Chilli Baby Corn

Today I prepared this tasty chilli baby corn for lunch. The dish goes well with rice, rotis, et all. Here is my recipe. 

Ingredients : 

• Baby corn - 1 cup (Blanched and cut)
• Spring onions whites - 1 cup
• Spring onion greens - 1/2 cup (for dressing)
• Green Bell Pepper - 1 no. (cut lengthwise)
• Tomato Puree - 1 tbsp
• Thai  Sweet Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Soy Sauce (light) - 1 tsp 
• Vinegar - 1 tsp
• Tomato sauce - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp

For the marinade:

• Gram Flour - 2 tbsp
• Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - as needed

Method: 

• In a bowl, prepare a thick batter with the ingredients given under For the Marinade section. Dip the cut baby corns and allow the marinade to get coated well.
• Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a pan and shallow fry the baby corn and keep them aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in the pan. Add the spring onion whites and saute it for a few seconds.
• Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes off. At this point add the cut bell peppers and stir fry them
• Now add tomato puree, tomato sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and the Thai sweet chilli sauce. Add the shallow fried baby corn and stir fry it until the baby corns get coated with the sauces nicely.
• Add salt and some water for a gravy consistency and cook on a low flame for a few minutes until all the ingredients are nicely cooked.
• Remove from flame and serve it hot. 

P.S : It has a sweet, tangy, spicy taste. In case of non availability of Thai sweet chilli sauce, chilli sauce and sugar can be used as replacements.

Eggless Cupcake (Vanilla flavoured)

I was on the look out for a recipe to make eggless cupcakes for Valentine's day. Eventually, I came across Sailu's kitchen blog. I made some small changes to it. Here is a novice's attempt. I used  a readily available fresh cream for frosting.

 

 

 Ingredients: (This recipe yielded about 24 cup cakes)

• Self Raising flour - 2 1/2 cup (The original recipe had all purpose flour)
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Caster sugar - 1 3/4 cup (original recipe had 1 2/3 cups of sugar)
• Baking soda -  1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Butter - 1 cup (room temperature)
• Milk - 3/4 cup
• Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

Method : 

• Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda and keep it aside.
• In a bowl, whisk the butter, caster sugar until the mixture is creamy enough. Add milk, yogurt and vanilla essence and keep whisking until the mixture becomes evenly creamy and fluffy.
• In another bowl, mix the wet and dry ingredients well so that it forms a batter without any lumps.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven at 180 deg C for about 15 minutes.
• Place the cupcake liners in the cupcake pan and add the prepared batter to 3/4 level.
• Bake the cupcake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. (I did exactly for 20 minutes and found that the cake was cooked by inserting a fork. When you do so, the fork should come out clean.)

 I took the cupcakes from the oven and added the cream frosting on top of the cake and allowed it to settle.

Keerai Pappukura (Spinach & Lentil Sambhar)

Back after a "Sick" break. It was by all means sickening and very upsetting. Someone has been falling ill week after week and it was horrible to cope with the situation. But somehow managed to come out this sickening season and here I am ready with my new post.

 

My grandma has a Telugu connection and she coined this word "Keerai Pappukura" which is more of a keerai sambhar kinds. Here is the recipe.

 

 

Ingredients : 

• Spinach - 1 bunch (washed & chopped)
• Moong Dhal (Payathamparuppu) - 1 cup
• Chopped tomatoes - 1 cup
• Sambhar powder - 1 1/2 tbsp.
• Salt - to taste
• Water - As needed

For seasoning: 

• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 1 or 2 nos (based on the spice level)
• Asafoetida - 1 small piece (powder can be used when the hard one is not available)

 Method:

 

In a pressure cooker, add the lentil, the chopped spinach, chopped tomatoes, sambhar powder and water(add only enough water such that the spinach and the lentils get drenched as spinach has the tendency to ooze out water). Based on the pressure cooker's settings, cook the mixture until the lentil gets cooked nicely. Keep it aside until the pressure subsides

 

In a wok, heat oil and add mustard. Once it starts to splutter, add red chillies and asafoetida. Take out from heat and add it directly to spinach and lentil mixture.

 

Add salt now and bring the spinach and lentil mixture to boil on a medium flame. The spice would get mixed up nicely. Spinach sambhar is ready to be served.

