Sabz - E - Bahaar

The other day I decided to make chapathis for dinner and I wanted to try something new for side dish. My refrigerator was stocked with vegetables and I was all the more eager to use most of them. I have a recipe book with me and thought of finding a new recipe from that. Sabz - E - Bahaar caught my attention. The name was fabulous. I realized that I had all the needed ingredients for this recipe and started out immediately. The side dish was awesome. Its too good an accompaniment for chapathis.

Ingredients:
Onions - 100 grams (2 small)
Potatoes - 100 grams (2 small)
Carrots - 75 grams (1 big)
Cauliflower - 100 grams (1/2 cup of florets)
Beans - 50 grams ( handful of beans)
Capsicum - 50 grams ( 1 small)
Tomatoes - 30 grams ( 1 small)
ginger/garlic paste - 15 grams (1 tbsp)
Coriander powder - 10 grams ( 1 tsp)
Garam Masala Powder - 10 grams ( 1 tsp)
Chilly powder - 20 grams ( 2 tsp)
Kasuri Methi - 20 grams ( 2 tbsp)
Aamchoor Powder - 5 grams ( 1 tsp)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 30 grams ( 6 tbsp)

Method:

• Chop all the vegetables into equal sized cubes.
• Heat a kadai. Pour Oil and add the onions. Fry until the onions turn translucent. 
• Add the ginger/garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes off.
• Now add the chopped vegetables, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, beans, capsicum, tomatoes. Add salt. Pour 1/2 glass of water. Cover and cook until the vegetables are almost cooked. This took about 7-8 minutes.
• Now add the coriander powder, garam masala powder and chilly powder. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes.
• At the end add the kasuri methi and aamchoor powder. Mix well. Switch off the stove and server after 5 minutes.

Sabz - E - Bahaar is ready!!! Serve with chapathis / Rotis / Naan / Phulka .....

Ragi Dosa

I came across this recipe in Raks Kitchen. Thought of immediately trying this. I believe this would be an apt recipe for people who are thinking of losing that extra flabs and also for people affected with diabetes since ragi (finger millet) has more fibrous content. I have seen ragi flour being given for small kids of 6-8 months. They make kanji (porridge) out of this and give it to the kids. My first attemp with ragi was ragi puttu which all of us liked. This is my second trial and it was an instant hit.



Ingredients:
Ragi flour - 75 grams (1/2 cup)
wheat flour - 35 grams (1/4 cup)
rice flour - 10 grams (2 tbsp)
Onion - 50 grams (1 no)
Green Chilly - 10 grams (3 nos)
curry leaves - few
Salt - to taste
Buttermilk - 20 grams (4 tbsp)
Oil - to grease

Method:

• Take ragi,wheat flour, chopped onions,green chilli, torn curry leaves, salt in a bowl and add enough butter milk or water to make thin batter.
• Heat dosa pan, drizzle with oil and pour as we do for rava dosa,drizzle some more oil and cook both sides in medium flame.

Serve hot with your favourite chutney! Tangy,hot or simply coconut chutney or milagai podi!

Pacha Thakkali Koottu

I got introduced to this recipe from my MIL. Since she grows tomatoes in her backyard, she gets nice green colour unripe tomatoes often. Recently when we went on a long drive, we went past acres and acres of land growing tomatoes. I loved the sight. We managed to buy a lot of tomatoes, I dunno the exact weight but I guess probably 20 kgs... So I got a mix of unripe and ripe tomatoes, fresh from the garden. And in summer tomatoes are found in abundance. Is a good time to make pickles using tomatoes.

We have a famous "thakkali thokku" in the southern region. I am planning to prepare the same with the ripen tomatoes and will post the recipe soon. So with the green unripen tomatoes I prepared this pacha thakkali koottu. Its a delicious tangy tasted koottu which goes well with rice or chapathis.



