Potato -Methi Balls in Tomato Gravy

Ingredients:

For the Potato Methi Balls :
1 cup fresh Fenugreek Leaves,washed and chopped,
2 boiled and peeled medium sized Potatoes,
1 tsp Corn flour,
1 tsp Coriander -Cumin Powder,
½ tsp red chili powder,
1tsp Sugar Powder(optional ),
Oil for deep-frying,
Salt to taste.

For the Tomato Gravy :
4 Tomatoes, Pureed( for making Puree, boil the tomato withe little water, when boiled and remove the skin and mash it using hand blender.) 1 Onion, Chopped finely ,
1tsp Garlic Paste,
1/4tsp Chili Powder,
¼ tsp Garam Masala,
1/2 tsp of Cumin Powder,
1 tbsp Oil ,
Salt to taste

Method:

For the Potato Methi Balls :
Mash the boiled Potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add chopped Methi leaves to the Potatoes and all the other ingredients and mix well . Divide into balls, about 3 cms in diameter. Heat Oil in a Kadai and fry them till they turn golden brown. Remove on a brown paper and keep aside.

For the Gravy :
Heat Oil in a Kadhai, add Onions and fry till they turn translucent. Add Garlic paste, Tomato puree and cook till the moisture evaporates. Add red chili powder , garam masala and cumin powder to it. Let it come to a boil and add salt. Cook it until gravy is medium thick. Turn off the heat.

Now, Remove gravy to a serving dish and add Potato-Methi balls to it, Potato-Methi balls will turn little soft as they start absorbing gravy . Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve with Hot Puris or Rice.
Just remember to do not add potaot Methi balls to gravy while it is too hot, this way it will break balls and the whole dish will be spoiled. Add Potato Methi balls when the gravy is not so hot.

Fourth Day Enteries for Veg of the Week-Tomato

Vini from A Whirl of Aromas is agi nwith us with her entry - Tomato Rice. check out her delicious way to prepare Tomato Rice here. Thank you Vini for sharin this with all of us. :)


Trupti Of the Spice Who Loved Me, has sent me a Perfect recipe for this cold season - Hot and Sour Tomato Soup. Trupti made it specially for this vegetable of the week event,thats so nice of her. :) Also It looks so wonderful , that as soon as I gather al lthe ingredients I am going to make it .:D Here is the recipe for Hot& sour Tomato soup, in her own words.

Hot and Sour Tomato Soup:
Ingredients:
1 can condensed tomato soup,
2.5 cans water,
A handful of chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, green onions,
1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp low sodium Soy sauce,
1.5 tsp Chili-garlic sauce,
a pinch of sugar,
2 tsp black pepper,
Cilantro for garnish.
Method:
Add 2.5 cans of water to the ready made soup. Mix well so that there are no lumps in it. Add the chopped cabbage, carrots, and green onions along with the vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the soy sauce, chili-garlic sauce, sugar and black pepper. I like to add lots of black pepper to really bring out the flavors. Simmer for 10 minutes more and garnish with cilantro. Serve piping hot with some croûtons and enjoy!

Thank you Trupti for sharing this wonderful soup recipe with us.

Sev Tameta Nu Shaak

Sev Tameta Nu Shaak……
Just speak this 4 words in front of any Gujarati or specially “ Kathiyawadi” people and look at their expressions….! I bet 90% of them will feel happy just by hearing the name; there will be pleasing expressions worth watching at. This is a main course dish, which normally accompanied by Thepla or Paratha. Not only a delicious dish, but also quick , easy to make and looks very different than normal main course dishes. This idea came to my mind ,when I saw 'Adadiya' on Trupti’s Blog. This is going to be an addition to gujarati dishes , I have posted here . Also humbly submitting this to VKN for FAHC campaign . Here is how I make this tangy , tasty ,sweet and spicy dish .

