Grilled Veggie Panini

Lately I've been serious about losing some weight seriously, so I've been on the lookout for some healthy, low-fat recipes. In the process I've started using my Cuisinart Griddle Express to the maximum and have been grilling all my veggies for pasta and soups with Pam canola oil spray. Today was one of the days when I didn't feel like eating the traditional indian food, roti and subzi and hence I thought I could use some veggies in my refrigerator, grill them and make some sandwiches. Luckily I had some coriander chutney(I'll soon the post the recipe for that) which went well with the sandwiches, because we just can't anything without some spice in it. And tadaa, we had wonderful, healthy and low-fat sandwiches for dinner. So, that's what i'm going to post today and hope you all will like it too. You could do many variations in the sandwich to suit your palate.


Grilled Veggie Panini

I gave the name panini because I had grilled the sandwiches like they do with the paninis, and so you can use any kind of bread you like to get the effect. If you dont have the grill you can use a non-stick pan to grill the veggies, u just dont get those grill effect, but the taste would be the same.
Ingredients:
For Grilled Veggies:
Japanese Eggplant - 1 sliced into long diagonal pieces
Zuchini - 1, sliced diagonally
Avocado - 1/2, sliced into long thin pieces(save the other 1/2 for something else)
Heat the grill and lay down the eggplant and zuchini slices, spray some oil, turn over and spray oil again. When they are brown enough take them out on a plate and then spread the avocado pieces spray some oil and cook just a little so the avocados are just tender. Don't let the veggies get too mushy.
For the topping:
Tomato - 1 large, sliced into thin rounds
Lettuce - few leaves
Cheese slices(I use the jalapeno pepper kind to get some spicy taste, u can use any kind you like)
Coriander chutney - to spread on the bread
Bread slices - 6

Method:
Spray the bread slices lightly with the oil and lay them on a plate spray side down. On one slice of the bread layer cheese, eggplant, zuchini, tomato and lettuce. On the other slice spread some coriander chutney depending on your spice level and cover this slice on the slice with veggies. Now carefully place the sandwich on the grill and press the grill a bit so the bread gets a little compressed. Grill till you see the bread browning, carefully take it onto a plate and slice it into triangles and serve hot. But just be careful while slicing the sandwich as it would be very hot just off the grill, you may want to wait a few seconds, but don't wait too long, else you would end up with a cold sandwich. Enjoy!

Heerekayi Rasa Palya(Beerakaya koora, chinese okra gravy)

The ever so enjoyed vegetable in all parts of India, here in US its called Chinese Okra and is available in asian markets. Lately I have been experimenting a bit with this vegetable and have come out with this delicious gravy vegetable that goes well with chapathi or rice.

Ingredients:
Chinese okra - 1 medium, rough edges peeled(save for gravy), quartered and cut into large pieces
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Whole Dhaniya - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1tbsp
Green chillies - 2, cut into small pieces(or more to taste)
Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp
Brown sugar or jaggery - 1 tbsp(optional, some people don't like the sweetish taste)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 oinch
Curry leaves - 5-6

Method:
In a small non-stick pan, heat 1/2 tbsp oil, when hot enough add chana dal and urad dal, fry till light golden in color, add methi seeds, mustard seeds, jeera seeds, dhaniya seeds and fry another minute, don't let the dals burn, add sesame seeds. Just when the sesame seeds start spluttering add green chillies and the peel of okra that you have been saving all the while, wondering what to do with that, and cover and cook till the okra peel and green chillies get soft. Let it cool. In the meantime, in another deep cooking pot, add 1 tbsp oil, when hot add curry leaves and a pinch of turmeric, add the chinese okra pieces, mix well and cover for 2-5 min. While the okra is cooking grind the above fried dal and green chillies with tamarind pulp and a little water to get a fine paste. When they are a little soft add salt and the ground masala paste and cook for another 5 min. Enjoy with chapathi or hot rice.

Shahi Tukda

It was just one of those days when you want to have some simple dessert and easy to fix. Well I was thinking of something that I had not made in a long long time. It was a bit too much with calories and fat, but hey you can splurge once in a while. So I made this Hyderabadi(since I come from Hyderabad) dish made out of bread, well don't confuse this with double ka meetha, which is also made out of bread, but Double ka meetha is soaked in sugar syrup and is baked afterwards to give a distinct flavor. Someday I'll also post Double ka meetha so you will know the difference. I don't want to confuse you guys, so right now just enjoy the Shahi Tukda, and I don't know how it came up with this name, maybe because its so rich that in those days only the kings or rich moghuls could afford to eat this.

