Beetroot Curry

A simple stir fry - nothing more. I have seen a lot of people disliking beetroot. This is my attempt to make it interesting by adding a lot of seasoning, without losing the nutritional value.

I have added some rasam powder for a zing.

I love this stir fry alongside sambar rice.

Ingredients:

Beetroot(I used one small & one medium)

Grated Coconut - a handful or two

Rasam Powder half a tsp (optional I use Sakthi Masala Rasam Powder which is really nice to add zing to any South Indian Prep)

Salt to taste

Seasoning:

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry leaves a few

Slit Green Chilli or Red chilli - 1

Oil - 1 tsp( I use coconut oil)

Mustard- 1 tsp

Cumin - 1 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Method:

1. Chop the beetroot roughly and pressure cook till soft. It really needs to be cooked for a long time to make it soft. Chopping beetroot is really tough and takes time. So, one tip I follow is first cook it till half done, peel the skin and chop. If you do not like to cook it with the skin on, you can quickly remove the skin and cook the whole beets. It is better to chop semi cooked beetroot.

2.Heat oil, add the dal,chillies,hing,mustard and cumin in that order. When the mustard pops, add the curry leaves and chopped beetroot. Add the rasam powder,salt. If you think it is cooked, add the coconut. Otherwise sprinkle a little water and cook to perfection. Now, add coconut and fry together for a min or two.

Serve hot.

Potato Podimas

Looks like potatoes featured the maximum number of times in my blog posts. Not surprising though, owing to its versatility. Whenever we are confused as to what to cook; we end up making potato curry or aloo paranthas or sandwich, well most times. Potatoes are sure to lend a helping hand to entertain your surprise guests or make a quick meal.

This potato podimas(mashed potatoes) is a mildly flavored curry to go with hot & spicy sambar rice. This is a twist to the normal potato fry made with chilli powder and lots of oil.

A very simple, easy to make recipe!

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 4 medium (boiled, peeled and mashed)

Green chillies - 2 finely chopped

Ginger a small piece finely chopped

Lemon - 1

Curry leaves - a few

Oil,mustard,urad dhall, channa dhall - a tsp or 2 each for seasoning

Turmeric - 1 tsp (optional)

Grated coconut - 2 tsp (optional)

Hing - a pinch

salt to taste

Method:

1) Heat oil, season with the ingredients. When the mustard pops, add hing and turmeric.

2) Reduce the flame, add chillies, curry leaves, ginger, mashed potato and salt.

3) Add the grated coconut if you wish to, fry everything together for a while.

3) Switch off, squeeze the lime juice and serve hot with rice. Tastes great with sambar rice.

Kadai Paneer

Kadai Paneer is a Punjabi curry with fried paneer & bell peppers simmered in freshly ground masala. Addition of kasoori methi renders a magical flavor & aroma to any punjabi curry specially, the paneer ones. This is a dry curry suitable for rotis. Kadai means wok and the curry is typically served in a kadai. I love the way in which Indian curries are served in a cute copper kadai in restaurants. Getting one such kadai, tops my list of to-buy items during my next visit to India.

I would like to cook up a Punjabi curry, fill-up the kadai and click a nice picture for my blog.

Hope my dream gets realized.

See, what all dreams a foodie can have!

Ingredients:

Bell peppers 2 cut into cubes(Diff colors)
onions 2 finely chopped
tomatoes 3 (blanched, skin peeled and made into a puree)
curd 1 cup
paneer 1 cup or 250 g cut into cubes
butter or oil 1 tbsp
bay leaves 2
chilli powder 2 tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
dhania powder 2 tsp
salt to taste
kasoori methi 1 tsp
prepared kadai paneer masala 2 tsp

Kadai Paneer Masala:

Dhania seeds 1 tbsp
pepper 1/2 tsp
red chillies 6
methi 1/2 tsp
cinnamon 2 tsp
jeera 1/2 tsp

Dry roast in a tawa, powder and keep aside.

Method:

1. Heat oil and butter and fry onions till brown, adding sliced garlic (1/2 tsp) and bay leaves.
2. Now add the ginger garlic paste and fry well.
3. Add the dry powder and fry. Add salt.
4. Add the tomatoes
5. Fry the paneer and capsicum and keep aside
6. Let the tomatoes boil and leave out the oil.
7. Add the curd and boil for sometime.
8. Now add the paneer and capsicum
9. Lastly add the finely chopped coriander and methi(fresh) or kasoori methi

Serve hot with rotis

Aloo 65

Aloo 65 is a spicy curry with the versatile potato. You can deep fry the potatoes to serve as a starter. I chose to shallow fry it to pair up with rice, also saving oil. The curry was perfectly spicy for a cold winter night.

