I learnt this easy peanut ladoo recipe with jaggery ( Verkadalai vellam laddu in Tamil, Shenga laddu in Kannada) from my friend Shalini. Its just a two ingredients recipe with two step process. She told this laddu recipe is very special among her community people in Andhra (Telugu). There is also a popular snacks shop in Shevapet, Salem that sell this ladoo. My husband Sendhil loves peanut based low calorie snacks like peanut chikki / Kadalai mittai. When I was telling this to my Shalini, she suggested this healthy ladoo recipe with the same combination of peanut and jaggery just like chikki. As we all know peanut and jaggery when eaten together gives us immense health benefits. So I was double happy to learn this easy, low calorie peanut laddu recipe without ghee. I made this for my Thursday Guru Pooja neivdeyam. This laddu became a super hit recipe in my house😃. Friends, you too give a try. If you have roasted and deskinned peanuts in hand, you can make this laddu in the next 5 minutes. You can also pack it for kids and adults snacks box. This peanut laddu stays good upto one week. So you can make, store and enjoy anytime. Ok, lets see how to make this simple, easy, yummy and super healthy peanut jaggery ladoo with step by step pictures.
Grated or powdered jaggery - 1/2 cup( add 2tbsp more for extra sweetness)
METHOD
Dry roast the peanuts in a kadai or microwave roast the peanuts for 2 to 3 minutes in high power.
Rub the roasted peanuts and remove the skin.
In a mixie jar, grind the peanuts coarsely.
Add the grated jaggery and grind again to smooth powder.
Make balls tightly and store in an air tight jar. Serve and enjoy !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Dry roast the raw peanuts in a kadai. Roast in medium flame till its skin crackles. Switch off the flame and let the peanuts be in the hot kadai. It will become crispy only after it cools down. So wait patiently.
Alternatively you can roast the peanuts in microwave oven too. For this, spread the peanuts in a microwave plate. Roast in high power for 2 to 3 minutes. I kept in 800w power for 2 minutes 30 seconds. Switch off the microwave and let the peanuts be inside the hot oven. It will become crispy once it cool down. Now take the roasted peanuts in a small cloth bag(Manja pai) or in a plastic cover. Rub it well to remove the skin. Collect the roasted peanuts in a plate. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Grind the roasted peanuts coarsely. Then add the grated jaggery and grind again to smooth powder. Check for taste. Add more jaggery and grind again if needed. Do not grind for long time continuously. Oil releases from the peanuts and becomes like a paste. So just pulse it to mix well. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Remove the powder in a plate. Roll tightly and shape into ladoo. Store in an air tight jar and use it within a week. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Enjoy !
Note
You can add 2 tbsp extra jaggery for more sweetness. Usually the ratio of peanuts and jaggery is 1:1.
Ghee is not needed as the oil from peanut helps to shape ladoo.
You can add cardamom powder while grinding if you like.
Try this easy, yummy, healthy peanut ladoo for your kids and family. They will love it !
My regular readers are well known of my Thursday Guru pooja and Friday Lakshmi pooja. For pooja neivedyam/prasad, I keep trying varieties of sweets. It may be traditional or unusual sweets, I am trying it every week. Last week I tried South Indian style easy peanut ladoo for my Thursday pooja. So this week I thought of trying some North Indian sweets. I prepared this easy, yummy mawa ladoo / khoya laddu in microwave following Nisha Madhulika’s recipe. Though its my first attempt, it came out really well. Its so easy and quick to make. Fuss free recipe ! Usually North Indians make Sooji khoya laddu, besan khoya ladoo, khoya coconut laddu and khoya dry fruits laddu. Apart from these laddu varieties, many of you would have tried khoya burfi or gulab jamun with khoya. Do try this khoya ladoo for a change. I am sure you will love it. Its tastes is similar to doodh peda. Ok, lets see how to make mawa ladoo recipe with step by step pictures.
Crumble it slightly. Microwave in high power for 1 minute.
Remove the bowl and stir it well.
Microwave again for one minute. Remove, stir well and let it cool down.
Add powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Shape into ladoo.
Finish it within a day or two !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Take the mawa/ khoya and measure 1/2 cup from it. Keep it in a microwave safe bowl. Crumble slightly. Cover the bowl with a microwave safe plate. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Microwave in high power ( 800w) for one minute. Remove the bowl and stir the khoya with a spoon. Again cover it and microwave for one more minute in high power. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Remove the bowl and mix well. Khoya may be golden brown in color slightly. Do not panic. But make sure its not burnt. Transfer the khoya to a plate immediately and let it cool down completely. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Take the khoya and crumble it finely with your fingers. Add the powdered sugar to it and mix well. Check for taste and add more sugar if needed. If using roasted cashews, add at this stage. I din't use it. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Take a portion of the khoya, roll tightly and make ladoo. Shape the laddu and serve immediately. Store in a box and enjoy for one or two days. This ladoo stays good for 2 days. It tastes more like doodh peda. I decorated the ladoo by keeping a color dot and melon seed on top. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Enjoy !
Note
Make sure not to burn the khoya while you microwave. If the power of microwave is more ( 900W or more) reduce the cooking time to 1 minute 30 seconds. Over cooking makes the khoya hard and chewy.
Adjust the quantity of powdered sugar based on your taste.
I feel 2:1 ratio of khoya and sugar is sufficient.
Do try this easy, yummy khoya ladoo and share your feedback with me !!
This weekend I am planning to share Karnataka special chow chow bath recipe after tasting from some popular hotels in Bangalore. Before that, I would like to make a separate post for Rava uppittu and Chirotirava kesari bath recipes. I have tasted this Karnataka style rava upittu recipe ( Semolina/Sooji upma) in my School moms friends houses and hotels here. Though this recipe is very similar to Tamil nadu stylerava upma, my friends make slight variations in the quantity of oil and water to make a tasty uppittu just like the ones served in hotels and restaurants in Bangalore. In many hotels, this uppittu and kesaribath is served together as chow chow bath. In some places, Kharabath is served instead of uppittu. So today I have shared the basic version of uppittu just like hotel ones. Its a very simple recipe without any fancy ingredients. My friends use Bansi rava (Medium rava) and iron kadai but I used Bombay rava / Upma rava(coarse ones) and non-stick kadai. So there are slight changes from the actual recipe. But tasted really good, equal to the restaurants. For variations, we can add finely chopped vegetables, masala powders and call it as masala uppittu or vegetable uppittu. The quantity of water and oil + ghee decides the texture and softness of uppittu. If you like fluffy upma, use rava and water in the ratio of 1:2.5. But I used 1:4 as I wanted soft and mushy hotel style upma. I am happy that I can recreate the same at home. Kharabath is completely different from uppittu. Please check my Kharabath recipe for more details. Soon I will try to post an easy verion of Khara bath recipe too. Friends, do try this yummy, easy Karnataka style rave uppittu recipe with step by step pictures and share your feedback with me.
If you are interested to check out my other interesting Karnataka recipes, please check THIS LINK.
