Ammu's Rasoi

Whole Wheat Banana Pancake

2011-12-31T21:24:00.002-07:00

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg, Beaten
2 Tsp. Baking pd.
2 Tsp. Yogurt
1 1/2 Tsp. Cane sugar
1 cup milk
¼ Tsp. Salt
Cooking Oil
2 Overripe Banana, Mashed

Directions

Combine flour, Cane sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, yogurt and bananas.
Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle with a ladle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.
Cook on low heat until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; If you try to cook the pancake on high heat they burn and turn black.
Serve hot.
Makes about 6-8 pancakes.

Almond Biscotti

2011-11-15T21:25:00.004-07:00

Last weekend we went grocery shopping, usually we do not buy any cookies the reason being that we buy it in the heat of the moment, but when the cookies come home they would be lying on the table top or the cupboard. We do not eat it and at last they find their way to the garbage bin. But last week my husband wanted to buy almond biscotti. We went to the cookie aisle to look for the almond biscotti but there were none on the shelf.

Well during the week I thought it would be a good idea to make almond biscotti. I was not sure if it would turn out good. With a little effort and a lot of thought I finally got around to baking them. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Butter (I used salted butter)

1 Egg

1/4-1/2 Cup Cane Sugar +1/4 Cup Cane Sugar

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Vanilla Essence

1/4 Cup Sliced Almond

2 Tsp. Milk

Method

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg, beat well after addition. Stir in vanilla essence. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture. Stir in almonds.

Line a baking sheet with foil and grease foil. Divide dough in half; spread into two 12-in. x 3-in. rectangles on foil.

Brush with milk and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Remove from oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees F. Lift rectangles with foil onto wire rack; cool for 15 minutes.

Place on a cutting board; slice diagonally 1/2 in. thick. Place slices with cut side down on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake 10 minutes more.

Turn oven off. Store in airtight container once the biscotti is completed cooled.

Tips: I used more all purpose flour as the dough felt a bit soft. The sweetness can be changed according to taste. If you use 1/4 cup of sugar it is good for the sugar conscious, but 1/2 sugar is just about right. Use sugar as per your taste.

Tangy Fish With Indian Spices

2011-11-11T18:50:00.007-07:00

Whenever you purchase fish it is a good idea to marinate it and let it rest for a couple of hours so that it tastes tangy great. I buy fish fillets in case I do not want to clean the fish. You wash the fillets in cold water and let the water drain for a couple of minutes before you marinate the fish. You can purchase any fish you like sardines, pomfrets, mackerel and marinate them. The fish that I prefer the most is sardines, you need to add a bit of more chilli and lemon juice to it in addition to the rest of the spices. This gives the sardines a great taste, it is tangy and a bit spicy at the same time.

Ingredients

1 Tsp. Ginger +Garlic Paste
1/2 Tsp. Turmeric Powder
1/4-1/2 Tsp. Red Chilli Powder (According to taste)
1 Tsp. Salt/ or as per taste
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1/2 –1 Cup Italian Flavoured Bread crumbs
Oil for pan fry

Method

Drain the water from the fillets if there is any. Add the ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and lemon juice to fillets. Marinate the fish with all the ingredients. Let the fillets rest for a couple of hours. If you marinate the fish overnight the fish becomes very tasty.

Take a skillet, heat it. Spread 1-2 Tsp. oil or as per taste. Dip the fillets in the bread crumbs. Place the fish on the pan and fry the fish till it is golden brown on both sides.

Serve the fish hot/ warm with rice and dal.

Green Chick Peas, Potato, Prawns

2011-11-09T21:24:00.008-07:00

In Indian homes everyday we prepare curries just like stew is prepared locally. No Indian household feels the meal is complete if there is no curry at the dinner table or during lunch. It is a must. No meal is a meal without a curry. Today is one of the routine days when you need to think what curry would be good to please your family. Chholay/Green Chick Peas Should be fresh, they are available in the Indian grocery when in season. Green Chick Peas has a thin skin on it when you buy it in the grocery store, you have to peel off the skin to get the tender green chick peas.

Ingredients

100 Gms Fresh Green Chick Peas
1 Medium Potato
8-9 Tiger Prawns
1/2 Piece Medium Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Tbsps. Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp. Cumin Seeds
2 Peppercorns
1/2” Cinnamon stick
1 Clove
1 Red Chilli
1 Smarties size Tamarind Pulp
1/2 Cup Shredded Fine Coconut

Method

Pressure cook the chick peas for about15-20 minutes. Cut the potato into cubes, devein the prawns. Cook the prawns and potato together with salt. Add the pre-cooked chick peas to the potatoes and prawns. Give it a boil together so that the salt is equally distributed to the prawns, chick peas and potato.

Roast the dry ingredients till it gives a aroma. Roast the shredded coconut till it is golden brown. Sauté the onion and garlic with a little oil till it is golden brown.

Grind all the ingredients to fine paste.

Add the ground paste to the cooked potato, prawns and chick peas. Bring it to a rolling boil. Taste and add salt if required.

Serve hot with rice or naan.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

2011-11-09T09:54:00.004-07:00

I love cinnamon rolls but the amount of fat in it puts me off every time I want to eat it, but these look really good and may still contain the same amount of calories. I found this recipe on A Spicy perspective they look really beautiful. Hope you enjoy them.

Ingredients

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 ¼ cups)
4 oz softened cream cheese
3 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1 tsp. dry active yeast
1 cup granulated sugar
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ Tb. cinnamon
3 Tb. whole milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Mix 2 tsp. vanilla extract with 1 tsp. of dry active yeast.
Cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla with yeast, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy—2-3 minutes.
Turn the mixer on low. Add the salt, then slowly add the flour. Scrape the bowl and mix until well combined.
Wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
Cut the dough in half and leave one half in the fridge while working with the first half.
Flour a piece of wax paper and roll the dough into a 7 X 18 inch rectangle that is approximately ¼ inch thick.
Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar over the dough leaving 1 1/2 inches bare along the long edge. Starting on the cinnamon covered side, carefully roll the dough tightly toward the bare edge. You may want to cut the dough into two sections to make the rolling easier. *At this point, you can place the rolls back in the fridge and save for weeks if needed.
Press the seam firmly, then cut the roll into 1/3-1/2 inch slices and lay on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
Repeat with the remaining dough and cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 9-12 minutes.
Cool completely. Then whisk the powdered sugar, milk and remaining vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Dip the face of each cookie into the glaze and set on a rack to dry.

Preparation time: 1 hour(s)

Cooking time: 10 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 64 – 72 cookies

Royal McIntosh Crumble

2011-11-08T10:05:00.001-07:00

Filling:

2 McIntosh apples, peeled, seeded, cut in 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes

2 Mutsu or Crispin apples, peeled, seeded, cut in 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes

2 Honey crisp apples, peeled, seeded, cut in 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes

6 tbsp. (90 mL) granulated sugar

1 tbsp. (15 mL) ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. (1 mL) pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp. (30 mL) cold, unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

Topping:

4 tbsp. (60 mL) cold, unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

1/2 cup (125 mL) each: packed brown sugar, all-purpose flour, rolled oats

1/4 cup (60 mL) whole blanched (skinless) almonds, chopped

For filling, in large mixing bowl, toss three types of apples until combined.

In small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Add to apples. Toss well.

Spread apple mixture in buttered 9-inch by 13-inch (23-cm by 35-cm) baking dish. Dot with butter.

For topping, in mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix by hand until coarse crumbs form. Add flour, oats and almonds. Mix well. Spoon or sprinkle evenly over apples.

Cover dish with tinfoil. Bake in preheated 350F (180C) oven 15 minutes. Uncover. Bake until topping is golden, apples are tender, and apple juices start to seep out around crumble, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 9 servings.

Star-tested by Jennifer Bain

Home made Paneer/ Cottage Cheese

2011-11-06T13:31:00.006-07:00

I always purchase paneer from Indian grocery and was very comfortable buying it until recently, but the last purchase was not good in the sense that it had some pieces of plastic in it. I did not make it home because it was too much of effort to prepare it.
I stopped buying it from the Indian grocery and made it at home today when I decided to prepare palak paneer.

Here is the procedure:

Ingredients

1 Litre Milk (I used 2%)
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Method

Boil the milk in the pan.

Heat the milk and keep stirring the milk so that it does not catch the bottom of the pan and burn. If the milk gets burnt then the paneer would smell and it is difficult to eat the paneer.

When the milk comes to a boil, pour the lemon juice into the boiling milk.

Reduce the heat and stir continuously until the milk is completely curdled.

Remove from the heat when the separation of the curds and yellowish whey is complete.

Never over curdle the milk as you will get a hard paneer after it is set.Do not over cook.

Strain the mixture through a clean muslin cloth.

Hold it under running water for a minute and then press out the excess water.

Hang the muslin for 15-20 minutes so that all the whey is drained out.

To make the paneer into a block tie the muslin and place it under something heavy.

The paneer can now be cut into chunks and used as required.

Elk Curry

2011-11-02T18:33:00.011-06:00

We have been here in Calgary before but we never thought of tasting any of the wild game meat. Only after we stayed in Newfoundland St. John’s and tasted moose we were excited to try all the other kinds of meat that were available in the farmer’s market.

We tried Bison meat and really liked it and even started to buy it as it is lean and tastes good. We get it fresh in the farmer’s market.

Last week we went to farmer’s market and found elk, we purchased it to try and see how it tastes. The lady at farmer’s market said that it was very lean.

Any meat cooked with curry is prepared a lot like a stew. You take some spices like fresh mint and coriander or cilantro leaves with green chilli, garlic grind it into a paste and marinate the meat.

Anyway here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 Lb Elk stew meat
2 medium potatoes
2 Tbspn Coriander Seeds
1/4 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 Inch Cinnamon Stick
2 Red Kashmiri Chilli
Small Ball Tamarind (Equal to 2 Smarties)
1 Clove
2 Peppercorn
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
1/2 Medium Onion
Salt for Taste
2-3 Tsp Olive Oil

To Marinate

1/2 cup Fresh Mint+Coriander/Cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp Yogurt
1/2 Piece Green Chilli
1/2 inch Ginger
2-3 Cloves Garlic
Salt For Taste

Saute

1/2 Onion Sliced Fine
1/2 Tomato Sliced Fine
2-3 Tsp Olive Oil

Method

Cut the elk meat in small bite size pieces as the stew pieces are big.

Grind the mint leaves,coriander leaves,green chilli,ginger, garlic with yogurt and salt and marinate the meat for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Put it in a pressure cooker and pressure cooker it for about 20-30 minutes.

Once the pressure is off take the meat out of the pressure cooker. Leave the water in the pressure cooker, cut the potatoes in quarters and cook in the water which is already in the pressure cooker so that it gets the flavour of the meat.

Roast all the dry ingredients in a pan till they give a sweet aroma. Roast the shredded coconut separately till it is light golden brown. Roast the onions with 2 tsps of oil. Grind all the ingredients including the tamrind in a blender into a fine paste . Add water is required.

Take a pan and heat it, add 2-3 tsp of oil. Add the onions and tomato to the pan and saute them till the onions are translucent and the tomatoes are well cooked.

Add the ground paste to the sauteed onion and tomato, stir well. Add the pre-cooked meat and stir it well. Add the pre-cooked potatoes to the meat, stir it and let it boil well.

Add salt if needed.

Serve hot with rice, bread, chapattis or naan.

Tips: Do not stir too much otherwise the potatoes gets mushed. Take care not to burn the onion as it destroys the taste of the gravy.

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

2011-11-01T15:22:00.005-06:00

With all the talk of healthy eating I came across a recipe in My Father's Daughter Cookbook for muffins. It is made from spelt flour and the book says that spelt flour does not have any sugar and are vegan, vegetarians can eat these muffins too.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Vegetable oil
1/2 Cup Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Vermont Maple Syrup/Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Light Agave Nectar
1 Cup White Spelt Flour
1 Cup Whole Spelt Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Fine Salt
2 1/2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 Cup muffin pan with paper cups.

Take 1/4 cup of flour and coat the blueberries in it so that they do not sink to the bottom of the pan.

Mix wet ingredients together, stir in the dry ingredients, and fold in the blueberries.

Divide the dough among the 12 muffin cups and bake until the toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

2011-11-01T10:29:00.011-06:00

Recently I baked Black Bean Brownies and they tasted great. They did not taste like they were made from beans. We loved it as we did not have to consume a lot of calories. I came across this brownies when I was reading the cookbook My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Ingredients

2 Cups White Spelt Flour
1 Cup High Quality Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Real Vermont Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Brown Rice Syrup/Light Agave Nectar
1/2 Cup Strong Brewed Coffee
Pinch Of Salt
1/2 Cup Soy Milk
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup High Quality Chocolate Chips,Divided( look for the grain-sweetened Variety if you want to stay sugar free)

Method

Preheat the oven 350 Degree F. Grease a baking dish 9x11 inch 2 inches high with Vegetable oil.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, syrups, coffee, soy milk, and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overbeat(that is how you end up with tough cake!).

Pour half the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the chocolate chips.

Pour the rest of the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle with the rest of the chocolate chips.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Whole Wheat Muffins

2011-10-31T19:00:00.002-06:00

Ingredients

2 Cups whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 Cup Cane sugar
1 Medium Carrot Shredded
3 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
3/4- 1 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Vegetable oil
1 Egg
2 Tsp Pumpkin Spice
1/2 Cup Walnuts

Method

Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin spice and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg; blend well. Add the shredded carrot. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir till dry ingredients are moistened and pouring consistency.

Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pizza Dough

2011-10-27T13:54:00.007-06:00

Pizza dough with pureed white beans contains about four times the fibre of the regular pizza dough (2 g of fibre vs. 0.5 g), says Julie Van Rosendaal.

1 cup (250 mL) rinsed and drained canned white beans (half a 19-oz/540-mL can)

1 cup (250 mL) water, divided

2 1/4 tsp (10 mL) active dry yeast (1 package)

1 tsp (5 mL) sugar

2 1/2 cups (625 mL) flour, either all-purpose or half whole wheat

1 tsp (5 mL)Salt

2 tbsp (25 mL) olive or canola oil

Puree the beans with about cup (50 mL) of the water until completely smooth.

