Free Imagine Things

This is simple spaghetti dish with stir-fried vegetables, I have not some great creation with this

I thought i will change a little, because I got bored of doing the same thing again & again. My children do like spaghetti because it looks just like the noodles and they are long and they like to suck it in the mouth with a slurp!!, here is the recipe.......

SPAGHETTI & STIR FRIED VEGETABLES















Ingredients:

• 300 gms Spaghetti
• 1 big onion
• 3 to 4 pods of garlic
• 1'' ginger
• 4 to 5 sprigs of mint leaves
• 4 to 5 sprigs coriander leaves
• 3 to 4 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• few sprigs of basil leaves
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 medium sized carrot
• 3 to 4 French Beans

MEHTOD:

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling water for a few minutes or until they get cooked, drain water from it.
2. Run cold water on it and separate the grains and coat them with a tbsp of olive oil and spread them out so they do not stick with each other.
3. chop ginger, garlic, onion , mint & coriander leaves. Take a pan, add a tsp of oil and fry all the these for a few minutes until they are all get roasted, cool them and grind them into a paste.
4. Take a wok heat oil, add the ground paste and fry for a minute or two, add pepper & Italian seasonings and required quantity of salt.
5. Now add the cooked spaghetti & mix well, cover the wok by a lid for few minutes and cook in a low flame, so that the spaghetti absorbs the masala.
6. Add tbsp of lime juice mix and garnish with torn basil leaves.
7. Cut all the vegetables. In a separate wok heat a tsp of oil & fry all the vegetables stirring it in a high flame, add just a pinch of salt, ginger & pepper.
8. Now serve stir-fried vegetables with spaghetti, with Tomato Ketchup or with anything of your choice.

NOTE: I used the idea of adding lemon juice from RAKS Kitchen. Please note you can change the quantity of ingredients according to your taste. I might be making it more spicy.

This is one of my favourite dishes, I love Gobi Manchurians, I always made this at home often after comming here, When I first saw button mushrooms I just fell in love with them, I thought they were so cute, The first time when I bought it, I was thinking what shall I do with it, So the first time I made mushroom bondas!!, I dipped them in the Besan flour with salt & chilli powder and fried in oil, my children thought it tasted nice but what was it they did not know!!, They thought it might be Aaloo, They always want potato in their everyday food!!, well, I told them later on they were not very happy about as I had cheated them because they thought it was potatoes!!!, Next time I made Manchurian and it came out very well, Of course, not a very healthy recipe as I have fried it in oil!!, But as we all know Mushrooms have lot of Folic acid in them which is especially very good for women I thought I can give my children this way too!!, as they do not fancy mushrooms much. Here is the recipe......


MUSHROOM MANCHURIAN

















Ingredients:

• 350 gms Button Mushrooms
• 1 big Onion
• 5 to 6 Garlic pods
• 1 bunch spring onions
• 5 to 6 green chillies
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1'' ginger
• 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• salt to taste
• 3 to 4 tbsp oil
• 5 to 6 sprig of coriander leaves (optional)
• 4 to 5 tbsp corn flour
• 2 to 3 tbsp besan flour (chickpea flour)
• Sufficient oil for deep frying

METHOD:

1. Chop onion, garlic, green chilles & ginger into fine pieces and keep aside.
2. In a vessel make a paste of corn & Besan flour using little water & a little salt, it must be of a consistency where in you can dip the mushrooms and put it in the oil, it shouldn't be too watery or too thick, make it into a dosa consistency or just they way when you make Aaloo Bondas.
3. Take sufficient quantity of oil in a wok and deep fry all the Button Mushrooms into golden colour and keep aside on a kitchen paper.
4. Now take a wok, heat oil add the chopped onions, garlic, green chillies and ginger. Fry them nicely now add the chopped spring onion for a minute or two
5. Then add all the sauce, vinegar & ketchup and required quantity of salt, but just remember you have already added little salt to the flour when deep frying the mushrooms so balance the salt properly!!
6. Give them all a good toss add coriander leaves if you want or otherwise leave it, Now add the fried mushrooms and mix well and leave it in the wok for a few minutes frying them so the ingredients in the wok get coated to the mushrooms.
7. Now it is ready to serve.

Note :

If you want you can add chopped peppers, Roast them with the onions, this option I saw in Sailugaru's gobi Manchurian cooking, I cook Gobi Manchurian in the same way as above but had never added chopped peppers, when I read in Sailu's cooking I thought I must give it a try, I have not tried still but, I thought it was a good idea, & I can imagine it definitely would taste very well!!.

This snack you can get in all the road sides of Bangalore, it's absolutely delicious and on a rainy day it is a great snack to munch!! Everybody would be knowing how to make this, It just happened my hubby's friend somy came to my house, he loves cooking and I used to teach him rasams, sambhars etc., and I was telling him about my blog and told him now he can look into the recipes from their, as I post everything I cook!!, He was very happy seeing my blog...., Then he asked me if I have posted Onion Bhaji, I said, no I have not done it yet!! well, he wanted to know how it is made because in his office canteen they wanted to know how to make it....That's it.....Grabbing this chance I decided to show him how to make it then & their.....before he finished drinking his chai I gave him this onion pakoras to go with it!!!, I prepared only so much which is in the plate which I have posted their.!! how zit?

But then I wanted to make a little difference so I thought I will bring Sagari, from sagariiscooking to my kitchen, her onion pakodis was always in my mind, so as I had told earlier in her blog I used CASHEW NUTS in this recipe, Of course my husband loved it, as always he goes nuts over the nuts in dishes......Thanks Sagari we all loved it with cashews in pakoras.
ONION BHAJI


















Ingredients:

• 2 Onions
• 8 to 10 cashew nuts
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 4 tbsp of Bengal gram flour
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste
• 2 to 3 Green chillies
• a bit of Ginger
• a pinch of baking soda

METHOD:

1. Chop onions length wise, green chillies thinly sliced, ginger into pieces, curry leaves also chopped.
2. Add required quantity of salt, mix it with the above ingredients and leave it for few minutes, The onions with the help of salt gives out water on its own!!
3. Then mix in the cashews and the flours, add water if it is very powdery by sprinkling little by little, do not add too much water, then the pakoras will never turn out crispy.
4. Heat enough oil in a deep frying pan, that is enough to fry the pakoras, just take them in your hand no need to give them any shape, they can be dropped in the oil in irregular shapes and sizes.
5. Deep fry them and serve them with nice Aromatic chai.

NOTE:

I have made the above recipe in sagari's style, but I also make them like this too....

Ingredients: The ingredients and the method mentioned above is all same except I use

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup Chutney dal powder/Hurigadale pudi/Roasted gram flour

I use them in equal quantities sieve them together and mix them up, I keep it ready most of the time, so, when ever i want to make Pakodas I use this flour instead of chick pea flour, but the method is all the same. This comes out very very crispier just like they sell in the shops. You can also try this method too....

Thanks sagari for coming to my kitchen we all loved it. My photo is not so good as yours, Your photos were so tempting & mouth watering.

This Gojju I ate in my friend Vatsala's house, They are kind of far relatives for me, Her Mom-in-law and my Atte (father's eldest sister) were very good friends, They also come from Hassan district, she is a very good cook, Once when I went to see her, she had Ubbu roti & Menthyad gojju, After I tried it I just loved it so much, I learnt from her to make it, I think I have altered it a little but, as always First taste is the best taste you can ever get.....I really do not make as she makes but my children say I have done it very well!!! (as they have not tasted her cooking!!).
MENTHYADA GOJJU (FENUGREEK GRAVY)
















Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp of Fenugreek/methi/menthya seeds
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 5-5 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 5 to 6 or gooseberry sized Tamarind
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 to 3 tbsp of oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

1. Fry fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds & red chillies in a wok and keep aside to cool, fry fenugreek seeds until they are golden brown in colour do not allow it go black in colour.
2. Soak tamarind in 1/2 a tumbler of warm water and extract thick juice out of it, filter & keep it aside.
3. Take a deep bottomed wok, heat oil and a tsp of mustard seeds when it splutters add curry leaves & the extracted Tamarind juice and allow it boil in a low flame for a few minutes.
4. Meanwhile nicely powder the fried ingredients in a mixie and make it into a paste with very little water .
5. When the juice boils for few minutes and the above paste and mix well together with required quantity of salt & asafoetida and leave it on the stove for few more minutes.
6. If you want you can add a little bit of jaggery it is optional and now it is ready to serve.
7. It goes very well with chapatis, rottis and with rice too!!.

It's good to have goals. And for writers having the goal of being a world-famous, all-important, recognized as awesome famous novelist is a little tough to achieve. It's healthier to have smaller, more manageable ones like reading at your favorite coffee shop or finishing your novel.
I've seen a few writers do what I'm about to do on their blogs and now swipe the idea like a pickpocket. You post a Literary Journal wish list, places where you would celebrate like crazy if your story/poem were to be accepted there. This creates a ten part goal which isn't inconceivable to achieve.
Here is mine in no any particular order:

Tin House
Word Riot
American Short Fiction
The New Yorker
DIAGRAM
Pindeldyboz
3AM
Paper Wall
Lit N Image
Glimmer Train


Feel free to post your own top ten in the comments...

This is a rotti made out of Rice flour, This rotti I learnt from my father's side, My father is basically from Hassan, My pattis, periammas & chittis used to make it.......Even today when I go to my father's village it is like a staple food they make this ubbu rotti so fast & so tasty, like our everyday tiffin like dosa, upma & idlis....My mom does not do it too often, as she is not used to it much, When ever we go to our father's village during the Rathothsavas (chariot festival) in the whole village in everybody's house they cook idlis & ubbu rottis.......,I came to know later on from my neighbour Manu aunty who also comes from Hassan district but they are Jain's!!, they also cook this type of rotti but they made the size of chappatis, but in my dad's house they made it in palm size!!, This roti goes very well with paruppu Thuviyal (Dal Chutney) or with Brinjal gojju, Here I made it with Menthyad gojju (fenugreek gravy).
UBBU ROTTI (PUFFED RICE ROTI'S)















Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rice Flour
• Required quantity of hot water
• Required quantity of salt
• 1 tbsp oil

METHOD: I

1. In a broad vessel, put in the Rice flour, salt and a tbsp of oil and mix well,
2. Then add warm water little by little until it gains the consistency of chapati dough.
3. cover it with a wet cloth
4. Take a lemon sized ball, put some Rice flour on the table top and flatten this ball into palm sized chapati or roll it with the help of rolling pin just like a chapati.
5. Actually it should be flattened with the help of ur fingers & middle of ur palm, to a big round chapati shape!!, continuously trying this will make u an expert, If u know how to make jolada rotti (corn flour chapatis) it is just like that.
6. Put it on the tawa for 3 to 4 min, then u have to take it out and put it on the stove directly it puffs up their just like ur pulkas, nice & soft !!
7. They are now ready to serve with any side dish u want.

METHOD II

This was the way actually it is done and I still do ubbu rotti this way because I learnt this rotti from my paati like this, It is a little tedious job, but it is a good one....

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 to 2 & 1/2 cup water

METHOD:

1. Take a thick bottomed vessel, (stainless steel vessel not very apt for this), pour water in it and add salt & oil and allow it to boil for few minutes.
2. Once it starts boiling bring the stove to a low flame, and pour in the rice flour in the middle of the vessel.
3. Insert a ladle into it and close the lid and allow it to cook for a few more minutes.
4. Take the vessel out from the stove, mix the flour with the help of the ladle like u do when You make Raagi balls,
5. When it is completely mixes take out the rice ball & press it down nicely sprinkling little water & rice flour and make it into a nice big round Rice ball, cover it with a wet cloth.
6. make lemon sized balls and flatten then into chapatis with the help of your hand or with the help of rolling pin & little rice flour.
7. It is again cooked in the same way as I have told in the Method I

Here, I would like to thank Raji, of RAKS Kitchen has given me an award and i did not know how to post this...raji also taught me how to do it....!!Thanks for remembering me and giving me this award, thank you again.

This is a Andra dish I learnt from swapna's mum, My friend Uma also keeps doing this often, This is the third time I am making this. uma, who is from Andra gave me a thumb sign after eating it. So, here I am with the recipe. Basically they cut green chillies into it & cook with the dal & green leaves, I have altered it a little, as my children have to eat, I did not want them to bite hot & spicy chili bits. Otherwise the method is same. But, one more thing I have changed is I have used different combinations of vegetables & leaves when ever I cooked this. Uma told me even using parsley it was good so, I did try that too....& it came out well, you can use a variety of vegetables & green leaves to cook this pappu. Here is the list of vegetables you can cook with this pappu:
Variations:
Gonkura leaves, Green Mangoes, Tomato, Bottle Gourd (sorakayi), yellow round cucumber (Dosakaya), Spinach, Amaranth, Fenugreek leaves, Dill (Sabsige soppu/Solikeerai), or any other greens you get goes well.
METHI & DILL LEAVES PAPPU
















Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Methi/Fenugreek/Menthya soppu Leaves
• 1 bunch Dill leaves
• 1 Tomato
• 1 cup Tuvar Dal
• 2 to 3 Green chillies
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 4 to 5 Garlic pods
• 2 to 3 Red chillies
• 1 to 1 & 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder (instead of Red chillies)
• 1 Big onion
• salt as required
• 2 tbsp Thick Tamarind extract
• 1 tbsp Dhania powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp oil

Seasoning: 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tbsp urad dhal, 1/2 tbsp channa dal

METHOD:

1. Wash the Green leaves thoroughly & chop them, wash Dal.
2. Take a Vessel, Add the chopped leaves, Washed Dal, pinch of turmeric powder, green chillies and pressure cook them till 2 to 3 whistles.
3. Allow it cool, Meanwhile Take a wok or pan heat oil, add the seasonings with red chillies, chopped garlic & chopped onions and fry them till they become transparent.
4. Take the cooked dal along with the greens, mash them thoroughly with a masher, until dal & green mix together.
5. Add the fried seasonings, required quantity of salt and allow it to boil for few minutes with the tamarind extract.
6. Add 1 tbsp of Dhania powder & 1/2 tsp of cumin powder
7. Garnish it with chopped coriander & curry leaves and allow it to boil for another 2 minutes
8. serve hot with cooked rice & a dollop of ghee.

NOTE:

• When you are cooking with Gonkura you can add 1 tsp of Fenugreek seeds & no need to add tamarind as the leaves itself are sour.
• Increase or Decrease the quantity of chillies or Tamarind according to individual taste
• You can use Red chilli powder instead of Red chillies
• When using Tomatoes check the sourness of the fruit and add Tamarind, you can also use Green gram dal with this instead of Tuvar dal
• Swapna's mum even told me you can omit dhania, jeera and chilli powder and add Dhaniyalu podi in it. This podi I will be posting it in my Masala powder Recipes.

