Holige / Obbattu

   Finally, I am back to doing my favourite job of writing my blog. I was not able to update it for quite a long time since I was busy with my little one. Now i have decided to do some justice to my passion.

    Here is the recipe of one of the most loved sweet dishes of South Indian families and thats Holige. Its prepared on Ugadi (the new year of Kannadigas). We celebrated it just two days back with our families. People love to have it with milk and ghee. 

     There are various forms of Holige made with coconut, sugar etc. Here is the recipe for holige made with toor dal.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 and 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Maida - 1 cup

Wheat flour - 2 tbsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Oil -1/2 cup

Ghee - 1/2 cup

Method:

            Take  a bowl and mix maida, wheat flour, turmeric and salt. Add sufficient water and make very soft dough.  Pour oil over dough and allow it to rest in oil for around two hours.

             Now cook the toor dal in the cooker for around two whistles. Blend the toor dal after removing the extra water from it. 

             Heat a heavy bottom pan and add a tsp of ghee to it. Add the ground dal to it. Powder the jaggery and add to it. Cook on low flame till the mix thickens and forms a thick paste consistency. Reduce the flame and add the cardamom powder to it. Mix well and switch off the flame. Allow the mix to cool down.

        Make balls out of dal mixture and keep this aside. This forms the filling. Take small quantity of dough mix and flatten it in your hands. Place the filling in it and close properly. Roll the dough as thin as possible. Heat a flat pan. Place the flattened dough on it and roast on both sides. Apply little ghee on both sides. Serve hot with ghee and milk.

Note:

     You can also mix both channa and toor dal for the stuffing.

Enjoy Cooking :)

Okra and Coconut

      Have you ever tried this combination. I was also a little doubtful about it. I tried it once and turned out to be very good. The best part is this even tastes best with both rice and chapathi.

Ingredients:

Ladies finger (chopped) - 1 bowl

Oil - 4 tsp

Channa dal - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to it. Once they splutter, add channa and urad dal. Also add turmeric.

Add the chopped ladies finger to it. Shallow fry them till they are cooked. You can sprinkle little water to it to avoid the okra from becoming very crisp. 

Once they are cooked, add coconut to it and mix well. Add enough salt and mix. Serve hot with rice or chapathi..

Enjoy Cooking.. :)

Penne Arrabiata

             PASTA.... The one word which I used to hate. I tried it in many places but always ended up hating it. Even when I travelled to Italy, I didnt like it. Then realised that I can make some changes to this recipe to make it taste good for our Indian palate. Finally I was able to make pasta that I would like. I am sure everyone would like it too..

            On the days when you are really bored of eating rice and chapathi... this is the best meal.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 4 med size

Onion - 2 med size

Garlic - 5 to 6 pods

Pizza seasoning - 3 tsp

Basil leaves - 5 to 6

Tomato ketchup - 3 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Shredded cheese - 4 tsp

Salt to taste

Olive oil - 4 tsp

Method:

Make small slits on the tomatoes and boil them in water for few minutes. Then peel the skin and grind them coarsely with garlic and onions. You can even chop the onions finely, but I prefer them to be grinded.

Boil pasta along with oil and little salt in water for around 10 to 12 minutes. Pasta usually takes 10 minutes to cook. Once it is done, strain  them and put them in cold water to stop cooking.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add the ground paste to it. Cook on medium flame. Add little water if needed. After 2 to 3 minutes, add chilli powder and Italian seasoning. I usually use the seasoning packets that I get from Dominos and Pizza hut.. :P 

Also add the tomato ketchup to it. Mix well and allow it to cook for few more minutes. Add enough salt to it as you have already added it when boiling pasta.

When it starts to thicken, chop the basil leaves finely and add it to the pan. Add the boiled pasta to it and mix well. Close the lid and cook on low flame for few more minutes. Garnish it with shredded cheese and serve hot.

Note:

1. I have used approx.. 180 gms of pasta. Use can use upto 200 gms for two people.

2. Italian seasoning is also available in the market.

Corn and Cucumber Salad

        A healthy snack and a tasty salad. It is very easy to make with all the fresh ingredients and flavours.

Ingredients:

Sweet Corn (boiled) - 1 cup

Cucumber (chopped) - 1 cup

Tomato - 1

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup

Coriander chopped - 2 tbsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Olive oil - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

For the dressing, take lemon juice in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper powder to it. Also add olive oil and coriander to it and mix.

In a separate bowl, add boiled sweet corn, cucumber and chopped tomato. Add grated coconut to it and mix well. 

Pour in the dressing and mix all the ingredients together. Serve fresh. 

Enjoy Cooking.. :)