Atte ka halwa

Atte ka halwa

My kid s 9 month old now. Every month we celebrate his “monthly” birthday in our way..in short a small celebration with a pastry or a sweet made at home . All these months he learned to crawl, walk by furniture and traverse horizontally holding something  and of course falling down atleast 10 times in whole day and crying aloud  So this I made on his 9th month completion and 10th month starting day. Its perfect for infants  . I added dry fruits to it. But kids should not be fed dry fruits at this age. 
INGREDIENTS :
Atta :- a cup
Ghee :-  2 tablespoons
Dry fruits :- any of your choice(I took cashews and badam)
Water :- as required
Sugar/Jaggery :-  1 1/2 cups

METHOD :-

1. Take a pan add ghee to it and heat till ghee melts.
2. Add dry fruits and fry until dry fruits turn golden brown.
3. Add atta to it and fry until atta turns brownish.
4. Add Sugar/Jaggery to the atta and water sufficiently and get it to boil till all water evaporates and sugar/jaggery melts.
5. Decorate it with cashews ad badam .

Pudina Podi /Pudina Powder

Pudina Podi /Pudina Powder

Well known fact, pudina is good for digestion . Its flavor , aroma, taste are just awesome. This powder is great kids food. If your kid is in the age of eating rice (mine is !! He is 11 months old) this can be great accomplishment. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS :-

Pudina :-3 small bunches (remove leaves , wash well and spread it on dry surface and leave it until water on leaves evaporates )

Chana dal /Bengal gram :- 3 teaspoons

Urad dal /black lentil :- 3 teaspoons

Jeera/Cumin seeds :- 1 teaspoon

Methi seeds/Fenugreek seeds ;- 1/2 teaspoon

Salt :- as required

Imli(Tamarind)/Amchur powder  :- a small piece

Garlic pods :- 3-4

Red chillies :- 1-2 (Adjust, I made it exclusively for my son so added very less)

Hing :- a pinch

METHOD :-

1. In a pan without oil fry all the above ingredients except pudina until they turn slight brown remove them and keep them aside.
2. Without adding oil ,fry dried pudina leaves till they appear light brown.
3. Grind pudina and other ingredients including dried imli, raw garlic pods together , add salt and grind them into coarse powder.
4. While feeding to kids add ghee  .

Really Quick Soya Chunks Curry

Really Quick Soya Chunks Curry

I was a working woman sometime ago. Now on maternity leave and will working after some time  . But the point is being a so called “software engineer”, I perfectly know the pressure of working at office, coming back home extremely tired , hate to eat outside food at that hour . The specialty of this curry is , just 5 min and its done !!. Very tasty and refreshing after extreme tiresomeness .
INGREDIENTS :-
Soya hunks :- a cup
Tomato :-  1 large pulpy (no need to cut, we will smash directly into curry  )
curry leaves :- 3-4
Green chillies :- 3-4 chopped
Coriander :- to decorate
Jeera:- 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds :- 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal :- 1/ teaspoo
Oil :- 1 tablespoon (this dish doesn’t require much oil)
Garam masala :- 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric :- a pinch
Water :- 1 1/2 cup
Salt :- as required
METHOD :-

1. Take a pan and ad oil to it. Add jeera,mustard and urad dal and allow seeds to splutter.
2. Add curry leaves,green chillies and let it fry for a minute.
3. Add soya chunks , water ,salt,turmeric and garam masala.
4. Smash tomato with your hand and add it into this.
5. Close the lid ad simmer for 4 -5 minutes.
6. Its READY !! 
7. Have it hot with rice/chapatis .

Simple Cabbage Thoran

Simple Cabbage Thoran

This recipe more simpler version of cabbage thoran. Generally some people add ginger/garlic etc also into it. It is entiirely based on personal choice.  . You can also add soaked chana dal or boiled green peas/matar into this. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS :
Cabbage :- finely chopped (2 cups)
Fresh coconut :- (broken to pieces 1 cup)
Green chillies :- 3-4
Dhania/Coriander leaves :- to decorate
Urad dal :- 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds :- 1 teaspoon
Jeera :- 1 teaspoon
Oil :- as required ( I used 1/2 tablespoon)
Salt :- as required
METHOD:-

1. Take oil into pan and sufficiently heat it. Add urad dal, jeera and mustard and allow it to splutter.
2. Add chopped cabbage and salt mix well and simmer for few minutes.
3. Meanwhile grind together coconut pieces and green chillies .
4. Open the lid of pan and mix the curry well and close li in between.
5. Now add this coconut-chilly mixture and simmer for few more minutes.
6. At this stage you can add soaked chana dal/boiled matar .
7. Simmer for 5 more minutes and its ready !!

