29 December 2008 - 20:54Grilled Veg Roll

Ingredients:

10 chapathis triangular and slightly crisp.
1 large capsicum
1 large onion
1 large tomato
1 large carrot
1/4 kg baby potato
1 bunch spinach (palak is best)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt
A fistful each of fenugreek leaves and mint leaves
1 tsp Aamchur powder
2 green chillies
Oil
butter

Method:

Grind Fenugreek leaves, mint leaves and Amchur into a chutney with required salt. Take care that it is not watery.

Steam potatoes and cut into large cubes with jackets. Cut vegetables in long and thin slices. Cube the tomato. Remove all stems from spinach.

Saute all veggies except tomato in light oil till brown. Dissolve salt in a small amount of water and pour uniformly over veggies while sauteing. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powders and saute till golden brown. Saute the tomato separately till mild brown. There should be no juice left. Add cumin, coriander powder and then mix with the rest of the veggies.

Making the roll:
Lightly butter the chapathis, place veggies in the middle. Put some green paste on top of the veggies. Roll well and grill to make them slightly crisp.

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19 December 2008 - 21:15Appam

Ingredients:
Dosa Batter - 500 ml
Semolina- 2 tbsp
Onions-2 medium
Green chillies-3
Ginger- 1/2″ piece
Curry leaves-10
Mustard- 1tsp
Channa dal-1 tsp
Oil for cooking
salt to taste
A pinch of soda bi-carb

Method:

Chop onions, ginger and Green chillies fine. Heat a little oil, crackle mustard seeds, add channa dal, saute and add the curry leaves. Add this to the batter. Add all other ingredients except oil to the batter and mix well.

Heat the appam mould and add a tsp of oil in each depression. Pour batter till just below the rim in all the kuzhis and cover with a lid. Keep the flame on medium. After a minute, check if one side is done. If done, the appam will come out easily when moved. Turn over all the appams and cook for half a minute more. Remove, drain the appams and make a fresh batch. Eat with coconut chutney, green chutney or onion sambar.
 

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26 October 2008 - 17:04Cashew cake

Ingredients:
Cashewnuts- 50 gms
Gram flour- 160 ml
Sugar- 400 ml
Ghee- 160 ml
Grated Coconut- 80 ml
Vanilla essence- a few drops
Cardamom powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Method:
Dry roast the cashew cool and powder in a mixer. Keep aside. Fry the gram flour in half the ghee until fragrant and keep aside. Make sugar syrup of one string consistency. Add grated coconut and mix well. Add the Gram flour and ghee and keep stirring for a few minutes. Lastly add cashew powder, essence, cardamom and stir without burning till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and is ready to be poured for setting. Remove from fire and pour on to a greased plate/ tray. Allow to cool and set a little. Cut into pieces before it completely sets. Remove the pieces after it cools completely and store airtight.

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19 October 2008 - 14:16Dokla

Ingredients:

240 ml Bengal gram flour
40 ml Bombay rawa
3 tsp sugar
salt to taste
2 tsp Enos fruit salt

For tempering-

1 tablespoon oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green chillies slit
a few curry leaves

For garnishing-

1 tbsp grated coconut
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Method:

Mix the bengal gram flour, rawa, sugar and salt well. Add enough water to make a thick batter- like idli batter. Add Enos fruit salt. Sprinkle water on it and blend in well. Pour batter in a greased thali and steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove, cool and cut into squares. DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE PLATE.

In a pan, heat oil, add mustard and when it crackles, add chillies, curry leaves and add 30 ml water, a pinch of sugar. Bring it to boil and then pour all over the cooked dhokla. Decorate with coconut and coriander leaves.

Green Chutney:

Roast 120 ml of ground nuts until fragrant. Cool and grind with 2 green chillies, salt, 1 tsp sugar and a handful of coriander leaves. Add 5 to 8 drops of lemon juice and mix well.

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10 October 2008 - 18:34Tahini

Ingredients:

100 grams sesame seeds
50 grams Bengal gram dal
3 green chillies
3 cloves garlic
6 tbsp curd- should not be sour
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

Roast the sesame seeds and gram dal separately until fragrant.Powder in a mixer. Add all the other ingredients and run the mixer for 10 seconds. Garnish/ decorate with chilli powder and a little oil. Serve with Carrot, cucumber sticks and potato fingerchips.

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3 August 2008 - 21:10Murukku and Thenkuzhal

Thenkuzhal:

Rice Flour-400 ml

Urad flour-100 ml

Salt- 1 tsp or to taste

Ghee or butter- 1 tbsp

Cumin- 1 tsp

Hing powder- 1/4 tsp

Oil for frying

Method:

Mix salt and hing powder in 1/2 cup water. Add the flours, ghee/butter, cumin and mix into dough. Add water little by little. The dough should be more pliable than for chapatis; or else, it will not be possible to press. Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, fill Thenkuzhal mould with the prepared dough and make into two or three murukkus. Keep the stove on medium heat and turn the murukkus after a while. Both sides should cook and turn golden. Usually it is time to remove the murukku from the oil when the sound subsides. Remove and drain on tissue. Make further batches similarly. Store in an airtight container when cool.

Note: If Urad dal is lightly roasted and ground into flour, it will be very fragrant. Remember to sieve the flours before mixing.

Muthusarai or Mullu Murukku:

Rice flour-400 ml

Gram dal flour-100 ml

Moong dal flour- 75 ml

Fried gram flour- 25 ml

Butter/ghee- 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Hing powder- 1/4 tsp

Oil for frying

Method:

Lightly roast gram dal and moong dal before powdering. Mix the dough like for Thenkuzhal and follow the same procedure for frying. You should use the correct plate in the mould. You can also make the murukku on a cloth or plastic sheet into perfect circles like Kai murukku and remove and put in hot oil and fry.

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26 July 2008 - 19:53Golgappa

Ingredients:

Puri- 1 packet
Soaked channa- 100 gms
Whole Moong- 100 gms
Potato- 2 medium
Cardamom- 2
Cloves-2
Cinnamon-1/2 inch
Garlic- 2-3 pods
Mint and coriander- a handful each
ghee- 1 tsp
Tamarind- gooseberry sized ball
Jaggery- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Pani puri masala powder- 3 tsp ( Everest or Badshah brand)

Method:

Pani:
Extract tamarind juice. Heat the ghee and lightly roast the spices including garlic. Powder in a mixer together with mint and coriander. Add to tamarind juice, add salt, jaggery and pani puri masala powder. Add more water to make about 1 litre of ‘pani’.

Fillings:
Boil the soaked channa with salt, moong with salt and water and potatoes (whole) in a pressure cooker. When pressure has abated, open the cooker, drain the excess water from the channa and moong and mix well. Peel and dice the potatoes. Sprinkle a little salt and mix well.

Chutneys:
Green Chutney: Grind together 1 cup chopped coriander, 2 tbsp grated coconut, 2 green chillies, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp sugar and salt to taste. Add a little water if required for grinding.

Sweet Chutney:Wash and soak 100 gms dates (deseeded) and a gooseberry sized ball of tamarind in hot water for about an hour. Cook for 5 minutes. Cool and grind in a mixer and strain and remove fibres if any. Lightly roast 1/2 tsp cumin seeds. Pound them and add to pulp. Add 1/2 tsp chilli powder and salt to taste. Mix well

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12 July 2008 - 20:13Pongal

Chakkara Pongal:
60 ml rice
30 ml moong dal
1 tbsp channa dal
100 ml milk
jaggery about 150 gms
ghee 3-4 tbsp
cardamom, cashew and raisins for garnishing.

Lightly dry roast the dals and rice in a pan. Transfer to a dish, add the milk and 150 ml water and cook in the pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles until soft. Roast the cashew and raisins in a little ghee and keep aside. Powder the jaggery, add about 50 ml water and keep in a wide thick bottomed pan. Heat until it froths and forms a single thread. Add the mashed rice/dal mixture and the ghee and mix well. Remove when well blended. Add the cardamom powder. Optionally you can add some roasted grated coconut. Pongal will set when it cools and so make sure that it is not too dry or thick. Garnish with cashew and raisins.

Venn Pongal:
60 ml rice
30 ml moong dal
100 ml milk
a pinch of asafoetida powder
ghee 3-4 tbsp
pepper corns- 1 tsp
cumin seed- 1 tsp
curry leaves- 10
ginger root- peeled and grated.
Cashew for garnishing.

Lightly dry roast the dal and rice in a pan. Transfer to a dish, add the milk, salt, Asafoetida powder and 150 ml water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles until soft. Roast the cashew in a little and ghee and set aside. Heat ghee in a pan, add the pepper, cumin and when it crackles, add curry leaves and ginger, saute for half a minute and then add the mashed dal/rice mixture and all the ghee. Mix well and remove from fire. Garnish with cashew.

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23 March 2008 - 5:23Vegetable Kurma



50 gms French beans- Remove strings and cut into half inch pieces.
50 gms carrot- cubed
50 gms potato- peeled and cubed
50 gms shelled peas
50 gms turnip or knol khol- peeled and cubed

Pressure cook the vegetables with minimum water and required salt and keep aside.

Grind together:-

3 medium onion peeled and chopped
3 green chillies
1″ piece of ginger- peeled and chopped
A fist ful each of mint leaves and coriander leaves- washed and chopped
4-5 garlic pods- peeled
1 tsp garam masala (alternately, you can use 2 each of cardamom, cloves and cinnamon)
1 tsp aniseed
salt for the masala

Soak and grind separately:-

6-7 whole cashews
2 tsps poppy seeds (khus khus)

Blanch in hot water, peel and grind:-
2 medium tomatoes.

Heat oil in a pan, add the ground masala and fry till oil oozes out, add the vegetables, ground tomatoes and boil for some time. Finally add the cashew/khus khus paste, blend well and remove from fire. Adjust salt if required.

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18 March 2008 - 14:04Dal Makhani




Whole urad- 125 ml- soak overnight in 500 ml water
Fresh Curd- 80 ml
Green chillies- chopped- 1 tsp
Ginger- chopped- 1 tsp
salt 1/2 tsp

Wash, drain the urad, add 250 ml water and cook in the pressure cooker till soft with curd, chillies, ginger and salt as above.

Onion-1 medium
Tomato-2 medium
Boil both till soft and puree.

Oil- 2-3 tsp
Jeera- 1 tsp
Peppercorns- 2
cardamom-2
cinnamon- 1″ piece
green chilli- 1 chopped
ginger- 1″ piece chopped

Heat oil in a pan, add jeera, allow to crackle, add all the above items one by one and fry well. Then add tomato-onion paste and fry well. Add the pressure cooked urad and the following spices/ condiments.
1 tsp each of red chilli powder, chaat masala, coriander powder, mango powder, sugar and salt. Then add tomato puree ( 1 tomato), 1/2 cup milk, one cup water and mix well. Simmer on low fire. You can add a drop of red food colour (optional).

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, green chilli and ginger juliennes, garam masala powder, butter and/or cream.

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