Pav Bhaji-Simple method yet tasty!

I am sure everyone knows how to make Pav Bhaji. My method is going to be the simplest of all.
I don't make it often as pav buns are very high in calories!(about 100 calories per bun) I was in no mood to chop the veggies today and hence ended up making a very quick bhaji for dinner.
I had been to a friend's place during Navaratri and she prepared the gravy without onions and garlic. It was mild and very tasty. So here is no onion, no garlic Bhaji coming from my kitchen!

Small potatoes(peel the skin before pressure cooking)-3
Beans chopped into big pieces-1/2 cup
Carrot chopped into big pieces-1/4 cup

Other ingredients:
Oil-1 tbsp
Jeera-1 tsp
Salt
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Pav Bhaji masala-2 tsp(or as per taste)
Coriander leaves- to garnish
Lemon juice from 1 small lemon
Pav buns(sweet dinner rolls)
Butter-to toast the buns

Method:
Pressure cook beans, carrot and potatoes together for 3-4 whistles.
Mash the potatoes and grind beans and carrot to a paste.
Heat oil in a pan, allow jeera to crackle, add the mashed veggies. Add some water and bring it to gravy consistency. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, pav bhaji masala and bring it to a boil. Switch off the gas. Garnish with coriander leaves. Squeeze lime and add tiny bits of butter.

Toast pav buns lightly with some butter and serve with bhaji.

If you are using onion, fry it in oil till golden brown along with 1 tsp ginger garlic paste.
Add 1 chopped tomato and a handful of chopped capsicum and fry till tomato turns soft.
Then add the boiled veggies and follow rest of the steps as given above.
Before serving, add finely chopped raw onions on bhaji.
Serve with pav buns and a wedge of lime.

Semiya Payasam

During my childhood days, the only payasam I loved , was Semiya payasam. I eat all kinds of payasam, but there was a special kind of loyalty towards semiya payasam. Invariably this is the payasam made for our birthdays. No choice on that. Post marriage, this is one payasam which I have prepared more often not waiting for any occasion to come up. It is mostly prepared as a dessert for dinner. Its a favorite with my husband too. When I ever I make the payasam, I don't measure the ingredients. Its just eyeball calculation. So its not necessary to strictly follow the below measurements. Less/more of any ingredient will not spoil the dish. Only the sweetness and consistency may vary. But you can be assured that it will not go waste.

Ingredients
Vermicelli/semiya - 1/2 cup
Milk - 4 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
cardamom powder -1 tspn
cashew/raisins for garnish
ghee for roasting

Method
Heat a kadai with a tablespoon of ghee. Add the cashews. When cashews starts to brown, throw in the raisins. Raisins will puff up and you remove the cashews and raisins from ghee. Add another teaspoon of ghee and roast the vermicelli till it starts browning.

Take a deep bottom vessel. Tip off the roasted vermicelli and 2 cups of milk. Bring to boil and cook in low flame. Keep adding the remaining milk at intervals. When the vermicelli is fully cooked and the rest of the milk is used up, add sugar. Simmer for few minutes so that the sugar is dissolved fully and the sweetness sinks into the semiya. Add cardamom and roasted cashews and raisins. Since we like to drink it from a cup, it has a pouring consistency. If you want to serve as a pudding, increase the quantity of semiya and adjust sugar accordingly. You can serve this warm or chilled. Hot/Cold, it tastes awesome.

This goes to the FIC:White event guest hosted at Kitchen Flavors, which is the brain child of Sunshinemom

This is one recipe which any novice person can make an attempt at, with out any fear of messing it up. So this goes to Ramki's Recipes for the rest of us event.

PS: I will be away for two weeks from my home and blog. I will not be able to blog-hop too. I will surely miss blogging. See you all after the break.

A glimpse of my kitchen treasures

When Dibs announced the Kitchen Treasure Hunt event, I had planned a post to showcase some of my kitchen treasures. No cooking only clicking required. But till the last day no pictures taken for the event. Today morning, I clicked few pics in hurry. Have a look at few of my treasures.


My day starts with preparing the coffee decotion. The size varies according to members present. I have two more which are larger in size. That comes out only during functions.




Idiyappam press has made it easier to prepare them. It was hard time using the the traditional press.


Koduval - I use this to break the coconut.


Chirava -Traditional coconut scrapper


Iyya Chombu to prepare rasam. This belongs to MIL's MIL. And it is more than 50 yrs old. Taste of rasam prepared in this vessel is unbeatable.

Uruli - Used to prepare payasam.