Jun 27, 2013

Sweet Potato Curry - Spicy with a hint of sweet


Sweet potato supposedly has lesser calories, more fiber and more nutrients packed in it than the white potato. But as with a lot of vegetables the debate goes on. Debate not withstanding both the spuds are loved by my family The sweetness of the sweet potato is often off-putting for some in my family which forces us to choose the white variety many times but with the right kind of treatment the sweet potato can provide a stiff competition.
Its an easy curry to prepare and goes well with chapathis but I love it most with rasam rice. Great for the lunch box of a picky eater too.

Sweet Potato Curry - Spicy with a hint of sweet

Servings: 2 cups curry
Prep Time: 15mins     Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients 

4 sweet potatoes
1-2 tbsp Jaggery
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
4-5 Green chillies
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tsp Chana Dal
1 tsp Urad Dal
Few Curry leaves
1 bunch Coriander leaves
4 tsp Oil
Salt to taste
3-4 cups Water

Instructions


  1. Boil the water, add some salt, turmeric and put in sweet potato halves.
  2. When the sweet potato is nearly cooked add in  the jaggery and continue to cook till sweet potato becomes tender to the touch. 
  3. Remove the sweet potato halves and peel the skin off and mash it. 
  4. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and add mustard seeds
  5. When the seeds sputter add the cut green chillies, cumin seeds, chana dal and urad dal and fry for a couple of minutes. 
  6. Add in the mashed potatoes and curry leaves and mix well.
  7. Adjust the salt as necessary. 
  8. Switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves. 
  9. Serve with chapathis or rice. 

Home-made Peanut Butter


Making peanut butter at home is really the easiest thing to do. Plus you can avoid all the preservatives and whatever else they add into the store bought ones. The other advantage of making it at home is the different flavours we can experiment with. Make it sweet by adding some sugar or make it spicy by adding cayenne pepper and red chilli flakes or anything else in between.

Home-made Peanut Butter

Servings: 1 1/2  cups of peanut butter
Prep Time: 2 mins if you have roasted peanuts or 20 mins if not Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients 

2 cups roasted Peanuts

Instructions 


  1. In an electric mixer or food processor put in the roasted peanuts and grind. 
  2. The peanuts first  turn into powder and then it becomes crumbly. 
  3. Continue to grind and with the oil oozing out of the peanuts, it turns into a saucy texture.
  4. Make it crunchy or smooth by varying the grind times. 

How to Roast peanuts at home


  1. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel and put in 2 cups of regular peanuts in it. 
  2. Keep stirring on low-medium heat till the peanuts turn evenly brown. 10 -15 minutes
  3. Cool the roasted peanuts and then proceed to remove the skin.
  4. To remove the skin - Place the roasted peanuts in  a wide plate and crush peanuts with hand. This will break the peanuts and separate the skin. 
  5. Alternatively place the roasted peanuts on a flat surface and run a rolling pin on them. This will break the peanuts and separate the skin
  6. Lightly blow on the crushed peanuts to blow the flaky skin away.


Eggless Peanut Butter Cookies



I joined the Home Bakers Challenge a month ago and have tried to keep up with the enthusiasm and expertise since. Owing to a lack of sweet tooth at home I have to usually think through any sweet preparation which includes my favorite pastime, baking. I made this with the fond hope of taking it along on the weekend getaway that we had planned but they turned out crumbly enough to not withstand travel in a box. Nevertheless, they came out tasting awesome and they store well in the fridge for upto a week. The recipe also presented me with an opportunity to use my new electric beater which I thought was an super must have a month and a half ago and hadn't baked anything since. My dotzy had a fun time running away every time I switched it on in the mixing bowl and things spattered out till I got a hang of it!

I made the peanut butter at home and in the process discovered what I have missed all these days. Its extremely easy to make and all it requires are peanuts and an electric food processor or mixer.

