Capsicum Gravy

One lazy evening, I wanted to make some side dish for roti's and did a google search! ;) This dish attracted me in the searched results! I've adjusted the ingredients according to our taste buds!

I used to make these kind of capsicum masala but adding little bit of new spices made a nice twist and the outcome was so aromatic n just perfect for roti's! You can check the original recipe here.

Ingredients
Capsicum -1
Onion(small)-1
Asafoetida- 2 pinches
Mustard seeds -1/2teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon
Sugar-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil

To roast and grind:
Urad dhal-1 teaspoon
Methi seeds-1/4teaspoon
Coriander seeds-1/2teaspoon
Red chillies-6
Roasted peanuts - one fist full
Fresh coconut-1/4cup
Tamarind juice- little less than 1/4 cup

Method
Heat oil in a kadai, roast the urad dhal,methi & coriander seeds, red chillies carefully without burning. Grind them along with coconut and tamarind juice to a fine paste and keep aside.

Chop the capsicum into big chunks, onion into small pieces.

Heat a spoon of oil in a kadai, fry the capsicum for 2-3 minutes and keep aside. Add one more spoon of oil in the same pan, make the tempering with mustard seeds and asafoetida, followed by the onions.

Fry till the onions become transparent, then add the masala paste, adjust the water level, add salt and let it cook for 5-10 minutes.

Now add the roasted capsicum chunks along with the sugar and cook for few more minutes. Yummy capsicum gravy/ capsicum curry is ready! Enjoy it with roti's or rice.

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I am back!

Hi Friends, I am back after a month's vacation! Thanks for your comments in my scheduled posts!

Will catch you all soon!

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Aloo-Gopi-Mattar

This is a recipe to finish off the leftover veggies at every household! :) On a lazy weekend, I had a small cauliflower floret and a potato in the fridge. With the help of frozen green peas, the veggies became a tasty accomplishment for a day's meal!

Ingredients
Cauliflower florets-100grams
Potato-1
Green peas -1/4cup
Onion(smaal)-1
Green chilly-1
Few curry leaves
Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon
Sakthi Curry masala /any other masala -2teaspoons
Salt
Oil


Method
Cube the potato, and cut the cauliflower into big chunks.
Slice the onion and green chilly into thin slices.
Heat the oil in a pan, make the tempering with cumin seeds, followed by the curryleaves-onion and g.chilly.
Fry the onions till they become transparent, add the veggies with enough salt. Sprinkle little water,cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
Open the pan, add the masala powder, mix everything together, close the lid and cook for couple more minutes.
Quick n easy side dish is ready. This goes well with rice n roti's.

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Khandvi

Ingredients
Besan/Kadalai maavu -1/4cup
Curd-1/2cup
Water-1/2cup
Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon
Ginger-green chilly paste-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-1teaspoon
Salt
Freshly grated coconut-11/2tablespoons
Chopped Cilantro-1 tablespoon

For the tempering
Oil-1tablespoon
Mustard seeds-1 teaspoon
Sesame seeds-11/2teaspoons

Method
Grease a thali/foil papers and keep it ready.

Beat the curd. Combine besan-salt-turmeric-ginger,chilly past,sugar with the curd.
Add water little by little and whisk it without any lumps.

Pour the batter in a sauce pan and cook on low heat, stirring continuously till the besan gets cooked.

After 15 to 20 minutes, the mixture will start leaving the pan, at that time pour the batter on the thali/foil paper and flatten it uniformly with a spatula and let it cool for 2-3 minutes.

Cut the flattened besan mixture into 11/2" wide strips. Lift one edge of a besan strip and roll it carefully. (You can do this step only when the besan is cooked,otherwise the batter will stick with the foil, its not possible to roll it. So be careful and patience enough to cook the batter! ;) )


Arrange the rolled khandvi in a serving plate. Garnish with the coconut flakes and cilantro.
Heat oil and make the tempering with mustard and sesame seeds. Pour it over the khandvi's and its ready to serve.

