Raw banana patties

Ingredients-
2 big raw bananas
2 medium sized potatoes
1 onion chopped
Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbsps
2 green chillies
salt to taste

Oil or ghee to shallow fry

Optional - Besan 2 tbsps

Directions-

Pressure cook the bananas and potatoes. They should not get very mushy so be careful. Let cool, peel and mash together.

To this mixture, add onions, coriander, green chillies, salt and besan and mix very well with hand. If you feel that the mixture is not very firm, then add more besan or breadcrumbs. Mix well. 

Heat pan, add ghee or oil, make patties out of the mixture and shallow fry them. Serve with chutney or ketchup.

To this mix, you can also add grated carrots, raisins and nuts of choice or anything else you feel will go with it!

Variation- You can add breadcrumbs instead of besan and if you prefer egg, you can dip the patty in the egg mix before shallow frying it. #justsaying

I served the patties with masala buns like vada pavs and tomato chutney. It was a hit! And I plan to make them again maybe with boiled peas included? Suggest any more variations!!

This is going to -

Tickling Palates' Winter Carnival , 

Srivalli's snack Mela and also to Kid's Delight- Colourful Palette Also check the announcement page here. 

Edit- July 15 2012

I made several versions of these- with carrots and peas and corn and they all tasted as delish as this one :)
Here are some pics :)

Corn and raw banana patties

carrot and raw banana kebabs

peas and raw banana kebabs

aloo saag / potato and spinach

Ingredients:

Spinach 1 bunch, cleaned and chopped / shredded (I mixed spinach and malabar spinach)
2 potatoes boiled and cut / mashed roughly
1 Onion chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp turmeric, coriander powder and garam masala

1 tomato chopped

Oil to cook

1 tsp panch phoran
Salt to taste

Method-
Heat a pan, add oil, add panch phoran. Once the seeds begin to splutter, add onions. Let them turn brown. Add the garlic, ginger and fry for a minute. Now add the chopped spinach and cook.  The spinach begins to leave water immediately. 

You can either blend it, like you do for palak paneer, or you can cook like I did.
Add the potatoes, add turmeric, salt and spices and mix. Add the tomatoes after a couple of minutes.
Cook for 5-10 mins covered until the potato absorbs the flavor and the tomatoes are also done.
Serve hot.

I am sending this to Mom Chef Kalyani's HLI event at Sinamon's.

Secret Santa at Ibexi and msg ibexi

Secret Santa is a popular holiday game. In this game, members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift. The Secret Santa tradition encourages gift exchange in groups whose members are not close enough to participate in the alternative tradition of giving presents.

We decided to play this game in Ibexi Bangalore office, to help people of msg ibexi and Ibexi bond together. The main purpose was just to know our colleagues better and end the year on a fun filled note! The game was organized by some of us (Charu, Lakshmi, Ruchi, Arpita, Rachna and I)

The rules and regulations were briefed to everyone. A bowl full of names of Ibexi and msg employees was sent out where everyone picked one chit. The remaining were shared between HR and Admin. 

Rules and Regulations-

• Each person is Secret Santa for a colleague in office. 
• You are not supposed to reveal to anyone the name of the person you are a Secret Santa of!
• The person will have to guess the name of his/her Secret Santa on 23rd December 
• You are responsible for buying a gift for the person (whose name you selected by picking up the chit in the bowl)
• Gifts are to be sponsored by you only.No reimbursements! :) Gifts can include  bookmarks, chocolates, colored pen, a poster of his/her favorite cricketer etc. Simple and inexpensive gifts only. 
• Cost of gift(minimum Rs – 20 max- Rs 50) 
• On Friday(23rd December) morning please place a gift near the Christmas tree in office for the person you are Secret Santa for along with a hint/riddle about yourself .This will make it easier for the person to guess his/her Secret Santa.
• On 23rd Dec we all will open our gifts and try and guess who our Secret Santa was.(each person will get 2 chances to guess his/ her Secret Santa) 

The Secret Santa Finale was being held on 23rd December when we planned to have a small get together and  also a closing ceremony for the Secret Santa game :)

On 22nd Dec, we sent out an email to get people excited about the next day. We urged everyone to put in some thought and a bit of effort and get the gifts ready. 

On 23rd Dec, people were supposed to be dressed in Christmas colors - Red or green or white. The whole office looked lovely and festive. Even Yashi was dressed in red :)

At 5pm, we met near the Christmas tree. Charu picked each gift and read the person's name for whom the gift was marked and then the riddle. People tried to guess, some got it right, some didn't. But it was good fun :) with lots of laughs and giggles. Here's a collage-

Later, we had some plum cake and snacks. Yashi played secret Santa for Pash and got a huge dairy milk silk from him :)

This post is going to My edibles - Jingle All the way

Paneer roti roll

Ingredients-
wheat flour and water

(Make a dough, like you would for chappatis, keep aside)

For the filling-

Crushed or grated paneer
1 chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato , 1 boiled potato- chopped

Can also add - 1 capsicum, 1/2 cup cabbage

salt to taste
1/2 turmeric powder

Directions-
Prepare the filling-
In a pan,  fry chopped onion, potato and tomato. Add the other veggies if using them.
Add turmeric powder and salt. Add paneer and cook till the veggies and paneer is done and combined together.

Prepare paranthas with the flour for as many number of rolls you would need to make.
To prepare and serve the roll-

Place the paneer mixture over the parantha, can also add tomato sauce and some chaat masala and also some coriander chutney for added spiciness.
Serve hot!

Filling and the roll

This is going to Srivalli's Snacks mela.

Cucumber carrot soup

Ingredients-
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1 tbsp coriander
2 garlic cloves
1 chopped onion
1 tsp butter / olive oil
Water or borth for soup - 3 cups

Method-
Heat a  deep pan, add olive oil. Fry the onion and garlic, add veggies. Add water and bring to boil, simmer and let the veggies cook. This will take about 20 mins on medium flame.
Turn off flame, in a blender, puree the soup. Return to pot, heat and serve.

Christmas Rum cake!

Ingredients-
1 cup chopped dry fruits ( I have used Raisins, Dates,Almonds, cashews, Ginger,  Orange peel)
1/4 cup dark rum

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg powder
1/4 teaspoon clove powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Soak all the above ingredients in rum  for at least 24 hours. Stir them once in a while. Use a large jar, because the fruits more than double in size.

When you are set to bake your rum cake, get the following ingredients together.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tbsps milk 

Directions-
Butter your bake pan pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt,  mix this into butter and sugar mix, alternate with milk and do it in 2-3 batches. 

Drain the rum from the fruits, roll the fruits in some flour to prevent sinking. Add to the batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons rum. Else the cake is rum-doused enough!! Enjoy :)

This is going to -
Srav's Holiday Baking

Ramya's Cakes for Christmas

and to Christmas Delicacy

Wish you all a Merry Christmas! :)

Tomato and cheese salsa

Ingredients-
5 large tomatoes, cleaned and chopped

1 boiled potato cubed
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion chopped
1 capsicum / any other chile pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 tsp oregano
salt to taste

mozarella cheese - 1 tbsp cubed or grated

For garnish (optional)

Lime juice from half a lime

Chopped coriander


Directions-
In a medium micro safe dish, place tomatoes, potato, garlic, onion and green peppers. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt, cheese and oregano. Mix well to combine. Microwave it for 6- 8 minutes, stirring in between. The tomatoes will turn a darker red and the raw smell will disappear.

Let it cool a bit. At this stage, you can coarsely blend the veggies. (I didn't do it cos I love it this way)

To serve, transfer to a serving bowl and add lime juice and coriander. Serve!

This is rushing to  Vardhini's Dish it Out hosted at Taste Junction.

