These beautiful red tulips are this year’s gift from our backyard. Murukku had been one of my favorite snacks right from my childhood. Amma always used to keep the containers full when we come back from school. Though many know the recipe I just wanted to keep this post to give mom’s touch to this blog and for memory. Hope you too enjoy this.

Ingredients:

Idli rice – 4 cups (soak for 5 hrs)
Roasted chick peas – 1+ 3/4 cups (pottukadalai – grind to fine powder)
Red chilies – 8
Butter – 2-3 tbs
Sesame seeds – 1 tbs (You can use black or white, your choice)
Ajwain seeds – 1 tsp (Omam)
Salt
Oil

Method:

1) Grind one cup soaked rice with red chilies to fine paste.Once the red chilies are finely ground ,add the remaining rice. Grind using less water. (Batter should be thicker than dosa batter)

2) Bring butter to room temperature. Grind roasted chick peas and sieve the powder.

3) Mix rice batter, roasted chick peas powder, sesame seeds, ajwain seeds and butter.

4) Heat oil for deep frying in a shallow pan.

5) Take small amounts of batter in the murukku pidi and squeeze onto a plate or spatula and drop in the oil.

6) Fry murukku in oil and drain the oil.

7) After murukku cools, store in a container.

Tasty snack ready. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Black chickpeas – 2 cups
Shallots – 5-10 (depending on the size)
Onion – 1 medium size
Coriander seeds – 2 tbs
Cumin seeds – 1 tbs
Red chilies – 2-3
Grated Coconut – 2-3 tbs
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Tomato – 2 medium size
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Oil
Salt

Method:

1) Soak the chickpeas overnight and pressure cook them with salt. (3-4 whistles)

2) Heat some water in a small pan, add the shallots and turmeric powder. Cook till the shallots look transparent.(Poke a knife into the shallot and it will let you know). Drain the water after cooking.

3) Grind the following ingredients with some water – coriander seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies and coconut. Make this into a fine paste.

4) Grind the shallots as well into fine paste. Or you may add the shallots to the above paste and grind together.

5) In a pressure pan, add some oil, splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves and onion. When the onion is well done, add some tomato. Next add the ground paste and the chickpeas. Add salt per taste. Pressure cook this mixture.(1 whistle)

6) Garnish with cilantro.

Super sundal curry ready!!

This curry goes well with chapati, rice,  idli and dosa. A very versatile curry.

Here is our backyard’s new visitor. He is Mr.Possum, oh yes the famous “Ice Age 2″ figure (Crash & Eddie). Do you know that he is marsupial? It was really interesting to know him. Know more about him here.

Ingredients:

Tomato – 2 lbs / two 15 oz can / 1 kg
Tamarind – 1 lime size
Chilli powder – 3 tbs (or as per your taste)
Garlic – 8 large cloves
Mustard seeds – 1 tbs + 2 tbs
Cumins seeds – 2 tbs
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tbs
Oil (Gingelly oil works well here)
Salt

Method:

1) Grind tomato to paste. Extract tamarind juice and slice garlic into thin pieces.

2) Heat 8-10 tbs of oil in a large non-stick pan. Add 1 tbs of mustard seeds and let them splutter.

3) Add the garlic slices and let them brown.

4) Next add tomato paste, chili powder, salt and tamarind extract.

5) Let the tomato paste thicken up, cook half covered till most of the water content is gone.

6) In another small pan dry roast fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Grind them to fine powder after cooling.

7) As the tomato starts to thicken, it will start bubbling and splashing out, so be careful and keep the lid half covered to let the steam escape.

8 ) Once it is thick to the consistency of jam, turn off the heat.

9) Let it cool completely and then add the ground powder to the thokku. Transfer it to a bottle and refrigerate.

Super yummy thokku ready!!

In this post i would like to share some of my amateur jewelry creations, a bangle and few pendants.

Everyone knows the amount of cholesterol in eggs, i usually worry about this factor and want to find an option to replace this egg with something else , but may taste the same. Each time i prepare egg bhurjee, i use quite some number of eggs to make up the quantity.So here is a recipe where you have an option to prepare bhurjee with just one egg, yet you can prepare the same quantity and quality egg bhurjee.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower – 1 medium size
Egg – 1 large size
Onion – 1 large size
Tomato – 2
Cilantro – 1 large bunch
Ginger – 1 tbs (finely grated)
Green chilies – 2-3
Chat masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Chili powder – 3/4 tsp
turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Tomato ketchup – 1 tbs
Salt & Oil

Method:

1) Cook the cauliflower florets in salted water till they get mushy.Remove the florets and fork them down to fine crumbles.

2) In a pan, heat up some oil and add cumin seeds and onion.Saute till the onion gets translucent, next add the grated ginger.

3) Next you shall add some chopped green chilies and finely chopped tomatoes.

4) Cook till the tomato chunks are mashed. Next add chili powder, turmeric and chat masala powder.

5) Add few shots of tomato ketchup and freshly chopped cilantro.Add salt.

