Veenas Vegnation

Shorbet Adas- Palestine lentil soup in a Nutripot

2019-02-04T11:37:51Z

When you are ready to step out of your comfort zone and try to do some research and cook from other cuisines, you realize that there are a lot of similarities in cuisines around the world. This week for the FoodirMondayBloghop, Sujata who blogs at pepperonpizza suggested that we cook on Levantine cuisine. She is also known as the Levantine queen as you can see on her space the recent posts are on this cuisine. There are many wonderful recipes when you check on this cuisine. The point was to zero in on a dish which would suit our taste palate and diet chart too. Some work on this and I decided to make Shorbet Adas. Looks like a fancy name, is it not?. Well, it is basically a lentil soup. Its texture and taste are also like our dal shorba. The star ingredient of this lentil soup is red lentils or masoor dal. So having decided that the I will be cooking the lentil soup, next was to use my new entry in my kitchen-Nutripot which is an instapot.

Shorbet Adas in a nutripot

Having decided on the recipe, the next jump was to use a new kitchen machine-the nutripot/instapot. Read the manual a couple of times-sorry asked hubby to read:). Then it was easy to assemble and to start using it. I liked that it made no noise like our pressure cooker. You can dump everything into it, switch on the particular more you want and then go on with your chores while it is getting cooked. The negatives of using this, I am not sure as yet, as I have cooked only this till now. One thing that did strike me was the minimum quantity that can be cooked. In my small pressure cooker I can cook up to 1/2 cup of pulao too but here it might not be possible.

Anyway going ahead with the recipe, first, I switched it on to saute more. Sauteed the vegetables, Then added the dal and water and spices and switched it on in the soup mode. Later with a hand blender blended everything to get a very rich, delicious nourishing red lentil soup- Shorbet Adas

Thank you, Sujata for the lovely theme.

The other soups which you can have a look are

Vegetarian Singapore Noodle Soup

Tomato Bisque

Carrot Masoor Dal soup

Fresh turmeric carrot soup

Zucchini pumpkin soup

Drumstick soup

Broccoli spinach coconut soup

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Mangal Kangtak-Manipuri cuisine

2019-01-31T14:41:04Z

This month we the bloggers of shhh cooking secretly group decided that we would blog Manipuri cuisine. Ashima was my partner for this theme and she suggested that I use Cumin powder and Tomato to make a Manipuri specialty. While Ashima was quick to make Manipuri Aloo Kangmet, I took some time to decide the recipe as I wanted to make a dish which would suit my taste as well as my diet chart. Checking on vegetarian recipes on the web, I chanced upon this Mangal Kangtak on NDTV. I was intrigued by the name. For some strange reason, I kept remembering the movie, Mangal Pandey. Anyway coming back to the recipe. this looked very doable and easy and I was sure people at home would like it.

Mangal Kangtak

I made some changes in the method of cooking. I have used a pressure cooker to cook the dish. I have used fresh peas here. If you use frozen peas, you need to thaw them before you cook.

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Carrot Paneer Mousse-a savoury mousse

2019-01-31T13:30:35Z

Necessity is the mother of all inventions. That is proved by this post. I joined this new group on facebook called Healthy Wealthy cuisine. The members of this group blog about a theme which is selected every fortnightly. The theme for this week was “Twist with biscuits”. The first response from me was oh no. That is because I do not make desserts anymore. So using biscuit in a no-bake cheesecake was out of the question. Then I thought I will make an appetizer with biscuits but for some reason was not enthusiastic about it. So I finally decided that I will make a savoury mousse. Carrot paneer mousse is a perfect example of an appealing appetizer in a shot glass.

Carrot Paneer mousse

This exotic looking appetizer is a very easy to make. This can also be termed as a salad. I have used homemade paneer and a little of cream cheese for the white cheese lining. Weight watchers can stick to just paneer and not cream cheese. I have used two colored carrots here. The choice of vegetables is completely yours. I personally like to use black carrot in salads as it has a little salty taste. It is perfect for any savoury dish, unlike Delhi carrots which have a slightly sweet taste. I have kept the spices to a minimum in this to suit our taste palate. In this recipe, I have spoon the biscuit mixture as a base of the mousse. Since the paneer cream cheese mixture was quite creamy and thick, I have not used agar agar to set it.

This dish also reminds me of a salad in a jar that I had made a while back. This layered salad looks and tastes amazing.These dishes look very appetizing. By varying the quantity and vegetables, we can make numerous salads to suit the taste of everyone. If you are a salad person like me, then you should try this easy carrot paneer mousse

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Carrot and Zucchini noodles with peanuts

2019-01-28T14:26:28Z

Carrot and Zucchini Noodles

Carrot and zucchini noodles. The name sounds interesting, right? Yes, it is very interesting. My daughter always says that her momma gets excited only on seeing exotic vegetables, props for her blog and of course new contraptions that will be again useful for the blog. She is very correct. I had told her to get me a spiralizer when she visits me and had forgotten about it until the day she landed her and opened her luggage. I was surprised and overwhelmed to see that she had carried only gifts to her dad, Simba and myself. She did not even bring enough clothes. And one of the gifts was this spiralizer. You can imagine how excited I was to use that.

Similarly, I have been wanting to taste black carrot, which is available in winters in north India. Last week, when hubby visited Delhi, he was kind enough to get me some black carrots. Now that I had everything, I waited for an opportunity to make zoodles. This came in the form of the theme suggested by Foodie Monday blog hop where the theme was Low-calorie food. This carrot zucchini noodle salad is my contribution to the theme. The other zucchini noodles that I had prepared earlier was Zucchini pesto noodles. Time to make lot of this zoodles.

