Turmeric

Turmeric
Turmeric is an essential ingredient in Indian Cooking. Fresh Turmeric is available only in this season.
It is available from November to March.

How to use in cooking 
Peel the skin, slice and cut into small pieces or crush it.
You can even grind in mortar and pestle.
Add a thin slice of turmeric in a mixer jar with other spices or coconut or tomato while making sambar and sabji.
You can even grate it.

How to make Turmeric Powder
Wash and Peel the skin of raw turmeric, cut into slices.
Sun dry for 2 - 3 days .
After it is completely dry, grind in a mixer jar to a fine powder.
Sieve and store fine powder in an airtight container.

Note
You can store raw turmeric in refrigerator for 2 - 3 weeks.

Barnyard Millet Paddu

Barnyard Millet Paddu

Ingredients :

2 cups Dosa Rice

1/2 cup Barnyard  Millet

1 cup Urad Dal

1/2 spoon Methi seeds

1/2 cup Poha ( thin)

Oil

Salt

Method:

Soak dosa rice, barnyard millet in water and keep it aside.

Soak urad dal and methi seeds in a separate vessel for 7 - 8 hours.

After 7 hours, grind all the ingredients and add poha while grinding.

Paddu batter is ready and it has to be fermented for 8 hours.

After  batter is fermented add salt.

Heat paddu tawa on a medium flame and add 1/2 spoon oil and pour batter into the moulds. Cook both the sides untill it turns golden brown.

Serve hot barnyard millet paddus with chutney.

Tips

Paddu batter can be used to make dosa.

You can add 1/4 cup red raw rice with dosa rice.

Millet Varieties 
Barnyard Millet and Brown Top Millet

Millets can be cooked just like rice. They are gluten free and fiber rich. 

Pumpkin Sabzi

Pumpkin Sabzi
Side Dish For Sankranti Festival

Ingredients:

2 cups Pumpkin diced

1 Onion chopped

2 -3 Green Chillies chopped

1 Tomato chopped

4 Curry Leaves chopped

1 spoon Coriander Leaves chopped

1 spoon Mustard seeds

2 spoon Channa Dal

1 spoon Turmeric Powder

1 spoon Masala powder

1 spoon Roasted Gram Powder

1 spoon Grated Coconut (optional)

3 spoons Oil

Salt

Method:

Cut Pumpkin into 4 pieces, peel the skin and scoop the seeds.

Cut pumpkin into dices and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan on a medium flame, add mustard seeds, channa dal, onion, green chilli and saute well.

Add  curry leaves, turmeric powder, masala powder.

Add pumpkin pieces to the pan and mix it to the mixture.

Add chopped tomato, roasted gram powder, coconut, salt, half cup water  and coriander leaves and cook for 10 - 12 minutes on a medium flame.

Serve Pumpkin Sabzi with chapati or rice.

Note

You can even grind tomato, coconut and roasted gram powder into a fine paste.

Hyacinth Beans/ Avrekalu Sambar

Hyacinth Beans Sambar/ Avrekalu Sambar

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup Hyacinth Beans/ Avrekalu
2 Tomato
1 Onion sliced
3 Garlic cloves
1/4 inch Ginger
1 spoon Jeera
1 spoon Jaggery ( optional)
2 spoons Red Chilli Powder
1/2 spoon Turmeric Powder
1/2 spoon Sambar Powder
1 spoon Coriander seeds
3 Clove
1 Cinnamon
2 spoon Coconut grated
2 spoon Tamarind extract
1 spoon Mustard seeds
4 Curry Leaves (optional)
1 spoon Oil
Salt

Method
Pressure cook hyacinth beans/ avrekalu and tomatoes in pressure cooker for 1 whistle.
In a kadai, add 2 drops of oil, fry sliced onion and garlic and transfer it to a mixer jar.
Add grated coconut, jeera, cinnamon, clove, ginger, coriander seeds and tomato to the mixer jar.
Grind into a fine paste.
In a vessel for tadka, heat 1 spoon oil, add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Transfer cooked hyacinth beans, fine paste, tamarind extract to the vessel.
Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, sambar powder, jaggery and salt and cook for 5 minutes.
Hyacinth Beans Sambar is ready to serve.

Fruit and Nut Cake

Fruit & Nut Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Maida/ Refined Flour

100 g Butter melted

1 cup Sugar powdered

1  spoon Vanilla Essence

1 spoon Baking powder

1 spoon Baking Soda

1 Orange Fruit

3 spoons Tutti Fruti

1 spoon Cherries chopped

6 Cashewnuts ( cut into pieces)

5 Almonds ( cut into pieces)

6 Raisins

1 cup Milk

Method:

Soak tutti fruti, cashewnuts, raisins, cherries, almonds in orange juice in a bowl for 1 - 2 hours.

In a bowl, sieve maida, powdered sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

Add melted butter, vanilla essence, soaked nuts and milk.

Mix well  and see that there are no lumps.

Apply butter to loaf pan and dust some refined flour evenly inside it.

Pour the cake batter upto half of the loaf pan and pat 2 times.

Spread tutti fruti on cake batter.

Preheat oven and bake the cakes at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes in the microwave oven.

After baking is done, let it cool down.

Fruit & Nut cake is ready to serve.

Avrekalu Hurgalu

Avarekalu Hurgalu
Evening Snacks

Ingredients
2 Cups Hyacinth Beans/Hitkida Avrekalu ( See in the picture)
1/4 cup Groundnuts
1/4 cup Roasted Gram
4 Curry Leaves
I/4 spoon Red Chilli Powder
Salt
Oil for Frying

Method
Spread hyacinth beans on a dry cloth for 30 minutes.
Heat sufficient oil in a kadai for deep frying.
Now take handful of hyacinth beans, drop into the kadai gently and fry until the beans start floating on medium flame.
Fry hyacinth beans and keep it aside.
Fry groundnuts, roasted gram, curry leaves and mix to fried hyacinth beans.
Sprinkle salt and red chilli powder and mix well.
Avrekalu Hurgalu is ready and store in an airtight container.

Note
Be careful while dropping hyacinth beans to hot oil, keep in a low flame.