Peas Usal

I came across this book called Ruchira by Kamalabai Ogale at the local lending library. I loved the title Ruchira....and that's what made me pick this book up. It is a collection of Maharashtrian Vegetarian Recipes. All the recipes come with easy to follow instructions, and most of the ingredients are what we usually have at home. The featured dishes are all healthy, made with minimum oil and quite easy to make on an everyday basis. Kamalabai's Peas Usal is the first one that I've tried out, making very minor modifications along the way.To make Peas Usal, you need:

Green peas - 2 cups (I used dried peas, so I soaked it in the morning and used it in the evening)
Coconut - 1/2 cup, grated
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves
Salt
Sugar
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a little
Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp

Cook the peas with some salt and set aside. Grind the corriander leaves, coconut and cumin seeds to a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed. Heat the oil. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder to it. When the seeds pop, add the peas, salt, sugar and the ground mixture. Cook for a few minutes until the mixture thickens. Add the amchur powder. Stir well and boil for a minute or two.
Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Notes:

• The original recipe called for lemon juice. However, I absolutely L.O.V.E amchur powder. These days I use it in a lot of dishes. I would probably up the amount of amchur the next time I make this dish.
• No sugar next time around. The peas and the coconut lend a sweetness to the dish....and additional sugar, however minimal, is not necessary.
• The usal was a very simple, not-too-hard-to-whip-up accompaniment which tasted good without leaving an oil trail all the way from the mouth to the stomach.
  

Supermarkets are bad for me

I went in to buy a pack of turmeric powder and some poppy seeds.....and came back lugging two bags full of stuff that was a little too heavy for me to carry.

Spring Onion Chutney

Most of the weekends over the last few months have been spent travelling. So much so that I've come to think of the railway station as a home away from home. It also means that I usually try and use up anything that is likely to spoil if left in the refrigerator over the weekend.

A bunch of spring onions + an upcoming weekend trip = this recipe.

What you need:
Spring onions - 1 bunch, chopped (the greens can also be chopped)
Red chilli - 2
Oil - 1 tsp
Tamarind - a gooseberry sized piece, soaked for 10 minutes in just enough water to cover it
Urad dal - 3 tsp
Salt

Heat the oil, urad dal and chillies in a microwaveable bowl for 2 minutes or until the dal turns reddish brown. Stir in the chopped spring onions. Heat for another 4 minutes or until the onions are browned.
Let it cool. Blend coarsely along with the tamarind and salt.
Heat a tsp of oil in a pan. Season with some mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, pour it over the chutney.
Enjoy with dosas or as a dip.

This chutney goes to Valli's potluck and to Culinarty's Original Recipe Round-up.

Iam "it"

Nidhi tagged me to do the booky meme. I've watched this tag going around with quite a bit of interest. Here's what the meme requires me to do:
Pick up the nearest book

• Open to page 123
• Find the 5th sentence
• Post the next three sentences
• Tag 5 people and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

Well, here goes....

You hate me because you know....
Because he knew what?
What could he possibly know about George Hatfield that would make him hate him?

Do those lines tell you what Iam reading currently???

Sra, I'd like to know what you read.
Rachel, what's on your bookshelf, girl?
Vani, what do your books tell you?
Divya, what's on the pages for you?
A and N, my newly discovered blogger buddies, it's now your turn to be "it".

Cooking with leftovers - Vermicelli upma pakoda

When it comes to making upma, I do not know the magic proportion that will yield just enough for two. I ALWAYS end up with more than we can eat. When the same situation arose yesterday and I was left with enough upma after breakfast to safely see us through lunch and dinner and maybe breakfast the next day, I had a brainwave (oh yeah....I do have one of those once in a while...) and that's how this dish was born.

What you need:

Leftover semiya upma
Red chilli powder
Salt
Gram flour/besan
Rice flour
Oil - for deep frying
(Quantities depend on how much upma you have leftover.)

Mix all the ingredients together. Use just enough besan and rice flour to for a really thick batter. Add water only if needed and even then, just sprinkle a few drops at a time.
Heat oil in a pan. Drop spoonfuls of the upma-besan mixture into hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown. Drain excess oil and serve hot with ketchup/chutney.

Thoughts : The pakodas turned out nice, brown and crisp. Perfect way to use up leftovers.

Note : To make upma, heat 2 tsp of oil. Season with mustard seeds and urad dal. Add chopped onions, ginger, green chillies, garlic, tomatoes, veggies of your choice and stir fry for a few minutes. Add 2 cups of water for every cup of vermicelli you use. Once the water boils, add in the vermicelli and salt. Cook until all the moisture is absorbed and the vermicelli is cooked through.

This goes to Rushina's Pakora Contest and also to the Original Recipe Event at Lore's Culinarty.

