Qubani Ka Meetha

Qubani Ka Meetha (Hyderabadi special sweet from Dried Apricot)

Ingredients

• 1) Dried Apricot (Qubani) – 250 gms
• 2) Sugar – 250 gms
• 3) Milk Cream – 100 gms.

Method

• 1) Soak the Apricots in water overnight.
• 2) Remove the seed (note that the kernel inside appears and tastes like Badam, though small in size). This kernel can be used for garnishing.
• 3) Now take the deseeded soaked Apricots and puree it by running it through a mixer grinder.
• 4) Take a deep bottomed pan and heat it. Add a tsp of water. To this add Sugar.
• 5) Boil the sugar and bring it to a 1-string consistency.
• 6) Add the ground apricots, cook on low flame; keep stirring.
• 7) After about 20 mins or so, the mixture assumes a jam like consistency and a dark brown color. You know now that it is done.
• 8) Garnish it with Apricot kernels.
• 9) Refrigerate the mixture and serve with Cream or Ice Cream.

Chatpata Mango Chutney (Tokku)

Chatpata Mango Chutney (Tokku)
This is one Mango chutney (Tokku) I personally relish. Fortunately Raw Mangoes are available these days even during offseason (but not as sour as desired). This Mango chutney goes best with rice and a generous spoon of ghee! You can refrigerate this Chutney for close to 1 week in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 1) Raw Mangoes – 2 nos
• 2) Fenugreek Seeds (Methi/Menthya beeja) – 2 tsp
• 3) Dried Red Chilies (Bedige if available) – 6-7 pieces
• 4) Green Chilies – 2 nos
• 5) Curry leaves – a few
• 6) Salt to taste
• 7) Oil – 1 tbsp
• 8) Sugar – 1 pinch
• 9) Asafetida (Hing/Hingoo) – 1 pinch
• 10) Turmeric (Haldi/Arashina) – 1 pinch
• 11) Mustard Seeds (Sasive) – 1 tsp

Method

• 1) Take Fenugreek Seeds (Menthya) and Red Chilies (Byadige Menasinakai) and roast it till the seeds turn deep brown.
• 2) Grind the above mixture along with Turmeric and Hing into a coarse powder and keep aside.
• 3) Grate the mangoes and keep aside.
• 4) Take a deep pan and heat the oil. Add Mustard Seeds (Sasive) till it splutters. Add some Hing. To this directly add the grated mangoes and mix well.
• 5) Add Curry leaves and mix well. Cook for about 1-2 minutes.
• 6) To this add the Chili/Fenugreek powder and mix well.
• 7) Add Salt to taste
• 8) Your chutney is ready when the mixture does not stick to the pan.

Veggi-Fruity Grilled Chat

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 1) Capsicum – 2 nos (Medium)
• 2) Tomatoes – 3 nos (large)
• 3) Potatoes – 2 nos
• 4) Paneer – 200 gms
• 5) Banana – 2 nos
• 6) Papaya – 2 cups (diced)
• 7) Coriander leaves – 1 cup
• 8) Green Chilly – 2 nos (medium)
• 9) Other fruits of your choice (diced)
• 10) Chopped Lettuce (optional)
• 11) Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp
• 12) Salt to taste
• 13) 2 tbsp oil

Method

• 1) Grind Coriander, Chilly and Salt together like fine chutney, keep aside.
• 2) Cut Potatoes, Paneer and Capsicum in to 1x1 inch squares, for potato the thickness should not be more than 1/2 cm.
• 3) Take some oil in a fry pan and shallow fry Potatoes on low flame. To this add 1 tsp of Coriander Chutney prepared earlier.
• 4) Take off potatoes and add Paneer and shallow fry along with some Coriander Chutney, generally the paneer will assume a greenish tinge. Sprinkle some salt to taste.
• 5) Add some oil to the pan and stir fry Capsicum and Tomato separately. Don’t overheat the tomatoes as it can easily become saucy and tender. Sprinkle some salt.
• 6) Cut fruits and set aside.
• 7) Toss all the items with a good dash of Chat Masala, your Veggi-Fruity Chat is now ready!

