Spinach Paratha (Palak Paratha)

Deciding what to make for dinner is a challenge for me. Finally made up my mind and made Spinach paratha and Black eyed beans curry for today's dinner. Here is the Spinach Paratha recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups of wheat flour

1tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Ajwain/Carom seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 cup finely chopped spinach

salt as per taste

Oil/ghee (Optional) for shallow frying.

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Now add water little by little to the mixture and make a soft dough.



Cover the dough with damped cloth and keep it aside for 15 mts.

Take small piece of dough and shape into small balls.

Roll these dough balls into round shaped dusting with flour as needed.

Heat a pan/griddle and place paratha on the pan.

Cook both sides of the paratha evenly by adding few drops of oil till it turns golden brown color.

Serve these parathas with curry or raita.

Aloo Palak Patties (Potato Spinach Patties)

Hectic weekend with all chores and work. Finally decided to make something tasty for an evening snack ( Aloo Palak Pattie). Here is the recipe for the same. To make it healthy I shallow fried. But if you want you can deep fry these patties.

This recipe is very simple and tasty. I am sure every kid will love these patties with ketchup.

Ingredients:

3 Potatoes

1 cup chopped spinach

1 tb spoon Chat masala

1 tb spoon red chili powder (As per your spice level)

salt as per the taste

bread crumbs/ or chop 1 slice of bread

1 small onion finely chopped

1tsp of cumin seeds

Oil for shallow fry

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes and mash thoroughly.

Mix all the ingredients with mashed potatoes.

Shape the mixture into 1 inch patties.

Place them on a pan and sprinkle few drops of oil and shallow fry till patties turn golden color.

Delicious patties are ready to be served. You can serve these patties with ketchup or chutney.

Couscous Upma

Today I wanted to make something different, easy and healthy. Found couscous in kitchen and made Upma with Couscous for dinner. Couscous is nutritious, healthy and tasty.

Try this new recipe and let me know how it turned out.

Ingredients:

1 cup Couscous

1 cup water

1 small potato

1 carrot

1 small onion

1 small tomato

1 tbsp of cashew nuts (optional)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp chana dal(split chickpeas)

2 tbsp oil ( I used extra virgin Olive oil)

1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger

salt as per taste

curry leaves

3 green chilies (As per your spice level. You can ignore chilies if you want mild)

Prep time: 20mts

Preparation:

Finely chop all the vegetables.

In a pan add oil. Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds, chana dal and cashews. Once mustard seeds splatters add curry leaves, chilies and finely chopped ginger. After few seconds add onions. Keep it for 5 mts, now add remaining vegetables and cook for 10 more mts.




Once the vegetables are 80% cooked add cous cous, salt and mix well. Now add water and cover it with a lid. It will take 6 to 8 mts to cook couscous.

The delicious and healthy couscous upma is ready to be served.

Mango Pickle

Today's recipe is mango pickle. Spring is the season for fresh raw mangoes in India. Every year my mom used to make variety of mango dishes through out this season. One of my favorite recipe is fresh mango pickle.

Here is the recipe for the same. This pickle can stay for 1 week. This recipe is very easy to make.

Preparation time: 10mts

Ingredients:

1 Raw mango

1 1/2 tbsp mustard powder (Ava podi in telugu) .You can get mustard powder in indian stores.

1 1/2 tbsp red chili powder

1 1/2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp oil

1 1/2 tbsp grated jaggery (Optional)

pinch of hing asafoetida (optional)

Preparation:

Wash mango. Take a clean cloth and wipe mango thoroughly. Make sure Mango is dry.

Cut mango into small cubes.

In a bowl mix mango pieces, mustard powder, chili powder, hing and salt.

Make sure you all the mango pieces are fully covered with spices.

Add oil and jaggery and mix well.

Close the bowl with a lid and let it sit for 3 to 4 hrs. After 3 hrs pickle will be wet as water/juices oozes out from mango.

Mix well with clean and dry spoon. Fresh mango pickle is ready to be served.

Home made Mustard Powder Preparation:

Keep mustard seeds in hot sun for 2 to 3 days. Make sure mustard seeds are well dried and roasted in sun.

In a clean and dry mixer add sun dried mustard seeds. Grind to make a powder. Make sure you do not grind for longer time since oil oozes out from mustard if you grind for more time. You need to stop the mixer in between and mix with spatula or spoon. Mustard powder will never be fine. Do not sieve the powder.

Storage: You can store the mustard powder in a clean and dry jar. This can last for months.

Mehndi Design

Today is the most wonderful day for me. I completed 10k run in 1 hr 10 mts. My next goal is to finish half marathon. With that happiness I did mehndi/henna design for my kid.

Here are the pics.

Tiramisu

Yesterday night I made this most delicious Italian dessert Tiramisu. The phrase tirami su literally means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso (Italian language). Till now I never met anyone who doesn't like Tiramisu. I was planning to make this dessert for a long time. Finally made it for a potluck party. I am very happy that everyone in the party loved the dessert.

Recipe source - Multiple sites..

This recipe does not use raw eggs. Most of the recipes uses raw eggs for Tiramisu recipe. I found a method on internet how to cook eggs for Tiramisu to avoid risk of salmonella.

