Mixed Veg Hakka Nooooooodles !

Yes…too many ooooo's…….too many twists & twirls in the bowl of noodles…but it is great fun to eat long noodles…in a skillful way ..what say !!!? I am not talking about instant maggie noodles….talking about Hakka noodles…

Mixed Veg Hakka Noodles

I cooked this time with mixed veggies and egg …as per your preference you can add different vegetables like cabbage, flat beans, chestnuts, scallion / spring onions and mushrooms or chicken too !

Ingredients :

Hakka Noodles - I took 3 cakes (serves 3 people)
Water - 4 - 5 cups
Carrot - 1 slit & cut into 2 inch pieces
Green capsicum - 1/2    cut into 2 inch pieces
Broccoli - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium sized chopped lengthwise
Green chili - 2 chopped into small pieces
Garlic cloves - 2 chopped / minced
Ginger - chopped / minced 1 tbl spoon
eggs - 2 pan fried with pepper & salt (optional)
Tomato Ketchup - 3 tbl spoon
Vinegar - 1 tbl spoon
soy sauce - 1 tbl spoon
peppar powder - 1 tbl spoon
salt - according to taste
Oil - 6 to 7 tbl spoons

Preparation : 

Step 1:

Boil 4 to 5 cups of water with little salt. Turn off the heat and add the noodles in the hot water remain them in for 10 minutes. ( check once if they are soft enough .or else you can keep them in hot water for few more minutes..but make sure they don't be mashed and sticky).

step 2 : 

Take out the noodles in a colander and drain out the hot water. keep the noodles in colander and rinse with cold water once and drain out all the water and add 1 tbl spoon of oil to the noodles and just flip them once and keep them aside.

Step 3 :

Heat oil in the sauce pan fry onions, green chili, garlic & ginger..don't need to wait until onions to turn brownish. Now add carrot, capsicum & broccoli toss them well for 5 minutes. Now add ketchup, soy sauce , pepper powder & salt to the tossed veggies & fry for 2 minutes on a low heat.

step 4 :

add the noodles to the above preparation and mix the noodles well in to the veggies with a fork laddle. Add the already pan fried egg / chicken to the noodles and stir fry for 2 minutes adjust the salt / ketchup taste as per your preference. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar to the noodles and mix well.

Now you can enjoy the yummy noodles….twist & twirl the fork through the yummy noodles…take that first bite..mmm ..!

Mysore Pak in 4 minutes!!!

Yes you read it right !!! very much 4 minutes of 5 steps….there it is…yum yum …Mysore Pak…tadah……No more syrup…checking string consistency…no worries…all you need is a microwave..and of course the ingredients….here is the list…

Mysore Pak

Ingredients :

Besan powder - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup ( I used light brown sugar )
ghee - 1/2 cup (melted)
boiled milk - 2 tsp (boil & bring it to room temperature)
Greased Pan or Plate ( I used the baking pan greased with little ghee)

Method :

Step 1:

Sieve the Besan powder…make sure no lumps..take the sieved besan into a microwave safe container (I used glass one)  add 1 table spoon of ghee mix well…microwave it for 1 minute. Take out..just mix it once & microwave it for 30 seconds more.

Step 2:

Add sugar (optional : you can use powdered or icing sugar as you prefer), remaining Ghee, milk to the Besan and mix thoroughly so no lumps…in it.

step 3:

Microwave the mix for 1 minute and take it out and you notice foam on top of the mix…don't worry if you don't find much…stir it well one more time…and microwave it for 1 more minute…now your are almost done with your preparation.

step 4:

Just mix all the mixture quickly with a flat wooden laddle …and transfer it to the greased pan / plate..spread it even …and leave it to cool down & settledown for sometime AND….thatzzz it…….
MYSORE PAK IS READY

…just cut the spread in to pieces and enjoy the sweet delicacy…..

wait wait…you must be wondering It just a 3 1/2 minutes cooking time…but I said 4 minutes in the beginning… I just roasted besan for 1 1/2 minute since, I preferred…the color of the mysore pak to be that beautiful yellow…colored..if you prefer to make it little brownish…you can roast it 30 seconds more ..so you can have the mysore pak in little brownish tone. Thus I included that optional 30 seconds said….4 minutes otherwise it is just 3 1/2 seconds.