Ingredients:
Pacha thakkali - 500 grams
coconut (grated) - 150 grams
cumin - 3 grams ( 1tsp)
red chillies - 10 grams (3 nos big)
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - 1 tsp

To Temper:
Oil - 25 grams (5 tsp)
mustard - 3 grams (1 tsp)
Curry leaves - few

Method:

• Wash and chop the unripe tomatoes.
• Grind coconut, red chillies, cumin into a coarse paste.
• In a kadai, pour oil and add the mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add the curry leaves.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, needed salt and turmeric powder. Stir well, cover and cook until the tomatoes are cooked.
• We need not add water since the tomatoes will have water.
• In about 5-7 minutes the tomatoes will get cooked. Now add the ground coconut paste.
• Stir well and cook for another 2 minutes.

Pacha thakkali Koottu is ready!!!  Serve this with rice and dal.

Linking this to celebrate summer hosted by nivedhan's

Rava Upma

Well I am blogging after a long time. Summer vacations are keeping me busy :-)

Here I am with a simple and inviting breakfast recipe, Rava Upma. I have met people who completely hate this as well as people who are a fan of this. I belong to the second category. I always love to have this upma with some vegetables atleast onions and tomatoes. I also don't prefer to have any side dishes though chutney is a good combination with rava upma. And H loves to have this with just sugar. As such breakfast would be ready in 15 minutes.



Ingredients:
Rava - 125 grams (1 cup)
water - 2 and 1/4 cups
Onion - 75 grams (1 big)
Vegetables (carrots/beans/peas) - 75 grams
Green chillies - 10 grams (3 nos)
Salt - to taste

To temper:
Oil - 10 grams (2 tbsp)
mustard - 3 grams ( 1 tsp)
channa dal - 3 grams ( 1 tsp)
urad dal - 3 grams ( 1 tsp)
curry leaves - few

Method:

• Heat a kadai/pan and dry roast rava in medium flame until a roasted smell of rava wafts. Don’t let it change colour, so keep the flame to medium always and keep roasting. The rava will become non sticky and free flowing if roasted correctly. Set aside. I generally store roasted rava so that it is easier to make upmas.
• Mean while, slit green chillies, slice onion length wise and chop the vegetables.
• In the same kadai, add oil and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table. Add green chillies, onion and fry till transparent without changing its colour. 
• Add the chopped vegetables and fry for about 2 minutes.
• Add water and salt, bring it to boil. Check for salt. 
• Add the roasted rava in a srinkled way as well as stirring side by side. Take care as to lumps are not formed.
• Will splutter a lot so be careful with it. Mix well, it will soon become thick absorbing water
• Cook covered bringing the flame to low. After 5-6 minutes the upma should be done. Mix in between if needed.

Rava Upma is ready!!! Relish this with a hot cup of Tea or coffee.

Vangi Bath

My mom used to make this Vangi Bath often and I was a big fan of it. This is a very good lunch box recipe. Recently I came to know that vangi bath is a famous dish in Karnataka. I normally use the long green brinjals to make this vangi bath. But I guess this can be made with any type of brinjals.

Ingredients:

Kathirikka/Eggplant/Aubergine/Brinjal 200 grams
Rice - 150 grams
Channa Dal - 5 grams
Split Urad Dal - 5 grams
grated coconut - 25 grams
Curry Leaves - few
Onion - 75 grams
Tomato - 50 grams
Chilli Powder - 10 grams
Coriander Powder - 10 grams
Cumin Powder - 5 grams
Turmeric powder - 5 grams
Garam Masala - 5 grams

Oil and Salt to taste

Method:

• Cook the rice in a pressure cooker. I used jeera rice and cooked with 1:2 water for 1 whistle. Take it out and transfer to a wide bowl or plate. Let it cool. This way when you mix the rice it will not become mushy.
• In a pan pour oil, add the urad dal, channa dal, curry leaves and grated coconut. Once it turns red add the onions and tomatoes. Fry until the onions and tomatoes turn mushy. 
• Grind the above mixture and keep it aside.
• In a pan, pour oil. Add the chopped brinjals and fry until they are half cooked. 
• Now add the ground paste, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well and leave it for about 2 minutes.
• Now add the coriander powder, garam masala powder and chilli powder. Adjust according to your taste. 
• Close the pan and simmer till the eggplant is cooked well.
• Switch off and mix the rice.

