Spinach Milagootal

Spinach Milagootal could be a pretty new name to few. "Milagu" in Tamil means black pepper and "ootal" is nothing but kootu,so in other words it is known as "Spinach Milagu Kootu" or simply combined together to read as "Spinach Milagootal". I dont have to explain kootu but for info sake, kootu is a gravy kind of thing usualy prepared with lentils and combination of any vegetable and cooked to a stew(Mouth watering STEW!!!) like consistency with varied spices and the essential ingredient being coconut.A kootu does not incorporates tomatoes ,onions or tamarind as far as I know and if it does well dont call it a kootu.....!!Anyway this is the simplest and tastiest recipe which could be done probably in 20 - 30 min just like that..NO LYING here..it's true..if you dont beleive me please read the recipe and check it out for yourself guys!! Well how can I forget my sweet and close friend S who gave me this recipe. Thanks a tonne!! for passing this recipe to me Dear!! I hope you will pass more wonderful simple recipes like this for me to cherish!!

Ingredients

Spinach- 340 g/0.75 lb/1/2 of big frozen packet
Toor Dhal- 1/2 cup

Dry Roast together

urad dhal- 1 tsp
cumin- 1 tsp
red chilli-1
black pepper- 1 tsp

coconut- 1 1/2 tblsp- dry roast separately

Method

1. Roughly chop spinach.
2. In a pressure pan add 3 cups of water add lil turmeric powder and salt add the chopped spinach,dhal and cook for 3 whistles.
3. Now add the dry roasted ingredients in a mixie and grind to a smooth paste with water.
4. Add the ground paste to spinach,dhal mixture and boil till it reaches a stew like consistency and thus a delicious milagootal is ready to gobble up with rice.

I would love to contribute my recipe to Sailu's Jihva For Ingredients(JFI) with Lentils as the main ingredient and Iam very pleased in announcing that I have chosen Toor Dhal as the main ingredient.Hope you all like this dish.If you do, the credit goes to my good friend S.

Onion & Brinjal Sambar(Ulli Vankai Pulusu)

This dish combines a bit of sweet from jaggery and heat from the sambhar powder and makes it a sweet-savory dish. This dish does not incorporate any dhal as in the regular sambhar or pulusu. I have learnt this dish from my mother who makes it really awesome. I have tried this pulusu with eggplants and today with brinjals ,and both have turned out to be great. In the eggplant version I just used two medium sized eggplants and the rest of the recipe is just the same. This dish should be a balance of both sweet and hot and if one becomes more it tends to be too sweet or too hot.So try to keep a check on both.Other than that it's a good-to-go recipe.

Ingredients

Brinjals-13 med
small onions-2 cups chopped(big & small red onions)
tamarind- lemon size thick extract
jaggery - 2 tsp
sambar pdr-2 heaped tsp(MTR or any good homemade)
salt- to taste
curry leaves&coriander leaves-garnish

Seasonings

mustard -1/2 tsp
hing- a dash

Method

1. Heat some oil and fry the onions till dark brown and keep aside in a plate.
2. Now again take some oil and fry the brinjals till they completely change color.
3. Now mix the onions with the brinjals.
4. Pour just enough water to cover the brinjals along with the tamarind extract,jaggery,salt,sambhar powder and mix nicely.Do not pour extra water at all.
5. Pressure cook for only one whistle and finally mix in chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves.
6. Season with mustard and hing and pour over the thick pulusu.

10 Dishes I miss the most

This is a meme created by dear fellow blogger Garam Masala and she has tagged me with this meme and I love to take part in writing a shortlist of the 10 items I miss of my mum's cooking. Here goes the list

1. Soft Chappathies which I love to eat plain or sometimes roll'em up with sugar.
2. Warm phulkas dabbed with ghee.
3. Her Jasmine like Idlis with spicy Garlic Chutney..OOhhh mouthwatering already thinking of it..
4. Sambara Vada-Not the regular vada but a flat like disc deep fried in oil
5. Ghee Biscuits
6. Snake gourd Curry-Just heavenly with dhal rice.
7. All her simple yet tasty soups.
8. Salads-Full of variety and flavour.We have it before lunch as a starter.
9. Her Dhal Kichdi with Kadhi-Yummy,savory and really a killer combo.
10. I adore her Dosa along with Bombay Chutney.

