MEC-Gravies,Henna designing -4, and Blog List Updates...

Ingredients:

Parval - 250 gms ,
Cumin seeds, Jeera 1 tsp
Oil 1 tsp ,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1 small tomato ,
pinch of asafoetida powder(hing),
minced garlic - 1/2 tsp .

Recipe :

Thoroughly wash parval and then cut them lengthwise.
Take 1 tsp oil in a Microwavable bowl, and cumin seeds to it, put it inside microwave for half minute. This way the cumin seeds will not pop up but as it is cooked it will give great flavor, take the bowl out add hing , and turmeric powder to it and mix it to oil, next add minced garlic and then parval to it. I small amount of garlic to veggies like Parval and Tindora (which are basically flavorless), to give it a good mild flavor and taste.

Next put bowl in microwave oven, turn it on , it takes almost 5-6 minutes to cook parval thoroughly, remove it fro microwave over and mix it nicely after every 2 mines, that will help to cook each portion of it perfectly.Consider it cooked when it is soft enough , that you can cut it easily into half using spoon.
While parval is almost cooked add tomato , cut into small cubes, and salt to it, mix it well and cook it for another 2 mins.

Garlic and tomato flavored Parval is ready to serve, just hot out of microwave oven :). Unlike other main course dishes I like it to make without using chili powder , this mild and easy to digest veggie tastes better this way , and perfect when served along with spicy sambhar ,rasam and rice.

This same dish I cook the normal way on stove, the only difference i find with this one is it takes much less oil to cook ,also for vegetables like this , it takes more time to cook on stove , also with microwave oven you don't need to worry about this getting burned from somewhere , just occasional stirring is fine with that, and it feels great when it take much less effort to cook the same dish, right?

If you are new to this nice vegetable "Parval", here are some tips for you.

Choose parval with green skin among others, it should be not too soft.
Choose little firm and medium in shape. The bigger one have more possibilities to have it seeds much hard than normal in such case you should avoid those seeds from it, as it doesn't cook well.
If you have chosen it as those shown in the first picture here, then you can cook it altogether without removing any seeds, it tastes good too.

Now here it goes straight to srivalli for her theme this month MEC-Gravies. I do ample of microwave cooking , and I really like it too. Had I known it earlier I might have been able to post many entries for this month, now at the last moment while already fixed with vacation plans, I thought better to post if not all of those I have then at least one :) . Thanks Srivalli for this event.

Henna designing -4

Here are some more Mahendi designs I did. If you are a henna design lover like me , you can check more of my own made designs by going to sidebar in left and find link to the past posts of my henna designing in drop down menu.

And hey you all buddies there, Be ready to see me more on blog now, well , of course after vacation :)) . Starting from New year this blog is going to rock again , something new is about to happen , so stay tuned to here, and keep leaving your views in comment.



(P.S. - As I see many of emerging bloggers around here now more often ,i have just updated my blog buddies list , just check it out and if you are a regular visitor of this blog , and not a part of list just send me you URL and mane in comment, i will be glad to update it with your name and link. )

Enjoy holidays, celebrate the new year with great spirit I hope new year
will bring you all success ,happiness and the strength to fulfill all your
dreams....

Kaju Katli

 
Kuchh mitha ho jaye ,

Although I don't like sweets much , I think to make some sweets, for this holiday seasons  :) .

This is my first experience with making Kaju katli (Kaju katri-as we say in Gujarati :) ) , and it was a superb success . Not only it came out nice , It is too quick and easy to make.
Here is my recipe of kaju katli .

Ingredients :
1 cup Kaju( cashew)
3/4 cup sugar(I used little less than this ),
1 tsp ghee,
1-2 tsp milk,
Vanilla/rose essence (optional),
Silver foil(chandi varkh)

Method:
Soak kaju in water for half an hour.
After 30 minutes drain the water and spread it on the paper towel.
In a mixture bowl take 3/4 cup of sugar and then cashew. Crush it to powder.
At this point if u find it is hard to crush it smoothly then add 1-2 tsp milk. Don't add water to it.
Grind it in mixture until u get powder like consistency.
Next heat 1 tsp ghee in kadhai or pan.
Put this mixture in it and stir continuously.
Stir until it get soft bubbles formed in it. It will take 7-8 minute approximately.

Lower the flame and add rose essence mix it well immediately and turn of the heat.
Immediately spread it on a greased flat bottom thali/plate.
Spread it evenly all over the plate, to make it perfect and even- use small flat bottomed vessel.
Let it cool completely and then apply silver foil on it with care.
When it is at room temperature cut it into diamond shapes.

Store it in air tight container and keep it refrigerated . Will stay fresh and good in taste for upto one month or more.

Note :

• Do not try giving it shape or cutting it while it is warm , let it cool completely that will make sharp edges of it. I made little mistake ant cut it whe ni t was warm , and later realised the mistake.
• Tates best after keeping it for 1 day in fridge ,so if u are planning this to serve some guest, prepare one/two days earlier.