Homemade Bread Crumbs

          Today's post is Homemade Bread Crumbs, though this is not a big recipe, I just wanted to have it in my basic posts. Whenever I bought bread crumbs, I used a small amount and most of the time the remaining got trashed, because it crossed the expiry date. I prefer making it at home, that way, I can make just the amount I needed, and also, we can add different seasonings or flavors to the bread crumbs..

Green Grapes Gojju/Curry

           Couple of weeks back, I had bought some green grapes, but they turned out to be too sour that we couldn't eat them as such. I had to do something with it or it would finally find its way to the garbage bin. I have tasted grapes along with pineapples in pachadis, but I had never tasted anything with just grapes alone. Somehow, even before I started searching the web, the word gojju got stuck in my mind, so I browsed only for grapes gojju, and finally settled down with this recipe here, of course I made a few changes to suit our taste. The gojju tasted sweet, sour and spicy at the same time and went very well with white rice..

Yellow Pumpkin Idlis, Parangikkai Idlis

          At home, we never get tired of idlis and dosas, so whenever I find a new type of idli or dosa, I immediately try it out. Today's post is going to be yet another healthy idli, Yellow Pumpkin Idlis, Parangikkai Idlis. The original recipe here uses idli rava ( rice semolina ), I have replaced it with millet rava, this time I have used saamai rava/little millet rava. The idlis are a lot similar to the Cucumber Idlis that I have already posted. The texture is not like that of regular rice idlis, it's more like rava idlis and sort of crumbly, like, when we dip it in chutney or sambar, it breaks down. We loved it with some coconut and peanut chutney, do give it a try..

Paneer Kofta Curry

          This is the first time I am making Paneer Koftas at home, I have made cabbage koftas and lauki koftas ( I have not blogged them yet, will do it soon ), but never this. I think it's because, whenever I bought paneer, Palak Paneer ( my daughter's favorite ) was the first thing that I made with it and then the Paneer Butter Masala. Also, since koftas need a little more work, time and deep frying, I always find an excuse to avoid it. But this time, I had decided to make the koftas and I realized that actually it's not really too much work. I had checked a couple of recipes from my cookbooks and online and this is a combination of couple of them. The koftas turned out really soft and the curry turned out absolutely delicious, a good side dish to go with naans, pilafs and rotis..

Baklava ( With Walnuts And Honey )

          Baklava, it's a rich and delicious dessert made with phyllo ( fillo ) pastry, which is layered with nuts and drizzled with sugar and honey syrup. I have tasted this a couple of times, but mostly store bought and I was not that much impressed by the taste. But, couple of years back, I tasted a homemade version of this delicious dessert, it was simply too good, the baked pastry was crispy and at the same time juicy from the syrup. I didn't get a chance to ask for the recipe and then I totally forgot about it. After that time, I have tasted some store bought versions, but nothing came close to that homemade version. I have never tried looking for it in Bangalore, but then, when I saw Phyllo Pastry in the freezer section of the grocery store, I just had to pick it up. I had a couple of dishes in my mind that I want to try with it, the topmost being this super delicious Baklava and I found the perfect recipe here. Working with phyllo pastry needs some patience, you have to be very gentle with it, it took me almost an hour to layer the sheets. I made it yesterday evening, I had to wait till today morning to taste it, the baklava has to soak in the syrup. I took the first bite, Hurrah!, it tasted just like the one that I had tasted so many years back, it was worth all the effort, time and wait..

Maa Inji Saadam, Mango Ginger Rice

          I had this large quantity of mango ginger/maa inji, had brought it from Chennai ( I am not able to find this in Bangalore, at least where I stay ). I made some mango ginger pickle, maa inji thokku ( still to post ) and then this rice. This is an easy and simple recipe, almost done in the same way as lemon rice, in fact we add some lemon juice in the recipe. As I had already said, mango ginger does not taste like mango or ginger, it looks like ginger and smells like mango, hence the name. The rice has a very refreshing taste, serve it with some avial or potato fry or chips..

Payatham Payaru Sweet Sundal, Moong Bean Sweet Sundal

          This Payatham Payaru Sweet Sundal had been on my do list for a long time, finally I did it today. This is again a simple recipe, the only part that has to been taken care is cooking the moong beans perfectly, they should be cooked well but at the same time not mushy. We add a little jaggery to give a slight sweetish taste to the sundal, other than that, everything else is like the regular sundal..

Methi Parathas - 2, Fenugreek Leaves ( Vendiya Keerai ) Parathas

          Till now, for making methi parathas, I used to make the dough with wheat flour, methi leaves along with some spices and rolled out the parathas. But today's methi parathas are a little different, I found this recipe here, when I was browsing for some Maharashtrian recipes. The first thing that attracted me to this dish was the nice green color of the parathas. The methi leaves are sauteed with some ginger, garlic and other spices and then added to the flour, the parathas get a nice flavor from this. It might take an extra 10 to 15 minutes to saute the leaves, but it's worth all out of it, the parathas turned out really good..

Aval Ladoos, Poha ( Rice Flakes ) Ladoos With Jaggery

          Another easy and delicious sweet, Aval Ladoos, Poha ( Rice Flakes ) Ladoos. We can make these ladoos with regular white rice flakes and sugar but I have used red rice poha and jaggery and also a little bit of roasted gram dal/dalia in the ladoos, so it's a little more healthier. I just tried it out with just 1/2 cup of rice flakes, so it hardly took me 15 minutes to make them, actually this is such a simple dish, even beginners can make it easily. Though we use some ghee to shape the ladoos, it's still a very healthy snack for kids..