 

Kathrikai(Brinjal/Egg plant) Gothsu

I was on the look out for a good recipe that I could prepare with Brinjal and my husband suggested that I prepare gothsu. I tried to search for some easy one and finally prepared my own version of the gothsu. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Brinjal /Egg plant - 1 cup (diced)
• Onion - 1 cup (chopped)
• Tomoto - 1/2 cup (chopped)
• Tamarind - 1 small lemon sized 
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

• For the curry powder:
• Channa dhal - 2 tsp
• Coriander seeds(Dhania) - 2 tsp
• Dry Red Chilli - 3-4 nos
• For seasoning:
• Oil - 2 tsp & 1 tsp
• Mustard - 1/2 tsp
• Channa Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves - a few

 Preparation:

• In a small cup, soak the tamarind in hot water and allow it to cool for about 10 mins to extract juice from it later.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients mentioned under the curry powder section
• Dry roast it until dhal becomes golden brown and remove from flame and allow the mixture to cool.
• In the same pan, add some more oil and add mustard. Once the mustard splutters, add channa dhal and the chopped onions.
• Saute the onions until the raw smell goes off. Now add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for some more time until the tomatoes become mushy.
• Add the turmeric and the diced egg plant and give it a nice stir.
• Next,, add the tamarind juice, salt and asafoetida to the mixture and let the egg plant boil in tamarind juice.
• In the mean time, grind the dry roasted ingredients and add 1 tsp of the ground powder to the boiling mixture.
• Once the egg plant is cooked, remove from flame and serve it hot.

It can be had along with pongal, idly, oothapam...
 

Lachcha Paratha (Layered whole wheat flat bread)

On those days when we are tired, my DH and I opt for frozen food. We use the readymade frozen parathas that are available in the market. It has made life so easy. But, I always wondered if I could make these at home with the outcome being the same soft parathas. I did try one day and it came out so well that I have decided to do it more often than relying on the frozen stuff. Here is the recipe.

 
Ingredients: 

• Wheat flour - 1 & cup & 1tsp
• Water - As needed
• Yogurt - 1/4 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Ghee - 1 1/2 tsp
• Oil  - 1 tsp

 Preparation:

• Add flour , salt and yogurt in a large bowl . Add enough water and mix well to form a soft dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Keep it aside for about 30 minutes
•  In the meantime, prepare a mixture of ghee and 1 tsp of wheat flour for spreading on the rolled over  
• Shape the dough into some round balls. 
• Pick each round ball and flatten it on floured surface using a rolling pin to form a circle shaped one.

•  Spread the ghee and wheat flour mixture on the flattened dough.(It acts like a glue to stick the twists)
• Now, twist the dough and roll it carefully without applying too much pressure. 

• Heat a tawa and cook on both sides. Once done, give a small press on the edges of the paratha like a small squeeze for the layers to be visible.

 Lachcha Paratha is ready to be served hot.

Cous Cous Salad

I was in no mood to cook yesterday and wanted to keep the dinner simple. Suddenly, I was reminded of a dish I came across the Ask ChitVish application. This salad can be prepared within no time and is delicious and healthy too.

Ingredients :

• Cous Cous - 1 cup
• Red onions (chopped) - 1 cup
• Green Bell Pepper(chopped) - 1/2 cup
• Red Bell Pepper(chopped) - 1/2 cup
• Lime juice - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Olive oil - 1 tsp
• Luke warm water - 1/2  cup

Preparation:

• In a bowl, soak the cous cous in luke warm water for about 15 minutes and it will be done
• Later, add the chopped onions, green and red bell peppers, salt and olive oil to the cous cous and give it a nice mix.
• Sprinkle some lime juice at the end to give it a tangy taste.

Cous Cous  salad is ready to be served !

 

Roasted Baby Potatoes (Using Microwave Oven)

Potato is one vegetable that everyone loves. Though it is full of carbohydrates, it still is loved by one and all. I love potatoes, especially, the baby potatoes. Here is a simple dish prepared using microwave oven.

 

Ingredients:

• Baby potatoes - 1/2 kg
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli pwd - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaves - a few (optional)

Preparation:

• Peel off the skin of the potatoes and cut them into halves.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, and add mustard. Once the mustard starts to splutter, add curry leaves(if used), turmeric, chilli powder, asafoetida, the cut potatoes and required salt.
• Sauté until the potatoes are mixed well with the chilli powder and turmeric.
• Transfer the mixture to a microwave safe utensil and cook for about 10 - 12 minutes on high power(Settings wary amongst different brands of microwave oven).
• Using a fork/knife, keep checking whether the potatoes are evenly cooked; This way, we can serve a less oily roasted potatoes

 (In case microwave oven is not available, continue to sauté the vegetable on a medium flame for some more time by adding enough oil )



Chow Chow Kootu (Chayote Kootu)

It was a dull Monday morning and I had woken up late. Was wondering what to prepare for lunch. I came across a couple of chayote (chow chow / Bangalore Kathrikai) in my refrigerator and decided on preparing this easy to cook dish. Here you go..

