Beet Leaves Poriyal / Fry

The leafy portion of the beetroot plants are edible too. This year we had some beets from our small kitchen garden :) These plants are very easy to grow. I made poriyal with the beetroot leaves. 

Beetroot leaves poriyal

Ingredients:

• 2 bunch        beetroot leaves
• 1                  med- onion  
• 1                  green chili
• 1 tbs             shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp          chilli powder
• salt               to taste
• 2 tsp             oil 
• 1/4 tsp          mustard seed
• 1/2 tsp          urud dal

healthy poriyal!

Method:
1. Wash and finely chop the beet leaves and its tender stalks, chop onion and green chillies. 
2. Heat oil in the pan. Add mustard seed and urud dal, after  mustard seed splutters, add green chillies and onion.
3. When the onion turns soft and brown, add the chopped greens, chilli powder and salt. Stir it well.
4. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook till the greens are soft and dry, now add the shredded coconut and stir for few minutes.
5. Transfer it to a serving dish.   

fry..

 Enjoy

                                                         
                                                             

Pesarattu / MLA Pesarattu/ Mung bean Crepe

      Pesarattu is a nutritious dosa/ crepe made with moong dal / whole green mung beans and rice. It's a popular telugu dish, high in protein. It's easy to make with out the time consuming fermenting process done with regular dosa, this dosa is without urud dal. Traditionally pesarattus are accompanied with spicy and colorful ginger chutney/ allam pachadi Click here for recipe .

ginger chutney, pesarattu and upma...

      If we add upma (Click here for recipe ) with pesarattu and chutney, it's called MLA pesarattu (got this name because of it's popularity in MLA quarter's restaurants in Hydrabad- wikipedia).
mung bean is also called: moong dal, pesara, moog dal, mash, paasi payir

How to make pesarattu:
2    cup        mung bean/ moong dhal/ paasi payir
1/2 cup        rice/ raw rice
4                 indian green chilli
1/2"             ginger   
1/2 cup        chopped coriander/ cilantro leaves

Method:
1. Wash and soak the mung bean and rice in water for at least 6 hrs.
2. Wash the soaked grains one more time, add little water and grind it with cilantro, ginger and green chillies to a smooth batter in a blender or mixer.
3. Add salt to the batter. Heat the dosa tawa or a flat round (pancake) pan, apply oil to it's surface,
4. Pour 2 ladle of moong dal batter and spread it around thinly with the back of the spoon, add 2 tsp of oil around the dosa.
5. Cook till the dosa gets crispy and brown on the pan side (at this stage the dosa should come off easily from the pan), flip the dosa and cook for a few min's.
6. Remove it from the pan, continue the process with the remaining batter.
7. Serve it immediately with ginger chutney/ allam pachidi.

Tips for taste:
1. Serve pesarattu immediately after cooking with chutney, it tastes better when it's hot and crispy.

2. To make MLA pesarattu, cook  Upma  and Ginger Chutney / Alam Pachadi  chutney before hand and make the pesarattu just before serving.


                                       

Ginger Chutney / Allam Pachadi

This is an interesting side dish for pesarattu (Click here for recipe), bold and colorful. The big flavors should not over power one another, it should be in a harmony. Ginger has a lot of medicinal value. 

Memory lane:
        My daughter played flute in her school (middle school) orchestra. She took it very seriously and practiced daily, at first it sounded something between a train's whistle and a fire alarm. The kids practiced a lot after school. During the final performance they dressed up nicely and played confidently and harmoniously. It was so good! not even one out of place squeaky sound was heard. We enjoyed it and was very proud of our daughter and her friends.
Ingredients:
1 cup         chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup      tamarind paste 
1/2 tsp       fenugreek/ methi seeds
10- 12       dried red chillies
3 tbs         powdered jaggery/ brown sugar
1/8 tsp       asafoetida
salt to taste
to temper: 
1/2 tsp         mustard seed
1 tsp            black gram/ urud dal
2 tbs            oil 
few curry leaves
Method:
1. In a pan dry roast the red chillies and fenugreek for a few mins on low.  
2. In a blender/ mixer add the roasted red chillies, fenugreek and ginger and grind in to a paste, add the tamarind paste, asafoetida and jaggery and blend it well.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds when it splutters add the black gram and curry leaves.
4. Lower the heat and add the ground mixture, cook till the liquid evaporates and the chutney becomes nice and thick.
5. Serve it with crispy pesarattu, iddly or dosa.