Well Iam already salivating thinking about all these dishes and I thank Garam Masala who has given me a chance to share this with you all. I would love to tag Sailu, Lera, RP, Reshma and KrishnaArjuna for this meme....and if I have forgotten anybody else you are most welcome to join this meme...Iam sure this should bring back all those tasty and delicious memories...

Raagi Roti

Hello Friends!!! Iam so happy to be blogging about Raagi roti. I have seen Indira's Raagi Sankati, VKN's Raagi Dosa, Sailu's Raagi Roti and many other incredible bloggers who have created a wonderful dish out of this flour.Well today I thought let me try to create one such tasty but still simple simple dish from this flour that can be really done in no time.Yes, it is indeed a nice recipe that I would like to contribute to Tony's Curry Mela and share with you all. I personally liked the introduction given by Sailu about Raagi and I do ask everybody to give it a glance.

Ingredients

Ragi- 1 cup
onions- 1/2 (Chop thinly)
tamarind paste - a tad bit
water - 1 1/4 cup
salt - 1 tsp

Seasonings

mustard-1/2 tsp
curry leaves-2 sprigs
g.chillies- 4(thin round slices)

Method

1. Heat oil in a big sauce pan.Crackle mustard seeds.Add chillies, fry them and then add curry leaves.Now add onions and fry just for 2 min.
2. Now add 1 1/4 cup of water.Once heated add the tad bit of tamarind paste and mix till color of water changes.Now add salt(1tsp).Close the sauce pan and let the water boil.
3. Once the water boils reduce the flame completely and add the ragi flour as a heap in the centre and just put a laddle in the center and close the lid and the let the ragi cook for just another 10 min.
4. Now switch off the flame,mix the ragi flour with the ladle briskly.
5. Once the dough becomes warm and pliable make into 3 equal balls.
6. Now pat it onto a med hot pan with oil as base, like a roti and fry equally on both sides with oil.(Tip:Just spray ur hand with water before patting so that it is easy to make a thin dough or else try pressing the dough with a flat spatula to give a thin & round shape)
7. Now serve this nutritious roti with ghee/ sugar/ pickle or just about anything and it's all your choice.

Carrot Spicy Curry

CARROTS are a taproot, a type of root which grows downwards into the soil and swells. Carrots come in many sizes and shapes: round, cylindrical, fat, very small, long or thin.The edible part of a carrot is a taproot.The carrot has a thick, fleshy, deeply colored root, which grows underground, and feathery green leaves that emerge above ground. It is known scientifically as Daucus carota, a name that can be traced back to ancient Roman writings. Carrots belong to the Umbelliferae family along with parsnips, fennel caraway, cumin and dill which all have the umbrella-like flower clusters that characterize this family of plants.



Ingredients

Carrots - 5 long
onion-1/4 of large

Seasoning
mustard-1/2 tsp
urad dhal-1/2 tsp
curry leaves-2 sprigs
r.chillies-3
asafoetida-dash

Powders
garlic podi-1 tsp (generally used to mix with rice)
r.chilli pdr-1/2 tsp
coconut podi-1/2 tsp (the spicy version made at home used to mix with rice)
turmeric pdr-1/2 tsp

Method

1. Dice carrots.Cook them in microwave till 3/4th done.
2. In a skillet heat 2 tblsps of oil. Season with mustard,urad dhal,r.chillies,curry leaves, asafoetida.
3. Add chopped onions.Fry till dark brown.Add turmeric pdr.
4. Now add the 3/4 th cooked carrots,add salt and fry till soft. Now add the rest of the powders.Mix well for sometime and turn off heat.