Ammaji Recipes

Pudina Idli / Mint Idli

2012-01-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

I thought of making some thing special for this republic day.. But you know I'm all time busy with cleaning & setting house for my In-Laws who are coming next month.This is a old post I made for Independence day & reposting it for republic day.

Coming to recipe these Idli's are filled with flavor of pudina/mint in every bite. If you allow the batter to ferment a bit for one day it tastes even better.

You can serve them for breakfast or dinner along with coconut or peanut chutney.

Ingredients

For Idli

11/2 of urad dal

3 cups of Idli rava

Salt

For Stuffing

1 Cup pudina finely chopped

2 green chili's

1 cup finely chopped onion

Carrot for garnishing (optional)

Soak urad dal overnight or attest for 6 hrs to 8 hrs. Soak the rava for 1hr.

Grind dal to a fine paste. Now squeeze water from rava and add to the batter. Now add salt to the batter and mix it well.

*** Allow the batter to ferment for 1 day to get better taste. You can make atleast 40 Idlis with this measurement.

For Mint Idli

Mix mint, onion & green chili's to the batter.

Now greese idli plates with little ghee ( Idlis won't stick to the plate. They come out clean.) and fill plates ith batter.Garnish with carrot on top if you like.

Heat the idli cooker with 11/2 cup of water & place the idli plates inside. Close it with a lid. & allow it to cook for 20mins to 30 mins.

Switch of heat and allow it to cook. Now remove the idli's and serve them with Ghee.

Out Come: Those Idli's were heavenly.

Egg Shells

2012-01-25T13:04:00.000-08:00

This pic goes to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays !

Besan Ladoo

2012-01-13T22:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Sankranti/ Pongal Friends...

I was just breaking my head on what should I do for Sankranti. Giving a end to my thoughts I decided on making " Besan Ladoo" becoz hubby dear loves them.

My mom use to make "Ariselu & Murukulu" for this festival. I don't know if there is any relation to "Ariselu" & to this festival, but all our neighbors would be busy making them.

I was planning for drawing some "Rangoli" tomorrow in my balcony so that I won't be missing any part of the festival in US. I know we can't replace India, still got to adjust with our customs in new environment.

Adapted this recipe from Manjula's Kitchen.I followed her recipe & it came out perfect.

Ingredients :

1 Cup besan ( I used ladoo besan)

1/4 Cup ghee

3/4 Cup sugar

1 Tsp elachi powder

2 Tbs sliced cashew

1 Tbs sliced almond for garnish (Optional)

Heat a pan with ghee. Once the ghee melts add besan to pan & keep stirring it. Besan will turns golden color or a nice aroma comes once it starts turning golden color.
Switch off heat and cool besan till you can handle it with your hand.Mix sugar, elachi & cashew to besan.
Take a handfull off besan mixture and start forming a ladoo. Repeat the same with rest of the mixture.Garnish them with almonds on top & ladoo is ready to serve.

Note :
1. Add 1/2 cup of ghee to get the nice butter taste.
2. some time the mixture will be to dry to roll on, sprinkle little say 2tsp milk and it will be easy to roll on.
3. Once ladoo are rolled you can dip them in ghee for a perfect taste. I avoided this step to little the calorie count :)
4. Add 3/4 tsp of sooji if you are using plain besan.

*** After 2 days these ladoo's become dry & delicate. If you are not calorie conscious once after rolling the ladoo dip them in melted ghee. That way ladoo stays moist for longer time..

As mentioned my hubby loooveeed them a lot, so you too. Try it...

Gobi Manchurian

2012-01-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

Here comes my first post of 2012. I have to say whole heartedly that 2011 was a blast & we (Me & Hubby) rocked every minute of it.On my personal end I have blogged for most of the year, improved in photography & top of all I lost 7kgs of weight. Got to see what's there in store for me this year :)

I choose to start 2012 with a blog hop & this time I'm paired with Roshan of Roshan's cucina. I decided on making manchurian dish & opted Gobi manchurian for this blog hop.

