Craving for simple home food...

Yipeeeeeeeeee....I have completed 50 blog posts! Going down the memory lane, I realized my odd ramblings in the initial posts, my struggle to explain flavors, my triumph with certain dishes, my pictures (and the list goes on). To be honest, I have hardly done anything spectacular compared to the other food blogs I frequent. On the other hand, I am happy to have my own corner where I can put my thoughts on food...it's just a great feeling! I have always enjoyed good food and for me cooking is pure joy and creativity. 


Today, I am in no mood for anything remotely fancy. Just want to eat simple food- the usual vegetables and my roti with dal. After all, nothing beats a simple home cooked food and this is what we come home to...don't we??


Spinach potato curry- (Aloo palak)


Ingredients-
Fresh spinach leaves - chopped/shredded finely(2-3 cups) 
5 large potatoes (boiled, peeled and cubed)
1 large onion (chopped finely)
4-5 cloves of garlic (chopped finely) - need I say anything on my love for garlic??
1 red dry chilli - broken into pieces
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt (according to taste)


Preparation- Once you have assembled the ingredients, it's an easy ride from there. Heat oil in a wok. Add cumin and dry chilli pieces. Allow them to sputter. Add the garlic and stir for a couple of seconds till the oil absorbs the garlic flavor. Add the onions and cook for few minutes till they start turning golden brown. Add the chopped spinach leaves and cook them till they become soft. Spinach tends to reduce in size as they cook. Now add the potatoes, salt, turmeric, paprika powder and coriander powder. Cook them on a low flame (stirring occasionally) for 5-8 minutes till the potatoes blend well with the spinach. Enjoy with roti and dal!

Dal- (lentils) 


I love cooking lentils with minimal flavors. The only flavors I like in my dal are garlic, cumin, crushed pepper, coriander leaves and fiery green chillies. I also like using three types of lentils- mung dal- 1 cup, chana dal- 1/4 cup and toor dal- 1/2 cup. Pressure cook them till they melt into your mouth. In a frying pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter. Add cumin, green chilli pieces (slit them with knife - do not deseed them). As the cumin seeds start to sputter add chopped garlic (4-5 big cloves). Cook them for a couple of seconds before adding the cooked lentils. Add crushed pepper and salt according to taste. Serve them with sprinkled coriander leaves. Some like the dal a bit soupy (like me) and some love it rich and thick. Vary the quantity of water accordingly when cooking your dal! 
    

Vegetable stir fry Thai noodles

This is a simple recipe which can be cooked with no fuss- Ah, the hard part is chopping the vegetables...Especially, when someone like me becomes over ambitious and tries to add all known vegetables to mankind :P


Jokes apart, stir fry noodles can be made without much fuss and you can be super creative with it- 

Ingredients-

• 1 packet of noodles
• 1/2 red bell pepper (chopped into thin strips)
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper (chopped into thin strips)
• 1 medium sized onion (sliced)
• 1/2 zucchini (chopped into thin strips)
• 1/2 carrot (chopped into thin strips)
• 1/4 cup sweet corn (that comes in a tin)
• 5-6 pieces of mangetout or snap peas
• 1/4 cup sprouts
• 1/4 cup mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 spring onion (sliced)
• 1 small piece ginger (chopped into thin strips)
• 3 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped)- Needless to say, I am a huge fan of garlic!
• 2 tbsp mild soya sauce
• crushed black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
• salt (according to taste)

Phew! now that's one long list of vegetables...In all the hassle, I forgot to include tofu pieces-

Preparation-

• Add the pack of noodles to a pan of boiling water. Allow it to simmer for five minutes. Don't over cook your noodles and keep loosening them with a fork to stop them from sticking together.
• Drain and refresh in a bowl of cold water. Keep it aside.
• Stir fry the vegetables in a wok. Add the ginger and garlic first. Allow the oil to take the flavor. 
• Saute the sliced onions.
• Add mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, sprouts, spring onions and sweet corn. Keep stirring the vegetables.
• Add the zucchini, snap peas and continue stirring.
• As the vegetables start to get tender add the soya sauce, crushed black pepper and chilli flakes.
• Add salt according to your taste.
• Keep stirring till all the ingredients are well combined.
• Add the noodles to the wok and stir fry for five minutes. 
• Sprinkle some chopped coriander (optional) and serve immediately!

