the footloose chef

Wholewheat Coconut and cashew muffins made in virgin coconut oil

2012-04-18T03:37:00.007-07:00

My little girl has started playschool and with that has also started the endless bouts of cold, cough, infections and what not! Today she was going to school after a break necessitated by an ear infection. "I want cake in my snack box", she demanded late yesterday evening. I had run out of vanilla, extra virgin olive oil (my subsititute for butter), and over ripe bananas (my substitute for eggs). But like any true blue mallu, my refrigerator was stocked with fresh grated coconut and as bonus, my pantry had a huge bottle of virgin coconut oil. So, this recipe was born:

Caster sugar - 1/2 cup (if you dont have caster sugar , just run your regular sugar in the mixie to powder it)
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup + dessert spoonfull
Fresh grated coconut - 3 dessertspoons (about 30 gms)
Unroasted cashewnuts - 10 Nos
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon (I use aluminium free)
Virgin coconut oil - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1 large
Cardamom - 4-5 pods

Place the sugar, coconut, and cashews in the chutney jar of your mixie or the coffee grinder and pulse a few times to powder together. Add the egg, cardamom seeds, and oil and whisk again. Using a flat ladle mix together the baking powder and flour. Pour in the wet mixture and fold in well. Add a few drops of water if necessary to form a thick cake batter. Preheat oven to 200° for 10 minutes. Pour batter into cupcake moulds and bake till a tooth pick poked in the centre comes out clear. I have a basic OTG and it took me 40 minutes at 150° to get the muffins done.

Update on the previous fund drive post

A heartfelt thank you to all of you who cared enough to do you bit for the Vaidehi ashram for destitute girls (Refer my previous post). Mr. Somesh from Hyderabad won the raffle prize I had sponsored. Congrats Mr.Somesh, if you are reading this.
Click here for the fund drive update.

Eggless whole wheat pound cake and Giveaway for a valid cause

2012-02-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give" - W.Churchill.

Before we get on with the recipe of Whole wheat pound cake, I want to share something with you. My fellow food blogger, Siri, is on a remarkable, warm hearted mission. She has started a fund drive to benefit Vaidehi Ashram for Destitute Girls, Hyderabad. The ashram, at present, houses 108 girls (3 to 22 years) each of whom is either an orphan or has a single parent unable to take care of her. Do take the time to read on for every little act of kindness holds in it the potential to make someone’s life a little better.

Participating in the fund drive is fun too because it comes with 40 different sponsored raffle prizes. Contributing to the drive automatically entitles you to select from this list of wonderful goodies.

I’ve sponsored a raffle prize in the form of a Sanjeev Kapoor cookery book set of 5.

So, are you willing to extend a helping hand? If yes, then here is how,

1.Click on the 'Chip in' button below.(It will take a few seconds to load.)

1 Raffle Ticket = $10 or Rs.500

2.Contribute: Via Paypal or credit card. You can donate any amount. Each $10 (Rs.500) donation will get you one raffle ticket towards a raffle prize of your choice.
Click here to view the list of raffle prizes.

3. Once you have completed the donation process and you get the payment confirmation,please forward it to info.siri@gmail.com, clearly specifying which raffle prize(s) you are interested in. Within 24 hours, your name and contributed amount will be added to the 'Fund Drive Supporters List'.

4. The fund drive ends on Feb 25th and a random drawing by the Ashram kids will determine the winners on 27th Feb 2012. You will be notified of the same on the said day.

If you'd like to choose my raffle prize, remember the code, RF 9. I will be shipping it to anywhere in India, with postage paid. Even if you reside outside India, you can always opt to have your gift mailed to a shipping address of a friend/relative in India and collect it later.

Please visit Siri's post on the Ashram so that you are doubly sure that you are indeed contributing to a valid cause.Click here.

Thank you for your patient hearing and here is the scrumptious recipe for you...

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 tin (400 gms approx)
Soft brown sugar - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup for crust
Ripe banana puree - 1 cup (3 medium bananas)
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon for the crust (I use powder)
Unsalted butter - 200 gms
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Soda bi carbonate - 1/2 teaspoon
Almonds - 20 Nos

Whisk the condensed milk and 1/2 cup brown sugar, in a mixer bowl or blender, till the sugar has completely dissolved and you get a smooth mixture. Addin the banana puree and the butter,at room tempreture, to the mixture and whisk everything together. Pour into a wide mixing bowl and add in the wheat flour, vanilla, baking powder, and soda bi carbonate.

