Its Award time !!!

I think it is award time here and awards are flowing.
I am so glad when Sreesha of Mom's recipes has selected me to pass the following awards . Thank you dear for choosing me.

1. Friendship award.
2. Butterfly award.
3. Chocoholic award.
4. Good Job award.
5. Inspiration award.

Thank You Sreesha for your encouragement.

Black gram sweet ball. (Ulunthan kali)

The ulunthangali is a traditional food prepared in villages of Tamilnadu.
People make this ulunthankali as a healthy breakfast for girls who attains puberty. They mix this kali (sweet ball) with gingelly / sesame oil as garnishing layer. Moreover everyone can consume this for its high nutrition and fibre content.
This is considered to be a wholesome food and so it is served as breakfast. (But I prepare it for an early dinner too). Actually people use dry powdered blackgram and rice flour.
But I have tweaked it with germinated whole black gram (urid dhal) and substituted palm jaggery (not available here) with ordinary jaggery.
It is believed that palm jaggery can be safely used in small amounts even by diabetic people .



Ingredients:
whole Black gram - 1 cup
fenugreek / methi seeds - 1 tbsp
rice flour - 2 tbsp
jaggery - 1 cup
garlic pearls - 6
Gingelly oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
Wash and soak black gram and methi seeds together in water overnight (10 hours).
Grind the soaked black gram with methi seeds to a fine paste.
Heat 2 cups of water and jaggery.
(If you are lucky enough to get palm jaggery , then use that instead of jaggery).
Let it dissolve. Filter any dirt present.
Mix the jaggery solution with rice flour and ground black gram mixture.
Add chopped garlic. Then heat them in slow fire with constant stirring.
After the black gram gets cooked , the raw smell will disappear and the gali starts leaving the vessel like haalwa.
Then add gingelly oil and mix well.
Ulunthangali is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Garnish with Gingelly oil and Serve hot as breakfast.

This recipe is reaching FIC : Purple & Black .

An award

I much surprised and thrilled when my friend Shama Nagarajan presented me this Inspiring award.
Thank you shama.
I will pass on this award to my blogger friends who have inspired me a lot.
Actually it is much difficult to choose a few , but i love all my friends who encourage me to develop my blog by their valuable comments and suggestions.So I tried to pass this award to as many as possible.

sunshine mom

The cooker

Plantain leaf

Purvas Daawat

Spice club

Ruchi

Kitchen Tantra

Health nut

Passion for cooking

Veg Inspiration

Gita's kitchen

Kailas kitchen

Indian cooking

Vibaas world

Mahimaa's Kitchen

Taste of Mysore

Vegetable Platter

Matt

cookery corner

Adlak's tiny world


Congrats friends!
You can share this award with the bloggers you like.
Enjoy!

A Carrot cake and some celebrations

Today Mr. Barack Obama has been elected as the 44th President of USA. So I am dedicating this posting for his Victory.
Coming back to our carrot cake,
As soon as we arrived here ,hubby and myself decided to taste all the cakes of USA :)
We started with this carrot cake and our journey towards this carrot cake aisle has now become a non stop one.
Then I gathered some courage and tried baking one carrot cake for our wedding day.
As a trial version I baked one carrot cake two days before and got succeeded .Immediately we shared with friends and finished it off :)
Then I became more confident and baked another one with icing also.
This is my trial piece in icing , so kindly bear with my icing :)
Usually in bakeries , they start the mixture from the All purpose flour. But I have simplified the original recipe by using a cake mix ( Bakers' choice brand - moist white cake mix).
Almost all carrot cakes are decorated with the image of a carrot . But I have tried making some orange color flowers.
Mostly American carrot cakes are decorated with cream cheese icing . But I used butter cream icing.
You can use ready made icing too.


Ingredients:
Any brand 'moist white' cake mix - 1/2 of 1 lb pack.
water - 1/2 cup (half of the amount said in the pack, as the carrot , pineapple will release some water)
Powdered cinnamon - 2 tsp
vegetable oil - 1/3 cup
egg - 1
cocoa powder - 1 tsp
orange peels - 2 tbsp
vanilla extract - 1 tsp
shredded carrots - 1 cup
Shredded coconuut - 1/2 cup
chopped walnuts - 1/2 cup
crushed pineapple in can (drained)- 1/2 of a 8 oz can.

For Butter cream icing:
Unsalted butter - 1/2 bar (5 tbsp)
confectionary sugar - 2 cups
milk - 1 tbsp
vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Food colors like orange , yellow and green

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
Mix water, oil, eggs and vanilla using in a blender / mixie.
Add cake mix flour, cinnamon and run the mixer again to get a smooth batter.
Pour the batter to a broad bowl.
Add the carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple and mix well with a spoon.
Pour into a round pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 - 40 minutes..
Allow to cool and turn it upside down.

