Pineapple Lassi

If anyone ask me wat u want to drink my choice always goes to sweet lassi, just love them..Those refreshing drinks are really healthy and prefect drink when its too hot, needless to say that lassi is drink prepared basically with yogurt either with salt and herbs or with fruits and sugar, its our desi style of smoothie, yesterday i prepared this simple desi smoothis with few pineapple chunks and honey which tastes delicious together and we enjoyed having...

1cup Pineapple chunks
2cups Yogurt
1/4cup Milk
1/4cup Water
2tbsp Honey or Sugar
Icecubes

Blend together pineapple chunks, honey or sugar, milk, water , yogurt and ice cubes..blend well for few seconds until they turns frothy...

Serve them chilled!!!!

Broccoli Pulao With Vangibhath Powder

Needless to say that how healthy broccolis are, its recommended to take often this green beauties in our daily menus which am trying to follow while preparing our's menu...After trying out many dishes with broccoli florets, here am again with this spicy, delicious and prefect lunch box menu broccoli pulao which is prepared by cooked coconut flavoured rice and sauteed along with onions and broccoli florets with store bought vangibhath powder which my sister send me before few months back, the store bought vangibhath powder works out wonder with this green beauties and our lunch with this antioxydant green beauties turned out really fantastic and delicious, its quite a prefect and best way to feed whoever hates broccoli florets...Am sending this spicy broccoli pulao to RV& Sudeshna's FF7SOL-Tiffin Box...

2cups Rice
1cup Thick Coconut milk +3cups Water
1tbsp Oil

Wash and cook the rice with coconut milk, water and oil...once they get cooked, keep aside and let them cool..

25nos Broccoli florets
2tsps Vangibhath powder
1no Onion( large and chopped finely)
2nos Bay leaves
1tsp Cumin seeds
Oil
Salt
2tbsp Chopped coriander leaves

Heat enough oil and fry the bay leaves and cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions and saute until the onions turns transculent...meanwhile cook the broccoli florets with few water and salt in microwave oven for 5minutes in high, dont over cook the veggies, drain the excess of water...once the onions turns transculent, add the cooked broccolis, stir for few minutes and add immediately the vangibhath powder and salt, cook everything in simmer and finally add the already cooked rice and toss gently everything until the rice get well mixed..

Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and enjoy with papads or any raitas!!

MW Hot & Sour Tofu Soup

Soups are always welcome that to for dinner if the weather is too chilled and rainy, its raining too much and we are almost not able to go around coz of this chilled and nasty weather also i was bored to cook for dinner, yesterday i tried out making this hot and sour soup with tofu cubes and some leftover corn kernels for dinner through microwave oven, its turns really prefect, hot and fantastic...We enjoyed having this soup which suits increibly prefect for this rainy evenings and we loved it, this soup goes for simple ingredients and tastes too fantastic..Easy soup to prepare through microwave oven and also tasty soup to enjoy...This simple tofu soup goes directly to Sara's inbox as she is hosting this month's MEC-Soups, event by Srivalli...

1cup Tofu cubes
1/4cup Corn kernels
2cups Vegetable stock water
2tsp Soya sauce
1tsp Ginger(minced)
1tsp Garlic (minced)
1tsp Green chilli sauce
1/2tsp White vinegar
2tsp Tomato ketchup
1/4tsp White pepper powder
2cups Water
2tsp Corn flour
1tsp Green onions/garlic chives
Salt
Sesame Oil

Marinate the tofu cubes with soya sauce, ketchup,chilli sauce with few drops of sesame oil, let them sit for few minutes..Heat sesame oil in a microwave safe bowl in high for 2minutes, add the  garlic, ginger pieces and cook them for 3minutes in high, now add the marinated tofu cubes,corn kernels and cook again for 5 minutes in high..now add 2 cups of vegetable stock water, cook for 15minutes (stir in between twice) finally add the white vinegar n white pepper powder..

Mix enough water to the corn flour n make them as thin batter..add this batter to the cooking soup, cook for two more minutes in high, now the soup will be thick, garnish with green onions and serve hot..

Thai Style Prawn With Bean Sprouts/Gung Pad Too Gnooh

I had this prawn with bean sprouts once in a restaurant from that day onwards i have completely fallen to this fantastic, crunchy and healthy stir fry..I tried the same at home and this dish needs hardly few minutes to cook up and its really a delicious side dish when served along with hot steaming thai rice or with our simple basmati rice...Real feast for Thai food lovers and this is really a quick stir fry to prepare and even a novice non vegetarian cook can prepare this stir fry quickly and easily...If u dont like prawns in this stir fry u can either go for chicken chunks or for tofu cubes, both together works out wonder too...Coz of the bean sprouts, this stir fry tastes crunchy, filling,healthy and delicious...

25nos Prawns (i used the big ones)
5nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
1tbsp Rice vinegar
2cups Bean sprouts
2tbsp Dark Soya sauce
1tbsp Oyster sauce
2tbsp Fish sauce
1tbsp Corn flour
Salt
2nos Garlic chives(chopped)
Sesame oil

Heat the sesame oil and fry the garlic until they turns slightly brown, add the washed and deveined prawns and stir fry for few minutes,add the rice vinegar and stir again, now add the bean sprouts, saute for fes minutes, mix together the soya saucee, corn flour,oyster sauce, fish sauce and add this mixture to the cooking prawn and bean sprouts, put off the stove once the sauces gets thickens..

Serve immediately the stir fry topped with garlic chives!!

Corn & Tofu Pulao With Coconut Free Potato & Green Peas Kurma

Corn and tofu pulao, a superfast pulao to enjoy either for lunch or for dinner prepared with sweet corn kernels and tofu marinated with red chilly powder, garam masala powder, fennel seed powder,cumin powder and salt with some oil, cooked for few minutes in microwave oven finally cooked along with sweet corn kernels and already cooked rice...This pulao is really quick to prepare even with some leftover rice also, this corn and tofu pulao suits terribly for lunch box menu and corn gives a crunchiness to this pulao while tofu turns this pulao more delicious and yummy, u can also prepare this same dish with paneer cubes or soyabean nuggets to give a change instead of making out this dish with tofus..Then coming to the kurma, both pulao and kurma works out wonder and together we had a fantastic, filling, healthy and guilt free lunch..This kurma is prepared with a masala prepared with poppyseeds, fennel seeds grounded along with tomatoes,yogurt and coriander powder and its totally coconut free, a delicious kurma for everyone specially for dieting peoples and diabetic peoples to enjoy without any guilt...This kurma can also suits very well with rotis, parathas and also suits prefectly for simple breakfast dishes like idlies or dosas...

Corn & Tofu Pulao:

1/2cup Corn kernels
3cups Cooked rice

1/2cup Tofu cubes
1no Onion(chopped finely)
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Cumin seed powder
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
1tsp Red chill powder
5nos Curry leaves
Salt
1tsp Cumin seeds
Oil

Marinate the tofu cubes with red chilly powder, salt, fennel seed powder, cumin seed powder, with salt and oil, let them sit for an hour..cook those marinated tofu cubes in microwave oven for 15minutes (stir twice in between) until they get well cooked..

Heat enough oil and fry the cumin seeds, add the chopped onions,curry leaves with enough salt (take care not to add more salt as the tofu cubes do have some salt already) and saute everything until the onions turns transculent, now add the corn kernels with turmeric powder, garam masala powder, cook everything in simmer for few minutes..finally add the already cooked tofu cubes and rice and toss everything gently, check for salt..

Serve hot!!

