Sesame Chicken

Sesame chicken is a very popular restaurant dish which is quite similar like General Tso's chicken and this dish is commonly found in most of the chinese restaurants throughout the world..this dish goes for boneless chicken marinated with soya sauce and sesame oil, then fried as deep frying finally prepared with a transculent, reddish brown, semi thick sauce made with corn starch, rice vinegar, sugar and dark soya sauce, topped with sesame seeds, this  dish is prepared as two methods some may go for shallow frying the chicken pieces and others go for deep frying and the sesame oil and sesame seeds used in this dish turns out this chicken dish very delicious..This sesame chicken is generally served with rice...Last time i had this fantastic sesame chicken when we went to chinese restaurant and i have completely fallen in love with this delicious chicken dish which i was planning to make out really since a long, yesterday my DH celebrated his brithday and i thought thats a prefect occasion to prepare  some chinese dishes instead of our usual pulao or briyanis, so i prepared his all time favourite Chinese Vegetable Fried Rice and this sesame chicken, he just loved it...Obivously this sesame chicken goes directly to my own event Cooking With Seeds-Sesame seeds..

500grs Chicken breast pieces(cut as cubes)
2tsp Dark soya sauce
2tsp Sesame Oil for marination
2tsp Sesame oil for sauce
1cup Cornstarch
Oil for deepfrying
1tsp Sesame seeds
3nos Dry red chillies (optional)
2tsp Ginger (minced)
2tsp Garlic (finely chopped)
2tbsp Garlic chives or green spring onions

Sauce:
2tbsp Dark soya sauce
1tsp Corn starch
1tsp White sugar
2tsp Tomato ketchup
1tsp Rice vinegar
1tsp Chilli paste
3tbsp Water
Salt (if needed)

Marinate the chicken cubes with dark soya sauce, sesame oil and let them sit for half an hour...mix all the ingredients for sauce and keep aside..

Toss the marinated chicken cubes with cornstarch and deep fry the chicken cubes until they turns golden brown..drain the excess of oil with paper towel...

Heat the sesame oil in a wok, add the dry red chillies, minced ginger and chopped garlic and fry until they turns golden brown , add immediately the sauce mixture and stir in simmer until they get thickens, immediately add the already fried chicken pieces to the sauce and stir well until the chicken pieces get well coated, add the sesame seeds and garlic chives..

Serve with rice and sauteed veggies..

Soya Flour & Dill Paratha

As i told before, our daily dishes are turning quite healthier than wat we used to have earlier, i can definitely say that i cant live without a pack of oats, if i dont have oats in my pantry its was like an handicap for me..i know its sounds so funny but i got completely hooked with this healthy grain..Coming to this soyaflour paratha, whenever i feel like preparing parathas or rotis either i go for oats flour which i prepare at home by grinding quick cooking oats or else my choice goes immediately to soya flour, personally i felt soyaflour turns the paratha dough really soft and once the parathas get cooked, parathas will be very light for having them either for breakfast or for dinner...This time while making my soyaflour parathas, i have added half a cup of finely chopped dill leaves and this dill leaves give a fabulous arome to this soft soya flour parathas and both together works out wonder..As everyone at home enjoyed having this healthy and flavourful paratha especially my little one, am sending this soyaflour and dill paratha to Srivalli's Kid's Delight-Wholesome Breakfast...

1cup Soyaflour
1+1/2cup Wheat flour
1/2cup Dill leaves
1/4tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
1cup Yogurt
1tbsp Olive oil
Oil for cooking
Few tsp  All purpose flour for dusting

In a large bowl, mix the soyaflour, wheat flour, dill leaves, garam masala powder, salt, meanwhile beat the yoghurt with olive oil and add gradually the flours and turn everything as soft dough...let the dough for few minutes aside..

Make out 8-10medium sized balls and dust them with all purpose flour..roll them as circles with rolling pin...heat a nonstick pan, drop gently the rolled parathas, drizzle the oil and cook on both sides until the parathas get well cooked..

Serve immediately with any sort of side dishes...

Instant Cornmeal & Oats Dosai

When i prepared bakes with whole grain cornmeal, i have completely fallen in love with this gorgeous yellowish colour cornmeal, my recent trial with cornmeal and oats is this dosai..This is an instant version  dosai with cornmeal and rolled oats with thick curd, grated carrots, potatoes and frozen green peas with cumin seeds which is quite easy to prepare..Beautiful yellow dosai with veggies which is quite a healthy dish suits incredible for a simple evening dinner or for a quick breakfast, spicy coconut chutney goes tremendously  as side dish with this instant dosai and when served hot, even a small kids will definitely love this colourful dosai with healthy stuffs in it...

1cup Cornmeal
1/2cup Rolled oats
1cup Thick curd
1/4cup Grated carrots
1/4cup Grated potatoes
1/4cup Frozen green peas
1tsp Cumin seeds
Salt

Saute slightly the frozen green peas in a non stick pan, until they get half cooked..Mix the cornmeal, rolled oats, grated carrots, grated potatoes,half cooked green peas, cumin seeds, curd with enough salt and water to get a thick dosa batter, keep aside for half an hour..

Heat a non stick pan, pour a ladle of this dosa batter, drizzle oil and cook on both sides until they get well cooked..serve with spicy coconut chutney..

Eggless Ragi & Chocolate Cookies

I was planning quite a long to make out some bakes mainly with two ingredients, the famous chocolate and the nutritious ragi flour, i tried this both ingredients as cookies yesterday as eggless version but not vegan...This cookies are really fantastic, healthy and kids friendly , best for their evening snacks with simple ingredients..Initially i wanted to prepare as savoury biscuits with ragi and chocolate, but its was completely weird na.. may be will try out next time to see how this two ingredients works out together to see how they will tastes out if they are prepared as savoury cookies..Personally this cookies tastes really prefect with some hot coffee or tea when served as snacks and everyone at home loved it, i prepared this ragi and chocolate cookies as small batch and instead of dropping with spoons, i prepared a swirl like cookies by using the round nozzle and pastry bag, which looks like a snail and my DH named this cookies as snail cookies..

1cup Ragi
1/2cup All purpose flour
2tbsp Dark chocolate powder
1/2cup Butter
3/4cup Powdered sugar
1/4cup Apple sauce
1tsp Vanilla essence
1/2tsp Baking powder
1/4tsp Baking soda

Beat the butter and sugar until they turns creamy, mix together the ragi flour, all purpose flour, dark chocolate powder with baking powder and baking soda...add gradually the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and also add the applesauce until they turns as soft but sticky dough...

Preheat the oven at 350F and line a baking sheet over a baking pan, take the dough in a pastry bag with round nozzle and drop over the lined baking sheet as swirl like cookie..finish the dough completely..arrange the baking tray in the middle rack and bake the cookies for 20-25minutes..

We enjoyed having them as warm cookies...

Semi Homemade Chilli Chicken-65

Chilli chicken-65, spicy appetizier tastes fantastic, a crowd pleaser prepared with boneless chicken chunks, most of the time i used to make out this chilli chicken with home made chilli powder and masalas, but this time i really want to use the store bought sakthi masala for making out this chilli chicken.My sister send me in her parcel,few shakthi masala packets specially for making some quick non vegetarian dishes as i asked her to send me some ..I used this chilli chicken-65 spice mix to make out easily and quickly some chilli chicken 65 for our sunday lunch with Chettinad Dum Mutton Briyani, which hardly took few minutes to prepare..Once i fried out this chilli chicken 65,they vanished within few minutes and everyone at home enjoyed  very much..Am sending this spicy chilli chicken 65 to Rahin's Semi Home Made-Indian Recipes...

