Category: News and Updates

It was very encouraging to see so many great entries this time around and I really had a difficult time choosing the winners! I was doubtful when I started these monthly contests that enough people will participate, but I feel reassured now. I want to thank everyone for taking part in this one, and congratulate the winners, Rinku and Priya. I hope to see many more participants next month. I will announce the next contest for March very soon. Stay tuned.

FIRST PLACE:

• Rinku Parikh Sharma from the UK created a very colorful variation which she calls Rangeela Paratha. The full recipe is listed below.

“I have 2 kids. They are bored of eating same type of parathas so I keep making paratha with different things. Kneading the dough with Dal , tomato puree, spinach puree, left over rice and many more. So this time to make it little different and to give lots of color to it I thought why not put this three dough together and make paratha. With only one color the look of the paratha doesn’t make much difference. Then it came how to roll it that the colors should come evenly. After doing it in many ways I found out that the one which I have written here come very color full. So this is the way I came up with this recipe. Hopefully you will like it too.”

SECOND PLACE:

• Priya Suresh created another amazing version using carrots. Her Carrot Paratha recipe is also listed below.

“I am a big lover of carrots and I thought of making some special with carrots so that’s the idea of carrot parathas.”

I would also like to congratulate our other top contributors. Thank you so much for participating and I hope to see more for next contest:

• Rashmi Krishnappa
• Ankita Wakade
• Shina Goel
• Niti Sharma
• Pinky Hotwany
• Amulya Reddy
• Madhurya Karthik
• Shweta Pandiya
• Reetashukla
• Perna Das
• Adelina Moraru
• Peter Vielehr
• Swapna Balu
• Ruby-Rany Siddiq
• Genevieve
• Ajay
• Reeta Shukla
• Kolla Suneeta
• Viji Murali
• Bharatha Bhushana
• Shruthi Udupa
• Anu Krishnamoorthy
• Tanmaya Kulkarni
• Seema Kukanur
• kavya Naimish
• Ida Caroline Janby
• Forest Parks
• Smita Srivastava
• Matt Fadich
• Neena Bali
• Meeta Asarpota

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Rinku’s Rangeela Paratha

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4  tsp salt
• 1/4  tsp Carom seeds (Ajwain seeds)
• 1/4 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
• 2 tbsp spinach puree
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2  cup lukewarm water (Use more as needed)
• 2 tsp ghee or butter
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour for rolling

Method:

1. Take flour, mix salt , red chilli  and oil and divide it in three parts (put it in three different bowl).
2. In the first portion put turmeric and carom seeds (ajwain). Put a little water to make a soft dough (add water as needed).
3. In the second portion put the tomato puree. Mix it well and then add very little water to make a soft dough.
4. In the third portion put the spinach puree. Mix it well and then if needed add very little water to make a soft dough.
5. Leave the dough for at least ten minutes or more.
6. Divide each coloured dough in 2 further parts and make balls. ( 2 with turmeric powder yellow colour, 2 with the tomato puree red colour and 2 with the spinach puree green colour)
7. Take 1 ball of red colour and press flat , on top of that put the yellow ball and press flat and at the end put the green ball and press flat. ( so top will be green then yellow and then red ball)
8. Put some dry flour on both the sides and roll in to a 3 inch circle.
9. Now put the green part on the top and apply 2 drop of ghee or butter and then fold it twice in length and then fold it inwards (it will become like a ball).
10. Then press it and put some dry flour and roll in to a 6-inch circle. ( use the dry flour just enough you need to roll the paratha, too much use of flour will make the paratha dry).
11. Heat the tava on medium high heat. (Iron tava works best)
12. Place the paratha over tava. After paratha start changing color and start puffing in different places flip the paratha over.
13. Apply some ghee/butter on the first side and then flip again and apply some ghee/oil on the other side.
14. Take a flat spatula and press lightly on the puffed parts of the paratha. This will help the paratha puff up .
15. Flip the paratha again. The paratha should have light golden-brown spots on both sides.
16. Now the Rangeela Paratha is ready to eat with Boondi Raita, Pickle and Chutney. And even kids can just roll it and eat like a wrap.

