Mixed Vegetable Paratha

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Ingredients

• • 2 cup Whole Wheat Flour / Atta
  • Finely grated carrot 1 big cup
  • Finely grated and squeezed Radish/ Mooli 1 big cup
  • Finely chopped onion 1 big cup
  • Finely cut dill leaves 1 big cup
  • 1 cup Fresh Coriander leaves
  • 8 Green Chillies' paste
  • Coriander Powder 2 table spoon

  • Red Chilli powder 2 tablespoon
  • Turmeric Powder 1 teaspoon
  • Asafoetida / Hing 2 teaspoon
  • Jeera and/or Carom seeds / Ajwain 1 tablespoon
  • Sesame seeds / til 2 tablespoon
  • Curds 1 cup
  • Cooking Oil to add in the dough 1 tablespoon 
  • Cooking Oil to cook paratha
  • Salt to taste.

  
  

  
  
  
  

Procedure :

1. Wash, scrape, grate and squeeze the Radish and keep aside.
2. In a big wide plate or bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Now add all the vegetables, oil, yogurt and mix well.
4. Make a medium soft dough, add little water if needed (it depends on how watery or juicy your radish is, you may or may not need water to make the dough)
5. Make equal size balls from the dough.
6. Take a dough ball and roll the paratha.
7. Heat the tava and put the rolled paratha over it and cook on medium heat till a few golden spots appear.
8. Now apply some oil on the paratha on both the sides and cook by pressing with a spatula to make it golden all over.
9. Remove from the griddle and serve hot with butter, or yogurt and pickle.

RECIPE VIDEO :

organic terrace gardeining | flower gardening ideas | gardening ideas and video

These babies of mine haven't heard the word social distancing.
I keep separating them, tie their hands, try to put some discipline in them and make them stand in one place.
But like those college students in Ravichandran's movie " Prema Loka" they keep falling on each other!


I have around 70 pots ( yeah, I know, I have overcrowded them. And I admit that I am very greedy when it comes to plants 🤭 ) and I decided to make good of this Home Stay time and teach my babies some discipline.
It took me almost 10 days to trim, repot, tie and arrange them neatly.




Guess what!!!
By the time I reached from plant one to plant seventy and then turned to look at them - there they were - smiling, giggling, holding hands, leaning on each other and hugging and kissing each other!!!
Common!!! Wait at least till I can make a video of all of you standing in your place in a neat, disciplined way.
No way!!!
Seeing me frowning at them, their friend, a honey bee gave me a sharp sting!
Ouch! How rude!!!
"No darling!" They told me in unison.
" We are neither rude nor do we need any discipline and separation. No social distancing for us. Because we share and spread only health and happiness!!! "
Watch the pics here to see how I had arranged them in the beginning.....

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And now watch my mischievous babies in this video.....

vada recipe | garelu vada recipe | urad dal vada | uzhunnu vada | Uddina Vada | Medu Vada |

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Today since it was my MIL's ceremony, in the absence of cooks, it was the turn of this home chef to cook.

Here is the recipe for the crispy Uddina vada / Medu vada.

Watch the video!

I have intentionally not put the music in the beginning so that you can hear that crispy sound when I cut the vada!

Ingredients :





Urad dal                              4 cups
Rice flour                             1 cup
Groundnut oil                       4 cups
Green chilli pieces                 1 tablespoon
Ginger pieces                        1 tablespoon
Dry coconut                          1 tablespoon
Finely chopped coriander       1 tablespoon
Finely chopped curry leaves   1 tablespoon
Black pepper                        1/2 teaspoon
Cooking soda                        1/4 teaspoon ( optional )
Salt to taste


Preparation :

• Wash and soak urad dal for 3 hours.

• After 3 hours, drain the water and grind the urad dal to a fine paste using only very very little water.
• With a ladle whirl the paste continuously for 5 minutes so that the batter turns light and layered. ( Please watch the video )
• Add all the ingredients, except the groundnut oil and mix well. The batter will become less sticky.