1/2kg Boneless chicken chunks
2tsp Sakthi chilli chicken 65 masala powder
1tsp Lemon juice

Mix the chicken, masala powder and lemon juice in a bowl, let them sit for an hour...Heat the oil for deep frying and fry the marinated chicken pieces until they turns golden brown..

Serve hot..This spicy chilli chicken 65 is one of my hubby's favourite, am sending this chilli chicken 65 to Arundhuthi's Served With Love..

Horsegram & Coconut Milk Soup

After a week, yesterday here in Paris the temperature went too down and again the chilled weather started here, i was quite lazy to prepare foods and prepared a simple soup with brown horsegram which we get easily here...This soup goes for simple ingredients and i used some left over coconut milk to the soup to enhance the flavour..This horsegram soup was really nourishing, healthy and filling, best soup for peoples who were in diet..Yes, if u r dieting no need to say that horsegram brings u many vitamins u need for dieting and will help u very much for ur dieting, its recommanded to take atleast twice or thrice even if u rnt dieting..Needless to say how healthy and comforting is this soup and this soups tastes fantastic for a chilled evening dinner..Am trying to send this healthy soup again to Usha's Healthy Inspiration Event-Soups..

2cups Horsegrams (i used the brown lentils)
1no Onion (chopped)
3nos Garlic cloves
1cup Thick Coconut milk
2tsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper powder

Soak the horsegram lentils for atleast 2 hours...strain the soaked water and cook them with 5cups of water in a large sauce pan, once they get well cooked put off the stove and keep aside..

Heat the olive oil and saute the chopped onions and crushed garlic until they turns brown, add the coconut milk to the veggies and bring them to boil with enough salt and pepper..add this to the already cooked horsegrams and bring them boil and serve immediately..

Serve warm, once this soup get cooled, its turn immediately thick, so its better to serve immediately..enjoy with toasted bread..

MW Carrot & Dill Dip

I have some leftover dill leaves in my fridge and i wanted to prepare something easily with laughing cow cheese...I prepared this carrot and dill dip through microwave oven quite easily...As we know that dill leaves are very strong in flavour, instead of adding directly to the dip, i cooked the chopped dill leaves with carrot chunks in microwave oven with a cup of water.

Microwave cooking retains the colour of both cooked carrots and dill leaves and this dip looks fantastic with mild orange colour with green dill leaves..This dip goes awesome with toasted breads or simple dip with veggies or with meats...We enjoyed having this delicious cheesy carrot and dill dip with toasted breads for our dinner.

1cup Carrots pieces (chopped finely)
1/4cup Dill leaves (chopped)
4nos Laughing cow cheese
1/4tsp Pepper powder
Salt

Take the chopped carrots and chopped dill leaves in a microwave safe bowl with some water, cook everything in high for 10minutes(stir twice) until the carrots get well cooked..once the carrots get cooked, let them get cool and take the cooked carrots, dill leaves, laughing cow cheese, pepper powder and salt in a blender and blend everything as bit coarse paste..

Enjoy with toasted breads or simple veggies...

Vegetarian Pekinese Soup

Pekinese soup, delicious and easy soup which goes for tofu chunks,bamboo shoots and with some pieces of lotus stems..I prepared this soup as vegetarian version by avoiding completely thinly sliced chicken chunks which is used usually in this soup by replacing with some pieces of lotus steams..I had this soup twice in chinese restaurant and i got completely hooked with this delicious hot and slightly sour soup which tastes fantastic when served hot for a chilled evening dinner, a prefect soup for winter season..This soup is really nourishing, filling and tastes fantastic with crunchy bamboo shoots..Its really very simple to prepare and this soup needs hardly few ingredients to prepare, the most important ingredients to make out this soup is dark soya sauce and red chilli sauce without this two ingredients, its kinda hard to prepare this soup, personnally i felt corn starch turn out this soup much thicker than the corn flour, so i recommand to use corn starch which is quite availabale in chinese stores, in case if its hard to find out corn starch u can definitely used corn flour...We had this delicious soup sterday for our dinner, enjoyed having this pekinese soup..This delicious soup goes to Usha's Healthy Inspiration Event - Soups..

1cup Firm tofu (cubed)
1/2cup Canned bamboo shoots( i used the thin lengthwise slices)
10nos Lotus stem (frozen)
5nos Garlic(minced)
1inch Ginger (minced)
3cups Vegetable broth
2tbsp Dark Soya sauce
1tbsp Rice vinegar
2tbsp Red chilly sauce (adjust as per ur taste)
2tbsp Sesame oil
2tbsp Corn starch or corn flour(i used corn starch)
1/4tsp White pepper powder
Green Onions for garnishing
Salt

Marinate the tofu pieces with half a teaspoon of dark soya sauce and a teaspoon of sesame oil and keep aside atleast for few minutes...Heat the remaining oil, fry the minced ginger and minced garlic until they turns brown, add immediately the bamboo shoots and lotus stems and cook for few minutes, now add the already marinated tofu chunks and cook everything again for 5 minutes...meanwhile add the remaining dark soya sauce,salt as per need, rice vinegar, red chilly sauce to the vegetable broth, give a stir and add this vegetable broth to the veggies, cook everything for 10-15minutes in simmer...make a thin white sauce by adding water to the corn starch..add this white sauce to the cooking soup and stir until they turns thick..finally add the white pepper powder and garnish the soup with green onions...

Serve this pekinese soup immediately !!!

Easy Egg & Veggies Salad

Whenever i feel like having simple salad, my choice goes immediately to this hard boiled eggs salad which i prepare usually with easy veggies like red and green bellpeppers, sweet corns, finely chopped lettuce leaves,chopped coriander leaves and few tomato chunks tossed everything with mayonnaise,olive oil and spiced with pepper powder,salt and olive oil...Everyone at home love this easy egg salad and needless to say that this easy egg salad get vanished within few minutes every time when i prepare them..This salad suits prefectly to everyone, even a bachelor can prepare easily out this easy egg salad within few minutes...Simple salad, very catchy,crunchy, tasty and easy to prepare..This easy egg salad goes to Sudeshna's Salads Carnival and to RV& Sudeshna's Foods For 7Stages of Life-Healthy Fast Foods and to Divya's Show me You Salad...

5nos Eggs (boiled)
1/4cup Red bellpeppers
1/4cup Green bellpeppers
2nos Tomatoes (cubed)
1/4cup Sweet corns
few Lettuce leaves (chopped)
Few coriander leaves (chopped)
2tbsp Mayonnaise
1tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper powder

Mix the mayonnaise, olive oil,salt, pepper powder in a bowl and keep aside..cut the boiled eggs as two equal slices and scoop out the yellow yolks and cut them as cubes.. Take the red and green bell peppers, cubed tomatoes,sweet corns, chopped lettuce leaves and chopped coriander leaves along with the cubed yellow yolks..now add the already prepared mayonnaise to the veggies & egg and toss gently until everything get well mixed..

Fill the white yolks with this salad and serve immediately!!This egg and veggies salad is one of my daughter's favourite and sending this delicious salad to Arundhuthi's Served With Love..

