Khichdi

A very simple cake - my first bake

2010-12-22T21:54:00.000-08:00

My sister , the baker in the family used to make very simple yet delightfull cakes. Suddenly she lost the inspiration to do any more baking and thus my annual quota of cakes from her also stopped.

I had always wanted to bake cakes but somehow i had an impression that its a herculean task. I saw Deeba's site and was overwhelmed!

Then one of my collegues at office i discovered was equally gungho about baking and shared with me a very simple recipe and thus i started baking.

Ingredients

1 Cup all purpose flour/Maida

1 Cup ground Sugar

1 Cup unsalted cooking Butter (in liquid form)

3 eggs

1 tsp Vanilla essence

1 Tbsp of Sugar (for caramelizing)

1 tsp Baking powder

25 - 50 gms Raisins

Method

Sieve the flour along with the baking powder 2-3 times.
In a deep bowl break the 3 eggs and beat it till fluffy. It will rise to 2-3 times its initial quantity.
Add the Butter and beat again.
Add the sugar and mix again.
Add the flour 2 Spoonfuls at a time and mix well.
At the end add the essence.
Now take a work and heat it at full flame. Add the 1 Tbsp of sugar and let it melt and attain that very dark brown colour. Once done reduce the flame and add 1/4 cup of water to it slowly and mix well.
Add the above caramelized sugar to the cake. Make sure that you don't add any solid pieces that might have formed on adding water.
Mix well.
Coat the raisins with some flour and add them as well to the cake mix. This will prevent them from sinking to teh bottom.
Pour the cake mix into a baking container lined with butter paper and bake at 180ºC for 30-40 mins or until the knife comes out clean

Few things to take care of:

If you have a electric hand mixer use that. you will be able to work up the cake more and it will turn out better.
Take care while caramelizing sugar. It should not turn black lest it will introduce a bitter taste into the cake. Also do not add too much of it to the cake mix. Add and mix to test the colour.

Now enjoy the cake and the aroma it spreads!

I am sending this over to Cookies and cakes for Xmas and Vandana's Baking for Beginner's Part-II

Chicken Lollipops

2010-12-14T01:32:00.000-08:00

Last 1 year has been very hectic .There have been a variety of reasons in the order as below:

1. House recce, buying and then settling in (still in the process!!)

2. Travelling (trip to home after 3 long years)
3. Continuous stay in guests (to the tune of 13 people at a time)

So I thought that this saturday i am definitely not going have anyone come over. But as fate would have it, A and friend decided to discuss visiting each others abode on friday. In such scenario A is predictable , friend has to visit us first before we take the step to his place!.

I again ended up having guests for dinner on Saturday.

I therefore relied on my time tested recipe of Chicken Lollipos The recipe from Chicken Lollipops is adapted from Tarla Dalal's Samsung Microwave Cooking.The original recipe is a microwave version with some ingredients different from what i use and microwaved instead of deep fried.
Here comes a recipe that cannot go wrong!

Ingredients:

750 gms of Chicken Lollipops (store bought)

5 Tbsp of Heinz tomato ketchup (or any other brand, I happened to have this one)
2.5 Tbsp Cornflour
3 Tbsp All Pupose Flour (Maida)
3 Tbsp of Lemon juice
2 tsp Red Chilli powder (or as hot as you want it)
2 Tbsp Garlic Paste
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method

Wash and clean Chicken Lollipops and drain all water from it. Add to it all the ingredients mentioned above and mix well.
Keep the marinated chicken for 10 mins at room temperature and then in freezer for 30 mins.
Heat oil in a deep wok and fry the pieces till they are deep red in colour.

Few things to note:

Pour in enough oil so that the lollipops are well immersed.
Oil should be heated very well. (drop a little piece of marination , it should come up imediately)
Reduce the heat after you add the pieces, such that they fry with bubbles but do not burn too soon.
Do not put in too many pieces together. They should be well spread in the oil. I fried 5 pieces at a time in amedium sized wok/Kadhai.
One point to note keep the recipe on the sweeter side by adding red chilli as recommended or less. This makes it very appealing to kids.

Easy ? Now enjoy! :)

Baigan Ka Bharta (Mashed Brinjal/eggplant)

2010-10-20T02:42:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how to put the incident as amusing or something i better forget! But whenever i remember the first time i made baigan ka bharta , i burst out laughing!
Baigan ka bharta is a typical north indian dish. Traditionally its cooked over charcoal embers and that process gives it a very distinct flavour.
When I had this dish at my friend's home, i liked it and decided to make it at home. I was quite young and not at all adept at cooking. I got my father to bring home the large sized brinjal to make this dish. The dish turned out well.
Me and mom were having dinner together and she was enjoying having the bharta so was I. And it was then i noticed that in the bharta were some undesirable things cooked along with it- white worms!
'Dharm Sankat' !! what to do....tell her and spoil her dinner ( no we are not vegetarians but still a worm is a worm :-) ) or keep mum and bask in the glory of having made a good dish (and fervently hope that the creatures don't appear in her plate). Well what do you think i did....? :-)

Coming to the recipe, the normal sized Brinjal/eggplant won't do. It has to be the large rotund purple ones. Something like this

