Mulakkada Masala (Drumstick Masala)

Ingredients:

Fresh drumsticks-4
Fresh grated coconut powder-1 cup
Chopped tomatoes-2
Green chillies-4
Chopped onions-2
Ginger-garlic paste-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder-1 teaspoon
Tamarind pulp-2 tablespoons
Salt-1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Garam masala-1 teaspoon
Oil-2 tablespoons
Fresh coriander leaves-a few

Method:

1. Peel the outer layer of drumsticks and cut them into small pieces.
2. Grind the chopped onions, tomatoes, coconut and cumin seeds into a coarse paste.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the grinded paste until it turns brown in colour.
4. Add the drumsticks and fry them for two minutes on a medium flame.
5. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and ginger-garlic paste.
6. Mix well and add the tamarind paste with two cups of water.
7. Let it cook for 6-8 minutes on a low flame.
8. Add the garam masala and turn off the stove.
9. After adding the masala powder, it is not necessary to cook. All the spices in the masala powder are dry roasted and powdered. So it will not give a raw smell.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with hot rice. It tastes nice after it cools down because the gravy absorbs the sourness of the tamarind.

Nimmakaya Pappu (Lime Dal)

Lemon and Lime…

The Lemon (Citrus × lemon) is a hybrid in cultivated wild plants. The lemon is used for culinary and non culinary uses throughout the world.The fruit is used primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind (zest) are also used, primarily in cooking and baking.

Lime is a term referring to a number of different fruits (generally citruses), both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3-6 cm in diameter, generally containing sour pulp, and frequently associated with the lemon. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and beverages.

This is my submission to JFI-Lime/Lemon event hosted by Coffee of http://thespicecafe.com/

Ingredients:

Toor dal-2 cups
Lime juice-1/4 cup
Chopped green chillies-4
Chopped onion-1
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Red chilli powder-1 tablespoon
Garlic cloves-2
Salt-1 tablespoon
Oil-2 tablespoons

For Seasoning:

1 teaspoon mustard seeds, one teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon urad dal, 1 teaspoon gram dal, ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, 3-4 dry chilly pieces and a few curry leaves

Method:

1. Wash the dal and cook until it becomes soft.
2. Add chopped green chillies, chopped onion, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to it and cook it for five minutes on a medium flame.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add the dry chillies, garlic, gram dal, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves.
4. Let them splutter and add it to the dal and cook it for two more minutes. Turn off the stove and mix it with the lime juice. It is not advisable to cook the dal after adding the lime juice because it makes the dal taste bitter.
5. Serve with hot rice and papad. I fried the store bought sabudana papad.

Don’t forget to add one teaspoon of ghee while having it...:)

Potato Curry with Green Chilly Paste

This is my submission for the event-The Potato Fe(a)st hoasted by DK of culinarybazaar.blogspot.com/2008/01/yet-another-event-potato-feast.html

and for the event-Ode to Potato hosted by Sia of

http://www.monsoonspice.com/2008/01/announcing-ode-to-potato.html

Ingredients:

Boiled potatoes-5 medium sized
Green chillies-6
Curry leaves-a few
Chopped onions-2
Ginger-garlic paste-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Grated coconut (fresh)-2 tablespoons
Salt-1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Oil-2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Peel the skin of boiled potatoes and cut them into small pieces.
2. Grind the green chillies, chopped onions, cumin seeds, fresh coconut and curry leaves into a paste.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the grinded paste until it turns into brown colour.
4. Add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, salt and potato pieces.
5. Mix well and fry it for two minutes on low flame. Add ¼ cup of water and let it cook for four minutes.
6. Once the curry becomes thick, turn off the stove. Serve hot with plain rice and rasam. You can serve it with rotis too.

Note: Since we are using green chillies, the curry appears light green in colour.

Beetroot Burfi

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This is my submission for Theme of the Week-Valentine’s Day event hosted by Pooja of http://creativepooja.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

Grated beetroot-2 cups
Fresh grated coconut-1 cup
Sugar-1 1/2 cup
Ghee-2 tablespoons
Powdered sugar and cardomam-1 teaspoon

Stirring the grated beetroot and coconut with the ghee…

Method:

1. Heat one tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry the grated be etroot for two minutes on a medium flame.
2. Add the coconut and fry for two more minutes.
3. Add the sugar and keep on stirring until the mixture thickens.
4. Add the remaining ghee and stir until the ghee comes out from the mixture.
5. Transfer the mixture onto a greased plate and cut into heart shaped pieces using a biscuit cutter. Sprinkle the cardamom and sugar powder on the top of them.

Jelly hearts…

I have used “Straw Berry Mambo…” jelly mix to make these cute hearts. Dissolve the powder in the water and boil it with sugar. Transfer it into a tray and allow it to cool. Refrigerate it to set and cut it into heart shaped pieces.

