Capsicum Panini in Indian flavor

Panini or Panino is a kind of sandwich originated in Italy. I had no idea of this dish till I tasted one made by my neighbor aunty. She can merge any cuisine with our Indian spices and lots of butter and it will satisfy all my taste buds:) Gujarati foods have become my next favorite after Tamil foods because of her:) Then I saw one recipe by Giada in Foodnetwork Tv and saw how she made those thin sandwiches out of the thick baguette or heavy breads. After that also I didn't buy a panini maker, as I was much hesitant to ask for one more kitchen gadget while my existing collections is already voluminous :) Then the thanksgiving came and every other store we went was having a sale on this panini press and I silently waited without asking hubby for this. I watched all my friends filling their carts with these panini makers and came home with the electronics he wanted for  a long time (along with my other stuffs). But I was chanting 'panini maker' 'panini maker' silently and didn't want to say it loud:)  Hubby could have watched me looking at other's carts or my rantings  (about aunty's :) )could have made him...I don't know. But he bought me this panini maker with all those Kohls cashback offers we had got after the sale and presented as Christmas gift:) With my wish coming true, I am making panini quite often, exploring all the recipes with this. So you can expect more and more paninis from me , while you are trying this yummy capsicum panini in Indian flavor.

Panini in Indian flavor.

My Bella panini maker....wow!

Ingredients:
Whole wheat bread - 6 slices
green capsicum - 1/4
red capsicum - 1/4
onion - 1/4 cup
shredded cheese - 1 tsp for every sandwich
butter - 1 tbsp
Indian green chutney - 1/4 cup
tomato sauce - 1 tsp each sandwich

Method:
Heat the panini maker to maximum heat with the lid closed. After we see the ready button glowing, open the grill. (Read and follow the instructions carefully if it is the first time).
In the mean time place three bread slices on a plate and spread 1 tbsp green chutney and 1 tsp tomato sauce over the breads.
Put the chopped capsicum, onion and cheese over that. Place the other half of bread slice over the sandwiches.
Rub a piece of butter on panini press (bottom plate) in a small area and  place the prepared sandwich.(one at a time).
Place the lid gently (no locking) and the by the weight of the top plate the sandwich will get thin, crunchy and extremely good in one minute.
If needed apply some more butter on top and press again gently.
Take out using a spatula, slice and serve while it is hot.
 Simple panini is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as breakfast or dinner as main course meal.

Almond candy

Almond candy is one of the easiest snacks I have found recently. Cooking something special on Fridays is a common scene in many households. I too love to make the weekends special by making a snack or special dinner on Fridays. Two weeks back, on a Friday morning I made this as a gift to hubby and kept it secretly in his snack box. Now this has become his another favorite :)

There are many versions to make this simple candy. But I have my own method to make it quickly in stove-top, though the original versions call for baking. So try this if you want some quick treat.

Glazed almond candy

Ingredients:
Almond - 1 cup
brown sugar - 1/2 cup (or little lesser)
cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
water - 2 tbsp

Method:
Heat a wok and dry roast the almonds in low heat till they smell good. It may take almost 3 minutes for the almonds to get toasted. Look for spots while heating. Then add the brown sugar, cinnamon and water and mix well.
Continue stirring and wait till sugar dissolves and coats the almonds.
Almost after 2 minutes of low heat roasting we will notice caramelizing of sugar and it will get hard. Don't heat further. Switch off. Transfer to a plate and let cool completely (almost for 10 minutes). 
Almond candy is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Store them in airtight containers and serve as snack or dessert.

Muttai kothu chapathi (Scrambled egg chapati)

Muttai kothu parotta (scrambled parotta with eggs) is another popular street food in Tamilnadu and Kerala. We can get this kothu parotta dish in almost all parotta stalls in Tamilnadu.
Instead of the regular maida flour parotta, occasionally I use my leftover whole wheat chapatis to make this kothu parotta for a special dinner. So I am giving my standard recipe here. But we can substitute chapatis in this recipe with plain parotta (frozen plain parotta , Ceylon parotta) to get the original taste. 

