Tomato Paniyaram

It has been quite some time since we posted any recipe. When I saw this recipe in a local channel, I was motivated to try it out and post it immediately. It is a simple and easy snack to make for the kiddos. Try it out and let us know.

Ingredients

- Dosa Batter (as needed)
- 1 Onion
- 2-3 Tomato
- Red chilie (as needed)
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp Hing
- 1/4 tsp Mustard
- 1/4 tsp Urad dhal
- Handful of chopped coriander
- 1 tsp oil
- Salt to taste

Method

1. Chop the onions and tomato finely.
2. Add oil in a frying pan and once the oil is hot add mustard seeds and uradh dhal.
3. Once in splutters add hing, onion and fry until it turns translucent
4. Add tomato and fry until it turns mushy. Add chilie powder, salt to taste and fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Take an appe pan and spray with Pam or add 1/4 tsp of oil.
6. Take a bowl and mix the tomato mixture and dosa batter. The final batter should be a little thick. So add the dosa batter as needed.
7. Once the appe pan is hot pour the batter in each groove. Reduce the heat and let it cook for a minute. Turn it with a spoon.
8. Spray oil on the cooked paniyaram and close the appe pan with a lid. Remove the lid after 20 seconds.
9. Check if the paniyaram is done and remove from the pan

Serve this with spicy coconut chutney. For kids you can grate some carrot,peas and add it to the tomato. You can also reduce the red chilie powder.

Baked Rice

Give me good basmathi, some spices and some vegi. I am sure I can make a rice dish out of it. So when I see ideas from my blogging friends that has rice as the staring ingredient I have tto try those. The rice dish I tried today was an an inspiration from this post. I liked the idea of baking the rice so I tried it with my standard pulav recipe. I cook my pulav on the stove top so I have more control over it. You can surely do it in a cooker.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup basmathi rice - Wash and soak it before you start your prep work
- 2 cups mixed vegetable - (I used beans, carrots, peas and bell peppers, frozen black eye peas.)
- 1 cup small onion pealed.
- 1 big onion cut pealed and cut to round slices
- 3-4 potatoes cooked and cut to round slices
- whole spices (2 anise seed, small piece of Cinnamon stick, 2 black cardamom, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp jeera seeds, fewe cloves)
- 2 tsp puluv/biriyani masala
- 2 green chilies slit
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
- 2 tbsp oil
- salt to taste.

Method:
1. In a large pan (you need a pan to hold the vegis and rice) add the oil. Once hot add all the whole masala and cook till they turn brown.
2. Now add the small onions and saute till the outer layer changes color. Add rest of the vegetable and toss it around.
3. Mix in your spice powders (turmeric, biriyani masala, chili powder). Add salt to this and let it all cook for a few minutes. Now add the soaked rice to this vegetable. Add 2 cups of water. Bring this to a boil. Once it starts to boil reduce the heat and cover the pan.
4. Cook for 5-7 minutes. The rice should be three fourth's done by now. Turn off the stove.
5. In a separate bowl add the sliced potatoes and onion. Add some salt, little bit of chili powder and 1 tsp of oil. Toss them all around. This adds flavor to these vegetables.
6. In a oven safe dish spray some oil and add the cooked rice. Arrange the slices of potato and onion. Add 1/2 cup of water to this. Now cover this and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

Now serve it hot with your favorite raita or subji.

Sending it to book marked reciepe hosted by Priya

Fajita/Burrito

We have a mexican restaurant near our house. They make fresh tortillas and it is super soft and yummy. We get that occasionally and I try to make some mexican dish. I made some veggie quesadilla for the kids and a veggie fajita for us. It was a delicious and healthy dinner.

Ingredients

Vegetable Stir Fry

- 1 Bell Pepper (any color)
- 1 Yellow Squash
- 1 Zucchini
- 1 Small Red Onion
- 3 tbsp Oil
- Red chile powder (to taste)
- 1 tsp Cumin

1. Cut all the vegetables into thin strips. Add oil, red chilie powder, salt and cumin.
2.Mix it well so that vegetables are coated well. Leave it aside for half hour.
3.In a frying pan add oil and once it is hot add the vegetables. Roast it for few minutes.
4.The vegetables should be crunchy.

Refried Beans

- 1 small onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 Jalapeno
- 1 can of black beans
Salt to taste

1. Chop the onions,tomato and jalapeno. Add oil to the frying pan.
2. Fry the onions until it turns transclucent. Add the jalapenos and tomato.
3. Drain the black beans and wash it in cold water. You can also add pinto beans. You can also soak the beans previous day and pressure cook it.
3. Once the tomato turns mushy, add salt. Add the black beans and fry it for few minutes and mash it with a potato masher.