I made the cookies with whole wheat pastry flour and the next time I make it I will definitely add another 1/4 cup more of the flour so that it holds the consistency without becoming overtly crumbly. The other thing that I will do differently is increasing the refrigeration time of the dough. I kept it in the fridge for an hour before popping it into the oven but I think I would easily increase it by another hour or two so the butter doesn't start melting the minute I start patting out the cookies on the sheet before popping it into the oven. It was a pretty hot day to boot.
These cookies are currently my daily dose of "that sweet something".

Eggless Peanut Butter Cookies

Source : Simply Recipes
Servings: 10 2-inch cookies
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cup Whole Wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Oil
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions 


  1. Mix together the dry ingredients 
  2. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and keep aside.
  3. After the butter becomes soft to the touch on the counter top, beat it for a couple of minutes and then add the sugar and continue to beat for another two minutes. I used the electric beater to mix the dough but can be easily done by hand.
  4. Mix in the oil and the peanut butter.
  5. Add in the dry ingredient mix and mix till combined to form dough
  6. Wrap the dough in cling wrap or put it in a covered bowl and refridgerate for an hour or more.
  7. Preheat the oven to 375 F 
  8. Pinch off 1 inch dough balls and flatten slightly on the cookie sheet using the prongs of a fork
  9. Place cookies atleast 2 inches apart (yes they spread a lot) and bake at 375 F for 10 minutes.
  10. Remove from oven and cool on the sheet for a minute and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
  11. Spreading a newspaper below the wire rack catches all the falling crumbs while cooling making cleaning easier. 

Gunta Pongana/Guliappa/Paniyaram


While most of us occasionally yearn for dishes from our childhood nothing compares to my hubby pining for what his grandmother used to make for him. Ammaji, as we call her, may be old and frail today but her mind is as sharp as it used to be when she was in her hay days. She used to run an Anganwadi in her hometown, which was on the Karnataka Andhra border, and still remains a forward thinker. Her social work often kept her occupied for many hours of the day and consequently she was not the one cooking all the meals in her house but what she made, I am told, had the golden touch. T and his brother used to swoop in on the town during their summer vacation and, owing to the popularity of their grandmother and the position of their grandfather, were often treated as royalty. The doting grandmother gave them special attention and ensured she spent ample time with them while treating them to all kinds of delicacies. One of the most cherished dishes is the Gunta Ponganalu (or Pongadalu) that she is an expert at.
Coincidentally, I have a related story with this dish from my childhood. For the first few years of my life we lived in Hyderabad so my mom was well exposed to local cuisine and she picked up making this dish although she calls it Guliappa. It was one of the few snacks with the dosa batter that I absolutely loved. (Dont ask me why I did not like idlis and dosas, growing up!!)

Gunta, literally meaning ditch in Telugu, and Ponganalu (or Pongadalu) which I think means round balls is an extremely addictive and a very tasty way of using idli and dosa batter. The only hitch to making this dish is that there is a special pan required to make this. If you are equipped with the pan making this snack is a breeze.

We took my m-i-l who is currently visiting us to a trip around a store here a couple of weeks back and much to my delight and T's disbelief, we found an Ebelskiver pan which we knew we could use to make Gunta Ponganalu! We brought it home and that very weekend, armed with left over idli batter this amazing dish came to light in our kitchen. Such a happy coincidence and fun ending to a long story here.


I made this with idli batter but I know that it should turn out very good or even better with the dosa batter so long as it is thick and not too watery. I also had some dill handy and I popped it in and I must say that was the best decision. The aroma was heavenly and it gave the dish a mouth watering flavour.



They make for excellent snacks at home and also are very good for the lunch box.

Gunta Pongana/Guliappa/Paniyaram

Servings: 16 Gunta Ponganalu
Prep Time: 5 mins (if Idli batter ready)    Cook Time: 8 mins for each batch (16 minutes totally)