Ingredients:
6-7 Ripe tomatoes,
1 tsp garlic minced with 1 tsp red chilie powder,
½ tsp each cumin seeds and mustard seeds,
Shredded jaggery ,
Salt to taste,
½ tsp oil,
Besan Sev( to mix with , it should be of medium thickness, as shown in picture here)
Coriander leaves to garnish.

Method :
Cut the fresh ripe tomatoes into small pieces.
Heat oil in a Kadhai , and add mustard seeds to it. When they start spluttering add cumin seeds and then add tomato cut into small pieces.
Mix it , and let it cook for a while covering lid to vessel . it will start making some gravy of tomato soon, stir it occasionally , add jaggery to it. Let it cook until there is enough gravy of tomato and it is well cooked. Add red chili and garlic paste to it and next add salt. Mix it well and add Sev to it. It will absorb much portion of the gravy, so take care to choose ripe tomato , which will make enough of gravy for this dish .

One can also add some water to make more of geavy while it is half cooked, and then finally when cooked enough with thick gravy add sev to it. Still I will recommend you to make it without adding additional water, the real taste of it is too good.

I had this accompanied by Paratha.

Paratha

Here is how I make parathas ,
Ingredients:
2-3 cups Whole wheat flour,
3 tsp Cumin seeds,
slightly roasted and the crushed using mortar and pestle,
Salt to taste,
Oil for kneading and cooking parathas.

Method:
Make soft dough for paratha using all the ingredients, and add water as per needed to make it soft enough, just like roti. . While kneading dough, first add oil to it and the next add water. That will make it smooth. Keep the dough covered for 30 minutes.
Make lemon sized balls of it. And roll out into small size of roti. Now spread little oil over it and fold them to make half circle like shape . Then again take a drop of oil and spread it on the half circled shape and fold it again . That will make shape of quarter of a circle . Now with your hand just give it a little shape like triangle and roll out again such that the triangular shape is maintained.
Place it on a hot tawa, let it cook slightly from one side and turn the side, when half cooked on other side change the side again and spread little oil on half cooked side. And change the side, sread some oil on the other side and cook it until it turns brown in color from both sides. Serve hot with any vegetable main course you like.
I enjoyed it with Sev tameta nu shaak..

Third Day enteries for Tomato .

We have 3 entried to enjoy today with .
First is from Sumi of veggie Platter. She is sharing with us her lovely way to prepare Tomato Pachchadi . Thanks Sumi and welcome to Vegetable of the Week event. you have nice entry to participate with . :)
Sangeeta is again with us, with her Tomato Pulao , which she prepared some time back... Second entry with tomato pulao for this week. Nice indeed. Thank you Sngeeta for your second entry for this week .
Third is from Jasmine of Spicetrail. She Prepared Paneer Masala with tomato and corn gravy. it Looks delicious Jasmine. Thank you very much for your timely efforts and for sharing this with all of us. A warm welcome to my World of Blogging . :)

Stuffed Tomato (Bharela Tameta)

Stuffed Tomato , as we call it in Gujarati "Bharel Tameta " nu shaak. :) Just the idea of making it was feeling my mind with the vision of this colorful dish. One more thing about this dis is at my place when ever I make it the stuffing of it is liked so much by Deepak that he can eat that alone too :) .
Here is my version of Barela Tameta ...

Ingredients:
8-10 medium Ripe but firm Tomatoes
2 potatoes boiled and mashed
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup green peas
2 small sized onion,
½ tsp sesame seeds,
½ tsp poppy seeds,
½ tsp saunf ,
1/4 cup chopped green Garlic.(if not available use dried garlic cloves instead)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chilli powder,
1/2 tsp turmeric Powder
1 tsp Coriander(dhania) powder
1/2 tsp each jeera, mustard seeds
1 tbsp. oil
salt to taste
To garnish:
Fresh Paneer (cottage cheese)
Chopped onion
Few coriander leaves

Method :
Boil Potatoes, peel and mash them and keep aside.
Also boil carrot cut into small pieces,and boil green peas too. Boil tem separately as green peas will be boiled soon .

