Cooking Medley

GBP - Sorakaya/Dudhi/Lauki/Bottle Gourd!

2007-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

2 inch long baby bottle gourd - the picture is deceptive but the fruit was only 2 inch long. I will use my hand as a frame of reference next time!

In my previous post, I posted a picture of the bottle gourd plant that was growing. Since then, it is not only growing but taking everything down that is in its path :). I always knew bottle gourd was an avid grower but seeing it is believing it. We had this plant growing up and we would get tired of distributing all the produce to the neighbors, relatives and acquaintances, strangers :). We had so much produce that everyone in our house started to hate(read loathe) this vegetable. But alas, all that changed when I came to the U.S. As with many things, I started appreciating this vegetable more than I ever did in my entire life.

I remember my mom would make a lot of different dishes with the sorakaya/bottle gourd - sorakaya paluposina koora, sorakaya dappalam, sorakaya sambhar, sorakaya pottu pachadi, sorakaya pappu, sorakaya halwa, sorakaya kofta, sorakaya payasam even! You name it and it was done with this vegetable. We would even pick the seeds from a very mature bottle gourd and fire roast and eat 'em! Wow, that does bring back a flood of memories! Depending on how many of these I get this season, I plan to try all the dishes my mom used to make with it, time permitting.

After publishing my previous post, I have gotten so many inquiries about how I planted the garden, how to maintain it etc. So I thought I would do a quick write-up of my "bottle gourd growing adventures"! About 3 months ago, a friend of mine gave me about 7-8 seeds and I planted the seeds in disposable water glasses (with a hole cut in the middle) in a soil-less starter medium (I used Jiffy). In about 4-5 days, almost all the seeds I planted germinated except for one/two. I then babied them for about 2-3 weeks inside with artificial lighting until they got the first two leaves and one true leaf. I think by this time, I only had about 5 plants that survived. The rest didn't make it. I then took them outside and planted them then babied them some more. After yet another couple of weeks, I only had about 3 plants left (which is what I have now). The initial growth felt like it took for ever. After the plant became well established, there was no stopping it. It keeps putting on new leaves overnight. It is truly an amazing experience to watch it grow.

Then one of my other friends told me that bottle gourd actually produces two types of flowers - male and female. And get this, they need to be "pollinated" for the baby bottle gourd to be born. She said that if there are bees in the vicinity there is no need for the hand pollination. When the flowers first started appearing, I could only see one type of flower. I had no idea if that was a female/male flower and if I needed to pollinate them. Then I did what any normal person would do - I googled! I found resources that had pictures of how a female flower looked like versus a male flower. I also read that female flowers come up about a week-ten days after the male flowers start blooming. I breathed a sigh of relief and would go out each evening hunting for the female flowers :). Then finally one day, I saw two female buds and was waiting for them to bloom so I could pollinate them. I was able to pollinate one of the females, but the other female had bloomed when we were out one night and I never had a chance to pollinate that. So, the "non-pollinated" shriveled up and started dying where as the pollinated one, started growing. It took about 8 days for the 2 inch fruit that was on the back of the flower to turn into a 11/2 feet gourd. So as of tonight, I now have my very first homegrown bottle gourd in the U.S. It is amazing how much joy and content such small things bring to life.

I am planning on going down the list and making the sorakaya paluposina koora with the very first gourd.

the fully grown 11/2 feet long bottle gourd/sorakaya/dudhi/lauki

Back for now!

2007-06-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogland - It has been a while (read months) since my last update. Life has been a little bit crazy leaving very little time to blog. A big thank you to all those who e-mailed and left messages to check up on me!

Since Summer officially started a couple of days ago I decided that I am going to do something new this summer i.e. blog more :). I am pretty sure I lost the very few readers that I had so now I have to start all over again!

I thought I'd start with some pictures from my very first vegetable garden!

Japanese eggplant flower

Sweet Basil

Tomatoes and Peppers

Gongura (a native Andhra leafy vegetable) in its infancy

Mint

Thota Kura and Chukka Kura - both leafy greens

Sorakaya/Bottle Gourd/Dhudhi plant

Happy Valentines Day

2007-02-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Homemade Pizza

2007-02-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

pizza out from the oven, ready to eat

Until about a few weeks ago, I never made my own pizza dough. I either bought the pre-made crust/ frozen pizza dough or worst yet the "pizza kit" that they sell at the stores. It always seemed like it would be a very daunting task to make dough from scratch.

One of my so called "cooking resolutions" for this year include making bread from scratch, making pizza dough from scratch, making ravoili from scratch among other things.

I saw Elise's post on homemade pizza and that gave me the go-try-making-the-pizza-dough-now motivation. Thank you, Elise :). I even bought a pizza stone recently on one of my trips to TX so I was itching to break it in as well.

The major hindrance I have in bread making is that I don't have a stand mixer or a bread machine which means I have to knead the dough by hand. For pizza dough though, I had seen somewhere that the dough could be made in a food processor. Off I went to test my google skills and I found Sara Moulton's recipe and Emerill's recipe.

I mostly followed Moulton's recipe except for the following incorporations from Emerill's and Elise's recipe.

I used Emerill's "soft but not sticky" concept to see when the dough was ready to come out of the food processor.
I kneaded the dough for about 4-5 minutes by hand, after it was mixed in the food processor.
I let the yeast rise for about 1 hour.
I also let the dough rise after dividing into 2 portions for about 15 minutes, before I rolled them out for the crust.
I mostly followed Elise's recipe for baking the pizza. I improvised with a cooke sheet since I do not own a pizza peel.

pizza dough, ready to be put in the oiled bowl

rolled-out pizza crust

turned cookie sheet being used instead of a pizza peel

pizza, ready to bake

The pizza was so good and it did not seem like it was too much work at all. Infact, after the first try, I have made it every week since then. Now as I sit here blogging, I am thinking "why did I take so long to try the homemade pizza?"

Indian inspired Turkey Burgers w/ Sweet & Baked Potato Fries and Yoghurt Dipping Sauce

2007-02-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

turkey burgers with oven fried potatoes and yoghurt sauce

Well that is a very long title :).

I had a little more than half a pound of left over turkey from last night's pasta, so I thought I would put it to good use by making burgers out of them. I also had one lonely sweet potato and one baking potato in the pantry which I thought would make excellent oven-fries. You will notice that the veggies (green pepper and green onions)

The inspiration for the dipping sauce came from Rachael Ray. I was once watching an episode in which she made the sauce for some potato fries. I did make it with different spices so it tied well with the burger.

Eventhough this post is long, it won't take more than 45 minutes to pull this all together (not counting the baking time for the fries).

For the Fries

Software
---------------

1 each baking potato and sweet potato
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt, to taste

Method
---------------

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the salt and spices in a small bowl.
Peel and cut the potatoes into 1/4th inch thick pieces.
Rub the olive oil and the spice mix directly on to the potatoes, lay them on a single layer on the baking sheet.
Cook in the oven for about 40-45 min, until the fries are tender and crispy.

For the Yoghurt Dipping Sauce

If you have home made yoghurt and it is made with low fat milk, drain it for a couple of hours in a cheesecloth so all the water comes out and you have thick yogurt. If you use store bought yoghurt or use yoghurt made with whole milk, you can skip this step. To make the sauce, for 1 cup of yoghurt, add some chili powder to taste and about 1/2 tsp of crushed dried mint and mix well.

For the Burgers

Software
---------------

0.6-0.7 lbs of lean ground turkey
1/3 cup very finely chopped green pepper
1/3 cup very finely chopped scallions/green onions
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 tbsp red chili powder (or less)
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 pinch cumin powder
1 pinch nutmeg
1 tsp dried mint
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
2 tbsp plain bread crumbs
salt, to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
slices of pepperjack cheese (optional)
lettuce and tomato to assemble the burger

Hardware
---------------

one small mixing bowl
one electric/stove top grill pan or a skillet

turkey burgers frying on the grill pan

Method
---------------

Mix all of the ingredients, except the olive oil together and form into patties (depending on the size of the buns). I used the normal size buns and I could get 3 patties out of the mixture.
Put brush the patties with some olive oil, put the rest on the pan and fry on each side for about 6 min or so until well cooked.
If using cheese, put cheese directly on top of the skiller during the last 30 seconds or so. At the same time, also put the buns, tops down so they warm up.
Assemble the burger with lettuce and tomatoes. Serve with fries and the yoghurt dipping sauce.

Veggie and Turkey Rotini Bake

2007-02-06T17:42:00.000-08:00

turkey, veggie, rotini pasta bake

I love pasta. I make some or other pasta atleast once a week if not more. I like pasta because it is easy to make, I can load it up with a ton of veggies and it is very fulling at the same time. 90 percent of the time, I make it with veggies alone. But today, I added in some ground turkey along with the vegetables. For this recipe, it is faster if you are a multitasker with the stove. One burner for the pasta, one for the veggies and the other for the turkey.

Software
---------------

3 cups garden rotini pasta
1/2 lb lean ground turkey
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dried italian seasoning
1/2 tsp dried basil
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3-4 green onions, finely chopped to garnish

Hardware
---------------

one small skillet
one pan to cook the sauce
one saucepan to cook the pasta
3 qt oven proof dish

Method
---------------

Boil water in the saucepan for the pasta, cook until al dente. Drain, set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the pan for the pasta sauce to medium heat, add 1 tbsp of the olive oil, add in the onion, fry for a couple of minutes, then add in the garlic.
Once the onions are translucent, add the peppers and the zucchini, the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning and the basil.
After the peppers and zucchini are a little soft, add in the mushrooms.
After a minute or so, add the pasta sauce. Heat through. Turn off the heat.
Put the skillet on medium heat, add in the other tbsp of olive oil, and add the ground turkey to the pan. Break the turkey with a spoon and cook until well cooked through (about 4-5 min).
Combine the pasta, the veggie sauce and the turkey. Put this mixture in the 3 qt. dish and top it with the cheese.
Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 10 min.
Serve while hot.

Super Bowl Sunday - Tortilla Pinwheels

2007-02-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

tortilla pinwheels ready for the Super Bowl (you can see some homemade salsa in the background)

First off, thank you to everyone that checked up on me :). It has been a long time since I blogged. Life was a little busy the last couple of months and I always felt like I had "other" things to do than blog. Well, now I hope to be back (hopefully, seriously). And what better day to resume blogging than the Super Bowl Sunday!

These pin wheels are what I took to a Super Bowl party tonight which had a "Southwest Theme". This recipe can be considered to be a "base" recipe to any tortilla pinwheels as the possiblities for the "fillings" are endless.

Each wrap will make about 10-12 pinwheels (so this recipe makes about 120-140 pinwheels). So this WILL feed a crowd!

Software
---------------

10-12 tortilla wraps (I used the Spinach wraps and Jalapeno Chedddar wraps)
3 pkgs creamcheese
2-3 finely shredded carrots (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups cooked and slightly mashed black beans*
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp Mrs. Dash southwest chipotle seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano

Hardware
---------------

Mixing bowl

Method
---------------

Soften the creamcheese in the microwave by putting it in the microwave for about 30 seconds per package.
Transfer the creamcheese to the mixing bowl, and beat/blend the cheese until smooth with a fork.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Put about 1/3 cup of this filling in the center of a wrap and spread it around with a knife.
Roll the tortilla up tightly, then wrap in some plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for about 2-3 hours or overnight.

tortilla wraps ready for the fridge

Remove plastic wrap and cut into about 1/2 inch pieces.
Serve with some salsa or just by themselves.

* - I avoid using canned food whenever I can. So, I hardly buy canned beans. I do have a couple of cans stuck in the basement (you know for when we are stuck down there riding a tornado out :) ). I cook beans in bulk. I cook about a pound bag according to the package directions, then freeze them in 1-2 cup freezer bags. I then pull them out anytime I need them.

PS - Other variations for the filling include - finely chopped celery, finely chopped green pepper, finely chopped cucumber, thinly sliced turkey/chicken breast (layered on top of the creamcheese mixture before rolling out), replacing creamcheese with hummus for a healthier alternative etc. The possibilties as I mentioned are endless :).

Aloo Paratha (Potato stuffed Indian Bread)

2006-11-17T15:54:00.001-08:00

Aloo Paratha

Well long time since I blogged. Life has become very hectic lately :) which I guess is a good thing but then I don't get the time to blog as often as I want to. I have so many pictures of so many recipes to post that my "to_post" folders are taking up more space than my "on_blog" folders.

I made these aloo parathas on a lazy Sunday afternoon and froze them in batches. This was my first time freezing the parathas and they were just as good as new when defrosted and heated up. Thanks to Saffron Hut for the freezing instructions.

I am going to post this as a multi-step process instead of my usual write-up template :).

Step 1: Boil 2-3 large potatoes until soft. Peel the skin. Put them in a food processor, about a teaspoon of cumin seeds, one or two green chilis, handful of cilantro, a little salt and pulse until the whole mixture forms a ball in the food processor. If you don't have a food processor all these ingredients can be chopped and mashed together as well.

Step 2: Combine 2 cups of chapathi/paratha atta (I used Golden Temple brand), a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of ajwain seeds and knead into a pliable dough with luke warm water. Cover with a kitchen towel and set it aside for about 30 minutes.

Step 3: Divide the potato mixture into lime sized balls and the chapathi dough mixture also into balls (make sure the dough balls are a little bigger than the potato ones).

Step 4: Now on a floured board or countertop, roll out the dough ball into a small circle, put the potato mixture in the center of the flour circle, and enclose the rest of the dough so it forms a circle and the potato ball is inside the flour ball.

Ready to stuff the paratha with the potato mixture

Step 5: Roll the ball into about a 5-6 inch circle, fry it on a medium heat tawa on both sides with a little bit of oil until brown spots appear on the paratha.

Step 5: To freeze, let them all cool, alternate layers of wax paper, cover it tightly in an aluminium foil, date and freeze. I froze them in batches of 5 so I don't pull out all of them each time I took them out of the freezer.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with any pickle/achar and a side of yoghurt.

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T05:35:00.001-08:00

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween, everyone! Here's my Halloween 2006 pumpkin, all lit up, ready to scare you :)!

BOO!

Murukulu - Deepavali Treat

2006-10-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

murukulu - all ready to be gobbleed up

Murukku is a Deepavali tradition in our house. My mom would make these a day or two before the festival but preperations for this dish would start atleast 3-4 days ahead of the actual murukku making day because everything was made from scratch i.e. the flours, I mean.

The rice would be soaked in water for about an hour or two then it would be air-dried on a cotton cloth overnight. The next day, it would then be slow roasted in a pan on the stove in batches, then cooled. The urad dal would undergo the same process, except the soaking bit. It would just be roasted on the stove, then cooled. Then came our kids' chore of taking it to the flour mill to get the rice and urad dal mixture powdered to make into flour. My mom would give us special instructions to relay to the flour mill guy, to not combine the murukku mixture with any other grains (like wheat, jowar etc). She would even send with us some raw rice so the flour mill person could pour that in the mill before the actual Murkku grains went in so it would "clean" out the mill so it is devoid of the afore mentioned other grains. Going to the flour mill was the chore I hated the most growing up. I would always find ways to pawn the chore off to my siblings but it hardly worked :).

For those who are not familiar with the "flour mill(s)" I mention, these are usually one room establishments (atleast where I grew up), where they powder whatever you take. Be it be jowar grains, lentils, rice, wheat, anything you name it, they powder it for you to make into flour. Since it was only a one room place, that meant that the waiting area where you waited for your grains to be pounded was right next to the big machine that powdered the grains which also meant you would be covered in flour by the time you walked out of there. Sure you could wait outside on the street but I always loved to wait inside where I could watch the flour mill operator operate the big machine which also meant I was keeping a close watch on the grains I took so they are not adulterated by anything else :). Sometimes, there would be a line of "dabbas"/"boxes" and you would set your box in line and wait. Sometimes, you would be the only person there. It all depended on the time of year and the time of the day. Festive season would always be a busy time where everyone would bring those "special grains" get powdered - chana dal (for besan), rice (for murukku, chakili etc). During non-festive season, it would just be atta grains - wheat, jowar etc.

Wow...that was a walk down the memory lane I never intended to write about when I started this blog post :). When I look back, if feels as to how less complicated life was back then or so it seems :).

To make murukulu, you need a special gadget called the "murku maker/press". There are a couple to three of varieties of these and I have the one below. I like find this type because I feeel it is much easier to use than the makers, you have to "press". This one you just rotate and the disc on one end of spring sort of thing pushes down on the dough that is in the cylinder!

muruku maker/press

Software
---------------

4 cups Rice flour
3/4 cup Urad dal flour
1/4 White Sesame seeds
3 tablespoons Cumin seeds
1 tablespoons Ajwain seeds
1 tablespoons Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tablespoon Chili powder
4 tablespoons melted butter/shortening
oil for deep frying

Hardware
---------------

One large mixing bowl
One small mixing bowl
Large deep fryer

Method
---------------

Mix everything listed under the ingredients together in the large mixing bowl.
Now take about a cup of the flour mixture into the small mixing bowl, and by adding enough water make a dough that is not too tough or not too watery. It should be easily "pinchable".
Put this dough mixture in a Muruku maker and press or turn away (depending on what kind of press/muruku maker you are using) onto a clean cotton cloth or some aluminium foil into small disks as in the picture.
Meanwhile heat up the oil and deep fry the murkus in hot oil until well cooked and crunchy.

Tips and Techniques:

When making murukus in large batches, make sure that you do not make the dough all at once. Combine all the dry ingredients together and only make the dough when ready to put the dough into the mould.

This my second entry to Vee's Special Edition Jihva for Diwali Treats !

Deepavali Shubhakankshalu (Happy Diwali)

2006-10-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here's wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous Deepavali!

With the experience of making Ganesha with clay under my belt, I decided to make diyas with clay too! Here are some pics!

lighted "home made" clay diyas/deepalu

"home made" diyas waiting to be lighted

making the "home made" diyas with clay and paint

Borugula(Kurmura, Churmura, Murmura, Puffed Rice) Laddu - Deepavali Treat

2006-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Diwali Treat - Kurmura Laddu

Well...with this post this cooking blog becomes an official laddu blog :). Just kidding...but it sure does seem like it? Doesn't it? Infact all Indian cooking blogs these days are starting to look like they are on mission to ruin everyone's diet plans. But it is the festive season afterall. And obviously as soon as the Indian Hindu festivals slow down for a while it will be time for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then comes Sankranthi again. So I don't think the "sweet treat" trend is going to end soon around here!

