1. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs – 1 cup
2. Grated Parmesan Cheese – 2 tablespoons
3. Grated Mozzarella Cheese – 1 tablespoon
4. Finely Chopped Garlic – 1/2  teaspoon
5. Finely Chopped Green chillies – 1 teaspoon
6. Finely Chopped Cilantro – 2 tablespoons
7. Salt – a pinch
8. oil – 2 tablespoons

Method

• Grease the baking tray with vegetable oil.
• To make the stuffing,mix all the ingredients except mushrooms together.
• Take the stem out of the mushrooms.
• Run cold water over the mushrooms and clean them.
• Pat it dry using a paper towel.
• Take about teaspoon of the stuffing and stuff the mushroom.Don’t use too much stuffing because the mushroom shrinks while baking.
• Arrange the mushroom in the baking tray.
• Preheat the conventional oven to 375 deg F.
• Bake the mushroom for 20 mins.
• Take it out of oven ,allow it to cool and enjoy.

You are seeing stuffed mushrooms before baking.I used combination of button and baby bella mushrooms.

Current Mood – Silly

Current Song -  akkako enna……..

Ingredients

1. Chana dal – 3/4 cup
2. Fennel seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
3. Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
4. Cloves,cinnamon stick,bayleaf – 3,1,1 respectively
5. Ginger – 1/2 inch
6. Green chillies – 4
7. Garlic cloves – 3
8. Curry leaves – few
9. Cilantro – few
10. Tomatoes – 2
11. Chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon ( you can add more if you want)
12. Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
13. Salt – to taste
14. Oil – 2 tablespoons

Method

• Soak the chana dal in water for 2 hours.
• Grind the soaked chana dal ,fennel seeds,salt in a mixer and make a batter.It should be like idli batter.
• Make idlis out of the batter using idli cooker.Just steam it for 7 to 10 minutes like you make idlis and keep it aside.
• Grind ginger,garlic and green chillies to a fine paste.Chop the onions.
• Heat oil in pan.Add the mustard seeds,cinnamon ,cloves,bayleaf .when the mustard seeds splutter,add the chopped onion and curry leaves .
• Saute the onion for few minutes and add the ginger-garlic-chilli paste.
• Saute for few more minutes and add the chopped tomatoes.
• When the tomatoes are well cooked, crumble the chana dhal idlis and add it to the tomatoes.
• Add water,chilli powder,turmeric powder ,salt and mix well.
• Mash it with a spoon for few seconds and add some more water.
• Let it cook for 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat when the vadacurry becomes thick.
• Garnish with cilantro.
• Serve hot with idli or dosa.

Current Mood – curious

Place : Basement  with sonny

Song – Deep peace of  the running wave to you

Ingredients

Besan – 1 cup

Sugar – 1 cup

Rock candy (kalkandu) – few

Cashews – few

Cardamom (powdered) – 1/4 teaspoon

Ghee/ oil – for frying

Salt – 2 pinches

Baking soda – 2 pinches

Method

For making boondhi

• Mix besan,salt,baking soda with little water and make a thick batter.
• Heat oil in a kadai.You can fry it in ghee too.I mixed both.This way , i got the flavor of ghee and didnt feel guilty
• Consistency should be thick enough that  it doesnt drop  through the slotted spoon by itself
• When the oil is screaming hot, pour about a spoonful of batter on the slotted spoon and with the help of another spoon, keep stirring the batter in circular motion over the hot oil.
• Keep stirring the batter till all the batter is dropped in the hot oil.Cook for few seconds and drain the boodhi in a tissue paper.

For a perfect round boondhi

1. Oil should be very hot when you drop the boondhi.So everytime ,wait for oil to get heated up.
2. If the batter is thin, you may not get the perfect round shape.
3. Wash the slotted spoon and wipe it with a kitchen towel after frying each batch.

For making laddu

• Make the sugar syrup by heating the sugar with little water.
• Keep boiling the syrup  until you get one string consistency.
• fry cashews in little ghee and keep it aside.
• Add the cardamom  to the syrup.
• Add the rock candy and cashews to the bhoondi.
• Apply some ghee to both hands.Add the syrup little by little to the bhoondi and start making laddus while its still warm.
• Let is set for 15 minutes and serve.