Sprouted Moongdal & Barley Masala Dosa

After trying out barley in Paruppu adai, i really wanted to try them with some other legumes, my next choice went to green whole moong dal which i sprouted at home and combined those sprouted moongdal and barley to prepare this delicious dosa and i stuffed with simple potato & peas masala...Why as masala dosa, whenever i try to make out new dishes i usually try to turn them as my family's favourite, for example here in this recipe i completely changed the dosa as masala dosa by stuffing with potato masala coz my little family just love anything with potatoes so that they can enjoy easily..Coming to this green dosa,i was surprised to see my new combination of dosa turned out really amazing and the dosa was really crispy and delicious,really filling, nutritious and a prefect complete dinner or breakfast when served with spicy coconut chutney..Apart from soaking and sprouting, this dosa is really very quick to prepare and no fermentation needed also i skipped completely the addition of rice in this dosa..

2cups Sprouted whole moongdal
1cup Barley
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
1inch Ginger (chopped)
2tbsp Coriander leaves
Salt

For Masala:
2nos Potatoes (cooked&cubed)
1/4cup Green peas
1no Onion (chopped)
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1/4tsp Cumin seeds+mustard seeds
1tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil

Soak the barley for atleast 4hours separately with enough water...meanwhile prepare the masala, heat enough oil and let splutters the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions and chopped green chillies, stir until the onions turns transculent..add the green peas to the onions and saute everything with turmeric powder and salt in simmer until the peas get half cooked, add immediately the cooked and cubed potatoes and cook everything in simmer until the masala gets well cooked, add finally the chopped coriander leaves and put off the stove..

Now coming to the dosa batter, grind the sprouted moongdal and soaked barley together with salt, green chillies, chopped ginger and coriander leaves as bit coarse batter..Heat a nonstick pan...pour a ladle of this sprouted moongdal & barley batter, drizzle the oil and cook on both sides until the dosa get well cooked..place the potato and peas masala inside the cooked dosa as much as u desire and roll them..

Serve immediately with coconut chutney..

Chettinad Dum Mutton Briyani

Chettinad dishes are always famous for their flavourful dishes, i wanted to make out some briyani with mutton as chettinad style of briyani and i prepared some spicy briyani with mutton pieces..Initially i want to prepare as dum briyani, but finally i tried to make out as similar as dum briyani by using oven...i have prepared the gravy with spices and mutton pieces in stove top, once i added the soaked and washed basmati rice to the gravy, i arranged immediately the vessel in which i cooked the mutton gravy to the preheated oven, closed with wet cloth and lid, cooked in oven for half an hour..We really enjoyed having this spicy mutton briyani for our lunch with onion raita...

1/2kg Mutton pieces
2nos Onion(big & chopped lengthwise)
3nos Tomatoes (chopped finely)
3nos Green chillies (slit opened)
3cups Basmati rice
3cups Coconut milk
2cups Mutton cooked water

1/4tsp Orange food colour
1/4cup Ghee
Oil
Salt

For Marination:
1tbsp Red chilli powder
1+1/2tbsp Coriander powder
1tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
1tbsp Salt
1/2cup Thick curd

For Tempering:
2nos Bayleaves
2nos Cinnamon stick
5nos Cloves
3nos Cardamoms
1tsp Fennel seeds
1bunch Mint leaves (chopped)

Marinate the mutton pieces to the given ingredients under 'for marination'and let them sit for two hours, i do prepare this marination overnite, next day pressure cook the marinated mutton pieces without water for 3whistles...meanwhile soak the basmati rice for 10minutes, drain the water completely..

In a large kadai, add 2tbsp of the ghee and fry the rice for few minutes, keep aside...In the same kadai, heat the remaining ghee and enough oil, add the spices one by one given ' for tempering' and let it fry..now add the chopped onions, slit opened chillies,food colourand chopped tomatoes with enough salt to the spices and cook until the onions turns transculent and tomatoes turns mushy..add the already cooked mutton pieces without the cooked water, cook everything in simmer for few minutes with lid closed...add the coconut milk and mutton cooked water to the cooking mutton pieces and bring everything to boil..Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350F...add the already fried basmati rice to the cooking mutton gravy, stir gently until the rice get well mixed..

Tie the kadai with a wet cloth and close the kadai with lid, arrange the kadai in the middle rack of the oven and let it sit for 30minutes (stir in between twice)until the water get absorbs..

Serve hot with any sort of raitas!!!

Spicy Tofu 65

I dont even know how to name this tofu fry, but somehow i managed to name it as Spicy tofu 65 as i used paprika powder...This delicious spicy tofu 65 tastes fantastic as appetizier, need hardly few ingredients to prepare and the ingredients i used to make out this tofu 65 is just dark soya sauce,sesame oil,paprika powder, salt, pepper powder and a simple paste with crushed garlic and sesame seeds...This tofu fry needs an hour to marinate else its really easy to fry quickly as shallow fry..Tempting tofu fry tastes fantastic and crispy enough to enjoy for appetizier...

150grs Firm tofu
2tsp Paprika powder
1tsp Dark soya sauce
2tsp Sesame oil
Salt
Pepper powder
3nos Garlic cloves
1tsp Sesame seeds+ sesame seeds for garnishing
Oil for shallow frying

Grind the garlic cloves and sesame seeds as fine paste...Cut the tofu as thin slices..mix the dark soya sauce,paprika powder, sesame oil, grounded garlic and sesame seeds paste,pepper powder and enough salt in a large bowl...dip each and every tofu pieces and let them sit for an hour...

Fry as shallow frying until they turns brown..garnish with sesame seeds..

Gai Pad Yod Khao Pod/Thai Chicken With Babycorn

Thai style chicken with babycorn is a simple and quick thai stir fry, which tastes awesome when served with thai jasmine rice..This babycorn chicken stir fry needs very less time and really very fast to prepare for a quick dinner or lunch, this stir fry is prepared with oyster sauce, fish sauce and with sesame oil which turned out this stir fry really very delicious and flavourful..With simple ingredients, this stir fry can also prepared to serve along with fresh noodles too..To make this stir fry more crunchy and nutty i used bean sprouts and sesame seeds which is completely optional..This thai chicken and baby corn stir fry goes to my own event Cooking WIth Seeds-Sesame Seeds..

1/4kg Chicken breasts (sliced thinly)
15nos Babycorns (cut as long strips)
1cup Bean sprouts
1no Onion (chopped lengthwise)
4nos Garlic cloves (minced)
1inch Ginger (chopped finely)
3tbsp Oyster sauce
2tbsp Soya sauce
3tbsp Fish sauce
2tbsp Chilli sauce
3tbsp Sesame oil
1tbsp Sesame seeds

Heat the oil in a wok or pan in medium high flame, add the chicken slices and stir fry until they get half cooked, add the onions, garlic and ginger and stir fry untl the chicken get cooked well and onions turns transculent..put the flame in simmer and add the babycorns, bean sporuts, oyster sauce,fish sauce,chilli sauce and cook everything for few minutes, garnish with sesame seeds..

Serve hot with rice..

Tofu,Potato & Peas Masala Sandwich

After started blogging, i learned some many healthy stuffs, one among those healthy ingredients is tofu, its wasnt that much familiar ever before few years, but whenever i go to chinese stores i pick now firm tofus to make out either gravies, parathas or as simple tofu fries...My recent trial with tofu is this tofu, potato&peas masala sandwich, u may ask me why potato &peas in this masala, its quite an best way for me to feed my family members easily by mixing tofu along with potato or peas, so that they can enjoy this healthy tofu masala sandwich without askng me loads of questions...Our yesterday dinner was this sandwich which i toasted in a bread toaster and served immediately with a simple Tomato & Mozzarella Salad..Even a sandwich can be healthier if u try out with many nutritious ingredients like tofu.

