Mili-juli subzi

Mili-juli subzi is an combination of seasonal vegetables & Paneer cooked on milk, creamy onion-tomato gravy

Ingredients required

• One cup of quartered onions
• 2-inch ginger piece
• 6 pods of garlic
• 11/2 cup tomato puree (made from three tomatos)
• 2 tsp dry kasoori methi 
• 2 cups of mixed chopped vegetables like carrot, green peas, capsicum, Beans, baby corn, cauliflower
• 1/2 cup of boiled, de-skinned potatos, quartered
• 1/2 cup of paneer, cut into thick slices
• 1/4 cup milk/ cream
• 4 tsp butter

Nattukodi pulusu

      I like to view day-to-day offers from snapdeal, which is a website offering  discounts on lots of categories like Mobile, computer, cameras, accessories, clothing etc.  Every weekend my hubby would watch out for sunday buffet at hyderabad through snapdeal, as they display awesome and discounted buffet menu prices on many places... The most interesting part in snapdeal is that they even reimburse the money paid by us if we are not satisfied by the service received by snapdeal suggested places. Isn't it great??? :) Go ahead and make this website as part of ur online service....

Now coming back to our awesome pulusu,  pulusu is most important liquid meal of Andhra cuisine.  The major component added  in any 'pulusu' dish is Buttermilk/Imli, in order to impact a sour taste. This watery sour stew used to be prepared by villagers during sankranti festive.   Country chicken is cooked with onion, tomato, imli, kaalimirch and other home available ingredients on mud pots.  Though cooking on mud pots takes a longer time (than indalium-based or aluminium based cookwares) the claypot impacts a heavenly flavour on the dish, by itself.  The food cooked on mud pots is quite refreshing and does not need too much of fat/oil to do the sauting,, so  I must say that mud pot is a 'blessing in disguise'

     Though I didn't find a place to look for country chicken here at hydi, I did find a mud pot  :)  :)  I hereby, finally present u  broiler-chicken mingled with traditional pulusu spices, cooked on  simmer flamed mud pot.

Choclate pudding

   I never thought that preparation for this yummy dessert wud be ssoooo simple, yes the entire preparation time was like less than half an hour.  The taste was soo cool and drool-worthy...

Ingredients required

• Custard powder- 2 tsp
• Salt, a pinch
• Cocoa powder - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Egg yolks - 2
• Dairymilk choclate bar - Desired amount to soot ur choclaty buds
• Vanilla ice cream and strawberries, to garnish

Vathakulambu - Southindian spicy & sour curry

    Vathakulambu is my favourite curry.  I often admire its taste.   Once i saw cooking show which featured menu rani chellam maam cooking this yummy curry,  I was deeply moved by the show and its output.  The best part of her show is that she gives a lot of tips about cooking and also educates us about the dish's contents...  For very instance she said that vathakulambu differs from karrakulambu (another spicy, non-soury curry) a lot.  Former does not require addition of tomato and garlic, wheras latter requires them as their main contents.  Sambhar powder/sambhar masala is main spice ingredient used up in vathakulambu, wheras latter requires chilly powder, dhanya powder etc... I enjoyd watching her show and her valuable tips... Hope they telecast more of her shows....


     The perfect recipe for vathakulambu lies in the balance of imli and sambhar powder.  The best part of balance lies in adding half of  imli first and tasting the final product, lateron as per the taste other half quantity of imli can be added.  Freshers/ those who try vathakulambu and sambhar for the first time can follow the same, bcoz excess use of imli can spoil the taste and health.

Apollo fish fry

   Eversince, we came to hyderabad, I have noticed lots of boneless fish gravies hanging out at restaurants.  I always used to wonder how come these are boneless, but recently one of my sweet neighbour gave a hint saying that Apollo fish is the name given to boneless fish series.  Here selective variety of fish, mostly murrel is cleaned, deskinned, deveined, cut into slices and given as such by the fish seller, just imagine no workload for us at all!!!!  Only if Apollo fish culture prevailed at chennai, my mother wud be too delighted then!!

Coming to the dish, Apollo fish fry, is one of the famous starter at hyderabad restaurents.  The boneless fish is coated with spices and deep fried (though here I semi-fried) and is tempered with onion, curry leaves and slited green chillies.  Apart from deep-frying, kesari colour  and ajinomotto is also usual elements, though I completely left them in my dish.  If you needed them, you cud add them up.. it is individual-based decision.

Roasted phool makhana - Guilt-free snack

This is my third recipe with phool makhana (other two being phool makhana curry, phool makhana kheer)  As said before, these puffed lotus seeds are proteinaceous, restoring perfect health to our body.  These can also be roasted and spiced up to form ideal evening snack (like popcorns)  So why wait guys?? just go ahead and give these super-tasty and super-crunchy snack to ur pampering kids...