Vangi Bath is ready!!! Serve with raitha and papad.

Murungakai Kootu

We have a drumstick tree in our front yard. Every year I face with one problem. In the summer season , around 150-200 drumsticks are ready to be plucked at the same time. And I have a big challenge of using all these in the kitchen with in a span of 2-3 weeks. Even though I donate a lot of these and I make sambar daily I will not be able to use all the drumsticks. This time I found a recipe in subbuskitchen which helped me in spending most of the drumsticks. I made little modifications to the recipe to suit our taste.

Ingredients:
Drumstick - 10
moong dal - 100 grams
Oil - 25 grams
grated coconut - 50 + 20 grams
mustard - 2 grams
red chillies - 2 nos
cumin seeds - 2 grams
pepper - 2 grams
curry leaves - few
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste

Method:

• Chop the drumsticks and boil the drumsticks.
• I kept the drumsticks in a microwave safe closed bowl and microwaved for 8 minutes.
• We can also boil the drumsticks in water or in a pressure cooker.
• Cook the moong dal with little salt, turmeric powder in a pressure cooker until they are soft and mushy.
• Take the 50 grams coconut and grind it with cumin, pepper into a nice paste.
• Take each cooked drumstick piece and using a spoon remove the pulp.
• Smash the cooked moong dal and mix it with the drumstick pulp and the ground coconut paste and boil the mixture.
• In a kadai, pour oil and add the mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add the red chillies, curry leaves and the 20 grams grated coconut. Fry until the coconut turns brown colour.
• Add the fried coconut to the kootu.

Murungakai Kootu is ready!!! Serve this with rice.

Pepper Mushroom

Pepper Mushroom is a very easy to make recipe. H introduced me to this recipe and said this is how he used to make mushrooms in his bachelor days. This would be ready in minutes and is a wonderful accompaniment to the rice varieties we make.



Ingredients:
Mushroom - 200 grams
Onions - 100 grams
Oil - 25 grams
Pepper - 10 grams
mustard - 2 grams
Jeera - 2 grams
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Clean the mushrooms and chop them.
• Finely chop the onions.
• In a kadai, pour oil. Add the mustard.
• Once mustard splutters add the jeera and stir for 10-15 seconds
• Now add the chopped onions. Stir until the onions turn translucent.
• Now add the chopped mushrooms and salt. Mix well.
• Keep stirring. Mushrooms get cooked very fast. 
• Once the mushrooms are cooked add the pepper and fry for another 3 minutes.

Pepper Mushroom is ready!!! Serve with coconut rice/puliyogare/lemon rice or curd rice.

Manga Inji + Manga Achar

Another speciality of the summer season is we prepare loads of pickles and vadams. I have not yet tried my hands on vadams/papads but I do make a lot of pickles. This season I have started with a pickle made using manga inji.

Manga Inji is a root which is a look alike of ginger, but smells like mango and has a little tangy taste. Hence the name manga inji which literally translates to mango ginger. I haven't seen manga inji sold in any of the grocery stores. My MIL grows this in her back yard and hence we have a regular supply of this root.



Manga inji alone cannot be used to make pickle since it has very little tangy taste. Usually my mom prepares manga inji with chillies and lemon juice. Its a great accompaniment for curd rice. I tried a different one. I mixed manga (raw mango) and manga inji and made a pickle. It tasted wonderful. I initially made a very few quantity since I was not sure how it would taste. But now I have requests for making more...

Ingredients:
Manga Inji - 200 grams
Raw Mango - 150 grams
Salt - 5 tbsp
Fenugreek - 20 grams
Mustard - 15 grams
hing - 5 grams
chilly powder - 4 tbsp
gingelly oil - 50 grams

Method:

• Chop the raw mango and manga inji into finer pieces. 
• Add the required amount of salt.
• Mix well and keep it aside until you see water oozing out if the mango pieces.
• I kept this for about 2 days (48 hours)
• Dry roast the fenugreek and powder the same.
• In a kadai, pour gingelly oil and add mustard.
• Once mustard splutters add the fenugreek powder and hing.
• Add the chilly powder immediately switch off the stove.
• Add the soaked mano + manga inji pieces. Mix well until chilly powder is evenly combined.
• Store in a clean and dry air tight container.
• I kept this for about one week without refrigeration and the pickle didn't go bad.
• For longer storage probably we need to refrigerate.

