Spinach Stems Stir-fry

Stir-Fried Spinach Stems

As we all knew, spinach is packed with lots of nutrients and vitamins. Whenever I get fresh spinach from the market, I remove the stems and use the leaves to make dal. But I don’t throw those stems away as I don’t want to waste the nutrients. I use them to make a stir-fry or sometimes chutney. Of course sometimes I just add these stems to the dal along with the leaves. I must say the stir-fry tasted so delicious. 

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Oil Free Red Hot Chili-Tomato Pickle

This is also another instant pickle that can be prepared in a jiffy just like instant cucumber pickle I posted before. No frying is required for this pickle, only grinding is required. Isn’t that easy?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh Red Chilies (not dry kind)


• 1 Tomato


• 2 tsp Tamarind Pulp


• Salt

Preparation:

Remove stalks of the red chilies, wash well and wipe each chili with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. The chilies should be dry with no moisture on them. Keep aside.

Cut tomato into medium pieces and add these to the mixer along with the red chilies + tamarind pulp + salt and blend into a fine paste. Do not add any water to this pickle. As tomatoes already contain some water in them, it is enough to grind the pickle. Adjust salt.

That’s all! The red hot chili-tomato pickle is ready! This pickle goes well with both rice and dosas. When eating with rice, be sure to add ghee before mixing, as this pickle, as I said is red hot! It’ll burn the tongue if eaten in a large quantity and without any ghee.

Only those who would like to eat spicy red hot stuff, try this pickle. And use only a little amount of pickle per serving as it is enough to spice up the taste buds!

Don’t blame me later that I didn’t warn you, :)

Here is a small trick that my hubby did to reduce the spiciness of this pickle! He dry roasted a handful of black gram (Urad dal, Minappappu) and a small piece of green bell pepper, added it to the pickle and ground it again by adjusting salt. It made the spice level go down a little. So if you don’t like too spicy pickle, you can use this trick.

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Carrot Shake

A delicious combo of carrots, banana and horlicks

As always, this weekend I prepared this shake with mixing different healthy ingredients. It turned out very delicious! 

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All Lined Up!

I am reposting some of my old posts to send for dear Pallavi’s “Sunday Snacks - Fix It” event. I wanted to send a new entry for the event, but couldn’t find time to make it! So thought of sending these old posts and post a new one when I can make something.

All the snacks and sweets that I listed below are super easy to prepare and involve very limited cooking process and time. Click on the title to read the specific recipe.

Snacks

Corn Chat

Green Apple Snack

Roasted Chana (Dalia) Chat

Sweets

Coconut Pudding

Moong Dal Laddus

Wheat Laddu

These are my contribution to “Sunday Snacks - Fix It” event hosted by Pallavi. Sunday Snacks event is the brainchild of Hima.

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Corn Masala Rice

Corn and I are the best friends! I like corn so much that I can just eat a bowl of corn for lunch and nothing else! Here is a rice variety I usually prepare with corn.

BTW, I clicked these pictures at night with the trick I told at Anudivya’s place. I just switched off the lights in the room, clicked it using the camera’s flash. Don’t you think they came out good? I used the same trick for the pictures of Banana Bread that I posted earlier.

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice – 2 cups
• Corn Kernels – 1 cup
• Green Peas – 1 cup
• Chili Powder – 1 tsp
• Sambar Powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala – ½ tsp
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp
• Some broken Cashews
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
• Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
• A handful of Cilantro
• Salt as required

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add cumin seeds and fry a little while.

Then add the cashews and sauté till they turn brown in color. Later add corn + peas + cilantro + sambar masala + garam masala + chili powder + sugar + turmeric and fry for some time. Add a cup of water to cook the corn. Masalas can be adjusted according to individual spice levels.

When all the water gets absorbed add cooked rice + lemon juice and mix well. Adjust salt. Keep the pan on the flame for some time and stir well. Then switch off the flame and leave the pan on the stove for 5 minutes.

Finally transfer corn masala rice to a serving plate and enjoy with some curd on side.