Murgh pasanda

I am sure that you guys would have read this in many restaurant's  menu card.. So, what is this Pasanda??  It is a meal that originated at court of ancient Mughal Emperors. 'Pasanda' name was derived from Pasand, meaning desire in hindi.  This indirectly shows that it should have been emperor's ulitimate/desired dish.  Here, the meat from lamb leg (or chicken pieces) were marinated with yoghurt, chilly powder, other selective spices and were grilled to perfection.  What initially started as a kebab/grilled starter gradually transformed itself into mild creamy sauce with addition of cream, coconut milk and almonds.  Vegetarians can also replace chicken with mixed vegetable to have this dish which is 'full of desires' ;)

Crunchy choclate rolls

This instant rolls can be prepared in a jiffy.  Serve this for ur kid with a glass of milk. They will luv it like anything!!!

Ingredients required

For the rolls/batter

• Cornflour-1/4 cup
• Maida-1/2 cup
• Powdered sugar-  2 tsp
• Baking powder -1/2 tsp
• Vanilla essence- 1 tsp 
• Pinch of salt
• Water, as required

For the filing

• 4-5 Marie biscuits crushed/powdered
• 1 cup dark/white choclate grated finely
• Roasted almond slices- 2 tsp

Kichi bhajji

Kichi bhajji  is one of our authentic dish prepared during Sankranti/Pongal.  We accompany this with Bhakri, or dhapaatya.   This healthy finger-licking gravy is an composition of spinach, veggies, and all sorts of dry pulses like chana, double beans, soya, green peas etc.

 I still remember in my childhood days, where my granny used to prepare it in large vessel and she used to store it for about ten days without even  refrigerating it.  And the best part of kichi bhajji is that the taste gets better day by day, after everytime it is heated.  Though i made it in large quantity for this pongal, bhajji got over by the end of third day.. such is its excellance.... I wish I had prepared more and had it now  .... :(  :(

Preparation time mostly takes an hour, and back at home, I chopped  all vegetables previous day,  to make my tomorrow's work little easier.  Cooking time would be some three to four hours.  

Ingredients required

Pressure cooking part one (Combine spinach with imli, green chilly  and pressure cook for one whistle, keep aside)

• 2 bunches of palak spinach, cleaned and finely chopped 
• 2 bunches of amaranthas leaves/molai keera, cleaned and finely chopped
• 2 bunches of small methi leaves, cleaned and finely chopped
• 2-3 slit green chillies
• one cup of water
• 4 tsp of thick tamarind extract

Pressure cooking part two (Combine chopped vegetables with 11/2 cup of water and pressure cook for one whistle, keep aside)

• 100 gm of cauliflower
• 100 gm of carrot
• 100 gm of beans
• 100 gm of raddish
• 100 gm of potato
• 100 gm of capsicum
• 50 gm of cabbage

Apple pie

   Hi, this is my second challenge to Baking Partners, and topic i choosed was Apple pie.  To begin with I am a poor baker.  My first righteous cake made was, plum cake, for my first challenge for Baking partners (and before that tried making several cakes, but in vain)  I joined this group just in correct time, bcoz joining so pushed me to learn many facts, google many baking videos online, and learn baking tips.  It made me to exercise 'sincere baking efforts' which i wud not have done otherwise.  So I am feeling so thankful to Swathi Iyer, Tamy, Gayathri, Samantha and other friends of mine for putting such an nice initiative, and encouraging new bakers.. Great job guys.. go ahead...

  And yes, my apple pie, really turned out super-delecious (though i was a bit upset about its shape, as i had baked on aluminium pan, it came out like 'cake shaped' .  On the top of this my kid didnt beleive it was pie, she said 'no mummy, it is apple cake' ;) ;) and correcting me, she happily ate it )

.

So, off to recipe..

