NALABAGHAM

I ain't good at drawing but I can say with confidence that I can cook quite well and make everyone happy, with a good meal. Cooking is an art and with passion & Love for it we can create so many wonderful dishes....Loving it everytime...

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Finale!

The Summer Splash event has come to an end. It has been great fun for me to get so many entries from all of you. Now I have a whole list of amazing drinks to try out for the rest of the summer and always. Here I add a list of all the entries that I received and your entries have been a great encouragement for me to think of another event, which I should be posting in another week or two.
If you haven't received any reply mails from me please do forgive me. Hope you guys also had fun with the summer splash and you guys should try out them too! A big thank you to all of you for taking the time to send me your wonderful entries.

Kalva of Curry in Kadai,

sent me the following entries. It was the first entry too! She has a beautiful blog with a lot of wonderful dishes...
She sent us a yummy milkshake with strawberries, kiwi and yogurt
A second entry with mango, peach and strawberries



Fathima of Thattukada,

she is new to blogging and I would like to invite to this wonderful world where we get to meet so many people and also learn a lot. Her entry is a milk shake made with mixed fruits.








Usha of Samaikalam Vanga


sent me a spicy watermelon juice, with ginger. Her blog has a lot of dishes to try out.





Sowmya of Creative Saga



sent me a wonderful Kairi Panha made with raw mango. Her blog is filled with variety.







Next is JZ@Tasty Treats,

she sent me three entries, and her blog is a very beautiful one too.....
Her entries are Strawberry & Kiwi smoothie, Mango Lassi and a milkshake with honeydew, grape and watermelon.






Next is Jyothsana's Curry Bazaar

a very colorful and cool blog. Her entry is karkade hibiscus tea. A very pretty blog with a lot of things to check out.









Lakshmi of Test Taste of Mysore

sent me Mix vegetable and fruit with Rose Tea . Her blog has a wonderful list of recipes.









Uma Priya of TeluguRuchi

sent a smoothie with non-fat yogurt and straweberries and cherries called salubrious-smoothie. A cute blog to check out!









Shreya of Amma'sCooking


sent me Pomegranate juice with honey. Her blog has a great list of recipes too!



Sangeetha of LetUsAllCook's


entry is mango milkshake. The blog is filled with yummy recipes.








Yasmeen of Healthnut


sent me Nature's Best Drink, made with fruits and baby spinach. A cool blog with yummy dishes.








Vanisri of Illatharasi,

sent in carrot, orange and watermelon juice which she calls "COW- Blend". Her blog also has an amazing collection of recipes.







Vandana Rajesh of CookingUpSomethingNice


sent me a date and banana shake. Her blog has some really cool dishes!









Trupti of RecipeCenter sent in 6 entries with a variation from salad to soup, grilled to juice.

Grilled WaterMelon Salad made with water melon, cherries, grapes, orange juice and cheese.






Soup made with honeydew melon and cantaloupe with lemon and pepper!







Kairas an easy and smiple recipe of raw mango pickle.


Grilled vegetable salad made with bell peppers and brocholli.







Juice made with cantaloupe and grapes.





And finally a Tomato Cooler.







Cham of Spice-Club,

sent me two entries.

Her entries are Fruity Iced-Tea










and Popsicles.
Her blog is a beautiful one with amazing recipes.








Divya of Divya'sCookBook,


sent me Mango Smoothie. Her blog has wonderful recipes.









FoodyGuru(Srimathi) of FewMinuteWonders,


sent in a yummy mango custard lassi. A quick and easy dessert.









Karuna of FoodieByNature,



sent me her entry Quick Mango Dessert.
A pretty blog with wonderful dishes.







Mythreyee of Paajaka Recipes.



She sent me Mango Lassi. Her blog has a variety of recipes to try out and wonderful ones too.







Sireesha of Mom's Recipes.
Her entry is a yummy drink made with apricots and almonds.
Her blog also has amazing recipes and is very colorful.








Her second entry is a smoothie with oranges and bananas with a good twist of adding soy milk.

Purva of Purva'sDaawat

sent me two entries
slushy-strawberry-banana-smoothie





pineapple-juice-in-coconut-milk.
Her blog is a beautiful one with delicious recipes.




Maheshwari of Beyond the Usual,



has sent us a mango pineapple drink called The Sun Juice

Her blog is a good with wonderful recipes and others.






