RAJASTHANI BADI HARI MIRCH KI SABZI

 

My husband is so fond of spice and green chilli that he often gets this big green chilli and likes it as a sabzi for roti and doesn’t take it like achar / pickle.  Sometimes, I wonder how one can have so many green chillies at one go.  I took this recipe from Nisha Mudhulika’s webside and didn’t make much changes since the ingredients and spices used by her were simple and minimal.  So, without altering the ingredients, I made this sabzi and my hubby liked it so much that he finished about 12 chillies at one go.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH TRUFFLE ICING

 

During my daughter’s vacation she kept nagging me to make some cake and choose this one from the Nita Mehta’s cook book.  A very simple and chocolaty cake with oodles of chocolate icing that no kid would be able to resist it.  I used canola oil for this cake.

OATS DOSA

 

A quick dosa recipe with oats which does not require any fermentation.  This dosa can be made in a jiffy with a very few ingredients and tastes really good.  My daughter love this dosa and hence I make it quite often. 

KATRIKAI GOTSU

 

 

Gotsu is a simple condiment / accompaniment that goes well with arisi upma (broken rice upma) or ven pongal.  The smoky, spicy and tangy flavour of gotsu is so right for pain ven pongal which doesn’t have too much of flavour except pepper and cumin.

GREEN CHUTNEY

 

Green chutney, also called as mint-coriander or hari chutney is a very simple condiment which goes well with almost everything… paranthas, puris, salads, pulao, chaats and the list can go on and on.   My daughter can have anything with this chutney and most of the time I make this especially for her, with subtle variation.  Sometimes, I make it using onion at times with garlic or just coriander and coconut with chilli, amchur powder and black salt.

RASAM POWDER

 

Just like sambhar powder, every household will have their own recipe of rasam powder.  Here is my rasam powder recipe.

URULAIKIZHANGU (ALOO) PACHCHADI

 

This pachchadi goes well with sambhar/kuzhambu/rasam rice and those who love aloo can never say no to this one.  This pachchadi can be made with a very few ingredients in a jiffy.

BOMBAY CHUTNEY

 

I first heard about the Bombay Chutney from my Mother-in-Law.  She, being born and brought up in Pune, cooks a lot of Maharashtrian dishes.  Even, some of her South Indian recipes will have a tinge of Maharashtrian touch.   This chutney goes well as a side dish for rotis and paranthas. 

MANGA RICE (RAW MANGO RICE)

 

Manga rice is very famous in Karnataka as I first heard about it in Bangalore and I was told that this rice is made on Karnataka new year / Ugadi.  It is very simple to make and tastes delicious, the sweet and sourness of raw mango, sweet and creamy coconut, hint of mustard seeds and spicy red chillies.  I used totapuri manga as this variety of raw mango makes the recipe very tasty.

VEGETABLE CHILLA

 

 

I first had with at my in-laws place and liked it instantly.   It is very simply to make and requires very few ingredients.  A healthy and filling way to start the day or can be had as an evening snacks.

MEEHOLI BHAJI

 

Meeholi Bhaji is an Assamese vegetable dish and has a wonderful confetti of colours and a fabulous mingling of flavours imparted by the different types of vegetable and the five-spice mix that is typical of this region.  I took this recipe from a cook book by Mridula Baljekar.

TOMATO RASAM

 

This one is a very simple rasam made with few ingredients and without dal & tamarind yet it is very tasty.  It can also be had like a soup especially in winters.

METHI SABZI

 

Methi is one of my husband’s favourite green vegetable.  My daughter likes methi is form of parantha and my husband as sabzi.  Here, is a simple methi sabzi which goes well with roti and/or rice.

DOODH PAK

 

Doodh Pak is a favourite in Gujarati homes.  It is a luxurious dessert made from almond milk / puree that is cooked in saffron scented milk.  It tastes excellent when served with fresh tropical fruits like Mango, Papaya, kiwis etc.  I got the recipe from a cook book by Mridula Baljekar.