In a large bowl, stir together the remaining warm water, yeast and sugar. The mixture should get foamy after a few minutes (if it doesn’t it means the water was too hot and killed the yeast, or you need fresh yeast. Try again, or buy fresh yeast).

Add the pureed beans to the yeast mixture, along with 1 cup (250 mL) of flour. Mix thoroughly, then add another cup of flour, the salt and the oil. Again, mix thoroughly. Continue to add four by half-cups, and as soon as the batter is thick enough to make a kneadable dough, turn it out onto a floured counter. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding spoonsful of flour if needed, until the dough has lost most of its stickiness.

Wash out the bowl, dry it and add a small splash of oil. Return the dough to the bowl, turning it to coat with oil; cover with plastic wrap or a clean, damp tea towel.

Let the dough rise in a warm spot (the oven, turned off but with the light on is ideal), until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Or, make the dough in the morning and let it rise, covered, in the refrigerator during the day.

When you’re ready to proceed, divide the dough into 2 to 3 sections. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).

Roll the dough out into a rough circle, oval or rectangle as this as you like (it will rise again in the oven). Transfer to a baking sheet or pizza pan sprinkled with flour or cornmeal. Top with your favourite toppings and bake about 20 minutes, until golden.

Makes 2 to 3 10-inch (25-cm) pizzas.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

1/4 cup (50 mL) dry red lentils

2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour

1 cup (250 mL) sugar (white or brown)

1 tsp (7 mL) ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

14 oz (398 mL) can pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup (125 mL) canola oil

1/2 cup (125 mL) buttermilk, thin plain yogurt or milk

3 large eggs

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1/2 to 1 cup (125 to 250 mL) chocolate chips, chopped walnuts or pecans, or a combination

In a small saucepan, cover the lentils with water by an inch or two and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until soft. Drain.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 8x4 inch (1.5 L) loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the lentils, pumpkin, oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; pulse until well blended and smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the chocolate chips and stir just until combines. Scrape into the prepared pans and bake for an hour, until the tops are cracked and springy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 2 loaves.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Black Beans Brownie

2011-10-27T11:21:00.009-06:00

Whenever I read a recipe I find that there is not enough information in the recipe. For eg: the brownie recipe which I read needs 15 oz black beans, but when I go to the grocery store I do not find a tin which has 15 oz of black beans it has 19 oz/540 ML of black beans. When I come home with this tinned beans I feel that it is going to be too much beans so I do a internet search and it tells me the beans contains salt and water and if you rinse it under water and drain it you will get around 2 cups or 15.5 oz of beans.

I have substituted the white sugar with cane sugar so that it is healthy, used oil instead of butter and instant coffee as I did not have expresso coffee. I used olive oil as I did not have any other oil at home.

The Agave Nectar is available in bulk barn, I could not find it in the grocery stores.

Ingredients

15 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp expresso powder/Instant Coffee
3/4 cup liquid egg substitute/3 Eggs
3/4 cup agave nectar/Cane Sugar
3 tbsp Olive oil
1 Tsp Baking Powder
A pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 35 minutes.

Dal Palak

2011-10-16T21:29:00.015-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup Tuvar Dal
1 Bunch Spinach
1/4 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 Tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 Tsp Asafoetida
1 Tbsp Butter Optional
1 Spring Coriander Leaves
1 Spring Curry Leaves
1 Medium Onion
3-4 Cloves Garlic
2 Green Chillies Optional
2 Whole Red Chillies Optional
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Large Tomato/2 Medium Tomato

Method

Boil the tuvar dal in a pressure cooker otherwise it takes a long time for the dal to cook.

Heat oil add mustard seeds,cumin seeds and let it crackle. Add the asafoetida, the curry leaves, red chilli whole, add sliced garlic and onions and cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook till they are half cooked, add spinach, butter and cook for 2 minutes.

Add dal and turmeric powder.

Add salt and finish when it boils.

Bourbon Pecan Pie Brownies.

2011-10-12T13:50:00.005-06:00

This Brownie receipe is adapted from Calgary Herald.

For the Brownies:

cup (125 mL) flour
tsp (1 mL) salt
cup (175 mL) cocoa powder
1 ¼ (300 mL) cups sugar
½ cup (125 mL) butter
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).

In a small bowl, beat together eggs and vanilla, then set aside. In a double boiler set over boiling water, combine butter, cocoa, sugar and salt. Mix as the butter melts until everything is thoroughly combined. Remove from heat and whisk in egg and vanilla mixture. Add flour and stir until combined. Pour into 8 by 8-inch (20 by 20 cm) baking dish.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the pecan pie layer:

cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar

cup (125 mL) corn syrup

2 eggs

1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla extract

tsp (1 mL) cinnamon

cup (60 mL) butter, melted

2 tbsp (25 mL) bourbon

2 cups (500 mL) chopped pecans

Beat together corn syrup and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add butter and bourbon and beat again until thoroughly combined. Stir in chopped pecans and pour the entire mixture over the brownie layer. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pecan filling is set.

Let cool completely, then refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

To read more of Gwendolyn Richards’ culinary adventures, check out her blog at PatentandthePantry.wordpress.comgrichards@calgaryherald.com

Healthy Eating on a Budget

2011-10-12T13:36:00.007-06:00

By Calgary Herald

Submitted by Nicky Martin

Sweet Potato/Carrot/Ginger Lentil Soup.

1 c diced onion
3 c sliced carrots3 c diced sweet potato
1 tbsp ( or more to taste) grated ginger root
2 cups rose (red) lentils, rinsed well and soaked in 4 cups water for 1/2 hr.
optional, cumin, turmeric etc to spice it up to taste
sea salt and grated black pepper

Saute onion in butter, adding grated ginger root and any other chosen spice. Let sweat for 5 mins, than add carrots and sweet potato.Stir thoroughly and cover with a circular piece of wax paper (right on top of veggies).Put on pot lid and let veg mix sweat for 1/2 hr or until all veggies are almost soft. At this point you can add stock, water or even canned tomatos. I cook my lentils for 5 or 10 mins until they are almost cooked, then add to the soup mix so everything softens together. Season with salt and black pepper. If you like more protein you can add more legumes,beans or Tofu (saute this first) to your liking. Sometimes I add frozen peas or a green veg for colour at the last minute. This is great for fall evenings. You can serve it as soup with some good bread or make it really thick and put it on brown rice or quinoa, potatoes etc.

Note about red lentils. They take much less time to cook than French or green lentils. Wash all lentils really well as they are all dusty.

*******

Submitted by Susan Bailey

Wrap Arounds

Start with a whole wheat tortilla. Spread down the middle some cream cheese (flavored or plain mixed with your own spices). On top of cream cheese, put a layer of your favorite fresh cooked meat (such as chicken or turkey). Then layer your favorite veges (sliced onions, tomatoes, peppers). Then a layer of your favorite greens (spinach, lettuce, sprouts, etc.). Fold up your wrap from the bottom, then turn sideways and roll up sideways all the way across.

Be creative with your wraps. You can add sliced apples or sliced grapes, olives, salsa, seafood sauce, tartar sauce, no cholesterol mayonnaise, any low fat salad dressing, freshly grated cheddar cheese, or try slices of swiss cheese. You will never get tired of wraps if you try different combinations of foods. Fresh fruit not only adds alot of vitamins, but gives you some sweetness which will satisfy cravings for desserts.

RECIPES ADAPTED FROM CALGARY HERALD

2011-10-12T13:24:00.003-06:00

Dutch Baby with Orange Sugar

A Dutch Baby falls in between a pancake and a popover. They're good for brunch with fruit or berries on the side or add a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

You can make a savoury version by omitting the vanilla, cinnamon and orange sugar. Sprinkle the batter with 1/2 cup (125 mL) freshly grated Parmesan cheese before putting it in the oven. Great as a side dish with stews or with a salad.

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80 mL) sugar

1/8 teaspoon (0.5 mL) ground cardamom

2 teaspoons (10 mL) grated orange zest

3 large eggs at room temperature

2/3 cup (160 mL) milk at room temperature

2/3 cup (160 mL) flour

1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon (. 5 mL) cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon (. 5 mL) nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon (. 5 mL) salt

1/4 cup (60 mL) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Method

Before you start assembling the ingredients, place a 10-inch (25 cm) preferably cast iron frying pan on middle rack of the oven and heat oven to 450 F.

Stir together sugar and zest in a small bowl and set aside for later.

Beat eggs with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and frothy. Beat in the milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and continue to beat until smooth, about 1 minute more. The batter will be thin.

Remove the frying pan from the oven and add the butter, swirling to melt it. Immediately add the batter and return to the oven.

Bake until puffed and golden-brown, 18 to 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the orange sugar. Serve immediately before it deflates.

Makes 2-4 servings

Cinnamon Bun Muffins

If you're feeling super lazy - and there's nothing wrong with that - you can bake this in an 8 x 8-inch pan and increase the baking time to 30 minutes.

Muffins

Ingredients

3 cups (750 mL) all purpose flour

2/3 cup (160 mL) sugar

1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) sea salt

4 teaspoons (20 mL) rapid rise yeast

1 1/3 cups (330 mL) milk at room temperature

3 tablespoons (45 mL) vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Topping

2 tablespoons (30 mL) unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup (160 mL) brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Icing

1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar

1-2 tablespoons (15-30 mL) milk

Method

Butter generously, or spray a 12-muffin pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg to the flour mixture. Beat well until smooth.

Divide the batter between the 12 cups in the muffin tin and let rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough rests, mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together until the butter is incorporated and the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of batter and briefly swirl it through each muffin with a table knife. Place the pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350 F (175 C).

Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges and the centre of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed. Let rest for five minutes then remove from the pan. Cool for at least 30 minutes.

Whisk the icing sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzle it over muffins.

Makes 12 muffins

'I Want to Be Alone' Banana Chocolate Pancake

This large, single serving pancake is not gender-specific. Breakfast, dinner or dessert. Maybe even lunch.

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80 mL) flour

1 tablespoon (15 mL) rolled oats, any type

2 teaspoons (10 mL) brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) baking soda

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon (15 mL) unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

6 tablespoons (90 mL) plain yogurt or buttermilk

2 tablespoons (30 mL) chocolate chips

1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced banana

1 teaspoon (5 mL) vegetable oil

The rest of the banana

Method

Whisk the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Beat the egg, yogurt and butter together. Mix into the dry ingredients only until blended. The batter will be thick. Fold in the chocolate chips and banana slices.

Heat the oil in a medium, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Pour in the pancake batter and spread it out to around 8-inches (20 cm). Cook until bubbles form and pop on the surface of the pancake then flip it over. Continue cooking until golden brown on the bottom. Slice the rest of the banana and use it to garnish the pancake.

Makes 1 large pancake

Crumb Cake

A good crumb cake is half crumbs, half cake. And it goes well with coffee, tea or a glass of milk.

Don't be tempted to substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour, or your cake will be tough and dry. The 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) baking soda — and no baking powder — in the recipe for the cake is correct.

Crumb Topping

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80 mL) granulated sugar

1/3 cup (80 mL) dark brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon (. 5 mL) salt

1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, melted and still warm

1 3/4 cups (435 mL) cake flour

Cake

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (310 mL) cake flour

(5 ounces)

1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) baking soda

1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) table salt

1/3 cup (80 mL) unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces, at room temperature

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract

1/3 cup (80 mL) buttermilk or plain yogurt

icing sugar for dusting

Method

For the topping: Combine the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter until well mixed. Add the flour and stir until mixture forms a thick dough.

For the cake: Adjust your oven rack to upper-middle position and heat the oven to 325 F. Butter or spray an eight-inch (20 cm) square pan with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper allowing the excess to overhang edges of pan.

With a mixer on low speed, blend the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter one piece at a time and continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs with no butter chunks remaining. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and buttermilk. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about one minute, scraping the bowl as needed.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. Break apart the topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over the batter, beginning with edges and then working toward centre.

Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Makes 16 pieces

Beef/Bison Chilli

2011-10-07T12:46:00.004-06:00

Today I prepared Bison chilli, the only reason for preparing it at home and not going out and having it is that my husband loves to eat at home. No matter where you go he will return home to have his lunch or dinner. Recently we moved to Calgary and the farmers market sells Bison meat, initially we were not sure if we would love it but we just got hooked to it the reason being that it is very lean meat.

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Lean Bison/ Lean Beef
250 Gms Kidney Beans/Black Beans
1 Green Pepper
1 Medium Onion
5 Medium Tomatoes
3 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Tsp Freshly Ground Cumin Seed
1/2 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Tsp Black Ground Pepper
1 Cup Water
1 Tsp Sugar Optional
Cooking Oil
Salt To Taste

Method

Before you decide to prepare the chilli, soak the kidney beans for 7-8 hours. Cook the beans in a pressure cooker till they are very tender. Do not try to mix the beans with the tomatoes and try to cook the beans, the beans will not cook because of the tartness of the tomatoes.

Heat a pan. Add 2-3 Tsp of cooking oil, I used olive oil.

Add the chopped onions to the pan and saute it, add the chopped tomatoes and green pepper to the onions in the pan and saute till they become tender.

Add the chopped garlic to the onions and tomatoes. Do not overcook the garlic or it can get burnt.

Take another pan or empty the pan which contains the onions, garlic, tomato and green pepper in a bowl.

Add 2-3 Tsp of cooking oil to the pan. When the pan is hot put the ground meat in the pan and saute it till it is golden brown.

Mix the onions, green pepper,garlic, tomato with the meat.

Add the ground pepper, red chilli powder, sugar and salt to taste.

Add 1 cup water mix everything thoroughly. Let it cook on a slow flame for an hour or till the chilli is well cooked and thick.

Serve hot with rice or buns.