While growing up, my elder brother was the first one to introduce us with this kothu parotta. Going to a parotta stall or road side shop would not be a girly thing at that time. So my brothers would do it for us giving us a relaxed evening:) He used to buy this from some shop near Palay bus stand. After few months he started saying that this dish is the most sought one in that place and would buy the plain parotta with salna only, to avoid the queue. Then mom started making us this muttai kothu parotta at home using the plain parotta  he brings and I too got the knack from her. Good that I learned to make this kothu parotta, as this is my hubby's favorite food after briyani.  While we were newly married he was amazed at seeing his favorite dish done at home. Though he buy me this special dish on many weekends, he appreciates the good eggs at home, quickness and less expensive good food we get by making it personally:) Slowly I swapped the parotta with chapati in this dish. Nowadays whenever I make vegetable salna or kuruma with chapati for lunch , hubby will expect me to do this spicy dish for dinner:) This has become many of our friends' favorite too and so I am giving this as another post after my muttai parotta recipe.
Enjoy my version of muttai chapati and tell me how much you all love it:)

Scrambled egg chapathi / muttai kothu chapati with onion curd raita.

Ingredients: (for 2 plates)
wheat chapati / small parotta - 4 (or)  frozen parotta- 3
Egg- 3
salna or Kuruma- 1 cup (veg or Non-veg)
Red onion- 1
green chillies- 2
Tomato - 2
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
curry masala powder- 1 tsp
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
pepper- 1 tsp
curry leaves- 2 sprig
cilantro - handful
oil- 2 to 3 tbsp
salt - 3/4 tsp

For garnish:
green chilly - 1
curry leaf - 1 sprig

Method:
*Cut or tear off the parotta/chapathi into very small pieces.
Keep aside.

*Heat oil in a broad thick bottom wok, add fennel seeds, after it gets red add the chopped onions and saute a little. No need to cook till red. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes.
Now add the finely chopped tomatoes and cook till it is cooked.

*Make some space in wok by moving all the fried items to one side. Pour the eggs, salt, chilli powder and stir it till the eggs get half cooked .
Then mix the egg with the onion and tomato and stir well.

*Add the scrambled chapati pieces and mix well. Reduce flame and continue sauteing.
Sprinkle curry masala powder, pepper powder, chopped cilantro,curry leaves.
Stir in low flame till it gets almost dry. Then pour the salna / kuruma. Mix well and switch off.
Sprinkle with finely chopped green chillies and curry leaves and serve piping hot.

Scrambled egg chapati is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as dinner or lunch along with onion raitha.
Makes a good lunch pack too.

Pumpkin pie (simple)

Making a pumpkin pie was in my mind for a long time but some how I would pick one up from the grocery store during holidays and my pie baking would be postponed. At first I saw this Libby's famous pumpkin pie recipe on the back of the Nestle evaporated milk tin's label. I saved it like a treasure and bought everything as per list. Baking a pie from scratch would have been more appropriate for blogging, but I thought these kind of convenient groceries would make cooking more easier. I prepared this pie during last year Thanksgiving and it came out very well. This recipe is a keeper for me, as we both enjoyed it very much:) Hope you all like it too!

Pumpkin pie with kulfi icecream.

Semi homemade quick pumpkin pie.

(The following recipe will give 2 pies.But I had only one crust.  So I halved the recipe and made one pie with crust and reserved the remaining mixture for another pie without crust).

Ingredients:
Pumpkin puree - 1 can (15 oz)
Nestle evaporated milk - 1 can (12 fl.oz)
Sugar - 3/4 cup
egg - 2 large
salt - 1/2 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
powdered cloves - from 3 cloves
cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
crust:
graham cracker pie crust - 2

(or) one 9 inch 4 cup volume deep pie crust.

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 deg F for nearly 15 minutes.

In a large bowl beat the eggs. Mix the pumpkin puree and evaporated milk. 

