Spiced Lime Pickle/Lemon Pickle without Oil

Spiced Lime

I have my Mom’s cookbook, rather the cookbook that my Father had presented my Mom. It was his way of telling her that he liked food to be cooked in different ways not just the regular Karnataka Style.

 The cookbook had a cover when I flicked it, yes my sister does not know about the book and my brother was too small and of course my bhabhi, she has no clue!!! :D

This was in the pickle section, I realised that Amma used to make this delicious pickle and I do not know if she read this in the book or it’s a traditional recipe! I have made this pickle too often to read the recipe.

If you are like me left with pieces of lime, ginger or ginger then add them in a clean bottle. Sprinkle salt in the bottle on a regular basis. You will have delicious pickle ready.

This is my lemony entry for Blogging Marathon #46.

Spiced Lime

Spiced Lime Pickle/Lemon Pickle without Oil

Ingredients:

• 24 lime
• ½ kg green chillies
• ½ kg ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 3 tblspn salt, heaped
• A big dry bowl
• Clean and dry glass bottle

Method:

• Wash and dry the lime.
• Similarly wash and dry the ginger pieces.
• Cut the lime in 8 pieces and drop them in the dry bowl.
• Peel and cut the ginger in small pieces add them in the same bowl as the lime.
• Cut the green chillies in small pieces add them in the same bowl as the lime.
• Mix 2 tblspn salt and turmeric in the bowl and mix well.
• Sprinkle salt in the jar.
• Put the jar in sun everyday with a clean muslin cloth tied on top. Do this for 6-7 days. In case you don’t have sunshine then you will need t 15 days for the pickle to get ready.
• Stir the lime daily by shaking the jar.

Notes:

• My Mother-in-Law added slices of karela/bitter gourd too. It was tasty and not bitter.

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

 

Home remedy for Lowering Cholesterol

Home remedy for Lowering Cholesterol

For day 3 for home remedies I am posting one that my husband has every day. It’s a cholesterol lowering syrup and is practiced in traditional medicine. Taking it on a regular basis reduces cholesterol.

Home remedy for Lowering Cholesterol

Ingredients:

• 1 cup garlic juice
• 1 cup ginger juice
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup cider apple vinegar
• 3 cups honey

Method:

• Mix the ginger, garlic lemon juice with the apple cider vinegar.
• Heat it reduce it to 3 cups on low flame. I prefer to stir it constantly.
• Cool it then add the 3 cups of honey.
• Mix well and refrigerate.
• Every morning before breakfast have a tablespoonful of this liquid.

Notes:

• Do not add water while extracting the juice of the ginger and garlic.
• For extracting the juice grind the ginger and garlic separately in the mixer.
•  Extract the juice by squeezing the ground pastes individually through a thin muslin cloth.
• You know me I use the juicer.

Home remedy for Lowering Cholesterol

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 45

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

 

Mexican Rice

Mexican Rice

I hope you have enjoyed your trip around the world with us! Wondering what I am talking about? Okay we at blogging marathon are off” Around the World in 30 Days”! Foodies’ hai bhai kya? Food par he bolenge! 

So let’s stop today at M Mexico! Why it’s like Indian food! My daughters refuse to believe that I have cooked international food today! The younger one checked it out to see if there is something called Mexican Rice!

Shhh!

 I do not know what to say? Okay I do cook up names, fancy names but them not believing me when I am so earnestly telling them…! Pah! I do not know what these youngsters are these days... No respect only!!! (Ha all that ranting feels good!)

Anyway please believe me when I say that most Mexican food is like Indian food so that is the reason it’s popular in India.  I have a big list and recipes shared with me by my friend Vidya that I want to try in near future… so look out for some more delicious food here.

Right now  before you enjoy the Mexican rice I have dished out here some cuisine history, sorry you can skip it if you want and go directly to the recipe and I am quoting what I read in Wikipedia so,  

“Mexican cuisine is primarily a fusion of indigenous Mesoamerican cooking with European, especially Spanish, elements added after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. The basic staples remain native foods such as corn, beans and chili peppers, but the Europeans introduced a large number of other foods, the most important of which were meat from domesticated animals (beef, pork, chicken, goat and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese) and various herbs and lots of spices.

