Cozy Little Kitchen!

An exciting medley of flavours!

2012-02-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

Baby in bed - check
Movie to watch - check
Yummy dinner with minimum effort - check

That Friday night was a treat for us!

It all began over coffee 'n' scone late that afternoon. Having just come back from India, husby and I were rambling about all the eating we had done there. Our (at least mine) taste buds hadn't yet accepted that the holiday was over, and the scone wasn't doing anything for me. I needed something tangy, something with that punch, you know? And husby was not willing to drive me all the way to Parramatta, 'just for a plate of chat', in his words. He tried reasoning it out, pointing out that the traffic would be mad that time of the day and most importantly the (tennis) match would begin at 7 something. Pah! Anyway, he did promise to take me there the next day though. But 'tomorrow' wasn't good enough for me, I wanted chat and that was it.
So then of course we stopped by at the Indian store, picked up a couple of things so I could make it all at home and headed back home with a happy and convinced husby. And that's how that Friday night was a treat :) I made bhel puri and papdi chat for dinner and we watched Nanban, while baby slept peacefully, oh bless her!

Not that it is a very elaborate procedure for me to actually blog about it...it's just a simple assembly once you have all the ingredients ready! Everything, you should be able to get easily at an Indian grocery store. Also, there is no set quantity/measurement or anything, just go by what you like. Easy peasy :) Here's what I used -

store bought papdi
store bought tamarind chutney (you could make your own)
store bought green chilly chutney
ok...so I'll stop saying 'store bought' :-)
fine sev
yogurt
finely chopped onion
finely chopped tomato
grated carrot
finely chopped fresh coriander
finely chopped cucumber (optional)
boiled and mashed potato

Method (like there is one, sheesh!)

Take out your favourite plate (how big or small is up to you)
Arrange (whole, undamaged) papdis in one layer, all over the plate
Top with rest of the ingredients, starting with onion, boiled potatoes, carrot, tomato, some tamarind chutney, green chutney and yogurt.
Finally sprinkle chopped coriander and a generous amount of sev.
Enjoy!

And the best part is, all the stuff you bought will last for at least a couple of more chat episodes :)

I found time to bake!

2011-12-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hello hello! I'm still cooking, so I'm alive :-)
With Little Miss' arrival I have hardly been in the kitchen for more than 15 minutes at a stretch, during which I manage to cook some one pot wonder to keep the hard working husband (and myself) well fed.
So the other day I was mighty pleased with myself 'cause I baked this yummy fruit cake/bread. With Little Miss napping peacefully, I was surfing the Internet and generally looking at some recipe videos when I stumbled upon this. So easy! And I had all the ingredients at home, yay! So I baked it right away and when husby darling called out 'Honey, I'm home' that evening, I was super excited to serve him a nice big slice with some hot coffee. Of course, saving a couple of slices was quite a challenge as I'd already started gobbling up pieces of the hot bread, straight out of the oven! I say pieces because I had no patience to let it cool before I could make, how shall I say...civilised slices of it. So I just literally tore it off and popped the still hot pieces into my mouth. A serrated knife works best, by the way and wait it cools down before you slice it. If you want it to look pretty, that is. If you can't be bothered then just do what I did. I'm pretty sure you will :-) Okay, enough said. Here's the recipe. You don't really need to have a degree in aeronautical engineering or something to figure out that this recipe has five cups of something, duh! So here's what you need, a cup of each -

self raising flour (I only had plain flour, so I just added 2 tspns of baking powder to it)
sugar
milk
chopped fruits 'n' nuts (I used sultanas, cashews, almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds)
dessicated coconut

Actually, you only need about 1/2 a cup of sugar or so, but you know, '5 cups recipe' sounds too cute. I mean '4.5 cups fruit cake' would only sound silly :-)

So then, you sift the flour (and baking powder if you're using plain flour) into a large bowl and add all other ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon and pour the (rather thick) mixture into a loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180deg (oven settings may vary) for about 40-45 minutes. That's it, really :-)

So go on, bake this super easy cake, cut a nice chunky slice for yourself, make a nice cuppa and sit back and enjoy! Ah, a blissful moment for me indeed!

I'm here!

2011-05-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

Considering that I baked these cookies during Christmas last year, this post is long overdue...way too long! Well, what can I say? I've been so preoccupied lately that my dear little cooking blog has been totally neglected :(
I have been cooking though, more so now that I haven't blogged here for a while - what an irony! I wish I had had the patience and the enthusiasm to take pictures and journal all those recipes I tried and that turned out well. Well...I didn't, so nothing much I can do about it now. So I thought I'd slowly get back to blogging and decided to post about these cookies :)

Recipe Source: Nicko's Kitchen

2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
200gms butter
icing sugar + water + food colour (as desired)

Simply mix the first three ingredients to form a soft dough. Roll out into medium thick sheets and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a cookie tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for about 20mins (check to see they don't over bake and burn).
Have fun decorating them!

It's 2011!!

2011-01-11T01:11:00.000-08:00

Hello there! 2011 is here and I don't have any new posts on my blog!! Appalling! I need to focus and manage my time better...
Anyway, hope the new year has started off well with all of you.
I will be back soon!

Baked on Christmas

2010-12-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went on the calendar, but this quote sums up its true essence -

"Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

for loving, sharing and giving are not to put away

like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others is good you do yourself."

-Norman Wesley Brooks

I baked a very simple cake-mix vanilla sponge cake at teatime. I have never baked with a cake-mix before (yeah!) and I really liked the way the cake turned out. I simply followed the instructions on the packet and 45 minutes later pulled out a very light, spongy and perfectly risen cake from the oven. I'm sure it would've tasted just great as it was with tea. (the words 'selling like hot cakes' kept ringing in my head and I could imagine why!) But when I turned the cake tin over my wire rack, gently tapped the base and lifted the tin away, my heart did a little dance :) The cake was perfect! It easily slid off the tin, it had just the right amount of browning and was well baked. I had to make a topping of some kind, it was too hard to resist. I decided to keep it simple, so I skipped the rich creamy frosting. Instead, I just melted some white chocolate buttons (with a teeny bit of milk) in a saucepan over hot water and spread a thin layer of it over the cake. Then to the same sauce I added some drinking chocolate in order to get a darker shade of brown and drizzled it over the white. That's it! Delicious vanilla sponge cake with a simple white chocolate sauce.

I think I have learnt that the joy of cooking is doubled when the people you cook for enjoy eating. I find happiness in these simple pleasures of life :) I often say this, and couldn't mean it more - 'Good friends, good food, good times!'

A Snack in Need is a Snack Indeed!

2010-12-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been bitten by the 'I-wanna-eat-something' bug? Well, it seems to like me, a lot! It specially loves to visit when I'm home alone and bored. That's when a whole lot of emotions and thoughts are running rampant in my head, like so - "I want a snack; but I don't want anything oily; Oh but I do!; No! Nothing oily; But something to munch on; But then I'm too lazy to make anything; Oh what can I eat; Darn! The munchies jar is empty; Now what?!"

One on such crazy afternoon, this great idea sprang to mind and I made besan pancakes (or so I'd like to call them). Quick, easy, not oily. Perfect for those notorious needy-clingy hunger pangs. The best part about this recipe is all the ingredients are at hand and it's made in a jiffy. I love such recipes because then I can prance about in my cozy little kitchen, pretending I'm on a cooking show and go about making my snack with the enthusiasm I started with. The joy of reaching out to just the right jars, measuring out everything, chopping, and preparing is something else! Otherwise my enthusiasm is generally dampened if it means I have to make a quick trip to the supermarket to get something I don't have. Since this recipe calls for just some basic stuff, it's a
favourite. See what I mean -

besan (chickpea flour) 1.5 cups
finely chopped tomato 1/4 cup
finely chopped onion 1/2 cup
1 tbspn finely chopped coriander/cilantro
1 tspn whole jeera (cumin)
1 tspn paprika/chilli powder
1/4 tspn turmeric powder optional
a pinch of hing (asafotieda) optional
a pinch of carom seeds (ajwain) optional - I generally add this to anything made of besan
salt to taste

Mix everything to make a (pouring) batter. Pour a big spoonful onto a heated skillet and spread evenly. Spray some oil and cook on both sides until done. Serve hot with some tangy pickle or maybe some tomato sauce.

Hate not those sudden cravings, instead make these besan pancakes and enjoy!

Who says you can't have street food at home?

2010-12-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

Indian Street Food, if we were playing the word association game, by now there would be a really long list of associated words like chaat, pav bhaji, masala dosa, grilled sandwich, samosas, jalebis, vada pav, etc. etc. etc!! Oh those glorious streets of Bengalooru! The enticing aroma of spices, the hissing sound as a splash of water hits the hot grill, the crowd, the bustle, the lip smacking food, the experience. The bajjis never tasted as good anywhere except on the streets, the secret - oil that's used and reused (God knows how many times!). The samosa chaat is finger lickin' good, the secret - rustic bare fingers of the man who smashes the samosa in a quick blow. And the dosa, oh the dosa is divine, crisp yet spongy, the secret - a very hot griddle frequently splashed with a generous dose of oil and deftly spread with a stiff broom! Well, pardon my almost oxymoronic description. But I think that's entirely the essence of Indian Street Food, pure deliciousness amidst small 'eyebrow raisers' that can be easily ignored. I mean, come to think of it, we've been enjoying eating out for ages now and we've survived (!), so I guess we've kind of settled on the fact that reused oil, tap water and not the cleanest of kitchens can all be dismissed as 'not that big a deal'. But then again, maybe I can't generalise the conclusion. Maybe I speak only on behalf of my Indian counterparts who, by now, seemed to have developed a 'withstand-all' kind of a gene. Delhi Belly was coined for a reason, I'm sure! Nevertheless, if not in Bengalooru, then I'm sure some place else, most of us would know the true sense of an evening enjoyed gorging on street food.

Having said that, the effects of street food can be created at home as well. The same feeling of heightened senses as the spice hits just the right spots, the same medley of flavours and with some Bollywood numbers blasting from the iPod dock, voila! it's the street food experience right at home, and with clean water and washed hands :)

Bhelpuri - a (very) popular Indian street food item, tangy, sweet, crunchy and oh-so-yummy!

Ingredients - (will serve 2, 1 if you have a very strong craving)
(I haven't mentioned the quantity of some ingredients as it's totally up to your taste and liking. More if you love it, less if you don't so much)

puffed rice 2 cups
finely chopped onion
finely chopped cucumber
grated carrot
roughly diced boiled potato
finely chopped tomato
finely chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
a handful of roasted peanuts
a splash of lime juice
ready made papdi (available in Indian grocery stores), optional
salt, chaat masala powder (available in Indian grocery stores) and tamarind chutney (available in Indian grocery stores to taste
sev (available in Indian grocery stores) to garnish, optional

Method -

Simply combine everything, except puffed rice and sev, in a large mixing bowl.
Add puffed rice just before you're ready to serve and toss it well.
Garnish generously with sev and some extra chopped coriander and serve immediately.

Apparently, bhelpuri is considered a low fat snack, minus the papdi and sev. That's how I made it yesterday.

So hope you try this street food classic at your place and maybe it will inspire you to try it on the streets of India, if you haven't already!

Until then, cook, serve, love!

Mango Cupcakes

2010-12-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hello! A quick little post to share a great recipe I found here.

I simply doubled the recipe as I wanted about a dozen of these :)

I've been spending some good time in my cozy little kitchen. I should take more pictures and post more often here. Sigh!

Teatime Nibbles

2010-12-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

A strong cup of Indian masala chai (or south Indian filter kaapi) is somewhat incomplete without some snacks or nibbles on the side. Typically, it would be biscuits (Marie or Parle G) dunked and unceremoniously popped into the mouth in a hurry, lest the soggy bikkie disintegrates. I've had one too many dunking accidents and the resulting gooey sediment at the bottom of my teacup is not one of the most appealing things. So, bicuits with tea are more like a thing of the past for me. I digress. I was talking about the popular chai accompaniments. Samosas, pakodas or bajjis*, mixture* (what an innovative name, pah!), etc. are all popular teatime snacks. Basically, something deep fried and crisp (and oozing with fat that goes straight to the hips) is very gratifying at teatime.
On the list is a simple fried snack that my family calls 'thukudi'. I don't really know why it is called that! I think it is quite similar to what my north Indian friends call namakpare. Oh well, what's in a name? It's great for teatime, that's what matters, right? It's kind of like crisp, flaky puff pastry. It's a very simple recipe, yields a substantial quantity and keeps for a couple of weeks. Now that's my kind of recipe, a handy jar of crisp thukudi to perk up teatimes.
Here's the recipe -

1.5 cups wheat flour (or wholemeal, whatever you have at hand)
1/4 cup all purpose flour (you could skip this totally if you wish)
2 tbspns besan (chickpea flour)
salt and red chilli powder (or paprika) to taste
oil for deep frying
1 tbspn hot oil

Method -

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Heat 1tbspn oil in a small skillet ( not to smoking point, just a little bit) and pour into the flour mixture.
Rub in the oil using your fingers until the mixture has the texture of breadcrumbs.
Using very little water gradually, work the mixture into a stiff dough.
Leave to rest for about 15mins.
Before you begin with the rested dough, pour oil in a wok or pot and place on medium heat.
Knead the dough on a work surface that's slightly dusted with flour and divide the dough into lemon sized balls.
Roll each ball of dough into a circle, slightly on the thinner side. But don't worry too much about it, 'cos if you try and roll it out too thin, it might get all clingy and stick to your work surface.The intention is to get crips nibbles and not soft & soggy (like mini pooris). So the thinner, the better.
Using a pizza cutter (or a knife) cut the rolled out dough into approx half inch strips. Then rotate about 40deg and cut into strips again, to get little diamond shapes.
Carefully tip in all the little dough diamonds into the hot oil (steer clear from tiny oil splashes in the process) and fry on both sides until crisp and light brown. Take care not to over fry them.
Drain onto a paper towel and store in an airtight jar.
You could even sprinkle a wee bit of chat masala powder when they're out of the oil and before they go into the jar.

I hope you enjoy these with your next cup of tea or coffee :)

*pakodas & bajjis: vegetable or onion fritters made with chickpea flour
*mixture: a medley of tiny deep fried (or toasted) nibbles (often sev & boondi, made from chickpea flour) and peanuts.

Strawberry Fields!

2010-11-29T23:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's been way too long since I yak-yakked here! I was just having a 'very-bored-yet-not-really-interested-to-do-anything' phase. And although I do feel like I'm getting out of it, a tiny bit of that vague feeling still lingers. So I thought I'd knock it off and give my bubbly, positive side a chance to do a come back. This post is one of my action points to do just that.

We're in Adelaide, South Australia, right now. The city of churches and the state with sprawling vineyards. We haven't really planned a wine tasting tour (yeah, that's right!) merely because we don't have the time for it. Husby darling is here on work and I'm just accompanying him, you know being the adorable little puppy who follows him everywhere (batting eyelashes). So no vineyards on our list, but definitely eating out a lot (since I'm determined not to cook this week), a trip (or two) to the Casino and lots of simply loitering around the city on our agenda :)

We did, however, drive down (up?) to this quaint little German settlement called Hahndorf just about 30mins from Adelaide city. It's a nice place, lots of shops to look at, sinful homemade fudge, bustling pubs serving German quintessentials and a general 'feel-good' factor. There's also the famous Beerenberg Farm a short walk up the main street.The main attraction there is strawberry picking and the range of jams, sauces and chutneys you can buy at their retail store. We thought we'd just 'have a look around' and wouldn't really pick any berries. But then there's something about the lush, fresh and very red strawberries that make you want to pick them! Rows & rows of little green shrubs with strawberries looking oh-so-pretty right there in the open, all natural, all beautiful! It's a lovely feeling, a hundred times better than when you spot a good punnet of firm ones at the supermarket. So we (rather I) ended up picking strawberries and looking pretty as husby darling took pictures :) It was 'well worth it', like the friendly lady at the store counter had said to us. We also bought a couple of jars of jams and sauces. It's hard to resist, especially when there's so much variety and they're so neatly stacked.