6) Next add mashed cauliflower and cook till the curry get mixed into the mashed florets.

7) Now move all the curry to outer edge of the pan and create some space in the middle to cook the egg.Add the egg and mix it non-stop till it gets a grainy texture.Now mix this egg with the rest of curry.

Enjoy the cauliflower egg bhurjee, actually I’m planning to call this dish “Diet egg bhurjee”

Last week we tried one of Bobby Flay’s (Food Network Chef) recipe , grilled chicken wings, it had turned out really yumm. You too can try this.Instead of grilling you may bake the chicken wings.

Ingredients:

Garlic – 2 cloves (thinly sliced)
Ginger – 1 tsp (grated)
Shallots – 3-4 (preferably, else you can go with regular onion)
Veggies – cut thinly , 1 cup (here i have used cabbage,carrots and mushrooms)
Soy sauce – 1 tbs
Corn flour (optional – to thicken the soup)
Salt & Pepper

Method :

1) Take a large pan and add some oil. Saute the garlic until it turns slightly brown.

2) Next add ginger and shallots. Saute till they turn translucent.

3) Next add soy sauce,salt,pepper and then add vegetables.Saute for 1-2 minutes.

4) Add 2 cups of water or more.Cook till the vegetables are fully cooked.

Optional: Mix corn flour in water and add to the soup to thicken it.(If only you want it thick, i like my soup as it is).

You can also add cooked noodles to your soup, but add the cooked noodles just before serving.

Serve hot and enjoy the soup.

And here is my current project – Winter scarf.If anyone is interested in this pattern, you can find it here.

Point to ponder: We cannot do great things in life, but we can do small things with great love.

]]> http://kaaramahaaram.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/soup-time-asian-style-soup/feed/ 0 Dhivyaa Veggie Soup Winter Scarf http://kaaramahaaram.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/sesame-crackers-and-pencil-drawing/ http://kaaramahaaram.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/sesame-crackers-and-pencil-drawing/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:35:38 +0000 Dhivyaa http://kaaramahaaram.wordpress.com/?p=590 ]]> Yesterday’s snack time was pretty interesting.We had few sesame crackers and mixed fruit smoothie.We have a hard core fan of Alton Brown at our house(who else than my DH..LOL). Here are his recipes with slight variation.

Sesame crackers:

Sesame seeds – 1/4 cup
Poppy seeds – 1/4 cup
Wheat flour and all purpose flour ratio = 1:1 (Here I’ve taken 4 oz each)
Olive oil – 2 tbs
Water
Salt – 1 tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp

Method:

1) Mix all the dry ingredients and whisk them thoroughly.Add olive oil and blend it through out the dough.

2) Add enough water(approx 4 oz) and knead the dough well and let it rest for 10-20 mins.

3) Roll the dough to a thin sheet and cut as per your choice and lay them on the baking sheet.

4) Bake them at 450 F for 3-4 mins on one side and another 2-3 mins on the other side.Let them cool down completely and then you can store them in air-tight container.

Crunchy crackers are ready…

Mixed fruit smoothie:

You can consider any berry or fruit for this smoothie.Here i have used mango,peach,strawberry,blueberry and raspberry.Use half cup of milk and half cup of plain yogurt.Blend all these along with half spoon of brown sugar.You may skip the sugar part if you want.Easy and healthy mixed fruit smoothie is ready to serve.

Past two weeks i was trying few pencil drawings. This actually started from the day when my friend gave me a book on Drawing by Giovanni Civardi.I didn’t know that i can draw.All i did was exactly replicate what he did.And this fish below is the first ever try on my own.Prob you guyz should tell me how good these really are?!?!

Serves : 3-4 people

Ingredients:

Black-eyed beans – 3/4 cup
Desiccated or Freshly grated coconut – 1/2 cup
tamarind extract – 1 cup (from small lime size ball)
Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)
tomato – 2 (finely chopped)
Green chilies – 4
sambar powder – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves
Salt – to taste
Oil

Method:

1) Grind coconut to fine paste.

2) Pressure cook beans with some turmeric powder until well done.Use only appropriate amount of water for cooking the beans.(2-3 whistles)

3) In a pan, splutter mustard seeds,add  fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and green chilies.Next add onion and add salt, saute till it gets translucent.

4) Add tomato and sambar powder. Cook for a minute.

5) Add tamarind extract and ground coconut paste.

6) Cook covered for few minutes and in the end add the beans.Cook covered for few more minutes and it is done.

As simple as it can get…

Apple…Apple and more apples…when you go out to a store today ,you’ll find these lovely shiny colorful fruits lying everywhere.Have you ever tried eating apples with salt and pepper??? I tried this combination for the first time during my trip to Hartford last weekend.Cut apple into small cubes, toss ‘em with salt and pepper…itz different and itz tasty.This is my fav afternoon snack these days.

