make with chana or toor daal, for Sankrathi we stuff the poli with semolina and jaggery, for special full moon days like Sheegi hunnive we make this Pea nut poli.

This can be kept for 15 days without getting spoiled. Its very tasty, good while travelling.

Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Pea nut - 250 gm

Jaggery - same qty as of pea nut powder

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Milk - few drops if the mix becomes too dry

Salt a pinch

Wheat flour or Maida - 1 cup

Salt a pinch

Oil - 1 tbsp

Water to make soft dough

Oil -1 tsp for each poli

Procedure:

Take the wheat flour or Maida. Add salt and oil. Keep on adding water to make a soft dough. Keep it aside for one hour at least.

Roast the peanut well. Remove the skin and the seed(???) in the middle.. Yes, there is a seed like thing at the end. Mom says its not good for stomach.

Grind into almost soft powder(neither coarse nor smooth) 

Measure the pea nut powder and take the same qty of grated or powdered jaggery. 

Mix the jaggery, salt and cardamom powder well. 

Add the peanut powder and mix well. Check the consistency. You should be able to make a ball out of it. If not add few drops of milk and mix it well.

Divide it into equal portion to make small ball(shown below)

Divide the ready dough in to small balls. 

Take one ball, roll into small thick disc. Stuff the pea nut ball carefully.

Press it slowly in the palm. Roll into medium size poli.

Heat the tawa. 

Roast it on both the sides with little oil. 

Repeat with the remaining dough and the balls.

I got 20 poli.

Keep in open for an hour.

Store it in air tight box.

It tastes good with ghee.

Sending this to Reshmi's event which is started by  Kiran.

Announcing Cooking with Whole Foods - Peanut

I really enjoyed writing this post after long time. I feel I am back home.. 

Keep Smiling,