Happy Diwali - My Rangoli

!!!!Have a wonderfull Diwali filled with Peace, Prosperity and Happiness !!!!

!!!Shubh Diwali to all my Dear Friends !!!

Boring Khana Nahi Chalega...............

Jabh Tak Suraj Chand Rahega........... Boring Khana Nahi chalega...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a child… I never wanted to eat  Vegetables  , Roti-sabzi was the most Boring Food on this Planet for me…!!!  It was Not only Boring ..but I remember it always bit me on my tongue ….Yes it did… But I could never convince my Mom about this….SO I had only few reasons left………Like….I feel sick, I have a stomach ache, I feel like puking….and blah blah blah… …!!!!!

And Yes sometimes these reasons did work (because my Mom let them Work J)….and most of the times they didn’t !!

Until One fine day…when my Mom introduced this Super Yummy,Healthy, Flavourfull, Gud  Malai to me.,

And she said I can have it with Rotis daily………………… J, Provided half roti I eat with sabzi….then the other half I get to eat with Gud Malai J ( As a child my pronunciation for Gur was always Gud…. And its still the same)

And Believe me since that day Those Vegetables/sabzis.. Never ever bit me on my tongue again…


Recipes....


Gud  Malai - (Jaggery with Milk cream)

Take some Jaggery ( Gur/Gud/ Coarse Brown Indian Sugar), It should be at Room Temperature,not the frozen one… because it should actually be soft and should melt in the milk cream, It can be grated or could be in powdered form , or if you like …you can keep it as small chunks… or the granular form.

Add some milk cream and just mix it ..… Here you will see the Gur (jaggery) starts melting in the milk cream, and before it completely melts ….Have it with Hot Hot Gheewala Phulkas.

Phulka Recipe-

Aata (whole wheat flour)- 1 cup

Milk- ¼ cup

Water- ¼ cup approx

Ghee- 1tsp

Method-

1)      Mix the milk and water and add it to wheat flour gradually..while mixing and kneading till you get the soft dough ball …( not very soft, not very hard… just soft enough so that it can be rolled)

2)      Add ghee and keep kneading …so that the soft dough ball does not stick to your hands.

3)      Let it rest for 15 mins… and then it is ready to be rolled

4)      Now make lemon sized balls out of this dough and dust it with wheat flour or atta and keep aside

5)      Take one by one and with a rolling pin roll it into thin discs (circles/rotis), while rolling dust the discs (rotis)with aata(wheat flour) so that it dosent stick to the rolling pin.

6)      Now pre-heat a tawa(griddle) and lay one roti (disc) over the griddle and roast it only for  half a minute on one side….(note this is the first side which will go directly on flame to form Phulka)

7)      Flip the roti(disc) and roast it on other side also, when small brown patches and bubbles are formed..then this side is done…(This side is done on the griddle itself….  never on the flame)

8)      Now with a pair of tongs, pick up the roti and transfer it to the open flame with first side facing the flame, keep moving it around on the flame for 5 -10 sec only..the roti puffs up and immediately transfer it to the serving dish and brush it with a tsp of ghee while its still hot.

Ready to be eaten with Gud Malai (Jaggery with Milk Cream)


Sending this Entry to.....Dish it out - with Wheat and Jaggery, also see Vardhini's Dish it Out announcement

Ragi ..........A Wonder Grain

Ragi Khakra Recipe............. Read Here


In India, finger millet (locally called ragi) is mostly grown and consumed in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra and Goa.

Ragi flour is made into flatbreads, including thick, leavened dosa and thinner, unleavened roti.

Ragi grain is malted and the grains are ground. This ground flour is consumed mixed with milk, boiled water or yoghurt.

In Andhra Pradesh Ragi Sankati (Telugu), which are ragi balls are eaten in the morning with a chilli, onions, sambar (lentil based stew)or meat curry and helps them sustain throughout the whole day.

In Karnataka, ragi flour is generally consumed in the form of ragi balls (ರಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ದೆ ragi mudde in Kannada). The mudde which is prepared by cooking the Ragi flour with water to achieve a dough like consistency. Which is then rolled into 'balls' of desired size and consumed.

Ghee, sambar or another chicken curry is generally served along with these balls.

In Orissa the tribal and Western hilly regions ragi or Mandiaa is a staple food.The porridge and Pithas made up of ragi are more popular among village folk.


In Maharashtra, bhakri (भाकरी in Marathi; also called ಭಕ್ರಿ bhakri in Northern Karnataka), a type of flat bread is prepared using finger millet (ragi) flour. Bhakri is called as ರಾಗಿ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ (ragi rotti in Kannada) in Karnataka.

In Goa ragi is very popular and satva, pole (dosa), bhakri, ambil (a sour porridge) are very common preparations.

In Nepal, a thick dough made of millet flour (ḍhĩḍo ढिंडो) is cooked and eaten with the hand. Fermented millet is used to make a beer (jããḍ जाँड) and the mash is distilled to make a liquor (rakśi रक्शी).

