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Showing posts with label All. Show all posts
Back home mom makes sure to cook greens at least 4-5 times a week, be it sautee(talimpu), with pulses( pappu ), chutney( pachadi) or stew( pulusu ). We do get a lot of fresh green vegetables every day, a lady sells exclusively green vegetables grown in her farm. They are so vibrant, crisp, tender and fresh from the garden! It used to my routine everyday to accompany mom in buying fresh veggies everyday.. There are so many greens available back home like palakura( spinach ), thotakura( amaranth ), molaka kura, bacchali kura( malabar spinach ), munagaaku( drumstick leaves), menthu kura( fenugreek leaves), avisaku , gongura(Sorrel leaves ). One of my favorite greens is Bachchali aaku in telugu and purslane, chinese spinach, oriental spinach, ceylon spinach,malabar spinach in english, However i found that its botanical name is Basella alba. Being green leafy vagetable this is high in fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, Calcium and Iron but low in calorie and fatfree( ofcourse). This Purslane leaves are more crispier and higher in water content than spinach. Heres one simple way of cooking this bachali aaku with raw or sour mango.
Ingredients:
How To:
- 2-3 handfuls of Bachali aaku
- 1 cup toor dal
- 1/2 cup raw mango chunks
- 5-6 green chillies
- 1 tomato
- 5-10 curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 tbsp oil
How To:
- Clean the leaves and chop them, don't discard the stems if they are tender chop them too
- Chop onions, tomatoes and green chillies
- Peel raw mango and cut into 1 inch cubes
- Wash and clean tuwar dal
- In a pressure cooker, heat oil and add cumin seeds and mustard seeds ad they start to crackle add curry leaves followed by tomatoes, mango chunks and bachali aaku along with some turmeric
- Add the soaked and drained toor dal, saute for a couple of minutes and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Alternatively you can cook separately until the dal is completely cooked
- Adjust salt to taste and finish it off with cilantro
Here's something you can have it as much as you wish which not only tastes delicious, but adds nutrition to your diet with loads of fiber and wholesome goodness. My dad loves this upma so much that he could eat it everyday. Mom also stuffs this upma in pesaraatu( moong dal dosa ).. And that adds a special flavor to the dosas.. Checkout the recipe to make this wonder grain upma!!
You need:
Preparation:
You need:
- 1 cup Goduma Ravva ( Cracked whole wheat / wheat germ )
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tomato
- handful of petite green peas
- 2-3 green chillies
- 1 inch ginger root
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 tsp chana dal
- 5-10 cashew nuts
- 10 curry leaves
- a pinch of turmeric
Preparation:
- In a saute pan / kadai toas the ravva with very little butter / ghee. Once toasted remove the ravva and keep aside
- In the same pan add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cashewnuts, urad dal and chana dal, Once they are toasted add curry leaves, ginger, turmeric, peas and chopped tomato. Stir ans close the lid
- Once peas and tomatoes are cooked add water and close the lid. When the water bubbles add ravva stirring continuously, lower the heat and close the lid.
- Check if the whole water has been absorbed and the wheat germ cooked. Adjust salt to taste . Now add some ghee or butter and remove from heat.
Are your Beerakaya aka Ridgegourd peels making their way to trash.. wait.. just check out this awesome chutney that's made with the nutrient and fiber rich rigde gourd peels. Believe me vegetable peels never tasted this good! This recipe has been handed down to me from my grandmother, who is a kitchen pro. She has that midas touch, so even the simplest recipes work wonders for our palettes.. She keeps saying this "Uppu karam sarigga padithe cheppu ayina baguntundhi", Even the footwear tastes good if you cook it with right spice and salt!
Sauteed ridge gourd peels and green chillies are ground in mortar and pestle along with tamarind and onion finished with cilantro tastes heaven with ghee rice or steaming hot rotis.
You need:
How to:
Sauteed ridge gourd peels and green chillies are ground in mortar and pestle along with tamarind and onion finished with cilantro tastes heaven with ghee rice or steaming hot rotis.
You need:
- Peels from 2 large ridgegourds, beerakaya pottu
- 4-5 green chillies
- marble sized tamarind soaked in water
- Onion
- cilantro
- oil
How to:
- Take oil in kadai and saute ridge gourd peels along with green chillies and add some salt
- Once the chillies and the peels loose their raw smell switch off the flame and it them cool
- In mortar and pestle or grinder, ground the mixture, tamarind and cilantro to a coarse paste
- And now pulse the chutney with onions.
