Theme of the week -Orange,White and Green Round Up...

This year it is little different than last year, I think blog world is having now many immersing and very talented food bloggers around now. Last year it was such a great round up with lovely entries… I couldn’t believe it that this year it is even greater than great :), and all of you have shown your creativity in many different ways, That’s exactly what I love about this Theme . All of you have come up with wonderful ideas to be a part of celebration and that itself is very admiring, Kudos to you all, Now let me start with entries…

It was simple rules followed by me that I love to introduce new participants each time before round up , this year I think it would be easier for me to introduce some old and very lovely buddies of this blog , who in time become my great friends to whom I am very much attached too ! They are

Asha from Foodies hopes- her name is enough to introduce her, right ?
Bee & Jai of Jugalbandi ( whom actually I welcomed as new participants in last year’s Valentine’s Day theme :D ) ,
Harekrishanji , whose tagline always makes me smile :D
Kajal From Recipe with Step by step pictures (she participated first time in Last year's Rday theme ).
Mythreyee, whose bog is now having a nice name – Paajaka.
Viji from Vcuisine , whose blog is full of nutritious recipes and healthy tips along with positive thoughts.

It is just a little change from the normal rule I followed each time ( its even easier too ;) , to list it then to list another 27 new participants ), as all others are the first time participant to any event of this blog :D. I appreciate your hard work in making this Theme successful, though really missing some old buddies who couldn’t make it this time, and very glad to get many new bloggers around too J .

An expert with spices and curries Jayashree is sharing here Matar paneer chanar dalna with a very creative way to depict tri colors with smily face .Thats really lovely Jaya.

Vijaya from Daily meals is sharing here with us Tiranga Salad which is perfectly made suitable to this theme :).

Spreading Aroma of her cooking in all foodies , Asha is sharing her unique recipe of Broccoli and cheese in cream sauce.

Meera from Enjoy Indian food is sharing her 3 wonderful and equally creative entries for this theme ,Narangi ni Basundi ( Basundi of Orange ) , Orange Sandesh & very inviting Mooli ke parathe with carrto and spinach (Indian flat bread made with white radish, carrot and spinach).

Archana is enthusiastic about sharing some really nice information with all of us. Also she created a nice Indian flag with spice drops.

Next here is Maya with here 2 enries for the theme .She created Bell pepper chutney ,
Along with that she wants to share a picture full with color of sacrifice (saffron/orange)

.

Mythreyee from Paajaka is here with a mothwatering Paneer Capsicum Tikka.

It looks so tempting , I bet no one can eat just one : P.

Next is Kalai from Samaithu Paarkalaam, sharing here her Carrot, coriander Uttapam .

Bhawana from Tastes of India brings us her tasty Aloo Palak recipe.

Richa who is as dear as salt to all of us :) , is sharing her highly creative idea to make Carrot and ginger appe to be a part of celebration wit hall of us .

Nanditha Prabhu, From Satvika ,is sharing not only the yummy sandwiches but also a loving article for nation with title – where the mind is without fear. I loved reading each line of it, you will love it too !

We have yet another smiley face created whole different way from Cham of Spice club.

Check out here , here recipe of curd rice and the dish she named – patriotism in plate , you are creative with naming dishes too , Cham ! I think if next time I make new dish and find it hard to get a name I should ask you: D, sometime I really do get confused naming dishes :( , check me here : -? .

Next is Click Bee , oops… :P , Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi sharing their fabulous picture apt to this theme . The first word I had seeing the pic was , simply superb !!! , what did u think when u saw this first time ? ??

Siri is sharing this information about India and our ancient achievement from her corner to this theme, that’s really worth knowing for all people around here.

Superchef Manju has rearranged her spice bottles to make that pic apt for the theme .

Describing her recipe with step by step pictures- Kajal is showing us raw papaya , carrot and greenchilli ‘s side dish along with her another entry tri colored sandwich .

The cook in Nags is sharing with us Beans-carrot thoran, who decided to make this after many thoughts of another tricolored dishes… :D.

Harekrishanji
has sent me few pictures suitable to this theme , to share with all of you . In spite of his busy personal routine with his mother’s hospitalization he thought that “ the show must go on “ .here is what he wrote –

“Sending Photographs for my entry . Pasta and Paneer Tikka Masala,
combination on tricolour.
This was prepared by me wife on 31/12/07. She could not prepared
anything special today. My mother is hospitalized and my wife and son
both are sick.
Still I thought the show must go on.
Hope this will satisfy the criteria”

Competing with my own made Juices here are one more picture from Harekrishnaji …it is Peach & Apricot Crush , Litchi Crush & Kiwi Crush. That is perfect with colors too !

