Beetroot Palya - RCI Karnataka

I have had the delight of eating Authentic Kannadiga food prepared by loving friends and their families. Maybe that is why I was very shocked to hear a friend of mine say that she doesn't like Kannadiga food, because it is tooooo sweet esp. the sambar! I was shocked! And then I started laughing... Loud!

See, this is the friend who asks me to prepare sambar every single time she comes to my place... She has asked me the recipe for my sambar and also asks for my sambar powder often. Little did she know that my sambar powder is an authentic Karnataka sambar powder. It was given to me by a friends mom who is a Kannadiga Brahmin from Bangalore and the recipe was her family recipe! (Note: I understand that there might be another thousand authentic varieties too.) Then she realized she ate at 'ONE' restaurant in Bangalore and didn't like it. :) Anyway, to her credit, she regretted her assumptions and asked me a few Kannadiga recipes - to which I pointed out the blogs of lovely Asha and Seema. She spent the next hour and a half drooling at all those recipes. I also told her about RCI:Karnataka and she's all enthusiastic to try out the authentic kannadiga recipes.

Well, It's been ages that I've participated in any food events. Though I wanted to, something or the other cropped up and it always dawned on me after the end date. I let JFI:Jackfruit, Ginger, and Rice - all of which I so much wanted to participate, slip by... This time, I couldn't let RCI Karnataka pass by, esp. after having tasted the real goodness of that cuisine. My favorites from Karnataka are mysore butter chakli, mysore masala dosa, mysore bonda (do you see a prejudice here? All because of those luscious silk sarees from that region I guess!) neer dosa, menthittu, kojju and there's this special type of poli made using roasted channa dal powder (will post the recipe soon) and a no-oil mango pickle that is oh-sooooo-good! and ofcourse that yummy sambar made from aunty's sambar powder recipe, that made me like sambar.

I wanted to make Mysore Butter Chakli, which I relished in Pune. It was easily available in many grocery shops and was very tasty. You can finish one full packet at one go. I looked for the recipe online and asked my kannadiga friends but none knew what I was looking for. And lovely Asha came to the rescue. The recipe requires urad dal powder, which I'm out of, right now. So, I made Beetroot Palya (skipping the urad dal, ofcourse) for RCI Karnataka. I promise to make the chakli for Diwali. :)

Recipe here.
It was very tasty and very different from my usual beetroot dishes, Thanks Asha!

And before I forget, let me boast about something. I've been given an award, oops awards! heheeeee... Awards for a blogger who has become way-too-slow these days. But I'm taking it! :) LOL

The Thoughtful Blogger Award is for “those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others’ feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping other bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.”

The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

Thanks Indo! I think you are so sweet to have passed it on to the slow-snail-blogger me! (hey, anybody giving me an award for being the 'slow-snail-blogger-of-the-year'?)

I can think of so many bloggers whom I can pass these 'Thoughtful blogger Award' and 'The Power of Schmooze Award' to.

Indira of Mahanandi
RP of My Workshop
Priya of Sugar and Spices (Hope everything is ok with you, dear!)
Shilpa of Aayi's Recipes
Krishna and Arjuna of Krishna and Arjuna's world
Saffron of SaffronHut (I miss you!)
Ashwini of Food For Thought
Garam Masala of Spice is Right (I miss you!)
Trupti of The Spice who loved me
Shyam of Food, In the Main

And of course, to all wonderful bloggers who have already been awarded and to all who make me smile! Thanks guys for being so thoughtful and schmoozey! :)

I'm going on a break and won't be posting much until Nov 1'rst. We're off to a much needed vacation to India, this weekend. :) Our parents are eagerly waiting to meet their granddaughter (first granddaughter on both families!)

Leaving on a jet plane!
So long, dear friends! See you in November!

Toronto Living - a beautiful Temple

The Swaminarayan Temple in Toronto

We finally had a chance last weekend, to visit the new temple in Toronto - The Swaminarayan Temple. It is a very beautiful temple - full of intricately hand-carved marbles imported from India. Read more here. Using no nails and no steel, the temple is held together through the sheer force of gravity and has been assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.

Chicken Liver Fry

Many might say 'Ewwww!' or 'Blech!' but there are some serious fans out there for chicken livers. Chicken livers are excellent source of nutrition (click here) ... Just a 22 gm piece of chicken liver can give 62% of Vitamin A, 14% of Iron, 77% of Vitamin B12, 41% of Folate, 29% of Riboflavin, 22% of Selenium and 17% of Pantothenic acid, 14% of Niacin and also satisfy 9% of the protein requirements. Just a 22 gm piece of chicken liver. Wow! All the more reason to eat chicken livers, don't you think? Now, Just a word of caution.. If you have high cholesterol or have a family history of high cholesterol(like me!), you may want to stay away from chicken liver or eat it once in a rare while. Why? The 22 gm piece of chicken liver also contains 32% of cholesterol!!!

Yes, I come from a family of high cholesterolites and for sure, I have the genes to boot. But I love the taste of this dish and love all the good stuff it has to offer. So, once in a while, we do indulge. Here's a tasty dish with a boatload of nutrition (and cholesterol!) .

Chicken Liver - one packet (about 250-300 gm)
Cummin seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Ginger-Garlic paste - 3-4 tbsp or more*
Onions - 2 big ones, very very very finely chopped
Curry leaves - one or two sprigs
Pepper powder- 1 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 1-2 tbsp
Green chillies - 2-3 slightly minced or finely chopped. (Optional, I didn't use, but this adds a lot of flavor and taste. Reduce the pepper powder if you are adding the green chillies)

Chop the chicken livers to bite sized pieces and rinse them well and allow them to drain in a colander. Heat oil in a skillet, preferably cast-iron, as it adds to the flavor of this particular dish. Add the cummin seeds when the oil is hot. When it emits a nice aroma, add the onions and minced green chillies (i.e. if you are adding them) and curry leaves. Saute them till the chopped onions lose their shape (should not get charred).

The best way is to do that is to steam-saute the onions. Saute them and close the skillet with a lid. The steam helps in cooking the onions faster without much oil. Open, stir once and close again. When done, Add the ginger garlic paste and pepper powder and stir once or twice. Add the chicken liver and salt and stir once to allow the masala to mix well with the liver pieces. Sprinkle some water (about 2-3 tbsp, no more) and stir once before closing the skillet with the lid. Allow to cook for 10-12 mins. Remove the lid and let it cook on the stove, till it gets very dry. Serve it hot with rice and rasam. You can also mix the livers with rice and have it.. I love it that way. Also, a great side for the rasam rice.

This dish tastes very similar to the chicken liver fry served in Restaurants. If you try it, do tell me how you liked it.

Note: * The ginger garlic paste used here, is way more than what we usually use for nonvegetarian cooking because it helps to negate the bad effects of cholesterol. I usually add more than the recommended amount of ginger garlic paste.

A simple dal and a Salad with a zing!

Most of the times, it's simplest foods that are eaten more heartily. Be it, Dal, chawal/roti, sabji, or rice, rasam and poriyal or a salad - Very simple food; Very comforting... Is that why, whenever the complexities of life surround us and life just seems too busy to handle, we seek comfort in simple foods?

One such comfort food for us is a simple meal that comprises of green gram dal, rice and curd.. Sometimes a sabji accompanies this hearty fare.. sometimes a salad and sometimes just plain ol'e pickle and papad.

Simple green gram dal
Green gram dal (Green mung) - 1 cup, soaked for an hour
onion - 1, finely chopped
garlic - 1-2, finely chopped
red chillies - 1-2
curry leaves - one sprig
mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
cummin seeds - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
lemon juice - 1 tbsp
oil - 1 tbsp

Soak green mung dal for an hour and boil till soft. Season with the remaining stuff in the following order - Heat oil, add mustard, wait till it pops and then add cummin and asafoetida, then add the red chillies, curry leaves and onions. Saute till the onion turns translucent and add to the dal. Add in the lemon juice and serve hot with steamed rice or roti. (I served it with store bought masala vada and THE salad with a zing!)

Carrot Salad - the salad with a zing!
Fresh carrots - 4
coriander leaves - a handful, finely chopped
green chillies - 2
ginger - 1/2 to 1 inch, for that zing!
lemon juice 2 tbsp
salt, to taste

Grate the carrots. If the carrots are tender, you can grate them directly, after washing. If not, wash them and slightly scrape the skin using a peeler and then grate the carrots. Grate the ginger and green chillies. Add the lemon juice and salt and finely chopped coriander leaves. Toss them using a wooden spoon. Let the flavors mingle for 1/2 hr and enjoy!

Eat hearty with bloggers!

When you are surrounded by lovely food bloggers and blog love, there's always good food around. And everybody eats heartily. Anybody arguing this?

Here's a picture from a meal I cooked, from a recipe from a Indian food blog. Any guess what the dish is and which blog this came from?

Reveal: It is Vellai Poondu Vengaaya Kulambu by Kitchenmate. The kulambu was very yummy. I have tried it with many vegetables on the side, but crispy potatoes were the best combo for this tangy dish. Thanks Kitchenmate!