Vegetarian Recipes

Date cake again with pictures

2010-11-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

I made date cake again and was able to take pictures. So here it is. It looks yummy and tasted great too.
The recipe for date cake is at http://www.vegetarian-cooking-recipes-tips.com/date-cake-recipe.html

Hope you make it and let me know how it came out.

Yummy Date Cake Ready to eat!

I made Date cake today.

2009-05-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today I made date cake. what is so great about that?

First of all, I haven't baked anything for a long time. the oven was being used to store things instead of baking. so I am happy that I actually used the oven for what it was supposed to be used. I used to make cakes a few years back but stopped for no particular reason.

Another thing is that the cake came out very well. It is of course an egg less date cake. I used the recipe that I found on a site and made some changes. And we love the results. We couldn't wait till the cake was completely cool. We had it when it was still warm. And it tasted yummy enough to want to make it again. Next time, I will double the recipe.

I will post the pictures next time I make it because this time, we finished off the whole thing before I could take the pictures.

Fruity Desert

2008-06-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is an Easy to make simple desert. You can use any fruits of your choice.

Ingredients We need for Fruity Desert:

Musk melon - 1
Black grapes - 1/2 cup
white grapes - 1/2 cup
Banana - 1
Honey - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon powder - a pinch
Cardamom powder - a pinch(optional)
Mint leaves for decoration.

Making:

Peel the musk melon. Cut in the half. Remove seeds. Cut the grapes, banana in pieces. Mix chopped grapes, banana pieces, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, honey in a bowl. Fill the musk halves with grape mixture. Decorate with mint leaves. Serve chilled.

Chutney Sandwich and poori too. The cats breakfast twice.

2008-04-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

Today I made Green coconut chutney used it as a spread for making sandwiches. The chutney color was lovely with all that coriander leaves. I love fresh coriander. I am happy to cook when I hace it. Me an hubby had a good breakfast with those sandwiches.

But as they say ' Dane dane par likha hai khanewale ka nam' in Hindi, meaning(every grain has the person's name for whom it is for), came true. Sasha got up late so did not have breakfast with us. Though I had kept the bread packet on the top shelf, the cats managed to reach it. Though I had already fed them when we had breakfast, they decided they wanted some more. When I went to the kitchen, the bread slices were all scattered on the floor. Well, I fed the bread to the cats again.

When Sasha got up, first she started bawling that she wouldn't be getting Chutney Sandwiches. She quietened when she realized that she would be getting her favorite dish, Poori.

I had to make pooris for Sasha. She was of course very happy with that. So finaly everyone was happy. The cats were happy to breakfast three times. Sasha was happy to have her favorite item. I am happy that I got something to write about.

After a Break

2008-04-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote a page on my vegetarian recipes site about millet and that reminded me of the Bhakri made by mom. She makes it with 'Jowar'. I love them. Especially with 'Zunka'. I make them too but not as big as she makes. It is medium sized. It is not too time consuming. And it tastes wonderful.

I like to make them but the mess it is creates is too much. The whole stove needs to be washed. So I guess the reason I don't make bhakari often is my laziness to wash the kitchen after wards.

When hubby went to Pune sometime back, I got some Bajra flour them there. I made the bhakri, applied some sesame seeds too. Just the way it is done on Bhogi day, the day before Sankranti festival. And everyone loved it. I should make it more often.

Methi(Fenugreek) Paratha(flat bread)

2007-12-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

My daughter doesn't like to eat leafy vegetables. So I have to think of ways to make her eat them by preparing the leafy vegetables in different way. Here I am writing about the Methi Paratha. This can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

For Methi paratha we need:

Fresh Methi leaves : 1 cup
Whole wheat flour : 1 1/2 cups.
gram flour(optional) : 2 tbsp.
salt : 1/2 teaspoon or to taste.
Garlic paste(optional): 1/4th teaspoon.
Red chilli powder: 1/4th teaspoon.
Water : enough to make dough
Oil : for shallow frying.

Preparation:

Chop finely the methi leaves. Mix together methi leaves, whole wheat flour, gram flour, salt, 2 tbsp oil, red chilli powder, garlic paste. Add water as needed to from a ball of dough.

