My Favorite Dish

We all are the finest cooks who enjoy cooking various dishes from all over the world. But very deep in our heart we all have a special love to some dish which we always admire.

So the whole idea of this event is to post a dish which you like, love & enjoy a lot.

I'm overwhelmed to announce my second event " My favorite Dish". I have been planning on this event for a very long time. I have been planning on this event for a very long time.All these days this post was sitting in my draft and finally its out in its quest .

Rules :) 

1. Vegetarian dishes & eggs are allowed. 
2. Post it in your blog and link the recipe to my Event.
3. Archived recipes are fine too.
4. Use of Logo is Appreciated.
5. Can send multiple entries.
6. Don't have a blog... Do send in your recipe along with a picture of your dish. I will post it for you..
7. Send in all your recipes to ammaji.recipes@gmail.com with below details.                                  

      Subject : My Favorite Dish
      Name : 
      Blog Name:
      Recipe Name :
      Recipe Url :
      Attach a picture of the recipe with your mail.

Do send in all entries before Sep 25th... I will be waiting for all your wonderful dishes. 

No Yeast Bread Sticks along with Tomato Hummas

I'm an all time fan of bread sticks. Whether it is soft or crunchy I just don't care. Today I was really craving for bread and I just realized that I'm running out of yeast & bread in my pantry.

I went a head and googled for some non yeast bread recipes. Here I have to thank all those who blogged about this wonderful recipe. 

Seriously it takes less time compared to the normal one's & even tastes good too. 

Coming  to Hummus I followed Ina Garten's ( Food network star) recipe. Guess what ??? It turned out yummy. 

Recently when I have been to lake Tahoe I had tasted the tomato Hummus. It was delicious.

I just couldn't wait to give a try making it.

For Bread sticks

1 cup of Maida or All purpose flour2 tsp Brown Sugar

2 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Milk

Sesame seeds (optional)

1/4 cup of melted butter 

Take maida, sugar, baking powder & salt in a bowl. Slowly add little by little milk to make a  dough. Sprinkle some flour on the table and knead the dough for 2 to 3 mins.Now roll the whole dough like a chapati in any shape u like. Cut the dough in to nice long pieces using a knife.

Baking

Preheat oven @ 300deg. 

Take a baking pan line up the pieces and brush them with butter on both the sides & sprinkle some sesame on them.

Place them in the oven n bake them for 20 mins @ 350deg or till they nice and crisp.

For Hummus
1 Cup Chickpeas (Soaked in water whole night,Drained & Cooked)
2 Garlic Cloves
10 Cherry Tomatoes
Salt
1/3 cup sesame paste
2 tbs of lemon
1 tbs Red chili flakes

Microwave tomatoes for 3mins or till they soft. 

Grind tomatoes and all the ingredients to a smooth paste. 

*** Serve bread sticks warm with hummus. 

Out come: It was a yummy crispy dip.

 

Minumula Chintapandu Pachadi | Urad Dal Chutney with Tamarind

This chutney is a nellore delicacy with lots of tangy & crunchy taste to it. It's a very delicious chutney you will fall in love automatically. 
I first tasted & learned this recipe from my MIL. When I moved to Korea I was on my own experimenting in cooking. I failed many times in getting the perfection for this recipe. As they say " Try,Try & Try Till You Achieve" & atlast I did.
My hubby Loves this recipe so I make sure that I make it perfectly as he likes :) 

Ingredients

3/4 cup of urad dal (Minapappu)

3/4 cup of tamarind

Seasoning

6 Red chilli

1 tbs dhania
1 tsp mustard 
1/2 tsp methi seeds

1 tbs oil

Hing ( Asafoetida )

Salt for taste

To start with clean tamarind & soak it in water.

Heat pan with oil & add mustard once they start jumping add red chili ,methi seeds, dhania & hing to it.Remove it from pan & allow it to cool.In the same pan add urad dal and fry them till they turn light brown or till the nice aroma touches your nose.
Grind the seasoning first then comes tamarind & salt turn. After grinding then add urad dal to mixie. Just use pulse button to break the urad dal as shown in the picture as the chutney should be crunchy. (Don't grind it to paste)
 

Out come:  Serve with hot rice with a dollop of ghee. It tastes delicious. 

