Friday, February 28, 2020

Pineapple Raita | Raita recipe

Pineapple Raita, a delicious and quick to make raita from pineapple chunks. For past few months, ST has started to take curd as side for his lunch box daily, so instead of packing plain curd, sometimes i like to add some seasonal fruits which are available in my pantry at that time. Few are instant hit and like it so much like this pomegranate raita

Coming to this pineapple raita, when i had tried this raita for the first time, i packed it for lunch box after given a taste test which was actually really good. At lunch time, ST called me and told me that the raita was too bitter and asked me to discard the remaining.Even i had tasted, it was so bitter.

I was wondering why it turned out bitter after some time ? Then obviously i had searched on google and it says "Raw pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down the protein in your milk/milk product, making it bitter". So it's not advisable to keep pineapple and milk product together for  longer time. 

If you're making this, i would suggest to finish it off at once or if you're planning to have it later, to avoid the bitter taste, you can pre cook the pineapple and then add into the curd.  Otherwise it's such a delicious raita to finish off the meal, do give it a try and let me know how you like it. 

For the past few days, i have been listening to some of the videos from food blogger submit conference on various topics like SEO improvement, instagram engaging, how to make videos and the list goes on. After listening to all this, it was really overwhelming. 

With every inventions, there are equal amount of opportunities and challenges. If you want to excel in grabbing those opportunities, you have to face all the challenges first and over come it. Like Google search, it showcases your interest to the world(if you have page) whoever search on that particular topic, but in order to be on the top result, you need be a SEO expert first.

For me, there are days that i really want to make my page on that top list. And there are other days that i don't even care about a single thing about the blogging. So the really challenge is  always find balance between these two extreme ends and being consistent. 

Hope this is applicable to various life scenario not only blogging. But is that even possible all time? I don't know, guess even google can't answer 😜  Thanks for reading all the way to the end of my random thoughts scribbled. Now let's check out the recipe.

Pineapple Raita | Raita recipe

Preparation Time : 2 mins | Cooking Time : 0 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Raita | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Pineapple raita, raita,yogurt,curd Pineapple Raita, a delicious and quick to make raita from pineapple chunks.
Ingredients
Curd - 1/4 cup
Pineapple - 1/4 cup(cubed)
Salt - a pinch
Paprika - 1/8 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/8 tsp
Mint leaves - few

Procedure
Take the curd in a bow and whisk it smooth, cut the pineapples into small pieces.
Add the pineapples,salt,paprika,cumin powder into the curd and mix it all together.
Tasty Pineapple raita is ready. Add some mint leaves on top before serving.

Related : How to make Cucumber Raita

Notes:

  • Use thick curd for better taste.
  • I have used fresh pineapples, but you can use caned ones also
  • For extra spice,instead of paprika, you can use red chili powder.
  • Cumin powder for flavor, but it's optional.
  • Keep it longer time make it bitter, so it's advisable to serve it immediately.
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Monday, February 24, 2020

Semiya Upma with Vegetables | Vegetables Vermicelli Upma

Semiya Upma with Vegetables, a quick & easy to make breakfast/tiffin with vermicelli and vegetables. Few weeks before, when i had shared this simple vermicelli upma in Instagram, many have requested the recipe, that's when i realized that this recipe is still not in the blog. 

It happens all the time, some how i always skip the simple recipe to post here, to be honest, it not even crossed my mind to post such a simple recipes. Guess, it's time to change that habit :-) Like i have already said, it's one of the easiest recipe to make in a jiffy. 

Back in Amma's place, she often make this as evening tiffin alone with coffee/tea for a long day or when we feel little hungry in the evening.  It tastes awesome with sip of tea/coffee. Do give it a try if you haven't already. 
Yesterday the temperature here was above 5c after almost 3 months and it was such a pleasant day  to be outside(with all those winter jackets of course  :-)). It's really amazing how our body adapts to the environment.
Back in days, when i was newly married, even the Tiruppur cold in December made me sick and had cold & fever for a few days. That reminds me of the quote " No such things as bad weather only bad clothing" . Realized how true is that here in this winter !!! Ok, now let's check out the semiya upma recipe.


