Besan Ladoo

Quick Fixes...some recipes were meant to rescue us from our misery - be it a lazy Sunday afternoon when a certain someone has a sweet craving or the jitters when guests arrive, these easy and quick recipes can be a life saver, especially when they don't demand any fancy ingredients. A quick dig in the pantry and you're all set to start. Phew! What a blessing! Well, one such recipe is for Besan Ladoos, quickly made and quickly devoured! I had actually stumbled upon this recipe on a blog a long long time ago, so I don't really remember...but would certainly like to say 'thanks' to that blogger :-) She (I'm most certain it is a 'she') made it so simple -

2 cups besan/kadale hittu (chickpea flour)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)
a handful of chopped nuts - cashews, almonds and sultanas
1/4 tspn powdered cardamom

Pour all of the ghee into a heavy bottomed pan/wok and leave on low flame until the ghee dissolves and gets some heat.

Now tip in the chickpea flour (you could sift it before if you wish) and stir well to avoid lumps. Initially it will form into one big lump, but slowly it will start loosening and will finally arrive at a semi liquid consistency, like a thick porridge. Continue to stir on a low flame until the flour is well cooked/roasted in the ghee.

Add the powdered cardamom.

Stir until it turns a nice toasty brown and gives a nice aroma. DO NOT over cook as it will end up in a burnt mess with a very charred flavour.

Take off the heat and allow to cool (it will still be liquidy, which is fine, it will all come together finally). While still a wee bit warm, add the powdered sugar and nuts and mix well. Now take small portions of the mixture and roll into balls. Ideally, the ghee in it should be enough to hold the mixture in a tight ball. I notice that the ladoos tend to hold on to the surface and stick to each other a bit when placed on a plate/box. So I used muffin liners to separate them.

This is great for festivals and poojas as naivedyam (an offering made to God) as well. For M & me, who have a real sweet tooth issue (err), this is easy, delicious and quick!

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

On a cold winter's night...
It's quite cold now in Sydney as winter has set in. It has also been raining quite a bit. It's the perfect time and setting to stay indoors, cozy and warm, and gorge on some soulful comfort food. I was totally in the mood for some nice hot soup. 'Tomato? Nah, not tonight, hmmm, pumpkin? Don't think so...how about sweet corn? Yeah!!' - after some self conversation in my head, I decided on sweet corn vegetable soup :) I looked up the net for an easy recipe and found it on www.vahrehvah.com, yup there are some nice 'n' easy recipes there!

sweet corn kernels - 1 cup (the original recipe uses cream corn, but I used the regular canned ones. You could also boil fresh sweet corn at home and slice off the kernels.)

diced carrot - 1/4 cup (I wanted my version of the soup to be chunky, so added quite a bit of veggies, you could decrease the quantity if you wish)

thinly sliced french/string beans - 1/4 cup

vegetable stock - approx 3-4 cups

corn starch - about 2 tbspns, dissolved in about 4 tbspns of water

a dash of vinegar and soy sauce (the original recipes uses rice wine vinegar, I did not have any, so I just used regular white vinegar)

salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot/saucepan, bring together vegetable stock, corn, carrot and beans.

Turn on the heat and bring to the boil. Then, simmer it down and add vinegar and soy sauce.

Let it simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the corn starch paste. This is to thicken the soup, so use according to the consistency you're looking for.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Hold back on the salt until the end as vinegar and soy sauce have some salt content in them and you don't want your soup to be too salty.

Garnish with some chopped spring onion and serve hot with warm, toasted garlic bread.

What could be more comforting than hot home cooked food, a good movie to watch and the company of your beloved? Well, I couldn't have asked for more!