Bloomed Tomatillos

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

A colorful carrot soup came out Black & White

This pic is going to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays!

Bangaladumpa Gasagasala Kura | Potato in Poppy seed gravy | Aloo ki Sabji

When I'm confused what to cook for lunch my mom comes very handy solving my confusions. She has a cook book of her own inventions & few gathered one's too. I generally call it a secret cook book. 

This is one of those recipes from my mom. 

Ingredients

3 Medium Potatoes

Cilantro for garnish 

For Gravy

1 medium Onion chopped

2 Tomatoes chopped

2 Tbs Poppy Seeds (GasaGasalu)

2 Tbs Coconut powder

1 Tbs Coriander Cumin powder 

Pinch of Tumeric powder

2 Red chilli's

2 Tbs of Oil 

Salt

Scrap potatoes and cut them in to small cubes. ( you can even cut big pieces too). Bring water to boil with pinch of salt in a vessel. Add potatoes & close it with a lid. Once the potatoes are done filter out the water and keep outside.

Mean while heat a pan with oil and add onions to it.Fry them for few secs n switch off the heat. Let it cool down for few mins. 

For Gravy: 

Grind Onions, tomatoes, poppy seeds, coconut powder, Red chili & salt to a smooth paste.

Heat the pan ( No need to add oil as there is little left oil in it) n add the ground paste & add coriander cumin powder. Cook it with a lid for 10 mins. Add potatoes to gravy and cook it for another 10mins & the curry is ready.

Garnish with cilantro.

Out come: Curry has a sweetish taste to it. It's just yum yum with roti.

Garden salad with Yogurt Mustard dressing

As you all know salads can be made of different ingredients.I prepared a green salad for dinner to cut down some calorie intake at nights.

I have used limited veggies or can say like those are available in my refrigerator.

The dressing has been altered with some ingredients to cut calories. For a mayonnaise & sour cream I used home made low fat yogurt.

 

Ingredients :

Veggies

1 cup of Shredded Carrot 

1 Cup of Shredded Red Cabbage 

1/2 cup chopped Onion 

1 cup of chopped Lettuce

1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes 

Dressing 

1/2 cup Low fat free yogurt  

2 Tbs Lemon juice 

1 Tbs Mustard powder

1 clove of Garlic minced

1/2 Tbs Red chili flakes

1/2 Tbs ground black pepper

Salt acc to taste

Take a big bowl with all the veggies mixed in it expect tomatoes. 

For Tomatoes

Cut cherry tomatoes in to half n place them on a baking pan. Drizzle a little of Olive oil. Bake tomatoes @ 350 degrees for 15mins.

For Dressing 

Take a bowl n mix up all the dressing ingredients together to a smooth paste. 

Take the tomatoes out of oven. Let them cool for few mins. Mix up dressing and veggies together. 

* Cover the salad bowl and allow it to sit in a refrigerator for a tasty salad.

Out come: After tasting it my hubby said let's skip dosa's for dinner & replace them with Salad :) 

Eggless Honey Mocha Cake

Weight watching is a Obsession. Isn't it??? At least that's what I feel about my self. 

The day I have started a concept of healthy diet I have been going crazy about whatever I cook & eat.The concept of this " Honey Mocha Cake " has just came out from one of those obsessive ideas.

Coming to the main point here I wanted to get rid of sugar which is a culprit ( In my view...) and that one got replaced by " Honey". 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup All purpose flour ( Maida)

1/4 cup of Low fat milk 

2 Tbs of Melted Butter 

4 Tbs of Honey 

1 Tbs chocolate powder 

1 Tbs Coffe powder 

1/2 Tbs Vanilla Essence 

1/2 Tbs of Apple cider Vinegar 

1/2 Tbs Baking soda 

1/2 Tbs Baking powder 

2 Tbs Almonds (optional)

Preheat Oven to 200 degrees. 

Powders: 

Sift flour, baking powder, soda, Chocolate & Coffe powder in a bowl and keep it aside. 

