Hi friends!!! There is amazing giveaway contest being conducted by Meenu anuty of Homely food .. Partcipate and win lovely gifts .
Recipes
Recipes Tested and Tried from my Kitchen.The recipes will include appetizers, sweets, main dish, side dish,vegan recipes all around the world.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Gazpacho’s are chilled soup , originated in the southern Spanish region. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities and cold serving temperature. I tried this gazpacho with watermelon and it tasted really refreshing . The heat in it when chilled gives a refreshing taste to this drink .This a simple chilled soup . Gazpacho’s are generally tomato based but i have tried this with watermelon to make it more refreshing :).
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups seedless watermelon, diced divided
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, seeded, diced
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper,seeded, diced
1 small jalapeno chille, seeded, minced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt to taste
Method
- Puree ,watermelon in blender until smooth.
- Add remaining 8 ingredients, Blend in the blender to combine.
- Now after all the ingredients combine well you can strain the puree.
- Cover gazpacho and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour .
- This chilled soup is perfect when for a sunny day at work .
Dates Shake (Come On- Lets cook Buddies) Entry – 5
Am eagerly waiting for my h to come home and take me to the grocery because am so eager to try all my event entries soon and enjoy :). Now lets come to an entry of ” Come on – Lets cook buddies”.. Again +Aishwarya Srinivasan has come up with a yummy and healthy entry π lets move on the recipe with out any further ado .
Introduction
Dates has Natural Fiber and even rich in several vitamins and minerals such as calcium, sulphur, iron, potassium, phosphorous, copper and magnesium which are advantageous for health. It is said that consumption of one date daily is necessary for a balanced and healthy diet. Dates help in fighting constipation, intestinal disorders, weight gain, heart problems, diarrhea and abdominal cancer.
So, here is the recipe to make the kids to consume dates everyday.
Ingredients
Seedless Pitted Dates – 6 nos
Heavy Cream – 1/2 cup
Vanilla Ice-Cream – 1 1/2 cup
Grated chocolate or saffron ( for garnishing)
Method of preparation
- Chop the dates and put it in a blender.
- Add cream little by little and grind it without any chunks.
- Then add vanilla ice-cream and grind it well.
- Garnish with grated chocolate or saffron.
Variations
If u want to make it as Fat Free, Add Skim Milk instead of Heavy Cream. You can also use Fat Free Ice cream.
Enjoy all the yummy entries from non bloggers for the contest ” come on – lets cook buddies ” only @Desi Fiesta π
Brown Rice Dosa ( Come On – Lets Cook Buddies) Entry-4
So happy to see so many entries for my event thanks to all participants π This is another healthy recipe shared by +Aishwarya Srinivasan . Lets quickly see what aishwaraya has got to share with us today π
Introduction
This brown rice dosa batter is so versatile that it is good for making thick spongy dosas or paper like thin dosas. I have never gone back to white rice after preparing this dosa. Why would I, when it tastes even better than the usual dosa and is healthier too!
Idli rice has above 80 % of carbohydrates. Brown rice has less than 50% of carbohydrates with other minerals. Best Low carbohydrate diet.
Ingredients
Brown Rice (I Used Long Grain) – 2 Cups
Urad Dal – 1/2 Cup
Fenugreek Seeds (Methi) – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Sesame Oil – 1/2 tbsp
Method of Preparation
- Soak together the brown rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds (if using) in water overnight or at least 5-6 hours.
- The next day morning, grind together all the soaked ingredients until you get a smooth batter. Add water as required. This takes quite sometime than grinding for the usual dosas using white rice. Thats why a longer soak time is also suggested for easier grinding.
- Transfer the batter to a big bowl which has enough space for the batter to rise. place it on a plate to let it ferment. Ferment the dosa batter in a warm place overnight or for at least 12-15 hours before you can prepare the dosas.
- Add Salt and mix it.
- Heat a dosa tawa and pour a ladle full of batter and spread it out.
- Drizzle some oil around or use a non stick cooking spray and flip to the other side to cook it thoroughly.
Tips
If you prefer oil free dosas, once you pour the batter on the tawa cover it with a frying pan lid and wait until you see sponge like holes on the dosa and then flip it the other side. These dosas are thick and spongy without any oil.
Variations
You can also make stuffed dosas like Masala Dosa.
