Spinach / Palak Raita

Raita's are condiments, yogurt based with veggies and seasoned with spices. Here for this spinach raita, i have used baby spinach and tossed in some nuts , raisins and seasoned it with spices. You should make this raita, way ahead of serving time and keep it refrigerated for atleast 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Ingredients

1 cup - Spinach, cut into thin strips
2 cups - Rich, creamy thick and slightly sour yogurt
2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, chopped finely
1 tbsp - Almonds, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp - Cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 tbsp - Golden raisins

Masala powders

A dash of - Roasted jeera powder
A dash of - Red chili powder
A pinch of - Coriander powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera /Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp - Urad dal
1/2 tsp - Chana dal
1 sprig - Curry leaves
Oil or Ghee

Method

1 ) Beat yogurt well, add spinach, coriander leaves, almond, cashew, raisins and salt to taste. Mix in well, place in refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 hours. Take the raita out to season, after 2-3 hours. Sprinkle the masala powders, one by one, on top of the raita and mix in.

2 ) Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and pop it. Then add jeera, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves. Fry for few seconds and pour this seasoning on the raita. Mix in well and serve.

Serve cold as a side dish with paratha's or pulao's.

Adai

Adai, prepared with a batter made with rice and different lentils / dals into a savoury pancake. This is nutritious and protein rich. More like a dosa, but has mixed dals in making the batter and doesn't need fermenting to make adai.

Ingredients

1 cup - Raw rice
1/2 cup - Urad dal
1/2 cup - Toor dal
1/2 cup - Chana dal
1/2 cup - Moong dal
2 to 3 - Green chili
4 - Whole dry red chili
1'' piece - Ginger
3 big flakes - Garlic
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Wash, soak rice and dal for 6 hours or overnight. Grind in little batches, rice, dal along with green chili, red chili, ginger, garlic and curry leaves with little water. Batter can be slightly coarse. Add salt to taste and mix in the batter.

2 ) Heat a tawa, slightly smear with oil, wipe off excess oil. When the tawa is hot , pour one ladle full of the batter and spread in circular motion with the ladle, to give a round shape. Drizzle oil on top and sides of the adai. When the bottom of the adai is set and golden in color, flip it to the other side and cook till both sides are evenly cooked. Take it off the tawa and transfer to a plate.Use up rest of the batter to make more adai. If you have excess batter, store in fridge.

Serve with chutney or chutney powder.

Dal Makhani Cooked In Slow cooker

Dal makani is prepared with whole black urad dal and red kidney beans (rajma). This is a delicacy in punjab which is rich in proteins and fiber. Traditionally dal is slow cooked for hours together to get a creamier texture. Cream /malai gives a rich taste to this dal. Since cooking dal for a long duration gives good flavor and taste, i have cooked dal in slow cooker/crockpot. Cooking duration in slow cooker is for 7 hours and by the end of which you will get a creamy dal makhani. Dal will taste even better the next day.

Ingredients

1.5 cup - Whole black urad dal, washed well

1/2 cup - Kidney beans / Rajma, washed well

4 tbsp - Ghee

3 to 4 tbsp - Heavy Cream /Malai

8 cups - Water

Salt to taste

Grind to coarse paste

7 to 8 - Green chili

2'' piece - Ginger

1 - Whole garlic pod ( about 8 to 10 flakes )

Seasoning

1 tsp - Jeera

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp - Hing powder

1 tsp - Garam masala powder

1/2 tsp - Red chili powder

1 tsp - Shan dal masala powder

1/2 cup - Green onion, chopped

3 to 4 - Tomato, coarsely ground

Garnishing

2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, chopped

1 tsp - Ginger, julienne

1 tbsp - Cream

Method

1 ) Since this is a slow cooker recipe, you have to use more water to cook dal, which will reduce as dal gets cooked. To a crockpot add 8 cups of water, then 1 tbsp ghee, coarsely ground paste, black urad dal and rajma. Set the temperature to high and cook for 45 minutes on high setting. Open the lid and give a quick stir, to loosen any dal stuck to the bottom.

