Recap of Mega BM 87 - Explore the flavors

It's been a while since i had joined the Mega BM , so when i saw the announcement of this April BM by Valli on first week of Jan, without a second thought, i signed up and by that time, i thought that it would be solid three months to prepare everything and feel relaxed. But by the end of jan, ST told me that there might be chance of moving to new place in the April because of his work. More than moving to new place, i was worried about how to make everything ready for Mega BM before mid of March. I knew after that i would be totally caught up with all the packing and moving stuff. So immediately i had prepared the list and started cooking and had successfully finished my cooking, drafting the recipes in Mid March. As expected, April month was crazy with all the packing and moving stuff and really find hard to spare an hour for final editing and posting.But the good thing is whenever i need break from the packing & cleaning the stuff, i sat on before the laptop and started to read the other post and commenting, honestly that was the only time i felt so relaxed in this entire month. Glad i had joined this marathon, otherwise i would post none in the month April in the name of moving :-). Easy to find reason for not doing right? Anyhow it was a great mega marathon and have learnt so much from my fellow bloggers !!! Now, let 's check out the roundup in case you missed any before.

First Week

For the first week, i have chosen the theme "International Breakfast" and here are the international breakfast that i have prepared and we enjoyed each one thoroughly. 

Mysore Masala Dosai	Mani Pittu	Mofo Gasy
Veg Baozi	French Crepes	Donuts

Second Week

For the second week, i have chosen the theme "Whole grains" and in the whole grains, i have picked the millet, though i have been cooking millets regularly, somehow i missed sharing them here, so have taken this theme as an opportunity and shared the recipe that i have cooked regularly in my kitchen and here they are !!!

Kambu Koozh	Samai Puliyodharai	Kuthiraivali Upma
Samai Paal Kanji	Ragi Mudde	Millet Biryani

Third Week

In the third week, i have chosen the theme "No garlic and No onion" recipe. In our home, we have no restrictions of using onions & garlic even on festival and vrat days, so i haven't cook much without garlic and onions or i can say mainly onions. So again i have chosen this theme as an opportunity to explore the recipes without onions & garlic and here are my favorite recipe without onions & garlic.

Mathanga Pulissery	Kuthiraivali Pongal	Dal Tadka
Paruppu Podi	Mysore Rasam	Dum Aloo

Fourth Week

And  for the final week, i have chosen the theme "Street foods" . Out of all the theme, this one is my favorite, street food is something we go out and explore right?? While making that dishes at home, it brings back all the memories of when/where/with whom, i had this street food and also I love the idea of making street food at home. Here are some classic street food from India that i have relished to the core, so tried out in my kitchen

Dahi Papdi Chaat	Bhel Puri	Jalebi
Nannari Paal Sarbath	Spinach Masala Dosai	Paneer Soda
Bread Cheese Omelette	Muttaikose

 

 Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87

An InLinkz Link-up

Continue Reading »

Dum Aloo | Potato Curry | Aloo Gravy | Side dish for Roti

Dum Aloo, a delicious & creamy curd/yogurt based curry made with baby potatoes. Though i have heard about the curry, this was the first time that i had tried and tasted too. 

It was so delicious and paired well with chapathi. Since i like any curd based curies, there was no surprise that i liked it, but ST also liked it and asked me to make it again. 

I could never imagined that the curry would be so flavorful and tasty even without any onions and ginger garlic paste. Though i shared this recipe under "No garlic and No onion" category, sometimes i like to add onions and ginger garlic paste into this curry and it truly elevates the taste.


Here in the recipe, i have used roma tomatoes, in India, i think Bangalore tomatoes works well for this curry. If in case you're using country tomatoes, reduce the amount of tomatoes otherwise it would be very sour.

Once i had the experience of making paneer butter masala with country tomatoes and it turned out like a paneer pickle with very sharp tart taste :-). 

