Edible Garden

Egg & Soya Bean Sprouts Fried Rice Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:37:00 +0000

If TH makes rice, there is always some leftover. The left-over quantity is always in-between. Not enough for 2 of us the next day and a bit too much for one person to have. This has made me something of an expert in leftover rice recipes. I make all kinds of pulao, fried rice and what not with this bowl of cold, refrigerated rice.

This recipe is also one such leftover rice recipe. But before I go into the details of that, I have to talk about soya bean sprouts.

Remember these bean sprouts from the stir-fried broccoli mushroom recipe? These are moong sprouts. Smaller, daintier, very crunchy with a nutty aftertaste. Its very popular in Asian cooking and available all over in Singapore.

Soya bean sprouts, on the other hand, are not as popular or widely used but often available in the supermarkets. I wanted to try it out so grabbed a bag once. And that's how it ended up in this egg fried rice.

Egg & Soya Bean Sprouts Fried Rice

What I Used:

Cooked rice - 2 cups
Soya bean sprouts - 1/2 cup, washed and drained
Eggs - 3
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 2 to 3
Ginger galic paste - 2 tsp
Oil - as required
Pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat 2 tsp oil to a pan and scramble the eggs with some salt and pepper. Leave them as lightly bigger chunks, don't mince too fine while scrambling.

2. Heat some more oil (I used about 2 to 3 tsp) and add the bean sprouts. Saute until the shoots get soft. Now increase the heat to maximum add the soya sauce, chopped green chillies and the ginger garlic paste. Saute on high heat for a minute and lower heat.

3. Add the cooked rice and mix well, adding salt and pepper to taste.

4. Remove from fire, mix in the scrambled eggs and serve hot.

You can garnish with some green/spring onions if you want.

Variations

Make egg fried rice by simply avoiding the bean sprouts. Add cooked vegetables and avoid egg for vegetable fried rice. You get the drift.. :)

Oh and by the way, I am hosting a giveaway at my other blog, Truly Madly Deeply. So if you are interested in finding out what it is and enter, here's where you need to CLICK :)

Broad Beans / Avarakka / Avarakkai Thoran Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:47:00 +0000

There is a vegetable stall in Little India, Singapore, which I absolutely adore. It has all the "Indian" vegetables that I sorely miss and crave for after weeks of eating dishes cooked with just French beans and carrots and broccoli. This stall usually has purple brinjal, drumstick, drumstick leaves, fresh bunches of methi and pudina and kothamalli.. ahh.. its a true delight to go there every now and then. Once, I saw some fresh avarakka (avarakkai in Tamil) and I had to buy them!

I made a simple thoran with it, nothing fancy and we both loved it with some rasam and rice!

Avarakka Thoran Recipe

What I Used:

2 cups stringed and chopped avarakka (leave the seeds in too)
1/2 cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1/2 tsp jeera/jeerakam
2 green chillies, or to taste
4 + 2 shallors
A few curry leaves
A pinch turmeric powder
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Cook the chopped avarakka in a closed plan by adding about 1/2 cup water until soft. Make sure you don't have any leftover water by cooking it further with the lid open. Set aside.

2. Grind the coconut with the green chillies, turmeric powder, 2 shallots, jeera, some salt and very little water sprinkled on top.

3. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add 4 sliced shallots and fry until lightly browned. Then add the ground coconut and fry for 30 seconds.

4. Add the cooked avarakka to this and mix well. Adjust salt. Let it cook on low fire for about 5 mins until there is no more moisture left in the avarakka.

Serve hot with rice and rasam.

Recipe for Tofu in Peanut Butter Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:39:00 +0000

This is probably the easiest dish I have tried out in the recent past. It requires no grinding, no chopping (unless you count cubing tofus as 'chopping'), no frying, its ultra super simple and you end up with a creamy side dish for your roti or rice in no time.

I made this for dinner a couple of weeks back, which explains the extra 'warm' pictures under artificial lighting. I wasn't sure if TH would like it since he doesn't like peanut sauces and gravies like they use in gado-gado much (but loves peanut butter, yeah, men are weird no?).

He ended up saying "this is not bad at all" so I guess if you like peanuts then this one will be a winner for you too.

Tofu in Peanut Butter Sauce
Nags' Original Recipe
Serves: 2

What I Used:

1 block firm or silken tofu - cubed
3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
Salt and pepper
Water
Fresh parsley/coriander/spring onions

How I Made It:

1. Make a loose paste with the peanut butter, soya sauce, vinegar, sugar, and some water.

2. In a pan, heat the oil and add the cubed tofu. Fry lightly (if using firm tofu, otherwise go on to the next step).

3. Add the minced ginger and garlic and fry until the flavour comes out and the kitchen smells really good.

4. Add the peanut butter sauce and mix well, coating the tofu pieces completely. Add about 1 cup water and cook covered for 5 mins on very low fire.

5. The dish will keep getting dry because of the peanut butter so keep adding required water to keep it saucy.

6. After 5 minutes, make sure consistency is right for you by adding enough water and bring to boil. Remove from fire, add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro/parsley or spring onions. Be careful when you add salt since the peanut butter will already have some.

I served this with some simple vegetable rice. I am sure it will go great with roti too.

Variations:

Try replacing tofu with paneer or soya chunks/meal maker. Anything that soaks up the flavours should be a good addition. I am even thinking cubed potatoes. Hmmm.. :)

I am sending this to Culinarty's Original Recipes Event.

Easy Apple Crumble with Vanilla Custard Sauce- Step by Step Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Before I even start talking about this deliciously simple recipe, I want to apologize for not sharing this earlier. The first time I made this was when I was about 16 or 17. My athamma got me this book from Salem since I was quite crazy about baking and Mallika Badrinath was quite the rage back then.

Actually, I lie. This is not the same book. I got this from Chennai this April when we were there because I lose the original one athamma gave me. And with it went the recipe of this super-crazy-easy Apple Crumble Recipe! I had been searching for the book online ever since and finally found it on a road-side second hand book stall in Pondi Bazaar. Such is life :)

An 'after' picture just to keep us going till we make the real thing

What makes this recipe extra yummy is the combination of the apple crumble with the vanilla custard sauce. The ingredients are easy-to-get in India and this is a great beginner baking recipe. Make it and impress guests ;)

Anyway, onto the recipe now.

Let's get started with apples. Good round red apples. Actually, any variety will work. Just go with red apples, ok? So about 500gm of that, or lets say 2-3 medium-sized apples.

