Motte Tovve

As I grow older and as I spend more and more time in the kitchen I realize that my idea of a well stocked pantry was too exhaustive. In fact my list can actually be cut down by half. If we are creative, we can dish out excellent and healthy meals with very few ingredients perhaps with what ever we have in the pantry/refrigerator. I have been steadily reducing the number of items in my pantry and still being functional.

This was one such week, I decided not to go grocery shopping until I used up every thinkable ingredient. Finally I was down to two ingredients eggs and split green grams (Hesaru Bele). So this is what I did and we enjoyed the dish so much that it set me thinking on a well-stocked-pantry Vs creativity.

My very good friend A got me an earthen pot from Kerala a few months back. I just love it.She had it seasoned in India too. It was a breeze to use, but so much better than any other pot I have used till date. This earthen pots make the best of Tovve, dals and of course fish curries.  I have tried a number of dals in this pot and all of it tasted great. The dal miraculously turns silky, rich and delicious even without any additional fat. So lets get cooking in an earthen pot.

Split washed Moong dal (Hesaru bele) 1/2 cup
Turmeric a  generous pinch +1/4 tsp
Eggs 4
Ghee 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Hing
Red chilli powder 2 tsp
Dhania powder 2 tsp
Tomatoes 1 chopped
Garam Masala 1/4 tsp
Fresh coriander a handful
lemon juice and salt to taste

Method:

• Wash the dal in several changes of water. Combine it with 2 cups of water, a pinch turmeric and a touch of ghee and pressure cook till  the dal is soft.  (I cooked my dal in the earthen pot)
• Hard boil the eggs, shell it and keep it aside. (If you do not mind the green ring, pressure cook the eggs with the dal)
• Heat the ghee in a pan. Throw in the mustard and jeera. Once they splutter, add the hing, chilli powder, turmeric and dhania powder. 
• Throw in the tomatoes right after the spices. Cook till the tomatoes soften. 
• Now gently lower the eggs and saute the eggs till all sides are colored.
• Transfer the eggs and spices to the dal. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Add more water if needed. 
• Fold in the Garam Masala. Adjust salt and lemon juice.
• Finish with coriander. Serve hot with rice or a bread of your choice.

Morning Glory Slice

It is matter of few weeks. I got tired of fixing breakfast every morning. No we are not cereal-out-of-the-box or bread kind of people. We are Dose-Paddu-Chapati-Akki rotti kind of people. I felt like I needed a break from the first dish of the day but I wanted to make something rather healthful. So I decided to make morning glory muffins. But I did not have a proper muffin tin, I converted the muffin into a slice. Just that the slices were a little to small and we had to eat two of them to get the feeling of eating a decent breakfast. I love the muffins at King Arthur . But like always, I need to add and subtract from the recipe to make it my own.This particular recipe yielded the most tender and moist muffins ever. They were also rather rich. It is fine for a few days but long term this is again something that did make you regret every time you try to get into that new pair of jeans.

We will need,

Craisins 1/2 cup
Whole wheat pastry flour 1.5 cups
All purpose flour 1/2 cup
Sugar 3/4 cup (Can be increased upto 1 cup. But I found 3/4 to be rather too sweet for my taste)
Baking Soda 2 tsp
Cinnamon 1.5 tsp
Ginger ground 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg 1/8 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Grated carrots 1 cups tightly packed.
Large apple grated and pealed 1
Kopra 1/2 cup
Almonds 1/2 cup chopped fine
Sunflower seeds 1/3 cup
Sunflower oil 1/2 cup
Eggs 3
Vanilla extract
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1/2 lime

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease and line a loaf pan. (One of those largish loaf pans. If smaller use two loaf pans)
• Soak the Craisins in hot water. Set it aside. 
• Mix in all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. (flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and spices)
• In another mixing bowl stir in the wet ingredients like eggs, oil, carrots, apple, orange juice, lime juice. Combine all the ingredients well. 
• Stir the nuts and seeds into the wet ingredients. 
• Drain the craisins and toss them into the dry mixture. Make a well in the dry mixture and pour the wet ingredients. Gently mix everything together until just combined. I read somewhere that anything more than 50 strokes will make the muffins dry and tough. I agree. 
• Pour it into the loaf pan and bake till a toothpick inserted comes out dry about 30  minutes in my oven. 
• Remove onto a wire rack and allow it to cool. Once completely cooled slice the loaf and store it in an air tight jar for at least a week. Mine did not last past the week end. We are a grazing family you know.

Well actually I cannot think if this is a good breakfast recipe or is it a dessert recipe. Because we ate it both ways, I will label it thus.

Kayi Obbattu

Ugadi is just round the corner. Ugadi is the first day of our calender and therefore celebrated by all communities across the Kannada heartland. It is probably the one of the two festivals that is widely celebrated back home, the other being Deepawali. Traditional Ugadi celebrations are best observed in smaller towns and cities. Bangalore being so cosmopolitan these days Ugadi in Bangalore is just like any other day. But growing up in Mysore and a host of other smaller towns and cities in Karnataka, my memories of Ugadi is all about food, family and gambling. While food and family are the usual suspects, gambling is rather unusual right. But well that was the tradition. I still remember tents and pandals being set up by the road side, in parks and essentially every where there is space enough to hold those tents. Those tents and pandals serve as makeshift gambling dens. It is perfectly legal to gamble and to set up gambling facilities on and around Ugadi. So any body is free to gamble and have a good time on Ugadi. Las Vegas? yes please, they did do it on Ugadi. So after the ritualistic bath, wearing new clothes, pooja, partaking of the prasadas and 'Bevu-Bella' a combination of Neem blossoms and jaggery (which is a our way of paying tribute to both good and bad in life) we indulge in one serious meal. Then off to gambling. We never visited any of those dens but we would play a game or two of cards at home and my father would give us money regardless of who won the game. I love Ugadi and hope this new year fills our lives with all joys and just a touch of Neem.

Here is Kayi Obbattu. Obbattu and Ugadi goes together. But the one with 'bele' or dal is traditionally made the same day. But if you are looking forward to a make ahead Obbattu, it is Kayi obbattu. It is festive, tasty but also good made ahead.

We will need,

Coconut grated 3 cups

Jaggery roughly crushed 2-3 cups (2 would do for me, but FIL likes it sweeter )

Cardamon 2 (seeds crushed and the skin discarded)

Poppy seeds 2 tbsp (toasted and ground)

For the dough:
All purpose flour 1 (may be 1.5 cups)
Salt pinch
Turmeric pinch
Oil 3 tbsp

Method:

• Sift flour with turmeric. Stir in the salt. Dump the flour on to a large plate. Make a well in the center of the well. Pour water into the well a little by little and start combing the flour and the water, making a dough much softer than chapati dough. Knead the dough very well, like while making bread. The dough is ready when it is very stretchy. Pour the oil on top of the dough and cover with a damp cloth and rest it for at least 2 hours
• Combine the coconut, cardamon and the poppy seeds in the food processor and process till the they are well combined and the coconut has become rather homogenous.  Do not add water while processing the mixture. 
• Remove the coconut into a thick bottom non-stick skillet. Throw in the jaggery, cook till the jaggery has melted and the mixture comes together. Remove from heat and set it aside to cool. The sweet filling /hurana is ready to go.
• Pinch small balls of dough and roll the filling into small balls as well.
  
