Hot red chilli chutney

I am going to let you in on a secret today. While my cooking skills have vastly improved compared to what they were like when I started cooking, I still do slip up every once in a while and make certain errors of judgement. If you need proof of that, go read this post where I inadvertently end up making glue.
If you need further proof, all that you have to do is continue reading this post.
The markets in Bangalore sell an amazing looking red chilli. These are not dried chillies, but fresh, ripe chillies that are a beautiful red.

After buying a packet full of these because they looked so good, I let them languish in the fridge because I had no idea what to do with them. Finally, one fine day, I decided that i would make a chutney with these chillies to go with dosa.
I chopped up about 8 of those chillies and sauted them in oil as I had heard that sauteing chillies in oil takes away some of the heat. While the chillies were kept aside to cool,  I  ground tamarind, jaggery, garlic, cumin seeds, salt and curry leaves  into a fine paste. The chillies were added to the paste and once again ground in the blender.
The chutney looked just as gorgeous as I thought it would look.

 I served heaped spoonfuls to hubby and myself and sat down to eat. The husband started eating and his smile sort of froze as soon as he had his first taste of the chutney. He then kept taking progressively lesser and lesser amounts of chutney until finally, he pushed the chutney aside and gulped down what seemed to be a whole bottle of water. This didn't deter me in any way. I had made this chutney and I was definitely going to eat it, come what may. I added a huge helping of jaggery to the chutney and tried eating it that way. Despite my pride, I couldn't eat any more than the husband did. Finally, I learned that there is truth in the maxim - Appearances can be deceptive.

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Green gram & Corn pulav

Green gram is one of the lentils that I sprout almost every week. It is very easy to sprout and highly nutritious too. This afternoon, for lunch, I paired sprouted green gram with sweet corn to make a delicately spiced and fragrant pulav.
 
What you need:
Rice - 1 cup
Sprouted green gram/green moong - 1 cup
Corn kernels - 1 cup
Ginger - a one inch piece
Green chilli - 1 (adjust to taste)
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Corriander/Cilantro - 2 tbsp, chopped
Butter/ghee - 1 tbsp

Grind the ginger and green chilli to a coarse paste or crush it using a pestle.
Heat butter in a pressure cooker. Add the ginger-chilli paste to it and saute for a minute on a low flame. Add the chopped onions and saute until pink.  Add the sprouted gram, corn, rice, garam masala and salt. Stir to mix well. Add 2 cups of water and cook until one whistle.
When the steam settles down, fluff with a fork and garnish with finely chopped corriander.

Enjoy!

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Fried Rice - Chinese style

Every city and town in India has its own version of Chinese food. Never mind that no person from China would recognize even half these dishes. I myself have tried several versions of 'Chinese' Fried rice. This is one version that I saw on a TV channel, recreated the same day and liked a lot.

What you need:
Carrot - 1, medium sized, chopped into thin long pieces
Capsicum/Bell pepper - 1, chopped into thin long pieces
Beans - 7-8, chopped into thin, long pieces
Leeks - 1/4 cup, chopped
Celery - 1/2 cup, chopped
Green chilli - 2 or 3 (adjust to taste)
Salt - to taste
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Spring onion - 1/4 cup, chopped
Onion - 1, chopped thin and long
Rice - 1 cup (I used a variety of rice called jeera rice)

Wash and soak the rice in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add onion and green chilli. Saute for 2 minutes and then add the leeks and celery. When the onions turn transparent, add capsicum, carrot, beans, soya sauce and salt. Stir well, cover and cook on a low flame. You do not have to add any water at this point as the vegetables in combination with soya sauce and salt will release water and cook beautifully. When the vegetables are cooked, remove from heat and keep aside. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a pressure cooker. Saute the soaked rice along with some leeks, celery and spring onion. Add salt and water. The rice that I used requires two cups of water for every cup of rice. The amount of water to be used will depend on the quantity, quality and type of rice used. Cook until one whistle, reduce the flame and cook for another five minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool. Mix the cooked veggies and the rice well. The final step in putting the rice together might seem quite unnecessary, but it is essential to make sure that the flavours of the vegetables and the rice blend together well. In the final step, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add some spring onion and the rice to this. Stir well until heated through. Enjoy!!! Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#14

Easy chocolate layered cake

Though I have been baking cakes for a while now, I have shied away from baking layered cakes and also from icing the cakes. I always thought that icing is not something that is easy to do. I would drool over pictures of fellow bloggers' cakes with perfect, melt-in-your-mouth kind of icing on top. I recently conquered my fear of both - baking layered cakes and of making icing at home, realizing in the process that it is not a very difficult task if you have good quality ingredients on hand.

