Comfort Food on a Cold Wintry Night!

I did not know it gets this cold in Irvine.  I thought So Cal was suppose to be nice and sunny all year long.  This was the first holiday break that I spent in Irvine after 2 years and may be that's why I feel like this is not normal (a side tangent: I got back to work on Tuesday).  In 2010, I was in India for my Mum's retirement party, and in 2011, I was in Hawaii, where the weather was just awesome!  And this year, I was in Irvine where temperature dropped to as low as 2 degrees Celsius (35F). Cold cold cold!  I know my friends on East Coast are like, oh Comeon!, but what to do?  We SoCal people are always complaining, less sun, more sun, no sun, rain, we always cry and complain :D (by the way it was nice today and is expected to rain over the weekend again).

Kaaley Channey Ke Kabab (Black Gram Kababs)

I am not sure how many of you know, but I turned PESCATERIAN over 5 years ago... Yes fancy word!!! It means that I eat seafood (only fish for me) and no other meat.  I feel great about this decision (except sometimes when I really want to have kababs.. just joking! ).  I want to stick to being a pescaterian as I think its is a much healthier choice, plus I don't really want to eat any more birds and 4 legged creatures (sounds gross to me... eeww...)..

As I have often noted, I love watching the food network show.  And while watching the MasterChef 2, India, I came across Chef Pankaj Bhaduria's recipe for Kaaley Channey Ke Kabab.  I added it to my " To Make" folder and finally got around making it yesterday.

I ofcourse added my twist to it with a few alterations like adding soaked bread as a binding agent since I did not get the consistency right.... Anyway they turned out good. "A" liked it too and if and when he says that he will eat a dish again, it means that my experiment was a success.   A simple google search also suggests that Kaaley Chaney Ke Kabab is a very common recipe so may be I will try the Tarla Dalal or Sanjeev Kapoor version next time.

Thinking who eats the last one?!?!

Check out my new serving platter, $3.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond... I love it!

Also, a special shout out to Pallavi at http://parunika.blogspot.com/... I dont know why, but I was thinking of you while making these, may be because you are a vegetarian... :)

Its a blogging day and an Asparagus week

While I was cleaning my blogger account, I came across this post that I had saved as a draft to publish at a future date.. To be precise, I created this post on May 20, 2011.  That's over an Year!! Nonetheless, posting it here with the original title and everything else the same.. Enjoy!
___________________________________________________________________________
If you read my previous post then you would already know about my recent love for asparagus.. Addiitonally, I bought an iron cast griddle very recently, which I like to use for as many things as possible.  I really like my  asparagus, pita bread, burger patties or whatever it is with grill marks. I love that....

One of the weekdays, we decided to keep it light and to eat burgers for dinner... Light in terms of my cooking load :) ..LOL...This was a welcome change from daily routine of lentils, rice, wheat, and curry....  So what did I end up doing?

Grab Chickpeas Patties by Morning Star or any other brans.. really nice crunchy patties

Sprinkle some oil on my new griddle, and grill my patties along with of course a bunch of asparagus.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on asparagus when done...

Grab some fresh lettuce leaves, red onion slices, tomatoes and BOOM.. Dinner is ready...

Hubby decided to make some sort of happy face using provided ingredients

 Note those wonderful grill marks!

Inspired from Betsy @Bestsylife.com

I know I have not kept my promise of updating my blog more frequently.. I know no excuses, but I have so many other promises to keep that this one moved down in the list. Promise of getting the old DPF ( digital picture frame) report in the new format by June 1, promise to cook good and healthy food, promise to give my eyes a break by not looking into a screen, and promises to do so many other things........

I visit Betsylife pretty often to check what Betsy has been upto. I know Betsy more through her blog then in person. She does our payroll and most of our interactions have been limited to reimbursements, salary, and vacation, and most of the times to a plain simple Hi. Betsy is celebrating Asparagus month. She is posting recipes related to Asparagus on her site. Up until a few months ago, I was not into asparagus. But one day, in an instant I woke up craving for asparagus with fish (weired craving). And since then, Asparagus is a regular vegetable that I buy from our wonderful farmer's market.

Coming back to Betsylife, she posted Asparagus Crostini (http://betsylife.com/2011/05/13/seasonal-potluck-asparagus-crostini/), which seemed interesting and quick to make. All cooks of the world with agree with me that Cooks don't like to follow a recipe exactly the same way. We like to add our own twist to any recipe. So here is what I made ....

Ingredients - One loaf of Sourdough Bread

Everything listed below needs to be nicely chopped

Bell peppers - half each of Orange, Red, Green, Yellow ( I just happened to have them all)

Asparagus - A couple stems are fine

Onion- I used one small red onion

Tomato - small

To begin with, blanch asparagus (something that Betsy did, (drop in boiling water for two minutes then immediately move to ice water). Slice nicely and mix with all other veggies.

