Pennin(g) my Cooking

Pineapple Cajeta Empanadas

2014-01-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

Provencal Cherry Tomato Gratin

2013-12-31T13:09:00.000-05:00

Samba Ravai Idli

2013-12-24T12:57:00.001-05:00

Vadakari

2012-12-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

I had been looking for Vadakari recipe when I came across this recipe in AskChitvish iPad app. I bookmarked it and was looking for an opportunity to make it. One Sunday evening the snack turned out to be masala vadas. I saved few of those vadas to make Vadakari. The original recipe asked for mint leaves and gave specific instructions on making tomato puree. But me being lazy, decided to skip few steps. Of course it turned out to be my take on Vadakari but nevertheless it turned out to be super delicious. The proof being there were no leftovers.

Ingredients

For making vadas

Chana dal/ Gram dal - 1 cup
Red chillies - 3
Garlic - 2 cloves (optional)
Saunf - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Onion - 1 chopped finely
Coriander/Cilantro - 2 tbsp
Oil - for deep frying

For making gravy

Tomatoes - 2
Onion - 1 chopped finely
Garlic - 1 clove chopped finely/mashed/grated
Saunf - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil
Water - 2 cups
Coriander/Cilantro - 1 tbsp for garnish

Preparation

Soak chana dal in water for 2 hours. Coarsely grind soaked chana dal with red chillies, garlic, saunf and salt in a mixer. Add chopped onions and cilantro to the ground mixture. Shape into small balls and deep fry in hot oil. I remove them on seeing nice light brown color on the balls. Allow the balls to cool down completely. Crumble the balls/vadas.

Puree tomatoes in a mixer. (You can also use ready made tomato puree). Heat oil. Add saunf. Add onion and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes till you see a nice golden color on the onions. Add tomato puree. Add turmeric powder. Add water and salt. Allow it to boil. Once it is boiling vigorously, reduce to medium heat. Add crumbled vadas and allow the mixture to come to a boil. If the mixture is too thick add hot water. Garnish with cilantro.

Vadakari is ready and yummy!

Vadakari pairs well with idli, dosa and aapam.

Recipe Source: Ask Chitvish iPad app. www.askchitvish.com

Green Bell Pepper Chutney

2012-10-09T21:04:00.000-04:00

Traditionally the accompaniments for idli/dosa are coconut chutney, coriander chutney and tomato chutney. After having them for quite some time, there becomes a need to eat something different that is also easy to make. So here we go with the recipe of one such chutney:

Ingredients

Green bell pepper - 1 (chopped)
Onion - 1 (medium size)
Tomato - 1 (small size)
Green chilly - 1-2 (adjust according to taste)
Red chilly - 1-2 (adjust according to taste)
Gram dhall - 1 tbsp
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil

Preparation

In a pan, heat oil. Add red chilly and gram dhall. Saute for 20-30 seconds taking care not to burn gram dhall. Add green chilly. Saute for 10 seconds. Add onion. Saute for a minute. Add green pepper. Cover the pan with lid. After 2 minutes, open and mix. Check if bell pepper has become soft. At this stage add tomato and saute for a minute. Remove mixture from heat. Allow to cool.

In a mixer/blender blend the cooled mixture along with tamarind paste and salt. Add minimal water. Blend finely. Transfer to a bowl. This chutney goes well with idli/dosas.

Green bell pepper chutney is ready and yummy!

Cinnamon Rolls

2012-05-11T23:13:00.000-04:00

There is nothing as comforting as sitting at home during rainy weather, watching the droplets fall one by one from the leaves with something interesting to eat. The cravings usually tend to be for something fried along with with something hot to drink. But the effort of making bajjis (vegetables dipped in lentil flour and fried) with little one at hand seemed to be a huge task. Also I was craving for something sweet. The thought of baking something seemed to make more sense. I had ready made cinnamon roll dough on hand. The warm smell that spread through the house was enough to bring cheer into the gloomy evening.

Ingredients

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with Icing - 1 can
Walnuts - 1/3 cup

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place cinnamon roll on baking dish. Chop walnuts. Add walnuts in between the spirals of the roll. Bake as specified in the package. Apply icing after removing from oven. This is best eaten when it is warm.

Cinnamon rolls are ready and yummy!

Eggless Spicy Butterscotch Pudding

2012-04-21T07:28:00.001-04:00

Ingredients
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 pinch salt
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch chilli powder

Preparation

Whisk together the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a pan until smooth. Add the milk and cream. Mix well. Bring the ingredients to a simmer over low heat whisking constantly. Cook until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in vanilla, butter, cinnamon and chilli powder. Pour the pudding into a bowl and chill for 1 hour before serving. Alternately you can pour in individual bowls and chill before serving.

Spicy Butterscotch Pudding is ready and yummy.

Recipe inspiration: Melissa D Arabian show in Food Network

Semi Homemade Lemon Pound Cake

2011-04-24T10:23:00.000-04:00

Taste is one of the traditional five senses. It refers to the ability to detect the flavor of substances. According to Wikipedia, the sensation of taste can be categorized into five basic tastes: sweetness, bitterness, sourness, saltiness and umami. Sourness is the taste that detects acidity. Generally between India and US, I find people in US more receptive to the sour taste. There are so many items exhibiting the sour taste profile. I had been using lemon as an added flavor to our Indian dishes while making lemon rice occasionally. But after seeing so many recipes in Food Network where lemon was used as a star ingredient, I was inspired.

The lemon is presumed to have originated from India, northern Burma and China. It was introduced to the Americas in 1943 when Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola along his voyages. Lemon juice, rind, and zest are used in a wide variety of culinary applications. In my recipe I have used lemon juice and zest.

Ingredients

Pound Cake or Yellow Cake Mix - 1 packet (I used Betty Crocker's Yellow Cake)

Ingredients as per the cake mix

Lemon - 4 (Depending upon the sourness level that you want, you can change this)

Sugar - 1 cup

Preparation

Prepare the cake batter as per the instructions given in the selected cake mixture. (If you are preparing the cake batter on your own, prepare the batter for plain sponge cake). Zest the four lemons. Extract the juice and keep it separately. Add the lemon zest to the batter. Mix thoroughly. Bake the cake as you normally would. Once the cake is ready, place it on a wire rack for cooling.

For Lemon Glaze

Melt sugar with 1/2 cup of water. (If you need nice white frosting replace plain sugar with confectioners sugar). Take it off the heat and add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

Pour the lemon glaze over the baked cake slowly allowing the cake to absorb the mixture. Lemon Pound Cake is ready and yummy!

Semi-Homemade Pizza

2011-03-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Did I forget the blog? Of course I did not forget the existence of this blog. Laziness..no. Writers block..yes. Chef's block? Luckily no.I have been trying couple of recipes and it sure has worked out on the positive side. Not updating the blog has sure been nagging me for quite sometime. Well now that I am here..moving on to the recipe: Homemade Pizza. Should I say semi home made pizza as I used store bought pizza base?

Ingredients

Pizza Base -1

Tomato Marinara Sauce - 1.5 cup (I used store bought tomato and mushroom pasta sauce)

Onion - 1 if big, 2 if small

Peas - 1 cup (I used frozen peas)

Cheese - 1 cup (I used Kraft Mexican Four Cheese)

Olive Oil

Preparation

Over the pizza base, spread the marinara sauce. Spread the cheese completely. Slice the onions thinly. Add the sliced onions and peas over the cheese. Pat it lightly so that it settles with the cheese. (By putting the onions over the cheese, I find that the onions caramelize better). Drizzle olive oil over the entire pizza. This helps caramelize the onions and gives a nice glow to the entire pizza. Bake the pizza in a 375'F oven for 23 minutes. Remove the pizza and allow it to cool for couple of minutes before biting into it. Pizza is ready and yummy!

Little Hearts (or maybe Big Hearts)

2010-12-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

Coming from Chennai, India any cold is COLD for me. Moving to US, I have been forced to face the harsh winters (and huge utility bills thanks to the heaters). Snow is nice as long as it is fresh. After a day, it would become hard ice. So venturing out of the house is quite an adventure by itself. With two layers of clothes, thick jacket, cap, ear muff, scarf, snow boots and gloves you are sure to feel that you have now been trained to become an Eskimo. Maybe now you can tell your company that you are ready to be deployed in a project in Iceland.

But I should say winters sure increase the family time because you cannot venture out as easily as in summer time. Huddled close with your loved ones, Sound of Music movie, hot chocolate and warm cookies to munch on...what more could someone want. I made Palimers. But I know them as Little Hearts (from India). It was quite easy to make with the Ina Garten's recipe. Here is my version:

Ingredients

Puff Pastry Sheet - 1

Sugar - 1 cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Cooking Spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450' F. Combine the sugar and salt. Pour 1/2 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on a flat surface . Unfold the sheet of puff pastry (I defrosted it by placing the un-folded sheet in the microwave for a minute) onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. With a rolling pin roll the dough until it is13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the pastry towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Roll from the sides towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices on the cut side up on the parchment paper over the baking sheets (I used cooking spray on top of the parchment paper). Sprinkle sugar on top of the slices.

Bake the cookies for 6-7 minutes until caramelized and brown on the bottom. Turn it to the other side and bake for another 4-5 minutes until caramelized. Transfer to rack and allow to cool.

Palmiers are ready and yummy!

Broccoli Soup

2010-11-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

Last month we visited New Hampshire to see the Fall Colors. Oh Boy! It was freezing cold and all we had were our fall jackets. Not much use but something was better than nothing. Yeah that is when I felt like having hot sambar vadai's and pepper rasam. (If you are wondering if I am drooling as I write this, then you guessed it right.) We headed to Subway (I am a big fan) to eat the buns and veggies only to find about 30 other Indians standing in the line before us. With the number of Indian's visiting that place I was surprised that there were no Indian restaurants. With the temperatures soaring down, weathers getting cooler there is nothing better than sipping on nice hot/warm soup.

The temperature as I write this post is 39 F i.e. 3.88 C. Thanks to Google I do not have to calculate using the 5/9 formula or maybe it is 9/5. Oh my God! How dependent I have become on Google that I do not know the basic formula itself. Coming back to the main part of this post. With only broccoli in hand, I decided to make it into a soup which I would say turned out to be good enough to be slurped down completely in 5 minutes. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Broccoli - 1.5 cup (chopped into florets)

Milk - 2 cups (I used 2%. If you want to make it low fat then milk - 1 cup and water - 1 cup)

Water - 1 cup

Flour - 1 tbsp

Onion - 1 (chopped finely)

Salt - as per taste

Cheese - 2 tbsp (I used reduced fat cheese)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Heat oil. Add onion and fry till it is translucent. Add flour and mix thoroughly ensuring that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Add milk and mix well. Allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. The mixture would have thickened by now. Add broccoli florets and water. Mix well. If you still find the mixture to be too thick you can add some more water. Add salt. Allow it to simmer till the broccoli is cooked well. Add cheese and mix well. Transfer to soup bowls. Broccoli soup is ready and yummy!

Note: Once the broccoli florets are cooked you can blend the entire mixture thoroughly to get a smooth creamy texture. If you are like me and like the pieces floating around skip the blending part.

~ Ramya

Rose Milk

2010-10-06T05:53:00.000-04:00

This post has been long overdue. Time just flies by especially when you are in India for vacation. It looked like just yesterday when we were at the airport waiting to start the journey towards India. Now I am back again in the midst of a mechanical life. Of course I should not be clamoring so much ,since I moved out of India just six months back and I was lucky enough to go for a vacation within a short period of time. Six months is too less of a time to see any drastic differences. But yet I could see some differences (maybe because I moved out of Chennai couple of years back). Chennai is no longer the conservative metro that it used to be several years back. With the kind of malls, the world-class movie theatres, the global brands in the shopping arena, the fashion weeks, the audi's and the benz's, Chennai sure has changed. As I write this post, I realize that I had not visited T.Nagar side. If you are from Chennai, then you would realize that T.Nagar is an essence of Chennai. What a miss! It sure does make me feel nostalgic.

Coming to the recipe part of this post, Rose Milk is one thing that takes me back to sweet memories. My grandfather makes the rose milk concentrate at home. After drinking rose milk, using the home made concentrate, I started hating the commercial rose milk powders sold in the shops. During my visit, I was determined to learn the recipe. Oh Boy! It was super easy. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Sugar - 1 kg

Water - 1 - 1.5 cup

Rose Milk Essence - 2 tbsp (I used Tiger Brand's Rose Milk) - This is mainly for giving color to the drink.

