Plantain Curry / Raw banana curry /Arati Kaya Kura

This is RAW banana curry / green plantain curry /  green banana curry also in Andhra popularly called as Arati kaya kura- tastes very good, I learnt this traditional recipe from my mother who is a terrific cook and
we used to enjoy this curry so much.

There are two ways one can make plantain curry - the wet ( boiled) or dry ( fryed) style - both taste very good.  Also there is "ava" pettina arati kaya kura style - you need to grind ava( mustard seeds) and red chillies - tastes really good. Serve the plantain curry with hot rice and ghee.

INGREDIENTS:

•  2 plantains - peeled
•  ginger 
• green chillies 
• onions
• salt ( as per taste)
• oil - 1 table spoon 
• lemon - 1/4 table spoon / tamarind paste
• jaggery ( optional)
• corriander leaves
• Seasoning - red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds,  turmeric powder, curry leaves
• AVA is grind mustard seeds and red chillies

PREPARATION:

1. DRY PLANTAIN CURRY:

• Take the plaintains and cut them into small pieces
• Cut the onions 
• Grind green chillies and ginger as fine paste
• Finely chop the corriander leaves 
• Take a pan, add 1 table spoon of oil and season the onion til they turn golden brown 
•   Add red chillies, ginger green chillie paste and green curry leaves 
• Add plantain to the seasoned stuff - fry for about 10 minutes 
• Add lemon/tamarind paste for taste
• Add jaggery if you like the curry to taste a little sweet 
•  Serve the plantain curry with hot rice and ghee

2. WET PLANTAIN CURRY 

• Add little salt and boil the plantains in pressure cooker
• Take the boiled plantains and cut them into big pieces 
• Grind green chillies and ginger as paste and set it aside. 
• Take a pan, add 1 table spoon of oil, season the onions till they turn golden brown
• Add red chillies, ginger green chillie paste and green curleaves 
• Add lemon/tamarind paste for taste
• Add jaggery if you like the curry to taste a little sweet 
• Add cut plantain to the seasoned stuff and fry for about 6-7 minutes serve with hot rice and ghee

Garelu or Vada

GARELU or VADA

For any festival occasion gare or vada is offered to god in South India - Dasara, Diwali /Deepawali, Sankranthi, Ganesh Pooja, Ugadi (New Year)  .... also this is a very popular South indian Breakfast, often it is served with Sambar, Chutneys like Peanut Corriander, Ginger and or Coconut chutney. 


I made Garelu for my boys birthday as he likes GARE so much ...

INGREDIENTS: 

• Urad Dal ( Mina Pappu) - 2 cups
• Oil for frying 
• curry leaves / corriander leaves
• Ginger
• Green chillies
• Salt as per taste
• Onions ( optional) - for festivals i do not use onions

PREPARATION:

• Wash the urad dal and then Soak dal in water over night
• Remove the water and then Grind the dal in the morning, try to add as much little water as possible
• After grinding you will need to find it to be soft as paste and add little soaked dal for texture
• Add Ginger, Salt to the grinded dal - this is as per taste
• Chop green chillies and curry leaves to the dal mix
• Heat oil in a pan
• Take small amounts of dal and make nice rounds and a hole in the middle
• Fry till they turn golden brown in color 

Serve hot Vada / Gare with Sambar , Peanut Corriander Chutney, Ginger Chutney and or Coconut chutney - have a fun filled breakfast or add to it to your meal and enjoy it heartily with your friends and family

Try this great yummy recipe that melts in the mouth and let me know how it came - Leave your comments!!!!

Traditional Mediterranean Falafel Recipe

FALAFEL

Falafel is one of the traditional Mediterranean delight, I learnt this vegetarian recipe from my colleague, this is high in protein and very easy to prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

• Falafel mix - 1 cup ( mix is ground chickpeas, fava beans and spices) - you can get this from any mediterranean store
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Olive oil - 1 spoon
• Salad - Lettuse, Cucumber, Tomato, Onion and Carrot
• Sause - Tomato / Yogurt / Sesame as per taste

PREPARATION:

• Add  water to Falafel mix, mix well and add 1 spoon of olive oil
• Now leave the mix to stand for about 15 minutes
• You can either fry the balls in oil till they turn golden brown or bake them ( i prefer baking)

• If you want to Bake, Preheat the oven for about 20 minutes to 350 F
• On the baking sheet place the small 2 inch round balls, lightly spray olive oil
• You can either make them as balls or make them flat rounds( like pooris) 
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes - you will see they turn into crispy balls

Add Falafel Balls in Vegetarian Sandwich or Veggie Burgers or as stuffed Pita Bread

Try this nutritious recipe at home and let me know how it tastes - Do not forget to leave your comments!!!

Cheese Burrito

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CHEESE BURRITO 

 My little girl likes this Mexican Cheese burrito so much - kids love the cheese burrito as a snack, any time. Very easy and healthy snack for kids.

INGREDIENTS:

Burritos - 4

grated Cheese 

PREPARATION: 

• On top of the burrito spread the grated cheese
• Place the plate in the micro wave and warm for about 45 sec - the grated cheese will melt
• Now roll the burrito and Serve hot 

 

 Kids love Cheese Burrito any time of the day - this is high in calcium and very healthy for kids.

Yogurt Fruit Recipe

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it gives you energy for the whole day.
Nutritious, again fruits are excellent source of fiber - try this quick and healthy breakfast

INGREDIENTS:

• yogurt - 2 table spoons
• fruits - grapes, strawberry, watermelon and pine apple
• Oat meal - 4 spoons
• Honey
• Almonds and other nuts (optional)

PREPARATION:

• Cut the fruits into 0.5 cm cubes
• Add oats to the cut fruits
• Top it up with yogurt
• Add almonds or nuts as you prefer
• Add honey for taste 

Wake up your taste buds with a healthy and delicious fruit salad for breakfast 

Coconut Rice

COCONUT RICE

Dasara is one of the famous festivals in India, on Maha Navami day(9th)  Devi Saraswathi is worshipped, she sits on white lotus / white swan ... the nineth day as such symbolizes white color so thought of making White dish and thought of Coconut Rice

INGREDIENTS

• Basmati Rice ( long grained)  - 2 cups
• Coconut - 2 cups
• Cashew nuts
• Curry leaves
• Urad dal
• Oil - 2 table spoons
• Salt for taste
• optional - Green chillies and Ginger

Seasoning stuff - Cumin, mustard seeds, Red mirchi and Curry leaves,
•   

PREPARATION

• Cook Basmati rice sepearately and allow it to cool
• Heat Oil/Butter in a pan & season it with above mentioned stuff
• Add Curryleaves and Cashew nuts
• If you want to make it spicy add ginger, green chillies (optional)
• Add salt as per taste
• Now add coconut to the rice and mix well.

 Thai Style Coconut Rice - for Thai style you will need coconut water and use it to add to water while cooking the rice, donot add red chillies. The coconut water gives rich flavor and amazing taste.

This is a party special, festival delicacy, quick meal, very easy recipe, healthy and tastes great with very less effort.  Serve the dish hot !!!!

Pizza pita snackers

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Pizza pita snackers
Re-discover whole wheat pita bread taste - very easy recipe, less than 10 minutes, filling and tastes yum, yum, yummy!!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 whole-wheat pita bread
• 4 spoons of basil pesto
• 1 cup of cottage cheese
• 2 spoons of Tomatoes chopped (low fat cottage cheese)
• 2 teaspoons of fresh basil chopped
• 2 table spoons of fresh capscicum ( red, yellow, green peppers ) chopped
• 2 tablespoons of onions chopped

Serve hot and fresh, again great filling recipe, tastes yummy - less than 10 minutes it is ready!
Try and do not forget to leave your comments!

Preparation:

1. Toast the pita bread until crispy and firm
2. Spread the pesto on each pita bread.
3. Spread the paneer evenly over each pita.
4. Top with nicely chopped tomato, fresh basil, onions and peppers
5. Slice each pita into 4 wedges and serve.

