Recipe world

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Kesari, Shira or Sheera is a popular sweet dish in South India. It is one of the most common sweets prepared in festivals, marriages and other occasions. Also, its one of the easy n rich treats for the unexpected guests! Main ingredient for this dish is Semolina / Sooji Rava. I had posted the Kesari / Shira recipe long back. Pineapple Kesari is a variation of that recipe, with added pineapple and of course, more flavorful!

We had bought pineapple few days back for preparing Pineapple Jam. The fruits were large enough and juicy. There was a quarter piece left after preparing the jam and I used the same for making this Pineapple Kesari. Try this yummy Pineapple Kesari / Sheera and enjoy with your family :)

Time required: 35 - 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Medium semolina / Sooji rava - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 cups

Salt - big pinch

Ghee / clarified butter - 2/3 cup

Hot water - 2 1/2 cup

Grated pineapple (including the juice) - 1/2 cup

Broken cashews - 3 to 4 tbsp
Raisins - few (as needed)

Cardamom / Elachi powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat the ghee / clarified butter in a heavy bottom pan. Add the semolina and roast it on low flame for 8 - 10 minutes or till you hear a nice aroma of roasted semolina.
Meanwhile, bring the water to boil and let it be ready by the time semolina is roasted.
Add 2 1/2 cup water and a big pinch of salt to the roasted semolina and mix it nicely. Close the lid and cook it for 7 - 8 minutes. Stir it occasionally.
Once all the water is evaporated and the rava is cooked, add 2 cups of sugar. Mix it, close the lid partially and cook for 8 - 10 minutes on low flame.
Roast the broken cashews in 1 tsp of ghee. Add it to the Kesari mixture.
Finally, add the grated pineapple and mix it well. Cook it for 5 more minutes and turn off the flame.
Serve it hot along with some spicy snacks. Kesari and Kharabath / Uppittu is a well known combo!

Tips:
I usually great the pineapple and use it for this Kesari. Alternatively, you can chop the pineapple into small chunks, puree the same and use it for this sweet.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

We have a big Indian grocery store nearby. I love buying few veggies from there which are rarely available in other shops. This time, I bought drumstick leaves from there and enjoyed preparing different dishes. Drumstick leaves has lot of health benefits. Its a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and anti oxidants. It helps in the well functioning of heart, eyes and nerves system.

Drumstick leaves add a nice taste to the dishes. I love to prepare delicious Sambar, Stir fry, Dal, Tambli, etc, using these leaves. Let me share Drumstick Leaves - Tomato Sambar recipe today. Its quite easy to prepare, and tastes awesome with rice.

Time required: 30 minutes

Servings: 3 - 4

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 cup (1 cup = 50 grams)
Moong dal - 2 tbsp
Drumstick leaves - 1 cup
Tomato - 1
Salt to taste
Sugar / jaggery (optional) - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Onion (optional) - 1 small
Water - 5 cups approx

Masala for grinding:

Dry red chillies - 3 (adjust according to spiciness required)
Fenugreek seeds - 3/4 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing - Big pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Fresh grated / desiccated coconut - 3 tbsp

Method:

Chop tomato into medium size pieces.
Wash toor dal and moong dal together in clean water. Cook them till soft by adding few drops of oil, pinch of turmeric and 4 cups of water or as required. I have pressure cooked them till 3 whistles.
Roast all the ingredients except coconut in oil. Add grated coconut and tamarind with roasted spices and grind them into a smooth paste. Add water as required.
Add drumstick leaves and chopped tomato to the cooked dal. Add 1 cup of water, salt and sugar / jaggery for taste. Boil it for 5 minutes.
Add the ground masala paste and allow it to boil for 8 - 10 minutes. After boiling for 6 - 7 minutes, add the chopped onions. Boil it for 3 - 4 more minutes and turn off the flame.
Serve this delicious Sambar along with hot rice and Papad.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

