Crispies-1

Its summer time. During this time we Indian women process certain vegetables and other things so that they can be preserved for use even after the season is over. There are many ways of preservation. You can read about it in one of my previous posts:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.in/2010/05/pickles-from-andhra-i.html

One of the methods of preserving is sun drying. In a country like India especially in South India where the Sun shines through out the year, we are all Sun worshipers. Because of him we get our agricultural produce, health, monsoons. 

One of the ways to preserve certain vegetables is by making crispies, known as Vadiyaalu(Telugu) or Vadis(Hindi). Vegetables are mixed with other ingredients and spices and dried in the Sun. They can be preserved for an year. These are deep fried in oil and eaten with cooked rice and rasam or sambar or as a light snack with tea or just like that in the evenings. 

These along with Poppadoms are a must in feasts and food served on all important occasions like marriages etc in my State of Andhra Pradesh. 

In earlier days we had no junk food to binge upon. We used to eat these crispies in the afternoon. They are very tasty and healthy if eaten moderately. These days we can just dab them with little oil and microwave them to avoid deep fries. 

There are many types of vadiyaalu /vadies. I am starting with those that are made in Andhra Pradesh-my state.

1. Crispies with Ash Gourd:

These are one of the most popular dishes of Andhra. These are known as Gummadi Kaaya Vadiyaalu.

Ash Gourd and Chillies

Black Gram-split and de husked

Ingredients:

Ash Gourd  1 medium

Black gram split and husked  500gms

Green chillies      250 gms

Salt   to taste

Asafoetida powder 1-2 tsps

Method 1:

• Soak gram over night in enough water.
• Cut the gourd into pieces the night before.The seeds are generally discarded.

 Cut into half

Cut into pieces along with the outer rind.

I have discarded the seeds, used the juice and the fluffy white flesh while grinding the gram.

• Put  them in a muslin cloth and wound tightly into a bundle.
• Place the bundle in a platter and place a heavy weight over it. This squeezes out all the juice of the gourd.
• The platter should be in a slightly slanting position. 
• Keep a vessel under the platter  to collect the juice of the gourd. 
• This is left over night. 
• Next day the bundle is squeezed to remove all the juice.
• Collect this juice into a vessel and keep aside.
• Next morning wash the gram well with water and leave it for some time so that the water drains off completely. 
• If you are using husked split gram washing with water will remove the husk. But keep the husk separately as it can also be made into crispies.
• Now grind the gram to a very fine but very thick paste, using gourd juice. if needed a little water can be used.
• Remove the stalks of the chillies. Cut into pieces and grind to a paste. This way you can add only that much that you require.
• It can also be ground along with the gram. But here you cannot help if it becomes too spicy.
• Add the chilly paste, asafoetida and salt when the gram is almost done. Grind for some time.
• Remove and collect in a big vessel. Mix well taste and adjust the spices. Remember that it becomes more salty and spicy on drying then when it tastes wet.

 I use wet grinder for grinding the gram.

This is how the dough looks with green chillies, salt and asafoetida but before adding the gourd pieces.

• Now add the gourd pieces mix well.
• Take a big  cotton cloth not too thin. 
• Dip it in enough water. Wring out the water.
• Lay the cloth on a mat placed on a big table, or on the floor(but it leaves patches on the floor which are not easily cleanable) in hot sun.
• Take a handful of the dough and place it on the cloth in a pyramid shape and slightly pat on the top. They should not be too flat.
• There should be enough pieces of the gourd and also dough to bind them. Excess of any of these will not be good.
• Keep mixing the dough in the vessel every time you take a handful, as the dough being heavier sinks to the bottom leaving the gourd pieces on the top.
• Keep a bowl of water besides you and wet your hands as well as the cloth if necessary.
• Place out all the dough and let it dry for 2 days. 
• On the third day you will notice that the crispies will themselves detach from the cloth. if not carefully remove them from the cloth. They should not break into pieces of become too powdery. However a few causalities will always be there:)
• If it is difficult to detach them spray/sprinkle a little water on the underside of the cloth and leave it or few minutes. It will now be easy to remove them.
• Next two days reverse them bottoms up and dry in the Sun.

Drying out in the Sun.

• Once they are tinder dry store them in an air tight container.
• When needed, deep fry in hot oil. 
• It is better to heat oil in a deep frying pan, lower the heat put the crispies  in a wire mesh and lower into hot oil and take out immediately to avoid burning. 
• Place them on a blotter to drain excess oil and serve with steamed/cooked rice, Daal and Sambar or Rasam. Or just eat them as a snack with tea.

Method 2:

• Grate the gourd with the rind after cutting them into big chunks.
• Tie them in a muslin cloth and squeeze out the juice  into a separate vessel. Tie it into a tight bundle and leave over night.
• Next morning again squeeze and collect the juice.
• the rest of the method is same.

Points to be kept in mind:

I . Ash Gourd

1. It is round to oblong shape, green in colour with a white ash like coating. Hence the name.
2. The size of Ash Gourd is as per your requirement. It depends upon the size of your family and how many crispies you want to make. The gourds are available from very small to biggest size.
3. The gourd should be a matured one with tough outer rind.  Matured gourds  will have more coating of ash.  
4. It will have less water content and are easy to dry when making the crispies. Also the thick rind and spongy inner white flesh don't burn when deep fried after making it into crispies.
5. In order to know whether the gourd is matured or not, observe the coating of ash. It will have much ash. Its rind should be very tough. We usually dig in with our thumb nail. If it does not go in easily then it is matured. 
6. The gourd cannot be cleaned. It can at best be cleaned with a soft cotton cloth lightly.
7. The seeds can be used in the crispies but we usually discard them because when we dry the crispies in the sun, the squirrels or birds, dig out the seeds and make a mess of our crispies.
8. The gourd is either cut into pieces or grated. 

II. Chillies

1. Green chillies go best with this. But you can use powder of dried red chilies. 
2. Adjust the quantity of chillies according to your taste. The quantity I gave you is quite spicy.

III.  Black Gram

1. Black gram for this recipe is best if it is split but not de husked. The gram does not have much of its stickiness or binding quality, if we use cleaned (de-husked one). I use split gram with husk as it is much healthier and tastes very delicious. But you can use de husked split gram.
2. The gram should be soaked over night.
3. Next morning it is washed thoroughly to remove the husk or even when de husked one is used. The husk can also be made into vadies. Keep it separately.
4. The gram is then placed in bamboo baskets or baskets made of dried palm leaves or a sieve and left for some time to drain all the water.
5. Then it is ground well into a very thick but very soft paste using the gourd juice and a little water if necessary.
6. I use wet grinder as it is easy to grind in this with very little water.
7. If the paste is too watery, it cannot be made into crispies and also becomes very hard when dried and fried.

IV. The Cloth:

1. The cloth to be used for placing the crispies must be made of cotton and not too thin. This enables the underside also to dry along with the upper side simultaneously.
2. We use old saris or dhotis(folded into half i.e doubled) or bed linen as they have ability to absorb the moisture.
3. Don't  lay out the entire cloth at a time. It gets dried quickly.
4. Unfold a little at a time as you need it.
5. If the cloth dries off despite all this sprinkle little water to make it wet.
6. Too much water on cloth will make the crispy runny and it will not come out cleanly after drying.
7. If the cloth is dry, the crispy cannot be separated from the cloth cleanly after drying and breaks into pieces.
8. If you use a plastic sheet these crispies will not come out well though some people use it. The under side will not dry easily.

Most Important Things :

If you want your crispies to be Crisp and not hard follow these instructions very carefully:

1. The crispies should be dried in very hot Sun. Plan these only when you have enough Sun shine for at least 6 hours of the day and that too very hot. 
2. It should take only 3 to 4 days for them to dry. If it takes long to dry, they will become very hard.
3. The gram should be ground with as little water as possible , using the gourd juice but should be ground to a very fine paste.

Yes it looks very tedious but the result is mouth watering , hygienic and healthy. I will upload pictures of fried crispies next time in here.

Hope you have understood the process and my post is clear. If you face any difficulty mail me please...

A Little Hello

Friends, I have been neglecting two of my blogs for long because of my busy schedules. Cooking is one of my passions and when ever I get time I experiment in the kitchen. But during the past few months, with busy schedules, lots of travelling, I was under lot of stress and near to a break down. I could hardly rustle out a proper meal. Even now I feel burn out and need lots of rest. But I am recovering.

That means I will be more active in the kitchen, experimenting new ones, lots of pickling and other things. I have also promised myself this New Year that I would be concentrating on my blogs especially these two which I have been neglecting. It is a promise from me to you too....

But do drop in your comments, requests and suggestions...for there is nothing like your comments which motivate me to share with you more....

So watch out for yummy, recipes, easy recipes, healthy recipes and lots more.....

