Ridge Gourd chutney

Offbeat thats the word for this one. Unique chutney made from an equally unique and unconventional ridge gourd. The chutney is neither sweet or sour nor it is tangy. It has a distinct taste of its own and goes really well with rice or chappatis.

Ridge gourd – 250 gms (pic for reference at the bottom of the page)

Tamarind – 1 marble sized (Soak in water and extract the pulp)

Mustard – 1 tsp

Chana dal (gram dal) – 1 tsp

Urad dal (white) – 1 tsp

Dried red chili – 6 nos

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Coriander leaves – 1/2 cup

Oil – 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

1. Shave off the ridges roughly and cut into small cubes
2. In a medium sized wok heat oil, add mustard and let it splutter
3. Now add asafoetida, both the dals and fry till golden brown
4. Fry red chilies separately and add the cubed ridge gourd and stir. Saute till soft and add it to the wok
5. Add the tamarind pulp, coriander, salt and grind it to smooth paste
6. Your ridge gourd chutney is ready to serve!

Ridge Gourd

Till next time…happy cooking!

Thanks Jaya for the recipe! Keep them coming

Meet Jayalakshmi…a wonderful cook and an excellent home maker

Sweet & Sour Chutney (sauce)

Little sweet with right mix tanginess makes this chutney so very delicious. And you use the healthy option as sweetner that is jaggery instead of sugar. Goes well with snacks and with meals too!

Tamarind – 1 lemon sized  (soak in lot of water)

Jaggery – 5 Tbsp (powdered)

Dried ginger powder – 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Cinnamon powder – 1 pinch (optional)

Clove powder – 1 pinch (optional)

1. Remove the seeds from tamarind and squeeze out well to get thick pulp
2. Heat a pan and add the tamarind pulp and add more water to it. Leave it to boil
3. Add jaggery, stir and bring to a boil
4. Add ginger powder, chili powder abd slat and keep stirring till consistency of the chutney turns thicker
5. Add Cinnamon and Clove powder if required
6. Your chutney is ready to serve

* you can also  use dates as as option for sweetness. Split the quantity between jaggery and date paste

* you can garnish with raisins

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

Thanks Jaya for sharing your wonderful recipe

Meet Jayalakshmi

Mint Chutney

Unlike the regular mint chutney this one is a bit different due to the usage of different dal. Try it out for a variation

Mint leaves – from 1 small bunch

Green chillies – 3 nos

Ginger – 1/2 inch piece

Tamarind – 1 marble sized portion

Urad (white) dal – 1 tsp

Chana (gram) dal – 1 tsp

Oil – 2tsps

Salt to taste

1. In a pan heat oil and fry lightly both the dals. Add all other ingredients and fry
2. Add salt
3. Cool and grind it to a smooth paste in a blender
4. Serve with snacks or as an accompaniment to the main meal.
5. You can also add a sprig of curry leaves at the time of frying for a different flavor.

* a quick tip : fix a quick sandwich by spreading buuter and mint chutney on slice of bread, place cucumber/ onions / tomatoes and serve!

Till tomorrow …happy cooking!

Meet Jayalakshmi... contributor of this recipe

Onion chutney goes really well with dosa, idli or parantha! If you are planning a picnic or a travel then its obvious that you want to be less messy without having to carry any runny gravy items with you. In such cases and more Onion chutney can be your tasty savior

Oinions – 2 to 3 nos

Tamarind – 1 small lemon sized portion

Red chilli – 4-5 nos.

Curry leaves – 2 sprig

Urad (white) dal – 1tsp

Chana (gram) dal – 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil – 4 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp (for tempering)

1. In a pan heat 3 tsps of oil and fry both the dals for few seconds
2. Add roughly chopped onions and all other ingredients, salt and fry
3. Cool the mixture and grind to a smooth paste in a blender
4. To  pan add remaining oil and heat. Add mustard seeds and wait for it to splutter
5. Temper the ground chutney with mustard seeds
6. Serve

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!

Meet Jayalakshmi...contributor of this recipe… a super homemaker and a great cook

photo credit: rore

Well, am always impressed with men who can cook and moreso when it comes to something as exotic as Honey Walnut Chicken. Rishi who is based out of USA sent me over this recipe for my Walnut week. Check it out…
Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts – 1 kg
Walnut – 1 cup (halved)
Honey – 1 tsp
Ginger – 1 tsp (finely chopped)
Rice Wine – 2 tsp
Cornstarch – 1 tsp
Brown Sugar – 1 tsp
Dark Soy Sauce – 2 tsp
Garlic – 2 tsp  (coarsely chopped)
Green onions – ½ cup (Cut 2” long. Slit in half)
Green bell pepper – ½ cup (Cut 2” long thin.)
Chopped white onions – ½ cup
Chinese 5 spice powder – 1 tsp*
Mix fruit jelly – 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter – ½ tsp
Sesame oil – 1 tsp

• Marinate chicken in ginger, rice wine, salt, cornstarch and Chinese 5 spice powder for atleast1 hr
• Roast walnuts with a bit of butter.  Add honey and mix till dry
• Prepare a mix of dark soy sauce, brown sugar and mix fruit jelly
• In a pan, heat oil. Stir-fry chicken and keep separate
• Add garlic and stir-fry
• Add green onions, green bell pepper and white onions and stir-fry
• Add cooked chicken and mix
• Garnish with roasted sesame
• Serve with fried rice or noodles

*The 5 spices if not available can be prepared at home. Combine schezwan pepper corns (if not available use normal pepper corns), star anise, cloves, cinnamon & fennel seeds and grind them to fine powder.

Thanks Rishi for sharing this fab recipe with us.

Meet Rishi…

Rishi Menon is a software consultant. He dabbles in cooking and photography in his spare time. You can check out his portfolio here

Colorful Holi

Gujiya - Indian Sweet

When you think of gujiya your think of HOLI (the colorful festival of India) or vice versa. I have fond memories helping my mom in the kitchen making gujiya and storing them in huge containers more for our consumption than distribution Ahh…those were the days!

With the festival of holi 2 days away, I requested my mom to share her recipe with me for this blog. Here it is…

For Dough

Ghee (clarified butter) – 2 Tbsp

All purpose flour (maida) – 150 gms

For Stuffing

Fried & Powdered semolins (rawa/suji) – 125 gms

Khoya (Dried thickened milk) – 125 gms (if you get to buy ready made Khoya; in a non stick pan heat 1 litre of milk on slow heat with constant stirring till it gets thickened)

Khus-Khus  (KusKus / Poppy seeds) – 1/2 – 3/4 tsp

Combination of nuts and powdered sugar – 125 gms (nuts: almonds, cashew nuts, raisin, pinch of nutmeg powder, cashew nut powder)

1. Combine maida and ghee and add little cold water and knead. The dough should be a little hard. Cover it with a piece of wet cloth and keep aside for 2-3 hours.
2. Combine all ingredients for stuffing and keep aside.
3. Knead the dough again and make small balls.
4. Roll out small rounds like we do for pooris and place it in the gujiya mould. Fill in the stuffing on one side and close the mould hard. What you will see is a semi circle filled in with filled stuffing and ready for frying.
5. If you do not have a mould. Follow the the process of rolling out a circle, filling the stuffing on one side and covering with the other half. Only in this case with your fingers gently apply mixture of water and maida on the inner side and then press it hard so that it stick together well.
6. Please note that the semi circle should be firm with no gaps else while you fry, it will tend to break open and all your lovely stuffing would be in the oil.
7. Take enough oil for frying and heat on high flame.
8. Immerse the prepared gujiyas into the hot oil and lower the flame immediately. This is to ensure that the cooking happens on both outer and inner sides of the gujiya.
9. When nice and brown take it out and place it on an absorbent paper.
10. Store in airtight containers.

* few people also like a coating of sugar syrup over their gujiya. All you need to do is to dip the fried gujiyas in sugar syrups for few seconds and decorating with silver foil and nuts before storing them. However, I love it just the way it is ..freshly fried and just about warm 

Here’s wishing all my readers a very happy holi!

Meet Jayalakshmi.. an excellent cook and an equally efficient homemaker

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Spanish Tortilla Image: Priya Q

This one I learnt to make while my stay in Barcelona. The Spanish Tortilla or omelette made with potatoes and bell pepper is a typical Spanish breakfast which is wholesome and delectable. Only tricky part is the transferring of the omelette…but what fun without creative cooking..yeh? so let’s get going!

