Indian Kitchen

Coconut-Peanut Chutney

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 20:08:00 +0000

Coconut chutney is served with south-indian breakfast items like Idly, Vada and Dosa. It is quite simple and a quick recipe that can be whipped up in just a few minutes.

Ingredients:

Fresh coconut pieces - around 100g
Roasted peanuts - around 100g
Tamarind - a small piece (wash and keep aside, so that it gets soft for easy blending)
Green chillies - 5 or 6
Ginger - 1 inch
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Split black gram - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Cooking Oil - 2 teaspoons
Salt - 1 teaspoon

Note: You will be needing a blender powerful enough to blend everything together into a smooth consistency.

Steps:

Heat a pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add mustard and cumin and let them splutter for few seconds.
Immediately add split black gram, and finely chopped garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes.
Add green chillies and curry leaves and fry them a little.
Take this nicely roasted aromatic ingredients into the blender, add coconut pieces, peanuts, tamarind, enough salt to taste, pinch of sugar.
Add a half cup of water and blend it. Add more water if required, until it is blended into a smooth texture.

Enjoy!! :-)

Masala mini papadams

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 20:26:00 +0000

It's been ages since my last post here! I have forgotten the fact that writing in this space is a source of joy for me!! Happy to be here again :-)

This recipe is my own simple creation, with inspiration from north indian snack 'bhel puri'. This is a tasty healthy and refreshing snack, it needs some cooking in advance, but requires very few ingredients and super easy to put together in jiffy.

How to prepare:

Soak a cup of black eyed peas over night. Make simple curry with them (recipe follows soon). Let the curry cool down, even better if you let it sit in refrigerator until you are ready to put together the snack.
Take around 50 mini papadams, and deep fry in hot oil or microwave roast . I used black pepper mini papads.
Take a bowl and add the below items and mix together using a fork

finely chopped red onions - 2 medium sized
finely chopped tomatoes - 2 medium sized
squeeze out fresh lemon juice from a lemon

Aloo bhujia for a savoury twist
Keep finely chopped fresh coriander leaves in a bowl for garnishing
Chat masala for a little sprinkle on the top
Now take a couple of platters, spread the fried/roasted mini papadams and dish out small portions of the above ingredients on each papadam, in the following order:

black-eyed peas
onion-tomato-lemon juice mix
aloo bhujia
chopped coriander (use your fingers tips to sprinkle and garnish)
In the end, sprinkle very little amount of chat masala on the platter

Viola! The delicious masala mini papadams are ready to be served and enjoyed!!

(Pomfret) Fish Curry (Andhra Style)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 13:05:00 +0000

Living away from home country means missing family. And equally missing our favorite food. Coming from a town very close to coast in Andhra, fish has been something we eat on regular basis. A variety of fish, to be precise. Coming overseas to a different shore, we missed all that very badly. Fish filet of Salmon and Pangasius that we bought at local supermarket has never come close to the likes of a fresh catch back home.

Its a shame that it took me more than a couple of years to discover the bounty of fresh fish offered by the weekly open market here locally. To my utter surprise and sheer delight, I found out that there are few fish exactly like what we get back at home. Then we started trying out one fish after the other, taking down recipes from family over phone calls to India. And now, we are catching up with what we have missed for so long ;)

So, that is the story behind my Pomfret fish curry. It is very simple to make. And naturally, very tasty :-)

Ingredients:

Pomfret fish - 1kg (cut into pieces of one inch thickness)
Onion - 2 medium
Green Chilies - 3 or 4
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1tbsp
Turmeric
Salt
Chili powder
Dhania powder - 1tsp
Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves - a small bunch
Oil - 3 tbsp

Procedure:

Step 1: Marinade the fish pieces with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder.

Step 2: In a wide pan, heat oil. Add finely chopped onion, green chilies slit length wise. Fry until the onion turns slight grayish-brown.

Step 3: Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for few minutes. Add turmeric powder, salt, dhaniya powder, jeera powder, red chilli powder. Fry couple of minutes.

Step 4: Lay the marinaded fish pieces on the bed of onions in a single layer. On medium flames let the fish get cooked. Approximately 5-7 minutes.

Step 5: Turn each piece to the other side and let the fish get cooked on the other side too for few more minutes.

Step 6: The previous two steps ensure that the rawness of fish is gone. Now add one or two cups of water in the pan and close the pan with a lid and let it cook on medium flame. Adjust the salt and spice level (red chilli powder) as per taste. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander in the end.

I always tend to forget to click the photo at the end, as we get busily absorbed in making it empty ;)
I hope you give it a try and relish this fish curry as much as we do.

Veggi Rice with Soy Buttons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 21:43:00 +0000

I am back with yet another one pot meal, which is simple, nutritious and tasty at the same time. This dish appears on our dinner table at least a couple of times during every week. Two main reasons being, one - it has perfect balance of carbs, proteins and vitamins, two - my little girl loves it. :-) Now, quickly coming to the recipe part..

