HI Friends,


Ingredients:
--------------
3 small sized bell peppers different colors( I took green, orange & red: used 1 small green pepper;1/2 of each orange & red bell pepprs. Since they both were big)

2 Cups Basmati rice (or long rice)

1 Medium sized white onion

2 Green chillies

1 tsp Cumin seeds

2 tsp soya sauce (or even less if you don'nt like the sauce taste and flavour)

Oil for cooking (1 Tbsp or 3tsp)

1 to 1/2 tsp Freshly grated pepper(or as per your taste)

Salt (as per taste)


Method:
-----------

1. Rinse rice in cold water only once (to avoid them from breaking).


2. Cook in pressure cooker with 1:2 ratio (i.e., if 1 cup rice then 2 cups water).


3. Cook rice with 1/2 tsp cumin seeds in it and 1 to 1/2 tsp oil(for rice grains to be separate from each other)


4. After rice is cooked, allow it to cool in a wide plate.


5. Mean while, cut bell peppers into thin & long pieces & don'nt forget to deseed them.


6. Cut onion also into thin & long pieces. Cut green chillies into small pieces. keep all of them a side.


7. Take a wide non_stick pan(because, in non stick when you fry any vegetables, on high heat , they take less oil), heat oil, add another 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and fry till they start spluttering.


8. Now, add green chillies and fry for 2 seconds. Add all three bell peppers and fry till they become little soft yet little crunchy too. This is very important here, to enjoy their flavours while eating fried rice:-)


9. First fry them for 2 min with open lid. Then cover the lid and allow to cook for 2 to 3 more minutes.


10. Once they are cooked as desired, add salt and pepper. Mix well and fry with open lid for couple of minutes.


11. Now add soya sauce and mix well. Finally, add rice bit by bit (i.e., in small portions) and mix well with other ingredients. Use some wooden spectula to avoid rice from breaking.


12. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes with open lid and serve hot.

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Bell Pepper Chutney:
-----------------------------Ingredients:
----------------
2 small size green bell pepper

1/2 of orange and 1/2 of red bell peppers of medium sized

2 tsp chenna dal

2 tsp urad dal

1 lime size tamarind

1 big stem curry leaves

1 tsp cumin seeds

4 to 5 red dry red chillies

3 tsp oil

salt to taste

Fresh cilantro to garnish

Method:
---------

1. Before proceeding, wash and soak tamarind in warm water till other preparations are done.


2. Cut bell peppers into roughly small cubes. Do not de-seed them.
   


3. Heat oil, in a wide and little depth pan, add cumin seeds and fry till they start spluttering. Add channa dal and urad dal and fry till they change into light brown.


4. Now break and add dry red chillies and fry till they start changing color into dark. And add curry leaves and fry for few seconds.


5. Now add all cut bell peppers and fry till they become little soft.


6. Finally add soaked tamarind and fry for 1 minute and remove from heat.


7. Allow the contents to cool and grind them bit by bit with desired salt in a food processor into a fine paste.


8. Finally garnish with fresh cilantro. Enjoy with chapathis, hot plain rice, idli, dosa etc.

Hi Friends, now a days Iam little slow in blogging, though I have got lot of recipes to blog. The reason is we are shifting to new apartments this month end. So I was quite busy in searching an apartment. And we got one. Finally moving this month end to new apartment. After that , again I may be bit slower in blogging. Now you know the reason:-)) Anyways, coming back to my cooking world, this weekend we got two big sets of whole wheat bread from costco. So, Iam into preparations of chutneys for our daily breakfast i.e., Bread Sandwage. In the preparation of, this series of chutneys, Iam planning to blog a couple of chutneys useful for Bread Sandwage. Thease chutney recipes are adopted from the one and only book from which I usually adopt.."Shehzad Husain and Manisha Kanani" 's "Healthy Indian Cooking" book. You may wonder, why I always adopt from this book only. The secret is I have got only couple of cook books with me. So I keep trying from them on and off. Then why not from other cook books? This question may rise in your minds. And my answer is why should I? When I have got so many blogger friends and there blogs which has got bundle of variety, traditional, authentic and recipes from all over the world. You know what, when ever I visit any book store, and find good cook book and want to purchase...finally I end up coming out of the store with out any cook book:-))...Thanks to all my blogger friends for sharing wonderful recipes. Before coming to the recipe, I would like to say some thing about coconut.