Frosting:
Mix softened butter with confectionary sugar, milk and vanilla essence.
This can be of a thick conssistency like a murukku flour.
Keep 1/2 cup icing separate , to add color.
Spread the white icing uniformly all over the cake by using a knife or icing tool.
Mix colors to the remaining icing .
Then decorate the cake with color icing using the icing cone.
If you do not have an icing cone then fill the colors to small zip lock covers , cut a small opening at a corner and decorate the cake.
The ultimate carrot cake is ready!

Note: The above said quantity is enough to make one round cake of 2 inch height.
So , double the quantity to bake 2 rounds .
Adding 2 tbsp of chocolate cake mix will enhance the taste.
Adding orange juice instead of water will make the cake more flavorful.

Serving suggestions:
Refrigerate the cake and serve chill as dessert.
The quantity given above is enough to make one round cake and a heart shaped cup cake.

I am sending this recipe to JFI : Carrots hosted at The cooker

From scratch:
350 deg F , 30 - 35 min, Two rectangular pan.

3 cups shredded carrots
1 cups cooking oil
2 cup sugars
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Soft Chapathi and Green gram curry

Chapathi / roti is the staple food of North Indians .It is served as a main course meal with many healthy side dishes like dhal , kuruma etc.Making soft chapathi is really a great art. I envy those people who make chapthies that tear like a soft cotton. Because I was always bad at making chapathies .I tried adding curd, milk, bananas and even baking soda.But my chapathies were so stiff like pappads till I get the advice of Purva Desai of Purvas Daawat on the art of kneading the dough.It was much helpful.
In addition I googled and came out with a Gujarathis' technique on flattening the chapthi.They divide a chapathi dough into two pieces and roll one over another to get a layered texture.
Nowadays my chapthies are coming out as soft as a bread and I am sharing the secrets I got.

Ingredients:
wheat flour - 2 cups
salt - a pinch
olive oil- 3 tbsp
water - 3/4 cup (varies)

other Items needed :
roti rolling pin,
a flat clean surface
a wet clean towel
thick dosa tawa (Always use a separate tawa for roti/ chapathi making.Otherwise you may not be getting dosa easily. ),
a spatula
A wide shallow vessel, .
a small piece of cloth rolled into a ball shape to press the chapathi.

Method:
Mix wheat flour with salt well.(buy the whole wheat flour in any Indian grocery store).
Add water little by little and knead a soft ball.
Beat it and knead for 2 minutes.
If you touch the dough , it should not stick to the fingers.This is the consistency.
Then coat the dough ball with little oil. Keep it inside the vessel. (Cover with cling wrap (or)
Take a clean towel, soak it in water and squeeze all the water.
Cover the top of the vessel with the wet towel ).
Keep the set up for 1 hour.
Then divide the dough in to equal portions of the size of a big lemon.
Take one ball, divide it into two portion.
Roll each one into smooth balls.
Keep some wheat flour in a wide bowl.
Dip the ball in flour and flatten it using the rolling pin to make thin circular chapathies.
Heat the tawa , and place the uncooked chapthi over it.
Sprinkle few drops of oil on chapati.
Flip it immediately and gently press once with the ball shaped cloth (or spatula) uniformly.
After 1 minute take out the chapathi and store it in closed vessel like a casserole / hot box.
The steam produced by the hot chapthies inside the vessel makes the chapathies more soft.
Serve hot with any curry / subzi.
Makes 10 chapathies.

Green Gram curry:

Ingredients:
Whole green gram - 1 cup
tomato - 1
red onion - 1/2
Garlic - 3 pearls
ginger - 1 inch
cilantro - a handful
mint leaf - a handful
chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder -1 tsp
channa masala mix (or)
any Biryani masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
oil- 1 tbsp

Method:
soak the green gram in water overnight (or) 12 hours and let it germinate.
Cook the sprouted green gram in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Grind onion, ginger, garlic , cilantro and mint leaf together.
Heat oil in a kadai
Add fennel seeds and let it turn red.
Then goes the ground mixture.
Stir fry the mixture till the raw smell goes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook it.
Then add all the powders given along with cooked green gram and salt.
Cook it and mash a little to get a thick curry.
Green gram curry is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Garnish the curry with chopped raw onion and Serve it hot with soft chapathi/ roti.

Update (Dec 7, 2010):

 Recently I started adding luke warm water instead  of cold water  while kneading the dough.  By adding warm water, we can avoid adding oil to knead the dough. Make the dough as said above and it can be used to make chapathi immediately. Take a small ball out of the dough , dip it in dry wheat flour and start rolling out into thin circles. It will give very soft chapathis. 

