Kanjeevaram idli

This recipe is adapted from Mallika Badrinath's Tiffin Varieties.

What you need:

Idli rice/parboiled rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 cup
Salt
Black peppercorns - 1 tsp, heaped and crushed lightly
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp, heaped and crushed lightly
Sour, thick curd - 1 - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 2 tsp
Sesame oil - 3 tsp

Soak the rice and dal together in plenty of water for 3 hours. Drain all the water and grind to a thick, rawa consistency. Let it ferment overnight. Refrigerate until you are ready to use.
Just before steaming, add in all the other ingredients and mix well. Steam in an idli mould.
Serve with sambar/chutney/ molaga podi.

What I think of this recipe:
It is very soft - softer than regular idlis, most probably because of the curd and oil added to it. The texture is somewhere between that of rawa idli and regular idli. Taste wise, the only difference between this and a regular idli is the spiciness that comes from the pepper and the mild flavour and smell from the cumin.
What my little girl thinks of this recipe:
"Amma, don't make idli with this mavu (batter). Make it with white mavu."
That said, she ate it without further comment. For now, Iam content with that.

Vathal koottan/kozhambu

The chundakka vathal that I blogged about yesterday is most commonly used in vathal kozhambu. To me, curd rice served with some spicy and tangy vathal kozhambu is heaven on a plate.
Here's what you need to make vathal kozhambu:
Tamarind - a lemon sized ball
Sambar powder - 1.5 - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Gingely/Sesame oil - 2 tsp
Chundakka vathal - a handful
Shallots - 7 or 8, peeled and halved (optional)
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Soak the tamarind in two cups of warm water for 10 minutes. Squeeze to extract tamarind juice and set it aside.
Heat gingely oil in a kadai. Add in the channa and urad dal, methi and mustard seeds, and a pinch of asafoetida. When the mustard seeds pop, stir in the chundakka vathal and fry for a minute. Add the sliced shallots and fry till translucent. Pour in the tamarind extract. Add some more water if needed. Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt. Boil until the raw smell of tamarind is gone. Just before removing from the stove, mix a tsp of rice flour with a tbsp of water and stir this into the kozhambu. Garnish with fresh curry leaves. Serve hot or cold. This tastes great with curd rice.
As a child, I remember me and my cousins sitting in a circle around my maternal grandma while she used to place little balls of curd rice in our palms. We used to make a hole in the middle of the rice ball, pour vathal koottan into it and then proceed to gobble it up at a pace which today, is amazing even to me. Iam sure if polishing off a bowl of curd rice and vathal koottan had been an Olympic sport at that time, we'd have carried home the gold.

Summer goodies #4 -Chundakka vathal

I made these in summer and the post has been languishing in my draft for a really long time. Chundakka (Kerala tamil) or Sundakka (Tamil) is used in sambar and thoran in the fresh form. Very often, it is sun dried and turned into vathals so that it can be preserved for a longer period of time and used as and when needed. To see what fresh chundakka looks like, click here.

What you need:
Chundakka - 1 cup
Urad dal - 2 tsp, heaped
Red chillies - 2
Salt
Sour buttermilk - enough to cover and soak the chundakka completely

Grind the urad dal and red chillies to a smooth paste.
Soak the chundakka in plenty of water for 10-15 minutes. Wash well and then crush slightly with a heavy pestle or stone. Add the buttermilk, salt, and ground paste to the chundakka. Mix well. Cover and set aside overnight. In the morning, take the chundakka out with a slotted spoon and dry it on a plastic sheet in direct sunlight. In the evening, soak it again in the buttermilk mixture. Repeat this process until all the buttermilk is absorbed. Dry for 2 or 3 more days in the sun and then store in an airtight container. If properly dried and stored, this will stay good for over a year.

Check out my other posts in this series:
Summer goodies #1 - Ela vadam
Summer goodies #2 - Microwave mango thokku
Summer goodies #3 - Pavakka vathal

This post goes to Roma's Long live the Shelf event.

Guess......

......where these pictures were taken???

Maaladu

Crumble-at-the-touch maaladus have always been a favourite of mine. This sweet treat is something that can be made quickly and without too much of a hassle.What you need:

Pottukadalai/ roasted bengal gram dal - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - as much as required to shape the flour into balls
Cashews - a handful, roasted in ghee (optional)
Raisins - a few, roasted in ghee (optional)

Powder the gram dal finely in a mixie. Powder the sugar as well and mix both the powders and the cashews and raisins together. Now add in warm ghee and shape into balls.
Njoy!!!

