Palak Idli Recipe #WorldIdliday

New Krishna Bhavan located on sampige road, malleshwaram is one of the best spots to enjoy southindian breakfast. I enjoy the palak idlis here, must try if your in malleshwaram. I've attempted to recreate the dish for #worldidliday we enjoyed the taste and flavors from rasam powder. 

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Ingredients:
10 Idlis 
1/2 Cup Palak (Spinach)
1/2 Cup Coriander Leaves
1 Large Capsicum Finely Chopped
6 Green Chilies
1/2 Inch Ginger Peeled 
1 Large Onion Peeled and Sliced
1 Tbsp Rasam Powder or Bisibelebath Powder
1 Tsp Kitchen King Masala or Garam Masala
1/4 Tsp Pepper Powder
Salt as per taste
Oil as required
Ghee as required

Method:
Chop the idli into bite size cubes. Heat oil for frying on low flame, gently drop the chopped idlis and fry till golden in color, drain from excess oil and reserve.

Heat a wok on medium flame with 2 tbsp oil. Add sliced onions, chilies, peeled and chopped ginger, spinach leaves, coriander leaves and 1/2 the amount of bell pepper fry all the ingredients till the spinach has reduced.

Remove the fried spinach from flame allow to reach room temperature. Add the spinach to a mixerjar and grind to form a smooth paste.

Heat a wok on medium flame with oil and ghee add the other half of chopped capsicum fry for a minute. Add the spinach masala and half cup water stir well.

Add rasam powder, garam masala, pepper powder and salt as per taste stir all the ingredients well in the spinach, bring to rapid boil and allow the oil to surface on sides.

Toss the fried idlis in the spinach gravy and serve hot. Sprinkle rasam powder and garnish with tomato....Enjoy 😉

Instant Rava Paddu Using MTR Rava Idli Mix #MTRWORLDIDLIDAY

This Blogpost is a collaboration with MTR Foods on #MTRWORLDIDLIDAY. Every 30th march for the past five years people have been celebrating world idli day. According to a recent food survey in India, most consumed tiffin or breakfast dish is idli. Any day steam cooked food is healthy and people gravitate towards lite and healthy eating. 

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MTR a well known home brand has been providing us with best of products be it ready to use rava idli mix or masala powders and even desserts it is available across the world. We can use rava idly mix to prepare many instant recipes in a jiffy. I chose to prepare instant rava paddu which hardly took me 20 minutes to prepare and serve the dish.

Received gift hamper for the collab: Ready to use Rava Idli Mix and Idli maker toy set. 

About:
MTR Foods is a food products company is based in Bangalore, India. The company manufactures a range of packaged foods including breakfast mixes, ready to eat meals, masalas and spices, snacks and beverages.

The company began with the establishment of the Mavalli Tiffin Room (commonly known as MTR) restaurant in Bangalore in 1924 by Yagnanarayana Maiya.

In 1975 when India was under emergency, a Food Control Act was introduced which mandated that food was to be sold at very low prices. This move made it difficult for MTR to maintain high standards in its restaurant business and forced it to diversify into the instant food business, selling ready-to-eat snacks such as chutneys and rasams. In 1984, MTR expanded out of Karnataka to the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Instant Paddu Recipe

Instant rava paddus are healthy breakfast or evening tea time snack. The ghee roasted crunchy texture sets this paddu recipe apart. Simply dipped in coconut chutney, anyone can consume a dozen of these in no time.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Ready to Use Rava Idli Mix
1/4 Cup Grated Carrots
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Onions
4 Finely Chopped Chilies
2 Sprigs Finely Chopped Curry Leaves
2 Sprigs Finely Chopped Coriander
1 Cup Yogurt
Oil and Ghee as required
Salt as per taste

Method:
In a mixing bowl combine the rava idli mix, carrots, onions, chilies, curry leaves, coriander leaves and salt as per taste.

Gradually add yogurt and mix to form a smooth batter. Once the batter is formed allow to rest for five minutes.

Heat a paddu pan on medium flame with ghee and oil. Once the pan reaches temperature, gently ladle the batter in the mold and fry on both sides till the paddus roast.

Roast the paddus till golden brown in color and drain from excess oil. Place the paddus on tissue paper to drain excess oil.

Serve the paddus with coconut chutney...Enjoy 😊

Tips: We can add shredded cabbage, beetroot, radish and grated paneer to the same batter.

Rava is a great alternative product for diabetic people consuming rava is considered healthy. Adding spinach and greens to same batter will enhance the flavor and taste of these paddus for patients searching alternate meals options. 

Moringa Leaves and Peanuts Stir Fry Recipe (Murungai Keerai Verkadalai Poriyal)

Stir fried moringa leaves with peanuts is a typical south indian side dish prepared and served with steam cooked rice, roti or millet porridge. There are many variations in the same recipe,we prepare this version regularly at home since we like the crunchy texture and the flavor from ginger.