So now I have a big(gish) tray of fresh strawberries and I wish I had my cozy little kitchen here to bake something with them. But oh yeah, I'm determined not to cook this week, remember? So for now, I'll just be content with biting into a shiny, juicy strawberry, as is :)

There! It feels so good to do a rambling post after so long! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing about it. And if you ever are in Adelaide, do the strawberry thing, it's well worth it!

I call it 'Wedding Palya'!

2010-10-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Well, well...so here I am! Yes, I haven't disappeared from the face of the earth :) To tell you the truth, I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post. 'Pretty cliched and lame', you may say...but it IS true! The way I've been cooking for the past couple of weeks, I should probably be posting every single day! Oh the irony!

Anyways, so I thought I'd sign in and share this recipe with you. I had to share it. This is something that I talk about often but had never tried before. And today, I made it at home, just like that! Okay so now I better tell you what I'm talking about, right? It's what I call 'maduve palya' (literally translated: wedding steamed salad). no points for guessing why :) This kind of palya is typically served at weddings or other large gatherings where a traditional south Indian meal is served on a fresh plantain leaf. All you south Indians or more particularly from south Karnataka would probably know that this dish is generally made with suvarna gedde or suran or yam. I made it in my cozy little kitchen with kent pumpkin.

Here's the recipe -

2 cups diced pumpkin
salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric

For the spice paste -

1/4 cup fresh coconut
5-6 dry red chillies
1/4 tspn black mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
a (very) small piece of jaggery/molasses
1/4 tspn tamarind paste

For tempering -

1/2 tspn oil
1/4 tspn mustard seeds
1/4 tspn urad dal
1/4 tspn chana dal
a few curry leaves

Method -

Microwave/steam the pumpkin with a pinch of turmeric. Try and keep the pieces firm (but cooked) and not very mushy.
Make the spice paste with all ingredients mentioned. Use very little water. (all ingredients are to be ground just the way they are, no roasting required)
Heat oil in a pan and add all ingredients for tempering, in the same order.
Add cooked pumpkin, salt to taste and mix well.
Put in the spice paste and mix well.
Serve with hot rice and tomato rasam.

As I was cooking this, the subtle aroma brought back memories of the several gatherings we used to have back at home. The familiar sights, the sounds, the food! I think I'll do a post on wedding food soon :)

Till next time...cook, serve, eat, love!

Baking @ Home

2010-09-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

Baking is so much fun!

Benne Biscuit or Butter Cookies - based on a couple of recipes I found on the internet.

Masala Bun. Recipe here.

Will be back soon with more!

Quick Little Celebration

2010-09-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

Husby darling passed the driving test at one go, yippeee! That called for a sweet reward :) So Kalakand was quickly made and quickly devoured. So easy, so quick, so divine! Enough said...sorry I don't have great pics, so that should tell you how patient we were after it was made! I found the recipe at Showmethecurry.com, a fun and fab place for great recipes.

I think you should definitely try this. I mean, with only two ingredients and very little effort, every day can be a celebration, what say? *wink*

Powerpacked One-Pot Dish

2010-08-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

Bisibelebath, a word too familiar with true Bangaloreans :) A wholesome one pot dish packed with protein (toor dal), nutrients (veggies) and carbohydrate (rice) + mighty comforting! Eaten hot with crisp tangy boondi* and raita or pachhadi*. I turned to this simple yet filling combo for dinner when we had friends over the other day. Teamed with crisp masala vades*, cucumber pachhadi, some cooling yogurt rice and (very) sweet semiya payasam*, it made for a satisfying menu, or so our guests implied :)

I'm posting the recipes for bisibelebath and cucumber pachhadi -

Bisibelebath -

1 cup rice (washed and drained)
1/2 cup toor dal (washed and drained)
2 cups mixed veggies - cubed - I had carrot, potato, green beans, peas and avarekalu (hyacinth beans)
2-3 tbspns bisibelebath powder (store bought or made from scratch) - I used MTR ready powder
1 tspn tamarind paste
1/2 tspn jaggery - crushed (molasses)
salt to taste

For tempering -

1 tbspn ghee (clarified butter) or oil
1/4 tspn mustard seeds
a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
a handful of curry leaves
a handful of peanuts
a pinch of turmeric

Method -

You could quite easily follow the recipe on the MTR packet. Nevertheless -

Cook rice and dal together. (I used a pressure cooker)
Cook veggies separately (I cooked them in the microwave)
Combine cooked rice+dal and veggies in a big sauce pot. Add enough water to bring to a semi solid consistency, like that of a thick porridge.
Add all other ingredients, one by one and mix well. Bring to a light simmer.
Heat ghee/oil in a small pan and all ingredients for tempering.
Pour over the simmering bisibelebath and mix well.
Serve hot with a dollop of ghee, boondi or potato chips and pachhadi.

Note: This dish tends to solidify and turn lumpy when left to cool. Before serving, add a wee bit of warm water and reheat, making sure the consistency is that of a thick porridge.

Cucumber Pachhadi -

2 medium cucumbers - finely chopped or grated
2-3 cups yogurt or buttermilk
salt to taste

grind to a paste-

1/4 cup grated coconut
1/4 tspn jeera (whole cumin)
2-3 green chillies
2 tbspns fresh coriander - chopped

tempering -

1 tspn oil
1-2 dry red chillies, roughly broken into chunks
1/4 tspn mustard seeds
a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
a few curry leaves

Method -

Tip in finely chopped cucumber into a large bowl.
Combine coconut paste and yogurt and add to chopped cucumber.
Add salt to taste and mix well. Adjust consistency by adding some water if the yogurt is thick. The consistency of pachhadi should be fairly loose.
Heat oil in a small pan and add all ingredients for tempering.
Pour tempering over the pachhadi and mix well.

Bisibelebath or BBB as some people fondly call it, is a signature dish from Karnataka. Try it and you're sure to enjoy its homely, wholesome taste :)

*boondi = a crisp tangy Indian savoury made from chickpea flour
*pachhadi = a yogurt based runny salad of sorts

*masala vades = crisp spicy lentil fritters (recipe here)
*semiya payasam = a sweet porridge made from milk, sugar and vermicelli

Soulful Comfort Food

2010-08-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

It was a cold, morbid afternoon. I wasn't in my happy place. Outside, the wind howled adding to my downcast mood. It seemed like the sun wasn't very upbeat either 'cos he was hiding behind the dark, gloomy clouds. Nothing around me suggested cheer. Yet I had to eat...somehow I believed that I would feel better if I ate. I longed for my mom's tomato saaru and aloo fry, sigh! With that soothing picture in mind, I went about making lunch. Nothing fancy, just some really simple food. Some call it khichdi, some others may call it something else. But to me, it was a mood-lifter of sorts. 'Shhh' said the pressure cooker, three to four times and it was as if it was saying, 'hush now, everything's going to be alright'...My house smelt of jeera, ghee and hing...familiar smells of home. Now that's what I call soulful comfort food!

Recipe-

1 cup rice (washed and drained)
1/4 cup toor dal (washed and drained)
2 tbspns ghee
1 tspn whole cumin (jeera)
1/4 tspn hing (asafotieda)
2-3 fresh green chillies, slit
a handful of curry leaves
a couple of cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tspn ground turmeric
a few peppercorns
1 medium potato, cubed
1 cup avarekai - now I don't know what this is called in English. I used the frozen ones and on the packet it said Lima Beans & Tuvar Lilva (see picture)
1 small onion, chopped
whole garam masala - cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and cardamom pods (optional)
salt to taste

Method -

Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add whole cumin, hing, pepper corns, curry leaves, green chillies, garlic and turmeric, one after the other. (If you're including whole garam masala, add at this stage.) Your kitchen should smell really good right now :)
Toss in chopped onion and saute for a bit.
Now add in rice and dal and mix well. This mixture needs to kind of fry for a couple of minutes. Give it some time until the rice turns opaque. But make sure the flame is sort of medium low as we don't want anything to burn. This is kind of an important step if you don't want everything to turn into a mush in the end.
Next, in go the cubed potatoes and avarekai.
A quick mix and it's time to add water. Now normally, we'd follow the 1:2 ratio for rice. But this needs to have a porridge like consistency. So go ahead and add about two or three cups more than you normally would. For this recipe, add about six cups of water.
Sprinkle salt for taste and give everything a good stir.
With the cooker weight on, let this cook for about three to four whistles.
Serve hot with pickle, more ghee and papadums.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you could probably make it in a biggish pot with a lid or you could use the microwave. Cooking times may vary.

In a Jiffy!

2010-07-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

It's been quiet here at the Cozy Little Kitchen. But that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking up a storm! Just that I was lazy to take pictures and post about all the yummy recipes I've been churning :)

But this, I couldn't miss posting about... When husby darling ventured into the kitchen late one afternoon, driven by my craving for a certain Bengalooru snack - kodubale (koe-du-ba-lei)

I was being crabby, bored and wanted to snack - an unusual combination of emotions! You might have figured I didn't want to get up from the spot on the couch I'd been warming :) So, my next logical move was that of a shrewd predator on a hunt. My vision zeroed in on my unsuspecting man as he sat browsing through some DVDs. 'I want to munch on something', I declared loudly. No response. 'I feel like a snack, something spicy, something crunchy', I continued. This time he looked at me, got up and walked to the kitchen asking if I wanted some chips or peanuts. Out of nowhere I said I felt like eating kodubale. I didn't really expect anything except a, 'Hmmm...yeah, but we only have chips, want some?'. But I was pleasantly surprised when husby actually looked through my recipe books and pulled out one that I'd nicked from Amma's place. The book was in Kannada and I had a good laugh as he struggled with the instructions. But, strangely enough, he followed it thoroughly, measured out everything and set about making kodubale! With a wee bit of help from me, he actually managed to fulfil my out-of-the-blue desire that boring afternoon! Talk about feeling loved and special!

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

Rice Flour - 500gms
Chickpea Flour (besan) - 250gms (we used 2 cups of rice flour and 1 cup of besan)
A pinch of asafotieda
Coconut - one half (we used dessicated coconut)
Red chili powder - 1 tbspn
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Combine all ingredients (1-6) with some water to form a stiff dough. Roll and shape into kodubales (see pictures) and deep fry until light brown and crisp.

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things...

2010-07-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

It's been almost three years since I set up our Cozy Little Kitchen. Looking out for a special something for our kitchen, thoughtful gifts received from family and friends, random shopping trips, impulse buys -I think they've all added a special character to our kitchen. I still am that excited young wife whenever I go shopping, always on the look out for something different :)

I thought I'd share with you some of the things I absolutely love in our Cozy Little Kitchen...

marble stone mortar 'n' pestle: from an Asian store, Sydney

kitchen towels 'n' pot holders in my fave combo: gift from SIL

glass cookie jars: from IKEA, Sydney

carrot peeler: gift from MIL

oggarne dabba: from Bengalooru

lady grate: gift from a girlfriend

my hot pink silicon bar cake tray: Target, Sydney

gorgeous peacock theme mugs: gift from friends, San Diego

my loyal Tupps: gift from Ma

black long stemmed wine glasses: Homeware store, Sydney

cute lil spreaders: gift from SIL

I bet this list will grow 'n' grow 'n' keep growing :)

What are some of your favourite things in your kitchen? Share them with your blog world friends. Post about them on your blogs or leave a comment to your link here. I'd love to see some pictures as well.

Have a great weekend!

Everyone's Favourite

2010-06-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

The classic chewy chocolate chip cookies! I found the recipe here. It's so simple, you can't go wrong with it! And the cookies, my-oh-my! They turned out great :) The only thing I'd probably do differently next time is make smaller ones. These ones didn't quite get into my cookie jar! But they are absolutely divine - crisp 'n' chewy at the same time :-D

So here's the ingredients list - Makes about 12 really large cookies :)

1 and 1/8 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
a stick of unsalted butter (soft)
6 tbspns white sugar
6 tbspns brown sugar
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 cup choc chips

Mix everything as you would for any cookie dough. Refrigerate for about 30mins atleast. Preheat oven to 165 deg. Divide the cookie dough into small portions and roll each portion into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet (these really spread) and bake for about 15-17 minutes or until lightly brown.

The video in the link is fab! Take a look.

More Inspiration!

2010-06-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Got these books recently...

They're absolutely gorgeous! I did try a couple of recipes from them, but sadly, the laziness bug got me and I did not take any pictures. I baked 'choc-vanilla swirls' from the Easy Baking book. I made 'pumpkin-honey-mustard soup' from the Vegetarian Bible. I haven't tried anything from the one in the middle yet, but lemme tell you - that book is wonderful! So many lovely ideas...I'm thinking lots of edible gifts :-D

I'm still working on these books and will do so for a long, long time! There are loads 'n' loads of interesting recipes in there. I'll definitely try and take pictures next time and post all about them :)

Sweet Heaven!

2010-06-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Gajar ka Halwa a.k.a Carrot Halwa is by far the most loved dessert in India. Thanks to the melodramatic mothers of Bollywood tinsel town who make the macho sons all mushy when they're offered a bowl of the orange gooey stuff oozing with desi ghee (clarified butter) and motherly love.

(Okay, so I did go overboard with the nuts! But believe me, there was heaps of halwa under that obsessive layer of dry fruit!)

We made this special dessert for some special guests at dinner one Sunday. I say 'we'. Husby darling, my sous chef who tackled probably the hardest part of the recipe - the grand grating of half a Kg (or more) of carrots, truly deserves to be a part of this post :)

Recipe -

a bag of carrots (approx 500gms) peeled and grated - baby carrots work really well, they're tender and moist
3/4 or 1 cup sugar (according to your sweet-o-meter)
1 cup ghee
Approx 1 + cup of milk (enough to cook carrots)
1/2 cup mixed nuts - cashews, almonds and raisins
1/4 tspn cardamom powder

Method -

First of all, if you're not feeling particularly patient or if you're generally annoyed about something, make this another day! Believe me, it takes some patience and a sense of peace to accomplish this sweet heaven ;)
So, once you've decided you're quite saintly, then heat about a tbspn of ghee in a wide, shallow pan. Non stick works wonders.
Toss in the mixed nuts and fry until lightly toasted and aromatic.
Drain and set aside. This will later be sprinkled on the prepared halwa.
Into the same pan, tip in the grated carrot and mix well. Don't forget to appreciate your sous chef (if there is one) with a smile at this stage :)
With the flame on medium, add enough milk to just about cover the carrot and cook until soft. Don't add too much lest it turns out to be carrot porridge.
Once you're completely satisfied that the carrot is soft 'n' cooked, add in the sugar and mix well. If you add sugar a tad too early, then the carrots won't cook further and you'll end up with crunchy bits. What did I tell you about patience before? It does take a while for the carrot to cook completely. And remember, all this on medium or low heat. We don't want the whole thing to burn.
Once the sugar has been added, it's only a matter of minutes until everything amalgamates well.
Oh, before I forget, keep adding a spoonful or two of ghee during the entire process in well spaced intervals until you finish the 1 cup of ghee you started with.
Sprinkle cardamom powder and mix well again.
Continue on medium heat for another 10 minutes or so, taking care not to let it burn.
Remove from heat and garnish with fried nuts.
Best served warm with lots of love!

This can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated. Just stick it into the microwave before you serve.

P.S: Special hugs to my dear friend for the super efficient and super cute grate! Love it :)

An Indian Twist to an Italian Favourite!

