Friday, October 31, 2008

Khandvi

Khandvi a Gujrathi snack made with Chickpea flour. I had first tasted this when I was in school but after that I never tasted it nor remembered it. It was when I was roaming through the Blogosphere that I remembered this. Hubby dear was not supposed to be back until midnight due to some work at office so I utilised this time to try this dish out. I found the recipe at Asha's Aroma. I trust her because her recipes never fail :) Thanks Asha for this wonderful recipe. 
The taste was really good but I spread the batter slightly thicker than I should have done. I did not get the bright yellow colour as I added very little Turmeric powder. Mine was moderately spiced so I did not add Red chilli's to seasoning. Check out Asha's recipe here
This dish was really easy to make and is ready in minutes. Thanks Asha for the step by step pictures and suggestions. I am going to make them often :)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Diwali Sweets~ Shankarpali & Malpuri

As Promised I am posting the recipes of the sweets that we made during Diwali. We had made Mysore Pak, Shankarpali and Malpuri. For Shakarpali we followed Vaishali's recipe with no changes and the end result was really good. Everyone loved it. Thanks Vaishali for your wonderful recipe with step by step pictures. It was impossible to mess it up :) Click here to view her recipe








Malpuri is a traditional sweet prepared with maida, Sugar and buttermilk. This is one of my favourite sweet but we had never made it at home. My dad usually buys these from TajMahal Cafe. This was usually made in the morning. When I was learning to drive dad used to take me for a drive on sunday mornings by 5. We used to go for a long drive and at around 6:30 we would reach the market buy fresh vegetables and then go to TajMahal Cafe. Dad would usually buy either Jelebi or Malpuri that are made fresh in the morning. It was great to eat them hot and fresh.
When Smitha, my dear friend suggested that we try our hands at making malpuri both of us were not sure as we had not seen anyone make malpuri. But that did not prevent us from trying it. I made a google search but did not get satisfying recipe. Then we looked upon Our GSB cooking Bible "Oota Upahara" by Jaya V. Shenoy and decided to follow the recipe. We did not get the texture perfect as in Hotels. Though there were crisped edges what we missed was the fluffed up centre. But then the taste was really good and both of us were glad. Well we can always improve!
Here is what's needed:
1 1/2 cup Maida
1 cup Buttermilk
3/4 cup Sugar (Our's was mildly sweet add more if you like it to be sweeter)
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
Ghee to fry
Procedure:
1) In a large bowl mix Maida +  Buttermilk + Sugar well. It should be slightly thicker than dosa batter consistency. If not add little water. Let it sit for 3 hours.
2) After 3 hours add Cardamom powder and mix it well. 
3) Heat Ghee in a Kadai. When hot add one tbsp of the batter as if spreading the dosa on tawa. Bring heat to medium. Flip the Malpuri in ghee. Keep it pressed with the spatula and fry until the sides are crisp.
4) After you remove the malpuri from Ghee, press it with another spatula to remove the excess ghee. Let it drain on paper towel. Store once cooled completely.

P.S: Do not leave it without pressing with spatula when it is in Hot ghee. Else it puffs up completely like Puri and the sides do not get crisp. Even the batter needs to be spread  as if it is dosa, Initially we just scooped the mixture and it came out like Puri all puffed up. It was then Smitha suggested that we spread it like dosa and keep it pressed. It worked and we got nice Malpuri's. We fried it one at a time so it was time consuming. But the end result was worth the time we spent. I never expected that it was so easy to make :)

I am sending this over to Srivalli who is hosting JFI-Nov 08.



















I am sending this over to Sunshinemom who is hosting FIC Brown.


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Mysore Pak Again!!