What you need:
For the chocolate cake: (Recipe source : Adapted from the Hershey's website - www.hersheys.com)
All purpose flour - 3 cups
Dark chocolate cut into small pieces - 1.5 cups (I used Morde)
Water - 2 cups
Baking soda - 2 tsp
Buttermilk - 2 tbsp (Original recipe calls for white vinegar)
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Vegetable oil - 2/3 cupshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp

Preheat oven to 180 degree centigrade. Grease two nine inch round cake pans.
Mix together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
Heat chocolate in the microwave (medium power) for two minutes or until it melts when stirred. Cool a little and then add it into the mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix with a hand blender until well blended.
Pour the mixture into the greased pans and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool completely.

For the whipped chocolate cream frosting : (Recipe source - Divya's Easy cooking)
Dark chocolate - 1/2 cup
Cream - 2 cups (I used Nilgiris cream)
Sugar - 3 tbsp
In a large, thick bottomed sauce pan, boil the cream and sugar. Switch off the heat and then mix in the chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts completely. Let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Whip the cream over an ice bath at medium speed until soft peaks begin to form. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
This is the part that made me happiest. I couldn't believe how easy it was to do this and how wonderful the whipped cream tasted.

For the chocolate glaze : (Recipe source - adapted from the Hersheys website)
Grated dark chocolate - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Water - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp (Original recipe calls for 1 cup, but I felt it would make the cake too sweet)
Melt butter in a pan. Add sugar, chocolate and water. Cook on a low flame, stirring constantly until it forms a smooth, slightly thick paste. Take care to not let it boil. Let it cool to room temperature.

Putting the cake together:
Place on of the cakes on the serving platter Spread 1/3rd of the whipped chocolate cream frosting on it evenly. Place the other cake on top. Now cover the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
Pour the glaze on top of the cake, letting some of it run down the sides.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.



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Dabeli masala

The variety of street food that is on offer in India is mind boggling. Each state has its own kind of street food - something special that is only available on the road sides and not in fancy restaurants.
If you happen to be in Bangalore, do take some time out to visit Thindi Beedhi which is in VV Puram. It is a street dedicated to food. The name literally means Food Street. You will find huge crowds thronging the small street on weekends, vying for dosas, super soft idlis, chaats, badam milk and sweets. There is a chaat shop here that I really like. The dabelis in this shop are always in huge demand.
Dabeli is a street food from the state of Gujarat. It literally means pressed. With potatoes, sweet and sour chutney, spicy chutney, pomegranates and sev stuffed into burger buns, this is nothing short of a delightful explosion of flavours. The potatoes are cooked with a dash of special dabeli masala, which is the recipe that I have for you today. (Recipe source : Tarla Dalal)

What you need:
Red chilli - 1
Corriander seeds - 1 tsp, heaped
Cumin - 1/4 tsp
Clove - 5 or 6
Cinnamon - a medium sized piece

Dry roast all the ingredients in a kadai over a low flame for 2-3 minutes until the spices turn reddish brown.
Let it cool and then powder in the small jar of your blender.

This makes a small quantity, just enough for a single use.
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Creamy Pasta in white sauce

A few weeks back, the little girl went to a friend's birthday party and came back raving about the W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L creamy pasta that she ate there. The only help I got from her in helping me to figure out what made it so wonderful is that it was creamy and non spicy and that she loved it. Not one to miss out on a opportunity to feed her something that she likes, I too decided that I would make pasta for dinner.

