See you all after a short break...........

I have emptied the fridge and filled my stomach (??!!!), cleaned the house, switched off the TV, packed the bags....guess why!!! la ala lalaaaaaa.....We are going to India!!! yeyeyeee I am dancing with my boy. I am as excited as him to see my parents, in-laws, friends and relatives. All the more to eat and have fun. I have dreamt enough of tomato masale, pani puri, masale puri, ...........name it and I have had them in my dreams. I have gone crazy yeh.....Me thinks and husband thinks also. I have taken my camera to capture some special dishes cooked by my MIL and my lovley sisters for RCI-K. So will be back soon.... Till then enjoy cooking, blogging and celebrating. Wish you a very happy Gowri & Ganesha Festival.

Image googled from Internet. I had this pic from longtime, so do not remember the website. Apologies.

A sweet and savory with Avalakki/Poha/Pressed Rice

Avalakki/Poha/Pressed Rice was kuchela's gift to Lord Krishna. It is said that avalakki is one of the favorites for Lord Krishna. Though I did not prepare it as prasadam to Lord Krishna but the occassion was just perfect to make some sweet and savory for my little krishna at home who loves to eat such things.

Avalakki/Poha Laddu

Avalakki/Poha - 1 cup
Grated Dry Coconut - 1 cup
Sugar-3/4 cup or 1 cup depending on the sweetness
Ghee - 1 cup

Microwave 1 cup poha on medium high for 4 min. It looks like this when you remove from microwave.



Allow it to cool. Take the poha, sugar and grated dry coconut in a blender and blend till it you get a coarse powder. The grains should like crystals of sugar. Remove the powder to a plate and add hot ghee to it and make laddu immediately. Decorate it with dry fruits and serve. It is crunchy to eat.



Another look

A Svory/ Snack

Avalakki puri/chiwda call it by any name it brings smiles over ones face when it is served with Tea/Coffe. Here is how I do it:

You need these to make :

Avalakki (thick variety), pottukadalai/huridakadale/roasted chana dal, peanuts, red chillies, curry leaves, a pinch turmeric and salt. You can see a deep frying gadget there in the picture which is used to fry avalakki. Oil for deep frying.

Heal oil in wide pan over medium flame. When oil is sufficiantly hot take a fistfull of avalakki in the frying gadget and dip it in the oil for 30seconds. You get crispy avalakki. Remove the crispy poha on a kitchen Towel/tissue paper.

Follow the same step till you finish all poha. Fry peanuts, roasted chanadal, chillli, curry leaves in the same way.

Take avalakki, peanuts, chanadal in a bowl. In a pessel and mortar take fried redchilli, salt and turmeric crush to a very coarse powder. Mix it with avalakki and toss all the ingrediants well. Finally add fried curry leaves and serve fresh.

Tambli/Tambuli with Cucumber and Doddapatre Soppu

Tambli/Tambuli is a happy marriage of chutney and yoghurt. It involves no cooking, quick to make and easy to clean. The total time is 5-7 mins. It is a perfect accompaniment with rice on a hot summer afternoon. Very popular in some parts of Karnataka. There are many ways to make it and here I have my version.

You need these to make cucumber tambuli:

Cucumber - 1 (alternatives are onion, brahmi, doddapatre soppu etc)
Coconut - 2tbsp
Green Chillies - 2
Coriander leaves - 1 line
Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
salt to taste
Tamarind - optional

Preparation :

Deskin and deseed cucumber. Cut them into small little pieces.

How to do :

Take small pieces of cucumber, coconut, greenchillies, coriander leaves and salt in a blender. Blend to a smooth paste. Water in the cucumber is sufficiant to blend them together. Add this paste to yoghurt and mix well. Serve with Rice, pickle and sundried yoghurt chillies.

Optional : You can choose to tamper it with mustard, curry leaves and asafoetida.

Doddapatre soppu tambli

Doddapatre soppu is a plant with many medicinal properties. I know that it is used to cure skin allergies in folk medicine. I have 2 pots full of this soppu/leaf/keerai in my balcony garden.


Ingrediants:

Doddapatre Soppu : 10 big leaves
Jeera: 1 tbsp
Coconut : 2 tbsp
Green Chillies : 2-3
Yoghurt : 1/2 cup
salt

How to make:

Roast/Fry Doddapatre Soppu in one drop oil till the leaves wilt. The same version of the soppu available in India is thicker and it irritates the tongue when eaten/used without roasting/frying. The leaves that I have at my house in Singapore does not irritate the tongue when eaten/used without frying.

Blend Doddapatre Soppu, Jeera, green chillies , salt and coconut to smooth paste using sufficiant water. Add this paste to yoghut mix well. Serve with Rice.