Onion Masala Buns / Onion Khara Buns

Happy Vinayagar Chaturthi Wishes to all my friends n readers. May The Lord Ganesha Bless u with all Health & Prosperity. Hope some of u had a wonderful festival n some still enjoying the special occasion with friends n family sharing all delicious Prasad :) I am stil getting ready for the pooja, planned everything for evening. So today bit busy with other things, not in a mood to blog but have to post for the final day of blogging Marathon. As i prepared the recipe in advance its now easy for me to post today. Onion Masala Buns is more or less similar to Khara Buns/Savory Buns in taste, with the addition of more onions but this is really more soft like my Garlic Buns since i followed the same recipe. This recipe is slightly adapted from Gauri's Masala Bread recipe. On seeing the Masala bread which she posted last week i was so much tempted as i love savory bakes, so immediately tried it on my way. Thanks Gauri for the recipe/idea it turned out so delicious and we enjoyed it a lot. These buns are great for tea time snack, even it tastes good when dipped in hot tea/coffee. Do give it a try n let me know h it turned out to u. Now to the recipe.

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Onion Peas Kurma

For Day 2 of Blogging Marathon under the theme Cooking With Onions, i have chosen my Mom's favorite recipe, Onion Peas Kurma. My mom makes this kurma mainly for Puri. It doesn't require more ingredients n big preparation, just simple kurma with usual coconut grinding and veg sauteing.

I just tweaked my mom's recipe and made it with frozen peas. If u r out of veggies but at the same time u want to make some rich n delicious side dish for your rotis, this kurma is the best option. Since this kurma tastes excellent even without vegetables but for a whoelsome n healthy meal u can also add a cup of finely chopped mixed vegetables of your choice. But try this version without veggies, u will love this kurma for its unique flavor n taste. I like the onions to be bit crunchy, sure that adds a good taste to this kurma. Hope u will also like this yummy n aromatic kumra. Now to the recipe...

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Bhindi Do Pyaaz / Okra Onion Masala

Cooking With Onion is my theme For the 3rd week of BM n for day 1 am going to share Bhendi Do Pyaaz . When Valli announced this theme, very first recipe came to my mind was "do Pyaaz " which means cooking with double the addition of onions or more onions. Generally I love adding more onions to my cooking that too for dry curry, poriyals n stir fry too. This time tried Do Pyaaz with Bhendi/Okra. And it turned out so flavorful n delicious. Remember the tip given by my sister, adding yogurt/curd to any okra dry sauté gives nice taste n sliminess free okra fry/curry. So tried that too, over all Bhendi Do Pyaaz came out so well n tasted delicious. Sure a great combo with Rotis or even with Rice n Dal Tadka. Now to the recipe...

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Modhagam / Thengai Ellu Poorna Kozhukattai / Sweet Kozhukattai

Today's recipe is Lord Ganesha's favorite sweet, Modhagam / Sweet Kozhukattai for final of Blogging Marathon under the theme, Vinayagar Chaturthi Special. My Grand pa used to say more stories about God(purana kathaigal) n i remember the one about Lord Ganesha. In that story, He told about the birth n power of Lord Ganesha. Of that entire story, Ganesha's childhood part is my favorite, hope its favorite of many of u rt?! I loved the recent movie about the childhood part, Bal Ganesh. In that movie also they have shown like Lord Ganesha love lots of Modhagam n he eats more n more and thus he got such fat body :) That's y we offer this Modhagam to Ganesha on Vinayagar Chaturthi, so that Lord will be more happy by our offering and Bless us with all our needs. These are all small believes n it does not necessary to offer something to God to get his blessings. Simply a whole hearted Prayer n strong belief makes our life peace n happy. May Lord Ganesha gives u all happiness n peace.

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Kondakadalai Sundal / Black Chickpea Sundal / Kala Channa

For the second of Blogging Marathon under the theme, Vinayagar Chaturthi Specials, I am going to share a simple n healthy neivedyam ~ Kondakadalai sundal. Sundal is one of the easy neivedyam and is made on all special occasions like, vinayagar Chaturthi, Krishna Jayanthi, Saraswathi Pooja, Navarathri n many more special days. Not only on special days u can make this sundal daily for your tea time snack, as its a very healthy n filling snack. I usually make twice or thrice in a week with different legumes. I have already share 4 types of sundal recipes and u can see them Here. Each recipes is simple n different from other. This kala channa sundal is with out adding onions, just tempering is needed. Good amount of freshly shredded coconut is added for more flavor n taste. Now to the recipe...

