Search Chitra's Food Book

February 28, 2009

Navratan Korma - How to make Navratna Korma

I took this navratan korma recipe from Indian Culinary expert - Mallika badrinath’s “100 Vegetarian gravies/Kurmas” book. First time , I did a recipe with paneer. It came out very well.I was very happy ,everybody ate well in my home :)
Navratan korma

Ingredients
  • Paneer – 100 gms
To cook:
  • Finely chopped Vegetables (Carrot,beans,potato,peas,cauliflower) – 2 cups
To grind:
  • Tomato – 3 (Big sized)
To saute:
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Big onion – 2 nos
  • Ginger-garlic paste – 1.5 tsp
  • Coriander seeds powder / Dhania pwd – 2 tsp
  • Red chilly powder – 1.5 tsp
  • Garam masala powder – 1.5 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
To add finally:
  • Fresh cream – 2 tbsp
  • Milk – 1 cup
  • Ghee /Butter – 3 tbsp
  • Salt – to taste
To decorate:
  • Chopped Pine apple pieces,apple pieces – Few
  • Cashewnuts,dry grapes,tutty –fruity – 1/2 cup
  • Chopped Coriander leaves
Method of preparation:
  • Cut the paneer into small cubes and fry in oil for 1-2 minutes by flipping it over.Make sure the color of paneer doesn’t change to golden brown/red.
  • Immerse the fried paneer in hot water for 5-10 mins and take it out.Keep it apart.
  • Pressure cook all the finely chopped vegetables.
  • Peel the skin of onions and grate it.Keep aside.
  • **Blanch the tomatoes and grind it to a smooth paste.Set aside.
  • Heat a wok/pan with 1 tbsp of oil and add the ginger-garlic paste to it.Fry for a minute.
  • Now add the onions and fry till turns golden brown.
  • Add the tomato puree ,turmeric powder,chilly pwd,dhania pwd,garam masala pwd and salt.
  • Fry till the oil leaves separates.
  • Add the boiled veggies and fry for a min.Add little water and boil for sometime.
  • Then add the fresh cream ,milk and boil for a minute.
  • Finally add the fried paneer, fruits ,nuts and remove from the fire immediately.
  • Garnish with chopped coriander leaves !!

Note : While serving ,u can keep chopped onions and lemon on the plate
**Blanch:Boil water and add the tomato into it.Close it for 5-10 mins .The skin of tomato gets cracked.Now remove the skin and grind it to make a puree.
Tastes great with Roti/Chappati,Naan etc…Thumbs-up
Chappathi with kurma

Continue Reading...


February 23, 2009

Red Coconut Chutney - Coconut Onion Chutney With Garlic

Red coconut chutney recipe
This is my favourite red coconut chutney with onion and garlic. My mom usually prepares this for dinner as a side dish for dosa, idli. I love to have it with curd rice too. She uses green chillies if making for breakfast and red chillies for dinner. Its very easy to make.We all know coconut milk when mixed with honey is good for curing stomach and mouth ulcers. 
Even raw coconut has amazing health benefits. So its better to include coconut in our diet (But in a limited quantity) without hesitation Smile. Lets see how to make this easy red coconut chutney recipe using red chilli, onion & garlic.

Red coconut chutney


Red coconut chutney Red coconut chutney recipe with garlic for idli dosa
Cuisine: Indian
Category: chutney
Serves: Serves 2
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 5 Minutes
Total time: 15 Minutes


INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
  • Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
  • Red chillies - 4 nos (use 2 for less spice, 6  for spicy chutney. Use byadgi chilli to get this color)
  • Tamarind - 1 small piece
  • Garlic cloves - 3 nos ( small)
  • Big onion - 1/2 no (optional, use for variations)
  • Salt & water - as needed
METHOD

  • Grind all the items given above except garlic cloves.Grind to a smooth paste. Lastly add finely chopped garlic cloves and grind it together.
  • Serve with idli,dosa topped with gingely oil.

Note

  • U can replace red chillies by green chillies. It tastes great for idli.
  • For variations , you can also add 2 small onion or half of big onion while grinding.

Serve with idli,dosa topped with a tsp of gingely oil. Tastes superb !!
easy red coconut chutney

Continue Reading...


February 20, 2009

MY SECOND AWARD!!


Iam very much surprised and honoured to recieve this award from my friend akal of akal's saapadu.

Thanks a lot akal for sharing this award with me:)


Sorry for not posting any recipes for the past 10 days..As my baby was not keeping well,i was not in a mood to browse or post anything.Iam extremely sorry,i couldnt see ur posts too:(

I'll be posting the recipes from next week..Thanks to all the viewers of my blog for ur constant support and encouragement:)Love u all friends..Take care..Bye for now..
Continue Reading...