Pickles from Andhra (ఆంధ్ర ఊరగాయలు)-9

Pickles and Chutneys With Gooseberries-II

This is the season for Gooseberries. These berries are rich in Vitamin C and is extensively used in Indian Natural Medicine System of Ayurveda. Just by eating a fruit daily will improve our eye sight, protect it, blackens hair and keeps our body, eye sight and hair healthy. They can be preserved in the form of pickles or jams or preserves and also eaten fresh in the form of chutney.

My previous recipe on Pickles is here:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.com/2011/01/pickles-from-andhra-vii.html


1. Gooseberry Pickle (ఉసిరి  నిలువ  పచ్చడి ):

This is one of the most famous pickle of Andhra cuisine. It is good for health and hence eaten first with cooked/steamed rice.

Ingredients:
Gooseberries    1Kg
Turmeric      2-3 Tbsp
Salt  (Granulated sea salt)    75 to 100 gms

Method:

• Wash the berries in plenty of water. Wipe them well with a cloth and spread them on a cotton cloth. Leave them for 2-3 hours (no need to keep in sun) till they are completely free from moisture.
• Slice or chop (can be thick pieces) the berries with a knife and discard the seeds. We use the traditional stone grinder and wooden pestle instead of knife.
• Mix in the turmeric and put them in a ceramic or glass jar. Close the lid tightly and leave for 3 days. These pieces will soften.
• Don't use table or iodised salt. Dry natural granulated sea salt in the sun and powder it. If you can get the powder itself use it. 
• On 4th day remove the berry pieces from the jar, mix in salt and grind to a rough paste. Again store in a glass or ceramic jar. The lid should be fitted tightly and cover it with a piece of cloth to avoid atmospheric moisture.

When you want to use it follow the following procedure.

Ingredients:
Goose berry Paste 1 cup (around 100-150 gms)

Mustard seeds:  1/2 Tbsp

Black Lentils(split and husked) 1Tbsp

Red Chillies (dry)  5-6 (broken to pieces)
Asafoetida 1/4th tsp or 2-3 pinches

Oil             1 Tbsp
Salt to taste

The spice Box

Asfoetida
Method:

• Heat oil in a small pan to a smoking point.
• Lower the heat to the minimum
• Add Black lentils and mustard seeds after a minute add red chillies and asafoetida. When the mustard start spluttering remove and cool.
• Grind this to a paste
• Add the gooseberry paste and salt and grind a few seconds to mix it well.
• it is served with hot steamed rice, slit green chillies and onion slices.

Note: 

1. This keeps for a week or two. 
2. Usually both dried red chillies and green chillies  are used for spicy taste. Some fry the green chillies along with mustard seeds, red chillies etc before grinding. This is not only tasty but also reduces the spiciness of the chillies. Coriander greens are also added before grinding all the ingredients. But this pickle will keep only for 2-3 days because of the green chillies and coriander greens. I prefer this method and make it in small quantities at a time.
3. A little bit of jaggery can be added to blend all the tastes.
4. Grinding the ingredients in traditional stone mortar  and wooden pestle gives the pickle a taste which is different from that in the food processor. 

Watch out for more.......

Colourful Plates

I always make it a point to spend some time browsing or window shopping some of the stalls in exhibitions or sales. Many a time I could pick up some unique pieces of crockery or other such items. A recent addition to my kitchen are colourful ceramic plates for serving:

This is like Chinese Cabbage. I loved this. This is from China.

I loved the above two plates with their shaded colours. They will definitely add colour to any setting. What do you say?

Keep watching for some yummy recipes.....

Jujube Crispies

In my last post, I told you that this is the season (winter) for the Jujube fruits also known as Indian Dates. They are rich in Vitamin C and many other minerals. Because they are sour in taste, they also reduce nausea.

These are preserved in the form of crispies and pickles, so that we can enjoy them off season too. Here is the recipe for crispies. These are known as Regi Vadiyaalu in Telugu or Ber ke Badiya in Hindi. Though the recipe is simple, the process of cleaning and preparing the fruit is a bit tedious. But the end product is really yummy.

Ingredients:

Jujube Fruits       1 Kg

Salt                  50 to 75 Gms

Green Chillies      50 Gms

Cumin Seeds       2 Tbsps

Jujube and Green Chillies

Cumin

Stone Grinder and Wooden Pestle

Method:

• Put these fruit in a big tub of water, wash very gently but thoroughly by rubbing them between hands. Care should be taken to see that the fruits don't break open. Some of the fruits are very soft and easily break open.
• Drain them thoroughly and leave them well spread out on a cotton cloth in the shade for 2-3 hrs so that excess water is absorbed or dries away. We use old cotton saris, dhotis or bed sheets for this purpose.
• Check each of the fruit carefully for these fruits have worms inside. Each fruit scan be pinched open with fingers or use knife and examine for worms. Discard the infested ones.
• Now grind the cumin seeds to a coarse powder. 
• Grind the green chillies or red chillies to a paste.

