Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dry Gobi (Cauliflower) with Spring Onions

First, I would like to thank Valarmathi of Simple and Yummy Recipes, for passing me the Blogging Friends Forever award. I am so excited about receiving the award again, and all the friends I have made, and will make through this blog! I would love to pass this award to all the bloggers who visit and continue to encourage me to keep posting...

To begin with the Cauliflower with Spring Onions (scallion, green onion, salad onion), this is the first time I made something with spring onions. I never knew what to do with them, and was quite lost when R bought a pack when he shopped for groceries one weekend. I did google for recipes, but was more confused with all the results which were alien to me (I don't make salads! Yeah, not a healthy eater).

Thankfully, R had also bought cauliflower, and I decided I'd just chop those spring onions into whatever I would make with the cauliflower. I normally use onions, and therefore, it was easy to substitute them with the spring onions, including the green leaves. To make Dry Gobi with Spring Onions, you will need:

Gobi/ Cauliflower - 4-5 cups of evenly broken florets

When cooking, the outer leaves and thick stalks are removed, leaving only the florets. The leaves are also edible, but are most often discarded. The florets should be broken into similar-sized pieces so they are cooked evenly. After eight minutes of steaming, or five minutes of boiling, the florets should be soft, but not mushy (depending on size). Stirring while cooking can break the florets into smaller, uneven pieces. - Wikipedia

Spring Onions - chopped - about 2 cups
Tomatoes - chopped - 3 large
Green chilly - sliced - 1
Ginger - peeled and pounded - 1 tbsp
Garlic - peeled and pounded - 2 tsp/ 3-4 medium sized cloves
Lemon - 1/2 slice
Coriander leaves - chopped - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Jeera/ Cumin seeds powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 2 cups
Salt - to taste


Method:
  • After breaking the washed cauliflower florets into similar-sized pieces, boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan, remove from stove, add the cauliflower pieces, squeeze the lemon juice over it, add about a tsp of salt, mix well, and leave covered for 30 minutes.
Note: This does not cook the cauliflower. This helps to clean the cauliflower, and retain the white colour of the cauliflower.
  • Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped spring onions, ginger, garlic, green chilly, and tomatoes
  • Mix well, and toss in all the powders except pepper and garam masala
  • Keep covered, and cook on low flame until tomatoes are cooked, stirring in between

  • Drain the water completely from the cauliflower pieces, and add them to the tomato-spring onion mixture
  • Add the garam masala powder, pepper, and salt to taste and mix well, taking care not to break the cauliflower
  • Leave this to cook for another 5-10 minutes, covered and on low flame, until the cauliflower pieces are cooked well, but not mushy
  • Garnish with chopped coriander leaves


Serve with chapathi/ roti

Below, I have a picture of the same dish prepared with normal onions, instead of spring onions. As you will notice, the cauliflower became a little mushy and broken in this one:D

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Pal Payasam, and Tagged Again!

I decided today that I would celebrate a month of blogging with Pal Payasam (Milk Porridge?). I generally avoid preparation of sweets at home (my standard special-occasion sweet or dessert is semiya/ vermicelli payasam), and this seemed to be the tastier alternative, though time-consuming!


To make the Pal Payasam in the picture, you will need:

Rice - 2 cups
Milk - 5-6 cups
Ghee - 3 tbsp (I love cow ghee, especially in sweets! If you are health conscious, use less ghee, or a healthier alternative - I wouldn't know what, though :-( )

If you pre-cook the rice, and use the cooked rice in the payasam you will require less milk. However, the taste and flavour of the payasam is best if you use only milk to cook the rice. The 1:2 ratio of rice:water will not work here. The type of rice depends on you - boiled or raw rice, brown or white or basmati rice, etc. I have not tried it with all varieties either, so I cannot comment. I suppose (and hope) you could make this with all varieties too! But, make sure you have enough milk to cook the rice in it, as rice varieties differ in time taken to cook.

Cashew - 1/4 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Cloves - 1 tbsp
Cardamom pods - 1 tbsp - crushed
Sugar - 1 cup (OR to taste, I do not like too much sweet and try to restrict the use of sugar!)

Method:

  • Heat ghee on low flame in a pan and roast the raisins and cashews and cardamom and cloves, and keep aside
  • Wash the rice really well, soak in warm water for 30 minutes
  • Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pan, and when it begins to boil, add the rice and stir well
  • Keep on low flame and leave to cook uncovered with every-5-minute-check-and-stir process until the rice is cooked and soft (just grab a spoon, dig a few grains of rice out and chew)
  • Add sugar and the ghee with the roasted mixture, and keep stirring slowly for about 5 minutes on low flame
  • Remove and keep aside to cool, half-covered

Serve warm, or chill and serve later, depending on your choice of hot or cold dessert


Tagged Again

Rekha of Rekha's Kitchen has tagged me. Thank you, Rekha! I have already done this, you can read through my answers.

Monday, July 28, 2008

A Month Old, The 30th Post, And An Award


Hi friends!

I am so happy and excited to say that this blog has lasted a month. For all the veterans and regular bloggers out there, this must sound like a joke, but believe me, this is a huge achievement for a procrastinator like me! I have started many blogs before, and they always died within a week, because I was lazy to post. I am glad I am posting here today!

Coincidentally, this is the 30th post, and I feel elated to announce an award too!

Thanks to Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen and Rashmi of En Vittu Virundhu for passing the Blogging Friends Forever award to me.

This award inspires me to continue blogging and make friends with all the fellow bloggers (in the foodie blog world atleast).


The following rules apply to this award:

1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 of them followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

Pl Note: But for the rules of this award, I would have loved to pass this to every single person who has visited my blog and left a note or two...