This is a side dish or a vegetable gravy as you can call it, This I learnt from my friend sunitha, she is a fantastic cook, I learnt quite a few dishes from her......I might be posting them as & when I cook them......I do not know what to call this as & I always call it as sunitha's badanekaayi palya. She is from Hassan and cooks different kind of dishes, Even my father is from Hassan so, some of the dishes are quite alike.
BADANEKAAYI YENGAAYI

This is the most delicious obattu, my children, me and even our friends all of us ask mom to prepare whenever possible, sometimes she keeps them always ready at home with her favourite coconut burfi, stocked always anybody pops in to say hai, will definitely will get one of those!!!, It's the most easiest recipes in obattu variety you can make......
Here is the Recipe....
KOBBARI OBATTU















Ingredients:

• 100 gms dry copra/dessicated coconut
• 100 gms plain flour/maida flour
• 100 gms sugar
• 20 gms KhusKhus/Ghasghase
• 4 to 5 elaichi/cardamom
• 20 gms white til seeds (roasted)

METHOD:

1. Scrape out the outer coat of the copra or dry coconut and grate it, if you are using dessicated coconut no need to do that either, you can just take 100gms dessicated coconut.
2. Take the coconut, khus khus, cardamom, white til & sugar and Grind it together.
3. Now the filling is ready.
4. Take the Maida or white plain flour add a pinch of salt & turmeric powder mix, then add water little by little just make it into a chapati dough.
5. Make it into a lime/lemon sized balls & flatten it & put the filling in it and fold it into a round ball.
6. Then flatten them with the help of little oil on a plastic sheet or plantain leaf or you can use roller pin and flatten them to a palm size and roast them on the tawa without using any oil.
7. you can apply oil on it if you want.
8. And the obattus are ready to eat!!

This is the quickest tiffin you can ever make, but only thing is eat it immediately!! I have done Tiffin Variety with Murmura or Mysore puri or the puri you use to make Bhel puri!!!., and I have called it as Murmura Chitra anna.

MURMURA CHITRA ANNA
























Ingredients:

• 1 litre or 1/2 litre Mysore puri
• 1/2 finely chopped coriander leaves
• 2 to 3 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1/2 cup grated coconut (optional)
• 2 medium sized onions
• 2 tbsp of oil

Seasonings:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp channa dal
• 1tbsp urad dal
• 3 to 4 green or Red chillies (ur preference)

METHOD:

1. Take a wok, heat oil, add the seasonings one by one, add onions & fry them until they are transparent, then add curry leaves & coriander leaves fry for a minute add required quantity of salt.
2. Remember the Murmura or puris have salt in them already so do not over do them!
3. Take water in a bowl, Take a handful of puris and dip into the water and take them out immediately and put in the wok, continue doing with all the murmuras.
4. Mix them all together and serve immediately.

Variation:

1. You can even put the murmuras without soaking them!
2. You can also add grated carrots, cooked peas too..... with them.
3. You can squeeze a tbsp of lemon Juice into the wok after the seasonings and later on mix the murmura with it.

I'm having a few anxieties about the prospect of returning to school. Specifically, I'm considering a pursuit of a Phd in English. Anxiety 1) Am I smart enough? Or can I fake being smart enough? 2) The length of the commitment/dissertation 3)Reading mountains of books in a matter of weeks. I don't know if this guy is for real, but here's a video of a man on BBC discussing how to read faster. It's a skill a lot of us could use.

hai,
You must be wondering, why I have published Thondekaayi Bhath again!!, well, I love this vegetable its crunchiness, I love making bhath out of it, Uma got this vegetable for me, she asked me to do something....Here I go again i made this bhath but only with a little difference, I got bored of using my vangi bhath powder again, I wanted a change of taste, so.... I peeped into somebodies kitchen. Lo! that was it, I got this powder from one of our Lovely bloggers who is great with her amazing photographs & has a lovely Blog too...., This Vangi Bhath powder I felt was a little different, and cooked with a fusion of piluv & Bhath powder, I took this Recipe from Raaji of Raks Kitchen, I tried & tasted it was very good, My whole family liked it even uma, Thanks Raji for the recipe.

RAJI'S VANGI BHATH















As you all can see I have not used Vangi (Brinjal) but I have used Thondekaayi which is also called Tindora/Dondanga, I have used Recipe just like what raji has done except for the change of vegetable & the quantity of the ingredients as I made it for 2 to 2 & 1/2 cups of Rice. But, here i will write just her recipe. But, I had to alter a little as I did not use Brinjal & tindora is a little bit takes time to cook. Here goes the recipe......
Ingredients:

• 1/4 Kg Thondekaayi
• 1 cup of Rice
• Tamarind Gooseberry size
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 Green Chillies
• 1 to 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1 tbsp curry leaves
• salt to taste
• 1'' Ginger
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves
• 2 Elaichi
• 1 or 2 Bay leaves
• 1'' cinnamon

To Grind

• 1 tbsp Channa dal
• 1 tbsp Urad dal
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 5-7 Pepper Corns
• 3 Nos. Red Chillies
• 2 tbsp Coconut

Seasoning:

• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp Channa dal
• 1 tbsp Urad dal

METHOD:

1. Wash the rice but did not soak it as Raji said as I did not have time!, Take a wok heat Ghee add elaichi, cinnamon, bay leaves fry add rice and cook it with salt.
2. Mean while Roast all the ingredients under to grind, in a pan you can roast coconut lightly and when cool coarsely powder it and keep aside
3. Cool the cooked rice, and keep aside.
4. Cut the Tindora into 1/2'' pieces and cook them in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles with very little water.
5. Drain the water but do not throw away the water and soak Tamarind in the same water and heat it for a minute and squeeze the tamarind juice out of it. do not add more water.
6. Take a wok, heat oil add the seasonings fry them, add the finely cut ginger, length wise cut green chilles and add the tamrind juice and allow it to boil for a minute or two.
7. Then add the cooked vegetable with required quantity of salt.
8. Then add the Ground coarse powder and allow it to stay in the wok for few more minutes all the water gets dried up.
9. Add the already cooked rice mix well and close a lid and leave it for a 4 to 5 minutes it gives time for the rice to absorb the masala into it.
10. Your Thondekaayi Bhath is ready to serve. you can serve it with any raitha of ur choice!!.

In case of Brinjal Raaji says add the brinjal which is cut in length wise 1 to 1/2 inch size to a tbsp of oil in a wok and cook it saperately until soft and keep it aside, Then add this cooked Brinjal at step 7 and continue with the above said process and your Vangi Bhath is ready.

This is a very nutritious pulav, as it has sweet corn & bean sprouts in it. I got used to Sweet corn in Bangalore when the vendors who came on the roads selling American sweet corn roasted on the tawa which had charcoal burning just like the ordinary corn we used to get in Bangalore, I always used to like it the whole cob nicely roasted with the green chutney & lemon drizzled over it, hot & spicy on a rainy day with tears in the eyes, was really exotic!!, when I got married I came to know my Mom-in-law used to like it too....that was fantastic even my children started liking it, so whenever she went out on errands she used to buy us all this & bring home, accidentally one day I came out to buy this I saw 2 men selling in a big cart with loud music these American sweet corns that is what they told me, I thought let me try this, they were quite expensive. Both my mom-in-law & me enjoyed it. Once when I went to market to buy vegetables I came across these cobs which were sold 3 for 25 rupees, I thought this works out well, so I used bring them now & then and make roasted or cooked sweet corns with mint chutney or butter and we all used to enjoy it. when I came to UK I saw sweet corn everywhere in all the super markets I thought this is too good!! I have a stock of this always in the house my daughter loves putting them in the oven & eating it as it is!!!.
Few months back my friend Bhanurekha came to UK to visit her brother krishnan & wife Sucheta with their lovely son Saakketh who live here in Bristol, She dropped by my place one day to see me, As we were chatting she told me that she made sweet corn pilauv, hey ! I thought that's a good idea, I had never thought about it......well, that is how I started making sweet corn pilauv, she doesn't use onions or garlic in her cooking, well, I not too staunch a Tamilian I am very liberal with my onions & garlic, they are always a part of my cooking!!

