Goreng Pisang - Baby banana fritters

Recipe Source: http://www.makantime.com/pisang.htm

Ode to Ammas (Part 2) - Dudhi Koftas in a tomato gravy

Ode to Ammas (Part 1) - Mint and Paneer pulav

December's here

December is FINALLY here, well its been 7 days, but to me, the only 2 days that count are - 12th when exams end, and 23rd when my brother Naveen's coming over! Its been almost a year and a half since I saw him, and its his first trip here, so we're all pretty excited! Being a single student away from home and amma's yummy cooking, N's been missing southie food in the UK. Added to this, I've been tempting him with the spread on the blog. So for the 2 weeks that he's gonna be here, I'm bound to be slaving in the kitchen - so why not take a break now??
Exams are also less than a week away, so I'd better blog and orkut less and study more (easier said than done!) Wish me luck for my exams!! :D

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Singaporeanizing Thanksgiving! - from Murali's kitchen

Happy Thanksgiving EVERYONE!!

Eating green - Pesto ravioli with toasted pinenuts

Basil Pesto:

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup (about) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

In a blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. With the blender still running, gradually add enough oil to form a smooth and thick consistency. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of cheese. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The pesto can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

A memory from Paris - Chocolate Croissants!

When K and I were visiting Europe last summer, being a tight-budget backpacking trip, we weren't really particular about the accomodation. We stayed mostly in budget hotels and hostels. But Paris...we were not ready for a compromise. We picked a decent hotel in the Montparnasse area -just off Pasteur metro- with a neat parisian view! Across from the Hotel was this quaint little bakery that had the most amazing fresh breads and pastries. Every morning for those few days that we stayed at Paris, we'd get so tempted by the sheer variety of pastries, we'd stuff ourselves so much and top it off with a cappucino that we'd hardly any appetite at lunch.



Back home, K attempted to re-create the choco-wrapped in pastry, with more than decent success. It tasted pretty good and was layered well, but we should have used store-bought pastry sheets to get the flaky texture. Since K is not very fond of shortcuts in cooking, he found the recipe on food network, and made if from scratch.


















Pain au chocolat




















Cappucino to go with that.........anyone??

Tamarind treat - Puliyodharai/ Pulihora

Ingredients:

Rice - 1½ cups
Tamarind paste - 2½ tsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Green chili - 4
Red chili (dried) - 4
Turmeric - ½ tsp
Salt - 1½- 2 tsp
Oil - 3 tbs
Toasted peanuts- 2 tbsp

For spice powder:
Red chilies (dry) - 8
Coriander seeds - 1½ tsp
Split urad dhal - ¾ tsp
Split chana dhal - 1 tsp
Pepper corns - ½ tsp
Fenugreek - ½ tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

For seasoning:
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Split urad dhal - 1 tsp
Split chana dhal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - per taste

Method:

• Cook rice seperately with enough water. Once cooked, seperate grains by adding 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Add ¼ tsp of turmeric powder to the rice and let it cool
• Roast all ingredients except sesame seeds for the spice powder in ½ tsp of oil, toast(without oil) the sesame seeds seperately and grind everything together into a fine powder.
• In a tsp of oil, add the 4 red chilies and asafoetida, and let it roast till the chilies become dark brown. Now add the tamarind paste mixed in a cup of water.
• Add chopped green chilies, salt and curry leaves and let the mixture boil until the tamarind extract cooks and reduces to about half.

• Add toasted peanuts and the seasoning ingredients (roasted in ½ tsp of oil) to the rice.
• Finally add the tamarind pulp to the rice and mix well.
• Serve with plain yoghurt or sour cream.

Something for the sweet tooth- Moong dal kheer

This is very simple and healthy recipe from my sister Annu. Moong dal is an excellent source of protein and this kheer/ payasam is sure to satiate any sweet craving! This kheer is mildly sweet, so feel free to add more jaggery if you like it sweeter.


Ingredients (to serve 4)

1 cups moong dal (split green gram)
1 tbsp ghee
3 cups water
1/2 cup jaggery (or brown sugar)
cardamom powder for flavor
10 pcs cashews n kishmish(raisins) roasted in 1 tsp ghee
1/2 cup coconut milk (tinned)


Lightly roast the moong dal in 1 tbsp of ghee for about 10 mins.
Add 3 cups of water and cook the dal for about 20 mins.
Melt jaggery in a teaspoon of water and add cardamom powder with fried cashews and raisins.
Stir in the jaggery mixture to the cooked moong dal.
Simmer for 5minutes and turn off the heat.
Stir in the coconut milk to moong dal mixture.
Serve warm.

Vote now!!

VKN of My Dhaba is graciously hosting a virtual cooking contest at mydhaba.blogspot.com. I've submitted three entries - V66 (Jap Chae), V86 (Pineapple and Berry tarts) and V106 (Tricolor Agar Agar).

There are loads of lovely recipes. Everyone's allowed to vote once, so please go ahead and cast your precious votes to decide the winner of the contest!

Nonya Pineapple and Berry tarts

We celebrated our first Diwali at the new apartment with good friends and great food. Here's what I made for this year's Diwali.
I'm sending this as one of my entries for the festive food competition hosted by VKN of My dhaba [Tagged with: VCC: VCC Q3 2006].

Pineapple tarts - speciality of Singapore/Malaysia
Berry tarts- my adaptation for those friends who didn't like pineapples.

Ingredients:

For the pineapple and berry jams:

Crushed pineapple in heavy syrup – 2 cans

Sugar - ¼ - ½ cup
Cinnamon ( 1tsp) or nutmeg powder (a pinch)

For the berry jam click here

For the tart base:

3 ½ sticks butter

½ cup icing sugar

2/3 cup (heaped) milk powder

2 eggs (1 of them used for egg-wash)

4 cups flour

2 tbsp vanilla jello pudding powder

Method:

• Drain canned pineapple and cook with sugar for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add Cinnamon or nutmeg powder.
• For the berry jam, cut all berries finely and cook with sugar (no need for cinnamon or nutmeg)
• Cook until the jams start to leave the sides of the pot. Remove from stove and set aside to cool. If the jam is still chunky, just pulse it for 10 seconds on the food processor.
• For the tart base, first combine butter at room temperature and 1 egg and beat well.
• Combine the dry ingredients (sugar, milk powder, flour and pudding powder)
• Add the dry ingredients slowly into the egg-butter mixture and fold until it forms a smooth, firm dough.
• Roll out the dough to ½ an inch thickness and with a floral cookie cutter, cut out the pastry dough.
• Press the middle of the flour with the top of a small bottle cap (to make a slight dent to keep the jam in place)
• Beat the other egg and add 1 tablespoon on milk or water to prepare the egg wash.
• Place the cookies on a greased, lined cookie sheet and brush them with egg wash.
• Bake in a 350°preheated oven 5-7 minutes.
• Now scoop some of the cooled jam onto the cookie and bake it for 7-10 more minutes.
• Pineapple and berry tarts are ready!

Up close...
















Pineapple and berry tarts

Jam making's over-rated!!

Did you know how easy it is to make jam?? I just found out recently when I was making jam for the pineapple and strawberry tarts. I've always thought it was a very laborious process, but it is as simple as cutting the fruits finely, adding sugar and lemon juice and cooking for a while. Wham Bam...its done!
If you're planning on using it within the next month, you don't need all the extensive bottling tools.
Without even an iota of knowledge about jam making, I set out to make the fruit filling for the tarts. Lo and behold...I'd made Jam!! (As you can see, I'm pretty excited about this!)
















Mixed berry jam

Ingredients for Berry Jam

Strawberries - 1 box
Raspberries - ½ small box
Blue berries - ½ small box
Sugar - ¼ cup
Lemon Juice - 1-2 tsp (depending on the level of tartness you like!)

