Banana Flower Recipes

Banana Flower Recipes are common in South Indian meals.

They use the banana flowers to prepare delicious and tangy vegetarian recipes. But it is a time-consuming job. You need to remove all the outer layers of the flower which are colored until you reach the inner white-layered flower. Most people include the outer flower buds (florets) lined up between the layers for cooking these recipes. However, to avoid too much strain, it is better to consider only the inner white-layered flower for preparation.

This inner flower is cut into pieces and then minced in a jar to become fine pieces. While cutting the flower or stem or any banana part, your hands will become dark with its sticky juice. To avoid this, you may apply some oil to your hands before starting to cut.

I prepare two kinds of Banana Flower recipes. 

One recipe uses tamarind juice and mustard paste like the banana stem recipe.

The other recipe involves adding split green gram, which should be soaked in water for 20 to 30 minutes before preparation. It doesn't use tamarind.

I am providing detailed preparation instructions for these two types of recipes.

1) Banana Flower Recipe- Sour and Tangy

The taste of this vegetable recipe is both pungent and sour stimulating all your taste buds into action. You feel excited and delighted with the aroma of it.

Ingredients Required

• banana flower
• mustard seeds 20 grams (per medium-sized flower) for making the paste
• tamarind 20 to 30 grams for preparing juice
• oil for frying/topping (one table spoon)
• red chili pieces or powder
• split chickpea and black gram (each one spoonful)
• cumin, mustard seeds, and asafoetida for topping
• salt 1/2 spoon and turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
• you may add cashew nuts and peanuts also

Sour & Tangy Banana Flower Recipe Preparation Tips

• Keep the banana flower florets/pieces ready by removing the outer layers of the flower bunch
• Soak the tamarind in a cup of water for 30 minutes in advance and extract the juice
• Make the mustard paste by grinding the seeds in a small grinding jar and adding water slowly to prepare a soft paste
• You can cook the flower pieces in a pressure cooker or directly cook in the cooking pan
• If pressure-cooked, you will add the cooked ingredient to other items while frying them in the pan
• Similarly, you can add the tamarind juice while pressure-cooking or cooking in the deep frying pan
• If cooking directly in the deep frying pan, heat the oil and drop the ingredients of red chili pieces, mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, cashew nuts, peanuts, etc. frying them to a golden hue
• Now, add the banana flower ingredients and mix them well for some time
• Add the tamarind juice and mix again
• After that, add the salt and turmeric powder, mix well, and place a tight lid
• Keep mixing the recipe every 2 to 3 minutes to keep track of the cooking
• When the florets are finely cooked, the recipe will sport a pleasant and delicious golden/brown hue. 
• Your recipe is ready for serving. You can serve it 4 to 5 persons.

Banana Flower-Mung Bean Vegetarian Recipe

This recipe is prepared using split mung bean as a component of banana flowers.

Ingredients Required

• Banana florets/ flower pieces One-and-Half to 2 cups
• split mung bean 1/2 cup
• ginger and green chilies
• coconut grated 1/2 cup
• mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, and oil one spoonful for topping
• fresh coriander leaves

Banana Flower-Mung Bean Recipe Preparation Tips

• Before starting, keep the mung bean soaked in water for 15 to 20 minutes
• Cook the banana flower pieces/florets in a pressure cooker for a period of up to 2,3 whistles
• Cut or slice small and thin pieces of ginger and green chili as per your requirements
• Now, place the deep frying pan on the flame adding one spoonful of oil
• When the oil gets heated, drop the mustard seeds, cumin, and a pinch of asafoetida powder. Fry for some seconds and add the sliced pieces of ginger, and chili to it. Fry for some time till you hear the splitting sounds of mustard and chili pieces.
• Now, add the soaked mung bean and salt. Mix thoroughly and place a lid. Let it cook for 5 minutes at low flame. The mung bean should mix well with the banana flower and become soft and edible.
• Now add the grated coconut and coriander leaves. Mix thoroughly for 30 seconds and put off the flame.
• Your recipe is ready for serving. You can serve it to 4 or 5 persons.

Paani Puri / Gol Gappa Preparation and Serving Tips

Paani Puri is a North Indian name. In other places, it is known as Gol Gappa or golgappa.

The name "Paani Puri" refers to the composition of the snack (puri getting filled with flavored water before eating). The name "Gol Gappa" refers to the swallowing act of a round object. ('Gol' means round and 'gappa' means swallowing. It describes the sensation of the round snack dissolving quickly in your mouth.