Ingredients

1 Large Brinjal/ Eggplant [It would weigh somewhere between 400-600 grams)
1 Cup finely chopped Onions
1 Cup finely chopped Tomatoes
8 - 10 Thin Cloves of Garlic
1-2 finely chopped Green Chillies
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder [optional]
1 Tbsp finely chopped Corriander leaves.
oil to cook
salt to taste

Method

Wash and dry the Brinjal/eggplant. Do not cut the top of the eggplant as it can be used to hold it.
Make random 1/2 inch incision into the eggplant so that the incisions are spread over the entire surface.
Into the incisions insert the cloves of garlic. Its easier to insert if the cloves are thin . If cloves are thick then they can be cut lenthwise into thinner pieces.
Now take 1/2 tsp of oil in your palms and coat the surface of the brinjal/eggplant with the oil, just enough to have a thin layer.
Now place the brinjal/eggplant on a microwaveble dish and micrwave at high for 10 mins.[Alternatively you can use the top to hold the eggplant over the flame of a stove and cook it. But this method is very messy so i do not prefer it.]
Remove it from the oven and keep it to cool.
When cooled, remove the skin and slice off the top of the brinjal/eggplant. Mash the cooked, peeled brinjal/eggplant along with the garlic cloves placed inside it.Keep it aside.
In a wok add 1 Tbsp of oil and saute the onions till they are translucent
Then add the green chillies, turmeric,salt, red chilly powder. Saute for 2- 3 mins on low flame.
When done add the tomatoes, mix it and cover it with a lid and let it cook till the tomatoes are fully cooked.(The tomatoes should leave the water and the water should evaporate).
Now add the mashed brinjal/eggplant to the wok and mix it well.Keep it covered for 2-3 minutes and then remove from the flame.
Garnish it with chopped corriander leaves before serving. Serve it with Roti/Paratha.

Sooji Ka Halwa (In Microwave)

2010-10-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

Weekend breakfasts are the high point for me. Me and A both have not one but 2 sweet teeth, love to have something sweet on sundays(and whenever in the week if its possible!). Therefore I love making Sooji ka halwa on sundays as an add on. These days I make it in Microwave.

The following recipe will easily serve 4 people.

Ingredients

3/4 cup of Sooji (semolina)

5-6 Tbsp of Sugar (or as per taste)

3 Tbsp of Ghee (clarified Butter)

2 Cloves

Handful Raisins, cashews

2 Cups of Water

Method

Heat the Sooji in a bowl/broad dish in Microwave at 450 for 8 mins. Stir in between at 2 - 2.5 mins.
Take it out and add the 2 Tbsp ghee (save some for later). Mix well and heat it again at 450 for 3 mins. Stir at every 1 min. Be careful not to let it burn. If not stirred regularly the sooji at the bottom and the edges will burn.
Take it out.It should be golden brown by this time.
Add 2 cups of water ,sugar and clove. Mix well.
Keep the mix in Microwave for at max power till the water dries off and the mix is soft (usually it will take 8-10 mins). Take it out
Roast the raisins,cashews (preferably seperately one by one) in 1 Tbsp ghee in a MW safe dish for 15secs-30secs at max power(900 for me). They should turn light brown.I prefer to do this part on stove since the raisins sometimes turn sour and hard in MW.
Add the raisins/cashews to the Sooji Halwa, mix and serve it hot.

Sending this over to Ruchika's Event Virtual Party - Snacks and Smitha's Microwave Easy Cooking - FESTIVE DISHES

Bhopal....

2010-06-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

A very good post by Shekhar Kapoor on the Bhopal verdict. Thought i should share....

Cheela - Gram Flour Crepe

2009-12-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

Bored of Dosa...try Cheela..The instant dosa made of Besan/gramflour needless to say delicious!

This one is another of my favourites for a breakfast.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Besan / Gramfour

1 1/4 cup of Water

1 cup spring onion

a Pinch of hing/Asafoetida

1/2 inch of grated ginger

1-2 Green Chillies

Oil to cook

Salt to taste

Sieve the besan and mix it well with water until no lumps are there. The consistency should not be too thick or too thin..
Finely chop the Spring onions and the green chillies.Add them to the Besan mix
Also add the hing and grated ginger.
Mix everything well
Heat a girdle preferably a non-stick one.
Spread oil on the girdle when its sufficiently heated incase its a non stick variety.
Take a ladle full of the mix and spread over the girdle evenly as for a dosa/crepe.
Allow it to cook. The sides will ease off easily when one side is done. Turn it over. Sprinkle more oil of needed.

Remove from stove and serve it hot with Pudina Chutney/Tomato ketchup.

December 3rd 1984...

2009-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

It was the starting of winters for us..I was at the busstop..as usual..waiting for the school bus…ready to embark on the new day ..all of us kids around the same age would spend the time just before the arrival of the bus playing...but why was the bus not arriving..we had exhausted our quota of all the games...
And then out of the bleary mist we saw it slugging at slow pace towards us..possibly around 7.00 Am..but wait why is it empty...it was not supposed to be ..since ours was the last stop where it stopped to pick up students for the school that day.
The bus finally stopped and out popped the driver's head ‘ koi gas leak hui hai city area mein Chutti hai’ (some gas has leaked in the old city area of bhopal so a holiday has been declared) …the holiday lasted for a fortnight ....fortunately for me my family lived in the new part of Bhopal..just beyond the BHEL township. and that fateful night the wind was blowing in the opposite direction…
Union Carbide factory emitted poisonous gas which killed thousands of people…maiming others …in a single night and killing thousands more in the years to come. It was situated in the older parts of the Bhopal…near the railway station…I heard later that the Station master died that night…trying to stop all the trains from passing from Bhopal…Bhopal being a junction has quite a number of trains passing it...
I guess the impact was lost on me at that age…I understood it only much later…
And the irony Union Carbide is back in business in India with a new name.