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes - half a kg

Curd - 1 cup

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Garam Masala - 2 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 3 tsp

Tandoori Color - optional (I didn't use it)

Salt to taste

For Seasoning:

Jeera - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Mustard - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - handful

Cilantro for garnishing

Method:

1. Pressure cook the potatoes. Peel the skin and prick roughly using a fork.

2. Mix the dry powders, ginger garlic paste in the curd. Soak the potatoes in this mixture for 2 hrs.

3. Heat oil, season with mustard and jeera. Add the potatoes along with the mixture. Roast over slow flame till golden. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice.

You can follow the same recipe for paneer 65 and Gobi 65. Both will taste good when deep fried.

Before deep frying, coat with corn flour batter.

Check out my other potato delicacies - Dum Aloo fry, Fiery hot potato fry, Dum Aloo Gravy

Rohini of curries & spices has passed on this beautiful award. Thanks Dear.

Cauliflower Paneer Pepper Curry

I made this simple curry to go with my veg fried rice.

I was making fried rice for quick Sunday brunch and decide to eat it with ketchup. Then I got reminded of the fresh cauliflower, I picked up the previous day. So decided to use it for a simple hot fry. This recipe is nothing special; just a normal one. But the idea to combine paneer and cauliflower worked out well and gave a new dimension to the curry. Started making this, when I was half way through my fried rice and both got ready together.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - cleaned(Immerse in salted cold water for 10 min) and broken into pieces - 1 cup
Paneer cubes - a few
Chopped Onions - a handful
Pepper powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:
1) Heat oil, add the onions. Fry a bit and add cauliflower.
2) Cover and cook for 5 min.
3) Add salt and paneer cubes. Fry well.
4) Mix cumin and pepper.

Serve hot with fried rice

Aloo Gobi Masala

Aloo Gobi - another lip smacking authentic Punjabi curry . Slurp! I am addicted to Punjabi Khaana as much I am to my very own south Indian delicacies. Every time I think about Indian food varieties, I am flabbergasted. I would best describe India as 'foodie's paradise'.

Aloo gobi would top my Punjabi favorites list. This is the first ever North Indian gravy I had, as far as I remember. Naan and Aloo Gobi would be my standard order, on our occasional restaurant visits, in early 90's. Those times, I used to be a fussy eater and I never had it in me to try paneer or mushroom. Not anymore! I never even wanted to try brinjal or Bindi in restaurants. Going all the way to a restaurant, I didn't want to try the usual vegetables that are used in south Indian cooking. Gobi was a rare, rather a no-no at our home then, fearing that it might contain worms. Well, it was actually true those days. Now a days I feel they are better; may be owing to the proper usage of pesticides. Hoping that they just make proper use!

The bottom line is gobi was, is and will be my favorite and I just am addicted to aloo gobi masala. Even now, If I have no clue what to order, I end up ordering this. So far, no restaurant has disappointed me.

If you have not tasted this yummy dish so far, please grab a plate and see for yourself, the greatness of it.
I have not added onions in my recipe. It's my personal choice and you can add sliced onions after seasoning with jeera. But, no tomatoes please for the authentic taste.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower
3 medium potatoes
Turmeric powder - 1.5 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1.5 tsp (If you using red chilli powder, use slightly less quantity)
Dhaniya Powder - 2 tsp
Slit Green Chillies - 2 medium
Jeera - 2 tsp
Crushed ginger - a small piece
Amchur - 1 tsp
Chopped cilantro to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1) Break the cauliflower and cut the florets into uniform medium sized pieces. The flowers should retain the shape on cooking. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes.
2) To the crushed ginger, add dhaniya powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder, a little water and mix everything well. This is to ensure uniform absorption of masala by the vegetables. If you add dry powders directly, it might stick to the florets unevenly.
3)Heat the oil, season with jeera. Add the green chillies. Then add the above mixture and wait for less than a minute till the oil separates.
4) Add the cauliflower and potatoes. Cover and cook till half done. (10 minutes on low to medium flame) Stir once carefully without breaking the florets. Add salt and cook till done.
5) Mix in the amchur powder and cook for a min.

