Cucumber Sambar

Ingredients-
4 tbsps dal / Toor dal
1 tsp Turmeric
salt to taste
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
Tomato -1 chopped
Tamarind- Small lemon size
Onion-1 chopped
pepper - 1 tsp
sambar powder- 1 tsp
1 chopped cucumber, 1 carrot

For tadka-
Oil - 1 tsp

Jeera- 1tsp
Mustard seeds -1tsp
Curry leaves- 5-6 (I didn't have them!)
Hing- pinch

Method-
Pressure cook dal with salt and turmeric.
In the meantime, prepare the veggies- cut the cucumer, carrot and onion. Add veggies,  ginger garlic paste, tomato to the dal. Pressure cook this again.
Make the tamarind pulp.
Tip- to make the pulp quickly, microwave it for a minute in a bowl of water. Let it cool and squeeze the pulp.
When the pressure is off, take the lid, add the tamarind to dal and let the sambar boil for few more minutes. Turn off flame.

Now it's time for tadka. In a tadka pan, heat oil, add the ingredients for tadka and add it to sambar.

This is going to my event- Veggie / fruit of the month- Cucumber. 

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.

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. 

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.

Egg Utthapam

Here is the recipe of an Utthappam with a twist!!

Ingredients-

Idli / Utthapam mix- 1/2 cup (for 2 utthapams)
2 eggs
1 small onion- chopped
2 tsps coriander chopped
1 small tomato chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method-
To the utthapam mix, add the chopped veggies and salt. Mix well.
Heat a tava / non stick pan. Grease with oil. Pour 1 ladle of the mix on the tava. Let it cook a bit. Break the egg on top of this utthapam. Let the egg and utthapam cook a bit more. Flip the utthapam using a spatula. Let it brown on the other side. Turn off flame. Sprinkle with some salt on the egg. Serve warm with ketchup!

Is good for breakfast or evening snack!!

Potato sagoo and rava idlis

Ingredients-
2-3 medium sized boiled potatoes, peeled and mashed roughly
1 onion chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1 tsp chopped curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch Asafetida
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp all spice / garam masala
1 tsp Gram flour (besan) mixed with 1 tbsp warm water so that no lumps are there
oil for cooking
water for gravy

Directions-
Heat oil in a wok, add mustard, curry leaves , asafoetida and onion and fry till the onions turn transparent. Add tomato, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder, fry till the oil separates.
Add the mashed potatoes, salt, and water. Boil for about 5-6 mins, add the gram flour mixed with water. (I read this tip on a blog, that it helps to bind)

Serve with hot idlis.

This is heading to Breakfast Mela at Srivalli's. Also wishing her a great Blogiversary :)

Rava Ragi idlis-

Ingredients:
2 cups idli rava
2-3 tbsp ragi
1 cup curd
chopped coriander, green chilly, salt ( I skipped this)
1/4 tsp eno salt
Some colourful chopped veggies (carrot, french beans) and curry leaves (optional) ( I skipped this)

Mix all ingredients in the idli rava (if you are in the mood for it, you can roast the rava with mustard seeds in 1 tsp oil till it turns a darker color) Add water if needed and make a thick batter. Keep separate for atleast 10 minutes.
Use a microwave-safe idli stand. Add 1 cup boiled water to the pan, and smear the moulds with a little oil. Add eno salt at the last stage and immediately drop spoonfuls of batter in the moulds. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Soft spongy healthy idli is ready.

The Ragi idlis are going to WWC Ragi for breakfast hosted by Kalyani. Also check Sanjeetha's link here.

Pineapple Sambar

Ingredients-

1/2 cup toor dal
1 onion chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp grated coconut

1/2 cup chopped pineapple

1 tsp sambar powder

1 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

1/2 cup water

(Boil these together)

1 tsp coriander leaves- chopped

1/2 cup tamarind water extracted from a smaller than lemon sized ball of tamarind
mustard seeds and curry leaves for tempering
1 tsp oil


Directions-
Clean and wash dal, add in pressure cooker along with-water, onion, ginger garlic paste, coconut, pineapple, turmeric, sambar powder and salt.
Pressure cook for one whistle and simmer for 2 mins. Turn off flame and let cool. Add tamarind water and boil , add chopped coriander, simmer. In a tadka pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds and curry leaves and pour over simmered sambar. Stir and turn off flame. Cover and let stand for a couple of mins before serving.

