Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tortilla sandwich and Refreshing Buttermilk

Last night on a whim, I decided to make this dish.My husband made it when my parents were here and they loved it.So here is the recipe.Very simple and yummy.

Tortilla Sandwich


Tortillas (1 packet whole wheat,I use Rotis more often)
Cheese (I used cheddar and mozzarella)
Zucchini 2 small chopped
yellow squash 2 chopped
onion 1 chopped
capsicum (1 green and 1/2 red) chopped
salt
pepper
oil 2 tsp

In a pan, add oil add all the veggies,salt and pepper
Saute till done.Keep aside.

Heat tortilla on the pan.
Add cheese .
Add the veggies
Cover with another tortilla.
After a min, flip the tortilla .
Enjoy.

Buttermilk


This buttermilk goes really well with the tortilla dish.So very easy and refreshing.

In a glass, add store bought buttermilk and water.
Add a pinch each of asafoetida, cumin seeds, salt, pepper.
Add a curry leaf and a pinch of chopped cilantro.
mix well and enjoy.

This is my entry to AWED by DK's Culinary Bazaar.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Breakfast Out!



Today I got to eat breakfast out.So my hubby and I headed to a local cafe (we've always wanted to come here for breakfast but have only been here for dinner).I just love this place.It is always packed with people but never feels overcrowded you know what I mean.I also love the service and the cool cups and plates that they get you food in..:)

We had the Scrambled eggs with potatoes and carmelized onions, wheat toast (the butter was amazing) ,orange juice and a cappuccino.Everything was fabulous.Best of all, it was the first time D(my husband) and I got to go out to breakfast alone without R (my 2 yr old).It was so nice to relax and have a meal and not worry about R.Aah.Just for that ,we will do it again.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tonight's dinner:Methi Sambar and Spicy Cauliflower Sabji



I am so glad to see fresh greens in the grocery aisle and this week I bought bunches of Methi(fenugreek) leaves .One of our(my hubby and mine)favourite sambhar is Methi leaves sambhar which trust me is the most flavourful sambar you will ever eat.:) Added to that I made Spicy Cauliflower with a new masala Thanks to my mom.

Methi Leaves Sambhar:


Toor daal (yellow lentils) 3/4 cup cooked
Potatoes diced 1 cup microwaved for 5 mins
Onion chopped 1 cup
Fenugreek leaves 1 cup
Green chillies 4 slit
Tamarind paste 1 tbsp
Ghee 2 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Urad Daal (black gram beans) 1 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies 2
Sambar powder 2 1/2 tsp

Heat ghee in a vessel
Add mustard, red chilli, Urad daal and Hing.Wait till mustard splutters.

Add onion,fenugreek ,Potato and Green chilli.
Fry for a few mins till you get an aroma.
Remove and keep aside on a plate.

In the same vessel,add tamarind paste and 2 1/2 cups water.Add sambar powder and salt.Boil till water reduced to half its quantity.

Add the fried items and cooked daal.Boil till the sambar is thick.

Serve hot with Rice.

Cauliflower Sabji:


Cauliflower 1 head broken into florets steamed in the microwave for 8 mins
Oil 2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Red Chilli 1
Everest Sabji Masala 1 tsp

Heat Oil on a pan.Add cumin seeds, red chilli and everest masala.Fry for a minute.

Add the steamed cauliflower florets.Saute till the masala coats the florets and the water evaporates.

Enjoy hot.

Vermicelli with Mixed Veggies


My typical afternoon routine is to look at blogs ,tweak my blog(so very addicted to it) and try out recipes to put on my blog:).So as I was thinking of what to cook for my son (he naps, i blog), I came across Food For Plastic Challenge III Event hosted by What's cooking?


Tupperware is celebrating April as Children’s month and they are donating $1 from the sale of selected items to the Boys & Girls Clubs.

This is my entry towards the Challenge and also my son's evening snack.(He has been eating this since he was almost a year old.Very yummy and the Veggies go in too!)

Recipe

Melted Butter or Ghee.(Clarified Butter) 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Pepper as per taste (I do 3-4 rounds on the pepper mill)
salt as per taste
Turmeric 1 pinch for colour
Asafoetida 3 pinches (optional)

Frozen mixed veggies 1 small bowl
Vermicelli 1/2 cup(I buy Bambino's Roasted Vermicelli from the Indian Grocery Store)
Water to cook

In a pan, heat butter and add Cumin seeds, pepper,turmeric and asafoetida


After a minute,add the mixed veggies,salt and water.Cover and cook till tenter.


Add the vermicelli to the boiling water .Lower the heat and cover it.Cook till the water evaporates.


Serve hot.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Yellow Daal






This was dinner lastnight along with rice.I love the simple flavours of the lentils.Everyone (read every indian friend) I know has been brought up on Daal and Rice.Add a little dab of ghee(clarified butter), mix in with hot rice and it is the most satisfying meal of all.

Recipe:

Lentils 1 cup pressure cooked till 3 whistles ( i used a mix of many lentils.)
Oil
Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp (use according to spice level)
Salt 1 tsp
Garlic 2 pods
Ginger 1 inch grated
Coriander leaves chopped

Pressure cook lentils in the cooker .

Heat oil in a big vessel.Add cumin seeds,turmeric powder,ginger and garlic.Fry for a min.

Add chilli powder,salt and add the cooked daal.

Add water and allow to cook on medium heat till it bubbles.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Banana Bread

This is my entry to NQN’s Banana Bread bakeoff event!.