Paani-Puri (Sans Onions)

Five things we require for Paani-Puri (Sans Onions) include
1) Pani
2) Puri
3) Sev
4) Palya
5) Tomatoes



Pani: It’s difficult to prepare Pani, so best it is get 'Everest' Pani-puri instant mix. Just add 2-3 tbl spoons of to cold water along with chopped coriander.

Puri: Again, difficult to make, available at Food world, Hypercity, etc. Just get it ready-made.

Sev: Again Haldirams will do.

Palya:
Ingredients
1) Aloo - 2 big
2) Coriander - 1 bunch chopped
3) Peas - 1 cup
4) Jeera - 1 tsp
5) Jeera Powder - 1 tsp
6) Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
7) Green Chilly - Finely chopped
8) Oil - for Tadka
9) Ginger - 1 inch


Method:

• Boil and mash potatoes & peas with some salt.
• Take some oil in a pan and add Jeera, Jeera Power, Coriander Powder, Green Chilly and Shredded Ginger.
• To this add the mashed potatoes and mix.
• Add Chopped fresh coriander and mix.
• Your Palya is now ready!

So go ahead and relish your paani-puri with chopped tomatoes!

Veg Burger

I have prepared Burgers for quite sometime now, but somehow the recipe has not made its way here. I found the recipe from an old mail I had sent to several of my close people years back when I first made burgers. There was an urgent need to publish it here as it so happened that about a week ago, my mom called me up and asked me that she urgently needed the recipe for Veg Burger and she could not find it in this blog - what a pity !

Based on Popular Demand I am herewith reproducing the Recipe for Veg Burger

Ingredients for Veg Patty

1) 1/2 kg Potato (Cubed)
2) 100 gms Peas
3) 100 gms Carrot (Chopped)
4) 2 Capsicum (optional)
5) 2 tomatoes (finely chopped)
6) Finely chopped Coriander Leaves.
7) Half Loaf of Sandwich Bread (not whole wheat bread)
8) 1 tsp of Jeera Powder
9) 1 tsp of Dhaniya Power
10) 1/2 tsp of Garam Masala
11) 1/4 tsp of Turmeric Power
12) 1 tsp of Shah Jeera
13) 1 tsp of Chilly Power
14) 1 green chilly (finely chopped)
15) 1 inch Ginger (finely chopped)
16) 1 tblsp Corn Flour
17) Salt to taste
18) Buns
19) Cheese Slices

The patties.

Method

1) Bread Crumbs: Put the bread slices into the microwave for 2 mins on high so that it becomes crusty. You could also toast the bread to make it crusty. Crush the toasted/brittle bread to make breadcrumbs. You could also use Rusk and crush it to make breadcrumbs.

2) Boil all the vegetables with little water in the pressure cooker and keep aside (if there is excessive stock, keep it aside and use it)

3) Take about 2-3 tsp of oil in a non-stick pan and Shah Jeera and wait till it splutters. To this add all the spice powders (Jeera, Dhaniya, Garam, Turmeric & Chilly) and quickly stir [note it will froth]. To this swiftly add chopped Ginger and Green Chilly and stir well. Finally add tomatoes and ensure it is well cooked. This forms the basic Patty Masala paste.

4) Now mash the boiled vegetables and to this add the Patty Masala paste, Breadcrumbs, Salt, Coriander leaves and Corn Flour so the entire mixture has a consistency of Chapati Flour mix - knead as much as possible. You could add a spoon of butter this mix to enhance the flavor.

5) Now make patties to the size of the bun’s circumference and desired thickness. Dip the patty once in breadcrumbs so that it covers the patty.

6) Take a flat-bottomed pan (tava) and smear it with a tablespoon of oil. Now shallow fry the patties till they turn golden brown. Keep turning it around to achieve a consistent look.