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. 

Penne Arrabiata

Everyone has a comfort food that they love whipping up in a short span of time...My comfort food is penne arabiata- With the main star as tomato, you could practically get this on the table within 10 minutes. There are countless variations of making this one- with white wine, red wine, balsamic vinegar....I like to keep it simple with just tomatoes and a strong flavor of garlic (I am nuts about garlic)

If you need something tangy and spicy which doesn't take too much time, then this dish is ideal-

Ingredients-

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4-5 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can Italian tomatoes with their juice, chopped 
• 1 or 2 dried hot red chilies, broken into pieces, or 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes to taste
• Salt to taste
• Penne pasta
• Crushed black pepper
• Grated parmesan to serve

Preparation-

In a pan, saute the onion and garlic with olive oil. Once the onion has softened, add the chopped tomatoes and chilli flakes. Cook the mixture for a few minutes before seasoning it with salt and pepper. Allow it to simmer for 20 minutes till it thickens to a good sauce consistency. Meanwhile, cook the penne pasta in plenty of salted water until it is softened. Remove from fire and drain the excess water. Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well. Serve with grated parmesan!

Pizza for a rainy saturday afternoon?

Rain, rain come again coz I wanna eat pizza again...Lol! Yeah, that is my theme song for this afternoon after having eaten a sumptuous home-made pizza :) Pizza is my all time favorite. I have eaten almost every brand available in the market. Love all versions- thin, thick, stuffed. So, when a lovely saturday is ruined by rain gods, all you can do is wander around your kitchen thinking of all possible food items you can eat. Why not pizza? Why not make it from a scratch- dough, topping? Why not settle down on your couch with a good pizza and watch a slick flick? That is how the rest of my story unfolds....

Sound- pitter, patter...(Rain)
Characters-  (Base/ Main characters) All purpose flour, yeast, italian herbs, salt, water, sugar
Characters- (side role/toppings) - Tomato sauce, garlic, jalapenos, onion, baby corn, olive oil

** Warning- This is my first shot at pizza making (turned out pretty good)- Will improvise to a thin crust in my next attempt!

Action- mix, knead, roll, spread...

Pizza is all about the base! The base has to be perfect- Any one can spread the topping if you get the base ready made. How do you make a good base? I did a lot of research on net to learn about the base (courtesy- Youtube videos). This is what I did to get it correct-

Take about 300 ml of warm water and mix about 2 tsp of yeast. Allow the yeast to grow and ferment in the warm water for a few minutes. Add 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp Italian herb mix, 1 tsp salt and mix it with the yeast water. Dump about 2 cups of flour on a flat surface. With the help of yeast water knead the flour till it is soft and fluffy. Put the dough in a container and seal it with a cloth. Allow the dough to raise for an hour.

Once the dough has risen, with the help of your hands flatten the dough. You will really get a good pizza with a pizza stone- Unfortunately, I don't have a stone and had to use a deep pan to make it.  Put your flattened pizza in a pan-

For the tomato sauce- Saute chopped tomatoes in olive oil with some oregano, garlic, chilli flakes and salt. Simmer it on a low flame till it thickens to a sauce consistency!

Spread some olive oil on the base before spreading the tomato sauce. Spread some chopped onions, chopped red bell peppers, shredded pizza cheese, jalapenos and baby corn. Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400°F. 

Not bad for a first attempt- I will be back next time with a thin crust...Watch out !

Guacamole dip with veggie tortilla

Gosh, guacamole is one recipe that has so many variations and you never get tired of trying different combinations of it! This one is slightly different and I gave it a twist with some ground cumin and pepper-

What do we need?


