Gol gol unde saru

This one's for taste seeking tongues... A very traditional yet yummy dish to be enjoyed with rice.. Watched this on TV cookery show and decided at that moment that i will have to make it at home..

Ingredients:

1. Toor Dal
2. Chana Dal
3. Corriander leaves
4. Green chillies
5. Corriander seeds
6. Hing
7. Marathi moggu 2 pieces
8. Dry red chillies
9. Sambar powder
10. Oil
11. Cocunut
12. Salt
13. Cinnamon sticks
14. Jaggery
15. Tamarind


Method:

For the unde:

1. Soak toor dal and chana dal for about an hour.
2.  In a mixer jar add green chillies (vary them according to ur taste), coconut, hing, and grind them coarsely. Keep aside.
3. Now grind toor dal and chana dal again coarsely. (Dont use too much water for grinding. too much water would make the dals soggy)
4. Mix this to the ground mixture along with corriander leaves and salt.

5. Shape them vertically.
6. Steam them in cooker for about 25 minutes.


For the saru:

1. Cook toor dal with a little turmeric in a pressure cooker.
2. Once its done add the sambar powder and salt and let it boil until all the raw smell of the powder is gone.
3. Dry roast Marathi moggu, Cinnamon stick and corriander seeds and grind this along with a little coconut.
4. Add tamarind pulp, ground mixture and a little bit of jaggery and let it boil. Also add the corriander leaves.
5. Finally make a seasoning of mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing.

Add the unde's to the saru before u serve.

Fruity triple Pudding

With the shravana season comes along a lot of festivals in homes, which means fruits accumulating. All of us at home were bored of eating the same fruit salad, fruit salad with custard and again with ice cream. So i thought why cant i make something different with fruits. Watched this recipe on a cookery show on TV and lo i made it at home.


Ingredients:

1. Fruits finely cut (i took bananas, mangoes and apples. You can include any other fruits as per ur wish).
2. Custard powder (preferably vanilla flavour)
3. Sugar
4. Plain sponge cake (the one available in bakery)
5. Jam
6. Milk
7. Parle G biscuits


Method:

1. First cut the sponge cake into small slices and spread jam over them.
2. Make custard as per directions on pack.
3. Place the cut sponge cake in a vessel and pour over the custard and spread evenly.

4. Now spread the fruits over this. Again spread the custard over the fruits.
5. Break the Parle G biscuits into small pieces and place them.

6. Top it up with one more layer of custard and fruits.
7. Freeze for about an hour so that it sets.

You can also add a layer of chocolate sauce or even ur favourite flavour of ice cream for that extra taste.  

Hubbymade Tomato pulav

My hubby's actually a very good cook when he turns p in the kitchen. He makes lipsmacking food that everybody at home loves to eat. Well he did turn up to kitchen over this independence weekend and here's one of his signature dishes.. The Tomato Pulav... simple yet tasty...

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes
2. Onions
3. Mustard seeds
4. Jeera seeds
5. Garlic cloves
6. Rice
7. Water
8. Oil
9. Salt
10. Red chilli powder
11. Garam masala
12. Green chillies
13. Corriander leaves

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker heat oil and add seasoning of mustard and jeera seeds. To this add the slit green chillies. Also add the garlic cloves at this stage.
2. Now add onions, red chilli powder, garam masala and saute till the onions turn golden brown.
3. Now add the tomatoes and a little bit of salt so that they turn tender quick.
4. When the tomatoes are half done add the rice and water. Make sure you dont put in too much of water coz the rice might turn sticky.
5. Add a little more salt and shut the cooker and let it whistle up to 2 whistles.
6. Once the cooker cools your pulav is ready to serve after garnish with corriander leaves (which mu hubby doesnt like much)

Bombay potato sagu

This one's a very nice accompaniment for puris and chapathi. Very delicious as well.

Ingredients:
1. Potatoes
2. Capsicum (optional)
3. Green peas
4. Curd
5. Besan
6. Onions
7. Oil
8. Water
9. Mustard seeds
10. Garam masala
11. Jeera seeds
12. Green chillies
13. Corriander leaves
14. Red chilli powder
15. Salt

Method:

1. Scrape the potatoes and cook them in pressure cooker and let it cool.
2. In a pan heat oil and make seasoning of mustard and jeera seeds along with green chillies
3. Add onions, garam masala and saute.
4. Once the onions turn golden brown add the capsicum (like i said earlier its optional).
5. Next add a little bit of red chilli powder and mix well.
6. Mash the boiled potatoes slightly and add them.
7. Make a paste of curd and besan and add this as well.
8. Check the consistency as per your requirement and add water.
9. Now add the green peas, salt and let it cook for a while.
10. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Masaledar Bhindi

Another one for those chapathi dinner's. Read this recipe on internet but added a little variations of mine.

