Idlis in Jackfruit Leaves-Stepwise; Khotte/Khotte Kadubu; Light Meal On Monday - Post 3

Hello!  I couldn’t post anything last Monday as my head was too occupied with Chennai floods disaster and during that week I was feeling to low to cook or post anything elaborate when so many out there in Chennai had lost their homes.

I have a sentimental attachment with the city where I have spent 5 good years of my life, during two stints and have lived their till 8 months back. Many of my blogger friends spent days without power and proper food, I went sleepless during those days, feeling helpless and miserable.

All the while I prayed, that God shows mercy, the rain stops and people could get back to their normal lives. Now that things have normalised in the city, my head and heart can focus back on the blog

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Avarekaalu Akkitari Uppittu Made Using Borosil’s Digi Kook Rice Cooker- A Product Review

Hi!

Here comes the last and final review of the three products, that I had received from Borosil . The previous two reviews can be read here and here.

I can very happily say that this product has become an innate part of my kitchen. My every day rice gets cooked in the Borosil Digi Kook Rice Cooker and I’m very happy with the outcome.

Not only is the rice cooker very sleek and smart looking, with a great finish but the final product cooked in it has always turned out very well. There are days when I get busy with work and the delay timer on the rice cooker has come to my rescue there.

I put the rice in the rice cooker with the delay timer ‘ON’ and get absorbed in my work. The delay timer helps me get a well cooked rice at a time I want. Once the rice gets cooked, it moves into ‘Keep Warm’ mode, so one always gets a hot rice on the plate. Sounds fuss free right!!

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Heralekai Chitranna | Citron Flavoured Rice | Narthangai Saadam | Gluten Free Recipe

 

Hi all!!

As much as I want to post here regularly, I’m unable to. It’s not that I do not cook regularly but some how it’s just not happening. And with exams round the corner, my head is focussing more on the kid who still needs to mature up and show responsibility towards his scores, leaving me a worried Mom. Please do pray for him, a sincere prayer has the strength to move a mountain too.

Last month was Pongal, which is one of the biggest festivals in TamilNadu. Four days of celebrations and most of the people and workers travel back to their native to celebrate the festival with their family. Many new buses and trains are run during this period, keeping the travel rush in mind. It’s believed that 35% population travels back to their native. My maid was no different, she had told me a month in advance that she would be taking leave for 5days.

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Kid’s Lunch Box Ideas| Thin Red Beaten Rice/Poha With Veggies | Step Wise | Vegan

 

Hi!

I had taken an opinion poll on Facebook fan page, on what all of you would like to read next on the blog and I got an overwhelming response and most of them asked for a healthy kid’s lunch box recipe, it goes to show that the prime concern for all mothers is how to feed healthy food to their children.

As a mother of a teenager, I thrive to feed veggies to my son in every possible way. I find his lunch box most crucial as it’s the meal he has at school in the afternoon. I have to keep coming up with ideas which sound interesting to him and he can proudly share with his friends. As I’ve mentioned earlier that his friends look out for his lunch box and a boring lunch box is not what he would like to show to his friends. I can’t give him junk food or a deep fried items regularly too, which he would most happily eat to increase my discomfort.

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Kid's Lunch Box Ideas| Stuffed Cream and Fenugreek Flatbread | भरवाँ मेथी मलाई पराठा | Step Wise

Hi all!!

Fenugreek greens is a family favourite but unfortunately I get to see these greens rarely here. Last week when I visited my vegetable mart, I saw that fresh greens had just arrived and I was tempted to buy all the varieties. But knowing that the greens perish very fast, I controlled my temptations and narrowed my purchase to the fenugreek greens, coriander and mint.

