Who will say no when u r served with love by ur better half even with a simple salad, definitely not me..Coz my better half is quite a busyman with loads of work and its very rare to catch him often especially during week days, yesterday after a long month of work, he got enough time to spend his precious time with us and prepare this simple salad for us with loads of love, even this salad is simple i wanted to share along with u all coz am so proud of him also at the same time i want to send this colourful salad to Priti's event calling for His Cooking Event, simple but yet a delicious salad to enjoy without any guilt as my H prepared with maple syrup and some nuts with loads of strawberries and pineapple chunks..We enjoyed this salad for our dessert...

Ingredients:

• 1cup Strawberries (chopped)
• 1cup Pineapple chunks
• Maple syrup as per need
• Few almond flakes

Method:
Take everything in a bowl, mix well and serve chilled...

Lush green chickpea leaves was the first harvest from my kitchen garden this year. I made thepla from the first batch.

Chickpea Greens Flatbread
Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh chickpea greens
• 1cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup bajra flour
• 1 tsp coriander-cumin seeds powder
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic-green chili paste
• 1/2 tsp paprika or mild chili powder
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 1/8 tsp owa/ajmo/carrom seeds
• 1 tsp oil
• flour for dredging
• oil for roasting/frying

Method
1. Rinse chickpea greens. Let them dry. Take off the tiny leaves. Set aside. I do not chop them as they are quite tiny & tender.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients. Stir in chickpea leaves. Using water as needed, knead the dough. Add 1 tsp oil. Knead again. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Make 9 uniform balls. Roll into thin flatbreads.
4. Roast on a hot tawa or griddle till brown spots appear on both sides.
5. Store in a container covered with a clean kitchen napkin till ready to use.

Note -
1. You can chop the leaves if you like.

Sun dried Tomato Pickle (Endu Tomato Velluli Pachadi)

I completely missed out blogging the garlic flavored sun dried tomato pickle recipe that I had promised my dear readers. Better late than never. Today’s recipe differs from the earlier blogged Endu Tomato Pachadi in terms of the seasoning. Asafoetida aka hing is replaced with crushed garlic, mustard seeds and fresh curry leaves that are tempered in hot oil before combining with the tomatoes. This lends depth of flavor and strikes a balance between the acidity and fruity sweetness of sun dried tomatoes.

Endu Tomato Velluli Pachadi Recipe
Recipe Source & Prep: Amma
Sun drying: 3 days Prep & Cooking: 20 mts
Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients:

• 2 kg tomatoes, wash, dry and slice
• 50 gms tamarind
• 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
• 3 tbsps red chilli pwd (adjust)
• 1 tsp dry roasted methi pwd
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds, dry roast till they splutter, cool and make pwd
• 3 tbsps salt

For tempering/tadka/poppu:

• 10-12 peeled and crushed garlic cloves
• 10-12 fresh curry leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• pinch of methi seeds/fenugreek seeds/menthulu
• 3 dry red chillis
• 5-6 tbsps oil

Method:

1 Slice each tomato into 6 pieces. Add salt and turmeric pwd, combine and place lid. Leave aside overnight.
2 Next morning, squeeze out entire liquid from each piece and spread the tomato pieces over a cloth and sun dry. Sun dry the pieces till they are completely dry with no trace of rawness. This usually takes 3-4 days of good sunshine. Every evening, remove the cloth containing the tomato pieces, place indoors and next day again place back the cloth containing the tomato pieces to sun dry.
3 Pour the liquid in a very wide (shallow) vessel. Add tamarind and allow to sun dry. This could take at least 4 days of good sunshine. The liquid will thicken. Every evening, remove the tomato liquid and place indoors, place back again the next day morning to sun dry.
4 Once the tomatoes and liquid are sun-dried, combine the dried tomatoes pieces with the sun dried liquid and leave overnight, covered.
5 Next morning, blend this to a slightly coarse paste. Add red chilli pwd, methi pwd, roasted mustard pwd and combine.
6 Heat oil in a vessel. It should not be too hot. Once hot, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Add the methi seeds, red chilies and fresh curry leaves and allow too saute for 15-20 secs on medium flame till the methi turns red. Do not burn it. Turn off flame and add the crushed garlic. Allow the seasoning to cool before combining with the tomato mixture.
7 Cool and store in an airtight bottle. Refrigerate.

Sesame Honey Chilli Potatoes

Popular Indo-Chinese recipe, Honey Chili Potatoes, owes it flavor to honey and fiery red chilies. I like the deep fried restaurant version but I prefer the healthy home made method where the potatoes are baked before being tossed in a sweet and hot sauce and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Very flavorful and looks appealing in the serving plate.

