Peanut chutney - 2

This is another variety of the peanut chutney with dry chili and onion. This chutney is a good companion with plain rice or pongal or sangati.

Ingredients:
Roasted and de-skinned peanuts – 1 cup
Onion medium – 1 diced
Dry red chili – 8
Roasted Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Tamarind – ½ of the lemon size
Grated jaggery – 1 tsp.

Peanut chutney

Method:

Dry roast the sesame seeds and keep them aside.

Add 1/2 tsp of oil into the same pan and when it is hot enough, fry red chilies until black dots found, keep them aside.

Fry the onion chunks until transparent and keep them aside. 

Allow them to cool.

Roasted Red chili, Onion, Peanuts, Sesame seeds and jaggery

Grind peanuts with all the ingredients except onion. Make sure that the chutney should be bit coarsely done. Add the onion at the end and pulse again for few seconds, so that the onion will get mixed well and still retain the crunchy texture.

You can serve this as it is or do the seasoning and serve

This chutney goes well with any tiffin varieties or hot rice with Ghee or even with chapathi.

Neyyi pongal with peanut chutney

Idly with left over rice

This is another version of idly where cooked rice is the main ingredient. These are very soft in texture as we use lots of cooked rice.

Idly with left over rice

Ingredients:
Cooked rice – 2 cups
Rice Rava / Idly Rava – 1 cup
Urad daal (with skin)– 1 cup
Salt
Baking soda - 2 pinches

Method:
Soak urad daal for 4 hours
Grind the urad daal and cooked rice to smooth paste by adding enough water.
Wash, drain and add Rava into the ground paste along with some salt and mix every thing with out any lumps. Finally it should form thick creamy consistency.
Leave the batter for 8 hours in warm place to get fermented.
Add baking soda just before making the idly and mix the batter momentarily.
Grease the idly moulds and scoop the batter into each mould and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.

Time Management:
How I do …
Pour about 300 ml of water in the rice cooker or Idly steamer and turn on the heat.
Whilst the water is getting warm, I grease the moulds and scoop the batter into the moulds. Once the moulds are ready, place the mould stand in the rice cooker or idly steamer. In the mean time prepare chutney. Finally hot hot idlys will be served with chutney in less than 20 minutes.

Idly with Sambar and Peanut chutney

Scrambled egg with Spring onion

When ever I bought the spring onions, I will end up with throwing the green bits as I was not sure that to do with that. One of my friend suggested making scrambled eggs with the green bits of spring onions. I have implemented it with great success.

Scrabmled egg with spring onion

Ingredients:
Chopped spring onion (Green bits only) – 2 cups
Eggs – 4-5
Chili powder – 1tsp / Green chili - chopped
Ginger garlic paste – 3/4th tsp
Oil – 3 tbsp
Salt

Fresh spring onions

Method:
Heat a deep pan with 3 tbsp of oil. When it is hot enough, add chopped spring onion, ginger garlic paste. Fry them until the spring onion becomes tender. Now break the eggs and slowly mix them.

 Cook it until the eggs are done and gets the scrambled texture.

Roti with Scramble egg and carrot

Serve with any roti variety.

Onion and Potato bhaji

This is another version of bhajis which is a combination of onion that gives the crunchiness to the pakodas and the potato that gives the nice mouth filling taste. And also nice and deep colour to the pakodas.

Onion Potato bhaji

Ingredients:
Onion – 2 large, Chopped length wise
Potato – 1 small, Grated
Green chili – Chopped into small pieces
Curry leaves – Hand full
Coriander – chopped – 2 tbsp
Basin / Gram flour – ¼ cup
Rice flour – 1 tbsp (heaped)
Salt
Baking Soda – 2 big pinches
Oil

Method:

Heat a pan with oil to deep fry.
In the mean time, mix all the ingredients expect oil, by adding sufficient water. The batter should resemble like cake batter or idly batter.

Grated potato and chopped onion in basin batter

When the oil is hot enough, pick small amounts of batter and slip into the oil slowly. Occasionally turn the pakodas, so that they get cooked equally on all the sides. Drain them on to a paper towel and serve them warm.

Note - Greated potato and the chopped onion should be of same size, other wise one will get over cooked and the other will be undercooked.

Raw veg treat

Thought to give a break from the routine, in fact heavy meals. So, I have decided to eat raw vegetables as our meal. The wonderful meal with a great colour combination.I chose Purple - red onion, Orange - carrots, White/Pale green - lettuce, Green - cucumber and again Red - cherry tomatoes. Cut them and sprinkle little bit of pepper and lemon juice as per your taste.