For the crumbly crust

Coarsely grind the almonds and brown sugar together in a mixer jar, along with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Preheat oven at 250° for 10 minutes. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. pour in the batter. Evenly sprinkle the almond - brown sugar crumble on top. Bake at 150° for 40 minutes. Insert a tooth pick or fork to check if done.

Sambhar Sadam - wholesome, one pot meal

2012-01-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Sambhar sadam, as it is called in Tamil Nadu, and the Bisi Bele Bhaath of Karnataka are close if not identical kins. At least, that's how I've felt. My paati (maternal grandmother) was a stupendous cook and her Sambhar Sadam was something to die for. My version of it is created from what I remember of her's with some minor tweaks to include the mild masala taste of the Karnataka version.I make this quite often but missed posting it here. Yesterday, my food blogger friend, Lubna, started a discussion on favourite 'one pot meals' and I ended up promising to post my favourite one pot delight,sambhar sadam,recipe for her. So, here goes...

Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Toor dhal (sambhar parippu)- 1/2 cup
Small onions - 7-8 Nos
Assorted veggies - 1 cup (I used potato,carrot,and small violet brinjals)
Tomato - 1 medium
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs
Coriander leaves/cilantro - a small bunch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 2 Nos
Cardamom - 2 Nos
Fennel (saunf) - 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a few pinches
Tamarind extract - 1 tablespoon (or 1 large lemon sized tamarind ball soaked in warm water and juice extracted)
Water - 3 1/2 cups
Salt to taste

For tempering

Peanuts (with skin) - a liberal handful
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Cumin (Jeera) - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry red chillies - 1-2 Nos
Cooking oil - 1 tablespoon ( I use gingelly/sesame oil)

Put all ingredients, apart from the tamarind extract, cilantro and salt, into a pressure cooker and cook for 6 whistles (two on high flame and three on low). Once the pressure settles, add the tamarind extract, chopped cilantro, and salt. Mix well and simmer for a couple of minutes. Heat a pan and add oil. Roast the peanuts till golden, remove and add to rice. Place the rest of the ingredients for tempering into the same oil and saute till jeera crackles. Add to rice. Serve piping hot with papadoms, bujia, om podi, or appalams.

Prep your own candied dry fruits and nuts for a yummy fruit cake

2011-12-20T04:02:00.000-08:00

How about making your own Christmas or New Year fruit cake this year? You think it is complicated? Not at all. You think it's too late to start ? No, again. Read on for an easy way to prepare your own dry fruit n nut mixture that tastes great even with a minimum 12 hour soaking period. What's more? Make a little extra and stow it away in the refridgerator for next year's baking.

Assorted chopped dry fruits and nuts - 3 cups (I used dates, apricots, golden raisins, jumbo raisins, walnuts, cashewnuts, prunes)
Orange peel - 1 medium sized orange's rind with the white pith scraped out (cut into small pieces)
Rum (use any spirit you have at hand) - 2 cups

Put everything together in a skillet and toss on low flame till warm, and an aroma emanates. Close lid and let stand overnight. In the morning, place this in the fridge and let stand for another 10 hrs or so. Bring to room temperature before using in the cake.

For an equally easy Fruit cake recipe with your candied fruits and nuts,
click here.

Whole wheat banana, raisins, and Chocolate muffins

2011-11-28T10:12:00.000-08:00

This quick, wholesome muffin gets full points for nutrition and taste with minimal effort and time. Eat it for breakfast or pack it in your kiddos lunch box.

The recipe can be found here.

Baby carrots flavoured with garlic

2011-11-22T01:15:00.000-08:00

A completely easy and nutritious dish that your family will love, especially your toddler, if you have one.

The recipe can be found here.

Rainbow Salad Meal and Fresh Figs in Yoghurt dressing- Reposts

2011-01-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

The delicious Rainbow salad which is a wholesome meal in itself.

The recipe can be found here.

A totally addictive salad made with fresh figs and yoghurt dressing.

The recipe can be found here.

These two salads make their way to the Only Salads event on at The Chef and Her Kitchen. The 'Only' series of food events was started by Foodelicious.

Peanut and chocolate cookies

2011-01-19T04:35:00.000-08:00

My college mate, Annu, lives a few kilometers away from us at Muscat. We had a small family get together at her place last weekend. I made a little batch of these yummy cookies for her. I made up the recipe with ingredients I had in hand.