• Now heat the oil in a thick bottomed kadai.
• Keep some water in a bowl.
• Wet your hands in water and take the batter and make small ball and press on the center so that a ring shape is formed.
• Now slowly put this into oil. 
• Fry the vadas on medium heat continuously turning them.
• Once they become light golden colour take out and put the next batch.
• To get best result and get crispy vadas which are properly fried deep inside, it's better to fry them twice.
• So once all the vadas are fried into light golden, next again fry them till they nicely crispy and golden brown.
• Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Watch the recipe video here....

dry aloo gobi recipe | aloo gobhi ki sabji | aloo gobi masala dry

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Ingredients :

• Potato cubes of 5 potatoes
• Cauliflower florets of 1 medium size cauliflower

• 2 tablespoon oil

• 2 teaspoon jeera
• 1 tablespoon  kasuri methi
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 3 chilli, slit
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoon garam masala powder
• 2 tablespoon coriander, finely chopped

• INSTRUCTIONS

• Cook potatoes separately.
• In a bowl of hot water and turmeric soak cauliflower florets till they turn soft. Then remove water.

• • In a large kadai, heat 3 tsp oil and saute 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp kasuri methi until they turn aromatic.
  • Add 1 onion and saute well.
  • further, add 1 tomato and saute until tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
  • Now add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 3 chilli and saute for a minute.
  • Keeping the flame on low add turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt.
  • Saute on low flame, until the spices turn aromatic.
  • Now add cooked aloo and gobi.
  • Mix gently without breaking them and keep on low flame for five minutes.
  • Add coriander leaves. mix well.
  • Serve with hot rotis and pooris.

  
  

How's T"hat"!!!

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Have you heard the slang " Topi Giraki" ? It wears many hats - pun intended!
We use the term in many variations. If someone tries to fool people, we call him " Topi Giraki ". If one behaves foolishly again the term applies to him. And yet generally at home when someone commits a silly mistake then the first reaction from us would be " Topi Giraki ".



So this happened recently when my husband was going out. He was going to our new house where a prospective tenant was coming and my husband wanted to show him the house.

I have a beautician as a neighbour. Right next to my house there is a ladies' beauty parlour. Since it's quite a popular one, we see people going in and out of the parlour constantly.

Our bedroom is on a mezzanine floor built on our car garage. So we can look down at our garage through bedroom window and can also have a look if someone is coming out of the parlour next to our bedroom.



I think it's enough of the scene creation. Well, to enjoy the story you have to visualise how we were placed!

So coming back to the story, my husband went to the garage, all ready and suddenly he realised that he has forgotten to take the keys of the house. He wanted to call me to throw down the keys from the window.

I was sitting on my bed watching the TV and was out of his sight.
We belong to that generation which has moved away from " enoondre "  and " le ivale " but has not reached to the generation which calls each other by name and are on " hogo " " bare " terms.

Now there are many ways in which my husband calls me and whistling is one among them. Yes, you read it right. Just like some slang words, there is one particular type of whistle which everyone of us - yes including me - uses at home when we want to call someone who is out of sight but within a hearing distance. It's so familiar in the family that even our dog Pogo instantly reacts to that whistle.

And here my husband whistled to me and I immediately realised that he has left the keys. Taking the keys to the window while he was whistling I threw the keys at him. Instantaneously in a self deprecating way he said " Topi Giraki".

Exactly at the time when he was whistling, I was throwing the keys and he told " Topi Giraki", something else happened. At that very precise moment the parlour door had opened and a lady who had obviously got her hair dyed stepped out covering her wet head in a plastic cover!

You should have seen my husband's face! I was out of sight to the parlour lady and he was there, standing alone, whistling and calling " Topi Giraki !"



I also gasped and held my breadth as my husband stood their averting his eyes. I am sure if not for that funny plastic cover topi on her head, the lady would have taken some time to give him a piece of her mind and would not have driven away on her scooter.

Once she was out of sight, we both heaved a sigh of relief and could not control our giggles!!!


PS : I know you too would have such interesting nick names and cliches in your family, in your circle. Please share here. Let's hear them!

