Event ~ Pickles & Chutneys

Pickles & chutneys are everyones favorite. A meal without any one of them is never complete.I'm announcing an event " Pickles & Chutneys "in my blog with an idea of bringing all of them together. This is my second event related to chutneys where in my first event was " Spicy Fiery Chutneys ". Do send in your recipes to this event.. :)

Here are the simple rules for the event :

• Vegetarian dishes only.
• Post it in your blog and link back the recipe to my event.
• Use of logo is appreciated.
• Can send in multiple entries.
• Event starts from 4th Sep 2012 & ends on 4th Oct 2012.
• For any questions you can mail me to ammaji.recipes@gmail.com or you can leave a comment to my Facebook page Ammaji Recipes

Link in your recipes here..

Palakura Pesara Pappu | Spinach Moong Dal Fry

Dal is a staple for Indians. We use different lentils & veggies to make delicious dal. The variations of making dal change from place to place. In this recipe I'm sharing a north indian style dal which bonds along with rice & roti/chapati very well. 

I believe in not combing spinach & tomatoes as they form stones in kidneys.Maybe it is just an assumption still why take a chance, right ? 

Ingredients

1Cup moong dal

1&1/2Cups water

2Cups chopped spinach

1Onion chopped

2Garlic pods

1/2Cup water (optional)

1/4Tsp turmeric

1Tsp chili powder

1/2Tsp sugar (optional)

Salt for taste

Seasoning

1Tbs oil

1Tsp mustard 

1Tsp jeera

1Tbs chana dal & urad dal

Directions

- Cooking dal is a easy process if you have a pressure cooker.
- To cook dal take it in a vessel with lots of water and clean it well. 
- Now add moong dal to pressure cooker with 1&1/2 cups of water and cook it for 2 whistles. 
- If you are planning on cooking it on stove top. It might take 3 to 4 cups of water for 1 cup moong dal & need continuos observation too.

- While the dal is being pressure cooked heat a pan with oil add mustard & jeera. 
- Once the mustard starts jumping then add channa dal & urad dal. Fry them for 1min then add garlic & onion to the pan & fry them translucent.
- Now add chopped spinach to pan & fry them.Here you add salt,chillipowder & turmeric to pan.
- Meanwhile the dal is cooked so add it to the pan & cook it at low temp for 10mins. 
- If required add little water at a time to the pan. Cooking this way will make flavors to mingle with each other perfectly. 
- Sprinkle sugar on cooked dal & mix it. 
- Serve dal & rice with a dollop of ghee & it tastes heaven. 

Note : 
- You can add 2 tomatoes to enhance the flavor. 
- While using pressure cooker be carful. Allow the cooker to cool down before opening it.

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

Banana Nutella Milkshake

A healthy milkshake is what makes you feel complete while you are on a diet regime.For me milk was never a cup of tea.I never liked the taste & smell of milk.I know it cannot be changed so I started replacing it with milkshakes & cold flavored drinks to vanish the actual flavor of it.I make milkshake's that are filled with nutritious stuff like fruits, honey,nuts, dryfruits & some times a little chocolate for my taste buds with a low fat milk or skim milk to blend.

The recipe I'm sharing today is also a similar kind of a drink with nutella & banana.This a magical drink that makes adults & kids to fall for. 

When I shared this drink with my hubby the first word he said that it was tasting like a chikoo (Sapota in telugu ) juice which you get in Indian fruit juice stalls. I sprinkled a little of grounded pistachios to give it the street side flavor. 

Hope you all will enjoy it as we did :)

Ingredients
1 Ripe banana peeled
2 Tbs of Nutella
11/2 Cup milk ( 2% fat milk)
1 Tbs grounded rosted pistachio

In a blender add the above ingredients & grind them well. Pour it in a glass & sprinkle pistachio before you serve.   

Note: 
1. Replace with whole milk to get a richer & creamy effect. 
2. You can add vanilla flavor ice cream for a creamy texture. 
3. I avoided sugar as Nutella gives a slight sweetness to the drink but you can add honey or sugar as you wish.   

The above one was a kids version with the same ingredients above. 

Check this too..

Apple Milkshake with Almond Milk

Iced Orange Tea

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water ~Eleanor Roosevelt.

While I was going thru some quotes this caught my attention & I'm sharing it here with you all.I feel the quote is so true...

The recipe I'm sharing here is a chilling drink for hot summers.I came across this on food network website & I instantly felt thirsty for this drink.This is a drink which you would want to have it again & again.. :)

Ingredients
4 Cups of water 
2 Cups of fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup sugar
4 Tea bags / 1/2 Tbs tea powder
Mint & orange slices for garnish

With tea bags:
Heat a vessel with 4 cups of water & teabags. Bring it to boil & switch off heat. Allow the tea bags to sit for 15mins & remove them.Let the tea cool down before you add orange juice.
Take a big vessel with tea, sugar & orange juice.Mix them well.

With tea powder:
Heat a Vessel with 4 cups of water & tea powder. Bring it to boil & switch off heat. Filter the tea & cool it.
Take a big vessel with tea, sugar & orange juice.Mix them well.

