Spring Rolls

Half a Cabbage
3 Carrots
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
10 -12 Spring onions
3 tsp Chili paste
2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
½ tsp Agi na moto
3 tsp Soy sauce
1 tsp White Vinegar
Spring Roll Pastry sheets

TYJ Spring Roll Pastry sheets are available in Indian grocery stores in packs of 25 at $1.49. Place the corm sheets outside (from freezer) so that will become soft to use.

Chop all vegetables very finely, bring 2 cup of water to boil in a sauce pan and add the vegetables and salt and bring to a boil, cook for 5 – 6 min and drain the water. Use a muslin cloth, place the boiled vegetables in it and roll and squeeze till all the water is removed.

Take 2 tsp of ghee in a skillet add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute, add all the vegetables, agi na moto, soy sauce, vinegar and chili paste. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning according to taste, stir fry for a few minutes on High flame. Keep aside and let cool.

Take one sheet from the packet, place it on a cutting board like a diamond with one edge facing you, take a spoon full of the vegetable base and place it on the roll leaving some part of the sheet. Cover with the part of the sheet with your fingers and fold and tuck the remaining sheet. Use water to close the sheet. (Please look in the photo tutorial)

Size of the roll and amount of vegetable base is entirely a personal choice, but smaller rolls fry faster.

Complete all the rolls before you start frying. Once the rolls are ready they can be fried or frozen for future use. This process can be done at leisure and stored in freezer and fried in oil when you have guests or for a quick evening snack.

Fry in oil on medium flame, turning them frequently. Remove when they are golden yellow in color on to a paper towel so the excess oil can be absorbed.

Cut the rolls diagonally before serving. Serve with chili sauce or ketchup.

Spring Rolls - Photo tutorial

Photo tutorial for spring rolls.


Chop vegetables very finely.


Boil, saute all vegetables along with spices into a dry base.


Place spoonfull on the corn sheet and roll, tucking the edges. Use water to close.


Have the rolls ready before frying.


Fry on medium heat till they are golden yellow.


Serve with hot chili sauce or ketchup.

Rava Laddu

2 cups Rava - Sooji
1/2 cup freshly grated Coconut - Optional
2 cups Sugar
5 - 6 tsp Ghee
1/2 tsp Elachi powder
Cashew nuts
Raisins
Less than 1/4 cup Milk

Take 2 tsp of ghee in a skillet and fry cashew nuts and raisins till they are nicely done. Remove from the skillet into a glass bowl.

Add 1 tsp of ghee and fry rava for a few minutes and then add freshly grated coconut till the mixture changes into a nice golden yellow. Add elachi powder.

Transfer the mixture into the glass bowl, add sugar and remaining ghee and mix well. Heat milk in a micro oven (to a boil) and gently sprinkle on the rava, mixing using the palm of the hand and making into a round ball pressing tight. Add milk as required.

Nuts and raisins are optional. Save in the refrigerator in a box to retain freshness.

Pulihara

2 cups Rice
4 Green Chilies
1/2" Ginger
Few Curry Leaves
Lemon size Tamarind
Cashew nuts or ground nuts
4 tsp Sesame seeds
1 tsp Jaggery

Dry fry 4 tsp of sesame seeds and grind to a powder.

Cook rice in a rice cooker with 1:2 ratio water to rice. Add turmeric and 2 tsp of oil to the rice before cooking. Doing this will help spread the color of turmeric evenly and the oil will give a certain fluffiness to the rice. Once rice is done spread on a flat basin and set aside.

Add water to tamarind and micro-oven it for a minute, let cool and extract the pulp, adding as less water as possible.

Take 3 tsp of oil in a small skillet and make tadka (poppu), fry 1 tsp of cashew nuts or peanuts according to taste, 1 tsp urud dal, 1 tsp channa dal, few mustard seeds, jeera, hing and 2 red chilies. Then add chopped green chilies, ginger and curry leaves.

Once they are all fried the next step can be done in 2 ways depending on the taste.

