Broken Wheat Upma / Matar Dalia / Gothuma Ravva Upma

 If you are bored of eating Ravva upma or Semiya Upma, you can try this Upma with Broken Wheat.  It tastes nice, filling and a very healthy food.  I added potatoes and green peas in this. You can add carrots, tomatoes and onions too. 

You can have with any chutney, side dish or pickle.

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)

1 cup Broken Wheat (Dalia)

1/2 cup Peas (I used Frozen Peas)

1 Potato

2 Green Chillies

2 tablespoon Oil

1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper Seeds

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder

1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoon chopped coriander

1 tablespoon Lemon juice

1. Soak broken wheat in water for about 1 hour. Drain water and keep it aside. Cut Potato to small cubes. Slit green chillies. Heat a pan with oil, add cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start to splutter add green chillies saute for a minute, add potato cubes. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add all powders and greean peas, mix it add 1/4 cup of water. Close the lid and cook it till all the water evaporates.

3. Then add broken wheat stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Close it with a lid cook again on low flame for another 5 minutes stirring in between. Remove from fire. Add Chopped coriander and lemon juice.

4. This upma sticks to the bottom of the pan, so better to make in a non stick pan. 

Corn Flour Halwa / Karachi Halwa (Microwave) - Diwali Sweets

Corn Flour Halwa or Karachi Halwa or Bombay Halwa is an easy to make halwa. This is a perfect sweet for Diwali. It looks like a jelly and tastes yummy.

I had guests last weekend for dinner . I made everything but forgot to make dessert. Then I didn't want to make anything time taking. Then this came to my mind. Just mixed the ingredients, kept it in microwave for 6 minutes, took it out the dessert was ready even before my guests arrived. My guests liked this soft, tasty halwa. Kids just loved it and their moms asked me the recipe  !!!!

I added yellow colour you can add orange or green colour too...This halwa gets spoiled after 2-3 days. So make less and finish it.

Ingredients

1 cup Corn Flour

2 1/2 cup Sugar

4 cups Water

4 tablespoon Ghee

1/2 cup Broken Cashew Nuts / Almonds

2-3 drops Food Colour

1. In a microwave safe bowl mix Corn flour, sugar, ghee and food colour. Add Water and mix it without any lumps. Keep this bowl in microwave for 4 minutes. Meanwhile grease two plates( with a little depth) with ghee.

2. Take the bowl out of microwave, mix the corn flour mixture thoroughly and keep it back in microwave for 4 more minutes. Mix it after every 2 minutes.  Take it out, add broken cashew nuts  and mix it again.  You can roast cashew nuts in ghee and then add.

3. Pour the mixture on plates and spread it evenly. Leave it to set for 1/2 an hour. Then cut the halwa into pieces.

4. I could make around 50 inch size pieces with the quantities mentioned above. You can half the quantities. Finish these in 2-3 days.

Raw Plantain Fritters / Aratikaya Bajji - Indian Street food

It's winter here and days are getting cold day by day. These cold winter days are tempting me to make and eat hot fried fritters almost every evening. So here is another tasty tea time snack.

 Raw Plantain Fritters/ Aratikaya Bajji tastes too good with Coconut chutney, the chutney which we make for breakfast with coconut and roasted gram(dalia). 

Ingredients

2 Raw Plantain

1 cup Chickpea Flour / Besan Flour

1 tablespoon Rice Flour

1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1/2 teaspoon Ajwain

A Big pinch of Baking Powder

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

1. Mix besan flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and ajwain in a bowl. Add water to make a thick bajji batter so that the plantain slices get coated with batter all over.

2. Peel the skin and cut plantain to thin slices. Place them in water. Heat oil for deep frying.  When the oil enough reduce it to medium flame. Add Baking Powder to batter, mix it. Now place 4-5 plantain slices in batter. Coat each slice with batter nicely.

3. Gently place them in oil. Place 4-5 slices at at time. But do not overcrowd it. Fry them till golden yellow.

4. Have it with coconut chutney. A great tea time snack. 

Thattai / Chekkalu / Rice Crackers - Diwali Snacks

These lovely munchies are great tea time snacks. These crackers need a little experience even though it looks easy to make. The photos I posted here are my 2nd (1st and 2nd photo) and 3rd (3rd and 4th photo) experiences.  The first time when I made these they were not crunchy and over cooked. I just didn't what to do with those.. But now I can make nice, crunchy rice crackers.


Thattai / Chekkalu is made with Rice Flour, Urad dal flour and few other ingredients. There are many varieties to make these . You can add channa dal or Dalia to it. Channa dal needs to soaked in water for an hour but Dalia can be added directly. You can also make a fine powder with Dalia and add it to rice flour and Urad dal.

I like Rice flour, Urad dal flour, Dalia flour, soaked channa dal version which gives the best results.

Ingredients (Makes 16)

1 cup Rice Flour

2 tablespoon Urad Dal

2 tablespooon Channa Dal
2 tablespoon Dalia (Optional)

1 tablespoon White Sesame Seeds

2 tablespoon Ghee

3/4 teaspoon Salt

Oil for deep frying

1. Soak Channa Dal in Water for an hour. Dry roast urad dal till light brown. Make a fine powder with it. Grind Dalia to a fine powder (optional).