Idli - Sambhar - Chutney

My parents, my sis, my grandparents and I had gone on a South India tour when I was a kid. It was a long tour, about a week or so I guess. We stayed at hotels at night and travelled and saw places during the day. One of the things I distinctly remember about this trip is breakfast at the hotels. There were so many things that smelt so good and looked even better. I remember I was so tempted to have the big, hot, puffed up puri (deep fried Indian bread) that the people at the next table were having. But mum always said 'eat idlies first and then you can have the puri' and I wrinkled my nose at the plain, dull idlies. Mum was smart, she wanted me to have the healthy, steamed breakfast and not the oily alternative and she knew that my tiny stomach would be full with a couple of idlies! So, there, a promise that was not quite met :-)

Idli - steamed rice and lentil cakes. I guess I wouldn't be wrong if I said it is the one thing most children (and some adults, ahem) would gladly swap for anything else for breakfast! Not one of the favourites exactly, but truly one of the most popular on the Bangalore Breakfast menu. Every restaurant in India that serves South Indian food will definitely have this on their menu. It is served with hot steaming sambhar and coconut chutney and to most people the only appealing factor may be the crispy vadas that accompany it!
But I have to admit, I graduated from my days as a kid into a sensible woman who actually liked idlies as they were healthy and apparently low fat, wow! M, on the other hand, is still the fussy kid when it comes to these humble white fluffies :-)

Still, I made idlies for breakfast yesterday and he gladly ate them, for several reasons maybe - the sambhar was yummy. there was chutney and he was really hungry, period! I did not make vadas though, will make them some time soon.

The recipe as my mom-in-law taught me, who by the way, makes the softest, fluffiest idlies :-)

• 4 measures of uncooked rice
  
• 1 measure of urad dal (white, split lentils)
• salt to taste

Soak the rice and urad dal, separately, overnight or for about 8 hours atleast.

Grind, again separately, into a very smooth batter. A wet grinder works the best, but a food processor/blender/mixer will do the job as well. Be wary of adding too much water while grinding. The batter should be pourable, but not too runny either. A little stiffer than dosa batter, if you know what I mean...

Mix both the batters well in a large container, add salt to taste and leave overnight or for about 8 hours to ferment. Leave the container in a warm place, if possible. Once fermented, the batter should be risen, light and fluffy. This will ensure your idlies turn out soft and fluffy.

Now, grease the idli moulds and pour in the batter. Steam in an idli maker, microwave or a pressure cooker (without the weight). The cooking time will depend on the method you choose. I usually steam mine in a pressure cooker and it takes about 10 - 15 minutes.

Serve hot with sambhar and coconut chutney. I will post the recipe for sambhar soon...
Try this legendary Bangalore Breakfast, but without the prejudice, let's give the idli a fair chance to win!

Chickpeas & Potatoes in a Tangy Tomato Sauce

Curry in a hurry!
Once in a blue moon I guess we are allowed one 'canned' sin! I commited mine yesterday...I had a sprained neck and it took great effort to just hold my head on my shoulders! I was in pain and no position soothed me. I knew I could not bear to stand in the kitchen and cook a meal. So, with a comforting voice in my head that said 'it's OK, you can do it this time', I went down to the supermarket and tossed in three cans into my basket and walked back home in relief. Well, so the three cans were the key to my 'easy peasy lunch plan' - canned chickpeas, canned potatoes and canned crushed tomatoes :) I know, I know, my mum or my mum-in-law will probably go tsk, tsk when they read this, but I had a reason! Anyways, although I'm a huge fan of fresh cooking, I still think it's alright to use tinned/canned ingredients. Especially if they are unavailable in certain seasons and of course, if it means it saves time :)

Anyways, so I set out on making lunch and I had it all ready in 15 minutes flat! Hot rice and curry ready for M's lunch.

Here's what I did -

1 can chickpeas (kabul chana)
1 can baby potatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion
2 tbspns ginger garlic paste
1/2 tspn jeera (cumin)
dry masala powders - dhania (coriander) powder, jeera (cumin) powder, turmeric, garam masala powder, red chilli powder - according to taste
2 tbspns ghee (clarified butter)
a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
salt to taste

Chop the onion.

Prepare the potatoes as per instructions on the can and dice them.

Drain the chickpeas and keep aside with the potatoes.

Heat ghee in a pot and add jeera and hing.

Next add chopped onion and saute till soft. Then add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell disappears.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes from the can and add in all the dry masalas and cook for about 5 mins.

Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar to balance the sourness in the tomatoes.

