Tastefully Veggie ...

Aloo Tikki

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Sun, 27 May 2012 11:18:00 +0000

Aloo Tikki

Aloo tikki is a very popular North Indian dish and I was surprised I had not made it in ages and not blogged about it either. It used to be one of the dishes that I used to make in my mom’s kitchen whenever I managed to get some time away from my books as a student. Some deep fry but most shallow fry it on a hot griddle and I prefer the latter. My wee one is not a fan of potato and will clearly put it on our plate if I give him any. However when I give it in the form of baked chips, potato cake etc., he does not realise it and has it. I then thought I will make tikki for a change and it went well too. You could add some boiled peas if you like but in the interest if time and simplicity I skipped it. I also preferred chilly powder to green chillies as my wee one may not fancy chilly but it is upto you. Mint or coriander chutney will be great with these tikkis, this time though, I served with ketchup. Here is the recipe…

1 big potato boiled
1teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon chilly powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon coriander leaves
2 wholemeal bread slices, crust removed
1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
½ teaspoon onion granules (optional)
Salt to taste

Mash or grate the potato well and add the ginger and coriander leaves

Wet the bread slices and squeeze the excess water out and squash it between your palms and add to the potato

Add the coriander, cumin powder, chilly powder, onion granules and salt and mix well

Smear some oil on your palms and take lemon size balls and pat them to desired thickness

Heat a non-stick pan and cook both sides of the tikkis until golden brown and add little oil if needed

Serve with a chutney or ketchup

Sundakai Paruppu Kadaisal (Turkey Berry Dal)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Sundakai Paruppu Kadaisal

One of the many gems used in Indian cuisine is sundakai a.k.a turkey berry. Many would have seen it in dried form in many Indian grocery shops. I had only seen it once in the fresh form before I moved out of India. After that, I saw it recently in an Indian food shop here and was delighted so just grabbed a small quantity. These berries are quite commonly used in ayurvedic treatments I am told. It has medicinal properties that make it great to treat phlegm, mucus and cough. It is capable of helping the body get rid of bacterial infestation of the stomach making it very good for the digestive system. It is said to help cure night blindness by strengthening the nerves. Its bitter taste helps kill worms in the gut. While there are a good few recipes one can dish out with dried berries, I noticed there were far fewer recipes using fresh berries. Here is one for you...

1 cup green turkey berries
½ cup toor dal
½ teaspoon tamarind extract
10 pearl onions
1 tomato
Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
3-4 dry red chillies
Asafoetida
Cooking oil
Curry leaves

Wash and smash the turkey berries so their seeds come out. Smear turmeric powder so they do not become dark

Bring together, chopped tomato, about 5 pearl onions (smashed lightly), toor dal, couple of dry red chillies, add required water and pressure cook well so they can be mashed

Mash this mixture

In the meantime, heat little oil and add mustard seeds. Once it crackles, add asafoetida, dry red chillies,pearl onions and sauté briefly

Add tamarind extract, little water and required salt (enough for the turkey berries and dal mixture). You could add little chilly powder at this stage if desired

Add this to the mashed dal, mix well and serve!

Chakkarai Pongal (sweet pongal)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:36:00 +0000

Chakkarai Pongal (sweet pongal)

While growing up, I was not a fan of chakkarai pongal but always enjoyed it when distributed to devotees as prasadam in temples, especially vaishnava temples. It will be given in special cups called ‘dhonnai’ which is made with a specific leaf. There will be no shortage of ghee in these temple chakkarai pongal and I always wondered what magical powers the cook in the temple kitchen (called madapalli in tamil) has to make such yummy dishes. The best part is that when they give you a small cup of the prasadam, we would wish they gave us more but by the time we finish having that cup, we will feel so satiated and full. Over the years my taste seems to have changed and once in a while I do fancy some sweets. One such dessert is chakkarai pongal. I used to make this more often in very small quantities, far less sweeter when I was weaning my wee one as it is in mushy consistency and has goodness of mung dal and as I also add milk to it, it was quite a good dish for little ones as well. I had not realised I had not posted this recipe earlier and now a reader had asked for it; so this has finally made it to the blog. During pongal festival, this dish is usually made in mud pots and in my house it is made in ‘vengala paanai’. I started making it in my vengala paanai but had misjudged the quantity and capacity of the dish and had to transfer it later. The final colour or the dish will depend on the jaggery used and you may need to adjust jaggery quantity based on how sweet your jaggery

is. It is best served warm and with a dollop of ghee on top. Some people add mace also to this but I don’t like it, so I didn’t. Here is the recipe...

¾ cup rice
¼ cup mung dal
4-5 tablespoon ghee
1 ½ cups jaggery
Couple of pinches cardamom powder
Couple of pinches saffron
2 tablespoon chopped cashew nuts
2 tablespoon raisins
½ cup milk

Heat some ghee in a heavy bottom pan and add little ghee. Add the rice and dal and fry until aromatic

Add milk and atleast 3 cups of water and cook stirring often. The dal and rice should turn out mushy. You may need to add more water to get the desired consistency

Add jaggery and little ghee and keep stirring until all jaggery dissolves and is well combined. Allow to simmer

Add the cardamom, saffron and if desired some mace and mix well and cook for couple of minutes. Again you may need to add more water to keep the consistency a bit lose as it could turn out dry once cooled

Fry cashews in ghee until golden and raisins until puffed. You could do this at the very start to avoid using multiple dishes

Add the cashews and raisins and mix well

Serve warm

Low fat Almondy Apple Strawberry Milkshake

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:59:00 +0000

Low fat Almondy Apple Strawberry Milkshake

I quite like milkshakes because they are an easy way to have fruits and get your five a day portions. However, some people may be wary of taking milk due to varied reasons like calories, fat, lactose intolerance etc. Although I am not too worried about these at the minute, my interest was in increasing the fibre content in my diet. For that reason and also in the interest of folks who are looking for milk substitutes, I chose oats milk for this recipe. Oat milk is naturally cholesterol free and lactose free and has cancer preventing phytochemicals too. I went for the store bought oat milk although it is not difficult to make it at home. This milkshake is rich in antioxidants, fibre and many other trace nutrients essential to keep the immune system functioning well. I added very little sugar and stuck to unrefined brown sugar. The flaked almonds are optional as some people may not like the little bites and nutty flavour from them in a milkshake.

