Nutitious 3P curry - Potato, Peas and Palak

3P curry is a very nutritious curry which I named after it's ingredients i.e. Palak, Potato and green Peas. This curry turns very tasty and is totally based out of a successful experiment which I conducted in my kitchen.

Since Feb when I had health issues, I got a little bit health conscious. Since then I mostly cook dishes which are packed with nutrition. Palak is a great anti-oxidant, the benefits of which can be found on google. Adding tomato and a different combination of masalas makes this dish really yummy.

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh palak/Spinach
2 small tomatos
2 medium sized onions
1/2 cup green peas
1 big sized potato
8 garlic cloves
1/2 inch giner
2 green chilles
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilly powder
4-5 black peppercorns
1/2 inch cinamon
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker. After cooling, peel and chop into 2 inch squares.

Wash the palak leaves and chop them. In a steel container add chopped palak, 1 small chopped tomato, green chilles, spices and 3 garlic cloves.
After cooling, make a puree out of this boiled palak mixture.

Microwave the green peas for 2 mins. One can also boil them for 5 mins.

In a kadai, add 2 tablespoons oil and add the chopped onions and fry on a meduim flame till the onions become brownish. Next add the paste made out of 5 cloves garlic and 1/2 inch giner. Fry for some time.
Add the tomatoes and fry till they become mushy.
Add the turmeric and chilly powder. Fry for sometime and add garam masala.
Add the boiled and chopped potatoes and fry for 2 mins.
Add the green peas and fry again for 2-3 mins.
Lastly add the palak puree. Mix well.
Add salt to taste.
You can alter the thickness of the gravy by adding water as required.
Let the gravy simmer on low flame for 5 mins.
Then switch off the gas.

Serve this gravy with chapatis or rotis or with parathas.

I am Tagged

Meghana of delicious adventures, a fellow blogger has tagged me and nominated me to receive this award.


                         


So the Rules for 'tagged' are:
1. First post the rules on your blog
2. Answer any 5 (same or new)questions and create new set of questions
3. Tag other bloggers and link them to your post.
4. Let them know that they have been tagged and nominated for the award.


5 questions about me:
1) What do you expect from life?
Ans: Nothing

2) Which is the place do you love the most and would love to visit often?
Ans: Switzerland

3) Tell one dream that you have and would want to achieve?
Ans: I want to visit USA.

4) What makes you happy?
Ans: The fact that I am surrounded by many people who love me.

5) What makes you sad?
Ans: The fact that I am away from my family.

The rules to accept and pass on the award are:
1. Please accept the award and claim the picture.
2. Post about it on your blog and link back the person who nominated you for the award.
3. In the post mention 7 random facts about you.
4. Nominate your other blogger friends and notify them.

OK, now I would like to nominate the following people to receive this award:
1) Savitha of Saitha's Kitchen
2) Sushma of Savi-Ruchi
3) Sarah of MaisonCupCake

Best gift for Mother's Day

"Raksha, please switch off that mobile and get back to work..., Raksha, please put the mobile off and spend time watching TV...., Raksha, if you don't stop now I will come and throw that mobile out of the window ..." said my mom in a frustrated tone.

"Mumma, how can you do that? How can you just throw off my iPhone out of the window? You know how costly it is, it will break into pieces". I was feeling sad.

Mom replied "Whole day you are stuck to that mobile. You don't do any other activity. Nowadays, you have started talking to your mobile. I am scared dear, you might just go mad one day. Please stop getting addicted to your mobile. Go out and have fun. Watch TV, read books, listen to music or cook something delicious like what your friend had prepared last time".

I replied "Mumma don't worry, I am having as much fun with my mobile as much I would do by going out".

My mom did not understand. I told her to cool down and I took her into a different world. A world that she had never seen before. She always thought that I played games with my mobile.
I told my Mom what I do with my mobile.

I get up in the morning and log in to FaceBook and great all my friends a "Good Morning".
After breakfast, I watch TV using Internet on my mobile and watch some programs. I even watch movies and listen to songs. My mom was surprised when she actually saw this.
Then I showed her the number of e-books that I have downloaded. I told her that using Google we can get any information that we want. So I told her not to worry as I also read books online.
I logged in to my favorite music site and put my ear phones in my mom's ears and made her listen to my favorite song i.e. "ma, meri ma". Now she thought that I was trying to butter her.

She told me to go to kitchen and cook something which the whole family will enjoy for lunch. I quickly logged in to Raksha's Kitchen and went through the Jeera Rice recipe. I prepared Jeera Rice and served it to my family. My mom was surprised. She asked me how I learnt the recipe. I replied "from my mobile".

Then I showed my mom how to surf the Internet from mobile and how to download recipes. I told her that we can even see videos of the recipes being cooked from YouTube. She was appalled.