Peel them. Or if you hate peeling apples as much as I do, make your husband peel them and pretend you are busy with taking pictures or dusting the furniture or something.

Once peeled, chop them up into small chunks. Its okay if they are going brown. To prevent this to some extend, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on the pieces and mix well.

Add 2 tbsp sugar to the apples and cook on a low fire until soft and mushy. If you feel they are beginning to burn at the bottom, sprinkle some water but don't add more than that. This should take anywhere between 10-12 mins. Throw in a cinnamom piece if you like the flavour.

They will slightly reduce in volume and give out water. Keep aside to cool and resist temptation to snack on them.

Meanwhile, measure out one cup whole wheat flour / atta. Add a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of sugar to this and mix well.

Chop up 100gm of salted butter that's almost at room temperature. The Amul salted butter that you get in India is a 100gm packet and works perfect for this. Remember to reserve a teeny bit to grease your pie dish!

Mix the butter and flour mixture gently with your fingers untill well combined. Don't knead. Remember this is an easy recipe.

The resulting mixture will look like bread crumbs. In the above picture, there is slightly extra butter because I had a 108gm chunk and I added it all in. When you use just 100gm it will be drier and more crumb-like.

Smear some butter all over your pie dish next. For those of you who sighed and thought "but I don't have a piedish!!", fret not.

You can use a small cake tray of any shape. In fact, I used an old aluminium ice tray (that had removable plastic grids where you pour the water for ice) when I was in India. So pretty much anything works! I got this pie dish on sale so I am going all fancy this time ;)

Lay out the cooled, cooked apples evenly on the greased pie dish.

Next, add the butter-atta mixture and spread evenly. Gently press down to make it as even as possible.

Sprinkle some sugar on top. I use brown sugar these days but go ahead and use your white sugar. There is no reason for this. Its just a nice thing to do. Sugar should be added to everything possible, in fact.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 mins until the top turn golden brown. Do you see that crust? Now can you imagine what this dish can do your life? Its going to smell divine, to boot!

You can slice them up once they are cool and warm them slightly in the microwave before serving.

While the apple crumble is baking, you need to cook up the vanilla custard sauce. The combination will make you a slave for it and make you crave it every other day, so consider yourselves warned.

Here are the recipes, all in one place.

Apple Crumble Recipe
Source: Mallika Badrinath's 100 Excellent Puddings
Serves: 4 generous portions

What I Used:

Apples - 500gm (about 2-3 medium-sized apples)
Wheat flour / atta - 1 cup
Salted butter - 100gm + a bit for greasing
Sugar - 2tbsp + 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Lemon juice - a few drops (optional)
Cinnamom stick - 1 (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Wash peel and chop the apples. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent browning. Mix in 2tbsp sugar and cook on a low fire until soft and mushy. Set aside to cool.

2. Mix salt and 2tbsp sugar with the flour. Lightly mix in the butter without kneading until you get a mixture that resembles bread crumbs.

3. Grease a pie dish/cake tray with butter. Lay the cooked apples evenly. Add the flour mixture evenly on top and press down gently. Sprinkle sugar on top.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 25-30 mins.

Serve warm with chilled vanilla custard sauce (recipes below).

There are two options for the sauce. An eggless version and a slightly easier version with egg. I make the one with the egg but you pick depending on whether you cook with eggs or not.

It looks innocent but don't get deceived! Its sinfully tasty!

Vanilla Custard Sauce (with egg)

Beat with a fork, 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon cornflour and add 2 tablespoon sugar with that. Add one cup warm milk and beat well again. Cook on a low fire stirring constantly until pouring custard consistency. Add 1/2 tsp vanila essence, cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (eggless)

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

I don't bother with triangular shaped pieces. Just pile them on, top up with the sauce and dig in!

This goes to Madhuram's Whole Grain (Eggless) Baking Event: Whole Wheat.

Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice Recipes Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:20:00 +0000

Yes, finally! Apologies for the delay to all participants and all others whom I have been depriving of these ravishing rice recipes! I wanted to be able to do a roundup of all the entries in one post and since there were over 120 entries I had to think creative.

So I set out with doing a gallery with the name of bloggers and their entries all hyperlinked to their site. I did the formating in an HTML editor and when I transfered it to blogger's compose box, the code got all messed up and two week's worth of work was all gone!

I have done a simpler gallery below, but it still took me a week to compile, recipe by recipe :)

To see the name of the dish and the blogger's name, please hover over the dish. Thank you everyone for the amazing participation and the ravishing entries! Special thanks to Meeta for letting me host her Monthly Mingle in May-June :)

I would like to high-five my sis for doing this very informative write-up titled With Love, From Kuttanad, that talks about the rice varities in Kerala and their main uses.

Onto the lovely entries now!

Breakfast Recipes With Rice/Rice Flour

Snack Recipes With Rice

South Indian Rice Recipes

Entries From Beyond Curries (South Indian Rice Recipes)

Pulao/Pilaf & Fried Rice Recipes

Biryani/Biriyani Recipes

Variety Mixed Rice Recipes - What We Don't Usually See!

Non-Vegetarian Rice Recipes

Sweets/Dessert Recipes With Rice

If I have missed out, misspelt, or wrongly linked to any entry, please let me know by emailing me at naagu.v@gmail.com. Apologies in advance and thanks for understanding!

Sri Lankan Palak Dal Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:38:00 +0000

Ever since Siri hosted AWED Sri Lanka Recipes event, I got hooked to the cuisine. I had borrowed a book and this is the third recipe I tried from it. A simple palak dal recipe (lentils and spinach) but enhanced in true Sri Lankan way not to mention the addition of the ever-present coconut milk.

Fresh Green Spinach

The book I had only mentioned dal and I wasn't sure which dal they were referring to. So I used toor dal. You could also try this with moong dal and get a totally different flavour. Yummy either ways, I am sure.

Soaked Toor Dal

Sri Lankan Palak Dal /Lentils with Spinach
Preparation time: 40 mins
Serves: 2 to 4

What I Used:

1.5 cups toor dal
A big bunch of spinach, chopped (about 4 cups loosely packed)
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 small tomato, chopped fine
2 dried red chillies
2 garlic pods, crushed
A 1" piece of cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
1.5 cups light coconut milk
Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few pieces of rampe/pandan leaves or curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. The first step is to cook the lentils. Usually I use pressure cooker but for this recipe, its important not to cook them mushy. So, add about 4 cups water to the 1.5 cups toor dal and soak for an hour. Then, keep on a medium fire to cook for about 20-25 mins. The lentils should be cooked yet stay as individual pods.

2. Heat oil and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds start popping, add the cinnamon, chillies, garlic, jeera and onions. Fry until onions turn transparent.

3. Then add the tomatoes and mix well for another minute. Add the chopped spinach now and lower fire. Let it wilt and reduce in size. Keep stirring till the it mixes well with the rest of the added ingredients.

4. Now add the cooked lentils and combine gently. Bring to boil. Reduce fire and add the coconut milk and salt. You can add some chilli powder if you'd like more heat. Simmer for 5 mins and remove from fire.

Serve hot with steamed white rice or roti.

This is my entry to MLLA-13 conceived by Susan of the "Well-Seasoned Cook" and currently being hosted by Sunshinemom of "Tongue Ticklers".

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: The Great Singapore Hawker Food Tour!

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Singapore is the hub of Asian fusion food and Singaporeans love their food! Eating out is an activity on its own and done a lot, usually in big groups and with family and extended family. Local food is cheap and very tasty in what is called "hawker centers" where a huge number of food stalls are seen with a wide variety of food from all over Asia. This cultural extravaganza is often new and unique to visitors from other countries, as it was to me when I had just moved to Singapore.

So on a lovely Saturday morning, me and 17 of my colleagues set out to explore 4 different hawker centers in Singapore and to taste their mostly award-winning culinary offerings. We started the trip with an empty stomach and tons of enthusiasm!

We hired a coach for the bunch of us and the entire trip, food and coach cost us just above USD 250.

The first stop was the hawker center at Tiong Bahru. It was on the first level of the above building and was relatively less crowded since we reached before noon.

The first thing we tried was Chwee Kueh - steamed rice cakes topped with fried radish, garlic, chilli, some unknown stuff that makes it awesome and tons of oil! I had never tried Chwee Kueh before but those who had, said that the stall, Jian Bo Shui Kueh, was award-winning for a reason. And I believe them.

Next on the list from our first halt was Pig Organ Soup. I have seen these stalls in almost all hawker centers in Singapore but since I don't eat pork and am not really that daring, I gave this one a miss. Those who tried it did like it though. The soup usually contains a mix of pig intestines, stomach, blood cubes, pork slices, strips of salted vegetables and some Chinese lettuce.

Rice congee was next. It was delightfully peppery and I quite liked it. The garnishing you see there is not beancurd, like I thought, but fried pig intestine. I ate around it but there were tons of takers for it anyway.

We also sampled pork and chicken char siew or pau. Amazing rice dough dumplings filled with yummy pork or chicken filling. Something I would go back for, definitely!

We finished the first stop at Tiong Bahru with a local dessert - Cheng Teng. A lot of Asian desserts are made with crushed ice and this was one of them.

Below the flavoured, sweetened ice mountain, there is a bit of red bean cooked just right, which I loved. Its a refreshing finish to an otherwise daring meal.

The second stop was at Thesevi Food at Jalan Kayu, again an award-winning roti prata place towards the north of the island.

The variety of prata available here is quite amazing but since we had two more places left to go, we stuck with the original version, tissue prata and banana prata which was the favourite item on the whole trip for a bunch of us.

Pratas come with a complementary gravy of onions and masala but there are a few curries you can purchase which I would totally recommend, like chicken curry and mutton masala, to begin with.

We also got this fudge cake from Jane's cake store nearby.

It was delightfully Asianized, meaning, made light, not so sweet and spongy, yet retaining the chocolate richness. Reactions were mixed but some of us loved it!

Third stop - Serangoon Gardens Hawker Center.

Since we were all more than half full and still had half the number of planned places to go, the best thing to do seemed to get huge mugs of sugarcane juice.

This stall sells just that and the cleanliness amazed me.

The stall was spotless and the sugarcane juice machine looked squeky clean.

It was run by an elderly couple who juiced up 17 glasses in less than 10 mins.

We also got braised duck (no rice, because we had to give our stomach some love in addition to the wonderful torture!) which was super tender, super yummy and just rightly seasoned.

The stall seems to be a popular one.

Satay was next and this is something I could have given a miss. They were too sweet and too peanutty to my liking. However, the super huge kutupat (rice cake served with satays) deserves a thumbs up.

Carrot cake is another local specialty in Singapore and the stall in this hakwer center takes the cake for making it look relatively healthier and milder than its counterparts in other stalls I have eaten at.

I personally prefer the darker version of carrot cake but after all the food we'd had by then, the lighter version seemed like a better choice. Though we were too full to relish it completely, the plates were wiped out before we left!

The last and final stop - Old Airport Road Hakwer Center. We had to get the Char Kway Teow.

This is one of the most popular Singaporean dishes and though we were really really full beyond imagination at this time, we all tried this. This is one of the very few dishes still prepared in a super hot wok in pork lard. I did manage to get some made in oil and with no pork in Penang, but that's a whole different story that can come later in another post.

Rojak was next. This definitely is an acquired taste and something I wouldn't really want to eat if I had so much choice as I would in a hakwer center. Its usually a mix of different fruits and vegetables to give it sweet, sour and spicy flavours. The sauce had peanuts in it and somehow reminded me of the chaat sauce we have in India. But only a little bit. That's all I had of it anyway. Definitely the least popular among the crowd, either because of the taste or due to the "fullness factor".

Before our stomachs could cry out loud, we quickly got ice kachangs, another crushed ice dessert that comes flavoured, sweetened and topped with some corn.

I found the combination weird as did some others but it was definitely a welcome finish to all that chilli, oil, pork lard and what not in our stomachs by then.

We dragged ourselves back to the bus and vowed to skip dinner, which most of us did, apparently.

It was a lovely, gluttonous day and thanks to everyone who joined us. Read more at Joann's place. She has more pictures from the Prata place which I clearly don't because I was too "busy" then.

Garlic Rasam / Poondu Rasam Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:30:00 +0000

I suck at making rasam. I know that's a strange thing to say just before sharing a rasam recipe but I had to say it. My rasams usually suck. I have tried watching the MIL closely and writing down measurement of ingredients as and when she uses it. I have tried rasam from different sites all over the blogosphere.

Then my rasam became okay.

