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.