Quick and easy Sambar anyone?!

You guys have to appreciate my dedication... The things I do for you guys.

I had dinner twice today just so that I could take a picture of today's meal and blog it for you guys. Well what happened was this.. Had the cleaning crew come in to clean the house (the monthly guys who come in to clean the bathrooms and get into the corners and make them all shiny and bright. Well, it does not actually look all that shiny and clean but will rant and rave about that later). So by the time they left it was 7:45 pm, well past my dinner time (for those of you who did not know, I have my dinner at 7pm. Yes, really!) So had to cook something quick. Plus had to feed my son his dinner and believe me that is no easy feat! So did what my mom suggested and made this jiffy sambar in the pressure cooker and made snake gourd fry to go along with it. Now coming to the 2 dinners... My sugar levels were dangerously teetering towards whacking my son or going away to Neverland. Then mum (yes, my savior :-)) suggested that I should just bite the bullet and eat the dinner at her place. So she brought me chapatis, Kofta curry and dhondakai fry. So after having that meal, I was able to see the world in a better light!
But wait a minute I still had to blog! I couldn't possibly leave it undone today after starting yesterday, now could I?! So I had another meal just 5 mins back! I am going to have to pop some antacids before going to bed.

But like I said, the things I do for you people!

Snake gourd fry and white pumpkin sambar with rice

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Jiffy Sambar

Take a cup of washed tuvar daal in a vessel. In another vessel take the juice of a lemon sized tamarind ball, chunks of white pumpkin (250 gms), few curry leaves, 1 tomato chopped roughly, 1 small onion chopped into small chunks, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, salt to taste, 2 tbsps of sambar powder and put the two vessels in to the pressure cooker to cook (for about 4-5 whistles).

In another pan, add a little oil and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 tsp of mustard seeds to splutter. Now add a pinch of methi seeds and 1 dry red chilli broken into pieces. Add the cooked daal and the tamarind mixture to this and add water if required for the right consistency. Adjust the salt and let it come to a boil for 5 mins. 

Voila! Sambar is ready!

Snakegourd Fry

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to splutter. Add the chopped snakegourd (about 2 cups - cut them in half lengthwise, clean the insides and then chop them into thin semicircles). Add 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt to taste and 1/2 a cup of water. Cover and cook till the snake gourd pieces are cooked but yet firm. Now uncover and fry till they turn color and wilt. Add 1 tsp chilli powder and cook for another 2 minutes till the raw smell of the chilli powder is gone. That's it! 

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The sambar came out so well and it took so little time and monitoring that I might just make it this way all the time going forward! Try it and let me know your comments.

Till tomorrow, Sayonara!

I'm back!

Okay folks, I'm back by popular demand!! (Well, okay it was one friend - okay the only friend who read my blog.. It was still a demand. - well, okay more like a query) Anyhooo, decided to write again. After the trying to log in fiasco yesterday, here is the meal from yesterday night.
To people who are wondering what happened to the initial purpose of this blog - to keep writing about all the fantastic food that I cook each night as per Julie and Julia... In my defense they did not have a 30 month old vying for attention every single minute of the day. (excuses, excuses... :-)

Chutney Beans Aloo, Khatta Meetha Capsicum

Without rambling on any further here is the recipe:
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Chutney Beans Aloo

 4 parboiled potatoes chopped into chunks

1 cup parboiled and chopped beans

1 onion minced 

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt, chilli powder to taste

For the Chutney

2 bunches coriander leaves

1 bunch pudina (mint) leaves

3 green chillies

5 cloves garlic

1 small onion chopped

salt to taste

juice of 3 lemons

Grind all the above to a fine paste and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to splutter. Now add the minced onions and fry till golden brown. Now add the salt and chilli powder and let them cook for a min. Add the potatoes and beans and the chutney and a little water and cover and cook till the water evaporates and the mixture coats the veggies nicely. That's it!

Khatta Meetha Capsicum (Sweet and Sour Capsicum)

4 Capsicum chopped into big chunks

2 Onions chopped 

5-10 curry leaves

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 dry red chillies

2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp whole coriander seeds

2-3 whole peppercorns

3 tbsps of tamarind paste (you could grind the soaked tamarind to give you a nice thick paste, or do it the regular way and soak the tamarind in warm water and extract the juice - in which case use a cup of that juice)

1 lemon sized ball of jaggery

Saute the capsicum till they are almost cooked. (Alternatively you could roast them on an open flame to get the charred then remove the skin and then chop them into chunk and use them in this recipe.)

Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds and the curry leaves and the dry red chillies. Cook for a minute and then add the onions. Add salt and cook till the onions become golden brown. Now cool and grind this mixture to a fine paste. Return this paste to the fire. Add a cup of water and the tamarind pulp and the jaggery and adjust the salt if required. Let it come to a boil. Now add the capsicum pieces and cover and cook for 2 mins. The gravy should take on a coating consistency without being too dry.  Serve with rice or chapatis.

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Adios muchachos! See you all tomorrow then........

Long lost blog......

Phew! Finally able to log in......

Thought I would start blogging again today but instead found out one thing about myself... Me memory is not what it used to be!!! Could not remember the password to log in to the account!
Believe me, the experience was near traumatic. Almost like losing your loved one at a crowded mall!! I was frantically trying all the passwords that I thought I had set up only to be redirected to the annoying page with distorted letters!!

Anyway, all's well that ends well... I am finally in but it is too late for the actual food post. I am too exhausted - emotionally and physically.....

