Taste of Saras

A plate of spaghetti with chicken-balls evokes a feeling of comfort which of course perfect for any meal and these have become favourite of my son. He wants to have them everyday. I have being delaying the preparation for some time.Sine we don't eat beef -I have used store brought chicken balls and made a simple tomato sauce. Spaghetti With Chicken Balls Ingredients Serving Size:5 1 packet spaghetti 1 cup chicken balls (Store brought) For the Sauce: 1 cup finely chopped onions 5 cloves of garlic minced finely 1/4 cup olive oil 2 can chopped tomatoes 1tbsp brown sugar salt and pepper to taste 1 bay leaf 1 can tom,ato paste 3/4tsp dried basil powder 1tsp of any Italian sesseans freshly chopped parsley leaves Preparation Methods: Place a large pot of water on to boil for spaghetti. When it boils, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente.In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover

Grilled Chicken Leg Piece Ingredients 5 chicken leg pieces To be pounded finely: 3 garlic cloves a small ginger 1tbsp sun-dried tomatoes 1tbsp chillie powder 1tsp garam masala 1tsp mustard seeds 1/2tsp turmeric powder 1tsp fennel seeds salt and pepper 2tbsp olive oil salt to taste 2tbsp curd Rub the chicken legs with the finely pounded ingredients and the curd. Prepare the chicken in advance and refrigerate it. 1 cup roughly chopped onions 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes 1 green capsicum diced chopped coriander leaves chopped spring onions 1tsp meat masala powder. Preparation Methods: Preheat the oven to 450° F. Arrange the chicken leg pieces on a greased try and cook for about 15 minutes on each side blasting with olive oil. In a wok add 1tbsp oil and saute the onions,tomatoes ,capsicum and meat masala until tender. Add the chicken and mix well. Adjust the level of salt. Add the chopped coriander and spring onions. Give a toss and plate it.

Mixed Masala Nuts and Dried Tropical Fruits I had small quantity of various nuts in my pantry and didn't know what to do with them.My hubby joked by telling "mix them and add some chilli powder and eat them. You always buy them but never finish!!" Why not that's was a great idea and decide to mix up all the nuts with some dried fruit and they tasted so good that I cannot stop eating them. I'm not a nut eater but now i'm addicted to these nuts.I'm posting the while munching them. These spiced nuts are a great holiday snack or party food. Ingredients Serving Size:4 1/2 cup cashew nuts 1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup almonds 1/2 cup pecans 1/2 cup peanuts 1/2 cup pistachio 1 cup dried tropical fruits Spice Mixture: 1tsp turmeric powder 1btsp chilli powder 1tsp chat masala powder a ping of hing 1tsp black pepper powder 1/2tsp garlic powder 1tbsp roasted white sesame seeds salt 1tbsp dried onion flask Preparation Method: In a heavy bottomed pan heat 2tbsp coconut oil o

Mini Oats Dosai Ingredients Serving Size:5 1 cup quick cook oats 1/4 rice flour 1/4 cup fine rava 1/2 cup curd finely chopped onions 1tbsp crushed jeer seeds salt to taste a pinch of hing Preparation Methods. Soak the water for 20 minutes and grind them into a smooth paste.In a large bowl add all the ingredients and mix well till you get a dosa batter consistence.Just leave them aside for 1 hour. Heat the tava and using a big soup spoon -scoop full and pour onto the tava.Don't spread it. Pour some oil on top and at the sides. When the lower side turns brown, flip the dosa to the other side using a spatula.Cook the other side.Serve these dosas hot with your choice of chutney.

Both my kids are very fond of having egg doas almost everyday. For a change I decided to crack an egg onto rava dosa. It was very good too especially with the crispy edges of the rava dosa. Egg Rava Dosa Ingredients Serving Size: 5 For Egg Rava Dosai: 2 cups semolina 1/2 cup rice flour 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/4 tsp hing powder salt to taste 1 inch ginger 4 green chillies 10 curry leaves 2 tbsp peppercorns 1 tsp cumin seeds eggs Preparation Methods: Blend rava, rice flour and buttermilk to make a thin batter, add hing powder and salt Let the batter stand for at least 6 hours. Wash and finely chop the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves.Crush the peppercorns and cumin seeds. Heat the ghee and roast peppercorn and cumin seeds in it and add to the batter. Mix the chopped greens, into the batter. Stir well.Grease a non-stick tawa, smear little oil. Pour a ladle full of the batter and spread by swirling the tava. Pour a tablespoon oil around and on the dosai. Break the egg onto the dosai. C