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Ulundu Kozhukattai / Kozhukattai With Savory Filling

From today n for the next two days i will be sharing Vinayagar Chaturathi Special recipes as its one of the theme of Blogging Marathon # 20. Vinayagar Chaturathi / Ganesh Chathurthi falls September 19 this year. Kozhuakattai is one of the main neivedyam and it can be made it many ways, sweet n savory filling, ammini kozhukattai, pidi kozhukattai, uppu kozhukattai, neer kozhukattai etc. Today going to see kozhukattai with savory filling - Ulundu Kozhukattai.
My mom never made this ulundu kozhukattai, she makes Poornam kozhukattai with chana dal jaggery n savory kozhukattai with Yellow Moong dal. But i tasted this urad dal filling kozhukattai in my neighbor maami's house. She used to share all neivedyams with us n i like this one very much. So i made this n except my lil' one we 3 enjoyed it :) The recipe as follows.

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Snake Gourd Fry / Podalangai Poriyal

Snake Gourd is one of my most favorite vegetable but For the past 5.5 years i hardly cooked 2 or 3 times,since am not able to find this vegetable here more often. But now getting this vegetable very fresh in our Indian Store and started cooking it once or twice in a month :) Recently i made Podalangai Kootu with Coconut n it was hit with my kids too. And few weeks back, i wanted to make poriyal/fry with this veg and made this simple recipe. For this Poriyal i used Dalia(pottukadali)-Sesame powder which gives nice flavor n texture to this fry and also i like to add some cooked chana dal or moong dal to this poriyal n added chana dal this time. This goes well with any variety rice,curd rice,sambar sadham,rasam etc. I even love it with dosa n chapathi also. We had with curd n Tamarind rice(blogged soon). Now to the recipe...

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Broccoli Coconut Dry Curry / Broccoli Coconut Poppy Seeds Dry Curry

For day 2 of Blogging Marathon under the theme, Dry Vegetable Saute, today we going to see Broccoli Coconut Dry Curry. This is another interesting and nice recipe with Broccoli, this dry curry serves as an best accompaniment with both rice and rotis. I simply altered the kurma recipe and made this dry curry. In this way Broccoli tasted so delicious and very aromatic. you can simply roll with chapathis or stuff your bread and pack it as your picnic/travel food. If cooked properly/without moisture this curry stays good for 2 days in room temperature. Now to the recipe...

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Potato Capsicum Stir Fry / Potato Fry / Varuval

After 10 days of sickness now getting better n hope to recover completely soon. Thanks a ton friends for all your Prayers n Wishes. As per my schedule i will be posting my Blogging Marathon posts this week. Last week for I am not able to do BM - Indian Basic theme,as i didn't prepare rough draft n also it requires more writing n a elaborate recipe since i was struggling lot with my headache n dizziness. So i quit that week from Blogging Marathon. But This week I will be posting under the "Theme - Dry Vegetable Saute". Potato is my Family Favorite vegetable n i often do this Sliced Potato Fry. But for a change this time added 1/2 cup of chopped capsicum n masala powder to my fry. It was so flavorful n yummy, we had this potato capsicum fry with Mixed Beans Dhal Bhat. Very Simple Recipe, even kids will love this stir fry if it made less spicy. So please adjust spices to your taste. For this fry i used Yukon Gold Potatoes n Red Potatoes. Both tastes good for stir fry/curry/roasting. Now to the recipe...

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HomeMade Ginger Garlic Paste / How To Make Ginger Garlic Paste

For the Past two years, we faced so many health issues and we felt that we are recovering from all those problems but from last week i am having severe headache n dizziness. And on this Weekend i suffered lot due to Dizziness, went to Urgent Care n now in medications. Still Having headache and dizziness comes n goes. That's the reason i couldn't spend much time on Blogging n blog Hop. I couldn't sit and read , i feel like riding on a boat, n in worst condition the dizziness leads to vomiting n dehydration. Dr. told that theres no specific reason n no need to worry about it n will be alright within a week. Hoping for the best. I really really miss visiting other blogs for their recipes,pictures and writing. But still some of my blogger friends are more supportive n never fail to visit mine...They are very prompt but i couldn't be like that, So Sorry friends n don't mistake me will check your posts once i am back to normal. All my Blogging Marathon recipes for this week n next week were made ahead and even few were scheduled. So will be posting for the committed one and hope U all will continue your support n keep visiting my space. Thanks!!

Another session of BM starts today n for this week I have chosen the theme, Indian Basics. I should say that this is the first Basic recipe in my blog, so far I did not shared any such recipes, becoz of one main reason, h to click n present them?!. But after seeing this month's BM theme I decided its time for me to work on it n some how tried my best!! In that row, today we going to see Ginger Garlic paste, one of the main basic ingredient for most of the Indian curry, Biryani/Pulao, stir fry, gravies etc.

