Blogging Marathon

Banana Nut Cupcakes / Muffins

October 16, 2013 By

This banana nut muffins was supposed to be my HBC challenge last month been challenged by +Shama Nagarajan but some how I missed to post this. So here I am here with a delicious moist and super healthy cupcakes . If you have over riped bananas and don’t know what to do with them they are very very useful for making cakes as the sugar in the riped bananas will help to sweeten the cake so well and leaves out a very nice aroma in baked goodies. I always make use of the ripened banana in cakes and muffins which is an effective and delicious way to use them than using for any other sweets. You can add any nuts you wish here walnut goes well but you can add pecans and almonds too if you wish. These can be enjoyed as a muffin or can be frosted with butter cream or fresh cream frosting and turned in to cupcakes.
As whole wheat flour is used for these muffins/ cupcakes they are highly nutritive and a filling breakfast muffins . Lets move on to the recipe.

Recipe Source : Yummly

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup oat bran
1 tbsp ground Flax seeds (soaked in 3 Tbsp water for 5 mins)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees Celsius.
In a large bowl sieve Flour , baking pd, baking soda , salt.
Mix in the oat bran, walnuts in flour mixture.
In another bowl mash banana, add flax seed mixture, oil, vanilla extract,milk and mix well.
Now Mix in the we ingredient slowly to the dry four ingredient with out any lumps.
Spoon into a the lined muffin tin / cupcakes mould and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Cool them a bit and remove the muffins/ cupcakes from the mould .
Frost these cupcakes with butter cream frosting or sieve some sugar on top and enjoy.

Tips

You can convert these cupcakes to cake by adding a little extra milk and making it a semi liquid consistency and bake them in cake pan

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

sending to cooking 4 all seasons

Eggless Ghostly Spider Cupcakes

October 11, 2013 By

I was so excited to try the Halloween delight being shared by our HBC host this month +nalini suresh of Nalini’s kitchen . She had challenged with wonderful halloween recipes for this Months challenge when saw the challenge I wanted to make at least two out of them and so I did 🙂 Here is the first one from her Ghostly cupcakes recipe , I made them eggless with flax seeds and they turned out super soft and spongy . You can actually convert this cupcake recipe in to cake by baking them in cake pan . Thanks to nalini for sharing such spooky recipes for halloween theme..we really enjoyed them a lot 🙂

Halloween in not much far and here is the perfect recipe to match the festive season, In the U.S when I first came across about this halloween festival, yes festival !! it is so celebrated like an festival ,so I thought how funny in india we run away from ghost and witches and here they wear ghost costumes and celebrate . But then I researched why exactly this festival is celebrated it is because in an year to remember the dead saints , martyrs , The eve of western christians feast or all hallows / saints . So they remember the faith departure they celebrate this day. The activities performed for halloween are Pumkin carving in to jack o lantern, costume party,and any spooky things are done and yeah Trick o treat which is one of my fav I enjoy when kids come knocking the door asking for trick or treat 🙂 Ok now speaking about halloween there are variety of spooky dishes made for it and these cupcakes as suggested by nalini It can be made into a mummy cupcake but I made a spider one . So for my eggless cakes theme as these cupcakes can be converted to can I made these super spongy cupcake.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Lets move to recipe ..

Recipe Source : +nalini suresh

Ingredients

3/4 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp espresso powder / Instant Bru pd
11/2 sticks salted butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp ground Flax seeds + 6 tbsp water ( soaked for 10 mins)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Yogurt
1/4 cup Milk ( extra if needed – optional)

For making spider garnish

Frosting
Chocolate vermicelli sprinklers
Black Licorice Strings
Candy pearls / M n M’s

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tin with holders.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso / Instant Bru powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the flaxseeds mixture and mix well. Add vanilla extract and beat until just combined.
Mix the flour mixture in butter mixture little by little and followed by yogurt , If the batter is too very thick you can add milk to thin a bit but now too very thin . Pour the batter into cupcake holders.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

I decorated my cupcake like spider but you can make mummy garnish too.
Frost the cake with blue or any color frosting and cover the frosted area with chocolate vermicelli sprinklers.
Cut black licorice strings to desired length for leg and insert on sides of cupcakes.
Use two candies / pearls for eyes.

