Saturday, December 29, 2007

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....

37 comments:

TBC said...

Here's wishing you and your family a happy and prosperous 2008, Pooja.

Siri said...

Love the Henna Designs Pooja.. They look lovely..

Wishing You a very Happy and Joyous 2008!

~ Siri

EC said...

I have been searching for simple yet elegant arabic mehendi designs and my search ends here..u r very creative and innovative...loved all ur designs, the new and the earlier ones too

Purnima said...

Pooja..wow..thats a lovley Arabic design!Happy 2008 to you and your near ones!

Cynthia said...

You have such beautiful hands and the designs are so beautiful.

Happy new year to you and the family.

Srivalli said...

Pooja..thanks for the lovely entry...henna decoration looks awsome...beautiful!

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

happy new year to you and to your family.

Pl do not forget that I am a regular visitor to your blog

Paru ... said...

Pooja,

Just came across ur blog and I must say its lovely...

Very nice henna designs btw..I am a dynamic vegetarian too and will definetly be here often...

Happy 2008
Paru (www.brindavanrecipes.blogspot.com)

FH said...

Hello sweet Pooja, happy new year to you and family!:))

There are loads and loads of new bloggers now. Some old bloggers do not post anymore. But hey. I am still around!:D

Henna looks beautiful, takes lot of time but worth it. Glad you are back but take a break if you need to. I get frozen Parval here, got to try your recipes.

USHA said...

Hi Pooja,

Nice to see you with bang dear.Happy new year and how was your celebration?

Hey thanks a bunch for your tips,after coming only i started preparing this vegetable...i literally dunno how to select...your tips has gave me lot of knowledgde.

Henna design is marvellous....gr8.

Pooja said...

TBC,
Glad to see your comment :) , Happy new year to you too !

siri,
Thanks, seems like you are also henna lover.Happy new year dear.

EC,
I am glad that It can be some help to you . Thanks for your appreciation, I have seen your blog i think you are very good at art, hopefully now with little free time by side i can visit your blog more often, keep sropping by ,

Purnima,
Happy new year to you too !
Ihave added to my blog roll already :) .

Cynthia,
So nice of you dear :),Hav e you seen ealier posted henna designs too ?
A veryy Happy new year to you and your family too :) .

Srivalli,
Be ready for my entry for next theme too :) .

Harekrishnaji,
OOps.....! i forgot to add your blog in my blog roll?
How forgetful I am :P .
well, I will surely remember that you are a regular visitor of this blog :) .
everytime you leave comment here ,it reminds me of my days in Pune .
Do keep us updated with whats new going on in Pune :) .

Paru,
WOw! great to meet another vegeterian :) .
I will soon visit your blog , and will add it to my blog roll too !

Asha,
You are correct, there are plenty of new bloggers and so are blog events :)) .
Planning to be back with VOTW , what do you say ?
btw,
A very Happy new year to you and your family too :D.

Usha
SO nice to see you here dear, well , I have moved little far , but not that far yet, we surely can meet and plan something nice, right? If yo uget to talk to seema plan something and lets meet .
I am happy that those tips are some help to you , i saw many of ppl around here , those are not familier with parval, just as i am not familier with lotus flower and some other veggies...
Do let me know if i can be of more help regarding anything. :)
Wishing you and your family a Happy new year :) .

-Pooja

Canary said...

LOvely fOOd bLoG!!! glad I dropped by.. :)
Happy new year to you too...

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

thanks

KellytheCulinarian said...

Great post, happy new year to you too!

Kajal said...

WOW...your hand looks beautiful. Your henna art is sharp and perfect. You get nice color in your hand also. Parval is one of my favorite curries. I cook as dry curry you give nice idea about another way of cooking with this vegetable. Thanks for sharing. Looks yummy!!!!

Pooja said...

Canary & Kelly,
welcome to my blog world, thanks for visiting :) . Happy new year to all of you too :) , keep visiting for more...
Harekrishnaji,
You are always welcome :) .
Kajal,
nice to see your commnet dear, seems like you are busy with your schedule these days...

bee said...

you are a wonderful artist, pooja. wish you a happy 2008.

Manasi said...

Wow!! that henna design is soooooo good! and u have beautiful hands!!!

