Carrot Chutney Recipe | Easy Chutney Recipes for Idli Dosa

I have realized that its been a long time that I have posted any Chutney recipe in my blog. Various chutney varieties can be prepared as a side dish for Idli/ dosa. While most of the times we end up making Coconut Chutney or Tomato chutney as they are the most popular accompaniments with Idli and Dosa.One can be bit creative to prepare various varieties of chutnies which include different vegetables.

In Andhra ,you name any vegetable you can find a chutney recipe with it. I would say that it is the land of Pacchadis but most of them are prepared as an accompaniment for Rice.It is mainly the consistency of chutney which differs for breakfast and rice - the chutney for breakfast is smooth and liquidy compared to the pacchadi for rice which is coarse and thick.There are few varieties which can be prepared as common for breakfast as well as the Rice.Today's recipe - Carrot Pacchadi is one example.One can prepare it coarse to serve it with rice and prepare it smooth to serve with Idli and dosa varieties.

There are various versions of carrot chutney you find on internet - few with onion,onion-tomato,coconut or just carrot based version.  The addition of coconut not only adds a texture but also elevates the taste of the chutney, it balances the sweetness of carrot and garlic adds a nice flavor.Try this chutney recipe , I am sure you will this chutney and a good alternative for the usual chutney.

Check out other Chutney recipes for Idli,Dosa in my blog:

• Capsicum(Green) Chutney, Peanut Chutney
• Coconut Chutney (with Ginger)
• Hotel Style Coconut Chutney , Red Coconut Chutney
• Mint-Coriander flavored Coconut Chutney
• Mango Ginger ( Mamidi Allam) Chutney
• Onion Chutney- ver 1, Onion Chutney (with dry coconut)
• Raw Onion Chutney(Pacchi Ulli Karam)
• Tomato Chutney, Tomato-Onion Chutney
• Tomato Kothimeera Pacchadi

Carrot Chutney Recipe:

Serves 3 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 10 mins | Total time: 20 mins

Cuisine: South India | Category: Accompaniments/Chutney

Ingredients:

1 large Carrot, grated(measure 1 cup)

1/3 cup grated fresh Coconut

3 Red chilies.guntur spicy variety

2 small Garlic pods

1.5 tbsp Chana dal

1 tsp Tamarind pulp

Salt to taste

1 tsp Oil

to temper:

5-6 Curry leaves

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Urad dal

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Ghee/Oil

Method:

• Heat oil and fry chana dal and red chilies until they turn golden brown and then add garlic pods and fry and remove them with a slotted spoon and let them cool.

• Add grated carrot in the remaining oil and fry until the raw smell goes away, say for 5 mins.If you are using dry tamarind add it to the hot carrot mixture itself,it will soften.Let the carrot mixture cool down completely.

• Grind the roasted chana dal, red chillies and garlic to a powder and then add grated carrot mixture(with tamarind), grated fresh coconut, salt and grind to a smooth chutney using required amount of water.

• In a small tempering pan heat ghee(or oil) and crackle mustard seeds and then add urad dal and fry until it turns red and add curry leaves and asafoetida and then add the hot tempering to the chutney and mix well and cover it.

Serve it with hot Idli/Dosa/Paniyaram/Uthappam. You can even serve it with chapathi or use as a spread on toast.

Notes:

1. You can use urad dal instead of chana dal.But I prefer to use chana dal for breakfast chutney varieties.
2. If you want to skip coconut you can add onion by frying it in oil along with carrot.But it tastes best with coconut.
3. Garlic adds a nice flavor to the chutney,do not skip it.
4. Adjust the spiciness of chutney according to your spice levels.
5. If you grind this chutney bit course using less water it can be served with Rice.For this.you can add a bit of cumin seeds while roasting chana dal before grinding.

Technorati Tags: carrot chutney, how to make carrot chutney, easy chutney recipes, easy chutney recipes for idli dosa, variety chutney recipes, south indian chutney recipes

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Moist Carrot Cake Recipe | Classic Carrot Cake | Christmas Cakes Recipes

Christmas is nearing by and the holiday season begins in just few days. All the public places like shopping malls etc have been already decorated with the Christmas tree and looks so festive that one would feel that the holiday season has already begun.I love the feel of the festive season especially during the Christmas and New year.

Christmas is not complete without indulging on sweet treats like Plum Cake, Cookies, Ginger Bread etc.Its been a while I have posted any Cake recipe in my blog- the reason simply is that my little one keeps me on my toes all day and I hardly get any time for my self. Though I bake simple cakes occasionally but I was not able to click and post them in my blog.