Tips

Decorate cupcakes as you like can be a mummy , spider or boo any way to fit the halloween theme.
You can convert this cupcake in to cake by baking the batter in a cake pan.

Sending to just not the cakes

sending to cooking 4 all seasons

Eggless Sathumaavu/ Health Mix Vanilla Cake

October 10, 2013 By

I have already tried the sathumaavu cake version shared by a non blogger for my event ” Come on – lets cook buddies ” but still wanted to experiment with it and so made this super moist and a soft cake . This cake is little dense as we have used healthy mix / sathumavu in it but they are so so moist and who will say No to a healthy cake . This cake can be frosted or even without frosting it tastes yummm.

Sathumaavu is a health mix powder which can be consumed by any aged people bcoz it is filled with nutrients needed for all ages.This in india are given to growing kids mainly as improves child development and body building . Sathumaavu kanji / porridge is a very very healthy way to have this ingredient . Sathumaavu is made with Ragi, Corn, Parboiled Rice, Wheat,Green gram dal, Spilt gram dal, Almond/Badam,Cashew nuts, Barley, Peanut,Sago, Horse gram -which is made into powder and used for making porridge , seeing the ingredients you can guess how healthy they are . So thats y its is called “Sathu ” means Healthy and “Maavu” means Flour, an health mix pd .

Cake with sathumaavu / health mix is a delicious and a healthy tea time cake or can be a dessert . This I made for my second week of BM under eggless cakes theme .Lets move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

Maida – 1 cup
Sathumaavu/ Health mix – 1/2 cup
Condensed milk – 3/4 cup
Baking pd – 1 tsp
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Apple cider Vinegar – 1 tbsp
Milk – 1/2 cup ( extra if needed )
Vanilla extract – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 3 tbsp

Method

Sieve maida, sathu maavu ,baking pd, baking soda in a bowl.
Grease and flour the cake tray and preheat the oven at 350F.
In another bowl add the we ingredients milk, condensed milk, oil, vanilla extract and mix well.
Now slowly fold the flour mixture with the wet ingredients and for a semi liquid batter.
Add extra milk if you feel the batter is very thick only to make it semi liquid .

At last at the apple cider vinegar and fold it in the batter, do not over mix it.
Immediately transfer the prepared batter in the greased cake pan.
Bake this in preheated oven at 350 F for 15 – 20 min till a toothpick inserted in the cake come out clean.
Once the cake is done cool it in the wire rack and turn it upside down in a plate.

If you wish you can frost this cake with some butter cream or enjoy them as is like a tea time cake.

Tips

Adjust the condensed milk as per the sweetness you are looking for.
This cake tastes delicious when served warm but can last for day .
If you don’t have apple cider vinegar you can use Distilled vinegar or lemon juice instead it is just to react with Baking pd and soda so that they fluff nicely.

Old fashioned Ginger Orange Beer Juice ( Non Alcoholic )

October 5, 2013 By

Today as this is the first edition of cooking from Cookbook challenge. I love to hunt for cook books with some traditional and unknown recipes but try them so rarely so this event will help me to try more recipes from the cook books I own . Thanks to +Srivalli Jetti who is the brain child of this lovely thought of making use of our offline sources this way effectively . So am here with first post for this event .

As halloween is nearing here I found the ” Best halloween treats ” Cook Book and wanted make a refreshing juice for halloween . You might be wondering what??? Did i make beer ???.. Certainly Not It was a beer recipe But we drank it as an juice but I have given how to turn them Beer too. As the pics in the cook book attracted me to make this Beer which i turned to an Non alcoholic drink . I have tweaked the recipe and made this as a delicious juice.This is a perfect halloween juice /Beer .Lets Move on to the recipe ..

Recipe Source : Best halloween Treats cook book

Ingredients

Juice from 4 -5 orange
1 lemon
Ginger- 2 pieces finger size (chopped)
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp honey
1/2 cup hot water
1 orange ( to grate the zest)
1 cup Sprinkling water (chilled)
Ice cubes (if needed)

Method

Grate the zest from lemon and orange and keep it aside .
Squeeze the lemon juice from the lemon and keep it aside.
In a blender put the chopped ginger, sugar, honey and give it a pulse.
Add orange juice, orange zest, lemon zest, hot water and blend them till well combined.
Refrigerator this for 2-3 hours /If you refrigerate for more than 24 hours or up to 5 days you can taste a real beer But we drank them as a juice though.

