Not regular at all :-)

I have not been very regular posting have I??! Well, I apologize. The intentions are there but it is just that I have not been finding time to post. The last couple of days just hit the bed and was out before my son fell asleep!! Yesterday I did wake up again at 12 but did not really want to start my laptop at that hour..
Well, anyways.... Was watching the animated Beauty and the Beast with my son yesterday. Was soo much fun! I mean we all have the so called "Beasts" in our lives - the question is when do they all turn into the prince??? :-))
I forgot to take pics of the pasta that I made on Monday. Well, I did not really "do" anything. The sauce was store bought. So just cooked the pasta and mixed it with the sauce. Only added a little bit of garlic and dry red chillies to the store bought basil pasta sauce to turn it into an "arrabiata" sauce.
Yesterday made a cheat "palak" paneer. All the leftover greens (it was a mixture of various kinds) from the last four days were utilized into the "palak" paneer! And aloo paratha to go with it.

"Palak" paneer and aloo paratha

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Aloo Paratha

4 potatoes boiled and peeled and mashed

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

Pinch of asafoetida and cumin seeds

Salt and chilli pd to taste

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp turmeric, garam masala pd

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. When the onions start turning brown add the tomatoes and the spice powders and salt and cook till it comes together as one. Now add a little water and the mashed potatoes and mix well. Use this as a stuffing inside the dough and roll them out as parathas.

Palak Paneer

2 cups of palak or any other greens!

1 cup of cubed paneer - shallow fried till light brown

2 onions chopped

3 green chillies slit

2 tomatoes chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ajwain seeds

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin and ajwain seeds. After they splutter add the onions, garlic and saute till the onions turn brown. Now add the tomatoes and green chillies and saute till the tomatoes are cooked. Cool and grind to a paste. Return this to the fire and then add the spice powders. Let it simmer for a minute then add the paneer pieces and cook for 2 mins. Serve hot with chapati.

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After days of gluttony.....

It has been a while since I posted. And I have been eating out and not cooking all these days :-)
Usually on weekends the cooking goes for a mini vacation and I indulge in outside food. This weekend was no different. Went to this great restaurant called The Great Kabab Factory. The food here is simply superb. They start with an array of kababs (about 6-8 varieties), and then go on to the main course (rotis (5 varieties and one sabji and tow daals, and biryani) and then the dessert (there are 5). All of this is unlimited and you can eat as much as you want. I just love the place! Anyways Sat was dear old dominos to the rescue! and Sunday was Kabab Factory so it was a weekend of gluttony!!!
Come Monday and I goaded myself to cook! Today's menu was a Green gram masala and raw plaintain fry. And of course an import from my mother's place - The Black-Eye peas masala.

Black eye peas masala, green gram masala and plantain fry

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Green Gram Masala

2 cups green gram washed and cooked

2 tomatoes chopped

2 onions chopped

10 flakes of garlic chopped

Salt, chilli pd to taste

1 tsp turmeric, coriander and jeera (cumin) powder

A pinch of cumin seeds

Heat oil in a pan and cumin seeds. After they splutter add the garlic and saute till they release their aroma. Now add the onions and fry till they turn color. Now add the tomatoes and saute till they are cooked. Cool and grind this to a paste. Return to the fire and add the spice powders and let it cook for a minute. Now add the cooked gram and 1 cup of water and let it simmer for 5 mins. Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

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See you tomorrow!

No cooking today!

I am afraid that this blog is going to turn into a food journal of what I eat each day. Julie of Julie and Julia stuck to her plan and kept cooking each day till she got through with all the recipes, I have been taking days off!! Well, I think it is okay since I was not competing with her or trying to do the same thing. :-)

Well, today's meal was sponsored by my mil. She had made tomato chapatis (flour mixed with tomatoes, chillies and onions all ground together and then made into rotis), a curry made of fresh green garbanzo beans, moong daal tadka and corn methi pulao. Recipes for all maybe some day... Here is the picture of the meal.

Green garbanzo beans curry, moong daal tadka, tomato rotis and methi and corn pulao

Wishing every one a very Merry Christmas! Eat and Be Merry!

Weekend's approaching.....