Stuffed Spicy Mirchi / Stuffed Chilli

Stuffed Spicy Mirchi 

The other day it was raining and in the night for dinner, i felt like eating something spicy, looked at the veggies and found nice green mirchi and thought of whether to make bajji or stuffed spicy mirchi and finally Spicy Mirchi wins .... it was good deal!!!!!

Ingredients  

• 1 table spoon oil
• 6 to 8 long thick green chillies
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• a pinch heeng (asofetida)
• 1/2 cup of yogurt / butter milk - some use instead of butter milk lime juice/amchoor powder i prefer butter milk

For stuffing:

• 1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
• 2 tsp Amchoor powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 tbsp oil(approx.)
• Salt to taste

Preparation 

Here in USA we get all veggies throughout the year, and easily available in all stores and one of the many reasons to cook to what we like all the time ....

• Make a slit in all the chillis and remove the seeds
• Bake the chillis for 4 minutes
• Prepare the stuffing - grind the besan, add salt to it
• Stuff the gram flour mixture into chillies tightly

• Heat pan, add 1 table spoon of oil and add the chillies
• Close the lid and reduce the heat and cook on low heat for  7/8  minutes - turn the chillies in between

• After you see that the chillies are fryed enough, add 1/2 cup of yogurt and leave it for 5 more minutes 
• Add the remaining  gram flour to the chillies - if you like more gravy you could add more gram flour to the chillies other than the stuffing

If you use yogurt the stuffed mirchi will be little wet and will consume less oil, obviously less calories.

Serve warm with hot rice or Chapati - Try this recipe and let us know how it tastes - Leave your comments!!!!

Mac & Cheese

Macoroni & Cheese

My 7 year old is great fan of Mac & Cheese, She made Mac & Cheese the other day, you can see in the picture - nothing tastes like home made rich warm comfort food, old fashioned recipe and it starts with a simple roux of butter and flour. Its simple and delicious.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups dry, small elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

1 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup of Milk ( low fat or 2% for kids)

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Veggies : We had broccoli and carrots

If you want you could add mustard and black pepper for taste

Prepartion: 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 quart casserole dish.
• Combine cornstarch, salt in medium saucepan.
• Stir in evaporated milk, water, and butter.
• Cook over medium-heat, stirring constantly and until mixture comes to a boil.
• Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted. Add macaroni; mix well.
• Pour into prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and light brown.
• Bake Veggies broccoli and Carrots

This great old fashioned macaroni and cheese recipe is the ultimate comfort food. It's creamy, cheesy, decadent and delicious!

It's the perfect family meal for long wintery nights when comfort food brings everyone to the table and helps chase away the winter doldrums.

Serve this macaroni and cheese recipe with Broccoli  for a hearty meal everyone will love.

Try this easy recipe and let us know what you think ... Leave your comments



Tindora Chutney / Donda Kaya Pacchadi

 

Donda Kaya Pacchadi / Tindora Chutney

 

Nothing tastes like hot rice, ghee and Donda kaya pacchadi - our all time favorite .... very easy recipe that i learnt from my mother, this chutney can be done within 10 minutes and tastes yummy.

 

Ingredients:

 

• Dondakaya / Tindora gourd Little gourd 500 gms
• Onions - 1 small

• Green Chilly and Tamarind paste --- 1.5 tsp
• Salt, this is as per taste

 

Seasoning:

• Oil - 2 Table spoons
• Urad dal - 1 Table spoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 Table spoon
• Cumin seeds - 1 Table spoon
• Dry Red chillies
• Curry leaves ( karevepaaku )
• Corriander

 

Preparation:

 



• First you will have to steam the Tindora gourd / Dondakaya
• Take 1 tablespoon of oil and add onions and Corriander to it, turn on the flame
• Close the lid and Leave it for 5 minutes ...
• Now add the baked Tindora, leave for 2 more minutes till you will see the tindora turning into nice yellow color
• Grind the chilly paste, Tindora and onions in a food processor
• Add Salt and tamarind to the chutney and Season the chutney

  

Serve the Dondakaya Chutney with hot rice and ghee - your friends n family will say big Thank you for this yummy chutney!

Try this recipe and let us know what you think - Leave your comments!

Yogurt and Fruit Dessert !!!!

