Aavalakki.. Pavalakki...Kaanchana minna minna

Avalakki vaggarne is the most simpliest dish that can be made in just 10mins and it's our family favorite. My mom experiments a lot with this ingredient and I have learnt a lot from her.

Keep finely chopped 2md onions, 1md capsicum, 1md grated carrot, 5-6 chopped beans, 1md chopped potato, 1md bowl green peas, 3-4 finely chopped chillies, finely chopped corriander for garnishing, 6-7 curry leaves, 6-7 pudina leaves, 1/2 md slized lemon.

Take 1large bowl of avalakki. Clean it with water 2-3times and drain the water completely. Keep it aside.

Take a kadai, pour 3tbspn oil, 1tspn mustard, allow them to splutter, add 1tspn kadale beele, 1tspn uddina beele. Saute them till they look golden brown. Then add 1tspn jeera. Now add onions, saute it, add a pinch of salt so that onion gets cooked faster. Now add potato and beans, because they take time to get cooked. If required add a pinch of salt. Once potato and beans is 1/2 cooked, add grated carrot, green peas and capsicum. Mix and saute all the vegetables. Now add chillies, curry leaves and pudina leaves. Add salt as required and hing as well (if required).

Now add the soaked avalakki and mix it with the vegetables nicely. Squeeze lemon and garnish it with corriander and coconut.

Lord Krishna loves Avalakki, so dont forget to offer a small portion to him as well.

GG Phayasam..

I had 250gms of Gasa Gase on the last rack, of my kitchen shelf, and honestly I knew only 1 recipe, where this ingredient can be used extensively and it was payasam. This spice is also known as Poppey seeds or Khus Khus.

I had to convince myself to prepare payasam, because any additional dish on weekdays is a tough thing to accomodate. Guess what, I was preparing it for the 1st time, slightly nervous but confident. So I took all the God's name and said, they will be offered this payasam and you know, it will be the best. I had seen my mom preparing it, but implementing is what matters right. This is how I prepared it.

Take a medium bowl and soak 250gms of gasa gase overnight, if you want to prepare it for morning. Next day we will see gasa gase bloated, which is a good sign. Now soak equal quantities of badam, dry grapes, soft dates and cashewnuts along with gasa gase (in the same bowl). Add 5 elachies and 3 cloves for a good flavour, smell and taste. Leave them alone for the next 2 hrs.

Now boil the entire soaked stuff in low flame, ensure all the water is evaporated. Dont add extra water. Turn off heat and allow it to cool. Once it's cool, grind the entire mixture to a fine paste, without any water.

Take a non stick kadai.Generouly add 2tbspn of ghee and once it's melted, add the grinded mixture and mix it well with ghee. Add 1medium cube of jaggery into the mixture. Allow it to boil in low flame. 1st the ghee will come in the corners of the kadai and later it will get mixed with the mixture. Keep stiring frequenly till the jaggery is dissolved. We will notice the change in color, which signifies that payasam is done and also it should start boiling slowly. Turn of heat and keep it aside.

I kept my promise by offering God a small cup of payasam with milk.

The payasam tasted toooooooooooooo good and I appreciated myself and was on cloud 9 for the rest of the day.

Veggie Rice

I had been to Namadhari fresh recently and happened to taste sprouted rice served with tamrind and corriander chutney and it was just awesome. I carried home the taste and wanted to try something similar to it. It should not be called as veg biryani or pulov, but should be called Veggie rice, where vegetables dominate the most.

This dish will be enjoyed by veggie lovers and I loved eating it after I cooked and this is how I prepared it.

Cook basamathi rice or regular rice, so that they are spread across and not sticking to each other. Once they are cooked, spread them in a basin, keep under the fan with a tspn of ghee.

Take a non stick kadai, add 3tbspn oil, once the oil is hot, add 2tspn saunf, 2tspn ajwain, 1tbspn ginger garlic paste. Saute it and add 2 md sliced onions. Sprinkle little salt and and ensure onions are now golden brown. Now add 1md potato, small pieces, 1 md cup sprouted green peas, 1 large cup cauliflower. (ensure cauliflower is soaked in salt water for 15mins to kill and remove the worms in it). Add little water and allow it to cook for 10mins. Check if the potato and cauli is half baked. Now add finely chopped tomatoes and mix well. We can now add 1tspn amchur pdr, 1 tspn dhaniya pdr and mix them well with the veggies. Now add finely 8-9 leaves of chopped pudina, 1tspn kasturi methi and mix them well.

Add this veggie mix on the rice and mix well and garnish them corriander.

Now this is not done.. we need to prepare a chutney or raitha and its a simple recipe.

Take 1md cup curd, slightly sour, to get the tangy taste. Pinch of salt, and hing. Grind 8-9 pudina leaves, 4-5 curry leaves and 1 chilli with very little water. Strain the juice from the grinded mixture and mix it with curd and serve it with the veggie rice. This is just awesome and finger licking good.

Bajjiiiiiiiiiiiii

The weather in Bengaluru is just too good these days and I can't stop imagining myself eating something hot and spicy. I had full energy and was mentally prepared to cook and eat the Bajjies. It was around 11am and the weather was cloudy and drizzling, which was a positive sign to eat.

I checked if I had the essential ingredients and they were there, ready to get cooked. After you have read this recipe, dont hesitate to prepare them. Get Set Gooooo.......

Take a bowl, ensure it's dry completely. 2 md cup kadale hittu (besan flour), 1 pinch of turmuric, salt as required, 1tspn hing, 1-2 tspn chilly pdr, 1 tspn maida (tightly covers the veggie), 1/2 tspn rice flour (bajji to be crispier), grinded 3-4 chillies, finely chopped corriander & tender 4-5 curry leaves.

First mix the above mixture before you add water and the consistency should be little thicker than the dosa dough.

Pour oil 3/4 of the kadai. Ensure it's the required temp to fry the bajjies.

I had prepared the bajji with onion rings and potato slices. Now dip the desired veggies in the dough and fry them. 4-5mins should be good enough for each batch. This can also be tried with cauliflower, capsicum, snakegourd...

You can enjoy eating it with tomato sauce or with pudina chutney. If nothing is available, just enjoy the bajjies seeing the weather outside.

Beets or Beats........

I was seeing Beetroot after a long time. Once upon a time, this was my favorite vegetable. I used to enjoy eating it's palya with curd rice. Don't know how I got disconnected from it.

Nevertheless, thanks to my vegetable vendor, who told me that, he has not seen me buying this vegetable from him. I immediately picked it up. I picked up 1/2 kg fresh and juicy beets for my palya today.
As you all know, I have my own way of preparing it and this is how I made it.

Peel the skin of the beet and grate it. Yes grate them. 

Take a non stick kadai. Add 3 tbsn of oil, once it's warm, add 1 tspn mustard, allow it to splutter. Add a pinch of turmuric & hing. Now add the grated beets and saute it. Sprinkle it with salt and mix it. Cover it with a lid, so that it cooks faster. I had a small bowl of green sprouted peas left, so I added it to this paly.

Keep checking often to see if its cooked. The raw flavor of the beets and the peas should have gone. Now it's time to add, 4-5 curry leaves, little more salt, if required. Chopped 2-3 chillies. Mix it well with the beets.

Squeeze 1lemon to the palya and before serving garnish it with corriander. The beet taste gets mixed with the lemon and it gives a tangy taste, which goes excellent with the chapathi.