Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Cookie Jar - Christmas Sale

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Dear Readers!!! I am fortunate and happy to get a lot of mails and views through comments from you all.

Along with all the encouragement from your end and courage from mine, my 4th Sense Cooking Kitchen comes live to you. 

Yes! Now you can order your favorite cookies for this Christmas. 

Proudly introducing to you - "The Cookie Jar"

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Cookie Jar comes with a collection of cute looking Iced Sugar Cookies just apt for the occasion with cute looking Christmas special colors. 

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If you are not looking for the iced cookies then the other flavors available for you in the Cookie jar are 

  • Cornflakes Cookies
  • Almond stick cookies
  • Oats Choco chip cookies
  • Dark chocolate heart cookies

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To Order - 

Please mail me with your requirements, order  or inquiry to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com or leave a comment here. I shall get back as soon as possible. 

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Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Spicy Baby Potato Curry

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I love potato, you love potato, everyone loves potato!! Isn't it??? and that too these cute little baby potatoes are adorably delicious for me.

Boil it and spice it up with the flavors of your choice and it is a delicious snack by itself!

This time we wanted to try a nice spicy version to pack it along with curd rice for lunch. Hence added some of my favorite Indian spices like pepper etc and make it spicy and delicious :) 

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Ingredients:

Baby potato - 1/2 kg
Pepper - 2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Garlic - 8 pods
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 1
Salt - for taste

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Method:

Wash and pressure cook the baby potatoes for three whistles. 

Peel the skin and poke holes on the potatoes with a fork so that the spices seep through the potatoes. 

Take a tsp of oil in a pan and fry red chillies, corinader seeds, cumin seeds, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves for two minutes in low flame. Allow it to come to room temperature. Grind it along with ginger and garlic and make a coarse powder. Keep this aside. 

Take 4 tsps of oil in a pan and drop in half a tsp of jeera. Once it crackles, drop in the baby potatoes and fry for a while in low flame. The potatoes should get roasted on all sides to a golden brown color. 

Finally add the powdered spice mix and saute in low flame for 5 mins. 

Serve it hot with curd rice or pack it for lunch :)

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Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here

Monday, November 18, 2013

What's Special? - Proddatur (Andhra Pradesh)

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All of us travel quite a bit during our life time visiting various places for various reasons. I as a foodie and blogger love to try the special local cuisine be it from a star restaurant or even a road side joint. If its called the special of the location then I am in for it :)

"What's special" is going to be a series of special food joints or rather the special food of the places that I visit :) Those who are familiar with it will reminiscence it and for those who are planning to go can try it! :)

First of What's special would be Proddatur Dosa! :) 

Proddatur part of Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh. I got a chance to visit this place a couple of weeks back. 

A small cozy village with small busy streets filled with shops and buzzing business. Gold and cotton are the major business over there and this place celebrates Dasara festival in a grand scale. 

Subramaniyam Dosa Corner - A small road side dosa stall is located near the Ammavarisala temple also known as Sri Vasavi Kanyakaparameshwari Temple in Proddatur. 

This shop is so much known for their super spicy delicious dosa! The first time I heard about it, I was so thrilled of the concoction of spices used and the ghee dripping dosa and made it a point to visit the shop. 

The Shop looked so very ordinary but with an extraordinary chef who was making dosas within a wink of the eye! 

Yes you need to jaw drop like how I did when I reveal the price of the dosa. There are varieties of dosas ranging from Rs.50 - Rs. 500. Yes you read it right!!!! The dosas are so delicious and on demand that the rates are super high but kind of worth it too :)

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The dosa batter seems to be a bit different. The locals say that the proportions of rice to dhall that he uses is the trade secret and no one knows it other than the chef himself. 

One other person said they make a porridge with soaked ground rice batter and mix it with the dosa batter to get that super crispy dosas! :) Shhhhhhhh no one knows it right!

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The dosa is first made on the traditional iron skillet. Not so thick nor so thin! 

Then it is flipped and comes the spoon full of melted ghee to roast the dosa. 

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The dosa master then drops a dolop of red chutney made with xyz ingredients but lip smacking spice is added. 

Then comes the green chutney. He quickly spreads both the chutneys evenly. 

At this point he adds more chutney if you ask for extra spicy dosa!!! I bet no one on earth eats spice like an Andhraite! Steaming spice I say!!