Cilantro Lime Rice

- 1 tsp butter/oil
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 1 Lime
- 1/4 cup Cilantro

1. Soak the basmati rice in water for 1/2 hour.
2. In a frying pan add butter/oil. Once its hot add the rice and fry it for few seconds. Add 2 cup water and close the pan. Keep the stove in medium heat. Add salt to taste.
3. Once the rice is cooked in about 15 minutes, add lime juice and the chopped corainder.

Other Ingredients

- 1/2 cup lettuce chopped
- Salsa (I used store bought)
- Guacomole (I skipped it as I was lazy :-) )
- Mexican cheese

To assemble Fajita

1. Heat frying pan and add a 1 tsp of oil. Put the tortilla and heat it for few sec on each side.
2. Add the refried bean,vegetables,lettuce, salsa and Guacomole and some mexican cheese. Roll it up and heat in the tawa for few seconds

To assemble quesadilla

1. Heat oil in a fruying pan. Put the tortilla and heat it for few sec on each side.
2. Add the refried beans and vegetables. Sprinkle mexican cheese on top of it.
3. Cover it with another tortilla. Let it remain in heat until the cheese has melted. Remove from heat and using pizza cutter, cut the tortillia into wedges.

Dhal Dokli

You have got to love one pot dish and if it is like a soup it is even better. So this time around I tried making Dhal Dokli an inspiration from showmethecurry... This is a dish where you have dhal and the roti cooked like a soup. This dish resembles dumpling soup a lot. It has a lot of traditional spices and is mild in flavor. Perfect for a cold and blustery winter day...

Ingredients for dhal - very traditional toor dhal

- 1 cup toor dhal boiled
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 cup peas (optional)
- few red chilies
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp methi seeds
- 2 pieces of Kokam (This is black in color and has a tangy taste)
- 1 tbsp jaggary or brown sugar
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp oil
- salt to taste

Ingredients for Dokli's
- 1 cup atta/ whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup besan flour
- 1 tsp ajwain
- 1 tsp hing powder
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- salt to taste

Method:

1. Start with preparing your dhal. In a big pot add the oil and the seasoning ingredients - Cumin seeds, red chilies and methi seeds. Once they turn color add your peanuts and roast them well. Now mix in your peas if you add them.
2. Add the tomatoes and toss them a bit. Add your chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and chili powder. Add the cooked toor dhal. Mix in kokam, jaggary and salt. Let it come to a boil.
3. Meanwhile thake the ingredients for the dokli and make a stiff dough. Roll it like you will do for a roti. Do not dust it with flour instead use oil to roll this. Cut this roti into diamond pieces. These are your doklis.
4. Slowly add the doklis inside the dhal. Let this whole mixture cook for the next 30 minutes. You need cook it this long so we loose the raw taste of the dough.

Garnish with coriander and optionality serve it with a piece of lime. The slight tangy taste of the dhal with peanuts and the dokli in it makes it a perfect dinner.

Sending it to book marked reciepe hosted by Priya

Kadambam

I happened to see this recipe in one of the Tamil cooking chanels. The reason I was attracted to this recipe is because you make something like sambar rice but without any toor dhal in it. Typically toor dhal is the main ingredient but not in this one. To top it this is a perfect one pot meal.

Ingredients :
- 1 cup rice cooked
- 1 eggplant cut to pieces
- 1 small sweet potato cut to pieces
- 1 small white pumpkin
- few beans
- 2 tbsp black channa dhal
- 1/4 cup whole green moong dhal
- 1/4 cup black eye peas
- 1 lemon size tamarind soaked and juice extracted
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- salt to taste

Fry and grind:
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp urad dhal
- 2 tbsp channa dhal
- 5- 6 dried red chillies

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp jeera
- curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp hing powder
- oil to taste.

Method:
1. Soak all the dhals (black channa, whole moong and black eye peas) the previous night. Cook till they become soft.
2. In another big vessel add all the vegetables, tamarind extract, turmeric powder and salt. Cook till it becomes soft.
3. Now add the ground powder and let it boil for a few minutes. Add the dhal and rice finally and boil it for 5 - 10 minuts.
4. In a separate pan add the oil and the ingredients for seasoning. Once they splutter add it to the cooked rice. Serve this hot with raita or papad.

Variation: 1 - Make small urad bhoda and add them to the rice at the end. This makes the rice a little bit richer.

