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.

Pani Puri

 

 

 

PANI PURI

Its snack time!!!!!! Pani puri - You get to cook a variety of mouth watering dishes but the best of all which is every one's favourite is Snacks and if its Pani Puri, tell me who isn't ready?

 

 

My kids love Pani puri and it is one of our family favorite snack ... any time of the day we are ready to have Gol Gappe .... This is an easy recipe and tastes so yummy and is filling

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

• Sooji  / Bomabay Rava 1 cup 
• 3 tblsp Fine Wheat Flour (Maida)
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• Oil to deep fry

PANI

• 0.5 cup Tamarind Water
• 1.5 cups Water
• Cumin Seed (Jeera) powder fresh - 1.5 tablespoon
• Mint Chutney - 1.5 table spoon
• Salt and Amchoor for taste

 

PREPARATION:

• Add sooji, maida, baking soda, salt and enough water. Mix well so you have a soft dough.
• Leave the dough for about 15 minutes
• Make small sized balls and roll them into small pooris
• Heat oil in a pan, add the pooris to the oil ...fry them till them turn to light brown and crisp.
• Add pudina chutney and other pani ingredients 

Serve Puri and Pani - You can increase the spice as per you liking !!!! Also you could add potatoes and chick peas - it goes very well with spicy pani and puri!!!

  

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!!!!

Blue Berry Vanilla Cake

BLUE BERRY VANILLA CAKE

Vanilla Cake topped with fresh blue berries

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups fresh blueberries
• vanilla cake mix 1 cup
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, butter and vanilla Cake mix
• Bake cake on lower shelf of oven for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
• In the food processor grind the fresh blueberries. 
• Top the cake with the fresh blue berries, tastes yummy 

 

Try this Blue Berry Vanilla Cake and let us know how it tastes - Leave your comments!!!!

Rava Kesari

RAVA KESARI

Rava Kesari is a very popular south indian sweet dish - very easy to prepare. Not only this is a festival dish but also for every occasion.

 

INGREDIENTS

• Bombay Rava (Sooji) - 1 cup.
• Sugar - 2 cups.
• Ghee - 1 cup.
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp.
• Water 2 cups
• Cashew nuts / Almonds / Raisins

  
  

  PREPARATION

  • Add rava and 1 table spoon of ghee and fry the rava till the smell of the rava goes away
  • Tke 2 cups of water and boil and add sugar to it
  • Add Roasted rava and let it boil for about 7 to 8 minutes
  • Stir well and to this now add ghee in small quantities and stir well till the mixture becomes solid.
  • Add Cardomom powder, chopped cashew nuts and other nuts

  

   

  
  

  Rava Kesari tastes well either served hot or cold - Try this easy recipe and let us know how it tastes 

  

Goru Chikkudu Kaya Kura / Cluster Beans Curry

 GORU CHIKKUDU KAYA KURA

INGREDIENTS

• Fresh Goru Chikkudi kaya / Cluster Beans
• Urad Dal
• Fresh Coconut powder
• Fresh Ginger
• Oil - 2 tablespoons
• Onions - 1 medium
• Salt as per taste
• Red chillies, Turmeric powder, Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds(jeera), Curry Leaves for seasoning

PREPARATION

• Cut Cluster beans into 2 to 2.5 m long pieces and chop onions into small pieces
• Bake the cut beans for about 7 minutes
• Heat oil in a pan, season red chillies, mustard , cumin seeds
• Add chopped onions, ginger paste, salt  to the oil and leave for about 2/3 minutes
• Add the cut beans to the onions, ginger paste
• Stir fry till the beans turn to slight golden brown

Serve Goru Chikkudu Kaya hot with hot steamed rice. Slightly different version of this curry is where you soak chana dal , grind the chana dal and add that to Goru chikkudu. that tastes very good too.

Try this recipe and let us know how it is and do not forget to leave your comments!