Homemade Ricotta Cheese

I have started making ricotta cheese at home. The recipe is from David Lebovitz's guest post at Simply Recipes. I use this cheese in cookies, tarts, and pasta.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese (makes 2 cups)
(from David Lebovitz's guest post at Simply Recipes)

2 litres whole milk (in original recipe, 2 quarts milk is used)
1 cup whole-milk yogurt
2 tsps white vinegar
1 tsp salt

Boil the milk. Add yogurt, vinegar and salt and very gently boil for 1 or 2 minutes, until the milk is curdled.
Line a strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth and keep it over a deep bowl.
Pour the milk mixture into the strainer and keep aside for 15 minutes. Then, gather the cheesecloth and squeeze gently to drain excess liquid. Use within 3 days.

Eggplant Kothsu

I made this kothsu for D the other day and she loved it. K also had some with rice and he said it was not bad. Considering he hates eggplant, that was high praise indeed! 

Eggplant Kothsu

1/4 eggplant, chopped (I used the long purple one)
1 tomato, chopped
2 green chillies, slit
1/3 tsp tamarind pulp
1 tsp sambar powder
curry leaves, 1 sprig
mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp
salt
hing
cilantro
oil

Heat oil and burst mustard seeds. Add eggplant and stir. When it is partially cooked, add tomatoes, curry leaves, green chillies and cilantro. After two minutes, add sambar powder and hing. Stir. Now add tamarind pulp, salt and 2 cups water and allow to boil well. Simmer till it reaches required consistency. This goes well with upma, ven pongal etc.

Panchmel dal

Last time V came to India she bought lot of cookery books. S had jotted down  few recipes that she found interesting and after much begging and pleading, she agreed to give me a copy. This Rajasthani dal recipe is a favorite of mine. As the name suggests, this is made with 5 dals. I did not have green moong dal so today I made the dal with just four lentils.

Panchmel Dal

1/4 cup split channa dal
1/4 cup toovar dal
1/4 cup green moong dal (split green gram)
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp whole moong

1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp haldi
1 tsp coriander power
1/2 tsp garam masala

3 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 green chili slit
hing
2 tsp tamarind pulp
oil
salt
juice of 1/2 lime (optional)

Clean and wash the dals. Add 3 cups water and pressure cook for 3 whistles or till the dals are cooked. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, turmeric powder, dhania powder and garam masala and 2-3 tbsps of water and mix. Heat oil in a pan and add the cloves, bayleaves, cumin seeds, green chili and hing. When the cumin seeds splutters, add the masala mix and saute for 1-2 minutes. If it gets too dry, add few tsps of water. Add the cooked dal, tamarind pulp and salt and simmer for 5-6 minutes. This dal is very thick. If you want thinner consistency, you can add more water. Finally, add lemon juice and mix well. Serve hot.

Healthy Chutney

Ma got this chutney recipe from some magazine.


Healthy Chutney

 
1/2 coconut, grated
4 tomatoes
5 garlic pods
10 small onions
1 sprig curry leaves
handful coriander leaves
small piece of ginger
1 green chili
1 carrot, peeled and grated
hing
1/2 cup roasted bengal gram (pottu kadalai)
salt
oil

Fry onion and garlic in little oil. Add green chili, ginger and carrot.  Once carrot is cooked, add tomato and hing and fry till tomato becomes soft. Add the roasted channa dal and fry until light brown. Add coconut, curry leaves and salt and mix well. Keep aside and cool. Grind to a smooth paste, adding little water.

Potato and bread kofta in spinach gravy

I have a non-stick paniyaram pan which I rarely use. Then after going through few blogs, I realized I could use it to make koftas. You need to use only few drops of oil and the koftas are quite tasty. Last night I made koftas with bread and potato and then cooked them in a spinach gravy. I got this recipe idea from Priyas's Recipes. I will be using the paniyaram pan more often now! Will make manchurian next time...

Banana Bread

I know I said I won't be baking for sometime but I was looking at David Lebovitz's food blog the other day when I found this wonderful recipe for banana bread that I just had to make. I also had ripe bananas at home that I had to use up and I did not want to make muffins again. You can find the original recipe here. I made few changes to the recipe and I baked the bread in a loaf pan. This is how I made it.

Banana Bread

1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps melted and cooled butter
1 egg white
1 egg
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup hung curd
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Butter a loaf pan and keep aside. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Sift together flour, baking  powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add sugar and mix.
Puree the bananas. In a large bowl, mix together the egg white, egg, butter, banana puree, hung curd and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. There is no need to use blender as the mixture should not be over stirred. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes or until the center is done. Cool on a rack.