• On a greased plastic sheet, roll out the dough balls into circles of 3" diameter using your fingers. Place the filling and pinch the dough to close the filling.
  
• Using your fingers, roll the stuffed dough ball into 8-9" circles.
  
• Ideally the filling should be uniformly distributed and the flour skin should be as thin as possible, so trying to achieve the ideal is a good idea. Mine is never perfect, but in my quest for the perfect, i end up making decent stuff..
• Heat a griddle. When smoking, grease it with ghee. Place the rolled out obbattu on to the griddle. cook of both sides with oodles of ghee.
• Serve it hot or at room temperature. If storing to be consumed later, cool it completely and store it in air-tight boxes between parchment sheets.

Badam Puri

Badam puri also known as Surali puri is one of those old fashioned sweets which were very popular back in the days when everything home made was the only option. I remember my grand mother making this for important occasions. She made it for our house warming ceremony and for my cousins naming ceremony. Those were the days when women in family gathered to cook elaborate meals for 100-200 people. Catering was as common as it is today. Everything had to be cooked at home and offered to gods before it was served to guests. Today life is much simpler. Call a caterer and the food will arrive just in time and of course they will serve, clean etc. Our generation of women never got to huddle  in front of the giant temporary wood burning stoves and gossip as we stirred the giant vats of curry. Instead we can huddle up in front of the TV and comment on how silly the heroine looks!

We will need,

All purpose flour 1/2 cup
Chiroti Rawa (cream of wheat) 1/2 cup
Salt a pinch
Ghee 1/4 cup
Orange food colour (optional, I dont use it)
Sugar 1.5 cups
Saffron a few strands
Kopra 1/4 cup grated
Cardamon 2 pods
Refined oil to deep fry (I prefer sunflower oil)

Method:

• Pour the flour, chiroti rawa, food colour and salt into a deep mixing bowl. Stir in water a little by little till the mixture forms a tight dough. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set it aside to rest.
• Mean time, heat sugar and 1 cup of water over medium heat. Bring it to a boil. Throw in the saffron. Simmer till it attains a single thread consistency i.e. when the syrup is pulled between the thumb and the fore finger, it forms a single thread. Remove from heat and set it aside.
• Set a wok on the stove with the sunflower oil. Heat it till the oil shimmers. 
• Meantime start rolling out the Puris. Pinch a lime size dough and roll it out like a roti. Brush it with ghee and fold it into a semi circle. Brush it once again with ghee and fold it once more to get something of a triangle.
• Drop the triangles into hot oil. Deep fry till golden in color. The golden ones will be flaky and tender while a deeper golden brown color will yield Puris that are softer and chewier.
• Dip the hot puris in the sugar syrup and set it aside. Repeat till all the dough is exhausted.
• Crush the cardamon seeds and mix it with the Kopra.
• Sprinkle the kopra-cardamon on top of the Puris. Store them in a air-tight box for upto a week.

Huli Pudi

When do cooks back home feel they have come of age and are no longer amateurs in the kitchen? My answer would be when you make pickles and pudis. I few weeks back I ran out of my stash of Huli Pudi that my MIL brought last summer. I had been conserving it for quite some time but I had to see the bottom of the bottle one fine day. So I rolled up my sleeves and got to do what was needed. I had the recipe from my grandmother who makes the best in the world Huli Pudi. So I set out to make Huli Pudi for the first time.
It was a long labour intensive process. Imagine with food processors we feel it is time and labour intensive, if only I was born in the previous century I did be pounding the wicked spices as it blew into my lungs! huff huff. I know that is how my grandmother started making it. Some where later in her life that those flour mills started to pop up and she got the wicked spices ground at those noisy mills.
This time my pudi turned out sort of good, not as half as good as my grandmother, not as good as my mother or MIL would make but still I prefer this over the silly stuff sold in Indian stores labeled 'Sambar Powder'.

Here we go,

Chillies  1/2 kg
Dhania 1/2 kg
Jeera 360 grams
Pepper 60 grams
Turmeric 60 grams
Hing 60 grams
Channa Dal 120 grams
Uddina Bele 120 grams
Fenugreek seeds 120 grams
Mustard seeds 120 grams
Curry leaves 2 giant bunches (washed and dried)
Cinnamon 50 grams
Marati Moggu 3-4
Jaggery 60 grams
Salt a generous fist full

Method:

• Measure out all the spices carefully and keep it handy. A choice of chillis can be used. I prefer 3/4 Byadagi  and 1/4 Guntur or the spicy varieties because Sunny boy still prefers milder food. My grandmother and mother do  1:1 for Byadagi:Guntur.
• Open windows if any all over the house. Turn on the exhaust at full speed.
• Set a heavy kadai on medium flame. One the kadai is hot, start toasting the Dhania. When the Dhania is toasted and is fragrant, remove into a big wide platter and allow it to cool.
• Mean time, start toasting the other spices one at a time starting with the spice after Dhania up until curry leaves.
• Once the curry leaves are done start toasting the chillies. This one is the wickedest of all. It will make us cough and gasp for breath. Toast them till they change color.
• Remove the chillies to the same platter. Allow it to cool.
• Once cold throw in the Jaggary and salt. Grind the spice mixture in a coffee grinder till fine but still has some texture left.
• Combine the ground spices in the large platter and allow it to cool slightly. Mix the spice blend using a dry spatula. 
• Once the spices are cool, fill it in bottles and use as required.

Thanks Chitz and Nagashree  for thinking of me

1. If you were allowed to change something about yourselves, what would that be? :I would definitely be more organized and be detail oriented. 
2. Your favorite time pass other than cooking :Reading
3. According to you which is most important in a blog - presentation, recipe or pictures? : Well I did say the story
4. Your ultimate dream: Win a lottery perhaps?
5. Three qualities you would love to see in others: Patience, kindness and reason
6. One prank that you played on someone: write anonymous love letter to a friend and giggle when she did show it to us.
7. Your favorite vacation spot: erstwhile Kovalam beach
8. Cooking according to you is: stress buster
9. Who influences you the most? Like you would always listen to what this person says: my mom
10. Your favorite dessert: Rasgolla
11. One habit that you cannot change for life: over-eating when I like something.

Here are a set of questions Nagashree sent me.

1. What was your reaction when you received the Liebster award? :Wow 
2. What do you most look forward to with your blogging? Comments
3. What is your all time favorite ingredient or spice in cooking? Ghee
4. Do you always give credit to a recipe source or blogger when you use one? yes
5. What are your hobbies outside of food blogging? reading and eating
6. What appeals to you most in other food blogs (writing style, blog layout and visual appeal, pictures, recipes and anything else)? story and the pictures
7. How has blogging changed your life? Make new friends with the same feathers
8. How do you feel about plagiarism in food blogs? uh! despicable , come on gals it is supposed to be a creative outlet.
9. Who is the one person that influenced you most in starting your blog? LG
10. Who is your all time favorite cook/chef and why? Jacques Pepin, his philosophy is waste not want not. Love it.
11. What is cooking currently in your kitchen?Mixed vegetables from left over vegetables.

