“The virtues of donations are great, because it helps the needy and at the same time it gives an opportunity to the donor to give the surplus to the people in need ” - Sama Veda
Choose juicy oranges. Half the oranges and squeeze it using a manual citrus squeezer or electrical citrus juicer. Add sugar and water and blend it in a mixie for 1 minute. Serve chilled.
Today, I have received the cookbook from EC of Simple Indian food for winning her WYF:Breakfast event. This was a nice and different experience in blogging. Thank you Suchitra for such a thoughtful and memorable gift. Thanks to all who have voted and supported me.
Chop baby corn and carrot to finger long pieces. Finely chop coriander leaves.
Mix the veggies and coriander leaves to the aama vadai batter. If necessary, sprinkle little water. Deep fry in oil, till golden brown and crispy. Serve hot with tomato ketch-up or sauce.
All of you will be wondering, why I have announced this event, even before the round-up of my ongoing event.
I have been blogging for the past 9 months. I have gone through and also participated in many events and round-ups. All the events, including mine were conducted for a get-together of ours, in cooking and sharing, in the blogging world. Since this is a festive season, I felt of doing something good to the needy through blogging.
All of us, would have helped the orphanages, with a breakfast, three-course-meal or sweets. Even poor people, have some members in their family to help them. But people in orphanages need help only from the society. If somebody reading this, have not done anything to the orphanages before, and now this message has triggered them to do something, I feel it as the success of this event.
Now the rules:
The main rule is :Collage the dish/dishes you have hosted alongwith a photo of orphans relishing your food, to a single photo and combine the method of preparation of each dish to a single post with sub-headings(if you have cooked on your own). If you have ordered the menu from a caterer, or sponsored, just send me the names of the dish, (alongwith a photo of the orphans enjoying your food). Feel free to post even if you have planned to host or distribute only one dish or sweet. The main purpose of this event is to instigate the awareness of hosting and serving the needy. And not our talent in cooking. So, it's enough even if you send a photo of the dishes hosted by you + a photo of the orphans relishing your food(which is a must). Got it?HAPPY HOSTING and now the general rules:
As usual, only vegetarian recipes and no eggs please ( if you post a recipe)
Any bloggers and non- bloggers can participate.
Mail me the following details:
Subject: Food for orphanages Your name: The name of the orphanage(optional): On which occasion / festival : Recipe's name: Link to the post (with photo) to setlur.shanu@gmail.com
Also link the post to my event and logo.
Send in your entries on or before November 30th 2009.
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup Gram dhal - 1 cup Whole white urad dhal - 1/2 cup Dry red chillies - 4 Green chillies - 2 Curry leaves - few Hing Salt - as per taste Oil -1 cup Scraped coconut - 1/2 cup (optional)
METHOD:
Soak toor dhal, urad dhal and half of the gram dhal together for one hour.Soak the remaining half of the gram dhal separately for one hour, drain and keep aside. Chop green chillies and curry leaves finely.
After an hour, drain the water completely and grind the dhals (except the separately soaked gram dhal) with salt, red chillies and hing to a coarse paste by just sprinkling water. Now, add the separately soaked gram dhal, chopped green chillies and curry leaves and mix well. You can also add the scraped coconut, if you wish. Heat oil in a kadai, take out small balls from the ground paste, place it on your palm or a banana leaf, slightly flatten it and drop gently into the oil. Ensure medium heat. Flip on both sides and cook till golden brown. Serve hot.
Whole wheat atta - 2 cups Salt Ghee - for spreading
FOR STUFFING:
Paneer - 200 gms Green chillies - 4 to 5 Coriander leaves - finely chopped - handful Omam(Ajwain) - 1/2 tsp. Salt
METHOD:
Knead atta with salt to a medium soft dough. Knead well for 5 more minutes, and keep it aside.
Wash the paneer well, grate it , and again wash it well and squeeze out the water completely using your hand. Add chopped coriander leaves, omam, salt, and finely chopped green chillies and mix well. Your stuffing is ready now.
Take medium -sized balls from the dough, shape it to a cup and fill it with paneer stuffing and close it from the sides.
OR you can also roll the dough to small puris and fill the stuffing in the centre and close it from the sides.
Dust the balls with flour, and roll it out gently.
Heat a tawa, place the rolled paratha, allow to cook on one side, and when the colour changes, flip it to the other side. Spread some ghee on each side, flip and cook till done.
Serve hot with any side dish of your choice, curd with chaat masala, tomato sauce or tomato ketchup.
