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!!!