2010-05-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday and we had done quite a bit of mindless, impulsive shopping. Husby's face was growing longer and sadder as the day went and I still hadn't taxed him with the weekly grocery shopping yet! After a snail paced episode of shopping at the local supermarket, husby darling just about had enough patience to push the cart (normally) towards our car without crashing it into some poor unsuspecting shopper in frustration. I tagged along to keep up with him while I scanned the longish receipt to see if we were charged right for everything. As we loaded the boot of our car with the many bags, I tried cheering him up by promising to make pizza for dinner. He didn't seem like he cared much. But when the pizza was made (and the kitchen smelt so good!), cut and served with some yummy garlic and cheese bread, he finally smiled, ear to ear :)

Here's what I did -

Make at home Pizza with Indian flavours. I can't help it! I'm Indian and I love the masalas :)

store bought pizza base
tomato sauce/ketchup - 1 tbspn
toppings (use as desired) - thinly sliced onion, thinly sliced capsicum, diced paneer , thinly sliced jalapeno chillies (de-seeded to save the mouth from catching fire), grated cheese, chopped coriander
spices - (use as desired) paprika, chilli flakes, curry powder, salt

Method -

Preheat oven to 200 deg Celsius
Spread tomato sauce over the pizza base and load it with toppings
Sprinkle on the spices
Bake for about 10 mins (might vary from oven to oven)
Serve hot with more ketchup and chilli sauce

It was ~~so much better than~~ as good as the ones we usually order in, honestly.

Your Wish is My Command, Master!

2010-05-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

On one of our grocery shopping trips, HD was scanning the shelves in the biscuits/cookies aisle while he decisively said, 'Make those melt-in-the-mouth Iyengar Bakery* cookies for me, please.' I felt oddly good as I pictured myself as the quintessential house wife in the 50s, donning a flowery apron, wooden spoon and mixing bowl in hand, dutifully baking a batch of warm cookies and beaming in satisfaction as my darling husband munched on them (wow! some imagination!) Anyways, he was lucky as I was still on a 'new oven' high. So I decided to bake some cookies and although I chose not to make them Iyengar Bakery style, he seemed pretty content with the Peanut Butter Cookies, my style :)

Here's the recipe:

100gms unsalted butter
2 tbspns peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour (or as much as the mixture needs to form a dough)
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Method:

Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Crack in one egg and whisk gently.
Add vanilla extract.
Sift flour and baking powder into the creamed mixture and gently work into a dough.
Cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
When you're ready to bake, remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and shape into balls, about an inch each.
Place on a cookie tray and lightly press down flat with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. (They do expand a little, so allow enough space.)
Bake for about 10-12mins in a preheated oven at 180 deg.
Cool on a wire rack and store in a cookie jar!

I must say, the smell of cookies baking in the oven, the cold winds outside, a tired husby back from work and two nice hot cups of coffee - bliss! I read somewhere that cooking is love made visible, I couldn't agree more :)

Hope you enjoy baking and eating these cookies with someone you love!

*Popular local bakeries in Bangalore.

A Delicious Accident!

2010-05-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

The other day, I wanted to test the oven here at our new apartment and I decided to bake a basic vanilla cake. I don't really stick to any one specific recipe for a plain cake. I just kind of go along with the flow. That's exactly how I started when I had this sweet little accident and ended up with some yummy banana bread kinda thing instead :) See, what I did was cleverly replace one egg with a banana that was crying out to be used, what with all the mushy bits and dark spots! In the end, the house smelt heavenly as the banana and vanilla in the oven did a slow waltz and wafted through the kitchen. And yeah, well, I found that the oven works, very efficiently :)

My accidental recipe for banana bread -

1.25 cups plain flour

100gms unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 (very) ripe banana

1 tbspn milk

1tspn baking powder

a few drops of vanilla essence

Method-

In a large mixing bowl, throw in the (softened) butter and sugar and whisk well until combined.
Break in the egg and continue to whisk.
Mash the banana and mix into the contents in the bowl.
Add the vanilla essence.
Sift the flour with baking powder, add in slowly to the mixture and keep whisking to form a smooth batter.
Add milk to adjust consistency of the batter, which should be neither too stiff nor runny.
Pour into a greased and floured baking tin and chuck it into a preheated oven.
Bake at 180 deg for about 20mins or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
Serve warm with a dollop of love :)

Husby was as thrilled as I was! He kept saying that I should bake this often, which I really think I will. Maybe I'll try using wholemeal flour the next time. Or buy some bananas and wait until they look pathetic, again!

A Note of Thanks!

2010-04-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

Appa a.k.a Kuzhi Paniyaram a.k.a Paddu, call it what you may, but it sure was on my 'to make' list for a while. Okay, so let me describe it for you - something comforting that Doddamma (my granny) used to make for us. It is (I think) made from a batter very similar to Dosa/Idly. Well, if you ask me, I'd probably say it is made with Dosa batter. You kitchen goddesses out there, please enlighten me :) Anyways, it's looks like a dumpling, is kind of crisp on the outside and soft 'n' fluffy inside. It can be made both sweet and savoury. Believe me, it tastes much better than my rather boring description of it. Spiced up with loads of chopped onion, chillies and coriander, served with a dollop of ghee/butter and some fresh green chutney...finger lickin' good! The sweet version is great too. If I remember correctly, I think Doddamma used to make it with cucumber and jaggery. Unusual combination did you say? Well, you should try it.

So then, I was saying, I'd been wanting to make it in my cozy little kitchen here in Sydney. Husby had also expressed his greed for it a couple of times. But sad thing was I didn't have the special griddle for it. And then on my recent trip to Bangalore, my dear Chikkamma (mum's little sister) gave it to me as a present. Now, wasn't that a stroke of luck? That was one thing I refused to leave behind, even though my baggage was dangerously tipping towards E.X.C.E.S.S! Here's a picture of it -

Back in Sydney, I unpacked my very own 'appa kallu' (okay, I'm not making it up! That's what it's called) in glee. I made some appas or kuzhi paniyarams the very next day. However, I don't have a recipe for it as such 'cos I made them using a store bought Dosa mix. I simply prepared the batter as per instructions, added lots of chopped onion, green chillies and fresh coriander and cooked them with (very little) spray oil. Thay turned out so good that between Husby darling & me, we easily devoured 25 something of the yummy little rascals! I did say they were little, didn't I? Lest you think what gluttons we are, hehehe. I made Tomato-Onion Chutney to go with it. Yum-mmy!

So that was a little story of our craving being satisfied. All thanks to Jathu Chikkamma :)

Basil and Spinach Risotto with Parmesan

2010-04-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

In a little Italian restaurant in La Jolla, on our holiday in the States last year, I had the best risotto. It could have been the slightly elated feeling of being on a holiday, the beautiful weather and the interesting surroundings or just the hunger! Anyways, I've been wanting to recreate something similar at home, well not the weather or anything, the recipe. Of course you knew that, tsk! So I scoured the internet for simple risotto recipes. I had some fresh basil and spinach but no mushrooms. I had a small bag of arborio rice but no white wine. Finally, I came up with my own easy version. It was quick and easy and tasted great! Here's the recipe-

1 cup arborio rice
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 tbspn olive oil/butter
salt & pepper to taste

Wash the rice and drain.
Heat oil in a saucepan/pot and add the rice.
Stir around for a bit and then add in the spinach and basil.
Pour in the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
When almost all the broth is absorbed, sprinkle some parmesan and cover and cook until the rice is well cooked.
Serve hot with a generous garnish of the remaining parmesan.

You can add mushroom or zucchini to this recipe. A word of caution though, be wary of the salt you add as parmesan does have some in it already.

Bruschetta, Risotto and frozen Tiramisu from the supermarket - An Italian feast at home!Easy-peasy :)

Inspired Italian Cooking: Bruschetta

2010-04-02T01:22:00.000-07:00

Back from a holiday in India, I slowly felt the kitchen induced lethargy. All the inevitable cooking, the endless pots 'n' pans - some in the sink, some in the dishwasher, the wilting veggies in my fridge, made me want to scream in frustration! Then, as if a storm was gone, the calm settled in, giving me a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I wanted to make something nice for dinner, really! Both husby & I were bored of the routine and wanted something else. So, I decided to try some Italian cuisine. Nothing fancy, thought I'd start with Bruschetta. Awfully simple to make but one heck of a classy, timeless and highly satisfying appetiser/starter/snack!

Bruschetta for two -

4 thick slices of bread - the classic recipe calls for a baguette, but I think any bread will work for a quick fix. (I cut my square slices in half)

1 firm tomato, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 tbspns fresh basil, finely chopped

3 tbspns grated parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

some minced garlic in olive oil to brush on the slices of bread

Mix finely chopped onion, tomato, basil, cheese and salt & pepper in a bowl.
Brush the slices of bread with the garlic and olive oil.
Grill/toast the slices until crunchy and light brown.
Spread a spoonful of the prepared mixture and serve immediately.
Top with more grated cheese just before serving.

Fresh bruschetta, a bottle of good wine and endless conversation...now that's something I needed to calm down!

My own version of 'Indian-Chinese-Fried rice'

2010-03-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

A lot of us Indians living overseas would've definitely craved for the notoriously famous Indian-Chinese at least a few times. The spicy 'n' crispy Gobi Manchurian, the colourful and tangy Fried Rice and the delightful Sweet 'n' Sour Soup, they make our mouths water. There are a couple of restaurants here in Sydney that brag about serving Indian Chinese specialties, but we've never actually ventured. So what does one do? Make it at home, of course! Here's my version of a quick, throw-n-toss-together version of fried rice, Indian-Chinese style :)

2 cups cooked rice - straight out of the fridge (left over rice works best)

3 tbspns sesame oil

1/2 onion, finely sliced
1/2 tspn ginger paste
1/2 tspn garlic paste
1 green chilli, finely sliced

2 tbspns finely shredded cabbage
2 tbspns finely chopped carrot
2 msuhrooms, diced
2 tbspns finely diced capsicum/bell pepper
1tbspn corn
1 tbspn peas
2 tbspns finely chopped spring onion

soy sauce - to taste
vinegar - to taste
chilli sauce - to taste
a dash of tomato sauce/ketchup
salt & pepper - to taste
a pinch of sugar

Heat oil in a large wok and add all the ingredients in group one and toss for a couple of minutes.
Next, in go all the veggies (except spring onion). Saute for a couple of minutes until slightly cooked but still a little crunchy.
Now add all the taste makers in group three and mix.
Throw in the rice and toss around until well amalgamated.
Garnish with spring onion.

This is so easy 'n' quick and tastes great. You could even add an egg or two if you wish to make it egg fried rice :)

Not many posts, but have been eating well!

2010-02-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

Hi there, I have a craft stall coming up real soon and have been very, very busy preparing. I've also, however, been taking the time to cook and have been cooking up some recipes I'd love to share. I'll get back to posting them soon, once I'm free.

Happy cooking!

Oh the crimson beauties!

2010-02-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

I'd never bought red radish before. But I've been inspired (read my previous post) and bought a bunch of fresh, beautiful radishes to make a salad. Aren't they just lovely? ( I hate taking indoor pictures at night...the flash ruins everything!)

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

200g small radishes
1 tbspn oil
1/4 tspn cumin seeds
1/4 tspn mustard seeds
pinch of asafotieda
1/4 tspn ground turmeric
1/4 tspn salt
1 tbspn lemon juice
100g (2/3 cup) roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Wash the radishes and top and tail them. (*how cute! especially because M said they look like little red mice!*) Cut each radish into four or eight pieces. (*I chose to slice them thinly instead*)
Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, add cumin and mustard seeds, then cover and shake the pan until the seeds start to pop.
Add the asafotieda, turmeric and salt to the pan, then remove from the heat, and add lemon juice and leave to cool. Just before serving, arrange the radishes and peanuts in a bowl, pour the dressing over the top and mix thoroughly.

Great idea for a healthy quick fix accompaniment at meal times.

My New Book - Lots of Inspiration!

2010-01-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

Have I told you about my fetish for books? Well, I'm easily smitten by craft books or food books that have these beautiful, colourful photographs. How I love flipping through the pages and marvelling at the colours and composition! I admire beautiful things - pretty stationery, interesting home decor, books, shoes...
I have quite a large collection of craft books as it once used to be my fancy. I would simply buy anything that made my eyes twinkle with admiration (and make M's eyes roll in exasperation!). I'm still that excited girl when I'm in a book store and M knows me now :) And that's exactly why he smiled and said 'okay' when I held up a book at him and gave him that familiar 'can I please?' smile. It's a book on Indian food and has gorgeous, gorgeous pictures, I love it! (I'd seen it at my cousin's before and had it in mind). Anyways, it's called 'the food of india' and is by Murdoch Books. Here, take a lil peek at it -

It has a really good collection of recipes and most importantly, awesome food photography...

There are also some interesting and quaint little shots of people and places all over India. I'm surely gonna try most of the recipes and will be back soon with some to share with you :)

Spinach 'n' Onion Frittata

2010-01-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is great for a lazy Sunday breakfast or as a quick back-from-work snack. M loves this :) It's very easy and can be dished up in a jiffy. The best part about a frittata is that you can improvise with almost anything at hand. Like when I made this, I only had frozen cubes of spinach and half an onion. Lucky me, it turned out that good!

Here's what you need -

3 eggs - this should be enough for two I guess, but since I'm not a big fan of eggs, M was more than happy to give in to gluttony, hehehe.

sliced onion - again this depends on how much you want. Half a cup should be plenty.

finely chopped spinach - I used one frozen cube

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 tspn cheese (any kind really, grated or crumbled) This is optional, the frittata will still turn out good without it.

1/4 tspn red chilli flakes

salt, pepper and any dried herbs to taste - I used about 1/4 tspn dried basil

Method -

Heat a pan/griddle and lightly spray it with oil or butter.
Throw in the crushed garlic and the red chilli flakes and toss around till the flavours are released.
Put in the sliced onion and saute until slightly brown.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cheese, spinach, basil, salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook on medium heat. Use a spatula and move the mixture around lightly.
Once settled, turn the heat down, cover and cook for about 5-6 minutes.
The frittata will have risen and will be soft and fluffy. Flip it over and cook the other side for about a minute or so.
Slide into a plate and serve warm with tomato or chilli sauce.

This recipe is very very flexible. You could use some mushrooms, potato, zucchini, etc.

Spicy whole Moong Fritters

2010-01-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

My latest agenda is to utilise all but a few basics from my pantry. The reason for this drastic measure is that I'll be going to India soon (yay!) and I want only the bare essentials in stock till I'm back. That way M will be spared the following dramatic scene:
(think Indian soap opera background music!)

M opens the kitchen cabinets reluctantly to make some 'simple daal' as I would've coaxed him to. He gasps in exasperation at the twenty something jars of lentils and other condiments. Then, muttering some incomprehensible things under his breath, he reaches for the nearest jar and starts the daal cooking process with what seems like, any, lentil (psst! insider information: it's urad daal!!!).
Well, I think I can safely leave the rest of the scene to your imagination :)
So, I was saying...I'm looking at cooking with 'whatever-is-in-my-cabinets' at this point. I found a tall Tupperware canister, half full with green whole moong. So, robotically, I washed and soaked it, confident that I would have thought of something by morning. And I did! I made these crispy, spicy vades (deep fried lentil fritters).

Heres' what you need -

2 cups whole green moong (hesarukaalu) soaked overnight
1/4 cup cornflour or rice flour
3 green chillies (increase or decrease according to your taste)
a small chunk of ginger
a handful of fresh coriander
1/2 tspn whole cumin (jeera)
1 small onion, finely chopped
a pinch of hing (asafotieda) and turmeric
salt to tatse
oil

Grind soaked moong, chillies, ginger, coriander and cumin to a coarse mixture. (use little or no water)
Transfer into a mixing bowl and add cornflour/rice flour, chopped onion, hing, turmeric and salt and give it a good mix.

Heat oil in a wok.
Scoop out about a spooonful of the moong mixture with your fingers. Flatten it into a sort of patty using your thumb and forefingers before dropping it into hot oil.

Fry until light brown and crisp. Now, you need to be patient with these. You want them crunchy and crisp on the outside and fluffy and well cooked on the inside, so you need to fry them on medium flame.

