‘ONLY’ Event & Giveaway Announcement For December

Hi All!

Here I’m finally with this month’s event announcement. December is a month of fun and frolic. Winter has set in and the market is flooded with a variety of vegetables and fruits. It’s a perfect time to indulge in more veggies, fruits and hence the theme of the event makes use of the same!!!

We all eat a variety of food everyday, right from breakfast till dinner. And during any course of the meal along with the core food we need a dish to go along with it. Suppose you are eating Idli for breakfast then you eat it either with sambhar or chutney. While eating nachos you want a salsa or a dip. Similarly, you just can’t eat a roti for lunch, one does need a curry to go with it.

Yes, you guessed it correct! This month’s theme focuses on the side dishes. The side dishes play such an important role in the completion of our meal. No meal is complete without it!! So don your cooking cap and send me side dishes of various types, it can be a dip or chutney; a dal or a curry, a salad for the kebab or your innovation. The side dish can be of any cuisine. But in your post just mention the cuisine and it’s use.

The winner of the event gets a cookbook as a giveaway which is sponsored by www.tarladalal.com. The cookbook sponsored for this event is Healthy Starters. The book gets shipped only in India. The winner is chosen only from Indian entries by random method.

Rules For the Event

1. Send side dishes of any origin. Only vegetarian  (Eggs allowed) dishes allowed.

2. Use of logo is optional but will appreciate if it’s used, helps me spread the word.

3. Any number of fresh entries allowed. Only two entries from the archives can be linked to the event.

4. All entries should be linked to my event announcement else will not be accepted.

5. The giveaway book gets shipped in India only. It’s open for all as long as you can provide me an address in India. All such entries should be posted under ‘India’ in the inlinkz tool.

6. The giveaway is given to the followers of my blog  only (publically following).

7. I would appreciate that in case you find my blog interesting, do like my page on face book here.

8. Non bloggers can send me their recipes to cookingoodfood@gmail.com and  I can post their recipes in my blog.

FOODELICIOUS on Facebook

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Eggless Molten Lava Cake

          It's the end of this month and time to reveal the challenge for the Eggless Baking Group and this time it is Eggless Molten Lava Cake. I have seen so many pictures of this delicious cake, so rich and goey and had wanted to try it out for a long time. The cake looks so challenging but in reality it's pretty easy if you used the proper measures of the ingredients. Thanks to the number of queries raised by the members of the group I started a little cautiously, though the basic recipe with egg was from NoobCook, I googled a little more to make sure about the measurements. Finally I decided to use orange juice as the egg replacement and went along with the following recipe. The cake turned out very good and I should warn you here, it's simply too rich and super delicious, so limit your portions..

Need To Have

• Dark Chocolate Bar - 80 gms
• All Purpose Flour - 6 tablespoons
• Melted Butter - 6 tablespoons
• Orange Juice - 6 tablespoons
• Caster Sugar - 3 tablespoons
• Baking Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Method 
          Sift the all purpose flour and the baking powder.

          Using a double boiler (boil some water in a vessel, place the chocolate pieces in a vessel that fits on top of the bottom vessel) melt the chocolate, keep stirring with a spoon.

          When the chocolate is completely melted, add the melted butter ( did it in the microwave), beat well so that it's well combined with the chocolate.

          Take the castor sugar in a mixing bowl, add the orange juice to it and mix it well.

          Mix in the chocolate mixture and finally add the sifted flour and mix thoroughly, without any lumps into a smooth batter.

          Pour this into greased ramekins ( fill it to upto 3/4th its volume), bake them at 180C for about 10-15 minutes. Allow it to cool, till you can handle the ramekins with your hand ( about 5 minutes), then loosen it on the sides and invert it on a serving plate. You can serve this with some vanilla ice cream or as such, dusted with some icing sugar.

Note
Use a good quality chocolate, mine had 40% cocoa, increase or decrease the amount of sugar based on the sweetness of the chocolate used.
Oven temperatures vary, so it'll take anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes, also depends upon how goey you want the central part of the cake.
For the measurements given above I got two cakes (ramekin size).

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Tomato Onion Masala

          Whenever my mother has to make a side dish for rotis, in a hurry, she makes this Tomato Onion Masala, a very easy but extremely tasty one. It requires very few ingredients, the regular items found in the kitchen. She does not add peas to it, I added them just because I had fresh peas and also it gives a lovely color to this dish. You can also mix this masala with some cooked rice, tastes very good and serve it with some raitha for a complete meal..

Need To Have

• Onions - 3 medium chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped
• Fresh Green Peas - 1/2 cup
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coarsely Ground Fennel Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste

Method
          Cook the peas in the microwave with a little water and salt, drain and keep aside. This way the peas retain their bright green color.