Now cut the top of the tomato horizontally, (like a cap). Scoop out the seeds carefully. Remove the pulp and keep it aside to be used in stuffing material.Chop one onion finely and keep aside another for garnishing.

Heat oil in a kadhai ,add Cumin and Mustard seeds. When they splutter add sesame seeds, saunf and poppy seeds, also add chopped onion. Cook it until onion is translucent , next add the tomato pulp and fry for one minute.

Add boiled carrot and green peas along with mashed potato. Then add turmeric powder, red chili powder,
coriander powder and salt to it. Let it cook until the mixture is firm enough, add garam masala to it , mix well and cook for a minute.

When this stuffing material turns little cool ,Stuff the tomatoes with it.
Place tomatoes in a cooker container. Dot with little butter. Pressure cook for one whistle.

Before serving it garnish it with grated Paneer, chopped onion and coriander leaves. Serve hot with roti or paratha.

Second day Enteries for Tomato. :)

2nd day with tomato as Vegetable of the Week !
2 entries.
2 recipes with same name On this post today ! :)

First Entry for the second day is from Sangeeta of Ghar Ka Khana.
She prepared delicious Stuffed tomato ! Well, as sangeeta described on her blog , from various option with tomato she choose to make this, and that is what exactly I did, I choose to make stuffed tomato for today!!! Well, the beauty of this vegetable of the Week event is this only. Today we have 2 much different version of stuffed tomatoes. Remember this happened before with Dum aloo, at that time too both were very different with Seema and trupti’s unique style to prepare it. This time what Sangeeta has sent me from her ‘Ghar’, was also tucked somewhere in ‘My Creative Ideas’… check out different versions and have fun in twists…:D
I Find it nice to know different version of stuffed Tomato . Thank you Sangeeta for sharing this with us. The picture is really prompting…

Viji is again with me, with her Tomato Rasam recipe. I have little knowledge about this, and this one I find really good as one part of a healthy dish. Here I would also like to add something about her. Viji is regular practicing Yoga, and is having very deep knowledge about different Asanas and Mudras. If some one is eager to know more about this , then I am sure viji can help you out. Also she is a very conscious healthy food maker. I rely on her blog completely to seek some really nice food for health.
I once tasted tomato rasam , which did not contained toor dal , as Viji told me there are amny different styles to make rasam . I would really appreciate If someone can show me how to make tomato rasam without adding Toor dal to it.I am sure many of you might be knowing it very well, right? So, Thanks in advance. :)

Cherry Tomatoes and Baby Potatoes Curry

Let me start celebrating Vegetable of the Week with cherry Tomatoes. I made this main course of cherry tomato along with baby potatoes... It happened that in the vegetable shop here I got Potatoes of very tiny size, so thought to make a curry this way.Here is the way I made it.

Ingredients:

8-10 fresh cherry tomatoes(somehow what I got this time was not of perfect round shape... :)) ),
6-7 baby Potatoes,
1 tsp oil,
1 tsp garlic paste,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1 tsp red chili powder,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
1/2 tsp cumin seeds,
1/4 cup Coriander leaves,
salt to taste,
a pinch of asafoetida,
few curry leaves.

Method:

Peel off the potato and wash them, if they are little larger in size then cut them into half. What I used here is of very tiny size , so I used it without cutting(it is so small in size that I rather like to call it cherry potatoes:)) ) . make small hole into them using fork , this will help it cooking well.

Take 1 tsp oil in Kadhai , and fry Potatoeson low flame throughly. Make it sure that it is cooked well, from the middle of it too. when cooked turn off the heat , and keep fried potatoes aside.
Next cut tomatoes into half and keep it aside.

Heat the same oil again, and now start with the real process of making this dish. Add mustard seeds, when they start spluttering , add cumin seeds curry leaves and asafoetida . Now add turmeric powder to it , and immediately add cherry tomatoes, cut into halves.