3 glasses oats milk
2 tablespoon flaked almonds
5-6 strawberries (I used frozen)
3 apples, cut with skin
2 teaspoon brown sugar or any other sweetner of choice

Combine part of the milk, all apples and strawberry together and blend. Add sugar, almonds and more milk and blend further

Serve chill!

Arisi Upma

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:27:00 +0000

Arisi Upma

While growing up, rice upma was one of the dishes mom used to make often because all of us at home liked it. Infact I used to love the bits that were a bit overcooked and came out crisp at the bottom of the dish. Speaking of the dish, it is normally made in a traditional utensil called ‘vengala paanai’ which is a heavy metallic pot. The heaviness of the pot allows slow cooking without burning the food. My mom had bought one for me in my ancestral town of Kumbakonam as usually people there expect very high quality when it comes to utensils and end up being demanding customers. Anyway, she had sent it to me sometime back and I finally got to use it now as an uncle of mine asked me for arisi upma recipe. My husband does not like this dish at all so, honestly I have never made it before; my sister-in-law makes it often though. I got the recipe from my mom and almost followed it just until I wanted to add my twist. I substituted part of the raw rice with raw brown rice. As this recipe involves grinding the rice coarsely, one cannot find the brown rice without being told. So there you go, some wholegrain added to otherwise traditional recipe. A little technique that gets used while cooking this dish is covering it with a small cup half filled with water. This is said to prevent the upma from going dry and also, if you think you need more water, you could just add it from this cup as it would be warm. Some people like the upma grainy (grains standing out), some like it bit more mushy. The below recipe is for the latter so do reduce water quantity if you like it grainy. My mom used to make something called ‘pachai puli’ to go with this; I did not as it needed aubergine which does not arrive until middle of the week. So, finally, here is the recipe...

1 ½ cups rice (I used ½ cup brown rice and rest regular raw rice)
1 heaped tablespoon toor dal
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
2 dry red chillies
Few curry leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urd dal
2 teaspoons channa dal
Asafoetida
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Grind together rice, toor dal, cumin seeds and black pepper to a powder that is not fine but not too coarse

Heat some oil in a heavy bottomed dish or vengala paanai and add mustard seeds. Once it begins to crackle, add the dry red chillies, urd dal, channa dal, curry leaves and asafoetida. Allow the dals to start browning

Add about 3 glasses of water and required salt and bring to boil

Add the ground rice mixture and stir quickly so lumps do not form. Cover and cook on slow flame stirring occasionally. Cook for about 20-30 minutes, you can check if it is done by tasting the rice; if it still has a bite, give it more time. Depending on the desired consistency, you may want to add little more water in the middle of the process, make sure you add boiling water

Serve hot with a tangy chutney or kuzhambu

Bread Upma

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:58:00 +0000

Bread Upma
My mother-in-law was here with us recently and whenever folks are around I try not to ask them to prepare food but if they wish to help, they could help with the clean up. However, I thought my husband may fancy some dish that his mother makes and asked him if there was anything I should ask her to make for dinner on one of the week days. His immediate choice was bread upma. I then recalled how much he actually liked bread upma as he used to make it every now and then before we had our wee one. I somehow did not really enjoy the dish as it seemed a bit too dense for me. Anyway, after enjoying what his mother made, he later asked me to make it one morning for breakfast. He does not usually bother me with request for any specific dish so I was glad he even asked me for something but the condition was that ‘it has to be as good as mom’s’. Ah well, I have heard many women face this challenge of meeting husband’s expectations that his wife cooks like his mom but fortunately, in my case I could set my own benchmark as he is not too picky in some ways. Anyway, what better than a challenge in the kitchen for a food blogger. I set out to make it similar to how she makes but could not let it miss my touch. Addition of ginger garlic paste made quite a difference to the dish and so did the roasted groundnuts. I added it mainly because it is a good source of protein and it will be nice to have something crunchy along with the otherwise soft consistency of the dish. I was unsure if he would like it so did not bother crushing it coarsely but next time, I would. So the verdict was ‘I have indeed shown that I am quite a serious food blogger with about 300 recipes on my blog’. So, this recipe is a keeper. Below mentioned quantities serves two.

5 slices bread (I used wholemeal bread)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2-3 green chillies, chopped
Turmeric powder
Asafoetida
½ cup peas
3 tablespoon yogurt
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (optional)
1 teaspoon sambar powder
Handful of roasted groundnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Cooking oil
Few curry leaves

Cut the bread slices into small bite size square pieces and add the yogurt and mix so it is all coated in yogurt. Set aside while you get on with rest of the steps

Heat some oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. Once it crackles add onions and turmeric powder

Add tomatoes, curry leaves and peas and cook until tomato becomes mushy

Add the sambar powder, salt and cook for couple of minutes so raw smell goes off

Add the yogurt coated bread slices and mix together and cook for a couple of minutes

Garnish with roasted groundnuts and serve!