2. Mix all other ingredients and urad dal powder. Add water little by little (takes about 3/4 cup of water ) and make a smooth dough. Grease your hands with oil and make 16 small lemon sized balls with the dough.

3. Heat oil for deep frying . Grease a zip lock or any other plastic cover with oil. Grease your hands again and flatten the dough to a very thin circle. Keep 2-3 ready.

4. When oil is hot, turn the flame to medium and slowly take the dough from the cover and gently place it in oil. When the bubbles in oil reduces and thattai turns to light brown turn it onto other side, let it to light brown and then take it out of oil.    

5. Store it in a airtight container and enjoy your tea time with these crunchies.

Watermelon Granita - Summer Recipes

In shiny, bright, hot summer if you feel like having something chilled !!!!

Try this easiest frozen dessert. Hmmm...... have to wait for atleast 2 hours to have this.

You can also make Indian Ice Golas (Crushed Ice on Stick ) with this !!! Have you ever tasted Watermelon Ice Gola ?????  You can make it at home now!!!! 

Ingredients

6 cups of roughly chopped Watermelon pieces

1/2 cup Sugar

1. Remove the skin and seeds of Watermelon. Roughly chop watermelon. In a blender, blend watermelon pieces with sugar.

2. Strain the watermelon juice into a wide freezer proof container. Place the container in freezer to chill. 

3. Every 30 minutes take the container out, scrap the mixture with a spoon or fork to break the ice crystals. Keep it back in freezer. Scrap this mixture every 30 minutes for 2 hours.

4.  Light, fluffy, chilled watermelon granita will be ready in just 2 hours.

Cabbage Fry

Cabbage Fry is a very easy, simple and quick curry which can be prepared with few simple ingredients and in just 10 minutes. Best for everyday cooking and tasty too. Kids will also like this. This curry with Sambar or Rasam and rice makes a simple easy lunch. 

Ingredients

1/2 Cabbage

2 teaspoon Oil

1 tablespoon Channa Dal

1/2 tablespoon Urad Dal

1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

2-3 Green Chillies

1 Sprig Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

1. Finely cut Cabbage and slice green chillies. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, channa dal and urad dal. When dals turn to golden brown colour add green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for a minute. 

2.  Now add cut cabbage and salt. Mix and saute for 5-6.

3. That's it. Easy and simple curry is ready.

Bottle Gourd Curry with Sesame Seeds Powder / Anapakaya Nuvvula Podi Koora

Bottle Gourd Curry tastes excellent with Sesame seed powder. It is a very simple curry with Bottle Gourd and Sesame Seed Powder. Sesame Seed Powder is my last post there I mentioned that you can make many curries with Sesame Seed Powder. This Bottle Gourd Sesame Seed curry is one of those.

My mom quite often used to make this curry and I and my brother used to finish this even before it reaches the dining table. I too make this curry but even today when I visit my mom's place I ask her to make this for me. There is some magic in mom's hands!!!!

This curry is a protein rich, low fat , nutritious, healthy curry .... I don't know about all this. I just love this curry. It is such an easy curry with super good taste. May be not everyone agrees with me !!! My husband doesn't like it much. Give it a try!!!!!

Ingredients

 1 Bottle Gourd

3 teaspoons Oil

1 teaspoon of Channa Dal

1/2 teaspoon Urad Dal

1/4 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1/4 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

2-3 Green chillies

1 Sprig Curry Leaves

3 tablespoons Sesame Seed Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1. Cut and discard the outside layer of Bottle gourd. Cut bottle gourd  into small pieces.Boil these pieces till they become soft (for 15-20 minutes).

2. Drain water and keep it aside. Slit green chillies. Heat oil in a pan, add channa dal, urad dal, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

3. Then add bottle gourd pieces, sesame seed powder and salt. Sprinkle some water, place a lid and cook it for 5 minutes.

4. Aromatic curry with sesame seeds.

Nuvvula Podi / Sesame Seed Powder

A very simple recipe which my mom often used to make. She makes many varieties of curries with this powder. Just a little quantity of this makes any curry extra delicious.

You know the recipe of this powder means you can make many curries!!!!! Today I am posting the simplest way of making Nuvvula Podi / Sesame seed powder for everyday cooking.

Nuvvula Podi is a spicy powder made with White Sesame seeds. This powder can be eaten with rice or added to curries. Andhrites can just live on spicy powders. We can finish our meals with one of these spicy powders. There is a big list of powders like Bengal gram powder, Curry leaves powder, Sesame sees powder, Garlic powder, Coconut powder, Coriander Seed powder etc. Getting tempted!!!!! Will post all these recipes in my blog.

    

Ingredients

1 cup White Sesame Seeds

5-6 Red Chillies

1 teaspoon Salt

1. Heat a pan. Add white sesame seeds, dry roast them on a low flame by continuously sauteing it till sesame changes colour and looks puffed up. 

2. Transfer this into a plate and it cool. Then dry roast red chillies for a min. First grind red chillies to flakes, add roasted sesame seeds,grind these to a coarse powder.

3. You can store like this or after adding salt. If you don't add salt you can use this in curries, and can add salt to the curries. Nuvvula podi with salt can be eaten with rice. ( You can keep half portion of this powder with salt and other half without so that you can use both in curries and with rice.)