Almond Blueberry muffins

This is quite a simple recipe, low cal, snack option. I made some of these and eating them with hot cocoa was bliss while enjoying the last few cold days in the year 2010. The snow outside is stubborn and simply refuses to melt away. So I decided to light some vanilla scented candles and cherish the few but beautiful days of 2010...

And here is what you need:

All purpose flour: 1 cup
Sugar : 1/4 cup (more if you prefer the sweeter version)
Baking pwd : 1 tsp
Salt : 1 pinch
Blueberries (I used frozen ones): 1/2 cup
Milk : 1/2 cup
Vegetable oil: 1.5 tbsp
Almonds (sliced) : 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract : 1/2 tsp
Egg : 1
Lemon/Orange rind : 1 pinch

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease/line the muffin pan and keep it aside.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, Baking powder, salt, sugar). Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl (Oil, milk, vanilla extract, egg). Stir in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add lemon rind, Almonds and blueberries. Mix lightly as we don't want to crush the blue berries. Now spoon the batter into the muffin pan leaving some space for the muffin to rise. Bake for 20- 30 minutes. Keep an eye as baking time may differs. Muffins are done when they are slightly brown on the top and a skewer when inserted , comes out clean.

Almond Cashewnut Halwa

Almond Cashewnut Halwa is a rich comforting desert, enjoyed during the
winter. I used to buy it from local 'Halwai- shop'.The amount of ghee
they put in their halwa is bit too much though it leaves an amazing
taste in your mouth. So, I tried making it myself.

Serves 2- 3 people
Cooking time - 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Almonds (whole) - 3/4 cup
Cashewnuts - 1/4 cup
Milk - 3- 4 tbsp
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup (or more if you prefer a more sweeter dish)
Water - 1/4 cup
Almond essence - 1 drop
Saffron strands - a pinch or Cardamom powder


Method:

1. Boil some water and soak the almonds and cashews in hot water overnight.

2. Peel the skin off the almonds.

3. Grind the nuts into a smooth paste adding milk slowly. A thick but
smooth paste is needed.Set the paste aside.

4. The next step is to prepare sugar syrup.Melt the sugar with the 1/4
cup of water in a pan.

5. Add Almond essence and Saffron strands or Cardamom powder as per
your preference. Saffron gives a nice creamy golden colour to the
halwa.

6. Let the sugar syrup come to a rolling boil.No need to wait for one-
string consistency.

7. Add the ground paste and stir well to avoid any lumps.Keep the
mixture in medium- low flame all the time.

8. Keep stirring this mixture so that it gets cooked.

9. Add a few tbsp of the ghee at regular intervals. Make sure that the
mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

10. The mixture (and in fact the whole kitchen) should smell really of
saffron & ghee at this point.

11. The mixture will gradually thicken and attain a glossy- shiny appearance.

12. Take off Halwa from the pan and let it cool. The halwa will
thicken more on cooling.

13. You can serve the Halwa immediately and see a satisfied grin on
the face of your loved ones.

That means happiness guaranteed for you. You can also store it in the
refrigerator and Microwave the halwa when you are just about to
serve.You just cannot go wrong with this recipe. If the mixture seems
a bit runny , microwave or heat it up a bit more. If the mixture
becomes crumbly or grainy, add a little bit of milk and mix together
to get a nice halwa. It is that easy and literally melts in your
mouth.

" The best things in life are always dripping with ghee!!"

Pomegranate Bhel

Hi everyone... Yesterday I made some 'Bhel' for snacking and added some luscious pomegranate seeds. This is a nice and healthy snack option accompanied with hot tea while its snowing cats and dogs out there...
For this recipe, some 'murmura chiwda' is required.