Method:

• Cut all the berries and add the lemon juice to them.
• Add sugar, and cook over medium heat till it reaches the jam consistency!
• If using pineapples, you could grate the pineapples or use canned pineapples (in juice) and then pulse them in the food processor before bottling.
• If you love the jelly-like consistency, just add 2 tsp of jello powder in the beginning.
  
• Allow to cool and store in a airtight bottle in the refrigerator.
• Its that simple!
  

HAPPY DIWALI!!

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous diwali!!!
































Storebought sweets -Jangiri, Navratan Katli, Methi thattai

Will post pics of homemade sweets later!! - I made Pineapple & berry tarts + Ribbon pakoda...also made Choco jamuns.

For the recipe and pics of pineapple tarts, click here

Sorry guys...no pics of the jamuns and ribbon pakoda. Pakodas got snapped up pretty quickly (will make more soon!). Will make them again and post pics.

My first Korean - Jap Chae

I've always imagined Korean food to be a lot like chinese food, only more beefier! Maybe it was due to my sheer ignorance or due the scores of Korean BBQ restaurants lining Buford Highway with neon lights flashing the word beef, that I was under this impression. Come to think of it , its strange how I never had Korean food even once in Singapore!! (hmmm....). It wasn't until recently when my advisor thought that since we have a relatively multicultural research group, we should try out restaurants authentic to each person's hometown/country, that I discovered Korean food.

One of the first things that made me happy was...this restaurant we went to, had more than one vegetarian entree. I didnt really believe Yijin when she said that Koreans ate spicy food...until I tried it myself. It was great..just the right amount of spice I liked (I like spicy food!!!). When my order came to the table...it looked very colorful and I felt like I was being served a Korean Thali! There were at least 5-6 sides along with white rice, and I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of the food. Yijin, my Korean friend then told me, that almost all Korean food can be made vegetarian (yay! more reason to celebrate...)

Anyway, we've been making these plans to teach each other to cook Korean and her favorite palak paneer for a while. Finally last week after one of our classes, we decided to skip the next class (who attends regression course anyway!!) and head to the asian market (H-mart) to gather the necessary ingredients for a Korean meal. She was gonna teach me to make Jap Chae, stir fried vermicelli with mixed vegetables.

















Jap Chae (stir fried vermicelli with mixed vegetables)

It turns out, that a lot of dishes can be made if you have 3 specific sauces - chilli sauce, pepper sauce and soya sauce. Here's a picture of the dish-specific ingredients I bought. In addition to these, I also got a variety of oriental mushrooms to make the Jap Chae. Make sure you get the right noodles to get the perfect taste.





















Sweet Potato noodles, Soya Sauce, Sesame Oil, Red Chili paste


















Clockwise - Enoki mushroom (white, long, slender), King Oyster/Trumpet mushroom (a first in my kitchen), and Shiitake mushrooms

I'm told that Jap Chae literally translates to 'various vegetables' and it is a festive dish. Maybe I will submit this as part of the 'Festival foods' virtual food competition. [Tagged with: VCC: VCC Q3 2006].

***Special thanks to Yijin for translating an authentic Jap-chae recipe (her mum's) from Korean to English, just for me. Thanks Gal! ☺

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato noodles - 300 g
Onion - 1 (100g)
Carrot - ¼- ½
Chives (oriental) or spinach - 100 g
Mushrooms - 200 g
Eggs - 2

For the Jap-Chae sauce:

Minced green onion (scallion) - 2 tsp
Ground garlic - 1 tsp
Soy Sauce - 7 tsp
Sugar - 4 tsp
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds (white) - 1 tsp
Pepper
Salt

For the marinade for vegetables or meat:

Salt
Pepper
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Cooking oil - 2 tsp

Method:
















Medley of cooked ingredients

• Boil plenty of water and cook the noodles in it. When the noodles turn transparent, remove from the water and run under cold water. Drain the water thoroughly using a sieve.
• In a skillet, put the vegetable oil , stir fry the drained noodles and set aside.
• Wash chives( or spinach) thoroughly and parboil with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes. Once cooked, wash with cold water and drain.
• Mix the drained chives with a pinch of salt and sesame oil and set aside.
• Slice onion and stir fry with oil, salt and pepper.
• Julienne the carrot and stir fry them with oil, salt and pepper.
• Cut all the mushrooms, marinate them with the mushroom sauce for abt 20 mts and stir fry them.