Sambar Powder

2011-10-06T14:15:00.007-06:00

I grew up eating sambar most of the days of my life. Sambar is mostly made in South India and there are a lot of ways sambar can be made, some add even coconut when they make sambar. This sambar has a wonderful taste. Every vegetable gives you a different taste when you use to make sambar. Vegetables like green beans, eggplants, drumsticks, carrots, white pearly onions, you can even use pickling onions which are available in farmrs market.

Ingredients

4 Tbsp Coriander Seeds

2-3 Red Chillies

1/2 Tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds

1/2 Tsp Channa Dal/Chick Peas

1/2 Tsp Urad Dal

3-4 Black Pepper

1/4 Tsp Methi Seeds/Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 Tsp Hing/Asafoetida

1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder

Method

Dry roast the coriander seeds, red chillies, jeera, Channa Dal, urad Dal, black pepper, methi seeds separately or together as it is convenient for you.

Let it cool down. Grind it together. Store it in a airtight container.

Tip: We eat less chillies so I have used as per our taste. You can use more or less chillies. There are a variety of chillies and each chillie has different taste and degree of heat in it. I will try to get some pictures of the chillies on the blog.

Cranberry Yogurt Muffins

2011-09-27T14:01:00.011-06:00

In 2010 we had been to Long Harbour Newfoundland and met Rita,
she is a very sweet lady and helps everyone. She bakes a lot of goodies and her
favourite thing is she distributes it to her neighbours who are older then her
and feels happy. Here is the receipe and hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

1 Cup rolled oats
1 Cup
yogurt
1/2 Cup Vegetable oil
3/4 Cup Brown sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup All
purpose flour
1 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking powder
1Cup Cranberries/Raisins/Bluberries

Method

Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees F/200 degrees C

Soak oats in Yogurt.

In a mixing bowl add oil, sugar and egg. Beat well.

Sift in flour, salt,baking soda and baking
powder.

Sprinkle the berries/raisins/cranberries with flour and coat
them, by doing this the berries will not sink to the bottom of the pan when the
muffins bake.

Mix the dry ingredients with the egg , sugar mixture. Blend
in the berries.

Do not over blend the mixture.

Grease the muffin pans. Fill the muffin cups and
bake.

Place the muffin trays in the oven and bake at 400 degrees
for 20 minutes.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

2011-09-20T17:53:00.003-06:00

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened, room temperature
3/4 cup plain yogurt, room temperature
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
2 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Lemon Syrup
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions

To make the lemon syrup, heat and stir all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until thickened slightly.

Grease a 9 inch x 5 inch (23 cm x 12.5 cm) loaf pan. Line base and sides with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350?F (180?C). Beat butter, yogurt, honey and zest in a medium bowl using an electric mixer until combined.

Beat eggs and sugar in small bowl using an electric mixer until, thick and creamy. Stir egg mixture into yogurt mixture with flour and baking powder. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until cooked when tested.

Pour hot syrup over hot cake; let stand until cold.
Cuts into about 12 slices

Sticky Date Cake with Caramel Sauce

2011-09-20T12:54:00.004-06:00

This cake is adapted from the cookery programme simple fresh delicious. It is a very rich cake.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup seeded dates
1 1/3 cups water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

CARAMEL SAUCE
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup whipping cream
2/3 cup butter

Directions

Grease and line base and side of a deep 8 inch (20cm) round cake pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

Combine dates and water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Immediately remove from heat and add baking soda;’ stir. Let stand for 10 minutes. Pour mixture into food processor.

Add remaining ingredients. Process until combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven or about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let stand in pan for 20 minutes before turning onto wire rack.

To make the caramel sauce, combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until thickened slightly being careful mixture doesn’t boil over. Serves 8.

Peanut Chutney

2011-09-20T12:46:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

2-3 Green Chillies
2 Tbsp Roasted Unsalted Peanuts
1 Tsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin Optional
1 Small marble size Tamarind
salt to Taste.

Method

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend it into a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and serve with dhokla or dosa.

Note

The fresh flavour gets dulled, keep it in the refrigerator and use it in a day or two.

Dhokla

2011-09-20T12:04:00.007-06:00

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Toovar Dal, well washed and picked
3/4 Cup Raw white Rice
1/4 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt ( full Or reduced -fat)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda/ENO
1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Inch peice Ginger
1-2 Green Chilli

Tempering

2 Tsp peanut oil/Olive Oil/Coconut oil
1/2 Tsp Black Mustard Seeds
A pinch Hing/Asafoetida
1/2 Tsp Sesame Seeds
5-6 Curry Leaves
2 Tbsp Fresh Coriander/Cilantro Leaves to Granish finely chopped

Wash the dal and rice separately and soak it separately for 8 hours or overnight.

Drain the dal and rice and place it in a blender. Grind the dal and rice till it is well ground. Add the yogurt and process until smooth. The batter should be smooth and pourable.

Organize the steamer and bring the water to a boil. Lightly grease an 8 inch cake pan.

Add the salt and baking soda to the batter and process briefly to mix well. Pour the batter into the cake pan to a depth of between 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.

Place the cake pan in the steamer and cover the pan, bring the water to a vigorous boil, then lower the heat just slightly to maintain a strong boil. Continue cooking until the top of the dhokla is shiny and the sides are pulling away slightly from the pan, about 15 minutes total. The dhokla will rise and puff after about 5 minutes, but it needs to cook through.

Remove the pan from the steamer and set it aside for 10 minutes to set.

Use a sharp knife to slice the dhokla into about 1 inch diameter diamonds or squares.

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium- high heat. Add the mustard seeds, and when they start popping, add the sesame seeds. Add the curry leaves and the hing to the tempering and then pour the oil and flavourings over the dhokla.

Serve hot or at room temperature with chutney.

Almond Torte

2011-08-30T14:34:00.002-06:00

This receipe is from everyday cooking, it looks very delicious. I have posted it here so that I can make it at a later day.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1 ¾ cups sliced blanched almonds
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon almond extract
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Cut a piece of wax or parchment paper to fit the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan. Coat pan with nonstick spray, place prepared paper round in bottom of pan, and spray paper. Sprinkle evenly with ¼ cup almonds.

2. In a food processor, process remaining 1 ½ cups almonds with ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar until finely ground; set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar and beat until stiff glossy peaks form. Beat in almond extract. In three additions, gently fold in ground almond mixture.

4. Evenly spread batter into prepared pan, tapping pan on counter to expel large air bubbles. Bake until golden brown and firm in center, 40 to 45 minutes; cool completely in pan. Invert onto serving plate, and remove wax or parchment paper.

Macademia Nut Cookies

2011-08-14T14:57:00.004-06:00

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup Macadamia Nuts Chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in flour mixture. Stir in macadamia nuts

2. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, until edges turn golden but centers are still soft, about 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-08-14T14:54:00.006-06:00

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips

2. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, until edges turn golden but centers are still soft, about 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Whole Wheat Bread

2011-08-09T15:18:00.006-06:00

Ingredients

3 Cups Whole wheat flour
1 3/4 Cup All purpose Flour
1 Tsp salt
1/4 Cup sugar Optional
1/4 Cup Margarin/ Butter/ olive Oil
1/2 Cup Whole Flax seed optional
1/2 Cup Ground Flax seed
1 Packet Yeast or 2 1/4 Tsp yeast
1 Tsp Sugar
2 Cups Cold water or as required

Method

In a small mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and the salt; beat well. Combine the yeast mixture. Add the water, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Grease two 8x4 inch bread pans. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into the pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Cool it on a wire rack.

Rasam

2011-08-09T15:06:00.009-06:00

Ingredients:

For the Rasam powder

Coriander seeds - 1 Tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
Asafetida - 1/4 Tsp
Red chillis - 2-3, according to taste
Black pepper - 1/4 Tsp
Mustard seeds -1/4 Tsp

For Rasam:

Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - a lime sized ball
Curry leaves - a sprig.
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped.
Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste.
Water - 3-4 cups.

For seasoning:

Oil/ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon.

Preparation:

Roast all the rasam powder ingredients on low flame. Grind to fine powder.
Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes. Get pulp using 1 cup of water.

Cooking Method:

Cook Toor dal in 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker till it is soft.
In a deep pan add 1 cup water. Add ground rasam powder, tamarind pulp. Boil.
Mash the cooked dal. Add to the mixture.
Boil for 5 minutes. Add salt. Add more water if needed. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add chopped coriander leaves.

Prepare Seasoning

In a sauce pan, heat oil/ghee.
Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they stop crackling, add asafetida and turmeric powder, curry leaves.
Add to the ready rasam and cover the rasam pot.

Rasam is ready. Serve hot as a soup or with plain steamed rice.

Red Pepper Soup with Toasted Cumin

2011-06-29T14:32:00.002-06:00

Courtesy of

Bal Arneson
Spice Goddess

This quick and easy red pepper soup is bursting with flavour and aroma.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
• 3 red peppers seeds removed and sliced
• 1/2 cup organic vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup white wine
• pinch salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons cumin seeds (for garnish)

Method

1. Put oil in a large skillet and add red onion and garlic. Cook until onions are soft, about 4 minutes and then add spices and cook for 10 seconds. Add the red peppers and cook for about 2 minutes and then pour in the vegetable broth and wine. Season with salt and pepper and then simmer until peppers are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Place peppers and broth in a blender and puree in batches until very smooth. Toast cumin seeds in a cast iron pan until they begin to lightly smoke and smell good. Pour into a clean saucepan and reheat and serve in a bowl with toasted cumin seeds.

Gulab Jamun

2011-06-29T14:18:00.003-06:00

Gulab Jamun (Indian Donuts)

Courtesy of
• Bal Arneson
• Spice Goddess

This sweet Indian treat is so delicious; you’re going to have a hard time limiting yourself to just one!

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12

Ingredients

Syrup

• 5 cups sugar
• 4 cups water
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 7 cloves
• 3 star anise

Jamun

• 1 1/2 cups dry milk powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup 35% whipping cream
• 1/2 cup cooking oil

Method

Syrup

1. Put sugar, water and spices in a medium sized sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is slightly thickened, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Jamun

1. Mix the dry milk powder, flour and baking soda together and then slowly stir in the whipping cream until a loose dough is formed.
2. Oil hands and form the dough into balls about the size of golf balls. Heat oil over very low heat in a high-sided sauté pan and carefully begin to add the balls. Fry slowly until they are golden on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes per doughnut. Be careful not to burn them. Put the doughnuts into the syrup and let sit for at least 3 to5 minutes. Remove from syrup and serve warm or cold.
3. Note: The end product should look like a mini golden brown donut.

Spiced City Cake

2011-05-18T13:39:00.001-06:00

Adapted from Bal Arneson food show. The cake looks to be yummy. I liked it and posted it here so that I could make it more often

This delicious cake will have your tastebuds guessing its unique flavour. With it's subtle hints of cardamom and fennel seed this cake not only tastes great, it smells great too.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Yield: 8

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground fennel
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
white sugar for sprinkling

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350F and oil a 6 by 3-inch round cake pan.
2.In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and cocoa powder. Add fennel, cardamom, salt and sugar and mix well to combine.
3.In another bowl, whisk together water, vinegar and oil and then add to the dry ingredients. Mix well and pour into prepared cake pan. Bake for one hour. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of it. Cool on a rack and sprinkle the top with some sugar.

Dal Dosa

2011-05-18T13:16:00.003-06:00

Ingredients

1/2 cup Boiled Rice
1/2 Cup raw rice/white rice
1/2 Cup Channa dal
1/2 Cup of dal consists of toor, urad. Moang dal in equal proportion
1/2 inch Ginger piece
2-3 Green chillies or as per taste
Salt to taste
Oil to apply to the pan

Method

Soak the rice and dals for at least 6-8 hours.

Soak all the dals separately and the rice separately.

Grind the rice coarsely.

Add the ginger and chillies while you grind the rice

Grind all the dals medium coarse.

Mix all the ingredients and let it sit for about 3-4 hours.

This batter does not need to ferment.

Take a pan, heat it apply oil. Take a laddle of the batter and spread it in a circular manner. Spread it really thin.

Cook the dosa till they are golden brown on both sides and serve it hot with chutney or sambar.

Masala Dosa

2011-05-18T13:09:00.003-06:00

Ingredients

4 rice (3 boiled, 1 raw rice)/2 boiled rice, 2 white rice
1 Urad dal
1 tsp meethi
Salt to taste

Method

Grind the rice separately to a fine paste. Add chilled water while grinding the rice into a dough. This chilled water helps to cool down the motor while grinding the rice.

Grind the urad dal separately into a fine paste. If you are grinding the rice in the blender add chilled water while grinding so that the blender does not get hot. The chilled water helps to increase the urad batter in quantity.

The batter should be pouring consistency not too thine or too thick.

Once the rice and the urad dal is ground mix well add salt to taste and set it aside to ferment overnight or at least 6-8 hours.

Biscuits

2011-05-17T07:54:00.004-06:00

Adapted from Chef at home.

2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powser
1/2 Tsp salt
1 Stick butter
3/4 Cup milk

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until they’re evenly mixed. Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Shred it through the large holes of a box grater or potato grater directly into the flour. Toss gently with your fingers until the butter shards are spread evenly throughout the flour.

Pour the milk into the flour mixture and stir with an upside down wooden spoon to form a dough mass. The handle of the spoon is gentler on the dough. Fold the dough over a few times with your hands until all the ingredients come together. If necessary add a few spoonfuls more milk to help gather up any stray flour. This kneading will strengthen the dough a bit but not enough to toughen the biscuits. It will also help them form a crisp crust when they bake.

Pat the dough out on a lightly floured cutting board forming a loose round shape. Cut into wedges – like a pie - or any other shape you’re in the mood for. Position on a baking sheet; sprinkle on a bit of coarse salt and coarsely ground pepper. Bake for fifteen minutes or so. You’ll know they’re done when they turn golden brown. Enjoy at once with lots of brown butter!

