Dish It out - Brinjal N Garlic Event Announcement

         Wishing U all a Very Happy N Prosperous New Year. May this year brings You all Happiness,wealth n good health. May God shower all his Blessings to U n Your Family n makes all your dreams n desire come true. Happy 2012  :)

I am so glad and excited to guest host Vardhini's very Popular event, Dish It Out for the month of January 2012. Thank you Vardhini for giving me the opportunity to host your event. My choice of Ingredients - Brinjal and Garlic. Both are my favorite vegs and i love the combo too. You can use any variety of brinjal-purple Brinjal/Egg Plant/Green Brinjal and garlic in any form,paste/powder/fresh/flakes.

Some Health Benefits of Brinjal N Eating Brinjal

Eggplant or Brinjal, is a very low calorie vegetable and has healthy nutrition profile; good news for weight watchers! The veggie is popularly known as aubergine in the western world.
Botanically, it belongs to solanaceae family and named as Solanum melongena. This perennial plant is native to Indian subcontinent and now grown in many tropical and semitropical regions. Eggplant / brinjal decreases the cholesterol level in the blood. It is a low carb vegetable and it is also conducive to the production of energy and stamina to rebuild the body. Professional dieticians like to use eggplants to prepare planned food.

• Take brinjal in a mashed form or as a soup and add some garlic and asafetida to it. It will help you get rid of flatulence and adjust the wind humor of the body.
• Brinjal can also be eaten after being roasted directly on fire. Just peel off the skin, mash it and add some salt in it for flavor and eat it. It will help cure phlegm, congestion and reduce the formation of gas.
• In order to increase appetite and digestion, take soup made of mashed brinjal and tomato, along with some salt and pepper.
• In case you are unable to fall asleep easily, eat a soft brinjal (along with some honey) after baking it directly over fire. If taken regularly, it may also cure insomnia.
• In order to cure enlarged spleen caused due to malaria, eat soft baked brinjal along with raw sugar on empty stomach, preferably in the morning.

Some Health Benefits of Garlic N Eating Garlic:

Among the medicinal herbs, garlic health benefits undoubtedly rank as the most popular herbal remedy. Many health problems can be prevented or cured by garlic.Nowadays, garlic health benefits various medical issues. Many health problems can be prevented and treated with simply a daily dose of a clove of garlic.

• Regular intake of garlic can reduce blood cholesterol and may increase HDL and LDL ratio. HDL refers to good cholesterol and LDL refers to bad cholesterol. Many studies proved that taking garlic orally is associated with lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure. This can prevent a person against possible heart disease and stroke. 
• To prevent blood clot, one can take garlic. It can increase nitric oxide production in the blood vessels. It helps to dilate the blood vessels, and aids in fibrinolysis or dissolving of blood clotting 
• Garlic can improve a person’s immune system. It has anti-cancer components that can prevent colon cancer and stomach cancer. People with more garlic in their food intake or diet have less risk of colorectal cancer or pancreatic cancer. Garlic supplementation can also reduce the development of cancer cells among people with family history of breast, prostate and throat cancers

Now Here are the rules to participate and the event runs from Jan 1st to Jan 31st 2012.

1. Make a dish using "Brinjal and Garlic". We should be able to taste both the ingredients in the final dish.
2. Only vegetarian entries. Eggs are allowed in baking.
3. Use of logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word. Use any one.
4. Link to Vardhini's Dish it Out announcement and this announcement page is mandatory.
5. Archived entries are accepted as long as they are linked with both announcements.

6. Mail all your entry to sangeethaskitchen(at)gmail(dot)com with the following details(if the linky tool doesn't work)...

Your Name:
Blog Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL:
Recipe Photo (Please limit to max 400 pixels)

Looking forward for all your wonderful n innovative recipes. I expect at least one entry from all my blogger friends, do support and encourage me by your active participation. Thank You !!

Sorry the linky tool has closed...plz do mail me your entries to the above email address.

