Aathirasallu/Ariselu for ICC

The timing for making these couldnt be better.
I wish everyone a very Happy Gudi Padwa!

We call them Anarasa or so I had thought, because while they tasted a lot like our Anarasa the consistency & looks were different. I don't know if that is how they are supposed to be or if it was the way I made them. Anarasa is supposed to be a little coarser in texture and darker in colour. The colour must have been because of the type of Jaggery I used.

Nevertheless the Ariselu, that was the challenge for February month, turned out to be quite delicious, couldn't stop at one! I took the easy way out and followed the second recipe which uses readymade Rice flour. Maybe that was the reason for the difference in the texture as compared to Anarasa. If I had opted for the first method, the result might have been different but the only way I will know that now, is either from fellow ICC members who have tried the first recipe or by making it again!

Ariselu

Makes about 8-10 (medium Poori sized )

Ingredients
1 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup grated Jaggery
1/4 Tsp Cardamom Powder
2 Tsp Grated Coconut
1 Tblsp Sesame seeds
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Take a pan and put the jaggery in it. Pour water over the jaggery just enough to completely cover it. Heat this on high flame and bring to a boil. Remove the scum if any.

Now, add the cardamom powder and the grated coconut and bring to boil again.

Add the rice flour a little at a time and keep stirring to mix well. The quantity of the flour is just enough to form a soft dough. Adjust the quantity if needed.

Switch off the heat and allow this to cool just enough for you to handle the dough.

Heat the oil. Pinch off lemon sized portions of the dough and pat to form a medium poori sized disc. To do this you can either use a greased plastic sheet or do it on your palm using a little oil. I found the later easier and quicker.

Deep fry these in the hot oil till they turn brown. Drain them on a kitchen towel.



My Notes: Although the recipe didn't specify the type of coconut, I used the dry variety. I am assuming that is what is supposed to be used.

The Ariselu were very crunchy and mildly sweet which was great. A definite keeper!

On another note don't forget to send in your entries for this month’s Cooking For Kids event, where we are rounding up Breakfast dishes for kids.

Think Spice – The round up

This had been the first event hosted by me here at Taste Buds and as is natural I was a little apprehensive. But now while I am drafting this round up, I realise that there was no need for the apprehension. Thanks, Sunita for giving me the chance to hot this event. Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement and of course the lovely entries for the event.

And here they are:

To begin with, lets start with the process of making Amchoor itself.

Sayantani of A Homemaker’s Diary, sends in an interesting post about how to make it from scratch, I mean from mangoes of course.

 

Jagruti, Joy of Cooking sends 2 entries - Spinach & Dry fruits Puff and Methi Dhebra with Sukhi Bhaji.




Cooking Foodie, 365 days of eating has sent 2 entries - Potato Cutlets. and Chole Salad.




Sadhana, A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine joins the event with her Baked Spicy Peanuts.




Kalai, My Recipes Diary sends in 2 entries – Stuffed Croissants and Stuffed Veg Cutlets.




Madhuri, Cook-curry Nook sends in a Spinach Raita.




Priya. Priya’s Easy N Tasty Recipes, brings an Indianised chunky Avocado Dip to the event.

 

Swathi, Zesty South Indian Kitchen sends in Methi Paratha.




Smitha, Kannada Cuisine has sent a quick Aloo Paratha.




Jayasri, Samayal Arai has sent Aubergine & Cannellini Beans gravy.




TnS, Turmeric n Spice send in a a very tempting looking Masaledar Aloo.




Tushita, Good eats from India comes in with Aloo Matar.




Vaishali, Adding zest to your cooking has sent the classic Pindi Chane.




Kamala, Cook @ ease sends a Bittergourd Stir fry which is sure to make all the bitter gourd haters change their mind.




Bala, A Life Journey together, sends in Fried Okra.




Kanchan, Kitchen Gossip sends Besanwali Bhindi, which she says is a lovely fusion of Marwari & Marathi!




And my own Instant Bhel Puri completes the array of Amchoor dishes.

Once again, thank you everyone for these entries. I hope I havent missed any entry, but if I have, please leave a comment here and I will make amends.

The event for the month of March is being hosted at Kharas Mithas and the chosen spice is Asfoetida.

Having got the courage (!) and the encouragement, Taste Buds is hosting another event – Cooking For Kids for the month of March. I hope to receive the same, if not better, response this time around too!