Coconut Free Potato & Green Peas Kurma:
2nos Potatoes
1cup Fresh or Frozen green peas
1no Onion (big & chopped)
2nos Whole spices
2tbsp Coriander leaves
Salt
Oil

To Grind:
1tbsp Poppy seeds
1tbsp Fennel seeds
1cup Yogurt
1no Tomato (big & chopped)
1tsp Garam masala powder
1tbsp Coriander seeds
1tsp Black peppercorns
2tbsp Roasted grams (pottukadalai)
2nos Green chillies

Dry fry the poppy seeds and fennel seeds until a nice aroma comes out from the seeds, take the fried seeds along with all the ingredients given in the list 'To Grind' and grind as fine paste without adding water..

Heat enough oil and fry the whole spices, add the chopped onions along with some salt and saute until the onions turns transculent, add the cubed potatos and green peas and saute for few minutes, finally add the grounded paste and saute everything in simmer..finally add enough water to turn them as gravy, bring them oil and cook until the veggies get well cooked, add the coriander leaves and put off the stove..

Serve this kurma along with warm corn & tofu pulao!! enjoy!!

Microwave Herbed Potato & Carrot Soup

Easy soup with potato chunks and finely chopped carrot pieces cooked in microwave oven with finely chopped parsley leaves..This soup tastes fantastic as i prepared along with milk instead of using cream to make out this delicious and healthy soup...We loved having this creamy potato and carrot soup for our dinner which hardly needs very less ingredients and we enjoyed having this delicious soup with some toasted bread slices...This quick and easy soup with simple ingredients ready within 20minutes, its such a real comforting soup suits prefect for the chilled evening dinner which goes directly to Vegetable Marathon -Carrot guest hosted by PJ, event by Silpa..

2nos Carrots (chopped finely)
1no Potato (big & cubed as small pieces)
1tbsp Olive oil
1/2cup Milk
Salt
2tbsp Dry Parsley leaves
1/4tsp Pepper powder

Heat the olive oil along with chopped carrota and cubed potatoes with parsley leaves and salt in a microwave bowl in microwave oven  for 15minutes in high (stir in between thrice)..add a half cup of water to the cooked veggies and cook again for 5minutes in high again..

Blend the soup with a hand blender along with the milk and pepper powder also add salt if needed...Serve warm with toasted bread slices....

Onion Bhaji

Once a while, we love to have some deep fried snacks and its has been a long i prepared bhaji with onions, its our family's favourite deep fried dish, eventhough i do prepare rarely, its holiday here and needless to say that how busy i am now and trying to making out some usual snacks for our evening  which was quite a routine now, when the climate is too cold and rainy..Enjoyed having this crispy fritters for our yesterday's evening snacks with some coffee..My mom used to add idli batter  and corn flour while making out this fritters and i do the same while making out bhajis with any veggies, that turns the bhaji really very light and crispy.

2nos Big onions(sliced as round circles)
1/2cup Gram flour
1/4cup Corn flour
1/4cup Rice flour
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/4cup Idly batter
1pinch Baking soda
1pinch Food colour (optional)
Salt
Oil

Mix the gram flour, corn flour, rice flour, fennel seed powder, red chilly powder, baking soda, idly batter, food colour, salt and some water as thick batter, heat the oil for deep frying, dip the onion slices to the prepared batter and deep fry them until they turns golden brown..

Fry them in batches and serve with spicy coconut chutney!!

Red Snapper Hash/ Sankara Meen Puttu

Last week, i got a bag of frozen red snappers from Indian grocery..But back home those red snappers pieces wasnt tat much tasty and none at home liked the red snapper fish fry i prepared for our lunch with veggies kootu, i dont want to throw almost half a kg of this red snapper and i prepared them as a delicious puttu by cooking those fish pieces in hot water along with turmeric powder, once they get cooked i peeled the skin and removed the bones and prepared with shallots and spices as a tasty hash..Yes this red snapper hash was completely different and tasty from the puttu/hash we used to prepare with baby shark..We loved this delicious and tasty puttu with kootu, rasam and rice...

10nos Red snappers pieces
20nos Shallots (chopped finely)
1inch Ginger (chopped finely)
5nos Garlic (chopped finely)
3nos Green chillies (chopped finely)
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Fennel seed powder
1/2cup Coconut (grated)
1tsp Cumin seed powder
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil

Cook the fish with 1/4tsp of turmeric powder and water until they turns soft, remove the skin and bones, smash the cooked fish pieces and add the pepper powder, cumin seed powder,remaining turmeric powder, fennel seed powder, salt and mix everything well until everything get well mixed..

Heat enough oil and let splutters the mustard seeds and urad dal, add the chopped ginger,chopped green chillies and chopped garlic pieces to the seeds and fry until they turns slight brown add immediately the chopped shallots and cook everything until the shallots turns transculent..now add the cooked and spiced fish and toss everything gently, cook everything in simmer until they turns dry and get well fried..

Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut to the puttu, cook for few minutes and put off the stove... Serve as side dish with rice and gravies...

Stuffed Mushrooms - Version 2

I have already told that am a great fan of stuffed mushrooms, after making out some Stuffed mushrooms for global kadai with aloo masala, here comes one more stuffed mushrooms but this time i stuffed mushrooms with egg and onion masala prepared with hard boiled eggs cooked with a spiced onion masala and filled the giant mushrooms which i topped with some shredded cheddar cheese and baked them in oven, this stuffed mushrooms tastes fantastic when served for dinner with a simple lettuce salad and our's yesterday's dinner turned out awesome with this stuffed mushrooms made with egg masala.... am sending this egg-tarian version of stuffed mushrooms again to Global Kadai guest hosted by Sumi of Sumi's Kitchen, event started by Cilantro..

10nos Large button mushrooms
2nos Eggs (hard boiled & sliced as small cubes)
1no Onion (Big & chopped)
1/4tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1/4tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
5nos Curry leaves
Salt
Oil
1/4cup Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350F..meanwhile wipe the mushrooms with a wet towel and remove all the dirts...remove the salk and chop the stalk..

Heat enough oil and fry the cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions, curry leaves with enough salt and saute until the onions turns transculent, add the red chilly powder, garam masala powder, fennel seed powder to the onions and cook everything in simmer until the onions get well cooked, finally add the hard boiled eggs and put off the stove...toss gently the egg cubes with the masala...allow it to cool completely..

Apply little oil over the mushroom and arrange them in a baking tray, bake for 10 mins, now stuff the mushroom caps with the prepared stuffing and sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the top and bake for another 10-12minutes or until the cheese melts..

Methi/Fenugreek Seeds Dal

If u r searching something like simple dal for a quick lunch with healthy stuffs, u will definitely like this easy and healthy also comforting methi seeds dal, which doesnt need neither chopping or sauting the veggies...This is an easy dal prepared with toor dal and methi seeds steam cooked both together and tempered with ghee, mustard seeds,dry red chillies,urad dal ,asafoetida powder and curry leaves...Initially i felt that making dal with methi seeds would tastes definitely bitter but dal and methi seeds together worked out wonder and u cant even guess that this dal is prepared with methi seeds, which tastes slightly bitter but definitely healthy and comforting dal for diabetic peoples and for everyone at home, needless to say that this delicious methi dal goes directly to CWS-Fenugreek seeds guest hosted by SE of Denufood and to Yasmeen's Bitter Better Food..

1/2cup Toor dal
2tbsp Fenugreek seeds
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
2tsp Ghee
1/4tsp Mustard seeds
1/4tsp urad dal
2nos Dry red chillies (broken)
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
5nos Curry leaves

Pressure cook dal with fenugreek seeds with turmeric powder upto 3whistles...once the steam get released, mash the dal with a spatula and add the salt, heat the ghee and fry the mustard seeds, urad dal, broken dry red chillies, asafoetida powder and curry leaves, add the tempered spices to the cooked dal and serve hot with rice and pickles or papads..