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Yellow Split Moong Dal - 1 fistful
Fresh or Frozen Green Peas (quick cook) - 1/2 cup
Carrot finely chopped - 1/2cup
Soy buttons - 1 cup
Onion (chopped length wise) - 1
Green chillies (trimmed at edges) - 1 or 2
Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped as chunks
Fresh coriander leaves
Salt
Oil + Ghee - 2 teaspoons

Whole Spices:

Shajeera - a pinch
Cinnamon - a small piece
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 1
Bay leaf - 1

Procedure:

Wash the rice and moong dal a couple of times and soak in warm water.
Wash the soy buttons a couple of times and soak in hot water.
Put the pressure pan cooker on the stove top. Add oil and ghee.
When oil is warm, add the whole spices one after the other in the same order as they listed above.
After a minute, add garlic, green chillies and onion. Let them fry for a couple of minutes.
Add carrots and peas. Squeeze the water out from soy buttons and add them to the veggies in the pan. Add some salt and keep stirring them together for 3 to 4 minutes.
Now add the rice+dal. Mix everything together and let it be for a minute. Add 2 cups water, enough salt to the rice and add finely chopped coriander.
Now, close the lid of pressure pan. DO NOT PUT THE WEIGHT.
Put the high flame until the pressure builds up inside the cooker and steam starts escaping out from the top nozzle of cooker. Now reduce the flame to lowest possible and let it be cooked. Turn the flame off after 12 to 15 minutes.
Open the lid after a couple of minutes and fluff the rice with a fork.

Ready to be served!!

It doesn't need an accompaniment when eaten readily after cooking, when still warm. Otherwise, can be eaten along with a side serving of pickle or yoghurt or some raita.

Some Useful Notes:

Soy chunks makes this dish nutritious and protein rich, which is otherwise a simple one. If you carefully watch the measurements, the rice quantity is less than half of the veggies and soy put together.
We can add/remove any vegetables of our choice like, beans, potato, capsicum etc..
Following the exact measures will make the dish very mild, but quite enjoyable for a family with kids. The spice level can increased to individual's taste by simply adding the garam masala during the steps 6 or 7.
Soy buttons are simply bite sized chunks of soy. Soaking in hot water for few minutes makes them softer and squeezing the water out will remove its strange smell :-)

Andhra Fish Pulusu (Fish cooked in tamarind pulp)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 12:11:00 +0000

Ingredient List

For marinade:

Fish pieces - 1.5 kg
Salt - 1 teaspoon (small spoon)
Turmeric powder - a little
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoon
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tablespoon (huge spoon ;) )
Curry leaves (optional)

For cooking:

Onions - 3
Green chillies - 3 or more
Tamarind pulp - 2 tablespoons
Jeera - a pinch
Methi seeds - 2 pinches
Ginger garlic paste - 1tablespoon
Red chilli powder
Jeera powder - 1 teaspoon
Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves, this is the real flavor enhancer of the dish) - 1 teaspoon
Sunflower oil - 3 tablespoons

Procedure:

Marinade: Into a bowl, take the cut and cleaned fish pieces and apply salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste to them. Set aside until used.
In a wide pan, heat 3 tablespoons oil, add jeera and methi seeds. After a minute, add slit green chillies and finely chopped onions. On medium flame, fry onions until light brown.
Add turmeric powder, jeera powder, red chilli powder and ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a couple of minutes until the raw smell of ginger-garlic is gone.
Now lay the fish chunks on the bed of fried onions, in a single layer if possible. Let them fry on a medium heat, after a few minutes turn each piece to the other side and fry.
Add the tamarind pulp and one or two cups of water until the pieces are barely covered in water. Add salt and let it boil on high heat for a few minutes.
Take the dried methi leaves between two palms and rub it into the boiling soup. Reduce the heat and let it boil for a good few minutes, this is the time to adjust salt and red chilli if more spice level is desired.

Done!!

Tips:

This same procedure can be followed with the fish filet as well. But the taste varies from fish to fish! :-)
Step 4 is a bit tricky, the fish chunks need to be cooked on both sides until they don't look raw/transparent any more. When done, immediately add tamarind pulp. Tamarind helps in keeping fish chunks intact and prevents further breaking into pieces.

Banana Cake with Chocolate chips

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 10:00:00 +0000

When I look back at my baking trail, I clearly see a pattern. First, I find a convincing recipe. Next, I give it a try. If I am happy with the whole process of baking it and the taste, I repeat it. I keep doing the same cake again and again, until at one point I get bored with it. Then I start looking for a new recipe and the cycle repeats itself! This has been true for my vanilla, chocolate and orange cakes. After I baked the orange cake through out the summer and then some more, my restlessness for a fresh new recipe came back. I kept searching each and every food blog that I follow for a recipe, but nothing clicked with me. And then, when I almost lost my hope, something caught my attention. Wait, a banana cake? I was skeptical. But one of the ingredients looked very promising! It's peanut butter!! I couldn't let it go. After a lot of mulling over the recipe, I made up my mind to give it a try. One fine afternoon, when the kid was in a good spirit to bake along with me, we baked it! Ta Da, it happened to be my next cake in the order :-)