7) Now toast the Buns on the sides after cutting into two. You could use butter/ghee on the Tawa to toast the Buns with Sesame seeds (if desired)

8) Just ahead of serving, add a slice of Cheese on top of the Patty and keep it in between the buns and serve. Adding a thin slice of tomato and some lettuce adds an great touch of crunchiness into the bite.

Shaka Vratha Huri-Uddina Chutney

Ingredients

• Urad Dal (Uddina Bele) – 1 cup
• Pepper Corns – 1 tsp
• Amla Power (preferred) or Amchoor Powder – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste.

Method

• Take a pan, add Ghee and roast Urad Dal and Pepper Corns together.
• Once roasted add Amla (or Amchoor) Power and mix the roasted Dal while hot. Allow the mixture to cool.
• Grind the mixture with a little water & salt to make it into a paste.
• Your Huri-Uddina Chutney is now ready.

Shaka Vratha Saaru (Rasam)

Ingredients

• Pepper (Black Corns) – 1 tsp
• Jeera (Cumin Seeds) – 2 tsp
• Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder) – 1 tbsp
• Toor Dal – 1 cup
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Jaggery (Optional) – As per taste
• Salt as per taste.

Method

• Pressure-cook Toor Dal (Togari Bele) and sift it a little – keep aside.
• Take a pan, add 1tsp of Jeera and Pepper and roast them. Coarsely powder the roasted Jeera and Pepper using a pestle.
• Take a pan, add water, to this add the Jeera & Pepper powder, Salt and Amchoor powder and bring it to boil.
• Add the Toor Dal and continue to boil. Add Jaggery at this stage.
• Heat the Ghee in a ladle and add Jeera to make Vaggarane (Tadka).
• Add this to the Saaru (Rasam).
• Your Vratha Saaru is now ready. (Happy Chaturmaasa!)

Fusion Chitranna !

Fusion Chitranna

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• Rice – 1 cup (washed & soaked)
• Peanuts – ½ a cup
• Capsicum – 1 cup diced
• Paneer – ½ cup cut into cubes.
• Channa Dal – 1 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1 tsp
• Hing – A small pinch
• Turmeric – A small pinch
• Pepper Corns – A few
• Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon - 1 piece
• Green Chilies – 2
• Amchur Power – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• Take a pan add Ghee, to this add Jeera and Cinnamon.
• Add soaked rice and fry. Add water and Pressure-cook the rice. Ensure is not overcooked and sticky, cool cooked rice and keep aside.
• Take a pan and add oil and heat.
• Make Vaggarane (tadaka) of Hing (Asafetida), Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Channa Dal & Pepper until Mustard Seeds splutter.
• To this add peanuts and roast (adding Cashews at this stage enhances taste)
• To this mixture add sliced Green Chilies.
• Now add Capsicum and stir fry. Add Salt. Add Paneer and mildly stir so that you don’t break the paneer. Keep this mixture aside. Add Amchur to add a zing of sourness.
• Add the mixture to cooled rice and mix.
• Your Fusion Chitranna is ready.

I call this ‘Fusion’ as the ingredients are a blend of North Indian Style Fried rice mixed with the key ingredients of South Indian chitraanna (mixed/coloured rice).

Fusion Chitranna packed for lunch !

How to prepare Hakka Noodles?

Folks, here is my simple recipe to prepare fantastic Hakka Noodles ! It's taken me 2.5 years to come back to this blog!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 pack (400gms) of White Hakka Veg Noodles
• Cabbage - 1 cup (diced)
  
• Capsicum - 1 cup (cut length wise - about 3-4 cms to resemble noodles ;) )
  
• Carrots - 1 cup (sticks - length wise)
  
• French Beans - 1 cup cut length wise
  
• 2 Green Chillies
  
• 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (without garlic/chillies)
  
• 1 tbsp White Vinegar
• Salt to taste
  
• White pepper power to taste
  
• Oil to stir fry

Method

• Take about 1200 ml of water and bring it to boil in a large pan.
  
