Potlakaya (Snake gourd) podi koora

ingredients: 

potlakayalu - 2 (snake gourd)

 onions- 1

 cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn

 turmeric powder  - a pinch

chilli powder/green chillies 

senaga podi * - 2 tbspn 

procedure: 

Take the snake gourd and finely chop them.

 cut onions into thin slices. 

add potlakaya and onions and mash well till the water comes out. 

In a wok add oil and add seasoning cumin ,mustard seeds and channa dal .

After splutters add the veggies and mix well. 

fry for 10 mins till its cooked. 

add senaga podi at the end and mix it well. fry for another 5 mins.

Note:

senaga podi  is powder made with dahlia dal.

to make senaga podi ( dahlia dal powder)

dahlia dal - 1/4 cup

salt - 1/2 tspn

chilli powder - 1 tspn

cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

garlic ( if desired) - 3 pods

put all ingredients in a blender and make into a powder.Can be stored and used later.

Ragi idly

Ingredients:

Ragi - 1 1/2 cup

urud dal - 1 cup

idly rice - 3 cups

salt

water

Procedure:

Soat ragi,urud dal and rice for 5-6 hours. 

Add all ingredients to the grinder and grind till the batter is smooth.

Add some salt and let it ferment for 4 hours for softer idlys. Can also use instantly but wont be too soft.

When making idlies add water if needed to the batter should be of thicker consistency than the dosa batter.

Pour the batter in the idly stand and let it steam for 20 mins.

Alternate procedure ( Instant):

For many people making specific ragi idly batter might be difficult, you can use this alternate method.

Idly batter - 3 cups

ragi flour - 1/2- 3/4 cup ( depends on how much ragi intake you want)

water.

Add the ragi flour to the idly batter and add some water to make it the right consistency. 

Make idlies out of these.

Brinjal paratha

Ingredients:

Brinjal -3 small /big -1 (bharta brinjal)
coriander powder - 1tspn
salt - 1/2 tspn
chilli powder - 1 tspn
wheat flour - 2 cups
oil - 1 tbspn

Procedure :

If using a big brinjal roast it on fire directly. roll over so that every side is roasted properly. Peel out the skin and make a mash of it.

If small brinjals cut the brinjal into pieces. in a pour 1 tbspn of oil and add brinjal , 1/2 tspn pf salt and cook with closed lid for 10 mins. make a mash of it.

in the brinjal mash add coriander powder, salt(if not added), chilli powder and mix well.

Take a bowl and add wheat flour to it.add the brinjal mash to the flour and make a dough of it. Water might not be needed as the brinjal mixes with the flour well.

Make small balls of the dough and roll it with rolling pin to form a circle /parantha.

Take a flat pan and put parantha on it.let it fry for a minute and flip it . after a minute add 1/2 tspn of oil and spread on both sides and cook for another minute.press the corners to cook it well.

Avacado oatmeal

Plain rava idly

Ingredients:

urud dal - 1 cup
idly rava - 2 cups

salt - 2 tspn as per taste

procedure:

soak urud dal and idly rava separately for 4-5 hours.
grind the urud dal into smooth paste and keep in a bowl.
drain the water from idly rava and squeeze water and add rava to urud dal paste .
mix them well and keep it for fermenting for 5 hours.

once fermented it will raise to double the size. add salt and mix it well. the raising dough will come down to normal size.

grease idly plates with slight oil and add a dollop of idly mix in them and steam it for 10-15 mins in high flame.

can be had with any chutney or idly podi.

better to soak in the morning and grind in evening and keep outside for fermenting and use the next day morning.

Cherry tomato and roasted garlic spaghetti

We love pastas and have tried to prepare a variety of them from many years. Though I favourite being a simple aglio olio. In India you get good vegetarian options of pasta but you cannot say the same in other countries. Most of them will be seafood or meat. 

But at home atleast we can prepare a sumptuous vegetarian pasta. You can except lot more pasta recipes from VegCookHouse .

Cherry tomatoes are ignored in Indian cooking. The sweet yet sour taste of cherry tomatoes makes it a good candidate to use in other cuisines. Guess we should experiment with cherry tomatoes in South indian cuisine. 

We use garlic a lot in our food but never roasted it much. The roasted flavour of garlic is mouth watering.