A Special thanks to you Harekrishnaji.

Rajitha of Hunger Pangs made a very comfortable & Creamy Carrot and Leek soup.

Making me hungry all over again, even when I am sick and feeling low with appetite is -> Bharathy of Spicy chilly, with her yummy looking Tofu Sandwich .

Pooja of hunny patch ,clicked something too quick as she learned about this theme on the last day of submission , she is here with a lovely picture of tri colored silk along with a lotus candle votive .

While Cooking from A to Z Krishna has taken a pause to write something to be a part of this theme . there are some provoking thoughts she is sharing with all of us .check it here.

Here is a lovely picture she took to share with us, a fruit kebab with mandarin oranges, apples and kiwis . that’s really lovely Krishna.

Living life with a little bit of spice –Anuzi is here ti be a part with her dish Okra ,rasam and rice .

Last but not the least is Viji , who is sharing her Chutney rice recipe with us,

(Note: As her blog is private , those who are not listed with her blog, cant view this link , you can reach her on email id - viji.jeyakumar@gmail.com, and be a part of her blog too. ) .

Here is the recipe in here own words.

Ingredients:
Basmati rice 1 cup
Cubed veggies 1 – ½ cup (I added tender beans, carrot, fresh corn kernels, green peas)
Greens – fresh coriander and mint leaves (each one small bunch)
Grind into paste
Onion small 2, ginger 1 small wedge, green chili 1-2 (those who like garlic can add here)

To temper
Oil + Butter 1 tbsp
Cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves - each 2 pieces
Slit green chili 1
Spices
Cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder 1 tsp each
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Salt to taste (added in batches)

Preparation

Wash and cook the basmati rice with 3/4 water and 1 tsp butter in electric rice cooker for 10 minutes only till ¾ done. Add ¼ tsp salt to it. Once it is cooked, spread it on a plate so that grains are separate.
Steam cook the veggies with a pinch of sugar and ½ tsp salt. You can keep this on top of the rice in electric rice cooker.
Grind onion, ginger and green chili paste and keep it ready.
In a skillet, temper as given. Add the slit green chili and once done, keep it separately for garnishing.
Add the onion paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and sauté for few more minutes.
While it is frying – grind both the leaves with a pinch of sugar and salt in mixie. Add little water only. Don’t grind it before hand and keep it ready. The color will go.
Now add this to onion and spice mix and sauté on low flame till the water evaporates. Add the steam cooked veggies now and sauté for few more minutes.
At the stage add the cooked rice and mix gently. Adjust the salt. Once it is mixed well, switch off the stove. I did this only for 1 minute. Be careful not to break the rice.Scoop this rice in a bake ware and drizzle the lemon juice on top. Tie it with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven (150oC) for 10 minutes.

Mix well before serving. Serve with any raita and some salads. Very delicious even when it is cold.

Anamika , is sharing her cake art having all some bits of all 3 colors inside .isn't it a lovely cake ? she decorates it within only 2 hours.... Wow !!!!

One more special entry we have from Krystyna who has shared many interesting health related information about our national fruit -Mango ... :).

Here are entries from me ....

Spinach and carrot falvored rice with plain rice.

Carrot ,White Radish and coriander salad.

Bell pepper Uttapam.

Sprouted Mung(Green beans) Dosa

Carrot , Spring onion and capsicum Spread

Steamed rice with spring onion and orange bell pepper

Kesar ilaichi( saffron & cardamom )Drink(We call it -Royal Drink), Buttermilk and Coriander sorbet.

A huge hug from me to all the participants for making this theme success and showing their creativity in various ways. Well there is one more theme to celebrate together before we actually start with our Vegetable of the week event.

UPCOMING:
Theme of the next week is Valentine's day Special . The rules are same as it was for last year.
I will publish a detailed post about that in a day or two with logo for the theme of the week - Valentine's Day , last date for submission will be 14th Feb 2008. Start preparing your dish now ,and stay tuned to this blog for more :)

About....

Dear all ,

Due to some sickness , I could not publish the round up today , though now it is in its final stage , I hope that will be done by tomorrow evening. After some naps during the round up writing , I am feeling little better now, I wish that better will continue to be best for my health.

Did Archana or Anuzi send along with their entry some Viruses too ;) ? which caught ME lately :)) , well I sincerely hope this is temporary :) .

I hope to see you all soon by tomorrow evening at round up.
Thanks.

-Pooja

Happy Republic Day India :) .

India is celebrating its Republic day with all enthusiasm and spirit toady , check out some details here and here.