Ingredients:

Wheat bread or white bread - 6 slices, cut the edges and cut into triangles
Whole Milk - 6 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee(Clarified butter) - 2 tbsp
Pistachios - 2 tbsp, thinly sliced

Method:
In a wide thick bottomed pan boil milk, stirring continuously till it gets to about 4 cups, add condensed milk and boil another 10 min, add cardamom powder and let it sit. While the milk is boiling, in a non-stick pan heat ghee and when the ghee is hot enough, don't let it smoke, shallow fry the bread pieces, drain in the pan while taking them out, these bread pieces should be golden but not deep brown. Arrange the bread slices in a serving tray and when you are ready to serve pour over the milk and garnish with pistachios. Enjoy!

Stuffed Eggplant Karnatka Style(Badanekayi Ennegayi)

There are many ways of preparing stuffed eggplant and if you go online you will find hundreds of good recipes. I haven't met a person who doesn't like stuffed eggplants and this dish is relished by a lot of people, though each one has their own way of making stuffed eggplants. When we were kids and used to travel by train in India, we used to carry our food to eat on the way. Those days it was not common to eat fast food or food in restaurants or dhabas. One of our favorite travel food was stuffed eggplants, and this is one of the dishes that tastes good even when its cold. This is my mom's way of making stuffed eggplant, hassle-free and yummy. My brother and I enjoyed stuffing those cute round eggplants with the stuffing my mom used to prepare and then we would enjoy the eggplants with Jowar rotis(jolada rotti), which were so delicious.



Ingredients:
Round indian eggplants - 10, washed and slit cross-wise
Roasted peanuts - 1 cup
Roasted sesame seeds - 1/2 cup
Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Sambar powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Jaggery or brown sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp



Method:
Make a powder of roasted peanuts and sesame seeds. Take the peanut powder and sesame powder in a big bowl, add tamarind paste, sambar powder, salt, turmeric powder, jaggery, red chilli powder, dhaniya powder and 1 tbsp oil, mix well and stuff this in the slit eggplants. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds, jeera seeds, when the seeds splutter gently add the stuffed eggplants, sprinkle about half a cup of water, cover and cook on medium-low flame for 5 min. After 5 min. turn them over gently with a spatula, taking care not to break the eggplants, check to see if the gravy is too dried out, in which case you will need to add anothr half cup of water, cover and cook for another 10 min. Turn the heat off when the eggplants are soft enough, don't overcook the eggplants otherwise they will be very mushy. This eggplant curry can be best enjoyed with chapathis.

Spinach-coconut chutney

I read about this chutney on Shilpa of www.aayisrecipes.com site and liked the idea of spinach in a chutney. I modified it a bit to adjust to my taste and it has been so succesful that now I always add spinach in coconut chutney. It gives great color, it tastes great and best of all its nutritious. Plus my friends who've tasted the chutney love it and couldn't believe till I told them that the green ingredient in the chutney is spinach and not coriander. So here comes the recipe!

Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 cup, washed and chopped finely
Fresh or frozen coconut - 1 cup
Methi(fenugreek seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds(Jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 4-5 strands, cleaned and soaked in warm water
Green chillies - 5-6(adjust according to your taste), chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida(hing) - 1 pinch

Method:
In a shallow pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, add methi seeds, when they turn brown add chopped spinach and half a cup of water, cover and cook for 5 min. When the spinach cools down, take it in a blender, add coconut, cumin seeds, tamarind, green chillies and salt and blend it to a smooth paste. If you don't want to mash up the spinach, you can grind coconut and everything else first and then add spinach and just pulse it in the blender for a few seconds. Take it out in a bowl and mix well. In another shallow pan make a seasoning with 1 tbsp oil, add mustard seeds and hing and pour over the chutney. Mix well and Enjoy!