Spinach & Chicken Curry

This time, it is chicken with spinach…and I assure you it would be yummy….if you could believe in the goodness of Greens & Pack of proteins …I mean Chicken :-)…Try this..here is the recipe for you..

Spinach & Chicken Curry

Ingredients :

Chicken - 2 lbs

spinach - 1 bag / 1 full bunch

chopped onions - 1/2 cup

red dry chillies - 2
Curry Leaves - 2 to 3

coriander powder - 1 t/l spoon

edible oil - 1 to 2 table spoons
Red chili powder - 1 table spoon

ginger / garlic paste - 1 t/l spoon

tamarind juice - 1 teaspoon

salt - as per the taste

chopped coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Method :

part 1:

Wash spinach thoroughly, add to pan and cover with lid and let it cook on steam for sometime. No need to add any extra water as greens have water content. it takes 5 to 10 minutes max to get the nice steamed spinach. Turnoff the heat. Let the spinach come to room temperature and the blend / grind it to make spinach paste. The fineness of spinach paste..depends on your choice, actually mom never used blender / grinder to make this paste..she used a wooden spatula to mash the steamed spinach. Now your  spinach is ready.

Part 2:

Wash the Chicken thoroughly in the running water & add 1 tea spoon turmeric powder and mix well and keep it aside.

Part 3:

heat oil in the sauce pan, add dry red chillies & ginger garlic paste fry for 1 minute then add chopped onions, curry leaves and let them fry for 1 to 2 minutes.

Now add chicken and coriander powder & salt and cover with lid and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Now add the spinach paste to the chicken, red chili powder & tamarind juice and let it cook for 10 minutes.

At this point you can add water as per your preference how thick you want the gravy to be..let it cook well, and you can adjust, salt & thickness as per preference. Make sure, chicken is well cooked. Once the chicken is ready turnoff the heat and add the chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy this spinach chicken curry with rice, roti or dosa. We enjoyed it with dosa…and it was delicious. Hope you like this recipe…enjoy the cooking & food !

Spinach Chicken curry with Dosa

Pineapple Kesari Bath

Kesari bath is very delicious yet, very easy to prepare…doesn't take much time..too….This time I made Kesari bath with pineapple..significantly..the amount of sugar usually it takes would be replaced by pineapple…

Ingredients :

1 cup Rava / sooji / samolina

1/2  cup pinepple chunks

1/2 cup sugar

5 - 6 Tbl spoons of Ghee

2 - 3 elaichi / cardamom

2 1/2 cups water (I prefer it not too thick..if you like it at cake consistency use only 2 cups of water)

pinch of food color (optional : I prefer not to use food colors)

Dry nuts of your choice..could be cashews, pistachio, almond, raisins.

2 tbls of milk (soak saffron in the milk).

Method:

- Add 1 or 2 Tbl spoons of ghee to the pan and fry cashews and take out and keep them aside

- Add 2 more t/l spoons of ghee to the same pan and roast the rava / sooji / semolina under low flame / heat (make sure , rava WON'T burn and turn into dark brown color). Take out the roasted rava into a separate bowl and keep it aside.

- Add the water to the same pan and bring to boil…and the slowly add the rava and keep stirring the rava so that it doesn't make any lumps.

- Once the rava settle into the water, add sugar and keep stirring…add the pineapple chunks, fried cashews and remaining dry nuts of your choice, cardamom powder (keep stirring occasionally in order to avoid any lumps all this while.)

- By now Kesari bath is ready … turnoff the heat and add the saffron to the kesari bath and also add the remaining ghee.

Your yummy yummy….Pineapple Kesari bath is ready….enjoy maadi !

It is your choice whether to enjoy the sweet delicacy while it is warm or let it cool down and enjoy it….

Mavinakayi Chithranna

Mavinakaayi Chithranna / Mango Chithranna / Mango Pulihora


Hi…This Sankranthi …I made 'Mavinakaayi Chithranna / Mango Chithranna / Mango Pulihora' and Aloo Gadde Palya / mashed potato fry (not so dry, though)…yes, yes, yes….it brings you the same taste of chithranna / pulihora but with a tangy twist of raw mango…..

