Desi Fiesta

Recipes

Recipes Tested and Tried from my Kitchen.The recipes will include appetizers, sweets, main dish, side dish,vegan recipes all around the world.

Orange rasam

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Rasam is an south Indian favorite dish which is served in all south indian home’s  before having curd rice. Rasam traditionally is prepared using tomatoes, tamarind extract and freshly ground spices are added to it. Rasam are served with hot rice and also had as a soup. Here is a variation in rasam where instead of tamarind extract i have added orange with the tomatoes base and spice stired in it bring out a flavorsome Rasam . They tasted really yummy:) lets move on to the recipe..

Ingredients

Orange juice – 1 cup
Red chilies – 2 
Water – 3 cups
Rasam powder – 1 ½ tsp.
Turmeric powder – 2 pinches
Tomato – 2 (big)
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
Cumin pd- 1 tbsp
Pepper pd – 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp.
Salt (to taste)
Oil/ ghee- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp.
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp.

Method:

  • Blanch the tomatoes in water . Remove the skin and when they cool down and crush the tomatoes with your hand or ladle till all the juice in the tomato comes out. Now strain the tomato juice .
  • Add turmeric powder, 2 cups of water, cumin pd, pepper pd , rasam pd, and salt. Mix well.
  • Heat oil/ghee in a pan and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida .
  • When mustard seeds splutter, add the red chilies 
  • Add the rasam/tomato water and boil  it.
  • When the bubbles appear on top of the rasam, remove from heat and add the orange juice.
  • Sprinkle with coriander leaves.
  • Serve immediately.

Note:

  • You can drink the rasam like soup as it  has a sweeter taste.
  • You can add some garlic cloves even to make them more flavorful
Variation:
Pineapple rasam 
  • You can make pineapple rasam even. To make pineapple rasam you have to blanch the pineapples cubes first and then add them to the normal rasam and boil them till pineapple are done . In normal rasam we do add tamarind pulp even .
Lemon rasam
  • You can even make lemon rasam just by adding lemon juice to this recipe instead of orange and also add lemon zest for extra flavour.

Dill leaves pakodas/fritters and Dill bread pakoda

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Made some dilli leave pakodas/ fritters for tea time snack which is very good for fussy kids and adult who do not include green leafy veggies in their diets . Dill is one of those herbs that in effect have two different seasons. In early spring it is used for its leaves and then later in fall for its seeds. Each part of the plant has its own characteristics and properties. Dill leaves are very rich in minerals, vitamin C and flavonoids,Protection Against Free Radicals and Carcinogens,An Anti-Bacterial Spice, A Flavorful Way to Help Prevent Bone Loss. Lets quickly look  at the ingredients to prepare this healthy pakodas recipe 

Ingredients:

2 cup oil (for frying)
1/2 bunch of dill leaves (sepu )
1 cup Bengal gram flour (besan)
1 chopped green chilli
1 tsp red chili powder
1 t/s turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tbsp cumin pd
salt as per taste
water to make batter

Method:

  • Chop the dill leaves finely and keep aside.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl except oil and warm water. Now add the chopped dill leaves and give a nice mix.
  • Add little warm water and mix with your finger Or fork. The consistency should be thick enough. If it’s too dry add little water if too thin add more gram flour to it.
  • Take a deep frying pan add oil. Place on high heat once oil is hot reduce the heat. Take a spoon and scoop out the batter one by one. Don’t cluster too many at a time. Fry few until nice crispy and golden brown on medium heat. Repeat the same with rest of batter.
  • Serve hot with tomato sauce and tea.

Tips:

  • Ensure you fry them on medium heat else they will burn.
  • The batter consistency shouldn’t be too thick Or thin.
  • You could make same fritters with spinach Or fenugreek leaves.
  • Place them on absorbent napkins to absorb excess oil.
Variation :
Dill Bread pakoda :
when my hubby was having these pakodas he asked for bread bhaji and i told him i didn’t make bhaji batter that time this idea popped up in my mind.. Just made some cubes of bread and coated with the above pakoda batter and fried them till golden brown
 .. and got the bite sized bread pakodas ready .. they were really yummy and tasted very good with the flavours of dill leaves..

