SAKKATH SAMBAR

Sakkatt sambat, as the name, it is very delicious sambar - a native dish of Tamil Nadu. This goes well with Idli, Dosa or Rice. My fans likes this recipe because it can be prepared in super fast time & smells like heaven !!! I bet, you will go on eating 7-8 dosa with this sambar, in no time :)
Here are its ingredients

1. Carrot - cut into round slices
2. Potatoes (if required) small cubes
3. Coriander leaves- a hand full
4. Tamarind paste
5. 1 chilli - cut into half
6. cooked and nicely smashed tur-dal
7. Curry leaves- 4-5
8. Tomato- 1
9. Salt to taste

To Saute
Oil
Turmeric powder -1 tb spoon
Aachi sambar  powder- 2 tb spoon
Curry leaves- 4-5
Tomato (cut into small pieces)

Cooking
1. Carrot, potatoes and chilli should be cooked in a pressure cooker (2 whistles) and cool. Keep it aside
2.  Add oil in a pan and heat. Saute curry leaves, tomatoes and turmeric for 2 minutes on a medium flame. Then add sambar powder and tamarind paste.
3. By now, The content in pan would have mixed well. Add vegetables from cooker along with water (This water contains chilli flavor).
4. Add nicely smashed dal and allow it to boil for 10 min. Add salt to taste. Once this is cooked, add coriander and close the upper lid and turn off the flame.

Dos
Boiling the content until it comes to a medium thick consistence is important

Dons
DO not grind any ingredient in mixer as it spoils dal texture.

 




HAPPY COOKING!!!

STRAWBERRY DESSERT

I should be thanking one of my friend for making this dish for me. Thanks a lot!!!
This dessert is very easy and simply to prepare. I loved eating with lots of sugar.
Here are the ingredients

To decorate
Whipped cream

To Saute
Sugar: 5-7 tb spoon

Cooking
1. Wash strawberries with warm water and cut them into 4 pieces.
2. On a low heat, saute sugar and strawberries in a pan for approx. 10 minutes.
Once sugar gets (mixed well) with strawberries, take down the pan and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
3.  Add whipped cream on strawberries and serve.

Dos.
Please wash strawberries carefully.
Do add whipped cream only 2-3 minutes before serving or it becomes watery.

Don's
If strawberries are more sweet, do not add more sugar.
Sugar content depends on the sweetness in strawberries.

HAPPY COOKING !!!

SIMPLY RASAM

A simple Tamil style Rasam is very easy to prepare and delicious to taste. I learnt this rasam recipe very recently from my grand mother.
Here are the ingredients list. Taste and enjoy on a rainy day.

TO GRIND

Garlic cloves: 5-8
Black pepper: 1 table spoon
Cumin seeds: 1 table spoon (tb spoon)

TO SAUTE

Oil: 3 tb spoon
Mustard seeds: 1/3 tb spoon
turmeric: 1/3 tb spoon
Red Chilli: 4-5 no.
Tomato: 1 (Cut into small pieces)
Curry leaves: 3-5
Tamarind: small ball (squeeze in water 1/2 an hour before cooking)
Salt: to taste
Pigeon pea water (Tur dal): 1 cup

Cilantro (coriander) leaves: few

COOKING

1. Cook tur dal in a pressure cooker (2-3 whistles for 15 minutes) and
cool it. Mash soften tur dal into a fine paste adding water. The upper layer of water is used for rasam.
2. Cut Garlic into small pieces. Add black pepper and cumin seeds. Smash all three into fine paste using mortal and pistol. This method gives a very good flavor. If mortal and pistol is not available, grind it in a mixer adding little water. Keep it aside.

3. Add oil in a round pan and heat. Add mustard seeds, turmeric, Red chilli and curry leaves. Saute until red chillies become cooked.
4. Add tomatoes and garlic-pepper paste. Saute till tomatoes are well mixed with garlic-pepper paste. Add tamarind water.