What you need:
Pasta - any kind - 2 cups, cooked as per package instructions. (I used macaroni as the little girl is partial to it)
Mixed vegetables - of your choice - chopped into thin, long pieces and cooked. (I used carrots and beans, though the usual choices are broccoli and bell pepper)
Garlic - a few cloves
Celery - some, finely chopped
For the sauce:
Butter - 4 tsp
All purpose flour - 4 tsp
Milk - 1/2 litre - approx 3 cups
Onion - chopped fine
Black peppercorns - 5 or 6
Cloves - 5
Bay leaf - a small piece

To make sauce:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour to it and stir over a low flame to make a smooth paste. The colour of the flour should not change. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat milk in a thick bottomed pan. Add half the chopped onion to it along with peppercorns, cloves, garlic and bay leaf. When the milk boils, add the flour paste to it. Whisk over a low flame. When the mixture thickens, remove from heat and strain.

Assembling the pasta:
Heat some butter in a pan. Saute the finely chopped onion, garlic and the cooked vegetables. Add the cooked pasta, pasta sauce and salt as required. Heat till the pasta is well coated with the sauce.
Garnish with finely chopped celery/parsley.
Serve hot with some crushed pepper sprinkled on top.

This is my first post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme "Cooking by the Alphabet".
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Paneer masala dosa

Several years back, my parents and I went to a roof top restaurant which had advertised a "Dosa Mela" that featured more than a 100 varieties of dosa. The thought of the humble batter which we only turned into a ghee roast or uttappam or masala dosa, being churned out in a 100 variants was intriguing. Only when we went in did we realist that more than 50 varieties were non vegetarian and the ones that were vegetarian didn't look or sound very appetizing. Needless to say, we stuck to our regular masala dosa and ghee roast.
Today, on the last day of the blogging marathon, I decided to get out of my routine and whip up a different masala as the stuffing for the dosa.

What you need:
For the masala:
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Carrot - 1, grated
Paneer - 1 cup, grated
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ajwain seeds/omam - 1 tsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Heat oil in a pan. Add the jeera and ajwain. After a few seconds, add the onions and saute until translucent. Add in the grated carrots, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. Stir well. Sprinkle a little water over it and cook over a low flame until done. Add the grated paneer and kasuri methi. Stir well and heat for a few minutes. Switch off heat and set aside.

To make paneer masala dosa:

Pour a ladleful of dosa batter on to a hot dosa pan. Spread into a thin circle. Drizzle some oil over it.

When the under side starts to brown, flip over and cook for a few seconds. Flip over again and spread some masala over half of the dosa.

Fold the other half over this.

Serve hot with chutney and sambar.

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Kothamalli sevai (Corriander rice noodles)

Sevai is a dish that always brings up memories of Sunday evenings while growing up. My mother would make this as a special weekend treat. The process was not a simple one.....she would cook rice flour in a large kadai, roll them into balls while they were still warm and then, using an iron press, press them out into thin, long strings. That done, the rice noodles would then be flavoured with either a simple tadka of mustard and urad dal, or be turned into coconut or lemon sevai.
Things are much easier these days with ready made sevai available in stores. All that you have to do is immerse it in hot water for a few minutes and then proceed to flavour it. Today's recipe is a little different from the usual because it uses corrainder as the major ingredient.

What you need:
Sevai/Rice noodles - 1 packet, prepared according to instructions on the package and cooled.
Corriander/Cilantro/kothamalli - 1 bunch
Green chilli - 3 (adjust to taste)
Ginger - a 1 inch piece
Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbps
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp

Grind the corriander, ginger, garlic and green chilli to a smooth paste adding as little water as possible.
Heat oil in a kadai. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal. When the seeds pop, add the ground paste and saute on a low flame until the raw smell is gone and it changes to a dark green colour. Add the cooked sevai and salt. Mix well.
Serve with coconut chutney.

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Apple semiya payasam

My little girl would be content if I fed her only fruits all day - no rice, no rotis, no spicy curries. That, I think, would be an ideal day for her. However, I am the proverbial monster-mother who forces her to eat rice, sambar, veggies and rotis every single day. It is amazing to see how the nose that wrinkles up in disgust at the sight of rice will excitedly sniff out a perfectly ripe chikoo or papaya.
Today's dish incorporates fruit into payasam - a dessert that is usually made during festivals.