I am passing this to:

Priti of Indian Khana
Sireesha of Mom's Recipes
and
Cynthia of Tastes Like Home, from Barbados, who is a new visitor to my blog

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Pomegranate Juice and Magic Lamp!

I have recovered from the cold and cough that I was suffering from the last few days, and though it has started raining again, the humid atmosphere made me want to have a nice refreshing drink. I had gone out to buy fruits just yesterday and found really nice pomegranates. Picked two large ones, and decided to make a really nice drink.

I was inspired by Usha's watermelon and ginger combo at Samaikalam Vanga, and decided to use honey instead of sugar.



To make the Pomegranate Juice (serves two) you will need:

Pomegranate - 1 large - separate the red arils - as explained below:

"After opening the pomegranate by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the arils (seed casings) are separated from the peel and internal white pulp membranes. Separating the red arils is simplified by performing this task in a bowl of water, whereby arils sink and pulp floats. " - Wikipedia

Ginger - medium sized, peeled and cut - 1
Honey - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Ice cubes - 5-6

Method:
  • Blend all the ingredients except ice cubes, strain well, and serve with the ice cubes


This drink goes to a lot of events:

The Return of the Genie

Cooking Station first passed the Magic Lamp of Luck to me.

Then, Sireesha of Mom's Recipes passed the Magic Lamp of Luck.

Now, Priti of Indian Khana has passed the Magic Lamp of Luck to me. I am three times lucky!:-) Thank you Soumya, Lakshmi, Sireesha, and Priti

The mighty Genie King and the beautiful Genie Princess from the magical Land of Faraway are back! Upon escaping the clutches of their Evil Master after being held captive for 1000 years, the magical genies have been busy flying on their Magical Flying Carpet, granting wishes and spreading love throughout the blogosphere.And now, the genies are back with a special gift for everyone! Behold the sacred, Magic Lamp of Luck! With this magic lamp, your blog will enjoy much good luck and fortune, warding off all things evil lurking around in the blogosphere. We would like to share this magic lamp with you so please pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to those in need of some good luck. Remember, do not be greedy or unkind, evil or vengeful and good luck & fortune will always be with you! Join us on another exciting magical adventure as we spread goodwill and good luck to one and all!

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1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Magic Lamp of Luck.

2. Pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to as many people as you like. After all, everyone needs some good luck!

3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Magic Lamp of Luck. Once the Genie King and Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.

4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!

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I would like to pass the Magic Lamp of Luck to:

Nags of Edile Garden

Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen

Sameera of Foodiiee

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Chembu/ Arabi - Buttermilk Sabji, and Tag 2

Ever since I read this post by Sunshinemom, I have been wishing to lay my hands on Arabi (Taro corms/ Colocasia / Chembu in Malayalam/ Chemadampa in Telugu), and post this recipe.

Vegetable shopping is reserved for weekends at my place and I had to be patient. This recipe is a variation of my mother's; she makes it a full-fledged gravy curry with coconut as a base, while I like it without the gravy, or rather semi-dry, if I can call it that. In my version, I also omit the coconut.

To make the Arabi Sabji seen in the picture, you will need:

Arabi - washed (better scrubbed with a vegetable scrub brush) - 1/2 kg

Buttermilk - 1/4 cup (Not the very thin buttermilk got after adding water; just blend 2-3 tbsp of fresh curd with less amount of water for 3-5 minutes and separate cream on top, if any)

Green chilly - sliced - 1
Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera/ Cumin seeds powder - 1/2 tsp
Methi/ Fenugreek seeds powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/4-1/2 tsp (per taste)
Coconut - grated - 1/2 cup (optional)
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method Without Coconut:

  • Steam the washed arabi in a steamer (or along with rice, if using rice cooker) until knife-tender (I always use a knife for this purpose!) and leave to cool and dry
  • Peel the skin, and cut into slightly thick circles, and mix the pieces in the buttermilk with salt
  • Heat oil in a pan and temper mustard seeds, toss in the curry leaves, green chilly, ginger-garlic paste, and turmeric, jeera, methi powders
  • Roast the powders on low flame for a minute, and add the vegetable in buttermilk
  • Keep stirring on low flame until semi-wet/ dry, without separating
  • Sprinkle the pepper on top and leave on hot stove until serving time

Method With coconut:

  • Grind the grated coconut along with turmeric, jeera, methi powders
  • After tempering mustard seeds in oil, and adding curry leaves, green chilly, ginger-garlic paste, add the coconut paste and stir well
  • Add the steamed, peeled, and cut vegetable into the paste, mix well and leave covered for 3-5 minutes
  • Finally, add the buttermilk (if you wish to have more gravy curry, use 1/2 cup buttermilk), and stir until slight boil on low flame, without the buttermilk separating
  • You can add pepper at the end to the curry

Serve with rice, chapathi

Wait, there's more! I have been tagged twice in the same week.

Rashmi has tagged me.

Before I get to the Qs and answer them, the rules for this tag are as follows:

"At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 or 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers."

1.What was I doing ten years ago?
A. Studying in college as a second year engineering student!

2. Five things on Today's "To do" list
A. Decide what to make for breakfast tomorrow, Organise daughter's room and cupboard (again!), Call a friend, Read the recent copy of Outlook, and Publish this post!

3.I am addicted to :
A. Rice, I can't sleep without eating a little rice at night!; Checking my email, orkut, and this blog atleast twice a day

4.Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
A. Travel the world, buy books and read, and put rest of the money in a bank

5. Places I have lived:
A. Kannur, Muscat, Trivandrum (if stay in hostel for 3 months is living!), Hyderabad, Mumbai

I would like to pass on this tag to Bharti, Illatharasi, Purva, Valarmathi, and Vegetable Platter.