Cooking From Blogs - 1

When I first started blogging about cooking it was to make the daily chore of cooking more interesting and also a chance to experiement. I had absolutely no idea about the phenomenon called Food Blogging and what I accidently discovered was a treasure trove of authentic mouth watering recipes not only from the different regions of India but all round the world.

This time around my dishes are from
1. Manpasand ... From my kitchen to yours.
2. Vineela's Cuisine
3. Sumi's Kitchen.
4. Mahanandi


Mango Ice Cream
My stock went up considerably along with the heat after I made Mango Ice Cream, thanks to Krithika's Manpasand ... From my kitchen to yours. Everybody from the youngest to oldest absolutely loved it. A great treat for the summer heat. Like she says No fuss, quick and easy and ofcourse very tasty.




Vadai Kari
Being from TamilNadu I was surprised that I have never heard of this dish, did some research and found that this a very popular dish in Chennai. When I saw the recipe on Vineela's Cuisine I had to make it. I also found a slightly different recipe on Sumi's Kitchen. I adapted the dish from both their recipes. Thanks guys this was a big hit I did not want to deep fry the vadais so steamed them but have to remember not to steam them for too long, they become hard.



Vadai Ingredients
1 1/2 cups channa dal (soaked overnight)
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 green chillies
1/2 inch ginger
blend the above to a coarse paste and steam cook them like idlis for 4-6 minutes

Curry Ingredients
1. 1/2 red onion chopped fine
2. 2 tomatoes chopped fine
3. 2 garlic cut lengthwise
4. 1/2 cup corriander leaves chopped
5. 1 1/2 tsp chilly powder
6. 1 tsp corriander powder
7. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
8. seasoning curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin
9. 1 tsp oil

Method:
1. In a pan heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add the curry leaves.
2. Add the onions and fry till translucent, add the garlic pieces and fry a little
3. Add the tomatoes and fry till soft.
4. Add all the powders and mix well.
5. Add the chopped corriander leaves, fry a little bit
5. Break the vadais and mix well.
6. Add about 3 cups of water and cover the lid and cook till the desired consistency.

I made this a little dry because I was serving this as a side dish with rice. If you are having vadai curry with idly make it a little watery.

Bottle Gourd with White and Black Channa
When I saw the recipe for Bottle Gourd in Sesame on Mahanandi I remember thinking ONLY Indira can come up with these amazing combinations. I improvised on the recipe a little because I did not have all of the ingrendients. Went to soak the black channa but did not have enough of it so I soaked a little bit of both white and black Channa. The next day when I went to make the paste I did not have dalia or sesame seeds so made a paste with a few other ingredients instead. Needless to say the curry came out well.



Ingredients
For the paste
1. 1/4 cup small onions (now can get these frozen, peeled and ready to go)
2. 2 tbsp of grated coconut
3. 3 red chillies
4. 1 tsp of corriander seeds
5. 1/2 tsp of cumin
6. 1/2 cup of corriander leaves
saute the above in a little bit of oil and grind to a paste.

for the curry
1. 1 1/2 cups of black and white channa soaked overnight and cooked for a whistle
2. 1 Medium sized bottle gourd peeled and cut into cubes
3. 1/4 onion diced
4. 1 cup of tamarind pulp
5. 1/2 tsp tamarind powder
6. seasoning mustard seeds, cumin and curry leaves


Method:
1. In a pan take a little bit of oil add the seasonings when the mustard starts to pop add the onion and saute till they become soft.
2. Now add the bottle gourd pieces sprinkled with a little bit of water and salt and turmeric.
3. When they are almost cooked add the cooked channa and mix it well.
4. Now add the ground paste with enough water, check for salt, cover the lid and cook for 5 minutes till desired consistency.

Tasted great with both rice and chappathis.