This is my contribution to Srivalli’s “Rice Mela”.

On a Different Note:

I am so happy that I have so many lovely blogger friends who always think about me. I happily got wet again in the rain of awards! Here goes:

• Hema Balji has passed “Perfect Blend of Friendship, Yum Yum Blog, Hard working blogger, Great Buddy, Kreativ Blogger” awards.


• Vibaas has passed the “Yum Yum Blog” award.


• Dibs has passed “Hard working blogger, Great Buddy, Kreativ Blogger, Butterfly, Inspiration, Chocoholic, Perfect Blend of Friendship, 360⁰ Foodie, Good Job” awards.


• Indrani has passed “Hard working blogger, Great Buddy, Kreativ Blogger, Butterfly, Inspiration, Chocoholic, Perfect Blend of Friendship, 360⁰ Foodie, Good Job” awards.

Thank you so much for your friendship dear friends! I appreciate your nice gestures!

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Eggless Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips – For a Worthy Cause

Eggless Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Now, don’t look at me with a puzzled face if I say I never baked bread before! Yes, true! Though I am not new to baking and baked some goodies before, I never put my hand into baking bread. But, now a great opportunity has come my way to bake my first bread for a worthy cause. 

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Microwave Milk Sweet (Doodh Peda)

This is the easiest and yummiest sweet. The credit goes to my sister who made these for us when we last visited her. Thank you sis for this wonderful sweet!

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An Old Post and Some Sweet Surprises

I just felt lazy to post some new post today, so posting an old post of mine which I am sending to two wonderful events:

1. AFAM: Cherry hosted by Rachel, an event started by Maheshwari.
2. FIC - Purple & Black, hosted by Sunshinemom.

Click on the picture or the title to read the recipe. 

Salubrious Smoothie (Cherry Berry Smoothie)

Then coming to the sweet surprises, I was showered again with some beautiful awards from my dear friends.

Purva, Priya and Yasmeen have passed the “Kreativ Award”. This is a combination of an award and a 7 things meme.

Here goes my meme:

7 Things I Say More Often:

1. Oh really!
2. Sure!
3. Hmmm..!
4. Yep..!
5. Thank You!
6. OMG!
7. O.K.!

7 Things I Did Before:

1. Learned to play Veena, the musical instrument
2. Enjoyed my time with family and friends, of course I do this all the time.
3. Did lots of experiments on food
4. Read many books
5. Improved computer skills
6. Enjoyed window shopping (Of course I do that now also)
7. Visited beautiful countries like Hong Kong and Japan!

7 Things I do now:

1. Blogging gets the first place
2. Doing experiments with food
3. Watching music based programs on TV
4. Doing Yoga for fitness
5. Enjoying time with family
6. Making new friends like you all!
7. Chatting with family in India

7 Things I Want to do:

1. Spend more time on stitching
2. Come back to ideal weight
3. Make healthy habits
4. Learn to sing
5. Make more friends
6. Develop my dream garden
7. Enjoy with family and friends

7 Things That Attract Me About Opposite Sex:

1. Honest
2. Affectionate
3. Humorous
4. Patient
5. Helpful
6. Dignified
7. Sharing

7 Favourite Foods:

1. Rice
2. Fruits
3. French Fries
4. Butter Cookies
5. All kinds of rotis
6. Spicy pickles and curries
7. Milkshakes

Vidhas, Priya and Yasmeen have passed the “Great Buddy Award”.

Vidhas and Priya have passed the “Perfect Blend of Friendship”.

Vidhas has also passed the “Hardworking Blogger” award.

Ramya has created a beautiful award to share with friends. She named it “360⁰ Foodie Award”.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THE AWARDS DEAR FRIENDS! YOU MADE MY DAY!

I am passing all the awards back to all the friends who have passed those to me and also to some other friends.

Purva Desai, Vidhas, Priya, Yasmeen, Ramya Vijaykumar, Suma Rajesh, Swati, Lubna, Rekha, Cham, Anudivya, Sowmya, Madhavi, Ranji, Vibaas, Karuna, Mahimaa, Lakshmi, Divya Vikram, Laavanya, Rachel, Indranee, Sra, Sunshinemom, Rosie, Pavani, Sangeeth, Shibani.