Yogurt and Fruit Dessert 

When i think of Yogurt and Fruit Dessert for me it is Eating well, Its quick , Its Delicious, Its Yummy, Its Healthy .... these light desserts are not only a quick way to satisfy sweet tooth, we will treat our body to some fresh fruit - You will hear a big Thank you!!! Love yummy fruit yogurt any time ... !!!!

Ingredients

• Fresh Fruits:  Blue berries, Kiwi, Pine Apple, Apple, Water melon
• Low fat Yogurt 2 single serve cup 
• 1/4 cup granola or Grape Nut 

Preparation

• Cut the fruits  into .5 cm cubes - Apple, Pine Apple, Straw Berry, Water Melon fruits
• Layer custard style fruit yogurt with Granola, Grape nuts and chunks of fresh cut fruit. 

Quick frozen yogurts are only minutes away .... total preparation time is less than 5 minutes ... 1 single-serve cup fruit flavored custard style low fat Yogurt is low in cholesterol, low in sodium, high in phosphorus, excellent source of calcium .... if you use fresh fruits instead of cut canned fruits you will not go high on sugar .......it is indeed delicious way to get antioxidant-rich fruit into your diet. 


Also did you knew that yogurt is easy to digest than Milk, high in calcium and excellent source of rich proteins. Many who cannot take milk can enjoy yogurt. For  kids it helps boosts immunity - good for young and old. 

Well, what do you think ? Will you try Yogurt and Fruit Dessert today.... as always leave your comments !

Veggie Salad with Avocado dressing

This salad is a kaleidoscope of color and taste!!!!

Veggie Salad with Avocado dressing

I like the Avocado dressing for my salads so much - again very easy recipe, colorful, tastes yummy and healthy - excellent source of veggies! Avocado is considered to be a super food ... its fantastic for babies(5 months you can start as avocado puree) et for all !!!! They are an excellent source of monounsaturated fats that lower “bad” cholesterol and are good for the heart. 

INGREDIENTS:

• Vegetables : Green, Red Pepper, String beans, Mushroom
• Beans: Chick peas, Black beans,  Red kidney beans and Yellow sweet corn
• Fruits: i have added strawberry and kiwi (you can just keep it veggie without the fruits) 
• For Avocado Dressing:
  1 ripe avocado (about 3/4 c.)
  1 table spoon fresh lemon juice
  1/4 table spoon salt
  1/8 table spoon black pepper

PREPARATION:

• AVOCADO Dressing:Cut ½ of the medium sized avocado from the skin, de-seed it, slice it into small cubes and put it in the food processor. You can add Salt and pepper to taste. This is ready to be served in seconds 
• Chop green and red pepper into nice big rounds
• Slice mushroom to thin slices
• Leave the string beans as is 
• Bake vegetables green, red, pepper, string beans
• In nice sized bowl, add chopped vegetables on top
• Mix the veggie salad with Avocado dressing (1 cup of avocado will have 322 calories)

Very healthy and Enjoy Veggie Salad with Avocado dressing for lunch or dinner!!!!



Chipotle style Rice Veggie Bowl

Pressed for time? These easy and tasty dishes are perfect for families ...

Rice Veggie Bowl

I like this chipotle styled Veggie bowl so much and learnt this from my mexican friend. Very easy recipe and yummy


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves 
• 1 lime 
• 1 -2 tablespoon olive oil 
• Vegetables : Green Pepper, Onion, lettuce, black beans,   
• Salt and pepper
• shredded cheese to taste
• Sour Cream / Yogurt 2 tablespoon to taste
• Tomato Salsa to taste

PREPARATION:

• Add rice to water and stir.
• When rice is cooking add lime juice and cilantro. 
• Mix well and keep it covered till ready to serve
• Chop lettuse, pepper, onion, tomato long (do not fine chop) 
• Heat Olive oil and add sliced peppers and onions.
• Heat olive oil on medium heat.
• Add Salt and pepper to taste
• Add vegetables and stir-fried till brown
• In nice sized bowl, add rice 1st, then hot vegetables on top, next add shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa.

