@ Taste Corner : January Musings ,New Year Resolutions and So Much More!!

 Today is Jan 18,2021. It is a federal holiday here in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King was born on January 15,1929.He is known for his civil rights movement and peace movement. He believed in non-violence and was also inspired by non violent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. And he delivered the very powerful and iconic "I have a dream" speech on the steps of Lincoln memorial on August 28,1963. The message conveyed through this speech is so beautiful and powerful. I have provided the audio link below for bloggers and non-bloggers interested to hear this speech. 

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-dream-address-delivered-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom

We are already in the third monday of January and a myriad of events are happening around me. The riots at the Capitol, the ever increasing human death toll due to the Covid crisis , upcoming president-elect Joe Biden's  inauguration, a promising vaccine, and the list goes on endlessly. Anyway whatever goes on in that outside  world, the only thing that keeps me going is my desire to blog , bake and brew my cup of chai :-). And well that brings me exactly to my banana chocolate bread  recipe and my almost forgotten new Year Resolutions...haha. Thankfully and thoughtfully this year my resolutions are very straight forward. I am hoping to have a blog post every single month and also to be more proactive.

Below is my January recipe share- Banana Chocolate bread

Wet ingredients

ripe bananas - 3

sour cream -1/4 cup

butter -1 stick melted

eggs - 2 eggs

sugar - 1 cup

vanilla essence 1 tsp

Dry ingredients

all purpose flour -2 cups

baking soda - 1 tsp

salt - 1/2 tsp

Optional Ingredients

semi sweet chocolate chips - 1/2 cup 

walnuts - 1/2 cup fine chopped

Procedure

Mix both the dry and wet ingredients . Incorporate until well mixed. Make sure there is no dry flour left in the bowl. Add in optional ingredients and stir. Bake at 350C in a loaf pan for 1 hr. Cool for 15 min before cutting into slices.

Below is my 1000 piece puzzle that we started after Christmas and finished it on MLK day!!! Thanks to my sis who inspired me to start this puzzling activity. To be honest it is quite addictive and I am extremely happy it is complete today. I am so ready to commence my next project ..."Growing Tomatoes from Seeds". 

Magic @ Taste Corner - adiós 2020 hola 2021!!!!

I came across this quote "The way I see it ,if you want the rainbow,you gotta put up with the rain" while surfing the web. This quote immediately struck a chord with what we as a nation have endured so far hoping there would be light at the end of the tunnel. With that promise and with that sincere hope, I want to end 2020 and open up to 2021 with possibilities, dreams, and wishes coming true not just for me but for all those reading my blog and also my future blog readers --haha-- ☺

This so happened the other day, that my older son who has turned 14 years old was reading one of my old blog posts and saw one blog post titled"It's a Boy". He then commented "Mom! this blog is even older than me!" and to which my younger one who is now 6 years responded by asking if that post was about him. Sadly I responded by saying no. That post was actually an announcement about the arrival of his older brother. My little one asked if I had a blog post announcing something about him and again I sadly responded by saying no. But I ensured him by saying that I would write something about him in my next post. So here I go with my announcement of my little one after 6 years ☺. Chirpy, fun, and happy is how he loves to be, and that's how I  want 2021 to be for all of us. I have included here something that he wants to convey to the world through my blog in his own sweet little words!

" I am a grown up boy. I do lots of fun things in school. I do stuff in some Clever and IReady and IStation and Seesaw and RazKids. I do reading in RazKids and math in IReady. I have a very big brother. He is 14."

Well now I can feel less guilty and more happy that I made my little chirpy one a little more chirpier. Hooray!

Ok now for the magic part that I wanted to share was indeed a magic recipe (or you could even call it a Rasoi magic recipe!) which makes me think I can make magic in the kitchen and call myself  a magic maker ..haha.. Anyways for those who are not familiar with the term Rasoi, it means kitchen in Hindi. Rasoi Magic quite literally translates to magic in the kitchen. Rasoi Magic is a brand which manufacture spice mix packets that require just 3 steps to complete a dish. Those packets are such a time saver for hectic days. And without any further ado, here is my recipe for Paneer Tikka Masala.

