Thursday, December 23, 2010

Bisibela bath

I should say this is a famous recipe of karnataka,only then brought to all other places(i think so!!! :-).For sure the traditional taste differs from ours due to the spices and proportions.Now i'm posting the tamil nadu version here.This is my hubby's favorite,he often says that his mom's preparation is the best than anyone else's.Of course,she does this very well,each time the taste and texture remains the same.I got the measures from her and posting it on my blog!!




Ingredients:

1.Rice(sona masoori)-  1 cup

2.Thoor Dhal - 1/2 cup

3.Tamarind - a medium lemon size

4.Gingely oil(sesame oil) - 4 spoons

5.Salt to taste.

6.Coriander leaves a little.

7.Asafotida - 1 pinch

8.Turmeric powder - 1/2 spoon

To grind:

1.Dry chilli - 8 to 10 nos

2.Channa dhal - 1 1/4 Spoon

3.Coriander seeds - 1 1/4 spoon

4.Menthya/fenu greek seeds  - 1 spoon

5.Dried coconut (shredded) / thick coconut (shredded) - 1 1/2 cup

Procedure :

1.Fry all the "To grind" ingredients with half spoon of oil except the coconut.Grind fried items with coconut to a paste form,with little water.

2.Mix rice and dhal and boil them with 4 cups of water.

3.Soak tamarind for 1/2 hr and squeeze juice out of it.Make 2 to 2 1/2cups of juice.

4.Add turmeric powder,asfoetida,salt and coriander leaves to the tamarind juice and allow this to boil on a low flame until the raw smell leaves.

5.Later add the grounded paste and let it boil for another 10 minutes.

6.Now add in the cooked rice-dhal and mix well for 10 more minutes in a low flame.Keep on stirring to avoid blackening.

7.In the mean time,heat oil in a kadai,add mustard seeds and splutter,fry cashew with this.Add this to the bisibela bath.

8.Mix well and serve hot with simple carrot raita or rich tasty avial,even appalam goes well sometimes.

Note:

If raita is the side dish,then add boiled veggies like carrot,beans,peas,drumstick,potato etc before adding the grounded paste.The bath will now be balanced with healthy veggies and dhal .



Literally this was little tedious to do for the first time,but the outcome was so pleasing.Try this out once and do give some comments.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Ashoka Halwa /Moong dhal Halwa

Ashoka halwa is one of my fav sweet,n i will proudly say that my mom is an expert in doing this.The measures & method are given by her(not me).So even a beginner can make it easily.I bet u that,the texture n taste will be great.Try it out once.

Successfully did halwa yesterday.Halwa came out very well and here i've posted the snaps!!






Ingredients:

1.Moong dhal - 1 cup(say 150 gms)

2.Sugar - 2 cups(300 gms)

3.Ghee - 1 1/2 cups

4.Cardamon powder - 1 tsp

5.Fried cashew nuts - 15 - 20 nos

6.Food color - any(optional) dissolve 1/2 a pinch of color in water.

7.4 tbsps of wheat flour(roast the flour thoroughly till the color changes lightly).

Method / Procedure:

1.Firstly,fry the moong dhal dryly until it becomes light golden yellow.

2.Soak it for 15 mins.Steam cook this with 3 cups of water.Switch off the flame,once it is done.

3.Add all the sugar to the steam cooked dhal.Mix it fastly.Dhal mashes well n sugar dissolves immediately due to heat.

4.Now place a thick bottomed kadai on flame,add a spoon of ghee,pour in the dhal-sugar mixture and keep on stirring.If u want u can add any food color(water solved)after a while.

5.Keep on adding ghee,in a 5 mins interval.Always do it in a low flame.

6.Almost after 15 minutes,the mixture becomes non-sticky.At this stage add cardamon powder n fried cashew nuts.

7.U don hav to wait until the ghee separates out.The non-stickyness is the halwa's right consistency,the halwa has to come like a ball,when it is rolled between ur thumb n fore finger.So switch off the flame at the right time.

8.Transfer the halwa to a greased plate.

9.Have it hot / cold.

This is little time consuming,but the taste really worth it :-) !!!

This is a famous recipe/sweet of thanjavur district(tamil nadu).Also,this wont be ghee dripping,like the other halwas we purchase outside.Consume it with in 3 to 4 days.Can be stored in refrigerator.Enjoy this protein rich sweet n have a gr8 day!!

Vegetable Cutlet

I guess,i was doing my 6th standard,when i tasted cutlet for the first time.But,I didnt like the taste and the color.It was horrible as it was over cooked n cold.So i never loved to eat it anywhere.But during my college days,my friends took me to "the sangeetha restaurant" trichy(one of my fav hotels in trichy) for a birthday party.Party went well,there cutlet was served as the starter,again after a long gap i had to eat it,but to my surprise,it tasted very delicious,texture n taste was tempting too.Then whenever i visit any chat corner,i started ordering for it.My friend used to prepare this in a very simple way,and here i'm sharing the yummy recipe with u all......

Ingredients:

Makes 8 medium sized cutlets

1.Bread(whole wheat/maida) - 4

2.Boiled n mashed potato - 3/4 cups

3.Boiled green peas - 1/4 cup

4.Half cooked chopped carrot - 1/4 cup

5.Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup

6.Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp

7.Salt to taste

8.Oil for frying.

9.Coriander leaves,sliced carrot,sliced onion for presentation.

Method:

1.Dip bread slices one by one in water,squeeze out the water from the bread and keep this damp bread aside.

Note: Don cut down the edges of the bread,bcoz it has high nutritional value.

2.Heat kadai,pour 3 spoons of oil,add onion once heated.

Once the onion is cooked,add red chilli powder,salt,carrot,peas n mashed potato.

3.Mix it well,Switch off the flame.Mix the damp bread to the veg mixture,mix it well and let it cool down.

4.Now take a lil portion of it,roll it on a greased plate to any shape(food moulds help u here,to get variety of shapes).Dough should be thick enough,so that they look like a cutlet,at the same time,it should stay together when they r deep fried.

5.In the mean time heat oil,on a deep frying pan.Fry cutlets one by one,so that they are not broken at any point.

6.Fry till golden brown.Serve it hot with sliced veggies,hot chilli sauce and tangy tomato sauce.

Have this spicy cutlet with hot masala tea on a weekend evening.Ohh!! that will be so enjoying :-)