Announcing Dish It out for March

Hi everybody ,

This month event of dishitout is happening in my space i am very very happy that i am hosting an event for the very first time .

A small intro about the event origin:

 Dish it out is a monthly event conducted by vardhini and is hosted by bloggers like me .This event is running successful for more than 2 1/2 years .

Event runs from march 1 st to 31 st .

Some of the rules of the event  include :

1. Make a dish that fits the theme "Side Dishes".

2. Only vegetarian entries. Eggs are allowed in baking.

3. Use of logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word.

4. Link to Dish it Out announcement and my announcement page is mandatory.

5. Archived entries are accepted as long as they are linked with both announcements.

Yours friendly,

Sathyapriya.

An InLinkz Link-up

Broken Wheat Upma/Godhumai Ravai Upma/Easy Breakfast

Whenever we think of healthy ,instant and filling meal we do this broken wheat upma.Now it has become our family favourite .I got introduced to this when i was in my aunts house while studying.They used to eat it like plain rice along with sambhar and curd.
This upma can be eaten as a snack or breakfast or dinner .Some other options with this broken wheat  is pongal,Bisbibelabath. We can do sweet pongal also with this broken wheat.Everything will taste heavenly and dont forget its very nutritious too .So why wait get a packet of broken wheat and try your favourite recipe ,including this .

Looking for healthy and easy breakfast?

 check raagi semiya,Vegetablemasala dosa,Potato Patty

Cooking time :20-25 min
Serves:3

Malai Kofta /Malayi Kofta

This malai kofta is very rich and can make you feel like eating in a royal palace dinner(for me atleast) .When we eat in hotels  we cant be sure when they made it or how much salt,cashews they put in making the gravy rich .When you make it home you can make it fresh and you can reduce the amount of cashew or cream going in to the dish .That is the very good thing making these gravies home.This month challenge to south team is malai kofta and is challenged by nupur  .We enjoyed the dinner yesterday night with these wonderful koftas and Rotis .It was so rich and so yummy ..Thanks nupur for the wonderful challange.Thanks to divya for starting this wonderful group .

Preparation time : 20 min
cooking time:40 min
Serves:2-3 

Ingredients :
Salt required
oil for tempering and frying the koftas.

Kofta :

• 1 large potato(boiled and grated )
• 1/2 cup curdled milk(50 grams paneers grated)
• pinch f garam masala
• pinch of chili powder .
• corn flour (for dusting)
• 3 tbsp corn flour

For gravy:

• 1 large onion
• 1 tomato(pureed)
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 garlic
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
•  pinch of garam masala
• 1/2 cup wholefat milk.
• 10 cashew(paste).

Spices:

• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 1/2 bay leaf

Method:
I used home made paneer for koftas and evaporated milk for gravy.
This gravy is very easy if you have the above two ingredients ready made.

Gravy:

• Puree a large tomato and keep it .
• Puree the cahews as well .
• In a saute pan add little oil and add Spices(cloves,cadamom,cinnamon and bay leaf ).
• Add coarsley chopped ginger garlic to it and saute for sometime .
• Add onions and saute until its translucent .
• Switch off the flame and cool it and grind it in to a smooth paste .
• Add it to the saute pan and turn the heat on .
• Add pureed tomato  and cook it for 5 min .
• Add chili powder ,turmeric and garam masala and stir well and cook it with required water (add enough water otherwise gravy will be too thick at the end) for 10 min until the gravy is little thick  and oil seperates out .
• Add cashew paste and cook it for 5 more minutes .

• Finally add the full cream milk or evaporated milk in low flame for another 10 min.
• Everything will come together add the required salt as well .

Koftas:

• Grate the boiled ,peeled potatoes .
• Grate the paneer as well .
• Combine the paneer,potatoes with chili powder,garam masala and enough salt .
• Mix well and make around 10 small balls out of it .
• Coat the balls with corn flour and deep fry it for 3 minutes (i fryed 3 balls at a time so it took me 3 minutes may be it varies depends on the climate and oil temperatture ).
• Fry it until the balls are golden brown.