When I returned home and asked S what he wants me to cook with the fenugreek, he gave me his favourite options of Methi Bhaath and Maatvadi Palya. Both I and the kid were in no mood to eat South Indian food, so I asked S to suggest more options, to which he replied conveniently ‘then you decide’. I was a bit annoyed initially that again I had to sit, then I thought of making mushroom methi matar but I didn’t want to go elaborate and make rice, daal, roti  too. I was about to give up and make a simple methi daal but then the grey cells decided to work …

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ज्वारीचा दोसा | Jowar Dosa | Indian Style Sorghum Pancake | Jolladda Dose | Cholai Dosa

Hi!!

Summer has hit now and we are passing through the days of Agninkshatram here. With many guests coming in and going back in these vacations, I’m hardly getting time to try new recipes or click pictures. I’ve many more interesting posts planned for the next month, by which time my life will come to some stability.

I’m always trying to incorporate healthy grains in my diet and the easiest way that I find most of the times is to make a Dosa using them. Married to a South Indian, dosa is heartily welcomed by S and family. I keep changing the proportions of the grains to try new versions.

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Kurdayi Chi Bhaaji :गव्हाच्या कुरडयांची भाजी- A Traditional Recipe Of A Dry Curry Made Using Indian Home Made Wheat Vermicelli like Poppadums | Step Wise

Hi all!!

It’s peak summer time here and while posting this recipe I’m filled with nostalgia. It seems like ages that I would sit patiently with Akka (my granny) and press out the kurdayaa (कुरडया) on plastic sheets under the scorching sun and then leave them to dry. Once in an hour she would make one of the grand children to run to terrace and check whether the birds were not attacking the drying fryums. I do not know what these fryums, made out of wheat are called in other languages, but in Maharashtra they are called कुरडया/Kurdayaa. They are made after soaking the whole wheat in water for 4-5days (water changed every day) and then the wheat is grinded, strained. It is then cooked with equal water, a lot of heeng to add flavour and salt to make a thick shiny mass called the ‘Cheeka’ (चीक​). The चीक​ topped with filtered ground nut oil is a delicacy in itself and my mother and my my maternal aunts relished eating that. My granny ensured that there was enough चीक​ left for the family to eat. I never liked the cheeka but I did love the dried product, kurdaya.

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Kid's Lunch Box Ideas| नवधान्य पूरी | Savoury Deep Fried Indian Bread made using Nine Grains | Dairy Free | Vegan | Winners Of Only Event

Hi!!

Today while I surfed through my old pictures, I landed on these Pooris and realized that I have the recipe lying in my drafts for ages now. I kept wondering how I missed posting this but at the same time was happy too, as it is just the right time for me to post it for my current event ‘Only’ Cooking With Grains running through this month and is guest hosted by Shruti.

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Kid’s Lunch Box Ideas-1 | Bi Coloured Flat Bread Variations- Chequered & Marbled | Step Wise | Vegan

Hi all!!

I keep making variety of paratha/ flatbreads at home trying to incorporate veggies in various forms into them. One can find quite a few variations of parathas here. I prefer to make the parathas of high nutritive value, devoid of maida/ all purpose flour and using minimal oil.

A few days back while surfing the channels I  landed on a Marathi channel where a famous chef  whom I actually admire for his skills, was making a chequered paratha but I found the process quite messy and tedious. Also, the paratha didn’t have the neat chequers but I loved the  idea and hence, it kept surfacing in my thoughts.. I wanted to experiment with my version of flavours, also keeping the nutritive value high and most importantly, wanted to make a neat looking chequered flatbread.

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अवरेकाळु दोसा | Indian Pancake With Hyacinth Beans| Vegan | Gluten Free | Step Wise | Winner Of September’s Only Event

Hi All!!

It is that time of the year when Avarekaalu is seen frequenting in the market and if I notice a good quality beans, I’ve to buy it. It so happened that I bought a big batch of the beans and my MIL got me more from Blr, so I had a lot of peeled avarekalu/mochai/ hyacinth beans at home, ready to use.