I am watching a Hindi movie called "Frozen". It is a black and white movie about a family living in a remote village in the Himalayas and how their lives are interrupted when the army moves in to their vicinity. I was so pleasantly surprised to see this movie. From what I have seen so far it is superb! Mind you, it is not for the people who love "Munni banaam hui" and "Sheila ki jawani" and the likes.. IT is for people who enjoy good cinema. Go watch it. I am sure you will like it.

Back to the task at hand. Today's menu was Methi (Fenugreek Leaves) Daal and Avarakkai (Green Hyacinth Beans) Curry.

Avarakkai Curry and Methi Daal

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Methi (Fenugreek Leaves) Daal

1 cup tuvar dal washed 

1 cup chopped methi leaves (wash the leaves well and coarsely chop them)

1 tbsp tamarind pulp

Put all of the above and pressure cook them till the daal is cooked and turns mushy.

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

10 cloves of garlic chopped

2 green chillies slit

1 dry red chilli

1 tsp turmeric pd

Salt and chilli pd to taste

Pinch of cumin and mustard seeds

In a pan heat oil and add the mustard seeds. After that add the cumin seeds, dry red chilli then the garlic. Saute till the garlic releases its aroma. Now add the onions and saute till it turns brown. Now add the tomatoes and green chillies and saute till the tomatoes turn mush. Add the turmeric, salt and chilli pd. Meanwhile take the tamarind, little bit of the daal and methi and grind it to a paste. Add this and the remaining daal to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Avarakkai (Green Hyacinth Beans) Curry

500 gms avarakkai slit four-ways and then chopped into 2 inch pieces

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt and chilli pd to taste

4 tbsps groudnut powder

Cook the avarakkai with a little water, covered till they are half cooked. Heat a pan and add oil. Now add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Now add the beans and let them saute till they turn brown. Now add the salt, turmeric and chilli pd and the ground nut powder. Saute for a few minutes more till the spice loses its raw smell and the ground nut powder is well incorporated. Serve with rice or roti.

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Extremely tired..

I am not sure if it is the cold and cough (yes! still have it!!) or the cold weather; but I feel super tired and sleepy and have been feeling the same way for the past 3-4 days. Hopefully will get my mojo back soon. This feels like I am in some sort of a drug induced stupor and all I want to do is sleep all day...
Well, getting back to the menu for today - it was Stuffed Karela (bitter gourd) and Quick Cauliflower curry.

Greens stir fry, stuffed karela, cauliflower curry and chapati

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Stuffed Karela (Bitter gourd)

6 bitter gourds - midly shave their skin so that part of it is gone then cut them in halves and quarter the pieces 3/4th of the way (do not completely cut them) and take the insides out. You should end up with 4 inch pieces which have a 4 way slit with the insides out but still joined at the ends.

1 cup ground nuts - roasted with a little oil

15-20 garlic cloves (this is one recipe that all garlic lovers will love!!)

Salt and chilli pd to taste

Heat a pan and add about a tablespoon of oil. Fry the bitter gourd pieces till they are cooked and turn brown. Remove and cool. Meanwhile, grind the ground nuts, garlic cloves, chilli pd and salt in a mixer till you get a coarse powder. Now stuff this mixture into the bitter gourd pieces and press it down and bring the ends together while stuffing so that the ends of it are sealed with the stuffing. That's it! Serve with rotis or rice.

Quick Cauliflower Curry

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 onion sliced

Salt and chilli pd to taste

A pinch of cumin seeds

1 tsp of turmeric pd

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds to splutter. Now add the onions and fry till they turn brown. Add the cauliflower florets and 1/4 cup water and cover and cook till they are cooked. Now add the spice powders and salt and saute till they are well mixed and cooked. Cauliflower curry ready!

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Managed to finish the post without keeling over. But cannot keep my eyes open now... Sayonara people! Till we meet again!!

Cold Cold go away... Never show your face again!!!!

If only it was that easy! When I get a cold (which is every month!) it takes almost a fortnight to go away... which means that I am sniffling through out the year :-(

Today made a south Indian meal for dinner comprising of sambar, potato masala and beans stir fry.

