Here is another simple One pot recipe which is populare in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
All the Ingredients are added in the Clay pot and cooked till they are soft.
The curry is then mashed using a ‘pappu gutthi’ and then given a ‘Tadka’.
Check out the video –
Very quick and easy to cook.
Can be prepared in 15 minutes without much effort.
Make this when you crave for a simple traditional dish and are in a hurry. Especially suitable for those who are new to cooking , for Bachelors, for working professionals who prefer to eat homemade food.
Similar method can be used for different vegetables like bottle gourd, Ridge gourd, Sorrel leaves (Gongura) , Spinach , khatta palak etc. Just replace Brinjal with any of these veggies.
Uploaded my Video to my YouTube channel last night. This is a recipe for preparing slightly different style Scrambled Eggs. Learnt this recipe from a cook in my parents house.This was way back when I was in college. This lady belongs to East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh and her name is Ammaji. I call this dish ‘Ammaji’s Scrambled Eggs’ . There is a slight twist in this preparation and that is the use of water.
Here is the link to the video –
I uploaded another video today ,which I recorded yesterday. This is a composite Roti or Vegetable Roti.
Here is the link. –
I have been eating composite Roti’s for the last three months and they are quite filling. They are healthier, tastier and easy to digest. I learnt this recipe from ‘Natural Lifestyle’.
Appears I am getting addicted to recording and uploading videos. Recorded another video today 🙂
Making videos is a nice hobby :)…. Sharing some useful and interesting stuff with all. Does require a lot of planning, the actual recording , editing , uploading and then watching the number of views the videos are getting.
Lots of ants in my garden ,sucking on all the flowers . I see small ridge gourds growing but they soon turn yellow and dry up. I see lot of ants going up and down these plants.Saw a few videos on how to get rid of the ants and saw there are many solutions too. This evening i did the easiest thing . I sprinkled talcum powder on the plants.Talcum Powder is supposed o suffocate the ants. Got to see if it makes any difference. Fingers crossed. Feeling very upset that my gourds are drying 🙁
The only day during the week when I get an off from work. Usually this too is another busy day. A day to do some pending clean up , to cook something special for the family, talk to neighbours over the gate/compound wall , catchup with extended family and friends.
I have been spending sometime each morning and evening with my plants. Have very little place. Yesterday I harvested some spinach and shared the picture with some whatsapp friends . All were happy seeing fresh spinach and I got several suggestions as to what I should do with the spinach. These days everyone is experimenting with new varieties of cooking at home and sharing pics of their culinary skills all over social media . No one wants to order food from outside though very few options may be available.
This is the harvest 🙂
Dal with spinach and raw mango, salad with cranberries and walnuts , veggie omlette were some suggestions by friends. I finally decided to make a salad for my breakfast today using the tender spinach leaves that I harvested.
Here are the ingredients:
Veggies :
Chopped Beets , grated carrots, chopped tomatoes, roughly chopped spinach and lettuce, dried nuts, dried cranberries and slices of raw Coconut.
Salad dressing:
Lemon juice ,honey, salt, pepper and Olive oil.
Mix all the veggies in a bowl.
Mix all the ingredients to make salad dressing and pour over the veggies.
Your salad is ready to dig into.
You can add whatever veggies you like and have at home. Red/yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, microgreens , dates, any other dried nuts are some of the other options. You can also sprinkle a few pomogranate seeds, small pieces of pineapple etc.
Yummy salad is ready in a jiffy. This I my breakfast today and I enjoyed it thoroughly…. tummy is happy too.
I did share pics and videos of my preparation and got some compliments on my presentation and photography skills.
Also made Veg Biryani , Stuffed brinjal and Raita for lunch. Used store bought Biryani powder and the Biryani turned out just like the one we get in restaurants.
Used the recipe from Cookingshooking channel on YouTube. Link was shared to me by my son. I picked up the recipe for Stuffed Brinjal (gutti vankaya) from Hebbars channel on YouTube.
Both the dishes turned out just like those in the restaurants. Hubby and son helped me a lot and we enjoyed the whole process. I think the best part of this lockdown is that families are getting together and helping in all the household chores.
Had a great day and another busy day today
Situation in India is worsening day by day as people are not serious about staying at home. The counts are doubling every 6 days. Not enough testing being carried out and many asymptomatic people going around ,which is dangerous for the high risk population.