Coarse semolina / Upma rava / Bombay Sooji OR Bansi rava - 1 cup
Big onion - 1 no ( Finely chopped)
Ripe tomato - 1 no ( small, finely chopped)
Green chilli - 2 nos (Finely chopped, use 4 for spicy taste)
Water - 4 cups
Salt - as needed
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Ghee – 1 to 2 tbsp
To Temper
Cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 5 nos OR roasted peanuts
Curry leaves - Few
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
RAVA UPPITTU RECIPE
Dry roast rava/sooji for 5 minutes in medium flame without burning it. Set aside.
Heat oil in kadai. Temper all the ingredients mentioned above.
Saute onion, green chilli and tomato. Add salt and water.
Add coriander leaves and roll boil for 2 minutes.
Add roasted rava and cover cook for 5 minutes. Fluff it, garnish with grated coconut and serve with coconut chutney !
HOW TO MAKE UPPITTU – STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat a kadai and dry roast the rava/ semolina for 5 minutes in medium flame without burning the rava. Keep stirring constantly to avoid the color change of rava. Transfer the roasted rava to a plate.
Heat oil in the same kadai. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal,chana dal, cashews, curry leaves. Add finely chopped green chillies, onion and tomato pieces. Add required salt and saute till tomato becomes mushy.
Add 4 cups of water and salt if needed. Add finely chopped coriander leaves. Cover the kadai with lid. Let the water roll boil and onion gets cooked completely.
Lower the flame completely. Add roasted rava gradually and slowly in one hand and keep stirring with a ladle in the other hand. Please watch the video for better understanding.
After all the water is absorbed by the rava, it becomes thick. Keep the flame low and cover the kadai with a lid. Cook it for 5 minutes. Open the lid and mix well.
Switch off the flame and add 1 tbsp ghee. Garnish with grated coconut if you like. Mix and scoop with a ladle. Serve hot immediately for best taste. You can serve with coconut chutney or with sugar as you wish. Enjoy !
Note
Do not burn the rava while roasting it. Keep the flame medium and mix it constantly.
Add more green chillies If you like spicy upma. You can also slit the chilli instead of chopping finely.
Please do not reduce the quantity of oil and ghee. You cannot achieve the soft texture.
Tastes the best when served hot or warm. But it stays soft even for hours together.
For variations, you can use bansi rava (Yellow colored sooji).
In some hotels, they add roasted peanuts instead of cashews.
Kesari bath is one of the most popular sweets and breakfast recipe in Karnataka. It can be prepared using chiroti rava / fine rava or coarse upma rava/ Bombay rava. I have already shared a rava kesari bath recipe using Bombay rava (Sooji, Semolina, Upma rava). Today I have shared Karnataka hotel style chiroti rava kesari bath recipe learning from my School moms friend Tara. Recently I tasted Chow chow bath from a popular restaurant here in Bangalore. They served Pineapple kesari bath and uppittu recipes along with coconut chutney. In that, I found Kesari bath with Pine apple is prepared using chiroti rava and rava uppittu with upma rava. So I too prepared the same at home and made chow chow bhath for our weekend breakfast. It came out really well equal to hotel taste. I am planning to make a post about chow chow bath this weekend. Before that, I wanted to share kesari bhath and uppittu recipes. Recently I posted rava uppittu recipe. Today lets see how to make Karnataka style chiroti rava kesari bath with step by step pictures and video !
Chiroti rava / Fine semolina/ Fine sooji – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups (1:4 rava & water ratio)
Cooking oil – 2 tbsp ( Use refined oil)
Melted Ghee – 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder or pineapple essence – 1/2 tsp
Cloves – 2 nos
Cashews and dry grapes - Few
Yellow food color - A pinch
Salt - A pinch
Pineapple pieces - 1/4 cup ( Mix with 1 tbsp sugar), optional.
HOW TO MAKE KESARI BATH
In a kadai, heat 1 tbsp ghee. Roast cashews, dry grapes and cloves till golden.
Add fine rava and roast for 5 minutes.
Boil water adding food color. Add to the rava in low flame. Mix without lumps.
Cover cook for 5 minutes. Add sugar and mix without lumps.
Add 1tbsp ghee at regular intervals. Mix till kesari becomes non-sticky like halwa and release ghee in sides. Remove from kadai.
Transfer to a bowl. Scoop with a ladle. Serve hot or warm for best taste !
KESARI BATH - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
In a bowl, boil 2 cups of water adding 2 pinches of yellow food color. Let the water roll boil in medium flame. If you are using pineapple pieces or pineapple crush, you should add in this water. But soak the pineapple pieces in 1 tbsp sugar for 10 minutes before adding to water.
At the same time, take a good non-stick kadai. Add 1tbsp ghee. Roast the cashews, dry grapes and cloves. Add rava to it and roast in medium flame. Keep mixing the rava to avoid getting burnt. (Some people remove the roasted cashews +dry grapes in a plate and add at the end. But I add rava directly just like hotel ones.) Lower the flame completely or switch it off. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add the hot water carefully to the roasted rava. It splashes. So please be careful. Mix quickly without forming lumps. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Switch on the stove and increase the flame to medium. Keep mixing till all the water is absorbed by the rava. It becomes thick. Cover the kadai with a lid. Cook for 5 minutes in low flame. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
After the rava is cooked well and soft, add sugar to it. Mix well. Sugar melts and kesari becomes watery. Mix in low to medium flame till thick. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Mix 1/2 cup melted ghee + 2 tbsp cooking oil (use flavorless oil like refined oil) in a bowl. Add 1tbsp of ghee to the kesari mixture. Mix till ghee is absorbed by the kesari. Again add 1tbsp and stir till its absorbed. Repeat the same till all the ghee is used. Stir in low to medium flame. Do not use high flame as the kesari may turn chewy and hard.
By this time, kesari becomes non-sticky like halwa. It leaves the sides of kadai completely and starts to release ghee in the corners. Touch the kesari and check if its non-sticky. Remove in a bowl. It falls easily without any traces in the kadai. Scoop with a ghee greased ladle and serve hot in a bowl or plate. Enjoy ! PS : You can reheat it anytime before serving.For this, take a kadai and heat the required amount of kesari in medium flame. Do not add water or ghee. Just keep mixing. It will become hot and starts to release the ghee. Remove and serve hot. You can also reheat in microwave by keeping in high power for one to 2 minutes. Mix it once in the middle. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Note
Add 3/4 cup of sugar for mild sweet taste.
Please do not reduce the quantity of ghee and oil. It helps to give softness to the kesari. In hotels, they usually add more vanaspati and less ghee. But its not healthy.
Addition of cooking oil helps to maintain the texture of kesari else it will harden as it cools down. But you can skip and add more ghee if you like.
Do not use ground nut oil or any other oil with smell. Use flavorless and colorless oil. Refined oil is the best.
If adding pineapple pieces, mix with some sugar. Let it soak. for 15 minutes. Add the pineapple pieces to the water. Boil till its cooked. Then add the water to the kesari.