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Now again a spoon full of ghee is poured on the dosa to pacify the spice!! Oh it really adds to the taste I say. 

Next comes the finely chopped onion and tomato. Fresh and juicy tomatoes add so much to the taste and makes the dosa heavy into your tummy. 1 dosa is good enough for an average eater like me. 

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Last is the super secret powder that is sprinkled generously. Almost a handful of it on the dosa makes it smell, taste and feel so good. I was really not able to guess the ingredients in the powder. Some say its dried tamarind leaf powder with other spices, but his combination is again a secret. 

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Thats it! The ghee roast dosa is ready! :) This was super delicious and worth all the money!

The higher the value of dosa the better the taste and better the ingredients! I heard he adds all dry fruits and nuts to make the most sought after dosa worth Rs.500! :) 

Oh no I dint try that :( There is always a next time and a time for you all too! 

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Apple & Banana Crumble

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Baking is curing!! I am sure those who bake and love to bake would accept to my point :) 

I was so bored yesterday and felt a lot week and tired because of soar throat and cough. All of a sudden I just wanted to shed all my laziness and do something. I picked up a very simple recipe that my mother had noted down from a magazine printed in early eighties :) Wow!!! Crumble recipe was popular back then?!!! I was pretty surprised to see the recipe that early in and Indian magazine and couldn't resist trying it out. It was a super simple recipe and for sure super duper delicious :)

Its a no fail recipe and sure to attract all at home :)

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Ingredients:

Apple - 2 cups (Chopped)
Banana - 1 cup (Chopped)
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
All purpose flour (Maida) - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Cold butter - 3 tblsp

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Method:

Step 1: Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Mix in the brown sugar to it. Now chop and drop in the cold butter. 

Step 2: Mix it with your fingers to make it into crumbs. Keep this aside. 


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Step 3: Chop the banana and apple into small pieces

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Step 4: Sprinkle the cinnamon powder and mix well. 

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Step 5: Line the baking tray with the apple banana mixture first and press down gently. 

Step 6: Pour the crumbs made earlier on top of the apple layer and press down very gently to get a even top. 

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Step 7: Preheat the oven to 180°C for 30-35 mins or until the crumbs turn golden brown in color. 

Cut and serve :) I wasnt able to cut it into perfect wedges, but who cares when it delicious. 

Enjoy eating it warm along with ice cream or custard. 

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Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Capsicum Curry

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Capsicum is one of my most favorite vegetable. The flavor is intense and adds amazing aroma to any dish that you add it to. 

This post has one version which will never fail to impress. Everyone will love it for sure :) just like how we all at home like it. 

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Ingredients:

Capsicum - 3
Poppy seeds - 2 tblsp
Dry coconut - 4 tblsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tblsp
Green chillies - 3
Salt - for taste

Method:

Dry roast poppy seeds and coriander seeds for few mins and collect it on a plate. 

Take two tsp of oil in the same pan and fry the green chillies on low flame for three minutes. 

Now grind the poppy seeds, coriander seeds, green chillies, dry coconut and salt together into a smooth paste by adding little water to it. 

Chop the capsicum into large squares. Take two tsp of oil in a pan and fry the capsicum for five minutes. Now add the ground paste to it and cook closed on low flame for 15 minutes. The vegetable will become pretty soft and would have taken the flavors from the paste. 

Now serve it hot with ghee rice, dhall rice or chapathi. 

Delicious capsicum curry is ready :)

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Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloweeeeeeeeeen!!!

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BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Spooky Halloween Wishes to all!!!!

I have attended a lot of parties ranging from birthday to baby shower but this Halloween party and the scary food that we made was one of the best I ever enjoyed :)

Yes! I was yet again a student back to college but this time truly the lessons that I loved to learn and not a day of class was boring :)

I finally did a certified course in baking and cake art at Lavonne Institute, Bangalore. Had a great two months of time learning loads of pastries and baked goodies each day. 

I take this opportunity to thank my three favorite chefs Vinesh, Avin and Joonie for teaching me loads of new techniques in my favorite subject - Baking :) They are best at what they do! 

As a final touch to the course we as teams had to organize a tea party on a specific theme and what did we do????? 

HALLOWEEN!!! The Ghost Party :)

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We totally enjoyed making all these cute yet scary props to decorate for the party :)

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Our menu included various scary looking delicious bakes!