In a small bowl mix  sugar, spice powders, salt. Add this to the large bowl and mix well.

Pour into ready made pie shells.

Bring down the  temperature to 350° F.

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes or until an inserted knife comes clean.

Check every 10 minutes after 35 minutes.

The next important step is cooling the pie completely. Cool it on wire rack for 2 hours.

Pumpkin pie is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve slices of pie with whipped topping or ice cream.

Keep refrigerated till use.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If using frozen pie crust: Keep it in room temperature for 1 hour to defrost it. Don't microwave.
For 9 inch  pyrex glass deep pie plate: first heat upto 400 deg F for 10  minutes. Then reduce heat to 325 deg F.
Use the above recipe completely to make 1  pie. Bake for 45 - 55 min, checking every 10 minutes after 35 minutes.

Sauteed Broccoli snack

Broccoli is another cute looking member from cabbage family. It tastes great by itself without much seasoning. Italians brought this vegetable to USA. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Broccoli is often sold in bunches by $1.49 per lb or bunch and mostly not more than that. Also we can see it in freezer aisles as microwaveable. I like fresh ones very much as they are more crunchy. But we should rinse them in water thoroughly to remove any impurities. Cooking broccoli will take less than 2 minutes in my saute process.  I make this sauteed broccoli as snack for us whenever this vegetable comes in season. Try this and enjoy a delicious easy snack.

snack box

Ingredients:
Broccoli - 1.5 lb (2 crowns)
butter or Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste ( 2 pinches)
garlic -10 cloves
black pepper powder - 1 pinch


Method:
Separate small florets from the broccoli bunch. 
Fill water in a large basin and wash the florets. Take them out, discard the water.
Wash again and do this thrice to remove any sand or impurities.
Let the water drain.

In a sauteing pan , heat butter or EVOO. Add peeled garlic and broccoli florets.
Reduce flame and cook covered for less than 2 minutes. No need to add water.
Sprinkle salt, pepper powder and mix well.
Switch off.

Sauteed broccoli is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as snack.
Also can be served as side dish with baked chicken.
Ranch dip can also be used as dip for this broccoli.
The left over can be refrigerated and used for 3 days.
We can do the same process in oven too, but it will take more time.

Paasi payaru ladoo

Whole green gram (பாசி பயறு) ladoo  is similar to nei ladoo. During this long weekend we had a snow storm and I wanted to make something nice for the evening snack quickly with simple ingredients. I had a pack of whole moong flour in hand, which I wanted to make use of soon. Then it came to my mind about nei ladoo made of moong lentil. Then I tried a similar version and got this flavorful ladoos. I love this sweet very much because of the lesser time consumption and wholesome ingredients. I am glad that hubby too appreciated this very much.
Hope you all like it !

Paasi payaru laddu

Moong flour ladoo ingredients

Ingredients:
whole green gram flour - 2 cup
brown sugar - 1 cup
(or) jaggery / white sugar
ghee - 2 tbsp or more *
ghee -  1/2 tsp (for shaping ladoo)
cardamom - 3
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp

Method:
Dry roast whole moong flour (paasi payaru mavu) till it smells good (2 - 3 minutes in medium flame).
(We can buy the moong flour in any grocery store or we can dry roast whole moong and get them powdered in a mill. But dry roasting is very important).
Melt 2 tbsp ghee and add to the flour.
In the vessel which we melt the ghee, roast the shredded coconut and add to the moong flour.
Powder the cardamom seeds and add it to the flour.
Put the brown sugar and mix well. Sprinkle little milk or water and knead gently, so that it looks wet. Don't add too much water.
*(If we are planning to make this laddoo as gift / to be consumed later, it may need more shelf life. Then avoid water and make it purely in ghee).
Apply pressure and make balls of equal size.
Let them cool and store in airtight container.
Green gram ladoo is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as snack.
Makes 15 laddu.

