Renus Kitchen

Ingredients: Tomatoes - 2 medium Red Onion - 1 small Garlic Cloves - 2-3 Jalapeno Pepper - 1 Cilantro - half cup,chopped Lime Juice - 2 tbsp or more Salt - to taste Method: Chop tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers, garlic and cilantro. You can finely chop it or use a food processor. Do not puree in the food processor.   Add lime juice and salt as per your taste. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr for flavors to absorb and serve cold with tortillas or use it with taco shells. 

Wishing Merry Christmas to all my readers. Here are few pictures from my neighborhood . We had great time driving in our pjs, sipping hot chocolate and stopping by to capture these wonderful decorations.

Ingredients: Urad daal (white, without skin) - 1 cup Fenugreek seeds - 1/8  tsp Rice - handful Rolled steel cut oats - 3 cups Salt to taste Method: Soak urad daal, fenugreek seeds and rice together overnight. Next day grind into thick paste Soak oats for 30 minutes and grind it separately Now mix the batters and grind again to make smooth paste with a pancake like consistency Add salt to taste  Heat dosa pan (any flat griddle), drizzle oil and pour a ladle full of dosa batter. Spread the batter in circular manner and cook the both sides till they are crisp. Enjoy with sambhar or chutney

Panchmel daal comes from the state of Rajasthan in India. It is made by combining five lentils in different ratios. The mixed flavor and texture of the lentils offer unique taste and feel to the daal.  Ingredients: Toor daal (arhar daal) - 1 cup Yellow moong daal - 1/2 cup Spilt green moong daal - 1/2 cup Dhooli urad daal (white) - 2 tbsp Chana daal - 1/4 cup Turmeric - 1 tsp Salt to taste Seasoning: Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Asafoetida (heeng)- a dash Whole cloves - 2-3 Black pepper - 4-5 seeds, coarsely grounded Dry whole red chili - 1 (optional) Ginger - 1 tsp, grated (optional) Garlic - 1 tsp , grated (optional) Tomato - 1/2 cup, chopped Onion - 1/2 cup, chopped Ghee - 2 tbsp Cilantro springs - 3-4 Method: Soak all the daals together for 30-60 minutes. Pressure cook daal with turmeric and salt for 2 whistles. Turn off the heat and let the cooker release pressure on its own. Meanwhile, heat ghee, add cumin and mustard s...

I just got a new slow cooker and thought of trying this very first recipe. I must say, using slow cooker is so easy. Just throw in stuff, turn on the heat and just forget about it. Ingredients: Apples - 8-10, medium Cinnamon sticks - 2-3 Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp Cloves - 3-4 Maple syrup - 4 tbsp Lemon Juice - 1 -2 tbsp Salt - a pinch Water - 1/8 cup Method: Peel and core the apples. Cut into medium sized pieces. Mix all the ingredients and put in slow cooker set at high for 4 h or set at low for 6-7 h. Turn off the heat. For chunky apple sauce, mash with potato mixer. For a smooth texture, blend the contents in a blender.  Eat it with some yogurt, cereal milk, pancakes or bake a low fat cake.

This is dish reminds me of my old childhood days at my grandparents home. This was a great hit among the kids.   Ingredients : Puffed Rice (Murmura, laiya, lai) - 2-3 cups Jaggery - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp (optional) Method : Boil jaggery and water mixture at meadium heat. Check the consistency by measuring the temperature using candy thermometer. The temperature should reach about 234 F to achieve soft ball stage OR you can check the consistency of the jaggery syrup by adding few drops into a bowl containing water. The syrup should form a ball and retain its shape. Once the jaggery syrup is made, turn offt he heat. Add ginger powder (optional) and murmura and mix to coat with the jaggery syrup. Cool for 1-2 minutes and start making balls by taking handful of mixture and start pressing into ball shape. Hands can get sticky. You can grease your hand with ghee (butter oil) or water. Once the laddus are cooled, store them in an air-tight containe...