I haven’t tried dosa using brown rice this is really a new recipe for me π Thanks aishwarya for sharing this yummy and healthy recipe . What do you think friends? do comment and encourage ” Come on – Lets cook Buddies ” participants dearies π
Bread Medu Vada/ Instant Medu Vada (Come on – Lets Cook Buddies) Entry – 3
Hey friends hope you all know am hosting an giveaway event for our non- blogger friends . Blogger’s do share this with your non- blogger friends and encourage them take part this event and make this event a grand success dearies π .. Click here for details to take part in “Come on – Lets cook Buddies” event
Here comes another fantastic and innovative recipe shared by +Aishwarya Srinivasan … This recipe looks so yumm and so different. Lets see what aishwarya has to say and also the recipe of this innovative dish.
Introduction
Yesterday I gave fruit salad to my hubby for evening snacks. But he said he wanted to have something hot and crunchy. I had bread in my kitchen and I tried this new recipe. It is an Easy and Simple vada made with bread. No need of soaking dals.. No need to grind.. It is an Instant Medu Vada. Lets look the ingredients of this recipe.
Ingredients
8 Bread Slices
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Curd (Yogurt)
Baking soda – a pinch
Salt to taste
Ginger – 1 inch (Finely chopped)
Green Chilli – 2 (Finely Chopped)
Coriander leaves
Onion – 1/2 (Finely chopped)
Curry leaves – 1 String
Cashews – 5
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Oil for deep frying
Method of Preparation
- Cut edges of the bread slices and cut each slice into four pieces. Place in a deep bowl.
- Add rice flour and curd to the bowl. Mix well and mash the bread with your hand.
- Add Baking soda, Cumin seeds, Salt, ginger, chillies, coriander leaves, onions, cashews and curry leaves.
- Mix well to form a dough.
- Dampen your palms and roll each portion in a round shape balls. Flatten it and make a hole in the center of each round portion, like medu vada.
- Heat sufficient oil in a kadai. Deep fry each vada on low heat till it is golden brown and drain it.
- Serve hot with chutney.
Variation:
You can also make it as Sambar vada too.
Health Mix Chapathi (Come On – Lets Cook Buddies) Entry-2
Moving on to the second entry of the event . This entry is also sent by Aishwarya .. Hope you all know her now . She is here with another interesting recipe .
Hey aishwarya welcome back..Share some cooking tips that worked for you ?
If you add 1 tsp of sugar to chapathi or poori mixture , it will raise quickly.
Lets see the recipe for this interesting and innovative dish which Aishwarya is sharing with us today..
Introduction
My daughter likes chapathi very much. But she doesnt eat the side dish. Chapathi made with wheat flour have only Carbohydrates. So i decided to prepare healthy chapathi using health mix powder.
I added ragi flour to differentiate the color from normal chapathi. Adding Sugar to this chapathi, will increase the taste.
Servings: 8 Chapathi’s
Ingredients
Multi grain Atta – 10 tbsp ( + 1 tbsp for Dusting while rolling)
Health mix powder – 2 tbsp
Ragi flour – 2 tbsp
Sugar- 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Water as needed
Method of Preparation
- Seive Muti grain atta, health mix powder and ragi flour. Add sugar and salt.
- Add water and make a soft dough. The dough will be very soft than normal chapathi.
- Divide into small balls. Roll it as circular shape or triangular shape.
- Heat the tawa, place the chapathi and cook it both sides. It will raise like poori.
- Serve hot with Creamy vegetable Kurma and Raita.
Variations
- You can use the same ingredient and fry it in oil and it make as health mix poori.
- You can also make parathas and stuffed parathas like Aloo paratha and paneer paratha.
Aamras
Aamras is the pulp of the tropical fruit Mango eaten in India. The pulp of a ripe fruit is extracted usually by hands and consumed along with Chapati. My mom use to just take a small part of the top off sip in all the juice without peeling the mango even. Sugar is added to adjust the sweetness. A regional version of Aamras is a popular dessert in Rajasthani cuisine and Marwari homes.
Ingredients
Ripened mangoes 3(medium size)
sugar 1/4 cup
whole milk – 1/2 cup
Cardamom pd – 1/4 tsp
saffron stands – for garnish
Method
- Wash the mangoes, then peel and chop them.
- In a blender, add the chopped mango pieces and blend.
- Then blend the mangoes, sugar, milk, cardamom powder together. Mix the saffron in the mango pulp.
- Chill in the refrigerator.
- Serve with hot pooris or even with steamed rice. we also have aamras mix in rice it tastes really yumm.
- You could also serve the aamras as a dessert topped with cream.
- You can also serve it with vanilla ice cream.