Sambar, rice with greens stir fry, potato masala and beans stir fry

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Sambar

1 cup tuvar dal washed and cooked till soft

Lemon sized ball of tamarind - soaked in hot water and pulped (you could extract the juice by hand or just remove the seeds if any and grind it in the mixer to get the pulp)

2 dry red chillies

10-15 sambar onions (these are the small onions also called shallots) - skinned (the easiest way to skin these is to soak them in water for about 1/2 hr. The skin comes off much easier after that)

1 tomato chopped

Few sprigs of curry leaves

1 tsp cumin and mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida pd

1 tsp turmeric pd

Salt to taste

1 tbsps cumin seeds, coriander seeds, chana dal, white urad dal, 4-5 methi seeds, 2 dry red chillies, 3-4 whole pepper corns, 2 tbsps grated coconut - roast these and grind to a coarse powder.

Heat a pan and add oil. Add the mustard seeds and after they splutter add the cumin seeds. Wait for them to crackle then add the curry leaves, asafoetida pd and dry red chillies. Then add the sambar onions and saute till they start turning color. Now add the tamarind paste and 1 cup of water and tomatoes and let it boil till it reduces by half. Now add another half a cup of water, turmeric, salt and the ground masala pd and cook for a minute. Add the cooked dal and a little water if required to make the consistency right and cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional). Sambar is ready!

Potato Masala

4 potatoes boiled and skinned and chopped into big chunks

2 tbsps ginger garlic paste

2 tsps garam masala pd

2 tsps chilli pd

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Heat a pan and add 2 tbsps of oil. Add the cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter. Now add the ginger garlic paste and the salt and garam masala and the chilli pd and cook on slow flame (keep stirring it so that the spice powders do not burn) till the ginger garlic paste is cooked. Now add the potato pieces and turn them around till they are well coated with the mixture. Saute them a little longer till the potatoes turn a little crisp. Serve hot with sambar rice.

Beans Fry

2 cups of beans cut into small pieces

1 tsp chilli pd, turmeric pd, coriander pd

1 tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of asafoetida pd

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter add the asafoetida pd and the chopped beans and let them saute for a minute. Now cover and cook on low flame till the bean are well cooked. (You could sprinkle a little water to help them cook if desired). After the beans are cooked, add the salt, turmeric, coriander and the chilli pd and cook till they lose their raw smell. Serve hot.

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Still battling the sniffles. Sigh!

Have not gotten rid of the cold yet. Sooo tired of sniffling and coughing... Have been cooking.. just not posting regularly...
Yesterday's menu was a protein overload! Rajma Masala (Kidney beans masala) and Egg Bhurji (Scrambled egg curry).

Greens stir fry, rajma masala and egg bhurji

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Rajma Masala (Kidney Beans Masala)

1 cup rajma (kidney beans) soaked overnight and cooked till they are soft

2 onions chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

3 green chillies slit

10-12 cloves garlic

1/2 inch piece of ginger peeled and chopped

1/2 inch piece of cinnamon

2 each of cloves and cardamom pods

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 small bay leaf

1 tsp garam masala pd, turmeric pd

Salt and chilli pd to taste

Heat a pan and add a tblsp of oil. Add the cumin seeds and when they have spluttered add the cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf. Saute till they release their aromas. Now add the onions and garlic and ginger and saute till the onion starts turning golden brown. Now add the tomatoes and green chillies and cook till the tomatoes are soft. Cool this mixture and grind it to a smooth paste. Return it to the pan and add the spice powders and salt and add 1/4 cup water and let it cook till the spice powders are well incorporated. Now add the cooked kidney beans and cover and cook for a minute more. Garnish with coriander (optional) and serve hot.

Egg Bhurji (Scrambled Egg Curry)

4 eggs

3 green chillies chopped

1 cup peas

1 onion chopped

Few sprigs of curry leaves

1 tsp of white urad dal for tempering

1 tsp of cumin and mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida pd

Salt to taste

Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp of oil. Add the mustard seeds and when they have crackled add the cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add the curry leaves, asafoetida and urad dal. When the urad dal begins to change color, add the green chillies and onions. Fry till the onions begin to turn brown. Now add the peas. (I used frozen peas. If you are using fresh peas add a little water, cover and cook till the peas are cooked). After the peas are cooked add the turmeric and salt and saute for a minute. Then break open the eggs in to the pan. Whisk till they are well scrambled and get mixed with the peas mixture. That's it!

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Cooking with a cold.. Sniffle...Sniffle

Cooking with a cold is like watching a movie just by reading the subtitles without the sound. You can see the food but cannot really smell and savor it. Today's menu was Plantain fry with Soy Chunks Masala.

Soy chunks masala, greens stir fry and plantain fry

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Soy Chunks Masala

15-20 soy chunks

3 onions chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

3 green chillies

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

Pinch of cumin seeds

1 tsp of chilli, turmeric and garam masala pd

Salt to taste

Soak the soy chunks in hot water for about 20 mins. Then squeeze the water out of them and cut them in half. (Retain the water for later use). Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add the onions and saute till they turn pink. Now add the tomatoes and green chillies and saute till the tomatoes are cooked. Cool and grind to a smooth paste. Put this mixture back in to the pan, add the spice powders and salt and one fourth cup of water (use the saved water from before)and let it simmer for 2 mins. Now add the soy chunks and cover and cook till the gravy coats the chunks. Serve hot.

Plantain Fry

2 plantains cut into 2 inch pieces lengthwise

1 tsp chilli, coriander and turmeric pd

Pinch of mustard and cumin seeds

A handful of curry leaves

A pinch of asafoetida pd

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they have spluttered add the cumin seeds, asafoetida pd and the curry leaves. now add the plantain pieces and cook them on low heat till they are cooked and crisp. Now add the spice powders and salt and cook them for another 2 mins till the spices lose their raw smell. This plantain fry is best had with rice and sambar or dal or rasam but they work with rotis as well.

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Now off to catch some zz's. See you all tomorrow.. Well, make that later today! Bye!

A day late.. well make that two...

Have not been able to write in for the last two days. It does not mean that I was not cooking but the minute my head hit the pillow I was out so could not get the posts in.
Well, better late than never. The meal for day before yesterday was a hot and sweet yam with my daily staple of greens stir fry.

Hot and sweet yam, greens stir fry with chapatis

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Hot and Sweet Yam

500 gms yams boiled and peeled

3 onions chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

3 green chillies

1 dry red chilli

A tsp of whole coriander and cumin seeds

A tsp of turmeric pd

Salt, chilli pd to taste

A lemon sized piece of jaggery

Heat a pan and add a tblspn of oil. Saute the yam pieces till they turn crisp and firm. (they will be mushy from the precooking!  I steam them in the pressure cooker for 1 whistle. You could just boil them in a pot of water). Heat a pan and add the cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add the whole coriander seeds and dry red chilli and onion and fry till the onion turns brown then add the tomatoes and green chillies and fry till the tomatoes are cooked. Cool and grind to a fine paste. Put this mixture back in to the pan and add the spice powders and salt and cook for a minute. Now add about 1/4 cup water and the jaggery and cook till the jaggery melts and is mixed well. Add the yams and cover and cook for another minute. Serve hot.

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Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai.....

Felt like eating Chinese food today. Looked in the refrigerator - had spring onions and beans and carrots and cauliflower. So the plan was set. I made cauliflower Manchurian and Egg fried rice. I cheated and did not make the Manchurian from scratch! (refer to the recipe to see what I am talking about).

Cauliflower manchurian and egg fried rice

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Cauliflower Manchurian

1 small cauliflower - florets separated

1/2 cup maida all purpose flour)

2 tbsp rice flour

Salt and chilli pd to taste

2 Dry red chillies

8-10 garlic cloves

2 tbsps Green chilli sauce

1 packet ready soup mix (Tada! Here is the cheat sheet! - I used Maggi hot and sour soup mix. You could use the equivalent from any other brand)

Mix the maida, rice flour, salt and chilli pd with a little water to make a thick batter. Coat the cauliflower florets in the batter and shallow fry them till they are crisp and done. Remove onto a paper towel. In a pan heat a little oil and saute the garlic and dry red chillies. Then add the water and cook the soup according to the instructions on the packet. Just make sure you add about half the quantity of water so that the gravy is a little thick (remember - you do not want to end up with a soup!) Add the green chilli sauce and let it cook for a minute. Add the fried cauliflower florets and simmer for 5 mins.

Voila! Easy cauliflower manchurian ready!!