Ingredients:
1. Lady's finger
2. Onions
3. Garam masala
4. Oil
5. Salt
6. Tomatoes
7. Water
8. Amchur powder
9. Red chilli powder
10. Green chillies
11. Mustard seeds
12. Corriander leaves


Method:

1. In a pan heat oil and make seasoning of mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the cut green chillies.
2. Now add onions and saute. You can now add the amchur powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and fry till the onions turn golden brown.
3. Now add the cut lady's finger and fry well until the stickiness is gone.
4. Next add the tomatoes and also salt to taste and wait till the tomatoes turn tender.
5. Add a little water and cook for some more time. Keep stirring in between.
6. Garnish with corriander leaves and the bhindi is ready to serve.


The variation i did was adding tomatoes. The original one didn't have them as an ingredient but i added them only to get a gravy texture for the dish because my husband prefers a little gravy over dry dishes. 

Simple Dal Methi

My hubby and i have chapathi's for dinner so was just thiniking of making something tasty with methi leaves that i had bought and i ended up making this Simple Dal Methi.


Ingredients:
1. Methi leaves
2. Toor Dal (you can also add a little bit of all dals if u want it to be more nutritious)
3. Onions
4. Tomatoes
5. Green chillies
6. Corriander leaves
7. Oil
8. Water
9. Garam masala
10. Dhania powder
12. Mustard seeds
13. Jeera seeds
14. Red chilli powder


Method:
1. Cut onions, tomatoes and also the washed methi leaves.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add seasoning of mustard seeds and jeera seeds. Add the slit green chillies as well.
3. Now add the onions and saute. At this stage you can add the garam masala and a little bit of red chilli powder (optional).
4. Once the onions turn golden brown add tomatoes and mix well.
5. Next add the cut methi leaves and mix well.
6. Add the toor dal and pour in some water and close the cooker.
7. Let it cook and once the cooker is cooled you can add salt and boil it for about a minute.
8. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Dam Dam Kadamba

It was weekend again and i thought of trying some new recipe... Well actually i had tried making this Kadamba Rice sometime back, but disaster struck as it got burnt coz i tried to cook in a rather thin bottomed stainless steel cooker.. So this time i decided to cook it in an another way.

Ingredients: 

1. Chopped vegetables (I took beans, carrot, potatoes, tomatoes, green peas, capsicum, chayote squash(seemebadanekayi). You can also add pumpkin, drumsticks and anything else you like.
2. Dry redd chillies
3. Pepper corns
4. Chana Dal
5. Urad Dal
6. Toor dal
7. Rice
8. Ghee
9. Cashews
10. Mustard seeds
11. Water
12. Oil
13. Dry grated coconut
14. Salt
15. Tamarind
16. Curry leaves


Method:

1. Cook the vegetables except tomatoes, capsicum along with toor dal in cooker.
2.  With a little oil roast the chana dal and urad dal in equal proportions, dhania (half spoon more than the dals), pepper corns, dry red chillies and curry leaves (Vary the pepper corns and red chillies as per taste)
3. Grind this along with dry grated coconut and some water.
4. Cook Rice in another cooker and let it cool. (If u take 1 cup of toor dal take 1 and half cup rice)
5. Once the dal and vegetables are cooked add seperately cooked tomatoes the ground paste to it and let it boil.
6. Add salt, tamarind pulp and let it boil.
7. In a pan heat ghee and make seasoning of mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and cashews.
8. Add the cooked rice to this and mix well till all ingredients blend well.
9. Your Kadamba rice is ready to serve hot.

You can accompany this with any raitha.. 

Weekly Food Review

AIRLINES HOTEL and CORNER HOUSE, Lavelle Road

Last Sunday we took our lil one to cubbon park, probably the only huge green space leftover in Bangalore. It was a sunday and as usual a lazy day.. Woke up late and had breakfast late. It was almost past 12 when we left home..

My son enjoyed his 1st visit to the park. His 1st time on the toy train, he looked at things around with much amazement. We also had Corn on the roadside, popcorn inside the park and with all this stomach was kind of full but still we decided to go to Airlines for a light lunch.

We ordered a gobi and mushroom manchurian, a chana bathura and an idli for my son. My husband said he loved the khara bath there so he had to have one. Well for me it was the 1st time i would be eating there. Even though i worked nearby for almost 2.5 years I had never tasted the food there.

After some 5 minutes our food arrived.. We started off with the manchurians first.. The taste was quite good but we felt it was a little dry compared to the local guy we usually visit (will post a review of his joint soon). The bathura was also good but only thing was out tummies could not digest more.. My son instead of having the idli was licking by the sauce we got.. I somehow managed to feed him quarter idli..

Then when the bill arrived we were a lil shocked coz they billed Rs 247.. We inquired the waiter how did it sum to this amount... Believe it or not... the manchurians cost a whopping 86Rs and the chana bathura  96Rs.. We were indeed shocked, well not to pay that much but coz of the cost.. We usually pay 40Rs per plate for a manchurian in any other place..

But finally we had to pay the amount and waste some food (which i hate to do) but we had to coz i also had plans of eating an ice cream at CORNER HOUSE coz i had not had one in ages there. I settled for a single scoop vanilla ice cream with choco chips coz that is all my tummy wud permit me to eat at that time.. Needless to say about the taste of a Corner House ice cream..

