Chocolate cake with coconut-date topping

Happy Birthday to dear Bharath ! Hope it surprises you.

Egg - Potato Gravy

Ingredients

Eggs - 3

Potatoes - 1 (large) cubed

Onion - 1/2 (large) chopped

Tomato - 1/2 (large) chopped

Mint leaves - 2 tbsp chopped

Tamarind paste - 3-4 tbsp

Jaggery/sugar - 2 tsp

Cilantro Leaves - handful

Oil

Salt

For masala

Onion - 1/2 (large)

Tomato - 1/2 (large)

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

coconut powder - 3-4 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Ginger-garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Peanuts - 2 tbsp

Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Yoghurt - 1 tbsp

Steps

1. Hard boil eggs with some salt in a pot of water. Drain and cool them. and remove hard shell. Halve them and set aside.

2. Grind the masala ingredients into a fine paste.

3. Heat oil in a pot. Add mustard and cumin seeds. After they splutter, add the onions and salt and fry for few minutes. Now add the tomatoes and potatoes and fry them for a few minutes.

4. Add the masala and fry till the raw smell goes away. Now add the mint leaves, tamarind paste and water and cook till the potatoes are tender. Lastly add the jaggery/sugar and cilantro leaves. Turn off the heat.

5. Now add the eggs into the curry and rest for a while so that flavours seep into the eggs. Take care not to mix the curry too much after adding the eggs as it will disrupt the yolks.

6. Serve with white rice or biryani or rotis.

Meal Today: Coconut Rice and Egg-Potato Gravy

Tips

You can fry the whole eggs before adding them to the curry. Also, you can marinate the potatoes in the masala to make them taste better.

Rasmalai

Ingredients

(makes 10-12 pieces)

milk - 7 cups

sugar - 2 cups

water - 3 cups

lemon - 1

cardamom powder - 1/2 tbsp

Chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews)

saffron - few strands

Steps

For the syrup

1. Take a thick bottomed pot and boil 3 cups of milk on medium heat for about half an hour. The milk level should be slightly reduced by now.

2. In a bowl, add about 2 tsp of custard powder with a bit of milk/water and mix it into the pot. Take care that you do not add too much of custard powder and cardamom powder as the milk should not be too thick. The milk should be light yellow in colour. Keep stirring regularly so that the milk does not burn and stick to the bottom. Pour this in a bowl and cool.

For the patties

1. Boil 4 cups of milk in a pot. Squeeze out the lemon juice into a separate bowl.

2. Add the lemon juice to the milk and stir it continuously at the same time. The milk breaks and water will separate. Turn off the heat.

3. strain using a muslin or cotton cloth. Pour some cold water immediately over the paneer and squeeze it thoroughly. Hang the paneer in this cloth for atleast 40 minutesto get rid of the remaining water.

4. Now knead the paneer and make small patties out of it. Pat the edges as they tend to crack up.

For Rasmalai

1. In a pot,boil 3 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar. Add the paneer patties and boil for 5 minutes. They will swell up.

2. Put them into cold water for a minute or two to stop the cooking process.

3. Now transfer them into the cooled syrup and sprinkle the chopped nuts and saffron on it.

4. Let it rest in the fridge for atleast two hours before serving so that the syrup is absorbed into the rasmalai.

Tips

You can add powdered cashews and almonds to the milk (for the syrup) while boiling and strain it before adding the custard powder. This enhances the flavour further.

Rasmalai tastes very good when you rest it for a few hours after cooking. All the flavours get absorbed by then.

Coconut Rice / Kobbari annam

Ingredients

Grated raw coconut – 1 cup

Coconut milk - 1 cup

Rice - 2 cups

urad dal- 1 tbsp

Green chillies – 4

Ghee- 2 tablespoons

mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

curry leaves - 4-5

Cashew nuts - 6 (broken)

salt

oil

Steps

1. Cook the rice using three cups of water and one cup of coconut milk. Meanwhile, scrape the coconut and keep aside.

2. In a pan, heat some ghee and add the mustard, cumin seeds and curry leaves. After they splutter, add the green chillies, salt, urad dal and cashew nuts.

