Crispy Baby Corn

One more yummy dish added to my snack/starters list,Crispy baby corn.Very rarely I could find the fresh baby corn in our place,I bought a canned baby corn and made this to serve along with a Cocktail drink for a surprise candle light dinner for my hubby on our 31st month Wedding day.Both the drink and snack made a good start for the dinner.

Mojito:

Ingredients:

Baby Corn:1 can(cut diagonally)

Cornflour:5 spns

Salt:To Taste

Pepper:To Taste

Oil:For Shallow frying the Baby Corn

For Sauce:

Onion:1 small(very finely chopped)

Garlic:3 cloves(finely chopped)

Spring Onions:1 bunch(finely chopped)

Green Chillies:4-5(finely sliced)

Soya Sauce:1 spn

White Vinegar :1 spn

Tomato Ketchup:2-3 spn(adjust to taste)

Water:1/4 cup

Procedure:

1.Take the diagonally cut baby corn in a plate,sprinkle cornflour on the corn,add salt and pepper to taste.Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying the baby corn pieces that are coated with cornflour,when the oil is hot add the baby corn pieces and fry till they turn golden brown on both sides,now take them on to paper napkin and let the napkin absorb the excess oil.

2.Now take another pan,add 2 spns of oil,when hot add finely chopped onions,chopped garlic and fry till onions turn translucent add the sliced green chillies and fry for 2 mins,now add the soya sauce,Vinegar,tomato kethcup and 1/4 cup of water,mix well,add salt to taste and bring the mixture to a boil.

3.Finally add the fried baby corn to the done sauce and toss well so that the corn is evenly coated with the sauce,add the cut spring onion,toss again and serve hot.

Basic Sugar Cookies-September 2010 Daring Baker Challenge

This month's challenge is Basic Sugar Cookies at 'The Daring Kitchen' hosted by 'Mandy' from 'What The Fruitcake' and she asked us to be creative and choose a theme saying what September means to u,I have chosen the summer theme for this challenge.Summer Theme n September are they sounding odd!!yeah may be,but the temperatures are still high here in California,almost 100-103 during the noon,very hot so selected this theme.

See the sun on the back.I made chocolate cookies,as the recipe said I replaced half cup of all purpose flour with coco powder.After selecting this theme I made little paper work to create a view of the beach,sketched it on a paper and then drew them on to a parchment paper,cut the templates and transferred them to the rolled cookie dough and used a paring knife to cut the shapes. The below pic shows the college of my work :)


Here goes the recipe which Mandy shared with us.
Basic Sugar Cookies:

Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoidflour flying everywhere.
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• Leave to cool on cooling racks.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

I used Wilton's recipe for making Royal Icing.

Ingredients:

Confectioner Sugar:1 lb
Meringue Powder:3 tablespoons
Luke Warm Water:5-6 tablespoons

Procedure:
Take a bowl ,add sugar and meringue powder,blend well and the add the Luke warm water and beat on high speed for 7-10 mins.Take it to a airtight container,take small amount and add colors of your choice and decorate the cookies

I had hard time to make this chair but finally my hard work paid off.Here is the clear pic of the chair and umbrella.

I took care in making most things that are at a beach Sandals,bucket and spade for kids,sunscreen lotion,surf boards,summer cooler and Sun.

Sun screen Lotion:

Sandals:Summer Cooler:
Surf Boards:Bucket & Spade:Thanks to Mandy for choosing this recipe,which made me to be creative,though its not too special but I feel happy.

Sorakaya Halwa

Its time for a sweet treat,this is my 250th post in my blog,so want to share this sweet dish to my fellow bloggers and my friends who encourage me in keeping this blog active.

I want to share my experience about the fall season for the year 2010.Foliage is a wonderful experience right!!!natures beauty is more enhanced with the change in colors of the trees,lovely colors and shades of red,yellow,orange,green and drive in such a place is a memorable experience,last week we went to New Hampshire for Foliage,of-course after going there we realized that our visit was early than it should be,but finally we drove for few hours and found pockets of fall colors,clicked some pics and came back.