Ingredients required

For the crust

• 250 gm plain flour/maida
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 80 gm butter
• 1 Egg
• 100 gm powdered sugar

For the filling

• 1/2 kg apple
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 20 gm butter
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 50 gm powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Rawa pongal

Ingredients required

To temper

• 5-6 tsp of ghee
• 2 tsp finely chopped ginger pieces
• 1/2 tsp perungayam
• 1 tsp whole peppercorn
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• Few curry leaves
• Few cashewnuts, broken

others

• 1/4 cup moong dal, boiled
• 1 cup sooji rawa (roasted in kadaai till light brown colour)
• Salt, per taste

Tawa cooked Potato roast

This special potato roast is prepared in tawa, can be done in minutes.  Just because of the fact that base of tawa is huge, potatos get evenly spread, thereby aiding in fast cooking unlike kadaai, where potato pieces line in one above another resulting in very sluggish preparation.  But one should be careful while tempering, just try to stay away as far as u can ;)

Ingredients required

For temper

• 3 tsp of oil
• 1/2 tsp rai/mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp chana dal
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• Few curry leaves and one dry red chilly finely chopped

Others

• 1 tsp idly milaga podi/idly kara podi
• 1/2 tsp hing/perungayam
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Salt, as per taste
• 1/2 cup of parboiled potatos, cut into cubes

Method

Heat oil in tawa, add ingredients for temper one by one.  Careful while doing this step

After adding tempering, sprinkle idly milaga podi, and add potato pieces

Mix them well and cook them on moderate flame

Add in other powders, adjust salt.

Cook till done and serve hot

Hmm... it went super delecious with sambhar saadham... Do give this simple dish an quick try!!!

Inippu paniyaram

Ever thought of making sweet paniyarams in an instant method, where u dont even need batters? Yes, happily you can :) My daughter, who always demands sweets, really  luved this version.  Do try and let me know...

Ingredients required

• 3/4 cup of Aashirvaad wheat flour
• 1/4 cup of maida
• 1/4 cup milk powder
• 1/2 tsp of green cardamon powder
• 8-10 dry raisins
• 4-5 almonds, crushed
• 4 tsp of dry coconut powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp of Baking powder
• 1 cup of jaggery syrup (completelly suiting ur taste buds level)

Method

Sift in flour with baking powder, wheat flour.  Add milk powder, cardamon powder, raisins, nuts, coconut powder and salt.  Mix well.  Alternatively prepare jaggery syrup by mixing broken jaggery pieces in hot water(which is later filtered) Now add this syrup to our dry ingredient-mix and prepare a batter which  should resemble dosa batter-like consistency.  Rest this batter for fifteen minutes, after which you may pour them into kulipaniyaram pan, cooking on moderate heat. 

Serve hot with jam topped over.  Hmm... superdelecious...

 I am sending this recipe to Nivedham's Breakfast mission, CookCookandCook andThoushaltcook 

Puliogare rice

Puliogare rice is my all-time-favourite.  Making this is not quite easy,  needs correct composition of spices in its masala and also the imli added should be reduced to its proper paste-like consistency.  But with practice and patience, I assure, u guys, can make excellant puliogare.

Ingredients required

• Cooked rice two cups
• Puliogare powder-1/4 cup
• Salt- 1 tsp
• 1/2 cup of tamarind extract (Made out of lemon-sized tamarind ball)
• Haldi/turmeric powder-1/2 tsp 

To temper

• 7-8 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp rai/mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp chana dal
• 1/2 tsp split urad dal
• 10-12 broken cashewnuts
• Few sprigs of curry leaves
• 3-4 broken dry red chillies

Method

Heat oil in kadaai, add ingredients for temper one by one.

Then, add in tamarind water.  Tune on moderate to high heat such that tamarind water evaportes and becomes thick paste-like consistency, drizzling oil at top.  This will take time for ten to fifteen minutes.

When imli reduces as shown below pic, add turmeric powder and salt.. cook for two minutes.  Switch off the flame

Add in puliogare powder and adjust salt accordingly.  Add in cooked rice.  It is to be noted that either rice or puliogare paste should be cool/room temperature.  If both rice and paste are hot, then puliogare rice will turn wet and soggy.  One gentle advice is that in such cases, bring them both straight under ceiling fan for twenty minutes and then mix them.  This can really help in creating right rice texture..

Wowieeee puliogare rice was very yummy, I myself finished it all!!!

Guys, do give a try and let me know.....

Kovaikkai stir-fry

This lovely delecious side-dish goes very good with any podi sadham/dry flavoured rice

Ingredients required

• 1 cup of kovaikkai
• Oil, as required

To temper

• 3 tsp of oil
• 1/2 tsp of rai/mustard seeds
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 2 tsp of dry kasoori methi
• 2-3 slit green chillies 
• 1 tsp of Everest chicken masala (Go ahead and try guys...this has aromatic combo of spices which shud be relished by all)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• Pinch of haldi/turmeric powder

Method

Atfirst, cut kovaikkai the both side-ends

Then finely chop them vertically to get fingerchips-look

Next step would be to semi-fry or deep fry these finger-like-kovaikkai till it turns golden brown, set aside.

I semi-fried it !

In a kadaai, add all ingredients for temper one by one, toss the fried kovaikkai well around masala.

Simmer for few minutes and serve hot with any rice

Was very tasty

Hari boot/Green garbazo beans/ Pachai kondai kadalai

Eversince we moved back at hydi, i see this bunch of green stems floating throughout the market.  Local residants, do drop by, purchase few stems and pop up a green capsule-shaped shell into their mouth.  I, always wondered what they were.. and yes, finally gathered courage previous week and brought few.  The leaves were rich in green capsules, when pinched insides were hari boot or pachai colour kondai kadalai.  I was surprised, because this is first time i am seeing them without packets ;)

And yes, for the next few hours, anybody wud have guessed my pain, it is sorting out green capsules, and then lateron pinching them to release hariboot (the residants here called it as the same)

But, my lovely daughter do helped me in collecting these precious beans.. three cheers to varsha!!!

After collecting them, I googled them and found out they were rich in dense nutrients.

• Fresh green garbanzos are full of protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber and contain no trans or saturated fats.
•  They are “nutrient dense”, containing good amounts of vitamins A,C,& E, potassium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc and calcium as well as being a good source of folate, which is important for growing oxygen-carrying red blood cells. 
• With only about 120 calories per half cup serving, they can play a role in weight management by delivering excellent nutrition with a feeling of satisfaction that prevents overeating.
• Additionally, fresh garbanzos are excellent for low sodium diets because they are minimally processed without the added salt found in canned garbanzos.

So, why wait friends, you can go ahead and drop them in few of ur

• Vegetable pulao/rice preparation

• Fresh salads

• Soups

• Curry

• Stuffing in ur dosa (call it masala kadalai dosa :p)

• Sundal recipe/dry beans recipe

And yes, will prepare my own dishes using the same too.. watch on for more updates

Lemon rice

Ingredients required

• 1 cup cooked rice
• 3-4 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp haldi/tumeric powder
• 1 tsp salt

To temper

• 4 tsp oil
• 1 tsp rai/mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• 1/2 tsp chana dal
• Few curry leaves
• 3-4 tsp cashewnuts,broken
• 3-4 green chillies, slit lengthwise
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions

Method

Heat oil and add ingredients for temper one by one.

Add in turmeric powder and salt.  Now, SWITCH OFF THE FLAME and add lime juice.  Add in cooked rice too, mix well and serve hot

To acheive best results, add 1 tsp of sesame oil/gingelly oil/nallennai over the rice before mixing

Puliogare powder

Hi guys, today we are goin to see how to make basic puliogare powder...
This powder, when dropped in airtight container can be stored in for 2-3 days.. If you are interested in preserving upto a month, then avoid jaggery,coconut and powder rest.
Just prepare it and refrigerate... u can do puliogare rice in instant... will be posting puliogare rice recipe soon ..

Ingredients required

• 1 tsp chana dal
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp raw rice
• 4-5 red chillies
• 2 tsp grated fresh coconut
• 1/2 tsp whole jeera
• 1/4 tsp peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp methi seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole dhanya
• 1/2 tsp hing
• Few pieces of jaggery/gur

Leaving out jaggery and hing, dry roast all ingredients untill they become dark coloured and emit nice aroma.

Then powder them along with hing and jaggery, store in airtight container

Pindy choley

Pindy choley is an dry chana side-dish originating from Rawalpindi (in Pakistan)  The difference between normal choley is that it uses the addition of tea masala (which is to give dark colouration to choley) and also eliminates the use of onion-tomato combo (unlike normal choley which makes use of these  combo)

Ingredients required

To prepare potli/muslin cloth tie-up

• 1 tsp tea powder
• 1/2 tsp whole cumin
• 1/2 tsp whole peppercorn
• 1-inch cinnamon piece
• 2-3 cloves
• 2 green cardamons
• 1 star anise
• 2-inch ginger piece
• 1 crushed bayleaf

Spice mix

• 1 tsp choley masala
• 1/2 tsp aamchur powder
• 1 tsp chilly powder
• 1 tsp dhanya powder
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

other

• 1 cup chickpeas , soaked overnight
• 4-5 garlic pods, finely sliced

Method

Arrange ingredients for potli in muslin cloth.. tie them up

Introduce muslin cloth into pressure cooker where chick peas are laid.  Pressure cook for three whistles, and u can see that chickpeas turn into dark brown colour.

Discard water and muslin cloth.  Keep chickpeas aside.  Meantime, heat oil in kadaai, introduce all spice mix and garlic pieces

Add in boiled chickpeas and  cook for ten minutes simmer flame.  Serve hot with paranthas/roti.

Hmm.. very yummy and tasty too!!