2 ) Lower the temperature to low and cook for 6 hours. Prepare the seasoning to add to the dal.Heat a pan, add 3 tbsp ghee, then add jeera, turmeric powder, hing, red chili powder, garam masala powder, shaan dal masala powder and fry for a few seconds on low heat. Then add onion and fry for a minute, then add tomato, cook till tomato is well cooked and oil separates.

3 ) Since you should not add cold ingredients to hot cooked ingredients in crock pot, add 3 to 4 tbsp heavy cream to the seasoning and warm it up. Then pour this seasoning to the dal, that has been cooking for 6 hours. Add salt to taste, stir and mix in. Close the lid and cook for one more hour. Let all the spices blend in with the dal.

4 ) After 7 hours of cooking in slow cooker the dal will be all creamy and thick. Now you can transfer the dal to a serving dish and garnish with coriander leaves, ginger julienne and heavy cream.

Serve hot with butter naan or basmati rice.

A Yummy Award !

My blog have been bestowed with an award and this time it's an yummy blog award by Kalai of 'Samaithu paarkalaam' and also by Jamie of 'Flavor Pantry'. Thanks to both of you for considering my blog worthy of this award.

Roopa of Kitchen Treats who started this yummy blog award said that the "Yummy Blog Award is the award given to the blog with the most yummy recipes/photos”.

As for the rules for this award -

Upon receiving this award, the person who receives the award should display the "Yummy Blog !" logo on their blog and also the meaning of the award which is "Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos". The receiver should also quote their favorite yummy-licious :) dessert(s) that they have ever prepared/eaten. Don’t restrict yourself to any dessert, chocolate bars also welcome. Also the receiver should pass on the award to four other blogger whose blog they find "yummy" and let them know about the rules.

I really don't have a sweet tooth, but at time enjoy something sweet. Since i have to tell you all about the yummiest desserts that I have prepared or tasted, here are few i enjoy at times.

Black forest cake
Plum cake
Jelebi, the yellow one you get in kerala
Payasams, mostly ones made with jaggery

Passing on this award to four yummy food blogger, who blogs so very yummy recipes with captivating pictures.

Shn of Mishmash

Happy Cook of 'My Kitchen Treasures'

Padmaja of 'Spicyandhra'

Nags of 'For The Cook In Me'


Congratulations to each one of you !

Potato Upperi

A simple preparation with potato, which is easy to prepare and will be a good side dish with roti or rice.

Ingredients

3 big - Potatoes, cut to small pieces

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 - Dry whole red chili, split into two

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

4 big - Shallots, chopped

4 - Green chili, chopped

Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Use a non-stick pan. Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds and pop it. Then add curry leaves, red chili, turmeric powder and fry for few seconds. Then add green chili, onion and fry lightly. Sprinkle some salt ,this will make the onion brown faster. But for this recipe you don't have to fry the onion till it turns brown.

2 ) Add the potato pieces, stir, mix and fry for a few seconds. Now lower the heat to a low setting. Close with a tight lid and cook. Open the lid only to give a quick stir to the pieces so that it does not stick to the pan. If needed sprinkle little water and cook till the potatoes are fully cooked in its steam.

Serve hot as a side dish with roti.

Cucumber Dal

Dal and rice is like a comfort food, which is so simple yet an tasty meal to have. Now this preparation of moong dal and cucumber is simply irresistible in its taste.

Ingredients

1 cup - Moong dal, washed well
1 - Cucumber, cut to small pieces,without skin
1 - Green chili, slit in center
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 big pinches - Seedless tamarind
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp - Jeera / Cumin seeds
1/8 tsp - Hing powder
3 flakes - Garlic, finely grated
1 to 2 sprig - Curry leaves
4 - Dry red chili, split into two

Method

1 ) In a pan add 3 to 4 cups of water, bring to a boil, add moong dal, green chili, red chili and turmeric powder. Simmer and cook dal covered with a lid, till dal is half cooked. Then add cucumber and continue cooking till the dal is fully cooked.

2 ) Meanwhile add little water to tamarind and extract the juice. Pour the juice into the dal, add salt to taste and cook till tamarind and salt flavors are incorporated in dal. Add little more water if the dal is too thick, to make a semi thick consistency.

3 ) Heat oil in another pan, add mustard and pop it. Then add jeera, hing, garlic, red chili and curry leaves. Fry for few seconds. Pour the seasoning on the dal, stir and mix in.


Serve hot with white steamed rice and pappad.

Note : You can use toor dal instead of moong dal for this recipe. Usually indian cucumber is used for this recipe.

Mango Dal

This is an Andhra preparation of dal with unripe sour mango and other spices. The tartness of mango gives this dal an unique taste, which you can enjoy with some rice.

Ingredients

1 cup - Toor dal, washed well
1 - Unripe sour mango, cut to small pieces
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 - Green chili, slit in center
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera / Cumin
1/4 tsp - Hing powder
2 big flakes - Garlic, finely grated
4 - Dried whole red chili
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Ghee or peanut oil

Method

1 ) To a pressure cooker add, washed dal, mango pieces, green chili, red chili and turmeric powder. Then add 3 to 4 cups of water, close the cooker lid and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles. Take off the stove and let it cool. Open after all the pressure is released. Add salt to taste, stir and mix in with dal.

2 ) In a pan heat ghee / peanut oil, add the ingredients for seasoning. Add mustard and pop it, then add jeera, red chili, curry leaves, hing and garlic. Simmer and fry for few seconds.

3 ) Pour the cooked dal to the seasoning, stir and mix in well. Simmer and cook for a minute. Take off the stove and serve.


Serve hot with rice and pappad. On the side serve little ghee and salt, that you can mix with rice and have along with dal.

Yellow Cornmeal Dosa

This dosa is very similar to rawa dosa and tastes very much like rawa dosa, though it is made with yellow cornmeal. This is an instant dosa to make.

Ingredients

1 cup - Yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup - All purpose flour
1/4 cup - Curds / Yogurt
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/4 tsp - Jeera
2 to 3 big - Shallots, chopped finely
1/2 ''piece - Ginger, grated finely
1 to 2 - Green chilies, chopped finely
1 sprig - Curry leaves, chopped finely
Sesame oil Or peanut oil

Method

1 ) Heat little oil in a pan, add jeera, then onion, green chili, ginger and curry leaves. Fry till onion is translucent.

2 ) To a mixing bowl, add cornmeal, all purpose flour, salt to taste, curds and mix well. Then add good amount of water to make a very thin batter. Batter should be thinner than dosa batter. Add the fried ingredients to the batter and mix in.

3 ) Heat a non- stick tawa on high heat. Tawa should be really very hot before pouring in the batter, so that the batter will sizzle when you are spreading the batter. Grease the tawa with little oil and wipe out excess oil.

4 ) Take one ladle full of batter and spread on the tawa starting from the sides and finishing it off in the center. You will not be able to spread this batter like the regular dosa batter. Lower the heat, then drizzle some oil on the sides and center of the dosa. When the bottom of the dosa is set and has become a golden brown, flip to the other side and cook. Take off the tawa, transfer to a plate and serve.

Again before pouring the batter for the next dosa, heat the tawa on high heat, get the tawa hot and then pour the batter then lower the heat.

Serve hot with chutney.

Check out - Rawa dosa recipe with chutney

Vellarikka Unakka Chemmeen with Mango Curry

This is a nice combination of dried small shrimps with vellarikka ( cucumber ) and unripe mango. Sour mango gives the tangy taste to the curry, so a very sour mango has to be used for this curry. Since vellarikka was not available, i have used half of a cucumber in its place.

Ingredients

4 oz / 100 gm - Dried shrimp
1 big - Unripe sour mango, cut to small pieces without skin
1 cup - Vellarikka, cut to small pieces
2 to 4 - Green chili, slit in center
1'' piece - Ginger
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 sprig - Curry leaves
Salt to taste

To grind to a smooth paste

3/4 cup - Freshly grated Coconut
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Jeera / Cumin
1 small - Shallot

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 sprig - Curry leaves
2 big - Shallots, diced

Method

1 ) Wash dried shrimp. If it is very salty dried shrimp then wash very well to reduce the salt in the shrimp.