If you are the type who'd tch!tch! at the deep frying bit, you could even pan fry them on a skillet with a fraction of the oil :)

So, I'm gonna take off now and continue my jars 'n' bottles scouring mission. Will be back soon with some more 'must-finish-somehow' recipes!

Culinary Adventures in California: #1

2010-01-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

Amidst all the fun and excitement on our holiday was food, glorious food! There were so many great places we ate at and some we simply loved. One such place was The Cheesecake Factory.
Food: Great
Ambiance: Great
Dessert: My Oh My! Cheesecake galore! Yummmmy!

We had avocado egg rolls for entrees, was so good. The bread and dips were so good too that I didn't have much room left for mains. I tried the soup and salad combo and it was awesome. And then, the chance to get into cheesecake heaven! So many different ones to choose from and the cheesecake fan that I am, I wanted to have some of everything, well...so then, we settled for a slice of the classic cheesecake and a butter pecan. So so good :)

I'm back!

2010-01-03T02:19:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Happy New Year!
We're back from our wonderful and memorable holiday in California. We had a great time! There's a lot I want to share about the food we tried there. Will tell you more about it in my next few posts.

This new year, I want to stay fit and eat healthy. So wish me luck :)

Will be back soon.

Happy Holidays!

2009-11-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to say M & I are going off on our holiday! Will be back in my Cozy Little Kitchen soon...until then, Happy Holidays! Hope your days ahead are filled with joy, cheer, love and laughter.

And Thus the Recipe was Born...

2009-11-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

Here's one of those recipes that I came up with. A lonely bag of baby carrots in my fridge was the only fresh veggies at hand, so had to build a substantial menu with it :) I also had half a bag of frozen peas and voila! Carrot 'n' Peas Rice was made for lunch! A quick whip of onion and tomato raita, and we were in business.

1 cup basmati rice (washed and drained)
1.5 cups grated carrot
1/4 cup frozen green peas
1 small onion, sliced
1/4 tspn saunf (fennel) and jeera (whole cumin)
1 tbspn ghee or oil
masala powders, 1/2 tspn each - turmeric, red chilli powder, anardana powder (pomegranate powder) and a pinch of garam masala.
2 cups water
salt to taste

Method

Heat ghee in a pot and tip in saunf and jeera. Saute for a few seconds.
Put in sliced onion and saute till done.
Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a few minutes.
Now throw in the grated carrot, peas and rice and stir gently until the rice is well coated with everything and turns kind of an opaque white.
Pour in 2 cups of water and stir well.
Add all the masala powders and salt.
Give it a good final stir and cook on medium heat until most of the water is absorbed.
Then reduce to a simmer and cook covered until all the water is absorbed.
Serve hot with raita.

A handy tip - use a medium grate rather than a fine one. Chunky shreds of carrot, in our experience, suit this recipe better.

Paneer Paratha

2009-11-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. I love it's texture and the fact that it is so versatile makes it a popular ingredient in most Indian pantries (well, refrigerator!). It can easily be made at home, although I've never tried it once! I've seen videos of it being made on YouTube and have always wanted to try, but somehow the simpler option of getting a pack from the supermarket always wins the vote. There are tons of recipes with paneer, both savoury and sweet. I thought I'd post this recipe for paneer parathas as we had them for lunch yesterday. A friend of ours had made it for us once long ago and I tried it at home the very next day. It turns out really well and tastes very good. It's a great option when you don't want to make the usual rice 'n' dal or roti 'n' gravy, 'cos all you need to serve it is yogurt and pickle.

Now, the paneer is the star of the recipe. You've got to have the real deal - a block of good firm paneer. Yes, you could substitute it with cottage cheese, but no, you cannot use the cottage cheese spread thingy. This we learnt the hard way at our friends' place the other day. We thought we were smart and could get away with using the cottage cheese spread and I just have three simple words - IT DIDN'T WORK! But I did learn one thing though, we are glad to have such sweet friends who did not fuss and complain about the disastrous looking 'thing' that resulted but tolerantly ate it all. And thank God for small mercies, we were all fine the next morning!

Okay, so I was saying - firm paneer or cottage cheese, if you don't have it, make something else for lunch. Simple :)
Parathas are stuffed unleavened Indian breads.

Here's the recipe -

For the dough -

2 cups wholemeal flour
enough water to knead into a soft dough
salt to taste

For the filling -

1/2 a block of fresh paneer
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tspn ginger-garlic paste
1/4 cup chopped coriander
about a 1/4 tspn of - turmeric powder, cumin powder (jeera powder), amchur powder, red chilli powder (use more if you prefer it hot)
salt to taste

Method -

Make a soft pliable dough with the wholemeal flour. Cover and let rest for about 15 mins.
In a large bowl, crumble the block of paneer, add all other ingredients and give it a good mix.
Roll out the stuffed parathas as seen in the video.
Slap it on to a hot skillet and cook on both sides with a generous smear of ghee.
Serve hot with yogurt and pickle.

If you like this and are adventurous for more, try altering the recipe and make the filling with potatoes or cauliflower instead.

Thankful you were born!

2009-11-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

It was M's birthday yesterday, yay! But poor him, he was working all day :( He had been really busy the whole weekend and so there wasn't anything special planned for his special day. I thought I'd make something sweet to say 'thank you' to God for making him especially for me :) So I made kesaribhath/suji ka halwa/shira. It's really simple, gets done in a jiffy and tastes great. Here's the recipe -

1 cup semolina (rava/sooji)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
2 tbspns ghee
1 small banana, chopped
a pinch of cardamom powder
a handful of raw cashews and sultanas

Heat about 1/2 a tbspn of ghee in a non-stick wok/pan. Roast cashews and sultanas until the cashews turn a light brown. Remove and keep aside.
With the ghee in the wok, tip in the semolina and roast until light brown and toasty.
Meanwhile heat the milk on HIGH in a microwave for about a minute. You could even heat it on the stove top.
Once the semolina is roasted, turn down the heat to low and pour in the hot milk. Please be very cautious as you do so - apparently the roasted semolina and hot milk are long lost friends who get really excited when they see each other! Jokes apart, the hot steam from the hot milk and the hot wok (wow! that's a lot of 'hot')...so please be careful, don't burn yourself!
Keep stirring to avoid lumps. The idea is to cook the semolina in the milk and it happens quite quickly, in about 2 minutes.
When the mixture kind of begins to turn dry, add the sugar.
As you mix everything, you'll notice that the mixture begins to turn liquid-ey again. Now work quickly and throw in all the other stuff - chopped banana, cashews and sultanas, cardamom powder and the remaining ghee.
Stir it for a couple of minutes until it all amalgamates well and turn off the heat.
Serve hot!

It's best you stash it in the fridge if you've made lots and reheat it just before serving.
I'd earlier posted a recipe for kesaribhath, but I'd made it with chopped pineapple and it's a slightly different recipe in that I used water instead of milk.

So, no fancy cake or cocktail party snacks for M's special day this year, just a humble and yummy sweet dish, which he thoroughly enjoyed. And that's exactly what I wanted, after all :)

Oh What a Lovely Sunday Morning!

2009-10-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

One Sunday morning, we woke up, stretched and yawned in our bed. There was a soft pitter patter outside and the air was nippy. Sundays are an excuse to relax and treat ourselves to a nice breakfast. The other days are mundane with the usual toast or cereal. M had a craving for pies, the ones from Romeo's Pies downstairs in our handy little Forum Plaza. So off we went, wrapping our coats closer, still yawning, and came back home with two piping hot pies. Made some hot frothy coffee, courtesy: the little 'mixer thingy', a gift from my dear MIL. It's like a tiny whisk that runs on batteries and is great for cappuccino.

Mmmm, oven fresh pies, hot coffee, the light drizzle outside and Sunday! You know what I mean :)

Never judge a pumpkin by its looks!

2009-10-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

M probably would say this to someone after he ate the pumpkin kootu I made the other day! He doesn't care much for the poor old plain veggie - the pumpkin. I don't really blame him, see he doesn't cook much and so he cannot do what I mostly do - work out a mental recipe while I look at veggies at the market. To him, it will always be the boring, plain looking, least appetising thing. To me, it's what in season now, fresh, in it's prime of life and cheap! So I was adamant to buy it and make something nice. I made this very very simple kootu (veggies cooked in a lentil and spice gravy) and it changed the way we look at pumpkins!

2 cups diced (peeled) pumpkin - any variety. I used kent pumpkin - it's skin is green and has streaks of creamy yellow (see picture, source: www.moraitis.com.au)
1 cup cooked toor dal

For tempering -

1 tbspn oil
1/4 tspn mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
a few curry leaves
2 red (dry) chillies
1/4 tspn turmeric powder
1 small onion, sliced

To grind into a paste -

1/4 cup grated coconut (can use desiccated coconut as well)
a small piece of ginger
3-4 green chillies
1/2 tspn jeera (cumin seeds)
a handful of fresh green coriander/cilantro

Microwave (or cook) the pumpkin till soft.
Meanwhile, grind the ingredients mentioned above into a paste.
Heat oil in a pot and add all the ingredients for tempering in the order mentioned above.
Once the onion is cooked, add cooked pumpkin, cooked toor dal and the ground masala paste.
Add salt to taste and water to adjust consistency. Kootu is generally a fairly thick gravy, so do not add too much water.
Serve hot with rice and papad.

I'm so thrilled with this recipe, for two reasons - I can now incorporate pumpkin in our menu and M sheepishly accepted that it tasted good :)

The Festival of Lights!

2009-10-19T04:58:00.000-07:00

The flame danced gently, washing the room with a soft glow. It whispered stories of faith and strength. It was as if it coaxed us to look deep inside ourselves and seek the pure light within...

Sigh! That's the magic of Deepavali. The humble light reminds us of much greater things in life than petty issues like wealth, material possessions and the like.

Yet, the heart refuses to forget the sweets and there's nothing 'light' about those! A sinfully generous dose of sugar and an extravagant use of ghee takes us to 'sweet heaven' almost instantaneously! I made Doodh Pedas (milk based sweet cakes) and 7 cups (no points for guessing the recipe).

Both were pretty easy to make, except I had to stir the 7 cups for quite a bit and I had NOT expected that :) Anyways, they turned out quite well, thank God for that! In fact, mum always says if something is made with a warm heart and good thoughts, it can't go wrong. Plus I had my confidante Ganesha's watchful eyes over me as I stirred and stirred over the hot stove. Exactly like I'd asked him to, he must've sprinkled in some magic sugar of his own :)

I found the recipe for the Pedas on www.showmethecurry.com and it was as easy and delicious as it looked there. Thanks to Hetal & Anuja!

And 'thanks mum' for the 7 cups recipe - 1 cup milk, 1 cup besan (chickpea flour), 1 cup coconut, 1 cup ghee and 3 cups sugar - voila! Although, I used only 2 cups sugar and just a little less than a full cup of ghee. Simply combine everything in a heavy bottomed pan and keep stirring. Work those arms until the whole mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan. Pour into a greased square cake tin and cut into desired shapes. Mine looked like little bricks, rough and rustic, although I would have preferred a smoother finish. Well, who cares anyways...it still promises to take us to sweet heaven, in every single bite!

Recreated Meal: Missi Roti

2009-10-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

I've always struggled with quantity and proportion while cooking. I often tend to make more than enough for the two of us, especially so for rice, dal, sambar, etc. I must admit, M is very cooperative and easy-going, so finishing off the excess over a couple of days hasn't been that big an issue. Still, at times we do get bored and I run out of creative ways to make it appealing - you know, garnish it with something interesting or simply mix everything with a dollop of ghee and lovingly (read cleverly, he he) hand it over to a distracted M as he watches TV...you do run out of these little escapades! And yesterday was one of those days - leftover dal, neither enough for the two of us nor too little to ignore. That's when, thankfully, Missi Roti made a flash appearance in my groaning mind. What a great way to use up that little bit of dal!

leftover dal - I mean in all its glory, spiced, seasoned and relished yesterday :) It doesn't really matter how much you have, although you'd need at least a cup of it.
wheat flour or atta
a little bit of salt to taste
optional - chopped onion, red chilli powder and chopped coriander. I say optional because, ideally the dal should have all of this, but just in case you want to enhance the flavour.

Add as much flour as the dal will incorporate and knead into a soft dough. If the dal isn't enough and if you want to make a couple of more rotis, then add some warm water. If you're adding onion, etc, do that now, while you knead.
Roll into rotis and cook both sides on a hot skillet with a drizzle of ghee.
Warm 'n' soft missi roti is ready to be served with spicy pickle and yogurt.

What a relief! The dal has left my fridge and it left with a flourish.

Monkey See Monkey Do :)

2009-10-14T15:07:00.001-07:00

I've been quite busy these past couple of weeks, although I don't really know what I accomplished! But with Deepavali coming soon, I'm kind of excited and busy making some fun stuff to give as gifts. I'm planning to make the sweets/mithai tomorrow and I'll post the recipes if they turn out well :) But for now, it's just a quick post of these recipes I picked from the internet and tried out.

Kothu Parota from showmethecurry.com - this turned out quite well. I did not have the authentic Malay or Kerala Parotas, so I used store-bought chapathis.

The other recipe is for Nan Khatais from Manjula's Kitchen. I tried this with a friend and though we started with a flourish and had a lot of fun it did not end very well. Our baking skills were not at their best and let's just say the nan khatais looked pretty before they went into the oven. But the recipe sounds and looks good and Manjula aunty has loads of great recipes on her website.
So, that's it from me for now. Happy Deepavali everyone!

Herbs 'n' Spice & All Things Nice

2009-10-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was out running a few errands and doing some shopping when I saw this at the entrance of a shop - 'Coriander 3 for $1'. Now, if you are an Indian living in Sydney you'll probably share my excitement about this. In my local supermarket I have to pay almost $3 for a bunch. I simply love, love, love fresh coriander. There is something endearing about it. The colour, flavour and smell of this humble herb can add so much more to a dish. I've also heard that it has blood purifying qualities. So all the more reason for me to stock my fridge with lots of fresh coriander. So, I went into this shop with my heart singing a little tune and found to my surprise that there were other herbs there too, all fresh and pretty cheap. So I ended up buying bunches of coriander, mint and dill, making my grocery bag look like as if I ripped it off from a patch of greens.

Back home, I was eager to include all that lush green stuff for lunch. So I decided to make akki rotti (flat, Indian bread) with all the herbs. It turned out really yummy and my kitchen smelt so heavenly!

Here's the recipe -

2 cups rice flour
1.5 cups chopped finely herbs - coriander, mint and dill
2 green chillies, a piece of ginger and tspn of cumin seeds (jeera) - crushed in a mortar and pestle, you could even make a paste in the blender.
1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)
salt to taste

Combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and using enough water, make a soft pliable dough.
Take a fistful of the dough and place it on a piece of baking paper (cut to a medium square or circle). Gently pat it into a fairly thin, round shape. Same as a chapathi, only you'll be using the pressure of your fingers instead of the rolling pin. M likes to call this 'rotti with unique finger print technology' :) Traditionally, a fresh banana/plantain leaf is used as the base and boy! do I miss that! Well, I have to make do with the next best alternative and I find baking paper convenient. You could even use a piece of thick plastic sheet, but with it comes the added challenge of burnt plastic, etc. So I choose to use baking paper and you'll know why in a minute :)
Heat a skillet/griddle/tawa on medium heat. If yours is non-stick then you don't have to smear any oil on it. Place the baking paper, rotti side down on the hot skillet and wait for a couple of seconds before peeling it off. It comes off easily and you can start patting your next rotti on it.
Drizzle a little bit of oil/ghee around the rotti as it cooks on the skillet. Turn around and cook on both sides until light brown.
Serve hot with coconut chutney or chutney pudi and ghee.

The Boon called Telecommunication!

