Tomato Rice / Takkali Saatham

Here is a quick, spicy and tasty comfort dish!



Prep time - less than 5 mins
Cooking time - 15 mins

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 1.5 cups
Tomatoes - 3 medium sized, chopped
Onion - 1/2 of medium sized, chopped
Ginger - 1.5 tsp, finely chopped
Cilantro - 4 sprigs, finely chopped
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or as per taste
Green chillies - 2, chopped [ or as per taste ]
Oil - 1 tbsp

Seasoning :

Whole dry red chilli - 2, broken into 2 pieces
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts - 7-8, broken pieces
Curry leaves - 4 to 5 leaves
Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp

Procedure :

In a large sized pan ( on medium heat ) heat oil. Once hot, add in mustard seeds, once they splutter add cumin seeds and as they sizzle add in red chillies, chana dal and urad dal and stir till the dals turn golden in color. Then add cashew nut pieces, ginger, asafoetida and curry leaves. Stir for few seconds and add in the onions and stir again till the onions turn transparent. Add in the green chillies, red chilli powder and tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes turn real mushy and soft. [ Since we are adding whole dried red chillies, green chillies and red chilli powder, be carefull of how much of each you add. You want it spicy but not too hot!]

Once the tomatoes are mushy add garam masala [ optional ] and turn the heat to low and slowly add the fluffed up rice and salt. Mix nicely. Add  cilantro and mix again. Serve warm with raita and papad.

Greek Salad

D prefers the Greek salad over Ceasers salad mainly due to its rich taste from feta cheese, kalamata olives, grape tomato and ofcourse the awesome but easy to make salad dressing.

Prep time - 10 mins

Ingredients :

Veggies :

Romaine lettuce - 1/2 bunch, torn into small pieces

Cucumbers - 1, medium, sliced along with the skin

Cherry tomatoes - 15 nos

Kalamata olives - 10 nos, pitted

Green bell pepper - 1 medium ,thinly sliced

White onion - 1 medium, sliced [ I did not add this time ]

Feta cheese - 1/4 cup, crumbled

For the dressing :

Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp

Lime juice - 2 tbsp

Oregano - 1 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Gound pepper - 1 tsp or as per taste.

Procedure :

Mix all the contents under the " for the dressing " section in a small bowl. Keep it aside.

Wash all the veggies properly and in a big bowl mix all the veggies and feta cheese. Pour the salad dressing over the veggies and toss the salad.

Serve the greek salad with a pita bread!

Eggless Dates and Walnut Cake

Today Nov 7th is my father in law's birthday and we are celebrating this special occasion with an eggless dates and walnuts cake. Happy birthday Boppi - from D and me. Thank you for all the loving things that you have done for us!

Though I have made this cake before, the cake turned out real soft this time.I think it mainly happend because :

1. I just used baking soda this time [ last time I added both baking soda and baking powder ].
2. I soaked the dates in milk for an hour. [ I am not sure if this really helped in making the cake soft].

Unlike before I did not add vinegar to this cake.[ Though I was contemplating about adding a tbsp of apple cider vinegar I chose to go ahead without it]. The cake raised close to one and half inches which made it look real sof and fluffy.

Inactive prep time - 30 mins
Active prep time - 10 mins
Baking time - 30 - 40 mins

Ingredients :

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Dates - 12 ( or upto 18 nos depending on your taste )
Milk - 1 cup
Melted butter - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Walnuts - 2 tbsp, broken

Procedure :

Soak the dates in milk half an hour prior to baking [ If in hurry soak the dates in warm milk for 15 mins. You can completely avoid this step, soaking helps in softening the dates which in turn gets grounded easily in a blender].

Preheat the oven at 350 F and grease a baking pan.

In a big bowl mix all purpose flour, baking soda and salt properly.

In another bowl keep the melted butter ready. Blend together dates, milk and sugar to a smooth paste. Pour and mix this mixture with the butter and mix till you get a homogenous mixture.

Make a small well in the centre of all purpose flour and slowly pour in the dates mixture . Mix properly without any lumps. [ Do not use a hand mixer, just stir everything with a large spoon. Over mixing an eggless batter will cause the cake to deflate after it is baked ].

Add in the broken walnuts and give the batter a final mix. Pour the batter in the baking pan and bake for 30 - 40 mins or till tooth pick inserted comes out clean. The color of the cake depends on the dates used.

Happy Birthday to my Father in law!!!

Ummali - An Egyptian Pudding

Today (Nov 1st) is my SIL’s first wedding anniversary! We would like to wish M and K both on this special day, and hope they have a great day and many more such wonderful years ahead. To celebrate this occasion I made a middle-eastern pastry dish known as ummali and would like to dedicate this to a long lasting relationship filled with love and companionship.