Happy Deepavali to Everyone. We had a very good Deepavali  with our friends. When we first came here we had a feeling that we would not have a great time during Deepavali since it would be just two of us. But Thanks to our friend's we really had a good time. 
Me and my friend Smitha made a lot of delicacies for Deepavali. We started with Mysore Pak. My earlier attempt did not give the perfect texture but taste was good. This time the outcome was good with very nice texture and it was actually melt in the mouth kind. Ofcourse there is room for imporovement!! It took flat 35 mins for the whole process and you never realise the time because once you start cooking it all happens really fast and there it is done! Thanks Shilpa this is really hit with both our families. Click here f0r Shilpa's recipe that we followed completely with no changes. 
Here is how we celebrated Deepawali
On sunday we had a chat special lunch at our place. We made Pani Puri (Puri we made from scratch, Recipe coming up soon), Masala Puri & BhelPuri (Haldiram mix). At the end of the evening we were all stuffed and went shopping. I am really glad that we went out as I got a new Eectric oven which I had always wanted since quite some time. Now that I have all the time in the world I am planning to experiment ofcourse in my Kitchlab.
On monday, Smitha and me made Shankarpali and Malpuri (Recipe coming up soon). Smitha coooked up a yummy traditional dinner for us and we had a good time cooking and laughing for the silliest reasons!
Yesterday we had  a small Lakshmi Pooja at home and then we had been to my hubby's office as there was Diwali celebrations at his office. Lots of Indians attired in traditional dresses from various places had gathered at one place. There were firecrackers and food with entertainment.

This was the first time we celebrated Deepawali without our family. But we really had a good time and our friend's filled up the void of our family to a very large extent. The memories that we made, the laughs that we shared, the time that we spent will be cherished for ever. Is this not the true spirit of Deepavali?

Diwali treats that we made:


Friday, October 24, 2008

Karathe Talasani ~ Bittergourd

Karathe Talasani is a simple Bittergourd stir-fry dish that is usually made with Garlic. Karathe talasani is a mixture of sweet and spice with the right amount of tanginess. 
Here is what's needed:
1 medium Bittergourd deseeded and chopped 
2 red Chillis torn
6-8 crushed Garlic cloves
2 tbsp grated Jaggery (increase/decrease according to your taste)
a small amla sized Tamarind soaked in water
Salt to taste
Oil
Procedure:
1) Sprinkle Salt on chopped Bittergourd pieces and let it stand for 20-30 mins. Squeeze the juice out. This helps in removing the bitterness from it.
2) Heat oil and add crushed Garlic cloves. Fry until golden and add torn Red Chilli's. Fry for a few seconds and add Bittergourd pieces.
3) Add in the Salt,Jaggery,Tamarind and little water. Cook covered until done.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Sweet Corn Soup

Yesterday we had a cold day. It had rained in the morning and all day long it was very cool with strong winds too. This weather prompted me to cook something warm and comforting and thus soup was made. I love Sweet Corn Soup a lot. I picked up this recipe from Nita Mehta's Chinese Vegetarian Cuisine book.
Found this info while I did some googling on Sweet Corn:
Key benefits of sweetcorn
Sweetcorn is a good source of folate. It also helps protect against age-related macular degeneration and helps fight free radicals in the retina. It provides more starch and more calories than most vegetables. It is high in iron and potassium. It is also a good food for steadying blood sugar.

How much sweetcorn should you eat?
Sweetcorn is fairly high in calories. An average portion of 85g a day should be sufficient to derive the benefits from sweetcorn.

Now coming back to the recipe. Here is what's needed:(Serves 3)
2 big whole Corn
3 cups Water
1/2 tsp Ajinomoto (optional. I skipped this yet it was tasty)
1 tbsp Cornflour dissolved in 1 cup water
1/2 - 1 tbsp Sugar
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp White pepper
3/4 tsp White Vinegar
1/4 cup chopped Cabbage (Optional)
1/4 cup chopped Carrot (Optional)

Procedure:
1) Grate Corn. Reserve few corns whole Corns too.
2) Pressure cook grated corn along with whole Corns with 3 cups Water and a tsp of Salt. After the first whistle keep it on medium low for 10-15 mins.
3) Mix Cornflour in a cup of Water and add to the cooked Corn. Add Sugar, Ajinomoto if using and pepper. Mix well. Let it boil for 10 mins. If the soup appears to be too thin you may add some more Cornflour dissolved in water and add to it.
4) If adding vegetables add it at this point and let it boil only for 3 mins. This keeps vegetable crunchy. Serve hot. 