Divide the dough in limesized balls. sprinkle a little flour on the board and roll out the ball in a thick round, using a rolling pin. Heat a girdle and place the rolled round on it. Let cook for a minute. Turn the paratha upside down using a spatula. Add a few drops of oil on the paratha. Cook till both the sides have brown spots. Your paratha is ready. Make all the balls into paratha in this way. Keep them covered till all the parathas are done.

Serve hot with curries, pickles, a bowl of curd.

Sour Aval(puffed rice)

2007-12-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

This can be made for breakfast or a evening snack.

WE need
1 1/2 cups aval.
1/2 cup sour curd.
Salt 1 teaspoon or to taste.
Sugar 1/2 teaspoon.
oil. 2 tablespoons.
mustard seeds. 1/4th spoon
cumin seeds. 1/4th spoon,
curry leaves,
green chillies 2 nos.
water.

Preparation: Dry grind aval to a find powder. Add water, salt, sugar to curd. Add the aval powder and mix well. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

In a deep pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds. When they crackle, add green chillies, curry leaves. Add the soaked aval. mix well . Keep covered for 2 minutes add grated coconut. mix and serve.

Sweet Pongal

2006-10-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Pongal is a name of festival celebrated in the southern India. it is called Sankranti in some states. It is a harvest festival. there is a spicy version of pongal too.

Sweet Pongal is a sweet rice and lentil dish. A speciality generally made on 14th January in the southern part on India on the occasion on the harvest festival. You can use the whole green gram instead of the broken green gram(dal). It is more nutritious . only the colour will change a little.

Ingredients :
· rice – 1 cup
· Moong dal(Green gram) – ½ cup
· Jaggery or sugar – 11/2 cup. (jaggery tastes better)
· Ghee – 2 tbsp
· Cashew nuts – 7-8
· Raisins – 1 tbsp
· Cardamom powder ¼ tsp
· Grated fresh coconut or desccicated coconut 1 cup
· Water -3 cups

Preparation : dry roast moong dal lightly. Wash rice. Add mong dal to the rice. Add 3 cups water and pressure cook as you cook plain rice.

Heat ghee in a pan. Fry cashew nut pieces and raisins. Keep aside.

Mix jaggery and ½ cup water and bring to boil. When jaggery melts, add the cooked rice/dal mixture, grated coconut. Mix and cook on slow fire. Add cashew, raisins, cardamom powder, ghee and mix well. Serve Hot.

Methi(Fenugreek leaves)/ Spinach dal.

2006-09-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is a very tasty dish. You can serve it as a snack or as an accompanyment to a main meal. You can use only methi leaves or only spinach leaves or a combination of both. Even children, who dislike eating greens love it.
----------------------------
Methi/spinach vatli dal.

Ingredients: chana dal 1 cup, 1 cup methi/spinach leaves chopped, 4 green chillis , 1/2 inch ginger piece, 3 garlic flakes, salt to taste , hing, 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut, 1 tea spoon lime juice .

Method: Soak chana dal for 1 hour. Grind together chana dal , green chilli, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, salt. Mix chopped methi/spinach leaves. In a pan, heat oil, and mustard seed and cumin seed . when they stop spluttering, add asafotida, turmeric powder, curry leaves. Add ground mixture. Mix well. Cover and cook on slow fire for 10 minutes. Add grated coconut, lime juice, chopped coriander leaves. Serve as accompaniment with a meal or as a snack.

Sweet Coconut rice (Narali Bhat)

2006-09-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is a very easy to prepare sweet rice. If the rice is already cooked, it takes only 10-15 minutes to make this dish. My husband loves it.
----------------------------------------------
Sweet Coconut rice.

Ingredients : 1 cup rice. 1 cup freshly grated coconut.
1 ½ cup Jaggery or sugar(Jaggery tastes better). ½ teaspoon cardamom powder.
8-10 cashew nuts pieces. Raisins. 2 ½ cup water.
2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter).

