Banana stem Curry

Banana stem curry is one of  the side dish. Banana stem is full of fiber and it should be eaten at least once a month or two.

Banana Stem has loads of benefits and people say that it takes away the dirt from intestine in a fine manner. It helps to flush out the stone from kidney. It eases the problem of indigestion.
I have used Banana Stem, little jeera and pepper. Added some grated coconut. Little jaggery is used to give a sweet taste.
The stem was given by our neighbour and they do have lots of place to grown banana plants. They do give us some banana and the stem most of the times. So it is easy for me to try many dishes out of banana stem.
Some time I do cut and put the raw pieces in curd and make  raw pachadi. (With out cooking). some time dal, some time curry so this time its dry curry with simple spices.
Let us see some benefits of eating banana stem in our diet.
Banana stem is good for taking out the kidney stone.
It is good for detoxifying our body. It is good for digestion.It helps to control the blood pressure and cholesterol. Healing acidity and gastric problems.
Banana Stem Curry simple, easy and healthy.
Lets see the recipe Now :

No Onion or Garlic is used in this Dish : Banana Stem Dry Curry.

Ingredients :

Banana stem : Small Piece
Butter milk : 1/2 Cup
To Add :
Dry ginger powder : 1/2 Tsp
Jaggery : 1 Tbs
Turmeric Powder : A little
Salt : As required
Coconut : 2 to 3 Tbs
Seasoning :
Coconut Oil : 1 Tbs
Green chilly : 2 to 3
Mustard Seeds : 1/2 Tsp
Jeera : 1/2 Tsp
Curry Leaves : 6 to 8 leaves.

Method : 

1. Add a cup of water to butter milk and soak banana stem pieces in it.
2. Wash and cut banana stem into small pieces.

3. Wash banana stem and drain out all the water from it.

4. Pressure cook banana stem for 6 to 8 minutes adding little water. Let it cool.

5, Prepare seasoning with coconut oil, mustard seeds, jeera, add green chilly and curry leaves.
6. Add cooked banana stem and let it boil.Add turmeric powder, jaagery and ginger powder.

7. Add salt and cook till all the water disappear.
8. Add grated coconut and mix it well. Shift it to a serving bowl.

9. Banana stem curry is ready to serve.

Note :

You can use 2 tbs of curd instead of butter milk. Add a cup of water and mix it well and dip the banana stem cut pieces in it.
Adding any other masala taste differ.  Adding red chilly powder instead of green chilly is optional.
Adding jaggery is optional. Use of any cooking oil instead of coconut oil is optional.
Time : 30 Minutes.

Serves : 4 to 5.

Rava - Oats Idli

Today's  Food is breakfast food. It is Rava - Oats Idli.

This idly is healthy and yummy, easy to prepare and good breakfast and keeps us energetic for the whole day.

I have used medium rava/semolina, a cup of curd and a small cup of Oats.
The idli turns very soft and spongy and yum to have it.
Let us see the recipe Now :
Rava/Semolina : 3 Cups
Oats : 1 Small Cup
Curd : 1 Cup ( Better to Use savoury curd)
Salt : As required
Water : As required
Eno Salt : 1 Teaspoon
For Seasoning : 1 Tsp Oil
Mustard seeds : 1 Teaspoon
Curry Leaves : 8 to 10

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Method :

1. Take a big bowl. Add Rava, curd, salt and mix it well.

2. Add oats and required water and mix the batter nicely to Idli batter consistency.
3. Add seasoning done with mustard seeds, curry leaves and cashews. (optional).

4. Let the batter settle for 5 minutes.
5. Wash idli plates and apply ghee for each plate.

6. Add 1 teaspoon of Eno salt and mix the batter nicely.

7. Put the batter to idli plate and steam for 10 minutes. ( Pressure cooker or idli steamer).

8. Remove the done idlis and sprinkle some water on idli and take it out to a bowl.

9. Serve hot idli with ghee, sambar and coconut chutney.

Note :

Use of savoury curd results good idlis. Use of cooking soda instead of Eno is optional.

Roasting Rava in seasoning is optional. Use of medium size rava is best.
Time : 20 Minutes.
Serves : 3 to 4 .

Toor Dal - Ondelaga Chutney

Toor dal - Ondelaga Chutney is a side dish that goes well with most of the main dishes. We had this Toor Dal - Ondelaga chutney for lunch.

Ondelaga/Gotukola is used as culinary vegetable and it is a medicinal herb plant. 

I have used Toor dal, red byadagi chilly, ingh/Asafoetida, curry leaves, tamarind pulp and fresh coconut gratings.

Let us see some benefits of eating Ondelaga/Gotukola leaves in our diet.

The plant yield only one leaf in its stem so that it is called as Ondelaga. (One leaf). 

It is used as a culinary vegetable and as a medicinal herb. It is known a Mandukaparni In Sanskrit. It is in the shape of frog so that it got its name as Mandukaparni.
People call it as Brahmi also because it is loaded with medicinal values.
Its known as Ondelaga in Kannada/Karnataka.
Saraswathi Aku in Telugu/Andra pradesh.
Vallari Keerai in Tamil/Tamilnaadu
Karivan or Karivana in Marati /Maharasthtra
Kandha Brahmi in Gujrati /Gujarat
Thulkudi in Bengali /Bengal
Bengsag and Brahmi in Hindi

It helps in good relief for pains. It boost cognitive function.
 Ondelaga helps in reducing anxiety and stress. It helps in controlling the blood sugar level.
It also helps in reducing the swelling and improve the circulation of blood.
Gotukola is rich in anti inflammatory properties and helps to reduce the joint pains and arthritis.
It is good for memory power. It is good for our skin health and hair health.
Gotukola helps to detoxify our body and keeps us in good health
It is good for blood pressure since it helps in controlling the blood pressure level by decreasing the tension and anxiety in our body.
It is good for digestive disorders, helps in strengthening nervous function and memory power in us.
Let us see the recipe Now :
Do Not Fry the leaves when you cook. It looses its healthy benefits when it is cooked. It should be added at the end of the process of cooking.

Ingredients :
Ondelaga Leaves : 1 Handful
Toor Dal : 1 Tbs
Oil : 1/2  Tsps
Tamarind : Small marble size
Byadagi chilly : 4 to 5
Ingh /Asafoetida : A little
Salt : As required
Coconut : 1 Cup
To Season :
Oil : 1 Tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/2 Tsp
Ingh : A little
Curry Leaves : 5 to 6

Method : 

1. Keep a small frying pan on the fire and heat. Add half tsp of oil, 1 tablespoon of toor dal.
2. Add 4 to 5 byadagi chilly and fry nicely till toor daal turns as golden red.
3. Add little ingh and put off the fire.

4. Add a handful of ONDELAGA leaves and mix it well. Keep it aside.

5. Soak little tamarind in warm water for 5 minutes and squeeze out the pulp. Keep the pulp aside.

6. Grate coconut and grind it with fried mixture, tamarind pulp, salt. Add water if required while grinding.
7. Take it out from the mixi jar and put it to a serving dish.

8. Add mustard seeds seasoning with little ingh and curry leaves.

9. Toor dal - Ondelaga Chutney is ready to serve.

10. Enjoy Toor Dal - Ondelaga Chutney with your food.

Note :

Fry dal till it turns golden brown. You should be careful while adding water if required.
Adding more chilly is optional.
Use or more coconut is optional.
Time : 15 to 20 Minutes.
Serves : 3 to 4 .

Almond /Badam Halva

Almond Halva /Badam Halva is one of the delicious sweet treat and I love to have it at any time of the  day. I am not a big fan of sweets but I always prefer to have this Badam Halva.

It is very easy and quick to prepare it. The taste is amazing when you do prepare at home.
The ingredients I used are almonds, sugar, boiled milk, ghee and Kesar/Saffron.
Posting this sweet dish for to note our son Rishikanth Got married to Kavitha Last week and We wish the newly wedded couple to all the best and lead Happy Life.
I also request all my friends to Wish  Rishi - Kavitha for their bright future.

Lets see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

Almonds : 1 Cup
Sugar : 1 Cup or little less
Milk : 1/2 Cup
Ghee : 2 to 3 Tbs
Milk Powder : 2 Tbs

Method :

1. Soak almonds in hot water and remove its husk.
2. Grind almonds with milk to paste consistency.

3. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to a big pan and keep the pan on the fire.

4.Put ground almond - milk mixture and milk powder.

5. Add a tbs of ghee and stir it slowly.

6. Let the flame be on slow flame.

7. Stir continuously it it starts to leave the pan.

8. Add a tbs of ghee and put off the fire.

9. Mix it nicely and put it in a serving dish.

10. Serve as You Wish.

Time : 15 to 20 minutes.
Serves : As you like it.

Note :

Adding more sugar to halva is optional. Adding more ghee is optional. Take out the halva once it starts to leave the pan. Then add a tbs of ghee. Grind it till paste to get good taste. Adding milk powder is optional.

Carrot Uttappa

Uttappa is a puffed dosa with some vegetables or onion pieces. Here I have tried with carrots and the batter used here is idli batter. Idli batter has semolina instead of rice. I have steamed medium sized rava, cooled it and added to fermented urid batter. After preparing idli, the remained batter is used for preparing Carrot Uttappa.

Idli batter is slightly different from dosa batter. Idli batter has more urid dal and the  the rice used will be rava consistency.
Carrot Uttappa is good for breakfast, or in the evening or for dinner. Carrots are full of fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals.

1. RAVA - URID IDLI To prepare Idli batter please follow the link given below

Urid dal is full of protein and rich in fiber. South Indian breakfast is easy to digest, helps you be cheerful and keeps you energetic Whole day.
Let us see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

Idli Batter : 1 Bowl
Carrot : 1
Chilly Powder : 1/2 Tsp
Ginger : 1/2 Tsp
Salt : A little

Method : 

1. Wash and grate carrot, remove the outer layer of ginger and grate it.
2. Mix carrot and ginger gratings, salt and chilly powder nicely and keep it aside.
2. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Clean it with a clean kitchen tissue.
3. Add very little oil and put a ladle of batter on the hot pan.

4. Add some grating mix and put a tsp of oil on top.

5. Cover and cook on medium or low flame.

6. Turn the other side and cook for a minute.

7. Take out the Carrot Uttappa from the pan and serve with your choice of side dish.

8. Prepare the same with remaining Uttappa.

Note :

Rice Urid dal Idli batter link is given at the top. Please follow to get the good idli batter.
Use of oil is optional. Adding coriander and curry leaves is optional. I did not have the coriander leaves so could not add it. Better use less spice for good health.  No onion or garlic is added because it might cause acidity. I am not in favour of onions and we do not use much onions.
Time : 30 Minutes.
Serves : 3 to 4 .