Spring Break Brownie

It is time for spring break in this corner of the world. Sunny boy too enjoyed a sort of spring break last week. We had a wonderful time. We hit a milestone that I have been looking forward for a long time. We baked together for the first time. No prize for guessing that we did a brownie. Sunny boy helped me measure out everything. He stirred the mixture and of course he licked my beaters clean.
I have always had him in my kitchen as I cooked. Long before he was 15 months old he knew the names of the vegetables and ingredients.  This very morning he was playing with his father and then all of a sudden he said, "Appa, will you please move away a bit?" Honey was perplexed and asked him why. Sunny boy said, "I am preparing Oggarane and it will splatter all over you". It make my heart puff up in joy. Like me my son. I am so very looking forward to having him in the kitchen and of course cook with him. I certainly hope that when he grows up, he will put together healthy from the scratch meals for his family in which ever part of the world he did be.

The brownie we put together was gone before I could snap a few pictures. But here is the journey which was way better than the destination. Sunny boy mixing batter. The end product looked like it was over mixed. The brownie had a cake like texture to it because of the over mixing. But  Sunny boy liked it anyway.Between me and him, we polished half the 8" we made that day.

After mixing the batter and popping it into the oven, Sunny boy got to lick the beaters.By the way, licking is supposed to be very bad etiquette back home. That is a strict no no. My grand mother would be livid if she gets to see this. Any way grand mother is  far away from my kitchen and will probably not eat any thing from my kitchen any way.

In short, we had a great time! I cannot believe that my little sunny baby is old enough to cook with me.

Tondekayi Fry

After three short years my laptop battery decided to die on me stalling my life as a blogger for weeks. Just happened to receive my shipment and guess what the first thing on my mind, write up a post. I have a bunch of photographs from the previous weeks that needs to be done and sent to blogger heaven!


Here is the first one. Tondekayi or the Tindora /Ivy goud is one of my favorite vegetables. It makes a wonderful Huli, Palya and also Gojju. This one is a fry. In my lexicon, that means a more elaborate dish than a Palya but less so than a Gojju. Mom makes a delicious version but that one seems to take forever and also she uses like a cup of oil for every kilo of the vegetable which is a little too much even by my standard. But sure enough it is absolutely tastey. This version is my modified version with much less oil almost the bang taste wise.

We will need,

Ivy Gourd/Tondekayi/ Tindora 2 lbs (cleaned slit into four length wise, ends discarded)
Peanut oil 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Hing a dash
Curry leaves a handful
Turmeric a generous pinch
Green chillies 4-5 chopped
Dhania powder 1.5 tsp
Jeera powder 1 tsp
Jaggery  about a tsp crushed
Amchoor powder 1.5 tsp
Kopra 1/4 cup (coarsely powdered)
Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat peanut oil in a non-stick wide bottom skillet. 
• Throw in the mustard, Jeera, Hing and curry leaves. Once they stop sizzling, throw in the Ivy Gourd. Cover and cook for about 7-10 minutes till they are every so slightly tender. 
• Throw in all the spice powders, stir well cover and cook till three fourth cooked. It took me about 10 minutes on very low heat. 
• Once the Ivy gourds are tender-crisp, throw in the Kopra, adjust salt and remove from heat immediately. 
• Serve hot with hot rice and a little ghee. Goes well with Rotis as well.

Pinto Beans Toge

Winter is such a sad time for a vegetable lover like me. There are very few great looking produce in the super markets. So this is the time of the year that I end up buying all kinds of beans and lentils. This past week I got a big bag of Pinto beans. They looked good and they ended up in my Toge. The toge was rich and creamy and very rich even though there was hardly any added fat.
We ate this with Chapatis. I can imagine this particular dish going very well with rice.

We will need,

Pinto Beans 1 cup
Turmeric a pinch
Hing a generous dash
Coconut oil / peanut oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Onions 1 large
Tomatoes 2 medium
Garlic 2 cloves
Dhania powder 2 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp (more if preferred spicy)
Jeera Powder 2 tsp
Green chillies 2 
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

•  Pick and clean the pinto beans. Wash it in multiple changes of water. Soak it in a wide mouth bowl with  plenty of water overnight. 
• Drain the pinto beans place it in a pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water, hing and turmeric. Cook till the beans are soft. (As my mom tells me, its  belly should be soft enough to squeeze). Set it aside.
• Heat oil in a thick bottom pot. Throw in the mustard seeds. 
• Once the seeds splutter, throw in the onions. Cook till the onions are deep brown in colour. Keep stirring making sure they do not burn.
• Once the onions are brown, throw in the garlic and cook for a minute or so just to get the garlic warmed up a bit. 
• Throw in all the powders. Stir the mixture and cook for a few minutes till the spices are aromatic. 
• Throw in the tomatoes along with all their juices. Pick up the masala and onion bits from the bottom of the pot. 
• Add a little water if the spices are burning. Cook till the tomatoes are mushy and the spices have come together. 
• Pour the beans along with the water into the Masala. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a few minutes.
• Adjust salt and lemon. Throw the green chillies slit length wise. Cover and remove from heat. Serve warm with rice or roti.

Mushroomy Onion Soup

I had heard so much about the french onion soup. I had to try it. Long long ago, when I landed a job, I took Honey out for a treat to a local restaurant. I saw the soup on the menu and was very excited about trying it. I asked the waitress if the soup contained meat. She said no. I was ecstatic. I ordered the soup ate it and enjoyed it. As a new bee to this country and to the culture, I did no know the difference between 'something containing meat' and something being 'vegetarian'. It did hit me like a tonne of bricks watching a cookery show where they called for beef stock in their french onion soup. The next time we were in the same restaurant I asked the waitress the right question. No it was not vegetarian. I did not want to know what was in there. It was sad. So if you are new to the States and what to know if the food is vegetarian, shoot the straight question. Never try to state a complicated problem the way I did.
The was my only experience with the soup. But I did enjoy the soup. I had been thinking of making my own version of the soup. This time I did and loved it. It is quite simple to substitute chicken stock/beef stock call for in most recipes. Just use Porcini/ dried shiitake mushrooms. Soak them and use the soaking liquid as a substitute to stock. Throw in a few bay leaves, cloves and a piece of cinnamon. The broth will be as flavorful as any meat based stock. I routinely use this method and get excellent results all the time. The Shiitake mushrooms does smell sort of fishy but I am ok with it. I did rather do the fishy mushroom than an over processed junk called bouillon/ stock cubes. Just a look at the ingredient list of the cubes is good enough to put me off for the rest of my life. No thanks Nestle, I am good on my own.

