Foodie Workz

I decided to prepare this poha for lunch one day for myself as I usually never get to make this.  My kids are not a big fan of the Poha dishes, though this can be a good snack when they get home hungry.  However, as this poha alone would not quite keep me filled up, I decided to add some cooked lobiya to it.   This was quite delicious and enjoyed it thoroughly with some usual seasonings. 1 cup thick poha - washed and soaked in abt 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup of cooked lobiya water drained(I soaked 1/4 cup of lobiya just for this purpose and got a 1/2 cup heaped amount of lobiya -cooked with little salt) 1 tsp mustard seeds 1.5 tsp urad dal hing powder 1 red chilli curry leaves salt to taste 1 tblsp oil grated coconut to taste crushed black pepper to taste Take the oil, splutter the mustard, urad, red chilli, hing and curryleaves, add the poha and salt needed and stir till it combines well.  Add the lobiya, crushed pepper and stir once again....

Podimas is a very well known dish in any typical Tamil Brahmin household.   I decided to try this out differently by adding celery to it.   The addition of celery gave a nice added flavor to the potaotes.  3 medium potatoes 4 long stalks of celery trimmed 2 long green chillies 1/2 tsp mustard 3/4 tsp of urad dal and chana dal ginger small piece  few curry leaves salt to taste lemon juice to taste Boil the potatoes, peel and coarsely crumble them.   Chop the celery into medium size pieces and steam cook them for 2-3 minutes.  Process this in a food processor. Heat up the oil, add the mustard, dals, green chili, ginger and curry leaves and stir the celery first.  Add the potatoes and salt and keep stirring it on medium flame till it combines well with the celery. Squeeze some lemon juice in the end and give a good mix.  

This is yet another attempt at using pumpkin which needless to say goes to my ongoing event "Cooking For Kids" ...... 3-4 oz of cubed squash 8 oz dry penne 6 oz chopped spinach(I prefer the fresh) 1 small onion 3 garlic cloves red pepper flakes as per taste 1 tsp maida 1/2 cup of milk Pasta sauce(store bought) according to taste Salt few pinches while cooking the vegetables Cook the pasta according to the box instructions.  Drain and set aside. Cut the onion into thin 1 inch slices.  Grind the pumpkin, 2 garlic cloves and red pepper flakes adding little water and some oil.  Take 2-3 tblsp of olive oil.  When it is slightly hot add the onion and the remaining garlic clove grated.  Once the onion becomes translucent, add the pumpkin puree and let this fry in the oil till the raw smell goes.  Combine the maida in the milk and add this to the pumpkin which is cooking.  Let this come to a boil and cook for a minute or two ...

I just noticed that the linky tool in  my event posting was missing.  This is because, I had a trial membership taken a month ago which had apparently expired.  If you want to send in any entries please drop off an email at krithikar@gmail.com  with the following details.... Name Recipe Name Recipe URL Blog Name Blog URL Please include a picture along with the email.

This is yet another attempt to try something different with the pumpkin/squash.  I prepared these parathas with some butternut squash one of my favorites in the squash group.  This again goes to my own event "Cooking For Kids - Pumpkin/Squash" started off by  Kalyani . 2 cups flour 1 cup of cubed squash 1/2 handful of cauliflower stalk coriander leaves plus stalk handful 1 tsp coriander powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 3 big garlic cloves 1 to 2 tsp chopped green chillies 1/4 tsp red chilli powder 1/4 tsp amchur powder 1/4 tsp turmeric 1/4 tsp ajwain seeds salt to taste Process all the vegetables, salt and the spices together.  Leave this aside for few minutes.  Add the flour, a couple of tablespoons of oil and process it further till it comes together like a ball.  There is no need to add water. Divide the dough into equal portions and roll it out into thin circles.  Cook the parathas on both sides without oil on...

Here I am attempting this pulao for the first time.  This is a preparation that I cam up on my own. 4 ounces cubed pumpkin pieces(or butternut squash which is what I used) 1/2 cup each of chopped carrots, peas, capsicum and potato 1 cup basmati rice 4-5 cloves of garlic 2-3 green chillies 1/8tsp red chilli powder(optional) 1.5 inch ginger piece few coriander leaves cumin seeds salt to taste 1 tsp pav bhaji powder( or more according to taste) Puree the pumpkin  with ginger, green chillies, garlic and coriander leaves.  Soak the rice for 1/2 hr and then drain.  Roast the rice in little ghee or oil until you get a nice aroma.  Take a tbsp of oil, splutter the cumin and add the puree.  Let this fry for about 2 minutes.  Add the vegetables, salt and chilli powder and stir this again 2 more minutes.  Add 1and 3/4cups to 2 cups of water and let this come to a boil.  Let it boil for almost five minutes.  Transfer this to...

Most of my friends out here must be aware of the very famous " HLI " event of Kalyani @ Sizzling Tastebuds and I am guest hosting this event for the month of April. The event has been renamed as "Cooking For Kids" .  This is also my first in hosting an event and I must say I am pretty excited about this whole thing.  When the opportunity came up I did not hestitate to take it but at the same I was a little bit skeptical as to what I can come up with for myself because of the theme.  Yes, the theme for this month's event is Squash/Sweet Pumpkin. Pumpkins are squash like fruit that widely range in sizes.  As they both share some botanical classifications, both squash and pumpkins are used interchangeably.  The colour of the pumpkin is derived from the orange pigments in them.  Beta carotenes being one of the main nutrients, these vegetables are rich in Vitamin.  It is no wonder that pumpkin puree forms an important part of...