Butter Naan

Making Naan has been in my list of things to do for some time now. I once tried it before and was not very successful. This time I followed the recipe from Vah re Vah. I have given the ingredients and steps that I followed below. For a video of how to make it, please do check the Vah re Vah link.

I am now planning to make other variations like Garlic Naan in the future... Stay tuned!



Ingredients

All Purpose Flour / Maida 3 cups
Fast acting instant Yeast 1 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Warm Milk 1 cup
Oil 2 tsp
Water about 1/2 cup

Butter to spread

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the milk, water, oil, salt, sugar and yeast.

2. Take the APF in a bowl. Add the liquid to it mixing with hands. The dough will be very sticky.

3. Apply a layer of oil on the top. Keep closed with a damp towel for about 15-20 minutes.

4. Punch the air out and separate into 6 big balls. Dust with some flour to help handling of the flour. Cover again with damp cloth for another 15-20 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to max temperature for about 20 minutes. My oven heated to a max of 230C.

6. Roll the dough with hand or with a pin. Toss it in your hand a little. Check the video in Vah Re Vah for a beautiful demo.

7. Place in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 2-3 min on one side. Flip and bake for another minute or 2. Though mine cooked in 2+1 minutes, it did not get a brown colour. So I tried baking a little longer 3 + 2 and got a nicer colour.



8. Spread butter on top as soon as you take it out of the over and serve with some yummy punjabi dishes.. Do check out my recipe index for an array of North Indian Sides!!!

Verdict : We really loved it. Though it is not the best Naan that I have eaten, it was soft and I do not have to go to a restaurant to eat Naan. My husband said "This tastes better than most restaurant Naans available here".




Linking this to I love Baking
Linking this to Celebrate - Olympic games Event by Jagruti, hosted by Priya

Carrot Peas Thoran and an award

Thoran basically is a stir fry with coconut. In Kerala, almost always onions and garlic are added to the thoran. Enjoy this super healthy and colourful thoran! It is kind of the similar thing as the Tamil Poriyal.




Ingredients

Onion 1
Carrot 4 cups chopped
Peas 1 cup (i used frozen)
Coconut 1/2 cup
Green Chillies 2
Cumin 1 tsp
Curry Leaf few
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it sputters, add urad dal. When it starts to colour, add the chopped onions and some curry leaves (save some for the coconut paste).

2. Saute till it turns translucent. Add turmeric powder. Mix well.

3. Add the chopped carrots. Mix well. Sprinkle a little water and cook with lid on.

4. In the meanwhile, grind the coconut, cumin, curry leaf and green chilli into a coarse powder. Just pulse once in the mixie without water. You can optionally add some garlic as well.

5. When the carrots are almost cooked, add the peas, the coconut mix and some salt. Mix well.

6. Cook for a few more minutes and switch off.

Goes well with rasam rice or with any kozhambu or sambar.


Award time again... Thank you Shabna for thinking of me. Guys, please do checkout her blog for some amazing recipes.

Milagu Jeeraga Rasam (Rasam with pepper and cumin)

Rasam is a dish that is usually very comforting to have when you feel poorly. This rasam is particularly very pleasing to you when you are down with cold. It is also served as a postpartum meal.

My son is a huge fan of rasam. This is by far the best rasam I have made for him. He kept asking for more rice.. Loved the feeling.... Adapted from Meenakshi Ammal 'Samaythu Par'



Ingredients

Cumin 1 tsp
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies 1
Toor Dal 1 tsp
Rasam Powder 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves few
Tamarind Paste 1/2 tsp
Ghee 1 tbsp

Method of Preparation

1. Coarsely grind pepper, cumin and toor dal.

2. In a pot, take 1 cup of water. Add the powder along with tamarind paste, rasam powder, curry leaves and salt.

3. Bring it to a boil and then let it boil till the raw smell of rasam powder is gone (a few minutes).

4. Add 2 more cups of water and boil till it froths. Switch off.

5. In a small pan, add Ghee. Add Mustard seeds. When it sputters, add more curry leaves. Pour into the rasam pot.

Enjoy with warm rice and some dry side like potato, carrot, okra etc.

Pav Bhaji with home made Dinner Rolls

I am over the moon today! I baked my first bread. I know I have bored all of you many times about how scared I am about baking, I think I am slowly winning my battle...

Pav Bhaji is I think one of the most popular Chats. Mumbai's own but adapted and served in all Indian towns and abroad. Perfect for a rainy day!

The recipe I followed for the rolls is from Radhika's blog. I have tried many recipes from her site and always am successful. So I was very confident when I started to bake. Plus, I had mailed her and made sure my doubts were cleared. She was such a sweatheart to answer all my mails inspite of her busy schedule. Thank you dear. No words can describe how excited I am and how thankful I am to you.

After I finished dinner, I just popped into the nearby grocery store to buy something quick. I was literally singing the whole time in my mind ' I made bread, I made bread'. As I was walking out the store, the baker rolled in a shelf of the day's bakes for sale (they do not sell it the next day, so they just put a sale up at the end of the day). I was curious as everyone was running to the shelf. I got the shock of my like. The breads and yes rolls were all prices at 10p a pack (regular price £1). 10 p guys - just 8 rupees. We do not even get a lolly here for that price. So all this effort was worth 10 p. Question is - was it worth it? I still think it was cause of the happiness it gave me :-)

Interesting tip : If you want to enjoy the bread next day, just pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds. It just comes out nice and warm and super soft as if it were baked 5 minutes ago. 

Pav Bread/Dinner Rolls



Ingredients
All Purpose Flour 3.5 cups
Instant Dry Yeast 21/4 tsp (7g packet)
Salt 3/4 tsp
Sugar 2 tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Water 1/4 cup
Butter 3 tbsp
Oil for greasing

Method of Preparation

1. Warm the milk and mix the butter. Warm the water as well and mix to this. Add salt and sugar as well.

2. Take 1 cups of flour in a mixing bowl and add yeast to it. Pour the milk mix to this and stir.

3. Add another cup of flour and incorporate. Then add the 3rd cup.

4. Now work with you hand and knead well for 6-7 minutes adding the rest of the flour. I added a little bit more water while kneading and left out a little flour. Next time, I will try adding a little more milk.

5. Grease a vessel and place the dough in it. Apply oil to the surface of the dough as well. Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rest for 1-1.5 hours. Let it double in size.

Look how much it raised for me in less than an hour



6. Punch down the dough and split into small balls. I got around 13 balls from it.

7. Line a baking sheet/tray and then keep the balls with some space in between. Let it rest for another 30 minutes. It will rise again.

Before and After (Notice how the gaps have reduced when the balls swelled up)



8. Preheat an oven to 180 C. Brush the top of the dough with some milk. Bake for 20 minutes or till the surface is nicely browned.
Fresh out of the oven. They were so spongy on the inside. 


Bhaji Recipe

Ingredients

Onions 2
Tomatoes 4
Ginger 1 inch piece
Garlic 4 pods
Potatoes 2 medium
Carrot 1
Green pepper 1
Peas 1/4 cup
Pav Bhaji Masala 4 tsp
Chilli Powder

To Serve
Onion 1/2
Coriander Leaves
Lemon/Lime wedges
Pav Bread
Butter







Method of Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the finely chopped onions and saute till is starts to brown.

2. Make a paste of ginger and garlic. Add to the pan. Saute till the onions  are nice and brown.

3. Add chopped tomatoes and saute till it is cooked well. Make sure in this step that the gravy is all combined and mushed up at this stage. Very Important.

4. Add the pav bhaji masala and chilli powder. Mix well.

5. Cook potatoes in the microwave for 3-4 minutes till fully cooked. You can boil it as well.

6. Finely chop carrots and pepper and cook them in the microwave separately till it is well cooked. Each will take about 3 minutes.

7. Add all the cooked vegetables and peas to the pan. Mash it all together very well with a vegetable/potato masher. Add 1 cup of water (or less) and some salt.

8. Cook in low flame till the mixture starts to come together.

Serve Pav's buttered and toasted (I skipped this step) along with the bhaji topped with some onions, coriander leaves, dollop of butter and a lime wedge.

My little one enjoyed the pav with some jam for the next day breakfast as well. I even sneaked a little late night snack with some nutella. The options are many!

Linking this to Let's cook - Bread
Linking this to I love Baking

Linking this to Celebrate - Olympic games Event by Jagruti, hosted by Priya
Linking this to Toddler Snacks - Event by Nithu, hosted by Pari

Paruppurundai (Toor Dal) Koftas in Butter Masala Gravy

This is a fusion dish that I tried. I have taken the Paruppundai (Daal balls as my son calls it) from Paruppurndai Kozhambu and Kofta gravy and made this dish. The idea came when I made the Moong Dal Kofta in Yogurt gravy.