Sending it to book marked reciepe hosted by Priya

Gobi and Carrot Roti

When you want to spruce up your daily roti try this combination. It tastes yummy and it is pretty easy to put together. The trick in making any stuffed roti is to drain the water completely. You see when I first started making roti's I was not very familiar with this step. So my dough will become messy and my roti will tear. You know how frustrating it is when this happens. One of my friends told me this trick. She said no matter what you need to drain the water from your vegetables even if they look dry. Ha who knew ... Try this and see what a difference it makes

Ingredients for stuffing:

- 1 whole Cauliflower
- 2 carrots
- 1 tsp chili powder or to taste
- 1 tsp garma masala
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp corriander and cumin powder

Ingredients for the roti:
- 2 cups atta
- water to kneed.

Method:

1. Shred your vegetables. I used my food processor. It was fast and easy to do this. Mix all the spices and the salt with the vegetables. Keep it aside. This gives time for the vegetable to release some water.
2. Meanwhile mix atta and water to get a stiff dough. Don't add too much water as you will be stuffing this roti. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
3. Now in a muslin cloth (I used one of my father's old dhoti) dump the vegetable mixture and squeeze all the water out. You will be amazed how much water you get out this vegetables. Do not waste this water. Use it for any other subji you might make.
4. Now roll out a roti. Add a little bit of stuffing and spread it across the roti. Roll another roti and place it on top of the stuffing. Now carefully seal these roti's together and roll them a few more times. Be patient and you are sure to get a perfectly round roti.
5. Heat a tawa and add a little butter to it. Place the roti and let it cook on both sides. Either spray it or if you are brave add a huge pat of butter. It tastes so much better with butter.

Serve them hot with a dish of your choice.

Sending this to bookmarked recipe hosted by USmasala and started by Priya

Kanchipuram Idli

For my son's birthday party last week my MIL prepared Kanchipuram idli. It was a big hit. Kanchipuram idli is a spicier version of normal idli. So we do not need any specific side dish. Plain idli podi goes well with it. The cooking time is around 45 min. It is a simple and tasty dish. I have not given measurements for the ingredients to be mixed in dough. Please add it based on your spice level.

                                             

Ingredients

Idli Dough

- 1 cup Raw Rice
- 1 Cup Idli Rice
- 1 cup Uradh Dhal
- Salt to taste

Ingredeints to mix in the dough

- Ground pepper and jeera
- Dry ginger powder (Sukku in Tamil)
- 4-5 tbsp oil
- Coriander leaves
- Curry leaves

Method

- Soak the dhal and rice together for at least for 8 hours
- Grind it together, add salt. The batter should be in dosa batter consistency.
- Let the batter ferment  overnight
- Before making the idli add ground pepper,jeera , dry ginger powder, oil, coriander and curry leaves. Mix it well.
- Pour the batter in a bowl and steam it in a pressure cooker (like idli) for 45 min. You can test it by inserting a knife in the middle. The knife should come clean.
- Remove from stove and let it cool down. Cut it in small pieces.

Serve it hot with idli podi. The idli tastes better when it is hot.

Simpe Bread Toast

This is a simple bread toast that I did for an evening when I did not feel like cooking. With the days being so short it is hard to come back in the evening and muster my energy to cook something. To top it my little girl likes eating something different once in a while. So this is something we created. This is a open face sandwich - I have all the toppings in one bread so it is less carb I guess..

Ingredients :
- 2 -3 bell peppers cut to pieces
- 2 tomatoes cut to pieces
- 1 small onion cut to pieces
- 1-2 chilies slit
- 1/2 cup of peas
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp pav baji masala
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- butter to spread (I used
- 1 packet HoneyNut Oats Bread ( I love this bread with its slight sweetness and nuttiness)

Method:

1. In a pan pour oil and drop the jeera. Once it splutters add the chopped onions, green chilies and the bell peppers. Toss them until it becomes slightly brown.
2. Now add the peas and mix it around. Add the tomatoes and mix them. Now cook until the tomatoes become mushy. Add all the masala's, salt and toss it around. Turn down the heat and let it cook for a few more minutes.
3. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350F degree. Now in a baking dish spray some oil. Spread some butter on one side of the bread. Arrange them and bake it for 5- 7 minutes.
4. Remove the bread from the oven. Spread butter on the other side and place it in the pan with the buttered side down.
6. Top with the vegetable mixture. Bake it again for another 5 minutes. If you like top with shredded cheese as soon as you take it out so it has a chance to melt.

Serve it hot with some soup.

Tres Leches Cake

Today is my second son's Birthday. I baked Tres Leches Cake from Chef in You site. The cake was very tasty and moist. Tried some basic decoration with some items I had at home. Nothing fancy but my two boys liked the cake. I am not going to post the recipe as I followed it exactly. Please check out the recipe here .

