Dalgona Coffee

Hello Everyone,

Dalgona coffee is originated from South Korea. It has become popular in social media during the coronavirus lockdown period. Came across many peaple posting photos of internet trending dalgona coffee. I thought of giving a try.

 It is made by whipping equal proportion of Coffee powder, Sugar and Warm water until it is creamy.

Ingredients:

Instant Coffee Powder - 3tsp

Granulated Sugar -3tsp

Warm water -3tsp

Hot milk -1 cup

• Place instant coffee, sugar, water in a mixing bowl.
• Using whisk, keep beating until you get  thick froth
• It takes upto 10 minutes when using hand whisk.
• In serving cup, fill with hot milk and top the coffee cream as a layer.
• Sprinkle with coffee powder if needed. Mix and enjoy.

Usili Upma/Rice Usili

Hello Everyone,

Usili upma is an easy one pot dish made with rice and moong dal. We can say it as dry form of Ven Pongal :).

My grandma and my aunts used to make this. They call it as accusili(Akki Usili - Rice Usili). As far as I know my mom never made this during my early days.

After marriage I got a chance to taste this from my MIL. She makes it very often. It is easy to prepare and this can be made for lunch as well as dinner. My son likes it very much and he even takes it as a lunch for school. Sambhar/puli kuzhambu/coconut chutney goes well Usili Upma.

Ingredients:

Rice- 1 Cup

Moong Dal-1/2 cup

Water - 2 Cups

Salt as per taste

To Temper:

Coconut oil-2 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1tsp

Split urad dal- 1tsp

Channa dal- 2 tsp

Dried red chili- 2-3(according to spice level)

Grated Coconut-2tbsp

Curry leaves -5-6

Method:

1. Dry roast rice and moong dal until dal turns light brown.
2. Wash it, drain the water and keep it aside.
3. In a pressure cooker pan, heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds. 
4. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add other ingredients in the To temper section.
5. When the dal turns brown, add washed rice, moong dal, water and salt.
6. Let it boil for 2 mins. Close the lid and pressure cook for one whistle.
7. Rice is cooked. Stir once before serving.

Usili upma can be made using instant pot as well.

1. Dry roast rice and moong dal until dal turns light brown.
2. Wash it, drain the water and keep it aside.
3. Set Sauté mode, heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds. 
4. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add other ingredients in the To temper section.
5. When the dal turns brown, add washed rice, moong dal, water and salt.
6. Let it boil for 2 mins. Close the lid and pressure cook in high pressure for 5 mins.
7. Rice is cooked. Stir once before serving.

Strawberry Jam/Strawberry Fruit Spread

Hello everyone,

I usually don't make Indian breakfast on weekends. We eat Oats with berries and nuts,sandwich or just bread jam. We buy homemade fresh fruit jam from Fred Meyer(American store). We were out of Jam and we had more strawberries. Hence, I thought to give a try to make strawberry jam. It came out really well with just 3 ingredients.

I made this with Organic Strawberry, Organic brown cane sugar, Organic lemon. I don’t prefer white sugar so used brown sugar. Adding lemon juice prevents sugar from crystallizing.

Ingredients:

Organic Strawberries : 2 Cups

Organic brown sugar : 3/4 -1 Cup

Organic lemon juice: 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and chop Strawberries by removing the green top.
2. Add them to saucepan with sugar and mix well. Stir frequently in medium heat to rolling boil.
3. Add lemon juice and allow it to boil for about 10-15 mins. 
4. Mash the strawberry until it is smooth. (I skipped this step as we like with the pulp).
5. Keep stirring and cook on medium flame until it is thick.
6. Allow it to cool down and store in a glass jar.

Enjoy the Strawberry jam with bread :)

Dill Leaves Pulao

Hello Everyone,

Dill leaf is an aromatic herb with delicate, tiny leaves. Dill Leaves is popular in India. It's called Soa in Hindi, SoaKura in Telugu, Sabsige soppu in Kannada and Sadhakuppi in Tamil. It can be used in making Akki Roti, Dal, Pulao, Fritters/Vadai.

Dill Leaves is rich in fiber and calcium. My MIL used to say it helps to increase breastmilk supply for new mom.

Dill Leaves Pulao is an one pot dish mixed with Dill Leaves and vegetables. I made this in instant pot. This can be made in pressure cooker as well.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice:1 Cup

Dill Leaves: 1 Cup(Washed and Finely Chopped)

Ginger Garlic paste:1 tsp

Onion: 1(thinly sliced)

Tomato: 1 (Chopped)

Potato: 2 Cut into cubes

Peas: 1/4 Cup(Fresh/Frozen)

Green Chili:2(Slit)

Cumin powder:1tsp

Coriander powder:1tsp

Grated Coconut:1/4 Cup

Ghee/Oil:1tbsp

Water:1.5 Cup water

Whole Spices

Cumin Seeds:1tsp

Bay Leaf:1

Cinnamon Stick:1inch

Cardamom:2

Clove:2

Method:

 1.Start the instant pot in sauté mode and heat it. Add ghee, whole spices and sauté them for 30 seconds until the cumin seeds change color.

 2.Once cumin seed splutters, add green chili, ginger garlic paste, onion and sauté for 2-3 mins until onion is transparent. Sprinkle a pinch of salt for the onion.

 3. Add tomato, cumin powder, coriander powder and mix well. Sauté until it is mushy.

 4. Add chopped potatoes, peas, salt and mix well. Let it cook for a min.

 5. Add Dill leaves and give it a stir. Add rice and water. Mix the vegetables and check for salt. Close the lid in sealing vent position.

6.Change the setting to pressure cook mode and cook for 5mins in high pressure. Instant pot beeps once it is cooked. Let it be in keep warm for 8-10mins and then release the pressure manually and open the lid.

7.Dill Leaves pulao is ready to serve with raita of your choice(I prepared cucumber raita).