Coming to today's post - Carrot Cake, I have prepared it last year for my anniversary but I could not post it and was lying in my drafts.When I was clearing off my drafts recently this Carrot cake sought my attention to get posted this year.

I have followed the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book-"BAKING from my home to yours" and I must say this is one of the best carrot cake I have tasted.The recipe is quite simple with the easily available ingredients.I have made very few changes to the original to suit my requirements, but I mentioned a few in my notes in case if you want to follow the original recipe to the T.

Carrot Cake is usually frosted with Cream cheese and it makes the cake more delectable.But we do not prefer a frosting for our cakes and hence I made it plain and as I was doing it for an occasion I topped it with glazed carrot ribbons and icing sugar for a festive look.I must warn you that the glazed carrot ribbons topping will reduce the shelf life and hence I suggest you to either refrigerate the cake or avoid using it and instead go for cream cheese frosting.

Check out other festive Cakes recipes here:

• Chocolate Brownies
• Chocolate Cherry Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing
• Checkered Cake
• Christmas Fruit Cake | Kerala Plum Cake
• Dorie's Perfect Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Filling
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake-Step wise recipe
• Zebra Cake with Zebra Fondant Icing
• Eggless-Dates Cake
• Eggless Marble Cake
• Eggless Sponge Gateau with Strawberry Cream Icing

Carrot Cake Recipe:

Yields one 7" Bundt Pan | Recipe Source: Dorie Greenspan

Prep time:20 mins | Cooking time 30-40 mins | Total time: 1 hr

Category:Cakes/Baking

Ingredients:

1 cup All purpose flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1 1/2 cup peeled and grated Carrots

1/2 cup chopped Walnuts or Pecans

1/4 cup plump Raisins/Cranberries

2 large Eggs

1/2 cup Oil

1 cup Sugar

for glazed carrots:

1 Carrot

2-3 tbsp Sugar

Icing sugar, to decorate

Method:

• Peel and grate 3 carrots in a food processor or grater and keep it ready.

• In a bowl,stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, and raisins/cranberries.
• Preheat oven to 180 deg C or 350 deg F.
• Grease a 7" Bundt Pan or 8" square/round pan with oil and flour the insides and tap the excess and keep it ready.

• Whisk together the flour,baking powder,baking soda, cinnamon powder and salt or you can even sieve it a couple of times to get a uniform mix.

• Beat sugar and oil together on medium speed in your stand mixer or by using a hand mixer in a large bowl until the mixture turns smooth.

• Add eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother.

• Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture,mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear.Gently mix in the carrots, walnuts and raisin/cranberry mixture.

• Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake about for 30-35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

• Let the pan cool for 10-15 mins.Run a sharp knife around the edges and slowly invert the cake on to a rack and let it cool completely.

• for glazed Carrots- Using a sharp peeler,peel the carrot into thin ribbons and keep it.In a pan add the carrot ribbons and sugar and mix it gently and cook until the sugar melts and coats all the carrots.Let it cool and decorate them over the carrot cake.Sieve icing sugar on top of the cake.

Cream Cheese Recipe:

Ingredients:

4 ounces/ 115 gms Cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tbsp unsalted Butter,at room temperature

3/4 - 1 cup Icing sugar

1 tsp Lemon juice or 1/4 tsp Lemon extract or 1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Method:

• In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
• Gradually add sugar and beat until it is velvety smooth.
• Beat in lemon juice/extract or vanilla essence.

To decorate:

• Use an offset spatula or a spoon and frost the sides and top of the cake as you wish.You can even cut the cake into two layer and frost the center layer too.
• Refrigerate the cake for 30 mins,just to set the frosting before serving.

Notes:

1. Dorie mentioned the addition of 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut in the recipe along with carrots.But I did not add it.
2. Also she mentioned lemon extract or juice for the cream cheese frosting but I mentioned vanilla essence for your convenience.
3. The glazed carrots are completely my creation.As I prepared this cake for a celebration wanted to decorate with something as we don't prefer the frosting always.But the addition of glazed carrots reduce the shelf life, so please keep it in mind.It is completely optional, the cake tastes good just like that or with cream cheese topping.