2009-09-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

The way the world has advanced, and continues to do so at great speed, is kind of scary! At times I wonder how we managed before the boons of technology were bestowed upon us - like when we had to do all the washing by hand, or when we had to depend on snail-mail to communicate with someone overseas, or when we were anxious about a loved one who was late and there was no mobile phone to contact them. Although, I still do like the charm of handwritten letters and cards :)
Anyways, the reason for this ramble is that I felt like making my dear MIL's 'keerai kozhambu' and all I had to do was pick up my (cordless, see, another example for our clever technology) phone and dial the number to speak to her in the States, that easy! So, we chatted for a bit and she gave me the recipe and I made it for lunch today for the (adequately) impressed M! After all, mum's cooking makes our men all mushy :)

spinach, 1 large bunch - I used a tray of fresh baby spinach.
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped/sliced
1/2 cup cooked toor dal
2 tbspns grated coconut - I did not have fresh coconut so I used desiccated instead
1/4 tspn sambar powder or plain chilli powder

For tempering -

1 tspn oil - use coconut oil for a more authentic flavour
1/4 tspn mustard seeds
1/4 tspn cumin seeds (jeera)
a pinch of hing
2 red (dry) chillies
1/4 tspn chana dal

Roughly chop the spinach. If you're using baby spinach like I did, then you don't have to chop it.
Cook the spinach, garlic and onion together. I did it in the microwave. Let it cool completely.
Then combine the cooked stuff with cooked toor dal, sambar powder and coconut in a blender. I just pulsed it a couple of times.
In a saucepan/kadai, heat oil and add all the ingredients for tempering.
Pour in the spinach and dal mixture and add water to get a sort of flowy gravy consistency.
Add salt and let simmer for a couple of minutes.
Keerai Kozhambu is ready to be served with hot rice.

A basket of fresh corn please!

2009-09-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

I love warm corn on the cob with a just a hint of salt and lime! And the fact that it is low fat makes it an extra special favourite. So, the creamy, fresh corn is a regular resident of my kitchen.
One Sunday afternoon, M & I had the familiar craving for a chatpata (tangy) snack with tea. My pantry wasn't at it's very best, but I did have plenty of corn. So I went looking for corn recipes and found this one at vahrehvah.com. Quick and easy! Good old corn to the rescue :)

I think it'd be great for parties as an appetiser. I guess the patties can be made ahead of time and refrigerated/frozen and all that's left to do is shallow fry or deep fry them when needed. Maybe it could be put on the BBQ as well for a nice smoky flavour, and something to add to the veggie BBQ menu :)

We had ours with tomato ketchup and mayo, but I'm sure it'll taste great with mint & coriander chutney.

'Having a good wife and rich cabbage soup, seek not other things' - Russian quote.

2009-09-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

Cabbage is an excellent source of Vitamin C. It also contains significant amounts of glutamine, an amino acid which has anti-inflammatory properties. Cabbage can also be included in dieting programs, as it is a negative calorie food. (Source: Wikipedia)

As a kid, cabbage was not one of my favourite things. I remember mum making either cabbage palya (a sort of dry, steamed salad) or cabbage huli/sambar (a sort of lentil stew). Then as I started cooking myself, the unfortunate cabbage was again on my list, as I loathed cutting it! I could never control it. It would just fall apart and spill over my chopping board, unlike other more disciplined vegetables that would stay put and get chopped obediently. However, I did start liking the flavour it had and actually quite started enjoying eating it. I would look at the fresh cabbage in the supermarket and although I'd put it into my shopping basket, the thought of chopping it would always lurk around in my head. But that was until M bought me a shiny extra-long knife! It makes cutting cabbage a breeze. It's also great for melons and pumpkins. Now, see, I know you must be thinking, 'of course, that's stale news!' but for me it was just a very recent discovery :)

So, today I made this very easy cabbage and potato dish. It's very healthy, is mildly spiced and tastes great with rice & dal (lentils) or with chapathis (Indian flat bread).

1/2 a cabbage, chopped or sliced, as you like it
2 medium potatoes, roughly chopped or sliced
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1/2 a medium tomato, chopped
a small piece of fresh ginger, grated
2-3 garlic pods, grated
1/2 tbspn ghee (clarified butter) you could even use oil
mustard seeds, cumin seeds (jeera), fennel seeds (saunf) - 1/4 tspn each
hing, garam masala, turmeric powder, sugar - a pinch each
red chilli powder, anardana powder (dry pomegranate), jeera powder - 1/4 tspn each
salt to taste
fresh coriander, chopped - to garnish

Microwave chopped cabbage and potato until cooked.
Heat ghee/oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add jeera, saunf and hing.
Now add turmeric powder and immediately add chopped onion and saute until the onion is tender.
Add ginger and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add chopped tomato and cook until soft.
Add steamed cabbage and potato and give it all a good stir.
Put in the masala powders, salt and sugar and mix well.
Leave on low heat until most of the moisture is absorbed.
Garnish with chopped coriander.

You could also incorporate some green peas and chopped carrots in this recipe for an extra boost of veggies.

For a quick bite at lunch, spread some tomato ketchup and mayo on freshly made chapathis. Place spoonfuls of the prepared cabbage and potato and roll. Easy and delicious. Wash it down with a tall glass of fresh spiced buttermilk, yumm!

A random medley turned yummy salad

2009-09-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

We decided to have a quiet dinner at home on our anniversary. The usual suspects sprang to mind as I mused about the menu, but I wanted to make something else, something special. M nudged me for some Thai/Malay flavours and that got me started. I made a trip to the supermarket and built the menu as I walked through the aisles and here's what we had -

a beautiful, colourful and crunchy salad
Thai green curry with steamed rice
yummy, fresh fruits with custard for dessert
and a bottle of gorgeous red wine

A bunch of red roses and a scented candle made for a perfect romantic dinner :)

The salad, however, was the star of the night. We absolutely loved it! Inspired by the Asian flavours, I made up the dressing myself and it turned out real nice. I'm sure I'm going to make this salad again and again..and again! It's that good. Here's the recipe -

1/2 cup toasted peanuts
1-2 green chillies
a small chunk of ginger
1 small tomato, roughly sliced

1/2 a pack of mixed salad greens
2 carrots, julienned
1 cucumber, julienned
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 cup crimson seedless grapes, halved

1 tbspn lemon juice
a pinch of sugar
salt to taste
1/2 a bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Combine the first set of ingredients in a food processor. DO NOT grind to a paste, just pulse it a couple of times to keep it crunchy and coarse.

Combine the second set of ingredients in a salad bowl. To this, add the peanut mixture you just prepared and toss well.
Flavour and garnish with the last set of ingredients.

It's best eaten immediately while it's still fresh and crunchy.
It tasted great with some crispy garlic bread.

Mystic India: Ganesha Chathurti

2009-08-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

'Vakratunda Mahaakaaya Suryakoti Samaprabha Nirvighnam Kurumedeva Sarva Karyeshu Sarvada'

Mum and dad always taught me to say this little prayer - I've said it before the much feared exams, before I walked into the mantap on my wedding day, before we boarded our first flight overseas...and a million other times, and I know the power of this simple sanskrit shloka (hymn/prayer). It fills me with an immense calm, gives me confidence and spills in an abundance of positive feelings.

The endearing elephant God Ganesha has been my protector, my guide and my confidant. I have the greatest faith in Him. And on this special day, Ganesha Chathurti, I wanted to cook Him a special meal, as He loves to eat!
(You can read some interesting stories at Wikipedia)

Here's what was on the menu -

karjikai/kadubu (sweet)
modak/kozhakatai (sweet)
semiya payasa (sweet porridge)
vadai (deep fried urad dal patties)
ambode (deep fried chana dal patties)
hesarubele kosambri (salad)
kadale usli/sundal (spiced chickpeas)
vangibath (spicy rice with vegetables)
rasam/saaru (lentil soup)
beans palya (mildly flavoured beans)

I am not posting all recipes today simply because there were too many things! I will, however, share the recipe for my favourite, and I'm quite sure, Ganesha's too :)

Karjikai - it's sweet, it's crispy and it's filled with sugary goodness!

2 cups fine semolina (chiroti rava)
1 cup plain flour (maida)
2 tbspn ghee (clarified butter)
a pinch of salt and turmeric
oil/ghee for deep frying

For the filling -

1 cup grated coconut - use fresh coconut for best results, but you could use desiccated coconut as a substitute
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup mixed nuts - sultanas/raisins, cashews, almonds and pistachio, lightly fried in a tspn of ghee
1 tbspn roasted poppy seeds
1/4 tspn cardamom powder

In a bowl combine all the ingredients for the filling and set aside.
In another large bowl, combine semolina, flour, salt and turmeric and rub in 2 tbspns of ghee.
Using water, knead into a stiff dough. Be careful not to use too much water.
Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside for about 5 mins.
Heat oil/ghee in a wok/kadai on medium flame.
Take small portions of the dough, roll, fill with a spoonful of the filling, fold over into a crescent and seal the edge by pressing with a fork.
Deep fry until lightly brown.

Being several miles away from home, we missed our families, and the excitement and laughter of the festival. But we did our best to recreate the mood here - prayers, good food and friends to share it with, after all, that's what most Indian festivals are all about, a celebration of life!

So, I end my post with a sincere prayer -

"Oh Lord Ganesha, please bless us and watch over us at all times.
Shower the world with peace, good health, happiness and prosperity..."

Aloo-Gobi-Matar with Palak

2009-08-21T01:06:00.000-07:00

At times, M & I think there's nothing better than a warm home cooked meal. Just the simple dal, rice and veggies combo, nothing more comforting and fulfilling. Well, yeah, there might be, but I also said 'at times' :-)

Anyways, I made this easy and simple sabji (a vegetable side dish), the all time favourite and much cliched 'Aloo-Gobi'. I also threw in a bit of green peas and a bunch of fresh spinach and, voila, a healthy serve of veggies and greens for lunch.

2 medium sized potatoes, cut into chunks
1 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 cup green peas
1 bunch spinach ( I used baby spinach, you can use any variety)
1 small onion, finely chopped
a tspn each of crushed ginger and garlic
for tempering - 1/2 tspn each of mustard seeds and jeera (cumin), and a pinch of hing (asafoteida)
for seasoning - turmeric powder, red chilli powder, jeera powder, salt (suit your taste)
1 tbspn oil
fresh green coriander/cilantro, chopped

Microwave the veggies and spinach till cooked.
Crackle mustard seeds and jeera in hot oil and add hing.
Now toss in the chopped onions and ginger & garlic and saute till onions are soft.
Transfer cooked veggies and spinach and toss it all together.
Add all the spices and mix gently.
Garnish with chopped coriander.
Serve hot with rice, dal and yogurt.

When the burgers, pizza and pasta don't appeal anymore, come home to this!

Paw Paw Salad

2009-08-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a vegetarian (yes, I'm proud of it!!) and I have now adapted to the Aussie food scene, quite well I must say. If it's Thai, then there are the veg. green and red curries; if it is burgers, then there is the classic veggie burger option; Italian, hmm well, veg.pasta or pizza; Chinese there's veg. fried rice or Singapore noodles...see? I don't have to starve I can still eat out :) Anyways, there are a few good things that happen because I'm vegetarian (and have limited options) and one such thing was the Paw Paw Salad I had in one of the colourful markets in Darwin and oh! I was in love with it! Fresh, simple flavours and so light, (mmmm) it is an absolute delight. Although, it does give your body that boost of heat ('cos of the green paw paw/papaya and chillies), so make sure you balance it off with something cooling, like cucumbers or buttermilk or coconut water, whatever (or some chilled beer, as M would say!)

I'm not quite sure if paw paw and papaya are the same. It was my first and I really loved it. I haven't tried it at home yet, but I'm sure I will soon. But here's how the lady at the stall made it-

In a big(gish) wooden mortar and pestle, she threw in a handful of roasted peanuts, a few fresh chillies (she asked me how hot I wanted it and believe me I said 'medium', but it was more than my scale of 'medium'!), a few slices of tomato, some salt and lemon juice. Then she lightly crushed everything before adding thinly sliced raw paw paw. She then tossed it all together, scooped it into a container and handed it to a drooling me! And as local musicians sang and played the guitar, I couldn't wait to dig into the heaped box of freshness. It was a complete market feel - the music, the waft of hot food from the stalls, the crunch and the spice of my salad and some crispy pakoras to go with it (and of course, M by my side!).

Lose it or Lose it?!

2009-08-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

So I've been very irritable and low and depressed lately...I've entered a phase where I don't have anything to do, don't have anywhere to go and all I do is eat, slump on the sofa and watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Well, what have I to lose? Quite a bit, in fact! (err, the kilos, you got that, right??) I've not been feeling good about myself - I feel bloated, lazy and annoyed. I tried pushing away the blues by emotional eating and only made it worse. Many slices of cake, packets of chips and blocks of chocolate later, I finally regained my senses. I had to stop myself, I had to, had to, had to. And then I remembered The GM diet I'd heard about. If you don't already know what I'm talking about, you can read it here. (I'm vegetarian, hence the variant).

So, a seven-day diet, huh? I can do it, yes I can. And the carrot (hehe) is '5-6 kgs weight loss', wow!
Now, this I need! I was all set, hopped up on the excitement of losing those extra kilos. Ask M, he'll tell you what I'm exactly like when I'm excited about something new, I must go all overboard. Anyways, Day 1 of the diet is 'FRUITS'. We went to the Rapid Creek Sunday Markets yesterday and I was all thrilled looking at the tropical fruits they were selling there. M, as supportive as ever, carried the bags bulging with a musk melon, a honeydew melon and half a watermelon as I looked through the other stalls. (He got a relaxing massage for himself, so...)

Anyways, today is Day 1 of my diet programme. It's all the fruit I can eat. I'm doing well so far, although I did sidestep a little, I had a cup of coffee, oopsie! But, hey, that's probably because I was watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S (well, what's new?) and they were all at the coffeehouse and I was so tempted. Man, they spend way too much time drinking coffee and I blame it on them! Well, never mind, I've been good otherwise. Fruit for brekky, mid morning snack and lunch, so far so good. I am enjoying it as well (see picture and you'll see why - doesn't my plate look yummilicious??) I've started the climb to the healthy food pyramid, one tiny (fruit)step at a time...

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I kind of figured there may be others out there who have been in my shoes before and thought this might be a bit of an encouraging nudge :-)
Plus, knowing that I have all of you saying 'you go girl!' (you will, right?) I have that extra push to get along my promising seven days ahead :-)

Mystic India

2009-08-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Upakarma - Avani Avittam

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tat savitur vareṇyaṃ

bhargo devasya dhīmahi

dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

This is one of the ancient Vedic rituals practised in India even today. The event is conducted once a year, around August - September. The main activity performed in an Upakarma is the changing of the Yagnopavita or the Holy Thread. (source: Wikipedia)

Well, we're in Darwin at the moment, we could call it 'being away from home'. I have not located the Indian store here yet. But I had this unexpected urge to cook a festival meal which resulted in Project Puje Lunch with Limited Resources! M did not have a new Janivaaram (Holy Thread) here, but he chanted the Gayatri Mantra and although we did not light a lamp or offer flowers, I had my little conversation with God as I cooked. It went like this - "We offer to you all the special things I'm cooking today. We are thankful to you for giving us so much and we're able to cook this meal because of your love and blessings. Please watch over us at all times and be there for us. Err, hope you enjoy the payasam."

The usual festival menu has payasam (sweet porridge), lemon rice and vada (kannada households have ambode while tamil households have vadas) and on festivals that involve a puje (a prayer ceremony that involves offerings such as flowers, sweets, and fruits) no onion or garlic is used in the cooking. Today, I made all the three and some curd rice as well.

So, here's my Project Puje Lunch with Limited Resources -

Cracked wheat/Bourgal Payasam

cracked wheat, 1/2 cup (soaked for about an hour)
2 tspns ghee
2 tbspns sultanas/raisins and cashews
1 medium tin condensed milk (I used a 400g tin, skimmed version)
1 tbspn sugar (optional)
1/4 cup milk
2 tbspns dessicated coconut
a pinch of cardamom powder

In a microwave bowl, heat the ghee on HIGH for about a minute.