Cooking For Kids – Event Announcement

Some one once told me that, once you have kids your whole world revolves around them. The time that you get up in the morning, what & when you eat, where and how you go out, what time you sleep! Practically everything.

This fact is more than evident in the kitchen when you have to think of new dishes to entice your child into eating what you want them to eat. The challenge of course is to make ordinary things look & taste interesting enough for them to have it. At the same time you have to make sure that they are getting the essential nutrition so that they have the energy to do all that running around that they do.

While I dont have to think too much about little S’s lunch & dinner since she does like the vegetables, I am stumped for breakfast ideas. It has to be quick for the weekdays, filling & nutritious plus she has to like what she is eating too. So here I am, asking all of you to come up with your own tried & tested Breakfast dishes for this month’s Cooking For Kids event.

This was originally started by Sharmi of Neivedyam and will be hosted on taste Buds for the month of March.



The rules are as below:

1. Cook anything vegetarian (eggs are allowed) that fits the theme which is ‘Filling Breakfast’ and post it on your blog on or before 3rd April 2010.
Update (1st April): The deadline has been extended to 24th April 2010


2. Include a link to this post and to Sharmi’s CFK page in  your post.

3. Email me at bhagya03[at]gmail[dot]com with ‘CFK’ in the subject line and include your name, your blog’s name, the name of the dish, permalink of your post and a picture of the dish, 250 pixels wide.

4. Old posts can be sent if you update or repost them with the above mentioned links.

5. The deadline for sending in the entries is 3rd April 2010.

6. If you are a non blogger and wish to participate, just send in your entries along with a picture, if possible, on the above mentioned email id.

So bring out all your tried recipes or come up with new ones!

Anyone interested in hosting future editions of Cooking for Kids, please drop in a line to Sharmi at sharmikomal[at]gmail[dot]com.

PS: The round up for Think Spice:Think Amchoor will be put up by Monday (8th March).

Masala Chawli (Black eyed beans)

First of all thank you everyone for the lovely entries for Think Spice:Think Amchoor. As I will be able to compile the round up only during the weekend, I am accepting entries that reach me before Friday. So you can say that the deadline has been pushed to 5th March!

I have just finished reading Jeffrey Archer’s ‘The Paths of Glory’ and was reminded why  I love his books so much. He takes a totally different subject this time and manages to weave a great story around it while putting forth a lot of information about the chosen subject at the same time. A must-read for all the Jeffrey Archer fans and great-read even otherwise. I would have liked the end to be a little different though. Isn't that always the case? Someone or the other will always disagree with the ending that any author chooses.

By the way, remember the Bajra Aloo Roti? This flavourful Masala Chawli (black eyed beans) was made to accompany that. The recipe is from the same Rajasthani Cookbook by Tarla Dalal. I have already said that the book is a good collection of authentic Rajasthani recipe but does lose out on the genuineness some times. I would like to add here that some more pictures would have been great. And this has nothing to do with the fact that I love ogling at those delicious looking food pictures in the cook books, in fact thats the first thing I do when I get hold of a new book! But really, there are some dishes in the book, that some of us have not even heard of. It would have helped if each recipe was accompanied by the respective picture and more importantly on the same page. Actually I have seen this in a lot of books. Why are the pictures put in randomly on any of the pages and then they have to give a key where the name of the dish is followed by the page No on which the recipe appears.

Masala Chawli

Serves 2-3
Ingredients

1/3 Cup Black eyed beans (Chawli/Lobhia)
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, pureed
1/4 tsp Kasuri Methi
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
1 tblsp Oil
Salt

To be ground into a paste
1/2 cup Mint leaves
1 tsp Grated Ginger
2-3 Green Chillies
1/2 tsp Lime Juice

Method:
Soak the Chawli beans for about 2 hrs and then pressure cook them until they are cooked but allow them to go mushy.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onions and sauté till they start browning.

Add the tomato puree, kasuri methi, Turmeric powder and salt and cook till the oil separates.

Add the cooked Chawli and some water (about 1/2 cup, depending upon how dry/gravy like you want it to be), mix well and let this cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the ground Masala paste, mix and cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve Hot with Roti. I served it with the Bajra Aloo Roti and it was a great combination.

My Notes: This was a very pleasant change from the normal Chawli that we make at home (will post that too). I felt that the mint was a little overpowering but maybe it will help if I reduce the amount next time. Also feel free to add more lime juice when serving, if required.