Watermelon Granita

          Here in Bangalore, the summer is really hot this year, of course, this is only my third year here, but the last two years has not been this bad. The afternoons are becoming more and more unbearable, hope it'll become better in a couple of weeks. Coming to today's dish, refreshing and delicious Watermelon Granita, what better time to try it than now, when the temperature is soaring and watermelons are found allover the place. Of course, we love to have the fruit as such, or sometimes make a juice with it, this is the first time I tried out Granita at home. I can't say how good it tasted, so so good, we just loved it and I am planning to try out Granita with other fruits..

Homemade AppleSauce

           I have read and seen in so many books and blogs that applesauce can be used in baking and that we can reduce the amount of fat in baking when using apple sauce. Back in the US, you can find applesauce in all grocery stores, but I was just a beginner in baking then and I have not used it in baking till now. In India, only few stores have it, and now I wanted to try it out in baking, so I thought I'll make it at home. Making applesauce at home is not at all difficult, in fact it's very very easy, just cooking the apples with some lemon juice. We can make applesauce with almost all apples, but soft varieties would be better..

Vegetable Rice Sevai, Rice Vermicelli ( Noodles ) With Veggies

          Though I make idiyappam ( from homemade rice flour ) often, I rarely make rice sevai, only once in a while, I pick a packet. Mostly I make it, when having guests, along with another main dish. Once we cook the rice sevai ( vermicelli, noodles ) according to the instructions on the packet, we can make almost all the dishes that we can make with cooked rice, like coconut sevai, tomato sevai, lemon sevai or even a briyani with it. Mostly I make lemon sevai with it and I add some mixed vegetables to it to make it a little more nutritious, makes a simple and tasty lunch or dinner..

Polenta With Sauteed Veggies

          Polenta is nothing but boiled fine corn meal, popular in Italian and French cuisines, it can be served as such or baked, or fried along with sauteed veggies or just marinara sauce and cheese. It' s very easy to cook polenta, just follow the instructions on the box, but I read somewhere, that it's also made from scratch, starting from fresh corn. It has a very mild taste, so it can be used for making cakes and cookies also. We had it along with some sauteed veggies, making it a complete and filling meal..

Matar Nimona, Fresh Green Peas Curry

          I was just browsing through some food blogs, was not actually looking for this recipe, in fact I didn't even know about Matar Nimona but somehow I landed on this dish. But after that, when I checked the web, there are so many blogs with the recipe for Matar Nimona. This curry is mainly done in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,  during the winter months, when fresh green peas are in season. Though I have made some curries using green peas, this was very different because, we grind the fresh green peas and then cook the curry, but the  other ingredients added are all that goes into a regular curry. Though this currry should go very well with rotis too, it's best served with some plain rice and ghee..

Paneer Capsicum Masala ( No Onion And Garlic )

          When browsing the web for something new to try out with paneer, I bumped into this dish, made it, clicked it and jotted down the recipe along with the changes that I had done to it, but forgot the name of the dish. Today, I spent nearly an hour, trying to trace out the recipe source, I think I got from Tarla Dalal's page, but I couldn't find it, so I named the dish ( going by the ingredients ) as Paneer Capsicum Masala. This is such a rich and delicious gravy, creamy from the tomato and cashew paste and has a wonderful flavor from all the spices added to it. Do try it out, an excellent side for rotis and naans..

Soy Keema And Cabbage Parathas ( Stuffed Flat Breads )

          Soy chunks ( meal maker ) is an excellent source of protein, especially in the vegetarian diet. Most of the time when I cook with it, I add it to some rice ( like in a briyani ) or in curries or kurmas. I have also made cutlets with it but for some reason, these Soy Keema Parathas have been on my do list for a long time, until I made it couple of weeks back. Soy keema is nothing but cooked and minced soy chunks, as I wanted to a have a crunchy texture and at the same time some vegetable, I have also added some shredded cabbage in the fulling. The parathas turned out super good and tasted delicious with some curd and pickle..

Ammini Kozhukattai With Avarekalu, Rice Balls With Field Beans

          Ammini Kozhukattai With Avarekalu, I had bookmarked this recipe long time back. The small kozhukattais with the avarekalu looked so tempting. So this avarekalu season, I made it a point to try it out. Everything is easy in this recipe, but rolling out the small kozhukattais will take some time, once that is done, everything else can be done in minutes. This dish can be had as a snack or even for breakfast or dinner and it doesn't need any chutney or side dish to go with it and kids would love these mini rice balls..

Basic White Bread

          For more than a month now, I have stopped buying bread, started making them at home. If you have good quality yeast with you, then baking bread is not that difficult. After baking so many breads, finally now I have settled down with this recipe. Today, I am posting the Basic White Bread, using maida/ all purpose flour. Of course, I have baked plain white bread just a couple of times, but I make 100% whole wheat bread regularly, will be posting it soon. The bread turned out really soft and the crust was perfect too..

Ragi Mudde, Finger Millet Balls

          I have heard about ragi mudde ( finger millet balls ) so much, but never really got to taste it. Even, when I went to the Avarekalu festival here, ragi mudde was served with avarekalu saaru, but I didn't taste it. So I made it at home, following the instructions from my maid. It's a healthy and filling dish, couple of these balls with the avarekalu saaru keeps you full for a very long time. Even if you don't get avarekalu, ragi mudde would go very well with any spicy and tangy curry..

Eggless Bougatsa, Custard Filled Greek Phyllo Pastries

          Bougatsa is a sweet custard filled phyllo pastry, it's supposed to be a famous breakfast dish in Greece. After making the baklava and spanakopita, I had some phyllo sheets left, and I wanted to try out this delicious pastry Bougatsa. All the recipes that I saw had eggs in them and I wanted to make an eggless version, but doing an eggless version was not difficult at all. The pastries came out really good. the outer layer was crispy and the sweet custard filling was very delicious, do try this out if you can find phyllo pastry sheets and also if you like custard..

Hitikida Avarekalu Saaru, Hyacinth Beans (Field Beans) Curry

          Like I had mentioned in an earlier post, this Avarekalu season, I had bought a few pounds of it and had tried a couple of dishes with them. Today's dish is the most common dish that's made during the season, Avarekalu Saaru. It's a simple and delicious gravy and it goes very well with rice, rotis, idlis, dosas or if you like Ragi Mudde ( Ragi Balls, post coming soon ), then, this is the best combination with it. We use the beans after removing the skin, so it's known as Hitikida Avarekalu Saaru. Though the season is almost done for this year, if you are in the US, you can still make this dish with frozen surti papdi lilva, or even with dry beans..