Egg Fried Rice

1 cup finely sliced carrots

1 cup finely sliced beans

1 cup finely chopped spring onions (white and green)

2 eggs

3 green chillies - sliced at a diagonal

2 dry red chillies - sliced at a diagonal

8-10 garlic cloves chopped

2 tbsps soy sauce
3 cups cooked rice

Salt to taste

Heat a wok and add oil. Now add the garlic and dry red chillies. Saute till the garlic releases its aroma. Immediately add the spring onions and saute for 2 mins. Now add the vegetables and the green chillies and break open the eggs in to the hot wok. Continue to stir fry till the egg is cooked. Add the soy sauce and salt. Finally add the rice and mix well. That's it. Fried rice is ready to eat!

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I had brought back a big chinese wok from my visit to Chicago recently and was dying to use it. Got the perfect opportunity today. Making the fried rice was such a joy! I kept imagining that I was one of those Chinese chefs on television (I even wore my apron today!!). I remember "Yan can cook" from when I was young. I used to love the way he chopped the vegetables and stir fried them in his wok :-)
My sister and I used to pretend to host a cooking show on television when we were growing up. I would be the chef cooking up the dishes and my sis would be the compere of the show and would hold a pretend mic and ask me questions about the dishes I was making!!!
That's all for today folks! See you all tomorrow.

A day of imports...

Today was a day of 'imports'. Food came pouring from all quarters today - so to speak. Mum had made chhole (chickpeas in gravy) and mum in law sent a mushroom dish. Lunch was sumptuous to say the least :-)

Chhole, mushroom surprise and rotis for lunch today

I got the recipe from mum in law for the mushroom dish. I am going to call it Mushroom Surprise. I could not make out what the green 'leaves' in the dish were till I got the recipe from her; hence the name!
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Mushroom Surprise

8-10 mushrooms washed and cut into pieces

10 Spring onions washed and chopped into small pieces

8-10 cloves of garlic chopped

Salt, turmeric and chilli pd to taste

2 slices of bread powdered

2-3 green chillies slit into thin slivers

In a pan heat a little oil and add the garlic. Fry till they begin to change color. Then add white portion of the spring onions and fry for 2 mins till they have lost the raw smell. Now add the green portion of the spring onions and saute for another 2 mins. Add the turmeric, chilli pd and salt and the mushrooms. Cook without covering the pan on high till the mushrooms have released their water and the water reduces. Now add the bread powder and the green chillies. Cook till everything comes together. Serve with rotis or rice.

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Try it out and let me know how it turned out for you guys.
Now before you think that I got a 'free' day today, let me tell you that I DID cook today; albeit just a humble beans fry and my leafy quota for today!
Mum brought some yummy rasam that she had made so my dinner was rice with rasam and beans fry with the leafy stir fry. Nothing like a hot spicy and tangy rasam to take the chill right out of your bones!! I just love rasam. It has always been my favorite over sambar. You know what the best combo with rasam is? - It has to be lady finger fry and of course the appalam (papad, poppadam). Before I get into a dissertation on the merits of rasam here is a pic of my dinner!

Rice with rasam for dinner

 Well, that's all for today folks!! See you all tomorrow.

Monday blues...

It is always hard to get back to routine on a Monday after the weekend. It was the same when I had to go to work and it is the same now when I don't. It always takes a little warming up to get back to your schedule.
Was not especially motivated to cook anything spectacular so today the menu was a simple dhondakai (gherkins) curry and chapati followed by mangai saadam (raw mango rice). I include a green leafy stir-fry with my meal everyday. Have been skipping it the last couple of days so I did that today.

Mango Rice, Stir fried greens, Dhondakai fry and Chapatis

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Dhondakai Fry

500 gms Dhondakai washed and slit in four lengthwise

Salt, turmeric pd, coriander pd and chilli pd to taste

A pinch of cumin seeds.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add the cumin seeds. After they have spluttered, add the dhondakai pieces and fry for a few minutes. Add half a cup of water and cover and cook till the vegetable is soft and half cooked. Now add a little more (2 tbsps oil) and fry on sim till the vegetable becomes crisp. Add the spice powders and salt and fry for 2 mins more till they have lost their raw smell. That's it!