Tomato Chutney

2009-03-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

A heavy schedule and a lazy attitude but still a desire to eat tasteful stuff are a perfect combination to try out quick fix recipies like Tomato Chutney. Its easy and real quick to make. Lack of any major spices let the tangyness of tomato come to the fore in this side dish. The green chillies give it opposite edge.If you are game to it...then this is your dish!

Ingredients

6 Medium sized Tomatoes (approx 3 cups when diced)

2-4 Green Chillies (less if you want it less hot)

1 cup of finely chopped onions

3 large cloves of Garlic

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder (optional)

Corriander leaves for garnishing (optional)

Oil to cook

Salt to taste

Method

Cube the tomatoes, finely dice green chillies and garlic.

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan. Add the onion and the green chillies to it and saute it till the onions are translucent. Add the garlic to this. Saute for 3-4 minutes.Sprinkle in the turmeric, salt and the red chilli powder. Saute for a couple of minutes futher to take away the rawness of the spices. Add the tomatoes now and close it with a lid to cook. I usually cook this dish entirely on low flame and recommend the same.

Keep on opening the lid in between and mixing it. The tomatoes will loose all its water and shrink to half its original proportion. When this happens remove from flame, garnish it with corriander leaves.

Serve it with hot Parathas . An Egg Bhurgi along the side would complete the picture.

Chai Saga....

2009-03-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

One of the best news that i chanced upon was that Taste of India
was back up and somewhat running!!what a relief!

And parsing through it came upon this conversation on a blog
Now i am a big time fan of chai..well actually addicted..if i don't get my morning hot of ghar ki chai (homemade tea) brew my entire day is lost...a headache is imminent so is a sour mood.My husband makes sure that the side effects don't reflect on him by religiously making it every morning for me since we got married 3 years back..it was one of the contractual obligations (amongst others) that he signed up for when we got married. :)
Coming back to chai ...the only chai i knew in my childhood and loved to the core was the one made by my mother..no connoisures recipe but all the ingredients thrown together with 'Brooke Bond' tea in one 'Patila' (vessel) and boiled for a couple of minutes. Sometimes a piece of ginger was thrown in during the winters or when someone had an headache...

Occasionaly we would visit my mother's elder sister who lived in Shahdol...a small town in MP ( i am not sure if its in Chattisgarh now). The trains we travelled did not have pantries and at every station, usually they were all very small ones, kulhad chai (tea in small earthen pots) was amply available, long before our own Laloo decided to popularise them. It was very watery in consistence but its USP was the flavour of the earthen pot which would invariably permeate the hot tea when it was poured into it. It was flavored with cardomom a mainstay of any tea that you would care to have from any Indian railway stations.

When i started working I was invariably introduced to the dip chai..

dip dip dip...dip a little longer if you want it stronger..add the sugar and milk and its ready to drink.....

The worst of its kind ...so the penchant to look for a better option led us to small 'gumti' pushed to the corner near the office building.Here i tasted the clove flavoured tea..and
it has stayed with me till date. We would brave the hot afternoon sun even in the summers to have a cup of this tea.I try to replicate in my kitchen..and relish it every time...just add 2-3 cloves when the tea is boiling.

An interesting thing happened.When ever we go for long drives we carry this tea with us in thermos to have during the journey. One day we forgot to add the cloves while boiling...so we added it directly into the thermos and shut it up....the result was amazing when we had the tea after an hr or so..the flavour was so well assimilated and strong..it gave the simple tea a different definition altogether...a must try.

Namak Paare

2008-10-28T00:03:00.000-07:00

My second snack for Deepawali is the Namak Paare. I have noticed that the love for Namak paare and its sweet counter part Shakar Paare pans across all age group alike. This can be prepared in large quantities without too much of an effort. I have been planning and trying to make this for quite some time. Now i guess most of you would say 'whats there to plan so much for such a simple stuff?' :)

So here goes my recipe..as i made it

Ingredients:
3 cups of Maida (all purpose flour)

1 Tbsp of Ghee (clarified butter)

3-4 tsp of Ajwain

3/4 Cup+ 1 Tbsp of Water

Salt to taste

Oil to fry.

1. Sieve the maida and add salt and ajwain to it and mix well.

2. Now add the ghee and try to spread it all through the maida.

3. Add water to the maida 1/4 cup at a time and make it into a tight dough. I tried to capture the exact amount of water that gave me a tough dough.

4. Now make small balls of maida dough around 1" in diameter and roll it like a roti/chappati in shape but thicker in width.

5. Cut it diagonally once from N-W to S-E and then once from N-E to S-W to get rhombus shaped pieces. The pieces can be around 1/2 " to 3/4 ". Try to use a jagged end sharp knife since its easier with it.

6. Using the knife Scrap the pieces off the rolling board on to a plate. Repeat the process with the entire dough.

7. Heat oil in a wok and fry the Namak Paare on high flame till they are golden brown. The oil should be so hot that the Namak paare should kind of boil in it. Remove it from the oil onto a tissue paper to absorb the extra oil.

Namak paare are ready!

Coconut Laddoo

2008-10-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Our office basement where i park my vehicle just got whitewashed last week. The fresh smell of whitewash can evoke just one memory in me- Deepawali! As kids we waited for almost month long holidays to start - starting from dussehra up to deepawali. As we grew up these holidays did come down to around 10 days but still the enthusiasm was the same!

The preparation for Deepawali used to always start with whitewashing and selling off 'Raddi' Old news papers-magazines-tin boxes anything that can be used in the reusable market. Then came the vendors selling artificial flowers and other knick-knacks who would shout at the top of their voices around the streets. Of course now that the house is cleaned of the unwanted stuff, its time to decorate it!

The last few days of the rundown to the the D- Day, the entire neighbourhood would be filled with such delightful aromas of different goodies being made. And we knew that we would have a share in it since everything that is prepared would be shared amongst neighbours!

I am starting my rundown this week with Coconut Laddoos, fairly easy and quick to make.

You would need

6 cups of Shredded dessicated coconut (khopra)

400 ml Condensed milk ( I used Amul Mithai Mate)

10 pods of Green Cardamom

1 Tbsp of Sugar

1 Tbsp of Ghee (clarified butter)

1/3 Cup of Raisins (kismish)

Separate 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and keep it aside for rolling the laddoos at the end.

Remove the grains from inside the cardamom and powder it with sugar. I did this using a mortar and pestle. Keep the mix aside.

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the raisins. Once it starts popping take it off the flame. Keep it aside.

Heat the remaining 5 1/2 cups of shredded coconuts in a thick bottomed wok. Keep the flame low and keep stirring. Do not let it Brown. When heated add the condensed milk and mix well for roughly two minutes.The entire mixture should become heated just enough for us to be able to hold it in hand. Remove it from flame at this point.

Add the fried raisins and the grounded cardamom seeds to coconut and mix well. Immediately make it into balls and roll the coconut balls in the shredded coconut we had kept aside earlier so as to cover them entirely.

Delicious laddoos are ready to savour!

Things I learnt while making these laddoos. We went about shredding the dessicated coconut with the hand grater. I found cutting it into small pieces and running it through the mixie also produced the same desired results. It would have definitely spared my hubby of half an hour of sheer hard work :)

Also prior to shredding, the outer brown cover of the dessicated coconut can be scraped off and not used. I used them which gave my laddoos a darker shade.

This is my entry to Yummy Festival Feast - Diwali and JFI - Festivals- Deepawali

Arbi (Colacasia) ki Sabji

2008-10-19T03:19:00.001-07:00

I have been on a lookout for a recipe for colacassia but incidently i found that all recipies were oil oriented something i try to avoid for a weekday menu. Therefore i decided to tweak the recipies to come up with my own. This one is simple easy and usually gets ready in a moderate time.

Ingredients

1/2 Kg Arbi (colacassia)
3 Tbsp Besan (gram flour)
1 tsp Zeera powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp of Turmeric
1 tsp Aamchoor (dry mango powder)
1 tsp Red Chilli powder
1 Tbsp Corriander powder
1 Onion(big)
2-3 Green Chillies
2 Tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Oil to cook and Salt to taste

Method

Wash the colacassia and put it to boil in a pressure cooker. For a 1/2 kg quantity, I add 2-2.5 cups of water and boil it in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes. When done, cool it and remove the skin and keep it aside. You may cut some of the bigger pieces into smaller ones, but i use unchopped arbi for this dish.
Sieve the besan and mix it with zeera powder, red chilli powder, corriander powder, garam masala,aamchoor. Now saute this mixture without oil in a pan. Stir it constantly other wise the it might get burnt. Remove it from flame when the colour changes,it would become darker. You will know its done since a nice aroma will waft out of it.Keep it aside.

Thinly dice the onions. Slit the green chillies and fine chop the tomatoes.

Take a wok and add 1 Tbsp of oil to it and heat it. When done add onions and green chillies to it and saute till the onions are translucent. Add the besan mixture to it at this point and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute it further. Add a little bit of oil at this stage if you think the mix is sticking to the pan a bit too much.Add the tomatoes and let it cook further. Its done when the tomatoes are squashed the mix has cooked in its juices. Now add the arbi and stir it in the mix so that it gets coated fully with the mix.

Remove it from flame and serve hot with Rotis.

Coconut Paratha

2008-06-22T01:55:00.000-07:00

One cannot give coconut a miss in a south indian household.My mom used to make these coconut parathas as a treat for us whenever we had some extra coconut left over from any other dish. It basically came in two varieties either with jaggery or with sugar.

Ingredients

1.5 Cups of Coconut shredded

1/4 cup of powdered Jaggery

1/4 cup of Sugar

2-3 pods of Cardamom - crushed

Dough for making around 8- 9 chappatis

Oil to cook

Method

Divide the coconut into two parts of 3/4 cup each. Add sugar to 1 part and jaggery to the other . Add equal amount of crushed cardamom to each part of coconut mix.

Now take a big ball of dough. A little bigger than one we might take for a chappati and roll it out into a chappati of around 5-6 inches diameter and with a thickness greater than that of a chappati. We want the Parathas to be strong enough to hold the filling but not too thick so that they don't cook.