Semiya Upma with Vegetables

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Breakfast/Tiffin | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Semiya Upma with Vegetables, Vegetable semiya upma, Vermicelli Upma,Breakfast upma, Tiffin Upma, Semiya Upma with Vegetables, a quick & easy to make breakfast/tiffin with vermicelli and vegetables.
Ingredients
Semiya/ Vermicelli - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1/2 (small)
Tomato - 1/2(small)
Carrot - 1(small)
Green Chili - 2 nos
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Coconut Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Salt - to taste

Procedure
Cut the onions,tomato,carrot & ginger into small pieces and slit the green chili into half.Heat the pan with oil, add mustard & urad dal , let the mustard  splutters.Then add the onion ,chili and curry leaves and saute till the onions become translucent.
Next add the carrot and saute in the oil for 2-3 mins.
Add the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are soft. Then add the water.
Next add the salt & sugar , bring into boil.
Add the semiya (i have used roasted semiya here, see notes at the end for un-roasted semiya),give a good mix and cover the kadai with lid and keep the flame in medium. Keep it covered for 4-5 mins or until the  semiya is well cooked.
Finally add the coriander leaves, give a good mix and switch off the flame.
Tasty Semiya Upma with vegetables  is ready.Serve it with your favorite chutney. We had it with coriander chutney and coffee.

Related : How to make Idli Upma 

Related : More Upma Recipes 

Notes:
  • I have used roasted semiya here, if you have un-roasted semiya, roast it in a 1/2 tsp of ghee till it's aromatic and starts to change color
  • Roasted semiya gives non-sticky and fluffy upma. 
  • In addition to carrot, beans can also be used in this upma.
  • Adding sugar balance out the taste, so don't skip it.
  • Coconut Oil & ginger gives such a nice aroma to the upma, highly recommend to add it.
  • In addition to coriander leaves, grated coconut can also be added.


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Friday, February 21, 2020

Coriander Pesto Sauce | Cilantro Pesto Sauce | Pesto Sauce

Coriander/Cilantro Pesto Sauce, a delicious sauce made from the coriander leaves. It can be used in pasta, pizza or as spread in sandwiches or even you can serve this as dipping sauce. If you have been following me here in blog or in any social media, you might be knew by now, how much i like coriander pesto sauce. 

Pesto is a sauce originated from Italy and it's usually made with basil leaves.To me, the basil flavor is quite strong and can't really enjoy the basil pesto sauce much, for occasionally it's ok, so i have been making the pesto sauce with coriander/cilantro leaves for a long time now. 

   
More than marinara sauce, i prefer to have the coriander pesto sauce on my pizza. So whenever i make pizza at home, it would be cilantro pesto pizza. When i had shared the coriander pesto pizza in my instagram page a month ago, few asked about the sauce. At that time, i redirected them to the coriander pesto pasta post for the recipe.

Related: Coriander Pesto Pasta


In recent times, again few have asked the recipe for cilantro pesto sauce, thought better to have a separate post for the recipe. So here it is!!! If you like coriander flavor so much, then definitely give this pesto sauce a try!! 

Coriander Pesto Sauce | Cilantro Pesto Sauce

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Sauce | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Coriander Pesto Sauce,Cilantro Pesto Sauce ,Pesto Sauce,Coriander leaves,Cilantro leaves, Pasta sauce, Pizza sauce,dipping sauce Coriander/Cilantro Pesto Sauce, a delicious sauce made from the coriander leaves. It can be used in pasta, pizza or as spread in sandwiches or even you can serve this as dipping sauce.
Ingredients
Cilantro/Coriander leaves - 1/2 bunch
Walnut - 3 tbsp
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green chili - 2 
Parmesan cheese - 2 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 & 1/2  tbsp
Salt - to taste

Related: Marinara Pizza Sauce


Procedure
In a mixie/blender jar, add the nuts,garlic & green chili and grind into coarse mixture.Next add the coriander leaves, cheese & salt.Finally add salt & olive oil and grind into smooth paste. Delicious coriander pesto sauce is ready to use!! 