Time Taken :- 15 minutes.

Baked dondakaya Vepudu

Baked dondakaya Vepudu

Yet another half Microwave’d and half baked vepudu  . Tastes similar to that of one you get in south Indian hotels and the catch is its with 1/2 tablespoon oil  . Total done without hassle in 10-15 minutes . Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS :

Dondakaya :- 1/2 kg  sliced longitudinally

Peanuts :- a handful

Salt :- as required

Oil :- 1/2 tablespoon

Curry leaves :- 4-5

All tempering :- urad dal, chana dal, jeera (1/2 tea spoon each)

Chilli powder :- 1 teaspoon(Adjust)

METHOD :-

1. Take a borosil container (Something suitable in microwave) add peanuts and microwave them at 80% for 2-3 minutes and crush them into coarse powder with a  grinder.
2. Add a bit of oil and all tempering ingredients, curry leaves , microwave for 45 seconds at 80% power.
3. Add gherkins /dondakaya and remaining oil mix well, and bake them at 200C for 7 minutes first.
4. Next add salt , chilli powder  and coarse peanuts and bake them for 8-10 more minutes.
5. (Note :- temperatures vary according to microwave so choose the best)
6. Serve hot 

Kobbari Rice/Coconut rice

Kobbari Rice/Coconut rice

Yet another very easy to make rice recipe especially when you have lots of coconut at home and don’t know what to do with it  . This month is actually the month of poojas . Poor god!! He gets only coconuts to eat. So there was pooja at my home on Tuesday and Friday (today) and lots of left over coconuts, I couldn’t find better utilization of them after making chutney too  . Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS :-

Basmati rice :- 3 cups

Coconut :- remove from shell. Use fresh one as it releases milk when ground )

Ginger-garlic paste :- 2 teaspoons

Cloves :- 2-3

Japatri /Nutmeg :-1 crushed

Salt :- as required

Oil:- 1 tablespoon

METHOD :-

1. In a pressure pan add oil , add ginger-garlic paste , crushed cloves an crushed nutmeg and fry until raw smell goes away.
2. Wash basmati rice and for 3 cups of rice add just 1 1/2 cup water.
3. Add scraped coconut and salt and mix well.
4. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. Do not over boil.

Broad Beans Curry/Chikudukaya curry

Broad Beans Curry/Chikudukaya curry

I love this variety among all the beans. Especially this variety the seeds are bigger and tastier to eat  . High in proteins and yeah can be easily cooked without much hassle. For this curry I used very less oil. In fact I just sprayed oil and it came out awesome. Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS :-

Broad beans :- 1/2 kilo washed well chopped and seeds separated.

Peanuts :- a cup

Ginger-garlic paste :- a teaspoon

Tomato(chopped) :- a cup

Turmeric :- a pinch

Green chillies :- 3-4

Coriander :- 1/2 bunch

Curry leaves :- 4-5

Salt :- as required

Sambar powder :- a teaspoon

Garama masala :- probably a pinch

For tempering :-

Urad dal:- teaspoon

Chana dal :- teaspoon

jeera :- teaspoon

Mustard seeds :- teaspoon

METHOD :-

1. Make a paste of coriander-green chillies-ginger-garlic
2. Take a pan add oil (2-3 teaspoons is more than enough)
3. Add all the tempering after the oil is heated and fry until light brown.
4. Add peanuts and fry until they are fried well.
5. Add crushed curry leave and ginger-garlic-coriander-chilli paste.
6. Add chopped beans and turmeric and salt. Mix well and close the lid.
7. Cook until beans become soft. Add tomatoes , sambar powder, garam masala at this stage.
8. Simmer again for 5 minutes and its ready