Happy Birthday to my niece!

17th Feb happened to be my little niece's 6th Birthday. She holds such a special place in my heart, which no words could describe. She is the eldest among the next generation kids in our family and is such a stickler to order that sometimes even irks her mother. I havent seen a kid so particular about everything as she is. She is blessed with such a lovely smile and laughter that could win any heart. I cant believe that my little darling is 6 now, it seems like just yesterday i was holding her as a newborn in my arms,...this tiny bundle of joy!!

Happy Birthday Chaarvee!!!

Methi Pulav / Menthya Bath

This weekend happens to be a 4 day long one. With the Saturday spent shopping and eating out, hubby was giving me the looks that i need to spend sometime in the kitchen too.Me being the Sweet ME, i cooked an elaborate meal for him today (the cook in me was actually coaxing me to :) ). The main course was Methi Pulav or what we call at home as the Menthya Bath(Menthya in Kannada refers to Fenugreek leaves and bath refers to any rice dish). The recipe being from a sis of mine who cooks just so her family survives :) , i was pleasantly surprised with the end result. It tasted real yumm.... Thanks Veena! I did make some changes to the original recipe ofcourse!

Ingredients:

• 5 -6 Tblspns Oil
• 2 Tblspn Ghee
• 5 cloves
• 2 small pieces of cinnamon
• 2 cardamom
• 1 Tomato chopped
• 1 large onion sliced thin and slit widthwise
• 3 Garic cloves(the fat ones) chopped
• Pudina(mint) leaves picked from 5 sticks and chopped coarse
• Methi(Fenugreek) leaves picked from 1 huge bunch and chopped coarse
• 1 1/2 cups Rice
• 1 1/2 cup peas
• water
• salt to taste

To grind(Masala):

• 1 onion
• 8 green chillies(as per your tolerance)
• Pudina leaves from 6 sticks
• 7 garlic cloves(fat ones)
  4 cloves
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom
• 1" ginger
• 1 heaped tblspn Coriander(Dhania) powder
• 10 sticks fresh coriander
• 3 Tblspns grated coconut(optional)
• 2 pinches Turmeric powder

Procedure:

1. Grind all the ingredients listed in the masala section to a smooth paste and keep aside
2. Wash and soak the rice in water for 1 hour.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom vessel.
4. Add the spices-cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and fry until you get a nice aroma.
5. Add the garlic followed by sliced onions and fry till soft.
6. Now add the tomato and greens(pudina and Methi). fry for 1 minute .
7. Lower the heat ,add the masala and fry till you get rid of the raw smell.
8. Now drain the water from the rice and add the rice along with the peas and fry for a while.
9. Add the required amount of boiling water to cook the rice. (here i do not mension the amount of water since it varies depending on the variety of rice. Generally the rice to water proportion is 1:2. For Basmati , water added is a little less ).add the salt to taste.
10. Cook till the rice is done.
11. Serve hot with a onion and tomato raita.

Please forgive me for the poor picture. Anyways its the taste that matters, and it does taste good:) .Try it to find out.

Variation: You could add mutton with this same recipe, it tastes amazing.

First try with Cupcakes

My first attempt at cupcakes and their decor. Though nothing near perfect, i am sure for a first timer like me, the results are quite encouraging.:)

Eerekayi Bus Saaru

Saaru is a name given to a liquid of a soup consistency which is had along with Rice in Karnataka. If i list the variety, probably this page would not be sufficient. Such is the richness in variety when it comes to just these 'Saaru s' in Karnataka. And there is so much more to Cuisine from Karnataka. Recently when i was telling about Karnataka cuisine to a new aquaintance from another part of India, she was surprised with the variety i mentioned. She said "Really? and i thought all you south Indians ate was idlis and dosas..." Can you believe that?!!!!What i intend to say is that each corner of our country is so rich in every which way, but the awareness of that among others is what is lacking.
Coming back to my post today , this particular variety "Bus Saaru" is one among the different kinds of Saaru which can be made out of almost all the vegetables. The idea is to cook the vegetable /greens in Water , drain, and use that water for the Saaru while the drained vegetable is had as a side dish. I used the Ridge gourd( Eerekayi in Kannada) and Toor dal in my post today as it is one of my favourite vegetable. You could make it with any other vegetable such as all the sprouted beans, green beans and dal, just greens, and so on. Although this is very common in most of the houses in Karnataka, slight variations are found in every house in the kind of masala that goes into it. In our Family it is prepared as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 long Ridge Gourd.
• 1/4 cup Toor Dal.
• Pinch of Turmeric powder.
• 4 cups water.