Plain roasted peanuts - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 2 dessertspoons
Egg - 1 large
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon (I use powder)
Cooking (baking) soda - 1/2 teaspoon

Powder the peanuts into meal using the chutney jar of your mixie or a coffee grinder. Pour the egg and butter into a blender jar and whisk till frothy. Add the sugar and cocoa. Blend again. Add the baking soda and whisk once more. Add in the vanilla. Pour out into a vessal and add in the peanut meal and flour. Incorporate well. If the batter is too thick add a little warm water.

Preheat an oven to 200°. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil or parchment. Pour out the batter by the spoonful with enough spacing (this one expands quite a bit). Bake at 150° for 18 minutes.

PS: The cookie is quite soft when hot and hardenes to crumbly perfection when cool. Hence, watch out for the colour and the lovely aroma as baking indicators and not texture.

The crumbly peanut and chocolate cookie recipe goes to theKid's Delight - Chocolate Feast event on at Srivalli's Spicing Your Life.

Simple Oats upma with roasted peanuts

2011-01-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

This is our favourite oats upma recipe mainly because of the liberal douse of peanuts in it. This is also one of the most easiest of breakfast options; of course, apart from opening a readymade pack of cereal!

Rolled oats or Jumbo oats - 1 cup
Quick cooking oats - 1/2 cup
Plain roasted and deskinned peanuts - 1 cup
Ginger - 1" piece (chopped fine)
Green chillies - 2-3 Nos
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1 medium sized (chopped fine)
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Oil - 1 teaspoon

Heat a skillet and then pour in the oil and add onions, ginger, chillies, and curry leaves. Saute well. Add the jumbo oats, sprinkle some water and simmer covered for a minute. Open lid and keep stirring sprinkling water in between till the oats is cooked ( a few minutes are adequate). Add the grated coconut, salt, and the quick cooking oats. Sprinkle some more water and cook covered for a couple of minutes, stirring once in a while. Finally add the roasted peanuts and serve hot.

Chocolate, beets, and carrot muffins and a very happy 2011 to you!

2011-01-01T03:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year 2011 to all my readers and friends! My New year fruit cake is still half done, so, for now ,here is a quick and healthy muffin I baked over X'mas for my little girl. My husband, who initially winced at the sight of veggies going into a chocolate muffin, later commented , " It's just not possible to figure out this one has beets and carrots in it. Really nice!". Little Abhi, as usual, enjoyed her mother's rare baking attempt.

All purpose flour (Maida) - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon (5gms)
Egg - 1 large
Olive oil - 1/2 cup
Jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup
Pure Date syrup - 1/2 cup
(If you do not have jaggery or date syrup at hand then use packed brown sugar or even plain white sugar instead)
Beetroot - 1 small (grated very fine)
Carrot - 1 small (grated very fine)
Dates - a few (deseeded and chopped)
Dark unsweetened or semi sweetened chocolate chips - a liberal handful
Vanilla essence or powder - a few drops or pinches ( I used powder because I could not find propylene free essence)

Whisk the egg till it froths ( I use a braun electric handheld blender with whisking attachement). Add the olive oil and syrups, blend well. Sieve the flours and baking powder to ensure even blending. Add all ingredients, except chocolate chips, together and mix well. If you find the batter dry add a little buttermilk or milk at room temperature. Finally mix in teh choco chips.

Preheat oven at 200. Line the muffin tray with cases and pour in to fill 3/4th. Baking time might vary with the oven. I have a very basic OTG and baked my muffins at 150 for 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean your muffins are done.

Here's a picture of how this looks inside.

Pavakka Mezhukkuvaratti (Bittergourd stir fry)

2010-11-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

This quick recipe is a family favourite. A lot of people I've served this to, who generally aren't bittergourd lovers or prefer only the deep fried version, seem to like this version of pavakka mezhukkuvaratti (bitter gourd stir fry). To the recipe then, without much ado:

Pavakka (bitter gourd) - 2 medium sized ( I prefer the dark green ones)
Onion - 1 medium sized
Green chillies - 5-6 Nos (as per your spice tolerance)
Ginger - 2 " piece (julienned)
Coconut oil - 3 teaspoons
Salt to taste
Sliced fresh coconut pieces (optional)

Soak the bittergourds in water with a teaspoon of salt or vinegar thrown in for atleast 10 minutes. This is to dislodge the dirt, the pesticide residue etc that can hide in between the grooves. Then wash thoroughly under running water.