That was before I devised this recipe. I stripped down all rasam recipes and came up with this uber simple recipe that really cannot go wrong. TH actually makes better rasam but he has to add tomatoes to has that. Dal? What dal? I never add dal to rasam unless I am making this version which I call parippu rasam.

So in a nutshell, this rasam recipe goes against most Brahmin rules of making rasam:

- no toor dal / tuvaram paruppu (gasp)
- addition of garlic / poondu (double gasp)
- use of readymade rasam powder

Maybe I should rename the recipe mulagutawney like those fancy restaurants. Anyway..

Garlic Rasam / Poondu Rasam Recipe
Preparation time: 20 mins
Serves: 2

What I Used:

A small lime-sized ball tamarind
8 pods garlic, chopped (use as much or as little as you want)
1 ripe tomato
1 tbsp rasam powder (mine has chilly powder so if yours doesn't, add chilly powder to taste)
A generoud pinch of hing / asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jaggery or sugar
Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tsp ghee / clarified butter (or oil)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup warm water for 10 mins. Extract juice and discard pulp. Add another cup of water to the tamarind juice.

2. Chop the tomato and mash it well with your finger tips.

3. Place the tamarind juice, tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt, hing, rasam powder and the garlic pods in a pan and bring to boil. Once it boils, lower fire and let it simmmer, keeping the pan open.

4. Once the mixture has simmered for about 15 mins, add sugar and adjust salt. Remove from fire.

5. Heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the seeds start to pop, add to the boiled tamarind mixture. Mix well.

Serve piping hot with steamed white rice and paruppu usili or drink straight from a glass.

Quick Potato Patties / Aloo Tikki Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:54:00 +0000

Since I posted my entry for Click - Stacks, a bunch of you asked for the recipe which I wanted to post immediately but kinda couldn't :D

Anyway, like I had mentioned, naps make me hungry. The reason why I don't like napping in the afternoon is precisely that. And the fact that I take much longer to sleep off in the night and wake up cranky the next day morning. So not worth it.

Anyway, on this particular Saturday, the heat was unbearable and TH and I had exhausted the movie CDs we borrowed. With no inclination to go out whatsoever, we decided to nap, something we hardly ever do. I woke up 2 hours later feeling oh-my-god-I-am-hungry and of course, there were no snacks at home that I could immediately bite into.
Without thinking much, I grabbed 2 potatoes, grated them, threw in some this and that which I hoped would balance the taste and shallow fried into patties. The measurements are all eyeballed so adjust and add according to your taste.

They were good. Sinfully good.

Quick Potato Patties / Aloo Tikkis
Preparation time: 15 mins Makes: 8 - 10 patties

What I Used:

2 medium potatoes, grated
A bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp jeera / jeerakam
2 green chillies, chopped
1 generous pinch asafoetida / hing / perungayam
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 to 2 tbsp besan / bengal gram powder / kadala mavu
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

Grate the potatoes and add the other ingredients in. Mix welll. Make into flat patty shapes on palm of hand and shallow fry in a wide pan until golden brown on both sides.

Serve hot with ketchup. Tastes best when really hungry!

Variations

- If you have more time in hand, then add chopped onions and some minced ginger. I haven't tried that but something tells me that would taste even better.

- If you try this recipe with any differences or variations, please do come back and leave your version in the comment section. Would appreciate that.

Note:- I am working on the roundup for Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice. Please bear with me while I sort through some 100+ ravishing entries over the next week or so :)

Entry For Click - Stacks

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:26:00 +0000

I was actually going to post the recipe for these super simple aloo tikkis/patties that I made last weekend when I was ravenous after a 2-hour nap. Sure sign that 2-hour naps are probably not a good idea.

Anyway, while editing and uploading pics, I realised this can go to Click - Stacks this month. So the recipe will have to wait, I guess.

Stack it up and bite!

Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting - Step by Step Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:16:00 +0000

In a recent survey on the left sidebar of this blog, I had asked what makes you visit me. Is it easy recipes, step by step recipes, the food pictures, food photography tips or anything else. A vast majority of you liked the step by step recipes so I dug up this one from the drafts. I made it when I was going for this barbeque party and I volunteered to bring dessert.

The basic recipe is from JoyofBaking. I changed the frosting recipe to make it more colourful. I also wanted something I can carry with me and just spread on at the party since packing it after frosting would just make it a mess. Also, I don't have icing bags or pipes!

So, let's get started on those cupcakes, shall we?

A line up of ingredients required for the chocolate cupcakes.

The first thing to do is mix 1/2 cup (50 grams) cocoa powder and 1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water until the cocoa powder is well incorporated. Set aside and let it cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, mix 1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. You can use a sieve for this but I just used a spoon and mixed it for 2-3 mins until combined well.

Now its time to bring out the butter, sugar and eggs. Combine 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 cup (200 grams) powdered white sugar and beat well. If you have an electric beater, beat this mixture for a good 3-4 mins. If using a hand beater, beat for 7 mins.

Then add 2 eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Also mix in 2 tsp vanilla extract at the end.

Add this mixture, little at a time, to the flour mixture and mix well in one direction, without any lumps.

I think it would be better if you add the dry mixture to the wet one little at a time. This should prevent lumps better. The mixture above took over 1o mins to be mixed properly without lumps.

Next, add the cooled chocolate-water mixture to the above (you can add this in one shot or little by little) and mix well for another 5 mins.

That's when we get our chocolate cupcake batter!

Grease muffin/cupcake liners and place in the tray.

Pour the batter up to more 3/4 of the way. I could have poured more batter than this because at the end, my cupcake wasn't as chubby as I wanted it to be.

To Prepare the Frosting while the Cupcakes are Getting Baked

Melt 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. What you see above is a picture of when I microwaved them. Don't do that, the bottom of the bowl will burn and the whole thing won't melt like you expect!

Add milk, butter, sugar and salt to this and combine well.

Slather frosting on the cupcakes when they are done and bite!

Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
Makes: 15 medium cupcakes
Source: JoyofBaking

What I Used:

For Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup (50 grams) cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water
1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) white sugar, powdered
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

For White Chocolate Frosting

White chocolate chips or bars - 1/2 cup melted in a bowl over a bowling pan of water
Butter - 2 tbsp
Icing sugar - 1 tbsp (optional)
Milk - 2 tbsp or enough to make it spread-able
Salt - a pinch

How I Made It:

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth.

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients little at a time, combining well without lumps. Don't over-mix.