What you need:
Vermicelli/Semiya - 3/4 cup
Apple - 3/4 cup, peeled and cut into tiny pieces
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (adjust to taste)
Milk - 1.5 cups
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashews, raisins - a few, fried in ghee till golden brown

Take the chopped apple and water in a pan. Stew on low heat for 10-12 minutes until the apples are soft. Add the vermicelli and milk. Continue to cook on low heat until the vermicelli turns soft. Add sugar and stir till it dissolves completely. Remove from heat and add the fried cashews and raisins.

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Baked bread cups

Bangalore is hot these days......and not in a good way. I find myself trying to avoid spending too much time in the kitchen, my appetite is less, and most of the time I find comfort in a bowl of curd rice. To meet the fruit and veggie quotient, I also make quick salads which don't require standing by the stove for very long. Today I made a chick pea salad, some of which I filled into baked bread cups for an evening snack. The idea of making bread cups is from Tarla Dalal, but the filling is something that I came up with.

What you need:
Bread - 6 slices (or how many ever you intend to serve)
Chickpeas/kabuli channa - 1/2 cup, soaked overnight and cooked
Tomato - 1, chopped fine
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Carrot - 1, grated
Corriander - a little, chopped fine
Salt - to taste
Chaat masala - to taste

Preheat oven to 200 degree centigrade. Cut off the crust of the bread slices and steam them in a microwave steamer for 1:30 minutes. Remove and place each slice on a muffin pan. Press down to form a cup shape. Brush some ghee over the bread and bake for 10-12 minutes until brown and crisp. Baking time will vary from oven to oven.
Once baked, remove the cups and keep aside until ready to use.
To make the filling, mix all the ingredients together and spoon some into each bread cup.
Enjoy!!!

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Crispy rice balls

Don't we all at some time or the other, cook a little too much, and then wonder what to do with the leftovers? It happens to me more often than I care to admit, and I am always on the look out for ideas to turn these leftovers into new dishes that can be made with minimum fuss. Sometimes I have these brainwaves which help me turn an ordinary upma into something unique, or to jazz up rotis into a breakfast dish. This time, though, inspiration came in the form of Tarla Dalal's cookbook - Healthy Snacks for Kids.
Today's dish is a snack that can be made in a jiffy. What's unusual about that? Well, not only is this something that you can whip up quickly, but it is also a great way to use up leftovers. Some left over rice, and chopped/grated veggies of your choice is all that you need to make a really crunchy and crisp tea time snack.

Recipe source : Tarla Dalal's Healthy Snacks for Kids
What you need:
Cooked rice - 1 cup
Carrot - 1, gratedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced (adjust to taste)
Corriander leaves - a handful, chopped fine
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Water - roughly 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Make small balls of this and deep fry in medium hot oil until well browned and crisp. Drain on to absorbent paper.
Enjoy with a cup of hot chai.
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Tomato baath

These days I find myself clicking pics and letting them stay in the drafts for a very long time. Work has been busy and even on days when it isn't, I find that I don't have the drive to sit down and type out a post. The blogging marathon seems thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo be just the thing that brings me out of this phase every other month.
This week, you will find me blogging about traditional dishes with a twist. I took this topic up, because I find it challenging.....and a challenge is just what I need to start blogging again.
Today's recipe is tomato baath.....a very simple, colourful and flavourful dish. Now, you may wonder, what's the twist in this dish? Well, there's no rice in it. Ever since I made Bisi Bele Baath with broken wheat, I have been amazed by how well this grain lends itself to flavours that are traditionally used with rice. I intend to try out different rice dishes, substituting the rice with wheat rava.

