Happy Sri Rama Navami

Wishing family and friends A Very happy Sri Rama Navami.
Sri Rama Navami Subhakanshalu!

Bobbatlu (Puran poli, Obbatu)

Bobbatlu (Andhra), Obbatu (Karnataka) or Puran poli (Maharashtra), whatever the name is, this is one divine sweet which no one can resist. It is very popular during festivals and weddings or as a matter of fact at any kind of functions.

I always felt (even now I feel the same) that it needs a bit of tack tick and patience to make this sweet.The key point is to make sure the purnam filling doesn’t come out of the dough when we are rolling it.

In Andhra and Maharashtra bobbatlu are made with Chanadal, but in Karnataka it is made with Toor dal. I am not sure if everyone in Karnataka makes it that way, but my husband’s family does it with toor dal. For me taste wise, I don’t see much difference. But Venkatesh likes it with toor dal. So, I make mine with that.

Well that’s enough talking, let’s get cooking…

Ingredients you need:

Makes about 18 med sized bobbatlu.

For Purnam (Toor dal filling):

• Toor dal (Kandi pappu)/chana dal (pacchi chanaga pappu)- 1 1/2 cups
• Jaggery- 1 1/2 cups
• Fresh grated coconut- 1/2 cup (I used frozen coconut, just thawed it in the microwave)
• Cardamom- 3

Cook the Toor dal, till its soft but still holding its shape. (See the picture above). It’s important not to over cook the dal. Drain all the water (make sure there is absolutely no water in the dal) and let the dal cool down for few minutes.

Now transfer the dal to a food processor with the grated jaggery, coconut and cardamom powder. Pulse or grind the whole mixture till smooth. Taste it, if you feel you need more sweet add little more jaggery to it. The purnam mixture is ready.

In case the purnam becomes too soft, that you cannot make round balls out of it- transfer the purnam to a pan and cook on stove in very low medium heat for about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and let it sit for few minutes, the purnam tends to get dry and firm. Whenever my purnam becomes soft, I transfer my mixture to a microwaveable bowl and cook in the microwave for about 5 minutes with out lid. This makes the purnam dry and easy to roll as round balls.

Maida Dough:

• All purpose flour (Maida)- 2cups
• Oil- 4 tsps
• 2 pinches of salt

Mix all the above ingredients with some water. The consistency of the dough should be little bit softer than chapathi dough. When you pull the dough, it should stretch easily. Cover the dough and leave it for an hour or two.

Make round balls of the purnam and keep a side.

Now take the maida dough which has been resting for atleast an hour.

How much of dough needed for the purnam?
I take dough which is about 1/3rd the size of my purnam ball. The whole idea is that the dough should be less than the purnam.

Now take an aluminium foil, (I used a plastic banana leaf) put some oil/ghee on it. Take the maida dough spread it little bit, then put the purnam ball and close it as shown in the picture.
Now at this point you can roll it like a chapathi using a rolling pin or you can just use your hand (Dip some oil in your hands while rolling the bobbatu) and spread it slowly.

What I have done is, instead of using my hands or a rolling pin; I put one more banana leaf on top of the purnam and slowly pressed it down till it formed like a chapathi. I think this is definitely a much easier way of rolling.

Now on pan, put some oil/ghee and cook the bobbatlu on a very low heat.

Right before serving apply some more Ghee to it and enjoy the bobbatlu with your loved once.

Recipe: Inlaws

Masala vada

This is my husband Venkatesh’s recipe. I made these vadas for so many small gatherings and party’s, all my friends and family love it. I add dill to my vadas. It definitely brings a slightly different taste and aroma to the vadas.

Makes about 18 med vada’s.

This is a quite simple recipe. All you need is…

• Chana dal (Pachi chenaga pappu/chenaga bedalu)- 1 cup
• Yellow moong dal (Pesala pappy)- 2 tbsps
• Small Green chillies -5
• Grated fresh coconut- 2 tbsps (I used frozen coconut, just thawed it for 40 seconds in microwave)
• Ginger garlic paste- ½ tsp
• Onion -1 (chop it pretty small)
• Chopped cilantro- 1 tbsp
• Chopped dill- 2 tbsps
• Salt- 1 tsp ( add according to ur taste)

Soak chana dal and yellow moong dal together in water for 2 hours. Drain the dal, make sure there is absolutely no water left.

In a food processor grind coarsely the dal and green chilies together. Don’t make a paste out of it, Its important that you grind the dal coarsely.

Now to this dal and chillie mixture add the coconut, ginger garlic paste, finely chopped onion, salt, coriander and dil.

Heat oil in a deep skillet and fry the vadas.

Enjoy the vadas like an evening snack with a hot cup of tea. I think a fried snack and a cup of tea goes well together.

Note:
I generally make a vada, taste it and make sure the seasonings are right. If not i fix it before making the rest of the vada’s.

Recipe: Venkatesh

Panduga bojanam (Festival feast)

For a while I have been thinking of making Masala vada and Bobbatlu (Puran poli, Obbatu) but kept postponing the idea. But yesterday being Ugadi I thought let me make the vada and Bobbatlu.To be frank, I wasn’t feeling that great, but still wanted to make these. It’s just two of us, so I made small quantities.

Vada and Bobbatlu came out pretty good. I also made Mamidikaya puliharam (Mango rice), Purnam charu (Rasam) and collard greens kura (curry).

The verdict:

Venkatesh was quite surprised that I made these because he knew I wasn’t feeling good. But he really enjoyed the whole meal. And I enjoyed making it for him….

