Candied Orange Peel

I once saw this recipe in another blog, from that day I wanted to make this, but never bought any oranges. This week when I went to the fresh market I saw these beautiful and very bright oranges which attracted my eyes so much that I picked few and decided to make the orange peel. Now I am happy that I waited this long, maybe my heart was waiting for the best color of oranges :) or maybe I was just delaying thinking that it might be too hard a process. :) But I felt it was worth spending some time to get the best results.

Note: I would recommend to taste it and see it you need more or less, according to your taste

Method:
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1. Peel the orange skin with a sharp knife, drawing vertical lines, so that from each orange you get 5 peels.
2. Now in a medium sauce pan, add enough water along with the orange peels, bring it a boil and then in medium heat boil it more for 20 mins.

3. Remove the peels to a plate and allow it to sit for 2 mins.
4. Now with a sharp knife, slice the peel into two lengthwise.

5. Slice off the white part of the inner peel and save the orange part of the peel.
6. Now squeeze or in a juicer, get the juice of all the oranges and place it in a heavy bottom wide pan.

7. Add enough sugar mix it well and bring it to a boil, now add the saved peel, keep stirring now and then.
8. Cook it until the orange sugar syrup coats the peels and it's almost absorbed. Off the flame and allow it to cool a bit.
9. Now remove these peels separating each one on to a wire rack.
10. In a wide bowl, add crystal sugar, take each peel with a fork and coat each peel by shaking the bowl a bit, so that all the peel is coated with the sugar.

11. Place it again on a wire rack and let it cool and get stiff.
12. These peel can be used in any kind of baking or just eaten by itself.

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Kaalu Mor Kuzhambu - Field Beans In A Spicy Curd Base

KAALU MORKUZHAMBU

 Morkuzhambu is served with rice along with Sambhar on all joyous occasions like weddings and other festivities. Kaalu Morkuzhambu is not only a delicacy but it also adds beauty to a banana leaf meal where  an array of other colourful dishes are served.

 INGREDIENTS 

Field beans / Kaalu - 1 cup 

Thick curds - 2 cups 

Salt - 1 tsp 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 

Bengal gram flour/Besan - 2 tbsps 

Rice flour - 2 tbsps 

Fresh coconut gratings - 2 tbsps 

Green chillies - 4 

Coriander seeds - 2 tsps 

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 

Sesame oil - 1 tsp 

Mustad seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Fenugreek seeds - 1 pinch 

Red chillies - 2 

Asafoetida - 1 pinch 

Curry leaves - a few 

Chopped Coriander leaves - for garnishing 

 METHOD 

1. Cook Kaalu till tender and keep aside. 

2. Grind coconut gratings with coriander seeds, cumin seeds and green chillies into a smooth paste. 

3. Add besan, rice flour, turmeric powder, salt and the ground paste to the curd and blend well. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water if the blend is too thick. 

4. Add the cooked Kaalu to the curd mixture. 

5. Heat oil in a seasoning ladle and add mustard seeds. 

6. When it splutters add the fenugreek seeds followed by broken red chillies. 

7. When the chillies turn crisp add asafoetida and curry leaves. 

8. Add the seasoning to the Mor Kuzhambu. 

9. Now cook the Kaalu Mor Kuzhambu on medium flame stirring now and then. 

10. Switch off flame when the Kaalu Mor Kuzhambu is just about to boil and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 

Enjoy the delicious Kaalu Mor Kuzhambu with steaming hot rice topped with a spoon of fresh ghee.

Palak Poori / Spinach Poori

The
market next to our home gets busy during the weekends. I used to buy
fresh vegetables & groceries during the weekends and store them in
refrigerator for the following
week's usage. Only exception is, “I don't store greens inside the
fridge”. I buy it and consume it immediately when it is fresh. Last
Sunday, I bought fresh spinach from the nearby market to prepare Dal Spinach for lunch.

All my
cousins paid a surprise visit last Sunday. The time was 9.30 AM and
they were yet to complete their breakfast. Sometimes, it is difficult to
get ideas when guests
visit our home as what dish can be prepared with the available
ingredients in the kitchen. I was thinking what to prepare for breakfast
and lunch and my mind settled on Poori as everyone likes Poori. Poori
is a special dish among Indian households. We prepare
it most of the time when guests visit our home. At the same time I was
thinking as what can be done with the spinach. It can’t last for long
and there wasn’t enough spinach to make a dish of sizable quantity for
lunch. So, I decided to include spinach preparing
poories. The end result is Palak Poories with potato masala. Doesn’t it
sound a good combination? The dish turned out to be good and everyone
liked the green color of the poories which was a refreshing change from
the golden brown color.

Do
you want to know what I prepared for lunch? Well, it is an Andhra meal
which includes Annam (Steamed rice), Pappu koora (Dal using toor dal),
Bendakaya pulusu (Okra in tamarind gravy), Sithapandu chaaru (Tamarind Rasam), Chintha chiguru
podi (tamarind leaves peanut powder), Arati Puvvu curry (Banana flower
dry curry), Karuveppilai thokku, Thandu keerai poriyal, avakaya oorugaya
(Andhra mango pickle) and ghee. :-) Long
list indeed.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 8 persons

Ingredients:

Wheat flour / Atta - 3 cups

Palak Leaves / Spinach - Leaves from 1 bunch, came about 2 and 1/2 cups

Green chillies - 2 nos

Salt - to taste

Oil - for deep frying

Wheat flour - 1/4 cup, for dusting

 Method:

1)
Remove the stems and wash the spinach leaves. Cut the leaves into small
pieces and blanch it with hot water. Allow it to cool to room
temperature.

2) Grind it to a fine paste along with green chillies.

3) Take wheat flour in a wide mixing bowl.

4) Add the ground spinach leaves.

5) Add salt.

6) Add water slowly and make a very tight dough. If required add a teaspoon of oil.

7)
Divide the dough into lemon size balls. Roll each of them into round
shapes using a rolling pin. Dust it with flour or oil to help rolling.

8)
Heat oil in a frying pan. When it is hot and not smoking, add the poories
one by one. Slightly press on each side to allow the poories to puff
up.

9)
When both the sides are cooked (the instance when the color turns to
golden brown), transfer the poories to the bowl covered with paper
tissues. The paper tissues
will help to drain the excess oil.

10) Serve hot with potato kurma/ potato masala.

Notes:

1)
Addition of green chilli is optional. Without green chilli, you can
directly add the ground spinach paste to the flour to make dough.

2) Add ajwain/carom seeds or cumin seeds to the dough (optional).

3)
The dough should be tight and the temperature of the oil should be hot.
Test it with a very small pinch of dough. It should immediately come to
the surface of the oil. Otherwise,
the poories will absorb more oil and poories will become soggy.