Green Peas Cabbage Vada

        Simply i tried vada/vadai with dried green peas and little chana dal. the flavor was bit different but the taste and crispness was similar to Masal Vadai/Dal Vada.Grinding part bit difficult to me, if u have processor or Indian mixie it works easy for you. I used more cabbage n less onion to this vada and was totally different and yummy. I made this for our tea time snack and enjoyed this chill evening with hot n spicy vada n coffee. Do try this enjoy. The recipe as follows,

Potato Coriander Curry

     
  After 5 days of sickness today i am feeling good, able to cook and do all other works. Only for Blog sake , i made a curry from Schmetterling words. Yes, my H had cooked for us the previous night and told me to take complete rest. But i couldn't keep idle and also today was Blog Hop Wednesday and i have to post a recipe from my paired blogger's space.

Cauliflower Peas Kurma

       Hope everyone enjoyed your festival holidays and back to routine. In my home we all are sick and couldn't able to enjoy our holidays simply took complete rest. But still having cold and ear pain, for kids also fever comes n goes :( Giving prescribed medicines but didn't recover :_( Dunno what to do, okk let's move to today's recipe is "Cauliflower Peas Kurma", simple and tasty kurma, i made this long back along with Spring Onion Carrot Paratha. This is a mild spicy kurma which goes well with any paratha,chapathi,Puri and with Pulav also. The recipe as follows,

Masala Egg Pepper Fry

       
 This is very easy and quick stir fry. Hard boiled eggs are stir fried with onion tomato masala and lastly spiced with pepper powder. This yummy masala egg pepper fry goes well with all variety rice, pulao and biryani also. The recipe as follows..

Spicy Garlic Mozzarella Muffins ~ Breakfast Muffins!!

            Today's recipe is simple and savory breakfast muffins made with chilli, garlic,parsley and mozzarella cheese. For the first time i baked a muffin from the scratch. Once i tried blueberry muffin with muffin mix. My kids love muffins a lot, their fav was Banana Nut/chocolate muffins(to be blogged soon). But i want to try some savory muffins and i got this recipe Here. I tweaked the recipe to suit my tastebuds and was really super Hit.This was so simple and you made them in few minutes.
These savory muffins are perfect for breakfast along with some milk n fruits. I just halved the recipe and later worried. Yes, these were so addictive and i couldn't stop with one :) Try this at home, these would definitely be a great start to your day :) Now to the recipe..

Salt Crackers / Ritz Crackers

        I searched for some savory or salty crackers/cookies recipe I came across this recipe in Cupcake Project site. This is nothing but the famous Ritz Crackers recipe and I was so impressed by their picture and presentation. Also, the recipe was easy and simple and I tried it immediately. It tasted same like the store bought Ritz Crackers, except mine was less salt as I didn't brush the crackers with salty butter.

Fruit Salad With Ginger Honey Dressing ~ Winter Special

          Today's recipe is healthy fruit salad with home made ginger honey dressing. Winter is the season where we are more prone to Cold and Flu. Because of recurring infection our body loses its natural immune power. So its very important to keep our self Fit and Active. Generally I have the habit of taking one apple or at least half apple, one banana in regular basis without fail. But sometimes due to sever cold or sore throat I hate to eat fruits.

Spicy Treats Reaches 100000 Hits !!!

     Yes,Yes,Yes, Spicy Treats reaches its Golden Mark, 1Lakh Hits over this weekend. All this is because of My Wonderful Readers, Fellow Bloggers and viewers support, only you could make this and I extend my heartfelt Thanks to All My Readers and Friends. And I hope you will continue this support and encouragement in future also to reach my space 1 Million Hits :))

Spring Onion Chutney

Today's recipe is simple and tasty Spring Onion Chutney. First time I tried this chutney and turned out so yummy and makes a best combo with Idli & Dosa as well. Before going to the recipe I would like to add some more words about my previous post "Essence Dosa/Essence Roast". This is very special and popular dosa recipe in Salem(my hometown) that too in Ammapet area.

