Ruchii

Being health conscious these days I don’t make much deep fried foods. But once in a while we have to have some fried snacks to satisfy our carvings. So when Santhi  announced Ingredient for this months JFI #4 as Flour. I was very excited to make Nipittu a karnataka speciality and one of my favorite deep fried snack.

This is my first attempt making Nipittu. My mother used to make this during rainy evenings. As soon as coming back from school, we used to change our uniforms quickly and getting all ready to snack. I remember eating nipittu sitting next to the window and watching those rain drops fall….. Ah! those were the days…………

So here is what we need.

Rice Flour                  1cup

Maida/all purpose flour  1/2 cup

Besan/chickpea flour     1/4 cup

Peanut/ground nut        about 1/4 cup

Chilli powder               1 tsp

Curry leaves                2 tsp

Salt                         as per taste.

Along with peanuts dalia dal/roasted channadal can also be added.

Oil  for deep frying.

* Using this measurement we can make 20 small sized nipittu.

Method.

• In a bowl sieve together all the flour.
• Mix everything together to a stiff dough by adding  water slowly.
• Take a marble size balls and with finger pat it on a piece of plastic sheet/parchment paper/wax paper to a circular shape. (If the dough is sticking to hand, apply little oil to the fingers and pat.)
• Meanwhile heat peanut oil on medium high heat.
• Fry 2-3 at a time, till golden brown on both sides. Drain excess oil on paper towel.

Now Nipittu is ready to be eaten. Enjoy !

* Once completely cooled store in air tight container. Stays fresh for about a week.

My entry to JFI #4 – FLOUR Hosted by Santhi of Santhi’s Kitchen.

Few weeks back when I saw Sumith’s gobi manchuri I wanted to try. So this weekend I tried Gobi Manchuri followed her Recipe for making batter and deepfrying.This time I got really tasty and crispy gobi.

For sauce I used Little ketchup and Maggi chilli sauce(I was out of soy sauce) with veggies like Onion, green chili, red and green bell pepper.

Many thanks to Sumitha for this her recipe. Check out  Sumitha (Kitchen wonders) Colourful and delicious Gobi Manchuri.

This is my entry for FMR#7(Comfort food) hosted by Revathi of En-Ulagam.

When we are tired of having curries,sambar  and all the spices and masalas. We like to have something plain and satisfying for our meal. Thove is definitely one thing I make. This is simple and easy to make.

So here is what we need.

Moongdal      1cup

Veggies

Bottle gourd   1cup chopped

onion           1 small

tomato         1

green chilles  1

Turmeric     pinch

For Tempering

Oil       1tsp

Mustard and cumin seeds.

For Garnish

Fresh lime/lemon juice  2tsp.

Corriander leaves.

Method.

• Add pinch of turmeric to moongdal and pressure cook it untill its soft.
• Now add veggies, onion , tomato and chilles. Add water to desired consistancy. Let it cook for about 10min or until veggies are soft.
• When veggies are soft enough add salt and switch off the heat.
• In a different pan do the tempering adding mustard and cumin to hot oil .
• Lastly add fresh lime/lemon juice and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve hot with rice or chapathis.

Thove with rice and curd chillies on side is considered as comfort food at my home.

* Commonly used veggie for thove is ridge gourd. Bottle gourd ,chayote squash can also be used.  Or it can be made without adding any veggies at all.

* If making as a side dish for chapathis. Add less water.

• Curd chilles(called as Balka in kannada) are made by making slit and soaking fresh green chillies in sour curd for a day and they sun dried untill color changes to half white. Once completely dried it can be stored in air tight container. For longer shelf life store in Refrigarator.It is  available in Indian grocery stores.

Curd chilles are deep fried in oil and used instead of green or red chilles. It is used for making raitha, seasoning rice or as a sides.

 Dried  Curd Chillies                       Curd Chilles deep fried 

There are so many recipes that want to try from my fellow bloggers. On daily basis I tend to do the same old stuff once I am in kitchen. So from now on I have decided to try one or two recipes from other food blogs every weekends.

I’ll post the pictures that I have tried on Mondays. This fixed day will allow me to experiment and get to know new dishes, new cuisine and new taste.

I take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow bloggers for sharing such a wonderful and traditional recipes.

So here is what I have tried so far.