We will need,

Mushrooms 1/2 lb chopped
Onions 2 large chopped
Shiitake mushrooms 5-6 caps soaked in hot water
Kashmiri chilli (dried)-1
Butter 1 tbsp
Olive oil 1 tbsp
Garlic 2 cloves
Soy sauce to taste
Rice vinegar/ lemon juice to taste
Ginger root 1/2"
Mint for garnish.

Method:

• Heat the butter and oil in a thick bottom pot. Throw in the chopped  onion. Cook the onions till the onions are deep brown in colour. Keep stirring making sure that the onions do not burn. It took me about 30 minutes to get there.
• Push the onions to the side and throw the chopped garlic. Cook for a quick minute.
• Throw in the chopped mushrooms , the soaking liquid. 
• Chop the shiitake mushroom and throw them into the pot as well.
• Puncture the Kashmiri chilli and throw it  into the soup pot. Bring it to a boil.
• Simmer and cook till the mushrooms are tender and the soup has come together.
• Adjust the soy sauce and vinegar.
• Garnish with fresh slivers of ginger and chopped mint. Serve warm with some crusty bread or with cheese toasts.

Spicy Orange Baby Bok Choy

Sunny boy wants to be a chef these days. He is in the kitchen all the time, trying his little hands in making one pretend dish after another. After endless chocolate, strawberry pancakes, Doses and Paddus, he finally graduated into a dish of his own. He said he was making 'strawberry chicken and ......may be banana chicken'. I am like wow! He will probably grow into a foodie like me. That reminded me of orange in savory foods and I had to try it. Soon enough, I got a box of baby bok choy. Any way there are not many options during this time of the year, except for greens, leeks and mushrooms. So Bok Choy it was in a sort of orange glaze. I make a generous batch of this glaze and enjoyed it over cheese toast, over shredded Romain and will be trying it on a lot of other things as well. It is a super yummy versatile glaze/ chutney.

We will need,

Baby Bok Choy 1 lb
Peanut oil 1 tbsp
Garlic cloves 2 
Ginger 1/2"
Oranges 2
Soy sauce 2 tsp
Chilli flakes 1 generous pinch
Sugar scant tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

• Sqeeze the juice from and orange, place it in a thick bottom sauce pan. Heat and reduce the juice to half.
• Stir in the soy sauce, sugar and chilli flakes. Cook it down till it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and refrigerate it in a air tight bottle.
• Trim and clean the Bok Choy. Separate the white parts and the green parts.
• Heat peanut oil. Throw in the garlic and ginger. Once the garlic is golden, throw in the white part of the Bok Choy. Saute it till it softened a bit. 
• Now throw in the green parts and cover and cook just for a couple of minutes till the greens slightly wilt. 
• Remove it to a serving platter. Drizzle the orange glaze, salt and lemon juice and serve immediately.

Lentil and Spinach Soup

They say Indian Agriculture is a gamble with the weather gods. My blogging shares a similar equation with the weather gods.  If the weather is bright and sunny, I get a chance to get some decent photographs. If I have decent photographs in my folder, I force myself to weave a story around it. Once I have a story ready, I can have the post up and running in no time. But the past few weeks, I have been at the loosing end and the weather gods have been brutal. It was one cloudy day after another and then another and it stretched into weeks. I tried my best to cox my camera to click some decent photos, but the camera could do just as much and gave me sub-par output. I kept deleting picture after picture and the entire fortnight went without a decent picture. Today the sun god was merciful enough peek through the clouds just long enough for me to get a few pictures. So here it is, a lentil soup.
I love lentils. Right now I am also loving soups. The mercury plunged long and deep enough to freeze my bones that even a spring like day a couple of days ago could not thaw it. So I am attempting to thaw my frozen bones with bowls full of spicy soups. Sometimes it does help.
I call this one a soup because we ended up eating it out of a bowl. I can equally enjoy the soup in the form of a Saaru, generously poured over hot rice with may be a dash of ghee. Serve it which ever way you like.

We will need,

Lentils / Sabuth Masoor dal  1/2 cup
Turmeric a generous pinch
Hing a generous pinch

Kashmir chillies 2

Garlic 2 cloves
Onion 1 small
Spinach 1 lb chopped
Ghee 2 tbsp
Jeera 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

• Boil about 1/4 cup of water, throw in the chillies and cover it for a few minutes.
• Pick and wash the lentils in multiple changes of water. Combine it with 2 cups of water, hing and turmeric in a pressure cooker and cook the dal till soft. Remove from heat and set it aside.
• Skin the onions, stick it to a fork and hold it on to the stove flame till the onion develops blisters and is slightly charred. Remove from heat.
• Now combine the soaking chillies, the soaking liquid, garlic and the charred onions in a blender and pulse till smooth.
• Heat ghee in a pot. Throw in the Jeera. Once the Jeera sizzles, gently pour the chilli paste. The mixture will splatter and got to be careful with this one. Cook till the spices are fragrant, about 3-4 minutes.
• Pour the cooked dal and the cooking liquid into the spice mixture and bring it to a quick boil.
• Once it boils, reduce heat and fold in the spinach. Give it a few minutes. Adjust salt and lemon juice. Remove from heat. Serve hot like a soup or over a bowl of rice.

I would have loved the spinach to retain the vibrant green, indeed it was yesterday but sitting in the refrigerator overnight the spinach has become dull. Thanks to the weather gods. Had the sun made an appearance yesterday, the photograph would have been a lot more vibrant.  I loose the gamble once again. 

Eggplant Salad / Badanekayi Salad

Eggplant aka Brinjal aka Aubergines, are versatile vegetables. They are great in curries, steamed, fried, grilled, in pickles, pizzas, with rice ....the list goes on. I love them. I got to pile them onto my cart every time I look at them in the super market. It reminds me of a friend who I happened to meet in the supermarket, back during my university days. I was as usual piling on more eggplants. This friend smiled at me looking at all the eggplants in my basket and said earnestly, 'Anybody can cook with these many eggplants and not go wrong'. I smiled and nodded. Another friend who was with me was almost giggling. She hated eggplants and could horribly go wrong with them. We looked at each other and reminded ourselves of the dangers of blanket statements.

Today, I have some eggplant salad. Well I would say this is just a twist on good old Badanekayi Gojju . It is just jazzed up a bit and served in a fancy way.

We will need,

Eggplant 1 (the giants one)
Peanut oil 2 tsp (divided)
Peanuts 3 tbsp (about a handful)
Green chillies 2-3 (chopped)
Grape tomatoes 4-5 chopped
Ginger 1" (grated)
Soy sauce 1-2 tsp
Juice of one lemon
Fresh Coriander  a handful (chopped)
Salt

To serve,
Romaine lettuce 1

Method:

• Slice the eggplants into 1/4" discs.  Heat a skillet with about 1/2 tsp of oil. Saute the eggplant slices, if necessary in batches. Remove once it is soft.
• In a separate  skillet, toast the peanuts and remove from heat once fragrant. Set it aside to cool.
• In a bowl, mix the green chillies, ginger, soy sauce, lemon juice, grape tomatoes and fresh coriander.
• Chop the cooled eggplants into bite size pieces. Crush the cooled peanuts.
• Stir the eggplants, the green chillies mixture and peanuts. Check taste and adjust salt-lemon juice. Sit this mixture for a few hours.
• Clean the lettuce and shred the into large pieces. 
• Place the lettuce on serving platter and fill the lettuce with spoonfuls of eggplant mixture. Serve immediately.

