chitti boorelu

Ingredients:
1. wheat flour(godhum pindi) - 1 cup
2. rice flour (biyyappindi) - 1 cup
3. salt
4. red chilli powder
5. buttermilk( better if sour)
6. ginger
7. green chilli
8. jeera
9. asofotedia



Process:
Mix the dry ingredients - flours, salt, chilli powder, jeera, asofotedia in a bowl - stir with a spatula. Grind green chilli and ginger and add paste to the mix. Add buttermilk little by little and stir the mixture into a soft tight batter(enough tight like vada batter or even pakodi batter).
Set batter aside for 1 hour.

Heat oil in a pan - enough for deep fry. Make small balls of the batter and deep fry until golden brown in hot oil. Let cool. Serve warm.

Utappam: Aandhra Style

Ingredients:
1. Buttermilk, preferably sour(Pulla Majjiga) - 3 cups
2. Poha(Atukulu) - 1 cup
3. Raw Rice(Biyyam) - 2 n 1/2 cups
4. Menthulu - 1 tea spoon
5. Salt
6. Ginger
7. Green Chillies
8. Onions
9. Cilantro(corriander)

Preparation:
1. Wash poha, methi seeds and rice
2. Soak the washed ingredients in buttermilk for 4-5 hours(longer if needed).
3. Grind the soaked ingredients along with the buttermilk - get a tight batter without adding any extra water or butter milk. Add green chilli and ginger and grind them all together again. The result should be a smooth, tight batter.
4. Let the batter sit overnight.
5. Chop onions, cilantro(corriander) and green chillies.
6. Heat a flat pan, wait until the pan gets heated a bit.
7. Add few drops of oil, pour about a big spoon of utappam batter into the pan into the shape of a flat round. Do not touch to flatten it with a spatula (like you do for dosa).
8. Add the onion mixture on the top. Cover pan with lid.
9. After a few mins, when one side turns brown, remove lid and flip it to the other side. Let it cook on the pan without lid for 2-3 mins.

Menthi Podi

Ingredients:
1. Chana dal(senaga pappu) -1 cup
2. Urad dal(minapa pappu) -3/4 cup
3. Dhaniya - 1 cup
4. Menthulu(methi seeds) - 2 tbsp
5. inguva 1/2 spoon
6. dried red chilli - 24 mid-size

Procedure:
Roast(lightly) all ingredients in a few drops of oil. Let cool. Grind into a soft powder.(grind red chillies first).

Collection of quotes

I have been looking for a collage for quite sometime...many have collections, but this one is really good..extensive actually. Dont be baffled by the look of the site..just bear with it and dig in.

The site is: Windsom Quotes

Official start of Winter?

Winter Solstice?! Never heard of that..actually never heard before that 'today is the first day of winter'.

I was watching news today evening, the anchor was rambling on and on about the health care bill that got signed this morning, how fair or unfair the voting procedure was, pork to the senators..blah blah blah...and in all this rambling, there popped up the catch phrase - 'first day of winter'! I wondered what is it or when it is and googled for it. Turns out there is good amount of scientific significance to calling Dec 22nd of every year the official day of winter. Wiki quotes: "The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26' ". This is the day when the day is shortest and night is longest in the Northern Hemisphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

Reading through the article was like recalling the science lesson in school. Helps to learn terms and brush up memory sometimes, though all I know or care for now...T'is the Holiday season and I am looking forward to my looong vacation!! :)