Masala Milk

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Masala Milk

Hotel Saravana Bhavan was first started in K.K.Nagar and that is where I grew up. We used to eat there every now and then especially if mom was unwell and could not cook (although she always tried to ensure we were well fed regardless of how exhausted she was). At the ground floor of the facility, they would have a stall for masala milk. This milk served warm and spiced with some wonderful ingredients. It is usually prepared by allowing milk to boil for long time so it thickens well. Nuts and spices like cinnamon, cardamom and saffron are added to this to spice it up. One of the other ingredients is chirongi/saara parupu/charoli which has a nutty flavour and usually added to garnish and impart flavour and texture to some sweet dishes. I love this and had been on the look out for it for a while. One night I went shopping to East Ham with my brother and I got lucky. Found it and straight it came home with me. It is a shame that it got lost in the pile of groceries I had but have finally found it. I love how it gives that bite to this milk along with other nuts I added. I chose not to boil the milk too long as it is not particularly good for health, you could if you like.

1.5 litres whole milk
3-5 pinches saffron strands
1/3 cup sugar
2-3 tablespoons saara parupu
¼ cup ground almond
¼ teaspoon cardamom powder (more if you like the flavour)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (more if you like the flavour)
3 tablespoon each crushed pistachios and almonds

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat milk until it reduces to about 75%

Add the ground almonds and sugar and stir frequently

Take a ladleful of hot milk in a cup and add the saffron and allow it to sit for 5 minutes

Add this to the milk, then add couple of tablespoons of nuts and saara parupu

Serve warm and garnish with remaining nuts

Will serve about 4 glasses!

Butter Biscuit ('Good Day' Biscuit)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:09:00 +0000

Butter Biscuit (‘Good Day’ biscuit)

Most people from India would be familiar with the Good Day biscuit as I must say it is a very addictive biscuit. It is quite rich and flavourful but if you read the label carefully, it would have some ingredients that you may not be entirely pleased with. That’s why I wanted to try re-creating it at home with next to no artificial ingredients. I read the label and formulated a recipe in mind hoping it will be a close one to the commercial biscuit. Afterall the reverse engineering that I used to do at work has helped me apply the principles in kitchen too! Another criteria for me was to keep it egg free so many get to enjoy it. I tried using a known egg substitute – 1 tablespoon soya flour mixed in 2 tablespoon water. The biscuit came out very well and the box was emptied in just a couple of days.

2 cups flour (1/2 cup wholewheat, rest all purpose flour)
200g butter, softened
1 heaped tablespoon soya flour
2 tablespoon water
1 cup sugar
½ cup water (may need more or less)
Handful of nuts, chopped/crushed
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk powder

Whisk butter and sugar together until combined

Sift the flour and baking powder together and also add milk powder and then add nuts

Mix the soyaflour and water together and add to flour and butter. Add required milk to make a soft dough that holds together when taken in your fist. Do not knead much. Rest the dough in the fridge for an hour or so, then divide into portions and roll into disc about 4-5mm thick. Cut to desired shape

Place on paper lined baking tray and bake at 180degC for 13-15 minutes (until browned). Rest the dough in the fridge for an hour or so, then divide into portions and roll into disc about 4-5mm thick. Cut to desired shape

Transfer to cooling rack, cool completely and indulge!

Ponnanganni Keerai Kurma

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:56:00 +0000

Ponnanganni Keerai Kurma

There is a reason this green leafy vegetable is called ‘poonanganni’ where ‘ponn’ refers to gold. Consuming this helps our skin start looking like gold I believe. Well, not that you will become like something that king Midas touched, but the point is that it is extremely good for health. It is also suppose to be good for hair growth. Boiling coconut oil with these leaves, hibiscus flower and ‘arugampul’ is suppose to promote hair growth. Rather than preparing it in traditional ways, I tried making kurma so I could have it with rice or rotis. It was great with roti and I had some leftover with curd rice the next day, so am sure it is great with both. Here is the recipe...

2 cups chopped ponnanganni
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon cashew nuts
5-6 almonds
½ teaspoon aniseeds/caraway seeds/fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
5 teapsoons dessicated coconut/grated coconut
3 green chillies
Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Boil the spinach in little water until done

Heat little oil and fry the onions until it changes colour

Add the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste and cook until it turns mushy

Grind together the almonds, cashews, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, chillies, coconut and aniseeds with little water and add this to the tomato onion mixture.

Allow it to boil and stir frequently, then add the spinach and boil

Simmer for few minutes, add required salt and it is ready to serve!

Sprouted Bajra Dosa (Sprouted Kambu Dosa)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:20:00 +0000

Sprouted Bajra Dosa
Bajra is a rather common type of millet, however I came across a few millet varieties that are much less common. They just seem to have not made their way out of the villages or farms in which they are grown. I tried searching for them online so I could buy, unfortunately they seem to be more readily available as bird feed than food for us. It is a shame that we do not appreciate the benefits of these ingredients and think they are rather for the birds. Hopefully one day I will get my hands on these goodies, for now it is back to the millet on hand. What is a good way of making them more nutritious, sprouting! I had sprouted bajra earlier but had left them a bit longer outside and they started rotting. So learning was that sprouted bajra does not last as long as mung sprouts. This dosa was really good and came out like hotel dosas. Main reason I like this recipe is because it breaks the myth that healthy dishes have to taste like mud. So, here you go, try it and get stronger!