Sago Pachadi

I got this recipe from Meenakshi Ammal's Cook and See. I added chili powder instead of green chilies and I seasoned the pachadi with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Sago Pachadi
(from Meenakshi Ammal's Cook and See)

1 tbsp sago
1 cup curd
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
chili powder, pinch
salt
oil

Fry sago in 1 tsp oil till reddish brown in color. Keep aside. In a bowl, add curd and salt and whisk well. Add the fried sago, and chili powder. In a small kadai, heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When it starts bursting, add curry leaves and then turn off the gas. Season the pachadi with this. Chill.

Mango Ice Cream

I had couple of baking disasters last week. I tried to make baked samosas at home. They were really really bad! Some things should just be had fried :-). Then I made buns but it came out rock hard. I hate throwing food but it was either that or a visit to the dentist. No more baking for some time! Mango season has started and it is a good time to make some mango ice cream. I followed this recipe from jugalbandi and the ice cream was delicious. You do not need an ice cream machine to make this. The ice cream was too hard to scoop though so I just kept it out for few minutes before serving.

Baby Potatoes in creamy yogurt sauce

D was not well last week and her diet consisted of dal chawal and potatoes. She was not allowed to drink milk also. So, we had lot of baby potatoes and curd at home. To finish them off, I made this curry. I was thinking of the dum aloo that Mom makes when I started making it but I did not have her recipe so I just came up with my own recipe. K did not like it too much but I thought it was quite nice. Maybe it would have been better if I had roasted the potatoes and then added it to the gravy.

Baby Potatoes in Creamy Yogurt Sauce

12 baby potaotes, boiled and peeled
4-5 cashews (optional)
1 big onion
1 cup yogurt, whisked well
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
chilli powder, to taste
salt, to taste
coriander leaves, for garnishing

Boil the potatoes and peel. Once cool, prick with a fork and keep aside. Grind onion and cashews to a paste. Heat oil in a pan. Add the onion paste and fry till raw smell goes. Meanwhile, mix all the powders including salt with 2 tbsps water and add to the fried ground paste. Stir well for 2 minutes. If it gets too dry, add little water. Reduce heat, add the yogurt and potatoes and cook until potatoes absorb the masala. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rice or rotis.

Vegetable curry with coconut milk

I was watching a Madhur Jaffrey show once where she made a simple shrimp curry. She just boiled tamarind water, added some spices and coconut milk, and cooked the shrimp in that sauce. This is a modified version of that recipe. I forgot what spices she used but I flavored the curry with just two spices - cumin and coriander powder.   

Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk

1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 capsicum, cut into cubes
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup peas
1/2 cup coconut milk (I used 4 tbsps maggi coconut powder mixed in 1 cup water)
1 sprig curry leaves
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
chilli powder, to taste
salt
oil

Boil potato, carrot and peas until just tender, drain and keep aside. Heat oil. Add curry leaves and onions and fry the onions till transparent. Add 2 cups water and boil. Add tamarind paste, cumin powder, coriander powder and chilli powder and let it simmer till liquid reduces in half. Add capsicum and once capsicum is cooked, add rest of the boiled vegetables and coconut milk. Simmer for few minutes. Serve hot with rice.

Stuffed Bhindi

Another recipe with no measurements which is most unlike how I cook usually. I got this recipe from my aunt when I lived with her in Mumbai.

Mix dhania pwdr, jeera pwdr, salt, turmeric pwdr, red chilli pwdr, amchur and a little pepper. Slit the bhindi such that they are still attached at the bottom. Stuff and saute.

Karela subzi

I got this recipe from my mom-in-law. I don't have any measurements for it - all by andaaz:-)) It usually comes out very well. Unfortunately, no pics.

Cut karela into half and then slice them. Rub some salt into the karela and leave for a couple of hours. Squeeze hard to remove water. Slice one large onion long and fine. Heat oil in a pan, then add the onion. Once the onion browns, add the karela and cook on slow fire until the karela browns/cooks. Then add dhania pwdr, jeera pwdr, red chilli pwdr and anardana pwdr. Can substitute amchur if anardana powder is not available (very important to add something sour) - it comes out better with the anardana. Add more salt if necessary. Can also saute potato fingers separately and add them at the end (I usually do). Sprinkle garam masala on top.

Rasam (without dal)

This is Mom's favorite rasam now. It is very easy and simple to make. V used to make a similar kind of rasam with a can of diced tomatoes. Here, the tomatoes are ground with a few other ingredients and then boiled.

