Mango Rice

Today is a very important day it is - "Pournami - Full moon day" and "Vaikasi Visakam - Swami Nammazhwar's Tirunakshatram"....so I was extremely happy to perform my Satyanarayana Pooja and comine it with Azhwar's Thinakshatram. I had a Gruhapravesham to attend this morning so it was kind of hectic preparing the prasadam and getting things started  for lunch. Prasadam was my favorite Akkaravadisal and for lunch I decided to make Mango rice  and sambhar...I had got mango planning to make pickle...but that did not work out. You must be wondering what sort of a combo this is...but the sambhar was for my son's lunch and tonight's side for dosa or idli ...my batter has not yet fermented hence I am not able to come up with what to make fortonight!!

In India, this month is jam packed with things like making vadam, veththal (solar energy being put to use) and pickle...that too with mango. Summer months are known for mangoes...you find them every where.. - hence moms and aunts keep themselves busy by making different types of pickle with this wonderful mango (the raw one)....you know there are so many varieties of it ...each one famous for its region. They keep them busy with these things and start the chores early in the morning inorder to beat the heat... but it is still hot though at that time too...I wonder how they manage to make all these despite the sweltering heat ...amazing isn't it... The family, friends, relatives exchange their vadam, vethal and pickle...we bring it here too....and we get to enjoy them all through the year!! Hence, I am also joining them ...but not by making vadams or pickles  but by posting a recipe with mango as the main ingredient..it is simple yet delicious!

Mango rice can be made in different ways..some people grate it and do it the way we make lemon rice by frying the grated  mango and temper it spices and add it to the rice... but I do it little bit different. Here goes the recipe....

Ingredients
1 Cup Raw Rice
1 Medium Size Raw Mango
1/2 Tsp Mustard
1/2 Tsp Methi Seeds
1/2 Tsp Channa Dhal
1/2 Tsp Urad Dhal
Hing
Curry leaves
Roasted Peanuts
Oil for tempering

For Grinding:
4 Red Chillies
1 Tsp Zeera
4 Tsp Grated Coconut
1 Tsp Mustard (optional - use it depending upon your taste)
Grated Mango

Cook the rice and allow it cool. Separate the grains with fork.

Peel the skin and grate the Mango. First grind the red chillies, zeera, grated coconut and mustard. After grinding it add the grated mango (reserve some for frying) and grind it well.

Take oil in a pan. Temper it with mustard, methi, urad dhal, channa dhal, hing (perunkayam) and curry leaves. Add the grated mango (1/2 cup) after frying it for a while add the grinded mango with the spices to it and fry it well. Then add the rice slowly and mix it. Garnish it with roasted peanuts and cilantro. How much easier can it be?? This goes well with a side of chips....enjoy!!

Pine, Apple & Orange Punch

My sis has been asking me to come up with refreshing juices for the summer.. I kept postponing it since we haven't had any signs of summer yet in Mid West...The month of May has not been as great as March or April...it has been cold and raining. She inspired me to make this excellent drink and helped me in finding a way for using the dole pineapple (I have couple of more tins in my pantry...and I need to find a solution for using them too in the near future)....you know what ... her brithday is around the corner..so "Cheers to my beloved sis for her birthday" ...this is going to be an extra special birthday for her since she will be celebrating it with her husband (the first one after her wedding)!!

I do not have much to say about it - used a can of dole pineapple chunks, 2 mandarin oranges, 1 apple, 3 tbspn sugar and water....blended it together.....passed it through the strainer to remove the pulp...actually I do not like throwing away the pulp and since I grinded it well I did not get that much of a pulp (just quarter cup...) ...enzoi a glass of goodness....quench your thirst this summer after a stroll to a near by park!

Karumuru Thattai

Since we went out for dinner last night I have left overs of yesterdays spinach macial, carrot veggie and sambhar hence nothing much to do in the kitchen today.... My son has been asking me for seedai since last week...though it is also easy to make...I am scared to do it alone (when put in oil there is a chance for it to splash all over and end up getting messy....the trick is to always roll the seedais into irregular shape and the seedai balls should be to be brim of the oil ....even though I know it...I do not venture into that).

I have been thinking of making thattai....if we are making this in India it is a laborious process. They soak the rice in water and then dry it in a clean muslin cloth. Take it to the mill (or grind in the mixie at home) to grind it to be made into thattais, murukkus, seedai etc. I do not have to any of it. I haven't made thattai in years....I love it so much.