Preparation

Over heat, add sugar and water in a wide mouthed vessel. Allow the sugar to melt completely, Keep stirring till the mixture thickens a little bit (No need to wait for the single thread consistency). Switch off the heat and allow the mixture to cool completely. Once the mixture is in room temperature, add the rose milk essence and mix thoroughly. Store in air tight bottles.

Whenever you want to drink rose milk, mix 1-2 tbsp (depending on the sweetness level that you need) with a glass of milk. Stir it well. Rose Milk is ready and yummy!

~ Ramya

Puttu without Puttu Maker

2010-08-08T11:44:00.001-04:00

Reality TV seems to have taken over completely. Of course it is a good break from the highly drama oriented never ending serials in our Indian channels. But I find some of the reality shows to be even more drama than our serials. After seeing them, it makes me wonder if Reality TV shows are Real? Especially Bravo TV's reality sucks. Yes I am talking about the Real Housewive's series, Bethenny Getting Married series etc. What I can see is only over dramatization of a fiction show taking place in reality by a bunch of hysterical rich people. Many people might even start thinking that their lives are very boring compared to what they are seeing on TV. Of course I am not saying that all reality TV is bad. There are some shows which I like, like the Next Food Network Start, Work of Art etc. I also like the Rachel Zoe project because it teaches reality in terms of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

Coming back to my real life, I have been trying out traditional dishes. One of the dishes that I tried was Puttu. The twist is not in the recipe but how I made puttu without using the puttu maker but still managing to get the shape. To make the puttu, I took pointers from Kailas Kitchen. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Puttu powder - 1 cup (I used the readymade)

Water - 1/4 cup

Coconut - 1/2 cup (I thawed the frozen one)

Thenkuzhal Mould

Aluminum Foil

Preparation

Mix water with the puttu powder till it resembles bread crumbs. (Tip from Jayasree: Ensure that it holds the shape when held in your fist.) I used Thenkuzhal Mould for making puttu. In the bottom part of the mould put the plate with 3 stars. Add 1 tbsp of coconut. Add 3 tbsp of puttu powder. Alternate between coconut and puttu powder till the mould is filled. Wrap the opening with aluminum foil. Steam cook it for 15-17 minutes. (After several trials I felt mine was done in 17 minutes). Allow it to cool for 3-4 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil. Remove the '3 star' part. Gently push using the top part of the mould. Delicious puttu is ready and yummy! I used channa masala as the side dish.

Notes

The mould needs to be a light-weight one.
I used Idli vessel for steaming.
Update: Poke three holes in the aluminum foil. This will reduce the cooking time. I will post an update on the actual cooking time as soon as I try it out.

~ Ramya

Vegetarian Omlette

2010-07-06T18:19:00.000-04:00

I cannot understand men's fashion of wearing their trousers below the waist. Of course, since it is the fashion world there is a terminology/jargon for it. It is known as "Sagging". Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers below the waist hanging below the waist area and therefore revealing much of the underwear.

According to Wikipedia, the origins of sagging come from the United States prison system due to two primary factors. First, uniforms issued to prisoners are usually a few sizes too large. Secondly, belts are sometimes prohibited to avoid suicide by hanging oneself, or to avoid being used as a weapon in fights.The style was later popularized by hip-hop artists in the 1990s. If you are wondering what I am talking about check this link: Sagging Photo

It is both disgusting and amusing at the same time. I trains / buses, that is the first thing that I notice. Of course I dont want to see their underwear :-) Initially I was worried as to when the pants would fall off, but now I am used to it. I am not the only one to think like this. A state senator from Brooklyn has started the 'Stop the Sag' campaign which says Raise Your Pants, Raise Your Image. Has it 'Stopped the Sag'? Not Yet...

Moving from my rant to the recipe. Recently I made some vegetarian omelettes. Though it is a breakfast dish, I made it for dinner. I picked the recipe from here. Here is my version:

Ingredients

Chickpea flour or Besan - 1 cup
Onion - 1 (chopped finely)
Tomato - 1 (chopped finely)
Green Chilli - 1 (chopped finely)
Coriander - 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 1 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - to make cheelas
Water - to mix

Preparation

Mix the flour, onion, tomatoes, green chillies, coriander, curry leaves, salt and water. The batter should be of dosa batter consistency. Make small dosas/pancakes in hot tava. Serve hot with green chutney!

Vegetarian Omelettes are ready and yummy!

