I am an analyst by day, star gazer by night, food blogger, fitness , travel and saree enthusiast in between. I am a die hard foodie and started documenting my learning based on feedback from friends and family. Hope you enjoy my blog and leave comments and feedback.
This chutney is one of my favourites. Its very simple and easy but one that I often make when I feel I want something tangy and spicy and rich!!! It uses simple everyday ingredients that one that throw in and pulse in a few minutes. I remember the delicious three chutney combination that they serve in Saravana Bhavan in Chennai. Crisp but not too soft, fragrant dosas served with tri colour chutnies – tomato, mint and thick white coconut. I was always partial to the tomato and the white chutney and would ask for seconds and often wonder how always the dosa gets done before the chutney does….It`s also a good side for Venn Pongal, rotis and even curd rice… Try it and you`ll love it.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Medium Onion.
4 Roma Tomatoes
4 red chillies.
3 spoons of light Coconut Milk.
Salt
Curry Leaves.
Green Onions to garnish.
Seasoning:
Mustard, Broken Urad Dhal, Curry Leaves.
PREPARATION:
Chop the onions and tomatoes in to long slices.
In a kadai, add 2 spoons of oil and when hot, add mustard, broken urad dhal, red chillies and curry leaves.
Saute for a few seconds and add the chopped onions.
Saute again till the onions are pink and then add the tomatoes.
Sprinkle sufficient salt and mix till the water is all reduced and the tomatoes are cooked well.
Grind all the sauteed ingredients along with 3 spoons of coconut milk to a smooth paste.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped spring onions for a burst of colour and flavour.
Is an excellent accompaniment with Dosa, Idlies and Pongal.
This could hardly be called a pickle….its a pickle in the sense of the term that the lemons are preserved in brine or pickling liquid. It`s one that I gew up having. Whenver I felt nauseous, or on one of those days when you want to have easy simple lip smacking stuff, this pickle would alwas accompany my curd rice. It`s very easy and has many versions. This is my favourite version of the same. It`s one where there are no actual fixed measurements – Madurai amma would always use her hands and her measurements always came out perfect.
INGREDIENTS:
5 fresh lemons.
4 spoons of salt.
4 spoons of sugar.
2 spoons of raw jeera.
PREPARATION:
Wash all the lemons and dry them with a soft tissue.
Slice all the lemons in to cross sectional circles. Keep the slices as slim as possible.
Place them in a porcelain or corelle bowl which has a wide mouth. Save all the juice from the lemons as well as from the ends of the lemon.
Add the 4 spoons of salt and sugar and the jeera.
Mix carefully so that the lemons do not break. Keep closed and allow 2-3 days for the salt and sugar to soak in.
Taste and you should feel the salt and the sweetness from the sugar exploding in your mouth. Adjust by adding more salt or sugar if you want.
Eat with curd rice or mix a little with diluted buttermilk and drink on those days when you have a tummy ache or an upset stomach!
There are a hundred different ways of making one vegetable root – the potatoe. There cannot be anyone who does not relish this versatile root. I have already posted one Alu Fry in my posts earlier which is a little spicy and comes strong on the flavours. For those days when you want to sit back and make a quick and easy side, the Alu Podimas is the one. This version is a tad healthier as the potaotes are steamed and then garnished with spices. This takes 5 minutes to prepare once the potatoes are cooked.
INGREDIENTS:
4 Medium Potatoes.
Turmeric
Salt
1/4 cup of dessicated Coconut
2-3 green chillies.
Seasoning:
Bengal Gram, Mustard seeds and curry leaves.
PREPARATION:
Wash and peel the skin off the potaotes and cook them with salt in a pressure cooker for about 10-12 mins. No need for weight. Alternatively you could wash, peel and pop the potatoes in a pot of boiling water.
Once cooked, remove, cool and mash it in to slightly bigger chunks.
In a kadai, add 2 spoons of oil and when hot, add bengal gram, mustard and curry leaves. When the mustard splutters, immediately add the mashed potaotes.
Add hing and a little more salt if necessary and stir it well.
In the mixer jar, pulse 3 green chillies and the coconut and add this to the cooked alu in the kadai.
Mix well and serve garnished with chopped cilantro.
This has always been a personal favourite of my husband`s and mine especially at the Olive Garden. It`s always a pleasure to consume the freshly fried crisp pieces of eggplant, fragrant with the aromas of bread crumbs and herbs, soaked in a warm bed of marinara sauce all placed on a heap of softly cooked angel hair or spaghetti. Many times, you would want to recreate the magic at the restaurant, in our very own kitchens. Tonight was one such effort as my husband had bought this amazingly soft Japanese Eggplant from the whole foods store.
All the recipes that I had watched on food tv more or less required the eggplant to be dredged in an egg wash and then soaked in a pile of bread crumbs and then fried. I wanted to leave out the egg wash as well as the frying part. So I had to rehash it and make my own recipe based on my knowledge of baking and cooking. I have to mention here, that the end result was astounding!!! It was even better than the one at Olive Garden, as I had sucessfully recreated the taste sans the eggs and the extra oil from frying!!!
I used fresh ingredients today – Fresh italian flat leaf parsley and fresh strands of thyme. There is definitely a difference cooking with fresh herbs and I am not able to get back to my refridgerated dry herbs. Also when I am putting in a lot of effort in the vegetable, I did not want to start making my own sauce. So I used store bought marinara – this one is really a beauty – Pastorelli’s Garden Marinara.
INGREDIENTS:
One Japanese Eggplant.
Small springs of fresh thyme.
Italian Parsley chopped.
Garden Marinana Sauce – 3 cups.
Salt
Pepper
Dried Basil.
Bread Crumbs made from a day old bread.
3 spoons of rice flour dissolved in 1/2 cup pf water.
2 spoons of flax powder.
PREPARATION:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Pulse 3 bread slices in your mixer and pop it in a tray and toast it in the oven for 4-5 minutes. Take out and allow to cool.
Add salt, flax powder,freshly chopped parsley , freshly chopped thyme and ground pepper and mix it in to the bread crumbs well. Save some of the herbs for later.
Bread crumbs and herbs,.
Slice the eggplant cross-section in to little circles of about 1 inch width and place them all on a single row on a greased baking tray.
Season the eggplants with salt, pepper and basil ON BOTH SIDES after spraying oil on them. This helps the herbs to stick to the eggplants.
Preheat the oven to 400F and roast the eggplants fr about 13-15 minutes depending on the strength of the oven. The eggplants need to be well done.
Dissolve the rice flour in to the water and season that also with a little salt and pepper.
Line the bread crumbs and the rice flour mix next to each other.
Dredge the roasted eggplants in the rice flour mix and then let it sink in to the bread crumbs. Continue with all the eggplant pieces.
Eggplants dredged with herbed bread crumbs .
Line them again on the tray and bake covered with a foil at 400 F for about 20 minutes. Remove and keep aside.
Cook the spaghetti for about 12 minutes as per the instructions on the cover. Keep aside.
Take a oven proof dish and line it first with the marinana sauce.
Arrange all the roasted eggplants in a single row and then top again with the marinana sauce till they are covered.
Add chopped fresh parsley and thyme and sprinkle parmesan cheese and a little of part skim mozzarella.
Eggplant and marinara sauce with cheese drizzled on top.
Bake covered with foil for another 20 minutes.
Serve the baked eggplants on a bed of spaghetti and serve HOT!!!
I make a smaller portion for my husband`s lunch the next day. All it needs is a few minutes in the microwave oven and its as good as out of the oven!!!
Here is an amazing dinner with almost no oil, no eggs, only healthy wheat pasta and roasted eggplants.
All thorough my childhood I have grown up with my mum always telling me that the ladiesfinger is vegetable that renders exceptional memory powers!!! I would then scoop out a large ladlefull and eat it with gusto. This really helped me like the vegetable a lot. Okra is known to be rich in fibre, Vitamin B6 and folic acid. It1s also supossed to stabilize blood sugar and promote healthy bowels. My daughter also loves Okra so its a regular addition in our weekly grocery lists!!!
Today I am posting a simple Bhindi Fry that goes with Roti and Dal and a cup of curd, or with rice and Onion Vethal Kuzhambu , Milagu Kuzhambu or Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu. It’s one of those simple things, that goes to all cooks who are beginners…
INGREDIENTS:
A pound of ladies finger washed and cut.
1 spoon of red chilli powder.
1 spoon of salt.
1/2 spoon of dhania powder.
A spoon of besan
2 spoons of flax powder.
A pinch of hing.
A pinch of turmeric.
Seasonings:
Mustard, Broken Urad Dhal and curry leaves.
PREPARATION:
Chop the bhindi and keep them spread out on a plate. Sprinkle the salt on the bhindi.
Keep your kadai on the stove, add 2 spoons of oil and when it heats up, toss the urad dhal, the mustard and curry leaves.
Add the chopped bhindi, turmeric, hing. red chilli powder and dhania powder.
Alow to cook on medium flame constantly stirring so it does not catch the bottom.
If you feel that the bhindi is getting dry, spray a little bit of canola oil on it.
When almost done, add the mixture of1 spoon of besan + 2 spoons of flax powder. Your family will never know that there is flax in it as its the same colour of the besan, and this addition increases the flavour and protien content of the dish.
Creamy Vendekkai Pachadi.
Add 2 spoons of bhindi fry, a pinch of red chilli powder and a pinch of salt to a cup of thick curds to get smooth creamy vendekkai pachadi which is a great accompaniment to sambars and molagootal.
Spaghetti with Roasted asparagus & zucchini with basil pesto creamy sauce.
As part of the weekend Italian dinner, I made my husband this delicious Spaghetti with roasted zucchini and asparagus drizzled wih the 2 minute basil pesto sauce. I am always cooking with zucchini as its rich in lutein and zeaxanthin which are very important for healthy vision. Zucchini is also very high in water content like cucumbers so its makes an ideal vegetable for people who want to watch their waistline. It is rich in vitamin C so there you have a vegetable that’s packed in goodness.
The Asparagus is such a small lithe vegetable but you would be amazed at how much protein and richness packed in this one. This vegetable is packed in FOLATE so its a rich source of folic acid, which would definitely help pregnant women. Its rich in Vitmain C, Vitamin K and has anti-inflammatory properties. Its also a natural detoxifier so pack on the asparagus people!!!
Choose asparagus with tightly closed tips, supple ends and firm stalks that dont bend. I dont store it for too long in the refridgerator. The ends have to be discarded but the tips are used for cooking. Did you know that three seasons pass before the asparagus can be harvested?
1/2 box of Heartland Multigrain Omega 3 Spaghetti.
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Dried Basil.
Salt & Pepper to taste.
PREPARATION:
Bring a pot of boiling water to boil add a spoon of salt and immerse the pasta in the same. Cook for 8-10 minutes or according to the instructions on the package. Switch off and drain but save a small cup of the salter pasta water.
Simultaneously take a tray and grease the bottom with oil spray and toss the diced zucchini and chopped asparagus stalks. Season with salt, pepper, dried oregano and dried basil. Sprinkle with olive oil and top with zest from one lemon.
Roasted Veggies...
Preheat the oven to 400F and roast the veggies for 10 minutes till they get a little soft.
Take the serving bowl, add the hot spaghetti first, top with roasted veggies, drizzle the basil pesto sauce slightly diluted with the pasta water and garnish with park skim mozzarella cheese.
This time at the library, I found loads of books on sale and I was excited to see magazines like Vegetarian Cooking, Parents,Midwest Living etc om sale. I was browsing through one of them when my eyes fell on the Twirly Whirly Pizza in the Parent Magazine. I had also seen it in Madhuram`s page here.
Today was a lazy Saturday and I wanted to cook a light filling italian dinner for my family. I remembered the Pizza Rolls and the asparagus I had bought at the produce section yesterday. Another all time favourite of mine is zucchini which is a versatile vegetable. I made the following:
My all time favourite sauce/dip is the Pesto based sauce. I am a regular at Crazy Bowls and Wraps and I simply love their noodle bowl with broccoli, beans, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini and portabella mushrooms drizzled generously with Basil pesto creamy sauce, sprinkled with Asiago Cheese. I have been wanting to recreate this sauce at home and today was my maiden venture on this.
Simply toss in all these ingredients and pulse in the mixer for a couple of seconds.
INGREDIENTS:
4 spoons of store bought pesto sauce.
1 spoon of cream cheese.
4 spoons of light sour cream.
Juice from half a lemon.
A dash of pepper.
Pulse this in the mixer for 2 seconds and there you have Creamy Basil Pesto Dip. Slightly dilute this with the salty pasta water to make a sauce.
Tomato Rice is an all time delicacy that we always enjoy. The ingredients required for this are available in our pantry and refridgerator everyday. It`s always a quick fix rice dish that I make quite often. The tomato rice that amma used to make was more simple, but over the years, I have rehashed it to make it a lot more flavourful and ambient with multiple tastes. I am not sure if there is an official recipe for tomato rice, but this one works very well for me.
Ginger,Garlic & Chillies.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of Basmati Rice cooked in 31/2 cups of water and cooled.
Thinly sliced garlic out of 5 pods.
Thinly sliced ginger.
5-6 Vertically sliced green chillies.
5 ripe tomatoes sliced in to long pieces. (I gently scoop out the seeds and water from the tomatoes to keep it dry)
I gently pry out the water and seeds from the tomatoes so it cooks faster without the excess water. Save the scoopings for rasam or soup.
In a wide mouthed kadai, add 2-3 spoons of oil and when hot, add urad dhal, jeera, cashew slices, mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Immediately add the chillies, garlic and ginger and saute for a few seconds. Now add the onions and saute for 3-4 mins till well done.
Now add the sliced tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric and hing and saute well till all the water is cooked out and the mixture becomes homogenous.
Switch off the gas and after a few minutes, carefully add the cooked and cooled rice and mix gently so the rice does not break.
Garnish with lemon juice and dry coconut powder. Believe me, the seasonings will render a unique taste and aroma to your tomato rice.
This has been one of my all time favorites since the day I ate it for the first time. Pudina is one ingredient that my mom hardly used to cook with. I have seen two distinct groups as far as this herb is concerned – One that swears by the pudina, and one that will never venture to even try it. My mom was in the latter group, but nevertheless, whenever I used to go to the vegetable market, I used to to love to see freshly made bundles of green pudina leaves, gently sprayed with cold water, near fresh pudgy lemons and succulent gooseberries and mango ginger. Some how vendors in Chennai, always used to group these things together. It would be a sight to watch them laid out fresh against the calming green of the banana leaf all riddled with moisture and water. There is a slow pleasure in watching baskets of fresh colorful vegetables, displayed to sell by street vendors, rather than seeing them packaged in a plastic cover, sealed and artificially preserved in refrigeration.
Pudinawas one such lovely herb , I felt I had to cook with. I was looking for recipes to use this amazing leaf which has many ayurvedic curative properties. My good friend S`s mom used to make Pudina Rice with tamarind and lots of powders, but that was a variant that was pretty strong in masalas and with no veggies. I learnt this variation also from another friend L, who makes it with peas and potatoes. I loved the colours of orange coming through the green rice so I also add carrots, bell peppers and some times cauliflower also if available. Try it, and you`ll love it. It`s an easy option for travel foods. On long drives, this could be made the previous night, and taken for a very filling lunch.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of basmati rice cooked and cooled.
1 bunch of Mint leaves cleaned.
1/4 cup of coconut powder or dessicated coconut.
6 Green chillies.
1/3 cup of peas.
1/2 cup of diced carrots.
1/2 cup of diced potatoes.
1/3 cup of cauliflower florettes.
1/2 cup of diced green peppers.(Optional)
1/3 cup of cubed Paneer.
Seasoning Spices:
Bay Leaf, 2 Cloves, A piece of cinnamon stick, 1 1/2 spoons of powdered cardamom (elaichi), 6-7 halved cashew crescents.
1 spoon of urad dhal, 1 spoon of bengal gram, 2 spoons of Jeera, curry leaves.
PREPARATION:
In a mixer pulse the pudina leaves, green chillies and coconut powder to a coarse mix. Do not add water.
In a wide mouthed kadai, add 2-3 spoons of ghee and when hot add the seasonings in the following order – Bay leaf, Cloves, cinnamon, elaichi, urad dhal, channa dhal, cashew, jeera and lastly curry leaves.
Allow the seasonings to get fried in the oil and now pop in the vegetables on by one – carrots, potatoes, cauliflowers, bell peppers, and finally the peas.
Add turmeric, salt and allow to get cooked in the oil. Optionally I precook the veggied in the microwave for 4 minutes, so my prep time on the stove is reduced by more than 60%.
When the vegetables are almost half cooked, add the coarse pudina paste and mix it in well. Allow to cook well till the raw smell of the pudina and the chillies leave.
Add the cooled rice to the kadai, add salt and mix well. Take care that when mixing the rice does not break.
Lastly add the cubed paneer slices and serve HOT garnished with coconut and sliced lemon and a side of Cucumber Raitha.
Anubhavati -Tastes from my kitchen 