Hibiscus flower drink

 The dried hibiscus flowers are available in HEB, SA.
Dried flower a cup, wash and soak it in a little water, sugar 1/2 cup, sugar you can regulate with your taste, water 6 cups.
Boil a cup of water, add the soaked flower cook it, drain the liquid, add sugar and allow to boil. Add the balance water and allow to boil. Cool it or drink in in warm as you like. Please adjust the volume of water to get your like of concentration. It is healthy so also tasty.

A traditional and authentic Mexican Dinner

main course. Chicken mole, corn taco and rice

welcome drinks. hibiscus and lemonade

rice pudding

We were invited by our neighbour for dinner. The true Mexican dinner was a real experience to know about their cuisine. The highlight of the dinner was everything was home made with a special ingredient 'love'.
The hibiscus drink is awesome. The lemonade taste is freshness.
The chicken mole with an ingredient chocolate was a first time taste. It went well with the special rice cooked in chicken broth and the authentic corn taco.
The deserts were rice pudding and flan. The special ingredient cinnamon in the rice pudding gave a new taste and flavour. Although we were familiar with flan, Oh this was so creamy and cheesy with great taste.
It was really great. Thank you my friend!

Flan

A healthy dinner with Veggies and Fish Pattie

Frozen assorted veggie pack 2lbs., ( capsicum, zucchini, carrot etc.)onion 1, garlic cloves 3, both thinly sliced.
Frozen Fish Pattie 4, coconut oil 1 tbsp.
Heat the oil in a wok, drop in onion and garlic, sauté till tender, add the veggies and salt to taste, sauté till it is tender. Veggies ready.
In a pan fry both the sides. Dinner ready Serves for four.

A Yogurt Curry with carrot

I had this yogurt curry at my friend's home. This curry is so simple to prepare and is delicious.
Carrot 2, peeled and cubed, yogurt 2 cups, mustard seeds 1/2 tsp., dried chilli 1, curry leaf a sprig, salt to taste, fenugreek powder 1/4 tsp., coconut oil 2 tsp. Cook the carrot until it is soft.
Grated coconut quarter cup, cumin seeds 1/2 tsp., green chilli 2, grind the three ingredients into a soft paste, add carrot and blend into the mix. Add half cup of water to make it liquid. In a small wok, heat the liquid, add the whisked yogurt, salt to taste and fenugreek seed powder. Allow to bubble. In a pan heat the oil, drop in mustard seeds, allow to splutter, add dried chilli followed by curry leaves. Pour the garnish mix to the yogurt curry. It is ready to serve with rice.

Egg platter for a great snack

Hen's egg, hard boiled, peeled and halved. Arrange the eggs on a platter with cut side up. Sprinkle wit your favourite masala powder.
Sprinkle with lemon juice over the eggs according to your taste. Finally garnished it simply with chilli powder and salt to taste. So simple, tasty and healthy!

A great fruit and veggie snack...

Cucumber slices, pineapple cubes, both 2 cups each.
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp., salt to taste, sugar a tsp. Mix the powders.
Arrange fruit and veggies on a platter. Sprinkle the salty sugary spicy powder for better taste. A great snack idea.

Karnataka delights...Kadubu and Namkeen with curry

Last Sunday we were invited to our friend's home for lunch. They are from Karnataka. We were honoured with two authentically Karnataka dishes for the lunch. I had never tasted these two dishes even I had visited Karnataka and Mangalore for several times. It was Kadubu and Namkeen. Chicken curry in coconut paste went well with both the dishes. Besides we had chicken biryani, chapatti along with side dishes raita, pickles and yogurt.


Namkeen & chicken curry



Kadubu with chicken and chickpeas curry

Kadubu is prepared with rawa and steam cooked.
Namkeen is a kind of roti. When the gravy in poured on the roti, it gets soaked and melted in mouth.
We had chicken curry with Namkeen. It was so delicious. The taste of black pepper powder was the high light of chicken curry with the buttery taste of grinded coconut. Both the new dishes are delicious and healthy. Along with the curry the dishes are well balanced in nutrients. Adding the pictures of the special dishes of Karnataka we had in the lunch.

Kadubu....A Mangalorean snack

Idli rawa 1 cup, rice flour 1 tsp., salt to taste, crushed cumin 1/2 tsp., grated coconut a handful.
Boil 2 cups of water, add the ingredients and cook it in low flame to make it a dough. Allow to cool, in a warm state start making small patties out of the dough with your moist hands and steam cook for three minutes.  Serve the snack with your favourite curry. Non vegetarians can have chicken curry and vegetarians can have with chickpeas curry. It is yummmm. We tasted this dish at the home of our Karnataka friend.

Seer fish curry with cherry tomatoes and coconu milk...

Seer fish cubes 3 lbs., kokum (Garcinia indica) 12 cloves, soaked in water for an hour, Kashmiri chilli powder 3 tbsp., coriander powder 3 tsp., turmeric powder 1 tsp., fenugreek powder 1 tsp., salt to taste.
Shallots 12, garlic cloves 6, ginger 2 inch piece, all three thinly sliced, coconut oil 2 tbsp., curry leaves 2 sprigs, jalapeno 2, sliced, coconut milk a cup.
Heat oil in a shallow wok, drop in the cherry tomatoes, allow to become a little tender. Take out the tomatoes and keep aside. In the balance oil drop in half curry leaves, onion, garlic and ginger and saute till tender. Add the curry powders except fenugreek, saute for 30 seconds, add salt and kokum along with 2 cups of water. Allow to boil. add fish pieces, allow to boil add the tomatoes and cook in low flame. Add coconut milk, fenugreek powder and balance curry leaves into the curry, allow to bubble for three minutes. Adjust salt and garnish with sliced jalapeno.

Medium Prawns with Cherry tomato and Jalepeno....

Medium prawn, peeled and cleaned 4lbs., salt to taste, lemon juice 3tbsp., turmeric powder 1/2tsp. Cook the prawns in low flame and keep aside.
Onion 2, garlic 12 cloves, both chopped, cherry tomatoes 2 handful, slightly pricked with a fork, jalapeno 2, sliced diagonally, bell peppers 6( red, yellow and orange 2 each), cut into rings, scallions a stalk, cut into 2 inch length, coconut oil 3 tbsp., Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tsp.
Heat oil in a shallow pan, drop in onion and garlic, sauté till tender, add chilli powder, sauté for 30 seconds, add cooked prawn, sauté for three minutes, add bell peppers, cherry tomato and jalapeno, combine well, adjust salt and allow to remain in low flame for three minutes. Don't forget to turn around the mix for a few times. Transfer into a serving bowl with your creative idea of decoration. Garnish with scallions. Serve with rice.