Eggy Roti Vegetable Roll

For the last and final day of the marathon, here is how to incorporate more veggies into your diet, but in a fun way --> Eggy roti vegetable roll.
When I tell my kids to eat chapathi with curry, they get bored sometimes. Instead, letting them stuff their roti with with they like cucumbers and carrots, its fun and enjoyable!
Adding some protein, like an egg on the chapati make it healthy more yummy!
For myself, I add bell peppers, onions too. Its something like a katti roll but without the katti part, only with veggies.

Adding egg is an option, you can leave it out if you don't eat egg.
You can add some chat masala on the veggies to give them a flavor, or just salt them!
Its one very easy and quick to put together meal and is also perfect for a lunch box. Just remember to carry the rotis and veggies separately, and do the stuffing later just before eating.

If you are not fond of raw veggies, go ahead and saute them. Veggies like onions, carrots, zucchini, bell peppers can be sauteed with some salt, pepper and amchoor masala, with a touch of chat masala. Saute them only so much, that they are not mushy but still have a crunch. Stuff the chapathi with sauteed veggies and you have a healthy meal put together.

I make it both ways, depends on how much time and how my mood is! :)
I don't mind eating raw veggies, so its much easy to put together all the raw veggies and build myself a roll.

Here you get a balanced diet of a good and perfect meal.

Ingredients:

2 chapathis or rotis

For Egg Mixture:

2 eggs or egg whites, which ever you like
pinch of salt
pinch of turmeric
chilli powder to your taste
Mix together are beat well

Required veggies:

Sliced onions
sliced carrots
sliced green and red bell pepper
sliced cucumbers

Method:

Heat the roti on a tawa.
Spread the egg mixture on the roti.
Let it cook and slowly flip over to let it cook completely.
Remove from the tawa and line all the veggies in the center and roll it tightly.
Serve immediately.
Enjoy!!!



Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli





Nimmakai Quinoa, Lemony Quinoa

For the 6th day of the Marathon, here is another Quinoa recipe which I am in love with. Just like Nimmakaya pulihora, Nimmakaya Quinoa pulihora. Lemony and nutty quinoa.

Its so hard to incorporate healthy food in our daily diet. In my house too, if I make changes to something like dosa, no one complains. But to something like quinoa, no one shows any interest. Its only me who enjoys eating some thing like this! and surely I do enjoy eating it too., so I make it only for myself. I hope someday my family will also enjoy it with me!

Since Quinoa is full of Protein, I am trying to incorporate it into my diet atleast 2-3 times a week. Its very versatile like the rice and is a good substitute for rice. So for diabetics when they want to eat less carbs and more protein, its a very good choice.
Try it in many different forms and you will surely like it!

Cooking Quinoa: Wash Quinoa 2-3 times. Soak for atleast 10 minutes. Bring 1 1/4 cup of water to a rapid boil. Drain and add the soaked quinoa. Bring the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until all the water is absorbed, for about 15 to 20 min. Uncover and fluff. Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes.


Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa

1-2 tbsp peanuts, groundnuts, palli pappu
1/2 tbsp chanaga pappu, channa daal
1 tsp urad daal, minapa pappu
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera, cumin
few curry leaves
2-3 slit green chillies
2 dry red chillies broken
pinch of turmeric
pinch of hing, inguva, asfoetida
1 tbsp of oil
salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai.
Saute the peanuts till lightly brown.
Add channa daal and urad daal and saute till brown.
Add mustard and jeera and let them splutter.
Add green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves.
Add a pinch of hing and turmeric.
Add this to the cooked quinoa along with salt and lemon juice.
Mix well.
Serve with any chutney or plain.

Enjoy!!!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Warm Broccoli, Asparagus and Garbanzo salad

For the 5th day of the Marathon, here is another salad, all freebies again. A very short post as I am pressed for time!! :))

A warm salad with lots of fiber and chick peas for protein.
I like broccoli or asparagus when just sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Very totally yum! Here I added in chick peas just for some texture and protein. I used black chick peas, but you can use regular white chick peas!