Summer is here. The best part of Summer is you can enjoy ice creams without any fear of ending up with a runny nose.
I suddenly felt this urge to make ice-cream at home. I never tried to prepare ice-cream at home.
I remember freezing fruit juice in a steel glass when I was a kid and I was thrilled with the outcome. That was when my parents purchased a refrigerator 🙂 . I Never ever attempted an authentic ice-cream which is actually made with milk and cream. I didn’t want to buy another device for making ice-cream nor did i have the patience to mix the ingredients, freeze , whip again till smooth , freeze again …whipping again ..again and again till you end up with a smoooth ice-cream. That’s not me.
I wanted to try the ice-cream thing again. I started watching YouTube and was looking for an easy way with few ingredients and a simple process.. hoping someone would have come up with an easy recipe..Luckily I came across a No cook recipe to make Kulfi. Wowww , I was excited . Kulfi is an traditional Indian way of making a frozen dessert which is no different from the regular ice-cream. A Kulfi is traditionally made by thickening milk on a stove for a few hours and adding powdered nuts and cardamom and then freezing it . Thickening is a lengthy process too. There was no condensed milk or fresh cream or milk powder in the earlier days. We now get all these in the supermarket and hence there is an instant way to make Kulfi.
I was excited with this recipe and immediately bought the ingredients.
This recipe has just 5 ingredients :
Fresh Cream – one cup
Milk powder – Half cup
Sugar – Half cup
Almonds / Pista / Cashew – Any two or even one is good enough
Cardamom : few pods
Procedure :
Step 1 – Blend the Nuts , cardamom and Sugar into a fine powder and keep it aside.
Step 2 – Whip up the Fresh cream in a container. You can use a whipper or an egg beater too.
Step 3 – Add the Milk powder to the Fresh cream and mix well.
Step 4 – Add the fine powder from Step 1 and mix well.
Step 5 – Pour into Kulfi moulds and freeze. Not to worry if you don’t have Kulfi moulds. Freeze the mixture in any container for 5 to 6 hours.
Your instant yummy Kulfi is ready to dig into. Enjoyy .
Millet’s are the new fad in town , the passionate Dr Khadar Valli has been promoting 5 types of Millets (Foxtail, Kodo, Browntop, Little , Barnyard) which are very nutritious Organic ancient grains that can heal the body.
There was a time when I wanted to incorporate Millets but was nervous. Thanks to several women who uploaded videos on preparing Millet Dosa’s. These videos gave me the confidence to prepare Dosa’s with Foxtail Millets.
Not just Foxtail Millets , but Little Millet, Kodo Millet, Barnyard Millet and Browntop Millet , too can be incorporated with great ease in our daily diet. Easiest to use in the preparation of Dosas and Idlis.
Lemme share how I prepare Dosa with Foxtail Millet’s.
Usual Recipe for Dosa batter :
Ingredients for making Dosa Batter :
Urad Dal : 1 Cup . This is Whole Black Gram (with the Black skin removed)
Rice – 2 or 3 Cups (Quantity of Rice is your choice)
This is soaked for 6-8 hours. Usually soaked in the morning and the batter is prepared at night.
The batter is left for fermenting overnight .
Dosa’s are prepared the next morning.
Procedure to prepare Dosa with Millets is very much the same.
Here is my Recipe for Dosa with Foxtail Millets :
Urad Dal – 1 Cup Foxtail Millets – 2 Cups
I soak them in the morning in separate containers for 8 hours. Batter is prepared in the evening/night. Grind them separately into a smooth batter and then mix them throroughly.
Add salt to taste. Leave the batter overnight for fermenting. Make your Dosa’s the next morning.
Just replace Rice with Foxtail Millets and confidently go ahead.
Not just Foxtail Millets, you can follow the same recipe using other Millets too.
Enjoy your healthy Foxtail Millet Dosa’s with your regular Chutneys or Sambhar.
This evening , I prepared Uthappam with the same batter. I chopped a few veggies, chillies, ginger, coriander leaves , jeera and added to the Millet batter. This is my Dinner for today.
Uthappam made with Millet Dosa batter and lots of veggies
There are times when I crave for a lot of veggies. I quickly stir fry whatever veggies I have , sprinkle salt, pepper, lime juice , Olive oil and enjoy a hot bowl of veggies. This is one such day and here is what I dished out. Luckily I had soaked Chickpeas in the refrigerator too which I added to the veggies.