Eggs – 4 nos

Potatoes – 3 big (wash and peeled)

Capsicum – 1 big (sliced)

Onions -2 nos (sliced fine)

Black pepper – 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Herbs (optional and my contribution to the recipe )

1. Beat the eggs with bit of salt and keep aside
2. Finely slice the potatoes and fry them in a pan in olive oil
3. Add onions and fry further
4. Add capsicum and the seasonings
5. The herbs I use is thyme and a pinch or oregano
6. Fry well and transfer the frid contents to the beaten egg. Mix well.
7. In a flat pan add a dash of olive oil and when hot add the egg mixture
8. Cook on slow heat while scraping the sides of the omletter and depositing it to the centre so that we have one thick mass holding together than a thin omlette
9. Place a plate over the pan and quickly up turn the tortilla in order to transfer it on the plate
10. Now you will have the cooked side facing you while the uncooked side will be facing the plate
11. Transfer the tortilla back to the pan to cook the uncooked side
12. This process is supposed to be repeated 4-5 atleast to get the best tortilla! ..Traditionally it was done and is still follwed by the older generation. However, in the fast paced life today people have started make do with 2-3 times!
13. Put a fork or a knife in your tortilla. If its comes out clean your tortilla is ready
14. Slice it in triangles (like you pizza) and serve with toast.
15. The Spanish tradition also calls for rubbing your toast with tomato and garlic which adds to the flavor!

*You can also oven bake your tortilla. Once you mix the vegies and the egg; place in a baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes at 190 degree C. Cut into triangles. Or if you plan to serve it as snack in the evening cut into cubes, add a dash of tomato sauce, pierce a toothpick  and serve in style !… however, one thing that you need to keep in mind is to leave the egg mixture after adding the vegetables for about 10 minutes before baking it.

So till text time….happy cooking!

Meet Joan and Aitor, two wonderful human beings based out of the beautiful city of Barcelona in Spain who shared this recipe of Spanish Tortilla with me thanks guys!

image: Priya Q

photo credit: norwichnuts

Well, Europeans love their potatoes. Come every meal and they wont mind having it in different styles….hash browns, mashed potatatoes, baked, roasted or with pumpkin sauce . This one is so simple and delicious that you might end up making it quite too often check it out!!

Potato – 5-6 large sized (peeled and diced in big cubes)

Onions – 1 medium

Green Onions – 1-2 (chopped finely including the greens)

Dried or fresh herbs – 4 tsps

White pumpkin – 100 gms (finely chopped)

Garlic – 2-3 flakes

Margarine – 2 tbsps

Milk – 1 cup

Water

Thyme – 1/2 tsp

All purpose flour – 1 tbsp

Black Pepper (optional)

1. Grill potatoes at 230 degree C for about 40 minutes or till soft
2. After 30 minutes add sliced onions and the green onions with some herbs to the baking potatoes
3. Meanwhile in a pan take pumpkins, little water and chopped garlic and cook on low flame. Close lid and let it cook in its own steam.
4. In a separate pan take margarine and add all purpose flour and fry well and then add soft and cooked pumpkin. Cook for a while.
5. Now add milk and keep stirring till the sauce becomes smooth. Add more milk if required.
6. Add thyme and other herbs of your choice and salt.
7. Serve baked potatoes and pour the sauce over it.
8. Sprinkle black pepper powder if required.

Till next time….happy cooking!

Meet Katarina Starc... a student in Koper, Slovenia. An ever smiling and full of life girlie!

Thanks Katarina for sharing the recipe with me!

image: Priya Q

Pronounced as ‘tra-khana‘ this is a Greek breakfast cereal I had during my trip to Greece 3 months back. I loved it so much so that i picked up few packets of it for my Indian kitchen back home… and I absolutely love it . Thanks Kay for teaching me how to make it!

Tarhana – 3/4 cups

Water – 2 cups

Dry red chili – 1-2 nos.

Salt to taste

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Feta Cheese – to your liking!

• In a thick bottom vessel heat oil and add the red chillies and fry for 4-5 seconds
• Add tarhana and water and stir.
• Cook on medium heat and keep stirring in between
• Add salt and cook till the water almost disappears and the cereal cooked
• Serve hot with feta cheese sprinkled over
• Optionally you can drizzles a spoonful of olive oil along with feta cheese

Till next time….happy cooking!

Meet Kay…a retired Librarian, enthusiastic and adventurous, warm and gentle and a lovely person

This is yet another creation of Biji ammai – simple, quick and yummy. What set it apart from the normal lentil preparation is the usage of Zucchini. If you don’t have Zucchini you can use pumpkin instead! Don’f forget to give me a feedback post you cook

Gram daal / chana daal (lentil) – 1 cup

Zucchini – 2-3 numbers

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

1. Soak gram dal for 1 hour
2. Cook the dal with sufficient water without closing the vessel. Howver, dal should not get fully cooked.
3. Add chopped Zucchini and cook
4. Add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, salt and cook
5. Serve with Indian bread (chapatti) or rice

Till next time…Happy cooking!

Thanks ammai ….meet Ms.Biji Gopi Ram