Thursday, December 23, 2010

Oats Pongal

For all those oats fans over there, here’s one more recipe which is equally Indian and eternally delicious….Oats Pongal…and needless to say, it's healthy too...
Ingredients:
Rolled oats – 1 cup
Yellow Mung dal – ½ cup
Ginger – 1 inch finely chopped
Green chilies - 1 finely chopped
Whole Black pepper – 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Ghee / vegetable oil – 2 Tbsp
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Wash and cook the mung dal till done but still intact and  keep aside.
Heat ghee/oil in a  thick bottom vessel, add pepper corns, cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger and fry for a min.
Add about 2 ½ cups of water to the pan and bring it to boil. Add salt to taste and add the oats, stir and cook till done.
Add in the cooked dal and mix well and cook for a minute or two.
Serve hot. 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Stir-fried Broccoli with Soy Nuggets

Try making this simple meatless recipe of Broccoli with Soy Nuggets. I bet this has a subtle yet addictive sauce which makes you prepare this often. So…Get..Set..Go!!!
Ingredients:
Brown rice – 1 cup
Broccoli – 1 medium
Soy sauce – 2 Tbsp
Sesame oil – 2 Tbsp
Chili sauce – 2 Tbsp
Rice vinegar – 2 Tbsp
Cornstarch – 2 Tbsp
Vegetable oil – 2 Tbsp
Soy Nuggets – 1 cup
Garlic cloves – 3 - 4
Vegetable stock - 1 cup
Preparation
·        Cook the rice according to the package directions.
·        While the rice cooks, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk and set aside.
·       Wash the soy nuggets and add to a pan of boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain off the water immediately and squeeze out the excess water from the nuggets. Set aside.
·        Wash and cut the Broccoli into bite size florets.
·       Heat vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add broccoli and garlic to pan and toss for about a min. Add the vegetable stock to the broccoli, cover and cook  for about 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.
·        Add soy sauce mixture and the cooked soy nuggets to the pan, mixing gently, and cook for about 2 minutes. Mix in the cornstarch to about ¼ cup of water and add it to the broccoli mixture and cook till the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Serve the broccoli mixture over rice.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Aloo Podi Koora (Potato Fry)

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 3 Medium
Onion - 1 Medium
Oil – 2 Tbsp
Urad Dal – 1 Tbsp
Chana Dal – 1 Tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1Tsp
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Turmeric Powder - ¼ Tsp
Green chillies – 6-8 no.
Curry Leaves – 2 springs
Salt to Taste.
Preparation:
  • Wash, boil, peel and mash the potatoes.
  • Cut the onions into thin slices lengthwise. Also slit the green chillies lengthwise.
  • Heat oil in a frying pan, once hot add mustard, jeera, urad dal, chana dal.
  • Once they start to splutter add curry leaves, onions, green chillies, turmeric and fry till the onions are translucent.
  • Add the mashed potatoes, salt, mix well and fry for about 2min and then remove from heat.
  • Serve hot with rice, poori or Chapathi.
  • This can be also used as filling for many other dishes such as Aloo Bonda, Masala Dosa and Vegetable puffs.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Sinful Dark chocolate Fudge cake

This is my first cake recipe in my blog and I took the privilege to bake my own cake for my Birthday...I know it sounds strange but I didn’t want to miss the chance to bake the first one for the blog. And I feel happy for not missing it as this is such a wonderful, moist and fudgy chocolate cake recipe, which is needs to be shared with you all. click here for the original cake recipe. I just substituted white sugar in the original recipe with brown sugar, just to make it a little healthier.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
All-purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
Brown sugar - 2 cups
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 3/4 cups
Baking soda - 2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 Nos
Vanilla sugar – 1 Tbsp
Coffee – 1 Cup
For the icing:
Fresh heavy cream – 150ml
Eggs – 1
Softened Butter – 100 g
Icing sugar – 1 cup
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Unsweetened cocoa powder – ¾ cup
Preparation:
Baking the Cake:
·         Pre-heat the oven at 180°C.
·         Butter the cake pan and dust with flour.
·         Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
·         In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract and whisk rigorously till combined
·         Beat the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until nicely combined and then slowly incorporate the fresh coffee (at room temperature) into batter.
·         Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick / knife inserted comes out clean.
·         Remove the cake from the oven and cool it completely and proceed to the next step of icing. (After cooling the cake to room temperature, I chilled it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours)
Dark Chocolate Icing:
·         Whisk the egg in a sauce pan and cook on the steam over boiling water in another saucepan, whisking continuously and take care that the pan do not touch the surface of boiling water(otherwise you may end up having scrambled eggs), till the egg turns creamy. Remove from heat and cool it by placing the saucepan in a ice bath.
·         In a saucepan, heat the cream until bubbles are formed but not boiling. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature and combine with the egg.
·         In a bowl, bring in the softened butter, icing sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla extract and beat with an electrical beater or hand whisk until nice and fluffy.
·         Now bring in the egg and cream mixture and beat till nice and fluffy.
·         Chill the icing for about an hour in the fridge and then spread it evenly over the cake and decorate it accordingly. You can also put the icing in a piping bag and decorate.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Grilled Zucchini and Tomato Salad with Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients:
Zucchini                1 medium
Tomatoes              1 medium
Oil                        2-3 Tbsp
Salt                      to taste
Egg                      1 large
Fresh ground black pepper
A few sprigs fresh parsley
Preparation:
·         Pre-heat your grill to 180°C.
Wash the zucchini and trim off the ends.
·         Slice the zucchini lengthwise in thin slices, using a mandolin or vegetable peeler. 
·         Lightly grease the zucchini with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper to taste.
·         Grill the zucchini ribbons until lightly wilted, for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and put on a platter and let cool slightly.
·         In a pan, make the scrambled eggs with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
Cut the tomatoes in large chunks, season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange on the platter with zucchini and garnish with scrambled eggs and chopped parsley leaves.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Crispy Zucchini Sticks