This time for Diwali I wanted to make a laddu I had never made before and was searching endlessly for an interesting recipe. As soon as I read Chandrika's poha laddu post I was immediately transported back to my school days when we used to get these borugula laddus in a small store outside our school for 10 paise each. You see, in my mind, flattened rice (Poha) and puffed rice (Kurmura) belong to the same category and hence the relation. They are even right next to each other in my pantry. I have an obsession with bundling "like" things together like that in the kitchen and everywhere else :). If any psychologists are reading this blog, feel free to post your 2 cents on what that tells about me hehe...

With Kurmura in mind, I went searching for a Laddu recipe and found a couple. I chose this one. I did make some changes to the proportion of ingredients and also added in brown sugar. It seemed pretty simple to make and it really is very simple as you will see below.

Software
---------------

2 cups crushed jaggery
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup raw peanuts
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 cups puffed rice/kurumura/murmura/borugulu
1 pinch caradamom powder

Hardware
---------------

one large heavy bottomed vessel

Method
---------------

First roast the raw peanuts in the vessel on low-medium heat until the peanuts starts to smell nuttly and are golden brown.
Fold a tea towel in half and put the peanuts on one half of the towel to cool. After the peanuts are cold enough to handle, cover the peanuts with the other half of the towel and rub gently on top of the towel with your hands. This is in order to remove the skin from the peanuts. Then gently blow air over the peanuts so the skin flys away. I usually do this at the sink and then clean it up later.
In the same vessel that we used to roast the peanuts with, put in the jaggery and brown sugar and add just enough water so that the jaggery is immersed in the water. Bring it to a boil and wait for the sauce to thicken. I followed the method described in the recipe on how to check the consistency of the jaggery syrup i.e. "add a few drops into a bowl containing water and it shall solidify immediately."
Turn off the heat and add the puffed rice, peanuts, coconut and caradamom powder. Mix it all together and allow it to cool.
I tried the "grease your hands with ghee and make laddus" for this and it did not work. The puffed rice mixture was too sticky and it was sticking to my hands big time. So I devised a new technique. I took a sheet of plastic wrap and then put a spoonful of the laddu mixture in the centre of the plastic, made that into a ball - voila - no sticking at all. So this recipe does not even need any ghee!

As you must have guessed it already, this is my entry to Vee's Special Edition Jihva for Diwali Treats !

Almond Walnut Laddoo

2006-10-11T17:05:00.001-07:00

almond and walnut laddoo

In addition to the sunnundalu (urad dal laddoo) for Dasara, I also made these almond and walnut loddos. The inspiration for this laddos came from Indira's walnut laddoo post but I changed the recipe. I basically took an easy way out than her recipe, since I did not wait for the milk and sugar to get to a pala kova consistency that Indira describes in her post. Here is my version!

Software
---------------

21/2 cups each walnuts and whole almonds
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
21/2 cups whole milk
2 pinches caradomom powder
3 tbsp ghee

Hardware
---------------

one small microwave safe vessel
one large heavy bottomed container
one food processor

Method
---------------

Dry roast the walnuts and almonds seperately in a pan over low to medium heat until toasty.
After the nuts cool down, grind them seperately in a food processor until the nuts are broken down into very small pieces but not completely powdered. It takes a little longer to process the almonds.
Meanwhile, boil the whole milk in a microwave safe vessel until it is hot and bubbly. This step can be eliminated and the milk can be directly boiled in the heavy bottomed container but I always boil the milk first in the microwave and then transfer it to the stove. The advantage of doing this is that milk does not get scalded in the microwave and the "stirring the milk" time gets reduced dramatically.
Transfer the milk to the heavy bottomed container add the condensed milk and heat on medium heat until the mixture thickens up (for about 10-15 minutes).
Add in the chopped nuts and the caradamom, stir often so it doesn't get scalded until it is thick and the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan.
Add 2 tablespoons of the ghee and stir.
Leave aside until warm enough to handle.
Then apply a little bit of the rest of the ghee to your hands, and make round balls with the mixture.
Store the laddoos in an air tight container.

Jihva for Ghee round up

2006-10-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

First off an apology for taking so long to do the round up. I have been extreremely busy and was gone the weekend and am going on another trip this weekend and next week. But better late than never and here is the Jihva for Ghee round up! Enjoy!

Neyyappam
By Beyond the Usual
Ghee, Riceflour, Banana, Jaggery

Besan Ladoo
from My Food Court
Ghee, Besan, Milk,, Sugar

Maa Laddo, Neiyi Urundai
from Menu Today
Ghee, Green Moong Dal, Sugar

Besan Laddoo
By Foodie's Hope
Ghee, Besan, Milk,, Sugar

Chickpea Flour Balls
By Autres Délices
Chickpea flour, ghee, brownsugar

Brown Ghee Rice and Mysore Pak from Out of The Garden
Brown rice, Ghee, spices (Brown Ghee Rice)

Ghee Mysore Pak from Menu Today
Ghee, Besan, Sugar

Brown Ghee Rice and Mysore Pak from Out of The Garden
Ghee, Besan flour, Sugar (Mysore Pak)

Mistress of Spices
from When My Soup Came Alive
Butter, Onion, Cloves, Garlic, Cumin, other spices

Flavored Butter from AkshayaPatra
Butter, spices & fruits

Carrot Kheer from Aahar
Ghee, Carrots, Milk, Sugar

Banana Bread Halwa from Cooking Pleasures
Ghee, Bread, Milk, Sugar

Ram Prasad Ladoo from A cook @ Heart
Ghee, Whole wheat flour, jaggery

Pineapple Kesari from Letzcook
Ghee, Sooji, Crushed Pineapple

Almond/Badam Halva from Saffron Hut
Ghee, Almonds, Sugar, Milk

Butter Shortbread from My Cook Book
Butter, All purpose flour, Sugar

Pongal from Akshayapatram
Ghee, Rice, Moong Dal, Chana Dal, Jaggery

Tangy Ghee Aloo from Chatpat Food
Ghee, Potatoes, Greenchilis, Lime juice, Sugar, Panch phoran tadka

Goad Bhaat from Food for Thought
Ghee, Rice, Moong Dal, Jaggery, Coconut

Capsicum Rice from My Experiments with Food
Ghee, Bell Pepper, Basmati Rice, Spices

Thank you to everyone that participated in the event this month and I want to thank Indira for providing me the opportunity to host!

Next month's Jihva event is being hosted by Vee of Past, Present and Me. Get details in her Special Edition Jihva post!

Quick Jihva Post

2006-10-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick Jihva related post - it will still be a couple more days by the time I do the round up. But please send in the entries if you have them. The ingredients are butter and ghee!

Jihva for Ghee and Butter - Sunnundalu

2006-10-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

sunnundalu for Jihva for Ghee and Butter

Butter and Ghee are integral ingredients of Indian cooking. They are not only used in cooking but also in a lot of religious Hindu ceremonies. Ghee is considered a "sacred" ingredient.

Ghee is used more extensively than butter atleast in my home. During most of my childhood days, my grandmother always made ghee and sent it to us. My grandparents had farms and they had buffaloes(not the American buffalo) and cows among other animals. So the ghee was pure, fresh and unadulterated, always. I remember my grandmother, meticulously skimming off the cream that forms a layer after boiling milk. She would then save the cream for some days, then churn it, extract the butter. That butter would then be turned into ghee. Then in my teenage years, my mom started making her own ghee which was because of the fact that grandmother wasn't keeping well.

I never ever remember seeing a package of the Amul butter or any store bought butter or ghee in our house. Even now, my mom makes her own ghee. In fact, the first time I used a "stick butter" in my life was when I came to the U.S.

So as you can all tell, I am very happy to host this month's JFI as ghee does hold a special place in my heart.

With ghee, I made an Andhra favorite, "Sunnundalu". This is also one of the specials I made today hence it is Dushera tomorrow. These are so simple to make but it still is so very delicious.

Software
---------------

1 measure urad dal
1/2 measure sugar
Approximately 1/4 measure freshly made ghee
Caradamom powder

Hardware
---------------

One frying pan
One mixing bowl

Method
---------------

Dry roast the urad dal on low heat until golden brown, toasty. Stir often while doing it.
Powder the urad dal until very fine in your favorite grinder.
Powder the sugar until very fine.
Mix the roasted urad dal powder, the sugar and the caradamom powder with your hand until well combined.
Add ghee slowly in installments and mix the flour, sugar mixture while doing it until it the ghee is absorbed so that you can make balls with it.
Make round balls of the laddu and savor as dessert!

PS: The urad dal flour and sugar mixture (without the ghee) can be stored in an air tight container in the refigerator for a couple to three months. When ever a sweet tooth hits you, put some ghee in it and make the laddus :).

Jihva for Ghee and Butter

2006-09-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

I realize that it is a little too late but on popular demand, I have decided to add clarified butter and compound butter to the Jihva ingredients for this month! So it is now "Jihva for Ghee and Butter!". Have fun everyone!

Check out the JFI post here

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Got Milk?

2006-09-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

cookies cooling off on the baking racks

When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, I do not experiment with the recipe a lot. I do not go out searching or looking for new chocolate-chip recipes as the two recipes I have work perfectly! One is an egg-less chewy/cake-like chocolate chip recipe that and the other one is a Nestle Toll House chocolate chip recipe(printed on the back of the nestle tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips pacakge).

I do not have a picture for the eggless recipe but herez the recipe!

Software
---------------

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup plain lowfat yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups combination chocolate chips(semi-sweet, dark and white)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Hardware
---------------

1 small mixing bowl
1 large mixing bowl
electric mixer
cookie sheets

Method
---------------

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt until well combined.
Cream together butter, margarine, the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the low-fat yogurt (I used the home made one) and the extracts, beat until well incorporated.
Add the flour in 3-4 installments mixing/beating well after each addition.
Mix in the chocolate-chips and the walnuts at the very end.
Drop on greased cookie sheets in 1 tbsp quantities (2 inches apart) and bake for about 10-12 mintues or until golden brown on the sides.

For the second recipe, I follow the nestle toll house recipe with slight variations.

Instead of 2 sticks of butter, I use 3/4th stick soy based margarine and 3/4th stick real butter.
Instead of all semi-sweet chocolate chips, I use a combination of dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I increase the vanilla extract quantity to 2 teaspoons and add in a teaspoon of almond extract.

close up of the cookies

PS: The pictures were taken by one of our good friends, K when he came to visit us :)! There...K I gave you credit ;)...

Well and Alive!

2006-09-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

basil flower arrangement from basil flowers picked from P&V's garden

Hello everybody! Just a quick note to let you all know that I am alive and well.

I know I have been absent for a while. I have been cooking a LOT (more than I have ever cooked in my entire life) but haven't been having any time to blog lately! We have been busy entertaining friends at our new house. Someone said "your house must be very warm already" as a joke in reference to the "house-warming" parties we have been having at the house :).

Anyway, I hope to be back in blogging next week atleast for a little while before going dormant again :).

Moist, Dense and Delicious - Zucchini Bread

2006-09-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to welcome Candace from Sugar Daisies into the food blogging world. She started up a baking blog just today so go check it out :)! Good luck, Candace and I cannot wait to try out your recipes!

On to the bread :) - couple of weeks ago, one of my friends that has Zucchini in her garden gave me some. I made some zucchini chutney with some and shredded the rest of it in the food processor and froze it in 2 cup measurements (2 cups coz most bread and muffin recipes seem to ask for 2 cups).

Yesterday, I baked some zucchini bread with it. The bread was the most moist, dense and delicious bread. I made a hybrid recipe out of Elise's zucchini bread with Paula Deen's recipe I found on food network's Website.

zucchini bread, sliced and ready to eat

Software
---------------

3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini*
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsps salt
1/2 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 tsps cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts

* Add in about 1/2 cup of water if using freshly grated zucchini. I eliminated the water since I was using frozen (defrosted) zucchini

Hardware
---------------

2 loaf pans
1 small mixing bowl
1 large mixing bowl/mixer

Method
---------------

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer or using a hand mixer and the large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix on low-medium speed for about 2-3 minutes until well combined and thick. With a wooden spoon, mix in the zucchini.
In the small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg).
Add the dry ingredients gradually into the wet ones, mixing well after each addition. Add in the nuts at the very end.
Pour into the loaf pans, bake for about 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes, invert them on to cooling racks to cool completely.

Thank you Elise for your recipe. It is definitely a keeper :)!

Jihva for Ghee and Butter

2006-09-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Addendum (Sept 21): I realize that it is a little too late but on popular demand, I have decided to add clarified butter and compound butter to the Jihva ingredients for this month! Have fun!

Indira of Mahanandi started a great revolving event that she aptly named "Jihva for Ingredients (JFI)". Indira has a wonderful post about what JFI actually means and what it is is for. Please go read about it right now!

Previous JFI events were hosted by Indira, Baking Fairy, Sailu, Santhi and Vineela!

This month it is my turn to host JFI. When I started thinking about the ingredient I wanted to choose, I had two criteria - an ingredient that is very Indian and also one that went with the "time" of the year. September and October this year are the festival months in India. Hence I am choosing "Ghee" as this month's JFI ingredient.

Now to the "rules specific to this edition of the game" -

Even though people out in the Internet world seem to use the term "clarified butter" and "ghee" interchangably, clarified butter is definitely not ghee. When making ghee from butter, clarified butter is a stage that you have to cross to get to ghee. Clarified butter takes a lot less time to make than ghee. When making clarified butter, since the butter is not cooked for such long time, all of the water and milk solids are not removed from the butter, so clarified butter has a much shorter shelf life and hence a little less flavorful (in my opinion). Unlike butter or clarified butter, ghee can be heated to a much higher temperature and things can actually be deep fried in ghee unlike butter. On this topic Indira mentioned that the "Joy of Cooking" has a section on ghee and clarified butter in the "butter" section (thanks, Indira for pointing that out!).

I would appreciate if all of you take a note of above and make something with ghee rather than with clarified butter. Indira has a great post on how to make ghee. I make my own ghee from unsalted organic butter and here is some fresh ghee that I made last night.

Now to the "general rules that I copied from Indira's event":

1. Prepare a recipe featuring ghee - cook/bake/fry/saute/braise/ with it - do whatever you please but ghee has to be the "star of the show" :).
2. Post the recipe on your blog on October 1st, Sunday.
3. Send me via email (cookingmedley gmail com) - the link to your post and a photo of the entry in 75×75pixel size.
4. Please include the title of post and your blog name.
5. I’ll post an entry along with you on October 1st and also will do the roundup of all the entries that I received by that week’s end.
6. Nostalgic tales, paintings, and drawings, anything related to ghee is welcome from interested general (non-food) bloggers.

So, put on your aprons, have fun and a very happy festive season to everyone!

More on Vinayaka Chathurthi

2006-08-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have been extremely busy both at work and at home. So this post is only going to be pictures. Some of you have asked me what I made on Vinayaka Chathurthi day. I made pulihora, daddojanam, undralla payasam and biyyam (rice) undrallu.

The undrallu payasam is a pretty eloborate payasam and preperation for it starts a couple - three days before the payasam is actually made. I will try and do a write up as soon as I can.

Since Ganesha is at home, I have been making naivedyam for him everyday! On Monday, I made sesame and jaggery laddoos, Tuesday it was sweet potato halwa (I lost the picture of the halwa) and it was semiya payasam this morning!

food on Vinayaka Chathurthi - daddojanam, undralla payasam, biyyam undrallu and lemon rice (top to bottom)

making the undrallu for the undralla payasam

the undrallu all ready to be made into payasam

3 minute sesame seed and jaggery balls

10 min semiya payasam

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi

2006-08-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

home made Ganapthis/Vinayakas/Ganesh with clay and colors

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi to everyone! Enjoy our "home made" Ganapathis. This is how a few of us spent our Friday night last night - by making our own clay Ganeshas. This is the first time I have done and will not be the last time :). This was so much fun!

Angel Hair Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Black Olives and Basil

2006-08-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

angel hair pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, olives and basil

This is another 20 minute meal. Perfect for days like today - we ate a little too much for lunch so something light and refreshing like this is perfect for dinner. Straight to the "recipe".

Software
---------------

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
3.5 oz sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1 tbsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/4 cup milk/half and half
1 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Angel hair pasta

Hardware
---------------

one skillet (NOT a non-stick skillet)
one stock pot for the pasta

Method
---------------

First off, boil water in the pasta pot for the angel hair.
Put the non-stick skillet on medium heat, add the oil. Add in the garlic and the onions, fry until translucent.
Add in the red pepper, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, freshly ground black pepper and salt.
The pasta water should be boiling by now. Add in the pasta and some salt. Let the pasta cook.
Cook the sauce for about 3-4 minutes then add in the milk/half and half and deglaze the pan. Turn off the heat, add about 3/4th of the basil.
Toss the sauce with the pasta, serve. Garnish with the rest of the basil.

sun-dried tomato pasta sauce cooking

Update: As per Vaishali of Happy Burp's idea I am inlcuding this "extra" - When I was gathering ingredients from the refrigerator to make this pasta, my eyes did fall on the jar of half used capers and I thought of putting them at the end but I completely forgot about it until I was done eating the pasta. But a tablespoon or two of capers, added at the very end right before the milk would go very well with this pasta. Also, instead of the milk, one could deglaze the pan with some wine if you like going that route :).

Sauteed Paneer Spinach and Carrots

2006-08-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

sauteed paneer, spinach and carrots with phulkas
(the phulkas are made of 3/4 parts whole-wheat flour and 1/4 parts golden temple atta)

Tonight was one of those nights - the nights when I come home with a thoughtout plan for what to make for dinner but then something happens which affects the plans I had in mind. I wanted to make "chamadumpala pulusu" (colacasia in tamarind gravy) with phulkas but upon opening the cabinets, I found that I waited too long to make the dish. The colacasia I got were already bad and had white spots on them (ewww) - had to pitch them. Then I frantically looked in the freezer and didn't find any veggies that I wanted to cook with but found some home made paneer. In the refrigerator were some carrots and a bag of baby spinach. I made a quick decision and decided to whip up something with what I had on hand. What I should say is that it was a HUGE hit. We loved the end result. The most appealing aspect of this dish is that it took all of 20 minutes to make it (It will probably take me more time to actually type out this recipe).

Software
---------------

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp each of cumin and mustard seeds
1 small onion, finely diced
5 green chilis, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 carrots, finely diced
10-12 one inch paneer cubes
10 oz bag baby spinach
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 pinch garam masala (roasted cinnamon, cloves, caradamom and shahjeera powder in equal amounts)
salt, to taste
handful chopped cilantro (optional)

Hardware
---------------

One medium sauce pan with a lid

Method
---------------

To start off, put the finely chopped carrots in a microwave safe vessel, sprinkle about a couple of tablespoons of water and microwave covered for about 4 mins until the carrot is soft but not mushy.
Put the sauce pan on medium heat, add the cumin and mustard seeds. Let them splutter.
Add the green chilis, onions and garlic, fry until onions are translucent.
Then add in the microwaved carrots and the paneer. Add in the salt. Cook for a couple of minutes stirring often. As you stir crumble up the paneer.
Add the baby spinach. The spinach may act like it doesn't want to get in the saucepan, but just jam it in there and close the lid and cook on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.
Open the lid and the spinach should all be wilted, stir well.
Check the salt and add the coriander and the garam masala powders. Turn off the heat.
Garnish with cilantro.