Baked Egg Omelette Gravy/Mutta Kuzhambu

Anything with eggs are our family's favourite, whenever i feel like bore to cook i usually go for simple baked version of omelette which hardly needs 15minutes to bake and its really easy to serve immediately a slice of this baked omelettes with some salads or with toasted breads, after making out this baked version of omelettes with mushrooms, potatoes and carottes, i want to make out some gravy with this delicious baked omelettes and prepared them as gravy /kuzhambu with tamarind extract..This gravy with this baked omelettes cubes tastes really fantastic and also easy to cook, when served with hot steaming rice and papads this baked egg omelette gravy tastes absolutely divine and delicious...This gravy is going to Jay's I Love My Dad..

For Omelettes:
5nos Eggs
1/4tsp Pepper powder

1/2cup Chopped onions
Salt

Whisk the eggs with pepper powder,chopped onions, salt..Preheat the oven to 350F..Pour this egg mixture to a cake mould and bake for 15minutes..once cooked and cooled, slice the baked egg omelette as small cubes..

For Gravy:
2cups Tamarind extract
15nos Shallots
1no Tomatoes (chopped)
1tsp Red chilly powder
2tsp Coriander powder
1/4tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Fenugreek seeds
5nos Curry leaves
Salt
Oil

Heat the oil and let splutters the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds...add immediately the shallots,curry leaves and chopped potatoes, cook until the shallots turns transculent, meanwhile mix the red chilly powder,salt and coriander powder to the tamarind extract..Once the shallots turns transculent, add this spiced tamarind extract and cook until the oil get separates...

Now add the already prepared baked cubed omelettes to the cooking gravy and put off the stove..let them sit for atleast 10minutes..

Serve with hot rice and papads!!

Stuffed Mushrooms For Global Kadai

I usually prepare stuffed mushrooms whenever i get the large button mushrooms with simple aloo masala and topped with any sort of cheese, when Sumi of Sumi's Kitchen announced the stuffed mushrooms for this month global kadai, needless to say how i was excited to prepare after a long my favourite aloo masala stuffed mushrooms..Yesterday when i went for shopping i bought few large mushrooms from the grocery and prepared immediately this aloo masala stuffed mushrooms with emmental cheese for our dinner..Global kadai is a new food blogging event started by Cilantro..This event is to showcase the global dishes as indianized version and thats definitely bring out the creativity of food bloggers, thanks to both Cilantro & Sumi for this month's challenege, i enjoyed preparing this stuffed mushrooms for our dinner as starter and am sending this stuffed mushrooms to Sumi's inbox..

10nos Large button mushrooms

1no Onion(chopped)

2nos Green chillies

2nos Potatoes (big & cooked )

2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)

1/2tsp Garam masala powder

1/4tsp Turmeric powder

1/2tsp Coriander powder

1/4cup Emmental cheese or parmesan cheese

Salt

Oil

Preheat the oven to 350F..meanwhile wipe the mushrooms with a wet towel and remove all the dirts...remove the salk and chop the stalk..

Heat enough oil and saute the chopped onions and chopped green chillies with enough salt and turmeric powder..Add the cooked and smashed potatoes to the cooking onions and the chopped mushroom stalks, saute for few minutes and add the garam masala powder, coriander powder to the veggies and cook in simmer until the veggies get cooked well, finally add the chopped coriander leaves and put off the stove..allow it to cool..

Apply little oil over the mushroom and arrange them in a baking tray, bake ofr 10mins, now stuff the mushroom caps with the prepared stuffing and sprinkle the emmental cheese over the top and bake for another 10-12minutes or until the cheese melts..

Enjoy warm!!!

Chicken Vindaloo

Vindaloo is Indo-portuguese dish served during special occasions and this vindaloo is traditionally prepared in Portugal with pork preserved in red wine vinegar or red wine, chilli peppers and stewed with garlic..But when this vindaloo curry dish comes to Indo version,its turned completely as a delicious curry in Goa with plenty of spices..This indo portuguese dish tastes fabulous which can be prepared with chicken ,lamb,prawns or with mixed veggies, they tastes delicious when served simply with white rice or with rotis..The vindaloo paste is prepared with cumin seeds, peppercorns,fenugreek seeds,garlic pods, ginger pieces,redchillies and finally with vinegar..I think each and every house have their own way of preparing this vindaloo paste, here the vindaloo paste which i prepared is one my mom's way of making out this paste...If u r nt able to prepare this vindaloo paste u can also go for the store bought one..Enjoy this delicious vindaloo with hot steaming rice, delicious vindaloo tastes marvellous even with rotis..This chicken vindaloo goes to CWS-Fenugreek seeds guest hosted by SE of Denufood..

1/2kg Chicken pieces
2nos Onion
2nos Tomato
1inch Ginger (chopped)
5nos Garlic
1tbsp Cumin seeds
1tbsp Fenugreek seeds
1tbsp Coriander seeds
1tsp peppercorns
1/3cup White vinegar
6nos Dry red chillies
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil

Dry roast the cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, dry red chillies, one by one and take them along with chopped ginger and garlic pieces, blend everything as fine paste with vinegar and marinate the chicken pieces with this vindaloo paste and enough salt, i prefer to marinate the chicken pieces overnight...

Heat enough oil and saute the chopped onions and tomatoes until they get cooked well and blend them as puree..Heat again few more oil, add the marinated chicken and the onion-tomato puree (add water if needed) and cook till the chicken turns tender and the gravy get thickens or till the gravy turns dry..finally add the coriander leaves, serve hot...

Cuban Sandwich Bread/Pan Cubano

Cuban bread is a simple white bread, similar to the French bread or else to Italian bread, but it has a slightly different cooking method and its generally goes for simple ingredients with a small amount of vegetable shortening, its can also usually made into long, baguette like loaves or small loaves to make out sandwiches with any filling, this cuban sandwich bread is a staple of Cuban-American cuisine and traditionally used for cuban sandwich...This bread is really very simple to prepare and tastes fantastic, personally i felt that this bread tastes like our Pav bread and we enjoyed having this bread with chicken and veggies as filling for sandwich.

2+1/2cup Bread flour
1tbsp Active dryYeast
1tbsp Sugar
1ts Salt
1cup Luke warm water
1/4cup Melted butter
1no Egg

In a bowl, mix together the yeast, sugar, salt and warm water...cover the mixture and let them sit until the yeast form a foam on the top..mix the butter, egg and flour together and add gradually the foamy yeast, turn everything as a soft and stiff dough..keep the dough in a greased bowl and let them rise in a warm place for 1or 1+1/2 hours..

When the dough doubled their volume, punch down the dough and divide the dough as 5-6portions..knead each loaves for few seconds, place the loaves over the baking sheet tray, using a sharp knife make two-three slashes over the loaves,cover the loaves with a towel for 15minutes...Preheat the oven to 375F, place the loaves on the center rack.. arrange a shallow pan to the bottom of the oven with a cup of boiling water and bake the bread to 375F for 35minutes...The loaves will be golden and little crusty...

Enjoy the bread the day itself...

Vegan Dry Fruits & Chocolate Cookies

My baking adventures with brown rice flour continues, yeah am enjoying making out few delicious bakes with brown rice flour since from few days, personnally i love the bakes with brown rice flour now and u know wat the 2kgs of brown rice flour which i bought from the organic shop is almost getting finished, today i prepared this vegan dry fruits and chocolate cookies with silken tofu mixed along with dry fruits, my choice of dry fruits went for cranberries, raisins,chopped apricots chunks, few dates, prepared along with brown rice flour, almond powder,chocolate powder and all purpose flour for our evening snacks...Do you believe tat these cookies vanished quickly once i finished baking, with this given measurements i got 25 medium sized cookies and its definitely a guilt free snacks to enjoy anytime, obviously these cookies were really soft, moist and tastes delicious with those dry fruits chunks...

