Mushroom-Capsicum Rice

This is a very simple and easy rice dish that can be done in minutes.Whenever I make quick rice or one pot dishes I cook rice in the microwave .I cook rice in the microwave and in the mean time I cook the vegetables and finally mix them together.That is the reason all my rice dishes are done under 20 minutes.

Let us see how this Mushroom-Capsicum Rice is made-----------------

Main Ingredients :

-------------------
Raw Rice.........................1.5cups

Mushroom.......................1pkg

Green Pepper...................1(med)

Tomato.............................1(med)

Seasoning Ingredients :

------------------------

Canola Oil............................2tbsp

Cumin Seeds........................2tsp

Pepper Powder....................1tsp

Turmeric...............................1/4tsp

MTR PulavMasala................2tsp
Salt.......................................to taste

Preparation :

-----------------

Cook rice in the microwave .While the rice is cooking, prep the vegetables and get them ready.Place a pan on the stove on med-high heat and add oil.Once the oil heats up add cumin seeds and pepper powder and let them splutter.

Now add the diced capsicum to the seasonings and fry for 3 minutes.

Now add cut mushrooms and turmeric to the pan and stir it.Let them cook for few more minutes.Mushroom tends to leave water.Cook till the water reduces or evaporates.

Now add the diced tomatoes and stir the veggies and cook them for few more minutes.

Now add salt and pulav masala powder to the vegetable mixture.

Finally add rice to the vegetables and mix well till all the ingredients blend in well.

Yummy,Mushroom-Capsicum Rice is ready to serve.

We enjoyed this rice as is with plain yogurt .You can also have it with raita or any gravy curry.Try it and let me know how you like it.

I am sending this to Twenty-20 Cooking event hosted by Niloufer .

Tried and Tasted : Mango Sesame Curry from Divya's Recipes

Today I tried and tasted recipe posted by one of my blog-pals Divya from Divya's Recipes.She posted it today in her blog and I loved it instantly.I had all the ingredients available immediately and tried it today.


She has wonderful recipes with nice clicks and step by step presentation in her blog.Today I followed her recipe exactly as she mentioned except that I used toasted brown sesame seeds instead of white un-toasted sesame seeds as mentioned in the original recipe.It tasted very good.Visit her website for many more wonderful recipes.


The recipe I tried is Mango Sesame Curry.

Reposting for Event Participation

I am reposting the Quinoa Kheer/Porridge for participation in CWS - Cardamaom Seeds event hosted by Priya.

Quinoa Kheer/Porridge

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 http://kiranjay.blogspot.com/2010/03/quinoa-porridgepuddingkheer.html

Pom-Agave Whole Wheat Cake(Healthy,Eggless and Low-Fat or No-Fat)

Yesterday I made this cake as my daughter was asking me for a cake since afternoon.She loves cakes and balloons .She would come and ask me every few minutes if I am making a cake.So finally I had to think and come up with an instant cake recipe with whatever I had in the house.I generally don't keep all-purpose/maida flour in the house.You can see that the cake recipes I make are with the regular whole wheat flour we use for making rotis or chapatis.Well , we and our neighbours liked this cake so hope you will like it too.

Again this is almost a healthy cake.I say almost because I used little condensed milk which has more sugars but still I used only 1/4th cup of it.Whole wheat , pomegranate juice, lowfat milk and agave nectar are healthy ingredients .I did not use any oil or butter.All in all I can call this a healthy cake. 

These days I am using my Toaster-Oven for most of the baking instead of the big oven as I use the main oven mostly for storage (as space is a problem and I have few cabinets in the kitchen),so it's hard to take out the stuff every time I need to bake.

As I made this cake as an experiment I could not take pictures of the ingredients in the starting . Let's start making this mini flat cake-------------

Dry  Ingredients :

----------------------

Whole Wheat Flour/Atta..............1cup

Baking Soda................................pinch

Baking Powder............................pinch

Wet Ingredients :

------------------------

 Pom Juice...................................1/4cup

Agave Nectar..............................1/4cup

Condensed milk...........................1/4cup

Milk.............................................1/4cup

Organic Super Fruit Spread..........1tbsp

Toppings :

-------------------

Chocolate Chips.................few for topping

Preparation :

---------------

Preheat the toaster oven at  375 F.While it is pre-heating take wheat flour,baking powder and baking soda in a bowl and mix them well.Now add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk the batter with a hand mixer so that the batter is nice and smooth.