Ingredients:

ripe bananas - 2 or 3
yogurt - 1/3 cup
peanut butter - 1/3 cup
oil - 3 tablespoons
eggs - 2
all purpose flour - 1 cup
sugar - 1/2 cup
baking soda - 3/4 teaspoon
vanilla - 1 teaspoon
chocolate chips (preferably dark) - 1/3 cup

Procedure:

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees.
Mash the bananas using a fork and spoon in the peanut butter and mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Add yogurt to it and give it a nice mix.
Sieve the flour and baking soda together, so that they are well mixed and there are no lumps.
In a mixing bowl beat the eggs and sugar until it becomes frothy. Add in oil and vanilla.
Add flour to this and combine well. Tip in the mashed banana mix and combine together well.
Stir in the chocolate chips and pour the mix into the greased-dusted cake tin. Sprinkle more choco chips on the top and bake it for 30 minutes or until the tooth pick comes out clean.

Simple, isn't it!

Little musings:

Unlike my other earlier cakes, this cake tasted best the next day after baking, when it is no longer warm. I think by then, the flavor of banana n chocolate chips mingled and infused in the cake.
Choco chips are the best thing that ever happened to this cake.
Peanut butter is the ingredient which secretly done its part to balance the flavors of the cake.
I think this cake is kind of opposite to the orange cake which is spongy delicate and feels like sunny. This banana cake is dense and something else, intense like winter evenings!
I am so glad most of my girl friends liked this cake, found it very tasty and thought its quite an interesting combination. For all of you, here's the recipe! Give it a try and have fun, just like I did :-)

Bell peppers/ Capsicum rice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 18:28:00 +0000

I am here with yet another recipe using my favorite tricolor bell peppers. Good news is, its also a quick lunch box recipe. And yet another yummy way of using bell peppers. Look at those gorgeous colors!

Ingredients:
Bell peppers - 3

Cooked Rice - enough for 2- 3 people

For roasting and grinding, as masala:
(can be made double or triple the quantity, and stored in air tight container for a couple of weeks)
Dry red chilies - 2
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - a pinch
Garlic pods - 2
Peanuts - a fistful

Seasoning:
mustard seeds
cumin seeds
fresh curry leaves

Procedure:
1. In a pan, dry roast the ingredients listed for roasting and grinding, over medium heat. You may as well roast them in a couple teaspoons of oil, if you prefer.

2. When it is cooled off, grind it finely.

3. In the pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and add seasoning ingredients listed above. When they splutter, add finely cut bell peppers and fry them until they are tender fork but still crunchy.

4. Add the ground masala powder and a teaspoon salt to the peppers in the pan and mix gently.

5. Mix in the cooked rice and adjust the salt according to taste. Mix gently but thoroughly so that there are no lumps of ground masala in between the rice.

Enjoy this wholesome delicious dish..!!

Tips:

1. Spice level of this dish can be adjusted according to our taste by the number of dry chilies roasted in making the ground masala.

2. The spice level can be even more brought down for kids by keeping aside a little white rice and mixing later while giving to them.

Kobbari Vundalu - Coconut Jaggery Laddus

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:30:00 +0000

There is something very comforting about making traditional snacks or sweets at home. For me, it is about the childhood memories that are invoked by the look and taste of those dishes. There are quite a few such sweets which I haven't ever seen or eaten elsewhere except at home, made by mom or ammamma. These are mostly festive sweets which are elaborate to make, requiring big lists of ingredients and demanding lot of time and effort. My grand mother used to make them in large quantities during festivals for family, kids and also to offer to neighbors. But there are also few dishes which are undeniably simple, with just a couple of ingredients, but when prepared tastes so heavenly delicious. Kobbari Vundalu is such a humble home-made sweet.

Can you believe it needs just TWO ingredients!

Ingredients:
Freshly Grated Coconut - 2 cups
Grated Jaggery - 2 cups (can be adjusted a half-cup more or less based on our sweet tooth)

Procedure:
1. In a thick bottomed pan mix the both ingredients and keep on medium flame.
2. Keep stirring continuously.
3. The jaggery melts and the coconut gets cooked slowly in the syrup. If the mixture looks too dry, add few spoons of water.
4. While stirring all the way, keep cooking until the mixture becomes thick and feels kind of sticky. When done, remove from heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
5. When the mix is warm enough to be handled, make medium size balls and store in an air tight container after they are completely cooled. They stay good for a week, if at all they last that long :-)

Notes:

Color of jaggery determines the color of laddu. I have dark colored jaggery and my laddus ended up so dark!
Use best quality jaggery and fresh coconut, since just they determine the taste!
The trick is to know when to turn off the heat! The success of this sweet depends on the texture of the mixture when cooking is done. If the under cooked, the syrup would not be sticky enough and the laddu will not be chewy, which gives the best taste. If over cooked, the mixture when cooled becomes dry and laddu will be hard.

