A- Arakeerai masiyal

The month of April is always time for marathon of cooking and blogging. This month we have chosen one cuisine to blog about and and at the same time follow a pattern of A-Z. I am super excited because this is the very first time that I was ready with all my dishes before the D-Day.

Throughout this month I will present to you simple day to day dishes, that has been in my household for a long time. All these dishes are very special since I have learnt them from my grandmother and mother. Cooking at my home is dominated by the flavors and aroma from Tirunelveli District. This is a small district towards the south most tip of India. I have my roots from this place, It is a place where my grandparents lived and my parents grew up. 

Today I bring to your plates, a very simple side dish made from the greens available near our homes. It is called Arakeerai Masiyal. Very simple to make and at the same time, loaded with Vitamin A. This can be mixed with rice or eaten along with sambhar rice. This masiyal tastes the best with kara Kulambu. Ooh.. delicious. 

Now on to the recipe, of the very easy Arakeerai Masiyal 

Ingredients 

Arakeerai - 2 cups

Garlic pods - 2

Green Chillies - 2 

For tempering - oil, mustard seeds and red chilies

Salt to taste

Method

Clean the greens and boil them along with garlic pods and green chillies

Let it cool down completely

Take the cooked greens in a blender and add salt to it

Make a smooth paste from the greens 

In a seperate pan, add a little oil and mustard seeds

Add the red chillies and wait till they sputter.

Pour this tempered mixture over the smooth paste of greens 

Serve this with sambhar or eat it as such with rice.

I had it with pepper potato and papad with steamed rice. 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

Tofu Sandwich

Sandwich are my favorite food anytime of the day. If it is brown bread then I am all the more happy. When I made Tofu Burji for Vegan Cooking. I felt it was a good filling for Sandwich. So immediately headed to the bakery in my neighborhood who make brown bread in house. They are sooper soft and taste very good. And they are FRESH from the oven. 

Ingredients :

Tofu Burji - 1 cup

Wheat Bread - 2 slices

Method:

Arrange the Burji between the slices and serve with Tomato Sauce. 

You can either toast the bread or not.

Sending this to Kids Delight event hosted by Rujuta which is a brainchild of Srivalli

Tofu Burji

Day 6 of Blogging Marathon and it is Tofu Burji that I am gonna serve you people. This is one of the simplest dishes that I have ever made in my kitchen.

My interest to make food vegan has been ever increasing, from the day I mailed Srivalli about my choice of theme. I am forever thinking of making vegan dishes out of non vegan dishes. There are many other dishes which I will be trying, after this marathon. So do watch this space for more vegan dishes. A big thanks to Valli for making me think in these lines.

Ingredients:

Tofu - scrambled 1 cup
Capsicum - finely chopped 1 cup
Onion - finely chopped 1 cup
Cumin seeds to saute
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Method:


Heat oil in a heavy bottomed wok
When the oil is hot add the cumin seeds
As they sputter , add the chopped capsicum and onion
Saute till they are half done
The crispiness of the vegetables should be maintained
Add salt to your taste
Now add the scrambled tofu and mix well
A lot of variations can be done to this simple dish.
Veggies can be added, red chili powder can be used.
Ground pepper can be used
Your imagination can be used to the maximum to make this dish
I kept is simple, as I love capsicum in my food a lot.

Check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking here  

Tofu 65

Wonder how days just fly off. Looks like we just started the Day 1 of the marathon and here we are in the 5th day. Today's recipe is an adaptation from Gobi 65 which we get in almost all the restaurants. And and and .we get different versions of the same dish. Authentic Chinese, Indo Chinese and Indian. This tofu 65 is an adaptation from many Paneer and Gobi 65 recipes that I read with minor tweaks to it.

Ingredients :

Tofu - 1 cup , cubed

Capsicum - 1 cup 

Onion - 1 cup

Corn flour - 2 tbsp

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Garlic flakes - 1 tsp

Red chili flakes - 1 tsp

Soy sauce - 1 tbsp

Oil for deep fry

Salt to taste

Method :

Drain away water from Tofu and make small cubes out of it

In a bowl add corn flour and red chili powder along with some water to make a smooth paste

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed wok

When hot , dip each tofu piece in the batter and deep fry it

When it is golden brown, remove them to a kitchen towel and set aside

In another wok, heat oil and saute the garlic and red chili flakes

Add the sauce, salt , Onion slices and capsicum slices 

Saute for a minute or so in high heat.

Now add the deep fried tofu and the left over corn flour mixture

Turn off the heat and keep stirring

Yummy Tofu 65 ready to eat.

You can garnish with spring onions to get the restaurant effect

Check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking here  

Strawberry Almond Milk Shake

Day 4 of Blogging Marathon and I am here with a ever refreshing drink that makes use of the fruit whose season is fast going away. Strawberry , who would not love to have this yummy fruit. I know people who love it all forms, milk shake, jam, puree, cake , ice cream.. and yes .. now I love strawberry donuts too. 

This milk shake is not with normal milk , but with Almond milk. Making of Almond milk on its own is a separate recipe, that calls for a post. I have two posts that needs to be done, before we finish this marathon. One is on how we can make Soy milk at home and the other about making Almond milk.

Ingredients:

Almond milk - 3 cups

Strawberry puree - 2 tbsp

Honey - as required

Method:

Take all the ingredients in a blender 

Mix well and drain with a sieve to remove the seeds

Serve chilled in tall glass 

Check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking here  

Choco Banana Soy Smoothie

Smoothies are always my favorite breakfast idea. I specially like them for the fact that it is loaded with the goodness of fruits and milk. And of course, it is the easiest way for a healthy breakfast. 

So here we have one. 

Ingredients:

Soy Milk - 2 cups 

Banana - 1 

Choco powder - 1 spoon

Honey - 2 spoons

Method:

Take all the ingredients in a blender

Blend to form a nice smoothie

Serve is tall glasses

Since , I used cold soy milk I did not use ice

Check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking here