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Monday, March 17, 2008

experiments in the kitchen............

i love cooking.i keep trying different dishes.
sanjeev kapoor is my guru next to my amma(mom)

some of my easy to cook dishes.........

carrot paratha.
u need:
baby carrots 6,salt to taste,onion seed 1 tab spoon,little Cinnamon powder,

wash and finely grate carrots ,put salt and keep it aside for half an hour.
take wheat flour,add onion seed(ajwain),Cinnamon powder and mix well.

mix both and kneed it with water, tight enough to make paratha.

make thin parathas and cook on both sides with minimun oil in low flame.use oil only to grease the pan.


serve it hot with spicy curd


to make spicy curd:

take thick curd.
add salt,red chili powder,black salt,pepper powder.
mix well.
the food processor helps making this paratha very quick.
i made it once when i had no veggies in the fridge and did not want to make the regular roti.

after then ive been making it on demand.
my father in law too loves it.

let me know u liked it or not!!!

ANOTHER QUICK DISH
idli in cheesy vegetables!!


make instant idli the usual way:

take 1 cup semolina(rava)
1/2 cup curd.
salt to taste.
mix all in a bowl and add baking soda(1/4 spoon) and mix well.
put the batter in the idli mould(grease it with oil)
steam till done.

cheesy vegetables:
cut capsicum,carrot,tomato,beans into small cubes.
in a pan add just a little oil,cumin seed.
add carrots and beans n cover for 1 min.
add capsicum,salt to taste, and cover for 10 mins in very low flame.







stir and add little cinnamon powder,cardomon and clove powder. and stir.add cheese n cover for 2 mins till it melts.
add pepper powder and put off the flame.



its ready!!!

now cut the idly in cubes,mix it with the vegetables n serve hot.



can add chilli flakes if u want it hotttt!!!!!!!


MAGIC MASSORE DAAL............

once i had no time to make the prope rice,dal,sabji for ravi's lunch box.
i woke up and made something which i named magic massore daal........

u need:
2 cups massore dal(with skin)
cumin seed
1/4 spoon
bay leaves-2
turmeric powder
1/4 spoon
chilli powder
1/4 spoon(u can add more if u want hot)
clove powder 1/4 spoon
cinnamon powder
1/4 spoon
cardomom powder 1/4 spoon
salt
mango powder(amchur) 1 spoon.

soak the daal in boiling water,just enough, for 15 mins.
put cooker on stove,put one tea spoon of oil,put cumin seed.
let it crackle.put bay leaves.
put the daal with water,all the spices,salt to taste.
add little water if needed.
close it and cook for 5 whistles.(15 mins) in medium flame.

the daal is ready.....

now why do i call it magic...
coz ravi's lunch box was ready in short time,without any preparations....
and it tastes yummy............

now i make it when i wake up late..............kind of life saver!!!!

PALAK PANEER:

i made it for the first time for the

SWC-Uttar Pradesh/Awadhi Cuisine


u need:

Spinach 1/2 kg
Paneer 100 grams
Onion 1
Butter 3 tbsp.
Bay leaves 2-3
Cumin seeds 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder 1/4 tsp.
Ginger-garlic paste 3/4 tsp.
Green chilli paste 1/2 tsp.
cinnamon sticks-few.
Vegetable oil as required


method:

mix ginger-garlic paste, green chilli paste and some water with spinach. Pressure cook it for about 7-8 minutes . Cut paneer into small cubes. Keep 3 cubes separately for decoration.
Heat oil in a pan. Fry the paneer pieces on 'medium' heat till they turn slightly brown. Set them aside.
Heat 2 tbsp. of butter. Fry bay leaves and cumin seeds,cinnamon sticks. Add chopped onion. Fry until the onions become pink. Add salt, black pepper powder, garam masala. Stir well. Add paneer and cooked spinach (grinded). Mix well.
Put palak paneer in a baking tray .
Add rest of the butter. Bake for 1/2 hour at 180 deg C.

its ready to eat!!!






Thursday, March 6, 2008

utilising the waste at home.

i believe that wastage is sin.i take care that i use the resources carefully.and being a teacher and a mother it becomes more important to set an example.

here are few of the art stuff i made by using what is called waste, at home.




first one is on the cardboard we get with shirt packing!!

OM on the pistachio shells,base is an empty cookie box.



this is made from the tissue roll,covered with printed cloth which was leftover after i got a new dress stiched.



















this is a patch work wall hanging,with unused cloth pieces,decorated with beads,sequins,


















these are jars of baby food we got for om!!



























some more art works






here are few more of the arty stuff.