Give it a try in your kitchen, and you would be very happy that you tried! :-)

Spinach Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:39:00 +0000

This is just another quick fix meal that appears at least once a week on my menu. It is quick to make and needs minimal ingredients and lots of spinach. Convenient way to use up left over rice! Tasty and easy way of bringing fresh green spinach into our diet. I find this dish very helpful especially for my toddler who does not eat rice with our conventional curries! :-)

Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups (washed n soaked)
Spinach - a bunch (washed n chopped)
Garlic - 2 pods (finely chopped)
Dry red chilies - 1 or 2 (broken into halves)
Oil - 2 tsps
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Fresh curry leaves - a few
Salt to taste

Procedure:
1. Cook the rice and keep aside. Left over rice can be used conveniently.
2. Heat oil in a wide deep pan. When oil is heated add asafoetida, cumin, mustard seeds, dried red chilies, chopped garlic and curry leaves in the end.
3. After couple of minutes add the chopped spinach and keep mixing until the leaves wilt and reduce in volume. Then reduce the flame to medium-low and keep the lid on the pan.
4. The spinach gets cooked in 7 to 8 minutes. Then add the cooked rice and around 2 teaspoons of salt and mix thoroughly. Keep stirring loosely and adjust the salt for taste and turn off the stove. Close the pan with lid and let it rest for few minutes for the flavors to get absorbed.

That's it! Healthy, tasty and comforting Spinach rice is ready!!

Tip: Dry red chili is the only ingredient that affect the spice level of the dish, just adjust that to suit your taste.

Overnight Oats

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 21:37:00 +0000

Oats aren't a new thing. They made an entry into my kitchen shelf a few years ago. I used to make oats porridge for breakfast at times when I felt like. My idea of oats was oats porridge, that was it. But after I started following food blogs from around the world, I got introduced to several interesting ways of bringing oats on to our plates. I gave it a try in making Instant oats idli, oats upma and also this Overnight oats breakfast recipe.
Nothing ever clicked like the overnight oats recipe did!

Put a prefix SUPER for every word that follows: Quick. Delicious. Filling. Healthy.

It is so yummy and refreshing that I really enjoy it having for breakfast, most of the mornings. I prefer this over any other breakfast during week days, because it keeps me good until lunch time without any sign of hunger in the busy routine. It is so quick and can be whipped up in a few minutes the night before.

Step 1: The night before

In a container with proper lid, mix together 3 or 4 tablespoons of oats, half a cup of plain yogurt. Place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 2: First thing in the morning - Top up

Chop up the fruits & dry fruits & nuts that you like-- half a banana, half an apple, a few strawberries, 2 dates, a few almonds/pistachios and the possibilities go on. Here you can experiment as much as you like!

Put them in the already creamy oats, you might want to add some milk to adjust the consistency of your choice. You might also want to adjust the sweetness as per your liking. MIX thoroughly.

I prefer it just the way it is, with the sweetness of fruits and creaminess of yogurt!

As you see, that's a lot of fruit and goodness, isn't it! It's like treating yourself with the best and healthy breakfast ever possible :-)

Step 3:

Enjoy the spoonfuls of goodness, while browsing through the morning mails/ news/ your favorite things.

Some more topping ideas:

Fresh fruits chopped
Dry fruits chopped
Chopped nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios
Raisins
Seeds sprinkled (like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
Favorite fruit jam or marmalade
Maple syrup or date syrup
Chocolate sauce
Chopped chocolate or chocolate chips or cocoa
Crushed granola for crunch

Happy eating & Healthy eating!!

Tomato Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:34:00 +0000

Here comes the next one in the series of lunch-box-recipes, the Tomato rice. Yes, this too is a quick one that fits into the busy morning cooking schedule, and the below line holds good too :-)

Simple. Quick. Flavorful.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups ( wash and soak for 15 minutes)
Tomatoes - 4 medium sized
Fresh Mint leaves - a few
Fresh Coriander - a few sprigs
Green Chilies - 3 (more or less based on required spice level)
Onion - 1 (finely sliced length wise)
Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Biryani masala powder or Garam masala - 1 tsp
yogurt - 1 tbsp
Oil / Ghee
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Water - 3.25 cups
Whole spices: cloves - 3, cinnamon - 1 inch, bay leave - 1, cardamom - 1, star anise - 1, shajeera - 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

In the pressure pan, heat oil and ghee. Add shajeera followed by all other whole spices. Do not over heat the oil or the spices will be burnt.
Add the slit green chilies and chopped onion.
Saute till the onion turn translucent. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another couple of minutes.
Add the red chili powder and masala powder. Fry a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and on medium flame fry until mushy. Add 1/2 tsp salt.
Add fresh mint leaves and chopped coriander leaves.
Drain the rice soaked in water and add to the pan.
Add yogurt, water and adjust salt. Combine everything well.
Place the lid of the pressure cooker and do NOT keep the weight. Keep the flame high until the steam starts escaping with pressure. Then reduce the flame to the lowest and cook. Turn off the flame in 12 minutes.
Open the lid 10 minutes after turning off and fluff lightly with a fork. This yields a lovely aromatic rice.

Some ideas:

Boil and keep ready a couple of eggs while preparing this dish and toss them into the lunch box along with the rice. Instant egg biryani is ready :-)
A cup of fresh green peas can be added after the Step 4, a nice way to sneak in some green veggies.
A cup of soy chunks (soaked in boiling water for 10 - 15 minutes and the water totally squeezed out) can be added after the step 4, making it a protein rich dish.

