Friday, August 16, 2019

Hightop Mountains


We had done hike to Hightop Mountain on 3rd August 2019 . It is located in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia State.

Hike Location

Name: Hightop Mountain
Distance: 81 miles from Henrico (approx)
Total hiking distance: 5.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 1480 ft
Hike Team: me and  my wife.


Hiking Experience: We woke up around 4:45 am. The hiking trail is one and half hour distance from home. We started around 6:05 am.
The weather was little cold and along with cool breeze. We saw fog on the grass, on trees along our way. Due to fog sometimes we could not see the road clearly. Normally we can not look at the sun directly but that day because of the fog  we could see shape of the sun. We saw many cows and one deer on our way. We reached our hiking place around 7:32 am and parked our car on left side of the road. Then we went to the right side of the road and entered into the trail. There we have to look properly for trail road because it was almost covered with trees which was not easy to recognize. This trail was very narrow that one after another has to walk and not side by side. Slowly the trail started getting steep and wide as well. The trail was surrounded by many big trees and some kind of small flowers on both sides. Some of the trees were fallen on the trail, we went under them. Then after 20 minutes we reached another hightop mountain parking area on the skyline dr. On the other side of the road we have our trail. This trail was very nice and beautiful. The trees on both sides of that trail are almost connected and looks like an arch.
Few patches of the trail had very smooth and soft sand as though  it was like nature's carpet in the jungle. We saw many big rocks on either side of the trail. Then we walked the rocky patch for sometime. Gradually the trail was getting steep. We saw various different flowers and there was a pleasant smell in the air. We thought it was from some kind of trees or flowers. Then we reached two camping areas when we were almost near our first view point, but no campers were there even though it just looked like campground. Then we reached the first view pint, it was big and wide but it was almost covered with trees it was impossible to see the full view of the valley from there. So next went to second view point and we reached there around 9:25 am . It was spectacular and beautiful. We saw many mountains, valleys and clouds.  It was almost sunny but with very cool breeze. We liked the weather over there.We wished to live in such places. Then we had our breakfast around 9:35 am. After watching spectacular scenarios, we started to parking lot around 9:45 am. We were going down the steep, remembering all the things what we saw and talked  while we came through the same trail.
We sang so many song while we were going down. We were hoping that the amazing smell would come again. We crossed the second parking area and then we saw some people just started their hiking. Then we saw couple of people were doing the same hike. While they were crossing us they said that they saw a bear. We were so much excited about that bear. We had been checking all over the way we were going. Then suddenly after 10 minutes we saw really huge bear standing just to the right of our trail. I got a full glimpse  of the bear along with four legs and my wife saw only it's face, and we both took speed walk backwards from that big bear. We were frightened. My wife got almost freaked out. We did not expect the bear to be so huge and that too so close to the trail. It was almost like standing in front of us. Then after 5 minutes we decided to go forward and started our walk very very slow. We were checking all of our sides while we were going. We lost the bear and never saw it again. It might have went deep into the jungle. Then around 11:09 am we reached our car. We started to home around 11:12 am. We reached our home around 1:00 pm. This hike gave so many memorable moments. We saw many beautiful sceneries. We had a terrible moment with that bear. We enjoyed a lot. All is Well.

Photos

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Ragged Mountains


We had done hike to Ragged Mountains on 28th July 2019 . It is located in Charlettsville, Virginia State.

Hike Location:

Name: Ragged Mountains
Distance: 61 miles from Henrico (approx)
Total hiking distance: 6.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 980 ft
Hike Team: me and  my wife.

Hiking Experience:  We woke up around 4:45 am and packed our breakfast, water bags and started around 5:59 am. The hiking area is one hour distance from our home. On our way , we saw two horses one white and one is brown one.
After that when we were about to reach parking lot we saw two deers and one of those is baby deer with dots. We were surprised because it was the first time we saw deer with white spots outside of zoo. We reached the parking lot around 6:58 am. By the time we reached we were the only one in that parking lot.It was little sunny along with cold air. We started our hike around 7:05 am. The trail was nice and little narrow but it is enough for two people to walk side by side. Then it got steep, like we almost touch our knees to our chin. The trail is completely covered with rocks and trees's roots But that was not so bad after 12 minutes as we reached the flat trail. We saw many big and large trees and the half of the trail in this hike is covered with big roots of these trees. We got two wooden sticks for us which were quite helpful while walking along the trail. Then we saw reservoir ,it was so beautiful. After sometime we saw one statue of a man holding a big gun. The statue just looked like a real hunter. Then we saw the upper loop trail board and followed that way. After some time we crossed two big private houses. Then after a while of walking we reached bear statue. There were two bears, one of them is baby one. The statue is so beautiful.
It was almost like a real bear. Soon we saw one mile mark on a two person wooden bench and then we saw a lake to the right of the trail. The lake is very big and beautiful. Actually the hike was doing a big loop around the lake. We saw many fish in that lake and the water is glittering because of the sunlight. It was a beautiful scenery to watch. Sometimes the trail was getting narrow and after couple of yards hiking the trails becomes wide again. We then reached the eagle statue. It was spectacular like almost a real eagle holding fish in its beak. Behind the statue in 10 steps ahead we saw a small wooden bridge. Then the trail was little off from the lake into the woods but the lake can be seen throughout. We saw a big wooden bridge. After that we saw a fallen tree in the middle of the trail. We saw two mile mark on chair. The trail was so beautiful and the ambiance of the nature was very nice. Then we saw a owl statue and that was so perfect in sculpture. Then after a while the trail came little closer to the lake .We saw the little 3 mile chair. The trees were shining in the sunlight even the dead and fallen trees along with the woods, everything looked so pleasant. The green leaves were glowing like emerald stones in the sunlight at the same time the dried leaves were shining like ruby stones.
We saw a small stream and there was a small wooden log on the steam to cross it. We saw the 4 mile chair and had our breakfast around 9:35 am. Then we reached to the floating bridge. It was very big and so strong.The bridge was made connection to the other side of the trail. The lake was so beautiful on that bridge. After the bridge the trail was little slippery for few steps. Then we saw 5 mile chair ,then we saw 4 big  trees joined at trunk. All of them were very big and long. After sometime we saw 6 mile chair. The hike distance is 6.1 miles, but we walked for some more time, it was nearly 1 mile more. Then we came out from forest and we saw the reservoir and a big bridge, we took some pictures on the bridge. Some people were doing kayaking over there we saw many kayaking boats too. Slowly the climate was getting hot. And then we were little confused about the hiking trail. Then we went in wrong direction for a while after that we changed our direction to other side as we saw another parking area. There were two parking areas. From that parking area we saw the trail but we were not sure as the trail was so steep and leading into the woods. We did not know how to go for the other parking area where we parked our car.

We asked some kayaks about the correct way to another parking area. They said there are two way one way is the main road area which we took initially and came back and another one is to follow the steep trail and will take more time. Then we chose the main road one. While walking on main road we saw a trail towards our left into the forest and decided to take that. Soon after walking couple of steps we saw the trail splitting into two trails and felt like we already seen it before. Then we went through the trail(towards the right) and yes we already went through that trail when started our hike ,from there only we saw the reservoir. Then we recognized our trail and the way to parking area. So we happily went along that path. We saw the place where we got the wooden sticks and we threw back them there. After 10 minutes we reached the parking area around 10:55 am. We started to our home around 10:57 am. We liked this hike very much, we did a big loop around the beautiful lake and saw many statues. They were really nice sculptures and great art, they almost looked like the real ones. We started our hike in cold weather but after our hike was complete it was very hot. We reached our home around 12:11 pm. We had a great time with this hike and we collected lot of memorable moments. We enjoyed a lot.  All is Well.
Photos

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Powhatan State Park


We had done camp on 29th June 2019. It is located in Virginia State.

Camp Location:

Name: Powhatan State Park.
Distance: 19 miles from Henrico, Richmond (approx)
Site type: Electric
Camp Team: me and my wife.
Camp Items: Camp Stove, Gas, Charcoal, Lighter, Food items, Table Cloth, fire wood, tent, Sleeping bag, Cutlery, Trays, Water, Torches, Lantern, Small fan, Small table, Dutch Oven,Pillows,Two coolers.