I feel in love with that place and missing it,didn't feel like coming home,but no way :( I wish my hubby should get his next project in East Coast :D .Here are few pics of foliage.

Ingredients:

Grated Bottle Gourd(Squeeze the water and then measure): 2 cups

Sugar:1 cup

Kova/Khoya:1/2 cup(I used store bought kova which is sweetened and crumbled it before adding)

Green Food Color:A Pinch(optional)

Ghee:1/2 cup

Elachi Powder: A pinch

Cashews,Raisins,Almonds:2-3 spns(fry in little ghee till golden color)

Procedure:

1.In a pan heat ghee,after it melts add the grated and squeezed bottle gourd and fry till it turns light golden color,now add the crumbled sweetened Kova,mix well and cook for 4-5 mins,stir once in a while and now add the sugar,mix and let it cook on medium flame for another 5-8 mins.

2.Add a pinch of green food color,mix and finally add the fried dry fruits to it and mix well.

Serve it Hot or chilled according to your taste.

Tip:

I used store bought Kova which is already sweetened,if you are using normal khoya(nanak company) which is not sweetened then adjust sugar to your taste.

Tomato Pandu Mirapakaai Pacchadi

Yipppee finally I could make a yummy tomato pickle which I wanted to make from 2 years,once my hubby gave me the recipe which he got it from his mom when he was a bachelor,he made it for his friends then that I was a hit,and later after marriage he made this at home but It was a flop so I was scared to make one,finally I dared to give it a try yesterday and was a success.I used tomatoes and red chillies and made a simple tempering.This pickle can be served immediately after making it and lasts good for 3-4 months when used carefully.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes:300 gms

Fresno Red Chillies:300 gms

Salt:3-4 spns(adjust to taste)

Chilli Powder:1/4 cup

Mustard Powder:2 spns

Fenugreek Powder:1 spn

Turmeric:A Pinch

Tamrind:A small gooseberry size(make sure that the tamarind has no seeds and strings)

Oil:1.5 cups

For Tempering:

Mustard Seeds:1 spn

Hinge:1/2 spn

Curry Leaves:15 no

Dry Red Chillies:3-4(cut)

Garlic Cloves:8 no(crushed)

Procedure:

1.Wipe the tomatoes and chillies using a dry cloth and chop them into pieces.

2.In a pan add 3-4 spns of oil,when the oil becomes hot add the chopped tomatoes and red chillies,mix well add the tamrind,sprinkle little salt all over and fry them till all the moisture is gone and the mixture becomes thick,add pinch of turmeric powder,mix and turn off the flame and let the mixture becomes cool.

3.Now take the mixture into a blender and run it to a coarse paste,take this mixture to a bowl,add red chilli powder,salt,mustard powder,fenugreek powder and mix well with no lumps of the dry ingredients.

4. Take another pan add the remaining oil,when it becomes hot add the must

ard seeds when they splatter add the crushed garlic and fry for 2 mins then finally add hinge,curry leaves and cut dry red chillies,fry for a min and now add the ground tomato and chilli paste to the tempering and fry for 2 mins so that the the water evaporates if it still has any.

5.Allow it to cool and store it in a glass jar for long self time.It stays good for almost 3-4 months.

Serve it with hot rice,Roti,Dosa,Idly anything of your choice.

Note:

--I used the store bought mustard and fenugreek powder from India,if u don't want to use store bought ones u can make it at home.Just dry roast the mustard seeds for 2-3 mins,let the cool and then make it to powder,do the same with the fenugreek seeds also.

--The ratio of the ingredients are just to my taste,u may vary them to ur taste.

--I used vegetable oil to make this pickle but traditionally seaseme seed oil is used to make pickles.

Tip:

Make sure that you don't use any wet utensils or spoons to make this recipe,moisture may spoil the pickle.

Store it in a glass jar and don't leave any steel spoon in the jar,always use a plastic spoon.This is help for the pickle to stay fresh.

