Tomato Aava Pulihora

Twisting The Traditional,event from My Innovative Kitchen has chosen Pulihora for this month,Pulihora is a very popular dish which is mainly an offering for God during festivals.I don't like pulihora,my mom makes it very rarely as none of us in the house like it the way we love other flavored rice like Biriyani or Pulao,so seeing this month's item I was very eager to see the innovative creations from fellow bloggers.

I chose Tomato Aava Pulihora as I never tried making Pulihora with Aava Pindi.I gave a try,it was too gud.Here goes the recipe....

Ingredients:

Tomatoes:3 no(medium size)
Tamarind:Medium Goose Berry Size(take thick pulp out of this Tamarind by adding water)
Rice:1 cup(cooked)
Peas:1/4 cup(optional)
Carrot:1 no(peeled n grated)

For Tempering:

Oil:3 spns
Chenna Dal:2 spns
Urad Dal:1.5 spn
Cumin Seeds:1 spn
Mustard Seeds:1 spn
Groundnuts:2 spns
Broken Cashew:1 spn
Hinge:3/4 spn
Green Chillies:6-7(slit length wise)
Dry Red Chillied:5 no
Curry Leaves:20 no
Turmeric Powder:1 spn
Salt:To Taste

Ground To Coarse Powder:
Mustard Seeds:2 spn (dry roast the mustard seeds and make them into powder)

Procedure:


Heat oil in a pan,when hot add chenna dal,urad dal,ground nuts and fry till they turn golden color now add cumin seeds and mustard seeds when they start splatter no add broken cashews,dry red chillies,green chillies,hinge,turmeric powder,curry leaves and fry well,when done now add the cut tomato pieces,mix well,cover and cook till tender.Now add the tamarind pulp,salt to taste and fry the mixture uncovered till the mixture become thick,Finally add the cooked green peas,grated carrot,ground mustard powder,mix and fry on low flame for 2 mins.Add this done tamarind mixture to the cooked rice and mix evenly.

I Served it with curd and chips.The addition of mustard powder enhanced the taste of the dish and adding peas,carrot and tomato made this Pulihora much more interesting.

Tomato Cut Salan

Salan is my hubby's all time favorite,usually I make Mirchi Ka Salan but sometimes for a change I make Tomato Salan or Capsicum Salan.Few months back I made tomato salan but just sliced the tomatoes and added to the gravy.but Vahchef's recipe is different,he scooped out the seeds and cooked the whole tomatoes in the gravy.I liked this version and gave a try.

Click here to see the video by Vahchef Sanjay Thumma.I followed the same procedure but the only variation is I cut the tomato length wise and then scooped the seeds,just to make it easy for serving.

I made Vegetable Pulao to serve along with this Salan.Try this recipe,I'm sure U will love it.

Birds In Love--Entry For A Contest

Kanuvindaina Vantinti Srujanathmakatha' was the contest in an Orkut community in month of February,its a fruit and vegetable carving contest,as its february,love is in air,this made me choose the Valentine Theme for this contest.I made two birds with pineapple and set my entry to the contest.

I got 2nd place in the contest and happy for it.I got this idea by watching few online carving videos and images.

I thought it would be too hard to finish and present but my hubby made my work easy :) The toughest part of this carving is scooping the pineapple,he did that for me.Thanks U Dear.

I'm sending this to Create & Carve event by Nayna Kanabar at simply.food, this month's event is being hosted by Helen .


Fruits & Vegetables Used:
Pineapple-2 no
Yellow Squash-2 no
Grapes:1 cup (cut in half)
Carrot: 1 no
Cloves: 4 no


Procedure:
1.Cut the pineapple into half leaving the leaves and base intact and scoop out the fruit from the pineapple base and cut the squash in an angle so that it sits perfect on the base and secure it onto the pineapple base with tooth picks.Cut the stem portion of the squash.
2.Make small slits on the squash and pierce the cloves to make the eyes.Now trim the carrot sharp in the shape of nose and put it in the stem place.Now make a thin slit on the squash near the head vertically and put thinly cut carrot pieces to look like the birds crown.
3.Now arrange the cut grapes on the pineapple base to make it more attractive.


I served Ice-cream in it.

Paneer Pasanda

Hi Friends,How r u all doing??Its almost a month since I updated my blog. February is the most busiest month for me after my marriage with celebrations in the last 2 years,my hubby's birthday,my birthday and our Anniversary,but this year it was different.Both me and my hubby were sick for almost 12 days and the birthdays were also in those 12 days.Thank god we atleast recovered and celebrated our Anniversary at a beautiful place,Palm Springs.Now I'm back to my routine.

I really wanted to have a tasty Paneer dish that goes good with Pulka,woke in the morning and asked my hubby if he is ok to have Paneer curry for luch,as I told before,he is not a big fan of Paneer.He said Yes,then I started searching for a recipe,finally found the video of Paneer Pasanda by Sanjay Thumma, The Vahchef.

I was very much impressed seeing the video as I looking for something similar.I followed the same process,the final taste was too gud and its like a restaurant style dish.We simply loved the dish and enjoyed our lunch.Thanks To Vahchef.

Click here to see the video.