Kumbakonam kadappa (Potato Gravy from the city of Kumbakonam)

It is becoming cold and cold here, the temperatures are freezing down, I had planned I will post my other DB challenge recipes, ICC recipes, nothing seem to work out, as I am sick with cold, cough and fever, I had this in my draft from a long time, I made this when this girl was still a budding blogger now she has her own website, and of course a wonderful one too.., check out her blog.., As I was browsing her site one day I found this name very appealing!, I have been to Kumbakonam for just a visit to the temples around, never knew about this dish. when I read the Ingredients I was interested as it had Moong dal in it! who will not get tempted and I would not worry about this being gone in a jiff in my home as everyone of them is crazy of Potatoes.
Coming back to the recipe.....

KUMBAKONAM KADAPPA

INGREDIENTS:

6 to 7 Medium sized Potatoes

1/2 cup Moong dal

1 Medium sized onion

2 Green chillies

2 pods of Garlic

salt as required

1/4 tsp of Turmeric powder

6 to 7 sprigs of fresh Coriander leaves

1 tbsp of Lemon/Lime Juice

A few curry Leaves

A Pinch of Asafoetida

To Grind:

1/4 cup grated fresh coconut

2 Garlic pods

3 Green chillies

1'' Cinnamon stick

2 tbsp Daria dal/Pottukadalai/Roasted split Gram dal/Chutney dal

1 tbsp Poppy seeds

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

For Tempering:

1 tbsp of Oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

METHOD:

Chop the onion, Garlics and keep them ready.

If you want you can cook the potatoes previously or if using her method you can cook them in the pan after the tempering is done directly.

I cooked my potatoes previously in my pressure cooker, removed the skin and kept aside. when cooking the potatoes I had also cooked the moong dal in a separate container with 1 cup of water in the pressure cooker and kept it aside too.

Now Grind everything the header to Grind into a smooth paste with help of 1/2 cup of water and keep it ready too. ( You must first grind everything to a kind of powder/paste first without adding water, so the small things of masala used will grind well, if you add water in the beginning the masala will not grind to a smooth paste as we require to our consistency of smoothness this is applicable to all kind of gravies, sambhars, kootus we prepare).

Take a deep pan/kadai, heat the tbsp of oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they start spluttering up add chopped onions and Garlic and fry until they are transparent then add curry leaves give a slight stir then add the cooked potatoes and Moong dal then around 3 to 4 cups of water depending upon how thin or thick you want it, I added more water as I wanted it like a gravy for my Dosa then add required quantity of salt.

With an other 1/4 cup of water I made a liquid paste of the ground Masala (I usually add little more water once I grind to make into a nice liquid paste so when I pour into the boiling gravy it should not form any lumps and not mix well properly, this way I am sure it mixes well) and added it to the cooking Potato Dal, stirred it well and allowed it simmer for few more minutes, until the raw smell disappeared and the gravy started thickening.

Well that is done now, add the chopped Coriander leaves mix well, switch off, add the tbsp of lemon juice again give a good mix and serve hot with Chapatis, Dosas or Idlis 

As she enjoy this Kumbakonam Kadappa with all the wonderful spices in it...

Oh! I forgot to tell you who it is right ? It is none other than Sowjanya of Ruchika Cooks  check out her blog for the details of the Place and details of how she got into this recipe... Thanks dear for this lovely recipe.

Another click of my Kumbakonam Kadappa ..........

I am sending this to Priya and Aipi's Book marked recipes on Tuesday, (I am keeping my word on this right ?), well I am rocking by posting my tried and tested recipes :))

Pasta Frolla - Crostata

Hi everybody, I know I am dead late in posting my Daring baker challenges, I made the pastry case two weeks back before the dead line, but was waiting for my H to come back home, so I could make some filling, the minute I saw this pastry case I knew what I was going to make for my filling, my craving for eating this has been on my mind for sometime, but never had time to make it.
This filling is sold in our Iyengar Bakeries in southern India and is called Dil Kush and Dil Pasand, I do not know why they gave this name, but I always loved buying and eating them. Hope people who know Iyengar Bakeries might know about this filling..., and I am proud to say I belong to this community of Bakers and is kind of family tradition, I have already posted two of my posts about the Iyengar Bakery Sweet Bread and Khara Buns and I have few in tow to post, wherein the recipes are original and my cousins who own Bakeries have kindly given it to me and I would like to thank them for it.
The 2010 November Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Simona of Briciole.  She chose to challenge Daring Bakers' to make Pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating well.
I have not been able to take step by step photos, but I took some clicks, it was so difficult alone managing baking and cooking together. I even made a short crust pastry without Eggs and a short crust pastry for a savoury case, I will post that one next time, As I want to post this at least now.
I usually try to stick to the recipe so I would know how it really turns out, the originality of the recipe is very important for me to learn.

I made both the pastry dough so I could make two fillings the one with a little design on it was the one with all the flours in it, and the one which is white (?) I mean a Golden in colour is the one with APS flour in it.

PASTA FROLLA - CROSTATA
Pasta Frolla with Cake filling (In India it is called Dil Pasand)




Pasta frolla with Mixed Fruit filling (In India it is called Dil Kush)

The filling in the Dil Pasand recipe is nearly as same as what they sell in Bakeries in India, I came to know that they add lot more things in it, as I could not get hold the real jist for the recipe I have tried to implicate it even otherwise, with the ingredients in hand , It turned to be having almost the same taste and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The filling in Dil Kush is perfectly the recipe given by my family and it just turned out absolutely the same I used to buy and love eating it.., Of course I couldn't find Tutti frutti here so substituted with all kind of dried fruits and enjoyed it.
Hope you all try it out and enjoy this lovely Indian Pasta frolla.....
How to make Pasta frolla...

VERSION I 

1/2 cup, minus 1 tbsp (105ml,100gms,31/2oz) Superfine sugar or a scant 3/4th cup (180ml,90g,3oz) of powdered sugar.

1 and 3/4 th cup (420ml, 235gms, 8 1/4 oz) unbleached All purpose flour

A pinch of salt

1 Stick (8 tbsp/4oz/115gms) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Grated zest of half a lemon 

1 Large egg and 1 Large egg yolk , lightly beaten in a small bowl
VERSION II
1/2 cup of Superfine sugar
1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup Almond flour (I used Rye flour)
1/4 cup whole grain Barley flour
A pinch of salt
6 tbsp Unsalted butter cold
1 Large egg
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
METHOD:

version I

Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl, Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs, I made this in a bowl as my work surface is too small.
Make a well in the centre add beaten eggs into it ( If you want you can reserve a tsp of egg mixture for glazing purposes later on and place in the refrigerator covered well ready to use).
Add Lemon zest to the flour/butter/egg with using a fork or spatula or something comfortable you like to use to incorporate the liquid to the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
Knead lightly so the dough comes together into a ball.
Shape into a flat disk and wrap it into a plastic and place the dough in the refrigerator and chill at least an hour
version II  
The method is same as the above but a slight change is you need to first sieve all the flours together so they are well combined and continue with the above method.

Now to make the filling and Baking the dough....
I made one blind bake and the other one just like that
Heat the oven to 375 degree F/Gas Mark 5/180 degree,
Take the pasta out of the fridge unwrap it and cut 1/4 of the dough to make lattice top of the crostata refrigerate the dough while we work on the tart base.

To help roll the crostata dough keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that we used to wrap it, this way we can transfer the dough to our tin directly after we roll.
But, I directly rolled on my work top lightly dusting the top of the dough and work surface, keep some flour handy to dust the dough as we go along.
If the dough is very firm press the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, when it softens start rolling into a circle.
If you have used plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface flip dough over the pan, centering it and delicately press it all around the corner well covered, peel away the plastic wrap.
I used my palm after I rolled it, then the excess dough hanging over the edges my tin was quite big and the whole dough filled then prick the dough with a fork in several places as I have done here.
Then trim the excess dough hanging out as my tin was quite big I did not have much hanging out.
Take out the reserved pasta frolla refrigerated and cut them into strips you can design them into shapes or strips  as you love to decorate it make a lattice over the surface or decorate with the cut shapes.
You can brush the surface with reserved eggs.
Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes ( depending upon your oven), Bake it until Golden hue.

what is Blind Baking ?
Cut a piece of the parchment paper or aluminium foil large enough to cover the bottom of the crust extending over a bit at the edges of the tin.
You can use pie weight or dry beans to blind bake I used rice, place the crostata shell in the over and bake for 20 minutes
Remove weight and bake it an extra 5 more minutes until the border is golden if the crust may rise in the middle gently push it back with the back of a fork or spoon.
Allow the pastry shell to cool then spread the filling and bake it for further few minutes until the top turns golden in colour.

MY FILLINGS:
Pasta Frolla with cake filling:
I did not really get the recipe for this, but I came to know they use Jaggery and cake, ( use any cake you have in hand), what I did was, I took a pan and heated  a tbsp of milk I dissolved 1/4 cup of Jaggery, once it dissolved I filtered it then back to the pan to this I added crumbled 1 cup of cake ( I had eggless chocolate cake in hand) then added one powdered Bread crumbs, few powdered biscuits and some fresh coconut and fried it a bit some they all came together well like a nice ball, then flattened it out and filled it in the tart case, then placed the strips and in the gaps I filled it with some Home made mixed fruit jam and baked it in the oven until it cooked ( well, with lot of going around I baked it for a long time so is the colour! I kind of forget until my H reminded me I have something in the oven Oops!!).
Any way it tasted grated with so many things in it! :))

Pasta Frolla with Mixed Fruit filling:
This I got the recipe properly My cousin said they use Tutti- Frutti, as I had no Tutti fruites (I have come to know that Tutti frutties are nothing but dried Papaya) I kind of used 20 gms of dried Pineapple, Mango, Apricots, Raisins, and lots of dried Papaya finely chopped.

Then I mixed it with grated fresh coconut, poppy seed, 1 slice of powdered Bread crumbs and 3 tbsps of granulated sugar.Mix all this together and fill this into the tart case, In this filling I halved the dough made a complete round topping to go over the case and blind baked this.
Here are two more pics of my Pasta frolla......

Here is an other one.....