So for 'murmura chiwda' recipe you will need:

Murmura (or Kurmura- which ever way its called in the stores)- 2 cups
Sunflower oil  - 1 tbsp
Salt  - to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Coconut bits  -  2 tbsp (optional) I didn't use any cos I didn't have any :p
Turmeric pwd  - 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies  - 3 or 4 (to taste)
Cumin Seeds  -  1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds  - 1/2 tsp
Asaphoetida pwd  - 1/8 tsp
Peanuts  ( roasted)  - 4 tbsp
Almonds (roasted)  - 2tbsp (optional)
Curry leaves  -  1tbsp

Method:

Dry roast the 'murmura' for a couple of minutes and set aside. Heat some oil in a wide 'Kadhaai' and add mustard, cumin, and asaphoetida. when the seeds spluter, add green chillies and mix. Fry the chilies for 2 minutes and the add curry leaves, almonds and peanuts. Stir the mixture and then add turmeric pwd and coconut bits. Finally mix in the murmura and salt and sugar to taste. Mix well and remove from heat and allow it to cool completely before storing them in air- tight bottles. This 'chiwda' tastes great alone or can be mixed with a few more ingredients for a healthy snack in minutes!!

Now for the pomegranate Bhel you will need:

Murmura Chiwda  - 1 cup
Tomato (chopped) - 2 tbsp
Onion Chopped  - 1 tbsp
Pomegranate seeds - 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves  -  1 tsp
Nylon sev - (optional) available in Indian grocery stores

Method:

Mix everything together and your 'bhel' is ready.

Sweet Appam for Karthigai Deepam

I love sweet appams any time of the day. So this year, I made these lovely delights and my 'Appams' turned out to be crispy and crunchy, just the way I like them. This recipe is from my Thathi. For those who prefer to eat soft 'appams', adding mashed ripe banana to the batter yields softer appams. My MIL likes to make the batter and leave it covered overnight preferably in refrigerator  so that the flavours infuse well. This results in nice soft and spongy 'appams'.

For the recipe you need:

Raw rice (pachha arisi) : 1 cup
Jaggery  pwd         :  3/4 cup
1 banana (ripe) : optional
Cardamom pwd : 1tsp
Coconut bits : 2 tbsp (slightly fried in ghee)
Ghee  : 2 tbsp
Oil to deep fry

Method:

Soak rice for 4- 5 hrs. Grind the rice along with jaggery into a smooth paste. Make sure to use absolulely clean jaggery. If you are not sure, dissolve the jaggery in some water, strain the jaggery through a muslin cloth and then use this liquid to grind the rice with. Add cardamom pwd, mashed banana, ghee and coconut.
Now the batter is ready. I prefer to make 'appams' immediately. So heat the 'appam kuzhi' pan or 'kuzhi panniyaram pan' to medium heat. Pour some oil into the 'kuzhis' and carefully spoon the batter into the individual moulds when the oil is hot enough. Be extremely careful as there are chances that the oil can splater. Allow it to cook for some time, and then flip it over to cook on the other side using the 'appam skewer'. The 'appam skewer' is readily available in Indian stores. Keep the flame uniform through the entire cooking process so that the 'appams' get cooked from the inside. Once done, remove from flame.

Savoury Semolina muffins

Well, here I faced a small problem in the 'naming- ceremony' of this recipe. Should I call them 'muffins' or simply 'muffin- shaped upma like cakes'? Yeah...these are cute little 'upma- like' muffins - perfect for tea- time. It hardly took me 5 minutes to mix the batter, (it takes about 20minutes to cook though). So for the recipe will need:

Rava (Semolina) :  1 cup
Curd (Yogurt)   :   5-6 tbsp
Mixed frozen vegetables  :   1/2 cup
Ginger- Garlic paste  :   1/4 tsp
Green chillies paste   :   1/2 tsp
Salt             :   to taste
Red chilly pwd     :  to taste (optional)
Coriander leaves :  Finely chopped (2 tbsp)
Turmeric pwd     :   1/2 tsp
Water     : 1/2 cup (or as required)
Baking soda  :  1/2 tsp     

For Tempering:

Olive oil           :   2 tsp
Mustard seeds :   1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds    :    1/4 tsp
Sesame seeds  :     1/2 tsp (optional)
Asafoetida      :     1 pinch (1/8 tsp)

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350 F for 10 minutes. Grease the muffin moulds and set aside.
Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida and Cumin seeds. When the seeds crackle, pour in the semolina and stir for a few minutes and remove from heat. Allow the semolina to cool for a couple of minutes and then add frozen veggies, green chillies, ginger garlic paste, salt, chilli pwd, turmeric pwd, coriander leaves, Bakind soda, water and yogurt. Mix well. Add water carefully, we do not want too much water in the batter. The batter should resemble that of a cake batter. Pour the batter into the muffin moulds. Try not  to fill each mould to the rim, give some space for the muffins to rise. Bake till done.

We have successfuly given our 'Upma' a stunning makeover!!

Bisi bele bath..

This recipe from my MIL, is a extremely fragrant rice and dal based dish. Its a one pot meal, very satisfying and can be had with almost anything like chips or raitha or even some curds.


Serves 2-3 people

Rice ( sona masoori or Basmati rice) :   1 cup
Tuvar dal : 1/2 cup
Small onions : 1/2 cup
Frozen mixed vegetables : 1/2 cup
Coconut (freshly grated) : 1/4 cup
Tamarind paste   (mix with a 1/2 cup water) : 1 tsp
Salt : to taste
Jaggery powder : 2 tsp
Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp

For masala paste:

Tuvar dal : 1 tsp
Urad dal : 1 tsp
Chana dal : 1 tsp
Red chillies (dry) : 2- 3 (to taste)
Asafoetida pwd :1/8 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds :1/4 tsp
Cardamom pods : 1
Bay leaf  :  1/2 leaf
Black pepper corns : 4 nos
Cinnamon stick: a small piece


For dry powder:

Dry coriander seeds : 1.5 tbsp
Red chillies : 1

For tempering:

Oil (coconut oil) : 1.5 tsp
mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Almonds or Cashew nuts : 6- 7 nos

Method:

Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned for 'masala paste' for a couple of minutes and grind it with the freshly grated coconut into a paste (add water if needed). Now dry roast and powder coriander seeds and the red chilli and set aside. Pressure cook rice along with the tuvar dal until done. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle, add Small onions and fry them for a couple of minutes. when the onions become slighly golden in colour, pour tamarind water and add turmeric pwd, jaggery and Salt to taste. Add the frozen vegetables and mix. Cook for a couple of minutes. The tamarind water should be boiling. At this moment add the 'masala paste' followed by Rice Dal mixture and dry masala powder. Mix well and simmer covered for a couple of minutes more. In case your Bisi bele Bath becomes thick, all you have to do is to sprinkle some water. I like it when it has a 'pongal' like consistency. Enjoy eating this lovely dish with some potato chips or 'raita'.

Happy Diwali...!! Kaju katli

This year , I made Kaju Katli and Rava ladoo for Diwali. For Kaju Katli, I adapted the recipe from saffronhut.blogspot.com, slightly reducing the quantity of sugar used. I have not used the 'warq' or silver foil which is normally used for decoration, coz I didn't have any!

Anyway, Now this Kaju katli reminds me of a beautiful incident that happened long long ago- say way back when my brother was a toddler. I still remember one of the Rakhi Days when he was hardly 5 and I tied a rakhi on his wrist and told him that he was supposed to "gift" me something. I still remember the plump little wide eyed darling of Amma and Appa asking me whether I liked "thakatai".meaning banana in the 'Baby's Dictionary'!!...I haughtily said no and just forgot about the ceremony in minutes. But brother of mine wearing a tiny "veshti" (moms think veshti is auspicious all the time) wrapped tightly around his round waist, fumbled and searched all his treasure ( a.k.a toys) and was thinking of the best toy to "present" me with.
At the end of the day my Chujju (that was his 'baby' name) came to me, trying to hide something at the back of his hands(though it was clearly visible), smiling constantly, showing his baby teeth triumphantly as if I never had baby teeth before!! His face and "veshti" was decorated with crayon and sketch pen marks. Seeing him drove Amma crazy and she was..." Ungalthe yaar antha colouryem sketch penneyum Kuzhandete kodukka sonna??".....Dad was blinking.... I didn't care much about the "coloured veshti" anyway and was more interested in the thing in his hands. The baby had a piece of paper with random drawings on one side like geometric shapes (this proves he was good in school) one plant like thing and a  living thing, probably an animal. And to our pleasant surprise, on the other side of the paper what I saw made me feel so happy and sad all together. Sad because I made our precious baby,who hardly understands the meaning of Rakhi, to get me a gift.

G-I-F-T

four clumsy letters on the paper, with a few corrections ofcourse!!

