Beet Root Palya

We all know that there are plenty of blogs that has amazing recipes out there in Google. I never thought one day I would be sitting and writing a blog that has recipes that I experiment in my kitchen. Well, what makes me feel good is that my blog is one among those plenty of blogs in Google. :)

Today I picked up this vegetable, which I never liked before when I was kid. I used to hate the color and the mess in my Tiffin box. Once I even got stains on my dress because of this dirty red vegetable. But now look what I found about this vegetable.

-       Nutrients in Beetroot like calcium, iron Vitamin A & C
-       Reduces Cholesterol
-       Reduces Blood Pressure
-       Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
-       Healthy Liver Function
-       Cancer Prevention
-       Glycemic Index of Beetroot

 

http://www.elements4health.com/the-bloody-beet.html

Yes it is one of the healthiest vegetable. I thought I must give it a shot and cook something out of this vegetable.

Trust me it was all worth…. It tastes delicious!!

Ingredients:

2 beetroots finely grated

1 cup of chopped onion

4-5 curry leaves

5 green chilies

1/2 cup of grated coconut

1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/4 teaspoon urad dal

1/4 teaspoon channa dal

1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons oil

Chopped cilantro to garnish

A pinch of asafetida


-       Heat oil in a pan and add a pinch of asafetida.

-       Add mustard, cumin seeds.

-       Once they splutter, add urad and channa dal.

-       Add curry leaves, garlic and green chilies.

-       Add onions and sauté until turned golden brown.

-       Now add grated beetroot, salt, garam masala powder.

-       Mix well and cook for 5 mins.

-       Add coconut at the end.

-       Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve it hot with roti/chapathi.

Alu Mutter

Alu Mutter, which is made out of potatoes and peas, is a famous Punjabi dish.

Punjab is situated in the northwest of India. Punjab is known as “Granary of India”. Punjab is a land known for its food, clothing, rich heritage, music, dance, freedom fighters and industrial era.

Punjab is briskly driving up in production of textiles, leather goods, food products, electronics, pharmaceuticals, sugar, machine tools, hand tools, agricultural implements, sports goods, paper and paper packaging.

Did you know?

   

- Punjab State produces 1% of Rice, 2% of Wheat and 2% of Cotton of the World.

 
-  Per hectare potato seed production is highest in Punjab.
 
-  Punjab exports vegetables of worth Rs 50 Crores to Pakistan.
 
-  Punjab is the first State in India to export HONEY to the United States of America.
 
-  Verka milk products known for quality are largely exported to the Middle East, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Bangladesh.
 
-  Punjab was the first to translate agricultural technology into the "green revolution"(1967-1978), recording highest growth rate in food production and only Punjab and Haryana states showed the best results of the Green Revolution.
 
-  Many farmers from Punjab and Haryana states in northern India were sent to Canada, since they were facing a shortage in agricultural labor. (That's why Canada today has many Punjabi-speaking citizens of Indian origin)
 
-  These people remitted part of their incomes to their relatives in India. This not only helped the relatives but also added to India's foreign exchange earnings.

A person who visits Punjab must see:

-  Chandigarh, the capital and the only Indian city to have been designed and planned by a single  architect –  Le Corbusier. (Built in 1953)

- Golden temple in Amritsar.
 
-  Bhakra Nangal Dam, one of the inspiring attractions in Punjab as it is the world's highest straight gravity dam.
 
-  World’s biggest grain market at Khanna.
 
-   Ludhiana, which is famous for its hosiery goods and woolen garments produced here are sold all over the world.
 
-   Patiala, which is famous for “Jutti” (foot wear) and Sheesh Mahal.

Source:

http://www.indiaonestop.com/Greenrevolution.htm

http://punjabgovt.nic.in/WELCOME.html

I would suggest those of you who get to visit India must see Punjab and taste Punjabi cuisine.

Ingredients:

1 potato cut into cubes

1 cup of peas

2 cups of tomato

1 cup of chopped onion

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon garlic

4 green chilies

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon fennel powder (optional)

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 cup of crushed cashew

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons oil

-Grind onion, ginger, garlic and green chili. Make it fine paste.

-Make tomato puree.

-Make cashew paste after soaking it in warm water for 10 mins.

-Heat the pan with oil and add mustard seeds.

-Add potato cubes into the pan and leave it for 2 mins.

-Add onion paste and mix it well.

-Add tomato puree with all other spices and mix well.

-Add cashew paste at the end.

-Add 1/2 cup water and cook for 10 mins.

Serve it hot with roti’s/chapathi’s

Roasted Vegetables with Dill Rice

All this while I was recollecting my memories of Monsoon in India and guess what I got to see today!!! Awesome downpour here in Raleigh, I went and stood in the balcony got wet little bit. After a long day of 85° F this pour was refreshing…

Blur Window!!!

View from our balcony

Finally the refreshing pour...

Today I am in mood for a simple recipe with lots of veggies with some spicy touch, which will add flavor to this lovely weather.
Ingredients:

2 cups carrots

1 cup bell pepper

2 cups broccoli

1 cup potato

2 cups beans

1 cup tomato (optional)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon olive oil

-Heat a heavy bottom pan and spray little oil.

-Add one vegetable at each time and sauté it until it turns golden brown.

-Add olive oil, salt pepper and cumin powder at the end and sauté for one minute.

-Make sure veggies are crisp and not over cooked.

Serve with spicy Dill Rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup of rice

2 cloves

1 cardamom

1 small piece of cinnamon

1 cup of onion

3 green chilies

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon ghee

1 cup of dill

½ teaspoon of salt

-Cook rice along with cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and oil.

