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Happy Bhogi, Pongal and Makara Sankranthi ~ Palakura Minapa Garelu( Vadai ) ~ Spinach and Lentil Fritters
32 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 1:00:00 PMHappy Pongal everyone!! Hope you guys are busy preparing yummy goodies for the festival. First thing that comes to my mind when i think about Sankranthi are the Rangolis( muggulu ). Just after finishing our Half Early exams at school we get 10 holidays and those days were a great fun start in the new year. The very last day of our exams, we pack our luggage and head to grandma's house. I remember the house would be swamped with people( pinni, babai, atha, mama etc., ) uncles, aunts and cousins. During those ten days we make rangolis( muggulu ) everyday, dress pretty and eat good homemade festive food. Grandma used to make a lot of yummy sweets and savouries, like Ariselu( Sweet rice cakes ), Bobbatlu( Sweet lentil Breads ), KajjiKayalu( Fried Sweet with jaggery and lentils ), Paalakayalu( Crispy spicy small rounds ), Pappu Billalu( Crispy rice fritters ), Vada( crispy lentil fritters ), and of course Pongal along with special curries and rice dishes.
Here's a very well known protein packed festive savoury, Dal Vada with Spinach and Cilantro( Lentil Fritters With Spinach and Cilantro) Palakura Kothimeera Minapa Garelu.
You need:
- 1 cup Urad Dal( Minappappu /Black Gram )
- 1 cup tightly packed chopped spinach
- 1 inch ginger root
- Green chillies
- Cilantro
- Cumin seeds
- Oil for frying
How to:
- Soak Urad dal for about 4 hours in water
- Once soaked grind the batter to a paste( need not be very smooth, and do not add too much water, just add enough to grind )
- Heat oil for deep frying.
- To the urad dal batter( lentil batter ) add cumin seeds, chopped ginger, chopped spinach, chopped onions, cilantro and salt to taste.
- Drop into oil with a spoon or to make traditional vada( vadai ), use your palms this way. Take a small amount of batter in a ball shape, flatten lightly with fingers and drop it very gently into oil from the edges of the pan.
- My ammamma makes them in a very perfect shape and she dips her hands into water before making each vadai, and this needs of course some experience. Don't panic if you cant get vadas perfectly, its hard for me too to get them in perfect shape and size.
- Fry these vadas on both sides and drain on to paper napkins to remove any excess oil.
Serving Suggestion:
Serve these vadas hot off the stove along with Garlic Red Chilli Spice Powder( Vellulli Miram ) and ghee. My husband likes them with Chutney and Sambar but i am sure kids would like them with some ketchup.
My piping hot vadas are on its way to:
- MLLA - 19th Helping event hosted by EC
- CFK - Cooking For Kids hosted by Sara
- Food For Seven Stages Of Life
I request you all to please stand up and sing our National Anthem today!
Bharata-Bhagya-Vidhata
Punjab-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maratha Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchhala-Jaladhi Taranga
Tava Subha Name Jage
Tava Subha Ashisa Mage
Gahe Tava Jaya Gatha.
Jana-Gana-Mangala Dayaka, Jaya He
Bharata-Bhagya-Vidhata,
Jaya He, Jaya He, Jaya He,
Jaya Jaya Jaya, Jaya He
- 1 half ripened avocado
- 1 vine ripened tomato
- 1 lime
- cilantro
- fresh mint
- 1/4 chopped onion
- 1 jalapeno
- Chop up a ripe and firm tomato
- Use either a ed or yellow onions( red onions would be great )
- You can either use a whole jalapeno or half of it . chop it very fine(you can even remove the seeds to avoid heat)
- Chop up cilantro and mint( you can even tear for that earthy look )
- Spoon out avacado from the peel and chop into chunks, toss them with lime juice right away to stop discoloration
- Mix all the above ingredients dress up with some fresh lime juice, salt and pepper..
My Avocado salad is on its way to:
Have you ever googled up for a site, which would be a one stop place for all the information you need in your area? Here's is one, AroundMe that i have found very useful. Though i do a lot of home-cooking, if we are planning to go out for shopping that day i would like to look up for a best restaurant in town beforehand to avoid any bad experiences( Trust me, i have had really really bad experiences when trying a new restaurant ).
AroundMe comes to my rescue, this site not only has a list of restaurants in your area, but also has reviews from people like us. They even have a big list of dentists, lawyers,doctors, banks, plumbers, dry cleaners, realtors etc., in your area. I love their 'how to' guides and city guides which help me in my local buying activities and decisions. I can even log in with my Facebook account, this way whenever my friends have reviewed a restaurant i can see those reviews right away! Isn't this feature nice. So if you are like me, this one is definitely helpful to you.
Vegetable Korma ~ Welcoming the New Year with Moms Mixed Vegetable Curry with Whole Spices and Nuts
3 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 3:28:00 PMHappy New Year 2010. Hope you all had a very good start in this new year and we wish you all good health, happiness and prosperity!!
I want to head start with Moms famous recipe, The Mighty Vegetable Kurma! Sometimes. out of the blue i badly crave for Moms spicy Mixed vegetable kurma and chapathi. This curry is very aromatic with freshly ground spices and herbs like Mint and Cilantro. Also mom adds KhusKhus( poppy seeds aka gasa gasalu ) , cashew nuts and Almonds to bring that rich and nutty flavor to the curry! This recipe is directly from Moms kitchen and it cant be bet!
- 4 small red potatoes
- 1/2 tender small bottle gourd
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 large red onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 15-20 green beans
- 1/3 cup baby green peas6-10 cashew nuts
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds5-8 almonds
- cilantro mint
- 4-5 cloves1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamom
- ghee/butter
- Chop carrots, beans, potatoes, squash and tomatoes into small chunks.
- Chop onions length wise and keep aside.
- Add carrots, beans, potatoes, squash and peas in a steam basket, add water into the pressure pan. keep this steam basket and pressure cook for 1 whistle. You can even microwave each veggies. The basic idea is to cook them with out making them mushy.
- In a blender or jar, finely ground khus khus( poppy seeds ), cashew nuts, cloves, cinnamon,cardamom , red chillies into a very fine paste and keep aside.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, add butter( ghee ) or oil, once the oil is heated add whole spices cardamom,. cinnamon stick, cloves and bay leaf, fry for few seconds and then add chopped onions. Once the onions are fried to golden hue, add ginger garlic paste, fry until the raw smell disappears. Now chopped tomatoes and cook until the oil separates from the gravy, add the khus khus, almonds and cashew nuts paste and fry for a minute.
- Once the paste is cooked, add the boiled vegetables mix well and cook covered for 5 mins.
- You can either add milk or water to get to required consistency( i prefer milk over water as it bring slight sweetness and a subtle taste to the curry ) and then cook well.
- Garnish with chopped mint and cilantro.
Serving Suggestion:
Serve with a good cup of fresh homemade yogurt and sliced onions, cucumbers and tomatoes sprinkled with some salt, pepper and lime juice. Also you can serve with a slice of fresh lemon tobe squeezed over the curry! Don't forget the rotis!!
Moms Spicy Vegetable Kurma is on its way to:
