Easy Garden Veggie Frittata

Tweet

Frittata is basically an Italian omelette with lots of veggies and its thicker and yummier than a normal omelette. There are many different varieties of Frittata both meat and meatless. This "Easy Garden Frittata" is my first time experiment in Italian cuisine and it was a super duper success and I am sure you will love it too.

The original recipe can be found here. My version doesn't have Parmesan cheese and I added few more ingredients to give it an Indian kick..:D

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins



Ingredients:

Eggs - 4
Grated Potato - 2 tbsp
Grated Carrot - 2 tbsp
Chopped Broccoli - 3 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tbsp
Milk - 2 tbsp
PAM Spray or Oil - 1/2 tbsp

How to make:

1. In a flat skillet, spray a little PAM or use oil, add grated potato, carrot and finely chopped broccoli - let these cook for few minutes.
2. Then add salt, chilli powder and garam masala - mix well.
3. In a bowl, beat the eggs with milk added and then pour it evenly on the veggie mixture.
4. Cover the skillet and let it cook for about 10 to 15 minutes on medium-low heat untill the eggs are properly cooked. Flip over and repeat the step for few more minutes.
5. Optional: add parmesan cheese over it and cover for few more minutes. I skipped this step as I am not a big fan of cheese and also to make it more healthy.
6. When done, let it stand for 5 minutes. Cut into 4 equal portions and Serve with any sauce/chutney preferably tomato sauce.


This is my entry to Weekend Breakfast Blogging # 16: Omelettes initially started by Nandita and now hosted by dear Kanchana.

Enjoi folks..:D

Spicy Stuffed Baigan ka Bhartha

Tweet

"Aaha yemi ruchi, anara maimarachi
Roju tinnamare mojee teeranidi
Taaja kooralalo raaja yevarandi
Inka cheppala Vankayenandi....."
These are the lyrics of a famous telugu song which states -
"The Raaja of all vegetables is none other than our legendary " Brinjal/Egg Plant/Vankaya"...Indeed its the favorite of all..:D...



I made tons of Sarina Pudi for Ashaji Event and Suganya made me think about recipes to use up the pudi. and here it is "Spicy Stuffed Baigan ka Bhartha" which I by the way baked and steamed, so its tasty, less calories and absolutely delish..:D

Ingredients:

(small) Brinjals/Eggplants - 6
Sarina Pudi - 3 tbsp
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Salt- to taste
Turmetic - 1/4 tbsp
Tamarind Jucie - 2tbsp
Peanuts - 2 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp
Sambhar powder - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Chopped Onion - 4 tbsp

How to prepare:

1. Grind all the above mentioned ingredients except Brinjals into a thick paste adding very little water.
2. Slit the Brinjals into 4 parts and stuff them with the ground paste.
3. Keep aside the left over ground masala.
4. Bake the stuffed eggplants for 15 mins at 400 deg in the oven.
5. Now, In a pan, cook the left over masala for few minutes adding little water so that it becomes a gravy.
6. Add the baked eggplants to the pan and Cook for 15 minutes on low heat.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves. It tastes good with hot rice or Roti.

I served with white rice and Theplas. Here is the entire spread...:D

Cabbage Usili for RCI: Karnataka

Tweet

Reposting the recipe "Cabbage Usili" for Ashaji's RCI: Karnataka Event.





You can find the recipe here.

Its my pleasure to participate in the Event.

Adieu for now folks..:D

Hesaru Bele Tovve : RCI Karnataka

Tweet

To be honest: "I knew nothing about the Karnataka cuisine untill couple of days. I knew just the names of the recipes.." ..:D
But, now .....with so many Karnataka recipes flying over the blogosphere, I am well versed with both the names and preparation of most of the recipes of Kannadiga cuisine. Thanks to RCI and Aashaji for hosting such wonderful event.



Here is my entry to RCI: Karnataka Event : Hesaru Bele Tovve. (had to refer : Glossary)




Ingredients:

Hesaru bele(Moong dal) split - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2-3
Ginger - a small piece
Salt - to taste
Turmeric -1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Curry Leaves - few

For Tempering: Oil, Mustard seeds, Urad seeds, Cumin seeds, Red Chillies and Hing.