Paani Puri is a recipe made up of small dough puffs (round balls fried in oil) stuffed with cooked chickpeas and served with sour and spicy water. It is a typical North-Indian snack popular in big cities across India. You can find it at roadside stalls on crowded streets.

"Paani Puri/Gol Gappa typically consists of a combination of three items."

They are: 1) Puri (the round ball), 2) Chickpea stuff, 3) Spicy water. All these combined, make the whole dish of Paani Puri.

Now, I am sharing the preparation instructions for all three elements of this Golgappa recipe.

Preparation of Puri for Golgappa

Paani Puri ball is prepared with rava/semolina dough rolled into small round spreads applying refined wheat flour.

Ingredients for Puri

• semolina/rava One Cup
• refined wheat flour/maida for rolling purpose in a small plate or bowl
• a pinch of baking soda & salt as required
• one or two teaspoons of oil for preparing the dough 
• oil for deep-frying the puris

Preparation Instructions for Puri

• mix the semolina thoroughly adding water intermittently to make the dough. Add the baking soda also while kneading it thoroughly. The texture should be soft and tender, but not sticky.
• Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to enable complete absorption of water. This will aid the puris to become puffy when fried.
• you can add some oil while kneading to prevent the stickiness of the batter.
• now, make the dough into small balls for rolling the puris.
• Use the rolling rod (wooden or metal) to flatten the dough into small, round, and thin shapes. The dry flour powder is used while rolling to make the flattened, handy, flat shapes that can be easily handled while frying them.
• Now, light the stove and put the deep-fry pan filled with oil on it. The oil should be filled only up to 50% of the frying pan or less to prevent spilling while working with it.
• When the oil becomes hot and emits vapor, drop the puri and fry one by one. You may press the edges of the puris holding the turner in one hand and a spoon in the other to make them puffy round balls.
• You can roll the puris first and then start the frying job, or roll and drop each one as and when rolled; according to your convenience and your speed/smartness in rolling.
• So, your puris are ready now for making the Golgappas.

Preparation of Filling for Paani Puri

The filling stuff is prepared by pressure cooking ordinary chana, Kaabuli Chana, or dry peas known as matar dal.

Ingredients for Paani Puri Fill

• one cup chana dal (chickpea legume) or similar legumes like dry matar
• 3 or 4 medium size potatoes
• 3 or 4 onions
• garlic, ginger, and green chili as per requirements to suit your taste
• 1/4 spoon of salt and a pinch of turmeric powder
• coriander leaves to garnish

Preparation Tips for Golgappa Fill

• The chickpeas or dry peas should be soaked in water overnight before using.
• Remove the water, wash again, and transfer the peas into a cooker. Add sufficient water to prepare a solid and finely-cooked stuff. Place the lid and cook on medium to high flame for about 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, check whether it is cooked fully. If not, cook for some more minutes.
• Turn off the flame and allow it to cool.
• Now, cook potatoes in another pressure cooker. After you hear 3 to 4 whistles, you can turn off the flame and allow it to cool.
• Slice the onions into small pieces. Similarly, make fine pieces of garlic, ginger, and green chilies.
• Now, place a deep frying pan on a flame with one or two spoons of oil in it.
• When the oil is heated, add the onion pieces and fry them until golden.
• Now, add the pieces of garlic, ginger, and chili and fry them.
• Peel off the cooked potatoes and add the stuff to the spices in the frying pan.
• Now, add the cooked peas, after mashing up a little, and mix all the ingredients thoroughly to make a soft stuff. Mix the turmeric powder also to it while hot.
• Your paani puri stuffing ingredient is ready. You will fill it in the puri while serving.

Spicy Water for Paani Puri

This is the third item required for serving the puris. The other two are Puri & Chickpea-Potato stuff.

Ingredients for Spicy Water

• Water as per requirement (one puri gets filled with one to two tablespoons of water)
• Tamarind seedless 10 grams to be soaked in a cup of water (if you don't get tamarind, you can substitute it with lemons or mango powder)
• Spices like pepper powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder as per your tastes
• Jaggery powder, black salt powder, and salt to taste
• You can add Pudina and Coriander leaves also for a nice look and flavor.

Preparation Tips for Spicy Water

• Prepare tamarind juice by dissolving the tamarind pods until perfectly mixed with water to make a thick juice. Remove the unabsorbed waste remnants from it.
• If you don't procure tamarind, do not worry. In place of tamarind juice, you can use lemon juice or dry mango powder (known as amchoor in India).
• Now, take fresh water in a large bowl and add the juice mixing it briskly with a spoon or ladle.
• Add the spice powders one by one mixing with the spoon. Add one or two spoons of jaggery powder and mix well. Now, add the black salt and normal salt as per requirements and mix thoroughly.
• Your spice water recipe is ready now. 