½ cup bajra, sprouted
½ heaped cup idli rice
¼ heaped cup urd dal
Handful of poha
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

Soak idli rice, urd dal, poha and fenugreek together and grind to make a smooth batter along with sprouted bajra. Add required salt

Pour ladleful of batter on a hot tava and drizzle some oil and cook until golden brown. Flip sides so both are cooked

Serve hot with chutney and sambar

Badam Halwa (Almond Pudding)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:28:00 +0000

Badam Halwa (Almond Pudding)
It is said that success is a journey, not a destination and that is so true. Well, I know there are several other food blogs with even thousands of recipes and my milestone is quite a humble one but I think it is unfair for me to compare with others, each one being different. So, am going to give myself some credit and pat myself on my back for coming this far. I am very glad that I have been able to sustain my interest and not let it die away with just a few recipes. On the contrary, my interest has increased several folds and am trying to research more and more about ingredients, get hold of many forgotten ingredients and so on. With the intent of sharing as many healthy yet tasty recipes, I started off with just pictures of the final dish. I then thought it may be helpful to show step by step pictures as a picture speaks a thousand words isn’t it? For the lowest level of amateur photographer that I am, I was pleasantly surprised to receive good feedback about my clicks. I am hoping that soon I will post video recipes atleast for some recipes which seem rather tricky for many.

Coming to the 300th recipe, there is probably nothing innovative about the recipe as it is a very traditional dish and very simple by itself so adapting it would not have made meant much. Reason I wanted to post this for this milestone is that it is my husband’s favourite sweet (he does not like sweets otherwise). It was him that prompted me to start a website (in the end I chose blog) and despite not being adventurous with food he has tried almost all the dishes I make. I do not normally tell him what is in the recipe but allow him to give the feedback and these days his guesses are getting better and thinks I add goodies like millets, lentils etc. to most of the dishes I make. Having said that there is nothing innovative about this recipe, I can assure you that it is a fool proof halwa recipe. The struggle many have is usually with final consistency as some end up with a hard cake rather than a soft halwa or for some it may not come together. As we do not have a sweet tooth I added less sugar, however equal amount of almond and sugar would probably be just right for someone who likes sweets. Thanks to all the readers, especially the ones who have taken time to try my recipes, leave comments/feedback/idea. Without you readers it may have been a bit pointless running a blog. Thanks to my family for the continuous encouragement, without them I would have had nothing to write about.

2 cups almond
1 ¾ cups sugar
2-3 pinches saffron strands
About a cup of milk (may need more or less)
5 teaspoons ghee

Soak almond in hot water for atleast an hour and remove the skin

Put it in a mixie/food processor and add just enough milk to cover it and grind to a not so smooth paste

Heat couple of spoons of ghee and add the ground almond. I did add a little water to rinse off the mixie jar and added it. Add the sugar and stir well. Now begins your 20-30 minutes stirring exercise! Do not leave it at all as it will burn very easily

After about 10 minutes of stirring, add the saffron strands and more ghee and keep stirring until the ghee separates from the rest

Garnish with some almond flakes and serve!

Mutltigrain Fruit Loaf

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 06:18:00 +0000

Multigrain Fruit Loaf

Variety adds spice to life and ofcourse to food as well. Variety not just in the kind of dishes made but also the ingredients used is a key. When we use a number of different ingredients, we improve our chances of getting a variety of nutrients and benefits from the food. Also, some research seems to suggest that eating the same food over years can make your body develop intolerance to food. For example, one might eat wheat in every meal, every day. Over years, they may develop intolerance and reach a point when they can no longer take wheat. It is said that introducing the all important variety can help avoid such conditions. So, that possibly explains why I try to add a variety of grains and cereals in my everyday cooking. One other aspect is to reduce the amount of refined food. This includes white sugar as there is not just a lot of processing involved in refining it but some say animal bones are charred for the refining process. I have added brown sugar like most times and also added almond flakes to give a slight crunch when biting. It is perfect for breakfast or even as a snack during the day. Here is the recipe...

¾ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup oats
¼ cup all purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup oil
½ cup yogurt
¼ cup dried currants
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoon almond flakes
2 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon vinegar

Mash the bananas and add all dried fruits and almonds

Sift baking powder with wheat flour, cornmeal and all purpose flour and then add the oats

Add sugar, yogurt, oil and about 1/3 cup of water (enough to bring it to dropping consistency), mix just until combined

Add the vinegar just before you are ready to put in the oven. Pour into a greaseproof paper lined loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180degC for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool, slice and serve

Turmeric Pickle

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:35:00 +0000

Turmeric Pickle

Who said medicines have to be bitter or have horrible taste? I strongly believe that the first medicine we all should believe in is our food. The way we all seem to have evolved, we would not really ingest stuff that are not tasty so packaging healthy and nutritive food attractively, not just appearance wise but taste wise is very important. This has been my motto ever since I started cooking in my kitchen and I do hope that readers of the blog have been able to see that. One of the most important and beneficial ingredients in Indian cuisine is turmeric. Typically used in the powder form, it is actually a perennial rhizome. Many would have commonly seen it during Pongal festival as it is usually tied by a thread to the special pot used to make the Pongal. I have written in greater detail about turmeric in this article. I noticed a fellow blogger had posted a fresh turmeric pickle recipe and then it occurred to me that I should try something with this wonderful ingredient. Now that I am in a place with better access to Indian ingredients including fresh vegetables, I got my hands on fresh turmeric. I wanted to stick to a rather South Indian version as that would go down better in my household. I had some ideas in mind and in the interest of time and energy, took a few shortcuts and came up with this recipe. What I really like about this recipe is that unlike most pickles, it does not need an awful lot of oil and is primarily preserved in lime juice. I also did not use much salt to keep it safe for people with blood pressure problems. Ensure you store it in a clean dry container. Keeping it out under the sun for a couple of days is said to augment its flavour and prolong the life. My pickle is going down fast so I am not too concerned about its life! Please note that turmeric is used as a dye as well so when you chop it, it is likely to stain anything it touches. Make sure to lay few papers down on the counter before chopping. It will stain the hands as well, some say this could be avoided by applying some oil before chopping but the stain on teh hand will go away in a couple of days. Here is the recipe...