This Soup is very filling and if combined with fresh salad will make a complete meal.

Kuvvale Sasam ~ Wintermelon in Mustard Coconut Gravy

Kuvvale means Wintermelon or Ash gourd and Sasam means mustard seeds.  This dish is made by adding boiled Wintermelon in Mustard and coconut gravy. This dish is usually prepared on various auspicious occasions such as Sathyanarayan Pooja, Temple car festival etc. Till date the best of this dish that I have ever tasted is during the Venkatramana temple Car festival. 
This dish is not very spicy and goes well with white rice. It is simple to make too.
Here is whats needed:
11/2-2 cups of cubed Winter melon

To grind into coarse paste:
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 cup grated Coconut 
3-4 fried red Chilli's
small piece of Tamarind
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
6-7 Curry leaves
Oil

Procedure:
1) Boil Winter melon in suffecient water until they are done. Do not overcook it.
2) Make a masala with grated Coconut + red Chilli's + Tamarind + Salt + Mustard seeds and little water. Do not grind it to a fine paste.
3) Add the ground masala to Winter melon. Add water if needed to bring it to suffecient consistency. Check for salt. Let it come to a good boil before removing it from flame.
4) Prepare seasoning by heating a little Oil (preferably Coconut oil). Add Mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add Curry leaves and pour the seasoning over the gravy. Serve hot.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Vermicelli Pulao

The first time I tasted this dish was at my Bappa's (Uncle) place. Ever since then this is the one of the dishthat he makes when I visit them. My bappa is an excellent cook. Any tips or traditional recipe he is always ready to share. During my return from last trip to India, my dad had to cancel his tickets at the last minute as he had some meeting. My uncle along with my mom came to see me off till Mumbai. During the train journey I got a lot of recipes from him. His recipes never fail for me. He gives the exact measure and accurate steps. One such was Rava idli. Though it was my first attempt it had come out perfect.
Coming to this Pulao, I have tried a lot of times but could never recreate that dish as he makes it. Last time when I met him he gave me the exact ingredients and it came out perfect. We both loved it. Only change that I made was he makes use of fresh Garam masala but I used store brought one. 
Here is what's needed:
1 Cup Vermicelli (I used Bambino)
1/2 cup veggies like Carrot,Beans sliced thin
handful of green Peas (I used frozen)
1 big Onion sliced lengthwise
2-3 green Chilli's slit
1 small Tomato chopped fine
2 Garlic cloves crushed
6-7 Curry Leaves
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Garam masala powder
1" Cinnamon stick
Salt to taste
Oil for seasoning
Finely chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing

Procedure:
1) Dry Roast Vermicelli on a medium heat until they turn golden brown and transfer it to a plate. 2) Boil the veggies until 3/4th done. Drain the water to prevent further cooking. Do not throw this water it can be used to cook the vermicelli. Measure the water and add more water if needed to make it 2 cups of water. Keep it to boil.
3) Take some oil in a Kadai. When hot add crushed Garlic, fry for a min. Add chopped Onion with little salt and fry until it turns golden brown. Transfer them to a seperate plate.
4) In the same kadai add little Oil. Add Mustard seeds. When they splutter add Curry leaves + green Chilli + Cinnamon stick . When the colour of green chilli changes add tomato. Fry it well. Add turmeric powder + Garam masala powder+ Salt.
5) Add the roasted Vermicelli and 2 cups of boiled water. Mix in the veggies too and give it quick stir. Check for Salt and cook covered on medium flame until done. 
6) Just before you switch it off add fried Onion and chopped Coriander leaves and mix well. Let it sit for min. Switch off and serve hot.

P.S: You can add cashews to enhance the taste. Even Beetroot can be added to make it colourful.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Hinga Tambli

Tambli's come to rescue when you have very little time to fix lunch or dinner. It is absolutely no fuss dish and does not required to be cooked. It is served cold and usually Yogurt is added to it. There are different types of tambli's with onions (Piyava tambli) or with tender Gherkin leaves (Tendle enkre tambli),or pumpkin leaves tambli. However there are few tambli's that do not have yogurt added like Piyava tambli.  
Tambli's with yogurt were not featured much at my mom's place since I and my bro both did not like yogurt. If you do not like it you can even replace it with little tamarind. The one that I am mentioning here is Hinga tambli.
Here is what's needed:
1 cup grated Coconut
2 - 3 tbsp Yogurt (increase as per your taste)
2 green Chilli's slit
a generous pinch of Asafoetida/Hing
Salt to taste
Oil

Procedure:
1) Heat Oil and fry the green Chilli's until they change their colour to light green. Take care while frying as they tend to splutter. Add in the Asafoetida and remove from flame. Add this to grated Coconut.
2) Beat the Yogurt and whisk with little water. 
3) Grind grated Coconut + green Chilli's + Asafoetida along with yoghurt and Salt to a smooth paste. Add water if desired to bring it to desired consisitency. Serve cold with rice and some side dish.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

An Award :)


Pavani of Food Lovers passed me this wonderful Butterfly Award. Thank you Pavani :). That was very sweet of you.
As per the rules I am passing it over to 

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Broccoli Stir-Fry

I had never tasted Broccoli before I came here. With the advent of Supermarkets though it was available in my home town, I was skeptical to cook with it. I was not sure how to cook it or how it would even taste. When we visited a local resturant here I noticed I did not have much options for vegetarians.. it was stir fried veggies with a bowl of rice.. that's all. And the options of veggies that I had was grated Potato, blanced Spinach and Egg Plant ( Since those were the only veggie names that we knew in chinese ;) )

We had once been to a place called Ningbo. The original attraction to this place was that we wanted to go over the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the longest sea- crossing bridge. We decided to stay overnight in Ningbo and see the places around. We reached there and started with our sightseeing. At lunch time we entered a nice local restaurant. We also had one of my hubby's friend with us who is a pure veggie like me. The staff were not fluent with English so it was difficult for us to communicate with them and even the menu was in Chinese. Later a lady who seemed to be a manager came over and asked us to look at all the dishes. In this place they had a display of all the food that they cook and we have to make our choice and then they would take an order and make fresh batch of food. My hubby and his friend went over and ordered the food. They showed the veggies and told them that we eat this or that (Poiniting to the veggies) and also asked them not to include egg,meat,fish,Chicken. The lady took our order and within few minutes our order was being served. One after the other the dishes appeared on our table. Seven side dishes and a big hot bowl of noodles and three small bowls of rice. It so happened that the lady misunderstood when my hubby and his friend had explained to her the options of veggies that we eat and she thought that we wanted to have all those. She asked the staff to prepare Individual dishes out of those veggies! Though the food was tasty we had lot of leftovers!

That was the first time I ever tried out Broccoli and did I say I loved it. Now it has been one of the regular dishes that we order everytime we go out. I prefer it over the Cauliflower!! This recipe was given by my Cousin sister, Archanakka. I only made  a change to her recipe by adding garlic too. Almost all the chinese resturants here add garlic juice to Broccoli stri fry and I love its taste.
Here is what's needed:
1 medium Broccoli cut into florets and cleaned
2-3 garlic cloves minced
Salt and Pepper powder to taste
Olive oil 

Procedure:
1) Heat Olive oil and add Garlic. Saute it for 30secs. 
2) Add Broccoli and stir fry for 5 minutes or until crisp tender. Add salt and pepper to taste and Serve hot.

Broccoli's nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin A (mostly as beta-carotene), folic acid, calcium, and fiber. Broccoli is an important calcium source for those who don't consume dairy products. For more info on Broccoli click here.