Eet-smakelijk! / Bon-Appetit! / Enjoy!

Fruit on the bottom Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 23:23:00 +0000

Of many good things I got introduced to in The Netherlands, the myriad variety of yogurts is one among the best. They are outright addictive, at least for me. My connection with it dates back to my childhood. I have been a yogurt lover ever since I was a little girl. My brother used to loathe all kinds of dairy products and hence I used to get all the cream, butter, milk, yogurt and everything of that sorts, far more than my share, to my joy. Cut the long story short, I am now in a dreamland of dairy products :) After eating loads and loads of store brought fruity-yogurts, I suddenly got inspired to make it at home, a little healthier version with more fresh fruits and lessened sweeteners. Google helped me find an awesome recipe, and here I am with my own version of healthy home made fruit-on-the-bottom-yogurt..!

More than all that, it is a pleasure to try making these simple things :)

Ingredients:

Strawberries - 200g
yogurt - 2 cups
honey - to sweeten the yogurt as much you like
corn starch - 1 tsp
cold water - 2 tsp ( to stir in corn starch)
salt - a pinch

Method:

Chop the fruit into small pieces.
Take a sauce pan and put the fruit, a pinch of salt, a spoon of water and heat. Let it simmer, stirring frequently.
When the fruit becomes mushy, mix corn starch in cold water without lumps and add to the pan.
Simmer for few minutes, stirring often, until thickened.
Let this cool off completely. Meanwhile sweeten the yogurt with honey, if you prefer and keep it chilled.
Spoon the fruit compote into serving bowls or cup and top it with generous amounts of yogurt. Serve chilled.

Variations:

Can make also with other fruits like plums or peaches or lychees or currants or other berries.
Can use flavored yogurt as well.
Throw in some chopped nuts for crunch and your on-the-go snack is ready.

Now, You can either daintily eat spoon after spoon or you may stir yogurt n fruit together and dug into it. Choice is yours :-)

Enjoy!

Pudina Pulao

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:57:00 +0000

This is a simple yet flavorful dish which is great to pack for lunch. I am, in fact, planning to post a series of lunch-box-recipes that I have mastered in recent times :D. Off late, almost every day I am packing lunch box for Krishna, all of them are one pot meals!
Simple. Quick. Flavorful.

Here comes the first one in the series. Pudina rice..

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups ( wash and soak for 15 minutes)
Fresh Mint leaves - 1 cup (tightly packed)
Fresh Coconut (grated) - 3 tbsn
Cashew Nuts (optional) - a few
Green Chilies - 3 (more or less based on required spice level)
Onion - 1 (finely sliced length wise)
Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Oil / Ghee
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Whole spices: cloves - 3, cinnamon - 1 inch, bay leave - 1, cardamom - 1, star anise - 1, shajeera - 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Cook the rice and keep aside. Do not cook rice to be mushy, each grain should be separate.
Take the mint leaves, green chilies and coconut in blender and make a paste.
In a pan, heat oil and ghee. Do not over heat or the spices will be burnt. Add shajeera followed by all other spices. Add cashews if you like them.
After a couple of minutes add the onions and saute till they turn translucent. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another couple of minutes.
Add the blended paste of mint-coconut-chilies, fry on medium to low flame for around 5 minutes, until the raw smell goes. Add salt to taste.
Add the cooked rice to it. Combine everything well. This is the time to adjust the salt as per the taste.

Eet-smakelijk! / Bon-Appetit! / Enjoy!

Aloo Kurma

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:49:00 +0000

Aloo kurma is a thick gravy side dish which goes very well with vegetable pulao. It is a simple recipe with ingredients that are commonly found in every Indian kitchen. Fresh mint leaves are must, they bring out the real flavor of the dish!

Ingredients:
potatoes - 5 (boil and keep aside)
onion - 1
tomato puree - 3tbsp
green chilies - 3
ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
red chili powder - 1tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
garam masala - 1/2 tsp
yogurt - 2 tbsp
fresh coriander leaves - a bunch
fresh mint leaves - around 15 leaves
oil - 2 tbsp

Masala paste: (grind to a thick paste)
grated coconut - 2 tsp
poppy seed(khus khus) - 4 tsp
almonds - 2
cashew - 12

Method:
1. Take a thick-bottomed pan, I used pressure pan. Add oil and heat it.
2. Add chopped onion and green chilies and fry till done.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala and stir evenly. Add salt per taste.
4. Add the pureed tomatoes and mint leaves. Reduce the flame and let it cooked until oil separates.
5. Peel off the skin of boiled potatoes and cut into big cubes. Add in and stir evenly. Place the lid and leave for a couple of minutes so that the potatoes absorb the flavor.
6. Add in the beaten curd, masala paste and a little water. Stir well and place the lid. After few minutes check the consistency of gravy, if its thick enough, its done.
7. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Ravva Laddu

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Ravva laddu is one such simple sweet which I don't think twice to make them anytime.