Virudhunagar Chicken gravy

Virudhunagar is a town near Madurai. Many spicy and delicious non veg dishes have originated around that area and one among them is this chicken gravy. Also this chicken curry can be seen in any roadside parotta stalls or muniyandi vilas, or in few typical native restaurants.
 If one has to travel from Tirunelveli (Nellai) to Madras (Chennai) by bus or car  (roadway), they would have the chance to taste the spiciest curries along with parotta.  Those travels would be by night time and the drivers would make a few stops for dinner, snack, tea time on the way. Whenever we used to travel  that route (our native place -  Chennai), hubby introduced me to these foods which he had enjoyed in his bachelor days. Every stop would have some specialty like Jasmine flowers in Madurai .... In almost every stop he would wake me up and would buy me something like eatables or flowers or coconut water or milk and this habit is continuing even in US too:) I think that is the basis for my knowledge on local foods.
Back to the recipe, those typical roadside motels would have a combo of parotta , salna as a standard menu and a spicy oily chicken gravy on special orders. We call it as Virudhunagar chicken gravy or ennai (oily) kozhi curry or sometimes Nellai chicken curry. This oily gravy is very common in these places, as we can get many versions of it. The serving will be on a very small bowl but will definitely make you crave :)
The specialty of this curry is the amount of sesame oil we add. Nowadays people are making it in any oil they have, but pure cold pressed sesame oil (sekku nallennai)  is good for this.  As it is a more oily gravy, I make it on special occasions only. That day I wanted to make something very spicy and truly southern for one of my friend's family. So I made this parotta stall version of chicken gravy along with chicken briyani. We all enjoyed the dinner very much and I am very glad that it turned out similar to the restaurant curry.The next day hubby happily carried it in his lunch box too:)

Spicy Virudhunagar oily chicken curry (ennai kozhi curry)

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1/2 kg (1 lb)
sesame oil - 1/2 cup
curry leaves - 2 sprig
fennel seeds (sombu)- 1 tbsp
cinnamon (pattai) - 2 inch
bay leaf (brinji ilai) - 1
cloves - 1/2 tsp
red onion - 2 large
tomato - 2 (optional)
cilantro (malli thazhai) - a handful

To grind:
Ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 1 whole

To grind:
Coconut - 1/4 to extract milk

Marination:
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
black pepper powder - 1 tsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
curry masala powder - 1 tsp
sea salt - to taste
thick curd - 1 cup

Method:
Choose chicken pieces with some skin and bone (example, thighs).
Rinse and clean the chicken.
Cut it into small pieces.
Mix curd , coriander powder, chilli powder, curry masala powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Marinate chicken in this paste for  4 - 6 hours or inside fridge overnight. The marination is necessary for more flavorful soft chicken pieces.
Heat a thick bottom wok (kadaai) along with oil. Add spices like fennel, cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves.
After the fennel gets mild red, add finely chopped onion, curry leaves. Then put the ginger garlic paste and cook till raw smell goes. Then goes the chopped tomato. Wait till oil separates. (I won't add tomato for this gravy, but some people like to add tomato to reduce the spice level). Then add the marinated chicken, stir well and cook covered in low flame for 30 minutes.
Extract milk from coconut.
Then add the coconut milk and cook covered in low flame again for 5 minutes or till oil separates. Stir in between. If needed add 1/2 cup boiling water in the end to get more gravy. I add water at the end and cook covered for 5 more minutes in medium heat.
Spicy Virudunagar chicken curry is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with parotta, chapati, briyani.

Wheat uppuma

Wheat upma is one of the easiest and simplest fulfilling Indian food. I am sure many of us know how to do it. I am sharing my simple recipe, which is my hubby dear's one of the favorites.
Cracked wheat (kothumai ravai) is available in almost all Indian grocery stores nowadays. But before they show up in the store isles, we used to buy whole wheat and break them into ravai (coarse flour) and fine whole wheat flour every month. Mom used to schedule this whole process at home and would dry the whole-wheat under direct Sunlight for a day, then send it to a grinding mill , get them done, would cool them off and store the flours in airtight vessels. Nowadays the whole process is reduced to a sachet sold in a nearby stores and we all are happily buying them too:)  So lets make this simple and delicious upma quick and nice !

