Mixed Berry Scones

My parents left this past weekend and it has been gloomy these 3 days.It took longer for me to convince them to come over than their stay with me.When my dad came 2 years ago, he was determined not to come back as he always felt they are dependent on us for everything when they were here.So,it took longer than expected to bring him here.With mom, it was not as difficult.You know how moms are!
As a child I never realized the sacrifices my parents (for that matter, any parent) had to make.Now, I do really appreciate all that they have done but sometimes I wonder if I should have had that realization early on!
I like to go to airports to pick up some one, not to drop off.Even when I drop off some one not so close, I almost end up with tears in my eyes.My guess- it is the location that might be the problem!As my parents went in, my childhood memories flooded my mind while I was wandering restlessly outside.I always wish/ed, US was closer to India or it takes only a few hours and not a day to go to India, not to forget all the tight airline regulations.
All in all, I had some great time with them although it was a short trip and I was hoping for it to not end!

Recipe adapted from Ina's strawberry scones
(Makes 14 to 16 scones)



4 cups + 1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar + extra for sprinkling
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 lb cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra large eggs, lightly
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup mixed berries( or berries of your choice)
1 egg beaten with 2 tsp water or milk for egg wash

• Preheat oven to 400F.Grease and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and sugar
• Blend cold butter at lowest speed and mix until pea sized pieces
• Mix eggs and cream and combine with the flour butter mixture
• Add berries to this mixture.If the dough is too wet. add some flour to it and roll the dough in to about 3/4 inch thick
• Cut into triangle shaped pieces and place it on the baking sheet.
• Brush with egg wash
• Sprinkle with sugar and bake it in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Aparna of My diverse kitchen is hosting this month's Monthly Mingle, started by Meeta and the scones go to the tea time there!

Vegetable Idli

To me, idli is the easiest breakfast to make once you have the batter, of course.Mostly, I make the idlis during Summer and Fall. The rest of the time, I get the prepared batter. Some of the best idlis, I have had were my mom's and from a restaurant in Hyderabad-Minerva Coffee Shop!
There are different proportions and variations to this and this is the recipe I usually follow!

For basic/Plain Idli:
2 cups Idli Rawa (You can find it in Indian Grocery Stores)
1 cup Urad Dal

Soak Idli Rawa and Urad Dal separately for 4-6 hours.
Drain the water from both the urad dal and rawa into a bowl.
Blend the Urad Dal by gradually adding the water (saved from draining) not making it too runny.It should have a thick consisitency.
Mix the blended urad dal to the Idli rawa until well combined.
Try to do it with hands!
Let it sit overnight in a warm place.It should rise and will be a bit foamy on the top.Mix it with the spoon.
Add Salt to taste

Take about 4-5 cups batter (A cup is 8oz)
1 cup Mixed Veggies
1 cup Mixed Veggies or your choice of veggies.I used frozen veggies
1 Tomato,chopped
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds
2 green chillies chopped
1tbsp Oil

Heat oil in a pan.Add Cumin seeds, mustard seeds,green chillies, curry leaves and fry for a couple of min. Add Tomatoes and veggies and let them cook for 4-5 minutes until the veggies are tender.
Add this to the idli batter (4-5 cups of batter)

Grease the idli moulds (See how they look) with oil or veg spray.Pour a ladelful into the mould making sure it does not overflow.

I use a pressure cooker (I make it into a steam cooker by taking the whistle/weight off ) to cook idlis.You could use a steam cooker.

Pour 4-6 cups of water into a pressure cooker and lower the set of idli plates into the cooker.Also, make sure the water does not touch the idli plates.

Cook for about 10 minutes.Remove the moulds when they cooled down a bit and easy to handle.

Remove the idlis from the moulds with a spoon.

Serve hot with chutney.

This goes to WYF:Breakfast event hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food.

Ramya has tagged me to share my ABCs!

The Rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share the ABCs of you.
4. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let the 4 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag.

The Tag:
1. A – Available/Single? Nope

2. B – Best friend? While I have many good friends, I do have a soft spot for Pallavi (My school friend)

3. C – Cake or Pie? Cake

4. D – Drink of choice? Water or Soda!

5. E – Essential item you use every day? Cell Phone and a Laptop

6. F – Favorite color? Black

7. G – Gummy Bears Or Worms?Don't know, Bears May be!

8. H – Hometown? Hyd

9. I – Indulgence? Anything sweet

10. J – January or February? January..The winter is not as brutal as in Feb

11. K – Kids & their names? 1 Daughter-Shriya

12. L – Life is incomplete without? Family

13. M – Marriage date? March 2nd

14. N – Number of siblings? 2 - 1 brother

15. O – Oranges or Apples? Like them both

16. P – Phobias/Fears?Have a lot! Animals, Heights, Roller coasters...

17. Q – Quote for today? All is well that ends well.

18. R – Reason to smile? My daughter and all her dramas in the house..LOL!

19. S – Season? Fall

.20. T – Tag 4 People? Tough one!(Scroll down)