1+1/2cups Brown rice flour
1/2cup Almond powder
1/2cup All purpose flour
1cup Silken tofu
3/4cup Sugar
1tsp Baking powder
1/2tsp Baking soda
1/4cup Dark chocolate powder(70%cacao)
1/2cup Dry fruits (raisins,dates, apricots&cranberries)
2tbsp Canola oil

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet over a baking tray...Grind the sugar as fine powder, add the silken tofu and oil to the powdered sugar and turn everything as a paste...take this paste in a bowl, meanwhile mix the brown rice flour, almond powder, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, chocolate powder, dry fruits in an another bowl and add gradually the dry ingredients to the sugar-tofu paste, turn everything as a soft and slightly sticky dough with a wooden spatula, dont overmix..Take a small ball from the cookies dough and flatten them , arrange them over the lined baking sheet..before baking, just press the uncooked cookies with a fork and bake them in middle rack for 20-25minutes..

Let them cool and enjoy this guilt free chocolate cookies for snacks or for breakfast with a cup of milk...

Spaghetti With Tomatoes & Mushrooms

Pasta, the famous Italian food and the spaghettis can also been defined as Italian noodles, we just love any sort of pastas even if they are served simply with tomato ketchup, everyone at home love pastas that much...I do twice a week pastas with different veggies, sometimes with meats or either with sea foods...Here comes one of my version of simple pasta dish cooked simply with crushed tomatoes, chopped button mushrooms,low fat cream  finally served with some grated parmesan cheese..This delicious spaghetti can also suits perfectly for lunch box menu which is quite easy to prepare and tastes too delicious while having...U can also use any sorts of pastas for making out the same dish, am damn sure that this simple spaghetti with tomatoes and mushrooms is a real feast for pasta lovers...Am sending this delicious spaghetti to Jyoti's Pasta Party, FFSL-Tiffin Box event by RV & Sudeshna..

1packet Spaghetti (250grs)
1no Onion (big & chopped finely)
3nos Tomatoes (big & crushed)
10nos Button Mushrooms (chopped finely)
1tsp Dry Parsley leaves
1/2cup Low fat cream
1/2tsp Pepper powder
Salt
Olive oil
2tbsp Grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the spaghetti as per package instructions, drain the cooked water and keep aside...Heat a wok or a kadai with enough olive oil, saute the onions with dry parsley leaves and salt until the onions turns transculent, now add the crushed tomatoes and cook until they turn as thick sauce, add the already chopped mushrooms with enough pepper powder..saute everything until the mushrooms get half cooked, now add the low fat cream and bring everything as a thick creamy sauce..

Add the already cooked spaghetti to the cooking creamy tomato-mushrooms and toss gently until everything get well mixed..

Serve hot topped with parmesan cheese!!!

Also am sending to the same event some more pastas dishes..
MW Mini Shell Pasta Kheer
Broccoli & Sprouted Moongdal Spicy Fusili
Pasta & Creamy Tomato Sauce With Broccoli

Mint Pulao & Carrot N Avocado Raita

If u are searching for something easy ,flavourful,super quick and delicious rice dish for ur lunch box or for ur dinner, u should definitely give a try to this aromatic mint pulao prepared with a spice paste with mint leaves and with already cooked basmati rice..This flavourful mint pulao suits prefectly for a potluck party also, this pulao tastes fantastic when served along with carrot and avocado raita, both these dishes together turned out our lunch really fabulous..Coming to the carrot and avocado raita, i prepared this raita with creamy green yogurt spiced with flax seed powder and dry red chillies along with grated carrots and finely chopped avocado chunks, needless to say that this raita taste really different and yummy, one more unique raita from my kitchen which hardly needs very less time to whip out...

Mint Pulao:
2cups Basmati Rice (cooked)
1no Onion (chopped lengthwise)
1no Green chilly (slit opened)
1tsp Cumin seeds
10nos Cashew nuts
Oil
Salt

To Grind:
1cup Mint leaves (chopped)
8nos Pepper corns
1tbsp Fennel seeds
2nos Cloves
1/2inch Cinnamom Stick
1/4cup Grated Coconut
2nos Dry red chillies

Grind everything from the list 'To Grind' as fine paste by adding few drops of water and keep aside..Heat enough oil in a large pan, add the cumin seeds and cashew nuts and let them get fried, add the chopped lengthwise onion,salt and saute for few minutes, add the grounded paste with slit opened green chilly and cook until the oil get separates....

Add the cooked rice to the mint paste and toss gently until the rice get well mixed, serve hot...

Carrot & Avocado Raita:
1/2cup Grated carrots
1no Avocado (chopped finely)
1tsp Flax seeds
1no Dry red chillies
1cup Greek Yogurt /Thick curd
Salt

Grind the flax seeds and dry red chillies as fine paste, mix all the ingredients with enough flax seed & dry red chillies and mix everything well and serve immediately...

Sprouted Methi Seeds Pickles - Instant Version

Usually i have some frozen sprouted methi seeds in my freezer,which are quite handy to make out curries, gravies or anything with these sprouted methi seeds, here comes one of my simple pickles which really goes awesome as side for any sort of rice dishes, and these instant methi seeds pickles tastes awesome with slight sourness, bitterness and spiciness when served..This pickles hardly need just few ingredients and really quick to make out anytime and can be served immediately as side dish with rotis or rice dishes...U will get a fantastic, quick and easy pickles within few minutes just with sprouted methi seeds, red chilly powder, mustard seeds, lemon juice and turmeric powder..I have crossed this methi seeds pickles somewhere long back while reading a magazine and i'll prepare them very rarely..Today i prepared again these sprouted methi seeds pickles and served with potato kurma, we just loved it..Sending this pickles to CMT-Pickle guest hosted by Nivedita, event by Jagruti...

1cup Sprouted Methi seeds

2tsp Red chilly powder (or as u desire)

1/2tsp Turmeric powder

2tbsp Lemon juice

1tsp Mustard seeds

1/4tsp Asafoetida powder

Salt

Oil

Cook methi seeds with quarter cup of water in microwave oven for 5 minutes in high, strain the excess of water, dont throw the water, u can drink(its really healthy)...Heat enough oil,let splutters the mustard seeds and asafoetida powder,add the cooked methi seeds and saute for few minutes, add immediately the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt and cook in simmer until the oil get separates, add the lemon juice, cook for few seconds and put off the stove..

Serve immediately...

Nutella Swirl Bread

Our sunday breakfast/brunch never been complete mostly without nutella, with toasted bread and a spoon of nutella nothing will beat this mouthwatering combination..Being a chocoholic person, i cant imagine a week without having some chocolates...This sunday instead of having with our bread slices, i have prepared a delicious swirl bread with nutella and we enjoyed having this delicious nutella swirl bread...Everyone at home loved this swirl bread and am gonna bake again with fruits and nuts soon...How can i forget the Monthly Mingle event of this month that to the choice goes from bread and chocolate..As a Paris living person, its definitely a prefect theme for me to give a trial to this delicious bread with nutella na!! this nutella swirl bread suits incredibly to this month's theme for bread and chocolate and this beautiful nutella swirl bread goes directly to Jamie's inbox as she is hosting this month MM event, started by Meeta also going to Yeast Spotting, also going to Shama's Family Favourite..