Kala Masala

2011-01-08T02:22:00.006-07:00

Ingredients

2 Cup Coriander seeds
1/2 Cup dried coconut
1/4 Cup Sesame seeds
1 Tsp Cumin seeds
3 spoons Caraway
2 spoons Cloves
4-5 2" long Cinnamon sticks
1/2 spoon Fenugreek seeds/Meethi seeds
2 spoons Asafoetida/Hing
5-6 Bay leaves
1 spoon Turmeric Powder
1/2 Tsp Chilli powder/As per Taste
1 Tsp oil
1/4 Tsp salt
1 Tsp Mustard seeds

Method

Dry roast Coconut and grind to a powder
Shallow fry all the ingredients and grind to a powder. Do not roast the Asafoetida/Hing it could get burnt.

Once all the above ingredients is powdered mix with the turmeric, chilli powder and salt and the kala masala is ready to go.

Kala masala

2011-01-08T02:17:00.009-07:00

I have been looking for kala masala and found this one on aayi's recipes site. I have adapted this recipe.

Fry in oil:

1 cup coriander seeds
1/8 cup cumin seeds
3/4 Tsp shah jeera
1/2 Tsp cloves
1 finger long cinnamon
2 gms Asafoetida/Hing
1/8 cup dagad phool
1/2 Tsp mustard seeds
1/4 Tsp fenugreek seeds

Dry roast:

1/8 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup dessicated coconut

Other ingredients:

1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup chilli powder
Oil
Salt (I did not add this)

Method:

Heat very little oil and fry all the ingredients under ‘fry in oil’. Take care not to burn anything. You can fry them one by one. Take them out.
Dry roast the ingredients under ‘dry roast’.
Grind all of them together to a smooth powder. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Store in air tight container. (I divided it into two equal parts. One I kept in freezer. It will be used after the first batch gets over).

Madras Chutney

2010-12-06T20:29:00.001-07:00

Ingredients

100 Gms Urad Dal
100 Gms Channa Dal
250 Gms Yogurt/Curds
1-2 Green Chillies as per Taste
Sugar for taste
Salt to taste.

Method

Roast the urad and the channa dal separately till it gives a aroma. Keep it aside till it cools down. Grind it coarsely in a coffee grinder or blender. Put it in a pan, let it cool down. Mix the coarsely ground dals, add the yogurt, chillie, salt,sugar to the dal powder and mix.

Serve with dosas, idlis or samosas.

Fall-off-the-Bone Ribs in Barbecue Sauce

2010-11-10T20:14:00.006-07:00

This receipe is adapted from Best Receipes Ever. I prepared it a couple of times tastes delicious. Hope you like it too.

Ingredients

3 lb (1.4 kg) pork back ribs, ( 2 racks)
4 tsp (18 mL) mesquite seasoning or Cajun seasoning
2 cups (500 mL) ketchup
1/2 cup (125 mL) wine vinegar
2 tbsp (25 mL) granulated sugar
2 tbsp (25 mL) Worcestershire sauce

Trim any visible fat from ribs. If necessary, remove membrane from underside. Cut into 2-rib portions; place in large shallow glass dish.

In small bowl, stir together mesquite seasoning and 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper; rub all over ribs. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

Place dish with ribs under broiler; broil until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to slow-cooker.

In bowl, whisk together ketchup, vinegar, sugar and Worcestershire sauce; add to slow-cooker, stirring to coat ribs. Cover and cook on Low until tender, 8 to 10 hours.

This recipe makes 6 servings.

Tips:

I liked it and tried it with a bit of variation. I did not add the ketchup, I put a tablespoon of wine vinegar and used cajun seasooning. On the other hand my friend put the wine vinegar as per the receipe and did not like the taste of the vinegar as she felt it was a bit too much.

I prepared them twice. The first time I tried it I did not add sugar to it. The second time I put a teaspoon of sugar, this gives the meat a bit of sweat and sour taste.

The quantity of ribs were not as much as in the receipe, they were about 300 gms each time.

I cooked the ribs in the oven instead of the slow cooker.

Lemon Bread

2010-11-09T09:32:00.005-07:00

Ingredients

1/4 Cup Sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tbsp Lemon Rind

Method

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Cream butter and 1 cup sugar.

Add eggs,1 at a time.

Sift dry ingredients together. Combine with creamed mixture. Add lemon rind.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

Take from oven and our lemon juice over top.

Blueberry Muffin

2010-11-09T09:13:00.004-07:00

These muffins are very tasty. They were prepared by a friend Rita. We loved them and borrowed the receipe.

Hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Butter
1/3 Cup Milk
3/4 Cup sugar
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla
2 Tsp Baking powder
1 Cup Blueberries
2 Cup Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt

Method

1.Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

2.Coat the blueberries with flour so that they do not sink to the bottom of the baking tray.

3.Combine 2 cups flour, salt and baking powder and pass it through the seive so that it mixes well.

3.Cream the sugar and butter till it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk.

4. Mix the flour with the creamed mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top.

5.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

.

All Natural, Mothers Own, Quick, Mushroom Soup

2010-11-08T02:47:00.007-07:00

My husband loves soup, but he does not like to have tinned soup. So I try and make soup at home, with different ingredients and sometimes it turns out really good. He feels that some of my soups are better then the tinned variety.

Here is one of those receipe's. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Ingredients

2 White Mushrooms
1/4 Potato
1/2 Onion
1/4 Tsp Black pepper ground
1/4 Tsp Knorr vegetable stock mix (optional)
1/4 Cup of Milk

Method

Slice the mushrooms. Cut the potato and the onion into cubes.

Heat a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute half of the sliced mushrooms. Add the onion and potato to the mushroom and saute them till it is cooked.

Add salt to taste.

When the mushroom , potato, onion is cooled down use a hand blender/ blender and cream it.

Add 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining mushrooms to the pan and saute it till it is cooked.

Add the pureed mixture from the blender to the saucepan. Add pepper and salt.

Boil it till it is thoroughly cooked, dilute it if it is too thick.

Add milk to the soup.

Serve hot.

Makes 2 small bowls of soup.

Tips: I add milk instead of cream to make it more healthy.

Chutney Podi/ Gun Powder

2010-11-07T07:08:00.006-07:00

Ingredients:

To Roast in oil:

1/4 Cup Urad Dal
1/2 Cup Chana Dal
10-12 Red Chillie or as per taste
1 Tbsp Til/Seasame seeds
1 Tbsp oil to Roast the dry ingredients

To mix in the fried ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2Tsp Hing (Asafoetida)
Salt to taste
Sugar for taste

Method:

Heat up the oil in a deep pan on a medium flame.

Add all the daals and red chillies and roast till they start to turn light brown in color on a low flame.

Add the seasame seeds and roast till the seeds are golden brown.

Do not add hing and salt to oil when roasting.

High flame will burn the dals.

Put off the flame, and keep the browned out Dal's aside to cool down.

When the browned out dals reach room temperature add hing and salt to the Dal's.

Put this mixture into a coffee grinder or blender or food processor to grind.

Do not grind it too fine, it should be a bit coarse.

Let the powder cool to room temperature.

Store the mixture in a dry, airtight container.

This powder can be stored for a couple of weeks. DO not insert wet spoons into the mix to prevent the chutney getting stale.

Note: All the Dal's and Hing (Asafoetida) are available in a Indian Store.

Lemon Squares

2010-11-03T05:47:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

1 Packet Lemon Pie filling (you can use No name/Shriff lemon pie filling)
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups medium shredded coconut (we used 1 cup sweet shredded coconut and 1 cup unsweeted shredded coconut)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Tsp Baking powder
1 Cup Butter

For Filling

Prepare lemon pie filling as directed on the packet (packet contains 2 packs use 1 pack)

Take a mixing bowl. Put 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of coconut, 1/2 cup of sugar,1 tsp of baking powder, 1 cup of butter in the mixing bowl.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly with your hands.

Take the mixture in your hands and press it to see if you can make it a ball and it is not too dry.

Put 3/4 of the mixture in a square baking pan/dish and press it down to cover the base of the pan.

Pour the pie filling on top of the mixture and level it off.

Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture on top of the filling.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Take the lemon pie squares out of the oven when you see the lemon pie is golden brown on the top and bottom of the pie.

Place the pan on the rack. Let the lemon pie cool down.

Cut it into squares. Store it in a container.

Tips:Best to store it in a container in the refrigator so that the pie filling does not become runny.

Fried Rice With Vegetables

2010-11-02T12:34:00.004-06:00

Ingredients:

1 - 2 green onions, as desired
1/2 cup green frozen peas
1/2 cup carrot cubes
1/4 cup mushrooms chopped
1/4 cup shredded Green cabbage
1/4 cup Green pepper
1 Small Onion finely chopped
2 large eggs optional
1 teaspoon salt
Black Pepper powder to taste
4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
4 cups cold cooked rice
1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or dark soya sauce, as desired

Method

Wash and finely chop the green onion.

Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.(If you are preparing the fried rice to take it to a party you should avoid adding egg to the fried rice as you may get the smell of the egg when you open the container).

Heat a non stick frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

Heat a teaspoon of oil to the non stick pan, add the chopped onion and keep stirring till the onion is cooked, all the vegetables and cook the vegetables till they are firm and tender.

When the vegetables are cooked add salt and pepper for taste. Stir well.

Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using a wooden spoon to break the lumps in the rice apart. Stir in the soy sauce as desired.

When the rice is heated thoroughly, add the scrambled egg back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

Tips: Egg is optional, add egg if you like it.

Pomfret Fish Curry

2010-11-01T12:55:00.007-06:00

Ingredients

For Grinding

2 Medium sized Pomfret
1 Cup/ 2 Handfuls of shredded coconut
3-4 Kashmiri chillies/as per taste
1 Tablespoon of Coriander seeds
1/4 Teaspoon of Cumin/Jeera seeds
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 Medium onion
Marble size ball of Tamrind
1/4 Teaspoon of Turmeric
Salt to taste.

Add to the curry

1/2 onion sliced

Method

Grind the ingredients for grinding to a fine paste. Add the sliced onion, to the curry and boil it. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Clean the Pomfret, wash it thoroughly. Once the curry is cooked add the Pomfret and the salt. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with rice.

Tips: You need to add a little more salt to the curry as the fish needs salt otherwise it tastes bland because of the lack of salt.

Fish does not take a long time to cook, if you cook it for long then the flesh gets separated from the fish bone, the fish turns into a plup.

Cod Tongue

2010-10-15T04:12:00.001-06:00

Recently my husband was called to work in Newfoundland, before moving we found on the internet that Newfoundland had a few delicacies and one of it was cod tongue. Those who visited Newfoundland said that it was very good and tasty. When we came here we wanted to taste it too. We bought some cod tongue and indeed it was very tasty.

Ingredients

10-15 Cod Tongues
1 Egg
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
Salt
Ground Black pepper
Cooking oil/ Pork fat for deep frying

Method

Clean the tongue by scraping the surface of the tongue. Wash it thoroughly and dry it with a paper towel add salt and black pepper to the cod tongues. Heat the oil/ pork fat to deep fry the tongues. Whisk the egg,add salt to taste to the egg. Now dip the cod tongue in the egg, roll the tongue in the all purpose flour and deep fry it till the tongue is crisy and light brown in colour.

Healthy Wheat Halwa ( Indian Fudge) With natural ingredients

2010-04-11T09:52:00.010-06:00

When I planned to prepare wheat halwa I was not sure which wheat to buy. I bought sihore wheat. The halwa turned out really good. For that matter any Indian wheat could produce a good quality halwa.

The reason why I say it is healthy because I reduced the sugar quantity by over 1/3 and the ghee quantity by more than half. Still making the end product as tasty as the traditional halwa.

A typical halwa receipe states the specifies 250 gms sugar for every 100 gms of wheat and ghee in a proportion of twice the quantity of wheat.

Ingredients

Sihore Wheat 200 gms
Sugar 300gms
Cardamom 4-5
Lemon Juice 1 Tbsp
Cashews 7-8
Ghee 100 gms
Beetroot juice for colour 2 Tbsp

Method

Wash and soak the wheat in water for 3 days. Grind the soaked wheat with just enough water initially and when the wheat is well ground, add more water and grind to a smooth batter. Strain the batter through a fine strainer to another container. When all the milk is drained, grind the residue with some more water to extract any left over milk from the wheat. Strain again. Allow the wheat milk to stand 8 hours. Change the water the next. Do this for 3 days.The wheat milk will have settled down at the bottom. This is the base for wheat halwa.

Fry the cashews in ghee and keep it aside.

Boil the sugar with 1 cup of water in a thick bottomed kadai. When the sugar dissolves and starts to boil, add a tbsp.lemon juice. Boil the sugar syrup to one string consistency (Thin string is formed when tested between thumb and forefinger). Add the wheat milk and keep stirring (non-stop).When the mixture starts to thicken add the ghee to it and keep stirring. The ghee gets absorbed. Keep stirring till the mixture leaves the sides.

Add the cashews, cardamom powder and the colour to the halwa and mix well. Keep stirring till the halwa gets a shine or glaze.

Spread the halwa on a greased plate and let it cool. Cut it into desired shape.

Onion Chutney

2009-10-13T08:25:00.003-06:00

Ingredients

2 Onions cut into cubes
2 Tomatoes cut into cubes
1 Red Chilli
1 Green Chilli
Pinch of Hing/asafoetida
Salt to taste.

Method

Take a pan, add a teaspoon of oil and fry all the ingreidients till it is golden brown. Grind and serve with dosa or idli or naan.

Dania Chutney

Ingredients

1 Bunch of Coriander/Cilantro leaves
1/2 Garlic pod
1/2 inch of Ginger
2 Green chillies
1/2 Lemon juice
Salt to taste

Grind everything to fine paste in a mixer/blender. Do not add too much water. Serve with naan, roti, dosa or idlis.

Mint Chutney

Ingredients

2 Green chillies/Red chillies
1 Bunch of Mint leaves
4 tsps of Urad dal
1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut shredded
Small ball of Tamrind/Lemon juice

Take a tsp of oil roast the chillies well,place the chillies in a plate. In the same pan roast the mint leaves. Set it aside. Roast the urad dal. Mix all of the ingredients together and grind them in a mixer/blender. Serve it with roti, idlis, dosa.