The ambience of the place was good... its an open air place so it has to be good.. but only when it doesn't rain or when its too sunny.. There were many people who enjoyed their cuppa's of coffee there... They serve coffee in a water glass and my hubby says it tastes nice. Seated behind us were a group of young guys who were supposed to be on their college reunion chatting away and eating away... I wondered i wish even i could go on such reunion...

Overall it was a good experience eating out on Sunday.

Avalakki with a twist

Watched this on a cookery show on TV and thought i wud try this at home for breakfast... Pretty simple and tasty...

Ingredients:

1. Hard avalakki
2. Potatoes
3. Onions
4. Chana dal
5. Urad dal
6. Corriander leaves
7. Curry leaves
8. Coconut
9. Lemon juice
10. Salt
11. Oil
12. Water
13. Jeera seeds
14. Mustard seeds
15. Green chillies

Method:

1. Grind the avalakki into a coarse mixture. Soak this in luke warm water for about 10 minutes.. Drain the excess water and add coconut, corriander leaves and mix well.
2. In a pan heat oil. Add seasoning of mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, jeera seeds and curry leaves. Also add slit green chillies.
3. Now add onions and saute till they turn golden brown.
4. Next add the potatoes and cook until they turn tender.
5. To this add the avalakki mixture.
6. Add salt to taste and add lemon juice and mix well.
7. Garnish with some more coriander leaves. 

Traditional Breakfast for a festive day

After the aashada season for one whole month it was Bhimanaamavasya - the day when women pray for the longevity of their hubbies.. So did I. After the pooja i had to cook something both for breakfast as well as lunch and it had to be traditional but i wanted to make something different... So i thought if making Sweet and Khara pongal.. Though i could change nothing much about the sweet pongal i did make small variations to the khara pongal...

Lets start with something sweet...

Sweet Pongal


Ingredients:
1. Milk
2.Moong Dal (Hesaru Bele)
3. Cashews and raisins for seasoning
4. Jaggery
5. Ghee
6. Rice

Method:

1. Slightly roast the moong dal and rice separately with a little ghee.
2. Now let it cook in a pressure cooker.
3. After the cooker has cooled add milk and jaggery to the cooked rice and moong dal.
4. Let the jaggery melt well. Keep a watch on the sweetness of the jaggery though. Keep stirring in between.
5. Once all the jaggery has melted and u get a wonderful aroma make a seasoning of the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it.
6. Your sweet pongal is ready to serve.



Khara Pongal


Ingredients:

1. Chopped Vegetables like beans, carrot, potato. 200 gms
2. Green peas 100 gms
3. Garam masala 1 tsp
4. Coarsely pound black pepper 10-12 peppercorns
5. Oil 3-4 tbps
6. Salt to taste
7. Ghee 1-2 tbsp
8. Mustard seeds for seasoning
9. Jeera seeds for seasoning
10. Green chillies 6-7 slit
11. Water 4 cups
12. Rice 1 cup
13. Moong Dal 1 cup
(Note: Rice and moong dal should be of the same quantity).
14. Curry leaves
15. Coriander leaves

You can alter the ingredients as per your requirement
Water should always be double the amount of moong dal and rice u have taken

Method:

1. Roast the rice and moong dal separately with a little ghee.
2. In a cooker add oil and ghee. Let it heat.
3. Now add seasoning of mustard seeds, jeera seeds and also curry leaves.
4. Next add coarsely pound pepper corns and also the green chillies
5. Add the chopped vegetables and fry for a while.
6. Add garam masala and mix well.
7. Now add the moong dal and rice. Pour in the water, add salt and let it cook with the weight on.
8. Let the cooker whistle a couple of times.
9. Once the cooker is cooled garnish with corriander leaves.

You can accompany the khara pongal with Tamarind Gojju or with a little different Cucumber Raitha. I made cucumber raitha. But it tastes equally good with Tamarind gojju.


Cucumber raitha:

Ingredients:

1.Cucumber finely chopped
2. Green chillies chopped
3. Curd finely beaten
4. Salt
5. mustard seeds and oil for seasoning


Method:

1. To beaten curds add finely chopped cucumber.
2. Heat oil add seasoning of mustard seeds and green chillies.  Mix this to the curd.
3. Add salt and serve.


Tamarind Gojju:

Ingredients:
1. Tamarind - a handful
2. Jaggery
3. Salt
4.Green chilies
5. Corriander leaves
6. Mustard seeds and oil for seasoning
7. Sambar powder or red chiili powder


Method: 

1. Soak a handful of tamarind in luke warm water for about 15 min.
2. Once its done squeeze only the pulp.
3. Now to this add some water, sambar/red chilli powder.
4. Grate the jaggery and add it to this.
5. Make a seasoning with mustard seeds, oil and green chillies
6. Add coriander leaves and let the jaggery melt for a while.