Happy Deepavali

Wishing you all a very Happy Deepavali.

Peppers and Tofu in Peanut-Sesame sauce

Hello all, I have been missing in action for almost 5 months now. I had been to India on vacation, enjoyed the rainy season over there, got to eat spiciy snacks and good meals during those days. Along with that also enjoyed some street chaats and visited few, new restaurants while I was in my hometown Mysore.

During all this, blogging took a back seat, its been almost 15 days since we got back from our vacation, and I am back to my daily routine. I have been cooking the basic recipes like rice, curry and rotis.
A few days ago, I tried a new type of curry with the combination of green chilli peppers and tofu, along with roasted peanut and some spices. End result was very delicious and it tastes great with chapthis , rotis as well as rice.

So here is the recipe for it.


Ingredients :

• Green chilli peppers (long, mild ones)- 4
• Onion - 1 medium size
• Tomato - 1
• Tofu (firm kind) - cubed about 1/2 cup
• Tomato paste or tamarind paste - 1 tsp>

For Tempering: Oil- 1tbsp , Mustard seeds-1tsp.
Roast and Grind :

• Peanuts-Groundnuts - 1/4 cup
• Corrinder seeds - 1tbsp
• Sesame seeds - 1tbsp
• Black pepper corns - 1tsp
• Fennel seeds - 1tsp
• Red chillies - 2 (more for more spice level)

1. Wash and chop onion, tomatoes and green chilli peppers to big bite size pieces.
2. Heat apan, add the above mentioned ingredients for roasting. Roast on low flame for few minutes, untill everthing smells good and peanuts turns ligt brown. Let it cool. Then grind it to bit course powder (or else use tamarind paste or water and use that to while grinding to make as smooth paste).
3. Heat oil in a pan, when hot enough add mustard seeds, when they start to pop add cut veggies and saute/fry till onion is soft and pepper changes colour to drak green.
4. Now add ground mixture, add more water to make the curry to medium consitsancy. Add tomato paste now along with water if using. Add salt ,mix well, let it cook for 10 mins.

5. Cut Tofu(paneer can also be used) to bite size peices. Now add them with the veggies and peanut mixture. Add more water if required. Mix gently.
6. Switch off from the heat and let it sit for 10 mins or so before serving. So that, tofu will absorb the flavours from spices.

Serve warm with chapathis or rice. Spicy and healthy curry, Enjoy !

Chutney Chawal / Rice with chutney.

Chutney Anna (chutney with cooked rice) as we call it. This is one of our favorite meals to eat. Since Chutneys are very staple at our home we enjoy them with idlies, dosas, rottis and rice. Whenever we have some left over chutney, I make some warm Rice, we just mix them with chutney and little ghee(tuppa) on top.

Today being bored to make sambar or any sides for our lunch, I made chutney with cilantro leaves(kothambari soppu)and with some nuts to go along with rice. Simple and satisfying lunch.


Ingredients for chutney :

Cilantro leaves - 1 bunch or 2 big handful (cleaned and washed)
Dalia Dal/ hurigadale - 2 tbsp (peanut/groundnuts can be used)
Cashew nuts- 1/2 cup(any nuts can be used)
Onion- 1 small
Ginger - 1 piece (about 1")
Coconut - 1 tbsp
Tamarind extract - 2 tsp (or tamarind paste)
Salt - to taste

For garnish : 2tbsp of roasted cashews.

• Take all the ingredients mentioned above in a blender/mixer, and grind them to smooth paste using little water. Adjust salt to taste. Keep aside.
• Take one cup of cooked rice ( I use basmati rice), add 2 tsp or more of chutney and mix well to combine. Add salt if required. Garnish with few nuts .

*After mixing the rice with chuntey, one can also do the seasoning with oil, mustard seeds and channadal. This meal can be made with in 10 Min's of time, I like to do this for quick lunches or when just cooking for myself.

Enjoy !

I am sending this recipe to JFI-Cilantro hosted by Cilantro. Originally started by Indira of Mahanandi.





and to 15 minutes cooking to Mahimaa's Kitchen.

Pumpkins in Mint sauce / Pumpkin Sagu

Dosa/doses are a must at least once a week at our home. I usually make them during weekend, if the batter is ready, I like to wake up late and not to worry about breakfast. As for the side dish to go with dosa, its usually Sagus(curry with poppy seeds) or Palyas(stir-fry) made with aloo/potatoes or pumpkin.