Slit the bittergourds vertically. If the seeds are tender enough let them be or else dislodge them. Now, slice into thin semi circles. Slice the onions thin and slit the chillies. Add all ingredients (including salt and oil) together in a bowl and using your fingers rub everything together till well mixed. Cover and let marinade for 1/2 hour to 1 hour.

Warm a skillet and spread the mixture in. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes on very low flame. Open lid and stir. Allow to simmer cook tossing once in a while till the bittergourd is well done.

Serve as aside to plain rice and south indian curry of choice.

This platter of pavakka mezhukkuvaratti is going to participate at the Vegetable Marathon - Bittergourd event at Nithu's Kitchen. The event is part of the Vegetable Marathon series launched by Anita's Kitchen

Pori-badam urundai (puffed rice and almond laddus)

2010-11-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

Deepavali treats need not necessarily make you guilty of high calorie/fat laden indulgence. With a little bit effort and imagination you can make goodies
that are absolutely delicious and yet healthy. If you do not believe me, try these yummy laddus made all out of healthy ingredients. A lot of you might be familiar with puffed rice laddus (pori urundai), I've just given this a little variation plus thrown in a couple of extra ingredients.

Puffed rice (pori/murmure) - 2 cups
Raw almonds - 3/4 cup (ground to meal)
Jaggery (sharkkara) syrup - 1 cup
Cardamom - 4-5 Nos
White sesame seeds - 1/4 cup
Saffron strands - 3 or 4 (optional)
Medicinal (raw) camphor (pachai karpooram) - two pinches (optional)

Powder the almonds in a coffee grinder/chutney jar of your mixie/food processor). Pour the jaggery syrup into a thick bottomed skillet and add the rest of the ingredients one by one. Keep stirring. You will find that the puffed rice absorbs the syrup and will reduce in size. Stir on low flame till everything is well incorporated and reaches a coarse halwa/jam like consistency. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
Pull out small sections and shape into small lemon sized balls. Grease your palms with a little odourless cooking oil like rice bran/canola/sunflower or use ghee (clarified butter) instead.

Refridgerate and these keep well for a week.

PS:

To make Jaggery syrup - In a seperate vessel boil about 150 ml water and dissolve an equal quantity of jaggery. Filter to remove scum. Pour this into a thick bottomed skillet and simmer till it reaches a thick,syrupy texture.

Sending these to the Diwali Sweets & Snacks event at Home Cook's Recipes.

Quick coconut laddu with condensed milk - repost for event

2010-10-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

This was the Deepavali fare I made last year. Reposting it for the Diwali Sweets & Snacks event at Home Cook's Recipes.
Click Here for the recipe.

Eggless apple and dates bran muffins

2010-10-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post. I hope my readers will accept my apologies and also my promise to be much more regular henceforth!

During a train trip from Chennai where I worked, several years ago, to my hometown in Kerala, I met a young couple travelling along with their toddler.I reach my destination by about 8 Am and hence avoid breakfast on the train. This couple, however, were going further and hence picked up breakfast when they reached the Ernakulam station.Once their breakfast ritual was done with the mother pounced upon the just awakened toddler with a pack of commercial potato fries. The toddler was obviously in no mood for the chips but the mother pleaded, cajoled, coaxed, and even threatened till she finished half the packet. The dad pitched in with his, "baby, you should eat breakfast". I was aghast to say the least! But once I started taking notice, I found that this was not a one off case. There are many people who regularly buy bakery goodies for their kids to eat after school; start them on a batter fried chicken, fizzy drink, chips, and instant noodle routine when very young. Started this way no wonder they bloom into coke guzzling-junk gobbling obesity ridden teenage years and then into young adults who have already succumbed to some or all of the degenerative diseases.

This in mind, I try and avoid picking up commercial snacks and edible goodies, as far as possible, where my little girl is concerned. Her only allowed indulgences, till date, are transfat free biscuit brands and chocolates in moderation. Once she gets to the school going- peer influencable age my influence on her is bound to decrease. Hence, why not atleast put some effort into giving her a healthy start.