Take 1.5-2 Tbsp of coconut mixture (either jaggery or sugar as per choice)and spread it on one half of the chappati. Raise the other half of the chappati and cover the coconut spread part and press the edges to stick.

It should look like this.

Heat the girdle and place the paratha on it. Turn the paratha when the lower side becomes light brown in colour. Apply oil on the turned side and turn it back again. Keep on pressing the paratha to saute it better but be carefull that the mix does not spill out of it. Remove it from flame when it turns crisp brown

Serve it hot with lime pickle.

This is my entry to Sweet Series and AFAM - Coconut

Dhokla

2008-06-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

I shifted residence 2 months ago.I have hardly any furniture to speak of. Only space i have lavishly piled up is the kitchen and the pantry. So i had this 'misconception' that its going to be an easy task. Well shifting house was never meant to be an easy task isn't it..and with that the pain of settling down. Next came the challenge of finding a decent domestic help..and add to it a very hectic work schedule.I am still struggling. One of our boxes is still lying packed.

I therefore these days without guilt look at an oppurtunity of cooking 15 min meals.And in that pursuit ended up with a delicious breakfast of Dhokla's

The recipe I followed has been picked up from the Jai&Bee's site Jugalbandi

I prepared the dhokla's from this site and followed their recommendation of making double the quantity. I must tell you we were left wanting for more. :)

So here's the recipe with a few personal touches

Ingredients:

2 cups of Besan (chickpea flour)

2 cups of Water

2 Tbsp of Lime juice ( Original recipe has 3 Tbsp)

2 tsp ENO Fruit salt (lemon flavoured)

2 tsp Mustard seeds

2 Green chillies finely sliced

5-6 green chillies whole

5-8 curry leaves

1 tsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Oil

2 Tbsp dessicated coconut

Salt to taste

Sieve the Besan. Mix it with 1 Tbsp of Lime juice, 1 Tbsp of oil, salt, sugar, green chillies and water to make a batter. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. I ended up not using the entire quantity of water in the recipe.

Add 3 cups of water to the Pressure cooker and let it heat. Meanwhile grease the inner side of the two pressure cooker insert vessel and pour the batter equally in each vessel. When the water is heated, add 1 tsp of Eno fruit salt to the batter in each of the insert vessel, give it a quick mixing action and place it inside the cooker one over the other. Cover it with the pressure cooker lid but without the weight and let it cook 6- 8 mins after the steam starts coming out.Keep it aside with the lid on.I would recommend use one insert vessel at a time. Keep the vessel with the batter on top and the other can be used to just raise the height of the top vessel. This would help in evenly cooking the Dhoklas. I used both the vessel together and the lower ones did not turn out well.

In a pan add 1 Tbsp of oil and fry the whole green chillies. When fried take it out and sprinkle 1 Tbsp of Lime juice on it and keep it aside. In the same oil add the mustards and let them splutter. Then add the Curry leaves and remove from flames after a min.

Open the cooker. The steam should have been fully released.Take out the vessels and turn them upside down on a plate. Pour the tempering of mustard and curry leaves on it. Sprinkle the coconut.Cut it in a criss cross manner to have square/rhombus shaped pieces. Place the green chillies soaked in lime juice on the pieces and serve.

This is my entry for WBB #23, MBP Street food

Palak Matar Paneer

2008-05-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

As a kid my nephew was big fan of 'Johny Bravo' the spinach eating, muscle flexing animation character. But however we would try to inspire him to eat spinach by giving him examples of his hero, he would never touch it. I guess its the same still.

When I first wanted to cook something with Spinach..i did not want the regular potato-spinach combination. So I made something which holds a proud place in my recipe book now..because not only did it turn out to be likable ..its simple and absolutely no efforts and original..something which would allow me to lazy once in a while and still churn up meal which is healthy. I recommended this dish to one of my collegues when she was on a lookout for vegetarian low fat, low cholesterol dish. She came back with a good feedback.

Ingredients:

2 bunches of Spinach (palak)(300-400gms)

A cup of Peas (matar)

200 gms Paneer ( cottage cheese) (optional - for the low cal/fat version avoid this)

5-6 green Chillies

7-8 Garlic flakes

3 medium Tomatoes

1 medium Onion

water to cook

Salt to taste

Clean the spinach thouroughly and cut it into a 2-4 inches pieces.Slit the green chillies. Cube the tomatoes and the onions into large chunks and crush the garlic. Pressure cook the spinach, green chillies, tomatoes, garlic, onions with salt and the 3/4 cup of water.Do not put the whistle. The quantity of salt added would also be less than usual since spinach has its own natural salt. Remove the spinach from flame after 15-20 mins.

Boil the peas also separately. I usually microwave the peas at high for 10 mins in water. The quantity of water is just enough to cover the peas. You may optionally pressure cook it. After cooking the peas should not have much water left off.

Use a handblender to blend the spinach and the cooked vegetables to a paste consistency.Add the cooked peas. Cube the paneer and add them also. Serve while hot with hot roti's.

This would be my entry for 'Eat Healthy - Fibre Rich'

Note: One can use diced potatoes instead of paneer. Just boil it along with peas.

