Vermicelli Pulav/Upma with grated Veggies..

I tried this Vermicelli Upma/Pulav with a twist today. I grated some of the vegetables and added tomatillo in it. In addition to getting cooked fast, they get nicely combined uniformly and have fussy kids from not picking out the veggies. Most of all, this dish turned out to be just great with tomatillo imparting a slight tang contrasting with the spice of the chillies and the garam masala and ofcourse all the goodness of the veggies. This is a keeper recipe.

Ingredients

Rice Vermicelli - 4 cups

Carrots, grated - 2

Red Potato, grated - 1 medium

Green Bell Pepper, very thinly sliced - 1

Yellow corn kernels - 1/4 cup

Tomatillo, very thinly sliced - 2 small

Onions, finely chopped - 1 medium

Ginger, grated - 1" piece

Garlic cloves, finely chopped - 3

Green Chillies, finely chopped - 4 -5

Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp

Haldi/Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Cilantro - a handful

Salt - to taste

Hot Water - 3 cups approx.

Oil - to fry

Method

- In a hot non-stick pan, take little oil. Add the cumin seeds and once they sizzle, add the onions, garlic, ginger and fry well till onions turn translucent.

- Then add the green chillies and the tomatillo and fry till they change color and soften and turn pulpy.

- Then add the grated potato, fry well for a minute or so, then add the carrots and fry for another minute.

- Add the corn, green pepper and fry for sometime.

- Then add salt, haldi powder, garam masala powder, and saute.

- Add the broken rice vermicelli, fry well till the vermicelli gets coated with all the rest of the ingredients and separates instead of becoming sticky.

- Now, add the hot water to the above. Turn the heat on medium high till the whole thing comes to a boil.

- Then, add the cilantro,lower the heat to medium, stir once or twice in between and cook till the vermicelli softens and all the water evaporates.

Note :

- The water measurement is approx. here. Please use your judgement such that the vermicelli is only slightly submerged in the water. Else the whole thing will become very mushy.
- The addition of Tomatillo sure was a good idea. It gives a slightly tang to the dish.
- Grating the veggies like potato and carrots saves frying time also, since they cook very fast this way.

Fresh Corn Pakodi/Patties..

Well, its the season of Corn. I was looking for some easy snack recipes with it and came across this one at Vahrehvah.com.

The first time I made it last week when my friends were over, but that time they turned out pretty hard as I added too much flour to make the batter thick and hold shape.

Today I tried it again and instead of adding flour, I decided to use bread crumbs for the binding. The patties turned out to be great in taste, even my son liked them a lot ( ya, usually it takes a lot to get him to eat something which I take pains to make ;) .

So here goes..

Ingredients

Fresh Corn - 1

Green Chillies - 2

Dalia /Putani/ Split dehusked Chana Dal - 1/4 cup or more

Mint Leaves - a handful

Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ginger - 1/2 piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Bread Crumbs - as needed for binding. Alternatively, use maida/all-purpose flour.
Oil - to fry
Salt - to taste

Method

- Using your knife, scrape the kernels off the corn. Just hold the corn vertically with one hand and run your knife through it with the other. Keep aside.
- In a mixie/blender, add the dalia, green chillies, cilantro, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, and jeera and pulse till a dry coarse mixture is formed. DO NOT ADD WATER during this.
- While still retaining the mixture in the mixie, add the scraed corn also to it and pulse again till its all well combined but the mixture is still slightly coarse.
- Remove from the mixie into a bowl ( it might be little wet at this point). Add salt and bread crumbs/all purpose flour accordingly so that the mixture holds and you are able to hold shape.
- Now, take a small ball of mixture, flatten it with the palm of your hand and place on hot tawa. Drizzle oil all around and on top of it. When one side is browned, turn and fry till done on other side too.

- Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Note: Deep frying gives them get a better color, but I made the shallow fry ones so that little less oil. So you can use the same mixture and make slightly thick and oval shape patties or balls and deep fry them till they turn golden brown in color.

I found bread crumbs give a better taste than flour, so I prefer bread crumbs.

Even though these vadas here don't look as good as the deep-fried version, they were very good in taste. So do try them :)..

This is my contribution to Mansi Desai's Monthly Mingle event - Appetizers, originated by Meeta of What's for lunch, honey.

Also, a big hug and heartfelt thank-you to dear Meera and Purnima for passing me the Good Chat Award. Its a really cute award I think. I'm honored to be in your circle of Chat friends :). Thank-You once again..

Goad Aambaade Gojju/ Hog Plum chutney..

Goad Aambaade/Hog Plums have been a favourite of mine ever since childhood. Some of my aunts who knew this would make sure they would send us some whenever available in their homes. I would just like to eat it whole with a touch of salt. Its eaten raw, when it is bright green in color, and has a sweet and sour taste to it. The more bigger the fruit, the sweeter it will be ( atleast that's what I thought). It has a tough pith inside it, almost prickly as you get your teeth near it :D. So takes some patience to eat the whole of it. But its well worth it if you like that kind of taste.

