Cucumber and White Radish Salad

I made this salad today for the first time and absolutely loved it. This recipe is a keeper and I will be making this salad quite often.

Cucumber & White Radish Salad (slightly adapted from Yamuna Devi's cookbook)

 1 medium sized cucumber, peeled and coarsely shredded
1 small white radish, peeled and coarsely shredded
1/4 cup yogurt
12-15 almonds, coarsely powdered
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsps coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsps dry-roasted white sesame seeds
pinch of chilli powder

Place the shredded cucumber in a strainer and sprinkle with salt. Keep aside for 1/2 hr. Then, drain out excess liquid. Combine the cucumber, radish, yogurt, almonds, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Add the toasted sesame seeds and cumin powder and mix once. Sprinkle chilli powder on top. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Quick Bise Bele Bhat with Beaten Rice

I made this last night for dinner and my daughter loved it. This bhat is cooked with beaten rice (poha) and moong dal and has lot of vegetables.

Bise Bele Bhat

1 1/2 cups beaten rice (poha)
3/4 cup moong dal ( you can use split moong dal or mixture of split moong dal and moong dal with skin)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 onion
1 tomato
1 cup mixed vegetables (carrot, cauliflower, potato, capsicum)
curry leaves
1 tsp sambar powder/bise bele bhat powder
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
oil
1 tbsp ghee
salt
fried cashewnuts for garnishing (optional)

Pressure cook moong dal. Wash and soak poha in water for few mintues. Squeeze out excess water and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, burst mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and onion and fry. When transparent, add tomato and fry for few seconds. Add potato and carrot and fry for 2 minutes. Add rest of the vegetables and just enough water for the vegetables to cook. Once all water has evaporated and vegetables are cooked, add sambar powder, turmeric powder and tamarind paste and fry for few minutes. Add moong dal, poha and salt. Mix well. Add ghee and stir once. Garnish with fried cashewnuts.

Methi Mattar Curry

I rarely buy methi leaves as I hate cleaning it and also any dish I make with methi never comes out well.  I made gajar methi subzi couple of times and it was a disaster. But this time I could not resist buying the methi leaves from the market as it looked so fresh (fresh vegetables are a rarity in our area). I spent 2 hours cleaning it and then I spent the next hour looking for an easy recipe. Finally, I decided on the methi mattar malai recipe by Tarla Dalal. The dish came out very well and I will definitely be making it again.

Methi Mattar Curry (adapted from Tarla Dalal's microwave cooking recipes)

1 1/2 cups fenugreek (methi) leaves, chopped

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 cup green peas, boiled

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsps oil

salt to taste

To be ground into a paste

1 onion

1 green chilli

1/2" piece ginger

1 clove garlic

2 tbsps cashewnuts

Wash the chopped fenugreek leaves, add 1/2 tsp of salt and leave aside for 10 minutes. Then, squeeze out the water.  In a pan, heat oil. Add jeera seeds and when it splutters, add fenugreek leaves and fry for 2 minutes. Transfer this to another dish. In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil, add the prepared paste and fry till raw smell goes. Add the milk, salt, boiled peas, and fenugreek leaves and fry till the gravy thickens. Serve hot with rotis.

Instant Rabdi

My daughter does not like milk and refuses to drink it. Every morning this is the conversation we have:

D, drink your milk
No
D, drink your milk please
Nnnnno
D, DRINK YOUR MILK
Nooooooo
After 40 minutes, "D, FINISH YOUR MILK. RIGHT NOW"

 She likes other milk products though like cheese and yogurt. And she loves desserts like kheer and custard. Oh well, I guess I should be happy that she eats stuff made from milk! I was looking through my recipe books for some quick recipe for her evening snack when I came across this instant rabdi recipe by Tarla Dalal. This can be made in a jiffy. I reduced the sweetness and did not add cornflour as I wanted the rabdi to be liquidy.

Instant Rabdi

 2 cups milk
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
5-6 almonds, lightly toasted for garnishing

Boil the milk. Reduce heat, add bread crumbs, condensed milk and cardamom powder and stir for 6-8 minutes. Divide into bowls, and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Serve chilled or warm. You can also chop up some dates and raisins and add to the rabdi.