SWEET CORN-BEAN SPROUTS PALUV















Ingredients:

• 1 tumbler Basmathi Rice
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 3 to 4 tbsp oil

To grind:

• 1 cup mint leaves
• 5 to 6 sprigs of coriander leaves
• 3 to 4 green chillies
• 1'' ginger
• 3 to 4 pods Garlic
• 1 onion

Seasoning:

• 2 Bay leaves
• 3 Cloves
• 1'' Cinnamon stick
• 1 Marati Moggu

METHOD:

1. Wash & soak rice for 10 to 15 minutes, Drain out all the water and fry rice in a pan with 1/2 tsp of Ghee, or you can just wash & add the rice directly just wash & add without any soaking or frying, both ways it works well.
2. Grind all the ingredients to a paste in the header 'To grind' or you can take a pan with a tsp of oil and fry all the ingredients, & then grind into a paste.
3. Most of the times I do this because then I do not need to add more oil in the wok or pressure pan to fry the ground paste until a nice aroma comes out of it .
4. Take a wok or a pressure cooker which ever you choose to cook, add all the spices in seasoning and fry for a minute or two.
5. Then fry the ground paste,
6. Then add the corn & bean sprouts fry for a minute or two in a low flame then add the rice mix them all well together.
7. Add the required quantity of salt
8. Add water in the ratio 1:2
9. close the lid of the pressure cooker & keep weight on it, if it is a wok then also close the wok with a lid & cook in a low flame for about 12 to 15 minutes.
10. No need for the whistle to come, just note down the timings and put off the stove, simple & easy. when it is little cool, separate out the grains mix them all well together, & serve it garnished with coriander leaves & raitha of your choice.

Stuck? Blank? Prompts work for some writers and are detested by others. If you are the former then you may be geeked out by what they have going at writingfix.com.
They call it:
WritingFix's Random Daily Prompt Generator
Just click the button and get a place to start writing. After a few runs with the thing, I got such prompts as "What memory is inspired by the word 'chalk?' Write it down," and "Where do you fly? You're given a free airline ticket to anywhere in the world. Your choice. Write about your choice and reasons."
I think this will work wonders for some people thought it is heavy on the corny side. No one ever has to know that you got the idea for your bestselling novel from one of these things.

This is the most famous Tiffin in South India, It is not only healthy but tasty too! As this Idlis are not cooked with oil and are steamed they are good for digestion. Doctors advice to eat idlis if somebody is not feeling well!, as it is not made of oil I suppose!!, Of course not with Sambhar & chutney!!, Idli tastes nice just as it is or with Ghee as the way my daughter loves eating it, I usually prepare idlis every week, as it is my daughter's favourite, The best thing is when ever we take my twins to resturants or hotels and ask them to order my daughter always asks for Idli,vada & sambhar and my son always asks for Masala dosa!! , They say they miss India for that....., well I use two methods to make my Idlis, The one below I have shown is like this.....

IDLI














Ingredients:

• 2 cups Idli Rice (Salem Akki)
• 1 cup Urad dal/Black Gram Dal
• salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Wash throughly & Soak Idli Rice and urad dal saperately for 4 to 5 hours,
2. Grind the rice into smooth batter, Take it out and Grind urad dal
3. Or you can grind them together also.
4. After the batter is ready add salt, mix together & leave it in a warm place to ferment
5. Fermentation process take place very soon in India, In cold countries leave the batter in a warm place such as near a heater, Depending on the weather conditions, within 1 & 1/2 to 2 days it will ferment.
6. Grease the Idli moulds with little oil , pour a ladle full of the batter into each of the mould and cook them in the pressure cooker for about 12 to 15 minutes, without putting the weight on the cooker.
7. Take out the idli moulds and leave it for a second & scrape out the idlies on to the plate & serve it with Sambhar, Chutney or Kadagpuli.

There are some utensils like the one my mom uses which is called the Idli cooker, which blows a whistle and the top of the cooker opens up on its own once the idlis are cooked. The one my Nan had was a big vessel made of brass and had 8 moulds in it we had to pour water underneath and 2 plates were fixed quite up & would cook the idlis really really soft...., My perimma used to cook idlis in plate & was called plate idli, Now a days they cook them in different ways to make them more attractive......They cook in small tumblers in Roti Ghar in Gandhi Bazar, I used to cook for my children button idlis which are also called small idlis, They used to love it...

The Idlis which I have shown above are made from Idli Tari (Akki Tari), Even though they taste the same. These idlis are made from Akki Tari and in super markets or in Indian shops you can ask for Idli Tari, from which you can make these Idlis which are more simpler & easier to make. My Radha Perimma always used to make Idli Tari on her own, It was quite a long process, she always made Thatte(plate) Idlis with coconut chutney or Kadagpuli, They used to be really soft and very nice. She used to soak the Rice, then ordinary Rice was used, their was no salem akki, she used to soak it for about 4 to 5 hours then drain it and dry it in the shade, then she used to roast it in a wok little by little just until they became quite warm and became white, then she used to put it in the Oral Kallu or the Grinding stone, which you find in most of the south Indian homes, before the mixie came we used to grind all the sambhar masalas,vada, dosa, Idli, poli etc.... all the pastes & batters in it......, I still believe that the Recipes taste give a spectacular taste if you use it to grind! She used to pound the rice in it and make a coarse powder using the seive now & then and mix it with the fine paste of urad dal!!!, Still my mom makes Rice Flour like that for making Gokulashtami Thindies!!!!.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Akki Tari or Idli Tari
• 1 & 1/2 cup Urad dal/Black Gram dal
• salt to taste

METHOD

1. Wash & Soak Urad dal for 2 to 3 hours
2. Just one hour before Grinding the dal in warm water soak the Akki Tari or Idli Tari. Do not add too much water, before soaking just wash it once and the water should be just 1/4 of an inch above the Idli Rice.
3. After grinding the dal into a smooth batter mix it with the Idli Tari & salt.
4. Allow it to ferment for 10 to 12 hours
5. Just follow the above said method to cook Idlis after Fermentation, and serve hot with a dollop of ghee, chutney, sambhar or kadagpuli.

SAMBHAR FOR IDLI

Ingredients:

• 100 gms Tuvar dal
• 1 cup of small onions (sambhar eerulli)
• 1 or 2 Tomatoes
• 1/2 lime size Tamarind
• salt to taste
• little bit of jaggery
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 4 to 5 sprig of coriander leaves

To Grind:

• 2 & 1/2 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 3-3 Red Chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• 1 tbsp Urad dal
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp Channa dal
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Jeera
• 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
• 1/4' Cinnamon Stick
• 2 cloves
• 1 marati moggu
• pinch of Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp of Khus Khus
• 4 to 5 tbsp of fresh grated coconut

METHOD:

1. Take a container, wash Tuvar dal with 2 glasses of water add a pinch of turmeric powder & Tomatoes, cook them all together in a pressure cooker.
2. Take a wok, Heat a tbsp of oil , once it is hot add mustard seeds, once they splutter add the peeled & thinly sliced Sambhar onions & fry them until they are soft.
3. Meanwhile the dals would have been cooked, pour them into a vessel, keep aside.
4. Take a pan, put a little bit of oil & except for coconut, put all the ingredients & roast them keep aside to cool down,
5. You can fry one by one which gives you more flavour, Grind them with coconut to a fine paste.
6. Mix the dal, tomatoes, roasted sambhar onions & the ground paste and allow it to boil for some time, or until a nice aroma comes out.
7. In Karnataka style they add gooseberry sized Jaggery in the sambhar when it is boiling, but some people do not like the sweet taste in their sambhars!.
8. It's the way the sambhars are in Bangalore Darshinis, hotels & resturants.
9. Season the sambhar with finely chopped curry leaves, coriander leaves & a tbsp of fresh grated coconut.
10. Serve it with hot with Idlis & Vadas...

