Corn and black bean salad

Corn and bean salad is another popular salad. This is a salad I often see in food network shows. There may be many variations but I customized it according to my taste and calorie need. Though the recipe is simple, I wanted to note down the way I prepare my own 'home made salad dressing'.  Here I have used the black bean. Black bean tastes similar to whole black gram (urad dhal). It can be substituted by red bean , rajma (kidney beans) or any bean of our choice.

Ingredients:
cooked sweet corn kernels- 1 cup
cooked black bean - 1 cup
tomato - 2
red bell pepper - 1
cucumber -1
white onion - 1/2
cilantro - handful

dressing:
Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp
vinegar - 1 tsp
lemon juice - 1/2 fruit
salt - to taste
red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
sugar - 1 tbsp
garlic powder - 1/4 tsp
dried Italian seasoning herbs - 1 tsp

Preparation:
Soak 1/2  cup black bean in water overnight. Wash and  remove the water.
Add enough water to just immerse the soaked bean. Pressure cook for 3 whistles or cook in stove top till it is soft.
(or) Buy a can of cooked black bean. Wash well to remove excess salt.

Method:
Mix all the items given for dressing, shake well. Keep refrigerated until we need. we can keep this for 1 week (I have not tested more than that).
Cut the onion, cucumber, pepper, tomato into 1 inch size cubes.
Finely chop the cilantro.
Put them in a large bowl and add the cooked beans , corn.
Mix well. Add the required salad dressing , toss and serve.

Serving suggestion:
Makes a starter food or healthy snack.

Strawberry jam

Recently I started making our own jams / preserves, as DIY projects impresses me a lot. This recipe can yield a 3/4 of a jar of this jam. (If using 3 tbsp pectin and more sugar, we will get 2 jars of jam, but I made a small batch). Store bought pectin can be replaced by 1 apple. After tasting the chunks of  fruits in this jam, I realized the importance of making them at home:)  The Strawberry jam is a quick one and I enjoyed preparing this very much. Hope my readers love this version too!

Ingredients:
Strawberry - 15 number
sugar - 1 1/2 cup
water - 1/4 cup
pectin - 1 tbsp (or) apple - 1

Method: 
Remove the stem and leaves from the fruits. Wash well and slice them into small pieces. (If not using pectin, then peel, core, shred an apple and add it the sliced strawberry). Cook the strawberry and apple in 1/4 cup water. After 5 minutes, add the sugar and cook till a candy thermometer reads 220 F. (If apple is not added, then add the pectin and check the temperature). (or) Take cold water in a bowl, put a drop of jam and see if it stays without dissolving. That is the stage we need. Switch off. Let cool completely and store in fridge or do the canning. Stays good in fridge up to 2 months, if handled with care.
(Time taken - 20 minutes).

Serving suggestions:
Serve with bread toast, cake / ice cream topping.

Spicy Shrimp roast

I learned this recipe from my cousin Madhu, when she visited us recently. On that day I wanted to make something special for both of us after giving hubby his lunch box. After talking some family stories, we both rushed to the kitchen exactly at the lunch time and then I wanted some quick side dish for our chicken briyani:) Then I asked her for a simple and quick recipe for shrimp. She shared with me her mom's (my Susila athai's) eral varuval recipe and I absolutely love it. I could make that spicy shrimp fry within 20 minutes and we both had a delicious lunch with this fry and chicken briyani:)
Thanks Madhu, now I know 'how to make a quick delicious shrimp fry' !

Recipe source: I got this recipe from my cousin Madhumitha. This is her beautiful amma Susila athai's recipe. 

Era varuval / roasted prawn.

Ingredients:
Large Raw shrimp - 15
oil - 2 tbsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 3 tbsp
curry masala powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste

Method:
Peel and devein the shrimp.
Mix all the powders and salts mentioned above. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a wok. Add the marinated shrimp. Stir well. Cook covered with a tbsp of water for 10 minutes.
Shrimp roast is ready!

Note:
Serve as side dish with any rice or chapati.
Sometimes I add lemon juice also while marinating.
Curry leaves and fennel seeds (sombu) can also be added while frying the shrimp.

Brinjal tomato pachadi

Brinjal with tomato is a classic combination. I always like tangy side dishes along with chapati. Here is another easy side dish that can satisfy our palate.

Ingredients: 
Tomato - 3
brinjal (small) - 2
red onion - 1
green chilly - 4
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
oil - 2 tsp
curry leaf - few

Method:
Chop brinjal into small cubes and put in water. Chop tomatoes into small pieces and keep aside. Chop onion, green chillies, curry leaves and keep aside. Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds. After the mustard starts cracking, add chopped onion, chilly, curry leaves. Wait till onion turns soft, then add the chopped brinjal and stir for a few minutes. Then add the chopped tomato and cook covered with little water and salt. Cook till the vegetables are cooked completely and tending to get mushy. Add shredded coconut, cumin and switch off. Tomato brinjal koottu is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with curd rice, sambar rice and chapati.

