Curry In Kadai ~ An Indian Cooking Blog

Hope 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:

You can definitely make your family berry favorite with my blueberry almond yogurt smoothie. Blueberries are excellent source of fiber and vitamin C. Blueberries are my favorite out of the all berries and are very delicious eaten out of hand. Choose blueberries that are firm and indigo blue. Wash them with water and relish immediately, or you can store in the waterproof container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Also you can freeze these cuties to enjoy all year long. First freeze them in one layer on a plate right out of the carton and once frozen transfer them to a freezer bag. Be sure not to wash them before storing.

Ingredients you need:

• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries / frozen berries
• 1 cup yogurt
• some ice
• sugar / honey to taste
• light whipped cream ( optional )
  
• 5-6 whole soaked Almonds

How to make healthy blueberry smoothie:

• Soak the whole raw almonds in water for 5-6 hours. I usually soak them at night, so that they will be ready to go into the smoothie the next day. Once soaked overnight these almonds become pulp and the skin comes off very easily.
• Put all the above ingredients along with the almonds in a blender and run it until smooth. You can add some whipped cream ( if you don't mind those extra calories )
• I like some chunky blueberries in my smoothie, so i add a few more blueberries at the end and run the blender under pulse setting

This blueberry almond yogurt smoothie can easily boost your nutritional needs is a healthy way to start your morning. Try having it along with your breakfast and you'll see the difference. So light, tasty and healthy and the best part you can control the calories.

My smoothie is off to the events:

• Food In Colors - Express your mood started by Sunshinemom
• Click - Bi Color
• Show me your Breakfast

Looking for something sweet, crispy, quick, easy and healthy recipe? Here are my whole wheat eggless sweet pancakes aka Sweet Dosa. We call this dosa thiyyappachi. This was our favorite evening snack as a kid and mom used to serve these dosas when we were home hungry from school. These pancakes can be served as breakfast too and im sure kids would leave to school asking for more. These are super easy with a very few ingredients and tastes great too. My brother after coming home from school used to add sugar in water and once melted give it to mom and ask her to make these dosas for him. yep he loves that much!

• In a bowl, add water and sugar. Let the sugar completely dissolve in water and then keep aside.
  
• In a mixing bowl stir in whole wheat flour, rice flour, orange zest and salt .
• Whisk in dry ingredients into sugar water making sure there are no lumps inside
• Heat a tawa or griddle, and just pour the batter like you do for rava dosa / ragi dosa, you should not spread it out.
  
• Dot the edges with ghee( clarified butter ) or oil
  
• Flip the dosa once its crisp and browned on one side, repeat the same for the other side
  
• Once completely cooked remove from heat and serve.

This recipe is directly from moms kitchen, but to add some refreshing flavor to these sweet dosas i have added orange zest and this complemented the dosas very well. Adding fresh nutmeg gives unique flavor to the pancakes. Usually nutmeg can complement well with any sweet dishes. I usually like to relish these pancakes hot from the griddle, but these taste good even cold. Please make a note that you need to adjust the amount of ingredients as they are approximate. The best part of these eggless pancakes is that they are fiber rich and super easy!

My whole wheateggless pancakes aka sweet dosa is on its way to:

Lovely Winter Recipes

Dosa Corner

Food In Colors - Express your mood started by Sunshinemom

Show me your Breakfast

Think Spice - Nutmeg

DMBGLIT

The other day i was introduced to Persimmon fruit by Indira in her post Pecan Persimmon Cake and fallen in love instantly. To quench the Jihva to try it, i rushed to Fresh Farmers Market and bought some. Yes, the fresh fruits were resting there and i couldnt stop myself staring and taking them home. The bright orange color was so appetizing to the eyes and my journey cooking the persimmon started there.


I wanted to do something with Persimmon, and Indiras recipe came to my rescue, and i made this persimmon and dates cake tweaking her recipe a bit. I added Dates and Walnuts instead of Pecans, and everything else i blindly followed her recipe.


What you need:

• 1 cup Pancake mix ( i used whole wheat pancake flour which doesn't require eggs)
• 1 Small Persimmon fruit chopped
• 1/3 cup Walnuts
• 1/4 cup Dates
• 1/4 cup Maple
  
• ghee or butter 1/8 cup
• a pinch of baking powder

How to:

• In a mixing bowl whisk flour and baking powder
• Add melted ghee(butter), maple syrup and mix in about 1/2 cup water
• Toss the chopped up fruit, walnuts and dates
• Grease cake pan and fill in the cake batter
• Cook in the preheated oven at 350F for about 15-20 mins until the toothpick comes out clean.

This will be my entry for A Fruit of A Month (AFAM): Persimmon hosted by Trupthi.