Caramel Custard

My favorite movie of all times is perhaps 'You've Got Mail'. I love books, I love love stories, I love Tom Hanks, I love internet and there it is. My favorite movie. I watch it when ever I feel like watching a movie but cannot decide on one. Fair enough! right. Well what has a caramel custard to do with an old movie... This time it is a spiced rum called Brinley, which reminds me of Tom Hanks pet dog in the movie - Brinkley. I love the way Tom Hanks describes his dogs eating bagel bits off the street sidewalks!

Caramel custard is one of the dishes I learned to make back when my father was posted in Punjab. This is one of the many dished our erstwhile landlady taught me. She was a petite women, in her sixties, the widow of an army Brigadier. She lived alone and hardly cooked much for herself. But then she offer to teach me the nuances of Punjabi cooking. I fell in love with Punjabi cuisine right then and there. Caramel custard is certainly not Punjabi but very very European. It did assume some Indian characters like cardamon, and of course cooking in a pressure cooker. But these days I like to bake it. The baked version is a lot more creamy than the pressure cooked version. It has been a long time that I cooked one in the pressure cooker.  Will give it a shot sometime.

This is definitely not the best photograph. This version had to endure a very warm journey 50 mile journey. Will do one for a picture sometime later.

We will need,
(Serves 4)
For the caramel custard:

Heavy cream 2 cups
Eggs 4
Vanilla 1 tbsp
Lemon zest 1tsp
Sugar 1/3 cup (upto 1/2 cup if preferred sweet)

For the Sauce
Sugar 3/4 cup
Brinley spiced rum 2-3 tbsp (or more if preferred)
Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 350.
• Heat about a third of the sugar mentioned for the sauce with about 1/4 cup of water. Cook till the sugar is golden and caramelized. 
• Pour the prepared caramel onto the bottom of a souffle dish. Spread the caramel evenly to coat the bottom completely. Set it aside.
• In a heavy bottom pot, heat the cream and the sugar. Once the cream is very hot, turn the heat off. 
• Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly. Temper the eggs with a spoonful of the hot cream. Stir well. Temper the eggs again with another spoonful of hot cream and stir well. Repeat till all the cream is used up. Pour this mixture through a sieve.
• Stir in the vanilla and the lemon zest. 
• Pour the cream mixture into the caramelled souffle dish. Place the souffle dish in a tray and pop it into the oven. Pour hot water into the tray. Bake till the caramel is set. It tool me about 40 minutes.  
• Remove and cool on the counter and refrigerate for a few hours before serving with the spiced rum sauce.
• To make the sauce, place the remaning sugar and about 1/2 cup of water in the same pot used to prepare the caramel and cook. Reduce the syrup to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in the flavorings and bring it to room temperature.
• Serve the sauce on top of the chilled custard.

Palak Panner

I love Palak Panner, Saag Panner all those green dishes with Panner in it.  Unlike the buttery greasy versions, Palak Panner can be made with very less fat but taste heavenly. I make this dish quite a few ways but this is the simplest version,  my erstwhile land lady taught me decades ago. This was probably the first dish I learned to cook. At first I used to find it daunting,  getting the Palak to be vibrant green, not the sloppy,gloomy brownish mush it turns into if overcooked. But not I can dish it out in my sleep. These days I make it quite often because it is healthy and Sunny boy refuses most vegetables but is ok with this one. Also dishing out this one for parties is easy as this one scales up easily. Besides everyone loves Palak Panner.
The temperatures being what they are right now, it is the perfect time to ladle bowl fulls of Palak Panner and mop it up with warm tandoori rotis! Add a dollop of cultured butter and it is a piece of heaven on dinner table.  Tandoori roti is for another day. For now it is Palak Panner.

We will need,  (This recipe makes a ton. Good for Potlucks and dinner parties. I would say it serves at least 8-10)

Spinach (tender ones preferred 2.5 lbs
Panner 1 lb
Peanut oil 2 tsp (optional)
Green chillies 6-8 (adjust according to taste)
Onion 1 large
Garlic 4-5 cloves
Ginger 1.5" piece
Ghee 2 tbsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Dhania powder 2 tsp

Jeera Powder 2 tsp
Black pepper powder 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp (yes that is a lot)
Fresh cream up to 1/4 cup (optional)
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

• Wash the Spinach and zap it in microwave, high for 3-4 minutes till the greens are wilted but still vibrant green. Remove from the microwave, allow it to slightly cool down and grind it into a puree.
• It using ready made Panner, heat the oil in a heavy skillet and fry the Panner till golden in colour on all sides. If using home made Panner, this step can be skipped. The deal is Panner that has been sitting on the store shelf is rather sad tasting but once it is fried, it makes it little lively. Fresh Panner is delicate and needs nothing but tossing right at the end.
• Combine the onions, chillies, garlic and ginger in a blender and puree it adding a little water if necessary. 
• Heat the ghee in a thick bottom pot. Throw in the jeera. Once it stops spluttering, throw in the onion paste and the dhania-jeera powder.Cook till the paste smells fragrant, about 15 minutes. Add water periodically and make sure the mixture does not burn.
• Once the mixture is fragrant, throw in the Palak puree. Reduce heat and bring it up to a gentle boil. 
• Fold in the Panner and Garam Masala. Adjust salt  and lemon juice. 
• Stir in the cream if using. Milk can be substituted for cream as well and I do most of time. 
• Remove from heat and serve hot with tandoori rotis. This dish freezes well (save the cream/ milk, and add it after reheating) and can be frozen for months. It can also be refrigerated and reheated in the microwave.

Happy Sankranti

Wishing everyone a very happy Sankranti. Love this celebration of a bountiful harvest. Love the Ellu Bella, sugarcane, Sakkare acchu and of course the riot of colours on cattle back in Mysore. Like a true harvest festival, Sankranti is actually a celebration of peasants and his way of life. Cattles being a major asset along with land in peasant households,  occupies the center stage this time of the year. After a good meal of assorted pongals, boiled sweet-potatoes, Avarekayi and peanuts, evenings are the time to decorate and celebrate the cattle of the household. They are adorned with little bells, tiaras and other pieces of jewelry.
As a little girl I would go out to all our neighbors and exchange Ellu-Bella etc. Love the celebration and festivities. Now it is all about the next generation, unfortunately little guys are not supposed to do much here and my Sunny boy did rather play than go with other girls to exchange Ellu-bella. But the spirits are high and Happy Sankranti

Deviled eggs Kannada style!