- Finish off the chutney with tadka.
Note: Try sauteing with a bit ghee and taste the difference!!
"Aha Emi Ruchi.. anara mai marachi, roju thinna mari moje theeranidhi. Thaja kooraralo raja evarante inka cheppala Vanakaye nandi......... ". This is a popular Telugu filmi song about The mighty king of vegetables "The Eggplant aka Brinjal". Eggplant( Vankaya ) is my first most favorite of all veggies and a lot my freinds have been asking me for a long time for Eggplant recipes in Andhra style. Sorry friends, i know you might wonder why i didn't post any Eggplant recipe in my blog until now, i had to stay away from my fav veggie for a few years for Spiritual reasons. Anyways i invite Eggplant back into my kitchen and life again!
Required:
- 8 Eggplants
- Oil
- Soaked tamarind or tamarind pulp to taste
- fresh shredded coconut / dry coconut 3-4 2 inch pieces
For magic spice powder:
- 1 cup coriander seeds / dhaniyalu
- 1 cup chana dal
- 1/4 cup jeera seeds
- 10 - 12 red chillies
- asofetedia / hing
- 1 tsp oil
How to:
- In a thick bottomed kadai/pan, add oil followed by chana dal, coriander seeds, hing, cumin seeds
- Keep stirring and once the chanadal starts to change ots coor, add red chilies and once the chana dal is brown, you will smell the toasted aroma of the spices.
- keep aside and let it cool, meanwhile, take a pot with water add salt and cut eggplant from one end like a cross with the stem intact and drop them into the water'
- Once the spices are cooled, grind them to powder and keep aside
- In the same blender grind coconut into smooth paste, add the ground spice powder
- Chop the onions fine and mix them with the ground spices paste.
- Slit eggplants/vankayalu on the bottom, like a cross until 3/4 and put them in a big bowl of water
- Stuff the slit eggplants with the spice mixture and set them on a plate
- In a thick kadai/pan, add oil and a minute later sort these eggplants on the pan as show in the picture.
- Cook on medium heat with the pan covered and keep stirring until the eggplants starts to fall apart
- Once the eggplants are cooked to perfection, you can add chopped cilantro and remove them on to a serving plate.
- This is dry curry and if you want gravy, take another pan and add oil and do tadka with mustard seeds and cumin seeds along with curry leaves.
- And then add the 2-3 tbsp spice powder and some tamarind juice/pulp and water. Let it cook until the oil separates from the gravy, add little more water bring to boil and then drop the sauteed eggplants! Tada Sauteed eggplants with gravy is ready!
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
I wish all the Moms out there a very Happy Mothers Day! Mom, we love you so much and for everything you are doing for us we are very grateful ! Wherever i go i will always have a special place in my heart! You are an amazing woman with lots of love instore for us! I miss you so much mom! Love you always!
Here are some OF MY FAVORITE recipes directly from MOM's kitchen!
Simple Potato Stir Fry ~ Spicy potato curry with onions and cilantro
Kobbari Pachadi -- Fresh Coconut Chutney ~ Sweet, Spicy and Tangy!!!
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
The best part about Indian Cooking is the delicious marriage between the spices and vegetables. You could create an array of wonderful curries and dishes with the magic of Spices and Herbs. This is what Indian cooking teaches you about, making plain vegetables delectable and nutritious! This is the reason why a lot of Indians who are Vegetarian can stay as Vegetarians for life. Indian cooking is all about making good use of ginger, garlic, fresh herbs and the spices but that too in right proportions just enough to revive your taste buds. I do agree too Indian food( especially in my kitchen ) is spicy, but you sure can adjust the spice to your taste. Thats the magic in Indian Cooking.
Heres my Kadai Purple Aloo Gobi Curry, Purple potatoes cooked with cauliflower and peas in a tomato based sauce flavored with Ginger, Cilantro and Mint. Lovely combination of vegetables and spices. The curry is so delicious you dont need a lot of rotis/chapthis to go with it! Yep you can finish the curry as is!
