About Me

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Over the last few decades I've spent a number of hours cooking for my family of 5. My husband is a retired bank Manager and my 3 boys are IIT graduates. Now I'm sharing my knowledge and thoughts to the world through this site. Whether you are a busy mom or a student learning to cook, you will find this blog helpful for cooking simple and easy to make food for yourself and the whole family. Hope you enjoy my recipe blog! I also love listening to devotional songs. Please browse through my devotional blogs to know more about them. I am always looking for ways to improve my blogs. Please leave your comments. If you like to see recipe of any particular dish or lyrics of a devotional song, please also let me know. Thanks for reading my blog.

Sunday, 31 July 2011

Onion Salad

Ingredients

  • Onion                      1  no.        ( chopped )
  • Tomato                   ½             ( chopped ) 
  • Green Chillies          3 nos.     ( chopped  
  • Curd                          1    cup
  • Curry Leaves  or
  • Coriander   leaves         
  • Salt to taste 

Procedure              
  1. Beat the curd with salt well
  2. Add onions,tomatoes,green chillies and curry leaves into curd . Add little water if necessary.
  3. Mix it well.
  4. Salad is ready . 
  5. Serve with veg with biryani etc.


Saturday, 30 July 2011

Vegetable Biryani



Ingredients
  •  Basmati Rice                     2 cups       
  •  Mixed Vegetable             2 cups  (cut into small pieces )  
  •  (cauliflower, potato, carrot, french beans, beat root)
  • Green Peas                         1\2 cup
  •  Onion                                   3 Finely Sliced
  •  Green Chillies                   2 Finely Sliced 
  • Biryani masala                   2 tsp 
  • Oil                                            3 tsp               
  • Salt to taste 
  • Onionpieces                           4 cups
  • ginger                                     1 inch piece
  • garlic                                       8cloves         

 Procedure
  1. Wash rice before two hours and drain the water fully and keep them aside to dry.
  2. Grind the half portion of  onion pieces, garlic and ginger into a fine paste.
  3. Heat  oil in a thick bottom cooking vessel , add remain onion pieces and let the onions saute,  add onion garlic ginger paste.
  4. Fry till the paste become little brown. 
  5. Add washed rice and fry for 3 minutes. 
  6. Add4 or 5 cups of boiled water, vegetables, masala powder and salt. Mix well.
  7. cook till the rice is done. 
  8. Serve with salad or veg. masala curry.


Kulcha

Ingredients

  • Maida                   1cup ( all purpose flour)                
  • Besan (gram flour)1cup
  • Wheat                   2 cups
  • curd                      3 tsp
  • Onion                   1 cut into small pieces
  • Green chili            3 cut into small pieces
  • Til seeds               5 tps
  • Ginger small piece cut into small pieces
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil + Ghee          1\4 cup
  • Soda bicarbonate1/4 tsp
Procedure
  1. Take  Maida, Besan, wheat  salt, sodium bi carbonate and curd in a bowl.  
  2. Add enough water to make smooth dough. 
  3. Let the dough rest for 1 to 2 hours, covered with a damp cloth.
  4. Divide the dough into 6-8 portions and shape them into balls. 
  5. Roll out these balls on a lightly floured surface, into 5 inch rounds.Brush lightly with oil.
  6. Spread onion pieces, chili piece and til seeds. Press slightly.
  7. Preheat oven to 220 degree C..Place kulchas on a greased baking tray. Bake them for 6-8 minutes.
  8. Brush kulcha with ghee or butter and serve hot with
OR

Alternatively you can also cook kulcha in tandoor or griddle (tava) like chapathi.

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Very useful information...to keep handy SOMETHING FOR YOU TO KNOW

Ants Problem:
Ants hate cucumbers.
Keep the skin of cucumbers near the place or ant hole.


To get pure and clean ice :
Boil water first before freezing.


To get pure and clean ice :
Boil water first before freezing.

To whiten white clothes:
Soak white clothes in hot water with a slice of lemon for 10 minutes



To give a shine to hair :
Add one teaspoon of vinegar to hair, then wash hair.



To get maximum juice out of lemons :
Soak lemons in hot water for one hour, and then juice them.

To avoid smell of cabbage while cooking:
Keep a piece of bread on
 the cabbage in the vessel while cooking.

To avoid tears while cutting onions:
Chew gum

To boil potatoes quickly:
Skin one potato from one side only before boiling

To remove ink from clothes :
Put toothpaste on the ink spots generously and let it dry completely, then wash.

To skin sweet potatoes quickly :
Soak in cold water immediately after boiling.

To get rid of mice or rats :
sprinkle black pepper in places where you find mice or rats.
They will run away.




To make better idli

Add little bit of flattened rice (atukulu) to soaked broken balck gram dal to make Idils floopy.

If a little iddly batter is left, u can mix same quantity of  wheat flour with it to make utappams.

Add 2 spoons of rava to watery vada batter to make it thick. 

Stains on marble can be removed by rubbing vigorously with wet cloth dipped in salt.

