Ellu-Bella

Wishing you all a very Happy Sankranthi/Pongal, with a bowl full of Ellu-Bella.

Every year during Sankranthi/Pongal , a mixture of Jaggery, Dried coconut, Dalia Dal, Peanuts/groundnuts and Sesame seeds(roasted) known as Ellu- Bella are mixed together and shared with families, neighbors and friends. Along with this mixture seasonal fruits like sugarcane and oranges are also given to mark the harvest season and sweet beginnings.

Ingredients (all toasted lightly).

• Peanuts/Groundnuts (Kadalekayi) - 1 cup (toasted, skin removed and halved)
• Dalia dal (Hurigadale) - 1 cup
• Jaggery (Bella) - 1 cup
• Dried coconut (Kobbari)- 1cup
• Sesame seeds (Ellu) - 2 tbsp

Toast all the above ingredients, let it cool and mix them all together and enjoy !

Will send this to Priya's Cooking with Seeds event.

Baked Plantains

Plantains or Balekayi as we call in Kannada. Which is most used for making Bhajjis (deep fried with chickpea flour coating) or deep fried chips. We love them both and enjoy eating them, but since its deep fried I make them very rarely.

Last week I was going through a magazine, where I saw this recipe for Baked Plantains(Recipe of Ingrid Hoffmann). I followed her recipe but replaced Cilantro leaves for Parsley. I made this as a evening snack and very much enjoyed them, very healthy way of using Plantains.


(Adapted from Ingrid Hoffmann's Recipe)

Ingredients

• Plantain (s) - 1 big or 2-3 small ones
• Spices : chili powder, cumin powder
• Cilantro/coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (wash and chopped)
• Peanut oil - 2tsp
• Salt for taste

1. Pre-heat the oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Peel the skin of plantain and cut them to medium size slices ( not too thin or thick)
3. In a bowl mix oil, salt, chili powder and cumin powder and chopped cilantro leaves. Mix well (if making for kids mix every thing except chili powder).
4. Coat the sliced plantains with the oil mixture on both sides. Lay them in a single layer on a Parchment paper or foil in a baking sheet.
5. Cover them loosely with a foil and bake for about 10-15 mins and turn them and bake for another 5-10 mins. Let it cool a bit.

Enjoy! Have a nice Weekend eveyone.

Strawberry-Yogurt

Hello all,
I was taking a few weeks break from blogging. My daughter turned 4 last week so we were in Disneyland to celebrate it. Missed so many recipes from fellow bloggers,but feels good to be back and blogging again.

Yogurt or curds(Mosaru as we call in Kannada) is very staple in our daily diet, we usually eat them at end of every meal. Be it a curd rice, raitha/pachadi or a simple snack like this strawberry-yogurt, like them all.

My little one is not a big fan of curd rice but likes fruit flavored yogurt very much, so these days i have started making them at home. Here is a simple, easy and delicious yogurt recipe .



Ingredients for single serving.
Yogurt/curds - 1cup ( I have used 1% milk for making yogurt at home, store brought will be good as well)
Strawberries - about 1/2 cup washed and chopped (Substitute with frozen berries or fruits) Sugar/Honey - about a teaspoon or more according to desired sweetness
Nuts- 1tsp chopped ( i have used almonds)

1. Wash and chop strawberries, add in sugar and cup of yogurt mix well to combine . Keep them in fridge for at least 1/2 an hour.
2. When ready to eat, take them out from the fridge garnish with chopped nuts and some more fresh fruit if desired.

Enjoy !

This recipe goes to Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes for this months FIC-Pink.

Tofu Manchurian

Weather here has been really bad lately. Its very cloudy and windy, and I have been craving and cooking some spicy snacks and meals. So over last week I used some tofu and made some spicy Manchurian with it for our evening snack time.

I have used the same recipe as for making Gobi Manchurian. Instead of using Gobi/cauliflower, I have used tofu to make the dish healthy.

Ingredients Used
Firm Tofu - about 2 cups when cubed
Red bell pepper/capsicum - 1 big size (any kind of bell peppers will work)
Red onion - 1 medium size
Green chili - 1 (for spiciness)

For Sauce
S0y sauce - 1tbsp
Red chili sauce - 1tsp (Use ketchup for mild flavor)

Garnish
Sesame seeds - 1tsp
Spring/green onions - chopped about a tbsp

• First cut tofu into bit size pieces, pat them dry with some paper towel to remove excess liquid.
• Heat a griddle/tava or pan, add little oil and wipe it. Put cubed tofu on tava and lightly fry them until all the sides are lightly brown in color.
• Gently turn the sides using a spatula. Keep aside once done.

1. Chop onion and red bell pepper into thin slice. Heat oil in a pan, when hot add sliced veggies and chili and sauté them for few minutes, until just tender.


2. Now add soy sauce and chili sauce mix well. Add cubed and lightly browned tofu pieces and coat gently with the sauce.


3. Take the mixture off the heat and garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds.

Spicy,delicious and healthy Manchurian. Enjoy warm !

* Add 2tsp of toasted nuts on top for some crunch.

I'll be sending this to event Click -cheese/tofu hosted by Bee & Jai of Jugalbandi.

Pepper-Onion Quesadillas

Quesadilla pronounced as 'kesa dia' is a Mexican snack or fast food item, Which means 'little cheese things'. It is mostly stuffed with only cheese or veggies and cheese inside a corn tortialls(flatbread).

This kind of snack is great to do with leftover stir-frys or curries. I make this more often as our evening snack sometimes with corn and beans or sometimes with eggplants. This time around I used Green bell peppers/capsicums, roasted red peppers and Onions and Natural Pepper-jack cheese.

Very simple, spicy and satisfying snack.

Ingredients : Corn Tortiallas - 3 (used store brought)

Pepper jack cheese- 3 slices

Vegetables : Onion, green bell pepper- 1 each cut length wise

Roasted red bell pepper- 1 (used store brought)

Spices : Cumin/jeera powder, red chilli powder and turmeric - 1tsp each

Salt to taste, Lime juice - 1 tsp.

1. Heat a pan when hot add oil, and cut veggies saute it until it is soft. Then add spices and salt mix well, adjust the spice and salt. Squeeze fresh lime juice. Keep aside.
2. Heat a griddle on meduim-high heat, when hot put one tortialla and worm one side, turn to other side, now add veggie mixture and little or more cheese on top of the mixture.
3. Fold on one side, leave on the griddle until cheese melts, let it cool a bit.
4. Cut into wedges and serve warm with hot sauce.

Enjoy !

I'll be sending this as my entry to the event EFM- Savory Series hosted by Srilekha of Me & My kitchen.

Oven roasted Red Potatoes

Spicy, crunchy, warm and healthy potato snack.



Ingredients

Red potatoes - 3 big ones

Olive oil - 1tsp

Spice Powders : Cumin, black pepper and red chili powder

Garnish - Chopped cilantro leaves

1. Pre heat oven 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash potatoes and cut them to long strips. Put them in a bowl of water to avoid discoloring. Remove them and pat them dry on a kitchen towel.
3. Meanwhile mix spice powders with Olive oil and coat potatoes evenly.
4. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake them for 15-20 minutes. Check them and turn around and bake the other side till golden brown. This takes about 10-15 more minutes.
5. Once done on both sides, take them in bowl, garnish with herbs.

Simply delicious, warm oven roasted potatoes, crunchy on outside and soft on inside. This makes for a nice side dish with Burgers, healthier than potato fries.

*Squeeze some fresh lime juice, for some tangy taste. Fro more crunchy potatoes bake them in 400 degrees for little bit more time, make sure to check them and turn them , make sure they wont get burned.

Enjoy them warm.

Potato-Broccoli Cutlets

When it comes to cooking with potatoes,I make two dishes mostly. One being Potato/aloo palya and another one is cutlets. Along with potatoes I also use broccoli for cutlets, infact this is the only dish I use broccoli in , everyone in my house like eating broccoli this way.

This makes for a very satifying snack or same can be used with buns for making burgers for a meal. For the recipe I used red skined potatoes, used whole potoes along with the skin for making cutlets.


So here are the ingredinets I used

• Red skin Potatoes- 4 nos
• Broccoli - about 5 florets
• Roasted red bell peppers- 3 tbsp spoon ( Iused store brought)
• Onion- 1 meduim
• Spices: Garam masala and Red chilli powder- 1 tsp each
• Bread crumbs - 1 cup (take two slice of bread and run it in mixie untill it from like crumbs).
• For garnish- Tomato ketchup, mint chutney, few cilantro leaves and lime juice 1 tbsp.

1. Wash potatoes and cook them in boiling water till tender. Chop onion, bell pepper and Broccoli to bit size pieces.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, add veggies cover and cook till soft. Now add cooked and cooled potatoes either chop them or crumble them.( I have left the skin on so I have choped them).
3. Add spices and salt mix well , then add bread crumbs about 1/2 cup of so the veggie mixture all comes together to form a stiff ball.
   
