Lets Revive!!!

Its been a pregnant pause with the updates on the blog. And since I am in the mode of revival, I decided to place a mark on this slumbery-blog too :)

Let me kick start with a tried and tested happy recipe from my end -

Thair-idli ( dahi - buttons... as I would coin it )

Ingredients -
Idli batter ( enough to make 30 button idlis )
Ginger ( 1 inch cube ) Finely shopped
Green chillies ( 8 to 10 ) Finely chopped
Hing
Mustard
Curry leaves
Handful of dessicated coconut (frozen preferred to dry) Imp ingredient
Cashewnuts
2 cups of beaten curds

Procedure -
Steam the idlis and arrange them on a flat bowl.
Prepare the tempering - In warm oil crackle mustards and add all ingredients, except coconut and let it fry.
To the beaten curd, add sufficient salt and red chilly powder.
Add coconut just minute before finishing the tadka and take care to not let it brown.
Add the tempering to the curd after around 5 to 6 min or once its cooled down. If added hot to the curd, it may curdle.
Pour the curd over the idlis. Garnish with red chilly powder and cilantro.

Keep aside for 1 to 2 hours before serving.
Enjoy!! :)

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On other notes -

The run-baby-run is long forgotten. Shall I remove it to replace with resolutions for coming year??
Probably a new template to signify the winter and fall and kick start the blog again??

Wonder if anyone is reading at all.. but, hey, it is not that hard :)

Summers Thirst quenchers

Summer's here in full swing and with it comes that perpetually thirsty feeling, when you never want to eat anything thats not cold and refreshing. Here are a few things i've been going after, what are your favorites?

1. Freshly squeezed apple/orange juice with breakfast, no added sugar.

2. Yogurt with a dash of blueberries & Walnuts for added flavor

3. Yogurt blended indian style with hing, salt, green chillies & corriander, seasoned with mustard & cumin seeds. Cucumber works well in the blend too!

4. Nimbu pani - Fresh Lemonade with Salt & sugar for the kick.

Finally, A fun fact, did you know that veggies with higher water content can fill you up faster than a glass of water during a meal? More reason to veg out all over!

Love of greens

I did some experimenting yesterday. Instead of trashing the gorgeous pink-veined leaves of the beetroot bunch, I chopped it up and tossed it into saag-ki-dal recipe. Believe me, these leaves taste awesome. I have also eaten the pink radish's leaves as part of a salad sometime and that is going into my next dal recipe! :)

Here is how i made it -

Toor dal - 1 cup cooked with one large tomato until mashed

Beetroot leaves - one generous bunch, chopped till the stalk gets too fibery

Onion - one cut lengthwise

For seasoning -

Mustard

Jeera

Amchur powder for 'Khatta', tangy twist

chilly powder, coriander powder.

Procedure -

Tadka the ingredients in seasoning, add the cut leaves. Let the raw smell disseminate. Add the tadka and salt to cooked dal. Add enough water and let boil for about 5 min. Once it cools, add about a tsp of lemon juice. serve Hot.

Goes great with rotis and curd.

So have you tried any new ingredient in your dishes? How did it turn out?

Black bean soup

Black bean soup is one of my most preferred soup for Dinner. Its so filling and easy to make !

Ingredients:

* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 Vegetable/chicken broth carton ( then don't have to add water) or
1 small chicken/veg bouillon cubes
* 1/4 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
* 1-1 1/2 cup boiling water
* 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon cumin
* 1/2 lemon, juice of
* 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
* 1/2 chilli powder ( as desired )
* 1 tsp Olive oil (optional)

Directions:

1. In a pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil or combine the first five ingredients; simmer for 10 -15 minutes.

2. Add half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes.

3. Puree soup ie press the bean down using a flat spoon or use a blender

4. Add the rest of the beans to the soup.

5. combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water.

6. Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.

Dress up: For crisp lovers, add the crispy corn tortilla chips just before u serve. You could also add coriander leaves / grated cheese.

Last weekend, I started off to make brownies then decided why not make brownie bites (my creation !). I thought it didn't come out well but over time I loved it. Will post the recipe soon.

The dum aloo success story

I have been so excited about my kashmiri dum aloo inspired dish, I knew i had to blog about it! So i drew inspiration from vah re vah video and peppered in my own style and here is how it looked and tasted awesome.

Before you venture, i must admit it is not a very healthy dish for the potatoes floating in there. But anything had in sufficient quantities is healthy even potatoes! :)

Ingredients

Onion finely chopped- 1

Potatoes ( small ) - 8 to 10

Chilly powder - 2 tsp heaps (or to your spice level)

Garam masala - 1/4th tsp ( i am not a huge fan of garam masala, hence lesso of it )

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Amchur powder- 1/8th tsp ( can be substituted with tamarind )

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Kasoori methi - 1 tsp
Elaichi ( cardamom ) - 2 green and 1 black

Curd - 1/2 cup thick beaten

Procedure 

• Boil the potatoes until half cooked ( i let it in the pressure cooker for 1 whistle )
• In the meanwhile fry the onion + ginger garlic paste + crushed elaichis and kasoori methi in a spoon of oil.
• Heat water in a bowl such that it is near boiling and add the masala powders to it. Let sit.
• Peel the potatoes and fork-poke them so that they have sufficient holes to let the masala seep through.
• Now add the potatoes to the fried onions and fry until they are light brown and are coated with onions and methi.
• Now pour the masala mix. Add salt. Add enough hot water such that the potatoes are almost submerged. Let it simmer until the gravy thickens and the raw masala smell leaves.
• Once the gravy is sufficiently thick ( takes about 20 min to get there ), lower the flame and simmer without the lid.
• Now pour the beaten curd to the mixture. Make sure the gravy is not pipping hot when you add the curd, or the curd with break.
• Simmer for another 2 to 3 min in low flame. Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy with rice or parathas

Final Variations -

•  I added a dollop of kulfi icecream before taking the dish off the stove. It gave a smooth malai touch to the dish
• Cooking for a party, make a cahew paste and pour into the gravy. top it with cream.

Well its not a healthy dish... But then.. what the hell? You have to treat yourself once in a while! :)

Few summer recipes

Seems like the demise of the blog is in sight! Ladies, lets not let that happen! what say?

I know most of us have been busy, travelling or simply plain lazy! So here is my effort in resurrecting -

Avocado parathas -

I decided to substitute, ghee /butter ingredient in flour with 1/4th of ripe avocado.

2 cups of wheat flour

hot water

1 tsp of chilly power (optional)

salt to taste

half of a small avocado OR 1/3rd of large one.

Knead the dough like usual with the buttery avocado. No need of oil/ghee and the parathas are simply delectable. Melts in the mouth. I had them with mirchi ka salan

Tofu grills

We have been into a lots of grilling since summer and though i agree that "grill" often refers to meat, I have tried veggie options and loved it too. Tofu has been a good hit and here is how it is made -

Get extra firm tofu from store.

for marinade -

mix olive oil, chilly powder, salt, mixture of coriander+pudina. Mix and match this to you taste and ingredients. I never add the same ingredients twice! :)

smear the tofu pieces, cut in cuboidal slabs. Let sit for one hour. they are ready to be grilled! :)

Beach Sandwiches -

I name them so, since last week i had them at NC beach, made by my friend sapu and they tasted heavenly! So here is how i repeated/modified her recipe -

Whip 2 Tbps light mayo, 2 tsps of red chilly flakes, pepper and salt to taste. toss in grated carrots/grated cucumber/grated capsicum and tomato. Spread lightly, so that the sandwiches arent thick. Makes a great outdoor picnic snack. nyum!

Blue potato chips

This is not a recipe. Incase i raised that question!

I am a huge fan of terra chips. The exotic veggies in their chips are truly awesome and some taste very similar to tapioca and jackfruit chips we get in kerala. Thats another reason i love them.

I had their blue potato chips on the flight. they are made from naturally blue potatoes and they had a nutty flavor. yum!

I say try the terra chips for a change from the usual ones!

Hope summer is treating everyone well!

For love of rotis

My love for rotis, different types and sizes, is my only trait thats not evidently south-indian :) I can practically go without rice for months without temptation. It caught on from my mother, who had in quest for a healthier family meal, learnt the art of making perfect bubbled phulkas during her years in Pune. She can fix the rotis from almost anytype of flour. Later she moved to carrot parathas, cabbage teplas, kulchas, aaloo parathas, rumali rotis and more.

Her phulkas still remained a master piece with every roti practically round and bubbling like a dream on the gas flame. And when smothered with a spoonful of ghee, I would gobble down way more than the stomach's capacity. I took a while to get my rotis in shape and another pregnant pause to get them to "phul" completely and the gas flame is a huge weakness for the phulka lover in me!For the same reason, gujju and marwadi food! :)

Considering N is a cringer for rotis and it is with utmost pain he manages to eat them for lunch every weekday, I ensure I give him the complete benefit of hogging rice on weekends. That also means my experiments with rotis are eaten by me alone; while N sticks to the traditional phulka and doesnt venture further. I have tried jowar and besan -di- roti and loved both. I have also ventured a lot into kakdi/beetroot/methi/pudina parathas.

So this time it was Bajra ki roti on the menu. I had it many years before at a rajasthani place in hyd. I hadnt realised it was an art to make it. Since the flour doesnt have enough gluten to hold it, it cannot be spread with the roti roller. It has to be done by hand. Nevertheless, I struggled quiet a bit, youtubed for help and finally managed it just fine in the end. It was totally yum with punjabi rajma with dahi on the side :)

Are you a roti fan too? Have you tried making anyhing new? How did it turn out?

Healthy eating everyone! Hope to see more posts.

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In case you are interested -