While, the Spanish initially tried to impose their own diet on the country, this was not possible and eventually the foods and cooking techniques began to be mixed, especially in colonial era convents. Over the centuries, this resulted in various regional cuisines, based on local conditions such as those in Oaxaca, Veracruz and the Yucatán Peninsula. Mexican cuisine is closely tied to the culture, social structure and popular traditions of the country. The most important example of this connection is the use of mole for special occasions and holidays, particularly in the South and Center regions of the country.”

” Mexican cuisine is as complex as any of the great cuisines in the world, such as those of  India,  China,  France,  Italy and Turkey It is created mostly with ingredients native to Mexico  as well as those brought over by the Spanish conquistadors, with some new influences since then In addition to staples such as corn and chilli peppers, native ingredients include  tomatoes,  squashes,  avocados,  cocoa and vanilla as well as ingredients not generally used in other cuisines such as edible flowers, vegetables such as  huauzontle  and papaloquelite or small criollo avocados, whose skin is edible. European contributions include pork, chicken, beef, cheese, herbs and spices and some fruits. Tropical fruits such as guava, prickly pear, sapote, mangoes, bananas, pineapple and cherimoya (custard apple) are popular, especially in the centre and south of the country. It has been debated how much Mexican food is still indigenous and how much is European. However, the basis of the diet is still corn and beans with chilli pepper as a seasoning as they are complementary foods.

Mexican Rice

Mexican Rice 

Recipe Source: Vidya 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 3 cups water+8 cups
• 6 tblspn oil
• 1 tblspn red sauce( recipe coming soon)
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• ½ tsp ginger paste
• ¼ cup rajma, soaked and boiled
• 1/3 cup corn, boiled
• 2 tsp chopped green chillies
• ¼ tsp dhania/ coriander seed powder
• ½ cup capsicum, sliced
• 1/3 cup onions sliced and separated
• ½ cup cabbage, sliced fine
• ½ tsp oregano
• ¼ tsp pepper powder, freshly ground
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp jalapeño water (I substituted with vinegar)
• 1 tsp dhania/ coriander leaves

Mexican Rice

Method:

• Wash and soak the rice in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes.
• Strain and discard the water.
• Boil the 8 cups add 2 tblspn oil add the rice. Cook uncovered till the rice is done.
• Once the rice is cooked strain the rice in a colander.
• Cool the rice for 1 hour. Then to cooked rice apply oil, salt and 1 tblspn red sauce.
• In a kadhai/wok heat 2 tblspn oil add the garlic, ginger pastes. Stir.
• Add boiled rajma, boiled corn, green chillies, and coriander seed powder. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the capsicum, onions, cabbage and stir.  The ingredients should not cook fully.
• To this add the prepared rice, oregano, pepper powder, butter. Stir fry for 4-5 minutes.
• Add the jalapeño water, if using else add the vinegar and coriander.
•  Serve hot.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

An InLinkz Link-up

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Vegetable Thupka ~ A Delicious Vegetarian Noodle Soup

Vegetable Thupka ~ A DeliciousVegetarian Noodle Soup

For the recent mega marathon, for the benefit of those who land here for the first time I have participated in 2 marathons. One is the Alphabet marathon the second was the Indian Food Odyssey where we have taken up the challenge of various Indian states and the food there. The NE states gave is a lot of problems not only there are very few documented online but most of the dishes are non vegetarian.

For Sikkim I was to make Momos and Thupka. I made them twice now but not together as my girls went gaga the first time and I had none left to take pictures. The second time they told me they want a Momos feast. Which translates as” nothing else acceptable” they will just eat Momos. By the time I made the mountain of Momos needed plus the regular cooking for the rest of the family members I was in no mood to make Thupka. My excuse was anyway no one will eat it.

Thukpa is a famous noodle soup recipe from the north-east region of India it was something that we enjoyed so I made it again.

This time I made one bowl of  soup on Saturday and took some pictures in the afternoon so in the evening when the hungry hordes descended I had absolutely no reservations of serving this delicious soup.

 

Thanks Valli for sharing this soup on the group id had it not been for you I would be trying to remake a non-veg recipe in veggie one. To make this soup I used my own adaptations. Some ingredients because they are not much appreciated I have left out.

Veggie Thai Red Curry

When Kalyani announced the combo of Pumpkin and Chilles for Magic Mingle the only though I had was parathas. But since that is quite a staple in my place the kids were not keen.

