Cabbage Kofta Curry - Romantic Dinner

Vah Reh Vah...What a dish it is!! I could hear WOW behind and imagine how nice it will be when you really prepare it and have! Wow. I don't think I need to describe it more as the picture shows the description itself.
Should I proudly say that my husband contributed for this dish? Do I hear some quarreling at the back from the ladies who read this? Anyhow, let me come to the point. ;)

Moreover this is a mughlalian dish. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients for Kofta:

1 cup shredded cabbage
Besan flour/Gram flour -(3/4 - 1 )cup
2-3 green chillies
a pinch of red chilli powder
Salt
1/2 spn Turmeric powder

1)Cook shredded cabbage in kadai for few minutes. Take all the water out and mix salt and keep it out for 8 mts. Then, squeeze all the water , mix gram flour , turmeric powder, green chillies and makes balls.
2)In a Kadai with more oil, fry these balls and place in a tissue.

P.S: There should be not a water trace in these balls, otherwise, it wont fry properly.



For Gravy:

Onion - 1 ( roughly chopped)
Tomatoes - 1.5
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 spn
Red Chilli powder - 1 spn
Cloves - 2
cinnamon - a pinch
Cashew paste - 1 spn ( 4-5 cashews soaked in water and make paste by grinding in mixie)
Curd - 2 spn
Garam Masals - 1 spn

1) In a kadai, with 2-3 tsp of oil, fry onions,ginger garlic paste, cloves,red chilli powder till the raw smell goes and add tomatoes and fry till it gets cooked.
2) Once it is cool, grind them in to proper paste.


Cabbage Kofta :-

In a kadai with oil, add the gravy paste and let it cook till the oil comes out , add curd and fry for 2-5 mts and atlast add cashew paste and garam masala. Let it boil for 5-8 minutes and before serving, add the koftas.

Ta-DAAAAAAAAAA!!! Cabbage kofta is ready.
It may look a lot of steps, but I bet its a very easy one:-) Though it takes more preparation time, its easy and its more easier when your husband helps you ;)
Come on ladies, call them...It will be more romantic!!And you will surely like it.

Milagu Kozhambu/Poondu Milagu Kuzhambu - "Wonder Drug" treatment for all

Milagu is Pepper and Poondu is Garlic. Whats all about "wonder drug" treatment.Yeah, we are talking about garlic and pepper here...Lets see whats all about this?

Five - Six times a week , we eat some junk foods,french fries,burgers,Chats etc made with different oils and tense our intestines. So, I have decided to clean our internal body once a week.Poondu/Milagu Kozhambu otherwise known as Garlic/Pepper Kozhambu is the best one.






If you google garlic and its medical value, you may find it be called as "Wonder Drug". Its a reputation for preventing everything form the Common Cold and Flu to the Plague!
At the same time, pepper has also its own benefits.In Ayurveda, Siddha,Unnani medicines, it has proved remedies to Constipation, Diarrhea, Earchae, Gangrene, Heart Disease ,Hernia ,Indigestion ,Joint Pain etc.,

As we keep ourselves clean everyday, its also our duty to keep our internal body clean and healthy. Once a week, its better to prepare this Milagu/Poondu Kozhambu and have it.And to our surprise, am using sessame oil which is also good for health. In tamil, it is called as "Nalla ennai" which translates as "good Oil". Its always better to use Sesame/gingelly oil for this one.Its just a 5 step process.

Here is the recipe:


Ingredients:

Tamarind - 1 big lemon size
Sessame Oil - 2 spns
Garlic - 10-12 cloves
Long red Chillies- 1


To fry and Grind:

Milagu/Black pepper- 1.5 tsp
Kalla Parupu/Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Toor Parupu/Toor Dal - 2 tsp
Molaga/Long red Chillies- 3
Asafoetida/Perungayam - 1/2 tsp

Tempering:

Mustard - 1 spn


Method:


1) Extract tamarind Juice and keep aside.
2) Take a small vessel or Kadai, pour oil and Mustard. Wait till it splutters.
3) Peel garlic and put in the kadai and fry for 2 minutes. Add 1 long red chilli also.
4) While its doing so, pour tamarind water in to the kadai with the salt.
5) Afer boiling for 5-10 mts, pour the grinded mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.

Thats all it takes to do.

P.S: After garnishing with curry leaves , you can fry 2-3 garlic in oil and put it on top.It smells wonderful.

Paneer Peas Masala or Mutter Paneer

Every sunday evening, it is so boring to cook. So, this sunday, I decided to make simple and yet tasty one. As I was thinking, something struck my mind to prepare this Mutter Paneer or Paneer Peas Masala. Since am in the beginning of the last trimester, i was so exhausted but felt like eating some kind of North Indian dish.




First time after marriage, my husband promised me to help make this dish. It was so sweet of him to offer me help at this time. I really need someone's help and I swear this day is an unforgettable day of my life. It was just prepared in 30 minutes...including making of Chapati.

Recipe as follows:


Ingredients:

Paneer - 10- 15 pieces[cut in to squares]
Normal indian peas soaked in water over night /frozen peas - 1.5 cups
onion - 1
Tomatoes - 1.5
Ginger-Garlic paste -1 spn
Cloves -2
Cinnamon
Elaichi - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/2 spn
Chilli powder - 1 spn
cumin powder - 1 spn
Salt
garam Masala
Cashew paste - 1 spn(soak 3-4 cashews in water for few minutes and make paste )
Curd - 2 spns

To-Do things :-

1)In a kadai with Oil, fry
Cloves, Cinnamon, elaichi, roughly chopped onions ,Ginger-garlic paste ,Chilli powder ,turmeric and wait till it becomes light brown and let it cool for some time. Grind it in to a paste.
2) Separately grind tomatoes.
3) Fry panner in a kadai till paneer turns light brown.

Method:

1) Take kadai with oil and put the grinded onion paste and let it boil for 5-10 minutes till the raw smell goes off.
2) Then add grinded tomatoes.
3) Add Cumin powder ,salt and let it boil for few minutes.
4) Add peas, cashew paste , curd and salt. Boil for 3 minutes.
5) Add paneer and Garam Masala.Keep it in simmer and let it boil for sometime till you make chapathi.

Garnish with coriander.Didn't I tell you how yummy it was..How dumb of me!

Thick poha/Aval Bisibelabath

This is one of the recipe which inspired me from my mother. Since, it turned out to be good at the first time, I am posting the recipe over here.Usually, Bisibelabath is very famous in karnataka. And when you mix aval/thick poha in it...Its totally yummy. Bisibelabath is usually prepared in toordal and I better suggest using toor dal makes the dish more tasty than moong dal.



Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Thick Poha - 2 cups
Vegetables - 2 cups [ 2 Carrots,7-8 Beans, 3/4 cup Peas, 1.5 Potatoes]
Tamarind - Lemon Size
Sambar powder - 1 spn
Toor Dal- 1.5 Cups
Oil

To Fry & Grind:

Chana Dal - 2 spns
Daniya - 1.5 spn
Long red Chillies - 2-3
Coconut - 1 spn
Pepper - 5- 6

Method:

1) In a Kadai with oil, put mustard and wait till it splutters and all the vegetables and fry it for 5 minutes.
2) Then pour tamarind juice over the vegetables with sambar powder and salt.
3) Let it boil for sometime and vegetables are cooked nicely.
4) Side by Side, Fry and Grind in to powders or paste .Also, cook toor dal in the cooker.
5) Mix cooked toor dal and powders/paste and pour it on the vessel and cook for another 5 minutes.
6) Take the thick poha/aval and immerse in water for 5-10 minutes. After that , drain the water.Cover the lid and keep the poha for 10 minutes. It will be ready.
7)Mix the poha in the kadai and keep it on for 5 mintues.

Atlast, take a small kadai with ghee, add cashews and fry till it becomes brown. Garnish with coriander.

Yummy Aval Bisibelabath is ready.

Araitha Poondu Rasam( Grinded Garlic Rasam)

You must have already seen my old posts about Garlic Rasam. Actually, that is simple one and quick one too. But if you got time, you can grind some few ingredients and i bet its worth doing it. The product at last is very very yummy...You can't resist it.

Hats off to my akka, whom I learned it from. She keeps the tradition alive by keeping rasam in the lead vessel. Actually she prepares in stainless steel an pour it off in lead vessel, which adds more taste to the rasam. But as you know, Lead is strictly No-No... Its not good for health also.So she stopped doing that :-(

Okay, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Tamarind - 1/2 size lemon
[ extract tamarind juice from the tamarind by heating it with water ]
Garlic - 10-15 cloves peeled
Turmeric powder- 1/2 spn
Tomato - 1 Chopped finely
cooked Toor Dal- 1-2 spn
Ghee - 1- 2spns
Salt

to Fry & Grind:

Channa dal - 1 spn
Daniya - 1 spn
Long red chillies- 2
Pepper/milagu - 5
And Jeera -1 spn
Garlic- 2-3 cloves

Method:

1) In a small vessel or Kadai, Pour ghee and Add Mustard. Wait till it splutters, add Garlic and fry till it turns light brown.