2 ) Add to a pan dried shrimp, mango, vellarikka, green chili, ginger, curry leaves, red chili and turmeric powder. Add enough water to cook the ingredients. When using cucumber instead of vellarikka, then add cucumber when other ingredients are half cooked, since cucumber will cook faster. Add salt accordingly. Cook till the mango pieces are soft and can be mashed with a spoon.Mash some of the mango pieces.

3 ) Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked ingredients and add little water to make a thick gravy. Bring to a boil, adjust salt to taste. Cook for a minute and take off the stove.

4 ) In a small pan, heat oil, pop mustard seeds, then add shallots and curry leaves. Fry till shallots are browned. Pour this seasoning on top the curry and mix in.

Serve hot with rice.

"A Cookie with Arusuvai Surprise Ingredient"

Arusuvai friendship chain has been started in India by Latha N of "The YUM blog" and Latha N says "Arusuvai is about sending along a surprise ingredient as a gift to your friends, for them to prepare something tasty with it, share the recipe, and pass on other surprise ingredients to more people. Arusuvai means six tastes (aru=six, suvai=taste) in Tamizh and is used to refer for Tasty preparation with six tastes - inippu/ thithippu (sweet), orappu/ karam (hot), kassappu (bitter) , pulippu (sour), uppu(salt), tuvarpu (tastes that one gets in raw leaves)".

Now Latha from "Masala Magic" has started Arusuvai friendship chain in USA. I got the opportunity to be a part of this friendship chain, when Richa of "As dear as Salt" passed on this friendship chain to me. Thanks Richa for thinking about me and sending me the surprise ingredient.
With a Sweet note Richa send me, dark chocolates , Soan cakes and the surprise ingredient. When i read the label "Laddu flour" i was confused and asked Richa about it. Richa explained that it is coarsely ground whole wheat flour and it is called laddu flour to differentiate between thousands(!) of kinds of flour that we get..... :)

I was not sure what to make with this surprise ingredient and one day when snacking on a Whole wheat cookie from Haldirams, which i liked a lot, thought why not bake a cookie with similar taste.

So i experimented with this flour and was able to come up with this simple cookie. The flour is not a fine powder, so the texture of the cookie is not smooth.

Ingredients

3/4 cup - Laddu flour
1/4 cup - Cashew nut, powdered
3/4 cup - Sugar
1/2 cup - Melted ghee ( at room temperature)
1/4 tsp - Cardamom powder
Few Almond slivers for decorating

Method

1 ) Add flour, sugar, cashew powder, cardamom powder and melted ghee into a mixing bowl. Combine ingredients to make a tight dough.

2 ) Take a small amount of the cookie dough, shape it to a small ball and then flatten it. Cookie will spread a bit when baking, so space between each dough. Place some almond slivers on top of the cookie and press in lightly.

3 ) Transfer cookie dough to a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes till the bottom of the cookies turn lightly golden in colour.

4 ) Cookie will be soft to touch when still hot. Let the cookie cool in the tray before transferring it to store.

Enjoy the cookie.

Passing on this Arusuvai friendship chain to Kribha of En Samayal Pakkam. Thanks for playing along Kribha.

Overstuffed & Wrapped Omelet

Care to have a heavy breakfast ? Then this overstuffed omelet with veggies and wrapped in tortilla wrap or it can be wrapped in roti/chapathi, is for you.

Ingredients

2 - Large eggs
1 to 2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, chopped finely
1 - Green chili, chopped finely Or Dash of Red chili powder or Tabasco sauce
A dash of - Garam masala powder
1 to 2 tbsp - Salsa
1 - Tortilla wrap Or roti /chapathi
Grated Mozzarella & cheddar cheese mix Or 4 Cheese Mexican mix
Salt to taste

Veggies for stuffing

1 very small - Potato, boiled and cut to very small cubes
2 tbsp - Green onion, finely chopped
1/2 of a small -Green capsicum, finely chopped
5 to 6 - Mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 of a small - Tomato, finely chopped

Method

1 ) Heat little oil or butter in a skillet. Add potato, mushrooms, capsicum, onion and fry till the mushroom gets cooked. Add tomato, sprinkle little salt to taste and cook for a minute or two. Transfer the veggies to another utensil and set aside.