Errata: My nephew read this post and duly informed me that it was not 'Johny Bravo' but 'Popeye' who was the spinach eater. Also for records he is a fan of both the animation characters. :)

Haleem - The 1 Pot Dish

2008-03-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

A picture speaks a thousand words...goes the popular adage....but certainly not the picture i posted for haleem!
People don't go by the picture...beleive me this dish is a gastronomical delight...

Something about what a haleem is - Haleem is a thick Persian high calorie dish. Although the dish varies in different regions, it always includes wheat,lentils and meat.You can read more about it here and here. The choice of ingredients for haleem is such that it makes Haleem the one pot dish - the theme for the Monthly Mingle this month.

Now traditionally this dish would take hours to make...but i have discovered a simpler, quicker version thanks to one of my aquaintances.
So here you go:

This dish has two major steps
1. Preparation of the mutton curry
2. Preparation of the cereals,lentils

For #1 I prefer making the mutton curry as described here. Just one change would be to use boneless mutton.
For #2 use
5 Tbsp broken wheat
5 Tbsp Chana Dal
1 Tbsp Moongdal
1 Tbsp Arhar/Tuar Dal
1 Tbsp Urad Dal
1 Tbsp Masoor Dal
1 Tbsp Rice

For Tempering
1 Tbsp of ghee
1 med Onion chopped in rings
3-4 Whole Red Chillies
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 Tbsp of Mint leaves paste
1 Tbsp of Corriander leaves paste

Soak all the above cereals and lentils for 3- 4 hrs until soft. Then Pressure cook them with water for 15-20 minutes or until cooked very well.
Add the cooked lentils and cereals to the mutton curry and pressure cook again for 15-25 mins. Tha aim is to cook the mutton with the boiled lentils and cereals so that everything is mixed and reaches a mashed consistency.Remove from the stove and let the pressure is released. Once done add the mint paste and the corriander paste.
Meanwhile heat Ghee in a skillet and when heated add rings of onion and the red Chillies. Saute them till the onions are golden. Remove from heat sprinkle on the Haleem before serving.

Crispy..Crunchy Bread Rolls

2008-02-26T03:37:00.000-08:00

I couldn't just resist it....all the vows to eat low fat..low carb food to control my weight ..thats been upscale from quite some time inspite of all my attempts, were put aside...I had to have it....

I had some Potato filling left over and suddenly remebered this divine snack we used to have in canteen...Crispy and crunchy ...( the ones that make that krrr... sound when you bite into it!)Bread rolls filled with potato filling...

But then i decided ...that since now i am a member of the food blog world ...i need to show some ingenuity..and do that something 'extra' yet simple...so I made Bread rolls with mint flavoured potato filling!!

Here goes the preparation. The proportions are a bit sketchy rather than detailed..since it is a leftover recipe.

2 medium potatoes boiled and de-skinned and mashed

4-5 Bread pieces with edges removed

1 Tbsp of Mint paste

1 medium Onion finely chopped

2 green chillies finely chopped

1 inch Ginger piece -grated

1 tsp garam masala

pinch of turmeric(optional)
oil to cook and fry

salt to taste

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and when its heated add the onions and the green chillies and the turmeric. Saute till the onions are transparent.Add grated ginger and saute further for 1 min. Add the garam masala, salt and the mashed potatoes. Mix it over the flame for 2-3 mins. Remove the pan from the flame and add the mint paste , mix well. Allow it to cool. On cooling make table tennis sized balls out of potato mix.

Take a pot of water with a wide mouth. Take one piece of bread, dip it fully in the water and pull it out immediately. Hold the bread piece between your palms and squeeze it enough to release the water and not damage the now fragile piece of bread. Still holding the bread piece in one of your palms, place one of the potato mix balls prepared earlier on to the bread and close the bread over it. All open ends should be closed. You might want to tap the ball to elongate it so that the bread closes better on it. Repeat the process with rest of the bread pieces.

Heat oil for frying in a deep skillet. Lower the Bread rolls into the oil once heated. Take care not to overcrowd the skillet with rolls. Change sides in between for even frying. Take the rolls out when it attains the golden brown colour. Place it in tissue paper for the extra oil to go away.

Serve it with Tomato sauce and Corriander chutney while warm.

It is definitely a winner when guests drop in, in the evening and something nice and quick needs to be prepared.

Corriander Chutney

2008-02-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

It would seem like chutney season on khichdi....

Chutneys, i feel add so much to a meal!

Having a bland meal?....eat it with a real tangy, spicy chutney..Add it to the lunch box..and we have that little extra something there...

Less in quantity...but adding so much more to the essence of having a great meal.

I started making this Corriander chutney out of the lark...I had a desire to add some fresh greens to the meal...and definitely was not in mood of adding coconut to it...

So just took

2 cups of corriander leaves

1 inch ginger piece - cut into small pieces

1 Tbsp Of chopped onions

2-3 green chillies

1 tsp lime juice(optional)

Salt to taste

Grind the entire ingredients in the grinder. Add a little water if your grinder demands it..mine did. The amount of green chillies can be adjusted. This chutney can used for sandwiches, as an accompaniment to Roti-Sabji..or with samosas or anything else you may want to have it with.

I served it along with Bread Rolls.

Onion Chutney

2008-02-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

My mom makes this onion chutney, without which I would never eat Dosha. She would make the usual coconut chutney for the entire family an this onion chutney only for me.