Strawberry Preserve

2010-06-22T17:33:00.000-04:00

You know those people who like to reveal the entire plot of the recently released movie and say that the movie sucks big time? I keep wondering why they do it. Is it because they think they are being generous to save us some money by spoiling our only major outing plan? Well they could not stop me! On Friday, the day slated for Raavanan's release, the only updates I could see on facebook were either the plot and opinions about the movie. Not to say none of the opinions were on the positive and it was continuing to be the same all through the weekend. But did it stop me from seeing the movie? No! :-)

I ended up going for the night show or should I call it the evening show. Not that it mattered. We were sitting in the theatre along with 10 other people with a secret joy of having the entire theatre to us. All of us became silent when the titles started. Then came couple of Hindi actors. We were all watching couple of dialogues, parts of a song and were eagerly waiting to find out how exactly all this fit into the Tamil movie.

And then it came, long sighs...when we realized, we were watching a trailer for an upcoming movie. The actual movie "Raavanan" then started. (Missed the whistles which is an integral part of watching a movie in India) Loved the movie. Found it visually stunning. I could see the movie again for all the visuals. Loved the climax location. "Beautiful" is how I can describe it. The underlying factor for the movie is "Love". Of course it is an integral part of Indian cinema. I would care less about the story (if any) and the acting. Finally there it was on Facebook. A positive review about the movie.

Coming back to my post, N had gone strawberry picking. He knew that I loved strawberries and my art of finishing a box of strawberries in one day. But what I did not expect was that, he would get 7 pounds of strawberries and expect me to finish it in a day since they were overly ripe. It was a day of strawberries for us. Strawberry dessert, strawberry milk shake and still there were 6 pounds of strawberries. Finally ended up making strawberry preserves taking the idea from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Strawberries (cut into halves with the top portion removed) - 6 cups

Sugar - 1 cup (Change according to your taste)

Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp

Water - 1/4 cup

Salt - a pinch

Preparation

In a big pot, add sugar, water and lemon juice. Once the sugar has melted add the strawberries. Add salt. Lower the heat to low setting. Allow the entire mixture to simmer and thicken. Cook until the mixture gels on a cold plate (I kept the plate in the freezer) Once the mixture has reduced remove from heat. Allow it to cool and transfer to jars to use later.

I use these preserves for waffle topping, making milk shake, ice cream topping or just have a spoon of it whenever I feel like having something sweet :-)

Strawberry Preserves are ready and yummy!!!

~ Ramya

Zucchini Cutlet

2010-06-05T20:45:00.000-04:00

It has been a month since my last post. I have been traveling around US visiting Washington, Denver, Portland and Chicago. So the month of May has been full of packing, unpacking, cooking and packing food for N. I tried this zucchini cutlet the previous month and it has been lying in my drafts for a long time. I love this recipe since it is easy, fat free and stomach filling at the same time. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Zucchini - 1 (grated)
Onion - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tsp (optional)
Green Chilli - 1 or 2 (finely chopped)
Bread Crumbs - 1/2 - 1 cup (for rolling)
Flour - 1-2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1-2 tbsp

Preparation

Grate the zucchini and slightly squeeze to get the water out. Keep the zucchini water aside. Add onion, green chili, ginger-garlic paste and salt and mix well. Roll the mixture into small balls. Add flour to the zucchini water and mix well. Flatten the balls, dip in zucchini flour mixture and roll over bread crumbs. Heat non stick pan. Drizzle a table spoon of oil. Place the patties on pan. When the bottom is browned, flip it to the other side and cook. Serve with ketchup.

Zucchini cutlet is ready and yummy!!!

No Bake Eggless Honey Sponge Cake

2010-05-02T12:19:00.001-04:00

There are always those lovely memories that you keep thinking about. One of my memories is of having the Honey Sponge Cake in Leo Fortune Bakery in Adyar, Chennai. Just thinking of the cake makes me drool!!! Call me a foodie :-) Nowhere else have I seen that cake so soft and moist. I wanted to check if that recipe was available in the internet but nowhere could I find it. I hit upon a link for Honey Sponge Cake recipe. But let me tell you, this is nowhere similar to the Leo Fortune cake. Anyways I decided to try it and this is one recipe which is going to stay since it does not involve baking :-). Here is my adaptation of Honey Sponge Cake:

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 2 tsp

Butter - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Honey - 3 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Vanilla Essence - 1 tbsp

Serves: 4 adults

Preparation

Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside. In a bowl, add melted butter and sugar and mix well. Add honey and vanilla essence. Beat well. Add vinegar and mix well. Add the flour mixture, little by little. Mix well after each addition. The batter is ready once the dry and wet ingredients are combined together. Pour this to a well greased dish and cover it with an aluminium foil (see notes). Place the dish on a steamer and steam on low flame for 35-45 minutes. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes.You can drizzle it with honey if required.

Eggless Honey Sponge Cake is ready and yummy...that too without baking!!!

Notes:

I would have reduced the quantity of sugar since it was too sweet for me.
I did not drizzle it with honey at the end. Still I was able to get the lovely glaze on top of the cake.
The cake hardened a bit on the next day. It is best served when warm.
I forgot to use the aluminium foil as mentioned in the original recipe. I dont know what difference that makes though, since the cake anyways came out good.

This being a no-bake cake, I am sending this to Apy Cooking's No Bake Event.

~ Ramya

Low Fat Corn and Zucchini Soup

2010-05-01T09:32:00.001-04:00

Mornings are business as usual with interactions with my team located in India and the time usually flies. Cornflakes and oats are great breakfast items especially when you are working. During weekends, N gets up late so there is only direct lunch, which gives me some free time in the mornings. But the rest of day is packed with all my cooking experiments (that is how N likes to call it). With my current dieting plan, I have been searching for simple and easy recipes. I have been searching for low calorie and low fat recipes in foodnetwork.com when I came across this Creamy Corn and Vegetable Soup. I adapted the recipe to make Corn and Zucchini soup. Here we go with my adaptation:

Ingredients

Corn Kernels - 1 cup (I used the frozen, thawed)

Skim Milk - 1 cup (I used 1%)

Onion - 1/4 cup (chopped finely)

Zucchini - 1 (medium sized, grated)

Water - 2 cups

Salt - as per taste

Ground black pepper - as per taste

Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation

Blend corn kernels and skim milk until smooth and keep aside. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute till onions are tender. Add zucchini and stir till zucchini is tender, about 3 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil. Add salt. Allow it to simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add pureed corn until warmed. Do not allow it come to a boil. Season with pepper.

Corn & Zucchini soup is ready and yummy!!!

Since this gets done in less than 20 minutes, I am sending this to Twenty-20 Cooking Event

Eggless Cornbread Muffin

2010-04-24T17:43:00.002-04:00

I thought muffins were usually sweet. But when I chanced upon a savory cornbread and muffin mix, I immediately picked it up. I don't know why but I always thought of Corn Bread to be similar to Indian Dhokla but with a crust. I did this for breakfast but eventually had it for lunch along with spicy peas masala. I used Betty Crocker Cornbread and Muffin Mix.

Ingredients

Betty Crocker Cornbread and Muffin Mix 6.5 oz packet - 1
Milk - 1/4 cup
Butter (can use margarine instead of butter) - 2 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Corn Kernels - 1/2 cup
Cheese - 1/4 cup (optional)
Chopped Parsley - 2 tbsp

Preparation

Heat oven to 400F. Stir muffin mix, melted butter, vinegar, baking soda, corn kernels and parsley. Spoon butter into greased muffin cups. (If you are using cheese, top the batter with cheese after placing in the muffin cups). Bake 15-18 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Mine got done in 17 minutes with a nice gold crust.

Eggless Cornbread Muffins are ready and yummy!!!

~ Ramya

Pineapple Puliserri

2010-04-18T11:06:00.000-04:00

No water, no gas, flight delay, no seats summarizes my last two week experience. Though it left me frantically calling customer care, I found it very amusing. When I called my friends / relatives to check if they had any solution, all of them found it even more amusing since they had never experienced gas and water problems in the 10 odd years that they had been living here. The main plus point was I was able to contact emergency customer care and reach out to them easily even in the midnight which would not have been possible in India. But then nothing is comparable to India. India is the best.

Coming back to the recipe, I had about half a pineapple left. None of us could have it since it left an itchy feeling in the mouth. I did not have the heart to throw it out. I was thinking of making pineapple based desserts and had been searching foodbuzz.com and foodnetwork.com. I have never heard of pineapple pulisseri and when I saw this recipe in foodbuzz, I wanted to immediately try it. I picked the recipe from here. This dish was similar to Aviyal minus the vegetables.

