Figs & Banana Smoothie

Dad and I love figs for their crunchy texture :) We rarely share a similarity in taste, so this being a common one I though of making a smoothie with it and having a cheers with dad ;)

My dad's reaction to my food has always been on a super dooper positive note. No wonder fathers love what their kids make and so is my dad too!!! But still honestly speaking, he being a pro in the kitchen always gives me a unbiased report on my dishes :) And he loved this smoothie. Do I need to say more!! ;)

Ingredients:

Dry Figs - 10
Banana - 2
Milk - 2 cups
Light caramel syrup - 2 tblsp
Honey - for taste

Method:

Chop dry figs roughly. Sprinkle few drops of water over it and microwave it for just a minute. This will make the fruit soft. Allow it to cool down.

Peel and dice banana roughly.

Blend the figs along with banana, cold milk, light caramel syrup and honey.

Serve chill :)

Enjoy a crunchy and yummy smoothie that would make your tummy smile :)

To make light caramel syrup:

Take 2 tblsp of sugar in a dry pan and allow it to melt on low flame. Once it melts completely and turns light brown, immediately pour in half a cup of water and mix well. The resulting syrup would be golden brown in color.

Add this to your smoothies for a bitter sweet taste :)

Tips:

Replace fresh figs in the place of dry figs.

Use sugar for sweetening.

Blend along a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a rich smoothie.

Written by: Nithya
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Cabbage Kootu / Sambhar

Though I love hogging on dishes from various cuisines, I'm pretty biased towards Indian flavors and enjoy eating home food more than anything. Most of you would agree to me and share the same feeling too!! :)

This cabbage kootu or sambhar is one of my most favorite recipes from my mom's collection and I remember enjoying it since childhood. Not sure if it is a common recipe to all, yet it definitely demands a place in my blog for its amazing taste and flavor.

Ingredients:

Cabbage (shredded) - 2 cups
Carrots - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Onion - 1
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 5
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Thoor dhall - 1/2 cup
Tamarind past - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Salt - for taste
Mustard - for tempering
Curry leaves

Method:

Pressure cook the thoor dhall until soft and mushy.

Chop cabbage, carrot and onion. Dice tomatoes into cubes.

Grind the coconut, red chillies and cumin seeds into a fine paste by adding a little water to it.

Take a pressure pan and drop in the cooked dhall, shredded cabbage, onion, tomato, ground coconut paste, tamarind paste, hing and salt. Pressure cook until two whistles.

Transfer to the serving bowl and temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Hot and yummy cabbage kootu is ready. Serve it with rice and chips. It also goes well with Idly and Dosa.

Enjoy having a typical south Indian meal :)

Tips:

You can replace cabbage with snake gourd, raw tomatoes(green ones) and chow chow too.

Written by: Nithya
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Fenugreek Pancakes / Vendhaya Dosa

Yupeee!! It looks like I have changed from being a sinful eater to sensible foodie ;) My previous post and this post are super healthy recipes that can make a lot of difference to my diet plans.

Ouch!! but its not going to take long before I get tempted to bake or cook some high calorie food, so enjoy this momentary conscious cook's recipes :)

Fenugreek has various benefits and is said to be good for diabetic people and it has also been used to treat arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, improve digestion, maintain a healthy metabolism, increase libido and male potency, cure skin problems (wounds, rashes and boils), treat sore throat, and cure acid reflux too.

When a small spice or herb can do so much, then why not use them in everyday cooking!! :)

I bet it dint even have a hint of bitterness. Trust me and go ahead trying :)

Ingredients:

Par-boiled rice - 2 cups
Urad dhall - 1/4 cup
Sprouted fenugreek(vendhayam/menthulu) - 1/4 cup
Salt - for taste

Method:

Soak the fenugreek seeds in water for 8 hours and drain the water. Close the bowl with the lid and leave it for a day or two for it to sprout nicely.

Soak par boiled rice and urad dhall in water over night.

Grind the soaked urad dhall and sprouted fenugreek together into a fine batter. Follow it by grinding the soaked rice into a smooth batter too. Pour both the batter and add enough salt to a large mixing bowl and mix well. Close with lid and leave it untouched for minimum of 5 hours to max of a night to ferment.

Whip the batter ones and make small pan cakes on the hot skillet and roast it on both the sides by adding few drops of oil or ghee.

Serve it hot with Onion chutney.

Super soft and healthy fenugreek dosa is ready. Enjoy making healthy food :)

Tips:

Sprouted grams have more nutritional value which makes this dosa very healthy.

You can add some freshly ground pepper corns to make the pan cakes spicy too.

Grind the dhall along with few red chillies to make spicy version.

Soak the fenugreek seeds in drinking water and strain the water into a bottle and use it for drinking. The water carries a lot of minerals too.

Written by: Nithya
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Apple Oats Smoothie

Coffee and tea are a no no to our family and I'm a smoothie person. Someone who craves and day dreams of deadly combinations of ingredients for my smoothie :P

While a random blog hopping session I found this recipe on Priya's blog and since then wanted to try it out. Made this yummy tummy filling smoothie for breakfast a few days back and OMG!! I can still imagine the taste in my tongue. Loved it loads :)

Ingredients:

Apples - 2
Rolled Oats - 1/2 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Honey - 1 tsp
Sugar - for taste
Nuts - for topping

Method:

Wash, peel and chop the apples roughly. Blend it along with oats, milk, sugar and honey into thick smoothie. Adjust the consistency of the smoothie according to your preference by adding adequate milk.

Serve immediately and enjoy drinking :)

Tips:

Choose the pink skinner gala apples or green skinned Granny smith apples for milk shakes. They don't turn brown soon.

Since we use rolled oats it doesn't give an uncooked feeling. Go ahead without inhibition.

Use honey or sugar replacements for a healthier and diet version of smoothie.

Written by: Nithya
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Krishna Jayanthi Celebration 2011

Happy birthday to Lord Krishna!! :)

&

Wish you all a very happy Krishna Jayanthi :)

Krishna Jayanthi is always celebrated with pomp and joy at home and this year is no different. After a super tiring and eventful week, we just planned to celebrate it simple and mom solely made all the snacks last morning.

Mom sweet mom, is an expert at cooking and she can make things sound so simple. She took just two hours to make four varieties of snacks and gave me a surprise when I was back from outing.

I totally missed the chance to help her out this year but then wanted these to be part of my blog since they are the traditional snacks that mom makes for ages. Her recipes for these are flawless and trust worthy :)

Luv you mom for making them all for Lord Krishna and which in turn is for me :P

I had posted the Maida sweet seedai earlier. Refer to the recipe here.

You can take a peep into my previous celebrations here - 2009 and 2010.

Spicy Seedai / Spicy Maida balls

Ingredients:

Maida - 1 cup
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Cooking soda - a pinch
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Sesame - 1 tsp
Salt - for taste
Oil - for deep frying

Method:

Take a square piece of muslin cloth and pour in the maida in the center and tie it up tightly. Take a pressure cooker and pour in 1 cup of water and place a ring or invert a cup. Place the tied up maida on a plate and leave the plate into the cooker and close the lid. Let this get cooked for 15 mins. You dont have to put the weights. This process will remove the gluten from the flour.

Once done open up the cloth and allow it to dry for a while. Sieve the four and add asafoetida, salt, pepper powder, lemon juice, cooking soda and sesame to it and mix well by sprinkling just enough water to bring it together.

Pinch small portions of the dough and roll it into small balls. Let this dry on a plate for atleast 10 mins and then deep fry it until golden brown.

Spicy and tangy seedai is done :)

Enjoying popping them into your mouth while watching tv ;)

Manupuvu / Rice flour Murukku

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Roasted gram(Pottu kadalai) - 1/4 cup
Salt - for taste
Ghee - 1/2 tsp
Oil - for deep frying

Method:

Boil water by adding the salt and ghee to it. Once it starts to boil, simmer the flame and add the rice flour in one go while stirring. Stir quickly for few more minutes so that lumps don't form.

Remove from flame and keep the bowl closed for 1o mins.

Powder the roasted gram into finely and sieve it.

Now add the roasted gram flour to the prepared rice flour mixture and kneed well until smooth. If the dough is dry simply sprinkle some water and kneed again.

Fill this in the murukku maker and draw circles with it on a butter paper.

You can use the plate with square holes or star holes to make this murukku.

Heat oil for deep frying and carefully remove the murukku from the paper and drop it into the oil and fry till roast. This murukku wouldn't turn brown so remove them once the oil stops bubbling.

Yummy manupuvu is ready :)

Thean Kuzhal / Spiced rice flour Murukku

Method:

Refer to the ingredients above and include 2 tsp of chilly powder and 1 tsp of sesame seeds to it and follow the same process to make the murukku.

The plate used in the murukku maker for this murukku would have just four plain holes.

Enjoy making Thean Kuzhal :)

Written by: Nithya
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Bread Upma

Its almost a week since I posted anything or even cooked!! Have been enjoying a lot of pampering session from parents and relatives :) But don't ask me why?!!!! Shhhhhhh its a secret ;)

So here is a post that has been there in my draft for long and demands some attention.