For beginners, please check my kesari bath recipe using Bombay rava. I have mentioned an easy method.
Easy, yummy Karnataka style Chiroti rava kesari is ready to serve. Tastes delicious !!
Chow chow bath is one of the most popular breakfast recipes of Karnataka, South India. Chow chow bath is basically a combo of kesari bath(sweet) and Khara bath (spicy rava upma) served with coconut chutney. Being in Bangalore for the past 12 years, I have tasted this tiffin several times in popular hotels like Brahmins coffee bar, Upahara darshini, SLV and many more. A plate of chow chow bath and a cup of filter coffeeis the most preferred breakfast for many in Karnataka. Not only for breakfast, people love to have this for lunch and evening snack as well. When I asked my friends about the meaning of word chow chow in Kannada, everyone gave their own way of explanation. In general, I understood chow chow means a mushy combo or mixture of dishes. Hope it is right. In most of the hotels, a combination of pineapple kesari bath and spicykharabath flavored with vegetables and vangi bath masala powder is served as chow chow bath. In some local food joints, they serve rava uppittu and kesari bath recipes. Whatever be the combination, its a wholesome, tummy filling meal. Today I have shared a version of chow chow bath with chirotirava kesari bath and rava uppittu recipes. Soon I will try to make another post with khara bath combo. Please click on the links below to check the recipes with detailed step by step pictures and video. Ok, lets see how to make Karnataka special chow chow bath recipe.
Chiroti rava / Fine semolina/ Fine sooji – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups (1:4 rava & water ratio)
Cooking oil – 2 tbsp ( Use refined oil)
Melted Ghee – 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder or pineapple essence – 1/2 tsp
Cloves – 2 nos
Cashews and dry grapes - Few
Yellow food color - A pinch
Salt - A pinch
Pineapple pieces - 1/4 cup ( Mix with 1 tbsp sugar), optional.
UPPITTU / KHARABATH RECIPE
1 cup = 250ml
Coarse semolina / Upma rava / Bombay Sooji OR Bansi rava - 1 cup
Big onion - 1 no ( Finely chopped)
Ripe tomato - 1 no ( small, finely chopped)
Green chilli - 2 nos (Finely chopped, use 4 for spicy taste)
Water - 4 cups
Salt - as needed
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Ghee – 1 to 2 tbsp
To Temper
Cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 5 nos OR roasted peanuts
Curry leaves - Few
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
HOW TO MAKE KESARI BATH
In a kadai, heat 1 tbsp ghee. Roast cashews, dry grapes and cloves till golden.
Add fine rava and roast for 5 minutes.
Boil water adding food color. Add to the rava in low flame. Mix without lumps.
Cover cook for 5 minutes. Add sugar and mix without lumps.
Add 1tbsp ghee at regular intervals. Mix till kesari becomes non-sticky like halwa and release ghee in sides. Remove from kadai.
Transfer to a bowl. Scoop with a ladle. Serve hot or warm for best taste ! This kesari bath would be goey in consistency when hot. But it becomes slightly thick and scoop-able when warm. Pictures are taken after its warm.
HOW TO MAKE UPPITTU
Dry roast rava/sooji for 5 minutes in medium flame without burning it. Set aside.
Heat oil in kadai. Temper all the ingredients mentioned above.
Saute onion, green chilli and tomato. Add salt and water.
Add coriander leaves and roll boil for 2 minutes.
Add roasted rava and cover cook for 5 minutes. Fluff it, garnish with grated coconut and serve with coconut chutney !
For kesari bath, add 3/4 cup of sugar for mild sweet taste ( 1:1.5 ratio of rava and sugar). I used 1:2 ratio.
Please do not reduce the quantity of ghee and oil. It helps to give softness to the kesari. In hotels, they usually add more Vanaspati and less ghee. But its not healthy.
Addition of cooking oil helps to maintain the texture of kesari else it will harden as it cools down. But you can skip and add more ghee if you like.
Do not use ground nut oil or any other oil with smell. Use flavorless and colorless oil. Refined oil is the best.
If adding pineapple pieces, mix with some sugar. Let it soak. for 15 minutes. Add the pineapple pieces to the water. Boil till its cooked. Then add the water to the kesari.
For beginners, please check my kesari bath recipe using Bombay rava. I have mentioned an easy method.
Do not burn the rava while roasting it. Keep the flame medium and mix it constantly.
For uppittu, add more green chillies If you like spicy upma. You can also slit the chilli instead of chopping finely.
Please do not reduce the quantity of oil and ghee. You cannot achieve the soft texture.
Tastes the best when served hot or warm. But it stays soft even for hours together.
For variations, you can use Bansi rava (Yellow colored sooji).
In some hotels, they add roasted peanuts instead of cashews.
Recently I came across this Instant sambar recipe for idli, dosa without dal, vegetables and coconut in Papa’s kitchen YouTube video. We can call this as Dhidir sambar or pottukadalai sambar in Tamil. Its a very easy and simple sambar recipe with pottukadalai (Fried gram dal in English) , fennel seeds, onion and tomato as major ingredients. Fried gram dal and fennel seeds(soambu in Tamil) adds a nice flavor, thickness and kurma kind of taste to this tiffin sambar. I have already shared an idli sambar recipe almost in the same combination without using toor dal, moong dal and vegetables. But this plain sambar is even more easy to make within 10 minutes. It came out really well and tasted great with hot idli and dosa but not for rice. Everybody loved it especially Sendhil appreciated me and had one more idli too. Even Raksha who is a big fan of toor dal and moong dal idli sambar had this sambar sans dal without any complaints. What else I need to post this recipe in my blog. So here you go Instant sambar without dal, vegetables for idli, dosa. You too give a try and share your feedback with me. Soon I will try to make a post on instant sambar without dal for rice.
Grind pottukadalai + fennel seeds to a fine powder.
Add water and mix without lumps. Set aside.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard, urad dal, chana dal, red chilli, curry leaves, hing.
Saute onion, green chilli till transparent. Saute tomato till mushy. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well.
Add pottukadalai water and 1 cup more water. Mix well and boil for sometime.
Once it reaches the desired consistency, switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with idli, dosa drizzled with gingely oil/Nalla ennai.
SAMBAR WITHOUT DAL - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and chop onion, tomato and green chilli. Grind pottukadalai + soambu(fennel seeds) to a smooth powder. Grind continuously for long time by wiping the sides. It helps to grind a smooth powder without grits else fennel seeds won’t grind properly. Add 1/2 cup water to this powder and mix well without lumps. You can grind again if you like. Keep this water aside. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and red chilli. Add chopped onion, curry leaves, green chilli and saute till transparent. Add tomato and saute till mushy. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and required salt. Mix well for a minute. Add pottukadalai water without lumps. Add 1 cup more water based on the consistency of sambar. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Mix well and boil for few minutes till you get nice aroma. Switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with idli and dosa by drizzling with Gingely oil / Nalla ennai or ghee. Enjoy with idli, dosa ! This sambar thickens when it cools down. So add more water, adjust salt, spice powders and reheat if you want thin sambar.