Wet Ingredients:

In another bowl mix  low fat milk, butter, apple cider vinegar, honey & vanilla essence.

Mix both (powder & wet ingredients) in a bowl without lumps. 

Grease a pan with little butter and pour the cake mix in to it. Garnish with almonds.Place the pan in preheated oven. 

Bake it for 20mins at 300 degrees. 

Tooth pick should come out clean when inserted. Switch off oven and allow the cake to cool down.

Cut it in to nice pieces & serve it. 

Out Come: The cake is just sweet enough and yummy :)

Gobi Carrot Kurma

Ingredients: 

2 Cups of Gobi

1 Cup of chopped Carrot  

1 Cup chopped Onion 

2 Medium Tomatoes 
Coriander leaves for Garnish 
For Gravy Masala

2 Tbs of Cashew 

2 Tbs of Gasagasalu (Poppy Seeds)

1 Tbs Ginger Garlic Paste 

2 Tbs of Coconut Powder 

1 Tbs Garam Masala Powder 

1 tbs Coriander Cumin Powder

Chilli Powder (According to taste)

3 Tbs of Oil

Salt ( Varies with taste)

1/2 tbs Turmeric 

To start with let's boil 4 cups of water with pinch of salt. Switch of the stove then add Gobi to pot and switch of the heat. Allow it to sit for 10mins. Then stain water and  keep gobi aside

Heat a pan with 1 tbs of oil add onions to it and saute them till are transparent. Remove onion and put them in a blender. 

Grind:

Add Cashew,Poppy seeds,Tomato, Coconut powder to the blender. Blend them to a paste.

Add powders:

Heat a pan with 2 Tbs of Oil add Ginger garlic paste to it. Fry it till the raw smell is gone or say 1 min then mix coriander cumin , Garam Masala,Turmeric, Chilli powders to the pan and fry them for 2 sec's.
Now add the ground paste fry it for few seconds. Then carrots go right in to the gravy. sprinkle enough salt and close the pan with a lid. Allow them to cook for 15mins.Check for carrots then add Gobi to pan.Let it cook for another 5 mins. Then garnish with Coriander leaves.


* Can be served along with Roti,Poori & Rice. 



Out Come: I just couldn't take a nice pic with a garnish as we licked off whole curry in few mins along with hot roti's.

Bangaladumpa Kura | Simple Potato Curry

Ingredients

2 Potatoes ( Cut them in to small pieces)

1 medium Onion diced

Cumin Coriander Powder

2 Tbs Coconut powder

Curry leaves   

1 Crushed Garlic Pod 

Red Chili powder 

Turmeric

Salt 

Seasoning  

2 Tbs Oil 

Channa Da 

Urad Dal 

Mustard 

Jeera 

 

1. Heat a pan with oil and add seasoning to it. Once the mustard starts spluttering add crushed Garlic & Curry leaves  to the pan allow  to fry for 1 min and add Onion to the pan.

2. Fry them till they are transparent & add Potato to pan. Sprinkle a little salt & turmeric then close it with a lid. 

3. Once the potatoes are done add Cumin Coriander powder , Coconut pwder & Mirch powder mix it well with curry.

4. Fry it few mins and the curry is ready to serve. 

* This goes well with Rice, Roti & Poori

Madatha Kaja

These are the mini version of famous andhra sweet " Madatha Kaja". They are one delicious sweet that will just melt in your mouth.

Ingredients : 

For Kaja 

1/2 Cup Maida  

Pinch of Baking soda

1 Tbs Ghee 

1/2 cup Curd ( Varies while mixing the dough)

Oil to fry

1 Tbs Elachi Powder

3 Tbs of Rice flour

3 Tbs of Ghee for rolling the kaja's

For Sugar Syrup 

1 cup Sugar 

1/2 Cup Water 

1. Mix all the Kaja ingredients except the rice flour and 3 tbs of Ghee. I used curd to mix the flour but not water. If the dough becomes sticky just sprinkle little maida and make a soft dough.