Serving Tips for Paani Puri

1. Keep all the three items at hand in separate containers. Keep small plates or bowls for serving.
2. Press the puris gently with your finger in the middle to create a hollow place for putting the cooked potato-pea recipe in it.
3. Fill the spicy water into small cups for each person. Give a plate to each and ask them to sit or stand around in front of you holding the plates.
4. Fill the stuff into the round balls, one by one, and simultaneously keep serving the customers in turns.
5. The person eating them will be filling the spice water from their cups before eating each ball. This will prevent the puris from becoming soaked and melting into soft pieces.

Banana Stem Recipes- Grooming and Cooking Instructions

Banana Stem after removing outer layers

 Banana Stem is that part of the banana plant that is   above the ground and up to the branching off leaves.   The stem is made up of multilayers containing   mostly fiber. The upper layer is greenish and hard-   textured but not as hard as that of the trees. It easily   gets bent or broken by heavy winds or even by the   weight of its own fruits and leaves. But the banana   plant is a unique plant in which each part is used in   some way or other.

Now, let us come to Banana Stem Recipes.

Like other vegetables, you can cook delicious recipes using the stem of a banana plant. If you are growing a plant, you can cut the stem from above the ground level after it has borne flowers and fruits and its season is over. The roots can give rise to fresh plants. Alternatively, you can buy banana stem pieces from vegetable markets in India. They sell the stem pieces after removing the upper layers as shown in the above image.

How to Prepare the Banana Stem for Cooking

• Take a one-foot long (or even larger piece) banana stem and remove the hard layer.
• If you experience difficulty, cut the piece vertically and, then, begin removing the layers. First, the harder-most outer layer and then the inner coarse layers. When you remove 3 or 4 layers, you will reach to a smooth-looking stem.
• Now, cut this stem into small pieces. These pieces are used for the recipes.
• You can either pressure-cook or saute the pieces as the first step depending upon the type of recipe to be prepared.
• If pressure cooking, be careful to use as little water as needed for cooking the pieces (say one or two tablespoons of water).

Now, I am sharing two types of recipes made from this banana stem.

1) Banana Stem Recipe Using Tamarind Juice

Ingredients for Sour Recipe

• Banana Stem pieces
• Tamarind Juice measuring 2 tablespoons ( for pieces from one-foot stem)
• mustard seeds (2 tablespoons for making paste & one teaspoonful for topping)
• dry red chili long-sized two
• salt & turmeric powder to taste and flavor
• split ground nuts and cashew nuts

Preparation Tips for Banana Stem Sour Recipe

• Before beginning the cooking process, prepare the tamarind juice. You should soak the tamarind for 15 to 30 minutes and then extract the juice by removing the waste from it.
• Next, to make the mustard paste put the mustard seeds of 2 tablespoons into the grinding jar and add some drops of water. You may drop one red chili also if you prefer before grinding. Make it a soft and smooth paste.
• Remove the paste into a small bowl and keep all ingredients at hand.
• You may either cook the stem pieces in a pressure cooker (up to two whistle blows) or directly begin sauteing.
• Light the stove and place the deep cooking pan adding one tablespoon of oil.
• When the oil is hot, drop the red chili pieces and mustard seeds into it and fry till you hear the spluttering sound.
• Now, add the ground nuts/ peanuts and cashew nuts and fry till they show up a golden hue.
• Add the banana stem pieces and turn them briskly for a minute or two. If you have pre-cooked the pieces in a pressure cooker, you can directly add the tamarind juice at this stage and after a minute of cooking, you can mix the mustard paste also at this stage and complete your cooking process within two minutes. Otherwise, follow the below steps one by one.
• For direct cooking of the banana stem pieces after adding the peanuts and cashew nuts, add the salt and turmeric powder and saute them for 5 minutes.
• Now, add the tamarind juice and cook for another 5 minutes. Keep turning the stuff each minute for a perfect mix and cook. 
• Check whether it is soft and crispy. When perfect, add the mustard paste to it and turn briskly for a minute to mix perfectly.
• Now, your recipe is ready for serving.

You can serve this recipe to 3 or 4 persons.

2) Banana Stem Curd Recipe

This recipe uses curd in place of tamarind juice and requires no mustard paste.

Ingredients for Curd Recipe

• Banana stem pieces of one-foot stem
• Curd one cup
• Mustard seeds one tablespoon
• Dry Red Chili (one or two)
• Asafoetida one pinch & turmeric powder
• Salt (1/2 to One spoon as per your requirements)
• Coriander leaves for topping

Preparation Instructions for Banana-Stem Curd Recipe

• Cook the stem pieces in a pressure cooker with one cup of water. You can add the salt to it before placing the lid to cook.
• Cook up to 3 or 4 whistles and turn off the flame.
• Now, prepare the curd. Take a wide bowl of half a liter or so. Put the curd in it and add a pinch of turmeric powder to it. Mix it well. You can use a teaspoon or tablespoon to mix it well. Add neatly cut coriander leaves and mix again well.
• Now, take a small frying pan to fry the mustard seeds and red chili pieces. Put some oil in it and place on a low flame. Fry the seeds and pieces until you hear the spluttering noise. Immediately add the asafoetida powder also and turn well. Put off the flame.
• Now, pour those fried ingredients into the curd and mix well.
• Check whether the banana stem pieces are cool and then add them to the bowl of that prepared curd. Mix well. Your Curd recipe is now ready for serving.

You can serve this banana-stem curd recipe to four persons or more.

 

Bitter Gourd Fry Recipe

Bitter Gourd recipes are good for our bodies because they protect us from germs and viruses. It is good for diabetes patients. And, protects from cancer diseases.

Bitter Gourd is bitter in taste, so most people do not like it. But it has rich minerals and is high in some essential vitamins needed for the body to keep it healthy. Hence, we should eat bitter gourd recipes weekly or bi-weekly.

Multiple recipes with different tastes can be prepared using bitter gourd. For example, you may cook a fry, prepare a sweet dish, or drink juice extracted from them.

But presently, I am sharing my style of preparing a bitter gourd fry recipe by adding onions.

Bitter Gourd Fry Recipe

Preparation Time:

Cutting/slicing 10 minutes

Cooking 10 minutes

Ingredients Required

• 250 grams Bitter Gourd
• 250 grams Onions
• One-and-half to Two tablespoons of oil
• Salt and Red Chili Powder

Preparation Tips

• Cut or slice bitter gourd into thin pieces or round rings after removing both edges.
• If hard seeds are present, remove them for easy chewing
• Peel off the onions and slice them also into thin pieces
• Now, place the cooking pan on the flame and add oil to it as per the above measurements
• When the oil gets heated, drop the onion pieces into it and fry for some time. 
• Now, add the bitter gourd pieces to it and begin frying them.
• Mix well with onion pieces for one minute and add the salt (half a teaspoon is enough). 
• Mix again and place a tight lid over the pan (a glass lid is preferable to oversee the frying process)
• Keep on mixing every one or two minutes to prevent burning of the recipe
• The recipe will be well cooked with a soft texture within ten minutes
• Now add the chili powder (half a teaspoon is enough) and mix well for some seconds. Turn off the flame.

Now, your tasty and soft ridge gourd recipe is ready for serving. It can be served to three persons.

Enjoy this recipe with wheat rotis, chapatis, parathas, or with rice.

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Upma Recipe - Semolina Breakfast Recipe

Upma is a South Indian breakfast recipe. Wherever you visit a South Indian restaurant, this recipe will be present on their menu. Though it is not as favorite as Idli or Dosa. If customers order Upma, they mostly pair it with some additional dish like Vada, Pesarattu, Sada Dosa, etc.

Upma is much easier to prepare than most other recipes. That is why I favor Upma on most occasions. Besides, you can add some healthy vegetables or nuts and seeds to it while preparing.

 

And you can prepare multiple varieties with unique tastes. I may list them later. At present, I am concerned with a normal type of this recipe which can be prepared by any layman. In the above image, some pieces of curry leaves and length-wise sliced chili are placed for image purposes. 

So, here is a very easy-to-prepare breakfast dish with minimum ingredients.

Ingredients Required for Normal Upma

• Semolina 1 Cup
• Onions 2 to 3 onions
• Ginger one small piece
• Green chilies 1 or 2
• Mustard Seeds 1/2 spoon
• Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
• Split Black Gram (Urad white) One Spoon
• Curry leaves
• Salt & Water

Upma Preparation Tips

• Keep all ingredients ready at hand.
• Cut small pieces of onions, ginger, and green chili (onions are for taste & flavor, and ginger and green chilies are for both spicy touch and taste).
• Measure  a cup of semolina and keep it by the side
• Keep 3 cups of water ready
• Now, light the stove and place your cooking pan on flame. Add 2 spoonfuls of oil to it.
• When the oil gets hot, put the onion pieces and fry to a hue of brown color
• Now add ginger and chili pieces. Turning over the ingredients briskly, add the ingredients of urad gram, mustard seeds, and cumin. Keep moving your hand briskly.
• When you hear the splitting sound, add the curry leaves and then the 3 cups of water into it.
• Add salt to taste and let the water boil (you may cover it with a lid for quick boiling or leave it as it is)
• When the water is fully boiling with jumping bubbles, keep pouring in the semolina with one hand while mixing it briskly with the other hand. Brisk action is required to prevent lump formations.
• After it is quite mixed, you may top it with a spoon of oil or ghee for better texture.
• Turn off the stove immediately after mixing but before adding the topping. 
• Place a lid on it and relax.