2) Add tomatoes and the tamarind juice and salt.

3) While its boiling, take a small kadai aside and pour oil and start frying and grinding the whole powder/mixture.

4)Once the grinded mixture is ready, pour it in the vessel and add cooked toor dal.

Atlast Garnish with Coriander leaves, Curry leaves :-) Yummy araitha poondu rasam is ready.

Varutha Vazhakai((Hard Banana) Curry

Hard Bananas or Green Bananas or Vazhakai is the best next to potatoes. When fried, gives a nice aroma and pulls you to the table. Its good for health too.

Ingredients:

Hard Bananas/Green Bananas/Vazhakai - 4-5
* Vegetable powder/Kari Podi - 1 spn

Tempering/Talikardu:
Mustard
Urad dal - 1 spn
Channa dal - 1 spn
1-2 Long red chillies
Curry leaves- 5-10
Salt
Oil
Asafoetida - A pinch

Method:

1) Peel the bananas and chop it and put it in the water. ( SO that it doesnt turn
brown)
2) Take Kadai and put oil, Put mustard and wait till it splutters. Then put Urad dal, Chana dal and 1-2 long red chillies.
3) Put the chopped bananas and fry till it becomes crispy.( It may take more oil to fry)
4) Put the Vegetable powder/Kari Podi ,curry leaves and Asafoetida.

Ta-Daaaa....Varutha Vazhakai is served.




Note: Before frying bananas , I did cook it in the microwave for 5 mts. Usually this makes the cooking little bit easier.

* Vegetable powder: This is just a simple powder, to put for fried vegetables. It consists of Chana dal, Daniya ( Coriander seeds) and Long red chillies .

Pav Bhaji and Snow..

Well, they go together!!! Its a snowy day ... What more you want more than Pav Bhaji in a snowy day. Its heavily snowing in the eastern side of the United states. They have predicted winter storm today. If it is raining in India, we can go out and have hot pav bhaji in the street corner but its not possible here :-(

So , As my family loves pav bhaji, I created and even my child in the womb also had it. She liked it. I could sense that!!! (Mother knows her child very well before she/he born).






The recipe is a very traditional one followed in mumbai.Its not necessary to include lots of vegetables as I see in many blogs. Its simple and easy too. Thanks to my dear friend shilpa.

Ingredients:

2 Big onions chopped finely
3 Tomatoes chopped finely
1 spn Ginger- Garlic paste
3 Potatoes ( Boiled and mashed nicely)
1.5 Capsicum ( Chopped small and finely)
3/4 cup of frozen peas
2 heap spns of Pav Bhaji Masala
3/4 spn of Red Chilli powder
Salt
Oil

Method:

1) Heat oil in kadai, and fry the onions till it turns light brown and add ginger-garlic paste.
2) After frying, add tomatoes and fry till it mashes nicely.
3) Add Chopped capsicum and peas together and out a cup of water and close the lid.
( This will make sure that both are cooked and mashed nicely. No need to mash peas
fully.)
4)After that has been done for 10 mts, add the mashed potatoes. Potatoes act as a binding material and add another cup of water so that it mashes together so well.
5) Once you know that it has been blended well, add pav Bhaji masala and salt.
6) Let it cook for another 5 mts. and switch off the gas.
7) Atlast, take a small kadai and heat oil in it. Just add chilli powder in oil and pour it off the pav bhaji prepared in another kadai.

Garnish with coriander.

It's best served with onions, lemon ,butter and of course, don't forget pav! Either you get small sized buns in the store or as Pav in indian store.

The art of making Filter Coffee

This post shows the step-by-step process of making Filter Coffee at home.




This is how the filter looks like.


I am sending this post to Chita Amma's KitchenIts wonderful of you to conduct this Treasure Hunt. Hats Off Buddy:)This will surely connect people what they know and what they not know.





Show the top filter over the flame. This will open the holes underneath that filter making the essence to come faster and thicker.



After heating, put 3 tspns of Coffee powder( Preferred Madras Coffee day's , coffee powder). Others should be okay. and press with that pressholder lightly to make sure that the powder is evenly distributed.