So to what we eat and how much we eat --> all healthy and can eat how much you want to! :)





Ingredients:

2 broccoli heads, florets taken apart
few Asparagus, washed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
Chick peas as needed (I used black, you can use whatever you have available)

1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a open pan.
Add the chick peas with some salt and cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the broccoli florets and chopped asparagus. Sprinkle salt and pepper.
Saute by mixing everything together, until the broccoli and asparagus is just slightly cooked through, but has a crunch too!
Serve warm!
Enjoy!!!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Flat Mediterrean Pizza

For the 4th day of the Blogging Marathon, here is a Flat Mediterranean Pizza and more feta cheese!! :))

Pizza!! who doesn't love pizza?? Who doesn't love the convenience of ordering in a fully loaded pizza?? all the cheese, all the white dough!! only good part is the veggie topping!! lol,...

Well tho we know its not a perfect dinner or lunch, we do tend to order it!...well I guess its fine to have it once in a while, whenever you crave for a good pizza, but don't crave for it too often!!

It surely is easy to make it at home. I sometimes make the pizza base myself at home or now days you will find pizza dough in the bakery section or the freezer section of your local grocery! For more convenience, you will even find the pizza base ready too.

But I nowadays like to buy the pizza dough rather than the pizza bases. They are very easy to bake and prepare.
Well if you like making the dough at home....make for at least 2 or 3 servings and freeze it for later.

The good part is you can make or get the whole wheat pizza dough! No white only whole wheat!! :)), going with the whole grain theme!! --> this is what you eat!!

For how much you eat --> instead of a thick or pan dish type, make a thin or a flat bread pizza. Less calories and less carbs. Load it with veggies, lots of fiber and good good stuff!

There you go, you are getting the your satisfaction of pizza, less calories and less carbs all in one!
For this pizza, I made it not the regular type but a Mediterranean type with feta cheese, pesto and simple veggies. You don't have to follow this, but instead you can use your own toppings! Just make it Flat and thin as possible.

These days even if I order out, I order mine as a thin crust. And if you haven't tasted thin crust, I am telling you, its actually much yummier than a thick one! :))

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat pizza dough
Basil and walnut pesto (or any other pesto, enough to spread on the flat pizza dough)

Toppings:

Sliced green bell peppers
sliced red bell peppers
sliced tomatoes
sliced onions
sliced black olives
crumbled feta cheese ( I used seasoned feta cheese)
chopped basil leaves ( about 10 leaves)
spinkle of dried oregano
crushed red pepper flakes to sprinkle (optional)
Crumbled Feta cheese


Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Flatten the pizza dough on a round baking tray to as thin as possible.
Spread the pesto in a thin layer, enough to cover to the edge.
Spread the veggies over the pizza and tsprinkle the oregano.
Pop it into the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Since the pizza is thin, it should get cooked by then.
Sprinkle the feta cheese and put it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. If you feel that with in this time the feta cheese didn't brown, start the broiler for about 5 minutes on 350 degrees. Keep an eye on it or it will burn.
When brown, remove from oven and add the chopped basil leaves.
Sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.
Serve hot!
Enjoy!!!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Greek Salad

For the 3rd day of the blogging marathon, here is a quick, simple salad to put together!
Good examples of foods rich in fiber are fruits and vegetables, which are actually freebies for diabetics. You can eat how all fruits and veggies.

Salads are the best. Fruit for a snack should be medium sized and can be considered as 15g of carbs. There are few fruits which have a low glycemix index and those can be consumed in a larger quantities than some others like a banana. A banana is rich in potassium and other good minerals, so don't exclude it but eat a medium sized one.

Fruits which are low in glycemix index value are cherries, apples, plums etc.,.

So what is Glycemic Index? Its a value given to a edible item to show whats its value in raising your blood sugar. That is how I see it!!!

The lower the GI, the better it is to eat that particular item. Which means that when you eat that fruit or veggie or for that matter, grains or lentil, they don't immediately shoot up your blood sugars unlike if you eat rice which will raise your blood sugars immediately and also it will remain in your blood for a longer time, which is not a good thing!

