I call it 'Wedding Palya'!

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 -

1. Microwave/steam the pumpkin with a pinch of turmeric. Try and keep the pieces firm (but cooked) and not very mushy.
2. 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)
3. Heat oil in a pan and add all ingredients for tempering, in the same order.
4. Add cooked pumpkin, salt to taste and mix well.
5. Put in the spice paste and mix well.
6. 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

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

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

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

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!

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 -

1. Rice Flour - 500gms
2. Chickpea Flour (besan) - 250gms (we used 2 cups of rice flour and 1 cup of besan)
3. A pinch of asafotieda
4. Coconut - one half (we used dessicated coconut)
5. Red chili powder - 1 tbspn
6. Salt to taste
7. 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...

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!