3cups Bread flour/ Maida
1/2cup Butter (room temperature)
1cup Milk (luke warm)
1no Egg
2tbsp Sugar
1tsp Salt
1tbsp Active dry yeast
2-3tbsp Nutella spread

Add the active dry yeast to the luke warm milk with sugar and salt, mix everything well and let them sit in a warm place for 5 minutes until the yeast turns foamy..Add the butter, egg and foamy yeast to the flour and knead for few minutes until everything turns as a soft and stiff dough..grease a bowl with some butter and place the dough, let this dough sit for an hour in a warm place until the dough double the volume..

After an hour, punch down the dough and roll the dough as large rectangular dish, spread the nutella over the rolled disc and roll them as a log, press well the edges to not open while baking...place this dough in a greased loaf pan, let the dough sit again an hour in a warm place, closed with a towel..

Preheat the oven to 350F and arrange the baking loaf pan in the middle rack, bake for 25-30minutes or until the crust turns brown..let them get cool completely..

Enjoy the bread for breakfast, snacks or as desserts with a scoop of icecream..

Pyaz Ki Kachori ~~ ICC

Kachori, a fantastic snack which stayed a quite long in my to do list..When Srivalli announced kachoris for this month Indian Cooking Challenge, i was really excited to tried out these deepfried beauties..My choice went for onion filling eventhough Srivalli have given us three different filling to try out, coz my little family love anything with onions and this filling with onions sounds really easy, yummy and delicious for me and i immediately planned for this delicious onion filling, i was not wrong once i fried the kachoris my little ones picked each and every time.. Yea they loved it...We had a superb evening sunday snacks with these pyaz ki kachori...Thanks again to Srivalli and Medha for choosing this fantastic kachoris for this month's challenge..We really enjoyed making this delicious kachoris gals....

For Dough:
2cups All purpose flour
1/4cup Ghee
Salt

Mix the flour and salt, gradually add the ghee and turn the the flour as bread crumbs like texture, slowly add the water and make a soft dough, knead well..cover and keep aside for atleast half an hour..

For Onion Filling:
2cups Onions (finely chopped)
1tsp Nigella seeds
2tsp Fennel seeds
2nos Bay leaves
1no Green chillies (chopped finely)
2tbsp Besan flour
2tsp Coriander powder
1tsp Chilly powder
1tsp Garam masala
2tbsp Chopped coriander
2tsbsp Oil
Salt


Heat the oil in a pan. Add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, green chillies and onions and sauté till the onions turn light brown in colour.Add the gram flour, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.Add the chopped coriander and mix well. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Allow the mixture to cool completely.

Divide into 12 equal portions and keep aside.

To make Kachoris:

Make a small ball from the dough...flatten the ball using your fingers having the center thick and sides little thin.
Place about 2 tsps of the onion filling in the center of the rolled dough.Cover the filling with the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling. Seal the ends and remove excess dough. Repeat with all the balls and keep aside for 5 -7 mins.

Then using your palm, flatten the balls by lightly pressing it..Keep aside covered. Repeat with the remaining dough...Meanwhile heat some oil for deep frying. The oil should not become smoking hot...fry the kachoris in batches of 3-4 gently into the oil. It should rise up slowly. If you don't want to use lot of oil, use just enough for two or three at a time and fry them.After it rises up (about 2 minutes), turn it over.Cook for about 6 to 10 minutes till the side down gets a golden brown color.

Turn and cook the other side for another 6 minutes or till its golden brown in color.Remove when done, cool and store in airtight container.

Serve with tamarind chutney or coriander chutney...

Peanut Butter & Cumin Crackers

Wishing You all a Happy Valentine's Day....Crunchy crackers with peanut butter and cumin seeds prepared with brown rice flour, whole wheat pastry flour made with dry parsley leaves and flax seed meal, goes well as a prefect evening snacks or an appetizier served with any sort of dip...I have prepared this crackers without any knowledge how they will taste and these crackers turned out really crunchy and tasty as similar as Indian crispy snacks particularly like murukku, dunno y am saying like this but its tasted as though, even my H confirmed it..Anyhow this crunchy crackers were really tasty, a guilt free snacks can enjoy anytime...Tasty crackers goes directly to Sunday Snacks-Healthy Snacks guest hosted by Divya.

3tbsp Peanut butter
1cup Brown rice flour
1cup Whole wheat pastry flour
1tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Dry parsley leave
1tsp Baking powder
1/2tsp Baking soda
1tbsp Flax seed meal +3tbsp Water
Salt


Mix the flax seed meal with water and make a paste...beat the peanut butter with ur fingers for few seconds, add the flax seed meal paste and mix well..Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet ove a baking tray..In another bowl,mix brown rice flour, wheat pastry flour, cumins seeds, baking soda, baking powder, dry parsley leaves and keep aside...slowly add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter and make a crumble like texture...Springle some water and turn everything as soft dough..

Roll the dough as a thick disc, with a cookie cutter cut the dough as any shape as u desire and arrange over the lined baking sheet with some spaces in between..bake for 20-25minutes until they turns golden brown..

Conserve them in air tightened box and enjoy...

Cheese & Parsley Palmiers

Wat a fantastic way to celebrate Valentine's day with these crispy, flaky ,cheesy palmiers with dry parsley leaves na!!!!...To be honest, this plamiers tastes fantastic when u munch them they were still warm, yes those cheese melts in your mouth, no words to describe how these palmiers tastes...Should give a try to these beauties if u want to know how these palmiers would have tasted..These palmiers goes for simple ingredients and without puff pastry sheet its completely difficult to make out these flaky palmiers, then i went for grated emmental cheese, dry parsley leaves, pepper powder and salt to make out this flaky hearts...Such a simple palmiers na, a cute appetizier also a crowd pleaser hardly needs less time prepare and bake...If u dont know how to roll out this flaky palmiers, pls do check Cham's palmiers post where she explain how to roll the pastry sheet as palmiers clearly and even a novice can prepare this palmiers very easy with her detailed clicks...

1no Puff pastry sheet
1/4cup Grated emmental cheese
1tsp Dry parsley leaves
1/4tsp Pepper powder
Salt

Roll the pastry sheet and springle the emmental cheese, dry parsley leaves, pepper powder and salt , fold on both sides to bring both edges to the middle and form like a log, arrange in freezer for 15minutes..Preheat the oven to 400F, cut the log as small pieces and arrange over a baking sheet lined over a baking tray, arrange the tray in the middle rack and bake for 12-15minutes..

Enjoy this cheesy palmiers when they were still warm....

Indianized Chunky Avocado Dip

While i was planning to make out something creamy, delicious, simple and easy dip to whip out, my choice went immediately to avocado chunks and greek yogurt which i spiced up with chaat masala,red chilly powder, amchur powder, pepper powder,sugar and salt..This dip takes hardly few seconds to whip out and tastes fantastic with a mild sour taste and bit spicy..The greek yogurt i used to make out this dip helped a lot to turn out this avocado dip really creamy and rich..We enjoyed having this tempting and delectable indianized avocado dip with some home made peanut butter and rice crackers with cumin seeds which i will be posting very soon... Those crunchy baked crackers with this creamy dip totally turned out our snacks fantastic and prefect, that to when its cold outside we definitely need something to munch while watching TV or for simple evening snacks, obviously this dip and those baked peanutbutter rice crackers turned out snacks completely awesome.

2nos Avocados
2cup Greek yogurt
1/2tsp Amchoor powder
Chaat masala (as per ur need)
1/4tsp Chilli powder
1/4tsp Sugar
1/3tsp Pepper powder
Salt

Scoop and chop the avocados flesh and mash slightly with spoons to give them a chunky aspect...take the greek yogurt, chaat masala, amchoor powder, chilli powder, pepper powder, sugar, salt as per need, whisk until the everything get well mixed..