 (The left over dough should be coated with a little oil and wrap with cling wrap / plastic cover and kept in fridge for further use.  we can make this dough in morning / night and keep refrigerated for next time use also).

Hash brown Burger and a cute award!

As a change one fine day we wished to have a different lunch and we sacrificed our staple food i.e., RICE.So I browsed quickly through my freezer and came out with this handy "hash brown potato patties ", which is the main ingredient to make this burger. Then I proceeded with this vegetarian Burger with an Indian touch. Packed this in aluminium foil as his lunch pack.

Another sweet thing is Gita at Gita's kitchen has passed me a cute Chocoholic Award.
Thanks a lot Gita for this yummy award:).
I am much delighted to pass on this award to
Sireesha at mom's recipes for her cute Deepavali sweets.
Purva at Purva's daawat for her chocolate cake
soma at e-curry for her orange flavored chocolate farfel
Congrats Sireesha, Purva and Soma!

Here is the recipe for Hash brown Burger.

Ingredients:
Burger buns - 4
Hash brown poatao patties (frozen) - 2
green chilli - 1
Green bell pepper - 1/2
Red onion - 1 (medium size)
shredded cheese - 1 tbsp
besan flour - 1 tbsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
cilantro & mint leaf puree - 1 tsp
tomato-1
Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
olive oil - 2 tsp

Method:
Heat a tawa , spread a pinch of butter/ oil and toast all the buns both sides. Keep aside.
Microwave the hash brown potato patties for 2 minutes and scramble them.
chop the onion , green chillies, tomato ,bell pepper and mix it with the scrambled potato.
Add ginger garlic paste,cheese, salt, cilantro - mint puree, Tomato sauce , besan flour and mix well.
Divide it into 4 eaual portions and make 4 balls.
Heat a tawa . Spread 1 tsp olive oil over the tawa.
Place one ball over the tawa and spread it to 1 inch thick patty.
Cook it both sides ,now your burger patties are ready.


Burger arrangement:
Place the one burger patty inside each toasted burger bun.
Mix some chopped green pepper, red onion with tomato sauce and introduce it as a layer between one side of patty and burger.
Decorate it with lettuce leaves.


Serving suggestions:
If you want to pack the burger for lunch then wrap it with silver foil after it gets cool (otherwise burger becomes soggy)and place inside container.
approximate calories in 2 such burgers = 450.
Serve hot with french fries , hot sauce and a chocolate drink. (yes, I am chocoholic).chocolate is made of cocoa .cocoa has a lot of antioxidants and helps us to get rid of depression , avoid premature aging of skin and to retain good health. So Guys lets all go chocoholic:)

Paruppu usili

Deepawali is around the corner and if you guys are looking for some special vegetarian dish , then you can try this paruppu usili.
This is a side dish prepared by Brahmins of TamilNadu , India.
If you start preparing this Paruppu usili, then you will definitely prepare this dish atleast once in a month. My hubby and myself love this dish very much with More-Kulambu , rice and Madras appalam.
Try this and tell me how it turned out.
Happy Deepawali!



Paruppu Usili.

Ingredients
string beans / cluster beans / ordinary green beans/Ivy gourd (kovakkai) - 250 gms (cut pieces - 2 cups).
Red gram / Thoor dhal - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram / channa dhal - 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies - 4
asafoetida powder / hing - 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds for tempering
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
chopped onion - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste


Usili Idlies:
Soak the thoor dhal with channa dhal overnight or for 3 hours in warm water.
Grind this to a coarse paste with 2 broken dried red chillies, 1/4 tsp of asafoetida powder, pinch of turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and a few curry leaves with little water.
Steam this paste in an idli-steamer or a regular steamer for 10-15 minutes until the lentil paste is cooked.(Like Idly..see image).
Remove the cooked dhal to a bowl once cooled and scramble them into small pieces. Keep aside.

Method:
Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil, and put in the scrambled usili. Stir them around on medium flame till golden and slightly crispy. This will take around 5-7 minutes. Keep this aside.
In the same pan, take 1 tsp oil, crackle the mustard seeds, add the broken red chilli pieces with onion. Once they get fried , add the chopped kovakkai .Then add some water , put a lid and cook it .After the Ivy gourd becomes tender add salt to taste, stir around for 2 minutes.
Add the stir fried usili and stir together for 2 minutes until they have come together. check for salt.
Finally add shredded coconut and cumin seeds, Then put off stove.

serving suggestions:
Serve hot with More-Kulambu or Karakulambu and rice .

Note:
You can make double the amount of usili Idlies and store them in freezer for the next time .