Rajma

An easy half-hour recipe for Rajma adapted from Madhur Jaffrey.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dried red kidney beans, preferably a mix of light and dark (I used two 14 oz cans of dark kidney beans)
Salt to taste
3 tbsp oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 1/4 cups peeled and chopped ripe tomatoes
2 tsps ground corainder
1/4 tsp chilli pwdr
2 tsps ground cumin
1 fresh hot green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp amchoor or 2 tsps fresh lemon juice

Soak the beans overnight and cook. Add the salt to the beans and stir to mix.

Put the oil in a wide medium pot and set over medium high heat. Add the onions. Stir and fry until the onions are a rich, reddish-brown color. Add the garlic and stir a few times, then add the ginger and stir once or twice. Add the tomatoes, coriander, cumin, chilli pwdr, and green chilli. Stir and cook over medium heat for 5 to 6 mins, or until the tomatoes are slightly reduced. Stir in the cooked beans and their liquid as well as the amchoor. Note: If using canned beans, add veg stock instead of water. Turn the heat to low and simmer gently for 10 mins to marry all the flavors. Can mash some of the beans for thicker consistency. Serve hot.

Serves 4 to 6

Muffins, Muffins, Muffins!

I bought a muffin tray but I never used it for 4 years as I was under the impression that it would not fit into my microwave oven. Only last week I realized that all I had to do was turn the tray around and put it inside the oven. Duh!!!! I am on a muffin baking spree now. Started off with the plain muffins. Just google muffin recipes and you will get lot of recipes on the web. I liked this one as it seemed fairly simple to make.

Plain Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
5 tbsps butter

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Melt the butter and let it cool but do not let it solidify. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs. Pour melted butter into the egg mixture little by little and stir till it is all incorporated. Keep a muffin tray ready with paper muffin liners. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix no more than 10 seconds. Do not overmix. Batter should be lumpy and it is allright if there are pockets of dry flour. Pour the batter into the muffin pan and bake immediately for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Cheese Olive Muffins (makes 6 mini muffins)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup grated cheese (cheddar or any other cheese of your liking)
1/4 cup black olives, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Mix flours, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil and buttermilk. Add this to the dry mixture and mix gently until well combined. Mix in cheese and olives. Do not overmix. Pour into the muffin tray and bake for 18-20 minutes. Like my niece says, these muffins are fantastico.

Banana Muffins

Check out this banana muffin recipe from tastypalettes.

Healthy Pancakes

I got this wonderful and easy recipe for pancakes from my sister. Very convenient as you can make the dry mix beforehand and store in an airtight container. Both the flour and dried milk add natural sweetness. The pancakes came out soft and fluffy and were a big hit with K and D.

Whole-wheat pancake mix (Makes 3 cups dry mix, or enough to make 20 pancakes)















1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

In a large bowl combine the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, dry milk, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the cinnamon, if you like. Store in an airtight container.

Whole-wheat pancakes (Makes 10)

1 1/2 cups pancake mix (see recipe)
1 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, or more if needed

Maple syrup, confectioners’ sugar, or preserves (for serving)

In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, water, egg, oil, and vanilla. Stir well. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter. When it begins to bubble, use a 1/4-cup measure to ladle 3 mounds of batter in the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until the undersides are brown. Flip the pancakes over and cook an additional 1 minute. Transfer pancakes to a warm plate. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to the pan when necessary. Stack the pancakes and sprinkle with syrup or confectioners’ sugar, or add a spoonful of preserves.

Spicy coconut milk based vegetable bowl

This dish is inspired by a noodle dish recipe in 101cookbooks.com. The broth was flavorful and aromatic. I added a lot of vegetables to the broth, served it with rice and thus made a meal of it. Delicious.

Spicy coconut milk based vegetable bowl

Mushrooms, sliced – 1 cup
1 Green pepper, julienne
1 Carrot, julienne
1 Onion, sliced
Vegetable stock – 500 ml (I used 2 tablets of maggi vegetable cubes to make 500 ml of stock)
Coconut milk – 400 ml
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
Soy sauce

For the spice paste:

Sriracha - 1 tbsp
Garlic – 1 clove
Ginger – a small lump
Coriander seeds – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Lime rind – ½ tsp
Coriander leaves – a few
Veg oil

Peel the garlic. Peel and shred the ginger. Grind all ingredients of spice paste in to a thick mixture. Add vegetable oil, if necessary.

Heat pan. Add spice paste and fry for couple of minutes. Add onions and fry until translucent. Add all vegetables and salt and stir-fry until vegetables are cooked. Add stock, coconut milk, and a splash of soy sauce. Let it come to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle lime juice. Serve hot.