So when I came across this a few days back in a Desi Store in the frozen section, I immediately picked up a pack. We make a few types of dishes also with it apart from eating raw, like Khol, and Gojjus.

The cut fruit looks like this

My mom makes 2 different types of Gojjus, this is one of them. This particular one tastes sweet, sour and spicy. I will post the other dishes also soon.

Ingredients

Goad Aambade/Raw Hog Plums - 4, cut into little pieces

Dry red chillies - 4

Jaggery - 3-4 tbsps

Fresh/frozen grated coconut - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Method

- Cut the dried chillies into small pieces and crush them using the pestle to form a coarse mixture.

- Grind the chopped plums in a mixie to get a smooth paste. Put it in a non-stick pan and heat it on a low flame.

- Once it comes to a boil, add the jaggery, salt and crushed chilli and keep mixing everything well till it all combines together.

- Then add the grated coconut to the above, put off the flame and mix well together.

- Serve hot or cold as a side with rice and curry or enjoy just by itself.

Raspberry Kulfi..

It is getting really hot here and we were wanting to eat something cold. So, what better than a Kulfi ?? I thought of trying out with Raspberries since this event was in my mind. And we were very pleased with the results. I am going to try next time with other berries too :).

This is my contribution to AFAM-Raspberries, hosted by Dee of Ammaluskitchen.

I followed the same method that I'd used for the Mango Kulfi.

So here it is..

Ingredients

Sweetened Condensed Milk - 3/4 can ( I used the Fat-free version)

Frozen/Fresh Raspberries - 1 cup

Heavy Whipping cream - 1/2 pint

Whole milk - 1/4 cup

Coarsely crushed Pistachios - 1/4 cup

Powdered Elaichi - 1/2 tsp

Method

- I used frozen raspberries, so after thawing them, using a spoon, I just crushed them and they became a paste easily.

- Mix the condensed milk, the crushed raspberries the whipping cream & milk together well.

- Add the elaichi and the pistachios also. Pour into kulfi moulds or any containers you like and freeze till done.

Val Papdi-Surti Papdi Curry..

This is a super simple and yet very tasty curry that I'd learnt from a friend of mine.
So here it is..

Ingredients

Val Papdi - 1 cup
Surti Papdi - 1 cup
Chana Dal - 1 tsp
Udad Dal - 1 tsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic Cloves - 4, crushed and finely sliced
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or more, depending on your choice
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind pulp - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 4-5 ( I did not add them )
Salt - to taste
Oil

Method

- In a pressure cooker, add the surti and val papdi with enough water and salt and cook for 1 whistle. Keep aside till the pressure subsides from the cooker.
- In a wide pan, take little oil, when hot add the mustard seeds, udad dal, chana dal, cumin seeds, garlic and curry leaves. When the seeds have stopped spluttering and the dals turn light brown, add the boiled Surti & Val papdi to the pan.
- Now, add the turmeric and chilli powder and mix everything well.
- Add the tamarind pulp and mix well and cook till any water present evaporates and the mixture becomes dry.
- Serve hot as a side with rice and dal/any other curry.



Also, these are 2 awards passed on to me by dear Purnima of FantasyCookBlog. Thank you so much Purnima for thinking of me for these awards. I'm really pleased and honored to get it from you. Thank you Asha also, for passing on the 'You make my day' award to me. Am very happy :)






All those whom I wanted to pass this on to, have already got these, since I'm late in posting this. So congratulations to all you wonderful bloggers out there who make our day and rock the blogging world :)...

Enchilada - A Mexican dish..

Today I tried making Enchilada for the first time. Enchilada is a Mexican dish which can be made many different ways (according to Wikipedia). This is my version of it, am not sure if this is the exact recipe for making it or not, but I just had tasted this one time at a friends place and after googling, came up with what I have here now. So, this is just an attempt.

The taste was very good. So do try it and any suggestions would be welcome too.

Ingredients

Onion, roughly chopped - 1 medium

Tomatoes, chopped - 1 medium

Spinach, chopped - 8 oz. ( I used the frozen pack )

Black Beans, boiled - 8 oz. can

Mexican 3 Cheese, grated( Cheddar, Mozzarella, Monteray Jack) - 8 oz.

Wheat Tortillas, fajita size - 7

For the Enchilada Sauce

Tomato Sauce - 8 oz. can

Jalapeno, chopped - 1

Garlic, finely chopped - 1 clove

Water - 4 oz.

To make the sauce - In a saucepan, mix the water and tomato sauce, bring to a boil, then add the garlic and jalapeno. Cook for 2 mins and switch off stove. Let it cool down.

If you want, you can avoid this and buy the ready available Enchilada Sauce from the stores.

To make the Enchilada Filling :

- In a saucepan, take little oil, add onions and fry till translucent.

- Add the spinach and tomatoes, saute for a min, then add the canned black beans.

- Add a little salt, and cook everything for about 2 mins.

To assemble Enchilada :

- On a plate, take a tortilla, add a generous amount of filling, roll it. Similarly, roll all other tortillas also.

