Beet and Babycorn Cutlets

I made a few changes to the original cutlet recipe , this seems to be the best way to get my girls to eat beetroot without wincing about the colour of it. 

It is a simple and easy to make recipe. Great for a rainy or cool day. 


Beet and Baby corn Cutlets:


Ingredients:
Potatoes - 2 medium sized.
Baby corn -  8 - 12 cobs
Beetroot - 3 (medium sized)
Ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - to taste 
Green chillies - 1 or 2 (minced and to taste)
Cumin/Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp
Fine bread crumbs - 1/2 cup (dry)
Oil for shallow frying.


Method:


Pressure cook potatoes and peeled beetroot. Peel and mash potatoes, grate the beetroots. Dice and clean baby corn.
After cooking grate beetroots. Clean and dice the baby corn cobs. 
Heat oil in a deep pan. Add  ginger garlic paste, minced chillies.Fry for a few minutes and then add Jeera powder , garam masala and red chilli powder.Add the baby corn pieces and fry for a few more minutes till it is cooked. 
Add the graded beetroot and salt. Let the moisture evaporate then add the mashed potato and mix well.  Fry for few more minutes, add amchur and more salt if required. Allow to cool down . Mix bread crumbs and made even sized balls. Pat it to flat and dust it with more bread crumbs. Shallow fry to golden brown and serve with Green Chutney.

Scottish Shortbread

Yesterday tried some Scottish Shortbread. Thanks to Malini for the recipe, indeed it is easy and kids can make it too. It took exactly 10 minutes for the preparation and about 20 minutes baking time. Girls absolutely loved it and I am sure it is going to be a regular snack at my place now on..
Here is the recipe for those who want to try. I have changed it to cups to make the measurement easier. I made them the first time, may be next time there will be some improvement in shape and will have the courage to add chocolate or poppy seeds etc.I will add photos and changes as and when I make them again.

                                                             SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD


Ingredients

All purpose flour /maida  - 1 cup

Unsalted butter (melted)- 1/2 cup

Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup

Salt - a bit

Method:

Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 170 C

Meanwhile prepare the dough.
Sieve the flour with a bit of salt, knead the flour with the melted butter

roll it with the pin for 2" thickness and spread around cut it with shaped biscuit cutters

I made shapes like fingers, but you can just spread them on to a greased tray with two cms thickness.

place the greased tray in the oven for 25 minutes.

If you have spread the dough as whole cut into squares when warm and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
The short breads are ready to have with a hot cup of tea.

Baked Veg Spring Rolls.

We were discussing healthy recipes in a forum and I looked into some cooking blogs for a healthy recipe. This was something which I found very interesting and I did change a few ingredients to suit my needs and taste buds. It is quite tasty to eat and healthy too as the spring rolls are not deep fried.
here is the recipe

Baked Veg Spring Rolls:
Ingredients
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon grated peeled ginger root
1 minced garlic clove
salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/3 cup cooked rice noodles
spring onion shredded
1 carrot, finely grated
1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned
1/2 green or yellow bell pepper, seeded and julienned
1/4 cup finely shredded or julienned cabbage ( I used Knol Knol instead)
1 cup trimmed snow pea pods
1 cup bean sprouts
4 7-inch square Springroll wrappers
(If you can't get egg roll wrappers, you can also use phyllo sheets. )
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon Chinese noodles masala.

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
In a large thick bottom pan. Heat oil and add ginger, salt, and minced garlic. Add the rice noodles, green onion, carrot, bell peppers, cabbage, , bean sprouts, toss well for the vegetables to mix. Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper and the Chinese noodles masala.
Place the phyllo wrappers on a clean dry work surface.
Divide the mixture evenly among the wrappers; fold in the ends and roll up jelly roll fashion. Combine the olive or vegetable oil and sesame oil ( I used melted butter ) slightly brush each spring roll with oil mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 200 degrees C until the spring rolls are crisp for about 10 minutes;then turn and bake until crisp all over, about 7 to 10 more minutes.
Serve with Red chilli sauce with some Radish and Beetroot sticks.

Mandalu Oggarane/ Puffed rice Upma...

BYE FOR A FEW WEEKS FRIENDS

My stay in this place coming to an end.. a new place to visit , new people to meet and new life to build. It is not easy but is quite exciting.Every town has its own flavour to offer and who knows what new colour is waiting to be added to my nomadic life ,, which is already as coloured as a rainbow.
I am off for more than 8 weeks ,, so adieu till i settle again and get time to try more food and update the block.. till then enjoy this time tested and tasty recipe.