A unique pasta with these two ingredients. We used spaghetti but can also use fusilli, penne  , angel hair pasta

Ingredients:

spaghetti pasta - 200 gms
cherry tomatoes - 100 gms
garlic pods - 15
butter - 2 tbspn
olive oil - 3 tbspn
green chillies - 2
salt - 1 tspn to taste

Procedure:

Take a pot and add water to it. add 1/2 tspn of salt to it and bring it to boil. Add the spaghetti to it. cook it for 3 mins until the pasta is almost cooked (dont cook it completely).

Drain the water ,rinse it with cold water along with a few drops of oil. once completely drained add a drop of oil to the pasta and spread it across. This will avoid stickiness.

Take a pan and add butter and 1 tbspn of olive oil. Chop green chillies to fine. add green chillies and garlic to the pan and fry it till brown.it should be roasted well almost like burnt garlic.

Cut the cherry tomatoes to half. add the tomatoes to the pan and fry it. add salt and cook with closed lid for 1 minute. cherry tomatoes cook very quickly.

once cooked add the spaghetti and mix well. add 2 tbspn of olive oil and mix it well till the pasta is blended.

If you dont want to use butter can replace it with olive oil only.

Carrot cauliflower porridge

broccoli multigrain porridge

Sukhi

My mother makes these especially on festivals and we look forward to hogging on these everytime. Simple and delicious Sukhi (sweet dish) recipe is here for you all.

Ingredients:

Jaggery - 1 cup
channna dal (Chickpeas) - 1 cup
oil - to fry

batter:
Rice 3 cups
Urad dal 1/2 cup

Procedure::

To Prepare batter:

Soak Rice and Urad dal for 3-4 hours. Wet grind it. Can be used after grinding instantly or can be fermented for 3-4 hours for better taste.
(As dosa batter but dont add water to make it runny)

boil the channa dal till almost done. remove the excess water and dry it for 5 mins.
Mash the jaggery to fine paste.
Put the channa dal into blender to get fine powder.Since we removed excess water it will not become a paste.
 Mix the jaggery and channa dal powder well. Too much jaggery might make the mixture runny. The mixture should be solid enough to make balls.

Once its mixed well,make small balls out of the  mixture and keep aside
Take a wok and add oil.
Add little salt to the dosa batter. Make sure the batter is thick enough.

dip the balls in the batter and fry it in oil till golden brown.

Some people make this with maida or besan..but I think this dosa batter will make it interesting as it'll be crispy outside and soft filling inside.

Groundnut chutney

This sounds a simple recipe to post for all those who make it everyday for dosa/idly/upma, Ive many friends asking for my groundnut chutney recipe. Chutneys are part of every south indian life. We can barely live(eat :) ) without it.for every breakfast item there need to be a chutney. There are so many varieties of chutneys. With groundnut itself many chutney dishes are there. Im posting the basic groundnut chutney.

If you are planning to cook some indian breakfast dishes make sure to accompany it with this chutney.

Ingredients:
groundnuts - 1 1/2 cup
green chillies - 2
tamarind jus - 1 tspn
salt- 1 tspn (as per taste)

Procedure:

dry roast groundnuts and green chillies  in a pan.

Add groundnuts, salt, tamarind jus (or small tamarind piece) in a food processor till smooth paste.

Can add tadka/seasoning to make it more delicious

for tadka/seasoning --
add 1 tspn of oil . after oil is heated add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies (break into small pieces). once fried add to the chutney and mix well.

This chutney can be had with idly/dosa/pongal/upma etc.

guthi vankaya (stuffed brinjal)

Stuffed Brinjal/Gutti Vankaya is the tastiest dish with its heavenly deliciousness, A recipe passed over by my mother along with some of her childhood stories to go with it. It is my mother's favourite dish and also my uncles' as she says, Here is the recipe for you all

Ingredients:
Green brinjals (7 to 8 - tender ones)
oil - 3 to 4 tbspns

For stuffing:
Urad dal (minappappu) - 3 tsp
Split chick peas (Senagabedalu) - 3 tsp
coriander seeds (dhaniyalu)  - 1tsp
dried coconut
Red chillies (dried) - 20
small piece of tamarind
Onions - 3

