Soya Chunks Biryani|Semiya Biryani

      Most of us hate semiya/vermicelli when making upma.I too hate semiya upma due to my hostel stay.I like only ragi idiyappam.To make people eat semiya you can make a biryani out of it ,seems to be a good idea? and also its a best variation to regular vegetable ,mushroom ,chicken biryani's.This recipe is really helpful for moms who want an interesting new lunch recipe.You can cook it for your guest within few minutes and surprise them.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie|Breakfast Smoothie

What is a smoothie?What is a milkshake ?What is the difference between smoothie and a milkshake?

•     Smoothie is a drink made  without ice cream or even without milk.Basically thick kind .
•     Milkshake is a drink made with milk ,ice cream or both.Milkshakes can be thin with or without fruit.

    I really had a hard time planning the title of this post.But finally i decided to go with smoothie.
     This smoothie i did for cooking secretly challenge started by priya suresh sis .This month my pair is sailaja reddy .She gave two wonderful ingredients ,Cocoa and banana..After hearing the ingredients i decided to do this smoothie ..Because drinks are rare happenings in mykitchenodyssey right ?
    I won't click and post smoothies and drinks which my daughter always demands.The ones i posted are strawnerry milkshake when strawberry is in season, lemon sharbath during summers,peach lassi when i buy peach.
   This is a skinny version ,you can very well add full fat milk and a very large banana and add more cocoa powder to make it more sweeter and thick smoothie.I personally don't like much sweet, so used less cocoa powder and no honey.Adding of peanut butter is optional.But it gives a nice touch to the smoothie.
     This is very filling smoothie.If you are in a hurry for a breakfast but forgot or don't have anything to cook .This smoothie is the best option.

Baingan Bharta Recipe|Step By Step Pics

     Baingan bharta is a easy Indian style curry made with Aubergine the large eggplant.Eggplant is called by different names like brinjal,baingan,aubergine,Kathirikai(in tamil).
     Baingan bharta is done by roasting aubergine in gas and then smoke it.I instead roasted in oven (broiled in oven).Its was smokey,tangy,spicy ..and its a best dip i can say.If you want to roast in direct gas then refer dassana post ,she explained dhungar method(infusing the coal flavor to baingan).I got the idea of oven roasting from Sony who is a blogger friend of mine.
    Usually people in India have baingan bharta for roti an Indian flat bread.we  had it with bread and it was quite amazing..
    This recipe i did it for shhh.... cooking secret challenge hosted by priya suresh sis .This month my partner is priya sis .She gave me onion and aubergine as the secret ingredient .I normally do kosumalli with small brinjals apart from that i can think about baingan bharta ,my fav.
    I have given step by step pics as well for amateurs.I used 1/2 tsp chili powder as we are spice lovers.If you guys don't want much spice reduce the chili powder to 1/4 tsp .You can also include 1 green chili with 1/4 tsp chili powder.
 

Baingan Bharta/Aubergine Curry

    Oven broiled baingan bharta(aubergine curry) for roti ,dosa,bread.

Cuisine: Indian Category: Side Dish Yields: 2 cups Prep time: 30-40 Minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total time: 40 Minutes.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound aubergine/eggplant/kathirikai(around 450 grams)
• 1 onion
• 1 small country tomato
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• pinch of turmeric
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• Few coriander leaves for garnishing

To temper:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp jeera/cumin

Method:
Preparation:

• Oven roast the baingan .Broil the eggplant for 30 -40 min until it breaks or until skin soften.

• Remove the peel and mash it very well.

• Chop the onions and tomatoes .

Cooking:

• Heat a tava with 1 tbsp oil.
• Add jeera.Let the jeera gets the aroma.

• Add ginger garlic paste and saute it for 2 seconds.

• Add onions and saute it ,until  translucent(takes around 2-3 minutes on a hot tava).

• Add tomatoes and cook it thorough.

• Add turmeric and chili powder and saute it for a minute without burning it.

• Add the mashed eggplant/ baingan/aubergine to the tava.Add required salt as well.

• Let it sit in tava for 2 minutes in low flame.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with roti/dosa.
• Actually we had it with bread, it was so awesome.

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Healthy Cake/Avacado Cake

     I wanted to bake healthy cakes for my kid .I know avacado is healthy and i already included them in one of my cake recipe .So i just can't buy cakes from outside.
      For this month Shhh ..Secret challenge sonali pathak gave me avocado and blueberry as the secret ingredient.I was little skeptical about the ingredients first ,then i decided to make a cake with them.The cake was just awesome .
       I added milk and water to this cake .So better place the cake in refrigerator and microwave for 20-30 seconds before serving,if you eating it other day . Its healthy to the core .It was gooey because of the addition of ragi flour .It was soft to the core because of the addition of avocado  .
    My little one loved it a lot .Even my husband was surprised it is made of ragi and avocado .You can add more oil instead of milk to extend its shelf life.

Some other cake recipes

1. Strawberry cake 
2. Cheerios Cupcake
3. Christmas cake

Preparation time:20 min
Cooking time :1 hour -1 1/2 hours
Yields :10 -12 cupcakes

Wheatflour and Jaggery Halwa/Gud Aur Atta ke Halwa

Sweets are famous all over North India they are made of sugar where as in Southern India sweets are mostly made with jaggery in the form of payasam/kheer. In North India the staple food is wheat flour whereas in south India the staple food is rice and rice flour. Accordingly you can find variety of foods made with rice/rice flour in Southern India whereas Northern India has many wheat flour recipes. I have never tried this wheat flour halwa before .

This is a rich and flavourful halwa it resembles the taste of ukkara made in chettinad. I made measurements  using subzi cups used in thali plates.The amount you get is more than enough for 2 servings /2 persons.If you are dieting and still want to enjoy this halwa reduce the ghee quantity to 1/2 mentioned here .

This halwa i made for a challenge from  shh cooking secretly member shailaja .She gave two secret ingredients wheat flour and jaggery then while searching the web i found divinetaste blog and found this wonderful recipe .

Cooking Time:10-12 min

Serves:2