Keerai as Side Dish- RCI & JFI-WBB -Leafy vegetables

Keerai is Spinach called in Tamil ( I have googled it out.. :D, I hope I am not wrong :)) . )
When Lakshmi announced Tamil cuisine theme for this month of RCI, it was a real confusion for me, as normally I get messed up a lot with all the south Indian region recipes , so I took up it as a small challenge and thought to make something for this event. Also how can I forget JFI ? so suitable to both, I am presenting here a Tamil cuisine , made up with Leafy vegetable. :)
Ingredients :
Fresh Spinach -1 bunch,
2-3 greenchillies,
Shredded coconut-1 tsp, (i used dried one)
cumin seeds -1/2 tsp,
3 dry red chillies,
1 tsp urad dhal( I used my all favorite Moong dal instead of this) ,
1/2 tsp ghee,
1 tsp rice flour,
1 tsp curd
1/2 tsp sugar,
salt to taste.
Method:
Cut spinach into small pieces. Cook it in an open vessel with salt and a tablespoon of water. After the spinach gets cooked completely, add the cumin seeds(raw). Grind together green chillies and coconut. Add this to the mixture. Saute urad dhal and red pepper in ghee and garnish the spinach with it. Dissolve a spoon of rice flour in a spoon of water and mix well. This will give it the required thickness. Add a spoon of curds and sugar to the gravy.
I had this with chapati. Though I am very much sure that this is being eaten different way in real tamil style, I am sure many of my tamil buddies around here will have real idea of it.share it with me , so that I can know more about it. Also can anyone around there tell me the name ofthis dish, the source from where I got this recipe said this as a side dish, so I left with no option but to post it with that name only :P .

This recipe I googled out( but forgot the real source URL... :( ) , so that I can participate in RCI , started by Lakshmi.: ) . Thank you Lakshmi it’s a great experience making this. And I love it , as it contains no oil in it. Just loving the Zero oil recipes. That’s why this become my special choice for this event. Not only this, this Keerai goes straight to Indira of Mahanandi for JFI-WBB -Greens . Thank you Indira for choosing the Green leafy vegetable theme , this kinda veggies been my favorite all the time :D .
and hey, Don't miss to check out the real beauty of India on my regular blog - CreativePooja , also if you are intrested in cooking and liked dishes around here then go visit here, this blog is just like a trailer... movies is on other side :D

Stay tuned and Have fun :) .

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Lauki-Chana Dal(Bottle gourd- bengal gram) Curry

This authentic Gujarati vegetable main course is a regular dish prepared at my home. As I am at mom’s place right now , I rarely think to enter kitchen even . Though when “L” of Nupur ‘s A-Z of vegetables event came to my mind, I couldn’t resist myself making this beloved Gujarati dish or mine. We call it Dudhi chana nu Shaak in Gujarati.
This is a good option for those who don’t love bottle gourd directly. At my place too hubby likes it though he don’t like Luaki much. According to him this makes a good combination and the taste of final dish is totally different than lauki curry : ) .oh…., I miss Deepak’s compliments the most when I make something here these days.

Ingredients :
1 bottle gourd(lauki) , medium sized,
1 ½ cup of Bengal gram (chana Dal)
1 tsp garlic chopped width wise,
½ tsp mustard seeds,
1 tsp cumin seeds,
½ tsp turmeric powder,
1 tsp red chili powder,
1 tsp cumin-coriander seeds powder,
2-3 tsp oil,
Salt to taste,
Coriander leaves to garnish .

Method:
Soak chana dal(Bengal gram) into water 1 hour prior to cooking.
Peel, wash and chop lauki (bottle gourd) into medium sized cubes.
In a separate vessel boil the chana dal until it is soft.
Remove the excess water from it and keep aside.
Peel the garlic cloves and cut it width wise. (you can use the garlic paste too ) .
In a frying pan heat the oil, when bit hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds to it, as it start to pop up add turmeric powder and immediately add the Lauki cubes to it.
Mix it well and let it cook , stirring occasionally ,until lauki is cooked fully.
If bottle gourd (lauki) you are using is not much soft then it takes little water added to this to cook it well, in such case cook it until bottle gourd cubes are soft and all water part is evaporated from it.
Next add boiled chana dal(Bengal gram) , red chilli powder and salt to it. Mix it well and finally add cumin –coriander powder to it. mix well, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapati.


This is my entry for A-Z of vegetables of Nupur.
Thanks Nupur :D , for giving me a chance to present this dish. Read more...

Beet Treat

My Second entry to Maheswari for her AFAM-Strawberry .

Refreshing Drink ,Beet treat

Ingredients:

1 small beet root , peeled , washed and cut in to cubes
3 carrot, peeled , washed and cut in to pieces
10-12 straberries , cut into half.
2 tsp lemon juice.

Method:
Using grinder make juice of the above ingredients adding 1 glass of water to it, and strain it using strainer. Serve with crushed ice , very good for the hot summer days, as summer is arriving her slowly, it is a nice drink for the afternoon time.
Used in small amount still beet root is dominating factor in the juice, that’s why I named it as “Beet treat” . tastes good and it is rich source of iron ,folic acid, vitamin C and calcium .

My second entry to Maheswari-for her AFAM-Strawberry .
Check out my first entry strawberry ice cream here.