Vermicelli Paal Payasam Recipe/ Semiya Paal Payasam Recipe / Vermicelli Payasam Recipe

updated pic-6/17/13

           This is my Guest Post for Kalyani(Mom Chef) of Sizzling Tastebuds. I was so excited and delighted when Kalyani asked me to share a recipe for her guest post series. Thank you Kalyani for me giving such a wonderful opportunity. Its really more exciting to see our own recipe/post on other blog in guest post form. I feel so honored to featured on her space with a special notes. Once again thank you so much.
Keeping the festival season in mind I decided to share my family favorite sweet recipe "Vermicelli Paal Payasam".  I make this often for all special occasions. Very simple and delicious recipe too.

Essence Dosa / Essence Roast ~ My Hometown Special !!

This week I was paired with Prabha of Prabha's Cooking. She is my relative and a good friend. I tried some of her recipes and all were turned out good and even shared my comments also. For Blog hop I decided to make honey cookies from her space but I don't have cashew nuts in hand, then searched for some other recipe and at last decided to make My Hometown special recipe - Essence Dosa. I was wondering how I forgot this recipe to share in my space..My mom makes chicken essence which is our most favorite dish for dosa. I made only once in this 4 years. 

Aloo Paratha / Spicy Mashed Potato Stuffed Paratha

 Aloo/Potato is my family favorite veg :) Anything with this veg will be a hit and one such recipe is Aloo Paratha/Potato Stuffed Paratha. My kids love any kind of stuffed parathas and particularly this Aloo and Paneer stuffed Parathas. There are lots of Aloo paratha recipes and this is my style of making Aloo Paratha. Very simple and yummy recipe, these parathas are great for lunch box too. No need for any special side dishes , mango pickle n curd is the best combo. Nothing can be better than this combination. I just love these yummy parathas pickled raitha or pickle n yogurt with chaat masala. The recipe as follows..

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

Today's recipe is Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti, biscotti is nothing but a twice baked cake or i can say crunchy/crispy cake. For the first time i tried baking biscotti and was half satisfied with the outcome. ie. i was fully satisfied with the taste but the appearance and texture was not perfect that's all due to my oven and also i don't have sharp knife :( Within 17 minutes the first bake was done more than it to be and because of blunt knife i couldn't cut them properly and somehow i managed to take pictures with some 4-5 biscotti.  The taste was exactly like the chocolate cake in addition crunchy bites of pistachio and chocolate chips(morsels). I used  mini morsels instead of chocolate chips. And here i want to thank Vardhini for her detailed biscotti step wise pictures. Thanks dear it really helped me lot and gave me a confidence to try it. Now to the recipe...

Spring Onion Carrot Paratha

 
  I often make chapathi/paratha for our lunch along with curry or sometimes with simple pickled raitha. This time i tried this flavor rich, delicious and healthy Spring Onion Carrot Paratha. Spring onion and carrot makes an excellent combo and this paratha turned out super soft and tasty. These parathas are perfect for lunch box and also a great travel time recipe too. The recipe as follows..

Homemade Pizza (with Wheat Crust) - Veggie Lover's !

         Pizza, originated in Italy and of course one of the national food of Italy and Italian people and now it has become more popular and loved by people all over the world. Pizza is nothing but a oven baked flat disc shaped bread topped with tomato sauce ,cheese, vegs and meat also. There are some varieties of pizza like pan pizza, thin crust pizza and stuffed(crust) pizza and a wide range of toppings.
         I am also one of the lover of Pizza , particularly the one from Pizza Hut - only Veggie Lover's. My kids love pizza a lot, that too they like olives and cheese a lot. monthly once we get  pizza for them. I wanted to try Homemade pizza for long time and also i want to make it with wheat crust. After referring so many sites finally i got cleared and found a recipe which suits for me ie. with the ingredients at home. In most of the recipes they said to make the dough in bread machine or processor which i don't have. But my previous bread and bun baking efforts were all fruitful and it gave me a confidence to proceed by kneading itself. I took reference from Here and Here.I tried with whole wheat flour and store bought tomato sauce and the result was awesome, its perfect and my kids loved it. They don't have patience and as usual didn't allow me to take pictures ,5-6 pictures only i took ( DSLR helped me this time to get some good pictures). Now to the recipe...