Ingredients:

• Chow Chow / Chayote - 2 cups (diced)
• Moong Dhal (split yellow lentils) - 1/2 cup
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Green Chillies - 3 nos (thinly sliced lengthwise)
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - 2 cups(as needed)

 For Seasoning:

• Oil - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1/2 cup

 Preparation:

1. Pressure cook the lentils, the diced chow chow, green chillies, turmeric and water.
2. In the mean time, grind the grated coconut to form a nice paste.
3. Once the pressure gets subsided, add the ground coconut paste to the ingredients and salt so that the mixture gets evenly cooked.
4. In a small kadai, heat oil and add the items mentioned in the seasoning part. Once done, add them to cooked ingredients and remove from heat.

This dish can be had with rice, rotis ,etc. Have a nice day!
 

Vegetable Biryani - Hyderabadi Style

It was the start of a wonderful weekend and we wanted to celebrate it with a lip smacking dish. So, I prepared this colourful biryani. Can't wait to share the recipe.

Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup (Soak in water for about 30 min)
• Onions - 1/2 cup (thinly chopped)
• Carrot - 1/4 cup (cut lengthwise)
• Paneer - 1/2 cup (diced)
• Cauliflower - 1/4 cup
• Broccoli - 1/4 cup
• Potato - 1/2 cup (cut lengthwise)
• Beans - 1/2 cup (cut lengthwise)
• Green chilli - 1 (slit lengthwise)
• Coriander & Mint leaves - 1 cup
• Yoghurt - 1 cup (room temperature)
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Dhania pwd - 2 tsp
• Red chilli pwd - 2 tsp
• (Whole Garam Masala)
• Cloves - 3 to 4
• Bay leaves - 2
• Black cardamom - 2
• Green cardamom - 3
• Oil - 3 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Saffron water
• Salt to taste
• Nuts - a few (optional)

Preparation:

• Boil the basmati rice until it is cooked about two-thirds.
• In a small kadai, deep fry the chopped onions and keep them aside.
• In the mean time, heat oil in a pan , sauté the paneer lightly and add the whole garam masala. Add the vegetables one after the other and keep sautéing.
• Add the spices such as turmeric, red chilli powder, dhania powder, salt and mix well until the vegetables are nicely coated with the spices. Also be sure that the vegetables are about 70% cooked.
• Remove from heat and allow it to cool a little and add yoghurt. (When yoghurt is added to hot vegetables, it starts to disintegrate), Mix well.
• In a large thick bottomed pan, add a layer of vegetables, chopped coriander and mint leaves. Add a layer of partly boiled rice. Add the fried onions and another layer of vegetables and some more rice on top of it. Add saffron water. Add salt and nuts if needed.
• On a very low flame cook for about 30 mins for the flavour to spread evenly. Keep a watch so the food doesn't get burnt. Give a gentle mix.
• Remove from flame and biryani is ready to be served hot.

Paneer and Baby corn Jalfrezi (Stir fry)

I have been wanting to try a dish baby corn for a long time now. I also had paneer at home. So, thought of trying this dish which can be had as a side dish for  rice, rotis, naan, paratha, etc. Here is the recipe for it.

 

 

 

Ingredients: 

• Baby corn - 1/2 cup (cut lengthwise)
• Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)  - 1 cup (diced)
• Spring onions - 1 cup
• Finely chopped spring onion greens - 1/2 cup (for garnishing)
• Thinly sliced bell Peppers (Capsicum) - 1cup (green, red, yellow)
• Thinly sliced tomatoes - 1/2 cup
• Oil - 3 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander pwd - 1/4 tsp
• Red Chilli pwd - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin pwd - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
• Tomato puree - 2 tsp
• Tomato ketchup- 2 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Vinegar - 1/2 tsp
• Water - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan on a medium flame and add the spring onions. Sauté until the onions are nicely cooked.
• Add the bell peppers and sauté until they are soft. In the mean time, add the baby corn, the spices like turmeric, chilli powder, coriander and cumin powders and mix well along with tomato puree and ketchup. Keep stirring until all the ingredients are mixed well.
• Now add the paneer, garam masala, vinegar, sugar and salt and keep stirring.
• Add a few spring onion greens and a little water so that the ingredients get cooked evenly on a low flame.
• Remove from flame and add some more spring onions.

 Paneer and Baby corn Jalfrezi is ready to be served hot!!

 

 

Home made Whole meal Bread

Baking has become one of my passions and the husband likes the smell of fresh baked bread. Needless to say, I enthusiastically tried to bake this wholemeal bread which came out just as perfect :) Here is the recipe... (I weighed the ingredients and hand baked it as I did not have a machine)
 

Ingredients:  

•    Wholemeal Bread Flour - 475 g
•    Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
•    Sugar - 1 tsp
• * Vegetable Oil - 15ml
•    Dry Yeast - 7g or a sachet
•    Warm Water - 300 ml (1 part boiling , 2 pasts cold)

 Preparation :
 
1. Add flour and salt in a large bowl, stir in the sugar and yeast and add oil. Add enough water and mix well to form a soft dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.