4 Avacados
about 2 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves (4 for a stronger garlic flavor- I am a huge garlic fan)
1 tomato chopped (the fleshier it is the better it comes out)
cilantro/corriander leaves
1 medium sized onion chopped
1/4 tsp ground cumin (dry roast cumin seeds on a pan till light brown and then grind it)
green chillies (4) (serrano chillies are preferable, if not use the normal ones like I used in this recipe)
salt and dash of ground pepper (according to taste)

How did I put together?

Peel and mash your avacados in a bowl. In a mixer/food processor, blend the rest of the ingredients for about five seconds. Add your mashed avacados and again blend them for few seconds. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving- Popularly used as a dip, I used it for the tortilla wrap- You can store it in a tightly closed jar and keep in fridge for two to three days...

Simple veggie filling- for the tortilla

You can use any vegetables for the filling- (I used 4 medium sized potatoes and 2 carrots for the filling). Chop the carrots and potatoes into cubes and boil them for around 10 minutes (till they have softened a bit and not lost their shape). In a separate wok add oil and once it is hot, toss in some fennel seeds. Add the potatoes and carrots and fry for few minutes. Add 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and salt. Cook the vegetables on a low flame till they are golden brown. Add chopped coriander leaves for the extra flavor.

Final presentation- 

Take a wheat tortilla and spread your guacamole on it. Fill in the veggies and roll them to enjoy your evening!

You can be really creative with the filling- Instead of guacamole, you can use salsa or garlic sauce with the vegetables- Makes a great lunch box recipe!

Patatas Bravas

Inspired by Jamie's recipe, here is my take on patatas bravas...very popular spanish spicy appetizer! Patatas bravas are nothing but fried potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce. Ever since I tasted this dish, I was in hunt for a good recipe. Inspired by Jamie oliver's book, I finally made my own patatas bravas and it was perfect for the Friday night by the telly! Enjoy-

What do we need?

4-5 medium sized potatoes- peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
Fresh rosemary leaves
dash of paprika powder
1 tsp fennel seeds
salt to taste

For the bravas sauce-
1 onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
red chillies- 3 (deseeded and roughly chopped)
1 carrot (chopped finely)
fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp paprika powder
3 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (recipe requires sherry vinegar, couldn't get a hold of it and had to substitute balsamic vinegar- Use sherry vinegar, if possible)
ground black pepper
salt (according to taste)

How did I put together?

Boil the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes till they start to get tender. Make sure they do not lose their shape. Remove from gas, drain the water and allow the potatoes to cool down. Once the potatoes reach the room temperature, cut them into cubes or chunks. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Add the potatoes to the pan (with garlic and rosemary leaves) and cook them till they are golden all over. Transfer the potatoes, garlic and rosemary to a plate. Add a dash of paprika powder, fennel seeds and salt. Toss them all together until well coated.

For the sauce- Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Cook it for five minutes before adding the chillies, carrot and thyme leaves. Cook them on a low flame for five minutes. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, paprika powder, salt and pepper. Bring it to boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes. The gravy should start getting thick and rich. Remove from gas, and allow it to cool. Use a mixer to blend the gravy to a smooth consistency sauce.

Serving suggestions-

Pour the sauce over the potatoes and toss them together (like I did). Alternatively, you can serve the sauce in a jug next to the potatoes in a bowl.

Tastes amazing! You know your recipe was a hit when you see an empty dish :) - Have a great weekend 

Patatas Bravas

Hummus

My shopping grocery list always has hummus in it. I love it so much that I decided to make a batch for myself- Pretty easy to make, after all! 

What do we need? 

1 can of chick peas

1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas

4 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp tahini

2 cloves garlic (I put 4 because I love the strong garlic flavor)

salt according to taste

2 tbstp olive oil

What is tahini?

Tahini is a sesame based gravy which you can get ready made in store. However, I couldn't find it and made it by myself. All you need is 3 tablespoon sesame seeds and 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Toast the sesame seeds in a pan on a low flame (don't allow it to get brown). After few minutes, blend it in a mixer to a fine paste with olive oil.

Now back to Hummus-

Drain the liquid from chick peas and keep it aside. In a mixer, combine all the ingredients and blend it for few minutes with the liquid from chickpeas. Place in a serving bowl and serve! 