 

This is also going to Microwave Easy Cooking at My Edibles, which is Srivalli's brainchild. 

choora dahi with aloo baingan bhujia

Ingredients:
2 cups poha  (I used red rice poha)
2 cups - thick curd
jaggery or sugar

Method
Wash poha, drain lightly, keep aside for 5-10 minutes. Fluff up the grains. Serve with curd on top and jaggery or sugar.

Aloo baingan bhujia
Ingredients-
3 green brinjals / aubergines, wash and cube
2 potatoes, wash and cube

Oil to fry
1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander pwd
salt to taste
1 tsp panch phoran

1 tsp ginger garlic paste


Heat oil in apan. Add the tempering and as they splutter, onion and stir fry till they turn light brown.

Add the cubed potatoes, salt, ginger garlic paste and turmeric and combine. Cook on medium flame for  3-5 mins, stirring in between. Add the brinjals and cook for another 3-5 mins on low to medium flame. Stir fry in between. Add the rest of the dry spices and cook uncovered till the spices and veggies are mixed well. Serve warm.

Sprouts utthapam

Ingredients-
3 cups Dosa Batter
Green gram Sprouts - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 chopped

Tomato- 1 chopped

Coriander- 1 tbsp chopped

green chillies - as per taste, chopped

Oil to cook

Method
In the batter, mix all other ingredients except oil. 

Pour oil on a non-stick tawa, spread batter, it should be slightly thick. Cook both sides till slightly brown. Serve hot with any chutney or ketchup!

This is going to MLLA 42. Check Sumadhura's announcement page and also Susan's MLLA host line up.

Dahi aloo ki sabzi / Potatoes in curd gravy

What do you do when your curd turns sour, or you have too much of it left? I make kadhi if I am serving rice, or I make dahi -aloo ki sabzi which I can serve with chappatis.

Ingredients:

4 medium-size Potatoes (boiled, mashed roughly) 

1 tsp Turmeric Powder, coriander powder and garam masala/ all spice

1 tsp panch phoran / cumin for tempering
1 cup sour Curd beaten
1/2 cup Water 
Salt to taste 
1/2 tbsp Oil

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic

a pinch of asafoetida


Method-
Heat the oil in a pan and add panch phoran and asafoetida. Let the seeds splutter. Add onions and fry till lightly browned. Add ginger garlic paste, tomatoes, salt and spices.  Cook for a few minutes. Now add mashed potatoes and sauté for about 3-5 minutes. When the potatoes turn a bit crispy, add beaten curd mixed with water.
Simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Do not heat the curd mixture too long, else the curd splits!!

Dahi aloo ki sabzi is ready to be served!!

I am sending this to Frugal Fridays at Fussfree flavors. This is a blog hop event!!

Check out the links here.

Fruit Custard with Split milk

Do you sometimes feel bad when the milk splits but not completely? If it splits completely, you can make various things out of it, but if it doesn't, then we fret over how so much milk has to go waste.

My MIL told me that my bhabhi makes custard when she is faced with such a situation. Today I decided to give it a try :-)

Ingredients-

1 cup fruits (I used one banana and half an avocado!)
1/2 litre Milk
Sugar
2 tbsp Custard Powder (I used Brown and Polson)

Method-
Bring milk to boil. Take 3 tbsp of milk from the boiled milk and cool it down a bit to add custard powder. Make a fine paste and keeping milk on low flame, add custard paste, stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed. Turn off flame once desired consistency is achieved. Add sugar and mix well to dissolve it. 

Leave it to cool.

Just before serving, add fruits. If you like it chilled, then you should refrigerate it after adding fruits. 

Boondi Raita

Ingredients-

2 cups thick curd
2 handfuls of ready-made Boondi

1 tbsp chopped finely Coriander leaves

1 small chopped onion
1/2 tsp Roasted jeera powder
Black salt or kala namak to taste

pepper to taste

Method-
Beat yogurt , add onion, coriander, jeera powder, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. 

Add boondi and mix. You can chill it if you like your boondi soft. If you like it crunchy, like I do, serve immediately!