Now, after 5 minutes, your Upma is ready for serve.

One cup of Semolina serves 3 to 4 people depending upon the quantity you may like to serve.

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Ridge Gourd Chutney

Do you know you can prepare a healthy, wonderful chutney with the outer hard layer of Ridge Gourd vegetable? Most of you must be throwing away it as a waste.

Ridge Gourd is a healthy, green vegetable with rich fiber content. Most of us generally prepare curries with it. But, we need to peel off the hard outer layer (skin) of it before preparing the curry. While this procedure is okay for the curry recipes, you are missing the benefits of the nutrients received through the peeled-off skin. But, there is a nice way of utilizing the outer layers of it if you become aware of how to prepare a tasty and spicy chutney recipe with those discarded parts of the skin.

How to Prepare Ridge Gourd Chutney

Whenever you prepare the ridge gourd recipe, after peeling off the outer skin, you can prepare the chutney besides that curry recipe. If you are eating ridge gourd often, you can stock the peels for 3, 4 days in the refrigerator, and then prepare the chutney recipe collecting those peels.

Ingredients Required

I am providing ingredients for the preparation of chutney with peels collected from 1 kilogram of Ridge-Gourd (green vegetable).

• the peels
• red dry chilies (6 chilies)
• mustard seeds (one-and-half spoonful)
• cumin seeds (half of the mustard seeds)
• salt (one flat spoon)
• tamarind (one pod - seedless)
• turmeric (half-spoon)
• oil for frying (one tablespoon)

Instructions for Preparation of Ridge Gourd Chutney

1. Ensure that the peels are not wet. Wetness will decay the preparation quickly and make it foul-smell within 1 or 2 days. So, you can spread the peels on a paper or large plate and leave it to dry for 12 hours or so. If you are preparing it in the evening, you can spread them to dry early in the morning itself.
2. Now, you are going to fry all the above-mentioned ingredients except salt and turmeric. So, light the stove and place a deep-fry pan on it.
3. Drop the oil into the pan and let it heat.
4. Now, put the mustard seeds, cumin, and dry chilies simultaneously into the pan and fry them till you hear the splitting of mustard seeds.
5. Add the peels now and fry them for some time (for 2 minutes) turning them with a spatula so that the ingredients do not get burnt.
6. Now add the tamarind also to it and place a lid on it adjusting the flame to the minimum point.
7. Keep turning the ingredients every minute with the spatula and replacing the lid (for 5 minutes at least).
8. When you see that the peels have turned a slight brownish in color, you can turn off the flame and let it cool.
9. After cooling, put the fried mix into the moxie jar. Add salt and turmeric to it. Grind the mix into a paste. Let the recipe be a bit rough. So do not grind into a smooth paste. Somewhat roughness makes it tasty to your tongue as well providing good digestion.

Ginger-Chilli Paste - Home-Made Spices

Ginger Chili paste is a healthy spicy paste for spicing up your recipes. You can cook, saute, or fry your preparation and then, add this paste while spicing up your dish at the end stage. It is a healthy and hygienic thing in place of those market-made pastes which are seasoned by adding other preservatives and flavors. So, keep this homemade paste ready at hand for preparing your breakfast dishes or all those curry dishes needed for your meals.

How To Prepare Ginger-Chili Paste

It is very simple. Procure the ingredients and grind them in your mixer/grinder to a paste. And, store the paste in a tight-lid container in your refrigerator for daily use up to 10 days. 

Ingredients for Ginger-Chili Paste

1. Ginger (raw) 100 grams

2. Green Chili   100 grams

3. Turmeric Powder 1/2 t/spoon

4. Salt powder   1 teaspoon

Step-By-Step Preparation Instructions

1. First of all, you need to wash the ginger and dry it for some time. It should be completely dry before using it.
2. Chop the ginger pods into small pieces for easy grinding. Remove any bad portions from it.
3. Remove the top caps of the chilies and cut them into pieces. Each one can be cut into 2 or 3 parts depending on the length. (Ensure the chilies that you use are also fresh and not wet.)
4. Now, put all the four ingredients in your grinding jar and grind them to paste without adding water. No need to make it into a very smooth paste. A bit roughness is okay.
5. You may need to grind it 3, 4 times if the ginger is hard (mixing thoroughly during the intervals), without adding any extra water, so as to store it for 10 days.

Now, your Ginger-Chili paste is ready for use. Remove the paste from the grinder jar and store it in a tight lid container. You can draw from it with a dry spoon whenever you need it. One spoonful is enough for making spicy dishes for a family of 4 to 5 persons.

If you want to use it along with the pepper, coriander, cumin mixed spice powder, then you may halve the quantities of both those spice mixtures to prepare your dishes tasty and healthy.

You should add this paste or the spice powder while your preparation is still on the flame. After adding the mix, you need to fry or saute the recipe for one more minute or at least for half-a-minute to make it tasty.

Idli With Chutney

Idli is a very healthy breakfast item for your stomach. Eating Idlis with chili-spice powder or a light Chutney is a better habit than eating them with Sambar.

I hope most of you know that Idlis are made with Rice and Black Gram Dal (also known as Urad Dal).

But, it is not the ordinary rice that we use for making idlis. Idli requires boiled rice that is sold in markets (at all provision stores in Southern India) to make it.

The chutney that I refer to here is prepared with fried Chana Dal and Coconut (either raw coconut or dried nut).

Idli Preparation Method

You need to keep things ready 10 to 12 hours before the actual preparation of this recipe. You need to soak the main ingredients for at least 6 to 8 hours before grinding them to paste. Then leave the mixture for at least 2 to 3 hours before preparing the idlis. Of course, you need the Idli Cooker (the idli frame and its container) for preparing the idlis. I am explaining this process, step-by-step, in full detail in the following sections.

Ingredients for Idli Recipe

• 250 grams of Idli rava (roughly ground particles of Boiled Rice). The rice is broken in the flour mills to obtain medium-sized refined particles. 
• 100 grams of split black gram known as urad dal (The split lentil is white in color)
• salt one tea-spoonful
• water for soaking and grinding

Step-By-Step Preparation Instructions

1. Soak the lentils in a bowl filled with water for 8 hours.
2. Remove the soaked lentils from water and put in the grinding jar. Now, grind carefully adding some water each time till it gets ground into a smooth paste.
3. Now, remove the paste from the jar into a large bowl.
4. Mix the idli rava into it along with the salt and some water to make it a soft paste. It should not get diluted.
5. Leave the mixture for some time so that the contents blend thoroughly.
6. Now, get ready the idli cooker with its plates.
7. Apply ghee or any refined cooking oil to the plates so that the cooked idli does not stick to the plates and could be removed without damaging its round shape. (Apply only a bit of oil with your fingers to the plates)
8. Now take the empty cooker and add some water into it for the purpose of cooking idlis with the steam generated from it. Take care that the water level does not touch the idli plates frame when you put the frame in it.
9. Pour the idli mix with a ladle into the oil-applied-plates to their levels (taking care that it does not spill out when fixing the plates to the frame).
10. Now, place the filled frame into the cooker. Light the stove and put the cooker on the flame. Close it with the lid.
11. Within a few minutes, the idlis will be cooked and you will listen to the whistles coming. Wait for 3, or 4 whistles so that it gets perfectly cooked.
12. Now put off the flame and leave it to cool for some time. After cooling, you can remove the plates and separate the idlis from the plates carefully with your fingers.
13. You can serve them instantly to the members along with some side-dish like chutney, spice powder, or the soup known as Sambar.
    

Idli Chutney 

Ingredients for Chutney

1. Fried Chana Dal (Fried chick pigeon peas) 100 grams
2. Coconut (normal or dry nut) 50 grams
3. Green chili 3 nos.
4. Ginger (a small piece) for taste
5. Salt 1/2 spoon (or as you prefer it)
6. Top-Up ingredients (like mustard seeds, cumin, hing, a bit oil)

Step-By-Step Preparation Tips for Idli Chutney

1. Cut the coconut into small pieces for easy grinding. Cut green chilis also.
2. Now, put the ingredients from no.1 to no.5 into your grinding jar.
3. Grind them adding water little by little, in stages, as per the requirement. You can add a little curd also if you prefer to get some good taste. After grinding, the chutney should become soft and in a thick liquid form.
4. Now, remove the chutney into any bowl and top-up it by frying the topping ingredients in a small frying pan.
5. Now you can serve the chutney with a tablespoon along with the idlis to your members.

Home-Made Spices - Multi-Purpose Spice Powder

A multipurpose spice powder that can be used as your sambar/rasam powder as well as a masala powder to spice up all your cuisines. I prepare my Rasam, Sambar, and all my vegetable curries or even breakfast dishes often using this spice powder.