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Savoury Buttermilk Cookies

I bought Greek buttermilk once and tried these cookies. Actually it was the same dough for a deep fried snack,instead of frying it, I made the dough little stiff and baked them as cookies. It was a great success! :)

Ingredients
All purpose flour -11/4cups
Butter milk - little less than 1/2cup
Baking powder-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-1tablespoon
Onion(small)-1
Green chilly-2
Olive oil-2tablespoons
Chopped coconut pieces-11/2 tablespoons
Few curry leaves, chopped finely.
Salt


Method
Sieve the the flour and baking powder together.
Chop the onions and green chilly into fine pieces.
Combine all the ingredients except butter milk in a bowl.
Mix well and add buttermilk little at a time and make a pliable dough.
Preheat the oven to 360F.
Divide the dough into small uniform sized pieces, arrange them on a lined baking tray.
Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, take them out, turn it over, then bake again for 5-10 minutes.
Yummy cookies are ready to enjoy with a cup of tea.

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Naan

I saw this butter naan recipe in Tickling Palates and thought of giving it a try! :) Naans were yummy! Thanks Radhika for the recipe!

Ingredients
All purpose flour-11/2 cups
Fresh bread slices-3 (i used wheat bread)
Curd-1/2cup
Water-1/2cup
Baking soda-1/2teaspoon
Salt

Method
Trim the edges of the bread and tear it into pieces. Combine bread pieces,curd,water,salt and baking soda. Mix it well and keep aside for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes the mixture will be like a thick paste, sieve the all purpose flour directly into the bowl, mix it well and knead into a soft sticky dough.


Cover it and keep aside for atleast an hour. Make orange sized balls out of the dough, roll them into round discs.

I was not having the patience to make naan's in the conventional oven or stove top. So just did it like usual roti's! ;)

Naan's were yummy and we enjoyed them with empty salna.

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Idli upma

This is the recipe which is prepared in most of the south Indian households to finish off the left-over idlies. Once the movie "சூரிய வம்சம்" came, this one became so famous and this dish is almost renamed as "Surya vamsam uppuma"!! ;) ;)

Though I love idlies, am not a big fan of this uppuma. Yeah...you guessed it right! DH is a great fan of Idli uppuma! :) Seldom I make this and whenever he sees this tiffin, his face will become instantly happy! This week i prepared it and he had it for breakfast as well as lunch! :)

Method
Leftover idlies-6 (One can use fresh idlies too, but its easy to do with refrigerated idlies)
Onion-1
Green chillies-3
Red chilly-1
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon
Curry leaves-few
Channa dhal-1teaspoon
Urad dhal-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder(optional)-1/8teaspoon
Oil