As many have mention the climate is very foggy these days which makes very sick. I just hate the climate here!! Changing frequently shining one day-raining another day..spoiling the moods and plans.We went to a b'day party held in a restaurant recently and there we were served with very crispy and mouth-watering mirich bajji. It was good and very spicy indeed. I could taste tamarind,sesame seed sand peanut crunch stuffed in them. I tried to asking around how to prepare them but was able to get a word out of the waiter there; They simply smiled and say "That's our specialty Madam". One of the guest told me a similar way to prepare them which her MIL recipe.I'm not sure whether she have mentioned all the ingredients but it was really very good. Perfect snack for these foggy climate indeed!!! Tamarind Stuffed Spicy Mirchi Bajjis Ingredients Serving Size:6 16 green banana peppers For the Stuffing: 6tbsp tamarind paste 2tbsp coconut powder 1tbsp ajwanin seeds 1tbsp whi

Curry Leave Coconut Thokku All my blogger friends are amazing cooks with delicious and mouth-watering recipe which can swept anyone off the feet. Tina Noble of kaipunyam.com is one of them who has very tempting collection of recipe especially her way in preparing chicken. I was first introduced to her blog by friend of mine who wanted me to prepare her chicken dishes for her. Recently she post a chutney recipe in her blog : Chammanthi Podi and it was really very good. I just loved the color and the texture of the podi.Long back I have tasted it in our family friend's home which differs from Tina's. I have made the same recipe with slight changes. She has dry roasted the ingredients and powder it. I have add some coconut oil and roasted the ingredients and grind to coarsely paste and tamper it with mustard and channal dal.Thanks for sharing the recipe with us Tina and will try more of your recipe soon!!!

The climate here in Dallas is disaster. Shining one day!! Then freezing the another day!! Whew..it's kind of hot few days ago and the heat is shooting up to my head and wanted to cool myself.But what kind of food to cool off?? Recently my hubby got me a new juice maker-the completely set :"The Bullet Express" from Costco and it come with a guide and a recipe book.I was flip thur them when I came across this recipe "Sparkling Granny Blast" I have add a few more ingredients to quench my thirst.It's very quick beverage to fix in less then 10 minutes...I have decide to try out all the beverage recipe mentioned in the book as soon as possible. I was actually planning to prepare another recipe today but the climate is a very chilly. Sparkling Granny Blast Ingredients Serving Size:1 person 1/4 pineapple cubed 10 strawberries 2 large carrots 2tbsp brown sugar 1/4 cup sparkling water few ice cubes Preparation Methods: Place a large glass under the juicer sprout and

Singapore Chicken Curry Serving Size:4 Haha!! I know!! I'm back with another specialty of my hometown which is a mixture of Malay, Chinese and Indian spice blend.The curry is aromatic with the addition of Malay/Thai ingredients like kunjit (yellow ginger) galangal (blue ginger), candle nuts, lime leaves,pandanus leaves or fresh basil leaves and lemon grass.Curry leaves turmeric powder and garam masala give a Indian touch to the curry and addition of sugar give a Chinese influence which have created Nonya food.Sometime it's a big headache to find a the ingredient here in USA. I have a habit of preparing from the scratch but wasn't able to get candlenuts. When my hubby was working in Singapore-a bowl of chicken curry with some rice would be his lunch most of the time. I tried to make the curry but was not able. Recently I got the curry paste in Asian stores- Yeo's Singapore Chicken Curry. I was so delight and prepare the curry few weeks back and completely forgotten about

Crispy Masala Vadais Whenever I visit India during my childhood- my parents used to have a train journey from Chennai to Salem(my mom's hometown). It's a very cherishable memory for me as they used to serve crispy dhal vadai with spicy onion chutney..Whew that's was heaven. The aroma of those vadai will swept you off from your seat.It's one of the fast and delicious snack loved by all age group.The ingredients are always available in our pantry.I can still remember the story which many grandma tell their grand-kids about an old lady (paati) making crispy vadais under a tree which the crow stole and how a fox fooled the crow by telling that it got a beautiful voice and made the vadai drop from the crow's mouth.. After a very long time I decide to make these vadai few days back as I was craved for some simple and hot to be eaten with a strong steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee.It's a best companion during these winter season when we feel like staying at ho