Urundai Kozhumbu
I have joined this new group “Taste and create” in which each month i’ll be paired with a blogger and have to try any recipe from their blog and post it in my blog . Was really glad that this month i have been paired with my dear friend Rekha of “Food lover/Priya’s menu ” π she is an awesome blogger with lots of yummy and innovative collection of recipes in her blog . Was really confused and had tough time in selecting recipes bcoz there was so many yummy recipes in her blog. Priya Aka Rekha was so kind a tell me about this kuzhambu. Was really happy that she posted this yummy recipe recently and one of favorite south Indian kuzhambu variety which made me to think about my maasi/chithi who is an awesome cook and a great inspiration who used cook yummy and delicious food with love for us. She is famous for her south indian kozhambu and urundai kozhambu is one variety of kozhambu which i carve for. Thank you Rekha for the yummilicious recipe you shared , I thoroughly loved it.. π
Urundai kozhambu/dal balls in gravy are a south indian special stew based on the broth made of tamarind and the steamed dal balls are cooked in this broth which form a thick gravy . This kuzhambu is had with steamed rice.
Ingredients
For urundai / dal balls:
Bengal gram β 1 cup
Onion β 1 no
Green chilli β 2 no
Fennel seeds β Β½ tea spoon
Ginger small piece β 1inch (chopped)
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt to taste
For kuzhambu:
Tamarind – lemon sized ball
(soak an little amount of water for 15-20 mins and then extract the pulp by just mashing it and straining the water)
Mustard seeds- 1tsp
Asafoetida – 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 spring
sambar powder – 3 tbsp
Redchilli pd – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pd- 1/4 tsp
Dhania pd/ coriander pd- 2tsp
Onion – 1 medium sized (chopped)
Tomato – 1 medium sized (chopped)
salt to taste
Method:
For preparing urundai / dal balls:
- Soak channa dal for 3-4 hours.
- After 3-4 hours drain channa dal completely and add it in two batches and grind coarsely. Not too smooth not very coarse too. One or two channa dal can be whole.
- Mix finely chopped onion,chopped green chillies, chopped ginger,fennel seeds, salt and curry leaves.
- Form the batter into disk shapes(or small dumplings) and steam it in an idly cooker.
- Once the vadas are done, set it aside and let it cool and scramble them.
For preparing Kuzhambu :
- Heat a pan add mustard seeds when it starts to splutter asafoetida and curry leaves.
- Add the chopped onion and saute till transparent then add tomatoes and cook them till mashed.
- Add the dry spice pd red chilli pd, sambhar pd, dhania pd,Turmeric pd, cumin pd and salt. Mix then well till combined and add 2 cups of water and bring to a nice boil.
- Add the steamed urandai/ channa dal balls to the kuzhambu/ gravy and boil them .
- Let the gravy boil till they combine well and the balls change the color.
- Add the tamarind extract at last, simmer and boil the gravy till the oil floats on top of this gravy/ kuzhambu.
- This kumbhu/ gravy is awesome south indian accompaniment for steamed rice.
Note :
- You can reduce the size of the balls i have made big lemon sized balls because i like them big.
- You can also add some grated coconut in the gravy to make rich but i like this kuzhambu the way i made as my anut used to make this way.
- This gravy taste much more yummm when had the next day and can be stored in refrigerator for up to 2 days .
Banana Brown Sugar Sandwich ( Come on – Lets cook Buddies ) – Entry 1
Hi friends “come on – Lets cook buddies ” is on and am receiving lovely list of entries from our non-blogger friends . Starting my event with a lovely entry of a good friend of mine. She is a very kind hearted and calm person whom i know . Lets see what she has to tell and share with us ..
Hi Aishwarya!! Tell my Reader’s about you ?
Hi !! I’m Aishwarya Srinivasan. I did B.tech “Computer Science and Engineering” in SRM University,Chennai. I am a Home maker . I have a 3 yrs old daughter. My hobbies are Playing Volleyball, Surfing Internet, Cooking. Playing with my kid is my recent hobby :).
How did you come cross this event and how do you feel to take part in this event ?
Manjula Bharath is my friend. I used to try her recipes from her Blog “DESI FIESTA”. Her recipes are very Innovative and healthy. I saw “come on- lets cook buddies event ” in her blog. First i was bit nervous then she encouraged me to join. Now i’m very happy to join in this Event. It is a great opportunity for me to try more new recipes. Thanks Manju for giving me such an wonderful opportunity.
Thats so kind of you π ..Okay lets move on to the recipe Aishwarya has got to share with us today π
Introduction
It is an Easy, Healthy and kids friendly recipe. Banana have lots of vitamins and minerals. Brown Sugar is rich in Calcium, Copper, and Iron. It is best way to introduce brown sugar to kids.