• Add Hakka Noodles + 1 tbsp of oil to the boiling water.
  
• Just stir for about 1 min or so and remove the noodles strain and toss (important to note that Noodles should be par-boiled at this time, otherwise they will stick to each other)
  
• Now take a pan, add the required quantity of oil
• Add the Chillies first and all the Vegetables and Stir fry on high flame with a little salt.
  
• Add Soy Sauce to the veggies and continue to stir
• Add the noodles, pepper & salt at this stage and toss.
  
• Add Vinegar if needed and toss again
  
• Your Vegetarian Hakka Noodles is now ready !
  

Hakka Noodles as usual tastes best with Pure Tomato sauce but a dash of Tabasco & Green Chillies sauces does not hurt !

That's Fried Rice, Gobi Manchuria & Hakka Noodles (with the ladle)

Thanks
Aditya Rao

Mosaru Aambode [ಮೊಸರು ಆಂಬೊಡೆ] ] (Dahi Vada)

Dry Uddina Bonda



Mosaru Aambode (Dahi Vada)

Ingredients (Coming soon)

Method of preparation (Coming soon)

Avarekai Kootu (called Pitlay in Tamilnadu side)

Kootu (ಕೂಟು) is one of the specialties of Karnataka and especially from the Madhwa Brahmin cook pot. Generally kootu is prepared with some standard & hard vegetables (like Yam, Avarekai, Chapprada Avarekai, etc.) . Kootu has to undoubtedly contain a lot of kadLekai (peanuts). It is rather simple to prepare and simply amazing to taste. Kootu with rice, ghee and some Aralu Sandige (fries) is something divine!



Ingredients (coming soon)

Method of Preparation (coming soon).

Aalo Bajji and Jamoon

Found an old snap of Aalo Bajji and Jamoon mom had made during Dasara at Mysore. Watch out of the Bajji Recipe in this section.

The colourful Mysore Devaraja Market

Here you find the colourful Deveraja Fruit market in Mysore. Usually this place is heavily crowded during normal days and swells to its seams during festival seasons, especially Dasara, with tourists adding to the anarchyJ.

Typical South Indian Spreads for Shankranthi & Bhogi 2007

1) Salt 2) Uddina BeLa Kosambri 3) Kadle BeLe Kosambri 4) Beans Palya 5) KumbLekai Raitha 6) Aloo Gadde Palya 7) Uddin Hapla (pApad) 8) Sweet Pongal 9) Anna 10) Dodda Menasinakai Chitranna 11) Towe





1) Salt 2) Uddina BeLa Kosambri 3) Kadle BeLe Kosambri 4) Bonda 5) Beans Palya 6) Kumblekai Palya 7) Mosaru Amboda 8) Anna with Thuppa 9) Panchambrutha 10) Towe 11) Sweet Pongal

Jammy Besan Laddu

Ingredients (makes 4 laddus)

1) Ghee – 2 tablespoons
2) Dry fruits - Resins, Cashews and Badams – a few
3) Besan – 1 cup
4) Kisan Jam (MIXED fruit) – 2 tablespoons

Method of preparation

1) Take 1 tablespoon of ghee and heat it a pan
2) Fry the dry fruits and keep them aside.
3) Clean the pan and heat it along with the other tablespoon of ghee.
4) To this hot ghee add Besan and sauté.
5) Heat and mix well until a pleasant fragrance emanates.
6) To this mixture add fried dry fruits.
7) Mix well and add 2 tablespoons of Kisan Jam and mix well.
8) After cooling, make this mixture into 1inch Laddus.

NOTE: This is my recent creation and needs improvement, but nevertheless has a great taste - so go ahead and enjoy. Note that the brown color is from the jam.

