More(Buttermilk) Kozhambhu

Hi Friends, missing you all. Too busy with work and recently shifted to our new house. So settling things in weekends. Will catch-up with you all soon.

This is one of my favourite and comfort food. Easy to make and tasty to eat.

Ingredients:
Thick buttermilk - 2 cups
Onions - 1, small chopped
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Raw rice - 1.5 tablespoons
Green chillies - 2
Lady's finger(okra) - 3-4, cut into small pieces (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon

Method:
Soak rice and cumin seeds in 1/4 cup of water for 20 minutes and grind it to a thick paste.

Heat oil in a pan and allow mustard seeds to slitter in it.

Add curry leaves, red chillies, onions and fry for 5 minutes.

Then add lady's finger and fry until they turn golden brown.

Add turmeric powder, buttermilk, grinded paste, salt and mix well.

Little water can be added if it is too thick.

Switch off the flame once it is about to boil.

Tasty more kozhambhu is ready to serve with rice.


Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves 3-4 persons.

Samba Rava Birinji

Samba rava is nothing but broken wheat. Its very nutritious and wholesome food. Good for diabetic persons.

Ingredients:
Samba Rava - 2 cups
Onions - 2, chopped
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamom stick - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Green chillies - 4-5, cut lengthwise (as spicy required)
Mint leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil / Ghee - 2 tablespoons

Method:
Cook samba rava in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes in microwave. Adjust water accordingly, it should not be sticky. Allow it to cool for sometime.

Heat oil in a big pan. Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamom stick, bay leaf in it.

Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add onions, green chillies, mint leaves and saute until they are golden brown.

Then add cooked samba rava, salt and mix well.

Sprinkle little water if required, cook it closed for 5-10 minutes.

Mix it well and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with onion raita.

Note: You can add chopped vegetables like, beans, carrots, potatoes, etc.


Cooking time : 20-30 minutes
Serves 4 persons

Chingri Malai (Creamy Prawn Curry)

Wanted to try different dish with prawns. Found a simple and good recipe here. Its a bengali dish. Try it out, simple and tasty.

Presenting the recipe below from the above link with minor changes:

Ingredients:
Prawns (shelled, deveined and cleaned) - 500 grams
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Onion paste - 1 cup
Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon
Chilli paste or powder - 1 tablespoon
Bay leaf - 1 or 2
Cinnamon - 1 small stick
Cloves - 4
Cardamoms - 4
Coconut milk - 2 cups
Corinader leaves - few
Ghee / butter - 2 tablespoons
salt to taste


Method:
Rub the prawns with some salt and wash well. Apply some turmeric powder and keep aside for 5 minutes.

Heat half the ghee (clarified butter) in a heavy-bottomed pan and saute the prawns for 10 mintues until they are soft.

Strain the prawns from the pan and keep aside. Now, add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and green cardamoms and saute them.

Add the onion paste and stir fry on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, till the paste is browned.

Then add chilli paste/powder and ginger paste. Fry briefly on low heat till the oil separates.

Add the prawns and coconut milk and salt as required. Mix gently. Simmer on low heat for about 2 minutes.

Mix in the remaining ghee (clarified butter) and cover tight for a little while.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with plain rice.



Cooking time - 30-40 minutes
Serves 4-5 persons.

Pasalai Keerai Kadaisal

Pasalai Keerai or Indian spinach is rich source of iron, calcium and vitami A. Try to have greeny vegetables atleast twice in a week.

Ingredients:
Pasalai Keerai (Indian Spinach) - 1 bunch
Onions - 1, chopped
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal(Black gram) - 1 teaspoon
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Garlic - 3 pods, crushed
Tamarind juice - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Method:
Wash spinach well, drain water and chop them nicely.

Heat oil in a pan, allow mustard seeds to splitter in it.

Add urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, garlic, onions and fry until onions turn pale.

Then add turmeric powder, chopped spinach and mix well.

Sprinkle little water if required and cook it covered.

Once it is done, add salt and tamarind juice and mix well.

Serve hot with rice.

Note: Tomato can be replaced for tamarind juice.