Recently people from TE-A-ME Tea brand approached me to review their newly launched ice brews. TE-A-ME is a growing tea brand in India. TE-A-ME Teas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TE-A-ME_Teas) is a part of Madhu Jayanti International, launched in 2014. Madhu Jayanti International Ltd is a 75 years old food and beverage company based in Kolkata. TE-A-ME Teas comes in 20 flavors within 5 ranges like Signature Black tea, Natural Green tea, Wellness Tea, Fruit and Flower Herbal infusions and Aromatic spice teas.
Today July 15th 2018, TE-A-ME is launching a range of ice brews. It comes in 5 different flavors namely Lemon, Wild Berry, Peach, Mint green and Lychee. These ice brews are a delicious blend of fruits and herbs. They are healthy, all-natural without any artificial colors, no added sugar, gluten free and Non GMO. The concept of ice brews is to make our drinking water more interesting and flavorful. Its a no boil recipe. It can be brewed in few minutes just by using cold water. You can call this as flavored tea.
They sent me a COMBO pack of all the 5 flavors to try. Packaging was so good & neat. As we are a big fan of iced lemon tea, I started with it. As mentioned in the pack, it was so easy to make under few minutes. All we need is to just dip the tea bag in cold water for 5 minutes to infuse the flavor, taste and color. You can serve it adding ice cubes as you wish. If you like, you can make this tea in hot water as well. No sugar or honey is required for this ice brews. It tastes naturally sweet and so refreshing. Sendhil and myself loved it very much. Sendhil wanted to carry them to office and travel to have it during teatime. If you are bored with green tea, you can have this fruit flavored tea for a change. I have tried lemon & lychee flavors. Both are good. Iam yet to try the other flavors. I will update this post whenever I make it. If you love iced tea recipes, you must try these 5 flavors of TE-A-ME TEAS. You can check out all their products in THIS LINK. Combo of all the 5 flavors ( please refer the above picture) in one packet is also available to try before you buy a specific range. As a launch offer, 10% discount is available for all theese ice brew ranges. Check it out and buy your favorite friends !
I learnt this mint, coriander leaves, curry leaves dosa recipe (Pudina, kothamalli, karuveppilai dosai in Tamil) from my friend Shalini. She calls it as “Green Dosa”. Shalini has been telling me for long time to try this healthy dosa recipe and post here. But somehow I couldn’t do it. Last week when I bought a fresh bunch of mint and coriander leaves, I remembered about this dosa recipe and tried it without further delay. It came out really well. Color, taste and flavor of this dosa was awesome. Raksha and Sendhil liked it very much. I had a great satisfaction of including mint, coriander leaves and curry leaves in our diet. Many people doesn’t like to eat curry leaves and coriander leaves added in their food. They remove and keep it in a corner of the plate. For those people, this dosa is a good way to include these greens. It tastes like our regular crispy dosa but looks green and smells more flavorful. Friends, do try this yummy green dosa at home and share your feedback with me. I will try to share some interesting and healthy dosa varieties in upcoming weeks. Stay tuned !
Wash and soak idli rice, urad dal, methi seeds, chana dal, toor dal twice. Soak them together adding enough water for 4 to 6 hours. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Wash mint leaves, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Take them in a mixie jar. Add green chilli, ginger, turmeric powder, salt. Grind to a smooth paste adding enough water. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
To this paste, add the soaked rice, dal. Grind to smooth batter in 2 batches adding required water. Consistency of batter should be like regular dosa batter. Not too thin or thick. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Transfer the batter to a bowl. Cover it with a lid. Ferment overnight or 12 hours for the batter to raise well. Suppose If you grind the batter in the morning around 10am, you can make the dosa for dinner around 7pm. It tastes good too. But overnight fermentation gives a nice flavor to the dosa. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
After fermentation, mix the batter well. Heat dosa pan. Pour one ladleful of dosa batter and make thin or thick dosa as you like. Drizzle a tsp of oil over the dosa. Cook both sides till golden. Remove in a plate. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato chutney. I serve with thick coconut chutney and podi. Enjoy !
Note
Addition of ginger is optional. But it gives a nice flavor to the dosa and also helps in digestion.
Quantity of curry leaves used is less than mint and coriander leaves. If you like, you can add equal quantity too.
You can make this dosa for dinner if you grind the batter in the morning.
You can also add a pinch of turmeric powder to get nice green color dosa.
Addition of chana dal and toor dal gives a nice golden hint to the dosa.
You can use either mint leaves or coriander leaves alone.
If you have regular dosa batter ready in hand, you can grind greens and chilli to a paste. Add to dosa batter and make dosa immediately.
Dhaba style recipes were in my try list since I started to visit mini Punjabi dhaba with my school moms friends for kitty parties. All my friends rave about this dhaba and took me there. Yes, I completely agree with them. I too loved their hot, freshly prepared food with mild spiciness and homely taste. Reasonable rates as well. Though the gravies are bit oily, the taste of it makes us forget the calories. After eating there, I had bookmarked few dhaba style recipes to try at home. To begin with, I tried this yummy Palak paneer for the first time following the recipe from one of my favorite YouTube channels – Cooking shooking. I am not sure that this is the authentic Punjabi dhaba style Palak paneer. But this recipe won’t disappoint you. I tried this recipe confidently based on the readers feedback in the video. As I had already tried restaurant style Palak paneer, I could spot the difference in taste and the method of preparation of this dhaba style recipe. It came out really well and tasty. We all loved it. And now after trying this dhaba style recipe successfully, I am confident enough to try more. Soon I will try to get the recipe from mini Punjabi dhaba restaurant and share in my space. Ok, Lets see how to make Palak paneer in dhaba style with step by step pictures.
Wash the palak leaves and set aside. Soak paneer cubes in hot water till use.
Heat oil and splutter cumin. Saute bay leaf, onion, green chilli, garlic, ginger,tomato.
Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool down.
Add curd and mix well. Switch on the flame and keep it low.
Add the spice powders, sugar and salt. Mix well and boil for sometime.
Add palak leaves and saute till it becomes soft and cook completely. Cool down.
Grind everything to smooth or coarse paste as you like.
Again saute this paste in a kadai. Boil for few minutes.
Lastly add the paneer, Fresh cream and crushed Kasoori methi. Mix well and serve hot !
DHABA STYLE PALAK PANEER - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Clean Palak leaves, discard the root part. Take the leaves along with stem. Wash it well. Chop roughly. Keep aside. Chop paneer into small cubes. Boil 2 cups of water. Remove from the flame and keep the paneer immersed in hot water till use. It helps to keep the paneer soft.
Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter cumin seeds. Add bay leaf. Saute chopped onion, green chilli, ginger and garlic. Saute till onion becomes transparent. Now add chopped tomato and saute till mushy. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Switch off the flame. Let the mixture becomes warm. Add whisked curd and mix well. Switch on the flame again and keep it low. Add red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powder, sugar, salt, nutmeg powder and mix well. Boil for few minutes. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Switch off the flame and grind everything to a smooth paste. Add this paste to the kadai. Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer the palak paste for few minutes. Lastly add the soaked paneer cubes, crushed kasoori methi and fresh cream. Mix well and switch off the flame. Serve hot with roti, naan or kulcha. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of green chilli as per your spice level. Actual recipe uses 2 green chillies but I used one.
