Friday, November 20, 2009
Hagalkai Palya - Bittergourd Subzi
The name bittergourd/Hagalkayi used to make us twitch our nose as kids. It was just an ugly looking gourd with pimply skin and noone wanted him to come home;) But this vegetable which true to its name tastes very bitter is one popular vegetable in Asian countries specially India, more so because of its medicinal properties. Remember, all that sweet is not really good for one's health and once in a while it is good to balance it with something bitter.
The extracts of Bitter gourd, also called Karela in hindi has been used since ancient times in natural medicine and in Ayurveda. Bitter gourd is known for its medicinal properties for many ailments, particularly in diabetes. These gourds are said to have a hypoglycemic compound also called 'plant-insulin’, which helps in bringing down the levels of sugar in the blood and urine in the body. For more information on the various health benefits of Bitter Gourds, see here.
For cooking, we usually use tender, un-matured Bitter gourds. If they are grown/ripe, then the seeds have to be removed. In our place we have some amazing ways of cooking it, so that the bitter taste is hidden by the elaborate use of other spices along with jaggery and tamarind extract. One such family favourite is this simple Palya or stir fry which I will be sharing here.
The extracts of Bitter gourd, also called Karela in hindi has been used since ancient times in natural medicine and in Ayurveda. Bitter gourd is known for its medicinal properties for many ailments, particularly in diabetes. These gourds are said to have a hypoglycemic compound also called 'plant-insulin’, which helps in bringing down the levels of sugar in the blood and urine in the body. For more information on the various health benefits of Bitter Gourds, see here.
For cooking, we usually use tender, un-matured Bitter gourds. If they are grown/ripe, then the seeds have to be removed. In our place we have some amazing ways of cooking it, so that the bitter taste is hidden by the elaborate use of other spices along with jaggery and tamarind extract. One such family favourite is this simple Palya or stir fry which I will be sharing here.
Ingredients:
4 small tender Bitter gourds/Karela/Hagalkayi
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I usually get the frozen packet of shredded coconut from the Indian grocery store)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup grated/powdered jaggery
1 tbsp concentrated tamarind extract (or extract the juice of a lemon sized tamarind piece by squeezing it in water)
Tempering/Tadka:
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
a few curry leaves
Recipe:
Cut the Bittergourd vertically in halves and remove the seeds. (If using very tender ones, then there will not be any seeds.)Chop them into very small pieces. To these pieces add turmeric powder and salt and a little water. Mix well and keep aside for 30 mins. Then squeeze out the excess water.
Heat Oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and urad dal. When muster begins to splutter, add the curry leaves and saute for a while. Now add in the bitter gourd pieces, chilli powder, jaggery, tamarind extract and a little water. Mix well, close and allow to boil till tender.
Now adjust the salt and spice and add the grated coconut. Mix well and saute for 2-3 mins. Serve hot with Indian bread of your choice.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 35 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Chocolate Muffins - My blog turns one today!!!
Yes, Kitchen Vibes turns one today. It all happened during Diwali last year when I ventured into preparing Karchikai, one of my favs of all time. The very excited me clicked some pictures and wanted to post them somewhere. Yes, that's when the idea of this blog came to my mind and I quickly created a blog with some classic template and jotted down the recipe. And I told myself, I am going to do this with all the recipes I will be cooking. I wanted to have a diary of recipes with pictures where I can look when I forget something which would be helpful for others too. And thus began my journey as a food blogger.
That is when I started looking around and found so many food blogs and mostly Indian food blogs! I just could not believe that so many people are already doing what I thought of so late. Yes, the Tubelight me! I really cannot mention which ones were my inspiration, as there were a lot of them! I would like to thank each one of them for doing what they have been doing and inspiring others around.
So here I am one year down the lane. I still cannot believe its been one year already. More so because, I haven't really been able to post as much as I'd wanted to and I haven't been as active as I'd have loved to. But, I made some good friends here, interacted with so many virtually. That itself has been a great experience. So I want to thank all fellow food blogging friends and readers who visit my blog and leave your valuable comments and compliments. Each of those words really mean a lot to me.
To celebrate, I made a batch my favourite chocolate muffins. I wanted to bake them without eggs, but I had so many questions. So I went ahead and baked something with the recipe I already had. Next time around I am going to try baking eggless ones.
So here's to one year of being around and many more to come!
That is when I started looking around and found so many food blogs and mostly Indian food blogs! I just could not believe that so many people are already doing what I thought of so late. Yes, the Tubelight me! I really cannot mention which ones were my inspiration, as there were a lot of them! I would like to thank each one of them for doing what they have been doing and inspiring others around.
So here I am one year down the lane. I still cannot believe its been one year already. More so because, I haven't really been able to post as much as I'd wanted to and I haven't been as active as I'd have loved to. But, I made some good friends here, interacted with so many virtually. That itself has been a great experience. So I want to thank all fellow food blogging friends and readers who visit my blog and leave your valuable comments and compliments. Each of those words really mean a lot to me.