Punugulu

Ingredients:

urad dal-2 cups
Idly rava-4 cups
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Rice flour-2 tablespoons
Maida or plain flour-2 tablespoons
Baking soda-a pinch
Salt-1 teaspoon
Oil for deep fry

Method:

1. Soak the urad dal for 4-5 hours and wash it. Grind it into a smooth batter.
2. Meanwhile, soak the ravva in water for fifteen minutes. Drain the water carefully and wash it with water again. Keep it aside to let the rava settle at the bottom.
3. Repeat it twice or thrice to clean the rava properly.
4. Squeeze the ravva and add it to the urad dal batter. Mix it well and allow it to ferment overnight.
5. Separate the batter into two parts. Store the first part in the fridge.
   
6. To the second part, add mixed vegetables and salt and prepare idly. Serve them with peanut powder and ghee.
7. In the evening, I took the batter from the fridge an hour beforehand to prepare the punugulu.
8. For this, add rice flour, maida, cumin seeds, baking soda and salt to the batter and mix it well.
9. Heat oil in a wok and make the batter into small ball s with your hand before dropping them gently in the oil. Fry them untill they turn golden brown.
   
10. Serve them with peanut chutney or any sauce.

Rava idly with mixed vegetables…

Tomato-Star Anise soup

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year!

7th February is the beginning of the rat year for the Chinese. Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far away, get together for the celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. Red packets for the immediate family are sometimes distributed during the reunion dinner. These packets often contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability. Several foods are consumed to usher in wealth, happiness, and good fortune.

STEAMBOAT, or food cooked communally in a simmering pot of broth at the table, is traditional reunion dinner fare for Hokkiens, says a spokesman for the Hokkien Huay Kuan. For more details, please visit the following website:

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_193262.html

The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your heart." The names of the 12 animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake,Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. For more details, you can visit the following website:

http://www.chinese.new-year.co.uk/calendar.htm

Tomato-Star Anise Soup

This is my submission for Think spice…Think star anise-February event hosted by Sunita Of http://sunitabhuyan.blogspot.com/

Flower of Star Anise...

Native to China and Vietnam, today the star anise tree is mainly grown in China and Japan although it is also cultivated in Laos, the Philippines, Indonesi

a and Jamaica. In China, apart from its use in cooking, Mandarins used to chew the whole dried fruit as a breath freshener and it was also used for other medicinal purposes such as in the treatment of colic, flatulence and nausea.

The tree is propagated by seed and requires a lot of water in a well-drained, acid soil to grow well. Although it takes 5 years to flower, an

d generally only starts to bear fruit when it is 6 years old, it is a very long-lived tree and often continues to bear fruit for almost 100 years. The fruit, or more properly, seed pods, are harvested before they ripen after which they are sun-dried. The red-

brown, star-shaped seeds contain 5-10 oval sections up to 12mm/ ½ -inch in length, each containing an oval seed. These pods are then either packaged whole or ground ready for sale. Both the pods and the seeds are used when ground. For more details, please visit the following site. I found this recipe in the same site and made a little change.

http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%2
0Holidays/Star%20Anise%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm

Ingredients:

Riped tomatoes-4
Star anise-2
Potato-1
Onion-1
Beans-6

Fresh coriander leaves-a few
Ginger paste-a small piece
Pepper-1 teasoon
Salt-1 teaspoon
Vegetable oil or butter-1 tablsespoon
Toasted bread pieces-a few

When the soup is boiling…

Method:

1. Cut the tomatoes, potato, onion and beans into small pieces.
2. Transfer them into a microwaveable bowl and add four cups of water.
3. Add the oil, star anise and ginger piece and boil it in the oven for 30 minutes.
4. After every ten minutes stop the oven and stir and mash the ingredients.
5. After 30 minutes, take out the bowl and remove the skin of tomato pieces, ginger and star anise.
6. Add the coriander leaves, pepper and salt and boil for four more minutes.
7. Serve hot with the toasted bread slices. If you want to make it on a stove, heat the oil and fry the vegetables until they become brown in colour.
8. Add the water and and start boiling. Once the vegetables are cooked, lower the flame and cook for twenty minutes.
9. Remove the skin of tomato pieces, ginger piece and star anise and mash the vegetables.
10. Add the coriander leaves, pepper and salt serve hot along with the toasted bread slices.

Muruku with Milk

One of my friend introduced this recipe to me. These are very crispy and tasty.

Ingredients:

Rice flour-4 cups
Fresh milk-2 cups
Red chilly powder-1 teaspoon
Salt-1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Azwine-1 teaspoon
White sesame seeds-1 tablespoon
Oil for deep fry

Method:

1. Add the rice flour, azwine, salt, chilly powder, sesame seeds and turmeric powder into a big bowl.
2. Mix the flour into a soft dough using milk and two tablespoons of hot oil.
3. If needed add some water.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan and take some dough and put in the muruku press.
5. Once the oil is heated, start pressing the dough into circles in clockwise direction.
6. Fry until it becomes brown in colour on both sides.
7. Transfer them onto a paper towel and follow the same method for the remaining dough.
8. Allow them to cool and store them in an air tight container.