Green Chilly Paste

• Now comes the tricky part. We have to grind the fruits carefully without breaking the seeds inside.
• One way is to squeeze the fruits with your fingers/hand to bring out the pulp. This is OK with most of the fruits as they are soft and very easily break open. But some are firm. Such fruits should be separated and use a knife to slice them with out breaking the seed.
• Some people discard the seeds. But that way most of the flesh is lost as it is attached to these seeds. 
• I use the traditional  stone grinder along with a wooden pestle. Here it is very easy to grind the fruit with out breaking the seed, by controlling the pressure or force and also angling the strike of the pestle used for pounding. One need not grind much as it is enough if the skins of the fruit separate and the flesh comes out.

Grounded Jujubes

• Now take this fruit into a bowl. add green chilly paste, salt and cumin powder. Mix well. Check and adjust the salt and chilly.

Jujube Mixture

• Spread a thick polythene sheet or a cotton sheet and make small round patties on to the sheet taking lemon sized portions. Let them dry in the hot sun for a day or two and reverse them and dry them for another day or two until they are completely dry. 

Jujube Crispies -Sun Dried

• Store them in air tight container.
• One or two can be eaten as a snack. Children will love this as this is sweet, sour and hot at the same time. this is good for health and reduces nausea. But one should not eat too many at a time.

NOTE: 

1. The quantity of salt depends on how sour the fruits are. So add a little at a time and taste it. Don't add all the quantity at a time.
2. The quantity of green chillies also depends upon the sourness of the fruit. this should also be added a little at a time and then decided.
3. Some add dried red chillies instead of green ones. If that is the case, soak them in enough water and make a paste and adjust the quantity according to your taste.
4. I prefer the green ones as they taste better

Hope you like them......

Season For Indian Dates-Jujubes

It is winter time here in India. We South Indians are lucky to have a pleasant climate this time of the year, though day times are hot enough. This is the season for many fruits and vegetables through out India. So we enjoy them.

One of the berries unique to India is Indian Date. It is also know as Chinese Date, Korean Date or Red Date. This is Botanically known as Ziziphus Jujube. It is known as Ber in Hindi, Regi Pallu in Telugu and Badarika Phalam in Sanskrit. 

This is the Bigger variety used as a snack-known as Seema regi or Ganga Regi in Telugu

The fruits are rich in Vitamin 'C' and contain, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Potassium. 

It is grown from  the regions of Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Korea. 

The tree is a medium sized one, bushy with thorns on its bark, small oval shaped thick leaves. It grows well in hot climates and desserts or semi arid to arid regions. It can tolerate cold climates too.

The fruit is available in the winter months of October to February and are green when raw and turn to red/dark maroon when they ripe. The fruit are sour when half ripe and when fully ripe taste sweet and sour. 

Religious Significance: 

The tree is associated with Lord Shiva. Its fruit are offered to Lord Shiva on Maha Shivaratri. The crispies made out of these fruits along with other ingredients are also offered to Lord Ganesha on Vinayaka Chaturthi.

There is also the story of Sabari. Sabari was a tribal woman very pious and was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. She comes to know that Lord Vishnu incarnated as Lord Rama will visit her. She continues her prayers and devotion just hoping for that visit of the Lord. She grows old but lives just with the hope of seeing the Lord. When Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana visit her, she is so old that she can hardly lift her head to see them. her eye sight becomes very poor. She does not have any thing to offer to lord except for Jujube fruits. She bites into each fruit to check whether it is sweet or not and then offers it to Lord. It is considered sin to offer food tasted by us to any one else especially to God. But Lord happily eats them all, showing that God loves HIS devotees, blesses her, gives her Moksha (liberation of soul from the birth and death cycles) and her soul reaches the Lord. 

The tree is also considered sacred by the Sikh community. The Golden temple in Amritsar has a ‘Ber’ tree called the ‘Beri Sahib’ in its central courtyard, which is worshipped.