PROCEDURE:
1. Dry roast the urad dal, split chick peas coriander seeds, red chillies and dried coconut.
2. Grind it into fine powder.
3. Now add onions to the powder, some salt and grind into smooth paste.
4. Now take the brinjals and make 2 cuts into the brinjal to make space for stuffing.
5. Now stuff the brinjals with the stuffing
6. Now take a flat bottomed pan and put some oil and let it heat. Place the stuffed brinjals in the pan and some oil on them.
7. Cover it with a lid and let it cook properly. After a while, open the lid and turn the brinjals around to cook the other side also,
8. After it is all cooked (brinjals should change color) , switch off the stove and pour the remaining paste (if left out) on the brinjals and close the lid
Note: Do not put the excess paste in the pan in the beginning itself. It will get burnt by the time the brinjals get cooked.

Vermicelli Payasam / Kheer

The first sweet most of the children in India ate would be Kheer/Payasam. In Hindu tradition we have a ceremony the first time child eats something apart from milk.On this occasion the father/uncle/grandfather would feed the kid with some sweet.Payasam/Kheer is made especially for the kid.
When we were kids the sure dish we know for any festival is kheer.Any auspicious occasion or festival Kheer is made and we used to wait for the next festival to eat this. There are different ways Kheer is made with different ingredients too. My favourite among them is Vermicelli Kheer its easy to make and delicious to eat.Herz a sweet recipe to all.

Ingredients:

vermicelli/ semiya - 1 cups
milk - 2 cups
sugar - 1/4 cup
cardammom - 2 pods
cashewnuts - 8
kismis - 4
ghee - 1 tspn

Procedure:

Boil milk . add sugar, cardammom and vermicelli and cook with closed lid for 10 mins. If vermicelli not cooked keep for another 5 mins. If you are a sweet person can add more sugar. fry cashews and kismis in ghee. Add these to the kheer.

Can be had either hot or keep in fridge for 30 mins and serve cold.

Veg pulav

Ive been eating veg pulav all my life. My mom makes the best pulav. Evertime we go home we ask her to make us .Starting from lunch to dinner we can never get off from it and end up with bulging stomachs. There are many variants for veg pulav with different spices added. This is the most simple one among them.

Its quite easy to make and dosent require more time to stay in kitchen.Thats the one big reason we've been making it frequently. With office work to do ,household chores to complete and just from a long day of office its very tiring to stay in kitchen for long hours and cook up somthing good. For this just put all the ingredients and wait for the aroma while relaxing.Its quite healthy too (if too much oil or ghee isnt used) coz it contains lots of vegetables. You can add as many vegetables as you like.

Ingredients:

Potato -2
Carrots -2
Baby corn - 6
beans - 10

garlic - 4 finely chopped
cinnamom, cardamom, Bay leaf, cloves, star anise - each one
ginger - 1 small finely chopped
green chillies - 2 slit
onions - 2
ghee/oil - 3 tbspn

rice - 1 cup
water -2 cups

salt to taste

Procedure:

take a handi add oil/ghee. once heated add the spices, garlic,ginger, green chillies. add onions and fry till transluscent. add the vegetables and saute it for 5 mins.

add rice ,water and salt and cook for 20 mins.

add raitha or kurma to make it more delicious

Beetroot Pulav

I love the color thats associated with cooking beetroot.Everydish made with it gives a good color, slight sweetness and delicious tastes.A pulav with feast to eyes,nose and ofcourse tongue.

Ingredients:

Beetroot -2
potatoes -2
onions -2
pudina /mint - 1 bunch ( 1 cup)
green chillies -3
ginger -1 small
garlic - around 10 pods
ghee - 2 tbspn

Spices
star anise -1
cinnamon- 1
cardamom - 2
bay leaf - 2
cloves - 2
mace - 1

rice - 1 1/2 cup
water - 3 cups
salt - 1 1/2 tspn ( as per taste)

Procedure::

wash mint leaves and remove leaves separately.
 Cut onions into long thin slices. slit the green chillies.
wash beetroot peel and grate it. Peel potatoes and cut into medium size cubes.
make a paste of ginger, garlic and the spices.

Soak the rice while doing the prep. The grain will look long after cooking.

