Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Going Green with Green Leafy Vegetables

Jihva for Ingredients (JFI) , the online food blogging event will be celebrating one year anniversary on May 1st.

To mark this special occasion, JFI and Nandita’s WBB are coming together to celebrate the mother earth in this month of Earth Day with a special theme ~ “Going Green with Green Leafy Vegetables”.

Our earth is a unique place in the universe because of the greens. We know that greens create the atmosphere which sustains all life forms. To celebrate the precious greens mother earth offers us, JFI-WBB is going green with green leafy vegetables.

To Participate in JFI-WBB: Green Leafy Vegetables:

Prepare and write about the green leafy vegetables (articles/recipes -breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner) on your blog, during April.

Mail me (mailmahanandi@gmail.com) the links to your posts along with beautiful, focused images of the recipes – in 455×280 pixel size by April 30th.
(Because roundup is a timeconsuming thing to do, I may not be able to accept late entries. If you are interested to participate, please be kind and send the entries in time by 30th, Seattle time.)

I will also participate and do the recap-a colorful parade of green leafy vegetables on May 1st.

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I would like to invite fellow bloggers to host JFI for June 07 – April 08. Jihva for Ingredients (JFI) is for me, as well as for you food bloggers who wanted to host an event once in a while. It is a rotating event, which means instead of only one host all the time, different food bloggers would host the event every month on their blogs. I think these types of rotating events are interesting to participate, mainly because the hosts not only bring their own personality and enthusiasm, it would also provide a chance to visit and find new blogs and bloggers. More importantly JFI is not about the themes, it is about celebrating the natural ingredients that we use for everyday cooking – one at a time.

What is Jihvā ?
Jihvā, the Sanskrit word means taste, desire and deep longing. This powerful word also represents tongue and taste buds.

What is Jihvā for Ingredients?
I believe for Jihvā to happen, it’s all in the ingredients and how they are cooked. Jihvā for Ingredients (JFI) is online monthly food event, celebrating the Ingredients and what they can do for our Jihvā.

When, what and how?
The entries have to be posted on first day of every month. The host will choose a food ingredient. To participate, cook a recipe with that ingredient and post it on your blog on the first of the month. Send these entries to the host, she/he will do the roundup and showcase all your entries within a week of receiving.

What are the guidelines to host?

1. Feature any natural ingredient and there are many.
2. I’d greatly appreciate if you could pick an ingredient related to India or Indian cuisine. (Which style of cuisine that ingredient prepared is, of course it’s up to the participants).
3. Announce the event on your blog by 3rd of previous month. This will give plenty of time for the participants to shop, prepare, write and post their entry.

Interested to host this event?
To host this event, send me an email. I will update the list below as soon as someone interested in that month. Update: The invitation is closed at this time. All slots are filled up for this Jihva year. No Emails please.

Thanks for your interest and participation. Congratulations to Jihva hosts!

For 2007-2008

May
Mahanandi: Greens
JFI:Greens Recap
September
Neivedyam
January
LetZ Cook
June
Jugalbandi: Jackfruit
October
Ahaar
February
Radhi’s Kitchen
July
Ghar Ka Khana
November
Past, Present & Me
March
My Khazana of Recipes
August
Saffron Trail
December
Out of the Garden
April
Virundhu

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Jihva For Ingredients (Monday April 2, 2007 at 10:27 am- permalink)
Comments (26)

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Tomato Bath

JFI, an online food blogging event celebrating the natural ingredients is hosted by sweet and talented RP of My Workshop for April. The ingredient she picked for JFI is Tomatoes. What a fine choice it is to celebrate the spring season with beautiful colors and flavors of tomatoes!

The sheer number of tomato based recipes can be overwhelming and sometimes it is reassuring to go back to an old favorite. So I picked a recipe. A Tiffin box favorite from my childhood called tomato bath. Yes, you read it right. The recipe has bath in its name. In this traditional south Indian recipe, toasted semolina is generously bathed and simmered in tomato juice. Not one or two tomatoes, but a lot of tomatoes are used to prepare tomato bath. This is the main difference between regular upma and tomato bath. Because of generous tomato addition, pale wheat colored semolina changes to bright orange color and the tomato dominates the flavor profile. It’s easy to prepare and even easier to enjoy. A must try for tomato fans.


Tomato and Semolina

Recipe:

2 cups semolina or suji
4 ripe tomatoes – finely chopped (about 2 cups)
6 green chillies – finely chopped
1 small red onion – finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger – grated
¼ cup each – fresh green peas and charoli nuts (or your choice)

Seasoning: (added to bring crunchy bite and fragrance to tomato bath)
1 tablespoon oil or ghee
6 fresh curry leaves and a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh cilantro
½ tsp each – urad dal, chana dal, cumin and mustard seeds

Place an iron skillet on stove top. On medium heat, add and roast semolina/suji to pale gold color, stirring in-between.

Meanwhile, proceed with tomato bath preparation. In a wide pan, add and heat oil/ghee. Toast the ingredients listed in seasoning in the order mentioned. When mustard seeds start to jump around, add green chillies, onion and ginger. Cook for few minutes until the onions soften. Stir in chopped tomatoes and fresh green peas. Cook until tomatoes become mush.

Add about 4 cups of water along with half teaspoon of salt. Cover and bring the water to a boil. At this stage, pour in the roasted semolina/suji at a constant flow/speed, continuously stirrng. Take care not to form semolina lumps. Stir, stir and stir. Sprinkle charoli nuts. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the whole thing comes together to a moist firm mass.

Serve hot with coconut/peanut chutney or with a cup of yogurt.


Tomato Bath with Yogurt and Cucumber Slices ~ Our Weekend Brunch and
My entry to JFI: Tomatoes hosted by RP of My Work Shop

JFI Notes:
I’ve planned to invite hosts for Jihva (June 07- April 08) on April 2nd. If you are interested to host the event, please visit tomorrow to read the guidelines and pickup your time slot. Thanks.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Amma & Authentic Andhra,Jihva For Ingredients,Suji/Semolina,Tomato (Sunday April 1, 2007 at 11:45 am- permalink)
Comments (23)

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