Manga Inji + manga achar is ready!!! This would be a good accompaniment with curd rice as well as dal rice.

Linking this to celebrate - summer event guest hosted by nivedhan's

Mango Rice

Summer is the season for Mangoes and Jackfruits. Sour raw mango and spicy chilly powder is a good combination. This is the first time I tried mango rice and it turned out to be excellent.



Ingredients:
Rice - 100 grams
Raw mango - 100 grams
Onions - 75 grams
Green chillies - 20 grams
ground nuts - 25 grams
mustard - 5 grams
Oil - 25 grams
coriander leaves - to garnish
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Cook the rice with little salt. Spread it in a plate and keep it aside.
• Grate the mangoes. Finely chop the onions and green chillies.
• In a kadai pour oil and add mustard. Once the mustard splutters add the groundnuts and fry until the groundnuts turn brown colour.
• Now add the green chillies and chopped onions. Fry until the onions turn translucent.
• Now add the grated raw mango and salt.
• Fry until the mango turns soft and mushy.
• Switch off the stove.
• Add the cooked rice and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Mango rice is ready!!! Serve with chips or papads.

Linking this to the event celebrate - summer guest hosted by nivedhan's

Moru Kachiyadhu

Summer is already here and numerous recipes are out there which would help us to bare this heat. One such recipe is this "moru kachiyadhu". This is a traditional and very simple recipe made with ingredients which are very easily available at home. This simple recipe helps to cool body during the hot summer months.



Ingredients:
Curd - 1 cup
Water - 3 cup
Oil - 15 grams
mustard - 3 grams
ginger - 5 grams
garlic - 5 grams
shallots - 10 grams
green chillies - 3 grams
turmeric powder - 3 grams
salt - to taste
curry leaves - few

Method:

• Beat the curd with water and make it into a thin buttermilk. We can also beat the curd in a mixer.
• Add salt and turmeric powder, mix well and keep aside.
• Finely chop the green chillies, ginger, garlic and shallots.
• Heat oil in a kadai. Add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard splutters add the chopped green chillies, ginger, garlic and shallots as well as the curry leaves.
• Fry for a few minutes and add the buttermilk and stir for about 2-3 minutes. 
• Keep stirring and don't allow to boil otherwise the buttermilk will curdle.
• Remove from fire and serve with rice or kanji.

Linking this to the event Celebrate summer guest hosted by Nivedhanam's

Muttai Curry

I am posting this recipe for my bro. Its his favourite. In our childhood days when we used to travel by train to kerala, we used to see/hear the vendors selling "parotta-muttai curry". And my bro would use to imitate it the same way. But I tasted this item long after and this is one of our favourites from that time on. I learnt this recipe from the many blogs that I have been following. This would be a good side dish for appam / idiyappam / pathiri etc..

Ingredients:

Onions - 200 grams

Tomatoes - 75 grams

Eggs - 4

Garlic - 10 grams

Ginger - 5 grams

Chilly powder - 10 grams

Coriander powder - 10 grams

Coriander leaves - little

Pudina leaves - little

Oil - 20 grams

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Spices:

Cloves - 2

Cardamom - 1

fennel seeds - 2 grams

Cinnamin - 1/2 inch stick

Method:

Full boil the eggs. Remove the shell and keep it aside.

Finely chop the onions.

Grind the tomatoes, pudina, coriander leaves, ginger and garlic into a paste.

In a kadai, pour oil. Add the ingredients listed under spices. Fry for about a minute.

Add the finely chopped onions. Fry until the onions turn brown colour.

Add the ground paste. Saute until the raw smell disappaears.

Add salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and coriander powder.

Mix well and heat until the gravy thickens.

Switch off the stove and add the boiled eggs.

Serve hot with chapathi or rice.