1 cup serving is 225 calories - very light and healthy. Total cook time is 30 minutes.

Enjoy "chipotle" styled Veggie Bowl !!!!!



Poori with Bean Curry, Cabbage pickle and Yogurt Chutney for Dinner

Pressed for time? These easy and tasty dishes are perfect for families ...

POORI with Beans Curry, Yogurt Chutney and Cabbage Pickle

Combination of poori with beans curry, yogurt chutney and cabbage pickle is very light for dinner and healthy for all .

There is something warm about the flaky, puffed up and crispy Poori that wants to make you crave for more - kids love poori any time. It took me half hour for poori but all the worth for the taste .... Total cooking time is 45 minutes.

Yogurt is great for the immune system and helps to fight harmful toxins in the body. Apart from that it contains calcium, protein, riboflavin and vitamin B 12 and is low in fat. So I try to include yogurt or curd in one form or the other in the daily diet of my family. One of the dishes I make using curd is the curd chutney also known as yogurt chatni or dahi chutney. This yummy recipe goes well with dosa, idli, roti, chapathi and poori.

1 cup of green baked beans you will get 380 calories and cabbage is the nutrition power house(rich in Vitamin C) 

 Ingredients :

• Poori - Wheat flour 2 cups. Myda flour 1 cup. Oil to fry. Salt to taste
• Vegetables:  Beans, Carrot, Onion, Cucumber and Cabbage
• Yogurt - 2 cups ( beaten well for chutney) 
• Salt and Lemon juice for taste
• Curry leaves and corriander leaves
• Seasoning stuff 
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 tsp Dry roasted and powdered cumin seeds ( for yogurt chuteny)

 Preparation :

Beans Curry:

Cut beans 2cm in length

Bake Beans instead of boiling  

Seasoning: 
Heat oil in a pan,  add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ural dal and hing. 
Add onions and fry them

Add beans, curryleaves to onions and add a pinch of salt for taste.

 Yogurt Chutney :


Finely chop onions, carrot, cucumber and corriander leaves.
To the well beaten yogurt add the vegetables
Add 1 tsp of grounded black pepper 
Add pinch of Salt to taste. 



Seasoning: 
Heat oil in a pan,  add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. 
Mix yogurt and all the seasoned ingredients in a bowl and mix well. 


Serve Yogurt Chutney chilled.




 Cabbage pickle :


Finely chop cabbage into small pieces 1 to 2cm in size.



Seasoning: 
Heat oil in a pan 
Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad, chana dal and hing to oil 
Add curry leaves
Add seasoning stuff to the cut cabbage pieces
Add Salt and Lemon juice for taste

Cabbage Pickle is very easy to make and tastes very good with poori / chapathi / roti. 


Leave your comments!

Poori

Pressed for time? These easy and tasty dishes are perfect for families ...

POORI with Cauliflower-Tomato Curry and Yogurt Chutney 

  

Combination of poori with tomato curry and yogurt chutney is very light and healthy for all .

There is something warm about the flaky, puffed up and crispy Poori that wants to make you crave for more - love poori any time. It took me half hour for poori but all the worth for the taste .... Total cooking time is 45 minutes.

Yogurt is great for the immune system and helps to fight harmful toxins in the body. Apart from that it contains calcium, protein, riboflavin and vitamin B 12 and is low in fat. So I try to include yogurt or curd in one form or the other in the daily diet of my family. One of the dishes I make using curd is the curd chutney also known as yogurt chatni or dahi chutney. This yummy recipe goes well with dosa, idli, roti, chapathi and poori.

 Ingredients :

• Poori - Wheat flour 2 cups. Myda flour 1 cup. Oil to fry. Salt to taste
• Vegetables:  Tomato, Cauliflower, Carrot, Onion, Cucumber and Cabbage
• Yogurt - 2 cups ( beaten well for chutney) 
• Salt and Lemon juice for taste
• Curry leaves and corriander leaves
• Seasoning stuff 
• 1 pinch black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon dry roasted and powdered cumin seeds ( for yogurt chutney)

 Preparation :

Check out Cauliflower-Tomato Curry and Yogurt Chutney

 

Leave your comments!!!