Carrot Pachadi

Here is another recipe that I always make when I make a sadya. Pachadi is one of  Aishwarya's favorite  sadya dishes. It is also very easy to make, which is another reason I love it.
Ingredients:
Carrots – 2
Yogurt – 3/4 cup
Oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Shallots- 1 to 2
Ginger- 1/4 tsp chopped
Green chilies – 2
Curry leaves – few
Method :
Clean the carrots and shred them. Add salt, ginger, and finely sliced shallots, mix well with your hands.
Whisk yogurt and add the shredded carrot mix. Mix well and check for salt. If it’s thick, add some more yogurt. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, add green chilies and curry leaves, and give it a stir and remove from heat. Add it to the carrot yogurt mixture and mix well.

Olan

Vishu is almost here and I thought of sharing an Olan recipe. Olan is one of the easiest sadya dishes. I have made this the way  we make it in Thrissur. Do try and let me know
Ingredients:
Kumbalanga(Ash Gourd)-2 cups(small pieces)
Thick Coconut Milk-1 cup
Thin coconut milk-1 cup
Green chilli-2
Ginger sliced-1tbs
Curry leaves-2 sprig
Salt – to taste
Coconut Oil -1 tbsp
Method:
Cook Ash gourd in half a cup of water and half a cup coconut milk(thin coconut milk) along with green chilli,ginger,a few curry leaves and a salt. By 10 minutes it would be done cooking,add the thick milk and when the milk is heated through add coconut oil and remaining curry leaves.

Aviyal

Of  all the Kerala sadya dishes if you ask me to pick my favorite dish I need not think twice. It had been, it would be and it is Aviyal. This is the Thrissur version of the Aviyal recipe.  If you haven't tried this version try this for this Vishu and I am sure you will love it.
Ingredients:
Carrot-1
Green plantain-1
Beans-4
Drumstick-8 pieces
Long Beans-4
Cucumber( Vellarikka)-1/2 cup
Yam(chena)-1/2 cup
Snake gourd( Padavalanga)-1/4 cup
Turmeric Powder-1/2tsp
Chilli powder-1/2 tsp
Green chilly -4
Ginger-1"
Shallot-2 crushed
Curry Leaves-3 sprigs
Coconut Oil-4 tbsp
Curd/ GreekYogurt (sour)-1/4 cup
Salt-to taste
Cumin seeds(jeera)-1/2tsp (optional)
Grated Coconut -1 and 1/2 cups
Method:
Take a thick bottom kadai and add 2 tsp of coconut oil,curry leaves and all the vegetables along with salt,turmeric,crushed ginger, shallots and chilli powder.Mix every thing well ( or you can mix all the veggies along with salt chilli ,ginger,shallots and turmeric before adding to the kadai) ,now cook this closed till half done.In a food processor add grated coconut  and cumin seeds,pulse this 2 to 3 times so that you get the coconut crushed , add green chilli and yogurt and pulse one more time ( See that coconut mix is not fine we need it to be coarse. Add this to the half done vegetables you should cook without covering the kadai from this point on wards. Once vegetables  are 3/4th done  and dry  add more coconut oil and curry leaves.Give a quick stir and transfer to serving bowl.

Vegetable Enchilada Soup

Winter is here again. And we are getting some much needed rains in California. There is something with the rains and the general cold weather that triggers in me a heightened level of appetite especially for things spicy. But considering the high calories that I would be consuming for Christmas and New Year season, I wanted to have some control on my cravings. Soups being healthy, filling and comforting, I made a big batch of this veggie loaded enchilada soup. This may not be the typical enchilada soup, as I have added orzo also into this. If you want to go with a more authentic version, you can skip the orzo.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup diced white onion (about 1 small white onion)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup soy granules rinsed in hot water and drained
3 cups chicken stock/ vegetable stock
1 1/4 cups (or 1 10-ounce can) red enchilada sauce
1 (14-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Frozen corn
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juices (I prefer fire-roasted)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chillies
1/2 to 3/4 tsp teaspoon fresh  ground roasted cumin
1/2 cup mixed vegetables
1/2 cup orzo
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
1 teaspoon salt, or more/less to taste
Optional toppings: tortilla chips/strips, diced/sliced avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro
Method:
Heat the oil in a large stock over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, or until cooked and translucent. Add the garilc and saute for an additional minute until fragrant. Stir in the soy granules and cook for an additional minute.
 Add  enchilada sauce, black beans, tomatoes, green chiles,mixed vegetables, corn,orzo, salt and cumin, along with the stock and stir until combined. Continue stirring occasionally until the mixture reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer stirring occasionally so that the soup does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Once it reaches the consistency of your liking stir in the cheese, until combined. Taste, and season the soup to taste with salt.
Serve the soup warm with desired toppings.