Method
Break and mash the idlies into fine pieces.
Cut the onions and green chillies into length wise pieces.
Heat oil in a wide pan, make the tempering with mustard seeds, followed by channa dhal,urad dhal. Once the dhals turn into golden colour, add the curry leaves,onion ,green chillies, broken red chilly and turmeric powder.
Fry till the onions become transparent.
Now add the mashed idlies and stir well with the onions.
Reduce the flame to low and cook for 2-3 minutes and put off the flame.
Yummy Idli uppuma is ready!

~~~~~
Dear Friends, I am going on vacation for a month. Will try to visit your blogs to check the delicious recipes. Do come to my kitchen as usual and give your valuable comments!

See you all! Byeeeeeeee!

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Empty Salna

I've heard the word "salna[aka kurma]" only a couple of years back, which is served with parottas in many parts of Tamilnadu. In our region, we make "kurma" only! :)

In this salna no veggie is added and thats why this is called Empty salna. Special thanks to Asiya akka for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients
Onion -1
Green Chilly -1
Tomato -2
Few Mint leaves,curry leaves and Cilantro
Grated Coconut - 5teaspoons
Cashew- 5
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon- 2" piece
Elaichi-2
Ginger-garlic paste -1 teaspoon
Chilli Powder-1 1/2teaspoon
Coriander powder-1teaspoon
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Fennel powder-1/2teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Powder the cinnamon stick,cloves & elaichi.
Chop the onion,g.chilly,tomatoes and mint.
Grind the coconut and cashew with little water to a fine paste.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions,green chilly & curry leaves till onion changes in colour. Then add the cinnamon-clove-elaichi powder and G-g paste and fry for a minute. Add in the tomato pieces and mint.
Cook on low heat till the tomatoes become mussy. Now add the chilli-coriander-cumin-fennel and turmeric powders and fry till the oil oozes out. Then add salt and a cup of water, bring it to nice boil.

Add the coconut-cashew paste, add enough water(~11/2cups to 2 cups), cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes. By then the salna will be cooked nicely and the oil will be floating on top.
Garnish with cilantro and put off the flame. Aromatic and yummy empty salna is ready to serve. Its a perfect match for layer parathas-chappathi and poori. We had it with Naan,which will be coming soon.

Note
Cover the pan and cook through out the entire process.
Onions-tomatoes should be finely chopped so that,you won't find any pieces in the salna.
Chop the paratha/chapathi into small pieces, soak them in the salna, thats the best method of eating this dish! :)
You can see the original recipe here.

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Noodles with Grilled Veggies

Ingredients
Cooked Noodles - 2cups
Thinly Sliced Veggies-1/2 cup
(You can use your choice of veggies. I've used carrot,beans,capsicum,cabbage & broccoli)
Few Spring Onions to garnish
Onion-1
Green chilli-1
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Chilli powder-1teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon
Maggi hot n sweet sauce-2 teaspoons
Sliced Ginger & Garlic -1tablespoon
Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Cook the noodles according to the directions on the pack, and keep it aside.

I got this noodles from a Chinese market.The pack had 15 small rounds noodles, I used 5 rounds.

Combine half of the capsicum-cabbage-onion slices with other veggies,add cumin-chilli-turmeric powders,salt, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss it well and arrange it on a lined baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 450F, cook the veggies for 8-10 minutes.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds-ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute and add the remaining onion-capsicum-cabbage slices with green chilly. Cook on high flame for a minute. Add the cooked noodles, grilled veggies, maggi sauce and toss it. (adjust the salt at this time)

Switch off the stove and garnish with spring onion slices,serve hot! :)

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Navaratna Kurma

Ingredients
Carrot-1
Potato-1
Cauliflower Florets-1/4cup
Beans-5
Peas-one fist full
Pineapple Chunks-1/4cup
Seedless Black grapes-7
Raisins-7
Almonds-5
Onion-1
Cloves-2
Elaichi-1
Green Chillies-3(adjust to your spice level)
Bay leaf-1
Cumin seeds-1teaspoon
Chopped Ginger-garlic -1teaspoon
Coriander powder-1/2teaspoon
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Pepper powder-1/2teaspoon
2% reduced fat milk-1/2 to 3/4cup
Oil
Salt


Method
Cut the carrot-potato-beans-cauliflower into uniform sized chunks, cook them separately with enough salt and keep it aside. (Keep an eye that the veggies are done but still firm.)

Cook the chopped onion-almonds-cloves and elaichi in boiling water till the onion becomes soft. Drain the excess water, peel the skin of the almonds and grind everything into fine paste.

Heat oil in a kadai, make the tempering with cumin seeds and bay leaf & ginger garlic pieces. Add the onion paste and green chillies.

Cook the masala on low heat till the onion mixture becomes dry..add cumin and coriander powders, cook for few more minutes without burning the masala.

Add 11/2cups of water [can use the water drained from the onions ] and bring it to boil. Then add the cooked veggies,peas and pineapple chunks.

Adjust the salt and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add the pepper powder and the milk.

Once the gravy starts boiling, switch off the stove, add the raisins and grapes, garnish with Cilantro.

Navaratna kurma is ready to serve!
We had it with roti's. Goes well with rice items as well.

Note