1) Make tomato puree out of 3-4 tomatoes and keep it aside. 

2) Open your paneer tikka masala spice mix and make your magic paste with a cup of milk.

3) In a pan, heat oil and add the tomato puree.After 2 or 3 min add your magic masala paste and mix in  your fresh or fried paneer.

Peanut & Sesame Ladoo

 

Ingredients

• peanuts - 1 c
• white sesame seeds - 3/4 c
• jaggery - 1.5 c
• ghee - 4 spoons
• cardamom powder - 4 

Recipe

• Roast the peanuts in a  300 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then deskin peanuts.
• Roast the sesame seeds lightly in a pan.
• In a food processor, blend the peanuts, sesame seeds, and jaggery to a fine powder.
• Now add the ghee and cardamom powder to the mix, and shape it into balls.

Rajma for Roti and Rice - Mom's Recipe

Amongst all the recipes that I have tried, tested, and tasted, this is by far the best recipe that I have ever made for Rajma curry. All I had to do was sit down patiently with my mom to hear out the recipe, ask her all the questions, clarify all the doubts, until I decided to finally go ahead making this recipe . I asked her if  I could use yogurt instead of fresh cream for the final topping? She suggested that I could boil some milk and use that cream for the topping which is what I did with this recipe. Also I did not have the dried Kasoori Methi for the final garnish so I chose to omit it. 

I used two large heirloom tomatoes in this recipe from my vegetable garden. Just to describe the color of tomatoes, they were like a mix of red, purple, and black, and when I cut them I felt like I was cutting a purple beetroot. For the taste part, they didn't have a flavor profile like a regular tomato. I didn't taste the usual sourness, sweetness or anything. You could say they tasted very mildly sweet.

Ingredients

onion - 1 large

tomatoes - 2 big 

garlic cloves - 4

ginger - 1/2 inch

green chillies - 4

red kidney beans - 2 cups

fresh cream - topping

Recipe

1. Soak kidney beans overnight . 
2. Cook rajma till soft. I used the Instant Pot Bean/Chilli setting.
3. Chop onion, tomatoes,garlic,ginger,green chillies roughly  and saute them in some oil for few min. 
4. Grind them into a nice smooth paste.
5. Heat some oil in a pan and add turmeric powder, chilli powder,cumin powder,coriander powder, garam masala powder and finally some rajma masala powder . I haven't provided measurements because it is all per taste.Saute for a min just making sure not to overburn the spice powders.
6. Now add the tomato/onion paste and saute your paste for 30 min in a medium flame, yes 30 min , stirring once every few  minutes. Once you are at that 30 min point you would get a fantastic aroma . 
7. Add the cooked rajma along with the rajma water along with required salt and simmer for another 10 to 12  min until all the gravy is well combined.
8. Finally top with some fresh cream.

Eggless Nutella Cake during lockdown

This cake is surprisingly simple and easy compared to other cakes that take enormous amounts of time in  preparing, baking, and then finally getting to eat. I have been visiting blogs and vlogs to find the perfect recipe to make for my nephew's birthday. And finally landed on this recipe link.
https://bakingcherry.com/fluffy-and-moist-nutella-cake-egg-free/.  Finally I had ended my search after I found the perfect recipe that matched the ingredients in my pantry. Hooray!


Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups
baking powder - 4 tsps
oil - 1/2
nutella - 1 cup
milk - 1 1/2 cups

Toppings
Crushed almonds - for garnish

Frosting
Nutella - 1/4 cup

Recipe
1. Whisk together all-purpose flour and baking powder .
     Add milk and oil into the mix and stir enough to make  a smooth paste.
2. Add nutella and combine to make a smooth paste. Do not over mix.
3. Pour into a greased 9 inch round cake pan.
4. Bake at 350F oven for 30 min.
5. Cool cake and apply nutella on top of cake when the cake is slightly warm.
6. Garnish whole cake with crushed almonds. Cake is ready to be served.