Here i am with my Sweet Luscious Mango, Nectarine and Strawberry Milk Shake.. Its all about summer with this healthy fresh fruits drink.. The strong flavor of Mango and Strawberry compliments well with the subtle flavors of Nectarine. This milkshake is definitely a refreshing and cool thirst quencher during these hot summers with added bonus of Minerals and Vitamins. You could make this irresistible milk shake a little ahead and wow your guests asking for more!!! An easy breezy delicious smoothie is just a Whip away!!! The farmers market was bursting with local grown fresh Mangoes, Nectarines and Strawberries, and i am sure i couldn't get any fresher than there.




Mangoes.., we miss Indian Mangoes so much after coming here,, my uncle( mama ) used to bring a whole basket( Mamidikaya Buttalu ) of tree ripened Banginapalli mangoes from Ulavapadu and my Moms sister( Pinni ) used to send us sweet and juicy Mangoes from Vijayawada( Rasalu )... Hmmm we miss all that luxury here.... Luckily one day i was able to find mangoes that were a little bit similar to those Banginapalli mangoes with very less pulp in the farmers market . We relished some fresh chopped mango after our dinner one day and the other day used the rest for this smoothie.. That was the only first and last time i could find those delicious mangoes , all others were either not sweet or with lots of pulp... Somehow i like Nectarines far better than Peach, so whenever i could find firm and fresh nectarines i couldn't stop myself grabbing some home. I found this Fresh Fruit Smoothie a wonderful way of having whole fruits with added calcium from Milk...


You need:

• 1/2 cup of fresh sweet ripened mango( less pulp ones ) cut into chunks( even Alphonso Mango pulp would taste really good )
• 3 fresh ripened strawberries quartered
• 1/2 peach chopped into cubes
• 2 cups milk( any milk would work but i use 2% reduced fat milk )
• Sugar to taste
• 4-5 ice cubes
  

Method Of Preparation:

• Blend mango cubes( or Mango pulp/juice ) , strawberries, Nectarine and sugar along with half of the milk for 10-15 seconds
• Now add the remaining milk and ice and blend it well until its frothy..
  

Note:
If you don't mind some extra calories, go ahead and add a scoop of HaagenDaz frozen Vanilla Yogurt,( i haven't added this time for this milk shake though!! ) to make it even creamier and lip smacking... I am sure this would be a definite hit with kids at home!


This simple creamy Smoothie/Milk shake is on its way to:

• MM - Mango Mania hosted by Meeta
• Sweet Series - Cool Desserts hosted by Mythreyee
• Eating with the Seasons hosted by Maninas
• WYV - Juices & Ice Creams hosted by Easy Crafts
• WBB - Summer Feast hosted by Sia
• Summer Splash hosted by Aartee

No more excuses for skipping breakfast!!!. Here's how to whip up a fresh, natural and healthy nutritious smoothie perfect fit for a beautiful sunny day in less than 15 minutes.. My Strawberry and Kiwi luscious smoothie is sweetened with honey and fresh home made yogurt. The regular smoothies at the stores are brimmed with ice cream, which i would like to replace in the early mornings with some good old plain yogurt. I have made Strawberry smoothie for my husband, and for myself a Kiwi-Strawberry smoothie.

For the above Strawberry smoothie, i have just blended some strawberries, yogurt and sugar.. This is for my husband at dinner..


You need:

• 1 cup fresh plain low fat yogurt(store bought low fat Dannon or homemade curd)
• Milk ( optional, add if the yogurt or curd is too sour )
• 5 fresh ripened Strawberries
• 1 ripened kiwi ( you can core it if you want )
• Honey according to your taste
• Ice
  

How to:

• Clean and chop strawberries
• Peel Kiwi fruit and you can remove the core if you don't like any seeds
• In a blender( I use Braun Hand Blender, so easy to whip up any smoothie in no time ), add strawberries and Kiwi.
• Once pureed, add ice, honey and yogurt and blend it until frothy.
• And the toppings could be endless from fresh fruit to cereals like granola, raisin bran or your favorite cereal , now that's a complete nutritious breakfast!!!
  

This simple delicious smoothie is on its way to.,

• Fresh Produce Of The Month : Strawberries hosted by Marta -- Yep these are fresh from my favorite "Marias Market" a local Farmers Market.
  
• Healthy Cooking hosted by Mansi -- Mansi i skipped ice cream and used honey instead of sugar...
• Express Breakfasts hosted by Raaga -- Yep done in 15 min or less
• Summer Splash hosted by Arthee -- This strawberry and kiwi honey smoothie is indeed a refreshing drink in these hot summers
  
• WYF - Juices and Ice cream event hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food
  

Simplicity at its best, peas and raisins did wonders to this rice pilaf! This simple peas and raisins rice dish largely depends on petite peas, raisins, cinnamon, ginger and garlic to deliver that big flavor! This rice pilaf is a perfect display for simple yet flavorful Indian Cooking. Raisins and Cashewnuts paired nicely with this spiced rice pilaf, which added to the surprise sweet bites balancing the spices.