Maangai Rice

1 raw mango peeled and grated

1 cup cooked rice

1 dry red chilli

2 green chillies slit

A pinch of mustard and cumin seeds

A pinch of hing (asafoetida) pd

A tsp of urad dal

Salt, turmeric pd and chilli pd to taste

Half cup of ground nuts toasted in a little oil

Handful of curry leaves

Heat a little oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. After they splutter, add the cumin seeds and dry red chillies and the urad dal. After the urad dal has slightly changed color, add the hing, curry leaves and green chillies. Now add the grated mango and cook on low flame till the raw mango gets cooked and the oil separates. Now add the salt, turmeric and chilli pd and cook for another minute. Add the rice and ground nuts and mix till well incorporated. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional) and serve.

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Hope Tuesday brings the motivation to churn something interesting.. See you all tomorrow.

This week's food outing was fiery!!!

Fire alert!!!

This weekend we ordered in instead of going out for lunch/dinner. I looked through my "take out catalog" (it is a folder which contains the menu cards from the various restaurants that we try). We ordered from the Seventh Heaven. The food was fiery to say the least!
We ordered the Veg Sheekh Kabab, Paneer Tikka and Spinach Fataya for starters, Paneer Chatpat and Mushroom Makhanwala with rotis and Egg Biryani for the main course.

The Paneer Tikka was quite nice - well marinated and grilled. The Spinach Fataya was a samosa stuffed with a spinach and spice mixture; I liked that as well, mild with the flavors of the spinach coming through nicely without being overpowered by the spices. The Veg Sheekh Kababs were a little dry and a little too spicy for my taste. The Mushroom Makhanwala was absolutely 'fire engine' spicy! and the Paneer Chatpat came a close second in the same category!! The Egg Biryani was nothing to rave about. By the end of the meal my mouth and the entire route to my stomach was a fiery path!!
It was good that hubby dearest got some Christmas goodies the day before. Chocolates and plum cake..... yummmm!! They helped in putting out most of the fire. Antacids took care of the remaining!

Early Christmas treats!

 

 

 

 

 

 It is nearly 3 hrs after the fiery meal and my stomach has stopped groaning now... well almost! Time to hit the sack. Will see you guys tomorrow with yet another culinary (mis)adventure?!

Winter comfort food saga continues...

Yet another winter comfort food - Aloo methi (potato with fenugreek leaves). Actually I love anything potatoes; be it winter or otherwise. So today's menu was Aloo methi and Tomato Dal.

Chapati with Aloo Methi and Tomato Dal

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Aloo Methi

4 potatoes parboiled and cubed

2 bunches of methi (fenugreek) leaves cleaned and chopped into small pieces

1 onion cubed

1 tomato cubed

6-8 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed

Salt, turmeric pd, garam masala (Indian all spice powder) and chilli pd to taste

Pinch of cumin seeds

1 dry red chilli

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add the crushed garlic. When it releases the aroma (and before it starts turning brown) add the cumin seeds and dry red chilli broken into small pieces. Then add the onion and let them brown. Now add the tomatoes and the salt, turmeric and chilli pd. Saute till they are well incorporated and the tomatoes become mushy and start losing their shape. Add the methi leaves and 2-3 tblspns of water cover and cook till they are cooked. (I add a tblsp of tomato ketchup to make the methi leaves a little less bitter. You could skip this.) Now add the potatoes and half a cup of water and cover and cook till everything comes together and the potatoes are coated with the onion, tomato and methi mixture. Sprinkle some garam masala pd and cook for a minute and remove and serve.

Tomato Dal 

1 tomato chopped

1 cup of tuvar dal

5-6 cloves of garlic crushed

2 dry red chillies broken to pieces

1 green chilli slit halfway

A handful of curry leaves

Salt to taste

Pinch of hing (asafoetida) pd

Pinch of mustard and cumin seeds

In a pressure cooker add the washed dal and the tomatoes and cook till the dal is mushy. In a separate pan heat 1 tsp of oil and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle add the cumin and crushed garlic. As soon as the garlic becomes aromatic quickly add the curry leaves, hing and dry red chilli and the green chilli. Saute for a second and pour this mixture onto the cooked dal and cover and keep. This is to seal the flavors inside the dal. It is ready to eat! (I take the large pieces of tomatoes from the dal, a couple of the red chilli pieces, curry leaves and the green chilli and grind it to a paste and then mix this back into the dal. Hubby dearest is not too fond of big pieces of tomatoes :-))

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Tomorrow is a Sunday. The foodies that we are, on weekends we try food from new restaurants in town. Will definitely let you all know where and what we ate though!!