Ok,Without further delay let's check out the recipe, but if you want to know what i have prepared for past 5 days for Blogging Marathon event, here they are
Day 1 - Manthanga Pulissery
Day 2 - Kuthiraivali Pongal
Day 3 - Dal Tadka
Day 4 - Paruppu Podi
Day 5 - Mysore Rasam

All the final pics from here are taken recently. So there may be mild color change in the final output :-)

Dum Aloo

Preparation Time : 5 min | Cooking Time : 30 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Dum Aloo, Baby Potato Curry Dum Aloo, a delicious & creamy curd/yogurt based curry made with baby potatoes.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Baby Potatoes - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 2 
Curd - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Procedure

First take the potatoes and prick each potatoes with the fork on all sides.

Heat the water in a sauce pan,add the potatoes and 1/2 tsp of salt.

Let it comes to boil and then keep simmer until the potatoes became fork tender. Drain the potatoes and let it cool a bit.

Peel the skin of the potatoes and keep it ready. Heat the pan with oil, add the potatoes and roast till it slightly changes its color.

Remove it on the plate and in the same pan(if needed add extra a tsp of oil) add cinnamon, cloves, cardamon & bay leaf and let it fry in the oil until it became aromatic.Then add the fennel and cumin seed, fry it in the oil for 10 secs.

Then add the finely chopped tomatoes and the spices(turmeric, red chili & coriander powder) & salt.

Let it cook until it's mushy & then add the sugar and cook till the oil leaves the sides.

Take the curd in a bowl and whisk it until it's creamy.

Pour the curd into the tomato masala and mix it well. Add the fried potatoes too.

Finally add garam masala and cook till oil floats on the top. Switch off the flame and add the coriander leaves on the top.

Tasty Dum Aloo is ready. Serve it with roti or chapathi.

Related: How to make Malai Kofta Curry

Notes:

• Instead of shallow fry the potatoes, you can deep fry them also.
• I have used fresh curd here.
• Don't over cook the potatoes.Otherwise it will be mushy in the curry. 
• Prick the potatoes with the fork helps to absorb the salt by the potatoes.
  

Continue Reading »

Mysore Rasam | No Garlic Rasam | Rasam Recipe

Mysore Rasam, it's our recent favorite rasam and we really like it like anything. When comes to rasam, i haven't tried much varieties so far, always stick with basic tamarind rasam with pepper & garlic. 

Since it's my all time favorite, haven't thought of trying other varieties !!! But when i search for "No onion No garlic" recipe from other cuisine, this mysore rasam caught my attention. Using coconut in rasam is totally new to me, so when i had seen this recipe, immediately made note of it and tried it within a few days. To be honest, i'm glad that i gave a try on this rasam, it was so good with wonderful flavor and taste absolutely delicious with hot rice.Without further delay let's check out the recipe, but if you want to know what i have prepared for past 4 days under "No onion No garlic" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Manthanga Pulissery
Day 2 - Kuthiraivali Pongal
Day 3 - Dal Tadka
Day 4 - Paruppu Podi

Mysore Rasam

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 3 to 4 
Recipe Category: Rasam | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Toor dal -  2 tbsp
Tomato - 1 
Tamarind - a small goose berry size
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Asafoetida powder - 1/8 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
To grind & roast
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Coriander seed - 1 tbsp
Pepper corns - 1 & 1/2 tsp
Cumin seed - 1 tsp
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Procedure

Measure & take all the ingredients listed under "To grind & roast", heat the pan and add all the ingredients and roast till they are aromatic. Let it cool a bit.

Transfer into mixie jar and grind into coarse powder. Soak the tamarind in water for 30 mins.

Cook & mash the toor dal and keep it ready.Heat the pan with ghee, add mustard, let it splutters and then add the curry leaves and tomatoes.

Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into the pan. Then add the cooked dal and grounded powder.

Add turmeric powder, salt & asafoetida powder.

Add more water as your liking and let it bring into boil. Simmer for 5 mins & switch off the flame. Finally add the coriander leaves.

Tada, Mysore Rasam is ready.Serve it with some hot rice and your favorite curry. We had with rice and onion pakoda.

Notes:

• Ghee gives great flavor to the rasam. So don't skip it.
• If you want more spice in the rasam, add one or two red chili in the tempering.
• For extra flavor, you can add a tsp of rasam powder too.
  

Continue Reading »