My eldest sister taught me this recipe when she came down here for a visit.Here is the recipe…

To make dough

• To 3 cups of flour , salt,add approximately 1 cup of lukewarm water.
• Knead for few minutes till you get a nice soft dough.
• Let it rest for 1/2 hour.

Mooli paratha

For stuffing

1. Grated Mooli (mullangi)- 4 cups (i used small pink radish)
2. Cumin – 1 teaspoon
3. Green chillies – 5
4. Ajwain – 1/4 teaspoon
5. Chat masala – 1/4 teaspoon ( this may sound weird..but trust me,it tasted great)

Grate the mooli using a grater or food processor.Add some salt and keep it aside for 30 mins.The salt will draw out all the moisture from the mooli.Take a handful and squeeze out all the water.Repeat the process till you get all the water out.you can use this water to make dough(it’s optional ).Now mix rest of the ingredients with mooli.

For stuffing (Cauliflower)

1. Grated cauliflower – 4 cups
2. Grated Ginger – 1 1/2 teaspoon
3. Finely chopped green chillies – 1 1/2 teaspoon
4. Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
5. Finely grated coriander leaves
6. Garam masala – 1 teaspoon (or your favourite masala powder)
7. Oil -1 tablespoon

When i make cauliflower stuffing, i like to saute the cauliflower in oil.This way you can get rid of the raw smell of cauliflower.Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a pan.Add the cumin seeds,ginger,green chillies,garam masala and saute for few secs.Add the caulifower and cook for 2 to 3 mins.Add the cilantro and mix well.

To make parathas

• Take a small ball of dough,dust it with some flour.Roll the dough with rolling pin to a small circle.
• Take a ball of stuffing and  place it in the middle of circle.gather the sides together and make a ball.
• Roll out the parathas to desired thickness.
• Heat the tava and place the paratha on the tava.Add oil around the edges.
• Cook the parathas for about 2 minutes on each side.

My friend once said, ‘ it’s a sin to have parathas without butter’ …so enjoy parathas with a dollop of butter

Current mood : Happy

Place : on the couch    hehe 

song : row row row your boat… gently down the stream…

It is often a pretty pic, that triggers me to blog.I am a kind of girl (or woman? ) that eats with eyes first.This  reminds me of  something that my dad told me  - ” It’s not enough if you are good , you should look good aswell“. how true!    ok,I am not going to get philosophical..not me..Let’s move on to recipe ,shall we?

guacamole with baked pita chips is an easy,healthy  and super tasty  snack.This is a spicy version of guacamole.There are so many variations you can make.This is how i make it.

Ingredients

1. Avacado – 1
2. Garlic – 1 clove
3. Chopped onion – 1 tablespoon
4. Chopped Tomatoes – 2 tablespoons
5. Yogurt – 2  tablespoons (i used cream cheese )
6. Red chilli paste – 1/2 teaspoon (You can use any hot peppers)
7. Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
8. Cilantro – little
9. Salt to taste

Method

• Cut the avacado in half.Take out the seed and scoop the flesh with a spoon.
• Throw all the ingredients in a blender or food processor .
• Grind it for few seconds.If you like it chunky,pulse it for few times.
• Serve it with pita chips.

It seems like forever  since i blogged.I have tried various new recipes in the past months but didnt feel like blogging those….My priorities have changed and blogging has definitely taken a back seat..Besides, iam really not getting  time to sit down and blog.Now that my son is trying to express himself through words, we are waiting for him to utter those magical new words which make our day! . Everytime he says a new word, we feel like we have won lottery! .Watching my son grow is amazing and  hubby is  happy and prouddd ! well..that makes me even more happier .

I have been  trying so hard to come out this hibernation mode for quite sometime…I hope it works this time.With all the snow and gusty wind, unable to go out ,i decided to make bhajji for my son.The bhajji mix that you get in stores works perfect aswell.But when i cook for my son, i try to make everything from scratch.This is my new year resolution- to feed my son only home made food.I hope i stick to it….   I am sure everyone has their own version of bhaji mix..this is mine..:)

Ingredients

1. chana Dal – 1 handfuls
2. Rice Flour – 1 tablespoon
3. Ginger Garlic paste – 1/4 teaspoon.
4. Chilli  powder – 1/2 teaspoon  (i just use sambhar powder)
5. Salt
6. Vegetable Oil – for frying
7. Carrot – 1 or 2

Method

• Soak the chana dal for 5-6hours.
• Grind chana dal,chili powder,ginger -garlic paste,salt with little water.Batter  should be like dosa batter.
• Heat oil in frying pan.
• Cut the carrots into thin discs.
• When the oil is hot ,dip the carrots in batter and fry it for about a minute.
• When feeding kids,let it cool completely.Test the temperature and serve .

