Gongura puliyodharai - Rice with Ambadi Leaves

This week for the Blogging Marathon I, picked the special theme Book marked recipes.  I always feel  happy to see a unique recipe on other's blog.  One such recipe is this  Gongura puliyodharai  from Jayashree , when I read her recipe last month I was so surprised that she made rice from this plant ie. Ambadi.  I have been seeing this plant for years during my walk daily in forest of SGNP Thane and it never struck  me that even  these leaves are used to prepare rice.  We usually use these leaves to make a mixed leafy vegetable. This is also freely available, there is saying what comes free is never valued.     After reading  her recipe the next day when I went for walk, picked up these leaves and  prepared this rice for lunch,  really enjoyed it.  The tanginess of the leaves and crunchiness of the peanuts made this rice really yum.  

I also clicked a pics of the plant one green and the other  when the plant turns red, i,e, when the fruit is ripe.  Do you know the fruit outer part is dried and then powdered, this is used to  make any food preparation tangy ( like amchur powder).

Ingredients

1 Cup Rice - cooked and cooled
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
2 Teaspoon Oil -  (I used groundnut oil, but any oil you regularly use/like will work)
Salt to taste
A fistful Peanuts - roasted 

To fry :

1 Teaspoon Urad dal
1 Teaspoon Chana dal
2 Teaspoons Coriander seeds
2 Sprigs Curry leaves
2 Red chillies
1 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 Teaspoon Oil
2 Cups Gongura leaves(washed) -  packed tight


Method :

Spread the cooked rice to cool. Add turmeric powder and 2 tsp of oil to it and set aside.

Heat a tsp of oil. In it, fry on low heat, the urad dal, chana dal, dhania, curry leaves, red chillies, and mustard. Set aside. Fry the washed gongura leaves in the same pan on a low flame till wilted. Let it cool.

Powder the fried spices to a coarse powder. Add the gongura and grind again to a paste without adding any water. Add this to the rice in small quantities and mix well. Add required amount of salt and mix. Top with some more curry leaves. Fry a fistful of peanuts in a teaspoon of oil and mix it into the rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#47.

Labels: Rice, Blogging Marathon,South Indian, Ambadi, 

Milk Sandwich Bread

This bread is buttery and soft and the texture perfect.  I had this bread next day just as it is,  without toasting it and the taste was awesome and flavorful ( may be because of the butter used.  The bread can be sliced also very well.

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Milk
1 Egg
5 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
3 Cups All purpose flour
1 Teaspoon Instant yeast
1/4 Cup Butter (unsalted)

Method
In lukewarm milk add the butter, sugar, yeast and mix this well till the butter melts. Leave this aside till the yeast is foamy. 

In a large bowl, combine all purpose flour, salt and egg . Mix well add the yeast mixture and knead until you have a soft and elastic dough.  Then take this dough on to the kitchen counter and continue kneading for about 15 minutes. After you find that  the dough is soft and smooth, place this in an oiled bowl. 

Let it proof in room temperature covered with cling wrap for an hour or double in size.

Remove dough and punch out the gas. Divide dough into 2 equal portion. Roll and shape into balls.

Flatten one ball and roll out into a longish shape. Roll up the dough swiss-roll style. 

Do the same for the remaining dough.

Place dough in lightly greased bread tin/pan. Let the dough proof for the second time, until it fills up 80% of the tin/pan. Cover with cling wrap.

Bake at pre-heated oven at 200 degree C  for about 25 to 30 minutes.

When slightly cooled unmold the bread and place it on a cooling rack till it cools.  See that the dough is cooled completely before slicing.

Labels:  Breads, Bake a thon

Bake-a-thon 2014

An InLinkz Link-up

Vada Pav (Mumbai Style) - Street food

Vada Pav is a hugely popular street food in India and has its origins in the state of Maharashtra. Vada Pavs are common to find in every part of India and is sold by roadside vendors and some shops. The first Vada pav was first sold in Dadar, Mumbai around 1970.

Vada pav is  served with a with different types of chutneys.

This dish was initially started as the most cheapest form of a meal for low income group, but due to its taste, this dish became so popular that many sophisticated hotels also have started dishing out this dish at extra cost. The Vada Pav is still regarded as a humble dish, and many people have it as their meal too.  My daughter loves Vada Pav, when she was in Brussels and we were visiting her, she asked me bring for her  Vada Pav.

This is recipe on day 3 which I choose from here.

Ingredients2 Big Potatoes - boiled and mashed lightly
1/2 Teaspoon Chilly powder
½ Teaspoon ground green chilly garlic paste
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
¼ Teaspoon Asafoetida
1/4 Teaspoon Lime crystals or 

1/2 Teaspoon Amchur powder - I used this
¼ Cup chopped coriander - chopped finely
Salt to taste
1 Teaspoon Oil

Oil as needed for frying

2 Green chillies for frying

For the Batter
¼ cup chickpea flour
2 Tablespoons Rice flour
1/4 Teaspoon Chilly powder
Salt to taste
Water as needed

To Serve
Pav/ Bread as needed
Green Chutney

Dry Lasun Chutney

Method

Mash the potatoes and add the chilly powder, ginger- chilly paste, turmeric powder, amchur powder, coriander and mix well. 

In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds when they splutter add curry leaves, asafoetida and pour on the mixture and mix well. Make vada's and keep aside.  

In the meantime heat the oil in a kadai on medium flame.

To make the batter 

Mix all the batter ingredients and add water as needed to make a thick batter, as soon as water it added to the flours, it starts becoming lumps, so mix it with hand to remove lumps or use a whisk. Do not make it too thin, the coating does not hold on to the stuffing it is too thin.

Making vada 

Dip the vada with a spoon into the batter and put it into the oil and fry till cooked. Fry green chilly also lightly and sprinkle salt a little keep aside.

To serve  

Slit the pav. Add dry lasun chutney on one side and on the other side green chutney place the vada.  

Press and serve with fried green chilies. 

Labels : Starters, Blogging Marathon, Street food, Savory Snacks, Vada Pav, Mumbai, Kids delight, Snacks

Dry Lasun Chutney - How to make Dry Lasun / Garlic Chutney

Ingredients
1 Cup coconut powder - packet one
2 Tablespoons Chilly powder

6 Large Garlic flakes

1 Teaspoon Sesame seeds - lightly roasted
Salt to taste

Method:

Grind together all ingredients to a coarse powder. This is dry powder, so do not add water. 

Taste to adjust the pungency.  This can be stored in airtight containers for about a month.

Labels: Chutneys & Dips

Green Chutney - How to make Green Chutney for Vada Pav

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Coriander leaves
Few Mint leaves
3 Green chilies
1 Small piece Ginger (optional)
A pinch Sandhav Namak
Salt to taste
1 Teaspoon Lime juice
2 Tablespoon Fried Crumbs of the Vada batter

Method:

Grind all to a smooth paste. Do not make too watery.

Labels : Chutneys & Dips, Green Chutney, Vegetarian, No Onion No Garlic, Gluten free, Vegan