Switch off and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with rotis / pulav varieties. This time, I served with mushroom pulav.


Tip:In step 4, instead of adding raw potatoes and cauliflower, you can fry each of them separately till light/golden brown in a separate pan before hand and add it. This gives a better taste.

Plantain curry

A simple stir fry to go with South Indian main course. I was craving for this simple curry and only recently, I saw a fresh stock of plantain in the Indian store. Overexcited, I picked up 2 long ones. My mother used to make plantain curry in 3 forms; either adding coconut & green chilly or curry powder or tamarind & spices. I combined all the methods to come up with this yummy curry. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Plantain (Raw banana) - 1 big or 2 medium
Tamarind Paste - 1/4 tsp or equivalent juice extracted
Curry Powder (Recipe here) - 1.5 tsp
Grated Coconut - half a tablespoon
Salt to taste
For seasoning :
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Red Chilli - 1 broken into 2 pieces
Hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - 5
Mustard - 1 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp

Method:
1) Chop the plantain into small cubes, boil with a little water and cook covered till half done. Add the tamarind paste and salt and cook till done. It should retain its shape and not become mushy.
2) Heat oil, add the dal for seasoning. When they turn light brown, add the mustard and red chilli. When the mustard pops, add hing and curry leaves.
3) Add the cooked plantain. Sprinkle the curry powder, coconut and fry together for 2 min.
Serve hot with rice & a South Indian gravy
Tip: You can add a tsp of coconut oil finally or even use it for seasoning in the second step. I love the flavour.

Fiery Hot Potato Fry

This is a simple Potato fry ; simple to make but a powerful & delicious curry. I think for the South-Indian vegetarians specially tamils, onion sambar and potato fry is an heavenly combo. This is a must-have in most lunch feasts. I am calling it fiery hot just for the colour. Otherwise, for the spices I have used, it is not too spicy; just moderate. (In the Indian standards) If you are particular in having less spicy food, add a little powder at a time and check for yourself. An abundant caution! I have used a little more oil than I usually do, to make this fry tastier. I don't always use so much oil and it is an occasional indulgence. Better be watchful!

You can make this curry, mix with hot rice and add 2 tsp of spice powder & a little extra salt to come up with the potato rice, I was talking about in my recipe for tomato rice. This tastes great for lunch boxes and go less on the spice content , if you are making it for kids. For the rice, I cut the potatoes even smaller in order to get more chunks of it in a uniform manner.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 4 medium (Boiled, peeled and diced into small cubes or alternatively raw potatoes diced)
Onion - half or one, finely chopped
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp to 2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1.5 tablespoon
Mustard - 1 tsp
Hing a pinch
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat half a tablespoon oil, add mustard and wait till it pops. Add the hing, curry leaves and onions. Fry till the onion turns brown and crispy.
2. Add the diced potatoes. If you are using raw ones, sprinkle little water and cook covered till done.
3. Sprinkle the spice powders and salt such a way that almost all the pieces are covered. Pour the remaining oil on top and fry(uncovered) till the potatoes get nicely roasted and coated with the masala.

Serve hot with rice. This curry is versatile & tastes great with all - sambar, rasam and curd. You can also fill this in dosa and serve it as masala dosa. But point to be noted is the potato masala used for authentic masala dosa is different.

Tip: For any roast curry, don't add all the oil in the beginning. Add a little by little from time to time and fry well ; more so, when you are adding raw vegetables. This way you get crispier curries with comparitively less oil. You also don't have the risk of adding excess oil due to lack of proper judgement.

Check one more kind of aloo fry here.

Arbi / Sepankizhangu Fry

Arbi/ Sepankizhangu / Taro root - I am quite familiar with this root vegetable right from my childhood days. Though it was not cooked very frequently like weekly once, it was made atleast once per month. The vegetable as such do not have a characteristic taste (or so it is to me) but can be cooked tastefully to make an altogether yummy dish. It took various forms in my home like sambar, more kuzhambu, masiyal and the ultimate roast curry.

The problem with arbi is, it tends to get gooey on overcooking. So you got to be perfect in cooking it to the right level. I generally fill enough water in a pressure cooker, immerse the veg and cook without the whistle on for 10 to 15 min. I have added rasam powder in my recipe just for the extra zing. The brand I use(sakthi masala) adds a great flavour to the curry. Check on the flavour of your rasam powder and add to taste. Or, you can conveniently omit both rasam and sambar powder and go for an extra spoon of chilli powder. I like experimenting with various ingredients and it proves fruitful. This roast is good to go with any south Indian main course and best had straight from the stove.