 
2. Shape the dough on a baking tray and cover and leave it to rise. Keep it in a warm place for about 30 to 45 minutes until it doubles in size. In the mean time, preheat the oven to 230deg C.
 

 

 



3. Bake the loaf for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 200deg C and bake further for about 15 - 20 mins, or until the bread turns golden brown as shown in the picture. It sounds hollow when tapped underneath. This is the time to remove from the oven. Cool and serve it :)
 

 

 

 

 

** If Vegetable oil is not available, then it can be replaced by 15 g butter

 



Puliyodarai Rice (Tamarind Rice)

It's Pongal time(Sankranthi) and this year's festive season begins... Made this wonderful pulikaichal at home. The process takes about an hour or so.

Ingredients:

• Tamarind Paste - 1 cup (I ground the tamarind and extracted the juice)
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp.

(Seasoning)

• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Chana Dhal(Bengal Gram) - 1 tsp
• Red Chilli - 4 to 5
• Asafoetida(powder) - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame Oil - 1/2 cup
• Curry Leaves - a few
• Peanuts - 1 cup

For the Powder:

• Oil 1 - 3 tsp
• Coriander Seeds - 2 tsp
• Urad Dhal - 2 tsp
• Black Pepper - 2 to 3 no
• Asafoetida - 1 small piece
• Red Chilli - 3 to 4  

Preparation:

1. Heat a thick bottomed pan and add some oil.
2. Add the Urad Dhal and red chilli and coriander seeds one after the other and roast it until the dhal turns golden brown.
3. Add the Asafoetida. Remove from flame once the asafoetida gets roasted. Allow the ingredients to cool to be ground later.
4. In the same pan add some oil. Once the oil heats up, add some mustard.
5.After the mustard splutters, add some chana Dhal, red chillies, peanuts and keep frying until the everything turns golden brown.
6. Add the Tamarind juice at this point add turmeric powder, asafoetida powder and salt.
7. Mix well and allow it to cook until the raw smell of the turmeric goes off.
8. In the meantime, grind the cooled ingredients that we had kept aside.
9. Add the powder at this point to the tamarind juice to form a thick paste.

10. In a mixing bowl, add the paste to hot rice and add oil and mix well.

Yummy Puliyodharai rice is ready to be served.

Plum Cake

We had a get together at a friend's home and it was Party time. So, I tried this plum cake recipe. The outcome was a soft, spongy plum cake.

(I used a measuring jug for this)

Ingredients

Plums - 250 g (cut into small pieces and destoned)
Plain Yoghurt - 1 cup
Caster Sugar - 1/2 cup
Veg Oil - 75 ml
All Purpose Flour(Plain Flour/Maida) - 3 cups
Eggs - 2 medium sized
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tso
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - A pinch

Method:

1. Have all ingredients readily measured and Preheat the oven to 180 deg C/350 deg F.

2. Grease and Line an 8 inch cake tin with greaseproof paper,

3. In a mixing bowl whisk together the ingredients such as the yoghurt, oil, sugar and eggs. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Now, combine the wet and the dry ingredients together until smooth batter is formed

4. Transfer the batter into the greased tin and place the plums on top.

5. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the cake is golden on top. keep testing with a fork whether it comes out clean. This is the time to remove from the oven.

6. Allow it cool and now the cake is ready to be removed and served.. :)

Ready for the Party!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

 

Home Made Pizza (Veg)

 I am so excited to share the recipe that I tried from scratch. I tried a lot of cookbooks and online blogs and finally landed on this recipe. The Pizza was crispy and tasted yummy. Here you go..

 

For Pizza Dough (about 10-12 inch pizza base) 

• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 175gram
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Dry yeast(rapid rise) - 1 tsp
• Water(lukewarm) - 120 - 150ml 

Method:

• Sift the flour and add salt and yeast to it.
• Add lukewarm water to it and mix them together to form a soft dough. Knead it on a floured surface for about 10 mins and cover it with a slightly oiled film.
• Allow it rise for about 1 hr or leave it until the dough becomes doubled in size.
• After an hour or so, punch the dough and knead it for about 2minutes.
• On a slightly floured surface, roll it out to 10-12 in round.
• Place on a greased baking sheet and knock up the edges.

For the topping:

• Chopped Pepper - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Onions - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Tomato - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Mushrooms - 1/2 cup
• Jalapeno - a few
• Tomato puree
• Mozzorella Cheese - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Ground Pepper - to taste. 

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven for about 10 minutes at around 220 deg C/425 deg F.
• In the mean time, over the Pizza base, spread the tomato puree and top it up with the cheese.
• Add the vegetables over the cheese
• Again add some shredded cheese
• Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the base turns golden brown and crisp.

The Pizza is ready to be served hot.. Have a fantastic Pizza-rella day!!!