Pineapple Rasam!

Series of incidents kept me away from cooking.Firstly, I was away for a week's trip to Kolkata and Gangtok. And came back with a "BANG"..I fell down and got a bruised hip and was bedridden for the following week. But yesterday,I was talking to one of my good ol' friend Ajay. He was boasting about the pineapple rasam he made for lunch.While he was sharing the recipe with me,I wanted to try it right away. So today,ignoring my lingering pain, I made this rasam. Just the first sip, brought me back into life. This rasam is really a keeper. Pineapple would have never tasted better in anything else.Making rasam is an art,it doesn't always taste the same. A perfect concoction of right amount of tartness with mellowing sweetness and the right blend of spices.Pineapple rasam is just pineapple chunks in generic rasam.That sounds simple,but it tastes exotic!

I would not prefer having it with rice .This rasam has to be enjoyed on its own in sheer tranquility to indulge in a pine-apply experience. I'am not going to endorse further on this rasam and test your patience.So here comes the recipe..

You will need :

1 cup of chopped pineapple pieces

1 tomato

2 green chillies

1/2 cup cooked tuar dal

1 marble-sized tamarind pulp

1 tsp rasam powder(see recipe below)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dal

A pinch of asfoteadia

1 tsp of oil

1 sprig curry leaves

Salt to taste

For rasam powder:

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

10 peppercorns

1 tbsp tuar dal

3 or 4 dry red chillies

Dry roast the above 5 ingredients and powder them.

Recipe for pineapple rasam..

Start off with soaking the tamarind pulp in half liter of water

Heat oil in a kadai, add asafotedia, mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add tuar dal, slit green chillies,green chillies, garlic and fry for couple of mins. Add the quartered tomato and fry for another couple of mins.

Now extract the tamarind juice, add salt, rasam powder and bring to boil. Add the cooked dal, the tadka tomato mixture. slightly crush the pineapple chunks before dropping them into the rasam. Check for salt and simmer for 5 mins.

A warm,aromatic rasam is ready to delight you!

Electric Rice-Cooker Bisibelabath

I know its been quite a long time.Please accept my sincere apologies for not being here for almost a year. I was not home and was busy with my MBA course at Chennai. Life there keeps me very occupied that I couldn't spare any time for blogging.

Thanks a million for all the friends and fellow bloggers who wished me for my admission. And also for those who enquired about my absence.

I will be home for the next three more months. And I'am back in kitchen. By August , I'am hoping to fly to USA for pursuing the second year of my course.

One of my guy friends, who is in Oklahoma, asked me the procedure for making Bisibelabath/sambar rice in electric cooker.

So here it is..

I have already posted an elaborate version of Bis-b..but this one is a simple method which can be done in an electric cooker.

I have to mention that you have to compromise the creamy,mushy taste of bis-b made in pressure cooker.

Its appropriate to call it as 'sambar rice' than bisibelabath..

Recipe for 4:

1 cup rice

1/4 cup mix of tuar dal & ground nut

1/2 cup mix of chopped veggies( I used plantain, drumstick,pearl onions,tomatoes & beans)

1-inch sphere sized tamarind pulp soaked in 3 cups of water

Sambar powder or Bis -b podi

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp oil

1 sprig of curry leaves

5 cloves of garlic

salt

Bis-b Podi:

6 red chillies

1.5 tbsp grated coconut

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp urad dal

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 clove

1 cardamom

A big pinch of hing /asafotedia

4 curry leaves

Roast all the above ingredients of podi in a tsp of oil.

Cool and grind to fine powder.

Cook dal and groundnut separately.One can also cook them in bulk and freeze it up. Just thaw before cooking.

Turn on the electric cooker, heat oil and fry the onions and garlic until transparent. Add the vegetables and fry for a couple of mins.

Extract the juice of tamarind and the 3 cups of tamarind juice to the vegetables. Add salt, bis b podi and cooked dal.Let it come to boil. Add the washed rice.

Close and cook till gets done. Season with ghee and curry leaves in the end. Finish off before it gets cold!