KADAG PULI

This is a kind of Sambhar which I learnt from my Radha Periamma, You can do this with vegetables like the Violet Brinjals, Cabbage, Chow-chow. The best result is with Brinjals that is my favourite. Here is the recipe for this.......

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Kg of Brinjals
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 tbsp oil

To Grind:

• 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
• 2 tbsp Channa dal or Chutney dal
• 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
• 4 to 5 sprigs of coriander leaves
• a pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 4 to 5 flakes of Tamarind
• 5 to 6 Green chillies

Seasoning:

• 1 tsp of oil
• 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of channa dal
• 1 tsp of urad dal

METHOD:

1. Wash & cut the Brinjals lengthwise 1 & 1/2 inches, put it immediately in the water, as they turn brown in colour other wise!
2. Take a Wok, heat oil, add mustard seeds after they splutter, add the seasonings and curry leaves then add the cut brinjals without the water. Just like u do it for a dry curry.
3. cook it in a middle flame, until they all get cooked evenly.
4. Meanwhile when it is cooking, roast the channa dal with a little oil & grind all the other ingredients raw without frying them.
5. I have used the chillies & tamarind so that they balance, because the chillies of what i have used might be different from you use, so just remember to balance them.
6. Grind them all into a smooth paste and add it to the cooked brinjals add some water to make it like a sambhar consistency or you can make it like a vegetable gravy.
7. serve it hot with hot Idlis, The spiciness, tanginess and the vegetable is a good combo with Idli we all love it in our family. Hope you might like it to give it a try!!

IDLI MOLAGA PUDI (IDLI CHUTNEY POWDER)

In one of the above pictures I have posted is the Idli molaga pudi, This I learnt it from my Mom-in-law's House, My husband loves this, Like vivek's dialogue in Dhool ! Ippovu Rand Idli ki oru litre Idahayam Nallenne Oothi Saapdreengala.....!! that means for two idlis are you still pouring one litre Gingily oil, This is an advert she did for Idayam Nallenne Oh yes! he is just like Jyothika he takes a cup of Idli Molaga Pudi and pours a cup of Nallene mixes them together and soaks Idlis in it and relishes it....!!, First time I thought it was funny well, I think most of the people his relatives who come from Madras also eat it like that, well once no twice I have eaten it like this & it was absolutely fantastic and it was served by Saroja Mami, my sis-in-law's Mom, as I have already told when I did More Kolumbu that she is very good cook, she put this kind of Idlis in Muthugada Yele, packed them so nicely as if we had bought it! and gave Ravi & me when we travelled back from Madras to Bangalore. The second time was when we all went to Tirupati for our childrens first time Motte....!!!, My twins & her first daughter, we had packed it for travelling Lunch.

Ingredients:

• 5-5 (Guntur-Badgi) Red Chillies
• One fist full of Urad dal/Black gram dal
• 1 tbsp of channa dal
• a pinch of asafoetida
• Gooseberry sized Tamarind (optional)
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp Sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

1. Heat a little oil and fry all the ingredients until Reddish brown in colour except for Sesame Seeds.
2. Dry roast the Sesame seeds that is without using oil, Only thing you need to remember is if you are adding sesame seeds the powder cannot be kept more than 10 to 15 days.
3. Once all the ingredients are roasted, Grind them into a coarse powder.
4. The quantity of chilies & dhals can be increased or decreased according to your taste
5. Now the Idli Molaga Pudi is ready to be served.

VADA

I have made very small Vadas, as you can see in the plate, I always make them like that not with holes in them as you see in the Resturants as it is not allowed in my community because it is usually made only during death ceremonies. Even though it is only made with Black Gram Dal/Urad Dal, I add a tbsp of channa dal.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Black Gram Dal/Urad dal
• 1 bit coconut
• 2 to 3 Green chillies
• salt to taste
• 6-7 corns of Pepper
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1'' Ginger

METHOD:

1. Soak the dhal for two hours. Grind into soft dough adding salt. Cut the coconut into small thin bits.
2. Add the whole pepper, finely cut ginger & curry leaves add all this to the batter.
3. Mix them all together and form into small balls & fry to reddish golden brown colour.
4. Note: Do not add too much water when you are grinding the batter, more water will absorb lot of oil when frying.
5. Now it is ready to serve hot with Chutney & Sambhar.

When ever I met new people & made friends with them, and when they come to know I am an Iyengar that's it, they always ask me if I know how to prepare Puliyogarai, & they always comment that nobody can beat the way Iyengar's make puliyogarai, and of course in all our celebrations, the functions would be incomplete without this dish......., As I told earlier my father comes from Hassan District from a place called Bylahalli, even today during the chariot festival (Rathothsava) of Lakshmi Janardhana, In the night after Garudotsava, they give a palm (Bhogasae thumba) full of puliyogarai to everybody, Oh! it is such a pleasure to sit & eat it in the mid of the night!!.
This Recipe here I am writing down, I got it from my periyappa (Dad's elder Brother), who was known as Bhagavan mama to lot of people who knew him, he was a cooking contractor, he is no more, He was a such a great cook and his dishes always tasted absolutely fantastic......, Here is the Recipe......do make it & enjoy the taste of it.... as we all love it too......


PULIYOGARAI or PULIYODHARAI (TAMARIND RICE)















Ingredients for Making Puliyogarai Gojju or Pulikaachal or Tamarind Sauce Preparation:

• 1 fistful of Tamarind (tight fist)
• 1 fistful of salt
• 1 fistful of Rasam Powder
• 1 copra or Dry coconut grated
• 1/2 cup Black Til seeds/ kari yellu
• 1/2 Acchu Jaggery
• 50 gms Dhania powder
• 1 tbsp of turmeric powder
• 1/4' of asafoetida piece
• 25 to 30 gms pepper powder (optional)

Seasoning:

• 5-5 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• 5 to 6 sprigs of curry leaves
• 3 to 4 tbsp of mustard seeds

METHOD:

1. First of all soak Tamarind in 1 to 1 & 1/2 tumbler of water, do not use too much water as you need to boil it and make it like a sauce. Extract the thick juice of tamarind, filter & keep it ready.
2. Take a deep wok or pan, it is very important to take a deep kadai because once the gojju or sauce starts boiling it splutters everywhere, so be Careful when stirring the sauce.
3. Take a deep kadai, heat 3 to 4 tbsp, add mustard seeds when they splutter then add red chillies, turmeric powder & curry leaves.
4. Now add the filtered Tamarind juice extract and allow it boil for few minutes over a low flame, do not add too much oil this also makes the juice to splutter everywhere when it is boiling. Do not forget all the process should go on in a slow fire or flame.
5. Now add salt & Rasam Powder, asafoetida and grated jaggery and keep on stirring over a low flame.
6. Dry Roast the till seeds (Till seeds should be cleaned before using them in any dish you are making) & grind it with grated dry copra add this & coriander powder to the sauce.
7. If you want it little more spicy you can add 25 to 30 gms of pepper powder too!!
8. Keep on continuously stirring .
9. The sauce starts to thicken with out becoming sticky, when you are stirring the sauce should not stick to the container, just like when you make your Halwas, when the mixture leaves the side remove from fire.