When I started living away from her I tried making this same chutney.But I have never been able to get the same taste as she makes it. I guess it holds true for all of us, however hard we may try, recreating the same magic thats in our mother's hand, things never taste the same!

When I came across the ingredient for this month's JFI , onion I decided that its time that this Chutney should find its place in my Blog.

Ingredients
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 Tbsp Red chilli powder (can be increased or decreased as per hotness desired)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp cooking oil

In a heated skillet put the chopped onions. Do not put any oil since we want the water to evaporate from the onions. Keep on stirring it at regular intervals. When the onions turn golden and start showing signs of wilting, add the chilli powder. Stir it further for 3-4 mins. Now add the cooking oil and saute it for 3-4 mins. The chilli powder and the onions should be well sauted. Remove from flame and grind it along with salt in the mixie to a rough consistency and not to to a paste. To the chutney now add coconut oil for flavour.
Simple isn't it? And believe me if you have liking for things that are spicy and hot...this one is for you.

This would be my entry for Jihva For Ingredients and for the Monthly Mingle -Comfort foods

Gajar Ka Halwa

2008-01-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

Come winters and I start waiting for red carrots for making halwa. Unfortunately in bangalore both winters and red carrots come very late around december end. But still the wait is worth it!
I prefer the red carrots over the orange ones, for making gajar ka halwa.

The recipe is very simple so usually I end up making it every weekend and keep it in the refrigerator. No doubt by the end of winters both me and hubby would have gained a few kilos!

Ingredients

1 kg finely grated carrots. The finer the carots are grated the better is the taste.

1 cup sugar (can be increased or decreased as per individual's taste).

1/3 cup clarified butter (ghee) for the halwa

100 gms cashewnuts, raisins

2 Tbsp clarified butter(ghee) for frying the the dry fruits

100 gms Dried whole milk (khoya, mawa).

1/2 ltr milk

Before starting on the halwa make sure that the khoya is soft. Mash this khoya with hand and keep aside

In a pan heat 2 Tbsp of ghee. When heated add the cashews and the raisins and fry till golden brown. Keep aside. I erred and you can see the black cashews in the photograph!

Cook the grated carrots and the milk in a thick bottom wok till no more milk is visible. Add the sugar and the fried dry fruits to this mixture and cook further. The sugar will dilute. Cook until the water evaporates. Now add the ghee to this mixture and let it saute on low flame. Keep on mixing it at regular intervals so that the halwa does not stick to the bottom. Its done when you see that the color of the carrots have changed to a dark maroon. Also it would start exuding the ghee. At this point add the mashed khoya, mix well and keep on mixing it for another 10-15 mins at regular intervals.

Bingo! we have the gajar ka halwa ready....never mind the calories!

Let it just melt in your mouth :)

Fish Fry

2008-01-12T00:07:00.000-08:00

There has been no doubt in my mind that I am a fishivores if there exists a category like that!

This fish fry has been a grand success at home and derives its origin from malluland – Kerala. For this recipe I use Rohu (Greas carp Fish), a fresh water variety, but this same recipe can apply to any other fish that you wish to fry. And yes I like it really hot. Also Rohu is a bony fish so please be aware!

½ kg Rohu (Greas carp Fish) cut in 1.5 inches pieces. This would come to around 8-9 pieces

For the marination

1.5 Tbsp of ginger garlic paste
1 Tbsp of black pepper
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1 tsp of curry leaves paste (4-5 curry leaves)
Pinch of turmeric
1 Tbsp of Curd/1 tbsp of lime juice.
Salt to taste

To fry 5-6 Tbsp of oil

Mix all the ingredients for marination and smear it on the fish pieces and keep it for 2-3 hrs in freezer. When done take a pan, add the oil and let it heat at full flame.
When the oil is heated add the fish pieces keep some distance between them close the lid and lower the flame.
Let it cook for 7-10 mins. Remove the lid and increase the heat . The fish is ready to change side when it comes off the pan easily. Change sides and fry it till both the sides get the brown crispy look.

Fried fish is ready to savour!

This would also be my entry for RCI - Cuisine of Kerala

Jhatpat Chhole

2007-12-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

I had always wanted to share the 'jhatpat chhole' recipe. The chhole event at Anna Parabrahma decided the timing. Its easy and faster to make. I received this recipe from one of my friends mom. This chhole was always a part of her birthday treats at home, primarily because its delicious and can be cooked in huge quantities without much hassle and with almost a guarantee that it will come out well.

1 cup Kabuli Chana (chickpeas) -soaked overnight

1.5 cups onion finely chopped

3 med tomatoes finely chopped

2 tbsp corriander powder

1 tsp dry mango powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 black cardamom (crushed)

1/4" cinnamon stick

3-4 cloves

1 tbsp ginger

1 tbsp garlic

1/3 cup oil

1 cup water

salt to taste

Drain the water from kabuli chana. Add all the ingredients mentioned above and the kabuli chana in a pressure cooker and mix well. Put the lid and let it cook for around 35-45 mins.

When the pressure is released mash up a part of the kabuli chana to make the gravy thick. The consistency of the gravy should be thick so you may heat it for sometime for the any extra water to dry off.

This would be my entry for Anjali's chhole event.