Assembly/Serving  :

• Gravy has to be hot so if you have done the gravy before serving them heat it again .
• Add the koftas to it and add cream if required .
• Add chopped corinader leaves as well .
• Serve it with roti or any flat breads like naan ,kulchas .

Note:

• Original recipe calls for paneer as i attempted to make paneer home but i failed to make it so i used the curdled milk with corn flour .If you have paneer then the koftas would be perfect.
• Add cream if you prefer otherwise evaporated milk would give the taste of malai kofta gravy.
• My malai kofta was little spicy, you can reduce the amount of chili powder in gravy to make it little sweet.
• While frying the whole spices and onions if your oil is hot, fry the onions first instead of ginger garlic (if the oil is very hot and  u fry the ginger garlic first then ur dish may taste little bitter).
• You can use home made paneer and evaporated milk so i planned 1 hour before started cooking the gravy so plan accordingly .
• Evaporated milk has the lowest fat content(8 percent) compared to cream(30-36 percent) or heavy cream(36-40 precent).To know the difference in cream and evaporated milk you can check here 

To make paneer home :Homemadepaneer
To make condensed milk/evaporated milk home :Homemade milkmaid
Yummy paneer curry:Paneer butter masala(with less butter and no cream)

Snake Gourd Curry/Easy SideDish Recipe/புடலங்காய் துவட்டல்

Snacke gourd is a gourd which got its name from its look and they are climbers like other gourds.Some common names of the pudalangai include "serpent guard" ,"padwal" in telugu its called "potlakaaya" ,in kannada its called "paduvalakaayi " ,in bengali its called "chichinga",in nepali its called "Chichindo",in oriya its called "chhachindra".
 Snake gourd has many benifits :its good for diabetics ,it relieves constipation ,it get the mucus out of respiratory system as a natural anti- biotic .While consuming the snacke guard remove the white center part with seeds .Consuming of seeds can cause indigestion problems .
Compared to other similar vegetables like chinese okra this is easy to cut and consume (according to me ) .You can eat it as a salad with little pepper and lemon juice as well ,by then you have to cut them in to very thin slices  .You can prepare it as a semi liquid gravy by pressure cooking it with dals and green chili.Will gradully post other recipes soon ..
Searching for some other side dish recipes? check  pumpkin curry,Banana fry,Mix veg curry with coconut

Prepration time:5 min
Cooking time:20 min +10 min 
Serves:2

Chakli(முறுக்கு )/Murukku recipe/Diwali snack recipes

Murukku is indian snack made of wheat,rice flours and deep fried.My mother do simple thenkulal murukku with rice and urad dal for diwali and my grandma do onion murukku and many different murukku for diwali .As kids we used to enjoy them from the day my mom start preparing diwali recipes ,we used to distribute to all our neighbours and those lovely days are gone .I myself has to prepare murukku if i want :(Insipite of these murukku is my alltime favourite and i often do it at home inspite of other healthy snack recipes like salsa,guacamole,masala peanuts
 Its so addictive and i myself cant stop with just one .We can simply munch them when we take one sip of hot tea .. That sounds so intresting right  .Once in a while defenitely i would indulge myself in cravings like this .I usually do murukku with rice flour without any additions like jeera,ajwain .But one time i had a murukku with jeera and ajwain  in my friends house and it was delicious ( a little more oil for me though).So i wanted to do right way .

Basics of Baking /Essential to buy before baking

Before I start about basics post let me tell you how I got in to baking . I am not well orgainzed and generally  was not comfortable making things which were a little complicated. I still remember my first cake, it was simple banana cake. Like everyone else I started out by googling for banana cake then found a recipe and tried it. Cake was  awesome and I was so happy that I made something totally different from my every day dishes, and it was big hit with my family. I did not bookmark the recipe and next time when I tried to do I ran into trouble. So I started keeping track of ingredients and measurements.

Cheerios avacado cake/Eggless butterless cupcake/Cocoa cheerios cupcake

Valentines day wishes to all readers. I hope all of you enjoyed valentines with your sweet hearts.This year is not like any other years valentines day because I have learnt to bake. I decided to do bake a cake.So I did this cake to my dearies and they loved it ..
Original recipe is not up to the mark and I made several changes that suited me like avocados,whole wheat flour,sugar .