1 cup chopped turmeric rhizome
1 teaspoon fenugreek powder
3-4 tablespoon oil
1 ½ teaspoons chilly powder
Salt to taste
Juice from about 6 limes
½ teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
asafoetida
Heat some oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the fenugreek powder, chilly powder, asafoetida

Add the turmeric and rest of the oil and required salt and cook in low flame for about 5 minutes. Then add the ginger powder

Cool for a few minutes and add the lime juice

Store in a clean air tight container

Paneer Methi Chaman

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Paneer Methi Chaman

Green, green and greener! The deeper the colours of the fruits and veggies we eat, the healthier it is for you and green vegetables follow the same rule as well. Methi leaves are rich in vitamin K and comparable with spinach in that aspect. It is said to help clear constipation and also good for people who suffer from frequent stomach pain. This recipe is by Tarla Dalal originally and I made minimal changes to just simplify the steps like adding green chillies to the greens rather than grinding it separately etc. With soft cubes of paneer added, it was a great side dish for rotis. Here is the recipe...

2 cups spinach, chopped
1 cup fenugreek leaves, chopped
1 ½ cups cubed paneer
Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon kasoori methi
½ teaspoon garam masala
3 green chillies
½ teaspoon chilly powder
Salt to taste
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Cooking oil

Boil the spinach and fenugreek leaves in little water until done. Cool and blend along with green chillies

Dry roast the kasoori methi until crisp and keep aside

Heat little oil and add cumin seeds, once it browns, add the onions and fry until soft

Add the ginger garlic paste, chilly powder, coriander powder, kasoori methi, turmeric powder and fry for a couple of minutes

Add the blended spinach mixture, cook for couple of minutes

Add paneer cubes, garam masala and little water, required salt and boil. Simmer for a few minutes

Serve hot with rotis and squeeze some lime juice if you like

Mango Pachadi

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:23:00 +0000

Mango Pachadi

It is Tamil New Year today, so ‘Iniya Tamil Puthandu Vaazhthukkal’. My mother would normally make festive meal on this day and menu would include vada, thayir vada, thirukannamudhu (payasam/dessert), mango pachadi and regular rasam, mor kozhambu etc. Owing to my circumstances, I could not make an elaborate meal but I made it a point to make the pachadi. The main reason for that is the thought process behind the recipe. The pachadi includes a variety of flavours – sweet, sour, salt, heat, bitterness. The sourness comes from teh raw mango used, sweetness from the jaggery, heat from the green chillies, bitterness from the neem flower added. It is suppose to represent how life is full of mixed flavours, happy one time, disappointed another, sad at another time and so on. On the new years day, one makes and eats this dish to gulp down that truth about life. Another reason I wanted to post this today is that I have been wanting to get the blog ready with festival recipes ahead of the festival so readers can benefit but have just not got to it. Atleast this one has made it in the very day!

1 mango, cut into chunks
½ cup jaggery powdered
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urd dal
1 teaspoon neem flower

Boil the mango in water until well done

Mash it roughly and add jaggery water (I prefer to dissolve the jaggery in little water and filter, you could add grated jaggery). Add green chillies and salt and bring to boil and allow to thicken

In the meantime heat little oil and add urd dal, mustard seeds and neem flower and allow the seeds to crackle and dal to brown.

Add this to the mango and boil for couple of minutes and it is ready!

Crispy Cauliflower (Low Fat Cauliflower Fry)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Crispy Cauliflower

With a hope to keep cost and wastage down I have been buying frozen cauliflower for the last few weeks. However, when I did come across a rather low cost cauliflower at the Indian grocers, I could not resist the temptation to buy it despite my freezer stock still being available. And then came a dull evening when I felt like munching something, not unhealthy and also filling enough for me to have just fruits for dinner. I had been meaning to try a low fat version of cauliflower fry. It was a bit complicated preference I had that day as I did not want bajji like dish and neither did I want to add soda bicarb. So I decided to increase the quantity of crispness adding flours like rice flour and corn flour and also added a bit o foil to the batter so it does not turn out too dry. I really liked the dish and if all these healthy veggies can be served in such yummy and low fat form, I could easily have not just my five a day but also ten a day! Well, enough of my rant, here is the recipe for you to try for yourself.

¼ cup rice flour
¼ cup corn flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3-4 cups cauliflower florets
Turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon chilly powder
3 teaspoons cooking oil
Salt to taste

Mix corn flour, rice flour, all purpose flour, salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder, required water to make a thick batter like dosa batter and add two teaspoons oil and mix it

Add blanched cauliflower (I steamed it for 10 minutes, you could put it in boiled water for ten minutes) to this batter and mix so all of them get coated well

Put this on a lightly greased oven proof dish and bake at 200degC for 20 minutes, then give it a quick mix and put it in the oven for 10 minutes, ready to serve!