Manoharam~Indian Cooking Challenge August 2010

Manoharam,we call it Jantiki Undalu,I use to have them a lot when I was kid,I use to buy them from a lady who sells it before our school,use to give her 25 paise and get one,go home eating it all the way in rickshaw :)

Lovely childhood days.Isn't it.I love being a kid.If god asks me to make a wish I'll ask him for those days again.

After seeing mail from Srivalli,announcing August challenge for Indian Cooking Challenge I was excited to make it and found it simple,but things were different when it came to execution.I followed the recipe and made everything but at the time of making balls out of the mixture I failed,may be I went wrong with the consistency of the jaggery,I rolled the ball and hit the cup,till then its fine measuring and adding sev took a while by then the syrup was still boiling,this might have made the mixture too dry and I cannot make the balls then I thought of leaving the mixture as it is and have it in a cup and eat with a spoon,but I just wanted to give a try,so just added few drops of water and again put it on heat then the mixture starte

d to melt and become a bit sticky.Then an idea flashed in my mind and I used my cup cake pan.I greased the pan and then put the mixture in to it when its hot and just pressed from top.When its cooled I removed them and clicked a pic :) I know that its not the traditional way of making it but I had no other go.

Ingredients:

Moong Dal - 1 cup
Raw Rice - 2 cups
Salt to taste
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Oil for deep frying.

Jaggery is 1 cup ( packed upto level)
Gadget: Murukku press with the three dot pore disc fitted in.
Powdered jaggery will come in later.
To measure the Jaggery you will have to crumble the thenkuzhal. The ratio is going to be about 350 gms of powdered jaggery to 1 & 1/2 litre crumbled then kuzhal.
4 Measures in volume (As in cups) of murukku bits to 1 heaped measure of powdered jaggery would work fine.

Procedure:

1.Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins. Drain and spread over a clean cloth to absorb excess moisture. You can shade dry the rice for 30 - 40 mins. Grind the rice to a very fine powder.
2.The dal has to be powdered raw until very fine too.
3.Measure two parts of rice flour against one part of moong dal flour. Mix well and add some salt to the mixture. Rub in the ghee to incorporate it well with the flours. Add water and knead to a dough that can be passed through the pores of the murukku press.
4.If you are making more than the mentioned measure, prepare the dough in batches, otherwise the murukkus become discoloured due to exposure to air.
5.Heat oil in a pan and on a moderately hot temperature press the murukkus in the oil and fry them until they are crisp. Remove with a slotted ladle and place on absorbent tissues to remove excess oil.
6.Once cool, break the prepared murukkus in tiny bits.Measure this by volume and the powdered jaggery.
7.Take the jageery in a pan and add some warm water to it. Stir to dissolve and pass through a strainer to remove scum.
8.Place the dissolved jaggery in a pan and bring to a boil. Boil this down to a syrup of a rollable hard ball consistency. You may drop few drops of syrup in cold water and roll the syrup with your fingers to form a ball. Lift the ball off the water and drop it back into the water with force. You should be able to hear the sound of ball hitting the floor of the cup. This is the correct consistency.
9.Remove the syrup from the fire. Quickly add the bits of murukku and give a brisk stir in order that the jaggery syrup coats evenly on the pieces.
10.While still warm and the heat is of manageable warmth, Grease your palms lightly and roll the mixture in balls just about bigger than ping-pong balls in size.
11.Place them separately on a flat dish. Serve as such.
Optionally you may cut slices of coconut and add them to the jaggery and murukku mix prior to making the manohara urundais.