Tomato Chutney

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 6, washed and diced
Tamarind - 1 lime size ball, cleaned and soaked in warm water
Chana Dal - 1 tsp
Urad Dal- 1 tsp
Methi - 1/4 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chillies - 6(adjust according to taste)
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Oil- 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
In a large pot heat 1/2 tbsp oil, when hot add turmeric powder and tomatoes and cook on medium flame till, tomatoes get soft and viscous. In the meantime, in another shallow pan, add another 1/2 tbsp oil, when hot add chana dal and fry till color changes a bit, add urad dal and fry for another few seconds. Now add red chillies, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, methi seeds and fry till the methi seeds turn brown. Take off the heat and let cool down a bit. In the meantime, the cooked tomatoes will also cool down. Now blend together the tomatoes, fried masala, tamarind and salt to a fine paste. Let this chutney cool down. Make a seasoning of 1 tbsp oil, add cumin seeds and after the oil cools down add this to the tomato chutney. Tastes great with rice, idli and dosa.

Radish Salad with Peanut-coriander dressing

Yeah! One of those days when you feel like having a hearty salad with zesty dressing. Well that's what I came up with last month, but was too lazy to post it. When my sister-in-law was here, she was amazed to see that we get mooli(radish) here, so this was one of the salads I made to impress her.

Ingredients:
Daikon radish(mooli) - 1 medium, peeled and sliced thin
English cucumbers(or any cucumber) - 2 medium, peeled and sliced
Carrots - 2 medium, peeled and sliced
Lettuce - 1 cup, washed and finely chopped
Coriander for garnish - few sprigs, washed

Dressing:
Roasted peanuts - 1 tbsp
Coriander - 1/2 cup, washed and finely chopped
Green chilli - 1, chopped
Lime juice - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 1 cup
Blend together all the above dressing ingredients in a blender and make a smooth puree and refrigerate.

In a salad tray arrange all the salad veggies and cover till ready to serve. When you are ready to serve the salad, drizzle the dressing and top with coriander for garnish. Enjoy!

Kulfi, The Easy way

A good friend of mine in Minnesota shared this wonderful and easy recipe for Kulfi, and since then I've made this kulfi to impress my guests and enjoyed it every time. Its a very simple and quick recipe, and I hope you all will try this and enjoy!

Ingredients:
Evaporated Milk - 1 can
Sweetened Condensed milk - 1 can
Heavy whipping cream - 1/2 liter, about 500 ml
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Almond pieces
Pistachio pieces(save some almond and pistachio pieces for garnish)
2-3 slices of white or wheat bread(use only 2 slices if using whole wheat bread)

Method"
Blend together evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, cardamom powder, almond and pisatchios and pour them into moulds, garnish with remaining almonds and pistachios and freeze them till ready to serve. You can also freeze them first and garnish them later. You can use only almond or only pistachios and if you don't have either of them, it still is ok and you will still get great kulfis.

Enjoy!

Akki Rotti(Thalipeeth)

When we were kids and were bored of eating the chapathis, or on those days when mom was too tired to make rotis and vegetable, we used to get this delicacy. Though its really simple to make and we used to wonder why mom doesn't make it often, we would enjoy it always. Traditionally Thalipeeth is a marathi word, Thali=Plate and peeth=dough. Furthermore mom used to make thalipeeth out of jowar flour, rice flour and besan flour, but later on she started making this rice flour version and we started calling it akki rotti, in kannada akki=rice and rotti=roti. Yesterday I was craving to have something for breakfast that's easy to make and would remind me of my mom. It came out so good that I had it for breakfast and for lunch. I hope you will all enjoy the akki rotti which goes good for any meal.

Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Besan(chickpea flour) - 1/4 cup
Roasted peanut powder - 1/4 cup
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Jeera(Cumin seeds) - 2 teaspoon
Onion, finely chopped - 1/2 cup
Cilantro, finely chopped - 1/4 cup
Green chillies, finely chopped - 4-5 according to taste
Fresh coconut, cut into small pieces - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Butter, melted - 1/4 cup
Oil - as required

In a large bowl mix together, rice flour, besan, peanut powder, sesame seeds, jeera, onion, cilantro , green chillies, fresh coconut, salt and melted butter. Make a well in between and pour 1/2 cup of hot/warm water and mix well, keep adding water and mixing the dough till you get the dough to chapathi dough consistency. Make big balls out of the dough, about the size of a medium orange and keep them covered. Heat the tawa and while its getting hot, take a wax paper or a plastic paper, grease it with oil and take a ball of dough and gently pat the dough with your greased hands to get a thick round shape, try to make it even and when the tawa is hot enough gently pick the roti and put it on the tawa. On medium heat let it cook on both sides till you see nice golden spots on both sides. You can put some oil drops on the roti while cooking, though its not required, as you have enough butter in it already. Since each roti takes time to cook, you can use two tawas at a time to make them faster.
This roti goes well with raitha, pickle or just plain dahi.