Boil water in a separate pan and pour little by little, so that the decoction comes down thicker. ( P.S: Don't pour very fast - That will only drop the water to get down in to the bottom layer of the filter not the decoction).Continously pour little by little and make sure that the bottom filter is filled with the decoction.

3 tsps of coffee powder should be enough for two people. It depends on the filter coffee size too. Medium one will be okay for two-three people.




You can see the water is filled at the top filter.




The decoction is dripping from the top filter to the down filter. Decoction is just the essence of the powder and in the liquid form.


Once the decoction is filled, heat the milk separetly and pour it in the Dabara tumbler with sugar added.





Hot Coffee is served with the froth on the top!!! Wana coffee???

To get that froth, pour milk from the reasonable distance without spilling it.

The Hindu paper and Filter Coffee

What a beautiful combination!!! Filter coffee and Hindu paper. Still my dad, follows that with a little bit of change. Instead of The Hindu paper, he goes for The Hindu , Website :-)Nothing comes like paper, he comments.

Both the things are hot and to be consumed simultaneously. There is always something special about the south indian filter coffee. Usually, it is served in the dabara tumbler which followed...well, couple of years before. Mugs, cups came when I was in teen age. Its always a tradition to drink in this dabara tumbler and the froth which comes up doesn't match today's espresso or lattes or even cappuccino.

Especially,when mom gives you the coffee in the early morning (Ofcourse after brushing teeth)...The aroma itself calls you in to the diving world. Adding the coffee powder in to the filter and getting the essence of it is a very big task and its a art too!After being trained by my mother to make the decoction, i finally hit the right formula to make it strong.Now, am ready to demonstrate you how to make a realy fresh filter coffee...in the next post.

Beet root may cut Blood Pressure

Recent studies shows the beetroot reduce Blood Pressure in human beings.Normally, beetroot juice acts very fast in reducing the Blood pressure. Since we prefer vegetable directly than juice, its easy to use as a cooked vegetable curry.

Here is a simple way of doing it.

Ingredients:
Beetroot
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Urad dal
5-6 tsp of Shredded coconut or grated coconut
Oil
2-3 long red chillies
Salt ( As needed)







Method:

1) Peel the skin of the beetroot and cut in to small pieces.
2) In a Kadai
heat Oil,
Put Mustard,
Urad Dal,
Long red chillies ( break in to two)
and put the Beetroot
3) Let it cook for 15-20 mts
4) Add Coconut and let it cook for 5- 8 mts.( You might not see coconut in the picture as it is merged with the beetroot color)
5) Atlast garnish with coriander and Asafoetida:-)

Another Mini-Thali...

Its been a long day and want to end a day simple by eating nutritious as well as tasty. And also 7 months pregnant, you know, its so much exhausting to do any sort of work. Being in a kitchen or after eating meals, makes tiring. But, without food cant survive too... So I just prepared , simple mini-thali which consists of Rajma, Jeera Rice, Chapati!

Yesterday, as I watching Oprah show, Dr.Oz was the guest in explaining the antiaging checklist. If you want to get more healthy and increase your life span there are certain things you got to do everyday!

Here is the link, which shows the checklist.

Antiaging List

Yes, there comes beans for fiber !!! Yeah its our great Rajma beans.
Here is the recipe of Beans and Jeera rice.

RAJMA

Ingredients:

1 cup of Rajma
1 medium onion ( Chop roughly)
2 medium tomatoes ( Chop roughly)
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp Garam masala
Salt

Method:

1) Soak Rajma overnight and then put it in the cooker for 10-12 whistles.
2) While doing so, in a Kadai with oil
Fry Onions ,
then put tomatoes,
Add Chilli powder
and fry till the raw smell goes.
3) Once it is cooled, grind in to a fine paste
4) Again in a kadai,
Heat oil,
Add little bit of Jeera,
1/4 onions chopped finely,
Add the grinded mixture and let it boil till the raw smell goes
then Add cooked rajma
5) After 10-12 mts, Add garam masala

Garnish with Coriander. Yummy Rajma is ready....

JEERA-RICE:

A quick 5 minutes recipe as follows:

In a kadai with 2 spns of Ghee and E.V.O.O ( Extra Virgin Olive Oil),
Add Jeera and let it splutters,
Add Thin sliced onions ( 1),
and 1-2 split cut green chillies

and fry till the onions turn light brown.If you wish, you can add a cup of frozen peas which makes it much more yummy. Just add those things to a rice and keep it in the rice cooker.

Yummy Jeera-rice is ready.