                                                       

Tamarind fever

This is one recipe I was keen on making for such a long time. My mom makes great tamarind rice- though I got the recipe, I never got around to make it. You get instant tamarind powder mix at shops that can be added to your rice and the dish will be ready within 5 minutes. The joy of making a gravy from scratch and mixing with rice is lost in this fast paced world...In reality, I was cleaning my book shelf and found a notebook with some recipes from mom. The first recipe was tamarind gravy and I made it as my mom would make it- The best part is this gravy can be kept up to two weeks and I am enjoying some smashing tamarind rice whenever I feel like it- Enjoy!

Ingredients- Gravy

Tamarind paste (3 tsp)- dilute them in a bit of water
mustard seeds
yellow split peas (chana dal- 1tsp)
dry red chilli pieces- 2
salt
sesame seeds- 2 tbsp
groundnut- 3 tbsp
corriander seeds- 2 tbsp
paprika powder 1/2 tsp

Preparation -

In a wok, add some oil. Once the oil is hot throw in some mustard seeds and allow them to sputter. Add the yellow split peas, red chilli pieces and 1 tbsp of groundnuts. Fry for 1 minute and then add around 4 glasses of water to this. Add the diluted tamarind paste, 1/2 tsp paprika powder and salt (according to taste). Allow this tamarind water to boil. In a separate pan, fry the sesame seeds till light brown (in a bit of oil ) and set it aside. Fry the groundnuts and corriander seeds separately and keep it aside. In a mixer, grind the sesame seeds, groundnuts and corriander seeds to a fine powder. Once the tamarind water reduces to half, add this powder and stir it for few minutes. Keep it on a low flame and allow the mixture to thicken. Keep simmering the mixture till it becomes a good rich liquid gravy.

Now for the tamarind rice- Add the gravy to cooked rice...Simple! Vary the proportion of the gravy to your rice according to your taste-

Tofu balls...

I am the proud owner of Jamie oliver's book- (the new one- Jamie does Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, France and Greece). More than 70% of this book contains non vegetarian dishes and me being a hard core vegetarian (funny part is I am allergic to eggs...LOL) can only gaze at all the photos and pages. One recipe caught my eyes- Mini meatballs. I decided to make this with crumbled tofu instead of minced meat and did as stated in the book. I was quite skeptical when I started making this dish. I stuck to the recipe and boy, it paid off- The tofu balls turned out amazing and vanished within seconds...

Ingredients

olive oil

a small bunch of fresh parsley

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped 

(original recipe calls only for 2 cloves) 

250g crumbled tofu

50g fine bread crumbs 

(original recipe calls only for 25g)

salt and ground pepper

(original recipe calls for sea salt)

1 small dried chilli 

2 large ripe tomatoes

There are a lot of minor adjustments I made to this recipe. The recipe calls for egg yolk, which I omitted as I am allergic. Instead, I used extra bread crumbs. Jamie uses spanish extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. I just used plain olive oil.

Preparation- Heat some olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Fry some onions (use half portion of onions) and chopped parsley for few minutes. As the onions start to soften, add half portion of the chopped garlic. Fry for few more minutes, until the onion is completely softened. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl and leave it to cool completely.  Once the onions are cooled, add the crumbled tofu, bread crumbs, some chopped parsley leaves, dried chilli, salt and pepper. Use your hands to shape them into lemon-sized balls. Pop them in fridge to firm for half an hour. 

When the tofu balls are ready get them out of fridge. Heat some water in a pan. As the water starts to boil, drop in the tomatoes. After a minute or so, you will see the skin has cracked. Fish them out of water with tongs and allow them to cool. Once cooled, discard the skin, squeeze out the seeds and finely chop the flesh. Put a pan on high heat and add a good amount of olive oil.  Add the tofu balls and fry them for 10 minutes till they are brown. Add the remaining chopped onions and garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped tomato and keep shaking and stirring. Simmer for around 5 minutes until the onions are soft and cooked. Transfer everything to a serving dish, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over some olive oil and scatter over the rest of the parsley leaves. 

Enjoy!

