Recipe world

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Villages like my native are the places where people can stay happily by spending very less on the daily needs like fruits and veggies. What I mean to say is, villages are such heavens where almost every plant, bush or creeper is useful either as food, medicine or in some other way! People will prepare delicious and healthy food even when there is no vegetable at home, using these naturally available ingredients.
For instance, we use raw banana for cooking and ripened ones for eating directly. Many of us don't know that even the plantain / banana stem can be used for cooking! It has got lot of medicinal values and some healthy and tasty dishes can be prepared using plantain stem. As I heard, regular usage of plantain stem is very good for kidney stone problem. Also, its a good remedy for stomach pain and dry cough. These days, its not that difficult to get plantain stem in cities. Coz plantain stem is easily available in vegetable markets in cities like Bangalore.
Well, today's recipe is Plantain Stem Salad - a yummy and healthy starter for your lunch. Credit goes to my Mom who helped me in preparing and presenting this recipe. Traditional name for this salad is 'Hulilu' even though I called it as Salad! Below is the recipe of Plantain Stem Salad..

Preparation Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients:

Plantain stem - 1 small
Ginger - 1 inch
Green chilli - 1
Lime - half piece
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method:

Cut the plantain stem into thin slices. Remove the fiber and chop the slices finely. About one cup of chopped plantain stem is enough for this salad.
Chop the ginger and green chilli finely. Either you can chop them or crush them, its fine anyways.
Combine chopped plantain stem, chopped ginger and chilli, curd in a mixing bowl. Add salt and lime juice for taste.
Enjoy this healthy and delicious salad with your lunch!

Tips:

Don't be scared if chopped plantain stem looks like oxidized. It will be back to its original color when you add lime juice to it.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

As all of us know, fruits are very good source of nutrients needed for our body. For fruit lovers like me, anything that's made using fruits sounds delicious! Recently, we had enjoyed the season of grapes and enjoyed various dishes with fruits. Apart from regular fruit salad and ice creams, I wanted to try something new with fruits this time. What came to my mind is Fruit Sandwich which I had long back in a restaurant. I still remember the taste of that yummy sandwich filled with lots of seasonal fruits and cream.

For various salads and ice creams, pineapple makes a good combo along with juicy grapes. I just used these two fruits along with cream for the filling. My family enjoyed eating this delicious sandwich for the evening snacks and everybody liked it.

Below is the recipe of Fruit Sandwich for you! And here is a small tip before you go ahead for preparation..don't forget to keep all the ingredients refrigerated before using, coz the sandwich tastes better when its cool!

Preparation time: 30 - 35 minutes

Difficulty level: Medium

Yield: 8 pieces

Ingredients:

Sweet bread - 16 slices
Pineapple chunks - 2 cup
Fresh grapes - 2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Fresh cream - 200 gm

Method:

Dissolve 3 tsp of sugar powder in 1 cup of water and keep it aside.
Beat the fresh cream well and prepare the whipping cream. Add sugar powder for taste and mix it well. Keep it refrigerated till use.
Place two bread slices on the plate. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tsp of sugar syrup on both the sides.
Spread a thick layer of whipping cream on one slice of bread. Top it generously with pineapple chunks and grapes.
Cover it with another slice of bread and serve immediately!

Tips:

Keep all the ingredients refrigerated before use. Fruit Sandwich tastes better when it is cool!

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

I came across this recipe few days back. It was written on the back of All purpose flour packet. They had used orange zest in this recipe to give it a nice flavor. Orange zest means the grated peel of orange. This was the first time I used orange zest in my cooking. Loved this simple recipe and gave it a try! Shortbread was light and crispy with the nice aroma of orange zest.
I have tried this recipe several times already and the shortbread got over within 2 days every time. I'm sure, kids love this yummy and crispy shortbread. Also, you can give it as teething biscuits to babies for biting.
Wish you happy cooking :)

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Difficulty level: Medium
Yield: 25 pieces (depending on the size)

Ingredients:

Zest of 2 Naval Oranges
Sugar - 1/2 cup (plus 2 tsp if you want to make it sweet)
All purpose flour / Maida - 3 cups (approx)
Unsalted butter - 125 gm

Method:

Transfer the sugar to mixie jar and make a fine powder.
Let the butter be in room temperature. Beat it nicely and then add powdered sugar. Beat it till its fluffy and creamy. Add the orange zest and mix it well.
Fold in the all purpose flour little by little and make a smooth dough. Keep adding the flour till you are able to make a dough ball out of it.
Dust the rolling surface with some dry flour. Roll out the big dough ball into a large circle using a rolling pin and cut it into desired shapes. Rolling is not compulsory, you can make it into any shape of your choice.
Pre heat the oven to 170°C. Arrange the shaped shortbread pieces in the oven tray and bake them for 15 - 20 minutes or till golden brown. Take them out after 5 minutes and allow to cool.
Shortbread will become crispy once they cool down. Store them in an air tight jar and enjoy with your cup of tea or coffee!

