From the Blogs - 1

When I hop among the food blogs anything sweet easily gets clipped in my books. Today 'Vettu Cake' from Archana caught my attention due to its simplicity and that amazing picture of hers. I thought I could give my sweet tooth a treat, especially after all the hardships it went through with the dentist cleaning in the morning :). So here is a sample of how it turned out. Needless to say we enjoyed it a lot.




I followed the recipe as given by her without the egg. Just a word of caution (specially if you are using coil to cook like me)- When you fry do not heat the oil to a high temperature as the outside gets dark quickly while the inside will remain uncooked. So bring it to fry when the oil is still luke warm and do a slow cooking.

Mexican Rice

This is a recipe I got from my Co-Sis. The first time I made we became a fan of it. So here goes the way I make this on a lazy sunday !!

Ingredients :

Rice -3 cups (Uncooked)
Onion -2 (finely chopped)
Onion -1 (Slit lenght-wise)
Garlic -3 pods
Capsicum - 2-3 (sliced)
Cabbage -1/2 Cup (finely chopped)
Tomato -1 (finely chopped)
Soya sauce - 2-3 tsp
Coriander leaves
Chilli powder-according to taste
Salt
Ghee/Oil

Procedure

1. In a pan, add 1 tbsp ghee, add slit onion, fry until golden brown. Add garlic (mash it a little) saute for 1-2 mins.
2. Now add rice, fry in ghee until pale pink. Add required water (about 2 cups) and pressure cook until 2 whistles
3. In a seperate pan add 6tbsp of oil, add chopped onions, fry and keep aside. In the same oil add cabbage, fry and set aside. Finally add capsicum and fry for just about a minute.Remove and set aside.
4. Now saute the tomato in the oil for a minute.(It should not become watery). Once done add chilli powder, salt and soya sauce. Add rest of the fried veggies and also the cooked rice.
5. Mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Curd/Raitha.

Mexican Rice:

Rava Idli

Rava idli comes in handy when the regular batter is out-of stock !! This is also quick to make and no waiting time for fermenting.

Ingredients:

Sooji (Rava) - 2 Cups
Oil/Ghee - 5 Tbs
Green Chillies - 5/6
Thick Curd/Yogurt - 2 Cups
Onion - 1 (Cut into small pieces)
Boiled Peas - 1/4 Cup (Optional)
Baking Soda - 1/2 Spn
Grated carrot - 2 Tbs (Optional)
Grated coconut - 2 Tbs (Optional)
Salt
Coriander leaves
Curry leaves

To Season:

Mustard - 1/4 T.Spn
Urad Dal - 1/2 T.Spn
Bengal Gram - 1 T.Spn
Broken Cashew nuts - 10/12

Procedure

1. Fry the sooji for 2 minutes and mix with curd without forming any lumps
2. Heat oil and add the seasonings.
3. When the mustard splutters, add onion and fry for 2-3 minutes
4. Add this to the rava batter along with salt, baking soda and finely chopped green chillies. Also add the corriander leaves. Mix well.
5. Grease the idli plates with oil and spread the grated carrot and/or cocunut on the plate.
6. Pour the batter over this and steam cook for about 7-10 minutes

Serve hot with a side dish of your choice.

Rava Idli:



This is my entry for 'Weekend Breakfast Blogging' hosted by Nandita of Saffron Trail.

Ragi Unde

Finger Millet or Ragi is highly nutritious food grown in India and Africa. Being a rich source of calcium, it is suitable for toddler and the old alike. 100 Gms of ragi has 344 mg of calcium as against 9mg found in the same quantity of rice.

Though not a big fan of 'Ragi Unde'(meaning Ragi Balls) back when my Mom made, I have started taking it often due to the nutrients. Also this recipe uses jaggery which is a rich source of iron and folic acid.

Ingredients:



Ragi (Millets) - 2 Cups
Jaggery - 2 Cups
Ghee - 5/6 Tspn
Powdered Cardamom


Procedure:

1. Fry the ragi in about a spoon of ghee till the raw smell goes off.
2. Shift to a wide bowl and add the jaggery to it.
3. Mix completly so jaggery and ragi blends well. Add the cardomom powder.
4. Take a handful and make them into balls. The heat together with jaggery gives wetness to the mixture and helps forming the balls easily, else add the remaining ghee as required.

A healthy snack is ready in minutes !!

Note : In place of jaggery, brown sugar can also be used

Ragi Unde:

Aval (Poha) Pakora

Its was raining all day at my place and had to do something to brighten it up.Nothing like having pakoras with a hot cup of chai on such a dull day. I headed out to the kitchen and made this simple dish !!

Ingrediens:

Aval(Poha) - 2 cups
Onion - 1
Green Chilly - 1 or 2 as per taste
Besan - 2 Tbs
Ginger - a piece
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Wash the poha and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Cut the onion,ginger and green chillies into small pieces.
3. Mash the poha completely adding hot water as required.
4. Once fully mashed add onion,green chillies,ginger,besan,salt and curry leaves and make into a dough.This should NOT be too watery and will hold together.
5. Heat oil in a pan.
6. Using the dough pinch small pieces with your hand directly into the oil.
7. Deep fry both sides and remove on to a paper towel to soak excess oil.

Serve hot with a steaming cup of tea !!

Aval Pakora: