Vegetable Kohlapuri

I picked up the recipe for Vegetable Kohlapuri from my Tarla Dalal book. As per my Maharastrian friend, Kohlapur food should be super spicy. It is out of question when I am cooking for my little one as well. So I have gone low on spice level.


Ingredients

Cauliflower 2 cups (half of a big one)
Carrot 4
Beans around a cup
Fresh Green Peas 1/4 cup
Onion 2
Tomatoes 3
Garam Masala 2 tsp
Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Salt and oil to taste

For the paste
Coconut 1/2 cup
Red Chillies 2
Garlic 8 pods
Ginger 1 inch piece
Poppy Seeds 2 tbsp
Sesame Seeds 1 tbsp



Method of Prepartion

1. Cut the vegetables into big chunks (Cauliflower, Carrots, Beans). I steamed them all separately in the microwave so that I can get a nice crunchy texture.

2. Grind the ingredients under 'For Paste' into a fine paste adding a little water.

3. Slice onions. Heat oil in a pan. Saute the onions in the pan till they are nice and brown.

4. Add tomatoes and the paste. Cook till it combines well and oil starts to ooze.

5. Add the garam masala, salt, 1.5 cups of water and the steamed vegetables. Bring it to a boil.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with warm rotis

My son said - After you cook and take photos, can you please take photo of the cup I am eating from. Could not refuse. I think he is going to grow up thinking, taking photos is a mandatory part of cooking :-)

Fruit Salad with yogurt

Fruit salad with yogurt is my favourite food for dinner on the day we have a heavy lunch. Its light on the stomach, pretty filling too and not to forget the heavenly taste. You can serve this as a desert as well. Oh do I need to remind you how healthy a breakfast this will make

You can play with the fruits and different flavours of yogurt.



Ingredients (for 2 big bowls)

Mango 1
Banana 2
Grapes around 15-20 big ones
Strawberry Yogurt 1 cup

Method of Preparation

1. Cut all the fruits into small pieces. I usually cut my grapes as well as it helps to mix in the flavours.
2. Add some yogurt to this. Toss well and serve. My fruits and yogurt were chilled, otherwise you can chill it for a hour before serving.

Optionally you can drizzle some honey or chocolate sauce over this. Other things to add flavour would be cinnamon poweder or cardamom powder. Toss in some chopped nuts and raisins as well.




Sending this to Healthy Diet - Breakfast - Priya's event hosted by me this month




Sending this to Lets cook fruits hosted by Radhika

Sending this to Bon Vivant - Fruit recipes

Nadan Soy Chunk Curry - Chicken Style

Kerala is the land of Spices. We are pampered with fresh cardamom, pepper etc. Growing up mom always cooked with a lot of Spices. Though we are Tamilians and cook a lot of Tamil food at home, we are also heavily influenced by Kerala Cuisine. My brother and I are great fans of Nadan (roughly means traditional or from villages) dishes of Kerala.


The below recipe is a vegetarians take on Kerala's famous Nadan Kozhi Kari (Chicken Curry). You can of course make this with chicken if you are a non vegetarian. Other options include making it with boiled eggs or even potatoes.

I am over the moon today after eating this curry. It was just perfect... loved it so much. Do give it a shot if you are new to Kerala Cuisine and want to try something authentic.



Please note that this dish is supposed to be super spicy (most Kerala dishes are). But I have made it very less spicy so that my little one can enjoy it. You can add more ginger, 2-3 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala and 1 tsp pepper powder to it instead of the below measurements. Adjust according to your taste

Ingredients

Onions 3 finely chopped
Garlic 6 pods
Ginger 1 inch piece
Soy Chunks 2 cups
Curry Leaves around 15
Bay Leaf 2
Clove 3
Cardamom 2
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds/Saunf 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Coriander Powder 3 tsp
Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp
Pepper Powder 1/2 tsp
Coconut Milk 1/2 cup



Method of Preparation

1. Boil water in a pot. Once it starts to boil, add the soy chunks and cook for 5 minutes. Switch off, drain. Wash with cold water so that you can work with it. Squeeze out all excess water. Press really hard as it will taste better when this water is gone. Most people hate soy chunks cause they do not squeeze out water. Keep aside

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add bay leaf, clove, cardamom, cumin, fennel seeds and curry leaves. When it sizzles, add the onions and saute till it is nicely browned, taking care not to burn.

3. Make a paste of ginger and garlic and add to this. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Make a paste of chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric and garam masala with a little water. Add to the pan. Stir for a minute or 2.

5. Add the cooked soy chunks and toss well along with pepper powder and some salt.

6. Once the masala is mixed well, add coconut milk and around 2 cups of water (according to gravy you need) and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.



Serve with kerala style parota or warm rice or rotis. Will be perfect with Aappams as well.





Linking this to

Kerala Kitchen hosted by Jehanne

EP - Hearbs and Spices - Ginger and Pepper Event by Julie, Guest Hosted by Prabha

MLLA - Susan's event hosted by Priya
CWS - Soy Bean - Priya's event hosted by Anu
Walk thru Memory Lane - Gayathri's event hosted by Jayanthi
Show me your HITS - Iron rich food - Sangee's Event hosted by Julie
SYF HWS Series - Fennel Seeds - Anu's Event hosted by Kaveri

Methi Aloo Banarasi

I took the recipe for Dum Aloo Banarasi and changed it a little bit. Also added some methi leaves. Aloo and Methi just make such a beautiful combination. On the top of it, I just made this with 1.5 tbsp of oil as I opted to bake it and not fry it. The potatoes were nice and roasted. Never again will I fry potatoes.

We all loved it, My son especially loved this dish so much.

Warning : Make a big batch, you will never have enough of this dish. The potatoes will quickly disappear from under your nose :-)



Ingredients

Baby Potatoes 1 kg
Methi leaves 1 bunch (about 2 cups)
Channa Masala 1 tsp
Yogurt 1 tbsp

For the paste
Tomatoes 4 roughly chopped
Garlic 4 pods
Ginger 1 inch piece
Cashews 2 tbsp
Saunf/Fennel Seeds 3 tsp
Cumin 2 tsp
Red Chillies 2 (Mine was mild curry. Increase it according to your needs)
1/2 cup water

Method of Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Wash and dry the potatoes. Arrange them in a baking tray. If they are big cut it into 2-3 pieces. Add 1 tbsp of oil and a little salt. Toss well.

2. Bake for about 25-30 minutes tossing it twice in between.

3. In the meanwhile, heat a pot. Add all the ingredients for the paste along with the water. Cook till the tomatoes are done. Switch off, cool and grind to a fine paste.

4. Add a little oil to the same pot. Toss the methi leaves for a couple of minutes till it welts. Add the paste to it along with the channa masala and salt. Simmer for a few minutes.

5. Add the baked potatoes and yogurt and simmer for a few more minutes.

Serve with warm rotis.






Linking this to I love Baking - Radhika's Event

Linking this to Kaveri's event SYF HWS Series - Fennel Seeds - (event by Anu)

Linking this to Show me your HITS - Sangee's Event Hosted by Julie

Sambar for Tiffin

I learnt this recipe from my MIL's sister when she visited us in my MIL's house. She is an amazing cook and I still have the task of calling her to get a few of her amazing recipes. She made this for us for breakfast and we loved it. I had made notes on a paper as I did not have my recipe book with me at that time. I totally forgot about it. Found it last week inside a book and I knew I had to make it with my Masala Dosa.

When I talked to Chitti sometime ago, she told me how she and chittappa check my blog frequently. I felt so happy!!



Ingredients

Onion 1
Tamarind / Puli 1/2 tsp
Toor Dal 1/4 cup

Oil and Salt to taste

To Roast and Powder

Channa Dal 1 tbsp
Coriander Seeds 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds (Vendayam) 1/2 tsp
Cumin/Jeera 1 tsp
Red Chilli 2
Coconut 4 tbsp

To Make into Paste
Onion 1 big
Tomato 2

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a pan and dry roast all the ingredients under to roast. When it is reddish brown, powder them and keep aside. I do all the ingredients except coconut first and then go for coconut after I remove them.

2. Heat oil in the pan. Add the onions. Saute till it starts to change colour. Add tomatoes and cook till it starts to cook. Remove from fire. Cool and make into a paste.

3. Cook the toor dal in a pressure cooker till it is mushy and well cooked.

4. In the same pan, heat oil. Add the second onion sliced. When it starts to brown, add the spice powder, tomato-onion paste, puli, cooked dal and salt. Stir and bring it to boil.

5. Simmer for sometime.

Serve with Idli or Dosa. We enjoyed with some masala dosa



I like Masala served separate as I feel it makes the dosas a little soggy



Linking this to Walk thru Memory Lane event by Gayathri  hosted by Jayanthi

Vegetable Pizza - Black and White Wednesday #33!

My first entry to B&W Wednesday.... My first attempt at making Pizza at home. Not bad for a first attempt. Recipe after I perfect the making of it :-)



Susan's event hosted by Saraswathi

Pineapple Sheera

I had some Pineapple (canned) that I bought to top my son's pizza. I did not want to sit in the fridge and go bad. When I was making some Kesari today, I thought why not add the Pineapple to it and convert into Pineapple Kesari (Sheera).

So here you go.. Hope you like it

Ingredients

Rava (Sooji) 1 cup

Pineapple chopped finely 1 cup
Sugar 3/4 cup (I felt it was a little less sweet, could have used 1 cup, but my husband found 3/4cup correct)

Cardamom powder 1/2tsp

Cashews few

Raisins few

Orange food colour a pinch

Melted Ghee 1/2 cup

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a pan and add the rava. Roast it for a little bit and keep aside.

2. In the same pan, add a tbsp of ghee and fry the cashews. Keep aside. Fry the raisins and keep it with the cashews.

3. In the same pan, heat 2 cups of water. When the water boils, add the roasted rava. Cook till the rava is done, stirring continuously. This will only take a few minutes.

4. Add the sugar, pineapple (I took a a few chunks and made a paste of it and added along with the other chucks), cardamom, food colour and some ghee. The sugar will make it watery again. Still till all the sugar is melted and it starts to thicken again. After adding the sugar, do a taste check to see if you need more sugar.

5. Keep stirring till it starts to leave the pan. Add the remaining ghee little at a time in between.

6. Garnish with the cashews and raisins




Sending this to Lets cook fruits hosted by Radhika

Sending this to Bon Vivant - Fruit recipes

Jhatpat Baby Corn Subzi

I had been meaning to make something with baby corn for some time now. Never got to doing it. My son loved this curry so much. He was picking out all the vegetables as they had a nice crunch and was munching on them. We also loved it





Ingredients

Baby Corn 250gm (about 1.5 cups)
Cauliflower 1 cup
Green Pepper 1
Red Pepper 1
Onions 2 Big
Tomatoes 4

Cumin/Jeera 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder 1 tsp
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp

Green Chilli 1
Coriander Leaves a little.

Method of Preparation

1. Steam the cauliflower in a microwave and keep aside.

2. Cut the peppers, onions, tomatoes into square pieces. Cut the baby corn into smaller pieces if they are long.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin and when it sizzles, add the onions. Saute till it is browned a little.

4. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Mix well and cook for a minute.

5. Add the tomatoes, peppers and baby corn along with some salt. Mix well. Add a little water (just sprinkle some).

6. Cover and cook for a few minutes till the vegetables start to cook. Add in the cauliflower as well and mix.

7. Optionally add a paste of green chilli and coriander leaves to this at this stage. Or just garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with warm rotis .I made some Sindhi Kokis to go along with it. Recipe for that coming soon.

Carrot Tofu Sandwich

Whenever I make a sandwich I end up making an Indianized version. The masala will always have some Indian spices. So when I started making the sandwich today, I wanted to try something different. We really loved this cheesy flavourful sandwich.



Ingredients
Carrot 2 grated
Tofu 1 cup crumbled
Coriander leaves (or parsley) for garnish
Italian seasoning 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Cheese singles 5
Bread 10 slices
Butter to spread.

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the grated carrot, crumbled tofu, coriander leaves, seasoning and salt in a bowl. Divide into 5 equal parts.

I do not have a sandwich maker. So I made these on the stove top. If you have one, skip step 2

2. Toast the bread slices in a toaster till it is partly toasted.

3. Spread little butter on the bread. Keep the butter side down and add the stuffing to it. Top with the cheese slice. Cover with another slice with the butter side up.

4. Transfer to a pan or sandwich maker.

5. Toast on both sides till it is browned nicely and cheese starts to melt. Serve!!



Linking this to Healthy Diet - Breakfast - Priya's event hosted by me this month

Rajma with Turnip

I am not a big fan of Turnip. Had not eaten till my MIL made it for us one day. She prepared a south indian poriyal (thoran) with it. Since then, I have been trying to find a recipe that I can eat the vegetable and not really taste it :-)

This recipe worked for me. It tastes mostly like Rajma masala. I sometimes add potatoes or spinach to my Rajma to include vegetable along with the dal. This proved as a great alternative as it is a watery vegetable.



Ingredients

Turnip 2
Rajma 1 cup
Onion 1 big chopped
Tomato 2 ( i wanted to use 4, had only 2)
Ginger 1 inch piece
Rajma Masala 4 tsp
Cumin/Jeera 1 tsp
Fennel Seeds/Suanf 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the Rajma (Kidney beans) overnight and cook in a pressure cooker.

2. Cut the turnip into small pieces (approx same size as rakma). Heat a little water and add the turnip. Cook till it starts to cook. Switch off and drain water.

3. In a pan, heat some oil. Add the cumin and saunf. When it sizzles, add the onion and ginger. Cook till the onion starts to brown.

4. Add tomatoes and cook till it well done.

5. Add turmeric powder, rajma masala and salt. Mix well and cook for a couple more minutes.

6. Add the rajma, cooked turnip and mix well. Add a little water if required. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with rotis or with rice. We enjoyed it.. Do give it a shot even if you are not a fan of Turnip.

Sending this to Kaveri's event SYF HWS Series - Fennel Seeds - (event by Anu)

Achari Gobi

I tried this recipe as a change to the usual saute onion/tomato add vegetable recipe.

I used homemade garlic pickle that my MIL had made for us when we came back from India. Once this batch is over, I am planning to make some myself. I will post the recipe for that.

You can use either garlic or lemon pickle. As I used garlic pickle, I added lime juice at the end. If you are using lime pickle, add some garlic along with the onions.



Ingredients

Cauliflower Florets 2 cups
Onion 1
Tomato 2
Garlic Pickle 4 tbsp
Cumin 1 tsp
Lime juice 1/2 lime

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Stream the cauliflower in a microwave for around 5-7 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onions.

3. Once it is starts to brown, add the tomatoes.

4. Once tomatoes are cooked, add the garlic pickle and mix well. The quantity added depends on your taste and the pickle you are using.

5. Mix well and add the steamed cauliflower. Mix and cook for a few more minutes.

6. Switch off and add some lemon juice to it. 

Award Time and a Sweet - Semiya Kesari

It award time!! Yaay... thanks you so much Ramya and Reshmi

Kerala Kitchen Awarded me the Best Picture Award for the Pazham Pori. Check out the lovely roundup in her blog.

Also, have a Sunshine Award from Reshmi of Noel Collections. Thank you Reshmi. Sorry for the delay in posting.

Now off to the recipe...

A nice variation from the rava (semolina) kesari. Try this new twist. You will like it. I picked up the recipe from Radhika's Tickling Palates




Ingredients

Semiya/Vermicelli 1 cup
Sugar 1/2 or a little more as per taste
Water 2 cups
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp
Orange Food Colour 1 pinch
Cashews few
Raisins ( i used a dried fruit mix that I had) 1 tbsp
Ghee 2 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the ghee in a pan. Add the cashews and fry till slightly browned. Keep aside.

2. In the same pan, add the raisins. Fry and keep aside.

3. Add the semiya and fry till it starts to brown a little.

4. Add the water. Once it comes to a boil, simmer and cook till the semiya is cooked and the water is drained.

5. Add the sugar, cardamom powder and food colour. Stir and cook till the wateriness from the sugar is gone.

6. Garnish with cashews and raisins.

Moong Dal Kofta in yogurt gravy

Anjana of Maayeeka has a beautiful collection of recipes. I have bookmarked a few to try. I really wanted to try making this Moong Dal Kofta. I did not want to deep fry. So I steamed. I did not have the methi leaves. So I just substituted with some other herbs. The dish was out of the world. It kind of felt like a fusion of the Paruppurunda Kozhambu and Malai Kofta.