I was happy to see that final product and gave a pat on my back,had one immediately after taking the pic,it was so good,literally melting in the mouth.Thank U Srivalli for this month's challenge.It was really a challenge for me and ofcourse for my brain too :D

Chettinad Egg Masala

Chettinad dishes are very popular in the menu in most of the restaurants.Those who like spicy food always opt for this kind curry,Chettinad Chicken is what we have in the menu,I wanted to make it with eggs and serve it with Methi Paratha.I found the recipe in a youtube video and made it.Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

Egg:3 no(Hard Boiled and remove the shell and make three slits so that egg absorbs juices from the curry)

Onion:1/2 finely Chopped

Pearl Onion:10 no(remove the skin and make a slit)

Curry Leaves:10 no

Tomato:1 small(finely chopped)

Oil:3 spns

Cashews:10 no optional(soak for half an hour)

Water:1 cup
Salt:To Taste

Chopped Coriander:1 spn

Dry Roast and Grind to Coarse Powder:

Cumin Seeds:1 spn

Pepper Cons:1 spn

Coriander Seeds:3/4 spn

Dry Coconut:2 spn

Grind To Smooth Paste:

Dry Red Chillies:5

Ginger:1 inch piece

Garlic:10 cloves

Procedure:

1.Heat Oil in a pan,when hot add 1/4 spn of cumin,when they splatter add the sliced onion and peeled pearl onion and fry till they turn light golden color now add half of the coarse ground masala,add curry leaves,chopped tomato,mix well and now add the smooth red chilli paste and fry till the raw flavor is removed.Add salt to taste.

2.Add jst a cup of water,bring it to boil and then add the boiled eggs,soaked cashews,left over ground masala and cook for 5-7 mins.

3.Finally Add chopped corainder and serve hot with white rice/paratha or chapathi.

Note:

I added 1 cup of water to get the consistency I wanted,but u can increase/reduce the water to the consistency u like.

Adding lemon juice is also optional,my hubby add it depending on his mood,so I didn't add it to the dish while cooking but had it while eating

Lovely Treats

I'm happy and lucky that my better half is also a good cook,of-course he is the one who taught me how to make a perfect round dosa and how to lock and use a Hawkins pressure cooker.The first day when we landed in Las Vegas,USA after 13th day of our marriage at 2.30 am he prepared a yummy biriyani and served it with lots of love,

that day I feel in love with him again :) till date I feel very bad for not clicking the pic of the 1st dish he made for me,but such moments can be cherished all life.

He cooks yummy food when ever he gets time or each time I wish to have his food.Here are few pics of the dishes he made.

Kothimbir Wadi,its a street food which he used to have in Mumbai when

working for a company,he saw this dish in Priya's blog,made this,I heard about this for the 1st time and it tasted too good.

Mirchi Besan Fry,it is his favorites,last long weekend he prepared a full meal for me,Tomtao dal,mirchi besan fry,Paneer Methi Maggija.I just sat back and watched a movie :D he called his mom,asked for the mirchi besan fry recipe and repeated it exactly.Cooked the full menu in just a hour and served hot.Lucky me :)

We both are very found of Vegetable Noodles which we get from street stalls,thought not hygienic but some street foods are very tasty and we cannot get that taste when made at home.I helped him by cutting the veggies,he saw Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe and made this.He also tried to toss the veggies and noodles life an experienced chef.Its a big hit.

Ravva Pongal,another dish which he came to know from a TV show,remembered the recipe,made and served when I came home from a long trip from India.

Here comes the coriander rice,hot and spicy,to give an extra flavor he added few fresh garlic cloves while cooking the rice and this twist was simply WOW.

Dum Biriyani,egg masala,sooji halwa,Tomato Bath,Mirchi ka Salan,Sambar are some more dishes will try to find the pics and post them some time.

Wish he shows his love in all the ways he can :)

Lastly I want to share a small incident.Once after our marriage is settled,we both had a small talk then he knew that I'm not good at cooking and then my mom told him that she will make me learn how to cook,then he just gave a smile and told her not to worry about it,I'll teach her how to cook,let Kavya enjoy her stay with you,my mom was very much impressed.