I bought sliced sourdough so I didn't have to slice my bread.. Arrange slices on a baking sheet and brush them with olive oil. After that, add veggies to bread slices. Finish with your favourite cheese ( I had parmesan).

Preheat oven to 350C . Bake for about ten minutes or until crisp brown. I turned the broiler on for the last two minutes. Top with salt and Pepper and enjoy... I ate it as Dinner, though it is more appropriate as a snack....

Indian Style-Chinese Chilli Paneer/Tofu/Cottage Cheese

This is an old recipe that I pulled from my old blog...

This can be replicated for chilli chicken as well......

All this cooking is done on medium flame....

You need -

1. 1 Large/2 Medium Capsicum / bell peppers if possible different colors or green only (the most readily available) - nicely cut into medium sized pieces
2. 250 gms - Paneer/ cottage cheese, cut into medium sized cubes
3. Soya Sauce - about 1/4cup
4. Cornflour - 2 - 3 big table spoons
5. Maida/Refined Flour - 2- 3 table spoons (if you have both maida and cornflour you may use both, in case you don't have cornflour, this recipe is still good)
6. 1 Egg - if you are a pure Vegetarian then you can avoid the use of egg
7. 1/2 tbs ginger garlic paste
8. 3 cloves of garlic - Chopped
9. 2 green chillies - finely cut
   
10. Oil - for deep frying
11. A small oninon - either cut in cubes or sliced. I prefer slices
    
12. Chilly sauce to taste

Spices -

1. Red chilly powder - to Taste
2. Salt - to taste
3. 1/2 tbs - Cummin seeds
4. 1 tbs - corriander powder
   

Prepare -
In a bowl add salt, maida/refined flour, cornflour and egg white. Mix it to make a nice consistent paste. you may use water if required but be careful. start with a little first.

To check the consistancy is right or not, take a spoon of it and drop it into the bowl for a little height. If it falls nicely then its perfect.

Now add the Paneer/Cottage cheese cubes/tofu into this mixture

Mix it well but dont be harsh as cubes may break.

Now, take oil in a pan and heat it well. Deep fry the cottage cheese cubes. just make them light golden brown.

Place then on an absorbent paper towel and set them aside.

Take 2 tbs of oil in another pan. Add Cummin seeds to it .
Once they begin to pop, add the chopped garlic
After a minute add the ginger - garlic paste
Add chopped Green chillies - about 2 ...more if your tolerance level is high!
Add the cut/sliced onion
let it fry for about a min or two
Now add corriander powder.. You may add just a little like 2 spoons of water so that everything cooks nicely.
Add red chilli powder.
Add red chilly or hot and sweet sauce

Now add the bell peppers. cook a little till you begin to feel that its loosing its rawness. Now add SOY sauce just to taste.
Ccook a little.

Now add fried paneer/cottage cheese to this and cook tioll you feel that everything has mixed well and that bell peppers are now ready to eat.

Garnish with chopped corriander.

The goodness that is called Lasagna...ummm!!!

I had recent cravings for Italian food.. Salads, Pasta, and Lasagna...and in reverse order.. I don't know why or how I started with Lasagna, but I have really had to control myself to eat this awesomeness on a much regular basis...

Here is my recipe of Vegetable Lasagna, which is a combination of recipes shared by friends, google, and my tiny meany brain...

Contents

Lasagna Sheets - 6

Bell peppers - one small chopped

Onion - one small chopped

Zacunni - one small Chopped

Baby Spinach Leaves - handful

Mushrooms

Garlic - 3 cloves

Fresh Basil leaves

Reduced Fat - Cheese.. I used mozzarella

Patsa Sauce - Tomato & basil

I even threw in a little eggplant (had some left over and I hate to throw food).

Heat some olive oil in a skillet/pan and threw in all of the above vegetables. Saute them. Add a little bit of salt, black peppers, and dried oregano. Saute on slow heat until all vegetables are soft and done...

In a large pan take water, add some olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Bring it to a boil. Add Lasagne sheets and Boil until al dente....Should be about 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat.

Now take a baking dish. Coat it with a layer of pasta sauce. Arrange noodles.. Add half of the sauted vegetables. Add a little bit of cheese.. Add another coat of sauce...

Repeat the process adding lasagna and vegetables and so on...

Cover top layer of noodles with sauce and cheese).

Preheat over to 350 - 375 degrees. Bake for 25 mins or until you can see the top layer of cheese is golden brown..

Ready to gorge.. I personally feel that Lasagna tastes better the next day as all the sauces and flavors get soaked in...