Camping Experience:
             We started around 3:30 pm from home. The weather was very hot. This campground is very near to us. Around 4:00 pm we reached Powhatan State Park. We went to the park office for check in but it was closed and nobody were there.
Then we were getting back to the entrance and suddenly we saw one lady is coming from the office.Then we got back to the office again. She explained everything about that park and we checked in. Around 4:32 pm we reached our campsite. Our campsite was very nice.That day it was very hot but we did not feel that much heat because the campsite was surrounded by large trees and cool breeze. The site has clean area for tent. Entire site was fully covered with small stones. There were Wooden picnic table, fire pit and grill on top of it for barbecue, electric hook up, water hook up and place for car parking at the camp site.First we pitched our tent . Then brought out all food items and coolers from the car. We made Camp fire Nachos and Lasagna on that day. We arranged all things for Camp fire Nachos and we placed them in dutch oven. We put dutch oven on the heated charcoal and few coal pieces placed on lid of the dutch oven. This is the first time we have used dutch oven. We were very much excited to taste the food made in dutch oven. After 15 minutes the Camp fire Nachos were ready to eat. These nachos were so good and very tasty. The taste was very different in this vessel. We liked it very much. Then we ate BBQ marshmallows.
After that we went for walk, spent sometime in the chilled weather. One side of our campsite we saw many children playing over there, some doing cycling,some were simply jumping in their personal small pool.It was fun to watch kids enjoying in the open wild space. And another side of our campsite we saw two old couple.The old man simply sat before his campfire and was drinking some coffee or cool drink and the old lady took her small pets and went for walk. After sometime we saw them sitting together in front of campfire and eating. We felt very happy watching the old couple and living their life and words are not sufficient to express these sightings. Actually, it was like we saw our future stages related to us. In first stage we are going to have many responsibilities. And in the second stage we want be live like that old couple.While we were talking all these things, the camp officer stopped by with a small corn snake in her hand. She told about the camp fire in that park to us and welcomed us to there. Then we started to arrange all things for Lasagna.We placed all ingredients in dutch oven one by one like layers and placed the oven on heated coal. After half an hour around 9:00 pm we had our dinner as Lasagna it was so tasty.After our dinner we put all the food and cooking items in the car. Then we went for walk, while we were walking we decided to go to that park campfire and saw a man who is working in that park.
We went to him and asked about campfire, he said campfire was already done at 8:30 pm. In a little while we missed it, then we continued our walk for another sometime and we reached our tent around 10:15 pm. We arranged our small fan to the roof of tent and saw many stars from inside the tent.We watched a movie in the tent. Then we slept around 11:40 pm. In the mid night the tent went so cold because of the weather and little fan. We had very good sleep that night.Next day morning we woke up around 5:30 am with birds chirping.It was like we do not need any alarm for awake.The sunrise was very beautiful to watch. We done our morning chores and had our breakfast around 7:25 am. We packed the tent and all the things around 8:00 am. We started to home around 8:15 am because of the weather, it's getting so hot. We dumped all trash on our way and reached home around 9:00 am. This time we enjoyed a lot, we tried new things and new food items. We woke up with beautiful birds natural music. We started our day very pleasant and we collected more beautiful memories.All is Well.
Photos

Gobi Dumplings

Ingredients:

1) Idli Batter - 2 cups
2) All purpose flour - 2 cups
3) Rice flour - 1/2 cup
4) Red Chilli Powder - 1 table spoon
5) Ginger Paste - 1 table spoon
6) Garlic Paste - 1 table spoon
7) Cauliflower - 12 florets
8) Onions - 1
9) Ginger - 50 gms
10) Garlic - 4 cloves
11) Bell peppers - 3 (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 orange)
12) Tomato Chilli Sauce - 1 table spoon
13) Vinegar - 1 tea spoon
14) Schezwan sauce - 1 tea spoon
15) Oil - for deep fry
16) Salt - as per taste

Procedure:

1. Boil the florets and drain the water and keep them aside.
2. Take idli batter in a bowl, add All purpose Flour, Rice Flour, Chilli powder, Ginger Paste, Garlic Paste, Salt to it and mix thoroughly until the thickened uniform mixture is formed.
3. Add florets to the mixture and mix it well and keep it aside for 10 mins.
4. Meanwhile finely chop Onion, Ginger, Garlic and the Bell Peppers.
5. Take oil in pan for deep fry and heat it.
6. Once oil is heated, wet your hands with water/oil and take a small lump from the mixture having the floret and put in heated oil gently.
7. Keep adding the lumps until the pan is full of the lumps.
8. Fry them until they turn golden yellow.
9. Once all the florets are fried keep the fried ones aside, take a small pan and add 1 table spoon of oil and heat it.
10. Add all the chopped items to it and fry them until the onions turn golden brown.
11. Add salt to it and mix all the ingredients well.
12. Add the fried Gobi dumplings to the pan and fry them for 2 mins.
13. Add Tomato Chilli sauce, vinegar, Schezwan sauce to it and mix thoroughly and heat for 5 mins.
14. Hot Gobi Dumplings are ready to serve.
Photos

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Smoky Mountains

 

We went to Smoky Mountains on May 25th 2019.(Memorial Day Weekend)

Brief Summary:
Place: Smoky Mountains.
Location: Tennessee.
Distance: 423 miles.
Members: Me and my wife.
Transport: Nissan Versa.
Duration: 7 hours.

Experience:
       On 25th May we started around evening 5:45 pm from home, still it was sunny on that day but the weather was not so hot.We had our dinner around 8:00 pm in the car.We booked a cabin in Smoky Mountains.Around 1:05 am we reached cabin . Our cabin number is 6. We have good drive way to our cabin. We parked our car in front of the cabin. There were nearly 10 cabins around us.We entered into the cabin.Cabin was so beautiful.
We once looked at the entire cabin except the balcony because there were lot of insects. Then we slept around 1:20 am. The next morning we woke up around 6:00 am. After sometime we went into balcony we have Jacuzzi over there along with beautiful river view. The scenery was very beautiful from our balcony. We liked it very much. We used the Jacuzzi entire 3 days every morning and evening.My wife liked it so much.This is for the first time my wife experienced Jacuzzi. We got out after sometime and had our breakfast around 8:20 am. Then we started to Clingman's Dome around 8:56 am. We reached around 9:44 am. Then we did hike 0.5 miles to reach Dome. We nearly took 20 minutes as it was very steep, steeper rather than our normal hikes. We got tired but not so much that we had to stop. Around 10:10 am we reached Dome.From that top it was a great view of the Smoky Mountains.