(By now you must've used up half the utensils in the kitchen!! ) - I did!!

• Beat eggs, with salt and make an omelette, cooking both sides. Once it cools, cut the omlette into strips.
• In a big bowl, put together all ingredients except the eggs and mix it with jap-chae sauce.
• Top it off with sliced eggs and ENJOY with a side of the red-chilli paste!!

Jap-chae served



※ Tip:

You can use any vegetable, meat, chicken or seafood for this dish. Just pre-cook separately with salt and pepper before mixing together with other ingredients.

Tofu Sambal

Siam's (pronounced Shyam) mum makes the world's best Tofu Sambal. She also makes the best mock mutton! Siam is my very close friend from Singapore...way back from good ol' junior college days. Aunty's made tofu sambal specially for me on countless occassions and this recipe is from the pro herself. Tofu sambal is an exceptionally easy, yet yummy dish that's perfect with white rice, by itself or with a rasam. Here's how its made. Special thanks to Siam for reminding me the recipe again!!

















Tofu Sambal


Ingredients:

Firm or Extra firm Tofu - 1 pkt
Red onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 1
Tomato paste (optional) - ½ tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Salt (per taste)
Oil for shallow frying the tofu cubes
Soya sauce (optional) - 1tsp
Sugar - ½ tsp


Method:

1. Cut the tofu to small cubes and shallow fry them till they become crispy outside. Keep aside.
2. In a pan add 1tsp oil and add the sliced onions
3. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till onions cook.
4. Add salt, soya sauce and chili powder and cook till raw smell goes.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them for 2-3 minutes. You can also add peas if you like to make the dish more colorful
   
6. Finally add the fried tofu puffs and the sugar and let the onion-tomato mixture coat the tofu thoroughly. Add a quarter cup of water if needed and let the tofu cook in the mixture for the next 5 minutes, in the covered pan.
7. Garnish with cilantro or start devouring asap!!!

Nasi Lemak with Sayur Lodeh - coconuts galore!

My next post is of dishes from Malaysia and Indonesia. Usually South East Asian cooking is seldom vegetarian, but Sayur Lodeh is an exception. A colorful medly of vegetables are simmered in a light coconut gravy. It is usually taken with steamed rice, but just to give it a twist, we made Nasi Lemak (Malay for rice in fat), or rice cooked in coconut milk. Well, the rice is not wholly cooked in coconut milk, but the milk merely gives a sweet aroma to the rice. A spicy tofu sambal (click here for recipe) will make the perfect complement to this South East Asian delicacy.

Nasi Lemak


















The Malays eat Nasi Lemak for breakfast - yes..rice early in the morning. Not just rice, but it is accompanied by boiled eggs, a drumstick of chicken, dried anchovies and peanuts, and cucumber slices. Quite similar to the street food of Mumbai, Nasi Lemak is available in most Malay hawker stalls throughout Singapore and Malaysia during breakfast time. My recipe is predominantly only for the preparation of the rice itself.

Ingredients:

Long grain rice - 1½ cups
Coconut milk - ¾ cup
Cooking oil - 2 tsp (to prevent the rice from sticking together)
Water - 2 cups
Pandan Leaf - 2
Salt - 1- 1½ tsp flat


Method:

• Wash rice in cold water and drain. Soak in coconut milk for 10 minutes.
• Pour 2 tsp of oil in the rice cooker, add the rice and let the oil coat the rice. Now add the water.
• Clean pandan leaf, tie to a knot and throw this into the cooker with the rice.
• The fruity essence of the pandan and the nutty flavor of the coconut milk will infuse into the rice.
• Make sure you switch the rice-cooker to the cook mode (I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to do this and waited hours for my food to be ready! ) and cook till done!
• Serve hot with Sayur Lodeh or even Thai Green/Red/Yellow curries.

