Lazeez Lauki

Name says it all for this dish. It was indeed Lazeez!!

I was wondering what other dishes we could make with Lauki, other than Lauki Dal or Lauki Kofta, but my mom mentioned about eating this at many places but she never got to make this one at home.

We followed Ayeesha Sireen's recipe but made changes at few places. We added only cashews and not the other nuts. Didn't add any meat or veggies but made Khoya from Happy Burp's recipe. In fact this recipe tasted well with the Khoya made from milk powder and not when used Khoya directly.

I think rest everything was done exactly as said. It is a 3 step easy process.

Hats Off to Obama

His Charisma made him a President today.

It is indeed a historic moment for all of America. Very first African American to win the presidency. Isn't it amazing? Ravi and I were sititng infront of the TV the whole night to see the updates and could not be much happier than this.

I never paid attention to any political news before, but somehow was following this presidential campaign and when the D-day was coming near, I got more into it and I am very excited today.

Somehow somewhere change was needed and Obama is the change America is looking for. He surpassed all hurdles and crossed all racial barriers and got a name for himself. His name is now etched in history and he will be remembered forever. He has become the role model not just for African Americans but to all those others who think that they are low.

A great day in history!!

All the luck Obama!! for the new endeavor.

Carrot Balls

Carrot Balls

Besan: Gram Flour

This one is a great dish to those who don't like to eat Carrots, esp kids. And an awesome appetizer for any day.
Printer-Friendly Recipe: Carrot Balls

Ingredients

2 Carrots, grated
1 Onion, chopped
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
few Curry leaves, chopped
few coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 green chillies, chopped
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
oil for deep frying
Besan, as needed for binding

Method

1. Heat oil for deep frying.
2. Take a bowl add the rest of the ingredients except Besan and mix well.
3. Keep adding besan little at a time to form a stiff dough.
4. Make small balls out of the dough and deep fry.

Serve hot as is or with Ketchup.

Mango Delight Ice Cream

Mom got a big basket of fresh Mangoes from the farmers market last saturday for just $3. I think they were around 11 or 12 in one basket. And these looked more like Rasalu type of Mangoes that we get in India and they were real sweet, not like the ones that we get in our Indian Stores.

This quickly reminded me of Mango Delight Ice Cream, the recipe that I noted down from a TV show recently. We made these creamy and heavenly ice creams in less than 10 mins and I just finished eating my second one.

This goes to the event Monthly Mingle 23-Mango Mania

Here is the Printer-Friendly Recipe: Mango Delight Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 fresh ripe Mangoes
50 g Cream

100 g Condensed Milk

half cup gelatin

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cardammom powder

food color, optional

Method

1. Puree mangoes in a blender.
2. Add fresh cream, sugar, condensed milk, elaichi powder and mix.
3. Add some milk, gelatin, food color (this is because the mango color gets reduced with the addition of all the dairy items, I avoided it and still they looked good)
4. Whisk again in the blender and put it moulds or cups and freeze for 10 mins.

Pudina Pooris

Indian Bread: Poori

Pudina: Mint

Jeera: Cumin

Pudina Pooris are definitely a treat once in a while. I fell in love with these when I ate them first couple of years back. The event Herb Mania-Mint made me think about these again and I made these especially to post for that event. And we all enjoyed eating them too! Pooris can be eaten without any chutney, but you can serve with Tomato Chutney if you have it ready.

Ingredients

2 cups Maida

1/2 cup Pudina

1 tsp Cumin seeds

2 Green Chilies

1 tbsp Lemon juice

1/2 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Grind mint leaves, cumin seeds, green chilies, lemon juice, sugar and salt together to make paste.
2. Add this paste to the flour, add required water and knead into a firm dough. And keep the dough aside for 30 mins.
3. Roll the dough to make Pooris and deep fry them in oil.

Methi Chaman

I heard that these days in India, everyone is going crazy over this curry and are ordering this whenever they go to any restaurant. I got this recipe from my sister and this tasted excellent with chapatis. Do not attempt to eat this with Rice as it didn't go well with Rice.

Heating Methi in oil removes its sour taste and grated paneer will help. I didn't have enough time, so I just crushed paneer and added to the dish. This fills you up pretty quickly and keeps you out of hunger for long.