Cooking time : 15-20 minutes
Serves 2-3 persons

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

This is different type of biryani. Gravy and rice are cooked seperately and mixed together. I had it a lot, when I stayed in Hyderabad, missing it now ;)

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1/2 kg
Basmati rice - 2 cups
Onions - 2-3 big size, chopped
Tomatoes - 2, chopped
Cardamom - 4
Cloves - 4
Cinnamom stick - 2
Bay leaf - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1-2 tablespoons (as spicy required)
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
Cumin seed powder - 1 teaspoon
Mint leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste

Cashews - few
Oil / Ghee - 2 tablespoons


Method:
Wash and cut chicken into small pieces.

Marinate chicken pieces in yoghurt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, 1/2 of ginger garlic paste, chopped mint leaves for 30-60 minutes.

Boil 4-5 cups of water with 1 cinnamom stick, 1 bay leaf, 2 cardamom, 2 cloves and salt to taste. Wash rice and cook until they are half cooked. Drain excess water if any.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add remaining cardamom, cloves, cinnamom stick bay leaf in it.

Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add onions and saute until they are golden brown.

Add chopped tomatoes and add marinated chicken. Mix well and cook it covered until chicken is tender.

Then add salt to it(only for chicken, since rice has already salt in it) and mix well.

Once chicken is cooked and gravy is thick, switch off the flame and spread rice on top of it, cover it and allow it get cooked in the pressure.

After 20 minutes, mix it well and garnish with coriander leaves and fried cashews.

Serve hot with onion raita.


Cooking time : 30-45 minutes
Serves 4 persons


I am sending this to SWC - Andhra Pradesh Cuisine hosted by Priya.

Brown Parade

Brown Parade .....................

.............. for Sunshinemom's this month FOOD IN COLOURS event.




This month its "BROWN", so displaying all my 'brown' recipes;)


Click on the names for the recipes.......

Vermicelli(Semia) Upma

Karunai Kizhanghu Podimas (Yam Stir Fry)

Gulab Jamuns

Simple Tomato Rasam(Pepper Water)

Vangi bath (Brinjal / Eggplant rice)



Murukku


Pala Kottai (Jackfruit seeds) fry




Kachori

Vazhaipoo(Plaintain Flower) Vadai

Onion Samosa

Fried Idlies

Red Spinach poriyal and an award...

I bought this spinach from Little India, donno its name, but it was too fresh. Anyway all greens are good for health, so why not try it;) Please share its name if anybody knew it.

I mixed it with rice and had, it was too tasty;)

Ingredients:
Red Spinach - 1 bunch
Small onions - 4-5, chopped
Red chillies - 4-5 or as spicy required
Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:
Wash spinach and chop leaves and stems into pieces. If the stems are too thick, discard them.

Soak moong dal in water for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and allow mustard seeds to splitter in it.

Add red chillies, curry leaves and onions and fry until onions turn golden brown.

Drain water from moong dal and add it to the onions.

Fry for 2 mintues and add chopped spinach.

Mix well and cook it covered for 5 minutes.

Add salt, mix well and cook for 5-10 mintues until spinach are cooked.

Serve hot with plain rice.


Cooking time : 20-30 minutes
Serves 2-3 persons


Vidya and Sowmya have passed me Butterfly award which says "Coolest blog I know".


Thanks a ton to both of you:)

Rules of this award:
- Put the logo on your blog.
- Add a link to the person who awarded you.
- Nominate 10 other blogs.
- Add links to those blogs on yours, and leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

I would like to nominate the following blogs:

Sujatha, Bhawana, Tom Aarons, Sushinemom, Suhanya, Solai Chidambaram, Jaishree, Rekha, Deesha, Sara

Enjoy friends!!!

Purple Cabbage Poriyal(Stir Fry)

Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamins K and C and a good source of dietary fiber, manganese, calcium and potassium too.


Ingredients:
Purple cabbage - 1 or 250 grams
Onion - 1, big size, finely chopped
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Red chillies - 4-5 or as spicy required
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil - 1-2 tablespoon

Method:
Wash cabbage, chop them finely and keep aside.

Grind grated coconut and cumin seeds without water to a coarse powder.

Heat oil in a pan. Allow mustard seeds to splitter in it.

Add red chillies, onions, curry leaves and fry for until onions turn golden brown.

Then add chopped cabbage and saute for 10 minutes.

Add salt to it and grinded powder and mix well.

Cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.