I do not remember my mom ever making them at home. So for a long time, I was under the impression that it's not so easy to make at home. Whenever I come across it I used to relish this sweet as if it's an exotic sweet dish! That was years ago, now it seems so funny though :) On one such occasions, one of my colleagues, a friend, told me that it is simplest of all sweets to make at home, and in no time at all. Imagine how happy I was :-) Ergo, I kept making ravva laddoos at home repeatedly, until I got bored of it at one point!! Nonetheless, I like this simple sweet so much so that it is the one sweet that I made innumerable times :)

Ingredients:
Ravva (semoline) - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Ghee - 3 or 4 tbsp
Green cardamom pods - 4
Cashews - a handful
Raisins - a handful
Whole Milk - 1/2 cup

Procedure:
1. Heat a tablespoon of ghee in pan and roast the cashews till golden brown. Remove cashews to a small bowl and roast the raisins till they puff like balls and remove into the bowl.
2. Heat 3 tbsps ghee in pan and roast the ravva in ghee on medium-low flame. Keep stirring or the ravva would get burnt. It is done when a nice roasted aroma comes out, it takes around 10 to 15 minutes (or more if quantity of ravva is more)
3. Transfer the roasted ravva to a huge bowl.
4. Take sugar and cardamom pods in a mixer-grinder and blend. Blending cardamom with sugar will give a huge lift to the flavor of the laddu, whereas adding store bought cardamom powder can never achieve that.
5. Add this sugar mixture to the roasted ravva. Add 1/4 cup warm milk to this mixture and mix well using fingers. Throw in the roasted nuts and raisins.
6. Do not let the mixture to cool, the laddu cannot be formed if it is too cold. When the mix is warm enough to be handled, use your both palms to make small balls and set them in an air tight container.

Notes:
1. If the laddu is not staying intact while making, add a little more warm milk to make the mixture moist.
2. Instead of using milk, half a cup of ghee can be used. That yields definitely tastier laddoos :)

These ravva laddus stay fresh for around a week.

Broccoli Bell Pepper Zunka

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:46:00 +0000

After finding the perfect tri-color bell pepper zunka recipe and making it a couple of times, I got this idea suddenly! To give it a shot with broccoli, the veggie that I never brought home before :) One day, I made it just for myself for lunch, when the husband is not around (I don't want to make him suffer if it did not turn out palatable :)) I instantly loved it, absolutely. The recipe remains the same as bell pepper zunka, just add the bite-sized florets of broccoli along with the bell pepper cubes. Follow the procedure as it is, and you will have the crunchy yummy Broccoli Bell Pepper Zunka in no time!

Bell Pepper Zunka

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:32:00 +0000

I associate this dish with my little girl Anjali's first birthday party. It was the hit dish of the day..!
I made this dish especially for the vegan friends in the guest list for the dinner, as they cannot enjoy my chicken delicacy :) But it had been quite a pleasant surprise that everyone, literally everyone, liked this dish and were asking for the recipe there itself :) I promised to post the recipe sooner than this, I know, I am late :P

I also have another story to tell here.. I simply love the paprika mix pack that greets me with three bright colored bell peppers. I get tempted to grab it, every time I am at the store. Earlier, my problem was the lack of right recipe that uses all three of them. I tried once to make potato with three bell peppers curry, but it did not appeal our taste. So, for a long time I restrained myself from buying them on a regular basis.

It all changed when I found the perfect recipe that suits all my needs- super quick and simple and of course tasted yummy to please our palate. Also I realized that the bell peppers should not be over cooked. They taste their best when they are sauteed while retaining their crunch. I have taken the recipe from Aarthi's food blog and adjusted few measures that suit my taste.

Ingredients:

Bell peppers - cut into cubes of 1/2 inch

mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

green chillies - 2 or 3

Chick pea flour (besan) - 3 tbsp

salt to taste

red chilli powder - 1 tsp

garam masala - 1/2 tsp

oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan, add green chillies, mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

2. When the seeds crackle, add the bell pepper cubes and saute them on high flame for 2 -3 minutes.

3. Add salt (caution: very little will be sufficient), red chilli powder and saute for another minute.

4. When the pepper is fork tender, sprinkle the chick pea flour over the veggies and pour the remaining oil evenly all over and toss well such that all the pieces are covered with the flour, fry on a medium flame for a couple of minutes and garnish with the garam masala.

This dish goes well with both rotis and rice.

The Spongy Orange Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:20:00 +0000

After my plain vanilla cake and easy chocolate cake became a routine, I wanted to make something new this time. Aarush has been asking to bake a cake again for so many days already, not that he want to eat the cake but just that he enjoys the whole baking process. So, this time I chose the spongy orange cake :)

It is so much fun to bake a cake these days, more because the kid makes it all the more interesting. He knows where my recipe book is ( it's just an old n battered note pad, coated with flour and stained with butter, where I scribble down the recipe from the web pages.!) and fetches it for me. He makes trips along with me between the kitchen and the pantry to put together all the required ingredients - the flour, sugar, baking powder, essence etc. He reminds me that I forgot to take the eggs from the refrigerator or butter or the whisk. He watches wide eyed when I whisk together all the ingredients. He also warns me that oven is hot when I am placing the baking tray in it :D Trust me when I say that I look forward to bake just because he enjoys the whole experience of it! Last but not least, the way he licks off the bowl, too good :D

Now coming to the recipe part of it, I was looking everywhere in the food blog world and finally I came out with this version after trying a couple of them and changing them to my taste and convenience. This is very easy and quick cake, talking in terms of preparation before actual baking time.

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1 1/4 cups
Powdered sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Refined Sunflower Oil - 1/3 cup
Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice - 1/2 cup
Fresh Orange Zest - 1 tsp
Eggs - 1 (large)
Vanilla or Orange essence (I used vanilla) - 1 tsp
Butter - to grease the bake tin
Flour - to dust the bake tin

How to zest an orange : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_haXA3G1p0

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven at 150 C degrees. Grease and dust the bake tin thoroughly and keep aside.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder. Sieve together a couple of times so that they mix well.
3. Beat the egg in a bowl using whisk, then add orange juice, oil, essence. Then beat again for just few seconds so that they all mix well.
4. Add the flour mix in this, little by little, while folding gently with the whisk or spatula. Do NOT beat.
5. Make sure there are no lumps and pour this into the bake tin kept ready.
6. Place the bake tin in the preheated oven. Set the timer for 50 minutes. After 20 minutes is elapsed, increase the temperature to 170 degree C.

Do not open the oven door before 40 or 45 minutes to check for the readiness of cake. The cake is ready when a wooden pick or spaghetti inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. For me it took a couple of minutes more than 50 minutes.

The cake came out really spongy and flavorful with the goodness of fresh orange juice. Adding freshly grated zest gave amazingly lovely orange color to the cake! So friends, try this one and let me know how it came out :-)

Easy Chocolate Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

After vanilla cake, next in line is the chocolate cake :) Turned out to be everyone's favorite at home and also in my circle of mommy friends and their kids. They started asking me for the recipe after tasting it and when their kids liked it too, that's a moment of pride and satisfaction :P

This one I made on the Easter weekend.

The below one I baked just because the little boy got so much interested to bake a cake all of a sudden. Little did I know that my interest in baking will catch up with the kid in the house too!!
It actually got a little over-baked and the crust became crispy, but tasted as yummy as it should be..

Recipe Source: Adapted from CountryLiving.com again. http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/easy-chocolate-party-cake-3901

I left the frosting part of it and took just the cake recipe. I made a few modifications as per my taste and convenience.
I wish to come back here some time to put my tweaked recipe, that I usually follow.

Plain Vanilla Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Plain vanilla cake is the best choice for any beginner with the baking. Because it is the basic cake and the simplest one. Hence, it was my choice too as a first cake to bake from the scratch in my kitchen. For the first time I baked it as a 'Welcome Home' cake for Krishna on this valentines day, when he was back home from a 2-day office trip to Zurich. Following that, I made it several times with the kid's interest and help :)

This one I baked on a rainy afternoon, when I had nothing else to do :P

This one's I made for my baby girl's first birthday, simple vanilla cake with whipped cream frosting.

A cake for my father-in-law, on his birthday, with simple star confetti topping.

Recipe Source: http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/basic-vanilla-cake-69

Potato Stir Fry - Simple Aloo Fry

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:13:00 +0000

This is the very basic version of potato fry with minimum ingredients. No seasoning. No onions. Simple yet yummy. It goes very well as accompaniment with dal-rice or sambar-rice. This is one such simple dish which can never get boring to see on our dining table :-)

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 4
Oil - 1 tblspn
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt

Procedure:

Peel off potatoes and cut into small cubes. Wash them a couple of times in cold water. This removes the extra starch and cooking gets quicker.
Take a wide non-stick pan and heat the oil.
Add the potato cubes to oil. Keep the flame medium to high for the first five minutes. Keep stirring lightly.
When the cubes are a little fried add turmeric and reduce the flame to medium-low. Keep stirring. DO NOT cover with lid. It becomes mushy if covered with lid.
When half-done (takes approx. 10 minutes) sprinkle salt. Stir.
When potato is completely cooked (fork goes smoothly through the piece), add red chili powder and garam masala. Stir lightly so that it spreads evenly. Turn off the heat after a couple of minutes.

Tips:

Do not use spatula for stirring, that would mash the potatoes and fry gets mushy. Keep mixing by gently shaking the pan, holding it's handle.
If you can go easy on oil, use 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry gets done quicker and tastier too.
Cut potato cubes of uniform size, smaller the better.
If you are in hurry to get it done quick, after adding salt cover the pan with lid for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove lid and mix evenly. Repeat this a few times.

Besan-Coconut Burfi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:51:00 +0000

Ingredients:
Besan - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 1 1/2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Ghee - 4 tablespoons
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashews roasted in ghee - a few to garnish

Procedure:
1. Take a thick-bottomed vessel and boil the milk.
2. Meanwhile roast the besan in a tablespoon of ghee till nice flavor comes out and keep aside.
3. Add the grated coconut to it and reduce the heat to medium. Keep stirring till no moisture is left.
4. Add sugar to it. Sugar turns into thick syrup. Keep stirring for few minutes. Add cardamom powder.
5. Add besan slowly, keep stirring so no lumps are formed. Reduce the heat to medium-low and keep stirring.
6. Add the remaining ghee slowly while keep stirring continuously.
7. When it starts leaving the sides of the pan and moves as a mass along with the stirring ladle, it is done.
8. Transfer to a greased pan and cut into desired shape when warm.
9. Garnish with the roasted cashews.