Ingredients

For Kofta
Toor Dal 1 cup
Red Chillies 1
Almonds 10
Raisins 2 tbsp
Coriander Leaves Chopped

For the gravy

Onions 2
Tomato 4
Cumin 1 tsp
Almonds 10
Milk 1 cup
Coriander Leaves to garnish



Method of Ingredients

1. Soak the dal for 2-3 hours. Drain. Grind into a paste (not too smooth, but not too rough as well) along with red chilli.

2. Transfer to a bowl. Add roughly chopped almonds and chopped raisins. Add some chopped coriander leaves as well along with some salt. Mix everything. Roll into small balls. I got around 12.

3. Steam the balls in an idli plate. After the steam starts coming, steam for 10 minutes.

4. For the gravy, you can follow the standard butter masala gravy. I skipped garlic and ginger and few other stuff due to laziness. In a pan, heat some oil. Add cumin. When it sizzles, add onions.

5. Saute till it turns transparent. Add chopped tomatoes and almonds.

6. When the tomatoes are done, switch off. When it is cooled, grind into a smooth paste.

7. Transfer back to the pan. Add milk. Bring to boil. Simmer.

8. Add some salt and the cooked kofta balls. Simmer for a little more.

Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rotis.

Linking this to Show me your hits - lentils and legumes. Event by Sangee, hosted by Nalini

Gobi Kheema / Minced Cauliflower

Want to try something different than the usual Cauliflower dishes? Give this one a shot. It is not too time consuming to make and has a slightly different texture and taste.



Ingredients

Cauliflower 1
Onions 3
Tomatoes 3
Garlic pods 4
Green Peas 1/2 cup
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder 1 tsp
Cumin Powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Cumin/Jeera 1 tsp
Curry Leaves few
Coriander Leaves to garnish

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Chop or grate the cauliflower into fine pieces. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the cauliflower. Saute till it is almost cooked. Keep aside

2. In the meanwhile, chop the onions very fine. Heat oil in the same pan. Add the cumin and curry leaves. When it sizzles, add the onion. Saute till it is nicely browned.

3. Make a paste of the garlic and add to this. Saute for a minute or 2.

4. Make a paste of tomato and add to the pan. Add the peas as well. I used frozen peas. Saute till the tomato is fully absorbed and it is not watery. Add masala powders - chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, turmeric and salt. Mix well. Cook for a couple more minutes.

5. Add the cooked cauliflower and mix well. Cook for a few more minutes in low flame.

Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves. 

Kumbakonam Kadappa

I saw the recipe for Kadappa in Radhika's blog. I knew I had to try it cause my husband spent a good portion of his childhood in Kumbakonam and this is my treat to him. I did not deviate much from Radhika's recipe.

Ingredients

Moong Dal 1/2 cup

Potatoes 2

Onion 2

Garlic 5 pods

Turmeric 1 tsp

Cinnamon 1 inch Stick

Cloves 3

Lime Juice 2 tsp

Curry Leaves few

Coriander Leaves To garnish

To make paste

Pottu Kadalai 1/4 cup

Poppy Seeds 2 tsp

Green Chillies 4

Coconut 1/4 cup

Garlic 4 pods

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the Moong Dal in a pressure cooker till it is cooked well. Boil the potatoes and crumble them.Grind and make a paste of 'to make paste' ingredients adding enough water.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cinnamon and clove. When it sizzles, add sliced onions, garlic  and curry leaves. Saute till onion is browned.

3. Add the cooked dal, crumbled potatoes and ground paste. Add salt and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a little bit till the raw smell of garlic goes off.

4. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with idli, dosa or puri.

Standard combo is with idlis but it tasted amazing with puris as well.



Linking this to Show me your hits - lentils and legumes. Event by Sangee, hosted by Nalini

Kerala Style Cauliflower and Potato Curry

This dish is inspired by the egg curry and chicken curry with coconut milk. I am on a roll here trying to recreate some time tested Kerala non vegetarian dishes. I believe that most of the taste for the dish comes from the ingredients and masala, and less from the meat. So with the right ingredients, you can make amazing dishes which are sometimes solely enjoyed by non vegetarians.

This dish tastes better if made spicy. I have not added much chilli powder. Add more if you want.



Ingredients

Cauliflower 1 medium (about 3 cups)
Potato 1 big (about 1 cup)
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Bay Leaf 1
Cardamom 2
Clove 3
Onion 2 sliced
Green Chilli 3
Curry Leaf few
Ginger 1 inch piece
Garlic 4 pods
Coconut Milk 1.5 cups
Coriander leaves to garnish

Oil and salt to taste

Make a paste
Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Coriander Powder 2 tbsp
Cumin Powder 1 tbsp
Pepper Powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and steam in a microwave for 5 minutes till it is partly cooked.

2. Boil the potato. Peal and cut into cubes.

3. Make a paste of ginger and garlic.

4. Mix all the ingredients under 'make a paste' into a paste by adding very little water.

5. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it sputters, add the bay leaf, cardamom, clove and curry leaves.

6. When it sizzles, add the onions and ginger garlic paste. Saute till the onion starts to brown.

7. Add the masala paste, green chilli and salt. Mix and cook for  minute or two.

8. Add the coconut milk and 1 cup of water (if required) along with the cooked cauliflower and potatoes.

9. Simmer till the gravy thickens. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or appam.




Linking this to Kerala Kitchen, hosted at Sun,Moon and Potatoes

Onion Tomato Raita

This side needs no introduction. It is the most common raita served with biriyanis and pulao. I thought being popular does not mean that I cannot have a post, does it? So here you go



Ingredients

Yogurt/Curd 1 cup
Onion 1/2 chopped
Tomatoes 2 chopped
Green Chillies 1
Coriander Leaves for Garnish
Salt to taste
a little water

Method of preparation

1. Add the onions, tomatoes and green chillies to a bowl.

2. Whisk the curd with a little water and salt. Add the bowl.

3. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with any prepared rice.

I paired it with Vegetable Kuska (Vegetable Pulao)

Vegetable Kuska (Vegetable Pulao)

My husband is quite accommodative when it comes to food. He rarely complains about food. Some times when a dish turns out average or bad, I will be mad at whipping out such poor fare. Even if it tastes very average he will say it not too bad and all that and try to pep me up.. I always tell him that he is lucky I am not the husband and he the wife. I like my food to be perfect tasting.. Not so much when I cook (as I know my limitations), but definitely when I eat. So I am sure to give my 'wife' a hard time if I were the husband :-)

The downside of my husband's nature is that he rarely asks for anything specific to be prepared as he enjoys them all. I cannot ask him questions like - do you like this version of the curry better or the one I made last time. He will look at me with the expression that could be read as - are they different?

So I was in for a big surprise when I made a pulao this week and my husband said it tastes a lot like Kuska made in his college canteen. I first thought he was making fun of me cause neither have I heard of a dish by that name nor did I think anything made in college canteen qualifies as good.. I was in for a bigger surprise when I googled the word Kuska and found it was an actual dish and not a nickname his hostel guys used. And the recipe was almost exactly that I used... Enjoy this simple flavourful rice with some side dish or raita.



Ingredients

Basmati Rice 3 cups
Vegetables (I used frozen mix veg) 4.5 cups
Bay Leaf 2
Clove 4
Cardamom 3
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Star Anise 4
Fennel Seeds 1 tbsp
Cumin/Jeera 1 tbsp
Onion 2 sliced + 1/2 for garnish
Garlic 4 pods (make into paste)
Cashews and raisins for garnish
Coconut milk 1/2 cup.

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a little oil in a pressure cooker. Add the whole spices bay leaf, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise. fennel seeds and cumin seeds.

2. When it sizzles, add the sliced onions and garlic paste. Saute till it starts to brown.

3. Add the vegetables and saute for a couple more minutes.

4. Add the rice and saute for 2 more minutes.

5. Add coconut milk and salt. Mix well. You can use a little more coconut milk. I did not have more than this. Otherwise I would have used 3/4 cup.

6. Add water enough to cook the rice. If you are using 1:1.5 water, then 3 cups will need 4.5 cups of water. But as I used 1/2 cup of liquid in coconut milk, I reduced the water to 4 cups. Adjust the water according to the coconut milk quantity used and the rice type.

7. Give it all a nice stir and cook with whistle on for 2 whistles.

8. In the mean time, heat some oil in a pan. Add the cashews and roast them. Keep aside. Add the raisins to the same pan. Roast and keep aside. Finally add the onions and roast them till browned and keep aside. You can use ghee as well for this step.

