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1 cup Roasted peanuts – Can use with skin, skin fully or partially removed
4 tbsps coconut oil
Salt to taste
Jaggery or Honey to taste.
- Grind peanuts to powder in a blender.
- Now slowly keep adding coconut oil or peanut oil and running the blender till it becomes liquidy.
- Add jaggery or honey (I prefer jaggery), a pinch of salt and run the blender.
- Check the taste and adjust jaggery and salt and tun the blender.
- Store in air tight bottle. It will stay upto a month.
Years
ago, during our visit to Vietnam, we fell in love with the local preparation of
morning glory. Also known as water spinach or 空心菜 (kōng
xīn cài) in
Chinese—meaning “hollow heart vegetable”—this leafy green is named for its
crisp, hollow stems. Native to Southeast Asia, morning glory should not be
confused with the British plant of the same name, which can actually be toxic.
More
recently, while we were in Thailand, morning glory became a staple at our
lunches—served daily, without fail. After returning home, I found myself
missing its distinct flavor and texture, and my mind began searching for a
substitute closer to home. That’s when I remembered the kozhuppan cheera
(also known as spinach cheera, sambar cheera, or Ceylon spinach)
growing in our kitchen garden. I decided to experiment.
To my
delight, the dish turned out wonderfully—so much so that my husband remarked, “It’s
almost the same as what we had in Thailand.” A simple but satisfying
success!
A big bunch of sambar cheera, cleaned thoroughly. Very thick stems are discarded as they are fibrous. Thinner stems are sliced vertically and cut into 3 inch long pieces. Leaves are also cut first vertically and then into 3 inch long sections
2 tbsps oil
¼ tsp mustard seeds
6 garlic cloves crushed
2 green chillies sliced
Salt to taste
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp powdered sugar
- Heat the oil and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the green chillies and crushed garlic. Keep medium flame.
- When the garlic browns slightly, add the cut leaves and stir well. Add salt and mix, it will be cooked in a couple of minutes.
- Pour in the soya sauce and sugar mix.
- Stir well and serve hot.
These are easy to bake delicious cookies and kids love them.
3 cups refined flour for 35 cookies
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup solidified ghee (it should not be melted)
1 ½ cups sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees
- Sieve refined flour, baking powder and baking soda
- Beat sugar and ghee until smooth
- Beat in egg and vanilla essence
- Gradually add spoonfuls of flour mixture and blend well
- Roll dough into gooseberry sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto oiled aluminium foil or ungreased baking sheets.
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- Bake in the preheated oven for about ten minutes until the edges turn golden
- Cool slightly, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
This is a very delicious accompaniment for chapatis, also good with boiled rice.
Ingredients:
2 cups of skinned, pressure cooked (for 4 minutes), and shredded tender jackfruit
1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
1 twig of curry leaves
2 dried red chillies, broken into two
2 tbsps of mustard oil
1 bay leaf
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
¼ tsp crushed pepper
¼ tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Instruction:
This is a very healthy and soothing drink. It is taken hot
during cold season and cold during summer. A very popular drink of Karnataka.
2 tsps ragi flour
4 tbsps butter milk
1 tsp grated ginger
500 ml water
Salt to taste
- Mix the ragi flour and grated ginger in the butter milk and leave it overnight.
- Boil 500 ml of water, now add the ragi mix and
stir nicely.
-
Let it boil on low flame for about ten minutes,
when nice aroma spreads. Remove from fire. It will stay for two days at room
temperature.
-
Can garnish with cut coriander leaves.
-
Serve hot if it is cold season and refrigerate
and serve cold in summer.
This is a nice curry that goes well with boiled rice. I have
had it during childhood in Kerala.
2 cups peeled, cleaned, diced sweet potatoes
A small ball of tamarind, soak in half cup water for 2 hours,
mix and squeeze out and discard the tamarind remains
A small onion cut fine
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
2 cups water
1 tbsp oil
1/3 tsp mustard seeds
1 red chilli broken to pieces
A few curry leaves
-
Add the cut onion, salt, turmeric powder, red
chilli powder and the tamarind water to the diced sweet potatoes. Pour water
into this and keep on high flame.
-
When it boils, reduce the flame and partly cover
it. Let it simmer till well cooked, which will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
-
Remove from fire and add the seasoning.
Here is a delicious accompaniment for boiled rice, with the leaves of ‘magical tree’, the drumstick tree with all its goodness.
1 cup separated, washed, and drained drumstick leaves
Salt to taste
2 cups water
1 cup grated coconut
3 flakes of garlic
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 red chillies broken to two
- Grind all the ingredients with a little water to a smooth paste
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- Heat oil with mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the broken chilli pieces.
- Add the drumstick leaves and sauté for two minutes. Now add the water. When it boils, reduce the flame, cover and cook for ten minutes.
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- Add the ground masala and mix well.
- Simmer for two minutes and remove from fire.