Oh Yum! I actually have this recipe courtesy my friend and we baked it together in her portable oven years ago.I had an over-ripe banana and only 1/4 cup flour (maida) and so I tweaked the recipe a bit.I can't stop eating it.I just made it and its almost gone:)

The actual recipe:
Sugar 1 cup
Butter 1/2 cup
Bananas 3
Eggs 2
Flour 1 1/4 cups
Salt 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda 1 tsp
Chopped Walnuts 1/2 cup

Preheat oven to 350 deg F

In a Mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter.Mix till creamy.

Add banana halves one at a time,eggs, salt and mix well.

Stir in the chopped walnuts.Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-50 mins at 350.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Rotis



Wheat flour 3 cups
water as needed

Knead wheat flour with water to make soft dough.
Keep aside for 15 mins covered with a damp towel.
Make the rotis by rolling a ball of dough into a round shape using the rolling pin.
Heat on the stove untill it puffs up.Serve with a curry.



Alu Palak Methi



Tonight's meal was heaven.My dear hubby decided to make this dish and he did it with ingredients from the top of his head.It was the most yummiest palak-alu-methi I have ever had.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
Aloo (Potatoes) - 5
Palak (Spinach) - 1 Bunch
Dry Methi Leaves(Fenugreek) - 1 Bunch
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Seasoning:
Onions - 1 onion cut into small pieces
Jeera (Cumin)seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 2 Pods
Star Anise - 1
Cloves - 2
Bay Leaf - 3
Oil - 4 tbs
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Method:
Boil, peel & cut potatoes into small square cubes.

Heat oil in a vessel, when hot add Bay Leaf, Cloves, Cardamom and Star Anise. Fry the spices till you get a nice aroma. Then add jeera and onions and fry till golden. Add the ginger garlic paste.

Add washed & chopped Palak (frozen spinach is also a good option) & Methi leaves; Add salt, chilli powder & turmeric; Add very little water & cover for 3 minutes.

Add potato cubes and mix it with the palak properly.

Fry until all water from spinach/palak evaporates & potatoes turn light golden color.

Serve hot.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Desi Chinese

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and me had a real hankering for Desi Chinese.We love to eat chinese takeouts but whenever we invite friends over for dinner, we end up cooking indian food.So this time my son's friend (read girlfriend) and her folks came over for dinner and we decided to try our desi-chinese cooking on them.Since my hubby D almost always is gung-ho about joining in on the cooking (yeah yeah lucky me...),he did actually cook all the food for the party and i was but the "mundu-boy" getting him chillies from the fridge , search for ingredients in my pantry and doing a bit of
chopping and dicing.The food turned out amazingly delicious and we actually began with soup and ended with fortune cookies.cool na !

Hot and Sour Soup


chilli garlic paste:

2 dry red chillies -deseeded and soaked in water for 10 mins
2 flakes garlic
other ingredients:
3 tbsp tomato puree
4 tbsp maggie tomato ketchup(any ketchup will do)
1 tbsp finely sliced french beans
1/2 cup carrot sliced into rounds
1-2 tbsp dried mushrooms
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp soy sauce
3 cups vegetable stock
4 1/2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1/2 cup water

soak dry red chilles in water for 10 mins
for the chilli garlic paste, drain the red chillies.Grind red chillies,garlic to a paste.
if dried mushrooms are available,soak them in water for 1/2 hr to soften
Heat 2 tbsp oil.Add chilli garlic paste.Stir.
Add the tomato puree
Add beans,soaked mushrooms and carrots.Stir well.
Add all the other ingredients except cornflour paste.Boil for 2 mins.
Add corflour paste,stirring continously.Cook for 2-3 mins till the soup turns thick.Serve hot.

Desi Egg Fried Rice


1 1/2 cups basmati rice- boiled and spread on a tray to cool
2 flakes garlic crushed
2 green chillies chopped finely
2 green onions chopped till the greens,keep greens seperate
1/2 cup chopped french beans
1 carrot diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs beaten
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Heat 2 tbsp oil.Add garlic,green chillies and wjites of onions.Stir
Add beans,stir for a min.
Add carrots .Stir fry for a min
Add capsicum.Stir to mix.
Add salt,pepper.Mix well.
Add rice.Reduce heat.Sprinkle soya sauce on the rice.
Add the eggs and stir well.
Mix well using 2 forks.Add greens of onions.
Stir fry till eggs are done.Serve.

Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce



4 Chinese eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch strips
olive oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Saute eggplant in a pan with oil.Add water and cook till tender

Meanwhile in small saucepan heat 1/3 cup oil over medium heat.
Add ginger and garlic and cook 1 minute until brown.
Add hoisin sauce and stir.
Quickly add sugar, broth, soy sauce.
Bring to a boil.
Stir cornstarch into water until dissolved.
Add to sauce and stir until thickened.

Pour sauce over vegetables; toss to coat.


Veg Chow Mein

100 gm noodles
2 flakes garlic crushed
1 onion sliced
1 carrot shredded
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 capsicum shredded
salt
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 chilli sauce

Make noodles as per instructio on the packet.I used the Hakka noodles from the local indian store.
Wash with cold water several times.Strain
Shred all vegetables into thin long strips.To shred onions, peel and cut into half.Cut each half into thin semi circles to get long strips of the onion.To shred carrots, grate on the thick side of the grater.
Heat oil.Add sliced onion.Stir fry for 1-2 mins.Add garlic.Mix.
Stir fry carrots for a min.Add cabbage and capsicum.
Add salt,pepper.
Add boiled noodles.Sprinkle soy sauce and mix well with 2 forks so that all the ingredients are mixed well.
Add chilli sauce.Stir fry for a min.Add more soy sauce for a darker colour.