Potato masala

On the other day my neighborhood aunty from Gujarat brought me this aloo masala wrapped in dosa, just like Madras masal dosa.  The potato subzi was very spicy and delicious. While talking I learned a few recipes from her and I too prepared this like her's. Though it is a very simple recipe, I find this curry a good alternative and makes me love chapati:)

potato masala with chapati.

Ingredients:

Potato - 4 (300 gms)
onion - 1
tomato - 2
lemon - 1/4
green chilli - 4
ginger - 2 inch
cilantro - a handful
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
oil- 2 tbsp
salt - to taste

Method:

Wash and Pressure cook the potatoes . Peel the skin and mash coarsely into small pieces.
Chop the onion, green chillies, cilantro and ginger finely.
Heat oil in a vessel and add mustard seeds, 2 tbsp channa dhal.
After the mustard seeds starts splutter, add the chopped onion, green chilli, cilantro and ginger. Saute them a while till onion gets slightly cooked.
Add the chopped tomato and cook covered with salt, garam masala, turmeric, chilly powder.
After the tomato is well cooked and oil shows up, put the potato.
Check for salt. Add 1/2 cup water and cook covered.
Switch off.
Before serving add lemon juice and chopped cilantro.

Spicy aloo masala is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Fold inside  paper roast dosa like masal dosa and serve hot with sambar, chutney.
Also makes a good side dish with chapathi or poori.

Its awards time!

Divya Pramil of 'You too can cook Indian food' has shared this beautiful Sunflower with me. She runs a delicious blog and I like her interest on blogging, pets and pious nature.
Expecting many more recipes from you dear....keep rocking!

Thanks Divya!.

Also, Alagu Chitra Ganesh of 'A desperate housewife's diary' has passed me this 'Inspirational award'. I like the way she presents her yummy recipes along with her enthusiastic approach. Expecting more recipes from you Chitra. Keep rocking dear!

Thanks Chitra!

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The rules for the awards are

1.Create a post with the following details;
2.(Thank the person who nominated you for this Sunshine Award and link them back.
Then tell something about you.
3.Spread the joy by nominating your fellow bloggers and friends, its a way of appreciation.
4. Finally convey the bloggers about the nomination.

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As per the rules here are something about me.

1. I am a cheerful housewife and can stay here in the house without feeling boredom. People often wonder how I manage being a housewife. The answer is simple. I always keep myself entertained with something like cooking, arts, reading, exercise or gardening. Above all I believe in God and HIS love.

2. Hubby and me start our weekends with a nice English movie, popcorn and coke:)

3. I do my best to celebrate the festivals with much planning and enthusiasm, just like our moms :)
                                                                      
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I would like to share the above awards with the following friends: (I wanted to pass these beautiful awards to all my friends, but couldn't type all your names...don't mistake me),

Seetha of Seetha's kitchen.
Maha of Honey cooking Experiment
Girija of En samayal pakkam

Enjoy!

Happy Tamil New year,

Wishing all a very happy and prosperous Tamil New Year.

(click to see image source.Thanks.)

Love,
Viki

Easter cookies

For this Easter I made some cookies and cakes in 'spring theme' to share with some wonderful kids, neighbors and friends. I chose bunny, doggy, tulip and butterfly shapes from the wilton's cookie cutter set that hubby presented me recently.

Flower bouquet cookies.

While googling I learned that glazed icing work the best with sugar cookies for stacking (not sticky). Thanks to the sugar cookie recipe and cookie icing recipe authors, I got a bunch of successfully made soft sugar cookies. I was amazed at the glossy finish after icing these cookies. These icings dry within 3 hours (or overnight in humid weather) and can be conveniently stacked up. Our friends too appreciated the outcome along with my hubby:) This recipe is surely a keeper for me and I will be doing it again and again:)

I love these flower cookies very much, so I made them in more number:)

Easter bunny is the main attraction for kids:)

Cookies for  a garden party.

Kids love these cute bunny cookies:)

Doggies for my hubby dear along with a cute bunny:)

I simply rolled these cookies on my roti maker. Prepared them after supper on Thursday.

Cookie before baking.

Ingredients: (5 dozen)
sugar - 2 cups
All purpose flour (maida)- 5 cups
unsalted butter - 1 1/2 cup
vanilla essence - 1 tsp
egg - 4
baking powder- 2 tsp
salt - 1 tsp

Method:

Bring butter to room temperature by keeping it out of fridge.
Mix the butter and sugar using a fork.
Beat together egg and vanilla essence.
Sift together AP flour, salt, baking powder.
In a large bowl combine sugar, butter with the beaten egg mixture. Blend well.
Add flour, baking powder and salt to the mixture and make it into a dough.
Manual kneading is the best here.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour for easier handling.
We can prepare the dough and refrigerate overnight for better cookies.
The dough can sit in fridge for a week.
Preheat oven to 350 - 375 deg F (175 deg C) for at least 30 minutes .
Make small balls and roll them into 1/2 to 1/4 inch sheet and cut into desired shapes.
(I did on a chapati rolling base with lot of flouring).
 Place each cookie 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake at 350 F for 6 - 7 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
Immediately remove from cookie sheets and let cool completely.
Decorate as desired.