Technorati Tags: moist carrot cake recipe, dorie greenspan cake recipes, classic carrot cake recipe, easy cake recipes, celebration cake recipes, festival cake recipes, best carrot cake recipe, baking recipes

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Carrot Halwa | Gajar ka Halwa | Halwa Recipes

'Carrot Halwa' aka 'Gajar ka Halwa' needs no introduction.It is a famous Indian dessert which is so commonly prepared during festivals,occasions and functions.Carrot Halwa can be served hot,warm or at room temperature,it tastes yumm!! Usually it is served with Vanilla Ice cream in functions to make it rich dessert,I just love the combo.

The Preparation process of this halwa is bit time consuming, I find the process of grating the carrots is quite tedious and also one needs to give constant attention while preparing the halwa.I prepare these kind of halwas in two different ways.Sometimes I use a pressure cooker method and use Condensed milk which is bit quick and sometimes I follow the conventional method of preparing the halwa using a thick kadai and also use mawa in it.Both the processes yields good tasty halwa but it all depends on how much time and energy you have to prepare it.I have earlier posted Lauki ka Halwa and Beet-Carrot Halwa which I prepared using the pressure cooker method,you can check out those recipes too if you are interested.

During winters the markets are loaded with those bright red color Delhi carrots, I do not miss to prepare this delicious and yummilicious Gajar ka halwa using those red carrots during the season. But one can prepare this halwa using the regular orange colored ones too.The taste and texture of the carrot halwa slightly differs when using these red and orange carrots,but it tastes delicious neverthless.

Check out few other desserts recipes using fruits and vegetables here:

• Carrot-Beetroot Halwa using Condensed milk
• Carrot Kheer
• Carrot Phirni
• Lauki(Bottlegourd) Halwa
• Mango Fudge | Mango Burfi
• Mango Phirni | Layered Mango Phirni
• Mango Sheera | Mango Sooji Halwa 

Carrot Halwa | Gajar ka Halwa Recipe:

yields 5-6 cups

Prep time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 1 hr | Total time: 1 hr 20 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category:  Sweets/Desserts

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Red or Orange Carrots, peeled and grated(4 heaped cups roughly)

2 cups Full cream Milk

1 cup Unsweetened khoya(mawa)

1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
1 3/4 cup Sugar(add it accordingly)
12-15 Saffron strands
2 tbsp chopped Cashew nuts
2 tbsp chopped Almonds
2 tbsp chopped Pistachios
3 tbsp Raisins

1/3 cup Ghee

Method: 

• Soak saffron strands in  2tbsp of warm milk and keep it aside.Slightly press the saffron strands in between your fingers before you add to the milk,this gives good color.

• Peel the carrots and grate them using a grater and keep it aside.

• Heat 1/4 cup ghee in a large thick kadai and add chopped nuts and fry them separately and keep aside.

• Add grated carrots  to the remaining ghee and fry for 3-4 mins and then add the milk.Let it cook for 15-20 mins until all the milk is evaporated and the carrot is cooked.You need to stir it constantly with a steel spatula and always scrape the milk deposits accumulated at the edges in kadai.It may take a couple of minutes more.

• Add khoya and sugar to it and stir it nicely and now the mixture becomes bit thin and hence cook it again for 15-20 mins until the mixture is all dried up.

• Add soaked saffron milk to it and give a nice stir.
• Add the remaining ghee (2-3 tbsp approx) and cook until the ghee separates from the mixture(this takes approx 10 mins),stirring constantly.

• Add all the fried nuts and raisins and cardamom powder and mix everything.

Serve the halwa hot/cold garnished with flaked almonds and pistachios.You can even serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

Notes:

1. You can even use the pressure cooker for cooking the carrots instead of heavy kadai.In that case,after you fry the carrots in the ghee and add milk bring it to full pressure in the cooker(no need to wait for a whistle) and switch off and wait until the pressure drops and follow the remaining process.This saves some time as to cook the carrots in a kadai takes lot of time.
2. You can even reduce the quantity of sugar to 1 cup and add 1/2 cup of condensed milk which makes the halwa still richer.
3. During winters you can use red carrots to prepare this halwa.The red carrots adds a nice taste to halwa.
4. You can even mix carrots and beetroots to make this halwa.You can find the recipe here for Beets and Carrot Halwa.
5. Replace carrots with beetroot,ash gourd or bottle gourd and follow the same process to make Beetroot halwa,Ash gourd Halwa(Kasi Halwa) and Bottle Gourd Halwa respectively.
6. The amount of khoya can be reduced to 1/2 or 3/4 th cup but the more the khoya,the richer the halwa.