Rasam (without dal)

 3 fresh tomatoes
1 tsp cumin seeds
handful of coriander leaves
1 sprig curry leaves
3-4 whole black pepper
ghee
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
salt

Grind first 5 ingredients. Heat ghee in a pan. Burst mustard seeds. Add the ground tomato paste and 1-2 cups water, salt and allow to boil well. Serve hot with rice. Had this for lunch today with roasted baby potatoes.

Pasta in quick mushroom sauce

I had this packet of mushroom soup lying around for quite some time. Since it is so hot here we did not feel like having hot soup. Instead, used it as a sauce for pasta and dinner was ready in a jiffy. 

Pasta in quick mushroom sauce

2 1/2 cups pasta, any shape
1 packet cream of mushroom soup (I used Maggi)

Boil the pasta al dente and keep aside. Make the soup according to the instructions in the packet. Stir in the pasta. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. That's it! Meal is ready. You can also saute some vegetables and add to the pasta.

Neer Dosai

I first had Neer Dosai at Kanua restaurant in Bangalore. It was so good that we could not have enough of it. Kept ordering plate after plate of Neer dosais. I tried making it at home the other day and it turned out ok. It was not as thin as the restaurant ones but still very tasty. And it is very simple to make.

Neer Dosai (makes approx 15 dosais)

1 cup raw rice, soaked
salt to taste
oil

Soak rice for atleast 2 hours. Drain and grind to make a very smooth batter. Add salt and water to make a very thin batter. Heat tava (I used my cast iron tava). Grease the tava with a little oil and pour a ladleful of batter. Do not spread the batter with a spoon. Make it like rawa dosai. You need to cook on one side only but if you want, you can flip the dosai and cook on both sides. But be careful not to brown the dosai. Fold it twice to make a quarter circle. Serve hot with chutney or stew.

Sri Lankan Egg Curry

This recipe is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. At the end of this book, there are some recipes for spice mixtures including the Sri Lankan curry powder. This is the first time I am making this curry powder and I loved it. I used it in this egg curry and the sauce was wonderful.  Instead of eggs, vegetables like potatoes, mushrooms, or okra can be cooked in it.

Sri Lankan Curry Powder

2 tbsps coriander seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 1/2 tbsps cumin seeds
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
3 sprigs fresh curry leaves
1 tbsp dessicated coconut
1  1/2 tsps raw rice
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds (I used black)

Spread the seasonings on a pan and roast lightly on medium flame till the spices are a shade darker. Cool and grind to a fine powder. Store in a tightly lidded jar.

Sri Lankan Egg Curry

 3 hard-boiled eggs
1 big onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tbsp Sri Lankan curry powder
salt, to taste
turmeric powder, pinch
red chili powder, to taste
oil
coriander leaves for garnishing

Heat oil in a pan. Saute sliced onions and curry leaves. Add salt, curry powder, turmeric powder and red chili powder and fry for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, and coconut milk and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, peel the eggs and make 4 lengthwise slits in the eggs without cutting them fully. Slip the eggs into the gravy, and carefully spoon the sauce over the eggs. Serve hot with rice.

Vegetable Korma

These days I seem to be making lot of dishes from one hot stove. I like this site a lot. Recipes are simple, measurements exact, and everything comes out well. Also, I love reading Nupur's posts. I liked this vegetable korma because it does not have coconut or cream in it (I usually do not have these ingredients at home). You do need to add cashews and poppy seeds for the richness though. I had all the ingredients at home except poppy seeds and paneer so I made the korma without these two ingredients. Still tasted good.

Vegetable Korma
(adapted from one hot stove)

1 large onion, cut into cubes
2 tomatoes cut into cubes
1 pepper, 1 carrot, 1 potato, cut into cubes
1/2 cup green peas
1 cup tomato puree
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
oil
1/4 cup cashews
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
1 tsp garam masala ( I used store bought garam masala)

Roast the cashews and 1 tbsp poppy seeds (if using) until lighlty brown. Grind to a paste. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions until it starts to brown. Add the green pepper and fry for 2 minutes. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Stir for couple of minutes. Add all the vegetables, tomato, tomato puree, and cashew paste. I wanted lot of gravy, so I added more than 2 cups of water. Simmer on low heat until vegetables are cooked, about 15 minutes. Add dried fenugreek leaves and garam masala, give it one stir and turn off the heat.

