Thai Fried Rice with Basil

What I used:

Cooked rice : 2 cups
Garlic : 3 cloves (finely chopped)
Thai red chillies : 5 to 6 (sliced vertically)
Red Onion : 1/2 (sliced thinly)
Beans : 10 to 12 (cut into 1" pieces)
Carrots : 1/2 (julienned)
Button mushrooms : 12 to 15 (chopped)
Cooking oil : 2 tbsp
Soy sauce : 3 tbsp
Lime juice : 1 tbsp
Ground white pepper : 1/2 tsp
Salt : as required
Sugar : 1/2 tsp
Roasted peanuts : for garnish
Basil leaves : 20 to 25

How I did:

• In a wok, heat oil over medium heat and fry chopped garlic and thai red chillies until garlic is light brown. 
• Add onions, beans, carrot, and mushrooms and stir. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until all the veggies are done and add rice. Stir to combine and fry 1 minute. 
• Add soy sauce, lime juice, white pepper powder, salt and sugar and stir until evenly distributed. 
• Add basil leaves, stir, and remove from heat. Garnish with a few basil leaves and roasted peanuts and serve hot.

Diamond Kajalu

What I used:

All purpose flour(Maida) : 1 cup
Green chillies : 3 to 4
Cumin seeds : 1 tbsp
Salt : to taste
Water : 1/2 cup
Oil : for frying

How I did:

• In a food processor, grind green chillies and cumin seeds to a smooth paste.
• Mix all purpose flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add chilli paste and water and knead till it turns into firm and soft dough.
• Take a large lemon sized ball of the dough and roll into a flat chapatis flouring in between. While doing this cover the remaining dough with a moist cloth.  Cut the chapati into small diamonds using a knife.  Finish the rest of the dough.
• Heat oil in kadai on medium flame and deep fry the diamonds in oil till golden brown on both sides.

Bite Sized Candy Corn Biscuits

What I used:

All purpose flour : 1 1/2 cups
Unsalted butter : 1/2 cup
Sugar : 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract : 1 tsp
Salt : 1/8 tsp
Orange and yellow food colors : as needed

How I did:

• Heat oven tot 350 degrees F. 
• In large bowl beat butter with an electric or hand mixer on medium until smooth. Add sugar and beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
• Sift flour and salt into the creamed butter and beat until combined, scraping down side of bowl occasionally.
• Divide the dough into three equal parts.  Fold in a few drops of orange color into one portion and knead the dough thoroughly until combined properly.  Repeat the same by adding yellow color to another portion of the dough. Leave one portion as it is.
• Take a small loaf pan or a small square bowl and line it up with plastic wrap.  The wrap should be extra sized than the bowl you are using which helps in taking out the dough from the bowl.  Take yellow colored dough and press and spread it evenly at the bottom of the bowl. Layer on the top with white colored and followed with orange colored dough.  Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.
• Take out the dough from the bowl carefully, unwrap it and place it on the cutting board.  Cut the dough from the top into 1 cm slices.  Cut each slice into small triangles.  
• Arrange on a parchment paper covered baking sheet spacing evenly and bake for 15 to 20 minutes,depending on the size of the cookies, or until the edges are lightly browned.
• Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes. Let the biscuits cool completely before storing.

Kharbooja Payasam (Cantaloupe Kheer)

What I used:

Cantaloupe : 1/2 (Peel the skin, cut into half, remove the seeds and grate)

Whole milk : 2 cups

Non fat milk powder : 1/2 cup

Sugar : as required

Cashews : a few for garnishing

How I did:

• Mix milk powder in milk in a saucepan and bring to boil stirring in bestween.
• Add sugar to the boiling milk and cook until all the sugar is melted and it comes to a boil stirring continuously.
• You can completely avoid milk powder and add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of sugar for the sweetness which it gives but the milk has to be boiled for quite a long time to thicken.
• Add grated cantaloupe and let boil for 2 more minuts.
• Switch off the stove and transfer to the serving dish.
• In a pan heat a little ghee and toss the cashews in it for a while.
• Sprinkle these cashews on to the payasam.
• Serve as a dessert.