I made this for the first time when i had a pot luck at my work place, i remember last year i made our regular vegetable biriyani with the store bought biriyani masala and i swear everyone where literally asking ' How do you people eat this spciy food everyday?', and you know what i really didnt add any green chillies and added very less masala than usual. But this time my peas and rice pilaf dish is a winner at my work, 99% of them being non indians, i wanted to keep it low on spicyness, yet wanted them to learn that Indian cooking is not just spicy, its packed with flavor from the spices like cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove, cardamom , ginger, garlic, cilantro, mint etc,,

Ingredients you need:

• 1 cup basmati rice ( i use royal basamati rice from costco or sams, tastes better than tilda basmati rice)
• 1 cup green peas( petite peas are the best for this pulao ) -- There is no need to thaw the frozen peas, as they have enough time to cook along with the rice
• 1 large onion
• 4 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 4-5 green chillies( optional )
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4-5 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup golden raisins( golden raisins taste better in this pulao )
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup cashew nuts
• 4-5 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
  

How to make peas pulao:

• Soak the rice for 30 min( optional for better results ) and drain in a colander
• In kadai or pan addbutter or ghee and fry the rice until the rice turns into opaque, keep it aside.
• Heat both butter and oil in the same pan and add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf.
• Once they start to release the aroma add ginger garlic paste, fry the paste until the raw smell disappears.
• Add chopped onions and green chillies along with salt
• Once the onions turn into golden hue add the peas and cook for 5 min
• Add the fried raw rice and let the peas masala coat the rice thoroughly

• Cooking with rice cooker:Butter the rice cooker pan or use ghee for it, for doing this In an electric cooker add 1 1/2 cups of water and the peas and rice mixture, it will be done in less than 15 min. Keep it under warm for 5 min and then switch off.Mix the rice pilaf( sometimes it might get burnt at the botttom, just discard )

• Cooking on the stove top: Add 2 cups of water and the fried raw rice to the peas masala bring it to boil and reduce the flame and let the water evaporate, close with teh lid and cook under very low heat for 3-5 more min and check for doneness. Once done, gently fluff the rice and mix bring everything together.
• In a seperate pan add butter cashewnuts and raisins, once the raisins are plump and cashewnuts(kaju) changed to golden brown remove from heat and add to the cooked pilaf.
  
• Add mint and cilantro at the end.

This rice and peas dish is a refreshing change from regular mixed vegetable biryani. I made very
mild channa masala (Spiced chick peas curry ) and raitha( yogurt with onions, cucumber, tomatoes
and cilantro ) to serve along with the peas rice for my coworkers.


This peas and rice pilaf spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with raisins is on its way to Think Spice - Think Cinammon event hosted by Sunitha. Also this will be my entry for AFAM - Dry Fruits hosted by Latha Namrasimham.

Note: Add more green chillies if you can handle the heat, otherwise this dish is perfect with any vegetable curries on the side.

Tags: Pachi batani pulao, Peas, Raisins, Rice pulao, SweeT and spicy pulao

Until yesterday nothing clicked to me for the CLICK:NOODLES event hosted by Jai and Bee. I walked to the pantry looking for something else and found Noodles and Jello sitting next to each other, thats when my Noodle Jigglers were born!


This is a very simple yet lip smacking fun dessert both kids and adults can enjoy together. Most of us have our own favorite ways of having noodles, but i am sure this can easily fit into your list. I used regular plain noodles and for the gelatin, chose orange flavor for its unique color and tartness. I even added some chopped Pear( bought fresh the day before ) and everything turned out to be a guilt free healthy dessert!

You need:
Small Jello packet -- i used orange flavor
Half packet Ramen noodles
Any fruit - here i used fresh pears chopped to 1/2 inch bites


Preparation:
Boil noodles, once cooked run under cold water and keep aside
Cook gelatin according to the package instructions
Pour gelatin into desired moulds, add chopped fruit and noodles
Let it set in the refrigerator for 4 hrs
Tada! your Noodle Jigglers are ready to relish!


Serving suggestion:
Add any fruit on hand, anything should work!
To finish the platter i used an orange cut into some budding flowers( its not that great and i wasnt sure since it was my first time ) and some pomegranate seeds for color!
For an elegant dessert, use individual moulds topped with some whipped cream!