Then my FIL did vegetable shopping and came back with ½ kg of brinjals that are shunned by the girls, I had no option but mask them.  Then the fridge threw up some surprises!! I found some par boiled pumpkin and baby corn! What better then to make this delicious Thai Red Curry?

This is from the IFB Cook Book by Neeta Metha.

Pumpkin Stir Fry

What do you do when you have no veggies but pumpkin?

In my place no one eats pumpkin, especially the red one. I just do not know why. I have tried all sorts of way making this veggie in sambhar, a veggie. No sir… they all turn up their noses at it and the poor gourd has become quite upset.

So coming back to the original question what to cook? I have only pumpkin.

Tinda Stuffed with Paneer and Mint~ Dedicated to Mom

 I decided to make tinda and started to make Tinda Do piyaza that I had seen here.

However as I started long lost memories of how we, that is we siblings, hated this vegetable as kids swamped me. We always fought with my mother when we saw this vegetable. But in the sweltering heat of Nagpur and Akola where we spent our childhood in the summer very few vegetables were available. One was Gola Bhaji and other dhemsa or tinda. Poor mom had nothing to make, she must have been so frustrated…

Baby Corn Stir Fry

My kids like corn but somehow they do not enjoy baby corn.

   It is a perpetual quest to make baby corn in the form they will enjoy. One of my recent endeavors has been Baby Corn Stir Fry.

This was for the first time that I had tried making snacks for evening but I was saving it up for the last day of BM.

The girls were not aware of the presence of this new member in the fridge so they had had their snack. But I still heated the container in the microwave and as the younger one was stepping out to play came back in reverse gear to check what was cooking.

Mixed Pulao

 First let me wish all my friends “A Very Happy New Year”! Sorry I have arrived in my usual susegad manner but better late than never!!

For the New Year as it is our practice I ran away from Panaji, Goa. This time we friends met at Pachgani.

 We had a fabulous time first visiting the Raigad fort, where we met a guide who was obsessed with toilets!! He showed us the attached toilets that Chatrapati Shivaji’s six wives who stayed on the fort had. Can you imagine the toilet seat is still intact and you can see how well it was designed for all the exits!  His ministers who ran all the 8 forts that Chatrapati Shivaji reigned over had attached toilets too!  Hmmm I am also talking about toilets now!

Peas and Tofu Pulao

Winter heralds fresh vegetables, cauliflower, carrots, spinach and the freshest of peas.

Pretty and green all in a row!!

We all love peas especially if it means you get to eat them straight from the pods. 

Generally we buy peas just for eating. So the tender ones get eaten and I am left with the others not so tender. This is especially true if Akanksha and her father sit to do the job.

Shahi Ande

From the time Radhika announced her Mughlai Event I know that there is one cuisine that I have not posted as yet the Mughlai cusine. In fact from the time I have become conscious of the middle age spread I have stopped making Mughlai cusine for the food is rich. But there are exceptions and here is one of them.

Respecting my FIL’s sentiments I generally do not cook eggs. But when he is out of station we eat live and drink eggs.

Cauliflower Curry

These days I am not blogging too much or even visiting my friends a lot.

Not because I don’t want to but because  I have to go for an evening walk (Doctors orders) and by the time I come back the kids are on the net and unless there is something urgent I don’t want to chase them away.


Also since I am a “two finger typer”  and I use the same to fingers for the mouse handling  both home and at work the fingers  have started protesting and I have been warned by our programmer that I am heading towards  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome  and to take care, I am scared.  I take breaks and give up computers in the evening.

Tomato Soup

Every time Srivalli announced her blogging marathon my schedule was arranged such that it was impossible to join the gang. But this time I was determined to join it come what may and so I did and boy and I am thrilled!

So for the next 7 days The Mad Scientist is open to only salads or soups! Luckily the kids agreed. So today is day#1 of the Blogging Marathon#9 do check out the others.

Diwali is round the corner which means now there will be a nip in the air. You will want something hot to warm  up. There will be lovely fresh red tomatoes in the market inviting you to try some delicious soup.

Yes Tomato Soup!

Potato and Spinach Kabab?

W hat do you when you have potatoes, that ane not too big to be called small potatoes and not too small to be called baby potatoes?

