31 juillet 2009
Bread Pakoda - A Teatime Snack
Bread Pakoda
Ingredients
An egg
1 green chilli (finely chopped)
2 tbsp of gram flour
1 big onion ( finely chopped)
A piece of ginger ( finely chopped)
Curry leaves/ Coriander leaves (finely choped)
Salt to taste
6 slices of bread
Water
Oil for frying
Method
Beat egg with all the chopped ingredients .
Add gram flour & sufficient amount of water to get a thick batter.
Cover the bowl & keep aside for 20mn.
Cut off the edges of the bread slices & then cut into rectangle shape.
Dip each slice of bread in the prepared batter & deep fry them in a pan or in deep fryer.
Turn over & fry the other side.
Remove using a slotted spoon & drain on a kitchen paper.
Bread pakoda's are ready for tea.
29 juillet 2009
Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore, India.
Vidhana Soudha
Vidhana Soudha houses the Legislative Assembly of the Karnataka State. Former Chief Minister Mr Kengal Hanumanthiah (1951-1956) took initiative to construct this magnificient building under the supervision of Chief Engineer Late B.R Manickam. Foundation stone was laid by the then Prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 13th July 1951. It took 4 years to complete this Neo-Dravidian style building & is popularly known as the "Taj Mahal of South India ". This is the largest legislative building in India. 
Whole building is constructed using Bangalore Granite & the front door is of Mysore Sandal Wood. This majestic building sprawls over 60 acres & consists of four floors. Front porch is supported by 12 granite columns each 40ft tall with an inscription "Government Work is God's Work". The central dome is 60ft in diameter & is also the roof top of the State Banquet Hall. There are 6 other small domes , but on the central dome is the Indian National Emblem (Four Lions resting on a circular abacus ). Adjacent to this building is the Vikas Soudha which houses some of the ministries & the red building just opposite to this is the Karnataka High Court.
Vidhana Soudha
Sampangirama Nagar, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India
22 juillet 2009
Rice balls with Jagerry - Malabar Delicacy
Ari Unda
Ingredients
2 cups roasted rice powder (riz étuvé)
1 cup grated coconut / dessicated coconut
8 cubes of jagerry
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cardomom powder
3 tbsp ghee
Method
Dry roast rice , till the grains are brown & crunchy.
Keep aside to cool & then blend into fine powder.
Gently heat jaggery & water to make a thick syrup.
Strain it & keep aside.
Heat the strained jagerry in a thick bottomed vessel along with coconut & ghee.
When the mixture thickens, add roasted rice powder.
Stir well so that the powder is well mixed with jagerry.
Remove from fire , add cardomom powder & mix well with a wooden spatule.
Cool & shape into ladoos.
"Ari Unda" is a famous tea time snack of Kerala especially in the Malabar region. It's also called "Karkida Unda " because it's prepared during monsoon season ( Month Karkidakum). Our ancestors prepared it in yet another way. They use a wooden/granite mortar & pestle (Ural & Ulakka). Firstly they crush grated coconut using Ulakka ( A long piece of wood with metal covering at the ends). They add jagerry cubes one by one . Another lady will scrape & put the contents in the middle so that the coconut is well mixed with jaggerry. Then they add roasted rice powder. The ladies chat & make these rice balls.
20 juillet 2009
Crunchy Peanut Butter Brownies
Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients
3 tbsp peanut butter
150g flour
125g sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
50g butter
2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
Topping
70g chopped peanuts (salted & grilled)
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cream together the butter, sugar , salt & peanut butter .
Sieve the flour and baking powder together and fold into the cake mixture.
Add beaten egg .
If the batter is thick add some milk.
Pour the batter into the greased cake pan .
Prepare topping by mixing chopped peanuts + sugar+ cinnamon.
Spread uniformly the topping mixture using a spatule & press the nuts.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 30mn.
Serve this crunchy cake with tea.
17 juillet 2009
Kempfort Shiva Temple , Bangalore, India
Shiva Temple
This 65 ft statue of Lord Shiva is said to be one of the largest Shiva idol in the world. Lord Shiva is in the lotus position with two hands on the lap & other two hands carrying damaru & trident. River Ganga flows from his matted locks. The gigantic statue with Mount Kailash background is quite impressive. This temple is situated in the Airport Road, just behind "Total" supermarket. This modern temple is like Versailles Palace :) Everthing must be paid separately - Entrance fee, camera fee, video fee, pooja fee & a fee to enter an artificial cave.
Kempfort Shiva Temple
97, Murugeshpalya, Bangalore,
Karnataka 560017, India.
Important Shiva Temples in India are Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu, Mallikarjun in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleshwar & Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh,Vaidyanath in Bihar,Kashi Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himachal Pradesh, Nageshwar & Somnath in Gujarat, Bhimasankar,Trymbakeshwar & Grishneshwar in Maharashtra.
15 juillet 2009
Eiffel Tower Celebrated it's 120th B'day
13 juillet 2009
Red Capsicum Chutney
Red Capsicum Chutney 
Ingredients
2 tsp urud dal (black gram)
1 tbsp pottu-kadala (Channa dal )
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 Red capsicum/bell pepper
3 shallots
1 green chilli
3 garlic cloves
A piece of ginger
A string of curry leaves
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
For tempering
1/2 tsp musturd seeds
1 dried chilli
Few curry leaves
Method
Heat oil in a sauce pan & fry first two ingredients.
When golden brown drain in a kitchen paper.
Grind into fine powder along with cumin seeds & keep aside.
In the same sauce pan , fry all the other ingredients.
Blend all the fried ingredients into a fine paste.
Heat oil in a pan. Splutter musturd seeds.
Add curry leaves a red chilli.
Add the blended mixture along with ground powder.
Cook for a few minuites.
Serve this brilliant colored chutney with Dosas / Idli's.
Chutneys are Indian dipping sauces.
Tamilnadu region in South India is famous for it's dosas & chutneys.
Instead of Pottu kadala you can use peanuts / cashew nuts.
Thanks to Kuppamma for this recipe.
09 juillet 2009
Dodda Ganapathi Temple, Bangalore , India
Dodda Ganapathi Temple
Just adjacent to the Bull Temple is the Dodda Ganapathi Temple. Importance of this temple is that the Ganesh idol is made of 110kg of butter. Every four years the diety of butter is broken & distributed to devotees.
Bull Temple, Bangalore, India.
Bull Temple
This dravidian style temple was built by Kempe Gownda in 16th centuary. Bull temple is located in Basavanagundi at the top of Bugle hill. This majestic bull is carved out of a single granite stone. In kannada "Basava" means bull. Monolithic Nandi is 4.5 m height & 6.5m long & an iron plate is over it's head to stop growing. It 's said that Vishwa Bharathi river originates from the feet of this sacred bull.
Legend says that once a groundnut farmer of Sunkenhalli was enraged against a bull who destroyed his crop. The bull sat stunned & suddenly transformed into stone. Every year in December , a groundnut fair - (Kadalakkei Parishe ) is conducted in the Temple premises & the farmers offer their first harvest to this sacred bull.
Bull Temple,
Basavanagundi, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India.