Aloo baingan curry

To while away the time between me reaching play school to pick my daughter up and them opening the doors and letting her out, we parents usually indulge in some light banter. Today the topic veered around to food....or rather, the cooking of it. It seems most people have a cook or someone(usually parents/in-laws) living with them and taking care of the cooking. I felt(still do, in fact) like a RELIC....Maybe I am one....Maybe I ought to be in a museum...
I cook all our meals myself.....we do eat out often and order take-away but every single meal that is cooked at home is made by me from the scratch. I guess I missed the bus that brought the cooks in :-))
Anyways, here is a simple recipe that you can whip up in almost no time at all or when the cook decides to take a break.....What you need:
Potatoes - 3 medium sized, peeled and chopped into pieces
Brinjal - 7 or 8, chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Garlic - 4 cloves
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds...roast for a minute and then add the potatoes and brinjal. Stir well, add about half a cup of water, turmeric powder and salt and cook covered for about 8-10 minutes or until the veggies are almost done. Grind the chillies and garlic coarsely in a blender without adding any water. Stir this into the cooked veggies. Remove the lid and stir fry for roughly 3 minutes or till the moisture is absorbed.
Enjoy with rotis/puri.

This is my entry to Srivalli's Curry Mela.

This is what I woke up to last weekend.....

The misty mountains of Coonoor

No vacation is complete without good food....

Drumstick leaves(Muringa ila) dal

Drumstick leaves are super healthy and packed with a variety of nutrients. I have given these leaves the royal ignore when I had them rampantly growing in my backyard. Now that i can't just walk out of the house and pluck them off the tree, I seem to have become suddenly aware of how good they are for health and end up buying them whenever I see them in the market.To make dal with drumstick leaves, you need:

Drumstick leaves (DUH!!!) - 1 cup, washed
Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Whole green gram dal - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 chopped
Garlic - 3 or 4 pods, chopped
Green chilli - 2, minced
Ginger - a small piece, chopped
Carrot - 1, grated
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
Salt

Cook all the ingredients along with sufficient water in a pressure cooker until 4-5 whistles. Adjust consistency to your liking by either adding more water once cooked or if you feel there is too much water, boil it for a few minutes until it reaches the desired consistency.
Serve hot with rotis.

Notes:

• This is a highly adaptable recipe. You can add any veggie of your choice to make it more flavourful and healthy. You can also try out different combinations of dal. You can use all green gram dal or a combo of masoor+channa+green gram.....
• It tastes even better the next day once the flavours have had some time to blend in.

This is my entry to Mansi's Healthy Cooking event and to Sangeeth's Eat Healthy Protein Rich event.

What makes this recipe healthy???

1. Drumstick Leaves - A rich repository of nutrients including iron, Vitamin A, calcium, phosphorous, and antioxidants.
2. 0 tsp oil/fat
3. Protein rich lentils.
   

It's not food but it's been on my mind lately

• Why do most women insist on babying the men in their lives even though the men are usually much older???
  
• Why do they act as if their sole purpose in life is to carry out the whims and fancies of their husband/boyfriend/whatever???
• Why does it make me mad when I see perfectly intelligent women let their lives revolve around deciding on what their husband should wear to work and then go about happily laying out his clothes. C'mon Iam sure it won't kill him to take his own clothes out of the wardrobe or to make himself(and you) a cup of coffee.
• Why do people give out unsolicited advise??? Is there some law out there which I am not aware of that says that you should butt into things that just aren't your concern in any way? Oh.....and if you have a baby...you are done for.....literally everyone from the watchman to the corporation worker who sweeps the road will have some gyan for you.
• Why do some people think that the purpose of a "No entry" board is to give them a stretch of road on which they can test their bike's maximum acceleration???

Edited to add: A lot of you wanted to know what brought this on.......The answer to that is both simple and complex.....observing the way a lot of people I know have changed is one of the reasons.....the other is the fact that people tell me Iam "lucky" to have a husband who helps out around the home and with the kid. What has luck got to do with it??? Why is it my "duty" to do things while it is my "luck" to have a partner who willingly shares my chores???

Easy breezy wheat halwa

When you hear the words wheat/godambu halwa, what do you think of???
Quite likely, you are reminded of your grandma or mother stirring the mixture for hours together in a heavy iron kadai while the aroma swirled around the household tantalisingly. While they sweated and toiled, you stood around waiting for them to finish so you lick the spoon clean once they were done.
Now, what if I were to tell you that you could recreate the same taste and smell without really breaking your back? No, don't look sceptical....I really do mean it.
In my kitchen, I always look for ways and means to make cooking less of a chore and more of a fun thing....I try and make things simpler without compromising on the taste. Here's how you can make wheat halwa with minimum stirring and maximum taste....

What you need:
Samba wheat rava(the kind with fine grains) - 1 cup
Sugar
Water
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Food colour - a pinch(I used red)
Fried cashew (optional)

Soak wheat rava in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Drain the water. Take the rava in a juicer or blender. Add a glass of water and blend to extract milk. Strain and keep this milk aside. Repeat this process three times. Let the milk stand undisturbed for 30 minutes. Gently pour away the water that would have collected on top by then and measure the thick milk that would have settled at the bottom. For every cup of milk that you have, add 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water.
Stir well and cook in a pressure cooker until one whistle. Then mix well and transfer the contents to a large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high heat for 30 minutes.....making sure that you stop and mix the halwa gently every five minutes. Be careful when you do this 'coz the mixture does tend to bubble and release a lot of steam. The time taken could vary depending on your microwave....so keep a close watch to see when it is done.
Garnish with fried cashews.
At this point, you can cut this into dainty little squares or triangles or whatever shape you fancy.....I choose to leave it as is and just scoop it up with a spoon everytime I pass by.This halwa is made for the lovely duo who came up with Open Sesame 2.