Enjoy!!!

Puliyogare (Tamarind Rice)

We had planned a day trip to Schlitterbahn Water Park and since we miss Indian food wherever we go, we usually pack something to keep us satisfied. And nothing tastes great than the tangy puliyogare on the road. There are many ways of making the tangy tamarind rice and I keep changing the method every time I make the rice, but the basic steps remain the same. Puliyogare(Puli=sour, tangy and Ogare=rice) and hence the name. In Karnataka we call it HuLi Anna(Huli=sour and Anna=rice). Whatever you call it the rice tastes great and goes well with yogurt.
For the puliyogare, you first cook plain white rice and then mix it with tamarind sauce(gojju) and masala pudi(spice powder). You can make the gojju and the pudi well in advance and store it in the refrigerator(which I usually do) and then you can just mix the rice whenever you feel like eating puliyogare. The gojju stays for weeks in the refrigerator.















Method:
Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups, washed and cooked so that rice is not too mushy

Gojju:
Tamarind pulp - 2 cups
Dry red chillies - 4-5 broken into pieces
Chana Dal - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - 2 tbsp
salt - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 10-12
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
oil - 2 tbsp

In a wide pan heat oil, when hot enough add mustard seeds, when the seeds splutter add chana dal and fry for few seconds, add peanuts and fry another few seconds, now add red chillies, curry leaves, turmeric and let the red chillies turn reddish brown. Now add tamarind pulp and salt and cover, as the pulp tends to splutter. Mix carefully, cover and let cook on low-medium heat for about 20 min, stirring in between. When you see oil floating on the sides, turn off the heat, at this point the pulp becomes like a paste, your gojju is ready.

Masala Pudi:
Chanda dal - 2 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Red Chillies - 10-12 broken into pieces
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds(jeera) - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Whole Dhaniya - 2 tsp

Dry roast each ingredient and let cool down, then grind everything together, mix well and the pudi is ready.

Assembly:
In a wide mixing bowl, take rice, let cool, add 2 tbsp gojju and 1 tbsp masala pudi and mix well. Adjust salt and enjoy.

Vegetable Noodles and rice

Today we were in a mood for a nice brunch instead of the usual breakfasts we have been having lately. So I came up with a fusion of noodles and rice(actually I didn't have enough noodles, so I had to use some instant rice to boost up the volume of the dish). But it turned out to be great and it was an instant hit.






Ingredients
Chinese noodles - 2 cups, cooked and drained
Uncle Ben's Instant 5 min Rice - 1 cup, cooked and drained
Broccoli - 2 cups, washed and chopped finely
Carrots - 2, washed, peeled and crinkle cut(I just use the Indian type of grater that we use to make potato chips, and use the crinkle side to grate the carrot length-wise)
Cabbage - 2 cups, finely chopped
oil- 1 tbsp
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp(I use the low-sodium variety)
vinegar - 1 tbsp
Black pepper - 1 tbsp
Crushed red pepper - 1 tsp(more if you like spicy)
Ginger - 1 tbsp, grated
salt - to taste(remember soy sauce has enough salt, so make sure you are just adjusting the salt)

Method:
In a large wide wok, heat 1 tbsp oil, when hot enough add carrots, broccoli and stir for a minute, and then add cabbage and stir for another minute. Now add soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper, black pepper, salt, mix well, add the cooked noodles and rice and stir well. Add ginger and toss, drizzle some more oil, if you think its getting too dry. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Spinach Daal (Muddipalya, Muddabhaji, Palak pappu)

Today I had made the typical karnataka food, spinach dal or muddipalya as we call it and Hasi Tomato Chutney(green tomato chutney). Usually this dal and chutney go well with Bhakri(Jowar roti), but I couldn't get good jowar flour, so we managed with wheat rotis. Although there are many ways of making spinach daal, I like my mom's version of spicy daal with garlic, green chillies and tamarind. Yum! doesn't that sound appetizing, well as for us we just overate today and I had to take a good 2 hr nap to digest all the food, but it was worth it. So here comes the recipe for Muddipalya and Hasi Tomato Chutney.