I must say you were very much creative to choose different colours for different letters. "This is the gift", he said.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies for Halloween

 

 

Oats are a good source of soluble fibre and many nutrients and thereby I try to include Oats in our daily meals. Store bought Oatmeal cookies are way too sweet for me, so I thought of making some Home- made cookies for the Holiday season. I threw a hand ful of dried cranberries which were long forgotten in my pantry.

 

 Alright, now for the recipe you will need.

 

Regular Rolled Oats (coarsely ground) : 1.5 cups

All purpose flour :  0.5 cup

Dried Cranberries  :  0.5 cup

Flax seed meal : 2 tbsp

Butter (in room temperature) : 1/4 cup

Sugar :  1/2 cup or less(I used 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp)

Salt : 1 pinch

Baking powder : 1/4 tsp

Baking soda : 1/2 tsp

Orange juice : 2 tbsp

Vanilla extract : 1/4 tsp

Egg White : 1 egg white

Milk : a few tsps

 

 

Method:

 

 Preheat oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Cream together the Butter and sugar until well incorporated. Beat in the vanilla, orange juice, milk, egg white. Add flour, flax seed meal, oats, Cranberries, Baking pwd, baking soda, salt and mix well. Spoon tablespoons of cookie dough on greased cookie sheets and flatten it with fingers. Keep 1 -2 inch gap between each cookie. Bake for 20-25 minutes or untill done. Keep a eye on the oven while baking.The house smells so delicious that I felt I was inside a giant Cookie!

 

Verdict:
Crispy on the outside, soft 'n' chewy on the inside. And the best part is when you start eating, you can't really stop. You want more n more of it and thats one good reason for never being able to stop how much you eat!!

 

Cookie fanatic!!

Mango Pulisherri

>

This is one of my favourite comfort foods. My Thati is an expert in making 'mor-kootaans' and this recipe is precisely one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. This is acually like mango 'mor- kootan', but a combination of sweet-sour-tangy tastes. I was invariably a bit nervous as to what it will turn out to be ...(I mean the recipe), but this, however came out surprisingly good!

This recipe serves 2 persons

So for the recipe you will need:

Ripe sweet mango : 1 nos
Sour yogurt (sour curds) : 1 cup

Turmeric pwd : 1/2 tsp

Salt : to taste

Green chillies : 3-4 nos (to taste)

Fenugreek seeds : 1 tsp

Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp

Asaphoetida pwd : 1/8 tsp (1 pinch)

Curry leaves : 1 tsp

Black pepper : 1/4 tsp

Coconut (freshly grated) : 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp

Whole red chillies : 1 nos

Water : 1/2 cup

Oil (I used Coconut oil) : 1tsp

Procedure:

Wash, peel and chop the mango into small pieces. Boil the mango along with some water, turmeric pwd, salt and Black pepper and cook it for some time. Grind coconut with green chillies and cumin seeds to a thick paste, adding sour curds instead of water. Keep this paste aside. Add the ground paste to the cooked mango when the mango is soft and pulpy. Bring this mixture to boil on simmer. Turn off the heat and mix in the sour curds and taste the pulisherri to check salt and spice and mix well. Now for tempering, heat some oil in a pan. When oil is hot, add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, asaphoetida, whole red chillies, and curry leaves. (try not to burn the fenugreek seeds). When the mustard seeds crackle, mix the tempering with the mango mixture immediately and stir.

Serve hot with rice. I served my 'pulisherri' with rice and 'podi kathhrikkai' . 'Podi Kathhrikkai recipe is coming soon!

BLACK FOREST !!!!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart!!


For the basic chocolate cake recipe you need:

All pupose flour : 1.5 cups
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder : 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar : 1 cup
Baking pwd : 1.5 tsp
Baking soda : 1 tsp
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Instant coffee pwd : 1 tbsp
Eggs : 2
Milk : 1/2 cup
Oil : 1/2 cup (I used Canola oil)
Vanilla essence : 1 tsp
Boiling water : 3/4 cup

For filling and frosting:

Maraschino Cherries : 1 small can
Jello instant pudding mix (vanilla flavour) : 1 small packet
Cool Whip (plain or vanilla flavour) : 8 oz tub
Instant Coffee pwd : 1tsp
Chocolate curls : 1/2 cup ( Scrape Dairy milk chocolate using a vegetable peeler)
Milk : 1/2 cup


Method:

Pre- heat the oven at 350 F for 15 minutes. Sift All pupose flour, Cocoa pwd, Baking powder, Baking soda, Salt and sugar together and set aside. Beat eggs lightly and add milk, oil, vanilla essence to the eggs. Stir in the coffe pwd in the boiling water. Combine wet and dry ingredients together, and mix. Pour the coffee mixed in water into the cake batter. The batter will be slightly thin and water, but avoid adding too much water. Bake in a greased and floured cake pan for 30- 40 minuteso until done. Keep an eye on the cake while cooking, because baking temperatures in ovens may differ.