Caution-- You can vary the amount of cheese depending on your health consciousness index

Ahhh .. Tabouleh

If you don't know as yet then let me tell you that I am a big fan of making, eating, and just trying food.. any cuisine is fine as long as it does not have any meat.. (yes, I am a Pescaterian now for almost 5 years.. Bravo!)...

So one day, when it was super hot in SoCal, I wanted to eat something super refreshing.. nice cool salady something.. I was talking to my friend Tina, both of us are foodies and we definitely talk about food at least twice in one single conversation....She mentioned that a friend of her's who is from UAE makes this super nice salad called Tabouleh, which they eat with Pita bread.. She gave me an outline of how to make it and I was tempted.. So, I googled the recipe and found one at About.com. I had almost all ingredients at home and gathered whatever was missing in one single trip to wholesome choice market.. I love wholesome choice market for you will find ingredients for any cuisine that's on your mind.. from Iran to India, China to America, Mexico to whatever place...

So here it is.. from About.com

• 2 bunches of fresh parsley (1 1/2 cup chopped, with stems discarded)
• 2 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped
• I medium onion, finely chopped
• 6 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup bulghur, medium grade
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Romaine lettuce or grape leaves to line serving bowl (I used Romaine Lettuce)

Preparation:

• Soak bulghur in cold water for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until soft.
• Squeeze out excess water from bulghur using hands or paper towel.
• Combine all ingredients, except for salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil.
• Line serving bowl with grape leaves or romaine lettuce, and add salad.
• Sprinkle olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper on top.

Once done, I let me salad cool and left it overnight so that all the flavors and juices get nicely absorbed.. And next day enjoyed it with my Pita bread.. sure to make it again....

:Imported from my old blog: Making Capsicum/bell pepper pots

This recipe require either a grill or an OTG or in case you are not so concerned with oil then you may fry them

You will need 3 - 5 small size capsicum/ bell peppers green in color.
If you find big ones like the ones available here in california then you may want to ciut them into half- just like I did.. see image.

Was the capsicum and
if you are using small sized then you may want to cut the head and keep it attached a little
if you are using large capsicum then you may want to cut them into half

Take out the seeds and clean the interiors


Take 3 medium sized boiled potatoes.
Remove the peel and add

1. Salt to taste
2. Red chilly powder - .5 tea spoon
3. Amchoor - about .5 tea spoon
4. Garam Masala - a little
5. Chopped coriander
6. Chopped green chillies
7. a little ajwain seeds
8. a little corriander and cumin powder - total about .5 tbs

Mix well and mash them.
This potato mixture is also used for making AALOO/potato parantha. For the peppers - just cook this mix a little on a low flame. Say for about 5 mins.

Now take the bell peppers - line their interior and exterior with a little butter. This will help in a good grill.
Add the stuffed potato content into the peppers.

Now heat the grill to 300 degrees. Place the peppers into a baking dish and place in the middle rack. I recently discovered that you can add half a cup of water to your baking dish and then place capsicums. The steam helps cook the capsicum better. Let them grill slowly till you see a brown crust on the edges of the peppers. The slower the grilling the better the taste.

Incase you dont have a grill, you may take a oil in the pan and fry these peppers. You will have to do it very carefully sio that the content doesnt come out the pepper. Again do it on a slow flame. Once the pepper is slightly golden brown, you may remove it, place it on a paper towel and serve it hot.

Hope you enjoy this
:)

:Imported from my old blog: Coconut Chutney

Take freshly ground coconut - 2 cups
Take split Daliya - 1 cup
Take green chillies - about 2 - 3 depending on taste.

coarsely grind all these three with a lil sugar and some water.... (not much water start by adding a little)

after this add a little salt and then grind further

You may heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Wait till they pop completely.
Add this to the chutney and add some coriander leaves.

I prefer to cool the chutney after adding oil and mustard seeds while some prefer to have it hot... either which ways it tastes good!

:Imported from my old blog: Rice Pulav/Rice Pilaaf

2 cups of rice should be enough for 3 people and a little leftover....
Wash them and keep aside.

You need vegetables such as -

Peas - a little
Sweet corn - almost same quantity as peas
(you may dip peas and sweet corn in a bowl of water when you start cooking. This way they would cook very well)
Capsicum - half - nicely cut into thin slices
Cottage cheese - about 5 - 7 small cubes
Potato - one medium sized - peeled and finely cut into nice small pieces
Carrot - about one long carrot - peeled and finely cut into thin slices
Onion - one medium sized - peeled and finely cut into thin slices
Cauliflower - few small lil florets


Some of these vegetables are seasonal and may not be available.. you may pick the ones that are most easily accessible and available. Simplest is with potato, peas and onions.