Pressure cook toor dhal, mash well and keep aside.
Grate ginger and cut onions finely . Slit green chillies.
In a kadai, heat oil, and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves, slit green chillies, grated ginger, turmeric powder,hing and onions. Saute well till onions are transparent. Now add the mashed dhal, sambhar powder and salt and allow it to boil till thick. Serve hot with rice.
Sometimes, you do not feel like eating (Anna dwesham), OR you"ll not have a taste in your tongue due to some illness, OR morning sickness when pregnant OR may be a stomach upset, OR want to eat something light after a party or function, a tumbler of this rasam will help you. You can mix it with rice also.
INGREDIENTS:
Tamarind - half the size of a lemon Dry red chillies - 1 or 2 Jeera - 2 tsp. Hing Salt Ghee - 1/2 tsp. Curry leaves - few Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.
METHOD:
Grind together jeera and chillies using little water to a paste or powder jeera and chillies coarsely.(DO NOT SAUTE IN OIL)
In a vessel, pour a cup of water, add tamarind, salt and hing and let it boil for a while till it reduces to half. Now add the coarsely ground powder or paste and allow it to boil for sometime. You can smell a nice aroma. Now pour in 3 cups of water and when frothy, remove from fire. Keep aside. In a pan, heat ghee, add mustard seeds and curry leaves and pour over the rasam.
Macaroni is a kind of moderately-extended, machine-made dry pasta. It is hollow, and macaroni does not contain eggs. Macaroni is a borrowing of the Italian word "maccherone" and its plural "maccheroni". Its etymology is debatable. Some scholars consider it related to Greek (makaria), a kind of barley broth. (Source:Wikipedia) Probably, this may not be 100% Italian. I have done this with some alterations to suit Indian tastes. You can call it as chinese style. INGREDIENTS:
Elbow macaroni - 2 cups Water - 1 1/2 litres Oil - 3 tablespoons Carrot - 2 Beans - 100 gms Capsicum - 1 Shelled green peas - 1/4 cup Onions - 2 Jalepano- 4 Ginger - 1" piece Spring onions - 1 small bunch Chopped parsley - 2 teaspoons Soya sauce - 1 tablespoon Chilli sauce - 1 teaspoon Ajinomoto - 1 pinch (optional) Salt - as per taste Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp. Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp.
METHOD:
Julienne ginger, jalepano(green chillies), celery, spring onion(white and green portions separately) and carrot. Cut beans, capsicum and onions to lengthy strips.
Heat water in a wide-mouthed vessel with salt and a tablespoon of oil. When boiling, add the macaroni and stir gently without settling down. Allow it to boil for 5-7 minutes or till soft. Drain completely and immediately run it under cold water. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, and fry onions in high flame.
Add ginger, jalepano, white portion of spring onions and all the vegetables and continue sauting in high flame.
In this stage, you can add ajinomoto(but I have not added it). Now pour in soya sauce and chilli sauce and mix well.
Quickly add the boiled and cooled macaroni. Give it a gentle and total stir till everything mixes well.
Finally, add the chilli flakes, spring onions(green portion) and celery and give a quick stir say for 10 seconds. Serve hot. Sprinkle pepper powder while serving.
This kozhambu is done on PONGAL festival as a side dish for Vennpongal . It is actually Pongal Kuzhambu, coloquially told as pongakkozhambhu. This is slightly watery with lots of vegetables in it. This recipe slightly varies from the normal kuzhambhu and it has its own aroma with the country vegetables available during the season. This is my grandma's and mom's version.
INGREDIENTS:
Tamarind - lemon size
Mixed green vegetables, preferably country vegetables - 2 cups (Any vegetable can be used)
By this time, you would have seen the photo with a gent's hand. This is a sweet story. My 2nd son wanted me to make something for his collegemates(hostel boys). Usually, the hostel boys come home bi-monthly and there will be a menu from my son. And mostly this will not be in a proper order of lunch or snack or tiffin. He may tell any combination which his friends like in my cooking. This time he told to make Peas Pulao, Pav Bhaji and Rose milk. I had to go out for a music programme. I made everything,(huge quantity of Bhaji, planning to use it the next day with chappati) and transferred the Pulao and Bhaji to a hot pack, Rose Milk inside the fridge and also spread the butter on pav. The only work left was to toast the Pav. I told them to toast it at the time of eating. I left for the programme, and when I came home, the kitchen was a typical bachelor's kitchen. They had cut onions, and toasted the pav and had also taken photos of their "Cooking MELA", and.... everything was finished including the Bhaji. The hostel boys were craving for food, and it was not enough for them. It took 1/2 an hour to set right the kitchentop, but I did it with great enthusiasm because I was very happy, they liked my food.
