Upma

Upma is one of the south -Indian famous breakfast. It is very easy to cook , Very healthy and nutritious if we add all the vegetables in it. good combination along with allam pachadi.

Ingredients:

• Rava / Sooji (Semolina)  - 1 cup
• Ginger chopped  - 1 inch (chopped)
• Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)
• Green Chillies – 3 ( cut round wise)
• Potato  -1 chopped into small cubes 
• Carrot – 1 chopped(optional)
• Green Peas frozen or fresh  - ¼ cup
• Mustard Seeds /Avalu – 1 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1 tsp
• Channa Dal – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Few curry leaves
• Few corianders leave (optional)
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice to taste

Method:

• Heat a heavy bottomed vessel with little ghee in it and roast the rava in a medium –low flame and continuously stir it with a spatula till light brown colour and remove from flame and set aside.
• Now heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, channa dal, and urad dal and curry leaves to it and let them crackle and splutter up.
• Add onion, ginger and green chillies and sauté for 2-3 minutes / till onions becomes transparent; now add all the vegetables, and salt to taste, and let them cook till tender soft by covering it with a lid.
• Now add 3 cups of water and cover the pan and allow it simmer on low heat until the vegetables are done.
• Add the roasted   rava to it stirring constantly till it becomes little thick and without forming any lumps. Cook for 2- 3 mins and turn off the heat.
• Squeeze the lemon juice and add it to the upma (if desired).
• Serve hot garnished with cashews and coriander leaves.

Simple Salad for Roti/Chapathi

Ingredients:

• Carrots – 1
• Cucumber(Keera) – 1
• Capsicum – 1
• Onion – 1 small (cut into length wise  pieces)
• Tomatoes – 1
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Green chillies – 1 medium size
• Lemon juice -  2 tsp

Method:

• Wash all the vegetables and cut length wise and sprinkle the red chilli powder, salt and black pepper powder
• Cut the green chillies round and small circles and sprinkle them over the salad.
• Cut a fresh and lemon small size and squeeze the juice of it and pour it on the top of the salad and mix well with a spoon.
• Serve with Roti

Good for health also.

Fresh Vegetable Salad

Stuffed Karela /Kakarakaya /Bitter gourd

Karela/Bitter gourd/ Kakarakaya is one of the favourites of my hubby R .Every time he brings the Karela I used to cook something in the manner which I know and he never used to like it and used to say it is one of my favourite vegetable and you spoil it every time .So this time I really felt very bad on it and started searching for good recipe on that vegetable , one day I came to know that he likes stuffed Karela which is prepared by my mother in law , so without any delay I immediately called her up to find out the recipe and made a note of how she prepares and one day as a surprise, I  prepared  this stuffed Karela for R as per my Mother –in law recipe and presented before him . He ate it and he liked it very much and there is a big smile on his face this time. I am so happy by seeing that what else we want when we prepare something for our dear ones and they liked it and ate it. Thanks to my mother in law for her recipe. Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

• Karela /Kakarakaya – 6 small sizes (preferable)
• Dhaniya powder - 1/2  tbsp
• Jeera Powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Mirchi powder/Red Chilli powder - 3 tsp
• Besan - 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala powder - 2 tsp
• Peanut powder – ½ tbsp (roasted peanut grinded into coarse/fine powder)
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt as per taste

Seasoning /Tadka / Popu:

• Mustard seeds/Avalu – ½ tsp
• Jeera seeds – ½ tsp
• Hing/Inguva – 1 tsp

Method:

• Wash the Karela cleanly with water and cut them length wise keeping the ends intact.
• Remove seeds from the Karela and add little salt to it and keep it aside for 10 – 15 min. Meanwhile, take a bowl and mix Besan, dhaniya powder, Jeera powder, turmeric powder, mirchi powder, and garam masala, peanut powder, salt  with a little amount of oil and form as a semi powder –paste as shown in the picture below.
• Take a vessel and boil quarter vessel water and add the Karela to it and just boil for 10 min in medium flame or till Karela/bitter gourd skin is soft (don’t cook till too soft, be very cautious).
• Remove the water from Karela and place them onto a paper towel to absorb the excess water and let them cool off.
• Now, place the stuffing inside the Karela and tie a thread to the Karela so that the stuffing doesn’t come out. (Tying of the thread is optional).
• Heat one tbsp of oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and add the mustard seeds, Jeera seeds and Hing and let them crackle up then slowly add the stuffed Karela and cover it with a lid. Turn them often with a spatula to ensure that all the stuffing along with Karela is properly cooked.
• Turn off the heat and let them cool off and then remove the thread from the Karela and serve hot with Rice.

Mooli Patte Ki Subzi

Recently when I went to market, I found the leaves of White Raddish (Mooli) and bought them to give a try .It really turned out very well. Even my hubby R liked very well. So this is how I tried it:

Ingredients:

• Mooli leaves (white Raddish) – 1 small bunch
• Dhaniya powder - 1/2  tbsp
• Jeera Powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Mirchi powder/Red Chilli powder - 3 tsp
• Besan - 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala powder - 2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp

Seasoning /Tadka / Popu:

• Mustard seeds/Avalu – ½ tsp
• Jeera seeds – ½ tsp
• Hing/Inguva – 1 tsp

Method:

• Wash the Mooli  leaves  cleanly with water and finely chop them .
• Take a bowl and mix Besan, dhaniya powder, jeera powder, turmeric powder, mirchi powder, and garam masala with a little amount of oil and form as a semi powder -paste.
• Take a heavy bottomed vessel and heat the oil and once the oil is hot enough add all the seasoning items and let them crackle and pop up, now put under medium flame and add the mooli leaves and little salt and mix well and close the lid, let mooli leaves gets cooked till tender soft, cook them for around 10 min.. Stir in the middle with a spatula to prevent from sticking to the vessel bottom.
• Now, Sprinkle the powder that is prepared and don’t mix it immediately, just cover it with lid and let it cook for 3-5 min.
• Let all the water in the dal get evaporated and comes closer then mix the dal well with a spatula.
• Remove from heat and take into a bowl and garnish it with fresh cilantro leaves.
• Serve Hot with Rice/Roti.