Take a handi add ghee. Once ghee is heated add green chillies. fry for a minute . add the spices paste and fry for a minute.
add onions and fry for 5 mins till cooked. add the pudina/mint and fry for 2 mins.
add the grated beetroot and potatoes and saute for 3-4 mins.
add 3 cups of water and add salt as per taste. stir it well. after the water starts boiling add rice and keep in low flame and cook for 20 mins. alternatively can be cooked in pressure cooker for 3 whistles or electric rice cooker.

Add raitha as side dish.

Carrot paratha

If you want to start eating healthy try reducing the rice and increase wheat rotis. Reducing carbs is one way to maintain your diet while you focus on exercises.
For those who arent big roti fans try making it interesting by adding healthy vegetables , and for those who love it another dish to your huge list.
Carrot paratha.. This isnt a stuffed paratha which makes it easy to prepare.
You can skip the oil in this recipe if you want and Its just mentioned oil.. you can choose what oil you want to use.. olive oil,canola oil, sunflower oil, groundnut oil... Canola oil is used in this recipe.

Ingredients::

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Carrot - 1
salt to taste
oil
water - 1/4 cup

Procedure::

Peel the carrot skin and grate it. Take a pan add 1 tspn of oil and fry the carrot till half cooked.

Take a bowl add wheat flour, 1/2 tspn salt(as per taste) and add the carrot. Add water slowly to form a dough. Knead the dough for 5 mins till soft. If its sticky try kneading it ,if dosent work add little flour and knead it. If too hard add little water and knead well. Add 1 tspn of oil and knead it for another 5 mins.

Make small balls of the dough and roll it with rolling pin to form a circle /chapathi.

Take a flat pan and place paratha on it.let it roast for a minute and flip it . after a minute add 1/2 tspn of oil and spread on both sides and roast for another minute.press the corners to cook it well.

Eat it with any side dish or curd/pickle

Stuffed Capsicum

Ingredients:

Capsicums - 4
Potato -1
Onion -2
Tomato -1
green chilli -2
Rice - 1 cup
soy sauce - 1 tbspn
vinegar - 1 tspn
garam masala - 2 tspn
coriander powder - 2 tspn
turmeric powder - 1 tspn
cumin seeds - 1tbspn
ghee - 1tbspn
oil - for frying

Procedure::

Wash the rice and boil rice with 2 cups of water. Boil potatoes.

Take a tawa add 2 tbspn of oil. once the oil is heated add cumin seeds.
add chopped green chilli and fry it for a minute. add finely sliced onions and fry for 2 minutes until translucent.
Add finely diced tomatoes , 1 tspn of salt and cover it with lid for 2 mins.
Add the garam masala, coriander ,turmeric powder, soy sauce and vinegar and mix it well.
Peel of the boiled potatoes and mash it.
Add the mashed potatoes to the curry mixture.
Mix the boiled rice to it. fry it for 2 mins. add salt as required.

Cut the bottom of capsicum so that it can stand on its own. try slicing very minimum to avoid hole at the bottom. slice the head of the capsicum. apply oil to the capsicum inside and outside. fill it with the rice mixture.add some ghee on the filling.

Take a flat bottomed tawa and sprinkle some oil in it. put the filled capsicums in it. cover with lid and fry for 10 mins. make sure all the sides of capsicum are cooked well by moving it.

Hot stuffed capsicum can be served with tomato sauce or any chutney.

Egg Curry

Ingredients:

eggs- 4

tomato - 1 big

onions- 1 big

coconut milk - 3 tbspn

ginger garlic paste - 1 tbspn

mustard seeds- 1/4 tspn

cumin seeds- 1/2 tspn

green chilli - 1

chilli powder - 1/2 tspn

salt as needed ( 1/2 tspn)

water

oil - 1 tbspn

baby pongal

Aloo chips curry

Ingredients:
aloo – 4
tomato – 2
onions- 2
red chilli powder
turmeric powder
mustard seeds
cumin seeds
channa dal
.coriander leaves – optional

procedure:
wash and peel the potatoes and cut into medium slices as sliced for bajji/chips
cut the onions into thin slices and finely chop tomatoes.
add oil in a wok and add the seasonings channa dal, mustard and cumin seeds.
after they splutter add the onions and fry till transluscent.
add the chopped tomatoes and add some salt and cook with closed lid for 3 mins.
once the tomatoes become soft add the aloo chips.mix well and cook with closed lid for 10 mins till aloo is cooked.
add the chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix well and cook for 2 mins without lid.
this can be had with roti or rice.