Restaurant review - Cholayil Sanjeevanam, Nungambakkam, Chennai

Where???
97, Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai.
Phone:044-64508427

What???
Healthy, vegetarian food.

Would I go back there?
I've been to Cholayil a few times now but it is only today that I got to taste their "Rajakeeyam meal" which is basically a South Indian vegetarian thali that serves healthy food. The food is served in a certain order and you are expected to eat it in the same order. First, there's a small bowl with cut up nenthrapazham(ripe plantain) and grated coconut, followed by a colourful array of juices (dates, nut milk, haritha buttermilk, vegetable juice and rice bran water). Once you down all of these, you are served four kinds each of uncooked veggies, semi-cooked veggies and fully cooked veggies in that order. You are not given water even if you ask for it, because they say that water fills up the stomach and hampers digestion. It is given to you only at the end. Once you are done with all of these, you are almost full. That's when red rice and parippu (dal) make an appearance. Then comes white rice with sambar, rasam, morkozhambu and buttermilk.
This is followed by payasam. The meal ends with a spoonful of honey poured into your hand.
The meal leaves you pleasantly full and it is nice to sit down and eat in an orderly fashion once in a while. There is no cloying sense of oil or fat that you leave with at the end of the meal.
At Rs. 120 a meal, it is good value for the money too.
However, if you do not like to be told that you should eat in the order that they ask you to, this restaurant is not for you. For me, it was a pleasant experience and I enjoyed the food.

Tell me honestly, do all you food bloggers out there love to cook all the time? I know there has to be a decent amount of liking towards cooking (and of course, eating) most of the time. But aren't there days when you just don't want to lift a finger, days when you get somebody else to dial in a pizza for you???

Pazham Nurukku

An integral part of a traditional Onam Sadya, this dish has now also become a part of most festivals celebrated in the Thrissur district of Kerala. For us, no sadya (feast) is complete without some pazhanurukku. Making this is really easy. Restricting yourself to eating just a few pieces is not so easy.

Here's how you make pazhanurukku:

Cut 4 large, ripe plantains into thick, finger length pieces. Do not remove the skin. Take 3/4 glass of water in a large vessel. Add four or five pieces of jaggery to it. Also add the cut plantain pieces. Let it boil on low heat, stirring every now and then, until the plantains are cooked through.

Oh....and remember, this dish HAS TO BE made using nenthrapazham which is a special variety found in Kerala.

This goes to Priyanka who is hosting Festive Foods-Onam.

Simple potato curry

What you need:
Potatoes - 2 large, skinned and cut into medium sized pieces
Tomato - 4, cut into largish pieces
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder or red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Take potatoes with about 1.5 cups of water in a pan and boil until cooked, but not mushy. Add turmeric powder, sambar powder, salt and tomatoes. Boil until everything gets blended together well. The tomatoes should not turn mushy.
This is a really simple curry that goes well with rotis.

My morning bowl of goodness

Cooked chick peas, tomatoes, onions,carrots, curry leaves and a dash of salt.

Microwave baingan bhartha

I have always loved the microwave. I can put something in to cook, set the timer, go out for a stroll and come back to find it cooked just right. That said, I have always resorted to the old fashioned method of roasting a brinjal over an open flame to make baingan bhartha.. This time, though, I had a brainwave (yes - I do get one of those now and then) and decided to stick the eggplant in the microwave. The rest, as they say, is history.

What you need:
Eggplant/Brinjal/Aubergine - 1 large
Onion - 2, chopped fine
Green chilli - 2, minced
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Garlic - 4 or 5 pods, chopped
Groundnuts - a handful (optional)
Tomatoes - 2 or 3 large juicy, ripe ones, chopped
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala -3/4 tsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
Corriander leaves - a few, to garnish

Spread some oil all over the brinjal. Prick the skin on all sides with a knife and then microwave on high heat for 14 minutes or until the skin shrivels up and the brinjal gets cooked.Let it cool. Remove the skin and mash the brinjal.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a microwave safe bowl. Add a tsp of jeera and the groundnuts to it and heat for 45 seconds. Stir in the onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies and heat for 3-4 minutes. Now add in the tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, sugar(optional) and the mashed brinjals. Stir well. Add some water if necessary and cook for 5 minutes.
Garnish with freshly chopped corriander leaves.This my entry to Fresh Produce of the Month featuring eggplant this month and hosted by Simona.

This also goes to Sunshine Mom's Food in colours - Red and to Srivalli's MEC-Potluck.

