Flashback 2007: Best of Mane Adige

When I started off in March 2007, I had no real plans for my blog. All I knew was that I wanted to post recipes......I had no idea that maintaining a blog took so much of time and effort !!!! Before starting my own blog, I was a regular at Seema's Recipe Junction and Sig's Live to Eat . I admired their pictures, but didn't realize the amount of effort that went into taking them. It was only when I started my own blog that I realized how hard it was to get ONE right picture with the right amount of zoom, right background, color combination and zillion other things!!!! Not that I have the best of pictures even after all that.... :)

Anyway, coming to the pictures that I personally think are relatively the best on my blog.... :)

1. Dahi Muttar Chaat
2. Rava Rotti
3. Mango Ice Cream
4. Spicy Potato Wedges
5. Masala Coke

The most appreciated recipes from my readers....

1. Cashew Tindora Sabzi
2. Cashew Kheer
3. Avarekai Sambhar
4. Mango Something
5. Green Onion Curry

I think that the pictures on my blog can get better.... I promise to try and take better pictures next year and also post more regularly.

Thanx to all you fellow bloggers for your supportive comments and encouraging words. It feels nice to wake up to your lovely comments every morning!!! Thanx to the rest of my readers who drop by through Google search and/or through other friends recommendations. I'd appreciate if you folks would also leave comments and let me know what you think.... Suggestions on improving my blog are always welcome!!

This one goes to Nupur of One Hot Stove for her 'Best of 2007' event.

New Year Wishes to one and all!!!!!

Tomato Bhaat

Hey folks, I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas!! I have for you today, another rice variety that's very common in Karnataka. Each region has its own recipe for Tomato bhaat and they all have their own distinct flavor. Here goes my version of the recipe..... Enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 cup Long grain rice, washed and soaked for about 30 mins

3-4 Medium sized Tomatoes, finely chopped

1 Small Onion, chopped lengthwise

1/2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Clove-Cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

1/2 tsp Sugar

1 Bay leaf

1/2 tsp Paprika/Chili powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Jeera

2-3 tsp Ghee/oil

1-2 tsp Lemon juice

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add Jeera seeds; Add the chopped onions after the jeera seeds splutter and fry till they turn golden brown.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 4-5 mins or until they turn mushy.
3. Add the ginger garlic paste and all the remaining dry masalas and saute for a minute.
4. Add about 1.5 cups of water and bring to boil; Add the rice and cook until done.
5. Turn off the stove; Pour lemon juice and mix well. Serve hot with any raita or chutney of your choice.

Variation: If you do not have all the dry masalas, you could just add 1/2 tsp Garam masala, 1/2 tsp Pulav masala and 1/2 tsp paprika/chili powder and you would get almost the same taste!!!

Here are the different versions of Tomato Bhaat on different other blogs....

Saffron Hut

Akshayapatra

Simply Spicy

Recipe Junction

For the Cook in Me

Eggless Moist Chocolate Cake

Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas!!!!! May Peace, Hope and Love be with you Today and always......

The other day while blog hopping, I found this recipe for Moist Chocolate Cake on Priya's Kitchen. It was eggless and it looked delicious too!!! So, I tried it out couple of days back and it came out really good..... Moist and fluffy. I picked the frosting recipe from here : Buttercream Frosting. Hope you people like it as much as we did. Enjoi!!!

Sowthekai Hasi Gojju / Raw Cucumber in Spicy Coconut Gravy

I received a request from a couple of my readers to post a few fast and easy to make recipes for pregnant women. So, here's one such simple recipe that is really ez to make and goes well with rice.... Not too sure if it satisfies all the nutritional needs of pregnancy, but it would definitely set your taste buds tingling!!! I made this dish first, as a quick fix, when we had recently moved into our new place and I hardly had anything in my pantry.... But we liked it so much that I've started making it quite often now!!! This dish takes hardly 10 mins to make and yet tastes so delicious!!! I hope you guys like it as much as Naveen and I do....

Ingredients:

1/2 Cucumber, peeled and chopped finely

2-3 tbsp Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen

2-3 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds

2-3 Green chillies

2-3 strands Cilantro

3-4 tbsp Curds

1 strand Curry leaves

1 tsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

A pinch of hing

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Gring together - coconut, jeera, green chillies, cilantro and hing to form a smooth paste. Note: Adjust the green chillies according to you spice level.
2. Add the masala paste to the chopped cucumber; Add curds, salt and mix well. Add water to get the desired consistency.
3. Temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves; Serve with hot rice and enjoi!