Cooking time : 20-30 minutes
Serves 4-5 persons

Gooseberry Soup/Rasam and AFAM - Roundup

Everybody was wondering what happened to me.... hmmm.... busy shifting my house and started working now:)

Suddenly became too busy, but give me some time to cope up, will come back and bug you all again ;)

and ...... now to the A Fruit of the Month - Gooseberry Roundup:)



Guess, I have chosen a rare fruit, since many of my friends were not able to get it in market, including me too :( ;)

But I would suggest my friends living otside India, to get them as it has valuabe health benefits..... Read on.....


Amla enhances food absorption, balances stomach acid, fortifies the liver, nourishes the brain and mental functioning, supports the heart, strengthens the lungs, regulates elimination, enhances fertility, helps the urinary system, is good for the skin, promotes healthier hair, acts as a body coolant, flushes out toxins, increases vitality, strengthens the eyes, improves muscle tone and it acts as an antioxidant.

The Indian Gooseberry belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. This fruit is ripe in autumn season in wet forest of hill areas in Indian subcontinent. In India it is considered as a sacred tree. The fruit is very nourishing. It tastes sour. Both dried and fresh fruits can be used.

It provides remedies for many diseases so it is widely used in ayurvedic medicines. Gooseberry is very rich in Vitamin C. It contains many minerals and vitamins like Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Carotene and Vitamin B Complex. Amla is also a powerful antioxidant agent. Many health problems are conduced by oxidative damage (when body cells use oxygen they produce by-products that can cause damage). Antioxidant agents prevent and repair such damages. Vitamin C is a good antioxidant agent and so is Gooseberry.

The health benefits of amla include the following:

Picture Source : Janet Ching

Eye Care: Taking Gooseberry juice with honey is good for improving eyesight. It improves nearsightedness and cataract. It reduces intraocular tension.

Diabetes: Gooseberry contains chromium. It has a therapeutic value in diabetics. Indian Gooseberry or Amla stimulate the isolated group of cells that secrete the hormone insulin. Thus it reduces blood sugar in diabetic patient.

Heart Disease: Gooseberry strengthens heart muscles. So heart pumps blood flawless throughout the body.

Infection: Due to its antibacterial and astringent attributes the Indian Gooseberry protects against infection. It improves body resistance.

Diarrhea and dysentery: Due to its strong, cooling and laxative properties Gooseberry is useful for remedies for diarrhea and dysentery. It is a great relief for gastric syndrome and hyperchlorhydria (burning sensation in abdomen).

Hair loss: Amla is used in many hair tonics. It enriches hair growth and hair pigmentation. It strengthens roots of hair , maintains color and luster. Eating fresh fruit or applying its paste on hair roots improves hair growth and color.

Improving appetite: Consuming Gooseberry powder with butter and honey before meal improves appetite. It helps in balancing Nitrogen level and thus increases weight in a healthy way.

Anti aging: Amla prevents health related hyperlipidaemia through attenuating oxidative stress in the ageing process.

The fresh fruit contains more than 80% water, protein, minerals, carbohydrates and fiber. It is also used as remedies for fever, liver disorder, indigestion, anemia, urinary problems, respiratory problems, cerebral, gastro and cardiovascular illness. Gooseberry lowers cholesterol level. It increases red blood cell production and strengthens teeth and nails. So the Indian gooseberry or Amla as a fresh fruit or juice or in dried form is much good for your health.

This article was contributed by Thuvaneesa.

Source : OrganicFacts.net


Thats too long I guess.... ;) so over to the entries.....

First to the international recipes .....

Ivy's Black Forest Cherry and Gooseberry Cake

Janet Ching's Vanilla ice cream with quattro berries sauce & macarons

and Panfried white fish with red gooseberries sauce

Now to the different variations of Gooseberry pachadi's(kind of salad) I received.....

Vidhya Iyer's Gooseberry Pachadi

Jaishree's Amla Curd Pachadi

EC's Nellikai Pachadi

Jayasree Satish's Nellikkai Arachukalakki

Shama Nagarajan's Nellikai Chutney

Lakshmi Venkatesh's Refreshing Gooseberry Squash
She was not able to take a picture.... so I made her recipe and posting the picture next week;)

Now to mouthwatering pickle recipes......