Whenever I’ve Avarekalu at home, the things regularly made are the akkitari Uppittu, avarekalu saaru and the akki rotti. Once I went more experimental and tried ambode which did turn out well. Each of these recipes have been posted step wise for people to understand it methodically. I was getting tired of going back to the same recipes again and again. It’s not that I do not like them but one needs more variety to try and savour, isn’t it? Hence, this time I decided to try new recipes using the beans and the first recipe that I laid my hands on was the avarekaalu dosa..

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Kis's Lunch Box Ideas | Brown Rice & Red Beaten Rice Dosa With Onion-Tomato Chutney | Indian Pancake | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Step Wise

Hi All!!

Sorry for being away from the blog all of a sudden..the intention was definitely not to disappear but somehow life became too busy with traveling, then unpacking and getting back to a regular routine..

I’m posting yet another healthy preparation which is perfect for not only pregnant women but any health conscious person. I’m personally trying to move gradually to eating brown rice rather than the polished rice. I had attempted this  preparation using brown rice before we started on a tour and during my travel I had carried my laptop too so that I could finish the post but life was so hectic that I never found time to complete the post. Finally today I’ve just pushed myself to sit in front of the screen and finish the incomplete job.

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अक्का पणजीच उपवासाच थालीपीठ​ | Akka Panaji’s Thalipeeth For Fasting Version I, Step Wise/ Upavasache Thalipeeth

Hi1
Nine days of fasting, the ‘Navaratra’ have recently got over. Many people fasted through all the nine days and a few on selected days. I wanted to post fasting recipes that time but things at home kept me away from active blogging. But this week again has few fasting days which also includes Hanuman Jayanti falling on the 25th, so thought of posting this fasting food, which I loved and now my family likes it too..

I’m posting today a recipe I grew up with, this is my great grand mother’s recipe. Whenever she used to fast, she would make thalipeeth of various kinds and we would eye her as we would only get a bite to taste. I must confess, I’ve never eaten a better thalipeeth than what she made.

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Shahi Dosa, Step By Step Filling & The Winner of March Month’s ‘Only’ Event

 

Hello Friends!!

Firstly apologies for disappearing suddenly, I was just held up with too many things..

Today I’m posting a Dosa recipe very close to my heart. This brings in many childhood memories..Almost once in a month after the Sunday meditation, I and my brother would accompany my parents and visit a vegetarian restaurant called Naivedyam, where I and my dad would religiously order the Shahi dosa and  savor that. While my brother ordered spring rolls and my Mom would order a paav bhaaji or chhole bhature. This happened for several years till the restaurant shut down. My dad also loved their Kashmiri pulao and after the restaurant shut down I tried the preparation

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SOS Pancakes, Stuffed Paneer N Spinach Paratha for The Review Of Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil

 
Hi All!

Last few days have been chaotic and messy, too many things happening and loads to finish with deadlines, the biggest of all the deadlines was finishing revision for the Final exams. The kid appears for his grade 7 exam and had a humongous syllabi to finish and every now and then was seeking my help. I’m taken for granted to clear his doubts and be around when he is studying as he hates being alone.

Besides this I had a carpenter and a plumber along with a mason working fulltime in my house past 4 days. My ears were deafened with all the knock knock and I was tired cleaning the house every now and then. And since all this was not enough my laptop started troubling and I was some how managing with the internet on my cell phone. I’ve a tough time when I’ve to do elaborate things using the cell phone.. Amongst all this mess the good thing that happened was that I received a 2litre can of Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil from BlogAdda with a smiley card along with it, that made my day. I am reviewing healthy heart oil as a part of the BlogAdda's Product Review Program for Indian Bloggers.

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Barley-Hyacinth Bean Upma/ Javaa-Avarekaalu Uppittu

 

Hello again!

I have mentioned several times that my family is a huge fan of avarekaalu/hyacinth beans/field beans/mochai. Come season and I’m ready to peel the tender pods and extract the beautiful seeds, fresh and green. These days we are getting fresh beans and to my delight it has a good flavor too.