Tomato and Avocado salsa

Ingredients-

1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 avocado chopped
1 onion, chopped small
juice from 1 fresh lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

can also add- 1/2 cup chopped coriander

Method-

In a bowl, gently combine all the ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste. Combine well.

Salsa is ready!!

Serve with anything! I usually serve with Pasta or sandwiches.

This is going to Let's cook for Christmas - Red and Green event  at Nayna's blog-

Veggie/Fruit of the Month-Cucumber

Ambrosia is hosting Veggie/Fruit of the Month. This series has been started in 2010 by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes. Thanks Priya for this wonderful opportunity. Psst- the secret is this has come to me as a surprise, and a big one too! :-)

For Dec, the fruit is Cucumber. 

Yes, Cucumber is a fruit!! Here are some facts about the fruit, source- Wiki-

• Cucumbers originated in India !!
• The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash and melons. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and "burpless". 
• Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, botanically speaking, cucumbers are classified as fruits. However, much like tomatoes and squash they are often perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables. 
• Cucumbers are usually more than 90% water.

Choosing cucumbers- Choose the cucumbers that are displayed in refrigerated cases, because they are sensitive to heat.

They should be firm to touch. Avoid cucumbers that are yellow, puffy and wrinkled at their tips.


Nutritional Profile- Cucumbers provide us with a variety of health-supportive phytonutrients like  flavonoids, lignans and triterpenes. Cucumbers are an excellent source of vitamin K, molybdenum, vitamin C, potassium,
magnesium, manganese, and vitamin B5. They also contain the important nail health-promoting mineral silica!


Cucumber for Beauty!!
Cucumber reduces dark circles and swelling around the eyes. After a long day's work, Cucumber eye pads
can be very very relaxing! Cucumber mixed with mint is a very good face pack.
Cucumber paste helps reduce blemishes too. Cucumber and the skin share the same level of hydrogen, it helps in relaxing the skin.

The regular intake of cucumber juice is very useful both internally and externally.

So cucumber that has so many benefits, should definitely feature in our kitchen! Let's go now to to the rules of the event-

• The dish can be anything -muffins, rice dishes, fired, chutneys or juice but with cucumber as main ingredient.
• The dish can be any course of the meal. (starters / main dish / beverage etc)
• The recipe can be veg or non veg, eggs are allowed in baking.
• The recipes have to be new and no archived entries are allowed!
• Post the recipe in your blog from  14 Dec 2011 to 15 Jan 2012. Multiple entries are welcome!
• Link the recipe post to this announcement page and Priya's announcement page .
• Include the logo as it is manadatory and it helps spread the word.

Use the link tool below to link your recipe.
In case you are not able to link-

Please send in your entries to richapriyanka [at] gmail.com with "Veggie/Fruit of the Month - Cucumber" in the subject line with you rname, blog url and Recipe name and Url.
Non bloggers can send in your recipe details along with the picture to the above email and I will post your recipe in your blog.

Shall we get to cooking then? :-)

Wait!! You can win yourself a cookbook from Infibeam.com upto Rs 500! This is a sponsor-free giveaway, and my way of saying thankyou to all you lovely people participating in this event.

Giveaway guidelines-

• Participate in the event as per the rules and leave me a comment on this post.
• This is valid only for bloggers in India!
• Follow me on Blogger and tweet about my giveaway!! append with #ambrotos 

I eagerly await your entries!! Begin linking now!!

Sabudana kheer in coconut milk

Ingredients:
Sabudana  / Tapioca – 1/2 cup (raw)
Milk- 1 cup
Coconut milk – 1 cup (I made this using packaged coconut powder, you can make fresh)
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Water – 1 cup
Ghee/ butter – 1 Tbsp

Method:

Wash and soak the sabudana in just enough water for 1 hour or so.

To make the kheer a little less sticky, heat  ghee in a wok, add drained sabudana and mix gently. Do this for 2-3 mins.

Now add enough water to cover the sabudana and cook till the pearls are transparent. Add more water if needed. Now add milk and sugar and cardamom powder (I hate the taste!). Mix well till sugar is dissolved and consistency thickens. 