Check out various Diwali Sweets Recipes here.
If you are looking for more Savoury Recipes,Check out Diwali Savoury Recipes here.

Technorati Tags: carrot halwa, gajar ka halwa, how to prepare gajar ka halwa, halwa recipes, carrot halwa recipe using khoya, indian sweet varieties, sweet recipes, easy dessert recipes, indian dessert recipes

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Mukkala Pulusu | Kadambam Pulusu | Dappalam

'Mukkalu' in Telugu literally means 'Pieces' and 'Pulusu' means 'Stew'. In Mukkala Pulusu, we use various vegetables which are chopped into big chunks, cooked in tamarind extract and spiced up slightly.It is usually paired with Mudda pappu(mashed plain toor dal) and papds/fryums which is the ideal combination.While a few add some rice flour mixed in water to thicken this pulusu, I usually prefer to add some toor dal as it not only thickens the pulusu, it also adds to the taste.

Usually Pulusu would be prepared with a combination of leftover vegetables but I usually buy various vegetables in small quantities to prepare this pulusu.I love this dish very much and hence I prepare it more often than I prepare sambar.

Though the ingredients that we add in Pulusu and sambar are similar,the taste of pulusu is totally different from Sambar.We add less quantity of toor dal and more vegetables in pulusu unlike Sambar where we add more quantity of toor dal and less vegetables. Pulusu is very tangy,spicy and slightly sweet compared to sambar.

Mukkala Pulusu | Andhra Style Mixed Vegetable Stew Recipe:

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Toor dal

1 very big lemon sized Tamarind

2 tbsp grated Jaggery

1 1/2 tbsp Sambar powder or 1 tsp Red chili powder

5-6 Curry leaves

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Vegetables:

1 Drumstick,cut into 1 1/2" pieces

7-8 Pumpkin pieces of 1" cubes

7-8 Bottle gourd pieces of 1" cubes

1 Carrot,cut into big chunks

1 small Sweet Potato,cut into big chunks

5-6 French Beans,cut into 1 1/2" pieces

1 Onion,cut into 8 quarters

1 Tomato,cut into 8 quarters

2 light colored Green chillies,slit

(other optional vegetables - potatoes,brinjal,ladies finger,raw papaya,winter melon)

to temper:

1 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

2 Red chillies

a sprig of Curry leaves

a pinch of Asafoetida

Method:

• Pressure cook toor dal for 3 whistles until done.Mash the toor dal nicely and keep it aside.
• Soak tamarind in water for 10-15 mins and remove tamarind pulp and keep it aside.Add 1 cup of water to it.
• Add chopped vegetables(chop the vegetables in big chunks),slit green chillies,onions,tomatoes,few curry leaves to the tamarind pulp and add salt and turmeric powder and pressure cook for one whistle.
• After the pressure drops down add cooked dal to the boiled vegetables and add grated jaggery,salt and sambar powder(or red chili powder) and cook for few more minutes until you get the required consistency..The consistency should neither be very thick nor very thin.
• Meanwhile heat oil in a small tadka pan and crackle mustard seeds,red chillies,curry leaves and asafoetida and fry well and add this to the boiling Pulusu(stew).

Serve it hot with rice and papad/Curd chili/fryums.You can serve it with cooked and mashed toor dal(mudda pappu).

Notes:

1. I usually add vegetables like drumsticks,pumpkin,bottlegourd,beans,carrot,sweet potato which I strongly recommend to use them as they impart a nice flavor to the stew.But you can add other vegetables like brinjal,ladies finger,winter melon,potatoes too in the recipe.If you are using ladies finger I would suggest to saute them in oil before you boil it with other vegetables.
2. Few do not add toor dal in the recipe,in that case you can thicken then pulusu/stew with a tbsp of rice flour(which is mixed in water) and boil it along with pulusu until you get desired consistency.But I always prefer to add the dal to thicken instead of rice flour mixture.It is your wish,but do not add more amount of toor dal as it will change the taste of it.
3. We use more amount of tamarind pulp in the recipe,so adjust the jaggery and salt according to your taste buds.
4. You can add red chili powder or sambar powder or a mix of both in the recipe.
5. Always cut vegetables into big chunks for this pulusu.

 

Technorati Tags: mukkala pulusu, dappalam recipe, mixed vegetable stew, andhra dappalam, kadambam pulusu, south indian recipes, andhra style pulusu, mixed vegetable pulusu

 

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