Sayur Lodeh:

















Sayur Lodeh - Simmering

The most important ingredients to this sauce/gravy are coconut milk and the rempah or bumbu spice paste (click here for bumbu recipe). Once you have these and the vegetables cut into 1- inch pieces, the rest is a breeze!!! For the vegetables, feel free to add anything including but not limited to Tofu, beansprouts, bamboo shoots etc.

Ingredients

Potato - 1 medium
Carrot - 1
Green/Red bell pepper - 1
French beans - 5-6
Cabbage - 2-3 layers
Red/yellow onion - 1 medium sliced
Bumbu paste - 2 spoons (add 1 spoon and then add more depending on the level of spice)
Lite coconut milk - 2 cups
Salt - 1-1½ tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Water - as needed
Thai basil or cilantro for garnishing

Method:

• Wash all vegetables and cut into 1-inch pieces. Slice the onions.
• In a fry pan, add oil and when hot, add the onions and the spice paste.
• Fry till oil separates. Add all the vegetables from hard to soft and fry them in the spice paste.
• Now add salt and the lite coconut milk. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for 5-10 minutes. Add water as needed. If adding bean sprouts, put them in now.
• Finally add thai basil or cilantro to garnish.
• Serve hot with white rice or nasi lemak.

Try a serving of....

















Nasi Lemak with Sayur Lodeh

Rempah - building block of South East Asian Cooking

The main ingredient to many South East Asian dishes is a spice paste called rempah or bumbu. We don't get ready-made rempah paste in Atlanta, but we are lucky to find the ingredients that make this flavor-packed paste. We generally make the paste from all fresh ingredients, but you can substitute it with dried powders too. All ingredients should be easily available in your local asian market. Galangal is a rhizome that looks like ginger but has a more distinct woody flavor to it. Traditionally rempah also contains shrimp paste, but its been avoided here for obvious reasons! : )

Ingredients:

Shallots -10
6 red chilis (3 fresh, 3 dried)
Lemon Grass powder (available in Asian store) - 1.5 tsp
Galangal - 1 inch piece
Turmeric - 1 tsp flat
Coriander powder - ¾ tsp
Candlenut* or macadamia - 5
Optional (2 tbsp shrimp paste)

* I've read somewhere that candlenuts should not be consumed raw and can upset the stomach. So make sure you add the candlenuts only after all testing/tasting of the paste is done!

Method:

Soak the dried red chilies in warm water for a few minutes and grind all the ingredients to a fine paste with some oil and store upto 6 months in the freezer.

Choc-chip Pancakes for Saturday Brunch!

Saturday's the only time K and I have no morning agendas..and can sleep in late. Invariably, we wake up too late for a breakfast, so end up having a nice heavy brunch. (Of course its a different story that everytime, K starts to get hungry around 2pm and we have a so-called mini-lunch!). Btw, I believe, these 2pm hunger pangs are highly psychological...
Anyway, getting back to the breakfast, K's been asking for pancakes for a while now and I've been making excuses like we don't have pancake mix at home..I'm too lazy...blah blah blah. Last week when we went grocery shopping, he asked me to pick up a packet of pancake mix, which I conveniently forgot. Back home, I tried saving my ass by saying that we could make it from scratch and that'd be a lot more healthy.
Come Saturday morning, surprise surprise...what else would he crave for, but pancakes. Since we didn't have the usual berries to go with the pancakes, we decided on choco-chip pancakes (don't ask me if this is healthy...I don't have an answer!). There are other ingredients we didn't have, but could do without - buttermilk (substituted 2% milk), and baking soda (to make it fluffy).
The end product was yummy, but I don't have any classic pics of stacked pancakes drizzled with maple syrup and topped with a blob of butter...because 'somebody' couldn't wait till one was done to start popping into his mouth! Here's the recipe I got for making 'instant' pancake mix from food network's Alton Brown (yea occassionally he has good recipes!).

