Baby potato curry

Hands down, potatoes are versatile and can be cooked with different spices to match your palette. I normally, do a stir fry with paprika powder and a touch of cumin seeds and it really tastes gorgeous with roti/rice. This time around, I decided to do a stir fry with southern Indian spices and notched up the heat a bit. Result? The baby potatoes just explode into your mouth with the gorgeous spices giving an inherent taste. Highlight of this dish? Black peppercorns! Yes, the subtle heat it generates is just wonderful and works great with the potatoes. Cooking the dish is very easy but the initial preparation is labour intensive- especially, when you have to peel the skin from 500 grams of small potatoes and shallots. Trust me, it’s worth the effort! Go on indulge in this flavorful journey where potatoes are cooked with roasted spice mix and you can vary the spice level according to your choice.

Baby potato fry

Small potatoes cooked with southern Indian spices!

Ingredients

• Baby potatoes- 500 grams (boiled and peeled)
• Whole dry red chilli-4
• Urad dal (split black gram-skinless/lentils) – 1 tbsp
• Black peppercorn- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- about 4-5 leaves (roughly chopped)
• Salt according to taste
• Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• Asafetida powder- dash of it
• Small onions/shallots- 10-15
• Cooking oil (generous dose)

Instructions

1. Dry roast the red chilies, lentils, black peppercorn & coriander seeds.
2. Allow them to cool & grind them to a fine powder.
3. In a frying pan add oil and once hot add dash of asafetida powder.
4. Add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
5. Add curry leaves and shallots, saute them till golden brown.
6. Stir in the potatoes and adjust salt according to taste.
7. Add the spice powder and cook the potatoes on a low flame for 5 minutes.
8. Potatoes get a lovely brown color with the spices- Remove from flame and serve!

Notes

Curry leaves are used extensively in southern Indian cooking and added for seasoning.

Published @ Honest Cooking -http://honestcooking.com/2011/10/26/baby-potato-curry/

Eggplant Rice (Brinjal rice)

Nothing thrills me like fresh stock of vegetables on display at the market. I am pulled automatically to the vegetable counter if I see some fresh stock of vegetables- I don’t know if it is their color or their vibrancy that attracts me? The other day, I was amazed to see some shimmering eggplants at my market and I loved the glistening coat and their texture. You get to see two varieties in the market- big-sized eggplants and the cute little small ones. I love the small ones, which taste heavenly in any kind of south Indian cooking.

This rice dish, celebrates the eggplants, which has been sautéed with Indian spices and will leave a lingering taste in your mouth. Creativity is the essence here- You can recreate this dish with different vegetables and vary spice level according to your palette. The recipe credit goes to my mom, who has always shown me the path to enjoy different flavors. so, Enjoy :)

Shimmering eggplants sauteed with feisty Indian spices combines with rice to create this simple & tasty delicacy!

Ingredients

• Basic Ingredients-
• 2 large onions (chopped)
• 3-4 small eggplants (cut in cubes)
• 3 tomatoes (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves (crushed & chopped finely)
• tsp grated ginger
• Uncooked rice- 1 cup
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Asafetida powder (just a dash)
• 2 Green chillies- slit and cut in half
• Spices used-
• Cinnamon stick- ½ inch
• Bay leaf- 1
• Sambar powder- ½ tsp
• Garam masala- ¼ tsp
• Coriander seeds (sabut dhania) 100 gms
• 3-4 dry red chilies
• Cardamom pods -3

Instructions

1. Wash the rice & cook it in a non stick pan with two cups of water. Alternatively, you can use a rice cooker/pressure cooker for the same. Just ensure that the cooked rice is not sticky and the grains are separated.
2. Dry roast the coriander seeds, dry red chilies, cardamom seeds and grind them to a fine powder.
3. Heat some cooking oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Allow the seeds to crackle and add asafetida powder.
4. Add green chillies, bay leaf, garlic and ginger. Allow the oil to soak up the flavor.
5. Add onions and saute them well till translucent.
6. Add tomatoes and allow them to cook for few minutes.
7. Toss in the eggplants and cook till tender.
8. Enhance it by adding the sambar powder & garam masala. Allow the eggplants to absorb the spices. If need be, sprinkle a bit of water so that the mixture doesn’t get too dry.
9. Add the ground spices that we prepared earlier and ensure that the mixture has incorporated all the spices well. Adjust salt according to your taste.
10. Add this mixture to your cooked rice and blend well till the rice has absorbed the mixture completely.
11. Serve hot with raita and pickle!