Hi Daring bakers sorry for posting this so late, but I loved this challenge and really enjoyed thank you so much

Spinach Sambhar with sweet cabbage Stir-fry

Every week when it is Tuesday I keep thinking I will definitely start posting my Tried and tasted recipes/Bookmarked recipes, but it seems to never happen at all, I saw this Tuesday BM - Event in Priya's blog and Aipi's combined event, I thought that's fantastic, I shall start posting  one by one everyweek, so I can delete my Book Marks, no wonder I have so many of them and so many I have tried and seem to never post them. Today I decided I am going to do it!, Good girl aint't I am :), Here I am with my Book Marked Recipe.
This Girl is not only sweet and I have a special feeling with both of the SIL's, ( hey not related to me), to each other, One showcases wonderful recipes with beautiful Photographs  and the other showcases her blog with beautiful Authentic recipes, I love her blog, I know she would think I don't visit her often but I do :).
She has a beautiful, useful, medicinal right - up for every post she does, Of course you all guessed yes, that is Chitra of Ratouille - Any one can cook, I made some of her signature dishes from her authentic kitchen we all loved  and enjoyed it, and I would love to tell her so...
You must be wondering what did I try her Sambhar Powder which is on the main page of her blog! Get the Sambhar powder Recipe from here.

SPINACH SAMBHAR WITH SWEET CABBAGE STIR-FRY

INGREDIENTS:
2 Bunches of Spinach
3/4th Cup of Tuvar Dal
1 Tomato
5-10 Small Onions/Shallots
Tamarind Gooseberry size
Salt as required
A Pinch of Asafoetida
Few curry leaves

Grind together:
3 to 4 tbsp of Sambhar Powder
1 tbsp of Rasam powder
3 tbsp of Coconut
cooked Tomato

Seasoning:
2 tsp of Oil
1 tsp of Mustard seeds

METHOD:
Wash and cook finely chopped Spinach, Tomato (chopped into two halves)  and Toor Dal together with a pinch of Turmeric powder in a pressure cooker up to 3 whistles.
Meanwhile chop the small onions finely and keep aside until needed.
Meanwhile when it is cooking, soak Tamarind in 1/2 cup of water and microwave for 1 minute, do not try to squeeze tamarind extract immediately you can add another 1/4 cup of water and squeeze the tamarind juice, if you can handle the hot water or leave it a few minutes, until you are comfortable with the water and squeeze the juice out of it.
Take a broad vessel heat a cup of water, Once it starts boiling, add the tamarind extract allow it boil for few more minutes (10-12 minutes) until the raw smell disappears in a medium flame, be careful otherwise it darkens the vessel ! around the sides. keep an eye on it.
By that time if the cooker has cooled down,  remove the tomato and keep it aside but for the spinach-Toordal mixture , with a masher give a light mash, so both of them combine together very well then add this to the cooking vessel, Immerse a ladle in it, so when it is boiling it won't spill out, still keep it a very medium flame and keep stirring now and then so it wont' get stuck to the bottom, because it might start to thicken.
Now Grind everything under the Grind together heading, with the cooked Tomato into a smooth paste with the help of 1/2 cup of water dissolve it well and add it to the cooking greens, mix well and let it boil, add required quantity of salt and asafoetida.
Now take a wok heat oil, add mustard seeds once they crackle up add the chopped onions and curry leaves and fry for few minutes until they are transparent add this to the cooking greens and dal mix well, and Now your sambhar is ready to be served with papad or dry curry of your choice.
I served it with Sweet cabbage dry curry.... recipe follows....

SWEET - CABBAGE STIR FRY:
INGREDIENTS:
1 Whole sweet cabbage
curry leaves a few
salt as required
few fresh Coriander leaves
A pinch of Asafoetida
1/4 cup Grated fresh Coconut

For Tempering:
1 tbsp Channa dal
1 tbsp Urad dal
1 tsp Mustard seeds
4 to 5 Dry Red chillies
1 tbsp of oil

METHOD:
Take a bowl with water, chop the cabbage finely and put it into the water, give one wash and drain all the water and keep aside.
In a wok heat oil, add mustard seeds once they crackle add everything under Tempering and saute for a minute the colour of the dals change, or you smell a nice aroma, Now add the chopped cabbage and curry leaves and mix well.
In a low flame cook the cabbage without any water, if you find it too dry sprinkle just a fistful of water.
I usually keep them immersed in water, until I need them. Once the seasoning is done, I dip my palm take a fistful of the cabbage try to drain by giving it a little shake and then add it directly to the wok or you can do as I said earlier.
Keep it covered and just few minutes once stir them all once and leave it again within 15- 20 minutes it gets cooked and just keep an eye that they don't get stuck to the wok, as we all know that cabbage gives water on its own, it is better not to add too much water.
Add salt mix well leave it for few more minutes
Then add freshly grated coconut mix well and serve.
This even goes well with Rasam, Chapatis etc..,,

I am also sending this to '' Only Greens event'' started by Pari  of Food delicious and guest hosted by Sara's Corner.

Bhindi Masala or Okra Stir-fry with Anardana Seeds

Hi Good Morning, Good evening or Good Night,  I hope some of you it will be morning and for some of you late in the night or for some of you late evening. So, whatever it is I greet you all to my space here, with this lovely recipe, I love Okra and I suppose lot of you do as My family or Me!, I Introduced Okra to my eldest as ''Buddishaali Kaayi'' meaning A veggie which helps to keep your Brain very  sharp and also Increases your memory power, from her first year I think, that is a long time I started introducing her to vegetables with connecting them something or the other like the potatoes which are rich in starch and helps in growth!, May be introducing her to veggies like this made her eat all the vegetables raw or cooked, she used to eat this Bhindi/Bendekaayi raw sometimes if I wouldn't see, can you believe a small girl eating Bitter Gourd well, well, she eats it and like me she loves it without the bitterness taken out of it, everybody especially the elders in the house who hated to eat it!, I am quite proud of her that she loves to try every vegetable.
I make this Bhindi Fry in two ways, This is one of the ways, will post the other one next time :), This is lovely spicy fry with all the spices tingling your tongue and arousing your senses and goes so well with chapatis, parathas or pulkas. I served this with my Mashroom Parathas. Everyone of us loved it.