Mixed vegetable curry (Chow Chow)

Made this recipe called Chow Chow from one hot stove. Just a medley of veggies with mustard masala paste. Was yummylicious!!! Here's the link http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2010/03/singing-chefs-in-my-kitchen.html

Beetroot Curry

Ma had this beetroot curry at some restaurant. She liked it a lot and tried to make it the same way at home. 

Beetroot Curry

 
4 beetroots, peeled, cut into small pieces and boiled (add salt when boiling)
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustrad seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tsps coconut
1 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed coarsely (use rolling pin to crush)
oil
salt

Heat oil and add mustard seeds and urad dal. When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and coconut and fry for 1-2 minutes on medium flame. Add betroot and stir fry for couple of minutes. Add peanuts and mix well. Serve hot with rice.

Mysore Rasam

Ma made jeera rasam and mysore rasam specially for K when he was sick. I got to taste the mysore rasam and it was yummy!

Mysore Rasam

 

2 tbsps toor dal, pressure cooked

lime size tamarind

turmeric powder pinch

salt

1 tbsp coconut

1 tsp bengal gram dal

1/2 cumin seeds

1/2 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp whole black pepper

1-2 red chilies

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

ghee

Dry roast bengal gram dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies and pepper. When bengal gram dal is slightly brown, add coconut and fry till coconut is lightly roasted. Cool and grind to a coarse powder. Meanwhile, heat oil in a kadai, burst mustard seeds. Add curry leaves. Add 2 cups tamarind water, turmeric water, salt and let it come to a boil. Add powder and simmer for about 10 minutes. Now add the boiled toor dal and simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve hot with rice.

Baingan Achaari

Another recipe from Nita Mehta's zero oil cookbook.

Baingan Achaari

7 eggplants (I used the long, thin purple eggplant)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 sprigs curry leaves
5 ripe tomatoes, chopped finely
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
salt, to taste
1/2 tsp garam masala

Tempering
pinch of hing
1 tsp fennel
1/2 tsp onion seeds (kalonji)
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds

Cut eggplant into half lengthwise and then cut each piece diagonally into two pieces. Sprinkle salt and keep aside for 15 minutes. Wash.
Heat a pan. Add all the tempering ingredients and stir till fenugreek seeds turns brown. Add ginger garlic paste. Stir for a second. Add curry leaves and the chopped tomatoes. Fry till tomatoes are almost dry. Add all the powders and salt. Mix well and then add the eggplants. Cook covered for 15 minutes on medium flame till soft. Serve hot.

Coconut chutney

I made coconut chutney for lunch for K and everyone at his work loved it. He took it with idlis. When I make idlis it always comes out hard. I have tried everything - adding fenugreek seeds, poha, boiled rice but nothing works. Each time, I  gave some excuse or the other - too cold so batter is not fermenting well or boiled rice is not good etc. but I would never admit that I just cannot make soft idlis. K asked me to give up trying but D loves mini idlis so I keep making idlis hoping each time that "this time" the idlis will be perfect. Have not been successful so far. This time I asked Ma to make the batter (secretly hoping that the idlis will turn out hard so my excuses are valid) but what do you know, the idlis came out soft and fluffy! Hmmm, maybe K is right.....

Coconut chutney

1 cup coconut gratings
1-2 green chilis (depending on how spicy you want it)
1" piece ginger
3 tbsps curd
1 sprig curry leaves
mustard seeds
oil
salt, to taste

Grind the coconut, ginger and green chilis with little water to a smooth paste. Empty into a bowl, add curd and salt and mix well. In a small kadai, heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add curry leaves. Add this to the chutney.

Spiced Raw Banana Curry with Tamarind Paste

I love this curry that Mom makes with raw banana. This is a dish from the Palakaad region and it goes very well with Molagootal (vegetables cooked with coconut and dal).  

Spiced Raw Banana Curry with Tamarind Paste

 
5 raw banana
2 red chilies
1 tbsp raw rice
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
pinch hing
salt
oil

Peel and cut banana into 1" long pieces. Add water, tamarind paste, turmeric powder and salt and boil till banana is just done.  Drain water and keep aside. Roast dry raw rice and red chilies in a pan till rice starts turning brown. Cool and then grind to a coarse powder. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, hing and curry leaves. When urad dal is slightly brown, add the cooked raw banana and fry for two seconds. Add the powder and mix well. Fry for few minutes. Serve hot with rice.