Ingredients

1 cup Methi, chopped

1/2 cup paneer, grated

1 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chillies, chopped

2 tbsp watermelon seeds

1 tbsp coconut

1 tsp coriander powder

red chilli powder, little

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, and fry in this order.
2. First add green chillies, fry for a minute.
3. Next add onions and fry till brown.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and fry again for a minute.
5. Add methi and fry again (can add little water if needed).
6. Add paneer and fry till it becomes light brown.
7. Then add salt, red chilli powder, dhania powder and coconut powder. Mix everything well.
8. Make paste wtih watermelon seeds and add to the above mixture.
9. Add butter at the end and garnish with fresh cream.

Cottage Cheese Bajji

Was craving for something nice to eat, opened the refrigerator door, stood infront of it for a long time hoping to find something nice in some corner, but nope. Since my mom is here, she empties it and keeps things clean and tidy. I found cottage cheese box that we got from the store the other day and thought of making these bajjis. This is the second time I made them and my mom loved these instantly. They are crispy from outside and soft from inside and taste sour.

To make these you need..

Cottage Cheese

Maida

Green Chillies

Coriander

Curry Leaves

Jeera

Onion

Salt

Take Cottage Cheese in a bowl. Add chopped green chillies, coriander, curry leaves, jeera, onion, salt and keep adding maida until the dough come together and forms like a bajji dough.

Take little dough at a time and form into disc shapes and deep fry in oil. Remove and serve hot with Coffee or Tea.

Blueberry Lassi

Drink: Lassi: Blueberry Lassi

It was very very hot on one saturday afternoon and we were badly looking for some cool drink to quench our thirst. That's how I tried Blueberry Lassi and it turned out so good that it has now become our weekend drink. You should definitely try this.

Blueberries are fresh in town now and I just saw an event that says Eating With The Seasons. Hence, this post is on its way to the event...

Fresh Blueberries

Wholefat buttermilk

Sugar

Dry fruit masala

1. Crush Blueberries first in the blender.
2. Add buttermilk, sugar and dry fruit masala and blend for a 1 minute.

Serve with Ice.

Jonna Payasam

Dessert: Jonna Payasam

(Jonna: Jowar/Sorghum/Millet)

We've heard of various Payasams, but this one was completely new to me. When I saw it on TV, I immediately jotted down the recipe. Though this recipe calls for Whole Jowar (soaking it for a day and grinding it coarsely), I made this with the Jowar flour I already had in the pantry. Coconut powder certainly made a huge difference to the overall taste and I would definitely recommend this to everyone.

Jonna has good amount of calcium and phosphorus and is said to be very good for bones and teeth. Especially good for the people suffering with Osteoporosis. And this has good amounts of fiber too and that helps in controlling sugar levels. Coconut has all the essential vitamins and minerals needed for the body. Maida could be replaced with Jonna in certain recipes.

Printer Friendly Recipe: Jonna Payasam

This should be cooked on a low-medium flame.

1 cup Jonna Flour
1 cup Milk
1 cup Water
1 tsp Cardammom powder
1/3 cup Coconut powder
2/3 cup Sugar
1/2 cup khoya
4 tbsp Ghee (add generously if you don't mind calories)
Saffron, optional

1. In a cooking pan, add ghee and roast the Jowar flour till you smell nice aroma.
2. Add cardammom powder to it and mix.
3. Add coconut powder and mix again.
4. Add warm milk and water and keep stirring, mixture tends to thicken a bit. Cook for 5 mins.
5. Add khoya and mix, then add sugar at the end. You will see mixture loosening up at this stage. Add Saffron.Cook for 2-3 mins.

Remove and serve. Garnish with ghee and coconut powder.

Note: This pudding becomes hard after cooling, so it is better to serve it hot.

Aratikaya Vada

South Indian: Raw Banana Vada/Plantain Vada/Aratikaya Vada

Plaintains are rich in fiber and they can be a good addition to our daily diet. Cilantro added in this recipe is very good for our digestive system and it tends to remove bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol. Turmeric removes bacteria from the digestive track. So, overall this is a healthy food and can be taken frequently.

Printer Friendly Version: Aratikaya Vada

2 plantains, grated

1/2 cup rice flour

1 cup besan flour

2 green chillies (more if like it hot)

1/2 bunch curry leaves

1/2 bunch coriander/cilantro

1/2 chana dal

red chilly powder to taste

a pinch of turmeric

oil for deep frying

salt to taste

1. Mix all the ingredients together and make them into disc shapes and deep fry them in oil.

Serve with ketchup or as it is.

Tip: Plantains tend to become dark after cutting, putting them in water after cutting will retain their color.