Ingredients: (makes about 20 thattai of the size you see in the picture)
1 1/2 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Tsp Urad Dhal Flour
1 Tsp Red Chilly Powder
3 Tsp Ghee
2 Tsp Channa Dhal (soaked in water for couple of hours) or If you have forgotten to soak it then you can use peanuts (roasted) or pottukadalai. I used the pottukadalai since I had not planned ahead!
1/4 Tsp Asafoetida (Hing)
1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste
Water
Wax Paper for making the thattais
Oil for frying

If you have urad dhal powder you may use it as is. If you do not have it then dry roast it in the pan or take 2 tsp of urad dhal and microwave it for a minute (the time varies depending on the power of your microwave).
Grind it into fine powder.

Take the Rice flour in a bowl. Add the Urad dhal powder, red chilly powder, asafoetida, ghee, turmeric powder and the pottukadalai.

Knead it well by adding water as needed. Make it into a nice ball (the dough should not be too soft or too hard).

Now heat the oil for frying the thattai.

Take the wax paper. Make small balls and flatten it with your fingers. Poke it using a fork so that it does not puff up while frying in the oil. Do not allow them to dry for too long before frying them in oil.

Make couple of them and fry it oil. As you fry simultaneously flatten the balls (thattais)..this will keep them from drying. Crunchy thattais are ready to be served. This took me less than an hour to make them (including the prep time).

I do not like giving my son store bought fried items. Whenever we eat the store bought snacks he always asks for it...I end up giving him some cookies since I do not want him to eat it. Today I was so happy serving him home made thattais...

Tofu Masala

For the past few weekends we have not been at home....so I was not left with anything to cook yesterday...hence wrapped up a totally South Indian meal - Capsicum Sambhar, Zucchini Kootu and our favorite Beans Usili....since my husband is coming home for couple of days in a week for lunch...it is making things lot more easier in terms of preparing food ...I can make roti and some sabzi for dinner and have South Indian lunch for afternoons (it is nice to follow this routine even though it is just for few days in a week!)..I would say it is a bit of luxury for me (I skip packing lunch boxes...they are a big menace) even while I was working I always loved to go home for lunch and have food in a relaxed manner.... good old memories....now getting back to where I left -

My son seems to have a liking for tofu....I am not 100% sure but he ate the spinach tofu masala whenever I made it and also likes to eat it when we visited noodles and company. I had spinach too with me....I started weighing the options - do I want to make the same stuff "Spinach Tofu Masala" with it or try something different as I had planned. Different dishes replacing panneer with tofu. I went with the second option of making something different...hence popped the spinach back into the refrigerator..may be I will make Spinach Rice with it (long time since I made it). Planned to make the tofu masala by adding couple of  veggies to it but I had forgotten to buy green bell pepper...I like the other colors too but the taste from the green bell pepper is a lot better than their counterparts (yellow, red or orange - they look good ....some how I feel they are not hot and less Indianish!). I could not do much now hence used the mini sweet peppers that I had in hand. I have started liking the recipes involving some amount of baking...not sure why...my recent craze "may be"...now that I have decided on what to make...there it goes (tofu) into the oven ...read further to know the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 Pack Extra Firm Tofu (organic)
4 Medium Sized Tomatoes
8 Mini Sweet Peppers (cut length wise)
10 Whole Cashew
1 Big Onion
1 Inch Cinnamon piece
1 Bay Leaf
2 Cardomoms
1 Tsp Zeera
1 Green Chilly
1/2 Tsp Chilly Powder (you may add more or less depending on your spice level and the spice level of the chilly)
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
1/2 Tsp Coriander Powder
Salt as per your taste

As mentioned earlier....look for the instruction in the pack for using the Tofu.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 Degree. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
Cut the Tofu into 1 inch cube. Line it on the baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt and drizzle little bit of oil on top of the tofu.
Bake it for a maximum of 40 minutes...until it turns golden brown.
In the meantime, cut the onion and saute it till it turns golden. Let it cool.
Grind the onion, ginger along with the cashews.
Take a table spoon of oil and add the zeera, green chillies and the pepper. Fry it for sometime. When the pepper is half cooked add the tomatoes and fry it for some more time. When they are almost done.
Add the onion, ginger and cashew paste.
Add the Red chilly powder, Salt and Coriander Powder.
Let it boil for sometime. You may  add  little bit of water if it is too thick.
If the tofu is done....you may add it to the above mixture and turn off the gas after few minutes.
(Note: If the tofu is not baked by the time you are done with the gravy. You may turn off the gas and then later add the tofu and bring it to a boil.)