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Hara Bhara Kabab / Spinach Peas Potato Patties

For the last day of Blogging Marathon under Kids Delight ~ Evening snacks/Tiffin theme, I am sharing the healthy and delicious Hara Bhara Kabab. Few months back, we had this kabab in an Indian Restaurant, first on looking the kabab my boys doesn't like it n thought it as a spicy or bitter dish and they refused to eat. In restaurant it was served with spiced yogurt dip, so i asked them to taste the kabab with some yogurt and after two bites he thoroughly enjoyed eating with yogurt dip. First time i tried this kabab after watching Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe video on youtube. This Hara Bhara kabab is made out of spinach,peas and potato along with spices and is deep fried or shallow fried. To make it healthy i simply toasted the kabab on tawa and served with ketchup. Now to the recipe...

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Chola Paniyaram / Corn Paniyaram

Today's recipe is one of my favorite Paniyaram, Chola Paniyaram/Sola Paniyaram. For every summer vacation me n my sister go to our Grandmother's House. Those two months were so joyful with our grandparents and cousins. Daily my grand mom used to make some yummy snacks or light tiffin for our evening tea time munch. She often makes tasty Paniyarams for our evening snack with left over idly batter, moongdal and this chola paniyaram. This is traditionally made with sorghum but i couldn't find it here, so i simply tried with Dry Corn kernels(used to make popcorns). Yes, i made this with Dry corn kernels, the idea was supported by the Versatile blogger Priya and Nalini. But this dry corn kernels requires more soaking time at least 24 hours of soaking time. So if u want to make it quicker and easier you can simply try with adding corn meals to idly/dosa batter. Let me try that too and update here soon.
But i am so glad that my experiment doesn't fail and the paniyaram come out so well and tasted too yummy. The pictures are the proof of my experiment :) Like me my kids too love paniyarams and they loved this too. Served this chola Paniyaram with Spicy Tomato Chutney(recipe coming soon). Now to the recipe...

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Murungai Keerai Masal Vadai / Keerai Vadai

Another week of Blogging Marathon started from today and for this week I am gonna share some yummy Kids Delight ~ Evening snacks/Tiffin recipes. First comes the very famous South Indian Tea Time snack ~ Masal Vadai / Paruppu Vadai with Murungai keerai/Drumstick leaves. After a very long time now again i started making some deep fried snacks, my kids too asking for such snacks, they loved My Minty Chickpeas Vada very much and asked me to make it again...so i decided to make one vada for this theme and of course for my kids who really enjoyed it :)

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Mixed Beans Mango Salad / 15 Beans Mango Salad

How can a summer special post ends without a mango recipe?! So for the final day post on the theme "Summer Salad" going to share a super delicious n nutritious salad with Mixed Beans and Mango, both raw n ripe mangoes. Long back i bookmarked this salad from Taste of Home site. The original recipe is with Black beans only but i recreated with mixed beans/15 beans combo. Usually i make Sundal and curry with the 15beans. This 15 beans pack are available at all local grocery stores. It comprises of mixed beans, peas, lentils and are as follows...black beans, red beans, Dark and Light Red kidney beans, navy beans, great northern bean,Large and,Baby lima beans,pinto beans,Green and Yellow split peas, black-eyed peas,Various forms of lentil- Red Chief, Eston, Pardina, Crimson, Cranberry beans (shell beans), chick peas, Small white bean, Pink Bean.
For today's post i actually wanted to share a fruit salad but except mangoes n apples everything was over. Then i decided to make some simple salad with mango n mixed beans which i soaked to make sundal. Leave some setting time for this salad, so that the dressing blends completely with the beans n fruits. This recipe was adapted from Taste of Home.

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Carrot Salad With Orange Honey Dressing

For the Day 2 of Blogging Marathon # 17  under the theme "Summer Salads" I am going to share you another refreshing and healthy salad - Carrot Salad with Orange Honey Dressing. First time i tried this orange-honey combo for my salad as dressing and it turned out awesome. It was superb! n i have no words to explain the taste...Friends do give it a try, sure you will love it to the core, even if u don't like salad i am sure you will love to eat this healthy n colorful salad. You won't believe, my 3yr old loved this salad very much but he didn't like raw ginger pieces. Other than that he loved it :)
This recipe was slightly adapted from allrecipes.com In the original recipe they used lemon juice n sugar for dressing but i replaced lemon with Fresh Navel Orange n sugar with honey. To make it even more healthy n tasty i added a handful of cooked black eye peas, finely chopped raw mango,red onion n tomato and few ginger stripes. I also tried the same with fresh lime juice that was also so refreshing and yummy. This salad can be served along with your meal too, so that u will consume more salad n less food ! The recipe as follows...

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Cucumber Salad ~ Tangy N Refreshing !!