To Make Tamarind Rice or Puliyodharai:

• 4 to 5 tbsp of Oil (Gingely or Ground nut Oil)
• 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
• 4 tbsp of channa dal
• 3 tbsp of urad dal
• 100 to 150 gms peanuts
• 4 to 5 sprigs of curry leaves
• 4 to 5 tbsp of Black Til seeds
• a pinch of turmeric powder
• 4 -5 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)

METHOD:

1. Cook desired quantity of Rice, the above pulikaachal I have written is made for 1 kg of Rice and even the Tamarind Rice seasonings also is for 1 kg of rice.
2. Spread the rice on a parantha to cool.
3. Take a deep kadai, Heat oil add mustard seeds then add the peanuts once they start cracking up add all the ingredients one by one, cook in a low flame, when the dhals change colour put of the stove.
4. pour the Tamarind sauce or pulikaachal over the rice, pouring is not the exact word as it will not be pouring consistency you can scoop the sauce on the rice and then pour the seasonings over it.
5. If you want you can add cashew nuts & Kadale Kaalu (Brown channa, the one which is used during Ganesha festival to make sundal!!) which should be soaked and fried can also be added to it.
6. Mix well all the ingredients and serve with carrot kosumbari (salad) or with Raitha or papads.

NOTE:

1. The above quantity of pulikaachal or Tamarind sauce is for making 1 kg of rice.
2. The Rasam powder if made fresh just for the sauce gives a nice good aroma for it.
3. The Rasam powder which I have used here is the one I make while I cook my rasams, the Rasam powder recipe is in my Masala powder posting.
4. The ingredients which I have used to make Rasam powder goes very well with this pulikaachal.
5. Do not make the pulikaachal or Tamarind sauce too thick as when it cools down it becomes too thicker.
6. This pulikaachal stays almost a year.
7. You can use more oil when you are making this rice.

I am sending this recipe to SWC-Meals on wheels as this stays longer than 2 days and will taste great the next day!!, The event started by Lakshmi from Taste of mysore.

Spoiler Alert...
Just watched The Reader and although I can say with absolute certainty that it is better than Paul Blart: Mall Cop, that is all I am sure about. It attempts to humanize a S.S. guard, Hanna Schmidt during the Holocaust by showing her weaknesses and her love life and apparently, frequently her nipples. I've read a few reviews that say that the film focuses too much on Hanna's inability to read and not enough on the terrible shit she went to prison for. I think this was an attempt to approach the subject from a different angle. It certainly makes one feel for her a bit, but completely omitting the entire Holocaust seems too easy. It almost feels like a trick; an out of sight, out of mind sort of thing. And Hanna taking the extra years in prison just to avoid admitting that she can't read seems crazy. How stubborn/prideful is this lady? I can't argue with her taste in books though, Huck Finn, The Odyssey, The Lady with the Little Dog, War and Peace, Dr. Zhivago and Tin Tin (can't all be heavy duty I suppose). Though, I did wonder why she didn't read more German hits.

Kate Winslet is getting a lot of pub for her performance, as she should. She did a great job. I think she'll be remembered for nailing the role, but I wonder if people will remember this movie as a misfire, a failed attempt to look at the Nazis from a literary/reading perspective. Did the book/movie work? Is it offensive in its light-handed treatment of the events of the Holocaust? I guess that's what I am asking you.

This is a dish which i learnt from my hubby's Atte & her daughter taught me very long back, she used to come to & stay with us every year for a few days, They were really very good pair, they used to sing together, go everywhere together!!!, They taught me few recipes which I had never tried, now when i was going through my book, which I kept writing when ever I used to ask all mamis, aunties, sis-in-laws, amma, perimmas, chitties etc., When i got married , i started to jot down these things..........., Today I decided I will try these dishes one by one!! Here is one of the dish.......
ARICHHA KOOTU

Ingredients:

• Tuvar dal/Moong dal 3/4th cup
• I did a slight variation by using black eyed beans that is what they call it i think, it is in the photo!!, with Moong dal/paitham paruppu/Hesaru Bele just a 1/2 cup.
  Vegetables: Here I have used Snake gourd, you can use any vegetable which is used for making kootus like cluster beans-Gori kaayi/chapparadavare kaayi-broad beans/chow-chow/knol khol etc., with this you can use any lentils or legumes even channa dal instead of Moong dal.

TO GRIND

• 2 tbsp of Urad dal/Black gram dal
• 1 tbsp Fenugreek seeds
• lime sized or 1/2 cup coconut fresh gratings
• 4 to 5 flakes of Tamarind
• 4-2 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 1 sprig of curry leaves

METHOD:

1. Cut the vegetable which ever you want to use and the above said dal & a combination of lentils or legumes with it.
2. Here as I said I have used black eyed beans-Moong dal & 1/4 kg of Snake Gourd, cook them all together with a pinch of Turmeric powder.
3. Take a pan and fry all the above said ingredients except for coconut, Add tamarind in the end when you are frying when everything is cool Grind them all together with coconut.
4. Mix the ground paste with the cooked vegetables & dal and add salt, asafoetida & sprig of curry leaves and boil for few more minutes
5. Season it with a tsp of mustard seed in coconut oil.
6. Or otherwise add a cup of curds or yogurt and serve hot with rice.

This is a Rasam which is very good for health, Mum made this when we were sick, with cold & cough, or definitely once a week to cleanse our stomachs!!, after I got married even mom-in-law made this once a week or somebody not feeling well, The only difference with mom's & mom-in-law's seeraga-molagu rasam was Mom-in law used Thuvar dal & Tomato in it!, Here I have made it the way my Mom made...... I will also tell u how my Mom-in-law made.

SEERAGA-MOLAGU (JEERA-CUMIN) RASAM
















Ingredients:

• Tamarind - 3/4 th Lime size
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• salt to taste
• A sprig of curry leaves

To Grind:

• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp Thuvar dal
• 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 - 1 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)

Seasonings:

• 1tsp Ghee or oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

1. Fry the above in To Grind ingredients except cumin seeds in a 1/2 tsp of oil and grind them with cumin seeds into a smooth paste or fine powder.
2. If you do not want to use oil u can roast them too.
3. Soak the tamarind & with that u make about 1/2 litre of juice, and put it on the stove & allow it boil so that the raw smell disappears.
4. Now add the powder or if u have made it into a paste mix it with little more water & then pour it into the Tamarind juice,
5. Boil for a few more minutes, when the rasam froths up, add curry leaves & asafoetida
6. Remove from fire, season with mustard.

METHOD II

This is my mom-in-law's method of cooking this Rasam

1. Pressure cook a cup of Tuvar dal washed with one or Two Tomatoes, When u increase the Tomatoes reduce the quantity of Tamarind, with a pinch of Turmeric.
2. Follow the same method as in Method I only thing is you have to add cooked Tuvar dal & Tomatoes.
3. Season it with mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing & coriander leaves.
4. Serve it with Rice with a spoonful of Ghee.

Broadsided is having a contest where you write in response to a piece of art on their website. The winner will be published on their site. You can do poetry or prose. The deadline is March 5th. Check it out:
http://www.broadsidedpress.org/guides.shtml
This is the image right here:

hi, I am posting this recipe to aparna from mydiversekitchen who is hosting the Food in colour events started by Harini of sunshinemoms, I hope this looks orange, as I am not a good photographer I tried my best, when cooked it was looking orange in colour!!