Mandalu oggarane/Uggani/puffed rice

A few day sago while browsing i came across the name murmure ki biryani.. tempted by the name i read the recipe which was nothing other than what my mother and grandmother made very regularly as breakfast known as Mandalu Oggarani.. dae out of normal puffed rice and definitely tasty and light . In my town ,Yemmiganur,a small town in Kurnool district this is a truly poor man's biriyani.
The dish is easy to make and quite low in fat. This is made a little different in Rayala seema side of Andhra pradesh.. which is served with mirchi bhajji...That is so yummy .. I always make it a point to get some for one of the roadside joints.. it has a unique taste.

Mandalu oggarane

I tried it once or twice but it wasn't the same taste , husband and kids were not delighted.. Last week I tried it out again by asking her again for the recipe ... luckily for me it was great and girls absolutely loved it...
so here's the recipe for you all...

Oggarane/soosala

Ingredients:

Puffed rice (Murmure)- about a cup per person.

One big onion - finely chopped

green chillies - finely chopped

1 tsp of salt

two tsps of oil

Pinch of turmeric

1/2 tsp of jeera(cumin)

1/2 tsp of rai ( mustard seeds)

1 spoon of urad dal (black gram dhal)

1 spoon of chana dal (bengal gram dhal)

A sprig of fresh curry leaves

finely chopped coriander leaves

1 tablespoon of roasted gram dal powder (putani pudi /phutana powder)

two spoons of lemon juice.

freshly grated coconut or desiccated coconut (optional, for the variation)

Method:

Soak the Puffed rice in a large pan of water for not more than 6 to 8 minutes. Squeeze and let it stay in a colander.

In the mean time, heat two spoons of oil in a kadai , add rai, cumin, urad dal, chana dal, turmeric powder,curry leaves, green chillies and onions.When the onions are cooked and get soft,add the squeezed puffed rice mix thoroughly. Add the phutana powder, salt and mix well.

Turn the heat off and add lemon juice and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.Serve and eat hot.

It is very tasty with some fresh plain yogurt too.

Variations..

My grandmother was not keen on using onions in this dish she just used freshly grated coconut in the end.. it would turn out as delicious.
I add potaoes and capsicum both finely chopped and peas to the above recipe. It tasts amazing and visually the green peas adds a lot of colour to the dish.

Well hoping to be back in action as soon as possible...

Pofta buna

Baby corn Pakodas ( babycorn fritters)

The best part of summer in England is that we get to see Sun for at least few days a week. This weekend was one of the hottest we had this season.. with temperatures 26 it was an ideal day to enjoy at the beach..

Bournemouth is one the cleanest beaches in England. Our drive was more than 2 hrs but was worth it ,, it was like almost half of England has come to sunbathe. Kids enjoyed in the sand , which was so fine . Fun time.

The best parts of my trip are

Floating in the air in a Helium balloon to about 500 feet in the sky and have a complete birds eye view of the town from the balloon. It is my desire to ride a hot air balloon too.

Seeing the smiles on the faces of all the children enjoying the waves,building sand castles just to break them....

While we were returning my younger daughter suddenly remembered baby corn... she wanted me to make baby corn Manchurian again. Not that it needed a lot of work and since we had just returned I was not really in a mood to make that effort too.. But she made a pout so had to give in and managed to make another dish Baby corn Pakodas. They turned out really delicious and crispy.Now I am sure it will be a regular dish at my house.

Crispy Baby Corn Pakoras

Ingredients:

12 - 15 baby corn cobs

2 spoons of Rice flour

2 spoons of Gram flour

1 spoon of all purpose flour

1 spoon of cumin seeds

salt to taste

1 spoon of Red chilli powder ( rasam powder is tastier)

1/4 spoon baking soda

Oil to fry.

(optional - use any food colour to enhance the presentation)

Method

Cut the baby corn cobs longitudinally. If you are using frozen , thaw them and then use slit them longitudinally.

Add all the other ingredients other than oil and mix on the baby corn pieces till all the pieces are smeared with the flour. Do not add water. Sprinkle if necessary.

Heat the oil in a kadai/ pan. Deep fry the corn cobs till they are crispy. Serve hot with tomato sauce or mint chutney.

One of the easiest dishes to make and tasty too.

I am off for a few weeks now.. will not be updating for those days.. hopefully will keep things ready and keep adding as and when possible in the next few months.