Add the avocado chunks and mix everything well.. serve chilled with any sort of crackers, biscuits or simply with veggies..

Eggless Multigrain Banana Chocolate Cake

Can u believe this soft and moist chocolate cake is truly healthy and nutritious???..Absolutely i have used whole wheat pastry flour, brown rice flour,stone ground cornmeal,all purpose flour corn starch,rolled oats, ragi flour, with all these flours needless to say that this cake is definitely a healthy and guilt free cake to enjoy anytime..With banana puree, butter, creamy greek yogurt and flax seed meal, this cake turned out really moist, soft and spongy...This cake vanished within few hours coz everyone at home loved these spongy cake when they were still warm and the aroma came from the oven while baking this cake, tempted everyone and i can say that almost everyone were waiting to enjoy once they come out the oven....I used chocolate to cover up dark colour of the cake coz of multigrain flour particularly ragi flour coz my lil ones wont like that much the colour of the ragi flour and making out as chocolate cake works out truly prefect and none will notice anything,this is the way i feed sometimes my little family with healthy stuffs...Am sending this spongy cake to Madhu's Whole Grain Baking Event -Rice & to my own event Hearts For St.Valentine's Day..

1/2cup Whole wheat pastry flour
1cup Brown rice flour
1/2cup All purpose flour
1/2cup Rolled oats
1/2cup Cornmeal
2tbsp Corn starch
1/4cup Ragi flour
3/4cup Butter
200grs Dark chocolate bar
1/2cup Brown packed sugar
1/2cup Sugar
2nos Bananas( pureed)
1cup Greek yogurt
1tbsp Flax seed meal +3tbsp water
1tbsp Baking powder
1cup Water

Preheat the oven to 300F, grease a mould with butter or can use very well silicion moulds, i didnt greased my silicon heart shaped mould... Beat the butter with sugar and brown packed sugar until they turns soft and creamy...meanwhile mix the whole wheat pastry flour,brown rice flour, cornmeal, all purpose flour, rolled oats, cornstarch, ragi flour, baking powder in a bowl and keep aside...Melt the chocolate in microwave oven for 5minutes in high with a cup of water and turn them thin chocolate sauce...

Add the greek yogurt and banana puree to the creamy butter mixture and beat until they turns soft...make a paste with flax seed meal and water, add this flax seed meal paste to the butter-puree mixture and add gradually the chocolate sauce, beat for a while..finally add the dry ingredients, mix slowly with spatula or wooden spoon, dont over mix..

Pour the cake batter to the mould and bake in middle rack for 35-40minutes until a skewer inserted come out clean...Let them cool..

Slice as per ur need, i have decorated my cake with confectioner's sugar to give a heart look..

Avocado Delight With Maple Syrup

Are you searching for simple dessert with simple ingredients, quick to whip out?? u should definitely give a trial to this avocado dessert with greek yogurt, maple syrup and vanilla extract topped with chocolate powder..I bought a small bag of avocados yesterday from the farmer's market and two of them were completely ripened and i dont want to make them as salsa, i wanted to prepare them as smoothies but finally i finished them as creamy avocado delight with maple syrup and vanilla extract, this dessert tastes delicious as they are prepared with creamy greek yogurt which turned out this dessert creamy, rich and maple syrup with vanilla extract gave a pleasant flavour to this easy delight, quite easy to prepare and definitely a delectable dessert to relish..Can have this dessert as a smoothie by adding more water or a dessert after lunch or dinner..Even a bachelor can prepare this delight easily within few minutes..

2nos Avocados
2cup Greek yogurt
Maple syrup (as per need)
1/2tsp Vanilla extract
Sweetened Chocolate powder (as per need)

Scoop the avocado flesh and chop them as tiny chunks, blend the avocado chunks, greek yogurt,maple syrup, vanilla extract until they turns smooth cream..

Pour this avocado cream in a glass or a bowl and serve chilled with chocolate powder as per need..

Vegan Minty Oats & Rice Crackers

Voila!! am here with an another oats and rice crackers prepared with few mint leaves as vegan and also as eggless version...This crackers hardly needs less than 15 minutes to prepare and this crackers suits prefectly for an appetizier for a party when served with any sort of dip or else simply with cheese spread, we enjoyed having this delicious and crunchy crackers with laughing cow cheese for our snacks and everyone at home enjoyed it...With a mild mint flavour,this guilt free crackers with rolled oats and brown rice flour prepared with flax seed powder and sesame seeds tastes fantastic for snacks with a cup of milk or with hot coffee for this chilled evening weather...Am damn sure that am gonna try again this crackers giving them few more variations, needless to say that this crackers was a big hit at home,finally am sending this beautiful heart shaped minty oats & rice crackers to my own event Hearts for St. Valentine's day & to Madhu's Whole Grain Baking Evenr -Rice..

25nos Mint leaves (chopped finely)
1cup Brown rice flour
3tbsp All purpose flour
1/2cup Rolled oats
1tsp Flax seed powder+3tsp Water
3tbsp Olive oil
1tbsp Black sesame seeds
1/2tsp Baking soda
1tsp Baking powder
Salt

Preheat the oven to 350F, line a baking tray with baking sheet...Mix the flax seed powder with water,turn as paste...take the chopped mint leaves,brown rice flour, all purpose flour, rolled oats, black sesame seeds, baking soda,baking powder and salt in a large bowl, add the flax seed paste and olive oil and turn the dry ingredients as crumble like texture, now add or springle water to turn everything as soft but stiff dough..

Roll the dough with rolling pin..using the cookie cutter, cut the dough as any shape as u desire...arrange the shaped dough over the lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20minutes in middle rack..

Enjoy warm with any dip or cheese spread...

Sprouted Methi Seeds Rasam

As i do with the dry legumes, i usually sprout the fenugreek seeds, horsegrams and sometimes channa as large quantities and freeze them in plastic boxes so that i can use them whenever i need for.. These sprouted veggies are quite handy to try out any gravies or as side dishes anytime... I have a bag of sprouted fenugreek seeds still in my freezer and here is one of my trial with sprouted fenugreek seeds as rasam...Todays its too snowy and we felt like having simple and something comforting, so i prepared everything to make out rasam with tomatoes and my mind as usual, thought of making out something different as rasam with some frozen sprouted fenugreek seeds..Once i tempered the seeds and dry red chillies, i have sauteed the sprouted fenugreek seeds until they turns soft and added the uncooked rasam water which i prepared with tomatoes, the tanginess of the tomatoes dominated the bitterness of these fenugreek seeds and we loved having this healthy, delicious tangy rasam with some simple potato fries, this rasam is quite healthy for diabetic peoples as fenugreek seeds are well recommanded to diabetic peoples coz of their health values..Needless to say that these rasam goes directly to  my own event CWS-Fenugreek Seeds guest hosted by SE of Denufood for this month and to Yasmeen's Bitter Better Foods..

2nos Tomatoes (crushed)
1/4cup Sprouted fenugreek seeds
1tsp Home made rasam powder
4nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/4tsp Cumin seeds
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
2nos Dry red chillies
5nos Curry leaves
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
1tsp Lemon juice

Take the crushed tomatoes,crushed garlic cloves, home made rasam powder,curry leaves with enough salt and water together in a bowl ....heat enough oil and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies,slit opened green chillies and asafoetida powder and let them fry..add the sprouted fenugreek seeds to the tempered spices and saute until they turns soft, now add the already prepared tomato-spice water to the cooking veggies..once they starts bubbling put off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves and add the lemon juice..put off the stove..

Serve hot with rice and any spicy side dishes!