Parsley Cumin Rice

What I used:

Cooked rice : 5 cups
Fresh parsley : 1 bunch (finely chopped)
Onion : 1/2 (slice thinly)
Cumin seeds : 2 tbsp
Cardamom : 6
Cloves : 6
Cinnamon : 1" stick
Black pepper seeds : 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tbsp
Green chillies : 7 to 8 (slit lengthwise)
Salt : as required
Oil : 2 to3 tbsp

How I did:

• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan on medium high flame and add cloves, cinnamon, black pepper seeds, cardamom and cumin seeds.
• When the spices splutter, add green chillies and toss for a few seconds.
• Add chopped onions and ginger garlic paste and saute till the onions are nicely caramelized.
• Add finely chopped parsley and saute for two minutes.  Parsley takes very minimum time to cook.  
• When the parsley is cooked add rice and combine till all the ingredients are mixed well. 
• Sprinkle salt and stir till combined.  Cook for two minutes or so for the rice to absorb the flavours.
• Transfer the contents to a serving dish and serve hot with raita. 

Macaroni Fritters

What I used:

Any small shaped pasta : 1 cup (I used Estrellas - a star shaped)

Medium sized Potatoes : 2

Green chillies : 4 to 5 (finely chopped)

Onions : 1/2 (Chopped)

Bread crumbs : 1/2 cup
Grated cheese : 4 tbsp (Used for kids recipe. Picture below)

Chopped Coriander :  2 tbsp

Salt : as required

Coriander powder : 1 tsp

Oil : for deep frying

How I did:

• Boil pasta in water until soft.  Drain in a colander and run under cold water.
• Boil the potatoes, peel off the skin when cooled and mash them.
• Combine both pasta and mashed potatoes in a bowl.  Add chopped green chillies, chopped onions, chopped coriander, coriander powder and salt.  When preparing for kids just add grated cheese. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined properly. 
• Take bread crumbs in a bowl and keep ready.
• On a medium flame heat oil in a kadai.  Take a lemon sized mixture and using your palms make patties, roll them in the bread crumbs and drop one by one in the oil when it is sizzling hot.  At a time, you could fry about 5 to 7 fritters, depending on the size of the kadai used.
• Fry till they are turned golden brown color on the lower side then flip over the fritters to fry on the other sides.
• Best when served hot.  For a more healthier version, try shallow frying like cutlets instead of deep frying.

Torview and Harini of Tamalapaku passed on this beautiful award to me and I'm very thankful to them for choosing me.

I would like to pass on this award to the following blogger friends.

1. Sangi of Simply Delicious
2. Sandhya of Sandhya's Kitchen
3. Deesha of Vegetable Platter
4. Deepa of Cooking Blog Indexer
5. Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot
6. Reshmi of Rookie Qookie
7. Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
8. Aipi of US Masala
9. Satya of Super Yummy Recipes
10. Sailaja of Sailaja's Kitchen
11. Rachana of Veggie Fare
12. Padhu ofo Padhu's Kitchen
13. Paaka Shaale
14. Sarah Naveen of Vazhayila
15. Ramya of Veg Delicacies

Hey friends, grab this award and pass on to other blogger friends.

Oats Rawa Dosa

What I used:

Quick cooking oats : 2 cups
All purpose flour / Maida : 1 cup
Rice flour : 1 cup
Sooji : 1 cup
Salt : as required
Green chillies :  4 to 5 (Chopped finely)
Cumin seeds : 1 tbs
Water : 6 1/2 cups (approximately)
Oil : as required

How I did:

• Take maida, rice flour, sooji and quick cooking oats in a mixing bowl and mix water little by little without forming any lumps until you get the consistency of normal dosa batter. You could use a hand blender to mix the batter without any lumps. Let the batter rest for 15 mins to half hour.
• Add salt, chopped green chillies and cumin seeds and combine well. 
• Heat a non stick pan on medium high flame, grease some cooking oil to it.
• Reduce the flame to medium. Using a ladle or a cupe, pour the batter starting from the outer edge of the pan, covering the entire circumference in the form of a circle.  Fill the gaps in between, quickly and evenly.  Every time you pour the dosas, mix the batter thoroughly.
• Pour a tsp of oil or two on and around the dosa.
• Let cook for a minute and when it turns to golden color flip over.
• Cook for few more seconds and serve with any chutney.