February 11, 2009

PuliSaaru Recipe / Vendhaya Rasam - Fenugreek Onion Rasam


Rasam recipe

This saaru( a kind of rasam) tastes excellent with plain rice.When i was pregnant , during the first three months,i didn’t like to eat sambar/vatha kuzhambu etc(u all know our taste changes during pregnancy) .On those days, My Mom-in-law used to prepare this for me.I used to have this rasam mixed with plain rice as my food all the time ;)This is my favorite.Very easy to prepare.When u run short of time to prepare lunch,u can do this saaru/Rasam quickly.We call this as "Vendhaya rasam".It tastes different from our usual rasam recipe as i have added onions in this.

Ingredients 
  • Tamarind – Small gooseberry size (soak in warm water)
  • Big onion – 1 no(finely chopped)
  • Green chilly – 4 nos (slit cut)
  • Tomato – 1 no (chopped)
  • Salt – to taste
To temper
  • Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
  • Methi seeds/fenugreek – 1/2 tsp
  • Urad dal- 1/4 tsp
  • Toor dal – 1/4 tsp
  • Curry leaves – a sprig
  • Asafetida/hing – 1/4 tsp
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Coriander leaves – to garnish
Method:
  • Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice from it.
  • Heat a kadai with oil and add methi seeds first.when it starts to pop,add mustard seeds,urad dal,toor dal ,a pinch of asafetida and curry leaves one by one in the same order.
  • Now add the chopped onions and saute till they are transparent.
  • Now add the tomato,saute and cook for 1 min.Add the tamarind extract with required salt and water.
  • Add the remaining hing and boil it for 2-3 mins.
  • After removing from fire,add 1/4 cup of water to it.
  • Finally,garnish with coriander leaves..
Mix with plain rice and enjoy ur day with Puli saaru!!



Continue Reading...


February 9, 2009

Tirunelveli Idli Sambar Recipe - Nellai Style Tiffin Sambar For Idli

Tiffin sambar recipe Tirunelveli style
I learnt this Tirunelveli style idli sambar from my mom. Most of us make idli sambar with toor dal. But my mom makes sambar by combining moong dal and toor dal and with freshly roasted and ground Nellai style idli sambar powder ( my mom calls this as mel podi in Tamil). Last week I prepared this as a side dish for idli. My husband liked it so much. Many thanks to my mom. .Lets see how to make Tirunelveli style Idli sambar with toor dal and moong dal.

I have also shared my mom's moong dal sambar for idli - easy, no grind version , check it :)

If you are looking for Tirunelveli sambar for rice, do check this link .

Tirunelveli Idli sambar recipe 

Idli Sambar recipe


Idli Ssmbar recipe How to make idli sambar using toor dal, moong dal adding vegetables in Tirunelveli style
Cuisine: South Indian
Category: Sambar
Serves: Serves 4
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 30 Minutes


INGREDIENTS
To Pressure cook - 1 cup =250ml
Ingredients:
  • Moong dal – 1/8 cup 
  • Toor dal – 1/8 cup
  • Tamarind – Small gooseberry size
  • Tomato – 1 no
  • Carrot – 1-2 nos (use 2 nos if very small)
  • Potato – 1-2 nos(-do-)
  • Besan flour/ Kadalai maavu – 1 tsp
  • Salt & Water – As required
To Roast and Grind:
  • Cooking Oil – 1/2 tsp
  • Dry coriander seeds/dhania – 1.5 tsp
  • Chana dal – 2 tsp
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
  • Red chillies – 3 nos
To temper
  • Cooking Oil – 2 tsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
  • Urad dal –1/2 tsp
  • Curry leaf – 1 sprig
  • Asafetida/Hing – a pinch
  • Red chilly – 1 no
  • Green chilly – 1 to 3 nos(depends on your taste)
  • Small / Pearl onions – 10 nos(Peeled)
  • Coriander leaves – To garnish
METHOD

