Friday, November 18, 2011

Masala peanuts in besan

Ingredients:
1/2 cup peanuts
A pinch asafoetida
1 tsp ajwain
1-2 tbl spn gram flour(besan)
1 tsp chilli powder
Salt
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix all ingredients, except oil. Sprinkle 1-2 tbl spn of water and make sure the paste sticks to the peanuts uniformly. The peanuts may form lumps (I love the deep fried lumps, but you can separate them and fry if you so like).
Deep fry them in hot oil. (Loosen them with your fingers to make sure the peanuts separate and don’t form lumps if you don't want them)
Don't turn the peanuts in oil too much or the masala will separate. Drain on paper towel when done.
When they cool down, store in airtight container.
I made these for Diwali and in the remaining oil, I fried some chiwda. The pic is not so cool, but anyhow! the peanuts were really tasty!! 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Cool Sattu drink

Enjoy a hot day the Bihari way! It has been really sunny in Bangalore for the past couple of days and I made this one day when I felt like snacking on Haldiram's bhujia!

Ingredients- for 1 glass
2 tbsps Sattu (roasted gram flour)
Water
1 tbsp Sugar
juice of half a lemon
Black salt according to taste
Roasted and powdered cumin and ajwain- 1 tsp
Chat Masala- optional

Steps:
Soak sattu in water, add sugar and stir well so that there are no lumps. Add everything else, mix well. Add crushed ice and enjoy!

I am sending this to back to the roots at Mad scientist's blog.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Fried Idlis

Ingredients:
Leftover Idlis - 6
2 tsps oil
Salt
Chilli powder and garam masala powder - a pinch
1 tsp chopped curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds

Method:
Cut the idlis into equal sized pieces.
Heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves and mustard seeds. Let the seeds splutter. Add the idlis and mix. Sprinkle salt, chilli powder and garam masala powder. Combine well.

Serve with hot with ketchup or chutney.

I am sending this to Kid's delight series hosted by Srivalli for the theme Dressing up Leftovers.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake from Nag's blog-

(I have altered the recipe only a bit, subbing wheat flour for AP, used both nutmeg and cinnamon for flavor, and forgot the walnuts!!)
Ingredients
1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground nutmeg and cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Method-
In a medium bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients and set it aside.

In a large bowl, break the egg, add oil, sugar, milk and combine till blended. Use a hand mixer if you like.  To this mix, add the flour mix and combine well. Now fold in the carrots and add the walnuts if using (I forgot them completely!)

Tranfer to a greased baking dish. Bake for 35 mins or until done. Allow to cool.

I baked this for Niket's birthday, and even before I could turn it out onto a serving plate, the cake was cut in all directions :( Check out the pic here!










I am sending this to Bake Fest at Vardhini's Kitchen.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Methi Pooris

Ingredients-
2 cups Wheat flour
1 cup Fenugreek Leaves (Methi), finely chopped
2 Green Chilies, chopped- optional
Oil for frying the pooris
Water for kneading the dough
1 tsp ajwain

Method-
Mix the flour and the methi leaves together. Add ajwain, chilies and salt if using. Mix well. Use water and knead a soft dough. Divide the dough into equal balls and roll out each ball into a poori. Heat oil in a kadai. Fry each poori till it turn golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
Serve hot with sabzi.

I am sending this to Cooking without Onion and Garlic.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Aloo Parval ki sabzi / pointed gourd with potatoes

Ingredients-
5-6 parvals scraped and cut into chunks
2 medium potatoes boiled and skinned
1 medium onion chopped
1 tsp panch phoran for tempering
1 tsp each of turmeric powder, coriander powder and kitchen king or garam masala
oil for cooking
Salt to taste

Method-
Heat oil in a pan. Add panch phoran and let the seeds splutter. Fry the onions till they trn pink. Add parval chunks and fry till the skins turn color. Add potatoes and fry for a bit. Add the spices and combine well.. Fry for a bit, add about 3/4 cup of water. Cover and cook, stirring in between.
Alternately, you can use a pressure pan and cook for one whistle. Remove from heat and serve with rice or rotis. I think this tastes best with pooris!!

PS-do not scrimp too much on the oil, this veggie tastes best with a little more oil!!

This is a must in most Bihari weddings and is also made for festivals. In keeping with the spirit of this recipe, I am sending this to Srav's Cooking Concepts- Festive Food.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Apple Banana Sooji Halwa

Ingredients-
1 medium sized banana mashed
1 apple grated with skin
Sooji- 1 cup
Water-1 1/2cup
2 tbsp Ghee
1/2 cup Sugar
Raisins and nuts - optional

Method-
In a pan, dry roast the rava till it turns color and turns light brown. Add ghee and the raisins and nuts so that they turn brown too. Now combine all the ghee and rava mixture well and fry till a lovely aroma fills your kitchen.
Add water, sugar, banana and apple. Combine and cook well. When the mixture begins to leave sides of the pan, remove from fire. Cover. Serve warm topped with more ghee if you prefer !

I am sending this to Cook Eat Delicious Desserts- Apples an event of Raven's blog being hosted for Nov by Nayna at Simply sensational food.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Do you think Steve Jobs was overhyped?

For some reason, Steve Jobs fails to inspire me.I think he was a ruthless businessman who gave more improtance to his products than his employees. Did you not hear about him firing his whole team after the iphone 4 launch, because the market did not respond well!? He definietly had a good understanding of the market and that is how Apple is linked to the Purple Cow strategy. Purple cow strategy, the term coined by Seth Godin, in his book of the same name, is not about giving consumers what they want but about aiming for those passionate people who will help in spreading the message about the product.All people who stand in queues for Ipads and Iphones, they are not there for Apple, but they are there because these gadgets helps them make a statement. Apple's marketing strategy feeds on this impression! He never gave money to charity and charged a premium for his products and made restrictive technology sound cool. I respect him for what he has done as an entrepreneur, but I stop there. It's not right to compare him to Edison, for God's sake!