Jaishree's Amla Pickle

Vidhya Iyer's Gooseberry Pickle

Vandana Raman's Gooseberry Pickle

Sowmya Madhavan's Nellikai Thokku

Divya Kudua's Gooseberry Dry Pickle

Mythreyee's Instant gooseberry pickle

And now to my Gooseberry soup/rasam:

Ingredients:
Gooseberry - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Pepper - 2 teaspoon
Small Onions - 2-3, finely chopped
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil - 1-2 teaspoons

Method:
Dry roast cumin seeds and pepper nad grind them to a fine powder/paste.

Wash gooseberry, cut into small pieces and grind it to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions, curry leaves in it, until they become soft.

Add all the grind paste/powder, 2 glasses of water and salt to taste.

Bring it to a boil and switch it off.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with papads or can be had with rice too.


Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2-3 persons

Please let me know if I have missed some entry.... see you all soon!

Egg Pie / Tart

My first experiment on PIE's :) in an Oven Toaster. I just followed Ivy's Pie/Tart's recipe. Except I used small muffins plates to do it.

Made the filling as below:

Ingredients:
Boiled eggs - 3
Onions - 1 big sized, finely chopped
French beans - 5-6, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon, powdered coarsely
Coriander leaves - few chopped
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and saute until they are golden brown.

Add ginger garlic paste, fennel seeds, beans, salt to taste and fry until beans are cooked.

Garnish with coriander leaves and mix well.

Keep a spoonful of this filling into the pie shell with half of boiled egg.

Bake for 10 minutes and serve hot.

I used oven toaster so it was not perfect, but tasted good. So try this out in proper oven and enjoy!

Sending this Egg Pie Recipe to Ivy's Savoury Pie Event

and the picture to Jugalbandi's Click of the month - Crusts Event

Yoghurt Pomo Salad

Wanted to participate in Calcium Rich Event hosted by Sangeeth.



I checked for the Calcium rich food and found that Yoghurt is the best source of calcium. Check out more information here. So presenting this salad with a little twist for the event........


Ingredients:
Low fat Yoghurt (curd) - 2 cups
Honey - 1-2 tablespoons
Pomogranate - 1/2 cup
Milk - little (if it is too thick), optional

Method:
Blend yoghurt with honey.

Add pomogranate to it. Mix well.

Refrigerate for an hour and serve chilled.
Can be had as a dessert too.


Preparation time : 5 minutes
Serves 2 persons.


Also sending this recipe to EC's WYF - "Salad/Starters/Soups" Event


And Divya's Diet Foods Event :)

Adai, Aviyal & Pookolam

My friend Priyanka is hosting Festive Food Event - Onam this month.

Onam is the state festival of Kerala, South India. It is celebrated in honour of Mahabali, the mythical Asura king of ancient Kerala. This harvest festival falls in August / September.

For more information on Onam festival, please click here.

As promised her, I am submitting the recipe with the PooKolam too;) Pookolam are designs or decorations made with flowers and lamps in front of the houses to invite God. This is my first attempt to it. I couldn't get much flowers, so did it with Orchids and Marigolds. So have a look of it......

I never celebrated Onam, so tried to submit any dish from Kerala cuisine. Here is the famous Aviyal, which is the main dish in the Onam festival meal.

Ingredients:
Vegetables - 2 cups (Mix of carrots, drumsticks(moringa), pumpkin, snakegourd, bottlegourd, radish, raw bananas, beans, yam, etc - I used carrots, yam, beans, snake gourd, bottlegourd - cut into 2 inch long)
Small onions - 4-5
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Yoghurt (curd) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 4
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Coconut oil or any oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:
Cook vegetables, 2 green chillies, turmeric powder in 1-2 cups of water, until they are soft.

Meanwhile, grind coconut, small onions, 2 chillies, cumin seeds to a fine paste with little water and keep aside.

Once veggies are cooked, add this paste, yoghurt, salt to taste and mix well.

Add water if the gravy is too thick. Put off the flame when it is about to boil.

Heat oil in a small pan and allow mustard seeds to splitter in it. Add curry leaves, fry for a minute and add this to the aviyal.

Aviyal can be had with rice or Paruppu Adai(Kind of pancake made with pulses or grains).

One more look with Adai:


Click here for Adai recipe.


Cooking time - 30 minutes
Serves 2-3 persons