  • To make Tirunelveli style idli sambar powder : Roast all the items given under “To roast and grind” adding 1/2 tsp of oil till nice aroma arises. Make a smooth powder by grinding it. Use this powder to make sambar. Just add 2 tsp of this powder at the end. This gives the flavor. Keep this powder ready before doing this sambar. You can store this powder and use later. 
Tirunelveli Idli sambar recipe
  • Cube cut the vegetables .Chop the tomato into pieces.Soak the tamarind in water.
  • Pressure cook moong and toor dal  by adding water,turmeric powder and a drop of oil. In a small box, keep the chopped vegetables and cook with dal. Cook for 1-2 whistles depending on your cooker.
  • [Normally what I do is , I keep the dal in the cooker base and keep the veggies in a closed tiffin box that suits my cooker so that the veggies will be separate and will not be mashed with the dal .I mash the dal alone with a ladle. I followed the same for this sambar too!! ]
  • If you don’t want to follow this,cook the veggies and dal separately. Extract the juice from soaked tamarind. Keep aside.
  • Now heat a kadai with 1 tbsp of oil and add mustard seeds. Let it pop. Then add urad dal, pinched red chilly and curry leaves. Add onion, green chillies, tomato pieces and saute until tomato turns mushy.
  • Now add the tamarind juice, cooked dal and boiled veggies along with onions, tomato & green chillies. Add a pinch of hing.
Tirunelveli style idli sambar
  • Add the required salt and water. Let it boil for sometime. Now add 2 tsp of freshly ground powder and boil for 2 mins. Lastly add the diluted besan flour and boil for few minutes.
Tirunelveli style idli sambar
  • Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with idly by adding sesame/gingely oil. Enjoy !
Continue Reading...


February 7, 2009

SCHEZUAN FRIED RICE – TRIED AND TASTED

I took this recipe from poonam’s kitchen .I did some variations according to our tastebuds and tried.It came out very well.We liked it so much.I packed this for my hubby’s lunch.He called me after having this and told it was very good:)
I thank Poonam for sharing this wonderful recipe:)
DSC00767
U can find the actual recipe here.The following are the variations :
  1. I used finely chopped carrots,beans,potato,cabbage & bell peppers.
  2. I used finely chopped big onions instead of spring onions.
  3. Then, i used crushed ginger and garlic pieces.
  4. I made the sauce using chilly vinegar(instead of white vinegar) and 11 red chillies.
  5. AIso i pressure cooked the rice by adding a drop of oil(rice & water – 1:2) and spreaded in a plate to cool down.Remaining i followed the same!!
Here is the picture of sauce and rice for u:
DSC00798

DSC00770

Continue Reading...


February 6, 2009

Easy Maida Burfi - Maida Milk Powder Burfi Recipe - Easy Diwali Sweets Recipes

 
(MAIDA BURFI RECIPE UPDATED WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES & VIDEO)

I adapted this recipe from an old magazine.Its a quick and easy to make burfi recipe.This burfi is made of milk powder and maida.I used Amul milk powder. Just a drop of ghee is used to grease the plate. As I tried this for the first time, I used minimum quantity of ingredients.It came out very well.It was so soft with nice flavor.I got 10 small pieces.Do try this easy burfi recipe for this Diwali and enjoy ! Soon I will share my MIL’s Maida burfi/Maida cake recipe.

Do check out my easy cashew badam burfi recipe if u try this sweet successfully. Both are done with very similar procedure and cashew burfi needs no sugar syrup consistency. Any beginner can try it:)



Maida Burfi recipe


Maida burfi Recipe Maida burfi recipe with milk powder!
Cuisine: Indian Category: Breakfast Yields: 8-9nos
Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Total Time: 20 Minutes


INGREDIENTS
1 cup=250ml
For dough
  • All purpose flour/Maida - 1/4 cup
  • Milk powder - 1/4 cup
  • Sugar - 1/2 cup
  • Water - 1/4 cup
  • Cardamom powder or vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
  • Orange food color - 2 pinches
  • Ghee - few drops to grease the plate
METHOD
  • In a wide bowl,take the maida and milk powder,sieve & mix well.
maida burfi tile1
  • In a kadai, add 1/2 cup of sugar & 1/4 cup of water. Add 2 pinches of food color and vanilla essence. Mix well and melt the sugar.
  • Boil till one string consistency.When you take the syrup and slide between your thumb and fore finger, it forms a single string.
maida burfi tile2
  • Lower the flame completely and add the maida+milk powder. Mix well till it gets blended with sugar syrup. SWITCH OFF THE FIRE and remove the kadai. Stir the mixture really well for few minutes. It will start to thicken and leave the sides of pan. At that time, remove the mixture to a greased burfi tray. I transferred them to a tray lined with butter paper.So I did not use ghee at all.  Level the mixture with the base of a bowl. Mark shapes once it turns warm. Serve & enjoy ! This burfi stays well for a week if stored in an air tight box. maida burfi tile3 maida burfi tile4
  • maida burfi tile5
POINTS TO NOTE

  1. Do not mix the burfi mixture for long time after it starts to thicken. It will become crumbly.So remove it at the correct time.
  2. As we are using milk powder, it is not necessary to roast the maida in ghee. If you are using maida alone, then you have to roast the maida in half the quantity of ghee.


Melt in mouth burfi is ready !!
Once again thank u all for ur support and encouragement:) Have a happy diwali :)
Maida burfi
Continue Reading...


