Winter melon / Ash gourd Majjige huli

Ingredients:

Ash gourd / winter melon - 2 cup
Sour Buttermilk / Beaten Curd - 1 cup or slightly more
Salt to taste
Bengal Gram / channa dal - 3 teaspoons 
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 4-6 
Coriander Seeds / Dhania - 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds / jeera - 1/2 tsp
Ginger -1 inch piece
Turmeric / haldi - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Broken Red Chilly - 1
Curry leaves - few

Method :

1) Soak channa dal in little water for 20 minutes or until soft.
2) Remove the skin of the ash gourd , deseed them and cut into small cubes.
3) Cook the ashgourd with little turmeric either in a cooker / microwave or directly in the vessel.But don't overcook and make it mushy. It should be about 75 % cooked.
4) Meanwhile grind the soaked bengal gram, coconut, green chillies, coriander seeds, jeera, ginger turmeric, hing to a very very smooth paste adding little water.
5) Add masala paste and salt to the cooked veggie.
6) In a vessel, add this masala paste and cooked ash gourd for couple of minutes.
7) Now add buttermilk and mix such that  the masala and buttermilk blends well.Add some water to get the desired consistency. Let the mixture to come to a boil. You will see that as it boils, the gravy thickens.Stir for 1-2 mins and switch off. 
8) Heat oil in a small pan . Temper with mustard seeds ,hing & curry leaves.When the mustard crackles,pour the tempering over the curry.

Ash gourd majjige huli is ready to serve.

Enjoy it with steamed rice along with some sun dried chillies / spicy pappad / spicy chutney .

Note:

1) Instead of soaking chana dal and grinding, you can use few tsps of besan too. Add it by dissolving in curd / buttermilk such that no lumps are formed.
2) The amount of chana dal changes the consistency of the final product .The more the chana dal thicker the gravy.
3) Majjige huli tastes best when the yogurt is sour, so do not use fresh curds in this recipe.
4) Don't over boil this curry.It will curdle the curry and loose its creamy texture.If you are reheating also ,do it mildly.
5) Don't forget to grind the masala to a very very smooth paste. This helps in blending well.
6) Coriander and jeera can be replaced with sambhar powder too.

All about rice and its cooking

I always had an impression that rice is just rice. Cook anything you want would work. Offlate with the help of few online friends realised that every step in cooking rice is very important and has a meaning.
Here's few of my observation and understanding.

Types of rice:

Sona masoori
Nirapara rose matta
Basmathi rice

How important is washing your rice before cooking it??? 

Nirapara rose matta rice:  This rice is supposed to be very nutritious as it is not polished, and the bran is rich in b complex. So do not wash it too much, just once is enough, so my understanding for rice with bran is not to wash too much.

Kerala Rice: Drink the extra water left after cooking rice . Having it the next day is considered to be even more nutritious cos it will have good bacteria in it. Only for kerala rice and not for all.

These days there is a concern about Arsenic(which is present in the soil naturally) content in rice. So soak for about 15-20 mins and then rinse thorougly 3 times and then cook

Soak well and rinse once or twice.

Most of the best rice is properly aged so water will not be milky. But if rice isn't aged properly rinsing will emit milky and starchy residue.

Best is to soak for 5 mins, rinse once and then discard the excess water after cooking with a strainer, and rinse again with cold water. This way rice will not be sticky too and starchy.

How about ppl who cook rice in a pressure cooker? 

Eating pressure cooking rice will give one a fat belly and high glucose in their blood. Never make rice in cooker, always strain the rice to make it lighter and remove the starch. Sona masoori, basmati/ surti kolam/ Gai kolam/ brown rice/ wild rice etc is good for daily use by washing, (pre soaking in some cases), and then cooking with excess water in an uncovered vessel on high heat and draining away the starch once cooked. Jasmine rice is flavored so washing is not advised. However we don't use jasmine rice in much of our Indian cooking daily.

Reference links:

1) http://www.sagevfoods.com/MainPages/Rice101/Cooking.htm
2) http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/cook-rice-perfectly.aspx
3) http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-03/features/ct-food-1003-rice-arsenic-cooking-tips-20121003_1_arsenic-rice-consumption-cooked-rice
4) http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/10/arsenic-in-rice
5) ttps://www.google.ca/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=kjKwVJH0E8yy8wfMooI4#q=arsenic+in+sona+masuri+rice
6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice

Paddu

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 3 tbsp
Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Onion - 1 cup(chopped)
Green chillies - 4
Coriander - 1/4 cup (Chopped)
Baking soda -  A Pinch

Method:

1) Soak rice, urad dal, fenugreek seeds in enough water for around 2-3 hours or overnight.
2) Once soaked, grind them into fine paste.
3) Keep this mixture overnight for fermentation.
4) Once its fermented, add salt and baking soda with enough water . Mix well to get the batter consistency.
5) To the batter add chopped green chillies, onion and coriander and mix well.
6) Using paddu pan, add a required amount of batter and roast until golden brown on both sides.