Banana Bread

2009-07-31T16:24:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

2 Ripe Banana
2 Eggs
1 Cup Whole Flour
1 Cup All purpose flour
1/2 Tsp Cinanmom powder
1/2 Inch Grated Ginger
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup Yogurt
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking soda

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil/butter and dust it with flour, tapping out the excess.

2.In a seive add together 2 cups flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and break up any lumps. Set aside

3.Beat the egg whites and yokes separately. Once done mix the egg white and yoke together. Add sugar, oil, mashed bananas, yogurt,ginger to the eggs and mix thoroughly.

4.Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and mix till all the ingredients are combined.

5.Turn the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the top is golden brown. Bake for about 45-55 minutes.

6.Let it cool down for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Tips:I used 3/4 cup of sugar, but I think 1/2 cup of sugar is good for the banana bread as the bananas make the bread sweet. This bread was very moist and soft.

Spinach Parathas

2009-06-13T10:15:00.004-06:00

Every morning I have to prepare some breakfast or other for my husband. It takes some time to think what has to be prepared the next morning which he would like and also eat, why not prepare spinach parathas which we have never prepared. This is the result of today's breakfast.

Ingredients

5-6 Spinach leaves
1 Cup whole wheat flour
1/4 Tsp Black pepper powder
Cooking oil
Salt to taste
Water

Method

Chop the leaves, add a tsp of water and cook it in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Let it cool down for about 15 minutes.

Add salt, pepper powder to the spinach, mix well. Add the whole wheat flour to the spinach and knead it into a dough.

Make 2 balls of the dough. Roll them out into a circular paratha.

Heat a griddle, when it is hot place the paratha on the griddle and fry them on a low flame. Apply oil to both sides of the parathas with a spoon. Fry them till they are thorughly done.

You can eat it as it is or serve it with chutney or tomato sauce.

Serve hot.

Methi Paratha

2009-06-13T10:00:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup Methi leaves finely chopped
1-2 Cups Whole wheat flour
1/2 Tsp Ginger paste
1/2 Tsp Green Chilli paste
2 Tbspn Yogurt
Cooking Oil
Salt to taste

Method

Take the yogurt in a pan add salt, ginger paste, chilli paste, mix well. Add the whole wheat flour to the mixture and make a soft dough. Add water if necessary.

Make 4-6 balls of the dough. Rolls out the balls into a medium circular paratha.

Heat a griddle. Place the rolled parathas on the griddle and fry them on a low flame. Apply a few drops of oil on both sides and fry it till it is crispy on both sides.

Serve hot with chutney or tomato sauce.

Samosa

2009-06-06T21:54:00.005-06:00

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup whole wheat Flour/Atta
1 cup All purpose flour/Maida
Water as needed
Salt to taste

For Filling

2 Medium sized Potatoes
1/2 Tsp Chilli powder
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds
1 Bunch Coriander leaves/Cilantro
3 Green chillies optional
Salt to taste

Method

Take a bowl add maida,atta,salt, 1 tsp oil mix well then add water to make a soft dough. Rest it for 10 min.

Now in another pan add 2 tsp of oil, when the oil is hot add cumin seeds when the cumin seeds crackle add turmeric powder,chilli powder/green chillies, saute it a bit then add the potatoes and salt to the seasoning. Sprinkle the finely chopped cilantro on the potato. Mix well.

In a small bowl add 1 tsp of maida mix with some water and make a paste keep a side.

Now take the dough make a thin chapati. Take a non stick pan and slightly cook the chapati on both sides.

Once chapatis are ready cut the chapati sheets into long strips.

Now apply maida paste one side of the sheet make a cone shape stuff the mixture in the cone then close the edge.

In a pan add heat oil to deep fry the samosas till they are golden brown.

Dhokla And Chutney

2009-04-27T13:56:00.008-06:00

Ingredients

1Cup Besan/Chick Peas/Besan Flour
1Tbsp Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Sooji
1/2 Cup Butter Milk
3/4 Tsp ENO Salt
1/2- 1 Green Chilli or as per taste
1 Tsp Ginger Paste
1/4 Tsp Hing/Asafoetida
2 Tbsp Water
2 Tbsp Oil
1/4 Tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste

For Tempering

2 Tsp Cooking Oil
1/4 Tsp Mustard seeds

Method

Crush the green chilli in the buttermilk. Add the besan, ginger paste, hing and rice flour to the buttermilk and make a smooth dough. Keep it overnight to ferment.

Next moning, heat the steamer. Grease a utensil to pour the dough in it.

Take the sooji in a cup. In another cup take the water, oil, turmeric and heat it for 25 seconds in microwave. Keep it aside for a minute to cool it to room temperature. Once the water comes to room temperature add the ENO to the water and oil mix.

Mix the sooji to the besan batter with the ENO mixture. Pour it in the greased container and cook the entire mix in the steamer for 15 minutes or till it is well done.

Let it cool down. Cut it into squares or diamond shape. Place the pieces in a plate.

Heat the oil for tempering. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds crackle, pour the oil over the pieces of dhokla.

Serve hot or cold with chutney.

Chutney

1/2 Cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 Green chilli/ as per taste
1/2 inch Ginger
Salt to taste

For Tempering

1 Tsp Cooking Oil
1/4 Tsp Mustard Seeds
2-3 Curry Leaves

Method

Put all the ingredients in a blender and grind it till all the ingredients are ground fine.

Heat the oil. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds to it. Add the curry leaves and stir. Put the chutney in bowl, add the tempering to the chutney and serve.

Minced Brussel Sprouts Paneer Scramble (Sukhen)

2009-04-15T12:13:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

4-5 Medium Brussels Sprouts Chopped Fine
2 Inch Piece Paneer/Cottage Cheese Pan Fried And Minced
1/2 Onion Minced
1 Medium Tomato
1/4 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/4 Tsp Tumeric powder
2 Tbsp Cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method

Put the cooking oil in a pan and heat it. Add the onions and tomato to the pan, cook it till well done.

Add the chilli, turmeric to the pan and mix well. Add the brussels sprout, paneer salt to the tomato, onions mixture and stir well.

Let it cook on a low flame do not add water. Stir it till it cooks well

Sooji/Rawa/Semolina Bahkari

2009-04-08T13:36:00.006-06:00

Ingredients

1-2 Cups Sooji/Rawa
1 Tbsp Shredded Coconut
10-15 Gms Jaggary/Small Marble size piece Jaggery
1 Cup Water
1/2 Green Chilli
2 inch Piece Ripe Banana
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Method

Take a bowl. Add half a cup of water. Crush the green chillie in the water and discard the skin of the chilli. Add salt, jaggery, coconut and mix well. Add the sooji to the water and mix all the ingredients well.
Make it into a semi solid dough (not too stiff or too watery).

Heat a non stick pan, grease it with a little oil.

Take a medium ball of the dough and place it on the pan. Make your hand wet and press the dough in a circular manner. Cover it and let it cook well. Turn it on the other side and cook it till it is golden brown.

Serve hot or cold with tea/coffee for breakfast or snack.

Snake Gourd Seed Dosa

2009-04-07T10:38:00.015-06:00

Snake Gourd seed dosa is called as sanna polo/dosa. It is a starter dish just like samosa. It tastes really great once you get the hang of it.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Snake Gourd
1/2 Cup Rice
1/2 Cup Split Chick Peas/Chana Dal
1 Medium Onion Chopped
2 Kashmiri Red chillies
1/2 Tsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

1.Soak the rice and chickpeas together 4-6 hours.

2.Grind the red chillies with a little rice, chickpeas.

3.Once the chilli is ground fine, add the remaining rice, split chickpeas to the ground chillie, rice, split chickpeas paste and grind it coarsely.

4.Put the ground paste in a bowl, add salt to taste.

5.Put the chopped onions in a separate bowl add a bit of salt to the onions as the onions do not get seasoned by salt when blended with the paste.

6.Mix the onion and the batter together.The batter should be semi solid, not too watery or too stiff.

7.Heat a non-stick pan, grease it with cooking oil. Take a small ball of the dough place it at the centre of the pan and slowly spread it in a circular motion.

8.Cover it and let it cook well. Turn it and cook the other side till it is golden brown.

9.Serve it hot or cold.

Rawa/ Sooji Dosa

2009-03-29T17:38:00.005-06:00

For Rawa/Sooji dosa you do not need to ferment the dough. It can be made instantly.
Only thing is you cannot soak the sooji and keep it aside as it becomes lumpy.

Ingredients

1 Cup Sooji
1 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Maida/All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp Pepper
1/4 Tsp Hing/Asafoetida Powder
Water to mix the dough
Salt to taste.
Cooking Oil

1.Take a utensil add all the ingredients and mix well. Add water to the dry ingredients and mix well.
2.Make a watery consistency dough.
3. Heat a non- stick pan . Grease it with 1/2 tsp oil. Sprinkle the dough all over the pan with your hand.
4.Do not cover the dosa when cooking. Sprinkle oil on the dosa.
5.Fry only one side. Fold the dosa and serve with chutney/ sauce.

Cooking Tips

2009-03-28T09:39:00.002-06:00

Stem Turmeric

For people who do not like to buy ready spice powder, here is a tip for grinding turmeric. Place the dry turmeric stem in the microwave, cover it and cook for a minute. The stem turmeric pops like a pop corn. The puffed turmeric stem can now be easily ground to a fine powder like the one you get in the shop.

Asafoetida

Tip from Jaya Jayakumar,Toronto Canada

Asafoetida is a hard gum. It is very difficult to grind it into a powder. Some families are reluctant to buy the ready made powder for fear of adulteration. Here is a tip for grinding asafoetida.

Place the asafoetida pieces in the microwave for a minute. It pops like a popcorn. Let it cool down. Grind it in a dry grinder. Cool it and store it in a airtight container.

Panch Phoron(Bengal Five -Spice)

2009-03-28T09:24:00.006-06:00

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Nigella/Kalonji Seeds
1 Tbsp Black Mustard/Rai Seeds
1 Tbsp Fenugreek/Methi Seeds
1 Tbsp Fennel/Saunf Seeds
1 Tbsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds

Dry, clean, roast all the spices and grind it. Cool it and store it in an airtight container. This is also used as a tempering or seasoning when you cook vegetables.
This spice can be used for fish, meat, vegetables.

Palak Pakora

2009-03-22T20:30:00.006-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup chopped Palak leaves, without stems
1/2 Cup chickpeas flour
2 Tbsp Water/as required
1 Cup cooking oil
Salt to taste
1/2 Tsp Pepper powder

Method

Put the palak leaves, pepper powder, salt in a saucepan and mix well. Add the chick peas flour to the palak leaves and mix well. Add water as required to make a firm dough. Try to keep the amount of water added to the minimum as more water in the dough would make the Pakora's less crispy and make them absorb oil.

Heat the oil in a saucepan. When the oil is hot add small balls of the palak dough to the hot oil.

Fry till the pakora's are crisp. Serve hot with tomato sauce/ mint chutney.

Makes 10 pakoras.

Puran Pooli

2009-03-07T08:19:00.024-07:00

Ingredients
200 Gms Chana dal /split chick peas

250 gms Jaggery
7-8 Cardamoms

Salt to Taste

Dough
250 Gms of All-purpose flour/ Maida

Salt to taste
½ cup Cooking oil

Method
1.Soak the chana dal for 4-6 hours.
2.Boil water in a pan. Drain the water from the chana dal and cook the chana dal till it splits.
3.When the chana dal is cooked add salt to taste to the chana dal, give it a quick boil.
4.Drain the water till the dal has no water left in it.
5.Put the Chana dal in a food processor when it is hot and grind it to a fine powder.
6.Take the jaggery in a bowl add some water and heat it in the microwave . Remove it from the microwave and strain it through the strainer to remove the impurities or keep it aside for a while so that the impurities from the jaggery settles to the bottom.
7.Add this jaggery to the ground Chana dal and heat it together till it is homogenous and the water evaporates. Add the Cardamom powder to the chana dal jaggery mixture. Make medium sized balls of the Chana dal and keep aside.
8.Make a soft and smooth dough. Keep the dough aside for 4-5 hours.
9.Make medium sized balls of the dough.
10.Apply oil to the palm take a ball of the dough and spread it on the palm.
11.Take a ball of the Chana dal and place it in the middle of the dough. Cover the Chana dal with the dough.
12.Apply all purpose flour to the ball and roll it into a flat bread.
13.Fry the flat bread on a non stick pan.

14.Keep aside to cool down. When it comes to room temperature store it in a air tight container.

Tip: Serve hot or cold with Ghee or clarified butter. Makes about 15-17 purna poolis depending on the size of the balls you make.

Snake Gourd (Padwal Upkari)

2009-03-02T19:35:00.004-07:00

Ingredients

2 Cups Snake groud pieces
1 Tbspn Shredded Coconut
1 1/2 Tsp Jaggery
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 Red Chillie
1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds
2 Tsp cooking oil
4-5 Curry leaves

Method

Pour the cooking oil in a pan and heat it. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, let it crackle. Cut the red chillie into pieces. Add the chillie and curry leaves to the mustard seeds, saute it altogether.

Add the cut snake groud, salt and jaggery to the seasoning. Saute it for a few minutes. It gives out a little water while cooking if you need add half a cup of water. Cover and let it cook.

Sprinkle the shredded coconut on the snake groud upkari and serve hot.

Tips About Laddu Besan

2009-03-02T11:06:00.005-07:00

I recently borrowed some laddu besan from my friend who had bought the laddu besan by mistake. She thought it was the regular besan which she could use to make pakoras, but unfortunately the laddu besan is so rough she could not eat the pakoras nor did the family enjoy it.

I had heard a lot about the laddu besan, and some of my friends told me that they prepared laddus with the laddu besan and it tasted very good. When I borrowed the besan from my friend I was in high spirits. So on the weekend I prepared the laddus and the first laddu that I prepared I served it to my husband with great love.

My husband loves besan laddu. But when he put the laddu in his mouth and I saw the reaction I knew he did not like the laddu made out of laddu besan.