So here is a salad which I personally like, tho I like all salads, especially fruit salads, I like Greek salad the best, because of the feta cheese, and peppers. Its a very simple salad and easy to put together.
Low GI and lots of fiber, whats not good about a salad!!!

Ingredients:

Bunch of roughly chopped lettuce
few cherry or grape tomatoes
few kalamata olives
couple pickled peppers (optional)
few chopped red onion and green bell pepper
Sliced cucumber
crumbled feta cheese
sprinkle of dried oregano
Greek salad dressing - 1-2 tbsp

Method:

Chop lettuce and mix together with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, chopped onion and green bell pepper. Lightly toss with Greek salad dressing. sprinkle crumbled feta cheese and dried oregano. Add Pickled peppers if needed.
Serve chilled. Enjoy!!!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Brown Rice and Flax Dosa

So on day 2 of the blogging marathon, continuing with how much and what to eat....here is Brown rice and flax dosas.

Whole grains are very important to everyone and not only the 'diabetics'.
They provide with the necessary fiber which the body need, which is almost eliminated by eating processed foods.
Brown rice and Flax seeds both come under whole grains, rich in fiber. Fiber like protein makes us feel full and so we can eat less of whatever we are eating.
Flax seeds are fiber rich and now easily available to us as whole flax seeds or flax seed meal.

I started using flax seeds only very recently, better later than never.
If you are not sure how and if your family will accept flax seeds but if you are a regular dosa and idli eater, mixing it up with this will incorporate it into their diet.
Accordingly to me, flax seeds have no much taste and will not stand out! My kids haven't complained.

Brown rice is unprocessed rice with more fiber content than the regular white rice. Because of this it has a nutty texture when cooked and a nutty flavor too.

One Basic rule which can be followed (maybe not all the time, but most of the times) is --> SAY NO TO ANYTHING WHITE!! If its colored or colorful, it best for you!!

So therefore here is another recipe, this time Fiber rich food!, Just make sure you don't eat 4 or 5 or these dosas....remember that urad daal has proteins and carbs, rice has fiber and carbs. So if you eat a lot of dosas, you will miss the 40g carb rule.
Eat only about 2 medium sized ones and that will be good enough! :)

Now when you start getting more fiber in your diet, please remember to drink more water too.

Ingredients:

1 cup urad daal, minapa pappu
4 cup brown rice (you can use 3 if you wish)
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp menthi or methi seeds or menthulu

Method:

Wash urad daal and brown rice.
Add flax seeds and methi seeds.
Soak for at least 6-8 hours or overnight.
Grind into a smooth batter the following soaking along with methi and flax seeds.
Keep in a warm place for fermentation for another 8 hours or overnight.
After fermentation, the batter is ready to be made into dosas.
Add just enough water to make into dosa batter consistency, not too thick or not too thin.
Heat a tawa to about medium heat, to when u put drops of water, they make the 'shhhhh' sound and evaporate.
If its a fresh cleaned pan, rub an half cut onion with few drops of oil. This is so that the dosa doesn't stick!
Take a ladle full of batter and spread it around like a dosa. Sprinkle few drops of oil around. Flip over when brown on one side. Lightly brown on the other side and then its ready to be served!
Serve with chutney or podi, or with chicken curry or potato curry....its tastes just as yum as regular dosas!!
Enjoy!!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Sending this also to 'Breakfast Mela', another event started by Srivalli.