At this stage, add the coconut milk and simmer. Continue stirring in between. Turn off the heat when kheer is of the consistency you prefer.

Before serving-

Sabudana kheer thickens on cooling. To ensure correct consistency, add more milk if needed after taking off from stove. Else add cold milk and mix well before serving. It tastes best when cool.

I am sending this to CEDD- Desserts with coconuts at Raksha's Kitchen, founded by Raven at CookEatDelicious.com. 

French toast!

French toast with some fruits and coffee makes for an awesome Eggy breakfast on any day!

Recipe-

Ingredients-
2 eggs
salt to taste
1/2 cup milk
6-8 slices brown bread
butter (I used olive oil, you can use anything you prefer)

Method-
Break eggs into a wide bowl (to allow you to dip your bread),  beat the eggs. Add salt, milk and mix.

In a non-stick pan, add butter / oil. Do not overheat or make it smoky!

Dip the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl  letting slices soak up egg mixture for a couple of seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Transfer each slice immediately to the pan, let it turn brown on one side. Turn over and brown the other side as well.

Serve hot with coffee / tea.

If you like your French toast sweet, add sugar to the mix omitting the salt and serve with honey or maple syrup! 

I am sending this to Krithi's Kitchen and you should also check Helen's original event announcement page!

ARS F for Fruit Curries roundup and winners!!

I am really sorry for procrastinating this post until now. I have been caught up with a lot of things on my personal front and did not find much time to blog. I made half this post and it had been pending since mid Nov!! Anyhow now let's move on to the roundup.

I am thankful to Charitha (whose blog link is taking us elsewhere WTF!) for this opportunity.

Here's the roundup-

Jaleela sent me Lemon Honey Nuts fruit salad

Akhila from Torview has sent an innovative recipe- Tomato jam.

Vaidehi sent in Sweet pineapple pulav which is her Mom's recipe and submission. Check out her blog which has 3 contributors, her mom, aunt and Vaidehi herself.

Nutan has sent Pineapple Menskai. Pineapple fits really well in all our dishes!

This spicy Raw banana curry is Amina's creation!

Tangy raw mango gravy from PJ's kitchen looks to be a keeper!

Then there is Navratan Korma from Dee's kitchen, which is my favorite!

Poonam has sent in Keri ki laungee - sweet and sour just like the flavors of life itself!

Kaveri's pullisery which is a popular Kerala dish, her version has ripe plaintains. Check it out!

Raw banana stir fry sent by Sravani looks delish.

Nivedita from Eat right has sent Apple Menasakai. Looks innovative!

Sumee has sent Pineapple menasakai.

Swati Sapna has sent Raw Papaya and Mustard Curry. Mustard in gravy is totally yummy!

Christy Gerald from My Kitchen Flavors has sent these entries-

Pineapple Fish Curry , 

Pineapple Methi Dhal Curry ,

Orange Rasam (a Microwave Recipe), 

Orange Chicken

Ezy Apple Masala,

Palak Pineapple Curry (and Christy's list ends here finally! Phew)

Priya Mahadevan from Now Serving sent 5 more recipes!! I bet you wouldn't have heard about these!

Pumpkin Papaya Soup

Orange Chutney

Pineapple Papaya Soup with Jasmine

Mixed fruit & Veggie Fusion Stew

Blood Orange Rasam

With that, ends thisroundup! I am really sorry to keep you all waiting for it. I hope I have not missed anyone, if I have please let me know and I will update the post.

Now for the much awaited part- Winners!!

The prizes go to-
For The most innovative recipe-

This one was tough! I shortlisted Sweet Pineapple Pulav , Orange Chicken and Nivedita's Apple Menasakai . 

But I think Orange chicken from Christy's My Kitchen Flavors deserves it!!

and

 The recipe with the best pic goes to Poonam from Kishmeesh for Keri Kee Laungee (Raw Mango Curry)

(Drum rolls) Congratulations to the winners!! Now all you have to do is send me your address with a pic which you would like on the collage mug!