Wishing all my Indian fellows reading this "A Very Happy Republic Day. "

I miss those days when in India on this special day we were getting ready in the early Moring and were going to school for its celebrations. Later when at home around from 9 to afternoon time sit in front of TV and watch the live Republic Day parade from Delhi. Golden were those days just as India forever - shining bright as real Gold and proud with its history and current time too :) .

I have never seen these many rules for any national flag as we have for Indian flag,That's why INDIA is Great and different from other countries.
Here is a video of our Beloved National Anthem .Don't forget to stand and give our Matrubhumi it a salute when you play it.



(By any chance you missed to watch the video I posted in last post, check it now, you will truly like it. )

As with our Ongoing theme of the week , it feels so great to see three colors of our Flag all around this blog world, I feel proud to have you all around with lovely worlds for our Nation.
Thanks for to those who have already sent their enteries . The last day to send enteries is today, If you are new to "theme of the week - Orange,White and Green " check out here. Check out round up on monday.


Here are some of the entries from my side for our "Theme of the week -Orange ,White and Green.
Carrot , White radish and coriander salad :


Mix shredded Carrot, and white radish along with little sugar (according to taste ) , and a pinch of salt. Garnish with chopped coriander , mix well before serving. Healthy Salad in minutes.... :D.

Uttapam with bell peppers :

As this blog world is full of people belonging to south region of India, I think Uttapam must be known to you . Even if you are not one of them , you must have many friend like them , Right? I do have too :) . This is Slight twist to make it suitable to theme and full of nutritions :). While cooking on one side carefully spread the Orange and green bell peppers cut into small cube shapes . cook on the other side too so that it will give you better taste and little fragrance too.
bell pepper Uttapam is ready !!!

Sprouted Mung Dosa :

(recipe coming in next week's post)

Carrot , Spring onion and capsicum Spread.

My daily meal consists of at least one raw fruit / vegetable in the form of salad . here I made it from baby carrot white part of spring Onions ( both cut as thin slices ) and capsicum (green bell pepper). Just a little change in decorating salad give immense pleasure , isn't it ?

Steamed rice :


Fresh steamed long grain rice with orange bell pepper and spring onion . I tried this to make it suitable to this theme, I think I will make it lot more time now, as it tastes very very good with nice whirl of aroma around... :)

Healthy Drinks:

1. Saffron Juice.
- Soak few saffron in warm water overnight along with 2 peeled cardamom .
- Strain it and keep aside , add it to glass of water and add sugar . I add half tsp.
- A royal drink is ready to cherish you along with its many benefits., Tastes heavenly .

2. Fresh Butter milk
- Nicely bitten curd with pinch of salt and some water added to it.
- best for summer days, Being Gujarati- for me it is impossible to have meal without it .
3. Coriander flavored Lemon Sorbet.
- In a mixure bowl take few leaves of coriander , grind it with 1/4 inch of ginger , 1.5 tsp lemon juice and some water .
- Strain it and keep aside, in a galss take water add some sugar to it ,stir till sugar dissolves.
- Add strained water of mixture to it. A refeshing drink is ready for you :) .
(Note: Dont forget to add lemon juice at the time of grinding to retain fresh green color of coriander ).

This Picture goes to Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi for this month's Click-liquid .

See you all on Moday with round up for "Theme of the week -Orange ,white and Green". If you are planning to send the entry , Please send it soon today , that will help me a lot to arrange the whole round up.
Have fun buddies and enjoy the weekend with added spirit and enthusiasm of Republic day :D.

TriColored Rice (Spinach & Carrot rice )

This idea came to my mind as I announced the theme , as what else can be perfect for three colors of OUR Indian flag. As I keep getting entries from other bloggers , I feel like there are many thing more appropriate for the theme you also have in mind, so alike we are :)) , well, thats what food bloggers are all about , cooking something with high creativity , kudos to you all who have already sent their nice entries and waiting for many more to celebrate our Republic day with.

Ingredients :
1 cup chopped spinach
1 cup baby carrot
3 cup cooked rice
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
Half tsp Garam masala.

Recipe:

Wash Spinach and cut them roughly. Take little water and let the spinach boil for a while. Do not boil much. Boil until the original green color of spinach is maintained. This will take 2-3 minutes maximum. When done, crush it using grinder or hand mixer , adding 2 green chillies to it, and put it aside.

Cut the baby carrot roughly and grind them to make smooth past , if needed add little water to grind them well. Keep this paste aside.

In a flat bottomed pan take 1/2 tsp oil, when little hot add spinach paste to it cook it till extra water from the it evaporate then add 1 cup cooked rice to this. Finally Mix well , taking care that it should not break the rice. The rice I used for this is long grain (Basmati) rice.