Ingredients:
For crisp gobi
1 Medium Gobi
2 Tbs all purpose flour
2 Tbs corn flour
1 Tbs rice flour
1 Tbs ginger garlic & chilli paste
Salt
Oil for deep fry
For gravy
1 Tbs garlic minced
1 Tbs ginger sliced
1 Medium onion
2 Green chilli's finely chopped
3 Tbs tomato ketchup
2 Tbs chilli sauce
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs soya sauce
2 Tsp vinegar
1 Large tomato puree
2 Tbs chilli powder (Adjust acc. taste)
Salt
3 Tbs oil
Spring onion for garnish

For crisp gobi
Heat a vessel with water.Meanwhile cut gobi into florets & add gobi to hot water & boil them for 10mins.Stain water & allow gobi to cool.
In a bowl mix rice, corn, all purpose flour. Add salt & ginger-garlic & green chilli paste to bowl. Mix all ingredients with little water till you get a paste consistency.
Heat oil in a pan. Dip gobi florets in flour mix and add them to oil. Deep fry them crisp & stain them on kitchen towel.

For gravy
Heat a pan with 3tbs oil. Add garlic & fry it till the raw smell goes. Then add ginger, green chilli & onion to pan.Fry them till onion becomes transparent.Then add ketchup, vinegar,soya sauce, chilli sauce & sugar to pan. Mix them well & allow it to cook for 3mins. Add tomato puree to pan along with salt & chilli powder.Cook for 10mins with a closed lid.
Now add the fried gobi to gravy & mix it well.Garnish it with spring onion on top and serve it warm.

Note:
1.You can add capsicum with onions for a crunchy bite.
2. For a less fat version avoid deep frying of gobi. Grill them or microwave them till they become crisp.
3. You can avoid frying of gobi totally & can replace it with boiled gobi.

I made ghee roti's & served with onions on side.
***To round up it was irresistible & just tasted like a dhaba version.

Aloo Masala

2011-12-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas has just passed on & New Year is ahead of us & I am so excited that this year I have accomplished a lot compared to previous years.This year I was planning on a Christmas tree but it in the last min we changed our plans & compromised with making a fruit cake/ plum cake for Christmas.

Coming to the blog hop this time I am paired with Sumedha of Sumee's culinary Bites. I was browsing thru her blog and came across "Egg Bhurji" Umm... my favourite. But then I just stumbled upon " Spicy Potato Curry " & decided to make it for blog hop. The naan I made was non yeast naan & adapted the recipe from "Raks Kitchen".

Ingredients:

3 Large potatoes ( Cut in cubes )

2 Tomatoes chopped

1 Large onion chopped

2 Tbs oil ( Add if you need more)

Masala

1/2 Star anise

1 Inch Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1 Tbs ginger garlic paste

1 Tbs coriander cumin powder

1 Tbs garam masala powder

2 Tsp Chilli powder ( Optional )

Pinch of turmeric

Salt for taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

Heat a pan with 1tbs oil add star anise, cinnamon & cloves & fry them. Add ginger garlic paste,onions to pan & fry till onions turn transparent.Then add tomatoes to it. cook till tomatoes are cooked soft.

Switch off heat & allow it to cool. Grind it to smooth paste.

Heat a pan with 1tbs oil & fry potato for few seconds & remove them. Add the tomato gravy to pan along with garam masala, coriander cumin, Chilli powder turmeric & salt to it. Add potato to the gravy & mix well.cook it with a lid till oil separates on the sides. Check for potatoes if they are cooked well.

Garnish with corriander leaves & serve.

Goes yummyly with roti, naan & rice too.

Note:

1. Skip frying potatoes & instead add cubed potatoes directly to gravy.
2. You can exclude star anise from the recipe.

This year " Grinchmas" was the theme at hollywood & they had a tree lighting too. Here is a glimpse of it..

Sev Puri

2011-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking of BHW for quite a some time like what should I make for this week & all. After thinking, sorting & revamping I decided I would go with "Sev Puri " for this week. So I planned a head & got some puri from Indian stores & did a snack mela for couple of days till we our taste buds satisfied or say till all the puri's are done.