If you like the crunch of the poppu, remove the poppu from the pan with a spoon or strainer and can be added to the rice or it can be left in the skillet. Add tamarind pulp, salt and 1 tsp of jaggery and let boil till the oil separates.

To the rice in the basin add 2 tsp of raw oil (without heating),tadka (poppu) and 4 tsp of sesame powder. Mix all the above thoroughly. Check for salt and seasonings.

Green chili and red chili pieces in pulihara taste very good. They absorb the sour of the tamarind and that gives a special taste to them. Do try them.

This is a favorite telugu dish, mostly done during festivals.

Ugadi Subhakanshalu - 03/26/2009

Virodhi nama samvastra subhakanshalu to all my readers.


Vepa puvvu. Sun dried it and brought it from India.


Mangoes. From my father's backyard in Vizag, India.


Items required for Ugadi pachadi.


Ugadi pachadi.




Naivadiyam/offering to God.

Menthi Badalu

2 Firm Granny Smith Apples --Ha..Yes...
1 Lemon
2 tsp Red Chili powder
1.5 tsp Menthe Powder

For Menthi powder:

1 ratio Mustard seeds
1 ½ ratio Fenugreek seeds
Handful Red Chilies
Hing

Wash and dry the apples with a paper napkin. Keep the skin and cut into small pieces. Transfer them to a bowl and add lemon juice, mix and keep covered for 10 minutes. The sour/tart and firm the apples are, the pickle comes out good.

For the menthe powder:

Take 2 tsp of oil in a skillet and fry fenugreek seeds till they are nicely roasted then add mustard seeds when they splutter add red chilies and hing. Red chilies can be adjusted according to taste.

The mixture emits a toasty aroma when they are nicely roasted.Let cool. Grind to a powder in a spice mill or blender.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place or in a Ziploc bag to retain its freshness and aroma.

For the baddalu:

Take 5 tsp of oil in a small skillet, when oil is hot add a tsp of mustard seeds and hing. Remove from flame and let cool for 3 – 4 mins. Then add 2 tsp of red chili powder, 1.5 tsp of the menthe powder, salt and turmeric. Mix well and add it to the apple pieces. Taste for salt and adjust seasonings.

Actually we do this with raw mango and it is called menthi badalu. It is a good side dish in mudda pappu or curd rice. It can also be eaten with rice and tsp of oil.

Apple

An Apple a day keeps the Doctor away! This proverb, taught in school about The Forbidden fruit that, it's so easy to overlook their amazing and unique health benefits about such commonly-consumed fruits.

Late summer and early fall is a peak time for apples, farms mostly allow for picking during this time.

Look for firm fruits with rich coloring. Red and Golden Delicious are among the sweetest apples. Brae burn and Fuji apples are slightly tart, and Graven stein, Pippin and Granny Smith apples are the most tart, but retain their texture best during cooking.

Rinse apples under clear running water like you would any fruit to wash away any pesticides used for the tree. Don't peel the skin unless the recipe you have chosen requires peeled apples. To prevent browning when slicing apples for a recipe, simply put the slices in a bowl of cold water to which a spoonful of lemon juice has been added.

In addition to being eaten raw, apples are a wonderful addition to a variety of recipes from salads to baked goods.

Add diced apples to fruit or green salads.

Apples are used to make cider (unpasteurized) and juice.

Puréed apples are generally known as apple sauce, mostly used as baby food. Peel, slice and cook in a cup of water till the apple is very soft, mash with a spoon, add cinnamon powder and brown sugar as needed. Store is air tight container.

Apples are an important ingredient in many desserts such as apple pie, crumble and apple cake. They are often eaten baked. Apples are also made into apple jelly.

Summer treats of candy apple (coated in a hard shell of crystallized sugar syrup), and caramel apples coated with cooled caramel are attractions in parks and theme parks.

Sliced apples can be saved in the freeze in plastic bags or containers.

Nutritional Profile

Apples are a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin C.

Most of the apple's fiber is contained in its skin; choose organically grown apples whenever possible.