Today is Twosday

(Drumroll............)
Two years back, on this very day, I sat in front of this computer, and without much thought, started this blog. Seriously, I didn't even think hard about a name...I just typed in the first name that came to my mind and then went on to my first post. It's amazing how spontaneous those actions and words were.....these days, I edit and re-edit and then edit some more before I hit the Publish button.
Blogging has been a lot of fun.....It's changed me from someone who knew to cook exactly three dishes(sambar, rasam and tomato rice) to someone who can actually write about Banana raisin muffins and Mango bread (or was it marriage???)
For the first time since I started blogging, I came face to face with several fellow bloggers a few months back. That added a whole new dimension to this pass time because I now have faces to associate with the thoughts that I read. Speaking of fellow bloggers, I love reading all your comments....thrive on them, in fact. So, do keep reading and do keep those comments coming.
As for me, I am going to celebrate my blog's birthday by ordering take-away :-))

Spring onion and peas pulao

Spring onions are my latest craze...I mean, I've always liked spring onions....but of late, I've started adding it to a lot of dishes that I cook. The latest experiment in this series has been this pulao.

What you need:
Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Spring onions - 1 bunch, washed and chopped(including the leaves)
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Salt
Cinnamon - a small piece
Cloves - 4
Cardamom - 3
Green chilli - 2

Powder the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Take a large microwaveable bowl and heat the powdered spices along with a tsp of oil on high heat for 1 minute. Add the green chillies and chopped spring onions and heat for another 3 minutes or until the onions just start to brown.
Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and cook for 8 minutes at 800 watts and then for another 4 minutes at 650 watts.
Let it stand for two minutes. Gently fluff with a fork.
Serve hot with any raita of your choice/pickle/chips.

Summer goodies #3 - Pavakka vathal

The title has probably made you wonder why Iam still talking about summer. Well, if you don't know it already, it's almost always summer in Chennai. A few unseasonal showers did give us some days of respite, but it is now back to the heat that Iam slowly but not very successfully beginning to learn to ignore.
Two hot summer noons is all that it took for these bittergourd slices to be dried to a crisp.

Here's what you need:
Bittergourd - 3 large ones
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste (add more salt than you normally would for curries)
Water - enough to cover the bittergourd

Chop the bittergourd into medium sized circles and remove the seeds and pith.
Add turmeric, salt, water and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until the water just starts to boil. The bittergourd should not get cooked.
Leave it alone for about 20-25 minutes so that the salt gets absorbed.
Drain off all the water.
Spread on a plastic sheet and dry in the sun until all the moisture evaporates and the gourd becomes hard to the touch.
To use, heat some oil in a pan and deep fry a handful of the dried bittergourd and serve as an accompaniment with rice.

Check out my Summer goodies #1 - Ela vadam and #2 - Microwave mango thokku.

Green peas and fenugreek leaves curry

Fenugreek (methi in Hindi, uluva in Malayalam, Menthyam in Tamil) makes a frequent appearance in Indian cuisine both as a herb and a spice. It has a characteristic odour and a slightly bitter taste. In my home, the seeds soaked in curd/buttermilk are used as a digestive aid and to cure an upset stomach. The seeds are also said to boost milk production in lactating mothers.
The curry that I have here today is a very simple yet flavourful preparation that goes well with rotis. The peas have been added to balance out the bitterness of the methi leaves. You can choose to leave them out.

What you need:
Fresh fenugreek leaves - 1 cup, chopped
Green peas - 1/2 cup (raw, cooked or semi-cooked)
Tomato -1
Onion - 2 medium sized
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic - 3 cloves
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)
Oil - 1 tsp

Add some salt to the chopped fenugreek leaves. Mix well and set aside.
Puree the tomato, onion, ginger and garlic.
Heat a tsp of oil. Add the puree to it and boil until the raw smell goes off.
Add salt, sugar, garam masala, red chilli powder, and turmeric powder. Mix well.
Stir in the peas. If you are using raw or semi-cooked peas, add some water and boil until the peas are cooked but not mushy.
Squeeze all the water out of the fenugreek leaves and stir it into the curry. Boil for 3-4 minutes or until the leaves just start to wilt.
Serve hot with rotis.
This is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.

If anyone out there needs a good example to prove Newton's first law, they don't need to look any further. A little over a week away from the blog, and inertia has slowly but surely set in.
I've been racking my brain thinking of a good recipe for my "after-break" post.....but I keep drawing a blank. It's not that I haven't been cooking. We've actually been cooking up a storm for all the guests we've had over the last week, but there's just not been any time for photos or detailed write-ups. So, this post is going to tell you not about food, but about Me...Me....(thanks to a tag passed on by Medhaa)

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATER?
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING?
A Prisoner of Birth

3) FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Snakes & Ladders, Monopoly

4) FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
Femina, Vanitha, Outlook, India Today

5) FAVORITE SMELLS?
Baby soap, baby powder, baby lotion

6) FAVORITE SOUNDS?
The sound of the sea

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
Losing someone you love

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
Puh....le.....ase.....lemme sleep some more

9) FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Gangotri in Chennai, Panera Bread in the U.S ( I know Panera is not technically fast food, but its one of the places I really miss)

10) FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
Not decided....