Ingredients

1. Indian eggplants – 8 to 10
2. Gingelly oil – 4 tablespoons
3. Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
4. Urad dal – 1  teaspoon
5. Chana dal – 1 teaspoon
6. Curry leaves – few
7. red chillies – 5
8. Green chilli – 1
9. Finely chopped Onion – 1 cup
10. Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
11. Tamarind pulp – 1/2 cup
12. Powdered Jaggery – 2 pinches.
13. Salt to taste.

Method

• Brush the eggplants with oil.
• preheat the conventional oven to 425 deg  F .Place the eggplants in a baking sheet pan and roast the eggplants for about 30 to 35 minutes.You can cook the eggplants directly on the stove top too.Either way is fine.
• Take the roasted eggplants out of oven and allow it to cool.
• Peel the skin ,mash it well and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add the mustard seeds,urad dhal ,chana dal,curry leaves ,cilantro and fry for for few seconds.
• Add the chopped garlic,ginger,red chillies ,green chillies ,onion and saute themfor 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add the mashed eggplants,salt,turmeric powder,tamarind paste and mix well.
• Cook it for about 7  to 8 minutes till everything blends together.
• Add little grated jaggery at the end to balance out all the different  flavors.Mix well and take it out of heat.
• Serve with rice.

This sambhar tastes just like hotel sambhar.

Ingredients

1. Chopped veggies (carrots, eggplant,beans)- 4 cups
2. onion medium -1
3. Toor Dal – 3/4 cup
4. Tomatoes – 2
5. Tamarind pulp – 1/2 cup
6. Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon
7. Mustard seeds – 1
8. Curry leaves – 1 sprig
9. Ghee – 3 tablespoons

To Toast and grind

1. Freshly grated coconut – 3 tablespoons
2. Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
3. Chana dal – 2 teaspoons
4. Cumin seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
5. Dry Red chillies – 3 (can be adjusted to suit your taste)

Method

• Soak the toor dal in water for 4-5 hours.
• Pressure cook the veggies,finely chopped tomatoes,toor dal,turmeric powder,tamarind pulp,salt with little water.
• You can also cook the dal and veggies seperately, if you want to.This way, you need not worry about overcooking the veggies.In this case ,no need to soak the dal in water.
• Heat a pan.slowly toast the coconut till it turns to a nice caramel brown color and keep it aside.This is a very important step for a delicious sambhar.
• In the same pan ,toast chana dal,cumin seeds,red chillies till you get a nice aroma.
• On a low heat,toast the coriander powder as it may burn easily.If you using whole coriander seeds,you can toast it along with the other ingredients.
• Add a little water to the toasted ingredients and grind it to a fine paste.
• Now ,add the paste to the cooked toordal-veggie mixture and bring it to a boil.Add water if it is too thick.
• For tempering,heat ghee in a pan,add the mustard seeds,curry leaves,finely chopped onion and saute them for few mins.
• Add it to the sambhar,mix well and garnish with cilantro.

1. Rice – 2 1/2 cups
2. Green Chillies – 4 to 5
3. Onion -1
4. Ginger garlic paste -1 tablespoon
5. Cinnamon stick – 1
6. Cloves – 5
7. Bayleaf -1
8. Cilantro – a bunch
9. Fresh coconut milk – 4 cups + 1 cup water.
10. Salt to taste.

Method

• Heat oil in a pan.Add the cloves,bayleaf,cinnamon stick anf fry for few seconds.
• Add the finely chopped onion, chopped green chilles,ginger-garlic paste,pinch of salt  and saute for few minutes.
• Add half of cilantro and fry for a minute.
• When the raw smell is gone, transfer the contents to the electric rice cooker.
• Add the rice,coconut milk,water ,salt,rest of cilantro and mix everything well.
• Cook the coconut rice as you would the plain white rice.This method is easy than the pressure cooker method.This way you need not worry about rice getting mushy.

Note : serve this rice with simple potato fry or colocasia fry or mild chicken gravy.Any spicy korma or gravy will overpower this dish and you may not thoroughly enjoy coconut flavor.