For the Masala:

• 1Tblspn Oil.
• 1/2 Large Onion cubed.
• 4 large garlic cloves.
• 3-4 sticks of Curry Leaves.
• 2 tspn Jeera.
• 1/4 tspn Pepper.
• 3-4 sticks of Coriander.
• 1 medium sized Tomato cubed.
• 1 Tblspn Saaru Pudi (this is a kind of powder made with several spices like redchillies, Coriander seeds and so on) You could probably use MTR Sambhar powder instead.
• 1 inch Tamarind piece soaked in water.
• 1/2 cup Coconut grated.

For Vagarne:

• 1/2 tspn Musturd seeds.
• Few Curry leaves.
• A pinch of Asafoetida(hing).

For the vegetable Palya(vegetable side dish):

• 1/2 tspn mustard seeds.
• 1/2 Large Onion chopped.
• 5-6 green chillies slit lengthwise/ 5-6 Red chillies split once
  few Curry leaves.
• Grated coconut for garnishing.
• 1Tblspn chopped Coriander for garnishing.

Procedure:

1. Peel the ridge of the Ridge gourd. Make sure you do not overdo this. Just the ridge part must be removed. The rest of the peel should still be intact.
2. Now cut the Ridge Gourd lengthwise. and chop them into approximately1/2 inch width pieces.
   Cook the Ridge gourd and Toor Dal in about 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker with a pinch of turmeric for 1 whistle.
3. Drain and preserve both the vegetable and broth(the water in which the vegetable is cooked) seperately.
4. In a pan fry the onions with the curry leaves and jeera in 1tblspn of oil until the onions turn transclucent. If you want to avoid the smell of raw garlic , you could add this also for frying.
5. Grind the above along the rest of the ingredients mentioned in the Masala section. Grind to a fine paste.
6. Now add this masala to the broth , add salt to taste and bring this to a boil. Add more water if required to give a soup consistency.Continue to boil for 4-5 mins.Put off heat.This is the 'Saaru'.

Vagarne(tadka):

Vagarne in kannada refers to the final touch given to certain dishes by adding mustard seeds and a few other optional ingredients fried in a little oil.

1. In a seperate pan(kadai) add 1 tblspn oil, Once hot, add 1/2 tspn mustard seeds.Once they splutter, put off the heat. when still hot add curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida(Hing) powder.
2. Now add this into the "Saaru'

Palya(side dish):

1. In a pan, heat about 2-3 tblspns of oil. Add the mustard seeds and once they splutter add curry leaves, green chillies and onion. Cook till the Onions turn transclucent.
2. Now add the drained Ridge gourd and toor dal. Add salt and stir . Keep covered in low heat for 2-3 minutes or until hot uniformly.
3. Remove lid , transfer to a serving bowl , and garnish with chopped coriander and grated coconut.Serve Bus Saaru and palya along with Rice.

