I got introduced to this dish during our stay in Hyderabad. This is a must have item in the marriage feasts in Telangana region. We liked the taste and got the recipe from our Telugu friends. The original recipe calls for sun drying the okra and then deep frying it in oil. My Telugu friends add a lot of chilli powder too. I don't have to point out this fact to the people who knows about the Telengana cuisine, it is quite tasty and SPICY :-) I have tweaked the original to fit our style. But you could try the original version , by sun drying followed by deep frying,if you wish.



I wanted to take a click when I was done with the dish and went to our patio deck to capture the best light. My little one who is a "curious George", also followed me. He started playing in the yard and I had to go back to get my camera.Then I heard him screaming with joy and came back running, thinking that he might be done with the fry and my bowl :-) But to my surprise I saw a wild bunny sitting next to him.The cute bunny looked very friendly and the happiness on my little guy's face was priceless. I felt close to nature and wilderness!




Getting back to the point,this fry is a hit in our family now. Though my daughter prefers to have more peanuts in it, she likes the okra too

Ingredients

Ladies finger/Okra- 1lb(450gm)
Garlic(crushed/grated)- 8-10 cloves
Red chilli powder- 1tsp
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Peanut-2 Tbsp
Salt
Oil-3 Tbsp

Method

1.Wash the okra and dry it.(Water makes it sticky)
2.Cut the okra into small pieces
3.Heat oil in a pan and fry the peanuts.
4.Take out the peanuts when it is done.
5.Throw in the crushed garlic into the oil and saute it.
6.To this add chilli powder,turmeric, salt and chopped okra.
7.Mix well and cover with a lid.
8.Cook on medium heat till the okra is half cooked.
9.Take out the lid and let the okra get fried.
10.Add the fried peanuts and mix well.



Contribitor: Namitha

Every now and then I bake cookies. Cookies and coffee is breakfast, so it makes sense to bake them often. And when I don’t bake them some people at home go hungry for breakfast. (It’s just me and my husband at home). This week is different; we have plenty of peanut-butter cookies to fill our tummies every morning. There is this certain book, which inspired these cookies. Read on for more.



I got it from the library last weekend and it is on Swedish cakes and cookies. Beginning with the jacket, the book is delicious. The red and white checkered- jacket opens to reveal pastries, twists, turns (in the name of Danish) and more. I drool over the pages and find a lot of satisfaction just to sit on my couch, on dreary mornings, lusting over cookies. The book is Swedish Cakes and Cookies, published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc. in case you want to take a look at it yourself.



Ingredients:
Butter: 3/4 cup softened
Confectioners Sugar - 3/4 cup (I find this sugar less sweet compared to powdered sugar, you may use either)
Peanut Butter - 2/3 cup
Egg Yolk - 1 (I threw the white down the drain, you could make a egg white omelet in case you were wondering what to do with. Sorry, for butting in, this is becoming a habit.. do you thing :))
All-purpose Flour - 1 2/3 cups



Method
1. Beat the butter and sugar with a fork until fluffy
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together with the fork to make a coarse dough
3. Use a pastry bag without any stencil/nib press out long strips on to the cookie sheet and bake in a 400 D F preheated oven for 8 minutes

P.S: If you like crochet you can visit my blog here to see some pictures

Changes Made from previous recipe to avoid blender to make the dough so as to get the ridges on the cookies

Contributor: Sunitha