BHINDI/OKRA STIR FRY

INGREDIENTS:
500 gms Bhindi/Okra
2 Tomatoes
2 Big Onions(1 cup)
2 sprig curry leaves
1 tbsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 tsp Amchur powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Mustard seeds
3 tbsp of Oil
Salt as required

Grind to Powder:
Dry Ingredients:
1/2 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 clove
1/2'' Cinnamon stick
Dry fry all the above seeds and dry spices until they change colour and gives a nice aroma
2 tbsp of Anardana seeds
Dry Grind all the above Ingredients together

METHOD:
Wash and wipe the Okras clean, Remembering will not just wash away the dirt on them, it is best to use a cloth or a kitchen cloth to wipe it clean and wiping it clean also helps in stir-frying the Bhindis well, as the water content makes them gooey and will not hold them together and they might get mushed up :(.
Once they are cleaned, cut them into 2 to 2 1/2'' pieces, add the Garam masala powder, Amchur powder and leave it for kind of marinating until we need it.
Chop the tomatoes and onions, Heat 2 tbsp of Oil in  a Kadai/wok/Pan add mustard seeds, once they crackle up add chopped Onions and curry leaves and fry until they are transparent then add chopped Tomatoes Saute them until they are well cooked now add Turmeric powder and chilli powder and fry for few minutes.

Once they are well cooked add the Marinated Okras and fry them in a medium flame with another tbsp of oil in the middle of the process and saute them
Meanwhile Grind to powder all the Ingredients under that heading finely and keep aside, when the okras are still cooking.
Once the Okras are well done, add this powder and required quantity of salt, Saute for few more minutes and 5 to 10 minutes before switching of close the lid and leave the dry curry for few more minutes so the Masala powders are well absorbed in them.
Serve it with anything you prefer to eat it, I served it with my Mushroom parathas.
I am sending this to Priya's CWS event Guest hosted by me as CWS as - Pomegranate seeds.

Hope you all like my Bhindi Masala

Coulibiac with Quinoa, Lentils and veggies

Hi friends,
Back again, I have been very busy from past weeks, I have not been able to post my own Anardana Seeds recipes, So, hope Priya will forgive me, for my late entries and round-ups, I will not be able to post my round-up on this event till next week, as I am going to have a busy week ahead, If any of you have any entries for this event and not able to post it to me, you can always do it until the day I post my round-up, I am planning to post my round-up around 23rd of December, You can send any recipes just not only using the dried Anardana seeds but also the fruit/ Pomogrenate seeds, as I have received some with the red Juicy fruit Mmm.., Lovely recipes, thanks for everybody, who participated.
Meanwhile Check out Kavita's Seasoned and Dressed blog for the Cooking with Seeds - Ajwain event started by Priya.
Coming back to the recipe, I had made something like this long back which I will try to post someday soon :), I am kind of not want to post some of my recipes as the photos weren't good, today I just decided I have to do this, even it doesn't look as I made these particularly for an event - so why not share it and not bother about the clicks, I just take photos in the night and with my I phone or N5800 :).
When Priya announced her CWF-Quinoa event I knew I could post some recipes, as I try to use Quinoa in some way or other in my cooking, I am always running around, and so time being a big issue in my life, I get so tired and go to bed.
Ok, stop moaning and going straight to the recipe....

COULIBIAC WITH QUINOA, LENTILS AND VEGGIES

FOR THE PASTRY
250 gms All Purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Sugar
75 gms Cold butter
75 gms Vegetable Margarine
4 to 5 tbsps of Cold water

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING
1/2 Cup Puy Lentils
1/2 Cup Horse Gram/Kollu
1/2 Cup Quinoa
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Potato
1 Big Onion
2 to 3 Green Chillies
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
5 sprigs of Coriander leaves
2 tbsp Oil

METHOD:
Making the Pastry:
Sieve the flour with salt and sugar then cut the butter into the flour with a knife, Rub it in quickly like bread crumbs with your fingertips, The secret of light pastry is in keeping your pastry cool, If we use our palms of our hand the butter will oil and make the pastry tough. Use water 1 tbsp at a time, you may need more or less water depending on the weather and the dryness of the flour, Knead it into a soft round ball, cover it in a cling film and keep it in the fridge until you require it.

To make the filling:
Wash and Soak both the lentils before you start making the Pastry, Once done with pastry, put these lentils in one cup of water in a vessel and pressure cook them till soft ( 3 whistles), Drain the water.
Cook Quinoa in 1 and 1/4 cup of water with a tsp of oil in a low flame, stirring now and then they cook very well and fast. careful that you don't burn the bottom. Take it out and spread it out so the grains separate out.
Heat Oil in a wok add Chillies fry and then add Ginger-Garlic paste and then the chopped onion and sauté them till transparent, then add chopped peppers and sauté them till soft then add the cooked lentils, mix well then add Quinoa and chopped Coriander leaves and Salt as required mix well and close the lid, keep it in a low flame for few minutes so the mixture absorbs the salt.
Now the mixture or filling is completely ready, Keep it aside. Give time for it to cool.

