Kondakadalai Pirattal - Chana Dry Curry Recipe

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I was browsing jacobs cookbook the other day and I saw this recipe...kondakadalai pirattal sounded interesting so right away I tried it. I loved the aroma and flavour of the curry and to my surprise the lil one loved it and asked for second serving which is very rare so I can approve this recipe as kid friendly too.... :) just that adjust spicelevel according to your preference. We had drumstick sambar,rice, chana curry and mango patchadi .

Its a special day today....Its been 4 yrs...Still each day is new and fresh with you around....which makes me feel life is worth living each minute!! You understand even my silence, you are my best friend for life, my little doll....You are a blessing and 19-06-2009 will always remain special to us....Happy Birthday Mittu! :)

Chana Dry Curry Recipe - Ingredients

Prep Time: Overnight   | Cooking Time: 40 mins  | Serves: 2
Recipe Cuisine: Indian  | Recipe Type: Sidedish

Channa - 1 cup
Onion - 1 chopped finely
Tomato puree - from 1 tomato
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

To temper:

Oil - 3 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 1 broken
Curry leaves - 1 small sprig

To roast and grind to a powder :

Pepper - 3/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece

To grind :

Coconut - 4 tbsp
Small onion - 5
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves

Method:

1. Soak chana overnight and pressure cook along with a pinch of turmeric powder for 5-6 whistles or until soft,reserve the cooked water.Set aside. Roast pepper and cinnamon for 2mins then grind it to a fine powder - I used my hand mortar and pestle.
2. Grind the ingredients listed under 'to grind to a paste' to a semi fine paste,Set aside. Heat oil in a kadai - add the ingredients listed under 'to temper' let it splutter.
3. Then add onion and fry till golden brown then tomato puree along with red chilli and coriander powder. Mix well and saute till raw smell of tomato leaves.
4. Now add the coconut paste, saute well then add 1/4 cup water and allow it to boil. Add half of the toast and ground powder,reserve the other half to be added at the last stage.Add required salt.
5. Add chana along with cooked water. Mix well. Add the other half of roast and ground powder and keep cooking and switch of when it becomes a dry curry. If you want to make it for poori or chapathi you can  make it gravy kind.
   

Serve with hot steamed rice. It goes well even with chapathi and poori.

My Notes

• You can make this with brown chana too...actually the orginal recipe called for brown chana variety only.
• You can even grind 5 cashews along with other ingredients as mentioned in the orginal recipe.
• If you want to serve it for poori or chapathi, you can make it gravy kind and switch off at that time.I served it as a sidedish for rice so made it as a dry curry.

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Veg Bread Sandwich | Sandwich Recipes

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This is an easy sandwich recipe which you can make with the available ingredients in the pantry. No cheese in it and you have a healthy sandwich, and with a glass of milk and fruits it makes a wholesome combo. I served it with rosemilk and watermelon, which was perfect for a hot summer day.

Veg Bread Sandwich Recipe - Ingredients

Prep Time: 5 mins   | Cooking Time: 10 mins  | Serves: 1
Recipe Cuisine: Indian  | Recipe Type: Snack / Breakfast

Bread - 4 slices
Carrots - 1 medium sized(sliced thin)
Onion - 1 medium sized
Green Chutney / Green Pesto - 3 tsp
Tomato Sauce - 2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp

Method:

1. Get all your ingredients ready.Slice carrot and onion into thin circles as shown. Place the slices of bread on the work surface.First apply green chutney on one side of the bread...place carrot,onion slices then sprinkle pepper powder, apply tomato sauce on other side of the bread. Close it.Repeat the same for other 2 slices also.
2. Grease the sandwich maker with ghee and apply ghee on the bread.Toast it for 3-4 mins or as per the sandwich makers instruction. Serve hot as a teatime snack or for breakfast too. You can add in cheese slices too as per your preference. I made it for me and hubby so didnt want to add in more calories :)

My Notes

• You can add veggies of your preference  like cucumber, tomato etc.
• If you dont have a sandwich maker then toast it in a dosa tawa but make sure you seal the edges or close the sandwich with butter or cheese so that it sticks well and does not open up.In sandwich maker it seals the edges so I didnt add anything extra.You can even grill the sandwiches.
• You can add cheese slice or apply hummus too.
• I used white bread, you can use wheat or multigrain bread too.
• The veggies get halfcooked in the sandwich makes which will be missing when you toast them in the tawa.But anyways these veggies taste great in raw form too so dont worry :)

The sandwiches are crispier at the ends and crunchy in every bite...yum!! Make it for your kids and am sure they will love it.

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Food & Travel : Kotagiri - Part 2

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Check here for Part I

We didnt have much plans on the last day as we planned to drive down to CBE for lunch. There were 2 main parks called Nehru and Pandiraj Park..As it was raining the the previous day we planned to visit there before we packed home.

We could only visit Pandiraj Memorial Park as it again started raining and it was time for us to drive downhill too.All the colorful flowers here were captured in that park.I didnt leave my camera to rest, it was soo beautiful!