Ingredients:

Sepangizhangu/arbi/taro root - 8 to 10 pieces
Besan /gram flour - 2 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Rasam powder - 1 tsp (I used sakthi masala)
Oil 1 tablespoon or more (I am very stingy when it comes to oil)
Mustard - 1.5 tsp
Urad dhall - 1.5 tsp
Hing - 1 pinch
Salt to taste

Method:

1) Cook the arbi in a pressure cooker with enough water to immerse, till 3/4 th done. Maybe, you can check it after 10 min and cook it more if required. Don't overcook.
2) Peel off the skin and slice them thin.
3) Mix Besan, chilli powder, sambar powder, rasam powder and salt. Coat the sliced pieces with this mixture.
4) Heat oil, season with mustard, urad dhall and hing. Add the coated pieces all together and fry till golden brown.
You can also resort to deep frying the pieces. You can omit the seasoning part then.
I prefer it this way.

The fry is ready to serve. Have it straight from stove. On packing this, the fry loses the crispiness.

Karamani Curry

Karamani or string beans is one of my favourite vegetables. Actually I love all veggies, but this is something which may not be the fav of many. Infact, I think many are not even aware of its very existence. People might know the other karamani (black eyes peas) but not as a fresh green vegetable. I love this simple curry a lot and I really didn't expect to catch them fresh; why even say fresh, I didn't anticipate to see them in the first place here in US. But much to my surprise, I see them a lot here. It so happens that even in Chennai, I haven't seen them so fresh and tender. Most times it used to be dry. Nothing more to fascinate me. Though I'm pouring in so much enthusiasm, the recipe here is quite simple and basic. Anyone who knows to cook a South Indian meal, would know this. But still, there are days when you really dont feel like eating any complicated or time consuming dish; more so when you got to cook your own meal. :D You will long for that simple rasam and a plain veg curry. There are also days, when you feel like updating your blog but do not want to post an elaborate recipe and keep it simple, short and sweet. Today is such a day for me.

Actually in the iyer cuisine, we divide the curries (poriyal) as two kinds - coconut based like beans, cabbage etc or roast curries like potato, arbi etc. This is of the first type. I haven't used green chillies in my curry. Just seasoned a red chilli. Normally, a green chilli is shredded and added in the curry. You can also coarse grind chilli and coconut and add it. If you want to keep it simple, just follow my recipe.

Ingredients:

Chopped String beans - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1 table spoon or even half will do if you wanna cut down calories.
To season: Mustard, red chillies, urad dhall, curry leaves and coconut oil
Salt to taste.

Method:
1) Heat oil, season and when the mustard pops, add the chopped beans.
2) Sprinkle water, cook till done, add salt and coconut. Stir for a min and serve hot with rice.
If you want it quicker, microwave the veggies for 3 min with a little water, mix coconut and microwave for 30 sec and season. The cooking time depends on the power of your microwave. So for the first time, check the time and cook accordingly.
You can make cabbage, beans, beetroot, carrot etc. on the similar lines.

Rainbow Chard Curry

Back to blogging after a long time. Last few days kept me busy in moving to the west coast. Yes! We have moved to Redmond, WA. I wouldn't say we got settled already; our things are yet to arrive. I just have my kitchen ready with groceries and minimal utensils to keep us going. Hope our routine will be back by this weekend. I heard from lot of people about the Seattle rains and got mentally prepared to face them. I always hate rains as it makes roads wet and dirty making us immobile. But still, dry weather with no greenery also irritates me equally. I should say the city looks pretty green owing to the excessive rains. I love the Emerald city. Luckily, so far the weather is sunny and bright. Moving further north from Boston, we have daylight till 9:30 PM. But it is obvious that we are gonna have less of light in the fall. Well, it is good to see places.

I badly wanted to update my blog and actually I started cooking right from the day we moved into our new apartment. I should say cooking keeps me occupied and if I don't cook for more than a couple of days, I feel depressed. Lately, I discovered that I can never do without a kitchen. Enough rambling and lemme break the inactivity in blogging by a simple recipe - rainbow chard curry.

For those of you who do not know what it is, I should admit that even I was unaware of it till a few days back. I ran into this bunch of leaves that have brilliantly colored stalks at the whole foods market.