Rotini - White Sauce Pasta

Oh wow, this recipe is a keeper for sure. Thanks to Hebbar's Kitchen for posting this recipe, I am very glad I tried this! I could easily scale up the recipe to a pound of pasta. To scale up the recipe for a pound of pasta, I just increased the amount of butter, plain flour and the milk. Also for the veggies, I used a mix of sweet peppers, instead of the usual green bell peppers. I used red onions and also the mixed veggie bag that I usually purchase from BJ's. I certainly did not want to increase the spice level of the dish, because the spice tolerance in my family ranges from mild to medium to hot, so I just wanted to keep it simple and not spicy!

Ingredients

For white sauce
butter - 4 tbsp
all purpose flour - 6 tbsp
milk - 4 cups
chili flakes -1/2 tsp
basil - 1/2 tsp
oregano -1/2 tsp
salt- 1/2 tsp
crushed pepper -1/2 tsp

For veggies
garlic cloves - 4 finely chopped
onions - 3/4 cup chopped into squares
sweet peppers -1/2 cup chopped into squares
mixed veggies - 1 1/2 cups (beans,carrots,peas,corn)
salt -1/2 tsp
black Pepper -1/2 tsp finely crushed

For pasta
tri color rotini - 1 lb or 4 cups of uncooked pasta
water - 6 cups
salt - 1 tsp

Recipe
1. Cook the pasta for 8-9 min in salted boiling water. The pasta does not need to be completely cooked. It needs to be al-dente. Strain the pasta and keep it aside.
2. For your veggies, heat some oil, add garlic to the oil, and sauté till the garlic turns brown. Add your onions, sweet peppers and mixed veggies and sauté for just 3-4 min. Add salt and pepper. Keep it aside. The veggies need to have a crunchy texture, so there is no need to saute it for more than 3 or 4 min.
3. For your white sauce, heat butter and add flour. Mix really well until the mixture turns aromatic. Incorporate the milk one cup at a time and stir it until it thickens. Now add the seasonings mentioned and mix well. Add your sautéed veggies to the sauce and mix well. Finally add in your cooked pasta and mix well.
4. Serve your pasta with a sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese.

Pizza - No Yeast

My very first attempt at making Pizza was quite exciting  and  quite nerve racking too. But I can say with a smile that all my effort at making pizza was very well worth the effort and something I will certainly love to do again. I wish I had tried this much sooner. Well it is never too late to learn something new :-) Anyway here goes my very first attempt at making pizza..

My very first Pizza !!!!!

Pizza Dough
yogurt - 1/4 cup
all purpose flour - 2 cups
water - 1/2 cup
baking powder - 1/2  tsp
baking soda - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
sugar - 1 tsp
oil - 2  tbsp

Pizza Sauce
onions - 1/4 cup finely chopped
garlic - 3 cloves
tomatoes -5(blanched)- make puree of 3 blanched tomatoes and chop remaining finely.
tomato ketchup - 1 pkt
hot and sweet tomato sauce - 2 tbsp
oregano - 1 tsp
basil - 1 tsp
chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - per taste
sugar - 1 tsp

Recipe
1. For the dough - Add yogurt in a bowl, add in sugar,baking powder, baking soda, salt,oil and mix        well until frothy. Now add in the flour and mix well to a crumbly texture. Add water and knead to a smooth dough. (Tip: This step is critical. You can add couple more spoons of water to make it even more of a smooth to a sticky dough). But I went with 1/2 cup and it just turned out fine. Grease dough with oil and rest the dough for 30 min.

2. For the sauce - Heat oil in a pan, add in the onions, garlic and saute well. Add chopped tomatoes. Saute well. Add the puree, ketchup, hot and sweet tomato sauce, all the aromatics and saute really well. Your pizza sauce should be ready.