Lauki Thepla

Thanks to my Gujju friend Mital Patel, we were able to make and taste the mouthwatering Theplas :) ..tasty and filling breakfast/dinner recipe .. A must try!!

INGREDIENTS:

Wheat flour - 2 cups

Salt - 1 tsp

Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric - 1 pinch

curd - 2 tbsp

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

1 green chilli + bit of ginger (crushed)

asafoetadia - 1 pinch

(can add kasuri methi, coriander powder also)

Lauki/bottle gourd - 1

Oil

PROCEDURE:

Peel the bottle gourd, grate it and keep aside.  

Now mix the other dry ingredients (without curd). Add the curd and mix. You can add some more salt or chilli powder based on the taste of the mixture, if needed.

Now add the grated bottle gourd and knead the flour well to form a proper dough. Add 1 tbsp of oil and mix well.

Now flatten dough, like making Rotis (thin texture). 

Place it on a heated pan until it forms bubbles. Now turn the side and add a spoon of oil. Turn it again and add some more oil to make it right (brown spots are formed).

You can reduce the amount of oil, if desired.

Tasty Lauki Theplas are ready to be served with pickle.

Guacamole sandwich

In this busy day and life morning preparing a feast of breakfast isnt an easy task. Sandwiches come to rescue there. A healthy sandwich will keep you on your healthy track and also make things easy and quick while running to office..

A healthy snack for kids instead.

This makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

Avacado - 1

tomato - 1

onion - 2

coriander leaves chopped 2 tbspn

salt a pinch

Bread -4 ( for 2 sandwiches)

Procedure:

Cut the avacado and scoop out the flesh.

Mash the avacado into smooth paste.

Finely chop the onions and tomatoes.

Add the chopped vegetables into avacado paste and add coriander leaves and salt.

Mash the mixture well and keep aside.

Now you have 2 ways of creating the sandwich..

first method:

 toast the sandwiches in toaster or in a flat pan.

apply the guacamole mixture generously on one toast and close with another toast.

Second method:

apply some butter on the bread. and generously spread the guacamole mixture.close the bread and toast it on the pan or in sandwich maker.

Gongura pachadi

"Gongura pachadi" (or pickle) is the most famous food item of Andhra. It is a very tasty pickle made by elders and most of us wonder how it is made. Only after knowing the recipe from my mom, I realized that it is a very simple and easy recipe.

This leafy vegetable is available mostly in southern India. It is sour in taste and supposedly a very good source of Iron.
This pickle can be kept and used for long term (a year or so).

Procedure:
You need to pick the red stemmed Gongura leaves for the pickle. Clean the leaves properly and dry them for a day,
Cut the leaves from the stems and add salt (as required) , turmeric and grind in a mixer. This paste can be saved and used for atleast a year (salt helps for the preserving).

Whenever you want to use it, you take some amount of the Gongura paste aside.
Dry roast 1 spoon each of coriander seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chillies. You can add few green chillies also. Grind these in a mixer into a fine powder.
Add the Gongura paste and grind again. Spicy and tangy gongura pachadi is ready to be served.

It is typically consumed with rice, along with raw onion slices to munch with - which is a heavenly combination. It can also be used as chutney for dosa, idli etc.

Greengram Cabbage Vada

     

Another healthy dish from Mrs Kala ...

Looking around for snacks to make at home for kids or when guests arrive. a great and healthy snack cabbage and moongdal.

Ingredients:

green gram - 1 cup
Cabbage - 1/4 chopped  finely
Onions - 1 chopped
garlic- 4 pods chopped
greenchili -2 chopped finely
jeera seeds -1 tspn
curry leaves- a handful chopped
Salt

Procedure:

Soak the green gram for atleast 4 hours.
Keep all the vegetables chopped and ready.
grind the greengram with less water.
Add the chopped cabbage,onion,garlic,chili.
Add jeera seeds and curry leaves and mix it well. 
Add some salt and mix well.Make sure the mixture is not too runny .
Make into small round vada and keep aside
.Take a wok and add oil to it.