4. Once cool down to handle makes ball shape and flatten with palm of your hand. Roll the patties in remaining bread crumbs.
   
5. Heat tava/griddle on medium heat. Add little oil and put pattie on that and leave for 3-4 minutes till the side is golden brown , filp and let the other side roast as well.
   
6. Squeese lime juice and serve with chutney and sauces. Garnish with cilantro leaves.
   

*Along with bread crumbs, rice flour can be added to make the veg mixture stiff and crispy. Patties can be deep fried instead of roasting on tava.

Enjoy!

I am sending this as my entry to Ode to Potatoes hosted by Sia of Monsoon Spice and to Potato Fe(a)st hosted by DK of Culinary Bazzar.

Spicy Nuts

Winter is already here for us. Over last few weeks its snowing and very cloudy and windy. Temperatures are around 10 to 15 degrees. So I am making soups and spicy things these days. And one more exciting thing I am doing these days is I have joined aerobic classes and taking online course on Food and Nutrition. Reason? to educate myself and to have a healthy life style.

So here is the recipe for spicy nuts..

1. I just chopped nuts like almonds, cashews, pinenut and added some sumflower and pumkin seeds along with some raisins and dried cranberries(no roasting).


2. Heat 2 tbsp of oilve oil add few crushed curry leaves and 1/2 tsp of garam masala.


3. Add this to nuts, mix well and enjoy.

*I store this in refrigerator so the nuts stays fresh.

Cheerio-Chaat

For our evening snack yesterday I had made a quick, tasty and healthy chaat with some leftover spourted moong dal and cheerio.

Sprouting : Soak Moong dal or any dal for 6-8 hrs then drain water and keep in close container for 3-4 hrs.

I wanted to spice up the moong dal so here is what I added to it.

• About 2 tbsp each Chopped red onion, tomatoes, corriander leaves.
• Grated carrot, ginger, green chillies(1).
• Juice of half a lime.

Now mix everthing together and add salt and red chilli powder adjust the taste.

Lastly add cheerios and roasted nuts. Mix well and eat. Enjoy !

*No oil required.

Simple Bread Toast

When I was in college, after classes me and my friends used to go to the near by bakery to have this kind of toast. During those days this was one thing we all could afford and it tasted very good. I like all kind of bread dishes. I have tried to recreat the toast I used to eat. This toast is very easy to make in very less amount of time.


So here is what we need

• Bread slices - 4 (I use wheat bread)
• For Topping : One each-Onion, tomato, green chilli (chopped finely)and carrot(grated).
• We also need 1 tbsp of oil, pinch of turmeric and salt to taste.

1. Toast the bread slices on tava or a toaster, with or without oil.
2. Heat skillet, add oil when it is hot enough add a pinch of turmeric, onion, tomato, chillis and carrot. Fry for few minutes, then add salt according to your taste.
3. Now top veggies on toasted bread slice. Let it stand for a few mins to allow bread to abosrb juice from the veggies.

Enjoy! with a cup of coffee.

Tomato Puri (Tomato puffed rice)

Puffed rice(puri as we call it) mixed with some veggies and spices, toped on a tomato slice. One can also use cucumbers instead of tomato or both.

I am very fond of chaats like masala puri, panipuri, churumuri , tomato puri just to name a few(my mouth started watering writing about it). Before coming to United States, I never tried making any chats at home, whenever felt like eating it was just around the corner, I and my friends would go and have it.

I am from very cold part of this country any guess ? Weather is cold or cloudy most of the time. So I feel like eating spicy chats mostly during evenings. Knowing that I can't go anywhere to get chats, it makes even more tempting to eat it. So now a days I am making chats at home, tomato puri is one of the easiest to make.

What we need.

• Tomatos fully riped. Can make 7-8 slices using one tomato.
• Puffed rice(murmura), red onion finely chopped, carrot grated, garlic , ginger and chilli made into fine paste. (all the ingredients can be adjusted according to one's taste).
• For garnising home made or store bought sev and few mint/cilantro leaves.
• Salt and pepper for taste. Tea spoon of oilve oil.

1. Slice tomato, sprinkle with salt and pepper(if using cucumbers add lime juice to it).

2. Mix all ingredients except puffed rice with teaspoon of oil, add salt and pepper adjust the taste. When ready to serve add puffed rice. Mix well

3. Top with sev and garnish with cilantro. Eat right away.
(can also add some tamarind or mint chutney on top).

Have a slice and Enjoy!