Mango Cheesecake (Eggless Low Fat)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:18:00 +0000

Mango Cheesecake (Eggless Low Fat)

I have only had cheesecake once before the time I made this one. We used to have a bake off at work where each of us get to bake cakes and the others get to rate it. By the time the whole team got a chance, it would almost be 4 months or so. One of my colleagues had baked cheesecake and that is when I discovered that I kind of like them. Until then I was very unsure of cheesecake because I always associated cheese with cheddar and a cake made with that kind of cheese does not sound appealing. Later I found it is the soft cheese that gets used for cheesecake. If you have watched the sit com ‘Friends’, then you may recall how Chandler and Rachel would steal the cheesecake delivered to their neighbour and enjoy it and also describe it as moist, creamy yet not heavy. Well, as I have not tasted many cheesecakes, I would not know. I did try my hands on the lazy version of non baked cheesecake but it was a disaster as it did not set. This time though, I had another agenda of using up the box of mango pulp I had opened. I had ordered all the ingredients along with my regular groceries but had to wait until afternoon for it to arrive. I was getting worried as my energy level would keep going down as the day goes by and struggling with a completely new recipe would be too much for the evening. I got on ok as the groceries arrived slightly early. It was not until five minutes before the end of baking time that I realised I did not know how to check if a cheesecake is done. All the stuff that I had heard on a variety of cookery shows then gave me a hunch saying it needs to wobble in the middle. I listened to my instincts, turned the oven off and let it sit in the oven until I had to take it out for my next baking. I was very proud of the results because there was just a tiny crack in my first ever cheesecake. Cracks on cheesecake is said to be the most common problem and can be reduced by ensuring correct method is followed to cool the cake. I have written a few tips at the bottom of the recipe. I shared the cheesecake with my colleagues and as they are local and have had cheesecakes before and can actually comment on how mine is, I thought they will be good critics. It was all thumbs up for the wonderful mango cheesecake. Yum yum! Here is the recipe...

16 digestive biscuits
50gm butter, melted
2 tablespoon sugar
500g soft cheese at room temperature
1 ½ cups mango pulp
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons flour

For the base:
Crush the biscuits by putting them in food processor or in a Ziploc cover and beating them down

Mix this with melted butter and sugar so it can hold together and press this mixture down on the base of cake tin

Bake at 180degC for 6 minutes

For filling:
Cream sugar and soft cheese together

Add the mango pulp and flour and incorporate until just mixed, do not overmix

Pour this filling on the baked biscuit base and bake at 180degC for 30-35 minutes. You know the cake is done when the edges are kind of firm but centre is still slightly wobbly when gently tapped on the side (picture below is before baking)

Cool this in the oven itself with the oven turned off, give it about an hour. Then cool this a room temperature before sticking it in the fridge for atleast one night.

Serve:

Note:

Baking cheesecake in water bath is said to be effective in avoiding cracks as the steam ensures there is enough moisture in the oven. To do this, place the cake tin on a baking tray and pour hot tap water on the baking tray and bake

If transferred out of the oven too quickly, the cheesecake could crack so allow it to sit in the oven (turned off) for sometime

Try using a knife to pull outer edge away from the tin as this may cause crack. I just ran a knife on the sides after putting it outside to cool

Rest the cake atleast overnight in the fridge before serving

Cracks do not usually affect taste and can be hidden by decorating with coolie or fruits.

The cheese should be at room temperature for best results

Paal Payasam (Milk Kheer)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:18:00 +0000

Paal Payasam (Milk Kheer)

Despite being a tamil Brahmin, I have never made paal payasam before. It was a special occasion at home and I thought I could very well try this recipe. These days I do not get a lot of time in my kitchen so have to make use of every opportunity I get to experiment but be safe i.e. ensure it is good enough to be served to guests. This is not really a recipe where you can go wrong although yo could make a mistake with amount of sugar and make it too sweet or not sweet for different people, but that is just personal preference. This recipe is not so sweet so for someone like my brother, it was not great. But for me and few others who do not like their desserts being too sweet, it was perfect. I think Keralites make this dish with red rice. I could have done that but I did not find time to locate my lonely pack of red rice, maybe next time.

8 cups whole milk
½ cup rice
2 teaspoons ghee
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons broken cashewnuts
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
Pinches of saffron

Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pan

Grind rice to a coarse powder

Add rice and sugar to the milk, stir and pressure cook for 2 whistles

Stir well, add cardamom powder, saffron and bring to boil

Simmer for a few minutes so it thickens. Heat ghee and fry raisins until puffed and cashews until golden brown

Add this to the milk mixture and serve warm or cold

Vegetable Kolhapuri

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Vegetable Kolhapuri

I like to eat a variety of gravies with rotis or even rice and prefer not to make just the usual stuff. I do manage to look at Tarla Dalal’s website every now and then and keep bookmarking recipes. Sometimes I wish to try some of them in the next available opportunity and this recipe was one such. My husband prefers gravies to semi dry or dry sabjis so I made it a bit more watery than she had suggested. I also reduced the coconut quantity a wee bit just to keep the overall fat on check. It is suppose to be a Maharashtrian dish and is mentioned as quite authentic. We had this with rotis and it did taste very good. I did not have kashmiri red chillies but used regular dry red chillies so it was not bright red. The sweetness from the coconut imparts a beautiful flavour to the gravy. I had some paneer frozen and waiting to be used and added it as well, needless to say, it was great. You could skip the paneer and add other vegetables if you like. Here is the recipe…

2 cups boiled vegetables (I used peas, carrot, cauliflower)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
Some chopped coriander leaves
Cooking oil
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

To grind to paste (grind dry first then slowly add water as required else poppy seeds will not grind):
2 cloves garlic
Small piece of ginger
4 dry red chillies
4 teaspoon dessicated coconut
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Little water

Heat some oil and add the onions, fry until it just begins to brown

Add tomatoes, turmeric powder and the ground paste, cook until raw smell goes away, add little water as and when needed to avoid burning

Add the boiled vegetables, a glass of water and simmer, add coriander leaves, garam masala, salt and simmer until desired consistency achieved. It does thicken once cooled so you may want to add more water

Serve!