9. Open the pressure cooker and then give it a little stir with a fork. Add the cashews, raisins and onions.

Serve with side dish or raita

Neer Kozhakattai

Neer Kozhakattai is basically Rice balls simmered in water. Neer literally means water. This is one of my childhood favourites. The typical combination for this is tomato onion chutney. It is very healthy dish and can be given to even smaller kids. We all enjoyed this Kozhakattai and the porridge a lot.



Ingredients
Idli Rice 2 cups
Coconut 1/2 cup
Salt



Method of Preparation

1. Soak rice overnight or atleast 5-6 hours.

2. Grind into a coarse paste. Do not add much water. I added about 1/8 cup of water.

3. Add coconut and salt. Grind one more time. Make small balls out of it. Typically it is shaped like eggs, around the same size.

4. Boil 10 cups of water in a big pot. When it comes to a rolling boil, simmer.

5. Add the balls one by one and make the flame high again. Do not use the laddle at this stage.

6. When the kozhakkatais cook, they will float up. Till that time do not stir. It will take about 15 minutes. Make sure that you are not crowding the balls. When I made this time, I ended up crowding them. So all of it did not float up. Give it a nice stir.

Some of the ball will dissolve making the broth a tasty drink. This is how I like to eat mine. But you can eat it as a dry Kozhakkatai as in the above photo :-) Enjoy.




Linking this to Walk thru Memory Lane - Gayathri's event hosted by Kalyani
Linking this to Toddler Snacks - Event by Nithu, hosted by Pari
Linking this to Kerala Kitchen, hosted at Sun,Moon and Potatoes

Oven Roasted Peas with Ajwain

I have this new found love for Oven roasted snacks. It is so much better than the fried ones and packed with proteins. Kids will love munching on these goodies. We can enjoy it with an evening cup of coffee or tea. For me it is a perfect Friday night movie snack or to curl with a book. And with the olympics coming up, a perfect snack to much while watching a game :-)



This is one of my childhood favourite snack, though my mom did not make it. We use to buy packets from nearby bakery.

Baking time depends on the oven. When I made chickpeas last time, I felt that it was not hard enough. Usually they say it hardens a little after it cools. I cooked that for 30 min. But it was a little chewy (not bad, just chewy). I was looking for a nice hard texture for the peas and so cooked for 50 minutes this time. Felt it is a little hard. May be 40 minutes next time :-)

Ingredients
Dry Green Peas 2 cups
Ajwain 1 tsp
Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Salt
Oil 3 tbsp







Method of Preparation

1. Soak peas overnight. Pressure cook for 1 whistle till it is cooked but still in shape.

2. Drain the water. Add ajwain, chilli powder, salt and oil. Toss well.

3. Bake in an oven till it is nice and crisp. I did for 50 minutes. Check every 10 minutes. Give it a nice toss. Adjust spices and salt after the first 10 minutes if need be.

You can use spices of your choice. There are a lot of options to experiment with. Check the chickpeas version as well.




Linking this to I Love Baking, Radhika's Event
Linking this to Celebrate - Olympic games Event by Jagruti, hosted by Priya
Linking this to Toddler Snacks - Event by Nithu, hosted by Pari
Linking this to Show me your hits - lentils and legumes. Event by Sangee, hosted by Nalini

Pasta with Butter Masala Sauce

Pasta is such a versatile dish. It just can be mixed up with a variety of sauces. Who is to say it has to be a Italian sauce. I made an Indian sauce to go with it and we enjoyed an Indian Pasta. I did not have peppers, cauliflower and paneer. Those were the things I wanted to add. So I added a couple of cups of mixed vegetables.



Ingredients

Pasta 3 cups loosely packed
Onions 2
Tomatoes 4
Garlic 6 pods
Ginger 1 inch piece
Cashews few
Cumin 1 tsp
Aachi Biriyani Masala 1 tsp (you can use a combo of chilli powder and garam masala)
Milk 1 cup (or cream)
Mixed Vegetables 2 cups
Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin and cashews. When it sizzles, add onions, garlic and ginger. Saute till onions start to cook.

2. Add tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are done.

3. Cool and grind the mix.

4. Boil water in a pan. Add some salt. Cook the pasta for 10-12 minutes (follow package instruction). Drain and keep ready.

