MY AMAZING MINIATURES

 I like all small home decorations and very mini art pieces. This made me think of doing something mini. When I was a child I used to make clay miniatures......tables, chairs, pots and pans......Now I made these miniatures with soft modeling clay(will not dry at all). You can use polymer clay as it dries hard. There are many tutorials in youtube for making these fine mini decor.

Miniature clay cake 

Miniature clay cake, burger

Miniature clay ice treats

 Cup and saucer, cookies, gift box, tumbler

Miniature fruits

MAIL SORTER WITH ICE CREAM STICKS

A quick and easy to make mail sorter with popsicle sticks. Letters and small magazines can be organized and leaves your counter space free from clutter.

BADAM MILK

Badam milk/Badam paalu is one of the tastiest milkshakes I have ever tasted. I remember my childhood days when I used to go to Ravindra cool drinks on hot summer days only for this drink. The cold milk with whole sweet almond flavor tasted heavenly. The sweet goodness is till the last sip and the crunchy  cashews at the bottom used to be another surprise and gives added taste. Don't wait for the summer days, try the recipe immediately.

INGREDIENTS

Almonds                   1/4 cup
Whole Milk               4 cups
Saffron strands           4-5
Chopped almonds      2 Tsp
Chopped cashews      2 Tsp
Sugar                         1 cup
Cardamom powder    1/2tsp

PROCEDURE
Soak the almonds for 4 to 5 hours or preferably overnight. The more they are soaked the more softer will be the almond paste.
Remove the skins and grind to a very smooth paste.
Soak the saffron strands in hot milk for 15 minutes.
Boil the milk and add the almond paste, Saffron milk, cardamom, sugar.
Boil for 10 more minutes.
Cool and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Just before serving add the chopped almonds and cashews. Can also add ice cubes.

TIPS
Use whole milk to enjoy the best taste.
To add an enhanced taste add whipped cream on the top.
If you did not get a fine paste of almonds, you can add some more milk to the paste, grind it again and then strain the milk. This milk can be added to the boiling milk instead of the paste.

GHEE RICE

Ghee rice- the name itself indicates that ghee is the main ingredient. It is just a simple flavored rice which can be had with any masala gravy curry. It will be a wonderful and easy recipe for your kids.
You can introduce the masala flavor to you toddler with simple flavored rice recipes.

INGREDIENTS
Cooked rice                2 cups
Whole garam masala  cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf
Ghee                           3 Tsp
Salt                             to taste.
Cashews                     a handful

PROCEDURE
Heat ghee and add the garam masla, cashews. Fry till golden brown.
Toss the cooked rice and salt.
Serve hot with any side dish. Even a potato fry goes well with this dish.

VEGGIE GREENS AND PUDINA CUTLET

A very healthy snack which is packed with full of iron and vitamins. Healthy palak and flavored pudina  are mixed together with other veggies and made into round cutlets which are so appetizing......Not only they are tasty , they are filling too.

INGREDIENTS

Palak                       2 cups finely chopped
Pudina                     1/2 cup finely chopped
Beans                       6-7
Carrot                       1 large
Cabbage                    1/4 cup chopped
Green chilies            2 finely chopped
Chana dal                 1 cup
Salt                           to taste
Garam masala           1 tsp
Tomato sauce            1 Tsp
Chilly sauce              1 Tsp
Butter                        to shallow fry

PROCEDURE

PRE-PREPARATION

1. Soak the chana dal for 4-5 hours and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from water and lay on a kitchen towel. When all the water is removed grind in a mixer. This will be like a thick wet powder. As you have already soaked and cooked the dal you can shallow fry the cutlets without deep frying.  
2. Boil the beans, carrot and cabbage. When soft, remove from water and grind just like the dal.
3. Chopped Palak can be microwaved for a minute or two. You can also fry for a minute or two.

Mix in the palak, veggies, pudina, chana dal powder.
Add the remaining ingredients except the butter.
Make a thick dough like mixture. If the mixture is too runny add some rice flour.
Take small amount of mixture and make a small patty. Shallow fry with butter on both sides. You can also deep fry if you are not calorie conscious.
Serve hot with any sauce.

TIPS

Don't use bengalgram flour instead of chana dal.
Don't use palak puree as this makes the mixture too watery. Use chopped and microwaved palak.
Add some kaju pieces as this is a best combination with chana dal.

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KOBBARI BOBBATLU

INGREDIENTS

Grated coconut                  2 cups
Grated jaggery                   2 cups
Cardamom powder            1 Tsp
Maida                                 2 cups
Ghee                                  1/4 cup
Water                                 as needed

PROCEDURE

Add  2 tablespoons of ghee in maida and mix well.
Add required amount of water and make a dough. Let rest for 15-30minutes.

In a thick bottom pan mix in the grated coconut, jaggery. Add 2-3 Tsp of water.
Now switch on the stove and let the mixture form a thick lump.
Add the cardamom powder and a tablespoon of ghee.
The mixture should leave the sides of the pan.
Let the mixture cool. Now coconut halwa is ready. This is the bobbattu filling.

Take small amount of maida dough and make a small patty. Fill with small amount of coconut halwa.
Cover and again roll into a small disc. See the detailed procedure for rolling here
Use ghee to make the bobbattu.
Heat tava and roast the kobbari bobbatlu  on both side with ghee.
Serve hot.

CARROT COCONUT FRY

A simple fry which will be a favorite for kids. Plain carrot curry or grated carrot fry will not please your kids. Carrot when combined with coconut makes a very good dish which can be had with plain rice or even chapathi/roti. Try this out.

INGREDIENTS
Carrots                         1/2 kg
Grated coconut            1/2 cup
Oil                               4Tsp
Green chilies               2 chopped
Chana and urad dal     1 Tsp each
Mustard seeds              1/2 Tsp
Curry leaves                 8

PROCEDURE
Peel and dice the carrots into Bite size pieces.
Steam them or microwave them till soft and set aside.
Heat  oil and add the dals, mustard, curry leaves.
When the dals turn golden brown add the carrot pieces.
Add salt and fry them till the carrot are fully cooked from inside and tend to change color from out side.
Finally add the chopped green chilies, grated coconut.
Fry for few more minutes and serve with rice or roti.
Add whole cashews while frying dals for a rich taste.

GODHUMA PINDI HALWA-2

I have already post the recipe for godhuma pindi halwa. Today I give another procedure for making the halwa. Unlike the other recipe, this is very simple and you will never go wrong in making the halwa.
Of course the earlier one tastes awesome, but this one also taste good. There is no much pre preparation for this procedure.

INGREDIENTS

Wheat flour               2 cups
Water                        5 cups
Ghee                         1+1/2 cup
Sugar                         1/2 cup
Jaggery                      1 cup(grated)
Elachi powder            1 Tsp
Nuts                           your choice

PROCEDURE

Heat the whole ghee in a thick bottom pan or a non stick pan.
Fry the nuts, remove them from ghee and set aside.
In the same ghee add the wheat flour. Fry on a very slow flame till you feel a nice aroma.
Now add the water, sugar, jaggery.
Mix well. Since the flour is fried in ghee you will not get any lumps.
Keep on stirring till a thick paste is formed.
Now lower the flame and keep a lid on the pan.
Let cook till ghee oozes out of the halwa.(It may take about 15 minute)
Stir intermittently.
When the halwa reaches the completion point add the nuts, cardamom powder.
Mix well and dish out the sweet.

KOBBARI-VANKAYA VEPUDU

I love cooking with brinjal. The number of dishes made with this veggie is unlimited. Here is yet another curry with vankaya.........simple ingredients, simple procedure and simply tasty.

INGREDIENTS

Brinjal                             1/2 kg
Fresh coconut pieces      1/2 cup
Red chilly                        5-6
Jeera                                1 Tsp
Oil                                   4-5 Tsp(as required)
Salt                                  to taste

PROCEDURE

Choose bridal which are long and firm. If you use letha vankayalu then you will not get perfect vepudu.
Round small eggplant(baby eggplant) is also a good option.
Cut the brinjal into small, long and thin pieces.
In a mixie pulse the fresh coconut pieces, red chilies, jeera.
The coconut pieces should just be grated but not made to a paste.
Grated coconut and red chilly powder is also an alternative.
Heat oil in a pan, add the brinjal pieces. Add salt, cover and cook till the pieces turn soft.
Now remove the lid and fry the pieces till they attain golden red color. Add oil if required.
Add the coconut mixture.
Fry for another 10 minutes and serve hot with rice.

CORN PAKODA

If you like pakodi slightly on sweeter side then this could be your choice. The crispy pakoda with fluffy corn tastes awesome. Unlike other pokoda you should be utmost careful while making these. The corn will pop up while frying and some time hot oil will spill out of the pan, so be careful. And if you are a starter in cooking don't try this.

INGREDIENTS
1             Corn cob
1 cup      Besan
2 Tsp      Rice flour
1 Tsp      Ginger garlic paste
1 Tsp      Green chilly paste
A pinch  Cooking soda
1/2Tsp    Salt
oil for frying

PROCEDURE
Remove the Corn from the cob. You can use a knife and scrape the corn by holding the cob vertically.
Add all the ingredients except oil. (Corn, Flours, ginger garlic paste, salt, chilly paste, soda)
Made a thick batter by using water.
Heat oil for deep-frying.
Drop small portions of the batter and deep-fry the pokada till golden brown.
Serve with any sauce or chaat chutney.

HAPPY VINAYAKA CHAVITHI - UNDRALLU PRASADAM

 After a whole month of pooja for Lakshmi and Gowri, bhadrapadam comes with Vinayaka chavithi, the festival which is observed to worship the supreme of all Gods, Ganesha(Vinayakudu). Vinayaka, the God of wisdom, lord of letters and writing is worshipped at the beginning of every new venture to remove obstacles in the work we do.

As a child I used to wait for the festival as many other children. Selecting the Ganesh vigraham is full of fun. I used to go with my father to buy the vinayaka prathima, palavelli, poolu-pallu,  patri and finally the matti vinayakudu. The main naivedyam for this festival is Undrallu. Apart from this special dish many other naivedyams are also offered to Ganesha. The pooja used to be completed in less than an  hour, but I used to do the pooja preparations and decoration for 2 hours. Setting the palavelli, decorating it with flowers and fruits, decorating the peeta, making the pasupu Gouri and Ganapathy, setting all the other deities. Listening to the story is the main thing that we do in the pooja. The vinayaka nimajjana was also a fun. we used to go to the krishna river and immerse the vinayaka , poolu and patri. Watching the nimmajjana festival in the TV is lot of excitement. We used to count the number of vigrahas and the enormous height of the vigrahas will make us say wow!!!! Those days will never be back.

Today I am giving the recipe for Undrallu. Well this is made on the vinayaka chavithi day. But if the Ganesha is worshiped for 10 days then the prasadam can be offered every day.

I have already posted the making of biyyapuravva at home.

INGREDIENTS

Biyyapuravva                 2cups

Salt                                  to taste

Jeera                                1 Tsp

Bengal gram dal              2 Tsp

Ghee                               2 Tsp

Water                              2 Cups

PROCEDURE

Mix all the above ingredients and cook in a pressure cooker.

When it is cooked completely cool the mixture a little bit and make the undrallu.

Now place them in another vessel smeared with ghee.

Steam them in the pressure cooker on a slow flame for 10 minutes(don't put the whistle)

The final steaming make them soft and even more tastier.

Offer the prasagdam to vinayakudu and then enjoy with allam pachadi.

ECO FRIENDLY VINAYAKUDU AND ICREAM STICKS PALAVELLI

For this Vinayakachavithi I decided to go green. I made the Vinayaka prathima with air dry clay. You can find many videos in youtube for making one on your own. Also I made the palavelli with the Ice-cream sticks, umbrella with plain brown paper.

MAKING BIYYAPURAVVA AT HOME

There are some recipes which are made only for some particular occasions. Its not that they should not be made at other times. Ugadi pachadi for ugadi , undrallu for Vinayaka chavithi falls in this category. The main naivedyam for Vinayaka for Ganesh chathurthi is Undrallu. There are two versions of undrallu, Sweet and Savory. The savory versions requires biyyapu ravva. You can easily get the ravva from any grocery store in India. But if are outside India you hardly find it in the grocery store. For those who did not find the ravva in the store, I give a procedure for making the Biyyapu ravva. You can make a whole lot of it and store it.

Soak the required amount for rice for 3 to 4 hours.
Now drain all the water and let the rice dry on a kitchen towel.

 Let it dry for at least 5 to 6 hours. If there is moisture you will not get perfect ravva.
If you wish to put it in hot sun, let it dry for 2 hours.
Transfer the rice into a mixie jar, pulse for 5-6 times. Don't run the mixer in normal mode.
Sieve with a fine sieve to remove the rice powder.

JEEDIPAPPU UPMA

One of the easiest breakfast recipes is upma. Simple and easy to make upma when combined with kaju makes it even more delicious. Jeedipappu upma as it is called is very famous in Andhra.

INGREDIENTS

Suji                                  2 cups
Cashews                          1/4 cup
Chana and urad dals        2 Tsp
Mustard seeds                  1 Tsp
Water                               4 cups
Milk                                 1/2 cup
Ghee                                2 Tsp
Oil                                   4 Tsp
Chilies                             3 finely chopped
Curry leaves                    10 finely chopped
Salt                                  to taste

PROCEDURE

Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add the cashews.
Immediately add the chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds.
When the dals and cashews turn golden brown add curry leaves, chillies.
Now add the boiling water and milk. (by using boiling water you save time and moreover the cashews don't become soggy and soft)
Now add the salt.
By mixing continuously add the suji. See that no lumps are formed.
Once the suji absorbed all the water, decrease the flame, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
By this time the upma will be well cooked and oil will start to come on the top.
This is when you can switch off the flame and serve the delicious jeedipappu upma.

TIPS

Don't add any veggies or ginger which will dominate kaju.
Milk gives an added taste, you can also skip milk.
If you are not calorie conscious add more of ghee and eliminate oil.

POM POM FLOWERS

I made these pom-poms  for decoration on my son's first birthday. A bunch of tissue papers with your own color choice makes these large pom poms in minutes. Low cost and satisfaction of making on your own are on your way. Give them a try. 

RED AND BLACK PAPER ROSES

I turned an old discarded mirror into a wall hanging with red and black paper roses around it. I made the roses with construction paper.

FLOWER ARRANGEMENT IN DISCARDED CARDBOARD TUBE

Next time don't discard your cardboard tubes. Instead make a cute flower vase which can be pinned to the wall very easily and gives your home a new look.