Notes

Sambar powder is readily available at any Asian store and is normally prepared by pan roasting whole spices like lentils, coriander seeds, dried whole red chili, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves & grinding them to a coarse powder.

Published @ Honest Cooking - http://honestcooking.com/2011/10/19/spicy-eggplant-rice/

Coconut & gram flour barfi

I love October & November in India. The air is full of festivity & the entire country is geared up for Navratri followed by diwali! How can I not get in the spirit? After numerous calls to my mom I finally procured her secret barfi recipe and gave it a try. Poor mom, she was with me on skype call throughout the entire process & I simply bugged her with my insane questions. Well, barfi turned out into a melt-in-mouth delight and here I am munching merrily on it and writing my blog post :)

Nick named as seven cup barfi here are the ingredients required-

1 cup Gram flour/besan
1 cup grated coconut
1 cup ghee/clarified butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup full cream milk

Additional touch-

cardamom powder
cashew nuts & raisins for decoration

Preparation-

In a non-stick pan, add ghee (clarified butter) around 1 tbsp and gently roast the gram flour on a low flame. Keep tossing the flour for a couple of seconds till it loses its raw flavor. Add grated coconut and mix the flour with the coconut for few minutes. Add sugar, milk and only half a cup of ghee (retain the other half for later) to the pan. Keep mixing all the ingredients on a medium flame for 10 to 15 minutes. Ensure there are no lumps and all the ingredients have been incorporated well. Add the remaining half cup of clarified butter/ghee and mix well. Add cardamom powder and stir till the mixture starts thickening. Once the mixture thickens switch off the gas and dunk the contents on a greased plate. Before it completely sets, cut them into desired shapes. Decorate it with cashew nuts & raisins and watch it simply melt in your mouth....oops, there goes another barfi in my mouth ;)

Gnocchi in a minty tomato sauce

Phew....what started as a hobby has now become a high pressure job! Yes, I am talking about the blog ;) - I have so many ideas floating and buzzing but when it comes to execution less than 1% of my ideas actually become a reality. I have to put in a praise for some blogs that I frequent and follow- the pictures, the innovative recipes & some are exceptionally talented in writing. Here I am struggling to get in one decent post per week :(

Okay, enough with the negativity and focussing on creativity here is my post on a pasta dish- Gnocchi (soft dumplings made with flour, egg, cheese and potato). I love gnocchi & cooking it is super easy. You can make gnocchi from scratch but a lazy bone like me prefers to get it ready made from the shop and keep things easier ;) What is special is the sauce I made for the dish- a simple blend of tomatoes with mint touch. I am partial to this pasta and can eat gnocchi all day long! ah, yum! Go on, indulge-

Ingredients-

• 500 grams Gnocchi 
• Olive oil 
• 4-5 tomatoes (pureed)
• One large onion (chopped)
• Mint leaves (small bunch of leaves)
• 1 or 2 dry hot red chillies, broken into pieces/ alternatively you can use paprika powder 3/4 tsp or 1/2 tsp depending on your spice level
• Salt (according to taste)
• Garlic- 4-5 cloves, minced
• Crushed black pepper 
• Grated cheese (parmesan) for topping

Preparation-

In a pan, saute the onion and garlic with olive oil. Once the onion has softened, add the pureed tomatoes and paprika powder. Cook the mixture for few minutes before seasoning it with salt and pepper. Allow it to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes till it thickens to a good sauce consistency. Wash the mint leaves and chop them roughly. Add it to the simmering sauce and give it a quick stir. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi for two minutes in salted boiling water. Once cooked, drain excess water and keep it aside. Final touch- add the sauce to gnocchi and mix well. Serve with grated parmesan!