2. Allow the dough to stay for 2 hrs in a bowel covered with wet cloth. 

3. Now take a deep vessel & heat it with water & to that add sugar. 

4. Boil the sugar syrup to string consistency and add elachi to it. 

5. Now divide dough and make 3 equal balls ( the 1/2 cup maida makes 3 balls ). 

6. Now spread the dough like a mat and apply 1 tbs of Ghee and sprinkle some rice flour on the dough like shown in the image.  

7.Now roll them as shown in the figure and cut them in to small pieces. 

8. Deep fry them in the oil till they turn brown. Now add them to the sugar syrup. Leave them in syrup for 15mins & remove them in to a container.

9. You can store them in a container for more than a week.

Baked Semolina/ Sooji Cakes

This dish goes very well as a appetizer or a evening snack. 

The actual recipe I came across was made of " Polenta" though I have replaced  Polenta with Semolina for my convenience. I tried transforming this to a pure Indian dish with some Italian touches. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup Semolina

2 Tbs Corn flour 

1/2 Cup Peas  

1/2 cup milk

3 Tbs Olive Oil 

2 Tbs Butter 

3 Garlic Cloves (Crushed)

1 Tbs Mustard 

For Stock

3 Red chillis 

Small bunch of Basil leaves 

2 Tomatoes 

Salt

Baking 

1/2 cup All purpose flour

Oil

Bread Crumbs 

1/2 cup of cheese 

1. Heat a pan with oil and add mustard. Once they splutter add crushed garlic and allow it to fry for few seconds. 

2. Grind the stock ingredients. Add 1 1/2 cup of stock to the pan along with milk & peas.Bring to boil. 

3. Add Semolina to the pan slowly whisking the stock.

4. Here I added the corn flour directly to the stock and kept whisking it till it semolina becomes thick. 

( Till here it's same as we make upma)

5. Once it's thick switch off the pan and transfer your ingredients to a pan. 

6. Refrigerate them for 5 hrs and cut them to square pieces.

7. Roll each piece in Flour and pan fry them with little oil on 2 sides till they turn brown. 

8. Take a baking pan arrange them in the pan and sprinkle with Bread Crumbs and Cheese on top. 

9. Bake them at 370 degrees for 15 mins. 

* Serve hot they are crunchy out side and smooth inside.

Egg & Green Bean Curry

 Ingredients

2 Unboiled Eggs 

1 cup Chopped Beans

1/2 Cup Chopped Onions 

1 Cup sliced Tomatoes 

Chilli Powder 

Salt 

Seasoning  

2 Tbs Oil 

1 Tbs Mustard 

1 Tbs Jeera 

2 Red Chili's

Curry leaves 

1. Heat a pan with Oil. Add mustard, Jeera & Red Chili's to it.

2. When the mustard starts jumping add onions & Curry leaves to the pan and fry them for few seconds. 

3. Now add tomatoes and beans to the pan. Sprinkle a little salt and close it with a lid ( Salt makes veggies soft). 

4. Meanwhile break both the eggs in a bowls and beat them to a nice mixture.

5. The veggies will be cooked by now. Move the curry to the pan edges making a space in the middle. 

6. Now pour the beaten egg in the pan and allow to cook for few mins. 

7. Once the egg mixture is cooked mix curry to the eggs. 

8. Add salt and chili powder to the curry and cook it for few mins. 

* Serve with Rice or Roti. It tastes yummy.

Kanda Poha

Poha is a simple & easy to make snack for evenings.Though I don't like to limit myself just for eve's I prefer having it for lunch and dinner too.

Ingredients 

2 Cups Beaten Rice / Poha

1 Cup Chopped Onion

4 Green Chili's sliced nicely

1/2 Cup Grated Coconut

2 Tbs lemon Juice

Seasoning 

2 Tbs Oil

2 Tbs Mustard 

2 Tbs Peanuts 

Curry Leaves 

Salt

Directions:

1. Take poha in a bowl wet it with some water and keep it aside. 

2. Heat a pan with oil add mustard's to it. Once the mustard starts jumping add peanuts and fry them till they are done. Now add onions to the pan & a little later add green chili's and fry them. 

3. Add turmeric and curry leaves to the pan and switch off the heat.

4. Mix poha,lemon juice, Salt & coconut in the pan.

*** It's ready to serve.