Sesame Honey Chilli Potatoes Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 30 mts
Serves: 4-5 persons
Cuisine: Indo-Chinese

Ingredients:

• 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into fingers like for french fries
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp red chilli pwd
• 2 tsps tomato sauce
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tbsps oil

For sauce:

• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tsp red chilli sauce
• 2 tsps vinegar
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tbsps honey
• 1 tsp chopped coriander leaves (optional) or spring onion greens
• 1/2 tbsp oil

Method:

1 Combine potato fingers, oil, red chilli pwd, tomato sauce, crushed garlic and salt and place in a ziplock bag and shake well. Grease a baking tray and spread the potato fingers on the tray and bake at 200 degrees C for 35-40 mts. You need to turn the potato fingers once during the baking process. OR you can deep fry the potato fingers to a golden brown shade. If deep frying add a tbsp of cornflour instead of oil to the potatoes and then deep fry. Remove onto absorbent paper and keep aside.
2 Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add oil, add the crushed garlic and saute on high flame for few secs. Add the red chilli paste, tomato sauce and vinegar and combine. Add the baked potatoes and toss for a mt on medium-high flame. Add the honey and toss the contents till well combined. Turn off heat. Adjust salt if required.
3 Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and garnish with spring onion greens or coriander leaves and combine. Serve warm as a starter/appetizer.

Honey Chili Potatoes

Kakarakaya Pachadi.

Bitter gourd is grated, salted and left aside to remove the bitter juices. Bitter gourd is then fried till golden brown. Onion and tomato is cooked and ground into paste along with a spice mixture. Finally bitter gourd is mixed with the onion tomato paste and the chutney is tempered.
Makes: around 2 Cups of Bitter Gourd Chutney.

Ingredients:

• Bitter Gourd 3 – 4 Medium
• Onion 1
• Tomato 2 – 3
• Green Chiles 3
• Urad Dal 1 tbsp
• Whole Red Chiles 3 – 5
• Sesame Seeds 1 tbsp
• Tamarind 1 inch Ball
• Jaggery 1 tbsp (grated)
• Red Chile Powder 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric Powder a Pinch
• Cilantro few Sprigs
• Oil 3 tsps
• Salt as required

Talimpu:

• Urad Dal 1/4 tsp
• Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Mustard Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida a pinch
• Curry Leaves 4
• Oil 1 tsp

Method of preparation:

Wash, remove ends, lightly scrape and grate the bitter gourds on thick side of the grater.
Alternatively, use a food processor to grate the bitter gourds.
Mix in around a tsp of salt with grated bitter and keep aside for half an hour.
Wash the salted bitter gourd under running water and then thoroughly squeeze off the water from the salted bitter gourd.
Repeat the washing and squeezing process for couple of times to make sure most of the bitterness is gone.

Remove stems, wash and slice the green chiles.
Peel, remove ends and finely chop the onion.
Wash and finely chop the tomatoes.
Wash and finely chop the cilantro.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan on low – medium heat, add urad dal.
Fry for few seconds, add broken red chiles and stir continuously.
Once red chiles change color, remove from heat and add sesame seeds.
Once the mixture cools down, grind it into fine powder using a spice blender.

Heat a tsp of oil in same pan, add squeezed bitter gourd and fry till it turns light brown around the edges.
Remove the bitter gourd onto a bowl.

For tempering, heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add all talimpu ingredients in order.
When urad dal changes color, remove from heat and reserve for later use.

Heat remaining oil in the same pan, add chopped onion and fry till it turns translucent.
Stir in chopped tomato, tamarind, jaggery, green chiles, turmeric, red chile powder, salt and cook till tomato is mushy.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Grind the mixture into fine paste along with powdered spices.

Remove the ground mixture onto a big bowl.
Stir in fried bitter gourd, cilantro and the tempering.
Serve bitter gourd chutney with steamed rice or with dosa etc..
Notes: Make sure to remove most of the bitterness from the bitter gourd.

Suggestions: If the bitter gourd chutney is too bitter, add more tamarind pulp and jaggery to cut down some of the bitterness.
Variations: You can also boil the grated bitter gourd with a tbsp of yogurt and few pinches of salt before frying it to remove most of the bitterness.
Other Names: Bitter Gourd Chutney, Kakarakaya Pachadi, Karela Chutney.

Mom makes similar chutney with cilantro/coriander leaves. This chutney has to be ground with minimum water so it just stays in its place when served.

Pudinyachi Chutney

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh coconut
• 10 - 12 sprigs of mint, leaves torn
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• salt to taste
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 key lime, squeezed

Method
1. Grind all the above ingredients without adding any water.

Note
1. You can use cilantro and mint instead of just mint.
2. I like generous amount of mint in this chutney. If you want, you can reduce the amount of mint.

