Avarekalu upittu/ field beans upma

Avarekalu upittu/ field beans upma

I was not aware of what went in this dish or any other avarekalu recipe,though had tasted it several times at a friend's place. At mom's place the only dish I tasted was avarekalu usali or gugri.
 I got to know  exactly what went in avarekalu/ field beans dishes, only after marriage at my in-laws place , I  thank my sis- in-law and co- sister from whom I learnt this recipe.
This is the second recipe of avarekalu, after avarekalu nipattu on my blog.
 The beans have to be flavourful . So wait for right avarekalu season to buy the beans(when the weather is misty). Else the dish with avarekalu will be tasteless.

Here goes the recipe. This recipe serves 2
Ingredients:
Upma rava/sooji- 1 cup
boiled field beans/ avarekalu- 3/4th cup

For tampering:

Oil- little more than 1/4 th cup
Mustard seeds- 1/2  tsp
channa dal- 1 tsp
urad dal- 1 tsp
Pepper corns-  a few
jeera- 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 spring
green chillies- 3 nos finely chopped(add more acc to taste)
water - 2 1/2 cups( I added 1/4 th cup more as I like my upma little clumpy)
Coriander leaves chopped- 1 tbsp
fresh grated coconut- 2 tbsp
salt - to taste

Procedure:
Pound the pepper corns and jeera using a mortar and pestle into a coarse powder and set aside.
Heat a wok and roast the sooji until its warm . Set aside.
In the same wok heat oil and once hot add oil , add mustard seeds and once it crackles , add urad and channa dal, once the dal turns golden brown add pepper and jeera powder, green chilliea and curry leaves. Now slowly add water and keep the flame to medium high. Add salt , coriander leaves, grated coconut and the boiled field beans. Bring it to a boil . Once the water starts boiling simmer the flame to low and slowly add the roasted sooji strirring continously , taking care not to form lumps. Keep mixing until the upma starts leaving the sides of the pan and the sooji is well cooked. Switch off the flame and cover it for 5 mins. Serve hot with chutney pudi or hurigadale pudi.

Masala buns (Iyengar bakery style)

Masala buns or Khara buns(Iyangar bakery style)

This recipe is special to me now ,as it was rated to be 'very nice' by my hubby, who is not much interested in baked foods or bakery products, including home baked ones.His likes and comments matter to me a lot. And whats more ,I baked this on his demand.
My bread crust use to turn hard off late, in spite of using good brand yeast and was demotivated to bake yeasted stuff. And now I have my new gadgets oven thermometer (my otg is not behaving well these days:( ,guess the culprits are the coils) and instant read thermometer to measure the oven and bread temperatures, for accuracy. And was happy with the result. Soft and fluffy buns were divine to savour. And the house smelled wonderful.
Also packed this as a snack for my little girl the next day..

Here goes the recipe.This recipe yields around 7 medium size buns.

Ingredients:
APF/ maida- 1 cup
whole wheat flour- 1/2 cup
instant yeast- 1 1/2 tsp
milk - 1/4 th cup
water - 1/4 th
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Olive oil- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp for seasoning
jeera- 1/4 th tsp
green chillies- 2 to 3 acc to taste( finely chopped)
Salt- 1 tsp( the buns tasted little salty so can be reduced to 3/4 th tsp)
onions- 3/4th cup (finely chopped)
Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp( chopped)
melted butter for brushing the top of buns.

Procedure:
Heat a tsp of oil ,once hot add jeera, green chillies and onions. Saute until onions turn translucent. Switch of the flame and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Warm the milk and water together ,add yeast and sugar mix it .Add olive oil and salt. Mix well. Slowly add the flour little by little and mix well. Knead the dough on a clean kitchen counter until smooth and elastic, for about 8 to 10 mins. Now take the onion mixture . Stretch the dough place the mixture on it and start kneading it until it is well incorporated. Dough becomes wet at this stage . Add little flour , I added about a tbsp more flour).
Grease a wide bowl and place the dough in it.Lightly  coat it with oil . Cover and keep it in warm place until double. It took 1 hr for the first rise

After  the first rise punch the dough and divide it into 12 equal parts. Grease and line a baking tray. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place them in greased tray leaving some space in between.

Keep it in warm place for the second rise.It again took 1 hr.