Tips for taste:
   We can add more lemon juice/ chilli powder/ sugar to the chutney to adjust the taste. 


                                
                              

Simple Upma

       Upma is a versatile and quick meal made with semolina / rava. This is the basic recipe for upma, we can add nuts, dry fruits and ghee/ butter to make it  rich, we can also add peas, carrots and beans to it and make it more healthier.

Upma

Ingredients:
1 cup             semolina / rava
3                   green chillies
few                curry leaves
few strands    cilantro/ coriander leaves
1 tbs              shredded coconut
1.5                 cup water
salt to taste
To temper:
3 tsp                oil
1/2 tsp             mustard seed
1 tsp                black gram/ urud dhal
Method:
1. Dry roast the rava on low flame, (we can smell a nice roasted smell when it's done). The rava should be roasted properly - to avoid a sticky upma
2. Remove the rava from the pan and keep it aside. Heat oil in the same pan and add mustard seeds and black gram seeds / urud dhal.
3. After the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, onion and green chillies. When the onion becomes brown add the turmeric powder and coconut. 
4. Add water and salt. 
5. When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat, add the rava mixture slowly to the water, stirring it all the time.
6. Stir it well without any lumps. Garnish it with coriander leaves.
Tips for taste:
1.  Coconut chutney is a good side dish for upma.
coconut chutney recipe
2. For a quick upma, dry roast large amount of rava, cool it and store in a container.

Upma in MLA pesarattu

                   








  

Insalata Caprese/ Sweet summer salad

Insalata Caprese means- Salad in the style of Capri (it's an island near Naples). 

Insalata Caprese!!!

      This is the peak season for tomato and basil, perfect time to make this colorful, easy breezy summer salad. The sweet and fresh, vine ripen tomatoes (from our neighbor- friend's garden) and a bunch of  fresh basil leaves gives this dish a crisp freshness. 
Ingredients:
2                 tomatoes
6 oz            soft mozzarella cheese
1 tbs           extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp           pepper 
few             small basil leaves
salt to taste
Method:
1. Cut tomatoes and cheese into thin slices.
2. In a service plate arrange the tomato slices separately and place the cheese slices over it.
3. Sprinkle pepper and salt, drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes and garnish it with basil leaves. 

love the colors!

                            
                           

Fruit and Nutty Pinwheels

   This savory snack can be used as an appetizer or can be enjoyed with tea. 

Ingredients:
3                  dates
4                  small red chillies 
2 tbs            raisins
2 tbs            cashews
2 tbs            pecans
2 tbs            dried cranberries 
1  sheet       puff pastry  
salt              to taste       

Method:
1. Thaw the pastry to room temperature, pre heat the oven to 250* f.
2. Grind the chillies in a blender/ mixer, now add all the remaining ingredients with the chilli and grind it coarsely. 
3. On a lightly floured surface, unfold and roll out the thawed pastry. With the long side facing you, spread the dried fruit filling uniformly over it.
4.  Starting at the long side, roll up like a jelly roll (pictures at the end of this post).
5.  Cut the pastry crosswise into 1' slices. Place the slices cut side down on a baking sheet.
6. Bake it for 15 mins or until the pastries are golden brown.
7. Transfer it to a serving plate and enjoy.

ingredients..

dried fruits & nuts filling....

cut 1 inch slices...

open the outer shell of a side.....

with a knife..

slightly, like a flower

Yummm!

                                             
                                             
                       

Pears in Blankets with caramel sauce

              Grocery shopping in summer is always fun.  We can find wide variety of  fruits and vegetables in the produce section. Some times we'll get carried away and buy them in bulk. In our house, most of the time it's pear. There are more pear recipes in this blog than any other fruits. 
           In this recipe, pear slices are coated in a brown sugar blend, wrapped in puff pastry and served with caramel sauce or chocolate sauce and toasted nuts.  Serve it warm.

pear in blanket!

Ingredients:
1               puff pastry sheet
1               pear

4 tsp          butter
1/8 tsp       salt
1/3 cup      brown sugar
1 tbs          all purpose flour
1/4 tsp       powdered cinnamon
1/4 tsp       powdered nutmeg
1 tbs          toasted pecan pieces
4    tsp      caramel sauce 
2    tbs      powdered sugar

with caramel sauce...

method:
1. Thaw the pastry sheet as per the package instruction, pre- heat oven to 350* f.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together with butter to a crumbly mix.
3. Peel and slice the pear into 6 equal slices.
3. Cut 6 disks from the thawed pastry sheet and keep it aside.
4. Coat the pear slices with the brown sugar mixture and place it on the cut pastry disks, sprinkle any remaining  crumble over the pears.
5. Pull two sides of the pastry disk over the pear slice and press it together on the top, continue with all the pieces.  
6. Bake it in the oven for 12- 15 mins or till the pastry is puffed to a nice golden brown. Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the puffs and drizzle it with caramel or chocolate sauce, serve it warm.  

cut discs from the pastry sheet...

brown sugar coated pear slice...