To Assemble the Pastry:
Make 4 parts out of it, Keep the other three parts back into the fridge while you work on the first one, Make the dough into a rectangle spoon the mixture in the middle as shown in the figure, then cut diagonal strips in the pastry on each side of the filling to create a plaited effect ( I have not done a very good job as my kids helped me do it, they got bored and messed it up a little bit !!), I did not trim of any extra pastry that is why that odd look at the end, Brush the Pastry with milk and Bake in a Preheated oven 200 degree C (400d F)/ Gas Mark 6. until golden brown in colour.
If you do not want to make the pastry yourself you can use ready made Puff Pastry, which I used once and it was really beautiful to look at than this.

My kids loved it, and everything was gone.., I felt quite happy as I made them eat not too much butter (like used in Puff Pastry), they ate lentils and Quinoa.

I love to send this to Priya's CWF _ Quinoa event started by Kiran  thanks to both you, I enjoyed making and my family enjoyed eating it!!

This I would love to send to Hearth and soul volume #27 and Hope they like it.
I would also like to send this to MLLA #30 of Susan's hosted by Priya of  Mharo Rajasthan's blog

Banana Flower Blossom/Vazahpoo Paruppu Urundai Rasam

Hi friends, Hope you are all doing, It is so cold and horrible out here, I cannot even stand in the kitchen as I don't have a heater there, and I cannot even cook as my toes and legs are getting numb if I stood long in their, I have never the temperature getting so cold, They say it is going to be like for some more time. May be I think we are going to have a white Christmas after all.
Coming back to the post, Using these Banana Flowers Paruppu Urandai/Dumplings, I made this dish, Which I had never tried before, was very delicious, I have used Banana Flowers/Vazhaipoo in some dishes, even though I did not cook much all the time in it, as It is  very time consuming, even this I took one whole day!, I am not scaring you off you know these flowers are very nutritious, but certainly a tedious job, I always loved it to unveil these flowers and wonder how beautifully God has created this. A few days back when I went to an Asian shop I saw these but just give it a thought, my H behind me said, shall we buy this ?, Mmm., I thought and said ok, and it was in a my fridge laying quietly, when I was going through Priya's blog and saw these two recipes, I knew what I was going to do :), So here I am with this recipe...........
As usual I had to tweak the recipe, actually started what Priya had done like here, to make a kozhambu, but when I came back from work, H said we had to go visit our friend tonight as their parents were leaving for India day after tomorrow, I just had time to make the Urundai/dumplings, pressure cooked them and left.
Check out Viki's blog, for a beautiful description of how to clean the Banana flowers, and how it looks like, and also check out this blog with beautiful photographs and description about the same.
It is important to soak them in buttermilk otherwise it changes colour, you can note the difference of my Urundai and hers!.
So, when I came back I had no time to go to the Grinding process in her recipe, So quickly I made this Rasam.

BANANA FLOWER BLOSSOM/VAZHAPOO PARUPPU URUNDAI RASAM

INGREDIENTS:
15 No Banana Flower/Vazhapoo Paruppu Urundai
1/2 lime size Tamarind
1 Medium sized Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 and 1/2 tbsp of Rasam Powder
Curry leaves
Salt
Asafoetida

Seasoning:
1 tsp of Mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin see
1 tsp Pepper Corns
1 tsp Cumin seeds

METHOD:
To take the extract from Tamarind, just take 1/2 cup of water with tamarind and microwave it for a minute, Meanwhile, Take 2 litres of water, Bring it to boil, then add a some cold water to the microwaved tamarind, so that your hand is comfortable enough to handle the hot water then squeeze out the tamarind extract, and pour into the boiling water and then allow it to boil for few minutes until the raw smell of the tamarind disappears then add Rasam powder.
Then add salt and the Banana Dumplings into them slowly, and you can see that the balls start floating to the surface, then using a pestle and mortar, grind pepper corns and cumin seeds to a coarse powder add this and Asafoetida to it. you can see in the picture below how the dumplings are floating to the top.

Meanwhile chop the onions and Tomatoes and set aside, In a wok, heat a tbsp of oil, once it is warm add mustard seeds, after they splutter add fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds when they change colour and chopped onions and curry leaves, once the onions are transparent add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for a minute so they get cooked well, add this whole Sautéed Ingredients to the boiling water.

The combination of Rasam with the dumplings was so delicious, and perfectly suitable for the cold weather, Kids did not ask for a dry curry or a papad, as they always when I make Rasam or Sambhar. They used the dumpling as a curry going well with Rasam :)).
The Iyengar way of making this Rasam, you have to omit Sautéing of onion and Tomatoes, but just add the Dumplings into the Tamarind water and in the end season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves and of course do not miss adding the coarsely ground pepper and cumin seeds.
An another look at my Vazhapoo Rasam, alas I cannot pass it on to you...

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

BANANA FLOWERS/VAZAHPOO/BAALE HOOVA

photo courtesy from www.shutterstock.com, while I was searching for a photo I found this in Google Images, the flowers were so beautifully photographed, I just fell in love with this, isn't it so beautiful, so I picked this one up. Dear shutter stock thanks for your lovely clicks hope my readers would enjoy and visit your stock! of lovely Photographs.

Sending this to Tried and tested event Started by Zlamushka and now taken care of by Lakshmi and guest hosted by Nivedita of Seduce your taste buds.
Hope she accepts my late entries.