- In a oven-safe dish, place the rolled tortillas next to each other. I placed the tortillas in 2 layers, one on top of another.

- Pour the enchilada sauce generously such that it covers all the tortillas nicely.

- On top of the sauce, add the grated cheese generously.

- Cover the dish either with its lid or with aluminium foil.

- Bake in pre-heated oven at 350F for 30 mins.

- Let stand for sometime, and enjoy hot.

Happy Mother's Day..

Here's wishing all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day !! I didn't know what to post on this special day, but nevertheless couldn't but stop and write something. Back in India, I don't remember wishing my mom on this day, but after being away from India and so far away from parents, have started to appreciate this day. And yes, more so after I turned mom too :). It feels really good to dedicate just one day to all the mothers who make this world just extra pecial!!
A special wish for my mom who has always put everyone else in the family before her, happy and content with whatever little she ever had, with a whole lot of patience and mind-blowing endurance to everything. I always think of her and think I'm not even half as good. So, to you Aayi, ' Wish you a very happy Mother's Day', and I couldn't have had a better mom than you :)...

Well, I really didn't make anything sweet today, but did try this wonderful cake from Asha's blog a couple of days back. Her MW Orange Streusal Cake was just awesome. Yes, its made in the microwave, and the entire time you will spend on making this less than half an hour. Now, for something to taste this good, that being a cake, and the time it takes to get done, can you ask for anything better ?? The cake was just moist, with the distinct orange flavour( inspite of me skipping the orange essence, since I didn't have it), and the perfect streusel part to compliment it..


Check out her recipe at AromaHope here..Thanx so much Asha, for this lovely recipe, we just loved it.

Also, few days back, I got the 'Yummy Blog Award' from Meera, my dear friend of EnjoyIndianFood. Thank-you so much Meera for thinking of my blog for this one. I really am inspired by your variety of posts and amazed by each and every one of them.


Going by the rules, I have to list 4 of my favourites desserts which I have ever tasted/prepared. So here they are..


1. Mango Cake
2. Dharwad Pedha
3. Peach & Cranberry Spice Cake
4. Cadbury- Dairy Milk Chocolate


Now, its time to pass it on to 4 other bloggers. This is really really tough coz each and every blog out here is yummy and excellent in its own special way. Although these people have already got this award, I would still like to mention their names : Meera, Purnima, Asha, Shilpa and many more blogs, whom I am truly inspired by and look forward to each and every post of theirs. So I'd like to pass this on to all the wonderful bloggers out there who put in that extra special in all their posts.

Beetroot curry with coconut.

I like Beetroot only in raw form, that is in salad's/kusambris. So, we rarely bring this vegetable. Many a times, I bring it thinking this time I will try and make something, but it just keeps sitting in the fridge till it finally gets spoiled and I have to trash it :(.

Not that I haven't tried making or cooking curries with it, but whatever I ate, wasn't liking it. The sweetness in it and the cooked smell just somehow gets to me. Well, not till recently.
I decided to make it interesting with the masala and let me say, it sure was amazing. Now I will cook beets more :)..

Ingredients

Beetroots, chopped into small dices - 2 medium

Grated/Frozen coconut - 1/4 cup

Black pepper corns - 10- 12

Dried red chillies - 4

Haldi/Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind - a small marble sized ball

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Garlic cloves, chopped fine - 4

Cilantro - a handful

Salt

Oil

Method

- Pressure cook the chopped beetroot with salt and water( add water to cover the beetroot level) for 1 whistle. Take this cooked beetroot and the water in a separate pan.

- Make a paste by grinding together the coconut, pepper, red chillies, turmeric, tamarind, cumin and coriander seeds.

- Add this ground paste to the pan which has the cooked beets and boil till the raw smell from the masala goes away. Add the chopped cilantro once boiled. Switch off the stove.

- In a separate small pan, in a little oil, fry the sliced garlic pieces till soft and light brown.

- Pour this over the cooked curry and immediately close the lid of the pan.

- Enjoy hot with rice or roti.

P.S : The black pepper and garlic really makes a big difference to this dish. Do try it..

Top 10 Pictures MeMe

I'm doing a MeMe for the first time. My friend Meera of EnjoyIndianFood has tagged me for this one where we have to post top 10 pictures that we think are from our blog. So, here are my picks. Thank you for tagging me Meera. I enjoyed this one.

1. Orange and Veggie Crunchy Salad.

2. Chocolate and Cherry Cake

3. Chicken Biryani

4. Spring Onion Koshumbri

5. Kolombya Pitto/Konkani Sambar Masala

6. Biscotti

7. Burnt Garlic and Zucchini Soup

8.A Send-Off Cake

9. Lentil and Methi Dal

10.Aalle Kaandya Aambat/Fish Curry
I'd like to tag
1. Asha of FoodiesHope
2. Sagari of IndianHomeFood
3. Shilpa of Aayisrecipes
4. Divya of EasyCooking

Hope you can do it soon girls :)....