5. Pour the onion-tomato paste back to the pan. Add the milk and some salt. Remember that the pasta is already salted. Add the vegetables as well. I used frozen vegetables. If they are raw vegetables, cook separately and then add.

6. When it comes to a boil, switch off. Add the pasta and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Award Time!!

I got an award for my Eggplant Sub from Prathibha in EP - Herbs and Spices - Basil and Cardamom event. Thanks Prathibha and Julie. I totally loved making the dishes for your event. Do check out some amazing dishes in the round up she has published.



Other recipes that I sent to the event

Eggless Mango Cake
Oven Roasted Chunky Tomato and Basil Sauce

And thanks Prathibha for all the lovely words

Eggplant Parmesan Sub by Roshni at Roshni's Kitchen. Ahhhh, here comes another awesome recipe, girl you made it better than any fast food restaurant Sub, the pics look so perfect and delicious, I felt like grabbing one and having it right away. Awesome dish Roshni

Oats Pongal

It was quite interesting for me to make Oats Pongal. We eat oats quite often in our home. We cook oats, mix with some soya milk and raisins and enjoy a warm porridge. Occasionally, I add some apples or bananas to the oats. I love eating Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (my fav cookies, yet to make it- some day soon) and oatmeal bar. But never made or tasted anything savoury with oats.

When I told my husband I wanted to try making Oats Pongal for the Magic Mingle event, he gave me a look. It took me a week to convince him to let me make it.

Do you ever get scared of adding sugar to a curry or salt to your tea. I always keep them in different kinds of bottle and double check before adding. Today my hands were shaking when I was adding salt to oats. Something felt wrong.

Verdict - My little one refused to eat it. I said try it first and then if you don't like it you don't need to eat it. He tried a couple of spoons and then said a No. I first felt it was no different from the regular pongal. But as I kept eating it, I was not too sure :-) Husband felt it was ok and said he would not mind if I made again. So I guess though there are people out there who love oats in Indian savoury breakfast, it is not for our family.

I was not sure if I wanted to post this. But then I thought, it tasted as it should and it is a recipe. Just cause I don't like something is not a reason for not posting. :-) So here you go. Do let me know if you have ever tried making Indian tiffin with oats and how your family likes it



Ingredients

Oats 1 cup
Moong Dal 1/2 cup
Pepper 1.5 tsp
Cumin 1 tsp
Cashews few
Ginger a small piece finely chopped
Ghee 1 tbsp

Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the moong dal with enough water.

2. Heat 2 cups of water in a pot. Add the oats when the water comes to a boil. Cook till the oats is almost done.

3. Add the cooked moong dal and some salt. Cook till it starts to come together. Switch off.

4. Crush 1 tsp of pepper and the cumin in a mixie to a coarse paste. In a separate pan, heat some ghee. Add the cashews. When they start to roast, add the ginger and cumin-pepper powder and the rest of the whole peppers. Add to the oats and mix well.

Serve with some chutney or sambar.


Linking this to Magic Mingle #7
Linking this to Show me your hits - lentils and legumes. Event by Sangee, hosted by Nalini

Lahsun Paratas (Garlic Paratas)

I was browsing thru a cookbook in the library and saw garlic paratas. Never added garlic to paratas and so I thought of giving it a shot.



Ingredients

Wheat Flour 2 cups
Garlic Paste 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves 2 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil a little and some for rolling

Method of Preparation

1. Add the wheat flour, garlic paste, coriander leaves, turmeric, salt and oil to a bowl. mix well with your fingers.

2. Make a roti like dough by adding enough warm water.

3. Make 8 balls out of this.

4. Take 1 ball. Roll it a little. Apply little oil. Fold to a semi circle. Apply some more oil. Fold to a quarter circle.

5. Roll it into a triangle and cook in a hot pan.

6. Apply some ghee while cooking and as it comes out of the pan.

Enjoy with a side of your choice. We enjoyed it with Mirchi Ka Salan. This was mildly flavoured with garlic. If you want a strong flavour, add more garlic.