So I am off to bed now.. Will catch up tomorrow.
Bonne Nuit!

Hurried cooking...

Today went to the park with my son. Going to the park is like a major event. For one the timing is never right with my son. He takes an afternoon nap and usually gets up at 5pm. Park (the only decent park) is half an hr drive from where I live and since it is very cold nowadays and gets dark sooner going there after 5 is not desirable. Not to mention the traffic at that hour. I will be stuck in traffic for almost an hr.
So today when he awoke at 3:30 pm I thought to make the most of the time and take him to the park. The result being that I did not start cooking till nearly 6pm which left me very little time to do anything. When in a time crunch and I have paneer and I always end up making paneer bhurji. Either that or egg bhurji. These two are really quick recipes that do not take much time and is high on the taste quotient.
Today's menu Paneer bhurji and bhindi fry.

Paneer bhurji, Bhindi fry and Greens fry

I think I have already given the recipe for the Paneer bhurji previously.

Hurried cooking and even more hurried posting!!!
See you guys tomorrow then!

Go(ur)d! What a day!!!

Looked in the refrigerator for inspiration to strike me and was rewarded with a stale looking lauki (long melon, Chinese melon, bottle gourd). I was bored of eating it the usual way of either making them into koftas or a sabji. So looked for some recipes on the internet and came across the stuffed version on Tarla Dalal's website. So today's menu was Bharwan Lauki (Stuffed bottle gourd) as per Tarla Dalal's instructions, Tindora (Indian Ivy Gourd) Fry and the ever present greens.
You must be wondering what is it with me and greens... Well, I need to eat as much greens and sprouts and fresh veggies and proteins as I probably can to save my crowning glory! I am losing them like the there is no tomorrow. My hair loss saga will take up a blog of its own!!

Tindora fry, Bharwan Lauki and Greens

Anyhooo, here is the link to the Bharwan Lauki recipe.
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Bharwan Lauki

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This post is a short one! See y'all tomorrow!

Poori Day!

I wanted to cook a full meal today but mum made some puris for breakfast. She gave me so many that I ended up having a poori (full) day of puris!!! She had given me some potato sabji for the morning but it got over so I made some additional sabji in the evening for dinner.

Poori bhaji

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Aloo bhaji

5 potatoes chopped into cubes

3 dry red chillies

1 tsp of cumin seeds

1 tsp of ajwain seeds

1 tsp of turmeric pd

A pinch asafoetida pd

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and when they splutter add the ajwain seeds. Now add the asafoetida pd and red chillies broken in to small pieces. Then add the potatoes and saute for a minute. Now sprinkle some water and cover and cook till soft. Add the turmeric pd and salt and saute till well incorporated. That's it.

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Till tomorrow then!

Wishing everyone a new year of cooking well and eating well..

Hope everyone had a great beginning to the new year. I will begin mine by catching up on my posts. I have about two days (31st Dec I cooked, 1 I did not cook - lunch at moms and dinner at in-laws, yesterday I cooked and today I did not - it is my b'day after all!!) worth of cooking to catch up on my blog.

So without further ado, he we gooo....
31st Dec had Chapati Kofta Curry and Jaipuri Bhindi (ladyfinger)

Chapati Kofta Curry, Jaipuri bhindi and greens stir fry

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Chapati Kofta Curry

I concocted this recipe to use up my leftover chapatis. (I also use the leftover chapatis in a indo-chinese stirfry - recipe I will post sometime later)

3 leftover chapatis ground to a powder

2 potatoes boiled

3 onions chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

1 tbsps ginger garlic paste

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick 

2 cardamom pods

1 tsp cumin seeds

1tsp turmeric pd, cumin pd and coriander pd

Salt, chilli pd to taste

First knead the ground chapati, potatoes and turmeric, coriander, chilli and cumin pd with salt to form a dough-like consistency. Shape them into balls and shallow fry them till brown and crisp. These can be eaten as is with ketchup and will taste great. 

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and after they have spluttered add the whole spices and saute till they release their aromas. Add the onions and ginger garlic paste and saute till they turn brown. Then add the tomatoes and saute them till they also turn mushy. Cool and grind this to a paste. Return this paste to the fire and add turmeric and chilli pd and simmer till they are cooked. Now add the chapati kofta balls from before and simmer for 5 mins more.

Jaipuri Bhindi (got the recipe from New Woman magazine - Dec issue)

500 gm bhindi slit lengthwise into thin strips

2 tbsps suji (semolina)

2 tbsps chilli pd

salt to taste

2 tsps coriander pd

2 tsps besan (chickpea flour)

2 tsps chaat masala

Sprinkle all the spice powders, salt and besan except chaat powder on the julienne bhindi and rub it all over till they are well coated. Saute them in a little oil till they turn crisp. You will need to do this on very low flame to prevent the spices from getting burnt. Make sure you do not turn the bhindi over or mix them too much for the first 10 mins as they will turn crispier faster. The actual recipe calls for a deep fry of the bhindi pieces. Since I do not deep fry anything I have opted to saute them instead. After the bhindi is crisp take them off the heat and sprinkle chaat masala and mix and serve.
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2nd Jan had Cabbage with Groundnut sabji and Tomato daal

Green stir fry, cabbage with groundnut powder and tomato daal

 I think I have given the recipe for the above in one of my earlier posts so I am going to skip the recipe for this one.

See you all tomorrow then! Cheerio!