Some of the mountains were covered with small clouds and some of them were shining in the sun light. It was beautiful to see. We spent sometime over there and we reached the parking around 10:40 am. Then we started to the Dollywood Theme Park. On the way to the theme park we saw a baby bear on the tree. We reached Theme Park around 11:44 am. We parked our car and we saw a tram which was taking people into the park we also went into the park by the tram. We took our tickets for two days to Dollywood. The Theme Park was so crowded, everyone was enjoying their weekend.There are many rides to do for the older as well as for kids. We also did 4 rides over there. First we did big ride in the entire park named Wild Eagle. That ride was so crazy, there were lot of twists and turns and we could experience how it feels when Eagle really swoops down in a jiffy from such great heights to catch its prey. We enjoyed a lot with that ride, then we did another ride called Fire Chaser Express. It was for the first time we experienced reverse drive, the cart was going backwards direction before it halted. Then around 2:30 pm we had our lunch. We went for another ride called Dare Devils Falls. This ride splashes into water ride but not fully a water ride. We enjoyed a lot with this ride as we were almost wet when it slid into the water pool. We still had some time left before we go on our next ride. So we had Dippin' Dots in the hot sunny climate. The atmosphere is very lively in the park with lot of crowded cheering, wandering, dancing, playing music. We took Dollywood express train.
It showed us the entire theme park. It was a pleasant ride. We could see the dark smoke puffed from the steam engine. Then we got back to our parking by the tram around 6:15 pm.Then around 7:40 pm we reached our cabin. There was a river flowing across the road as we drove to the cabin. The river was so beautiful. Many people were doing fishing ,hiking and camping over there. We had our dinner around 8:40 pm and then we discovered chess board on the dining table and took some time to find the chess pieces. We played one game and slept around 11:00 pm.
      The next day morning we woke up around 7:40 am. We had our breakfast around 8:40 am. We then started to Gatlinburg Space Needle around 9:05 am. We reached to Space Needle around 10:18 am. We parked our car near to the space needle. Then we went to the counter, got our tickets and waited for 10 minutes for elevator to arrive. It is like an observation tower with an altitude of 407 feet. We went to observation deck around 10:25 am which is at 400th feet. We have 360 degrees view of Smoky Mountains from there.
That was wonderful view we captured in our mobile cameras.From the observation deck we saw many carts, doing rides to the top. That name is Gatlinburg SkyLift park, actually it was in our plan but we did not expect that it would be so near to the space needle. After sometime we got down from the tower around 10:38 am. Then we started to SkyLift park on foot. We reached around 10:45 am. we stood in the line for almost 45 minutes, then we sat down on the cart. It took exactly 4 minutes to reach the top. We reached to the top around 11:42 am. There was a big sky bridge, the bridge was so beautiful and some part of the floor of the bridge had  glass bottom so we can see the valley right beneath us. My wife was so afraid to cross the bridge as the bridge was shaking while we were walking and she did not dare see through the glass floor. After walking slowly with my wife we reached other end of bridge. The view from the deck was wonderful. We captured some photos and got back to the first end of bridge again walking slowly with my wife. Then when I asked her "do you want to go again?" she said NO. That was our memorable and funny moment and a little frightened moment for my wife.
           Then we got into cart for riding us down and we reached our parking around 12:45 pm. Around 12:50 pm we started to Splash Country and reached around 1:30 pm.
The water park was fully crowded, as everyone came to enjoy cool water splash in the hot summer. All the lockers were full and after sometime we were able to find one. We first did a big ride in Splash Country named Swift Water Run.After long wait in the line we finally got our chance. We took a dual tube and passed through a huge tunnel which slid us down to the pool with a thud. Then we did another big ride named Big Bear Plunge. It has 4 different water tubes with different colors. We have done two out of the four. These rides were great and it was so much fun. We liked them very much. After that we did two small rides over there. Then we had our lunch around 4:30 pm. we changed our dress, got refreshed and came back to the parking 5:35 pm. We set our GPS route to our cabin but around 5:50 pm on our way we saw Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster. It was looking great and we decided to do that coaster ride. We enjoyed a lot with this ride, It was not a high elevated ride as such but it was a long ride. We had to drive our self in this which made it much more fun. Then we reached parking around 6:15 pm. On our way to the cabin we saw 4 Elks in one ground. We stopped the car took pictures and then returned to car. We reached cabin around 7:53 pm. We had our dinner around 9:30 pm and we slept around 11:30 pm.
     
        The next day morning we woke up around 6:15 am. We were ready by around 7 am and we took some photos of cabin and river. Then we did checkout the cabin around 8:00 am. We started to Gatlinburg. We reached around 9:15 am. We went to Starbucks  had our breakfast around 9:30 am. There were many interesting things around us in that area. So we decided to see some of them. First we went to Ripley's Believe It or Not around 9:45 am. It is like a museum, It is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley. We saw so many strange and unusual stuff and things in the museum, really it was very interesting.Then we came out from that around 11:10 am. Next we went to Haunted adventure around 11:50 am.It was like walk-in thriller house. After sometime around 11:25 am we went into the Haunted house.
It was very big house decorated with haunted stuff and things. Once you go inside the house was in full dark. It was so scary to my wife. Then around 11:55 am we came out from haunted adventure. After that we went to 5D show around 12:00 pm.The show began around 12:10 am and we came out from 5D show 12:30 am. We were not fully happy with this show because there was no any difference between 4D and 5D. We expected something new in 5D but it was same like 4D. Then around 12:35 pm we started to Cades Cove. On our way to Cades cove we saw 4 pea hens. Then around 1:40 pm we reached Cades Cove.The Cades Cove is like a valley in Great Smoky Mountain National Park which we can view by driving across.Initially we saw 4 horses and then some pea hens, 4 bears and 2 Elks. It was very long loop ride. We were moving very slow to keenly observe the animals. There are no fences at all and it is like a wild life preserve. We liked it, we did not saw many animals over there but we liked it as it felt like a safari. We came out from Cades Cove around 4:00. Had our lunch at pigeon forge around 4:18 pm. After that we wanted to see any attractions or any rides in pigeon forget. There were so many attractions but we did not like them much as we had already done similar rides did not have any interest on these. We then decided to start to home. We started around 4:50 pm to our home. We had our dinner around 7:30 pm. Then we reached our home around 11:30 pm.