When the cake is done check by inserting a clean toothpick, if it comes out clean- the cake is done. Set the cake aside and cool before frosting. I left the cake for a couple of hours to cool down completely.

Mix pudding mix with the milk and the stir in the Cool whip and keep aside. Drain the cherries but do not thrown away the cherry syrup. Chop the cherries and set aside. Now mix the coffee pwd with the cherry syrup and set that aside as well.

Now cut the cake into two slices horizontally for a two layered cake. Place strips of kitchen tissue paper in the shape of 'suns rays' and place the bottom layer of the cake. I did this to keep the serving tray clean. After the frosting is done, you can simply pull the kitchen paper out carefully and Voila!! you get a clean tray!

Begin with drizzling the bottom cake layer with the coffee mixed with cherry syrup to moisten it a bit. Now slather Cool whip and pudding mixture generously and spread it evenly using a flat spatulla. Sprinkle the chopped cherries over the Cool whip layer. Repeat this procedure after placing the second layer of cake over the first cake layer(i.e. drizzling with cherry syrup, then cool whip layer and then the cherries). Finally place the last cake layer and cover the entire cake evenly with the cool whip. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings over the entire cake, pressing them gently so that they stick on the cake well. Place the cake in the refrigerator overnight and serve. Gently pull out the kitchen paper to achieve a clean serving tray.

Serves 10- 12

Tomato Rasam

Rasam rice is undoubtedly my ultimate comfort food. Just try having hot Rasam with steaming rice, mixed with a spoonful of home-made ghee along with any 'thoran' or 'paruppu-usili'. Nothing can beat this meal on a rainy day.

My Amma is famous for her fragrant 'rasams'. The secret behind her 'rasam' is a 'mathhu' which is a simple wooden mechanism which helps to churn butter out of curd. I must say that this is an incredible device used in almost all the house-holds in southern India. Back at home, Amma is very particular about the 'mathhu' to be used, because she has two separate 'mathhu' - one for butter milk and one for 'rasam'. Anyway, lets make ourselves some lovely 'rasam'...

and for that you will need:

Ripe Roma tomatoes : 1 big or 2 small nos
Tur dal ( Arhar dal) : 1/4 cup
Rasam powder : 1.5 tsp
Tamarind paste : 1/2 tsp
Salt : to taste
pepper pdr : to taste (optional)
Turmeric pwd : 1/4 tsp
Garlic (crushed) : 1/2 tsp (optional)
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Asaphoetida pwd : 1 pinch
Ghee : 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves : 1 tbsp


Method:

Pressure cook Tur dal in some water with turmeric pwd till soft and mushy. Boil 3/4 cup water in a pan and add chopped tomatoes, salt, garlic, pepper pwd. Cook on slow fire. When the dal is cooked, add rasam pwd in the dal and mash with 'mathhu' as shown below.




Now stir in the tamarind paste in the cooked tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. When it comes to a boil, pour the dal mixture into the pan with tomatoes. Add salt and stir. All the mixture to become frothy i.e. you will see bubbles on top of the 'rasam'.Keep the pan on low heat, keeping in mind not to boil the rasam any more.




The final step is to put 'tadka' or tempering. For this heat some ghee in a separate pan and add mustard, cumin and asaphoetida pwd. When the seeds crackle, pour it in the rasam. Garnish it with Coriander leaves and serve hot.

Happy news to share....!!

I am very Happy to announce the arrival of my neice. Yes, my sister-in-law and 'jeejaji' are blessed with an adorable baby girl today. CONGRATULATIONS.. !! to the lovely couple...

and this cake is for my shweet cooochie poo neice..!!