Preparation:

1. Cook hesaru bele (moong dal) and grind it along with ginger, green chilles and grated coconut.
2. In a pan, Heat the dal mixture and add salt, turmeric and chilli powder. Cook it for few minutes. Then add curry leaves.
3. Now, heat the tempering ingredients in a small pan and let them splutter.
4. Finally add this tempering to dal . Tastes awesome with hot rice, any pickle and papad.

Another look of Hesaru Bele Tovve..

My Favorite Snack: Bajji Platter

Tweet

Bajji / Bhajiya was, is and will be THE all-time favorite snack. On a gloomy - rainy - chilly day, the aroma of these hot hot bajjis is exhilarating and eye-popping...:)

So, when Hima asked "Whats Your Favortie Snack" ..... I screamed, You screamed, We all screamed for Bhajiyas..:D
Also sending the same for Ashaji's RCI Karnataka Event. Bajji is a favorite snack in Karnataka cuisine.

We can use almost all vegetables worth their flesh to make Bajjis out of them. My Bajji Platter has - Paneer, Aloo, Gobi (Cauliflower), Brinjal, Brocolli, Onion, Capsicum and Bread Bhajiyas. Ya Ya, I know, that I missed out Mirchi and Plaintains. But, I didn't have any..:(.



Ingredients:

Veggies, Paneer - as listed above.
Bread slices - 2
ChickPea flour - 2 cups
All Purpose Flour - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Chopped Garlic - for flavor (optional)
Chopped Green Chillies - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - for frying



Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients listed and make a fine batter by adding water.
2. Add the veggies, paneer and bread pieces one by one into the batter.
3. Deep fry these in hot oil untill golden brown. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel.
4. Serve hot with chilly sauce or any kind of chutney ... Sit back and enjoii ..:D

Palak Theplas and Roti Telur

Tweet

.... The 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies did not leave pleasant memories for India but it brought to the limelight the foresight of some of the Indian spectators at the Caribbean fiesta. Two “Tambrams” (Tamil Brahmins) from Bangalore , who were in a group of nine vegetarian cricket lovers, played a major role in making the trip pleasant, filling and economical. The group which spent nearly one month in Barbados watching the cricket, cooked their own food thrice a day in a rented villa and was benefited by the foresight of the Bangalore duo who carried with them nearly 750 pieces of theplas which constituted one of their main food items throughout their stay.....

- "The Hindu" Magazine

You can find the complete article here.

This funny anecdote shows how easy, handy and life-saving "Theplas" could be at the time need.:D

I made some additions to the original "Gujarati Theplas" by LuvBites. I added Palak, Jeera and other spices to make it more flavorsome.



Preparation Time: 20-30mins
Serves - 10 to 12 Theplas

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups
Gram flour - 1 tbsp
Palak - 1/2 cup
Buttermilk - to knead
Salt - to taste
Chopped Garlic - 1/4 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Hing - 1/8 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make:

1. Mix all the ingredients listed above including the oil into a dough. I used buttermilk for kneading as per the original recipe.
2. Once it became a dough, oil it again from the top and knead atleast 3 times.
3. Make small balls out of the dough and roll out as rotis.
4. Place on a hot griddle, roast and drizzle oil, to shallow fry the Theplas on medium-low heat.
5. Serve with any kind of pickle or Masala Dahi.

Masala Dahi: Dry roast some cumin seeds & black pepper. and make them into fine powder. Mix salt and this powder to well-beated curd to make Masala Dahi.



Continuing with life-savers, I bring to you a Malayasian recipe - "Roti Telur" or Egg Pastry Pancake.

This original recipe of Roti Telur can be found here and here.



For this we need:

All-purpose flour - 3 cups
Milk - 1.5 cups
Salt - to taste
Eggs - 3
Chopped Onions - 2 tbsp
Coriander - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 2
Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
Oil - to shallow fry

Preparation:

1. Mix salt to flour and knead it with milk. Keep aside for 2 hrs.
2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the eggs and add salt, chilli powder, chillies, chopped onions, coriander, cumin seeds. Mix them well.
3. Take a small ball of dough, oil the work top with oil and work each ball into a very thin sheet - first flatten with your oiled palms, then thin it further by pulling the edges.
4. Preheat a griddle, grease well with oil/ghee- when hot put roti dough on it.
5. Now, gently pour the egg mixture on it and carefully spread over it.
6. After 2 min, fold the edges of the roti dough over, just enough to seal the egg mixture in.
7. Cook 2-3 mins till golden brown. Lift Roti with a spatula, grease the griddle with a tsp of oil, cook the other side.
8. Serve hot with any spicy curry. I served with Hot chilly sauce..:D



These dishes taste awesome and are the best for travel when accompanied with any side dish. So, forwarding this to Easy Crafts's Travel Food Festival..:))



Enjoi!

Andhra Style Cabbage Curry

Tweet

Imagine how would it be – the combination of simple and tender taste of cabbage with a unique taste of mustard seeds. Hmmmm.. yummy and very different …:D. this is how it looks like...

This Andhra style recipe is popularly known as “ Cabbage Aava pettina Koora” – especially made during marriages and important ceremonies in coastal Andhra. It’s a simple, healthy and No-mess, No-fuss curry.

Here it goes…

Ingredients:

Cabbage (medium size) - 1
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
Red Chillies - 2
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Water - to boil
Green Chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Chilli powder - 1/4 tbsp (optional)

For Tadka:

Chana Dal - 1/2 tbsp
Urad seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Hing - a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1/2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Finely chop the cabbage and cook it with water, salt and turmeric. Drain the water and keep aside.
2. Grind the mustard seeds with red chillies into a fine powder. Its preferred not to roast them.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and put the ingredients for Tadka and finely chopped green chillies. Then add the cooked cabbage and season it with salt and chilli powder.
4. Then finally add the ground mustard powder & curry leaves and cook for 2-3 mins on low heat.

It tastes good with both chapathi/roti and rice.

This is my entry for the Think Spice : Mustard event hosted by dear Sunita. Thanks to her for such a lovely event.

Adieu for now ppl..:))

Naivedyam - Undrallu, Garelu, Payasam

Tweet

|| Vighneshwaraya Vardaya Surpriyaya ||
|| Lambodaraya Sakalaya Jagsuddhitaya ||
|| Nagannaya Shrutiyagyavibhushitaya ||
|| Gaurisutaya Gannanath Namo Namaste ||



Oh I miss the way we used to celebrate Vinayaka Chavithi back at home in Hyderabad. My mom used to wake up early and would start making the neivedyam and other delicacies. Meanwhile, me and my dad used to go to the nearby market and get an idol of Lord Ganesha ( usually we used to get a clay one as they are environment-friendly) and start decorating the pooja place. It would generally take about an hour for the pooja and then comes the most awaited time of the day - to eat the luscious meal mom made. Oh I miss all that especially my mom. :(

So, I have decided that this time around, we would celebrate the festival close to the way we used to back at home. :D .. though I am not as good a cook as mom.. but would try... My Neivedyam - offering to Lord Ganesha were Undrallu, Garelu (Vada) and Payasam.

Undrallu is a must offering for Lord Ganesha, :D and he loves them.. me too..I used to gobble up the entire lot of Kudumulu at one go...:D



Ingredients:

Rice/ Rice Rava (Biyyapu Rava) - 2 cups
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Chillies - 2
Water - 4 cups

How to make:

1. Usually we get Rice Rava (Biyyapu Rava) in Indian stores. Orelse, wash the rice and dry it on a cloth. Grind to coarse mixture.
2. Soak the chana dal for atleast 20 minutes.
3. In a pan, take ghee; let the jeera splutter, add chopped chillies, chana dal - Fry these for a minute or two. Then add water & salt. Once it comes to a boil, add Rice Rava by stirring continuously to make sure that there are no lumps.
4. Just like upma, let it cook for a while.
5. Once cool, make lemon size balls out of the mixture and offer as Neivedyam to our dear Lord Vinayaka.

Garelu (Vada):



Ingredients:

Urad Dal - 2 cups
Chillies - 2
Salt - to taste
Ginger - 1/4 tbsp
Oil - to fry

How to make:

1. Wash, Rinse and Soak Urad dal for atleast 2 - 2.5 hours.
2. Grind the soaked urad dal with salt, ginger and chillies to a fine paste. Use as little water as possible
3. Heat oil in pan, flatten a small ball of batter on your palm and make a small hole in it. Fry these until golden brown in color.

You can add onions, coriander, coconut, chilli powder to the above vadai paste to make Masala Vadai..:).. It tastes yum with sambhar, coconut chutney or allam (ginger) chutney.

Payasam:

I made Vermicelli (Semiya) Payasam as Neivedyam.



Ingredients:

1. Semiya/Vermicelli - 100gms
2. Milk - 3 cups
3. Water - 1 cup
4. Sugar
5. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tbsp
6. Cashewnuts / Raisins - 1tbsp (optional)
7. Ghee - 1 tbsp
8. Rava - 1 tbsp

How to make:

1. Take ghee in a pan and roast the vermicelli and rava. Keep Aside
2. In a flat pan, pour milk and water - Bring it to boil on a medium - low heat. Add sugar and stir well.
3. Add the roasted vermicelli + rava mixture to the milk and keep stirring for few minutes untill the mixture is properly cooked. Add milk if necessary.
4. Garnish with cardamom powder and other raisins...:D..

May Lord Ganesha shower his blessings on all us always.

This is my second entry to "Festive Cooking Series: Ganesh Chaturthi" hosted by our dear Latha of "The Yum Blog".


Siri

Preparation For Vinayaka Chavithi

Tweet

In couple of days, we have Vinayaka Chavithi ( September 15th) - Our Lord Ganesha's birthday. This festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi. On this auspicious day, here I provide few links for the pdfs and audio clips which can be handy for proper pooja vidhanam of our dear Lord Ganesha.

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja Vidhanam - Text in Telugu and in English.

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja Vidhanam - Audio(Telugu): Part 1 : Puja
Part 2 : Katha (Story)

Back in Hyderabad, we had Vinayaka Chaturdhi booklets which were so handy for performing pooja. But, those who are staying in other countries (like me) and who don't have the booklets, these pdfs and audio clips are so much of convenience. Isn't it!!

This is my first entry for Ganesh Chaturdhi Event hosted by Latha.

May the blessings of Lord Ganesha be with you in all your efforts always.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all of you folks..:D

* Courtesy: teluguone.com

Lima Bean Kurma

Tweet

Lima beans are just like Rajma, just that these are in light green color. It has many names - like Butter bean, Java bean, Sugar Bean, Madagascar Bean..... many more. These have a very deicate flavor that actually complements any dish. We find them mostly used for salads. Lima beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber and provide fat-free high quality protein. Fresh Lima Beans are hard to find, but the dried and canned versions are available throughout the year.

Here is the recipe...



Ingredients:

Lima Beans - 1 Can
Onions - 1
Tomatoes - 1
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1 or 2
Cilantro - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tbsp
Milk - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 1tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Oil - 2 tbsp

How to make:

1. Saute the chopped onions ,green chillies ,tomatoes and grated coconut. Grind the ingredients with 1 cup milk. Keep aside
2. In a pan, take some oil , add cumin seeds,bay leaf, ground paste and let it cook for few mins. Now add salt, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala. Mix well and finally add the Lima Beans. Cook it well for few more minutes.
3. Garnish it with cilantro leaves and Serve hot with roti or rice.

This is how it looks.:D

Cabbage Usili

Tweet

Cabbage Usili is a very simple and healthy dish with lots of proteins and fibre content. I got to know about this dish from Srivalli's Blog - "Cooking 4 all seasons".

You can find the original recipe here.

and Its my pleasure to send this recipe to Ashaji's RCI: Karnataka Event.



I added few more ingredients but tried to keep the original taste of the recipe. Instead of 5:1 ratio of cabbage and moong dal, I made with 5:2 ratio as I like the taste of moong dal.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 500gms
Moong dal - 200gms
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 to 3
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp

For Tadka:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Urad seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Curry leaves - few
Hing - 1/8 tbsp
Cumin (Jeera) - 1/2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Boil chopped cabbage and moong dal separately and keep aside.
2. Grind the grated coconut and green chillies till fine paste.
3. In a pan, put some oil and add the ingredients listed for tadka above. When the mustard seeds starts spluttering, add ground coconut paste and then after few minutes add the boiled cabbage and moong dal.
4. I served it with chapathis. But, this would taste good with hot rice and ghee too.

Enjoy folks..:D