This wholesome muffin, with loads of goodness in it, is a little different from your regular muffin in that it has more texture. I also found that it tasted much better the next day.

wheat bran - 1 1/2 cups
whole wheat flour - 1 cup
low-fat buttermilk -1 cup
flaxseed - 1 dessert spoon (finely ground)
packed brown sugar - 1/4 cup
baking powder - 1 teaspoon
date syrup - 1 dessertspoon
dates - about 10 Nos (pitted, and chopped)
apple - 1 Nos (deseeded, grated peel and all)
extra virgin olive oil - 1 dessertspoon

Soak the bran and flaxseed in the buttermilk for a few minutes. Incorporate the baking powder with the wheat flour. Add everything together and mix to form a sticky batter. If required, add in a little warm water. Pour into greased cup cake moulds and bake in preheated oven at 200° C for about 20 minutes. Insert a tooth pick to check if it comes clean. If required, bake at 180° for another 4-5 minutes.

PS: The chopped dates and date syrup will make these appear a little sticky in places. Hence cool well, preferably overnight, before eating.

Brown bread rolls and Paneer tikka kaati roll repost

2010-08-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

Been away for quite sometime now. Internet connectivity problems have been bugging us for over a month now. Planning to switch to a wireless connection as soon as we get back from the month long trip to India.
Irratic connectivity is my reason for not appearing on fellow blogger's sites too. Hope my friends will excuse the lapse. Being away for a while has made me lazier, but just had to do this post because I had agreed to Pari of Foodelicious that I would participate in the food event on at her blog. The last time I promised and could not keep it due to certain reasons and then I had told her I'd definitely participate in the next event she hosts. So, here you are Pari. For you...

For the filling

Button mushrooms - 10 Nos
Carrot - 1 medium sized
Chicken sausages (frankfurters/frankies/franks) - 4 Nos (vegetarians use paneer)
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 1-2 Nos
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1" piece
Hot sauce - 1 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)
Salt to taste

Thinly slice the mushrooms. Julienne the carrot and dice the onions and garlic. Mince the ginger and slit the green chillies. Warm a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet and toss in the onion, garlic, and ginger. saute for a minute and then add the rest of the veggies. Boil 2 cups of water and dunk the sausages in. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, drain and slice into thin roundels. Add to veggies along with hot sauce. Saute for a couple of minutes and allow to cool.

Assembling the bread rolls

Brown bread (wheat bread) - 8 slices
Trim the edges of the bread. Place each slice on a wooden chopping board. Slightly wet with water and use a rolling pin to flatten out the bread slice.Place a little filling in the middle and join the two edges to form a roll. Since I used brown bread with added bran , the edges wouldn't stick easily and so I had to place it within my palm and gently apply a little pressure to make it hold.
Preheat oven. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil or baking parchment and line up the rolls. Bake at 200 for 10 minutes. Serve the extra filling on the side.

This is off to Foodelicious' 'Only' Kids Delight
event

Also reviving an archived Paneer Tikka Kaati Roll post for the same event. The recipe can be found Here

Also sending this over to Sreevalli's Kids Delight -Finger Food
event at Spice Your Life. She has been good enough to allow in my really late entry. Thank you, Sreevalli.

Ulli-mulaku chammanthi (pearl onions and dry red chillies dip)

2010-06-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

This chutney has been lying in my draft for months together now. Thanks to fellow food blogger, Priya, for hosting an event with onions as theme and thereby giving me reason to resurrect this post.

Ulli-mulaku chammanthi (pearl onions - dry red chillies dip) is a regular feature in the traditional Keralite household. Often paired with steamed cassava roots (tapioca/kappa/kuchikizhangu), this also goes well with south indian tiffin items like idlis and dosas.

Small onions (shallots/pearl onions/cheriya ulli) - 10 to 15 Nos
Long dry red chillies (unakka mulaku/vara mulaka) - 10 Nos
Coconut oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Peel and rinse onions. In a skillet throw all ingredients together except for salt and saute till onions turn translucent. Cool and grind to paste. The texture can be smooth or left coarse. Both taste equally great. Add salt to taste. Drizzle a few drops of coconut oil before serving.

This dip is off to the Healing Food - Onion event on at Priya's Easy N Tasty recipes. The Healing food event series is created by Siri's corner .

Spicy Brown Bread - repost for event

2010-06-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Reviving an archived bread post for Aathidhyam's Bread mania event

The recipe can be found Here

Launching baby food blog

2010-06-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

This little post is to announce the launch of my baby food blog , 'Cooking for baby'. Ever since I started my little girl on solids I've been wanting to record all the baby food recipes that I've made and continue making. My baby turned 1 on May 6th this year but publishing this blog happened only now. I've been working on this on and off for quite sometime now and though I wrote the first post on May 16th, had some finishing touches to make and so kept the blog private (open only to me).

