Potato Kurma and A short Break

December month has arrived, it is hard to believe, where did the year go! This month will also pass by all too quickly. Hence long list of holidays to celebrate this month. So going to celebrate this holiday season with my loved ones. Wish you all " Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ". May this newyear bring sweet surprises to you all. With this happy note i am going to take a kutti break. See you all soon. Take care :)

Ingredients

• Potato cubes, boiled - 1 cup,

• Onion - 1, chopped lengthwise

• Tomato - 2, chopped

• Cinnamon stick - 1

• Cloves - 1

• Cardamom - 2

• Coconut paste - 2 tbsp

• Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

• Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
  

• Salt to taste

• Oil - 2 tbsp

To make paste

• Cinnamon stick - 1

• Cloves - 3

• Garlic - 5 cloves

• Ginger - 1/2"

• Green chillies - 3

Method

• Heat oil in a pan, add cinnamon stick, cloves cardamon and fry for 1 min.

• Add onion to it and fry till it becomes golden brown.

• Then add tomatoes to it and cook for 2 Min's.

• Then add the grounded paste to it and cook till the raw smell goes off.

• Then add the cooked potato cubes and 1 cup of water to it.

• Add chilly powder, coriander powder, coconut paste and salt to it and cook till the gravy becomes thick.

• Finally add coriander leaves to it and serve hot with rotis.

Mashed Horse Gram / Kollu Masiyal

Horse gram / Kollu is famous in kongunadu areas of Tamilnadu. They prepare many recipes with this like masiyal, chutney, rasam etc... Persons who are wishing to lose weight can include this in their diet. Yes this helps in reducing body weight and this is a healthy dish too. So you can see this in many of my recipes. This is going to participate in " MLLA - 18" event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons, event by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook .

Ingredients

• Horse gram - 1 cup

• Shallots - 8 to 10

• Dry Red Chillies - 3 to 4

• Garlic - 2 cloves, crushed

• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
  

• Curry leaves - few

• Mustard Seeds - 1 tbsp

• Salt to taste

• Oil - 2 tbsp

Method

• Wash and soak horsegram overnight or 4 to 5 hours.

• Add enough water and pressure cook horsegram for 4 whistles.

• Heat oil in pan, add mustard and cumin seeds, allow them to splutter.

• Then add curry leaves, crushed garlic cloves and shallots and fry till the shallot turns pink.

• Add horse gram and salt to it, bring it to boil and cook for 3 Min's.

• Then with help of wooden masher mash them.

• Serve with hot rice and a drop of ghee to it.
  

Tips:

• After pressure cooking horsegram, take out the excess water in a separate bowl and if u drink this water every morning in the empty stomach, helps in reducing weight. Even you take boiled horsegram little instead of water.
  

• With that water u can make rasam too. Will be posting that later.

Cabbage Pakoda

Just as the winter season begins, a platter of deep fried snacks with hot tea, wow!!!... really yummy. This is the time to indulge in food like pakodas, vadas and chaats. Though people tend to condemn all deep fried foods as bad, an occasional treat is certainly not harmful. This recipe i got it from a tamil magazine and this recipe is going to particiapte in " WYF- Tea Time Snacks " hosted by EC of " Simple Indian Food ".




Ingredients

Cabbage, chopped - 1 cup
Bengal Gram Flour - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1, chopped
Chilly Powder - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
Oil to deep fry
Salt to taste

Method

• Mix all the ingredients expect oil with few drops of water and deep fry them.

• Serve with hot tea.