    This trip was so much memorable to us. We did rides, saw beauty of nature along with mountains. We liked the cabin very much. This was our first time experience with cabin. In 3 days of our trip we felt the cabin was our home. We did not want to leave the cabin while we were checking out. We could not leave that atmosphere, such a beautiful scenery and all. This trip was a good memory to my wife because she did the rides for the first time. We collected very beautiful memories and completed our trip with so much enjoyment along with playing our favorite songs in car when we are on our journey. All is Well.
👇Check the photos link below so that you can see more photos.👇
Photos


Monday, May 6, 2019

Manassas Gap



We had done hike to Manassas Gap on 4th May 2019 .It is located in Linden,Virginia.

Hike Location
Name: Manassas Gap
Distance: 122 miles from Herndon (approx)
Total hiking distance: 5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1055 ft
Hike Team: me and  my wife.

Hiking Experience: We decided to hike early morning this season and so got up around 4:20 am and then started around 5:34 am for the destination which is around 2 hours from our place. It was dark still by the time we started. We reached the parking lot around 7:45 am. There were few cars at the parking lot by the time we reached. It was cloudy with no wind. We started the hike around 7:50 am. The hike started with wooden bridge across a stream with flowing water due to previous  night heavy downpour.
The trail was very narrow with small plants and huge trees on either side of the trail. It was on Appalachian Trail (white blazed trail - A.T.).The trail was full of slippery stones and moss. The climate was just apt for our hike and leaves of the trees were shining in green colour as they were wet. Trail was steep. At some places there was mud on the trail covered with leaves making it little difficult to hike. Soon the trail got wider, with steep still remaining the same. It started drizzling though initially we thought it was the water on the leaves. The rain was on and off as we hiked further. We decided not to turn back until we are done with the hike. There were wooden steps on the trail. As we climbed further the trail took lot of turns and suddenly the steep increased as we carefully climbed the slippery rocks. So far we have not seen any companion on our way. As we walked further there were stone walls to our left which were little damaged and seems like they were used to contain the cattle. The trail got straight and we were passing in midst of trees. It was good relief. Due to the huge tree cover we just experienced few drops of rain. we saw couple of deers at a distance which quickly disappeared into the woods.
There were beautiful flowers with various colors on the side of the trail which made it more scenic. We continued our path on the A.T. As we were enjoying the hike in such a wonderful atmosphere all of sudden we heard some heavy breathing and foot steps. we were startled and turned to see our first fellow hiker pacing steadily and he quickly crossed us and went ahead. There was a stream which is passing by on the side of the trail. At some points there were huge trees with large trunks on the middle of the trail appeared as though blocking the way. we went ahead with steady pace and soon we reached our destination point the Manassas Gap Shelter at 9:22 am. It was a wooden shelter with one room and has picnic table and fire pit. There was Register as well in the shelter. We had our breakfast around 9:25 am. By this time we could experience the heat of Sun as the clouds moved away. It was great experience to hike all the way and have breakfast in the middle of the jungle echoed by bird songs.
Around 9:35 am we signed the register and started to return. We just need to retrace our steps to reach the parking lot. While returning we saw many hikers long the path along with their pets.It was downhill for most of the time. With scorching heat from the Sun,slippery rocks and muddy path the descent was not easy as we thought. Slowly we walked down and was surprised to learn that we have hiked all that way up couple of hours before. It was a great feeling of achievement and we continued further. Around 10:45 am reached the parking lot. By the time we reached , there were couple of elder people helping the hikers with food and drinks. There were so many cars now being parked and it was almost full. We did couple of exercises to relax our muscles and left for home around 10:50 am. we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our hike, discussed about our experience, as this was our first hike of this season and had our lunch around 12:30 pm in the car itself and reached home around 1:00 pm. It was a great memorable experience. All is Well.
Photos