Out of the wide range of Middle Eastern desserts, I zoned in on three – Basbousa, Ummali and Baklava. I chose to make Ummali, mainly for the exotic, coconutty-crunchy-chewy and nutfilled flavor in a mix of baked pastry sheets. It loosely resembles a bread pudding, but is not very sweet and hence we can have it in large serving sizes.

This dish is also popularly known as umali or omali.

Prep time: 10 mins
Total baking time: 30 – 45 mins

Ingredients:

Phyllo pastry sheets – 8 ounces / 227 grams [store bought]
Almonds – 1/4 cup, chopped
Pistachios – 1/4 cup chopped
Raisins - 1/4 cup chopped
Dry coconut flakes – 4 tbsp [or as per taste]
Sweetened condensed milk - 7 ounces/ 198.5 grams
Milk – ¾ cup
Vanilla extract or rose water – 1 tsp [ I used vanilla extract ]

Procedure:

Preheat the oven at 350 F and slightly grease cookie tray with oil.

Line up all the pastry sheets (one over another) on the cookie tray and bake till the sheets puff up and turn golden in color. This should take approx 15 mins and make sure that the sheets don’t burn.

Once they turn golden brown, turn off the oven. Take out from the oven cool and break into pieces.

Grease your baking pan [the one in which you would serve] lightly. Place the pastry pieces into the pan and this would be the first layer.

In a small bowl mix almonds, pistachios, raisins and coconut properly. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the pastry pieces, thus forming the second layer.

Now, in a small bowl, mix condensed milk, milk and vanilla essence [or rose water] properly. Once mixed properly cook this mix on medium heat for 2-3 minutes stirring continuously. Once hot, pour this mix over the dry fruits evenly. 

Again preheat the oven at 350 F and place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 mins or till the layers become firm. Once the layers firm up, turn off the oven and set in broiler mode for 2-3 mins [or till the top layer becomes slightly brown]. Make sure that that the top layer does not get burnt. 

Ummali is a wholesome dessert by itself. You may also serve it with fruits or even ice cream !

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Vegetable Biryani - 2

It was weekend time and I was in mood to cook something special. For a long time I wanted to try Chef Sanjay Thumma's ( vahrevah.com ) version of vegetable biryani. It was definetly easier than the previous version I had tried and the end result was also really delicious and satisfying.

  

Though both the recipes are similar, this biryani had these changes : 

1. I got readymade biryani masala from Indian store and used 3/4th packet [ for 2 cups basmati rice and 2 and 1/2 cups of vegetables ].

2. Instead of baking for 45 mins I cooked it in double boiling method.

Also for garnishing , I used fried breads ( pan fried ) which really enhanced the taste further. 

The biryani turned out tasty and the vegetable and rice were cooked to perfection!

  

I definetly would want to do repeat this wholesome dish on more occasions.For the complete recipe click here.

Eggless Cherry Chocolate Cake ( Melted Chocolate )

Today 27th October is my inlaws' 30th Wedding Anniversary and we celebrated this special occasion with a decadant chocolate cake. Both D and me would like to convey our heartfelt wishes for a very Happy Wedding Anniversary. We wish many many more years of companionship, to you Amma and Appa.

Sometime back, I got a cherry chocalate cake (this was not eggless) from store. I liked this combination, but never got a chance to research on how this is made. Recently I went through some websites that suggested making cakes (not this particular one) using melted chocolate. So I came up with this recipe, an eggless one, made with melted dark chocolate and cherries. It turned out really rich, and I simply loved this chocolate-cherry combination. D's reaction to this cake was... Goooood!

 
Prep time - 30 mins
Baking time - 40 - 50 mins

Ingredients :

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Dark chocolate bar - 16 oz / 454 gms [ I used Hershey's dark chocolate ]
Maraschino Cherries - 16 oz / 454 gms
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Apple cider vinegar - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
Walnuts - 3 to 4 tbsp, roughly crushed
Butter - 1/3 cup [ recommended 1/2 cup ]
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup [ or as per taste ][ I used fine sugar]
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Milk - 1/4 cup

Procedure :   

Wash maraschino cherries in water thoroughly. De-seed them ( if required ) and break them into small pieces.

Mix all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix properly. Keep aside.

Melt butter and add in the sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla essence and mix properly. Keep aside.

At this stage break the dark chocolate into small pieces.

Transfer into a microwaveable bowl and microwave it at short intervals of 20 seconds, ( stirring every 20 second ). In exactly 1 minute I had the melted chocolate without any lumps.

 

Slowly mix this melted chocolate with the butter - sugar mixture and whisk / stir till the melted chocolate gets fully incorporated into the butter. Add this chocolate mix into the flour and mix properly without any lumps.