Deepavali Subhakankshalu! Wish you all a very happy and delightful Diwali. Diwali as the name suggests is ' array of lights ' and you see light coming from deeyas in almost every house in India. The day before Diwali is Narakachathurdasi, when the lord Krishna killed the deamon Narakasura. Diwali is also being celebrated for the return of the god Rama after 14 years of exile. It is the festival for the triumph of good over evil. The festival of lights ( diwali ) insists on shedding the darkness of the mind with the light of Gnana( Knowledge )


Diwali takes me to a walk down the cherishable memory lane. I remember this is the one such festival packed with so much excitement for the D day, where we can fire the crackers all night long, relish delicious food, take part in the lakshmi pooja and never forget new clothes and jewelery. I would do anything for those days. I was always a silent spectator when it comes to fireworks (bombs) like lakshmi tapas, vankaya bambulu, rockets, parachutes etc, I would be on the safer side with kakarathulu, chichu buddulu, venna muddalu, nela tapakayalu, paamu billalu, Bhu chakram,Vishnu chakram and my most favorite Aggipettalu. I remember my grandma asking us to lit the diya( lamp) outside the house during the whole month of diwali and recite this sloka for the sandhya deepam( evening lamp).

Usually this would come first in my list when we expect someone for lunch/dinner. Almost everyone who tasted this asked for the recipe and were really surprised to know how easy, delicious and light this was.



You need:
1 - 8oz cool whip or home made whipped cream
1 - 20 0z crushed pineapple can in its own juice
1 - 14 oz sweetened condensed milk or milkmaid
A big fistful of almonds( badam )
A big fistful of cashewnuts( kaju )
25 pistachios( pista )



Preparation:
Keep the cool whip whipped cream outside for 20 min until it becomes spreadable. For fresh cream you can avoid this step
In a blender or chopper chop the nuts coarsely and keep aside
Drain the crushed pineapple and keep it aside
In a big bowl mix in whipped cream, condensed milk, pineapple and chopped nuts
Freeze it for 6-8 hours or overnight
Tada! pineapple dessert is ready to serve!!



This pineapple dessert is neither too sweet nor too sour, Its just right.Be generous and Never forget the nuts which add crunch and so much flavor to the dessert. I am gonna make this again for the Diwali potluck this weekend. Hope the magic works again!!

This will be my post for JFS:Diwali hosted by Vee of Past,Present and Me. Also this will be going to WYF: DESSERT hosted by Hima of Snackorama.

Tags: Badam kaju and pista. nuts and cool whip, Deepavali, Diwali, Pineapple Dessert, Sweets

With the announcement of the CLICK: the photo event for EGGS, though i dont consume eggs directly(except in cakes ) i wanted to participate in the event. But i had to cook something people can eat, and then found my victim for the EGG recipe, my poor HUBBY! He wasnt sure if he can eat it at first when i said i was about to make french toast with peaches. But after a quick glance at this wonderful feast he couldnt say NO!!

Actually when Namrata commented this reminds her of HUMTUM, I named these Hum(Me) and Tum(You). Thanks Namrata. I painted cute kids faces named HUM boy and TUM girl. I wanted to portray some conversation. HUM the naughty boy asks TUM the shy girl "Ay kya bolti tu, Aati Kya Khandala?"( Its a popular movie song in a hindi movie GHULAM ). Translation: "Hey girl, you wanna come to Khandala (remote island)?". In the second picture, the girl was shocked and says angrily "How dare you?". Yes HUM is really bold indeed! He is a TAPORI.


Here goes some info why i chose this one --- A Healthy Breakfast fuels your body for peak performance. This super meal can even help ustrim excess weight and cut risk of chronic disease. We should balance our breakfast with protein to stabilize blood sugar and include whole grain carbs, fruit and low fat calcium source. Dish up a bowl of whole grain cereal, top it with low fat milk and berries, and youve got a true breakfast for champions!

You need:

• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 cup 2% or fat free milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1/8 ground cinnamon
• 8 1/2 inch thick 7 multi grain whole wheat bread
• 2 peaches
• 1/4 cup brown or regular sugar
• a dash of nutmeg

How to:

• In a deep plate whisk eggs, cinnamon, milk, vanilla, orange zest and cinnamon
• Heat griddle or pan on medium
• Soak bread slices into the mixture. Let it soak on one side and flip it other side
• Spray the pan with non stick spray or little bit butter
• Allow excess mixture to drip back to plate and place on the griddle.
• Cook on both sides( if you are all making at once, cook these french toasts and put them in heated oven until actually served)
• Before serving add the glazed peaches( procedure below ) on top and decorate with mint!
• VOILA your hot and refreshing PEACHY FRENCH TOAST is ready!!!

Glazed peaches:

• Cut peaches into length wise and in a pan add dash of butter and add the peaches in and cook for 3 min until cooked.
• Then add sugar and nutmeg and let the sugar melt.
• This should coat the peaches and form glaze.

I am going to send this as an entry for AFAM( A fruit a month-PEACH ) event. Thanks Rina and Mansi. You can serve these glazed peaches with icecream, french toast, pancakes, rice pudding or even regular toast. My french toast was heavenly and peach never tasted this GOOD!!


Tags: click for eggs, Peach French Toast, Whole grain french toast