In a glass fill this juice 3/4 and then top the sprinkling water to it.
If needed add crushed ice and serve them chilled.

CC Challenge of the month

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33

Nukti / Sweet Boondhi / Eenipu Boondhi

October 4, 2013 By

As all know diwali is nearing I wanted to try this sweet boondhi which is one of my fav snack to munch, which can be made at home a very simple one . The only thing you need is a perforated spoon/ boondhi ladle to make them . Boondhi /Nukti is an rajasthani sweet snack which is prepared for any festive occasions . When i was small we used to travel rajasthan for our holidays these sweet snacks were made in plenty amount to feed the whole village . In anyone’s Home if there is an happy occasion then they shared this Nukti to all the homes in that village .This succulent snack where a great pass time muches for me. As the ingredients are very simple the trick is to make them round which i have some what got I hope.

As they are called as sweet Boodhi or Eenipu boondhi in southern India parts they are called Nukuti in marwadi. In rajasthan they usually serve these Nukti with spicy sev and the combo seriously is so yummy. These are the first step to make boondhi ladoo but the quantity may differ. So for my second day for BM I have chosen this rajasthani Nukti / sweet boodhi for festive theme.Lets move on to this delicious Nukti or sweet boondhi recipe ..

Ingredients

Gram flour / Besan – 2 cups
Color – Red , yellow , green (Totally optional)
Water to make a not too watery not too thick batter
Oil for deep frying + 2 tsp Hot oil to be added to batter

Sugar syrup

Sugar – 3 cups
Water – 1 1/2 cups
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
saffron strands few
Cardamom pd a pinch

Method

In a bowl sieve besan add water and make a (Not too thick Nor too watery even ) batter of it with out any lumps and keep it aside for 15 mins . To make in different colors divide the batter into three parts and add the color red , green , yellow to the divided batter respectively.

In the mean while take sugar and water in a sauce pan and boil them till you attain one string consistency. So prepare a clear syrup and test the string by dropping a drop of sugar syrup on a plate and sticking them on your forefinger and thumb , if you see one thread then it has attain one string consistency .
Add lemon juice to the sugar syrup to avoid crystallization , then add cardamom, saffron strands to it and keep it aside .
Now heat oil in a kadai check the oil by adding a small quantity of batter if they rise instantly then your oil is ready.
Before frying add 2 tsp of hot oil in the batter and mix well.
Using the Boondhi ladle or perforated spoon pour little batter on it . The batter will drop in the oil in drops forming a circular shape.
You can either tap the edge of the ladle or use the spoon to press the boondhi’s batter out of the perforated spoon / ladle.
Add the batter little by little and fry them in batches.
Fry them till they turn very light brown and crispy.
Once fried remove the boondhi’s with the help of another perforated spoon and transfer them to sugar syrup.
Repeat the same till all the batter is over and transfer the fried boondhi to sugar syrup. Give the boondhi’s in sugar syrup a mix so that all the boondi gets coated with syrup.

Now leave them for at least 1 -2 hour in open air so that they soak in sugar syrup well and dry off.
Sweet Boondi is ready to eat. Serve them warm with sev
You can store it in an air-tight container for atleast 15 days and serve it in every meal of the day.

Tips

If you want the perfect round shaped boondi take a spoon deip the end of the spoon with batter and drop it in hot oil if you see the drops falling form roundels then it is correct consistency batter if it forms tails then you knead to this the batter by add little don’ add to much water even as that may not puff your boondhi’s up.
Clean the perforated spoon each time you add the batter this even is a great time to make the boondhi’s round .

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33

Sending To priya’s versatile recipes and Spicy Treat

Sending to cooks joy

Thengai Mangai Soya bean Sundal

October 3, 2013 By

As navratri is nearing and only few days left I wanted make this sundal for this festive occasion . Navratri in India is celebrated in a very grand manner where Bengali’s have durga pooja. Hindu’s have Golu, And some perform fast the 9 days in this festival. We have pooja for our goddess make sweets and offer her the 9 days but some simple have made it two first and last day and other days they offer gudd or jaggery to goddess.In our home my mom used to make some sweets all 9 days before .

When I was small I always awaited for this navratri arrival as My friends used to call me for visiting their Home to see Golu. Golu is a toy festival celebrated during the festival of Navratri in Southern India.This is an exhibition of various dolls .I always used to get a handful of sundal for one visit to see this Toy exhibition. So here is my fav healthy sundal. So for my first day of BM under festival them I am sharing this delicious sundal navratri spl 🙂 Lets Move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

Soya bean – 1 cup ( soaked for 2 -3 hours in Hot water )
Dried Red chillies – 2 Nos
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Grated Coconut – 3-4 tbsp
Raw Mango – chopped 1/4 cup
Grated carrot – 1/4 cup
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Oil – 1 tbsp
Coriander leave to garnish
Salt to taste

Method

I soaked the soya beans on the same day for 3-4 hours in hot water but if you are prepared prior to make them you can soak them overnight.
Pressure cook soya beans with little water and small amt of salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles ( It shd not turn mushy). strain the water and keep it aside
In a pan heat oil , add mustard seeds after they splutter add urad dal and curry leaves .
Saute till the urad dal turns golden brown , then add red chilles , cooked soya beans and mix them well.
Now add grated carrots , chopped raw mango and saute for while , add grated coconut in the end .

Add salt as per you taste (remember you have already added salt for soya bean while cooking so add it as needed) ,mix well, garnish with coriander leaves and serve them warm.

Tips

Soya beans can be soaked over nite but if you forgot to do so just soak then in hot water for 2-3 hours and then pressure cook this works as well for me .
I like to keep the raw Mango in chunks . If you want you can grate them even

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33

Linking it to “Vegan Thursday “. You can check the other members in this new group “Vegan Thrusday” Here.

Sending To priya’s versatile recipes and Spicy Treat

Zafrani Sevaiya Malai Kulfi

October 1, 2013 By

So here comes the final recipe for A-Z theme in Blogging marathon. Seriously am going to miss this theme It was so much fun cooking A-Z recipe and I also enjoyed the recipes shared by our BM members . I have learned so many new recipes with in these few days and virtually enjoyed this A-Z feast a lot . The BM group members have been so much encouraging throughout the series and have been leaving such motivating comments . Thank you so much dearies.

Now coming to today’s final letter from me is a delicious and creamy , chilled delight. This an yummy kulfi which I tried and they came out really yummy . When i was small i used to carve for road side kulfi’s a lot especially that semiya ice which had semiya peeping out of the kulfi or Kutchi ice 🙂 So remembering that Nostalgic memories I wanted to end My A-Z series with this creamy seviyan kulfi with zafaran or saffron flavor . This is a creamy malai kulfi an Indian ice cream to which I added vermicelli and they tasted yummy !! Lets quickly move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

Whole Milk – 3 cups
Custard pd – 1 tbsp ( I used vanilla flavor)
Condensed Milk – 1 tin or less depending upon your taste.
Colored /plainVermicelli – 4 tbsp
Pistachios – 3 tbsp ( chopped)
Saffron strands few.

Method

Boil the milk in a pan at low flame Till it thicken’s a bit .
Then add the vermicelli and cooked them till done.
In another bowl add custard powder 3 tbsp water / milk and mix them slowly without forming any lumps and keep it aside.
While the vermicelli is done add the condensed milk and boil for some more time stirring them continuously.

Now add the custard pd liquid to the milk and stir them . After a while the milk will thicken and coat the spoon .
Add pistachios and Switch off the flame , let the milk cool for a while.
After they cool down a bit transfer the milk in to the popsicle or kulfi moulds.

Refrigerate till the kulfi is set about 4-5 hours.
After they are set take of the moulds and keep them on warm water for 5 mins (No water shd go in to the moulds).
Then carefully unmold the kulfi’s by pulling them out.
Serve them immediately.

Tips :

Keep on stirring the milk else it may burn in the bottom .
Cool down the milk mixture before transferring to molds.
Carefully un mould the kulfi’s else with help of a knife remove edges of the kulfi and un mold it. Kulfi can also be cut in to rounds and serve .
If you want you add rose water for extra flavor but i didn’t as this zafarni kulfi i wanted it to be saffron flavored.
Keep the molds in freezer till the kulfi’s are well set.

Completing My A-Z themed dishes successfully 🙂 Thanks to all my readers and bloggers for been so supportive 🙂

Logo courtesy : Preeti

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

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“Y”- Brahmin style Rice Platter (Yelumicham pazham sadham , Yellu saadham, Yeeruvalli Kozhambu, Yelumicham pazham Rasam, Yenna Vazhakai, Yelumicham Pazha Urugai, Yogurt sweetened (Mango flavor))

September 30, 2013 By

I was thinking of the letter Y and randomly came this idea of making a Y letter platter to me . I enjoyed a lot making this delicious Rice platter for Y . As we are only one letter away and this series of A-Z theme is coming to an end I will be missing all the fun we had from past few days cooking with letters . So for the fulfillment I wanted to make a platter with a letter and so did I make them yesterday. Me and my H thoroughly enjoyed this Months Blogging Marathon as i was able to cook some un known dishes for my H and he was really happy to explore :). Thanks to Blogging marathon members and +Srivalli Jetti for this lovely theme . I will surely be missing this theme a lot .

Now coming to letter Y . I wanted it to be simple and a healthy platter with no onion or garlic so totally brahmin style rice platter. As you all know traditionally Brahims eat No garlic No onion so This is a perfect Brahim style platter as I have used No garlic No onion in these recipe If you notice. To start with I wanted lemon rice included on the Menu as this is an authentic south Indian recipe made for all occasion. Then comes the sesame rice which is a flavorful and healthy rice , some what like a normal podi rice but taste entirely different. So next to go with plain rice I decided to make a Rasam and a Kozhambu . For Rasam i chose a Simple and quick lemon rasam and For Kozhambu I wanted to make this brahim yeruvalli kozhambhu from my a cook book that i own so made this tangy kozhambu . To accompany the rice i made Yenna vazhaikai ( Plantain Fry) I made this with plantain but you can also make it with raw banana and also made an instant lime pickle .At last I found that I missed a dessert So occupy the desserts place I made sweetened Yogurt (mango flavored). So this is how i Planned the Menu Hope you all Like it.

Menu For Letter “Y” – Brahmin Style Rice Platter

Rice varities

Yelumicha pazha saadham (Lemon Rice)
Yellu Saadham (Sesame rice)

For Plain Rice

Yelumicha pazham Rasam (Lemon rasam)
Yervalli Kozhambu (Veg Brahmin style Kozhambu)

Accompaniment

Yenna Vazhakkai ( Plantain/ raw banana fry)
Yelumizha pazha Urgai (Instant Lemon pickle)
Yennail Poricha appalam ( Deep fried papadam)

Dessert

Yogurt sweetened (mango flavor)

Yelumicha Pazha Saadham (Lemon Rice)

Ingredients

Rice 1 cup
Lemon juice 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
Bengal gram / channa dal – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Green chillies (chopped) – 3 Nos
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida a pinch

Method

Cook the rice with salt in a rice cooker with 2 cups of water or a vessel with water as needed till it is done. Leave the rice a bit grain and not very mushy so that every grain of rice is separate .
In a pan heat oil add Mustard seed after they splutter add urad dal and channa dal and saute them till they turn light brown.
Then add curry leaves, Turmeric pd, Green chillies , asafoetida and saute them for few sec.
Mix in the cooked rice, add extra salt if needed and stir well till well combined.
Remove the pan from flame and mix in the lemon juice.

Stir well and serve.

Yellu Saadham (Sesame Rice)

Ingredients

Rice 1 cup
Salt to taste

To roast and grind
White sesame / Til/ yellu – 1/2 cup
Coconut (grated) – 1/2 cup
Red chilli dried – 5 Nos
Roasted Peanuts – 2 tbsp

For tempering
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin seed – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 1-2 sprigs
Ghee – 2 tbsp ( can be added if you need more)

Method

Cook the rice with water and salt . I cooked my rice in rice cooker if you cook them in loose water ensure that you rice remains grain and separated.
Heat an non stick pan and start roasting all the ingredients one by one under ” To roast and grind” after you finish roasting transfer it to a mixer and blend them nice and coarse pd without adding water to it.
Still you can see the ground mixture might have some moisture in it but thats ok.
Now heat ghee in a pan splutter some mustard seeds, cumin seeds,curry leaves and then add the ground mixture and saute them for a while till you loose some moisture from it . Switch of the flame and mix in the cooked rice to it .