Ingredients

















6 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder (add them to make pancakes fluffy!)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar

• Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix and use within 3 months.

For the pancakes: (makes about 5)

1 egg, separated
1 cup 2% milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
1 tsp butter or pan spray, for greasing the pan
20 chocolate chips

• Heat a frying pan (till water droplets you put on in start dancing the moment they touch the pan). I personally LOVE a cast-iron skillet.

• Whisk together the egg whites and the milk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

• Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

• Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)
  

• Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on chocolate chips. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.

• Serve hot, stacked and drizzled with maple or chocolate syrup.

Chocoate chip pancake

Paav Bhaji - Mumbai Magic

He're a classic dish from Bombay. Aamchi Mumbai is famous for its bhel, pani puri, shev puri, dahi puri, ragda patties and other chat varieties. My personal favorites have always been paav bhaji from this particular hotel Jayprakash (if I remember the name right) at Chembur, and vada paav from Kunj Vihar in Thane (this one I cannot forget the name!). I'll make an entirely different post dedicated to vada paav, but this one's for paav bhaji.

How do I know so much about Mumbai and Mumbaikaars you ask me? I've spent almost a month every year at Bombay, till I came to the U.S. (I've all my paternal cousins and uncles and aunties in Bombay) . Countless plates of chat and mumbai street food have been consumed at every occassion and its a sheer pleasure to watch the street vendors prepare the bhel or pav bhaji in a jiffy!

In Marathi pav means bread and bhaji means a curry and vegetable mix. The pav is roasted with an ample amount of butter and masala until golden brown, and garnished with diced onion and a slice of lemon and served with the bhaji. The pav bhaji available on hand carts popularly known as Pav bhaji ki Gaadi, on the streets of Mumbai/Pune tastes even better than some of the sit-down restaurants. If you are visiting my site, its highly likely that you've had pav bhaji before, if not you've gotta try this recipe. Its a light meal that's good either as a lunch or a light dinner. This recipe is from a book of fast foods that I have.














Paav Bhaji with traditional sides - Nimbu (lemon) and Kaandha (onion)

Ingredients
Boiled potatoes - 2big
Boiled mixed vegetables ( I usually prefer just carrots and peas). - 1/2cup
Boil and mash the vegetables coarsely and keep aside.
Tomato Puree - 2 cups
Red Onion chopped very fine - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2-3
Garlic paste - 2tsp
Salt
Pav bhaji masala ( Everest or Badshah) - 2tbsp
Amchur powder 1/2 tsp or lemon juice - 1tsp
Butter 2tsp ( can use salted or unsalted)
oil 2tsp

Dinner rolls (the ones from Publix are good)

For the garnish

butter 2tsp
chopped onions-2tsp
chopped corriander 1/2cup
lemon wedges

Method

• Heat a kadai,add butter & oil
• Next add the chopped onions, green chillies, garlic and fry well, till the onions are translucent.
• Next add the 1/2 of pav bhaji masala and salt and saute for a minute before adding tomatoes.
  
• Cook for 2 mins and next stir in the remaining vegetables.
• Now add 3/4cup of water (I like my bhaji not too thin hence less water. Feel free to add upto half a cup more water) and cook the bhaji until the vegetables are smooth and well cooked .
• Add the remaining pav bhaji masala, more salt if needed and amchur powder (you could also use lemon juice). Cook for just a minute more.
• Remove from flame, add the coriander leaves and serve with the garnishes on the side. You can add some more butter if needed.
• Serve with nice dinner rolls or buns toasted lightly with some butter.

Perfect snack for rainy afternoon

Its been raining all day...thankfully its a sunday and THE perfect weather to sleep in. Here's a perfect snack to make the perfect sunday even better...




