Ingredients

2 cups Idli batter
1 Medium Onion
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander seed powder
3 Green chillies
A bunch of Dill leaves (or Coriander leaves)
Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Cut onion, green chillies and dill leaves finely and add to the idli batter along with the spices and salt. Mix thoroughly
  2. Smear oil into each pit on the Gunta Ponganalu pan or Ebelskiver pan. If using nonstick pan a drop of oil smeared into each pit will do. If not, then 1/2 tsp of oil needs to be smeared into each pit.
  3. Heat the pan on the stove at medium heat.
  4. Drop spoonfuls of batter into each pit, to reach 3/4 the height.
  5. Wait till the bottom side of the batter starts to brown and then scoop it up with a spoon and flip it over. Drop some oil into each pit from the sides. This will enable the other side to cook and get rounded.
  6. When the bottom side is browned remove from pan. At this time the batter should have turned into a fried well rounded and slightly browned ball.
  7. Gunta ponganalu are dense on the outside and airy and fluffy on the inside.
  8. Serve with coconut chutney or spicy chutney powder.

Jun 18, 2013

Methi Paratha



I dont know if this is really a Paratha. A paratha to me has always been about stuffing the chapathis with veggies, a laborious process in the making. When you use Methi to make parathas, there is no more added labour than washing, cutting and adding of methi leaves to the chapathi dough one is mixing. Its the easiest way to incorporate greens into the kid's tummy as it is hardly noticeable. So, in effect, with no added effort in the kitchen or at the dining table, explaining how Popeye gets his strength, we can enjoy a healthy meal. Should be reason enough to make this all the time!

Methi Paratha

Servings: 20 Parathas
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat flour + A little more for rolling
1 cup of cut Methi leaves
Salt to taste
Water for the kneading
Oil for cooking chapathi

Instructions


  1. Take the whole wheat flour and salt in a wide bowl where the dough can be easily kneaded.
  2. To this add the washed and cut methi leaves and mix well till the flour and methi leaves are nicely crumbled together.
  3. Adding a little water at a time, knead the flour into a soft dough. 
  4. Cover the bowl with the dough ball and keep aside for 30 minutes. 
  5. Pinch off some dough and roll it between palms to make a golf ball sized ball. 
  6. Coat the dough ball with flour and roll out evenly into a circle 6 inches wide. 
  7. Optional step - Coat the dough ball withh flour and roll out into a small circle 2 inches wide. Smear 1/2 tsp oil evenly on the circle and then fold in half and then once again in half. Coat this triangle dough with flour once again and roll out into triange shaped chapathis. 
  8. Heat a skillet and transfer the chapathi onto it. 
  9. Wait for air pockets to show up, rub some oil on the top side of the chapathi and flip it. 
  10. Rub a little oil on the top side again and cook evenly on both sides, pressing down lightly with a spatula so as to ensure edges are also cooked. 
  11. The chapathi is done when a few brown spots appear evenly on its surface. Should take a minute on medium heat.
  12. I find it best to roll out the chapathis in one go and then cook them on the skillet one after the other. That way the skillet heat is not wasted.
  13. Serve with a side dish or simply with ghee smeared. 

Masala Chana Dal with Kale


Kale is a wonderful green. Has an interesting look and a unique taste. I like baby Kale in salads but I usually cook the bigger leaves. Pesto comes out wonderful using Kale as I have tried here. Today for dinner I wanted to make a simple Dal dish using Chana Dal. This particular recipe is credited to my neighbour who had served it to us at dinner on the day we landed in Kansas. I could never forget the taste and is one of my favourite dal dishes since.Its a very simple dish akin to most Dal preparations and goes well with Chapathi or Rice. The vegetable best suited for this Dal is the bottle gourd but since I did not have it handy today, I decided to substitute it with a green. I picked Kale for no bigger reason than that was the first box I laid my hands on in the fridge. I am sure it would work very well with spinach or amaranth.

Masala Chana Dal with Kale

Servings: 2 cups
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Chana Dal
2 cups cut Kale leaves
1 small Onion
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 Green chillies
Salt to taste
3 tsp Oil

Instructions


  1. Remove the thick stem portion from the Kale leaves simply by tearing the leaves away from the stem. Wash thoroughly and cut or tear them into smaller size.
  2. Boil or steam the washed chana dal till half cooked. I used the pressure cooker and switched off the stove after one whistle.
  3. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add cumin seeds to it.
  4. Add in green chillies when the cumin seeds sputter and saute for half a minute.
  5. Add in turmeric and onions and saute till onions turn transluscent.
  6. Saute after adding cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala and then add Kale.
  7. Cook till Kale wilts. Add salt at this point
  8. Now add the contents of the pan to the boiled/steamed channa dal and boil till cooked. I used the pressure cooker again. I added the pan contents to the half cooked channa dal inside the cooker and cooked till another whistle. 
  9. Make sure to not over cook the chana dal so as to mash them all up. The dal dish is done when the lentil retains its shape and is still soft to the touch. 
  10. Serve Masala Dal hot with Chapatis or Rice. 