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D’
spend like crazy....

12)DO YOU DRIVE FAST?
Nope Iam a careful driver.....

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Never have, never will....

14)STORMS–COOL OR SCARY?
Cool if Iam not caught in one.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
Oldsmobile

16) FAVORITE DRINK?
Grape juice

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…
Read, read and then read some more

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Yep....donno why so many people hate broccoli

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
Burgundy

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Thrissur, Calicut, Chennai, Jacksonville, Chennai again.

21) FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Hate Sports

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
She writes a lovely blog

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
A clean floor....well, cleanliness really is a matter of perspective, isn't it???

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN??
Sure

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Night owl....I can stay up as long as I want to, but waking up is a different story altogether.

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
Not too fond of eggs....I eat them only if there's absolutely nothing else available.

27) FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX?
My bed

28) FAVORITE PIE?
I don't have a favourite pie....I can tolerate apple pie but that's about it....

29) FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Vanilla

30) OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
Not sure...

Medhaa has also been kind enough to pass on the Inspiration Award. She says it is for bloggers whose stories and recipes inspire us. Whether it’s to eat healthier, dive back into our past to conjure up something we ate as children, or just make the light bulbs in our brains go on with a new idea for a recipe. Thank you, dear.

Red spinach parathas

Red spinach is in a class of its own. Its taste (at least according to me) is unmatched by that of any other leafy green. These parathas that I've made have been stuffed with red cheera thoran (stir fried red spinach).

Parathas, curd rice and carrot raita

To make cheera thoran you need:
Red spinach - 1 bunch, washed and chopped fine
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to it. When the seeds pop, stir in the chopped spinach and salt. Stir and cook covered until the leaves wilt and all the moisture is absorbed.

To make parathas u need:
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Salt
Warm water - as needed
Oil - a little

Knead all the ingredients together along with the cheera thoran to make a smooth, pliable dough. Let it rest for a few hours.
Tear out tennis ball sized pieces of dough and roll them out into thick circles. Fold the circle into half and roll out again. Repeat the process once more so you have a neat triangle.
Cook on a tawa drizzling a little oil/ghee over it if you'd like.

Serve hot with raita and pickle.

Notes: If you are serving the thoran with rice, season the oil with some urad dal and split red chillies along with the mustard seeds. Also add some fresh grated coconut to the thoran.

Off this goes to be a part of Srivalli's Roti Mela.

Summer goodies #2 - Microwave mango thokku

First off, I've got to tell all the Chennaiwasis that there's this new Italian restaurant you absolutely must try.....Osteria is at the Deccan Plaza in Royapettah High Road. Their food, ambience, service....everything is absolutely great.
The Samosa Factory in Anna Nagar is good too.....it's at the beginning of Shanti Colony....and is so small that you're likely to miss it unless you're looking for it.....but it definitely is something you should try out. They have lovely street style cocktail samosas with a crisp, dark brown outer layer.
I gorged on these during the weekend and also watched the new Indy Jones movie. If you are an Indy fan (like me), you will enjoy the movie. Like all the other movies in the series, this too is an edge-of-the-seat entertainer......definitely not the best Indy movie.....but fun all the same.

Okey....dokey......let's now switch on the microwave and make some thokku.....

What you need:

Large unripe mango - 2
Red chilli powder - 2 heaped tsp (adjust to your taste)
Salt
Oil - 8 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Jaggery - a small piece (optional)

Peel mangoes and then cut them into thin, uneven slices.
Pour the oil into a microwave safe bowl, add mustard seeds, cover and microwave for 2 minutes or until the seeds pop.
Add all the other ingredients....mix well and microwave on high power for 8 minutes. Do check on the mangoes halfway through and stir so that it gets cooked evenly. Crush lightly with a ladle. I like mine with a few chunks in it.
This stays good in the refrigerator for upto 10 days.

I'd like to thank:
Happy Cook for giving me the Rocking Girl Blogger Award
Jayasree for passing on the You Make My Day Award.

This is my entry to Srivalli's MEC Bottled.
Check out my Summer goodies #1 - Ela vadam

How do I love thee.....Come let me count the ways

Well, for starters I like you best as you are.......I love to bite into your juicy flesh....skin and all....and keep eating until all that is left is your seed. Then, there's pulisseri, pachadi, koottan - various avatars of yours - all of which Iam equally awed by.
So when Arundati chose you to be the star of blogosphere's breakfast table, all of these dishes ran through my mind.....but there was also this feeling in the back of my mind that I should try something that I've never tried before. Well, the days passed by and I did eat a lot of mangoes, but I never got around to making anything out of it.
Things just seemed to fall into place today though, with DH saying that it's been a while since I baked bread.....and since I happened to have some wonderful smelling ripe banganapallis on hand, I thought, why not go ahead and bake some mango bread. Googling lead me to this recipe which I adapted so that I could make it entirely in the microwave.