Bread is something that we always keep stock of at home and is used on occasions when we need a quick and delicious dish. This was made on one such super boring but hungry morning when I just wanted to quickly mix up something and enjoy a plate full. Burrrrrb!!!! :P

Ingredients:

Bread - 10 slices
Tomatoes - 2
Tomato ketchup - 2 tblsp
Onion - 2
Spring onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tblsp
Lime juice - 1/2 tsp
Salt - for taste

Method:

Dice the bread slices into medium sized cubes. Saute it on a flat pan by adding some ghee until the bread gets roasted to light brown.

Chop onions finely and keep it aside.

Puree the tomatoes.

Take a pan and add few tsps of oil. Drop in the chopped onions and fry until golden brown. Add the tomato puree, tomato ketchup, chilly powder, garam masala and salt to it and allow it to boil for a while. Simmer the stove and add the lemon juice to it and mix well.

Now toss in the roasted bread squares and give a quick stir. Once the bread gets coated with the gravy, switch off the flame and sprinkle chopped spring onions.

Serve hot and enjoy eating :)

Tips:

Choose sandwich or salted bread to make this.

You can add chopped bell peppers(capsicum) along with onion and saute it too.

Grated carrots can make a great addition to the dish as well.

Sprinkle some coriander leaves if you don't find spring onions.

Written by: Nithya
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Custard Apple Icecream & Milk Shake

I have never been a fussy eater when it comes to fruits. Till date I have never disliked any fruit. Touch wood!! :) May be its because I have a sweet tooth ;)

Its custard apple season now and I'm enjoying every bit of it :) Had it as it is, made milk shake and now comes my custard apple ice cream :)

Only few fruits like mango, guava, orange and custard apple give out a distinct aroma and keep reminding of its presence. And when that smell and flavor is captured in an ice cream, it really feels magical :)

I adapted this recipe from here during a random googling session and made changes according to my taste buds :)

The use of Marie biscuits as thickening agent is just an amazing thought and I totally loved the taste. Everyone at home enjoyed it a lot as well :)

Ingredients:

Custard apple (Seetha Pazham) - 5
Milk - 1 cup
Marie biscuit - 4
Whipping cream - 1/2 cup
Sugar - for taste

Method:

Wash and open the custard apple.

Scoop out the flesh with seeds and put them in the mixer jar along with 1/4 cup of milk. Pulse for a few times. The flesh would separate from the seeds. Pass it through a sieve with big holes or pick out the seeds manually. You would get a thick pulp of custard apple.

Pour the pulp in the mixer jar along with the remaining milk, sugar and whipping cream. Break the marie biscuit into small pieces and add it to the mixer too. Now blend until smooth paste.

Collect it in a freezer proof box and allow it to chill in the freezer for 4 hours.

Remove it from freezer and whip the mixture again in your mixer for few minutes and put it back in the freezer for one hour. Repeat the process for two more times in one hour interval each time.

Place scoops of custard apple ice cream in the serving bowl and drizzle with some honey and chocolate chips :)

Super delicious custard apple ice cream is ready :)

This quantity would make 5 scoops of ice cream.

Tips:

The quantity of sugar added depends on the sweetness of the fruit. So taste test it before adding sugar.

Whipping the ice cream in blender for three times is mandatory to get creamy and soft ice cream.

Top the ice cream with nuts for a extra richness.

Custard Apple Milk Shake:

Ingredients:

Custard apple - 1
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - for taste
Honey for topping

Method:

Extract custard apple pulp as said in the above procedure.

Blend it along with milk and sugar.

Top it with honey and serve chill.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.

Musiri / Dry Pongal

During the days when we get back from long trips or tours, we would always prefer to have harmless and simple home food. For example, feeding on something like milagu rasam and potato curry would feel like a five star lunch menu :) It happens because nothing on earth is equalant to home made food. Delicious to taste and easy to digest.

One such simple recipe to make in a giffy and that sooth our tummy is this musiri or dry pongal. Not sure how it got its name. May be it was famous in the place called 'Musiri' down south :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Moong dhall - 1/3 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 4
Curry leaves - few
Coconut scrapped - 1 tblsp
Salt - for taste
Water - 3 cups

Method:

Dry roast the rice and moong dhall separately and collect it in a large bowl.

Take 2 tsps of oil in a pan and temper with mustard, cumin seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.
Add this to the rice and moong dhall mixture along with salt and scrapped coconut. Now pour in 3 cups of water and steam cook like rice. Approximately 3 whistles.

Allow it to come to room temperature and then stir once before serving.

Serve with banana chips or pickle of your choice.

Delicious musiri or dry pongal is ready :)

Enjoy eating :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.