Let it cook for a while, stir occassionally , do not stir much. It will not take much time to cook. Next add salt, coriander leaves and red chili powder to it, also add fried baby potatoes. Mix them well, and serve real hot , with anything you like. I had it with chapati and Papad :) . Look at my hot Dish of this tangy tomato curry... :D.

Entries for the first day of Vegetable of the Week -Tomato

Fist entry is from Asha, she send e this as soon as she ome to know about theme of this week. So sweet of her ...
Asha prepared Tomato Gojju. I must say this is very new to me ,and I really loved the way this is preapred. Thanks Asha for sharing this with us. It is a nice entry indeed.


Another nice entry for this Week is From Viji.
Ever heard of Tomato Pulao? well, if yes then check out this nice version of Viji's,and if no then it is a must try ! I looks so yummy.... ! Also she described it with all proportions so well, that it will be much easy for anyone wants to prepare it.
This is really very good entry with Tomato Viji. Thanks a lot for sharing this with us.

Happy New year and Meme of 3 things!

Wishing a very Peaceful and bright new year to all of you.

H ours of happy times with friends and family
A bundant time for relaxation
P rosperity
P lenty of love when you need it the most
Y outhful excitement at lifes simple pleasures

N ights of restful slumber (you know - dont' worry be happy)
E verything you need
W ishing you love and light

Y ears and years of good health
E njoyment and mirth
A angels to watch over you
R embrances of a happy years!


Here are some pictures Hubby tried to capture between 12 to 1 y'day night ,from our bedroom terrace .





I am Tagged !!!
Dear buddies Trupti and Asha tagged me for Meme fo 3 things ! .Thanks Asha and Trupti for tagging me!I enjoyed doing it.
A great thank from me to who so ever has started this Meme of 3 things, because it really bring back so many memories of mine,those old day of schooling , when I used to write a lot much literature of my own just to pen down my thoughts, those days of college when I used to write poem of just to keep it to myself. And that function when I realized that I can sing too! After that my professional life as a lecturer, that was also a nice time to treasure. Let me get some time to buff up myself again….:)
I don’t think I have shared this much of my own things to anyone else other than my family members till date.
Here I go ….

Three things that scare me:1. Just the idea of being away from my loved ones
2. Hubby getting some health problem
3. Thought of my near ones in some problematic situation.


Three People who make me Laugh:1. My Hubby ( specially when he narrates some incidents in his own style )
2. My Sisters , when we 3 get together we have lot of fun together even today , so much that everybody else complains that why can’t you all be silent for a single moment.
3. Rajpal Yadav (In all his comedy Movies)

Three things I love:
1. Henna Designing
2. Photography
3. Driving (only 4 Wheelers that too on good road ,probably in Gandhinagar. I don’t know even how to Drive 2 wheelers and don’t have even licence for 2 Wheelers :)), Isn’t it funny, when you are in India! )

Three things I hate:1. Negative thinking.
2. Pessimistic people - who do not believe in their selves. (Coz personally I Feel that if you have any dream, the power to accomplish it is also within you! I just don’t like when people think I can’t do this and that just without any apparent reason. )
3. The Pollution Around here in Pune. (Thank God that Our home here is little away from those crowded and polluted areas. :)), hubby booked this before our marriage, and he is a wise guy, indeed! :D . )

Three things I don’t understand:
1. The chirping sound of little babies,though I never can understand it, I find it the most beautiful sound on this earth.
2. When my software stuck up somewhere without showing any error: (.
3. Why all the rich people do not do at least something for needy people. ?

Three things on my desk:1. My Laptop
2. So Many different kind of Books Around along with my dairy with its open page of “ to do” list…. (I don’t Understand, I place all these books on the shelf above this table daily, how come these many come down within a day! : )) )
3. My Digital Camera ( always ready to catch the moments of life :)) )

Three things I am doing right now:
1. Typing this Meme
2. What should I prepare some breakfast for today now.
3. Thinking that why maid has not shown up yet, is she on new year break ? :P .and thinking that I have become so dependent on her for doing all the household chores that I think it is going be little hard in initial days at U.S of A. :)) .