Ingredients

Moong Dal 1 cup
Ginger small bit
Green Chilli 1
Mint few leaves
Coriander leaves few
Hing a little
Cashews few
Raisins few
Cumin/jeera 1/2 tsp

Tomatoes 3
Onion 1
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp
Clove 2
Star Anise 2
Bay leaf 2
Cinnamon a little
Cumin/jeera 1/2 tsp
Saunf 1/2 tsp
Curd 1/2 cup

Method of Preparation


1. Soak Moong dal for 2 hours.

2. Grind into a fine paste along with ginger and green chilli. Add Hing, salt, chopped mint and coriander leaves (i used half of it. added the rest to gravy), cashews (half) and raisins. Mix well.

3. Do not add any water for grinding. If it is still watery after grinding, transfer to a pan and stir for a minute or 2 till it starts to come together.

4. Roll into balls and steam in idli plate.

5. In the mixie, grind tomatoes, little mint, coriander leaves, curd and cashews into a fine paste.

6. Heat oil in a pan, add Clove, Star Anise, Bay leaf, Cinnamon, Cumin, Saunf. When it sizzles, add chopped onions.

7. When the onions are slightly browned, add the tomato puree.

8. Add some water along with chilli powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well and bring to boil.

9. Simmer. Add the koftas and switch off.

Event Roundup : Healthy Food for Healthy Kids-Toddler Breakfast/Dinner

Thank you so much everyone for the participation in my first event. It was a wonderful experience hosting an event. It brought back memories of Project Deadlines. Yes, It is a high pressure job guys :-) Think about it. All these ladies have taken so much effort in preparing these dishes and sending the links along my way. I consider that an honour.

Also, made me understand the effort all the hosts put in to make their event a success. I am looking forward to my next event. Do check out the Healthy Diet - Breakfast Event going on in my Blog and send in your recipes.

As a mother of a toddler, I know how it is to get food to the table that the little one loves. Cooking for an adult or even a party sounds easy when compared to pleasing the little ones. Kids these days know exactly what they want. There are quite a few recipes in the list below that I have bookmarked to try on my little one. I hope you will also pick up some from the list and treat your little ones (and the adults who are kids at heart)

Now off to the Recipes

Uma Shakar of Jaya's recipe

1. Masala Kichidi




Jillu Anand of Jiya's Delicacy 

2. Baby Corn Fritters



3.  Sweet Dosa



4. Rose Kheer



5. Carrot Soup



6. Strawberry Pancakes



7. Apple milk shake



Anjana of Maayeka 

8. Moong Dal Paratas



Reshmi of Neol Collections


9. Vegetable Sandwich



Shama of Easy to Cook Recipes

10. Orange Honey Pancake



11. Poha Pudding



12. Grape Yogurt



Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal

13. Nedram Pazham Nurukku



Swasthi of Swath Freak 

14. Easy Baby Wheat Cereal



15. Sago and Almond Milk



16. Almond Milk



17. Carom Potato Rice



18. Easy Baked Veg Frittata



19. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin



20. Sweet Potato Moong Bean Pongal



21. Sesame Seed Oatmeal Cookie


22. Spinach Stems Mixed Lentil Veggie rice



23. Bodi Biryani



24. Pressure Cooked Mixed Veggie oatmeal



25. Pressure Cooked  Broken wheat upma



Jaleela of Cook Book Jaleela

26. Ragi Idli



27. Strawberry Pista Cake



28. Idli Cake



Julie of Erivum Puliyum

29. Fruit and Nuts Bar



Chandrani of Cusine Delights

30. Vegetable Dalia



Preeti of Follow Foodie

31. Paniyaram



And Finally the recipes posted by me

32. Soya Poha



33. Apple Raisin Oatmeal



34. Adai Paniyaram



35. Nutella Strawberry Sandwich


One more addition from Nitu

36. Usli Idiyappam