Its kinda hot here and we are getting hooked to fresh juices and summer fruits like watermelon, peach and strawberries, after having those sweet watermelon chunks before throwing the green part, i removed that white part of the watermelon for making out some dals with those white part..While making out our usual cucumber raita i tried adding some grated watermelon along with cucumber and the crunchy texture of this watermelon tasted very fabulous and both cucumber and watermelon works out wonder together and we loved it, enjoyed having this creamy watermelon and cucumber raita with Chettinad Mutton Biryani..Easy breezy and refreshing raita get ready within few minutes and goes awesome even with rotis..To grate the white part of the watermelon will be bit tricky but this raita will tastes super delicious..

Ingredients:

• 1/2cup Grated watermelon (white part only)
• 1cup Cucumber (grated)
• 1cup Thick yogurt
• Few coriander leaves (chopped)
• Salt

Method:
Take the grated watermelon, grated cucumer, thick yogurt, chopped coriander leaves,thick yogurt , mix everything well and let them sit in fridge..

While serving add enough salt and serve along with pulaos or briyanis..

Usually we prepare yam as pakodas with besan and rice flour, else sometimes as masiyal with cooked yam chunks, this pepper yam stir fry is one of the most easiest and tastiest stir fry i ever prepared and its gets ready within less time and tastes too good along with any sort of rice..Eventhough its kinda hard to slice and chop this veggie, we love it much and our most favourite is Kola urundai with this yam chunks..Simple, easy and delicious side dish goes awesome mostly delicious along with rasam and curd rice, both together tastes absolutely divine even people dont like this yam will definitely love this delicious stir fry, sending this peppered yam stir fry to CWS-Pepper guest hosted by Padma of Padma's Recipes...

Ingredients:
1/4kg Yam
1tsp Mustard seeds+Urad dal
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Coriander powder
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
3/4tsp Pepper powder
Salt
Curry leaves
Oil
Method:
Peel and chop the yam as large pieces, cook in water along with turmeric powder until the yam pieces gets slightly cooked, drain the excess of water and let them get cooled..

Now chop the cooked yam pieces as small cubes..heat enough oil, let splutters the mustard seeds & urad dal along with curry leaves, add immediately the chopped yam cubes along with red chilly powder,salt, coriander powder and salt, cook everything in simmer until the yam pieces get well mixed, close the pan with a lid and cook in simmer until the oil gets separates, finally add the pepper powder, toss everything gently and put off the stove..

Enjoy this peppered spicy yam stir fry with curd or rasam rice..

Pudina Kothimera Annam.

Mint cilantro rice is prepared by frying the mint and cilantro leaves and grinding them into fine paste with spices. The paste is then cooked briefly with garbanzo and mixed with steamed rice. Serve mint cilantro rice with raita of your choice.
Makes: around 3 Servings of Mint Cilantro Rice.

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice 1 1/2 Cups
• Mint 2 Cups loosely packed
• Cilantro 1 1/2 Cups loosely packed
• Curry Leaves 10
• Grated Coconut 3 tbsps
• Green Chiles 4 – 6
• Tamarind 1 – 2 inch sized Ball
• Cashews 15
• Cumin Seeds 2 tsps
• Jaggery 1 inch Block (optional)
• Turmeric powder a pinch
• Asafoetida a big Pinch
• Boiled Garbanzo / Chickpeas 1 Cup
• Salt to taste
• Oil 1 tbsp

Method of preparation:

Wash rice and soak in fresh water for half an hour.
Cook the rice with 2 1/2 cups of water till rice is soft and all the water has been absorbed.
Soak tamarind in few tablespoons of water for some time and extract all the pulp.

Remove stems, wash and roughly chop green chiles.
Clean, wash and roughly chop mint leaves, cilantro leaves and curry leaves.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add cashews and fry them till they turn light golden brown.
Remove cashews and add all the chopped leaves to the remaining oil and fry till they wilt.
Remove from heat and cool the leaves to room temperature.
Grind the fried leaves with coconut, tamarind pulp, half of the cashews, half of cumin seeds, jaggery (if using), green chiles and salt into smooth paste adding sufficient water.

Heat remaining oil in a pan, add remaining cumin seeds, turmeric powder and asafoetida.
Fry briefly, stir in chana, cashews and salt.
Fry the chana for few seconds, stir in ground mint paste.
Add few tbsps of water if necessary and cook on low for 2 – 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in steamed basmati rice.
Thoroughly mix everything and serve mint cilantro rice with tomato raita or boondi raita.
Notes: Make sure not to overcook once the paste is added to the oil.

Suggestions: If the paste is overcooked, the coconut might turn strong and the leaves lose the aroma. Adjust the spice with green chiles. Add more jaggery or tamarind according to preference.
Variations: You can also check the variation of rice here.
Other Names: Mint Cilantro Rice.

Quick Pav Curry.