White rice, yogurt, purnam charu, collard greens kura, masala vada, bobbatlu & mamaidikaya pulihora

Will be soon posting the recipe for Masala vada and Bobbatulu.

Ugadi ~ Andhra NewYear’s

Ugadi Subhakanshalu.
Wishing you all a very Happy NewYear.

Ugadi is the New Year’s Day for the people of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In Andhra and Karnataka it is called Ugadi, whereas in Maharashtra it’s called Gudipadava. Ugadi marks the beginning of new Hindu lunar calendar with a change in the moon’s orbit.

On Ugadi we make Ugadi Pachchadi, which has tamarind, jaggery, raw mango and neem flowers. The significance behind this preparation is that life is a mixture of good and bad, joy and sorrow and all of them have to be treated alike.

To make Ugadi Pachchadi:

Tamarind pulp
Jaggery
Small pieces of raw mango
Neem flowers (In U.S we don’t find neem flowers, so I made mine with out them)
Small pieces of banana
Little bit of red chillie powder and
A pinch of salt

Soak tamarind in water for few minutes or microwave for 20 seconds. Squeeze the pulp, the consistency should be little thick (if u feel it’s too thick, u can always add water). Now add jaggery, mango, banana, neem flowers, red chillie powder and salt.

Offer to the god and then eat as prasadam.

Yellow moong dal salad (Kosumbari)

Today in Philadelphia we had a temperature of 75 F. After a long time it felt so nice to enjoy the warm breeze and sunlight and most of all it felt nice getting a break from the heavy jackets which we have been wearing all this winter. In the afternoon it actually started getting little hot, and I felt like eating some thing light and refreshing.

So, thought of making the salad. I generally make my salad with sprouted green moong dal, since I did not have the sprouts I made the yellow moong dal salad. All I had to do was soak the moong dal for two hours before making the salad.

It’s a nice refreshing salad which has cucumbers and carrot. Instead of lemon juice, I used grated raw mango. Since the mango was sour and sweet, it gave a nice variation to the salad.

Salad Recipe:

• Yellow moong dal (Pesalapappu)– ¼ cup (soak the dal for 2 hrs & drain the water)
• Small cucumber- 1 (chopped to small pieces)
• Carrot- 1 (grated)
• Grated raw mango (add according to your taste)/ lemon juice
• green chilly -1 (finely chopped)
• finely chopped cilantro

Mix the yellow moong dal, cucumber, carrot and mango with some salt and cilantro.

Now do the tadka with 1 tsp oil, few mustard seeds, few cumin (jeera) seeds, a pinch of asafetida (hing) and the chopped green chilly.

Add the tadka to the sprout mixture and enjoy this refreshing and healthy salad.

Philadelphia Flower Show

Every year Philadelphia welcomes the spring with a Flower show. This show has been taking place from many years and people from all over the country come to see it. This year the flower show is being held between March 4-11, 2007.

Luxurious landscapes and floral arrangements, towering trees and plant displays, Irish singers, dancers and storytellers are all part of the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Its just walking distance from my house,I am so happy that i could really visit the flower show, its worth it. I definitely took more than hundred pictures, I wish i could put each and every picture in my blog. Since i figured no way i could put all 100 pictures, i had to settle with some of my most favourites.

Scroll down and you can see some of the pictures i have taken at the Flower show. Hope you will enjoy them!

Tindora Fry (Dondakaya koora)

This is a simple tindora fry, in which onions and the tindora are pan fried with some red chillie powder and garam masala. Then finished with a dash of lemon and jaggery. Simple but still a satisfying fry which can be eaten either with chapathi or rice.

Recipe:

• Tindora (Dondakaya)- about 20 to 25
• Med onion- 1
• Dhania (coriander) powder- 1/4th tsp
• Jeera (cumin) powder- 1/4th tsp
• Garam masala – 1/4th tsp
• Red chillie powder- ½ tsp
• Jaggery or sugar- ¼ tsp
• Cilantro
• Lemon juice.

Cut each tindora to four pieces lengthwise. Put the cut tindora in a microwaveable bowl, cover the lid and cook till they are about eighty percent done (I cooked for 5 minutes in my microwave). Like I always say, this reduces the amount of cooking and since you cook in the microwave you need very little oil to pan fry them.

Now take a wide skillet add 2 tsps of oil and do the tadka with few mustard seeds, 1 tsp chana dal, ½ tsp urad dal and a pinch of asafatodia (hing).

Then add the cooked tindora and the onions and fry them till the onions turn translucent and tindora become soft. This takes about ten minutes. Now add the dhania, jeera powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and jaggery with some salt. Cook for another five minutes. Finish it of with some chopped cilantro and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Remove Plagiarism

Bloggers protest event against Yahoo India!

Icon credits - Sandeepa of Bong Mom’s cook

Recently Yahoo India has publishd few recipes from one of the fellow bloggers:
Surya Gayathri of Kariveppila. Yahoo neither had permission nor it gave credit to her recipes. Once the voice was raised, Yahoo did remove the content but never apolozised. It’s not just Yahoo, bloggers have been facing the plagiarism problem in many other ways. So, this is a protest against yahoo and a protest against copyright violations!

For more info click:
Inji Pennu’s Ginger and Mango
Sandeepa of Bongcookbook

Pictures from Texas and Arizona

Recently Venkatesh went to Texas and Arizona on work purpose. These are some of the pictures he took during his visit.

South Padre Islands, Texas

Phoenix, Arizona

Photos: Venkatesh