CONGRATS TO ALL OF YOU FRIENDS! YOU ALL DESERVE THESE!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

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Fruity Curdy Shake

Usually every Sunday is our fruit/vegetable shake day! You might have seen different kinds of shakes I posted before. This is one such shake my hubby and daughter have prepared on one Sunday. They presented it in a pretty way.

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Banana Pepper Fries

Delicious Fries made with banana peppers dipped in wheat flour

When I visited the groceries last time, these bright yellow chilies (Banana Peppers) caught my attention. Just picked those and brought home (of course I paid for those!). At first I thought of making chutney with these, but ended up with making these delicious fries. (I stored some chilies in the freezer for chutney of course!)

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Glossary of Food Items

I always wanted to make a list for the meanings of common food items. Finally I managed to do it. If I miss anything, let me know. I shall add them to the glossary. If any blank spaces are seen, it might be that I couldn’t find the meanings. If anyone knows the particular meaning, please let me know. Don’t hesitate to point out any mistakes or additions.

Dairy Products

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Butter	Venna	Makhan
Butter Milk	Majjiga	Chaas
Clarified Butter	Neyyi	Ghee
Cottage Cheese	Junnu	Paneer
Cream	Meegada	Malai
Milk	Paalu	Doodh
Yogurt or Curd	Perugu	Dahi

Dry Fruits and Nuts

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Almond	Baadam pappu	Badaam
Cashew	Jeedi Pappu	Kaju
Currants, Raisins	Endu Draksha	Kishmish
Dates	Kharjooram	Khajoor
Peanut/Ground Nut	Veru Senaga Pappu	Mung phali
Pistachio	Pista Pappu	Pista
Walnut	Akrut Kaya	Akrut

Flours

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
All-Purpose Flour or Plain Flour	Maida	Maida
Black Gram Flour	Minapa Pindi	Urad Flour
Chickpea Flour or Gram Flour	Senagapindi	Besan
Finger Millet Flour	Raagi Pindi	Ragi
Millet Flour	Jonna Pindi	Bajra
Rice Flour	Biyyapu Pindi	Chaawal Ka Atta
Semolina	Upma Rava	Sooji
Wheat Flour	Godhuma Pindi	Atta

Fruits

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Apple	Apple Pandu	Sabe
Banana	Arati Pandu	Kela
Black Berries	Neredu Pandlu	Jamoon
Custard Apple	Sita Phalam	Sita Phal
Grapes	Draaksha Pandlu	Angoor
Guava	Jama Pandu	Amrood
Jackfruit	Panasa Pandu	Kathal
Mango	Maamidi Pandu	Aam
Musk Melon, Cantaloupe	Kirani Kaya	Kharbooja
Orange	Naarinja, Kamala Pandu	Santra, Mosambi
Papaya	Boppayi Pandu	Papita
Pear	Beri Kaya	Nashpati
Pineapple	Anasa Pandu	Ananas
Plum	Albukhara	Aloobukhara
Pomegranate	Daanimma Pandu	Anar
Sapodilla	Sapota	Chickoo
Watermelon	Puchchakaaya	Tarbooj

Herbs

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Basil	Tulasi	Tulsi
Bay Leaf	Biryani Aaku	Tej Patta
Cilantro	Kottimeera	Dhania
Curry Leaves	Karivepaku	Kadipatta
Dry Fenugreek Leaves	Endu Menthi Aakulu	Kasoori Methi
Fenugreek Leaves	Menthi Aakulu	Methi
Mint	Pudina	Pudina

Oils

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Coconut Oil	Kobbari Noone	Naariyal Ka Tel
Groundnut Oil	Verusenaga Noone	Mungphali Ka Tel
Mustard Oil	Aava Noone	Sarson Ka Tel
Olive Oil	Olive Oil	Zeeton Ka Tel
Sesame Oil	Nuvvula Noone	Til Ka Tel