3. Time for Pizza - Roll out your dough nice and round , then prick the rolled out dough all around and then transfer to a baking sheet(mine is a rectangular baking sheet ) ,spread your pizza sauce, top with your favorite cheese(I used Mexican), add your favorite toppings(I used onions and  jalapeno)and fold your dough at the edges to resemble a folded crust, and bake your pizza at 425 for about 8 - 12 min or until your  crust is firm. 

Wholesome No-Yeast Bread Recipe

Hello Bloggers,

I  am so happy to be back here in my blog after a very long gap. I just don’t know how these last 7 years have  passed. Lots of things have happened in the past 7 years . I don’t know if it is my kids, if it is my work, or just about anything, I just  couldn’t find myself to sit and write down a recipe. Over the years I have tried too many recipes off the Internet. Some of them have turned out really well and some not that much. Today is such a recipe that has turned out adequate enough , both my kids gave a thumbs up to this recipe which makes me think that this recipe will live a little longer.. :) . OK for bloggers who are wondering what I  have tried, here it is... it is a simple loaf of bread .. A bread that has no yeast. Well I had to try this bread for two reasons, one being the unavailability of yeast during this quarantine period and another trying to find an alternative for making bread without yeast. Here we go...





Ingredients

Wet
oats - 1 cup - can be old fashioned or quick cooking ones
oil - 1/4 cup( I used sunflower oil)
egg- 1 whole
yogurt - 1 cup
milk - 1 cup
honey - 1/4 cup


Dry
whole wheat flour - 1 1/3 cups
all purpose flour - 1 cup
baking powder - 2 1/4 tsp
baking soda - 1/4  tsp
salt - 1 1/4

Recipe
1. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan sufficiently with butter and set it aside.
2.For the wet ingredients, in a medium bowl, mix together the oats, yogurt, milk, oil, honey, and egg until well blended. Set this mix aside for at least 45 minutes to allow the oats to hydrate.
3.For the dry ingredients, in a separate large bowl, stir together the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4.After 45 min stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture until combined but not over mixed as minimal mixing results in a light bread. I did have to add an extra 1/4 cup milk because it seemed like it needed it.
5.Pour the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges and sprinkle a few more oats on top.
6. Preheat oven to 375°F and bake the bread in the middle rack for 55 minutes or until golden brown.
7.Remove from the oven and place the loaf on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.
8. You could also store this bread at room temperature for 3 days or refrigerated up to a week. Also this bread can freeze well for an amazing toast.


https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/hearty-no-yeast-bread-recipe/ - Original Recipe

Carrots with Red Pepper Hummus

 

Wow! Finally I made  my hummus...my Sweeeet redpepper hummus.Few days back my colleague and I went to  Jason's deli . We  went there  to try their  salads because we heard a lot about their salad bar and just seen about everyone enjoy it in my office.And true to what I heard and saw, the salad bar was really quite  excellent with an amazing assortment of  veggies , pastas ,dressings, nuts  and all kinds of healthy stuff. On top of this the service was very friendly.This is where I eat this hummus and fell in love with it. I definitely wanted to try this at home and browsed a gazillion recipes in the Net and most hummus recipes were more or less like the one I have below. Some recipes called for anywhere between 1 to 3 cloves of garlic.But I felt even 1 clove of garlic was too pungent.So my suggestion would be to use just a half garlic clove.

Ingredients

chickpeas- 16 oz
tahini paste- 2 tblsp(Storebought or homemade--Toast sesame seeds just for few min in a fry pan and make a paste with enough vegetable oil. Tip: Need not toast until sesame seeds turn brown.)
garlic- 1/2 clove
olive oil - 1/4 cup
roasted red peppers - 2 nos(lenghty red  peppers)
salt - 1/2 tsp
blackpepper- 1/2 tsp

Method
Blend all the above ingredients in a food processor or blender to a smooth,creamy texture.
Serve with vegetables like
carrot sticks,
celery,
broccolli,
yellow or red peppers or more snacks like tortilla chips

 

The Italian Cook Book The Art of Eating Well by Maria Gentile

Foodies Read Challenge 2013

I dont know why I picked this book..may be this book was a Kindle freebie:-) Nah! Before I picked this book I had been to the library to see if I could find some good books and after much browsing and walking on the library floors I excitedly collected all my much hopeful books and went to the counter to be thrown into a surprise. Hmm.. I was asked to become a paid member. Suddenly I became a non resident. Anyway long story short I gave up all those books and ended up with my Kindle freebie book. Anyway that's the short story behind my first challenge book called 'Italian Cooking Art of Eating' by Maria Gentile . This cookbook is based from the 1920's or 1919 to be exact. It made  a pretty good read for a silent Friday evening . Learnt few Italian words if not a whole lot of recipes because most of the recipes were meat based and since I am a vegetarian it was incredibly hard for me to really bury myself into this book like I do with other vegetarian books.Most of the recipes were short, unembellished, cut the chase kinda recipes and would make perfect sense to the veteran Italian cook.

Some recipes that struck a chord with me,

Fried Eggplants(Melanzane Fritte)
Stuffed Tomatoes(Pomodori Ripieni)
Ravioli
Basic sauces like Tomato Sauce(Salsa di Pomidoro)
Some fruit based desserts ,puddings,cakes and syrups also  made an interesting read

Here are a few Italian  fun foodie words..to tickle your brain!!

Soups- Zuppa
Vegetables -
peas-Piselli/Spinach-Spinaci/Tomatoes- Pomodori/Onions- Cipolle/Cauliflower-cavolfiore/Cabbage- cavolo/Eggplants-melanzane
Others-
Omlette-frittata/ frying-fritto,Fried-fritte/Paste- pastella/Oven- forno/Icecream -gelato/Sauce- salsa

Foodies Read Challenge - Sous Chef Level

" Foodies Read sounds like a very interesting challenge to me and I am going to go to the library this weekend to  pick  some good food books and get started to read... Thanks Vicki for hosting this CHALLENGE! My list is currently empty but my goal is to read a food book a month and post about it!!! So here goes!! Interested bloggers and non-bloggers are welcome to join the bandwagon with me...

12.  

 

Idli Time

I have been making Idli for 10 years now  and it is suprising that I didn't post this recipe much sooner.  Anyway that being said,I have been thinking to finish this year with a good blog post  and all of a sudden Idli pops  in my mind not because of the fluffy Idli batter sitting in my fridge :) or if it is the easiest thing to make for dinner...Sh!!

Here's how I make the Idli

Ingredients

Idly rice -4 cups
Urad dhal - 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds -10
poha or  rice flakes - a handful
salt - 3 tsp

Method
Soak the rice and dal separately in water  overnight. Add the fenugreek and poha to the dal itself. Next day grind the dal to a frothy texture for about 30 min in a  grinder with sufficient water. Transfer to a big stock pot(I use 8.0 Qt/7.6Ltr). Grind the soaked idli rice for about 45 min to a fine paste making sure water is added at intervals until the end as rice has a tendency to become thick if less water is added or too thin if more water is added, so the right amount of water should be added to the rice while grinding. Add salt during the grinding process itself. Once the rice has reached a fine consistency it is time to transfer it  to the vessel with the dal. Use your hand to mix the rice and dal batter. Leave the batter out in the big vessel to ferment until next day if it is summer or 2 days if it is winter. Cold winter temperatures does not help with the fermentation process,  but what I have discovered is using Tupperware containers helps  fermentation greatly during winter.

 

Sprouted Mung Bean Curry

Soaking beans and sprouting them requires a bit of patience or a bit more patience to get it right. I had tough time sprouting my mung beans because of the quality of beans. From one cup of beans, I got only a half cup's worth of fully soaked and sprouted beans ie about 2 cups of sprouted beans. Well the rest of the beans went right into the trash. Anyway a very good recipe that inspired me to make this curry is from the very popular online cooking show 'ShowmetheCurry'. I have modified this recipe according to the ingredients in my pantry and the result was a very yummy,delicious and a tasty curry that I am going to experiment with other sprouted beans varieties too.

Ingredients

sprouted mung beans - 2 cups

curry leaves - 4 leaves

salt - to taste

Masala paste

step1

mustard -1/4 tsp

fenugreek- 5 or 6

pepper corns - 6 or 7

red chillies-3

tomato -1

In a frying pan add little oil and heat it. Now add the above ingredients in the given order. Add to the blender when they are all well fried. Proceed to step 2.

step 2

hing- a pinch

turmeric-1/4 tsp

sweet onion - 1 med

Wipe the frying pan clean and now add little oil.Heat the oil. Add hing,turmeric and the chopped sweet onion.Saute well and combine this 'step 2' mixture and 'step 1' mixture in the blender. Add 70z (I used half of 13.5oz can which is 6.75 oz )of coconut milk to the blender and blend the ingredients to a fine paste. Keep the masala paste aside.

Method

Cook sprouted mung in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles. While cooking, add half a cup of water to the sprouts. Dont add more, since it will make the sprouts mushy. When the sprouts are done, add the paste ,water(about 2 cups approx), few curry leaves and salt to taste. Simmer the curry for about 5 to 7 min. Delicious curry is ready to serve along with rice or chappathis.

I am so happy that this post will be eligible for Susan's MLLA (My Legume Love Affair)Event, hosted this month by Sowjanya of Ruchikacooks.

Navarathna Kurma

This is a kurma that I make quite often at home. My hubby likes this kurma with rice very much and a combination which I totally detest. I can consume this kurma with almost any tiffin item like puri,dosa or chappathi but I just can't imagine eating with rice. But one thing that completely excites me is that Iam sending this post to Nupur's Blog bites event. This is an event that challenges bloggers to use pressure cookers,rice cookers and slow cookers and attempt recipes from another blog. Here is my humble attempt at doing just that. I have followed the recipe from Solai Chidambaram madam's blog.(Pls click the link to go to the recipe) She has a huge collection of veg and non-veg Chettinad recipes and a huge fan base too. My hubby found this website and asked me if I could make this kurma for him and after reading this recipe I wanted to do this immediately because of the easy way she explains this recipe. And here goes the recipe....

Masala Paste

Coconut grated-4 to 5 table spoons or half coconut
Cashews-6
Chutney dhal-1 tablespoon
Poppy seeds-1 teaspoon (optional)
Garlic-6 pods
Ginger-a small piece
Cinnamon-1 small piece
Clove-1
Cardamom-1
Fennel seeds-1 teaspoon
Green chilli-6(according to taste)
Keep the kadai in the stove. In a teaspoon of oil add the cinnamon, cardamom, clove and fennel seeds. Then add all other items one by one and coconut at the end. Fry in medium fire for 3 minutes. Grind it to a smooth paste.
Method

In a pressure cooker heat some oil. Season oil with spices like cinnamon, cardamom, clove and fennel seed. Add chopped onion(1) and tomato(1) pieces.Saute well.Add vegetables of your choice.Do not add more than 1 1/2 cups of veggies. Pour some water along with some salt and a tsp of chilli powder. Close the pressure cooker and cook until the steam escapes or until the veggies are cooked well. It is time to add the ground paste with a cup of water along with remaining salt.Add cauliflower and cooked peas now.Cook for 5 min and if you feel the curry is thick add water to dilute it or just leave it as such. This is such an easy dish that can be prepared less than 30 min.