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Lord Ganesha or elephant god is pretty popular in Hindu religion. Before starting any work, you always seek his blessings. Today, we celebrate his birth and it is celebrated in a grand manner all through out India. Here are some delicacies I made to please Lord Ganesha- Enjoy!

Sweet Modak

My favorite is the sweet modak. It's a simple dish made out of rice flour stuffed with jaggery and coconut which is steamed to perfection.

Ingredients-

Only four ingredients are required for this dish- Rice flour (2 cups), Jaggery (2/3 rd of a cup), 1 cup grated coconut, crushed cardamom for flavor.

Preparation- To prepare the dough, boil water in a wok. As it starts to boil, add one spoon oil and switch off your gas. To this boiling water, add the rice flour slowly and keep mixing till it becomes a smooth dough. For the filling, crush the jaggery to a powder consistency. On a low flame, melt the jaggery and as it starts to melt add grated coconut and cardamom. Mix thoroughly. Just ensure that the filling is not too mushy or too hard. Take a small ball of rice flour and flatten it with your hand. With your finger press the middle portion of the flattened dough so that it resembles a cup. Fill about half a spoon of the filling in middle. Close the dough with the filling in middle and shape the top to a small pointed dome.  Steam this for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

Medhu Vada- 


This dish sounds simple but requires precision and a bit of effort. All you need is a lentils batter which is shaped like a doughnut and fried till golden brown.

Ingredients- Urad dal (1 cup) - white gram/lentils, 2 tsp rice, chopped curry leaves, black pepper corn, 1 green chilli.

Preparation- Batter preparation is the tough part. Please note that urad dal and rice should be soaked in water for an hour. Drain the water completely and blend the lentils in a mixer to a smooth batter with green chillies, salt, curry leaves and pepper. The batter should be firm and not watery. Avoid using water when you blend it in a mixer. Once the batter is ready, heat oil in a wok. Shape the batter like a doughnut with a hole in middle and fry it to golden brown on both sides.

Sundal (Chick peas)-

This is a simple and a easy dish to make. All you need is chick peas steamed till they are soft and tender (alternatively, you can use a can of cooked chick peas). In a wok, heat some oil. Toss in some mustard seeds. As they start to sputter, add chopped green chillies and chopped curry leaves. Add the cooked chick peas with a bit of salt and mix them thoroughly. Final touch is the grated coconut. Add half a cup grated coconut to this and enjoy!

Spicy & flavorful rice...

For our team dinner, we went to a fancy restaurant and the food was great. I loved the starter (cucumber salad with dill). For the main course, I ordered a vegetable stir fry with rice. The way they had described it on the menu sounded really exotic. When I received the dish (don't have pictures to show- unfortunately) it was a simple dish where the chef had cooked the vegetables with soya sauce and blended it with basmati rice. I was expecting something complex but received something simple and flavorful! Full marks to the chef :)- Well, this is not a restaurant review- But an explanation of my source of inspiration for my egg plant rice. For my dish, I cooked the eggplant (with Indian flavors, of course) and mixed it with basmati rice to create a simple and a unique eating experience. Enjoy!

Ingredients-

1. Basmati rice (cooked- 2 cups)
2. 1 egg plant (medium sized)
3. onions (sliced- 2 small)
4. one tomatoe (chopped)
5. 3 cloves garlic
6. green chilli (1- chopped fine)
7. salt
8. paprika powder
9. cooking oil

For the Indian flavors- (optional)

1. 3/4 tsp garam masala 
2. corriander leaves chopped fine
3. mustard seeds (1/4 tsp)
4. grated coconut (2 spoons)

Preparation- Cook your basmati rice and keep it separate. Preparing the egg plant is quite simple. In a wok, pop some mustard seeds in cooking oil before adding onion. Saute the onion. Once onion is golden crispy brown, add crushed and chopped garlic, chilli pieces and tomatoes. Don't allow the tomatoes to get mushy. Add egg plant (chopped in cubes) to this and stir fry with a bit of oil. Add paprika powder, salt, garam masala, grated coconut. Give it to a twirl and finally add the corriander leaves. Mix the vegetables with rice and enjoy!