I made the cake in the tray that comes with the toaster oven.I applied 1tsp of oil to the tray and poured the batter into it and spread it evenly and topped it with few chocolate chips and placed the tray in the oven.

After 15 minutes I checked the cake and it was slowly rising and baking.

After another 20 more minutes I checked the cake with a tooth-pick and the tooth-pick came out clean.

I turned off the toaster-oven and took the cake tray out and let it cool.

You can see the back and front side of the cake.This cake is nice and moist and is glossy on the top.

Later cut it into pieces and serve as is or with icecream.This cake looked like brownies after I cut them into pieces.

Note :

--------

1) It took 35minutes for the entire cake to bake.Each toaster oven is different so keep checking in between so that the cake does not burn.

2) As I use whole wheat flour the cake itself looks like a chocolate cake.


3) For us the cake was sweeter(as we eat very less sweet or no sweet,next time I will skip condensed milk and use milk in its place too) other wise the cake is just right for a person who can enjoy normal sweetness.For someone who has cravings for sweet they may add more agave or condensed milk.

4) The organic super-fruit spread I used is from Trader Joe's.It is very low in sugar and is made of grapes,cherries and berries. 

5) Overall this cake is just perfect and will surely make it again.

I am sending this recipe to CFK-WWF Event hosted by Priya Mitharwal and started by Sharmi .

Pineapple-Strawberry Smoothie

As the days get hotter the quench for cold drinks ,juices and smoothies also starts to increase.Last weekend was very hot and the temperatures were in 80's.So wanted to make a nice and healthy drink for the afternoon snack.
I was having some fresh pineapple and strawberries in the fridge and hence this smoothie--------------

Main Ingredients :
-----------------------
Pineapple.....................1cup(cubed)
Strawberries.................6(cleaned)
PlainYogurt.................. 1cup(homemade/lowfat)
Milk............................. 1cup(lowfat)
AgaveNectar.................2tsp

Preparation :
----------------------
Place all the above ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.Tranfer them into serving cups and serve immediately.

Yummy Pineapple-Strawberry Smoothie is ready to serve.

Note :
--------
1) Strain the smoothie before you serve if the pineapple is fibrous.

2) If  you like it very cold add ice-cubes while blending.

Boodida-Gummadikaya Vadiyalu/Ash-Gourd Vadiyams/Poosanikai Vadam

Apart from making pickles during summer time, making vadiyalu/vadams/vadis and papads to stock up for the entire year was another big process that would take place at my grandparent's house.My grandmother,mom and aunts with the help of neighbours and maids would make these in large batches.My grandmother used to make them enough to give them to her daughters and sons families and also to save some for her and my grandfather.She used to share some with neighbours and other relatives too. So imagine how many she had to make and to how many she had to share to help them for the entire year.

Summer time used to be a very busy time for the kids and adults too.We kids used to enjoy the mangoes,palm fruits(munjikayalu),sugarcane and all the snacks that my grand-mother would make for us apart from all the pickles and vadis.My grandmother would never get tired,she used to cook happily several dishes in a jiffy even when guests came in the middle of the night , inspite of all the work during the whole day.

We always used to get our pickles,vadiyalu and appadalu from my grandparents house.We used to eat very less pickles so my mother would get small bottles of all the variety of pickles my grandmother made and also a combination of the different vadiyalu.After my grandmother passed away my mother makes them at home.Till last year I used to get everything from my mother when I visited India.

Ashgourd or Boodida-Gummadikaya is a very useful gourd .It has great medicinal values and used in cooking too.Last year when I went grocery shopping to an Indian store I saw that they were having Ash Gourd(Boodida Gummadikaya) and immediately brought one home and called my mom for the recipe.She gave me the recipe and I made the vadiyams.It felt like I really achieved something when I made the vadiyalu on my own.They tasted very good and I could get 100 vadiyams from that medium sized gummadikaya.I am planning to make them this year too.