Later that night my mom ordered me to make some roti's for dinner. I agreed. Again my family was surprised. When they asked from whom I learnt them, I replied YouTube on my mobile :)
My mom then said "I know you can enjoy your life with your mobile. But see you should keep in touch with your friends".
I told her that I do that using fring.com. I showed her how I chat with my best friends daily and then I told her that I don't speak to my phone, but I speak to my friends using the Internet on my phone.

I got this iPhone from my dad after I stood first in my state in class 12th. Now I really don't want to loose this phone. My mom was still not convinced and said to me "Your college is re-opening next week. Don't you want to buy a new bag and new clothes for the first day at college?". I replied to my mom that I have already purchased and my order will be delivered next day morning through courier. Mom was surprised. She asked me how I did that. I told her how I used my debit card for purchasing bag and clothes online. I even told her how secure it was to use mobile Internet.

I got many awards after topping my state. I collected all that money and deposited in a bank. I also got a debit card from that bank and I can use my card at will. I told my mom that I can order anything from the Internet using Vodafone Mobile.
 I then narrated an incident when I lost way one day while I was on the way from Bangalore to Goa and how Vodafone helped me find the way using GPS.
At night , I use my mobile to chat with my brother who is doing MS in USA. I connected my mobile to my computer and I told my mom that we can also access Internet by connecting the mobile to the computer. Then my mom was connected to my brother in USA and she started telling him how good and how much fun mobile internet on Vodafone is.

My mom was very very impressed and she was very happy. I knew now she would never tell me that she would throw my mobile out of the window or into the dustbin. Now she knew what all I do with my i-phone.   I clicked a photo of my mom and me using my mobile and sent it to my brother using Vodafone mobile Internet.

We had a peaceful sleep that day and no more taunts and tantrums were thrown on me for using my mobile.

Next day when I woke up I was not able to find my mobile. I gave a missed call from our land line and it was found in the kitchen in my mom's hands. My worst dream came true and my mom was searching for recipes to prepare breakfast. Finally she found Oats Dosa recipe. My mom was very excited and told me how she logged on to Raksha's Kitchen and searched for the recipe.
I went and hugged my mom and told her that she is the best mom in the world.
Thank you Vodafone, due to this I was able to gift my mom the best gift for Mother's Day. That is how to use internet on mobile and how to have fun in life with mobile internet.
I won my mom's confidence and proved that Internet is real fun on the mobile.

This blog post is being written for Internet is fun on Vodafone contest on indiblogger.

Cashew Subzi

In Goa we get plenty of cashew's. They grow in summer season in Goa i.e. starting in the months of March, April and May. If you happen to visit Goa in this season, do try to visit the outskirts of city limits. On the highways you will see a lot of cashew trees.

Last month I was in Goa to take rest. Also visited our family deity "Shree Bhagwati" at Khandola in the remote village of Goa. On way we picked up some cashews. We stopped on the way, parked the car and went to pick cashews from the trees. My hubby just shook some branches and yummy cashews fell off from the tress. We collected them and kept in the backseat of our car. Yum mm, the car was filled with very nice cashew smell.

Some Cashew's which we picked from the trees

This time I had cashews well after some 5 years. But I felt very happy to collect the cashews from trees rather then asking someone to get them for us. When we reached home, I told my Mom to teach me how to prepare Cashew Subzi popularly known as "Kaju Shaak" in Goa. My hubby had never even heard that something called Cashew Subzi can be prepared. My mom prepared the Subzi and I noted the recipe. The recipe is given below. Since the Cashew has a sweetish taste, this subzi also has a sweetish taste. One may avoid putting tamarind to this. But we prefer a bit of tangy spicy taste, so we added tamarind and chilly powder to it.
When my hubby tasted this subzi he just loved it. I am sure you all will too. Just give it a try once.

If you get Cashews somewhere, do try out this Subzi. It's very good for health. For more info and health benefits of Cashew's - click here.

Ingredients:
5-6 cashew fruits
1 tsp mustard for the gravy
1 tsp mustard for seasoning
2 tablespoon grated coconut
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chilly powder
1 tablespoon jaggery
1 tsp tamarind pulp
Oil for seasoning
Salt to taste

Procedure:
For the gravy:
Heat a small pan and fry the mustard seeds for 1 Min without adding oil. Switch off the gas and let them cool down.
Grind together 2 tablespoon grated coconut,cooled mustard seeds from above,turmeric powder, chilly powder, jaggery and tamarind pulp.

For the Subzi:
Cut the cashew fruits into 1 inch pieces.
In another pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and add mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter, then add asafoetida. Now add the chopped cashew fruits and fry for 5 Min's by stirring continuously.
Finally add the grounded mixture and mix well.
Add salt to taste.
Keep covered for 10 Min's and let it cook on low flame.

