Karela Fry/Bitter Gourd Fry

As winter packs its bag to leave…..as summer silently arrives…turning weather neither cool nor hot….and as the mood swings along with the weather…so are the taste buds….winter calls for piping hot recipes, summer for super cool and so the tastes change according to the season…..and being in the middle of two seasons sometimes….call for a dual recipes…which is neither hot nor cold…but satisfying, simple and indulging....isn’t it?

To satisfy this swing of taste…I made Tomato Rasam along with Bitter Gourd fry….Tomato rasam, as I mentioned in my earlier post is a simple and delectable side dish…which go hand in hand with any fry recipe. After potatoes…bitter gourd is one such vegetable…I love to indulge…I love the bitter taste in bitter gourd and never try to suppress the taste by adding any other ingredient…A simple fry is a easy way to indulge with this nutritiously rich bitter gourd…..

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large Bitter gourd, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
• 1 Onion, peeled and sliced
• ½ tbsp Turmeric powder
• 1 ½ tbsp Red chilli powder
• 5-6 cloves Garlic
• 10 fresh Curry leaves, soaked in water
• Salt
• Oil

PREPERATION:

• Soak bitter gourd slices in water by adding turmeric powder for at least an hour. Squeeze the water by pressing slices hard in between your palms and lay them on kitchen tissue or cloth.
• Add oil to a heavy bottom cooking vessel and to this add jeera, when seeds start to splutter, add bitter gourd slices and sliced onions. Fry for 2-3 minutes on a low flame.
• Now add salt, little turmeric powder and curry leaves. Cook covered, till the bitter gourd slices get soft.
• In the meantime, crush garlic with red chilli powder and make a coarse paste. Add this paste to cooked bitter gourd slices and stir till all the pieces get coated with the paste.
• Cook for another minute and remove from heat. Serve hot with rice, rasam and papad.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

When I posted Methi Dal, many of you left a comment about the brinjal recipe peeking in the background of the picture…..it’s Stuffed Brinjal With Onions….I came across this recipe in Prathibha’s blog…who posted it recently….you can find the recipe here. I just added coriander powder and MTR vangi bath powder to the recipe to give an extra hint of flavour….

VERDICT : I really love the simplicity of the recipe….it’s flavourful and yummy….Thank you Prathibha for posting such an simple and delectable brinjal recipe.

Methi Dal/Fenugreek Leaves with Lentils

Before jumping into delectable methi dal, I want to share my changed life style being blogger err…food blogger….
7.30 A.M – Running fast and round in the kitchen to prepare breakfast and lunch along with morning cup of tea…
8.30 A.M – Lunch is ready and getting packed……
8.45 A.M – Having breakfast, my husband asks what’s in lunch? And the communication beings like this….
My Husband: Lunch mein kya hain? (What’s in lunch?)
Me: Bhendi fry chawal ke saath (Okra fry mixed with steamed hot white rice)
MH: Oh wow! Tum ne apne liyae khana pakaya hain kya? (Did u cook for your self also?)
M: Nahi…I have some other plans for lunch.
MH: What plans?
M: I am thinking of a soup or salad (to just make him feel that I am going to be on dieting)
MH: Hahahaha…really…tell me truth…
M: I am planning to go on strict diet from today….really…
MH: I think u don’t need to go on dieting…you just need little exercise…just don’t waste u r time by sitting in front of the computer….go for walking or do exercise…have u r lunch….don’t skip it…
M: Ok….will make some rice or roti for me….
MH: That’s better….
9.00 A.M…..looks like it’s going to be a bright sunny day….Time to prepare something to new to post in my blog…..
9.30 A.M – MH gets ready and leaves for office….closing the door…I will run towards the system and on it…then my virtual farm where I plow, plant, harvest, collect milk, collect eggs, collects ripe fruits…then enter into my virtual café…cook up with storm go and taste what other’s are cooking and then feed my fishes in virtual very happy aquarium… ha..lot of workout isn’t it? Yet to prepare lunch….sunny climate calls me to click my food… MORE.....