Besan Ka Halwa

2007-12-08T05:23:00.000-08:00

Now this recipe is special...u know why..because it comes from the better half.
One of the few dishes he prepares for me.

1.5 cups chickpea flour(besan)
3/4 cup clarified butter(ghee)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Sugar
cashews and raisins

Take a 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the raisins and cashews and keep it aside.
Now roast the flour in the remaining ghee till golden brown. Add the raisins and the sugar to it and immediately add the milk. Keep on stirring till there are no lumps and it becomes dry.
And the besan ka halwa is ready to eat!

Poori,Kale Chane And Sooji ka halwa

2007-10-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

The Jihva Special Edition : Festive Series this season got me thinking…what am I reminded when I think Dussehra- Diwali?

Of course the ‘Kanchaks’ !! no second thoughts…

‘Kanchak’s ‘ or the kanya bhoj is done on the 8th or the 9th day of the Navratras, after strenuous fasting for the rest of the period, wherein female kids from the neighborhood, revered on that day as the ‘Goddess Durga’ herself, are invited for lunch.

Now here comes the interesting part…the menu. The menu was always the same ‘Poori’, ‘kale chane’ and ‘sooji ka halwa’ - and the taste, one to be always remembered.

I would not go into the making of the poori or sooji ka halwa.The making of poori has been explained, step by step, in an excellent way out here. Only addition may be 1 tsp of Ajwain to the dough before kneading it for flavoring. Sooji ka halwa can be made referring here.

A very dear friend has lent me this recipe.

For the Kale Chane take:
1.5 cups of black gram and soak it overnight.

Forgot to soak overnight? Here is the trick instead of soaking in cold water soak it in warm water (not hot water!) also add 1 tbsp of wheat flour and 1 tsp of baking soda to it.
This way it will become soft enough to cook sooner.

Now take
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 brown cardamom
5-6 Cloves
½ aniseed star
Grind all the above spices to a coarse mix.

Drain the water from the soaked black gram. Incase you have added Wheat flour to it while soaking you may have to wash it thoroughly.

Pour the black gram into a pressure cooker .
Add the spice mix
salt as per taste
½ tsp of turmeric powder
1.5 cups of water

Cook it for ½ hour.
Water should be just enough to cook the black gram thoroughly. Remember this is a dry dish.

Take a pan and when the pan is sufficiently heated add 1-2 tbsp of clarified butter(ghee) to it.
When the clarified butter heats up add
1 tsp of cumin seeds

As cumin seeds crackle add
1 tbsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of red chilli powder

Salt to taste

Saute it for 2-3 mins on high flame constantly stirring it.
When done pour the boiled black gram into pan and mix it well so as to coat it well with the sautéed spices. While doing this also mash some part of the black gram with the ladle to give it a thick look.
Its done when the water content if any gets fully evaporated.

And you know the best way to enjoy the taste …..mix it will sooji ka halwa and eat it with hot poori!

Parippu Vada

2007-10-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Before getting married to an absolute foodie husband, I had been living in hostels. So it goes without saying that one of the most important things that I always missed during my stay in the hostels was the aroma and goodness of all the goodies my mom used to dish out from her kitchen.

Like most of you, I am firmly convinced that my mom is the best cook in the world!! :).
So when I set up my own kitchen one of the first things that I tried out had to be the parippu vada which had for years managed to reign as our family favourite. So it was only natural that my first recipe in my food blog had to come from her.

This one’s for you mom.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Chana dal (split Bengal gram)
1 medium sized onion
2- 3 green chillies (more or less if you want it hotter or milder)
1" Ginger piece
1-2 Whole red chillies
Few sprigs of Curry Leaves
Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Soak the chana dal for 3-4 hours till it becomes soft. Drain the water in a colander and let it dry in the open for half an hour so that all the extra water drains off.

Dice the onion, chillies and the ginger into cubes or bite size pieces. You don’t have to be very precise as all these are anyway going to be ground into a coarse paste.

Now comes the crucial part. Put all the ingredients including the salt and dry grind in the grinder just for 15-20 seconds. There is no need to add water while grinding as the water absorbed by the chana dal would be sufficient to grind it along with the other ingredients into a thick coarse mixture.

If you grind it too much then the vadas will turn out soggy. At the same time the mixture should be thick enough to be made into vadas. Let some pieces of the ingredients be visible in the mix. This would make the vada crispy and let the flavour of ginger n onion to melt in your mouth.

Take out the mix from the grinder in a vessel and hand mix it.

Now heat oil in a vessel (kadhai) with heat turned on full.
When the oil is heated, make balls out of the mixture and flattten it from the centre. Tap the edges so that it slopes away. The discs thus formed should be approximately 1 ½ - 2 inches in diameter.
Lower the vadas into the oil one by one.The oil should be hot enough for the vadas to come sizzling to the top. Fry the vadas till the lower side is done and then turn it over. You may want to reduce the heat at this point so that the inside of the vada is also cooked.

Let the vadas turn properly brown before taking them out and place it on tissue paper. This would take care of the excess oil on the vadas.

This can be served hot and piping with chutneys or tomato sauce and I am sure no one would mind a hot cup of ginger flavoured tea to wash it all down!

And of course I also discovered that they don’t lie when they say “the way to a man’s heart is through his tummy”.

So just in case any of you have designs for bowling your hubbies put on your Marco Polo hats and discover the shortest way into their hearts.