Food for memories - Idli & Peanut chutney

Dear foodies,

While I was browsing through blog posts today, I landed on ISG's post where she linked to a video on Southern India and its food. The video is very well taken and the scenes immediately made me miss home deeply :( The kolams/muggu, the busy streets, family and neighbors dropping by and the food, aah, the food! And just like ISG sought to make a comfort meal to repair her mood, I did the same for myself. It was also 1' in the afternoon and I had just a cup of coffee in the morning! ~ the video zooms into the Shoba Narayan's father making filter coffee and I cannot tell how much I missed my mom's coffee watching that!

The video spends a good amount of time showing steaming idlis served with delicious coconut chutney and that was exactly what I wanted. I did not have any idli batter ( or insurance, as Shoba states in the video) and reached for the next best thing, Anita's instant gratification. I have made these idli's countless times since she posted the recipe. It has always been a hit and rescues me from my weekend comfort breakfast cravings. To go along with it I made some peanut chutney, the kind that has everything that I could throw into the blender, everything that I like, I know this rule does not apply to all dishes, but it worked here :) Oddly, peanut chutney, an Andhra specialty, was not something that I grew up with, it was only after I came here for my MS that I learnt it from my room mates. Now I make it all the time instead of the coconut chutney I have been used to, grated coconut is something that's not always stocked in my kitchen and this peanut chutney is just too good to pass up.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup - Peanuts
• 2 tsp - Dalia/putnalu
• 2 tsp - Sesame seeds/nuvvulu
• 1 tsp - Coriander seeds/dhania
• 2 nos - Green chillies ; 1 red chilli
• 2 Tbsp - grated Coconut
• 1 Tbsp - chopped, Cilantro/coriander leaves
• 2-3 pieces of tamarind or 1 tsp - Tamarind extract
• Salt to taste
• ~ 1/4 cup - Water

Method:

1. Place a saute pan on medium heat along with the peanuts and dry roast them until they turn a light golden color. Roast them slowly on medium heat so they cook evenly. Toss occasionally to avoid burning them.
2. Empty them onto a plate and allow to cool. You can remove the outer skins if you want by slightly rubbing the peanuts between your palms and blowing the skins off them. I rarely do this, cos its messy, and to me it does not make any difference. Roast the dalia next and as they start to change color, add the sesame seeds as these take very little time to toast. Once these are toasted move them to the plate as well.
   
3. Next add a few drops of oil to the pan and roast the coriander seeds, fresh tamarind and chillies. Allow all the ingredients to cool for a while.
4. Blend them together adding water slowly to get the desired consistency. Also add the coconut and coriander leaves while blending. I usually stop when the chutney is still a little coarse. You can either top it with a tadka or serve it as is with idli/dosa/kuzhi paniyaram/pesarattu/upma/undrallu.
   

For the usual regular chutney, skip the coconut, dalia and coriander leaves. For a coconut chutney,take the peanuts/sesame seeds/dhania/red chillies/tamarind off the list and simply use more grated coconut and dalia instead. I just used this chutney as a base sauce for a pizza and topped it with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions, sounds crazy I agree, but it was surely yummy :)

Meanwhile make the rava idli's. While roasting the rava keep stirring it as it burns very fast on the hot pan, been there done that! :D I added some cornmeal to the batter this time and also added some grated carrots to the idli molds before ladling the batter. Peas and corn are other additions I have tried.
While the idli's are getting cooked you might already be slightly hungry, so make a crispy polenta-peanut chutney sandwich and kill time taking photos :D

Other chutneys that I have blogged about are here, two more coming up.

Enjoy your weekend!

Cauliflower stir fry

Dear foodies,

Though NaBloWriMo is successfully out of the way I still feel a slight urge to blog every night, the routine got stuck, but only part of my brain was going through that hangover though, the other half was really tired and lazy to do anything :) I have been peacefully going around blogs and trying to catch up on the recipes posted by all of you. I don't comment much because quite often I arrive really late at the entries and then just skip the comment form and get to the next post. Cauliflower was one veggie I saw in multiple blogs and it made me realize that it has been ages since I cooked with it. The last I remember was a roasted cauliflower soup that I made earlier this year when the cold weather was still sticking around , may be it was an overdose of this yummy kheema I was making then. Oh no, there was this pav-bhaji in between.

I went straight from work to the store a few days back, and brought home a tiny cauliflower and set out to make a simple curry/bhaji that my mom often made, its simple and flavorful. Here's how you do it...