What do you do when you have palak that has about given up on you?

Cook them together right?

 That is exactly what I have done here. Since I am not too sure about the classification of this dish I have called it Kabab?

Black & white Wednesday with Cauliflower in Tomato Gravy

Cauliflower one veggie we make often!  The versatility of the veggie is such that it can   be made into a quick stir fry for chapatti& rice, or fried for a snack or make into a pickle with a slight shift in ingredients. Each has its own charm, Own following!!

So when Priyaof Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes, announced the veggie of the month as cauliflower to be hosted by Tiffincarriersantiques.blogspot.com I knew I would be sending my entry here.

I would like to send this entry that my SIL &  I had long long ago copied from somewhere.

Ingredients:

 1 medium sized Cauliflower cut in bite size florets

Oil for frying

 For the Gravy:

2 big or 3 medium sized onions

3-4 tomatoes

6 flakes garlic

1”piece of ginger

½ tsp Coriander powder

½ tsp cumin powder

½ tsp amchur powder

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp pav bhaji masala

½ cup milk(for low fat version else use fresh  cream)

 A few springs of coriander

Method:

1.    Soak the cauliflower in water and salt for about 10 minutes.

2.   Drain it and with a little water and salt cover with a lid and par boil the cauliflower. Say about 5 minutes or till you get the aroma of boiled cauliflower. (2 minutes in the microwave).

3.   Drain the cauliflower, reserve the water and dry the florets on kitchen napkin.

4.   Heat the oil and deep fry the florets till golden brown, drain. Keep aside.

5.   As you are frying grind the onion pieces in the mixer with garlic, ginger and the coriander leaves.

6.   In a separate kadhai/wok with a little oil fry the ground onion till the raw smell goes. Now add the crushed tomatoes. Stir fry till the water evaporates and the oil starts coming out.

7.   Add all the dry masala and fry till you get a nice aroma.

8.   Now add the cauliflower, stir. Add the milk. Adjust the seasonings use some of the reserved water for adjusting the thickness of the gravy.

9.    Bring to a boil. Garnish with chopped coriander.

10.  Serve with chapatti, naan.

   

Linking this to Black & White Wednesday too!

Archana
Do check out my event and send me your entries..

Healthy Instant Corn Dhokla

We all love dhokla.

Would you like some now?

 For this instant no need to wait for the batter to ferment? Do you want it to be healthy, with veggies and no complaints from the kids?

If your answer is yes then this recipe is for you! 

I came across in Tarla Dalal’s Cooking & More that I had borrowed from our library. I don’t have the copy of the recipe but I noted down the recipe. 

The only change I have made is added 1 tsp of garlic paste and steamed it in a vessel.

Ingredients:

1 cup sweet corn

½ cup curds

1 cup rava

½ tsp ginger green chilli paste

Salt

1 tsp fruit salt

¼ tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp oil

1 tsp garlic paste(my addition)

Method:

1. Blend sweet corn and curd in mixer till smooth.
2.  Add rava, ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, salt & half cup water mix well.
3.  Just before steaming sprinkle fruit salt and lemon juice. Mix gently
4.  Spoon in greased muffin/ vati moulds and steam for 15-20 minutes. Cool and serve.

Sending this to Anyone Can Cook  Series

 and to my event Fast Food Not Fat Food started by Priya

And to Kirthi's Serve it series :Serve It Steamed started by Danny

 

I am sure you all make healthy recipes that fall in this category do link up here and send me the FAT volume of entries!!

Archana

Alle Pak

My dad asked me for this recipe. Kusum Maushi my husband’s Maushi gave me this recipe. Kusum Maushi is an excellent cook so this tastes wonderful.

Here is your recipe for ginger cubes (alle pak).

1. Grate cleaned &  peeled ginger.
2. Now grind the same in the mixer fine.
3. Measure the grated ginger.
4. For one cup of grated ginger –1 1/2 cup of sugar (if your ginger is not tender take 2 cups sugar) add a little water till the sugar gets wet.
5. Put on the gas on and heat till the syrup reaches hardball stage i.e. when a drop of the syrup is put in water it hardens to a ball.
6. Now add the ground ginger & cook till the edges harden.
7. Pour on a greased plastic sheet or greased thali & cut to squares.