2 ) Whisk egg well, add you choice of any one of these - green chili or red chili powder or tabasco sauce. Then add garam masala powder, coriander leaves , salt to taste and whisk well with egg.

3 ) Use a big wide non-stick pan. Heat the pan on low heat, add butter or vegetable oil. Pour in the egg mixture and when the egg sets add the cooked veggie on top of the egg, cook for 2 minutes on simmer. Spread little salsa on top of the veggie and then sprinkle generously cheese on top. Cook till the cheese starts to melt. Put the tortilla or roti on top of the cheese and press lightly, so that the tortilla sticks to the cheese.

4 ) Now you have to flip the omelet. I used 2 wide and flat spatula to flip. Now tortilla is in the bottom, cook for few seconds and then fold in half.

Serve hot for breakfast.

Chilli Paneer

This is quiet a delightful dish with fried paneer, capsicum and mushrooms. Different color capsicum can be used to enhance the look. It's a dry stir fry dish, quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

14 oz /400 gm - Paneer, cut to small cubes
2 tbsp - Cornflour
8 oz /227 gm - Mushroom, washed and chopped
1 - Green Capsicum, sliced length wise
1 - Onion, sliced length wise
4 big flakes - Garlic, crushed
1 to 2 - Green chili,chopped
1/4 tsp - Black pepper powder
A dash of - Garam masala powder
2 to 3 drops - Vinegar
2 tsp - Tomato ketchup
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Sprinkle cornflour on the paneer pieces. Shake to coat on the paneer. This will help the paneer from sticking to pan when frying. In a skillet heat oil on low flame, add paneer and fry to a light golden color, little at a time. Take off the oil and drain.

2 ) In the same oil, add garlic and green chili, fry for a minute. Then add onion and stir fry lightly. Onion should be crunchy, add capsicum and stir fry for a minute.

3 ) Meanwhile, microwave mushrooms placed in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes. Take out and add to the skillet and stir fry.

4 ) Add black pepper powder, salt to taste, a dash of garam masala and mix in. Add vinegar and tomato ketchup and mix in. Add fried paneer and saute.


Serve as a side dish with fried rice or even chapati.

Note - If you have left over, then don't microwave. Place in oven and bake with some grated mozzarella cheese.

For a slight gravy dish - Add 2 tsp corn flour to 1/2 cup of water and dissolve it. To this add 1 tsp soya sauce and above said amount of vinegar and tomato ketchup. Mix well and after adding black pepper and salt step above, add this cornflour mix and stir to coat the paneer. Cook on a medium high heat till the sauce thickens and coats. Turn off the stove and serve.

Ethakka / Ripe Plantain Pachadi

A sweet and sour pachadi with ripe plantain will be a good addition to your sadhya. There is similarities in taste with mambazha pulissery , though this is a pachadi.

Ingredients

2 - Very ripe plantain, chop very finely
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 cup - Grated coconut
1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 to 2 - Green chili
1/2 cup - Medium sour curds/ yogurt

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
2 - Whole dry red chili

Method

1 ) Cook plantain in little water with red chili and turmeric powder along with salt to taste. cook till plantain is a bit mashed.

2 ) Add ground ingredients to cooked plantain, add little water just enough for a thick gravy and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook for 2 minutes. Adjust salt to taste. Add beaten curds, mix in and when about to boil, take off the stove.

3 ) In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds and pop it. Add curry leaves and dry red chili. Fry for a minute and pour over the pachadi.

Serve with rice.

Pesarattu with Upma and Coconut Chutney

Pesarattu with upma and coconut or ginger chutney is a hearty Andhra breakfast, which could very well be a brunch to be enjoyed on a weekend. Pesarattu, made with whole green gram, is high in protein, upma gives the carbs, thus balances the meal. Pesarattu, upma and chutney is the combination which is popular in Andhra.

Ingredients to make pesarattu

1 cup - Whole green gram dal / Whole moong dal
1 to 2 - Green chili
1 '' piece - Ginger
Salt to taste

To garnish

Little finely chopped onion
Little green chili, finely chopped
Little coriander leaves, finely chopped
Little jeera
Ghee or butter

Method

1 ) Wash and soak green gram dal overnight. Grind dal with green chili and ginger to a fine paste with little water. Batter should not be too thick nor too thin. Add salt to taste and stir in.

2 ) Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. When the pan is hot enough, add a little amount of the batter and spread into thin round.

3 ) Drizzle some ghee around the edges and some on the pesarattu. Sprinkle little, jeera, onion, green chili and coriander leaves on the top.


4 ) Once the edges have cooked to a light brown, flip to the other side and press down with flat spatula to press down the sprinkled ingredients to stick to the pesarattu. Flip back and take off the pan to a plate. Cook rest of the batter in the same manner.

Now Pesarattu can be served with just the chutney. But when you want to have a elaborate breakfast, it is served with upma. Upma is made with rawa that is not roasted and the cooked upma is not too dry.

Ingredients for making Upma

1 cup - Rawa / fine Sooji
3 cups water
Salt to taste

To season

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 tsp - Urad dal
1 tsp - Chana dal
1/4 tsp - Jeera
5 to 6 big - Shallot, finely chopped
1/2'' piece - Ginger, finely chopped
2 - Green chili, finely chopped
1 sprig - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a saucepan, add mustard and pop it. Add urad dal, chana dal, jeera and fry on till dals are lightly browned. Add shallot, green chili, ginger and curry leaves and fry till the ingredients a fried lightly.

2 ) Pour 3 cups water, 2 to 3 tsp ghee, salt to taste and bring to a good boil. Lower heat, pour in rawa and as you are pouring in rawa, stir continuously. Water will be sucked up by rawa, then close with a tight lid and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Open and stir well. Close with lid and as the upma cools down will be all set to serve.

Place some upma along with pesarattu while serving with chutney.

This recipe is for a small quantity of coconut chutney

To make Coconut Chutney

1/2 cup - Freshly grated coconut
1 tbsp - Chana dal
2 - Green chili
1 to 2 pinches - Seedless tamarind
1/4 tsp - Jeera
Salt to taste

To Season

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 sprig - Curry leaves
Oil

Method

1 ) Fry green chili and chana dal in little oil, lightly. Cool and grind along with coconut, tamarind jeera to a smooth paste with little water. Add salt to taste.

2 ) Season with mustard and curry leaves. Heat oil in pan, add mustard and curry leaves. Pour the seasoning on chutney and mix in.

Serve Pesarattu with upma and coconut or ginger chutney.

"Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons" is very enthusiastic about different varieties of dosa's and is hosting a Dosa Mela. I am making my contribution with pesarattu to this event.

Other Andhra recipes -

Undrallu and Ginger chutney
Green chili chutney
Brinjal chutney
Peanut chutney

Spinach Pachadi

Spinach is cooked frequently at my place in different ways and with all its goodness and health benefits is a power food. Pachadi with spinach is a quick preparation, that a friend thought of, to make in a hurry one day. Tried this out today and it was perfect with rice.

Ingredients

1 bunch - Spinach, washed well
1 to 2 - Green chili, chopped
Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 cup - Coconut
1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 cup - Medium sour creamy yogurt

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 - Dry whole red chili
2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) In a pan cook spinach in very little water with green chili and salt to taste, covered with a lid. Once cooked, take off the stove and cool. Transfer to a blender / grinder and plus two times to get a coarse texture.

2 ) Transfer spinach to a pan. Grind coconut and mustard to a smooth paste, with little water. Add this coconut- mustard paste to the pan with spinach and mix. Heat the stove, place the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add beaten yogurt and adjust salt to taste. After adding yogurt, don't cook for long. Just before it comes to a boil, take off the stove.