Medicinal Value:


The leaves, fruit and the bark have been used for ages in Indian Ayurvedic medicine as well as Chinese and Korean traditional medicine. It has anti fungal, anti bacterial, antiseptic, anti inflammatory, antioxidant properties. It has also got the properties of stress reliever, sedative, can be used as contraceptive, fight obesity etc.

The tree makes a good hedge or fence because of its thorny stems. Its leaves are used as fodder. Its wood is also used for making bowls, agricultural implements and is useful for wood carvings.

This is the most popular variety used as a snack and for recipes.


Uses:

The fruit (fresh ones) are a great hit with children and grown ups. It is eaten as a snack with salt and chilly powder. 

Jujube based drinks are available in some countries. Dried and fresh fruits, canned fruits, tea made from berries, honey from the berries, extract or syrup of fruits are used in many countries. They are used in many dishes. Pickles, candies, desserts are made from these fruits. 

There may be many varieties of this fruit. But in India, I have come across three varieties. One is a big oval shaped fruit, green and orange or even golden yellow in colour, crunchy to eat and with a sweet taste. These are called Seema Regi or Ganga Regi and used as a snack only. The second is medium sized, sweet and sour fleshy fruit known as Regi Pallu or Ber, which is most commonly used as a snack and for culinary purposes. The third are very small pea sized ones which are dark red or sometimes black in colour with almost no flesh and taste mildly sweet and sour. These are from dessert areas of Rajasthan and hence we call them as Rajasthani Ber. These are almost dry and don't have any flesh inside.These are are used for snacking.

One can eat them in moderation. Excessive usage may give, coughs, colds and sour throat apart from acidity problems. But then who can resist these sweet and sour berries. Children and women go for it with no holds barred...:) :).

Watch out for recipes on Jujube....

Spring Onion Flowers

After a long time. I am back with one more vegetable carving. Though I have already dealt with this before, this time it is a bit different. 

My previous post I showed you how to make Lilies out of spring onions which is here:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.com/2009/11/spring-onion-flowers.html

Required:

Spring onions with leaves

Bamboo skewers (or Dried veins of Coconut leaves)

Sharp knife

While buying the spring onions make sure that they are fresh. No wilted, broken or crumpled leaves. The bulbs should also be  medium sized (not too small or too thin), round, healthy and perfect with no damages etc.

Clean the onions and leaves thoroughly with water taking care not to damage any part of them. Drain them on a soft thin cloth till they are completely dry.

Now separate the bulbs from the leaves, just cutting at the base portion of the greens. But see that the greens remain as a bunch and do not get separated. The bulbs should be at least 5cm (2").

Now slice of the root portion of the bulbs taking care that the layers of bulb do not get separated. Remove the outer layers(dry ones) on the bulb.Holding the root side away from you and leaving at least 1cm or so at the top, make vertical slits from top to bottom. 

The slits should be deep enough to reach the center and a little apart from each other. Slowly rotating the bulb, continue to make the slits. 

Now slightly pry open the layers and immerse in ice cold water for 15 minutes or till the onion blooms. Remove and drain these flowers.

For leaves, take a bunch of greens. If required, snip off the tops at different levels to adjust the height of the shoots to suit your requirement. Now pierce a bamboo skewer through the base of the greens and into one of the leaves (preferably the center shoot) slowly taking care not to rip the shoots. 

At the top attach the flower and arrange in a vase or a glass or as you would like it.

I din't have much shoots left with me when I attempted this. So you see only a few greens. But this arrangement will look good with more greens.  This will make a good arrangement on a dining table or a side table. Depending on the space available make a bigger or a smaller arrangement.

Keep watching for more to come.....

It is Time

Friends winter is knocking at our door step. For us winter officially starts with Diwali. There is a lot that can be done during winter. Abundance of agricultural produce, nature replenished after monsoons, pleasant weather(at least this part of India) all these are a time for us women to gear up for winter.

Winter is the time for hot spicy food.Yummy recipes that also nourish us can be savoured in the chilly weather. For us picnics  with friends and relatives in the month of Kartik (month starting from Diwali) is a must. It has got religious significance-that is offering special puja and prayers but all in all it is time for bonding. This calls for lots of easy to make and easy to carry food items.

Can you guess what this is?

Well drop in your comments and answers and watch my blog for the yummy recipe....

Hello Friends

   

I have been away from this blog for long time due to work commitments and lot of travelling. But now watch out for my posts. You will not be disappointed. I am going to revamp and resurrect this blog and provide you with many yummy recipes, easy and simple recipes, nutritious recipes, traditional ones and also lots of info on health , beauty and kitchen tips.