February 4, 2009

INSTANT RAGI DOSA WITH WHEAT FLOUR/ FINGER MILLET DOSA WITH TOMATO CHUTNEY

Instant ragi dosa with wheat flour

We do this instant ragi dosa at least once in a week for our Breakfast/dinner. This ragi dosa is prepared without rice flour and without curd or buttermilk. Instead I have used wheat flour/atta and water. So it comes out crispy in the corners and soft in the middle. So you can make this instant ragi dosa for your lunch box, breakfast and dinner. Very easy to make too. Ragi is rich in dietary fibre. So it is good for irregular bowel movements. This dosa tastes heaven with Tomato chutney. Tomato chutney or coconut chutney is the best side dish for ragi dosa. I personally like tomato chutney combination and they are made for each other:). I have also shared the tomato chutney recipe below. Check it out friends !





Ingredients:
  • Ragi flour – 1/2 cup
  • Wheat flour – 1/2 cup
  • Salt – to taste
  • Water – to make batter (I used 2 to 2.5 cups )
To mix with batter
  • Big onion – 1 (finely chopped)
  • Jeera/ cumin seeds - 1 tsp
  • Green chilli – 1 (finely chopped)
  • Curry leaves – a sprig
  • Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Method:
  • Mix ragi and wheat flour with salt and water.
  • Add all the items given under “to mix with batter”. Mix with it.
  • The batter should be watery and free-flowing. If the batter is thick, dosa comes out thick. To make crispy dosa, you should make the batter watery.
  • Heat a dosa tawa and pour the batter in a circular manner starting from the sides and finishing in the middle. Drizzle some oil after the dosa ia half cooked. Cook for sometime.
  • Flip it over and make a thin dosa. Fold and serve!
Crispy n healthy raagi dosa is ready to eat!!
Serve with tomato chutney/Idly milagaai podi!!

Note: Instead of onions, we can add crushed pepper and jeera. No onions, chillies are required.


Tomato chutney

TOMATO CHUTNEY
I do this chutney only for ragi dosa!! Very easy to prepare, at the same time very tasty too:)
Ingredients:
To grind:
  • Ripe Tomato – 2 nos
  • Small onions/Pearl onions – 10 nos
  • Red chilly – 2-3 nos(add more depending on your taste)
  • Garlic cloves - 2
  • Salt – to taste
To temper:
  • Mustard seeds – little
  • Urad dal – 1/4 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Cooking Oil – 2 tsp
Method:
  • Grind all the items given under “to grind” and make it a smooth paste.
  • Heat a kadai with oil and temper all the items given under “to temper” .
  • Now add the chutney to it and bring it to boil.
  • It should boil till the raw smell leaves and becomes thick. Remove and serve with ragi dosa or any instant dosa !
DSC00743
Serve with Raagi dosa!!






Continue Reading...


February 1, 2009

WHEAT ADAI /GODHUMAI ADAI– SWEET & SPICE VERSION


SWEET ADAI
Sweet adai
Ingredients:
  1. Wheat flour / Atta – 1 cup
  2. Powdered jaggery – 3/4 cup
  3. Cardamom seeds – 2nos (powdered)
  4. Coconut pieces – 1/4 cup
  5. Water – 1.25 cups
Directions:
  1. Heat a heavy bottomed kadai and put the jaggery with 1.25 cups of water.
  2. Melt it and make a syrup.Strain the impurities in a metal strainer.Bring it to boil. 
  3. Now add the cardamom powder and the wheat flour along with coconut pieces (If u feel the water is not sufficient ,add 1/4 cups more).
  4. Mix it thoroughly so that no lumps are formed.
  5. Make it a dough.The dough is very soft to touch as we knead it in direct fire. DSC00732
  6. Make balls of even size.
  7. Take a small polythene sheet or Plantain leaf greased with oil.Spread the ball with hands .
DSC00735
    8.Heat a dosa tawa .Sprinkle some oil and put the adai into it.Cook on both sides till it becomes light golden brown.
Sweet n soft adai is ready to taste!!
SPICY ADAI
Ingredients:
  1. Wheat flour – 2 cups
  2. Sambhar powder or chilly powder – 1 tsp
  3. Asafetida / hing – 1/4 tsp
  4. Big onions – 2 nos ( finely chopped)
  5. Curry leaves – 1 sprig (-do-)
  6. Salt – to taste
Oil & Water – to knead the dough
Directions :
  1. Take all the ingredients in a bowl  and mix it well by adding a tsp of oil and reqd water.
  2. Knead a dough and keep it for half-an-hour by covering with a lid. DSC00733
  3. Then make even sized balls and spread the ball with the hands.
DSC00734
  4. Heat a dosa tawa by sprinkling oil and cook the adai till it becomes light golden brown on both the sides.
Tasty,Spicy adai is ready to serve hot with onion raita:)This is a mouth watering combination!!
godhumai adai


Continue Reading...