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Nutritious moringa leaves are only used to prepare egg scramble or stir fry. Gently separating the leaves from stems is tricky, once we get the hang of removing the stems it is very easy to prepare a curry or stir fry.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Moringa Leaves 
1 Inch Ginger Grated 
10 Pods Garlic Sliced
1 Large Onion Finely Chopped
6 Green Chilies Slit
1 Cup Roasted and Husked Peanuts 
Salt as per taste
Oil as required 

Method:
Separate only the leaves from the stem, wash twice and reserve in a colander allowing excess moisture to drain.

Heat a wok on medium flame. Add 2 Tbsp oil, add onion, chilies, ginger, and garlic fry till onion turns transparent.

In a small mixer jar add the roasted peanuts pulse twice and form a coarse ground reserve.

Add the moringa leaves to the onion masala fry for a minute on high flame. Add 1/4 cup water cover and allow the moringa leaves to cook on low flame.

In 10 minutes the moringa leaves will wilt and reduce. Place on high flame allow excess moisture to evaporate and add the ground peanut powder and salt as per taste stir fry until all ingredients are well combined. Remove from flame and serve hot with rice or roti...enjoy 😊

Moringa Egg Scramble Recipe 

Tasting Chinese Menu @Mahjong Room - ITC WelcomHotels, Bangalore

Mahjong is a hidden gem, located in Richmond Road. I was hosted for lunch the entire experience was amazing food, ambience and service. The name Mahjong is a tile-based game that was developed in China during the Qing dynasty. 

Ambience decorated in classic reds and hints of gold is a perfect place to celebrate any occasion. The quality, freshness and delicately prepared dishes were bursting with flavors and every dish was plated so elegantly. I rarely get to taste authentic Chinese food and thoroughly enjoyed everything they served.

Chefs from Mahjong Room at WelcomHotel have curated a menu inspired by the intricacies of the game; Mahjong which requires lot of skill, strategy and calculation similarly the menu features dishes from China’s Sichuan, Hunan and Cantonese province every dish should be prepared in a precise manner.  

Signature dishes from the menu include appetizers such as Crisp Lotus Stem with Sesame, Crystal Dimsums stuffed with water chestnuts or mushrooms, from main course, experience signatures like Mapo Tofu with Black Bean and Chili Flakes and; Cantonese Lamb, Hot and Spicy Hunan Prawns, Gong Bao Chicken Dry Chili, Lotus Leaf Wrapped Jasmine Rice. 

Must try desserts are Passion Coconut Lime Shortcake and The Real Orient Mahjong are the signature Desserts.

Signature concoctions from our bartender include Sakura Cosmos, The Battle of Chibi, The Monkey King, The Chinese Emperor Iced Tea amongst others.

Pricing
A la carte and Set Menu
Prices available on request
Approx 2000 ++

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Dishes we got to taste:

Butterfly Pea Flower Tea 

Butterfly pea flower tea is spiked with lime juice which changes the color from rich cobalt blue to purple. Very mild flavor from lime the tea enhances the appetite. 

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Butterfly pea flower tea and Jasmine tea perfect start and finish at #chefstable #MahjongRoom #welcomhotelsITCBengaluru #Nammabengaluru #bengaluru #butterflypeaflower #butterflypeaflowertea #jasminetea

A post shared by Vidya Lakshmi (@vidyascooking) on Mar 20, 2019 at 9:40am PDT

Mahjong Nuts are the best very addictive sweet with hint of chilly.

My Order from Cocktail Menu: Gone to Hong Kong

Crunchy Corn Kernels 

Crispy Lotus Stem with Sesame

Sichuan Chilly Pepper Chicken

Golden Fried Prawns

Vegetable Crystal Dumpling

Chicken Sui Mai

Shrimp Har Gao

Sichuan Hot and Sour Soup

Chilly Garlic Noodles

Ma Po Tofu with Black bean and chillies (Must Try)

Double Fried Beans with Minced Mushrooms and Pickles Chilies

Gong Bao Chicken Dry Chili, Cashew Nuts, Sugar and Vinegar

Cantonese Lamb

Lotus Leaf Wrapped Jasmine Rice

Hot and Spicy Hunan Prawns

Hot Chocolate Cookie Over Fudge

Passion Coconut Lime Shortcake

Overall experience from the entire tasting and three must try dishes were Ma Po Tofu, Hunan Prawns with Jasmine rice. I loved everything served to me, shamelessly had second serving and enjoyed every bite. I binge eat only when food is good, and was really impressed with the drink menu every cocktail we ordered paired well with all the dishes.