Tried and Tasted - Urad dal pooris and potato curry

Jugalbandi - a blog that I go to not just for recipes, but also for their anecdotes and fantastic pictures. When I came to know that T&T features them this month, I bookmarked a couple of recipes. I've religiously done this for the last 3 T&Ts but didn't get around to the cooking part of it. This time around, I did try out and taste the jugalbandits' urad dal pooris and potato masala. Here's the result.I made no changes at all to the puris. J&B are absolutely right when they say that these taste much better than regular puris. Next time around, I might add in some garam masala and amchur to the dough, though. To the potato masala, I added more green chillies and skipped the red chilli powder. Oh...and did I tell you these puris are so much prettier than the regular ones?
Thank you, Jai & B.

Needless to say, this goes to Zlamushka for her Tried and Tasted event.

Restaurant review - Bombay Blue

Where???
45, College Road,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai.

What???
A hotch-potch of cuisines - Italian, Mexican, Lebanese and Indian

Would I go there again???
I went in expecting to find a lot of Bombay-ish stuff like chaats and street food, but found a menu that boasted food from four different parts of the world. The food is OK - not the kind that will have you raving about it, but not bad either. One of their specialities is the wide selection of sizzlers they offer. You will notice the smell of smoke almost as soon as you enter the restaurant. This is because nearly all the people who go in order a sizzler. We did too, and while I was not displeased with the way the sizzler tasted, I was not very excited about it either.
The soup that we ordered tasted more Indian than Italian, but it was good. The falafel and the sandwiches were good too. Again, nothing to rave about, but no rants either.
So, to answer my question - I wouldn't mind going back, but Bombay Blue is definitely not going to be my first choice if somebody were to ask me where I'd like to go.

Happy birthday

He's the first guy I lost my heart to and it's his birthday. To see what I made, click here.

Palak pulao

I love making pulao. Not for its taste, aroma, flavour or any of those things that often find a mention when you talk about pulao. All that is only of secondary importance to me. The numero uno reason why I love this dish is because it is so E.A.S.Y to make. Take some rice in a cooker, throw in veggies of your choice, spices.....fry it in some ghee, add water, salt and pressure cook. Doesn't get simpler than that, does it? You don't even have to cook up a fancy curry to go with it. Just pair it with some papad and raita/curd and you have a complete meal and just one pot to wash.
The palak pulao that Iam blogging about today is adapted from Tarla Dalal's Iron Rich Recipes. The original recipe calls for sweet corn. Having none, I substituted that with carrots.
What you need:
Spinach/palak - 1 bunch, washed and chopped fine
Carrots - 3, chopped
Onion - 1 large, chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Black peppercorns - a few
Cinnamon - a small piece
Clove - 4
Cardamom - 4 pods
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2.5 cups

Wash rice, drain water completely and set aside. Heat 2 tsp of ghee/oil. Add cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and peppercorns. Stir until fragrant. Now add in the green chilli, and onions. Fry until onions become translucent. Add the spinach and carrots. Fry for a few minutes. Then add the rice, water and salt. Mix well and pressure cook until one whistle.
If you can get somebody to chop the veggies and clean up after, that will make it all the better :-)

Stuffed okra

This recipe is from Harveen Choudhary's book "Taste of Rajasthan - Delicious Vegetarian food from the Land of Rajasthan". I loved the methi theplas that I tried from this book and have had a couple of other recipes bookmarked for a while now. This curry is one of them.

What you need:
Ladies finger/okra - about 1/4 kg
Saunf - 1.5 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Gram flour/besan - 2 tsp
Amchur - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp (that sounds so much better than 12 tsp, doesn't it?)
Kalonji seeds - 1/2 tsp

Wash and dry the okra. Cut into finger length pieces after removing the head of the okra. Make a slit halfway through the cut pieces.
Mix 1 tsp of saunf with the besan, turmeric powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, salt, amchur and 4 tsp of oil. Once well mixed, it will be like a thick paste. Stuff this into the okra using the blunt end of a knife (which is what I did) or a spoon.Heat the rest of the oil in a pan. Add 1/2 a tsp of saunf and kalonji. When it smells really, really good, stir in the okra, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until soft. If you have any stuffing left over, you can add that along with the okra. Ramove the lid and stir on high heat for a few minutes until crisp.

Our dinner tonight - rotis, stuffed okra and panchratni dal

For the recipe of panchratni dal, click here.

Notes:
I have followed Choudhary's recipe to the T - not even changing the quantities he specifies. The only difference is that the original recipe calls for a tsp each of dhania powder and jeera powder to be included in the stuffing. I had neither, so I skipped it.
The dish is definitely a keeper and will be one of the regulars in our home now. The only thing I will change is the quantity of oil used. Iam going to try it out with less oil next time.