This weekend I made pumpkin sagu with mint. Just adding one not so usual ingredient like mint, to sagus, gives the dish whole new taste. Since mint tends to overpower the dishes, I have just used a few spring to give the dish nice aroma and sweet flavor of mint.



Ingredients :
Pumpkin/kumbalakaayi - about 2 cups (peeled & cubed, i have used butternut squash)

Tempering/Seasoning
Oil - 1tbsp
Mustard seeds/ saasive - 1tsp
Channadal/kadalebele - 1tbsp

For grinding to paste:
Poppy seeds/ gasagase - 2tsp
Coconut - 2tbsp (dried or fresh or substitute with nuts)
Cinnamon, cloves - 2 each
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Chili's - 2 Green or red
Cilantro leaves - one big handful
Mint leaves - about 2 springs or 10-15 leaves (steams removed)

1. Peel and chop pumpkins to bit size cubes and keep aside.
2. Take all the ingredients for grinding and blend in mixer until smooth using little water.
3. Heat oil, when hot add mustard seeds and Channadal. When Channadal starts to turn brown add chopped pumpkins mix well. Cover with a lid and cook for 5-7 Min's until its half cooked.
4. Now add the ground paste and enough water, add salt mix well. Cover and cook for another 10 min or so until the flavors combine well . Adjust salt and spice.
5. Sagu should be of medium consistency, pumpkins should be soft but not mushy. Serve warm with dosas, rotis or rice.

Pumpkin- Mint Sagu with Set Dose

Tastes great with dosas or rice. Enjoy !

Grated Vegetable Parathas

Chapathis(flat breads made with wheat flour) or Parathas(flat breads made by combining wheat flour with vegetable and spices) are very staple at our home. I make them almost everyday for our lunch or dinner.
Today I made with some grated vegetables along with cumin and Nigella seeds and had with coconut chutney.



Ingredients I have used :

• Grated Vegetables - Zucchini, Carrots, Radish all grated- about 2cups mixed together.
• Green onion, dried methi leaves - about 2tsp each
• Cumin(jeera) powder and red chili powder- 1tsp
• Cumin seeds and Nigella (kalonji) seeds - 1tsp.
• Oil - 1tsp
• Salt to taste
• Whole wheat flour/atta flour- 2cups or more.

1. Wash and grate the vegetables to (remove/peel the outer skin if its tough).
2. To the vegetables mix chopped green onions and methi leaves and spice powders and seeds..Add salt and keep aside for 5 mins.
3. To this vegetable mixture, add wheat flour and mix well to combine, moisture from the veggies will soften the flour so add water little by little to make a stiff dough.
4. Add little oil and knead for few minutes. Then take a small size ball , roll them thin and cook them on griddle/tava.
5. Enjoy them warm with chutneys or plain yogurt/curds.

I am sending this to Think spice -Kalonji(nigella seeds) hosted by Ammalu's Kitchen which was originally started by Sunita of Sunita's World.

Baked Plantains

Plantains or Balekayi as we call in Kannada. Which is most used for making Bhajjis (deep fried with chickpea flour coating) or deep fried chips. We love them both and enjoy eating them, but since its deep fried I make them very rarely.

Last week I was going through a magazine, where I saw this recipe for Baked Plantains(Recipe of Ingrid Hoffmann). I followed her recipe but replaced Cilantro leaves for Parsley. I made this as a evening snack and very much enjoyed them, very healthy way of using Plantains.


(Adapted from Ingrid Hoffmann's Recipe)

Ingredients

• Plantain (s) - 1 big or 2-3 small ones
• Spices : chili powder, cumin powder
• Cilantro/coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (wash and chopped)
• Peanut oil - 2tsp
• Salt for taste

1. Pre-heat the oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Peel the skin of plantain and cut them to medium size slices ( not too thin or thick)
3. In a bowl mix oil, salt, chili powder and cumin powder and chopped cilantro leaves. Mix well (if making for kids mix every thing except chili powder).
4. Coat the sliced plantains with the oil mixture on both sides. Lay them in a single layer on a Parchment paper or foil in a baking sheet.
5. Cover them loosely with a foil and bake for about 10-15 mins and turn them and bake for another 5-10 mins. Let it cool a bit.