Next, add in the vanilla extract. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen and toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

White Chocolate Frosting

1. Melt 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water.

2. Add milk, butter, sugar and salt to this and combine well.

Vegetable Puffs With Puff Pastry Sheets

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:34:00 +0000

When I was in India, I used to drool over a lot of food blogs of people abroad, mainly at all the ingredients they got to cook with. Among fresh berries and different kinds of chocolate and cheese was puff pastry sheets. I was quite amazed at how much difference it can make to baking something like puffs or twisted puff snacks and tons of other variations to these.

I bought my first packet a few weeks ago and it stayed in my freezer till my India trip was over. When it finally reached a point when I had no more excuses to postpone using it, I did!

The first thing I did was to look online for help on how to start using it. The packet had no instructions except to say "thaw for 30 mins to an hour before use". That was well and good but how exactly do I use this chunk of frozen pastry sheets? I searched online for difference things - how to use puff pastry sheets? how to roll out puff pastry? how to divide puff pastry and all synonyms of words in here. I checked some blogs that I remembered had used these but they seemed to know how to since they had lovely pics of puffs - their final products!

I even checked Youtube but nothing useful came up. Then I just guessed my way through it and turned up with pretty awesome vegetable puffs. Here's how.

How to Thaw and Use Puff Pastry Sheets:

1. Take out the packet about 2 hours before you want to use it. Mine took about 2.5 hours to thaw completely and become soft. It will be a big block.

2. Place it on a liberally floured surface and roll it out firmly to about 1/2" thickness. You will get a biggish rectangular piece of puff pastry.

3. Cut out into long rectangles for puffs or other shapes depending on your use.

That's it. That's what I did.

When you make vegetable puffs, the filling is very flexible too. You can pretty much make and add anything. Here's what I did.

Vegetable Puffs Filling Recipe

What I Used:
Makes 8 puffs

Mixed vegetables - 1 cup (I used carrots, French beans, sweet corn and green peas)
Onions - 2, sliced long
Tomatoes - 2, chopped
Capsicum / green bell pepper - 1/2 cup, chopped
Coriander powder /malli podi - 1 tbsp
Jeera /cumin seeds / jeerakam - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 1 tbsp
Sugar - a pinch
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Boil the vegetables until soft and keep aside.

2. Heat oil and saute the onions until golden brown. Add the curry leaves, coriander powder, chilli powder and jeera. Fry for 30 seconds.

3. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute.

4. Now add the tomatoes and capsicum and fry well till its blended well.

5. Finally add the vegetables and salt and sugar and mix well. Cook on open fire for about 5 mins. Don't add water at any stage. The filling should be moist yet thick.

To Assemble Puffs Before Baking:

- Take a rectangular strip of rolled out puff pasty sheet and spoon in some filling on one end, leaving enough space on all sides to 'seal' the puff.

- Bring in the other end and seal off the sides. The puff pastry is usually sticky so you wouldn't need anything else to seal it up.

Baking

Bake in a preheated oven at 220 Centrigrade for 30 mins until the top is golden brown. You can brush on some egg white while still warm out of the oven to make it look prettier and glossier.

If you want to make egg puffs, add hard boiled eggs in the place of vegetables. Place half an egg in each puff.

Beetroot Pachadi Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:41:00 +0000

I made this pachadi the weekend after SJ posted hers here. The reason it took so long to see the light of day is because mine turned out a bit too watery. I used home-made plain yogurt that had turned slightly sour, which is good, but it was also a bit watery and not thick like store-bought one.

Bottom line is, it tasted good but didn't look very glam. And these days I am obsessed with making food look good. Please ignore the pictures on this one and try out the easy pachadi recipe when you have some beetroots lying around :)

Beetroot Pachadi Recipe
Serves: 2
Source: Masala Vade

What I Used:

1 cup grated beetroot
2-3 green chillies
1/3 cup coconut
1.5 tsp mustard seeds
1.5 cups curds or plain yogurt
Salt to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - a pinch
Curry leaves - a few

How I Made It:

1. Cook the grated beetroot with some water till soft.

2. Grind the coconut with the green chillies and mustard seeds into a smooth paste using 1/4 cup curds.

3. Add the above paste to the cooked and cooled beetroots. Add the rest of the curds and salt.

4. Heat oil for tempering in a pan and add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping, add it to the pachadi. Mix well.

Yellow Moong Dal Tadka / Cherupayar Parippu Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Plain yellow dal or dal tadka is the most requested recipes in here. I had posted the basic dal recipe with toor dal a while back. I also make this with yellow moong dal (splite green beans) when I run out of toor dal and it gives a very different tasting basic dal for your rice.

In Kerala, or atleast the parts that I am from, moong dal is usually preferred over toor dal. We make a curry with moong dal, any squash or cucumber we can get our hands on and also add coconut (but of course!). Oh wait, I actually have a recipe in here somewhere. Oh yes, here it is. Cherupayar Vellarikka Curry - yellow moong dal cooked with cucumber.

This goes to the 12th helping of the Legume Love Affair event started by Susan and hosted this month at Annarasa.

Yellow Moong Dal Tadka / Cherupayar Parippu Curry
Serves: 4

What I Used:

Yellow moong dal / split green bean / cherupayar - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2, split
Tomato - 1, chopped (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Salt - to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Jeera / jeerakam - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 tsp, grated
Red chillies - 2, torn into halves
Curry leaves - a few
Hing / asafoetida / kaayam - a pinch (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Cook the dal in 4 cups water until soft or pressure cook for 3 whistles with turmeric, green chillies and tomato (if using). Let it cool.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds start popping and the red chillies start to change colour, add the cooked dal to this and mix well. Add salt.

Pudina Pulao / Mint Rice Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:38:00 +0000

A bunch of you have been complaining about the rice recipes I have been posting over the last couple of weeks saying if I post all the rice recipes, then what do you all send me for The Monthly Mingle :D Its a good point, but don't hesitate to send me the same dish. I am sure that the same dish can me made a zillion different ways and it will be interesting to see that too.

Anyway, I made this mint rice about a month back because I got a huge bunch of mint leaves from the Indian vegetable market and had no clue what to do with it all. There is only so much you can use up to make mint chutney, right?

The rice came out super nice and since TH is a huge mint fan, he loved it too!

