Hot Hot baby;p

I wish i had a few words to say but i have none,We all need to get on with life and we do but at times i feel for me life just got stagnated the day i landed in this city, I am not depressed,i am busy, i leave home at seven in the morning and come back at 7 in the evening, Hubby is always ready to listen if i want to talk, Sundays are a lazy affair with lots of sleep and least cooking, life is good but the spark is missing, the smile is automatic and artificial,the work is not something i would have taken up if i were in Hyd, its still teaching but not to the kind whom i would have preferred teaching, Friends to talk happens only on phone,i just can hear mom talking on phone, I do understand i am just two hrs away from home but then.... When anyone asks what will happen if i ever have to go out of this country i just say "I made my choice already" i chose this place over abroad when we got the chance,2hrs seems very near by when compared to 20hrs. Well,to break the monotony and rush our lifestyle i decided to make the ever rich and super duper favorite of mine "Mirchi ka saalan" the queen of Hyderabadi food culture,well,queen because i feel the curry is feminine, soft, rich and not too spicy, hot but not hot;p and oh yeah,i have more to say on this feminity of food but for some other post,for now enjoy the making.

7 Medium sized green chillies or Jalapeño peppers
I cut them into half and removed the stem inside and the seeds by making a cut mark at one side of the chilly,this will reduce the heat.

1/2 Cup of til or sesame seeds, 1/2 cup of peanuts , dry coconut and dhaniya acc. to the proportions you like,i took 1/4th part of the copra and only two t spoons of dhaniya and a few red chillies and cinnamon and two cloves.

Dry roast the peanuts and remove the skin(Which i do it half heartedly and try to retain the skin for a few peanuts;p)
roast other ingredients also

make them into powder in a mixer and keep it aside:)

Two big onions ,cut them and fry them for a few min in two spoons of oil.

then fry the peppers in the same oil and keep them in the paper napkins to remove the excess oil.

Now take the onions into the mixer along with one spoon of ginger garlic paste, two big spoons of tamarind juice,add the powder you made and had water acc to the requirements and make a smooth paste

All the ingredients made into a paste.

Take two spoons of oil, add karipatha or curryleaves and pour the paste into the kadai,adjust salt and let it simmer slowly on low heat for about 15min.close the lid while cooking and keep stirring in between.

When you see the water content reducing and the oil starts to seep in from sides add the mirchi to the salan and simmer for about 5 min.

Mirchi ka Salan is ready:) Enjoy it with rotis or hot rice,i love it with rotis and don't forget to serve it with onion carrot ratha:)

Title Less Post:)

After i wrote my last post it just hit me from inside that i need to close this food blog,I don't want to reveal the reasons but i just wanted to close but had no heart to do so.And then i had to rush,for a 10day holiday in two different states and a visit to 3 different Jyotirling, Shirdi, Ellora caves, Lonavala, Pune and then the best place in the world for me,Hyderabad, those3 days with amma and bro and my two little rascals (my two dogs) made me all mushy and sad that i have to be back to Bangalore and a regular routine waiting for me,and then the holidays over and i am back to my work. And two days of talking to myself and the comments for my last post made me say that i am not quiting, and i will keep posting,when ever i find time,whenever i can, i said the same thing at Aalapana-Another new day also. So i am back. Recipes will follow,but for now,i am leaving you all with a few photographs, and these for me are Memories which i keep stocking away:) Have a good time all of you till the next time.

On the way to Shirdi,A beautiful sunset.

Husband's gift for my birthday:) lovely isn't it.

My two fur brats busy hunting for flying birds:)

Just outside my bedroom window i have a new homemaker:)

A beautiful sunrise from the roof of our house,Hyderabad,i miss you:)

Atlast at home in Bangalore,Diwali evening:)

I love lights:) in any form,the Urli i decorated.

And we are back to action:)

Yes,I admit it has been a long break,longest in my three odd years of blogging but thats how i am,I cannot stay away from "Aalapana" But then blogging about food needs more focus,we are not talking about matters of Heart but we are talking about perfection, concentration, taste, color, and more than anything a sort of discipline,and i lack in all these areas when it comes to KITCHEN & COOKING.
Then why a food blog you may ask:) Because i am proud of my cooking,i am proud that i started cooking just a year back and found this new side to my personality and i am surprised,because for me cooking is not easy,its a dedicated job which so many people out there do it so effortlessly and when i started doing it i wanted to jot down the memories here,of the mishaps,of the smiles and of those food items which i tasted from my childhood but started enjoying them more now because its now i know the feeling of owning or creating something from scratch.
I have been away because i just lost that inclination of taking pictures and writing about it,it happens when you are working for more than 18hours a day and don't find time to even think about or feel the food you are eating, and even now i am busy for another ten days but i am back and i will try and update whenever i feel so,and the very few readers who come here,I am sorry ladies;p but now i am back:)

Dhokla has been a childhood favorite and being a south Indian never hampered my taste buds for this spongy stuff and asusual everything is changed according to our tastes in our kitchens and i saw mom doing so too. I never had an inclination to make dhokla mix with the daals and keep it in store, mix it the night before and all.So when i heard about the Khaman dhokla instantly made by my Ex-colleague i could n stop myself:) So here we go, Dhokla with Peanut,coconut chutney (i prefer it with this chutney)

Ingredients
I cup of Besan, One pinch of Soda bicarbonate, Three tablespoons of lemon juice, One tablespoon of sugar,pinch of turmeric, Water to mix the floor and mix the batter along with a tsp of oil. Mix well with all the ingredients without any lumps and keep it aside for about ten min and you can see the bubbles forming. Grease the dhokla plates and pour the batter on to them.

