Homemade Sambar Powder Recipe | Easy Sambar Powder

Sambar Powder Recipe - Sambar Powder or Podi as it's called in Tamil doesn't go hand-hand with me given the fact that I hardly make sambar, same goes for my mom she hardly use to make sambar, rasam etc so having sambar powder is out of question but when we (me & my sister) use to go to flour mills for grinding wheat or channa dal, I used to see Tamil aunties bringing sambar powder ingredients for grinding. At first I didn't knew it's sambar powder they will  grind coriander seeds, red chilli, curry leaves plus other ingredients together I used to wonder why they do that, we give red chilli and coriander seeds for grinding separately not to mention we never add curry leaves in that I still remember I used to find that very amusing so I will go near the machine to inspect all the ingredients (not that I knew all the spices those days) used in that particular masala.

So you can understand my mom never used sambar powder whenever she made sambar and I followed same thing once I started cooking.  Sambar powder in sambar was introduced to me by my sister though I never really understand why she used sambar powder.  Is chilli, coriander and turmeric powders are not good enough, silly me !

But then slowly I started to understand why sambar powder is after all used in sambar and started to make myself in small batches, my journey towards a humble and flavorful powder :) So this recipe of sambar recipe is from a friend whom follows her mother recipe, I tried it once and from then I am hooked to that as it's very flavorful.  Sambar powder has many version from different Southern Indian States and this version is from Tamil Nadu, so if you didn't so far tried sambar powder then it's high time you should try now.

Ingredients for Sambar Powder (Podi) 

Dry Red Chilli/Sukhi Lal Mirch- 250 gms [Use long dry red chilli]

Coriander Seeds/Dhaniya - 250gms
Turmeric/Haldi - 3 pieces or tumeric powder - 1/2 tbsp
Split Yellow Pigeon Peas/Toor Dal - 2 tbsp
Bengal Gram/Channa Dal - 1 tbsp
Peppercorns/Kaali Mirch - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds/Rai - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds/Methi - 1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves/Kari Patta - 2 sprigs [optional]

Method:

1. In a kadai (wok) dry roast all ingredients one by one until light brown or fragrant and allow to cool.
2. Grind all ingredients into fine powder in mixer/blender or coffee blender, work in batches if needed, sieve powder and remaining big pieces grind again.  If making in large quantity you can get it grind in flour mill (if you happen to have one near your place).
3. Allow to cool powdered masala and store in air tight container.  You can refrigerate sambar powder for longer shelf life.

Our sambar powder is ready, use in sambar or even in rasam, curry.  Sambar recipe you check Drumstick & Brinjal Sambar,  Carrot & Beans Sambar.

Have a nice day ~~

Homemade Ginger Garlic Paste Recipe

Ginger-Garlic paste is used regular in Indian cooking, most of the curry calls for ginger-garlic paste and ofcourse we all love this one don't we? So did you ever wonder how to make ginger-garlic paste at home? Nothing beats fresh home made ginger-garlic paste.  I never really liked store ginger-garlic paste; not only they look dull but after a while it smell weird and perhaps taste too,  I always prefer to make my own paste or I freshly mince ginger-garlic, a habit which I am hooked too but then to cut short the mincing time I prepare paste and keep in fridge to make it handy on weekdays.

Most of you may already know how to make ginger-garlic paste at home as there is no rocket science involve in this but for those few people whom still prefer to buy it this recipe is for you, try at home and then you will never look back. I learnt this from my sister she used to make this in large batch over weekend and add turmeric powder+oil.  I follow same, turmeric powder & oil helps to keep paste fresh for longer time ie it's works as preservatives and doesn't get the paste color change after a while.

Though making ginger-garlic paste at home is easy, the only difficult or time consuming task is to peel garlic and if you happen to have Indian garlic which has small pods then it's more painful.  But here what I do, I normally do the peeling while watching TV, and it helps me in doing it with my own pace without realizing that I am doing any work, just be a little mindful of knife you are using in case to peel it.  For other useful tips on how to peel garlic read below.

Ingredients for Ginger Garlic Paste

Chopped Ginger - 1 Cup
Garlic Cloves - 1 Cup
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Rinse and peel ginger, chop in pieces.
~ You can use knife or peeler to do this job.
2. Peel garlic and chop if desire. [ Check below for tips to peel garlic]

3. Grind together ginger, garlic, turmeric powder and oil into smooth paste, check with a spoon if any garlic or ginger pieces left, if yes, give a run again.