Paneer in hot garlic sauce

Paneer in Hot Garlic Sauce
(Adapted from Nita Mehta's zero oil recipes)

This recipe uses lot of tomato ketchup and the ketchup overpowers the taste of other ingredients. Everyone loved the dish but next time I will reduce the quantity of ketchup.

1 cup paneer (tofu) - cut into cubes or triangles
4 cloves garlic
1 dry, red chilli - deseeded and chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 capsicum - cut into tiny cubes
5 tbsps ketchup
1 tsp red chili sauce (I used sriracha)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1/2 cup water

To prepare garlic sauce, peel and mash the garlic well. Heat pan. Add garlic and red chili bits. Remove from fire and stir till garlic starts to change color. Keep pan back on flame and add onion and cook till soft.
Add ketchup, red chili sauce, soya sauce, pepper and salt. Cook for 1 minute on low heat. Add sugar and vinegar. Add capsicum, salt and 1 1/2 cup water. Give one boil. Add cornflour paste, stirring all the time. Add paneer and cook for 2 minutes. Serve hot with rice.

Chocolate Fudge

Ma used to make her version of chocolate fudge often when we were kids. I got the recipe from her and have tried making it many times but I never get the texture right. Most times the fudge comes out soft and sticky. I asked Ma to make it today and the fudge turned out just perfect. Trick is to turn off gas at the right moment. A minute earlier and the fudge will be soft and sticky. A minute later and the fudge will be too hard. Hopefully I will get it right someday!

Chocolate Fudge

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp cocoa (sugarless)
13 tbsp milk powder
3 tbsp unsalted butter

Sieve cocoa and milk powder together. Make sugar syrup to one thread consistency. For this, mix sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan and set to boil on medium flame. Once sugar dissolves, keep checking consistency of syrup. To do this, dip a spatula into the syrup and lift it out. Allow to cool for few seconds and then touch the syrup with forefinger and then touch your thumb and forefinger together and pull it apart gently. When a single thread is formed and does not break then one thread consistency has been reached. Add cocoa and milk powder mixture to this, stirring constantly (on medium flame). Add butter and keep stirring. If too dry, add 1-2 tbsps water. When it is thick enough (this should approx. take 25-30 minutes), turn off gas and pour onto greased plate. When slightly cool, cut into pieces.
You can also add chopped nuts (cashews and almonds) to the fudge.

Vatha Kuzhambu

I was telling Ma that we do not get small onions here so she brought small onions with her this time. And that too peeled!!! She made some yummy onion sambar one day. Then the other day she made vatha kuzhambu with it. I love vatha kuzhambu but K does not like it so I do not make it often. Now that Ma and Pa are here, I can have vatha kuzhambu every day.

Vatha Kuzhambu

1/ 3 cup small onions, peeled
1 tsp urad dal
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp sambar powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp sesame oil
salt
small piece of jaggery (optional)

Heat oil in a pan. Add urad dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves, turmeric powder and sambar powder. Fry for few seconds, then add onions. Fry for a minute. Add tamarind paste, salt, jaggery and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. If very watery, mix 2 tsps rice flour with little water and add to the kuzhambu. Simmer till you get the desired thickness. Serve hot with rice.

Egg Korma

Here is the other recipe I tried from the magazine that Mom bought yesterday. If you do not eat eggs, then make the korma with paneer or mixed vegetables instead. 

Egg Korma
 

 2 eggs
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 green chili
1/4 tsp black cumin seeds (shah jeera)
1 onion
1 tomato
small piece ginger
1 garlic clove
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp cumin powder
1/8 tsp coriander powder
a pinch chili powder
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
handful coriander leaves
1 sprig curry leaves
oil
salt

Boil eggs, shell, make slashes all around and keep aside. Chop onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic and slit green chili. Heat oil in a pan. Fry the onions till transparent. Then, add chili, ginger and garlic and fry till they turn brown. Add the tomatoes and fry till pulpy. Add turmeric, coriander, cumin and chili powder and saute for a while. Meanwhile, grind coconut and shah jeera till smooth. I added little of the onion tomato mixture while blending to get a thicker paste. Add this to the pan and fry till raw smell goes. Add 1 cup water and salt and bring to a boil. Slip in the boiled eggs and simmer for few minutes, till gravy reaches desired thickness. Sprinkle garam masala and mix gently. Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leves. Serve hot with rice.

Rajasthani Bhindi

Mom got some magazine yesterday and it has some really nice recipes. I have already tried two recipes from this magazine and both came out well. I will post the recipe for the other dish (Egg korma) tomorrow. 