Semiya Payasam, Vermicelli Kheer

          Semiya Payasam/Vermicelli Kheer, I have made it so many times, but somehow till today, I couldn't post it. This is one of the easiest payasams or should I say the easiest of all payasams. Now that, we get roasted vermicelli in the market, it has become even more easier to do this, the time taken for roasting it is also saved. I always have a couple of vermicelli packets in the pantry, it comes in handy when I have to make a quick dessert for unexpected guests..

Sweet Corn Sundal

          Sweet Corn Sundal, this is such an easy and delicious dish. Actually today I had planned to make another sundal, but the dal got overcooked, so I had to put it aside for some other use. When I was thinking about what other sundal to make, I remembered that I had some fresh corn lying in the refrigerator. The sweet corn was really very fresh and good and it tasted so juicy and delicious in the sundal. You can have it as a sundal or salad or even as a side dish with rice and dal too..

Aate Ka Halwa ( Sheera ), Wheat Flour Halwa

         
          Happy Navratri, though I don't keep Golu in our house, I enjoy going to Golus, looking at the beautiful dolls, listening to the songs and last but not the least, the sundals and sweets. Of course I should not forget the Dandiya, everything is so colorful and beautiful and for their share, the Indian food blogs are also showcasing so many sundals and sweets. To keep up with that, I am posting this simple, yet delicious Aate Ka Halwa/Sheera. It's such a simple sweet, needs just four ingredients but it tastes so good..

Quick Maa Inji Urugai, Mango Ginger Pickle

          Maa Inji or Mango Ginger, for those who are hearing about it the first time, it looks similar to ginger but it doesn't taste like ginger. It has a bland taste but it smells like raw mangoes, hence the name Maa Inji ( in Tamil ). We can't use this in place of ginger in teas or curries, it's mainly used for making pickles. Today's pickle is a simple one, since the ginger is tasteless, we mix it with lemon juice and green chillies to give the pickle the required tartness and spiciness. This goes well with curd rice, dal and rice, a perfect accompaniment to any meal..

Paneer Recipes

          Paneer being a favorite at home, especially for my daughter, appears in our lunch or dinner menu, atleast once in 2 weeks. Paneer is one of the few ingredients that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes and both homemade and store bought paneer are good for making the dishes, except for making sweets, homemade paneer is required. I have used paneer in sandwiches and a number of curries and snacks, thought I'll make a compilation of the dishes. There are many more dishes that I would love to try with paneer and I will be adding them to this collection as and when I do them..

Baby Corn - 65, Baby Corn Fry

          Baby Corn Fry or Baby Corn 65, this has been on my do-list for a long time and I made it finally. The first time, I made a shallow fry version, it came out very well and tasted very good too, the only thing lacking was the crispiness from deep frying. So the second time I tried the deep fried version and I got the expected crispiness. It's a simple recipe, adding some common spice powders to boiled corn, mixing it well and then deep frying them. It can be served as a side dish with rice and dal for lunch or as a tea-time snack..

Potato Raitha, Urulaikizhangu Thayir Pachadi

          Everytime, I made raitha/thayir pachadi, it was mostly cucumber or onion or tomato raitha or a combination of all these vegetables together. I have even made raitha with zucchini and pumpkin, but this is the first time I made this raitha with potatoes. Once the potatoes are boiled and peeled, the raitha can be put together in no time and can be served as a side to parathas, rotis, briyanis or pilafs..

Rajgira ( Amaranth ) Ladoos

       
          Rajgira ( Amaranth ), I have been reading about this seed, so much on the web for so long, but only recently I bought a pack of this nutritious grain. Though you can read about its nutritional value on the web, let me give a brief information about it, since this is the first time I am posting something with it on my blog. It's gluten free, it's high in protein, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, iron and has twice the calcium as milk. It's the only grain that has Vitamin C and has all the 9 amino acids needed by the body. It's good for the eyes and for you ladies ( men too ) out there, it's very good for the hair. This grain/seed is not used in the Tamil cuisine, at least as far as I know, but it's widely used in North Indian cooking, the seeds are popped and made into ladoos, chikkis or kheer and the rajgira/amaranth flour is used to make rotis and parathas. Since, I had bought the seeds, I thought I'll try out the ladoos, we can't make the ladoos with the raw seeds, they have to be popped first. Popping the seeds needs a little patience and time, once the seeds are popped ( you also get popped rajgira ), then the ladoos can be made in no time. To start with, I popped just 1/3 of a cup of these seeds and made the ladoos. They turned out really good, tasted nutty but very, very light when compared to sesame ladoos..

Spinach Ricotta Ravioli

          Today's post is going to be a long one, it's Spinach Ricotta Ravioli. My last post was homemade Ricotta Cheese, and I had mentioned there, that I had made Spinach Ricotta Ravioli and some cookies using the cheese. Making Raviolis takes a little extra time, we can divide the whole process into two parts, making the ravioli, then the creamy tomato sauce and then finally serving them together. It might sound a bit lengthy, but with a little bit of planning, it can be done easily, plan it for a weekend lunch or dinner. The raviolis turned out great, the sauce was delicious, only thing, might be the next time I'll increase the filling a little bit..