Recently on my visit to a gourmet store here, I picked some barley dalia or barley’s coarse meal. I wanted to use it in an innovative way, especially since I was cooking the barley dalia for the first time. I was super excited with the preparation I wanted to try and at the same time apprehensive too. I thought for the first time I was getting a bit ambitious since I did not know how much time it would take to cook but I had used pearl barley in my cooking earlier, so that helped me. .. I realized while cooking, that’s what the foodie in me wanted, some adrenalin rush and then a hopefully a decent foodie treat at the end…

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Watermelon Rind Thalipeeth..a treat for fasting days | तरबूज के सफेद भाग का उपवास के लिए थालीपीठ | Step Wise | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Hi.

In a traditional Maharashtrian family fasting is quite regular. fasting on Ekadashi, Chaturthi is quite common, apart from that some people do fast on Tuesdays/Mangalwar or Thursdays/Guruwar or any one day of the week. On such days they stick to fasting food that is, no grains are eaten and only satvik food is eaten like sabudana, bhagar, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Even salt used is not the common salt but sendha namak is used. In these months, many people fast for Shravan Somvaar  i.e. the Mondays of Monsoon and a few fast on Fridays too.

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Vermicelli Omelet

Hi all!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer holidays. So what all have you been up to? I’m all set to leave for a  family function, this month end and looking forward to the break. The heat and humidity is just killing here and not to mention the nonsensical power cuts, makes you feel so dizzy at times.

The heat has made me so irritable that I’m just not myself these days but that still does not let me skip kitchen. The kitchen is a fuming furnace where each and every pore of your body cries and sheds tears..am I exaggerating too much..but honestly, one sweats so much these days..

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Jhunka - Chapati..DH’s favourite breakfast, from Karnataka

Hi All!

Today again I’m sharing another favourite of S. This is easily the easiest way of making DH happy. He loves this preparation a lot and now me too.

When I tasted this preparation for the first time I had a major discussion with DH. When my MIL informed me that she was making Chapati-Jhunka for the breakfast, I had visualised roti and a dry besan curry, as in North and Central India chapati means the ‘basic phulka’ or ‘roti’ and Jhunka in Marathi means ‘dry besan curry’. Actually there’s always a confusion with those terms too, because in all Maharashtrian homes, Jhunka is dry besan (chickpea flour) curry and Pithala means a  thick curry with besan. But if you have ever visited a Jhunka-Bhakar Kendra in Maharashtra, they actually serve the Pithala (wet version) with Bhakari.

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Couscous and Corn Idli

Hi All!

For this month’s  Blog Hop Wednesday’s started by Radhika of Tickling Palates, I was paired with Priya of Now Serving. I had an opportunity of meeting this multi talented lady recently. She is not only a great cook but a Bharatnatyam dancer too. She teaches Bharatnatyam  in US. I was definitely in a fix on what to attempt from her space. I was bowled over by her post on the different versions of Hummus recently and I wanted to try that but since the theme of this month’s event is ‘Only’ South Indian, I decided to make an instant version of Idli.

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Instant Broken Wheat & Oats Idli with Oats and Coconut Chutney and Winner of ‘Only’ Sprouts

Hi Friends!

I have posted my 300th post and the excitement of announcing the giveaways is finally sinking in. It was a small celebration time for my ‘blog baby’. The way we take care of our blog and spend so much time feeding it with our work, I guess all bloggers would agree calling it  our ‘baby’.

Like the blog needs nourishment of good work to grow and flourish our body needs healthy food. Breakfast is an important meal of the day and take it very seriously. I might skip my dinner but never the breakfast. I try to provide my family a healthy and wholesome breakfast which gives them a feeling of properly filled and not over fed. I use sprouts, Oats, daliya (broken wheat), Red Poha, Ragi and various flours to make a healthy and tasty breakfast.

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