Ingredients:
Zucchini           1 medium cut into sticks
Egg whites        2 large
Bread crumbs   1/3 cup
Oil                    For deep frying
Garlic powder   1/4 tsp
Salt                  to taste
Fresh pepper    to taste
Preparation:
·         In a small bowl, beat egg whites and season with salt and pepper.
·         Mix well the breadcrumbs and garlic powder.
·         Dip zucchini sticks into eggs then into bread crumbs mixture, a few at a time and coat them properly.
·         Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the zucchini sticks till golden brown.
·         Alternatively, you can bake the zucchini sticks in an oven at 180°C for about 20-25 min., drizzling with some oil.
·         Serve hot with any sauce of your choice.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Boondi Laddoo

It is often prepared on festivals or for household events such as weddings and births or given as a Prasad at Hindu temples. The laddu or laddoo can be made from gram flour (besan), semolina (rava), wheat flakes, and many other flours. It is also a common nickname for sweet and lovely people. After making this, this is what I felt: “Making ladoo is not as hard as I thought”. 
Ingredients:
For boondi:
Gram flour                    3 cups
Water                           2 cups
Ghee                            1 Tbsp
Oil/ghee                       for deep frying
Cashew nuts                 ½ Cup, roasted in ghee
a fine-holed shallow strainer spoon
For syrup:
Sugar                           2 ½ cups
Water                           1 ½ cups
Cardamom powder       1 tsp
Milk                             2 tbsp
Saffron/ Kesari colour   1 pinch (optional)
Preparation:
For syrup:
Put sugar and water in a vessel and boil till single thread consistency. Add cardamom powder and mix. Remove from heat and keep aside.
For boondi:
Mix flour and water to a smooth batter.
Heat oil/ghee in a heavy frying pan.
Hold strainer on top with one hand. With the other pour some batter all over the holes. Tap gently till all batter has fallen into hot oil. Fry and remove when light golden and set aside. Care must be taken that the boondi should be cooked well but not crispy. Repeat the same for the remaining batter.
Warm the 2 Tbsp of milk and add saffron/ food colour and add to the syrup. Mix in the boondi and fried cashew nuts in the syrup.
Drain any excess syrup. Spread in a large plate and Cover and keep for 10 minutes so that the boondi absorbs the syrup. Shape into laddoos with moist palms. Cool and keep open to dry and store in containers.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Chili-Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice

Ingredients:
Cooked Basmati rice                2 cups
Sliced Mushrooms                    1 cup
Onion, sliced                            1 large
Green chilies                            2 to 3
Garlic crushed                          6-8 cloves
Red chilies                               5 -6
Dark soy sauce                        1 Tbsp
Hot & sweet chili sauce      2 Tbsp
Vinegar or Lemon juice              1 Tbsp
Salt                                         to taste
Oil                                           2 Tbsp
Chopped Spring Onion              3 Tbsp
Preperation:
·         Wash the rice and cook it. Keep it aside for 15 min.
·         Make a paste of the red chili, vinegar using the blender.
·         Heat the pan with the oil, add the chopped green chili, fry well.
·         Add the chopped onion fry until it become light brown, add chopped garlic and fry for few seconds.
·         Add the chili paste, soy and chili sauces and fry for 30 seconds and add the mushroom sices and cook on medium heat in its own water for 3 to 4 min.
·         Add the cooked rice and mix well and fry for about 5 minutes  or until done.
·         Adjust the salt, garnish with chopped Spring onion (which I forgot to add in my recipe) and seve hot with raitha or as it is.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Pumpkin Halwa

This is what I made for this Diwali. Diwali is the Indian festival of lights celebrated by wearing new clothes, lighting fire crackers and exchanging sweets back home. Usually my mom prepares this sweet with Ash gourd. But since I didn’t find it here, I wanted to try with the yellow pumpkin which is readily available during this time of the year and searched in the internet if it is allowed to use it to make this dish . To my surprise, it tasted equally great and love the colour of the dish. Traditional halwa uses khoa or khoya or mawa (milk that is cooked down so most the moisture is evaporated). This adds texture and richness to halwa. I used sweetened condensed milk to the recipe to thicken the halwa. Instead, you can also cook the grated pumpkin in milk and then fry in ghee till we get the required consistency.
Ingredients:
Pumpkin – 1 kg
Ghee- ½ cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Sweetened condensed milk – 50 ml
Cashew nuts – ¼ cup
Raisins – 2 Tbsp
Cardamom Powder – 1 tsp