KEERA (SPINACH) URUNDAI MOR KUZHAMBU

 

We always make mor kuzhambu during important festivals / pandigai (as called in Tamil).  One of the easiest recipes of South India and one of my favourite too.  Mor Kuzhambu is generally made with paruppu urundai or dried salty sundakkai with white pumpkin or okra (bhindi).  My husband likes it with yellow pumpkin for the sweet, sour and salty taste. Here is the recipe with Keera Paruppu Urundai.  I took the recipe from here. You can replace spinach with any greens.  I normally soak all the dals for a minimum of 6 – 8 hours as soaked dals digest faster. 

SPICY CHAAS

Chaas also called as lassi is a buttermilk famous in North India.  Chaas is lighter than lassi which is little thick and is usually taken after a heavy meals.  It is also served as a welcome drink in hot summer when you feel like having something very cold and refreshing.  I made this spicy chaas for my husband as he likes hot and spicy stuff compared to sweet.

COCONUT KAJU SHEERA

I have a sweet tooth and after every meal would like to have some kind of sweet.  If nothing is there… I would end up having bourvita or horlicks or kishmish.  I made coconut sheera with jaggery and it came out good.  This can be had as a halwa and simply cut it into 2” square and take it as barfi.

KATHRIKAI (BRINJAL) PULI KOOTU

I learnt this recipe from my mother-in-law which is very different from what my mom makes.  I liked this kootu as it gives more of a sambhar look and taste, it can be had with paranthas as well.  Katrikkai puti kootu can be made quickly as brinjal cooks in no time.

TOMATO PICKLE

 

I simply like this pickle with my idli or dosa.  The sweet and tangy flavour of tomato and the sourness of tamarind really go so well in this pickle that you can have with almost anything – idli, dosa, upma, rice, roti, parantha.  It is my best travelling partner – pack some phulka and tomato pickle and you are ready to go.  This pickle can be kept in the refrigerator for almost 10 days.

SAMBHAR POWDER

 

Sambhar Powder is one of the most important podi/powder in a south Indian kitchen and every household in southern India will have their own sambhar powder recipe though the ingredients go into the making of this powder would be more or less the same.  Here is my sambhar powder recipe.

KARADAIYAN NOMBU ADAI–SALTY / SPICY

 

My husband prefers salty/spicy adai than sweet.  And, he also takes takes this adai as an evening snacks and sometimes for breakfast.  I simply toss these steamed adai in dosa milagai podi and serve.

KARADAIYAN NOMBU ADAI – SWEET

 

 

Karadaiyan Nombu or Savitri Nombu is a vratham / vrat observed by TAM-BRAMs on the last day of Maasi masam and first day of Panguni masam of Tamil calendar which is 14th March of every year.  Married women worship Goddess Gauri or Parvathi or Shakti for marital bliss and better health of husband and children. Unmarried girls perform the vratham to get ideal person as their husband.  Karadaiyan Nombu is similar to that of sowbagya Gouri vratham or Gauri Tritiya vratham of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Gangaur vrat of Rajasthan, Jyesta gouri Vrat of Maharashtra, Jitiya Puja of Bihar, Karva Chauth of all other North Indian states.  On this day, married women (in their traditional 9 yard saree called madisar) change their thirumangalya charadu (thread) and tie sacred yellow thread around their neck during the auspicious time of the day and unmarried girls tie only the sacred yellow thread. While changing the thirumangalyam charadu the following sloka is chanted:
Throram Krishhnami subhake saharitham
Dharami aham bharthu
Ayushya Sidhartham supreethabhava sarvadha

In my family, we normally fast till the thread is changed and eat only the neivedhyam prepared for the pooja which is called karadaiyan nombu adai.

NELLIKAI (GOOSEBERRY/AMLA) THAYIR PACHCHADI

 

Amla is so rich in vitamin C and I really love this pachchadi.  Well, my paternal granny would say nellikai should not be taken on sundays… I never bothered to ask why and till date I couldn’t find a logical answer for that.  She would also say not to take amla at night may be for its cooling properties and one may catch cold if taken at night.  Anyway, I like this stuff and wouldn’t bother much about the days it can be taken or not to be taken.  I took the recipe from here and made few changes to suit my taste buds.

KARUVEPPILAI KUZHAMBU / CURRY LEAVES KUZHAMBU

 

Karuveppilai kuzhambu is so simple to make and tastes so yummm with all the goodness of curry leaves.  I made this kuzhambu after such a long time and served it with aloo fry, cauliflower carrot curry and nellikkai thayir pachchadi.  This kuzhambu goes well with ven pongal and arisi upma.

