Mixed vegetable upma

I tried this from this site.

Ingredients:

1 cup Rava (Sooji)

1 Onion, chopped

1 Tomato, chopped

1 cup Mixed vegetables, chopped and cooked (I used carrots, beans and peas)

2 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Urad Dal

1/2 tsp Chana Dal

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

1 Red Chilli, broken into pieces

1 tsp Green Chilli paste

1 tsp Ginger Paste

Salt to taste

1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Coriander Leaves for garnish

Method:

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the urad and chana dals. When the urad dal begins to brown a little, add the mustard and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the red chilli, curry leaves, onions, ginger and chilli pastes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato and fry for a minute more. Add the mixed vegetables and the rava and fry the entire mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups of boiling hot water and salt to this. Mix well, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on a low flame.

When done, take it off the heat and pour the ghee on top. Mix well, garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy it with coconut chutney.

Banana bread cake

I tried the banana bread cake out from Nag's site. It came out so yummy. Having it for breakfast today!

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar, I may add slightly less next time
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour/maida
1/2-3/4 cup nuts of your choice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt ( I didn't use this)

Method:

Mash the banana well and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and the sugar has blended well. Add the eggs and beat more until well combined.
Add the mashed banana and mix well. Then add the vanilla extract and mix again.
Next, add the flour and a pinch of salt. Combine without beating, to form the dough without any lumps.
Transfer to a greased loaf pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting into slices.

Methi chicken

I tried out the methi chicken recipe from Shilpa's site. It came out quite nice :) I just added a bit of curds for a creamy touch. Here is the same recipe

Ingredients:
0.6 lb (0.27kgs) chicken
1 tea spn ginger-garlic paste
1 and 1/2 cups chopped tomato
1 cup roughly chopped onion + 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbl spn finely chopped fresh/frozen methi(fenugreek) leaves
1 tea spn chilli powder
Oil
Salt
Spices -
4 cloves
1″ cinnamon
1/2 tea spn poppy seeds(khus khus)
1/4 tea spn methi seeds
1/2 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds

Method:
Apply ginger-garlic paste to chicken pieces and keep them aside.
Heat oil and all the spices. Take care not to burn any of them.
Add 1 cup roughly chopped onion and fry till they turn brownish. Now add tomatoes, salt, chilli powder. Cook till tomatoes are tender. Grind to a smooth paste.
Heat oil and add finely chopped onion. Add chicken pieces and methi leaves. Fry for about 2 mins.
Now add the ground paste. Cook till completely done. If required, add water to bring to required consistency.

Carrot cake

I tried out this carrot cake and it was really tasty. My cake sunk in the middle and I'm not sure why :) Actually I'm baking from scratch after a long gap of around 5 years so I'm happy that the cake tasted well! Here is the recipe from Bindiya's site for my reference

Ingredients

Clarified butter-3 tbsp (60 gms)
Sugar (powdered)-1 cup
All purpose flour-1 cup
Baking powder-2 tsp
Carrots (grated with the big holes side of grater)-1 and 1/2 cups
Raisins- a handful
Walnuts (if desired)- a handful
Eggs-2
Vanilla extract-1 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon-1/4 tsp

Method

Beat softened clarified butter and sugar together till creamy, add the eggs and vanilla extract, tip in the carrots and mix well.Combine flour and baking powder, and add to the egg mixture, next add the raisins, nuts and cinnamon.Pour into prepared cake tin, bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 45 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Rava roti

Oh yesterday morning I had the most delicious rava rotis in a long time. We tried it from Mane Adige site and it came out so well. Here is the same recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup Rava/Semolina

1/4 cup Curds

1/2 Onion, chopped thinly

2-3 tbsp Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen (optional)

2-3 tbsp Grated Carrots (optional)

2-3 strands Cilantro

1.5 tsp Jeera

1-2 Green chillies,chopped

Salt as per taste

1-2 tsp Oil

Method

• Mix all the ingredients except oil in a mixing bowl. The batter should be thicker than the usual dosa batter. I have put a picture up.
• Take a non-stick tava and grease it with a few drops of oil.
• Pour a handful of the batter on the pan and spread it into a circle with the help of your hands. ( I use a plastic bag, oil it on one side and put a ball of batter in it and try to smooth it out on it, rather than doing it right on the pan)
• Cook on stove with medium heat. Cook on both sides.
• Remove from tava and serve hot with coconut chutney or any other side dish of your choice.

Pumpkin carving :)

I was going through Google Reader and came across a very interesting post by "Chef in You". DK showcased step by step method to carve pumpkins. I was so excited that the following weekend I had to do it. I didn't have a kit like her but used an ordinary knife to carve it :)

Here is the picture with and without the candle within it. Thank you DK for a wonderful, fun-filled activity!

Egg curry

This was a new way that I learnt from Shilpa's site. I really liked the taste of the curry. It was delicious.

Ingredients

4 boiled eggs
2 tbl spn fresh/frozen coconut
1/2 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
1/4 tea spn fenugreek seeds
A pinch turmeric
4-5 red chilies
Ghee/oil
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup + 1/4 cup tomato(optional)
4-5 curry leaves(optional)
1/2 tea spn chopped garlic
Salt

Method

Heat oil and fry coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chilies, turmeric, garlic and 1/2 cup onion. When onion turns translucent, add 1/4 cup tomato and fry for few minutes. Grind to a paste along with coconut.

Cook the ground paste with remaining 1/4 cup tomatoes. When it starts boiling, slip in the halved boiled eggs and salt. Cook for about 5 mins. Take off the heat.

In a pan, heat ghee and fry remaining 1/4 cup onions and curry leaves. When the onions turn brownish, add this to the cooked gravy. Close the lid.
Serve hot with rice.