I am sending this diet food over to Divya's Diet Food Event. Thank you Divya for this wonderful event. 
 

Monday, October 13, 2008

Theek Rotti ~ Spicy Puri

Sunday breakfast at home was always special at home. Amma would make something different than the regular breakfast items. Sunday was reserved for Puri - Kurma/Bhaji, Shevai, Pulav Masala Dosa..etc. Anything other than the normal fare. One such item was this Theek Puri. This is easy to make and can be fixed within minutes and it also does not need any side dishes to go with it. It is also perfect for evening snack with a hot cup of Coffee/Tea.
Here is what's needed:
Wheat flour
1 tsp Chilli powder ( adjust as per taste)
2 tsp Rava/Semolina
1 tsp Asafoetida water/a pinch 
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Urad dal
5-6 Curry leaves torn into bits

Water to knead the dough
Oil for deep frying

Procedure:
1) Prepare seasoning by heating little oil. Add in Mustard seeds when they crackle add in Urad dal and fry until pink. Add the Curry leaves switch off.
2) Take some warm water in a bowl to knead the dough. Add Salt. Pour the seasoning into it. Add Chilli powder,Semolina and Asafoetida. Mix well.
3) Add Wheat flour as needed and knead it into smooth dough. It should be harder than the Chapathi dough.  
4) Make small balls from the dough and roll it into Puri's. Fry the Puri's in hot oil. Serve hot.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

About me ~ Meme

Mahimaa Of Indian Vegetarian Kitchen has tagged me for a Meme. Thank you Mahimaa.

Here are the rules for the Meme:-
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

According to it I have to share 7 facts about me. So here it goes:
1) I Love cartoons!! So much that I can sit with a kid and enjoy more than a kid! I enjoy Popeye the Sailor,Tom and Jerry, Dexter's laboratory, etc etc ;)

2) I am crazy about Soft toys.. My hubby and cousins worry that in future when I have a kid there would be a fight between me and my kid for the soft toy!!!

3) Before serving anyone food I have to check for salt and taste. I cannot just cook anything and serve right away without it being tasted. I wonder how our elders could just serve it right away and still it would always be perfect. That's what is called Experience I guess!

4) Chocolates and Ice-creams are my weakness. I can have them at any time of the day.

5) I am scared of water on floor. I have seen a lot of people falling on floor so whenever I see water on floor I have to clean it up!!! It also makes me a cleanliness freak.

6) I am scared about all the creepy and crawling animals/insects.

7) I am scared to try new cuisines. Unless I get someone to vouch that it is good I would not prefer to go for it. When I cook something and it becomes a disaster my mood goes off easily.

It was fun taking this tag. Thanks Mahimaa.Now the next part. I have to tag 7 more people to do this meme.
Do take up the tag if you have time :) 