This recipe ..and it's aroma…takes me back to the "Ugadi" in Bangalore….mmmm…………………

Very simple & easy but you will be awestruck by the taste….because the magic is in the edges of your finger tips  :-)

- Grated Raw Mango (Mango should be pealed & we don't use the pit / seed but can use it in daal)
- Chopped onions
- Slit cut Green chili
- Dry Red Chilli
- Roasted Ground nuts
-Roasted cashews
- Oggarane (mix of channa daal, urad daal, mustard, curry leaves)
- Spoon full of Methi powder / Fenugreek powder
- Turmeric powder
- hing / asafetida
- grated carrot (this is optional…to get the tint of saffron hue here & there in your chithranna)z

Heat oil , add pinch of hing, gram daal / chenna daal, urad daal, mustard seeds, curry leaves, cashews, ground nuts, dry red chilli, tea spoon of methi / fenugreek powder and fry until seasoning turns light brown and now add onions & green chilli, fry until onions turn little brownish. Now add turmeric powder, after few seconds add grated carrot and fry for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add grated raw mango to the above seasoning , mix well and bring it to room temperature. Add this to the cooked rice ( You can add salt to the rice while cooking or while mixing the seasoning to the cooked rice). And here it goes…enjoy the rich flavored Mango chithranna…yes I did….with Aloo saagu :-)

Mango Chithranna

Vegetable Garden….OMELETTE

when..a thought of easy, quick and healthy…breakfast , lunch, snack..name it ….the first on the row to capture your attention is…. OMELETTE !!! yes… OMELETTE… you can experiment it adding any meat, seafood, green or mixed veggies….This time I tried …with mixed veggies & mushrooms…though its my first time trying…well, turned out to be a very tasty !!!

Omelette with mixed veggies

Ingredients :

Eggs    -    3
Milk    -    2 table spoons
Salt     -    to taste
Ground black peppers ...

Veggies :

I choose beans, peppers (Red, Green, Yellow & Orange), potatoes, broccoli, carrot, mushrooms, baby corn, green peas. This is not limited….out of your interest you can add any vegetable or meat or greens like, spinach too….

South Indian Sambar

We south Indians enjoy having Sambar & Rasam as a part of every day meal….& there are many styles of making Sambar...here I am going to give a simple yet delicious Sambar recipe...


Good to have Sambar as part of meal everyday..as it is a nutrition rich food..containing daal - a source of protein & variety of vegetables...


Ingredients :

1 big size - Carrot 

1 cup - Toor Daal 

4 to 5 - Ladies fingers or Okra \ bhindi

4 to 5 - beans

1 - brinjal (mediaum size)
1 - Tomato (big)
1 - drumstick ( 1 full big one)( cut in to pieces of 1.5 inch each)
1 -  Table spoon of Tamarind juice.


Sambar powder - 2 table spoon
Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
salt - to taste
chilli powder - 1/2 table spoon (optional)
Oil - 1 table spoons ( for seasoning)


 

For seasoning :

curry leaves - 4 to 5
Mustard seeds \ Rai \ aavaalu - 1/2 table spon
Jeera \ cumin seeds \ jeela karra - 1\2 table spoon
dhaniya seeds \ dhaniyaalu \ coriander seeds - 1\2 table spoon
methi seeds \ menthulu \ fenugreek seeds - 1\2 table spoon
Hing \ Inguva \ asafoetida - small pinch
dry red chillies - 1 to 2

Preparation:

1. wash all the vegetables in running water & cut all the vegetables including onion.
2.Steam all the vegetables including 1 to 2 curry leaves on a low heat adding pinch of salt. Don't need to add any water.
3. wash the daal & pressure cook the plain daal
4. meanwhile soak the tamarind in little quantity of water & extract the tamarind juice.

In 5 to 10 minutes of time..the vegetables will be boiled & daal also be ready…

5. Take a sauce pan - add the steamed vegetables to the cooked daal.
6. Add sufficient water ( as per the thickness of sambar you prefer).
7. add turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder (optional), & sambar powder.
8. add extracted tamarind juice.
9. let sambar to boil for 5 to 10 minutes…

meanwhile,

prepare the seasoning :

1. take seasoning pan , add oil
2. once oil becomes hot, add all the seasoning items listed above except Hing.

once the seasoning is ready switch off the flame & add hing to the seasoning.

Add this seasoning to boiling Sambar & boil it for 5 more minutes.

Let the sambar boil for another 5 to 10 minutes on a low heat. If preferred add the chopped coriander Leaves & There it is the tasty and authentic sambar ready to relish.

Sambar !