Three things I want to do before I die:1. See all my loved one happy and healthy.
2. Accomplish mine and Deepak’s dream of our carrier achievement and helping needy people
3. Visit around the world with Deepak and I really wish that way I can meet all my blogger friends’ at least once in my life.

Three things I can do:
1. Cook ( I didn’t realize that I can also cook until I have my own responsibly of cooking when my parents visited my sister’s place – it was before my marriage. Then I slowly realized from the feed back from my neighbor auntie that I cook very well and innovatively , I can say she was the first one to inspire me for cooking .)
2. Teach (good old days! - When I was a lecturer in Master’s before my Marriage and was always surrounded by students, still they are in contact with me. )
3. Sing – I almost forgot this, thanks to this Me Me. It reminded me that I can sing too! Sang once in my college annual function too :).

Three things you should listen to :1. Intuitions . (They says Cancerian’s Intuitions are very powerful: D, well I believe it too ! )
2. Little child complaining in their own words for their little matters…
3. Someone seeking your advise…

Three things you should never listen to :
1. People who likes to show off ( from bottom of my hear I just hate them … )
2. When some one criticize others( which right do you have to do so ! )
3. Those non sense matter , which people has spread on the name of religion and casts. ( I just hate it when some people try to judge others based on their religion or cast… )

Three things I would like to learn:
1. To say ‘No’ to people I don’t want to listen to.
2. How to present my thoughts without getting annoyed when I am not in good mood.
3. To remember always – “Do not give Explanation for yourself”, Coz My friends do not need it and my enemies will not believe it. Just keep calm and be happy… :)


Three favorite foods :
1. Chocolates
2. Maxican
3. Almost all veg Indian Dishes

Three beverages I drink regularly :
1. Water
2. Coffee
3. Fresh Juice(Either Orange or Pineapple )

Three TV shows/books I read as a child:First let me tell you about TV shows
1. Tom and Jerry ,Ducktales ,Danasoor and Potli Baba ki.. (all my most loved animated series, I still love watching these)
2. Ramayan and then Mahabharta ( I remember, was so fascinated that time with those battle scenes of this epics )
3. Udaan (the lady in the central role in this series was my ideal that time, I might have forgotten this, but after reading Trupti’s meme it reminded me of this ,thanks Trupti )

I was much into high level Gujarati reading , still I Love to but got not much time and option around here to steal a look to the prosperous world of “Gujarati Sahitya”.
1. Bharelo Agni By R.V. Desai ( one of the most renowned writer in Gujarati world,read it when I was 10 years or so, I think… )
2. Poems of Kalapi(started taking interest in poems too when I read one from Kalapi in out text book, and I just love all of His till date. One more thing that come to my mind that People said I am also good at poetry, I wrote some in Gujarati, Hindi and English and had a small fan club of mine when I was in hostel while completing my engineering. :), this Meme had really brought back some good old days memory of my life. )
3 .Adventures of Tom Sawyer and so many other books I don’t remember title of. (This is what I read as a real little age child, don’t remember t even , may be I was 6-7 years that time. )

Three blog buddies I am going to tag :
1. Viji of Vcuisine
2. Priya of Akshayapaatram
3. Priya of Sugar&spices

and one keeping pending for my dear buddy Supriya as soon as she come back to her blog…
(I just hope that they are not already tagged ! :)) , thought of tagging Seema, and just found that she is already tagged by Vini ! :) , so thought to Post this Meme ASAP before all my blog buddies are tagged :)) ) .
Just withing few hours from now going to post recipe Of Tomato as Vegetable of the week. Also waiting for all your delicious entries... If you have already or planning for participating then just drop an email to me at blogpooja@gmail.com . Stay tuned, and have nice year ahead:) .