 

[ Do not use a hand mixer, just stir everything with a large spoon. Over mixing an eggless batter will cause the cake to deflate after it is baked ].

Add milk if you feel that your batter is too thick and mix properly. At this stage add in the cherries and walnuts and mix slowly and properly. [ Keep a few cherries aside for decoration ].

Pre heat the oven at 350 F and grease the baking pan with oil. Pour the batter into the baking pan and decorate with the remaining cherries.

Bake for 40 - 50 mins or till the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

 

 

  

Flip the cake after 10 mins while the cake pan is still warm . The chocolate cherry cake is ready !

Happy Anniversary  to Amma and Appa!!!

Note - The cake was a bit crumbly, so I would suggest adding 1/2 cup or more butter instead of just 1/3 cup.

Gobi 65 with Peppered Rice

Here is a scrumptious dish that I cook every once in a while. Though it is an appetizer, we like to have it with buttered peppered rice.

Also, instead of deep frying the gobi, I pan fry it with little oil. Though it takes time to cook it this way, the end dish is less oily.

Prep Time - 10 mins
Cooking time -  20 mins

Ingredients :

For Gobi 65:

Cauliflower - 1 large sized, cut into small florets
Bell pepper / Capsicum - 1 medium , cut into long thin strips
Onion - 1 medium , cut nto long thin strips
Oil - 4 tbsp
Corn flour - 3 tbsp
Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp or as per taste
Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp [ or as per taste ]
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp [ or 1/4 tsp of chilli powder ]
Salt as per taste

For rice :

Cooked rice - 2 cups
Pepper - 1 tsp or as per taste
Butter - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste

Procedure :

For Gobi 65:

Wash the cauliflower florets and soak them in hot water for 5- 7 mins. Drain the water and transfer the florets into a big plate. Sprinkle the corn flour, red chilli powder and salt, mix them with your hands. [ To cover the cauliflower florets with the corn flour evenly, I also sprinkled some water ]

In a medium sized wok, heat oil on medium heat and add the florets and pan fry till they get golden brown in color. Take out the florets and keep aside. In the same oil pan fry the onions and bell peppers / capsicum till the onions turn transparent. Remove from heat and keep aside.

In the same pan add tomato sauce, soy sauce and chilli sauce ( or chilli powder ) and give a quick mix. Add the onions, bell peppers and florets and mix properly. Check for salt and serve with peppered rice.

For rice :

Heat a pan [ medium heat ] and melt butter. Fluff up the rice with a fork and add into the melted butter. Add salt and pepper and mix properly.

Serve hot.

Sundal - Navratri Special

Golu and Sundal are synonymous with each other. This year I managed to go all the way and make a different  one each day. Some were made following expert recommendations (meaning mom's) and a few were my own creations. In this post I will try to detail the recipes for these 8 tasty sundals.

I made sundal in three different ways-

Method 1 or M1: With ground masala (D's mom shared this method with me )

Method 2 or M2: With tenga- manga (coconut and raw mango)

Method 3 or M3: With regular seasoning and coconut.

Top Row:         White peas (M2), Kidney beans(M3), Peanuts(M2)

Middle Row:     Chana dal(M3), Lima beans(M1), Moong dal(M3)

Bottom Row:   Black eyed peas(M3), Chick peas(M3)

Inactive prep time - 8-9 hours
Active prep and cooking time - 5-10 mins

Note 1-

            All the pulses except moong dal,  chana dal and peanuts need to be pre-soaked in water for 8-9 hours. If you miss this step, you can also soak them for 4-5 hours in hot water.

           Also I cooked all my pulses except peanuts and chickpeas in microwave, as they might turn mushy sometimes when we pressure cook. By microwaving I had more control and I often checked and saw that they don't turn mushy.

Ingredients-

Pulse of your choice

Oil - 1-2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

For Sundal with ground masala(M1):

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Udat dal - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - 4-5

Green chilli - 1, chopped (optional)

Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp

To grind  :

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Chana dal - 1 tbsp

Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Red chilli - 2 or as per taste

Coconut - 1 tbsp

For tenga-manga sundal ( coconut and raw mango )(M2):

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Udat dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 4-5
Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp
Raw mango - 1 tbsp, grated

To grind:

Coconut - 1 -2 tbsp, grated

Green chilies - 2 or as per taste

For regular sundal(M3):

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Udat dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 4-5
Red chillies - 2 or as per taste, broken into 2-3 pieces
Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp
Coconut - 1 tbsp, grated

Procedure :

Pressure cook or microwave and cook your pulses with salt and turmeric. Drain and keep aside.
 
For Sundal with ground masala

In a small pan roast ( on medium heat ) all the items under the "to grind" section until golden brown. Cool and grind into a coarse powder and keep aside.

In a medium sized pan heat oil ( on medium heat ). Once hot add in the mustard seeds and wait till they splutter, then add udal dal and asafoetida till udal dat becomes slight golden in color. Add curry leaves and green chillies ( if using ) and give a quick stir. At this stage turn the heat to low and add in the pulses and the ground masala. Mix slowly and properly.

Serve hot.

For tenga mangai sundal ( coconut and raw mango )

In a food processor blend coconut and green chillies to a fine paste and keep aside.

In a medium sized pan heat oil ( on medium heat ). Once hot add in the mustard seeds and wait till they splutter, then add udal dal and asafoetida till udal dat becomes slight golden in color. Add curry leaves  and  give a quick stir. At this stage turn the heat from medium to low and add in the pulses, ground chilli and coconut and mix slowly and properly. Sprinkle the grated raw mango and mix again.

Serve hot.

For regular sundal :

In a medium sized pan heat oil ( on medium heat ). Once hot add in the mustard seeds and wait till they splutter, then add udal dal and asafoetida till udal dat becomes slight golden in color. Add curry leave, red chillies and give a quick stir. At this stage turn the heat from medium to low and add in the pulses and coconut. Mix slowly and mix properly.

Serve hot.
 
Note 2-
             You can also use other pulses like soy beans, pigeon peas , split green gram and even green peas. You can choose from any of the three methods and make your sundal.

Ellorai

Ellorai is usually made on the auspicious day of purattasi sanikazhamai for Lord Vishnu. It can be made in minutes and definitely tops my list of comfort foods.

Prep time - 5 mins
Cooking time - 5- 10 mins

Ingredients :

For ellu podi :

Sesame seeds (ellu ) - 1/4 cup
Udat dal - 1 cup
Dry red chillies - 5 to 6 or as per taste
Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp
Salt as per taste

Cooked rice - 2 cups ( I used regular rice )
Oil - 1 -2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 to 6 leaves

Procedure :

In a small pan on medium heat dry roast sesame till it turns golden in color. Do not burn them and step back while roasting sesame seeds as they pop up everywhere .Keep aside.

In the same pan heat 1 tsp oil on medium heat. Add all the items under the "to grind" section except salt and roast properly till they turn golden brown and you get a nice aroma from udat dal. [ Do not burn them and also make sure that the udat dal do not remain raw ]. Once they turn golden brown turn off the heat, cool and grind with salt into semi coarse powder. The ellu podi is ready and can be stored for 4-5 days in an air tight container.

Now for ellorai, take a medium ssized wok on medium heat. Add mustad seeds and let them splutter, add curry leaves and give it a quick stir. Add cooked rice. [ Make sure you separate each grain and fluff up the rice before adding ]. Add in the required podi. I added about 4-5 tbsp of podi . Check for salt.

Serve with chips/ papad/ vattal.

Creamy Pesto Pasta

This is a super simple recipe, I made it last night. This was really good and very useful for those nights when you really don't have a clue as to what to make !

I made my own pesto sauce. You could also use the store bought sauce, I have tried both and I prefer the home made one because the store bought one has preservatives.

The recipe is as follows :

Prep Time - 5 mins
Cooking time - 20 mins

Ingredients :

For pesto sauce :

Fresh basil - 1 cup
Pine nuts - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 4 medium sized pods
Asiago cheese - 1/2 cup, grated , ( I bought 6 months aged cheese )
Extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup
Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
Salt as per taste

For alfredo sauce :

Butter - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup + ( optional )1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
Asiago cheese - 1/2 cup, shredded

Pasta - I used ribbed penne , you can also use capellini or farfalle
Carrot - 1 medium sized, shredded length wise

Procedure :

Cook your pasta al dente and keep aside.

Also Asiago cheese can be replaced by parmesan cheese , as the aged asiago cheese tastes similar to parmesan. But next time I would prefer using fresher asiago cheese over the aged one ( due to its pungent odor ).

Pesto sauce :

In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, and cheese into a fine paste. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing. Add salt and pepper and stir.

Alfredo sauce :

In a medium sized pan melt butter on medium heat. Add in the flour and stir with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Slowly add milk , whisking constantly and cook till it starts too thicken (Let the sauce thicken to your liking, I cooked it till it had the consistency of say condensed milk). Add cheese and mix properly and now your alfredo sauce is done.

Turn the heat to low and add in the required amount of pesto sauce. I added about 4-5 tbsp of pesto sauce. Mix properly.

 

Pour this sauce over hot pasta, add the shredded carrots and mix. Serve with Italian bread or French baguette.