I request all my readers and blogger friends to take a peep at my fledgling blog and share valuable feedback. Brickbats are as welcome as bouquets if they ultimately help me make this better

Cooking for baby blog can be accessed at http://firstfeeds.blogspot.com/

Would really appreciate your feedback since it is a work in progress.

Burghul (bulgar) vegetable pulav with cucumber and cilantro raitha

2010-06-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Burghul (minimally processed crushed wheat)is a staple cereal ingredient in the middle east. As a child, I saw only the typical south indian upma and conjee made out of burghul. Even then, this conjee (gruel)specially prepared for my thatha (grandpa) with ischemic cardiac disease and not eaten by anyone else in the family, had its hold on me. I just loved those wholesome and flavour filled brown specks!

As I grew into my twenties my fetish for newer and experimental cuisine took hold and since then I try using familiar ingredients in unfamilar ways. Made this delicious burghul for weekend lunch and both my hubby and I loved it steaming hot.

Ingredients

Burghul (bulghar/sambha godumai/dhalia)- 1 cup (200 gms)

Assorted vegetables cut into small pieces- 2 cups ( I used carrots, purple cabbage, white cabbage, cauliflower, beans)

Onions - 1 large

Tomato - 1 medium

Salt to taste

Water - 2 cups

To be coarse ground

Ginger - 2" piece

Garlic - 4-5 cloves

Green chillies - 4 Nos (more or less)

Fennel seeds (saunf/perumjeerakam) - 1 teaspoon

Whole spices

Cloves - 2 Nos

Cinnamon - 1" stick

Cardamoms - 2 Nos

Star anise - 1 No

Masala powders

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (more or less)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

For garnish

Chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) - a liberal handful

Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 2 teaspoons

Rinse and drain the burghul wheat. Heat a teaspoon of oil directly in a pressure cooker or biriyani pot and saute the whole spices for a minute before adding the sliced onions. Saute onions till translucent and add the ground paste, keep stirring till a lovely aroma emanates. Add all the chopped vegetables, tomato, burghul, and the masala powders. Pour in 2 cups of water. Close lid and cook for 4 whistles in medium flame. Once the pressure has vent, open lid , add the chopped cilantro, salt and lemon juice. Stir well and replace lid for flavours to mingle. Transfer to serving dish and serve hot with raita of choice. I served mine with a simple cucumber-cilantro raita.

Cucumber-cilantro raitha

Green cucumbers - 3 Nos

Onion - 1

Green chillies - 3 Nos

Chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) - a cupful

Curd (plain yoghurt) - 100 ml

Salt to taste

Chop all veggies and cilantro into small pieces, add to whisked curds. Add salt to taste. Refridgerate for 1/2 hour so for flavours to mingle.

Instant mango pickle (maanga achar)

2010-05-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Instant mango pickle (as against regular pickle that is generally allowed to mellow for a few days before use and stays good for many weeks) is something that my dad and now my husband makes regularly once the mango season sets in. My love affair with the tangy,spicy,succulent mango pickle is something that has stayed intact from childhood till now.

Unripe mangoes (pacha manga/kacha aam) - 2-3 medium sized

Onions - 1 large

Green chillies - 4-5 Nos (use the Indian or Thai variety for heat)

Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons (10 gms)

Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs

Asafoetida - a pinch

Coconut oil - 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Chop the mangoes into small squares. Finely chop chillies and onions. Heat oil in a skillet, add the mustard seeds and allow to crackle. Add the curry leaves, asafoetida, chillie powder, and turmeric powder and saute for a minute or two. Add the chopped green chillies, oniona and mangoes. Toss well adding salt. Take off flame. Can be used immediately. Tastes wonderful with curd rice.

Stays good for 2-3 days if refridgerated.

This lot, made by my hubby, makes its way to Priti's Festive food - His Cooking event on till June 15th.
.

Rava-burghul (bulgar) idlis and a warning note

2010-04-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

After obnoxious comments, comments left in strange languages, anonymous comments, here is one, which I feel, takes the cake!

How about something that when one reads sounds perfectly nice and resounds appreciation but if you click on the commenter's profile opens up websites that promote steroids, androgen boosters, brain chemical enhancers to even cedar chests and cabins!