Dessert tonight was Elise's Banana Bread with vanilla icecream and a drizzle of some hot fudge. The only change I made to Elise's recipe is that I added 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and added in about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts. Thank you, Elise. That recipe is a keeper - so easy to remember and simple to make. Made the most moist and delicious banana bread!

banana bread w/ vanilla icecream and hot fudge

Home Grown Tomatoes - Tomato "Roti" Pachadi - GBP Project

2006-08-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

tomatoes of different shapes and sizes

Well...we moved but still have some unpacking to do which I am not sure will ever get done ;). All my friends tell me that it is "normal" to have some boxes that are left unpacked. We unpacked everything that we "see" lying around in the house on a regular basis but the boxes that were put in the garage during the move are the boxes that we haven't touched.

I thought I would do a quick post before I loose all my blog readers :).

The following is a picture of the tomatoes on the one and only one plant I planted in a 20 inch pot when I was in the apartment. It is still in the pot in the new house and has been doing pretty good, if I may add. It hasn't given me enough tomatoes to actually make a pachadi out of it but the three tomatoes that I harvested from this plant, combined with another couple of tomatoes given to me by my friend Laurie and others that I bought from the local produce market made some awesome pachadi. This will also be my first contribution to the GBP project that L.G is hosting over at her place.

the tomato plant in a pot

Back home in India, 'Roti pachadis' are generally made in a stone mortar and pestle by hand. I remember my grandmother, meticulously grinding these awesome pachadis in the "pachadi" mortar and pestle. Their entire house had about 4-5 different kind of stone mortar and pestles - different ones for different uses and different ingredients.

Any whoo, coming to the tomato pachadi - there are a gazillion different ways of doing it. My recipe is from mom and it is so simple that you can still taste the tomatoes without the over powering taste of anything else.

Software
---------------

Tomatoes - I did not keep track of how many I used. I used all of the large tomatoes that you see in the picture + another half of the small roma ones you see in the picture
Green chilis - 2-3 sliced
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp (or more if you like the heat)
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Salt - to taste
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

For the tadka/popu
---------------------

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves, broken

Hardware
---------------

one sauce pan
one small pan for the tadka
Blender/food processor

Method
---------------

Put the 1 tsp oil in the sauce pan, add the green chilies and the tomatoes. Cook on medium to medium-high heat until tomatoes are all cooked and water evaporates from them. The tomatoes should resemble a thick mass.
Add the cumin, coriander powder, chili powder and salt and turn off the heat. Let it cool a bit.
Put the tomatoes in the blender or food processor and process until smooth.

For the tadka
---------------

Put the oil in the small pan. Add the chana dal and the urad dal, fry for a minute or so. Add in the cumin and the mustard seeds wait until they splutter. Add the curry leaves. Turn off the heat and add the tadka to the chutney.

tomato chutney

PS: The chutney goes well with dal and rice or chapathis. The tadka can be skipped and the chutney could be used as a sandwich/tortilla spread. For a sweet version of the chutney, skip the chili powder, reduce the salt to a pinch and add in some sugar!

Colorful Colorado - Part I

2006-07-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

First off, I apologize because this is a non-food related post. I have been cooking and taking pictures but haven't had the time to sit and write up the blog entries. I first logged in to post some of my living room pictures - covered with packed moving boxes and then I wandered over to Linda's blog where she had posted some amazing pictures of the rockies. I then changed my mind and decided to post some of my vacation pictures from last month - also of Colorado. Who would have liked to look at pictures of moving boxes, anyway?

One view of the blue-mesa river, taken on our way from Salida to Silverton

Million dollar highway is a 70 mile stretch from Ouray through Silverton and ultimately to Durango. We drove from Ouray to Silverton, rode a bus from Silverton to Durango and then a train from Durango back to silverton, then drove ourselves again from Silverton to Ouray onto Colorado Springs. Whew! that was a long sentence :).

The redmountains as we saw them from the million dollar highway

Another of the million dollar highway pictures

The Silverton-Durango train chugging away in harmony with the Animas river

A picturesque view of a lake on the Silverton to Durango train trip

Another view of the lake

The baby gorilla, Umande at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. Since his mother would not take care of him, there was a care-taker that was there with him all the time to look after him

Baby Gorilla, Umande at the Cheyenne Moutain Zoo, taking the help of his helper to get out of his crate

One of the many canyon views of the black canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Box canyon water falls in Ouray, CO

I will post other pictures as and when I get a chance and I promise, I will return to food blogging as soon as I am done with a little thing called moving!

Back in time for some Refreshing Summer Drinks

2006-07-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I am back, atleast for a little while. Feels like the last time I blogged it was still Spring.

Thank you to all of you that checked up on me. I am very sorry about my long absence from the blog world. Now my excuses as to why I didn't blog - first it was a work trip, then a vacation and then a little event called buying a house :). Yes, that is right, we have decided to make the biggest purchase of our lives, unless ofcourse we make so much money that we end up buying one of these - but I wouldn't put any money on that happening though! We are closing and moving within the next few weeks so my blog posts will be sporadic all through July and a good part of August. I am pretty psyched about moving into the house. For starters, the kitchen in the house is three times the size of my tiny apartment kitchen and I cannot wait to cook in the new house!

These are a couple of summer drinks I made in the last week or so when the mercury here topped at high 90s with 90% humidity.

spiced berry banana smoothie

First up is a spiced berry banana smoothie - I put about 8-9 frozen strawberries, 1 cup of frozen blueberries, 1 banana, 1 cup of plain homemade yoghurt and topped the blender with about 1-2 cups of milk so it reaches the 40 oz mark on the blender. I then added a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and a 1/2 a tsp of cinnamon, blended it all together for a refreshing summer drink.

Next in line is a very easy watermelon juice drink - I put some seedless watermelon chunks in the blender, added some blackpepper, blended it all together. The drink was ready to savour.

I hope you all are enjoying the Summer as much as I am :). Stay cool, everyone!

Amrutham - food of the Gods

2006-06-12T20:04:00.001-07:00

Amrutham (a dessert of carrots,almonds cooked in milk)
Bowl in pic was robbed from A's kitchen

Well, it really does taste like food of the Gods. Ambrosia would be the closest translation to the Sanskrit word Amrutham. One of our friends Mohan had brought this dessert to a potluck party on Tamil New Year day back in April. I really liked the dessert so I asked him for a recipe. He sent the recipe to me the very next day but I somehow never got around to making it. Finally, this last weekend, I made it at another of our friend A's home. It is definitely much more fun cooking in A's big, spacious and airy kitchen. It makes cooking all the more fun.

I am just doing a copy paste of the recipe that Mohan had sent me. Yes, folks he really did send me the detailed instructions :) that you see. Thank you Mohan for the recipe and thank you A for giving me a chance to actually make it :).

Software
---------------

4-6 carrots
2-3 tbsp ghee/Clarified butter
½ gallon milk - whole or 2%
1 cup almonds peeled, unpeeled, or sliced, powdered
15 kernels cashews, split into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup raisins
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar (optional)
6 cardamom pods, powdered
6 cloves, powdered

Hardware
---------------

One grater
One sauce pan

Method
---------------

Wash and peel 4-6 medium sized carrots, and grate them finely.
In a big pan, saute the grated carrots with 2-3 table sppons of ghee.
Once the carrots are partly cooked, pour 3-4 cups of milk, let ot boil, and stir occasionally until carrots are very softly cooked.
Carefully mix powdered almonds adding required amount of milk; break any lumps, and make a smooth paste.
In instalments, add the almond paste to the cooked carrots; stir continuously to avoid lumping.
Add condensed milk, stir to make a homogeneous mixture.
Add the sugar, stir to dissolve; allow to boil for a while.
The required consistency is like a payasam/paramanam. Add more milk, or boil to thicken as needed.
Taste the Amrutham, add more sugar, if needed.
If the consistency and sweetness are OK, remove the pan from heat.
Add powdered elaichi and cloves.
Heat a smaller pan with 1 table spoon of ghee; stir & fry cashews until light brown; add to Amrutham.
Reheat the smaller pan with 1 table spoon of ghee; stir & fry raisins until 75% of raisins bulge; add to Amrutham.
Mix the Amrutham well, serve either hot or cold or however.

Since this has carrots in it, a great antioxidant rich veggie, I am sending this over to lovely Cate of Sweetnicks for her weekly ARF/5-a-day roundup.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2006-06-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

Two of my friends celebrated their birthdays last week and I baked them cakes.

First up is a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I found the recipe from the joy of baking website, here. I pretty much used the recipe as is except for the eggs. Instead of 4 eggs, I only used 2. I also doubled the frosting recipe since I was going to frost the sides and decorate the cake as well.

Here are some pictures from the project.

carrot cake layers all ready to be frosted with wax paper put cut into small pieces put under the cake to catch the frosting

first layer of frosting applied (the crumb layer), the cake went into the fridge for an hour before the second layer of frosting

after the second layer of frosting is applied, the cake is being decorated. I put the colored frosting in a ziplock bag and poked a hole at the end to use it as a piping bag

another picture of the cake being decorated

carrot cake all decorated and ready for the birthday girl

I will post the second cake pictures next week. This is my entry to Tony's weekend curry mela.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Whole Wheat Penne with Creamy Basil & Veggie Sauce

2006-06-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

whole-wheat penne in creamy veggie sauce

What do you do when you have a whole lot of fresh veggies left over and some fresh basil? You make some good pasta :) and send it over to Cate for her weekly ARF/5-a-day round up!

All the veggies mentioned in the recipe can be used as is, some new ones can be thrown in or some of them can be substituted with others - like spinach can be substituted in place of the mustard greens etc.

Software
---------------

10 oz whole-wheat penne pasta
1 sm. onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen brocolli
2 cups of fresh mustard greens/spinach, chopped
9-10 baby carrots, cut in circles
1 small zucchini, cubed
15-20 cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
2 green onions sliced in circles
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt, to taste
milk, about 2 cups
1/2 cup basil leaves, chopped ingredients for the pasta sauce
1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Hardware
---------------

One large saucepan for the pasta
One medium-small saucepan for the sauce

Method
---------------

Put a large saucepan of water on heat. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking make the sauce as below.
Put the smaller sauce pan on medium high heat. Add the oil.
After the oil heats up, add the onion and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent.
Add the carrots, zucchini and brocolli. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the mustard greens, tomatoes and two thirds of the green onion. Add the black pepper, red pepper flakes (if using), salt and cook for about 2-4 minutes until the greens wilt and the tomatoes and soft to touch.

pasta sauce before adding the milk

Add the milk (about 2 cups) so all the veggies are well covered. Cook until the milk comes to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add the parmesan cheese and two thirds of the chopped basil.

pasta sauce already to roll

Mix in the sauce with the pasta, add in the rest of the basil and the green onions. Serve.

Kitchen Notes: The reddish tinge in the pasta totally came from the small cherry tomatoes.
You may need to add more milk depending on the amount of veggies you add.

Cool Refreshing Summer Drink - Strawberry Limeade

2006-06-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Straight to the "recipe" (not) :)

6 oz or 1/2 can frozen limeade mix (like Minute Maid)
1 1/2 cup chopped strawberries
About 3-4 cups water (enough to make 40 oz mark on the blender)

Put everything in the blender, blend well, enjoy with a sliced strawberry!

Jihva for Ingredients - Cool and Refreshing Strawberry, Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad

2006-06-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

I am back and first off I want to thank you all for your support and wishes for VKN's Cooking Competetion. There are not enough words to express my gratitude for all the love and affection you all have shown! It made me feel so special!

Back to blogging - coming up later tonight on your favorite browsers is my Jihva for Ingredients submission - cool and refreshing strawberry and spinach salad! Stay tuned!

Here's presenting the strawberry, spinach & mandarin orange salad! (Yes, I added the mandarin oranges as a last minute thing. They are totally optional)

strawberry spinach and mandarin orange salad

With my break, I had totally forgotten about the Jihva for ingredients that Baking Fairy is hosting this month. We got invited to go to a lakeside bbq tonight and were asked to bring a covered dish. I decided to make a strawberry and spinach salad as I thought that would be a cool and refreshing treat to everyone. I got home last night with strawberries and spinach, prepped the strawberries (cleaned, hulled, sliced) and spinach (cleaned, dried, chopped) and that is when I remembered the Jihva event. I am just amazed at how little things like this can make me so happy!

Coming to strawberries - unlike last the month's ingredient (the Mango), I do not have any childhood memories associated with strawberries. When I was in India, this fruit (atleast in my region) was not so common. I ate it occasionally with icecream in icecream parlours/shops. When I came to the US, strawberries quickly became one of my favorite fruits in the U.S. People who know me know that whenever I am asked to buy icecream, I always buy either a strawberry or a chocolate icecream. I just love the sweet, succulent strawberries. Though I never eat fast food (McDonalds, Wendys etc) I do indulge in Sonic's strawberry shake once in a while. It is the best :) in my opinion.

This recipe is adapted from many different strawberry and spinach salad recipes out there in the internet world. I modified the recipes along the way to my own taste. It is very simple to make and 90% of the work can be done ahead of time. I am going to be deviating from my usual software, hardware and method style as this is very simple recipe and I don't want to make it look too complicated by adding all that jargon :)!

Put the following together in a large bowl and refrigerate until chilled:

2 bunches fresh spinach, cleaned, dried and coarsely chopped into bite sized peices
4 cups strawberries, cleaned, hulled and sliced
one 15 oz can drained mandarin oranges, juice reserved (optional)

Mix the following together until the sugar dissolves in a medium sized bowl and refrigerate until chilled:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1/2 cup reserved mandarin orange juice
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch chilie powder/cayenne pepper
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

For the candied almonds (optional)

click on pics for enlarged images

1/2 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 large pinch ground cinnamon
1 cup silvered almonds

Melt the butter and brown sugar on medium heat on a pan(takes about 4-5 min) and add the almonds and the cinnamon. Stir the almonds constantly so as to avoid them sticking to each other as much as possible for about 5-6 minutes until golden brown! Transfer to a wax paper, seperate the almonds as much as possible and let cool.

Pulling everything together

Mix the dressing thoroughly with the first set of ingredients (spinach, strawberries and oranges). Add candied almonds as a topping. Enjoy!

Thank you Baking Fairy for hosting this wonderful Jihva for Strawberries event!

Short Blogging Break

2006-05-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

The Great Sand Dunes and the Colorado Mountains

I am going to be on a short blogging break. I meant to post this yesterday but couldn't get a chance to. I hope to be back sometime next week. I am leaving you all with a picture of the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, taken last Summer on our trip there.

Spice is Right - Ginger Shortbread Cookie bars

2006-05-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

gingered shortbread cookie bars

Barbara of Tigers and Strawberries has a revolving monthly event called Spice is Right! Read about this month's theme on Barbara's blog. I did not have the time to submit one for last month and I told myself that I was going to make something for this month. I said this to myself so many times that I totally forgot about it, well, until late Sunday night! So, it had to be a quick and easy recipe. The first spice that came to my mind was chile powder. I had seen Emerill use chile powder on one of his shows to create a dessert and that stuck in my head. I started googling for chile infused desserts and came across some chocolate cakes, chocolate cupcakes that were chile infused. Some how that seemed a little more work. I then starting flipping through my cookbooks. I was looking at my "Best-loved Cookies" book and I stumbled on shortbread cookies. I hadn't made them in a while and as soon as I saw the cookies, I started thinking about spice options. I first thought chile powder but thought faded away from the mind pretty soon as it did not really sound very appealing. So I went with ginger instead.

I do not even remember when my first association with ginger began. Probably when my mom used to recruit me to help her clean all the dirt off the ginger after she brought it home. Yes people, don't be surprised now, ginger used (still probably does) to come with dirt back in India. It was red, clay consistency mud ("erra matti" literally meaning red dirt) that the ginger had all over when it was first bought. I am not sure if the ginger actually grew in that type of dirt or if store owners just kept it in that dirt to "preserve" it. Any enlightenment on this topic will be appreciated. The "ginger cleaning" ritual became even more rigorous in the Summers. That is because that is when my grandmother and mother did their pickling (mango mainly) and we needed ginger in large quantities for that. There used be kilos and kilos of ginger that all of us kids (cousins, siblings) helped clean and scrape. I just loved the way ginger smelled, so I didn't mind that chore at all.

It seemed to me like my family put ginger in (what seemed like) almost everything savory. They put it in tea, curries, mainly non-vegetarian dishes (lamb, chicken, fish etc), fried vegetables, savory items (murukku etc). If you pay attention to my recipes, you will see that I carry the "ginger gene" in me too. I tend to put ginger in almost everything. The major culture shock to me with ginger was when I first took a bite of the ginger snap cookies almost 4 years ago. That was the first time I realized that ginger is used in sweet dishes too. Now, it doesn't really seem very wierd to me to put ginger in sweet stuff but if you had talked to me half a decade ago, I probably would have gagged at the idea ;).

ginger

Even though I got the short bread idea from the cookbook, I did not follow that recipe. I used a recipe from a friend from my previous work place. It is a very simple, "wake-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-I-will-rattle-it-off" kind of recipe. Here's the recipe!

Software
---------------

1 cup flour
1 heaping teaspoon corn starch
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp ground fresh ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger

Hardware
---------------

One 9 inch cake pan
One small mixing bowl

the short-bread ready to go in the oven

Method
---------------

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
Cover the cake pan with aluminium foil for easy clean up. This step is of course optional.
Mix all the ingredients under the software list and press the dough into the cake pan until it is evenly pressed.
Poke holes all over the top with a fork.
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and using a knife, score the cookie and cut into desired shapes.
Put it back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until the cookie is lightly browned.
Let it cool in the pan and break of the already scored cookie pieces.

Some Kitchen Notes:

The first four ingredients in the list are the original shortbread recipe. I just added the ginger to it. This cookie was unbelievably delicious. When I bit into a piece that had the actual ginger in it, it was heavenly.
I add a teaspoon of vanilla to the regular shortbread cookies if I am making them without the ginger.

Easy, Breezy Saturday Brunch

2006-05-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

counter-clock wise direction: idli, peanut chutney, vellulli karam (garlic & spice powder) with ghee, mullangi (radish) pappu charu and fruit (mango & cantaloupe)

It was easy because it only took me a few minutes to throw this together. Breezy coz it is very windy outside today, but a very beautiful day neverthless! This is what we ate for our brunch this Saturday morning. I had idli, peanut chutney and mullangi pappu chaaru/sambhar in the freezer that I thawed and re-heated. I had made this last week and freezed some of it. While the food was in the microwave, I got busy cutting up some fresh fruit - cantaloupe and mango. Brunch was ready! See that is one of the pleasures of freezing food. It works for those days that are really crazy and hectic.

Shrimp Curry (in a spicy onion, tomato, tamarind sauce)

2006-05-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

shrimp curry

This is my entry to always energetic Anthony's Curry Mela for this weekend!

It is hard to believe that this is my first non-vegetarian post on this blog. I do eat chicken, some fish and shrimp but I don't cook with them that often. That are a few reasons why that happens/has been happening lately. Whenever we go out to eat, almost 90 percent of the time I order non-vegetarian. So, when I cook at home, I feel like eating vegetables. The other thing that contributed to my sparse non-vegetarian eating habits is that, for the past 8 weeks, I was a part of a group "walking" program where we were supposed to walk and also count the fruits and veggies we eat each day. So, every time I thought of cooking something non-vegetarian, the thought that I couldn't count them came to my mind and I just refrained buying meat at the grocery store.

Growing up, my mom never cooked shrimp at home. I think she just didn't like the taste and smell of shrimp! Although, my dad was a "shrimp eater", he always had to eat it outside since he couldn't make it on his own :). For some reason, since my mom never made it at home, I wouldn't eat it anywhere else too. My mom did cook other sea food though. The fish pickle that she makes is just out of this world. YUM! For that matter all the non-vegetarian pickles she makes are really good - the mutton pickle, the chicken pickle, just thinking about them makes my mouth water! For a person who doesn't "eat" non-veg she is an amazing non-veg cook! Yeah, that is right, my mom doesn't eat non-vegetarian but she does cook it for the family and guests! We have seperate utensils at home that she cooks non-veg in :). Yeah, is pretty funny to watch her cook non-vegetarian trying to avoid touching everything else and only managing with the few utensils set out for this particular task :)).

Back to shrimp, I never ate shrimp until I came to the U.S few years ago. I don't remember the first time I ate it either. It must have been at a friends house when I was studying here. I really did not like the way it tasted, so never cooked with it. But all that changed when I went to Chilis/Carlos O Kellys (don't remember which one) couple of years ago and I ordered a dish and the waitress said that for a couple of bucks extra, I could get an order of grilled shrimp that will be placed on top of the dish. I thought I would try it and told her that I would like a side of it not mixed in with my actual meal. The shrimp that she brought was so yummy! It was grilled, sprinkled with some lemon juice and that totally changed my view on shrimp.

Now that you know my entire association with shrimp, back to this post. This shrimp curry is a spicy, yet tasty concoction. It goes really well with jeera rice or even plain basmati rice. The spices in this recipe can toned down (or up) to your liking.

First a few kitchen notes

I skip the marination part if I am really in a hurry. Instead of the 30 minutes I specify, I sometimes do it for about 10-15 minutes, the time it takes me to chop all the other veggies/spices up.
The cumin + caradamom + cloves powder can be substitued with regular garam masala but the taste will definitely be different. I usually grind this masala up and store in the refrigerator for a month or so to use in different dishes.

Software
---------------

shrimp marinating

For the marination

1 tsp salt
1 pinch red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp fresh lemon/lime juice

For the Curry

1 pound raw, shelled and deveined large shrimp (about 50-60 shrimps)
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 Indian green chilis, slit length wise
2 tbsp garlic chopped fine
2 tbsp ginger, chopped fine
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 large tomato, chopped fine
gooseberry sized tamarind, soaked in hot water, juice extracted
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut
1 heaping tbsp cinnamon + caradamom + cloves powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp chili powder (I think I added more than that, so this can adjusted to your liking)
salt, to taste
2-3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Hardware
---------------

One sauce pan
small bowl for marination

Method
---------------

Toss the ingredients for the marination for together with the shrimp. Set aside in the refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes.
Put the sauce pan on medium high heat, add the oil.
After the oil heats up add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger, fry until onions are translucent.
Add the turmeric powder, stir.
Add the tomatoes and fry until they are mushy.
Add all the masalas, the caradamom + cloves + cinnamon powder, the coriander powder, the chili powder, salt, coconut and stir.
After a minute or so add the tamarind juice, another cup of water and bring to a rolling boil.
Add the shrimp, add more water if necessary, the gravy should be too watery. Cook the shrimp until they are done (which is very quick, about 5-6 minutes), take off the heat.
Add the mint and the coriander leaves.

As I said before, this curry should be spicy and full of flavor. This should not taste sour at all. The tomatoes and the tamarind impart a good flavor and taste to the dish but they should not dominate the taste. The dominant ingredients in this dish are the spices and the shrimp.

Jihva For Mango Recipes - Pudding and Pachadi

2006-05-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I tried out two different recipes from the "Jihva for Mangoes" event that lovely Indira of Mahanandi hosted. I glanced through the recipes and looked for something easy to make and two different kinds of recipes caught my attention. The mango payasam or pudding versions made by Santhi and Sailu. The other recipe that looked really good was the mango thokku/pachadi recipes made by Lakshmi, Menu Today, Kitchen Mate and Santhi.

Mango Pudding / Payasam

mango payasam garnished with shallow fried golden raisins and cashews

I followed Santhi's recipe entirely for the mango pudding except that - I boiled the milk in a microwavable container until it came to a boil so I didn't have to keep stirring it on the stove top. I do this trick everytime I need to boil milk and it works perfectly. I also added about 4 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk at the very end and fried up some cashews and raisins in a tablespoon of ghee/clarfied butter and added it to the pudding at the very end.

Mango Pachadi/Thokku

mango pachadi/chutney/thokku

After looking at all the mango thokku recipes, I mostly followed Kitchen Mate's recipe, except for the methi seeds and the gingelly oil. Instead of the methi seed powder, I added the powder (chana dal, urad dal, coriander seeds, methi seeds, jeera, red chilis) I had prepared for the spinach chutney.

grating the raw mango

Software
---------------

1 cup peeled,grated raw mango
1 red chili broken into pieces
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp - 1 tsp chili powder
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
hing, a pinch
1 tbsp of the afore mentioned spice mixture
salt to taste

Hardware
---------------

one small sauce pan

Method
---------------

Put the sauce pan on medium heat. Add one tbsp of oil, add the mustard seeds and the red chili pieces. After the mustard seeds splutter, add the hing and the grated mango, stir for a couple of minutes.
Add the turmeric powder, cook for another 5-10 minutes until the raw smell goes away. Add the chili powder, spice mixture, salt and stir for another few minutes.
Add in the other 2 tbsp of oil and stir and turn off the heat.

Both recipes turned out really good. The pudding was really yummy with just a hint of mango in every bite. The chutney was sour, spicy and GOOD! With hot rice and ghee it tasted delicious. Thank you Santhi and Kitchen Mate for the recipes!

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins - ARF/5-a-day

2006-05-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

chocolate-chip banana-nut muffins, chocolate cupcake, and baby bananas

First off, I will try to explain the picture above as the picture may not be worth 1000 words in this case. I don't want any of my blog readers thinking I burnt the muffins :).

The regular light brown looking things are the chocolate-chip banana nut muffins. The dark chocolate cupcake you see above is what I made from my leftover chocolate cupcake batter from last Sunday. I had put the extra in the refrigerator, tightly covered in a container. Before I baked it, I put it in the microwave defrost cycle for a couple of minutes until it regained its consistency. I added some white chocolate chips on top of the cupcakes. On to the bananas. I think this variety of bananas are called baby-bananas. These are NOT the bananas I used in the recipe. They are the smaller version bananas and I bought from the Oriental store last week. These bananas are slender and only about 4-5 inches in length. The skin of these bananas is very thin compared to the thick flesh of the regular bananas. I also feel that these bananas taste a LOT sweeter than the regular bananas. In Telugu, my native language, these are called "chekkara keli" (chekkara meaning sugar, keli meaning banana originated from the Hindi word "kela" meaning banana).

Now on to my post, I try to participate in Cate's ARF/5-a-day that happens every Tuesday as much as I can. My previous entries to this event were Kiwi jam, Quesadillas and Guacamole, Yu Choy dal/lentils, Spinach chutney with chapathi chips, Penne with creamy veggie sauce.

This week though, Cate put a twist to the whole thing. She asked us bloggers to find ARF/5-a-day worthy recipes from other food bloggers site. As soon as I saw that, I thought to myself, "that is going to be easy" but alas as you will read below, it wasn't easy choosing what to make.

On Sunday afternoon I set the laptop on the dining table and started blog hopping. After a few minutes, I was over whelmed with a plethora of choices to choose from. A realization sunk in that I need to do something else than just blog hopping to figure this out. I made up a condition for myself to make this easier. I decided that I would have to come up with something that uses ingredients that I already had on hand.

I got up, glanced at the raw materials in the refrigerator, peeked in the cabinets to see what I had on hand. Now, once again I started blog hopping. Few more minutes later, I was even more confused on what I was going to make. Then my eyes fell on the bananas that were on the banana holder on the table on the counter. I noticed that they were I had 3 bananas that were a little on the ripe side, and one overly ripe banana (very squishy to touch) kind. I knew exactly what I was going to make - Banana nut muffins. I have made these muffins a lot of times before but have never ever used the same recipe. That was mostly because, I would forget where I got the recipe from. I then remembered that Saffron Hut had made some banana nut muffins and they looked really good. I looked up the recipe, bookmarked it and went about my day!

I did make modifications to the recipe i.e. made it a little more unhealthy (which is very unlike me :)). I usually try to add healthy ingredients, reduce the unhealthy ingredients when I am baking but today, I did the opposite. Being a chocoholic that I am, I had to add chocolate to this :). Hence they became Banana nut - chocolate chip muffins.

The modifications I made to this recipe are that I added 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of regular sugar instead of the 3/4 regular sugar. Being a spiceaholic that I am, I threw in some nutmeg and cinnamom. I added some good vanilla. As I said above, I added about 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the party!

Now to the exact recipe!

Software
---------------

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4 ripe bananas (I had 3 medium ripe and 1 overly ripe banana), mashed thoroughly
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter (unsalted)
1 tbsp vanilla
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
about 30-36 chocolate chips

Hardware
---------------

one small mixing bowl
one large mixing bowl
one muffin tin
paper muffin cups (optional)

Method
---------------

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon) into the large mixing bowl.
Mix all the wet ingredients (melted butter, mashed bananas, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla) in the small mixing bowl (and yes, the sugar is considered a "wet ingredient", atleast according to Alton Brown).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork or spoon so all the ingredients are well incorporated. (or just put on some food safe gloves and mix it up with your hands).
Set aside 2-3 tbsp of walnuts. Add the rest of the walnuts and the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into the batter and mix well.
Put the paper muffin cups in the muffin pan, fill the cups until they are a little more than 3/4 full.
Add about 2-3 chocolate chips and a few walnuts on top of the 3/4th filled muffin cups.
Bake them for about 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the muffins are brown on top.

Thank you Saffron Hut for the recipe and thank you Cate for hosting the event.

Easy, Speedy, Tasty - Egg Bhurji Frittata Style

2006-05-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

Warning: No skillets were injured when making this recipe :) - read below for what I mean :)

Last week,came home from work one day, very tired with no energy to cook anything that would take a lot of time. I immediately thought of egg bhurgi with just onions. When I was in school here, I made this quite often when I was pressed on time. On one of those ocasions, I was in the process of making egg bhurji and one of my roomates asked me if I could try NOT to scramble the eggs. She asked me if I could try leaving them on the skillet on low heat so they cook all the way through without the need to scrambling them. She said her mom did it that way. I used to leave the eggs undisturbed on low heat for a while until they were set and flip it carefully if the top looked like it needed some cooking.

I started with the intention of making what I usually make but this time as I started chopping my onions, gathering other ingredients when I thought I would take this one step further by making a desi frittata out of it. I was only using 3 eggs, and I did not have a small enough oven-safe skillet. I then remembered Rachael Ray saying one time that her mom never distinguished between an oven safe skillet and a regular one. She went on to say that her mom always put aluminium foil on the handles and put the skillet in the oven. I decided to do it this way too and it turned out perfect. I wrapped the plastic handle of my skillet atleast 5-6 times with heavy duty aluminium foil before putting it in the oven!

I put grated carrots in this recipe, because I had only one lonely carrot in the refrigerator all by itself and I just decided remedy it of its lonlieness by pairing it up with some eggs and onions :). I really loved the crunch the carrot imparted to the bhurji. It is going to be my intentional addition from now on.

I know the ingredients list seems long for the title but believe me, it doesn't get easier than this :).

Now on to the recipie:

Software
---------------

1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 garlic, finely sliced
one big carrot, grated
1 small roma tomatoes
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 Indian green chili, chopped fine
1 tsp coriander powder
1 pinch cumin powder
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
3-4 tbsp crumbled paneer
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp chopped cilantro and chopped mint
salt to taste

Hardware
---------------

one small oven safe skillet or do what I did at your own risk :)

Method
---------------

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat the skillet on medium heat, add the onions, chilis and the garlic. Fry for a minute.
Add the grated carrots, tomatoes fry for another 1-2 minutes. Add the salt, cumin, coriander powder, chili powder an stir.
Add the eggs and cook for a minute or so. I usually make a slit with a flat wooden spoon in the middle and get the uncooked egg to flow in to the crack, eventually making it to the bottom of the pan.
Put the crumbled paneer, mint and cilantro and after the mixture is about half set, put the pan in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until the frittata is golden brown.

Serving Suggestion: We ate this up with some frozen store bought rotis and it was yum! But this could be served by itself on a brunch or for breakfast.

Green Market and a Thai Salad for Friday Lunch

2006-05-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday night, there is a "green market" here in our town outside an organic food store under the building's awning. Local farmers who grow different veggies and greens put up stalls late afternoon. All the produce is hence organic and freshly picked. In addition to the fresh produce, they also have some baked goods like bread, baklava, organic chicken eggs etc. This is different than the regular Saturday morning farmers market that happens all through the Summer into the Fall.

I went over there after work yesterday. I had actually forgotten about this market when I went grocery shopping over the weekend. Since I already had an over flowing refrigerator, I couldn't shop as much as I wanted to. But I did buy some fresh "spicy greens" for salad, some fresh radishes and half a dozen eggs.

So, I put together a salad for lunch tomorrow with the greens and radishes.

Here is how I did it:

I cleaned the greens and radishes, chopped up about two of the radishes, also chopped up about 3 baby carrots, added lightly toasted almonds and walnuts for crunch. For the dressing, I used Jamie Oliver's Thai Salad Dressing. I didn't have any basil on hand so I just used fresh mint instead. I also omitted the red chili and instead went with a teaspoon of the wasabi paste for the kick (And I know wasabi is not exactly Thai but it is good, isn't it?). I also omitted the garlic cloves since I did not want to eat uncooked garlic in the middle of the afternoon at work!

Have a good weekend everybody!

A basket full of chocolate cupcakes!

2006-05-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

Update on May 05: Tony was kind enough to feature this in his weekend curry mela. Go check out the mela to see what other foodies have submitted!

Well..the basket of cupcakes didn't stay as full for long. They were gone very quickly! This is what I made late Sunday night when a "something chocolate" craving hit us. I thought of making pudding first but I didn't have any cream on hand so settled for the cupcakes. And the thought of letting the pudding cool in the refrigerator before we can devour it did not appeal to me. As I said, it was kind of late at night!

These cupcakes are very easy to make and take only 15-20 minutes of prep time. The rest of the time is baking time. Unless I am baking cupcakes for a party/give away, I never frost my cupcakes so I can avoid the extra sugar and all the work. I just sprinkle them with some decorative sprinklers or just a dusting of powdered sugar will satisfy my "frosting" desire!

I got the basic recipe from Hershey's Website. They are called "Spring Surprise Chocolate Cupcakes". I have made "filling/surprise" cupcakes before where a "surprise filling" is put in the cupcake and baked. When someone bites into the cupcake, they may either bite into the filling or see the filling and get "surprised"! Get it? I have done a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling, fresh raspberry filling, any kind of fruit jelly/jam fillings etc. Basically the surprise filling can be anything you fancy, just that if you put something heavy, you may risk the filling dropping to the bottom of the cupcake which is not such a good thing. May be next time I bake cupcakes, I will put a surprise filling in so I can capture that on the camera!

As with every recipe, I make, I did modify this recipe quite a bit. I added in flax seed flour, some nuts, some more chocolate, in a typical Rachael Ray style added some nutmeg, added salt, reduced the sugar etc. Here goes my recipe!

Software
---------------

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flax seed flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa or dark cocoa
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg powder
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts
1 tbsp confectioners/powdered sugar

Hardware
---------------

one muffin pan
one large mixing bowl
one sifter
one small sifter

Method
---------------

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the flour, salt and the baking soda into the large mixing bowl. Add the flax seed flour, cocoa, sugar and mix well with a fork so all the dry ingredients get mixed thoroughly. At this point the dry mix looks like a pre-packaged chocolate mix package.
Add in the water, oil, egg and the vanilla, beat at a medium speed using an electric mixer until the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the wet ones. Beat for 4-5 minutes until you see the bubbles on top. Mix in the nuts.
Put the paper muffin cups in the muffin pan. Fill the muffins until they are a little more than 3/4 full. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
After the muffins are completely cool, take the powdered sugar in a small sifter and "sift" the sugar on top the muffins!

This makes about 15-18 cupcakes.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a tall glass of soy milk! YUM!

PS: This is a totally non-food related paragraph! Does anyone watch LOST on ABC? If yes, did you watch tonight's episode? My jaw totally dropped after watching it. I CANNOT believe they did what they did! This is probably the best episode this season in my opinion. Sorry, I just HAD to talk about it as I cannot seem to stop thinking about the episode!

Proud Owner of a Roti Grill - Thanks to Santhi

2006-05-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

roti grill in action

Thanks to Santhi of Me and My Kitchen, I am now a proud owner of a "roti grill". Santhi had read one of my comments on a blog where I commented on how I had never seen a roti grill in my life before. She immediately e-mailed me offering to send me one. It arrived last week in the mail. I couldn't wait to use it so I did get to use it over the weekend. This roti grill comes in handy for all those unlucky folks like me who have an electric range. If you have a gas range, you don't need this to make phulkas. Shammi of Food, in the main has an amazing post on phulkas!

Thanks again, Santhi. I will be thinking of you everytime I make phulkas/rotis!

roti grill

Mamidikaya Pachi Pulusu

2006-04-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

YAY! My second mango post of the year! Can you sense my excitement? The first dish was raw mango pulihora.