The whole thing about this besan is it is rough and when you eat it the grains come in your mouth. By grains I mean they just grind the chick peas rough rather then make it a fine powder.

I hope this helps some readers so that they do not make the same mistake.

Some people add a spoonful of sooji to the regular besan when making laddus. This laddus taste good too.

Vermicelli Kheer

2009-03-02T10:49:00.008-07:00

Ingredients

1 Small cup fine vermicelli
1 1/2-2 Cups Milk
6-8 Tsp Sugar/to taste
1 Tsp Ghee
5-6 Cashew nuts
1/2 Tsp Cardamom powder

Method

Take a non stick pan add the ghee. Roast the cashew nuts till they are golden brown. Keep aside in a plate.
Add the vermicelli to the ghee that is in the non stick pan and roast the vermicelli till it is golden brown but not burnt. Keep the vermicelli aside.
Boil the milk in a sauce pan and keep it aside.
Add the cashew nuts and vermicelli to the sauce pan in which the milk was boiled. Keep on stirring it while you bring it to a boil.
Add the sugar and stir it till the sugar is homogeneous with all the ingredients.
Add the cardamom powder stir and serve it hot or cold.

Tips: Serves 4 persons. Can be served chilled.

Yellow Cucumber/ Dosakaya

2009-03-01T13:36:00.041-07:00

Yellow cucumber/ dosakaya is also called moghen in konkani in karnataka. This is a receipe which my mother-in-law used to love and I learned how to make it from her. It is a favourite dish in our house.

Ingredients

1 yellow cucumber peeled cut into cubes
1/2 coconut/1 cup of shredded coconut
2-3 Red Kashmiri chillies
1 Tbsp Coriander seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds
4-6 Peppercorns
1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp sugar
3-4 Garlic cloves
1 small marble Tamrind
Salt to taste

For Seasoning

2 Tsp cooking oil

5-6 Cloves Garlic

1/4 Tsp Mustard Seeds

4-5 Curry leaves

Method

Grind all the ingredients into a fine masala paste.

Take a heavy bottomed utensil. Put the peeled and cut yellow cucumber into the utensils.

Add the ground masala to the yellow cucumber. Add salt, sugar and a little water if the gravy is too thick.

Cook on a low flame till the yellow cucumber is soft and firm.

Tip: This receipe tastes good with dosa.

Instant Dessert - Sooji Kheer

2009-02-23T11:40:00.013-07:00

This is an instant dessert and can be prepared in less than five minutes. If you are hard pressed for time and want a quick home made dessert this is the one you should prepare to please your hubby and kids.

This kheer is very good for kids because it is easy to digest. When preparing the kheer for the kids do not add cashew nuts or raisins as the kids may not be able to bite and chew the cashew/raisins.

It is a healthy dish and can be served when taking care of the sick. It is a instant desert and can be prepared in two-five minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Sooji/Semolina
10 Cashew nuts cut into pieces
6-10 Raisins
8-10 Tsp Sugar
1 Cup Boiled water or milk if you want it made entirely from milk to keep calories low
1/2 Cup Warm Milk if you want to cook with water and milk
1/2 Tsp Cardamom powder
1 Tsp Ghee/ Clarified butter
Salt to taste/Pinch of salt

Method

1.Take the water/milk in a pot and boil it with sugar. Keep aside.

2.At the same time, take a heavy bottomed or non stick pan. At medium heat, add the sooji and saute the sooji till the sooji turns golden brown and gives a sweet aroma.

3.Pour the sauted sooji in a dish and keep it aside.

4.Take the ghee and fry the cashews and raisins till they are golden brown. Add the sooji to pan and stir it well till it is warm. Add the boiled water/milk to the sooji and let it boil for a minute or two. Keep stirring so that there are no lumps in the kheer. You can replace the water with milk to get a better taste.

5.Add the warm milk and sugar to the kheer. Stir well. When the sugar gets dissolved remove from heat. Add salt, cardamom powder stir well and serve.

6.Serve hot or cold.

Tips: If you making it for kids then you can add sugar to taste. Kids can eat it during breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can eat it anytime.

Mixed Vegetable Bhaji

2009-02-17T18:40:00.004-07:00

Ingredients

1/2 OR Medium Red Capsicum
1/2 OR Medium Yellow Capsicum
1/2 Cup of Green Peas frozen/fresh
4-5 Florets Cauliflower cubed
1 Medium Potato cubed
1 Small Tomato Chop finely
1 Medium Red Onion Chop finely
1/2 Tsp Ginger Paste
1/2 Tsp Garlic Paste
1/2 Tsp Chillie Powder or per Taste
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
2 Tbspn of Cooking Oil
1/2 cup of Water
Salt to taste

Preparation

Take a heavy bottomed utensil and heat the oil. Add the chopped onion and tomato and saute it till it cooked well.

Add the ginger garlic paste to the sauted onions.

Add the chilli and turmeric powder mix well.

Add the cauliflower,potato, salt,water to the sauted onion mixture. Let it cook.

When the cauliflower potato are half cooked add the remaining vegetables mix and let them cook till they are tender.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Urad Dal and Whole Wheat Dosa

2009-01-31T19:45:00.005-07:00

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Urad Dal
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 inch Ginger Optional
1 Green Chillie optional
Salt to taste
Cooking Oil

Method

Soak the urad dal for 1-2 hours. Grind it to a paste with ginger and chillie.

Take a utensil add the whole wheat flour, water and make it into a smooth paste. Mix the urad dal paste and whole wheat paste together. Add salt to taste. Let the dough be pouring consistency.

Ferment it for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Take a non stick pan, grease it with oil and spread a ladle of dough into a thin circular dosa.

Potato Bhaji

2009-01-27T12:57:00.003-07:00

Ingredients

2-3 Medium size Potato(boiled, peeled & cubed)
1 Medium Tomato cut finely
1 Large Onion cut finely
1/2 Tsp Ginger Paste
1/2 Tsp Garlic Paste
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils skinned
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 Cup of Water
Salt to Taste
2 Tbsp Cooking oil

Method

Take a saucepan and heat the oil. Add the Urad Dal, cumin seeds and saute it till it is golden brown. Add the onion,tomato and saute it. Cook it till it is well cooked and homogeneous. Add the turmeric powder to the sauted onion-tomato and mix well.

Add the potatoes, salt to the onion-potato mixture. Stir well and add half a cup of water, boil it till it becomes thick or dry as per your choice.

Masala For Fish Fry

2009-01-26T14:56:00.008-07:00

Ingredients

4-5 Red Kashmir Chillies
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seede
1/2 Tsp of Rice
2-3 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Inch piece Ginger
Salt To Taste

Method

Grind all the ingredients together into a fine paste with little water, except the rice. Add the rice and grind coarsely.

Take a glass bottle or container and store the masala in it. Store it in the frig. Use as required.

Tip: If you do not want to grind the rice with the masala you can use rice sooji. Just dip the marinated fish in the rice sooji and fry it on a low flame the fish becomes crispy.

Butter Chicken

2009-01-22T10:29:00.008-07:00

I read this recipe on About.com and found it interesting so I have posted this recipe here

Ingredients:

1 kg boneless chicken skin removed
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to suit your taste)
1 cup fresh yoghurt (must not be sour)
2 tsps garam masala
2 tsps coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
8-10 peppercorns
6 cloves
1" stick of cinnamon
Seeds from 3-4 pods of cardamom
2 bay leaves
8-10 almonds
2 onions chopped
2 tsps garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 litre chicken stock
3 tbsps vegetable/canola/snflower cooking oil
3 tbsps butter
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Preparation:

Mix the chicken, lime juice, salt and red chilli powder in a bowl and allow to marinate for 1 hour.
Roast the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves and almonds till they darken slightly and then grind into a coarse powder.
Mix the yoghurt, whole spice powder and all the other spices together and add them to the chicken. Allow to marinate for another hour.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions. Fry till golden brown and then add the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for a minute.
Add only the chicken from the chicken-spice mix and fry till sealed (chicken will turn opaque).
Now add the chicken stock and remaining part of the mix to the chicken.
Cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is reduced to half its original volume.
Melt the butter and pour it over the chicken.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with naans and Kaali Daal.
For an authentic and traditional cooked-over-the-coals flavour: Heat a briquette of coal till red hot and when the dish is done, put the coal in the pan and cover immediately. Remove just before serving.

Sweet Puffs (Nevroe - Mangalorean Christmas pastry)

2009-01-02T16:48:00.008-07:00

Ingredients For outer shell

1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp ghee
1/4 cup Water (warm water to ensure dough becomes soft)
Salt to taste
1 1/2 Cup of cooking oil

For Filling

3/4 Cup shredded coconut
2 Tsp Sesame seeds
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
4 Elachi/Cardamom
4-5 Cashews
4-5 Raisins

Method

Add the ghee to the flour and mix well till the fluor and ghee mix looks like bread crumbs. It is important to add the correct amount of ghee to ensure that the outer shell is crisp after the pastry is fried. If you add less ghee the shell becomes soft after frying.

Take a bowl and add the fluor. Make a well in the centre of fluor and add salt in the well. Pour a little water over salt, water just enough to mix the salt well. Dissolve the salt in water completely.

Now add the remaining warm water and knead the fluor, salt and water mix into a soft dough. The dough after mixing must be soft to rolling consisitency. Cover the dough with a wet cloth and keep it aside for about 30 minutes.

Roast the shredded coconut till it turns light brown and gives the aroma. Place the roasted coconut in a bowl.

Roast the sesame seeds till it is a light brown in colour. Add the sesame seeds to the roasted coconut.

Take half a spoon of ghee and roast the cashews and raisins in it, roast them till they are light brown. Let the cashews and raisins cool down then cut them fine and add them to the coconut sesame mixture. Crush the cardamom into powder and add it to the mix. Add the powdered sugar to the coconut, sesame seeds, cashew, raisins and mix well. Roasting to be done on low heat to preserve taste and fragrance.

Make 10 balls of the dough, cover them with a damp cloth. Roll each ball into a palm size circle, place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of the circle. Fold it into a semicircle and seal the edges of the semicircle, if unable to seal moisten the edge with water or milk. When finished, deep fry them in the oil.

Let them cool down to room temperature and store in a airtight container. Makes 10 sweet puffs.

Ash Gourd Curry (KuvaLe koddel)

2008-12-31T07:32:00.008-07:00

Ingredients

2 Cups medium pieces of Ash gourd
1-3/4 cup of fresh/shredded coconut
3-4 Red chillies
1 Tbspn Tramind pulp extract
1 small marble size piece of Jaggery
1/4 Tsp of Turmeric
Salt to taste
1/2- 3/4 Tsp of Rice
1 Tbsp of Coriander seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 Tsp Urad dal

For Seasoning

1/2 Tspn of Mustard seeds
5-6 Curry leaves
1 Red Chillie
1 Tbspn of cooking oil

Method

Dry roast the coriander, cumin, rice ,urad dal and chillie.
Roast the coconut till it is golden brown and gives a aroma. Grind all the spices, coconut and tamrind to a fine paste.
Cook the ash gourd in half a cup of water. Add salt, turmeric and jaggery to the ash gourd when cooking. Cook the ash gourd till it is done and firm but not mushy. When cooked add the ground paste and mix well. Cook it till it starts to boil.
Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start cracking add the curry leaves and red chillie. Pour the seasoning over the gravy/curry stir it and serve hot with rice or chapatti.

Rice Chakali

2008-12-07T20:53:00.010-07:00

Ingredients
1 Cup of Rice flour
1/4 Cup of Paraboiled rice
1/4 cup of roasted Urad Dal powder
1 Tsp of unsalted butter
1/2 Tsp of Cumin Seeds
1/4 Tsp of Asafoetida/Hing
1 Tsp of Salt
2 cups of Cooking oil to fry
Chakali maker

Method

Soak the paraboiled rice 4-5 hours and grind it to a fine paste with as little water as possible.

Roast the urad dal till it gives a aroma. Let it cool for some time and then powder it.

Mix the rice flour, urad dal powder, butter, cumin seeds, hing together. Make a well in the centre add the salt,a little water and mix well. Add the paraboiled rice paste to the dry ingredients and make it into a soft smooth dough, add a little water if necessary.

Take a ball of dough and place it in the chakali maker. Press the chakali maker and make round circular chakalis on a wet cloth. Heat the oil and slowly drop 3-4 four chakalis at a time in the oil. Fry till they are golden brown.

Let them cool at room temperature and then store it in a air tight container.

Shankerpali

2008-11-27T16:14:00.006-07:00

Ingredients

1/2 Cup of Ghee
1 Cup of Water
10-12 Tsps of Sugar
3 Cups of All purpose flour
A pich of Salt
Cooking oil for frying.
Cookie Cutter

Method

Take a microwave safe bowl. Put the ghee, water and sugar in the bowl and warm it altogether. Add salt to it and stir it well. Remove the bowl from the microwave and let the mixture of water, ghee and sugar cool a bit.

Add 3 cups of all purpose flour to the water-ghee mixture and knead a soft dough. Add more flour if needed.

Make medium balls of the dough. Roll the dough ball one by one,in a round circle with the rolling pin . Take a cookie cutter and cut the circle in small diamond shapes. Continue doing till all the dough is rolled and cut into diamond shape. Keep the diamond cut pieces in a plate.

Take oil in a deep frying pan, when the oil is hot, add a few diamond pieces at a time and fry them till they are golden brown in color. Let it cool to room temperature.

Store it in a airtight container.

Ragda Patties

2008-11-10T14:26:00.007-07:00

Ingredients for Ragda

1 Cup of Yellow Peas/ Yellow spilt peas
1 1/2 cup of water
1 Onion chopped finely
1 medium Tomato chopped finely
1 Small Green chilli paste
1/2 Tsp of Ginger paste
1/2 Tsp of Garlic paste
1/2 Tsp of Garam Masala
1/4 Tsp of Turmeric powder
1/4-1/2 Tsp of Chilli Powder
1/2 cup of Coriander Leaves

Method

Soak the yellow peas overnight or at least for 6 -8 hours, but if you use the yellow spilt peas you do not have to soak them.

