My Cooking Wonders

From where I came from, Paramannam is one dish that is prepared as offering to God for almost all the festivals and rituals. This is the first dish that is made during gruhapravesam(house warming) as well. It has a divine taste which I am not sure comes from the dish itself or from the devotional feelings towards the God :). I made this divine offering in an instapot and it came out really good. Ingredients 750ml Milk 1 cup water 1 cup rice 2 tbsp Tapioca/sabudhana/saggubiyyam 1 tbsp moong dal 1 cup jaggery finely grated 2 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp raisins handful of cashews 2 tbsp ghee(more if preferred) 2 cardamom pods crushed Turn on the instapot with saute mode on.   Add milk, water and bring it to a boil. Add rice, saggubiyyam and moong dal. Close the lid and t urn off the saute mode. Turn on pressure cooker mode, make sure the whistle in in sealing mode and set the timer to 4 minutes. Once the 4 minutes are up, turn off the instapot and let it sit for 1 ...

Country chicken is not your ordinary chicken. This is either 'you die for it' or 'do not even want to touch it' kind of dish. I most definitely will fall into the first category.. I love love love this dish. Growing up mom used to make this dish during Sankranti(Pongal) season and BOY OH BOY, it use to taste divine with Garelu. The best part of this dish is that we cook the chicken with skin on and trust me, it tastes the best that way. Now a days country chicken is available throughout the year and I do not have to wait for a particular season to eat it :). Here is my version of this yummy yummy recipe(actually version of my mom's recipe little bit improvised by me).  Ingredients 2 lbs country chicken 1/2 cup finely chopped onions 1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder(adjust per spice level) 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste 2 to 3 tsp garam masala powder Salt per taste Water 2 cups(adjust per the tenderness of the chicken) 1 tsp Turmeric 3 tbsp oil 3 tbs...

Masala vada.... This is a popular South Indian snack traditionally made of chana dal(split bengal gram). Well, I am kinda gal who had a tad bit of rebel streak in her and sometimes(I say sometimes but my mom might not agree) like to go against the rules. So, I went a non-traditional route and made my vadas with mixed dals and lots of mint and coriander leaves. I luv luv luv mint flavor. This recipe I am sharing today is inspired by mom's with twists of my own. The speciality of masala vada is that they have deliciously crunchy exterior and even more delicious soft interior, just like me ja ja ja ja. Enjoy! Ingredients 4 Green Chillies chopped finely 3/4 cup finely chopped Onion pinch of baking powder 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds 1/2 cup Besan/Chickpea flour(use as needed only if batter is runny or watery just to tighten up the batter) Coriander Leaves and Mint leaves finely chopped( I love mint and coriander leaves and so used 1/2 to 3/4th cup chopped of each leaves. Adjust per...

Aaaavadaaaaaaa......This dish needs no introduction if you are from Andhra Pradesh. I have grown up seeing my mother, grandmother, great grandmother(yes, my mom's mom's mom) make this dish for festivals and such. Welllll, that being said, I am not a big fan(am not saying I do not like them...just not a big fan.....not the same thing)... On the other hand hubby dear Loves(with a capital L ...note that point) this dish like crazy... So this is how it goes in our house...I love garelu and he loves Aavada. If you put 1 and 1 together, it will make both of us happy..Some garelu for me and some avada for him from left over garelu...ha ha ha.....What are you waiting for...we do not need festivals to make yummy food..right guys???? Ingredients For Garelu Urad Dal Ginger Green Chilli Salt Onion Coriander leaves/Cilantro Oil for frying For Curd mixture Curd Green chilli ginger Cilantro Carrot Salt Tempering Oil 4 Dried red chillies 1 tsp mustard seeds 1/2 t...

Gulab jamun is a kind of sweet that can be made for any occasion be it a festival or party or a get together. Gulab Jamun is traditionally made with Khoya which is a bit time consuming. So this time I kind of cheated and took a short cut by using milk powder which takes less time but tastes as good as the traditional recipe. There are lot of ready made Gulab Jamun mixes available in the groceries stores today but I prefer making my own mix :). Give it a try and I promise these jamuns tastes better than the ones made from the ready made mixes.. Last but not least.. Happy Diwali guys!! Ingredients For Jamuns 1 cup milk powder 1/4 cup all purpose flour 3 tbsp butter at room temperature 3 to 4 tbsp milk at room temperature(just enough to knead the dough) fat pinch of baking soda pinch of baking powder 1 tbsp almonds power (blanch the almonds in warm water. Remove the skins and pat dry. Grind to a fine powder) (Optional) 1 tbsp pistachio powder (Optional) oil for dee...

Life sometimes keep you crazily busy...I have been busy taking care of other stuff which kept me away from posting my recipes. Finally I am BACK!! It makes me feel better to be able to resume my blog YAYYYYY!!  Coming to my wonder today, people from south India need no introduction about this dish. This is most popular and traditional dish prepared during this time of the year in my place. This time of the year is called as 'Sravana Masam' and most people perform special rituals(known as Varalakshmi Vratham) during this time and Poornalu are prepared as the main offering to Goddess Lakshmi. Here is the recipe to make yummy Poornalu....... Ingredients For outer layer 1 cup Urad Dal 2 cups Rice pinch of baking soda couple of pinches of salt Inner stuffing 1 cup Chana Dal 2 cups Water 1 1/2 cup Jaggery 2 tbsp dry coconut powder(optional) Pinch of elaichi Powder Method Soak Urad Dal and Rice in water for 5 to 8 hours or overnight. Grind Dal and rice t...

With Dasara around the corner I thought of sharing a sweet which very often is made as offering to God. For every festival I remember my mom making 2 out of the following four items for prasadam - Palatalikalu, Chakrapongali, Garelu and Pulihora. Today I just wanted to share one of those which is also one of the famous offering in most of the temples - Chakra Pongali.  Happy Navaratri and Happy Dasara Folks!! Ingredients 1 cup Rice 1/2 cup Moong dal 2 cups Water + 1 cup Water 3 cups Milk 1 3/4 cups Brown sugar or 1 1/2 Jaggery grated fine 4 tbsp clarified Butter or ghee Couple of pinches of Cardamom powder pinch of edible Camphor (pacha karpuram)(Optional) Cashews and Raisins Small piece of dry coconut chopped into bite size pieces Method Rinse the rice and moong dal and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a pan.Add cashews to the pan and fry till golden brown. Take the cashews out of the pan and set aside. Add the raisins to the pan and fry till they bulge. Take...

This sunday is Srirama Navami and the first thing that came to my mind is Panakam. Srinava Navami falls on first navami(9th day) of the Hindu calendar. It is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Rama every year. Panakam and vadapappu are the two things that are must offered as nivedyams(offerings) to Lord Rama on this day. Here is how my mom used to make the Panakam. Ingredients 3 tbsp grated jaggery 2 cups water 1/2 tbsp gated ginger or 1 tsp of ginger powder 1 cardamon pod crushed 1/2 tsp ground black pepper Method Dissolve grated jaggery in water. Add the gated ginger, crushed cardamon and pepper to jaggery water and mix well. Let sit on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes, to let all the flavors steep in. Strain the liquid through the strainer and discard the residue. add ice or chill in the freezer before serving. If you do not have grater on hand just crush small piece of ginger and throw it in. Note Use fresh ginger if you have on hand. Fresh ginger adds little pun...