May 13, 2009
Moongdal Brinjal Sambhar, Pesarattu.
Only when typing the recipe i realised this meal has too much moong dal 
.If you think so too, try moong-dal sambhar with rice and pesarattu with coconut or ginger chutney.
Pesarattu
Ingredients
- Whole green moong dal – 2 cups
- Rice – 1/2 cup
- Green chillies – 4 to 5
- Cumin seeds – 1 tablespoon
- Curry leaves – 2 springs
- Cilantro – few
- Salt.
- oil.
Method
- Soak the moong dal and rice overnight.
- Grind all the ingredients with little water except cumin seeds to a dosa like batter.
- Add the cumin seeds and mix well.
- Heat a pan. ladle some batter on to the pan and spread all over the pan using the back of the ladle.
- Add some more oil around the edges of the pesarattu and cook on both sides for 3- 4 minutes.
Moong dal – brinjal sambhar
Ingredients
- Moong dal – 1 cup
- Indian eggplants (brinjal) – 6 to 7
- Tomatoes – 3
- Red Chillies – 3
- Sambhar Powder- 1 tablespoon.
- Curry leaves – 1 sprig
- Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
- urad dal – 3/4 teaspoon
- onion – 1 small
- Garlic cloves – 3
- oil – 3 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
- cilantro to garnish
- Tamarind pulp – 3 tablespoons.
Method
- Pressure cook the moong dal with little salt and water.
- Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard seeds, urad dal,curry leaves,garlic,red chillies and fry them for a minute.
- Add the finely chopped onion and saute till until they turn light brown.
- Add the tomatoes and cook them for few minutes.
- Cut the eggplant to small pieces.The idea is to infuse the eggplant flavor in the sambhar.you may not get that flavor when you use big pieces of eggplant.
- Add the eggplant and 2 to 3 pinches of salt .Cook them till the eggplants are done.dont overcook the veggies.
- Add the dal,sambhar powder,turmeric powder,salt and bring it to a boil.
- Add the tamarind pulp and cook for two more minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro.
I’ll be not be posting any recipes for few weeks as i am planning on my india trip.Until i see you again, all you wonderful people who visit my blog ,take good care of yourselves and eachother .
April 7, 2009
Mickey Dosa,fruit kabobs with yogurt dipping sauce
This is a method than a recipe.you can do many variations with it.
Mickey dosa
- All purpose flour – 1cup
- Ragi (Finger millet) flour – 1/4 cup
- Whole wheat flour – 1/4 cup
- Finely Grated carrot – 1/2 cup
- Ginger -garlic paste – 1/4 teaspoon
- Egg – 1
- Salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- Butter
Method
- Heat little butter in a pan.Add the carrots,ginger-garlic paste, salt and pepper .Saute them till the carrots are cooked.Let it cool.
- In a bowl,add all the above ingredients ,little water ,carrots and mix well.The batter should have pancake batter consistency.
- To make dosa,heat butter in a pan.Take a ladle full of batter ,pour it on to the pan to make round shaped face.Pour a very small spoonful of batter to make little ears.
- Cook on both sides for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve it with ketchup or chutney.
Other variations
- You can add mashed potatoes,grated cheese,grated cabbage .
- You can use milk in the place of water while making batter.
- If you want soft and fluffy dosa, add little baking powder and baking soda.
- If you want crispy dosa ,you can add rava or corn meal.
Fruit kabobs and yogurt dipping sauce
Method
- Cut the fruits to 1 inch pieces.Skewer them on to the wooden skewers.
- Mix yogurt with a little bit of honey and few drops of vanilla essence.
- Serve the fruit kebobs with the dippin sauce.
This goes to the Monthly mingle 31~ kids lunches, event hosted by srivalli and started by Meeta
March 18, 2009
Chicken masala, birthday party and a thing of beauty.. :)
my son has turned one! yayyy!
It was so tempting to see the left over Cake lay on the kitchen island . Since i am on diet 
, i didnt want the temptation to win over me.. so i quickly packed the leftover cake and stored it in the refrigerator (No.. i am not going to eat it ever ).I heard someone say this -’ A minute on the lip ,forever on the hip ‘ . And now this has become my slogan . As i said, since iam on diet i am cutting back on rice. I try to make flavorful and spicy meals so that i dont miss rice that much.The following recipe is my mother’s chicken recipe.My mother though a strict vegetarian, makes the best chicken masala without even tasting it.you can use chicken breasts,thighs or even drumsticks for this recipe.
Chicken masala
Ingredients
- Chicken cut into 1 inch pieces – 1/2 pound
- Ginger garlic paste- 1 1/4 tablespoons
- Fennel seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
- Whole pepper corns – 3/4 teaspoon
- Cinnamon ,cloves,bayleaf – 1 stick,4,1 respectively
- onion finely chopped – 1 cup
- Tomatoes – 4
- Chilly powder – 2 teaspoons
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Dhania powder (coriander seeds) – 3 teaspoons
- Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Tamarind paste - 2 teaspoons (can be adjusted to taste)
- Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
- Cilantro to garnish
- oil – 3 tablespoons
Method
- Heat oil in a pan.Add the fennel seeds,Bay leaf,cloves,cinnamon sticks,curry leaves and pepper corns.fry them on medium flame.Pepper corns may burst .watch out for it and stay away
- Add the finely chopped onions and cook it till it turns golden brown.
- Add the ginger- garlic paste and saute them until you get rid of raw smell .
- Add the finely chopped tomatoes and cook till they are well done.
- Add the chilli powder,turmeric powder,salt,dhania powder and cook them for a min.
- Add the chicken pieces and a little water to it.Mix well,cover it with lid and cook well on medium flame until the chicken is well done.Add the tamarind paste and cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve it with rice.
My hubby surprised me with a chocolate fondue on valentine’s day.It tasted scrumptiousssssss though he scorched it a little bit .I made the strawberry hearts for him.These two looked too pretty to eat….so we just left it and had the rest .