Perfect snack for a rainy Sunday afternoon - Red Onion, Bell pepper (Capsicum), Jalapeño pakoras with piping hot ginger tea! Yummmm

Ingredients

For the batter:
Besan or chikpea flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - ½ cup
Salt - 1½tsp
Chilli powder - ¾-1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Asafoetida - a pinch
Baking soda - ¼ tsp
Ajwain seeds - ½ tsp (optional)
Coriander leaves - ¼ cup (finely chopped) (optional)
Enough water to make the batter a syrupy consistency.

For the filling: one or more of the following
Red onion (Cut in circles)
Hungarian banana peppers (make a slit and de-seed and de-vein after cooking in boiling water with salt for a minute) You could fill it with shredded mexican cheese for a 'stuffed jalapeños' taste.
Bell pepper (Cut in bite size squares)
Jalapeños
Potatoes (sliced thin)
Raw Plantains (cut in half across and sliced thin)
Paneer (cubed)
Tofu (cubed)
You get the idea...

Method:

• Make the batter with all ingredients and let it sit for about 5-10 mts
• Get the filling ready in the meanwhile
  
• Dip the vegetables in the batter and fry in hot oil
• If batter is too thin (watery), dip the fried pakoras in the batter again and refry them.
• Enjoy with a good mint or chilli sauce with hot tea or coffee!

Ready to Salsa?

Salsa

















Tortilla cups filled with salsa, topped with a dollop of sour cream


Ingredients

2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
6 cloves fresh chopped garlic
1/2 an onion chopped
1 tbsp jalapenos de-veined, finely chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

• Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.
• Lightly mash with back of fork for about 10 seconds to help release juices.
• Refrigerate or serve fresh with tortilla chips or nachos.
  

Enchiladas Moghulai

KS aka paneer king has been MIA for the past two weeks burying himself in some grant work. So when he was finally free..he dropped by on Friday evening. While I was all game to eat out, the guys had a different idea. What was to be a simple dinner by da boys, became an elaborate mexican menu plan in no time.

We had Salsa and tortilla chips to tide us over till dinner got ready at about 10pm. Salsa recipe has also been posted.

Enchiladas Moghulai... Proof that you can put paneer in just about any dish!

Enchiladas with Paneer and bell pepper filling

Ingredients (Makes about 9 Enchiladas for 4-5 people)

Paneer: 450 Grams

Green Bell Pepper: ½

Red Bell Pepper: ½

Yellow Bell Pepper: ½

Red Onions: 3

Roma Tomatoes: 5

Garlic: 4 cloves

Cilantro: ½ bunch

Shredded Jack, Shredded Mozarella (mix): 3 cups

Enchilada Spice Mix: 1 pack

Garam Masala: 3 tsp

Red Chilli Powder: 3 tsp

Turmeric: 1 tsp

Tawa Fry Masala: 1 tsp

Flour/Corn Tortillas: 9

Sour Cream: As per taste

Cumins: 3 teaspoons

Tomato Sauce: 4 tsp

Instructions (For the sauce)

• Chop 2 onions very fine
• Chop all the tomatoes very fine
• Chop the garlic very fine
• Heat oil in a pan, and add cuins
• Wait till it gets heated and add the onions and brown it
• Add turmeric, red chilli powder, 2 Garam Masala, 1 tsp Tawa Fry, and 1 pack Enchilada Sauce
• Add the tomatoes and 3 teaspoons of Tomato Sauce
• Add a cup of water and let cook for 10 minutes
• Blend the sauce until smooth

  

Instructions (For the filling)

• Slice the onion, garlic, bell peppers, and the paneer
• Heat oil in a pan, and add the sliced veggies
• Add 1 teaspoon tomato sauce, garam masala, red chilli powder, and turmeric
• Sautee the veggies for about 5 minutes
• Add the paneer and sautee for another 15 minutes on high stirring frequently
• Add Cilantro for garnishing

  

Instructions (For Baking)

• Warm the tortillas
• Put a thin layer of the sauce on the surface of the tortilla and add cheese, the filling, some raw onions and wrap the tortilla up
• Take a baking sheet and spray some oil on it
• Lay the wrapped tortillas next to each other
• Put sauce, cheese, and onions on top of the tortillas and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until the cheese melts
• Add a dollop of sour cream on top before eating and ENJOY!!!!