Note: I made one bowl of Tiramisu just for me. (This bowl needs additional 5 lady fingers and 3 table spoons of cream mixture. )

Ingredients:

• 6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup good dark rum
• 1 1/2 cups brewed espresso
• 16 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 24 Italian ladyfingers, or savoiardi
• Unsweetened cocoa powder

Preparation:

1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Continuous to whisk till it is smooth.(This will take 6 to 8 mts.) This process will avoid the risk of salmonella. If you are worried that you might make scrambled egg whisking directly on top of boiling water. You can put one more bowl on top of the boiling pan and whisk on top of the second bowl. This is the only hard part of the whole recipe. But it is worth if you are worried about eating raw eggs.
2. Keep the bowl in cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. Transfer the egg mixture into a large bowl. Add mascarpone, ¼ cup rum, and ¼ cup espresso whisk using electric mixer until smooth.
4. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup rum and 1 1/4 cups espresso in a shallow bowl.
5. Dip 1 side of each ladyfinger in the espresso/rum mixture and line the bottom of a 9 by 12 by 2-inch dish.









6. Pour half the espresso cream mixture evenly on top.
7. Dip 1 side of the remaining ladyfingers in the espresso/rum mixture and place them in a second layer in the dish.
8. Pour the rest of the espresso cream over the top. Smooth the top and cover with plastic wrap.
9. Refrigerate overnight.
10. Before serving, dust the top with unsweetened cocoa powder using tea strainer.

Delicious Tiramisu is ready.

Ragi(Finger millet) Halwa

Ragi (Finger millet) is a valuable cereal as it contains amino acid methionine. Ragi is also wheat free, made of whole grain flour and rich in calcium, iron and fiber.

Today I made dessert using Ragi flour for my kid.

I hope all of you will try this delicious and healthy dessert.

Ingredients

1 cup of Ragi(Finger millet)flour
1 cup of brown Sugar/Jaggery/Sugar( It can be reduced as your sweet level)
2 cups of Water
1/4 cup of Ghee
2 cardamoms

pistachios or Almonds for decorating


Preparation:

1. Roast Ragi flour in the ghee till the raw flavor goes(approximately 5 to 8 mts).
2. Grease the pan with ghee and keep it aside.
3. In a separate vessel/pan add sugar , cardamom powder and water. Boil for 5 -10 mts till sugar is dissolved.
4. In the sugar syrup add roasted ragi flour and keep stirring till the mixture starts leaving the ghee. This might take 5 mts.
5. Turn off the heat and transfer the mixture into the greased pan. Cut into cubes and garnish with crushed nuts.

The delicious Ragi halwa is ready to serve.

Ugadi Subhakankshalu - Mamidikaya Pulihora

Hi Everyone

Andariki Vikruthi Nama Samvasthra Subhakanshalu. Wish you all happy Ugadi(Andhra), Yugadi(Karnataka), Gudi Padwa(Maharashtra).

Today I made Ugadi Pachhadi and mango pulihora for naivedyam.

Detailed recipe for Mango Pulihora can be found in my previous posts.

Significance of Ugadi Pachhadi : Symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of different experiences (sadness, happiness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise) , which should be accepted together and with equanimity.

Below are the ingredients in the Pachhadi:

Neem -for bitter
Raw Mango -- for Tang
Jaggery and ripe banana -- for Sweetness
Tamarind - for Sourness
Chili/Pepper - for heat
Salt - for saltiness

Here are the pictures of Mango Pulihora..

Yogurt Fruit Parfait

Hi Everyone

It is been long time since I posted any recipe in my blog. Finally I have decided to make an effort to update my blog at least weekly once. Today's recipe is one of my favorite for breakfast. If you are looking for something healthy and nutritious breakfast try this Creamy fruit Parfait. Luscious combination of summer fruits and yogurt is delicious.

This recipe can be even served as healthy dessert.

Note: This recipe is very popular in Greek Island of Kythera.

Ingredients:

Chopped fruits (Any type of fruit)

1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts

2 cups of Greek style Yogurt. (Instructions below for the Greek style yogurt)

2tbsp of honey

Preparation:

Greek style Yogurt:

In a cheese cloth pour natural yogurt. Tie the cloth so it is suspended above a bowl. If your sink is deep enough, gather up the corners of the cloth and tie it to the faucet.

Let the yogurt drain the water into the bowl for at least 12 hrs.

Transfer the thickened drained yogurt into a bowl.

Note: This yogurt can be used as dips.

Parfait preparation:

1. Place finely chopped fresh fruits in a serving bowl.

2. Spoon 1/3rd of the yogurt into the bowl.

3. Top with half the fruit mixture.

4. Repeat with another layer of yogurt and fruit, then top with the remaining yogurt.

5. Top with chopped walnuts and remaining fruit mixture.

6. Drizzle the honey over the nuts and yogurt.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill at least for 1 hr.

Delicious creamy fruit parfait is ready to be served.

Variations:

Vary the fruit to whatever is best in the market. In winter, replace the fresh fruits with a dried fruit mixture.

Play house

Built this play house as a part of volunteer work at "Habitat for Humanity". I really enjoy working as a volunteer and give sometime to community. I think it will be great if all of us take sometime from our personal time and give it back to community..

To learn more about the organization please visit their website.

Today first time in my life I did carpentry work. It was awesome..

Check the photos

Me painting hello kitty on the door:







My colleagues painted below designs inside the house:--

Painting monkey for another play house: