09 August 2013

Vermiceli Upma

Dear Lovelies,

This is my son's favourite and thought would be helpful to all moms who worry a lot about there lil ones not eating food.

preparation time : 30 mins

Ingredients:
  • Vermiceli
  • Onion - 1 medium
  • Green Chili/Red Chili - 2-3
  • Curry leaves
  • Oil - 2-3 sp
  • Mustard Seeds - 1/4 sp
  • Uddina Bele/Urad dal - 1/2 sp
  • Kadale Bele/Channa Dal - 1/2 sp
  • Cashews - around 10
  • Tomato - about 1/2
  • Salt as per taste
  • Turmeric - a pinch
  • Coriander leaves/Cilantro - about 1 sp finely chopped
It is very simple n can be prepared in no time and very colourful. The trick is that vermiceli must be separated and it should not be sticky. here goes the method.


  1. Firstly dry roast the vermicelli until they are very light brown in color. Simultaneously bring water to boil in a sauce pan. (approx ratio might be 1 cup of vermiceli into 2 and 1/2 cup of water would be sufficient). Add 1/2 t sp salt and few drops of oil into the boiling water. Now add the dry roasted vermiceli into the water, turn off the flame, cover it for 2 mins and remove all the excess water using strainer. Adding few drops of oil is the trick for vermiceli tobe non sticky.
  2. Prepare tadka with Oil, Mustard Seeds, curry leaves, Red/Green chilies, Channa n Urad dals, Cashwes, Onions. Cook until Onions are transparent. Add Tomatoes and cook until they are soft. Add pinch of Tumeric powder. 
  3. Add the Vermiceli and Salt as per taste. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro n Serve hot.
Ps: It makes a good evening time snack or a light break fast. You can alwys skip tomatoes n add fresh lime juice according to your taste and also number of chillies can be varied depending on the requirement. Do try and let us know your experience. Happy Cooking!!

07 August 2013

Homemade Rasam

Dear All,

Before I list the ingredients and method, let me share the benefits of home made Rasam. 
We are not using any ready made rasam powder available in stores in preparing this Rasam, we are using ingredients like Jeera, Black Pepper, Garlic n Hing which are believed to aid in digestion, helps in curing cold n soothes the sore throats while suffering from cough n more over good to activate taste buds after recovering from fever...As it is good to have daily during winter with hot rice n home made ghee...n more over does not take much time to prepare :)

Ingredients
Togari bele/Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1/2
Water - 1 to 1and 1/2 cup
Few drops of oil

pressure cook all the above ingredients until 2-3 whistles, smash the cooked dal n tomato into smooth paste.

Now roughly crush 1/2 sp Jeera, 8-10 Black pepper corns n 3-4 pods of Garlic with the help of mortar and pestle and add to the cooked dal and heat on medium flame. Add Salt as per the requirement,  about a 1/4 sp of tamarind pulp and a big grape fruit size of Jaggery bring it to boil.

Now, don't forget to finish the Rasam with a tadka/tampering with a spoon of oil, Mustard seeds, broken Red chilies, Few Curry leaves n a big pinch of Hing. Garnish with fresh cilantro n server with hot rice and spoon of ghee.