Cucumber Peanut Salad

Is it summer yet or winter???!! Chennai people would have this doubt every single day. One can never predict rains here. Even the weather forecast on the papers or news would go absolutely reverse. We can even expect days in December to be scorching in the morning. Uffff!!!

A chill salad at anytime of the day throughout the year would make your tummy smile and your body refreshing. Opt for it instead of any fried snacks and you can sure reach zero figure :P

The ground peanuts give a very crunchy texture to this salad and makes it all new and delicious :)

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - for taste
Coconut scrapped - 1/2 tblsp
Coriander leaves

Method:

Grate cucumber and Squeeze out the excess water from it.

Dry roast the peanuts and powder it coarsely.

In a salad bowl, mix in the grated cucumber, peanuts, sugar, salt and coconut and mix well.

Finally add chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Delicious cucumber salad is ready :)

Written by: Nithya
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Happy Onam

Wish all my readers a very happy Onam :)

The words Onam, malayalam and Kerala gives me a very warm feeling. Though I'm not a mallu girl, I have had lot of lovely friends and neighbors from Kerala who have introduced me to the festival and to all their delicacies.

I have tried some of them in my kitchen and have relished their taste. Now they are here for you to make and celebrate :)

Click on the picture or the link to visit the respective posts -

Chakka Pradhaman

Delicious delight made with the sweetest jackfruit :)

Unni Appam

The sweet little dumplings made with wheat flour and jaggery.

Cashew Appam

Rich cashew flavored appam. Forget the calories for a while!!




Wheat Appam

Scrumptious appam made with wheat flour and jaggery.



Avial

Truly delicious mixed vegetable delight.

Written by: Nithya
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Cantaloupe Salads / Kirni Salad

Cantaloupe aka Kirni, the humble fruit from the musk melon family is either too sweet or too bland. This aspect actually makes it very versatile to make any kind of salads. Sweet salad or spicy one. I have tried both and love both of it.

Since the flesh is pretty firm its easy to scoop out balls using melon ballers and that makes it look more interesting. :)

Cantaloup Sweet salad:

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe - 1 fruit scooped into balls
Honey - 1 tblsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Brown sugar - 3 tsps

Method:

Scoop cantaloup into balls using melon baller.

Add some lime juice, honey and brown sugar to it. Toss it nicely until the ingredients are well spread.

Serve it chilled with a mint leaf on top.

Cantaloupe Spicy Salad:

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe - 1 fruit scooped into balls
Salt - for taste
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Scoop the fruit into balls using melon baller.

Toss it with some salt, lemon juice and chaat masala.

Serve it chill with a mint leaf on top :)

Written by: Nithya
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Ragi Poori / Finger millet Poori

Kids love Poori... Kids hate Ragi.. These two are real time facts. If both have to be addressed, the best way to do it is to make pooris with Ragi flour :)

Bet on me, it tastes damn delicious and has hardly a feeling of eating something with ragi. Your kids would surely love this version of brown pooris too :)

I had this poori for a the first time a month back when I visited a friend's place at Bangalore. Our buddy's wife Sharmila made this for me and I fell for it immediately. Asked her for the recipe and since then have been waiting for an occasion to make it. Last night we feasted on this healthy poori and couldnt resist posting it for you all :)

Ingredients:

Ragi flour (Finger millet flour) - 1 cup
Wheat flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour (maida) - 1/2 cup
Salt - for taste
Oil - for deep frying

Method:

Take all the three flours and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add water little by little and mix well until it rolls into a firm dough. Set aside for 15 mins.

Now apply oil in your palms and pinch lemon sized balls of dough and roll them into balls. Keep them aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Press each ball using a poori press or roll them with the stick into a thin circle and transfer it slowly to the kadai and fry on both sides until well puffed and roast on both the sides.

Collect it on a tissue to remove excess oil.

Serve the healthy poori with Bombay Chutney.

Tips:

You can avoid using maida while making the dough. Ragi flour and wheat flour would make the pooris healthier. I tried both the versions and liked them both equally.

If you dont want to deep fry, you can make chapathis with the same dough too. :)

Written by: Nithya
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Tri-color Pasta Salad - Independence day Special

Happy Independence day to all my readers :)

Oh yes!! As a food blogger I have used food to wish you all :) Hope you are all enjoying the holiday with your family at home.

Independence day is celebrated by all Indians since 1947 but then I have yet another reason to celebrate this day, its 365 days since I got engaged to my man ;) He even comically says he lost his Independence on Independence day :P lol.

We both are celebrating our day with a delicious pasta salad, what are you all doing this day?

Ingredients:

Pasta (bow) - 1 cup

Cherry tomatoes - 10
Broccoli - 1/2
Olive oil - 2 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Salt - for taste
Italian seasoning (mixed herbs) - 2 tsp
Ground flax seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Cook Pasta in a large pot of water along with some salt and oil. Once it gets cooked strain the water and wash under cold water.

Chop the cherry tomatoes into halves.

Boil the broccoli for 3 mins in water.

Take pasta, tomatoes, broccoli in a mixing bowl, add olive oil, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and crushed flax seeds to it and toss well until well mixed.

Serve and enjoy eating :)

Tips:

You can add some Italian salad dressing as well to make it more delicious.

Add chilly flakes if you want it spicy.

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