Once oil is heated add the vadas and fry them till golden brown.

Beetroot Vermicelli / Beetroot semiya

Beetroot though very good for health isnt used as frequently in many indian meals as it can be. But there are numerous dishes one can make with it, giving the dish exquisite color and great flavor.
If you are frequently searching for breakfast recipes and want to make a different one for kids at home or for yourself try this.. a twist to regular vermicelli dishes.

Ingredients:

Beetroot -1
potato -1
green chillies -3
vermicelli - 1 1/4 cup
water - 2 cups
cumin seeds- 1/2 tspn
mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
channa dal - 1/2 tspn

procedure

roast the vermicelli till it turns golden brown color and keep aside. you can also use unroasted semiya but roasting gives good aroma and taste.

wash and peel the beetroot and potato.
grate the beetroot and cut potato into small cubes.

In the same wok add 2 tspn of oil . add the cumin,mustard seeds and channa dal , after they splutter add the chopped green chillies and fry.
add the beetroot and potato to the wok, add 1/2 tspn of salt and cover the lid and let it cook for 10 mins.
once the veggies are cooked add 2 cups of water . check the salt at this point and add some more if required.
once the water comes to a boil add the vermicelli and mix it well.
keep it with open lid in medium flame for 5-8 mins, till the vermicelli is cooked.

garnish with coriander leafs if required.

Sunnundalu (Urad dal Laddus)

Another recipe from mom's recipe treasury.. The very tasty sweet dish, quick and easy to make - Sunnundalu. The authentic Andhra sweet which is very healthy - very good to cure back pain because of the protien and iron content in the ingredients used. These can be made quickly when there are guests at home, or for evening snacks for kids, or for any special occasion at home which demands something sweet :)

INGREDIENTS
Urad dal (Minappappu) - 1 cup
Jaggery - 200 gms
Ghee (as required)
elaichi (2 pods)

PROCEDURE
Dry roast the urad dal on a pan until they turn brown and nice aroma is felt. Grind it to fine powder after it cools down.
Crush the jaggery to coarse powder and add it to the mixer with the urad dal powder. Add 2 pods of elaichi for taste. Grind it together to get a fine mixture.
Now heat the ghee (liquid state) to form the Laddus. Take the powder into a bowl and make space in the middle. Add some ghee and start slowly mixing the powder with ghee and form laddus such that it stays (will be easy to make).
Tasty and healthy Sunnundalu are ready !!!

Sweet Corn Capsicum Sandwich

Sandwiches fill you up and are great breakfast items if you want to avoid all oil and heavy carbs.

For all those who are checking their calories sandwiches make a fulfilling course.

We have some great sandwiches indian style recipes for you guys.

This dish makes for 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

sweet corn - 1/4 cup

yellow capsicum- 1/2

green capsicum- 1/2

olive oil- 1 tspn

multi grain bread- 4 slices ( or any bread).

salt- 1/2 tspn as per taste

chilli powder- 1/4 tspn as per taste

Procedure:

clean the sweet corn and boil them in a wok.

cut the capsicum into small pieces and keep aside.

Once the sweet corn is boiled drain the water and keep aside.

take a pan and add olive oil.

add the capsicum pieces,salt and mix it well. close lid and let it cook for 5-8 mins.

once capsicum is half cooked add the sweet corn and let it cook completely for 5 mins.

add the chilli powder and let it cook for a minute.

keep it aside to add into sandwich.

In this dish the bread was dry toasted without any butter. Ive used a toaster to toast it or you can use pan and toast them. or make the sandwich and put it in sandwich maker.

You can use butter if you want but if you are trying to reduce calories you can skip butter altogther and it will still taste amazing.

after toasting the bread add the cooked mixture and spread on the bread evenly and close with another bread.

If you love cheese you can add a cheese slice .

red capsicum potato multi grain cereal vth rice wheat oats n coriander

palak multi grain vth rice wheat n oats

Garlic Podi

First recipe from my mom's cookbook and the most simplest and tasty of all :)

This is one recipe which will go with idly, dosa, rice, upma or any other breakfast recipe if you want to spice it up!! One of my mom's favorite !!!