Kasoori methi is optional. Its not used in the original recipe but I added it for additional flavor.
For variations, you can blanch the Palak leaves and then add to tomato mixture while grinding.
Sugar is used to retain the color of Palak leaves. So do not skip it.
Do not add the curd when the mixture is hot. The mixture will become watery and gives a curdled look to the gravy.
Recently we tasted this eggless vegetable omelette in Hotel Saravana bhavan, Salem. We loved it. It was so soft with a nice flavor. When I asked the ingredients of this vegetarian omelette without egg, waiter told its made of besan flour/Kadalai maavu, tomato, onion and pepper powder. I reminded about our North Indian besan cheela recipe and told the same to Sendhil. Simply we can call it as besan dosa / Kadalai maavu dosai ;). As Sendhil liked this dosa very much, I tried to recreate the restaurant style vegetable omelette at home. Its a super easy and quick recipe that can be prepared under 10 minutes for breakfast or dinner. Ideal for working women and bachelors. Usually Green chutney is served as side dish for cheela but I served it with tomato thokku/ bhaji. It also tasted good. Friends, do try this easy, yummy, instant besan cheela recipe for your breakfast and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make besan chilla recipe with step by step pictures.
Mix without lumps. Consistency of batter should be slightly watery than regular dosa batter. It depends on the thickness of cheela. If you like thin cheela, make the batter watery else thick.
Drizzle a tsp of oil around the dosa. Cook both sides in medium flame till golden. Remove in a plate and enjoy serving hot ! You don’t need any side dish for this dosa. If needed, you can have with green chutney or pickle.
Today I have shared a simple and easy, Karnataka style grated carrot stir fry recipe. It is known as carrot palya in Kannada and carrot poriyal in Tamil. This palya recipe is very similar to my mom’s carrot puttu recipe but different in cooking method. In carrot puttu, grated carrot is steamed in idlipot whereas in carrot palya, it is stir fried to cook. I have tasted this palya in many occasions. Apart from grating job, it is so easy and quick to prepare. Kids would love it for sure. My friends make this as side dish for rice and chapathi as well. You can make chapathi rolls by stuffing this carrot palya and pack it for lunch box. Moreover this palya can be mixed with plain rice, ghee and served as carrot rice for lunch box. For variations, you can grate the coconut using carrot grater to give a nice look to the poriyal.
Wash and peel skin of carrot. Grate it and set aside.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper all the ingredients.
Saute onion, green chilli and curry leaves.
Add grated carrot, salt, sugar, turmeric powder.
Stir fry in medium flame till carrot becomes soft and cooked.
Cover and cook in low flame if needed.
Lastly add grated coconut. Mix well, garnish and serve this carrot palya with rice or chapathi !
CARROT PALYA RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and peel the skin of carrot. Grate it using a big holed carrot grater. Similarly slice coconut and grate it using carrot grater if you like to give a nice look to the stir fry. Keep aside. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter mustard, cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal. Saute finely chopped onion, slit green chilli, curry leaves and hing. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Now add the grated carrot, required salt, sugar( helps to give bright color) and turmeric powder. Mix well in medium flame till it shrinks and becomes soft. Keep the flame low. If needed add few tbsp of water. Cover it with a lid and let it cook. Stir it once or twice in the middle to avoid burnt bottom. After the carrot is cooked well, switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Serve with rice or chapathi. Enjoy !
Note
Cook the grated carrot in low flame by covering with lid. If needed you can sprinkle few tbsp of water to cook the carrot.
You can skip coconut but it gives a nice flavor and yield to this palya.
Garnishing with coriander leaves also adds a nice flavor.
If you like, you can sprinkle few drops of lemon juice for tangy taste.
Easy, yummy, healthy grated carrot stir fry is ready ! Enjoy with rice or roti !
South Indian, Tamilnadu style Bitter gourd masala curry for rice / Pavakkai masala poriyal without coconut was my recent try using bitter gourd. Usually I make pavakkai pitlai or pavakkai poriyal with coconut in my MIL’s style. For a change, I tried this bitter gourd masala curry adding spice powders and garam masala powders. I made it easily using my pressure cooker. It came out very well and finger licking good with its own slight bitter taste. Sendhil who is not a big fan of this veggie liked this bitter gourd curry and had it without any complaints. If you are a fan of bitter gourd like me, you must try this Pavakkai masala poriyal. You will love it for sure. It is a good side dish for sambar and curd rice. If you want to make bitter gourd curry without bitterness, you should thinly slice the bitter gourd, remove the seeds. Soak in sour curd or buttermilk, salt for 20 minutes and squeeze it before cooking like I did in my bitter gourd biryani recipe. But I won’t recommend this step for this poriyal as the nutrition of this vegetable will be lost. So what I do is, I slice the bitter gourd thinly. I add more tamarind and jaggery to reduce the bitterness. It works well. Friends, lets see how to make this Tamilnadu style Pavakkai masala poriyal with step by step pictures.
Wash and slice the bitter gourd thinly. Remove the seeds and discard it. Do not slice it too thinly because it will become mushy after pressure cooking. Chop the onion and set aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker base. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves. Add onion, ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes off. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add thinly sliced bitter gourd, turmeric powder and salt. Saute till bitter gourd becomes dark green in color. It takes 2 minutes. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add red chilli powder, coriander seeds powder, garam masala powder and saute for a minute in medium flame.
Lastly add 1/2 cup of tamarind extract, jaggery and mix well. Do not add more water. Pressure cook in very low flame for one whistle. Open the cooker after steam is released. Mix gently and boil if there is excess water in the cooker. Boil in high flame for few minutes to evaporate the excess water.Check for taste, add more chilli powder or jaggery if needed. If you feel tanginess is less, you can add lemon juice after switching off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Serve and enjoy with sambar, curd rice !
Note
Slice the bitter gourd thinly to reduce the bitterness. But do not slice it too thin. It will become mushy after pressure cooking.
Tamarind and jaggery also helps to reduce the bitter taste.
For variations, you can make this curry in a kadai instead of pressure cooker but it takes more time to cook.
You can also pressure cook the bitter gourd separately and add to the masala.