Oats Rava Idli

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Keeping this in mind, Amma always made sure that we ate our breakfast, no matter what. Almost every other day we had either 'idli', 'dosai' ,'upma' or sometimes 'pongal'. When ever its a 'no-idli- batter-in-the-fridge' day, she would make Rava idli or rava dosai. I was thinking of healthier version of 'rava idli' and thought of adding some powdered Oats in the rava idli batter and...voila..!!Surprizingly, it tasted so good. Oats rava idli turned out so soft and spongy...Try this recipe and let me know your views...

For the recipe you will need:

Dry roasted rolled oats : 1/2 cup
Rava (semolina ) : 1 cup
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
Bengal gram dal (chana dal) : 1/2 tsp
Spit black gram (Urad dal) : 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida pwd : 1 pinch
Dry red chillies (whole) : 1 nos
Green chillies (optional) : 1 (chopped)
Grated carrot (optional) : 1/4 cup
Yogurt : 1/2 cup
Water : as needed
Salt : to taste
Eno fruit salt or baking pwd : 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves (chopped) : 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil : 1 tsp



Method:

Grind Oats coarsely and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, dry whole red chilli and asafoetida and stir.When the dals are light brown and mustard seeds crackle, add green chilli and semolina and stir well. Remove the pan from fire and allow semolina to cool. Now add carrot, coriander leaves,salt, oats and yogurt. Mix the batter well. Grease the idli mould and boil water to steam idlis. Stir in Eno fruit salt with some water and mix it quickly with the batter. The batter should be slightly thicker compared to regular idli batter. Spoon the batter into each mould and steam the idlis for about 15 minutes. Allow the idlis to cool for a few minutes before taking them off the mould. Serve hot with Chutney. I usually make zuchhini chutney for Rava idli.

I promise to post Zuchhini chutney recipe soon!!

Avocado Coriander Paratha

The other day I was leafing through the pages of Woman's era magazine when I happened to see an interesting recipe called guacamole originally from Mexico. Its a simple and healthy dip eaten with Chips or Bread sticks. One of its ingredients was Avocado. Wow...Ok, so I decided to get some avocado and whipp up some guacamole. But friends, when I started off with the recipe, I thought.."why can't I make some thing 'Indianish' out of avocados. And I just love what I made with my gorgeous avocados....

For the recipe you will need:

Avocado (ripe) : 1 nos
Coriander leaves : 1/2 cup
Salt : to taste
Green chillies : 3 nos
Whole Wheat flour : 2 cups
Water ( for dough) : as required
Ajwain : 1/4 tsp
Sesame seeds(optional) : 1 tsp


Method:

Cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit.Now gently tap the pit with the blade of a sharp knife. Make sure you use enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit. Do this carefully.Twist the pit out of the avocado with the knife blade and throw. You can use a kitchen towel to get rid of the pit from the knife. Next step is to scoop out the avocado pulp from the shells using a spoon into a mixing bowl.





Mix the rest of the ingredients and make a dough using water. Allow the dough to rest for some time. Now make roud Parathas using the dough and sprinkle a few drops of ghee while cooking on tawa. Serve hot with Tomato thokku. For recipe click here

Tomato Thokku / Chutney / Pickle

Tomato Thokku is one of my favourite home made pickles. It is amazingly versatile as it can be eaten with chappathy, curd rice, upma, bread and even with salt crackers(monaco biscuits)!!! Nonetheless, its very simple, quick and tasty.

For this recipe, you will need:

Ripe Roma tomatoes : 5-6 nos
Red chilli pwd : 1 tsp or to taste
Salt : to taste
Turmeric pwd : 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds (optional) : 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds : 1/2 tsp
Jaggery pwd or Sugar : 1 tbsp
Asafoetida pwd : 1 pinch
Red chillies (whole) : 1 nos
Gingelly oil : 2 tbsp
Curry leaves : 1 tsp


Method:

Dice the tomatoes roughly. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds,Fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, Curry leaves and whole red chillies. When the seeds crackle, toss in the tomatoes and stir well. Simmer the pan and allow the tomatoes to become mushy. Now add red chilli pwd, turmeric pwd, salt, jaggery pwd and mix. Do not cover the pan with lid because you want the water to evaporate. Cook it for sometime untill it attains a thick chutney like consistancy. Turn off the heat and allow the thokku to cool completly. Serve with Chappathy, Dosai or Rice.