                                                              

Stuffed Dhal Batti

I have been meaning to try this recipe for quite some time now. I first tasted this in Bombay during one of my visit. It was totally new to me. TO have batti (essentially atta baked) submerged in a bowl of dhal was a fascinating experience for me. So finally I looked up online and fond this video. Hmm.. stuffed bati now that is even better - roti, curry and dhal all in a bowl. I had to try it now..

Ingredients:
Stuffing :
- 2 -3 medium potatoes boiled and mashed
- 1 carrot shredded and boiled
- handful of peas boiled
- chili powder to taste
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- salt to taste.

Method:
1. In a pan pour oil and add cumin. Once it splutters add the vegetables, salt, chili powder and turmeric. Mix them well. You should be able to make small balls from it. Keep them aside.

Bhatti
- 2 cups of atta/Whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp oil
- salt
- 1 tsp ajwain
- water as required.

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients to a stiff dough. Separate them to golf sized balls.
2. Roll them to small circles and in the middle add your stuffing and seal them tight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake these for 20 minutes. Do not place them in cookie sheet. Place them directly on the oven. Turn them over and bake for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove and brush them with ghee.

Dhal: (I went wild here. I did not follow any measurement in particular)
- 1 cup toor dhal
- 1/4 cup split green moong
- 1/4 cup yellow moong
- 1/4 cup split black urad
- 1/2 cup massor dhal
- 1/2 cup channa dhal
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1-2 green chilies
- 2 red chilies
- salt to taste

Method:
1. I used the slow cooker but pressure cooker will work great too. I cooked the dhal till it becomes tender. About 4 hours on high when using slow cooker.
2. In a wide pan add the oil, jeera and the chilies. Cook till it is slightly brown. Add your tomatoes and cook till it is slightly tender. Add your dhal, salt and let it boil for 5 minutes. You can garam masala but I skipped it.

Putting it all together:
Just before serving break a bhati, pour dhal over the top and add a teaspoon of ghee to it. Eat it piping hot. The mild taste of dhal and the hard bhatti makes an awesome combination. Do not make this step ahead. You need it to be done just before you serve it.

Sending it to BookMarked recipe hosted by Priya.

Thai Red Curry

I think it is fun to try different cuisines. Of the many options I have a soft corner for Thai food. I think it resembles our food a lot.. with coconut milk, ginger, lime, red chilies. So last week I tried making red curry but made it from scratch. I did not want to use the store bought paste as it has a lot of garlic in it. I am not a big fan of garlic so I completely skipped it ... One of the reason it is fun to make stuff from scratch. The recipe is simple once you collect your ingredients.

Ingredients for the Curry:
- 2 cups of mixed vegetables cut to bit size pieces - (carrots, bell peppers, snow peas, long beans, baby corn, bamboo shoots)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 small red onion
- 1 pack firm tofu cut in cubes
- 2 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
- thai basil (optional - I just used a few leaves of regular basil leaves)

Ingredients for the Red Curry paste:
Grind these to make a smooth paste
- 5-8 Dried Red chilies (Soak in hot water for atleast an hour)
- 1 tbsp Galangal
- 1 stalk lemon grass
- 5 -10 shallots or 1 medium red onions
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- salt to taste

Method:
1. In a pan pour the oil and add the ground paste. Now fry till it the oil separates. Now add the onions and saute till it becoemes tender
2. Add the vegetables and give it a quick toss. Mix in the tofu cubes.
3. Pour the coconut milk in it. Mix it all well. Add salt and if it is too thick add 1/2 cup water.
4. Boil for about 15 minutes in a medium flame. Garnish with basil leaves if any.

Serve it hot with jasmine rice.

Chocolate Cake

I know it is almost 20 days into 2011 but I had made this chocolate cake for a small get together in my home. I got the original idea from 4th sense cooking and it was huge success. It was the "Perfect" chocolate cake. It was moist inside and it tasted like a small bite of heaven in my mouth. I did not make a single change to the recipe so see no point reposting it. I decorated the top with white chocolate chip and we loved the contrast. Make this and I am sure you will enjoy it.


Sending this to Bookmarked Recipe's hosted by Priya.

Kuli Paniyaram (Leftover idli batter magic)

 



What do you do with your leftover idli batter. Make idli's and change them to idli upma or make "karacha ma dosai" - old idli batter mixed with atta. One other fun option is making this kuli paniyaram. The idli batter is not the exact recipe as the traditional chettinad style paniyaram but it definitely does the job for me. Add some vegi's to it and you have the perfect snack for your kids.. There is no exact measurement. Add them to suit your taste..