These glossy green leaves along with their red, golden and white stalks is aptly called rainbow chard and as you all know my craze for greens and colors, I fell in love with it at the very first sight. Needless to say, it went straight into my cart. To me, it looked like beet leaves and I had no idea what to cook with it. Bored of eating just spinach all this while, the new set of greens thrilled me. I used to love eating the dry curry made out of raddish leaves back home and thought why not implement the same formula. You can make use of any variety of chard. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Finely chopped chard - 1 bunch
Coconut - 1 tablespoon or few pieces
Green chillies - 2 small
Coconut oil - 2 tsp
Mustard and urad dhall to temper.

Method:

1. Clean the chard well several times using water to get rid of mud and dirt.
2. Heat the oil, season with mustard and urad dhall.
3. Add the greens and little water. Cook till done. This takes longer time than spinach. If you want to save time, try using microwave to boil the greens.
4. Add salt. Grind the coconut and green chillies into a smooth paste and mix with the curry.
Serve hot with rice.

Tip: You can also try making molagootal using chard.

Baingan Ka Bartha

Baingan(brinjal/eggplant/aubergine) is a vegetable despised by most people. Infact I too hated it as a kid. Later on, when I tasted dishes like enna kathrika and brinjal chutney, I thought its not bad after all ; well, going a step further I concluded it's also another yummy veg. For that matter, any food can taste yummy if you only cook it right. One might do wonders with brinjal or even end up making a disastarous potato meal (potatoes are supposed to taste yummy in any form). Cooking is all about what you add when. If you add the right ingredient at the right time, you can make delicious meal with just anything. You know I am a foodie and don't get surprised when I occasionally throw such words of wisdom :)

Coming to the brinjal story, I got hooked to it when I first tasted brinjal chutney. It is usually made with smoked brinjal and smoking adds a great flavour to the otherwise boring brinjal. The north Indian version of it is today's hero - Baingan Ka Bartha. It is a punjabi dish made with smoked brinjals cooked in Indian spices. It is traditionally made in a charcoal stove and since I couldn't get hold of one, I managed with my electric stove. The idea is to char the brinjal and add a smoky flavour. You can even make use of your conventional oven. This is the first ever time I am trying this and I should say I'm impressed with the results. I haven't even tasted this in hotels for the mere fact that I didn't wanna order brinjal when there are umpteen yummy dishes. This time when I saw those big eggplants in the produce section, I wanted to make the best out of it.

I have added peanuts to the recipe since peanuts and brinjal make a lovely pair. I don't think it is added in the authentic recipe. This goes well with both rice and rotis. One warning here is, the chance that you might like this dish is remote due to the smoky flavour. Try at your own risk!

Ingredients:

Big eggplant - 1
Onion finely chopped - 1
Tomatoes finely chopped - 2
Jeera - 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste(or crushed ginger and garlic) - 1 tsp
Small green chillies - 3 finely chopped
Peanuts- a few
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Dhania powder - 1 tsp
Finely chopped coriander, onion and tomato to garnish
salt to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Lemon juice - 1 tsp(optional)

Method:

1. Smoke the eggplant thoroughly over the stove or by using oven.
2. Remove the skin and mash it.
3. Heat oil, season with jeera and fry onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic.
4. Add tomatoes and peanuts; when cooked, add the dry powders.
5. Add the mashed eggplant and cook till dry.
6. Mix the lime juice and garnish with the ingredients mentioned.

Bindi fry

Vendaikka(Bindi or okra) is one of my favourite vegetables. I always love it and it is one vegetable which I readily ate even while I used to be a fussy eater. Well, even after evolving from a fussy eater to a complete foodie, I haven't lost my charm for it. A simple vendaikka curry is sure to impress me anytime and I would say that comes as a saviour when you are short of ideas or time. On a sunny afternoon, I had ample time for ideas to emerge and hence decided to make something different from the normal south Indian preparation. So I gave it a thought, ended up making it in north Indian style and hence named it Bindi fry.(Title justified)
I was not sure how the famous bindi masala is done. I didn't even bother to google for it. I just added ingredients that struck my mind, to make it north Indian-ish and it served the purpose well.

Ingredients:
Vendaikka - 500 g
Chopped or pureed tomatoes - 1
Amchur powder -2 tsp
Besan - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Dhaniya powder - 2 tsp
Jeera - 3 tsp
Oil - 1 tablespoon
salt to taste

Method:
1. Chop the veg into slightly big pieces.
2. Heat the oil, season with jeera and add the veg.
3. When the veg gets cooked, add the dry powders. Fry till crispy and add the chopped tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes become soft and blends with the rest. Serve with rice or roti.