Kothhu Chappati

Left-overs Chappathy always comes handy to make something healthy , filling and most important...'quick 'n' easy' dish. So I thought of whipping up something new, mixing almost every veggie I had in the refrigerator and finally I managed to bring a smile on his face...:):)..he he

This recipe tastes almost like the 'kothhu parotta' we get near railway station and bus stands in India. Apparently, its extremely simple, one pot meal and nutritious too.

For the recipe you will need:

Leftover chappati : 6-7 nos
onion (medium size) : 2 sliced
Tomato : 2 sliced
Mixed Vegetables (optional) : 1/2 cup
green pepper (capsicum) : 1/2 cup finely chopped
Salt : To taste
Red chilli powder : to taste
Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Garam masala powder : 1/2 tsp
Tomato ketchup : 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Oil (I used Olive oil) : 1 tsp
Coriander leaves : for garnishing


Method:

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and all mustard and cumin seeds. when they sizzle, add sliced onions and stir. Allow the Onions to turn light pink and then add turmeric,salt, chilli pwd, garam masala, coriander pwd. Mix and the add tomato. When the tomato softens add the vegetables and capsicum and mix well. In the mean while, tear the chappatis into strips or small bite size pieces. Finally stir in the tomato ketchup and chappati pieces. Adjust the salt according to preferance and serve hot, garnished with fress coriander leaves.

Hyderabadi Mirchi ka Salan

I am always tempted to pick a few giant banana peppers to make lovely 'bhajjis' during the rains. This weekend I changed my mind (as usual) and thought of a gravy recipe with Giant Hungarian Yellow peppers (thats how they call it in our Groceries).
I remember one of my Hyderabadi friend's mother, who used to make the most delicious Mirchi Salan I have ever tasted. Remembering her, I tried to recall the ingredients and came up with this splendid dish.

Ingredients:

Hungarian Yellow peppers - 5 nos
Roasted peanuts - 3 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Onion - 1 small (finely chopped)
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
Red chilli pwdr - to taste
Turmeric pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Whole coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Red Chillies - 2 nos (optional)
Green Chillies - 1 nos (optional)
Coconut (grated) - 3 tbsp
Yogurt (plain) - 3 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Clove - 1 nos
Black pepper - 2 nos
Cardamom - 1 nos
Bay leaf - 1/2 leaf
Zeera (cumin) - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - for garnishing (optional)
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)


Procedure:


Pre heat oven at 350F for five minutes and bake the Hungarian Yellow peppers for about 10 minutes or untill they become soft as shown below.





Mean while, dry roast coriander seeds, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf and Cumin seeds.



Keep that aside to cool. Dry roast sesame seeds and peanuts and set that aside as well.




Now heat a tsp of oil and fry chopped Onion, Ginger garlic paste, green chillies, turmeric and red chilli pwd.




Now grind the three batches of roasted ingredients, i.e.

1. onion mixture
2. peanut sesame seeds
3. whole masala mixture (coriander seeds, bay leaf etc)

while grinding the above mixture, add sugar, tamarind paste, yogurt and coconut.
Taste the gravy and adjust salt as required.





Simmer the ground masala (gravy paste) for 2 minutes. While doing that, discard the seeds and membranes of the chillies and cut them into big chunks. You can add the chillies into the gravy without chopping them also. Allow the chillies to soak in the gravy for a few minutes. Serve hot with chappathy or rice...


Have fun..

Olan

Olan is one of the most important dishes prepared for Onam sadya (feast). It is a delightfully mild and flavourful curry savoured in almost every Malayali household. Traditionally, the combination of Ash gourd and black eyed beans or yard long beans with Yellow pumpkin is used.Since I didn't have either ash gourd or long beans, I tried the same recipe using yellow pumpkin and black eyed beans. Surprizingly, it was really nice. Hope you like it too.


Ingredients:

Yellow Pumpkin - 1 cup (thickly sliced)
Black eyed Beans - 1/3 cup (soaked in water overnight)
coconut milk - 1/2 cup
salt - to taste
Green chillies - 2 or 3 (or to taste)


Procedure:

Pressure cook the black eyed beaks in 1 cup water, some salt and cut green chillies for two to three whistles. Set aside when done. Cook the pumpkin separately in 1/2 cup water and salt to taste. Combine pumpkin and beans in a wide mouth pan and remve from fire. Pour in the coconut milk and crefully stir the curry without squishing the cooked pumpkin. Serve warm with rice and spicy Pullisherry.

