Now if you already have tried your hand at making dosa (Indian pancakes)…lets move one step ahead and make its with some filling…yeh just like French Galette . You can be creative with your filling cooked spicy mutton / chicken to paneer (cottage cheese) and soya! Use what you like or comes to your mind.

Here, I have used potatoes. The standard Masala Dosa you would get in any South Indian restaurant across India served with chutney and sambar.

And if you have some left over masala (potatoes) you can either have it with hot puffed pooris or just make a plain quick sandwich For the recipe of potatoes and poori…click here

A restaurant in Kochi called Pai Brothers is famous for its 57 varieties of dosas…yes you read that correct 57 different filling for each dosa…so what’s stopping you from getting creative?

Till next time…. happy cooking!

photo credit: Kirti Poddar

Come winters and the variety of vegetables that is available off the shelf is just amazing. The word pulao takes me back in time when hot steaming pulao used to make the freezing winters so very warm and enjoyable. That hot pulao and spicy raita enjoyed from the cosy comforts of home as you watched the fog… sigh! While I think about my good ol’ days…why dont you check out the recipe? …let me know how you liked it though!

Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Ghee – 3 Tbsp
Onion – 1 no. (big)
Carrots – 1 no. (cubed)
Potatoes – 1 no. (cubed)
Peas – 1/2 cup
Cauliflower 1 cup (cut into florets)
Salt To Taste
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp (optional)
Cashew nuts and raisins – 2 Tbsp each (optional)

For Paste: grind the following ingredients
Ginger-1 Inch
Garlic cloves- 4-5 nos.
Onions – 1 no. (big)
Green chillies – 2-3 nos.
1/4 cup – Mint leaves
Cinnamon sticks – 1 no (big)
Cloves – 4 nos.
Cardamoms – 3-4 nos.

1. Soak rice for half an hour.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp of ghee in a pan, fry cashewnuts and raisins. Keep aside.
3. Heat the remaining ghee in thick bottomed vessel and fry the ground paste for 10 minutes. Add the vegetables and mix well.
4. Cook until the masala separates from oil and vegetables gets tender. Add turmeric powder.
5. Add rice, salt, four cups of water and stir well. Cover and cook until the rice is done on slow flame. Stir once a while .
6. Just before serving take the rice in serving bowl, add the nuts and mix well.
7. Serve vegetable pulao hot with raita*

*check category raita for ideas

if you are a vegan substitute the ghee with the oil of your choice!

Till next time… happy cooking!

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

Well, one thing both me and Q did all through our travel in Europe was to try out the local cuisine. Afterall food constitutes a major part to your whole travel experience. Derek a friend of our’s whom we met in Kerala made Scottish porridge for us when we visited him in Edinburgh – Scotland. It tastes different from the oatmeal porridge I am used to making. And I am definitely going to make this back home and why not??..variety only makes life interesting!

Oats – 5 tbsp

Water – 1 cup

Milk

Honey / sugar – optional

Mixed dry fruits – 1 tbsp

Fresh fruit – banana / blueberries etc

1. In a pan boil water and oats with salt together with occasionally adding few tsps of milk till whole thing turns to a lumpy mass.
2. Serve in a bowl.
3. Top it up with required milk, fresh fruits, dry fruits and sweetner.

Meet our multi talented friend Derek McMillan

Another recipe that Lucie gave me besides the chocolate muffin(check previous post for recipe) was Strawberry preserve. Fresh warm bread with home made preserve can be a divine combination

Strawberry – 1.5 kg

Sugar – 1.5 kg

1. Cut strawberries and crush them nicely.
2. Place them in a pan and boil it. Do not add any water
3. Now add sugar and let it boil for another 10 minutes
4. You will get a white layer on the top, carefully remove it.
5. Pour the strawberry mixture in a glass container and keep the container upside down for next 2-3 days. Doing this helps sterilize the bottle with the heat of the preserve.

On the 4th day your strawberry preserve is ready to be consumed!

Hey! wasnt it cool? Home made fresh jams,preserves and marmalade are so much better and fresher! No preservatives and so great to taste.

Let me know if you liked it…yeh? I will wait for your feedback…I always do

Till next time….happy cooking!

Meet Lucie..

First and foremost thing I would like to do is apologise for not being able to share recipes since last so many days! I have been traveling extensively. As a matter of fact I am writing this post from a beautiful city of Malmo in Sweden …..Looking at the brighter side I have now few recipes from Europe directly from people whom I met or friends who hosted me!

Since I along with Q was following Tour de France we ended up spending almost a month in France. Btw if you are interested in this sport you must read Q’s guest posts on my other blog. So, I learnt this Spanish recipe for Gazpacho from Jerome from Toulouse in France.

When you come back from work or long shopping hours and you need that one kick to energise you before you get to preparing dinner for the friends whom you invited for the evening…you know what to make. Its cool and quite filling!

Bread – 1 loaf

Ripe Tomatoes – 6-8 nos

Balsamic vinegar / Wine vinegar – 2 Tbsp

Olive Oil – 2-3 Tbsp

Red Bell Pepper – 1/2 of Big sized one

Onions – 1-2 numbers

Garlic – 2-3 flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Roughly break the bread with hands and soak in water enough to cover them
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, red bell pepper,chopped onions, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Blend everything together using a blender or a mixer
4. Add water if required
5. Put it in the fridge to cool
6. Serve and enjoy the drink !

With another 40-50 days of travel left I will try my level best to bring recipes to you as regularly as I can! Cheers!

Meet Jerome, a PhD student from beautiful Toulouse who thinks that the best way to eat musk melon is to have some red martini poured on top of it!

Who doesn’t like variety? I am one person who gets bored easily and needs variety to keep it interesting. I have already shared with you the standard version of coconut chutney recipe with you already. Here’s another take on it and tastes delicious.

Desiccated coconut – ½ portion
Tomato – 1 no
Red chili – 2-3 nos
Fennel – ¼ tsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leave – 3-4 nos
Salt to taste

1. In a wok heat 1 tsp oil and add tomato, fennel, 2 red chili and fry well and take off the burner
2. Now add desiccated coconut and fry in the existing heat.
3. Cool mixture and grind to a smooth paste
4. In the same wok heat 1 tsp oil an add mustard seeds, 1 red chili, curry leaves and take off the burner and add it to the ground chutney
5. Serve coconut chutney with idli or dosa

Till next time….happy cooking!

As a teenager I was always interested in “special” cooking…which involved some amount of work. Regular cooking never interested me then. Another intention was to surprise my family members on the dining table. So whenever I got in mood for some cooking, I used to drive everyone off from the kitchen. I remember making Lauki ka Kofta then and it came out delicious. This is the same recipe for Lauki ka Kofta with  inclusions like paneer and raisin made as per suggestion from my mom. You have to try it

Lauki / bottleguard – 1 medium sized
Onions – 2 nos (medium)
Tomato – 2 nos (big)
Bread crumbs – made from 4-5 slices
Gramflour / besan – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala – 1 pinch
Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp (chopped)
Pudina / mint leaves – 1 tbsp (chopped)
Paneer / cottage cheese – 5 tbsp (mashed)
Raisins
Fresh cream – 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Water – 1 cup
Oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Chilli powder – 1.5 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Coriander powder – ½ to ¾ tsp
Dry mango powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Sugar – ¼ tsp

For Kofta

1. Grate the bottleguard and add bread crumbs and gramflour to it
2. Add salt, chilli powder, garam masala, coriander and mint leaves and mix to get tight dough. Be careful with salt as the gravy already has some salt.
3. Make balls, flatten and fill it with mashed paneer / Khoya and 1 rainsin in centre before resealing it
4. Deep fry the balls (koftas)

For gravy

1. Grind to a smooth paste onion and tomato
2. Heat oil in a wok and add cumin seeds and once it leaves aroma add the ground paste
3. Fry well on low heat. Keep sprinkling water in between while frying.
4. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, dry mango powder,salt and sugar and stir well.
5. Add water and let it boil.
6. Now add the koftas and turn of the burner.
7. Tip in dollops of fresh cream and garnish with coriander leaves
8. Serve hot Kofta with with Indian bread (chappati) or rice

Till next time…..happy cooking!

This is one dish which Q loves and it doesn’t take much of my time also…now that is the combination we all look at most of the time….don’t we? More taste and less work! You must try out this simple Mushroom recipe

Mushrooms – 100 gms
Garlic flakes – 4-5 nos
Chilli flakes – 1-2 tsp
Coconut oil – 2 tsp
Coconut shavings – 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
Salt to taste

1. Wash mushrooms and roughly break them into small pieces
2. Tip them into a pan and add roughly chopped garlic and turmeric powder
3. Close lid and cook on high flame. Stir in between. While the mushrooms releases its natural moisture.
4. Add chilli flakes and stir
5. When the water is almost getting dry add coconut shavings and stir.
6. When the water fully dries off add coconut oil and take off from the burner.
7. Serve Mushroom with rice / Indian bread (chappati) and dal / curry

Till next time……happy cooking!

Recipe by Ms.Swarnalatha NT, a homemaker and a specialist in simple and delectable recipes

Hate standing in the Kitchen heat for long?
Tired but do not want to eat out?
Not in a mood for an elaborate meal?
Then …you have to try out this easy Bell pepper with potatoes recipe!
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Potatoes – 5 nos
Bell pepper / Capsicum – 4 nos (green / red or a combination of both)
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder – 1 tbsp (roughly crushed)
Oil – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves – 2 tsp

1. Heat oil in a wok and tip in cumin seeds
2. Post you get the aroma tip in diced potatoes and bell pepper and stir
3. Close the vessel and cook on medium flame.
4. When potato are almost cooked add salt and pepper
5. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves
6. Serve with Indian bread (chapatti) / rice and daal

Till next time……happy cooking!