Others

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Beaten Rice	Atukulu	Poha, Chiwda
Betel Leaves	Thamalpaakulu	Paan
Dry Ginger Powder	Sonti	Sonth
Egg	Guddu	Anda
Honey	Taene	Shahad
Indian Gooseberry	Usirikaya	Amla
Jaggery	Bellam	Gud
Oil	Noone	Tel
Puffed Rice	Murmuralu/Borugulu	Murmura
Rice	Biyyam	Chaaval
Sago	Saggu Biyyam	Sabudana
Salt	Uppu	Namak
Sugar	Chakkera, Panchadaara	Cheeni
Sugarcane	Cheruku	Gannah, Eekh
Tamarind	Chintapandu	Imli
Vermicelli	Semiya	Seviyan

Pulses

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Bengal Gram	Pachi Senaga Pappu	Chana Dal
Pigeon Peas	Kandi Pappu	Toor Dal
Split Black Gram	Minappappu	Urad Dal
Split Green Gram	Pesara Pappu	Moong Dal

Spices

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Asafetida	Inguva	Hing
Black Salt	--------	Kaala Namak
Cardamom	Yelakulu	Elaichi
Cinnamon	Daalchin Chekka	Dalchini
Cloves	Lavangaalu	Laung
Dry Mango Powder	Maamidikaya Orugu Podi	Amchoor
Garlic	Vellulli, Tellagadda	Lasan
Ginger	Allam	Adrak
Mace	Jaapatri	Javithri
Nutmeg	Jaji Kaya	Jaiphal
Peppercorns	Miriyalu	Kaali Mirch
Red Chili	Erra Mirapakaayalu	Lal Mirch
Saffron	Kumkuma Puvvu	Kesar
Turmeric	Pasupu	Haldi

Seeds

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Aniseed	Sompu	Saunf
Caraway Seeds	Nallagilakara	Shajeera
Carom Seeds	Vaamu	Ajwain
Coriander Seeds	Dhaniyaalu	Dhaniya
Cumin Seeds	Jeela Karra	Jeera
Fenugreek Seeds	Menthulu	Methi
Mustard Seeds	Aavaalu	Rai
Nigella/Onion seeds	-------	Kalonji
Poppy Seeds	Gasagasaalu	Khuskhus
Sesame Seeds	Nuvvulu	Til

Vegetables

ENGLISH	TELUGU	HINDI
Ash Gourd	Boodida Gummadi Kaaya	Petha
Bitter Gourd	Kakarakaya	Karela
Bottle Gourd	Sorakaaya, Aanapakaaya	Lauki, Doodhi
Cabbage	Kyabeji	Patta Gobi
Capsicum, Bell Pepper	Simla or Benguluru Mirapakaya	Simla Mirch
Carrot	----------	Gajar
Cauliflower	Puvvu	Phool Gobi
Cluster Beans	Goru Chikkudu	Gowar Beans
Colocasia	Chema Dumpa, Chema Gadda	Arbi
Corn/Maize	Mokka Jonnalu	Makkai, Bhutta
Cucumber	Dosakaaya	Kheera
Drumstick	Mulakkada, Munagakaaya	Shingphali
Eggplant, Brinjal	Vankaya	Baingan
Green Chili	Pachi Mirapakaayalu	Hari Mirchi
Lime or Lemon	Nimmakaaya	Nimbu
Mushrooms	Puttagodugulu	Goochi, Dhingri
Okra	Benda Kaaya	Bhindi
Onion	Ullipaaya, Erra Gadda	Kanda Pyaaz
Papaya	Boppayi Kaaya	Papita
Peas	Batani	Matar
Potato	Alu Gadda, Urla Gadda	Aloo
Pumpkin	Gummadi Kaaya	Kadhu
Radish	Mullangi	Mooli
Ridge Gourd	Beerakaaya	Tori
Snake Gourd	Potlakaya	Chachinda
Sorrel Leaves	Gongura	Ambadi
Spinach	Paalakoora	Palak
Sweet Potato	Genusugadda, Chilagadadumpa	Shakarkand
Tomato	Tomato	Tamatar

Thanks Sra and Rekha for helping me with some meanings! Thank you S.G.S. for helping with the Telugu meaning of Dry Mango Powder. I updated the meanings.