Parama 'Quinoa' , Sweet quinoa with lentils and milk

Hi Everyone!! I am back again with the Blogging Marathon # 4.
It was fun doing it the last two times and I couldn't miss doing it again this time!
Blogging Marathon is a creation of Srivalli of Spicing your Life Blog. I really appreciate the patience and effort she puts in all she does and has done for her blogs and the help she has done with starting this Blogging Marathon!!.. Thanks Srivalli!! :)

Disclaimer: Everything written on Diabetes is written by me and how I see it in my everyday life. Its written in lay man's language. Nothing is by the book! Its my knowledge of being a diabetic and management. Any mistakes or wrong perception, please let me know and I will correct myself! :)

So coming to my theme, this time around I decided to blog about Diabetes Diet Management.
Diabetes is very common in Indians as well as Americans. We all come from a line of high carbohydrates  and sugars eating ancestors and forefathers. Don't you think so??...
So what are carbs or carbohydrates? This is the main culprit in causing or the underlying cause of Diabetes. Many people don't know or think that sugar is the cause, but sugar is also a form of a carbohydrate.
Whatever we eat is broken down into sugars and carbohydrates. That's where checking of the nutrition label becomes important. That is to see what are we eating? how many carbs and how many sugars. This is an important part to diet management when you are a diabetic!
An enzyme called insulin is required in the body, its produced by your pancreas, a small organ next to your liver. Insulin acts or breaks down these sugars or carbs to be absorbed by your body. The problem comes when you body isn't producing enough insulin to break down all the carbs that are entering into your body. That's when you become a "DIABETIC".
This can be managed by taking medications, taking insulin externally, by diet management and exercises.
Increasing the metabolic rate of your body is important for the medication and insulin to act effectively. This can only be done by exercise!!
...I know I know, Not everyone has the time to exercise because of many other aversions and distractions (I fall into this category), that's when diet management becomes very important!!
Its more about how much you eat and what you eat!! Avoiding carbs and sugars as much as possible.
So when high Carbs are eliminated from your diet, what left??
Fats, Proteins and freebies!!
Carbs are important, you cannot eliminate them all together, well you can if you are on a carb-free diet (like South Beach Diet), but otherwise, eating some like about 40 carbs per lunch or dinner is a minimal good start.
Fats should be taken in minimal amounts.
Proteins are, you know, meats, lentils, whole grains like Quinoa etc.,.
Freebies are all veggies and fruit. Few nuts also fall into this category.
That's why reading the nutrition label is that very important!!

So with all this in mind, here is a sweet I made for Ugadi, Parama 'Quinoa' just like Paramaannam, just with out the rice, using quinoa instead.
Quinoa is not a carb-free grain. Not any lentils or grains are carb-free. They do contain a good amount of carbs but on the other hand are very rich in proteins. That's where this grain is important to us!!
The main quality of proteins is to make you feel full when you eat only little of it. This is useful to us in dieting right!! :)
For that reason eating quinoa or protein rich foods is important for diabetics.
A third of a cup of quinoa has about 34g of carbs. And a third of a cup of quinoa makes a lot too. So eating a 1/3 cup of quinoa, keeps you under 40g of required carbs and gives a protein rich meal! So its good for you. :)
To make this sweet I used few split peas or channa daal and used splenda (artificial sweetener) for sweetening.



Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tbsp cooked channa daal, split peas, chanaga pappu ( pesar pappu can also be used instead)
1/4 cup of milk ( use more if needed)
Splenda for sweetening ( I use 3 packets)
pinch of cardamom, elaichi powder
1 tbsp cashews and raisins, sauteed in couple of drop of ghee

Method to cook Quinoa:

Wash Quinoa in water 3-4 times. Drain all the water and keep aside for 10 min.
Bring about 1 1/4 cup of water to a rapid boil.
Add the drained Quinoa. Set the flame low, cover and let cook until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff. Keep covered for another 10 minutes.
This way you get soft separated quinoa.