Low fat spinach artichoke dip

Popcorn, Potato chips.... move aside. Give way to.. Tortilla chips and spinach artichoke dip.


Here's a recipe for the perfect snack for a movie marathon...

Spinach artichoke dip wrapped in a spinach tortilla, topped with salsa.

Ingredients:

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup (1 oz.) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (8 oz.) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8 oz.) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 (13.5 oz.) package baked tortilla chips (about 16 cups)

Method:

Spinach artichoke dip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine 1-1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and next six ingredients (2 tablespoons Parmesan through spinach) in a large bowl. Stir until well-blended.

Spoon mixture into a 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes 5-½ cups

Shrooms Spaghetti

In continuation with the recent trend of quick-dinner recipes, spicedforlife now presents.....Spaghetti with mushrooms.

















Spaghetti with mushrooms in a marinara sauce

What you need:














All ingredients to make the sauce- storebought marinara sauce, mushrooms (not in pic) heavy cream (optional), Red onion, Few pods of garlic, Red chili flakes and dried parsley and of course...olive oil.


Method:

• Slice mushrooms, onion and chop garlic and keep aside.
• In a separate container, cook the spaghetti with lots of water (Add 1 tsp of salt to the water before adding the spaghetti)
• In a hot pan with 2 tsp of olive oil, add the chopped garlic followed by the sliced onion and the mushrooms. Add enough salt for the vegetables only (approx ½ tsp)
• Now add ¼-½ tsp of red chili flakes and cook for 2 mins

• Add the marinara sauce or you can make it at home with crushed tomatoes.
• Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.
• Now add 2 tbsp of heavy cream and ¼ tsp of sugar to the sauce and garnish with dried parsley flakes

• In the meanwhile, your spaghetti would have cooked al dante (firm to bite) . Mix the cooked spaghetti with the sauce and serve.

Aval (Poha) Upma

I often tell K....if I were a single grad student living in the US, I'd probably never cook at all...be happy with just cereal for b'fast lunch and dinner. In fact, when he goes out of town, thats what I do most of the time. Its too boring to cook for just one person...even more so if that one person is yourself. Here's an Indian meal you can whip up in less than 15 mts. It will be a welcome break from the junk food most single students eat. Navs...this one's for you.

















Aval Upma

Aval upma

Ingredients - serves 2

Aval Upma - Made with flattened rice and tamarind

Aval or flattened rice (approx 2 to 3 cups)
½ red onion
1 green chili
½ tsp tamarind paste
1½ tsp coriander seeds
2 red chillies
1 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp chana dhal
½ tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Asafoetida a pinch
Curry leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Optional (roast in a tsp of oil and grind to a coarse powder)
½ tsp urad dhal
1 tsp chana dhal
1 red chili
1 tsp coriander seeds

Method:

• Take a flat, large bowl and wash the poha or aval in water. Do not allow the water to stay and drain immediately without any traces of water.
  
• Grind to a coarse powder, the coriander seeds, red chilies, urad dhal, and chana dhal after frying them in a tsp of cooking oil.
  
• Then take a large pan and pour some cooking oil and add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Then add the cut green chili.
  
• Then add urad and chana dhal, dried red chili followed by onion, curry leaves and turmeric powder. Season with asafoetida. Cook until the onions are cooked.
• Now add the aval or poha. Mix the tamarind in ¼ cup of water and pour the liquid in.
• When the tamarind has been absorbed, add the ground masala to the aval along with salt. Stir the mixture well till the aval is coated with the masala powder.
• Keep the pan covered for about 2-3 minutes and garnish with coriander leaves just before serving.
• And the delicious upma is ready....Enjoy
• Aval upma with a dollop of sour cream and avakaai pickle