Bring to a light simmer and tip in the chickpeas and potatoes and let simmer for another 5 mins.

All done! You can garnish it with some fresh coriander if you wish. Serve hot with rice.

Of course, if you are using fresh ingredients, you'll need to soak the chickpeas for atleast 6 hours and pressure cook it with potatoes. As a variation, you could also put in boiled eggs instead and make a tangy egg curry.

And finally, thought I'd just let you know that I chose this option over 'heat & serve' Dal Makhani...so, I did make the better choice, what say you? ;-)

Friends, Food and a perfect Cocktail!

Sangria
It was a phase when M was enthusiastic about learning how to make cocktails. He even bought a book called 'Shaken, classic cocktails-shaken not stirred'! And one fine day, M, along with a friend of ours, decided to make us girls some good homemade cocktails. After a long discussion and everyone suggesting their favourites, they chose to make Sangria (two reasons, we had just had some at a Mexican restaurant and we loved it and it was the simplest in the book!) Anyways, they got out their cocktail kit, shook and stirred and made some really potent Sangria and served it to us with a string of brags and boasts. We thoroughly enjoyed it, the cocktail that is ;-)

Here's the recipe as it appears in the book -

juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp caster sugar
ice cubes
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 bottle red wine, chilled
lemonade

Shake the orange and lemon juice with the sugar and transfer to a large bowl or jug.

When the sugar has dissolved, add a few ice cubes, sliced fruit and wine.

Marinate for 1 hour if possible, and then add lemonade to taste and more ice.

I'm sending this to Ria's Let's Celebrate Event.

CLICK: June 2009 Stacks

I took this picture today to send it to this month's CLICK: Stacks, hosted by Jugalbandi.

This is a common sight in India. It is believed that this string of lemon and chillies wards off any evil. Commonly found hanging from lorries (large trucks), this reflects the myriad colours of Indian culture. The authentic Indian version is a yellow lemon with green chillies, but mine is custom made according to what is available here! If I had attempted to give it the traditional look, it would've ended up looking like a humungus replica as the lemons and green chillies here are, well, let's just say, really bigger versions :)

Fun with leftovers :)

Spicy Idli Roast
I had made some rava idlies for breakfast. Although M & I gorged on them to our hearts' content, there were still some left over. We were kind of bored of them already, so I quickly gave them a new avtaar! I simply diced the idlies into bite sized chunks, put them all into a bowl, drizzled some cooking oil and sprinkled some chutney pudi (spiced powder, available in Indian stores, MTR brand) and some salt. Then I just tossed it well till every piece was coated. Next I heated a tava/griddle and coated it with a little bit of oil. Then I placed the idly chunks on it and roasted them on medium heat, turning the pieces around so they didn't get burnt. The whole process took only about 10 mins or so and voila! we had a snack in a jiffy! We ate it with spicy sauce and the idli reincarnation was worth the effort.

You can do the same with rice idlies as well and you can also try different flavours and spices, like chilli powder, pepper, etc. An uncle of mine used to cut the idlies into half and deep fry them until they turned nice 'n' crispy. Of course they taste great but they totally drown you in guilt as well! So I just opted for the healthier version :)

Chow Chow Bhath...

No, this doesn't have anything to do with China or the currency of Thailand! It is next on my Bangalore Breakfast menu :) Don't ask me how it got this international sounding name, but it is something that every Bangalorean will be familiar with. Every Darshini or Sagar (common restaurants in Bangalore) will certainly have this on their breakfast menu. So what on earth is it!? Well, it is a comforting combination, a little spicy 'n' a little sweet, upma/uppittu and kesaribhath. (Separate portions of both are served together.)They are both made of semolina/rava/sooji.
We invited two of our very good friends over for a Sunday brunch and the Bangalorean in me coaxed me to make this endearing combo. Our friends, H & A, are from Bangalore too and we spent a relaxed Sunday reminiscing some good old memories of our hometown.