Recipes

RECIPE INDEX

Appetizers & Snacks

• Sabudana Vada & Thalipeeth
• Veg Kulchara
• Cucumber Sandwich
• Cheesy Sandwich
• Roasted Vegetables
• Chilly Bread
• Khaman Dhokla
• Vegetable Cutlet
• Aloo Bonda
• Bread Rolls
• Breadizza
• Kozhukattai

Breads

• Palak Chapati
• Pita Bread
• Radish Paratha
• Butter Naan

Salads

• Mango Salsa

Soups

• Pineapple Rasam
• Tomato Soup
• French Onion Soup
• Mysore Rasam

Breakfast

• Sabudana Thalipeeth
• Pulikuzh & MorKuzh
• Rava Dosa
• Adai
• Poha
• Rava Pongal
• French Toast/ Bombay Toast
• Radish Paratha
• Chocolate Sheet Cake

Chutneys & Dips

• Hummus
• Grandma's Podis
• Brinjal Chutney
• Tahini Sauce
• Coconut Chutney
• Tomato Thokku

Curries/Sides

• Vegetable Manchurian
• Kathrikai Gothsu
• Cauliflower Kurma
• Vadai Curry
• Rajma Curry
• Soya Chunks Curry
• Avial
• Malai Kofta
• Navratna Korma
• Corn Gobi in coconut milk gravy
• Matar Paneer
• Mirch ka salan
• Stuffed Brinjal
• Ratatouille
• Aloo Sukke

Rice Varieties

• Chicken Biryani
• Dum Biryani
• Puli Sundal
• Pudhina Rice
• Tomato Pulao
• Cauliflower Pulao
• Mushroom Pulao
• Bisibelabaath
• Vegetable Biryani

Pasta

• Penne in Alfredo Sauce

Drinks

• Nannari Sherbet
• Hot Chocolate
• Banana Oatmeal Smoothie
• Watermelon Cocktail

Cakes Cookies and Muffins

• Chocolate-PB Cookies
• Muesli Cookies
• Orange Cake with candied orange
• Ice cream cake
• Strawberry Torte
• Applesauce-Banana Muffins
• Quick Ice cream muffins
• Raisin Rocks
• Nankhatai

Desserts & Sweets

• Carrot Phirni
• Bottlegourd Kheer
• Almond-Cashew-Choco Barfi
• Coconut Pannacotta
• Watermelon Pudding
• Cracked Wheat Payasam
• Marshmallows
• Shahi Tukre
• Thirunelveli Halwa
• Basundi
• Carrot Kheer
• Puran Poli
• Mango Jelly
• Pal Kozhukattai
• Thirvatharai Kali

Gyoza-Japanese dumplings

I had been away from cooking and blogging for a long time.There are so many things that kept me away from you all.The summer is at its peak now so I hate to be in the kitchen.Lately,I got assigned myself to various jobs so I'm kinda busy these days.For the next few weeks,I will be travelling a lot for my admission proceedings and so I will not be able to catch up with you buddies regularly.

This is my first attempt in  Japanese cooking.I researched a lot in the internet for a vegeterian Japanese recipe.Finally,I settled with 'Gyoza'-a japanese style pot-stickers..Its actually called 'Jiaozi' in China and 'Mandu' in Korea.For the filling,I made a simple cabbage stir fry with sesame seeds.Since this is my first attempt,I made only a small batch.

You will need :

For the gyoza sheets,

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup warm water

For the filling,

1/2 cup chopped cabbage

1/2 cup onion

1/4 tsp chopped ginger

1/4 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp chilli vineger

1 tsp sesame seeds

salt

pepper

For the dipping sauce,

2 tbsp soya sauce

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp chopped green onions

Mix the flour and water using the chop sticks.When it comes together as dough,knead well for 5 mins or until its smooth and elastic.Cover it with a damp cloth and let it sit for about 30 mins.

Heat oil in a pan,fry onion,ginger and garlic till transculent.Add cabbage and fry for a min.Add the rest of the seasonings and mix well.Allow to cool.

Roll the dough to a thick log and cut into 1 inch equal portions.Roll each portion into a thin,uniform,circular discs.

Take a rolled out disc and place a spoonful of the filling in the center.

Fold them like a semi-circle and press it gently on the center.

Pleat the edges as shown in the picture.

Repeat it with the rest of the sheets and filling.

In a pan,heat a tsp of sesame oil and place the dumplings without overlapping them.Let it brown a bit.Flip it and pour 1/2 cup of water and cover immediately.Allow it to cook until the dumpling looks shiny and cooked.

Mix all the ingredients under the dipping sauce.Serve this sauce for the dumplings.

I liked the dumplings with this sesame flavored cabbage filling.But I can't handle the sauce.. I would rather prefer these dumplings with tomato sauce.

This goes to AWED-JAPANESE guest hosted by Lavi of HomeCookRecipes and intiated by DK of CulinaryBazzar.