This is my priced possession i would say, while searching for a idli stand i found this where i can steam idlies, vegetables and make dhokla or cake also, idli is made in cups and dhokla plates are provided and all for a price of 300rs :)

After pouring the batter into three different size plates ansteam the dhoklas for about 15min.

And they are ready,All i need to do is garnish them with corriander and if you like then grated coconut also can be added. Heat some oil and add mustard,jeera and slit green chillies along with curryleaves and garnish this on to the dhokla, trust me,the taste of mustard seeds fried in oil
makes such a good difference:)

And the dhoklas are ready to be served with the all time favorite Peanut chutney. If you want you can make the green chutney also but i prefer this taste.





Take a handful of peanuts, a few pieces of fresh coconut, a tsp of roasted chanadal ( putnala pappu) ,half tsp of jeera, three garlic pieces, green chillies 4 and a ball of tamarind, grind the ingredients with enough water, Do the tadka with mustards,jeera,curryleaves and a pinch of turmeric. Enjoy the dhokla with the chutney:)

Red is here to stay

Jyothi ,Bharathy,I am done with the TAG:) you can check it at "Dew Drop Dreams" Its been good to write something about myself and now something about food again, I am not very good with good food,i mean Healthy food,Well, for me good food need not be healthy too,so i just have good food and ignore the health part of it. My colleague is one epitome of this Healthy food concept and for her it need not be tasty or yummie,so she says if it helps your health then you better eat and her husband and daughter follow her rules at home and Now in the college she makes sure that i have my break fast and lunch on time and that too my box is half the time filled with sprouts and salads and what not:( but one thing is whatever healthy food i eat i give her the credit and this one salad which i learnt is from her and boy,now this is one regular in my kitchen every day:)

All i need is One Beet root,One cucumber,Half the onion,2 carrots,Salt,Peanuts or sprouts or kabuli chana ,Tomato 1 ,Lime juice and salt.

Grate the beetroot,cucumber,onion and add tomato if you like it,and you may add capsicum also,if you have raw peanuts which you use for boiling then add them,or if you have boiled chickpeas or any sprouts,mix well,add salt and lime juice acc to you taste,chill in the refrigerator ,have it before lunch or dinner.
Good for health and good for people like me who always want something to munch on,so now a days instead of peanuts and chocolates whenever i feel like eating something i take a bowl of this salad and enjoy it all:) More than me my mom is happy,because i have never ever tasted Beetroot in my life and now i have it every day,Thanks to my colleague:)

Simply Superb;p

Its 6pm and i am done with cooking for Dinner,So soon you may ask:) Yup,i got home at 4pm,and i suddenly had this urge to rush into the kitchen at 4.30pm,i went there to find one Bottle gourd waiting for me in the fridge,It was screaming "Please take me from here;p" so i took it out and i remembered one of my favorite dish made by amma and it was specially made for me because my brother never liked it and mom would eat anything:)
so i the queen would always swear by the mention of it also "Pesarapappu sorakaya vepudu" i.e, "yellow split moong daal and bottle gourd stir fry" hmmm,accompanied by hot rasam it would taste great on a winter night with hot rice and papad. Simple meals are so exotic in taste and method of cooking also,isn't it:)

Half of Lauki or dhoodi or sorakaya or bottlegourd,One small cup of moong daal soaked for about 15min.two green chillies, one onion , jeera and two garlic pods and mustards and curryleaves for tampering.
Boil the Lauki pieces for about ten minutes and when you feel that they have become little soft shift them into another plate and squeeze out any water remaining.

Take a spoonful of oil into the Kadai and add mustard and curryleaves,when they start spluttering add green chillies and onion.

fry it for a minute or two and then add the moong daal,and the Lauki pieces to the kadai and adjust salt and add A little of turmeric also.
Cover it with a lid and let it be cooked for a while,hmmm,say ten min?,precisely once in five minutes just keep stirring

if you feel the moong daal is hard add little water so that it would be soft,but do take care not to make it too soft like paste,the moong and lauki must be separate.

If you have noticed,i dint add any ginger garlic paste, yup,not needed, just take a little jeera,add two garlic pods and crush them both properly and add to the curry,trust me,this gives a wonderful taste as well aroma to you and to the kitchen:)

Adjust chilli powder and when you see the oil leaving the sides {not much oil but you will know} the stir fry is ready.

You can have it with hot rasam and papad,trust me,the taste is heavenly when it is damn cold out side and you want to warm up your body, healthy,No masala,little oil and traditional dish ...more than anything,works out fine for me because it is a simple home cooked food which i love:)

Hot Hot rasam {recipe next post,right now i am off for shopping,Yuppieeeee,No classes for two days,so for two days i will just go to the college,gossip in the staff room,have hot thali from the canteen directly ordered to the staff room and then again gossip post lunch,come back home,now thats what i call as leisure at work,isn't it:)

Have a wonderful time people and Yes,one more thing,I keep adding lot of links to my blogroll because i would love to keep knowing about new food ideas and i am unable to comment much because i am bad at Time Management and Ashaji,Special thanks to you,Its rare to find a Blogger and wonderful person like you who has so much energy and you encourage new bloggers and praise them with such nice words,You rock:) and congratulations on your 100th post:) I hope to wish you again on your 200th post soon:)