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Happy new year to one and all! Hope you had a nice time and enjoyed long holidays. We were off to native for two weeks. All the vacation went on just like that with our family and relatives there. Grand parents were eager to see their little grand daughter. Little one enjoyed playing and roaming around with them. She was very happy to see cow and little calf, cat and dogs and trying to imitate their sounds. One more happiest thing is that, just few days before our trip, she started walking. Her steps are more firm now by the time we are back from trip to native.

Coming back to the recipe..capsicum is one of the vegetables which will be available during all the seasons and all the regions. I love to use it in sambar and side dishes to enhance the taste and aroma of the recipe. Stuffed capsicum is our all time favorite and it will be my choice of side dish many a times. Sometimes, I will prepare Capsicum Palya (Stir fry) in my mom's style. She will use home made masala powder for this Palya which will give a unique taste to this recipe!

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4 - 5

Difficulty level : Medium

Ingredients:

Medium sized capsicum - 2 nos
Salt to taste
Amchur powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp

- For Masala Powder:

Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 4
Dry red chillies - 10 to 12
Desiccated coconut - 1 cup
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 3/4 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Big pinch of asafoetida
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 1/2 tsp

- For tempering:

Oil - 4 tbsp
Urad dal - 1 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Cut the capsicum, separate the seeds part and dice it into medium size pieces.
Heat oil in a pan and roast all the ingredients for masala powder except desiccated coconut. Transfer them to mixie jar and make a course powder. Finally add desiccated coconut and run the mixie for 4 - 5 seconds. Take care that masala powder should not become a fine powder.
Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a heavy bottom pan and do the seasoning with urad dal, mustard seeds and turmeric. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the diced capsicum. Add salt, sugar and amchur powder for taste and mix it nicely.
Cook it partially covered till done. Saute the mixture occasionally to ensure its cooked evenly.
Once the capsicum is cooked, add the prepared masala powder and mix it nicely. Switch off the flame and serve it with rice, roti or chapathi!

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

These days, I am not able to update the blog regularly. Some recipe picks are waiting in my laptop for posting. But time goes like that with my little one and I am not getting enough time for my activities. Sometimes when I cook something new, I feel like taking picks of the same. By the time I start the photo shoot, either she will be hungry or it will be her sleeping time. Her voice will alter my concentration and makes me to stop the photo shoot there itself! These picks are also taken at least 3 months back and finally, I am able to write down the recipe now :)
Who says 'no' to the yummilicious Fruit Yogurt? It has become one of our favorite dessert from past couple of years. More often, we will get it from super markets which is available in various flavors like Strawberry, mixed berry, mango, etc. I wanted to prepare my own fruit yogurt from long time and after several trials, here is the outcome. Hope you like it!
Also, I feel its a nice way to feed the children some healthy food.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooling time: 1 - 2 hours
Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Strawberries - 4 to 5
Sugar - 7 tsp or to taste
Hung curd - 1 cup
Vanilla essence (optional) - 1 or 2 drops

Procedure:

Wash the strawberries and chop them finely.
Transfer the sugar and hung curd into mixie jar and run the mixie for a minute or till it becomes a smooth paste. You can use the hand mixer also for doing this.
Keep aside 2 tsp of chopped strawberries and combine the remaining with yogurt mixture. Run the mixie for half a minute so that the fruit pieces are blended nicely with curd.
Finally, add the remaining fruit pieces and also, 1 -2 drops of vanilla essence if you desire. Run the mixie for 4 - 5 seconds and switch it off.
Keep it refrigerated for 1 - 2 hours for setting down.
Enjoy the delicious Fruit Yogurt as dessert or as snack anytime!

Tips:

This yogurt should be consumed within 1 - 2 days of preparation. Since we didn't add any preservatives, it won't be good after 2 days.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

It was during my initial days in Australia..once, hubby had brought a vegetable called 'Turnip' to home. I thought its a new variety of vegetable which I never used earlier. Its outer skin was purple mixed white, but the veggie tasted something similar to our Indian vegetable - 'Navilukosu'. Then I got the info from the net that Turnip belongs to the same family of Navilukosu. Turnip is well suited for Indian dishes like Paratha, Sambar, Hashi, etc.

My little daughter is a big fan of Roti and Parathas. She will accompany us for breakfast and dinner and loves to eat little bytes of roti or paratha. My hubby also likes to have roti / paratha for dinner. So, Roti / Paratha has become part of our dinner these days.

