Foodie Workz

Celery was one such vegetable where I was always tempted to add it my grocery cart but was at loss of ideas as to how to use it in the kitchen.   I  used to see that it was a staple in soups American restaurants and served quite often on salad platters in parties.  I have also used the celery for such dishes.   But how many kids would ever go for the celery given its fibrous and stringy texture?  But over the years I have learnt to use it abundantly in my traditional dishes as well.  I have been using it in sambars and oflate used it in these recipes Celery Paratha(to be posted),  Celery Coriander Thokku  and Celery and Peanut Chutney(to be posted). Thus was born the idea of a nice tangy Celery Rice combined with some ground tomatoes.  It can also be made into pulao by including onions and whole garam masala. 3/4 cup finely chopped celery 1 big tomato 1 long green chilli 1 inch ginger piece 1 c...

How about a tasty treat which is relatively guilt free compared to the ones which need lot of  fat and sugar?  This is my second attempt at this,  having made it earlier for my daughter's girl scout event.... Dates 30 nos Milk about 1/2 cup a couple of generous pinches of cardamom powder sugar abt 2 tblsps ghee(not melted) in semi solid state 5 tsp sliced almonds 1/4 cup toasted pista coarsely ground for garnish almond slices for garnish Cook the dates and milk in the pressure cooker.   Once it cools off, remove and grind into a paste. To begin with add a spoon of ghee into the pan and start cooking the paste.  After few minutes of stirring, add the sugar and some  more ghee. Slowly the mixture will begin to change color and also thicken a bit.  At this stage, you can add the coarsely ground roasted almonds and also the cardamom powder.   The mixture is done, once it comes together like a ball and is not sticky to the to...

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...