The perfect coffee companion - Apple n Carrot muffins :)

Carrot and raisin muffins with a steaming cup of coffee tastes heavenly. I still have the taste lingering in my mouth... I am not an avid baker and seldom indulge in baking. Occasionally, I get super inspired to bake and in the heat of the moment, I do some good work ;) Here is one such recipe- it's got em' all- carrot, apple, raisin & nuts (super moist) muffins-

What do we need?

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup yogurt
1/3 cup melted butter
1 medium apple peeled and chopped finely
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped cashew nuts
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of cardamom powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 eggs

How did I do it?


In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together with sugar and slowly mix in the yogurt, apple, carrot, raisins, melted butter, vanilla and nuts. Add the flour to this mixture and blend in the cardamom powder. Stir till it has blended well. Using a spoon, fill in the greased muffin cups with the batter. Bake for around 25-30 minutes in a pre-heated oven @ 175 degree celsius. Once cooled, they taste divine with a steaming cup of coffee. Yum!
(Dust the muffins with powdered sugar-optional)

Lemon Vermicelli

Small black mustard seeds merrily bouncing in a pan- happy, carefree till they meet up with rough and hot green chilli pieces. A savory story unfolds in my kitchen with the main star as vermicelli (type of pasta, thinner than spaghetti) and carrot pieces, green peas, green beans acting in a supporting role. The story becomes vibrant with turmeric powder in a special role and of course one can't undermine the role of lemon juice which becomes the whole essence of our savory story. The story rocks the box office with every bit of vermicelli lapped up by the hungry audience :) -

Ingredients-

Vermicelli - 2cups

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 cup carrot (sliced)

1/2 cup peas

curry leaves (4-5 leaves)

mustard seeds 3/4 tsp

cumin seeds 1/4 tsp (omit if you want)

1 tbsp lemon juice

turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

grated ginger (1/4 tsp)

1/2 tsp gram dal (yellow lentils) 

green chillies (2 ) chopped

coriander leaves chopped for garnishing

**Generally this dish is made without the vegetables- but then my savory story had to be different! 

How did I make it?

Cook vermicelli in boiling water with a little bit of oil (so that it doesn't stick together). Once cooked, drain excess water and keep it aside. This removes the starch and makes it non sticky! Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds. As they begin to sputter, add gram dal (yellow lentils), ginger, curry leaves and green chilli pieces. Add turmeric powder and mix well. Toss in the vegetables and cook on a medium flame till the vegetables become soft and tender- sprinkle a bit of water to cook the vegetables. Once the vegetables are cooked, add lemon juice. Mix in the vermicelli and adjust salt according to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves!

Red quinoa & green beans medley!

I was late in joining the quinoa cult- though late, I am glad that I joined :)- The good thing is, working with quinoa is super easy and you can be really creative with it. It works great with Indian flavors and there isn't any spice I haven't tried with Quinoa. To be honest, when I purchased it for the first time I had no idea what to do with it. I kept staring at the packet for a long time...I cursed myself for the impulsive purchase and googled all the recipes that can be found on Quinoa. Finally, I decided to boil it and make it into a salad. I boiled it, mixed it with cucumber and tomatoes and made it into a salad- I will be lying if I wrote that I loved that damn dish. It was a disaster. Those were my initial days with Quinoa- Now, I can work magic with Quinoa and anyone who doesn't like quinoa will think twice if they tried it my way (with Indian spices).

Ingredients-

2 small cups red quinoa

1 cup green beans- 

1/2 cup carrots

1 medium sized onion (sliced)

1 tomato chopped finely

1 tsp cumin seeds

curry leaves- chopped

salt according to taste

asafoetida powder (dash of it will do- omit if you want)

chopped green chilli pieces (2 green chillies used)

2-3 tbsp grated coconut

1 tsp hot madras curry powder (alternatively, you can work with garam masala)

How did I make it?