Muddipalya(Spinach Daal)
Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 bunch, washed and chopped finely (you can also use the pre-washed and bagged spinach, and I personally don't like the frozen spinach, but you can go ahead and use it if you really can't get the fresh one)
Toor daal - 2 cups
Green chillies - 5-6, chopped finely or ground into a paste
Garlic - 5-6 pods, crushed coarsely
Tamarind - 1 big lime size, saoked and squeezed to get the pulp, or if using tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - 1 tbsp
Besan(gram flour or chickpea flour) - 1 tbsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
curd chillies - 5-6(optional)

Method:
Pressure cook the daal with 4 cups of water to two whistles, you don't want the daal to get too mushy. In a large deep pan heat 1 tbsp oil, when hot add mustard seeds, jeera seeds, let them splutter and then add garlic, stir till garlic gets light brown, now add peanuts(if you are using raw peanuts add them at this stage, if you are using the roasted peanuts you can add them at the end). Fry till the peanuts are light brown, now add the besan and fry till you can smell the besan, about 5 minutes, don't let the besan burn. Now add chopped spinach, green chillie paste, tamarind pulp and salt. Mix well and cover for about 5 minutes on low heat, the daal at this stage tends to splutter everywhere, so use the pot lid and stay at a distance from the pot to avoid spluttering on your face.
In another small pan take 2 tsp oil, when hot add curd chillies and fry till dark brown and pour this over the daal.
This daal tastes great with roti or rice.


Green Tomato Chutney
Ingredients:
Green Tomato - 2, chopped into big cubes
Green chillies - 6-8 (according to taste)
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Roasted sesame powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Hing(asafoetida) - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - 4-5

Method:
In a shallow pan, heat 1/2 tbsp oil, add chopped green tomatoes, green chillies, jeera and cover and cook for 10-15 min, stirring in between till the tomatoes and chillies get very soft. Let it cool down a bit, and then transfer them to a blender, add salt, sesame powder and blend to a smooth paste, if you like the chutney coarse then just pulse it in the blender. Take it out in a bowl and mix well. In a small pan, heat another 1/2 tbsp oil, when hot add mustard seeds, when the seeds splutter add hing, turmeric and curry leaves and pour over the chutney. Enjoy!

Saabudana Kheer (Tapioca pudding)

My sister-in-law was fasting today and I told her I'll make something nice for her with saabudana, since saabudana(tapioca) can be taken on days when you fast. Well one reason why we used to wait for sivarathri or other days when we all had to fast when we were children, because mom wouldnt cook anything all day, but she used to make varieties of snacks with sabudana. When I was a kid I was not a great fan of sabudana paayasa(kheer), but now with a little variation I've started liking it. And today my sis-in-law really liked the kheer and was impressed that saabudana kheer can be done this way too!

Saabudana Paayasa
Ingredients:
Sabudana(tapioca) - 1 cup, washed and soaked in water for about 2 hrs
Fresh coconut - 2 cups/Coconut milk - 2 cup
Condensed Milk - 1 can
Elaichi(cardamom) powder - 1 tsp
Khus Khus(poppy seeds) - 2 tsp
saffron - 4-5 strands(optional, I like it because it gives a light color to the pudding)
cashews - 1 tbsp(broken into small pieces)
ghee/butter - 1 tsp

Method:
Grind the coconut with 2 cups water till you get a nice paste and then strain it through a strainer. Blend the leftover meat again with 1/2 cup water and strain again. You should be getting about 2 cups of coconut milk. In a large heavy bottomed pot, bring to boil 1 cup of water. When the water is boiling rapidly add soaked sabudana and keep stirring till the sabudana becomes transparent, now add coconut milk, condensed milk, khus khus, elaichi powder, saffron and keep stirring on low heat. In another small frying pan heat ghee/butter, when hot add cashews fry till light brown and the add to the paayasa. Serve hot and enjoy!

Hints: Fresh coconut milk tastes better than canned coconut milk.
The elaichi powder should be grounded coarsely to get a good taste of elaichi while eating your paayasa.

Mango Rice (Maavinkaayi anna)

Well I've been a bit busy last week with relatives from India and we had gone sight seeing and all that, so didn't find time to really put in some recipes, though I've been cooking a lot last week for the guests. One of the recipes that I made last week was the typical south-indian rice the way my mom used to make, we call it maavinkaayi anna. In mango season, mom used to make all kind of dishes that include mango and this was one of my favorites. Me and my brothers used to finish all the rice before evening. Sorry couldn't click pics, but will try to put in on the blog next time I make the rice. Anyways, the recipe is on the way for now.