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Gulab Jamuns with Assorted Cookies

Yes, I made Gulab Jamuns with assorted cookies. My kids buy many kinds of cookies, but never finish those. So we always end up with lot of leftover cookies. Sometimes I throw away the leftover cookies, but sometimes I recycle those by making bajjis. This time I thought different, so made gulab jamuns with these cookies. Trust me, the gulab jamuns turned out perfect and tasted great too! Give it a try and you’ll agree with me!

Ingredients: (Makes 32 Jamuns)

For Jamuns:

• All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 1 cup
• Powdered Assorted Cookies (Except Salt Crackers) – 1 cup
• Baking Powder – ¼ tsp
• A pinch of Baking Soda
• Ghee – ½ tsp
• Some milk as needed to mix
• Oil to deep fry

For Syrup:

• Sugar – 3 cups
• Water – 2 cups
• Cardamom Seeds – ¼ tsp

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients under “For Jamuns” except oil using some milk (use as needed). Make it like chapathi dough. Take small portions of the dough and shape into a ball. These measurements make 32 small balls.

Heat oil in a deep-bottomed pan and drop these balls carefully in batches. Fry till the balls turn golden brown in color. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel.

Meanwhile, pour sugar and water (for syrup) in a different bowl and heat on medium flame until the sugar mixture boils. Add some cardamom seeds for nice aroma. Leave the syrup until the sugar dissolves well and switch off the flame. Keep aside.

Then drop the fried jamuns into the sugar syrup and leave it for some time until the jamuns absorb the sugar syrup. The jamuns can be placed in a refrigerator if you wish to eat them cold.

Enjoy the delicious Gulab Jamuns whenever you want!

Sending these yummy jamuns to Mythreyee’s “Sweet series - Milk sweets with spongy texture” event.

On a Different Note:

Thank you, Rajeswari Vijayanand and Vij for passing me the “Chocoholic Award”.

Thank you, Indranee and Hemabalaji for passing me the “Butterfly Award”.

Thank you for thinking about me friends!

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Sweet Pongal (Chakra Pongali)

I know I am posting this so late. This is one of the delicious treats that are prepared during festivals. I made this sweet pongal on Diwali day. Check out my version of this sweet pongal.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Rice, uncooked


• ½ cup Split Moong Dal (Pesara Pappu, Yellow Lentils)


• 2 cups Sugar


• 3 cups Milk


• 1 tsp Cashews


• 1 tsp Raisins


• ¼ tsp Cardamom Seeds


• 1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
  

Method:

Mix rice and dal together, wash well and pressure cook till cooked. Don’t add any salt.

Meanwhile, in a non-stick bowl or thick bottomed bowl, heat ghee and add cashews along with cardamom seeds and fry till the cashews turn golden brown in color. Then add raisins along with milk and sugar and mix well.

Leave the milk and sugar mixture on the stove for some time on a medium flame until the milk boils and starts to thicken. Keep stirring now and then.

Later add the cooked rice and dal mixture to the boiling milk and mix very well. Leave it again for on a low flame for 2 minutes and switch off the flame.

Enjoy this sweet pongal either at room temperature or cold.

This is my contribution to “Festive Food: Diwali” hosted by Priti.

I am also sending this to Srivalli's "Rice Mela".

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For the Challenge!

Here is an interesting event going on in the blogosphere. Dear Veda Murthy of Iyengar’s Kitchen is challenging us to create some recipes that should use only limited ingredients as she mentioned in the rules. I have some recipes that are suitable for this challenge, so thought of reposting those for this wonderful challenge! Hope these are suitable for the challenge, what do you say Veda?

Alright! Here goes the list. Click on the picture or the title of the dish to read the recipe.

Instant Cucumber Pickle

Mango Pickle

Millet Dosa

Potato Pancakes

I am sending all these to Veda’s “Challenge” with fingers crossed.

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