Aratikaya Vepudu (Raw Banana/Plantain Fry)

Aratikaya Vepudu (Raw Banana/Plantain Fry)

Ingredients:

• Raw banana (plantain) - 1
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Water for boiling
• Dried red chillies - 3
• Curry leaves - few
• Split black gram - 2 tsps
• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

• Cut raw banana into 4 pieces and boil in water for about 15 minutes.
• Once boiled peel the skin and grate it as shown above. Optionally after boiling banana can be thoroughly mashed to prepare this dish.
• Apply half teaspoon of tamarind paste thoroughly.
• Now in a pan take 3 spoons oil and preheat it.
• Add seasonings and wait for them to pop up. It will take only few seconds. Once these starts smelling good add turmeric powder.
• Immedietely add the grated banana to it and mix it well.
• Now add salt and red chilli powder as per taste and mix it well.
• Switch off the stove and serve it hot with sambar or any dal dish which is great combo for this.

Now for the tip:Do not throw away the skin of the raw banana after boiling. This can be used to make chutney.. the recipe for this coming soon on the blog...till then happy cooking!!

Ragi (Finger millet) ladoos

Ragi (Finger millet) ladoos

Featuring today yet another delicious ragi dish - the ragi ladoos.

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana), also known as African millet or Ragi (Kannada: ರಾಗಿ), is an annual plant widely grown as a cereal in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. Finger millet is originally native in Africa and was introduced into India approximately 3000 years ago. It is very adaptable to higher elevations and is grown in the Himalaya up to 2300 metres altitude. More detailed information on ragi is here at wikipedia.

Bringing the ingredients together...


Ragi ladoos recipe
To make 10-12 ladoos; preparation time 40 minutes
Ingredients:Ragi flour – 1 cup
Ground nuts – 1 cup, roasted and pounded; or gingelly seeds – 1 cup, roasted and pounded
Jaggery – 1 cup, crushed to a fine powder
Salt – ¼ teaspoon
Method: Add the salt powder to the ragi flour. Pour sufficient boiling hot water into the flour to make it to a soft ball of dough. Divide it into 2 balls. Heat a frying pan till very hot over moderate heat. Brush lightly all over with some oil. With a wet hand, place one of the ragi dough balls at the center of the pan and pat gently with wet fingers to a thin round. Turn over on both sides alternatively to bake slowly and thoroughly for 5-6 minutes. If you prefer, pour a little ghee around the edges of the ragi roti while it bakes. Allow it to cool and tear the ragi roti into small bits.
Roast the ground nuts till they become crisp so that we can rub off the skins. Remove the skins and pound the ground nuts to a fine powder. Then add the cold ragi roti bits to it and pound both together till well blended into each other. Now add the crushed jaggery and pound all the three together till well mixed. Shape into lime-sized balls.
Although the color of these ragi ladoos may not look attractive to some, they are quite nutritious and tasty and flavorful. Enjoy!
Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe : Ragi Ladoos

Ragi Malt Recipe

Ragi Malt Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup dry fruits
1/2 cup milk
1 cup Ragi
pinch salt
as need 0 sugar or jaggari
3 cup water

Method:

Take a bowl mix ragi flour in some water to avoide lumps formation and keep it a side.

Take a pan add water get to boil then add the mixed ragi flour to it and keep mixing and cook for 5 -8 min.

once it done take a bowl add some butter milk or curd,salt and cooked ragi mixture mix well and serve.

another method take a bowl add some milk,dry fruits sugar or jaggari and ragi mixture mix well and serve.

RAGI SANKATI

Here is the recipe of ragi mudda or sankati the way we make in our home.

Recipe:
(for two people, for one serving)

1 cup of ragi flour
Fistful of rice
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon of ghee