• My DH was a bit reluctant to try this as he is not a great fan of any mild kurmas. But after tasting my version, he said this is 1st time he has tasted this much spicy Navaratna kurma!! LOL!! :) So adjust the number of green chillies-cloves-pepper powder according to your taste buds!
• I didn't add paneer, roasted nuts or cream and still it tasted great. [relished it guilt free!;)]. If you are making for parties, you can add all these items and the kurma will be more rich in taste.
  

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Ulunthu Vadai

I love Ulunthu vadai, DH does not like this snack at all! Sambar vada and Thayir vada both are my all time favourite, but after marriage i've prepared it ONLY a couple of times!

1st time i was using a mixie to grind the dhal, the result was a watery batter!! Kept on adding all purpose flour to get the correct consistency, and somehow managed to make it..Second time was another comedy! Was having some extra urad dhal batter while making the idli batter, and tried making vadas, and they literally drank the oil!! Squeezed out the oil and finished it off! ;) ;)

This is the 3rd attempt..this time also I was not planning to make vada at all! Was grinding the batter for idli, and urad dhal batter was more than enough!! I took some of the batter and refrigerated it. After watching a heart breaking FIFA food ball match, we both were little upset. Hubby dear wanted some snack to change the mood, Successfully I started preparing the vada! :)

Urad dhal batter was still little watery, so added 2 tablespoons of rice flour, 2 green chillies and little onion, curry leaves and coconut, pepper corns and salt.

The oil was getting heated on low heat, I tried to make the vada's on a plastic sheet..Managed to make 2-3 vadas, but after that I lost my patience and just dropped them in oil! ;)

We had it with spicy kara chutney and tea. Besides the shape the taste was so good, and guess what?!! DH started liking Ulunthu vadai! :) Hopefully next time i will make the perfect vadai's!

So ladies,this is not a recipe..just an experience!! Better don't try to follow this recipe! ;) ;)

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Bread Rolls

Ingredients
Bread-4 slices
Potato Masala(Recipe follows)-1/2cup
Tomato Ketch-up
Mozzarella Cheese-1/4cup
Olive oil-1tablespoon


Method

Trim the edges of the bread slices, stack them as shown in the picture below, roll them lightly with the rolling pin.

Apply a thin coating of ketch-up, spread the masala evenly and top it with cheese.

Carefully roll the breads, wrap it in a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F, the rolled bread into slices, brush with olive oil, arrange them on baking tray, bake it for 10-15 minutes.

Crispy bread rolls are ready to eat. Serve hot!

I was making them in a hurry, so did it with single slices, rolled it and baked it for a quick breakfast, that was quick n simple!

Got the idea from Uma's blog..check her version of bread rolls here. Thanks for the recipe Uma!


Potato Masala
Ingredients
Boiled potato-2
Boiled veggies(carrot-beans-peas)-1/4cup
Onion-1
G.chilly-2
Few broken walnuts
Few curry leaves and Cilantro
Garam masala-1/4teaspoon
Cumin seed-1/2teaspoon
Oil
Salt
Method
Heat oil in a kadai,make the tempering with cumin seeds. Then add chopped onions,g.chilly and curry leaves and walnut. Sauté till the onions become transparent.

Add the veggies, and mashed potatoes with enough salt. cook on low heat for a few minutes. Add the garam masala, garnish with cilantro and put off the stove.

Linking this to DD's Quick n Easy Recipes & Healthy Snack Recipes events.

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Vermicelli Adai / Semia Adai

Ingredients
Cooked vermicelli -1cup
Rice flour-2 tablespoons
Curd -1/2cup
Onion-1
Green Chillies-2
Salt
Few curry leaves and cilantro

Method
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Make into a thick batter.

Heat a griddle on low heat, pour the batter into a thick circle and sprinkle some oil.

Flip it over and cook till the other side turns golden colour.

Tasty vermicelli adai is ready. Serve it with your choice of chutney /pickle.

Was having some left over cooked semia, and wanted to try something other than the regular upma, ended up making this! :)

Now it looks like I have to make this dish more often! ;)

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Potato Kurma

Ingredients
Boiled Potatoes-2
Onion-1
Tomato(small)-1
Green Chilly- 5 (adjust to your spice level)
Garlic-3 cloves
Few curry leaves and Cilantro
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil


To Grind
Fennel Seeds-1teaspoon
Cashew-5
Grated Coconut-2 tablespoons


Method
Chop the onion-g.chilly-garlic into thin slices. Chop the tomato finely.
Grind the items given under "to grind" to a fine paste with little water.
Heat oil in a kadai, make the tempering with mustard seeds followed by chopped onion-g.chilly-garlic and curry leaves. Sauté the onions till it becomes transparent, then add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
Add the coconut-cashew-fennal seed paste with enough water and bring it to boil.
Mash the boiled potato into small chunks, add it into the kurma and reduce the flame to low.
Cook for 5-6 minutes on low heat, garnish with cilantro and put off the stove.
Potato kurma is ready!

This kurma goes well with Roti's and Poori's! I had this in one of my friend's house, got the recipe from her and tried it. :)

Sending this recipe to the following events..

1.Radhika's "lets cook series # 6- Subzis for Rotis" event happening @ Tickling Palates.

2.DD's Quick n Easy Recipes event happening @ Food Blog News. Click here to see the collection of the quick n n easy recipes.

Do check both of their blogs..you can find lot of yummy and delicious recipes! :)

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