Rajasthani Bhindi

250 gms lady's finger
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp onion seeds (I did not add this)
1/4 tsp red chili powder
3 tsp besan
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp amchur
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp saunf
2 tbsps oil
salt to taste

Wash the lady fingers and then wipe them. Chop off the two ends of the lady's finger and then slit them in half. Mix all the dry masalas, besan and 1 tsp of the saunf. Add salt and little oil to this and mix well. Mix this masala mixture with the lady's finger. Heat oil. Put cumin seeds and the remaining saunf and fry for a minute. Add the lady's finger and stir fry for 5 minutes. Lower heat, cover and cook till done, stirring occassioanlly. Remove the cover, and stir fry for few minutes more till lady's finger are crisp. Serve hot.

Vegetable Noodle Soup

One more soup for those chilly evenings. This one is from Sanjeev Kapoor's Noodles and Pasta cookbook. I followed the recipe closely, only slightly increasing the quantity of vegetables used. I also did not add the red chili and MSG though I have included this in the ingredients list. I seasoned the soup with black pepper while in the original recipe white pepper was used.

Vegetable Noodle Soup

 
6 button mushrooms, finely sliced
1 medium carrot, grated
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
10 spinach leaves, finely shredded
1 handful eggless noddles
1 tbsp oil
1 garlic cloves, crushed
1 dried red chili, seeded and shredded
4-5 cups vegetable stock (recipe below)
1/4 tsp MSG (optional)
black pepper powder, to taste
salt, to taste
1 tbsp white vinegar

Heat oil in a wok or pan. Add garlic and stir fry for half minute. Add mushrooms, carrot and green pepper and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add red chili and immediately stir in the stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, add noodles, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add MSG, pepper and salt to taste. Stir in the vinegar and shredded spinach leaves, cook for 1 minute and serve hot.

Vegetable Stock - Peel and chop 1 onion, 1 carrot, one spring onion and 2 garlic cloves. Place in a pan with 1 bay leaf, 5 peppercorns, 2 cloves, and 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, and use in soup. Do not throw the vegetables. Puree and mix it with gravy for some other curry.

Brrr, it's cold! I need soup...

Nothing like a hot bowl of soup to warm those chilly winter evenings. I make tomato soup very often. Just a quick and simple soup. For a thicker and creamier version, I sometimes add white sauce to the soup.

Cream of Tomato soup

2 tomatoes
1 carrot
1 potato
1 clove garlic (optional)

Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup White sauce
Basil leaves, for garnishing

Pressure cook tomatoes, carrot and potato with 2 cups water. Once cool, drain (save the liquid) and puree. Meanwhile make the white sauce and keep aside. Heat olive oil, fry garlic (optional), add the puree and the reserved liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Add the white sauce, stir well and simmer for few minutes. Garnish with basil leaves.

Red lentils and brown rice soup

I got brown rice recently and I was looking for recipes with brown rice. 101cookbooks had a nice soup recipe and I made this soup last week. I was telling Mom about this and she told me it sounded like kanji (rice porridge) that she used to have when she was young. She used to eat it plain while this soup is topped with olive oil, cheese, almonds and black olives. This delicious soup makes a great one-pot meal. I followed the recipe closely.

2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
6 cups vegetable stock or water (I used 2 maggi cubes)
1 1/3 cup red lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
salt if required (I did not need to add any salt as the broth was very salty)

For garnish
black olives, finely chopped
cheese

I first soaked the brown rice for 4 hours and the lentils for 1 hour though the recipe did not say anything about soaking. In a pot, combine olive oil, onion, and red pepper flakes. Fry till onion becomes brown. Stir in the broth, bring to a boil, then add rice and the lentils. Simmer for 30 minutes or till rice is cooked. Serve each bowl topped with olives, cheese and olive oil.

Sabudana khichdi

Sabudana khichdi is one of K's favorite dish (if made right) and I got this recipe from my MIL. It is very important to get the texture of the sago right. There are times the sago becomes a sticky lump and other times when it is too dry and hard. Trick is to soak the sago well and the method given in the recipe below works for me. But the soaking time might differ with different brands of sago so just keep trying till you get it right.