Serve it hot with rice/roti/chapatis :)

Linking this to "Mom's Recipe".

Also linking this to WTML event.

Fun in the land of Sun - Goa and Refreshing Aam Panna

I am born and brought up in Goa. I really love the climate there. Specially the summer vacations. Yes I love the summer's in Goa. I sweat in the hot sun, but I love the summers.
Since my childhood I used to wait for the summer vacations. The final exams would get over and on the last day we would spray ink from our ink pen's on our friend's school uniform and run home.

We were a gang of friends. All girls, since we were studying in a convent school which was run by the Missionaries of Charity. We always learnt good values from our school. Our school motto was " Through Duty to Glory".
As soon as the summer started we girls would hang out.

On one of the hot summer days we would gather at one place with our bicycles and go to a hill located 2 kms away from our homes. We would park our bicycles at the foot of the hill and climb the hill to reach near the shrine of the holy cross located on top. We would go there and light candles and pray for getting good results in the final exams. I would always pray to lord that I should stand first in my class...

On the way back we would wait in someones mango garden and throw stones aiming at the mangoes. When the mangoes fell, we would pick them up and run home with our bicycles before the owner could catch us.
After the mango garden, we would stop under a tamarind tree which is besides the water canal and eat some fallen tamarind's.

Before 6.00 PM we would return home. After returning home my mom always scolded me for going out in the hot sun in the afternoon. She always said that I got tanned and that I will loose my beautiful colour. So for the next few days I would not go with my friends and we would enjoy at home. I had a CD player and my friends used to come home and we would put on music and get indulged in some hobby of our interest. During that time mom used to serve chilled Aam Panna.

Gone are those days...

Recently I found a new friend Kyra. I met her in the Goan fish market clicking photos of fisher women selling some fish. She wanted to buy some fresh cashew nuts from the Goa's Margao market. We were complete strangers. She just bumped into me and casually asked me if I know any good place where they sell good quality cashew nuts. I took her to one shop located in Margao market and she was very much impressed with the quality. Very soon we exchanged numbers. She told me that she stayed near the Colva Beach in a resort and asked me to meet her.
She told me that she would love to see the village side of Goa which any tourist guide will not show. I don't know what made me like her, despite the fact that we were complete strangers.

She is adventurous, sun loving and loves music and travelling. Maybe this is the quality in her which I liked. "Like poles attract..." . I told Kyra about the fun I had with my friends in childhood. Kyra was a game and wanted to see the beautiful Benaulim Beach. Quickly I took out my  The Lakme Sun Expert Fairness + UV Lotion with SPF 50 and dabbed it all over my arms and face. Kyra too did the same. I took out my Honda Activa with me as the rider and Kyra a pillion rider. We started with our adventure. We played in the silver sands at the Benaulim beach. We even did some para sailing and paragliding. Wow, it was so much fun that too in the hot sun. Whenever we felt thirsty we drank the packaged drinking water which I took from my home. We also ate the ice-creams which we got on the beach to beat the heat.

We spent around 4 hours at the beach. On the way back home, I took Kyra to Mahalakshmi Temple at Benaulim. In the vicinity of the temple there were some Cashew trees. I picked some Cashews and offered some to my friend. I told her how to suck the juice out of cashews and that is the best way to eat a raw cashew fruit. She enjoyed the taste. I packed some cashews to take home for mom to prepare "cashew shaak". A tasty Goan Subzi done with the cashew fruit.

Later I took her to a nearby lake. We sat besides the lake and did some fishing. I did not catch a single fish. But Kyra caught a tiger prawn. Yeah, she was excited...

At the end of the day I took her to my home to visit my mom. My mom told me to go and have bath. I told her not to worry as I have covered my beautiful skin with Lakme Sun Expert UV Lotion. Mom smiled and served us with the refreshing Aam Panna which is made out of raw mangoes.

Kyra and myself had the best day of our life. She got a call from Singapore Airlines that her flight for the next day was confirmed. I felt a bit sad that my friend was leaving. But yes, Kyra has promised me that she will visit me every summer.

Below is the recipe of Aam Panna which Kyra had requested.

Ingredients:
4 raw mangoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp roasted jeera/cumin powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Pinch of salt to taste

Procedure:
Peel the raw mangoes and cut them into small pieces.
Pressure cook them for 2-3 whistles by adding 1 cup water.
When it cools down, make a puree out of it in a mixer.
Add the sugar, black pepper and jeera powder and mix well.
Now keep this mixture on the gas and let it boil.
Switch off the gas after 5 Min's.
Add salt to taste.
Garnish with cardamom powder and mint leaves.

To serve take 2 tablespoon's of this mixture and add to one glass of chilled water.