Bring some water to boil and put your quinoa in it. Allow the quinoa to cook for 15 to 20 minutes (till it is soft and well cooked). Once your quinoa is cooked, keep it aside. In a separate wok, heat oil and add cumin seeds & dash of asafoetida powder. Allow the cumin seeds to sputter. Add onions and green chilli pieces, fry them till translucent. Toss in the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Mix green beans, carrots and toss well. Allow the vegetables to cook and become tender. Add salt, grated coconut, curry powder and curry leaves. Mix it thoroughly by adding a bit of oil. Blend in the cooked quinoa to this mixture. Cook for five minutes on a medium flame. Garnish with coriander leaves!

Ven pongal- South Indian Festive rice!

One of the 28 states, Tamilnadu has historically been an agricultural state for India- It is also the leading producer of agricultural products in India (source- Wikipedia). Come January, the whole state gets ready to celebrate "Pongal" also known as harvest festival! The idea is to thank god for the bounty harvest and is celebrated at harvest time.

When you talk about Pongal festival, you definitely gotta talk about the food delicacies prepared- sakarai pongal and ven pongal! These are rice based dishes and come in sweet (sakarai pongal) and salty flavors (ven pongal). Ven pongal is not just prepared for the festivities- It is a popular dish in many south Indian homes and is often served as breakfast/tiffin. It is rich in flavor and takes minimal effort. Rice cooked with lentils and combined with pepper, cumin seeds and curry leaves provides the flavors. Highlight of this dish?cashewnuts sauteed in butter/ghee simply catapults this dish to a different height! Don't believe me? Check out-

Ingredients-

1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong dal (yellow lentils)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp whole black pepper seeds
1/2 tsp grated ginger
dash of asafoetida powder
chopped curry leaves (4 to 5)
2-3 tbsp ghee or butter (generally you work with ghee for this dish- but I had to substitute cooking butter)
Salt (according to taste)
oil to saute spices

Preparation-

Step 1 is to cook the rice with lentils- Wash the uncooked rice and keep it separate. Dry roast the lentils on a pan before mixing to your rice-Cook the rice with roasted lentils by adding 3-4 cups of water and salt according to your taste. Once cooked, keep it aside. Coarsely crush the peppercorns and cumin seeds. In a frying pan, add oil and saute ginger. Add the crushed pepper and cumin seeds with curry leaves. Mix in a dash of asafoetida powder and saute for a couple of seconds. Remove from heat and set it aside. In a separate pan, fry the cashew nuts in 1 tbsp of ghee/butter till they are crisp. Add the roasted spices and cashew nuts to you cooked rice and ensure that the spices have blended well. Mix in the remaining butter/ghee to your rice and serve!

What is ghee? Ghee is clarified butter and works great with the above dish- The nuts and ghee accentuates the flavor of pepper and cumin to make it a wonderful dish!

Happy Pongal to all! Sending this recipe to an event hosted by a fellow blogger- Pongal fest event

Flavorful quinoa!

It is small, red and very intimidating to look at! It will look at you from the package and dare you to come up with something innovative...Once you get to know it, you will be humbled by its sheer goodness- that's quinoa in a nutshell for me :) I spiked it up with some Indian flavors- Check out!

Ingredients-

Red quinoa- 2 cups

Bell peppers- 1/2 cup (preferably yellow one- color combination works great with red quinoa)

Broccoli (1/2 cup)

Onion - 1 medium sized (sliced)

Corriander leaves - chopped

Cumin seeds

Dry red chilli piece- broken in half (alternatively, you can use chopped green chillies)

2-3 tbsp grated coconut

Salt according to taste

Sambar powder (1/2 tsp)- completely optional (alternatively, you can use garam masala, curry masala powders)

** sambar powder is a spicy powder consisting of lentils, corriander seeds, mustard, black pepper, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds** (you will get it ready made from any Asian grocery shop)

Preparation-

Bring some water to boil and put the quinoa in. Allow the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes or until the water is fully absorbed. Keep it aside. In a seperate wok heat some oil. Add cumin seeds and allow them to sputter. Add the red chilli pieces and sliced onions. Fry them till they are translucent. Toss in the bell peppers, broccoli. Cook for few minutes before adding sambar powder and salt. Add the cooked quinoa and cook all the ingredients for a few minutes. For the finishing touch add the grated coconut and corriander leaves. 