Punjabi Kadi Pakoras - ICC Event September 2010

Punjabi Kadi Pakora

This post goes for the ICC event for the month of September 2010.

Hi Friends, Back to ICC event after a gap of two months, before last month we are moving from California to Atlanta and busy in packing and unpacking of things and hence could not participate and last month my Sister-in-law and family came to my place to spend some time together, So no time for me to look into the event also busy in enjoying time with my Sister –in –law and my sweetest nephew. So this time I really don’t want to miss the event and when Srivalli  posted the September challenge I was really happy to hear that as Panjabi Kadi Pakoras is one dish I always thought of trying and due to my laziness it got postponed from days to months and finally achieved it today . It’s easy to prepare and my pakoras came out really very well so soft and the kadi came out very well with a thick consistency and pakoras came with a small little tails at the end, By the time R came back to home I served him the hot  Kadi pakoras with Roti . Within no time the bowl is completed and my job is to refill the Kadi in his bowl before I eat my 2 rotis. So you can understand how it turned out. There is a small variation  in the recipe given by Srivalli , I added ginger, green chillies mix to the yogurt and Besan mixture and the pakoras are only simple Besan balls with a little bit of Baking soda added to it .Thanks to Srivalli for sharing the recipe, So here goes my recipe:

For Kadi

• Besan / Senaga-pindi – ¼ cup
• Yogurt/ Curd – 1 cup (sour curd is preferably the best)
• Green chillies – 3
• Ginger – ½ inch piece
• Onion – 1 small one cut into length wise
• Salt as per taste

For Seasoning:                                                                                      

• Methi seeds/Menthulu - 1 tsp
• Avalu/Mustard Seeds – 1tsp
• Hing /Inguva/Asafatodia – 2 pinch
• Dry Red Chillies – 2
• Few Curry leaves (optional)
• Few Cilantro leaves (optional) for garnishing.

For Pakoras:

• Besan – 2 tbsp
• Oil for Deep Frying

 Method:

For Kadi:

• Mix the Besan into yogurt without forming any lumps and add little salt to it and whisk it well. (Don’t forget to add salt to the mix, once we keep on stove top there might be a chance of curd mix getting spoiled)
• Grind the green chillies and ginger and add it to the yogurt mixture   and keep it aside.
• Heat a pan and add some oil for seasoning and add Avalu, Menthulu and Hing and red chillies and once they start spluttering add the length wise cut onions and fry them till transparent or golden brown in colour, stir them in the middle (don’t turn them to black) 
• Finally add the seasoning with onions to the yogurt mixture and bring the whole mixture to boil.
• Mean while, Prepare the batter for pakoras.

Preparation of the Batter for Pakoras:

• Take a small bowl with Besan into it and add slowly little bit of water to make semi – thick batter consistency.

Method for Preparing Pakoras:

• Make small ball from that batter and drop it in the oil and fry the pakoras till golden brown in the colour and remove them from oil and place them on paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
• Soak the pakoras in Luke warm water for a minute and add the Pakoras to the Kadi.

• Boil the Kadi along with Pakoras for some 3 min and garnish it with curry leaves and cilantro leaves.

• Serve hot kadi with pakoras.

Besan and Yogurt mixture 

Onions,Ginger and Green chillies 

Onions in seasoning

Pakora (Besan Batter)

Pakora in oil 

My Kadi Pakora with little tails (hahaha...)

Pakoras Dipped in Kadi

 

Punjabi Kadi Pakora

Pulgam Prasadam

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice / Sona masoori – 1 cup
• Yellow moong dal -1 tbsp
• Jeera – 2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Water – 11/2 cup

Method:

• Wash and drain the water from the rice
• Wash and drain the water from the moong dal and add the moong dal to the rice and now add the water to this mix.
• Heat the vessel and add the above mix of rice and moong dal until cooked.
• Add Jeera and salt while the rice is boiling up and cover it with a lid and cook till rice with moong dal gets cooked (approximately for 10 min in a medium heat ).
• Turn off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.
• Add little sugar or a piece of jaggery (bellam) before offering to god as prasadam.

Pulgam Prasadam

Menthikura pappu /Methi leave Dal

Ingredients:

• Frozen methi leaves/Fresh bunch of methi leaves – 1 cup
• Toor dal/kandi pappu – 1 cup
• Green chillies – 2 or 3
• Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
• Mustard seeds/Avalu – 1 tsp
• Methi seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Hing – 1 tsp
• Few sprigs of curry leaves
• Few sprigs of fresh cilantro leaves (for garnishing)
• Turmeric powder – a pinch
• Tamarind extract/Chindapandu rasam – ½ tbsp
• Oil – ½ tbsp
• Salt – as per taste

 Method:

• Wash and clean the methi leaves and pat dry the leaves.
• Wash and rinse the toor dal along with methi leaves and cook till tender soft in a vessel or pressure cooker.
• Add Salt, Red chilli powder, Tamarind extract to the cooked dal and let it boil for 5 min.
• Heat little bit of oil for tadka/popu in a vessel , once the oil is hot add mustard seeds, methi seeds , jeera, hing ,turmeric powder and slit green chillies and let them crackle.
• Once they start crackling, add the seasoning to the cooked dal and add few sprigs of curry leaves and cook for another 3 min and garnish with cilantro /kothimir leaves and remove from heat.
• Serve Hot with Rice/Roti.