Variation: You could even add some tamarind (according to your taste) instead of curds. This makes it more tangy and spicy. Add water to get the desired consistency.

Some more quick fixes from my blog.....

• Shunti/Ginger Thambuli
• Coriander Jeera Rasam
• Tomato Puree Rasam
• Baalekai Paladya

Masala cookies / Khaara biscuits

On this one, I just have to say that they are my all time fav!!!! I came across a whole lot of cookie recipes while blog hopping this month, and was tempted to bake some too. So, here's my Indian version of Cookies!!! :). They make a gr8 evening snack and go really well with a hot cup of tea/coffee.

P.S : I know that the star shape of these cookies would make you think that they are sweet.... But they aren't. These are actually spicy and salty. The original cookies that you get in the Indian bakeries are circular in shape. But since I didn't have a circular cutter of the right size, I had to opt for the star.

Ingredients:

2 cups Maida/All purpose flour

1/2 cup Ghee/Clarified butter

2-3 tbsp Curds

1 tsp Chilli powder

1" Ginger, finely chopped or grated

1/2 tsp ( or , as per taste) Salt

2-3 tsp Sugar

1-2 tsp Jeera

1-2 Green chillies, finely chopped

1-2 strands Curry leaves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

A generous pinch of hing

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl to make a pliable dough. If the dough is too dry, add some extra curds.
2. Grease an aluminium foil or plastic sheet and roll the dough into circles, like how you would roll chapatis.
3. Cut out pieces of desired shape with the help of cookie cutter and place on a greased baking tray.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake for about 20 mins or until done.
5. Cool and store in airtight containers.

Shrikhand

I always thought that shrikhand was the most difficult dish to make and it needed a lot of skill, experience n all that..... So, I was hesitant to try it out all these days. But when I was talking to my friend couple of days back, she mentioned that she had made shrikhand for her guests... I immediately collected the recipe from her and realized that it was not really difficult. My only concern was that I didn't have any spare cotton cloth with which I could tie the yogurt. I googled and found here that I could even use a colander instead. So, here goes the recipe. Thanx Sangeeta, for sharing this one with me.. It turned out really tasty!! :)

Ingredients:

2-3 cups Thick curds (I used Danon All Natural Plain yogurt
3/4 - 1 cup Powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp Honey (optional)

1-2 tsp Chopped nuts (cashews/almonds/pistochios)

1/2 tsp Elaichi, powdered

5-6 strands Saffron,soaked in a little warm milk

Method:

1. Pour the curd into a colander with very thin perforations and place a vessel underneath to collect the water. Let cool in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours. Note: You can even tie the curd in a white linen and hang it up so that the extra water drains out.
2. Transfer the curds into a bowl and beat well; Add sugar, honey, elaichi and beat further.
3. Garnish with chopped nuts and serve chilled with pooris. It can even be served separately as a sweet dish. Tip: Adding a few strands of saffron soaked in warm milk gives it a good color and flavor.

Dahi Muttar Chaat

I was going thru' the earlier posts on my blog and I realized that I have very few chaat recipes..... So, here's one of my favorite chaat recipes. This one can be made with any kind of peas (fresh/frozen/dried). I have used frozen peas here. But it tastes best with dried peas that you get at the Indian stores!!

Ingredients:

2 cups Peas, fresh/frozen

1 Small onion, finely chopped

1/2 Tomato, finely chopped

2-3 strands Cilantro, finely chopped

1 tsp Coriander powder

2-3 tsp Chaat Masala

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp Tamarind paste or 1/4 cup Tamarind juice

1 tsp Jaggery

1-2 tbsp Curds

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Add about half a cup of water to the tamarind paste and bring it to boil on stove; Add jaggery, salt and all the remaining dry masalas; Boil well. Adjust ingredients according to taste.
2. Add the peas and boil further till the peas are cooked. The masala should thicken and the peas should blend well into the masala. Save some of the onions and tomatoes for garnishing and add the rest to the peas; Boil for another minute.
3. Meanwhile, beat the curds in a bowl and keep aside. You can add a few spoons of water if the curd is too thick.
4. Remove the peas from stove and transfer into separate plates. Pour a couple of spoons of curds on the peas. Sprinkle some chaat masala over it.
5. Garnish with chopped onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Serve hot and enjoi!

Update: A suggestion from one of my readers: Adding something crunchy like Sev or crushed papdi, gives a new twist to this chaat!!!