Turnip is one of the vegetables which I frequently use for preparing Parathas. Below is the recipe of Turnip Paratha. Try this delicious paratha and I am sure you are going to like it!

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Servings : 3

Difficulty level: Difficult

Ingredients:

- For Stuffing:

Turnip – 3 nos (medium or bigger ones)
Cumin seeds – 1 ½ tsp
Green chillies – 2 nos (according to taste)
Finely chopped coriander – ½ cup
Salt – 1 ¾ tsp or to taste

- For the cover:

Wheat flour – 5 cups
Water – 2 ½ cup (approx.)
Salt – 1 ½ tsp
Oil – 4 to 5 tsp

Procedure:

Grate the Turnip using a Grater. Mix it with salt and chopped coriander and keep aside for 10 minutes. Then, squeeze of all the excess water from the mixture. Retain this water so that you can use it while preparing the covering dough.

Take the stuffing mixture in a bowl. Add crushed green chillies and mix it nicely. Check the taste and add little salt if required. Now, the stuffing mixture is ready for use!

Take the wheat flour in a mixing bowl. Add salt and oil and mix it nicely with your hands for 3 – 4 minutes. Add water little by little and prepare a smooth, non-sticky dough. Keep it aside for at least 10 minutes before using.

Divide the stuffing mixture into 9 or 10 equal portions. Divide the dough also into same number of equal portions.

Prepare the dough balls and roll them half way. Put the stuffing mixture in the center of the rolled dough and cover it properly. Pat the prepared ball little bit with your fingers and keep aside for 2 minutes. Follow the same procedure till all the stuffing is done.

Roll the stuffed dough balls into slightly thin circles using a rolling pin. You can use some dry flour for dusting.

Heat the tava on medium flame. Transfer the rolled paratha onto the hot pan and cook on both the sides till golden brown. Drizzle few drops of ghee or oil while cooking the parathas.

Serve the hot parathas along with your favorite side dish!

Tips:

Half cook the parathas and put them in a zip lock bag. Keep it in the freezer and you can thaw and cook them when required. This saves a lot of time for especially for working women :)

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

These days, sweet corn has become a regular item in our weekly veggies list. Somehow we are using it regularly in the form of snack, soup or salads. Both sweet corn and sprouted groundnuts make a nice combo with all the sprouts and vegetables. I usually prepare different salads using both of these along with different sprouts and vegetables.

Here is an easy salad recipe using sweet corn, sprouts, carrot and pomegranate. Who says 'no' to this yummy salad? Also, this is an easy way for moms to make the kids eat something healthy :)

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Servings: 2

Level of difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

Moong sprouts - 4 tbsp
Sprouted ground nut - 4 tbsp
Sweet corn - 4 tbsp
Pomegranate - 4 tbsp
Grated carrot - 4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Combine the sprouts, sweet corn, pomegranate and grated carrot in a mixing bowl.
Sprinkle some salt on the top and mix it well.
Add a pinch of pepper powder if you desire.
Transfer the salad mixture to a serving bowl and enjoy!

Tips:

You can make some variations to this salad using different veggies or sprouts of your like.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

I had thought of posting this recipe before the jack fruit season ends. But these days, I am busy with my little daughter. There's no time left for doing even my routine things! And now, I am realizing why many women blogger buddies stop their writing after having kids :)

This year, I was in my native during jack fruit season and enjoyed different dishes of jack fruit. Here is the recipe of Jack Fruit Kheer (Payasa) for you. Hope you enjoy this easy and delicious kheer when you get this fruit next time!

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 - 5

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Ripe jack fruit flesh cut into medium size pieces - 2 cups
Milk - 2 cups
Water - 2 cups
Salt to taste (a pinch)
Sugar - 1 cup or according to taste
Jaggery - 2 tsp (optional)
Semolina (sooji rava) - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Take semolina in a small bowl. Add about half a cup water and mix it nicely with fingers or a spoon. Drain all the water and allow it to soak for 10 minutes.
Heat 2 cups of water in a medium size vessel. Once the water becomes hot, add salt and sugar and boil it for 2 minutes. To this, add jack fruit pieces and cook it for a minute.
Once the jack fruit pieces are cooked, add washed semolina. Stir it continuously to avoid lumps.
When the semolina is cooked and the kheer mixture becomes thick, add milk and cardamom powder.
Allow it to boil for 2 minutes and switch off the flame. That's all, delicious kheer is ready to enjoy!

Tips:

Ripe jack fruit flesh gets cooked faster. So, take care and don't allow to overcook. If overcooked, it will become like a thick gravy.