Kurukku Kalan

Kalan is the second dish I always make in advance for a Kerala feast.This dish too stays well for a few days. Kalan is made with yogurt,coconut and a few veggies.
Ingredients:
Yam-1 cup
Raw plantain-1/2 cups
Pepper-2tbs dissolved in 1/2 cup water and strained(We are using the water)
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Salt as required
Green chilli-2
Ghee-1tsp
Greek Yogurt-1 cup
Coconut-1 cup
Fenugreek powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil-3 tsp
Dried red chilli-2
Mustard-1tsp
Curry leaves-few
Method:
Add cut vegetables to strained pepper water along with turmeric powder ,green chilli and salt and cook until water dries up.Add ghee and yogurt and mix well,now cook this at low flame till it thickens.
Mean while make a fine paste of coconut ,cumin seeds add this along with the fenugreek powder. Bring this to a boil and remove from fire.Finally splutter mustard seeds ,dry red chilli and curry leaves and mix this to kalan.

Inji Puli / Puli Inji

With Vishu around the corner I thought I would post some Kerala sadya recipes.Vishu is celebrated with much pomp and festivities in central and north Kerala with full course Sadya . In all Kerala feasts there are some dishes that are prepared a few days in advance;  main reason being these stay good for few days or even a few weeks without any refrigeration. Here is one such dish:  Inji Puli or Puli Inji. As the name suggests the two main ingredients are Inji or ginger and Puli or Tamarind.This dish is spicy, sweet and tangy with pleasant flavor notes of ginger. Watch out for more sadya dishes in the run up for Vishu.
Ingredients
Fresh Ginger-1/4kg(finely chopped)
Tamarind-3 lemon sized
Coconut Oil-5tbs
Turmeric Powder-1/2tsp
Salt -to taste
Chilly Powder-1  tsp
Mustard seeds-1/2tsp
Curry Leaves-2sprigs
Small onion-3(chopped)
Dry Red Chilly-3
Green Chilly-4(finely chopped)
Jaggery/brown sugar-according to  taste

Method
Peel the ginger and cut into fine pieces,heat coconut oil in a kadai and add the ginger and fry it. Fry till it ginger turns  light  golden.Drain them and set aside.
Soak tamarind in one cup of hot water for 15 minutes  or you can microwave for 30 seconds and extract the juice .Sieve it and add to a deep bottomed kadai  along with salt,chilly powder and turmeric powder.
Mix well .Bring to boil . Once it starts to boil reduce the heat and simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until the raw taste of the tamarind is no longer there. By that time the gravy will be almost thick.If you like your
 inji puli to be sweet or purified  jaggery now.Now add the crushed ginger and ,lower the flame and allow it to come to a boil. Add hot water if it became too thick,Inji puli gets thicker when it cools down..
Now heat remaining oil in a separate pan and add mustard seeds.When it splutters add chopped onion,chopped dry red chilly,chopped green chilly and curry leaves and saute till it turns brown. Add this to Inji puli

Achari Mushroom

We are a family of Mushroom lovers. We make it a point to try any mushroom out in the market. Whenever I get a new variety that I haven't tried before I always end up making a simple caramelized mushroom and if the mushroom is not to our liking I add spices and see what works for us.Now I have a recipe for each type of mushroom we get here in Bay area.Our favorite recipe for Shiitake mushroom or Bella mushroom is this Achari Mushroom curry. The pickle spice that you add to this curry makes it fingerlicking.
Ingredients:
Bella mushroom /Shiitake mushroom -8oz sliced
Chilli powder-1tsp
Turmeric-1tsp
Plain yogurt-3 tbs
salt-1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds-1tsp
Cumin seeds-3/4 tsp
Coriander seeds -1tbs
Fenugreek-1/4 tsp
Clove -4
Onion-1
Ginger paste-1tbs
Garlic paste-1tbs
Tomato -1 sliced
Green chilli-2
Mustard seeds-1/2tsp
Dried Red chilli-2
Asafoetida-1/2 tsp
Lemon juice-1tbs
Pickle(mango,garlic or lemon)-1 tbs
Sugar -1/4 tsp
Method:
Marinate mushroom in yogurt along with chilli powder,turmeric and salt for at least half an hour.Meanwhile crush fennel seeds,cumin,coriander,clove and fenugreek seeds and set aside. Take about 3 tbs of cooking oil in a kadai and when the oil is hot add mustard and dried chilli Add finely sliced onion,asafoetida along with ginger garlic paste.Saute for about 3 mintues and when onion turns translucent add finely sliced tomato.Saute till tomato starts to ooze out oil.Add the crushed  spices along with green chilli saute for a minute and add the marinated mushroom along with a cup of water.Cook covered till mushroom is cooked. Add lemon juice along with  pickle and sugar.Check the salt.When gravy is thick switch off the stove and garnish  and serve
  

Creamed Spinach

Our family loves anything green, especially if it is spinach.This is one dish all of us love to have any day. This is a mild ,healthy and delicious dish that can be enjoyed by anyone, young or old. This also ensures that your family gets the nutrients they need in their diet.
Recipe Source:Food.com
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
2 cups whole milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 (10 ounce) bags ready-to-use fresh spinach
Method:
Cook spinach in large pot of boiling water just until wilted and tender, about 2 minutes.Transfer spinach to bowl filled with ice water to cool.Drain well.Roll up spinach in kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.Transfer spinach to processor and finely chop. Set this aside
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir until light golden, about 7 minutes. Stir in onion,garlic, bay leaf and clove. Gradually whisk in milk.Whisk until mixture boils and thickens, about 10 minutes.Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes longer, whisking frequently (sauce will be very thick).Remove bay leaf and whole clove.Add spinach to warm sauce, simmer over low heat until spinach is heated through, stirring often, about 5 minutes.Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the nutmeg.Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Kappa Puzhukku

Kappa (kasava/tapioca), is something that brings about nostalgic memories of Kerala for most Malayalees.
So whenever I miss a piece of Kerala, I pick this out at the supermarket, but most of the time I pick up the frozen ones as these are easier to work with. There are different ways of cooking Kappa, but this one is the preparation that we make most often.
Ingredients:
 Kappa (tapioca) - 500gm
 Grated coconut - 1 to 2 cups ( If you love more coconut add 2 cups)
 Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
 Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp
 Green chillies - 3 to 4
 Garlic-2 cloves
 Small onions - 1
 Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
 Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
 Coconut oil - 1 table spoon
 Salt
Method:
 Cut the tapioca into small pieces. Bring a big pot of water to a boil.. Add tapioca pieces and close with a lid. When the tapioca is 3/4th done, drain the water. Dissolve 1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder in 1/4 cup of ware and pour into the tapioca Mix and cook for 1-2 minutes,
 Grind coconut, 1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder, cumin seeds,garlic and chillies in a grinder for 10-15 seconds. add this to the tapioca. Cover and cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes. Mix with a spoon.
 Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Fry thinly sliced onion and curry leaves . Add this into the tapioca and mix well.
 Recipe source: Paakam
Ingredients for onion chamanthi
Shallots-1cup
Red chilli-6
Tamarind-1 tsp
Coconut oil-1tsp
Salt to taste
Curd-2tbs
Method:
Crush onion and chillis in a mortar or a food processor. Add salt and mix. Keep half of this aside
Add tamarind to one half of onion- chilli mix, add coconut oil and mix well. One chammanthi is ready.To the other portion add curd and mix you have another delicious chamanthi ready.