Christmas fruit cake

I always wanted to bake cakes and cookies for quite a long time.
And so, my friends, I was pleasantly surprized to see a nice oven here. Within a few days, I managed to buy all the stuff required for 'beginner's' baking experiments and was all smiles with a cartload of stuff which he thinks it was 'junk'. This is my very first attempt in baking and much to my amazement, it was fabulous!!

Friends, I am super excited to share this cake with you. I hope you like it.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida) - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Clove powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry ginger powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Caramel syrup - 1 tbsp
Grated orange zest - 1 tsp
Eggs - 3
Butter (at room temperature) - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Dry fruits (mixed) - 1/2 cup
Nuts (mixed) - 1/2 cup
Orange juice - 1/2 cup

Dry fruits which I used were dried cranberries, raisins, dates, and prunes. you can use dried apricots, figs, or any dry fruit of your choice. Nuts which I used were almonds, cashewnuts and walnuts.

Method:

Soak the dried fruits in orange juice overnight. Since I don't have any Rum or Brandy to soak the fruits, I believe orange juice will work just fine, and of course, it did!!

In a bowl, blend the sugar and butter well. Next step is to add vanilla essence and eggs into the same bowl, one by one and mixing well again and keep aside. Sift the maida with baking powder Baking soda, ginger powder, clove powder and cinnamon and salt into another bowl.

Now stir in sifted flour into the sugar butter and eggs mixture along with the rest of the ingredients i.e. soaked dried fruits, nuts, caramel syrup, orange zest and the orange juice used to soak the dried fruits.

Fold the mixture well. If you find the cake batter too dry or too thick, you can add some milk into it. But otherwise, fruit cakes are usually dense loaded with dried fruits and nuts.

Pour it in a greased baking pan and bake at 350F for 50- 55 minutes or untill done. To check whether the cake is done, insert a skewer into the cake, take it out. If the skewer comes out clean, it means its done. If not, bake for a couple of minutes more, keeping an eye on it. When done, allow the cake to cool done before you slice and store.

Enjoy eating a warm slice of this lovely cake this Christmas or any time of the year.


Have fun!!

Besan and Oats Laddu

Ingredients (for 15-20 laddus)

Besan (gram flour) 1 1/4 cup
Rolled Oats (dry roasted & finely powdered) 1/2 cup
Semolina Flour (Suji) 1 TSP
Butter(softened) 1/2 cup
Sugar 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp


Procedure

Melt the butter in a wide mouthed heavy bottom pan.
Mix Besan and Suji. Roast this mixture in the butter on medium heat stirring constantly to prevent the Besan from burning.
Now, add the Oats powder. Make sure to keep the stove on medium to low heat and roast the mixture till it becomes light golden brown in colour.
You can smell the delicious aroma at this point.
Remove the pan from heat and add sugar and cardamom powder and mix well.

The mixture will attain the consistency of 'halwa'. Allow it to cool for sometime and use your palms to make small spherical laddus.

You can also decorate laddus with sliced almonds or cashews if desired.

For a healthier version, reduce the qty of butter and sugar

Brown Rice Laddu

This recipe reminds me of my days in college hostel where good food was rare.
My friend's mom used to pack a huge box of the laddus also known as 'ari unda',
almost every week and we had fun devouring the laddus. They taste amazing and are almost guilt free. so here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Brown Rice- 1 cup
Peanuts- 1/2 cup
Grated coconut- 1/2 cup
Powdered jaggery 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
a few tsp of ghee (optional)


Method:

Dry roast rice, peanuts and coconut separately and powder them. you can hear small popping of rice while roasting. This indicates that rice is getting roasted nicely. Melt jaggery in a pan and sieve the jaggery to remove the impurities. Mix the powdered mixtures and cardamom powder with the jaggery and allow it to cool so that it is warm enough to shape them into laddus using your palms. Ghee can be added if the mixture is too dry to hold as ghee helps in binding.

Lovely 'ari undas' are ready to serve. Store them in air-tight containers, preferably in refrigerator.