I've never had trouble with anonymous nasties simply because I've disabled the option for anonymity in my comment form.True it also prevents readers who want to leave maybe a genuine comment of appreciation but don't have a registered ID and thereby cuts down on my overall number of comments (and hence 'popularity' as a search engine might view it ;-). But never mind! But of late my blog has been getting comments of the new kind that I mentioned before. It's only through habit that I always click to check a new profile name that comments on my posts. Otherwise it would've been so easy to have allowed these "lovely" comments to be published (easily past moderation) and hence inadvertently promote whatever these sites seek to promote.

Hope fellow bloggers too watch out for these wolves in sheepskins!

Long back, during my preggie days, I posted my Rava and Oats Idli
which I find has turned out to be one of the most popular posts on my blog. Back then someone had commented that I could even try substituting the rava with broken wheat (burghul). Thought it was a good idea but decided to substitute oats with the burghul once in a while. The idlis came out quite good though with a little more bite than the oats-rava combo.

Broken wheat (dhalia/burghul/bulgar/broken wheat) - 1 cup
Rava (semolina/cream of wheat) - 1 cup
Low-fat Curds (yoghurt) - 2 cups
Roasted and skinned peanuts - a handful
Soda bi carb - a pinch
Salt to taste

For tempering
Ginger - 1" piece (peeled and grated)
Green chillies - 3 Nos (finely chopped)
Bengal gram (channa dhal/kadalai paruppu)- 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds (Kaduku/Rai)- 1/2 teaspoon
Indian curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Warm a thick bottomed pan and add in the rava. Dry roast on small flame stirring frequently to ensure even roasting. Brown speckles and an aroma from the rava denote the grains are roasted enough. Spread out on a plate and cool. Transfer to a bowl. Whip the curds with a fork and add to the roasted rava and burghul to form a thick batter. Let stay for about 2 hours.
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add the bengal gram. When it starts to turn a light brown , add the mustard and let crackle. Add in the finely grated ginger and chillies. Add the curry leaves. Saute for a minute. Add into the batter along with the roasted peanuts and salt. Blend in the soda bi carb. If the batter has turned too thick because of the rava having swollen up add in a little water. But remember that this batter should be considerably thicker than the ordinary rice idly batter. Pour into into idli moulds and steam for 15-20 minutes.

I served these idlis with fiery mulaku chammanthi (chilli chutney) the recipe of which will soon follow!

PS: Please do not mind the rather dull looking picture. Blame it on bad photography skills, wrong light, and hunger !!

Sending this over to Show me your whole grains event on at Divya's Dil se till April 30th.

Pumpkin Punch - tried and tasted

2010-04-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

I always bookmark interesting recipes from my blogger buddies' sites but the ones that actually make it to my kitchen are:

a) easy and doable - what's the point of cooking something that is so complicated that by the end you feel you'd rather sleep than put in the extra effort of eating what you've made! hats off to people who are such natural born, passionate cooks!

b) made with readily accessible and ordinary ingredients - not that most exotic grains, veggies and other edible paraphernalia are unavailable in the supermarket aisles at Muscat, but somehow can't bring myself to buy that for example, 'tiny bottle of natural sugar substitute' for an amount that will easily fetch me a generous portion of jaggery (unrefined indian cane sugar), palm jaggery, or demerara.

c) easy on my already zapped system - deep fried, maida (all purpose flour) made, cream filled , ghee (clarified butter) sploshed, meat laden etc etc are terms that scare me!

d) novel - this does not mean out of the world! merely something that I have had, loved but don't know how to make; or, something i'm not aware of and yet appeals to me.

Recently I came across a 'cool-cool' drink on Cynthia's blog that happily fitted into my criteria - the pumpkin punch! I've, however, modified it to suit my taste. The result was totally yum and my husband could hardly believe he was drinking up something that had the humble pumpkin as key ingredient!

Here's my version:

Pumpkin - 200 gms (peeled,cubed, and steam cooked)
Fat free milk - 250 ml (boiled and simmered to evaporate just a little bit)
Cardamom - 1 (powdered)
Vanilla essence - 2-3 drops
Demerara (or plain sugar) - according to taste

I whisked everything together together with an electronic hand blender till the pumpkin pieces were completely pulverized and the liquid took on a creamy,frothy texture. Chill and enjoy!

Here is Cynthia's Pumpkin Punch . Thank you Cynthia!

I so wanted to send this over to Priya's Cooking with seeds - Cardamom seeds event but am late by 2 days. Sending it over anyways! Hope you accept it, Priya.