Pudina Pulao / Mint Rice
Serves : 2 to 3

What I Used:

2 cups rice (I used basmati rice)
2 cups fresh mint leaves / pudina, lightly packed
1 onion, chopped fine
3 to 4 green chillies
¼ cup grated coconut (fresh works best, frozen will do too)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
4 cloves
4 green cardamom pods
1" piece of cinnamon
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp ghee
12 roasted cashews for garnishing (optional)
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. If using basmati, soak the rice in 4 cups water for half an hour and cook in pressure cooker for 1 whistle. Once pressure leaves the cooker, spread out on a plate and let it cool without clumping. If using rice cooker or any other method, cook until the rice is done yet firm.

2. Grind the mint leaves with the coconut, green chillies and ginger / garlic (if using fresh) to a paste.

3. Heat ghee in a pan and roast the cashews until golden brown (if using) and drain. Add the spices - cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and star anise - and saute for about a minute, taking care not to burn them. Then add the chopped onions and saute unil it turns transparent.

4. Add the ground paste to the pan and fry for about 2 to 3 mins until it turns fragrant. Again, take care not to burn! Add salt.

5. Mix in the cooled rice without breaking it too much. Garnish with the roasted cashews and serve with a raita of choice.

Rush in your rice recipes (mixed rice, biryani, pulao, poha, rice flour, etc) for this month's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice event at Edible Garden. Last date for entries is June 15, 2009.

Click May - Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Didn't have time to click anything new though I had a few ideas in my head. Sending my eggless chocolate melting moments instead.

Chocolate Melting Moments

Click - Cookies, May '09

Sri Lankan Beetroot Thel Dala Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Thel Dala refers to a dry stir-fried dish in Sri Lanka. Usually this is made with Potatoes and called ala thel dala. The book I had mentioned in my previous post on Sri Lankan Mango Curry, Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka, actually details a thel dala using beetroots.

I have been quite hooked to the book and reading up on differences and similarities between Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines. I really want to try using their salted chillies in my cooking too. The book mentions how they marinate chillies in salt water and use that in their curries. The use of coconut milk is also quite extensive in their recipes.

Beetroot Thel Dala Recipe
Serves: 2-3
Source: Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka

What I Used:

2 medium-sized beetroots, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped
10 curry leaves or 2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves garlic sliced
2 green chillies sliced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, curry leaves, cinnamon and garlic and saute until golden brown - about 1 to 2 mins. Then add the beetroot and toss for another 2 mins.

2. Add the tomatoes, green chilies, curry powder, turmeric and chilli and stir until spices are mixed through.

3. Add 1/4 cup water, bring to boil then simmer until the beetroot is tender - about 7 mins. Mix in salt to taste and remove.

Note:

Instead of thel dala, you can also make a curry with the same recipe by adding coconut milk. At step 3, instead of adding water, add 1/4 cup light coconut milk and cook till beets are tender. 2 mins before removing fire, add 1/2 cup thick coconut milk, simmer and remove.

Serve with rice.

This too goes to A.W.E.D Sri Lankan Cuisine hosted by Siri, conceptualized by DK.

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Have you mingled yet? Make sure your yummy rice recipes reach me before June 15th. Event details here.

Thenga Sadam / Coconut Rice Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:44:00 +0000

Thenga sadam is probably one of my favourite mixed rice dishes. I had it the first time at my sister's in-law's place around the time her wedding got fixed. Amma had never made it before at home (even though we were in the land of the coconuts!) but after that day, this became an occasional treat at home. Its really a simple rice dish and something you can whip up in 10-15 mins if you have cooked rice ready.

Thenga Sadam / Coconut Rice

Serves: 2

What I Used:

Cooked rice : 4 cups

Grated coconut - 1 cup (frozen works too)

Salt - to taste

For spice powder:

Chana dal / kadala paruppu - 1 tbsp

Urad dal / uzhunnu parippu - 1 tbsp

Dry red chillies - 2 to 3

For tempering:

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp (or any oil you have in hand)

Chana dal / kadala paruppu - 1 tsp

Hing / asafoetida / perungaayam

Dry red chillies - 1, halved

Curry leaves - a few

For garnishing:

3 crushed appalam / papadom (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Dry roast the ingredients for spice powder until the dals turn golden and the red chillies are nicely browned.

2. Cool and powder coarsely with salt.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add ingredients for tempering along with the coconut. When it turns golden brown, remove from fire.

4. Add the roasted coconut mixture and the spice mixture to the cooked rice and mix well. Adjust salt.

5. Add crushed fried appalam or papadom before serving.

Rush in your rice recipes (mixed rice, biryani, pulao, poha, rice flour, etc) for this month's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice event at Edible Garden. Last date for entries is June 15, 2009.

Lemon Rice Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:05:00 +0000

Lemon rice always reminds me of train rides. I am sure some of you associate the two as well because in most cases, whenever we go on an overnight train journey, a small bundle of lemon rice wrapped in wilted banana leaf will be handed over to everyone. We have always had lemon rice with chuttaracha chammanthi, thick coconut chutney ground with smoked red chillies, and curd/raita.

I also have another distinct memory associated with lemon rice. One of eating it at a temple when I was very little. I forgot where or when but that was probably the best lemon rice I have ever tasted. Its been ages since I have eaten from a temple but if I see it when I pass by, I am grabbing some!

On to the recipe now.

Lemon Rice

Serves: 2-3

Preparation time: 30 mins

What I Used:

4 cups cooked rice (leftovers work perfect)

3 tbsp raw peanuts

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tbsp juice of lemon or lime

Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tbsp gingelly oil / nallennai / sesame seed oil (Indian version)

2-3 red chillies torn into halves

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp chana dal / kadala paruppu

A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungaayam

A few curry leaves

Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil for tempering in a pan and add the peanuts. Roast until nicely browned. Drain and set aside.

2. To the hot oil, add the ingredients for tempering. Take care not to burn the chillies. When the mustard seeds start to pop and the dal has turned a golden brown, add the turmeric powder and salt. Now add peanuts, mix well and remove from fire.

3. Add cooked rice to the above mixture and mix well. Squeeze lime on the rice and mix again. Depending on the lime / lemon you use, the sourness will vary. Make sure you make it slightly more sour than you need it because when you let it sit for an hour or two, the rice will absorb the flavours.

4. Garnish and serve.

Notes:

- Lemon rice is fantastic to carry with you on a trip. Wrap in banana leaves or pack it in your throwaway containers with some chuttaracha chammanthi and you are set!

- The rice tastes just fine when it turns cold but if serving at home, serve warm.