Monday, April 22, 2019

Punukulu (Dosa Batter)



Ingredients
1) Dosa Batter - 2 cups
2) All purpose Flour - 2 cups
3) Ginger Paste - 1 spoon
4) Garlic Paste - 1 spoon
5) Red Chilli Powder - 1 spoon
6) Butter Milk - 1/4th glass
7) Salt -  1and half spoon
8) Oil - as needed for Deep Fry.

Procedure
1) Take Dosa Batter👉(Click here to see preparation) into bowl.
2) Add All purpose flour, ginger, garlic paste and red chilli powder to it and mix thoroughly.
3) Add slowly buttermilk and mix while adding butter milk to avoid lumps.
4) Add Salt and continuously mix for consistency and keep it aside.
5) Take oil in pan and heat it.
6) Once the oil is heated , wet your hand with water and take the batter (small dumpling size) and pour it into oil.
7) Continue adding dumplings to the oil , as per needed or until the batter is complete.
8) Once the dumplings turn golden yellow colour , take them out from oil into paper so that it absorbs the oil.
9) Hot Punukulu are hot and ready to serve.
This goes very well with Spicy Red Chutney 👉(Click here to see preparation).

Photos

Spicy Red Chutney

Ingredients
1) Large Tomatoes - 2
2) Green Chillies - 5
3) Garlic Paste - 2 table spoons
4) Ginger Paste - 2 table spoons
5) Red Chilli Powder - 1 tea spoons
6) Curry Leaves - 4
7) Mustard Seeds - 2 gms
8) Urad Dal - 2 gms
9) Oil - 3 tea spoons
10) Salt - as per taste
11) Coriander Leaves - 5

Procedure
1) Take a pan, pour 2 tea spoons oil in it and heat it.
2) Once the oil is heated add chopped tomatoes(can cut into big chunks).
3) Add sliced green chillies and coriander leaves and mix it well.
4) Add Garlic Paste and Ginger paste and thoroughly mix all the ingredients.
5) Heat it on medium flame until the mixture thickens.
6) Add Red Chilli powder and salt and mix well.
7) Take the mixture and keep it aside to cool it down.
8) Then blend the mixture into fine paste and add some water for consistency.
9) Take it from the blender into a bowl.
10) Take 1 tea spoon of oil in pan and heat it.
11) Add Mustard seeds and Urad dal to it.
12) Once the mustard seeds splutter add it to the paste from the blender.
13) Add Coriander leaves for Garnish
14) Spicy Red Chutney is ready to serve.

Photos

Dosa Batter



Ingredients
1) Rice(Sona Masuri) - 3 cups
2) Poha(Thick) - 1 cup
3) Urad Dal - 1 cup
4) Chana Dal - 2 Fist full(take dal into fist - fist full)
5) Salt - 2 spoons


Procedure
1. Soak Rice, Urad Dal and Chana Dal Overnight.
2. Soak Poha Overnight Separately( easy while draining the water).
3. Drain the water and grind all soaked items.
4. Add water as needed for consistency( it should be soft and light thin paste).
5. Add Salt and Grind once again.
6. Take the batter from the grinder into a bowl , close the bowl with lid and keep 36 hours for fermentation. After that you can refrigerate it and use it as and when you need.