Method for parama quinoa:

Cook Quinoa and Changa pappu separately.
Bring milk to a boil and add the quinoa and chanaga pappu.
Add a pinch of cardamom powder.
Add the sauteed cashews and raisins.
I also added a pinch of food color.
For topping, I added few grated coconut pieces and kesar or saffron flowers.
Serve warm. Enjoy after giving Naivedyam to GOD!!!! :)))

So tho you made a whole cup of Quinoa, don't eat the whole cup of cooken quinoa, eat little and save the rest :)

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me



Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli



Sending this to WWC-Quinoa for Dinner @ Oh Taste n See

Egg Masala / Masala Guddu

Even though I make hard boiled egg curry dishes very regularly at home, I realised that I don't have many on the blog. Its just due to laziness or cooking late, that I don't take any pictures.
I make fried eggs, egg pulusu, onion and eggs curry and so on and so forth! :)

Making egg dishes is very easy, so I make them when I am absolutely out of time and need and quick dish. And I think for situations like this 'egg purtu' or 'egg burji' or and hard boiled egg dishes work fine with me.
My Older one has no fuss in eating any egg dishes, but I still struggle with me younger one! At least I have no problem with one! :)

Cooking egg perfectly, so that they are not over cooked is the tricky part!
I learnt neat trick from Racheal Ray's 30 minute meals -- > Boil the eggs in water until the water comes up to a rapid boil. Then remove flame, cover and leave it so for another 10 minutes. This gets the eggs to perfectly cooked state.
Cooking of boiling eggs is OK, but I always have trouble peeling, if you know what I mean! I heard that it also depends on the freshness of egg, so maybe it not totally my fault that I cannot peel eggs perfectly!! :))

For Egg masala, I ground the onions and tomatoes for a smooth gravy, but if you don't prefer smooth gravies, don't grind them, just cooked them till they are cooked!



Ingredients:

6 eggs, boiled and shell peeled

To be ground in paste:

2 medium sized onions
1 - 2 tomatoes ( depending on how tomatoey you wish)
4 green chillies

1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin, jeera powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp chilli powder
1 /2 tsp garam masala powder

few curry leaves
chopped coriander leaves for garnish
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

Hard boil the eggs. Peel the shell, make slits and keep aside.
Grind the onions, tomatoes and green chillies.
Heat oil in a open pan.
Fry the eggs in the oil, slowly turning as the sides get brown. (This is a optional step, I fried them to get the fried texture to the egg. If you don't prefer it, don't fry it.)
After they are brown, remove and keep on a paper towel.
To the same pan with the remaining oil in it, add the curry leaves and ground onion paste.
Saute until the rawness of the onion and the smell is gone. If it gets thick and starts to stick to the bottom, add water little by little.
Add all the powders to the paste, mix well and saute till cooked, for about 5 min. Add little water if necessary.
Add the fried eggs and cook till the eggs are coated with the masala. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve with roti or rice or even with Biryani!
Enjoy!!!

Zucchini Sambar

Zucchini is a very versatile vegetable. It can be used in many international dishes, but just like that can also be transformed into many Indian dishes. I make curries in the same way I make beerakaya (ridge gourd) and here used it in place of anapakaya (bottle gourd).

If you love this vegetable, you surely can see that there is no difference in taste and it goes well in the dishes we make.
The other day I made Zucchini pancakes and it was savored by the family and this time it was sambar and no one had any complaints.
There is no major difference between and green and yellow zucchini, but I like to use it in combination, to give it a colorful effect! :)

Here is the recipe for my plain old regular sambar.
The way I made Zucchini sambar is no different from the regular sambar, the method is the same. I wrote out the method just for easiness sake!
You can add zucchini with a combination of other veggies too. I just decided to go with only pearl onions and zucchini. :)


Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked toor daal (use as required)

2 Zucchini (washed and sliced)
few pearl onions (optional)
1 small onion, chopped big
4-5 green chillies, slit
1 tomato, chopped
grated coconut, for garnish (optional)
chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste


little smaller than a golf ball size tamarind, pulp squeezed
2 tbsp sambar powder
1 tsp chilli powder (or less)
1/4 tsp turmeric
water as required


1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera, cumin
3 dry red chillies, broken
4 cloves of garlic, choppes or crushed
pinch of hing, inguva
few curry leaves, karevapaku
1 tbsp of oil

Method:

In a big pot, add some water and put in the zucchini, onions, green chillies and tomatoes.
Let them cook covered, until soft, but not mushy.
Add the squeezed tamarind pulp, after they are cooked along with sambar powder, chilli powder and turmeric. Add salt to taste.
Cook for 2 minutes. Add the cooked daal and water to make to the required consistency.
Prepare for tempering. Heat oil in a small pan.
Add garlic and urad daal. Let them brown.
Add mustard seeds and jeera, let them splutter. Add broken red chillies, curry leaves and hing.
Add this tempering to the sambar.
Optionally add coconut.
Add coriander leaves for garnish.
Serve hot with vadas, idlis, dosas or with rice.
Enjoy!!!