Rush in your rice recipes (mixed rice, biryani, pulao, poha, rice flour, etc) for this month's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice event at Edible Garden. Last date for entries is June 15, 2009.

You may also wish to check out Sia's version of Lemon Rice recipe over at Beyond Curries.

Sri Lankan Mango Curry Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:57:00 +0000

When I saw the annoucement for the May edition of A.W.E.D on Siri's blog, I was thinking atleast this month I should send in something. Due to work, some personal stuff and more work, I forgot about it until the weekend when we visited the library. Guess what stuck its head out of the cookery bookshelf? This book!

I picked it up and once glance through it made me realize how similar Sri Lankan cuisine is to Indian cuisine as well South East Asian ones. I was amazed to see that Pandan leaves, that are a very common flavouring ingredient used in South East Asian cooking, are a staple in a Sri Lankan kitchen too, just like curry leaves are to Indians. In fact, they use curry leaves quite extensively too. I was also surprised to see Kerala aappams, they call it hoppers, as a common street food in SL. They call idiyappam string hoppers, so cute!

Fresh Pandan Leaves

I could go on and on because I am quite smitten by this cuisine. Similar yet so different from what I am so used to.

The first dish I tried from the book is this Mango Curry. Its similar to our mango pachadi recipe but has its subtle differences. I was diappointed to see that the author hadn't mentioned the local name for this dish. I did a search and the closest dish I could find online was Amba Maluwa but the recipe is significantly different from this.

The mangoes I used were semi-sweet semi-sour

Sri Lankan Mango Curry
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 30 mins
Source: Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka

What I Used:

1 raw mango
1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
(or use 2 tsp ginger garlic paste)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp vinegar
4-5 curry leaves
1 pandan leaf cut/torn into bits
a 1" cinnamon stick
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 tbsp oil

How I Made It:

1. Peel mango and cut into long, thin pieces. I made the mistake of not peeling the mango and the curry came out slightly bitter. So please take the time and do it!

2. Grind mustard seeds and vinegar together to form a paste.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and cinnamon. Saute until onion turns golden - about 5-7 mins.

4. Add the mango, light coconut milk, pandan leaf bits and the mustard seed mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat and simmer until mango is cooked and tender. Add the thick coconut milk and simmer for another 10 mins. Add salt.

Notes

- You can use store-bought coconut milk for this recipe. I used it and to get the light coconut milk, I added equal amounts of water to the coconut milk. It won't curdle if you cook it in very low fire.

- The dish will taste just fine without pandan leaves. It will be like making an Indian dish without curry leaves - a certain flavour will be missing but that won't break the dish totally, so don't worry :)

This side dish is usually served with rice and some meat curry during a typical Sri Lankan lunch.

Needless to say, this goes to A.W.E.D Sri Lankan Cuisine hosted by Siri, conceptualized by DK.

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Have you mingled yet? Make sure your yummy rice recipes reach me before June 15th. Event details here.

Ennai Kathirikkai Kuzhambu Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Tue, 19 May 2009 06:14:00 +0000

This is an authentic Tamil Nadu kuzhambu recipe and its sometimes a bit overwhelming for lazybones like me. That is not to say this is a difficult recipe. There is a bit of roasting and grinding and soaking and frying to be done. My grandmom would have said "these days girls have it easy, you have the mixie!" She is right, of course!

Make sure you pick out nice and small brinjals of more or less similar size. Its okay if they don't stand up straight on the plate though, 'cuz mine didn't either!

If you have some time on your hands and are craving some comfort food, a homemade meal, something like what your mom/grandmom would have made you if she were with you, then this one's for you. I made it on a Saturday morning and it lasted till Tuesday the next week. I had it with rice, dosa, chappathis, more rice and more dosas!

I am also planning to make this when my amma visits me. She is going to be sooooo impressed ;)

Resist the temptation to stare at the pretty stuffed brinjal. Atleast try!

Ennai Kathirikkai Kuzhambu Recipe
Serves: 4
Preparation time : 45 mins

What I Used:

A lime-sized ball tamarind
8-10 small aubergines
1/4 cup sesame / gingelly oil / nallennai
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp powdered jaggery / sugar

For Spice Powder:

1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp hing / asafoetida / perungaayam
8 dried red chillies
2 tbsp chana dal / kadala paruppu
2 tbsp toor dal / tuvaram paruppu
2 tbsp urad dal / ulutham paruppu
1 tsp salt

For Tempering:

1/2 tsp mustard seeds / kaduku
1 dry red chilli
1 sprig curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil for spice powder and add all ingredients except salt. Fry till spices are fragrant and dals turn a golden brown.

2. Remove from heat, mix in salt and grind to a powder.

3. Soak tamarind in 1.5 cups warm water and extract juice.

4. Wash the aubergines and make criss-cross cuts into it from the base almost upto the stalks.

5. Stuff the aubergines with enough spice powder and set aside the remaning powder.

6. Heat gingelly oil in a large pan and fry the aubergines till cooked through and semi-soft. Take care not to break them. Drain and set aside.

7. To the above hot oil, add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds popping, add the tamarind juice, salt, jaggery and the remaining spice powder. Simmer for about 10-12 mins.

8. Add aubergines to the above and simmer for another 5-7 mins.

9. Serve hot with plain rice and any thoran / mezhukkupuratti / poriyal dish.

Note

This kuzhambu keeps well for upto 4 days at room temperature. Make sure that you bring to boil each time before serving. It tastes best the day after its made. I love it with dosai!

Monthly Mingle #33 - Ravishing Rice Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:35:00 +0000

When I saw that Meeta was looking for people to guest host her Monthly Mingle Event, I sent her an email expressing interest. She replied saying the next open slot was for May 2009. The amazing thing was this happened last year in June! I signed up anyway and here it is, May 2009, and my turn to host the Monthly Mingle.

I have picked a theme close to my heart, something that hopefully you use a lot in your cooking and enjoy - Ravishing Rice! You can send in any dish with rice or rice-related ingredients in it, like rice flour, roasted rice, puffed rice, flattened rice, etc.

Here are the general rules:

1. Post a recipe featuring rice or rice-related ingredients from now until 15th June, 2009.

2. Link your entry to this post and to Meeta's MM page.

3. Email me at naagu.v@gmail.com with the following details:

Your name:
Your blog name:
Your blog URL:
Recipe name:
Recipe permalink:
Picture of dish (300px wide)
(Pls let me know if you need help with resizing)

4. Multiple entries are welcome but not more than 5 entries per person, please.

5. The round-up will be posted around 21/22 June, 2009.

6. Please note: All Indian recipes entered to this month's Monthly Mingle will be also be featured in our new website The Recipe Diary, apart from appearing in the roundup in this blog. If for any reason you don't want this, please let me know in your email with the entry details.