Plain wheat rava upma with methi leaf chutney.

Wheat rava

Ingredients: (for 2 servings)
Wheat rava (cracked wheat)- 1 cup
water - 2 1/2  cup
red onion - 1
green chilly - 3
ginger - 1 inch
salt - to taste
curry leaf - few
cilantro - few
channa dal - 1 tbsp
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Dry roast the wheat rava for a few minutes till it smells nice. Take it out and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Add mustard and let it start cracking.
Then add channa dal and fry for a few seconds.
Put the finely chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaves, chopped ginger and saute till onion gets cooked (golden color).
Add water, salt and bring to a boil.
Put the roasted wheat ravai, reduce flame and cook covered till rava gets all the water.
Check if it is cooked and stir till the upma looses the moisture.
Add chopped cilantro, shredded coconut. Mix well and switch off.
Cracked wheat upma is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as breakfast or dinner along with chutney or sugar.
It tastes great with any spicy chutney like methi leaf chutney or cilantro chutney.

Okra sambar

Okra (Vendaikkai - Tamil) is one of the popular vegetables recommended for kids and adults.  But including that in our daily meals needs more care and knowledge to cook this delicate vegetable. Beyond the regular fries (poriyal) , I make it as sambar or puli kuzhambu to make it more delicious. Okra gives a very nice flavor to sambar just like shallot for a sambar.
Here is a special meal I made recently on a weekend. The menu was vendakkai sambar, plain rice, grilled pappad, tomato koottu, keerai poriyal and curd.
Make some extra sambar on the first day and serve along with dosa or idly the next day too. I love this sambar with masal dosai very much  and that's how I plan my meals. Isn't it yummy:)

Okra sambar

Regular South Indian meal platter : Plain rice,sambar , pappad, spinach poriyal, tomato kooottu, curd.

Ingredients:

To pressure cook:

Toor dhal/red gram lentil - 1/2 cup (100 gms)
water- 2 cups
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
sesame oil- 1 drop
Wash and clean the lentil. Pressure cook the dhal with the above said ingredients for a whistle. Then reduce flame and cook for 10 minutes. Let it cool. Open the lid and add some fresh cumin seeds .Mash well using a spatula. Keep aside.
(we can cook the dhal in stove top also. But we may need to soak it first for 30 minutes or more and cook for 30 minutes).

Other ingredients:

Okra (vendakkai) - 10
Shallot (sambar vengayam) - 5
Tomato - 1
Tamarind - amla (gooseberry /  nellikkai) size ball
cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
cooking oil / ghee - 2 tbsp
(Try to use ghee, as it gives more taste to the sambar).
curry leaves- 1 sprig
cilantro/ coriander leaves (chopped)- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
fenugreek -1/2 tsp
jaggery- 1 tsp (optional)
salt - to taste
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of hot water and extract the juice by squeezing.
Add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, salt and bring it to a boil. Let it boil till the raw smell vanishes.

Chop the okra into long pieces and shallot into half and keep ready.
Heat oil or ghee in a separate wok. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and let the mustard splutter. Immediately add the shallots, curry leaf and saute well. Continue frying till the shallot and okra gets cooked. Sauteing the okra is a MUST before adding anything at this stage. Then add the finely chopped tomato and saute till oil separates.

Pour this hot mixture over the boiling tamarind paste. Add the mashed dhal, sambar powder and bring it to a boil. As it starts boiling, put the crushed jaggery, chopped cilantro and switch off.

Vendakkai sambar is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot over plain cooked rice.
Reserve some sambar for dinner and serve along with paper roast dosas.

