LunchBox Special CurdRice

This is an easy to eat easy to cook as well as healthy recipe.I usually pack this when i get up late and am lazy :)
.When I was a kid, amma used to pack different coloured rices in each box.I had a box with three containers.I used to love it.Rahul loves it and I too love the beauty of it.

INGREDIENTS:

curd : 1 cup
Boiled rice : 2 cups
ginger(chopped) : 2 tsp
green chillies : 6 nos
carrot(grated): 1/2 cup
mustard seeds: 1 tsp
oil : 1 tsp
currry leaves : a handful
channa dal : 1 tsp
dried red chillies : 1 or 2
Salt

METHOD:

Heat oil in a kadai/wok.Splutter the mustard seeds.Add channadal,curryleaves and red chillies  also.Grind ginger , green chillies .Mix both of the above with the curd and rice.Add grated carrots also.Add salt.
Curd rice is ready.

Mooli Ki Roti

 
Off late,I have been trying out various experiments with rotis as we have rotis for dinner.Its good to taste a new one every time.Its Mooli season and I thought , lets make use of  of it.This is a nice way to eat methi leaves for the ones who dont like the taste of it.You dont get to know the taste and it is healthy .So, Eat healthy!!

INGREDIENTS:

Mooli / radish - 3 nos
methi/fenugreek leaves: 1 cup
pudina/mint leaves : 1 cup
chilli powder : 2 tsp
salt : 1 tbsp
ajwain seeds(Carom seed) : 1 tbsp
Whole Wheat Flour : 4 cups

Method:

Grind the moolis in a mixer with some water if necessary.Since , radish themselves have water in it, you wont need to add extra.Mix all the listed ingredients and make a fine dough.Instead of mixing all together, you can even stuff the filling with mooli, methi and pudina between two rotis and have tasty mooli parathas.Rahul prefers rotis over parathas, and hence the experiment.

Easy to make red chutney

This tastes best with hot dosas.One of my own findings.Proud to present yummy red chutney for the tummy!!!.Hope this helps in one of those Monday mornings when you wake up after a lazy weekend. :-)

INGREDIENTS :

Onion - 1
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
salt - 1 tsp
amchur powder/mango powder - 1 tsp
coconut oil - 1 tsp


Method:

Grind all of the ingredients except oil together in a mixer without adding water.When ground to a fine paste, add coconut oil and your red chutney is ready.You can use tamarind soaked in water instead of amchur powder.But then , this is much easier , I thought.So, try it out!!!

Onion Pakoda

A handy recipe is what I'd call it.Most of us must have faced a situation when there are guests visiting you without prior notice  and you rush to the kitchent only to find all your snack boxes are empty.Onion pakodas has been my saviour these  numerous times.It is an instant ,easy to make recipe.Fennel seeds have been added since they aid in digestion , so says my mother!

INGREDIENTS:

(1)Besan(Gram Flour) : 1 cup
(2)Rice Powder/Dough for idli : 1/4 cup
(3)chilli powder : 2 tsp
(4)hing/ asafoedita powder : 1/2 tsp
(5)Salt: As required
(6)Onion (finely chopped)  : 2 nos
(7)green chillies (finely chopped): 5  nos
(8)ginger (finely chopped) : 2 tbsp
(9)Sounf/Fennel seeds : 1 tbsp
(10)curry leaves (chopped) : a handful

METHOD:

Mix all the listed ingredients with water to make a pasteof desired consistency.make sure it does not get too loose.If you happen to add more water, add little more of flour to maintain the consistency.Heat the kadai /wok.Pour oil.Initially increase the flame till the oil is hot.Then simmer it while the pakodas get cooked.If you keep the flame high, the interior would still remain uncooked.So dont be in a haste.

Have patience.Take llittle batter in a spoon and drop in hot oil.Wait till the colour of the pakodas changes to deep brown.Place it in a tray with tisssue papers so as to drain the excessoil before changing it to a serving dish.
It tastes better on a rainy day along with hot tea.

KaruMuru Parippu Dosa.

This is one of our favourite breakfast dishes.A healthy one too.I usually dont always stick to the basic recipe.Whenever possible, the vegetables are added in all possible ways, in various forms ofcourse, sometimes grated, boiled or mashed.Its great to see the a new result after you try the various permutations and combinations.

INGREDIENTS:

(1)Rice : 1 glass
Urad Dal/Black Gram  : 1/2 glass
(2)Channa Dal /Bengal Gram: 1/2 glass
(3)Onions : 1 big
(4)red chillies : 5 nos
(5)green chillies : 5 nos
(6)Carrots (grated): 2 nos
(7)Curry leaves
(8)Asafoedita /hing
(9)Methi/ fenugreek seeds: a few

METHOD:

Soak rice,urad dal and methi seeds together, and channa dal separately for three hours.Grind (1) coarsely by adding sufficient amount of water.Then grind channa dal with half the onions red chillies , green chillies and curry leaves.Dont wait for the mixture to be a fine paste.Mix well and add grated carrots,onion,salt and hing.Add water if necessary.