Preparation method :
· Wash rice and keep aside for ½ hour. Pressure cook with 2 cups of water till just done.
· Boil jaggery and ½ cup water till jaggery melts.
· Heat ghee in a big pan, fry cashew nut pieces. Remove from ghee.
· In the same ghee, add cooked rice, jaggery syrup, freshly grated coconut. Mix well and cook covered on low fire for 10 minutes. When the syrup is absorbed by rice, add fried cashew nuts, raisins, cardamom powder. Add some more ghee if desired. Mix well. Serve.

Gojju- spicy vegetable curry

2006-08-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Gojju is a special Karnataka dish. It is a combinations of all tastes. spicy, chilli hot, sour and sweet. It is made with a variety of vegetables. Onions, tomatoes, brinjals, ladies finger, bitter gourd etc. It is a great accompaniment for both rice and roti/chapati/bread/nan. I am giving here a simple receipe of tomato gojju.

Ingredients : 1 large onion chopped, 4 large tomatoes chopped, 3-4 green chilies or 1/2 teaspoon green chilli paste, 2 tbsp jaggery, 2 tbsp grated coconut, salt to taste, 2 tbsp oil, 1 tea spoon mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seed(jeera), a pinch of asafotieda, curry leaves, coriander leaves, 1/2 teaspoon of chopped ginger.

Preparation method: In a pan, heat oil. add mustard seeds. when the seeds start spluttering, add cumin seed, chopped onion. Fry for some time. add ginger, green chillies. Continue frying for a few minutes. Add curry leaves, tomatoes. Stir and let cook covered for 10 minutes on low flame. Add jaggery , salt, grated coconut. Add water if necessarry. cook further for 10 min more. Gojju is ready to serve.

Veg Cutlets

2005-11-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

Today I made Vegetable cutlets for dinner. I was not sure my daughter would like it. She avoids eating vegetables as much as possible. I usually need to find ways to hide the vegetables in the dishes that I make. But today she loved the cutlets. She also asked to take them for lunch to school tomottow. So now I have one more way to add vegetables to our menu. I used to make these cutlets long back but had stopped making as my daughter was not eating vegetables

The ingredients that I used are:- 2 large boiled potatoes, 1 big onion, 1/2 cup green peas(boiled), 1/2 cup finely chopped french beans, 1/2 cup grated carrot/beetroot,1/2 tsp green chilli paste, ginger paste, 1 tea spoon garam masala, salt to taste, coriande leaves, chopped. 4 slices of bread, oil for frying.

Method:- Mix together all the vegetables. Soak bread slices in water/milk. squeeze out the liquid. Add to veg mixture. add salt, chilli, ginger paste, garam masala. Mix well. form into balls. Flatten balls. roll in dry bread crumbs or rice flour/sooji. Deep fry or shallow fry as you wish. Serve with tomato ketchup/ coconut chutney.

Steamed savoury Kadaboo

2005-09-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

This is a savoury dish prepared on Ganesh festival.

The ingredients are: rice sooji 2 cups, grated coconut 1 cup, onion 1, green chillies 2, ginger a small piece, garlic 2 pods(optional), coriader leaves a small bunch , half a cup of chopped spinach, salt to taste.

To make: Soak rice sooji for 3-4 hours. Grind together onion, green chillies, ginger, garlic, some grated coconut to paste. Add rice sooji. Grind some more to mix. Remove to a bowl. Add finely chopped onions, chopped spinach and coriander leaves, finely chopped green chillies(for additional hotness) and salt. Mix well . Pour big spoonfuls on the Idli plate or in small bowls or plates. Steam for 10 minutes. Serve with coconut chutney.

Alu Paratha(potato-stuffed flatbread)

2005-08-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is also another favourite in my house and easy to make. It can be served with some spicy vegetable curry or with simple pickle and plain curd(yoghurt). It can be served as a breakfast or as a main dish with lunch or dinner. I love the ease of making this dish. Whenever there is some free space in the pressure cooker (which I use everyday to cook our meals) , I boil a few potatoes in it. I store them in the fridge and use them over the next 2-3 days to make sabji or paratha, or bonda(vada), raita etc.

FOR ALU PARATHA : Ingredienats: For stuffing:

Potatoes : 4-6 boiled and mashed finely or grated.

green chillies - 2-3 finely chopped or 1/2 tsp green chilli paste.

red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp.(optional)

Ginger paste - 1/4 tsp.