Gold ornaments become brighter if washed in warm water with a spoon of turmeric and half 
spoon of surf excel.

Cleaning silver vessels with dry coalgate tooth powder makes them brighter

While peparing any deep fried dish, if the hot oil starts foaming and rising in the pan, add a small piece of tamarind to the oi

lSoaking rice or dal in water for at least ten minutes before cooking helps cook it faster.

Removing stems from chilies keeps them fresher for a longer time.

Soak peeled onion in water to avoid tears.

Soak garlic in water for 5 min to make peeling easier.

Store the used coconut in deep freezer for longer life.



























Sunday, 10 July 2011

Light Delight

Ingredients :

  • Mosambi (Bothayi) peeled     1 cup 
  • Papayya                                1 cup cut into pieces 
  • Pine apple                             1 cup cut into pieces 
  • Sugar                                    1 cup 
Procedure :
  1. Grind all ingredients in a mixie.
  2. Filter in a glass.
  3. Your delicious drink is ready to drink.

Mexi Corn Salad

Ingredients
  • Red capsicum         1 cut into small pieces
  • Green capsicum      1 cut into small pieces
  • Tomato                   1 cut into small pieces
  • Sweet corn             1 cup
  • Onion                     1 cut into small pieces
  • vinegar                    2 tsp
  • Lemon juice            2 tsp
  • Pepper                   1/2 spoon
  • Salt to taste
Procedure
  1. Take all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
  2. Its is very health and delicious food.

Dondakaya, Kobbari koru koora (Tindora with grated coconut)

French Beans, with Dry Coconut curry

Ingredients

  • Donakayalu (Tindora)            1/2 kg (cut  in round pieces)
  • Coconut grated                       1 cup            
  • salt to taste
Seasoning
  • Mustard                    1/2 tsp
  • Cumin                       1/4 tsp
  • Red chilli                   1
  • Green chilli                2  (chopped)
  • curry leaves               1
  • Oil                             2 tsp 
Procedure
  1. Take one cup water and tindora pieces in a pressure cooker and cook till they become soft. (3 whistles).
  2. Remove them from cooker and  drain the water. Keep them aside.
  3. Take a cooking vessel, seasoning with mustard, cumin, garlic and redchilli, green chili and curry leaves.
  4. Add  cooked tindora pieces and  salt and mix well,  fry for 5 minutes.  
  5. Add grated coconut and  mix well,  fry for  another 3minutes.
  6. Serve with rice or roti.

Saturday, 9 July 2011

Idli Chatni (Roasted Dalia split chatney)

 Ingredients

  • Roasted dalia split ( Gulla senaga pappu)       1cup
  •  Grated Coconut             1 cup
  • Green chili                       2 
  • Curd                                1\4cup
  • Salt to taste
For seasoning
  • Mustard seeds                ½  spoon
  • Cumin seeds                    ¼  tsp
  • Red chilli                           2
  • Curry leaves
  • Oil                                     2 tsp
 Procedure
  1.  Grind roasted dail split, grated coconut, curd, green chili, and salt into a smooth paste with adding sufficient water.
  2. Take it in a bowl and seasoning with mustard, cumin, red chili and curry leaves. Mix well.
  3.  Serve with iddli, dosa, vada, upma etc.


























































           

Thursday, 7 July 2011

Onion bajji, Pototoe bajji and Mirapaka bajji

Onion bajji

Ptotato bajji

Mirchi bajji

 Ingredients: 

  • For Mirchi Bajjis      10 nos. of  bajji  mirchis
  • Besan (gram flour)     2 cups                  
  • Rice flour                  2 spoons
  • Ginger, Garlic and 
  • Green chilli paste       1 tsp     
  • Oil for deep fry
  • Salt to  taste

Procedure : 

  1. Take gram floor, rice floor, ginger,garlic,chili paste and salt in a bowl.
  2. Add little water and stir to make it a medium thick paste.
  3. Heat oil in a frying pan.
  4. Dip chillies one by one in the besan paste and slowly release into the heated oil.
  5. Fry until they turn golden brown.
  6. Remove from the pan and serve hot with ketchup.

THE SAME IS THE PROCEDURE  FOR MAKING BAJJIS WITH ONION , POTATO, CAULI FLOWER, GREEN BANANA. (Onion and Potato are to be cut into round medium thick slices)

Mirapakaya bajji chat


Ingredients:

  • Mirchi Bajjis               5 nos. (procedure detailed earlier) cut into pieces as shown in the pic.
  • Onion                         1 no. peeled and cut into thin pieces
  • Tomato                      1 no. cut into small pieces
  • Carrot                        1 no. chopped and  finely grated 
  • Coriander  leaves 
  • Chat masala               1/2 spoon
  • Jeera powder (cumin) 1/2 spoon 
  • Lemon juice                1 tsp  

Procedure : 

  1. Take a bowl,  add all the above ingredients and mix well.  
  2. Add lemon juice before eating.