Serve it chilled with mint & orange slice. You can also serve with ice cubes added.But It might dilute the tea & the taste may vary.

Note: 
1. If you conscious about sugar add 6 Tbs of honey instead of sugar. 
2. You can also use a store bought orange juice too. 

Enjoy it...:)

Paala Thalikalu | Paala Kozhukattai

Happy Krishnashtami friends.. 

I made this "Pala Thalikalu" for krishna's birthday. I made this for first time ever & we loved it. I used milk maid instead for milk & sugar to make my job easy.

Ingredients

2 Cups of milk (1 cup milk maid & 1 cup water)

1/2 Cup rice flour

3/4 Cup sugar(Adjust Acc.)

3/4 Cup water 

Pinch of salt 

2 Tbs ghee

1 Tbs of chopped almonds & dry fruits 

Pinch of saffron 

Heat water in a bowl. Bring them to boil & switch off heat.Take rice flour in a bowl along with pinch of salt. Now add hot water little by little while mixing the flour & forming in to dough. Once you have the dough throw the remaining water.
Add 1tbs of ghee to dough & knead it. Now take small portions and make balls with them. You can shape them as you like but I made them as cylindrical shape. Follow the same with rest of the dough & keep aside.

Heat a vessel with milk. Bring it to boil for 5mins.Now add sugar to milk. Later add elachi & saffron. Switch off the heat & then add the the rice balls made before slowly to the milk mixture. Heat milk on medium heat for 10mins & switch off.

Take a pan with 1 tbs ghee & add almonds,dry fruits to it. Fry them for 2mins. Add it to milk mixture & mix them well.

Serve it cold or warm it tastes yum..

Note: 
1. You may not need the whole 3/4 cup of water. Stop adding water when a perfect dough is formed.

Ulli Kadala Pachadi | Spring Onion Chutney | Scallions Chutney

Spring Onion Chutney is a simple mixed veggie chutney, where scallions play the major role. Spring Onions are milder in taste than onions, so I tried adding a small onion to kick up the taste & mixed it with tomato for slight tanginess.

Chutneys are part of south indian meal. At home chutney or pickle a must & with out them a meal is never complete. I love trying something different rather than a regular one's we have daily. I first had this chutney at a friends place & fell in love with it. Though I forgot to get a recipe of it, later I experimented & succeeded in making my version of this chutney. 

Prep Time-10mins | Cook time-15mins | Serves-4people

Ingredients

2Bunches chopped spring onions

1Small onions chopped

1Big tomato sliced

2Garlic cloves chopped

2Green chili's

1Tbs coriander seeds 

6Red chili's {As needed}

1 Tbs oil

Salt to taste

Seasoning 

1/2Tsp mustard 

1/2Tsp jeera

1Tsp channa dal  

2Red chili's cut equally

1Tbs oil

Directions

- Heat a pan with oil along with red chili's, garlic & coriander seeds. 

- Fry them till coriander changes to light brown. switch off heat. Cool them & later grind them coarsely.

- Now to the same pan add spring onion, onions, green chili's & tomatoes. 

- Cook them with closed lid till tomatoes are cooked. 

- Cook open lid & let any left water to evaporate. Switch off heat.

- Allow them to cool & grind them with salt, coriander & red chili's to a chunky paste. Adjust salt needed if needed.

- Heat a pan with oil add chana dal to pan, fry them for few sec's. 

- Then add mustard, jeera & red chili. Once the mustard starts jumping add the seasoning to chutney.

- Chutney is ready to serve. Serve it with rice, dosa & idli.
Note 
- Seasoning is optional. 
- You can increase or decrease the spice level as needed. 
- This chutney was medium spicy.

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

Majjiga Charu | Buttermilk Rasam

Today I'm sharing a cooling recipe which goes well with both rice & roti.It's a little bit different from majjiga pulusu though.

Ingredients
3 Cups of buttermilk / 2 Cups of yogurt
1 Big tomato 
1 drumstick cut in equal pieces 
1 Cup water
Pinch of turmeric
1Tsp ghee
Curry leaves 
Seasoning
2 Tsp oil 
1 Tsp mustard 
1 Tsp jeera 
2 Red chilli 
Pinch of Hing
To Grind 
1 Tbs coriander seeds
11/2 Tsp jeera 
1 Tsp methi seeds
1 Tsp black pepper
2 Red chili's
1 Tsp ghee
Heat a pan with ghee & roast the above ingredients till a nice aroma comes. Switch of heat & allow it to cool aside. Grind it smooth powder. 

Take a vessel with 1tsp ghee add chopped tomatoes,drumsticks, turmeric & curry leaves to it.Add a 1 cup of water & boil them till drumsticks are cooked.Then add the above grind powder to it. Bring them to boil & switch off heat. Allow it cool for few mins before adding the buttermilk.
Now add buttermilk to vessel & heat it for couple of mins & switch off. (Don't add while it is hot or don't heat it too much. It will break the buttermilk.)

Heat a pan with oil for seasoning. Add mustard, Jeera & Red chilli's. Once mustard starts spluttering add hing & mix it with rasam.
Serve it with rice & a dollop of ghee.