Usually when things are made with raw mango, it is best to use mangoes that are a little sour. Using the sweet raw mango does not do justice to this dish and the pulihora.

Firstly, I want to explain what this Telugu recipe title means. The word "mamidikaya" means raw mango. The word pachi means, raw. Pulusu is used primarily for tamarind sauce. The word pulusu originated from the word "puli" in Tamil which means tamarind. In this case though, there is no tamarind involved. I have my own reasoning of why it is called pulusu though. This same exact dish is made with tamarind pulp instead of mango. Now, way back when, who ever discovered that this could be made with mango, decided to just throw in the word mango infront of the already existing regular "pachi pulusu" ;). I could be totally wrong, so don't take my word for this :).

This particular dish "pachi pulusu" is very common in the "Telangana" region of my state Andhra Pradesh. This is a very easy recipe, that is usually served cold with hot rice. I only make this simple, comforting dish once or twice a year that way I feel it doesn't loose it's "charm" :). That is just my theory though!

As soon as Indira of Mahanandi announced the Jihva event and announced May's theme (mangoes), two dishes came to mind. One of them was mango jam (Indira has already blogged about it) and this one! I was hoping Indira wouldn't make this before me.
For the pulusu:

Software
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1 small-medium non-ripe mango (preferably sour)
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
handful - chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Hardware
---------------

One medium sauce pan

Method
---------------

Peel the mango and cut the mango into 2-3 inch slices. Put the pieces in the pan, add water so that all the mango pieces are well covered and the water is a couple of inches above the mangoes. Add salt, and boil the mango on medium-high heat until the mango breaks apart when touched with a fork.
After the mango mixture is cold enough to handle, using a potato masher mash up the mango pieces or just use your hand and mash it up. I put 4-5 ice cubes in the mixture to ensure fast cooling.
Add more water as necessary, so it has the soupy, rasam consistency. Add the onions and the cilantro. Keep aside.

For the tempering or tadka:

Software
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1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3-4 Indian green chilis, sliced legthwise in half
1 broken red chili pieces
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves, cut in half
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder

Hardware
---------------

Small cast-iron skillet or a small saucepan

Method
---------------

Add the oil to the pan. Add the remaining ingredients, in the same order and turn off the heat after the mustard and jeera seeds splutter.

Add the above tempering to the pulusu prepared in the previous step. Check for salt and add more if necessary.

Serving Suggestion: This is best served with hot rice. It is also good after it rests for a couple of hours so the flavors get absorbed.

Update: In the above post, I first ask to peel the mangoes then boil them, but if you see the picture, I did not peel the mangoes before I boiled them. I did it the way mom does it back home. After the mangoes are mashed up the skin is extracted out and discarded. Since that seemed like a cumbersome method than first peeling and boiling the mangoes, I wrote up the post that way! I am surprised that no one noticed it and asked me about it :)!

Yu Choy Dal/Pappu

2006-04-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

On my way out of the Oriental Store last week my eyes fell on the counter and I saw a bunch beautiful green leafy vegetable stalks that had tiny yellow flowers. I asked the person-in-charge what the green was and she said it was "Yu Choy". I asked her if she knew how the vegetable tasted. She said it tasted like spinach and offered me some to try. I tasted it and I felt like it tasted like spinach too :).

For a green leafy vegetable deprived Indian here in the US, I jumped at the opportunity. I bought half a pound of it. When I came home, I googled the name and found a TON of references to it. I learnt that Yu Choy is edible rape and it is widely used in Chinese cooking. It is used to make soups and also used in stir fries. That is all I needed to know make "Yu Choy Dal" out of it. I basically plucked the leaves from the stalks and roughly chopped them up. I did not have the hearts to throw away the stalks so I just ziplocked them and put them back in the fridge. I am thinking about throwing them into some soup.

Now coming to the dal, I did spice the dal up a bit than I usually do by adding cloves + cinnamon + elaichi powder, a tsp of coriander powder, a tbsp of ginger. When the dal was cooking, it eminated a lot of fragrance than when I cook a regular spinach dal. It was hard for me to figure out if it was because of the additional spices I added or just the Yu Choy itself smelled so good. But whatever was the case, it just made it really hard to wait for it to finish cooking. I had to release the pressure for the cooker manually just so I could get my hands on the dal. And I should mention that this is a very easy recipe to make.

On to the recipe now

Cooking the dal

Software
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1 cup toor dal
1/2 lb Yu Choy with stalks, leaves plucked and chopped. Roughly 2 cups of packed, chopped Yu Choy leaves
1 medium onion, coarsley chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 Indian green chilis, split in half
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder (optional)
1/2 tsp (cloves + cinnamon + caradamom) powder (optional)
salt to taste

Hardware
---------------

Pressure cooker

Method
---------------
Put all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker and add about 4 cups of water and pressure cook until 3 whistles.

For tempering/tadka

Software
---------------

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 broken red chili pieces
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped in half

Hardware
---------------
Small cast iron skillet/tempering pan or smallest sauce pan available

Method
---------------
Put the oil in a pan on medium-high heat, add all the ingredients in the order listed. Take off from heat after the mustard and jeera seeds splutter.

Add the tempering to the dal above, garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serving Suggestion: This goes really well with chapathi or rice.

This is also my entry to Sweetnick's ARF/5-a-day Tuesday this week!

Mango Pulihora - Mamidikaya Pulihora

2006-04-19T05:11:00.000-07:00

This is my first mango post of the year! YAY. I am so excited. If I was asked to pick one fruit to take with me to live on a deserted island, I would most definitely pick Mango. When I was in India, in the summer months, we practically lived on Mangoes. There used to be days where every dish cooked for lunch/dinner had a hint of mango in it - starting from drinks, to main course to dessert because of the abundance of the mangoes. Sadly, it is not the case here. I bought raw mangoes at over 2 dollars a pound here :( and it does not take a lot of mangoes to put a hole in the pocket.

Indira of Mahanandi has blogged about this recipe before. My recipe is akin to hers except for a few minor changes. Back home in India, this pulihora is made for the first time that particular year on Ugadi day. It so happened way back when that raw mangoes appeared in the markets only a day or prior to Ugadi but in these days, you see them a lot earlier than that. But my mom tries to keep the tradition alive by NOT cooking anything with raw mangoes before Ugadi even though the rest of the family wasn't fair :).

Here goes the recipe..

Software
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2 cups cooked rice - with grains seperate (I used sona masuri)
1 to 11/2 cups peeled, grated mango
5-6 Indian green chilis - slit lengthwise
2-3 broken red chili pieces
1 tbsp ginger grated/chopped fine
1/4 cup broken cashew pieces
1/4 cup raw peanuts
1 tbsp chana dal soaked in hot water for 5-10 minutes
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 sprig curry leaves
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil/any other oil you prefer
one handful chopped cilantro (optional)
salt to taste

Hardware
---------------
One pan

Method
---------------

Put the pan on medium heat. Add the oil.
Add the slit green chilis and the red chilis. After about 30 seconds, add the curry leaves, ginger and the cashews. After about another 30 seconds, add the raw peanuts. Fry this until the cashews and peanuts are slighly golden brown. Add the soaked chana dal. Fry for another 30 seconds.
Add the mustard seeds and the jeera seeds. After they splutter, add the turmeric powder. Stir well.
Add salt and coriander powder, stir. Add the grated mango, chopped cilantro and fry by stirring for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
After this mixture cools down until you can handle, mix it with the cooked white rice. Use your hands so the mixture gets incorporated well with the rice (wear food-safe gloves to avoid the yellow color on your hands).
Serve!

My Take On Asparagus Poriyal/Vepudu (with dal powders)

2006-04-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

I have never made poriyal before. Sure, I did saute veggies before and added coconut to it. I am not sure if that is poriyal though. I would love to be enlightened :). Poriyal as far as I know is a Tamil dish and basically a dry saute of veggies without adding any water. I am not sure if the word alone means something. Tamil friends, please enlighten me here :).

I had some asparagus leftover from my sphaghetti squash and asparagus lettuce wraps and decided to cook them up Tamil style. I say "my take" in the title above because I *think* I may have altered the basic poriyal recipe by adding some additional ingredients especially the masala. I had seen one of my Tamil friends do this for a totally different recipe and I felt like adapting it :).

Okay, so here I go!

Making the masala

Software
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3 tbsp chana dal/shanaga pappu
2 tbsp urad dal/minapa pappu
2 tbsp toor dal/kandhi pappu
2 tbsp coriander seeds/dhaniyalu
8-10 Indian red chilis/mirchi

Hardware
---------------
one small pan

Method
---------------

Dry roast all the ingredients seperately and cool. Grind everything in a spice grinder. You will only need about 3 tbsp of this masala for the asaparagus. Store the rest in an air tight container for later use.

Making the poriyal

Software
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About 20 stalks of asparagus
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minched
2 tbsp of freshly grated coconut (or dry if fresh not available)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 sprig curry leaves, cut in half
3 tbsp of the above masala powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsps of chopped coriander leaves

Hardware
---------------
One pan

Method
---------------

Cut off the woody stems on one end. To easily tell where to cut, Hold one asparagus in your hand and slowly bend it, it naturally breaks into two pieces, about 2-3 inches on one end. Cut the other asaparagus stalks using the same method, using the one broken one as a guide.
Then cut the aspargus into very small pieces - about 1/2 inch pieces.
Put the pan on medium heat, add the oil to the pan, add the mustard and cumin seeds. Add the curry leaves after they splutter. Add the onions and fry until they are translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, fry for a minute or so.
Add the asparagus pieces, stir, cook for a couple of minutes. Add salt.
Increase the heat to medium-high, cook for about 5-10 minutes until the asparagus is soft. I had to add about 1/3 cup of water to help it cook half way through the process because it was sticking to the pan. But the water eventually evaporated so that wasn't an issue.
Sprinkle about 3 tbsp of the masala to the asparagus, stir and cook for another couple of minutes. Turn of the heat.
Sprinkle the cilantro leaves.

The poriyal was surprisingly good. I could not believe how easy it was and how wonderful it tasted. I think I took the poriyal off the heat before it was all the way cooked so it still had the crunch to it and I loved it. So it is up to you, you can either cook it until it is totally soft or leave a little crunch to it. Asparagus is going to make it to my shopping list more often now!

Serving Suggestion: I ate this with both chapathis and rice with some rasam and it tasted heavenly both ways.

PS: Two of my three entries (spinach chutney w/ chapathi chips and panini - desi style) submitted for VKN's cooking competetion have been selected for voting. If you like my entries, please show your support by voting for my entries. Thank you!

Spinach Chutney with Chapathi Chips - VKN's Cooking Competetion Entry III

2006-04-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

We Indians are known to make chutney out of everything - fish, eggs, chicken, lamb, all vegetables, fruits etc :). My mom made this chutney with all green leafy veggies so we would eat the greens. I love all types of greens in this chutney form. This is a very simple recipe with lots of flavor and health :).

This chutney paired with some chapathi chips is my submission to VKN's cooking competetion and Sweetnick's ARF/5-a-day Tuesday.

My other entries to VKN's cooking competetion are:

Panini - Desi Style

Lettuce Wraps with Spaghetti Squash and Asparagus

Spinach Chutney

Software
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9 oz package pre-washed spinach leaves
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp coriander seeds
6-7 methi seeds
1 tsp jeera
4-5 dried red chilis (add more or less to your taste)
1-2 Indian green chilis
3 cloves garlic
gooseberry sized tamarind, soaked in very little hot water
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

For the tempering/tadka
--------------------------

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped in half

Hardware
---------------

One large vessel that holds the spinach leaves
One small castiron skillet or small fry pan for the tempering or the tadka

Method
---------------

Put 1 tsp of the oil in the big skillet/vessel on medium heat, add the slit green chilis, 3 cloves of garlic and the spinach leaves. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes until the spinach is completely wilted and reduced in volume. Take the spinach out and leave aside to cool.
In the same pan, without washing it, add the chana dal and the urad dal, fry until golden brown, set aside to cool.
Add the coriander seeds, methi seeds, jeera and dry roast them until the aroma of the spices fills your kitchen and makes you hungry :). Remove keep aside to cool.
Dry roast the red chilis, do NOT stick your nose anywhere near the stove while this is happening and make sure you open up some windows. Don't tell me I didn't warn you before :). Remove, set aside to cool.
Put all the above dry roasted ingredients and put them in a blender/food processor, grind it to a fine powder. Again, do not breathe in the fumes :).
Add the wilted spinach leaves in the blender with the ground spices, add salt, the tamarind juice (extract from the tamarind soaked) and grind it until the spinach is smooth. Check for salt, add more if needed. Remove to a serving dish.

For the tempering/tadka
--------------------------

Add the 1 tsp of oil in a small skillet on medium heat, add the mustard seeds, garlic clove, curry leaves and fry until the mustard seeds pop or the garlic turns light brown.
Add the tempering to the chutney.

Making Chapathi Chips

Software
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3/4 cup chapathi flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
Milk to mix the dough

Hardware
---------------

Cookie sheet

Method
---------------

Add pinch of salt to chapathi flour, mix.
Using the milk make a chapathi dough out of the flour.
Roll the chapathi on a floured surface into 1/8 inch thick circle.
Brush both sides with some olive oil and sprinkle paprika and salt on both sides.
Using a round cookie cutter, cut the chapathi into 3 inch diameter circles.
Place the chapathi chips into 500 degree oven, bake it for 5 minutes turning half way in between, until they are brown and crispy.
Serve with the spinach chutney.

A Foodbloggers Meme Around the World

2006-04-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

YAY! My first meme. Three lovely ladies have tagged me - Priya of "Priya's Kitchen", Saffron Hut, Santhi of "Me and My Kitchen" have all tagged me for this meme. It is short and sweet and here I go straight to my answers!

Do check out the paninis - desi style, my other post from today!

1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:

Sailu's Palakayalu recipe - they seem so much easier to make than all the other Andhra savory snacks and look so yummy!
Indira's Home Made Soy Milk - I love cooking from scratch and I think with the amount of soymilk I drink, this could be a huge money saver :)
TasteCorner's Drumstick Sambhar - the sambhar looks so yummy and I wasn't familiar with Hemant Trivedi before so I want to give that a shot!

2. A food blog in your vicinity:

Hmm..this was a difficult question to answer. Even though, Sumi of Sumi's Kitchen is not very close to me, she seems to be the one.

3. A foodblog (or more) located far from you:

Sailu of Sailu's Food and Anthony of Anthony's Kitchen both located in India
Puspha's Pusiva's Culinary Studio in Switzerland
Vaishali's Happy Burp from Germany

4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):

Vaishali's Happy Burp - I do not remember how I found Vaishali. Probably from someone's comment pages.
Jeff's It just adds flavor - I found Jeff's blog because he had left a comment on one of my recipes
Genevieve's Bribe me with a Muffin - I found her on someone's comment page a couple of days ago

5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme?

Since I am entering this meme late, everyone is already tagged. So I decided to tag the bloggers I recently discovered :). I am tagging

Jeff from It just adds flavor
Genevieve from Bribe me with a Muffin

Panini - Desi Style!

2006-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

This is my entry to Anthony's curry mela this weekend!

I had some extra cooked extra mashed potatoes leftover from another meal and was trying to use them up. I was also thinking of something creative to make and I started looking around and found a loaf of french bread that I had bought for some soup. Never got to make the soup (most of the times, I have something in mind when I go buy groceries and then I come home and make something totally different with the ingredients I had bought).

So, I decided to make a desi style panini! A lot of people say that panini is just a fancy name for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. I feel it is partly true myself. Usually very thin meat and cheese is put as a sandwich between some crusty Italian bread and the sandwich is then put in a panini maker for the panini. A lot of food network chefs do not use the panini maker and make the paninis in their own innovative ways. Although, I am a sucker for kitchen gadgets, there are a few things that I would never - the panini makers and quesadilla makers top the list :). I know a lot of you may disagree with me ;-).

Here's how you jazz up the coarsly mashed potatoes, desi style!

Software
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1 cup coarsely mashed potatoes
1 small shallot, finely minced
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 1/4" inch ginger, finely minced
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp chat masala (I used MDH)
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp chopped mint
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Hardware
---------------

One small saucepan for the potatoes

Method
---------------

Put a small saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the oil.
Add the shallots, garlic and ginger, fry until translucent.
Add the chopped tomatoes, cook until they are slightly soft.
Add the mashed potatoes, the coriander powder, chat masala, salt. Stir until everything is blended and mixed together and heated through. Turn off the heat.
Add the cilantro and the mint. Mix.

Preparing the paninis

Software
---------------

5-6 baby spinach leaves
1 cup of shredded cheese or small chese slices (I used what I had on hand - a mix of montery jack and pepper jack)

Hardware
---------------

One large skillet/grill pan
One small skillet
One heavy object (read the method below)

Method
---------------

Cut the french bread into about about 1/2" thick slices. The french bread I used was not crusty so I toasted it on both sides on a grill pan so it became a little crunchy and lost the "softness".
Build a sandwich - take one french bread slice put some cheese, a couple of baby spinach leaves, some of the potato mixture and cheese in that order. Top the slice with another french bread slice.

Now carefully put that sandwich on a greased skillet/grill pan (I used a grill pan), put a smaller skillet over on top of the sandwich, and put a heavy object on the smaller skillet so it weighs the sandwich down completely - recommendations are foil covered brick, a huge flour/sugar sack, some canned food etc. I used a big flour container I had.
Cook for about 1-2 minutes then turn the sandwich on its other side and repeat!

Enjoy them as is or cut the sandwich into 4 pieces so they were bite sized. I did the latter.

After I typed the entire entry, I thought this would make a good entry to V.K.N's cooking competetion. But I haven't decided yet if I am going to submit this or not. It all depends on whatelse I am going to cook up with over the weekend!

Sri Rama Navami

2006-04-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Sri Rama Navami to everyone!

Sri Ramanavami is a very famous Hindu festival that is celebrated to celebrate the birth of Lord Rama. This festival occurs in the either the month of March or April according to the regular calendar. Navami means nine. This festival is celebrated on the ninth day after the new moon.

When I was growing up I remember helping my mom make the "vadapappu" and "panakam" that was made as "prasadam" (offering) to Lord Rama. I also remember watching the "Sree Seetha Rama Kalyanam" live on T.V being broadcasted from Bhadrachalam.

Lovely Santhi of "Me and My Kitchen" has blogged about Sri Rama Navami and also included recipes to Vadapappu and Panakam. Do check them out!