We are just past the season of eating. So my inbox is full of stuff I served at dinner parties these past two weeks. We are right now in the season of resolution, mostly of eating well and probably loosing weight. It never worked with me. So this time thinking of the longer horizon, and no resolutions!

Appetizers often are the most unhealthy of all courses (may be except desserts). They are tasty though. I love them, as I have been for a long time a appetizer-dessert girl. The main course be damned. It is actually easy to put together healthy appetizers. Even before the fitness season kicked in we decided to give it a shot. So all through this eating season we did our best to put out healthier options on the dinner table. It was mostly a variety of salsas and baked chips, olives platter, Masala cucumber and deviled eggs Kannada style.
These deviled eggs have nothing in common with their original counterpart except perhaps the name. But they are delicious and very well accepted in dinner parties. I am not happy with the photographs, they really looked prettier in person, but the low light conditions of winter evenings could not have yielded anything better. Here it is..

We will need,

Eggs 6-8
Yogurt 1/4 cup
Lime juice 2 tbsp (adjust according to taste)
Green chillies minced 1-2 (adjust according to taste)

Fresh coriander a handful
Red chilli powder a generous pinch
Chat Masala a generous pinch
Salt

Method:

• Place the egg in a wide mouth pan and cover completely with water. Place on high heat. Once the water starts boiling, reduce the heat and cook the eggs are completely set, about 15-20 minutes.
•  Remove from heat. When cool enough to handle shell the eggs and cut each egg into two lengthwise. Separate the egg whites and the yolks.Reserve
• Place the yogurt in a cheese cloth and allow it to drain. After about 15-20 minutes, remove the hung-curd  from the cheese cloth into a mixing bowl. It should be pretty thick.
• Combine the hung-curd and the yolk. Stir them together with a fork. Once the mixture is roughly combined, throw in the rest of the ingredients except the red chilli powder.
• Taste the yolk mixture, adjust salt and lime juice.
• Arrange the white halves on a serving platter and  place spoon fulls of the yolk mixture into the cavity of the whites.
• Sprinkle red chilli powder on the yolk mixture. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Mooli Pomogranate Raita

New year kicks in. This time around, I have no resolutions. It never did work with me, figured out any  day is just as good as the 1st of Jan to do good things. Just not reading News as voraciously as before, to sort of keep the mind away from all the bad news floating around.
Now for a new recipe. I wanted to present a Raita for a dinner party, something that says winter in a mouthful but cools the spicy Chole that went along. That particular day it was Punjabi style meal with spicy Chole, Saag Panner and Pulkas. It reminded me so much of the Punjabi winters that I had to serve Mooli along, just the way they do back in Punjab- a simple salad of Mooli, onions and green chillies.  Dressed it up a bit to use up some Pomegranates procured in bulk from Costco!

We will need

Mooli /Daikon (tender ones) 1 cup (grated and drained)
Pomegranate seeds   1 cup 
Yogurt 1.5 cup (fresh and sweet preferable)
Mint leaves 3-4 chopped
Pepper a dash
Salt to taste
Sugar a generous pinch

Method:

• Press and drain the grated Mooli very well. 
• Beat the yogurt well. Fold in the Mooli, Pomegranate seeds and Mint.
• Add salt, sugar and pepper just before serving. Serve it along a spicy main course.

Short cut to Rasmalai

This year started out like any normal year. But ended like none that I have known before. It might not have been the end of the world, but indeed the end of the world as I knew it before. I am so very sick and tired of all the crime that is happening around us, right from cowardly swines violating women like never before, little girls violated in play schools, little kids slaughtered by manics, the list goes on. God! the news paper is full of horror stories. The world might have survived the Mayan calender. It should given that the 'Kali Yuga' has just started. But the ferocity of this time is something absolutely stunning. Humans beings are behaving in ways totally unexpected? Such a disgrace. Some times I sit back and think as a parent what world would I bequeath my Sunny boy? Something inside me snapped and I feel very nervous and sleepless.

A news-addict, I need my daily dose of newspaper every day. But past few weeks, newspapers have gotten me just worried and sleepless. I have decided to stop reading news papers for now. I am looking for something sweet to cheer myself up too. I usually make from-the-scratch Rasmalai . But the gloomy mood made me a little lazy. Just re-posting the short version of the recipe.

We will need,

Ragolla 1 can
Sweetened condensed milk 1 cup
Evaporated  milk 2 cups
Milk 1 cup
Saffron a generous pinch
Cardamon 1 seeds crushed
Almonds 1/4 cup (grated)

Method:

• Drain then  Ragollas and set them aside.
• Warm the milk and set the saffron in the milk. Sit it for at least 10 minutes.
• Heat the condensed milk and evaporated milk along with the saffron mixture. 
• Once the mixture heats up and is combined about 7-8 minutes, throw in the remaining ingredients.
• Remove from heat and chill it in the refrigerator.

Shahi Choley

Our season of eating continues and after days and days of entertaining I had practically exhausted all my options to make something different. So fell back on good old Choley. Because this particular evening, I was making very few dishes and had to step up the Choley a bit, to make it good enough for the center piece. This one did stand out!
 

We will need,

Kabuli Channa  (cooked)  3.5 cups
Onion medium (fine chopped)
Garlic cloves 3 (grated)
Ginger 1" (grated)
Peanut oil 4 tbsp
Jeera 1/4 tsp
Cardamon 3-4
Bay leaf 2
Cinnamon 1"
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder 2 tsp (adjust according to taste)
Dhania powder 2 tsp
Cumin powder 2 tsp
Yogurt 3 tbsp
Tomatoes 2 (pureed)
Coconut milk 4-5 tbsp
Green chillies 2 slit
Coriander a handful shredded
Garam masala a pinch
Salt

Method:

• Heat oil in a wok. Throw in the Jeera, bay leaf, cardamon and  cinnamon.
• Throw in the onions and saute till brown. Once the onion is brown, throw in the garlic and ginger. Saute till fragrant about 30 sounds.
• Add the turmeric, chilli powder, dhania powder and cumin powder.
• Stir in the yogurt cook till the oil separates. Pour the tomato puree and cook till the masala is fragrant.
• Add the channa, coconut mik about 3-4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Simmer till the curry comes together.
• Adjust salt and finish with green chillies, coriander and garam masala. Serve hot with rice or roti.

Broccoli Soup

We humans might pride ourselves with all our achievements. Yes, we sent one of us on to Moon, may be Mars very soon; we have eradicated small pox, we have defeated tuberculosis & malaria, we have created excellent channels of communication, we can talk to people on the other side of the world seamlessly. But, we are also the most cruel of all the species on this earth. I have never heard of animals killing fellow animals 'just like that', I have not heard of animals indulging in opportunistic sexual violence. God! How can we behave this way? how can we be so anti-social while calling ourselves the most social of all species? There is of course the court of law, but what about our conscience? Do we have nerves at all in our moral spine? This week has been  brutal, first the gunning down of innocent children and then the brutal assault on a young girl in Delhi. Not that either of the two incidents were the first or that they are going to be the last. Gun violence is so common here in the States that it is a part of routine life, it does not shake people or make them stand up and run , unless of course you see the gun being pointed at you.
Similarly sexual violence is very common in India, more so in Delhi. The location of the latest attack, the charter buses, everything is so familiar to me having been in JNU for half a decade. I would never go out of my campus after dark. Delhi never made me feel safe. Never. After all these years and after living in the States for the better part of the decade, I now know the difference. The probability of becoming a victim in Delhi is far higher than any of the other cities in the developed world. India cannot ensure the safety of half its citizens and wants to think of herself as an emerging giant?  what rubbish.