Baked Masala Broccoli

          Broccoli is one of our favorite vegetable. My kids too love this a lot and often make Broccoli stir Fry and Oven Roasted Broccoli . For a change this time, i tried baking them with all Indian Masalas, that was also really so spicy and flavorful. We had this with Sambar and curd rice . I like to munch these crispy and masala Broccoli as such and finish the plate in one go, yep it was so yummy and healthy...Now to the recipe..

Stuffed Paniyaram / Tomato Masala Stuffed Paniyaram

 Another interesting recipe, spicy and tangy tomato stuffed Paniyarams. I have already tried and posted Musroom masala Stuffed Paniyarams, this is another successful attempt with tomato masala as stuffing. I made this for the event, LGSS - Tomato guest hosting by my blogger friend Anu. This is a simple yet very tasty kara paniyarams with tomato thokku stuffed. Very tasty and spicy paniyaram perfect for breakfast or evening tiffins. 

Ridge Gourd Chutney

             Ridge gourd chutney is very easy and quick chutney, this goes well with all kind of tiffen varieties like Idly/dosa/Rav dosa/Pongal/Chapthi and even with plain rice also. This is one of my fav chutney but i never tried with its peel, as here we couldn't get that much fresh ridge gourds :(  now to this simple recipe...

Sweet Corn Methi Paratha

     I love steamed sweet corns a lot n rarely make masala corn with the kernels but other than that i never tried any recipe with sweet corn. For the First time I tried this paratha with mashed sweet corn n fresh methi leaves combo. The parathas were too soft and tasted so good. Sweetness of corn n light bitterness from methi was balanced and paratha was too good and we had a satisfying n healthy meal with this parathas, soya tomato curry n potato podimas. Now to the sweet corn methi paratha...

Chilli Ajwain Biscuits - No Sweet !

             Today's recipe is Chili Ajwain Biscuits - No Sweet, few weeks back i saw this recipe from Priya's blog and tried it as we love savory/spicy snacks. I recreated her recipe to my taste and we all enjoyed this spicy ajwain flavored biscuits. Thank you Priya for sharing this lovely snack, friends do try this at your home and let me know how it turned out to you. Now to the recipe...

Event Announcement - Bake Fest # 2

Hello Friends,
    I am happy to announce that i am guest hosting the event, "Bake Fest" started by Vardhini. I am so excited and happy to be guest hosting  the event, Bake Fest # 2 for this month, December 2011. Thank you Vardhini for giving me this opportunity. Baking , yes we all love to bake and also this is a festive season , where people love to share their festival greetings with homemade baked goodies with their friends and family. So friends the event is for U, don't forget to send in your entries and make this a very successful event. Nothing is possible without your love and support, so please show your love and support by sending all your baked entries to this event and enjoy the festival season with your family.

The event runs from Dec 1st - Dec 31st.Here are some simple rules to send in your entries...

1. Send in any recipe which has been baked / broiled.
2. Only vegetarian or vegan recipes please. Eggs are allowed in Baking only.
3. Usage of the logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word.
4. Please Link to this announcement page and also to Vardhini's Bake Fest announcement page.If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with both the links.
5. You can send in any number of new entries and a maximum of 2 old/archived entries.
6. Last date for your entries, December 31, 2011.
7. Non Bloggers can also participate and send in your recipes to the email sangeethaskitchen(at)gmail(dot)com.

So Please friends link your recipes to the attachment link by Dec 31st 2011. If you have trouble with linking your recipes, please do send your entry to the above email ID with the following details..
Your Name:
Blog Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL:
Recipe Photo (Please limit to max 400 pixels)

Looking forward for all your wonderful recipes, thank you !!!