Instead of cutting them into circles, I have cut them ablong which gives a different shape and a different look. This not only gives healthy nutrients to the body, but also a great visual treat to our eyes.

Veg salad with colourful combination

Pongal with left over rice

This is another recipe with left over rice. When my family members get bored with lemon rice with left over rice, the next best option for me is to make pongal. Trust me. No one will recognise that this is made with left over rice.

Pongal with left over rice

Ingredients:
Cooked rice – 2 cups
Moong daal (skin less) / Pesara pappu – 1 cup
Green chilli – 2
Grated ginger – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sring
Pepper corns – 1 tsp
Cashew nuts – 8-10
Cumin – 1 tsp
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Salt

Method:
Wash and soak the moong daal in 3 cups of water for about 1 hour.
Now mix the moong daal along with cooked rice and salt. You can either cook this in a pressure cooker or even in normal deep pan. Once it is done, keep it aside.
Melt the ghee in a small sauce pan. Add the cashews, grated ginger, green chili, cumin, pepper corns and curry leaves, one after the other. Saute for a while until cashews turn light golden colour.
Remove from the fire and add this seasoning to the pongal. Stir every thing and serve it hot..

Pongal Vada with Sambar and Coconut chutney

Methi thepla with Bajra flour

This is a Gujarathi recipe made using bajra flour or with combination of wheat flour and chickpea flour. Fresh methi and sesame seeds are the main ingredients of this recipe.

Methi thepla

Ingredients:
Fresh Fenugreek chopped (Methi) – ½ cup
Bajra flour – 2 cups
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Sugar – pinch (Optional)
Yogurt – 2 tbsp
Salt

Method:
Mix all the above ingredients into a soft dough which is similar to chapathi dough, by adding enough water.

Ready to make the dough

Divide the dough into 8 equal balls

Roll them into thin discs either by sprinkling the flour or roll them using little bit of oil. What I did is, just place the dough in between two plastic sheets and roll.

Thepla dough pressed between two plastic sheets

Gently lift the thepla into one hand and place it on the hot tawa. Drizzle some oil and cook the thepla until it is done. You will feel the nice aroma of roasted sesame seeds and the methi flavour.

Serve them warm with any raita or even plain yogurt. You know what.. they will taste even better on the next day because of the chewy nature.

Warm methi thepla

Note: Sugar not only suppresses the bitter taste of methi leaves, but also will enhance the taste. As we are using other spices, sesame seeds and most mportantly methi leaves, they will over ride the sugar taste.

Pappula Podi / Roasted Chickpea Powder

An easy peasy spicy powder that can be prepared with out any cooking. Pappula podi is a versatile spiced powder that can be eaten with tiffin varieties like upma, dosa or idly. Any vegetable stir fry that is seasoned with this spicy powder will get enhanced flavor and brings an unique taste.

Roasted chickpea powder / Pappula podi, Spicy Coconut powder / Kobbari podi, Verusenagala podi / Peanut powder

Ingredients:
Roasted Chickpea - ½ cup
Garlic pods – 2-3
Red Chili  - 3 to 4 or Chili powder – 3/4th tsp
Desiccated Coconut - 1 – 2 tsp (optional)
Salt

Roasted chickpea / Putnalu, Garlic pods and red chili

Grind all the ingredients into fine powder.

Note: For making any spicy powders, do not remove the skin for the garlic pods. The garlic skin will enhance the flavour.

Flower decoration

Another Summer flowers decoration with mustards

Vinaayaka chavithi

This is the festival which is the kids favourite. When I was a child, this is the most favourite festival for me. The reason is, unlike the other festivals where there is no involvement of kids, in this festival kids play an  important role by involving in lots of activities like collecting the pathri (leaves), decorating their books with swasthik, making the sandal wood paste, also making the moorthy with mud and decorate it as per their imagination.

As mom's part, she prepares five varieties of sweets and offer five varities of fruits as Lord Ganesh is fond of food. Ofcourse it is us who eats all those food. Oh., this description is nothing. Bottom line., I still have the same enthusiasm towards this festival.

I still love to do the moorthy by myself. I made the Ganesha moorthy with turmeric and decorated with Kumkum.

I have got a good collection of Ganesha moorthys. So celebrated the festival with all of them along with my hand made Go green Ganesh.