Oats & Pistachio Kalakand

It has been a quite long i have prepared sweets with oats...here comes my all time favourite kalakand with oats and pistachio nuts...these both ingredients works out wonder with ricotta cheese and they turned this kalakand really very delicious, tasty and quick sweet to enjoy, eventhough i have used pistachios in this kalakand, personally i felt adding rolled oats turned this kalakand healthy and guilt free..Also pistachio nuts have enough healthy stuffs in it and with rolled oats this kalakand tastes awesome and nutty...Another sweets with oats to enjoy, a real feast for sweet lovers to enjoy..I prepared this delicious oats & pistachios kalakand specially this weekend as we went to my SiL's place, everyone at her home enjoyed having this kalakand and i got a special thanks for bringing her these delicious and healthy oats & pistachios kalakand...Sending to Umm's Iftar Moments..

1cup Ricotta cheese(full fat)
1/3cup Pistachio Powder
1/4cup Rolled oats
1cup Sugar
2cups Milk Powder(low fat)
Few pistachio pieces
1tbsp Butter+1tsp butter

Take a microwave bowl, add the ricotta cheese, sugar, milk powder,pistachio powder n butter n stir them continously until the cheese gets well mixed, this may looks as creamy paste..keep the microwave in high temperature for 5 minutes n cook this milk mixture, they may doubled their volume, stir them once..meanwhile in a another microwave bowl add a tsp of butter and rolled oats, cook everything for 5minutes in high(stir in between)...add the cooked oats to the cheese mixture,cook again in high temperature for 15 minutes in microwave oven..

Keep an eye while doing this, u may see the milk mixture might have turned slightly brownish colour at the edges..now transfer to a flat dish r plate, sprinkle the pistachios pieces on the top as u desire..keep aside n let them cool..once they r cooled cut them any shape as u wish..

MW Simple Spinach Soup

Simple soups doesnt need that much chopping or many veggies, this spinach soup goes for frozen (finely chopped ) spinach cooked with onions and garlic in microwave oven and finally cooked in vegetable stock which tooks hardly 25minutes to cook up everything and enjoyed having this delicious green soup with spicy flax seed powder which i prepared today simply with red chillies and flax seeds to spice up these sort of simple soups...This soups tastes fantastic, simple to prepare and delicious to relish..

400grs Frozen spinach (defrosted)
1no Onion (chopped)
3nos Garlic cloves(crushed)
2tbsp Olive oil
2cups Vegetable stock water
2tbsp Flax seed powder+2nos dry red chillies
Salt
Pepper

Heat the olive oil in a microwave safe bowl for 5secs in high in microwave oven, add the chopped onions and crushed garlic cloves to the heated oil and cook for 5minutes in high..add the defrosted spinach and cook for 5 minutes again (stir twice in between)..finally add the vegetable stock with enough salt and pepper powder and cook everything for 10 minutes in microwave oven in medium...meanwhile grind the flax seeds and dry red chillies as bit coarse powder and keep aside..

Blend the soup with a hand blender and serve with spicy flax seed powder..enjoy!!

Bottlegourd & Channadal Gravy (Varuthu Aracha Surakkai Sambar)

I want to make out something different from usual sambar with bottlegourd and channadal where i usually goes for toor dhal, this sambar is quite an easy, quick and delicious gravy which goes awesome with hot steaming rice or with rotis or idlies,pongal and to any other dishes, even i like to dip and have with some toasted breads to this sort of gravies...To enhance the flavour of this delicious gravy, i prepared a spice powder prepared with fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds,asafoetida powder and dry red chillies, cooked everything with already cooked and smashed channadal with coconut milk, yes this gravy sounds quite similar like between sambar and kootu, no need of sambar powder or chilly powder coz the spice powder we are preparing for this gravy itself have enough spiciness..Definitely a delicious gravy to enjoy from breakfast to dinner..Thats y i named this gravy as 'varuthu aracha surakkai sambar' which means fried and grounded spiced bottlegourd gravy..This gravy is going directly to SE's inbox as she is hosting this month's Cooking With Seeds-Fenugreek seeds.

1cup Channadal (cooked)

1nos Bottlegourd (medium sized& cut as small cubes)

1no Onion (chopped)

1no Tomato (chopped)

1cup Thick coconut milk

1/4tsp Turmeric powder

1/2tsp Mustard seeds

1/2tsp Urad dal

Salt

Oil

2tbsp Coriander leaves

1tsp Lemon juice

Spice powder:

1tbsp Fenugreek seeds

2tbsp Coriander seeds

5nos Red chillies

1tsp Cumin seeds

1/2tsp Asafeotida powder

Fry the seeds given in the list for spice powder one by one in simmer until they turns golden brown...Grind everything as fine powder and keep aside..u can prepare this spice powder as large amount and can conserve in air tightened bottle and can use them anytime upto three months..

Heat enough oil and let splutter the mustard seeds & urad dal...add the chopped onions and chopped tomatoes and cook everything until the onions turns transculent, add immediately the chopped bottle gourd ,turmeric powderwith enough salt and saute for few minutes...meanwhile smash the already cooked channadal and add the coconut milk,emough water and smashed channadal to the cooking veggies..bring everything to boil, now add the spice powder as per need and cook the gravy until the veggies get well cooked, finally add the lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves and put off the stove..

Serve hot with rice or rotis...

Baked Red Kidney Beans & Brown Rice Patties

While i was planning for our today's lunch that to when i have just a tomato and two onions at home needless to say how its hard to cook up , my mind went immediately for canned red kidney beans  which i bought quite a long back..Voila!! thats the way this red kidney beans and brown rice patties without onions born, as i told before am using more brown rice than our usual white rice in our daily menu and i used some cooked brown rice for making this patties...This baked red kidney beans and brown rice patties tastes really fantastic when served as side dish also for our evening snacks with tomato ketchup, everyone at home loved it and enjoyed having for our evening snacks...This baked patties are really easy to prepare and very nutritious,filling and as well as healthy almost an oil-less and guilt free snacks...Am sending this delicious baked red kidney beans and brown rice patties to Madhuram's Whole Grain Baking Event-Rice & to my own event Hearts for St Valentine's Day Event and to MLLA-20th Helping guest hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook, event by Susan..

1no Red Kidney Beans (medium can)
1cup Cooked long grain brown rice
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
2tbsp Chopped coriander leaves
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil for brushing the patties..

Drain and rinse the kidneybeans twice and keep aside... take the cooked long grain brown rice and red kidney beans in a large bowl, mash them well, add the chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, garam masala powder and salt as per need...mix everything well..

Take a small ball of this smashed red kidney beans and brown rice mixture and shape them as u desire(i used heart shape mould to make these patties)..Meanwhile preheat the oven to 300F..line a baking sheet over a baking tray, brush the baking sheet with oil and arrange this shaped patties over the greased sheet and brush the top of the patties again with oil..

Bake for 15-20minutes until the top turn firm..serve with ketchup...

Vegan Chocolate & Rose Syrup Pudding

Pudding with simple ingredients prepared with agar agar powder and coconut milk, who will say no to this delectable combination?? definitely not me...I love chocolates as any form, its also one of my weakness and i cant live without having chocolates atleast once a week..This sunday went very fast and my lil ones were asking something to enjoy as desserts, immediately i prepared this delicious pudding with chocolate powder and rose syrup as an easy pudding with some left over store bought thick coconut milk and agar agar powder, so this dessert is completely vegan and also u can enjoy this delicious and catchy pudding without any hesitation as they tastes really marvellous...Can prepare very easily and this pudding is ready to enjoy within a hour...

2cups Thick Coconut milk
1/4cup Sugar
2tbsp Chocolate powder
1tbsp Rose syrup
2tbsp Agar agar powder
Few chocolate springles

Heat the coconut milk with agar agar powder, sugar until the agar agar powder and sugar get well dissolved..put off the stove, divide this coconut milk in two bowls, add the chocolate powder and rose syrup to each bowl and stir well...

Pour a ladle of the chocolate-coconut milk mixture to the mould (i used heart shaped mould), keep aside for few minutes, and pour again a ladle of rose syrup-coconut milk mixture over the chocolate-milk mixture.. arrange the mould in fridge and dont disturb for atleast an hour..

Enjoy this delicious pudding with either a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with some chocolate springles...

Cooking With Seeds-Sesame Seeds Roundup Part 2

As i told before am here again with the Cooking with seeds-sesame seeds roundup with gravies, side dishes,bakes,chutneys,steam cooked dishes, non vegetarian dishes,noodles & pasta and sweet dishes...Enjoy friends...Thanks a ton again to all the participants for making this event with seeds as big hit....Here i wish to post an informative post from PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds who shared with us about the health benefits of this incredible black or white sesame seeds and pls do check her space where she shares many interesting informations about this fantastic seeds...U can see how to conserve the sesame seeds, about the nutrition values and all under Sesame seeds Tit-Bits, enjoy reading friends...

Side dishes:

1)Bittergourd Sesame Fry from Prathibha of The Chef and Her Kitchen..
2)Eggplant Masala With Sesame Seeds from Kalai of My Recipes Diary..
3)Sesame Seeds Curry from Ambika Venkat of Ambika's Kitchen..
4)Karela Bhaaji from Vinaya of Food, Travel, Books and More..

5)Sweet & Sour Vegetables,Stuffed Brinjal Fry,Til Aloo,Aloo Bhindi from Nandini of Usha Nandini's Recipes..

6)Spinach Sesame Seeds Stir Fry from Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen..
7)Orange Peel Pachadi from Padma of Padma's Recipes..
8)Asparagus Stir Fry from Usha of My Spicy Kitchen..
9)Indian Eggplant Stir Fry-Podi Kathirikai from Usha of Veg Inspirations..

10)Baghare Baingan & Masala Mushrooms from Cool Lassi(e) from Pan Gravy Kadai Curry..
11)Sweet and Sour Sesame Vegetables from Nayna of Simply.Food..
12)Spicy Aubergine, Tindora-Runner Beans With Sesame Masala from Jayasri of Samayalarai-Cookingisdivine..

Gravies & Chutneys:

1)Vegetables In Sesame-Cashew Sauce from Madhu of Ruchii..
2)Mirchi Ka Salan from Ruchikacooks of Ruchikacooks..
3)Spicy Brinjal Curry & Araithu Vitta Sambar from Shama of Easy2Cook Recipes..

4)Capsicum Gravy from Padma of Padma's Recipes..
5)Bagara Baingan from Namitha of Collaborative Curry..
6)Sorakaya Pulusu from Usha of My Spicy Kitchen..
7)Sesame Seeds Tamarind Gravy from Cham of Spice-club..

8)Sesame Chutney-Version 1 & Sesame Chutney-Version 2 from Shama of Easy2Cook Recipes..
9)Sesame Seeds Chutney from Nandini of Usha Nandini's Recipes..
10)Ellu/Sesame Thuvaiyal from Kamala Bhoopathy of Cook@Ease..

11)Tomato Chutney With Sesame Seeds & Sesame Chutney from PJ of Seduce You Tastebuds..

Bakes:

1)Garlicky Sesameseeds & Cornmeal Dinner Rolls from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes..
2)Moroccan Holiday Bread from Priya Narasimhan of Priya's Vegetarian Recipes..
3)Onion, Chilli, Sesame Seeds Baked Crackers from Asha of Foodies Hope..
4)Sesame Seeds & Cashew Cookies from Sowmya of Dew..

5)Onion, Sesame & Methi Leaves Crackers & Eggless Sesame & Chocolate Biscuits from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes..
6)Eggless Sesame Seed Cake from LK of Palate Desires..
7)Bread Sticks from Food Lovers of Its All About FoodLovers..

8)Pretzels from FoodLovers of Its All About FoodLovers..
9)Gingery Oat N Sesame Cookies from Sayantani of A Homemaker's Diary..
10)Ginger and Rosemary Bread from Graziana of Erbe In Cucina..
11)Sesame Cookies from Nandini of Usha Nandini's Recipes..

12)Sesame Buns from Nandini of Usha Nandini's Recipes..
13)Sesame Crackers from Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf...

Sweets & Desserts:

1)Ellu Bella from Champa of Storied from an Indian Kitchen..
2)Tilachi Vadi from Preeti of Khaugiri..
3)Ellu Bella from Madhu of Ruchii..
4)Tilgul from Renuka Bedre-Rao of Love of Cooking..

5)Tilkut (Sesame Seeds Bars) from BB of Simple Taste Simple Food..
6)Gud Poli from Parita of Parita's World..
7)Til Gud & 10mins Peanut Raisin Bars from Muskaan of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine..

8)Sweet Sesame & Peanut Stuffed Paratha from Muskaan of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine..
9)Apple and Sesame Fillo Pastry from Nayna of Simply Food..
10)Sesame Fresh from Rachana Kothari of Veggi Fare..
11)Ellu Bella Burfi from Lakhsmi of Taste of Mysore..

11)Honey Datsun With Ice Cream from Suma Rowjee of Cakes And More..

12)Flax & Sesame Seeds Burfi from Nandini of Usha Nandini's Recipes..

13)Sesame Laddoo from FoodLovers of Its All About FoodLovers.

14)Sweet Sesame Rice from Usha of Veg Inspirations..

15)Sesame Seeds Jaggery Balls from Silpa of Anita's Kitchen..

16)Ellu Podi/Ellu Urundai from Rohini of Curries and Spices..

17)Khajur N Sesame Seeds Laddu from Srinithya of Andhra Ruchulu..

18)Sensational Sesame Treats from Yasmeen of Health Nut..

19) Sesame Sweet Roti from Sharmilee of In my Passionate World...:)

Noodles & Pasta (Veg & Non Veg):

1)Sesame Vegetable Noodles from PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds..

2)Stir Fried Chicken Noodles from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes..

3)Turkey Bean Balls & Tennis Racquets Pasta from Cool Lassi(e) of Pan Gravy Kadai Curry..

Non Vegetarian Dishes:

1)Chicken Stir-Fry With Sesame from Nandini of Usha Nandini's Recipes..

2) Sesame Crusted Chicken Strips, Thai Chicken With Babycorn & Sesame Chicken from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes..

3)Sesame & Egg Fry from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes..

4)Sweet & Spicy Chicken Curry With Spring Onions from SE of Denufood..

5)Achari Gosht from Faiza of Faiza Ali's Kitchen..

6)Crab Salad from Sudha of Malaysian Delicacies..

Steam Cooked Dishes:

1)Kozhukattai & Rava Kozhukattai from Menaga of Sashiga...

Update:

Sesame Quinoa from Sadhana of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine...sorry for this Sadhana.

Dried Fig Compote With Walnuts & Sesame Seeds from Joumana of Taste of Beirut..

Voila!!! here comes the end of this cooking with seeds-sesame seeds roundup, i have prepared this roundup with all the entries i got through by email, if i have left any of ur entries pls do let me know or else send an email to Priyasuresh09@gmail.com with ur entry and photo...

Next edition of Cooking With Seeds is now going on at SE of Denufood's Space, she choosed fenugreek as this month's seeds..Please do check her blog for further details at Cooking With Seeds-Fenugreek Seeds...Hope to see more beautiful entries to this 2nd edition of cooking with seeds from all u guys...