Sorakaya/Anapakaya/Bottle Gourd Curry with Milk (Paluposina Koora)

2006-04-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

One lonely bottle gourd had been awaiting its turn in my refrigerator since about a week. I finally got my hands on it tonight! This is my second Sorakaya/Anapakaya/Lauki preperation. The first one was a dish called dappalam I had posted earlier. For dessert tonight, it was bananas foster. I made the bananas foster in the same way I made the mango-bananas foster. Instead of the mango, I added one more banana. I also added about 4 tbsp of cream (milk can be subsituted) toward the end of the bananas foster cooking to make it a little more creamy and it was just delicious!

The sorakaya curry is very easy to prepare as you can see below!

Software
---------------

1 medium sized sorakaya/bottle gourd, peeled and cut into cubes
1 small-medium onion, diced
3-4 Indian green chilis/pachi mirapakaylu, sliced fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped fine
1/2 tsp turmeric powder/pasupu/haldi
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds/aavalu/rai
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeelakarra/jeera
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped
1/3 cup milk
salt, to taste
cilantro to garnish

Hardware
---------------

One pressure cooker

Method
---------------

Put the pressure cooker on medium-high heat, add the oil, add the mustard and the jeera seeds.
After they pop add the curry leaves, green chilis, onion, garlic and ginger and fry until onions are translucent. Add the turmeric powder and stir.
Add the bottle gourd pieces and saute for about 1-2 minutes.
Add little water just to cover the bottle gourd pieces and cover the pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 1-2 whistles. Alternatively, you could cook covered in a regular saute pan until the bottle gourd pieces are soft.
After the pressure dies down, open the pressure, add the coriander powder and the milk and cook until the milk heats through.
Garnish with the cilantro leaves.

Serving Suggestion: This goes really well with plain white rice and chapathis.

Discovering New Things - Spaghetti Squash - Lettuce Wraps with Spaghetti Squash and Asparagus

2006-04-01T21:26:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a two birds with one shot kind of deal - my first ever entry to Kalyn's Weekend Herb blogging (Spaghetti Squash) and also a contest entry to VKN's cooking competetion.

I have always wanted to submit an entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging but never had the opportunity to do so. I am glad I am starting it this weekend!

I also wanted to submit an entry to My Dhaba's Virtual Cooking Competetion (theme: Appetizers) contest that was previously due March 31. For the longest time, I couldn't think of anything interesting to make and I did not have a lot of thinking time either. I thought "okay, there is always another time".

But all that changed as soon as I saw on the night of March 31st on VKN's site that the deadline had been extended to April 10th. But then again, I couldn't think of anything to make. Then early this morning (Saturday) I made my usual trip to the grocery store. The store was practically empty with maybe be 5-6 people in the entire store. I love to grocery shop at such times. I feel that I can get in and out fast and also "notice" a lot of different things I usually wouldn't have seen. For instance, I did not know the store had "spaghetti squash". As soon as I saw the squash, I had to put it in my basket. It was only 98 cents a pound and almost all the squashes were about 2-3 pounds each. I had no idea how to use it. I had seen Rachael Ray use it one time in one of her "carb friendly" meals she has been doing lately. She used it instead of regular spaghetti. I remember she had "cheesed" it up at the end in typical Rachael Ray style :-). I moved on all the while thinking how I could use the spaghetti squash and then an idea came to mind and I went back to the fresh veggies aisle to gather some other ingredients - Boston lettuce and Asparagus.

When I came back home, the first thing I did was look up the spaghetti squash. I discovered a lot of things about the squash -

it is a native American squash
4 ounces of spaghetti squash only has 37 calories
the longer the squash, the sweeter it is
it will keep at room temperature for 2 months
can be cooked and frozen
can be baked, steamed, boiled or microwaved to cook

I got the information above from the following websites.

Wholehealthmd
Wikipedia

The reason I chose the lettuce wraps because they seem to be the fad in Asian cusine these days. This is my first time making them and since there is lettuce involved it made me feel not so guilty. These wraps are also a great alternative to those who are watching their carbs. The reason I associated spaghetti squash to the lettuce wraps is because of the whole rice noodles in the lettuce wrap deal. Now to the recipe...

Preparing the Spaghetti Squash

click on the images to enlarge

After reading instructions on the squash and online, I decided to go the "microwave" method, since that seemed easier and fast.

Cut the squash in half leghth-wise in half.
Scoop out all the seeds using your hands. Discard the seeds.
I only used one half of the squash. Take a microwave safe bowl large enough to fit the squash, put about 1/3 cup of water.
Take the half of the squash, put the squash cut side down in the bowl with water.
Microwave on high about 7-8 minutes. Start checking for doneness after about 6 min do 1 min increments there after. When checking for doneness, over turn the squash carefully with some tongs, and pierce using a fork, if the flesh is tender the squash is done.

Leave it aside for about 5 minutes until it cools off. Then carefully, the squash is still hot, put the squash on the counter, preferably on a towel to keep the squash from slipping on the counter. Also have another towel handy so you can sort of hold the squash to keep it from moving and using a fork, scrape off the flesh into a bowl. What you will see are marvellous strands of spaghetti. I was so amazed and excited about making nature's very own spaghetti :).

Making the filling for the lettuce wraps (makes about 4-5 wraps)

Software
---------------

2 cups spaghetti squash "spaghetti"
9 asparagus, sliced at an angle into very small slices
1 green onion, sliced at an angle
1/2 scallion, finely minced
1 head boston lettuce
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 inch ginger, finely minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
4-5 tbsp plum sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
wasabi, as spicy as you want it to be (omit if you are not a huge fan of the wasabi)
salt, to taste
mint and cilantro leaves to garnish

Hardware
---------------
one skillet

Method
---------------

Seperate the lettuce leaves from lettuce head, discard the outer leaves if they are bruised, rinse in water and dry them on paper towels.
Put the skillet on medium-high, add the sesame seed oil, add the garlic, minced scallion, half of the green onion, saute till translucent. Add the ginger. Saute for a minute.
Add the diced asparagus, cook until asparagus is tender.
Add the soy sauce, plum sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and stir. Add the spaghetti squash and coat so the sauce is coated to the spaghetti. Turn of the stove.
Add the wasabi and stir. Do not breathe in the fumes :-).
When ready to serve, spoon the cooked filling into the lettuce leaves, fold the leaf over to close, garnish with mint, cilantro leaves and green onions.

Serving Suggestion: These will make perfect appetizers, a side for an Asian style brunch or even a light lunch!

Spicy Indian Hummus with Grilled Greek Pita

2006-03-31T05:14:00.000-08:00

This is my entry to Anthony's Curry Mela this week.

I gave hummus an Indian makeover by adding some Indian spices and adding sesame seeds instead of the tahini paste.

Hummus Recipe

Software
---------------

2 cups chickpeas (soaked overnight and cooked in a pressure cooker, reserve some cooking water)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chili powder (or less)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 lemon, juiced
5-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt, to taste

Hardware
---------------

Food processor

Method
---------------

Toast the sesame seeds on low heat until they pop and release the oils.
Put the sesame seeds in a blender and powder them.
Add the chickpeas, garlic cloves, all the spices, the salt, the lemon juice and blend. Stream in the extra virgin olive oil into the food processor as it is blending. If the mixture becomes to thick add some reserved cooking liquid from the chickpeas that were cooked above.
Cover and refrigerate.

Pita Bread

I got the regular Greek pita bread at the grocery store, heated up my grill pan, sprayed some pam on one side and grilled it on medium-low heat so the outside becomes crunchy but the inside of the bread is still soft. Spray pam on the other side and repeat. Cut into wedges and serve with the hummus.

The possibilites of hummus are endless - I have eaten it with crackers, chips, pita bread, fresh veggies, a veggie sandwich etc.

Ugadi - Ushering the New Year

2006-03-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

It is two-post-Wednesday today. Do check out my other post today - an entry to Hooked on Heat's Fusion theme this month.

Vyaya Nama Samvatsara Shubhakanshaklu to everyone. I hope this year brings everyone happiness, prosperity in everyone's lives and in the food blogging world :).

Each Telugu new year has a name associated with it and this years' name is "Vyaya" meaning "expenditure". There are 60 new year names and the names repeat after 60 years. For the curious minded, the other names are here.

More information about Ugadi is available on the following Websites

Ugadi - details
Wikipedia Entry

Fusion - Malai Kofta with Chinese Rice Noodles

2006-03-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

I made malai kofta over the weekend for a party and I just used the leftovers to make up malai kofta with chinese rice noodles for Meena's Hooked on Heat - Fusion theme. I was very skeptical of doing this but the end result was really good. I bought the Chinese rice noodles from an oriental store for 89 cents a package and it was a huge package as you can see in the picture below. I only made about 1/2 of the package and later realized that there were a LOT of noodles for the malai kofta I had. But no biggie, as I said I only paid 89 cents for the package. I did stow away the leftover noodles in the refrigerator but I am not sure if I would be able to use them again.

I am dividing this recipe up into different sections so it is easier to follow.

Warning:
---------------
This recipe will make about 30-35 koftas. Please reduce/add the ingredients accordingly to your needs.

Malai Kofta Recipe

Masala
---------------

2 inch Indian cinnamon stick
8 green caradamom pods
8 cloves
2 tsp black pepper corns
1 tsp caraway seeds/shahjeera
2 tbsp coriander seeds/dhaniya

Dry roast all the spices above and dry grind them. Set aside.

Sauce or Gravy for the koftas

Software
---------------------

1 medium onion, diced fine
2 cups tomato puree
1 cup canned tomato paste
1 cup khoya/ricotta cheese
1 cup paneer crumbled
1 cup cashewnuts, soaked in water
1/4 cup Indian poppy seeds,dry roasted
1 inch ginger root, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp nutmeg powder
3/4 th of the masala powder above
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
red chili powder, to taste
salt, to taste

Hardware
---------------

One wide saucepan
One food processor/blender

Method
---------------

Wet grind the cashewsnuts, roasted poppy seeds, ricotta cheese and paneer. Keep aside.
Heat the saucepan on medium-high, add the butter and oil, add the onions. Fry till they are translucent.
Add the ginger and garlic, the tomatoes puree and the tomato paste and heat through until the raw smell of the tomatoes goes away.
Add the wet-ground paste above, stir, add the dry ground masala above, nutmeg, salt and stir. Add more water if necessary. Bring it to a boil.
Taste the gravy to see if red-chili powder is needed. If you want the gravy to have a little more spice, add some red chili powder.

Koftas

Hardware
---------------

Baking sheet
Mixing bowl

Software
---------------

1 pound potatoes
1 cup crumbled Paneer
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup cashenuts, coarsly chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped into half
1 inch ginger root, crushed to a paste
3 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 Indian green chilis chopped fine
1 medium onion chopped fine
1/4 th of the masala powder made above
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 tbsp chopped mint

Method
---------------

Boil the potatoes in water, peel and mash them completely.
Mix together the rest of the ingredients and make them into ping-pong sized balls.
Spray the baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the kofta balls in a single layer.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 5-10 mins. Broil for a couple of minutes until tops are golden brown. Using a pair of tongs, turn the kofta balls so the bottom side is up and repeat the same. The second side will take a lot less time, so be careful.
Alternatively, you can deep fry the kofta balls in oil.

Bringing the kofta ball and the gravy together

About 10-15 minutes before serving add the hot gravy to the kofta balls. Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro and chopped mint.

Serving Suggestion:This goes very well with paratha, chapathi, puri, rice, fried rice etc.

For the chinese rice noodles

Software
---------------

Rice noodles, one half package
2-3 springs of green onions, chopped
2-3 eggs
1/2 tsp blackpepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp of sesame seed oil
1 tsp of any oil for the noodles

Hardware
---------------

Sauce pan to boil the noodles
Colander
Non-stick fry pan

Method
---------------

Heat water in the sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Add the salt and the drop the noodles. Add the 1 tsp of oil. Check for doneness after about a couple of minutes because they cook very quickly. I cannot emphasize this enough :).
After the noodles are done, quickly drain them in a colander and rinse under cold water and drain. Fluff up the noodles, so they don't clump together. Drain completely.
Heat the skillet and put the 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Add the eggs and scramble them. Add the black pepper, soy sauce and half of the green onions.
Add the noodles and stir fry until the noodles are heated through completely.

To Serve
---------------

Plate up some noodles and add the malai kofta curry on top. Garnish with left over green onions.

Tips and Suggestions: If you do not have the sesame seed oil, just add any oil that you own. I love the sesame seed oil flavor in Chinese cooking.

Chinese and Indian Bitter Melon/Gourd Fry (Kakarakaya Vepudu)

2006-03-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

I had 2 Chinese bitter melons and 2 Indian bitter melons/gourds in the refrigerator and I decided to cook up an Andhra style fry/vepudu using them both. You could use all Chinese bitter gourds or Indian bitter gourds for this recipe.

Software
---------------

2 Chinese bitter melons/gourds
3 Indian bitter melons/gourds
1 tsp jeera/jeela karra
1 tsp black mustard seeds/aavalu
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 tsp chili powder/mirapapodi/lal mirchi
1 tsp coriander powder/dhaniya podi
2 tbsp chick-pea flour/besan
2 tsp turmeric powder/pasupu/haldi (to marinate)
1 tbsp salt (to marinate)
salt, to taste (for the fry)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
chopped cilantro leaves

Hardware
---------------

1 medium sized mixing bowl
1 non-stick fry pan

Method
---------------

Pile them all up in the mixing bowl, add the turmeric and the salt. Cover and leave aside for a minimum of 1 hr. You could marinate if for a little less time too. I usually just marinate it before I leave for work in the morning so it is ready by the time I get home.
After the marination is done, take handfuls of the bitter gourd pieces (wear kitchen gloves if you don't want yellow color on your hands for atleast a day :-)) and squeeze the juice out of the gourds. The more juice you squeeze out the better.
Put the non-stick pan on medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the bittergourd pieces and fry on medium heat until they are half cooked. Add the onions, curry leaves, jeera, salt and mustard seeds and fry everything until the bittergourd pieces are completely dry and the onion is cooked. Add the besan and stir.
Turn off the heat, add the coriander powder and the chili powder and stir. Add the cilantro.

Serving Suggestion: This goes really well with sambhar/rasam and rice.

Extreme Makeover to Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bars - Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

2006-03-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

Whoever says we can't eat pumpkin cake in March, I disagree with them. Pumpkin not only makes a great Thanksgiving ingredient but also a good all-year round ingredient. I love pumkin as long as it is in a cake form. I cannot tolerate pumpkin pie.

Paula Deen baked up some pumpkin bars on one of episodes following Thanksgiving weekend. She said it is a great way to use up leftover pumpkin. That recipe intrigued me a lot and I did make the pumpkin bars the very next weekend following her show. I also made the cream-cheese frosting for the bars.

Today, I wanted to make something more than just bars. I decided on using the same recipe(with some changes, of course) but baking it in a Bundt pan (this link takes you to Wikipedia's entry on Bundt cake. It has some very interesting facts about the origin of the cake and the pan etc,.). I have a 10-cup Nordic Ware Star Bundt Pan(red color) that I bought on impulse almost 4 years ago but it lied un used in my cupboard up until 2 years ago when I discovered the pan's magic. In my experience all the cakes I have baked in a bundt pan come out much more moister than when baked in a regular round/rectangular cake pans. And the cakes look much more prettier on a bundt cake with minimal decorations :).

The Bundt cake reminds me of a scene from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" where
Ian Miller's family comes to visit Toula's family for the first time and Ian's mom brings a bundt cake. Toula's mom Maria takes the cake and exclaims "there is a hole in this cake". She then leaves and later emerges with the cake with a plant inside the "hole" of the bundt cake. That scene just cracks me up everytime I watch the movie.

As I said before, I did modify Paula Deen's recipe by adding less sugar, less eggs, reducing the amount of flour and adding flax seed flour instead etc. I promise that the end result will be a very moist pumpkin cake. The addition of the flax seed flour gave it a really good texture. Read on for the recipe.

Software
---------------

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 15 -oz canned pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 tbsp confectioners'/powdered sugar
Cooking spray to spray the pan

Hardware
---------------

One large (5 qt) mixing bowl
One medium (3-4 qt) bowl
One 10 cup Bundt Pan

Method
--------------

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda into the medium bowl. Add in 1/3 cup of flax-seed powder. Keep aside.
Break the eggs into the large mixing bowl, add sugar, oil and the pumpkin. On medium speed, using a hand blender blend for atleast 5-7 minutes until bubbles start forming on top.
Add the flour mixture from the previous step gradually and beat on low using the hand blender. Do not add all the flour at once as it will not incorporate into the egg mixture. Add it in batches.
Spray the bundt pan with the cooking oil spray generously making sure you cover all the nooks of the pan.
Pour the 1/3rd of the flour mixture into the pan. Scatter 1/4 cup each of the chocolate chips on top of the flour mixture in the bundt pan.
Pour another 1/3rd of the flour mixture into the bundt pan on top of the chocolate chips.
Repeat with the remaining chocolate chips and top off with the remainder of the flour mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
After the cake is done, remove it from the oven and cool for about 30 min on a wire rack in the pan, then invert the cake onto the wire rack and cool completely.
Place the cake on a serving platter, invert it from the step above (the top of the cake should be the flat one and not the curvy one). Using a bread knife, carefully cut off the part of the cake that has sprung up during the baking process so the top is leveled. Eat the cake shreds :)
Re-invert the cake so the flat side is down.
Put the 2 tbsp of the confectioners' sugar into the smallest sieve you have (use my tea sieve) and move it across the cake so the sugar covers the cake. The top part of the cake should have a little more sugar than the sides.

Tips and Suggestion: The addition of flax-seed flour is optional. I added it for health reasons. You can use all flour if needed.
Addition of chocolate-chips is also optional. The semi-sweet and the white chocolate chips can be interchanged.
Serving Suggestion: Cut up the cake into pieces and serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

Look What I Found - Mini Pie Crusts

2006-03-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

I was exicted to see these mini pie crusts at the grocery store tonight. I always crave for pie but I never venture out to make a whole pie (unless I am giving/taking it to someone) because I am afraid I would be eating that all week and getting fat :-). So as soon as I these pie crusts in the baking aisle, I picked one up. It comes in one package with 6 individual small pie shells. These could be used for a party too, just fill it with different toppings :).

Watch out for some recipes soon!

Methi Paratha

2006-03-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

Added on Friday, March 24: This is featured in Anthony's Curry Mela this weekend!

I had got some fresh methi leaves from the International store and did not want to make what I usually make with them, the dal. I wanted to make something else. So I made the methi parathas. To my surprise they turned very good and moist. The following is the recipe.