Marbled chocolate banana cake

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Had some over riped banana in my kitchen to use them in a delicious way i thought making cake as usual. I am getting addicted to caked made of banana’s … As i have already tried 3 different cakes using  riped banana’s  they are Ragi banana cake, banana walnut bunt cake and also Choco coffee cake  .. This time wanted to try something and atlast made this marbled cake..These are fluffy and moist cake which i baked a bread loaf pan perfect for tea time cake and healthy too.Chocolate in it adds all goodness and liked them very much…

  Ingredients


1 cup All-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp baking pd
1/4  tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp  butter, softened
3/4 cups mashed ripe banana
1/4  cup plain  yogurt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
oil for greasing

Method

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife always while baking do level and take the ingredients so as to avoid any mistakes . Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
  • Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat them with a whisk. Add mashed banana,and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
  • Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
  •  Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
Sending to Priya’s versatile recipes
Sending to eniniyeillam
Sending to Nivedhanam and UK rasoi
Sending to shama ‘s easy cook recipes and jagruti 
Sending to  Foodelicious  and Raksha

French Dosa toast

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After see many blogger attempting these dosa toast i wanted to try this with some difference. It was overwhelming when my hubby ate this and told me this taste exactly like kuzhipaniyaram ( a south indian dish made by steaming the batter made of rice and lentils in special mould) . Back in chennai we used have kuzhipaniyaram with chutney at “Hot chips”  ECR .. We used to stand near the stall when the vendor was making kuzhipaniram only to here those sounds 🙂 .. While missing those paniyaram this recipe was filling space for our paniyaram carve. They really tasted yumm and as he said it really tasted like a paniyaram..

Ingredients

Dosa batter – 1 1/2 cup ( i used store bought )
Bread slices – 3 slices
Spring onion chopped greens- 1/4 cup
idli chutney pd/ mulagai podi as required
Urad dhal- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
oil – 1 tsp + for toasting as required
Salt to taste

Method

  • In a pan heat oil add mustard seeds and urad dhal . let the mustard splatter and now add the spring onion greens . Saute for a while and transfer in on dosa batter..Add salt and mix well..
  • Now heat a tawa, take a slice of bread . Dip the bread in dosa batter . You have to be quick in dipping and covering the bread slice with dosa batter as the moisturecan break the bread . So dip the bread in batter and transfer it to hot tawa for toasting .
  • Now on top of this i added milagai podi as suggested by my hubby for a little spice.
  • Toast the the bread both the sides till golden brown and serve hot with some chutney or sauce.

Ragi paal kozhukattai

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This month Snc challenge for north team is paal kozhukattai and I started thinking of what variations can be done in traditional paal kozhukatai and thought making the dumplings with ragi and sauce with coconut milk . The kozhukatai where not as soft as paal kozhukattai but tasted really yummm …Thinking of making variation in tamil’s paal kozhukatai i made these yummy and healthy ragi paal kozhukatai.

Ingredients

Ragi dumplings:

Ragi flour -1/2 cup
Rice flour – 1/4 cup
Hot Water -1/2 cup (approx)

For sauce:
Sugar – 1/4 cup
Coconut milk- 1 1/2 cup
Water 1/2 cup
Cardamon pd – 1/2 tsp
Ghee – 1/2 tsp

Method

  • Combine ragi flour , rice flour and salt and make a soft dough using hot water.Form small balls or in cylindrical shapes. Steam them in idli cooker till the are well done .
  • These kozhukattai and not too soft as made with rice flour . In a pan mix coconut milk and water and bring it boil , then drop in the steamed kozhukkatai in the coconut milk and boil them till  they start floating .
  •  Add sugar and boil till the dissolve in the coconut milk well . After the coconut milk slightly starts to thicken turn off the heat and serve them warm.

Paal kozhukatai and variation (rice flour dumpling in coconut milk /milk)

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Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete  the 4th 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

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

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

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

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  click here

As i hosted last months challenge with my fav dessert i received this host Badge from divya pramil.. Thank for the lovely Badge divya.

Now coming to this months challenge…. This months challenge for north team is hosted by tamil from tamil’s kitchen.. This was yummy dessert challenge tamil really loved it. I was not able to do your version bcoz its very difficult for me to get fresh coconut near my place 🙁 so while thinking of wat can be done asked my friend about it and they suggested me this recipe. Once i made them my hubby saw and told me did you make rasmalai i said no this is not rasmalai ha ha .As i made them with milk they resembled just like rasmalai 🙂
Paal kozhukattai are south indian dessert which is prepare for any occasion or festivals mainly for Ganesh chathurthi . This yummy dessert traditionally is prepared by making rice flour dumpling and cooking them in thin coconut milk and then adding  thick coconut milk .I have heard abt this delicacy but never tried it ..Thank you tamil for challenging this yummu dessert .It was really yumm..we loved it 🙂

With any futher ado lets move to the ingredients and methods of making paal kozhukattai ..

For the Paal Kozhukattai dough:

Rice Flour – 1/2 cup
Ghee – 1/2 tsp
Milk -1/2 cup
Water – 1/2 cup
Salt – a pinch

For the sauce :

Coconut Milk – 3/4 cup
Water – 1/4 cup
Jaggery syrup – Powdered Jaggery -1/2 cup
Grated Coconut  – 2 tbsp
Milk – 1/2 cup
Saffron strands – few
Cardamom Powder – A pinch

 

 

 

I made some with dark brown jaggery  .. even it turned out yummm..

 

Method 

  • In a pan dissolve jaggery in immersing level  water and heat it up till it bubbles. Then strain to remove impurities.Keep it aside. In a mixing bowl add water, milk,salt and add the rice flour and mix well to prevent lumps.
  • The mixture should be smooth and creamy in consistency with out any lumps. Then transfer this mixture to a nonstick pan with ghee.Keep stirring until it forms a dough consistency. Now at this stage switch it off.
  • When it cools down a bit but still warm , knead it to form a smooth dough. Note: Keep covered with a wet cloth until use to prevent it from drying.
  • Form small balls or in cylindrical shapes. Some use the murukku press to make the cylindrical shape.
  • Repeat this process to form all the balls. Keep it  aside. Heat milk and  water in a heavy bottomed pan , when is starts boiling add the balls and simmer it.
  • Once the balls are added, first it will all sink to the bottom. Keep closed and cook until the balls turn soft …once cooked it will gradually raise. Stir it without breaking the balls. Once the kozhukattai’s  are cooked add the coconut milk. Then add jaggery syrup and give it a quick stir. Allow it to simmer 3-5 mins.
  • Add grated coconut, cardamom powder bring it to a single boil and switch off.
  • Let them stand for at least 30 mins so that the sauce blends well with the kozhukattais. As the kozhukattai eaten as such will taste bland and you have to have the kozhukattai with the milk which will taste delicious.garnish it with some saffron strands .. Serve warm / cold.

Notes:

  • While making the sauce – You can even add coconut milk along with milk and water. But always add it this way to avoid curdling.
  • Do not cook for long time after coconut milk and jaggery are added, as there are chance for curdling.
  • While making the dough, you can even first heat water and  milk then add rice flour but here i added and dissolved it prior heating to avoid lumps.
  • The kozhukattais will not get cooked fully in milk so add half and half water alteast .You can even  pre-cook the kozhukattais in water or steam them in idli steamer and then add it to the milk sauce. But cooking milk makes is very soft and flavourful.
  • You can even replace jaggery with sugar but the authentic way is making it with jaggery and also it is healthy to use jaggery in desserts.
Variation
Thinking of variation i made healthy and yummy version of paal kozhukattai with ragi flour.
Click here to see the recipe for Ragi paal kozhukattai

Bisi bele dalia(bisi- bele- broken wheat)

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Bisi bele bhath  is a rice dish from karnataka .. Bisi-bele-bhaath literally translates to hot lentil rice in the Kannada language. But when dalia is used instead of rice it adds double the nutrition to this dish. This is a easy yet healthy way to consume dalia (broken wheat ) . Broken wheat is more healthier than normal rice so I tried a version of BBB this time.

 

Ingredients

2 cups – vegetables of your choice (diced)
2 tbsp – tamarind paste (or pulp extracted from a big lemon-sized ball of tamarind)
3/4 cup – Toor dal
11/2 cups – dalia (broken wheat)
Curry leaves, leaves from 2 strands
1 tsp – oil
1 tsp – mustard seeds
1 tbsp – chopped coriander leaves
2 tsp – ghee (optional)
3 tsp – sambhar powder
1 tsp – Red chilli  pd
1/4 tsp – Turmeric pd
1tsp- Dhania or coriander pd
Salt to taste

Method

  • In a pressure cooker heat oil add curry leaves, mustard seeds . After they splutter add onion saute till transparent  and then add tomatoes and cook till they are done .Add vegetables and saute for a while.
  • Add sambhar pd , redchilli pd, cumin pd, turmeric pd, dhania pd, tamarind paste and salt to the the mixture and mix well.
  • Add  dal and dalia,  and 5 cups of water to adjust consistency. Boil for 5 mins till everything mixes well.
  • Cover the pressure cooker and cook in low flame till 3 whistles. After the pressure cools of open the pressure cooker and give a quick mix and serve them hot with appalam or any chips…

Strawberry rose milkshake

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Strawberry rose milkshakes are perfect for a summer afternoon or evening, and they pair exceptionally well with classic dinner dishes like burgers, fries, club sandwiches or even a Indian spicy dishes. Milkshakes also make an excellent dessert for children and adults.This is an refreshing drink as it contains rose preserves in it which gives it a very nice aroma of rose to incorporate more rose flavor i added rose syrup to it.