Just sharing this recipe ahead (with few pictures I had taken last year) so that you can get ready with this recipe for the summer to try it----------------

Main Ingredients :

-------------------

Boodida Gummadikaya/Ash Gourd.............1(med)

Urad Daal...................................................1/4kg

Saggubiyyam/Sago......................................50g

Green Chilly Paste.......................................to your taste

Seasoning Ingredients :

------------------------

Asafoetida/Hing........................................1/4tsp

Salt...........................................................to taste

Preparation :

--------------
Wash the ashgourd and wipe it clean.Cut it with the peel on ,into small pieces(2inch).You will need a nice big knife to cut it as this gourd is little hard skinned.

After cutting into pieces rub some salt to the pieces and place all these pieces in a cotton cloth and lock the cloth by twisting it .

You need to place this cloth of pieces in a strainer/colander and put heavy weight on this cloth of pieces and leave it like that throughout the night.(You can place this near the sink so that all the water strains into the sink,if not you can put the colander in a big dish so that all the water collects into it and you can discard that water).

After prepping the ash-gourd is done,take the urad daal nicely rinse it and soak it in water(Urad daal needs to soak atleast for 4 hours.)

Next day morning remove the  weight from the pieces and discard the strained juices.

Rinse the urad daal one more time and grind it with less water to a thick batter.While grinding you can add the chillies according to your taste(more or less) and grind the batter.

Now add the ashgourd pieces to the urad-chilli batter and also add sago/Sabudana to the(you don't have to soak sago).

Now add hing and salt , first taste test the  batter as we already added salt to the ashgourd pieces and then add salt as needed.

Place a nice plastic sheet,table cloth or old cotton saree on the floor and place a spoonful of batter on the cloth and keep doing that with little distance between each spoonful.

Let them dry in the hot sun for 3 to 4 days or till they dry and come out easily off the sheet.

You can store these for a whole year or more (if they are still left) in an air-tight container.

When you would like to consume them you need to deep fry these vadiyams and they are perfect sides for daals and sambar or any stew dish.

Enjoy these yummy Gummadikaya Vadiyalu.

Note :
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1) Cut the Ashgourd very carefully, do not hurt your hands.

2) Prep the Ash-gourd in the night so that by morning the pieces will be ready for making vadiyams and we can use the sunlight completely.

3) Could not take enough pictures last year.This year when I make again I will take step by step pictures and update.For now enjoy the few pictures and bookmark the recipe for this summer.

4) We add sago only to give crispiness to the vadiyams.If you do not want you can skip adding the sago.

I am sending this recipe to Mother's Day event being hosted by Jyoti.

Cauliflower Pickle/Avakaya

Yesterday and today the temperatures in east-coast are in high 80's.This weather has reminded me of the Summer days in India and how busy it used to be during this time of the year.When we were little during the month of May we  would visit my maternal grandparent's place for summer vacation.This whole month would be very busy at my granparents house as my grandmother would be getting things ready for making different pickles with "Mango".

It used to be like a festive season .........Making pickles was considered as a very sacred job as these pickles were made with great care so that they lasted for an year or more.My grandfather used to buy the best red chillies and mangoes that are just right for making the pickles from the neighbouring villages.My uncle used to get the best turmeric , mustard seeds and sesame oil for the pickles.My grandmother and other relatives and friends used to gather at our house and prep the mangoes for different pickles to be made.They used to pound the mustards in the big mortar and pestle to make the mustard powder,in the same way they would sun dry the chillies and pound them to nice chilly powder.

For making Avakaya the mangoes were cut into big pieces with peel on using a special mango cutter.For making an other pickle called Maagaya we would all (even children got to help) sit and peel the skin off the mangoes using a device called Aalchippalu(these are big oyster shells used to peel the mango skin).It used to be lot of fun.Nowadays making pickles is a very easy process.All the powders are available in the stores and all we got to do is just mix them together,but I would say that it never tastes the same like what our grandmother's made.

This temperatures have tempted  me to make a pickle and my DH has volunteered to help me.Instead of making mango pickle today I am making a simple and easy Cauliflower Avakaya/pickle that I learnt from my mother.I make cauliflower pickle in 2 methods-----Today I am presenting avakaya(mustard powder) version.