For the MASALA -

2 tbs cooking oil
3-5 cloves
Cinnamon stick - 2
Moti elaichi / black cardamom - 2
Black Peppercorns - 3- 5
Jawaitri - 1 (traditional indian herb- looking for the english word for this spice)
I clove of garlic
a little / 1/3rd tablespoon ginger paste
alternatively you may add 1/2 tbs ginger garlic paste
Salt - to taste
Red chilly powder - to taste
Garam Masala - a little (for fragrance)


Start by heating the oil in a dry pan. Take cottage cheese and fry a little. Once golden brown, take it out and spread on a tissue paper/newspaper for extra oil.

Now add everything under the MASALA section except salt , red chilly powder and garam masala to the oil and heat a little.

Now start by adding the hardest vegetables the first - start with potatoes and carrot . Toss it for 2 -3 minutes on medium flame.

Now add onions and capsicum, cauliflower and any other vegetable except corn and peas.
Toss them for about 3-5 minutes on medium flame.

Now add salt, red chilly powder and garam masala.

Add peas, sweet corn and fried cottage cheese... toss for a couple of minutes.....

Now add rice to the tossed vegetables. You may increase the flame to high. Stir all the mixture nicely for about a minute or till water has dried up..

Now add 4 cups of water (double the quantity as rice) and cook rice. Some people prefer to transfer the content to a rice cooker... go ahead and do that..

else continue on the cooking gas till water has dried up.
Please make sure that you leave rice in the pan with closed lid even after the water has dried.. it is called DUM and helps leave a brilliant aroma.....

I prefer eating hot rice with cold dahi... you may eat it plain, with dahi/curd/yogurt or with a gravy......

Happy eating!

:Imported from my old blog: Poha/Beaten Rice/ Chidwada

Hey there...

Today we are talking about dish called poha/beaten rice/chidwada which serves a lot of purposes --- can be a quick snack or a light dinner or a healthy breakfast..

So here is how to make it..

For one person you would need about a mug full of poha....
Soak poha/beaten rice/chidwada in water for about 5 mins. After that wash them nicely in a seive and set them aside for water to dry..

On the other side heat a little oil in a pan. Add few mustard seeds in the oil. Add finely chooped onion, peanuts and toss well. For roughly about 3-5 mins or till it is slight brown-- not golden brown but less than that. Add finely chopped green chillies (optional)..

Now add salt to taste, red chillies to taste and a touch of tumeric powder.
Add the poha now and heat it on flame for about 5 mins. Add corriander leaves and the dish is ready...

enjoy!!!
:)

:Imported from my old blog: Sambar/south Indian Curry

Take Arhar/Toor daal/lentils (quantity as you see right) I recommend a cup of daal/lentils for two people.

Wash it well.

Put it in a cooker and add water - Make sure that daal is fully dipped.. a grandma estimate would be extra water should be an inch above the daal/lentils surface.

Add salt to tase and a spoonful of turmeric powder/haldi

Boil Toor /Arhar daal/lentils. After one whistles, reduce the heat and let the daal/lentils boil for some time. About 5 - 7 mins should be enough.

Slice & cut fresh onion, beans, drumsticks, carrot, potato, tomatoes and any other vegetables you like.
Take oil in a pan - slightly fry all the vegetable execpt tomato. Once pinkish in color, add red chillies (to taste) and Kari leaf. Add sliced tomatoes and toss well.
leave it on for 3- 5 mins.

Add vegetables mix to the boiled lentils, add sambhar masala and tamarind/imli tyo taste. You can use tamarind powder or fresh tamarind soaked in water (in this case, throw the tamarind and add the water)

Let it boil well till you see all the contents have mixed well or GEL WELL....

Sambhar is ready to eat...

:Imported from my old blog: Making Bhindi (ladyfinger)

Get bhindi from market ... One way to check that you have the right bhindi is -- take a bhindi and break the tail a little .. if it breaks easily that means it is just perfect.. if it doesnt that mean its not good....
Wash it and leave it aside for few hours to dry.. You can also wipe off the water using a towel or just let it to dry naturally...
Once dried.. cut bhindi into small pieces - about an inch in size leaving both the edges.. they no good...

Take a tablespoon of oil in a pan... Heat it well... Add the cut bhindi into the same.. Let the gas be on a high flame.. DO NOT COVER the pan.....Let it be on the high flame for about 10 mins... Add onions now.... Let them turn a little soft (Another 5 - 7 mins).. Add Salt and Red chilly powder to taste.. Reduce the flame.. Let it be on the flame for 5 more mins or till you think it looks cooked. Cover it for few mins ( 2 - 3).

You are ready to eat your bhindi!!!!!

Enjoy!