Happy Halloween 2010

                                                        Happy Halloween 2010

My Kids Won The Scare Crow Contest of 2010.             

Samosa

Ingredients:

Oil : to deep fry.

For Samosa sheets:

Atta (wheat flour)  : 1 cup

All purpose flour  : 1 cup

Oil : 1 tsp

Salt : as needed

water: to make dough

For Stuffing:

Potatoes : 2 boiled and diced

Green chillies: 3

Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Turmeric: 1/4 tsp

Red chillie pwd: to taste

Salt : to taste

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves : chopped

Chat masala: 1/2 tsp (optional)

Lime juice : 1/2 lime

Oil

Making Samosa sheets:

Take a bowl add maida,atta,salt, 1 tsp oil mix well then add water to make a soft dough rest it for 10min.

Potato stuffing:

Heat some oil in the pan,add the cumin seeds,ginger garlic paste,green chillies.

and  turmeric mix well and let cook for few mins.

Then add the red chillie pwd, coriander pwd and cumin pwd.

Add little water so the masalas don't burn.
Then add the diced potates,salt and coriander leaves.sprinkle the lime juice over it.

Making Samosa's:

In a small bowl add 1tsp of maida mix with some water and make a paste keep a side.

Now take  the dough make a thin chapaties and take a pan slightly cook the chapatis both the sides do not cook more.

Once chapaties are ready cut the chapati sheets into long triangle shape.

Now apply maida paste one side of the sheet make a cone shape stuff the mixture in the cone then close the edge.

In a pan add oil to deep fry, first half fry and remove  then after 5min fry again till golden colour.

Enjoy.

Pani Puri for Indian Cooking Challenge

For making pani puri:

Sooji (Semolina) 1 cup
Maida (Plain Refined Flour) 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil for Frying
Baking soda: pinch.

For Spicy Pani or Spicy Water / Mint Water

Mint Leaves 1  cups
Coriander Leaves handful .
Tamarind pulp 3 tsp1/3 cup
Green Chillies 2
Roasted Cumin powder 1 tsp.
Salt to taste

Potato Filling

Boiled Potato, grated to form a fine paste, sauteed in 1 tsp Oil along with Roasted Cumin powder, Red chili powder, salt.

For Red Tamarind Chutney

Tamarind 1 cup
Jaggery 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Dry Roasted cumin powder 1 tsp
Warm water 2 cups
Salt to taste
Garlic cloves: 2

Method to prepare:

For pani puri:

In a bowl take semolina, plain flour, salt and knead well to make a stiff dough, leave it bit stiffer than normal. Actually since Rava was so much, the moment I add drops of water, it formed a stiff dough. I left at to rest for nearly 45 mins.

Cover it with a wet muslin cloth and let it rest till you get other things ready. Actually if it rests for more it tends to roll out best.

Then pinch out very small balls and roll them into small circles. 

Remember you will be eating these as whole, so make small circles

Put the rolled out circles back under the muslin cloth while you are rolling the rest and before they can be fried.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, deep fry the puris

The idea is to puff them and fry them till golden brown.

Take them out and put them on kitchen paper towel, to get rid of the extra oil.

Notes: Allow the puris to cool before storing them in an airtight container. Else they will become soggy.


For making spicy water or Pani

Extract pulp from the tamarind 

Add mint leaves, coriander, chillies and dry roasted cumin seed to the tamarind pulp. Add little water and blend to a smooth paste.

Add salt and black rock salt to taste.

Put it in the fridge to cool down.

Add water as required. 

How to make Red Tamarind Chutney

Extract the pulp from tamarind. 

Recipe asks you to pound the roasted cumin seeds along with garlic cloves. But I am not for such process. I always have roasted cumin powder on hand, so used that instead. And cloves, well!

To the tamarind pulp add jaggery, red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and salt.

You are supposed to cook this over low flame and store once it cools. But I used it as raw.


Assembling the Pani Puri :

Poke a small hole in the center of the  Puri.


Add little chopped onion.
Add a tsp of mashed boiled potato / Channa in the middle of the puri. Add a little of the red tamarind Chutney. Dip it in the spicy water / pour some spicy water in it



Gulp it down.

Enjoy.

Aresalu for Indian Cooking Challenge

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 200 gms 
Paku Jaggary - 250 gms
Sesame Seeds - 2 tsp or less
Gasa gasa or Poppy Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method:

Soak rice for 6 hrs and then shade dry it. Meaning it should not become dry but should still have some wetness in the rice. You can either grind this to fine powder using your mixie or give to mill. The rice flour should have that texture of soft and wet feeling when you take a handful and also it should kind of retain your fist shape. Hope you understand what I am saying. This is very important because if the flour is very dry it wouldn't turn out well.

Have all the things ready when you put the jaggary for cooking.

