Roochis: January 2009

Beetroot Raitha

Pachidi with Beetroot in it, a healthy side dish that goes with Parata, chappatis and rice

Ingredients :
Beetroot : 1 No.

Curd : 1 Cup
Coriander leaves : 2 tbl spoons
Curry leaves : 2 strings
Green Chillies : 1 No.
Red chillies :1 No.
Red Chilly powder : half tea spn
Mustard seeds : 1 tea spn
Urad Dhal : 1 tea spn
Gram dhal : half tea spn
Asafotida : 1 pinch
Salt, Sugar

Method of preparation : Heat a table spoon of oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, 1 red chilly, urad dhal, gram dhal once its fried add a little asafotida once they are fried add green chillies, grated beetroot. Fry till the raw smell goes away, add coriander seeds, curry leaves and red chilly powder and salt and a pinch of sugar. Get this to room temperature and then add curd mix and serve.

Fish Rounds

A recipe that I saw in one of the Cookery show. It happened to be a prize winning recipe. Interestingly different one made out of Salmon Fish / Vanjara Meen

Ingredients :

Salmon Fish : 2 pieces
Potato : 1 No.
Onion : 1 No.
Tomato : 1 No Small
Chilli Powder : half tea spn
Garam Masala : 1 tea spn
Coriander powder : half tea spn
Coriander leaves : 3 table spn
Egg : 1 No.
Turmeric : half tea spn
Cashunut : 10 Nos. (Coarsely powdered)
Salt & Oil

Method of preparation :

Cook the potato till its soft and smash it.
Cook the Salmon fish without skin with a pinch of salt and turmeric in the water till its soft.
In a pan add 2 table spoon of oil and fry finely chopped onions till golden brown then add finley chopped tomato. Now add Coriander powder, Chilli powder, salt, Coriander leaves and stir it. At last add garam masala to it.
Once the above masala mixture comes to the temperature that you can handle in your hand, add potato and baked fish and mix well. (check taste and add salt if required)
Make the above mixture into small rounds, dip it in egg white and then coat a layer of cashew nut powder and deep fry it.
There you go Crispy Fish rounds are ready.

Arti Indisk Restaurant Review - Bergen Norway

Name : Arti Indisk Restaurant
Country : Norway
City : Bergen
Website : http://www.arti-indisk-restaurant.no/
Rating : 4 / 5

The Indian Restaurant in Bergen Norway. Indisk means Indian in Norwegien. We googled and found this place and looking at the website thought that it was a house where they might be having a restaurant. Reached there without much expectation. To our surprise the ambiance was pretty good. Its a restaurant run by an Indian who hails from Delhi is what we got to know.
We ordered for Fish Pakoda, King Prawn Curry and Spinach Lamb Curry. After the order we were served masala papad with mint chuttney and a green chilli chuttney. Thinking that it would be usual long wait we started having the papad.
The serving was fast and we got the Fish pakoda and it looked perfect and tasted great. I am not a great fan of fish though, I liked it a lot. Then came the other two dishes and just by look we could feel that it would taste good and we were right. The taste was good. A nice bend of curry with rice was worth the long travel we did to reach the place. Rice came as complimentary with the dish.
To end with we had Gulab jamoon with icecream and signed the check... Its not so heavy on the pocket for an occasional visit.

Oh ya here in Norway Still Water is not charged. I feel all hotels all through should be courtious to serve tap water.

We are here in Norway for one month and have visited the restaurant thrice in last 2 weeks.
The second and third time we tried Chicken Korma, Chicken Delicious and the taste was as expected.

I noticed that most of the Norwaygians and people from other countries enjoy the Indian food and quite a lot of foreign crowd could be seen in almost all the Indian Restaurants in Europe.

Read complete post...

Pongal (Kara pongal)

My love for pongal started during my oracle days. The cater managed to serve the best tasteless food, we used to wonder how he manged to do it. The two dishes that we could eat is Bisibele bath with Raitha and Pongal with Raitha. Till then I never used to like pongal not even in my bad dreams I would like to have this dish. Mom tho had stopped preparing this dish at home just because I did not prefer it.

I learnt to prepare this once I moved to Germany and these days this is one of the quick bfast or brunch that I can prepare.