Happy New year,

Let's welcome the New year with joy,
with lots of prayers and well wishes,
with hope, faith and love in family
with more dedication, belief and prosperity

God in our lives everyday,
Light in our paths and delight in our minds
World peace becoming everyone's wish
Freedom to innocents and needy

Love in hearts and happiness in world
Seeking God in everything we do,
May every day be filled
with happiness and peace,

May every face on earth live happily forever,
with all our needs satisfied,
May every life lives peacefully
with all our dreams come true,

Grace and kindness multiplying,
Health and wealth flourishing,
With every child getting love and care
Seeing God in happy faces,

May all our wishes come true
to make our Creator happy,
For all the wishes made in love,
May God shower His grace and love on all of us,

Happy New year!

New year cake with roses and lotus flowers icing.

Wishing all a
beautiful, Prosperous and Blessed
Happy New Year
Love,
Viki.

Carrot Pumpkin cake

I baked this carrot pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving day 2013. I enjoyed making these pink rose flower icing.  As the main theme of Thanksgiving day is to thank God, I made 12 roses to represent the 12 months of the year. I got the recipe from this website and thanking the author too for this successful recipe. Click  here for the original recipe

Pumpkin carrot cake I made for Thanksgiving  November 2013 , Thank you Jesus !

Some more pumpkin carrot cupcakes to share with hubby's friends

Before frosting.

Shredded Carrot and mashed pumpkin

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cup
white sugar - 1 1/2 cup
dark brown sugar - 1/2 cup
butter - 1 cup (2 sticks)
egg - 4
pumpkin puree - 1 cup
shredded carrot - 1 cup
shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
walnut - 1/2 cup
raisin - 2 tbsp
baking soda - 2 tsp
baking powder - 2 tsp
cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
all spice powder - 1 tbsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
Frosting:
Cream cheese frosting

Method:
Cook the pumpkin with very little water and mash it finely (or just use canned pumpkin puree).
Shred the carrots.
In a mixing bowl (or blender / mixie) add sugars , softened butter, egg, salt, all spice powder, cinnamon powder, ginger powder. Mix till fluffy.
Sift the flour , baking soda, baking powder together TWICE.
Put the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl along with wet ingredients, mashed pumpkin, shredded carrot, raisin, roasted chopped walnuts.
Mix well.
Pour batter into greased pans.
Bake at 350 deg F for 35 - 40 minutes.
Makes two 9 inch round cakes or one 6 inch cake and 18 cupcakes or nearly 2 dozen cupcakes.
I used butter cream frosting to make flowers and other colors.
Frost with cream cheese frosting or serve simply.
 

Merry Christmas,

Wishing all my friends , family and readers a  Blessed Happy Christmas,

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Viki

Updated :

Christmas wreath I made for front entrance door

Christmas wreath I made for  indoor decor.

Our Christmas tree

Christmas village and nativity scene for Christmas

Birthday cake  I made for Baby Jesus, our cute little Christmas cake.

Offering cake to Holy family as soon as I finished baking the first fruit cake (Dec 16)

Offering vadai and kesari for Holy family in nativity scene, on Christmas day early morning, a Christmas tradition in our family.

I got a lot of gifts from Santa. Finding my favorite gifts under the Christmas tree on Christmas mornings excites me very much:)

My friends Emelda and Elizabeth brought us these yummy Christmas goodies.

My friends Emelda and Elizabeth together made these yummy Christmas snacks. They worked together long hours and days to make these delicious murukku, mixture, fruit cake, milk peda, bathusha, coconut mittai.....and packed them artistically.  I admire their enthusiasm and Christmas cheer very much. Thank you friends!

Christmas goodies from my friend Esther

My friend Esther has brought us Fruit cake, ladoo, nuts sweet, spicy murukku, murukku, chandrakala and rose cake (achimurukku) on Christmas. Even before clicking, we started finishing those yummy rose cakes and now I think I should have clicked that whole platter first :) Thanks Esther !

Gifts from my sweet cousin Madhu: A pretty handmade greetings and a cute ornament.

Last year we enjoyed our Christmas with Madhu , my cousin and I love the way she cherish arts, vintage collections, making handmade greetings , brightening up the whole situation with her kindness ....lot to learn from that hard working , intelligent ,cute little girl (she is always a little girl in my eyes) :)

My neighbor aunty presented me many pretty Christmas  ornament birds.