The first was called the Spooky fingers - Ginger cookies which the kids at the party loved :)

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Next was the Mud Mousse - Oh yes you read it right. This one was for sure one of my most favorite :)

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Mummy Sausages were gone in first half an hour!!! The best seller for the non vegetarian lovers :) 

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Graveyard Cakes - The delicious Sacher Torte dressed up like a edible graveyard. One of the most pretty looking set up of the show :)

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Eye Ball Canapes - The dill bread covered with garlic cream and olive eyes were one of my creations for the show :) Ofcourse I loved it :P

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Headless cookies - The headless men were yummy orange cookies with a super zesty flavor :)

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The show stopper was this Blood bath - the drink behind the deadly name was a mix of cranberry, orange and lime :)

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Posing time for the little chefs with the big Chef Vinesh :) Miss you all buddies, will see you all soon as big pastry chefs with success stories!! :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Puffed Rice Upma / Pori Upma

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My mom is the upma queen. I would easily crown her for her amazing varieties of upmas and the taste too :) 

I was someone who used to sulk at the sound of the name upma but now have changed a lot and have started enjoying a lot of new varieties of upma that she makes :) All thanks to her!

This is one of my favorite upma from her collection. Puffed rice is an easily available ingredient in India and most of them would like eating it just like that or as bhel. This upma would be really light in your tummy and easily digestible with very simple ingredients in it. 

Just after Aayudha pooja most of you would be having puffed rice at home, so why wait?!!! Go ahead and make this simple one pot meal!! :)

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Ingredients:

Puffed rice / Pori - 6 cups (3 cups per person on average)
Green chilly - 1
Coconut - 3 tblsp
Onion - 1 large
Tamarind paste - 1 tblsp
Water - 1 cup
Channa dhall - 1 tsp
Urad dhall - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Salt - for taste

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Method:

Take the puffed rice in a large bowl and pour just enough water to immerse it. Allow it to soak for just one minute and remove it from water. Squeeze the water out of the puffed rice and collect in another bowl. 

Chop onion finely. 

Grind coconut, green chilly and salt together. 

Take a large wok and add 3 tblsp of oil. Crackle mustard seeds and add the urad dhall and channa dhall, fry until golden brown. Now add the chopped onion and fry for a while. 

Add the ground coconut chilly mixture along with the tamarind paste and the water. Let this mixture heat up well. 

Now add the puffed rice and mix well. Close with a lid and allow to cook for 10 mins in low flame. Mix inbetween and if it feel dry or sticking to the wok, add one more spoon of oil and sprinkle just a little more water. 

Serve hot and enjoy eating :) 

 photo Puffedriceupma3_zpsc07e8a29.jpg

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here

Friday, October 11, 2013

Ammini Kolukattai / Undrallu / Rice balls sundal

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Sundal Sundal every where!!! Its Navarathri and feels like it only when you eat loads of sundal everyday!! Varieties of it, with legumes and so on :) 

My treat for god this time was Ammini Kolukattai also called as undrallu in telugu. I love this sundal a lot because its different, soft and yummy. 

This dough is just the same as Kolukattai dough. Mom used to do this when there is excess dough when she makes kolukattai and I just love eating it plain :) Atleast one or two cups that way!! Now have grown up to like some spice in everything hence made this sundal!! :)

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Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cups
Green Chilly - 3
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Coconut - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida(perungayam) - a pinch
Salt - for taste
Lemon extract - 1 tsp
Curry leaves

Coriander leaves

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Method:
Boil 1 1/4 cups of water adding a little salt to it. When it boils, simmer the flame and add the rice flour stirring it constantly. See to it that it does not form lumps. Now switch off the flame and leave the vessel closed for around ten min. Then 
sprinkle some water and a tsp of oil over it and kneed the dough to make it smooth.

Roll it into small balls and place them on a well greased plate and pressure cook it for 15 min.

These white rice balls alone can be the best snack for kids.

Now grind coconut, green chillies, ginger, asafoetida and salt together.

Take a pan and add 2 spoons of oil to it and crackle the mustard. Add the curry leaves, cooked bean and the ground paste to it and fry for a while. Now add the white rice flour balls to it and saute for two min. Finally add lemon extract and coriander leaves to it and saute well.

Ammini kolukattai is ready to serve. :) 

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Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com

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