To make microwave egg-less mango bread you need:
1 large ripe mango - skinned and cut into large chunks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oil
2 cups flour (I used flour made out of a mix of seven grains - can be substituted with whole grain flour)
1/2 cup milk powder
1/2 cup water

Blend the mango, sugar, yogurt, salt, oil, water and milk powder together in a blender. Transfer it to a large bowl and add in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix everything together well. The dough will be quite thick - infact, for a while there, i thought that I'd gone wrong with the consistency.
Grease a loaf pan with oil/non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and microwave in convection mode at 175 degree centigrade for roughly thirty minutes. Do check every now and then to see if it is done because microwaves do vary in their power output and so the time taken will vary depending on your microwave. Insert a knife into the bread...if it comes out clean, then the bread is done. Let it stand in the microwave until it cools down completely.

Fresh out of the oven....

Slice and Njoy!!!
Thoughts:
A nice, moist bread...you really can't taste the mango in it, though....So next time around I'd probably use mango juice instead of water to get more of the
mango flavour. I also want to try adding a little bit of cinnamon and some walnuts or raisins to the batter.

This is my entry to Weekend Breakfast Blogging hosted by Arundati.

Masala puris

For life to be interesting, you need to move away from the regular path every once in a while.....you have to welcome the unexpected. As Oswald says "A surprise never hurt anybody" (Sheesh....can't believe i am quoting Oswald.....can u tell I watch way too much Pogo these days???)
Well, the same rule applies to food too. Every now and then, you need to experiment, to get out of your comfort zone and just throw things together and cross your fingers and hope that something edible comes out of that strange combo that's in the pan.
Here's one such experiment that I tried....To make masala puris you need:
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Potatoes - 2 or 3 medium sized, boiled, peeled and mashed well
Onion - 1, chopped really fine
Salt
Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Combine all the ingredients together and knead into a smooth pliable dough adding just as much warm water as needed.
Make small lemon sized balls out of the dough and roll it out into small puris.
Heat some oil(enough to deep fry the puris) in a kadai. Slide one puri at a time gently into the hot oil. Turn over once so both sides are cooked and browned evenly. Remove and drain excess oil using a kitchen/paper towel.
Eat hot off the stove with thick yogurt and a spicy pickle on the side.....and trust me, once you've tried this, you'll never want to go back to plain puris ever again....

Speaking of surprises, there are two blogger buddies who made my day by passing on some lovely awards to me.
Sukanya has given me the yummy blog award.
Thank u dear.....it really does mean a lot to me.
As a receiver of this award, I have to list out four of my favourite desserts. I really don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I'll try to list a few that I do like better than the rest.

• Palada pradhaman
• Rosogollas
• Jilebis
• Kaju Kathli

I'd now like to pass this award on to

• MS
  
• DK
  
• Rachel and
• Happy cook

Sowmya has passed on the Nice Matters Award to me. She says “Nice Matters Award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.”
Thank you Sowmya.

The masala puris are off to Srivalli's Roti Mela.

Ranting and cooking

To the nosy old man next door....
Pushing and prodding and hoping that staring at the envelope long enough will miraculously render it transparent just won't work.....If you want to know how much I pay the telephone department every month, all you have to do is ask me.....and I "may" tell you...
And while we are at it, let me also tell you that I know you always watch out of your window to see when I get my mail.....you really don't have to ask me if the courier guy delivered the package which you saw him bring in...
If you saw him walking to my place with a package, if you heard him ring the bell, then simple logic determines that I did get the package.....unless there's a new bermuda triangle between your home and mine.
Alright, with that finally off my chest, let's now get talking about Mathan erissery. Erissery is a very simple, rustic Kerala dish. It can be made using a variety of vegetables. My favourite is pacha mathan erissery (raw pumpkin erissery).

What you need:

Raw pumpkin - 3/4 cup, diced into medium sized pieces after removing the skin
Green chillies - 3
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/3 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few sprigs

Take two and a half cups of water in a pan. Add pumpkin pieces, salt and turmeric powder to it and boil until the pumpkin is cooked. Grind green chillies and coconut to a smooth paste and add this to the cooked pumpkin. If needed, add some more water at this stage. Boil for a few minutes. Switch off the heat and then pour the coconut oil on top. Garnish with fresh curry leaves.
Serve hot with rice.

Refried beans

Colourful, full of flavour and nutritious....that's Mexican food for you... Refried beans almost always make an appearance at the Mexican table, either as an accompaniment to Mexican rice and tortillas, or wrapped into burritos and enchiladas.
The name is a bit of a misnomer because there is no frying involved in making this dish. It is actually quite easy to make and probably one of the simplest recipes to follow.

What you need:
Red kidney beans - 3/4 cup (Soaked in plenty of water overnight)
Garlic - 4 cloves, crushed
Tomato -1, chopped
Salt
Onion - 1, chopped fine

Take all the ingredients in a pressure cooker, add sufficient water and cook until one whistle....reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 - 20 minutes.
By now, the beans should be soft and well cooked. Mash it coarsely with a masher or a heavy ladle. Heat until all the moisture is absorbed.
Serve with tortillas or rotis.
(Traditionally, the ingredients are boiled together on a low flame unti the beans become tender, but I used a pressure cooker to speed up the process)

Iam rushing this off to DK who is hosting A Wordly Epicurean's Delight (A.W.E.D) featuring Mexican food.