You know it is said that the origin of coconut is from our own mother land "India: Rajasthan and Maharashtra". Though it is unclear, but the fact remains always as a fact. Now this coconut is widely used all over the world and became necessary in our daily food. In India, as soon as we remember coconut, we remind of "God's Own Land" Kerala. In kerala, coconut is used widely in different ways. To say, in the form of oil, which is used for cooking food; hair oil, which many of us still use; coconut water for instant energy especially in summer, which becomes must for many of us in india. You know what I miss coconut water here a lot. Though we get here in different forms...in tins, in Inidan stores and other general stores too...I always miss buying coconut water by the road side and having them after a tired afternoon, returning from shopping or from school or college in hot summer. The water are so sweet and has become very precious here for me atleast:-))....But thanks to blog world, here that sweetness which I miss is compensated by many blog friends from Kerala, with there traditional recipes, in which coconut becomes necessary one. One such blogger friend, Ashwini from "Food For Thought" is hosting Jhiva For Coconut in new year i.e., In Jan, 2007. Thank You Ashwini, in advance for this event. And also thanks to Indira of "Mahanandi" who originally started this event.I hardley said some thing about coconut but words are less to describe this versatile Ingredient and also great food as it is. But to know more about coconut, click on following link..here. Today's my post is Coconut-Mint Chutney, which serves as best base for bread and this is my entry to the Jhiva For Coconut. Also, I found, it was great with any hot rice or vegetable pulav. Here comes my recipe....

Ingredients:
----------------
40z fresh mint leaves
12 tbsp desiccated(dry) coconut
2 tbsp sesame seeds (prefferably white sesame seeds)
1/2 tsp salt (or as required)
1 cup natural low fat yogurt

Method:
----------

1. Finely chop the mint using a sharp knife.
2. Put all the ingredients into food processor or blender as shown in above pic untill smooth.
3. Cover and chill.

Note: "This delicious chutney can be made in advance and will keep covered for up to 5 days in the refrigerator" as author says. It was great with toasted whole wheat bread. Bread was warm and this cold chutney as a base on bread with thin slices of tomato's made complete break fast.

Tomato Baath, as know is preparing with Semolina, just like Upma with an additional guest that is, Tomato. This dish I tasted for first time in my PostGraduation Days at one of my friends home. It was really too tasty. Later, after my marriage I heard about this dish from my husband. It is very common and a must breakfast served along with peanut chutney for the guest in marriages at my In-laws-side i.e., famous in Nellore and near by areas. About one more thing I was surprised at is, when I started searching for this recipe (expecting some other variations), I found this mostly made with rice. This is another new thing I came to know about tomato baath:-)..Thanks to all other food bloggers, helping a lot in discovering different kind of recipes through out the world. Peanut chutney seen in the picture is the recipe I always do, adopted from Falvours Of Indian Rasoi by Lakshmi. This time I wanted to mention the method for it in my blog with little variations. Here I go with thease two recipes.....


Ingredients For Tomato Baath:
-------------------------------------------

2 cups of Semolina or Ravva (cup here is equalant to rice cooker cup)
1 medium sized tomato (cut into small pieces)
5 to 6 curry leaves
1 small onion or 1/2 of medium sized 1 big onion
4 to5 green chillies (slitted or cut into small pieces)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (aavalu)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jilakara or jeera)
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder( pasupu)
5 cups of water (cup here is equalant to rice cooker cup)
salt as per taste (I add 1 1/2 tsp fo salt for two cups of ravva)
oil for cooking (I use 4 to 5 tsp of oil)

Method:
-------------

1. Roast semolina or ravva on low heat in a deep sauce pan till it changes evenly in color to light brown. Here you can also fry with 1tsp of oil or 1 tsp of ghee (which are optional) and keep aside.
   
2. In the same sauce pan heat oil for cooking, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, mashed garlic cloves (or cut into tiny pieces), green chillies and curry leaves in mentioned order, one after the other giving time for spluttering of mustard seeds and cumi seeds. Fry all togeather for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Now add onions and fry till they become soft and trasparent.( Remember here, for upma and tomato baath, onions should not change there color. They should not be fried for long time. They just need to become soft and transperant).
   
4. Now add tomatoes and 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder. Mix well and cook till tomatoes become soft.
5. Add water and salt. Cover the sauce pan and bring the contents to boil.
6. Once the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and start adding semolina or ravva with your left hand taking semolina a handfull every time and use right hand for mixing the ravva in the water simultaneously. This is to avoid forming any lumps. Here you should be very careful. i.e., why I mentioned reduce the heat and add slowly so that you will get time to add complete ravva step by step and could mix well.
7. Mix well after adding complete ravva with other ingredients and allow to cook with covered lid on medium heat for about next 5 to 6minutes or until ravva is cooked well.
8. Serve hot with peanut chutney.