I got many pretty birds from my neighbor aunty on Christmas eve and we put them all on our tree and village. I hosted a small party for both of our families on Christmas eve. I made it as almost vegetarian as per her choice and it was easy too. As soon as we came back from Christmas mass in church I prepared Vegetable briyani, egg curry, raitha and semiya kheer. She brought us the papad chaat items and assembled them as starter. The party went on even after midnight:)

Christmas goodies I prepared : Christmas fruit cake, murukku, ginger bread cookies

This is the Christmas goodies I made for our us all: Christmas fruit cake, murukku and ginger bread cookies. I started baking by 16 th Dec and sent that cake for hubby's  office Christmas party. Then baked all other cakes by Dec 19, made murukku on 23 rd Dec as a surprise gift to hubby (his most favorite) and cookies on 23 rd night and 24 th morning. In between we enjoyed sight seeing, meeting friends, watched my favorite movies , enjoyed the new release an animation movie ...... Totally we all enjoyed this Christmas very much and want to do like this every year. Cheers !

Cheesy vegetables with pasta

Recently I made this baked pasta with loads of green vegetables and we liked it very much. I didn't follow any basic recipe for this , as my only motto was to use all those vegetables when they were still fresh.  Just saute whatever green vegetables we have in hand like beans, kale leaf, brussel sprout, green bell pepper, Asparagus..... mix with cooked pasta , milk sauce and bake with cheese. I am sure this will make a yummy dinner or lunch pack.

Baked pasta with green vegetables

Ingredients:
Brussel sprout - 1 lb
broccoli - 2 cups
kale leaf - 2 cups
green bell pepper - 1/2
Penne pasta - a handful for each serving
shredded cheese (any variety) - 1 cup
olive oil - 2 tbsp
butter - 2 tbsp
all purpose flour - 3 tbsp
salt, pepper - as per need
dried Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
milk - 2 cups

Method:
Rinse all the vegetables.
Chop the kale leaves coarsely, bell pepper into 1 inch squares, broccoli into small florets and halve the Brussels sprouts.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a saute pan. Saute all the vegetables till tender crisp (2 - 3 minutes) and keep aside. Add required salt, pepper.
Cook the pasta as per directions (cook with little salt and lot of water till firmly cooked and drain water). Mix the pasta with vegetables and put them all in a baking pan.
Easy Milk sauce : In a pan heat 2 tbsp butter and add 3 tbsp all purpose flour (maida) and fry till raw smell goes (but not red). Add 2 cups of milk, dried Italian seasoning and bring to a boil.
Pour this over the pasta and mix .
Put cheese over this and bake at 350 F for 5 minutes or till cheese turns bubbly. (If using pyrex glass bakeware, bake below 325 F till cheese turns bubbly).

Serving suggestion:
Serve as main course meal.

Indian Tomato soup

Tomato soup with knorr chicken bouillon cubes and homemade croutons.

Indian tomato soup with chicken stock.

Making croutons at home

Ingredients: (4 cups)
Tomato - 2
onion - 1/ cup
garlic - 5 cloves
black pepper - 5
cumin - 1 tsp
cilantro -  handful
salt - to taste
butter - 1 tbsp
chicken soup cube  - 1
water - 4 cups
pepper powder - as per need

Method:
Saute chopped garlic and shallot / red onion in 1 tbsp butter till onion gets tender.
Chop the tomato finely and saute along with the onion , garlic.
Cook it covered with 1/2 cup water (Always cook tomato completely to get complete health benefits).
After it gets cooked, add cilantro, black pepper, cumin and let it cool completely.
Keep the vessel, as we need it again.
Puree this mixture in a blender.
Return this mixture to the cooking vessel , add 3.5 cups of water and bring to a boil.
If needed add chicken soup cube (or) some broth.
Check for salt and add.
Garnish with freshly ground pepper.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with bread crumbs on top.
See below for home made simple bread crumb recipe.

Home made bread crumbs:
bread slice (thick variety) - 1
ghee / butter - 1 tsp

Cut the bread slice into small cubes.
Heat ghee in a pan, keep flame very low.
Fry the bread slices in low flame till it turns golden and crispy.
We can do this in oven too.

Note:
Crushed tomato in can also be substituted, but fresh tastes better as always.
Chicken cubes is optional. It is added as a flavorful thickener here. But roasted AP flour can also be added instead.
Chicken stock in liquid form can also be added instead of soup cubes.

Simple Pancake

Pancake with maple syrup.

Ingredients:
self rising flour - 1  cup
egg - 1
sugar - 1 tsp
buttermilk - 3/4 cup
(1/4 c plain curd  + water)
butter - 1/2 tbsp

Method:
Mix flour, egg, buttermilk, sugar and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Heat a dosa tawa (griddle) and coat with little butter.
Pour 1/4 cup batter, wait to see bubbles, flip and cook both sides.
Take out.
Repeat with all the batter (4-5 pancakes).

Enjoy with maple syrup.

Note:
Self rising flour can be substituted with 1 cup All purpose flour + 1 tsp baking soda + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt. Sift these together to get self rising flour.
Buttermilk can be made by mixing 1 cup milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice or 1 tsp vinegar.
But I add 1/2 cup water to 1/4 cup homemade Indian yogurt.

Ragi idiyappam

Idiyappam / string hopper is a breakfast item popular in Tamilnadu, kerala and Srilanka. Usually it is made with rice flour and pure white in color. (Click to see my idiyappam with rice flour recipe). Nowadays we can easily buy them in dried form like pasta from Chinese stores (rice noodles). Also in Tamilnadu one can see vendors in cycles selling idiyappam in the early morning. Households with little kids and elders are the regular customers for these cycle-walas. Idiyappam , a steam cooked meal is easy to digest and hence it is preferred as dinner also. Recently idiyappam with ragi flour has become popular among dieticians and they recommend it to many.  So we can see readymade dried ragi idiyappam also in stores. It is very convenient for a quick meal. Making fresh idiyappam is also very easy and here is my recipe for ragi idiyappam.

Ragi idiyappam with shredded coconut.

My new screw type idiyappam maker....easier than pressing and I love this very much.

preparing idiyappam dough

Ragi idiyappam for my neighbor aunty ...food exchange Fridays :)

Ingredients:
Ragi - 1 1/2  cup
water - 2 cup (nearly)
salt - 1/2 tsp
ghee  - 1/2 tsp
cardamom powder - a pinch
for serving:
sugar - as per need
shredded coconut - as per need

Method:
Dry roast the ragi flour in a kadai (wok) , till it smells nice and a mild red. Add cardamom powder.
In a separate vessel, bring water to rolling boil with salt, ghee.
Pour little by little over the roasted flour and mix to get a soft chapati dough stage.
Divide into 3 equal portions.
From one part, take a handful and stuff inside the idiyappam press (idiyappam nazhi).
Grease an idiyappam plate or idly plate with a drop of ghee / oil.
Squeeze the strings in continuous fashion. Place inside idly cooker or idiyappam steamer.
(I use pressure cooker for both idly and idiyappam. Pour 2 cups water in the cooker.Leave the bottom-most plate empty and keep the idiyappam plate above it. This will ensure the idiyappams to get cooked without getting wet. I keep it for 10 minutes in high steam WITHOUT  the weight valve).
Take out once it is cooked and serve immediately or store in airtight containers.
Likewise steam all the idiyappams.

Serving suggestions:

Serve ragi idiyappam as dinner or breakfast.
I keep the leftover as a sweet snack or dessert.
The popular side dishes are shredded coconut with sugar, coconut milk mixed with jaggery solution and cardamom or sugar.

Tips:

Dry ragi idiyappam is commonly available in market as instant ragi semiya or idiyappam.
Dry roasting the flour and adding cardamom powder will make a flavorful idiyappam.