Methi theplas for RCI-Rajasthan

Looking around for a Rajasthani dish that I could make using ingredients that i had on hand is what led me to the book "Taste of Rajasthan (Delicious Vegetarian Food from the Land of Rajasthan) by Harveen Choudhary. The fact that I had a bunch of fresh methi just waiting to be used helped decide on the dish that was going to be cooked. I have followed Choudhary's recipe almost to the T except for certain small changes.

What you need:
Fresh methi leaves(chopped) - 1 cup
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Gram flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 2, ground into a paste
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Sour curd - 3/4 cup
Oil - 3 tsp

Mix the chopped methi leaves and curd in a bowl and set aside for an hour. Add all the other ingredients to this and knead to a smooth pliable dough. If needed, add some warm water while kneading. Cover and keep aside for an hour.
Take a small ball of dough. Dredge it in some wheat flour and roll out into a thick circle. Transfer the thepla to a heated tawa....cook until you see a few brown spots on the bottom. Turn over, drizzle some oil/ghee over it if you'd like to and cook for a minute. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
Serve hot...or cold...it tastes good either way...

What I think of these theplas:
They turned out super soft and delicious...the original recipe called for 1 cup of curd and that's what I used, but the dough turned out to be a little sticky and so I had to add more flour.
I loved the colour that the turmeric and garam masala gave to the theplas. I don't find much difference between these and the methi parathas that I make...except for the fact that I've never soaked the methi leaves in curd before...I suppose that takes away the bitterness. These tasted great on their own....the only thing I'd probably eat with it is mango thokku...but even that is not necessary.

This is my entry to RCI-Rajasthan hosted by Padmaja of Spicy Andhra and to Srivalli's Roti Mela.

Restaurant review - Little Italy Ristorante, Chennai.

Where???
112,Eldorado building, Nungambakkam high Road, Chennai.
Ph :42601234
It is opposite Pizza Corner on Nungambakkam H.R.

What???
Mostly Italian and also some Mexican food....the entire menu is vegetarian. Both the cuisines have been Indianised to suit the local palate but it does taste good. The minestrone soup, which incidentally, is my favourite soup, was a huge disappointment. I was expecting an Olive Garden style soup, but what they served turned out to be greenish and watery. Other than that, the rest of the dishes we ordered turned out to be quite good. The risotto and penne with sun dried tomatoes and sauces were both good, though the quantity is much too less for the price that you pay. The Quesidillas looked like they were made using rotis instead of tortillas....but tasted quite alright.
The service is just about average. The wait staff (at least some of them) seem to have trouble with both English and Tamil. I asked the lady who waited on our table a question about a dish and she just said yes and walked off. I also had to wait an extra 10 minutes to get an plate for my daughter despite the fact that several waiters were walking around setting tables and I was told that I would have to wait for "Just one minute".
That said, the ambience and the food made enough of an impression to make me want to go back.

How much should you expect to pay???
About Rs 600 - 650 for two people.

Do make reservations, especially on weekends, because the place does tend to get quite crowded.

The making of an Onion Kulcha

Flat breads in the form of rotis and parathas make an appearance in my home quite often. However,making naan is something I have shied away from after a disastrous trial a few years back. So whenever the craving for naan or any of its variants hits me, I take the easy way out and either eat out or get take-away...
A few days back, though,I decided to try my hand at making onion kulchas.....the results were encouraging enough to make me want to try out other versions of this very adaptable bread.

What you need:

For the dough:
All purpose flour/maida - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Warm water - enough to knead the flour into a smooth dough

To make dough:
Soak yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water for 10 minutes or until it is completely dissolved. Mix the flours and salt together. Add the yeast mixture to this and then add warm water a little at a time and knead into a smooth pliable dough. Cover and let it stand for a few hours. The volume of the dough will double in about 4-6 hours. Punch it well and knead again and set aside until you are ready to make kulchas.

For the filling :
Large red onions - 2, chopped very fine
Tomato sauce - 1tsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Salt - a little
Oil - 3 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

To make filling:
Heat oil. Add onions and saute until brown. Stir in all the other ingredients...stir well and remove from heat. Set aside.

To make kulchas:
Take a medium sized ball of dough. Using a rolling pin, flatten it into a small circle. Spoon some of the filling into this circle and close it and shape into a ball again with your hands. Roll out into a thick circle. Fold this in half so you get a semi-circle and spread it slightly with the rolling pin. Now fold it into a triangle and spread again with the rolling pin to make a thick kulcha.
Heat a tawa/griddle. Transfer the rolled out kulcha onto that. Cook until you see a few bubbles form on the top of the kulcha. By this time, the bottom should have turned golden brown. Turn over and cook for a minute or two.
Serve hot with any curry of your choice.

Kulcha with baby potatoes - Njoy!!!

This is my entry to Srivalli's Roti Mela.

We met, we talked and....we ate

For months together, mails were exchanged, plans were made,and then, eleven strangers decided to meet under one roof on May 1st, 2008.
What brought them together is nothing other than the passion to write about good food. There were the initial akward silences, but then as time passed, peopled opened up and we found
ourselves discussing stuff other than food. We talked about our babies.....how ridiculous it is that we have to register them in school as soon as we see two pink lines......and lots of other stuff.