All these episodes and the fact that my own Sunny boy thinks that 'Amma can fix everything for me'  chilled my bones. I needed something to warm up my bones as well as my heart. This Broccoli soup tried to do that. It was hard but an effort in the right direction for I confess I am a die hard foodie.

We will need,

Broccoli (florets and steam and all) 1 lb
Butter 1 tbsp
Potatoes 1 diced
Garlic 1 clove
Onion 1 small diced
Bay leaf 1
Cloves 2
Nutmeg a dash
Milk 2 cups
Black pepper and salt to taste

Method:

• Trim and wash the broccoli. Discard the tough ends and the fibrous skin on the stem. Dice and set it aside.
• Heat the butter in a soup pot. Once the butter starts to brown on the edges, throw in the garlic. Saute for a few seconds. 
• Once the garlic is golden in colour, throw in the onions and saute till they are brown at the edges. 
• Throw in the potatoes. Saute till they are golden brown in colour. 
• Throw in the broccoli and saute till the broccoli bits brown a bit and reduce heat.
• Throw in about a cup and water and cook the vegetables are very tender. 
• Once the vegetables are fork tender, puree the mixture in a blender and return it the the soup pot. 
• Stir in the milk, adjust salt and pepper and simmer till nice and thick. Serve it with a choice of bread and some cheese.

P.S: I almost never use stock or broth in my soups. They sort taste way too weird for me.  However, I use fresh garlic, spices like bay leaf, cloves and nutmeg which more than compensates for the stock. Also I find that cornstarch as a thickener sort of turns down the soup a notch. So I prefer to use Potatoes in my soups. Not only they thicken the soup but gives it a lot more body which I love. I also hate stock cubes. They are nothing but beautifully packaged garbage.

Panner Pepper Masala

Watched the movie Talaash. It was disappointing to see supernatural in a movie backed by an actor like Amir Khan -  thinking Khan. I would never have watched it had I the tiniest of clue of the movie having a supernatural theme. Come on Amir, it is so disappointing. Wonder what he to say on this one.

I had a gallon of milk left over from the previous  week. I turned it into Panner. Just that the home made Panner is not as sturdy as the ones off the store shelf. But the crumbled Panner was just as good in this dish. It is a take on the Panner Burji.

We will need,

Panner  1.5 cups (crumbled or chopped coarsely)
Ghee 1 tbsp
Mustard 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp
Onion 1 medium chopped
Tomato 1 medium chopped
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp (more if preferred)
Dhania powder 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Capscium / Bell peppers 2 medium
Milk 1/4 cup
Garam Masala  1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Lime juice to taste
Coriander fresh a handful

Method:

• Heat ghee in a Kadai. Throw in the mustard, Jeera  and the fennel seeds. Once they crackle,  throw in the onions, saute till the onions are soft.
• Throw in the chilli  powder, dhania powder and turmeric. Saute till the spices are fragrant.Throw in the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
• Throw in the bell peppers and saute for a few minutes. Throw in the Panner. Mix everything gently.
• Pour in the milk, add garam masala and simmer till the favors combine.  
• Adjust salt, lime juice and coriander. Serve with Rotis.

Zucchini Tovve

I find it very uncomfortable when absolute values are imposed on us, either by the politically powerful or the socially powerful. It is up to individuals to make a decision for themselves, whether they marry a person of the same sex or opposite sex, why should the government be bothered? In a sense it is so Orwellian, that today the state decides who should marry whom and where tomorrow it will be something more drastic. Just read that the ruling party in the UK is mulling to legalize same sex marriages in churches. Thankfully, on the other side of the Atlantic, same sex marriages are becoming more acceptable. Maine and Washington voted to legalize same sex marriage. Back home in India, the queer parade was a big hit. They are such a fringe group back home. It is so unfortunate. Personal liberties mean nothing at all in this context. I have heard people say that being 'gay' is just a fad, people will realize that and sometime they will get back to being straight!! I have not heard anything more ridiculous than this. Well, why do not we think of it this way,  some people like red, some black, some yellow and some blue. We all have a right to choose a color of our choice. Similarly, people should have the right to choose their love. Should such a simple expression of personal liberty be fought for? Does such prejudice have a room in this century?
 We call ourselves a 'morally upright' society. Ha! What a joke. We are a society which tolerated the commodification of women in the name of religion, we are a society which tolerated extra-marital affairs as long as it the man who is committing it. We are the society which are killing young people in love because they are marrying against the socially acceptable castelines. Now we call two people in love, loyal to each other but they are of the same sex, 'immoral?'. Two hoots to such double standards.

Here is some Zucchini Tovve. On rainy, cool days, I do not feel all the sunny at all. I am still at heart a Tropical-sun-loving person. On one such day, dished this one out because it takes but minutes to cook this.
 

We will need,

Toor dal  1/4 cup

Turmeric a pinch
Ghee 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Hing a dash
Dried red chillies 3-4 broken
Curry leaves a handful
Garlic cloves 2 (optional, somehow I like a little garlic in this dish)
Zucchini 2-3 medium diced
Salt to taste
Lime juice to taste
Fresh coriander a handful.

Method:

• Wash the dal in several changes of water, till the water runs clear. Place the dal, along with the turmeric and a drop of ghee along with about 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook till the dal is fall apart tender. That is about 2 whistles in my pressure cooker. 
• To prepare the zucchinis, heat the remaining ghee in a wok. 
• Throw in the mustard seeds and the Jeera. Once they stop spluttering, throw in the Hing, chillies and cury leaves. Once they crackle, throw in the garlic. Saute the garlic till golden brown.
• Throw in the zucchini. Toss well and sprinkle a dash of salt. Saute till the zucchini is tender but firm. Remove from heat and set it aside.
• Once the pressure cooker is cool enough to handle, open the cooker and pour the dal into the zucchini. 
• Adjust salt and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Remove from heat and adjust lime juice. Finish with fresh coriander if desired. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Kumbalakayi Bajji / Mash Pumpkin

"Look outside the weather is cool

Bears hibernate and birds migrate

Lets sing a song for autumn is here...."