To celebrate, I made a batch my favourite chocolate muffins. I wanted to bake them without eggs, but I had so many questions. So I went ahead and baked something with the recipe I already had. Next time around I am going to try baking eggless ones.
So here's to one year of being around and many more to come!
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 190 C and line the muffin tray with paper liners.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder into a mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar.
Next, lightly beat the eggs and oil together in another bowl until frothy, then slowly mix in the milk. Stir this into the dry ingredients.
Using a spoon, fill out the muffin tray till 3/4 full.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes. For me, it was done in 20 mins.
Note: You dont have to beat the mixture (since not using butter). I just stirred it with a spoon.
Yields: 12 medium sized muffins
Time Required: 10 mins (preparation) and 20-25 mins (baking)
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Beetroot Kurma - Treat to your taste buds
The whole of last week turned out to be a bad one with me down with a flu and being restricted at home and off work. Initially it was relaxing but soon i had had enough of it. Now just waiting to go back to work.
I made this Beetroot Kurma to satisfy my cravings and to get that lost taste back to my mouth. It was a welcome change from the regular Beetroot sambar, chutney etc. So here goes the recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 big Beetroot skin removed and chopped into small cubes
1 onion finely chopped
1 inch piece of cinnamon
1/2 tbsp oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste
Grind to a paste adding little water:
3 tbsp grated fresh/dry coconut
4-5 red dry red chillies (adjust according to taste)
1 handful peanuts
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 garlic pods
1 small piece of ginger
1 tbsp coriander/dhania seeds
Recipe:
Pressure cook beetroot or boil in microwave with little water till soft.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. When cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add the chopped onion and cinnanon and saute till onion turns golden brown in color.
Now add in the ground paste and saute till the raw smell goes away. Add enough water to get the consistency of your choice and mix in the boiled beetroot. Add salt, mix well and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-4 mins.
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. This goes well with rice or any Indian bread.
Serves: 3
Cooking time for beetroot: 20 mins
Preparation time: 10 mins
I made this Beetroot Kurma to satisfy my cravings and to get that lost taste back to my mouth. It was a welcome change from the regular Beetroot sambar, chutney etc. So here goes the recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 big Beetroot skin removed and chopped into small cubes
1 onion finely chopped
1 inch piece of cinnamon
1/2 tbsp oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste
Grind to a paste adding little water:
3 tbsp grated fresh/dry coconut
4-5 red dry red chillies (adjust according to taste)
1 handful peanuts
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 garlic pods
1 small piece of ginger
1 tbsp coriander/dhania seeds
Recipe:
Pressure cook beetroot or boil in microwave with little water till soft.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. When cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add the chopped onion and cinnanon and saute till onion turns golden brown in color.
Now add in the ground paste and saute till the raw smell goes away. Add enough water to get the consistency of your choice and mix in the boiled beetroot. Add salt, mix well and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-4 mins.
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. This goes well with rice or any Indian bread.
Serves: 3
Cooking time for beetroot: 20 mins
Preparation time: 10 mins
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Friday, October 23, 2009
Some awards, tags and some fun!
Recently I realised that a few awards have been passed to me in the Blogosphere, but the bad girl that I am, I haven't acknowledged them. So sorry about that. I was just thinking that if ever an award for procrastination was given, maybe I would nominate myself for it (and perhaps win it too!). Well, after all this delay, I thought I got to do those tags now. Not one but three of them, I say! And here i am in office (!), writing it. When I started thinking what to put in there, I realised its not so easy to write (just!) 7 things about myself. But nevertheless, will go ahead and write it. So, while I am cooking up something nice in my kitchen, here is something for timepass and some fun. Hope you all enjoy it as i did reading about you. And thanks friends for passing them to me and considering me worth it. So here it is...
Pavithra and Suparna have passed the Kreativ Blogger award!
And this one comes with a tag where I got to reveal 7 random things about me. As i told already, it is not at all an easy job. But am going to write the 7 things that come to my mind first.1. I am a Gemini (proud of it but my hubby darling is not!). Here's the story- We met and he did not know I'm a gemini and liked me! And then, when he realised he was confused! But he listened to his heart you see. After marriage when he told me this, I was enraged! And now he convinces me that I am a Gemini-Cancer cusp and I dont take it!:)
2. I consider myself to be a fun loving person who likes to enjoy life always. I love travelling but recently realised I haven't seen many places in India. Want to visit them all, specially the Himalayas. I dream about going to Himalayas and meeting a Yogi and clearing some doubts about life and things i dont understand. (Everything in life cannot be googled!)