A food bloggers' meet is never complete without the presence of food.....and boy, was there food!!!!
Lakshmi graciously opened up her house to us.....and also made yummy delicious tava bread and thayir sadam......thank you, Laks.....
Rachel baked a lovely looking and even lovelier tasting ladenia for us......Kamini's aloo tikkis were lip-smacking good.....Srivalli's Channa pulao and raita were awesome...
Sra's paneer curry and Arundati's Idiyappam and Mango pulissery both were perfectly delicious.
Nirmala's florentines, which to her dismay, were called cookies by everybody, tasted fabulous.....after all, what's in a name, Nimmi???
Kamalika's chakkara pongal and Lavi's Rosogullas were the ultimate sweet treats.....Yours truly took along chakkavaratty payasam, the recipe of which will be posted soon.
Whew!!! There, didn't I tell u there was A LOT of good food.
This meet also made me realise something else.....
I'd forgotten to take my camera along...and so, had to wait until the others had taken several pictures of the food from different angles...
...and that's when I understood what my family truly goes through when I put food on the table and then ask them to stand around and gaze at it until I've taken enough pictures :-))
A lovely potluck, good company and a great time....that's what we had....and I really, really hope we do this again.....

Microwave Aval Kozhakkattai

What you need:

Rice flakes - 1 cup (thick variety - I used matta rice flakes)
Water - 2 cups
Salt
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Broken urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli - 2, roughly broken into pieces
Peanuts - a little
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Grated fresh coconut - 1/4 cup
Asafoetida - a little

Powder the rice flakes in a blender to a coarse consistency....like that of rava/semolina.
Take the oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, chilli, peanuts, curry leaves and asafoetida in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes on maximum power or until the mustard seeds pop.
Add water, powdered rice flakes, salt and grated coconut into the bowl. Stir well so that there are no lumps. Microwave for 8 minutes on high power or until the mixture is well cooked like upma and there is no water left.
Let it cool and then shape into ovals.
Steam for 2 minutes in a microwave idli plate.
Remove and serve hot with coconut chutney.

Am rushing this entry off to Easycrafts who is hosting this month's WBB - Microwave food

Chakka adai

Growing up, the meals we had during summer always revolved around chakka (jackfruit), muringakka (drumstick) and mangoes. If there was muringakka sambar one day, the next day it was muringakka molagoottal, then chakkakkuru (jackfruit seed) thoran, chakka molagushyam, chakka this, muringakka that....so much so that my brother and I used to silently wish that those trees would somehow miraculously stop bearing any more fruit.
It's true that you don't realise the value of something when you have it in abundance. Now whenever I visit my parents I come back laden with the very same things that I once said I couldn't take any more of.......
Chakka adai is something I didn't dislike as a child, but neither was I overly enamoured by it. A recent visit to my parents' made me rediscover this dish and yeah, I did bring back some ripe jackfruit so that I could make this at home.

What you need:
Raw rice - 1 cup
Jackfruit - 6 slices (is that what it is called??? or is it just pieces???)
Salt - a pinch
Jaggery - a small piece (optional)

Wash and soak rice in plenty of water for 2 hours.
Drain and then grind along with all the other ingredients to a smooth batter of pourable consistency.
Heat a dosa pan. Pour a ladle of batter...spread it into a circle....pour a few drops of oil/ghee on it and cook for a minute/until the bottom turns golden brown. Flip over and cook for a minute.

Serve hot.
This dosa does not need any accompaniment...tastes great hot off the stove.

Note:

• The jackfruit should be really, really ripe.
• Increase, decrease or totally do away with the jaggery depending on the sweetness of the jackfruit.

Experience in action

Look at those efficient hands spreading the batter deftly and in perfect circles......the dosas that he made were nothing less than a pure delight to savour.

Crisp and delicious!!!

These pics were taken during my father's Shastiabdapoorthy (60th b'day) a couple of months back. The caterer was really, really good....if any of you are looking for a caterer(Kerala Iyer food), I highly recommend Akshaya Caterers of Palakkad.

This is my final entry to Srivalli's Dosa Mela.

Happy Vishu

Our Vishu Sadya

Here's wishing you all a very happy Vishu....

Verum arisi adai

Minimum preparation and almost no fuss is exactly how I would describe my cooking style. I am not the kind to toil over the stove all day long and endure the "It-tastes-OK" type of comments
with a martyr-like smile.....If I have toiled in the kitchen and put something on the table, then you better be lavish with your words(read you better tell me it is GOOD!!!)
The dosas that Iam going to talk about today are just my kind of dish - need almost no prep....except for the grinding of course.....no fermenting, no soaking and grinding separately....infact, it uses just three ingredients.....yet, the end-product is guaranteed to satisfy.

What you need:

Parboiled rice - 1cup
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste

Wash and soak the rice in plenty of water for 4 to 6 hours. Drain and grind to a smooth batter adding as much water as needed. The batter should be runny.....like rava dosa batter.
Mix in the grated coconut and salt.
Heat a dosa pan....pour a ladleful of batter in a circle....even it out with the ladle...pour a few drops of oil over it if you'd like....cook for a few minutes, turn over, cook for a minute....and
serve hot with coconut chutney/tomato chutney/sambar. My personal favourite is mango thokku along with this.
There, does dosa making get any simpler than that???