Steam Cooked Banana Flower Blossom Dumplings/Vazhapoo Paruppu urundai

Hi all, Had to come back quick and fast, A quick post as it is only a day to go.., I still have two more post hope to do it by tomorrow night!, If every thing goes well :))
This one is Paruppu (Dal) Urundai (Balls) means Dals made into balls and steam cooked, I feel this is a very a nutritious and definitely a healthy dish when compared to lot of fried goodies we love to make out of Dals, Here these Dal Dumplings can be made by any Dal, and sometimes you can add veggies to it and enjoy it as a wonderful snack, or a breakfast with a nice spicy chutney.
When I bought a Banana Blossom flower, I started searching something new which I want to try out, as rarely I get to buy this vegetable, and when I saw this in priya's blog, I knew what I was going to do for T and T started by Zlamushka, now taken care of by Lakshmi and Guest hosted by Nivedita, is a  wonderful event, which I love to participate, as the bloggers are recognised are Tried and tested and bring them out into lime light, and I think this is a wonderful event which is like a crowning glory for all the lovely bloggers out there.

Coming back to the recipe, the method is simple, Interesting and delicious. You can do lot of variations too.., It is left to your Imagination.
I tweaked this recipe a little bit, as I had not used Toor dal from 3 to 4 days, I decided I will add 1/2 and 1/2 of both the dals. The original recipe is here you can check in priya's blog.

BANANA FLOWER BLOSSOM DUMPLINGS/VAZHAPOO PARUPPU URUNDAI

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Banana Blossom/Flowers
1/2 cup Channa Dal
1/2 Cup Tuvar Dal
1 tsp Fennel
1'' fresh Ginger
3 to 4 Green chillies
2 Garlic pods (optional)
1 Big size Onion
A few curry leaves
A few coriander leaves
Salt as required

METHOD:
Wash and soak the both the Dals for around 2 hours, Then drain them grind them coarsely with green chilles, Ginger, garlic and Fennel, To this add chopped coriander, curry leaves and chopped banana Flowers, mix them well, Make it into small balls and pressure cook them for 10 minutes like how you make Idlies, No weight on the pressure cooker.
These Dumplings I have used to make this Paruppu Urandai Rasam.
Thanks priya for both these dishes.

Quinoa and Poppy seeds powder

Hi everybody, visitors of my blog would know that I love Quinoa and use it where ever possible in my recipes, I use them in Baking, cooking in gravies, powder, My flat breads etc., when I was searching for some recipes I would be able to make in Priya's blog, I had seen this and I had Book Marked it, I have made this 3 to 4 times I think and use it in all my recipes. I even created my own Quinoa spice powder mixture later on and enjoy both the powders, this is a keeper recipe and I will post some recipes using this powder. Thanks for this lovely powder priya, and I would certainly recommend to all my blogger friends should try it out and you will love it.

QUINOA AND POPPY SEEDS POWDER

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 tbsp Quinoa
2 tbsp Coriander seeds
2 tsp Channa Dal
1 tsp Urad Dal
Salt as Required

METHOD:
Dry Roast Poppy seeds and Quinoa until they change colour, and nice aroma comes out keep it is aside.
Again in the same wok with a tsp of oil fry the other ingredients with out salt and fry it well until they change colour.
Once they are cool grind them into a coarse powder in an air tight container.
You can use this stir-fry or dry curry recipes. It's a really good one and a keeper
This goes to Tried and Tasted event from Priya'seasyntasty reicpes hosted by PJ of seduce your taste buds, started by Zlamushka and is now taken care of by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles.

Aubergine Curry with Tomatoes, Ginger and Fennel Seeds

I had been to my Friend's place the other day and as we were chatting away, she went get me some Tea and I just couldn't sit there doing nothing so I got up started browsing through her books in the shelf ( that is what most of us do I think when we love books right ?), and this book caught my attention as first thing it was a cookery book then I found this about South-east Asia, don't we all want to have a peek if it says so!, So did I , nothing wrong though, it's natural, is something Indian there !?, what he thinks about south-east Asian food etc.,.. well, I wouldn't buy it though to be honest, as it had lot of Non-Vegetarian dishes featured, as my friend is one, it might be useful for her. But, But, It had so beautiful photos and so very authentic about spices that is what I noticed when I went through the vegetarian dishes in it.  She said she hadn't tried anything from it still and she said I could borrow her book, well, that is what I was waiting for, So.., had that wonderful cup of Tea picked the book and went back home, sat again with a cup of Tea and started gazing through the pages, and mentally thinking what vegetables I had in hand I made two recipes out of this book and they really turned out so well, I really liked the book and may be who love to cook Asian recipes I think they can give this a try as it was really nice. You might be getting frustrated by now because I haven't mentioned the name of this book :), It is Rick Stein's Far eastern Odyssey,  when he traveled to South-east Asia, he fell in love with the varied and colourful cuisine of Bangladesh from the hearty lentil Dal's to Aromatic Vegetarian curries, in his words he says..
''Bangladeshis say that their cuisine is not worth making fuss about, and most of the Indian Restaurants in the UK, which are owned and run by Bangladeshis, tend to feature the cuisine of the rest of India and Pakistan. But I found that people eat a variety of meat and rice dishes with Northern Indian and Persian influences, I suppose if you ask me for three of the most distinctive flavours of Bangladeshi cooking, I'd say Mustard, Ghee (clarified butter) and a particular type of spice mix, Panch Phoran, a combination of Mustard, Nigella, Cumin, Fennel and Fenugreek Seeds''.
So, that's it, I started into my culinary world with the recipe in hand.., as I knew what I was going to cook...
I have to say I had to tweak this recipe a little bit with some Ingredients.
And also I had to feed 5 hungry people who love chapatis and subzis, Actually this recipe says it serves 6, I wouldn't think so, as I had to make it more to feed the family of 5  , I think this recipe from the book may serve around 3 people maximum if you like your curries.