Simple Batani (Peas) Chitranna

Ingredients
1) Cooked Rice
2) Fresh Peas - 1 cup
3) Lemon - 1
4) Chilly - 1-2
5) Chopped Coriander - 1 tablespoon
6) Peanuts - 1 handful
7) Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 pinch
8) Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
9) Channa Dal - 1 teaspoon
10) Salt to taste
11) Curry leaves - a few
12) Oil – 1 teaspoon

Method of preparation
1) Cook normal white rice and keep it aside.
2) Boil the peas with a little salt until they become tender. You could also boil the peas along with the rice in the cooker (separately).
3) Heat oil in a pan
4) Add Mustard Seeds and Hing
5) To this mixture add Peanuts and Channa Dal and fry until they become brownish.
6) Add Curry leaves and cut Chilies.
7) Drain the stock from the peas (note that this stock is very tasty and can be consumed with salt and pepper and makes a wonderful appetizer)
8) Add the peas and squeeze and entire lemon into the pan and mix well.
9) To this mixture add boiled rice and dress it up with coriander leaves.
10) Your chitranna is now ready!

Simple Carrot Halwa

Ingredients
1) Carrots – ½ Kg
2) Milk – ½ Liter
3) Sugar – 300 grams
4) Cashew – 10-15 cut pieces
5) Raisins – 10 - 15
6) Badam – 5 – 10 pieces
7) Pista – 5 – 10 pieces
8) Ghee – 1 tablespoon

Method of Preparation (takes about 40 minutes)

1) Grate Carrots and keep it aside
2) Head some Ghee in a pan and put in all the dry fruits.
3) Mildly fry until Raisins blow up and the other dry fruits get a hint of brownish color.
4) Remove the dry fruits from the pan and transfer it to another vessel.
5) Now add some Ghee into the pan until it melts.
6) Immediately add Milk and boil on low flame.
7) Once the milk comes to a boil, transfer the grated Carrots and continue boiling.
8) When the boiling mixture reaches a medium consitency, add all the sugar followed by dry fruits.
9) Continue boiling until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture attains a thick consistency.
10) Your Carrot Halwa is ready!

Simple Aloo Fry (Vaddakal)

Ingredients (4 servings)
Aloo (Potatoes) – ½ Kg
Karibevu (Curry Leaves) – 10-12
Mustard Seeds – ½ teaspoon
Mirchi Power – ¼ teaspoon (per taste)
Refined Oil – 1 tablespoon
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
A pinch of Arishina power (Haldi/Turmeric)
Salt to taste


Method of preparation (takes 20 minutes)
1) Skin and cut the potatoes into small 1cm cubes (see picture)
2) Heat oil in a pan
3) Add Hing & Mustard Seeds until they burst
4) Add Karibevu and Haldi
5) Immediately add the Aloo cubes
6) Allow the Aloo to fry and become crispy from outside.
7) Remove from heat and add salt and Mirchi power and sauté again.

Your mouth watering Aloo Fry (Vaddakal) is ready! It is best eaten with rice & ghee !!

Capsicum-Coriander Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients (Makes 2 healthy green sandwiches)
Capsicum (bell pepper) – 1 nos (medium size as in the pic attached)
Fresh Ginger – Small slice
Green Chilly – 1 to ½ chilly
Coriander – 2 bunches (freshly cut)
Jeera – 1 teaspoon
Soft Cheese – 1 teaspoon/1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Toasts (I recommend cereal or plain wheat bread to Maida based breads )

Method of preparation (takes about 10 minutes)
1) Heat some Ghee/oil in a pan
2) Add Jeera + Ginger and sauté
3) Add finely chopped green chilies and briefly sauté again.
4) Now add chopped Capsicum, heat and toss the contents after 3 minutes.
5) Remove from heat (ensure that the capsicum pieces are still crunchy)
6) Sprinkle salt and toss.
7) Add a tablespoon of cheese and allow it to settle for 2 minutes.
8) Add finely chopped coriander (cilantro) and mix well.
9) Your Capsicum-Coriander Cheese dressing is now ready!