Cook the yellow peas/ yellow spilt peas in a pressure cooker. The peas should be cooked till they are tender.

Take a heavy flat bottomed pan, add 2-3 tablespoon of oil. Add the onions to the oil and saute it, add the tomato, ginger garlic and green chilli paste to the onion and cook it till all the ingredients become homogeneous.

Add the garam masala, chilli powder,turmeric powder and mix well. Add the cooked tender yellow peas/ yellow spilt peas, salt to the onions mixture and stir it till everything is mixed well. Let it boil for a 5 minutes till it becomes into a thick gravy.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Tips: When adding the tomato to the onions I always de-seed and de-skin the tomato. By doing so you do not have to eat the seeds and the skin of the tomato.

If you use the spilt yellow peas then you do not eat the skin which peels off from the yellow peas after it is cooked. My kids did not love the skin of the yellow peas. I did not know what to do but once when I went shopping I accidentally purchased spilt yellow peas.

Patties

Ingredients

1 Large Potato boiled and mashed
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 Tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste.
Cooking oil for shallow frying the patties.

Method:

Put the mashed potato, bread crumbs,turmeric and salt to taste in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients well with hand. Knead lightly. Grease your palms with oil and make round patties. Heat a griddle, apply oil and then place the patties on it. Roast the patties till they are golden brown on both sides.

Place the patties on the plate and then pour the ragda on it. Makes about 6-8 patties. Serve hot.

Tips: You can also serve chutney with the ragda patties.

Biryani

2008-11-10T14:25:00.008-07:00

Ingredients

1Lb of Chicken/Lamb/Goat meat
2 Cups of Basmati Rice
4 Cups of Water
2 Tbsp of cooking oil
2-3 Cloves
3-4 Pepper (peppercorns)
1 inch of Cinnamom stick

Green Masala

6-8 Green Chillies
1/2 inch Garlic
3-4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Small cup of Coriander Leaves
1/4 Small Cup of Mint leaves
2 Tbs of yogurt
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the meat and drain the water. Grind the green masala and marinate the meat for 2-3 hours.

Wash the rice and drain the water. Keep the rice aside for 30 minutes.

Boil 4 cups of water. Take a pan, add the cooking oil, when the oil is hot add the peppercorns, cloves and cinnamom stick. Stir it for a minute, then add the rice and stir it for 10 - 15 minutes. Add the meat to the rice and stir it well. Add the boiling water to the meat and rice mixture stir well, cover it and let it cook on a medium flame till the rice and meat is done.

Serve hot.

Sardine/Mackeral

2008-11-10T14:24:00.022-07:00

Ingredients

For Grinding

8-10 Medium sized sardines/2 Mackerals
1 Cup/2 Handfuls of shredded coconut
3-4 Kashmiri chillies/as per taste
1 Tablespoon of Coriander seeds
1/4 Teaspoon of Cumin/Jeera seeds
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 Medium onion
Marble size ball of Tamrind
1/4 Teaspoon of Turmeric
Salt to taste.

Add to the curry

1/2 onion sliced
1/2 inch of ginger
1-2 Green chilli/ as per taste

Method

Grind the ingredients for grinding to a fine paste. Add the sliced onion, ginger and chilli to the curry and boil it. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Clean the sardines, wash it thoroughly. Once the curry is cooked add the sardines and the salt. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with rice.

Tips: You need to add a little more salt to the curry as the fish needs salt otherwise it tastes bland because of the lack of salt.

Fish does not take a long time to cook, if you cook it for long then the flesh gets separated from the fish bone, the fish turns into pulp.

Beef Curry

2008-11-10T14:24:00.018-07:00

Ingredients

1/2 Kg of Beef cut into small cubes
2 medium sized potatoes cubed
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 piece medium size Onion cut into cubes
3-4 cloves of Garlic
2 Tbspn of Coriander seeds
1/2 Tsp of cumin seeds
2 Cloves
1 inch piece of cinamom
2 Tbspn of cooking oil
Salt to taste

For the curry

1/2 onions to saute
1/2 Tomato to saute

Method

Cut the beef into small cubes and drain the water. Take a heavy bottomed pan, add the oil and heat it. Add the onions, tomato and saute it till the tomato cooks and becomes homogenous.

Take a frying pan. Roast the coconut till it is golden brown. Keep it aside. Add oil to the pan and fry the onion and garlic till they are golden brown. Keep it aside with the coconut. Roast all dry ingredients. Let it cool a bit and then grind it to a fine paste.

Add the meat to the sauted tomato and onions and stir for a few minutes. Add the finely ground paste, salt to the beef and stir well. Cook on a low flame. When the beef is half cooked add the potatoes to the beef and cook till the beef is tender.

Serve hot with rice or bread.

Chicken /Mutton Curry

2008-11-10T14:23:00.005-07:00

Dry Ingredients

1 Lb of chicken thighs skinless boneless
2-3 medium size potatoes cut into cubes
1 small teacup of shredded coconut
2-3 Pepper (Peppercorns)
2 Cloves
2 Tablespoon of Coriander seeds
1/2 Teaspoon of Cumin seeds
1/4-1/2 Teaspoon of Turmeric
1/2-1 inch piece of Cinnamom stick
3-4 Kashmiri Red chillies
1/2 Onion
2-3 Garlic cloves
Small marble size ball of tamrind.
Salt to taste

Green Masala for Marinating the Meat

1 small cup of coriander leaves
1/4 cup of mint leaves
2 Green chillies
1/2 inch of ginger
2 Tablespoon of yougurt
Salt to taste

To Saute

1/2 Onion
1 Medium Tomato

Method

Cut the meat to medium pieces, drain the water. Grind the green masala to a paste without the yogurt. Apply it to the meat along with the yougurt and salt to taste.
Let it marinate for 2-3 hours or overnight in the freeze.

Roast the dry ingredients, and keep it aside. Roast the coconut till light brown and gives a aroma. Saute the onion and garlic which is with the dry ingredients with a little cooking oil. Grind all the ingredients into a fine paste along with the tamrind.

Now saute the onion and tomato till it is well cooked and the tomato is homogenous.
Add the marinated chicken or lamb meat to the sauted onion and tomato and let it cook till the meat and potato is well done. Add the dry ingredient paste and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes.

Granish with tomatoes or onion rings.

Tips Always add the potato after the meat comes to a boil, or the potato gets overcooked. You can even deep fry the potatoes and add them to the meat curry it gives a good taste.

Pork Curry

2008-11-10T13:36:00.007-07:00

Dry Ingreients

1Lb Pork (remove the fat)
3-4 Tbsp of Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp of Cumin seeds
1 inch Cinnamom stick
2-3 Cloves
3-4 Peppercorns
3-4 Red Kashmiri Chillies
1-2 Bay leaves
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1/2 Cup of water

Add To The Curry

1 Pod of Garlic sliced
1/2 inch piece of Ginger finely sliced
1-2 Green Chillies (optional)
2 Medium Onions cut into Cubes
Juice of a small marble size tamrind ball

Method

Cut the pork into medium cubes with a little fat. Put the pork in a colander and wash the pork thoroughly. Let all the water drain from the pork.

Grind all the dry ingredients into a fine paste, add to the pork and mix well. Add salt to taste and half cup of water. Cook the pork on a low flame. Stir in between while cooking so that it does not stick to the pan.

When the pork is half cooked add the sliced garlic, ginger onions,chillie tamrind juice and cook the pork till tender.

Serve hot with rice.

Tendli / Ivy Gourd Talasani

2008-11-10T11:07:00.004-07:00

Ingredients

250 Gms of Tendli/Ivy Gourd
1 Large onion
1/2 Tsp of pepper powder
OR
10-12 Peppercorns crushed
2-3 Tablespoon of cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the ivy gourd and crush them slightly. Cut the onion lengthwise. Heat oil in a heavy flat bottomed pan, add the onions to the hot oil and saute the onions on a low flame. Cook the onions till they are transulent, add the pepper powder/ crushed peppercorns to the onions and stir it for a minute or two.

Add the ivy gourd and salt to the onions and stir it till they mix well. Let the ivy gourds cook on very low flame till they are cooked. Stir the veg in between when it is cooking so that the onion does not get brunt. No water should be added to this receipe. It tastes very good when cooked in the oil.

Tip: You can cook the crushed ivy gourd in the microwave for 7-8 minutes. Add water to the ivy gourd when cooking in the microwave, the water should be 1/2 inch above the ivy gourd.

Tendli/ Ivy Gourd Bajji

2008-11-07T14:33:00.006-07:00

Ingredients

250 Gms Of Tendli
1 medium potato
1 Tablespoon of shredded unsweetened coconut
Salt to taste

For seasoning

1/2 Tsp of Mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1-2 Red chillies
1/4-1/2 Tsp Chilli powder
1 Table Spoon of cooking oil/olive oil

Method

Wash and cut the ends of the ivy gourd. Cut the ivy gourd lengthwise and proportionately, so that they cook well. Peel and cut the potate and put them in water as they turn brown.

Take a heavy flat bottomed vessel. Put one tablespoon or less oil for seasoning. Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds to the oil. When the mustard seed starts to crackle add the curry leaves and the red chillies to the oil. Add the ivy gourd to the pan, stir it well. Add the chilli powder, salt to taste. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and let it cook on low flame.

When the ivy gourd is partially cooked add the potato to the ivy gourd and let it cook. When the potato is cooked granish the vegetable with shredded coconut.

Serve with rice and dal or chapati.

Besan Laddus

2008-10-28T21:22:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup of Besan/Chick Peas Flour
1 Cup of Sugar.
1/4-1/2 Cup of Ghee
1/4 Cup of Milk
5-6 Cardamon powder
5-6 Cashews, broken into small pieces
10-15 pieces of small sugar/Mishri

Method

Roast the besan in a heavy bottomed pan on a low flame till the besan is golden in color and gives an aromatic smell. It is important to fry the besan till it is cooked because partially fried besan can give a raw taste.

One other way to cook the besan is to pack the besan in a clean white cotton cloth and cook in a pressure cooker. Make sure that the besan is kept in a dry pan and not in contact with the water in the bottom of the cooker in a utensil with a lid. After cooking in the cooker remove the besan from the cloth pack when warm, break the lumps and fry for some time till the besan gives the aromatic smell.

Grind the sugar in a dry grinder to a very fine paste if the sugar is granular and keep it aside.

Heat the ghee in a pan add the cashews to the ghee and roast it till they are golden on a low flame. Reduce the flame and add the besan and cardamon powder to the ghee and roast it till it gives a sweet smell. Stir the mixture and make sure that the mixture does not burn or form lumps. Add the ground sugar powder to the besan mixture and mix well till the whole mixture becomes homogenous. Add the milk to the besan and sugar mixture. Let it mix well. Keep stirring so that the mixture does not get burnt. Remove from fire and let it cool till you can hold the mixture in your hand.

When the mixture is cool enough to handle, make small laddus the size of a marble. Some prefer to make them to golf ball size. Try to make the laddus when it is warm. If the mix is hot it can give temporary burn to your hand. Take care

It makes 20 laddus.

Sabudana Khichdi

2008-09-30T14:17:00.005-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup of Sabudana
1/2 Cup of Peanuts
2-3 Tsp of cooking oil
1/4 spoon of Cumin seeds
1 Medium Potato
1 Green chillie (mild,if you like it hot add one more chilli).
Salt to taste
1 Tsp of Sugar for taste

Method

Wash the sabudana and soak for 6-8 hours or overnight. Let there be a little water in the sabudana so that it can soak. The level of water for soaking should be same level as the sabudana in the pot.

Put the peanuts in the food processor and crush it. The size of the crushed peanuts should be the same as the size of sabudana to give excellant taste. Add the crushed peanuts to the sabudana and mix it well.

Take a heavy bottomed medium size pan. For seasoning heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and the chili to the oil and fry it. Add the sabudana mixture, boiled potato, salt and sugar to the seasoning and stir well so that everything mixes well.

Cover it with a lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes or till the sabudanas are translucent. Serve it hot.

Tips: This receipe should served piping hot or warm as it does not taste good when it is cold.

Semolina/Rawa/Sooji Sheera

2008-09-30T12:38:00.004-06:00

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Rawa/Semolina/Sooji
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1 1/2 Cup of water
1/4 Cup of Ghee or Cooking oil
4-5 Cashews
4-5 Raisins
3 pods of Cardamom
Salt to taste
Saffron or
Orange food color optional

Method:

Bring the water to a boil, adding salt to taste to the water. Take the ghee in a pan and heat it. Add the cashews and raisins to the ghee and fry them till golden brown. Add the rawa to the above ingredients and fry it till it gives a sweet aroma.

When the rawa gives a sweet aroma, add the boiling water to it and stir well. Add the sugar and the cardamom powder to the mixture and stir it quickly so that it does not become lumpy.

Serve hot.

Tips: If you want to add the food color to the Sheera, you should add it to the water when the water is boiling. To one cup of Rawa you should preferably add 1/4 cup of oil or ghee, this gives it a good taste. If you use less ghee or oil the sheera becomes dry and does not taste very delicious.

If you are using Saffron then you should heat 1/4 cup of milk and then soak the saffron for about 5 minutes. Dissolve the saffron in the milk and then add it to the sheera while adding the water to the dry ingredients.

Rice Dosa

2008-09-17T14:35:00.004-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup Rice
1/2 Cup of Jaggary
4-5 Fenugreek Seeds
1/2 Cup Poha/ Puffed Rice
1/2 Cup of shredded Cucumber
Salt To Taste
1/2 Cup of Cooking oil

Method

Wash the rice. Soak the rice and the fenugreek seeds for about 2-3 hours. Drain the rice and grind it in a blender to a fine paste. Add salt, shredded cucumber and jaggery to the dough and blend it together. Pour the dough in a container add the poha/ puffed rice to the dough and mix well. Set it aside for 7-8 hours or overnight to ferment.