Ha…that’s a long saga…now coming to today’s post…methi dal….fenugreek carry so many medicinal and ayurvedic benefits with it….the redolent smell coming from the leaves of fenugreek when gets combined with soft, creamy dal…the result is pleasant-tasting….the medley of dal with fenugreek leaves, spiced up and cooked with Indian spices...…and then finally an aromatic Indian Tadka gives an amazing flavour to the recipe….Hot bowl of white rice…dollop of ghee...with methi dal…and some muruku or papad is all it takes to pamper our self with rich and indulging food

This methi dal is going to participate in MLLA -19 hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food, event by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ cup fresh Methi leaves/fenugreek leaves
• 1 cup Toovar dal
• 1 Onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 Green chilli, deseeded and cut into half
• 1 Tomato, deseeded and chopped
• 1 small lemon sized Tamarind, washed
• ½ tbsp MTR Sambar powder
• 1 tbsp Red chilli powder
• ¼ tbsp Tumeric powder
• Salt

TEMPERING/TADKA:

• 1 tbsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
• ½ tbsp Mustard seeds
• 1 dry Red chilli
• 3-4 cloves Garlic
• 9-10 fresh Curry leaves
• Oil

PREPERATION:

• Pressure cook dal, methi leaves, onion slices, tomato pieces, green chilli, tamarind, red chilli powder, sambar powder and turmeric powder with a drop of oil.
• Once the dal is soft enough add salt and using a wooden masher until smooth. Set aside.
• Add oil to heavy bottom cooking vessel/kadai/wok and one by one ingredients listed under tempering. Fry till curry leaves starts to change color or leave aroma.
• Turn off the flame and add this tempering to above cooked and mashed dal. Cover it for another two minutes and serve with hot rice, your choice of fry and some papad or muruku.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

Valarmathi brought this sweet Pongal....on the eve of Pongal...it tasted yummy...

Happy Pongal

Rava Kesari

As it is my very first post in 2010, it want it to be bit sweet. There are only few sweet recipe which I learnt in due course of time and I already blogged about them. So trying something new is always fun and fun doubles when you are trying something which is your favorite since long time. I had rava kesari in past, but after I tasted it in Adayar Ananda Bhavan, I fell in love with it. I like the perfect blend of rava, ghee and sugar in this recipe. Since long Rava Kesari is something I thought of trying at home, but something or other kept me away. Finally yesterday, I decided to try out my hands on this scrumptious recipe. With little Google search and tips from Prathibha, I finally made this delectable rava kesari. It turned out so yummy that one soul is still licking the spoon while writing this post…hehehe…

I really like the simplicity in the recipe…with handy ingredients and easy to make preparation steps…rava kesari rocks…..I totally enjoyed making it…I loved the aroma filled in my kitchen when I roasted the rava…..a hot bowl is all I want to pamper my taste buds…it’s so indulging….

UPDATED: This rava kesari is going to participate in Sugar High Friday's where the theme of the month is Sweet Comforts, hosted by A Merrier World. This delectable dessert is also going to participate in Food for 7 stages of Life – In love with DDPI (15-24 yrs), hosted by by Radhika of Food for 7 stages of life and Sudeshna of Cook Like a Bong.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups Bombay Rava/Semolina /Sooji
• 1 ½ cup Sugar
• 3 tbsp Ghee
• 1 tbsp Cardamom powder
• pinch of orange food color *
• 6 cups Water
• handful Cashews

PREPERATION:

• In a heavy bottom cooking vessel, add ghee and fry cashews till light golden. Set aside.
• In the same vessel roast rava, till raw smell disappears and when rava start to turn color, take out on a plate.
• In the same vessel, add water, cardamom powder, food color and sugar. Stir occasionally till sugar melts in water.
• Now lower the flame and by stirring continuously add roasted rava. Stir to avoid lumps.
• When the rava starts to leave the sides of the pan add one more tbsp of ghee.
• Cook covered for a minute or two and then turn off the flame and leave it on stove for another 5 minutes.
• Take out in serving bowls and garnish with cashews and serve hot or cold.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

This is a treat to everyone who dropped in to say buddy hello in my hibernation……thank you so much you loving people…I owe you so much…..

* NOTE: You can also use saffron, by soaking it in lukewarm milk.
WHAT I DID: I used yellow and orange food color’s and made two separate sets of kesari and then layered one above the other.

SUGGESTIONS/VARIATIONS: You can also add milk/condensed milk to give creamy texture to kesari. The quantity of ghee and sugar is totally dependent on your taste.

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