Avalakki Bisibele bhath

This dish is similar to bisi bele bhath, except instead of Rice, Avalakki(beaten paddy) shall be used. This is a very simple dish and can be used for breakfast too.

Ingredients:

Vegetables: Knool khol, potatoes, Carrot, Beans, Cauliflower, etc..
For Grinding: 
1 big tomato
2 spoons sambar powder
Little tamarind
Coconut

How to prepare?

1.Cook all the vegetables, 1 cup avalakki, 1/4 cup roasted Hesar bele, turmeric, salt and sufficient water for 3 to 4 whistles.
2.Grind the masala mentioned above with little water
3.Heat 4 spoons of oil in a wok, add mustard, sliced onions, capsicum, curry leaves, hing and fry well.
4.Add the grinded masala and cooked vegetables along with Avalakki and Hesar bele, little jaggery and stir well
5. If it is too thick, add some water. Check for the salt. You also can add 1 spoon rasam powder
5.Mix well and serve hot

Vegetable Soup

Serves:4 persons

Ingredients:

Any suitable kind of Vegetables like
Beans,Carrot,Green Peas,Cauliflower,Potato,Kohlrabi,etc.
Water
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable stock

For Vegetable stock:

Stock is a basic liquid which shall be used for any soup. It is made out of stock or so called stem of various vegetables or green leaves(Soppu)
1. Boil 2 cups of water.
2. Add Jeera,Lavanga,Chakke,Dhaniya,moggu, 1 carrot, coriander leaves stem(separate the leaves and add only the stem), Cauliflower stem(separate the cauliflower florets and add the white stems only), 1 chopped  onion. You also can add palak stem.
3. Boil well, Drain out the liquid and keep the liquid aside.
4. Keep the filtered vegetables aside

How to prepare the soup?

1. Pressurise all the vegetables mentioned in the top of this recipe along with the filtered vegetables (during the vegetable stock preparation),  for 3 whistles.
2. Add 2 cups of water and grind it in a mixer until the vegetables mash.
3.Transfer it in to a thick vessel, add pepper and salt.
4. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes

Serve hot

Hey Listen!!
The recipe sounds very lenghty, believe it, it is very easy to prepare. It is not so tedious as it appears.
Normally it is a practice to filter the grinded vegetables(step 2 in "How to prepare soup") and boil only the liquid portion. I do not suggest it, as we will loose the main substamce -the Vegetables.
Hence it comes out as a very healthy soup.
Have a try and i am sure you will like it

Tomato soup

Ingredients

5 to 6 Ripened Tomatoes
3 cups of Water
Pepper powder
Salt
Tomato sauce
Soya sauce
1 spoon Sugar
5 spoons cornflour

How to prepare?

1.Wash the tomatoes and pressure cook them for 3 whistles
2.Run it in a mixer with 1/2 cup of water
3.Transfer it to a thick bottom pan
4.Add corn flour and stir well, not to form lumps
5.Allow it to boil on medium flame.Add 3 cups of water, salt, pepper, tomato sauce,sugar and soya sauce
6.Let it boil well.
7.Add toasted bread pieces and serve hot

Ambadey

Ambadey is a fried dish, which tastes excellent escpecially when it is still hot.

Kadale bele:1 medium sized glass (or 1 measure)
Coriander leaves: Handful
Pudina: Handful
Coconut grated: 1 cup
Onions: 2 to 3, finely chopped
Salt: As per taste
Hing: a pinch
Green Chilly: 5 to 6
Very little water

How to Prepare?

1.Soak the Kadale bele in sufficient water for atleast 4 hours.
2. Grind the green chilies, a part of grated coconut and part of kadale bele, with very little water, few spoons.
3. Now grind rest of the kadale bele portion by portion in the mixer.
4.Mix everything with the left out grated coconut and little hing, along with coriander leaves, pudina leaves and onions.
5.Take small portions, heat oil in medium flame. Flatten this batter and fry it in the oil

Hey Listen!!If you would like the Ambadey to be crispy, do not grind to paste, that is, it should be only 60 to 65% paste not more


If you would like the Ambadey to come out soft, Grind it to paste

Serve hot. Best with Coffee or Tea

Veggy Dry Fry

Veggy dry fry is made of potatoes, Babycorn and Cauliflower. As the name indicates, it is a side dish which will turn to be dry, which can be consumed along with Chapatis or Dosas.

How to Prepare?

1. Cut cauliflower in to small flortes, babycorn in to slices and potato too in to small slices.
2. Heat sufficient oil in a pan. Add jeera, ginger and the above vegetables
3. When it is 3/4th cooked, add red chilly powder, salt, dhaniya powder, garam masala powder and little water. You can also add cinnamon powder and chat mansala powder if available.
4.Add little grated coconut and ½ spoon sugar
5. Garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze out ½ lemon
6. Fry it in medium flame until vegetables are fully cooked

Serve hot with preferably Chapatis

Hey Listen! If  you feel this is dry, you also can add 1/2 cup water and boil, to form a gravy

Paneer Peas Masala

Serves: 4 Persons

Ingredients:

Paneer: 10 medium sized cubes

2 Onions, sliced length wise

3 Tomatoes: finely chopped

Dhaniya Powder

Cream
Milk
Red Chilly powder: 2 to 3 spoons ideally, please alter it as per your requirement!
2 Green Chilies
Green Peas: 1 cup (Frozen can also be used)
Corn flour: 3 spoons
Jeera:1 Tbspoon
Turmeric powder
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Salt as per taste
1 small cup water
Coriander leaves
Lemon

How to Prepare?