AUBERGINE CURRY WITH TOMATOES, GINGER AND FENNEL SEEDS

INGREDIENTS:
600 gms Aubergines/ Purple Indian long Variety Brinjals
150 ml vegetable oil ( I used 1/4 cup Sunflower oil)
40 gms fresh root Ginger (I used 1 and 1/2 inch)
40 gms Garlic roughly chopped (I used 5 cloves of garlic)
2 Green Cayenne Chillies finely chopped (I used chillies from my garden I do not what variety it is!)
2 tsp Fennel seeds (I used 1 tbsp and 1 tsp Fennel seeds)
1 tsp Cumin seeds (1 and 1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp freshly Ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
400 gms Chopped Tomatoes or can use from a can ( I used 600 gms)
1/2 tsp freshly ground Black pepper
5 to 6 sprigs of Coriander leaves
3 sprigs of Mint leaves
(He uses both coriander and mint leaves 1 tbsp)
I also used 2 tbsp of Tamarind juice and 1 tsp of Red chilli powder which was not in the recipe

METHOD:
Cut the top of the Aubergines/Brinjals and cut them in half lengthwise, as I had little larger ones I had to again cut each across in half and then again each piece lengthwise into 4 wedges (the recipe says toss them with a tsp of salt and set aside in colander for 10 mins), well I did not do so I just cut them into wedges and tossed them in water as we all know they turn black if you didn't do so as it reacts with oxygen when exposed, like the Apples.
Then Heat a frying pan with oil, I took out the Brinjals out of the water pat dried it on a kitchen towel they using 1 tbsp of oil I coated them, then used around 2 tbsp of oil and shallow fried few Brinjals at a time in 3 batches on a high heat, until richly browned for 3 to 4 minutes. ( I liked this Idea as he says this way it helps prevent them from absorbing too much oil, which would make the finished dish greasy), I did not use any extra oil  again but used a sprinkled little salt every time I sauteed every batch.

Then I Put the Ginger, Garlic and chilli (as said in the recipe ) but I also added chopped Tomatoes  into the food processor, I mean my Mixie and whizzed it into a smooth paste.
Take a big kadai/wok/frying pan and then add one  tsp of Fennel seeds and cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for a few minutes,

then add the Tomato paste and leave this to fry for a 3 to 4 minutes

Then add Turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, Tamarind juice and  Black pepper powder mix well, then leave it again for a few a further 8 to 10 minutes covering with a lid in simmer , so that the raw smell of the tomatoes are gone and they all get cooked well, then you can see that it is kind of reduced and thickened slightly.
Return the Aubergines into the pan and stir well to coat in the sauce, But then the recipe makes into a dry curry but I made into a Gravy by adding 1 and 1/2 cup of water and covered it with a lid and cooked them again with required quantity of salt, remembering that I had already added a little bit of salt every time I fried the Aubergines, It was so like a Restaurant dish, and was really mouthwatering.

I served them with chapatis, you can serve them with pulkas, Naans etc.., may be it might go well with rice too..
I should say it doesn't look like anything from the photo of the book, but a lovely recipes with lot of flavours..

I am sending this of to Toviewtoronto's food palette's Red event.

Beet root -Baby corn Pakodas

Tomato Bisi bele bath

Fusilli with Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Tomato Sauce

Beetroot Pulov

Red velvet cup cakes

and here are few more of my Red coloured dishes, which might go with her events and hope she likes it....., as she said she wouldn't might the archives, at least I wanted to post something new to her event.

Moroccan Holiday Bread

I made this from my Bread Book, quick I had to think that I want to make something ASAP, as today I have to post it for the BBD# 34 - Baking Bread with Grains, which is my favourite event, I was going through lot of recipes, and I remembered I had some grains in the cupboard which I could use.
The Authors say that this bread has a very Interesting flavour..., in their own words...
''The addition of Maize meal and cornucopia of seeds gives this superb loaf an interesting flavour and texture''.


MOROCCAN HOLIDAY BREAD

Well the loaf turned out well, but I am not a very satisfied person when it comes to bread baking, as I go through lot of bread baking blogs and wonder with all those technical hydration they talk about, create steaming, baking stones, kneading and so many things, which makes me feel very sad, that I am not able to get into that kind of exposure, even somethings I understand I am not able to provide myself with so many equipments required for a successful Bread Baking, Just like those puds and desserts the chefs create!, I envy them all, nah, just kidding.., may be someday I might be able to learn some part of all those things :)) or :( ?!!!.... Let's leave my face and come back to the recipe.., I enjoy baking all that matters..., and my kids do enjoy my Breads (they think the world of their mum!) Bless them...
I should say everything went well with this Bread except I forgot to check the baking !, my husband reminded me that why is the oven on ( that's because I was posting my recipes for the events at that time and I forgot all about my bread in the oven ) , I ran to find that the bread was completely done!, I switched off the oven and took the Bread out of the oven to cool down, that is why all the seeds got burnt!, but after it got cooled the crust wasn't too bad, and it sliced out very well.