Repeat the same process with carrot paste, when extra water from it evaporates add little garam masala to it, and then add 1 cup cooked rice. Mix well and turn off the gas.

In a flat bottomed vessel serve it with plain white rice in middle.

If making it in little large quantity , I would suggest to make layers of three colors, spinach rice at the bottom , white in center and top of all carrot rice. That will make wonderful treat for eyes ,even while serving it it will look nice. I tried making jeera rice and spinach pulao with layers many time for and every time it was a great hit .

The Spinach rice is a little modified version of my own Palak Pulao ( check out recipe here ), to make this dish a suitable entry to tri- colored theme.

Just have a peek for what’s coming up next.

Many more entries from me are yet to come tomorrow, so stay tuned to this blog , keep your entries posted and send it soon to blogpooja@gmail.com . Last date to reach me is 26th Jan, 2008.

Non- bloggers can also send their entries directly with the description. for more read out the rules here .

Now , Something Very nice for all my Indian bloggers…check out the following video.

Even if you Don't understand Hindi, the message is so clear that you will like it.

(Note : If you already sent email to me and dint get any response in comment or as reply please mention it here, i find that already some of the email were mis delivered to my junk e-mail folder, trying to sort out the problem though , I would appreciate your support in this regards, Thanks )

"Vegetable Of The Week" & "Theme of The Week" is Back !!!

Hey buddies...

For all those old blog buddies around and many many new bloggers too,

"Vegetable of the week" & " Theme of the week" is back with its participation rules and different Theme or Veggie selection each time .

If you are a old blogger probably you already knew it, and for new bloggers you can search with the key word - Vegetable of the week and/or Theme of the week in this blog.

Theme of the week - Orange,White and Green

For this Month we have theme suitable to Republic day of India. Last year we had the same theme for 26th Jan 2007, this year we are back with some modifications in participation rules.



1.

Post any recipe, Cook anything with 3 colors of flag of India. (Orange , White and Green – you can cook dish finally resulting in any of these 3 colors / any single color / all of 3 , some variation in color of final dish is perfectly OK . :))


2.
Create anything having combination of 3 colors. i.e. you can just catch a picture of array of vegetables/birds/flowers having these 3 colors, or click anything else like say 3 scarves of these 3 colors, or anything you can imagine from your side.

3.
Share anything you would like to share about Indian history / freedom fighter / anything about our great nation.

4.
For all non-blogger, if you wish to participate then you can directly send your entries with all the write up and picture to me in email, along with your name . it happened many times with this blog in past that non-bloggers have participated with the same enthusiasm and equally good entries, so if you don't have a blog yet, no worries.... just be ready to compose your email and send the entries to me with proper details and name :D.

5.
Your entries should reach me on or before 26th January 2008. Link your post to this site, that will help me retrieve your entries from Technorati. It would be nice if you can put the logo above of this event to your relevant post.
Send your entries to me on blogpooja@gmail.com along with the subject line as "theme of the week - Orange,white and green ", and the picture you want to participate , along with the dish/post name and URL.
The rules are same as it was last year except the third one , for details of last year click here .
If you are a new blogger (i.e. less than one year old on blog world, or new to this blog) you can check the last year round up for this theme here . I am sure you will get many better ideas from the round up last year,and don't forget if you have anything much interesting to share about India with all of us.
You can send as many entries as you wish. If you have anything already suitable to this event posted on your blog , you can also send that along with your at least one new entry.
So Let's all get together virtually and celebrate the spirit of freedom of India, with all our zeal and zest, we might be in different part of the world, still we miss India, lets show our enthusiasm the way we can. I remember last year it happened that one blogger friend participated in spite of her illness, and I am proud to say that even my non-Indian friend was there to celebrate our spirit of freedom.
My beloved Non-Indian friends are also welcome to be a part of this event and celebrate our spirit.
So what are you waiting for ???
Open your fridge, check out what you have, put your thinking cap on and start thinking. As I am writing this , I can visualize fenugreek, carrot, peas,bell peppers, coriander, spinach , white radish , mung sprout and some left over masoor dal of my fridge right now :)), and the ideas of combining them comes to my mind like a flood :)) , well that's really a problem with me :)) . If you think little bit more for real, there are many option you can come up with , I am all eager to see how all of us do participation with this theme with your creativity. Share your ideas and be a part of this nice celebration.
And hey, don't forget that it is not only limited to only cooking this time. :) .
I will keep on posting my enteries up to 26th Jan on this blog , To get more ideas stay tuned to this blog and enjoy your days ahead.....
(P.S. -If you have any queries regarding the rules I posted here, don't hesitate to reach me on pooja18@gmail.com . I will reply you back as soon as I can. )

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.