Spinach Saboodhana Kichdi & Announcements

Announcements:
1)I am glad to inform my readers that I am the Chef Of the Week at erecipe.com. It's been fun to upload some of my recipes on their blog :) Here is the link to a video that they requested me to share on my blog - Click here to view Thank you Raquel for offering me this opportunity :)


2)IMPORTANT: MY BLOG GIVEAWAYS ARE STILL GOING ON!!! YES INDEED - So Please click here to get to the announcement page - Please ensure you follow all the rules of entry to be eligible for the prizes. 
Blog anniversary giveaways Sept 24- Oct 31, 2011 - so you are not too late to join :) Many of you have wondered if you have missed the deadline - and the answer is NO - there is still time

I have not cooked much with Saboodhna or tapioca pearls because the few occasions I’ve had it, it has always been really oily, be it as kichdi or vadas. The only right place in my mind for saboodhana is either as a vadam (vadagam) or in payasam! The further disincentive is no one in my family is particularly crazy about it either!

But I saw several saboodhana kichdi posts in the past several weeks and decided I must give this grain another fair chance!

Sadly to the best of my knowledge, tapioca per se has no health benefits – it is starchy and very high in calories, but this has somehow been a staple in Maharastra India as khicdi and vadas– while finding its way to the south in kheers and vadams!

So to add some nutritive value to it, I decided to cook it with spinach and it tasted really good :)

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Here is how I went about it

1cup of white peal Saboodhana (soaked for 4-6 hours)

1-12oz pack of frozen spinach (thawed) or 2 cups of fresh chopped spinach

¼ cup of peanuts (crushed)

2-3 green chilies

¼ cup grated coconut

Mustard, urad dal, asafetida to temper with in 1 tsp of oil

Salt to taste

Preparation

Drain the excess water from the soaked saboodhana

Put it in a pressure cooker and steam without putting the whistle

Wait a couple of minutes after it starts steaming loudly before putting off

This process considerably reduces the amount of oil used – This is one dish that, like eggplant or arbi, can soak up tons of oil

In a pan temper with 1tsp of oil mustards, urad dal and asafetida

Ad the green chilies and the thawed spinach and add into pan and stir fry for a minute or two

Now add the saboodhana and mix in well with the spinach

Add salt and stir in

In another pan, dry roast the grated coconuts and add to the kichdi

Open cook for a minute or two until all ingredients are absorbed into one another.

Garnish with the crushed peanuts and serve hot J

Broccoli–Cilantro Curry Sauce

This simple yet superb curry is something I adapted from my wonderful blogger friend, Aysha of Schmetterlingwords
We had just bought some fresh broccoli when she posted this rather handy recipe – I say adapted because I decided to go cilantro & coriander all the way – And while I did use some masala ingredients like bay leaves, I added coconut and made it more like a kootu style! Can be enjoyed with chappatis or rice sticks, or carb of your choice (:

Ingredients
2 broccoli heads chopped in medium sized florets
1tbsp coriander seeds
1 bunch cilantro
¼ cup grated coconuts
2 Bay leaves
2 green chilies
1 dry red chili
10-cashews
Thadka materials (mustard, urad, cumin, asafetida)

Preparation
Steam the broccoli for 2-3 minutes tops in the MW
In a pan add the coriander seeds, cilantro, coconuts and green chilies and roast for a bit, until the incredible smell of the coriander seeds waft around the kitchen or even up stairs (this is usually when my kids poke their heads out of their rooms sniffing with this perpetual question –whatchya making ma- smells SO good yo if it is my son or ma if it is my daughter!

Add some cold water to this and grind to a fine paste in the blender
In a kadai or large wok, add 1 tsp of oil (olive or sesame) and thadka with mustard seeds, urad and asafetida and red chili)
Toss the steamed broccoli in and stir a few times
Add the curry sauce and let the broccoli simmer in the sauce for until the sauce is bubbling and dwindling.
Remove from stove and transfer into a hot pot
Keep your carb ready and attack with gusto ☺

Raspberry Coulis

This is an easy peasy recipe that can be used over pancakes (Trader Joes Multigrain Pancake mix), as cake fillings, in pies, as ice-cream toppings, on yogurts and parfaits –

I made this with an intention to use in a tart recipe, but the yield with a 12 ounce box was not much we ended up using it over pancakes – trust me when I say it was terrific!

Here is the recipe

12ounce box of fresh raspberries

1/4 cup of sugar

2tbsp honey

1tbsp Lemon juice (not required it you like to err on the side of sweet over tart)

Preparation

Blend the raspberries

In a tsp of water, mix the sugar in a saucepan and heat to liquefy

Add the honey and the raspberry puree

Allow it to bubble before turning off

Add the lemon juice and stir in

Set in refrigerator to cool and thicken

Use as needed

 Sending this off to Smitha's Berry Event

Couscous Idlis for Blog Hop Wenesday

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This Blog Hop Wednesday, a wonderful event started by Radhika of Tickling Palates, is a wonderful way to interact with our fellow bloggers and browse their each others blogs in greater details and in a more systematic way – On one such quest, I had the greatest pleasure to go through Harini’s Blog – Tamalapaku – the name was unique and I googled it to find that it meant betel leaves – something many Indians have after a satisfying meal to help with digestion – and the recipes I saw in her blog always erred on healthy which is what my blog mantra is too and I loved the many uses of grains and lentils. I was not sure which one to go with, but I did settle on something that I’ve been cooking with more recently – couscous – you many recall the couscous salad that I posted not too long ago – so my pantry has a full supply of this – And to make our South India charmer Idlis with it was like the best of both worlds for me –as in cooking with couscous and using it for a traditional recipe.

Many Many thanks to you Harini for introducing me to these idlis, they were soft, spongy and incredibly tasty and will be a staple at our home now.  And this was the most pleasurable time because my newly turned 3yr old helped me with the whole process J

The original recipe is here - I doubled the quantities to serve my family of 5


Here is my version with a few slight changes

Ingredients - 

To make for a family of 4 or 6

1 cup of couscous

1cupof sooji

2 cups of yogurt +2 tbsp of buttermilk

Carrots & cilantro finely chopped/grated 1 cup

Dried Nuts Coarsely Chopped 3 Tbsp (I used peanuts, almonds and cashews)

1 green chili

Baking Soda 1.5 tsp

Salt as per taste

Turmeric 1/4 tsp

Olive Oil 1 tsp

Curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds, urad dal with a pinch of asafetida for tempering

Preparation

Mix the sooji and the couscous in a wide mouthed dish

Add the baking soda and salt and mix into dry batter

Crush the nuts and add and mix in

Add the grated carrots raw (I did not cook it like the original recipe calls for)

Crush cilantro

Add about 1tsp of salt

Now add the yogurt and mix in well

Temper the mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal, chili and the asafetida and some roughly torn curry leaves

Add this to the batter and mix in well

Spray your idli plates with non-stick olive oil or other and steam idlis for 10-12 minutes – that’s all it took for me

Healthy, hearty and delicious idlis good to go J

For those of you who missed the blog anniversary giveaway post, it's not too late - please click here 

Now Serving Turns One Today with A Giveaway Bonanza

Now Serving exciting times folks (: My blog is one year old fledgling now. I want to humbly thank everyone who has been visiting me without fail and leaving encouraging comments that really make this blog even more worthwhile to write, even if sometimes it seems like a full-time job (: From the bottom of my heart, I say “ thank you and please keep coming back…

I am thrilled to announce some giveaways at my blog what I like to call the October sweepstakes

There are 7 gifts to giveaway

5 for US residents (exclusively)

3 For Canadian Residents (of the 5 above)

2 For all others

I am happy to announce that Pasta Prima has most graciously offered several exciting giveaways to mark this milestone on my blog – The bummer is that this giveaway is only for my US & Canada audiences. This is simply because they are perishable items or too heavy to consider shipping to far away places.

A little about my Giveaway Sponsors

Those who have visited my blog in the past year know that more often than not I am constantly striving to promote healthy eating habits by providing healthier options for otherwise caloric and unhealthy food.  We are all given to breaking this rule and I am no exception J. If you visit their site, you will see that they take pride in making their pastas as natural as possible and in the most energy efficient ways possible by using green energy. They are also tuned into community causes and currently Breast Cancer Awareness, and giving back to the community. So this company in my books, is a winner all the way :) They seemed genuinely sorry that they could not extend their giveaways to countries beyond the US, BUT…

WAIT! I have two incredible books that will be given away to my friends anywhere else in the world besides US or Canada.

Celebrated Chef, Madhur Jaffrey’s Eastern Vegetarian Cooking

And NY Times Best Seller, The Sneaky Chef, by Missy Chase Lapine

Here are the giveaways from Pasta Prima

US residents Exclusive

2 lucky winners win 3 Pasta Prima Ravioli flavors shipped directly to your home (US only, we are perishable!)

US & Canada 

3 lucky winners win a pasta bowl each

**Plus a coupon for free Pasta Prima Ravioli for US Residents only

 You can find Pasta Prima on FB

Pictures of the giveaways below

Here are the rules of the Cookbook Giveaways

Exclusively for friends living OUTSIDE the US or Canada

Please this blog via Google Connect or Networkblogs and let me know through which medium you are following my blog – much appreciated J

Important Note: Be sure to checking your Google connect follow is set to “Public” not private or anonymous!

All participants in this giveaway should “Like” my FB page either by clicking on the box on the right column or by visiting my Facebook page – Much appreciated J

Leave a comment about my blog or the giveaways stating where you are from – this is important – Much appreciated J

You should be contactable – So if you are a non-blogger be sure to drop me a line at priyamahadevan@hotmail.com - Pictures of the giveaways below

For my friends in US & Canada
Join this blog via Google Connect or Networkblogs and let me know in your comment through which medium you are following my blog Much appreciated :)

Important Note: Be sure to checking your Google connect follow is set to “Public” not private or anonymous! “visibly”following through one of these mediums,

All Participants should “Like” my FB page either by clicking on the box on the right column or by visiting this link. Much appreciated J

Like Pasta Prima’s FB page by clicking here

Leave a comment about my blog or the giveaways stating where you are from – this is important

   You should be contactable – So if you are a non-blogger, drop me a line at priyamahadevan@hotmail.com

Look forward to your comments, continued support & participation
LOVE you and please continue coming over -Cannot say it enough! Always a pleasure to have your here :)!

Celebration Begins With ... A Rainbow Cheesecake

Rainbow Cheesecake

The minute I saw this, I knew I had found the perfect recipe for my baby’s birthday and the perfect post for the day – Now I am not too sure how much of this my little 3 yr. old will consume, but a challenge was what I was seeking, esp. since it is also close to my blog’s 1st anniversary (Please stay tuned on Sept 24th for many wonderful giveaways) I figured it doubled the cause for celebration – I was anxious about making this on my own – So I called upon my dear and sweet friend to ask if she would help me with it – The artist that she is, she was immediately enthused by the challenge and the idea of mixing the colors of the rainbow just right and together we had plenty of fun making this! This is truly a recipe that you would find a LOT easier to make with a friend, daughter or mother because it can be a little overwhelming! Grazie mille, Fla, may not have attempted it without your help and nifty guidance!

This cake contains more fat calories than I can count, but hey, when has there ever been a celebration without a good bit of fat to cheer us up! It also goes against most of the things I strive towards –aka – healthy recipes, but a sliver thin slice would be perfectly ok! So let’s chill on this subject :)

I got my recipe from Macheesmo - I have copied almost verbatim his ingredients and his method of preparation -  Hope you enjoy my pictorial of it so that it will be easy for you to recreate! Enjoy mes amies!

Ingredients

2 Cups graham crackers, crushed (crust)

2 Tablespoons sugar (crust)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (crust)

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon (crust)

1 Pinch Salt (crust)

2 Pounds Cream cheese, room temp

1 1/3 Cups Sugar

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

4 Large Eggs

1Cup Sour Cream

1Cup Heavy Cream

1 Pinch Salt

1 Container Food colors (blue, yellow, green, red)

Preparation

1. Before you get started with the crust, make sure your spring form pan is watertight. I do this by carefully wrapping a few layers of foil on the outside of the pan, working in both directions so water cannot get into the pan. Be careful not to rip the foil or water will get into your cake and ruin it!
2. To make the crust, grind the graham crackers in a food processor until very fine. Then mix crushed crackers, salt, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Then mix in butter with your clean fingers.
3. Press all but a few tablespoons of the graham cracker mixture into the prepared spring form pan. (Save a bit of the crust mixture in case there are holes later) Press it down firmly in the pan. I like to use a measuring cup for this to make it easy to get around the edges. You should have an even, flat crust.
4. Bake the crust in a pre-heated 350 degrees oven for 10 minutes on a low rack. Remove from the oven and cool completely before continuing. Turn oven temp down to 325.
5. To make filling, cut cream cheese into pieces and add to a mixing bowl. Whip until smooth, maybe 4 minutes. Then add sugar and continue to beat until smooth again, another 4-5 minutes. Next, add salt, vanilla, and one egg at a time, beating briefly between each egg. Finally, beat in the sour cream and heavy cream.
6. Once the mixture is well combined and very smooth, divide it into 6 dishes. Add food coloring to each dish to get the desired colors.
7. Pour colored mixtures into prepared dish with cooled crust. Start with red and pour it right in the center. Continue to build the rainbow by pouring the fillings directly in the center. This will create layers so that each slice has some of each color.
8. Place cheesecake into a baking dish a fill with boiling water about 1 inch up the side of the spring form pan (pray that your dish is waterproof).
9. Bake at 325 degrees in the water bath for one hour and 45 minutes.
10. Turn off the oven, crack the door to the oven, and let the cake cool in the oven for one hour. The slow cooling will help it not crack.
11. Then loosely wrap the dish in foil so the foil isn't touching the top of the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
12. When ready to remove cake, run a clean narrow knife around the edge of the dish, remove the foil, unlock the spring, and carefully lift off the outer ring.