Sabudana khichdi 

1 1/2 cups sago, soaked and drained
1/2 cup peanuts, roasted and ground coarsely
2 big potatoes, boiled and mashes
2 green chilies, chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3-4 tbsps oil
coriander leaves, chopped, for garnishing

Wash the sago, and soak it in just enough water for 2 hours. Drain, spread the sago on a plate and keep it aside for minimum 1 hour. Keep the plate covered so that the moisture is retained. Heat oil and add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add green chilies. Then add potatoes, peanuts, salt and mix well. Add sabudana, mix well, and cook on low flame for 5 minutes. The sago was tender and moist and hence in 5 minutes the dish was ready. But if you think the sago is not fully cooked, cover and keep on gas for longer time (maybe 10-15 minutes), stirring once in while. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Methi Paneer Buns

I usually have lunch pretty early and by 3 in the evening I feel very hungry. Never know what to make for my evening snack. It cannot be too heavy but it should also fill my stomach. No fried stuff. Nothing too sweet. You see my problem........  Luckily I found this recipe. Methi paneer bun is a perfect evening snack and I will be making these quite often.

Methi Paneer Buns (makes 8-10)

For the recipe go here . I only changed one thing. Instead of 2 cups paneer, I added 1 cup paneer and 1 cup yogurt. These buns were just fabulous.You have to try them.

Black Channa Curry

I got this recipe from a friend. I have slightly modified the recipe to shorten the cooking time. In the original recipe, spice bag filled with spices is used and later discarded. Tea leaves are also added to the spice bag but in this recipe, I do not use tea leaves and I just add the spices directly to the chickpeas.

Black Channa Curry

2 cups kabuli channa (chickpeas)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tomato
1 clove garlic
1" piece ginger
1/2 tsp red chili powder
salt to taste

Dry roast the below ingredients till almost blackened. Cool and grind to a powder. Keep aside.
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp anardana
1" piece cinnamon
4 cloves
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
4 black cardamoms
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf

Soak chickpeas overnight. Drain water. Put in a pressure cooker. Add 4 cups fresh water, 1 tomato slit in half, ginger, and whole garlic clove. Pressure cook to give 2-3 whistles. After the pressure drops, open the cooker. Add salt, powdered masala and mash the channas a bit. Again pressure cook to give 2-3 whistles. Heat oil in a kadai. Add onions and fry till caramelized. Once the onions are blackish brown, add chili powder, and the tomato and the garlic cooked with the chickpeas. Just mash it well, add to onions and saute for few seconds. Drain the chickpeas but do not discard the liquid. Add this to the onions. Keep the flame on medium high and let the chickpeas cook for some more time, 15 minutes or so. If the curry gets too dry, add the reserved liquid. Remove from flame and garnish with tomatoes. Serve hot with rotis or puris.

Notes: Instead of adding the powdered masala to the chickpeas and pressure cooking it again, you could just fry the masala with the onions. Caramelize the onions, add the powdered masala and fry for few minutes. Add chickpeas and proceed as given above.

Everyday food - Dal

I can eat dal and rice/roti everyday with no complaints. Last week I tried two new dishes, one with moong dal and the other with channa and urad dal. 

Moong Dal
I got this recipe from my sister. This time, I did not take the easy way out and cook the lentils in the pressure cooker. I followed the recipe exactly and cooked the lentils on the stovetop. The dal was yummy!



1 cup moong dal
2 tbsp oil
1 onion
2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
2 green chillies
1" piece ginger
few curry leaves
few coriander leaves finely chopped
pinch turmeric powder
salt
2 cups water

Wash the dal and soak it in 2 cups water for about half an hour. Finely chop the onions, green chillies, ginger and saute on a medium flame. Once the onion turns golden brown, add the soaked dal with the water, curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder. Cook on low flame. When it is half done (about 15 minutes), add tomatoes. Blend well. In another 10 minutes the dal should be fully cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Dal Methiwali
One more recipe from my sister. I think she got this from some magazine and I had it for a long time but never got around to making it until now. In the photo, the dal does not look very appetizing but the dish was actually pretty good.

1/3 cup channa dal
1/3 cup urad dal
2 cups water
1 small onion
1/4" ginger
salt  to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsps dried fenugreek leaves
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp ghee or butter
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch hing
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 dhania powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp lemon juice

Wash the dals, and soak in 2 cups water in a large heavy bottomed saucepan for 30 minutes. Chop the onion, and ginger finely. Add to the soaked lentils along with salt, turmeric powder and dried fenugreek leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for about 45 minutes or until lentils are cooked. Or you could just pressure cook the lentils to two whistles. Keep aside. Chop garlic finely. Warm ghee in a small kadai. Add the cumin seeds and hing. When cumin seeds splutter, add the chopped garlic and cook until lightly browned. Remove from heat and quickly add the chili powder and dhania powder. Stir for a second and pour this into the lentil mixture. Mix in the garam masala and lemon juice.