Vegetarian Yakisoba

Noodles are something that is loved all over the world, East or West. There are so many varieties of noodles, both in Eastern and Western cuisine. I love to try out noodles in any form, wherever it comes from. Among the Japanese noodles that I have tried out, this is my favorite.
Recipe source:Food.com
Ingredients:
8 ounces soba noodles
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp sambal paste or 2 teaspoons other hot chili paste
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onions,sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 big carrot, peeled and julienned
1/4 head cabbage, cored and shredded
4 scallion tops, chopped
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 tsp ginger paste
Method:
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.Cook the soba noodles in the boiling water for about 2 minutes or until they are al dente.(cooking any longer will cause the noodles to clump together.).
Drain the noodles, rinse lightly with cold water and drain again. (This is important so the noodles won't stick.).
Combine the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chili paste, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
When hot, add the onions, garlic,ginger and carrots, saute for about a minute now add cabbage. Cook stirring frequently, until the vegetables  are mostly tender
Add the soba noodles and the soy sauce mixture and cook just long enough to reheat the noodles and thoroughly coat them in the sauce.
Serve garnished with the chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

Ensalada Mixta or Garden Salad

As the summer is nearing, some of the days (and nights) are getting quite hot. I don't typically like cooking when the weather is warm, as it tends to heat up the entire house. On extreme warm days, we would have some take outs - pizza, Chinese take-out and the like. But obsessed I am with having the daily intake of vegetables for the family, I make sure that we start the take out meals with a plateful of salads so that we won't over-indulge on the unhealthy stuff.
This recipe is a simple to make and tasty salad, with the added health benefit of not  having to use any of the store bought dressings.

Recipe Source :Laylita.com
Ingredients:
1 romaine lettuce, washed and leaves cut or torn into large pieces
2 tomatoes, sliced or quartered
½ onion, thinly sliced
1 avocado, sliced or diced
1 tbs finely chopped cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
To make the dressing whisk the chopped cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper together.
Combine the lettuce, tomatoes, onions and avocado in a large bowl.
Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.

Vegetarian Thai Red Curry

Hailing from the land of coconut trees, I am in love with any cuisine that has coconuts or coconut milk in it. So, needless to say I am an avid lover of Thai cuisine. The Thai Red Curry is a perennial favorite of ours. For me a Thai meal is never complete if it doesn't have the red curry as part of it.
One of the things I like about this dish in particular is that you can make it with whichever vegetables that you have  handy, as the secret is in the gravy.
If you keep the curry paste prepared ahead of time, you can put together this in no time.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 tablespoon cumin
20 or to taste (de-seeded) dried Thai Red Chilies
1 1/2 tablespoons galangal/ginger
1/4 cup garlic
3-4 tablespoons lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
2 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup shallots
1 tablespoon Kaffir Lime Zest
3 tbs oil
Method:
Prepping
Soak the chili pepper in hot water for 10 minutes or until soft. You can see that the color gets brighter once when it's soft.  Skin the zest out from kaffir lime. Slice lemongrass thin to limit the fiber size. Peel garlic and shallots.

Grinding
Grind the dry spices(peppercorns, cumin and coriander) separately in a spice grinder or mortar and set aside to  add them to the curry paste later.
Squeeze the water out from the chili peppers. Put the rest of the ingredients in the mortar or grinder and make a smooth paste.The paste should be thick and not watery.Add the powdered dry spices to ground paste.
Heat Oil in a skillet.Add the paste and cook it until the oil starts to separate and the paste starts to clump together (3-5 mins).

This curry paste will stay fresh for a few weeks in the refrigerator and for a year in the freezer.
For the curry

Ingredients:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Red Curry Paste – 1-2 tbsp
Coconut cream -3/4 cup
Coconut Milk – 1 cans (14oz/400ml each)
Palm Sugar – 1/2 tbsp
Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp optional
Snow Peas – handful
Red Bell Pepper – 1/8, sliced
Green Bell Pepper – 1/4, sliced
Eggplant- 1 medium sized
Carrots – 1 thin slices
Onion – 1/4, sliced
Frozen corn-1/2 cup
Thai Basil Leaves – 4-6, torn up
Extra Firm Tofu – 14 oz block, cubed optional
Method:
Heat the oil in a thick bottom pan over medium heat ,stir in curry along with sliced onion and stir for a minute. Mix in the coconut cream.When curry paste is dissolved in coconut cream add the coconut milk ,soy sauce and sugar .Check the saltiness and add salt if needed.Add the cut veggies to this along with a green chilli if you need added heat. Add the basil leaves and cook till veggies are cooked.If you are adding Tofu add it 2 minutes before you are done with the cooking.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Almost a decade ago, when I was not into the internet in a big way, the primary sources of good recipes for me used to be my mother, my grand-mother or MIL. Other than these direct sources, I also used to collect recipes from TV shows or magazines.I used to note down the ones that I found good in a notebook and used to refer to those when I wanted to make it again. This recipe of Kashmiri Dum aloo is one such recipe that I had in my recipe book. All of us used to like this dish quite a lot and it was a good one to serve for a dinner or to take to a potluck, as it is quite an eye-pleaser. I used to make it quite often during those days.
How the times have changed! Now a days I rarely ever need to refer a book for recipes. It is all just a click away. With so many wonderful new things to try out from around the globe, I hardly ever made this dish in the last many years. By chance I was flipping through my recipe book the other day and since I had some nice Idaho baby potatoes with me, wanted to try it out. And as always it turned out to be wonderful both in taste and in presentation.

Ingredients:
For Aloo:
Medium potatoes - 5-6 numbers
Raisins - 1 tbs
Cashews - 1tbs, powdered coarsely
Cream - 1 tbs
Salt - to taste

For Gravy:
Tomatoes pureed and strained -3
Capsicum finely chopped - 1
Onions chopped into strips - 1
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Cardamoms -2
Cloves - 3
Peppercones - 3
Cinnamon piece - 1/2 inch
Ba:y leaf -1
Kasoori methi-1 tsp
Water -1 1/2 cups
Cream -2 tbs
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/2 tbsp
Refined oil - 2 tbs
Salt - to taste

Onion Paste:
Onions - 2, medium
Ginger piece - 1/2 inch.
Red Kashmiri Chillies  or  Paprika - 4-5
Mint leaves - 8-10
Cloves and garlic - 5 (optional)

Method:
For Aloo:
Peel and boil potatoes till they are half done. Cool and core with a potato scoop. Mix raisins, potato scooping, cashew, cream and salt. Stuff this mix into the potato hollows and keep them aside.

For Gravy:
Heat oil, add onions and stir-fry till brown. Drain and keep aside. Stir-fry capsicum till done, drain and keep aside. Add whole spices to the oil, allow to splutter and then add the onion paste and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato puree, masalas and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add water, sugar,kasoori methi, salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.Add the cream and give a nice stir
Now put the potatoes in a casserole and pour the gravy over them. Sprinkle the stir-fried onions and capsicum over this and cover with aluminium foil. Bake in the oven at 200 degree C for 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Dukbokki (Korean Spicy Rice Cakes)

Aishwarya has friends from different nationalities. Whenever her friends comes over, I serve only mildly spicy dishes  thinking that they won't be able to tolerate spicy food as well as we do. So it was a surprise to me when Aishwarya's Korean friend wanted to try out the Indian pickle. At first I refused, thinking that it would be too hot for her, but she insisted on having it and ate it without any issue. Then she told me that some of their Korean food was even spicier.This made me wanting to try some such hot dishes.
This is one such dish I tried out.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Sticky Rice Cake Sticks,
2 Cups of Cabbage
1/2 Onion
1/2 Carrot
2 King mushroom
2 Green Onion
5 Garlic
2 1/2 Cups Water(if you prefer less sauce add 1/2 cup)
3 Tbsp Red Pepper Paste
1 Tbsp Pepper Powder
 2 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1/2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
 Sesame Seeds  and green onion to garnish (optional)
Method:
Sock the rice sticks for a minimum of 1 hour.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan.Saute garlic and onion for a few seconds,add rest of the vegetables.Add water and rest of the ingredients and cook stirring occasionally till the sauce gets almost dried up.Serve hot by garnishing with green onion and sesame seeds.

Mulligatawny Soup

It came as a bit of a surprise for me that the origin of this Anglo-Indian soup is our good old rasam. Mulligatwany comes from the Tamil name, Milagu Thanni - meaning Pepper Water. Looks like the British took the recipe of the Rasam and made modifications to suit their tastes and preferred ingredients - with versions having chicken, meat and the like. For the Europeans, our rasam would have tasted like a soup  - well, when we think about it rasam is indeed a soup - though we typically have it as a sort of curry. This version here is a vegetarian one. Just like rasam which triggers your appetite, this one is also ideally suited for  stimulating your taste-buds.

Ingredients:
1 onions, chopped
1 carrots, chopped
1 potato,chopped
1 zucchini,chopped
1 big or 1 and1/2  medium tomatoes
3/4 cup  red lentils
1"ginger
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp fennel powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tablespoon ground black peppercorns
3 to 4 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
1 to 1 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
Green onions and cilantro to garnish

Method:
In a pressure cooker, saute onion along with minced ginger and garlic. When they turn translucent, add all the powders, saute for a minute. Now add the vegetables, stock and lentil along with the tamarind paste. Pressure cook this for 6 minutes. Once the pressure is released, open the lid and using a blender, puree the contents. Garnish with cilantro and green onion. Serve with any Indian flat-breads, preferably naan.

Gobi Manchurian

This is one of the universally loved Indo-Chinese dishes. I haven't come across anyone, vegetarian or non-vegetarian, who doesn't like this. The beauty of this is that you can have it as an appetizer/starter or as a side-dish that goes well with fried-rice, noodles or any of the Indian breads. Even though this involves deep frying, for those health-conscious friends of mine there is another option. Instead of deep frying the fritters, you can bake it at 400 degree F in an oil sprayed baking tray. Just make sure that you add a tablespoon of oil in the batter before dipping the cauliflower to get crispy fritters.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Maida or All purpose flour
1 Cauliflower
1/4 cup Corn Flour
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Oil
3 tsp Tomato Sauce
3 tsp Chilli Garlic Sauce
1/2 tsp Soya Sauce
1 tsp Vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped Onion
1/4 cup Spring Onion
2 tsp Garlic
1/2 tsp finely chopped Green Chilli
1 green pepper sliced
1 tsp Corn Flour
1 tsp Sugar
Method:
To make Fritters
Mix allpurpose flour and corn flour, black pepper, salt, in a bowl ,add water, stir well and make a medium thick batter not too thick or too thin.
Cut florets from cauliflower, dip florets in batter and deep fry till they turn golden color.
For Sauce : The amount of sauce given is for a dry version if you want a more saucier version double or triple the ingredients.
Heat  oil, add chopped onion and saute till onions becomes translucent. Add green chillies and garlic. Saute for 30 secs. To this add black pepper, tomato sauce,  chilli garlic sauce / chilli sauce , vinegar, soya sauce,green pepper, sugar, salt to taste and mix well. Add fried cauliflower fritters, coat well with sauce.Garnish with spring/green onion

Japanese Curry Rice

  

A friend of mine asked me if I knew how to make the Japanese Curry. I was taken aback a little - may be due to my ignorance of Japanese cuisine. I told her that the only curry I know of is the Indian curry, but I was curious to know what this is. Then I came across another friend of mine, who shared with me some instant curry sauce as well as the recipe for making this. Once I made this curry with the instant sauce cubes, I wanted to try making it the traditional way, as this was well liked by my family.
As per what I have heard this is a very popular dish in Japan and the instant sauce cubes are the most widely used ones because of its convenience.
Ingredients:
for the roux
1 and 1/2 Tbs butter
1/8 C flour
1 Tbs garam masala (or curry powder)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (add less if you want it mild or more if you want it spicy)
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 tbs tonkatsu sauce (or worcestershire sauce)

for the curry
2 tsp oil
1 large onions sliced thin
1 package  mushroom (you could also use beef, shrimp,chicken or tofu)
1 carrots cut into chunks
1 sweet potato
1 cup sliced beans
4 C water
2 large yukon gold potatoes cut into large chunks
1/2 C peas
1 tsp kosher salt (use less if you use regular salt)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbs tomato paste
4 to 6 garlic cloves
Cilantro a few
Method:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat and add the onions along with garlic cloves. Saute the onions until they are turn translucent add the tomato paste and saute for about 2 minutes,now add the curry powder or garam masala saute for another minute. Add potato , sweet potato, salt and add water and simmer.When the potato is half done add the carrots and sliced beans.Cook till you can pass a fork through the carrots and potatoes .
For the roux, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the flour and garam masala, stirring until you have a thick paste. Add the cayenne pepper and some fresh ground black pepper and incorporate into the roux. Add the ketchup and tonkatsu sauce and combine. Continue to cook until the paste starts crumbling. Remove from heat and set aside until the veggies are ready.
To make the curry, just laddle about 2 cups of liquid into the roux then whisk until it’s smooth. Pour this mixture back into the other pot and gently stir until thickened. Add the peas and  mushroom and heat through.Garnish with cilantro.
Serve over rice or noodles.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

When you don't have the time to make a pastry crust, try this quick crustless quiche.You won't miss the crust as this is tasty as is. I have Indianised it by adding curry powder to suit our palette,if you are looking for a milder version just leave out the curry powder.
Ingredients:
 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
 1 onion, chopped
 5 cloves of garlic minced
 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
 5 eggs, beaten
 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 2 tsp curry  powder
 8 cherry tomatoes/2 medium tomatoes
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and  garlic cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Add the curry powder and saute for 10 more seconds.Add tomatoes and spinach continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
In a large bowl, combine eggs,Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.Top it with pepper jack cheese.
Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Sending this over to Cooking made Easy  happening at Anjali's space

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Last week it was surprisingly hot in the Bay Area. Even though this is early fall, temperatures soared to the 100s for a few days, as though we were still in summer. As I didn't want the house to get warm, I was making mostly salads those days. This is one such salad that I experimented with during the week, which turned out to be quite a hit.

Ingredients:
 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
 1/8 cup white sugar
 1/8 to 1/4 cup olive oil
 1/8 cup distilled white vinegar
 1/4 teaspoon paprika (optional)
 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
 1 tablespoon minced onion
 10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
 1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
 Sliced onion -1
 Cherry tomatoes
Method:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach,onion, strawberries and tomatoes. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Anda Paratha - Egg-Stuffed Indian Flatbread

If you don't have enough time to make an elaborate meal, yet want to make sure your family gets their daily dose of proteins, carbs and veggies, this is the dish for you. This is also ideal if  you want to sneak in some veggies into your kids diet. With Aishwarya, my problem is that though she doesn't mind having most of the veggies,she doesn't like to have eggs in most typical forms. So this is one of the ways I can get some of the goodness of the eggs into her.
Ingredients:
Wheat flour  -  2 cups
Eggs - 4 nos
Fresh Cilantro, diced - 3 tbsp
Green chilli peppers, diced - 4-5 nos
Fresh spinach - 1/4 cup, optional
Ajwain (carom seed) - 1/2 tsp
Mozzarella cheese - 1/4 cup, optional
Chaat masala - 1/4 tsp, optional
Salt - to taste
Butter - as required

Method:
Mix the wheat flour with 1 egg, ajwain, salt, green-chilli and 1 tbsp of cilantro. Add 1/2 a cup of water to this and mix it well. Form it into a dough with the consistency of the usual roti/chapatti dough, by adding additional water as may be required. Let it rest for at least 15 mts.
Beat the remaining 3 eggs along with the spinach and a bit of salt in a bowl. Take a golf ball sized dough and roll it out as thin as possible into a disc shape. Put this roti on a heated tawa (pan). Now take about 3 tbsp of egg mix and spread it over the entire top of the roti. Sprinkle cilantro and cheese over the eggs. Now fold the paratha from 3 sides to form a triangle. Flip the paratha over and roast by applying butter on both sides till done.
Sprinkle a pinch of chat masala and serve it hot. You may serve it with a dollop of yogurt or with some ketchup or mint chutney.