Ingredients

Strawberries 5 nos
rose preserves 1 tbsp
sugar 1 tbsp (optional)
rose syrup 1 tbsp
Milk – 1 cup
Fresh cream- 1/2 cup


Method

Halve the strawberries . Put all the ingredients in a blender.Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve chilled.

Pumkin in Pav bhaji

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Pav bhaji is staple street food all over India , they are mainly found most at streets of mumbai. This is a spicy blend of vegetables served with roasted pav bread . Pav bhaji are generally made with a mixture of vegetable but i did add a twist to it by adding pumpkins to it. They tasted really yumm and much much better than the usual pav bhaji  i make . Lets quickly look at this yummy fast food recipe of pumkin in pav bhaji 🙂

 

 

 

Ingredients
Pav buns – 6 nos
Tomato(chopped)-1 no
Yellow Pumpkin (chopped)- 2 cup heaped
Onion(chopped)- 2 no medium sized
Potato(chopped)- 1 no medium sized
Vegetables(beans, carrots etc.,any vegetable of you choice chopped)- 1 cup
Pav Bhaji masala – 2 tbsp (as per your spice buds )
Chili powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Lemon- 1/2 no
Cilantro(to garnish)
Salt to taste
Oil/butter – 2 tbsp + for toasting the buns as required

Method

  • Set aside 1 chopped onion for garnishing. Cook mixed vegetables, potatoes and pumpkin in a pressure cooker or boil them in a pan of hot water till the are well done
  •  Don’t add too much water while cooking. After the vegetables are done, drain and mash them coarsely. Heat butter (or oil) in a pan and fry onion and ginger garlic paste.
  •  When onions turn translucent, add tomatoes. Continue frying till it turns soft. Now add Pav Bhaji Masala, chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and fry for another couple of minutes.
  • Now you can add the mashed vegetables. Turn up the heat and continue stirring till everything is well incorporated. Take off the stove when the bhaji is thick.
  •  Cut Pavs in half and lightly smear some butter. Roast them on hot griddle/tawa just before you serve. Garnish Bhaji with chopped coriander leaves, chopped onions and a thin wedge of lemon.
Sending to eniniyeillam

 

Tomato puloa

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This a tangy version of puloa which i liked a lot .. The tangy tomatoes are well blended with rice and there comes a delicious puloa to your plate . In this puloa  I used Long grain rice which makes the puloa more attarctive and tempts everyone to have them. The green peas in it adds extra color  and taste to this puloa . The rice variety can be served for lunch or dinner with some raita . If you are a spice lover you can increase the spices in this recipe.Now lets quickly look for the ingredients and method to prepare this yummy puloa

 

 

 

Ingredients


Basmati rice 1 cup
Tomato-2 medium sized
Onion-1 medium sized
Ginger garlic paste-1/2 tsp
Green peas-1/4 cup
Turmeric-1/8 tsp
Red chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Sambhar pd- 1 tsp
Green chilli-1
Coriander leaves-2 tblsp chopped
Oil/ ghee  2 tblsp
Cardamom- 1 no
Clove-1 no
Bay leaf-1 no

Method

  • Soak basmati rice and chop tomatoes ,  onion and slit green chillies. Heat a pan with oil or ghee and temper with the cardamom, clove and bay leaf  .
  • Add green chillies, onions and fry till onion turns transparent. Add ginger garlic paste, green peas and fry for a minute. Then add tomatoes.
  • Add salt, turmeric, masala powder and red chilli powder, sambhar pd. Fry till the tomatoes turn mushy.
  • Drain the soaked rice and add it. Fry for a minute and add 1 1/2 cup of water, coriander leaves. Bring to boil and then put this a slow cooker or a pressure cooker  until 2 whistles in low flame .
  •  Drizzle a tsp of ghee and mix well when the rice is done. Serve with any raita.
Tips
You can also include tomato ketchup in the recipe and instead of sambhar pd use pav bhaji masala  🙂 they taste equally gud.