Preparing this powder is very simple by grinding only 4 types of spice ingredients and a bit of lentil in a mixer-grinder.

Ingredients Required for Rasam-Cum-Curry Powder

1. Black Pepper 50 grams

2. Cumin seeds  50 grams

3. Coriander seeds 50 grams

4. Red Chili (dry) 20 to 25 nos.

5. Yellow Pigeon split lentil 75 grams

Step-by-Step Preparation of Home-Made Spice Powder

Step 1: If you can dry all these ingredients in the hot sunlight for some hours, it is well and good. Otherwise, you need to dry them in a hot pan. For this purpose, light your stove and place a deep frying pan on it. After it gets heated, decrease the flame to the minimum level and heat the ingredients one by one. You only need to get them dry so that they can be ground into a powder. After each one gets heated, remove it into a large plate. And, follow the same procedure until all ingredients are done with. Pour all the heated ingredients into the same plate. The lentil may take some extra time. But everything gets done within 5 minutes.

Step 2: Cool the hot ingredients for some time so that they become warm enough to be ground. They may cool down within 10 to 15 minutes. Touch them with your hand and ensure that when you put them in a grinding jar, the jar will not get warm and hot.

Step 3: Now, put those ingredients in the jar and grind them to powder. But, do not make the powder too soft. It should be a dry free-flowing powder to enjoy the spiciness of your dish.

Step 4: Remove the powder from the grinder into a bowl and allow it to cool. Or, you may let it cool in the grinder itself for some time, stirring it with a spoon 2, to 3 times at intervals. After it gets cooled, transfer the powder into any tight-lid container and use it as and when required with a spoon.

How To Use This Multi-Purpose Powder

1. If you are preparing the Rasam dish (a kind of liquid taken with food for better digestion purposes), you need to simply add this powder as it is according to your requirements along with a small quantity of tamarind, salt, and turmeric in a bowl of water and bring it to the boiling point.

2. For preparing other vegetable curries, and breakfast dishes like Upma, Oats, and even meat dishes, you need to fry this powder in some cooking oil along with the other ingredients that you may be adding before cooking the recipes.

I hope you will enjoy the taste of any food prepared with this spice-powder just like me. 

Wood Apple Chutney | Kaitha - Bel Chutney

Many of you must have heard about the wood apple fruit, known as "kaitha", "kabit", or "Bel" fruit in the Hindi language. 

It is known as "Velaga Pandu" in Telugu.

The chutney made from wood apple fruit offers a wonderful flavor that you should enjoy occasionally in your life. It provides a taste of spiciness combined with a tangy and subtly sweet aroma.

Three different styles of Wood Apple Chutney

1. Plain hot chutney
2. Curd chutney
3. Sweet chutney

Ingredients for Velaga/ Kaitha Chutney (Hot/Normal)

1. Kaitha/ Kabit/ Velaga 2 nos
2. Green Chili 2 or 3 (depends on size and hotness) 
3. Salt 
4. Turmeric Powder
5. Tamarind (a small pod or portion of the pulp)
6. Topping Ingredients (see below)

Topping Ingredients

• Dry red chili (2 to 3 nos) 
• mustard seeds ½  spoon
• cumin seeds ¼ spoon
• fenugreek seeds ½  spoon
• white lentils/ urad dal (one spoon)
• Oil to fry (two spoons)

Preparation Tips for Wood Apple Chutney Hot

1. Break the wood apples and separate the pulp from them into a plate or bowl.
2. Light the stove and put a frying pan on the flame (a very small frying pan or bowl that is used for topping purposes).
3. Add oil to the pan as measured above.
4. Put the topping ingredients one by one into the heated pan. White lentils, Red Dry Chilies, fenugreek, mustard, cumin- in that order. 
5. After frying, add the pulp of wood apple to it and mix it well. Then, turn off the flame immediately and let it cool.
6. Take the grinding jar and transfer all those ingredients to it. Add the green chilies, tamarind, turmeric, and salt to it. 
7. Grind the ingredients to become a paste.
8. Now, your wood apple chutney is ready. You may add finely cut coriander leaves to it for a good flavor before serving.

This Kaitha or Kabit chutney is very good when eaten by mixing it with plain cooked rice. It can be used with any breakfast or even with Paratha or Roti as a side dish.

Wood Apple Chutney With Curd

When you prepare the kaitha / Velaga chutney by adding curd, you need not add tamarind to it. Instead of tamarind, you will be adding the Curd here.

