Upma Pic: Priya Q

Vegetable Upma

I love this tasty upma with the goodness of vegetables! Quite simple and easy to make!

Roasted Semolina / Suji – 1 cup
Onion – 1 no big
Coriander– finely chopped
Garlic – 2 flakes (finely chopped) – optional
Ginger – ½ inch (finely chopped)
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Gram dal or white lentils – 1 tsp (also called chana dal* / split Urad dal (without skin))
Chopped vegetables –1 cup (carrots, cauliflower, peas, etc)
Oil – 1 tbsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water – 2 cups
Lemon juice – 1 tsp

1. Boil vegetables separately
2. In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once its stops spluttering add Gram dal
3. Now add Ginger and Garlic and sauté lightly
4. Add onions and sauté
5. Add boiled vegetables, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander leaves and sauté
6. Add water and salt
7. Once it boils add roasted semolina with continuous stirring, else lumps would form
8. Close lid and cook on low flame for 10 seconds
9. Open lid, sprinkle some lemon juice and stir
10. Serve hot. You can team it up with pickle / coconut chutney

*Chana dal is dried, split chickpeas or garbanzo beans

till next time…. happy cooking!

Bruschetta

Bruschetta pronounced as Brus – ketta is a light, delicious and healthy snack. It is supposed to be an appetizer (antipasto in Italian) but besides making it a pre-pasta meal I also make it for breakfast at times!

Wheat bread – 4 slices (you can use the bread of your choice)
Tomato – 3 nos (nice and firm ones)
Garlic – few flakes
Oregano – 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Olive Oil – 2 tablespoons
Fresh Basil leaves – 5-6 nos
Olives – for garnish (optional)
Mozarella / Cheddar cheese – 3- 4 tbsp

1. Chop the tomatoes into small cubes
2. Add to tomatoes oil, cheese, salt, basil and oregano. Mix well, cover with shrink wrap and refrigerate for ½ hr or put it in the freezer for 10 minutes
3. Apply few drops of oil to bread slices and toast them at 150 degree C for about 10 minutes. It should be fairly crisp
4. Rub garlic on all slices
5. Place the tomato topping over each slice and garnish with olives
6. Serve immediately (else the juice of tomatoes will make the bread soggy)

You can also  thin slices of meat like prosciutto (pronounced as pro-shutto)  or salamis etc as topping

till next time…happy cooking!

Sabudana Khichdi Pic : Priya Q

Sabudana / Pearl Sago -  2 cups

Boiled pototoes – 1 cup (diced into cubes)

Plain Roasted Peanuts – 1/4 cup

Turmeric – 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Fresh green chilli – 1-2 tsp (optional)

Onions – 1 cup (finely chopped)

Coriander  – 2 tbsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

salt to taste

Oil – 2 tbsp

1. Take sabudana in a flat plate and sprinkle water. Keep mixing with hands to gauge how much more water is required. It should be nice and moist (not wet and sticky). Leave it aside. Sabudana actually soaks up the water nicely and increase in size.
2. Heat oil and add onions to it. Fry nicely
3. Add peanuts, chopped coriander, potatoes and sabudana. Mix gently without breaking the potatoes
4. Add salt, chilli and turmeric. Mix
5. If you still feel the sabudana is hard and chewy. Sprinkle water and close the vessel. Cook for few more minute on low flame.
6. In the end add sugar and lemon juice. Mix well
7. Garnish with fresh coriander
8. Serve immediately

*In North India people have this during fast, for which you can omit onion. Add more potatoes instead!

till next time….happy cooking!

Dal Pic: Priya Q

Like my mom few of you will find this dish a bit bland…I somehow liked it when I had this at my aunt’s place…though my aunt doesn’t eat onions I have used it…Onions give a nice touch to it )…… It tastes quite good with idiyappam …which I normally used to have with Vegetable Stew or Egg Curry…this dal recipe is a welcome variation to the combo !! and its unbelievably simple!

Chana dal – 1 cup ( dried split chickpeas)

Green Chilli – 1 to 2 nos (Split lengthwise)

Onion – 1 no (finely chopped)

Curry leaves – 3 to 4

Coconut Milk – 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

1. Pressure cook the chana dal along with green chillies
2. Remove the chilli from the cooked dal
3. In a small pan fry curry leaves and chopped onions till golden brown and add to the dal
4. Add coconut milk and salt
5. Serve hot with idiyappams or rice

till next time…happy cooking!

Chickpeas Curry Pic: Priya Q

Successful experiment by fluke is how I would describe this recipe. I had soaked chickpea the previous night and my maid didn’t turn up the next day. I was not in a good mood with so much of unexpected work thrown at me. Least to mention the chickpea I had planned for breakfast with some steaming puttu. So instead of usual recipe I decided to go an easy route…and it turned out quite delicious )

Black Chickpeas – 2 cups (soaked overnight)

Chilli powder – 1 tsp + a pinch

Turmeric – 1/2 tsp + a pinch

Coriander powder – 3 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil

Onion – 1 no. (big sized – sliced fine)

Coriander leaves for garnish

1. Pressure cook chickpeas with a pinch of turmeric and chilli powder till soft and done
2. Soak the masalas in few drops of water. Masala should be nicely damp
3. In a pan add few tsp of oil and add mustard seeds when hot
4. Once they splutter add the soaked masalas and fry for few seconds
5. Add sliced onions and fry for few minutes
6. Add the cooked chickpeas into the above pan and mix well
7. Season and garnish with fresh coriander

Now wasn’t that simple!!? It tastes simply delicious. Serve it with out of rotis / bread

* the onions will be quite crisp and add a different texture to the dish

Till next time….happy cooking!

Adai Pic credit: Priya Q

Call it multigrain dosa or crepe / pancakes from South of India. Adai is a healthy meal that you can serve to your family for breakfast / brunch or even dinner….

Rice – 1/2 qty
Combination of lentils, moong beans, moong dal etc – ½ qty

Whole Black Pepper – ½ tsp (optional)
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Asofoetia – a pinch
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Green chili – 2-3 nos
Fresh Coriander leaves – 3 tbsp
Onion – 1 nos (roughly diced)
Coconut shavings – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

1. Soak overnight rice and lentils etc
2. Grind to fine paste along with other remaining ingredients. Your batter is ready (you can grind it coarse as well)
3. Heat a griddle and with the help of a round, deep ladle pour the batter. Spread it with the help of the back of the rounded part of the ladle to get a round dosa
4. Drop a little oil on top
5. Flip and cook on the other side on low heat till light golden brown
6. Serve hot with your favorite sauce / yogurt – pickle / yogurt- green chili / or just have as is!

* you can also add black chickpeas. However grind it separately and later combine with rice and lentils paste.

A friend of mine has say this — In Palghat Iyer lingo it is called ‘Malabar adai’… it is had with green chillies crushed into nice thick curd (yogurt) with a pinch of salt. Alternatively you can also have it with avial... There is another variation of this made with black urad dal (whole) mixed with rice. Experienced hands ‘pat’ a ball of the maavu (dough) on to a hot tawa… accompaniment, same as above! Thanks Harish for the info!

Kadhi Pic credit : Priya Q

This yogurt based curry is quite a delicacy. Perhaps, that is why we have so many variations to it! from punjabi kadhi to gujarati kadhi to sindhi kadhi…. I have already shared with you the recipe for the Kerala style version of it…. here’s the punjabi version of it…which we learnt during our stay in the North of India.

Is yogurt and curd one and the same? Well, the only difference I could make was that the plain yogurt is creamier than curd. So, me thinks that plain yogurt is good to go for this recipe!

For pakoras

Gram flour (besan) – 1 cup
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Carom seeds (ajwain) – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Onions – 2 medium sized (finely sliced)Water
Oil for frying

Curd or plain yogurt – 2 cups
Gram flour (besan) – 3 tbsp

Turmeric  – ½ tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Dry red chili – 2 nos
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Onion – 1 nos (finely chopped)

Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt to taste
Garam Masala – a pimch

1. Combine all ingredients for pakoras to get a semi liquid consistency (it should not be runny)
2. Heat oil and with the help of a spoon drop in small portions of batter into the oil
3. Fry till golden brown. Take it out on an absorbent paper
4. Combine yogurt, turmeric and gram flour. Keep aside
5. In a thick bottom pan heat 2 tsp of oil. Add mustard and let it splutter
6. Add fenugreek seeds, chili, and curry leaves
7. Add the prepared yogurt mixture and bring it to boil
8. Add salt and pakoras
9. Simmer the burner. Sprinkle garam masala and close the vessel
10. Serve with cumin rice

*for Cumin rice : Heat a tbsp of oil / clarified butter (ghee); add 2 tsp of cumin seeds followed by whole black peppercorns and sliced onions. Saute. Add basmati rice (washed and soaked for 20 minutes) and water. Once the water boils add salt; simmer the burner and close lid.

for 2 cups of rice you need 4 cups of water.

Absolutely love the smokey flavor of the roasted baingan (aubergine / eggplant) used for this recipe. I had some how forgotten to post the recipe for Baingan Bharta till someone recently asked me for it! So here goes….:)

Baingan Bharta ...Pic Credit - Priya Q

Baingan (brinjal) – 1 big sized
Onions – 2 medium sized (finely chopped)
Tomato – 1 big (finely chopped)
Ginger – ½ inch (finely chopped)
Garlic – 3-4 flakes (finely chopped)
Green chilli – 1 nos (finely chopped)
Coriander / Cilantro – for garnish (finely chopped)
Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Dry Mango Powder (Aamchur) – ¼ tsp (optional)
Salt to taste

1. Roast the aubergine directly over flame along with its skin
2. Keep changing sides for even roasting
3. Dip the aubergine in cold water (this helps in easy removal of the charred skin)
4. Remove skin and mash the aubergine nicely
5. In a pan heat oil and add cumin; once you get the cumin flavor add onions, ginger, garlic and green chilli and fry well
6. Add tomatoes. Keep frying
7. Add turmeric, chilli powder and mix well
8. Add the mashed aubergine and salt
9. Fry well till the aubergines nearly leave sides and you get a nice aroma
10. Add dry mango powder and stir well
11. Keep stirring in intervals so that the aubergines don’t stick to the pan and get burnt
12. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves
13. Serve with roti / naan or any other Indian bread

Till next time….. happy cooking!

photo credit: cell105

Green gram dal (moong dhuli) –  1 cup
Jaggery – ¾ cup
Coconut milk – 100 ml
Coconut pieces – 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Ghee (clarified butter) – 2 tbsp
Cashew and raisins – as required

1. Fry the dal in a skillet till nice and brown. Keep it aside to cool. Then wash it with water.
2. Cook the dal in a cooker (1 whistle only) or open fire.
3. Add jaggery and mix well
4. Check for sweetness. If you want it to be sweeter add more jaggery
5. Add coconut milk and bring it to boil
6. Add cardamom powder
7. In a small pan heat ghee, and fry cashew, raisins and coconut pieces
8. Tip it into simmering dal. Stir and serve.

Onam Asamsakkal

Inji means ginger and Puli means tamarind. As the name suggests rightly so, pulinji is a preparation with ginger as the main ingredient cooked in tamarind water. My north Indian friends call it south Indian ginger pickle

Yet again, Pulinji is one of the main dishes served during Onam sadya, however in moderation just like your pickle!

Ginger – 25 gms (peeled and finely chopped)
Green chili – 4 nos (finely chopped)
Coconut Oil – 1 tsp
Dry red chili – 1 no (chopped)
Mustard – ½ tsp
Tamarind – size of a big lemon
Water – 2 cups

(To be added to tamarind)
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Chili powder – ¼ tsp
Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
Grated jaggery – 25 gms
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Fenugreek seeds (methi dana) – 3- 4 nos

1. Soak tamarind in 2 cups of water
2. In a skillet heat oil and add mustard. Once it sputters add dry red chili.
3. Add chopped ginger and green chili and fry well and keep aside
4. Squeeze and take the liquid out from the tamarind
5. In a vessel heat the tamarind water and to it add all ingredients to be added mentioned under ingredients section
6. Bring to boil and cook till it thickens.
7. Add fried ginger and chili pieces and remove from the fire

Onam Asamsakkal