Paneer gravy with sweet corn recipe

Me and Mom share a very special relation- We are two giggly people chatting away to glory on insane topics and we always catch up on our special topic- food. If I try out anything special, she is the first one to know about it and she makes me feel special even for a small recipe. In this buzy world, she is the only soul who sincerely wants to know what I ate for the day and I love the bond we share :) - Over the weekend, I made paneer gravy with sweet corn and was explaining all about it to my mom (who as usual made me feel that I am the best cook in the world). She loved the whole concept and here I am blogging all about it....The gravy rocks with paneer and sweet corn and will make you fill up your plates for a generous third serving! Doesn't need too much effort and goes great with rice/rotis.

What goes in??

Sweet corn kernel- 1 cup (boiled and tender)
Paneer (cubed) - 150 gms
Green bell pepper- 1 medium (sliced)
Garlic - crushed & chopped (4-5 cloves)
Ginger- grated (1/2 tsp)
Onions - 2 medium sized (finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized (finely chopped)
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt according to taste
Oil for cooking

For the additional punch-
Coriander leaves (chopped)
Fresh cream (optional)
Kasoori methi leaves / dry fenugreek leaves (1 tsp)

Preparation-

• In a wok/kadai, heat some oil.
• Add cumin seeds and allow them to sputter.
• Add onions and fry till translucent.
• Add garlic and ginger and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add tomatoes and cook on a medium flame till they become mushy and blend well with onions.
• Now comes the spices- add coriander powder, garam masala powder, red chilli powder.
• Mix all the ingredients and cook till it the oil separates from masala and floats above.
• Add a bit of water (not too much- around 1/4 cup or less).
• Mix in the corn & bell peppers.
• Add Kasoori methi leaves and allow the bell peppers to cook with the gravy.
• Adjust salt according to your taste.
• Add paneer cubes to the gravy and cook it on a low flame for few minutes.
• Mix in the fresh cream (optional).
• Garnish with coriander leaves!

Arachuvitta sambhar (tamarind gravy with a coconut twist)

I have been waiting to post this recipe for months - Finally, I am able to post the most authentic south Indian cuisine that tastes great with dosa, idli or rice. What is sambhar? It's the celebrated tamarind gravy cooked with rich spices(sambhar powder), lentils and vegetables of your choice. How different is Arachuvitta sambhar from normal sambhar? Sambhar comes in all varities- this one is cooked with roasted spices and grated coconut to lend in an enhanced flavor. If you haven't eaten arachuvitta sambhar, you haven't had the real deal yet!

Hands down, shallots are the popular choice for sambhar (called chinna vengayam arachuvitta sambhar). However, I decided to go with drumsticks (second popular choice) and boy, I still have the taste lingering in my mouth.

Ingredients-

Toor dal- 1 cup
Drumsticks- cut like sticks, about the size of your finger (used about 1 1/2 drumsticks)
Tamarind (about lemon sized ball)- soaked in warm water (we need the essence of the tamarind)
Sambhar powder- 2tsp (this is a spicy powder that you can get in any asian store)
Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp)
Salt according to taste
Mustard seeds (1 tsp)
Asafoetida powder (dash of it)
Curry leaves (for seasoning)
Onion-1 (sliced)

Ingredients for the spicy powder-

Coriander seeds- 11/2 tbsp
Dry red chilli- 3 pieces
Chana dal- 1 tsp
Grated coconut- 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam) 1/2 tsp

Initial preparation-

• Pressure cook the toor dal with a dash of turmeric powder till they are soft and tender.
• Dry roast the ingredients mentioned under the spicy powder- just ensure you don't burn it- keep the flame low and gently roast the ingredients till golden brown. The aroma you get by roasting these ingredients is pure bliss!
• Once roasted, allow them to cool and grind them to a fine powder.

Let's get the show started-

• In a pan add oil and once hot saute the onions.
• When the onions turn transparent add the tamarind extract with two cups of water and bring it to boil.
• Add turmeric powder, salt and sambar powder.
• Add the drumsticks and allow it to boil.
• Mash the boiled toor dal and mix to the boiling pot.
• Allow the drumsticks to get enriched with the lentils, tamarind extract and sambar powder. leave it simmering for good 20 minutes.
• Now add the roasted spice mix. Allow the sambar to boil for few minutes.
• In a separate pan, add some oil and add mustard seeds. Once they begin to pop, add curry leaves, asafetida powder.
• Add them to the sambhar and allow it to boil for few minutes.
• enjoy with dosa/idli!