I made pani puri one day, sev puri the other & dahi puri the same day. But was able to capture these pics before attacking them as this is my BHW post :)

It's been a long time since we had a nice chat. Say when we were in " Seattle " we had a nice place where we use to njoy all these chat items but after moving to CA it's been hard to find a good place.This week I was paired with Vidya of Sweet Karam Kapi 7 I chose " Sev puri " for blog hop.

Ingredients

7 Puri's

1 Cup sev

Sweet chilli sauce

Coriander leaves for garnish

1/2 Cup onions

For aloo stuffing

1 Potato/aloo boiled

1 Tsp cumin coriander Powder

Pinch salt

Mash aloo with a spoon.Mix Salt & cumin coriander powder with aloo.

Curd Mix

1/2 Cup curd

1 Tsp cumin coriander Powder

Salt

1/2 Tsp chilli powder

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl & keep aside.

Take all puri's in a plate and make a hole in middle of them.Stuff them with little potato masala in middle and sprinkle onions, sweet chilli sauce, curd & sev on them as shown in figure.Garnish them with coriander leaves & serve with extra sev sprinkled on them.

Note:

1. I excluded tomato but you add it for extra flavor.

2. Add the wet ingredients before you serve them.

Sending to "Blog Hop Wednesdays" event Radhika of Tickling Palates.

Veggie Dumplings

2011-12-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Ingrediants

For Wrapper (Yields 20 Wrappers)

1 cup All purpose flour/ Maida

Salt

Luke warm water

Mix flour & salt in a bowl along with water. Knead them to make a soft dough. Allow the dough to sit for 30mins.

Divide in to 20 balls & roll out as we do for roti. You can shape them as you like. I made round & square shapes.

Veggie Stuffing

1/2 Cup green cabbage

1/2 Cup red cabbage

1/4 Cup carrot

1 Clove garlic

1/2 Cup cooked vermicelli

Salt

2Tsp Olive oil

Heat a pan with with little oil and add garlic and saute it. Then add the rest of veggies along with salt and saute them for 5mins and switch of heat.

Take a spoon full of filling & place it as shown in figure. close it as you like. I made triangles & half circles.

Now steam cook them for 15 mins. Once removed from steam place them in a pan & fry them on each side with little oil.

Dipping sauce

1/2 Cup White wine vinegar

1 Tbs Chilli powder

1 Tsp Brown sugar

Salt

Take a pan with above ingredients & bring them to boil. Cook it for 15 mins till it becomes thick.

Serve dumpling along with dipping sauce & njoy them :)

The inspiration comes from this yummy dumplings....

Note:

1. You can njoy steamed dumpling with out frying them.

2. Use sesame oil for enhanced flavor.

Rice Salad

2011-11-30T17:33:00.000-08:00

This year I had well spent my long weekend.. Guess why ??? We have been to Las Vegas with our friends & it was just a awesome trip. But once I'm back I was all tired & lazy to come back to blogging..

Lately today I realized that I'm suppose to blog for Blog hop & I was searching for recipes which I could make it in no time.

This time I'm paired with Rajani of "My Kitchen Trials" & I chose to make Rice Salad. Just to mention I was reading her blog for 2 to 3 hrs. The commentary she gave in some posts was very amusing & I just couldn't stop reading it.

Ingredients

1 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped red cabbage
1/2 cup sweet corn boiled
Cilantro for garnish

Dressing

2 Tbs white wine vinegar
Black Pepper powder
Sugar
Salt

Take a small bowl with vinegar, salt, sugar& pepper.Mix them with up.

Now take a wide bowl with rice and add all veggies to it. Mix the dressing with Rice.

Allow it to sit for 15mins.That allows all flavors to blend with each other.

Garnish with cilantro & salad is ready to serve.

** I made this for my dinner & it was just Yumm...

Drooling for chocolate then check this choco falls...

Majjiga Pulusu / Mor Kuzhambu

2011-11-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Long Long back say 5 yrs ago I was gearing up in moving to Korea with my husband. In the process of getting a visa & all I stayed back in India for couple of months.On one of his trips my husband asked me to learn making " Majjiga Pulusu " stressing on that he likes it a lot.. Oh I just can't believe how many times I flopped (In his view).At last I managed to satisfy his taste buds with my recipe that's a different story.