Related: Cilantro Pesto Vegetable Pizza

Related : Coriander Pesto Sandwich 

Notes
:

  • Coriander pesto stays well in refrigerator for 3 days.
  • Instead of walnuts, you can use cashew nuts or combination of walnuts and cashew nuts.
  • I personally like to make fresh pesto.
  • You can used this pesto as sauce for your pizza or sandwich.


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Monday, February 17, 2020

Kale Paruppu Masiyal | Kale Kadaiyal | Kale Dal Curry

Kale Paruppu Masiyal, a delicious and healthy curry made from the kale leaves, dals and indian spices. Kale is one of the greens which i got introduced when we were in US. Other than baked kale chips and kale thogayal, this masiyal is our favorite for sometime now. 

Also i love to experiment western veggie in indian cooking(like this masiyal) and indian veggie in western cooking(like coriander pesto in pasta/pizza). Sometimes it didn't work out but don't worry here i'm only sharing the recipe which we like and made it repeatedly in my kitchen, so you can trust the recipe and try it yourself :-). 

Now coming back to recipe, unlike other greens, kale doesn't get reduced in quantities when it's cooked, even 1/2 bunch of kale greens would be enough for this masiyal to feed 4 adults well. 

If you haven't tried this way of making kale greens, do give it a try, it tastes awesome with both rice and rotis. ST likes to take this curry as side dish for roti in his lunch box. Now let's check out the recipe for this kale paruppu masiyal.

Kale Paruppu Masiyal

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
kale,Kale paruppu masiyal, kale masiyal,kale dal curry,kale kadaiyal Kale Paruppu Masiyal, a delicious and healthy curry made from the kale leaves, dals and indian spices.
Ingredients
Kale - 1/2 bunch
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 2 tbsp
Pearl onion - 6 
Tomato(small) - 1 
Asafoetida powder - 1/8 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
To temper 
Ghee/Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few

Procedure
First let's cook the dals, in a pressure cooker add the toor dal, moong dal and onions, wash it well thrice and then add enough water, tomato & asafoetida powder. Give a good mix, cover the cooker with lid,put on whistle and cook it for 3 whistle or until the dal is well cooked.
In the mean time, wash the kale and remove the leaves alone and discard the stalks. 
Bring a pan of water to boil and add the kale leaves and cook till it softs.
Drain the kale leaves and let it cool a bit.Put the kale leaves in a mixie jar and grind into smooth paste.
Once the pressure released from the pressure cooker automatically, remove the lid and mashed the dal with ladle. Add the spices(turmeric, red chili & sambar powder) & salt. 
Mix it well and then add the kale puree in a dal mixture and give a good mix.
Again place it on the heat and bring into light boil. In the mean time, temper the ingredients listed under "To temper" and add into the kale dal curry.
Delicious and healthy kale paruppu masiyal is ready. 

Related: How to make Baked Kale Chips

Notes:
  • Unlike other greens, kale greens take long time to get soften. So make sure to cook them well.
  • Cook the dal until it's mashed for smooth texture of masiyal.
  • The given quantity of spices is for mild spiciness, adjust more or less as per your liking.
  • Ghee is for extra richness, even with oil itself, it tastes great.
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Sunday, February 9, 2020

Parotta Chicken Salna | Restaurant Style Chicken Salna | NonVeg Salna

Chicken Salna, one of the famous and delicious curry  from South India and it tastes best when paired with parotta, so it's generally known as Parotta Salna. Almost a week back, i had shared the home made parotta and this chicken salna pictures on social media and got rave appreciation from the readers for the texture of parotta and many have asked the recipe for the chicken salna, that's when i realized, chicken salna recipe is still not on my blog. 

Though I make this salna regularly for our dinner, it's hard to get decent pictures without daylight, that's the only reason for not posting the recipe this long. So this weekend I was determined to make parotta & chicken salna for lunch(why not, right?), took the pictures and finally i'm here with the recipe for the yummy chicken salna.
Though we eat non veg at home regularly, we rarely order it in restaurants when dining out /take out especially for another cuisine.We indians use a lot of complex flavorings in our meat cooking like this salna(truth to be told, right?), maybe other cuisines(asian/middle east) also do that. But the spices used in Indian meat cooking seem a lot when compared to western cooking.