Linking this to Let's cook - Bread

Mirchi Ka Salan - 200th Post

Food cooked, Photos taken, Recipes written - And most importantly Food Enjoyed!! It has been an interesting journey so far. Today I post my 200th post!! I have been blogging for around 250 days. I was split between posting this dish vs a sweet dish that I made. This is by far the best dish that I have ever prepared. Hubby dear agrees that this is one of the best. So he suggested that I post this one... So here you go

A milestone post will not be complete without a special thanks to all those who support me - husband and kid who enjoy the meal that I make (irrespective of how it tastes) and say 'thank you amma' every single time, my friends who try my recipe and give me feedback (I love that bit a lot), my friends in the blogging world without whom this journey would have been quite boring and all those who love me :-)

Mirchi Ka Salan is a popular Hyderabadi dish. It is basically Green Chillies roasted and then cooked in a sauce. I had this dish for the first time in a restaurant Rani Bistro in Brooklyn, MA a few years ago. When Kaveri announced the theme for this month's EP - Herbs and Spices event as Fenugreek Leaves and Green Chillies, I really wanted to post some dishes with Methi Leaves (you know my love for Methi by the array of dishes in my blog). But I could not get hold of methi... I suddenly remembered this dish and wanted to try it.



I cannot recommend this dish enough. This is a spicy dish. But will not be as spicy as you think. The chillies are all roasted and so mellow down. But if that is not for you, you can still make this dish by using peppers (green, red, yellow or orange) and also reduce the chilli powder in the gravy.



Ingredients

Thin Hot Green Chillies 10
Thick (Medium spicy) Green Chillies 9 (60gm)
Thick (Medium spicy) Red Chillies 5 (60gm)
Cumin 1 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves few
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Cumin powder 1/2 tbsp
Chilli powder 2 tsp
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Coriander leaves to garnish

Oil and Salt to taste

To be ground to dry powder 
Roasted peanuts 2 tbsp
Roasted sesame seeds 2 tbsp
Roasted cumin 1 tbsp

To be ground to a paste
Garlic 6
Ginger 1 inch piece
Onions 1
Tomatoes 2
Coconut 3 tbsp



Method of Preparation

1. Heat a pan. Add the peanuts and roast. When they are almost roasted, add the sesame and cumin. Roast till a nice aroma comes. Powder them. Keep aside.

2. Make a paste of garlic, ginger, onions, tomatoes and coconut. Keep aside.

3. Heat oil in the pan. Add the chillies. I used the small thin chillies as is. I sliced the thicker medium spiced chillies vertically to two. Leave the stems on on both chillies. Fry them till  white patches appear. Please be very careful at this step. The moment chillies start roasting it will sputter. Oil and chillies will go every which way. So partially cover the pan (kind of like a shield). Remove from oil and keep aside.

4. In the same oil, add mustard seeds. When it sputters, add cumin, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

5. When it sizzles, add the ground onion-tomato paste. Saute till the colour starts to change.

6. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, turmeric and the sesame-peanut powder. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.

7. Add tamarind paste and 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil.

8. Add the chillies and salt. Simmer till the sauce thickens. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis. It tasted great with rice as well.




Linking this to EP - Herbs and spices - Fenugreek Leaves and Green Chilli Event by Julie, hosted by Kaveri

Linking this to Walk thru Memory Lane - Gayathri's event hosted by Kalyani
Linking this to Celebrate - Olympic games Event by Jagruti, hosted by Priya

Cutlet Sandwich - Mixed Vegetable Sandwich

You might wonder what that sandwich is :-) I made some cutlets and had some stuffing left. So made sandwiches with that stuffing. We liked the sandwiches a lot. Quite flavourful compared to usual potato sandwich



Ingredients (Makes 4 sandwiches)

Carrots 1
Peas 1/4 cup
Beans 6
Potato 1
Green chilli 1
Pepper few
Fennel seeds 1/4 tsp
Turmeric 1/4tsp
Cloves-1
Garlic 3 pods
Ginger 1/2 inch piece
Onion 1/2
Curry leaves few
Garam masala 1/2 tsp

Oil and salt to taste

Bread 8 slices
Butter to spread



Method of Preparation


1. Chop the carrots, beans and potatoes. Pressure cook with very little water. Drain the water.

2. Make a paste of Green chilli, Pepper, Fennel seeds, Turmeric, Cloves, Garlic and Ginger.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions and curry leaves. Saute till it browns.

4. Add the paste and saute for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the cooked vegetables, garam masala and salt. Mix well and cook till all the water is drained.

6. Separate into 4 parts. Spread butter on the bread. Layer the stuffing on the non butter side of the bread and cover with the other slice, buttered side up.

7. Toast in a sandwich maker or stove top pan.



Linking this to Toddler Snacks - Event by Nithu, hosted by Pari