Potato Poppy seeds Gravy / Rich Potato Gravy !

Its again time for Blog Hop Wednesday and this is 10th week happening successfully all because of Radhika and other Co-Hoppers who actively participate in this event every alternate Wednesday. And this week I am paired with one of my blog buddy Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen. This time I don't have any confusion to choose the recipe, as I decided to pick any curry from her space. Since daily my toughest job is to decide what's for dinner?? with Chapathis/dosa?? So I tried her Potato in Poppy seed Coconut Gravy. This is bit similar to my mom's kurma recipe and it goes well with both Idly/Dosa n Chapathi/rotis also. For breakfast I served with dosa n the left over curry we had it with chapathi. This is a rich and heavy dish which you can choose for any Potluck Party or get together Party. Now to the recipe...

Beet Root Usili With Mung Bean/Green Gram Dal

           Generally for usili, we use combo of tuvar dal and chana dal or tuvar dal alone. For a change i tried with Mung bean/Green gram dal. I love this usili with rasam sadham. I made Thattai Payir Rasam and beet root usili for lunch and that was so healthy n filling . I saved some 5 steamed mung bean dumplings which i made for Mor Kuzhambu and tried this yummy n healthy beets usili. Now to the recipe,

Soya Tomato Curry / Soya Chunks In Tomato Gravy

 Soya Tomato Curry Recipe with step by step photos. Hello Friends, hope you all doing great. I am good and still in Holiday mood, feeling so lazy and not willing to do any work. As here, climate was so cold and dull which again makes me so lazy and not even in a mood to blog, but I have some recipes for this month's events and so wanted to share them within this month end and I am here with today's recipe, Soya Tomato Curry.

Mung Bean Dumplings In Yoghurt Sauce / PachaPayir Urandai Mor Kuzhambu

          Today's Recipe is Mor Kuzhambu with PachaPayir/Mung bean Urandai. Mung Bean Urandai really suits well with Mor Kuzhambu. This is my style of Mor Kuzhambu with Mung bean dumplings and i just loved  it with hot rice and pickle.  Mung bean dumplings are so healthy n nutritious than the regular tuvar/chana dal dumplings. love mor kuzhambu a lot n with this mung bean dumpling tasted so good n my kids too liked this kuzhmabu n the mung bean dumplings a lot. Do give it a try n let me know h it turns out to u :) Now to the recipe...

Mung Bean Capsicum Pulao

            Today's recipe is a healthy and yummy pulao with mung bean and capsicum/bell pepper. This is very simple and easy one pot meal which also perfect for lunch box. For this pulao i added a very flavorful n yummy combo of masala ingredients which made this simple recipe to a super hit one. For presentation, i simply tried some cutting the veggie slices like flower shape n hope it look so :) Now to the interesting n flavorful healthy pulao....

Coconut Buns / Sweetened Coconut Stuffed Buns / Sweet Buns

            Little bored with savory baking and so tried this simple coconut honey stuffed sweet buns. Iprepared both savory Cauliflower Stuffed Buns and this Coconut stuffed sweet buns on the same day, same time and the sweet buns dominated and the coconut, cardamom, honey smelled so good and my kids loved this buns a lot. Here i have used sweetened coconut flakes, tutti frutti for stuffing, you can also use freshly grated roasted coconut and also add some finely chopped nuts for nice crunch. Now to the recipe...

Stuffed Buns / Spicy Gobi Stuffed Buns / Spicy Cauliflower Stuffed Buns

      Long long ago i tried this savory stuffed buns with cauliflower masala . Like my previous baking attempt this was also successful and am happy to share this here . 

Tomato Parsley Penne / Penne Pasta With Tomato N Parsley

         Pasta/Macaroni/Spaghetti  breakfast is almost everyone's fav breakfast except my H's. He doesn't like such kind of recipes even without cheese. And also he wont allow me also to buy pasta or macroni and even restrict for kids but for the first first he allowed to buy this penne pasta which is made of whole grain n whole wheat , 0g saturated fat,0g trans fat and no cholesterol and the most notable is rich in fiber. I know its a well known fact to you all but want to share for people like my H who think Pasta/Macroni/Spaghetti as a Junk food. I made a very simple version with tomato and parsley as main ingredient. the tangy tomato and parsley flavor dominated more and was so yummy !!! Now to the recipe...