KARUVEPPILAI PODI / CURRY LEAVES POWDER

 

Karuveppilai or curry leaf as called in English is so full of medicinal values yet I would always pick these out from my plate…. infact in my family everybody do that… and hence my mom started using ground kaurveppilai.  Curry leaves are so good for the eyes and hair and we all relish when this is served as thokku, podi, kuzhambu or thogayal.  I always keep stock of Karuveppilai podi at home and use it as flavouring agent in many of my side dish / accompaniments.

VEGETABLE OATS UPMA

 

My dear friend asked me to post oats upma recipe.  So, before posting the recipe I wanted to try it out in my kitchen and get it approved by my biggest critic (husband).   I tried this upma today morning… and got thumbs up for the taste and texture.  I used Quaker Multigrain Oats but can be made with regular oats as well. 

GAJAR HALWA (CARROT HALWA)

 

Yummmm….. I love gajar halwa specially the one which my appa makes probably because apart from the ingredients he also puts all of love into the making.  Every year I eagerly wait for winters … juicy, red and sweet carrot season.  In bangalore we get these red carrots as Delhi carrots… Delhi carrots !!!  Being from Delhi, it sounds so weird to me… anyways.. carrots are carrots and I look for reasons to make carrot halwa. Amount of sugar depends on the sweetness you like… I don’t like too sweet carrot halwa, hence I put about 3/4 of a cup.  You can adjust the amount to your taste.

GHIYA (BOTTLE GUARD) KOFTA

Once, my dietician told me that bottle guard is such a rich vegetable for weight watchers.  It directly fights fat deposits in the body and there are so many weight reduction medicine in the market which have bottle guard extract as their main ingredients.  I don’t know how much this is true and kind of believed her and try to include bottle guard in my diet at least twice a week – bottle guard payasam, soup, sabzi and kofta.  Here, is kofta sabzi.

POOSANIKAI (ASH GOURD) THAYIR PACHCHADI

I had been to my relative’s house and my SIL was mentioning about poosanikai thayir pachchadi.  I never heard of it because both my mother and my mother-in-law never made this pachchadi.  It sounded so interesting and decided to try it out.  It came out so tasty and without much effort.

ORANGE CRANBERRY MUFFIN

My daughter loves orange… and anything that has orange flavour.  She has been asking me to make orange cup cakes for a very long time and today I had the drive to please her.  The muffins came out very good and everyone liked it so much especially my daughter you simply loved the tart, tangy cranberries.  I got the recipe from here, made slight changes and yummy cup cakes were ready to serve.

MOR RASAM

I first tasted mor rasam at my in-laws’ place, I only heard of mor kuzhambu and kadhi.. never about mor rasam.  My MIL makes this rasam so flavourful.  She uses lots of ajwain / omam.. and she tells me this is good for cold just like jeera milagu rasam.  So, here is my mor rasam recipe…

SABUDANA ALOO TIKKI

My Mother-in-law is born and brought up in Maharashtra, so many of her recipes would have that maharashtrian touch.  My mother never made sabudana tikki or vada (courtesy no internet).  So, I had my first sabudana tikki after marriage at my in-laws place and I liked it very much.  And now I make it every now and then for my little princess. You can shallow fry it, deep fry it, bake it, steam it…. no matter how it is made… will still taste good.

MASHED ALOO MASALA

I made this once as a filling for Aloo sandwich and it became an instant hit with my husband and daughter.  Now, they ask me to make this as a side dish for chappati / roti.  Its a very simple, easy and quick recipe and can be used as a filling for parantha, sandwich and samosas.  I make it really spicy and tangy. 

DHOKLA

Dhokla is my favourite evening snacks… can be made quickly with very minimal ingredients.   I like the sweet and sour taste with spicy chilli and tamarind chutney.  I make this often because there is hardly any fat/oil, it is completely steamed and requires only gram flour as main ingredient.