Shahi Dal

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Shahi Dal

Here is another recipe that started off with one intent and ended up being something else. Well, I had bookmarked shahi dal from Tarla Dalal’s website. I did not quite get whether I was meant to use whole urd with skin or broken with skin. I chose the former as I had a small pack to be used up and every little helps empty my pantry. I had soaked about half a cup of the dal for almost 24 hours as I did not get around to the kitchen that day and ended up eating at a friend’s place. The next day I had to use these up but did not get to look at the recipe just before starting as my husband was already starving after a shopping trip we made. I vaguely remembered the ingredients and method and just put it together as I thought was appropriate. Result – a really yummy dal with subtle yet rich flavours and packed with nutrition. I quickly made rotis to eat with this dal and we polished the dish clean! I was a bit unsure if my husband would like it but he loved it. This certainly is a keeper. Here is how I made it…

½ cup black gram with skin, rinsed and soaked overnight
1 small piece ginger, crushed/chopped
½ teaspoon chilly powder
¼ teaspoon garam masala (about ½ teaspoon if using store bought)
2 pinches kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
¼ cup ground almonds/blanched almond flakes
4 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Turmeric powder
1 cup milk
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon butter
Cooking oil

Cook the dal with milk and ginger and add little water to it if needed. Pressure cooking would be ideal so it can be mashed once done (forgot a picture for this!)

Heat the butter along with some oil and add cumin seeds. Once it browns, add the onions and fry until golden

Add the tomatoes, little salt and cook until mushy

If using blanched almonds flakes, grind together the almonds and cardamom. If using ground almond, crush the cardamom alone. If soaking almonds and using, then grind to paste with cardamom. Add the almond and cardamom mixture

Add the cooked and mashed dal, required salt, chilly powder, kasoori methi and garam masala and little water (could add any liquid left over from cooking the dal too)and bring to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often.

Serve hot!

Victorian Sponge Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:09:00 +0000

Victorian Sponge Cake

Baking has been so much fun and I have been enjoying learning the nuances of baking. Like most skills, it just gets better with practise. One of our friends in Scotland wanted to learn some baking from me, not that I am an expert. However, I thought I could certainly help a beginner baker else I should not be blogging about it right. He wanted to try the simple Victorian sponge and preferred to do it with the egg. I am so spoilt with low calorie and healthy baking that in some ways I thought I am incapable of making with egg, butter and all purpose flour in it. Somehow I could not accept that despite being a food blogger, I can only do certain types of baking and not others. So it I took the opportunity to try my hands on a recipe that is not meant for anyone who is calorie conscious. Although the eggs get beaten, I chose not to use the mixer as I thought my friend will very well manage beating with hands and what better than being hands on while learning to bake. He sure did a good job as the sponge certainly was spongy! It was a very neat bake and the sponge was appreciated by everyone who got to taste it. I started checking if the cake was done after about 25 minutes. Usually it is said that you can start checking after about 20 minutes, but if oven is opened before that the cake may just sink and not rise due to the cold draft of air. Sticking in a skewer in the middle of the cake to check if it comes out clean would indicate if cake is done. You may want to rest the cake in the oven, turned off, for few minutes to complete the last bit of cooking. Usually sponge cakes are made in two identical sandwich tins. I had only one tin so chose to bake in my cake tin and cut it into half to put the jam filling.

150g butter
150g self rising flour
150g sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 180degC

Line a cake tin with baking paper on bottom and grease with oil or butter on sides and the paper

Cream the sugar and butter together until soft

Add one egg at a time and beat until incorporated. Using wooden spoon is enough. Repeat with all eggs and beat the mixture until it is nice and soft. Add the essence towards the end

Sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the butter-sugar egg mixture. Do not overmix. If the batter is not to spooning consistency add little milk but again do not overmix

Pour batter into prepared tin. Drop the tin from about 4 inches height about ten times to get rid of any excess air bubbles

Bake for 35-40 minutes (until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean). You may need to rest the cake for five minutes with oven off and oven door closed

Rest the cake for further five minutes outside the oven before removing from cake tin. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely before cutting it into half

You could decorate this cake straight or just cut it into to and put a filling of jam or chocolate or whipped cream and serve with fruits.