Note: 
1.You can use you rasam powder instead of the grind powder I used. 
2. Add some onions for a yummy flavor.
3. Allow buttermilk to sit on the counter for a whole night to get a tangy taste. 

Similar recipes :
Majjiga Pulusu

Sweet Dhokla

Friday is a day of Goddess Lakshmi and for me every Friday is a very very important day as I perform "Sri Vaibhava Lakshmi pooja"on that day. This pooja is so powerful and I know it doesn't need a Intro.

For the pooja I offer a sweet made of Besan as Prasadam..So here comes my challenge every week in search of a sweet dish made of Besan..

This Friday I was going thru blogs and saw Dhokla in a blog suddenly my tube light has lighten with "Sweet Dhokla". It came out very well and I hope that even the Goddess will bless me for my new invention.

I made few changes for the dish like added little rice flour, used Yeast for baking powder and Suger in place of lime..

Here it is...

Ingredients

1/4 Cup Rice flour

3/4 Cup Besan Flour

1/2 Tbs Yeast

1 Cup Sugar ( Adjust according to your taste)

Seasoning

2 Tbs Butter

1 Tbs Mustard

1 Tbs Jeera

Cilantro for Seasoning

How to make it ???

1.Take yeast, 1 Spoon sugar and add little warm water to it.Mix them well and keep it aside for few mins.

2.Mix Besan and Rice flour to a paste by using the above yeast mix. Close the above mixture with a wet towel and allow it to rise for 1hr.

3. Grease a microwavable box with butter and pour the Besan mixture to it.Microwave it for 4 Min ( It may take less than that too).Use a tooth pick to check whether it is fully cooked or not. Cool the Besan cake for few minutes.

4. Take sugar and mix it with 1 cup of water. Microwave a bowl with butter and seasoning. Allow the Mustard to splutter and add sugar syrup to it. Microwave sugar syrup for few mins.

5. Now take the Besan cake and cut it to pieces. Add the sugar syrup to the cake and garnish it with cilantro.

Junnu

After a long break in blogging I'm back with my guest post series "Something Sweet". For my second guest post I have invited "Smitha Joga of Smitha's Spicy Flavors" to share a sweet recipe with all of us. I'm so happy that she accepted my invite even with her busy schedule & had sent me a delicious sweet which is my all time favorite. 

In Smitha's Words: 

This is my first guest post. Sreevalli of Ammaji's recipes was so kind to ask me to do a guest post long back. But due to my computer problems I didn't get a chance to get to it till now! Thanks Sreevalli for asking me to do it! :)

I chose this simple sweet recipe for this special post called "Junnu". I am sure whoever has tasted this in the past would really like to revive this memory yet again.

The first milk of cattle after delivering a calf is called 'Junnu paalu' in our language, 'paalu' standing for milk.
This is steam cooked with some jaggery and black pepper to make is awesome pudding known as 'Junnu'.
Because of the thickness and creaminess of this milk, it forms a delicate pudding with a creamy texture without the addition of any other ingredients.
Well this was in the times when the 'first milk' was readily available like in the villages or even in the city, when your milkman would bring 'Junnu paalu' and offer it to you for a nominal price.
I have probably eaten the actual Junnu only once or twice in my lifetime, but the delicate taste has forever made a mark in my brain!
Now during present times, its very rare that we can get 'Junnu Paalu'. So I tried to make this delicacy using the ingredients readily available to us and I think it came out perfect, absolutely just like the actual 'Junnu'.
But I had to use eggs and so its not eggless like the actual and real 'Junnu'. Maybe some day that also will be possible. :)
Its a very simple recipe which churns out this amazing and delicious Milk Pudding. The combination of jaggery and pepper in  the real junnu is perfectly compensated by the sweetness is condensed milk and black pepper. The eggs bring out the right texture in the pudding, very close to the real one.

Ingredients:
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz)
2 cups milk
2 eggs
pinch of black pepper
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Method:
Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl along with eggs
Grease a steel bowl ever so lightly with oil.
Steam cook it in a pressure cooker for about 30 minutes. 
Remove and cool before flipping over onto a plate. 
Flip it twice to bring it right side up.
Serve warm or cold.
Enjoy!!!

I once again want to thank Smitha with those beautiful flowers for sharing this yummy sweet with all of us.. :)

Sweet & sour apple salad

Summer is starting here in US & I'm craving for some cool dishes rather than normal ones. You can enjoy it on any part of the day & to me it's for dinner... :)
I had some apples hanging around in my refrigerator & wanted to put them on a good use. I mixed lettuce with apples & believe me it's a sweet combination. 

Ingredients
1 Apple 
1/2 Lettuce
For sauce 
1 Tbs non-fat yogurt 
2 Tbs non-fat milk 
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tsp sugar
1 Tsp pepper powder
Pinch of salt 

Chop apple & lettuce. Keep them aside. Take a bowl & mix all the sauce ingredients in it.

Take a bowl & place a layer of lettuce & add apple on to of it. Pour some sauce on them & top it with some more lettuce. 

Finally mix them smoothly in the bowl & salad is ready to serve. 

Serve it chilled & it tastes awesome.. :)