Masala Upuma

This is a little different from the normal upma. If you love the flavour of Indian Spice in moderation, you are sure to love this one.

Here is what you will need :

1 cup semolina
11/2 cups water (keep extra hot water to be used if required)

For the Tempering:

1 medium sized onion, sliced fine
2 green chillies, chopped
1/4 cup oil
1 inch cinnamon
2 cloves
1 green cardamom
6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 medium-sized ripe tomato, chopped
salt ( adjust according to taste)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
juice of ½ lime

To Garnish:

1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp ghee
6 - 8 cashew nuts

How to Make This :

• Fry the semolina lightly in a kadai, stirring continuously so that it does not brown. Transfer on to a plate.
• Heat the water, and keep it simmering on the stove.
• Heat oil in a kadai, and add the spices and curry leaves.
• Add onion slices and green chillies sauté till onion is light brown, add ginger-garlic paste and tomato, sauté for 2 minutes till tomato turns soft.
• Add the hot water, and turmeric When the water boils add the semolina stirring vigorously, to avoid lumps being formed. If the semolina is not cooked ladle some of the reserved hot water on to the mixture, taking care to add very small quantities at a time, otherwise the whole mixture will turn soggy.
• Pour the juice of the lime over the uppumav and mix well. Cover with a lid and keep it on low heat.
• Heat the ghee in a small pan, add the cashew nuts till light brown
• Stir the upuma after a few minutes and sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and cashew nuts for garnish.

Voila ! Its done :) Can be had as breakfast or an evening snack when kids return from school or as dinner.

Can be served with coconut chutney .

Bread Snack

I remember as a kid there were days when we had to gulp breakfast down as it was getting late for school and on top of that had a huge glass of milk to finish as well... This graduated to the bread and jam sandwich being dipped in milk for it to go down easier and from there came this wonderful recipe which I still snack on at times when i want something simple yet nutritive.

Here is what you will need ( for two ) :

• 4 - 6 slices of bread
• mixed fruit jam
• Warm / absolutely cold milk ( based on your preference)

How to make it :

• Make sandwiches of the bread and jam ( liberal jam is what I like :D ) and then roughly cut up each sandwich into 4 or 6 pieces each.
• Divide them equally into two bowls and pour milk into it
• Let it soak for about five minutes and then sit back and enjoy.

Kids will love this and you get to give them nutritious bread and milk and jam that they like :)

Pori / Puffed Rice Snack

 Tomorrow is Ugadi and I'll be home for better part of the day.. I was wondering what to make when I suddenly remembered something I made a couple of months back that I really digged.. Its simple and can be done under five minutes provided you have all the required ingredients.

What you will need:

Puffed rice - 200gms
Peanuts - 50 gms
Dry red chillies -10 nos
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Curry leaves - 10 to 15 nos
Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Oil to fry

How to make it :

• Heat about 4 tbsps of oil in a huge kadai and fry the peanuts well.
• When you think they are done, drain them and keep them aside.
• In the same oil, dump the curryleaves, red chillies and fry for about slightly under a minute. Ensure you don't burn the chillies.
• Add the puffed rice to this. Also trow in the fried peanuts, sugar, salt and haldi.
• Mix well and turn off the flame once the puffed rice is all nice and crisp.

Voila ! We're done ! Store in air tight containers.

Tomato Bath/ Tomato Khichidi

I don't feel like cooking today ... only because its not fun cooking for just one person.. So, I decided to cook something fast and yummy and something that would make me want to eat :) For those who hate the normal Upma, this is a good variation and is a hit with the kids as well.

What you will need :

• Sooji ½ cup
• Chopped tomatoes 2
• Chopped onion 1 small
• Green peas ¼ cup (optional)
• Grated carrot ¼ cup (optional)
• Curry leaves 6 to 8
• Finely chopped coriander 1 tbsp
• Bay leaf 1
• Cinnamon 1 inch
• Cardamom 3
• Cloves 2
• Ginger garlic paste
• Water one and a half cups
• Oil 1 to 2 tsp
• A pinch of turmeric
• Salt to taste

How to make it :

• Dry roast the sooji till a nice aroma comes out.
• Heat oil in a kadai and add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamoms, and cloves.
• Add chopped onion and curry leaves. Fry till onions turn translucent.
• Add chopped tomatoes. and cook till tomatoes are done.
• Add turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, green peas, and grated carrot. Fry for a minute or two.
• Add water and salt to taste, and bring to a boil.
• Add sooji slowly stirring continually to avoid formation of lumps. Cover and cook on a slow fire stirring occasionally till done.
• Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander and a dash of ghee.

It goes well with curd/ potato chips/ coconut chutney or eat it as it is :)

Poha upma

This is one of those evening when I don't feel like cooking but yet want to make something tasty and nutritious. I think of sabudana khichdi and then realize I have not soaked it and don't have the time to let it soak.. the next best option - Poha :) It is a favourite Maharashtrian dish, and eaten very frequently for breakfast and snacks.

What you will need :

• 1 1/2 cups poha
• 1/2 cup broken raw peanuts
• 1/2 cup green peas ( I prefer using Saffal Peas which is readily available in supermarkets)
• 2 green chilies sliced long ways
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• About 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
• Curry leaves - 4 - 5 nos

How to make it :

• Gently wash the poha and then drain all the water, else it will become one big clumpy mass.
• Roast the peanuts on medium heat in a little oil until they are lightly brown. Keep aside.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if the seed crackles right away then oil is ready.
• Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds after seeds crack add green chilies, curry leaves and stir for a few seconds.
• Next add the green peas and stir fry until peas are tender.
• Add turmeric, and salt and stir fry on medium heat continuously.
• Add the poha and for another 3-5 minutes.
• Remove from flame and fold in lime juice, cilantro and sugar.
• Serve hot and enjoy as it is or with tomato sauce / Coconut chutney/ Peanut chutney/ curd :)

Tamarind /Puli Sevai

I have an exam at work tomorrow and I need to cook something quick and tasty for dinner tonight so I have more time to study. I sometimes have a craving for anything tangy like vatha kozumbu, poondu kozumbu, fish gravy (Andhra style) and the like. Tonight, Tamarind sevai it is :)

This is what you will need (serves two) :

• Instant Sevai Mix /Rice noodles - 250 gms (readily available in the supermarket)
• Red chillies - 3
• Tamarind paste - 1/2 spoon
• Turmeric powder - a pinch or two
• Salt to taste

For seasoning :

• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad daal, - 1 tsp
• Channa daal, - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 3 to 4
• Hing - a pinch

A handful of roasted peanuts and Cilantro - for garnishing

How to make it :

• Cook the sevai/ Rice noodles as instructed on the pack and keep aside.
• In a pan heat little oil, pop mustard seeds, add turmeric powder, urad daal, channa daal, chillies, curry leaves and fry till the daals are golden brown.
• Add some water (about 1/4 cup) to the tamarind paste, dilute it and add this tamarind water.
• Let it boil till the raw smell goes and thickens.
• Turn off the stove and add the sevai/ boiled noodles and salt. Mix well.
• Garnish with cilantro and roasted peanuts.

This goes well with coconut chutney/ pottu kadalai chutney :)

Chilli Paneer

It all started out with the usual conversation  in my head- "wat do I make for dinner tonight?" and the usual response - "Anything"! And then "Anything" becomes Noodles and "Chilly Paneer" :)

I thought it would be a change from the usual - Dal chaval or Roti Subjii and turned out quite well, if I may say so myself ( I am modest, na .? :D)

I did make a few changes here and there as I did not have the required ingredients and was too lazy to go out and buy them at 8:00 in the evening .. So here goes -

Ingredients required :

A slab of Paneer ( readily available in the Super market) cubed - 200 gms should do fine
One medium Onion - Sliced
One medium capsicum - Either cut them into long slices or into squares
4-5 garlic pods - crushed
3-5 Green chillies - julienned (for the look)
Vegetable soup powder - 2 tablespoons - Mixed in half a cup of water (instead of veg stock)
Corn flour - 3 tablespoons
Soya Sauce - 2 tablespoons
Green Chilli Sauce - 1 tablespoon
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Oil - to shallow fry the paneer
Salt to taste
Spring onions - 1 tbsp to garnish/ 1 tbsp fry
1/4 tsp Ajino motto ( i didn have any, so didn use any but came out well all the same)

How I Made It :

1. After I cut the paneer , I dusted it in the cornflour and then shallow fried them till they were golden brown on all sides and put it aside on a tissue for the excess oil to drain.
2. In a pan, I heated about 2 tablespoons of oil and when warm , dumped the crushed garlic with a tablespoon of spring onions and waited for the garlic to brown a bit and then, in went the onions, capsicum and green chillies that were sauted for about a couple of minutes.
3. When the onions started turning a shade of pink, I added the fried paneer pieces, the vegetable soup powder mixed in water, soya sauce, chilli sauce, pepper powder, salt to taste and mixed it well.
4. In the meantime, I mixed the remaining cornflour with about one third cup of water and then when the mixture in the pan started boiling, I stirred in the blended cornflour and cooked it on high heat, stirring and tossing until the sauce thickened to coat the paneer and the vegetables.
5.Serve immediately., garnished with remaining spring onions.


P.s: Don't forget to thank me for the compliments you receive ;)

COCONUT RICE

This is a South Indian recipe for coconut rice. Fried coconut and cashewnuts are added to boiled rice and garnished with ghee and coriander leaves.

Ingredients:


400 gms biryani rice
120 gms coconut
40 ml ghee
25 gms black gram dhal
25 gms broken pieces of nuts
6 gms dry chillies
2 gms curry leaves
2.5 gms asafoetida powder
20 gms (minced) coriander leaves
Salt to taste

How to make coconut rice:

* Boil rice and keep aside.
* Fry coconut evenly to a golden colour on a slow fire.
* Heat 3 dessertspoon of ghee. Fry the cashewnuts and remove.
* Fry the broken pieces of dry chillies, black gram dhal, and curry leaves well.
* Mix rice, coconut, nuts, 1 teaspoon of ghee and salt.
* Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

Sambar Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes (with jacket), washed thoroughly and cut into chunks
1/2 tbsp sambar/vegetable curry powder
1/2 tsp heaped tumeric powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp amchur (mango powder)
1 tsp sweet paprika or chilli powder for spiciness
pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp olive oil coriander leaves, chopped

Method
1. Parboiled potato pieces until half cooked, drained and shake them a bit to make them fluff
2. Mix all the other ingredients except coriander leaves to the potatoes and mix them until well incorporated
3. Line a baking pan with aluminum and arrange the potatoes onto the pan
4. Bake the potatoes in a preheated oven of about 200C for 30mins
5. Once crispy, add chopped coriander and mix well
6. Serve hot with rice or flat bread

Note :A variation can be that after step 2. Heat a little oil in a heavy bottomed kadai and keep frying until crisp and fully cooked :)

Vazhakai cutlet

Ingredients :

2 Raw Bananas
1/2 Carrot Grated
1/3 Cup Green Peas
1/2 Cup Small Red Onion
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Garam masala
Salt as per taste
Few sprigs of Kothamali (green coriander)


Method :
Boil the banana's in a cooker and peel the skin. Smash the banana; add the onion, grated carrot, peas and all the masala's. Add salt and kothamali - mix this together and make small cutlets out of them. Place them in the tava and allow it to cook. Turn both the sides until they reach dark brown color by adding few drops of oil .Serve hot with pudhina chutney.

Kuli Paniyaram with Fried Gram Chutney

For Kuli Paniyaram :

Ingredients:

• Finelly chopped Onion -1 medium onion
• Finelly chopped Green Chillies - 4
• Finelly chopped Curry and Corinder Leaves - 1 1/2tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 3/4tsp
• Urad dal - 1tsp

Method:

1) Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and curry leaves and allow it to crackle
2) Then add the chillies and onions and sauté for a few minutes. 
3) Add this sautéed mixture to the idli batter and mix well.
4) Heat the Kuli Paniyaram Chatti and add little oil in each hole and pour 1 spoon
of batter in each hole.
5) Cook them on both the sides.


Fried Gram Chutney:

For Chutney

• FriedGram - 1 cup
• Greenchillies - 4-5
• Garlic - 3-4 pods
• Tamarind - a small grape sized
• Salt - To taste

For Tadka

• Oil- 1tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
• Curry leaves - 5-6leaves
• Urad dal - 1/4tsp
• Hing - a pinch

Method:
1) Grind together all the ingredients for the chutney to a smooth paste along with the salt.
2) Make the tadka and pour it over the chutney.

Chilli Paratha: Baked and Broiled

Method for making Parathas

• Mix 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, required amount of water to form a thick batter. Leave it for 10- 15 minutes.
• Heat a flat pan, pour a ladle full of batter on the pan and spread it evenly like a circle. Spray or apply oil at the edges of the batter. Heat for about a minute and flip to the other side and cook for another minute. Keep aside and allow them to cool.
• Cut them into square pieces, I used scissors to cut them into small pieces. Take an oven safe flat pan and put the aluminum foil. Arrange the pieces evenly.
• Bake at 300 F for 10-12 minutes and broil at high for 3-4 minutes. While broiling keep an eye on the pieces, once it turns little crisper take it out and keep aside.
  

Method for making Chilli Parathas

• Heat non-stick pan with oil, add 1 onion cut into small pieces, few curry leaves, 1 tsp of ginger, 1 tsp of garlic, 2 green chilies finely chopped, ½ tsp chili powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp garam masala and sauté them for a minute.
• Now add 1 green bell pepper finely chopped or chopped length wise. Sauté them for another one minutes until it turns soft.
• Add 1 big tomato ground into a paste with ½ tsp soya sauce into the mixture and cook for another one minute.
• Add the baked and broiled pieces into the mixture and saute them until all the spice covered with pieces.
• Serve them hot with raita. I made raita a little bland since the chili parathas were spicy. Just added onion, cilantro leaves, yogurt, salt, and mixed them together.

Khandvi

Ingredients:

• Besan: 1 cup
• Buttermilk: 3 cups
• Ginger-chilli paste: 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves (finely chopped): 1 tbsp
• Grated coconut: 2 tbsps
• Salt according to taste

For tempering:

• Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
• Oil: 3 tsp
• Green chillies: 2 nos
• Asafoetida: a pinch
• Curry leaves: a few

Method:

1. Mix besan, buttermilk and salt in a bowl and Micro Med for 4 mins.
2. Add turmeric powder, ginger - chilli paste and Micro High for 5 mins.
3. Remove from the microwave and spread immediately on a greased surface in a thin layer ( i used the back of a big plate, greased it and spread the besan mixture on it).
4. When set cut into strips and roll. Arrange the rolls in a serving dish.
5. Place all the ingredients for tempering in a bowl, Micro High for 1.5 mins and pour over the khandvi.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander and grated coconut…

Ribbon pakoda

I remember the days my grandmum would patiently make different knick-knacks for us and fill those huge steel dabbas that would last us for about three months :) Here is one of those much loved snacks ...

Ingredients :

• Rice Flour - 2 Cups
• Channa Dhal flour - 1.5 cups
• Dalia(pottu Kadalai) powdered - 1/2 cup
• Garlic pods - 4
• Whole red chillies - 6 to 7
• Hing - A pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Butter - 1 Tbsp
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Mix all the flours together with salt and hing
• Add the butter
• Grind the garlic and red chilly finely with water to make a paste (strain it , so that you don't have the seeds in the way)
• Add the strained water to the flour and bring them altogether as much as water is needed to make a dough (same consistency as chapathi dough)
• Now using the tubular press, you can start frying them in hot oil.
• Once they are fried, let the pakodas rest on a paper towel and then store in air tight container.

Coconut Bun

Ingredients:

• Bun
• 2 cups plain flour
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp active dried yeast
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg

Coconut Filling

• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1/3 grated palm sugar (or more as per desired)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp plain flour

Egg Wash

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp water

Method :

Whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Set aside.

Heat milk and butter until the butter melts and the mixture is about 50° C warm. Pour into the flour mixture. Also add the egg into the flour. Knead the dough until smooth and shiny. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Meanwhile, heat the water and palm sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the grated coconut and flour. Stir constantly until the mixture becomes soft paste. Remove from heat and let the coconut filling cool.

Punch down the dough and knead gently on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal sized balls. Flatten the each ball and fill with the completely cooled coconut filling and seal the bun neatly. Gently rotate the bun repeatedly until it forms a smooth-skinned ball. Place each bun into a greased baking dish. Cover the dish and let the buns rise again in a warm place until nearly double in size, approximately 45 minutes.

Beat together the egg yolk and water. Egg wash the buns. Bake in a preheated oven at 190° C for 20 minutes.

Dates Raitha

Ingredients :

Dates – 10 chopped finely
Raisins – 2 tbsp
Green apple – 1 chopped
Yogurt – 1 cup
Salt & pepper to taste
Ground cumin – 1 tsp

Method:

Combine all the ingredients and serve chilled. This will keep well for about 2 days if stored in the refrigerator. Add fresh grapes for that added crunch.

Rice Sevai

This is a very simple, easy and  very quick dish to prepare. It makes an excellent choice for potlucks. Vegetables can be added to one's hearts content. Made this over the weekend for brunch. For today's recipe I used soy beans and corn

Ingredients

• 2 cups of rice sevai
• Hot boiled water to soak rice sevai
• 1 cup of mixed vegetables ( beans, peas, soy beans, corn)
• 1 red onion cut finely
• 1 potato peel and cubed
• 2 tbsp ginger
• 1 green chili cut finely
• handful of cashew nuts
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 tbsp Jeera
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp haldi
• Juice of 1 big lemon

Method

1. Boil water and when boiled add this to rice sevai and keep it closed for 2 minutes.make sure rice sevai is completely covered with boiling water
2. In a large pan take a tbsp of oil when hot add jeera,urad, mustard seeds, green chillies, cashew nuts, onion, potato and all frozen vegetables
3. Add haldi and salt and mix well
4. Add a little bit of water to cook potatoes
5. Drain sevai and remove all excess water
6. Add this to the vegetable mixture and toss well
7. Remove from flame and add lemon juice
8. Add coriander and mix well

Serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney. This is very light and does not make you feel stuffed.

Rice cakes - Idlis

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups rice
• 1 cup skinless urad daal (black gram)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil

PREPARATION:

• Wash the rice and lentils separately and soak overnight.
• Grind each separately, into thick pastes (adding a little water at a time) in a blender.
• Mix the pastes together and add salt to taste.
• Keep the batter aside overnight to ferment.
• Grease the moulds on an Idli tray with cooking oil. Pour enough batter in each mould to fill it 3/4 full.
• Put 2 cups of water in a large vessel and heat. Put the Idli tray into the vessel and steam for 20 minutes.
• Check the Idlis by poking with a toothpick. If it comes out clean they are done.
• Serve piping hot with Sambar and coconut Chutney

Gobi 65

This is a simple side dish that makes any meal special. It goes well with fried rice, veg biryani or any other variety rice. There are many different ways to do this. If you have already been doing this, try it this way for a change. Actually, this is my grandmom's recipe. When she put in the ingredients I did not get a chance to measure it. So I just eye balled it. After that I just followed her instructions. I have not used egg  and it turned out perfectly fine.

Ingredients:
 
Cauliflower-1 (medium size)
Onion- 1
Green chillies- 3
Garlic- 1
Corriander leaves-few

For marination:
Turmeric- 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder- 2 tsps
Salt-as required
Color powder- optional
Cornflour- 1 tbsp
Maidha- 2 tbsp
Curd- 2 tsp
Tomato sauce- 2 tsp

Procedure:
Cut cauliflower into bite size florets and put it in hot salted water for 2 to 3 mins. Drain and put all the ingredients under 'marinade'. Mix everything well without adding water. Keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat oil and deep-fry the florets.

In a kadai, heat little oil and saute onion, green chillies, garlic and salt. Remove when onions are cooked but still crunchy. Add some pepper and corriander leaves. Keep this aside. After draining the cauliflower florets add it to the onion mixture. Mix well and serve with ketchup.

Sepankizhangu Fry

It might not be that healthy as it is fried. But, once in a while it is ok to have these. This dish is a great accompaniment for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice. The preparation work can be done ahead and refrigerated even the previous day. When you are ready to eat, you can just fry 'em up. It is great evening snack too. Try it for yourself. You will LOVE it !!

Ingredients:Sepankizhangu- 6
Onion- 1 (sliced)
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Besan powder- 2 1/2 tbsp
Rice flour- 1/2 tbsp
Rava- 2 tsp
Curry leaves- few
Salt- as required

Method:

Pressure cook sepankizhangu for 1 whistle. Cool and peel off the outer skin. Cut into two or bite size pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend well. Keep adding water little by little until the besan coats the taro root completely. Check for seasonings and deep fry in hot oil. :)