Preparation:
Take water and rice in a saucepan, add salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook the rice until the grains are soft. When the rice is soft, add - just pour or dump ragi flour into the pot. Donot stir now, this is the way folks back at home cook. Cover and put this mixture on medium heat for few minutes until the steam lifts the plate covering the pan. Remove the cover. Using a wooden masher or whisk, stir the ragi-rice mixure vigorously and thoroughly until you see no lumps.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and let it steam cook for about 15 minutes. Switch off the heat. Let it cool down a little bit and make mudda or balls with it. Back home, they dip their hands in cool water first and then immediately take a portion of ragi and shape them into a ball, all done very fast. Here, I use an ice cream scooper to make round balls.
How it is served: Place the ragi mudda in a bowl and pour the sambhar over it. Not too cold and not too hot, just warm is perfect for the palate. Drizzle ghee over it. Today I made carrot sambhar for ragi mudda. It tastes quite good not only with sambhar and but also with peanut chutney, potato kurma or any other vegetable gravy curry. People in Telangana region of Andhra, are particularly fond of ragi mudda/sankati-chicken kurma combination.
How it is eaten: Using your hand or with a spoon, take small portions from the big ragi mudda, dip them into sambhar and swallow. Don’t use teeth; let the tongue do the work. Ragi can be incredibly gummy so traditionally the small balls are never bitten, they are just swallowed. Warm ragi mudda coated all around with sambhar… gives an incredible satisfaction. Children love this kind of food.
Variations: As I mentioned above, you can change the recipe to suit your taste just by changing or adding ingredients. Basic method of preparation is the same, but you can make it mildly sweet by adding jaggery or sugar. Or more rich by substituting the water with milk. You can also add one tablespoon of ghee while still cooking. Also add toasted and finely powdered cashews or peanuts to make it even richer.

Ragi mudda or santaki in Carrot sambhar with ghee ~ Our meal today.

BAJJI MERAPAKAYA

Ingredients:
• 10 Green chillies, preferably big ones
• 100 gms Chickpea flour
• 1 tbsp Rice flour
• 1 Large potato, cooked and mashed
• 1/2 tbsp Tamarind paste
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Ginger paste
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 Pinch asafoetida powder
• Salt as per taste
• Oil for deep frying


How to make Chilli Bajji:
• Combine together the rice flour, chickpea flour, cumin powder, asafoetida powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
• Prepare thick batter using water.
• Slit the chillies keeping its tail-end intact.
• Remove the seeds.
• For preparing stuffed chilli bajjis, mix tamarind paste and mashed potato with a little salt.
• Fill the mixture inside each Chilli and close them well.
• Dip the chillis in the batter and deep-fry in the oil.
• Serve Chilli Bajji with sauce.

ALOO PANEER KORMA

Aloo Paneer Korma

Ingredients:
3/4 chopped onions
2 green cardamoms
2 cloves
1 inch stick cinnamon
4 potatoes, diced
1/3 cup grated fresh coconut
1 tbsp + 4 tbsp oil
3/4 cup diced paneer
1 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lime

Spice paste:
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 green chillies
2 cups chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

Method:
1. Grind fine all the ingredients for the spice paste with half the onions.
2. Roast the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and grind to a fine powder.
3. Boil the potatoes until just done.
4. Extract the coconut milk by adding 1/3 cup warm water, grinding it in a mixer and passing it through a strainer.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the remaining onions until golden brown.
6. Mix in the powdered spices and the spice paste.
7. Add potatoes and fry well
8. Heat 4 tbsp oil in a frying pan and fry paneer cubes until light brown.
9. Add the fried paneer to the potatoes
10. Stir in coconut milk and bring to boil.
11. Sprinkle in salt and lime juice and remove from heat.
12. Serve hot.

CHATPAT PANEER

Servings: for four persons.
Preparation time: 30 minutes

The ingredients that you need for chatpata paneer recipe

250 gm of paneer.
Three to four tea spoon of chopped garlic or one tea spoon of garlic paste (either finely chopped or in the form of paste)
One to two onions of medium size or five table spoons of onion paste (either finely chopped or in the form of paste).
Five table spoon of vegetable oil or ghee.
Half cup or about 100-150 ml of curd( beaten to a fine paste so that there are no lumps and it appears smooth)
Three tea spoon of kaju paste.
Two tea spoon of badam paste.
Four table spoons of cream( whipped)
Spices:

Three tea spoons of coriander powder.
One tea spoon of kasuri methi.
One tea spoon of jeera.
Half tea spoon of red chilly powder.
Half tea spoon of kalimirch powder.
One table spoon of lemon juice.
One tea spoon of garam masala.
Salt to taste.
For garnish:
One table spoon of finely chopped coriander leaves.

Method

Heat the oil or ghee in the pan.
Add jeera and finally chopped garlic and sauté till they are golden brown in color.
Add onion paste to the pan and sauté again till it is light brown in color.
To this onion paste now add coriander powder, red chilly powder, salt, garam masala, kalimirch powder, kaju paste, badam paste, kasoori methi and sauté well for five minutes.
Once the paste is done and the spices begin to emit the aroma, add to the paste paneer cubes and whipped curd. Simmer the flame and stir for five minutes. Add lemon juice and stir again.
Finally add whipped cream. Stir for one minute and turn off the flame.
Pour the preparation in a serving dish. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. The dish is ready to be served with bread, chapattis, butter Nan or missy roti.