I would like to have suggestions and comments in improving my blog...

Season for Dates

Its monsoon time here in India. Hot dusty summers are a thing of past. If its raining then it is cool. Other wise the skies are overcast. It could be sultry and hot too. Or you can feel the cool breezes gently touching us.

It is the time for the nature to rejoice with the showers. So our markets are flooded with seasonal vegetables and fruits. one of them I found was this:

Fresh Dates

These are fresh dates. These are called Khajoor (Hindi) and Kharjooram (Telugu)Some are red in colour and some are golden yellow to yellow shades. These are one of the ancient fruits and were cultivated since ancient times. it is mostly cultivated in dessert regions as it requires such climate but enough water. it is mostly cultivated in Egypt, Iran and other Arabian countries. India and Pakistan too grow it. 

There are many varieties in dates. Its colour, texture and taste depends on its variety. The colour ranges from amber, brown dark brown, black, red and golden. 

These dates are eaten after ripening, the fruit you can see above. These are also eaten after complete ripening. They are soft. This is a popular snack during the month of Ramadan-used for breaking the day long fast. This is the time we are also able to get those soft dates in the market because of Ramadan fasting. Other wise also it is available in many big supermarkets and stores selling dry fruits.

The stone is removed before use. This called as pitting. Some fill the dates with, almonds, pistachios, walnuts and other things. Pitted or stoned dates keep for a long time. During season these soft dates can be bought, pitted and can be stored out side refrigerators. In India we use these soft dates as a snack, or make chutneys, halwa, laddu or other sweets and also add the sliced dates to sweet dishes and salads. It is also used in making mukhwas or supari-mouth freshener and digestive aid. This is easier to use than the dried ones. It needs no soaking in water as it is already soft.

Date syrup or honey etc are also available in markets these days. 

The dates are completely dried and stored. These are very hard. We Indians use this variety during off season. This is also eaten raw or made into a variety of sweet dishes and chutneys after soaking in water to soften them. 

Dried Dates

In India the sap/date syrup is used for making  date Jaggery and date jelly. It is also used for making alcoholic drinks. The flower and tender leaves are edible and used in some countries in various dishes.

It makes a very good snack. It contains 80% sugar, potassium, iron, boron, cobalt, copper magnesium, zinc and fiber etc. It is used in medicines.

The entire tree like coconut and palm is useful. Its seeds are used used by humans  as food and for other reasons, as well as fodder for cattle. Its leaves are used for covering huts, etc. Leaf petioles, its wood is also very useful. Every part of the tree is useful in one way or other such as, making ropes, cloth, construction, crafts, boats etc.

Hi

Hi Friends. It has been long time since I stopped by this blog. I have been busy travelling and also fell sick. Still recovering. I somehow manage to post on my other blog. there is a lot to share with you all. But it will have to wait as I am not able to key in long passages.

I want to share with you all something. Just see my next post....

Papaya Boats

Its is always a challenge to serve the food in new and creative ways. It makes food interesting and appealing. Children who fuss about eating, will have to be wooed to eat  healthy food. What better way than making their food appealing to them?

This is a papaya Boat. Clean the fruit thoroughly. Cut it vertically into two halves. Remove all the seeds. 

Peel one of the halves and chop into pieces. Garnish with a little salt and pepper and spices/herbs of your choice.

Place the other half on a tray or platter. Put these pieces into it, chill and serve. 

If the boat is wobbly and not able to stand properly, slice of a piece at the bottom, so that it can stand. If you want you can peel the boat too.

Papaya boats can also be used for serving, fruit salads and ice creams. This will make a very healthy and nutritional snack. You can choose small fruits for serving individually.

Flowers With Vegetables

I am not able to post much on this blog. My hands are full these days as I have to look after my mom. She is recovering from surgery. Today as I was cooking, I was fiddling with vegetables. This is what I tried...

These flowers are made from the peels of cucumber. Today I made cucumber chutney. When I saw the peels it just struck me that I should try making flowers from the peels. the colour was appealing. So I just shaped the peels a bit and made these flowers. In the center I used tips of the carrot. For the stems and leaves I used peels of Ridge gourd.

Here I used slices of carrot for the center.

Here I used slices of Ivy Gourd or popularly known as Gentleman's Toes for the center. I  used carrot slices as berries.

 This is the yellow round Cucumber which is eaten widely here.

This is the Ridge Gourd.

 The flowers can be used for garnishing or for decorations. It was my first attempt. I am yet to experiment with these more. Hope you like it....