What you need:
Wheat rava/samba godambu rava - 1 cup
Tomato - 4 juicy ripe medium sized, chopped
Onion - 1 large, chopped into large pieces
Green chilli - 2 or 3 (adjust to taste)
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Garlic - 3 or 4 cloves, minced
Cinnamon - a 1 inch piece
Cardamom - 4 cloves
Clove - 4 or 5
Black peppercorns - 3 or 4
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional) - This chilli powder gives the dish a nice colour.
Salt - to taste
Oil/ghee - 2 tbsphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Corriander - to garnish

Grind the cardamom, clove, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, ginger, garlic, onion and tomato to a smooth paste. Heat the oil/ghee in a pressure cooker. Add a tsp of mustard seeds and some urad dal to the oil. When the seeds pop, add the ground paste and saute it in the oil for a few minutes until the raw smell is gone. Add the turmeric powder and chilli powder. Mix well. Now stir in the wheat rava. Add salt and four cups of water. Close the pressure cooker and cook until one whistle. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for another five minutes. When the steam settles down, open the lid, stir well and garnish with finely chopped corriander.
Serve hot with raita/pickle.
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Urban Shots:Crossroads - Book Review

A collection of 30 urban stories by 26 authors, this, like the Mumbai DNA says, has the right ingredients for a breezy read. The stories, though written by different people, have a common thread - they are all set against an urban backdrop, and they are about common folks - people that you and I might run into while walking across the road, boarding a bus, waiting for a train or while in the grocery store. In fact, the book is all about stories in which the common man plays the hero. The title of the first story in the collection - 'Everyone Has a Story' says it all.
The characters, ranging from the ordinary and mundane to the fantastic, are all described in great detail, making it very easy to visualize them. Minu Bai who always ties her hair in a neat bun to ensure that no loose strand escape the discipline she enforces on it with bob-pins, Hako- the quiet boy who had the funniest laugh you would have ever heard, the mob in the Virar fast, Maharajji who loved to eat, the mother who is struggling with her single mom status, Chanda - a sex worker in Kamatipura, the red light area of Mumbai, a star couple who are adored and hailed as national heroes, the temptations that a man living away from his wife and kids struggles to keep at bay, a manager who has the unenviable task of handing out pink slips, and a father who is divorced from his wife, but yearns to build a stronger bond with his son are some of the characters and themes that grace the pages of this book in endearing and sometimes heart rending tales.
The language used throughout the book is very simple. The characters are people that can be related to and easily visualized, and this makes the book that much more enjoyable.
The stories that I liked the best are :
The Gap which talks about the relationship between a single mom and her daughter, and a series of crank calls that makes their bond stronger.
Wrong Strokes - a story that shows the difference in the amount of adulation that a cricketer gets in our country and that which a defense personnel gets. The ugly truth is that we don't admire or respect our jawans enough. We hardly see people queuing around jawans, waiting for their autographs. This story, to me, is one of the most touching in the entire collection.
Baba Premanand's Yoga Class - a light hearted story that still carries a powerful message. It tells us how we must think not once or twice, but many times, before we accuse someone of doing something. It also takes a dig at TV channels that will telecast anything if it will increase their viewership. They are not concerned with how it might affect the lives of the people concerned.
I also liked Rajasthan Summer for the twist at the end, which though predictable, proved to be enjoyable.
Overall, this book is a good read. Time will fly once you start reading this book, and it will be hard not to read it all at one go.
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Watermelon rind koottu

I have taken quite a bit of time to "reveal the star ingredient in my previous post where I'd asked you, my readers, to take a guess.
I had chopped up a watermelon and remembered reading about how the rind could be used to make dosa. The rind of the watermelon is the white part between the red flesh and the green skin. I chopped the rind intending to use it for dosa, but as I was chopping, I popped a piece into my mind and felt that it would taste really good in a koottu curry. And that is just what I made.

What you need:
Watermelon rind - 2 cups, chopped
Chana dal - 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup + 1/4 cup
Red chilli - 3
Cumin seeds - 1 heaped tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - a few

Cook chana dal and the melon rind separately in the pressure cooker until two whistles. The dal should be cooked, but not mushy.
Grind 3/4 cups of grated coconut, red chilli and cumin seeds to a fine paste.
Take the cooked rind in a kadai. Add the ground paste, turmeric powder, salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame and let it boil until the raw smell is gone. Add the cooked dal and mix well. Heat till most of the moisture evaporates. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat a tsp of coconut oil in a kadai. Add a tsp of urad dal and a tsp of mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add the curry leaves and the 1/4 cup of grated coconut. Saute on low heat till the coconut turns reddish brown. Add this to the cooked koottu. Stir well.
Enjoy with rice or roti.

Guess.....

Can you guess the star ingredient in this kootu curry?

It is a rather unusual ingredient.....well, unusual to me, as I have never seen it being used before. If I say anything more, it will make guessing that much easier.
So, until I reveal the answer, keep guessing.
Once I do, I am sure there will be someone who will tell me that they make this exactly the same way but until then.....I'll enjoy my bubble and bask in the glory of having come up with something original.

Sev Usal

This is a wonderfully hearty and lip smackingly good dish - the recipe of which I learned from my SIL in Gujarat. It is very simple to make and at the same time, will keep people coming back for more. A hot bowl of this sev usal is a great way to warm yourself up on a cold, winter night.

What you need:
Soaked peas - 2 cups (I used sprouted peas as I had them on hand. )
Salt - to taste
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Sev, finely chopped onions and corriander - for topping
Grind together:
Cardamom - 5 pods
Clove - 5
Onion - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomato - 2

Add 3 cups of water to the peas and cook in a pressure cooker. Once the steam has settled, open the lid and add the ground masala to the cooked peas. Add salt, garam masala and two cups of water. Let it boil for 20-25 minutes on a low flame until the raw smell goes away. The final product should be quite watery. So use your judgement and add water as required.
While serving:
This is usually eaten with bread/pav. Ladle out a bowl-ful of the hot usal. Top with generous helpings of finely chopped onion, corriander and sev. The usal will thicken up a bit once you add all the toppings. Scoop up the usal with bread/pav or alternately eat spoonfuls of the usal and bread. Either way, you are bound to enjoy your meal.

This is my entry to Spicy Treat's First event - Show me your hits and to Srav's Dish for loved ones.

Onion chutney with a twist

I hate mixing up flavours that are best enjoyed separately. I know there are umpteen people who go gaga over hot gulab jamuns served with a scoop of vanilla ichttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife cream. I am not one of them. I enjoy both, but give them to me in different bowls, please. The same goes for gajar ka halwa and ice cream. I cannot stomach the two together, though my stomach has ample space to accommodate the two separately.
By now I am sure you are wondering where on earth I am going with this argument. Well, it so happens that Kalyani sent me a mail about a month back asking if I would be interested in participating in Magic Mingle - a challenge where we have to use two given ingredients to create a dish. The combo chosen for the first mingle is Cinnamon and Chillies. Ever since she revealed the first two magic ingredients, I've been racking my brain - trying to think of a way in which I can use these two together. I had to get out of my comfort zone to even think of using cinnamon in a spicy dish. I definitely knew that I did not want to make a pulao/biriyani as this is the one dish which I like and usually make where this combo rules the roost. It definitely had to be something new.
I came up with this recipe as I was peeling some sambar onions with the intention of using it for a chutney to go with rotis. The thought of adding cinnamon to it is something that only a fellow blogger wanting to create something new for an event will understand.
What you need:
Shallots/pearl onion/sambar onion - 1 cup, peeled
Red chilli - 3 (adjust to taste
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Jaggery - a small piece
Oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Grind the onions and red chilli to a smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When they pop, reduce the heat and add the ground paste, salt, cinnamon and jaggery. Stir well. Cook until the raw smell of the mixture goes away, stirring every now and then.
Enjoy!!!
Note : None of the photos that I have of this chutney look very appetising. Hence, they are not shared here.

Beginning the year with a book review

The new year has brought in its wake a resolve in me to eat healthy. No.....no, I am not dieting. I don't think I can ever do that......but I have included(it's the same as saying resolved to include, right?) more fruits, greens, sprouts and veggies in my diet. A few days into the New Year, I received a mail from blogadda asking if I would be interested in reviewing Bhanu Hajratwala's Gujarati Kitchen. Not one to miss out on a chance like that, I immediately clicked Reply and said Yes.

