TAMARIND CHUTNEY

This is Mrs. Geetha Achal’s Puli chutney.
[http://geethaachalrecipe.blogspot.com/2010/07/venkayam-puli-onion-tamrind-chutney.html]
As the recipe has much onion and tamarind, it attracted me very much. Hence I have recently tried this and the outcome was superb and delicious!

புளிச்சட்னி

Ingredients:

Sliced Onion-2
Red chillies-4
Tamarind-a big gooseberry size
Black gram- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil-3 tbsp
Gingelly oil- 1 tbsp

For tempering:

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Curry leaves- a few
Asafetida powder- half sp

Procedure:

Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Fry the black gram and the red chillies to golden brown.
Take away them and in the same oil fry the onion to golden brown.
Grind first the black gram, tamarind and the red chillies to a paste.
Then add the onion with enough salt and grind them to a coarse mixture.
Heat a pan and pour the gingelly oil.
Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the asafetida powder with the curry leaves and fry them for a second.
Pour this on the chutney and mix well.
Delicious puli chutney is ready now!
Serve it with hot sponge idlies.

Randi's 60th Birthday Cake

This was a wonderful evening, and I was proud to be there in the party…cos I made the cake J

It was for a friend of mine and her name is Randi. I need to tell about her….she is the sweetest person I have ever met. She lives right in front our apartment.

Actually her b’dy was on the 19^th of Jan just after a day of my husband’s b’dy. My other neighbor cum friend planned to give her a surprise b’dy party as it was special cos it was her 60^th b’dy.

All though it was Randi’s 60^th b’dy, she never looked like she was 60. She is very active and baby sit my Son Anush for some time and she is very creative and such a nice person, very kind and cheerful always.

So I was told to make a cake for her….This was challenging cos, she eats Gluten Free and does not eat the regular flour (all-purpose).

So, as soon as my friend told me that I had to do cake for her, I was so happy, but at that point of time didn’t have any recipes for Gluten Free.

Hmm…so I started to google and find some gluten free recipes. I definitely found some. I best I like was one that used Almond flour. I thought of making that one cos I know Randi likes Almonds.

Ran to the store to pick some almond flour and didn’t find one. I felt so bad and helpless.

I searched for any gluten free cake mixes in the regular isle, but could not find one.

So I decided to search something that I can get a substitute for. While I was walking through the international isle, I found this Gluten Free Pound cake mix (123 Gluten free brands), I felt so happy and came home happy.

Now I need to decide what to do with this mix. I know I need to make a cake, but need to be creative.

I know few things that Randi likes it was Strawberries and Cream Cheese and I also thought that she would like chocolate too.

So decided to make chocolate, cream cheese and Strawberry 2 layer cake. J

Recipe to come SOON!!

When we told that we made a cake for her and that was Gluten free she was so happy, but my estimate about chocolate was wrong, cos she does not eat chocolate; the reason being that she once worked at the candy store and later she would not feel like eating chocolate anymore.

But all of them ate this cake and were very impressed with the cake. This made me feel very happy and proud for taking this risk.

This is the moment I am very happy, when everyone is happy and a word of appreciation keep me alive and to share recipes to this world.

Thanks Everyone!!

Eggplant Masala

Today I have this Japanese eggplant and thinking what to do with it. I didn't want to do the long procedure eggplant curry with all the masalas, but still wanted to make some simple yet the masala curry.

 So came up with this recipe. It turned out good but bit to the sour side. So I have reduced the amount of tomato paste that I used and corrected the recipe. So now it should be good.

This goes well with Steamed rice or dosas.

Ingredients:

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1 long Eggplant (Jananese eggplant) or 4 medium round eggplant (cut into cubes)

½ yellow Onion

½ tsp Ginger Garlic paste

¼ tsp Fennel seeds

¼ tsp Cumin seeds

1/8 tsp Fenugreek seeds

To Make Paste:

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2 tbps Yogurt

½ tsp Tomato paste

¼ tsp Tamarind pulp

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

¾ tsp Coriander powder

½ tsp Chili powder

¼ tsp Cayenne pepper powder

¼ tsp Black Pepper powder

Method:
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1. Mix all the paste ingredients and keep it aside.

2. In a Kadai, add 1tbsp oil, add ginger garlic paste and sauté it for a min.

3. Add fenugreek seeds, cumin and fennel seeds sauté for few seconds

4. Add Onions and a pinch of salt and sauté it until the onions become translucent.

5. Now add the eggplant, cover and cook until they are almost tender but only 3/4^th cooked.

6. Now keep it open add the yogurt paste and cook for a boil and serve this curry with steamed rice or dosa.