Friday, October 10, 2008

VijayaDashmi Special - Rava Payasam

As a child,festivals were the time we loved the most. Holiday from school.. special food at home and outing at evenings to temple.. We really looked forward to it. During Navrathri we usually have Ayudha Pooja at home and also "Nave javche" which means eating from new harvest.
Ayudha Pooja is performed at my mom's place every year. The previous day all the vehicles would get washed and polished neatly and get decorated with a flower garland for Pooja. The priest would come early in the morning at around 5:30 or 6 AM to perform the Pooja. Every vehicle would have a tilak of Kumkum.After performing Arati to all the vehicles he would touch a coconut to all the tyres of the vehicles and then hit it to the ground and chant mantras to ward off any forthcoming accidents or problems. A lemon and a piece of Ashgourd would be kept in front of each tyre of the vehicle and after the Pooja the vehicle would be started to pass of by these crushing them. It was fun to watch my dad,uncle (now my hubby too!!!) and brother's to take the vehicle over those as sometimes the vehicle would not just go over it if the piece was too big or the lemon would just roll away without getting Crushed!! 
In one of the nine days of Navrathri we would have "Navie javche" at our place. We usually had it on Vijaydashmi. New harvest is brought from Paddy fields or from temple. Along with few vegetables it is kept in front off Tulsi and a pooja is done. The paddy is wrapped in a mango leaf and tied to Rice containers, Rice cooking vessel,Tulsi etc. This is done to celebrate the new harvest. We usually make a sweet out of rice and different traditional items for lunch. 
We celebrated "VijayaDashami" and "Nave javche" yesterday. We did a small pooja at home and I made a few traditional items and Rava Payasam for nivedyam. I did not make Rice Payasam as I did not have turmeric leaves which give a nice aroma to the Payasam.
Rava Payasam is a simple dessert to make and eat too (You do not have to bite into it,except for cashews!) :) I personally prefer Jaggery+Coconut milk based Payasams than the milk ones and its healthy too.
Here is what's needed:
1/2 Cup Wheat Rava /Semolina
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated jaggery(adjust as per taste)
10-12 cashews halved & boiled
1 cup thick Coconut milk
1 -1.5 cup Water or thin Coconut milk
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
Procedure:
1)Dry roast Rava/Semolina until fragrant.
2)Add boiled cashews and thin coconut milk/water to rava and cook until done. Add water if necessary.
3)Add grated Jaggery and stir until jaggery dissolves completely. Add Coconut milk and bring it to a boil it over a moderate heat. Add Cardamom powder and mix well. Take off the flame and serve hot!
The colour of the Payasam depends on the colour of Jaggery. Mine was light brown hence this colour.
I am sending this over to Sunshine mom's - TongueTicklers who is hosting Food in colours event and the choice of her colour is "Brown".

















I am also sending this over to Srivalli who is hosting JFI - Nov 08


















Update: I am also sending this over to Vaishali who is hosting Sweet Vegan Event. Thanks Vaishali for this wonderful event. Thank you Sunshinemom for reminding me to send this over to Vaishali.



Monday, October 6, 2008

Birthday Dinner Recipes ~ Final

Dal Fry:  This is one easy dish to make that is simple and tasty too. We love dals espicially Daalithoy! which I have not blogged yet about. 
Initially when I made Dal Fry I would use only Toor Dal,Tomato and garlic and then give it a jeera tadka. It was then my pacchi introduced me to her style of Dal Fry. I loved it instantly and this is the recipe that I have been following making my own modifications as and when necessary!
Dal-Fry goes really well with Bagahara rice, Jeera rice or even plain steamed rice or chapati.
Here is what's needed:
1-1/2 cup Toor Dal
1/2 cup Moong Dal
1 tbsp Masoor Dal(Optional)
1 tbsp Chana Dal
3 green chilli's chopped fine
1 tbsp Garam masala powder (Combination of garam masala and kitchen king masala)
1 tsp Kasuri methi (Optional)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red Chilli powder (Omit if the chilli's are very spicy)
1 big Tomato chopped
1 big Onion chopped
4-5 Garlic pods chopped fine
small piece of ginger minced
1 tsp Jeera
Salt to taste
Oil
Coriander leaves chopped for garnishing
Procedure:
1) Pressure cook all dals until done. Mash them.
2) In  a kadai heat oil and fry jeera until they crackle. Add in chopped garlic and ginger for few seconds. Add in Onions with little salt. Helps onion to cook faster and also gives it a nice colour. Add tomato's and cook until mushy.
3) Add in all the powders along with salt and green chilli. Pour this over the dal and bring it to a  boil. Add Kasuri methi if using. I would recommend it as it gives a different aroma and taste. Check for salt and spice and add accordingly. You can also add water if it is too thick.Bring it to a rolling boil and switch off.
4) Dress with coriander leaves and serve hot with lemon wedges.

P.S: I forgot to add jeera in the step 1 while making this so I gave a tadka of jeera!! 