Ingredients:

• 1 tiny cauliflower ~25-30 florets
-- Start off with bigger florets so you have decently sized ones after you are done stirring and cooking them :)

• 1 nos - medium sized, Tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup - sliced Onions
• 6-7 slivers of sliced ginger
  
• 1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds/ jeera
• 1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp - red Chili powder
• 1 tsp - Garam masala
• 2 tsp - lime juice (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wide, non-stick pan and splutter cumin seeds. Add the turmeric and 1/4 tsp of chilli powder to the oil, this gives the curry a nice red color. Next add the sliced onions immediately and saute until they turn a light brown color, add the ginger.
2. The chopped tomatoes go in next and cook until they soften and loose shape. Mix in the rest of the red chilli powder and garam masala and saute till the spices loose their raw smell ~5mins
3. Meanwhile wash and soak the cauliflower florets in water with some vinegar added to it (helps kill any insects/worms in them, salting the water is another way, as Anita mentioned in the comments.). Drain and place them on a plate and microwave for 3mins.
4. Once the onion-tomato mix is fully cooked, add about 1-2Tbsp of water and the florets. Mix to coat them evenly with the spices, add salt, cover and cook on medium heat for 10-15mins, stirring in between to avoid charring.Keep the stirring to a minimum to keep the florets intact, toss the pan carefully instead.
   
5. Once they turn tender, uncover and cook on high heat for 2-3mins to evaporate any left over water. Garnish with coriander leaves and lime juice (if tomatoes aren't tangy enough) and serve with warm chapthi's or rice.

I love the simple spices in this curry and its the cauliflower that shines through against the tanginess from the tomatoes (or lime juice). When I was at the store I also picked up some whole wheat pita bread to use instead of chapathi's, I was so not in a mood to make some that night. I used them as a filling in my pita pockets making it fun to eat too. You can surely pair it with a simple pulao or plain rice. I went back to the store y'day to get another cauliflower because the curry got over well before my tastebuds could be satisfied :)

Happy Halloween!

Dear foodies,

Trick or Treat ?

And its going to be a Treat for all you guys cos today is the last day of NabloWriMo! Its been 31 days filled with posts! I enjoyed myself for the most part but a few days it was race to the deadline :)) I hope you guys had fun with it and I did not end up spamming your feeds :)

Happy Halloween to everyone celebrating it this weekend!

Enjoy!

Simple food - Tadka dal

Dear foodies,

Here is a simple dal recipe, its another quickie for you to be armed with when you have no veggies on hand. My mother made this one day to go with chapathi's. Pair this with a chutney or a simple steamed veggie dish if you can and it turns into a proper meal spread.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup - Moong dal/pesarapappu
• 1/2 tsp - Turmeric
• 1/2 cup - chopped onions
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Cumins seeds
• 2 - Green chillies
• 1/2 tsp - red Chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp - Dhania powder (optional)
• 1 Tbsp - lime juice
• 1 tsp - Oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and cook the moong dal along with the turmeric and 1 1/2 - 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker or on the stove top (use more water if needed).
2. When the dal is nearly done, heat a pan with oil, splutter the mustard and cumin seeds, add the onions and green chillies.,suate until the onions soften and turn translucent.
3. Add the red chilli powder ( and dhania powder) and saute for a couple more minutes before turning off the heat.
4. Salt the dal and top it off with the tadka and lime juice (adjust to taste) and serve alongside soft, warm phulka's or rice.

This is a very basic recipe and delicious for the very same reason. The creaminess of the dal stands out and the simple tadka enhances the flavors with the lime juice perks up the whole dish.

Faux fried rice

Dear foodies,

This is a no-fuss weekday quickie meal that I whipped up a few nights back. Not much of a recipe here, just throwing together of a bunch of ready made, quick cooking ingredients to make something tasty. I usually try to avoid rice and stick to whole grains or light dinners during the night. But sometimes you just feel like eating rice, its a comfort issue. I've been enjoying it all my life and its tough to totally remove it from my menu and I definitely don't intend to do any such thing either. Now and then its possible to trick your mind though. All your senses play a role in the act of eating and its not just the taste-buds going on a overdrive. So by substituting rice with rice shaped pasta, orzo, I can get myself to think it is rice, if only for a few moments before I taste it :)

I use orzo quite often, any pasta for that matter, because I love it and sometimes I am just too lazy to cook rice and a side dish separately. With pasta you can toss together some veggies, a mix of spices and end up with a wholesome meal. Its a lot quicker and offers much more flexibility to me, I get to use up a lot of veggies- fresh, frozen or leftovers, and use a mix of condiments that I would otherwise not use with white rice. Here I used a Nasi goreng curry paste, its a condiment used for making Malaysian style fried rice with the word itself meaning 'fried rice' in Malay. My grandmother lived in Malaysia and Singapore for quite a few years and I have heard many stories from her of her life there. Part of those stories was also the food she enjoyed and Nasi Goreng featured prominently, atleast it was one of the words that stuck. The moment I saw this curry paste on the grocery store aisle, I picked it up so I could try it out and tell her about it. So here's the faux fried rice I made with it, faux, since there is no rice involved :)

Ingredients:

• 1 cups - Orzo
• 3/4 cup - Mixed vegetables - I used frozen thai style veggies: beans, sprouts, chestnuts, carrots and broccoli
• 1/2 tsp - Oil
• 1 tsp - Nasi goreng paste or any Thai curry paste
• 1 tsp - Soy sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp - thai chilli paste (optional)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Bring some water to a boil, add salt and orzo and cook till the pasta is al dente.
2. Meanwhile, thaw the frozen vegetables, either in the microwave or by placing them at room temp for sometime. Heat a pan with the oil on medium heat, add the curry paste and saute for 30secs. Add the veggies, increase the heat and saute trying to retain some crunch in the veggies. Next add the soy sauce, chilli paste and freshly ground pepper.
3. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the vegetables, stir well, check for seasonings and serve hot!

