Sweet & sour apple salad

Summer is starting here in US & I'm craving for some cool dishes rather than normal ones. You can enjoy it on any part of the day & to me it's for dinner... :)
I had some apples hanging around in my refrigerator & wanted to put them on a good use. I mixed lettuce with apples & believe me it's a sweet combination. 

Ingredients
1 Apple 
1/2 Lettuce
For sauce 
1 Tbs non-fat yogurt 
2 Tbs non-fat milk 
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tsp sugar
1 Tsp pepper powder
Pinch of salt 

Chop apple & lettuce. Keep them aside. Take a bowl & mix all the sauce ingredients in it.

Take a bowl & place a layer of lettuce & add apple on to of it. Pour some sauce on them & top it with some more lettuce. 

Finally mix them smoothly in the bowl & salad is ready to serve. 

Serve it chilled & it tastes awesome.. :)

Tindora Curry

This is a simple & delicious recipe which goes well along with rasam.No doubt that the combo makes your tummy happy... :) 

Ingredients: 
3 cups sliced tindora
1 Tbs cumin coriander powder
2 Tbs coconut powder
1/2 tsp Chilli powder ( Adjust it acc. to your spice level)
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1 Tbs oil
2 Curry leaves
1&1/2 Tsp salt ( Adjust acc.)

Heat pan with oil. Add mustard seeds to it. Once they start jumping add curry leaves & tindora to pan. Sprinkle salt and close it with a lid. Allow it cook for 10 mins. ( In general Tindora takes a little more time to be cooked) Once the tindora is cooked well add chilli powder, cumin corriander powder & coconut powder to pan. Fry them for 5mins & switch off heat. 

Curry is ready to be served with rice.

Note: Add onions to curry for more flavor....

Godhuma Rava Payasam | Gothambu Payasam | Wheat Payasam

Sweets are one of those dishes represent special occasion, celebration & joy in our life. Today is my FIL's b'day & they are with us here to celebrate it. At first I thought of making some yummy " Besan Ladoo " & my thoughts jumped on to many options. Later my thoughts finalized this delicious payasam.
When I saw this recipe on "Kitchen Corner" blog I immediately bookmarked it & waited for right time to make it.I did some additional changes to recipe which turned out super delicious & got me lots of compliments.
In fact I was worried about my hubby who hates broken wheat in any form.But he just drooled it with no hesitation.. Pheww... I'm happy with the dish now.

Ingredients 
1 Cup broken wheat 
1/4 Cup moong dal 
1/2 Cup coconut flakes or grated coconut
1 Cup milk ( Used 1% fat milk)
1/2 Cup almonds
2 Tsp elachi powder
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup jaggery
2 Tbs ghee
2 Tbs chopped raisins & chopped almonds 

Pressure cook broken wheat & moong dal together. Meanwhile soak grated coconut & almonds in milk.Leave them for 30mins. 
Now grind soaked almonds & coconut along with milk to smooth paste. To that I added pressure cooked wheat,dal & grind it coarsely.
In a wide pan melt jaggery & sugar. Add the ground mixture to pan & mix it sweet mixture. Keep stirring it so that it won't stick to bottom. Cook for 5 mins & switch off heat. Now add elachi powder to payasam & allow it to cool. 

Heat a small pan with ghee along with sliced almonds & raisins. Fry them till almonds turn brown. (At this point raisins get a chewy effect & I love it.. ) Then add to payasam & mix them well.

Note (Very Importent):
1. You can use coconut milk instead of grated coconut.Grated coconut is just a replacement to coconut milk. 
2. You don't have to grind wheat & dal. I did it so that my hubby will not get that flaky wheat while having it. 
3. You can use just jaggery.. I'm used to half & half of jaggery & sugar. I like the taste of sweetness it gives.