Dondakaya Pachadi / Tindora, Ivy gourd chutney

I love making this chutney whenever I get too many of ripe dondakayas. It surely can be made with green ones too, but the ripe ones surely gives it a good taste. A mix of ripe and green ones is also good.
This chutney goes well as any other chutney, with dosas or idlis or with upmas and hot rice!
If you like to leave a crunch and rawness to the chutney, don't cook it all the way thru. I usually cook it all the way thru, I just like it that way.

This chutney can be made a couple of ways...add a tomato for an extra zing to the chutney.
The tempering can be done before or after cooking the tindoras. You can grind the tempering or just add it in the end.
So try it any way you wish!

Ingredients:

15-20 dondakais, tindora, washed and chopped

2-3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp channa daal
1 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
5-7 green chillies (more or less)
4-6 dry red chillies (more or less)
few curry leaves
a little more than a marble size of tamarind
1 tbsp of oil
salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Saute the garlic for couple of minutes till brown.
Add the channa daal, urad daal and saute till brown.
Add the mustard seeds and jeera, let them splutter.
Add the green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves.
Add the chopped dondakais and let them cook thru.
Add the tamarind and let it doen soften up. Remove from heat.
Add salt to taste and grind when cooled.
Serve and Enjoy!!!

Lamb / Mutton Kofta balls in gravy

There are so many ways to make koftas and that too many ways to make lamb or mutton koftas. This method is how my Mom make it. Maybe not exactly how she makes it, but some what the same way she make it!

This method involves cooking the lamb completely and then making the kofta balls.
This way gives the balls a fine crumbly texture instead of the meaty texture when the balls are made from raw meat.
I make it either way, just depending on how my mood is!

I once made these balls with left over lamb kabobs, which didn't come out that great! Forgot to add binding ingredient to the kabobs, was the big mistake.
But that same meat did turn out beautiful kabobs, because my work was already cut out since the lamb was already cooked. I just had to process it to make it fine and add the rest of the ingredients in it to make the koftas.

There are few things to remember while making the koftas is --
- Do add enough bread crumbs to hold the koftas together. An egg can also be added instead.
- The oil should be hot, so that the koftas brown quickly. The lamb is already cooked, so you shouldn't worry about it not cooking. Just don't burn them!
If the oil is not hot enough, there is a chance that the koftas will break up in the oil and then you will have big messy oil. :))

Ingredients: for gravy

3 bay leaves
3 onions, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup yogurt
1 cup ground masala paste
chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp jeera powder
salt to taste
water as required
Lemon juice as required
chopped coriander leaves

Masala to be ground to paste:

2 tbsp channa daal
1 tbsp gus gus, white poppy seeds
2 tbsp coconut powder
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
4-5 cloves
2 1inch pieces of Cinnamon sticks
4 elaichi or cardamom pods
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 dry red chillies

Oil for deep frying and 1-2 tbsp of oil for cooking lamb

For lamb marination:

1 lb ground lamb or mutton
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
some salt or to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 chopped green chillies
chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves

For making kofta balls : (to be dry roast, ground to powder and added to cooked lamb)

3 tbsp channa daal
1 tbsp urad daal
1 tbsp coriander seeds
3 dry red chillies
5 tbsp bread crumbs


Method:

Marinate the lamb with the lamb marination ingredients for about 1/2 hour. Mix lightly, do not over mix over the meat will become tough!