Chinese Bhel

chitrannaa.blogspot.com

Serves 4

Ingredients :

• Hakka noodles 1 packet
• Groundnut oil    2 tablespoon
• Grated Ginger   1/2  tablespoon
• Grated garlic     1/2 tablespoon
• 
  
  
  

• Finely chopped onions 2
• Finely chopped spring onions 2 cups
• Carrots julienned  3
• Capsicum cut into thin long pieces 2
• Shredded cabbage into juliennes
• 2 cups
• Boiled American sweet corn  2 cups ( optional )

• 

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• Tomato sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons
• Schezwan sauce 1 tablespoon
• Soya sauce 1 tablespoon
• Chilli vinegar 1 tablespoon
• Groundnut oil 1/2 liter 
• Black pepper powder 1 teaspoon ( optional )
• Salt to taste

Preparation :

PS : You can do the following preparation work in advance so that the noodles are cooked and are dry for frying. Suppose you want to prepare this for evening snacks, you can finish off this work in the afternoon and keep it ready.

• In a big bowl bring water to boil and put in a spoon of oil and little salt.
• Put the hakka noodles in boiling water and let it cook for 5 minutes till the noodles become soft. Take care not to cook too much else they will become soggy.
• Switch off the gas, stain the noodles and pour cold water on the noodles to stop them cooking further.
• Spread the noodles in a big plate and let them cool.

• Boil the sweet corns either on gas or in oven and keep them ready.

• 

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• Heat the groundnut oil in a thick bottomed kadai.
• Deep fry the noodles in groundnut oil till golden brown and set aside.

• In a thick bottomed kadai heat groundnut oil.
• Add finely chopped onions and saute for a minute.
• Add finely chopped spring onions, ginger, garlic and saute for a minute.
• Put in all the julienned vegetables, boiled sweet corn and saute for one more minute.
• Take care to put down the gas heat and not to saute the vegetables too much as they have to remain very crunchy and fresh.
• Put in Tomato sauce, Schezwan sauce, Soya sauce and mix well. You can add these directly here or mix all the three in a cup, stir well and the pour to the kadai.
• Now add two spoons chilli vinegar and mix well.
• Now add a little pepper powder and salt and mix well.
• Break the fried noodles and mix everything lightly.
• Garnish with finely chopped spring onions. Serve your yummy, tangy Chinese Bhel immediately.

Blooms in my terrace garden - 15.2.20

My terrace garden....
The sunny days are here again....

The plants and flowers have started to bloom.....

Welcome to a sunny tour.....

My babies have grown so tall that it's very difficult to take their photos from the top and even difficult to pluck the flowers standing on a chair!

That's what every parent dreams of, isn't it?!?

Eat what you grow - Grow what you eat

You will feel healthy when you know that the food on your plate is grown by your own hands.

Absolutely no chemicals and no artificial flavors.

Your menu for the day is decided by your plants. 

Ridge gourd and other veggies sambar

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Amaranthus - Dantina Soppu and Spinach harvested today.

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Ridge gourd peel Chutney

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Amaranth seeds getting ready for the next batch of sowing.

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I would be busy, would be tired, but still when my plants keep calling, I can't resist. And then once I go upstairs thinking that it would be just a fleeting visit, but I always end up spending hours there.


They would be smiling at me offering fragrant flowers with heavenly scents, vying with each other to catch my attention, nodding happily when a caress them...

Nothing beats the happiness you feel when you are in the company of the plants and fauna. 💕💕

It takes just a few pots and a few minutes' work a day to eat your home grown greens at least once a week.


Have you started growing your own veggies yet???

Karigadabu | Masti Kadubu | Bele Hooranada Kadubu - Karjikai | kajjikayulu | sweet samosa | gujiya recipe

Preparation Time  : 30 Minutes
Cooking Time       : 10 Minutes

Ingredients :

• Chana dal                  4 cups
• Tur dal                      1/4 cup
• Pounded jaggery        4 1/4 cups
• Elahchi powder           1 tablespoon
• Atta                          4 cups
• Chiroti rava               1/4 cup
• Ghee                        2 tablespoon
• Salt                          1/2 teaspoon
• Groundnut oil for frying

Recipe video :

Ingredients :