This will go well with rice or roti. A nice option for people who want to have a twist to their palate with a low calorie option!!

Cherry Short Bread

My husband was out of town on a business trip the whole of this week so I have been staying away from my kitchen and away from cooking elaborate meals....nothing much has been happening in my domain ..it is like an extended holiday after getting back from Vegas this Monday... not sure whether I am enjoying this (it is kind of boring not to cook). ... ...We had been to Vegas last weekend....it was a great trip! I was enchanted and left spell bound after landing there...it was more like seeing the US as in Bollywood movies ( I have never felt that way even in Chicago. Detroit or other major cities that I have visited in the US)....it was entirely different. The grandeur of the city cannot be expressed in words...everything about the city is great - "Food (name the cuisine ....you can go for it), the theme of the casinos there (one stop for all - Venice, Rome, Paris....) state of art technology (I have not seen skywalks, elevators and escalators to move around the city - that is to move around the strip!), the way people dress up and what not...I can go on  ravishing about it...so let me stop here about Vegas and get on to my recipe!

Since my husband left on the business trip the day after we landed from Vegas...I made a simple meal of rasam and veggie for my son and myself and spent most of the time playing with him - coloring, building blocks and so on.... Last night out of the blue my son started asking me for the heart shape cookie (I was so happy that he remembered them even though I made it couple of months ago)...I was glad he asked for it and happily hopped into my kitchen to make something new for my dear son.... Actually I had  just planned to fix myself a simple aloo poha (after getting bored of eating rasam and veggie for every meal) and close the kitchen...since he asked for it I ventured to make it for him..

I had bought the cherries long back but it just remained in my pantry ever since I bought it.... I had put a break to the sweet treats since I had made too many goodies loaded with fat in a short while....had given a break so as not to add up on the extra calories....

I was contemplating on making the easy biscuits that I came across in my perima's baking book and then remembered about the cherry short bread recipe too from that book. I am amazed to learn that my perima has made cherry short bread some 25 years ago (I did not know about till I came to this Country!)....!!  So I march into the kitchen so happily to make the cookie for my son. He does ask me for chips, fish cookie or croutons but never asks for anything that I can make for him...hence I wanted to satisfy his wish....

Ingredients:

1 Cup All purpose flour
3/4th stick Butter (bring it to room temperature)
1/4th Cup Sugar
1/4th Cup Cherries (dried) - cut them if necessary
1/4th Cup Cold Water (but you will not be using them entirely)

Sieve and sift the flour. Rub in the butter.
Add the sugar and cherries and mix the flour well.
Sprinkle cold water little by little and make it into a soft dough.
(She had not mentioned about refrigerating them....but I did it by placing the dough in air tight container for 20 minutes)
Roll out the dough on a flat surface (about 1/8th diameter thick)...I am yet to get a cookie cutter... hence used free hand drawing to cut it into different shapes (use your imagination).........
Grease the baking tray and pre-heat the oven upto 350 degrees.
Cut into desired shapes using free hand or with a cookie cutter and prick them with a fork.
Bake them for 15 to 20 minutes.....

I have not seen anything as easy as this to be made.....it does not take more than an hour to finish it.
Cherry Short Bread was ready by the time my son got up from his nap....he was sleepy and reluctant to get out of bed,,,,the minute I mentioned that I had made the cookie for him....he got up and came straight into the kitchen and I was glad that he ate couple of them ......... My friend's son who is a lover of whatever sweets I make came home today and enjoyed the cookies too....I am glad he liked them too....You too can bake and enjoy!

Stuffed Mini Sweet Pepper

I am so happy that I have posted 50 recipes...even though I liked the generic 50th post....felt did not do much justice to it since it was not made by me :( ....so I wanted to post something different...and marched into the kitchen with a big smile in my face (to make something new....it always makes me happy)!!....I had very little things in my refrigerator since I am having another trip this weekend (will tell you about it after I come back!!)....so had not stocked up the refrigerator to its brim (it was seemingly empty compared to how much it always stores)

I had got the mini sweet peppers to make bajjis...but did not find time to make pakoras with it this time too...I had both the giant bell peppers (call it this way because back in India...so do not get to see these big ones). Just think about stuffing this giant pepper...I felt it will need atleast 3 big potatoes to stuff one !! So choose the mini sweet peppers ....I like the texture, the firmness and the color of them....they are teeny tiny petite ones....and these will not need as many potatoes as the giant bell pepper would and also makes serving easier!!