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Priya’s Carrot Paratha

Ingredients:

Dough

• whole wheat flour – 1cup
• water – 1/2 cup
• salt – a pinch

For Filling

• carrots – 3 no.
• cumin powder – 1/2 spoon
• red chilli powder – 1/2 spoon
• salt – 1/4 spoon
• garam masala – 1/2 spoon

Also needed

• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour for rolling
• Oil to cook

Method:

1. Mix flour, salt and water to make a soft dough.
2. Knead the dough by hand on a greased surface to make a smooth dough.
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and rest it for 10 min.
4. Now take carrots, Peel the carrots and grate it.
5. Add salt, red chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder to the grated carrots.
6. Mix well and Squeez this mixture and remove water from it and keep aside.
7. Divide the dough and carrot mixture into 6 equal parts.
8. Roll the dough into 3 inch diameter circles. Put the carrot filling in the center. Seal by pulling the edges of the rolled dough together to make a ball. Proceed to make all six balls.
9. Each ball needs to settle for two minutes before rolling.
10. Heat the skillet on medium high.
11. To make it easier to roll the balls, first roll them in dry whole-wheat flour.
12. Lightly press the ball with sealed side on the top when rolling. Roll the ball lightly into a circle. To reduce the stickiness on the rolling surface, sprinkle dry whole-wheat flour on both side of the paratha.
13. Take a pan, heat it and fry the parathas slowly. Fry them on both the sides with butter or ghee or oil.
14. serve hot with onion raitha or any pickle.

My grand daughter is visiting me and we decided to prepare this holi plate today.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been looking forward to a family trip (including grandkids) to Big Bear, which is a small ski resort near Los Angeles. The kids wanted to play in the snow, make snowmen, and go sledding. Last year was the first time they played in the snow and they had a blast. Especially my grandson!

Alex has been as excited as him and was looking forward to this trip. He is a very prepared person which is great because I tend to a last minute person. Maybe that’s because I know he is there to take care of things!

Unfortunately I had to miss this event, last few days I have came down with a bad cold and fever. I insisted they should go without me and take lot of photographs. Of course I called them often so I can hear their excitement and their screams on the phone.

My grand daughter tried to make me feel better by saying how much they missed me and reassured me that we will make the trip to Big Bear again next year and that we can also bring along my other granddaughter, Rhea, who just turned one. With that type of promise, I can’t help but look forward to next year!

This past weekend was a busy one for me as it was my granddaughter’s FIRST birthday!! The party was very fun and every one had a great time. I planned the menu and prepared a variety of dishes for this special occasion. We also decided to cater some dishes.

The menu included the following dishes: mattra chaat served with toppings including tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, chopped ginger, and chutneys, mini peanut butter jelly and cream cheese cucumber sandwiches shaped like hearts and butterflies, warm gulab jamun, fresh fruit and cheese skewers decoratively placed in oranges for presentation, and a chocolate fountain, which were all prepared by us. We had pesto and tomato cream pastas and fresh vegetable and cheese panini sandwiches catered. My daughter in law’s co-worker prepared the fresh chocolate and pumpkin spice cupcakes with animal designs. We also got a two -tiered bundt cake catered. We truly had a wide variety of food and everyone ate to their heart’s content. We received a lot of compliments about the dishes prepared! The kids especially loved the desserts and had a ball dipping strawberries and marshmallows in the chocolate fountain.

I think the beauty in these dishes was in the presentation. I decided to serve the mattra chaat toppings on big collard green leaves and fruits on skewers looked really nice. You can see this in the pictures posted.

This was a very special event and I’m glad I had a big part in planning in!

FIRST PLACE:

• Joan created Mushroom, Fruit and Vegetable Pulav. The full recipe is listed below.

SECOND PLACE:

• Jaya Rai from Amsterdam created a different version ofVegetable Pulav (also listed below).

Other top contributions are also worth mentioning here. Thank you for participating:

• Lata Narayanan
• Adelina Moraru
• Shruthi Udupa
• Madhurya Karthik
• Richa Agarwal
• Smita Srivastava
• Rosha Hebsur
• Rinku Sharma
• Shamal Pakti
• Rashmi Krishnappa
• Shahi
• Meeta Sarpota

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Mushroom, Fruit and Vegetable Puluv

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. oil or ghee
• 1 cup dried mushrooms pieces , soaked , softened and drained
• 1/2 cup raisins: dark or light
• 1/2 cup cashew pieces
• 1/2 cup diced dried mango, pineapple or papaya
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 3 cups water or vegetable broth
• 1 cinnamon stick optional
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• few strands of saffron, optional
• salt, pepper, powdered cardamom to taste
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2  cup fine cubed cooked sweet carrots
• variations: add some chopped chilies or garlic

Method:

• Cover, and soak the rice in water 1/2 hour and rinse and drain well.
• Place rice in pot with 3 cups water or broth, cinnamon stick and or saffron if using.
• Bring to boil over medium heat and let boil uncovered 5 minutes.
• Cover and simmer another 5 minutes or so.
• Remove from heat, place paper towel under cover ( absorbs excess moisture ) and cover again.
• Let sit ( rice will finish cooking ) while you are preparing the fruits, nuts and vegetables.
• In a large pan or pot, heat oil or ghee and cook the soaked and drained mushrooms, nuts, raisins and dried fruit until well heated. Add the peas and cooked carrots
• Lastly add the cooked rice and stir and combine with a fork.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper, garam masla powder a bit.
• Place on platter and serve with desired condiments etc

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Jaya’s Vegetable Pulav

Ingredients:

• Ghee or oil: 2 tbs
• 2 tsp Panch phoran (fennel/sauf  seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds)
• 1 tbsp Onions Chopped (optional)
• 1 cup Carrot (Grated)
• 1 Bunch Spinach (boiled and ground into paste)
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• 2 cups Rice
• 4 cups Water

Method:

• Wash the rice and set it aside.
• Heat the ghee /oil in a pan, Add panch phoran and let it splutter.
• Add  onions, cook till onions are light golden
• Add carrot and spinach & saute for couple of minutes.
• Add rice and  sauté it for 2 mins
• Add water and garam masala.
• Let it cook on high till water starts to boil.
• Simmer the heat and cook the rice till all the water is evaporated.
• Serve hot with your favorite Soup or curd

FIRST PLACE:

• Seema Kukanur created Hara-Bhara Palak Papadi Chat. The full recipe is listed below.

SECOND PLACE:

• Richa Agarwal from Massachusetts created a variation called Bread Dahi Vada Papdi Chaat (also listed below).

Other top contributions are also worth mentioning here. Thank you for participating:

• Murali Anantha
• Meeta Asarpota
• Prajakta Deodhar
• Ravi Vinayak
• Hamsaveni H.T.

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Hara-Bhara Palak Papadi Chat

Recipe serves 4

Colour full and delicious Papadi Chat with Palak Pakoras, spicy Potato mix, sprouted moong and pomegranate seeds.

Ingredients for Making Papdi:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (Maida or plain flour)
• 1/4 cup semolina flour (sooji)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Finely chopped onions(optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon Red chilli powder

Ingredients for Making Palak Pakoras:

• 1 cup chick pea flour(Besan)
• 1/4 slat
• 1/4  red chilli powder
• Pinch of baking soda
• Pinch of Ajvain
• Palak(spinach) small leaves
• Oil for frying
• Water as required

For Garnishing the Papadi:

• 1 Boiled potato, mashed
• Palak Pakoras
• Hari cilantro chutney (recipe from manjulaskitchen.com)
• Tamarind chutney (recipe from manjulaskitchen.com)
• Sprouted Moong
• Smooth yogurt
• Pomegranate seeds
• Tomato slices

Method

Papdi:

Make Papadi either round or square in shape as showed in the video at manjulaskitchen.com and if you want add finely chopped onions (optional) to the dry ingredients before adding water.

Palak Pakoras:

• Add all the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Add water and get it to the dosa batter consistency.
• Heat oil in a frying pan and once its hot dip palak leaf in the batter and fry it in oil.
• Remove when it’s fried and keep the Pakoras on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Arranging the Papadi and Garnishing:

• Mash the potato’s and mix with hari cilantro chutney.
• Arrange the papadi on the plate.
• Place one palak pakora on each papadi.
• Now place spicy potato mixture on top of each palak pakora.
• Put drop of yogurt and tamarind chutney as shown in the picture.
• Add pomegranate seeds on top.
• Add sprouted moong in between each papadi.
• Arrange tomato slices and drop of tamarind chutney on the edge of the plate to make it colour full.

Enjoy the Hara-bhara palak papadi chat. If you want garnish with shev.

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Bread Dahi Vada Papdi Chaat

A twist in traditional papdi chaat with a quick and easy recipe.

Cooking time: 15 minutes
Prepration time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
For papdi:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (maida or plain flour)
• 1/4 cup semolina flour (sooji)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoon lukewarm water

For Bread Dahi Vada:

• 4 slices of white bread
• 1/4 cup of cold milk
• Some raisins and cashews
• One grated cucumber,Half green chilly (chopped)
• Some grated dry coconut
• A pinch if sugar

To garnish the papdi:

• Grated carrot,raddish
• Chopped onion
• 2-3 leaves of cilantro
• Some namkeen like bhujia
• Plain yogurt
• Salt
• Roasted cumin seed powder (bhuna jeera)
• Red chili powder
• Hari cilantro chutney
• Tamarind chutney

Method

Papdi:
Make the papdis according to Manjula aunty’s recipe and keep aside.