I made little changes to this dough as I did not want to bake a big loaf, so here are the measurements.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup All Purpose flour

1/2 cup of Maize meal

1/4 cup of Rye flour(Recipe did not call for this)

1/2 tsp Salt

1tbsp of dried yeast

1/4 + 2 tbsp of Luke warm water

1/4 Cup Milk

2 to 3 tbsp of Olive oil ( Recipe doesn't call for this)

1 tbsp of Linseeds

1 tbsp of Sunflower kernels

1 and 1/2 tbsp os Pumpkin seeds

METHOD:

In a  bowl as I always do put the yeast into it, and add 2 to 3 tbsp of the luke warm water with 1/4 tsp of sugar mix well and keep aside in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes just to check if the yeast is still active, after few minutes you can see the bubbles forming up and raising. 

Meanwhile Sift the flours and salt together, Now add the milk and remaining water to the yeast mixture stir  in well.

In a large bowl take the sifted flours make a well in the centre pour the yeast mixture to it and mix thoroughly into a fairly soft dough, In this part my dough got a little bit sticky, but learning from mistakes I did not add any extra flour just smeared a little bit of oil to my hand gathered the dough and strated folding and twisting and kneading the dough with a touch of oil and twice dipping my hand into the flour shake the extra flour and knead it, until it started to gather into a nice and elastic soft dough.

Then I oiled the bowl and cover the dough container with a cling film and left it to double in volume in a warm place, it must have 2 to 2 1/2 hours as it was quite cold here.

After its first raise I turned the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knock back. Gently I kneaded the sunflower and linseeds into the dough and shaped it into a round ball then put into my basket to raiseto double in volume again for around 1 and 1/2 hour in a warm place.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 degree Centigrade/Gas mark 6/400 degree F, 

After the second raise,  Brushed the top of the loaf with water and sprinkled the Pumpkin seeds over the top, I slowly transferred it on to my baking sheet, Bake the loaf 30 to 35 minutes or according to your oven or until it is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the base of the bread, Transfer the loaf on to a wire rack to cool.

This was the Loaf which came out of the oven!

The Autors gave some variations bascially they topped the loaf with sunflower seeds and filled the loaf with pumpkin and sesame seeds.

They say to incorporate all the seeds into the loaf and leave the loaf top plain or instead of sunflower seeds top it with Sesame seeds. Here is the picture of the original recipe..........

Recipe source : The Book of Breads by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter

I am sending this to the Bread Baking event # 34 hosted by zesty south Indian kitchen of swathi started by Zora of Koch topf and also to Bake off event of Champa's and it is also yeast spotted!

Huray 3 in one enjoy.....

c u soon take care............

Mushroom Chapatis (Pulkas)

Hi friends,
Hope you are all doing well, I am in a mission to post at least one recipe even though I have made a few of them for events and it has become so  difficult with posting recipes as is not my fault you see, it's all you people ( I mean the bloggers) who keep posting and updating their blogs and I start Oogling and googling around and forget what I sat for !. I made this in two different ways but now I make only this way which I have posted, I also have posted the other method in the end, My kids love this as they feel they are not able to taste the mushroom so much now........... :))
Quick no time to waste hope she accepts my entry.....

MUSHROOM PARATHAS/CHAPATIS/PULKAS..... ?

INGREDIENTS:
250 gms Chestnut Mushrooms
4 to 5 Cups of Wheat Flour
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp of Coriander powder
1 tsp of Cumin powder
1 tsp of Garam Masala powder
1  and 1/2 tbsp of Thymol seeds
1 tsp of Turmeric powder
1/4 cup milk
7 to 8 sprigs of chopped Coriander leaves
Salt as Required
Water as Required
Oil to make chapatis

METHOD:
Clean the mushrooms in water, take out the stalk, chop them and saute them in a tsp of oil for a few minutes within minutes it becomes very soft, when it cools down make a puree of this with 1/4 cup milk and set aside.
Take a big bowl, add the flour, make a hole in the centre pour the pureed mushrooms, then add all the other Ingredients said above except oil with required quantity of salt and mix well, then start adding water, I have not mentioned the exact amount of salt and water as it depends on the Atta used by us. So check out how much you need water and make it into a soft chapati dough cover and leave it for 1/2 and hour, Knead well and start making me chapatis.

So, why a question mark if it is Chapatis, I wrote a question mark, few of them I made chapatis (making a triangle fold and cooking it on the tawa),
Then some of them I made into pulkas with out making a triangle and making it into a simple round, and it wonderfully puffed up nicely like a poori ! I couldn't believe it !, so good for me no oil and I made 4 and ate them!,
As I had stuffed it with Mushrooms So , I thought I should call it paratas ! ?, I really don't know Anyways we enjoyed it and  you too try it out and enjoy..

VERDICT: I had made this in a different way a few months back, kids did not enjoy that method, so I am stuck with the above one.. That other method is ......
Just slice the Mushrooms into thin slices and mix it with the other Ingredients as said above except I just added 2 tbsp of milk to the flour and made chapatis, Kids made a face as they could chew on the mushrooms and they were not for it, If you like Mushrooms you can make this way...
I want to send this to Joy of cooking's Complete my thali event started by Jagruti and hosted by torviewtoronto who wants some flat bread to complete one part of the thali hope she accepts my last minute entry.