Photos of fresh vegetables @ Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Photos from our Sri Lanka Holidays

Microwave Khandvi

Microwave Khandvi - A very popular Gujarati snack, goes well with green chutney.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 6 - 7 minutes

Makes : 10 - 12 pieces

Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients

Please use same measuring cup to measure besan, curd and water.

1 level  cup / 100 ml (Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz capacity) besan (gram flour / kadala maav / chonepitti), sieve besan

3 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup curd + 2 cups water)

Salt to taste (or ¼ teaspoon)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder 

Method

Grease back of a big sized steel thali with 1 teaspoon oil and keep it ready or grease clean kitchen platform with 1 teaspoon oil.

In a mixer bowl, blend curd, water and besan  together until smooth (so that no lumps remain).

Transfer this blended besan – curd mixer into a microwave safe bowl and  Microwave on high for 5 minutes (750 W).

Remove  from the  microwave oven and check the consistency of the besan – curd mixture. If it is 3/4^th  cooked and  little water remains, then microwave again on high heat @ 750 W for 1 or 2 minutes. Cooking time (6 or 7 minutes) depending upon the texture of the quality of the besan and buttermilk.

Spread the cooked batter (please use thick steel ladle) over a aluminium foil or back of a greased thali to a very thin circle, while its still hot (or in a very clean kitchen platform - grease kitchen platform with 2 teaspoon oil and spread khandvi mixture evenly and spread very thin in thickness).

Cool and cut into strips of 3" wide and 9-10" long and roll them neatly. Trim the edges. Serve as a snack or with green chutney.

For seasoning (tadka):

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (til) or ½ teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)

2 to 3 green chillies, slit lengthwise

1 tablespoon grated coconut for garnishing

1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander for garnishing (or a mix of coriander and mint leaves)

Method

Heat the oil in small pan and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add jeera / sesame seeds,  green chillies and saute for 1 minute until crisp and fragrant. Finally add grated coconut and stir well. Pour the seasoning over khandvi and serve with green chutney.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

Pinnawala Elepehant Orphanage, Sri Lanka (Photos from our Sri Lanka Holidays)

Source – Wikipedia

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village, 13 km (8.1 mi) northwest of Kegalle town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Pinnawalla is notable for having the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2011, there were 88 elephants, including 37 males and 51 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala.

The orphanage was originally founded in order to afford care and protection to many of the orphaned unwanted wild elephants found wandering in and near the forests of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1975 by the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC).

The Millennium Elephant Foundation is a separate registered private charity organization which is a retirement home for 7 elephants and a tourist attraction.

The orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young elephants found abandoned by their mothers. Young elephants sometimes fall into pits and ravines in their quest for water during drought period. Other orphans have been displaced from their wild habitat by development projects or have been found abandoned before weaning, diseased or wounded.

There are 48 mahouts (handlers) who take care of the elephants. The female and young elephants in Pinnawala range freely as a herd during the day in an area of a few acres. They are herded about .5 km (0.31 mi) twice a day to drink and be bathed in the river. At night, the females are individually chained in stalls. Adult males are do some light work such as transporting feed. They are chained and managed individually, Calves born in Pinnawala are not bottle fed, but a few from ETH are kept at Pinnawala and bottle fed as a tourist attraction.

The elephants are fed in their stalls. There is very little food they can gather from the premises of the orphanage except some grass. Large quantities of jackfruit, coconut, kitul (sugar palm), tamarind and grass, brought in daily, form the bulk of the elephants food.[6] Each adult animal is given around 76 kilograms (170 lb) of this green matter per day and around 2 kg (4.4 lb) from a food bag containing rice bran and maize.

08.30 hours         Open to visitors

09.15 hours         Bottle feeding

10.00 hours         Herd leaving to the river

12.00 hours         Return from the river

13.15 hours         Bottle feeding

14.00 hours         Herd leaving to the river

16.00 hours         Return from the river

17.00 hours         Bottle feeding

17.30 hours         Ticket counters close

18.00 hours         Close to public

Britannia Masala Chaas

Britannia Masala Chaas

Britannia has launched Masala Chaas – a light Milk based Beverage.

To replicate the experience of homemade chaas, Britannia Masala Chaas has natural ingredients like Jeera, Curry Leaves and Ginger added to it giving it the authentic homemade taste and feel. It is best had chilled and leaves you with a “cool ehsaas”. It's a low calorie drink and  good for summer too !!!

Chaas has been an integral part of India’s cuisine, no meal is complete without a glass of buttermilk. Packaged Chaas has emerged as a fast growing category driven by convenience, consistent taste and new age lifestyle. There is a strong preference and shift seen towards usage of convenient, ready to use, foods as people do not want to invest time in preparing them. Britannia Masala Chaas offers the same experience without the “ jhanjhat” of preparing it.

Idli Bajji

Idli Bajji – A quick and delicious snack, made of leftover idlis !!

Makes: 8 – 12 (depending  upon the size of the idlis)

Ingredients

For idlis:

2 idlis, cut into desired shape and size (or 1/2 -inch cubes / dices)

2 teaspoon idli chutney powder (idli milakay podi / pole pitto)

In serving plate, sprinkle idli chutney powder over idli pieces  evenly. Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

For gram flour batter:

½ cup (Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz) gram flour (besan / kadala maav / chone pitti)

1 teaspoon rice flour (adding rice flour will make additional crispness)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon lime juice (adding lime juice will make a additional flavour)

2 pinches hing (asafoetida – it’s good for digestion)

2 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves (optional) or a mix of mint and coriander leaves

¼ cup (4 -6 tablespoon water / 70 - 80 ml) water (depending upon the texture of the gram flour)

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method

In a bowl, mix all the batter ingredients together and make a batter with 4 - 6 tablespoon water. First add 4 tablespoon water. Later adjust with remaining water.  Batter should not be too watery. It should be medium thick / dropping consistency (like normal bajji batter / not like dosa batter).  Cover and keep this batter for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan / karahi.  Do not fry on high heat. It will brown immediately and inside portion won’t cook / fry properly. Reduce heat to medium  and dip each idli piece in gram flour batter  (5  bajjis at a time – depending upon the size of pan) and fry till golden color on both the sides.

Drain and place on kitchen towel  / paper towels to absorb excess oil. Please use 3 – 4 paper towels to absorb extra oil from bajjis (both the sides).

Serve hot as an evening snack with Tomato ketchup or coconut chutney or serve as a starter or a plain snack with tea / coffee...

Majboos / Chicken Majboos

Majboos - A less spicy Arabic style chicken rice / biryani. No added Maggi stock cube. Basic recipe from Vanitha magazine Feb 1 - 15, 2013 and Restaurant  Rolexio , Eranakulam, Kerala !! This biryani is totally different from Indian biryanis. Please do not compare with Hyderabadi biryani / Dum Biryani / Kozhikkod biryani ..

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the chicken:

750 g chicken, cut into medium pieces (with or without skin)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon salt

Wash and clean chicken pieces. Drain out water thoroughly. In a bowl, marinate chicken pieces with above ingredients evenly. Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

Other ingredients for chicken stock:

Please use same measuring cup to measure rice,  water and chicken stock.

2 onions, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

6 cloves garlic

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 cardamom

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 small piece dried lemon

¾  teaspoon salt (or to taste)

5 cups water / 1 litre

Method

In a bowl or sauce pan, mix all the ingredients together. Add  marinated chicken pieces. Cover and cook on a medium to low heat for 30 – 40 minutes until done / chicken well cooked / there is reduction in chicken stock. Keep aside to cool for fifteen minutes and strain the chicken stock with the help of a clean iron sieve. Measure the chicken stock.  It should be 4 – 4 ½ cups. This is the main ingredient in which we are going to cook the rice. Remove the cooked chicken pieces and dried lemon. Keep aside separately.  Do not use cooked tomato, onion, spices, garlic, ginger.

For the cooked chicken:

3 tablespoon oil (please do not use coconut oil)

Heat oil in a karahi / pan. Reduce the heat to medium and gently fry cooked chicken pieces in batches (4 – 5 pieces at time) until golden color on a both the sides. Keep aside.

For the rice:

Normally 2 cups water requires for 1 cup basmati rice. 1 ½ cup water requires for 1 cup Zeera Samba / Jeerakasala rice and 3 cups water requires for 1 cup ponni rice (silky raw rice).

2 cups  / 400 ml good quality basmati rice ( Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) Here I used Kohinoor brand  extra long grain basmati rice.  Wash and clean rice. Drain out water completely. No need to soak in water.

4 cups / 800 ml chicken stock

½  teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Dried lemon from the chicken stock

Method

In a non stick pan or wide karahi, boil  chicken stock , dried lemon and salt to taste. Cover and cook on a medium heat for 8 minutes / until boils. When it starts boiling nicely, add drained rice. Mix well. Cover again and cook on a medium to low heat for 15 – 18 minutes until done / rice cooked well / water dries up.

Final presentation:

Serve rice (majboos) with shallow fried chicken / raita …

For Raita:

Serves: 4

Ingredients

250 ml medium thick curd

1 big (1 big or 2 small size) onion, chopped

1 big (1 big or 2 small size) tomato, chopped

2 tablespoon mint and coriander leaves

½ teaspoon salt

Method

In a bowl or serving bowl, mix medium thick yogurt / curd with above ingredients. Serve as a side dish with majboos. 

Coconut Chutney with garlic, red chillies and tamarind paste

Coconut Chutney with garlic, red chillies and tamarind paste - A delicious chutney. Best with dosa / idlis / vada / pakoda ….

Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients

½ cup (7 – 8 tablespoons) grated coconut

4 garlic cloves

3 dried red chillies

½ teaspoon thick tamarind paste

¼ teaspoon + 2 pinches salt (or to taste)

2 tablespoon water

Method

Make a smooth paste of above ingredients in a small mixer bowl with 2 tablespoons water. Featured here is thick chutney.  If you want a medium thin chutney, adjust with extra ¼ cup water (3 – 4 tablespoon or 50 ml / 2 oz) and add extra salt to taste (or ¼ teaspoon salt  again). Serve with dosa / idli / vada …

How to make a simple homemade pizza?

Basic recipe of Pizza Dough / Pizza Base

Recipe from Australian Women’s Weekly (April 2010). This homemade pizza dough will make 4 small and 2 large bases.

Method

Combine 2 teaspoons ( 7 g) dried yeast, ½ teaspoon sugar and ¼ cup warm water (50 - 60 ml), and stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until frothy and well risen.

Sift 2 cups (one standard measuring cup of 250 ml / 8 oz capacity /approximately 500 g) bread flour or plain flour, and 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add 2 tablespoon olive oil and the yeast mixture into the well and mix to form a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover it with a damp cloth (dough and the wet cloth should not touch each other) and leave in a warm spot until it has doubled in size (approximately 1 – 1 1/2 hours).

Punch the dough down with your fist on a floured surface to remove the air, then knead it lightly. Divide it into balls and roll it out to the size you require for veg and non veg pizza.

Homemade pizza sauce

Makes – 75 – 85 ml

Ingredients

2 teaspoon cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

100 ml tomato puree

2 tablespoon tomato sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and fry on a medium heat for 1 minute. Add tomato puree, tomato sauce, sugar, salt to taste, oregano and pepper powder. Stir all the ingredients well and cook on a very low heat for 3 – 4 minutes until thickens. Switch off the heat and keep aside to cool for 15 – 20 minutes or until room temperature.

How to make a  simple Homemade Pizza?

Makes: 2 small pizzas

Ingredients

2 small  thick  pizza base (it’s readily available in the supermarkets / bakery..) or homemade pizza base

2 tablespoon pizza sauce (1 tablespoon each for small pizza and 2 tablespoon for big pizza base) 

Homemade or  Pizza sauce easily available in the markets (Maggi / American Garden..)

½ cup mozzarella cheese, finely grated  (Amul  / Nilgiris or any other leading brand)

2 tablespoon  thinly  sliced capsicum and onion (or 9 thin slices each) or any other vegetables of your choice or boiled chicken cubes / sausages / mushroom / paneer...

¼ teaspoon pepper powder

1 teaspoon oil (to grease baking tray)

Method

Grease a baking tray with  1 teaspoon oil.

Spread  the pizza sauce  (1 tablespoon) over the pizza base to within half an inch of the sides. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over it (2 – 3 tablespoon).

Decorate  with thin slices of capsicum and onion (or any other veg or non veg).  Sprinkle  ¼ teaspoon pepper powder. Add extra cheese if required.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 200 * C or 400 * F and bake for 10 minutes (one pizza at a time - or depending upon the size of the oven) until done / cheese melts / light golden color / fragrant. Remove from the oven an serve hot.

For Pizza Margherita:

Spread  4 teaspoon pizza sauce, sprinkle grated cheese generously over it, decorate with 4 thin roundels of tomato, sprinkle ¼ teaspoon pepper powder and bake for 10 minutes until done / cheese melts.

How to make homemade pizza sauce?

How to make homemade pizza sauce?

Makes: 75 – 85 ml

Ingredients

2 teaspoon cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

100 ml tomato puree

2 tablespoon tomato sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and fry on a medium heat for 1 minute. Add tomato puree, tomato sauce, sugar, salt to taste, oregano and pepper powder. Stir all the ingredients well and cook on a very low heat for 7 – 8  minutes until thickens. Switch off the heat and keep aside to cool for 15 – 20 minutes or until room temperature.

Aloo Onion Bajji / Potato Onion Bajji

Aloo Onion  Bhajjis  / Potato Onion Bhajjis - An  easy and tasty deep fried snack, made of boiled and mashed potatoes, sliced onions and gram flour batter. Serve as a starter or with tea / coffee. A super quick deep fried snack in Indian cuisine !!! No added egg, baking powder, food color , cooking soda,  tikka masala …

Makes: 12  bhajis

Main Ingredients

2 onions, finely sliced

2 potatoes, boiled and mashed

200 ml oil (to deep fry)

For gram flour batter:

½ cup (Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz) gram flour (besan / kadala maav / chone pitti)

1 teaspoon rice flour (adding rice flour will make additional crispness)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon lime juice (adding lime juice will make a additional flavour)

2 pinches hing (asafoetida – it’s good for digestion)

2 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves (optional) or a mix of mint and coriander leaves

¼ cup (3  - 4 tablespoon water / 50 - 60 ml) water (depending upon the texture of the gram flour)

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method

In a bowl, mix all the batter ingredients together and make a batter with 1- 3 tablespoon water. First add 2 tablespoon water. Later adjust with remaining water.  Batter should not be too watery. It should be medium thick / dropping consistency (like normal bajji batter / not like dosa batter).  Cover and keep this batter for 15 minutes.

Now add sliced onions, boiled and mashed potatoes and mix well. Cover and keep aside this bhajji batter again  for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan / karahi.  Do not fry on high heat. It will brown immediately and inside portion won’t cook / fry properly. Reduce heat to medium and drop teaspoons (or use small spoon which shape like ice cream scoop to get evenly round shape ) of the bhajji batter (6 - 7  bajjis at a time – depending upon the size of pan) and fry till golden color on both the sides.

Drain and place on kitchen towel  / paper towels to absorb excess oil. Please use 3 – 4 paper towels to absorb extra oil from bajjis (both the sides).

Serve hot as an evening snack with Tomato ketchup or coconut chutney or serve as a starter or as a side dish with Indian breads or a plain snack with tea / coffee...

Creamy Egg Curry

Creamy Egg Curry –  A creamy egg curry, goes well with pulao / parathas / rotis …

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For onion and cashew nut paste:

1 tablespoon oil

1 big onion, chopped (separate each layer)

Heat oil in a small on medium heat.  Add chopped onion and fry until golden brown color. Cover and keep aside for 10 - 15 minutes.

For cashew nuts:

Soak 8 cashew nuts in 2 tablespoon water for one hour and make a smooth paste with fried onion (along with the soaked water) in a small mixer bowl.

Other ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

3 cloves

3 cardamom

2 small cinnamon sticks

1 onion, thinly sliced

¾ teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

150 ml water

¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Cashew nut - onion paste

2 boiled eggs

1 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves

Method

Dilute red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder in 2 tablespoon water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan / karahi on a medium heat.  Add cloves, cardamom and cinnamon sticks. Fry until fragrant (1 minute).

Add sliced onion and fry until golden color and crisp.

Add diluted spice mix. Stir well on a low heat until the raw smell goes and water dries up (approximately 3 minute on a low heat).

Add 150 ml (less than 1 cup water. Gravy won’t be tasty, if it is too thin in consistency) and salt to taste.

 Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a lid and cook on a medium  heat for 8 – 10 minutes until the gravy boils well.

When the gravy boils nicely, add cashew nut – onion paste.  Stir well. Adjust salt if required. Cover again and cook on a low heat for another 8 minutes. Gravy is ready now.

In a serving bowl, arrange boiled egg and pour the gravy over it. Consume this curry after half an hour. Then it will absorb all the flavours. Serve with pulao / rotis …