Rava oothappam

This is a very easy-to-make breakfast that is made using ingredients that are generally available in your pantry.. this is my first ever entry to any blog event ..it is for trupti's WBB spice it up!..thanks Trupti..


..on the hot griddle..

Ingredients:

1. Rava or semolina - 2 cups
2. curd - 1 cup
3. oil - 2 tsp + for shallow frying
4. asafoetida - a pinch
5. salt to taste
6. onion - 2 large (finely chopped)
7. tomato - 1(finely chopped)
8. green chillies - 2 finely chopped
9. coriander leaves

Method:
Mix together rava, curd, 2tsp oil, asafoetida & salt. Add water to get a pouring consistency. Keep aside for 10 mts.
In the meanwhile mix together chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies & coriander leaves. Keep aside.
Mix the batter well. the sooji must have soaked up the liquid content. Add more water if required to get a pouring consistency. Adjust seasoning.
Heat a tawa. Spray a little oil. Pour one ladle full of the batter. spread very lightly. Sprinkle the veggies mix on the dosa patting gently.
after one side is cooked dot the edges with oil & turn over & cook the other side too .Thats it its done Pop on to a plate & serve with chutney of ur choice..

..a dinner menu..

..last weekend we had a few guests for dinner . i decided to try something from blog friends contributions. so i started serching for recipes. & finally zeroed in on the following:

micro veg pulao (which i've already posted)
kadai chicken (maheswari's beyond the usual)
prawn balchao
palak raitha
raw pappaya salad (thai dish)
Banana pudding (Asha's foodie hope) (forgot to take a picture !)

Kadai chicken i must say was simply superb ..i've tried recipes from her blog even before she is a chicken specialist. and for Asha's pudding i got loads of compliments esp from my 'Jeeju'. Thanks to Maheswari & Asha for such amazing recipes..for more of Maheswari's recipes click http://www.publishtoday.blogspot.com/

for Asha's recipes http://www.aromahope.blogspot.com/

Maheswari's Kadai Chicken


Prawn balchao recipe i shall post a lil' later..

Raw pappaya salad:

this is a Thai dish..very refreshing..

Ingredients:

1.Raw pappaya (grated) - 3 cups

2.peanuts(coarsely ground) - 1 cup

3.green chillies - 2(chopped)

4.tomato - 1 (chopped)

5.tamarind juice - 1 tbsp

6.lemon juice - 1 tsp

7.sugar - 2 tbsp

8.soya sauce - 1 tbsp

9.chopped coriander - 2 tbsp

10.salt to taste

Method:

Mix all ingredients together & serve chilled..!!

Palak Raitha:

very simple. healthy for children as well as adults who hate spinach.

Ingredients:
1. Spinach - 1 small bunch
2. yoghurt - 1 cup
3. chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
4. roasted cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
5. black salt - a pinch
6. salt to taste

Method:
Whisk together curd, red chilly powder, roasted cumin powder, black salt & salt. Chill in the refrigerator.
Take spinach leaves in a small bowl. Blanch in MW for a minute or 2
Let spinach cool.Put in a blender & make a puree.
Before serving add the spinach puree to curd mix well & serve.

Crab curry

This is my mom's speciality. when she makes it, it tastes heavenly. Over the years i have also mastered it .

Ingredients:

Crab (cleaned with shells intact) - 1 kg
grated coconut - 1 1/2 cups
roasted & ground coriander seeds (varutha malli podi) - 3 tbspn
shallots - handful
green chillies - 3-4 chopped
ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
curryleaves - 1 or 2 sprigs
chilly powder - 1 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
coconut oil - 2 tbspn
salt to taste

Method:


Fry coconut in a non-stick pan till it turns light brown. let it cool. make a paste of it adding a little water. keep aside.
chop shallots & keep side .
Heat oil in a deep pan. Add mustard seeds & let it crackle. Add shallots, ginger, green chillies & curry leaves. Fry for a couple of minutes till the raw smell goes.
Add chilly powder, turmeric powder , roasted coriander powder. fry for a couple of minutes . take care not to burn it.
Add crabs with salt & little water for the crabs to cook.Close the lid & bring the curry to boil.( Add little water in the beginning .You may add more in the end if the curry is too thick.)
Now add fried coconut paste .Mix well .Bring it to a boil again. Lower the flame close lid & let it cook .
once the crabs are cooked the curry is ready.

ps: you may vary the amount of chilly powder & green chillies according to your palate .

Mint paratha

this was also a pleasant surprise 'cos it was surprisingly delicious..! i had got some mint to try growing them..the leaves was not required to plant them ..what to do with the leaves..i didnt want to make green chutney..i remembered having seen Mint paratha in Sanjeev kapoor's book ..but was not sure if i shud try it ..Mint paratha ! wonder how it wud taste..anyway going ahead by my instincts i decided to give it a try just for me & Adi (my son)..husband wudnt be willing to have it ..;or so i thot..

but when i made it i was pleasantly surprised ..'cos it was too melt in in the mouth with a nice flavour ..& guess what !! husband loved it & said "why did u keep only one for me??"...

Ingredients:

1. Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
2. fresh mint leaves - 1 cup
3. salt to taste

How to make Mint parathas:

Wash & pat dry mint leaves. Dry half of it on a hot tawa or griddle. Cool & crush to a powder using hands. Keep aside.