Mango Rice
Ingredients:
Raw Mango - 1, washed, peeled and grated
Rice - 2 cups, washed and cooked(not too soft)
Mustard powder - 2 tbsp
Fresh/Frozen coconut - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - 1 tbsp
Cashews - 1/2 tbsp, broken into small pieces
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Chana Dal - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 4-5, slit lenghtwise
Curry leaves - 5-6
Hing(asafoetida) - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1 pinch
salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - finely chopped to garnish

Method:
Heat oil, add mustard seeds and jeera seeds, when they splutter add chana dal. When the dal gets light golden color, add green chillies and curry leaves, fry till green chillies get crisp, add peanuts and cashews, when the cashews are golden color add hing, haldi and grated mango and fry for a minute till the mango gets soft. In a large bowl take cooked rice, add salt, mustard powder and the cooked mango mixture and mix well. Garnish with coriander and fresh coconut and serve with yogurt.

Eggplant Cabbage curry

Sometimes when I open my fridge, I see some vegetables that are not good enough to make one dish so I had to mix and match some veggies and try out various combinations to make something edible. Today was one of the days when I opened my fridge and saw a small piece of cabbage begging to be used up and so I had pair it up with some eggplants and edamame soy beans and the resulting curry was really delicious. You could use green peas instead of edamame beans, but lately I have been using edamame beans a lot because of their rich protein content and I like that they are firm compared to peas which become very soft when cooked. But you can try either one of them as long as you put enough masalas.

Ingredients:
Eggplant - 5 washed, cut into slices and soaked in salt water to retain the color
Cabbage - 1 cup chopped finely
Edamame soy beans - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp(or according to taste, remember I eat spicy)
Dhaniya powder - 1 tsp
Jeerapowder - 1/2 tsp
Saunf powder - 1/2 tsp(optional, I like the slight taste of it in the curry)
Fresh/frozen coconut - 1 tbsp
Chana dal - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Hing - a pinch
turmeric - a pinch
oil - 2 tsp
salt - to taste



Method:
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, jeera, chana dal, let the chana dal become light golden, add hing, turmeric powder, eggplant pieces and fry for sometime till the eggplant gets soft. Now add cabbage and edamame beans, mix well and let it cook for about 2 minutes. When the cabbage gets a little soft, add salt, chilli powder, dhaniya powder, jeera powder, saunf powder, lemon juice, coconut and mix well. Let it cook on low flame for about a minute and then just enjoy the vegetable with chapathi or puri.

Eggplant chutney (Vankaya Pachadi)

I have to make some or other kind of chutney once in two days to stop hubby from eating too much pickle. So this is a variety of chutney I often make, I got the recipe from one of the andhra food site and I modified a bit of it....enjoy! I usually use the indian eggplant as it doesn't mash up into a paste when I grind the chutney, but if you can't get the indian eggplant, feel free to use the japanese eggplant or the american purple eggplant. But remember to blend all the blending ingredients and add the eggplant in the end and just pulse a little bit.














Ingredients:
Round Indian eggplant - 4 washed, chopped and soaked in salt water
Green chillies - 7-8(I like it very spicy, so adjust according to your taste)
Garlic - 3-4 cloves, chopped
Ginger - 1" piece, washed, peeled and chopped
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Tamarind - 4-5 leaves, washed or tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Red onion/White onion - 1 small or 1/2 medium, finely chopped
salt - to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 pinch
oil - for frying
Coriander leaves - finely chopped for garnish



Method:
In a frying pan, heat about 1 tsp oil and add eggplant pieces and green chillies, cover and let cook till the eggplants start browning and the chillies are soft. Let it cool down a bit. In a blender add garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, tamarind leaves/paste, salt, fried eggplant and chillies and blend into a coarse paste. Take out in a bowl and add raw onions, mix well. In a small frying pan take about 1 tsp oil, when hot add mustard seeds and turmeric and pour onto the chutney, mix well and garnish with coriander. Enjoy!

Vegetable pasta

Lately my little one has taken a deep liking to olives, and she wants olives in everything. And if her lunch box has olives, she'll finish the whole thing. The other day I made her pasta with olives and some other veggies(for her other veggies doesn't matter as long as she can see the olives, but she'll finish them anyway).