I wanted the dish to be solid without much of gravy. Here is my version:

Ingredients

Pineapple - 1/2 of medium sized pineapple cut into chunks

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as per taste

For grinding to a paste

Coconut - 3 tbsp (I used frozen)

Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp

Red dry chillies - 2 (increase as per taste)

Yogurt - 1 cup

For seasoning
Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 3 (I did not have them so did not use them)

Asafoetida - a pinch

Preparation

Cook the pineapple with salt and turmeric powder in about 1/2 cup of water on medium heat till the pineapple pieces turn really soft. Lower the heat and add the finely ground paste. (Since I used a blender, I could not grind the ingredients to a fine paste). Mix well and turn off the heat immediately. Heat oil and add the seasoning. Add to puliserri.

Pineapple puliserri is ready and yummy!!!

I found this to be a meal by itself after having a cup of only puliserri.

~ Ramya

Vegetable Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

2010-04-02T17:10:00.000-04:00

Salads are always an eternal favorite for me. When I come for a buffet lunch / dinner, the first thing that I target is Salads. Anything from coleslaw to chickpea salad attracts my attention. I usually make carrot and cucumber salad at home. Now that I am on dieting mode (don't say not again :-)), I am sticking on to salads most of the time. The best part of salad's is it can make you feel full while at the same time being healthy. I am a huge fan of Raspberry Vinaigrette but it has been quite a while since I found them in the shops. I decided to try it at home but with strawberry's for a change. Well you can say the inspiration is Food Network. So here is my version of Strawberry Vinaigrette:

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Strawberry - 3
Balsamic Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Black pepper - a pinch
Sugar or Honey - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

In a blender, mix everything. Blend until smooth. This vinaigrette goes well with spinach salad and with fruit salads. Though I used this dressing over vegetable salad I would still vote for spinach and fruit salad.

For Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

Boiled Peas - 4 tbsp
Sweet Corn Kernels - 4 tbsp
Cucumber - 1 medium sized, chopped into small cubes
Tomato - 1, chopped into cubes
Boiled Chickpeas - 3 tbsp
Lettuce - For layering the bottom of the bowl

Preparation

Toss all the ingredients except lettuce with the vinaigrette. Layer the lettuce in the bottom of the bowl. Spread a tbsp of the vinaigrette over the lettuce. Place all the mixed ingredients over the lettuce.

Vegetable salad with strawberry vinaigrette is ready and yummy!!!

This goes to Healthy Inspirations Event - Salads hosted by Usha.

Bread Upma

2010-03-30T08:14:00.000-04:00

There are always days when you find that there are food items left over from the previous week that you just don't feel like eating, but you also don't have the heart to throw them. I always seem to have couple of bread slices like that. That is when I got the idea of making Bread Upma. The recipe is simple and gets done within a couple of minutes.

Ingredients

Bread Slices - 6-7

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp (for tossing)

Onion - 1 medium sized

Tomato - 1

Ginger - 1/2 tsp chopped

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil

Curry Leaves and Coriander - For Garnish

Preparation

Toast the bread slices in a toaster or tava till they are crispy. Cut into small pieces and toss it with salt and chilli powder. Keep aside. In a hot pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds finish popping, add onion and fry till slight brown. Add tomato and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add chilli powder and fry for 2 minutes. Add salt as per taste. Add bread pieces and toss for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves and coriander.

Bread Upma is ready and yummy!!!

P.S: Tomato ketchup is a good accompaniment for this dish.

This goes to CoL - Leftover Delicacies

~ Ramya

Kesari without lumps

2010-03-28T06:27:00.003-04:00

Now that only me and N are here, there has been lot of 'ME' time. I have finally been able to read through blogs and bookmark recipes. Of course, the bookmarked list is overflowing but then why leave a chance of me forgetting that recipe.

Kesari, it is such a simple sweet. But anything that I do with Rava / Sooji always turns out to be a disaster. Maybe I have been jinxed!!! Till now I have tried Kesari exactly twice. Both times it came out perfect.

Thanks to Jayashree and Viki. I love Viki's version because it ensures that there are no lump.