Method:
·       Cut, deseed, peel and grate the pumpkin.
·       In a heavy bottom pan, add about 2 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown and keep aside.
·      Add the remaining ghee to the pan and fry the grated pumpkin on medium heat till all the moisture is gone and the ghee oozes out.
·      Stir in the condensed milk and sugar, milk well and cook on low heat by constantly stirring (so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and get burnt) till the milk is totally absorbed in and the ghee oozes out of the halwa.
·       Stir in the cardamom powder, mix well and remove from heat.
·       Garnish with fried cashews and raisins.
·       Serve hot or cold. It tastes great in either ways. It can also be refrigerated in a closed container for about a week and can be reheated before serving.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Spicy scrambled Tofu

Well…I heard a lot of good things about Tofu (Bean curd) and made it habit to use it often in my food lately. Tofu is low in calories, contains a relatively large amount of iron, protein, and contains little fat. It has very little flavor or smell on its own and hence can be flavored in many ways depending upon the method of cooking and the ingredients used. Here is a quick, healthy and spicy tofu recipe which is as tender and moist as scrambled eggs. Nothing beats scrambled eggs for a quick, satisfying meal. Scrambled tofu can be equally comforting and tasty too. All that you need to do is to spice it up with your favorite spices and vegetables.
Ingredients:
Firm tofu – 150 gms
Oil – 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds – ½ Tsp
Onion- 1 small, chopped
Green chillies – 2 to 3, finely chopped
Capsicum Pieces– 1 cup (green, yellow and red mixed)
Turmeric – 1/8 Tsp
Soy sauce – ½ Tsp
Salt to taste
Method:
Wash the tofu, squeeze out the extra water and grate it coarsely.
Heat the oil in a wide skillet and add the cumin seeds, onion and green chillies and fry till onion turns translucent. Add in the Capsicum pieces and sauté for a minute or two.
Add the turmeric, salt to taste and soy sauce and cook for a minute.
Now stir in the grated tofu, mix well and cook for about 3 minutes. Adjust the salt if needed. Serve hot with a toast or can be wrapped in a tortilla. 

Penne Spinaci e Funghi (Penne Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms)

Wow!!! I just can't believe that this is my 50th post...and what can be a better occassion to post an International recipe for the first time in my blog...Penne Spinaci e Funghi..
Ingredients:
Onion – 1, medium diced
Mushrooms - 250g, Sliced
Garlic cloves – 4, crushed
Spinach - 200g, chopped
Milk - 500ml 
Butter – 1 inch Stick
Olive oil – 2 Tbsp
All Purpose Flour – 2 Tbsp
Pinch of Nutmeg
Red chilli flakes – 2 Tsp
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cooked Penne Pasta - 500g (Any pasta of your choice)
Method:
·         In a large saucepan, fry half the onion and garlic together until the onion is translucent.
  • Add the mushrooms and fry for another 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms are almost cooked.
  • Add the spinach and sauté until the spinach is wilted.
  • Melt in the butter in another saucepan and add the flour and keep stirring until the raw smell of the flour leaves. Take care not to burn it. Now add the milk, the rest of the onions, chili flakes, salt to taste and nutmeg powder to the flour and keep stirring and cook till the mixture is nice and thick.
  • Add the milk sauce to the spinach and Mushrooms and allow it to simmer for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot on cooked pasta.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Tomato Rice





Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 4 medium
Basmati Rice - 1 Cup
Onion – 1 large
Green Chiliies – 3 to 4
Ginger& Garlic Paste – 1Tbsp
Salt - To Taste
Cumin seeds – 1Tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Cloves- 2
Cardamom – 2
Bay leaves - 1
Chilli Powder- 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Jeera Powder - 1 tsp
Tumeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Mint leaves – ½ cup
Fresh Coriander leaves- For Garnishing 
Preparation: 
Wash and soak the rice and keep it aside for about 30 minutes.Cut the tomatoes into small cubes, onions into thin slices and chillies lengthwise.
Heat the Oil in the Pan & add bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, cumin and Fennel seeds and fry till the aroma comes out.
When it starts spluttering add green chillies & Onions , fry till onions turn
 translucent.
Add ginger-garlic paste, mint leaves and fry till the raw flavor of ginger is gone. Add mint leaves ,tomatoes , salt,tumeric & keep stirring.
When Everything is mixed together add all the dry
masala powders and cook on a medium heat till the tomatoes are mushy.Keep stirring frequently.
When the tomatoes are cooked add the soaked Rice and fry for a minute.
 Add about 1 ½ cups of water to the rice and stir well. Adjust salt if needed. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and cook the rice closed till done.
Garnish with Fresh Coriander leaves & serve hot with raitha.