BBJ (Blue Berry Jam) Toast

These are the same blueberries I was talking about a few days back while making my Blueberry crumble cake. I got them on sale and now I can buy them whenever they are on sale because I can make two perfect items from these bluey blueberries. One is the crumble cake and another is this glossy jam which uses a whole lot of blueberries. I am waiting to find a good recipe for blueberry muffins too but still havent formulated one or even browsed for one. If you guys come across one good recipe please do pass me the link.. My toddler son just loves muffins..especially banana nut muffins.Those are his favorite. Whenever I make it, I dont have to give it to him,he helps himself by opening the fridge and taking it. I have to just nuke a little.So friends, if you find a good recipe for blueberry muffins please do pass it on to me.

Ingredients

blueberries - 1 pint

sugar - 1 cup

juice of half a lemon

Method

1. Grind blueberries to an almost smooth paste.
2. Heat a stockpot. Add blueberries and sugar to the stock pot.
3. Now let the mixture heat up and bubble slowly for about 15 min making sure the temp is med. The reason for keeping medium temp is taking care not to burn the jam.
4. Now add the lemon juice and let it bubble for another 20 - 25 min.
5. Remove from heat and after few min the jam will be set.
6. While making bread toast, apply a layer of butter on the bread,then spread the blueberry jam for a nice,delicious taste.

Peanut Laddus(Senikai Unta)

The recipe for this laddu was given to me by my sister and it is the simplest recipe because it uses only two ingredients namely peanuts and jaggery. There is no syrup making in this recipe like most of the laddu recipes. The main reason I prefer this snack is because it is very healthy.

Peanuts are a powerhouse of protein and roasting them just boosts the level of antioxidants by a healthy 22% and according to Wikipedia these roasted peanuts even rivals the antioxidant content of the very famous berries. Well jaggery is also a harmless,natural, unrefined form of sugar that is very good for the body. It does not enter the bloodstream as rapidly as regular white sugar. People suggest taking jaggery alone for throat infections but after some research I found that it is indeed used in Ayurvedha for lung and throat infections.

My mom uses microwave to roast peanuts. She arranges the peanuts in a microwaveable tray and roasts them for about 3 min maximum, checking every minute taking care not to burn them. Roasting peanuts in a frypan is also fun. It takes a little more time than microwave but you can get the perfect texture.Iam using the conventional oven for the second time and this time I set my temperature to the lowest but took the longest to finish roasting...Next time I will stick to a higher temp like 425F and bake for just half the time...!

Anyway guys here goes the laddu recipe..........

Ingredients

Peanuts - 1 cup(skinless)

Jaggery - 1 cup

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F

2.Arrange peanuts on the tray. Roast for about 35 to 40 min.Once roasted powder these peanuts to about a semi fine powder.

3. Powder the jaggery to a fine powder.

4. Combine the powdered jaggery and peanuts.

5. Make balls and thus peanut laddus are ready.

Blueberry Crumble Cake

I have been buying these blueberries on and off. The very first time I bought blueberries I made a syrup to go with pancakes. I did not want to pop rest of these tart blueberries in my mouth. For the same reason I did not buy these for a long time.

But after watching much television and reading many a blogs, I have come to appreciate what this tiny,mighty and powerful fruit has to offer.So with all this in mind and with the unseasonal sale, I bought these blueberries . I got two boxes for the price of one. This time I certainly had few ideas in mind before buying them like muffins and pancakes but never thought about a cake, that too a crumble cake version. I got this recipe from Food Network by Chef Ina Garten. She has a video demonstration of this cake, but unfortunately I did not look at it until I was done with the cake.

For Streusel

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 pound(1 stick) unsalted butter,melted

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

For Cake

Wet Ingredients

6 tblsp butter(3/4 stick) room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

Dry ingredients

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blue berries

Method

For streusel : Mix all the ingredients and keep aside.

For cake : Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Butter and flour a 9 inch round cake pan. Prepare the dry and wet ingredients.Now add the dry to the wet ingredients and fold in the blue berries. Spoon the batter to the cake pan and spread it neatly. Now crumble the streusel topping evenly over the cake batter. Bake for 40 to 50 min.