Fridge clean-up!

So, here I am, left with a stack of bread (white bread) with no one in mood for any kind of sandwich. I hate wastage of any kind- especially food :( - I put on my thinking hat and whip up something really flavorful which just vanished within seconds. Check out!

Ingredients-

• 6-7 bread slices
• 1/2 cup bell peppers (red and yellow)
• green peas (1/4 cup)
• chopped corriander leaves
• curry leaves (5-6 leaves-chopped)
• 2 green chillies ( chopped)
• one medium sized onion (sliced)
• 1/4 cup grated coconut
• groundnuts
• salt (according to taste)
• paprika powder- 1/2 tsp
• turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• garam masala/curry masala powder-1/2 tsp
• cumin seeds

Preparation-
Cut the bread slices into small squares or shred them into tiny pieces and keep aside. In a wok, add butter or cooking oil and allow it to heat. Add the cumin seeds and wait for it to sputter. Saute onions, chillies, groundnuts, bell peppers and peas. Throw in the spices- paprika powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder/curry masala powder with salt. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes before adding the bread pieces. Add the grated coconut and curry leaves. Allow the bread pieces to take in the flavor and turn golden brown. I will leave the wok partially covered and put the gas on a low flame to ensure that the bread turns golden brown with the flavor. Of course, my signature to any dish is the chopped corriander leaves. Just finished eating and all I can say is BURP :)

Nutty, lemony fidelini!

Vermicelli or fidelini is a kind of pasta that is thinner than spaghetti and looks like little worms :)
You can be super creative with fidelini and whip up something fast and tasty. This is my creative version of fidelini - of course with an Indian touch.




Ingredients-

• 2 cups fidelini/vermicelli
• 1 cup chopped red and green bell peppers
• 1/2 cup canned sweet corn
• 1 onion sliced
• 1/2 cup green peas
• peanuts
• crushed black pepper (1/2 tsp)
• cashew nuts
• lime juice (1&1/2 tsp)
• chopped corriander leaves
• turmeric powder
• mustard seeds
• chopped chilli pieces (1 big red chilli)
• garam masala (3/4 tsp)
• salt (according to taste)
• cooking oil

Preparation- Boil fidelini till they are soft. Rinse it in cold water to remove any starch. Make sure that the noodles don't stick to each other. In a wok, pour around three tablespoons of cooking oil. As it gets hot, toss in the mustard seeds and allow them to sputter. Add cashew nuts, ground nuts and fry them till golden brown. Put in the onions and fry them till they are translucent. Add green chillies, bell peppers, peas, corn and fry them till they are crispier. Toss in the turmeric powder, crushed pepper, garam masala and salt. As the vegetables take in the spice add the fidelini and cook them all together. Before serving add lemon juice and chopped corriander leaves- Enjoy!

Vibrant Vermicelli

With the football fever around you hardly feel like cooking at home- We land up ordering pizzas before the game. Absolutely sick and tired of eating pizzas, I decided to do some fast cooking- I remembered having a packet of vermicelli (rice noodles or fedelini) and decided to toss it up with some vegetables in fridge- Took me half an hour to prepare and simply vanished within seconds when served :)

Ingredients- Grab all the vegetables that you can find in your fridge- Peas, carrot, beans, Cauliflower, broccoli... cut them and keep it aside. Empty the packet of vermicelli on a hot frying pan and dry roast it till it is light brown. In a wok, heat some oil. When the oil is hot - toss in cumin seeds, peanuts (optional), cashew nuts, green chillies or red dried chillies and fry it till golden brown. Now toss in the vegetables and give a good swirl. Add salt according to taste. Once the vegetables are tender, pour in two cups of water (for two cups of vermicelli) and allow it to boil. When the water is boiling add the roasted vermicelli and allow it to cook with the vegetables. When the vermicelli is cooked and water has completely dried up add in some butter or oil and give it a good toss. This will stop the noodles from sticking to each other and give an enhanced taste. Before serving, add in chopped corriander leaves and enjoy your football game! Tastes great with hot chilli sauce-