This Dosa as the Title says I have made with Carrot lot of people might have posted them long before, but few of my friends & family who still dare to try for them I just thought let me post this!!, Here is the recipe for the dosa & the chutney of course is my mom's recipe, which my as usual my children say nan's cooking is the best cooking.......mum needs to learn still.......!!!
CARROT DOSA















Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rice
• 1/2 Easy cook rice/Kusublakki
• 1 & 1/2 cups grated carrot
• 1 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
• Tamarind gooseberry sized
• 4-5 Red chillies
• salt to taste
• 1 onion medium sized (optional)
• oil to fry dosas

METHOD

1. Soak both the rice together for 2 to 3 hours
2. Then grind them with all the other ingredients said above into a dosa consistency
3. Add salt at the end, & add water and make it more thinner
4. Just like the consistency of a Rava Dosa
5. Use carrot dosa immediately after grinding it
6. you must make dosas just the way you cook Rava Dosas, hold the ladle a little higher and spread it from the outer circle of the Tawa/kaavli, you cannot spread it like an ordinary dosa
7. They are usually very thin & crispy
8. If you want you can even add nicely chopped coriander leaves, curry leaves & thinly sliced chillies & serve it with plain curd/yogurt & chutni pudi.
9. They are now ready to serve.
10. you can store it in the fridge & can be used next day

MINT CHUTNEY

Ingredients:

• A fist ful of channa dal
• 1 cup full of Mint leaves
• 2-3 sprigs of coriander leaves
• 1 tsp of oil
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
• 3-4 green chillies
• 2-3 flakes of Tamarind
• a pinch of asafoetida/hing
• 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut

Seasonings: 1 tbsp oil & 1 tsp of mustard seeds

METHOD

1. Take a pan or wok , heat oil add channa dal & roast till in a low flame
2. Meanwhile pluck mint leaves 2 fist ful or 1 cup & coriander leaves wash, drain & add it to the same wok where you are frying the dal
3. Fry Tamarind flakes too along with it
4. keep them aside so that they cool down
5. Grind them all together with salt, sugar, coconut & hing with adding water.
6. Grind them into a Chutney consistency, Then temper or season them with the above seasonings & is now ready to serve.

http://mydiversekitchen@blogspot.com

From my childhood I always loved to eat Rice mixed with chutni pudi, Molaga pudi, Gojjus & Rice varieties like chitranna, pulav, mixed vegetable rice etc., My daddy always used to tease me about this, The best thing i remember as a child when ever my mom made Fresh Rasam Powder Daddy used to mix it with Rice & oil and give us all a nice big ball of it & we all loved it so much!! My mouth is watering when I am thinking about those days, we always had a dinner together however late my dad came from his office!!.
After I got married in my in-laws house as they are from Tamilnadu, they used to eat lot of these Rice mix & eat dishes, my mom-in-law used to prepare paruppu podi most of the times, then I started learning lot of other pudis which were not only yummy but good for health!!
well, I am going to start with peanut powder from shivu's mom, actually I have not done so well as she does, first is always the best I think, even though everybody is liking it & it is getting over and I think I need to do it once more in 2 days that too, the way my eldest is consuming !!!!,
Here is the Recipe...
PEANUT POWDER

















Ingredients:

• 1 tumbler split roasted skin peeled Groundnuts
• 10-12 pods of garlic
• 1/4 bunch or 6-7 sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
• 5-5 Red chillies (guntur- badgi)
• 1 tbsp or salt as desired
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/4 tumbler dry copra or dessicated coconut
• 3-4 flakes or small gooseberry sized tamarind
• 1 sprig curry leaves (optional)

METHOD:

1. First of all take a pan or wok dry roast Ground nuts until nice aroma starts coming out of them or when the skin starts peeling off.
2. Take out them from the wok & keep it aside to cool
3. Next in the same pan or wok take a tsp of oil, heat then add the garlic pods & fry them until they start changing colour to it add the coriander leaves & fry them till they look like whithering away.
4. With that fry the Red chillies too & fry Tamarind too in it.
5. Once all of them are nicely fried take them out & allow it cool
6. Meanwhile take the roasted peanuts and remove the husk from them & remove the small node like portion from the top of the nuts when you split open them.
7. Take one tumbler of peanuts in measure & mix with all the other ingredients & dry powder in the mixie coarsely.
8. put them in a jar & it may last up to 10-15 days.
9. It is now ready to be served with plain rice & a dollop of ghee in it!

Not only people of Tamilnadu but people from Andra also have Rice mix & eat podis in their first course of their meal.

The journal Diddledog is very good about responding quickly to your stories. The timely rejections I have received have been concise and possibly terse. Anybody else have any luck with them?

Rejection from Diddledog #1:

Hello Ryan--

Can't you write a 900 word story? This one just seems so easy.

Oz

By "easy" did they mean easy to read, easy to forget or what? Isn't easy a good thing?


Rejection from Diddledog #2

Hey Ryan

Rather cartoonish, indeed. Too much of a stretch for DiddleDog, we think.


Just to describe the writing as cartoonish would be clear. Adding rather makes it stronger and indeed tops it off like a snarky icing.


Rejection from Diddledog #3

Not right for DiddleDog, Ryan.

Oz

Straight up now tell me.

This is my favourite Kosumbari, and is a very healthy dish, Of course lot of you must be knowing this already, but i am posting this for a few of my cousins & friends who live abroad & are new to cooking.
MOOLANGI KOSUMBARI (Radish Salad)

















Ingredients:

• 2 Medium sized radish
• 1 cup of Grated Coconut
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of oil
• 3 to 4 green chillies
• 6 to 7 fresh coriander leaves
• a pinch of Asafoetida

METHOD:

1. Wash the Radish, Peel the skin, using the grater with medium holes or even smaller one is also fine, grate radish
2. Take a pan, heat oil & season it with mustard seeds, when it splutters add chopped green chillies saute then, add it to the grated Radish.
3. Add salt to taste , grated coconut & finely chopped coriander leaves.
4. Mix well Just make a note that add salt in the end that is before serving otherwise the raw salad will give out water.
5. Serve it with Rasam or sambhar.

VARIATIONS:

This Salad can be prepared in the same way with Carrot & Cucumber.

Kosumbari's can be made with different varities, which is usually served in south Indian houses for marriages & festivals. Other Vairation is you can add soaked Channa dal, Moong dal for 2 to 3 hours, add it with Cucumber & carrot proceed with seasonings as indicated in the above method.

hi,
This is a nutritious dish which i learnt from my friend Shivu's mother, Sudha aunty, I like her cooking because, it will be very spicy, I love the way she makes chitra anna, as my hubby was saying to her the other day that it just tastes like the way they give in temple prasadams!!.
This recipe is originally, as she says its best if u make it from a combo of Dill leaves & french beans or white cabbage or combo of all the three!!! (but, you have to use Dill leaves with them!!)
I gave a slight twist to this combination......., we made once with some green leaves which i got in the supermarket & beans & cabbage!!!, An other time we made with water cress combo!!!
But, then I didn't have a blog at that time !! Now, recently I made this again with a slight variation & here I am posting this dish....., This dish in karnataka usually is called Basoppu masaaru means Baseda(drained) soppu(green leaves) maseda(mashed) saaru(Rasam), As we do our Rasam & sambhar some group of people do this often & they say it goes very well with Raagi Mudde (raagi Balls).
Here is the Recipe for this.......
BASOPPU MASAARU (A COMBO OF VEGETABLE & GREEN LEAVES SAMBHAR & DRY CURRY)

















Ingredients:

• 1 Bunch of Dill leaves
• 1 Bunch of Parsley leaves
• 1/4 Kg Green Beans
• 1/4 Kg white cabbage
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 cups of Tuvar Dal
• 2 tbsp of Thick Tamarind extract
• 1 or 2 medium sized onions or 1/2 cup of coconut grated

To Grind

• 3 to 4 tbsp of cumin seeds
• 2 medium onions
• 12 to 15 pods of Garlic
• 8 to 10 sprigs of coriander leaves
• 2 to 3 tbsp of Sambhar powder

Seasonings

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 tbsp channa dal
• 1 tbsp urad dal