Gobi-Matar masala
This was just a combination of spices I just made.
I did not want to use Cashew paste so this has fried Onion and blanched Tomato as base gravy. Here is what's needed:
1 small Cauliflower cut into bite sized florets soaked in salt and turmeric water
2 cups green Peas I used frozen variety
2 big Onions chopped roughly
2 medium sized tomato's
1 tsp fresh ginger garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Procedure:
1) Fry ginger garlic paste along with onions and little salt until golden. Keep aside to cool.
2) Blanch tomato's in hot water for ten minutes or until it skin tears apart. Once cooled peel it off and make a puree out of it.
3) Make a paste of the fried onions. Parboil the green peas and cauliflower.
4) Heat little oil and the Onion paste and fry for a min. Add tomato puree and fry well. Add the masala powders and salt bring it to a boil. Add in the veggies and bring it to boil.
5)Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with phulkas or Pooris.

P.S: You can also add a pinch of kasuri methi as it further enhances the taste.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Birthday Dinner recipes

Potato Bhaji: Poori - Bhaji a very famous combi breakfast from South India. Poori Bhaji, Poori kurma were always special treats, reserved for special occasions or holidays. Amma would make hot puffed Pooris that we would dunk either in kurma or with bhaji and eat with utmost satisfaction.
Now Poori's make very rare appearance in our kitchen. Phulkas have taken its place instead. But I guess it is not wrong to indulge once in a while right? So that's what we did on hubby's birthday. We indulged in all the dishes that did not make its appearance in our kitchen for quite some time. We also had our friends over for dinner that made the perfect occasion.. more the merrier.
This is my mom's recipe which uses more onion and less Potato.
Here is what's needed:
2 medium sized Potato's boiled and cubed
3 medium sized Onion chopped
3-4 green chilli's slit lengthwise(+/- according to your taste)
5-6 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Urad Dal (split black gram)
1/4 tsp Chana Dal (Optional)
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
Grated Coconut(Optional) and chopped Coriander leaves to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil
Procedure:
1) Heat Oil. Add in Mustard seeds when they crackle add the Urad dal fry until pink and then add Chana dal fry for a while. Add Green chilli's and fry until its colour changes and finally add Curry leaves.
2)Add chopped Onions to the seasoning with little salt and fry until translucent. Add Turmeric powder and fry for a min. Add 1/4 cup water and cook covered until it 1/2 of the water is absorbed.
3)Add in the cubed potato's and mix well. Add salt to taste and mix well. Cook until semi-dry and garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut.
Serve hot with Poori's.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Birthday Special!!

Hubby dear celebrated his birthday on 1st October. We had a week long off here due to Chinese Independence day which worked out good for us as he got to relax and I got time to cook ;). We had decided not to move out of Shanghai as the weather was changing slightly and it is also my first exposure to Shanghai winter. The weather is definitely a pleasure but I dread the cold breeze that will follow soon.
Anyways, Coming back to his birthday, we invited very close family friends for dinner. It was a nice time that we spent together. A picture of the Birthday cake that the Birthday boy got as  a surprise from our Friends. It was delicious Chocolate cake with Chocolate and cinnanon flavoured cookies from Paris Baguette with "Happy birthday" card in Chinese. It was yummy!!





Here is a picture of the delicious spread that we had:

Gulab Jamun at the top. I used Git's Readymix.
Poori - Bhaaji (Top left) Poori missing from the pic :P
Baghara Rice (Top right) : I found this recipe at Cinnamon Trail's blog.  It came out very delicious and tasted perfect with Dal fry (Bottom left) and Gobi matar (Bottom right). Thanks Cinnamon for this woderful recipe. It is a keeper for sure.
Will update with rest of the recipes soon!!Click here for the recipe

Update:
For Potato Bhaji click here 
Dal fry and Gobi matar recipes are here



Breaking off here with a piece of cake just for you!















The Party food is is going to be presented at Party Food Event that is hosted at Simple Indian Food. the Party in on till  31st Oct 2008. Thanks for hosting this event EC.