Cook lamb with 1-2 tbsp oil in a open pan, by breaking down the lamb as much as possible. After cooking to almost dry, remove from heat and keep aside to cool.
Dry roast and grind the chana daal, urad daal, coriander seeds, red chillies and bread crumbs together.
Add to the cooled cooked lamb.
Make into balls (add less water if required to make balls) and deep fry in oil.
The oil should be hot, so that the balls will not break down in oil. Since the lamb is already cooked, they only need to brown.
Remove onto a paper napkin when brown.

Make the Masala paste with the ingredients above required under masala required to ground to paste and keep aside.

Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in an open pan. Add the bay leaves.
Saute Onion till translucent. Add and saute tomatoes till soft.
Add the ground masala paste and saute for 2 minutes.
Add the yogurt along with chilli powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder. Saute for 5 minutes. Add Salt.
Add water if it gets to thick. Add just enough to bring it to a gravy like consistency.
Let it cook till the gravy is nice and not too thick. Add lemon juice as required.
Add chopped coriander leaves.
Add the koftas to the gravy. You can add it before removing from heat. This way the koftas will absorb some of the gravy.
Serve hot with rice, biryani or naan or chapathis.
Enjoy!!!

Savory Mini Zucchini Discs or Pancakes - Heathy Kid's Breakfast

It couldn't be more easier to make my kids eat veggies in a simple way....all for their love of eating dosas and pancakes!!
It really makes me happy that they didn't find out there was veggies embedded into their pancakes that morning :)) so good for me right!!

Well I wanted to make instant dosas that weekend morning!...Found couple of zucchinis in the back of the refrigerator. Simple click in my head, grate them and add them to the batter, would that be so difficult, or would they find out!
Well only if I would make it, that I would know, what was in store for me -- fuss or complete peace!! :)

So it was the second one -- complete peace...they finished their breakfast in a jiffy. The older one ate it plain, so it was already savory enough for him. The younger one ate with allam pachadi as usual!

Expect for adding Zucchini and deleting sooji in the batter, the batter is almost same as my instant dosa mix.
Because of the zucchini I didn't spread it out as a dosa, but left it more like pancakes, that is on the thicker side.
They are soft, so fry them till they are little crispy.
I found out that keeping them batter for the next day, isn't that useful. Fresher the batter, the pancakes come out better.

Ingredients:

2 cups grated zucchini (I had 1 green and 1 yellow, gave a wonderful color effect)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup yogurt
1 cup All purpose flour, Maida ( can use whole wheat flour instead)
1/2 cup besan
1/2 cup rice flour
salt to taste
1/2 tsp chilli powder
some chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Mix all ingredients together into a dosa like batter.
Pour onto heated tawa / tava.
Sprinkle few drops of oil.
Cover and cook for couple of minutes and then flip over. Let brown on both sides.
Serve hot with any chutney, pachadi or podi.
Enjoy!!!

Wishing everyone a Happy Ugadi with 'Oats' Kesari

Happy Khara Nama Samvatsara Ugadi to everyone!!

I hope everyone is celebrating with lots of goodies and yummy dishes!
I just finished my work for today, all the prayers and cooking done. And now I got the chance to sit and write my today's post. I just have less than 1/2 hour before I have to run again and pick up my kids :)) so doing a quick post!

Ugadi reminds me only of nice plump green sour mangoes...and we don't have to wait long before the mango season kicks into full high!!
The mangoes I got this time were reall green and sour, so made Mango Pulihora for Ugadi for the start of the mango season. Recipe will be coming soon!

We cannot celebrate Ugadi without something sweet, so instead of the usual sweets, I made a sweet with oats. Its was sweet and healthy at the same time! :))
I was kind of scared how it will come out and how it will taste, but it came out good. Even my husband liked it!! that means it surely passed the taste test!!
I made it exactly the way I make Ravva Kesari.

Use water little cautiously. Since I like the oats slightly nutty and not completely smooshed...I added less water and let it cook covered, till the oats were cooked.

I used 'Old Fashioned Oats', that why they stayed in the oats shape even after cooking...if you use quick cooking oats, it might get mushy and not retain the shape!