5. Once this combination starts boiling, add tur dal water and salt to taste. Boil it until it comes to a good consistence.
6. Decorate it with washed coriander leaves and serve.

Do's

after adding dal water

Boil up to 15 minutes so as to mix up all ingredients to same consistence.
If tamarind is not available,  you can use lemon juice which also adds to taste

Don's
Do not add tur dal content to rasam as it increases thickness.
Add only upper water content of dal.

Rasam: ready to serve

 

      HAPPY COOKING !!! 

LETS START!!!

I loooovvvvveeeeee food…..

Food & cooking are the most desired dream I can have any time, at any peace of place on this planet. Spicy! Delicious! Yummy! Wow! Amazing! Well-seasoned! Tasteful! Delightful! Tempting! …… yet many names we spell when we enjoy food flavors and  while eating it!!! I eat when I am happy! Celebration time! Hungry! Meeting! Bored! Movie! Or even stressed out! Or upset! My bonding with food is strong because of its taste, flavor and energy in it… Hats off for the cook/chef/ cuisinier- who makes us to crave on tasty foods which relished on taste-buds for longer time. As eating is joyful, so as creative cooking and involvement. I believe cooking is a best healing remedies for stress-full life! Relax!  While I cook I smell spurting mustard seeds, sesame, onions turning golden brown, chillies, pepper, curry leaves, spring onions, a little bit ghee and end up with coriander leaves (cilantro). It’s just more than any perfect recipe.

 

My tasty buds love to taste tangy, spicy, chatpata food. For this reason, Indian cuisine has made its place @ everyone’s heart. India is much diversified country with thousands of food types, and each is different from one another. India represents a perfect unify of its different cultures and ancient spices, herbs which brings not only delicious but also healthy stuffs. Being an Indian, I am here to present few recipes representing most states of South India. South Indian dishes are always colorful with green chillies, home made masalas, peppers & mints and what all!!! That’s one reason why I like south Indian dish. Moreover, I like how we eat in Karnataka style on a banana leaf starting from salt, sweets and ghee and end up with beetle leaf also called as Yele-adike/ Pan, which is known as a perfect feast meal. I would never miss any single festival meal. When we go Tamil Nadu, they are ferocious eaters (you give, they will eat) and they really prepare delicious food. Who wont like tamil nadu murugan IDLI sambar!!! I doubt, as no one would disagree. While during Onam festival, foods in Kerala is like just no words to explain. I am trying to capture all possible recipes of these 3 states while I also try few untried ethnic food across globe.

I am basically a biology researcher at Bangalore and spend most of my time on field works. I feel as relaxing while I cook when I am back at home. My mind always says “cook.. cook.. cook..” I cooked for myself when I was a student. While, after my marriage, I started cooking by following many hundreds of blogs but ended up with my own measurements and addition/deletion of one/more items. Now, it’s difficult to say how my experimental dishes were!!! Whatever I cook, few of my friends and in-laws are very particular about its color and appearance. Thus, I started cooking with excellence to clear initial rounds of test (just joking friends) and I was successful. As they say, there is no secret ingredient of secret recipe!!! I have nothing secret ingredient in my recipes other than creative, enthusiastic love for cooking. My cooking style includes both Karnataka and Tamil foods because I am from malnad region of Karnataka where we say even water is pure and sweet. Malnad is also famous for variety of sweets, masala mandakki and sugar canes. But, I am more towards Tamil Nadu recipes now a days as next half of my life will be spent at my mother-in-laws (MIL) house who are from Tamil Nadu. As both my mom and MIL are good cooks, I have inherited and as well as adapted with knowledge and flavors in cooking. 

Instead of turn off your interest with my long essays, I would like to start sharing my cooking experiences. Please make me to achieve a good cook medal in your hearts with your precious comments and suggestions. Try out my recipes and good luck ;). This may be another one more blog among thousands of them on Web, but this is my one & only blog which is my passion towards cooking. Thanks for reading and Welcome to my kitchen. All ready for tangy foods? Let’s start!!!