Software
---------------

1 cup fresh methi leaves, coarsely chopped
2 cups chapathi flour
1 tsp chili powder/mirapa podi/mirchi
1 tsp ajwain seeds
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp garam masala
vegetable/peanut oil, to fry

Hardware
---------------

one mixing bowl to mix the dough
one skillet to fry the parathas

Method
---------------

Gather all the ingredients in the software section above except the oil.
Add warm/lukewarm water gradually and make a dough out of it. Knead the dough thorougly for about 3-5 minutes. Cover and set aside for 30 min.
Divide the dough into lime sized balls, on a floured surface, roll out the dough into a paratha - about 6 - 8 inches in diameter.
Heat a skillet/tava on medium-high heat. Fry the paratha using about 1/2 tsp oil (just apply the oil to the two sides of the paratha) until it is golden brown on both sides.

Serving Suggestion: Serve warm with yoghurt and pickle.

Cabbage and Carrot Pappu

2006-03-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

What does a girl do when she has carrot and cabbage leftover from her cabbage-carrot zhunka recipe? She makes a dal using the leftovers. I couldn't believe how simple it was to make the cabbage-carrot pappu. I should say that Shammi's post on cabbage-potato kootu inspired me a little. I had already "cooked toor dal" in the refrigerator. So putting this together was a snap.

I cooked the toor dal with a pinch each of hing/asafatida, turmeric powder/pasupu podi, black pepper powder, and salt. Here goes the recipe.

Software
---------------

2 cups toordal, cooked
2 cup shredded cabbage (packed)
1 small onion, chopped roughly
3 Indian green chilis/1 jalapeno
1 lime sized tamarind, soaked and pulp squeezed
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp sambhar/rasam powder
1 tsp mustard seeds/aavalu/rai
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeelakarra/jeera seeds
1 sprig curry leaves/karivepaaku/kadi patha, chopped
1 dried red chili, broken into pieces
1 pinch asafatida powder/inguva/hing
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil/or your favorite oil
salt, to taste
coriander leaves, to garnish

Hardware
---------------

Pressure cooker to to cook the toor dal
Saucepan
small fry pan/kadai for the tempering

Method
---------------

Put the saucepan on medium-high heat, add 1 tsp of oil. Add the onions, chilis fry until they are translucent.
Add the cabbage and cook for about 5-7 min or until cooked. Add the turmeric powder
Add the cooked toor dal and stir until dal is heated through and is mixed in with the cabbage. Add the tamarind paste/pulp.
Add salt and the sambhar/rasam powder and stir. Take the dal off the heat.

Tempering/Tada/Popu
-------------------------

Heat the 1 tsp oil in very small fry pan.
Add the broken red chili pieces, jeera and mustard seeds. After they pop, add the asafatida powder.
Add the chopped curry leaves and turn off heat.

Add the tempering to the prepared dal above. Add chopped coriander leaves at the end.

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with rice,puri,chapathi or paratha.

Penne with creamy veggie sauce

2006-03-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

I got home today my mind made up to eat some pasta. I love pasta in all shapes, sizes and forms. I looked around in the kitchen and started gathering up all the ingredients that remotely looked like they could go in with the pasta. I then remembered that the ingredients I had on hand closely matched to the ones in a Rachael Ray pasta creation I watched 3-4 weeks ago. Armed with the penne in the cupboard, fresh veggies and cheese in the refrigerator, Rachael Ray's recipe pulled up on the computer I made a replica. I did make modifications to this recipe - added different veggies, added in some cottage cheese, changed the pasta to penne (since that is what I had on hand) etc.

Since a good amount of veggies went into making this dish, I though this could make a worthy entry into Sweetnicks ARF/5-a-day Tuesday.

Software
---------------

1/2 pound or 8 oz penne rigate/campanelle/cavatappi pasta
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup sliced protobello mushrooms
1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, thinly sliced
2 tbsp dried basil or about 1/2 cup of fresh basil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp or more, red pepper flakes
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, EVOO
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Hardware
---------------

Saucepan - to make the pasta
Stockpot to boil the pasta

Method
---------------

Bring a large pot of water to boil, toss in the pasta, add a little salt and cook according to the package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
Put a large skillet/saucepan on medium heat, add the 1 tbsp EVOO to coat the pan.
Add the onions and garlic and saute for a minute on medium-high heat.
Add the mushrooms and yellow pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the chopped spinach and heat through until it is wilted through. Add the roasted red pepper. Add salt and pepper, stir. Transfer the veggies onto a plate.
Put the same saucepan on the stove, add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and butter. Add the flour and stir for a couple of minutes to make a roux that will help thicken our white sauce.
Add the vegetable stock and the milk. Bring it to a boil. Add the italian seasoning, the dried basil leaves, red pepper flakes, nutmeg. The white sauce will now start to thicken. Add the ricotta and cottage cheeses, stir so the cheese melts. Add the reserved pasta water. Add the veggies back in so they heat through.
Mix the pasta with the sauce.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with grated parmesan cheese on top.

Tips: This makes about 2-3 servings. This recipe can be easily doubled.

St. Patrick's day - Mini Tropical Oreo Cheesecakes with Kiwi Jam topping

2006-03-17T05:34:00.001-08:00

Happy St.Patrick's Day everybody!

This is my entry to Anthony's Curry Mela this week.

I got the idea for the mini cheesecakes from a friend who brought them to a superbowl party. She had made mini plain cheesecakes with vanilla wafer crust and cherry pie filling as the topping.

For St. Patrick's day, I wanted to make something green and these cheese cakes came to my mind. These have an "oreo" crust and crushed oreos in the filling. I topped them up with the kiwi jam I made over the weekend. I also added some coconut to make them more tropical.

Software
---------------

3 packages of cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded baking coconut
1 package oreo cookies (will need about 25-30)

Hardware
---------------

one sheet pan/cookie sheet/muffin pan
Foil(not paper) cupcake liners

Method
---------------

Place the foil liners on a cookie sheet or put them in a muffin pan. I put mine on a cookie sheet as I could fit more on there than just 12 in a batch.
Put the side of the cookie that the icing in the foil cupcake liners with cream side up.
Put the other halfs in a big ziplock bag.
Close the ziplock bag containing the oreo halves and crush the cookies using a rolling pin on a canned vegetable tin. You could use the food processor for this but the zip lock bag method is more fun.
Cream together the softenend cream cheese with vanilla. Add the sugar and cream some more until the sugar blends. Add the eggs one at a time and cream until well blended. Add the crushed oreo cookies and the coconut, mix together.
Spoon the creamcheese mixture on to the foil liners, until it is about 2/3 full.
Bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about 20-22 minutes.
Let the cheese cakes cool completely. Refrigerate for about an hour.
Take them out of the refrigerator and spoon the kiwi jam on top of the cool cakes. Cover and refrigerate for about another hour or overnight.

Makes about 25-30 cheesecakes

Tips: Canned cherry/blueberry pie filling or any other jam, jelly or marmalade can be spooned on top of these cheesecakes.

Bottle Gourd - Sorakaya/Anapakaya Dappalam

2006-03-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

Bottle gourd (Sorakaya/Anapakaya (Telugu), Louki/dudhi (Hindi)) is one of my favorite Indian vegetables. I am always disappointed if this veggie doesn't show up in the Indian store here. Growing up, this was a staple in my home. We had a bottle gourd plant in our kitchen garden. This plant was so easy to grow and it would produce a LOT of gourds each year. We had a very hard time disposing off the gourds :). Usually family, friends and neighbours received these from us. One of my mom's friend used to take a couple of these often from our house and made us a very special "dudhi halwa". It was the most amazing dudhi halwa I had ever tasted to date.

This vegetable is cooked when it is young and tender. When cut open, a young gourd does not have prominent seeds. If this vegetable is too mature, the seeds inside are bigger. When we were kids, we used to patiently collect all the seeds, screw them on to a screwer, sprinkle some salt, pepper roast them over an open fire and eat them. They were truly yummy, or so I thought. I haven't tried doing this in the recent "rememberable" past to remember the taste :).

I make about 5 different kinds of dishes with this vegetable and love all kinds of preperations. My grandmother even made a curry with the outer skin of this vegetable and it was just yummy. I haven't been so lucky here in the U.S to find this veggie, free of any marks on the outer skin so I could use that skin to make the fry curry.

The following is a recipe for one of my favorite sorakaya recipes - sorakaya dappalam.

Dappalam is a cross between sambhar, rasam and pulusu in my opinion. Some dappalam recipes have toor dal in the recipe but my mine doesn't. It just has besan/gram flour/chick-pea flour instead.

Software
---------------

1 medium size sorakya, peeled and cut into 1 inch slices
1 medium onion, cut lengthwise
4-5 Indian green chilis, cut lengthwise
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped (optional)
1 lime size tamarind soaked in water and juice extracted
1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi/pasupu powder
1 heaping tbsp rasam powder
1 heaping tbsp sambhar powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 pinch hing/asafatida powder
3 tbsp of besan/chickpea flour/shanaga pindi
salt, to taste
chili powder, to taste
1 tsp jeera/jeelakarra/cumin seeds
1 tsp rai/aavalu/black mustard seeds
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil(EVOO) or your favorite oil
chopped coriander, handful

Hardware
---------------

1 pressure cooker

Method
---------------

Put the pressure cooker on medium heat, add the oil. Add the mustard and jeera seeds until they splutter.
Add the green chilis, onions and curry leaves. Add the chopped ginger and garlic and the hing or asafatida powder
Cook until onions are translucent, add the sorakaya/bottle gourd pieces.
Cook for additional 2-3 minutes or so. Add the turmeric powder.
Fill the pressure cooker with water, just so all the sorakaya pieces are immersed in the water.
Cook until 2 whistles.
While the pressure subsides, take the besan flour in a small dish, pour water little by little to make a smooth, lump free paste out of it.
After the pressure dies down, open the cooker, add the tamarind juice. Mix well and add more water if needed. This should be of rasam consistency.
Add the sambhar powder, rasam powder, coriander/dhaniya powder, chili powder (if needed), salt.
Finally add the besan flour that was mixed with water above and stir.
Cook until the dappalam boils and is foamy on top. The dappalam thickens because of the addition of the besan flour.
Turn off the heat, add the cilantro leaves.

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with rice.

Tips: The same recipe can be made with okra (pressure cooking is not needed, as okra cooks well on the stove top).

Cabbage and Carrot Zhunka - from One Hot Stove

2006-03-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

This recipe is an adaptation of Nupur's Zhunka recipe that she had blogged about earlier in the month in her wonderful A-Z of Marathi Food series. I am always looking for creative ways to cook cabbage - the one vegetable that doesn't rank in my "must-eat" veggies and hence doesn't usually make it to my shopping list either.

I did do some changes to the recipe, so I am not exactly sure how authentic it is but it was yummy! One major change I made was to reduce the flour content, dry roast the flour and also added some additional masalas and carrots.

Software
---------------

3 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup matchstick carrots/shredded carrots
1 medium onion, chopped lenghwise
2 cups besan/chickpea flour
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chili powder/to taste
2 tsp (cloves + caradamom + cinnamon stick + black pepper) powder (dry roasted and powdered)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or your favorite oil
2 tsp black mustard/rai/aavalu seeds
2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder/haldi/pasupu
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped fine
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped fine
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1/3 cup of water
salt, to taste
handful of chopped cilantro

Hardware
---------------

one non-stick pan

Method
---------------

Put the pan on medium heat, and add the chickpea flour. Dry roast the flour until the raw smell goes away. Transfer it to a plate and keep aside.
Add the oil to the same pan, add the mustard and the jeera seeds. After they splutter, add the onions, ginger and garlic.
After the onions are traslucent, add the curry leaves, turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, (cloves,caradamom,cinnamon,blackpepper) powder and stir.
Add the cabbage and stir. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the matchstick/shredded carrots. Stir. Cover and cook for another 2 mins.
Now add the roasted flour in batches stirring the cabbage, carrot mixture so the flour gets incorporated.
Nupur's recipe said that there is no need to add water but I had to with mine. The jiuces from the veggies weren't enough for the flour to get incorporated. I added about 1/3 cup of water. I also added a lot less flour than her recipe asked for also.

The end result was just superb! Thanks, Nupur for the recipe. Serve it with roti, puri or rice. I ate it with some crackers the next day and it was good with them too.

Kiwi Jam - Thatz whatz cookin' - ARF/5-a-day Tuesday

2006-03-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

This is my entry to Sweetnick's ARF/5-a-day Tuesday this week!

Whenever I think of jam, my mind wanders to the hot summer afternoons in India. That is when mom made all of her jams, jellies, fruit squashes (not as in vegetable but I am using it in the verb form not as a noun) pickles, vadiyalu, appadalu, mamidikaya orugulu (spiced and dried raw mango)! Everything that had to be preserved for all year round was made in the summer. As with everything else, this was a huge family event everybody doing their own share.

Coming back to jams, mom made all kinds - from veggies like tomato, carrot to fruits like apple, papaya, mango, mixed fruit (fruit medley!), grape, orange. We never bought the Kissan Jam available at the stores. My favorite way to eat jam was to spread it on some chapathi, roll it up and eat it. Bread and jam came second.

Now, coming back to this post. I had posted a picture yesterday asking fellow bloggers to guess what the dish was. I got very good responses. The first person to guess what the main ingredient was Manisha from Indian Food Rocks and Puspha from Pusiva's Culinary Studio. The first person to guess the exact dish was Spice Hut. If all goes well, I am going to be using the jam as a topping for some mini cheesecakes.

Thank you to everyone for playing along.

The recipe (makes 4 1/2 pints or 4 cups)

Software
---------------

10-12/3 cups chopped medium sized kiwi fruit
3-4 cups sugar
1 package fruit pectin
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 drop of green food color (optional)

Hardware
---------------

One big saucepan
4 1/2 pint glass jars

Method
---------------

Peel, wash and cut the kiwi fruit. I cut the kiwi fruit into cirlces and then quartered the big circles and left the small circles (towards the end) alone. Those who like everything mashed may want to mash it up or chop the fruit into much smaller size than what I did. You should have about 3 cups of kiwis.
Put a sauce pan on medium-high heat and add the kiwis, pineapple juice and the fruit pectin. Stir ocassionally and let the mixture come to a rolling boil.
Add the sugar stirring the kiwi while adding. I used about 3 1/2 cups of sugar. You may wish to use a little less than that or the full 4 cups.
Bring the mixture back to a rolling boil (will take about 4-5 minutes). At this point, the mixture should be thickening up.
After the rolling boil, boil away for another 1-2 minutes then take the saucepan off the stove. Add the food color if desired. I added a drop to make it a little more green.
Skim off any foam on the top. The jam at this point is still a little liquidy. It is not of a jam consistency yet. It will set later as it cools down.
Pour into hot sterlized jam jars and seal. I am not the best person to talk about jams sealing techniques etc., as I have never done it before. The following are a couple of resources for the enthusiastic.

Ohio State University Extension's Page
Kraft foods has a video on Water Bath method for sealing the jars

All I did was, gathered some glass jars I had lying around and did it the way my mom does back home - washed them with hot soapy water and throughly dried them with a clean kitchen towel (my mom used to put them out in the sun). When the jam was ready, I put the glass jars in the microwave until they were a little hot to touch, ladled the jam into the jars. Be careful, both the jam and the glass jars are hot. Take precaution.

I am not planning on keeping this jam for long. I will use most of it for my dish for the cheesecakes. Hence, I did not explore long term storage. If you do follow my method, don't forget to refrigerate the jam even though mom never did and her jam never went bad :) but that is up to you.

Guess Whats Cookin' for St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick post and a guessing game :). All you have to do is guess what the green stuff bubbling away is.

This is something I made this afternoon to get ready for St.Patrick's day this Friday. I did not make the entire dish but just a topping. I think those are enough clues. Okay.. I will give another clue - think green!

Put your thinking caps on and guess away!

Mango-Bananas Foster without the alcohol - late night snack/dessert

2006-03-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

I watch way too much food network and have seen Rachael Ray and Emeril Lagasse (even Alton Brown) whip up Bananas foster. Everytime I saw them make it, I wanted to make it too. But I never did. This is a very easy, crowd pleasing dessert that comes together in a snap and is very easy to make. I cannot emphasize enough how easy it is. Anyone can do it.

The major issue I had with all the food network recipes is that there was always alcohol (rum and banana liqueur) in them. Emerill and Rachael always suggest setting some of the bananas aside for kids before adding the alcohol for the adults. I some how managed to assume that it wouldn't taste good without the alcohol.

But a couple of weeks ago, I did try the "kids version". I made bananas foster. All I can say is that it was amazing. I couldn't get enough of it. Tonight, I changed it up a little. I added sliced mango. Mangoes are my favorite fruit. It was even more heavenly with mangoes.

Software
---------------

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 under ripe banana
1 mango
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice (optional)

Hardware
---------------

One skillet

Method
---------------

Peel and slice the mango into think strips or cubes. Half the banana and slice it at an angle. Keep aside.
Put the pan on medium heat and add the butter. After the butter melts, add the brown sugar and stir until it integrates with the butter and melts. Add all the spices and mix.
Add the sliced banana and the mango. Let them brown a little on both sides.

Serving Suggestion: Put one scoop of icecream in a serving bowl, add the banana-mango mixture and then add the other scoop of icecream. Add more banana-mango mixture around it. Garnish with some mint.

I used the Breyers Double Churned Vanilla Icecream (98% fat free) just so I don't feel guilty mentally of eating too much of this dessert!

Makes about 2-3 servings.

Veggie Pakoras

2006-03-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Pakoras would be on my list of favorite appetizers if I am asked to choose. I like them way better than any kind bajjis any day. The difference between pakoras and bajjis is that, in bajjis veggies are dipped in a spiced besan flour batter so it is covered with the besan flour batter where as in pakoras, veggies and/or onions are directly added to the flour and then deep fried. The pakoras are far more crunchier than bajjis and my version uses the flour only to bind the veggies together, so there is not a lot of flour going on either. I just love that crunch.

Software
---------------

1 cup gram flour/besan/shanaga pindi
1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp ajwain/vaamu seeds
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine lengthwise, then halved
1 cup spinach leaves cut into very thin strips
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped fine
5-10 mint leaves, chopped fine
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chat masala (optional)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste (optional)
salt, to taste
vegetable oil, to fry

Hardware
---------------

one mixing bowl
one fry pan to deep fry

Method
---------------

Mix all the ingredients in the sofware list except for the vegetable oil together. Slowly add little water about less 1/4 cup and mix the batter. The batter should be very thick. It should not be runny at all. The consistency of the batter should be such that a ball can be formed together (almost like the chapati dough) but should be sticky, so a little more water than what you would add for the chapathi flour.
Heat the oil in the fy pan. After it is heated, about 300-350 degrees, take little bits of the batter and drop in the oil. Deep fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with tomato ketchup, tamarind chutney or mint chutney. Pairs well with Indian tea.