Aadi kummayam also known as Aadi koozh / aadi kool is a Chettinad special healthy sweet dish that is served in Chettinad marriage functions and other important occasions. Aadi kummayam is prepared with homemade kummayam powder that is prepared using urad dal, moong dal and raw rice. Palm sugar / Karupatti is used to sweeten the kummayam. But some people use jaggery as well. Usually kummayam is given to the young girls who attain their puberty to strengthen the bones. It is served by mixing with sesame oil/ Gingely oil. When I heard about this Kummayam recipe from my friends, I felt it is very similar to my Tirunelveli style ulundhu kali. This year for Aadi special, I wanted to try and share this kummayam recipe in my blog. But I was not sure of the authentic kummayam powder recipe because I found so many recipes with variations in the quantity of ingredients. It was so confusing for me. When I told this to my friend Shalini, she introduced Viji akka who is basically from Karaikudi, Chettinad. When I spoke to her over phone, she shared most of the traditional Chettinad special recipes like Kandarappam, Vellai paniyaram, seepu seedai and Aadi kummayam with proper measurements and details. How sweet ! She also referred few YouTube channels and websites to learn authentic Chettinad recipes.
Coming to this aadi kummayam recipe, Viji akka told her mom makes kummayam powder in large quantities grinding in flour mill and store it for months. But I made a small batch based on her measures. I also watched Seethai aachi’s kitchen YouTube video for more reference. Though its my first attempt, I felt its so easy to prepare. It came out so tasty too ! Above all, we had a satisfaction of having a very healthy sweet. Lets see how to make Chettinad special aadi kummayam recipe with step by step pictures.
Grind to a smooth powder. Sieve it. Discard the coarse residue. Store the kummayam powder in an air tight box. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
AADI KUMMAYAM PREPARATION: To make Aadi kummayam, take 1/2 cup of homemade kummayam powder in a deep bowl. Add 1.5 cups of water. Mix without lumps and set aside. Alternatively you can roast the kummayam powder in 2 tsp ghee till nice aroma wafts through. Cool down and then mix with water to dilute it. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
In another bowl, take 1/2 cup of broken palm jaggery or jaggery. Add 1/4 cup of water to it. Boil and melt it. Strain the syrup using a wire mesh. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add this syrup to the diluted kummayam powder. Transfer this mixture to a non stick kadai. Mix in medium flame till thick. Add 1/2 tbsp ghee at regular intervals. Mix till the mixture comes together. Total time takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach final stage.
For variations, you can add less moong dal and raw rice than the mentioned quantity. ie. around 2 tbsp.
Adjust the quantity of jaggery based on your taste. Palm sugar / karupatti tastes less sweet than jaggery. So you can add more if you need. Traditionally the ratio of kummayam powder and palm sugar/jaggery is 1:1.
Cardamom powder is not necessary.
Some people roast the kummayam powder in a tsp of ghee before mixing with water. But I din’t roast it. Its an optional step.
Color of aadi kummayam varies as per the jaggery and palm sugar. Pictures shows the one with jaggery. But in the step by step pictures, I used palm sugar. So it looks dark in color.
Try this super healthy, Chettinad special aadi kummayam at home and reap its health benefits ! I added some gingely oil while serving ! Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Restaurant style dal fry recipe with step by step pictures. Dal tadka and Dal fry are two different and popular side dish for rice and roti served in North India. In dal fry, cooked toor dal (Arhar dal in Hindi) is added to the sauteed onion, tomato and spices mixture whereas dal tadka is prepared by pressure cooking toor dal along with onion, tomato. Then it is tempered with spice powders separately. Dal fry can be prepared with moong dal as well. After I tried North Indian dal tadka successfully, I made this easy restaurant style dal fry recipe at home just to find the difference between two. Yes, there are some variations in the method of making, ingredients and taste. Recently when I went to mini Punjabi dhaba, I had this dal fry as a side dish for jeera rice. But I din’t like its taste. I felt it was bland. But this restaurant style dal fry recipe I tried after watching few YouTube videos came out very well with great taste ! I loved it very much. Even though I prepared it (without charcoal) without doing dhungar method, it was so good and flavorful. I served it with plain rice adding ghee. I also prepared Padawal sabzi / Snake gourd sabzi as side dish for this dal fry. It was a yummy combo which I liked it very much. I will post the sabzi recipe tomorrow. Here you go, dal fry in restaurant style with step by step pictures.
Wash and pressure cook toor dal adding turmeric powder, water and drops of cooking oil.
Mash the dal and set aside.
Heat ghee in a kadai. Fry all the items given under “To saute”.
Add the cooked toor dal and boil for few minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves and ghee. Serve with jeera rice, roti !
DAL FRY RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and pressure cook toor dal adding turmeric powder, few drops of cooking oil and 2.5 cups of water. Cook in low flame for one to two whistles. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Open the cooker after the steam is released. Mash the dal well. Set aside. In a kadai, heat ghee / oil . Splutter cumin seeds. Saute big onion, chopped green chilli, curry leaves, garlic and ginger till transparent. Add finely chopped tomato and saute till mushy. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Simmer the dal for 5 minutes. Crush kasoori methi and add to the dal at the end. Switch off the the flame and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. You can also garnish the dal with a tbsp of fresh cream if you like. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of spice powders as per your taste.
For variations, you can use moong dal or a mixture of 5 dals.
I tried this North Indian style snake gourd sabzi (padwal sabzi / chichinda sabji in Hindi) for the first time following Kabita’s kitchen YouTube video. Usually North Indians make Padwal sabji by adding chana dal or by stuffing padwal with spicy masala. But this chatpata padwal sabzi given by Kabita was quite interesting and easy to prepare too. So I tried it as a side dish for rice and dal fry. It was a lovely combo. More than the taste, I loved the look of this snake gourd sabzi. Its color and flavor made me drool over it. In the original recipe, Maggi taste maker or maggi spice cubes is recommended to use for enhanced flavor. But I couldn’t use any as I din’t have it in hand. Still it came out well and tasty. Friends, do try this North Indian style snake gourd sabzi recipe for rice and roti. You will love it ! Lets see how to make North Indian snake gourd curry / padwal sabzi with step by step pictures. Check out my South Indian style snake gourd poriyal , snake gourd pepper fry, snake gourd chana dal kootu for rice if interested.
Maggi masala powder – 1 packet OR garam masala /kitchen king masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1/4 tsp
Salt & water – as needed
Coriander leaves – Few (to garnish)
METHOD
Wash and deseed snake gourd / Padwal / Chinchinda. Chop into round slices.
Wash and chop onion, tomato finely.
In a kadai, heat oil and splutter cumin seeds.
Add finely chopped onion and saute till transparent.
Add finely chopped tomato and saute till mushy. Add the required salt.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and Maggi masala.
Saute for a minute. Cover and cook in low flame. Now add chopped snake gourd.
Mix well. Cover and cook in low flame foe few minutes.
Open and stir whenever needed to avoid burnt bottom. Sprinkle some water to cook if needed.
After the snake gourd is cooked and shrunken, switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice and chapati.