I take them and cut their head off and take the seeds out....a pairing knife comes in handy to do this and be carefull not to cut them in the middle. I used the whole bad around 2 Lbs of the mini sweet pepper I got from Sams!!



Now coming to the ingredients and the recipe part -

2 Lbs (reserved like 10 of them from the bag for another experiment) and wash, cut the head part and de-seeded the rest
1/2 finely Chopped Onion
4 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 Tsp Red chilly Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 TBSPN Olive Oil

For the filling

3 Medium Potatoes
1/2 Finely Chopped Onion
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Coriander powder
1/2 Tsp Red Chilly Powder
1/2 Inch Ginger Finely chopped
1 Green Chilly
1/2 Tsp Jeera
1 TBSP Oil

Coming to the stuffing part - Microwave the potatoes as a whole for about 8 minutes. Remove them from the water after microwaving them as you do not want them soaking and absorbing the water. Mash them well you do not want any chunky parts in it.

Take oil in a pan and add the jeera, green chillies and the ginger. Add the onion and fry them till they are slightly brown, Add the salt, red chilly powder and the coriander powder. Add the mashed potatoes and mix it well. The stuffing is ready to be filled into the sweet pepper.

Before that....I forgot to mention that I baked them in the oven....So before you start filling pre-heat the oven upto 350 degree. Make small balls and start filling them with your hand. I feel it works better when you fill them with your hands rather than with a spoon. If you are scared that the filling my spill...you may close it with a paste made from all purpose flour and then bake it.

Now place them in the baking tray and sprinkle some salt and drizzle some oil on top of each pepper for about 30 minutes...the smell when it is baked is so goooddddddd...........

You may serve them as is after baking them....but what I did was took little bit of oil in a pan. Added Jeera and onions. Fry them then add the tomatoes till they are done. Add the sweet peppers slowly and make sure the filling does not fall out. Add more salt if needed.

I served it with rotis......was pretty happy about the way it turned out...happily posting this recipe..I am posting this with a big smile on my face "the 51st one"...with your wishes and patronage looking forward to doing more.....see you soon with another post ...bye bye

Goodies from Pella

I hope you enjoyed the slide show of the Tulips...As you read the post wondering why I am posting an article about my visit to Pella and what it has to do with my foodie blog....Pella is not just about the tulips.. but the goodies too that we get there - the pastries, the walnut bars, the Dutch letters from the famous bakery called Jaarsma bakery.

Celebrating my 50th post with goodies from the bakery in Pella!!

A small note about the place we visited on our trip -
Pella is a small town in Iowa with a touch of Dutch to it....the tulip gardens are so beautiful. It is different from the other cities I visited in the US. The annual Tulip Time Festival is a celebration of Pella's Dutch heritage held during the first weekend of May every year. This year the Tulip festival will be held for 3 days starting May 6, 2010. But we visited it yesterday May 1, 2010. I will sure go back next year to see the parade and the fair!

After taking a stroll at the Central Park (this is not the one in NY but Pella) and the Sunken Gardens ...all of us were hungry (hungry for pastries!!) and we had glanced at the bakery before entering the gardens and had decided to visit this one before leaving the town!

I read about this bakery on the internet and one of our friend also asked us to visit this place and buy Dutch letters - these are pastries in the form of  letter "S". So after visiting the Tulip gardens we headed straight to this bakery.. Even though we were warned by our friend about the long waiting line in front of the shop.....we did not think that there will be a long waiting line since it was a normal day  .... ....but we were surprised (I guess we should rather not be surprised after hearing the warning from our friend!) to see a long queue with a 20 minute wait atleast in front of the shop and we ask the people standing in the line about whether it is worth waiting in the line... and they say it is worth the wait to buy the pastries (they buy it all the time from that shop)...so we join the line too to taste the yummy pastries and one cannot miss the smell of the pastries as you stand in the line (even if you just go to check the place and not actually buy them....I am sure no one will return empty handed from the shop!)...sure to kindle your taste buds!! We got some walnut bars, apple pecan coffee cake and butter almond cookies!! I am enjoying these pastries as I am writing this post!

If you are planning to visit Pella .....enjoy the pastries as you take a stroll at the Park! I forgot to ask them about one thing....why the letter "S" and what is so special about the letter "S"?? If anyone reading the post knows about it.....enlighten me on it!!

(Photo of the pastries and the cookies that we purchased from the bakery)

Thanks for your patronage (to take it to 50th post!!).....keep visiting my blog!! Have a great week ahead!!