Salt - 1 tsp.

For dough :

whole wheat flour - 2 cups.

salt - 1/2 teaspoon

oil - 2-3 teaspoons

water to make dough. - as needed.

Mix all together and form a dough as for chapati.

Method : Mix together all the ingredients for stuffing. Divide into lemon sized balls. Also make smaller balls with the dough. Roll the dough a little. Put the potato stuffing in the middle. Close to form a round. Roll with the help of flour. Heat pan/tava/girdle. Place the rolled paratha on it . Add a tspfull oil. Let cook till golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with butter/ghee, pickle, curd. So yummy! Make a lot of them and share.

A snack- Huli Avalakki(Sour puffed rice)

2005-08-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Huli Avalakki. - (Spicy and sour puffed rice)
Today I made Huli avalakki ( sour puffed rice preparation) . It is an item which is a favourite with everybody. The other day my neighbour first asked the receiepe and then requested me go to her house to show her how to cook it. They were expecting some guests(her cousins from US) and she wanted to make that to take that to KRS as a snack for their picnic.

So here it is :Huli avalakki ( sour puffed rice preparation)Ingredients:

Puffed rice (finely ground to powder) -1cup

tamarind (squeezed into pulp)

Salt to tasteOil - 3tbsp

Jaggery - Grated -2 tbsp

Water – 1 cup

Curry powder – 1tea spoon.

Method : - Mix together tamarind pulp, salt, curry powder, jaggery in ½ cup water. Add puffed rice powder to it. Mix well. Add a little more water if necessary. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes.In a pan heat oil. Add mustard seed, cumin seeds, asafetida (hing), turmeric powder, curry leaves, ground nut, chana dal (split gram), urad dal (split black gram). Fry a little. Do not let the dal turn black.Add the puffed rice mixture. Mix well. Cover and cook on slow flame for 5 minutes. Add grated coconut, chopped coriander. Mix well. Serve decorated with grated coconut and coriander.

A favourite meal :Chapati and Alu raita.

2005-08-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

For Chapati (flat bread) : ingredients:
whole wheat flour- 2 cups+ some for applying while rolling.
salt - 1 teaspoon
oil - 2 teaspoon+ some more.
water for mixing dough.

Method: Mix the flour, salt, 2 teaspoon oil. Add water and make into a soft dough. Knead well and keep aside for half an hour. Knead some more and make into large lemon size balls. Using a rolling pin, flatten the ball into three inch diameter round. Apply a little oil. Fold into half, apply a little oil, fold again. Sprinkle a little dry flour and roll into a round of about 5-6 inch diameter. Heat a girdle(tava), place the chapati on it. When one side starts to bubble up, turn and cook on the other side. turn again and the chapati will puff up. Remove from fire. Apply a spoonfull of ghee(clarified butter) and put in a closed container. Serve hot with any spicy vegetable curry. potatos go well with chapati.

For Alu Raita : ingredients. :

boiled and roughly mashed potatoes - 2-3

2 cups curd(plain yoghurt)

salt - according to taste.

oil - two teaspoons.

mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

cumin seeds -1/4 teaspoon

asafoetida - a pinch

Method : Mix together mashed potatoes, salt, curd. Heat oil, add mustard and cumin seed. when they start spluttering, add asafoetida, curry leaves. Remove from fire. add to the potato mixture. serve with chapatis or paranthas.

My cooking experience

2005-08-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking for many years. And now I want to write about what I cook and eat. Slowly I will add the dishes that I cook everyday, my family's favourites and some are my own favourites. I like to experiment with food and I am going to write about that too. The successes and the disasters in cooking experiences. It will be a record about my own receipes. Better than any other cookery book written by someone else. Don't you agree? You are welcome to use them and please let me know what you think about them. Any variations that you make, or any other feedback.

When I got married, my husband was used to only eating a particular kind of food, whereas I liked to experiment.

' Hope we have some bananas at home. We can have them just in case' . He would say whenever I said that I was experimenting something new. But now he is enthusiastic when I say I am trying something new and offers to help me with cutting vegetables etc.

So let's get in to my kitchen.