Add sultanas and cashews and cook on HIGH for 40secs.

Add soaked and drained cracked wheat, pour in the milk and stir well. Cook on HIGH for about 2mins.

Stir in the condensed milk, sugar, coconut and cardamom powder and mix well. Cook on HIGH for about 2mins.

Serve either hot or chilled. Add milk to alter consistency before serving.

Now, ideally I would've used fresh grated coconut and jaggery (molasses) instead of sugar and condensed milk. But you know my situation, don't ya?

Lemon Rice aka Chitranna / Elimicha Saadam

1 cup cooked long grain/basmati rice
juice of one lemon
3-4 fresh green/red chillies, slit
a piece of ginger, grated
for tempering - mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, jeera and a pinch of hing
1 tbspn peanuts
3 tbspns dessicated coconut
some chopped coriander/cilantro
1 tbspn oil
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
salt to taste and a pinch of sugar

Heat oil in a wok/pot and add the ingredients for tempering.

Add chillies and ginger and saute for a few seconds before adding the peanuts. Wait until the peanuts are slightly roasted.

Add dessicated coconut, turmeric powder, salt and a pinch of sugar.

Take off the heat and add the lemon juice and chopped coriander and mix it all well.

Add the rice and gently give it a good mix. Lemon rice is ready to serve.
Again, I would've normally used fresh coconut. By the way, fresh coconut is very much available here in Darwin, but I wasn't enterprising enough to devise a way to break it open and grate it :-) I don't have a hammer and I don't have a food processor here either! And oh, yes, if not for the puje, a whole lot of chopped onion makes this recipe even better.

Now, about the vadas- yes they are the ones that look like doughnuts :-) It is quite a tedious process, at least for an amateur like me. I would struggle with it, even if I had everything that the recipe demanded. But fortunately for me, my brain was in standby mode and I had a packet of instant dosa mix which was a clever substitute, phew that was close! So the vadas were made with minimum fuss and tasted great by the way. In fact, I'm thinking 'dosa mix it is' every time I want to make vadas, or better still I could actually get an instant vada mix, ha (think slapping myself on the head!).

Anyways, that was my story and the moral of the story (as M put it) "where there is a will, there is a way!"

McHomemade Burger!

2009-08-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

A healthy alternative, really. I came across a recipe for sweet potato cakes on www.aartilla.blogspot.com. It's a 'sweet' video, one of the many wonderful food episodes she has churned out. Take a look when you have some time, they're amazing!
Anyways, keeping Aarti's recipe as a base, I tweaked around a little bit and made a burger meal out of it, easy peasy. Now, whenever we feel like a burger, I just whip this up in a jiffy and with some Coke and wedges/chips on the side, we can have the whole 'go-out-and-grab-a-burger' experience right at home!

Here's how I adapted the recipe, mainly to suit what I had at home :-) You can do the same too, just stick to the base ingredient, say sweet potato or regular potatoes, and get innovative with the add-ins.

sweet potato, 1 medium size
1/2 cup whole green moong sprouts
2 tbspn wheat bran
2 tbspn all purpose flour/gram flour/wholemeal flour -whatever you have, just to bind it all together
ginger, garlic, fresh chillies, fresh coriander/cilantro - ground to a paste, as per taste
salt to taste & a pinch of sugar
oil
slices of onion, tomato, cucumber (any salad really) to serve the burger
burger rolls

Cook the sweet potato until soft (I microwaved mine) and peel it once it cools down.
In a large bowl, put in the sweet potato and mash it with a fork/potato masher.
To this add all other ingredients and combine until it all comes together and holds well. (I also microwaved the sprouts for just a bit)
Shape into patties and shallow fry until crisp and brown on a heated skillet.
Sandwich between sliced burger rolls and serve with ketchup and chips.

I made this again this week and this time I used corn instead of sprouts. You could even use chickpeas as the base ingredient if you're looking to add some protein to the meal. Throw in a slice of cheese to add that extra bit of flavour. I mean, the options are endless, I even added a fried egg to M's burger. So, it's all about getting your act together. End of the day, make it yourself at home and gorge on one of these babies, guilt free!

Protein Packed Rice

2009-07-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Paneer & Green Moong Sprouts make this rice dish an ideal source of protein. This is a recipe I whipped up one day. I simply followed my kitchen instincts and this mildly flavoured, wholesome rice ended up on our lunch menu.

You need -

paneer, 1/4 cup, finely diced

green whole moong sprouts, 1/4 cup

basmati rice, 1 cup

2 cups water

2 fresh red/green chillies, slit

a few corns of pepper and 1/4 tspn fennel/saunf

1 tbspn oil

salt to taste

Wash the rice and keep aside.
Lightly crush the pepper and fennel to a coarse powder.
Heat oil and add chillies and the pepper-fennel powder.
Tip in the paneer and saute lightly.
Now add the sprouts and saute for a couple of more minutes. I microwaved the sprouts for a couple of minutes, this helped.
Add rice and fry on low heat until the rice turns an opaque white. Do be gentle, you don't want to crumble the paneer too much.
Add water and salt to taste. Bring to the boil and then cover and let simmer until the rice is cooked.
Serve with raita (spiced yogurt) and Indian pickle.

You could also add in a sliced onion, but I wanted to keep the flavour clean and simple.

Posting from sunny Darwin!

2009-07-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

We came to Darwin on Sunday as M is working on a short project here. I must admit, although we hadn't expected an awful lot, we were pleasantly surprised! We've been told this is the 'dry' season and so it is not all that hot 'n' humid, well, good for us :-) So, now that explains the long gap between my last post and now. I have started cooking in the super convenient serviced apartment we've been given. It's the first time I'm cooking on an electric stove top and I'm still shaky about the heat settings, but I'll get there. I tried baking brownies the other day and they were a disaster! Well, actually I did manage to salvage whatever I could out of the slab with an almost black crusty top and a gooey, unbaked middle. The rest of it, however, was delicious! After that charring adventure, I haven't really made anything exciting and new, just the same regular kind of home food. We did come across some really nice and interesting places to eat though. The other evening, we went to this nice place on the waterfront. It was a buffet dinner and was quite good. Last night we went to the popular Mindil Markets by the beach and there was an array of stalls selling food from almost all over the world! What a lovely evening it was - tantalising aromas, great music and interesting wares at the craft stalls, and all by the beach as the sun set turning the sky into an orange delight. I did not take many pictures of the food, but will do so next time. Here are just a couple to illustrate my post :-)
More in my next post. Happy weekend!

My First YouTube Video!

2009-07-16T04:21:00.000-07:00

Weet-Bix quick fix

2009-07-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

Eureka!! Don't you just love it when you whip up new recipes on your own? I'm beaming right now 'cos I figured out what to do with the big box of 'Weet Bix' (blocks of wheat flakes, eaten cereal style with milk) sitting morosely in a dark corner of my kitchen cupboard. The story so far: A couple of months ago, I was doing a course on English Teaching to Adults (CELTA) and as always, there was an excited pre-course shopping spree where I bought brand new pretty stationery, new shoes (well yea-huh!) etc, and the Weet Bix was part of it. 'I need something healthy and quick for breakfast every day' was my reasoning when M raised an eyebrow at the largest pack on the shelf that I had picked up. And, as always with me, that which began with a great flurry, faded away gradually. I might have had it for breakfast precisely two times! So, back to my eureka moment, the other day I wanted to make something light, healthy and quick for lunch and I opened my kitchen cupboard and stood staring at it as if something would talk to me :-) Then I saw the box and thought I'd experiment a little. And the result was quite good! So here's the recipe.

4 blocks of Weet Bix (well, they're nothing but wheat flakes shaped like biscuits. They may be called something else in your local store. See picture.)

1 onion, chopped

a handful of peanuts

1 tbspn desiccated coconut

1 small potato, boiled and lightly mashed

red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and sugar to taste

1 tbspn oil

Crush the weet bix to get a bowl of flakes. Sprinkle (not pour) water until you slightly wet the flakes. Adding too much water will make it a porridge! You need to get the avalakki/poha/beaten rice effect.

Heat oil in a wok/pan and add chopped onion. Cook till soft.

Add peanuts and desiccated coconut and saute for a while.

Add mashed potato.

Add chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and sugar and mix well.

Tip in the damp wheat flakes and give it all a good mix.

Serve hot.

I noticed that the texture of this dish is very much like avalakki/poha, but it has an interesting touch of wheat. Light, healthy and quick. A huge plus for me is that I can now finish the rest. I'm actually planning to add some more veggies and flavours to it. Maybe I'll also try something sweet, mmmm...Well, one never knows when one will say 'Eureka!'

Easy Veg Noodles

2009-07-02T19:42:00.001-07:00

Eating in and loving it! Last night M said he'd decided we'd go out out for dinner. Well, I can't say I don't know why, 'cos I do know the reason behind the decision! We have been having an overdose of rice 'n' sambhar, courtesy leftovers, and he wanted a break, heheh. Can't really blame him for the pizza craving now, can I? I, on the other hand, was horrified at the thought of a pizza dinner. Why? you ask...because scenes of me huffing 'n' puffing on the treadmill came flashing into my head and an alarm began to shrill, hence the horror :-) So, I quickly made a plan to cook at home and several defensive answers later, he succumbed, yay! I even managed to motivate him to be my sous chef in our 'we're-gonna-cook-noodles' project. So off we went to the store and back we came with some ingredients. This is a recipe that I adapted from a friend's. Anyway, it turned out absolutely yummy and my sous chef, I must say, was very efficient indeed!

We gathered

1 small onion, sliced

some thinly sliced ginger and garlic (as much or as little as you prefer)

2 red (birds eye) chillies chopped

1 large bowl of mixed veggies - we had green bell peppers/capsicum, mushrooms, baby corn, french beans and carrots, all thinly sliced. Omit or add as you wish, you could add broccoli, for example.

some soy sauce, chilli sauce, honey and salt (we didn't really have any specific measure, just added in according to taste. If you're unsure, check taste and adjust accordingly)

Hokkien noodles or any (thick) noodles of your choice

2 tbspns oil

What we did -

Heated oil in a wok and added ginger and garlic and chillies.

Then we put in the sliced onion and sauteed for a while.

Next we added all the sliced veggies and quickly tossed it for a couple of minutes, stir-fry style. We kept the veggies crunchy and didn't cook them till soft.

Then we added in the soy sauce, honey and chilli sauce. (Now, these three things are the stars of the show. They give all the flavour to the dish, so add according to taste. Be generous with the honey and soy but do hold back on the chilli sauce, unless you want dragon breath, which is what happened to M & me, by the way! We were gasping and panting as we ate dinner, but thoroughly enjoyed it anyways.)

Then we added some salt, again only as much as was needed as soy sauce already has salt in it.

Finally, we added the noodles (which my efficient sous chef had prepared as per instructions on the packet) and tossed everything well.

And voila! Our very own, home cooked, veg noodles was ready to be eaten! Oh, by the way, we had forgotten to buy spring onion on our little ingredients shopping trip, but you could garnish it with chopped spring onion if you wish.

I must say, it was great fun cooking together. We laughed and had a wonderful time. Highly recommended :-) It's a great feeling to cook at home and eat a healthy meal. Plus it only cost us about $5, great in these times! So, go on, put on your aprons and chef's hats and cook a meal with someone you love. I assure you, it'll turn out to be a delicious meal filled with love 'n' spice and all things nice :-)

Besan Ladoo

2009-06-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2009-06-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-08T01:11:00.000-07:00

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

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.
Heat ghee in a wok/pan and add all ingredients for tempering.
Now add curry leaves, chillies and ginger.
Add chopped onion and saute till done.
Add the diced veggies and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add 2 cups water and put in salt, turmeric and 1/4 tspn sugar.
Bring to the boil.
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.)
Quickly add the grated coconut and mix well until everything amalgamates well.
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)

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.
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.
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.
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.
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...

2009-06-05T05:15:00.000-07:00

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)

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix until you get a smooth batter (no lumps).
Heat a small pan and grease it with some butter.
Pour in a ladleful of pancake batter and cook on both sides.
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

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

2009-06-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

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 -

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

2009-06-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

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

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.
To make the filling, lightly mash the boiled potatoes.
Heat oil in a pan and add jeera.
Next add peanuts and crushed dhania and saute for a couple of minutes.
Now turn the heat down and add turmeric and all the dry masala powders and saute for about a minute or two.
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!

Friends chat over Fruit Chaat!

2009-05-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

Our gang of friends decided to have a potluck one day. There were several yummy things to eat and the men tried their hand at cooking! One of our friends dished up this really easy but really healthy fruit chaat. With all the other sinfully rich dishes,we thought no one would care much for this, but surprise, surprise! The fruit chaat was the star of the evening...

Very simple to make -

Dice all fruits - we had apples, watermelon, kiwis, oranges, bananas, peaches and grapes
Put into a large bowl and add salt, pepper, chaat masala and some lime juice for flavour (according to taste)
All done! Serve and eat loads. No guilt pangs at all!

I remember eating this on our many street-food adventures back in Bangalore...
This goes to Sunday Snacks - Chaats hosted by All Thingz Yummy.

2009-05-30T01:34:00.000-07:00

Starting
'The Bangalore Breakfast Series'...

Mornings back in Bangalore meant mom-made hot delicious breakfast on the table and me rushing out of the house in a hurry while the cab driver honked impatiently outside. Then, at work, my stomach would make embarrassing growling noises and I'd pacify it with coffee. Back home in the evening, mom would start with her usual 'It's not good to skip breakfast, I had made idlies and chutney today, couldn't you have eaten some before you left?'
This happened almost every day and breakfast was always taken for granted. The same continued at my in-laws' after I got married, and now, it was like M & I were in the same club :-)

Only after we moved to Sydney did we realise the value of yummy homemade Indian breakfast. Of course, we do like the cereal and toast, but we miss the hearty and wholesome mom-made idlies, dosa, upma, avalakki, and the list could go on...

So, saying 'sorry' to moms (my mum & M's mum), I'm attempting to give the ever neglected Bangalore breakfast menu its much needed glory.

I'm starting with avalakki, one of my personal favourites. You may know it as poha, aval or beaten rice. Its source is rice. There are generally three varieties - paper thin, medium thick and thick and you can buy it at any Indian grocery store. I usually use the medium thick one, for which all you need to do is wash it a couple of times (like you would wash rice), drain all the water and set aside for about 10mins or so. It then becomes soft and fluffy and is ready to be cooked.

The recipe itself for Avalakki Oggarne as we call it -

3 handfuls of avalakki (prepare it as mentioned above)
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
chopped coriander
1/2 lime

Method -

Heat oil in a wok/pan and add all ingredients mentioned for tempering.
Now add curry leaves and peanuts.
Add chillies and ginger.
Next tip in the onion and saute till soft.
Add turmeric, salt to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Now tip in the soft 'n' fluffy avalakki and mix well.
Turn off the stove, drizzle some lime juice and garnish with chopped coriander.
Serve hot.

You could use grated fresh coconut to garnish. Avalakki can be served with coconut chutney. Some people like to eat it with some sev or bhujia on the side.
It is very filling and has this really nice sweet 'n' tangy flavour to it, mmmmm...yummy!

Watch this space, more interesting and much loved Bangalore breakfast items to come!

A Winner!

2009-05-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

This salad is awesome 'cos it looks colourful and appetising, it smells refreshing, it tastes great and it is oh-so-healthy!! Now that's a sure winner! Plus, it's so easy to make, so go on and try it and I can guarantee that this salad will creep into your meals quite often :-)

It's also a great addition to your starters/appetisers list for your next big lunch/dinner party. Serve it with some corn chips on the side and it will be devoured in no time. Your guests will thank you for a snack they can gorge on guilt free. It adds colour to your table and saves precious time (which you could probably use to dress up a little bit!)