Ingredients you need:
- 1 Purple potato
- 1 red potato
- fistful of peas
- 1/4 cauliflower
- 2 - 4 green chillies
- 1 tomato
- 1 inch ginger root julienned
- Mint
- Cilantro
- 1 tbsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- a pinch of turmeric
- 4 tbsp oil
Method of Preparation:
- Seperate cauliflower into florets, rinse thouroughly in warm water with salt and microwave for 2-3 min, cauliflower should still be firm
- Cook the potatoes in microwave until done( should still hold the shape )
- In a kadai / saute pan , heat oil add 1/3 of coriander powder and 1/3 of cumin powder and then stir in cauliflower and dry saute for 2 mins, remove and keep aside
- Repeat the same above process for potatoes too and keep aside
- In the same pan, add remaining oil, add remaining coriander and cumin powders along with turmeric, Stir fry for few seconds and add peas, ginger and green chillies. Fry for a min and then add chopped tomato and salt
- Once the tomato is cooked add the sauteed potato pieces and cauliflower. Cook until everything comes together
- Adjust salt to taste and finish with cilantro and mint
Go ahead and serve this simple Purple Aloo Gobi along with Jeera Rice, Hot Rice, Rotis or even Tortillas and the best compliments are in for sure!!
My Purple Kadai Aloo Gobi Curry is on its way to:
- AWED Indian Cuisine started by DK
- C for Colorful Curries
- Herbs And Flowers in My Platter - Cilantro started by PJ
- Only - Original Recipes started by Pari
Whenever i feel lazy to cook up some dry curries along with rice and curry, my Cauliflower Stir Fry comes to my rescue. Its so simple yet very delicious and loaded with nutrients and the best part uses very little oil! Go ahead and try this curry when ever you are not in mood for deep fried veggies like potato, dondakaya, okra, aratikaya. I am sure you will not be disappointed!
I have been again contacted by CSN stores to review a product from their site and i am very excited about it. I know with the busy kids at home we would love to shop only online. I am an online geek and usually shop online, and CSN stores has recently become my favorite place to shop. CSN can even price match with any other online retailer( I love it ). They have everything from Kitchen Esentials to Electronics to Backyard Swing Sets. I would love to have one of their swing sets for my Baby soon..
Ingredients you need:
- 1 medium cauliflower
- pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- oil as needed
Preparation:
- Separate cauliflower into florets, rinse in warm water with salt and microwave for 2 mins
- In a kadai or saute pan heat oil and then add cauliflower florets
- Fry cauliflower until golden brown, and add ground black pepper and salt to taste.
Variations:
Instead of black pepper you can add any one of these following:
- Garam Masala + Red chilli powder
- Coriander Powder + Cumin powder + Red chilli powder
- Red chilli powder
Chocolate Covered Strawberries from Our first Strawberry Picking ~ Perfect For Valentines Day Indulgence!!
14 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 6:39:00 AMHope this new year brings you loads of Happiness and Prosperity . We wish you all a very fabulous NEW YEAR ahead and Happy Valentines Day!!
I am so blessed to have a Strawberry patch open minutes from home. I have been waiting for Strawberry Picking for years and it finally happened and that too so close from my home.. just cant believe it. I know i sound so funny when i say that, yep i was that desperate. Not anymore, anytime i need some strawberries i just take my daughter along with me and then "Pick our own Strawberries".
I just cant explain how good i felt when i plucked the first strawberry fresh from the vine. Oh my baby, she just cant wait until the strawberries are cleaned. Also, we had hard time picking the right ripe ones as a lot of them were hiding. Oh my goodness, the strawberries were super sweet, juicy and succulent. And most of them ended as my daughter's dinner and brunch.
Anyhow i managed to save some and made these delicious chocolate covered strawberries for the very first time and to my surprise they turned out to be pretty cute and easy.
Ingredients:
- 32 ounces Semi sweet chocolate chips / Milk chocolate chips
- 4 - 5 tbsp Butter / Shortening
- 2 pounds fresh ripe firm Strawberries ( with stems if possible )
- White Chocolate( Optional )
- Crushed Almonds( Optional )
- Chopped Chocolate( Optional )
- Toothpicks( Optional )
- Parchment Paper( Optional )
- Styrofoam( Optional )
Preparation:
- Wash the strawberries and dry them on paper towels and let them dry for 1- 2 hours. Make sure there's no water left on the strawberries, as we want the chocolate to sit nice on the strawberries.
- Prick a toothpick on top of the strawberries and keep aside
- You can let the chocolate either in a double boiler method / in microwave. Personally i felt melting in the double boiler to be easy.