Amla Pachadi (Nellikai/gooseberry Pachadi)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Amla Pachadi (Nellikai/gooseberry Pachadi)

At one point this winter I was looking for multiple sources of vitamin C and amla (gooseberry/nellikai) is rich in it. I knew my grandmother would make a pachadi (raita) with it so got the recipe from her and tried it. Needless to say, it came out well. I kept it for couple of days and had with few variety rice. Amla is supposed to fortify the liver, balance stomach acids, nourishes the brain, helps urinary system, good for skin and hair, cools the body among many other benefits. Amla is usually available in fresh and dry form and both are said to be nutritive. Amla is also said to be able to stimulate isolated group of cells that secrete hormone insulin thus reducing blood sugar in diabetics. Here is the recipe…

5-6 gooseberries
1 teaspoon channa dal
½ teaspoon urd dal
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 dry red chillies
Asafoetida
1 green chilly
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1-2 cup yogurt
Few curry leaves
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Boil the gooseberries in water until done. Remove the seeds and mash them

Heat little oil and roast the channa dal, fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies, urd dal one after another, keep aside to cool and grind to powder

Heat little oil and add the mustard seeds, once it splutters, add turmeric powder, asafoetida, green chilly, curry leaves and add the ground powder and fry briefly

Add this to the mashed gooseberries, add yogurt, required salt and mix well

Serve

Very Berry Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:21:00 +0000

Very Berry Cake

With my deadline to use up my freezer stock closing in, I had to figure out how I was going to finish up couple of bags of mixed berries that I had. First I wanted to bake berry muffin and make smoothies (I was pleasantly surprised to note how much fruits can be packed in just one glass of smoothie). Then I changed my mind to bake a cake instead of muffin. As usual, I wanted to minimise added sugar and rather rely on the fruits to lend sweetness and nice flavours. This cake is not too sweet and I think it could make a good breakfast especially for those in a rush or a tea time snack. Some people do not like cakes being very fruity, so feel free to adjust quantity of fruits. Now for my healthy very berry cake recipe...

1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ripe banana mashed
¾ cup light brown sugar (you could use white sugar too)
¾ cup yogurt (I used low fat as that is what is available in store)
½ cup sunflower oil
1 cup mixed berries
2 tablespoon mixed berries
2 teaspoon brown sugar

Line a cake tin with baking paper on bottom and grease it. Sprinkle the two teaspoons of sugar and also the two tablespoons of mixed berries

Cream together the yogurt, oil and sugar until all the sugar dissolves

Add the banana and mix until incorporated

Add baking soda and baking powder to this mixture and mix

Sift the flours together

Add the flours to the sugar mixture slowly and fold just until incorporated. Do not overmix

Add the mixed berries and give a final stir. I used frozen berries and did not thaw it.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake at 180degC for 30 minutes and rest it in the oven for five minutes with oven off

Rest the cake in its tin for about five minutes after taking out of oven and transfer to cooling rack

Cool completely and cut

Bhindi Babycorn Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Bhindi Babycorn Curry

I like babycorn and I like bhindi (okra/ladiesfinger) even more and what happens when both of them come together – a yummy dish that goes well with rice or chapatti. I had one pack of okra that needed to be finished and I knew it would not be enough so was looking into my freezer to find a friend for the okra. I thought the texture of babycorn would complement that of the okra and it did. My husband prefers gravy to dry sabji so that’s why I put together this dish. It is a fairly simple dish and very tasty. Here is the recipe…

10-12 bhindi, cut into inch long piece
8-10 babycorns, boiled and cut to inch long pieces
10 pearl onions
3 dry red chillies
1 tablespoon coriander powder
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Heat little oil and add coriander seeds and dry red chillies, roast until aromatic and keep aside

Heat little oil in same kadai and add the onions and garlic and fry for couple of minutes

Add the tomatoes and cook until mushy

Add the ginger while keeping the flame off. Keep aside to cool and grind to fine paste

Heat little oil and add cumin seeds and allow it to brown

Add the okra/bhindi/ladies finger and cook until done. Add salt when almost done

Add the ground paste, babycorn and turmeric powder, required salt and simmer

Add coriander leaves and water if needed and simmer for five minutes or until desired consistency achieved

Serve hot!

Almond Strawberry Wholemeal Sponge (Eggless & Butterless)

noreply@blogger.com (Veena) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Almond Strawberry Wholemeal Sponge (Eggless & Butterless)

It has been a hectic week but can see light at the end of the tunnel. As part of my effort to deplete my pantry stock as much as possible before an important milestone, I tried making another cake. I quite enjoy making these with a twist and I do not think there is much point in making a wholemeal flour cake with loads of sugar, butter and eggs. I saw this recipe in a vegan cook book but adapted it to our taste and non-vegan cooking. If you are vegan, replace yogurt and milk with equivalent soya products. The original recipe does not call for any added sugar and infact says add sugarless jam etc. However, I had my own doubts about taking it to that extreme and added little brown sugar and used regular jam. I was utterly clueless about the result because usually what makes a sponge cake spongy is the all purpose flour, egg and butter and without these key ingredients, would it really be as sponge. Indeed it was fair to call it a sponge and I was very glad to have found a healthy cake recipe that one can have for snack or even breakfast. Usually I do not sift wholemeal flour as I like to keep the bran, this time I did just so that it does not affect the texture of the sponge. Also I wanted to ensure sifting was done so the flour is aerated to result in a spongy cake. Next time I would overcome the issue of keeping the bran by simply adding it back to the flour after sifting (sometimes it takes a wee while to figure out simple things). Now for the recipe...

225g wholemeal self rising flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon strawberry jam
100g strawberry yogurt
¾ cup sunflower oil
175g strawberries, hulled
50ml milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
50g ground almonds
More jam to smear between layers

Preheat oven to 180degCand line the bottom of a cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides and paper

In a blender, blend together the oil, strawberries, jam, milk and yogurt until smooth

Put this in a large mixing bowl and add the ground almonds and sugar and mix

Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold into the mixture

Pour this into the cake tin and level. Drop the tin from a height of about 4 inches about ten times to get rid of excess air

Bake for 25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and transfer to wire rack and cool completely

Cut into two halves by slicing in the middle of the cake and spread jam on one half

Put the other half on top and cut the cake to serve!