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Methi dal ambat-A konkani delicacy

2019-01-25T15:05:10Z

METHI DAL AMBAT

Methi or fenugreek is used in most of Indian cuisine. I cook mudhe palya which is a methi dal from the state of Karnataka. I make menthiya kuzhambu which has its roots in Tamilnadu cuisine, and Tatkatli methi chi bhaji. Methi is very flavourful. Be it the seeds of the fresh leaves or even the dried leaves. Two types of fresh methi are available. The regular one and the tiny ones. I have used the microgreen variety of the methi to cook this methi dal ambat. When you use this methi, make sure you soak the leaves in a lot of water for some time, for the sand to settle down. Do not drain the leaves with water in the colander because the sand will again settle on the leaves. Instead, soak for a while, and then squeeze only the leaves and take it out. Throw away the water with the residual sand.

These microgreens are more flavourful than the regular methi greens. I have been successful in growing these greens at home too. Here is a quick video of preparing this dish, This methi dal ambat has a mixed taste. It is a combination of tanginess, with spiciness and a little sweet too. Serve it with hot rice. I must say that this is very delicious.

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Chakotha Mor Kuzhambu- An iyengar speciality

2019-01-24T14:09:19Z

Chakotha Mor Kuzhambu-Iyengar special

Chakotha is a type of green which is available mostly in North India, Karnataka and Andhra. We in Chennai rarely get this. The other day I found some Sarson with the local vegetable vendor. I was surprised and picked it immediately. Chakotha is also called as mountain spinach and there are numerous health benefits we get from using this green. This chakotha mor kuzhambu is a typical iyengar recipe where in the greens are cooked in the yogurt coconut gravy.

Then on casually asking him if Chakotha is available, He said he has a green variety called Chakravarthy and not chakotha. I was intrigued. On asking further I found out that colloquially the name has changed to Chakravarthy. Looks like an Iyengar name.HAHA. Anyway, I picked up some bunches so that I could cook Sarson ka Saag. But the Iyengar in me wanted to make an Iyengar dish first. So I prepared our humble mor kuzhambu with this green.

Chakothna mor kuzhambu is prepared the same way as we prepare any other mor kuzhambu with greens. I prepare it with spinach, mulai keerai, venthiya keerai too. The traditional Mor kuzhambu uses ash gourd or pooshnikai.

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Milk Masala powder

2019-01-23T16:16:56Z

MILK MASALA POWDER

Spice mixes and masala powders are a necessity in every Indian Kitchen. The homemade masalas are the best because of the fresh flavour it imparts. Today I am going to show the easy way to prepare the instant milk masala powder. This powder is added to milk and served either hot or cold. We use many nuts and spices to make this masala. You can use this masala to even flavour your kheer or payasam. This masala is very similar to the thandai masala but with fewer ingredients. Make a batch of this flavourful masala and keep in an airtight box refrigerated. It has to be in the fridge as the nuts in this may turn rancid otherwise. The amount of nuts used can be varied according to one’s taste. We can change the number of spices too.

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Kothumalli thokku / Coriander Thokku

2019-01-22T13:00:30Z

We south Indians need thokku or pickle for our daily meal. People at home tease me that I become moody if my meal is devoid of curd rice. Such is my love for this comfort food. The best way to serve for this staple is with a pickle or thokku. We make Maanga thokku in season, Lemon thokku, Ginger thokku, Kariveppalai thokku. But when I realize that the bottles are empty, I rush to find some coriander in the fridge, to prepare this very delicious, spicy tangy Kothumalli thokku. A quick video to show you the simple process of preparing this thokku.

Kothumalli Thokku

Kothumalli or coriander thokku is a spicy tangy relish which is generally paired with curd rice. Since we do not add any additives, this will stay good for 2 weeks or so in the refrigerator. Fresh organically grown coriander gives a very nice flavour and taste to this dish

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Kaddu ki Sabzi

2019-01-21T13:02:15Z

The members of Foodie Monday Bloghop take a lot of effort and thinking in suggesting the themes for each week. This week the theme suggested by Seema was #foodmagbest. That is cook and click pictures of the food cooked which would be suitable for a food magazine. I was a little sceptical in participating in this theme as I was unsure if I could click such pictures. But as it happens every single time, Vibha urged me to try my best and here are my pictures of Kaddu ki Sabzi which is way different from my usual style of clicking. I hope I have done justice to the theme.

Kaddu ki sabzi

Kaddu ki sabzi has a mixed taste. It has a tinge of sweetness because of kaddu or pumpkin used. The tanginess is due to the amchur powder. You have green chilly and red chilli powder to make it spicy and hot. On the whole, it is a very delicious sabzi. This side dish is mainly served in punjabi cuisine. The other pumpkin subzi which can be served with roti is Pumpkin panch poran sabzi

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Ponk Salad/ Green jowar salad

2019-01-20T09:06:40Z

Life is bliss when you have friends who travel across country with some special ingredients for you. Though the ingredient I am mentioning is perishable, She brought it from Ahmedabad. Vaishali brought winter greens from there , which we can never see in Chennai. Ponk is nothing but tender jowar. Vaishali knew that I would hunt for recipes , so she instantly suggested that I make a fresh salad out of this.

Ponk Salad

I have tasted ponk 40 years ago. We lived in interior Karnataka then. We would be taken on a small excursion to the near by friend where jowar was grown. They would harvest it fresh and give us. They called it as Seethni. I miss those days and Vaishali helped me reliveand cherish those days. Thank you Vaishali.

This salad can be put together easily as everything in this is fresh and raw. She said we could yop with with sev to make it bhel and I will reserve it for the next time

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