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Carrot Halwa -entry for Monthly Mingle

Ingredients:
500 gms carrot shredded,
2 cups milk,
1 cup fresh cream,
Sugar ½ cup or upto taste.
Cardamon powder ,
Raisins .
3-4 tsp ghee.

Method:
Wash and peel the carrot thoroughly and shred it.
In a big pan add ghee and place it on heat, when it is little hot add shredded carrot to it and cook it on high flame stirring continuously . this will burn the water part from shredded carrot and it will turn little more dark in its color. When it is cooked this way, add milk to it and let it again cook on high flame until milk turns in to thick , add sugar, fresh cream and soaked raisin to it and let it cook until all the water part from milk evaporates and it makes small white particles of cream there. Consider it cooked when it is thick enough and all things are mixed well with shredded carrot. Add caramon powder and mix well, turn of the heat and serve it either hot or cold. Tastes best in both ways.
As Me and hubby both don’t like much sweet items , this is a rare case in our home that we make anything sweet like this for us. Since Meeta announced to make something sweet for this month’s monthly mingle, I thought to make this from the fresh carrot available in the market here. And I think was a good idea indeed. Once it turn cool I store it in a air tight jar in refrigerator and hubby like to have just 1-2 spoons of it as desert for him . : )

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With Love to Sahil& Siddharth - Coriander Stars

This has been my all time favorite snack item, which my mom made when I was a little child. Ever since I love this , I love this for its color and taste , it has every taste in it – sour, sweet and fragrance of coriander with crispiness. What else one want for a perfect snack. When Trupti announced her theme of Little chefs in Kitchen , I had this in my mind. Just to make it more attractive I give it Star shapes. So here is a dish full of coriander stars goes to Sahil and Siddharth with lots of love from Me.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of wheat flour
¾ cup of rawa ,
1 bunch coriander leaves crushed ,
2-3 tsp Sesame seeds ,
3-4 tsp oil for dough ,
2 tsp lemon juice,
Sugar to taste,
Salt to taste,
Oil for deep frying .

Method :

Mix all the ingredients to make dough, and prepare the little hard(not as soft as we make for Roti or Paratha) by adding water to it.

Make 2 inch size balls of it, and roll out like roti with the thickness of 1/8 inch .
Make the shape using shaper you have.(or in a simple way by making small balls one can make small puri sized i.e. 2 inch diameter sized, round puri of it. ) make slits in it using sharp knife. ( this will help to make it more crispy , as without slits it will get puffed while frying. ) heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry these stars when oil is hot. Let it fry on low flame, and fry it until golden brown from both sides. Take care to keep flame on low once the oil get hot , as on the high flame this will not cook well and also the good taste of coriander from this will vanish.
Place it on a brown paper after removing from oil, to absorb excess of oil from it.
Serve to kids any time they are starved. I completed the whole dish in a single day : )) .
Now this goes straight to dear Trupti for her theme –Little chefs in Kitchen , Hope this will be appropriate for kids friendly recipe category : ) .

Thank you Trupti for a nice theme , I am glad I am able to participate in this.

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Ginger Amla(Indian gooseberry) Drink

Ingredients:
1 inch long Ginger root,
2 no. of Amla( Indian gooseberry ).
2 tsp Honey.

Method:
Wash and peel Ginger , and cut it into small pieces. Cut Amla and crush this together with ginger pieces in a grinder. make smooth pulp of it, and add half glass water to it. Strain into Glass using strainer. Add 2 tsp honey to it, and add some crush black pepper to it, a healthy drink is ready to make yourself feel rejuvenating this winter. It is easy to make and much beneficial to health . Drink it fresh only. do not store it after making it. as it is easy to make one can make anytime within 2 minutes. Also tastes too good with taste of Amla and Flavour of Ginger init. :)

This is a traditional drink which many people in Gujarat drink, specially in Winter to keep ealth upto date all the year through. It is said that it helps in keeping cold away , and good for tose who have respiratory system Problems. In Saurashtra region of Gujarat I have seen this kind of drinks sold by people, standing on roadline in the early morning like 6a.m. or so, and most of the peole enjoy it while having morning walk. What a lovely way to keep one's self happy.

There are many many benefits related to Amla and Ginger, specially when taken in its fresh form in the winter . Amla is a rich source of vitamin C, and a good tonic for hair too - Remember the famous advertisement wiht tag - "Dabur amla kesh tel !" :)) . For Indian Gooseberray - Amla Benefits Check out Here.

Ginger ,as we all know is very helpful in cold and cough , along with that it also help in respiratory disorders and do you know, It is an excellent Painkiller ! yes, its true, check out its more information Here.

So now waiting for what ? Still winter is in its full form, get just these 3 ingredients and do a favour to yourself.

Now this goes Straight to Rosie, who is host this month for JFI -Ginger. Thank you Rosie, for choosing Ginger as the Theme for this month , you reminded me of this healthy drink :) .

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Republic Day!

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Welcome!

Inspired from Idea of Asha to have another blog to post recipes here to participate with lovely blog events going around.
I thought to try it this way , lets see how I could manage to have another blog to participate with differetn events around here n food blog world .
till then stay tuned to my oringinal blog - Creative Pooja. Read more...