Madras Chicken Curry I came across this recipe in a cooking book. The original recipe uses mutton but since I haven't got any mutton left in my freeze so I'm preparing it my fav chicken..The taste was really as I have prepared it with ghee instead of oil.The chicken is cooked slowly in low flame so that the sauce are absorbed and the curry matures to a full flavor. Ingredients Serving Size:5 1 whole chicken cut 1.5 tsp turmeric powder 2tbsp coriander seeds 2tsp cumin seeds 10 dried chillies 12 curry leaves 2 tomatoes chopped 10 garlic cloves chopped roughly a small ginger piece chopped roughly 1tsp fennel seeds 1tbsp tamarind paste 4tbsp ghee 3 large red onions sliced 2 cup coconut milk 1 cinnamon stick few cardamon seeds curry leaves chopped coriander leaves Preparation Methods: Rub the cut chicken with turmeric powder. In a pan dry roasted the coriander seeds,cumin seeds and dried chillies separately.Once they are cooled -grind them to powder in a pestle and mortar.Make a pa

Corn Muffins Serving Size:5 Ingredients 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup all-purpose flour 1cup brown sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg, beaten 1/4 cup melt butter 1tsp vanilla essence 1 cup milk Preparation Methods: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.In a large bowl, mix together corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add egg, oil and milk; stir gently to combine. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clear.

Grilled Masala Fish/Masaledar Macchi Can you imagine our electricity bill has shot up compared to the previous month.The heater is on 24 hours due to the bad weather.I have being baking and grilling too much recently and I decide to put a stop to the usage of the oven. Due to that I kept on complaining that I'm helpless without the oven and cannot prepare any new dishes.My hubby got so frustrated and surprise me with a new grilling pan two days ago. I was really speechless and gave my hubby a big hug. I have prepare this recipe using my new grilling pan.I have paried up this grilled fish with lemon rice..hmmm a mouth-watering dish and my hubby praised me for preparing a delicious grilled fish for lunch:) Ingredients Serving Size:4 1lb tilapia fillets 2tbsp paprika powder 1tbsp chillie powder 2tbsp fish masala powder salt to taste 2tbsp lime juice 2tbsp olive oil 1/4 cup sliced onions 1/4 cup slice tomatoes 2 green chillies quartered half lemon sliced Preparation Methods: Cut the

Tortellini With Green Peas Pesto I got some organic green peas at Costco which was a good bargain. It was in the freezer for quite sometime and wasn't sure what I going to do them.Maybe I should make green peas masala and in the end I ended up preparing Tortellini with Green Peas Pesto. The natural sweetness of the peas makes a great addition to the pesto The vibrantly colored pesto made from peas and fresh herbs dresses up pasta and it was delicious:) Ingredients Serving Size:5 1 package cheese-filled tortellini 1/2 cup very fine chopped red onions 2tbsp pine nuts or walnuts 1 cup frozen peas 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese 2 cloves garlic, minced 1tsp lemon juice 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil ground black pepper to taste 2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil chopped parsley leaves salt to taste Preparation Methods: In a pan over high heat, bring water to a boil; add ravioli. Stir occasionally until pasta is tender to bite, 4 to 6 minutes; drain and reserve some of the water.Bring a small sa

Ghee Rice With White Kurma and Sardine Curry Ingredients Serving Size:5 When first came to USA I don't know A-Z in cooking. Then slowly I tried out recipes from books, my MIL,friends and web. With encouragement and support from many I can cook and many has enjoyed themselves saying that the meal served was delicious.We had my son's 4th birthday in Owasso and for the first time my hubby invited his office colleagues. I was to cook for about 25 people both veg and non-veg. I did managed to prepare them with my friend's help . Ghee rice and grilled buffalo wings become very popular among them. When we left Owasso some of my hubby's friends mentioned that they will be missing my grilled buffalo wings and ghee rice. Actually I wanted to post the recipe for sometime but end up posting something else. While preparing this for the first time my hubby accidentally brought a packet of green peas with pearl onions but it become a blessing for me as everyone really like that taste.

Spicy Egg Muffin Masala Ingredients Serving Size:5 I guess I'm getting very forgetful these day..I just found few white hairs..ohhhh.I'm getting old:(We have to get older and wiser at the same time rite but I'm not getting any wiser than before just pure lazy!!!Just wanted to spend my whole day under the blanket without and disturbance. If the GOD happens to come before me-the first the thing would be:Please sent me back to my childhood life again!!!There only way I feel more to home is by blogging. I really wanted to try something very different with eggs..always having scramble eggs,hard boiled eggs ,omelet was kind of become bored to me.How about breaking eggs into greased muffin tin and bake them. Hmmm you will never know until we try...So here I am with Spicy Egg Muffins with our Indian touch:) For The Masala Paste: 2tsp poppy seeds 1tsp fennel seeds 1tsp coriander seeds 1/2tsp cumin seeds 6 dried chillies 1 small cinnamon stick 4 cardamom peeled 3 cloves a small star