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash the snake gourd. Trim both the edges. Insert a knife in the middle and remove the seeds. Now snake gourd looks like a hollow tube. Chop into roundels as shown in the picture below. Wash and chop onion, tomato into fine pieces. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter cumin seeds. Saute garlic cloves. Then add finely chopped onion and curry leaves. Saute till transparent. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Mix well. Now add turmeric powder, sugar, red chilli powder and Maggi masala powder or garam masala powder. Mix till raw smell leaves. Sprinkle little water. Cover cook for few minutes. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Lower the flame. Cover the kadai with a lid. Cook for few minutes. Mix once or twice in the middle to avoid burnt bottom. You can sprinkle few tbsp of water if you feel the mixture is dry. Cover and cook till snake gourd becomes soft and shrinks well. It takes 10 to 15 minutes in low flame for proper cooking. Make sure onion, tomato mixture is coated well. Switch off the flame and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Serve with rice and chapati. Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of chilli powder as per your taste.
If you skip Maggi masala powder, you can add garam masala powder or kitchen king masala powder.
Addition of sugar helps to retain the green color of snake gourd.
Try this easy, North Indian style snake gourd sabzi for rice and enjoy !
Vendakkai poriyal with tomato( Lady’s finger curry) is an easy, yummy side dish for rice. Generally South Indians make vendakkai poriyal in two ways. One in a simple way by sautéing onion, green chilli and thinly sliced lady’s finger cooked to become crispy & soft. Optionally it can be garnished with coconut. Second version of vendakkai poriyal is without coconut. It can be prepared adding onion, tomato and masala powders. As I had already discussed Lady’s finger poriyal with coconut, I thought of sharing this vendakkai poriyal recipe with tomato. Its a dry curry recipe that can be served as side dish for rice. We enjoyed it as a side dish for sambar rice. If you like to eat dry curry, you can have this poriyal as a side dish for roti as well. It tastes great with mild tangy and spicy taste. Friends, do try this version of vendakkai poriyal with tomato, onion and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make Tamilnadu style vendakkai poriyal with step by step pictures.
Sambar powder or red chilli powder + dhania powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - a pinch
Salt - as needed
Water - Few tbsp
To Temper
Cooking oil - 2 to 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - Few
HOW TO MAKE VENDAKKAI PORIYAL WITH TOMATO
Wash and chop vendakkai / lady’s finger into small pieces.
In a kadai, heat oil and temper all the ingredients given under “To temper”.
Add onion and saute till transparent. Add tomato pieces and saute till mushy.
Add turmeric powder, sugar, salt, sambar powder and mix well.
Cover the kadai with a lid and cook in low flame for few minutes.
Toss it whenever needed. After the lady’s finger is cooked soft, switch off the flame.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rice and roti !
VENDAKKAI PORIYAL WITH TOMATO - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and chop Lady’s finger / Vendakkai into small pieces. Finely chop onion, tomato into small cubes.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, cumin seeds, big onion, curry leaves and saute till onion becomes transparent. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add tomato pieces, required salt and saute till mushy. Add sugar, turmeric powder, red chilli powder +dhania powder or sambar powder. Mix well. Lastly add the chopped vendakkai and saute well to coat with the masala. Mix in medium to high flame till its sliminess goes off. Sprinkle few tbsp of water. Keep the flame low and cover the kadai with a lid. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Mix once or twice in the middle. Cook till the Lady’s finger becomes soft and cooked well. Switch off the flame. Enjoy with rice and roti ! Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Note
Addition of sugar and turmeric powder helps to maintain green color of Lady’s finger.
Cabbage peas biryani (Muttaikose pattani biryani in Tamil ) is an interesting biryani recipe that many of us never thought of making it. In my family, both Sendhil and Raksha are not a big fan of cabbage just because of its smell. So I always look for some flavorful recipes like cabbage kurma, cabbage vada, cabbage sambar where the smell of cabbage should not be dominant. This Indian cabbage peas biryani is one such recipe. Its a very simple recipe that can be prepared in a pressure cooker directly. I tried it for our Sunday lunch. It came out so well. Everyone liked and had it without any complaints. The best part is you cannot even find a trace of cabbage’s raw smell in this biryani. Working women and bachelors can make this cabbage rice for your lunch box easily. Lets see how to make South Indian cabbage biryani recipe with step by step pictures.
Wash and soak basmati rice. Wash and chop cabbage, onion and set aside.
In a pressure cooker base, heat oil , ghee. Saute the biryani masala spices.
Add sliced onion, gg paste and green chilli. Saute till onion becomes transparent.
Add chopped cabbage , green peas and saute till it shrinks. Then add spice powders and salt.
Saute for a minute. Add mint + coriander leaves. Mix well. Add soaked rice, water, curd.
Mix well and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle.
Fluff the rice gently with a fork without breaking the rice.
Serve cabbage peas biryani with onion raita !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and soak 1 cup of basmati rice in 1.75 cups of water for 15 to 30 minutes . Wash and chop cabbage into thin slices. Chop onion, green chilli and set aside. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Heat oil + ghee in a pressure cooker base. ( I used a kadai and transferred to a pressure cooker later). Splutter cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, star anise and black stone flower. Add onion, green chilli and ginger garlic paste. Saute till onion becomes transparent and raw smell of ginger garlic emanates. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Add soaked rice, water, salt and lemon juice (optional). Mix well and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle. Open the cooker after the steam is released. Mix gently with a fork without breaking the rice. Serve hot with onion raita !
Medu vada / urad dal vada i.e Minapa garelu in Telugu is a popular breakfast and teatime snack recipe all over India. As Varalakshmi viratham is fast approaching, I thought of sharing this Andhra style garelu which is a must to do recipe for Varalakshmi pooja prasad/ neivedyam. My neighbors from Andhra taught me how to make this easy, perfectly crispy minapa vada batter in mixie. I also referred my mixie vada recipe and Mrudula’s cookbook Youtube video for more tips and tricks to make crispy, spongy vada just like hotel ones. Basically urad dal vada is prepared by adding onions But if we are making for festival and pooja, we should prepare vada without onion. In that case, you can make plain vada or with pepper. In Andhra, people make it plain without any toppings for Varalakshmi pooja. So I have shared the same in pictures. I have also shared an easy method for shaping vada for beginners. Please refer the video for more details. As we are grinding the vada batter in mixie, there are certain points to remember to make it perfect. I have listed the tips and tricks below. Please go through the points before you start with this recipe. For grinding more quantity, grind the batter using grinder. Mixie works for small quantity. Ok, Lets see how to make medu vada in mixie with step by step pictures and video.
1.Refrigerate the dal while soaking. Soak for 3 to 4 hours. 2.Use ice cold water(dal soaked water) for grinding. 3.Do not add salt while grinding dal. 4.Beat the batter after adding rice flour. 5.Batter should be fluffy and smooth. 6.Refrigerate the batter till use. 7.Add salt and toppings (onion, pepper) only before frying vada. 8.Always grease your hands in water for shaping vada.
Ice water - as needed ( I used around 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
Green chilli - 1
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
To add in vada batter
Big onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Curry leaves - Few (-do-)
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (-do-)
Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Pepper corns - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Hing / Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as needed
Cooking oil - to deep fry vada
HOW TO MAKE GARELU
Wash and soak urad dal in required water for 4 hours in refrigerator.
Grind to a coarse paste adding green chilli, ginger, soaked urad dal without adding water.
Wipe the sides. Add 1/4 cup ice water. Grind to smooth paste.