METHOD

1. First of all wash & cut the green leaves, cut the vegetables into thin pieces
2. Wash the dal & put into a big vessel with the green leaves & vegetables and cook it in a medium flame with around 1/2 a litre of water, or if u are using a pressure cooker, cook the dal in a saperate container with lot of water. The important thing is you need to get more dal water in it, That means dal should be cooked well but should not be too mashed up.
3. Then cook the vegetables saperately, but do not put too much water in cabbage or cook dal & beans together but cabbage saperately.
4. When you cook all this leave it for some time till they get cooled
5. Meanwhile, take a pan or wok add a tbp of oil, heat , add cumin seeds and fry for a minute then add onions & garlic peeled & chopped and fry them until they are soft & start to change colour add washed coriander leaves to it & roast it too...
6. Put them all into a mixie & allow it cool for sometime, then to it add the sambhar powder(spiciness according to induvidual taste) & a ladle full of cooked dal, green leaves & vegetables to it, Grind them all together to a nice paste. This helps in the sambhar to get thickened.
7. When all of them get cooled sueeze tightly the dal , green leaves & vegetables take out the water completely.
8. Take a Vessel, Add this drained out water into the ground paste & pour the Tamarind extract juice to it & allow it to boil for some time until a nice aroma comes out of it & raw smell disappears. Add salt to taste & season it with a tsp of oil & mustard.
9. Take a wok, Heat oil add the seasonings, fry the onions then add the nicely drained out dal-green-vegetable mixture to it and fry for sometime, add salt to taste and the dry curry is now ready, If you are not using onions then you can add grated coconut in the end & now the dry curry is ready to serve.
10. Serve it with Hot Rice or with Raagi Mudde (balls).

hi,
This is my son's favourite Tiffin , If you ask him any time of the day, or take him to a hotel everyday, he will always ask for Dosa, When I prepared this he clicked the photos, He has instructed me to post this recipe because, He keeps saying that, Mum prepares the best Dosas in the world!! and the most crispiest Dosa for my eldest, and tastes just like Masala Dosa from cafesri in Bangalore. I really do not know truthfully if it is just like that, but I like this combo and usually prepare Dosa like this,

CRISPY MASALA DOSA

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of Ordinary Rice
• 1cup of Kusbalakki (White Easy cook rice)
• 1 heaped cup of Urad dal/Black Gram dal
• 2 tbsp of Green Gram
• 2 tbsp of Fenugreek Seeds
• 2 tbsp of Chenna dal

METHOD:

1. Wash thoroughly & Soak all the above said ingredients in one vessel & Urad dhal in a different vessel for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Grind them separately into a nice paste in Grinder or mixer.
3. Leave them until they ferment, may be in warm places they may ferment very soon within overnight but cold places like here you need keep them in a warm place and allow it to ferment for 12 to 15 hours I think
4. Once they ferment add salt, mix well and it is now ready to make Dosas in the usual way,
5. Serve it with Dry Potato Curry & coconut chutney & Onion Sambhar.

For MASALA DOSAS You need to make Red Chutney which is poured over on the last round of the dosa, with nice bit of oil , keep the potato curry in the middle and fold it in two's or triangles or cones or any way you like in the restaurants and is served with chutney & sambhar. Oh! just thinking of Masala Dosa it reminds me of Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazaar he generously put a dollop of Benne or cheese on top of it before serving. It is heavenly & the whole area is filled with the Dosa smell..... and makes you hungry!!!!!

POTATO DRY CURRY FOR THE FILLING

Ingredients :

• 1/4 Kg Potatoes
• 1/4 Kg or little less Onions
• 4 to 5 Green chillies
• 1 tbsp of channa dal
• 1 tbsp of Urad/Black gram Dal
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 4 to 5 sprigs of coriander leaves
• 3 to 4 tbsp of oil

METHOD:

1. Wash and cook the potatoes in the pressure cooker from 2 to 3 whistles depending on the potato you are using, and allow it to cool
2. Meanwhile, Chop onions finely, cut green chillies. wash & chop curry leaves & coriander leaves, keep them aside.
3. Next peel the skin of the potatoes, and mash them slightly so they break into pieces.
4. Take a wok, heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they start spluttering, add chopped green chillies and fry until they turn colour,
5. Then add all the dhals and fry them until they change colour, add Turmeric,Then add onions and fry them until they are transparent.
6. Now add the curry leaves mix once & then add the mashed potato, and sprinkle desired quantity of salt, mix well , sprinkle little water & close the lid for few minutes, allowing the potatoes to absorb all the spices into them.
7. sprinkle chopped fresh coriander leaves mix well & now they are ready to serve.

RED CHUTNEY

Ingredients :

• 5-5 (Guntur-Badgi) Red chillies
• 1 tsp jeera
• 3 to 4 flakes of Tamarind
• little jaggery
• 1 big onion
• 2 to 3 pods Garlic (optional)
• salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Soak chillies & tamarind in water
2. fry onion to transparent
3. mix all the above said ingredients and grind it into a smooth paste.
4. Make it little watery so that you can pour it on the Dosa, on the circles created when spreading it.

Some of the Restaurants use Garlic powder as an alternative to Red chutney and here is the Recipe for garlic powder

GARLIC POWDER

• 1/2 cup of Garlic peeled
• 1/2 cup of dry coconut or copra
• 5 to 6 flakes of Tamarind or gooseberry size
• 1/2 tsp of Ghee
• 6 to 7 Red chillies
• little jaggery
• salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Peel and keep the Garlic pods.
2. Heat Ghee in the pan roast the garlic pods nicely
3. Then add dry coconut & Tamarind and just roast them to just warm up
4. Take out and keep them aside, In the same pan add a bit of oil & fry the chillies.
5. Then mix all the ingredients together and grind it into a coarse powder (chutney pudi consistency)
6. Use this just like the Red chutney and sprinkle on the dosa, Then keep the potato curry and fold.

NOTE: This Garlic powder is good for Baananthis (that is ladies who have just given birth to babies and hope you all must have gone through this process after the birth of a baby they give different type of foods, which helps the mothers to get their immunity & strength back to normal for all the trouble they have taken to bring a new life on to the earth!).

COCONUT CHUTNEY:

Ingredients:

• 1 or 1/2 coconut
• Tamarind Gooseberry sized
• 5-6 Green chillies
• 2 to 3 sprigs of coriander leaves
• a pinch of asafoetida
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp sugar

METHOD:

1. Slightly warm up the gooseberry sized directly on the stove holding with the help of Tongs (I got this thing from some cookery show I think it says the bad qualities of Tamarind gets diminished of doing so!)
2. Then Grind grated coconut, tamarind, salt, asafoetida, sugar & coriander leaves in a mixie to a nice paste.
3. Give a seasoning with a tsp of oil & 1 tsp of mustard seeds to the ground paste & now it is ready to serve

Hope I didn't bore you with so many chutneys to a single Dosa! well, as we know We all love Dosa & it is a Great South Indian Tiffin Variety which is so famous world wide!!.

hi,

This dish i am posting is my huband's speciality, He loves cooking ,trying new dishes & new vegetables, Because of him I think, I have tried different kind of vegetables after coming here, , he will eat whatever I cook!!!!, isn't that great!!, Here is the method he cooks this recipe with all the different kind of greens I bring home, My children love his Keerai Masial, Here is the recipe,

He started cooking with Dill (Sabakki soppu) leaves, then he used it with spinach, sometimes when i get karle or some green leaves I get in the supermarket, or with Rocket-spinach-Watercress combo!!!, But on Monday he cooked it with Spinach-Dill combo.....

SPINACH-DILL COMBO KEERAI MASIAL :

Here are the ingredients for the macial :