If needed you can drizzle some more ghee on it and enjoy them warm .

Yelumicha pazham Rasam (Lemon Rasam)

Ingredients

Tomato -1 no medium ( Blanch and remove the skin )

Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Cumin pd – 1 tsp

Rasam pd – 2 tsp ( Adjust to your taste)

Pepper pd – 1/4 tsp

Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp

Cumin seed – 1/4 tsp

Water as needed

salt to taste

Ghee – 1 tsp

Method

Blanch the tomato and remove the skin . Squeeze the tomato in the blanched water .
After you squeeze all the juice from tomato add cumin pd , turmeric pd , pepper pd, salt, rasam pd and mix them well.
Now in a pan heat ghee splutter cumin seeds, mustard seed then add the tomato water + extra water if needed to make the rasam thin about 1 cup or more and let it get a single boil and then turn of the heat add the lemon juice and stir .
Serve lemon rasam warm with steamed rice .

Yeruvalli Kozhambu ( Traditional Brahmin Kozhambu)

(Adapted from Samyal cook book by Viji varadarajan )

Ingredients

Potato – 1 No (chopped )

Okra – 8 No (chopped)

Carrot – 1 ( cut them in to rounds)

Drumstick – 1 (cut)

Thick Tamarind Pulp -1 1/2 tsp

Sambhar pd – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

To Roast and Grind

Coconut (grated) – 1 cup

Red chilli dried – 5 No

Fenugreek – 1 tsp

salt to taste

To temper

Oil – 2 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Method

Boil potato, carrot , drumstick in water and keep a side.
In a non stick pan dry roast the fenugreek first till light brown then add red chillies and roast them .
Now turn of the flame and add the coconut and mix them in the Hot pan.
Transfer this to a mixer jar , after the cool a bit add water and blend the to coarse pd.

Now heat a pan with oil add mustard seeds, curry leaves after they splutter add the okra and saute for a while .
Then add other cooked veggies and Mix in the tamarind pulp to it.
Add 1/2 – 1 cup of water to it after they boil add the ground pd, sambhar pd , salt and cook them till they become a homogeneous mixture.

Serve them Warm with steamed rice.

Accompaniments

Yenna Vazhakai ( Plantain/ Raw Banana fry)

Ingredients

Plantain / raw Banana – 1 large

Red chilli pd – 1/4 tsp

Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp

Sambhar pd – 1 tsp (adjust to your taste)

Salt to taste

Oil 1 tbsp

Method

Peel the Plantain and cut them in to thin circles.
In a bowl put the cut plantain, red chilli pd, turmeric ps, sambhar pd, salt and coat the plaintai well.
Keep the marinated mixture a side for at least 15 mins .
Heat oil in a non stick pan add the marinated palintain and roast them in a medium flame till they are nice and crispy stiring them occasionally .
Serve them Hot as a side for any rice variety.

Yellumicha pazha urugai (Instant Lime pickle)

Ingredients

Lime / Lemon – 2 No ( medium sized) – I used Lime

Red chilli pd – 1/4 tsp (adjust to your taste)

Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp

Mustard seed – 1/4 tsp

salt to taste

Asafeotida a pinch

Sugar – 1 tsp ( optional)

Oil – 2 tsp

Method

Chop each Lime in to 4 – 6 pieces.
In a pan heat oil add Asafoetida and mustard seed after they splutter addthe chopped lime and saute for few seconds about 2 sec.
Add turmeric pd , red chilli pd and salt to it.
If you lime is too sour you can add sugar to it balance the sourness else just skip it . The lime i used were sour so i added sugar to it.
Just cook for 10 sec and the switch of the flame . You instant Lime pickle is ready.

Yogurt Sweetened (Mango Flavor)

Ingredients

Yogurt – 1/2 cup

Mango pulp – 1/4 cup

Sugar as needed ( depend on the sweetness of mango)

Cardamom pd ( optional)

Method

In a blender blend the mango pulp, yogurt and sugar till nice and smooth.
Your fresh mango flavored yogurt is ready to serve.
Tastes best if chilled and served.