This fried rice pasta was extremely flavorful. The curry paste was not overwhelming, and I just love freshly ground pepper in my fried rice recipes and this was no exception. The pasta paired really well with all the other ingredients and made for a enjoyable meal. Other recipes that I have used orzo in are this soup and salad and this other time that I used a thai curry paste instead. Now out with your quick fixes? What ready made condiments do you use, if any ?

Remembering...

Dear foodies,

those you love and hold onto through your thoughts...

Banana - Blueberry muffins

Dear foodies,

Every now and then I feel like having a nice rich piece of cake inspite of being a person with out a pronounced sweet tooth. In India all the local bakeries would conveniently sell pastries that were just right for such cravings. You did not have to buy full cakes and deal with the trouble of finishing them. If you had a small impromptu party you could buy as many flavors as there were friends and everyone is happy. The flavors were great too, my favorites are the black forest and pineapple pastries. Over here, I find the cakes laden with butter and calories, and the ones in the chain stores use ingredients that increase the product's shelf life, reducing yours! So when I get the cravings I experiment at home and make small portions that are easy to handle. The maple cake was one such experiment and the other time is was these decadent chocolate cupcakes.

When I've had banana's sitting on the counter getting close to the blackening stage I have them with some milk and sugar, or as a smoothie, sometimes even a banana bread if I have the time. A few months back I saw this recipe for vegan blueberry muffins. It was the berry season and I also had some fresh blueberries at home.

I followed the method given in the recipe, but cut down the amount of oil and added some ground flax seeds instead. (Microwave 1 tsp of flax seeds in 1 1/2 tbsp of water in spurts of 30secs, beating it vigorously in between to get a thick viscous mixture, cool and add to batter). I used lesser sugar too since the banana's I had were sweet enough by themselves and the blueberries too were tart and juicy. You can see that my muffins are not as crumbly as the ones in the original recipe, may be due to the flax seeds giving it a good support structure. I halved the recipe and got 6 muffins out of it. These muffins were not as sturdy as regular store bought one's and yielded under your touch, but they were super delicious, and were gone in a couple of hours.

I made these when my parents were here and they loved it since it tasted a lot like banana appam (pazham pori). It is essentially the same ingredients in a different package, banana's, flour, sugar and oil, but this one is baked and has fewer calories. So the next time you have banana's to use up, you know what to do ! 5 more days to go, yay!

Happy Deepavali

Dear foodies,


Enjoy a fun and safe festival of lights today and share with me how you spent it! I would love to be part of it :)

Weekend Funnies - News about news

Dear foodies,

Strawberry crisp

Dear foodies,

I saw some really red and juicy strawberries at the store today and got reminded of the dish I made numerous times over the summer. When my parents were here, we went to a strawberry picking farm close by and bought a couple of small tubs filled with the best fruit we could lay our hands on. My father loves strawberries and we picked up a pack of them every time we went to the store irrespective of whether the previous batch was done or not. So well, that left us with quite a few berries at home sometimes and I was looking for a few easy recipes that would use them up in bulk. That's when I saw Suganya's recipe for a crisp. My hunt ended right there!

I have tried it with rhubarb, with strawberries alone, added blueberries and blackberries once. I also changed up the topping each time based on what I had, sometimes it was pistachios/ almonds & hazelnuts/ walnuts / walnuts & almonds. Brown sugar when I had it or jaggery the rest of the times. But no matter what I used, the end product was always the most glorious dessert. Eaten warm or chilled it was exquisite. The strawberry reduces into a thick jelly and is yummy against the crunch from the topping. I made it about 4-5 times in a month and a half. I am making another batch right now for a friend who is visiting. Manisha made a apple crisp a few days back and here is a recipe using peaches that I tried and liked.

And since we are heading to Suganya's blog, here is another one of my most favorite recipes from her blog. Potsickers!
This was my goto dish last winter. I quick stir fry of the veggies I had, again not sticking to the entire recipe but going with what was available and what I was in the mood for, and some wanton wrappers, dinner is ready! Her dipping sauce is a simple yet very tasteful combination of ingredients that goes perfectly with these potstickers. You just can't go wrong with this recipe. this is another one I am going to make this weekend. Do give them a try and I am sure you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Enjoy your weekend!