- For melting on the stove: Place a sauce pan filled 1/2 with water and heat under medium heat, let a glass mixing bowl sit on the sauce pan, add butter and once butter is melted, add chocolate chips and keep stirring continuously until melted and smooth.
- For melting in microwave: Place the chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl, and heat them in an interval of 30 seconds, and keep stirring until all melted and smooth.
- Dip the strawberries in chocolate and place them on parchment paper.
Note:
For perfect chocolate dipped strawberries, insert the dipped strawberries on styrofoam to let them dry
For fancier strawberries, dip the chocolate covered strawberries in chopped walnuts/almonds, sprinkles, chopped chocolate.
You can even drizzle some melted white chocolate over dried strawberries for that gourmet touch. I am going to do this for my next batch.
For fancier strawberries, dip the chocolate covered strawberries in chopped walnuts/almonds, sprinkles, chopped chocolate.
You can even drizzle some melted white chocolate over dried strawberries for that gourmet touch. I am going to do this for my next batch.
My delicious Strawberries are on their way to:
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
My Chocolate Covered Strawberries are on their way to 'Food Palette series - Brown'
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
Ravva Kesari ~ Semolina Sweet ~ Happy Bhogi, Sankranthi and Kanuma!
4 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 11:53:00 PMWish you all a very happy Bhogi, Pongal, Sankranthi and Kanuma. On Bhogi we do Bhogi pallu ( blessing the kids with some flowers and fruits ). We used to have so much fun doing it. We did for our baby too, and she couldn't stop eating Borugulu( rice puffs ) from the Bhogi Pallu which she is not actually supposed to eat though.. Read more here on my last year post on Sankranthi. Most common sweets and savories on Pongal are Ariselu, Kesari, Bobbatlu, Poornalu, Gulab Jamun( from scratch ), Carrot Halwa, Vada, Pulihora etc., Ammamma used to make a lot these during pongal and we kids had so much fun relishing them!! Love you grandma!
Bhogi Kundalu ( Pongal Pots ) Rangoli with Rice Flour( Biyyam Pindi )
Bhogi Pallu For Blessing Kids On Bhogi
Here is the most popular and easiest of all sweets, Ravva Kesari. Semolina / Ravva / Sooji sweet made with raisins and nuts. A super simple sweet ready in minutes!!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Semolina / Sooji / Bombay Ravva
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 stick butter or 1/4 cup butter or ghee
- <3/4>
- cardamom
- raisins
- cashewnuts
- Saffron or food color
How To:
- In a thick kadai, add ghee/ butter along with cashew nuts, once the cashews are browned add raisins and fry for few seconds, add sooji and keep stirring until it turns golden brown.
- In the meanwhile boil the water in a separate vessel
- Once the ravva/sooji is fried enough reduce the heat and add water stirring continuously just like you do for upma. Mix well and cover with lid and cook it under very low heat
- Now measure sugar and add it to the mixture and keep stirring
- Once the sugar is melted, remove from the stove and keep aside.
- If you want you can either add some saffron soaked in milk or a pinch of food color in boiling water.
- Tada, Ravva kesari is ready to be relished in minutes.
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This ravva kesari does get crumbled once its stored in the refrigerator , don't worry heat it up in microwave in 30 second intervals and you are good to go!
Here are some popular sweets and savouries that are specially cooked on Pongal/Sankranthi or any Festivals in India.
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
This Beetroot pepper fry recipe has been lying in my drafts for months and today i am finally bringing it to light! Beetroot steamed and then sauteed with tadka, curry leaves and spiced with black pepper is a very simple recipe, but yet packed with loads of vitamins and flavor. This goes well with hot steamed rice, or wrap rotis, with beetroot curry, some fresh sweet onions, cilantro and fresh thick yogurt(curd). I am sure kids wouldn't mind some sour cream too inside the wrap.
You need:
Preparation:
Click here for more information on cooking beets, nutritional information and some more Beetroot recipes.
You need:
- 2 Beets
- 10 curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- salt
Preparation:
- Boil the beets until soft. For more detail info on cooking beets, click here
- Chop the boiled beets into small chunks and keep aside
- In a kadai / pan heat oil. add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Once they start to crackle add curry leaves and beets.
- Stir fry for a couple of minutes and then add saltand black pepper. Adjust spice to taste and remove from heat.
Click here for more information on cooking beets, nutritional information and some more Beetroot recipes.
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