Note: This procedure is same for upma too, except tomato. Other variations for upma, you can add pieces of carrots, small cubes of potatoes before bringing water to boil. Water measurment for upma or tomato baath I always take like this: For one cup of semolina or ravva, I add 2 1/2 cups fo water. thus added 5 cups of water for 2 cups of ravva or semolina.



Ingredients For Peanut Chutney:
-------------------------------------------
1 cup peanuts (roasted and skin removed or can be made with skin too as per your choice, not being any difference in taste)
4 to 5 green chillies
1 tsp channa dal (optional)
1tsp fresh grated coconut (optional)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
small size tamarind (soaked in warm water)
1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds or jilakara
1 small onion
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 stem curry leaves
1 or 2 dry red chillies
salt as per taste
oil for cooking
water as required

Method:
-----------

1. Roast peanuts and keep aside to cool. They should be roasted evenly. So maintain low flame through out.
2. Heat 1 tsp of oil, add cumin seeds and fry for few seconds and then add green chillies and onion (cut into big chunks).
3. After onions turn soft, add soaked tamarind from above and keep aside till its temperature comes down to room temperature.
4. Now in a blender, add roasted peanuts, above fried mixture (mentioned in step 3), channa dhal, grated coconut , salt and required water (decide a/c to the thickness of the paste you want).
5. Finally add tempering to the above mixture by heating 2 tsp of oil and adding mustard seeds, 1 to 2 dry red chillies and curry leaves.
6. Serve this chutney with upma or tomato baath. Tastes great for both, especially for tomato baath.
   

Beerakaaya Thokku Pachadi, this is the name which can be give to this recipe in telugu, since it is made using Ridge Gourd skin :-) Yeah!!! don'nt want to believe..but its true. When I heard from my mother about this recipe, I said how it is possible?? But when I tasted this pickle I said WHY NOT?? This is very simple to make and can be served with dosa or along with chapathis or hot rice. This can be kept fresh upto 3 days if it is stored in the refrigerator. But I preffer to make it in small amount and finish it off the same day or maximum next day. Here I go with the recipe:-

Ingredients:
-----------------
Skin of 2 Ridge Gourd (peel the skin, wash in cold water and drain)
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 to 4 green chillies or 4 to 5 dry red chillies
small lemon size tamarind (chinthapandu--wash and soak in warm water)
1 tsp oil
salt as required

For Seasoning:
-------------------
4 to 5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 to 3 tsp oil

Method:
------------

1. Heat the oil, add cumin seeds. Once they start spluttering, add ridge gourd skin and fry till becomes soft.
2. Now add green chillies and fry for two more minutes. Add soaked tamarind from above and remove from heat. Do not mix. Allow to cool down.
3. After it cools down, make the paste of above with required salt in a blender. Do not add water if possible( or little if required).
4. Make seasoning, add to the above paste. The pickel is ready:-))

Note: If green chillies are not available or like to use red chillies instead, first fry red chillies in little oil and keep aside. Add to the blender while making paste. In this chutney I used Dry red chillies since I did not had green chillies in store. It tasted great!! So go a head.....:-))

This is my first recipe in the blog.The reason behind choosing this as my first recipe here is, its simplicity,its unique and easy to make and enjoy with many dishes like, idly,dosa,wada also with chapathis(This can be applied on chapathis as a paste and can enjoy as a chapathi roll, which I do generally.)This recipe I took from my mother-in-law's cookbook.Hope you will all like and enjoy it too.On that day we enjoyed with wada as you can see in the picture above.

Main recipe
-----------


Ingredients used:
-------------------
10 to 12 dry red chillies(endu nirapakayalu)
1/2 the size of small lime tamarind(chinthapandu)(washed and Soaked in small amount of warm water for few minutes)
2 tsp chenna besan (thine chenagapappu pindi)
1 tsp fresh or dry coconut powder(kobbari podi)
1/2 onion cut in into thick cubes
Salt (as required)
Water (as required)

For Seasoning
-------------
1/2 tsp mustard seeds(or as required)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds(optional)
5 to 6 curry leaves
required oil for seasoning(use very little,not much required for this recipe)

Method
------
1. Roast red chillies for 2 to 3 min in low heat(pachi vasana raakunda)
2. Wait to cool down
3. Add coconut powder,chenna besan,onion,tamarind (along with soaked water)and salt to the redchillies in a blender(or grinder what ever you choose to use).
4. Make a fine paste of all above ingredients by adding more water if you want it to be thin paste or else ramarind soaked water will be enough.
5.Finally add the seasoning to this paste.




Note: Number of red chillies can be vary according to your taste.That is if you want more spicy , increase the number or else decrease by one or two, which will do.