Coconut - curd chutney (spicy, tangy coconut-yoghurt dip)

2010-03-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

I have a list of items stacked away in my 'growing up' food memory. In fact my growing up food memory is preserved in two different silos - one spanning the years spent with my paatti (maternal grandmother) eating tamilian food, and the other spent at home eating ammas attempts at Keralite cuisine. Amma's combos usually were green gram masala with chappathis, black channa with puttu, potatos in a deep brown roasted coconut gravy again with chappathis, podi chammanthi (chutney) with appams, coconut- curd (yoghurt) chutney with idlis... the list goes on. Somewhere down the lane amma gave up making this for the ordinary red chillies based coconut chutney much more common to keralite palates. My younger brother was brought up entirely in kerala and has always stayed with amma unlike me. And slowly amma's cooking modified itself to centre around his palate in which tamilian fare played no role. And his, is quite a conservative palate!

I love recreating all those dishes that I liked as a kid and also playing around with new items. This simple coconut-curd chutney is something that regularly features in my kitchen.

Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
Green chillies or Thai chillies (kanthari) - 3to 4 (adjust as per your spice tolerance)

Ginger - 1/2" piece
Curds ( plain yoghurt) - 1 cup
Water - as required to grind the coconut into a smooth paste
Salt to taste

For tempering
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Dry red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Coconut oil (preferably) - 1 teaspoon

Grind the coconut along with the ginger-green chillies into a smooth paste adding water little by little. Heat the oil in a skillet and crackle the mustard seeds and roast the chillies and curry leaves. Add the coconut paste in and allow to cook for a minute or two. Whisk the curds well and pour in along with salt. Simmer for a minute stirring all the while. Transfer to serving dish and njoy with idlis or crisp dosas.

Stir fried carrots (thoran)

2010-02-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

This quick carrot stir fry (thoran) seasoned with a generous helping of grated coconut, aromatic curry leaves, and spices is all I need to pep up a bowl of simple steamed rice into a gastronomical delight!

Carrots - 1/4 kg (grated)
Coconut - 1/2 cup (grated)
Onion - 1 medium sized (cut fine)
Green chillies - 3-4 Nos (minced)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Heat a thick bottomed skillet, pour in the oil, add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Wait till the mustard splutters and then add the curry leaves. In a seperate bowl toss the grated carrot along with the rest of the ingredients and tip it all into the skillet. Cover and let simmer cook till carrots are tender. Add salt to taste.

Fenugreek potion for PMS and Fenugreek (Vendhaya) Idli for a healthy meal

2010-01-31T07:27:00.000-08:00

Fenugreek (vendhiyam/uluva/methi) is as bitter and as healthy as it gets. Back home in India, fenugreek is often a recommended household remedy for alleviating menstrual cramps (Post Menstrual Syndrome), curing indigestion, promoting lactation , and preventing diabetes.

It's efficacy in lessening severe menstrual discomfort is something I have first hand experience in. In fact I got this little secret from my friend Bhooma who worked with me at my very first workplace, Indian Express.

First, the PMS remedy:

Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon (5 gms)
Milk - 1/2 cup

Rinse seeds and place them in a cup.Boil milk and pour over the fenugreek seeds.Cover and let stand for an hour or so. Warm the milk again, chew the swollen seeds, and drink the warm milk. Alternatively blend it and gulp down. Add sugar if you absolutely must. Do this everymonth commencing 2-3 days prior to the date of menstruation and continue till second or third day.

Alternatively soak the seeds overnight in water. Next morning blend them with warm milk and drink.

Now, for a fenugreek based breakfast recipe:

I learnt this from my mom's aunt, Valli paatti with whom I shared an apartment during my work stint at Chennai.

Idli rice (Raw rice or par boiled rice works as well) - 2 cups
Fenugreek seeds - 1 small fistfull
Sesame oil (gingelly oil/ellenna/nallennai)- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Soak rice and fenugreek seperately for about 3 hours.Grind fenugreek into a smooth, fluffy paste as you would grind black gram (urad/uzhunnu) for ordinary idli batter. Grind rice too into a smooth batter. Whisk both batters together along with the sesame oil and salt. Let ferment overnight or a minimum of 8 hours (depending on the climate). Pour into idli moulds and steam till done.

The PMS fenugreek remedy is off to the Home Remedies 1 event on at A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine

The fenugreek idli is off to my friend, Yasmeen's Health Nut Challenge 4 - Bitter Better Health on at Health Nut