Savi's Food Network

We all come across various blogs and try out different recipes. Here I would like to share some interesting and inspiring videos,blogs....

1. ManjulasKitchen
Her passion for food inspires me. I call her Manjula Aunty :-). Very nice north Indian recipes and explained in a simple manner. One plus for beginners is the pace is slow and she is meticulous.

2. Show me the curry
Another favourite. These ladies are very elegant and they have a few healthy recipes. Watch their '12 day of Christmas countdown', a nice funny video.

3. One Hot Stove
I don't want to start rating people here, however I must say this is my favourite. One of the most articulately created blog I have come across. If I ever happen to ponder what to cook, I end up visiting Nupur's blog and am inspired. Take a look at her 'A to Z Maharashtrian Recipes', impressive it is!

This list will keep growing, so watch out for more ! If you have any interesting/inspirational links, please do share it with me.

Mysore Saaru/Rasam

My Favorite dish, and abviously again one of my mom's greatest recipes EVER!!!..My mom makes this rasam so well..and my sister has also mastered it, and trust me whenever I used to make this rasam it used to taste awful. I used to be so frustrated, then this time when my parents were over I made my mom make this rasam and I took the exact measurements and made it a few times and now FINALLY it tastes just like my mom's Mysore Rasam :-) So here is the recipe...

To be kept in the cooker:

1 Big Tomato chopped

1/4 cup of Toor dal

1/2 tsp of Turmeric

2 sps of Ghee

Wash toor dal, add chopped tomatoes, turmeric and ghee. Cook all together.

Masala to roast:

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Peppercorns

1 tsp Methi seeds

2 Red chillies

2 tsps of Dry coconut

Roast all together except coconut, once done, put off the flame and add coconut and allow it to cool. Once cooled grind it to a fine powder.

Soak 1/4 cup of jaggery powder in water.

Tamarind Paste 1 1/4 sp or soak lemon size tamarind in water.

Once the dal is cooked add it to a vessel, add the ground masala pwd, hing, tamarind and allow it to boil nicely, once done, add the jaggery water and salt to taste. After one more boil put off the flame and garnish it with coriander leaves. And enjoy with steamed rice.

This rasam goes very well with "Avial".

Below is the link for the avial recipe by my sister Sangeetha Rao.

http://www.sans-vegdelights.blogspot.com/

Molagapudi / Molagacobre pudi/Spicy Chutney Powder

Molagapudi another excellent recipe by my mom. Tastes amazing with dosa, idli, chappathi and bread. Very easy to make, and also the shelf life is long so can be made in large quantity and stored in air tight containers and can be kept in the freezer.

Ingredients:

Sesame seeds 1/4 cup

Urad dal 1 cup

Chana dal 1 cup

Red chillies 15-20 (or to taste)

Hing 1 tsp

Oil for sauteing

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Roast sesame seeds seperately without adding oil and set aside.

2. Add 1 sp of oil, put 1/2 sp hing , add chana dal & red chillies together and fry till golden brown. Once done set aside.

3. Again take 1 sp of oil, put the remaining hing and add urad dal and fry till golden brown.

4. Once they cool down. First grind sesame seeds and set aside.

5. Then add salt and grind urad dal, chana dal and red chillies together once powdered add sesame powder to it and pulse it 2 to 3 times. Store in air tight container.

Another way of doing this is using coconut powder and tamarind. This also has a long shelf life and can be stored in an air tight container and kept in the freezer for long.

Ingredients:

Dry Coconut powder (or dry coconut slices) 1 1/4 cup

Urad dal 1 cup

Chana dal 1 cup

Red chillies 15-20 (or to taste) Hing 1 tsp

Tamarind (lemon size) Oil for sauteing Salt to taste Method: 1. In a kadaai just fry coconut powder for a few seconds it should just get warm and set aside.

2. Then add tamarind pieces and for sometime and set aside once they cool down they turn crisp.

3. Add 1 sp of oil, put 1/2 sp hing , add chana dal & red chillies together and fry till golden brown. Once done set aside. 4. Again take 1 sp of oil, put the remaining hing and add urad dal and fry till golden brown. 5. Once they cool down, add salt and grind urad dal, chana dal, tamarind and red chillies together once powdered add coconut powder to it and pulse it 2 to 3 times. Store in air tight container.

Godu Saaru/Meelagu Rasam/Pepper Rasam

This recipe is passed on to me by my mother. My mom is a phenomenal cook. She has immense passion for cooking; she comes across a new recipe she has to come home and try it immediately. She is a great inspiration and at this age she has the energy to make all kinds of powders and chutneys for me. This recipe is one of my favorites.My mom makes this when we are down with fever or cold or when the weather is chilly. One glass of rasam (this is not brandy :-)) will releive you of your cold. My mom makes this in a very special vessel called "Seesthapathare". There is no hard and fast rule that this rasam has to be made in this particular vessel, it tastes good anyways. In south India most of the households will have this vessel. There is a different kind of vessel for sambar and rasam. And if made in these vessels it has an authentic taste to it. The vessel already contains asatefodia (hing) in it. The vessel is very expensive; a small vessel costs about Rs.800. If left on a flame for long, it melts off.

Now coming back to the recipe. Below are the ingredients.














Ingredients:
1 Large tomato or 2 small tomatoes
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Peppercorns
1 tbsp Toor Dal
1 tsp Tamarind Paste (or half lemon size tamarind soak in water and extract the juice)
3-4 Curry Leaves
Pinch of haldi
Little hing
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Seasoning:
Mustard Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Ghee

Method:
1. In a vessel add diced tomatoes, curry leaves, tamarind paste (or juice), turmeric, hing and salt. Fill 3/4 of vessel with water and keep on low flame and allow it to slowly boil. 2. Grind peppercorns, toor dal and cumin to a fine powder. No need to roast this. 3. Once nicely boiled, add the powder and mix nicely make sure there are no lumps, add water till the brim, add coriander leaves and boil nicely for 5 mins. 4. Once done take ghee in a small kadaai, add mustard seeds and cumin and pour on the rasam. 5. Garnish with coriander leaves.