1. Boil the Peas until cooked.
2. Heat Oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds, Jeera, green chilies, curry leaves, sliced Onions, turmeric powder, tomatoes, salt and fry well.
3. Add Dhaniya Powder, red chilly powder, corn flour. Mix well
4. Add 3 spoons milk, cream, boiled Peas, Paneer.
5. Add water and cook well on medium flame for 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Add Coriander leaves and squeeze out lemon juice

Serve hot.

Paneer Peas Masala

Serves: 5 Persons

Paneer: 10 medium sized cubes
2 Onions, sliced length wise
3 Tomatoes: finely chopped
Dhaniya Powder
Cream
Milk
Red Chilly powder: 2 to 3 spoons ideally, please alter it as per your requirement!
2 Green Chilies
Green Peas: 1 cup (Frozen can also be used)
Corn flour: 3 spoons
Jeera:1 Tbspoon
Turmeric powder
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Salt as per taste
1 small cup water
Coriander leaves
Lemon

How to Prepare?

1. Boil the Peas until cooked.
2. Heat Oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds, Jeera, green chilies, curry leaves, sliced Onions, turmeric powder, tomatoes, salt and fry well.
3. Add Dhaniya Powder, red chilly powder, corn flour. Mix well
4. Add 3 spoons milk, cream, boiled Peas, Paneer.
5. Add water and cook well on medium flame for 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Add Coriander leaves and squeeze out lemon juice

Serve hot.

Aloo Sabzi

Required Ingredients:

4 Potatoes
1/2 spoon Turmeric
1/2 spoon Red chily powder
1 spoon Cumin seeds
salt as per taste
2 to 3 spoons oil
Lemon

For the Puree:

2 roughly chopped onions
2 small Tomatoes
2 cloves of Garlic
1 inch chopped ginger
4 medium sized green Chilies
Little water

How to prepare?

1. Pressurise the potatoes and cut it to edible cubes.
2. Blend the "For the Puree" ingredients mentioned above in a mixer
3. Heat oil in a wok, add Jeera, turmeric powder, 1/2 spoon Red chili powder and salt.
4. Add the grinded paste and fry it medium flame until the raw smell vanishes partly
5. Add the boiled & cut potatoes.
6. Add little water, coriander leaves and squeeze 1/2 lemon. Cover it for 5 minutes until it gives out a nice aroma.

Serve hot with Chapatis, Dosas, etc.

Hey Listen! If the Sabji is not thick enough, add Corn flour directly and stir well

Hallo Reader,

Thank you for your precious time to glance at these pages...
I would like to give you a short introduction about this blog. This Blog is dedicated to my Mother, Kalpavalli and my Grandmom, Vedavalli who were great cooks. Unfortunately i lost them!!
My Grandmother was a fabulous cook, who used to be energetic at the age of 68. She wore a lovely smile Always on her face, anytime in the day. Relatives and neighbours used to come home just to visit her, with lots of affection, knowing that her hospitality to the guests were touchy...

We do celebrate Gokulashtami or Krishna Janmashtami in a big way. My Grandma used to prepare atleast 25 varieties of food for the festival alone, without anyone's help. She used to start her preparations 2 weeks before the festival. I was too young at that time and failed to collect the Recipes from her. Later, i started recalling some of her recipes and also started trying my own.

Pouring out from the heart, my mother was a great lady, well-known for her patience and tolerance. People loved her for her good qualities and nevertheless she was an extremely caring mother.

In their memory, i would like to recap the recipes which i have cooked, try the new recipes and also share it with you.

The recipes here are found on my experience. The Photos are taken as and when the dishes were prepared at home.

This is my First Recipe to the Blog. I hope you enjoy the Journey.

                                                        Sakkar Pongal

SakkarPongal is a South Indian Sweet, made especially during Pongal festival which follows in the month of January, every year. Different people prepare this dish in various ways. The below Recipe is Iyengar method of preparing.
This dish is mainly made of Rice and the Moong Dal.

Well, Are you feeling like eating yummy Sakkarpongal which is just similar to the one available in any good old temples?!! Then get the Recipe below and rush to the Kitchen.....

 Required Ingredients:

1 Cup Rice
1/4 Cup or little more Moong dal/Hesara Bele
1& 3/4th cup Jaggery
1/2 spoon Elachi/Cardamom powder
1/2 cup Fresh Ghee
1/2 cup grated dry coconut(ona kobbari)
8 to 10 Raisins
8 to 10 Cashew nuts

How to Prepare?

1. Fry the Moong dal in a small wok on medium flame, with 1/2 spoon Ghee, until it turns

    light Brown. Be cautious not to overheat it.

2. Wash the Rice and Pressure cook it with the above fried Dal, with sufficient Water.

    Let the water be more than what we use for cooking White Rice, in daily life.

3. Allow the cooker to cool, aside

4. Now, grate the Jaggery to reasonable pieces and place it in the Wok.

5. Add 1/2 cup water and allow it to melt in a medium flame, until the Jaggery melts fully

6. Once the boiling starts, add the cooked rice and the Dal.

7. Keep stirring. Add the Elachi Powder

8. Add the Ghee in small proportions now and then and keep stirring the contents of the wok.

   Let it cook for 10 minutes.

9. In a separate small wok, heat 4 to 5 spoons of Ghee, add Cashews and Raisins.
10.Grate dry coconut about 1/2 cup and add it to the pongal

11. Mix this to the above big wok

Serve Hot

Hey Listen!! While buying Jaggery, look for a dark colored one.

Also Do not add the Ghee at once, you need to keep stirring the pongal and add Ghee every now and then..