7. Non bloggers can participate by sending me the necessary details above, except of course, the URLs.

So, are we ready to Mingle? Looking forward to all your great Ravishing Rice Recipes!

A few rice recipes in this blog, to get your thoughts started.

Sambar Sadam

Kothamalli Sadam / Coriander Rice

Arisi Upma Kozhukkattai

Veg Biryani

Paneer - Peas Pulao

More...

Basic Potato Salad Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:42:00 +0000

This is a quick one. I didn't make it intending to post it actually. I changed my mind after trying to find this recipe online, in vain. Ok, flashback time.

TH sometimes talks about his childhood days in Abu Dhabi and how they went to Pizza Hut every now and then. He always talks very fondly about the potato salad they served there. Now me, I have not tried salad in Pizza Hut, ever! Pizza Hut is for pizzas. Period. Anyway, recently we attended a colleague's wedding where they had potato salad and TH went for a few helpings and forced me to try some too, which he never does, 'cuz really, I don't need to be forced to eat anything. I was just busy with other more tastier looking things on the table. I tried it anyway and I loved it! It tasted so 'simple', like you could make it with just 3-4 ingredients in the pantry. I didn't bother trying to figure what went into it because I was confident I'd find it online.

I'm sure its out there somewhere but its not easy to find because there are a million ways you can make potato salad. So I gave up and threw in what I thought went into the salad we tried. Now I am sharing it with you :)

Potato Salad Recipe
Serves 4

What I Used:

Potatoes - 3 medium-sized ones (I used russet potatoes)
Spring onions - 1/4 cup, very finely chopped
(You can also use celery or leeks or even cilantro instead of spring onions)
Mayonnaise - 1/2 cup (I used Kraft mayo, out of a bottle)
Cream - 2 tbsp
Greated cheddar cheese - 2 tbsp (optional)
Lime juice - 1 tbsp or more
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Boil potatoes until soft and cool completely. I cooked them in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

2. Whip together cream, mayonnaise and cheese with salt. Add lime juice to this and mix well.

3. In a bowl, add the potatoes, the whipped cream-cheese-mayo mixture, spring onions and salt-pepper. Mix well without breaking the potatoes too much.

Serve at room temperature.

This is a great salad to serve when you have large number of people coming over and little time in hand. Its hard not to like it and it goes great with junk food like chips, burgers, tikkis, etc. Just make sure that you prepare it not too long before you need to serve it. Also, make sure you transfer leftovers to the fridge immediately in case you want to use it the next day.

Cabbage Poriyal Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:51:00 +0000

In a previous post, I had mentioned how I used think that poriyal is just the tamil term for thoran and then later realized there are subtle differences in the recipes. I have posted thoran recipes here before and that's a very common recipe for almost all thoran dishes I make. TH prefers poriyal since that's what he is used to. Cabbage poriyal is the most often made in my kitchen.

Cabbage Poriyal Recipe
Serves 2-3

What I Used:

Shredded cabbage - 2 cups
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup (fresh or frozen)
Dry red chillies - 2 to 3
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Chana dal / kadala paruppu / split chickpeas - 1 tsp
Hing / asafoetida / perungayam - a pinch (optional)
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, chana dal, curry leaves, red chillies torn into pieces and the hing. Keep the fire of low and make sure the chillies don't burn.

2. Once mustard seeds start popping, add the shredded cabbage, grated coconut and turmeric powder to the above and cook closed on medium flame until almost soft. You can sprinkle some water if necessary. Make sure you check the water level in between. Cabbage gives out water when cooking so don't add too much to begin with.
3. Add salt. Keep on low flame and stir occasionally until the water content leaves the cabbage and coconut and the dish becomes dry - about 4-5 mins.

Serve hot with rice and kuzhambu.

Cabbage Poriyal is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Marija of Palachinka. You can find the event details on Haalo's site here.

I also sending this to RCI - Jain Cuisine, the brainchild of Lakshmi, hosted by PJ this month. This recipe doesn't have any of the forbidden ingredients for Jains and is sattvic, just like the event demands :)

Easy Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Nags) — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:10:00 +0000

Though I have always loved vatha kozhambu and theeyals better than sambar, ever since I started cooking on my own, I love sambar! However, making sambar on a weeknight means also making a thoran or poriyal to go with it. Sambar sadam or Bise Bele Bath is the quick answer for that. Add in all the vegetables you have in hand and there you go - a nutritious one-dish meal in no time that's very forgiving when it comes to what vegetables you add to it.

Here's how I make mine.

Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe
Serves 2-3
Preparation time - 15 mins
Special utensil needed - pressure cooker

What I Use:

Rice - 1.5 cups
I use ponni or basmati but the regular rice you use every day will work just fine.
Toor / tuvar / kandi pappu / pigeon peas - 3/4 to 1 cup
Tamarind - a marble-sized ball or 2 tbsp tamarind paste
Chopped vegetables - 1.5 cups
You can use any vegetables you have in hand like French beans, carrots, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, drumstick, capsicum, etc.
Shallots - 6 (optional)
Green chillies - 2
Sambar powder - 1.5 to 2 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida / Perungayam - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Shallots - 2, sliced thin (optional)

How I Make It:

1. Add 1 cup warm water to the tamarind and extract juice. Discard pulp. If using tamarind paste, dissolve it in 1 cup water without any lumps.

2. Heat oil for tempering in the pressure cooker pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Fry the shallots for tempering, if using, until golden brown. Then add the hing, green chillies, turmeric and sambar powder and mix well for 10 seconds.

3. Add all the ingredients and sufficient water. To cook the rice I use every day, the ratio of rice:water is 1:2. Since I have used 1.5 cups rice here, I need 3 cups water in total. Tamarind juice is in 1 cup water so I added approximately 2 more cups of water to the cooker. Its fine if its slightly more than that.

4. Cook for 3 whistles. If you like your sambar sadam a bit mushy, then cook for 4 whistles and make sure you add slightly more water than specified above.

5. Wait till pressure leaves and serve hot with vadaam / chips / appalam and raita / curd.

This goes to Mahimaa's 15-Minute Cooking Event, EC's WYF - Quick Meals.