See you all tomorrow! Till then happy cooking, happy eating!!

A day late....

Wanted to get this one in yesterday but better late than never I guess! Now, before you jump to any conclusions, I DID cook yesterday. Just could not get in the entry for it..
I just love the winters. I am one of those people who do not miss the sun at all. Cold, Windy, Gloomy , doesn't matter; bring it on! And my memories of my childhood winters are of good piping hot comfort food. So I decided to start the cooking season with a simple yet much loved mooli parantha (radish stuffed rotis) and a panchratni dal (a lentil dish comprising of five different kinds of pulses) as its accompaniment.

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For people who are interested in the recipe, here goes:

Mooli Parantha

2 moolis peeled and grated

1 onion finely cubed

1 green chilli finely chopped

 A pinch of cumin seeds and carom (ajwain) seeds 

Salt, coriander and chilli pd according to taste

In a hot pan add a tsp of cooking oil and add the cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter, then add the carom seeds and chopped onions and fry till the onions turn pink. Now add the grated radish, green chillies and fry till the radish is cooked. Then add the spice powders and salt and cook for a minute more. Remove and cool. Use this paste as a stuffing inside your rotis.

Since I was using my 'help' to make the rotis, and she lacks the expertise to actually roll out a roti with the stuffing in side it, I had her roll out two separate rotis - apply the stuffing on one and then place the second one on top and seal the edges. She was able to do that without any difficulty :-)

Panchratni Dal 

3 tblspns each of any five easy cooking pulses (not the kind that require overnight soaking) that you have - washed and cooked. I used chana (split chickpea), tuvar (pigeon pea), masoor, moong and urad (skinless split black beluga) daal.

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

1 dry red chilli

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

Pinch of mustard and cumin seeds and hing (asafoetida) pd

Salt, turmeric and chilli pd to taste 

In a hot pan add a tsp pf oil and add the mustard seeds. After they have crackled, add the cumin seeds and the asafoetida pd. Now add the onions and fry them till they turn golden brown. Now add the ginger garlic paste and a pinch of salt to keep the ginger garlic paste from getting burnt and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and the spice powders and a little water just to prevent the spice powders from getting burnt. Cover and cook till the tomatoes have turned mush. At this stage add the cooked and mushed up lentils and salt and cover and cook till you get a boil. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves (optional).

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It turned out pretty well. I say this because there were no leftovers in the fridge (hubby dearest made sure everything was cleaned up!!)
So all in all I would say a good start to a great beginning!!

Well, it's done now....

I jumped the gun. Wanted to start cooking from the 15th but yet another episode with my so called cook pre-poned the date to tomorrow. She churned out a burnt vegetable for lunch so I lost it and told her to stop cooking for me starting tomorrow. Considering that my son and I are both down with a viral infection it might not have been the smartest move...
So at this point I am not sure if I have lost my maid (she used to be my maid and cook) as well but enough is enough! So folks! It looks like I am beginning the endurance test tomorrow. Test to see how long I can continue to put good food on the table without my laziness catching up.
Will let you all know how it went tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Given up on finding a good cook....

The title says it all. I have been in search of a good (read elusive, non-existent) cook here in Hyderabad for the past 6 yrs. Tried some 5 people, 3 were not 'cooks', one was a thief in disguise, and the one who was close to churning out edible fare had to 'leave'.

Last week I watched the movie Julie and Julia and was so motivated that I was tempted to start my own blog along the same lines. It has been nearly 2 weeks since that resolve but today I think something inside me snapped after eating a meal of half cooked curry for lunch (yet again!)

So I have decided to start cooking myself. I am a pretty good cook, if I say so myself :-) and I truly enjoy it. It is just that after the birth of my child cooking took a backseat and then well I just did not get enough time (read got lazy) so did not really pursue it on a day to day basis.
But this is it folks, I am ready to jump head first in to it again. This is the plan - 2 dishes per day - 1 Indian (for lunch) and one International (for dinner). I plan to put this in to effect from the 15th of December and let us see how long I can keep it up...

Good luck to me!