Event Post

These are my entry for Pooja's Republic day Event. Theme of this event is you can cook anything with 3 colors of flag of India. (Orange , White and Green – you can cook dish finally resulting in any of these 3 colors / any single color / all of 3 , some variation in color of final dish is perfectly Ok. In this New Year she is start her event with very nice theme for our country. So let’s celebrate Republic Dat with participant in this event……:)

Three color sandwich:

For recipe click Here!!!

Row Papaya, Carrot and green chilli side dish / Sambharo:

Ingredients:

1 carrot
1 small size raw papaya slice
5 long green chillies
2 tbsp lemon juice
1\2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:
Step 1: Peel the carrot and Papaya.

Step 2: Grated the papaya and carrot. Cut the green chillies in long size and remove the seeds.

Step 3: Heat the one tbsp oil in to pan and add green chillies into low flame.

Step 4: When chillies fry nicely add salt, and remove from the oil.

Step 5: After that add grated raw papaya in to law flame and cook for one minute.

Step 6: Add lemon juice, sugar and salt to taste and mix well. Turn off the flame and place it in another dish.
Step 7: Turn on the flame and one tbsp oil and heat it. Add grated carrot in it.

Step 8: Add sugar, lemon juice and salt to taste.
Step 9: Place it in dish like as three colors of our flag.
Step 10: If you like then mix all these and serve as a side dish.

Also contribute in AFAM event hosted by Nags!!!

Papaya:

This is my simple dish for dessert and likes to eat as it is. I contribute this simple papaya dish for event AFAM hosted by Nags.


Benefits:
1. An excellent source of vitamin C and potassium.
2. High in folate and beta carotene.
3. An extract is used to tenderize meat.

Drawbacks:
1. Can cause dermatitis in some people.

Green Garlic Chutney

Ingredients:
25gm green garlic
2 tbsp cumin seeds
10 gm Coriander leaves
5 pieces of garlic
2 green chillies
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:
Step 1: Add all ingredients except green chilli in steal small vessel.

Step 2: Then crush with heavy steal handle with use of hand and make like paste.
Step 3: When it crushes half then adds green chillies in it and make paste not very much smooth.

Step 4: Heat one tbsp oil in microwave and add this material in it.

Step 5: Mix this material in oil very nicely.
Step 6: Microwave on high for only one minutes.

Step 7: You very tasty with nice aroma of garlic chutney is ready.

Step 8: Place in serving bowl.

I am sending this chutney to Sunita's Monthly Spice event, This time Think Spice : Think Garlic...!

Happiness Message:

You will never happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

-Albert Camus

Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce

Snow on the ground means time for delicious beef in pomegranate sauce.

Have I got a slow cooker recipe to soothe winter weary spirits. Why? The mesa is clouded in white this morning- again. We woke to a fresh dusting of snow. I'm posting on a laptop in bed, snug beneath a Pendleton blanket, hoping Steve lights a fire in the kiva soon.

Although consensus is that New Mexico is drop dead gorgeous in the snow, I am so not a winter person. By mid January I am bored with fussing with boots and itchy sweaters and jackets. The tedious layering. (I never choose the right winter coat, so I gave up- I haven't owned one in two years- and besides, who knew you needed a winter coat in New Mexico?) And then there is the loopy ritual of locating gloves that migrate to the oddest hiding places- inside boots or under folded pillow cases. If it isn't obvious to you, Perceptive Reader, I am more than ready for spring. Until she arrives, I remain a big fan of winter comfort food.

Last night I tossed together an intuitive combination of pomegranate juice and balsamic vinegar sweetened with pure maple syrup. Odd, you think? Just taste this.

And by the way, my recipe is featured in the fab new cookbook:  Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking

Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce Recipe

You can slow cook this in a slow cooker like we did or slow simmer it, covered, on the stove top. It's an easy sauce- no fuss. And huge on flavor. Big, bold lip-smacking flavor. I could regale you with factoids about how good pomegranate juice is for you- with all those nifty antioxidants and all- but you know what? It's just tastes so crazy good. Try it.

1 1/2 to 2 pounds grass fed beef or buffalo roast or steak, fat trimmed if necessary
Sea salt
Light olive oil, as needed
1 onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 14-oz can Muir Glen fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar- omit for yeast-free
1/8 cup pure maple syrup- or use agave to keep it lower glycemic
1/2 cup fresh cranberries or golden raisins
1 teaspoon dried French herb mix or Bouquet Garni
A small pinch of cinnamon

I slow-cooked my recipe in a slow cooker because that's what works for me here at high altitude. You can follow suit and Crock Pot your little heart out. Or do it old-school style, in a heavy Dutch oven or soup pot.

Salt the beef on all sides. Wait a few minutes. Kiss the cook. Get your slow cooker situated and turned on to High.

Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides to sear in the flavor, using long tongs to turn the pieces. This doesn't take but maybe five minutes, or so. Remove the beef and set aside.

Add a small dash of olive oil to the crock. Add in sliced onion and garlic. Stir to coat with the olive oil. Place the beef on top.

Pour in the pomegranate juice, crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Stir to combine. Add the cranberries or raisins, dried herbs, a pinch of cinnamon, sea salt and ground pepper.

Stir a little bit to co-mingle ingredients.

Cover and let the magic happen- about 4 to 5 hours.

Taste test the sauce for seasoning adjustments. My intuitive combo was the perfect balance of tart and savory with a hint of sweetness.

We served ours with a generous mound of whipped mashed potatoes. Heaven. Seriously.

Serves 4.

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Gluten-Free Banana Cookies

Gluten-free and vegan banana cookie recipe.

Two firsts today. I made my first batch (ever!) of banana cookies (and the recipe just so happens to be gluten-free and dairy-free). And I took my first post-fracture outside walk today, bundled up against a chilly wind, walking stick in hand, patient husband at my side.

I use the word patient for a reason. Because Babycakes, walking with me is painted turtle in the shade slow. Careful. Deliberate. No funny business. No waggling or showing off. It ain't necessarily pretty.

But it's vertical.

It's biped (if you don't count the requisite walking stick as an appendage). And these days- in this house- vertical rocks our world. When we circled back to the casita the kitchen smelled like bananas and vanilla. I unwrapped my purple scarf, peeled off my mittens and turned the kettle on. It was time for tea and cookies.

And I had worked up an appetite.

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Vegetarian Polenta Pie

Layered polenta, veggies and vegan cheese.

An easier savory vegetarian pie than this you won't find. It's a simple fresh recipe that rocks. I made it to celebrate.

We just got back from my three-month post-op check-up. The hip looks good. "I gained ten pounds," I said to my hunky surgeon, Brant, as he was lifting my left leg in the air and poking me in the pelvis.

"So what?" he snorted and turned to Steve. "These tall skinny chicks. Ten pounds."

"I thought you'd be proud of me," I countered. "You know- that whole, You fit the broken hip profile thing you said to me? Female. White. Skinny. Vegetarian. (Celiac!)"

"Yeah, well. I gotta give you shit about something," he said.

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Golden Potato Soup for the Sensitive Soul

A lovely creamy potato soup- gluten and dairy free.

When I want a recipe for comfort food I reach for potatoes first. And when I need a soup recipe in a hurry, this creamy potato comfort always hits the spot.

Decades ago (yes, decades- how scary is that?) while I was still in art school, living in my boxy white washed one-bedroom off Dupont Circle, I would make potato soup in a blender (no crankin' Cuisinart or snappy immersion wands back then) and serve it chilled in Asian blue and white bowls (Pier One Imports, 99 cents apiece) with a sprinkle of bright green chives. Art student friends would scrape their bowls clean and ask for more. And I would gladly oblige. (They were easily impressed, because they were, well, not exactly starving, but used to living on instant ramen noodles, pizza and beer.)

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Arusuvai Friendship Chain

The Arusuvai Friendship Chain has been inspired by the Amish Friendship Bread Starter chain doing the rounds outside of India. More details about the chain, here. It has been quite active and as part of it, I received a surprise ingredient from Bhags of crazycurry!!! This is the beautiful logo created by Lakshmi.
The Arusuvi Friendship Chain is about sending along a surprise ingredients as a gift to your friends. Your friend prepare any tasty with it and share the recipe and pass on other surprise ingredients to another people. My blog friend Bhags send the surprise ingredient to me. But when she is send me I am not at home and my mom say your friend send you something to you. I am really very happy and excited when my mom says me on phone. After three days I am coming at home and open the packet. Say what is surprise ingredient for me? Rajgari flour is in the packet. I decided I made two different items from this flour one is sweet and another is spicy. So I made Rajgari sero and Rajgari Tikki.

Rajgira Flour Halwa/Rajgira Sero/Farali Sero

Preparation Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes
Serves / Makes: 2 persons

Ingredients:

1 cup rajgira flour
1\2 cup sugar
3\4 cup ghee
1 and 1\2 cup water
1-tbsp elaichi (cardamom) powder
Kaju (cashewnuts) for garnishing

Method:
Step 1: Heat the ghee in pan.