3. I learnt Bharathanatyam and Kathak (once upon a time, long long ago!). Want to get back sometime (soon!).
4. I love books. I can get engrossed in them so much so that I can forget the world (PS: Linda Goodman says Geminis cannot complete a book!). Maybe I should listen to my hubby. But I cant, sorry!:)
5. Another interest I have is good food. I love cooking and feeding others than cooking and eating myself. Believe me, if I had to cook for myself, I would never eat good food. Recently, I developed interest in photography-nature and food.
6. I like to make friends. Getting to know people from different countries and cultures interests me a lot.
7. Something I need to improve about myself-stop postponing things that have to be done and to blog more often.
Priya and Sushma Mallya have passed me this:
Suparna also passed me these along with a tag:
and
1.What is your current obsession?Refreshing my reader every once in a while to check for new posts:)
2.What are you wearing today?
Jeans and a sweater.
3.What's for dinner?
Dont know. Will ask hubby. Today is Friday, he's got to tell me:)
4.What’s the last thing you bought?
I bought a sweater and a woolen shawl, thanks to winter.
5.What are you listening to right now?
My colleague speaking over the phone (bak-bak-bak!) and me typing on the keyboard (clik-clak).
6.What do you think about the person who tagged you?
A nice blogger and a very sweet person.
7.If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Monte-Carlo (Aim high, remember!)
8.What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Some nice dresses, T's, skirts.
9.If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
To Bangalore to meet friends, family and eat chaats and all the things I have been dreaming about.
10.Which language do you want to learn?
Perfect my German and learn French.
11.What’s your favourite quote?
No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
12.Who do you want to meet right now?
My mom.
13.What is your favourite colour?
White(for clothes) and Green (always).
14.What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
A red satin gown I bought for our honeymoon;)
15.What is your dream job?
Wild dream- To teach tribals and live in a forest.
Normal dream- To run my own company.
16.What’s your favourite magazine?
Reader's Digest.
17.If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
I would go out for a dinner with my hubby.
18.What do you consider a fashion faux pas? (Faux pas mean error in etiquette.. )
Someone wearing red jacket with red shoes, red nail color, red lipstick and carrying a red bag. (No I'm not imagining, I saw someone like this recently!)
19.Who are your style icons?
Huh?
20.Describe your personal style?
No make-up. Lip gloss always. Dressing for the occasion and clothes that fit me well.
21.What are your favourite movies?
Too many to name. Sounds like an old scrap-book question from school:)
22.What are three cosmetic/makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
I can live without make up/cosmetics.
23.What inspires you?
Humbleness.
24.What do you try to cook when you have cooking blues (When you feel real lazy to cook some thing)?
I buy Pizza.
25.Give us three styling tips that always work for you.
Well matched clothes.
Dressing to the occasion.
Blow dried hair.
26.What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
Go buy something new (if I have time) or bug hubby to choose for me.
27.Coffee or tea?
Tea (Green please).
28.What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Cry till I feel better.
29.What is the meaning of your name?
Song sung in praise of God.
30.Which other blogs you love visiting?
My reader is growing by the day. So I cant name a few here.
31.Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Many actually. I love chocolate muffins, pastries, gulab jamoons.
32.Favorite Season ?
Spring and Fall.
Prasu of 'My Culinary World' passed me this award which comes with yet another meme. And I decided to take it up (challenge for me!)
Here is the meme part:1. Where is your cell phone: Right next to me (I have two of them, one exclusively for hubby!)
2. Your hair: Black
3. Your mother: Loving
4. Your father: Caring
5. Your favorite food: Mexican
6. Your dream last night: Dont remember
7. Your favorite drink: Hot chocolate
8. Your dream/goal: Hmm, secret!
9. What room are you in: My room in office:P
10. Your hobby: Talking(read yapping), blogging, reading, dancing, cooking, clicking etc etc
11. Your fear: Losing my loved ones.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years: Where I am now.
13. Where were you last night: Home
14. Something you aren’t: cunning
15. Muffins: Dark Chocolate
16. Wish list item: A Peaceful world.
17. Where did you grow up: Many places around Karnataka-Bangalore, Dharwad, Shimoga, Coorg, Mangalore.
18. Last thing you did: Wrote an email.
19. What are you wearing: Jeans and a sweater.
20. Your TV: I dont watch it much.
21. Your pets: Sadly none:(
22. Your friends: Many
23. Your life: Nice and jolly.
24. Your mood: Okay-okay, but now will get high as I will head home and its weekend!
25. Missing someone: My family back home.
26. Vehicle: none.
27. Something you’re not wearing: A frown, coz I am smiling.
28. Your favorite store: Keeps changing according to seasons.
29. Your favorite color: White and green
30. When was the last time you laughed: Today over lunch with colleagues.
31. Last time you cried: Last night for something silly.
32. Your best friend: My hubby V.
33. One place that I go over and over: My hometown Mangalore.
34. One person who emails me regularly: All my friends.
35. Favorite place to eat: Roadside gadiwalah in Bangalore:)
If you are still here, Thanks for reading:)
Ciao!
Have a nice weekend!
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