-Heat a pan and sauté onions, green chilies with ghee until turned golden brown.

-Mix rice in the pan with onion and chilies.

-Add chopped dill, which adds flavor to the rice.

Serve hot with roasted veggies. 

Bay in Twlight

Creativity, expression, imagination, emotion everything put together can be called an “Art”. Art can be music, film, photography, literature, dance, and of course painting. At this point of time I am talking about my passion, which is painting, especially landscapes.

My inspirations are all the landscape artists. Landscape artists usually use trees, river, sky, ocean, mountains, bushes, flowers, and also other natural and man made medium to create a visually gratifying landscapes, which is practically acceptable. Landscape artists truly make ordinary piece of land into extra ordinary piece of art.

The word landscape is from the Dutch, landschap originally meaning a patch of cultivated ground, and then an image. The word entered the English language at the start of the 17th century, purely as a term for works of art; it was not used to describe real vistas before 1725. -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscape_art

Few tips for landscape painting:

-Don’t include everything that you see in the landscape just because it is there in real life.

-Use your imagination and play with the color composition in the landscape.

-Give the foreground preference, meaning paint less detail in the background of the landscape than you do in the foreground.

-Get to know how to mix greens to quote Picasso: "They'll sell you thousands of greens. Veronese green and emerald green and cadmium green and any sort of green you like; but that particular green, never." -Need to practice mixing your own greens with all the different blue/yellow.

-Paint in different series, like Impressionist Claude Monet. Paint it in different lights, seasons, and moods.

http://painting.about.com/od/landscapes/a/landscapetips.htm

Well this is my imagination of San Francisco Bay from the Vista point. I couldn’t get my sight of from that beautiful sunset I saw on the bay. I had to try my best to put it on the canvas.

Reflection

Look at me

You may think you see

Who I really am

But you'll never know me

Every day

It's as if I play a part

Now I see

If I wear a mask

I can fool the world

But I cannot fool my heart

Who is that girl I see

Staring straight back at me?

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

I am now

In a world where I

Have to hide my heart

And what I believe in

But somehow

I will show the world

What's inside my heart

And be loved for who I am

Who is that girl I see

Staring straight back at me?

Why is my reflection

Someone I don't know?

Must I pretend that I'm

Someone else for all time?

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

There's a heart that must be

Free to fly

That burns with a need to know

The reason why

Why must we all conceal

What we think, how we feel?

Must there be a secret me

I'm forced to hide?

I won't pretend that I'm

Someone else for all time

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

-Christina Aguilera 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5jhxvQySRg

Spicy Bread with Coconut Chutney

I grew up mostly in Bangalore, but I had my share of childhood to spend in Western Ghats of Karnataka at a place called Mastikatte near Thirthahalli taluk of Shimoga district. The place is surrounded by hills and covered with ravishing greenery. Monsoon was the best season as it would pour like crazy and remain soothing cloudy weather for weeks.


V and I have wonderful memories of this place. Our parents worked at the same place and we were neighbors as kids. :) V spent his summer vacation here, while I lived there for three years. Oh! I can never forget that downpour during those days.

Rain and spicy food always go hand in hand. When we were kids our moms used to make this hot Masala Roti with ghee…. ummmm delicious!!! It was our favourite as kids then, now as husband and wife it’s our favorite except I make it here :)

Drive thru Ghats

Last October when we were in India, we decided to cherish our childhood memories so we drove all the way to this beautiful place that is hidden in the womb of Western Ghats. We took a walk on our street where we lived and V was all excited to see the place where kids were playing cricket. But the colony was not the same as before might be because of less people and not much work happening. :(

Our house street

I guess this is where V started his galli cricket :)

Colony view

Anyways time for the Kannada version of Spicy Bread which is “Thalipet” also known as Masala Roti!!

Ready for recipe, here you go....

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice floor

2 finely chopped medium size onions

8 finely chopped green chilies

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups of chopped dill

1 cup of chopped cilantro

1 cup of water

-Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, gradually add water and make the dough.

-Spread the dough on a soft thin cloth into medium round shape like roti/chapathi.

-Heat the tava and spray oil. Now place the roti inverted on the tava along with the cloth and remove the cloth slowly.

-Roast the roti on either side until it turns golden brown.

Serve it hot with ghee and coconut chutney.

Ingredients:

1 cup of shredded coconut

3/4 cup of fried gram dhal

4 roasted green chilies

1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

2-3 curry leaves

1 teaspoon of crushed jaggery

1/4 teaspoon tamarind sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chopped garlic (1 big clove)

1/4 teaspoon chopped ginger

-Add all the ingredients into blender.

-Add 3/ 4 cup of water.

-Grind into smooth paste.

Season the paste with red chili, mustard seeds; curry leaves, urad dhal, and channa dhal.

Colorful Silky Sunset

After two months of effort put forth in the workshops and painting classes, I decided to make something really nice and memorable painting that I could present V. This was a big challenge for me as his birthday was coming up in two weeks and I had only two sittings to finish and let it dry.

Well it wasn’t easy for me to gather my imagination of colors that would blend in my canvas and dreaming of V saying ” wow” :). I finally made up mind on painting a “sunset” with bright colors. I must acknowledge my teacher “Rocky” for her patience in guiding me with this painting.

V had no clue what was coming on his birthday. He never celebrated his birthday. But now it is different :). This was his surprise gift. So I had to hide this 24’’x36’’ painting in one of my friend’s(H) place. She helped me drying and gift-wrapping the canvas.

Was it all worth!!! Yes it was :) V was delighted to see the painting and he did say “ Awesome”

You all can have a look at it and tell me how you like it!!!

Oil on canvas