Heat the griddle. Grease it with oil. Make sure that the batter is pouring consistency. Pour a spoonful of batter on the griddle, cover the dosa and let it cook on a low flame. Once it is golden brown remove from the pan. It is cooked on one side only. Serve hot.

Tips

This dosa will have plenty of holes in it if it is properly fermented. The dosa is cooked on just one side, it will have a light yellow color because of the jaggery.

Egg Curry

2008-09-16T10:42:00.005-06:00

Ingredients

4-6 Eggs

Wet Masala

2-3 Red Chillies
3/4 Cup of shredded coconut
Small marble of Tamarind or 1Tbs of thick Tamarind pulp
2 Cloves of garlic
2-3 Peppercorns
1/2 Small onion
1 Tsp of Coriander seeds
1/4 Tsp of Cumin
1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder

Seasoning

1 Tbs Cooking oil
1 Small Onion

Method

Take a blender, put all the ingredients for the wet masala and grind it to a fine paste. Add water little by little as you grind the ingredients.

Cut the onion into thin slices. Take cooking oil in a pan and heat it, add the onions to the oil and cook it till the onion turns brown. Cook on low flame.

When the onion is cooked well add the wet masala to it and stir it well, let it cook on low flame till it gives a aroma. Add some water to the masala to make it not too thick or not too thin gravy. Boil it well.

Take a small bowl, break the eggs one at a time. Add one egg at a time to the gravy and cook well. When the eggs are cooked well serve hot with rice or rotis.

Tip: It is advisable to break eggs one at a time in a bowl so that you are sure that the egg is good and not stale. This curry tastes great if you use fresh coconut, but it is difficult to break the coconut so I buy shredded unsweetened coconut from the grocery store.

Chana Dal/ Split Chick Peas Vadas

2008-09-14T16:23:00.007-06:00

Ingredients

1 Cup of Split Chick peas (Chana Dal) deskinned
1 1/2 Tbs of Urad dal
1/2 inch of ginger
3-4 peppercorns (crushed) or a finely cut green chilli
Salt to taste
2 Cups of Sunflower oil or Peanut oil for frying.

Method

Wash both the dals three times and soak the urad dal and chick peas separately for 2-3 hours.

Use a blender and grind the urad dal first into fine paste without any water. Urad dal acts as a binder to coarse ground Chana Dal.

When the urad dal is ground fine, add half the chick peas dal and salt to the batter and grind it without any water. Grind this mix till Chana Dal is ground coarsely. Dont grind the Chana Dal to a fine paste. We need the Chana dal coarse to make the vada crisp.

Now add the remaining Dal and grind the whole mix for a minute or two. It is very important to keep the Chana Dal coarse because the coarse dal when fried gets crisp and gives a great taste.

The trick in getting crispy and great tasting vadas is to grind the dal DRY without adding any water when grinding. Grinding the Dal dry prevents the vadas from absorbing oil when frying. Dal, when soaked for two to three hours can be ground DRY. I could dry grind the urad dal using Oster blender. Adding water while grinding makes the vadas soggy, pluffy, absorbs oil while frying and the vadas do not taste great.

Once this batter is coarsely ground, add the remaining chick peas and grind the whole mix for one more minute without any water. Keep the Chana Dal coarse this time too.

Now add the ginger, peppercorns/chillies and salt to the batter inside the blender and whirr for five seconds to get a proper mix.

Heat oil in a pan on a high flame. When the oil is hot enough to deep fry, take a table spoon of batter on your palm and press the batter flat with both palms. Thinner and flatter the vada more crispier it is. I keep the vada to a size little larger than a dollar coin and about the same thickness as two dollar coins together. Gnerally people prepare the vadas thicker but the thinner vadas I mentioned above make the vadas crisper. Keep the oil hot and fry the vadas till golden brown.

Vadas are best eaten hot dipped in Maggie Hot and Sweet Sauce.

Tip: High frying heat makes the vada crispy. I use Sunflower oil for frying and with good results.

For deep frying tips visit

Dudhi/Long Squash/Bottle Gourd Halva

2008-09-14T13:37:00.012-06:00

Ingredients

2 Cups of shredded dudhi
1/4 Cup of milk
1/2 cup of milk powder
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1 Tbs of lemon juice
Salt to taste
2 Tbs of Ghee
4-5 Cashews
4-5 Raisins
3-4 Cardamom crushed to powder

Method

Take a heavy bottomed pan or a non stick pan. Put the dudhi and milk and cook the dudhi well. Add the sugar, salt and lemon juice to the well cooked dudhi. Mix all the ingredients and keep on stirring so that it does not get burnt, after the water evaporates or if some water is left in the mixture add the milk powder and stir continuously. When it starts to leave the sides of the pan add the cardamom powder, ghee, cashews,raisins and cook for some more time. Serve hot or cold.

Ash Gourd Halva

2008-09-10T13:49:00.005-06:00

Ash groud is very good for health and I buy it frequently. I prepared halva out of ash groud, it tastes much better than any other halvas that I have tasted. Maybe you could try it too and see if you like it. Before going any further I would like to give you a few tips. Before you shred the ash groud you have to peel the skin thoroughly, the reason is that even if a little skin is left on it the halva tastes bitter.

Ingredients

2 cups of shredded ash groud
3/4 cup of sugar or more as required
1/2 cup of milk powder
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2 Tbs of ghee
4-5 Cashews
4-5 Raisins

Method

Put the shredded ash groud in a heavy bottomed pan or non-stick pan. Cook the ash groud till it is soft and tender on a low flame. Add half the quantity of sugar to the ash groud and stir. Now add the salt and lemon juice and keep stirring it till the sugar and the ash groud becomes homogeneous. Add the milk powder to the ash groud and cook it till it mixes well with the milk powder. Add the remaining sugar, the cashews and the raisins to the mixture and stir it for a few minutes. The sugar gets caramalised as you keep stirring it and gives it a golden colour. When all the liquid has evaporated add the 2 tablespoons of ghee and stir everything together for about 10-15 minutes. The ghee gives it a sweet smell. Serve it hot or chilled.

Besan Burfi

2008-05-26T11:15:00.006-06:00

Ingredients

1 cup Besan/Chick Peas Flour
1 cup Milk powder
1 cup Ghee
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup of water
2-3 cardamom

Method

Roast the chick peas four/besan in a heavy bottomed pan on a low flame till it gives you a good aroma. When the chick peas flour/besan is ready keep it aside in a plate and mix the milk powder to it. Put the sugar in a pan add the water to the sugar and boil the sugar till it turns into a sugar syrup. Add the ghee to the besan and milk mixture and mix well. Add the besan ghee mixture, cardamom to the sugar syrup and keep stirring till it leaves the sides of the pan. Pour the mixture on a well greased plate and cut it into diamond shape or cubes before it cools thoroughly. Once it is thoroughly cooled store it in a airtight container.

Beef Kheema

2007-07-23T16:42:00.001-06:00

Ingredients

350 gms of Lean Ground Beef
4 medium potatoes
1/2 cup Green peas
1 large tomato
1 large onion
1 Green chillie
1/2 inch Ginger
1 tbspoon oil
1/2 cup of fresh coriander leaves

Masala

4-5 Kashmir Red chillies
1/4 tsp cumin/Jeera
2 tbsp Coriander seeds
2 cloves
1 inch of Cinnamon
2 garlic cloves
1/2 Onion
1 Green Cardamom
1/4 tsp poppy seeds

Method

Mince the onions and tomato and saute it with oil.
Wash the ground beef and pass it through a stainer so that all the water gets drained from the ground beef.
Cut the potatoes into small pieces, add the potaotoes and the beef to the sauted onion and tomato. Add salt.
Grind the masala and add it to the cooked beef and potatoes.
Granish with coriander leaves Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Masala Dal

2007-07-20T09:40:00.002-06:00

I used to prepare dal regularly in the traditional way but as you know every one needs a change . Recently I prepared masala dal and it turned out to be a favourite with my family I wish to share this with you so that you can enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1 cup of Toovar dal
1 small onion minced
1 medium tomato minced
2 Green chillies
1/2 tsp of Jeera/cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 inch of ginger
3 Cloves of garlic
1/2 Cup of fresh coriander leaves
A pinch of hing/asafoetida
Salt to taste
2-4 tbsp of cooking oil for seasoning

Method

Wash the toovar dal and cook it in a pressure cooker.
Heat the oil in a pan , add the mustard seeds let it splutter, add the jeera/cumin seeds and asafoetida.
Add the onion. Saute until golden and then add the ginger and garlic. Add all the other ingredients and cook until a paste is formed.
Pour the lentils, add salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Granish with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve very hot.

Appa

2007-07-19T18:09:00.001-06:00

Appa is a dish which is prepared during Ganesh Chaturthi. Appa is very tasty, you can eat it as a snack or a desert.

Ingredients

200 gms Sooji/Semolina/Rawa
150 gms Gur/Jaggery found in Indian stores
4 tablespoons of All purpose flour
4-5 Green Cardamom peeled and powdered
1/2 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup of cashew nut
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
Oil to grease the appa mold or pan

Method

Roast the sooji/semolina/rawa in a heavy bottomed pan till it is brown and gives out a aroma. Let it cool for a while. Take the jaggery or Gur melt it in the microwave with a bit of water, this helps to liquefy the jaggery as it is hard, it also settles the sand which is in the jaggery at the bottom of the bowl. Use only the top liquid jaggery and discard the bottom portion.

Take a vessel pour the coconut milk and all the above ingredients except the oil. Mix all the ingredients and let it sit for a while till the sooji soaks well in the liquid. Make it into a pouring consistency. Stir it well with a spoon, heat the mold, grease it with oil and then pour the batter in the mold one by one. Cover and cook it on a low temperature. turn them over and then cook it on the other side too.

Remove it on a plate and serve it hot or cold

Sanna

2007-07-16T13:06:00.005-06:00

This is a receipe which my mother-in-law taught me, Sanna's are soft and very tasty, similar to softbreads. You can eat Sanna's with sambar or chutney which ever you prefer and if you are in a hurry with Hot and Sweet Tomato Sauce.

Ingredients

1 cup of rice
1/4 cup of urda dal
1 tsp of yeast
4 tsp of sugar
Salt to taste
Coconut oil to grease the vatis

Method

Wash the rice and dal and soak the rice and dal separately for 4-5 hours. Drain the water and grind the rice separately into a semi fine paste, adding water as required. Add the yeast and the sugar to the rice and grind for another 2-3 seconds so they get mixed well with rice.

Drain the water and grind the urad dal to a fine paste add water as required to grind it into a fine paste, mix both the rice and the urda dal batter together, add salt for taste. The batter should have the consistency of thick heavy cream.

I use my Sumeet mixer to grind the rice and dal you can also use any other blender that you use in your kitchen

Pour the batter into a bowl cover it and keep it in a warm place for about 20-25 minutes or until the batter has doubled. Pre heat the steamer till the water boils. When the batter is twice the amount, take the idli molds grease them pour the batter half way in the mold as the sannas rise similar to bread and steam the sannas . Steam for about 10 minutes or till they are cooked.

When cooked, remove the sanna's from idli steamer and let them cool before gently easing the sannas out by running a knife or butter knife around the sides. Repeat the process till all the batter is used. Store them in a container.

You can consume them immediately or you can freeze them for 2-3 weeks. Steam the sannas and serve as when you want.

For quick reheat hold the sannas under running water for 10 seconds and microwave them for 30 seconds.

You can also serve sanna's by splitting them into thin slices and frying them on a frying pan with a little butter on both sides and can have them with Maggi Hot and Sweet sauce.

Sumeet Mixer

Oster Blender/foodprocessor

Black and Decker blender/food processor.

Garlic Chutney

2007-07-16T12:51:00.001-06:00

As a kid I used to love garlic chutney, only difference those days we used to grind it on the stone grinder manually, it tastes excellent whichever way you prepare it. Hope you love it too.

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic
2 Red chillies
1/2 fresh grated coconut
or Dry grated coconut
Salt to taste

Method

Take a non stick pan and roast the above ingredients till the coconut is light brown in colour, let it cool down. Put all the ingredients in a dry blender or coffee grinder and grind it till it is fine, do not use water.

The chutney is delicious and lasts for about a week. Put it in a container and place it in the frig. Serve with dosa, idli, chapatis or rice.

Ridge Gourd Chutney

2007-07-16T09:20:00.001-06:00

This is a very tasty chutney my mother used to prepare it when we were kids I loved it and used to prepare it when I got married my family loved it very much.

Ingredients

1 cup of ridges from the ridge gourd
1/2 a teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 a cup of fresh grated coconut
2 green chillies
1 tsp of cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method

Roast the above ingredients with a tsp of oil till it gives a sweet aroma, let it cool down if you are going to grind in a blender, use as little water as possible. Grind it into a smooth chutney.

Serve it with dosas, idlis, chapatis or rice.

Bhendi Saar/Okra Saar/Bhindi Saar

2007-07-14T16:24:00.005-06:00

This is a dish which I learnt to cook from my mother-in-law she loved to cook and I loved to cook new dishes. Her only condition while teaching me to cook some of her dishes is that I should love to do the things which she taught me. My family loves Bhendi Saar and I love cooking it for them. Hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1 pound/ 500 kg Bhindi
4-5 Kashmir chillies
you can add more chillies if you like it too pungent/hot.
7-8 black peppercorns
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp of coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 marble size ball of tamarind
1/2 Fresh grated coconut
1/4 spoon turmeric
1 teaspoon of sugar optional
Salt for taste

Seasoning

1 tbspoon of cooking oil
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves

Method

Wash the Bhindi, dry them with a paper towel. Discard the stem of the Bhendi, cut the bhendi into half at an angle. Take a heavy bottomed utensil and put all the bhendis into it. Grind all the above ingredients in a blender into a fine paste add water as and when needed. Add the masala to the bhendis with salt. Boil the bhendi and the masala till it is completely cooked, add water if the curry becomes thick.

Season

Heat the oil and add the crushed garlic to it when it turns a bit brown add the mustard seeds and the curry leaves to it, when the mustard seeds crackle add the seasoning to the curry serve hot with rice.