Chop remaining mint leaves finely. Add to this whole wheat flour & salt & make a soft dough using enough water. Divide the dough into balls.

Roll out each ball into a thin paratha .Make rotis out of it without oil..it will come like phulkas..!

Finally sprinkle dried mint powder that u made in step 1 over the parathas..

the original recipe required to add butter to the dough + the paratha was made like the flaky paratha (malabar paratha)..but i thot this was healthier..

'Mindblowing' Palak paneer..! (microwave)

Continuing with my MW cooking this time i decided to try palak paneer..i've had palak paneer from several sources & tried making it several times before but never tried it in MW & i've never liked it either ..whenever someone says "OOhs & Aahs "about it i wonder what is so great bout it ..i just pick & eat the paneer pieces & discard the gravy..
..this dish i call it "mindblowing "palak paneer 'cos it is simply mindblowing ..i was bowled over..!!i licked up the gravy till the last drop !!
& because it was made in the MW it was quite easy too...Also it is not very rich 'cos it has only 1 tbsp of butter & 1/4 cup milk..
Ingredients:

1. ginger - 1/2 " piece
2. garlic - 4-5 flakes
3. onions - 2 chopped
4. green chilly - 1 chopped
5. cumin seeds - 1 tsp
6. oil - 2 tbsp
7. coriander powder - 2 tsp
8. garam masala - 1/2 tsp
9. tomatoes - 2 chopped
10. kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) - 2 tbsp
11. Spinach leaves - 300-400 gms
12. butter - 1tbsp
13. red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
14. salt to taste
15. sugar - 1/4 tsp
16. milk - 1/4 cup
17. paneer(cottage cheese) - 200 gms (cubes)

How i made it:

In a large microproof bowl put oil, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, onions, green chilly, coriander powder & gram masala. Mix well. Micro HI for 5 mts.

Add chopped tomatoes & kasoori methi. Mix well. Add washed spinach leaves (no need to chop them). Micro HI for 8 mts.

Cool spinach .Blend with 1/2 cup water.

Transfer the spinach puree to the same microproof bowl. Add butter, red chilly powder, paneer, salt , sugar, milk & 1/4 cup water. Mix well.

Micro Hi for 5 mts. Serve hot ..Its superb !!!

the original recipe by Nita mehta required 600 gms of spinach .i reduced it to 350gms.

Microwave veg pulao

As the name suggests this is a pulao entirely made in the microwave including the sauteing part; which means i used just one utensil for the entire process .

...microwave is something which most of us in india dont make full use of . Besides reheating we seldom do much in it..There are so many uses of it & i am trying to do justice to it by looking for all pieces of info about its uses , be it books internet what not.

I dont know if this is an info to any of you but since the discussion is on microwave i thot it worthwhile to add here , that u can cook potatoes in a ziplock in the MW in just 3-4 mts..

this pulao that i made makes good use of this super gadget ..

...Three cheers to human inventions..!!

Recipe source: Nita Mehta's microwave cooking

Ingredients:

1. Basmati Rice - 1 cup
2. Potato - 1 (chopped)
3. carrot - 1 (chopped)
4. Green peas - 1/4 cup
5. ginger paste - 1 tsp
6. garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
7. Oil - 5 tbsp
8. water - 2 cups
9. chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
10. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
11. salt to taste
12. tomato - 1 chopped
13. lemon juice - 1 tsp
14. mint - few leaves chopped

Spices to be powdered -
pepper corns - 10
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cardamom - 3-4
cloves - 4-5
cinnamon - 1 inch piece
bayleaf - 1/2 a leaf

How to make it:

Make coarse powder of all the spices .Put the powdered spices in a thin muslin cloth & tie it well. This is your spice bag.

Soak rice in water.

In a large microproof bowl put in potato, carrot, peas, ginger-garlic paste & oil. Micro HI for 3 mts.

Take out the bowl add drained rice, 2 cups of water, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt & the spicebag . Stir once. Micro covered on HI for 6 mts .

Take out the bowl again. Add the tomato, lemon juice & mint. Stir again. Micro covered on HI for 7 more mts.

Remove. Stir with a fork lightly without breaking the rice. Pulao is ready.Remove the spice bag & serve with love.

...the best prt of microwave cooking is that once u've put the food in it u can do some other job ..if the timing u give perfect ur food will also be cooked perfectly..neither over nor under..!!

ps: As i am now in a MW cooking spree all u friends pl share all pieces of info on this topic..thanks in advance..!

Handi paneer

Yet another paneer dish for you all..i simply cant seem to do without paneer ..this delicious dish is made like this..!
Ingredients:

1. onions - 2 (chopped)
2. ginger - 1/2 " piece (grated)
3. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
5. garam masala - 1/4 tsp
6. tomato - 1 (chopped)
7. green chilly - 1 (chopped)
8. bay leaf - 1
9. Yoghurt - 1/2 cup (beaten)
10. Paneer - 100 gms
11. coriander leaves - 1 tbsp (chopped)
12. salt to taste
13. fresh ground pepper

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions till golden brown. Simmer flame & add ginger, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, garam masala & stir fry for a minute.

Add tomato, green chilly and bay leaf. Stir fry. Allow to cook on low flame for 7-8 mts.

Add curd & cook till it becomes dry. Now pour 1/2 cup water & bring the contents to boil. Add paneer & coriander leaves & stir. Cook till the spices coat the paneer pieces.

Finally add salt & pepper to taste.