Mint vada

Mint is one of my favourite herbs. It hasn't always been that way. Growing up, I didn't see mint featured on the regular menus in my home - quite likely because my mother hates it. I started enjoying the flavour of mint only after I began cooking on my own. Aloo pudina baath is something that I make quite frequently.
These mint vadas are adapted from Mallika Badrinath's book - 100 Snack Varieties. The smell of the vadas being deep fried and the minty taste when you bite into the crisp outer shell is an experience in itself.

What you need:
1 cup bengal gram (channa) dal
1 cup fresh mint leaves
A handful of corriander leaves
Salt
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Oil - for deep frying

Soak the dal in plenty of water for an hour. Drain all the water and grind the dal along with mint, corriander and green chillies to a coarse paste. Add salt.
Heat oil in a kadai. Take a small ball of batter in your hand, flatten it on your palm and drop it into the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Do this over medium heat to ensure that the inside gets cooked.
Also check out my Parippu Vada recipe here.

On a different and more serious note, Srivalli of Cooking for all Seasons is organizing a fund raiser to help Lakshmi, her household help and a mother of two toddlers, to meet the expenses of a major heart surgery she has to undergo. Please check this post of Valli's for details and do chip in.

Poli - a sweet treat

Poli or Boli as I call it, is something that I have always associated with waking up early, kneading mounds of flour relentlessly, rolling out the dough, the air filling up with the fragrance of ghee, and the thin, soft polis disappearing almost as soon as they appear on the table. Until now, I have only been personally accountable for the disappearance of the polis. I have never wanted to venture into areas that I hitherto thought were reserved for more experienced(read mothers, aunts....) people. Never one to prepare traditional sweets for festivals, I've not really had a reason to try my hand at making this. So, what exactly made me decide to try this out??? I don't really know - maybe a whim, a fancy or a desire to prove to myself that I can do it.
What you need:

For the outer covering:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Gingely Oil - LOTS (I didn't really measure the exact amount)
Salt - a pinch
Yellow food colour or a tiny bit of turmeric powder

Mix all the ingredients together and knead into a smooth, pliable dough adding as much water as needed. The dough should be loose and elastic.. Don't stint on the oil if you want tasty, soft polis. Cover and let it rest for 3-4 hours.

For the filling:
1 cup channa dal
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom powder

Pressure cook the dal with enough water. Drain all the water and grind it to a smooth paste along with the sugar. Take this mixture in a kadai, add cardamom powder and heat,stirring continuously, until all the moisture is absorbed.

To make poli:

Take a banana leaf or a small plastic sheet. Oil it.

Take a lemon sized ball of dough. Pat it with your finger tips (apply some oil on your fingers too so that the dough doesn't stick to it) into a circle. Keep a bit of filling inside, close it iand then pat again into a large, thin circle.

Heat a tawa. Turn the poli onto the tawa. Spread some ghee over it and cook till the underside has golden brown spots. Turn over and cook for a minute.

Serve with a dollop of ghee on top.

Notes :
Instead of patting the polis into a circle, you can roll them out with a rolling pin. If you choose to do that, use less oil. Make a dough that is the consistency of chapati dough and then roll out into circles.

Poli is traditionally made for Avani Avittam which falls on the same day as Rakshabandhan. So Iam sending this to Priti who is hosting Festive Foods-Rakhi-Thread of Love.
It also goes to Easycraft's What's Your Favourite Colour Event.

Spicy bittergourd curry with no oil

A super spicy and tasty dish that can be made entirely in the microwave....this is a recipe that I found in one of my Microwave Cookbooks.What you need:
Bitter gourd - 3 large, deseeded and chopped fine
Thick, sour curd - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Rice flour - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt

Take the bittergourd and just enough water to cover it in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 3 minutes.
Drain the water completely. Mix in the other ingredients. Spread on a microwaveable dish and heat for 8 minutes or until crisp.
Tastes great with rice or just by itself.

Tandoori Aloo or maybe I should call it Microwavi Aloo

This is a quick snack that I tried last night with good results.
Make a marinade by mixing 6 tsp of sour, thick curd, 1 tsp all purpose flour, 1 tsp red chilli powder and 1 tsp garam masala. Peel baby potatoes. Prick them all over with a fork and marinate for about 30 minutes. Microwave on high for 8 minutes.
We ate them hot off the oven and that left me with no pics. Will update the pics next time I get around to making this. The only hard part of this recipe is peeling the baby potatoes....It took sooooo long.

This goes to Valli's Potluck.

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.