Kashk Bademjan

Kashk Bademjan is a Persian dish,kashk means whey and Bademjan is Brinjal.It is served as a starter item which is served with either grilled flat bread or normal flat bread.I had it in our local Persian restaurant Neda,after having it I googled the recipe ,found a video and tried it at home today.The main ingredients which gives a different taste is Dry Mint and Kashk.Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Persian Eggplant:2(Slice length wise)

Onion:1 small

Garlic Cloves:2(crushed)

Salt:To Taste

Pepper:To Taste

Turmeric Powder:Pinch

Dry Mint:2 spns

Kashk:2 spns(I used Sadaf brand concentrated whey and diluted it with water)

Oil:3 spns

Procedure:

1.Heat a tawa on flame,when hot put the sliced eggplants and drizzle some oil over them and fry them till golden color on both sides,when done take them and put aside.I used a grilled pan to fry the brinjal.

2.Take another pan,add oil,when hot add the finely chopped onions a

nd crushed garlic,fry till onion turns brown color,now put the fried brinjal and add water to the pan till the brinjals are covered under water.Add salt and pepper taste,turmeric powder,mix well and cook the brinjal smooth,covered for 15-20 mins on medium flame.

3.After 15-20 mins,remove the lid and mashed the mixture to smooth using a potato masher or simply your hands.mix well and fry for 3-5 mins.Take it to a plate.

4.Heat Oil in pan,when the oil is hot add the dry mint and fry for 2 mins now put this fried mint on top of the brinjal mixture and finally garnish it with diluted Kashk and served with a flat bread.

Mix well before serving.

I served it with normal chapathi and it tasted too good.

Semiya Halwa

Today ,Sep 2nd is 'Power Star' Pawan Kalyan's birthday.I'm a big big fan of his acting.During my college days and even before marriage I use to celebrate his birthday with my friends ,giving them treat at our canteen or so,My friend Suresh Kotni is also a fan of him so we both use to wish each other and celebrate the day.Wishing Him gud luck for his upcoming movie Komaram Puli.

This year I didn't make anything as I'm feeling a bit low as today is the first death anniversary of Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy,CM of Andhra Pradesh.I'm not so much into politics but as a person I love his attitude,I hate watching Parliament sessions but I'm used to see them only because to see this wonderful personality.Even now I'm in tears writing about him here.Few likes n dislikes will not have reasons,Isn't it!!!Missing him :(

So I just wanted to post a recipe that was there in my drafts.

Ingredients:

Semiya:1 cup

Sugar:1 cup

Water:1 and 1/4 cup(1.25 cups)

Ghee:2 spns

Cashew Nuts:10-15 no(broken)

Raisins:10-15 no

Elachi:2 no(open)

Orange Food Color:A Pinch(optional)

Procedure:

1.Heat Ghee in a pan,when it melts and becomes hot add the cashew nuts and raisins fry till cashews turn golden color,take them to a plate and put aside.Now add the semiya to the remaining ghee and fry carefully till it turn golden color,make sure not to burn it.

2.In the same pan add 1.25 cups of water and cook it covered till well done,now add sugar,mix and now the mixture becomes loose,add elachi,food color and mix together.

3.Cook it on medium flame till it becomes tight again.Keep stirring once in a while else it will stick to the bottom.

4.Finally add the fried cashews and raisins.

Tip:

1.Make sure that semiya is well cooked before adding sugar,once u add sugar then the semiya will stop cooking,so it may become hard after sometime.

Tutti Frutti Cake

Tutti Fruit a delicious cake is a favorite one for many of us,of-course kids will surely love it.I had been looking for the recipe from long time,I got few recipes where the use black currants ,rum and canned fruit but I was looking for the Indian flavor in which tutti-frutti is used,few weeks back I saw this recipe at Sailu's Kitchen most of u might be knowing this website,she has yummy recipes.

I made this cake to send it to my sister who lives in Chicago,its her fav cake,had it in Our place when she visited us,she asked to buy 1 send it along with other stuff which I wanted to send her through courier,but unfortunately that bakery is 1.5 drive from our place so couldn'

t buy on the same day I saw the recipe from Sailu's Kitchen and tried it.Cake turned out simply perfect and my sister liked the taste and I'm happy for it :)

Click here to see the recipe at Sailu's Kitchen.Thank U Sailu for the recipe.