4. Use clean, dry spoon and store in clean, dry glass bottle or box and refrigerate.

Shelf Life ~3-4 Weeks

Shelf life of this ginger-garlic paste can be 3 to 4 weeks or little more but I don't like to use it for long time so I always make this to last me for a month or less, which is the quantity I mention above.   Always use a clean, dry spoon to take out paste.

Notes ~

~ Always use clean dry spoon, if not paste may change color and get spoil soon.
~ Keep the paste in fridge always, don't let the paste sit on your kitchen worktop.
~ 1:1 ratio works best for ginger-garlic paste so try to keep the same.

Tips To Peel Garlic ~
These are tried and tested tips to peel garlic, during festive in my in-law's place we do ginger-garlic paste in large quantity and peel more than 1-2 kgs of garlic at one shot.
1. Soak garlic cloves in water for 30 minutes, garlic will get peeled easily.  Pat dry well peeled garlic before using.
2. In a large plate take enough wheat flour that can cover garlic cloves and rub between palm for 3-4 minutes, lot of garlic will get peeled and other you can peel off easily.  Clean peeled garlic in kitchen towel to remove excess flour.
~ This is my MIL method but I don't do this cause it involve to apply pressure while rubbing garlic & flour plus the garlic ends are little hurtful while rubbing.
3. Take a garlic clove and press it's head (top part) or tail (bottom part) on a flat surface or floor, little skin will out you can easily peel of garlic now.
~ It's one of the most easy method, only thing is some time the garlic pod will break if applied too much of pressure.
4.  Start peeling garlic clove head with a small knife.
~ It's again the easy method which normally I follow.


Hope you find the post and the tips useful.  Have a nice day ~~

Homemade Kitchen King Masala Powder Recipe

Kitchen King Masala is one of my favorite masala powder and it's used in many North Indian recipes.  The flavorful kitchen king adds wonderful aroma and taste to any dish perhaps that's why it's called Kitchen King?  I love badshah brand masala over any other brand but unfortunately it's difficult to get badshah brand masala here unless I am lucky to lay my hands on that and the funny thing is I never got Kitchen King in badshah brand, I mostly end up using Everest.

You may know by now I like to make my own spice powder be it garam masala, garlic powder, ginger powder, dabeli masala or any other thing but I never really thought of making my own kitchen king until recently.  I followed list of ingredients from Everest Kitchen King Masala packet and made my own aromatic kitchen king powder.   You may find list of ingredients long but it's really flavorful and fabulous spice powder to have in your kitchen, if you don't have one or two ingredients you can skip that.  If you can get poppy seeds do add that and have your very own home made kitchen king.

Ingredients for Kitchen King Masala Powder

Cumin Seeds/Jeera  - 1 tbsp
Caraway Seeds/ Shah-Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Dry Red Chilli/Sukhi Lal Mirch - 8
Turmeric/Haldi - 1 pieces or Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Seeds/Dhaniya - 1 tbsp
Dry Ginger/Saunth/Sukku - 2 pieces [I used  Ginger Powder - 1/2 tbsp]
Black Peppercorns/Kali Mirch - 1/2 tbsp
Cloves/Laung - 8
Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds/Pili Rai - 1/2 tbsp
Green Cardamom/Hari Elachi - 8
Black Cardamom/Badi Elachi - 3
Fenugreek Seeds/Methidana - 2 tsp
Bengal Gram/Channa Dal - 2 tbsp
Fennel Seeds/Saunf - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon/Dalchini - 4 sticks 1" each
Star Anise/Chakri Phool - 1
Nutmeg/Jaiphal - a small pieces or 1/2 tsp grated/powder
Mace/Javitri - 2 small pieces
Poppy Seeds/Khus Khus - 1 tbsp [I didn't use  & not listed in ingredients picture]
Rock Salt/Kala Namak - 1/2 tbsp [Not listed in ingredients picture]

Method:

1. Dry roast all ingredients one by one and allow to cool.
~ Don't have to roast powder like ginger, nutmeg etc if using in powder form.  You can roast all ingredients together too but I never do that.
2. Cool all the ingredients and grind into smooth powder using mixer or coffee/spice grinder.  Sieve powder through a big strainer, grind again if required and discard any large pieces of spice.
Cool powder masala to room temperature and store in air tight container.

Have a nice day ~~

Homemade Mixed Fruit Jam Recipe

Homemade is better any day doesn't matter what ever that may be and homemade jams too fits the bill, we can control sugar quantity, add our choice of fruits and most important we know it has been made in a hygiene environment, not to mention homemade jams taste more delicious than anything for the simple reason that it's fruit of our labour.

I started making jams couple of years back and that's thanks to blogging we intend to try new things.  I have tried all those crazy combination, sugar replacement and what not but among all mix fruit jam is family favorite.  But somehow whenever I make jam I never managed to take pictures, I always think I will do it tomorrow and we all know that tomorrow never comes thus none of my jam appeared in this blog.   I was planing to make jam again for quite some time now but it was not happening until last week I pulled myself and decided complete the task.

I have used fruits available in my pantry you can use any fruit of your choice.  Since I added more of black grapes color of jam is nice dark brown, if you like your jam to be in red/dark pink color then add more of strawberry and less of red grapes.  Don't miss apple and a well ripen banana, while cooking the jam the banana fragrance was mind blowing and it also helps to add sweetness.  Don't worry about the timing, just keep flame in slow and do your other things but remember to stir in intervals, don't keep forget about it totally :) Step-vise pictures are taken from my hand phone, that particular time I couldn't find camera memory card so clicked with hand phone, old habits hardly dies :) so ignore the picture quality, won't you?

Ingredients for Mixed Fruit Jam

Apple - 1
Ripe Banana - 1
Orange - 1
Plum- 3
Sugar Prune - 3
Seedless Black Grapes - 2 Cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 Cups Or More if needed
Lemon Juice - 1/2 tbsp or Citric Acid - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Peel, core and chop apple, plum, prune, orange and banana.
2. In a blender or mixer add all the fruits and blend until smooth. [I got 4 cups of puree]

3. Bring the fruit puree to a pan, add sugar, stir and cook in medium to bring it to a boil. Slow flame and simmer until it thickens stirring in regular intervals.
4.  Once jam starts to thickens, add lemon juice/citric acid and mix well.

5. Cook until jam becomes thick  it takes around one and half hour in slow flame, do stir in intervals.
~ My jam is little more on thick, firm side the way I like. You can stop cooking once desire consistency reached, just make sure to cook in slow flame and stir regularly.

Tips to Check if jam is ready ~
1. If you lift your spatula and pour jam, it should flow together and not in drops.
2. Pour few drops of jam in a plate, if it's spreads then it's not ready, if it's stays firm without moving then your jam is ready.

6. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and store in sterilize jar.

Isn't it looks gorgeous, nice and glossy?

Variations ~ 
~ You any use any fruit of your choice like pineapple, strawberry, all types of berries, papaya etc
~ Use strawberry more for the dark pink color jam.
~ Increase sugar quantity to suit your taste, for us this itself I find it sweet.

Have a nice day ~~

Top 10 Favorite Recipes of 2012

I am back from an unexpected break with top recipes of Indian Khana from 2012.   This year has been the most challenging from the year starting to the end now it's just getting painful but these things make us strong and realize everything that which we take for granted.  So I am hanging out there, I know things will change.   In blogging I took couples of unexpected break but other than that I did quite decent I guess.  With hope and wish next year to be a better one here comes top 10 your favorite recipes of this year.

Wish you all a Happy Year End and Great Start of 2013.

Most popular recipe of 2012 is Black Forest Cake, it’s easy to prepare and taste too delicious.

Next up is a simple DIY recipe of garlic powder

Next comes Eggless Butterless ie Vegan Chocolate Cupcake

One of my favorite, the authentic Gathiya recipe made it next in the list.

 Another favorite tea time and festive snack Namak Para

To satisfy sweet cravings in less guilty way is Sweet Potato Halwa

Go royal with rich and delicious Mughlai Mutton Masala

And easy, quick and no cooking sweet for any occasion is Coconut Laddoo

Popular during fasting (vrat) but it’s good for just any day and simple too Singhara Burfi

Ending the top 10 with most unexpected Kutchi Dabeli

Have a great year end.