• Krithika’s Aloo Masala 

This recipe was a very new to me, I usually make dry curry with aloo/potatoes. When I saw her recipe I wanted to try it out. So last week when I made dosa I tried it and it tasted delicious and goes very well with dosas. Many thanks to Krithika for sharing this recipe. Check this link for Krithika’s Mouth watering Puri masala recipe.

I have also made

• Indira’s  delicious Sweet-Potato Jamun

I really wanted to try this jamun for very long time. But some how kept on postponing and wanting to do this on some special occasion. Last week when I saw Krithika’s Jamun Pictures I couldn’t wait for any longer. So I did it this weekend and it was soft and sweet and delicious. I thank Indira and Krithika for such a sweet recipe and wonderful pics.

For  Recipe check Indira’s Mahanandi and Krithika’s Manpasand

I have had Carrot Kheer many times. But never tried making them until now. These days my little one is not eating her veggies properly so this is one way I can make her have veggies.

  This recipe is almost similar to making kheer but not thick in consistancy as kheer. So I have mentioned it at Carrot milk.

Here is how I make it.

Ingredients.

Carrot  Juice  1 cup(Made  from cooking, blending and straining)

Milk       1 cup

Sugar   1/2 cup (add more or less to your taste)

Cardamom   1 pod(powdered)

Cinnamon stick and clove 1 each(added whole)

Method.

• I used about 2 cups of baby carrots. Pressure cook untill soft (about 3 whistles).
• Mash or grind them in a blender. Untill smooth(can add little water while blending) 
• Using a Stainers seperate juice and thick pulp. You will get about 1 cup of carrot juice.(If  Making kheer leave this part)
• In a sauce pan mix equal amount of milk with carrot juice sugar,cardamom powder,cinnamon and clove.
• Bring it to boil and simmer it down for about 10-15 min.
• Switch off the heat. Let it cool for little bit. (I took out the whole cinnamon and clove after switching the heat off) 

*For making kheer you can use less amount of milk and lastly add nuts and raisins with ghee.

Now its ready to be served. Hot or warm. Once it cooled down to room temperature put it in  the fridge and chill for an hour. Cold and nutritious drink for summer hot days.

I brought a can of olives and sun-dried tomatoes long ago to use them as a topping, that is when I make pizza at home. But that day never came, so I wanted to try something new using olives. The first thing came to my mind was ‘how about chutney? ‘ so I decided to give it a try. I used Olives, sun-dried tomato and chili(can’t make any chutney without chili). Never tasted this combination before so i was curious as well as anxious to know how it will turn out. To my surprise it was a fabulous combination of little sweet,tangy and spicy.

I think it goes well as a spread on toast or can use as a base for sanwich with little cheese on top or can also use this as a spread on pizza dough(which i’ll be trying very soon).

So here is how I made it.

Ingredients

Olives  I used one hand full (Pitted olives)

Sun-dried Tomatoes  3 (which was in oilve oil)

Green Chilli   1 small

Salt According to taste.

Method.

Put everthing in a blender and grind into course paste.

Moisture from canned olives and sun-dried tomatoes soaked in oilve oil, helps to grind into paste.

I used this chutney as a spread on a bread toast. It tasted very well. Enjoy! 

Gojju is a combination of  sour, spicy and sweet . Tomato is most widely used for making gojju.  One can also use brinjal/eggplant, onion, capsicum, bittergourd etc.,  

If anyone makes similar kind of dish, please let me know what it is called in your region. 

So here is what we need

For Tadka:

Oil  1-2 tsp, Mustard seeds ½ tsp, Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp, Channa dal 1tsp, Curry leaves  few and Turmeric   ½ tsp. 

Veggies:

Bell Pepper – Green and Red one each, Tomato – one small, Onion-  one small.

Also need,

Jaggery about 2 tsp, Curry/sambar powder (or chilli powder) about 1tsp, Tamarind  about 1 tsp, Gram flour/chickpea flour(I use this instead of coconut to thicken the gravy) and Salt to taste. Few cilantro leaves for garnish. 

All these above ingredients can be added more or less according to one’s taste.

 Method:

• Take oil in a pan, when its hot enough add mustard, cumin, turmeric, channa dal and curry leaves.
• When channa dal starts to change color, add veggies and salt cover and cook for about 5 mins.
• Then add curry powder, tamarind, jaggery. Mix gram flour with water and add this to the veggies. Lastly add salt.
• Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 mins or until the rawness from the curry powder is gone.
• Garnish it with few cilantro leaves. Now its ready to eat.

Gojju can be served with chapathi, dosa, idly, rotti or even rice.  Enjoy!