         Heat some oil, add the ground fennel seeds, when it sizzles add the onions and saute till it turns pink. Then add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric and chilly powders and saute them till it turns mushy and starts shrinking, and oil starts leaving the sides.

          Now add the cooked green peas, mix and saute for another 2 or 3 minutes and remove. Serve it with some rotis or use it as a sandwich filling or mix it with some cooked rice.

Note
You can use this same base and mix in any other cooked vegetable like beans, cauliflower etc.
Be a little liberal with the oil, it tastes very good and also keeps well for a week in the refrigerator.
Use sour tomatoes to get a good taste.

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Pori Urundai/Puffed Rice Balls

          We celebrate Karthikai Deepam for three days and one of the festival dishes that we prepare during these days is this Pori Urundai/Puffed Rice Balls. This is a healthy snack of the olden days when all the fancy chocolates were not widely available and made with aval pori (puffed rice flakes) and vellam (jaggery). Everyone has a version, this is the way my mother makes it..

Need To Have

• Puffed Rice Flakes - 6 cups
• Jaggery - 2 cups
• Coconut Pieces - 1/2 cup
• Roasted Chana Dal - 1 cup
• Cardamom Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Method

          Leave the coconut pieces to dry ( keep it under a fan) for about 1 to 2 hours. Then toast this till the edges turn light brown.

          Take the aval pori (puffed rice flakes) , add the roasted chana dal, toasted coconut slices and the cardamom powder, mix everything together.

          Heat the jaggery along with 1/2 cup water, once it melts, remove and strain it to remove any impurities found in it.

Then put it back on the stove and keep stirring till it reaches thick syrup ( like maple syrup) consistency. At this stage, take a small spoon of it and drop it into a bowl of water, if it dissolves, then keep stirring the jaggery mixture. When you drop the jaggery in the water if it settles like a solid mass in the bottom and you are able to form a ball with it, switch of the stove.

Now pour this syrup on the puffed rice mixture and immediately mix it. Once it cools down slightly, shape it into balls. Leave it to cool completely and store it, stays good for at least a week.

Note
Drying and toasting the coconut pieces prevents it from spoiling.
Be careful with the syrup consistency, if it's watery, then the balls cannot be formed and if it is too thick, then it'll solidify immediately after you pour it over the puffed rice flakes.
I got 28 balls for the amount used.
If aval pori is not available try making it with the regular puffed rice.

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Ajwain Paratha/Indian Flat Bread With Bishop's Weed

           Since it's Karthikai Deepam festival today and more work, thought I'll post a simple recipe. Though simple to make these ajwain parathas are very flavorful and goes very well with any type of gravy or vegetable curry. Ajwain also known as bishop's weed/carom seeds is said to be good for the digestive system and is commonly used in the Indian cuisine. One of the easiest way to include ajwain in the diet is adding them to these parathas, so simple and tasty..

Need To Have

• Whole Wheat Flour - 1+1/2 cups
• Ajwain - 1 +1/2 teaspoon
• Curd Or Yogurt - 2 tablespoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Method

          Take the flour, salt, curd, ajwain, turmeric and chilly powders, mix it till you get a crumbly mix. Now add water little by little and make a soft dough, apply some oil, cover and leave it for 1/2 an hour. Then divide it into 10 balls.

          Dusting with some flour, first roll it into a small circle, apply a little oil, fold it into a semicircle, apply a little oil, fold it again.

          Now roll this out into a triangle and place it on a hot tawa or skillet and cook on both sides with a little oil till you get light brown spots. Serve it warm with any curry or vegetable of your choice.

Note
Can make the dough with curd only, without adding water, or vegan with only water.
While cooking the parathas, flip it only thrice, first time when you get small bubbles on the bottom side, flip, apply oil, flip it immediately and apply oil on the other side, meanwhile the bottom side will get light brown spots, now flip the third time and cook the other side till it gets brown spots, this way you'll get soft parathas.

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Masoor Dal/Split Red Lentils

          Masoor Dal or Split Red Lentils is one of my favorite dals, it has a nice flavor when cooked. Just with the basic tadka or seasoning this dal tastes great, I would say a beginner's recipe, that nobody can go wrong with. But it tastes really good and is a great combination with both rotis and rice or even have it as a soup..

Need To Have

• Masoor Dal Or split Red Lentils - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium chopped
• Tomato - 1 large chopped
• Garlic - 4 cloves chopped
• Grated Ginger - 1 tablespoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cloves - 2
• Salt - to taste

Method
          Pressure cook the masoor dal along with the turmeric powder ( about 1/2 time to cook parboiled rice, about 7 minutes).