You need -

1 cup of corn kernels (you could either buy fresh corn, boil it and slice the kernels off the cob, which is recommended as it is fresh, or you could even use the canned ones)
1 cup finely diced carrots
1/2 cup finely diced cucumber
1 finely diced tomato
1/2 an onion chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
2 tbspns roasted peanuts (gives it a crunchy punch!)
2 tbspns mint chutney
salt, pepper, sugar, lime juice, and chat masala (optional) for flavour

Simply toss everything together in a salad bowl and add salt, pepper, sugar, lime juice and some chat masala (available at Indian stores, a tangy powder) according to taste.
This is great if you're watching your diet, especially for dinner. It's very light on the stomach but very filling too. The perfect combination, I'm sure many of you would agree, if you're like me, fighting with calories, perpetually!

A beautiful baby and a new recipe!

2009-05-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

Our friends' little bundle of joy arrived last week! I went to spend the day with them yesterday and had a lovely time. It's such a joy to watch a beautiful baby asleep and when he smiles in his drifting, flowery dreams, my heart does a little dance! Babies are God's most beautiful creation ever :-) Seeing the little baby and his mother yesterday made me realise, no matter where in the world, a mother's love for her baby is the same, selfless and pure.

Another treat for me yesterday was the delicious lunch my friend's mother cooked. While it rained outside, Aunty served hot and heavenly home cooked food, it was bliss!
She had made soft rotis, flavoursome rajma, tava (griddle/frying pan) roasted aloo-baingan (potatoes-eggplant) and fluffy basmati rice, yumm :-) I came back home and tried the roast veggies and it turned out quite well...not as good as Aunty's though...

Here's what I did -

Tava fried veggies -

I made this for M & myself. Simply increase the quantity of the ingredients if you're cooking for more.

1 potato
1/2 eggplant (the big, round ones work well)
1/2 green capsicum
these flavours are according to individual taste and depend on the quantity of the veggies - turmeric powder, red chilli powder, jeera powder (cumin), dhania powder (coriander), amchur powder (dry mango), salt and a pinch of hing (asafoteida)
oil (I use olive oil)

Next -

Wash and peel the potatoes. (You could keep the skin on if you wish as I've heard it is healthier that way.) Slice the potatoes into medium thick discs.
Cut the capsicum into medium sized squares.
Slice the eggplant into medium thick discs and then into quarters. (if you're using the small, long ones, you could just cut into strips)
Put all these into a large, wide bowl and sprinkle all the dry masala powders. Drizzle some oil over it and toss well until all the veggies are well coated with the masalas.
Leave it aside for about 5 mins.
Meanwhile, heat a griddle or a large frying pan and coat it with some oil (you could use spray oil). A non-stick pan works well.
Arrange the veggies, separately, all over the griddle/pan. Cover with a lid and let cook on medium flame.
Flip the veggies over after a while to cook the other side.
Continue to do this till the potatoes are soft and well cooked.
Spray more oil, if necessary.
Finally, sprinkle some fresh coriander before you serve.

M was working from home today and he turned around to me in the kitchen and asked 'what's cooking?'. There was a whiff of appetising flavours while the veggies cooked slowly on the hot griddle, the way an Indian kitchen should smell :-) M is inspired by it and is trying the same recipe with paneer for dinner.

Thanks Aunty for this simple 'n' yummy recipe!

CLICK: Cookies

2009-05-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's been raining in Sydney...winter's setting in. It's the perfect time to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa, some cookies and a good book :-)
This picture goes to CLICK: Cookies hosted by Jugalbandi.

I love watermelon, I really do!

2009-05-13T03:09:00.001-07:00

This is an interesting recipe. I had seen my grandma make this years ago. This summer I ate a lot of sweet, juicy watermelon and one day I remembered my doddamma's recipe. Well, it's quite simple, it's like any other veggie palya/subji (a veggie dish without any gravy/sauce).

watermelon peel (the green bit, a couple of quarters)
fresh green/red chillies
a small piece of ginger
a small onion
1-2 dry chillies
2 tbspns grated fresh coconut
1/2 tspn mustard seeds, 1/2 tspn chana dal, 1/2 tspn urad dal, 1 pinch of hing
2 tbspns oil

Wash the peel thoroughly. Chop it up into small cubes.
Heat oil in a wok/pan and add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal and hing
Add the dry chillies.
Next add the fresh chillies and grated ginger.
Now add chopped onion and cook for about 2 mins.
Tip in the chopped watermelon greens :-)
Add enough water and cover with a lid. Let it cook well.
Now just add some salt to taste and sprinkle in the grated fresh coconut.
Serve with some rice, hot rasam and some papaddums and enjoy!

We have something to learn from our elders...they are really very enterprising! I can't get enough of the delicious, beautiful, red, juicy watermelon :-)

Double Fun!

2009-03-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

I learnt this recipe from my mother, who is a wonderful cook! Amma's simple rasam and potato fry, my all time favourite comfort food :-) Anyways, this is one of the yummilicious things amma makes - Ridgegourd/Star Melon Chutney. (I use the peel for this and the flesh, I simply chop it up and add it to my dal recipe, great way to make full use of the vegetable!)

Ridgegourd/Star Melon, 1
Fresh coconut, grated, 1/2 cup
Dry red chillies, 3-4
Chana Dal (split yellow lentils), 2 tbsp
Urad Dal (split white lentils) 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds (1/2 tbsp)
Jeera (whole cumin) 1 tsp
Tamarind, 1/2 tsp
Jaggery (molasses) 1/2tsp
Oil, 2 tsp
Curry leaves, hing (asafotieda), mustard seeds, jeera for tempering
Salt

Wash the ridgegourd/star melon and shave off the peel. Get most of it, but keep off the flesh as much as possible.
Dry roast red chillies, Chana Dal, Urad Dal, coriander seeds and Jeera.
Heat a wok or frying pan and put in the peel and let it sweat a bit. Keep tossing it. If you feel it is too dry then you could add a tspn or so of water. This step is just to get rid of the raw smell of the peel.
Add tamarind paste and jaggery and saute for a couple of minutes. Turn off heat and let it cool.
Then, combine with the grated coconut and roasted ingredients and grind to a smooth paste.
Add salt to taste and temper with oil, mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves and hing.

Yummy!

2009-03-09T15:35:00.001-07:00

Tried this recipe from Ramya's Mane Adige, it's called 'Saagu'. I remember I wasn't a big fan of this when I was in B'lore, thought I'd make something I'd never made before and it turned out really yummy!Very easy and quite quick, made rava idlies to go with it.

Chutney on the side!

2009-03-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

Here are two chutney recipes. I made these with the dosas when we had friends over. Easy peasy and great tasting.

Green Coconut Chutney -

half a fresh coconut
4-5 fresh hot chillies
half a bunch fresh coriander/cilantro
a small piece of ginger
chutney dal (a creamish lentil kind of thing, don't exactly know what it's called)
1/4 tspn tamarind extract (optional)
1/4 tspn jaggery (molasses) or sugar, again optional
salt to taste
for tempering - oil, mustard seeds, jeera (whole cumin), hing (asafotieda) and curry leaves.

Simply grind all of the above with a litttle water until well amalgamated. I use my knife to carve out chunks of coconut from the shell and then further chop them into smaller bits and run it once in the blender before adding the rest of the ingredients. You could grate the coconut if you have the required equipment :-)
Heat oil and add in the ingredients needed for tempering and pour over the chutney. That's it, all ready to be served!

Onion 'n' Tomato Chutney -

2 medium sized onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
3-4 red dry chillies
1 tsp chana dal (yellow split lentils)
1/4 tsp urad dal (white split lentils)
1/4 tsp jeera (whole cumin)
a pinch of hing (asafotieda) and turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tbspns oil

Heat oil in a pan and add jeera, hing, chana dal, urad dal and red chillies. Saute for a couple of minutes.
Next add chopped onions and cook till tender.
Put in the chopped tomatoes and cook till soft.
Add turmeric powder and salt and mix well.
Once cool, transfer the mixture into the blender and blend to a smooth paste.
All done!

Memories of Bangalore...

2009-03-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

'Sagars' or 'Darshinis' are well known to every Bangalorean and will make them all nostalgic for sure. They are small fast food joints that serve the yummiest things like idli, dosa, chow chow bath 'n' stuff, oooh I'm drooling right now! Anyways, one all time favourite is masala dosa, which is so taken for granted all the time, that after we moved to Aussie, we've been craving so much for it! It is a thin, crisp rice and lentil pancake with a tangy potato filling. All our friends here pleaded to have it for dinner and I said 'why not?'. However, one thing I'm really nervous about when making dosas here is that the batter does not seem to ferment well which is a major setback. Somehow, this time when I made it, it turned out well. The masala dosas were lip smackingly delicious! This recipe needs soaking time and fermenting time, so planning ahead is needed. But it's worth all of it :-)

For the dosa batter -

4 measures of uncooked rice (I use the sona masoori variety. You also get dosa rice, both at any Indian grocery store. Otherwise, you could use regular long grain rice from any supermarket.)
1 measure urad dal (white split lentils)
salt
eno (fruit salt)/yeast (optional)

For the masala filling -

boiled potatoes, 5
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 chopped green/red chillies
curry leaves
1/2 bunch fresh coriander/cilantro, chopped
1/2 tspn chana dal/kadalebele (split yellow lentils)
1/2 tspn urad dal (split white lentils)
1/2 tspn mustard seeds
1/2 tspn jeera (whole cumin)
a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
a small piece of ginger, grated
half a lemon/lime
a pinch of turmeric powder
salt

Wash and soak the rice and urad dal, separately, overnight.
Next morning, grind them in a blender or a wet grinder. The batter has to be fine.
Once done, pour the rice and urad dal batter in a large vessel, add salt and stir well.
This batter now needs to ferment. Ideally, it needs some warmth to work well. Here are a few tips - you could preheat an oven (not microwave) and switch it off. Then leave the vessel in it for about 8 hours. You could add eno or yeast in order to ferment the batter. Or if it is a naturally warm weather, just leave it covered overnight and the batter will ferment. Basically, after about 8 hours, the batter needs to be risen, fluffy and quite light and porous.
With the batter ready, you need to prepare the potato filling. Lightly mash the boiled potatoes.
Heat oil in a wok or a deep pan and add mustard seeds, jeera and hing.
Next add chana dal and urad dal and saute until they are browned lightly.
Add curry leaves, ginger and chillies.
Next, add chopped onions and cook till tender.
Add the turmeric powder, mix well and put in the potatoes.
Add salt to taste and mix well.
A dash of lime juice and garnish with chopped coriander. The filling is ready.
All you need to do now is make the masala dosas. For this you'll need a griddle or a flat nonstick pan. Pour a ladleful of the batter onto a heated pan and quickly spread it into a large circle with your ladle, working your way out from the centre. (this might take a few gos till you're perfect!)
Dribble some oil around the dosa, wait for a couple of minutes till it is crisp on one side and turn it around using a spatula and cook on the other side.
Then simply put a dollop of the masala on the dosa, fold it in half and take off the pan.
Serve with chutney. I'll post the recipes for the two chutneys I made with it!

Yummy! Enjoy, it's worth all the effort you put in! Of course, you do have the option of buying readymade batter from the Indian store, but nothing like making it at home with all the excitement :-)

Sunday Morning Treat!

2009-03-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe I learnt from a friend of mine. She used to bring it to work, all of us used to attack and her lunch box was empty in a snap! I tried it at home and it was a hit with M and my father-in-law. Now, I make it occasionally on Sunday mornings, you know some things are reserved for Sundays :-) Oh and yes, it does need soaking time, so plan ahead.

Sabudana Khichdi (sago/tapioca one-pot-dish)

Sabudana (sago) 1 cup
boiled potato, 1 large
toasted peanuts, 1 heaped tbspn
2 red/green fresh chillies, chopped
curry leaves
jeera (whole cumin) 1 tsp
2 tbspns oil
salt

Soak the sabudana overnight with just enough water to cover it. If you add even a little bit of extra water, the sabudana will turn all mushy.
Dry roast the peanuts in a frying pan and if you are patient enough, you need to de-husk it (if that's even a word!!) and grind it very, very coarsely. Just turn the knob on your blender only once and for a fraction of a second. Now, if I haven't scared you enough and your plan of making this is still on...read on :-) It's not that bad really, actually this is how my friend instructed me as well, but now it's really simple to make.
Lightly mash the boiled potatoes.
Now, your sabudana should've plumped up nicely and should be rather dry and not sticky.
Heat oil in a wok or a large pan and when hot, add jeera.
Next add curry leaves, chopped chillies and toasted peanuts.
Put in the sabudana and mix well. Leave to cook on a low flame, stirring it every now and then. The sabudana will cook in the oil. You'll know it's done when it kind of turns transparent. It's important for it to fully cook.
Once done, add salt and the potatoes and mix it all well for a couple of minutes.

This is quite filling, by the way. So you can sit back and maybe watch a nice movie and not worry about your next 'chomp chomp' time for a long time :-)

Yellow fluffies!

2009-01-28T02:22:00.000-08:00

I'm back! 2009 seems to be a year of new hope for me...I quit my day job with an ambition to pursue my passion, so I need all the luck in the world! Anyways, I thought I'd make some breakfast, after a long, long phase of cereal and raisin toast :-) So, I made dhokla, fluffy steamed savoury cake and it turned out quite well...

2 cups besan (chickpea flour)
buttermilk, enough to make a batter (like for pancakes)
1 teaspoon fruit salt, Eno (available in Indian stores)
a small piece of ginger, grated
a pinch of cooking soda
salt

For the tempering -

2 tbspns oil
mustard seeds
hing (asafotieda)
fresh red/green chillies, chopped finely
fresh coriander/cilantro
a mixture of lemon juice and sugar, you'll need only a few spoonfuls
fresh grated coconut (optional)

Mix besan, salt, buttermilk, eno, soda and ginger to make the dhokla batter, neither too thick nor too runny.
Leave aside for about 10mins.
Grease a shallow microwave dish with oil and pour in the batter.
Microwave on high for 3 mins or till cooked. Check the centre to see if fluffy and cooked.
Remove from the oven and keep aside. When slightly cool, cut into squares.
Heat oil in a small frying pan and add mustard seeds when hot.
Next add hing and chopped chillies.
Pour this all over the dhoklas.
Sprinkle chopped coriander/cilantro and grated coconut.
Then, simply dribble the sugar and lemon juice mixture.
Serve with mint chutney.

M & I enjoyed our Sunday dhokla brekkie, a good variation from the boring weekday regular!

What's for lunch honey? Spicy potato 'n' peas rice

2008-11-25T01:03:00.000-08:00

Lunch time is probably what we all look forward to at work, especially when the Monday morning blues hit hard...I packed this spicy rice for lunch one day and it sure did rattle our sleepy heads back to action! I quite like to pack different kinds of flavoured rice for lunch as it is 'spill-free' and easy to handle :-)

cooked basmati rice, 2 cups (for M & me)
1 onion, chopped
1 potato, diced into small bits
1/2 cup green peas
a few curry leaves
oil, 2tbspns
1/2 spoon jaggery (molasses), you could also use sugar
1/4 tspn tamarind paste
for the spiced powder - 1 tbspn split chana dal, 1 tspn split urad dal, 5 dry red chillies, 1/4tspn jeera (cumin), 1/4tspn saunf (fennel seeds), a tiny bit of a cinnamon bark, 2 cloves
salt to taste

Dry roast all the ingredients for the powder in a frying pan.
When cool, grind in a blender to get a fairly coarse powder (neither too fine nor too coarse)
Heat oil in a deep pan/wok.
Add curry leaves.
Next add chopped onion and saute for a while.
Add potato and peas and cook till soft.
Tip in the ground powder from your blender.
Add jaggery, tamarind paste and salt.
Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.
Once well amalgamated, add the cooked rice and mix well.
Serve with plain yogurt.

For a variation, you can use brinjal (eggplant) or capsicum.

Tea-time Saturday Evening...