You can either mix the ground chutney with the curd separately in a bowl or add the curd also while grinding the chutney in the grinder. It is up to you, at your convenience.

Sweet Chutney With Wood Apple

If you like the sweet chutneys, you can prepare wood apple sweet chutney. For this purpose, no need to add the tamarind. You will be adding Jaggery in place of tamarind or curd.

Grate or peel the jaggery at first, as per your requirement, and add it to the ingredients before grinding. Your sweet chutney will be ready.

All three varieties of this Kaitha / Velaga chutney are good with either plain rice, chapati/roti, or paratha. 

Broken Wheat Recipe: Upma | Dalia Recipe

Broken-Wheat Upma

Broken Wheat recipe can be used as a whole food item or as a breakfast recipe. Many people all over India prepare this dish because of its healthy nutritional qualities. It is one of the many varieties of Upma recipes that are popular all over India and the world. It is widely referred to as 'Dalia Recipe' by most North Indians.

Upma is best for breakfast. It is very easy to prepare and requires less involvement. It can also be used as a snack item in the evening and is most popular in Southern India. It is found in almost all the hotels, restaurants, and tiffin-centers located in even the smallest lanes of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. It is available early in the morning for breakfast or in the evenings as a snack item at some places.

Upma is of many varieties and is made up of either wheat or rice granules. It is a savory recipe using spices and salt. The quality and size of the ingredients vary according to the likes and habits of the people.

But for all purposes, I suggest using medium-sized granulated broken wheat for preparing this Upma recipe. It is rich in fiber and is good for your body as it effectively clears your colon.

I provided the nutritional facts for one cup of cooked broken-wheat upma at the bottom of this post for your information.

Upma Preparation Styles and Time Taken

I prepare Upma in a simple manner using only the basic ingredients necessary for this broken wheat recipe.

I don't add any vegetables or other extra ingredients to my dish. However, you can add some green vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, or other ingredients according to your preference if you want to enhance the flavor and appearance. This depends on the time and effort you have available for slicing the ingredients.

Preparation Time

Preparation Time: 05 minutes

Cook Time:           10 minutes

Total Time:            15 minutes

100 grams upma serves two people.

Ingredients for Wheat Upma

• 100 grams or 1 cup broken wheat, medium granules
• 3 cups water, for boiling before adding the broken wheat
• one green chili (medium), chopped into small pieces
• ginger  a small piece, chopped into small pieces
• a small quantum of mustard seeds and cumin for frying at the start
• coriander leaves
• salt
• half a tablespoon cooking oil, for frying the ingredients

Step-By-Step Preparation of Upma

1. First, keep ready all the above-mentioned ingredients within reach. Cut the chili and ginger into small, tiny pieces and keep ready.
2. Place the deep cooking pan on the flame. Add half-a- tablespoon or two small spoons of cooking oil into it and allow it to heat.
3. Now, add the mustard seeds, cumin, chili and ginger pieces and coriander leaves to it and fry till a splitting sound comes.
4. Then, pour the water of 3 cups into it and add salt. Allow the water to boil.
5. After the water gets boiling, add the broken wheat ingredient to it, mix with the spatula and allow it to cook. You need not place a lid on it. Otherwise, it may come up with intense pressure of steam and spill out during the process.
6. Mix the recipe two or three times during cooking. It will get cooked within 10 minutes. When the water dries up, place the lid and turn off the flame.
7. Allow the recipe to set for 2 minutes and then, serve hot.
8. If you wanted to add vegetables to the recipe, you should add the minutely cut pieces while frying the mustard seeds and other ingredients and let them fry for a minute or two before adding the water.

In the below video, I prepared the Recipe by adding only the main ingredients that are essential as mentioned in the Ingredient Requirement.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1
Calories	180
Calories from Fat	27
% Daily Value *
Fat 3 g	5%
Saturated fat 1 g	5%
Unsaturated fat 2 g
Carbohydrates 18 g	6%
Sugar 0 g
Fiber 1 g	4%
Protein 2 g	4%
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 1 mg
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. So your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Health Benefits of Broken Wheat Recipe

• This variety of Upma recipe is good for health as it contains rich fiber quantity.
• The fiber content is very helpful to your digestion process as it cleanses your colon more efficiently and maintains a clean, unclogged colon.
• The calories or energy that you get from this recipe are quite substantial and lasts for much time even though it is slightly less than other refined varieties of the broken wheat because of their refined contents.
• More fiber means more time for digestion and so you need not feel the necessity of eating frequently. You can keep working for long hours by eating this breakfast recipe in the mornings.
• Even though the fat quantity is more, it gets nullified due to the ample fiber content.