Take water that is enough to dilute jaggary. Dissolve the jaggary. Remove any impurities that may be present. Then again cook till the pakam is ready. The consistency here is also very important. Hope you know that pakam is calculated as threads. 

This is how we check the thread consistency, when the jaggary starts boiling and becomes thick, carefully take a small bit and touch it between your thumb and Index fingers. A thread will be formed when you take your fingers away from each other.

Likewise when the syrup becomes thick, you can find 3 threads being formed. So after 3 thread consistency the jaggary is really cooked well and it become thick. When you take a bit and put it in water, you should be able to make a ball of it. This is when you know the pakkam is ready.

Remove from fire, and add poppy seeds, sesame seeds and cardamom. Mix well. Then slowly add the rice flour and keep mixing well. The consistency is very important, so you need to add the flour little by little. Mix till you get a chapati dough consistency. End of this, you may still have some flour left out.

Divide into lemon size balls. Grease a plastic sheet and your fingers. Place the ball on the sheet, and pat it down to a poori size. 

Heat oil for frying and slowly drop these discs into the hot oil. You can simmer for a while until you know the inside is cooked. Turn to the other side and cook till its golden in colour. If you are cooking alone, you can roll out one by one and cook. Else it might get burnt. Once done, remove and drain on a Kitchen towel.

1 year and 100th post celebrations

Hooray its been 1 year since i started my blog, and I want to celebrate it with my achievement of my article getting published in Hindu newspaper. 

 

You can find the original posting in the following link.


http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/01/16/stories/2010011651111000.htm

Happy Valentines Day 2010

Sledding in Maine 2010

Happy Sankranti 2010

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients:

Carrots: 8 peeled and grated

Sweetened condensed milk: 1 can (14 oz)

Evaporated Milk: 1 can (14 oz)

Elachi pwd: 2 tsp

Butter or ghee: 4 tbsp

Powdered milk: 4 tbsp

Raisins: 1/2 rice cup

Method:


 In heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the evaporated milk, ground cardamom and carrots. Heat to boiling and stir constantly.Reduce the heat and continue stirring.
Cook the carrot mixture on medium heat for approximately 30 to 45 minutes until milk is completely absorbed.
Remove from heat, and add sweetened condensed milk and butter. Stir vigorously until well blended.
Return to low heat to continue cooking. Return mixture to low heat and continue cooking until carrots become very soft and dry.
In small bowl, combine powdered milk with a few spoons of water to make a paste.
Add milk mixture to carrot mixture in small spoonfuls. Combine slowly, then stir in raisins.
Cover and store in refrigerator for at least 8 to 10 hours, preferably overnight before serving. 


Enjoy.

Ribbon Pakodi

Ingredients: 

Moong dhal: 2 tbsps

Channa dhal: 2 tbsps

Toor dhal: 2 tbsps

Yellow roasted channa dhal: 2 tbsps

Urad dhal: 1 tbsp

Rice flour: 2 cups

Hot oil: 2 tbsps

Salt: to taste

Baking soda: pinch

Chili pwd: to taste

Oil : to deep fry

Method:


Roast all the dhal separately until golden brown, cool and powder finely in the blender. To this add rice flour along with the 2 tbsps hot oil, salt baking soda, chili pwd. 
Mix well, add enough water to make stiff dough.
Add to chakli press with ribbon slit plate and press out into the hot oil to deep fry until golden brown. 
Drain on paper and store in air tight container.


Enjoy.

Satyanarayana Swami Puja 2009

Satyanarayana Swami Prasadam 2009

Chalimidi and Vada pappu:

Ingredients:

Moong dhal: 1/2 rice cup

Rice flour: 1/2 rice cup

Jaggery: 2 tbsps

Water

Banana: 1 sliced

Coconut : 1/2 make into small pieces

Method: 

Soak moong dhal for about 1/2 hour, and drain off the water.

Mix the rice flour and jaggery with little water until you form a dough.

Offer this to the god as prasadam.

Can eat it after puja with coconut pieces and sliced banana.

Rava prasadam:

Ingredients:

Cracked brown wheat:  1 rice cup

Sugar: 3/4 rice cup

Raisins: 2 tbsps

Ghee: 2 tbsps

Method:

Mix all the ingredients and offer it to god as prasadam.

Semiya kesari:

Ingredients:

Semiya: 1 cup

Sugar: 3/4 th cup

Milk: 1 1/2 cups

Water: 1 1/2 cups

Elachi pwd: 1/2 tsp

Raisins: 1 tbsp

Ghee: 3 tbsps

Method: 

In a pan heat the ghee, fry the raisins and keep aside.
To the remaining ghee add the semiya and fry until golden brown, add sugar and mix well. 

Now add water and milk and cook on low heat until it becomes thick.

Now add the elachi pwd and raisins and mix well. 

Remove from heat and let cool.

Enjoy.