For other simple bake recipes like christmas cake,banana oats muffin.

Preparation time:10 min
Baking time:30 min
Yields:9 cakes

Methi paratha/Vendhayakeerai roti/Fenugreek leaves paratha

Methi in all forms are very good.Because its bitter ,its good for diabetic people .Like other greens its iron rich also.Cleaning of the leaves may be difficult but its worth doing it for your healthy body ,right ?...Leaves should not be cut otherwise you are going to taste its bitterness in the dish you prepare .So whatever you prepare put the leaves full .So that you get the goodness without its bitterness .

I buy methi every week and do methi sambhar,methi dal ,other than that I do this paratha whenever i need a change from dal,sambhar .

If you are looking for a different paratha stuffing check this green channa paratha.

Preparation time:10 min+ 2 hour rest time
Cooking time:20 min
Yields:10

Moongdal Payasam/Pasiparuppu payasam /பாசிப்பருப்பு பாயாசம்

This is very traditional payasam in south indian kitchens made with jaggery,coconut and moongdal.One of the easiest ,tastiest and nutritious dessert .My daughter loves sweets,which kid doesnt love sweets right ?At times when she doesnt eat rice ,veggies i  do this payasam to add protein ,iron to her diet.She used to finish the whole cup and ask for more .So i am very pleased with this payasam.Bachelors... who are away from home can make this and get to feel right at home .Ok ready ! can we start ...

This is my 100th post so sharing with you guys a virtual treat.Many thanks for all my supporters especially my husband,kid and my dear sister and my dear blogger friends ,from them i learnt a lot . I pray god for your well being .Eat healthy and stay healthy ...

Looking for some easy dessert recipes check sabudana kheer

Cooking time:30 min
Serves:2(around 400 ml)

All in one dal /Palak dal/Spinach dal

Palak is a very healthy green which has all the good for a healthy body .Mainly it is  iron rich and has more dietery fiber like other green leaves.It has more vitamin A good for eyesight and prevents oral and lung cavities cancers.It has more vitamin k which is good for bone strengthening activity .Fresh greens has good amount of vitamin B and Vitamin C .For more details about the health benefits of this green vegetable click here.

Whenever i buy palak i used to do this dal because my husband likes this much .This has all the nutrition you want for a day and its very tasty too .So dig in ...

Check for other sidedish recipes like Paneerbuttermasala,Mushroomgravy,Rajmamasala.

Preparation time:15 min(cooking the dal+clean the palak)
Cooking time:20 min
Serves:4 -5

Paal kozhukattai/Rice dumplings in Jaggery/Guest post

Today I am very very happy because I am doing a guest post in a very popular blog. The blog owner is very  generous and encourages new bloggers by giving them an opportunity. She is none other than priya of Priyasversatile recipes.I love Priya's recipes .she is very innovative and she is an expert in baking cakes.I like her rajma murukku recipe and eggless carrotcake  very much . Do visit her space and enjoy her recipes ..
 Couple of months ago i was going through her blog and I saw that she had a co-blogger do a guest post. She did it to encourage and offer support new bloggers. I requested her about doing a guest post and she said OK, no questions asked. I told her that i will give my very best ..I guess she liked my post . The recipe that I chose is a chettinad speciality pal kozhukattai done the easy way. Pal kozhukattai is rice dumpling in jaggery syrup and coconut .This is the easy method because traditional method takes time .

A brief introduction  about this recipe.

I grew up in Karaikudi a relatively well known town in the chettinad region of Tamilnadu. Chettinad region boasts of palatial houses and chettinad food is famous world over renowned for the uses of aromatic spices.There are a few dessert dishes unique to chettinad and paal kozhukattai is one among them.

This is my mom's recipe.She used to grind the rice dough by soaking the rice and grinding it in wet grinder. When we were kids during holidays my mom used engage us a little by asking us to shape the kozhukattai. We used to have lots of fun with the dough.

I thought of making this the traditional way but was a little skeptical because of the complexity. Also I was a little worried that my daughter would use this as substitute for her play-doh.
So I did it the easy way and got it done in no time.

Don't forget to check paal kozhukattai recipe here .