If there are kids at home, demand for snacks will obviously be more. This holds good for our house as well and not only the kiddo, we are also snacks lovers! More than deep fried items, we like the baked goodies.
This biscuit recipe caught my eyes sometime back while reading a local magazine. I just gave it a try and the biscuits tasted delicious! Original name of this biscuit is 'ANZAC Biscuit'. As I read in Wiki, the name of these biscuits is associated with Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). During the time of 1st World War, wives of the soldiers were preparing biscuits using flour, rolled oats, desiccated coconut, sugar, etc. They were sending those biscuits to the soldiers which had a good shelf life. There are several ways to prepare these ANZAC biscuits. This recipe was published in a local magazine during the time of ANZAC Day. Original recipe called for Golden Syrup. I have replaced it Honey and it worked out well!
Recipe courtesy: Coles Magazine

Preparation time: 15 - 20 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 25 - 30 biscuits
Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

All purpose flour / Maida - 1 cup (1 cup = 150 gm)
Rolled oats - 1 cup
Desiccated coconut - 1 cup
Butter - 125 gm
Brown sugar - 55 gm
Caster sugar - 110 gm
Honey / Golden syrup - 2 tbsp
Bi Carbonate soda - 1/2 tsp
Hot water - 1 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Transfer the rolled oats into mixie jar and make it a course powder.
Combine all purpose flour, rolled oats, desiccated coconut, brown sugar and caster sugar in a mixing bowl and mix it well.
Heat the honey and butter together and allow the butter to melt on low flame. Stir it occasionally. Once the butter is completely melted, turn off the flame and keep it aside for cooling down.
Mix 1/2 tsp of Bi Carbonate soda with 1 1/2 tbsp hot water. Add it to the melted butter and honey.
Fold in the flour mixture into melted butter and mix it nicely.
Take tablespoons of mixture and roll them into balls. Pat the dough balls and arrange them on a lined baking tray.
Bake the biscuits for 15 minutes and allow to cool.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Beetroot is one of the nutritious vegetables which tastes awesome with its natural sweetness. This root vegetable is good for preparing delicious stir fry, sambar, salads and sweets. Beetroot Palya / Stir Fry and Sambar are my family favorites. My little one also loves to have it because of its nice red color!

Here is the recipe of Beetroot Palya / Poriyal. This tastes very good with rice, chapathi, roti and poori. Give it a try and let me know your feedback :)

Preparation time: 40 - 45 minutes

Servings: 5

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 1 1/2 bulb
Dry red chilli - 1
Urid dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida / hing - big pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Green chilli - 1 (adjust according to taste)
Curry leaves - 4 to 5 leaves
Cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Onion - half
Salt - for taste
Amchur powder - for taste
Sugar - 1 tsp or according to taste
Water - 1 1/4 cup or little more (as needed for cooking)

Method:

Wash the beetroot cleanly and peel off the skin. Chop them finely.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add broken red chilli pieces, urid dal, asafoetida and then mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start crackling, add turmeric powder, slit green chillies and curry leaves.
Saute it for a while and add finely chopped beetroot and mix it well.
Add 1 1/4th cup of water for cooking the mixture. Close the lid and cook it for 18 - 20 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally. Add more water if needed.
When the mixture is almost cooked and water is evaporated, add salt, amchur powder and sugar and adjust the taste. Also add the chopped onion and grated coconut and mix well.
Cook it for 8 - 10 minutes more and turn off the flame.
Serve this Palya along with rice, chapathi or poori.

Tips:

Beetroot bulbs are bit hard. If you find it difficult to chop them finely, just cut them into 2 or 3 pieces and pressure cook till 2 whistles. Then, chop them finely and follow the above recipe. Only change you need to consider is no need to add water after doing the seasoning since the veggie will already be cooked.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Here comes a simple and quick Ladoo recipe which can be prepared to serve the guests, or to munch on just like that! Its good for kids as well since all the ingredients used here are good for health. My kiddo loves to have it anytime and she renamed it as 'Tun Tun Laadu'! No need to worry about the calories, we are going to add less ghee for this Ladoo :)

Wheat Flour Laddu is one of my favorite sweets from childhood. There is one more method to prepare Wheat Flour Ladoos where we need to make the sugar syrup. Anyways, I love to prepare Ladoos with powdered sugar which is simple and quite easy!

Try these yummy ladoos and enjoy with your family..