DIY: Diwali Home Decoration Ideas | Themes

I guess most of you will be busy with Diwali shopping, cleaning and with all the sweets & savoury preparation, among all this busy things we also need to think how to decorate our home, what new things to try.  My sister does this so well, each year she will choose one colour and theme, she will plan well and do the work effortlessly on the D day.  So I thought I shall share some of the Diwali home decoration ideas with you to give you guys little ease.  Do let me know if you liked the post.

We shall start with Rangoli as most of us do that whether it’s outside of house or inside.   

Here is simple rangoli and a diya on centre, on entrance.


Or go simple with rangoli or say it’s kolam using colour chalks


You can also try Pookalam or flower arrangement.  A simple and quick design also bring lot of festive mood.



Floating Candles arrangement is very attractive and inexpensive idea and it’s looks very pretty.  Keep it any where around the house and made the area looks special.  You can match the candle’s shape, colour with your theme.

A simple floating candles arrangement, used here fresh flower petals with few pebbles and candles of different colours. 



Or go little detailed and do this decoration with fresh flowers.  Fresh flowers arrange on top of water with just one candle in the centre, looks pretty isn’t it? 



After lighted up it looks like this, very festive what you say?



Oh you notice the change of candle?   That’s cause the candle was sinking so I replaced it with diya/oil lamp and I think this looks much better. 



Show you guys dinning table decoration.   You can keep fresh flowers for a simple and elegant look and that’s bring freshness or go little elaborate like the below picture.

You can use a table runner, if you don’t have one at hand it’s fine.  Use your dupatta or sari ( I am not responsible if you end up having any strain on your favourite saree or dupatta )  so be careful while serving or eating.    This is a saree in light cream colour with flowers petals along a centre piece arrangement.  A light colour table runner is used cause the backdrop wall is dark colour of red.  Keep few candles in dinning table too if you have the space. 



And this is the centre pieces on the dinning table, a very simple arrangement with a candle on side.



I am going to sum up the post with some pooja place decoration idea.  My mom would make a simple rangoli or kolam around the pooja area, you can do that.

Here my sister used a new saree and dupatta to decorate the wall and bring some Indian look.



No, this is not your cup of tea?  Never mind we go simple with just some floating candles and fresh flowers.



Or try with some simple rangoli design, flowers, diyas, and some Christmas decoration items.



Hope you liked the ideas, have a nice day ~~

DIY: Homemade Decorative Diyas | Hand painted Diyas Design Ideas

Diwali celebration and diyas/oil lamp goes hand in hand.  Though filling the diyas with oil and lighting the lamp might be tedious job but after lighting all the diyas or oil lamp all around the home it’s looks so beautiful and that’s makes me so happy.    We can do the same with candles but the authentic feel diyas gives candles can never do that, I personally think so, do you agree?
And if the diyas is painted and/or decorated by ourselves then it’s gets better.  Each year we do this and paint diyas by ourselves, it’s so easy and fun process.  You can involve your kid and make this as a project for them, they will do this much better than you expect and will be engage for some times, giving you opportunity to finish off your other works, does this sounds interesting to you now, no?  Okie, if I say we can recycle these diyas and make it new each year with new colours and design now interested? 

 All we need:

Clay Diya/Oil Lamp
Oil or Water Colours or any paint colours
Small painting brushes
Tissue and newspaper

 Optional:
Glitter or plain colourful glue

And your creative ideas

Spread the newspaper on working area and keep all your diyas and other item ready. 

Do a base coat of any colour you like if you are using water colour then you might need to do double coat, here used is golden colour and around the corner you can use glitter colour glue and make any pattern/design as you like.  Just some simple dots, lines and see how beautiful it looks.  These diyas were design by my nephew.



Or you can do like this, use a base colour, here red is used and then with sliver and golden colours dots are made in simple pattern.



Here a closer look, so pretty I think.  And guess what these are the same diyas as the above golden painted you see, it’s just been recycled with new base colour and design.  Not only we go green but also make it look new and interesting each year, cool rite?



And our diyas are ready to lighten up our home and life.


Simple isn’t it?  Hope you got inspired and will try to be creative too.  

  If you are still not able to decide what to make for Diwali then checkout the roundups for some motivation. 

  Diwali Savoury Snacks  Ideas
  Diwali Sweets Ideas 

 And if you would to know how Diwali or Deepavali is celebrate across India then check out this Diwali Celebration Details.

Have a nice day ~~