Instead of cutting burfi into regular diamonds or cubes, I tried a little creatively. I tried setting a batch in colorful cup-cake liners and another batch as diyas :-)

Wheat flour laddu

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:16:00 +0000

It has goodness of whole wheat flour and also less ghee is used as milk is used to get the consistency to make into balls. Simple make and a tasty sweet.

Ingredients:

wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup

sugar 1 cup

milk - 1/2 cup

cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

ghee - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Take a thick-bottomed vessel and heat ghee in it.

2. Reduce the flame to medium-low and add wheat flour to it.

3. Keep stirring continuously and roast the flour till it turns light brown and nice aroma comes. It takes around 10 - 12 minutes. This is the step you need lot of patience.

4. Reduce the flame to low. Add sugar and mix well till flour and sugar combines nicely. Mix for a minute or two.

5. Add milk and keep stirring continuously without forming any lumps. Add cardamom powder.

6. Keep stirring for a few minutes and remove from heat.

7. Keep stirring to let the heat escape and it is warm enough to be made into balls.

8. Make lemon sized balls using your palms and place in the container where you want them to store.

Rasam Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +0000

I know of many households, especially in Andhra, where rasam is a must-have at meals, each and every single day. I have been brought up in such a house :P So, my extreme liking of rasam dates back to my childhood. I remember my grandma mixing hot rice with steaming aromatic rasam and pouring ghee generously, and feed me mouthfuls of that warm juicy thing before going to school on rickshaw. I must be a mere 5 year-old that time, yet I remember it so vividly :) That was my first and best memory of rasam!

Krishna is my adversary at that. He thinks it is silly. According to him, rasam is not a dish at all! How rude!!! The only time he appreciated the goodness of rasam is when he was sick with fever for almost a week and completely lost his appetite. Rasam helped him revive his hunger while recovering.

Rasam has many health benefits. A few that comes to my mind are:
- The blend of spices used in rasam preparation aid in easy digestion of even a heavy meal.
- Rasam stimulates the digestive enzymes and improves appetite.
- Rasam with rice is one of the first baby foods in our households.
- Rasam is recommended for people recovering from sickness.
- Rasam relieves constipation.

Now, putting an end to my rasam saga and coming to the recipe part of it. I have learnt it from my mother-in-law's mother-in-law (krishna's grannie). Legacy :-)

Ingredients:
List-1
Water - around 1 1/2 litres
Tomato (chopped) - 1
Tamarind - lemon-sized ball
Salt - 2 or 3 tsp
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
sugar - 1/2 tsp
fresh curry leaves - handful
fresh coriander - bunch

List-2 (for rasam masala):
cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1tsp
black pepper seeds - 1 tsp (it determines the spice level of rasam, so next time u make rasam adjust to ur taste)
garlic pods - 3

List-3 (seasoning):
oil - 2 tsps
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida - a pinch
dried red chili - 2
fresh curry leaves - 7 or 8

Procedure:
Never prepare rasam in a non-stick vessel. Use a stainless steel one.
1. Put all the above mentioned list-1ingredients in water and bring it to boil.
2. While the water is getting heated, grind list-2 items -- the cumin, pepper and garlic into a coarse paste. This simple and freshly ground rasam masala will give unbelievable aroma and taste to the rasam.
3. Add the masala paste and bring it to boil. When it starts to boil, reduce the flame to low and leave it boiling for 10 minutes. Adjust salt as per taste.

Seasoning:
4. Take a small non-stick pan for seasoning. Heat oil in the pan.
5. Add asafoetida and then mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds in the same order.
6. When you hear first splutter of mustard seeds, add red chilies in halves.
7. Add curry leaves in the end just before turning off the flame.
8. Transfer these contents into the rasam.

By the time you finish all these steps, you will have the amazingly tasty rasam :) Trust me on that :D

Green paratha - the spinach paratha

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:42:00 +0000

I simply like the color of palak paratha. Looks lovely, isn't it? Nutritious and delicious in one go :) Our last night dinner was this spinach paratha with tomato curry, very tasty combination indeed!!

Preparation is very simple. I pureed fresh spinach leaves in blender, and used it to make dough. That is it..! Earlier I used to chop the leaves and mix it in wheat flour to make dough. But that makes rolling parathas a little difficult and time taking. When I saw the catchy green colored dough in a friend's house, I realized the better way of doing it.

Ingredients:
Fresh Spinach leaves - 300g
Wheat flour
Salt - half a teaspoon

Procedure:
1. Blend the spinach leaves.
2. Add salt to wheat flour.
3. Mix the spinach puree in wheat flour to make smooth dough. I did not add any water. In case the leaves are not very fresh or the puree comes out thick, we might add water as well.

4. Roll into circles and fry on hot pan.

Enjoy them hot with any pickle or a spicy ketchup. I should say simple tomato curry will be nice though. You can find the tomato curry recipe here :-)