Pongal wishes,

Happy Pongal to all my readers, friends and family ,





GoodLightscraps.com

*** world4art.com - Orkut Pongal scraps, graphic and comments ! ***

May this Pongal festival brings peace, good health, cheer, prosperity and every thing we wish for.
Happy Pongal!

Love,
Viki

Ulunthu vadai in paniyaram pan

Here is a ulunthu vadai I made in paniyaram pan (puff pancake pan). (Click to see my paniyaram pan).  It is not a complete diet vadai, but can be made with lesser oil than deep frying. When comparing the taste, I find this one pretty much similar to the ulunthu vadai.

Ingredients: (For 21 small vadai)
Urid dhal - 1 cup (200 gm)
Oil (corn oil / canola) - 6 tbsp
Shallot / red onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2 (finely chopped)
cumin - 1/4 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
Ginger - 1 tsp (finely chopped)

Method:
Wash the urid dhal twice thoroughly. Soak the urid dhal in cold water for 2 hours. Grind it to a fine paste with very little water. The final consistency should be like  softened butter.
Add the required salt + 1 tsp black pepper and grind again for a while.
Pour the batter to a mixing bowl. Taste and adjust the salt now.
Mix the finely chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaf , whole pepper, cumin with the batter.
Heat the paniyaram pan with 1.5 tsp oil in every hole. Wait till it reaches the hottest point. Reduce the flame to lowest. Fill each hole with the vadai batter upto 3/4 th height.
Put a tight lid and wait to hear a dripping sound by steam.
Using a skewer, flip the vadai and cook for few seconds.
Take out, drain the oil in paper towels.
(From the second batch we may need very lesser oil in each hole). 
Ulunthu vadai without frying is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve with coconut chutney along with hot coffee or tea in the evening.
Also makes a good side dish with Idly, Venn pongal, sarkarai pongal etc.

Garlic pickle

Garlic pickle is one of my favorites. I learned this recipe from hubby's friend cum our family friend Mari Anna. He and his mom are experts in preparing commercial pickles, podi and snacks. Every time I prepare this, it comes out just like a store bought pickle (or more tastier than any pickle I make:) ) and we like it very much. Last month when I visited our neighborhood Indian grocery store, I saw this big heap of peeled garlic at a very less price (49 cents / lb). To my surprise they were the naattu poondu (Indian country garlic) , which is a small variety with more flavor and spicy too! As getting peeled garlic at this price is really a big luck for us, I grabbed a big scoop out of that and felt extremely happy, as if I have done something great:) Immediately after dinner I prepared this special poondu pickle and ginger garlic paste. Also I made some poondu kulambu the next day and enjoyed the deal of the week:)

Homemade Garlic pickle

Poondu urugai and ginger garlic paste.

Ingredients:
garlic - 200 gms
oil - 1/4 cup
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
salt - 2 tsp (to taste)
tamarind - lime size
jaggery - 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 2 tbsp
channa dal - 1 tbsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
hing (asafoetida) - 1/8 tsp
lemon - 1
To powder:
fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
mustard seed - 1 tsp


Method:
Choose the small variety of garlic instead of big pearls for this pickle. (naattu poondu / small garlic pearls are more flavorful and tastes good. So it is highly recommended for this pickle, even though peeling them takes more time). Peel the garlic and keep aside.
Grind coarsely half of the garlic.
Add 1/4 cup water to tamarind + jaggery and microwave or bring to a boil. Let cool. Extract juice , discard the residue and keep aside.
In a pan fry the mustard , fenugreek and grind to a fine powder. Keep aside.
Heat corn oil + sesame oil (or completely sesame oil) in the pan and add mustard seeds, channa dal, hing. After the mustard starts crackling, add the peeled garlic, ground garlic and cook in medium heat for 1 minute. Then add the tamarind+jaggery solution, salt, chilly powder, turmeric powder and cook in low heat till garlic is almost tender (5 minutes after boiling) and oil will start showing up. Then add the powdered masala, lemon juice mix well and switch off.
Let cool completely and store in glass bottles.
Garlic pickle is ready!

Note:
Serve as side dish with curd rice, chapati or with any rice.
Helps in digestion.
I sanitize the glass bottles by keeping them in hot water or by washing in dish washer (heated dry-ON setting). Also we can keep the bottles and lids in hot oven (after switching off), or keep in sunlight  to dry them.
Always keep the pickle in refrigerator (even though it stays good in room temperature for 3 months).

Ginger garlic paste:
Ginger - 50 gms
garlic - 100 gms
vinegar - 1 tbsp
oil - 1 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
Peel the ginger, garlic. Rinse every thing. wipe clean and grind everything together. Store in airtight glass bottle in fridge. Handle with dry spoon every time. Use it in Indian curries.
Stays good for a month.