Nutty Fruit Shake

I love milkshakes and smoothies. So I try different combinations of healthy and yummy milk shakes. This is another such yummy shake I recently tried.

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Vankaaya Menthi Kaaram (Eggplants spiced with Fenugreek Seeds)

This is a different way to eat eggplants. Fenugreek seeds give a slight bitter taste to this dish, but it didn’t dominate the overall taste. The tamarind used in the recipe, subsides the bitterness to some extent. Try this curry and I hope you’ll like it. I saw this recipe on a TV show and jotted it down immediately. We liked it so much.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Eggplant, cubed
• Tamarind, gooseberry sized (soaked in little water for some time)
• A pinch of Turmeric Powder
• 2 or 3 tsp Black Gram (Minappappu, Urad Dal)
• ½ tsp Fenugreek Seeds (Menthulu, Methi)
• 3 dry red Chilies
• ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
• 3 tsp Oil
• Salt

Preparation:

Extract juice from the soaked tamarind and pour it in a pan. To this add the eggplant pieces + salt + turmeric, cover and heat on a medium flame until it comes to a boil and eggplant absorbs the tamarind water and becomes dry and soft.

While the eggplant pieces are cooking, heat another pan and add some oil. To this add black gram + fenugreek seeds + mustard seeds + red chilies and fry until they turn golden brown in color. Then grind this into a fine/coarse powder by adding little salt.

Add this powder to the boiled eggplant pieces and mix well. Pour a little oil on top, cover and allow it to cook for 2 minutes. Keep the flame on low.

Finally turn off the flame and enjoy the yummy eggplant curry with steaming hot rice. Yummy!!

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Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice a well known rice dish that most of us prepare. I would like to write about my version of coconut rice. It’s a quick dish and is so satisfying in taste. I usually prepare this when I am in a hurry and have no veggies at home.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Cooked Rice
• 1 cup grated Coconut, fresh or dry
• A small Onion, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
• ½ tsp Red Chili Powder
• Few Curry Leaves
• A pinch of Turmeric
• Few Cashews
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tsp Oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds + onion + green chilies + cashews + curry leaves and sauté well for some time until onions become soft.

Then add coconut and fry well for some time. And then add rice + turmeric and mix well to make sure there are no lumps. Add salt and red chili powder and mix well. Cover and keep the rice on low flame for 5 minutes and turn off the flame.

Great tasting coconut rice is ready!! Enjoy with some papads or plain yogurt.

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Coco-Cocoa Balls

I made these for my daughter’s b’day party. Kids liked these sweet balls so much. These are so simple to make and taste so delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated Coconut, dry or fresh
• 1 cup Cocoa Powder
• ¼ cup Milk
• ½ tsp Vanilla Essence
• ½ cup Sugar

Preparation:

Heat a non-stick pan and add all the ingredients except milk and vanilla essence. Keep stirring for some time and add milk and vanilla essence and mix well.

Again keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Then remove the pan from the flame and keep aside to become less warm.

When it is still warm but easy to handle, take small portions and roll into balls. Again roll these balls in some grated coconut for coating.

Spread on a plate for some time until they become dry. Then store in an airtight container. These will be good for 2 weeks or even more if refrigerated.

These are soft and chewy and so tasty. Enjoy!!

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Banana Flower Chutney (Arati Puvvu Pachadi)

What is a Banana Flower?

It is nothing but a flower which grows at the end of the stem that holds a bunch of bananas. It looks dark purple on the outside with layers of leaves or bracts wrapped tightly around each other that contain rows of thin, pale colored flowers inside. These pale flowers are used for cooking different kinds of dishes.

Picture Courtesy: Recipetips.com

Even though it is a tedious process to separate florets from a Banana Flower, the taste it gives in recipes is so good. We usually make Patoli or this pachadi with this. DH said it tasted exactly like Curry Leaves Pickle.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Banana Flower pieces
• 6 or 7 dry red Chilies
• 1 tsp Sambar Powder
• ½ tsp Tamarind pulp
• Few Curry Leaves
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• A pinch of Turmeric
• 2 tsp Oil
• Salt

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add banana flower pieces. Pour little water and allow to cook until the pieces become soft and cooked.

To this add cumin seeds + curry leaves + turmeric + red chilies and sauté well for some time.

Finally add sambar powder and mix well. Turn off the flame and allow the mixture to cool.

Then grind the mixture into a fine paste by adding tamarind pulp and salt. Add very little water, if needed.

This chutney goes well with rice/chapathi.

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Masala Roti

This is a spicy version of regular roti/chapathi. I recently saw this on a TV show and liked it so much. It turned out delicious.

Ingredients: 2 cups Wheat Flour 1 tsp Coriander Powder ½ tsp Garam Masala ¼ tsp Cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon powdered together 4 finely chopped green Chilies 1 small onion, finely chopped Salt Oil Preparation: Mix all ingredients (except oil) together and make into the form of chapathi dough. Make balls out of dough and roll into thin circles. Heat a non-stick pan, place the rolled chapathi and pour some oil around it.  When it is cooked and brown spots appear, flip it over and pour some oil around it.  Allow it to cook for some time and transfer to a serving plate. Repeat the same process with remaining rotis.  Enjoy these spicy rotis with plain yogurt or raita.

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