Time for Blogging Marathon # 17 with a new Format, instead of 7 days of blogging only 3 days for two/four weeks that too with posting on alternate weeks options too...Very interesting right?! To know more about the Blogging Marathon n the Rules plz hop over to Valli's Space. For this edition i picked to post for 2 alternate weeks. For this week i chosen "Summer Salads" as my theme. Me n My H love salads with or without meal n any time of the day. He doesn't like the dressing part only the tossed raw/fresh fruits/vegs but i love salads with dressing only, that too if it is sweet-sour-spicy!!
Here the past few days were too hot n reached to 75F-80F, i made lots of refreshing drinks like Orange Mocktails, Minty Blueberry Mocktails n lemonades to beat the heat. In that row, this Cucumber Salad is another refreshing n perfect summer recipe. I made a very simple, light n tangy dressing. And also added few Raw striped mango and kashmiri chilli powder to the salad along with few almonds for crunchy taste. On whole i turned out so delicious n refreshing, Do try this at home n let me know h it turned out to u. The recipe as follows...

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Minty Chickpeas Vada / Mint Chickpeas Vadai

For the last day of BM #16, I am going to share a super yummy n healthy snack, vada/vadai recipe with my Star Ingredient - Chickpeas/Channa. First i decided to make oven roasted chickpeas for snack then changed my mind and made this crispy n tasty vada with mint flavor. To make it healthy n filling, i added some finely chopped Spinach,Purple Cabbage and Carrots. And this vadai is fully made with chickpeas n i did not add split yellow peas/chana dal like my Green Peas Cabbage Vada. It come out beyond to my expectation and we all enjoyed,yes...after a very very long time i made deep fried snack at home. My kids n H loved this vada a lot. As they were so much tempted with the color,flavor started urging me for this yummy vadas So i first served with few vadas and at the end of my work i left with some 5 vadas only for final pics. I was completely blank n dunno how to present them n h to click with  few vadas?! Quickly remember that many of my blogger friends had presented their cookies/brownies/chewy bars using cut cookie sheet/MW liner. Then without other options i tried doing it of my own, as the vadas were not flat one i couldn't stack them. Really thanks to those creative minds which helped me this time to present my recipe :)

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Poornam Boorelu With Chickpeas ~ Low Calorie Version!

Hi Folks,Hope you all enjoyed your weekend n buddies Here in US still in the holiday mood rt?! due to Memorial day- holiday!! Actually we planned for a trip to enjoy this long weekend but from Friday i caught with cold n Flu suffered with severe body ache. So all our plan was dropped ok we planned again next month :) Today i am feeling much better.
For Day 6, under the theme Pick One Cook All with my star Ingredient, "Chickpeas/Channa" here comes a Sweet recipe, Poornam Boorelu with Chickpeas. Poornam Boorelu is a traditional Andhra Recipe which is done with channa dal and deep fried with urad dal batter. I replaced channa dal with chickpeas and instead of deep frying i used my Paniyaram Pan to fry them. I love anything with jaggery in any form. I just love this version a lot n my kids too. Urad dal n Jaggery n Chickpeas are well know for its nutrients n vitamins n iron contents so without spoiling its health factor i simply made this delicious sweet in Paniyaram Pan as low calorie guilt free sweet. Hope u too like it and do try this at home and enjoy! Now to the recipe...

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Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad

For Day 5 of BM#16, I am going to share a simple and very refreshing Salad with my star ingredient, Chickpeas/Channa/Garbanzo Beans. Usually i make Sundals for my evening snack and sometimes will skip cooking n simply toss the legumes/dals with lime n carrots or even sometimes with yogurt. Salads which doesn't require cooking/half cooking process impress me a lot. One such recipe was this Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad which i bookmarked @ Heather's Dish. In the original recipe, she added pulsed baby spinach but i skipped it becoz i don't have it in hand and also I Indianised it with the addition of kashmiri chilli,chaat masala n cumin powder. I loved eating this salad a lot than the chickpeas Sundal. This is very refreshing, tangy n lil spicy. Perfect for both Sunny n Rainy  days. Friends do give it a try, its very simple n i am sure you will love it to the core. Now to the recipe...

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Mixed Veg N Chickpeas Clear Soup

For Day 4 of BM # 16, I am going to share a very healthy n yummy soup with my Star Ingredient "Chickpeas" along with mixed vegs like carrot,beans n sweet corn. Running 4th day of Blogging Marathon under the theme "Pick one Cook All" with Healthy n light Soup. This soup recipe was adapted from Priya's Blog. I am a big fan of Her easy n healthy soups n this Broccoli Chickpeas Clear Soup is one of my fav recipe n bookmarked it long back. I am not much fond of soups and also so lazy to make it but i love the Instant Maggi/Knorr soups. This chickpeas clear soup is one of the easiest n simple recipe, Instead Broccoli i added mixed vegs of my choice n it turned out so good n filling. Even my 3yr old enjoyed sipping the soup. I love to much the croutons dipped in hot soup...Mmmm!! Thank you so much Priya for this healthy n tasty soup. The recipe as follows...

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