Enjoy! Have a nice Weekend eveyone.

Tomatilla Salsa

Tomatilla pronounced as Tom-ma-tia, belongs to berry family. They look similar to tomatoes but green in color and much more tangy/sour in taste.

I found some fresh tomatillas in store last week so brought home a few. Best way to enjoy them is by roasting in oven or stove top. I used it to make a simple Salsa (Mexican version of chutney/dip) and enjoyed with some corn chips.

Ingredients I used

• Tomatillas - 5
• Yellow onion -1 medium size
• Red Tomato - 1 small (I used it to give nice color and taste, this is completely optional)
• Serrano pepper- 1 (Jalapeño, Thai or Indian chilies can be used)
• Olive oil - 1tsp
• Salt, Sugar for taste.
• Few cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit(if using stove, heat a thick bottomed pan).
2. Remove husk (thin layering on tomatillas), wash and chop them to big pieces. Chop onion, tomato and peppers/chili as well.
3. Arrange them on a foil in single layer, add little oil and salt mix them( if doing on stove top add little oil to pan and then add chopped veggies and roast them until brown) roast them about 15 - 20 mins until veggies are light brown in color. Refer pic below.
4. Let it cool a bit. Add little salt, sugar ( to balance the tangyness), chopped cilantro leaves.
5. Grind them in a mixer, adjust salt and sugar. Garnish with few more cilantro leaves.

We had it with corn chips. Can also add with beans and rice or goes as a delicious side with any other Mexican dishes. Enjoy !

click on the picture for bigger image

I am sending this to Vaishali of Holy Cow! for this months Its A Vegan World - Mexican.

Spicy Corn Muffins - Tasty Palettes

I am a frequent visitor to Suganya's blog Tasty Palettes. everytime I visit her I am just awed by her pictures and delicious recipes. I have tried few of her Tofu recipes, her tofu sandwich is favorite in my house.

Last week I saw this recipe for Spicy corn muffins and instantly thought of giving it a try and did it. Very simple and easy recipe to make with delicious flavors of corn meal. I have followed her recipe but excluded egg. Thanks Suganya for your wonderful recipes, we enjoyed it very much.
I'll be looking forward to cook more recipes from you.

This is my entry for Tried & Tasted with Tasty Palettes hosted by Sweatha of Curryleaf which was originally started by Zlamushka of SpicyKitchen .



Check this link for the Recipe for Spicy Corn Muffins from Suganya's Tasty Palettes.

Cracked-Wheat Idlies (Steamed Cakes)

Cracked wheat or broken wheat known as Godhi thari in Kannada. I use them regularly in my kitchen for making upma/porridge and Kheer/payasa most often. Last week I tried making idlies with cracked wheat and it really came out very soft with nice texture.

For making Idlies I have used the basic Idly recipe of 1:2 ratio of Urad Dal to rice here instead of rice I have used Cracked wheat. One thing I noticed with these idlies was, wheat fills you up and doesn't make you hungry for several hours. A healthy way to start the day.


Ingredients :

• Urad dal /Uddinabele- 1 cup
• Cracked wheat/Godhi thari - 2 cups

1. Wash and soak urad dal and cracked wheat in a 2 separate bowls for at least for 4-5 hours.
2. Then drain all the water from the urad dal and grind in mixer or blender. Add water little by little to make the batter smooth and fluffy. Takes about 15 mins. Batter should be bit thick in consistency.
3. Now drain water from soaked cracked wheat, and mix them with ground batter. Mix well to combine.
4. Cover and let it ferment (i use micro oven) for 7-8 hours or overnight.
5. After it ferments or doubled its volume. Add little salt and mix gently.
6. Bring water to boil, lightly grease the Idly mould. Pour the batter and steam for 15- 20 mins. Switch off and let it cool for 10 more mins.
7. Once cooled Idlies comes off easily from the mould. Serve with chutney or sambar on the side.

Previously posted Dessert recipe using cracked wheat.
Cracked-Wheat Pudding (Godhi Payasa/Kheer).

Off this goes to JFI-Wheat hosted by Roma of Roma's Space which was originally started by Indira of Mahanandi.

Ugadi Wishes

Ugadi (festival) marks begining for Spring and start of the New year.

Happy and Healthy Ugadi wishes to all my readers.

UGAADI SHUBHASHAYAGALU.