This is a quick curry for pav instead of making bhaji which takes a long time. Here couple of vegetables are chopped up finely and cooked till soft. A freshly ground masala powder is added for taste. The curry is sandwiched between two slices of pav bread and served immediately.
Makes: around 2 Servings of Quick Pav Curry.

Ingredients:

• Green Bell Pepper 1 Small
• Tomato 1 Large
• Onion 1 Small
• Fresh Peas 1 tbsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste 1/4 tsp
• Lemon Juice 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Caraway Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Whole Red Chiles 1
• Coriander Seeds 1 tsp
• Clove 1
• Cinnamon 1/4 inch Stick
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro few Sprigs
• Pav / Bread 2
• Oil 1 tsp
• Butter 1/4 tsp

Method of preparation:

Remove stem, discard seeds and finely chop the bell pepper.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Wash and finely chop the tomato.
Wash, remove stems and finely chop the cilantro leaves.

Grind red chile, coriander seeds, clove and cinnamon into fine powder using spice blender.

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and caraway seeds.
Then stir in chopped onion and cook till onion turns translucent.
Then add chopped bell pepper and cook till bell pepper turns just soft.
Now add ginger garlic paste, ground masala powder and fry for few seconds.
Finally add tomato, peas and fry till tomato breaks a little.
Add red chilli powder, and salt.
Stir in lemon juice, cilantro and remove from heat.

Slice the pav into two.
Apply butter to both slices and place them on hot flat pan.
Toast the sliced pav on both sides till they turn light golden brown in color.
Serve the toasted pav with quick bhaji.
Notes: Make sure to cook the vegetables right.

Suggestions: If the curry is too moist, cook for some more time to remove any excesss moisture.
Variations: For more spice, add few pinches of garam masala or red chile powder and cook for another minute.
Other Names: Quick Pav Curry.

Even deep fried dishes arent that much healthy, sometimes we cant say no to those deep fried beauties, here is one among those beautiful and nutritious pakodas with ragi flour and spring onions..When i was kid, my grandma used to make out these crispy pakodas with ragi flour for our snacks during our summer vacation, we enjoy these crispy pakodas whenever my grandma prepare, none will beat her way of making out this crispy pakodas that much perfect, these pakodas brings me loads of cherishable moments..I prepared this pakodas as the same way my grandma used to prepare but with my personal touch, yeah i have added a cup of spring onions to make them more tasty and we enjoyed having these crispies for our snacks, healthy ragi pakodas goes directly to Healing Foods-Onions guest hosted by me, event by Siri..

Ingredients:

• 2cups Ragi flour
• 1cup Spring onions (chopped)
• 4nos Green chillies (chopped)
• 1tbsp Ginger (chopped finely)
• 4nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
• Few curry leaves
• Salt
• 1tsp Fennel seeds (crushed)
• Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix together the ragi flour, chopped spring onions, chopped green chillies, crushed garlic,curry leaves, crushed fennel seeds and salt together, springle some water and mix everything well (take care not to turn the dough too watery)..Heat the oil for deep frying, springle the ragi-spring onions mixture little by little to the hot oil, fry until they turns crispy..Drain the excess of water with a paper towel..

Store in an air tightened box and enjoy for snacks..

Healing Foods event started by Siri of Siri"s Corner,goes every month with a food item, by bringing their health benefits to make out dishes in their most healthy form..This month's choice goes for onions, most of our foods cant be prepared without onions, personally i felt that Indians cant live without onions and most of our Indian dishes goes automatically for onions..Thanks a ton to Siri for letting me to host this beautiful event..

There are many different varieties of onion, red, yellow, white, and green.. Each with their own unique flavor, from very strong to mildly sweet. Onions can be eaten raw, cooked, fried, dried or roasted. They are commonly used to flavor dips, salads, soups, spreads, stir-fry and other dishes.

Onions (Allium cepa) belong to the lily family, the same family as garlic, leeks, chives, scallions and shallots.There are over 600 species of Allium, distributed all over Europe, North America, Northern Africa and Asia. The plants can be used as ornamentals, vegetables, spices, or as medicine.Onion is a powerful anti-septic which is rich in vitamins A, B and C. It is a potent source of folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, chromium, iron and dietary fiber. Whether you eat it raw or cooked, onions help to lower blood pressure,cholestrol naturally and the health benefits of onions goes for a long list..

1)Create any dish using onions and post the same in your blog. You could use any variety of onions. Non-Bloggers can send their recipes with the details..

2) Please link this announcement in your posts and u need to link to Siri's Announcement Page.. Usage of the logo is optional.

3) 5 entries per person is allowed

4) Send your details:
Name:
Blog's Name:
Recipe's Name:
Recipe URL:
Photo (with 300px wide)
to nagababu.gade@yahoo.co.in before June 30th 2010, midnight.

5)Archived posts are accepted..