Notes:

• You can use raw rice instead of parboiled, but the dosas are much softer when u use parboiled rice.
• The coconut can be ground along with the batter but biting into little bits of grated coconut as you eat the dosa is what gives this a unique taste. I have also seen some people sprinkle the grated coconut over the dosa immediately after pouring the batter into the pan.

This dosa too goes to Srivalli's Dosa Mela.
Check out my other entries to the mela - tomato dosa ( no fermenting), vegetable dosa (no fermenting) and masala dosa (scroll halfway down the post to see the recipe)

Summer goodies #1 - Ela vadam

"Unbearably hot" is an understatement when it comes to describing Chennai summers. The bright sun blazing its way through the thick curtains in your bedroom lets you know in no uncertain terms that summer is here to stay whether you like it or not. When your sweat glands produce just about as much sweat as the water you consume plus some more, you know there's no escape. You have to brace yourself for the next few months and make the best of it.
Nature does have its own ways to help you cope...there are all those luscious fruits that line the shelves of your grocer.....the juice stalls that are constanly busy this time of the year....mangoes from different parts of India - some sweet, some with a hint of tanginess....that is the silver lining behind the cloud.
Summer is also the season when most of the seasonal produce is preserved in different forms for use during the rest of the year. Pickles, vathals and vadams are made and stored and enjoyed all round the year.
There's two ways to putting a vadam on your plate.....
1. Go to a store. Find your favourite vadam. Bring it back home. Fry in oil and that's it.
2. Wake up at an ungodly hour.....the said hour for me was 5.45....not so ungodly for many, but hey, I like my beauty sleep. Hurry up and make the vadams before that little girl wakes up and comes in and demands that anything that's not 2 years old should be relegated to the outer bounds of your attention. Make vadam. Dry it in the sun for days until it is ready for use and then fry them in oil.
No prizes for guessing which method Iam going to talk about here.
Yeah, yeah...call me crazy...but there's just something about all that hot sun that made me want to try this out from scratch. This is my first attempt at making vadams. It takes up quite a bit of your time...so make sure you do this when you're sure there aren't going to be any interruptions.
Alright, let's put on our aprons....and start making vadams.

What you need:
Raw rice - 1 cup
Parboiled rice - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Green chilli - 2 or to taste (remember, we just want a hint of spiciness here...not a super spicy vadam that would require its own side dish)
Black sesame seeds - 1 tsp, soaked in water for ten minutes

You also need an ela vadam stand and vadam plates.

Grind the rice to a smooth paste adding just as little water as needed. Add salt and leave it covered overnight. Next morning, grind the green chillies to a smooth paste. Add a little bit of the rice batter to the chillies while grinding so that it blends in smoothly and then mix it in with the rest of the batter. Drain the sesame seeds of water and add to the batter. Check for salt and add more if needed. The batter should not be very runny. It should be of pourable consistency.Heat some water in an idli cooker. Grease the vadam plates. Pour a small amount of batter on the plate and spread it into a circle. It should not be spread too thick or too thin. If you spread it too thick, the vadam does not turn out well when fried and if it is too thin, you won't be able to take it off the plate without tearing it.Stack the plates on the vadam stand and steam in the idli cooker for 3-4 minutes.When the vadam is cooked, it changes colour and becomes shiny.
Remove the plates from the cooker. Let it cool for a few seconds....and then ease one end of the vadam out with a knife.
Pull out the vadam carefully without tearing it and transfer it to a plastic sheet.
Follow these steps until all the batter is used up. You should have about 35 vadams if you follow this recipe.If you have the luxury of some open space with lots of sunshine, dry the vadams there. If not, don't worry...these vadams dry quite well even under the fan. It should dry completely in one or two days, depending on the intensity of sunlight.
Once dried, fry them in hot oil and serve with rice.

Chickpeas vada

Parippu vada is a popular tea-time snack in Kerala.....and can be found in most small local restaurants in the evening. During my hostel days, I have washed down several of these with cups of severely watered down tea. My recipe for parippu vada can be found here.

What I have here is a variation that I tried....and the results of which we enjoyed.

What you need:

Chickpeas - 1 cup, soaked in water for 6-8 hrs
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Carrot - 1, grated
Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped fine
curry leaves - a few, chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced
Asafoetida - a little
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Grind the chick peas without adding any water to a coarse paste.If there are some whole chickpeas even after grinding, it's perfectly fine.
Add all the other ingredients to this and mix well. Alternately, you can also add the other ingredients into the blender and turn it once so it is well mixed.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Shape the chickpea batter into small balls, flatten them between your palms and drop a few of these gently into the oil.
Fry until the vada turns crisp and golden brown....make sure you turn it over a couple of times so that both the sides get cooked well. Also take care to see that you don't overheat the oil 'coz then the inside doesn't get cooked thoroughly.
Remove....drain excess oil using a paper towel and serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney.

A closer look.......

Check out this and other amazing entries to Waiter There's Something in my Soup at Jeanne's round-up.