I have tasted various recipes of the same dish.My mom makes as I mentioned below with added potato cubes to it (which I ignored).But my MIL's version is quite interesting she adds steamed dal dumplings to it. I will try to post it here some time.I ignored veggies as I added lots of coconut to the dish. Coconut gives richness & flavor to this dish.

This week I'm paired with Divya of Divya Z Easy Recipes and I chose to make Mor Kuzhambu for this blog hop.

Ingredients

2 Cups thick curd

2 Cups water

Salt

For Grinding

Channa dal ( Soak for atleast 1 hr)

Small piece of ginger

1Tbs coriander seeds

1 Tbs jeera

3 Green chilli's

1 Cup grated coconut

1/2 tsp turmeric

Seasoning

1 Tsp mustard

1 Tsp jeera

2 Tbs oil

2 Red chilli

Pinch of Hing

Curry leaves for garnish

Grind all the "grinding" ingredients to a smooth paste.

Take a vessel add curd,water,salt & ground mixture. Mix them well.

Heat the vessel & bring the butter milk mixture to boil & switch it off.

Heat a pan with oil. Add mustards, jeera & red chilli's. Once the mustard starts jumping add hing & curry leaves to it. Switch off heat & add seasoning to butter milk.

Note:
1. You can use butter milk in place of curd.
2. Adding onions, carrots & malbar spinach will bring more flavor to the dish.
3. Don't boil butter milk for too long. Butter milk will break in to pieces.

A pic to njoy..

Sending to "Blog Hop Wednesdays" event Radhika of Tickling Palates.

Grilled brinjal chutney / Kalchina vankaya pachadi

2011-11-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

Oh my weekend is already is here and I'm very surprised seeing time fly very fast. It's was a busy week and I just couldn't spare couple of minutes for blogging..Atlast I'm here with a post which was pending for a long time..

** I want to take a moment and thank each & every one who visit my blog & keep encouraging me in blogging...

So coming to the recipe which I'm posting here is a well known chutney goes perfectly with rice,dosa & roti too. There are two different version but I'm going to follow my grand mom's way of making it.

Ingredients

Brinjal : 1 large Or 4 medium ones
salt

Seasoning

3 Red chilli's

2 Tbs oil
1 Tbs jeera

1 Tsp channa dal

1 Tsp urad dal

1 Tbs mustard

Pinch Hing

Coriander leaves for garnish

Grill brinjals as shown in figure. I grilled them on a gas stove.
If not you can bake them. ( I never done this but read in many blogs)Peel off skin & keep them aside.

Heat a pan with oil and add seasoning ingredients to it. Start with chana dal,urad dal once they turn light brown then add mustard, jeera & red chilli's once mustard starts jumping add hing & switch off heat.

Grind coarsely the seasoning and mix brinjal along with salt. Garnish with corriander leaves & the chutney is ready to serve.

Coconut chutney with lemon

2011-11-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

I was all bored with the same old chutney & was asking my mom for some ideas.Then she told me about this chutney which I had almost forgot about. This goes well with rice & dosa's too.

This is a very easy chutney & goes well with our daily meals.

Ingredients

1 Cup of coconut pieces

2 Tbs lemon juice

4 Green chiili's

Curry leaves for garnish

Pinch of turmeric

Salt

Seasoning

1 Tsp mustard

1 Tsp jeera

1 Tsp channa dal

1 Tsp Urad dal

2 Red chilli

Hing

2 Tbs oil

In a blender take coconut pieces, green chilli, lemon juice, salt & turmeric. Grind it smooth & keep aside.

Heat a pan with with oil first add channa dal & urad dal. Once they are done add mustard & jeera& fry them till the mustard jumps.Then add red chilli & hing to the pan.Switch off heat.

Mix seasoning with grinded coconut chutney& garnish it with curry leaves.

Note:
1. Adjust the lemon juice & green Chilli's according to your taste.
2.You can even use grated coconut too.
3. Fresh coconut is preferred for this chutney.