Variation: Chop an onion and fry till golden brown before adding the veg.

Sending this to WYF - side dish event hosted by EC.

Gobi Manchurian

Gobi manchurian is a chinese dish tweaked a bit to suit the Indian palate. I love to have it tangy and hot. This along with a plate of chinese fried rice is absolutely scrumptious. When I was working at Chennai Infosys, this used to be the featured lunch menu on fridays at the food court. It would be either manchurian/plain fried rice or schezwan fried rice on the menu and I would be eagerly waiting for the lunch time :) I grabbed my share hot-hot and if there were any early bird prizes, I would have won hands down. To tell the truth, the food was not so great and people who knew abt out chennai food court would endorse. But, a tiny piece of paper with 'chinese food' written on it is enough to amuse me and I also believe even the baddest cook can manage to cook it reasonably well. Incidentally, paper was also invented in China. Oh, I don't eat paper by the way. However, I should confess that I have never tasted authentic chinese food and people who have tried it say it is nowhere close to what we get in Indian restaurants. I am still contented with the Indo-chinese food and do not even want to visit a chinese restaurant. Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 cup
Rice flour,corn flour,maida - 1:1:1 (1.5 table spoon of each aprrox)
Capsicum - 1
Onion - 1
Oil to fry
salt to taste
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Orange color - 2 pinch (optional)
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Tomato ketchup - 1 tablespoon
Soya sauce - 2 tsp
Spring onions to garnish.

Method:
1. Break the cauliflower into medium size florets. Clean them by immersing in salted water for 5 min. I use lukewarm water but I have heard people telling it is better to use cold water as against some people telling hot water. So i choose to be moderate and use lukewarm. Someone please enlighten me as to which is the best. I always eat my caulifower with 100% belief that it's worm-free. I don't want to be paranoid here and lose the charm.
2. Make a batter with all the three flour,water,chilli powder,color,salt and ginger garlic paste.The consistency should be such that it sticks to the florets coating thoroughly. Deep fry in hot oil.
3. Cut the onion and capsicum into cubes.
4. Heat oil, fry the onions and capsicums till tender. Add the fried florets, tomato ketchup and soya sauce. Mix well and garnish with spring onions. Serve immediately with chinese fried rice.
I feel this is good to go with the rice and not much as a starter.


Click here for the chinese fried rice recipe. This time I tried a small variation. Reduced the amount of soya sauce to 1.5 tsp and added a tsp of white pepper powder. It just tasted as heavenly as before. One other tip is while frying veg for fried rice, do it over high flame quickly to get it crisp.
This is off to the kids lunch event as I find it good enough to fascinate the kids.

http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2009/03/monthly-mingle-31-kids-lunches.html http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-monthly-mingle.html

Paneer Bhurji & Kathi roll

I feel paneer and potato are similar in more ways than one. Both are versatile and universally acclaimed. Of course, paneer is mostly used by Indians but still those who taste it once, will crave for it ever. Not to mention, both of them starts with the letter 'p' :) I'm leaving the potatoes here and going ahead with paneer to make a very simple and quick dish - paneer bhurji. You can use your creativity to come up with various other recipes using this as the base.

Paneer is Indian cottage cheese which is a rich source of protein good enough to substitute for meat. I have also mixed a handful of spinach in this recipe for extra nutrition. It is always better to mix a variety of vegetables/ingredients to get all possible nutrients in a single meal.Not only that, this strategy can be used to make your kids(sometimes even adults) eat things which they normally resist. But ofkors, the ingredients should blend well to make the meal tasty.

Ingredients:
Grated Paneer 2 cups
Jeera - 2 tsp
Onions - 1 or 2 finely chopped
Tomatoes - 1 (grated)
Chopped spinach - half a cup
Crushed green chillies - 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Dhania powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Kasoori methi - 1 tsp
Chopped Coriander to garnish
Salt to taste

Method :
1. Heat oil, season jeera, fry the onions.
2. Add the chillies and ginger garlic paste and fry.
3. Add spinach, fry half a minute and add the tomatoes.
4. Add the dry powders after the tomatoes get cooked.
5. Add paneer and a little water and cook till done. Be careful while adding salt as the paneer might be salty already. I made use of the masala paneer available in the Indian grocery. Give it a try.
6. Garnish with coriander and serve with rotis.