Here is how I adapted Viki's original recipe:

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji - 1 cup

Water - 3 cups

Sugar - 1 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Garnish - cashews, raisins, almond flakes (optional)

Preparation

Heat a thick bottomed vessel which has a tight lid. (I used non-stick pan.)
Dry roast rava till it starts turning slight red / brown and has a nice aroma to it.
Transfer it to a plate and keep aside.
In case you are garnishing with cashews and raisins: add ghee to the pan. Once it is hot, add cashews and roast tor 15 seconds. Remove and keep aside. Add raisins and roast them for 5-10 second. Remove and keep aside.
Add water to the pan.
Add a tablespoon of ghee to it. (Can be skipped if you are doing Step 4)
Allow the water to come to a full boil.
Reduce the flame to the lowest possible.
Add rava slowly in a wide spread manner. Do not stir.
Close the pan with the lid. (Steps 7,8,9 are very important to ensure that there are no lumps)
Check often to see if the water has been absorbed. (Took 2-3 minutes for mine)
When there is no water, add sugar and stir well.
When sugar is dissolved, add remaining ghee and stir until the kesari starts leaving the sides. The kesari will be little bit sticky.

Kesari is done and yummy!!!

~ Ramya

Eggless Sponge Cake with Chocolate Chips

2010-03-26T19:45:00.004-04:00

The last few weeks have been happening. I have been exploring the house like a new child who has just started to explore things. Though my dad has been living here for quite a few months, he had not unpacked any of the cartons. So it was a week of unpacking. By the time I unpacked everything, I felt that I could start a mini Indian grocery store. Together (me, N and my dad) had got so many Indian groceries. Good for us I should say.

With all the new enthusiasm I thought I would make pizza. I made the pizza, finished putting the toppings and switched on the oven. I put the pizza in the oven and after 5 minutes the fire alarm starting ringing loud in the entire house. It was my first experience and I panicked since gas lines run around the house. N, meanwhile patiently opened all doors and windows and switched off the oven. After ringing for around 10 minutes, it finally stopped. That is when I appreciated 'Silence'. Well the pizza was a disaster...This entirely dashed my hope of baking anything.

I was talking to my neighbors and they gave me the solution for avoiding the fire alarm. I tried it and when it worked, I decide to bake a small pound cake.

I adapted Madhuram's recipe. Here is my version:

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Butter - 1 stick (1/2 cup) - I used salted butter

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Milk - 2 tbsp

Flax Seed Powder - 2tbsp thoroughly mixed with 6 tbsp of water

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Chocolate Chips - 10-12 pieces

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour your cake pan. Sift together flour and baking powder. Beat butter and sugar using low speed for about a minute. Add milk, vanilla. and flax seed mixture. Beat well. Add flour mixture and blend with a mixture using low speed. Spread the batter in the cake / loaf pan. I used round cake pan. Add chocolate chips on top on the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes. When I did the knife test, it came out clean. after 25 minutes. But after cooling I the center to be little bit soggy. So I would suggest baking it for 30 minutes at least. Once the cake has rested for at least 20 minutes, invert it and then slice it.

Cake is ready and yummy!!!

~ Ramya

Green Gram Dhall Sabji - No Pre-Soaking

2010-03-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

I just cant believe how quickly time flies. It has been almost a month since I added a new post even though there were couple of drafts. I have been very busy with the packing and it has been a month of running around things. Finally we have shifted from Pune to Chennai. One more week down here and off we fly. But before that is the visa interview scheduled for this Monday. With all the hype given for the interview, it appears scary. Well இதையும் கடந்து செல்லுவோம்.

In between the madness I made Green Gram Dhall Sabji..first time for me. I did not soak it even a little bit but it turned out to be pretty good with just the right level of softness to the dhal. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Group 1

Green Gram Dhal (Patchai Payiru) - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 2
Green Chillies (slit in the middle) - 2
Bay Leaf - 1
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Group 2

Onion (finely chopped) - 2
Cinnamon - 1 small stick
Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Dhania Powder - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Corriander Leaves - for garnish

Preparation

Pressure cook group 1 ingredients. Put the weight, cook in low heat for 10-15 minutes and switch off. Meanwhile heat oil. Add cinammon and onions. Fry till onions turn light brown. Add chilli powder and dhania powder. Add the pressure cooked ingredients and allow to simmer for 6-7 minutes. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Green Gram Dhal Sabji is ready and yummy!!!