Nippatu

Ingredients
Rice flour - 4 cups
udhi pindi powder or roasted urad flour- 1 1/2 handfuls
chilli powder - 3 tsp
salt - 3 tsp
black pepper + jeera - 1 1/2 tsp + 1 1/2 tsp = 3 tsp(crushed into fine coarse pdr)
hot oil - 1 big ladle

sesame seeds - a big handful
chutney dhal/senipapu - 1 1/2 cups(full/half/powdered)
peanuts - 1 1/2 cups(full/half/powdered)

Method
Mix all the above ingredients. Now this whole mixture makes about 80- 90 nipattus. This whole mixture makes about 1 kilo of nippatu powder. So divide it in half and freeze in a Ziplock bag to use later(This powder can last in freezer for about 6 to 8 months). In order to make this nipattu, take some powder (not all of it)like 2 or 3 handfuls of powder. Mix with water to make into a smooth(not wet or runny) mixture. Make balls and then press them down into thin patties on an oiled wax paper and deep fry in hot oil to a golden brown(not reddish brown ).

(In order to know if your oil is ready, just add the sample dough to the hot oil and if it springs back to the surface, the oil is ready) . Fry all the patties in the same manner. This is a very nutty,crunchy and delicious snack at tea time.

Easy Okra Curry

The recipe for Okra Curry given here is the reverse of what we follow in other curries and gravies ie in other curries, we do the seasonings first, then comes the onions and tomatoes and the vegetables, but here we start with the vegetable like okra first and then end with tomatoes. This is a simple variation of the regular curries that goes well with rotis and especially rice mixed with dhal and ghee.

Ingredients

okra - about 16 oz

onion - big handful

tomato- 1 diced

cumin - 1 tsp

curry powder - 1 tsp

chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

Heat oil in a pan.Season with cumin. Add cut okra. Saute well. Add curry powder,chilli powder and salt to taste. Add finely chopped onions. Saute for some time and then add neatly diced tomatoes. Finally garnish with coriander.This curry is good with rotis and dhal rice mixed with ghee.

Veg Biryani

Ok ...Readers of my blog....Please don't stop your mind if it thinks Huh.....Another Veg Biryani.... because the same thought would occur in my mind if I came across this title even randomly. Well, let there be hundreds of biryani recipes out there made up of different kinds of vegetables ,but today I want to share my experience of making this delectable biryani. It took about 2 hours to prepare this biryani along with raitha and the end result was simply awesome. I wish all the readers definitely give this biryani a try.

Well this recipe is inspired by my MIL. Whenever I want to make this recipe, Iam always short of atleast one or more items, so I scrub it off my mind and move on to another recipe. But today suprisingly, I had everything the recipe wanted and I was very jubilant about it. Anyway that said , here goes the recipe.
Recipe

Heat oil + ghee in a pan. Season the oil lightly with spices like cinammon,cardamom,fennel,cloves and star anise. Just one or two of these spices should be suffice to give good fragrance to the oil. Now saute the fragrant oil with sliced onions(half of big).Now stir in the ground paste. For the paste I made a smooth blend of the following ingredients.
coriander - 1/2 bunch
mint -1 bunch
garlic - 10 cloves
ginger- 1 inch
cloves- 12
ctinnamon - 4 small sticks
cardamom - 2
fennel - 2 tspAfter stirring in the paste, fry for few minutes(over frying not necessary) and then add 4 chopped tomatoes and fry for another few min till the tomatoes shrink. Now its time to drop in the veggies.
carrot & peas combo - 2 cups
corn - 1 cup
chopped potatoes - 1/2 cup
cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup
Once you stir in the veggies , add 4 cups of water, 2 cups of rice , 1 -2 tsp chilli paste and add salt. Taste now. Once taste is perfect, transfer the aluminium dish to the electric cooker and cook until done. If you are using a pressure pan, cook for 2 whistles or accordingly.