Here is the recipe for Stir-Fry Veggies with Chickpeas –
Ingredients :
Boiled Chickpeas – 1 Cup (soak dry chickpeas overnight and add a little salt while boiling) Assorted Vegetables – 2 cups of Veggies (3 to 4 colourful varieties) Salt – As per your taste Pepper powder – As per your taste Garlic pods – 3 chopped pods Extra Virgin Olive Oil : 1 tablespoon Any other cooking oil : 1 to 2 teaspoons Lemon juice : 1 spoon
Method : 1. Add oil to the pan . 2. Add the chopped garlic before oil gets very hot. Stir fry for 30 seconds. 3. Add all the chopped veggies and stir till the veggies are partially cooked.
4. Add the boiled chickpeas and salt . Stir till the veggies are cooked but not soft. The chickpeas too will get slightly roasted and that makes them yummier.
5. Remove from the stove.
6. Add pepper powder, drizzle lemon juice and Extra virgin Olive oil . Stir all the ingredients well.
A nice hot bowl of Stir Fry Vegetables with Chickpeas is ready to be served. A very filling, nutritious and yummy dish which can be had as dinner too.
Choose vegetables that are colorful. Red / Yellow/ Green bell peppers, Purple cabbage , Green Broccoli or Asparagus, White Baby corn / Cabbage , Carrots etc. Select a few that are in season and to make the dish colorful and appetizing.
Include roasted or Boiled peanuts, roasted sesame seeds if you wish.
This sunday I wanted to make a quick snack using readymade Canapes. I had bought Monita canapes from the supermarket a few days ago.
I remember my Mom making a yummy recipe using the same Monita canapes when I was a kid. Mom had learnt the recipe from a cookery class that she attended about 30 yrs ago . I did not want to ask Mom right away.
I started checking out some youtube videos for Canapes. I did not find any recipe that appeared similar to what Mom used to make.
Meanwhile I ended up watching canapes made with salted biscuits , toast, crackers , cucumber etc.
I liked one simple recipe and I had all the ingredients at home.
However, this recipe is more of an appetizer rather than a snack.
Here it is –
Ingredients :-
-Cucumber peeled and sliced into half centimeter thick pieces.
-Greek yogurt
-Salt
-Pepper
-Tomatoes sliced
-Cut cheese slices into squares or use grated cheese
-Mint / coriander leaves / parsley for garnish
Procedure :-
Curd/Yoghurt is usually watery and hence cannot be used , it has to be thick.
Place the regular curd in a strainer and let all the excess water drain.
Add salt n pepper to the thick curd.
Slice the tomatoes.
Place a little Yoghurt on top of each of the cucumber slices.
Place a slice of tomato and a couple of pieces of cheese on the yoghurt.
You can also use grated cheese instead of cheese slices.
Garnish with a mint leaf or coriander leaf .
You can also add chopped jalapenos and olives to the yogurt mixture .
A bright , colorful and healthy appetizer is ready.
This is my first canape recipe and I am definitely fascinated by Canapes. There are loads of recipes on the Internet. Numerous varieties of canapes can be made in a jiffy to treat your near and dear ones 🙂 .
I had been watching recipes made with Avocados on YouTube , but did not dare to buy them. Wanted to prepare Guacamole one day.
They are not a commercial crop in India. However they are being grown in a limited way in a few parts of South India and North East India.
Few days ago I spotted Avocados in the Supermarket and bought one for the first time.
I had read about picking a perfect Avocado , letting them ripen at home and the procedure to determine if they are ready to be eaten.
The one I bought was dark green but not the almost blackish colour that I saw in the YouTube videos. I left it outside to darken. This morning I noticed it was soft when I pressed it gently and saw a few blackish spots.
I was excited and decided to prepare Guacamole. I had also bought a packet of Nachos on the same day 🙂
I had all the ingredients at home except Jalapenos. I used a green chilli instead.
So here are the ingredients for one serving
Avocado : 1
Tomatoes : 1 medium size (I had cherry tomatoes that I used)
Green chilli : 1
Salt to taste
One small 🍋 lemon
One small onion
Coriander leaves (optional)
Method:
Scoop out the pulp of the Avocado and mash it up using a fork.
Chop up the onion and 🍅 tomatoes.
Chop the green chilli into fine pieces.
Mix all of them in a bowl and add salt ,lemon juice and coriander leaves.