I heard Sunny boy mumbling this cute song he was taught in his school. Ah! I wish we were like bears. Hog all summer long and hibernate during the cooler months. The worst of weather is supposed to be a few weeks away, but the unseasonable chill has already cooled my bones. I am not even thinking of all the holiday displays and the decorations and the holiday songs that are being played everywhere! All I can think of is warm soups and nibbles all day long. I wish it were a typical fall with balmy days and cooler nights. If it were a typical fall, we would have enjoyed our share of Halloween and Pumpkins. Alas, Sandy thought we did not deserve it this year and ruined both our Pumpkins and Halloween.  Lucky me,  I had a stash pumpkins and squash from late summer. I still have a few left. Picked them up when they were a dollar a piece. So we are still eating the Pumpkins we picked with our own bare hands. This time I got the tiny sugar Pumpkins. They did not impress me much. They are too tiny and barely any flesh. For the quantity we consume, we will need at least 3 sugar Pumpkins. I did rather get a huge chuck of the larger variety from our local Indian stores all cut up and ready to go. The sugar Pumpkins were probably sweeter than the larger ones though.
After our share of Pumpkin Huli, Palya, soup and even thanksgiving Stuffing, I really wanted to make something different. This Bajji was the answer. It is very simple and cooks in a jiffy. It is mouthwatering delicious, especially if you are like me- a big Pumpkin eater :)

We will need,
Pumpkin/ Kumbalakayi /Butternut Squash  1lb (cleaned and cut into chunks)
Peanut oil /Coconut oil  1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp
Hing a dash
Curry leaves a handful
Fennel seeds 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies 4-5 (slit lengthwise -adjust according to taste)
Jaggery  1 tsp (crushed)
Salt to taste
Yogurt 2-3 tbsp (preferably tart)

Method:

• Steam Pumpkins till soft. This can be done using a steamer like the Idli steamer or using a steamer inset of a Pressure cooker. Allow it to cool down and coarsely mash the cooked Pumpkins.
• Heat oil in a thick bottom pot. Throw in the the Mustard seeds, Jeera, Fenugreek, fennel seeds. Once they crackle, add the hing and curry leaves.
• Throw in the slit green chillies. Saute till blisters appear on the chillies.
• Throw in the mashed Pumpkin. Mix well,  throw in the Jaggery and adjust salt. Allow any excess water to evaporate. 
• Once the mixture is thick, remove from heat. 
• Stir in the yogurt and fresh coriander. Check salt once more and serve immediately. Goes well with Chapati. I can eat it all by itself too...

Vegetarian Chilli

'Chilli' is a hearty bowl of stew that can be made with everything but the kitchen sink. It has a variety of beans, vegetables and a medley of warm spices. Usually it also calls of some meat but very much possible to eliminate meat altogether and no one will even know! In fact this stew is so versatile it can be served with a bread of choice or rice or all by itself. This afternoon, the weather gods blessed us with more snowfall. When ever they forget the time of year and decide to bless us with snow storm(imagine it is still the middle of November), a bowl of warm Chilli soothed my soul. Coming back after clearing the snow perched on our car with numb fingers ad toes, a second serving of the Chilli brought back my pinkie toe to life!

We will need,

Kidney beans 1/4 cup
Kabuli Channa/ Garbanzo 1/4 cup
Organic cold pressed Coconut oil 2 tbsp (yeah! I found it in Costco and love it)
Garlic 3 cloves
Onion 1 medium (chopped)
Zucchini 1 small diced (organic too)
Carrots 1 small  diced (organic)
Bay leaf 1
Shitaki Mushrooms 1 pack (stalks discarded)
Button Mushrooms 1 Pack
Tomatoes 4 medium chopped
Sun dried tomatoes 2 tbsp (chopped)
Green chillies slit
Jeera powder 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Salt and Sugar to taste

Method:

• If using the dried beans, soak overnight and pressure cook till soft. It can also be quick soaked. Bring the beans in plenty of water to a roaring boil and turn out the heat, sit for an hour and then pressure cook till tender. I usually cook a giant batches of beans and freeze them in multiple bags.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pot. Throw in the garlic and cook till the garlic is golden brown. 
• Throw in the onion and saute till pale in colour. Throw in the bay leaf and green chillies, saute.
• Throw in the zucchini, carrot and saute till they look tender. Throw in all the dry spices. Saute them till the spices are fragrant about 5-6  minutes.
• Throw in the tomatoes and all their juices. Pick up bits at the bottom i.e de-glazing the toasted spices. 
• Add about a cup water if the mixture is dry.
• Once the mixture comes to a boil throw in the mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and the beans. Adjust salt and simmer till the flavours combine about 30-45 minutes. 
• Add a generous pinch of sugar and lime juice if preferred. 
• Serve warm with Avocados, cheese and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

Ian  usually very creative with this one dish because it is forgiving. I add vegetables like bell peppers, spinach, kale, chard etc. In simple terms, what ever I happened to have in my refrigerator that day. Sending this as my entry to the Green Foodie event. It is heart warming that organic food movement is  taking deeper roots and people are appreciating organic way of eating. Well, it was not long  back that my own family would tell me organic is just waste of money. If I could, I did eat only what I could grow. But that is a long shot. Hopefully someday we will not miss mother nature at our dining tables.

Chiffon Cake

It is the season of baking here! Started it with Honey's birthday.Birthday cake poses a complex problem. There are so many parameters to be considered- should look good and cute, should taste good, should be tender and should be good made-ahead. I love butter cakes. They taste awesome when fresh and warm, they are sturdy and stand up well for hardy frosting-fondant etc. But they are not very good made ahead. They sort of become dry and caked up if kept in the refrigerator for a while. On the other hand, Chiffon cakes are not all that yummy or buttery but are good  made ahead and popped in the refrigerator. They remain tender for days, they to hold up to frosting and light, very light, something that does not make you cringe at the end of a heavy meal. The disadvantage of a chiffon cake is that it can be a little 'eggy' if not flavored well.
I have always loved Chiffon cakes because they are like a blank canvas, paint your mood and it will hold up. This time it was all fruits. Me and Sunny boy put together the cake. Well Sunny boy sure is not old enough to beat eggs, but he does runs around me in the kitchen as I go about the cake. He did pick a few strawberries  for me. In fact Strawberries were his idea.  He had grown very fond of them (for now, that is!).
After a long days wait, it was indeed hard to keep Sunny boy from knocking the cake down or to take a picture. I wish I had a better shot. But for now this is all I have.

We will need,
All Purpose flour 1 cup minus 1 tbsp
Corn Starch 1 tbsp
Baking powder 1/2 tbsp
Sugar 6 tbsp
Salt a pinch
Refined sunflower oil 1/4 cup
Extra large eggs 4
Orange zest 1 tsp + juice 3 tbsp
Vanilla 1 tsp

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a piece of parchment onto an 8" baking tin. Do not grease the tin.
• Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder multiple times and set it aside. Stir in the sugar and salt gently.
• Separate the eggs and beat egg whites till stiff. 
• Mix the egg yolks, oil, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Beat till combined.
• Stir in the wet ingredients into dry ingredients gently.
• Fold the egg whites into flour mixture very gently. 
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake till a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean.
• Frost the cake as desired. My favorite is the fresh whipped cream and cream cheese frosting. 
• Decorate it with assorted fresh fruits, chocolate, nuts as desired.