          Heat the oil, add the cumin seeds and the cloves, when it starts sizzling, add the onions, garlic and ginger. Saute till the onion turns pink and the garlic turns golden, now add the tomatoes, salt, chilly and coriander powders.

          Saute till the tomatoes turn mushy, for about 5 minutes, sprinkling water in between if it sticks to the pan. Now add the cooked dal, some water and the garam masala, simmer for another 5 minutes on low heat. Remove and serve warm with rice or rotis.

Note
If you add a lot of oil in the beginning, then you won't have to sprinkle water while sauteing the tomatoes, have to do it till it turns mushy and oil leaves on the side and starts floating.
The final consistency of the dal is that of thick porridge, add water accordingly, if you want thinner soup like consistency, then add more water.

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Peerkangai & Verkadalai Saadam/Ridge Gourd & Peanut Rice

          Peerkangai or Ridge Gourd is widely used in Asian cooking, and in Indian cooking we make a variety of dishes with it, the most common being the kootu and chutney. This vegetable has a unique flavor and a slightly sweetish taste, in fact if it is bitter it's not fit for cooking. I usually make sambar or kootu or chutney with it, for a change I used it in this rice along with some peanuts. It turned out really delicious, the softness of the vegetable and the crunchiness from the peanuts complimented each other, you can try this out even with left over rice..

Need To Have

• Rice - 3/4 cup
• Ridge Gourd - 1 + 1/2 cup peeled and chopped
• Tomato - 1 big chopped
• Peanuts - 1/4
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method

          Cook and cool the rice and boil the peanuts. Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the fenugreek seeds. After 1/2 a minute add the ridge gourd pieces, chilly and turmeric powders, saute for 2 or 3 minute, then add the peanuts, tomatoes and salt, mix, cover and cook for 2 minutes.

          Now add the curry leaves and the garam masala, mix for a minute, switch off and cool. Then add the cooked rice and mix in gently. Serve it with some raitha and chips.

Note
While peeling the ridge gourd, leave some skin here and there, but peel all the raised edges and chop into big pieces, so that the vegetable holds its shape.
Dried raw peanuts are available, just pressure cook them with some water for 3/4th of the time taken to cook parboiled rice, about 10 minutes.
You shouldn't let the fenugreek seeds to brown, it'll taste bitter.
Add the chilly powder wisely according to your taste.
Also while mixing in the rice, don't add all the rice at once, mix in little by little, tasting the rice in between for taste, stop adding rice once you get the perfect taste. 

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Cauliflower Capsicum Curry

          Making curries every single day is sometimes really tiring and deciding on the curry to be made is actually the bigger task than making it. There are only so many vegetables, but then by mixing two or more vegetables you can end up making a different curry. I like cauliflower and I always have capsicum in stock, (adding it to any curry or dish gives it a nice flavor) so I mixed them both in this curry, it turned out to be very flavorful and tasty and a nice side dish to rotis..

Need To Have

• Cauliflower - 1 small
• Capsicum - 2 small
• Tomato - 1 medium
• Grated Ginger - 1 tablespoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 5
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste

Method
          Put the washed cauliflower florets in boiling water, switch off, leave for 5 minutes, then remove and keep. Slice the capsicum and chop the tomato.  

          Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, once it starts sizzling, add the red chillies ( broken into two) and mix. Immediately add the cauliflower and the capsicum and saute for a minute.

          Then add salt, turmeric and coriander powders, mix, cover and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and the grated ginger, mix, cover and cook for cook for 2 more minutes, by this time the vegetables should be cooked. Remove the lid, add the garam masala and a little oil, reduce the heat and keep sauteing the curry for another 3 or 4 minutes.

Note
The cauliflower available in the US gets cooked very fast, and if over cooked will turn mushy, so reduce the cooking time by 1 or 2 minutes.
The red chillies that I have are very mild, please use yours accordingly, you can add red chilly powder later along with the other powders if you find the curry less spicy.

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Rabri

          I had made only two sweets for Diwali, one was the Almond Chocolate Burfi and the other was this rabri. Ever since I tasted this at one of the chat places here in Chennai, I had wanted to try this at home. Rabri is nothing but milk which is boiled and reduced to 1/3 of its volume, I would say, a cousin to the South Indian Basundi. It's a very delicious and rich dessert, not many ingredients, but requires a little patience which  of course pays off at the end..

Need To Have

• Milk - 1 litre
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Chopped almonds - 1 tablespoon
• Powdered Cardamom - 1/4 teaspoon

Method

           Take the milk in a heavy bottom vessel and heat it. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and let it boil down to half its volume. Keep stirring from time to time, and mixing the cream layer formed on the top into the milk. Once it has reduced to half its volume, add the sugar and keep stirring still it's further reduced.