3 ) Heat oil in another pan. Add mustard seeds and pop. Add dry red chili and curry leaves. Fry for a second and pour this seasoning on the pachadi. Stir and mix in.


Serve as a side dish with rice.

Chicken Pickle

A friend shared with me this recipe to make chicken pickle, which i wanted to try from a long time. It was relatively easy to make and a very tasty pickle to have with rice. Also same recipe can be followed to make prawns pickle.

Ingredients

1 lb - Chicken, boneless or with bone, cut to small pieces
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

To dry roast

10 - Cloves
2 '' long - Cinnamon sticks
4 to 5 - Star anise
5 to 6 - Green cardamom

For masala

2 tbsp - Poppy seeds
3 '' piece - Ginger
1 whole clove - Garlic
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1.5 to 2 tbsp - Red chili powder
1 tbsp - Vinegar Or 1 tbsp - Lemon juice Or lemon salt

To season

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp - Jeera seeds
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves
1 to 1.5 cup - Sesame oil / vegetable oil

Method

1 ) Cook chicken with turmeric powder and salt to taste. Mostly you will not need to add water, some water will come out of the chicken. Cook on low heat, covered with a lid till all the water is evaporated. Take off stove and cool.

2 ) Dry roast ingredients listed for that, cool and grind to a powder, set aside. Grind poppy seeds to a fine powder, set aside. Make a paste of ginger and garlic.

3 ) Heat 1 cup oil in kadai or wok, add cooked chicken pieces in small batches and fry lightly. Take off the oil and drain. To the same oil, add mustard seeds, jeera and then curry leaves. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry until golden brown.

4 ) Lower heat and add poppy seed powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, mix and fry for a second. Add the dry roasted masala powder and fry in oil for a second. Add chicken and mix with masala. Add vinegar, salt to taste and mix well. Take off the stove and cool. There should be good enough oil in the pickle. If not heat 1/2 cup more oil and add to the pickle. Oil will act as a preservative. You can add 1 tbsp more vinegar or lemon juice if you like the pickle to be a little more sour. If you want more gravy then increase poppy seeds and garlic-ginger amount.

When completely cool transfer to a sterilized bottle and store in fridge. You can keep outside for a day or two if you want and then keep in fridge.

Serve the pickle with rice, curds and pappad.

Sabudana / Sago Upma

A simple Sabudana and potato combo preparation, which is light on the stomach. These sago pearls are commonly used as a fast time food in northern India.

Ingredients

1 cup - Sago / Sabudana
1 big - Boiled potato, cubed

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp - Urad dal
1/2 tsp - Jeera seeds
2 - Whole dry red chili
1 sprig - Curry leaves
4 to 5 big - Shallots, diced
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Wash and soak sago in enough water to cover sago. Soak sago overnight. Drain water from sago and set aside.

2 ) In a kadai heat oil, add mustard seeds, pop it, add jeera, urad dal, dry red chili and fry in oil. Add curry leaves, shallots and fry shallots to light brown. Add red chili and turmeric powder, for a second, add potato and mix and stir. Add salt to taste.

3 ) Now lower the heat to very low heat, this is very important step to make to get a non- soggy sago. Now when the pan is not very hot, add sago, stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes covered with a lid. Sago will cook fast. Otherwise place sago in a microwave safe bowl, add the seasoning potato mixture to the sago and mix in well. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, breaking the cooking time 1 minute each. Cook till sago is translucent.

Serve for breakfast.

Purnima suggests a variation to this recipe and also to get a non soggy sago in the end, which she learned from Shilpa of Aayi's Recipes - "Pravs, we call it sabudana Khichidi (in mumbai lingo) I make this quite often on gas top with a variation, soak time -30 mins, drain in colander, cover colander with tight fitting lid, leave overnight, fluff with a fork or hand, add fistfull of roasted crushed peanuts, salt n sugar to sago stir with hands, then same process - the sago grains don't stick to each other that way". - Thanks to Purnima & Shilpa.

To microwave potato : Wash one potato. Pierce deep into the potato two times, down to the center. Wrap the potato in a moist paper towel. Place in microwave and microwave for 3 minutes.