Add more water gradually to make a fine, smooth paste.
Transfer the vada batter to a vessel. Add rice flour and beat the batter well for 5 minutes.
Then add the toppings like onion and other ingredients. Add salt, hing. Mix well and shape vada.
Heat oil and deep fry vada by cooking both sides. Remove and serve hot with coconut chutney as side dish !
GARELU RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and soak urad dal in required water in refrigerator for 4 hours. You can also soak the dal without refrigeration and use ice water only for grinding. Ice water helps to prevent mixie jar getting heated.
In a big mixer jar, take the soaked urad dal by draining all the water completely. Reserve the soaked ice water in a bowl. Add ginger and green chilli. DO NOT ADD SALT. Grind to a coarse paste without adding water. Wipe the sides of jar and grind it well.
Add 1/4 cup of ice water and grind to paste. Wipe the sides and mix well. Add little more water in few tbsp and grind to a smooth buttery paste without any grits. Do not add more water while grinding. Its the most important point to make perfect vada batter.
Add rice flour and beat the batter for 5 minutes using a whisk. DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS FOR BEATING THE BATTER. Batter may become watery due to the heat of your hands. Vada batter become fluffy and ight.
Take some water in a bowl. Add a small piece of Vada batter and check if it floats on top of water. If the batter settles down, you should grind it more or beat more.
Add some water to the mixie jar. Grind to wash the jar. Transfer the washed water to a small bowl and use it for greasing your hands while shaping vada.
After beating the batter, add salt, hing, cumin seeds, Pepper corns (optional) and prepare vada if making for pooja. If you are making for breakfast or snack, add finely chopped onion, curry leaves, coriander leaves, cumin seeds and pepper corns (optional). Add required salt and hing. Mix well and set aside.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a pinch of batter to check the heat of oil. To shape vada, take a dosa flipper and grease it with water. Grease your hands with water and take some batter. Keep it on the dosa flipper. Make a hole in the center. Invert the ladle and drop the vada in hot oil. Shake the dosa flipper slightly for the vada to drop in oil Or dip the ladle slightly in oil so that vada releases to the oil as soon as it starts to cook.
For method 2 to shape vada : Grease hands with water and take a small portion of batter. Make a hole the center and shape the vada, Drop in hot oil to deep fry.
In Tamilnadu, people make Sakkarai pongal and kondakadalai sundal for Varalakshmi pooja, Ganesh Chaturthi, Tamil new year and Navarathri festival. We make this sundal with white chana or brown chana. My MIL usually says it is auspicious to make black chana sundal( i.e Kala chana in Hindi, Black chickpeas sundal in English, Karuppu Konda kadalai sundal in Tamil) during festival days. Yesterday I prepared Sakkarai pongal and brown chana sundal for Varalakshmi vratham prasadam. Usually I make sundal in a simple way by grinding coconut, chilli and cumin seeds. I don’t ad any masala powder or fennel seeds if making for God. Some people also make this sundal by adding sundal podi. I will try post that version later during Navratri. Today lets see an easy method of making brown kondakadalai sundal recipe with step by step pictures.
Wash and soak black chana / kondakadalai overnight or for 6 hours.
In a pressure cooker, cook the channa till soft adding required water and a pinch of soda.
Drain the excess water and set aside.
Grind coconut, chilli and cumin seeds without water. Set aside.
In a kadai, heat oil. Temper mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and hing.
Add the cooked brown chana and salt. Mix well.
Add the ground coconut and saute for few minutes.
Switch off the flame. You can add some lemon juice if you like.
Serve hot and enjoy !
KONDAKADALAI SUNDAL - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and soak black chana / kondakadalai in enough water for 6 hours to overnight. You can a pinch of cooking soda while soaking for when pressure cooking the chickpeas.
After soaking drain the water, take the chickpeas in pressure cooker. Add required water and pressure cook in very low flame for 2 whistles. Remove the chickpeas and drain the cooked water.
Grind coconut, green chilli and cumin seeds to a coarse paste without adding water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chilli and hing. Add cooked chana, ground coconut mixture and required salt. Mix well and cook for few minutes in medium flame.
Raw papaya / Green Papaya / unripe papaya is a healthy miracle fruit that is rich in vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. I have tasted ripen papaya very few times in my life even though I know its health benefits like it is good for eyes, helps in weight loss etc. Somehow I don’t like its smell and taste. But recently when my neighbor gave me a big raw papaya, I had no clue of what to make with it or how to consume it. So I asked my instagram friends and readers to suggest me some raw papaya recipes. Among the recommendations, I tried raw papaya kootu, Gujarati Sambharo, and this instant raw papaya pickle. I tried this sweet and sour green papaya pickle recipe from Tarla Dalal' ji’s website by making some small changes in the method of cooking. It came out finger licking good. Basically I love pickles with sweet and tangy taste. As raw papaya has a natural sweet taste, this pickle suited me very well. Friends do try this instant raw papaya pickle, you will love it for sure. It tastes good for rice, roti and paratha. Lets see how to make instant raw papaya pickle with step by step pictures.
Powdered Jaggery - 2 to 3 tbsp (adjust based on your taste)
Vinegar or lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)
To Temper and saute
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds (Rai / Sarson ) - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Methi) - 1/4 tsp
Asafetida / Hing - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves (Kadi patta) - 5 nos
Chopped garlic (Lehsun) - 2 tbsp
Chopped Ginger( adrak) - 2 tbsp
HOW TO MAKE RAW PAPAYA PICKLE
Wash and peel the skin or raw papaya. Remove the seeds and scrape the thread parts.
Chop the green papaya into small cubes. Soak tamarind in water and take 1/2 cup extract.
Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter mustard seeds, methi seeds, hing and curry leaves.
Saute garlic, ginger for a minute. Add papaya pieces. Mix well.
Add salt, turmeric powder, tamarind extract, red chilli powder and jaggery.
Boil till thick in medium flame. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice or vinegar.
Cool down and store in a box. Tastes sweet and sour. Enjoy with rice, roti and paratha !
RAW PAPAYA PICKLE RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and peel the skin of raw papaya. Remove the seeds and scrape the thread like portions in the middle of raw papaya else it will taste bitter. Chop the green papaya into small cubes and set aside. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water for 15 minutes. Take the extract and set aside.
Now add the chopped raw papaya and saute for a minute. Add 1/2 cup of tamarind extract, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, jaggery, salt and hing. Add little more water if needed.
Let it boil till pickle becomes semi thick, papaya becomes soft and cooked. Check for taste and add more chilli powder or salt if needed. Do not over cook or mash the papaya.
Cool down the pickle and transfer it to a jar or glass bottle. Store in a refrigerator up to one week. It tastes both sweet and spicy. It goes well with dal rice, curd rice, roti and paratha.
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of chilli powder and jaggery as per your taste.
You can also use 1/4 tsp of roasted fenugreek seeds powder instead of fenugreek seeds.
For variations, you can saute the chilli powder in oil before adding raw papaya.