Pull two sides of the pastry disk over the pear slice and press it together on the top

caramelized pear in a warm crispy puff....

                                           

                             
                                                      

Uthappam / Oothappam /Uthappa

           Oothappam is a south indian dish, made with rice and black gram / urud dal. This pancake like dosa is crispy on the outside with a soft layer in the middle. With preferred vegetable toppings, it's also called indian lentil pizza. Coconut chutney is our favourite side dish for uthappam. There is a link for coconut chutney recipe in the end of this post. We can also use, leftover dosa batter to make uthappam 

Crispy uthappam ready!

To soak and grind:
1 cup              rice (for perfect batter use 1/2 cup iddly rice and 1/2                 
                               cup raw rice) 
1/2 cup          black gram / ulundu /urud dal 
1  tsp              fenugreek / methi / venthayam
salt to taste
1. Soak the rice in water and soak methi with urud dal separately for 4 hours.
2. Grind the rice and urud dal separetely.
3. Combine both batter with salt and mix it thoroughly with hand.
4. Pour it into any container with lid and let it ferment over night.

Oothappam!!!

Oothappam:
1              onion 
4              green chillies
1 tsp        cumin seed / jeera
few          curry leaves
1/4 "        ginger
1/2 cup    shredded carrot     (optional)
1/2 cup    shredded cabbage  (optional)   
Method:    
1. Chop the onion, chilli and ginger finely.
2. Combine all the ingredients except onion with the fermented batter. Check for salt.
3. The consistency of the batter should be somewhere between  dosa batter and iddly batter, add water accordingly.
4. Heat the dosa tawa or any large flat non stick pan on med/ high, apply oil to its surface and sprinkle 1 tbs of onion, decrease the heat. 
5. Pour 1-2 ladles of batter and spread it over the onion carefully with out any gap.
 6. Pour 3 tsp of oil over it, increase the heat and cook. 
7. When the pan side of the appam becomes brown and crispy, reduce the heat and flip it over carefully with a flat spoon.
8. Remove the uthappam from the pan when it's cooked through, continue the process with the remaining batter. 
9. Serve it with coconut chutney and sambar. 
Tips for taste:
     The dosa pan should be hot for the batter to stick to it, but if it becomes too hot it'll be hard to spread the batter around, so reduce the heat before pouring the batter.
   Click here for a creamy coconut chutney recipe. 

onions and green chillies...

Applying oil....

onion...

oothappam...

ready!!!

                  

Shrimp Chilli Fry/ Prawn Chilli Fry

      This is an easy and yummy recipe. It pairs well with fried rice, plain rice with raitha or any other mild flavored rice

Chilli shrimp fry!!!

1 lb/ 1/2 kg       shrimp/ prawns
1                      onion
1                      bellpepper/ capsicum 
1 tbs                 corn starch
1 tsp                 chilli pwdr
2 tsp                 tomato sauce 
2 tbs                 chilli sauce
2 tsp                 soya sauce
3 tbs                 oil 
1 tsp                 sesame seed
1/2 tsp              lemon juice  
few leaves         curry leaves  
1/2 tsp               sugar
salt to taste

yummm!

Method:
1. Cut the onion and bell pepper into equal sized small wedges.
2. Marinate the shrimp with salt, lemon juice, cornstarch, 1 tsp soya sauce and chilli pwdr.
3. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a pan and fry sesame seeds and curry leaves increase the heat and stir fry the onion and bell pepper. Cook till the onion becomes golden brown yet crispy.
4. Remove the vegetables from the pan and keep it aside, add the remaining oil to the same pan and cook the marinated shrimp till its almost done.
5. Add the vegetables to the shrimp stir it well, now add the remaining soya sauce, chilli sauce and tomato sauce. Cook till the shrimp mixture becomes dry. Add sugar and mix it well before removing it from fire.
6. Transfer it to a serving plate and garnish it with thinly sliced onion. 
Tips for taste:
The sauces already have salt in it so be careful when adding more salt to the dish.

stir fried veggies....

marinated prawns...

colorful combo...

add the chilli sauce...