In the northwest of Vietnam, finger millet is used as a medicine for women when they give birth. A minority used finger millet flour to make alcohol (bacha alcohol is a good drink of the H'mong minority).

In the Kumaon region of northern India, it is called Maddua and is traditionally fed to women after child birth. In southern parts of India, pediatricians recommend finger-millet-based food for infants of six months and above because of its high nutritional content, especially Iron and calcium. Home made Ragi malt happens to be one of the most popular infant food even to this day.

In Tamil Nadu, ragi is considered to be the holy food of Amman, otherwise knowns as "Goddess Kali". Every small or large festival of this goddess is celebrated with, women making porridge in the temples and distributing it to the poor and needy. This porridge is called Kuzl which is a staple diet in farming communities alongside raw onion.

In India, Ragi recipes are hundreds in number and even common food stuffs such as dosa, idly and laddu are made out of ragi.

In Sri Lanka, Finger millet is called Kurakkan and is made into:

Kurakkan roti: An earthy brown thick roti with coconut

Thallapa: A thick dough made of ragi by boiling it with water and some salt until like a dough ball, it is then eaten with a very spicy meat cury and is usually swallowed in small balls than chewing.

Puttu: Puttu is a traditional breakfast of Kerala, usually made with Rice powder together with coconut grating and steamed in a cylindrical steamer. The preparation is also made with Ragi powder, which is supposed to be more nutritive.

Semolina Dessert (Sooji ka Halwa).......

Ingredients-

Sooji/semolina/rawa-1/2 cup

Ghee-1/4 cup

Cardamom Powder-1/4 tsp

Sugar-1/4 cup (or as per your taste)

Milk and Water mix (milk ½ cup +water ½ cup )

Almond flakes- to garnish

Method-

1)   First Dry roast Sooji in a pan on low heat for 2 minutes, until it gives out a nice Aroma

2)   Now add Ghee in sooji and cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly golden brown

3)   Add Cardamom powder and mix for a minute, then add sugar and mix

4)   Now add the milk and water mix (which should be hot…you can give it one boil )

5)   Milk and water mix should be added to sooji slowly while continuously stirring the sooji mixture to avoid forming any lumps on low heat

6)   Cook it for 2-3 minutes on medium heat until the water gets absorbed /evaporated completely.

7)   Just before serving Garnish with almond flakes.

Sending this to Diwali Special Sweets and Savories, My Diwali My Way

Poori (Puffy Deep fried Indian Bread)

Ingredients-

Whole Wheat Flour- 1 cup

Salt- 1 teaspoon

Water- ¼-½ cup

Oil – to deep fry

2 teaspoon oil to add while making dough

Method-

1)     Add salt to wheat flour and mix, then add 2 teaspoon oil and mix, then add water (preferably lukewarm) and knead the dough with your greased palms until firm and smooth.

2)     Set the dough aside by covering it with damp cloth for atleast 20 minutes.

3)     Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll the dough into balls and now flatten it between your palms

4)     Now with the rolling pin roll each into 5-6 inch circles, slightly thick

5)     Heat Oil for deep frying, and when the oil is hot, , ( to check if the oil is hot ,place a very small piece of dough in oil, if it right away floats to the top , then it is hot enough, Remember oil should never be smoky but always hot enough)..then deep fry the pooris one by one,on both sides,till slightly golden

6)     If the pooris don’t puff, press it with skimmer slightly while frying and it will puff.

7)     Place the pooris on paper towel to drain off any oil .

8) Serve it with Sooji Halwa , and kala chana as a traditional Navratri feast

My First Ever Blog Award.........

Many Many thanks to Dearest Richa for tagging me with my first ever blog award!

Thankyou Richa , I am Truly Honoured!

The award comes with  some rules..

1. Put up this award on your blog
2.Pass it on to any blog you feel deserves this award
3. Answer these tag questions....

What makes you laugh, smile or giggle?

Life is actually so full of Humor…..  Funny incidents, Funny people, Funny jokes, Funny conversations, …. And the list goes on and on…………

And since the day I have heard this

``You don’t stop laughing because you get old ...you get old because you stop laughing’’

I am Laughing………….Are You??

What are your dreams for your future?

I am yet to have my dreams for future………

As for present………. I am trying to be More and More Organised, Time to De-Junk !!!!!!!!   ……And I am lovin` it…….

If you are to go to a cruise, where would it be and why?

I would like to Cruise my Super Awesome Brain………….Reason- Studying Anatomy and Physiology was just not enough……..Knowing N number of miracles happening inside our brains every second………..I really really want to Cruise My Brain

How would you spend your vacation time and with whom?

I would Ideally love to spend my Vacation time with Family and Friends….

If given a chance, what life would you choose? Your life now or your past?

My life Now and My past are Very Different…. But they are both equally Beautifull., Having Being Given a chance I would choose my Past….Since whatever my Life is Now its coz` of my Past…….So I will again get into my past have fun…. And then which will again take me to my present…..and I will continue having fun……… J

That ways I enjoy Both againnn……….. 