First steps of preparation

Now the Fun begins - From Second picture on right as you view it to the center

NOTE 1: My oven was obviously either newer or more efficient that the parent site for this recipe! – So I would advise caution and let it bake for 1hr and 30mins as opposed to 1hr and 45 minutes. Luckily, the slightly browned top did nothing to mar the taste or the enjoyment of this cake.

NOTE 2: Although the pictures from my source looks PERFECT, a thicker crust might have worked better to keep the cake together while cutting – I may play around with that the next time

NOTE 3:Keep cake refrigerated overnight – Keep water and a paper towel handy while cutting the cake so that you don’t mess up the colors –

NOTE 4: Not a good idea to travel 25 minutes with this cake unless you have a freezer box/pack in which you can transport it – I took this to my baby’s school and the children liked it, I think what they enjoyed most was delving into the gooey mush that they could so easily make it – but I say not too bad for a first attemptJ

Sending this off to Friday Potluck, at Ekat's Kitchen :)

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Strawberry-Ginger-Habanero Preserve With Agave Nectar & Honey

This is one my most exciting ventures in the kitchen – I am still rollicking with Verge’s Cooking with Fruits books. The thing about such books is while we want to remain completely true to the recipe, they often also kindle creativity and allows your brain to fantasize a new and exciting way of using the fruits, which would in certain ways, be more suitable to one’s own palate – don’t you agree?
The other wonderful realization that dawned on me preserves are the western pachadis – seriously! We make pachadis with just about any fruit- so also does the west make preserves with just about any fruit! I am catching myself doing what I do too often – trying to find parallel between cultures so we can find a point of intersection – I firmly hold the belief that food brings people together like nothing else can!
I also need to share a short story behind making this. We had gone for a vacation to Bermuda and for those do not know, Bermuda is quite famous for their Gombeys folk dance comprising of African, Native American for dance and British influences in the music. And the hot& sweet preserves are a huge tourist attraction and of course being the gourmands that we are, we bought a six pack back home one more flavorful than the other, the spice making our hair stand on edge, while the sweet overtones try to soften the explosion that is to follow as the last flavor of the habanero, jalapeno and Serrano peppers emerge in full throttle ☺ We had it on crackers, on bread, with chapatis and with English muffins – they were Da bomb!
Having said that, I needed to try and recreate something similar if not the same before I forgot the flavors! They do not provide their recipes on the label! So if you go to Bermuda anytime, do not miss out on the Gombey preserves!

Here is my recipe for this preserve
Prep time 5-10 minutes
Cooking time – 10-15 min

Ingredients
1lb box of fresh strawberries
1 habanero pepper
1-inch sized ginger (about 2tbsp grated)
½ cup Agave nectar
½ cup Orange Blossom Honey
1 packet pectin (roughly 1tbsp)

Preparation
Wash strawberries thoroughly and cut the heads off
Remove the head of the habanero
In a blender, add the strawberries and the habanero and grind – do not use any water
Grate the ginger with the finer side of the grater
Ready a saucepan
Add the puree quickly followed by the honey and agave
Add the grated ginger as well
Let them cook together for about 3-4 minutes
In 1tsp of water, mix the pectin like you would besan to thicken sauce.
Gently dribble it into the pan stirring swiftly as you do it so that you do not encounter knots or white balls of unbroken pectin!
Allow it t thicken some and switch off
Leave overnight
Come morning, find a nice bottle to transfer it into – you will have the perfect consistency of a jam/preserve
The other thing you will notice is the spiciness of the jam from the previous night would have tempered down a bit and will only get you at the very end of the taste – so that part coincided with the Gombey preserves we bought and I was quite relieved and happy that I was able to recreate a similar taste without using too many preservatives. Enjoy with dosa, idlis and the usual food mates like bread and pancakes!