Bye for a few weeks friends...

SABOODANA KHICDI

Tapioca is essentially a flavorless starchy ingredient, or fecula produced from treated and dried cassava (manioc) root and used in cooking.

Saboodana is made of this Tapioca and is used extensively in the food cooked during Fast ( like Ekadashi etc) . Making the saboodana khichdi is very tricky exercise. I lingered on to the taste from my childhood. My grandmother made most amazing khichdi and she called it sabbakki Khees (Saboodana khichdi..).

I got this recipe from a friend who made this exceptionally tasty... here it is for you all.

SABOODANA KHICHADI (SABAKKI KHEES)


Ingredients

One cup (Saboodana) sago dry
One cup Roasted Peanuts powdered
1/4 cup coconut scraped/dessicated
3 green chillies chopped
One boiled potatoes and chopped
2 tbsp coriander chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp Chana dal (bengal gram dal)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp lime juice
1 tbsp ghee
A sprig of curry leaves


METHOD




Wash the saboodana thoroughly but gently. Drain the excess water and leave the sago on the drain.. Keep aside for about two to four hours. Mix the crushed peanut powder and leave it for half an hour.Heat oil in a non-stick saucepan add mustard, cumin, curry leaves , chana dal , green chillies ,potatoes and stir fry till tender. Add coconut and stir. Sprinkle water and close the Pan for a few minutes.When the sago grains become transparent and soft, add coriander.Add the ghee and lemon juice.Serve hot.

Alasande Vade ( Pakoras made of Black eyed beans)

Alasande vade has been a favourite snack ever since my dad introduced its taste to me when I was 10 yrs old.One day when it rained like nobody's business... Soaked black eyed beans came in handy.

This week girls wanted to do a writeup instead of me.. so I thought I will let them do it.They took the whole of yesterday on the computer and I was wondering what they were up to. Did not realise that they had actually made it so well I had no heart to change anything.It was too good to make any changes. I am quite amazed at their computing skills.

Ingredients

1 cup Alasandi beans (Black eyed beans)

1 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)

2/3 green chillies

1 inch Ginger finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

salt to taste

oil to fry.

Method

Soak the black eyed beans over night. Drain and grind with ginger,green chillies, cumin and salt. Mix the chopped onions and salt.Use little water while grinding the batter should be thick like urad vada paste.

Heat the oil in a pan. Make small balls of the batter and deep fry till golden brown.

Serve hot with sauce/green chutney.

Enjoy the rest of the week.Will update with another simple but tasty recipe.

KHAMAN DHOKLA

I have been trying to make Dhoklas for god knows how many years... There was one Mrs. Baliga who made most yummy I have ever had in my life. A famous and delicious Gujarati snack.. I did tr many times .After several failed attempts I resorted to Gits, and Aashirwad's instant packets of Khaman dhoklas which did give a rather nice snacks . Enjoyed them , but the bug of making from scratch bit me again a few months ago and I got lucky this time... after a few disastrous efforts.


Most lovely dhoklas I had made were from this recipe I found after a lot of browsing and have been using ever since.




Tried watermarking my pictures... it wasnt succesful so forgive the quality of pics...

KHAMAN DHOKLA

Ingredients
1 cup Besan (Gram flour)

2 tbsp Rava (Sooji)1/2 tsp

Citric acid crystals or use Eno Fruit salt

1 tbsp Ginger and green chilli paste

Salt - to taste

2 tbsp Sugar

2 tsp Baking soda

To Garnish:

2 tbsp Oil
2 tsp Mustard seeds
A pinch of Hing (asafoetida)
2 to 3 green chillies finely chopped
3 tbsp Coriander - chopped
2 tbsp Grated coconut (fresh preferred)

Method

Mix all the ingredients except the baking soda. Add about 3/4 cup of water. The batter should be about the consistency of dosa batter. Add little more water if you feel the consistency is thick.
Apply some oil to a deep, flat bottomed stainless steel vessel (like a cake pan) that fits into your pressure cooker. Pour some water into the cooker and let it boil up. Once the water boils, add the baking soda to the batter and whip it up. Please not that the the batter should froth up.
Pour it into the prepared vessel to half the height, leaving enough space for the Dhokla to rise up and expand.

Place it into the cooker and let it steam for about 10 minutes. (steam like idlis, not to be pressure cooked)


You can even do the above process in a microwave, but Dhokla usually tends to become too dry and rubbery if you keep it out for even an hour or so. So this method should be used only if you want to eat it up as soon as you prepare it.

Use a microwave-safe container with a lid, grease it with oil, add the baking soda to the batter and half-fill the container. Microwave for 4-5 minutes with the lid on. Remove and sprinkle some water on the khaman to make it soft.
After the cooking is done , insert a knife or toothpick in the center and make sure it comes out clean. Let it cool down and then transfer it to a plate and cut it into squares or diamonds.

To garnish:
heat up some oil , add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add hing and chillies and then pour it over the prepared khaman dhokla. Garnish it with coriander leaves and grated coconut and serve hot with Green chutney /Tamarind Chutney or both.....enjoy and keep me posted if you like it or not.

Aloo Bonda (Spicy Potato Fritters)

Easter holidays seems like never ending story this time.They have been home for almost two weeks now and all of us are getting tired of it. With me and them looking forward for the reopening of school the only other option was to attend a few workshops around the museums there.That is the reason I have not been able to make good dishes and update.They had easter card competition , I enjoyed making these cards with them.

They enjoyed two workshops around this week making collages..I always wonder why we are so academically oriented ??? I want them to do everything I could not do in life.. but then at the end of the day I worry what if they do not succeed academically????? Is it enough to be bright , smart and confident, or is it necessary for it to translate into mark sheet to be successful in life?

The weather wasn't really great to keep spirits high.English weather is usually grey , but this time it was unusually depressing and grey for a few days at a stretch. So all these thoughts and homesickness too were making the mood really low.

Well all these thoughts keep going on in mind . It doesn't mean i have to give up my foodie nature for that reason. I had made poori and potato sabzi the other day, and was left with lots of aloo sabzi. Did not have any batter for Dosas so masala dosa was out of question.Did not want to waste food this way. Like people who have sweet tooth , I should say i have a snack tooth... cannot just resist deep fried stuff like bonda, bajjis or pakoras.... Yummy.. without delay as soon as the thought struck with some Gram flour I could turn out some delicious aloo bondas which really lifted our spirits up with its excellent taste..

Aloo Bonda ( Spicy Potato Balls in Gramflour dough)

Ingredients

3 large boiled and mashed potatoes

1 cup - Gram flour (besan)

2 spoons - Rice flour

cooking soda (optional)

1 cup - Chopped onions

chopped ginger (1 inch)

Chopped green chilli (two to three)

1 tsp Red chilli powder

1/4 tsp. Turmeric powder

Vegetable/sunflower oil for deep frying

Mustard and cumin seeds for seasoning

few curry leaves

chopped Coriander

amchur or lemon juice

Salt to taste.

Method

In a deep pan add a spoon of oil, when it gets hot add mustard seeds.When it splutters add cumin ,haldi/turmeric powder, green chillies, chopped onion , chopped ginger and few curry leaves.Add a spoon or two of water to cook the onions , this gives a good taste.Then add the mashed potatoes, salt and if any other masala desired. Fresh coconut can be used instead of Onions....Mix the potatoes thoroughly , adding some amchur of lemon juice for added taste.

Make small sized balls and keep aside.

In a large bowl sieve one cup of Gram flour, and two spoons of Rice flour. Mix it well using water sparingly, without lump adding redchilli powder, salt and a pinch of Cooking soda .Cooking soda can be avoided. Take care that the batter is neither runny nor thick. It should be just right to flow around the potato balls made earlier .

Now in a large pan , heat oil . Take each potato ball and dip it in the Gram flour batter and deep fry till golden brown . Keep the oil on medium flame to cook well. it does take a little more time than usual pakodas. Serve hot with Mint and Tamarind Chutney.

This is a lovely snack to be served hot and not bad when cold either.. with two slices of salted buns it turns into the delicious Vada PAV,... hoping to make that dish too properly,,, by the recipe.

Hopeful to be more regular in updating...Bye for now.

My French toast

Not eating eggs puts us in some disadvantage of making delicious cakes and some dishes which apparently are very tasty , to name some , Anda burji, French toast and omlette…It is only that I never gave a chance to egg to enter my kitchen.. though I might as well try to make these dishes using my own veggie ingredients..Well in a way of vegetarinising the dishes , I did make do with Paneer Burji and Sooji ka chilla , but always the French toast remained quite elusive.