Here is the recipe for you all

INGREDIENTS:

Garlic pods (6 to 8)
Cumin seeds (1 tsp)
urad dal (1 tsp)
red dried chilli - around 8
dried coconut - two small pieces
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
tamarind - small ball of size of amla
salt to taste

PROCEDURE:

Roast the cumin seeds, urad dal, red chilli , mustard seeds until nice aroma comes. Now grind all the ingredients (garlic can be with skin) together. Do not add water.

Tasty and spicy garlic podi is ready !!! It will stay fresh for more than a month

broccoli carrot porridge

broccoli and carrot are very good for health and its great for kids as they help in vision and brain development. I would suggest to give broccoli atleast once a week for kids .

This dish is made for 6m+ kids. can do a variation of this for toddlers without mashing it and giving in similar combinations.

Ingredients:

broccoli- 2-3florets

carrot medium sized slices- 4 

ghee- 1/4 tspn

salt - a pinch ( can be ignored if youve decided not to give salt until 1 year)

rice powder - 1 tbspn

water - 3/4 cup for rice

Procedure:

clean the carrot  and peel it off.

slice it into medium pieces and use 4 for this dish remaining can store in food container.

clean broccoli and cut few florets for this dish.

boil carrot and broccoli .

in another bowl add water and once it boils add rice  powder.

let it cook in low flame till its cooked.

in a food processor add the cooked veggies, rice ,salt and ghee and run it till it forms a paste.

if the baby is teething no need to make a paste can grind coarsely.

Aloo kaju masala (Potato cashewnut curry)

A simple yet rich curry dish to accompany your roti or enhance your rice. If you loved eating kaju curries in restaurant try this and you would now love to make it at home instead.
If you are diet conscious then make sure to reduce ghee and oil. 

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2
cashewnuts - 5 tbspn
onions - 2
tomatoes -2
garlic -10 pods
ginger - 1 small
cinnamon stick - 1
garam masala - 1 tspn
coriander powder - 1tbspn
ghee - 1 tbspn
oil - 2 tbspn

pumpkin peas porridge (for babies)

For all the moms and dads out there. When you have a kid you are searching for all different food to give her and make it as delicious and as varied as possible. 

We at vegcookhouse have done lots of research around  babyfood esp for 6m+ kids as the first weaning food.

Not forgoing the traditional food given to babies and adding some zen we came up with tasty food which allows the babies to enjoy it and try all flavors, vegetables and fruits.

So we are coming up with babyfood series which will be posted once a week atleast . My baby is having these foods so this is safe and consulted with doctor . 

Ingredients:

pumpkin- 4-5 pieces

fresh green peas- half handful around 15 peas

ghee- 1/4 tspn

salt - a pinch ( can be ignored if youve decided not to give salt until 1 year)

rice powder - 1 tbspn

moong dal powder - 1/2 tbspn

water - 3/4 cup for rice

Procedure:

clean the pumpkin and peel it off.

remove the seeds and inner flesh and cut into pieces.

boil pumpkin pieces and green peas.

If fresh peas arent available its okay to use frozen peas.

in another bowl add water and once it boils add rice and moong dal powder.

let it cook in low flame, its okay if there is more water as it should be soft and little runny.

once vegetables are cooked . mash them with fork. for peas make sure the skin is removed/mashed .

mix the vegetables and rice add ghee and salt and mash well.

If the baby has teeth you can feed him this directly, or u can use any food processor and mash into fine paste and feed him.

sweet potato rolls

-- by Mrs Padmakala

Its great to have guest posts.. They bring out fresh recipes to the blog which are many times focused on only the authors taste and ideas. Gives out new ideas and delicious recipes. 

Once we spread out in our friends circle inviting for guest posts Padmakala garu came up immediately with  this delicious recipe. Never imagined sweet potato can be made into this delicious recipe.

VegCookHouse thanks her whole heartedly and  waiting for more great recipes.

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes       - 2 

fresh coconut flakes small cup

Ghee                        3 tsp

Sugar                        4tsp( according to u r taste)                        

Pista nuts                10

Procedure

  Boil the sweet potatoes and  peel  the skin . 

 Smash them nicely 

 Add sugar, ghee and mix well with  hand 

Make small round balls and keep them aside

Add fresh coconut flakes on a plate.

Roll the balls on fresh coconut flakes .

Garnish with pista on top .

 For kids it's very healthy and energetic