"Memory... is the diary that we all carry about with us." ~Oscar Wilde, "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Here's the recipe -

Uppittu/Upma for 4

• 1 large cup coarse rava/semolina/sooji (roasted)
• 2 large cups water (1:2 ratio of rava and water)
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 green chillies, chopped
• 1-2 dry red chillies
• some curry leaves
• a small piece of ginger, grated
• 1 cup mixed veggies - peas, beans, carrot and potato, diced
• for tempering - mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal and a pinch of hing
• a pinch of turmeric
• chopped coriander to garnish
• 2 tbspns ghee (clarified butter)
  
• salt to taste
• 2 tbspns grated coconut (optional)
• a little bit of lemon juice

1. It is important to roast the rava well, otherwise the final product will be mushy and not very appealing. Roast it in a thick bottomed/non stick frying pan on medium heat until it turns slightly brown and smells nutty. Keep this aside.
2. Heat ghee in a wok/pan and add all ingredients for tempering.
3. Now add curry leaves, chillies and ginger.
4. Add chopped onion and saute till done.
5. Add the diced veggies and saute for a couple of minutes.
6. Add 2 cups water and put in salt, turmeric and 1/4 tspn sugar.
7. Bring to the boil.
8. Turn the heat down and slowly add the roasted rava and keep stirring simultaneously to avoid lumps. (This step needs to be done carefully as the whole mixture will start bubbling furiously like hot lava and you don't want any hot splatters on your hand.)
9. Quickly add the grated coconut and mix well until everything amalgamates well.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander, drizzle lemon juice and serve hot.

Kesari Bhath for 4

• 1 small cup roasted rava (for this recipe, roast the rava in some (1tspn) ghee)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 small cups water
  
• a handful of cashews, almonds, sultanas (lightly roasted in some ghee)
  
• 1/4 tspn cardamom powder
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pineapple (optional) I used the canned ones.
• a few drops of yellow food colour (or you could use some fresh saffron soaked in a tspn of milk for a lovely natural colour. That's how it gets its name - Kesari = saffron)

1. Heat ghee in a kadai/wok and add the rava. Roast on low flame until lightly brown. Meanwhile bring to the boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan.
2. Once the rava is nicely roasted, turn down the heat and pour in the boiling water, very carefully, while stirring it simultaneously to avoid lumps.
3. The boiling water will cook the rava in a couple of minutes. It is very important for the rava to be cooked. Otherwise it will not taste good and will be somewhat hard.
4. Once everything is well amalgamated, add the sugar and stir well. At this stage the whole mixture will slightly liquefy because of the sugar (add the cardamom powder and dry fruits, pineapple and food colour now) but will very soon come back to the right consistency. You could also add a couple of tspns of ghee for added richness and taste.
   
5. Turn off the heat and serve hot.

Of course, these recipes can well be prepared and served independent of each other. In fact, kesari bhath is a common dessert that is made in most Bangalore households when guests come over. It is simple and quick to make but tastes great. One of the many comfort foods :)

I also made Maddur Vadas and coconut chutney, M's favourite :)

Oh and H & A got some drool inducing chocolates for us, muah guys! Here's a peek for you...

Two in a row...

Breakfast and Dinner...nothing in between!

I had a nice day today! I say so 'cos I got some real good 'me time' today. First, I went to the beauty salon and pampered myself. Then, I did lots 'n' lots of (uninterrupted) window shopping, what fun! I also bought some little trinkets and girly stuff and felt so content. In fact, so content was I that I fell asleep on the train ride back home :) A whole day of strolling in the mall and trying on a hundred tops must've been more like it I guess. Anyways, that meant I did not cook lunch today. I treated myself for some yummy bhel puri for lunch :) Was trying to eat low fat food. Low fat, schmo fat - was so exhausted and weak by the time I was nearing home that I called M from the train and asked him to put the kettle on for a nice cup of hot tea!

Once the spicy ginger tea calmed me down, I set about making dinner and both M & I thoroughly enjoyed the result :)

Here are two recipes that I incorporated today -

For breakfast, we had Strawberry Pancakes -

• 
• 4 fresh strawberries, finely chopped
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ (I thought I'd add some fibre into it and make it healthier)
  
• 1 tbspn sugar
• 1/2 tbspn honey
• 1 cup milk (or enough to make a smooth batter)
• a pinch of cooking soda
• 1 egg (optional)

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix until you get a smooth batter (no lumps).
2. Heat a small pan and grease it with some butter.
3. Pour in a ladleful of pancake batter and cook on both sides.
4. Serve hot with a dollop of honey or fresh cream.