PEAS PULAO
This is the easiest of all pulaos, a quick filling meal, very colourful and children love it.
INGREDIENTS:
Basmati rice : 2 cups Shelled peas - 2 cups Big Onion - 2 Mint leaves - 2 handfuls Coriander leaves - 2 handfuls Green chillies - 4 to 5 Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 teaspoon Ginger garlic paste - 1 teaspoon Cinnamon sticks - 2 Cloves - 6 Cardamom - 4 Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon Oil - 1 ladle Butter - 1 tablespoon Salt - as per taste Water - 4 cups
METHOD:
Wash well and soak basmati rice in water for half-an-hour.
Grind together onions, coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies, and cumin seeds to a paste.
In a pressure pan, heat oil and butter. Add cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves. Then add the ground paste and fry till oil leaves the sides. Now add the water, salt and garam masala powder. When water boils, strain the rice thoroughly and add to the water. Mix well. Cover it and cook for 3 whistles. When the pressure is released, take out the rice and mix well carefully without breaking the grains. Transfer it to a bowl or hot-pack and serve hot with roasted masala-papads or any raitha of your choice.
PAV BHAJI
INGREDIENTS:
Pav bun - 2 packets Onion - 2 Potato- 100 gms Cauliflower-100 gms Capsicum-1 Carrot-100ms Peas(shelled)-1 cup Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp. Pav bhaji masala- 2 tsp. Butter -1 ladle Salt Lime - 1 Coriander leaves - few
METHOD:
For Bhaji:
Clean and chop all the vegetables into small pieces.
Boil all the vegetables (except capsicum) and keep aside.
Heat butter in a pan, add onions and ginger-garlic paste. Saute till transparent. Then add capsicum and fry for a while till the colour changes. Now add all the boiled vegetables, salt and saute for a while. Add little water and mash this well with a potato-masher while hot. Finally, add pav bhaji masala and bring it to a boil. Garnish with coriander leaves.
For Pav:
Slit pav buns into two. Heat a pan, put a spoon of butter in it and quickly toast the pav buns on both sides, so that the butter is coated on all sides.
Cut a lime into four. Chop onions finely and place the cut lime pieces on top.
Smoothies are blended beverages with veggies or fruits. Some smoothies are 100% fruit like Aamras.
It is for health-conscious people and generally low fat milk is used or soy milk is substituted instead of milk. Now my version of mango smoothie.
INGREDIENTS:
Ripe mango - 2 Low fat milk - 1/2 cup Honey - 4 tablespoons Crushed ice - 1/4 cup
METHOD:
De-skin mango and cut out the pulp. Blend it in a mixie to a puree with milk. When pureed, add honey and whip for five seconds. Reserve 4 tablespoons of puree to decorate finally. Serve chilled with crushed ice and drop the puree gently on top of the smoothie.
Variation: MANGO MILK SHAKE : INGREDIENTS:
Ripe mango - 1 Milk - 1 cup Sugar - 3 tsp.
METHOD:
De-skin mango and cut out the pulp. Blend it in a mixie to a puree with milk and sugar. Keep it in the fridge and serve chilled.
Double roasted semia - 1 cup Water - 1 1/2 cups Oil - 2 tablespoons Salt - as per taste Mixed vegetables- carrot, shelled peas, beans etc. - 1/2 cup Onion - 1 (optional) Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp. Urad dhal - 1 tsp. Chenna dhal - 1/2 tsp. Hing Dry red chillies - 1 or 2 Coriander leaves - few Curry leaves - 1 sprig
METHOD:
If you do not have double roasted semia, dry roast semia till golden brown.
Chop all the vegetables to small cubes.
In a kadai, heat oil, add mustard seeds, urad dhal, chenna dhal, hing, curry leaves and chillies and when dhal turns golden brown,(you can add onions at this stage and saute till translucent. But I have not added it.) add the chopped vegetables. Saute for two minutes. Now add the required amount of salt and add water. When water starts boiling, add the semia and mix well. Cover with a lid and cook in simmer for 5 minutes or till water is absorbed. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Raw rice - 3 cups Idli rice - 2 cups Urad dhal - 1 cup Methi seeds – 1 tablespoon Salt to taste
For seasoning:
Scraped coconut - 1 cup Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon Urad dal split - 1 teaspoon Curry leaves - finely cut - 2 teaspoons Green chillies – finely chopped – 1 teaspoon Oil – 2 teaspoons
METHOD:
Soak all the ingredients for the batter in water for 3 hours.