Step 2: Then add rajgira flour on medium flame.

Step 3: Roast it till it change colour and the small starts coming.

Step 4: Boil the water side by side in another pan.

Step 5: When Rajgira flour is roasted turn the gas on law flame and add water slowly.

Step 6: When water starts boiling and mixture becomes thick then add sugar in it.

Step 7: Heat till all the sugar dissolves and mixture start leaving side of Pan.

Step 8: Turn off the flame and add elaichi powder. Place it in serving plate.

Step 9: Garnishing with kaju and serve hot.


MakarSankranti
On January 14 the sun enters the rashi Capricorn. This is known as Makar Sankranti. Sankranti means the entry of the sun from one zodiac to another. Adults, children, even aged men and women, spiritedly fly kites all day. Kites dot the sky.

Gujarat Tourism started hosting International Kite Festival. So many well-known Kitists from many states and countries come here for this event. Kite Flying is now a special event in Ahmedabad held on Makarsakranti day, 14th January. The sky is full of colorful kites flying high in the air.

In Gujarat we made different type of chikkies like Til (sesame seed) chikki, Singdhana Chikki, Murmure Chikki, and Peanuts chikki. My next post for the different type of Chikki.:)

Something about Makar Sankranti........

Traditionally, this period is considered an auspicious time and the veteran Bhishma of Mahabharata chose to die during this period. Bhishma fell to the arrows of Arjuna. With his boon to choose the time of his death, he waited on a bed of arrows to depart from this world only during this period. It is believed that those who die in this period have no rebirth.

Makar Sankranti festival holds special significance according to the solar calendar as the day and night are of exactly equal duration on this day. For the people of northern hemisphere, the northward path of the sun marks the period when the sun is getting closer to them. This signifies that the days will get longer and warmer after Makar Sankranti. Makar Sankranti festival holds special significance according to the solar calendar as the day and night are of exactly equal duration on this day. For the people of northern hemisphere, the northward path of the sun marks the period when the sun is getting closer to them. This signifies that the days will get longer and warmer after Makar Sankranti.

In Uttar Pradesh, Sankranti is called 'Khichiri'.
In Punjab, Sankranti is celebrated as 'Maghi'.
In Madhya Pradesh, Sankranti is celelbrated as 'Sukarat' or 'Sakarat'
In South, Sankranti festival is known by the name of 'Pongal'

Pongal

A three-day harvest festival and one of the most joyful events in the South. Newly harvested rice is ceremonially cooked and cows and bullocks are gaily decorated and fed and are led out in procession to the beat of drums and music.
In south these three days people made Ven Pongal, Sarkkarai Pongal, and Aval Payasam
Pongal festival history is here.:)

Farali Tikki/Rajgira Tikki
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves/Makes: 3

Ingredients for paste:

50gm roasted peanuts
7-8 green chillies
1 small part of ginger
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste

* Cut the chillies, ginger and mix with peanuts.

* Add sugar, lemon juice and salt in it.

* Grind all this material in to the mixer.

Ingredients for making Tikki:

1 cup Rajgira Flour
2 big size boiled potatoes
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp oil

Method for making Tikki:
Step 1: Peel the boiled potatoes and grated it.

Step 2: Add the papered material of peanuts in it. Mix very well with spoon.

Step 3: Add one tbsp oil and rajgira flour in it.

Step 4: Make tight dough. If material is very soft then add 2 tbsp rajgira flour and salt to taste.

Step 5: After that take small portion of this material and make the rajgira tikki with help of hand.

Step 6: Add sesame seeds over the each tikki and slightly press.

Step 7: Heat the flat pan and spread little oil over the surface. Place the tikki gently over it.

Step 8: Cook into medium flame for one minutes and turn into another side.
Step 9: Cook on other side for golden patches.

Step 10: Repeat the step 8 and 9 for remaining tikkies.

Step 11: Place the tikki in to serving bowl or plates.

Step 12: Serve hot with Tomato ketchup.

When you receive a package with a “surprise ingredient” as a part of Arusuvai here are the basic rules you need to follow:
1. Prepare something tasty with it and post recipe with a picture if you are a blogger with the logo, a link to person who passed it to you and to this post if you like for reference.
2. If you don’t blog, do share the recipe with the friend who gave it to you or post it as a guest post on someone you know who blogs.
3. Pass on a “surprise ingredient” to two or more friends, one of whom must preferably blog. We all want to have some fun together right?

I am sending my secret ingredients to Priya from Priyas kitchen-spices in life and Foodie from Zaayka now, hope they will continue the chain.:)