A search on the internet on French toast gave me good info about how the toast originated. It says “French toast originated as a way to use day-old or stale bread (some breads and especially French bread become stale after one day). Whereas a stale, crunchy bread might seem unappetizing, soaking the bread in eggs and frying it solved that problem”.In medieval Europe it is supposed to be have known as pain perdu. Germany: armer Ritter (literally, "poor knight") Interestingly, it is also said it was known as german toast (used ina few countries even now) then changed to French toast during world war I given the anit –german sentiment.. well whatever it is called. I could not eat it given that egg had to be used.



When I lived in Romania ,I did learn a few excellent typical romanian dishes like Sarmale, gogosi and mammaliga. A friend of mine ( Romanian ) said she made frigãnele as it is known there without egg using cornflour and salt as crust during their lent period. Tried that, Alas it didn’t turn out real good on the palate it was good but not good enough… my woes continued with trial and error with quite a few recipes till I finally got the things right way of making the toast.What would I have done without so many lovely food blogs!!!!!!


MY FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients
Few slices of sandwich bread
1 cup Fine semolina (rava)
2 cups of water
1 Onion(finely chopped)
2 Carrots (grated)
2 Green chillies (finely chopped) (optional)
coriander leaves (shredded)
cinnamon powder
pepper powder
salt to taste
oil/butter to roast.


Method:
Mix Semolina, Chopped onions, grated carrots, chillies coriander leaves ,cinnamon powder and salt.I did read in a recipe that butter milk enhances the taste I did not have so I used normal water.Just about to the consistency of slightly thick batter..
Cut the Bread slices into two ( shape is left to your creative skills).
Dip the cut bread in the above mixture and roast on a a hot skillet .
Add butter or ghee to enhance the taste of the toast. I used oil for ours and butter on the kids toast.
Sprinkle the pepper according to the taste and serve hot with ketchup or mint/chilli chutney.

It was amazingly tasty.. was a bit hit as well with my children..
There goes another one for you to try, if you have not known about it till now..
Ciao…

MEAN BEAN WRAP

I had not tasted a Wrap till a friend of mine made yummilicious tikka wraps, they were paneer tikka wraps,Iloved the idea of wraps .But then I am not too fond of paneer either, so did not bother to ask the recipe either... after coming here my girls fell in love with a wrap made in Gregg’s, who dutifully stopped a few months ago.. That was the only veg wrap which is available around here.....

While walking in the market over the weekend, was wondering what they could eat out other than the usual Pizzas or the bean burger... so decided to make some Wraps myself remembering the filling which was there in Gregg’s one... to my astonishment it did turn out really tasty and was very filling as a dinner ...though my elder girl doesn’t like to eat Rajma... calling it a red mean bean did the trick. So we came up with the MEANY RED BEANY WRAP...
It is a very tricky nice way of making kids have thier veggie intake without a fuss....

MEAN BEAN WRAP


Ingredients:

Tortilla wraps (available in all stores)

Tomato Ketchup

optional:
Green chutney to taste
(I used Natco Bombay sandwich Spread It is quite spicy and tasty, giving me the Indian taste i like in my food)

Filling:

For 8 wraps
1 onion (sliced elongated)
2 carrots (grated thick)
1 capsicum (thin and sliced elongated)
1 Potato (grated thick)
Half cup of sliced cabbage
Few cobs of baby corn... cut into slices
1 can of Red kidney beans or 1 cup of Boiled Red kidney beans (rajma)
fresh cucumbers sliced or Pickled cucumbers (Gherkins)

Spices or Masala used:
Pepper and
Vegeta powder
(I use the VEGETA veg stock powder... it has lovely aroma and helps to hold the mixture...)

I used this powder often in many other dishes too. I got hooked to it while in Romania.... easily found in the Asian stores...If you want then have a look at it in this website.

http://www.vegeta.com.au/

METHOD

In a pan, add a spoon of oil when hot add the half the cut onions and capsicum. When they are sautéed, add cabbages, grated carrot and grated potatoes, baby corn. Add a spoon of the Vegeta powder and close the pan with a lid,after a few minutes add The kidney beans and let it cook for some time'. Turn the heat off after 5 minutes and leave the lid on for the steam to cook the vegetables...

(Cottage cheese pieces can be added as a variation.. my girls like shredded cheese slices also in it)
How to Wrap


On a hot flat girdle (tawa), heat the Tortilla wraps to a reasonable warm heat...

1. place the hot wrap on a serving place and add the sauces and chutneys intended... arrange a layer of above filling in a line in the centre of the wrap... and add the fresh vegetables, gherkin slices and cheese slices.