Note that this is best eaten hot. You can replace the milk with buttermilk or light coconut milk if you wish. I also added some shredded chocolate bits, just for some excitement! You can even add dessicated coconut. Of course, you can use other berries too, it's totally up to you.

I'm sending this picture to Divya's Show me your Breakfast event.

And for dinner I made Baingan Masala (Eggplant Curry) for 2 -

• 6 baby eggplants (the small round ones)
• 1 cup fresh grated coconut
• dry masala powders - 2 tspns dhania powder (coriander), 1.5 tspns jeera powder (cumin), 2 tspns red chilli powder, 1/2 tspn curry powder, 1/2 tspn amchur powder (dry mango), 1/4 tspn garam masala powder, 1/4 tspn turmeric powder, 1/2 tspn sugar
• 1 large tomato (pureed)
• 1 large onion (blend into a paste)
• some curry leaves
• 1/s tspn jeera (cumin seeds)
• a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
• fresh coriander to garnish
• salt to taste

1. First, cut off the crowns from the eggplants (ouch!) and slit (not cut) into quarters.
   
2. In a bowl, mix the grated coconut and all the dry masala powders with salt.
3. Then, fill the prepared masala mixture into the slit eggplants gently. Fill in as much as you can without separating into pieces.
4. Now, heat oil in a pot and add jeera, hing and curry leaves.
5. Next add onion paste and saute for a few minutes.
   
6. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a few more minutes.
7. Add tomato puree and cook till the oil separates.
8. Gently put in the stuffed eggplants and tip in any extra masala.
9. Pour enough water to cover and cook on low flame till the eggplants are soft.
10. Check salt and other flavours and adjust accordingly.
11. Lastly, garnish with chopped coriander and serve with hot basmati rice.

This was yummy and M & I ate in silence (!), totally enjoying the hot meal on a cold, winter night, brrrr!

Monthly Mingle #33 - Ravishing Rice Recipes

Curd Rice

Off goes this recipe to Monthly Mingle #33 - Ravishing Rice Recipes hosted by Nags and started by Meeta.

Entry to a Green Event!

I'm sending this recipe to Sowmya's SWC - Cooking with Greens Event.

Flavoured Dill & Spinach Rice.

Happy eating!

Bread Upma/Bread Poha/Bread Upkari

Iyengar's Bakery - something you will find at every street corner in Bangalore. I'm not really sure why every other bakery is called this, but they have some of the yummiest things to offer, all adapted from the western art of baking. Some of my favourites are veggie puff, khara bun, masala toast, rusks, sponge cake, congress kadlekai and, of course, topping the list a freshly baked warm loaf of soft white bread. If you walk by these bakeries some time mid afternoon, the air is filled with a heavenly sweet smell of baking bread. It's one of the many myriad smells that I associate with Bangalore.

Well, back to breakfast now, how does this fit into the series, you ask. As a kid I remember chikkamma (mum's younger sister) making this for breakfast. Later I learnt she called it 'bread upkari'. It is an interesting adaptation of bread in an Indian breakfast form. I've heard other people call it bread uppittu or bread poha. Well, all the same, a nice variation to bread at breakfast! Really simple and quick. Plus a great way to use up that little bit of leftover bread. I have found, in my several trials, that bakery fresh, white bread tastes the best. But you can make it with almost any (fairly soft) bread that you have at home.

It's quite similar to the avalakki recipe I posted earlier, but I'll write the recipe again -

• 1/2 a loaf of bread (about 6 slices, will serve 2)
• 2-3 green chillies, chopped and 1-2 dry red chillies
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tspn grated ginger
• curry leaves, a few
• 1 tbspn peanuts
• for tempering (oggarne)- 2 tbspns oil, mustard seeds, urad dal (split white lentils), chana dal (yellow split lentils) (I put in about 1/2 tspn each)
  
• a pinch of turmeric, salt to taste
• 1/4 tspn sugar
  
• chopped coriander
• 1/2 lime

Method -

1. Tear the bread into small chunks. (You could also use your chopping board and knife to cut the slices into tiny cubes.)
   
