ONION RAITA

Raita is  a commonly made side dish for biryani, pulao.  You can also serve with dal roti, dal rice.  You do not need any special item for making raita.

Normally, the basic things like onion, tomato, cucumber etc. are always available with any of the Indian Household so preparing a raita makes the task very easy.  If not these are available at home, you can add some boondis  or sev to the curd along with some spices like chaat masala, chilli powder, roasted cumin powder etc.

BLACK PEPPER RICE

We can make various rice varieties and each one has its taste and aromas.  Since so many days, I was thinking of preparing Black Pepper Rice somehow I could not do that.  Today, as I had to go out for my daughter's orientation programme, I decided to cook rice and quickly made the black pepper rice and went way so that after coming from the college, I can just heat it up and have it.

It was a simple preparation yet very delicious along with onion raita and papad.  Loved it.

DATES KHEER

Today, I have invited my brothers and family for lunch.  Menu was decided by my daughter lauki partha, rice, sambar, payar thoran.  for dessert, mummy, I will leave it to you, she said.  I was bored of cooking the normal kheer viz. pal payasam, wheat payasam, ada pradhaman, semiya payasam  etc. etc.

I made dates chikoo milk shake and next day I tried the dates kheer too.  Somehow, I could not post the same as the photographs were lost due to fault in my camera.  Since I had the opportunity to make the dates kheer again, I thought I will post the same today itself.

RAJGIRA PARATHA

Rajgira paratha is made like we make the normal parathas viz. alloo, lauki etc. It is quite tasty and healthy too.

One thing you remember, serve it hot.  If it becomes cold, it does not taste as good as  the hot stuff.

RAJGIRA DOSA

Rajgira or Amaranth seeds it is known as is most pretein rich grain.  We can make porridge, laddu, chikki, uttappa etc with this.  It is also known as Ramdana in UP.  I always buy the chikki and laddu available in the market.  I was wondering what is this about and after browsing the net, I came to know that it is Amaranth seeds.

Today I made uttappa, dosa and partha out of it.  It was really awesome.  Here I am sharing with you now the dosa recipe.

Since I am making it for the first time, I tried with little quantity but came out so well.

BRINJAL GOTHSU, KATHRIKAI GOTHSU

Brinjal gothsu is prepared in tamarind gravy with some tomatoes and onions.  this can be served with idli, dosa, chapati too.  It is a simple preparation and will be loved by everyone. I made it slightly in a different way and it was too good to have with dosa and chapati.

Here I am sharing my version of gothsu.

BAJRA SPROUTS SUBZI

Bajra or Pearl Millet it is known as is very popular in Rajasthan.   This has been eaten in India since the pre-historic times.  Rotis and Kichadis are made out it normally, espcially in winters.  It is high in proteins with good amount of amino acids,  good source of iron, which helps in formation of hemoglobin thus prevents anaemia.  It is also a moderate source of vitamin B1 which is required for a healthy nervous system.

I had soaked the bajra for making kichadi but somehow, I could not complete the process.  So I removed the water and kept it for sprouting.  When I saw the sprouts, I thought of making subzi out of it.  

A healthy side dish for roti, chapati.

JACKFRUIT UTTAPPA

Jack fruit uttappa can be made with the batter made for jack fruit dosa.  For making uttappa, I made little masala for it to make it more richer and tastier.

JACKFRUIT DOSA

I got a jack fruit which was given by my brother as someone had given him.  When I cut it, you will  not believe there was only 4 bulbs in it.  We were quite surprise to see such a big jack fruit with only four bulbs in it.  Any way, I do not waste anything. So thought of making dosa, jack fruit  uttappa, cutlet out of the four bulbs I had.

Out of the four bulbs, I used two for making dosa and uttappa and another two for making cutlet.

BANANA SKIN THORAN, BANANA SKIN STIR FRY

Banana skin (nendrankaya) is used to  make thoran or stir fry subzi in Kerala. After peeling the same for making the chips, the skin is chopped very finely, along with vella payaru it is called (lal chowli or red chowli or karamani), this subzi is made.  I normally eat the same with Curd rice as I love the taste of it with curd rice apart from serving the same with rasam rice or sambar rice.  Banana skin can be used for making thogayal, chutney too.