Thai noodle-curry

Foccaizza

This is an outright simple recipe that any of you can easily make in seconds - all it needs is a good loaf of bread - preferably Foccacia.


Ingredients:

1 loaf round Focaccia bread - I picked up a rosemary seasoned loaf

1 onion - chopped

1 green pepper - chopped

1 red pepper - chopped

1/4 cup chopped paneer

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (I used fresh mozzarella)

1/4 cup shredded cheddar

2 tsps red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried oregano and basil

4-5 tbsps Pizza Sauce ( I used Marinara Sauce, you can also go ahead and make the Sauce from scratch, but that would defeat the purpose of quick cooking!)

1 tsp butter

Method:

Split the loaf in half across the centre.

Smear butter on both halves.

Add sauce as per your taste and spread on both halves.

Sprinkle onion, peppers, paneer and cheese

Finally, season with red pepper flakes, oregano and salt (if necessary)


Heat on a Frying Pan or Broil in the Oven for 5-10 mins until Brown spots appear.
Yum!

Doodhi-Kofta

During our India trip last December, my hubby Saurabh's Badi-Ma had prepared this dish for us. Authentically Marwari, these deep fried Koftas in a Curd Gravy make for a delicious change from the regular fare.

Ingredients:

Koftas:

1 cup shredded Doodhi - Sprinkle salt and leave for 5 minutes. Then squeeze out the water.

3-4 tbsps Besan (Gram flour)

1 tsp each of red chilli powder (Red Paprika), dhania powder (Coriander), amchur powder (Raw Mango), salt and a pinch of Haldi (Turmeric)

Oil for deep frying

Gravy:
1 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup Curd diluted with water)
1 tbsp Besan

3-4 chopped green chillies

1 tsp jeera (Cumin)

a pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder, dhania powder, haldi

3-4 curry leaves

Coriander leaves to garnish

1tsp oil

Method:

For the koftas, mix all the ingredients and make sure the consistency is as thick as idli/dhokla Batter - Semi liquid. If needed, add Besan or Water as required.

Heat the oil and drop teaspoonfuls of the batter into the Hot Oil, deep fry and allow to cook and brown on Medium flame.

Once cooked, take out the koftas and drain oil on some tissue paper. Allow to cool.

For the gravy, in a bowl, mix buttermilk, Besan and salt. Consistency should very liquid - so add water if needed.
Heat 1 tsp oil, add Jeera and Hing. Once the jeera browns, add chopped green chillies and curry leaves and saute for a 1 minute.

Now add the buttermilk mixture along with haldi, dhania and red chilli powder and keep stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Now, you have to make sure to constantly stir until a boil comes, to make sure that the mixture does not curdle.

When ready to serve, heat the Kadhi (gravy), add the koftas and garnish with the coriander leaves.

Serve Hot with Rotis.

PS: I had also added some chopped tomato into the gravy, but did not include this in the recipe as I think the recipe would taste better with the omission. 

Guac-Anini

I certainly think that a Panini maker is an essential applicance in the kitchen, what with the variety of bread floating around.

Here's a simple recipe for a Quick Panini - ideal for a weekend Brunch. I've named this dish the Guac-Anini as I've included a Guacamole recipe to smear on the bread. Accompany this with my Choc Shake recipe for a super start to the weekend.

Ingredients:

1 good loaf of bread - preferably French or Italian

1 Avocado - chopped

1 Onion - chopped

2-3 green chillies

1 tomato -sliced

1 block Mozzarella cheese - sliced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Butter

Method:

Slice the loaf of bread in half length-wise - so that you have the two sides open. Slather with butter.

In a bowl, mix the chopped avocado, onion and green chillies. Use a fork and mash to get a pastish consistentency. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Now spread this paste on both sides of the loaf.

Layer the sliced tomatoes and sliced mozarella and close the Panini. Cut in half

Heat the Panini maker and slide in one half. Allow to brown.

Serve Hot with Ketchup if necessary.

Baby Corn Wontons

I love visiting the Asian/Chinese store. I would always cross a variety of Wonton wrappers in the refrigerated section and always think to myself that the possibility to use these would be endless. They come bundled in 100s and sell for a dollar fifty. The last time I visted, I made myself buy a pack even without knowing what I was gonna do with it.
Last evening we were invited to my friend Latika's place for dinner. I typically always like to take some course of food to anyone's place I visit - it just gives me pleasure.
So for this evening, I decided to get experimental with my wrappers. A basic search on the net will show you the method to make them step by step.
I decided to stuff them with baby corn - cause, you guessed it, I had a packet of baby corn in my fridge that was just ready to be used.
I remember reading a Tarla Dalal recipe where she marinated the baby corns and then deep friend them with a rice flour coating. Here, I've tried to take that recipe to the next level by stuffing the wontons with the marinated baby corns.
I served this with a really spicy Chilli dip.
All in all, it made for some delicious appetizers, with an exotic look to boot.

Ingredients:

15-20 baby corns - slit in half lengthwise and breadth wise
40 wonton sheets

2 tbsps flour

1 tbsp pepper

Oil for deep frying

For the marinade:
1/2 cup butter milk
2 tsps jeera powder
1 tsp rock salt
2 tsps pepper

Method:
In a bowl, mix the marinade ingredients, add the slit baby corns and allow the baby corns to marinade for atleast 3 hours.

After that, remove the baby corns from the marinade, add 1 tbsp pepper and keep in a bowl.

Make a paste of flour and water : we will use this as a stickign agent to assemble our wontons.

Now take two wonton wrappers, one on top of another and brush the sides with the paste.

Keep the diagonal as the top and arrange 4-5 pieces of the baby corn from the diagonal to one corner edge.

Fold over the wrapper diagonally to end up with a Triangle-shaped structure.
Now trim the edges to design into a semi circle (I used a bowl)

Finally, take a small fork and press the semi circle edges with this to create lines.

Take a flat bottomed pan with 1 inch oil. Heat the oil till you see some smoke rise.

Prep 4-5 wontons and slide these into the pan, The wontons will turn brown very fast and expand a little as well. Turn over and allow the other side to brown as well.

Baby Corn Wontons are ready to be served.

Serve Hot or reheat in the oven before serving.

Broccoli Chowder

I picked up this really fresh head of brocolli from the farmer's market and was truly inspired to create a fresh and light dish. I googled brocolli recipes and came across a recipe for chowder. Here is my version of the same with a little leftover cauliflower added in.

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli - chopped: 1 cup

Chopped cauliflower: 1/4 cup (add as per your taste)

1/2 cup diced onion, 1/2 cup diced celery

1 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1-2 cups vegetable broth (I used Trader Joe's Organic Broth)

2 big pods chopped garlic

1 tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

1 tbsp butter

Salt, 2 tsps pepper and 1 tsp oregano ( to season - optional)

Method

Lightly heat the EVOO, add garlic, onion and celery and fry for 10 mins.

Add the cauliflower and broccoli and saute for another 10-15 mins. Next add the broth and boil until the veggies are all semi-soft

Now, allow to cool and pulse in a mixie: I like it chunky, so I did not puree it. But it is entirely left to your taste.

In the same pan, heat the butter, add the flour and saute till flour is cooked. Then add the milk a little at a time and keep stirring to avoid lump formation. Add the puree into this mixture and allow to simmer.

Add the salt, pepper and oregano at this stage.

Add more broth as per your taste. The consistency should not be as thin as a soup - it is a chowder, so its definitely gotta be thick.

My chowder got a slight brown tinge to it as I let the onions brown - you could stop frying the onions when it turns translucent.

Serve hot with a nice chunky toast smeared with butter - you're eating healthy enough with the chowder after all!

White Pumpkin Morkolambu

Okay, we're off on a holiday tomorrow (for 4 days) and I was looking to use up this piece of white pumpkin I had lying in my fridge, before I left. There was no chance of its survival on my return.
Decided to make this ultra quick Morkolambu and freeze it - I've observed that coconut based dishes freeze very well. This way I donot have to be concerned about dinner the night we land.
Two birds with one stone!

Ingredients:
1 cup white pumpkin, chopped into square/ rectangluar pieces
1/2 tsp dana Methi (Fenugreek seeds)
1 tsp jeera (Cumin seeds)
1 tsp oil
2 green chillies
1/2 cup coconut
1 tsp raw rice (to bind)
1 cup buttermilk or diluted curd
1 tsp jaggery
3-4 Curry leaves

Method:
Cook the vegetable in the microwave for 4 minutes or boil the vegetable in water until it is cooked.
Take 1 tsp oil and fry the Methi seeds until it turns fragrant & a slight brown - donot allow to burn.
Grind the coconut and buttermilk with green chillies, raw rice and fried Methi seeds. Add 1 tsp jeera towards the end and pulse again.
Take this mixture in a vessel, add the cooked vegetable and the jaggery and allow one boil.
Finally add the curry leaves.

That's it!

 

Serve with Hot Rice and papad.

Definitely one of my favourite South Indian dishes.

Spinach (Palak)-Mixed Veggie Pasta

I had some Chinese friends coming over for an Indian lunch and I heard a table-full of the usual Indian fare laid out viz Paneer, Chole etc. I needed ONE dish that would add some colour, had a continental flare and incorporated pasta.

I was leaning towards a white sauce mixed vegetable bake and at the last minute decided to incorporate spinach puree. Quite an exciting and simple recipe that turned out to be exactly what I wanted.

Ingredients:

1 bunch spinach - washed and pureed

1 chopped onion

3 cloves garlic - crushed

1 tbsp plain flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp chilli flakes (I intentionally kept this a tad bland)

1 tsp oregano
1 tsp olive oil
3 fist fulls penne - cooked in boiling water with a good amount of salt
1/2 cup frozen mixed veggies, preferably with corn
6-8 grape tomatoes: halved (for colour)

 

Method:

Heat the oil, add crushed garlic and chopped onion and sautee for 5-7 mins until the onion turns translucent.Add the flour and allow flour to cook and turn light brown.

Slowly add the milk, 1/2 cup at a time and continuously keep stirring until all lumps are removed and the mixture thickens (An alternate method is to make the rue separately in another pan: heat some butter, add flour and allow to cook and finally, add milk until the rue thickens.) I just got lazy and got it all done in the same pan.

Now, incorporate the pureed spinach, chilli flakes, oregano and allow the sauce to boil. Go on to add the frozen mixed veggies and grape tomatoes and cook for 10 more minutes.

Finally add the cooked pasta and top with mozarella cheese, if needed.

I omitted the cheese as my guests had specified no cheese!

Serve with bread.

Beet Greens (Leaves) Paratha

I picked up this super looking bunch of beets from Shop and Stop and these came with some amazingly fresh leaves with no signs of wilting.

I had to incorporate the leaves into a meal. So I cut off the beets and prepped the leaves.

With inputs from my Mom, here's a super fast, quick and nutritious (Beet greens contain a large amount of vitamins A and K and anti-oxidants) recipe for Beet Greens Paratha.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Chopped Beet Leaves ( Wash the leaves, pluck them off the stems and throw them into a chopper until they are minced)
1 chopped onion
2 chopped green chillies
2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (Aata)
1 tsp each of red chilli powder and turmeric powder
2 tsps amchur powder and dhania powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste


Method
Combine all the ingredients with as much water as needed to make stiff dough.
Let the dough stand for atleast an hour.
Roll like regular rotis and fry on both sides on the Tava.
Serve Hot with Curd and chutney.

Stay tuned for some innovative ideas to cook beets.

Bread Upma (Bread Fry)

Leftover bread is such a common concern. Here's one recipe that spices up leftover bread and can be conjured in a jiffy. Our Sunday morning breakfast.

Ingredients:
6 Bread slices cut into 16 pieces each (preferable to cut off the edges)
1 small onion
1 tbsp Curd
A pinch of haldi
2 chopped green chillies
4-5 Curry Leaves
1tsp Rye, 1tsp Jeera
1 tsp oil

Method:
Heat the oil in a kadai. Add Rye and Jeera and allow the rye to sputter.
Add Curry leaves and chopped onion.
Saute onion until the onion turns light brown.
Add the chopped bread and stir.
Mix curd, haldi and salt to taste in a separate bowl and stir in this mixture into the bread mix.
Keep frying until brown spots appear on the bread.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and sev (optional).

Serve Hot!

Tulu Saaru (Rasam) & Curd Rice

It's Jan 1st and we're expecting a couple of friends for dinner. The highlight tonight is some traditional Karnataka sweets I just got back from India (For those of you familiar with this variety, I'm talking about Holigae and Chiroti). So dinner's going to be as simple as Rice, Saaru (Rasam), Poriyal (Vegetable) and Curd Rice.

Now, Tulu food is only different in that we add a dash of jaggery into almost everything we cook.
If you're wondering what Tulu is, it's a sect hailing from the South Canara region of Karnataka and I'm a Shivali Brahmin. Now married to a Maheshwari Marwari- that's a different story for another blog :)

But coming back to my food, it's Tulu influenced, as in, I enjoy a touch of jaggery in all my dishes and I need a sweet to end my meal!

Here's the recipe for one of our staples: Saaru also known as Rasam in other parts of South India.

PS: My Mom makes the best Saaru :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup toor dal (pigeon peas): Cooked with 2 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric and salt in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles.
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp jaggery
• 3 tsps Rasam powder
• 2 green chillies - slit
• 1 big tomato or 2 small tomatoes chopped into chunks
• Vagar : Ghee, 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds (Rye), 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera), 2-3 red chillies, a pinch of Asafoetida (Hing), 4-5 Curry leaves (Kadipatta)
• Cilantro to garnish

Method:

• Take 2 1/2 cups water in a vessel and bring to a boil.
• Add tamarind, jaggery and salt and allow to boil for 10 mins
• Add the tomatoes, 1 tsp rasam powder and slit green chillies and boil for another 5 mins
• Add cooked dal and 2 tsps rasam powder and bring to a boil for 10 mins
• Finally, for the Vagar: Heat ghee, first add rye and jeera and allow the rye to splutter. Then add the Red Chillies. Wait for the jeera to turn golden brown and the rye to stop spluttering. Add Hing and Curry leaves and immediately take off the flame and add this tempering to the Vessel.
• Rasam is now ready. Boil for another 5 mins and garnish with chopped cilantro.

My Saaru's a little thick as it is my main dish tonight.
Enjoy with Hot Rice and Ghee.

 Now for the Curd Rice, here's a quickie recipe:

• Leftover rice
• Curd
• Chopped green chillies (2-3) and grated ginger (1/4 inch)
• Cilantro to garnish
• Vagar with Rye, Urad dal, Red Chillies, Hing and Curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Mash the rice well with your fingers and mix in the curd. To this add the ginger-green chillies and finally temper with the Vagar. Garnish with cilantro.

Tonight, I also grated half a cucumber that I had in my fridge and added it for a change.

 

Here's a traditional South Indian meal that deserves a try!