Cranberry Spicy Chutney


This weekend we went to the Farmer's Market to get our weekly supply of veggies. It was a fun trip with the M-I-L who is visiting us but the scorching sun created a meltdown situation. I love the sights of a market but this year I thought we saw more plant saplings for sale than vegetables. I could be wrong but a lot of variety was missing. We got the usual beans, capsicum, tomato kind of stuff but nothing more spectacular. I started to load the fridge when we got back and thats when I discovered a quarter of a bag of cranberries lying there at the bottom, out of sight. Cranberries are strange things. I bought them with the fond hope of using them for baking but quickly developed a dislike for the sourness it brings to any dish. So I ate them with my cereal a few times and generally forgot about the few left over. To my surprise, 6 months after buying them and not freezing them, they were still fresh in the fridge! I decided to use it up the very next day and started to hunt out recipes.


I found one chutney recipe using the Microwave in Julie Sahni's Microwave Moghul but wasnt convinced that the sourness would be lost. So I decided to try my own method of making this chutney and it did turn out tasty. The only thing I would change would be to increase the green chillies and not use lime. The chutney is very slightly sour but nothing to turn away from. This chutney tastes good with Idlis and Dosas but comes out on top as a sandwich spread. I mixed it with plain white rice and thought it was very well suited for that too! So here is the recipe for it with the changes incorporated.


Cranberry Spicy Chutney

Servings: 1 cup of chutney
Prep Time: 10 mins   Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

1/2 cup Cranberries (I used fresh and am not sure about using frozen for this recipe)
1 Medium sized Onion
3-4 Garlic pods
1 inch piece Ginger
1 tsp Cumin seeds
10 green chillies (or more depending on how hot the chillies are)
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Red Chilli powder
Salt to taste (a little extra to beat the sourness)
Bunch of Coriander leaves
4 tsp Oil
1 cup Water

Instructions

  1. Cut the onion into big pieces.
  2. Wash the cranberries.
  3. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the cumin seeds to it.
  4. Add in green chillies when the cumin seeds start to sputter. Fry for half a minute.
  5. Add the onions and fry till translucent and then add the ginger and garlic and fry for another minute.
  6. Now put in the cumin powder, coriander powder and chilli powder and mix well in the pan.
  7. Add in the cranberries and toss it with the rest of the ingredients.
  8. As the cranberries start heating up they pop and start oozing the juice. Add 1/4 cup water into the pan to prevent over browning of the mixture.
  9. Cook the contents over medium flame turning it once in a few minutes.
  10. Add in chopped coriander leaves and continue to cook.
  11. I cooked this mixture for around 30 minutes after adding the cranberries and made sure that there was water in the pan at all times.
  12. Allow the mixture to cool and then grind it to a smooth paste.
  13. Serve with idlis, dosas, sandwich, chapati or rice, garnished with coriander leaves.

Jun 4, 2013

Pesarattu (Moong Dal Dosa)


Today was a one of a kind foodie day. It started with bread for breakfast, idli for lunch and dosa for dinner. The dotzy was finally confused and called her dinner brunch! I have been inundated with whole green moong dal (green gram) after I ended up buying it every time I visited the Indian grocery store over the past two months. I could not remember that I had bought it already. I have been asking friends to help me use it in bulk and one of my sweet friends S suggested Pesarattu. I thought that was going to be a long drawn process and procrastinated on the idea till another friend S told me how easily it can be done. The clincher was the fact that this is an instant dosa mix (if you have soaked dal handy) and I love a no prep recipe.