2. Heat oil in a wok/pan and add all ingredients mentioned for tempering.
3. Now add curry leaves and peanuts.
4. Add chillies and ginger.
5. Next tip in the onion and saute till soft.
6. Add turmeric, salt to taste and sugar.
7. Now tip in the bread and mix well.
8. Turn off the stove, drizzle some lime juice and garnish with chopped coriander.
9. Serve hot.

(For an interesting twist, you can add some lightly mashed boiled potatoes and some grated carrot. )

So if you've got some bread sitting in your pantry and you've pretty much tried all the sandwich fillings possible, this easy Bangalore breakfast is sure to add some excitement to your morning!

Triangular icons in the Indian snack scene!

Samosas!
This snack needs no introduction. It is by far the most popular Indian snack and I reckon it will never go out of fashion. Everybody loves the little fried pyramids. Crispy on the outside and tangy goodness inside, served with imli chutney and pudina chutney, it's one tongue tickling creation! It's very versatile too - you can have various fillings (just get creative), you can serve it as a chaat and you can also make the chic petite versions for your next party, cocktail samosas they're called apparently! The perfect accompaniment, according to me, is a nice hot cup of ginger chai. One can't go wrong with the combination. And that's exactly what we did when we had friends over for a little 'b'day tea party' in March this year. Good friends, lots of chatter, samosas and chai, now that's a relaxed evening!

To make the samosas - (this recipe will yield about a dozen samosas)

For the dough (for the outer pockets)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup wholemeal flour (wheat flour/atta)
• 1/2 tspn ajwain (caraway seeds)
• a pinch of cooking soda
• salt to taste
• water

For the filling -

• 4 large potatoes (boiled)
• 2 tbspns oil
• 1/2 tspn jeera (cumin seeds)
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1 tspn each of - red chilli powder, jeera powder and amchur powder
• 1/2 tspn crushed whole dhania (coriander seeds)
• 1 tspn peanuts
• salt to taste
• oil for deep frying

1. Make a fairly stiff dough with all the ingredients mentioned in the first section. While adding the ajwain, lightly rub it between your palms to release the full flavour.
2. To make the filling, lightly mash the boiled potatoes.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera.
   
4. Next add peanuts and crushed dhania and saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Now turn the heat down and add turmeric and all the dry masala powders and saute for about a minute or two.
6. Then add the potatoes and salt and give it a good mix. But be gentle as you don't want the filling to end up like mashed potatoes. (That reminds me, you could even add 1/2 a cup of green peas to the filling.)

Getting the triangles/pyramids!
This can be quite tricky the first few times, but after a lot of trial and error I figured that the best way to make it is as follows -

• Take a ping pong ball sized bit of the dough and roll it into an oblong shape (not round like you would for rotis/chapatis).
  
• It should neither be too flimsy (it will give in and tear when you stuff the filling inside and believe me, you would have to do a lot of dough grafting to hide the holes!) nor too thick (this will make the end product too hard to swallow, gulp!)
• Once you've rolled it out to the right thickness, cut it in the middle and you'll end up with two semi circles.
• Spoon out a little bit of the filling and place it in the centre of the half circle. Lightly run the edges with some water.
• Now lift the corners of the dough and bring them together to form a triangle/pyramid (now this may sound tricky in words and unfortunately I don't have pictures, but you'll figure it out when you do it) Seal the edges well to make sure the filling doesn't get out while frying. If you've done the pyramid construction right, you should be able to sit your samosa up on it's base.
• Make a few in a batch while the oil gets heated up.
• Deep fry the samosas till they turn (the cliched) golden brown :-)
• Serve hot and enjoy!

It may take a few attempts till you get comfy with the whole process, but once there. your options for variations are endless. For me though, the classic potato filling is the all time favourite. Go on, give this a try and have some good friends over for that long session of gossips, laughter and chai!