PUNJABI CHOLE

Punjabi Chole is a spicy north Indian main course recipe which can be had with rice, pulao, roti or parantha.  Its very simple and quick to make.  I, personally, like to use onions for garnishing than in gravy.  When I googled about the properties of kabuli channa, I learnt that Chickpeas are source of carbohydrate, vegetable protein and soluble fiber.  They contain lecithin a type of fat that reduces cholesterol and improves memory.  Very rich in mineral that helps to treat fibromyalgia and weakness.  It is said chickpeas must be present in the diet at least twice a week.

BISIBELA BATH IN VERAGU ARISI (KODO MILLET)

Bisibela bath is a prominent karnataka recipe which is like a sambhar rice but with lots of flavour and aroma.  This should be take really piping hot else you will not relish it.  I wanted to try this out in veragu arisi which is very rich in fibre in comparison with rice.  It came out so well and yummy…  I served it with sweet potato fry, papad and poosanikai thayir pachchadi.

PANEER BUTTER MASALA

Paneer Butter Masala is my daughter’s favourite side dish for roti.  When ever we eat out… my little one would order for PBM and would make sure that the order is for spicy gravy and the gravy should be really red in colour as she thinks that pale yellow / orange gravy will be sweet in taste.  I took this recipe from here and made very little changes and my daughter simply loved it.  I make this recipe without cream.

INJI (GINGER) PACHCHADI

Ginger, with its strong and spicy aroma, has its own place in Indian cuisine. It may be used fresh or dried, powdered or pickled or in the form of juice or oil.  No, wonder ginger is the classic Indian household favourite.  Ginger improves absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients and aids in digestion. It also helps break down the proteins in your food. Ginger protects the stomach against ulcers by promoting mucus secretion.  Today, I made inji pachchadi and it tastes best with rice and any sambhar.

KHARA (SAVORY) BISCUIT

Bored of baking sweet / sugary cookies, I decided to bake some spicy biscuits… and got this recipe from my friend and it came out so cute, lovely and spicy that every one at my place liked it.  It doesn’t have any raising agent and required very less fat.  My husband prefers spice over sweet and so he liked it so much… crunchy and spicy khara biscuit.

ANJEER (FIG) HALWA

I read about Anjeer Halwa in Tarla Dalal’s web page and made very minimal changes to suit my taste buds… and since I had anjeer at home thought of trying it.  Fig has got so many health benefits… they are high in potassium so helps to reduce insulin level and have anti-diabetic properties, rich in calcium and strengthens bones.  They are so good to treat acne prone skin… one can go on and on about benefits of fig.  Here is a easy, quick and simple fig halwa recipe…

LEMON RASAM

Lemon rasam really tastes yummy and can be make in a jiffy.  We use lemon in place of tamarind for the sourness.  I generally grind tuvar dal, tomatoes and curry leaves together for this as it enhances the flavour and this way my little ones takes both tomato and curry leaves (both are so healthy and I have seen people pick these two out… that list includes me too).

DOSA / IDLI MILAGAI PODI (GUN POWDER)

 

 

Dosa / idli milagai podi or molaga podi is a flavourful condiment for dosa and idli.  It is also used as seasoning / flavouring for podi curry.  Well, at my place it is used in so many recipes that sometimes I think of getting it ground in a mill in kilos.  My husband can eat it just like that.  Apart from being used as a substitute for chutney and sambhar, one can use it in kathrikai (brinjal), vazhakkai (raw banana) or cabbage podi curry as this milagai podi has loads of flavour.  Generally, channa dal, urad dal, til, whole red chilli and salt are the main ingredients of this podi; but I also add kollu (horse gram), tamarind, jaggery and asafoetida to enhance the flavour – spicy, tangy and sweet.  I was watching some cookery show in Podhigai and learnt about the benefits of kollu (horse gram) and decided to use it in my dosa milagai podi.  Note: Kollu is not advisable to pregnant women.

BISIBELA BATH PODI / POWDER

Here is the ingredients to make bisibela bath podi/powder which can be used to make bisibela bath. You can grind and store it in an air tight container in refrigerator for almost a year without loosing any flavour.

PALAK (SPINACH) PARANTHA

The best way to give green leafy vegetable to kids is to hide them in some recipe.  My little angle won’t have methi, palak, batua or sarson sabzi.  So, I started adding it to the dough and she would simply love it.  She can go on having any green parantha and calls all green paranthas as methi parantha.   I am very happy since she started have these green leafy vegetable in some form.