Is there something that you wished before when you were young but you didn’t get it?

Everything at a microscopic level looks so very AWESOME….so I always wanted a microscope, but I didn’t have one….,

Have you been in a situation where you might have given up but still you chose to move on?

Yes……..Moving on is not only about having a strong will to continue, but it also provides encouragement to lead a Happy Life.

Is their someone in your life who has been your source of strength and inspiration?

My mom … an incredible source of strength and inspiration .

Now its my Turn to Nominate 10 other bloggers for this Award……..

Here it goes…………..


1) EC
2) Rachana 
3) Mini Binoy  
4) Sangeetha 
5) Dr.Sameena 
6) Ramya 
7) Kalyan 
8) Sreevalli 
9) Raksha

10) Muskaan

Celebrating Navaratri.................

Navaratri represents celebration of Goddess Durga, the manifestation of Deity in form of Shakti [Energy or Power]. The Navaratri festival or ‘Nine Nights festival’ becomes ‘ten days festival’ with the addition of the last day, Vijayadashmi (Dussehra) .

On all these ten days,  various forms of Goddess Durga are worshipped across India.

For Navratri Parshad I always make ……Poori, Sooji ka Halwa and Kala Chana , which is also the traditional parshad for Navratri.

RECIPES.......


POOOOOOORI.......... (AKA  FRIED INDIAN BREAD)

FOR POORI RECIPE........ Read here


NEXT......


KALA CHANA MASALA............. 

I have already posted the Recipe for Kala Chana.........   Read here


And Now the Most Popular Sooji ka Halwa.....

Sooji Ka Halwa Recipe(SEMOLINA DESSERT)  READ HERE



Now Finally the Prasad is Packed to be distributed....

!!!!!!WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NAVARATRI !!!!!!!!  

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Semolina Pudding (Sooji Kheer)

Not only Quick but also very very Easy...........

Ingredients-

Full Cream Milk- ½ litre

Semolina (sooji ) – 2 Tablespoon

2 Green Cardamoms Powdered (Elaichi)

Sugar- 4-5 Table Spoon

Almond Flakes- To Garnish

Ghee-2 Teaspoon

Method-

1)    Dry roast Sooji (semolina) in a pan for few minutes until it starts changing the colour

2)   Now Add ghee in sooji and mix it for 2 more minutes

3)   After this add warm milk in the sooji mixture and mix well, Care should be taken so that no lumps are formed

4)   Add Sugar and cardamom powder, mix well, cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly thick, (if you like it to be of thinner consistency , then you can add more milk )

5)   Garnish with Almond Flakes, ……..and its Ready to serve..


Sending this to Diwali Special Sweets and Savories, My Diwali My Way

Home Sweet Home

Diwali is nearing and its time to decorate the House, But honestly speaking I am still stuck up with cleaning (all the mess and loads of junk), But unlike last Diwali (during which I cleaned Before diwali, During diwali, and after diwali,and very less time for décor) this time I just want to refresh the whole place with a little Creative effort

Yes, its going to be an effort because creativity does not come easy to me.

Not knowing how to begin with ……

I have decided to start with the Bedside Table …. because this is what I see first thing every morning and last thing every night, so it should not only be refreshing and pleasant to see., but it should also complement and add some zinggggg!

After running across the house,managed to gather some stuff….….

This is what I have come up with..................  

Have a look-

An attractive pattern of round doily in crochet with.....Read More

E-Book By IndusLadies

“100 Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes”  ..................  I have already sent in my entry for this E-book


Wondering which recipe i have sent??????


I have sent Whole Wheat Pancakes with Rabdi (Malpua`s with Rabdi)


For the upcoming Diwali on October 26th, 2011, Indusladies are compiling an E-Book called “100 Yummy Diwali SweetRecipes”. They are collecting sweet/dessert recipes from various bloggers to be featured in this E-Book.


Thats a great news for the Food Bloggers out there who have been blogging for alteast 1 year now...


This E-book will be made available as a free download to their community's 1.3 Lakh+ members. In addition, they will also be making this E-Book available to their 9000+Facebook Fans and Twitter followers. It's LOTS and LOTS of exposure to those food blogs entering the E-Book!! 


Those bloggers interested in submitting a recipe for this E-Book...all you need to do is as follows:
1. Send a link from your blog for a sweet /dessert recipe. It should also include the picture of the sweet/dessert. Your recipe, food picture, recipe URL as well as the entire blog URL will get featured in the E-Book.
2. In return, they need you to do two things:
- Now make a blog post in your blog announcing the E-Book compilation by IndusLadies and the recipe you are sending for this E-Book. That way inviting your co-bloggers interested to send in their contribution by Oct 8th,2011.

- Between Oct 11 and Oct 26, make a blog post featuring the E-Book and announcing it is available for FREE download in IndusLadies. They will be providing you sooner with the picture of the E-Book’s cover page that you will use to include in this blog post.

Come on...hurry! What are you waiting for?? Send a sweet/dessert recipe link from your blog to partners@indusladies.com by Oct 8th, 2011.