We are ready to make tasty paruppu dosas.Can be served with stu or red chutney.

Chocolate Cake , for all of us ovenless cooks!!!

I never wanted to have an oven until I baked my first chocolate cake, to try out something else.We were always under the impression that cakes from the bakery would taste better .But this one, I swear, was so mind blowing, we kept licking our fingers.Could anything taste better , we thought!!.Here goes my favourite recipe, chocolate cake. Courtesy: My childhood sweetheart , Rammu.She put in me, the seeds of interest in cakes.Here's to you and our friendship!!

Ingredients:

(1)Flour (Maida) : 1.5 cup
    Cocoa powder (I used cadburys cocoa): 0.5 cup
     Sugar (powdered) : one and a half cup
     baking soda : one and a half tsp
(2)Melted butter : 180 g
(3)Hot milk : 1 cup
    Eggs : 2
(4)vanilla essence : 1 tsp

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in 1 and strain it.Add melted butter and half cup of hot milk to the mixed ingredients and beat well for 2 minutes.Add remaining milk, beaten eggs and vanilla essence.Beat well for another 2 - 3 minutes.If you dont have a beater , use the mixie to get a well beaten mix.The texture of the mix, is so very tempting, you have to try hard to wait till the cake gets cooked.

Butter the cake tin.(I used an aluminium vessel which fit in my cooker, since I did not have a cake tin) and sprinkle plain flour over it.Make sure the flour is evenly distributed in the tin.Pour the mix to this tin.

The cooker always comes with a separate plate.Place this plate inside the cooker and the cake tin over it.Place the lid over the cooker.But do not out the pressure over it.Keep the flame high for about 10 minutes and then simmer for 20 - 25 minutes , till a nice mouth watering smell fills the air . Check if the cake is cooked by pricking with a toothpick.If the cake mix sticks to the toothpick, it needs some more time on the flame.Allow to cool.

For icing, I used a mixture of whipped cream, cocoa powder(2 tbsp) and powdered sugar and butter.Added enough cream so as to get the right consistency.I used almonds for garnishing.

Fish Curry in Goraka/ Meen curry in KudamPuli

Yesterday was December 14,2009.Day One!.I cooked Fish curry with what we call kodampuli(Goraka)
 in malayalam.I used Sardines(mathi in malayalam) which is said to have high nutritional content.(To know more about the health benefits of sardines, visit http://www.xomba.com/remarkable_health_benefits_sardines ).I have never cooked fish in my entire life and it was total bliss to watch the result after the tiring endeavour and Rahul gave it a cent percent which was a tight one to score from a person with stong taste buds.

INGREDIENTS:

For gravy :

Sardines(mathi) - 0.5 kg
onion     - 3 big ones
green chillies - 5 nos
Goraka(kudampuli) - 3 or 4 nos
Curry leaves - few
coriander powder - 2 tsp
chilli powder - 2 tsp
Lemon - half
Ginger(0.5'' long pieces) - 1 piece
salt , oil

For marination :
Garlic - 5, 6
onion - 2
chilli powder - 1 tsp
pepper powder - 1 tsp
ginger - 1 smalll piece
salt


We are on our way!!

Grind the ingredients stated in the 'for marination' list, in a mixer and marinate the fish with the ground paste.Keep the fish aside for some time so that the fish absorbs the masala.

For gravy:

Soak kudampuli in water.Heat oil in a kadai. Fry ginger,onion and slit green chillies till the onions turn golden brown.Infact,I often wonder if the onions ever turn golden brown.Its either lightpurple , dark purple or brown.Is'nt it?.Doesnt matter as long as your dish is yummy!!.After the onions turn brown , add coriander powder, chilli powder.Saute till the raw smeel vanishes into thin air and then we are ready to put the kudampuli and the water in which it had been soaked in. Wait till nice bubbles start peeping out and then its time to put fish inside.Wait for 15 - 20 minutes .By this time the fish gets cooked .As salt if necessary, since the marinated fish already contains salt.

For garnishing, I used curry leaves sauted in a tablespoon of cocunut oil.Nothing else can replace coconut oil in its smell and it adds a distint flavour to our Fish Curry in kudampuli

Rahul could say nothing else but Yum!!!!


Is there anyone out there reading this?listening, ready to say Yum!!!?????###@@@@@  :-)  :-)