Serving : 2
Ingredients
1 Banana
Bread slices – 4
Brown sugar – 1 tbsp
Cinnamon Powder – 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp
Ghee – 2 tsp
Method of Preparation
- Take a bowl, Mash the banana using spoon or fork.
- Add brown sugar, nutmeg pd, cinnamon pd and mix it well.
- Heat the Tawa and add ghee. Place a bread slice and spread the mixture and place another slice on top.
- Flip it to another side.
- Once it is done, serve hot with soy milk. It makes a perfect breakfast.
Tips
- You can increase or decrease the amount of sugar according to your taste.
- You can use any bread for this recipe wheat bread and multi- grain bread are some healthy options.
- Instead of ghee you can use olive oil for toasting to make it fat free.
- You can use powdered jaggery if brown sugar is not available but you have to be quick while making this otherwise it will become watery and even bread shouldn’t have tiny hole’s the filling will come out and stick to the pan.
Wow healthy recipe .. hope you all liked this π Blogger’s do share about this event to your non-blogger friends and encourage them to take part in this giveaway event π If any one’s mom or wife who is an non blogger wants to take part in this contest you can sent the entries behalf of them.. just you need to mail me on whom behalf you are sending me the entries π
Vegetable Hyderbadi Dum birayani
Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete the 6th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil space You Too Can Cook .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively will challenge the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate
An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:
Challenge 1– October month’s challenge
North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak
WINNER
NORTH TEAM
Challenge 2– November month’s challenge
North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam
WINNER
SOUTH TEAM
Challenge 3– December month’s challenge
North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada
WINNER
SOUTH TEAM
Challenge 4– Janurary month’s challenge
North team Host ” me ” (Manjula bharath) from “Desi fiesta” – Rajasthani mini ghevar topped with kesar rabdi
South team Host Ramya from ” Lemon Kurry” – Vada curry
WINNER
SOUTH TEAM
Challenge 5 – February month’s challenge
North team’s host Sanoli from Sanoli’s recipes- Green pea kachori with dum aloo
South teams’s host Tamil from Tamil’s kitchen- paal kozhukattai
Challenge 6 – January month’s challenge
North team’s host Kirti Choudhary Kardam from Flavour’s from my kitchen- Chana Dal Halwa/Barfi
click here
South team’s host Sawsthi from Indian healthy recipes – Vegetable Hyderbadi Biryani click here
As i was an home science with computer science student in my 11th and 12th we were given the recipe to make staters, soup, or any course and told to make by are own and mam some time used to give as demo on how make certain recipes. .. I thoroughly enjoyed being a home science student and loved to try and cook … At that point in time i was concentrating in bcoz it was a subject in school and i had score gud marks and so i had cook good food. In our 12th Board practical each student where given a full course menu (5 dish) starting from stater / appetizer to dessert and this was our board practical π After seeing swasthi ‘s hyderbadi biryani post this was the moment popped in my mind. My menu for my board exam was mullagattani soup, samosa,” veg biryani”,some salad, coconut burfi π our examiner was the great the chef DR . Damadoran. we where given 2 hrs to prepare and 1 hour to write our recipe.All students where very tensed and as i was…Even though he was not present throughout the practicals our heart beat was increasing bcoz our senior already did their job told us that he finds whether the dish is cooked or not just by smelling the dish without tasting… Our given 2 hrs was over and we plated our dishes and arranged them in a salver .. now after waiting for some time he arrived to the kitchen in my school and started tasting our dishes.. I was sooo nervous my hands where numb ….As my senior’s told he smelled all my dish and tasted veg biryani first and followed by other dishes.. I was eagerly waiting what is he going to tell? did he like it or not ? Is he going cut my marks if he didn’t like? theses questions where keep on running in my mind… After some time he drank some water said your vegetable biryani is first class π wowww i was soooo happy to hear that .. At that time thought i will be scoring good then but now i understand the value of his appreciation π thank you so to DR. Damodaran sir .. He is such a kind hearted, caring person i have met. After our practicals got over we went to visit his college MGR catering college i don’t remember the location .. he gave us a trip to the whole college shared with us how they make an amuture chef’s to great chefs π we also saw a shoot of his show in jaya tv .. The set was inside the college near bar. As we where from jain school and jain’s told us that his college is going have a separate kitchen for jain’s students where they will not use onion’s and garlic π it was so chweeet of him .. I am feeling so good sharing these memories with you all π
So it all started with a biryani and am with a biryani post today π thank a lot to swasthi who made me to go back to my olden but golden memories π I love to make vegetable biriyani all say take i make good biryani but i haven’t tried any dum biryani except for ” kabuli biryani ” which mom used make. When i went thru sawsthi’s wonderful post i was stunned to see those wonderful step wise clicks and wanted try them soon .. Sawsthi had given a very clear explanation with lovely clicks ..