Thank you all again for sending me your amazing entries and I just loved doing this. Will surely work on another one soon. Have a wonderful day!
In the round up I haven't mentioned about the drinks in detail which I shall do it as a separate entry soon.....

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Potato Fry


An easy to make potato fry that can be made with less effort and spicy too. Arya's most favorite vegetable is potato and if there is potato fry on his plate that is the only thing he will eat. We make potatoes once in two weeks and we all love it too.




Ingredients:-
Potatoes - 4 medium cut into small pieces (no need to remove teh skin, its optional)
Shallots - 2 chopped fine
Garlic - 2 cloves chopped fine
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1.5tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Asafoetida - a few pinch
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/4 tsp
Bengal gram - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4tsp
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:-
1. Heat a non-stick kadai and pour the oil
2. Once hot add the mustard seeds, urad dhal, bengal gram, asafoetida, cumin seeds, curry leaves and when the spluttering stop.
3. Add the chopped garlic and fry well
4. Now the turmeric powder and the chili powder followed by the cut potatoes
5. Mix well and make sure the potatoes are well coated with the spices.
6. Do not cover it, stir it occasionally and when half done add salt and the chopped shallots.
7. There is no need to add water as the potatoes are cut small they will cook fast and by themselves.
8. Serve hot with dhal rice, lemon rice or with rotis. This is a very dry dish.

Masala Puri - spicy

A favorite chaat dinner of ours. This was introduced to us by our friend Aparna in Austin,TX. She is a very good friend of mine and a lovely person too. Her husband Ravindra and Vivek used to work in the same place. She made it for me when I was pregnant with Arya and I fell in love with it from the very first bite.
The masala is made with onions and the filling is the same as we would use for most other chaats. It is a little time consuming but not difficult to make. I haven't made it for a long time and we decided to have it for dinner the weekend my brother-in-law was here. It was good and it was the first time he had it and he said it was good too.
It is a fun dish to make especially with kids around, as they are sure to love to play with the golgappas and have fun doing the fillings....So here u go and you can enjoy it too.

You need:-

1.Golgappas -- store bought is fine - this amount will serve upto 75.
2.Onions - 4 medium (red or white)
3.Tomatoes - 2 nos
4.Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
5.Green chilies - 3 nos
6. Elaichi - 2 nos
7.Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
8.Cinnamon - 1 inch
9.Cloves - 4 nos
10.Cashewnuts - 10 nos
11.Cilantro - 1 bunch
12. Mint leaves - a few
13.Coconut - half a cup
14.Tamarind - 1 tsp
15.Peas or chick peas - 1 cup
16.Amchur - 1/2 tsp
17.Pani puri masala - 1/4 tsp
18.Salt to taste
18.Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

For the filling:-

Onion - 1 medium chopped fine
Tomatoes - 2 chopped fine
Carrot - 2 grated
Peanuts - boiled (optional)
Lime - 1 cut into wedges


Method:-

1. Cut the 4 onions into medium sized pieces and pour a little water and put it in the cooker for 1 whistle.







2. Once the onions are done put them in a blender and puree them and keep it aside.





3. In a mixie take the ingredients 3 -10 and grind them into a fine paste by adding water if required.








4. In a deep non-stick vessel pour the cooking oil and when hot add the ground onions and after five minutes add the ground paste and keep stirring until the raw smell of the masala goes.







5. Take ingredients 11-14 and grind them to a paste and now add it to the masala.








6. It is okay to add a little water if necessary, but remember that the masala has to be really thick.
7. While it is simmering add two - three pinch of amchur to it and let it simmer until it becomes thick and the aroma arises. Then switch it off and set it aside.







8. In the meantime in a kadai boil the chick peas / peas with water, a little salt, a pinch of amchur and pani puri masala.
9. When fully done add two big spoons of the gravy to it and let it simmer for a while.
10. You can either smash it with a potato smasher or run it in the blender.








11. Now make holes in the golgappas and set it aside.









12. To fill them follow it by first adding the smashed peas or chick peas, onions, tomatoes, carrots and then pour the warm masala generously over it and just squeeze the lime a little for a tangy flavor and eat it warm. If you like to add 2 or 3 peanuts before pouring the masala.
I poured a little masala in the golgappas, but it will better to pour some more! Its ok to get our fingers messy...
Have fun eating it!