21. U – Unknown fact about me? I am short:D

22. V – Vegetable you don't like?Love all of them

23. W – Worst habit? Get anxious over trivial things!

24. X – X-rays you've had? I don't remember..I do remember I had one for my back for Arthritis and Sinus!

25. Y – Your favorite food?Street Food in Hyd and Italian

26. Z – Zodiac sign? Aries

Hari
Sushma
Mythreyi
Pavithra

For now!
Shri

Neer Dosa

‘Neer’ means water in Kannada and Tulu. Interestingly, water is Neer in Tamil and Neeru /neellu in Telugu. The consistency of the dosa batter is very watery, which is why the name- Neer Dosa! This does not require fermentation and it is very soft although very delicate! There are a couple of deviations from the traditional recipe and the procedure.
-I have used yogurt to get some sour taste.
-Due to its watery consistency, I thought making on Appam pam would be much easier.

2 cups rice
½ cup grated coconut
¼ cup sour Buttermilk/Yogurt
Salt to taste




Soak the rice in water for 4-5 hours.
Grind the rice and coconut with Water and Buttermilk such that the consistency is almost like water.
Add salt to taste. Set it aside for 2 hours.
Heat a Tawa or Appam pan.
Pour a ladleful of batter onto the tawa. Once the batter is on the tawa, it is hard to spread it around.
If using an appam pan, pour the batter and rotate the pan such the batter spreads evenly along the circumference of the pan.
Lightly oil the edges of the dosa and let it cook for 2 minutes or until you can see the edges peeling away from the pan.



Serve it with spicy tomato chutney

This is my entry to RCI:Udupi/Mangalore hosted by Sia of MonsoonSpice, created by Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine




Shri

Zesty Veggie scramble

If there is an egg bhel puri, this is how it will taste like, I would imagine! Believe it or not, the first time I tried this, I did not expect it would come out as tasty as it did. This is an easy scramble with lot of Indian flavor and the lime juice does have a refreshing taste to it-I think thats what you need early morning.

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 potato scraped and cubed
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
¼ cup fresh/frozen spinach
1 green chilli chopped
couple of curry leaves
1 tsp of cumin coriander powder
Dash of lime juice
Coriander to garnish

Heat some oil in the pan. Add the curry leaves, chilli and onion. Sauté the onions until golden brown and add potatoes. Cook till they are soft and add tomatoes and spinach. Add the cumin powder. Cook the vegetables for a couple of minutes. Pour the ggs into the pan and stir constantly,but gently so that the eggs are scrambled. Let it sit for a minute on the stove. Add a dash of lime juice and garnish with coriander.






This is off to Show me your Breakfast hosted by Divya of Dil Se.

Shri

Dahi Vada

I have made and posted all fancy recipes ever since I started this blog. I wanted to make something simple and a traditional dish and I was craving for Dahi Vada/Bhalla anyways;).
These are delicious soft lentil dumplings soaked in seasoned yogurt/dahi.The best Vadas I have ever eaten were at my GrandMa’s in India. They are made with the black Urad Dal and the taste is unparalleled!
If you have mastered the art of making holes in the vada, then make the ‘true Vadas’. I haven’t yet so, this comes more like a shapeless vada.

¾ cup Urad Dal, soaked in water for 4-5 hours
¼ cup Moong Dal, soaked in water for 4-5 hours
2 green chillies chopped
¼ tsp of cumin seeds
Salt to Taste

For the Dahi/Yogurt:
1 cup Dahi (Make it smooth by adding water if necessary)
1 tbsp Cumin Coriander Powder
2 tsps Chaat Masala/Dahi Vada seasoning
Salt
Coriander to Garnish
1 tbsp of Tamarind Date Chutney
Pinch of Parika

Soak Dals separately for 4-5 hours.Grind/Blend them until it forms smooth batter, a bit thicker than Idli batter/thick pancake batter.Mix Cumin seeds and green chillies to the batter.Heat Oil in a Kadai for deep frying.To check if the oil is ready, put a small amount in the oil.If it rises to the top, the oil is ready. Take a spoonful of batter and deep fry.Place them on a paper napkin to remove the excess oil and put them in water for a few minutes.This makes the dumplings extra soft.

For Dahi:Add the Coriander and Chaat Masala to Dahi .Mix it well.Add Salt and Coriander.Now, add the water soaked dumplings.
Drizzle the Tamarind Chutney and sprinkle some paprika!



Try this and drift into some of those lovely childhood memories.
This is my entry to the MLLA -12th Helping hosted at Annarasa, created by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Have fun
Shri