Note:

While baking one batch, keep the dough in fridge. Stiff dough is the best for rolling.
Cool them on wire rack overnight or at least for 4 hours before storing in air tight containers.
It can be refrigerated before icing.
Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Sugar cookie icing recipe

Tools for icing.

Ingredients:

confectioners sugar - 1 cup
milk - 2 tsp
light corn syrup -  2 tsp
almond extract (or) vanilla - 1 tsp
water - 1 tbsp
food color - pink, lilac, blue, yellow, green

Method:

Sift the sugar and remove the lumps. Mix everything except color.
Divide into required portion and add a drop of color to each bowl.

Note:

Prepare this just before icing. If hardened, add a tsp of milk and mix well.
If we want more shine, add tbsp of more corn syrup.
Stir before each coating to get the shine.
Use a (new and separate) paint brush for icing.
Dipping the cookies in icing also works fine.
Never refrigerate the cookies after this type of icing, as it will not be this much shiny again.
Enough to decorate 30 cookies.

Easter Greetings !

Wishing all my readers, friends and family a Joyful Easter, beautiful spring season and happiness always.

Homemade Easter cake with basket-weave icing and fondant flowers. Recipe ...coming soon...

Click for icing recipe.
Click for cake recipe

May all our prayers be answered,
Kindness and understanding flourish,
Love, Faith and Hope increase
and everyone feels the Lord's presence
on Easter and always
Wishing all a Peaceful and Blessed Easter.
Happy Easter !

Love,
Viki

Collard greens stir fry

From the start of March month, we can see a whole green look in USA because of St.Patrick day (Mar, 17). Its a tradition to wear a lucky green T-shirt or a shamrock logo for this festival. I can see everything green here in TV and streets ranging from T-Shirts, shamrocks, beads, hats, scarfs, face painting, hair colors, cakes, green thinking, green ads etc:) While we both are also getting green, I wanted my blog to have a green dish in its menu card too:) Here goes my collard greens stir fry with peanuts.

Happy St.Patrick day!

Ingredients:
collard greens - 15 leaves.

To temper:

Mustard - 1/2 tsp
onion - 2 tbsp
garlic - 3 cloves
sesame / coconut oil - 1 tbsp

To grind:

grated coconut - 2 tbsp
ground nut - 20 numbers
rice - 1 tsp
fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
dry red chilly - 2

Method:

Rinse the collard greens and remove the mid stem. Chop finely.

Dry roast the peanut and remove the skin by rubbing. Crush it to very-coarse pieces (using a mixie or chopper).
Dry roast the rice, fennel seed, red chilly, till rice puffs. Coarsely powder it.
Keep the powders aside.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Add the chopped onion, garlic and fry for few seconds. Then put the chopped greens and cook covered in low heat along with a few tbsp of water. After it gets cooked add required salt. Before switching off put the prepared powders, coconut and stir in high heat for a minute.

Collard green peanut stir fry is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as side dish with roti or chapati or rice.

Kara Paniyaram

Kara paniyaram - Spicy puff pancake.

This is a popular tiffin / snack / breakfast in chettinadu region of Tamilnadu. The batter is similar to idly batter with slight variation in proportion. The urad dhal should be much lesser for the paniyaram, so that the paniyaram comes off the hole easily.

Ingredients:

Idly rice (parboiled rice / puzhungal arisi) - 1 cup
black gram lentil (ulunthu paruppu) - 2 tbsp
channa dhal (kadala paruppu) - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste ( 1tsp)
baking soda - 1/8 tsp
ghee /butter/  sesame oil - as per need

To temper:

mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
urad dhal - 1 tsp
sesame oil - 1 tsp
onion - 1/4 (small)
green chilly - 2
cilantro - few leaves.
asafoetida (hing) - a pinch

Method:

Rinse and soak the rice, urad dhal and channa dhal together for 6 hours.
Grind it to a fine to medium coarse batter with very little water.
The batter should be thick like a pancake batter / idly batter.
Mix salt and keep it to ferment overnight (cold weather) or 6 hours (in hotter weather).
The batter will ferment well only if the room temperature is above 85 deg F. Otherwise maintain the temperature using an oven.

10 minutes before starting to prepare the paniyaram, add the baking soda and mix well.
In the mean time prepare the tempering.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a small wok and add mustard seeds. Once they start splutter, add the urad dhal, asafoetida and finely chopped onion, cilantro, curry leaf, chilly and let it get slightly tender. Add it to the batter and mix well.

Now heat a paniyaram pan and brush some oil in all the holes. Then add 1 tsp sesame oil / butter in each hole. Reduce the flame to minimum and pour the batter to halfway in each hole. Click to see the picture. Cook covered or in open. (I prefer putting a lid to ensure uniform cooking). We can see the paniyaram getting cooked. Flip using a skewer or fork. Take out once done.

Serving suggestion:
Makes almost 21 paniyaram .
Serve with coconut chutney.

Note:

Do everything in low heat. It may take a little while but that is the only way to get whole fluffy paniyaram.
Non stick pans work the best. But I have used a pan similar to traditional thick paniyaram pan.
For the first round it may require more oil to fry, but it will take very lesser in the following.