2.fold both the ends of the wrap so that the filling is secured...

3.roll the wraps from opposite sides overlapping and forming a pocket.


4. Place the rolled on the hot girdle for a few minutes

5.Serve hot as whole or cut into two...



It turns out really tasty, I do make wraps with different vegetables but this was the first I used kidney beans... my sisters keeps saying she fills with some nice Mexican rice... and they are as yummy as burritos,, need to try it out too.....waiting for your comments and feedback...

Enjoy your day friends....

Mini Pizzas, my way...

My daughters have amazing energy and are on thier feet all day long.According to my Appaji (father) they are either perpendicular or parallel to the ground, there is no position in their vocabulary as sitting anywhere at all...Which is very true too.. they are always in search on things to do, to say and to move around.. children are supposed to be so anyways...When they get back from school they are ready to devour me if I do not actually give them with some snack or the other.It is not thier fault either.. they do carry quite small quantities in thier lunch box so they are quite hungry , but then within minutes of eating they are ready to get into another activity as though they were never tierd at all.Thankgod they are not finicky and do try anything and eveyrthing and then decide whether they have liked it at all.

This time I decided to make a dish which I had tasted and liked... My friend Vani makes them amazingly delicious.. though I cant make them as yummy I did try my own way through it.....

It came out well and since it is easier to make I thought you all might as well try it out.

MINI PIZZAS

Ingredients:

1 baugette roll or 10 bread slices

2 spoons of all purpose flour(Maida)

1 cup milk

2 spoons cornflour

1 onion - chopped finley

1 capsicum - chopped finely

1 cup - chopped beans, carrots, peas and corn mixed

salt to taste

oil - 1 tsp

Powdered pepper to taste.

Butter to smear

Grated cheese (I use strips of cheese slices when I dont have grated cheese)

Method:

In a pan heat the oil add the chopped onions and capsicum when it is done add the vegetables ,add some salt... let it steam cook by covering the pan. In the cup of milk mix the flour and add it the cooked vegetables...I when it is quite thick add the cornflour(mixed with half a cup cold water) .Keep stirring till it gets to the consistency of a thick paste.Add pepper powder and
Cut the baugette into thin slices and if you are using bread cut the bread slices into 4 squares each . smear the slices with butter .Top the slices with on spoon the above mixture like a scoop,sprinkle some grated cheese.top the tip with piece of coloured bell pepper(capsicum).Grill them at max temperature for about 10 minutes till the cheese gets to a golden brown colour.


Hot mini pizzas are ready to be served .Enjoy them with some tomato ketchup. And Phew!!! my girls liked it I survived the litmus test should say......

will be back soon with another dish... thanks for all who have been supporting me.

KOSAMBARI - THE YUMMY SALAD

New year brings a resolution session also for most of the world, and I am sure 90% of the resolutions include a balanced diet and loss of weight programme.. contributing towards the healthy diet.. I am just giving the recipe of KOSAMBARI - basically a salad with lentils and carrot which is integral part of a festive meal in Karnataka meal. There are two types one with Green gram dal (moongdal/hesarubele) and another with Bengal gram dal (chanadal/ kadalebele).Both are as delicious.. I made the Greengram one today.

The Green Gram dal used in this dish is very easy to digest and can be used cooked or uncooked.The calorific value is relatively less and fat percentage is next to nil. The only drawback I see is the liberal use of fresh coconut but it certainly enhances the taste and I wouldn't complain much about it.

Whenever I attend a wedding or festivity where the meal is served on a green plantain leaf this is served as a add on dish and is quite less in serving for me..I don't shy to to ask again , I do not mind licking fingers either...try it and let me know if you did the same...


KOSAMBARI - THE YUMMY SALAD



Ingredients

1 cup Moong dal ( split green gram dal)

1 cup Fresh grated carrot

1 cup Fresh grated coconut

1 fresh green chilli (finely chopped)

finely chopped coriander leaves,

few curry leaves

finely chopped ginger

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp of lemon juice

and salt to taste

Method:

Soak the Green gram dal (hesarubele) for about 3 to 4 hours..Drain and soak of all the water on a thin cloth or tissue paper. Add grated carrot, coconut, coriander leaves ginger,lemon juice and salt.


Heat the oil, add mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds splutter add the curry leaves and finely chopped green chillies .

Mix the seasoning to the salad. It can be a full meal by itself or served with Chitranna (Lemon rice) or any meal.