Aloo Manchuria

Indo-Chinese: Aloo Manchuria (Aloo: Potato: Aloo Gadda)

Aloo/Potato Manchuria is my sister's favorite dish and she has been making this for quite sometime now and each time she tried she asked me to try and see how it tastes. I told my mom that we should make that and she immediately started cutting potatoes but let me tell you that she hates potatoes big time and she ate only one piece after making it. She says one piece once in a while is ok but not everyday. Btw, Ravi commented on this and said that he found Aloo Manchuria more tastier than any other Manchuria.

Sending this over to A.W.E.D Theme: Chinese

Anyways, coming to the Recipe, here it is..

Printer-Friendly Recipe: Aloo Manchuria

Potatoes-2 (cut into any shape you want)
1 cup each of Maida and Corn flour
1 onion
1 capcisum/green bell pepper
2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce
2 green chillies, chopped (and increase according to your taste)
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil for shallow frying
oil for deep frying
ajinomoto, a pinch
half bunch cilantro
spring onions, optional for garnish

1. Add maida, corn flour, salt and pepper to the potatoes and mix well with very little water.


2. Deep fry potatoes in oil and keep aside.


3. Take a wide pan, pour 2 tbsp oil, add green chillies, ginger and garlic pieces and fry for a minute.


4. Increase heat and add onions and green peppers and fry them till until they turn light brown.


5. Add soy sauce, chilli garlic sauce, ajinomoto, pepper, salt and little water. Let that cook for a minute. Add cilantro and mix well.


6. Add fried potatoes and mix until the mixture coats well on all potatoes. Remove and garnish with cilantro or spring onions. Serve hot.
   

Rava Biscuits

Its such a happy feeling to have Mom around with us, those never ending conversations about life in general, recipes, colony people, cousins etc..she is the first best friend for any girl, there is so much to learn, so much to accomplish, looking at her everyday around the kitchen makes me question over and over again, why am I not so like her, she takes care of every minute thing at home, from filling drinking bottles to even folding your bedsheets when you wake up.

For cooking, she is concerned of green leafy vegetables and if they are not fresh at one store, we make rounds to all the other stores around Raleigh but they are must on the table with any meal. She is just something that I want to have her around forever in my life. But, I know that it is just not possible.

While having coffee yesterday, we had this discussion on various biscuits/cookies that she makes at home and she mentioned to me about these Rava Biscuits and said we can make those in jiffy and the ingredients she mentioned in making those were all available in the kitchen, so I thought we should go ahead and make those immediately. We finally made these in less than 30 mins.

These biscuits were soft with the first batch and we made them crunchy in the next batch by leaving them in the oven for another 5 mins. I think these are also known as Nan Khatai as I recall seeing the ingredients but I have tried various versions of Nan Khatai and this is one of them.

This makes approximately 30 biscuits.

Printer-Friendly Recipe: Rava/Semolina Biscuits/Cookies

21/2 cups maida

3/4 cup rava

11 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tsp cardammom powder

4 drops vanilla extract

3 drops rose water (optional)

3/4 cup sugar (you can add more, as these were not so sweet)

milk if needed for kneading

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a bowl, sift flour, add semolina to it and mix well.
3. In another bowl, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add cardammom and vanilla extract, rose water to it and beat again.
4. Add the butter paste to the flour and knead for few mins. (add little milk if needed).
5. Roll the dough and cut into desired shapes.
6. Place them in the oven for 15 mins or more for crunchy biscuits.
   

Good News & Gum Laddu

Dear All,

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our baby Boy Kireeti, born on May 8th, 08.

And I have been eating these Gum Laddus (for Lactating Mothers) as suggested by my Indian doctor and she gave me the recipe which was exactly same as the one posted on "The Cooks Cottage" site. I made slight changes and avoided adding Pista and made a new addition of crushed fenugreek seeds.

Boondi Laddu

Posted this recipe in my Sweets site, Mithai-Bhandar!.

Please click on the picture and it will take you there!

Print this recipe: Boondi Laddu

Thotakura Fry

We took our Mom to the Indian Store and the very first thing she wanted to buy was Tomatoes, those round Beefsteak ones as she didn't like Roma and she thinks they don't go well with Indian Vegetables. And the next important thing in her list was leafy vegetables. We came across Amaranth leaves and she said she can make fry with that and we took it.

Now that Mom is here, she is making sure we are eating enough greens and she stressed so many times that we should eat greens atleast 4 times a week. We ate this curry as a side dish with Dal and for the night we tasted it with Chapatis and Pita Bread and it tasted great with any combination. I think I will continue making this as recipe as long this is available in the market.