I used to say that the chicken from the local restaurants here in North America smell too much like chicken, later only realized how else it's supposed to smell, right? In indian cooking, the other flavoring totally dominates the chicken or any meat flavor, since i'm so used to  that way of eating while growing up, it's hard to eat chicken with simple flavor.I can't imagine eating the cooked meat simply with salt & pepper. Hope you get what i'm trying to convey here. 

I still remember that my Aachi(paternal grandma) used to add drumstick in non veg cooking like mutton kulambu, dry fish curry & so on and used to say that  drumstick make the curry so flavorful, guess whatever the flavor we like the most, we used to incorporate them in everything we cook.  

Ok, now coming back to this  salna recipe, by looking at the long list of ingredient, don't think it's too complicated to make, to ease the making process , i have split the ingredient list and mentioned separately under "Saute & Grind", so you may see the repeated ingredients in the list. 

Like any non veg curry, this chicken salna tastes best when using meat with bone, so tried to use chicken with bone for great flavor. To get that parotta stall style salna taste, kalpaasi and mint are very important, so don't skip that. Without further delay let's check out the recipe for the delicious chicken salna.  

Parotta Chicken Salna | Restaurant Chicken Salna

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Parotta Salna, Chicken Salna, Restaurant style chicken salna, Salna,Nonveg Salna,Hotel Salna,Parotta nonveg Salna,Tamilnadu Chicken Salna,Chicken Curry, Chicken Gravy,Kozhi Kulambu Chicken Salna, one of the famous and delicious curry from South India and it's tastes best when paired with parotta, so it's generally known as Parotta Salna.
Ingredients
Chicken - 1/2 lb / 200gms
Onion -1/2(small)
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2 
Cardamom - 1 
Bay leaf -1 
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Saute & grind 
Onion(small) - 1/2 (thinly sliced)
Tomato(small) - 1(roughly chopped)
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2 
Star anise - small piece
Cardamom - 1 
Kalpaasi - small pieces
Mint leaves - a handful
Oil -1 tsp
To grind 
Coconut - 1/3 cup
Cashew - 5
Fennel seed - 1/2 tsp

Procedure
First take all the ingredients listed under "Saute & grind" are ready. Heat a pan with 1 tsp of oil, add cinnamon,cloves,cardamom,star anise and kalpaasi and saute them in the oil for 30 secs or until it's fragrant. Next add the onions and saute till they are transparent.

Next add the 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste and saute until it's aromatic and raw smell leaves, then add the tomatoes and mint leaves and saute till the tomatoes are soft.
Switch off the flame and let it cool a bit and put it in the blender/mixie jar and grind them into smooth paste and keep it aside.
Next heat the pressure cooker with 1 tbsp of oil, add the cinnamon,cloves,cardamom & bay leaf,  saute them in the oil for 30 secs or until it's fragrant.Add the thinly sliced onions and curry leaves and cook till they are transparent, then add the ginger garlic paste.
Saute till the raw leaves of ginger garlic paste leaves, next add the cleaned chicken & saute till in the oil for 1 min.
Next add the grounded paste and the spices(turmeric, chili and coriander powder), give a good mix and add enough water. 
Cover the pressure cooker with lid and cook it for 3 whistles or until the chicken is soft. In the mean, grind the ingredients listed under "To grind" into fine paste and keep it ready.
Once the pressure released from the pressure cooker automatically, add the coconut paste and salt. If needed add more water and brings into boil.
Finally add few coriander leaves and let it cook until the oil floats on the top. 
Tasty Chicken Salna is ready. Serve it with parotta ,chapati or even idli and dosa

Related : How to make Pichu Potta Chicken Curry 


Notes:
  • Don't skip the mint leaves and kalpaasi, those are the major flavor to recreate the restaurant style chicken salna
  • The Salna would be mildly spicy for the given measurements, add more or less as per your liking.
  • Add more or less of water as per the consistency you like.
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