Finishing Y with this Brahim style Y platter 🙂 See you tomorrow with Letter Z 🙂

Logo courtesy : Preeti

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

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Xigua Niu Nai (Taiwanese Watermelon Milk juice)

September 28, 2013 By

Am so immensely happy that all have been enjoying My A-Z theme and leaving so many lovely comments thank you all BM members and my dear readers . My exploring journey seems like a never ending journey as i have so much to learn and Cook. Today’s letter is X and after so much googling i found a delicious drink which fitted perfect.

Today my blog is landing in Taiwan , East Asian state which is popular for its enormous supply of fruit. You can find all types of fruits over there . Thinking for X letter I wanted to make an delicious drink as I wanted a Drink in my A-Z list so comes this addictive milk juice which perfectly fitted the letter and my themes.
So X for Xigua nui nai under International theme , Xigua which means Watermelon , Niu Means Milk, Nai is juice so a perfect refreshment to have any time in a day. I was so addicted to this made them twice and drank them all alone 😛 . Taiwan is famous for it flavored milk which can be found carters in every store But nothing is more better than home made this is super simple to make and an addictive flavored milk which is so smooth and delicious . So with out further ado we will move on to the recipe.
Recipe source : Here

Ingredients

1/4 part of a medium sized seedless watermelon (about 3 lb about 6 cups seedless watermelon chunks)
2 cup milk
1-2 Tsp sugar (optional – if needed adjust to your taste)

Method

Take a seedless watermelon cut of the rind part and chopped the fruit in to dice’s .
Put the watermelon chunks and the milk into the blender. If the watermelon is very sweet, omit the sugar. If your watermelon is not sweet enough, you can add the sugar .
Blend the watermelon mixture for until they are well pureed with out any bits.
Strain the mixture through a sieve. Store the juice in the refrigerator and serve chilled over ice.

Tips

In Taiwan they make this milk even with papaya so can make this Milk juice with papaya even . You can also try and experiment with other such as pomegranate, orange, honey dew melon etc .

Logo courtesy : Preeti

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Wali Na Maharage (Rice and beans) – Tanzanian Red Beans Gravy

September 27, 2013 By

For today’s letter W we are traveling straight to Tanzania , Africa. In Tanzanian cuisine spicy foods are common and they make lots of coconut milk base curries. the cuisine is similar to Indian cuisine like chapathi, korma, kebab , samosa are even made there. I was really happy to know that most of the recipes are common in Tanzania because of the huge Indian migration there.

As there is a large Indian population living in Tanzania this recipe is said to be influenced from the Indian curries and as you know in south India we make coconut based gravy this is similar to what we make But am sharing this under International theme and this curry is a famous Tanzanian dish. Wali Na maharage simply means “Rice and Beans”, in Tanzania every recipe served is flavored with spices and even the plain rice is flavored with spices. The rice is cooked with cardamom cinnamon, clove, anise and bay leaves so the flavors are highlighted . I made the popular street food which is qamdi Which was a Somalian dish from africa , serve this delicious aromatic curry and a flavorful rice with it an very filling meal is ready to go.
Lets move on to the recipe of this delicious curry !!

Ingredients

1 cup Red kidney beans (soaked over night and pressure cooked
2 cups coconut cream/ Coconut Milk (fresh / store bought)
1/4 tsp Turmeric pd
1 onion ( medium sized chopped)
2 tomatoes (medium sized chopped)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
2 Slit Green chillies ( adjust to your taste)

Method

Cook the beans in pressure cooker if using fresh (I used tinned ).
Heat a pan add oil add onions and saute them till translucent then add green chilli and saute.
Now add tomatoes and cook them till mushy , after which add the red beans and milk them well.
Add coconut milk and cook them till they boil for few minutes .

Remove from stove serve hot with flavored rice or quamdi /mahamri.

Tips

For flavored rice just cook the rice with all the dry spices like cinnamon, clove, cardamom, bay leaves .
This curry even goes well with our Indian breads too.
If using Coconut cream you can add required amount of water.

Logo courtesy : Preeti

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