P.S- I too face problems with food blog desam, i keep refreshing it (6 times atleast ) to get the latest! I saw ur comment on Dinig hall, but i cannot leave a reply there, so i thought i'd let u know here!

Unknown said...

Bee;
Glad to see your comment. Thanks.
Jualbandi.info is now even more prettier. :) .
stay tuned...

Manasi ,
I am gladthat you like my designs, and hand too :)) .
Thanks for acknowledging me abt FBD. does refreshing it solves the problem ? i dont think so.
hope to see you more often on this blog. just visited yours too... :) .

Rajitha said...

Pooja..love the mehendi designs and the parval sabji..will be back for more :)

sra said...

Pooja, hi, I thought I'd left a note in a couple of posts, don't see my comments - a very happy new year to you, nice to see you back.

swapna susarla said...

Hi pooja
i like parval.I follow the same recipe for tindora.but never tried with parval.this time i am definitely going to give a try!!

The henna designs are beautiful!!!

Grihini said...

HappY new year.. that Henna thing is so creative. I am bad at it. May be will take inspiration from you n try. some tips pls for beginners..:)

Pooja said...

Rajita,
Welcome to this blogworld :) . I am glad that you like it . hope to see you more often now :)
Sra,
perhaps you left that wishes to some other blog. Happy new year to you to oDear. I am trying to be in sync with blogger now :)) .
Swwpana ,
I also make tindora subji the same way ! I just love mild innocent veggies liek parval and tindora :D .Thanks for complementing henna designing.
Stay tuned...
Grihini ,
I think if you really want to lean it then first step is to try making lines with it for practicing with how to handle cone and make nay shape with it. some designs are not so hard , you can try , well with practice tyou wil ldo better :) . I wil ltry if i can fidn some time to post somethign helpful about henna designing. Nice to see you here.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Oh wow, the henna designs are gorgeous!

Pooja said...

thanks a lot Chocolate covered vegan :)
Stay tuned...

Seena said...

Hi Pooja,
thanks for commenting in my blog! I am first time here..Loved your blog, esp. header looks wonderful! Nice mehendi designs, and I like your veggie recipes too.. See u..

Chef Jeena said...

Pooja your blog looks really beautiful. I love the delicious recipe it looks like a green capsicum is it similar? Your henna looks so lovely, great post. :-)

Pooja said...

Seena ,
Thanks for dropping by ! Welcome to my blog world :) .
Header is something really i like too very much, i thought of making it with some of my own made dishes, but when i made this , i liked it so much , that I don't think i would change tit in near future.
Stay tuned...:D.

Jeena ,
This veggie is Parval - as we call it. You cna get it in Indian stores. If you are familiar with "Tindora", it is like that , little bigger in size and harder than it. Check out The first picture in this post for further reference.

Thanks for appreciating my henna art. hope to hear more from you :).

Mychandu said...

Hi Pooja,
Nice u r again back with enthu.
Theme of the week is interesting.Also the rules are very flexible. Thanks for linking me in ur blog roll.
Wish you and your Family a very Happy and prosperous New Year.

Mychandu said...

Your henna designs are awesome. You r an artistic person...

Dee said...

the henna designs are awesome pooja, I will try and surely participate in the vegetable of the week event! Thanks for hosting it !

Pooja said...

Dee,
welcome to my blog world :).
Will wait to get entry form you :D.
Just left comment on your blog. check it out.
-Pooja

Deepa Kuber said...

GOOD COOK AND A GR8 ARTIST WITH CREATIVE IDEAS!!
CREATIVE POOJA :D
LOVED UR HENNA DESIGNS.

Sonia said...

Hi Puja,

I have come to your blog through Nidhi's cooking made easy-via-Spicecafe. I saw ur mahendi colletions...such a nice and fantastic designs.I love it...!!! Actually I am fond of mahendi and always would love to make a design on my hand. did u use a readymade mahendi cone or made it @ home...?
keep it up.
Cheers,
Sonu.

Sonia said...

Hi Puja,
What a nice mahendi designs..!!! I love it... U r great artist cum cook. keep it up.
Cheers,
Sonu. :-)

Anonymous said...

Amazing website! Please continue the informative posts.

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