Mixed Vegetable Kurma

This is a simple and wonderful recipe for kurma that I got from my sister. It goes well with rice and rotis. I made it slightly thick this time but if you want more gravy just add more water after adding the vegetables to the ground masala paste.  

Mixed Vegetable Kurma

Mixed boiled vegetables - I used 2 potatoes, 2 carrots,1 cup cauliflower,1/4 cup green peas. Other vegetables that can be added are knol-knol, and beans
Salt, to taste
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1 stick cinnamon
1 cardamom
2 cloves
2 onions

Grind to a paste
1" piece ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 green chili
1/2 coconut

Garnish
1 tomato, chopped
Handful of chopped coriander leaves

In a pan, heat oil and fry cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and onion. When onions are cooked, add ground masala paste and fry till raw smell goes, about 10 minutes. Add boiled vegetables and enough water. Bring to a boil. Simmer till gravy thickens. Garnish with tomatoes and coriander leaves.

Sprouts with Yogurt

I came across this website one day while searching for some recipe. It has some really nice original recipes. It is just amazing, the number of food blogs out there. So many exciting dishes, just waiting to be made. All the photos of the dishes look so good that I want to cook and taste everything right away. K is real happy with my experiments in the kitchen but sometimes I force food down his throat just so that it gets over soon and I can make something else. Just kidding. :-)) Coming back to this website, the recipe that I had to try immediately was Dahi Misal or Sprouts with yogurt. It actually requires 5 different types of sprouts and I had only moong sprouts but I could not wait. I made this with only moong sprouts and it was yummy! Here is my slightly adapted version of this recipe.

Sprouts with Yogurt

1 cup sprouts (I used moong sprouts)
2 potatoes, boiled and mashed
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp grated jaggery
1 tbsp goda masala (recipe given below)
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt
  
Grind to a paste
1/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1/2" ginger

For tempering
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves
1 small onion, chopped
2 small tomatoes, chopped

For Garnish
Whisk together 1 cup yogurt & salt. Sprinkle chaat masala and red chili powder on top. Can also add sev as garnish.

If using dried beans and sprouting them at home, pressure cook the sprouts. I usually buy sprouts from the market and cook in hot water for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Keep aside the sprouts to cool. In a pan, heat oil. Add all tempering ingredients except tomatoes. Fry till onions are soft. Add tomatoes and saute for 2-3 minutes. Now add the ground paste and goda masala. Saute for about 10 minutes adding water if masala gets too dry. Add salt, jaggery, chili powder and tamarind paste and  1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Fold in the sprouts and potatoes. Simmer for few minutes till everything is mixed well.
To serve  - spread the sprouts mixture on a plate, top with cold yogurt and add sev if using.

Goda Masala

Goda masala is a major ingredient used in Maharashtrian cooking. I just googled goda masala and used the 1st recipe I got from the search results. I have given the recipe below for your easy reference. Do not be lazy and try to substitute this masala with something else. The goda masala gives the above dish its strong flavor. Make the masala beforehand and you can store it for months and also use it in dals and curries. 

Maharashtrian Goda Masala
1 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
1/3 cup white sesame seeds
2 tbsp cloves
2 tbsp big cardamom
2 tbsp cinnmon sticks
2 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp lichen (skip if unavailable)
1/2 cup bay leaf
1-2 tsp oil

In a pan, heat oil and roast all the spices together till they turn very dark in color. Keep stiring while roasting and be careful not to burn the spices. Once roasted, cool and then grind to a fine powder.

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

I was looking at recipes at onehotstove when some link there took me to this site: egglesscooking. There are lot of wonderful eggless recipes here that I want to try. I started off with the oatmeal coconut cookies. The author suggests in her notes to the recipe that the cookies were too sweet and offers some suggestions to reduce the sweetness. I tried the recipe with the modifications suggested. Here is how I made it.

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies (makes 12 cookies)

All purpose flour, 1/2 cup
Baking soda,1/4 tsp
Salt, pinch
Dessicated coconut (unsweetened), 1/2 cup
Quick cooking oats, 1/2 cup
Butter, 1/4 cup
Granulated sugar, 1/4 cup
Honey, 1 tbsp
Milk (if required), few tbsps

Preheat oven to 350F. Melt the butter with the sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep aside to cool. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the coconut and oats. Pour the cooled melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. I found that the cookie dough was not moist enough so I added little milk. Instead maybe you could add more honey or melted butter. Once you get the right consistency, roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Flatten the balls slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.