Vankaya/Brinjal/Eggplant Koora/Curry

2006-03-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

I had the purple Indian eggplants in the refrigerator. They were not perfect i.e. some brown spots on some of them but I wanted to use them up anyway. I made a simple curry with them as I didn't think they were worth any thing fancy.

Software
---------------

8-9 purple eggplants
3-4 small golden potatoes, peeled and chopped
2-3 tomatoes chopped or a cup of canned tomatoes
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1" piece of ginger, chopped fine
1 large dried red chili, broken into 1" pieces
1 tbsp shanaga pappu/chana dal
1 tbsp minapa pappu/urad dal
1 tsp aavalu/rai/black mustard seeds
1 tsp jeelakarra/jeera/cumin mustart seeds
1/2 tsp pasupu/turmeric powder
1 tsp dhaniya/coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
a pinch of garam masala
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 sprig curry leaves, chopped (optional)
cilantro and mint to garnish, chopped fine (optional)

Hardware
---------------
One pan

Method
---------------

Cube the potatoes and put in a little bit of water and microwave them until they are more than half cooked but not completely cooked. Keep aside.
Meanwhile, cube the eggplants, I usually take the stems off because they are dried out anyway. If you are lucky enough to have fresh looking stems I would trim them a little and keep them.
Put the pan on medium high heat and add the oil. Add the broken red chili peppers, the chana dal and the urad dal. Also add the jeera and rai seeds. After they splutter, add the onions and the curry leaves.
After the onions are translucent, add the chopped ginger and the turmeric.
Add the potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, salt and chili powder. Cover and cook.
After the eggplant and potatoes are soft to touch, add the coriander powder, chopped mint leaves (optional) and the cilantro (optional)

Serve warm with rice, roti, parathas, couscous.

Tip: Between the cilantro and the mint, I add about a big handful. I love my herbs, so I add them. If you are not a huge fan, omit them.

Putnala/Dalia/Roasted Chickpeas Laddu

2006-03-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

I made these dalia laddus a couple of weeks ago when I wanted something sweet and had little time on hand. I had originally not intended on including coconut in the recipe but I only had 11/2 cups of dalia and when I added them to my the jaggery syrup it looked a little runny and I frantically started looking in the cabinets for something to thicken it up. I found coconut. I used the shredded coconut found in the baking aisle. You could substitute that either with dried chopped coconut (if you like the coconut crunch) or the coconut powder you get in the Indian stores. You can omit the coconut completely and just use about 2 cups of dalia.

Software
---------------

2 cups dalia/putnalu
1 cup jaggery/bellam/gur
2 caradamom pods, de-seeded and powdered
4-5 tbsp coconut powder/shredded coconut used for baking
approx. 1/3 cup water

Hardware
---------------
One saucepan

Method
---------------

Put the saucepan on low heat, add the jaggery add just enough water to cover the jaggery, don't add any more water than necessary.
Stir well and the jaggery should start to dissolve. Increase the heat to medium-high.After the syrup starts to bubble up, reduce the heat to low. After about 5 min, test the consistency of the syrup by dropping a drop in a bowl filled with about 1/2 inch of water. If the syrup drop retains its shape and does not disintegrate, then the syrup is ready.
Turn off the heat, add the caradamom seed powder, coconut(if using) and the dalia. At this point, the mixture should not be runny at all, if it is add more dalia or coconut as needed.
After it cools down a bit, put ghee/clarified butter on your palm and make lime ball size balls/laddus.

This recipe will make about 15-18 laddus. These will keep outside in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

ARF/5-a-day Tuesday - Mexican Night it is

2006-03-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

I learnt about Sweetnick's ARF/5-a-day Tuesday from fellow bloggers. I went to Sweetnick's blog and discovered what the top 20 ARF foods are. As soon as I saw blackbeans, I was so excited. I love blackbeans and will eat anything made with them. I despise the "canned black beans". Somehow, I feel they lack the flavor of "cooked from scratch" black beans. Usually on a weekend afternoon while I am watching a movie, I go on a "bean-cooking adventure". I put two pots on the stove and buy 1 lbs each of two diferent kinds of dried beans and cook them.

Then I cool the beans, use some of them right away if I am making something. I put the remaining in freezer baggies and freeze them in serving portions.

One of my favorite recipes with black-beans is my black-bean,veggie and cheese quesedilla.
Blackbean and veggie quesadillas Guacamole Mexican Rice

Black bean Quesadillas

Software
---------------

2 cups pre-cooked black beans - beans that are not cooked to a mush
1 medium white onion, chopped fine - set aside 2 tbsp for guacamole
4 large cloves garlic - set aside a pinch for guacamole
1 red bell pepper, diced fine
1 green bell pepper, diced fine
1 cup frozen corn
1 jalapeno / 2 serrano peppers
4-5 large flour tortillas(burrito size)
1-2 cups Moterey Jack Cheese/some kind of Mexican cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder (if you want this spicy)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander powder(optional)
1 tbsp taco seasoning/some kind of mexican seasoning
Vegetable Oil/Pam to fry the quesedillas
1 handful cilantro - chopped fine
1/4 cup salsa (I used the Lizano salsa from Costa Rica that my boss had given me)

Hardware
---------------

One pan to cook the filling
A non-stick grill pan/skillet to fry the quesadillas

Method
---------------

Put the pan for filling on medium-high heat and add the 1 tbsp of EVOO. Add the the onions, jalapeno and garlic, cook until onions are translucent, add the tri-colored peppers and the frozen corn heat until they are soft and lightly browned.
Stir in the black beans and cook until they heat through.
Add the cumin, chili powder, taco seasoning and salt and stir until the flavors blend.
Add the salsa, remove from heat, cool for about 5 minutes and add the cilantro.
Place a non-stick skillet/grill pan over medium/medium-low heat. Spray pam/brush some vegetable oil on one side of a tortilla. (I don't use my usual EVOO here because of the low smoking point)
Place the tortilla on the skillet, oil side down, sprinkle some cheese on half of the tortilla, spoon some black-bean mixture, spread it around so it covers the half, add some more cheese on top of the beans mixture.
Fold the tortilla so the bean and cheese mixture is completely covered by the other half of the tortilla. At this point, if you are using a grill pan, quarter turn the tortilla so you get nice grill marks. If you are using a regular sillet, just wait until the side is golden brown.
Turn it over and let it brown/grill mark on the other side too. Ensure that the cheese is melted. Both sides should be brown and crispy.
Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Cut each tortilla into 3-4 wedges using a pizza cutter/knife.
Serve with salsa, guacamole and sourcream. Garnish with additional cilantro if desired.

Guacamole

I do have a yummy guacamole recipe that a co-worker gave me but tonight, I just wanted something simple and quick. I basically added almost the same ingredients I had on hand for the quesadillas.

Software
---------------

1 avacado, pitted and mushed
1/2 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp onion, chopped
2 tbsp sourcream
a pinch cumin
a pinch chili powder
a pinch salt
a pinch black pepper
a pinch nutmeg
a pimch of corainder seed powder(optional)
cilantro, as you please

Hardware
---------------
one small bowl

Method
---------------

Combine all the above together and put it in dish, cover with plastic wrap to prevent oxidation and browning of the avacado.

Mexican Rice

Software
---------------

1 cup uncooked rice (any kind except minute)
2 cups cold water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium chopped onion
1 jalapeno/serrano pepper, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 cup tomato sauce/tomato paste
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp EVOO

Hardware
---------------
saucepan

Method
---------------

Put the oil or EVOO in the saucepan over medium heat, add the rice and keep stirring so it browns evenly. The browning of rice is very important and makes the rice very fluffy, so please don't skip this step. Towards the end of the browing, add the jalapeno, garlic and onion.
Add the water and add remaining ingredients. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Cover and cook for about 20 mins
After 20 minutes have passed, check it in between so it doesn't brown. The rice should be done in about 20-30 min time.

Serving Suggestion: Serve 3-4 wedges of quesadillas, with some rice, guacamole and store bought salsa and sour cream.

Tips: If this recipe makes more quesadilla filling than you need, the filling can be refrigerated upto 2-3 days and used for buritto filling, taco filling, can be mixed with some cooked rice. The filling is also perfect layered with some tortilla chips and cheese for a veggie version of nachos.

Suggestions: This long post may make it seem that this is a very time consuming recipe, but it is really not. Since the ingredients (onion, garlic, cilantro etc) are in more than one of the dishes, you can chop them at once. You can start cooking the rice at the same time as the filling for the quesadillas. When the filling for quesadillas is cooling, the guacamole can be whipped up. By the time rice is done, you will be close to be done with assembling the quesadillas.

Oscar Night Dinner - Simple and Comforting - Potato/aloo/bangaladumpa fry wrapped in a Flour Tortilla

2006-03-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

While the stars at the Oscars ate very expensive caviar and took home gold dusted chocolate Oscars, I enjoyed the night watching them with a very simple meal.

I got home late after a visit to a friends house and the Oscars had already started. I realized that I have NO dinner preperations done and was looking for something that I can prepare watching T.V (you see, unlike some lucky people, I don't have a T.V in the kitchen). I thought up of something that takes more time to prep and less time to cook. As usual, I moved my set-up to infront of my T.V to prep.

Software
---------------

10-12 small golden potatoes
2 tbsp chana dal/shanaga pappu
2 tbsp urad dal/minapa pappu
2 tsp cumin/jeera/jeelakarra seeds
1 tsp black mustard/aavalu/rai seeds
1 tbsp coriander powder
1-2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil/any other oil you prefer
salt to taste
chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

Hardware
---------------

Non-stick fry pan

Method
---------------

This is the step that takes the most amount of time in this preperation. Peel and dice the potatoes into tiny pieces. See the picture, above for an idea of the size of the diced potatoes. Have patience, it will be rewarded :).
Take the non-stick pan, put it on medium-high heat. Add the chana dal, urad dal. After a minute or so, add the jeera and mustard seeds.
After the seeds splutter, add the diced potato pieces and stir once after a minute or so. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium.
Go watch your Oscars or do whatever you please, come back and check on the potatoes and stir every 5 minutes.
After the potatoes look and feel tender, add the salt, the chili powder and the coriander powder and stir. Taste and adjust the ingredients.
Since I like my potateoes, extra crispy, I just let them fry a little more on the stove without the lid.
Garnish with the cilantro/coriander leaves.

At this point, this fry can be served with rice, roti, paratha. I put mine in a couple of flour tortillas with a couple of spoonfuls of my zucchini chutney!

Poha/Atukula Chudwa - Perfect Sunday Afternoon Movie Snack

2006-03-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

If you just would like the recipe and don't want to get bored with my story, click here!

It was early this afternoon, was getting ready to watch a movie and I wanted something salty and spicy. I ruled out all the options. The first food that came to my mind was popcorn. I thought I should just microwave some popcorn. But then, I wanted something MORE than POPCORN. I was longing for something Indian. I thought of bajjis or pakoras but they seemed too much work. Then "chudwa" came to mind.

My memories of eating chudwa are from when I was a child. For every wedding in the family(aunts and uncles), I remember my grandmother and few other ladies in the neighbourhood would start the food preparations about a week-ten days before the wedding ceremonies actually started. Among the elite "pelli vantakalu" (wedding foods) were Boondi Laddu, Badusha, Kajji Kayalu, Murukku, Boondi Kaara (Mixture) and Chudwa. I remember all the old ladies about 10-15 of them, talking, having fun, joking, making these all day long for 4-5 consecutive days. They used to set up the kitchen outside :) because it would get so hot inside with all the cooking. Mind you, these women would make any where from 1000-1200 boondi laddus.

Gone are the days where cooking during weddings was a family affair. There was always one grandfather of mine, one uncle of mine, one grandmother of mine who was good at making a particular dish. It was almost customary for certain people to make certain dishes at weddings. I remember the night before the wedding where every relative that came for the wedding would be assigned a chore - be it chopping vegetables, cooking, prepping etc.

Gone are those days (atleast in my family)! Now everything is catered and usually it is a cook and his/her assistants that make and deliver the food.

Now to the actual recipe!

Software
---------------

4 cups thin poha/atukulu
2 green chilis/1/2 jalapeno
3 red chilis
3 tbsp cashew (raw and broken)
5 tbsp peanuts (raw)
5 tbsp dalia/putnalu
2 sprigs curry leaves (broken/chopped into pieces)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil/anyother oil you fancy

Hardware
---------------

One pan

Method
---------------

Put the pan on medium-high heat. Add the oil.
Add the peanuts to the oil and stir so they move around in the oil. After a minute or so, add the green chilis, red chilis and cashews (in that order) and move them around too until the nuts are golden brown.
Then add the curry leaves, the turmeric powder and stir.
After the curry leaves splutter, add the dalia or putnalu and stir again.
Now, reduce the heat to low and add the poha, a cup at a time, stirring so all the poha pieces are coated with the turmeric and the oil. Keep stirring and keep adding the poha.
After all the poha is added, keep on low for another 5-8 min stirring in between.
Taste to see if the salt is enough. If not, add more salt as you please.
Let it cool and serve.

This will keep in an air-tight container for about 10-15 days. Goes really well with chai/Indian tea. For a wonderful chai post, visit Saffron Hut's blog post here

Zucchini/Courgette Squash Chutney/Salad Dressing

2006-03-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

It has been only a couple of hours since I started this blog but I already learnt something new. During my research to type this entry, I learnt that Zucchini flower is also used in cooking. The Wikipedia entry went on to say that in Mexico, the flower is preferred over the fruit. I will watch out for the zucchini flower from now on. If anyone else tasted a dish made out of the zucchini flower, please let me know. I would love to know.

Now coming back to the intent of this post, I do not remember seeing this sqaush in India. If anyone else has seen it, I would love to be enlightened.

A couple of summers ago, a friend who had a kitchen garden, had too many zucchinis and gave me a few. At that point, I tried to find some Indian recipes to make with. I found the zucchini chutney, zucchini with tomato and onion curry recipes etc. I adapted these recipes to my own tastes. Now buying zucchini is a regular in my household. I usually toss them in pasta sauces, grill zucchinis etc.

The following is my version of the chutney.

Software
---------------
For the chutney

3 medium to large zucchinis
6-7 Indian greenchilies or 2-3 Jalapenos
small lime size ball of tamarind
1/2 tsp methi/fenugreek/menthulu seeds
1 tsp cumin/jeera/jeelakarra seeds
1 tsp black mustard/Rai/Avvalu seeds
1 tsp coriander/dhaniyalu/dhaniya seeds
1 inch ginger (peeled) piece
1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi/pasupu powder
salt, to taste
1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

For popu/tadka/tempering

2 tsp chana dal (optional)
2 tsp urad dal (optional)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil/any other oil you prefer
1/2 tsp black mustard/Rai/Avvalu seeds
1/2 tsp cumin/jeera/jeelakarra seeds
1 sprig curry leaves/kadipatha/karivepaku

To garnish (optional)

3 sprigs cilantro/dhaniya/kothimeera

Hardware
---------------

One pan

Method
---------------

In a pan, add the cumin, mustard, fenugreek and coriander seeds and dry roast them until you smell the aroma. Cool the spices and grind it in a spice grinder.
Peel and dice zuchini into cubes. Since it will be put in the food processor anyway, I would just randomly chop it. Cut the green chilis in half. Cut the ginger coarsely.
In a pan, heat 1 tsp of the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), add the zucchini pieces, green chilis and the tamarind. I just add the tamarind directly without soaking it in water and squeezing the pup out so that the chutney does not become watery. You can try soaking it in water and adding just the pup if you don't mind runny chutney.
After about 5 min of cooking, add the turmeric and salt.
Cook until the zucchini is soft and tender to touch.
Add the previously ground spice mixture, mix it well and let it cool.

While the zucchini is cooling, heat the 1 tsp oil for the popu in a small fry pan and add the dals first (if you are using them) and then add the rest of the ingredients.
Put the zucchini in the food processor and blend until smooth.
Add the popu to the ground zucchini and the chutney is ready to serve.

Serving Suggestion: This chutney goes well with rice, roti, paratha. I make a without popu version of this chutney and use it as a salad dressing - I stream in another 1/4 cup of EVOO while it is blending. I also use the without popu version as a sandwich spread.

A Sweet Start - Carrot Halwa

2006-03-04T19:29:00.000-08:00

A very warm welcome to everyone. One of the reasons I started this blog is because I got inspired by all the other bloggers out there.

What better way to kick off my blogging experience than with something sweet to eat? Here I present, my version of the scrumptious Indian dessert called "Gajar Ka Halwa" or "Carrot Halwa". I remember my mom making this dessert for special occasions. She usually recruited me or one of my sisters or my dad to grate carrots for her. We usually did this while watching T.V. The ingredients required for this recipe are just a handful.

Software
---------------

3-4 tbsp of ghee
12-15 medium to large fresh carrots
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 16 oz container of half and half/milk
3-4 caradamom pods
1/4 cup sugar
Handful of cashews broken in half and golden raisins

Hardware
---------------

One large heavy bottomed pot
One grater

Method
---------------

First peel, wash and grate the carrots. It will be easier if the tips of the carrots are not cut off as the tips can be used to hold the carrot so you don't end up grating your fingers :). This will take a while so take a seat or move your setup to the nearest T.V, like I did. You should have about 4-41/2 cups of packed grated carrot.
Meanwhile, place the heavy bottomed pot on the stove on medium heat, add 1 tbsp of ghee/clarified butter. Add the broken cashew pieces and fry for 30 sec or so and add the golden raisins. Fry until the cashews are golden brown and the rasins plump up. Make sure you move them around in the pot. Remove from the pot and keep aside.
To the same pot, on medium-high heat, add another 1 tbsp of ghee and put the grated carrots. Fry the carrot in ghee for about 10-15 mins until the raw smell of the carrot turns into a yummy fragrance.
Now add the 16 oz (2 cups) container of half and half. For a low fat version, you can substitute this with about 10 oz - 12 oz (about 1 1/2 cup of milk) and the sweetened condensed milk.
Now we come to the "stir and wait" part. Keep stirring the carrot, milk mixture so it doesn't stick to the pot. This is where your choice of the "heavy bottomed" pot helps you out a little. I use my alumium pressure cooker (without the lid) for such tasks.
Meanwhile, de-seed the caradamom pods, powder the seeds (I use my coffee turned spice grinder for this) and keep aside.
When the carrot, milk mixture begins to come together, starts to leave the sides of the pan, it is of halwa consistency (a little thicker than apple sauce), taste it. It should be pretty sweet because of the sweetened condensed milk that we added. If it is not sweet enough add sugar at this point and stir it for another 5 min. I have had to add about 1/4 cup.
Turn off the stove, add the caradomom seed powder and mix in the cashews and raisins. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of ghee.
Serve it warm.
This makes about 10-12 medium servings