The end result was slightly nutty oats which were sweet. Since oats are also slightly starchy, you may see a stringy nature in the sweet. I liked it tho!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup water (Use accordingly, less or more)
3/4 cup sugar (or less)
pinch of cardamom powder
pinch of yellow or kesar food color (optional)
few cashew nut and golden raisins
1 tbsp of ghee

Method:

Roast oats till slightly turning color. Keep aside.
Roast Cashew nuts and raisins in ghee till brown and keep aside.
Bring water to a rolling boil. Add food color, sugar and cardamom powder.
Add oats to the boiling water. Cook until almost all the water is absorbed.
Cover and cook on low heat, until all the water is absorbed and the oats are cooked.
Remove from heat and add the cashews and raisins.
Serve warm or cold. Offer as Naivedhyam.
Enjoy!!!


Here are my recipes for Ugadi Pachadi, Chintapandu Pulihora, Masala vada, Ulli Garelu
and Pappu garelu.

Spinach and Cheese Puff Pastry Pinwheels for Team India

The cricket fever is on full high everywhere I turn. All the statuses on facebook are only concerning cricket and about the men in blue. So finally the finals are here and India is in it! yaaaayyy!!
Since here it started early morning, everyone must be so excited and are watching ball by ball!

My whole quota of cricket comes from the facebook statuses. Thats what happened last Wednesday! It was probably the best time I ever had watching cricket, while not actually watching it!...if you understand what I mean.

Oh what fun we had talking about cricket, diverting to bollywood and a simple status question about a bollywood star, blew up into a huge interesting conversation.
Thanks to Ria of Ria's collection, Priti of Indian Khana, and a few others including me, made it a "very interesting conversation".
I guess that how we girls rock!! lol I mean talk!!

So Ria suggested that for today we have a virtual party for Indian cricket team thats playing so well (I hope they are), we bring in snacks and have fun just like Super Bowl, but making it bigger than super bowl for sure! And I surely hope India wins today and makes its mark in History! :))

Hop over to Ria's blog to see who all are participating in today's event!

Thanks to Ria, I started out making one item and ended up making 3. Thanks also to the April snow (on the first day to April, ya!! seriously snow and snow day, and that's no April fool's joke).
I am posting 1 item today and will be posting the rest soon! Easy and fun snacks, kid friendly and what can be more easy when all have the same base Ingredient - Puff Pastry sheets :))

Today's post is Spinach and Cheese Puff Pastry Pinwheels. An easy no mess finger food, which can be enjoyed with or without ketchup for sure! :) Makes for a great appetizer too!

Ingredients:

2 puff pastry sheets
1/2 cup mix of cheeses like Monterey jack, provolone, mozarella, cheddar (you can use which ever you like)

egg wash ( 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp of water)
Baking sheet lined with parchment paper

For Spinach Curry:

1 packed cup of frozen spinach (you can use fresh too)
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 chopped onion
few drops of oil
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
few chopped coriander leaves


Method:

To make spinach curry:

Heat oil in a pan.
Add the onions and garlic, saute for 2 minutes.
Add the spinach along with salt, cumin, coriander and chilli powders.
Cook until all the rawness is gone and spinach is cooked.
Remove from heat, and let it cool down completely before putting into the puff pastry.
Cooling is very important, otherwise it will make the puff pastry soggy.

Assembly:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
Thaw the puff pastry sheet accordingly to directions on the box.
Lightly flour the surface and place the sheet on the flour.
Brush the Sheet with egg wash.
Sprinkle the Spinach curry on the sheet evenly covering all corners.
Sprinkle the cheese on the spinach.
Now slowly starting from one corner, start rolling the sheet, brushing with egg wash on the exposed side, rolling it in.
Now brush the whole roll with egg wash.
Cut in 1/2 inch pieces and place them on the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Again brush them lightly with egg wash on the top of the pin wheels.
Bake for about 15 minutes, till golden brown.

Serve with ketchup or any chutneys.
Enjoy!!!