The word "Pesarattu" is derived from "Pesaru" which is what Moong dal is called in Telugu and "Attu" which is what Dosa is commonly called in Telugu. Pesara Pappu is what the yellow split moong dal is called. So Pesarattu is simply a moong dal crepe or dosa. And might I add a yummy one at that. The only prep required for this dosa is soaking of moong dals for atleast 6 hrs or even overnight. If the moong beans have sprouted it is healthier.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can add flavours as you please. Add in mint to get a fresher flavour or coriander to get the friendly homely taste. Add in onions and carrots to enhance the flavour.

I think this batter may work well with tomato as well although we might have to spread the batter thicker and sprinkle fine cut tomato pieces on top while on the skillet. I am also going to try this with avocado the next time and avoid rice flour altogether.

Pesarattu (Moong Dal Dosa) 

Servings: 20 Dosas
Prep Time: 8 hrs (soak time) + 10 mins for grinding Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

3 cups sprouted Moong dal
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Jeera powder
4 Green chillies
A bunch of Coriander
1 Medium sized Onion (optional)
1 Medium sized Carrot (optional)
Salt to taste

Instructions 

Grind all the ingredients together till you get a fine paste. Add more water as required to make it easier to grind and to get it to a spreadable batter consistency.
Add finely chopped onions and grated carrot to the batter and mix well. This step is optional.
Heat a skillet on medium flame.
Pour a ladle of batter in the center of the skillet. Using the back of the ladle (it has to be a heat resistant material ofcourse) spread the batter outward in one continuos circlular motion without lifting the ladle away.
If onion and carrot have been added, be slower with the spreading as it the batter is denser and it may clump.
Allow the dosa to cook till nicely browned on the bottom.
Using a large heat resistant spatula flip the dosa and cook it for a couple of seconds on the other side.
Serve dosa hot with Chutney and / or Chutney powder.

Jun 2, 2013

Tomato Puri (not the chaat)


Puris are my darling dotzy's all time favourite breakfast and today being a Sunday we decided to feast on them. 

I had seen that Rafs was hosting the Tried and Tasted event this month and the featured blog was Maayeka. Incidentally I had come across this blog a couple of weeks ago and one of Mrs. Anjana Chaturvedi's recipes, the tomato poori, had caught my fancy. I tried it out today and it was super yummy. I had to really scramble to get pictures before they got devoured. The accompaniment to the puris was the most kid friendly side dish, onion and potato curry. 

The original recipe can be found here. The only deviation I made was to not add the baking soda. 

Tomato Puri

Servings: 16 puris
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Fine Semolina (Rava)
1 tsp Cumin powder (or use Cumin seeds)
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 1/2 tbps Mint leaves (finely chopped)
1 Tomato pureed
Salt to taste
Oil for deep fry

Instructions 


  1. Mix the flour, semolina, cumin powder, red chilli powder, salt, mint leaves and oil. 
  2. To this add the tomato puree and mix
  3. Knead and form a dough, adding a little water if required.
  4. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes
  5. Heat the oil till it becomes hot enough to fry.
  6. Pinch off dough and roll it in your hands to form 1 1/2 inch diameter balls
  7. Using a rolling pin, roll the ball out to a 4 inch wide dough circle.
  8. Slide this into the hot oil and fry till golden brown. 
  9. While frying, gently patting the poori with a slotted spoon while enable it to puff up.
  10. Drain excess oil, remove the poori and place it on a tray covered with paper tissue. This helps absorb any excess oil. 
  11. Serve tomato puri hot with onion-potato curry or chutney. 

How to Puree Tomato

  1. Boil 3 cups of water
  2. Make slits in the tomato and immerse it in the boiling water.
  3. Allow it to cook in the boiling water for around 4 minutes till soft
  4. Remove from hot water and immerse it in cold (room temperature) water for 5 minutes
  5. The above process is called blanching.
  6. Remove the skin of the tomato in a thin layer
  7. Grind it to a puree in a mixer/blender. Do not add water while grinding.
  8. Use the puree in any recipe which requires tomato puree. 
Sending this to Tried and Tasted event being hosted by Rafs!



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