2nos Potatoes (pressure cooked & mashed)
1/2cup Frozen green peas
1/2cup Grated firm tofu
1no Onion (chopped)
2nos Garlic cloves(crushed)
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
1/4tsp Cumin seeds
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
1tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil
8nos Bread slices

Heat enough oil and fry the cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions,chopped chillies and crushed garlic cloves.

Saute everything well until the onions turns transculent,now add the grated tofu and frozen peas with fennel seed powder..cook everything well in simmer with enough salt...once the peas get half cooked, add the mashed potatoes and mix very...cook again everything in simmer until the veggies get well cooked, finally add the coriander leaves and put off the stove..

Spread the masala over the bread slice and cover with another bread slice..either u toast with a bread toaster or in a pan with butter.

Creamy Potato,Tomato & Dill Salad

Few months back i found dill leaves really very cheap in chinese store, instead of picking them i thought of buying them later, after then i saw them rarely and when i went two days back to chinese store, i saw again these green dill leaves which was really fresh, looked at me to purchase immediately, this time i dont want to miss the chance and bought them..Back home, i prepared them as salad with potatoes and tomatoes along with dill leaves, as i was using dill leaves for the first time in salad..I was very thrilled to see my lil one having this highly flavourful salad..We loved this flavourful salad which needs very less time to prepare and really we enjoyed having this simple but yet a delicious and creamy salad...This salad goes directly to Usha's Healthy Inspiration Event - Salads & Madhuri's Serve me some..Salads..

3nos Big Potatoes (cooked & cubed)
4nos Tomatoes (chopped finely)
2tbsp Dill leaves
2tbsp Mayonnaise
1/4cup Low fat cream
1/2tsp Pepper powder
Salt

Beat together the mayonnaise, cream, pepper powder and salt in a bowl and keep aside...Take the cubes potatoes, finely chopped tomatoes and chopped dill leaves..While serving add the cream-mayonnaise dressing as per need and serve immediately..

White Bean, Bellpeppers & Corn Soup

Nothing will be comforting than a bowl of soup when its was so cloudy and chilled outside!! Am trying to turn out nowadays soups with beans and veggies or simply with veggies for our dinner as the weather keep me lazy and tired..Here is one of my trial with some canned white beans, corn kernels and bellpeppers chunks...This soup was completely a delicious soup which is quite filling, healthy and hearty and a bowl of this soup will definitely turn ur dinner really prefect when served with a simple salad or just with a slice of bread..Quite easy to prepare and need very less time too as i used canned beans, u can definitely go for dry beans soaked for overnite also..You can also try out this soup with any sort of beans, but personally i felt white beans turned out this soup simply delicious.

1can White bean soup (medium can)
1cup Red & green bellpepper pieces
1cup Corn kernels
1no Onion (chopped)
2nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
Olive oil
2tsp Corn flour
3cup Vegetable broth
Salt
Pepper powder
1tbsp Parsley leaves (chopped)

Heat enough olive oil, saute the chopped onions and crushed garlic cloves until the onions turns transculent, drain the canned white beans, add the chopped bellpeppers and corn kernels to the sauteed onions and cook for few minutes..add immediately the white beans,stir for few seconds and add immediately the vegetable broth with enough salt and pepper powder...bring everything to boil and put in simmer..Cook until the veggies get cooked..

Make a thin white sauce with corn flour and water..Add this white sauce and parsley leaves to the soup and cook until the soup get thickens...

Serve hot!!

Indianized Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies For Global Kadai~~Version II

While i prepared the first version of Indianized Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies, everyone at home loved the tremendous cookies and the cookies vanished within 2days as they tasted fantastic..But before a day, my H asked me again to bake those delectable cookies and i tried again those beautiful cookies with dessicated coconut flakes and almond powder, spiced with cinnamon powder...They turned out really fantastic again and we loved it..Personally i felt that both versions tastes marvellous while my H felt the first version 'the best' as he never fond for anything prepared with coconut..Anyhow my lil ones enjoyed these beautiful cookies once they came out of the oven even before i dusted them with confectioner's sugar...I enjoyed them when they were still warm..This second version of this chocolate mexican wedding cookies goes directly to Cilantro's mailbox as she own an event called Global Kadai...

1cup Butter (room temperature)
1/2cup Confectioner's Sugar
1+3/4cup All purpose flour
1/2cup Almond powder
1/4cup Dessicated coconut flakes
1/2cup Dark Chocolate pieces (grated)
3/4tsp Cinnamon powder
1tbsp Vanilla extract
1pinch Salt
1/2cup Confectioner's sugar

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until they turns soft and fluffy, add the vanilla extract..in an another bowl, combine the all purpose flour, almond powder, grated chocolate pieces, cinnamon powder,salt and mix well..add the creamed mixture to the dry ingredients and turn everything as dough, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill the dough for an hour atleast..

Preheat the oven to 325F, shape the dough into 1-inch balls, place those shaped balls over a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the cookies are firm..cool for a minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack..

While the cookies are still warm, sift the confectioner's sugar over cookies or roll them until the cookies get well coated with confectioner's sugar..

Sesame Crusted Chicken Strips

If you like sesame seeds and chicken, you should definitely give a try to this fantastic, crispy,nutty and delicious finger food!!..Its really very simple to prepare, easy with simple ingredients which tastes really fantabulous when served hot..This delicious chicken strips hardly needs less than 15minutes to prepare and goes for shallow frying..Kids will definitely love this sesame crusted chicken strips with french fries or with salads..I prepared this sesame crusted chicken strips sterday for our lunch and we enjoyed with simple lettuce salad,both together turned out our lunch really filling, quick and tremendous...Needless to say that this beautiful chicken strips goes directly to my own event Cooking With Seeds-Sesame Seeds and to Radhika's& Sudeshna's Food For 7Stages of Life-Healthy Fast Foods...

20nos Boneless chicken strips
1/2tsp Pepper powder
Salt
1/4cup Cornflour
1/4cup Sesame seeds

Add the pepper powder and salt to the boneless chicken strips and keep aside...make a white sauce with corn flour and water..dip each and every chicken strips to the white sauce and roll them evenly over the sesame seeds..Keep this sesame crusted chicken strips in fridge for few minutes..

Heat the oil for shallow frying, drop gently the chicken strips and fry until they turns golden brown, drain the excess of oil with a paper towel..

Serve hot!! This sesame crusted chicken strips are my son's favourite and this delicious finger food goes directly to Arundhuthi's Served With Love..

Oats Pesarattu/Oats&Green Moongdal Dosa

Pesarattu is quite an essential breakfast dish in Andhra Pradesh..Whole green moongdal are grounded as fine paste with enough water and spices and this greenish dal batter is used to make out dosa..Usually pesarattu is served with Sooji upma and this combination is called either as MLA pesarattu or Pesarattu Upma..This healthy, nutritious dosa is served with ginger chutney or with dalia chutney, to give a twist i used a cup of rolled oats soaked for half an hour, also i have completely skipped the rice in this dosa and grounded as paste along with already soaked green grams..This addition of oats didnt changed the taste of this green dosa but increased the health content of this dish and everyone at home enjoyed this healthy pesarattu with coconut chutney...My lil ones enjoyed having this protein packed oats pesarattu for their dinner without any hesitation..Am sending this pesarattu to Srivalli's Kid's Delight-Wholesome Breakfast...