I used mixed dal. I used juice of half a lemon cos Niket is allergic to tamarind. I skipped tempering, cos I was using it for Yashi, my 7mo baby.

The sweet sour taste of pinepple and lemon was very good :) Should serve with spicy chutney if serving with idlis. It is good as soup as well!

This is going to Fruit / veggie a month- Pineapple

guest-hosting-veggiefruit-month-event on Rupali's blog, linking my post to Priya of Mharo Rajasthan

This is also going to Cooking with whole foods

Linking to announcement page at Suma's blog and Kiran's announcement page

Stuffed Idli

This is my entry for CBB.
I have this recipe idea from My experiments with food. 
I did not follow the recipe exactly, cos with a 5 mo baby at home, it is difficult to make stuffing separately.
Biharis make a recipe in rice flour with some stuffing (like dal etc) and call it baghiya. The taste of this is close to it, though I think this is tastier, with a slightly fermented taste cos of the sour curd.

Stuffed Idli, Bihari version-idlis stuffed with sattu (roasted gram flour)

Ingredients:
For filling-
1/2 cup sattu
1 tsp chopped coriander
1 tsp lemon juice
1 small piece mango pickle
1 small onion chopped
salt to taste
Mix all these and keep aside.

Idli batter-
2 tbsps rice flour
1 tbsp roasted rava/ semolina
1 cup sour curd
1 cup water

Mix all these and set aside for an hour (I skipped the soda, which makes the idlis softer. But this tasted good, it wasn't hard at all)

Directions:
To make stuffed idlis, grease the idli stand. Pour one spoonful of the batter, add one spoonful of filling and then cover the filling with another spoonful of batter. Steam till idlis are done. I make my idlis in the micro, and one stand full is enough for the two of us and does not take more than 5 mins!!Serve hot with sambar or veg stew.
I served with hot sambar and Niket totally loved it!And through this, we brought together two extremely diff cusines of the north (esp Bihar and UP) and the south!

24th Feb
I shared this post with the original author,  Jayashree of My experiments with food , She feels that the pickle in the stuffing is a good idea!

Being a mom is so tough

My baby is now 4.5 mths old and i am breatsfeeding her. It feels like my whole day passes from doing one chore to another. And i am so sick of the routine now. She was extra cranky today and that made me cranky as well.
I tried making lauki kheer today and i hated it. Niket liked it, i think that is so because he didnt realise there was lauki in it.
For dinner we had mixed dal, methi rotis, white homemade butter, tori ki sabzi with badi and curd rice.
I have started liking curd rice for its plainness and simplicity. Will post some recipes tomorrow.

Plan to experiment with the following-
Mushroom and eggs
Strawberries (yes again!)

osted from Bloggeroid

Raw mango rice

Raw mango rice is comfort food.
Ingredients-
Peanuts
Oil or ghee for frying
Mustard seeds
Onions-chopped
Tomatoes-if you like
One small raw mango-can be peeled, and grated
Salt and haldi
Cooked plain rice
Method-
Heat oil, add peanuts and fry till done. Add msutard seeds and wait till they splutter. Add onions and fry till golden. Add tomatoes and cook till raw smell disappears. Add haldi and salt and cook for a minute. Now add raw mango and mix well. Don't overcook or the flavor will disappear. Mix plain rice and cook for a minute or so till mixed well. Serve hot.

Check link here for a microwave version and pics-
http://ambrotos.blogspot.in/2011/03/raw-mango-rice-microwave-cooking.html

Rava-Ragi idli

I got some ragi flour this time with my grocery shopping. Ragi is quite healthful and I was wondering how I'll use it, since I don't know the various ways in which it is cooked in the South. I decided to add some to the rava idli batter I had made. It turned out good :) My tried and tested recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups idli rava
2-3 tbsp ragi
1 cup dahi
chopped coriander, green chilly, salt
1/3 tsp baking soda (soda-bi-carb)
1/4 tsp eno salt
Some colourful chopped veggies (carrot, french beans) and curry leaves (optional)

Mix all ingredients in the idli rava (if you are in the mood for it, you can roast the rava with mustard seeds in 1 tsp oil till it turns a darker color) Add water if needed and make a thick batter. Keep separate for atleast 10 minutes.
Use a microwave-safe idli stand. Add 1 cup boiled water to the pan, and smear the moulds with a little oil. Add baking soda and eno salt at the last stage and immediately drop spoonfuls of batter in the moulds. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Soft spongy healthy idli is ready. Serve with pudina chutney and podi :)