Ingredients:
Rotini Pasta(any kind will do) - 1 cup
Garlic - 2-3 cloves, finely chopped
Carrot - 1 medium, peeled and cut into bite size
Green Pepper - medium half, chopped
Corn(frozen or fresh) - 1/2 cup
Olives - 1/4 cup chopped
oil - 1/2 tbsp
salt - to taste
Black pepper - to taste
















Method: Boil water in a pot, when the water is boiling add the pasta to it and let it simmer for about 5-10 min depending on how firm or how soft you want your pasta. I like mine firm so I boil for about 5-6 min, drain and keep aside. In another frying pan, add oil, when hot add garlic fry a minute, add carrot, green pepper and corn and let the carrot get a little soft, add olives and stir for a minute. Now add pasta, salt and pepper and mix well. Your vegetable pasta is ready to go, you may add some freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Cauliflower-Aloo Masala

Hello everybody!
I always try to find recipes with a little bit of gravy, since my little one loves chapathis, I need to find something to go with it, and a gravy vegetable helps so I can skip making the dal that day. Anyway recently I found this recipe on one of the sites I was visiting, I did a little bit of modification to suit my palate, and trust me it came out so gud, my hubby wondered if i got it from any restaurant(though we don't have any indian restaurants where we live). And the best thing is my little one just lopped up all the vegetables and the gravy. So here we go.

Ingredients:
Vegetables -
Cauliflower - 1 small or 1/2 medium, trimmed, washed and florets cut
Potato - 1 medium, washed and cut into bite-size cubes(I leave the skin on the potato)
Carrot - 1 medium, washed, peeled and cut into bite-size cubes
Onion - 1 sliced lengh-wise
Tomatoes - 4 chopped
Peas - 1/4 cup(or any other beans soaked and cooked)
Salt - to taste
Oil- 1 tbsp
Whipping Cream - 1/4 cup

For the masala:
Coconut powder(dry or fresh) - 4 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon - 2"
Cloves - 4
Ginger - 1"
Garlic - 2 cloves
Cilantro - few sprigs
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp(or to taste)
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Take all the above masala ingredients in a blender and make a smooth paste, adding little water as needed.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large wide pot. When hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, add onion and fry till goldern, then add tomatoes and cook for a min. Now add potatoes and carrot and cover and cook till potatoes are just soft, now add cauliflower and peas, cook for a min and add the masala paste, salt and half a cup of water. Cover and simmer for 5 min, when the curry is boiling add cream and stir well and turn off the heat. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

Bendekayi majjige huli ( Bhindi Kadhi)

Hello Friends,
Its been a while since I added anything to the blog. Well things were pretty busy for the past one year, but now I'm back with more recipes for you all. I've been thinking what should I add for my comeback recipe. And then I was thinking of the one thing my mom used to make when we were tired of eating dal and that's Kadhi(we call it Majjige Huli in Karnatka). So here comes the simple recipe for bendekayi majjige huli.
Majjige huli is made out of sour curd or sour buttermilk. Usually when there is a big batch of curd or buttermilk that has become too sour to eat, we used to make this majjige huli with vegetables, but bhindi tastes great with this. Its a very simple dish and tastes great with hot rice and ghee. My little one loves this dish and just keeps drinking this.

Ingredients:
Sour curd - 2 cups
Besan(chickpea flour) - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1 medium cut into thin slices
Bhindi - washed, dried and cut into big pieces
salt - to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
turmeric - 1 pinch
curry leaves - 8-10
Oil - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - for garnish

Make a paste:
Green chillies - 3-4
Ginger - 1"
Coriander leaves - 4-5 stalks
cumin seeds(jeera) - 1tsp

Method:
Mix sour curd or buttermilk, besan and the green chilli paste in a large bowl and beat well, so there are no lumps in the mixture.
In a big frying pan add oil, when the oil is hot add mustard leaves, when the seeds splutter, add curry leaves, turmeric and the onion and fry till the onions are light brown, now add bhindi and keep frying till the bhindi becomes dry and little crispy, now add the curd mixture and keep stirring. Stir well till the kadhi starts to boil, if you do now keep stirring, the mixture may just curdle and the water will separate out and the kadhi becomes too watery. Hence its very important to keep stirring till the kadhi gets to the boiling point. Once it starts boiling lower the flame or the heat on the stove, add salt and boil for another 5 min. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice and ghee.