Grind it in a grinder to a dosa batter consistency. Add salt. Allow it to ferment for 6-7 hours.
In a kadai, pour little oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, and when they turn golden brown, add curry leaves, green chillies and scraped coconut fry for a minute and add the seasoning to the batter. Mix well.
Heat the paniyaram mould, put ¼ spoon of oil in each mould, pour a small ladle of batter, cover it with the lid for two minutes and turn the paniyaram to the other side. Cook it till crispy . Take it out from the mould with the help of the stick. Serve hot with chutney , Dosa molagaa podi or anything of your choice.
Note: 1. This can be done using the batter alone. ( for small children) 2. This can be done with coconut scrapings also. 3. This can be done using finely chopped onions, carrots, cabbage etc. While seasoning, saute onions for two minutes and add finely chopped vegetables and then as usual.
Note: The same batter can be used in preparing uthappam.
Kabul chenna - 1/2 kg. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp. Urad dhal - 2 tsp. Dry red chillies - 2 or 3 Scraped coconut - 1/2 cup Hing Salt - as per taste Curry leaves - few Oil - 1 tablespoon
METHOD:
Soak chenna overnight. Drain out the soaked water. Fill fresh water upto an inch above the chenna. Pressure cook it with salt for 3 whistles or until soft. When the pressure releases, take out and drain the water completely and keep aside.
In a kadai, heat oil, add mustard seeds, and when it splutters, add urad dhal, chillies, hing, turmeric powder and curry leaves. When urad dhal turns golden brown add the cooked chenna, scraped coconut and mix well.
If you want the chenna to be in its original colour, do not use the turmeric powder.
Yam - 1/2 kg. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp. Urad dhal - 1 tsp. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp. Salt - as per taste Oil - 1 ladle
METHOD:
Chop the hard skin of yam. Wash it without any mud and pat it dry with a cloth. Cut yam into small cubes.(Yam, when touched with water irritates the hand. So pat it dry with a towel and then cut it.)
Take water in a vessel, add the cubed yam, salt and turmeric powder and allow it to boil just for 5 minutes. Doing like this will get rid of dust and dirt. Drain it completely without any water and keep it aside.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add urad dhal and saute till golden brown. Now add the yam, chilli powder and mix well. Fry till golden brown and crispy.
Navarathrireminds all women, who are the guardians of the family, culture, and integrity, to guide the family towards the path of justice, love, and divinity. Navarathri is celebrated all over India, Nepal and also Mauritius. Also known as Vijayadasami, Dasara, Dussehra in India & Mauritius and Dashain in Nepal.It is celebrated as “victory of good over evil”
Dhanteras:
It is also known as “Dhanwantari Triodashi”. Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity) is worshipped on this day. “Lakshmi pooja” is performed on this day and an earthen lamp (agal vilakku) is lit to ward off evil spirits. This is celebrated on the day prior to Deepavali.
Deepavali:
This is an important festival of Hindus. This is also known as “Naraka Chaturdashi”. This is celebrated as a mark of “Return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya” and “Killing of Narakasura” by Satyabhama (Lord Krishna’s wife). It is the “festival of lights” (Inner Light which removes all obstacles, & dispels darkness, negativity, and ignorance).Even Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists celebrate Diwali/Deepavali.
Now, announcing my 4th event.
As usual, only vegetarian recipes and no eggs please. Also you can post recipes offered as “naivedyam” for Dussehra and Dhanteras. Any recipe, which suits “Diwali” festival can be sent.
Any bloggers and non-bloggers can participate.
No restrictions in number of entries.
Please repost your earlier posts and link it with this announcement and logo.
Now comes the round-up (2nd part) of State Specials, representing the states Sikkim, Andhra, Orissa, Haryana, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka. Nice to see 102 entries on the whole. Accept the participation award from my previous post (1st part). Again, mail me if I have omitted any entries. Thank you.
Soak boiled rice for about 4 to 5 hours. Drain water, and grind the soaked rice to a medium paste.Add salt.Allow the paste to ferment for about 3 to 4 hours.Clean drumstick leaves, and add them to the paste.Dilute the paste by adding water and make it consistent for making dosa.Spread the batter on tawa in the shape of dosa and cook with oil.
Murungai ilai dosa can be consumed with sambar, chutney, red chilli idly powder, etc.Serve it hot.
It is easily digestible, and the drumstick leaves have a lot of medicinal value