Paddu's are ready to be served with chutney.

Bitter gourd chips

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 1 medium size
Salt - as required
Ajwayen - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Vinegar / lemon juice - 1/2 tsp
Besan / Gram flour- 3/4 tbsp (just to sprinkle)
Oil - to fry

Method:

1) Cut thin strips of bitter gourd.
2) Mix all the ingredients.

3) Heat oil and fry bitter gourd until golden brown and chrisp.

Chips are ready to be served.

Bitter gourd majjige huli

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 4 medium sized
Oil- 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tbsp
Jeera -  - 1/4 tbsp
Chana dal -  - 1/4 tbsp
Hing -  - 1/4 tbsp
Urad dal - 1/4 tbsp
Red Chillies - 2
Green chillies - 4
Curry leaves - few
Ginger - 1/4 inch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tbsp
Thick Curd - 2 cups / as required
Salt - as required
Sugar / Jaggery powder - 2 tbsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup

Method:

1) Chop bitter gourd into thin slices and soak it in water adding some salt to it for over 2 -3 hrs.
2) Now grind red chillies, green chillies , ginger and coconut, jaggery powder into fine paste.
3)  In a pan, add oil, mustard, jeera, urad dal, chana dal, hing and curry leaves.
4) Once they are fried into golden brown, add the grinded mixture and fry well.
5) Now add turmeric powder and salt. Turn off the stove and add curd.
6) In another pan, add the soaked bitter gourd pieces and fry for long time till well done (until brown, but take care it does not burn). you can also add sugar / jaggery powder while frying.
7) Add the curds masala to this bitter gourd before serving. Add salt if required.

Note:

1) Bitter gourd chips can also be added instead of fresh bitter gourd. (Refer:  http://princessncooking.blogspot.ca/2016/02/bitter-gourd-chips.html)
2) Since the bitter gourd pieces absorb the curds ,a little more of it than what is mentioned in the ingredients may be needed.

Makhana Processing

Most of you use makhana / Phool makhani as a snack or in curries or eat directly.

Here is a video which shows where and how it is obtained and  processed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gaeLG2Swbw

Gasa gase payasa

Ingredients:

Poppy seeds - 4 tsp 
Rice, uncooked - 1 tsp
Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen - 1 cup 
Desiccated coconut/Copra/Kobbari - 1 cup 
Jaggery / sugar - 3-4 tbsp 
Milk - 1/4 cup 
Elaichi / cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp 
Saffron (optional) - 4-5 strands
Cashews/Almonds (optional) - 8-10  

Method:

1) Dry roast poppy seeds and rice until they turn crisp and lightly change color.
2) Finely powder the roasted poppy seeds and rice in a blender without adding any water.
3) Add  grated coconut, desiccated coconut, some water and grind to a  smooth paste.
4) Add half a cup of water and strain the paste through a finely perforated strainer; Retain the liquid - this will  make the payasam later.
5) Transfer the coarse residue into a blender; Add some more water and grind again to a smooth paste. Repeat steps 4 and 5 about 3-4 times.
6) Add jaggery to the strained liquid and boil on low-medium heat until all the jaggery dissolves; Remove from stove.
7) Meanwhile dissolve saffron strands in 1/4 cup of warn milk and set aside for 5-10 mins.
8) Now add powdered elaichi,warm milk with saffron and mix well.

Hot hot gasa gase payasa is ready to be served.

Note:

1) You can just grind coconut, poppy seeds, rice and add jaggery, milk to boil them together, instead of straining.

Homemade Dosa / Dose Batter - Version 1

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 3 tbsp
Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Baking soda -  A Pinch

Method:

1) Soak rice, urad dal, fenugreek seeds in enough water for around 2-3 hours or overnight.
2) Once soaked, grind them into fine paste.
3) Keep this mixture overnight for fermentation.
4) Once its fermented, add salt and baking soda with enough water . Mix well to get the batter consistency.
5) Spread this batter into to yummy dosa and roast until golden brown.

Dosa's are ready to be served with chutney.