Hyderabadi dum biryani is a flavorsome rice in which the spices added make it more tasty . Caramelized fried onion gives them a little sweet taste and awesome flavor too the dish .The authentic Hyderabadi Biryani is the king of all Indian Biryani recipes that you will ever carve for. Named after one of the famous Indian cities, a truly delicious Hyderabadi Biryani will draw you in with its aroma and engulf your taste buds. If you like traditional Indian rice preparations and particularly biryani dishes, then you are going to love the Hyderabadi Biryani. Thank you sawsthi to share this yummy biryani recipe my hubby and I loved it a lot π
Lets move on to the recipe of this famous hyderbadi dum birayani recipe π
Ingredients
For Rice
1 1/2 cups long grained rice /basmati
a few saffron strands soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp cashewnuts
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 cup ghee
4 cloves
2 black cardamom
2 bayleaf
For fried onions
oil for deep frying
1 1/2 cups sliced onions
3 tbsp Corn flour / Rice flour
For vegetable curry:
3/4 cup capsicum (cut length wise)
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp chopped green chilli
1/4 cup mint chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves (chopped)
3 tbsp biryani masala (colves, cardomon, cinnamon, anise,bay leaves, poppy seed-, pepper corns roast and grind all the ingredient or use store bought) – Optional
1 tsp Red chilli pd (adjust to your taste to how hot you want )
1/2 tsp Turmeric pd
1 tsp dhania/coriander pd
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin pd
3/4 cup chopped potatoes
1/4 cup sliced capsicum
3/4 cup chopped carrot
5 to 6 chopped french beans
1/4 cup cauliflower florets (optional- i didn’t add as my H doesn’t like cauliflower)
1/4 cup curds (dahi)
1 tbsp chopped coriander (for garnish at the end)
salt to taste
aluminum foil to seal
Method
- Soak the rice for 30 mins .Wash and cook the rice in slow cooker or boiling water with cloves , cardamon , bay leaf and the then drizzle some oil.Cook the rice in away such that each grain of the rice is separate. I cooked my rice in slow cooker to attain the perfect grainy rice .You can also cook the rice in a boiling water and strain them when are 70 % done .
- Divide the rice into two equal portions and keep aside.
- Heat the oil in a pan and coat the onion slices with rice flour /corn flour nicely and deep fry the onion slices till they turn crisp and golden brown in colour.
- Drain on an absorbent paper and keep aside.
- Heat half the ghee in a deep pan, add the cloves, cardamom and bayleaf and saute on a high flame for a second.
- Add the onions and ginger-garlic paste, chopped green chilli and saute also add capsicum and saute them, then add peas and cook them for few minutes.
- Add the Red chilli pd, turmeric pd, dhania pd, garam masala, cumin pd and salt, all the blanched vegetables ( i did blanch vegetable) .
- Cook on medium flame till all the vegetables are cooked and they are nicely coated with the masala.
- Remove from the flame, cool it on room temperaure add the beaten curds and mix well . Add chopped coriander and mint leafs.
- Divide the gravy into two equal portion and keep aside.
- In the deep vessel,spread the one portion gravy and top with rice and then with fried onion, cashews and raisins . Soak saffron strands in warm milk/ water and keep it aside.
- Repeat the same process and rice should be on top.Add the soaked saffron milk on top
- Cover the vessel with the aluminium foil , keep an cover on top and seal it and allow to dum for half an hour.

- Serve hot with raita or hyderabadi famous side dish mirchi ka salan .
There are many variation in the biryani’s have already posted a one variation which was adapted from Raks Kitchen – Small potato biryani ..
Also you can make a “Kabuli Biryani ” which is layered biryani in which there is vegetable curry layer, rice, Kabuli channa masala, Croutons, veggie’s , chutney. I’ll will post this variation in a separate post but take a look at the pic when i first made this. This is my mom spl biryani i just love it .
Thank you SNC group and swasthi for the lovely challenge i and my H enjoyed it very much !!! Waiting for next months challenge π






















