Ingredients :
Rice : 1 cup
Moong Dhal : Half cup
Green chillies : 2 -3 Nos.
Pepper : 1 tea spn half crushed
Ginger : half inch finely chopped
Curry Leaves : 2 strings
Cashewnuts : 7 - 8 Nos
Cumin seeds - 1 tea spn<
Oil and Salt
Use pressure cooker / electric rice cooker or any vessel
Wash Moong Dhal and Rice and add water (Triple the qty of water that you would normally add to Rice. Now you have moong dhal also so add more accordingly) put some salt and slit green chillies into. Cook it till the water is almost absorbed and becomes a thick gravy consistancy. Pongal tastes good when its little watery than dry.Check if salt is fine else add more.
Seasoning : Take little ghee or oil in a pan once its hot add cumin seeds, cashewnuts, curry leaves, ginger, pepper and once it fried add it to the cooked pongal. There you go pongal is ready. Serve with chuttney or cucumber raitha.
*while preparing in a vessel other than cooker or electric rice cooker, stir it occasionally to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel.
*while the pongal is cold and while reheating sprinkle some water on it and heat it so that it tastes just like the freshly made one.
* the proportion of Moong dhal can be increased from 1 rice : 1 moon dhal. I love the taste when its 1 rice : 0.5 moong

Mango Lassi - During the New year Dinner

After a great meal one glass of Mango Lassi happened to be great during the New Year Dinner. On 2nd January we had invited an Indian couple friends for Dinner. That happened to be like a perfect dinner to begin the year.
Drink : Black Berry Juice / Wine
Starter : Chicken & Potato 65
Main Course : Chicken Biryani
Side Dish : Cucumber Raitha
Dessert : Gulab Jamoon & Mango Lassi
Movie : Madagaskar and Wild Hogs (Comedy)
We had planned the menu and made everything well in time and also fast before the guest arrived. The satisfaction when everything turned out well was incredible.
I do not have the pics of rest of the items that we made so I am posting just the Mango Lassi recipe :
Ingredients : (for 3 glasses of lassi)
Mango Pulp : 1 glass
Yogurt / Curd : half glass
Water : 1.5 glass (or use ice cubes)
Sugar : 6 - 8 table spoons
Blend all the ingredients in a blender / juicer for 3-4 min and serve. It tastes good and looks great when served immediately after preparation. However you can store it in the refrigerator as well.

Read complete post...

Diabetes-Why and What ?

Our Body’s Main source of Energy is Glucose, passed via the bloodstream, is the Major source of energy for the body's cells in our Body.

Normally, in our Blood, blood glucose levels stay within a set - narrow limit throughout the day:
Accepted Levels and Range : 4 to 8 mmol/l (70 to 150 mg/dl).

Normally Levels rise after meals and are usually lowest in the morning, before the Breakfast of the day. Diabetes mellitus is the most feared disease related to failure of blood sugar regulation and control .

Blood sugar problems and its Health effects:

If blood sugar levels drop too low, a potentially fatal condition called hypoglycemia develops.
1. Symptoms of Low Blood Sugar:
2. Symptoms may include lethargy (Inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy)
3. impaired mental functioning
4. irritability and
5. loss of consciousness.

Hyper Glycemia: If levels remain too high, appetite is suppressed over the short term.
Long-term hyperglycemia causes many of the long-term health problems associated with diabetes including eye, kidney and nerve damage.

Diabetics should sensibly ADJUST FOOD, EXERCISE, oral Medications or insulin.

DIABETES is surely controllable through PLANNED DIET AND NUTRITION . Diabetic patients can easily lead NORMAL LIFE with the above control.

Source : Various

Akki Rotti (Rice Roti)

My first recipe post in this new year. Akki Rotti is one of the common dish in Karnataka. Mostly in the Dharwad side. It tastes great when its made as thin as possible. Even when we box it to office it tastes good. Does not really require a side dish also.

Mom used to make this at times and man I used to love it and so did my friends at office.

Ingredients :
Rice flour : 250 gms
Onions : 2 big
Dill leaves : 1 bunch
Spring onions : 1 cup
Green Chillies : 4
Curry leaves : 2 strings
Salt

Method of Preparation : In a bowl, add rice flour and rest of the ingredients very finley chopped, add little watter and make it a dough which is a little softer than the chappati dough (This wd be sticky unlike the chappati dough). Now make small rounds a little bigger than the table tennis ball size.
Put this on a non stick tava (need not be heated first) and spread it all across the tava with your hand. Grease your hand with oil or water for easy spread. Make it as big and thin as possible. Now put it on the stove and fry both the sides till they turn a little golden brown adding little oil. There you go, the roti is ready.

Serve with chutney of your choice or pickle. Tastes great without a side dish also.

If you have two tavas, you can use them alternatively. Else once the first one is done, just coolen the tava by putting the wrong side of the tava under the tap and then spread the next roti.

*When you are spreading the dough if there are holes inbetween just dont mind. It turns out crisp.
*You can add grated coconut and grated carrorts if you wish