Parsley Potato - Oven Roasted !

           Parsley Potatoes, very yummy and flavorful crispy potatoes can be served as an appetizer/snack or side dish. This is originally an Italian Parsley potato recipe but took the idea of steaming the potatoes alone and baked in oven whereas the original recipe sauted on stove stop. I simply steamed and mixed with mild spices and parsley and baked them until crisp and enjoyed. Now to the recipe..

Kaju Pista Roll Recipe - My 300th Post & A Giveaway !

Yep,Today I am Writing 300th Post. I am so happy and excited, woke up early in the morning started making sweet to celebrate the moment :) Blogging has changed my life a lot, made me more energetic creative and over all more colorful. My first blog was about my life love story :) That time also, I use to recollect all my sweet memories and tried to wrote my real story with lovely quotes and poems.

Mixed Vegetable Kurma Recipe / Green Veg Kurma Recipe

 Most of us love to cook and experiment new dishes right?? I too love and started my cooking from my school days itself. Being a working woman, my mom definitely need my help in the kitchen that too during weekdays busy morning hours, making both breakfast and lunch in a short time. I just started by helping by mom with cutting and doing small works in the kitchen, later learned to cook rice, sambar n rasam  and most of the typical south Indian recipes :)  

Soya Methi Mutter Sabzi

            From my childhood days i love this soya/meal maker a lot. I love this in biryani, my mom makes yummilicious biryani with soya/meal maker.I just love the biryani...yum..yum.. Its texture appearance are similar to meat and the protein content of soya are richer than the meat. Recently started using soya chunks/granules in many forms,(soya granules) curry,(soya)cutlets and soya bread rolls and now with combination of methi n mutter. This is very quick sabzi and more tasty with rotis/puris.

Ingredients

1. Soya Chunks   1 cup
2. Methi leaves    from 1 bunch(cleaned n washed)
3. Mutter/peas    1/4 cup or less
4. Onion     1 large(sliced)
5. Tomato   1 large(chopped)
6. Wheat flour     1 tsp
7. Chilli powder    1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder     a pinch
9. Cumin powder     1/4 tsp
10. Garam Masala     1/2 tsp
11. Amchur powder    a generous pinch
12. Salt     to taste
13. Oil     2 tsp
14. Fennel seeds    1/4 tsp(optional)
15. Cumin seeds    1/2 tsp

Method

• Take a wide skillet, add 4-5 cups of water , bring to boil and add soya chunks and leave it for 3-4 minutes and drain completely, squeeze the soya chunks to remove excess water and chop them roughly and keep aside until use.

• Heat oil in a pan, add fennel n cumin seeds allow to splutter then add curry leaves and sliced onions.
• Saute till it turns translucent and add chopped tomatoes saute for another minute.

• Now add 1 tsp of wheat flour and stir fry for a minute.

• After that add, chilli, turmeric, cumin and garam masala powder and stir fry for a minute.
• Then add chopped soya chunks and mix everything well and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.

• And add peas , mix well and add methi leaves and stir well and cook with lid for 2 minutes.

• Lastly add amchur powder and mix well and simmer for few minutes and turn off the stove.
• That's it...Soya Methi Mutter Sabzi is ready to serve. Enjoy with Hot Rotis/Puris.

Sending this recipe to the event, "Only" Curries event started by Pari and guest host by Janaki's Kitchen. and also to the event,  Healthy cooking challenge-Healthy Lunch now happening @ Kavi's Edible Entertainment.

 I am also happy to link this recipe along with my archived entry, Vegetarian Keema/Curry With Soya 
Granules to the ongoing event

, Vardhini's  Dish It Out- Soy n Tomatoes