2008-11-21T21:29:00.000-08:00

Ambode/Aamavadai (deep fried lentil fritters) with Ginger Chai...

A lazy Saturday afternoon, I woke up after a nice nap when M was strumming his guitar. We realised we hadn't had any lunch and it was almost tea-time. I decided to indulge in some sinful deep fried bliss...so the ambodes were made and devoured in no time along with some hot-spicy-sugary ginger tea - a combi that will get your tastebuds floating in ecstasy!

channadal (split yellow chickpeas) 1 large cup, soaked for about 4-5 hours
6-7 dry red chillies
a small chunk of ginger
1 tsp hing (asafoteida)
1 large onion, finely chopped
a handful of curry leaves, chopped
a small bunch of dill (sabbasige soppu) optional
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Grind the soaked channadal, red chillies, ginger and hing coarsely, without adding any water. However, if the mixture is too dry then you could add a spoonful of water.
Transfer this to a wide bowl and add chopped onion, chopped curry leaves and salt (and chopped dill, if you wish)
Take some lentil mixture, the size of a pingpong ball and flatten into a patty.
Deep fry on medium flame until brown and crisp.

Ginger chai -

1 cup water
1 cup milk
a large chunk of ginger, about the size of your thumb.
tea powder/tea bags
sugar

Heat the water in a saucepan and let it simmer.
Wash and peel ginger and grate. Add this to the simmering water.
Wait until it releases it's flavour and add 1 big spoon of tea leaves or 2-3 tea bags.
Bring to a light boil.
Next add milk and sugar and continue to boil till all the flavours blend in.
Strain into mugs and enjoy!

Sitting in our balcony with hot 'n' crisp ambodes and lovely ginger chai, we were like two people in love all over again :-)

Pudina Chutney/Mint Chutney - a fridge essential if you snack often...

2008-11-21T03:42:00.001-08:00

It's a good idea to have a jar of pudina chutney in your fridge. It's very versatile and you can dish up some really nice 'n' tangy snacks with it in no time...

1 large bunch mint leaves
1/2 bunch fresh coriander/cilantro
a thumb sized piece of ginger
3 green/red fresh chillies (it's really up to you to either make it really hot or go easy on the spice)
salt

Simply grind all of the above into a smooth paste, with very little water. Store this in an airtight container in your fridge.

you can use it in sandwiches (see the following two recipes)
you can use it as a dip for bhajias/pakoras (deep fried fritters)
you can use it to spice up a salad
it is used in most chat recipes
and you can find a million other uses for it, just think, be creative and add some zest to your snacks!

Double Treat!

2008-11-21T02:44:00.001-08:00

I tried these two recipes this week. Both use pretty much the same ingredients. Everytime I stock up my pantry I feel very good. But then, every single time, I end up just leaving everything in my fridge/cupboard till I have to throw them away and then I feel so miserable about it. I never seem to learn from these repeated acts of foolish carelessness. However, this time I was determined to make full and good use of my recent buys from the local Indian store.

The result was quite delicious! Atleast it had M nodding approvingly, so I'm beaming :-)

Try them, I'm sure you'll love them...

Trio Sandwiches -

3 potatoes, boiled & peeled
paneer (Indian cottage cheese) - 1 medium chunk/slice about 200gms
button mushrooms, about 4
pudina (mint) chutney
bread
turneric powder, red chilli powder and salt

Cut the paneer into fairly thin, small square slices. Place them, separate, in a wide pan/plate and coat them with the dry powders and leave this aside for about 15mins.
Wash the mushrooms and slice them into half, not lengthwise, but like slicing a burger bun, in the middle. Coat them with the dry powders and leave this aside for about 15mins.
Slice the boiled potatoes .
Heat a frying pan. You need to roast/toast the paneer slices and mushrooms on a low flame. Dribble some olive oil.
Once cooked, take off the frying pan.
Now all that is left to do is to put the sandwich together.
Take a slice of bread and spread the mint chutney. Place the potato slices.
Next, another slice of bread with mint chutney, toasted mushrooms and paneer slices.
Top this with the last slice of bread and lightly toast/grill the whole sandwich.
Serve with tomato ketchup.

Simply yummy and oh-so-filling! Have fun!

Pocket full of yumm!

Had more paneer left, made these :-) Quick and easy treats and they look so cute!

1 small cup paneer cubes
1/2 cup green peas
1/4 cup boiled potatoes (again left over from my last recipe)
1 medium tomato, diced
1 large onion, chopped
a small chunk of ginger, grated
jeera (cumin seeds), turmeric powder, jeera powder, amchur (dry mango) powder, red chilli powder, salt and a pinch of sugar.
pita pockets, 4
fresh coriander
4tbspns oil

Heat oil in a deep pan and add jeera (cumin seeds).
Add grated ginger and suate for a couple of minutes.
Add chopped onion and suate for a while.
Next add the diced tomato and cook till soft.
Toss in the green peas and cook till done.
Now put in the paneer and potato cubes and mix very gently (you don't want the paneer crumbling)
Add all the dry masala powders and mix lightly.
Coontinue to cook on low flame for about 5mins till everything is cooked.
Garnish with fresh coriander.
Cut the pita pockets in half and spread mint chutney on the insides.
Fill the pockets with a big spoonful of the paneer-peas-potato masala.
Serve with tomato ketchup.

Sprouting glory!

2008-11-17T01:13:00.000-08:00

Here's another recipe on our 'mission - healthy eating' journey.
I thought of this to pack lunch for work. Lately M & I have been on a staple diet of hot chips and 'whatever on the menu' at work. Continuing our attempt to eat healthy, I made this for lunch tomorrow.

2 cups green whole moong sprouts. Soak the moong for a couple of days making sure to change the water twice a day, otherwise you'll end up with a smell that makes the whole thing the least bit appetising!
1 large onion sliced
4-5 pods of garlic crushed
2 tbspns olive oil
for flavour - salt, pepper, sugar, chat masala powder, amchur (dry mango) powder and tomato ketchup - all about a tspn each.
Rye bread or wholemeal bread to accompany.

Start by pressure cooking the sprouts, don't overcook them, they'll turn into an unsightly mushy clump. Alternatively, you could microwave them till half cooked.
Heat olive oil in a wok and add crushed garlic.
Saute for a while and add the sliced onion. Saute for a while till done.
Add tomato ketchup and all the powders mentioned above and give it a good mix.
Toss in the cooked moong sprouts and mix.
Serve with toasted bread.

It has an interesting flavour, it's tangy and different. Good for those days when you want a twist in your lunch box :-)

A bowlful of good health for dinner!

2008-11-17T00:56:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with a shocking realisation of how unhealthy our diet is!! I thought it high time to take control of our lives and be more conscious of what we eat...maybe it was the guilt of the laddus & vada pav we devoured over the weekend, anyways it has opened our eyes to the painful reality of expanding waistlines and the miserable couch potato attitude. So, M & I are going to try to eat our way to a better 'us', a healthier and fitter 'us'. Wish us luck!

We start by having a wholesome veggies soup. Very easy 'n' quick.

1 large bowl of mixed veggies - I used carrots, broccoli, peas, sweet corn and mushrooms. Dice the veggies to bite sized chunks. You could chop them up smaller if you wish. M likes the mushrooms chunky, so I don't chop them finely.
3 cups water
1 tspn cornflour
salt 'n' pepper
vinegar and soy sauce for flavour

Bring water to a rapid boil in a saucepan.
Add the veggies and boil further till they're cooked.
In a small bowl, make a runny mixture of cornflour and water and add this to the boiling broth.
Season with salt & pepper.
You could use soy sauce and vinegar for added flavour.
Serve with toasted garlic bread.

Great on a winter night!

I'm a woman, I hold the power to banish hunger in my house!

2008-11-10T01:13:00.000-08:00

There are times when I'm totally lazy, yeah, which is most of the time actually, ahem. Anyways, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, those times when cooking a simple meal, let alone a three course meal, is the least bit interesting. It's a time when I secretly blow a kiss in the air to the guys in the takeaways downstairs. If not for them, I'd be all irritable and grumpy and would just snap at M for no apparent reason. So, there was this one time when I was all of the above but a small voice in my head was saying something and it made so much sense! It said 'You are the provider of food. You have the power to soothe your man's growling tummy. You are the woman, you have the honour of feeding your loved ones!' It is so true, don't you think? Now, whenever panic hits, I simply call for the voice to give me that much needed pat on my back and the motivation to continue cooking, satisfying and loving!

Easy Chana (black chickpeas) Curry

2008-11-10T00:21:00.000-08:00

Black chana (black chickpeas) is a good source of protien. M is not a big fan of it, but I thought I'd make something different for a change. This recipe is really easy. Jeera rice and chana curry is a good combo.

2 cups chana (black chickpeas) soaked overnight
1 large onion
a nice big chunk of ginger
a couple of pods of garlic
2-3 fresh green/red chillies
1 tspn jeera (cumin seeds)
4 tspns tomato puree or one small tomato
dry masala powders - turmeric, jeera (cumin), dhania (coriander), amchur (dry mango)
1/2 tspn sugar and salt to taste
fresh coriander
oil or ghee (clarified butter)

Pressure cook the soaked chana.
Grind into a paste - onion, garlic, ginger and chillies.
Heat oil or ghee in a pan. When hot, add jeera.
Now add the paste and cook till the oil separates.
Add tomato puree and continue to cook. (if you're using fresh tomato, grind with the rest of the stuff in step 2)
Stir in all the dry masala powders (about 1/2 a tspn each) and saute for a few minutes.
Add salt and sugar.
Pour in the cooked chana and simmer for a while till the chana soaks in all the flavours.
Depending on how runny or thick you want your gravy, add water.
Garnish with chopped coriander.

Easy and ready in a jiffy! But you do need to plan ahead as the chana needs to be soaked overnight.

'Peas' be with you! Jeera rice with green peas.

2008-11-10T00:03:00.000-08:00

Jeera rice (cumin flavoured rice) is quick 'n' easy and goes really well with almost any curry. It's a step ahead from the plain basmati rice. So if you feel like adding a special touch to your menu, try jeera rice.

basmati rice 1 cup (serves 2)
2 tbspns ghee (clarified butter)
1 heaped tbspn jeera or cumin seeds
2 small barks of cinnamon, some cloves, a couple of cardamom pods, 1/2 tspn peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves (I refer to this as whole garam masala)
a handful of cashewnuts
1/2 cup greean peas
salt to taste

I use a pressure cooker for this one, but you could also use a deep nonstick saucepan.

Heat the ghee and add the whole garam masala.
Put in the jeera and cashews and saute for a few minutes till the cashews are roasted.
Add the peas and saute for a couple of seconds.
Wash the rice well and drain. Add the washed rice and stir lightly, mixing everything.
Fry the rice on medium heat for a few minutes. The final product needs to be grainy rather than sticky, so the more you fry the rice, the better.
Once done, add double the measure of water and salt to taste.
If you're cooking in the pressure cooker allow 3 whistles.
If you're cooking in the saucepan, cover and let simmer and cook till all the water evaporates.

Smells appetising, looks appetising and tastes great too!

Go Green! - Flavoured Dill 'n' Spinach Rice

2008-11-08T18:56:00.001-08:00

M has been hooked on to tennis on Wii from the time we've bought it. He is exhausted by the time he's done playing. I thought I'd make something packed with lots of nutrients to keep my man winning every tennis match he plays :-) Some motivation to eat healthy!

1 cup cooked basmati rice
finely chopped dill and spinach (I used one bunch of dill and half a bunch of spinach)
1 onion finely chopped
fresh green chillies chopped (optional)
1 tspn chilli powder or rasam powder
a pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tspn sugar
one small piece of ginger, grated
for the seasoning - mustard seeds, asafotieda or hing, fennel seeds or saunf, cumin seeds, split urad dal, peanuts and some cashewnuts
2teaspoons oil
salt to taste

Heat oil in a wok and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add fennel seeds, cumin seeds, asafotieda and urad dal.
Add chopped chillies and grated ginger.
Add peanuts and cashewnuts and fry for a few minutes till they turn toasty and light brown.
Add chopped onion and saute till it is cooked.
Now add the chopped greens and cook for a few minutes.
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder ( I used rasam powder), salt and sugar.
Add the cooked rice and mix well.

The aroma of the herb and greens brought M to the kitchen with an inquisitive look in his eyes. I was sure that the exhaustion had made him really hungry for him to show an interest in what was cooking!

I served it with aloo raita. (diced cooked potato in spiced yoghurt)

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

2008-11-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

The cupcake looks delicious! It is perfectly baked to a toasty brown and looks so tempting, I can hardly resist it. The icing is pink and rosy and there is a generous sprinkling of chocolate bits. Oh, how I want to eat it! But there is a voice in my head and it says ‘don’t give in!’ I do not want to listen to it; I want to do what I want to, to eat the cupcake. The voice does not want to give up either, ‘it only means extra hours at the gym!’ it says. But other people are eating, why aren’t they worried about the extra kilos? Why is the voice in my head annoying me? I did not ask for its advice. I just want to eat the pink cupcake. Scenes of me running on the treadmill, and sighing in front of the mirror flash in front of me. Now I am in a fix, torn between the sheer greed for the cupcake and anxiety about the kilos I seem to be taking on. What do I do? Should I listen to the voice or should I simply eat it? ‘You can’t have the cake and eat it too.’ Sounds familiar, I have heard it before. Is this what it means? I do not know, but I want to eat the cupcake! Slowly the voice is beginning to fade and I can no longer resist the urge. Suddenly, the only thing my eyes can see is the prefect pink cupcake. Everything else is a blur. I reach out and grab it before I can hear the voice again. I bite into the soft and crumbly cupcake and feel euphoria! It is delicious and creamy and sweet! Another bite and another and soon the moment is over. The voice is now louder than ever, shaking its head at my weakness. But I do not care anymore. I ate the cupcake, it was delicious and worth every single minute at the gym!

A futile attempt to eat healthy!

2008-11-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

It was one of those days...we felt we were eating too much junk and needed to eat more responsibly. So off we went to the veggie market and bought a whole lot of healthy veggies and I dished up this easy stir fry.

mixed veggies - I used brocolli, cauliflower, snow peas, carrots, beans, babycorn and zucchini, wow! now that's what I call a lot of veggies!!
1 large onion sliced
olive oil
salt 'n' pepper
crushed basil

Parboil the veggies
Heat olive oil in a wok and saute the onion.
Stir in the veggies and toss on high flame till slightly cooked.
Season with salt 'n' pepper and basil.

Healthy eating in a snap!! But sadly, the enthusiasm also ended in a snap...soon we were back to the normal oil 'n' sugar cravings!

Oily, but what the heck, very yummy!

2008-11-07T04:17:00.001-08:00

M & I had this strong desire for Indian street food. I had a big chunk of cauliflower in my fridge for a while and I found the perfect excuse for Gobi Manchurian - cauliflower fritters in a spicy 'n' tangy sauce.

cauliflower florets 1 cup
corn flour 3 tbspns
chickpea flour 1 teaspoon (optional)
salt, red chilli powder and some cooking soda
oil for deep frying and for the sauce
1 large onion finely chopped
ginger and garlic paste 2 teaspoons
2 finely chopped fresh green chillies (optional)
vinegar, soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato sauce - depending on how tangy you want it
fresh coriander or cilantro and spring onion to garnish

Sprinkle the cauliflower florets with some salt and keep aside.
Make a thin batter with cornflour, salt, chilli powder and a pinch of cooking soda.
Dip the cauliflower florets in this batter and deep fry till they turn crispy and brown and drain on a kitchen towel.
In a wok, heat the oil and saute the onions.
Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies and saute for a few seconds.
Next add all the other sauces and saute for a while.
Add salt to taste.
Add the fried florets and toss lightly.
Garnish with fresh coriander and chopped spring onion.

You can substitute the cauliflower with babycorn for an interesting variation.

Mmmm, a definite tangy teaser this one!