2cups Whole green gram (soaked overnite or 6hours)
1cup Rolled oats (soaked in water for half an hour)
2nos Green chillies
1no Ginger (small piece)
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
Salt
1no Onion (chopped)

Mince the ginger and chop the green chillies..Grind the soaked whole green grams along with soaked oats, chopped green chillies, minced ginger, chopped coriander leaves and cumin seeds as smooth paste with enough salt..

Heat a tawa, pour a ladle full of batter, and  turn the batter as dosa, springle the chopped onion chunks over the batter, cook on both sides until the pesarattu turns brown..Serve with ginger chutney or dalia chutney...

Sukku (Dry Ginger) & Dhaniya Coffee

My mom used to prepare this sukku & dhaniya medicinal decoction or coffee twice a week whenever she feels like having, she used to give us a cup of this flavourful coffee by insisting us which was quite like a poison for us when we were kids, but now i can understand why she insisted us to take this fantastic home remedy coffee which contains beautiful spices...This sukku coffee mainly goes for dry ginger, dhaniya(coriander seeds) and black peppers which are grounded as coarse powder and boiled with palm sugar to get this coffee, needless to say that all these spices are quite healthier and have many medical values which help us to overcome unsupportable chilled weather..This coffee helps a lot for digestion,cough,mild fever, nasal congestions,vomitting sensation in empty stomach when we woke up earlier..Now whenever one of us were down with fever or cold, i used to prepare this decoction immediately..Its quite a routine at our home and sometimes we can turned out this coffee as kashyam by using holy basil leaves (thulasi) which is quite available in India as herbal thulasi coffee..I cant leave India without a small bag of sukku, chittirathai and many other medical valuable spices as they are really very rare and quite expensive in Indian groceries..

Method 1:
1/2cup Sukku (dry ginger)
1/4cup Black peppercorns
1cup Coriander seeds
Palm sugar as per need

Grind as coarse powder all these spices and store them in air tightened box...Heat a cup of water , add the teaspoon of this spice powder and palm sugar as per ur need,bring them to boil..strain the coffee and enjoy immediately..

Method 2:
1no Sukku (small piece)
1tsp Coriander seeds
4nos Peppercorns
1tsp Palm sugar

Grind coarsely the dry ginger(sukku),coriander seeds and pepper corns, add immediately to enough water and bring them to boil, strain the coffee and add the palm sugar as per need..

Enjoy hot!!!

AWED-Portuguese Roundup

My hearty thanks to Dk of Chef In You  who was quite kind enough towards me and letting me to host the famous A World Epicurian Delights quiet known as AWED..Thanks a ton DK, i really enjoyed trying portuguese dishes and receiving from my blogger dears...

Honestly i was quite scared after choosing portuguese as theme for December's AWED Event, but fortunately my friends didnt let me down... After seeing my blogger friend's entries i was really happy and very thankful to each and everyone for taking part in this quiet new cuisine for many of us eventhough its really a very old  cuisine..Portuguese peoples are quite carnivore, each and every food of portuguese cuisine almost goes for sausage prepared basically with pork which take really an important place in their cooking, needless to say that this portuguese cuisine is completely a challenging cuisine and my blogger friends were really amazing for choosing and trying many delectable vegetarian, eggtarian and vegan dishes which is completely a  hard task..I got 19entries for this AWED-Portuguese event, thanks a ton to my blogger friends for joining my hands and turned this event really fantabulous...Am starting my roundup with soups and finishing with desserts prepared with eggs...

1) Caldo Verde from Dk of Chef in You, the famous kale portuguese soup where DK replaced the sausages with tempeh, quite creative na!!
2) Sopa De Aborbra E Cenoura/Pumpkin & Carrot Soup from Swathi of Zest South Indian Kitchen, creamy soup with pumpkin & carrots, quite a delicious soup for this chilled weather..
3)Sopa De Feijao/Portuguese Bean Soup  from Priya (me), with plenty of veggies and red kidney beans makes a filling and hearty soup...

1)Peixinhos Da Horta/Fried Green Beans from Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen, have u ever heard about fried green beans, you should try this crispy fried green beans, a prefect evening snack..
2)Mushroom Vindaloo from Cham of Spice-club, Indo-portuguese dish with mushrooms, many indian spices and the famous vinegar..
3)Feijao Verde Com Coentro E Alho/Green Beans With Cilantro & Garlic from Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf , simple but yet a delicious cooked beans with cilantro and garlic which can be served very well as salad..

1)Portuguese Tomato Rice from Preethi Rajeev of Dreamy Delights, if you are searching for a simple portuguese rice slightly spicy and garlicky...
2)Jag-Jagacita from Cham of Spice-club, quick and easy rice dish with red kidney beans with a very unique name..Delicious portuguese rice..
3)Arroz De Tomate/Portuguese Tomato Rice from Priya(me), another easy and delicious tomato rice prepared with bellpeppers..

1)Massa Sodava/Portuguese Sweet Bread from Ambika Venkat of Ambika's Kitchen,this portuguese sweet bread is traditionally made during Easter and Christmas in Portugal, fantastic bread to try out..
2)Portuguese Sweet Bread from Kachana Kothari of Veggie Fare, another sweet bread direct from Portugal,usually served for breakfast or either for desserts..
3)Portuguese Corn Bread/Broa from Priya, a traditional corn bread from Portugal and this bread is quite often served along with butter and hot soups..

1)Arroz Doce from Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf, famous Portuguese rice pudding with fantastic cinnamon and lemon flavours..
2)Arroz Doce from Kanchan of  Kitchen Gossip, the same famous rice pudding with egg in it..
3)Arroz Doce from Sowjanya of  Ruchikacooks, third and another version of this delicious portuguese rice pudding with condesned milk & saffron ..tempting pudding na..

1)Bolo De Coco/Baath Cake from SE of Denufood, send us her christmas special cake prepared with semolina& grated coconut..beautiful, flavourful and moist cake to enjoy..
2)Pasteis De Nata/Portuguese Custard Tarts from Faiza Ali of Faiza Ali's Kitchen, portuguese desserts is never complete without this custard tarts..simple and fantastic portuguese tarts to enjoy for desserts..
3)Portuguese Bread Pudding from Silpa of Anita's Kitchen,send us a fantastic and delectable yet a simple bread pudding to enjoy..
4)Milk Tarts from Sheba of Art, Food and Travel Chronicles, another tempting and easy tarts with simple ingredients really very quick to whip out..

Voila!! thanks to everyone for taking part of this famous AWED event..Hope you will surely enjoy all these virtual treats..Do send ur entries to my own event Cooking With Seeds-Sesame Seeds which is going on rite now in my blog upto 5th February and am calling all my blogger friends to join their hands for hosting this beautiful event  from July(yeah!!i got my host guests upto June), pls do send an email or leave a comment if you are interested...

MW Chunky Red Bellpepper & Cream Cheese Dip

If you are a die hard fan of red bell peppers and u really want to whip out some quick dip to serve along with ur bread toast,veggies or meats, you should definitely give a try to this chunky bellpepper & cream cheese dip...Yes i prepared this dip by cooking the veggies in microwave oven for few minutes and prepared this chunky bellpepper dip by adding cream cheese, which tastes fantastic and delicious...We enjoyed having this chunky & cheesy dip with some toasted breads as starter for our sunday lunch and everyone at home enjoyed this colourful, flavourful dip...With simple ingredients, this dip is ready to serve within less than 15 minutes.

1cup Red bellpepper (cut as small cubes)
1no Onion (chopped finely)
1/2cup Cream cheese
2nos Garlic cloves (minced)
2tsp Parsley leaves (chopped)
Salt
Pepper powder
1tsp Olive oil

Take the olive oil in a microwave safe bowl and heat for a minutes in high in microwave oven, now add the finely chopped onions,salt and minced garlic cloves to the hot oil and cook for 5 minutes (stir once in between) in high again in microwave oven..finally add the red bell pepper pieces and cook for 8-10minutes again in high..take off the cooked veggies and let them cool..

Add the cream cheese, parsley leaves,pepper powder to the already cooked veggies and blend as chunky dip with a hand blender..

Serve them immediately or chiled..

Indianized Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies For Global Kadai

Cilantro's Global Kadai is a new food blogging event to show us the global cuisines as Indianized version..Whenever i wanted to prepare some International dishes, sometimes i try to modify them according to my taste buds by adding some indian spices or ingredients to enjoy those indianized international dishes...When Cilantro announced her new blog event, i was really happy to try out her january's month challenge where she choosed chocolate mexican wedding cookies, immediately my tiny mind went on searching to turn out the traditional chocolate mexican wedding cookies as indian version..I choosed cashews instead of pecans, instead of cinnamon powder i used cardamom powder & cloves powder,else i followed the original recipe went for...

1cup Butter (room temperature)
1/2cup Confectioner's Sugar
1+3/4cup All purpose flour
1cup Cashew powder (i grounded the whole cashews as powder)
1/2cup Chocolate pieces (grated)
1/2tsp Cardamom powder
1/4tsp Cloves powder
1tbsp Vanilla extract
1pinch Salt
1/2cup Confectioner's sugar

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until they turns soft and fluffy, add the vanilla extract..in an another bowl, combine the all purpose flour, cashew powder, grated chocolate pieces, cardamom powder,salt & cloves powder and mix well..add the creamed mixture to the dry ingredients and turn everything as dough, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill the dough for an hour atleast..

Preheat the oven to 325F, shape the dough into 1-inch balls, place those shaped balls over a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18minutes until the cookies are firm..cool for a minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack..While the cookies are still warm, sift the confectioner's sugar over cookies or roll them until the cookies get well coated with confectioner's sugar..

Barley Paruppu Adai

Usually we used to make out paruppu/dals adai with channadal,toor dal,urad dal, split yellow moongdal..When i was planning to make out this paruppu adai sterday, i wanted to make them more healthier than usual paruppu adai also i wanted to skip completely the adding of rice coz my mom's paruppu adais always goes for rice , thats y i tried & have added whole barley grains to my paruppu adai which i soaked for few hours along with those mixed dals...Trust me, this adai tastes fantastic, healthy, delicious and we didnt find out any difference with usual paruppu adai, along with spicy coconut chutney this paruppu adai tastes prefect for a evening dinner or for morning breakfast with hot coffee...Do try friends this combination,u will definitely like this healthy adais..This healthy paruppu dosai goes directly to Kiran's CWF-Barley..

2cups Barley
1cup Channadal
1/2cup Toor dal
1cup Yellow split moongdal
1/2cup Urad dal
4nos Dry red chillies
1tsp Fennel seeds
Salt

Soak the barley along with all dals for atleast 4 hours..grind the soaked dals and barley with dry red chillies & fennel seeds with enough water and salt with bit coarse paste...

Heat a nonstick pan...pour a ladle of this barley & paruppu adai batter, drizzle the oil and cook on both sides until the adai get well cooked..

Whole Greengram & Veggies Soup

Recently i saw this whole greengram soup in a TV cooking program and got hooked to the simplicity of this delicious soup which is quite a filling, nutritious, healthy and hearty soup to overcome the chilled cold weather...I prepared the next day itself  for our dinner and served with some toasted whole wheat bread toasts which turned out  our dinner quite prefect and filling..This soup needs really very less time to cook if the whole green grams soaked for overnite..Protein packed soup for a healthy evening dinner or as simple starter for lunch...Try out friends u will definitely love this delicious soup...This soup is diet friendly soup as we know that moongdal are quite rich in fibres..Am sending this healthy soups to Usha's Healthy Inspirations Event-Soups..

2cups Whole green gram (green moongdal)
1no Onion(chopped)
3nos Garlic cloves (minced)
1cup Any sort of  cubed veggies (carrots, zucchinis,potatoes,leeks pieces)
1/2tsp White pepper powder
2tsp Parsley leaves (chopped)
1tsp Chilli sauce
Salt
1tsp Olive oil

Soak the whole green gram overnite or atleast 6hours..Heat the olive oil, saute the chopped onions & minced garlic cloves until the onions turns transculent and keep aside...Take the soaked green grams with enough water in a pressure cooker and add the sauteed onions& garlic cloves, chopped veggies with enough salt and cook upto 3whistles..once the steam get released, add the white pepper powder,chopped parsley leaves and chilli sauce, cook everything in simmer for few minutes by smashing slightly the cooked green grams..

Served hot with toasted breads...

Moong Dal Halwa ~~ICC

Our this month's challenge goes for the famous North Indian Moong dal halwa... when Srivalli announced this month Indian Cooking Challenge, i was quite happy to know about that she choosed the famous moongdal halwa as i was planning since quite a long about making out these delicious moong dal halwa when i tasted them at my friend's place before few months back, i still remember that glossy moong dal halwa which tasted fantastic with loads of ghee and nuts...Thanks to Srivalli for choosing this delicious halwa and i was quite eager to make out this authentic recipe which is quite worth to try out...The only thing i really went for searching is my H's hands to keep on stirring this droolworthy halwa since it needs some strong helpers to stir out else this moongdal halwa is quite easier and tastier than wat we expect..This halwa tastes incredible when they were served warm and i relished each and every spoon...Thanks to Simran & Lata for giving us the exact notes on this recipe and helping us to come up without any doubts..Srivalli has given as usual two versions to try out this halwa, i went for the second recipe which needs the dal, milk, sugar and ghee while the first recipe goes for khoya..

1cup Split Yellow Moong dal
1cup Sugar
3/4cupGhee
1/2cup Milk
Few Cashew nuts fried in ghee

Soak the moong dal overnight..next morning, grind to a paste..Heat a heavy kadai and heat the1/2cup of ghee, once the ghee gets melted, add the dal paste and stir continously without allowing any lumps to form (here we need some helpers to stir, fortunately my H helped me here)..This part is really tricky as the dal cooks really fast..Keep the heat in low flame and keep on stirring until the dal becomes thick..

Add the rest of the ghee and cook the dal until the ghee starts oozing out, meanwhile mix the sugar with milk in a pan to boil and add slowly this to the cooking dal...Keep the flame in simmer and break the lumps while adding the sugar-milk mix...Cook again until the halwa get off from the kadai..

Garnish with nuts..

Aval/Poha Sakkarai Pongal & Happy Pongal Wishes

Wishing you all a very happy Pongal/Sankranthi with a delicious sakkarai(sweet)pongal dish prepared with aval/poha..If u bored to makes out sweet pongal with usual rice and jaggery,give a try to this delectable poha sweet pongal which hardly needs very less time when compared with usual sweet pongal and tastes fantastic and delicious quite similar as the sweet rice pongal...I prepared this sweet pongal to celebrate the Pongal earlier this morning, coz its a working day as usual here and its quite hard to celebrate our festivals if the festivals days comes on working day, this morning was quite a hectic day but somehow i managed to cook my poha sweet pongal and vada to celebrate this auspicious day..since i had a quite less time to make out this aval pongal i didnt went for yellow split moongdal, if u want to try out along with moongdal,dry roast the moongdal and cook in a pan with enough water until they soft and add them to this pongal, personally i felt without moongdal this poha  sakkarai pongal tastes too delicious...

1cup Aval/Poha (thin)
1/2cup Jaggery (powdered)
1/2tsp Cardamom powder
2tsp Ghee
10nos Cashew nuts

Soak the powdered jaggery with half cup of water, let the jaggery get dissolves and filter it...Heat again and let them starts boiling, meanwhile wash twice the thin poha and add the washed thin poha along with cardamom powder to the boiling jaggery water, stir and mix everything well and cook until the water get absorbed, dont worry if its looks little soggy..put of the stove..

Heat the ghee and fry the cashew nuts until they turns golden brown..add the hot ghee and roasted cashew nuts to the aval sakkarai pongal and stir well..

Serve warm..

Okra Kadhi

Okra Kadhi, fresh okras cooked with spices and yogurt which ressembles quite like our Tamilian's more kuzhambu but will slight changes, my mom used to prepare a spice paste prepared with rice, coconut,red dry chillies, channadal, toor dal,dhania and fenugreek seeds for making out more kuzhambu..but i prepared this okra kadhi with fenugreek leaves, sour curd and a spice paste prepared with channadal,coconut,cumin seeds,green chillies and ginger which is quite an easy version to enjoy the same delectable more kuzhambu..This okra kadhi hardly needs few minutes and this tastes fantastic with hot steaming rice and spicy potato roast..

2cups Sour yogurt
15nos Okra (cut lengthwise)
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
1tbsp Methi leaves (dry)
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
Oil
5nos Curry leaves
1tsp Coriander leaves (chopped)

To Grind:
1tbsp Channadal
1/2cup Grated coconut
3nos Green chillies
1tsp Cumin seeds
1tsp Ginger pieces

Soak the channadal for few minutes in hot water, grind the soaked channadal with all the ingredients give in the list 'To grind' with enough water a fine paste..Whisk the sour yogurt with enough salt and mix the spice paste to the whisked yogurt and keep aside...Heat enough oil and let splutters mustard seeds,add the asafoetida powder and curry leaves and fry until the curry leaves turn crispy, now add the okra pieces,dry methi leaves and turmeric powder and cook the veggies until it turns tender..add the already prepared yogurt and cook in low flame for 10minutes till the kadhi starts boiling...garnish with coriander leaves...

Enjoy with rice!!

Coleslaw(Raw Cabbage Salad) Tortilla Wrap

Coleslaw is a salad prepared mainly with shredded raw cabbage and shredded carrots, its really quite easy ,quick and delicious salad can be prepared within few minutes and prefect salad for a quick lunch or dinner..Many veggies like red cabbage, onions, cheese, pineapple or apples can be added to this raw cabbage salad and the dressing traditionally consists of vegetable oil or vinger ,mayonnaise or yogurt instead of mayonnaise with  salt..Coleslaw is generally eaten as side dish with barbecue, french fries and with fried chicken, its also used as sandwich ingredients , placed on hamburgers, barbecue sandwiches or with hot dog..Our today's lunch menu goes for this simple coleslaw salad which i turned as wrap with yellow corn tortillas and served with sesame chicken strips (stay tuned will be posting soon)..We enjoyed having this crunchy,delicious and filling wraps with simple pineapple salad..Am sending this coleslaw tortilla wrap to RV's & Sudeshna's  Food For 7Stages Of Life-Healthy Fast Foods, Pj's No Cook Event and finally to Divya's Show Me Your Salad...

1cup Shredded cabbage

1/2cup Carrot (shredded)
2tsp Mayonnaise
1tsp Vinegar
Salt
1/2tsp Sugar

Mix the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and sugar in a small bowl and keep aside..take the shredded cabbage, shredded carrot in a bowl and add the already prepared dressing, add salt if need and arrange in fridge for an hour..

For Tortilla Wrap:
4nos Yellow corn tortillas
Tomato ketchup (as per need)
Pepper powder

Heat the tortillas in microwave oven for 3minutes,arrange enough coleslaw over the tortillas, spread the ketchup and springle the pepper powder over the coleslaw and make a wrap by folding the tortillas gently..serve immediately with french fries..

Super fast food na!!

Potato & Bellpepper Thoran

Simple side dish tastes marvellous when served with hot steaming sambhar or with hot rasam...This thoran is really quite easy to prepare with both potato and bellpepper chunks cooked in a thick coconut-sesame based paste which is prepared with dry roasted sesame seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies & grated coconut..This dish doesnt go for chopping onions or tomatoes or any other particular spices...Really very easy and quick side dish to make out...Any combination of veggies would  definitely works out fantastic with this sesame-coconut based grounded paste.

2nos Potatoes (diced)
2nos Green bell peppers (diced)
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
2tsp Coconut oil
1/4tsp Mustard seeds
2tsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt

To Grind:
1/4cup Grated coconut
1tbsp Sesame seeds
1tsp Cumin seeds
3nos Green chillies

Dry roast sesame seeds and grind everything from the list 'to grind' as bit coarse paste with enough water and keep aside..Heat coconut oil and let splutters the mustard seeds, add the diced potatoes saute with turmeric powder and salt for few minutes, add the diced bellpeppers and saute again for few seconds, add the grounded paste to the veggies and toss gently until the grounded paste get well mixed,springle some water and close with the lid...

Put the flame in simmer and cook everything well until the veggies get well cooked and the oil gets separates from the veggies..garnish with coriander leaves..

Serve hot with any rice dish!!

Thai Green Mango Salad

If anyone ask me watz my favourite cuisine after Indian cuisine, my choice goes immediately to Thai cuisine..I love thai dishes much and actually am trying to reproduce almost the same at home, after making out soups, noodles and so many dishes in this awesome thai cuisine, my recent trial was this Thai Green Mango Salad..As am living in chinatown, i can get easily any asian particularly chinese products easily and very cheaply..Sterday i got two mangoes from chinese grocery store to try out this mango salad, which were slightly sour and sweet and tastes incredibly delicious and i loved it...With those mangoes i prepared this salad with bean sprouts,crushed garlic,chopped thai red chillies and crushed peanuts, herbed with coriander leaves, green spring onions and finally tossed with tangy & sweet sauce prepared with soya sauce, chilli sauce, sugar and lime juice...Whoever hate green mango will surely love this salad, am damn sure in it, coz this crunchy and refreshing salad vanished within few minutes at home...Am sending this thai green mango salad to Divya's Show Me Your Salad, Pj's No Cook Event and to RV & Sudeshna's Food for 7stages of Life-Healthy Fast Food..

1no Firm big green mango
1/4tsp Garlic (crushed)
1cup Bean sprouts
1/4cup Chopped coriander leaves
2nos Green spring onions (chopped)
1/2cup Peanuts (roasted&crushed coarsely)
1/4tsp Thai red chillies (chopped)

Salad Dressing:
2tbsp Soya sauce
1tbsp Lemon juice
1tsp Packed brown sugar

1/4tsp Thai chilli sauce

Mix all the ingredients given for salad dressing and keep aside... Peel the mangoes and discard the skin, grate the flesh of the mangoes or cut them lengthwise as thin slices and take this mango chunks in a large bowl and add the bean sprouts, chopped coriander leaves, chopped spring onions, roasted & crushed peanuts,crushed garlic and chopped thai chillies..

Add the dressing as per ur need and toss well, serve immediately & enjoy this crunchy and nutty salad..

Eggplant/Kathrikkai Rasavaangi With Lemon Juice

Eggplant rasavaangi tastes tangy and goes very well with hot steaming rice topped with ghee and served with papads or spicy potato roast..Usually rasavaangi is prepared with tamarind juice and i want to change the usual way of making out rasavangi and tried out few teaspoons of lemon juice, i didnt find much difference between the usual rasavaangi and this lemon juice added rasavaangi, i personally felt adding lemon juice makes out the curry as tangier as when rasavaangi prepared with tamarind juice..Apart from the lemon juice i prepared everything as similar as the usual rasavaangi..A real feast of tangy dish lovers, i love this eggplant rasavaangi much which we used to prepare with a spice powder with channadal,coriander seeds,peppercorns, redchillies & grated coconut..Am sending this eggplant rasavaangi to MLLA-19th Helping guest hosted by EC,event by Susan..

1no Large eggplant (cut into large chunks)
1/2cup Toor dal (cooked)
2tsp Lemon juice
1/4tsp Mustard seeds
1tsp Urad dal
2nos Red chillies (broken)
few Curry leaves
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
2tsp Chopped coriander leaves
Salt
Oil

Spice Powder:
2tsp Channadal
2tsp Coriander seeds
6nos Red chillies
1tsp Peppercorns
1/2cup Grated coconut

Roast all the ingredients given for spice powder with a tsp of oil until they turns brown, cool and grind as fine powder..

In a pan, heat two tablespoon of oil and roast the eggplant pieces, add turmeric powder, salt and water, cook until the eggplants chunks turns soft, add the cooked dal,the spice powder to the cooking eggplant chunks and allow to boil for few minutes in low flame, heat enough oil in a pan, let splutters the mustard seeds, add urad dal, curry leaves, red chillies and asafoetida powder, fry for few minutes and this tempering to the eggplant gravy, add finally the lemon juice.. mix everything well and put off the stove..garnish with chopped coriander leaves..

Serve hot with rice and any side dish..

MW Thai Peanut Sauce/Dip~~Two In One

Most of the peanut sauce are made with peanut butter, this Thai peanut sauce is prepared with roasted peanuts, blended with soya sauce,tamarind paste, packed brown sugar,water,garlic cloves and sesame oil..This thai peanut sauce is quite easy to prepare and can be served very well as dip with veggies or as a sauce to meat dishes or can be used along with satay sauce,y not finally to make out nutty cold noodle salad, we enjoyed having this peanut sauce with spring rolls and also i prepared cold noodles salad with japanese udon noodles..A delicious and easy as well as quick peanut sauce with simple ingredients stay prefect upto 2weeks if conserved in refrigerator..

1cup Peanuts
2nos Garlic (minced)
1tsp Dark soya sauce
2tsp Sesame oil
1tbsp Brown sugar
1tbsp Light soya sauce
1/2tsp Tamarind paste
1tsp Thai chilli sauce
Water as per need
Few Sesame seeds for garnishing

Roast the peanuts (dont overcrowd) in microwave oven for 10minutes (stir in between twice) until they get well roasted...Grind all the ingredients with enough water as smooth sauce..transfer the smooth peanut sauce in microwave oven for 3minutes in high until the sauce turns foamy..

Serve warm with meats or at room temperature as a dip with fresh veggies, or any other finger foods...

Ellu Sadham/Sesame Seeds Rice

After lemon rice and tamarind rice, my next choice always goes to ellu sadham, yes!! sesame seeds rice are my most favourite rice, this rice tastes spicy with a delicious nutty flavour, which my mom used to make out quite often during purattasi month,that too specially on saturdays..This sesame seeds rice is prepared with a mixture of roasted sesame seeds,dry roasted red chillies and roasted urad dal as coarse fine powder which can be conserved for a month if this sesame seeds spice powder are stored in an air tightened box and this spice powder is quite handy to make out this delicious rice dish anytime easily...When this grounded spice powder added to already cooked basmati rice tempered with ghee,mustard seeds,curry leaves and dry chillies makes out a fantastic & flavourful sesame seeds rice...watelse we need!! nothing will beat this delicious rice when served warm with potato chips or papads..its quite a long i prepared this rice at home, this sesame seeds rice was our saturday's lunch menu which i served with crispy masal vadai..Both together tasted divine, needless to say this delicious rice goes to my own event called Cooking With Seeds-Sesame Seeds also sending to Silpa's APS-Rice...

1/4cup Sesame seeds(i used white sesame seeds)

6nos Dry red chillies

2tbsp Urad dal

3cups Cooked Basmati rice

For Tempering:

1/4tsp Mustard seeds

1/4tsp Urad dal

2nos Dry red chillies

few Curry leaves

2tbsp Ghee

Dry roast sesame seeds in simmer until they turn golden brown, in tha same pan dry roast the dry chillies then followed by urad dal..keep aside and let them get cooled.. grind as fine or coarse powder with enough salt and store them in a air tightened box..

Add this spice powder to the cooked rice as much as u desire, meanwhile heat the ghee and fry the mustard seeds,urad dal, dry chillies and curry leaves, add immediately this tempered spices to the rice and toss gently until the rice get well mixed..add salt if needed..

Enjoy this dish with any side dish!!

Garlicky Sesame Seeds & Cornmeal Dinner Rolls

Need something different dinner rolls with cornmeal and with slight garlic flavour, nutty sesame grains, herbed by thymn leaves?? u shouldnt miss this beautiful dinner rolls i prepared today"s afternoon to serve with soup for our dinner...The aroma of the garlic and sesame together turned this dinner rolls more delicious and this dinner rolls looks fantastic with slight yellow colour coz of the stone ground cornmeal i used in this dinner rolls with brown crust and soft interior, i got 8 medium sized dinner rolls which am gonna serve with some hot carrot soup and my H tasted already a dinner roll with cheese spread and he loved it, nothing will replace his smile when he love wat i cooked and served to him, he was a real critic for my culinary experience and i love it..After baking my Portuguese Cornbread, i really love adding cornmeal in my breads which give a beautiful texture and colour to the bread..

3cups Bread flour

1cup Yellow cornmeal (stone ground)
2tsp Sesame seeds
1/4tsp Thymn seeds
2nos Garlic cloves (minced)
1tbsp Active dry yeast
1cup Luke warm water
2tbsp Olive oil
1tsp Salt
1tsp Sugar

Add the active dry yeast to the luke warm water with sugar and salt, mix everything well and let them sit in a warm place for 5minutes until the yeast turns foamy..Mix together the bread flour, yellow cornmeal, thymn leaves, sesame seeds and minced garlic cloves..add gradually the foamy yeast, olive oil (add water in needed) and turn everything as soft and stiff dough..grease a bowl and place the dough, let it sit for an hour in a warm place..

After an hour the dough would have doubled their volume, punch down the dough and make out 6-8medium size balls,meanwhile line a baking sheet over a baking tray, roll them well as dinner rolls and place them over the lined baking sheet, let them sit again for half an hour in a warm place closed with a towel...Preheat the oven to 350F for few minutes and arrange the baking tray in the middle rack..Bake for 25-30minutes or until the crust turns brown..

Serve warm!!