Photos

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Vegetable Masala Pulao

Ingredients
1) Potatoes - 2
2) Onion - 1(big one)
3) Cauliflower - 10 to 12 florets
4) Carrot - 1/2 cup
5) Green pees - 1/2 cup
6) Rice - 3 cups
7) Whole Masala - Cloves-3,  Cinnamon small sticks-2, Bay leaves-2, Green cardamom-4
8) Curd - 1 cup
9) Beans - 1/2 cup
10) Coriander Powder - 2 1/2 table spoons
11) Cumin Powder - 2 table spoons
12) Red Chilli Powder - 1 table spoon
13) Garam Masala - 1/2 table spoon
14) Black Pepper corns - 3 to 4
15) Green Chillies -  4 to 5
16) Ginger - 1/2 inch
17) Ginger Garlic paste - 1 1/2 table spoon
18) Coriander (or) Cilantro leaves - 1 cup
19) Cumin seeds - 2 tea spoons
20) Ghee - 3 table spoons
21) Salt - as per taste.
22) Water - for 1 cup rice add 3/4 cup water

Procedure
     Soak the rice for 30 minutes and keep it aside.
Vegetable Masala Preparation:
1) Cut all the vegetables into medium square shape but chop the onion and ginger into small pieces.
2) Take ghee in a pan and heat it.
3) Then add cumin seeds and pepper corns into it.
4) Add whole masala to it,after the masala turned into gold colour add ginger and onions to it.
5) Then add ginger garlic  paste and green chillies to it.
6) After onions turned into light orange colour add coriander or cilantro leaves.
7) Then add all the spice powders into it and mix it well.
8) Now we can add potatoes and cauliflower florets.
9) Fry them for 2 minutes and add carrot, green pees,beans to it.
10) Fry them until they turned into light brown colour.
11) Now add curd and little bit of salt to it and mix it well.
12) Stir it continuously until the masala gets closer and switch off the stove.

Pulao Preparation:
1) Take the soaked rice into a cooker.
2) Add the vegetable masala into it and water.
3) Add salt to it and stir it once.
4) Now close the lid of the cooker and put it on the stove in medium flame.    
5) Then After 3 whistles switch off the stove (pulao is ready in cooker).
6) After the lid was open take one table spoon of ghee in a pan and heat it.
7) Add the pulao into a pan and fry it for 3 to 4 minutes and switch it off.
8) Garnish with coriander leaves.
9) Vegetable masala pulao is ready and serve hot.



Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Gravy Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients
1) Tomatoes - 3
2) Peanuts - 50 gms
3) Onions - 2
4) Ginger - 20 gms
5) Garlic - 5 loves
6) Cloves - 3
7) Coriander Powder - 2 table spoon
8) Methi - 4-5 seeds
9) Green Peas - 15 gms
10) Corn - 15 gms
11) Carrot - 1
12) Cauliflower - 10 florets
13) Beans - 15 gms
14) Turmeric Powder - 1 tea spoon
16) Cumin Powder - 1 table spoon
17) Red Chilli Powder - 1 table spoon
18) Mustard Seeds - 5 gms
19) Cumin Seeds - 5 gms
20) Black Pepper seeds - 2 gms
21) Cabbage - 25 gms
22) Basmati Rice- 4 cups
23) Oil - 2 Table Spoons
24) Salt - as per taste

Procedure:
1) Take Oil in a pan and heat it. Add Chopped Onions, Chopped Tomatoes. Once fried keep them aside to cool down. Once cooled, Grind them into fine paste
2) Take tea spoon oil in pan and heat it. Add Ginger, Garlic, Cloves, Methi seeds to it and fry them. Once cooled grind them into paste.
3) Grind Peanuts into fine powder.
4) Boil Cauliflower and keep it aside
5) Boil Rice and Keep it aside
6)  Take Ghee in a large pan. Add Mustard seeds, Cumin speeds to it. Once they splutter add Pepper.
7) Add Cabbage and beans to it and fry them.
8) Add Cauliflower and mix them well.
9) Add Carrot, Corn, Green Peas and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
10) Add Coriander powder, Cumin Powder, Red Chilli Powder and Turmeric Powder and mix them          well.
11) Add Tomato, Onion Paste to it and heat for 5 mins.
12) Add Ginger, Garlic paste to the above mixture and heat it.
13) Add Peanut powder (3 table spoons) and thoroughly mix all the ingredients.
14) Add Boiled Basmati rice and keep the flame in medium.
15) Mix the rice with all the ingredients thoroughly and heat for 10 mins.
16) Hot Gravy Vegetable Fried Rice is ready to Serve.

Photos