Ingredients:

Tilapia or any other fish fillet – 3-4 fillets (serves 3 people)
Ginger paste – 1/2 tsp (try substituting this with Dijon mustard, just a thought )
chili powder – 1/2 tsp
lime juice – 1 tbs
Salt – to taste
Corn Tortillas – 1 pack (store bought, i still haven’t learned to prepare ‘em at home)
Black beans – 1 can
Avocado – 1 (thinly sliced)
Pico de gallo – Chopped onion, chopped tomato, cilantro,green chilies, lime juice and salt to taste. (Mix all the above and keep this aside)

Method:

1) Marinade the fish fillets in ginger paste, chilli powder,lime juice and salt.

2) Arrange the fish on a baking sheet, brush with oil on top and bake at 400 F for 10-15 mins in the oven.

3) Cook the corn tortillas in medium-high heated skillet for 10-15 seconds.

4) Once the fish is ready, arrange corn tortilla with some black beans, avocado slices, fish and chunky pico de gallo.

Enjoy……
You can try your own variation of this recipe.Do lemme know if you did.

Here is the latest production from my creative crochet factory.I got the pattern from Lion brand website.Easy to make and isn’t he lovely and cute?

Three days back when , DH was about to leave after lunch we found a robin nestling under the front yard tree.We were not able to locate the nest initially and didn’t know what to do with that poor thing.Though I took it inside , I totally had no clue on what to feed and how to care for it.In the evening we luckily found the cozy nest and DH put it back along with it’s sibling.I felt so happy after leaving it back to the nest.

But that day i happened to know few interesting facts about such orphaned birds which i thought is worth sharing.

i) If you find a nestling/fledgling put it back to the nest as you will not be able to take care of it.Nestling needs to be fed every 15-20 mins during the day.You can’t teach them to fly too.( Yeah, true ). Also you don’t know what to feed them.(Though you might be able to find out what bird it is).

ii)Do not feed a nestling with water.They get their water from the food they eat.If you try to feed the water forcefully water might get into their lungs.Even for a fledgling keep the water near their mouth if they are thirsty they will drink it.

iii) Identify whether the young one you had found is a nestling or fledgling.Nestling will be ‘pinky’ and will not have much feathers.When you put your finger near the beak it doesn’t know to cling to it. But where  as a fledgling has feathers but doesn’t know to fly.

iv) Try to locate the nest and put it back.It is not true that the mother will abandon the young one after touched by human.Once you have put the young one in the nest , leave the place immediately.Don’t try to check on it often as the mother bird will try to take care of the young ones and will not approach the nest when you are around.

v) If you are not able to locate the nest, put the young one in a berry basket with a tissue and hang it on the tree.The parents will take care of the little one.If you are worried about the cats and dogs around the house, hand it over to the near by wild bird care center.

The recipe’s name is ” Tuna guacamole bruschetta”

Ingredients:

Sour dough bread or baguette or any french bread – cut into thin slices

For Guacamole:

avocado – 1  ripe
onion – finely chopped, one handful
tomato – finely chopped , one handful
green chilies – 1 or 2 , finely chopped
cilantro – finely chopped , little
lime juice – 1 tbs
salt

For tuna:
Albacore tuna/ Sardines – 2 cans
Freshly ground pepper – 1 tsp
salt
lime juice

Method:

1) Place all the thinly sliced bread on the baking sheet.Brush olive oil on both the sides.Broil in oven till both it turns crispy golden brown, turn to the other side and repeat the same process.

2) Mix all the ingredients under guacamole and keep this aside.(You may add or remove any ingredients in this list to adjust your taste buds)

3) Mix tuna,ground pepper, salt and lime juice and keep this aside.(Leave the tuna chunky)

4) Once the bread slices are ready, take them out and let them cool for few seconds. Top the bread slices with guacamole and then with tuna chunks.Do this step only before eating as the guacamole would turn the bread soggy.

Major ingredients in this dish are avocado and fish, which are of course healthy and little amount of olive oil is innocuous.Hope you all like this recipe and do let me know once you try this.

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1/2 to 1 lb (pieces with bones preferred)
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Ginger – 1 inch (crushed/grated)
Bay leaf – 1
Ground pepper – 1 tsp
Mint/Cilantr/Basil – depending on your taste
Rice noodle – 1/2 lb ( I bought this from local chinese store)

Method:

You may use conventional oven or range top to prepare the stock.

1) In 1.5 litres of water add the chicken pieces and crushed ginger.Allow this to boil in medium low flame for 2 -3 hrs.(350 F for oven).Never let the water boil, all you need is a clear broth.

2) During the final half an hour add bay leaf, cumin powder and pepper powder.

3) Filter the stew. Discard the ginger and the bay leaf. Shred the chicken into small pieces.

4) Make noodles as per instructions on the package.Prepare noodles just before you want to serve the soup.

5) In the soup bowl add very little cilantro/mint/basil, little shredded chicken,scoop of rice noodles and few scoops of chicken stew. Add green chili sauce if you like your soup to be spicy.

Enjoy Pho Ga during a rainy evening and yes, you are in heaven.

Here are the visitors of our backyard during last few weeks.