Serving tips:
1. You can use this to make paneer kathi rolls. Spread the paneer on the rotis and roll them tight to make the kathi rolls or wrap. You can heat it once on a tawa if you wish to. This can be used for travel or pack lunch boxes. It can be served anytime of the day. This is also a way to use your leftover rotis. You can also use this idea to conceal veggies which your kids don't eat otherwise.


2. You can stuff this inside dosa to make paneer masala dosa. The other way is, arrange 2 or 3 layers of dosa with paneer in between, roll them tight, slice them into pieces and serve. You can pour some curd on the top and serve as curd dosa similar to curd vada.

3. You can make paneer sandwiches by filling this in between bread slices and toasting it or even make stuffed paneer parathas.

Needless to say, this goes to the kids lunch event.

http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2009/03/monthly-mingle-31-kids-lunches.html http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-monthly-mingle.html

Brinjal Curry

Brinjal or egg plant is something hated by most people. But for those of you who love the vegetable, it offers a wide cooking scope. Right from enna kathrika to bahara baingan, you can make wonders with it. As of now, I'm limiting my post to a simple brinjal curry. Much ado about nothing :)

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 5( moderate size)

Red chillies - 2 or 3

Dhaniya - 1 tsp

Channa dhall - 3 tsp

Urud dhall - 2 tsp

Peanuts - 4 tsp

Tamarind extract made out of a small ball

Mustard - 1 tsp

Oil - 4 tsp

salt to taste

Method:

1. Fry red chillies, dhaniya, dhall, peanuts with a little oil and powder it. (a little coarse)

2. Slice the brinjal length wise. Heat 1 tsp of oil, season with mustard and add the brinjal.

3. Cover the veg with tamarind pulp and cook till they become soft and water evoporates.

4. Add the remaining oil, the ground powder and salt and fry till you are satisfied :)

Tips:

1. You may also add 2 tsp of coconut and a few curry leaves.

2. You may substitute sesame seeds for peanuts.

3. It is always good to use gingelly oil for better taste(for brinjal) and I think it is an healthy option too(well any oil cannot be healthy still...)

Kovakka or Tindora Fry

Another dry curry!
Tindora is something common and cheap, back home. I do find a lot of them even here. Are you bored of making the same old fry using salt and chilli? Here I come with 2 variations. Simple yet yummy.

Variation 1

Ingredients:

Tindora- 20 nos

Shallots (small onions)- 10

Red chillies - 2

Oil - 1 table spoon

Mustard - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Cut the tindora length wise into thin strips.

2. Fry the shallots and red chillies in a teaspoon of oil, grind and keep it aside.

3. Heat the oil, temper the mustard and add the tindora.

4. After it gets slightly cooked, add salt and the ground paste.

5. Fry them well and the curry is ready to serve. Goes well with rice.

Variation 2

Ingredients:
Tindora- 20 nos (sliced length wise)
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Pav Bhaji Masala - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 table spoon
Jeera - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil and season with jeera.

2. Add the chilli powder and tindora in that order.

3. After it gets cooked, mix the salt and pav bhaji masala. This does the trick and gives a north Indian flavor which makes it suitable for rotis.

Tip : You can also mix half a cup of boiled channa. Ofkors remember to adjust salt and chilli accordingly.

Aloo fry

which is something different from the normal pan fried potatoes. The masala used is similar to that used for dum aloo. This is in a dry form and maybe you can vary this to make a dum aloo gravy. I will try that soon and post it. This goes well with roti, rice and typical south indian gravies also - a welcoming change.Ingredients:
Baby Potatoes 1/2 kg
pepper 1 tsp
dhania seeds 1tsp
Garlic 4
Ginger 1 big piece
Red chilli powder 2 tsp
Haldi 1/2 tsp
Jeera 2 tsp
Spice powder - Cardomom,cinnamon,cloves 2 each fried over a dry tawa and powdered
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
Coriander to garnish

Method:
1) Pressure cook the potatoes
2) Peal and prick the potatoes with a fork
3) Grind pepper,Dhania seeds,garlic and ginger to a fine paste
4) Smear the potatoes with salt,turmeric,chilli powder,the ground paste and keep aside
5) Heat oil and season with jeera
6) Fry the potatoes till golden brown
7) Add the spice powder and garnish with chopped coriander

Great side dish for more kozhambu and my mouth is watering as I write this :P