Can you believe this is the sight at 10AM in the morning...yes mists covered everywhere which was a beautiful sight to watch.

Then headed straight towards Orange Peko to have our breakfast. It was a simple breakfast as the menu was limited there.We had egg omlette,idli with sambar chutney , half boil and coffee.

The hotel has a small coffee shop too which says its open 24X7.

Idli was not very soft but pretty much edible when dunken in sambar and chutney :) Mittu had idli too.

The coffee was very good...when I said lite coffee (as mittu wanted to have her sip too) they served the coffee with separate decotion so we made the coffee as per our liking and enjoyed it. Mittu loved it too!

The Pandiraj park had a small playarea and while mittu was busy playing, I was busy clicking :) It was a wonderful sight to watch without batting an eye so did my lens too :)

And from there we started our journey back to CBE waving bye to Kotagiri. We found the uphill journey long, but while returning back it took only 2.5 hrs. We reached CBE around 1:30PM , lunched at Anjappar and reached home.

To wrap up, it was a wonderful trip though a short one. If you are planning to relax in a quiet place with a nice weather then kotagiri is just for you!

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Apple Milkshake - Quick Milkshake Recipe

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Apple Milkshake (with almonds & honey) - This is one of the regular shakes I make at home esp for mittu as she loves it. I have already posted apple cinnamon milkshake, this recipe is a simple one which is healthy and tasty at the same time. Trust me I had no plans of clicking and posting apple milkshake...Last week when I was down with cold and very tired too....but was itching to click so made this quick milkshake and clicked to hearts content :) Please check the 'my notes' section for tips to avoid browning of apples.

Apple Milkshake Recipe - Ingredients

Prep Time: 5 mins   | Cooking Time: 10 mins  | Serves: 2Recipe Cuisine: Indian  | Recipe Type: Milkshake

Apple - 1(skin peeled and chopped into cubes)
Chilled Milk - 2 cups
Almonds - 5
Honey - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Soak almonds in hot water fro 15mins,set aside.In a mixer add milk, chopped apples,almonds,sugar.
2. Then add honey and blend it till smooth.

Serve chilled with chopped almonds as garnish.

My Notes

• You can even peel off the skin of almonds before blending.
• You can freeze the milk and use frozen milk too or use chilled milk as I have done.
• Adding almonds gives it a nice creamy milkshake.
• To avoid apples from browning, you can chop them into cubes and add it in cold water with little salt(say 1/2 tsp for 3 cups of water) or dip in lemon juice diluted in water.Or soak them in 7up / Sprite for few mins then pack it in a ziplock.

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Mochai Kulambu - Mochai Kottai Kara Kuzhambu Recipe

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Mochai Kottai Kuzhambu is a very tasty curry made with field beans, we also call it kara kuzhambu. It is a typical south indian dish which pairs well with steamed rice and any mild stir fry. Now dried beans variety is widely available in many departmental stores, so stock it up and use them when you want. You can use fresh beans or try this recipe with other bean too...like karamani,soya bean etc too.

Mochai Kuzhambu Recipe - Ingredients

Prep Time: 10 mins   | Cooking Time: 30 mins  | Serves: 2
Recipe Cuisine: Indian  | Recipe Type: SideDish

Dried Mochai(Field Beans) - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - a lemon sized ball (when diluted comes to 1/4 cup)
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

To saute and grind:

Oil - 1 tsp
Small Onion - 1/4 cup
Tomato - 1 and 1/2
Garlic - 5 cloves
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1/4 cup tightly packed
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Curry leaves - few torn into pieces
Small Onion - 8
Tomato - 1/2
Garlic - 4 cloves

Method:

1. Dry roast the bean for few mins(optional , I didnt do it this time) and soak it in water overnight or for atleast for 8 hrs.Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract thick pulp. Few readers asked me to show the quantity if tamarind so here it is for you :)
2. Pressure cook beans for 5-6 whistles or until soft.Set aside. In a kadai heat oil - saute the ingredients listed under 'to saute and grind'  and grind it along with coconut and fennel seeds.
3. Grind it to a fine paste,Set aside. In a kadai heat oil - add the ingredients listed under 'to temper' allow it to splutter then add onion, tomato and garlic saute till raw smell of tomatoes leave.
4. Then add the cooked beans along with the water, then add tamarind pulp. Allow it to boil for 3mins or until raw smell of tamarind leaves.Add required salt.
5. Then add the coconut paste along with red chilli,coriander powders and required salt. Add 1/2 cup water if the mixture is too thick.Allow it to boil for 5-10mins until oil separates.Boiling for little more makes the curry thick and tasty too.Switch off once you get the desired consistency.

Serve hot with rice, can be served with dosas and idlis too!

My Notes

• You can add in other veggies along with mochai like brinjal,drumstick etc etc.You can even use fresh beans for this recipe
• Boiling for more time gives the gravy a nice flavour.
• Allow atleast 30mins sitting time for the mochai to absorb the curry well. Also this kuzhambu thickens with time so adjust and switch off accordingly.
• While tempering, you can even add cinnamon, cloves instead of mustard and urad dal.

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