Easy Ghee Rice

Lazy Sunday noon having Ghee rice and chicken curry by my Mom are very comforting childhood memories for me even todate.Mmmm... the aroma would kindle anyone's taste buds. To end the lunch with a store bought jilebis /jahangir would just be perfect. I am so happy to see that my otherwise picky 5 year old and my sweet 3 year old also relish this equally. I make this Ghee rice in two ways depending on how much time i have.The easier version i post below, while the more time consuming one i will post in the near future. The former one is equally good but the latter is more rich because of the coconut milk added to it.
I hope this stays as a pleasant childhood memory for my kids as it has to me.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup rice(preferably jeergsamba variety)
• 2Tblspn refined Peanut/Sunflower oil
• 2 Tblspn Ghee
• 1 heaped Tblspn green chilli, ginger and garlic paste(all the more better if made fresh)
• 3 Cardamom
• 5 Cloves
• 2-3 small pieces Cinnamom
• 1 Large Onion
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1 1/2 cup milk(the regular milk that we drink:) , not the coconut milk)
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Slice the onion thin and cut them width wise once.
2. Wash and soak the rice in water for 1 hour. drain and keep aside
3. Heat a Heavy bottom Vessel.
4. Add the ghee and oil.
5. When the oil is hot, add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom.
6. Once the spices begin to give a strong aroma, add onion and cook until soft.
7. Now add the green chilli-garlic-ginger paste and stir. Fry this for a few mins.
8. Put in the green peas and rice and stir for 2-3 mins.
9. Now add the milk , salt and water and bring the whole thing to a boil.
10. Once it comes to a boil, bring the heat to LOW, stir, cover the lid tight and let cook for 8 -9 mins.
11. Put off the heat. Let stand for 5 mins.
12. Open the lid,stir once and serve with any coconut based Chicken gravy of your choice.

Oven Procedure:

1. Follow the same steps until 8. Bring to boil milk and water together in a seperate vessel.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 Degree Fahrenhiet.
3. Take a Baking pan of appropriate size. Add the rice mixture, pour in the hot milk and water.Add the salt. Now stir once, cover with a Aluminium foil or lid.
4. Put the pan in the oven , allow to cook for 40 mins.
5. Remove from Oven , stir once and serve with any coconut based Chicken gravy of your choice.
   

Peas Paratha

After returning home from work , although you are tired , you wouldn't want to compromise on the food you serve to kids. At the same time, no energy to make an elaborate dinner. Parathas were a good choice as they wouldn't take much time and also make the kids eat them without picking the vegetables out. One of my neighbours Neema, a Rajasthani , came to my help and taught me all these wonderfully easy nutritious parathas. Soon i started making Parathas with dal, peas, methi, palak and so on... What made the difference was that these were not stuffed parathas and so all the more easier to make. Kids eat them without a fuss , especially when served with butter or curds. Here's my version of Peas Paratha.

Ingredients:

1 cup Peas( frozen or fresh)
3/4 cup Wheat flour
1 tblspn Ghee
1 tspn Cumin(Jeera)
1tspn Red chilli powder( increase or decrease as per taste)
salt to taste
Oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Boil the peas and mash them.
2. Take the mashed peas in a bowl, add the jeera, red chilli powder , salt and ghee.
3. Now add the wheat flour.Mix all the ingredients to make a dough like chapati. The amount specified is an approximate value.You could adjust the flour so as to finally get a dough like chapati. Do not add water at all.
4. Knead well and keep aside for 15 mins.
5. Make small balls out of the dough.
6. Roll out the balls into round flat parathas of medium thickness .
7. Transfer the parathas onto pre heated Tava. After a 20-30 seconds, flip over and spread little oil all over. Now flip over again and spread oil to the other side.
8. Cook for a min or so and remove from Tava.
9. Serve with butter or curds.

Note: Do not roll the parathas very thin. If they are on the thicker side, they tend to be very soft.

Grated Egg Burji

Why egg burji??! Believe me, the egg being grated in this recipe brings a totally different texture to our regular Egg Burji. If some of you have already heard and done it like this before, this one is not for you. I am posting this for those like me who had never heard about egg being grated before.When i tried it, It tasted more or less the same as the regular egg burji but the look and texture was so different. really appealing! Isn't it nice to try the same thing in different ways sometimes just to break the monotony?!

Ingredients:

• 2 large Onions finely chopped
• 1 tblspn ginger grated fine
• 4-5 Green chillies finely chopped
• 1/2 tspn Red chilli powder(optional)
• 3-4 Eggs hardboiled with shell removed
• 3-4 Tblspns Oil
• 1/2 tspn garam masala
• salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Heat the oil in a pan.Add the onion and green chillies and fry until it is transclucent.
2. Now add the ginger and stir well for a minute or so.
3. Now add the red chilli powder,garam masala and salt and stir.
4. Lower the heat.
5. Using a grater, Grate the hard boiled egg into the pan.
6. Stir to mix all the ingredients well.
7. Serve with an optional garnishing of chopped coriander.

Note: My idea is that you can use any base to suite your taste and then grate in the boiled egg.