• Chana dal                  4 cups
• Tur dal                      1/4 cup
• Pounded jaggery        4 1/4 cups
• Elahchi powder          1 tablespoon
• Atta                          4 cups
• Chiroti rava               1/4 cup
• Ghee                        2 tablespoon
• Salt                          1/2 teaspoon
• Groundnut oil for frying

Procedure :

• Mix the atta with a spoonful of groundnut oil and a pint of salt, knead well and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Cook the Chana dal and Tur dal with lots of water up to 5 whistles so that the daals are cooked soft.
• Once the cooker is cooled down, drain the water from the daals and set aside to prepare hoorana kattu Saaru.
• In a thick bottomed kadai, heat the ghee.
• Pour in the jaggery powder, cooked dals and elaichi powder and mix well.
• Keep stirring the hoorana.
• As you keep stirring and it gets cooked, the hoorana gets thick.
• Once it turns fully thick, switch off the gas and let it cool.
• Once the hoorana is cold, grind it into a fine paste.
• Make small balls from the hoorana.

• Roll the atta into small pooris.
• In the kadubu maker, place a poori, on that a ball of hoorana and press well.
• Please watch the video to see how it's done.
• Take out the pressed kadubu and set aside.
• Press all the kadubus like this.
• Take care to see that the edges are pressed properly otherwise while frying the hoorana may come out and spoil the oil and also the kadubu will lose its sweetness.
• Now heat the groundnut oil in a thick bottomed kadai.
• Once the oil heats up, fry the kadubus on medium heat till golden brown.
• Enjoy the hot kadubus with dollops of ghee.

PS : When we were young, our grandpa used to advise that we should eat karigadubu "hettuppa", meaning with unmelted desi ghee. This way we can accommodate more ghee!
Till this day I studiously follow his advice!!!


Some people add pieces of dry fruits, coconuts and rock sugar in the horana of Masti Kadubu.
But I personally prefer not to add any of them because I don't like the hard ingredients in the kadubu and spoil the fun of soft, melting in your mouth hoorana!


Check our other delicious sweet recipes here :

Sajjige Holige - Sheera Puran Poli

Kajjaya - Atirasa - Anarasa

Hurigadale ( puthani) Karadantu North Karnataka style

Godhi hittina tambittu

Fried gram laddu and sesame seed laddu - Nagara Panchami sweets

Delicious Sweet - Maladi - with your left over chapatis and Rotis

Besan laddu

7 Cup Burfi

Bele Obbattu - Puran Poli

Amla Murabba - Nellikai Gulamba

Appekai ( Raw mango ) Saaru

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This is the most delicious and healthy rasam or Sambar which is savoured during the mango season in summer. The raw mango which is very rich in vitamin A and vitamin E prevents the excessive loss of water from the body and also helps to quench the thirst.

Basically this Saaru is prepared with midigai but tastes equally good with any raw mango.



Preparation Time : 5 Minutes
Cooking Time       : 15 Minutes






Ingredients :

• Raw Mango                 1 big
• Slit green chillies        4-5
• Jaggery powder          1 tablespoon
• Groundnut oil                 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds                1/4 teaspoon
• Jeera                             1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida one pint
• Coriander leaves
• Curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Note : The quantity of the jaggery and chillies depends upon the sourness of mango.


Procedure :

• Peel the skin of the mango.
• Boil 8 cups of water.
• While the water is boiling add the mango. You can directly put in whole mango, or make pieces and boil or else grate it and boil. Finally we need to squeeze the pulp from the mango.
• Also add 3 to 4 slit chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves and salt.
• After boiling for about 5 to 10 minutes when the mango is fully cooked, switch off the gas.
• Add the jaggery powder and mix well.
• Once it cools down mash and squeeze the pulp from the mango and mix well with the water.
• Adjust the salt and the sweetness.
• Sieve the juice to another vessel.
• In a kadai, heat a teaspoon of groundnut oil, add mustard seeds, jeera and asafoetida.
• Add a few curry leaves.
• Mix to the Saaru and garnish with coriander leaves.
• Enjoy hot and refreshing appemidi Saaru.

Please check our other delicious and yummy juices :

Banana Mango Tango

Aam panna - Raw mango juice - Mavinakayi Bisi Panaka