3. Now turn off the heat, add the coconut scrape and mix well.

3. Now add this to the rice and mix well. Serve with any curry.

Meal Today: Kobbari annam with Egg masala

Tips

You can avoid adding the scraped coconut if you do not like texture to your rice. Instead you can use coconut milk instead of water to boil the rice.

To extract coconut milk - Add hot water to grated coconut and rest it for half an hour. Grind it to a fine paste and strain into a bowl using a muslin or cotton cloth.

Repeat this process of grinding and straining once again.

You can add vegetables and cook this rice.

Ugadi Thali

Greenery in the neighbourhood, fresh blossoms everywhere, jasmines adorning every woman's hair, sparkly clean houses, entrances filled with vibrant rangolis, the aroma of poli and pulihora, the recital of Panchangasravanam can mean only one event - the festival UGADI

Ugadi is a Telugu festival marking the beginning of a new year. While it is called Ugadi in Andhra and Karnataka, it is Gudipadava in Maharashtra. Ugadi is celebrated on the Shukla Paksha of the first month (Chaitra Masam) in the first season of the year i.e. Spring (Vasanta Ritu). It is believed that the creator of the world Lord Brahma started creation on this day - "Chaitra Suddha Padhyami" or the Ugadi day.

Ugadi Pachadi and Poli (bobbattu) are a must on Ugadi. Mango pulihora provides a nice contrast to the poli. Vadalu are made for most festivals. Pappu, Potato talimpu and Poli charu are other mouthwatering dishes that accompany the rice. Finish it off with a glass of majjiga (lassi) to digest everything. Being well-fed, you will find sleep just around the corner and your bed inviting you.

Ugadi Meal : Ugadi pachadi, Poli, Mamidikaya pulihora, minapa vadalu, pappu, bangaladumpa kura, poli charu and majjiga

Ugadi Pachadi

"Ugadi Pachchadi" is a dish that is synonymous with Ugadi. It is traditionally made of shadruchulu (6 tastes) using jaggery from fresh crop of sugarcane, raw mango, neem flowers, chillies, salt and new tamarind. This dish signifies that life is a mixture of good and bad, joy and sorrow and they have to be treated alike.

Medicinally, Ugadi pachadi is a great cleanser. It acts as a prophylactic.

Ingredients

Raw mango - 1 cup (grated)

Jaggery powder - 1 tbsp

Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp

neem flowers - 1 tsp

Chilli/pepper powder - 1/4 tbsp

Salt

Steps

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl

Tips

You can add slices of fresh coconut.

If neem flowers are not available, you can use fenugreek powder.

If you like the pachadi to be runny, add some coconut or plain water.

Minapa vada / Urad dal vada

Vadas are a must on any festival. But they don't need an occasion to prepare. They are good for breakfast or snack or just as an accompaniment to another dish. Here is one of the many types of vadas.

Ingredients

Urad dal - 2 cups

Green chilli - 3

sooji - 1 tsp

soda - 1/4 tsp

Whole peppercorns - 2 tsp

Raw coconut slices - 2 tsp

Salt

Oil

Steps

1. Soak the urad dal for 3 to 4 hours.

2. Drain the water and grind the dal, green chillies and salt into a coarse paste. Do not use any water.

3. Rest the vada dough for 20 minutes.

4. Now add the peppercorns, salt, soda and raw coconut slices to the dough and mix well.

5. Heat the oil in a deep pan. Meanwhile, take a plastic sheet and rub it with oil. Apply some oil on your fingers and take a spoonful of dough onto the sheet and make a patty out of it. Put a small hole in the center.

5. Deep fry the vadas in the oil on medium heat. Pat them with a tissue to absorb any extra oil.

Serving ideas

Serve with spicy sambar or chutney or masala curry. Chicken curry makes a good combination with these vadas.

Meal Today: Minapa vadalu with spicy mango chutney

Tips

You can also add onion and green chilli pieces in the dough.

With leftover vadas you can make vada curry.

Dahi vadas are also one way to eat them. Just soak them in hot water for a few seconds and sqeeze the water. This makes them soft. Now put them into seasoned youghurt and let it rest for a few hours so that vadas absorb the curd well.