         Finally mix in the chopped nuts and the cardamom powder, stir for a minute. Remove and serve it at room temperature or chilled.

Note
Usually the final consistency is like that of porridge, but you can have it at a thinner consistency, if you like it that way.
Can garnish with some chopped pistachios.
I find the pressure cooker vessel to be ideal for making these milk recipes, because it's very heavy and the milk doesn't stick much to the vessel.

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Potato Fry

          Potato fry, everybody ( well, at least most of us) loves this dish and everybody has their own way of doing it. This is the way my mother makes it, loved by all of her kids and now her grand kids join the list too. Especially on a cold rainy day, I love to have this with some rice and rasam, very comforting. A very simple and flavorful dish, give it a try, you'll love it..

Need To Have

• Potatoes - 3 medium
• Onion - 1 small
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste

Method 

          Peel the potatoes and slice them. Grind coarsely the fennel seeds and the onion. To the pan that you are going to use for frying add the potatoes, the ground paste, salt, turmeric and chilli powders, mix well.

         Now put it on the stove, add some oil and 1/8 cup water, mix, cover and cook on low heat. Check in between, once the potatoes are cooked, remove the lid, add some more oil and keep frying on low heat till it  turns brown here and there and gets the fried look. Serve it warm with rice or rotis or as a filling for sandwiches.

Note
You can use the potatoes with the skin, the red potatoes available in the US taste very good in this dish, do not use potatoes that are used for making mashed potatoes, the whole dish will become mushy.
The final texture is not like that of chips, but more like the French Fries kind.

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Event Round Up & Winner Of ‘Only’ Healthy Lunch Box Ideas

Hello to all my readers!

I had mentioned that I’ll be back with my posts by end of October but destiny had set some other plans for me. For the first time in the last three years I could not announce my event for November’12 for which please accept my apologies. I was travelling and I returned back very sick and I’m still recuperating..that explains my absence here..

I’m posting the awaited round up and winner of last month’s event. The winner is picked by random method. I’ve also moderated the entries which were not linked to event announcement.




The Indian Entries of Healthy Lunch Box Ideas

1. Gobhi paratha by Jillu.

2. Lemon sandhavai by Sara’s Tasty Buds.

3. Instant Oats,Wheat and Corn Idli  by Sowmya Karthi

4. Sprouts Pulao by Sowmya Karthi

5. Flattened Rice In Lime Juice / Nimbu Poha by Lavanya

6. Mini Frittatas by Anshu Bhatnagar

7. Hash Browns by Lavanya

8. Padhuwali Chapathi by Jillu

9. Egg Sandwich by Shruti Dhingra

10. Sabudana Kichadi by Shruti Dhingra

11. Ghee rice by Sara’s Tasty Buds

12. Channa Pulao by Sara’s Tasty Buds

13. Vegetable Biryani by Sara’s Tasty Buds

14. Punjabi Style Aloo Paratha by Sanoli Ghosh 

15. Missi Roti by Shobha

16. Masala Pasta by Shobha

17. Quinoa Rotis by Shobha

18. Almond and Cranberry Whole Meal Bread by Sowmya Karthy

19. Sabz Pasta by Shruti Dhingra

20. Ellu Saadam by Kaveri Venkatesh

21. Gujarati Khichdi Kadhi by WeR Sahm

22. Soya Matar Pulao by Sara’s Tasty Buds
 
23. Multigrain Paniyaramby by Sara’s Tasty Buds
 

24. Veg. Paneer Rolls by Amarendra

25. Sprout Chana Chaat by Shruti Dhingra

26. Methi Parantha by Sheelu Agarwal

27. Mint Paratha by Sara’s Tasty Buds

28. Dahi channa chaat by Sara’s Tasty Buds

29. Indianized French Toast by Sara’s Tasty Buds

30. Spinach Pulao by Sara’s Tasty Buds
Entries From Other Countries


1. Seasoned Coriander Leaves pancake by Kitchen queen

2. Mexican Pizza- Taco Bell Style by Kitchen queen

Coming to the winner announcement. I used random.org to pick the winner from the 30 entries from India and the lucky number is 1. Congrats Jillu, you win a cookbook on Parathas by Tarla Dalal sponsored by Tarla Dalal Enterprises.

Please mail me your address in India with postal code and cell/ landline number within 48hrs to cookingoodfood@gmail.com. In case Jillu for some reason does not communicate with me, I’ll pick another winner.

Stay tuned for some interesting recipes and my travelogue….COMING SOON HERE

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