Ingredients:
- idli batter
- carrots shreded
- onion finely chopped
- cilatro some
- chilies
- salt

1. Mix all the ingredients together. If your batter is too thick add some water to it.
2. In you apam pan spray some oil in the holes. Add a spoonful of the batter in each of these holes.
3. Cook them till it is golden brown. Turn it around and cook the other side.

Serve it hot with chutney of your taste. mmm...Good

Soy Nuggets Subji

I did not make any big resolutions this new year but for some reason my second post for the year is super healthy too. After tofu it is soy nuggets this time. To tell the truth I hate soy nuggets. To me they are mushy and tasteless. To top it, I can never figure out how to use it in my day to day cooking. But every time I go to the Indian store I religiously buy them. It sits in my pantry for a few months and then one day (this typically happens when I am very tiered) I soak them in boiling water. It then sits around until my daughter comes back from school. She takes one look at that and promptly says "Amma I don't think I am hungry today". To pacify her I abandon the idea of making soy nuggets and make whatever she wants for dinner. This time when I got it I figured I better read a little bit more about it and really make an attempt in making it taste better. I cam across a curry in Sindi Rasoi and I think my love/hate relationship with soy nuggets has finally come to an end. I tried this with some variation and hurray, finally a delecious dish did emerge from these soy nuggets. So any one out there who has been struggling like me try this recipe out...

Ingredients:
- 1/2 packet soy nuggets (I used Nutrela)
- 1 big onion chopped
- 3 tomatoes chopped
- 2-3 green chilies
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp corriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- red chili powder to taste (I added it to give a little bit more flavor to the nuggets)
- 1/2 beetroot pealed and chopped (This is optional. It gives a nice color)

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp fennel seeds

Method:
1. Soak the soy nuggets in hot water for 30 minutes.
2. In a pressure cooker add oil and the seasoning. Once it turns color add your chilies and onion. Fry till it is golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook till it mushes up.
3. Now add turmeric powder, chili powder and corriander powder and give it a good mix. Add salt. Adjust to your taste but remember that your nuggets do not have any salt.
4. Now squeeze your nuggets and add them to this mixture. Add water till the nuggets are immersed in water. Cook this for at least FIVE whistles. I think this is very important for the nuggets to turn soft.
5. Once cooked remove the lid and add the garam masala powder and stir well. Let it boil for a few more minutes.

Garnish and serve it hot with roti or rice.

Tofu & vegei Green puluv

Tofu - You either love it or hate it but it is good for you. So I am trying to incorprate it in my day to day cooking. I got some of the Extra Firm tofu and I wanted to do something different. I came across this recipe in Honey What's Cooking and I absolutely fell in love with it. With some modifications to suit our taste here is how I did it.
Ingredients:
- 1 pacakage Tofu (see notes)
- 2 cups of mixed vegetable (I used mostly green vegetables like capsicum, peas, beans etc)
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 1 tsp roasted coriander powder (Grind this fresh for the best flavor)
- 1 cup basmathi rice (Wash this and keep it aside for at least 10 min)
- salt to taste

Grind to make a paste
- 1 bunch corriander
- 1 bunch mint leaves(optional but it tastes better with it)
- 2-3 green chilies (adjust to taste)
- small piece of ginger

Seasoning:
- whole garammasala (I used few cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 anise seed)
- 1 tsp Jeera
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- oil as needed

Method:
1. In a pan pour oil and add the chopped tofu. Cook until it becomes golden brown on both sides. Take some for garnish and mash the rest to tiny bits using the back of your spoon. Remove from the heat and toss it with a little bit of the ground chutney, salt and coriander powder.
2. Add more oil to the pan and all the ingredients for seasoning. Once the jeera starts to splutter a bit drop in your onion. Fry till golden brown. Toss in the rest of the vegi and toss it around.
3. Add the soaked rice and mix it well. Mix in the remaining ground mixture and add two cups of water,salt and coriander powder. Bring this to a boil.
4. Now reduce the heat to a medium, cover and cook for 20 minutes. While cooking if you feel it is too dry then add another 1/4 th cup of water.
5. Once the rice is tender remove from the heat and fluff it with a fork. Garnish with the cubed tofu that you had set aside. Serve it hot with cold raita.

Note: Tofu - I have used both extra firm and medium firm tofu. With extra firm you can garnish in the end with big pieces like I have shown in the picture. With medium tofu it becomes more like egg fired rice as they are easy to scramble

Sending this to Bookmarked Recipe's hosted by Priya.