Main Ingredients :

-------------------

Cauliflower..............................1(small)

Seasoning Ingredients :

------------------------

Mustard Powder......................1/4cup

Paprika Powder.......................1/4cup

Fenugreek Seeds.....................1/2tsp

Canola/Sesame Oil...................3tbsp

Garlic.......................................few cloves
Lemon Juice.............................1/4cup

Salt..........................................1tbsp(or as needed)

Preparation :

--------------

Cut the cauliflower into small florets wash them and towel dry them.

Place the florets in a bowl and add mustard powder to the florets.

 

Now add the paprika to the florets.

Now add the salt to the florets.

Mix the florets and all the ingredients in the bowl together.Now add the fenugreek/methi seeds to the bowl.

Now add the garlic cloves(cut them if they are big) to the bowl .

 

Now add the oil to the bowl and mix all the ingredients in the bowl togehter.

Finally add the lemon juice to the cauliflower and incorporate all the ingredients together.

 

Yummy Cauliflower Avakaya/Pickle is ready.

Note :

-------

1) Let the mixture rest for 2days in the bowl ,you will observe that the pickle tends to release some liquid once the salt and lemon juice blend into the veggies.After 2 days adjust salt and lemon juice if needed and transfer the pickle into bottles and store them in the fridge.

2) This pickle goes well with rotis,as a side to daals and very tasty with yogurt rice.

3) I never store mango pickle in the fridge,but I do store Cauliflower Pickle in the fridge as there are more chances of it to spoil if kept out for more than 5days.In the fridge it lasts for 2 months.

I am sending this to Mother's Day event hosted by Jyoti .

Kelewele---A Spiced Plantain Snack from Ghana( Semi-Baked)

These days I have been seeing lots of posts on African cooking from my fellow bloggers and wanted to try a recipe myself.I was googling for vegetarian recipes from Africa and came across this wonderful snack---"Kelewele".I was amazed at all the wonderful recipes that are very similar to Indian cooking.I learned that there are many spices and vegetables that are commonly used by Indians and Africans.Going through these recipes I also  understood that there are similarities in the cooking methods of both the authentic cuisines.

Coming to the recipe I am making now ,it is a very famous street food in Ghana.It is called Kelewele ----meaning "spiced plantains".I  made this recipe from the information that I gathered from here and here and here .Kelewele is described as a delicacy prepared from ripe plantain well seasoned with ginger,chilli,onion, cloves,cinnamon and lemon juice and fried in hot oil to give it a mouth-watering flavour.

Main Ingredients :

-------------------

Plantain.........................1(small)

Lemon juice..................4 tsp

Salt................................to taste

Palm Oil......................... for frying( I used 2tbsp of Canola Oil)

Ingredients For Grinding  :

----------------------------

Yellow Onion................1/2( make a paste)

Ginger...........................2inch (paste)

Cayenne Pepper............2tsp (I used Paprika)

Cloves...........................4 (powdered)

Cinnamon......................small piece(powdered)

Preparation :

--------------

Take a  plantain .Wash it and peel it.Slice the plantain into 1/4 inch thick rounds .I used the bigger half for making these chips.(Don't throw the peel you can make chutney with it).

Make a paste of the onion and ginger.

Place onion-ginger paste, paprika, cloves-cinnamon powder and salt in a plate and mix them all together with lemon juice.

Once the masala is ready place the plantain pieces in the plate and coat them with the masala.

Meantime place the skillet on med-high pour the oil and heat it and once the oil is hot start frying them.

As I placed the plantain pieces in the pan of hot oil they soaked all the oil and there was no oil in the pan.I cooked it that way in the pan for 5minutes but did not feel good about it.(Original recipe calls for deep frying but I wanted to use less oil).

It needs more oil. I did not want to pour more oil in the pan so I transferred the chips into the baking tray and baked them in the toaster oven at 450F for 10 minutes.

Kelewle(plantain chips) tasted so good inspite of all my experimenting and they had a unique flavor.Sure were a hit.

Note :

-------

1) I am surely going to make these again as we all loved it , friends who were visiting loved them too.Next time it will be a completely baked snack .

2) Plantain should not be very firm nor ripe.

3) I had a very big plantain with me,so I used half of it to make this recipe.

4) I always have cloves-cinnamon powder ready for some dishes so I used that powder in the masla paste.

I am sending this to Bake Off Event hosted by Champa .