Preparation of dough

preparation of kolukattai

Chettinad Chicken|Spicy Chicken Curry

     Chettinad Chicken- Kozhi curry is a authentic chicken preparation made in southern parts of tamilnadu called chettinad.This is usually the spicy chicken preparations of any chicken recipes, but its authentic and most tastiest chicken recipe ever.
    This is my mom's version of the spicy chettinad chicken curry.This Chicken curry is less fat, i mean no heavy cream ,butter and it comes in less work category -one of the easy chicken curry you will ever make.
Tip :The more the curry simmers and cooks in low fire ,the chicken absorbs all the spice.
    Usually chicken dishes in south India gets lots of garlic and spices to aids easy digestion and takeoff  the smell of fresh meat.Especially turmeric to kill of the bacteria in chicken.This chettinad chicken also is special because it has the wonderful flavors of gingelly oil.Gingelly oil cools your body in warmer temperatures even though you eat this chicken curry at summers.

Serving suggestions of Chettinad chicken:
  With chapathi,roti,rice and also a best party pleaser

Check other chicken recipes like chili chicken fry,Pepper chicken gravy

                                         Chettinad Chicken|Spicy Chicken Curry

                            Spicy Chettinad Chicken Curry

 Cuisine: Indian Category:Sides Serves:3-4 Prep time:40 minutes Cook time:40 minutes Total time:1 hour 20 minutes



Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken(around 500 grams)/kozhi.
• 1 tsp turmeric powder/manjal thool.
• salt as required.
• 1 tbsp gingelly oil/nalla ennai.

Roast and grind:

• 5 red chili/vara milagai.
• 1 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds/sombu.
• 1 1/2 tbsp jeera/Cumin seeds/jeeragam.
• 1 tbsp black pepper/milagu.
• 1 tsp kaskas/Poppy seeds/kasa kasa.
• 5 garlic pods/poondu.
• 1 large onion/vengayam.
• 2-3 tbsp grated coconut/thengai.

Marination:

• roast and ground paste/varuthu arachathu.
• 2 tbsp curd/thayir.
• 3 tbsp gingelly oil/nalla ennai.

Marination for chettinad chicken:

• Cut onion and garlic in to big pieces.
• Add oil to saute pan and saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
• Keep it aside.
• Add oil again and saute fennel,jeera,pepper.
• Add red chili,poppy seeds as well and saute it.
• Finally add grated coconut after switching off the flame.
• Cool of the sauted ingredients completely and grind it to smooth paste.
• Clean the chicken with turmeric and water and cut chicken to required shape (not too large).
• Add ground paste ,3 tbsp gingelly oil ,curd and marinate the chicken atleast for half an hour or overnight.

Cooking the chettinad chicken:

• Heat the saute pan and add the marinated chicken and cook them in low fire until the chicken cooks(around 30 min).

• By that time chicken should be cooked thorough it has got all of the masala flavour.
• Enjoy chettinad chicken with roti ,Rice,chapathi ...

Note:

• Cook the chicken in low fire so chicken gets the spices.
• Marinate them the previous night and cook it the next day morning if you have frozen chicken at hand.
• Using of gingelly oil is purely optional but it gives much more taste and reduces the heat chicken gives.
• Reduce the red chili level according to your taste buds..

Linking it to Amrita's Page  and Gayathri's page

shrutisrasoi  and Pari's Event

Recipe revisiting :Recipe and picture updated on 3/1/2015

Christmas Cake | Instant Cake Recipe | Plum Cake | No Alcohol Cake

     I was searching for Christmas cake recipes to use my tangerines lying on the fridge .After I saw this recipe I could not take my eyes off it  and wanted to try this.When i thought of making the cake,was  little skeptical about the recipe. I reduced the size by half and made it .After making i was really worried why haven't i made a big batch.My dear ones loved it  and the cake was over the very next day.After eating the cake i felt like i was eating i remembered the bakery style plum cake covered in butter paper.

Mushroom gravy

Mushrooms are everybody's favorite.When I used to work, I used to buy mushroom gravy for my family during my visits.This mushroom gravy can be served with roti, chappathis. Kids will definitely have some more bite of roti's with this gravy .My daughter is no exception , she loves it.

Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:20 min (saute +gravy)
Serves:2-3