The book arrived neatly packed, and promptly delivered. At first look, it looks like a simple, no-frills, no-nonsense cook book. It begins with a......hold your breath......20 page introduction of the author, including 2 pages filled with photographs. Though long, I found the introduction well written and quite interesting to read. I don't think I've ever read so much about the life of any other cook book author.
The section after the intro contains General tips for the budding cook - ranging from cooking times, preparing and washing ingredients, and deep frying to sprouting. The basic pantry ingredients, and utensils used in Gujarati cooking are also explained briefly.
The magic of Gujarati cooking lies int he blending of spices.....and the author gives us the recipes of some basic spice blends. What I really liked is how she has, after the recipe, told us what quantities of ingredients can be used to make just enough for a single use.
The recipe in the book are categorized into Veg & non-veg starters, veg and non-veg main dishes, breads, rice, accompaniments with rice, sweets, chutneys, pickles, tea time snacks and mukhwas (mouth fresheners).
All the recipes are written in an easy-to-follow manner. The one thing that could be improved on is the pictures in the book. All the pictures are grouped together just before the start of the relevant section. For eg, just before the recipes of main dishes, there are two pages containing photos of different main dishes. I feel that it would have been better if the photo had been on the same page as the recipe.
To me, a cook book review can never be complete without cooking something from its pages. The dish I chose to cook from this book is called Bhaji ne vatananu shaak(Spinach and green peas curry).

What you need:
Spinach - 2 bunches, cleaned and chopped coarsely (roughly 6 cups)
Fresh green peas - 1/2 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a few generous sprinklings
Oil - 2 tsp
Onion - 1, chopped
Salt - to taste
Grind together:
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Fresh turmeric - 1 inch piece (I grew my own....YAY!!!)
Garlic - 6 cloves
Green chilli - 3 (adjust to taste)
Amchur powder - 1 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add fenugreek seeds and heat until they start to brown. Sprinkle asafoetida and stir for a few seconds. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent. Now add the ground masala. Stir well for 2 minutes. Add the chopped spinach, peas, and salt. Mix well. Add about 1/4 cups of water, cover and cook until the peas soften. If you find that the curry still has water left in it, remove the lid and heat until all the moisture evaporates
Serve with roti/rice.
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Aloo bhaji

The last day of blogging marathon#11 has me cooking a very simple, quick and easy to make dish from Bihar. The recipe is from USMasala.

What you need:
Potato - 1 large, peeled and cut into 1 inch thick fingers
Oil - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida/Hing - a generous sprinkling
Dry red chilli - 1, broken into pieces
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Saunf/Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek/methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Nigella seeds/kalonji - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin,fennel,fenugreek,mustard and nigella seeds. Together, equal quantities of these five spices make for a heady and aromatic combination and the mix is called panchphoran in both Bengali and Bihari cuisine. When the seeds start to pop, sprinkle hing, add the red chilli and stir. Now add in the potatoes, salt and turmeric powder. If necessary, sprinkle some water, cover and cook till done.
Serve hot with roti/puri/rice.
Verdict : Quick and easy to put together, this is just my kind of recipe. The shape and the slight crunch when you bite into it makes me think of this as an Indian version of French Fries.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#11

Aloo tamatar ki subzi

A very simple, yet hearty sabzi, a bowl of this with some hot, puffed up puris is sure to warm you up on a cold, winter night.

What you need:
Potato - 4 large, boiled, peeled and chopped
Tomato - 3, medium, cut into large chunks
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Hing/asafoetida - a generous sprinkling
Salt - to taste

Take the chopped tomatoes in a microwave safe bowl. Add just enough water to cover the tomato pieces and microwave for 3-4 minutes or until cooked.
Take some oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds to it. When the seeds start to pop, add in a generous sprinkling of asafoetida. Stir in the potatoes. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, amchur and salt. Mix well. Now add in the cooked tomatoes with the water in which it was cooked. Add in an extra cup of water and let it boil for 10-15 minutes until the sabzi thickens.
Serve hot with puri/roti.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#11