Towards the end of final rise preheat the oven at 190 degree centigrade.  Brush the top of the buns with melted butter at room temp or room temp milk.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 mins or until the crust turns golden brown and bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
Remove from the oven and brush it with melted butter for soft crust. Cool completely on wire rack and store in air tight container or serve warm buns with evening cuppa.

Note:
 Use good brand instant yeast for best results.Refer the blog cakes and more! By suma rowjee . The link is here Yeast basics.

Eggless chocolate cupcakes

Eggless chocolate cup cakes:

Baking and snack recipes are more into my mind these days ,as my elder one started carrying snack box and lunch box to school and I am enjoying this new phase of my life where I am getting to know the likes and dislikes of my kid. No wonder ,like all kids, she loves home baked stuff and it gives me a sigh of relief , that I can pack some baked goodies in her snack box.
Have baked few eggless chocolate cakes but I was tempted to bake this particular recipe as it required very few ingredients and I almost had all of them handy .Also the end result was super tasty and soft.The cake rised so well and looked gorgeous.
Original recipe from rak's kitchen and here is the link to original recipe.

Ingredients:
Maida/all purpose flour- 1 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder- 3 tbsp
Sugar- 1 cup( I used brown sugar)
Oil- 1/4 th cup ( I used rice bran oil)
Baking soda- 1 tsp
lemon juice / vinegar- 1 tbsp( I used lemon l
juice)
Water-1 cup
Salt- a pinch
Vanilla escence- 1 tsp

Procedure:
Preheat the oven at 180 deg c. Line the muffin tray or cup cake moulds with cupcake liners.

Mix the flour,cocoa powder and baking soda and sieve once and keep aside

Mix water, sugar and salt and once sugar dissolves add lemon juice or vinegar,oil and vanilla esscence and mix well.

Now add the dry ingredients into the wet mixutre and mix well .

With the help of a spoon or ladle pour the batter into prepared moulds ( batter will be watery)

 Bake for 20 to 25 mins or until the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan for 10 mins and after that place it on wire rack and let it cool completely .

Chiguru chitranna/ tender tamarind leaves rice

Chiguru chitranna/tender tamarind leaves rice:

Back here after a long time. Prepared this dish during chiguru( spring) season and posting it almonst in monsoon. This is my granny's recipe.
Chitranna is a one pot meal,  also known as lemon rice, as lemon is used in the recipe to give the tartness . In this recepe lemon is replaced by tamarind leaves.Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
tender tamarind leaves- 1/2 cup( loosely packed)
Sesame seeds- 1 tbsp

For tampering :
Oil-3tbsp
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
channa dal- 1 tsp
urad dal- 1 tsp
raw peanuts- 2 tbsp
curry leaves- 1 spring
green chillies chopped- 2( increase acc to taste)
Asafoetida- 1/4 tsp
Roasted methi powder- 1/4 th tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 th tsp
salt - to taste

Wash and cook raw rice . Once the pressure goes off spread it on a wide plate and let it cool.
Dry roast sesame seeds and grind it into fine powder. Set aside.
wash the tamarind leaves once dry them on kitchen towel.Crush it between your palms and keep aside.

Heat a wok , once hot add oil ,mustard seeds and once the mustard seeds splutter , add urad dal and channa dal, once they turn golden brown add raw peanuts, hing, methi pwd and turmeric pwd. Once the peanuts crackle add the crushed tamarind leaves , and once it wilts add roasted sesame seed powder. Finally add cooked rice and salt. Mix well and serve it hot with potato wafers or mosru bajji.

Harive soppina chutney / amaranth leaves chutney

Harive soppina chutney / amaranth leaves chutney

This is the third recipe from ajjis kitchen. Bendekayi majjige palda, Menthe soppina pudi palya , Harive soppina chutney and my ajjis another signature dish saaru(rasam)  .. My granny included this chutney in the menu on my request. I didn't want to miss her chutney and had never personally seen her preparing it.  Wanted to put this recipe of hers in my blog for my reference .My granny grinds the chutney traditionally in a stone grinder and that makes it taste the best.
Here goes the recipe.  This recipe serves 6

Ingredients :
Harive soppu- 1 bunch
Urad dal - 1/4 th cup
Channa dal- 1/4 th cup
Dry red chillies - 10 to 12
Kallu huvu/ stone flower- 1/4 th cup loosely packed.
Coriander seeds- 2 tsp
Jeera- 1/2 tsp
Dry coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Tamarind-  1 lemon sized soaked
Jaggery - l tbsp
Oil- 4 tsp
Salt - to taste

For tampering :
Oil- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Urad dal- 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Hing- a generous pinch

Procedure:

Wash the greens and chop them finely.
Heat oil in a wok.Dry roast the chana dal, Urad dal ,coriander seeds ,jeera seeds,one after the other until nice aroma and set aside.Roast the stone flower dry red chillies and dry coconut in a tsp of oil one after the other and set aside and finally fry the greens Until cooked. Take all the  roasted ingredients along with tamarind ,jaggery and salt, grind it using a stone grinder or a blender into smooth paste.

Heat oil and once hot add mustard seeds, once they crackle , add Urad dal and curry leaves and hing.switch off the flame once the Urad dal changes colour and add this tampering to chutney.  Serve it with hot rice and ghee or as side dish with chapati.

Variations :
Can use any variety of amaranth leaves to prepare this dish.

chinta chiguru/ tender tamarind leaves chutney

Chinta chiguru/ tender tamarind leaves chutney 

With the onset of spring comes the season of tender tamarind. These leaves can be used in various dishes ,chinta chiguru chutney, chiguru badanekayi(brinjal)tavve/ pappu and chiguru chitranna/ rice,to name a few.In these recipes the ingredient used for tartness can be replaced with these leaves. Along with a little bitter and tartness they impart a very good flavour to the dish.
Tamarind trees are usually found in country side and very difficult to find these tender leaves here in Bengaluru.My maid  got it for me from her village.Also my granny and mom send them over to me from my native, and I make sure to prepare all possible delicacies when I have these.
Here goes the recipe.  It serves 2

Ingredients :

Tender tamarind leaves- a fist full
coriander seeds- 1 Tbsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tbsp
Dry red chillies - 3 to 4 ( acc to taste )p
Dry coconut - 1/4 th cup cut into pieces.
Oil- 2 tsp
roasted methi pwd- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric pwd- 1/8 th tsp
Hing- a generous pinch
Jaggery- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste

For tampering
Oil- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
urad dal-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 spring


Procedure:
Wash the tamarind leaves once and gently pat them dry on a hand towel. refer foot note.Discard the thick stems and retain the leaves.

Heat a wok and dry roast coriander seeds until they change colour, Set aside,dry roast the sesame seeds until nice aroma and set aside.add a tsp of oil and roast the red chillies  once done add the dry coconut and fry for few seconds and take off the flame.
Grid coriander seeds, sesame seeds, dry red chillies and dry coconut along with salt and jaggery into fine powder.

In the same wok heat a tsp oil add hing roasted methi powder and turmeric.  Add the tamarind leaves and fry . Once the leaves wilt switch off the flame.
Take these leaves along with  ground powder and grind it into smooth paste by adding little water.
Heat a wok, add a tsp oil once hot add mustard seeds once they crackle, add urad dal once it turns golden brown add curry leaves .  Switch off the flame. Add this tampering to the chutney and serve hot with rice or roti.

Note:
Do not wash the tamarind leaves more than once as they lose their tartness.

Menthe soppina pudi palya/fenugreekleaves and split pegion peas dry subzi

Menthe  soppina pudi palya / uduru palya fenugreek leaves and split pigeon peas dry subzi:

This is another recipe from ajji's kitchen and my all time favourite dish .My ajji  prepared this exclusively for me, feeling pampered😍. Bende kayi majjige palda and menthe soppina uduru palya , wow !! what a combo it was.
Though I prepare these dishes regularly, it can't beat  ajji's signature dish. hence posting the recipe directly from her kitchen.
This recipe serves 6:

Ingredients:

Fenugreek leaves- 1 big bunch ( ajji used 5 small bunches )
Tuvar dal - 1 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 4 to 5
Grated fresh coconut- 3 tbsp
Mustard- 1 tsp
Curry leaves- few springs
Turmeric - 1/8th tsp
Oil- 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Wash and cook the tuvar dal directly on stove top until 3/4 th done. Strain it in a colander and set aside.

Clean the fenugreek leaves  and finely chop them.

Heat a wok, add oil, add mustard seeds, once it splutters, add hing,turmeric,green chillies,curry leaves and chopped greens.cook the greens until done. Squeeze out the excess water from the dal and add this to the greens.
Mix well and fry the whole mixture for few more mins. Add grated fresh coconut mix and switch off the flame.  Serve hot with rice and rasam.