Bread dahi vada:

1. cut the brown corner of the bread slices and keep aside.
2. Mix grated cucumber(drain all the juice of cucumber after grating it by pressing it with your palms),coconut,green chillies,chopped cashew nuts , raisins and sugar together.
3. Now take a bread slice into your palm ,sprinkle milk on it slowly to make it little soft so that we can shape it into vadas.(do not soak bread slices )
4. Take the mixer of cucumber and coconut and place in middle of the soft bread slice and form it into a vada by giving little pressure between your palms.(or make it into round shape according to your papdi)
5. Repeat  the same process with rest of the bread slices and keep it in the refrigerator to set for at least 10 minutes covering with clear wrap.

Garnish

1. Take out the bread vadas from refrigerator.
2. Put the yogurt into a bowl and mix with a fork or whisk until very smooth. Use some milk as needed to make a consistency similar to pancake batter. Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar.. Keep aside
3. Dip the papdi in the yogurt and place them into serving plate.
4. place one bread vada on each papdi.
5. Pour remaining yogurt on the vadas .
6. Sprinkle cumin powder and red chili power according to your taste.
7. Add cilantro and tamarind chutney .
8. finish it with some grated carrots,raddish,chopped onions,cilantro leaves and some bhujia namkeen on top.

Note: You can make this in advance and assemble it just before the serving. So enjoy a quick, easy, and mouth watering recipe.

FIRST PLACE:

• Smita Srivastava from India created Kesariya Gulabjamun Pulao. The full recipe is listed below.

SECOND PLACE:

• Spoorthy Prasad from Minneapolis created a variation called Snow Ball (also listed below).

Other top contributions are also worth mentioning here. Thank you for participating:

• Menaka Seshakumar
• priya Suresh
• Vidya Lakshmi
• Keerti Prathak
• Pratima
• Adam Hall
• Seema Patil
• Shweta Jain

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Kesariya Gulabjamun Pulao Recipe

Delicious saffron & cardamom flavored aromatic sweet rice with baby gulab jamuns and dry fruits.

Cooking time – 20 mins
Prep time – 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 4 green cardamoms
• 12 small sized gulabjamuns (cut into quarters)
• few strands of saffron or a pinch of orange food color
• 1/2 tsp milk ( if using saffron)
• a few cashews n almonds

For garnishing- few sliced gulab jamuns & dryfruits

Method

• Wash the rice and soak in lukewarm water for 10 mins. Drain and keep aside.
• Put 1 tsp ghee in a pan and add a pinch of sugar and let it melt ( be careful not to
  turn it brown). Add in the rice n 2 whole cardamoms along with 2 cups water . Cook
  till rice is done.
• In another pan or wok pour 2tbsp of ghee and add 2 powdered cardamoms to it .
  Add the cooked rice . Slowly mix in the sugar and stir gently until the sugar dissolves
  and the excess syrup evaporates.
• Dissolve saffron in milk and add to the sweet rice ( if using food color gently sprinkle
  a little on the rice ).
• Finally mix in the quartered gulabjamuns n chopped nuts & stir for another min.
  Remove from heat and transfer to a serving platter.
• Garnish with nuts and sliced gulabjamuns before serving .

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Snow Ball Recipe

Serves – 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 White bread slices
• 1/2 cup Milk (to soak bread)
• 1 cup Mango pulp
• 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup Cool whip
• 4 Blueberry

Method

• Make excellent gulab jamuns by watching video at manjulaskitchen.com
• Take 4 slices of white bread and cut the brown edges.
• Take small amount of milk in a plate, enough to soak the bread slices. Dip the bread in milk carefully and squeeze out the extra milk. Take the squeezed bread in a separate plate and place gulab jamun inside and wrap completely as shown in the picture below (gulab jamun should not be squeezed before putting inside soaked bread slice.)
• Making of mango cream: Mix mango pulp, sweetened condensed milk and cool whip in a separate vessel by spoon and refrigerate for 2 -3 hours.
• Take the desired amount of mango cream in a bowl (preferably ¼th part of prepared amount) and place the ball of jamun coated by bread in it. Decorate it with blue berry on top as shown in the picture.

Tips:

• Decorate with almonds and pistachios if desired.
• Colored sugar can be sprinkled on top for vibrant look.