Click here to print this recipe: Thotakura Fry (Amaranth Fry)

You need..

2 cups of Amaranth leaves, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion
2 small tomatoes
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 cloves of garlic, cut into big pieces
2 tsp red chilli powder
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

1. Add oil to the pan and when it gets hot, add onions and garlic and fry them till light brown.
2. Add greens and cook them lightly.
3. Add tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt and cook until done (about 5-6 minutes).
   

Serve either with Rice alone, or as a side dish with Dal or eat with Chapatis.

All is Well

Dear Blog Friends,

All is well with me except that I have Gestational Diabetes now. Since then, I just stayed away from food and food related things. It was very tough for me initially in choosing food but I got the hang of it now. I know what to eat, how much to eat and how to eat. In a way, this has helped me a lot in choosing the right kind and healthy food. I lost about 7 pounds so far and haven't gained a pound since Feb. My doctor was little concerned and ordered me to eat little extra food.

Now, I have everything under control and certain recipes I eat, don' t need any exercise too. I will compose a detailed post and add some recipes, hopefully soon to help others around with Gestational Diabetes.

My mom is coming tomorrow to help me with the baby and all and so, I started looking into blog and added a new magazine layout which I was dying for from long. I made this new, so that I can start posting mom's recipes from now until Aug.

See you all soon, thanks for leaving valuable comments, I have read them all and will contact you all one by one.

Happy Ugadi

Mango Cake-Eggless

My brother told me not to post this on the site by looking at the color and look of this cake, but don't go by the looks, this infact was much tastier than it looks. I tried for eggless cakes and I found this Mango version. The original recipe asked for real Mangoes but I didn't have any, so I used Mango Pulp instead.

1 cup diced fresh mango/mango pulp
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup skim milk powder
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup crushed pista
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift together the wheat flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.Add crushed Pista.
3. Put mango, water, sugar, milk powder, yogurt, and oil in a blender. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour the mango puree into flour mixture and mix well.
5. Put the whole mixture in a baking pan and bake until done (about 20-30 mins).

Pour some mango pulp and add some dry fruits on the top for decoration.

Note: I felt that the cake was lesssweeter, so you can increase the quantity of sugar or put some extra mango pulp in the plate and eat.

Baked Masala Puri

I had a craving this morning to eat Savali, a kind of masala puri that my mom makes using Maida and other ingredients. When she listed the ingredients that goes into making Savali, I didn't have some at home, but I didn't give up and made this Masala puri instead. And I was so determined not to deep fry anything today that I ended up baking this. It satisfied my craving and gave me some sense of satisfaction of eating healthy.

1 cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp coarsely powdered cumin seeds
½ tsp coarsely powdered peppercorn
¼ tsp turmeric powder (optional)
2 tsp oil
¼ tsp salt

1. First add salt to the flour and mix well.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and knead.
3. Make puris into small and thin shape and prick with a fork.
4. Bake in an oven at 350F for 12 mins or until done.

Serve with any dip of your choice. I served it with a simple everday style dip.

Onion-Tomato Dip

Cut onion and tomato into small pieces. Add little chilli powder, salt, chat masala, lemon juice and garnish with coriander.

Strawberry Milkshake

It is one of the easiest recipes on my blog I guess.

Add Strawberries in blender and make pulp. To this add required amount of sugar, milk and little bit of cardammon. Add few scoops of Vanilla ice cream and serve cold.

Though I added 2 scoops of ice cream for 3 glasses of shake, it was very light on the stomach. We wanted more :-)

Strawberry Shrikhand

I got a big bag of strawberries from farmer's market and didn't realise that they were turning bad. And then I decided to make whatever I can from Strawberries, like Shrikhand and a Shake. I still have some left, let's see what other things I can make from them. Was thinking of making Pancakes this morning but somehow didn't find much time as I had prepare something for lunch at the same time.

Recipe is exactly the same as the regular shrikhand except you will add strawberry pulp to yogurt. This is the first time I tasted Shrikhand with Strawberry and the taste was tangy.

2 cups of non-yogurt
5 fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp honey
1/2 cardammon powder
few crushed dry fruits for garnish

1. Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth for 3-4 hours or until the liquid drains out.
2. Make pulp from strawberries.
3. Whisk together yogurt, strawberries, sugar, honey and cardammon.
4. Garnish with crushed dry fruits.

Serve cold with puris.