Ravva Dosa with Potato Carrot curry

Once upon a time when I was in India, we used to live in an apartment complex. Once a year, the apartment committee used to give breakfast to all the apartment holders and then meetings to decide important things like maintainance fee and all. On one of those occassions, I was introduced to "Ravva Dosa". I served this dosa with Potato and Carrot curry and Sambar
                     I never had ravva dosa before, but that day the chef making it right there and serving hot dosa was amazing. And also that day they served Grape juice...one of the most amazing grape juices' I ever had. I will enter the recipe some day

Ravva Dosa (Indian Semolina Crepe)

Ravva Dosa

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Upma Ravva
2. 1 cup Maida (All purpose flour)
3. 1/2 cup Rice flour
4. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon each of salt, cooking soda, cumin
5. 1-11/2 tablespoon each of finely chopped onions, coriander
6. 1 teaspoon or less of finely chopped green chilly, ginger
7. Oil for frying

Sift together Upma Ravva, all-purpose flour and rice flour. Mix in salt and cooking soda and mix water to make a thin batter. Set aside overnight. Mix all the other ingredients and add some more water to make into a thin batter. Heat a griddle and laddle about 1/3 cup of batter in the middle and move the griddle in such a way that the batter spreads. Drizzle oil over the edges of the dosa and let fry for 3-4 minutes. Turn and fry for a couple of minutes. Serve hot with Sambar and Aalo carrot curry

Aalo Gaajar Sallan (Simple potato, carrot curry)

Aalo gaajar curry

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium large potatos peeled and cubed
2. 2 medium large carrots peeled and cubed
3. 1/2 cup red onions sliced
4. 2 tablespoons oil+ 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, turmeric
6. 2 red chillies broken
7. 1 green chilly chopped
8. few curry leaves

In a pressure cooker heat 2 tbsps oil and fry the onions till tender. Add carrot and potato cubes and add 1/2-3/4 cupwater and turmeric and pressure cook for 2 whistles. In a pan heat the remaining oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds and urad dal for a couple of minutes. Add red and green chilly pieces and curry leaves and fry till they start to splutter. Add the potato and carrot to this and simmer for 5 minutes after adding salt. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Dosa or Roti

You may also want to check Simple potato curry,

poon sambar powder (made above) (or store bought)
In a pressure cooker cook the dal for 3-4 whistles with 11/2-2 cups of water and turmeric and chopped tomato. After the steam escapes open the cooker and mash the dalor better grind it to a paste. Add salt and all the vegetables and tamarind juice and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds and dried red chilly, garlic if using and curry leaves till they start to splutter. Cut the heat and add the dal to the pan or the tempering to the dal. Add sambar powder. Bring to boil again and boil for further 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and check if all the vegetables are cooked else simmer covered for a little bit more. Enjoy with Ravva Dosa, Plain dosa or Idli

Urad dal Kanduri fry with Pyaz ka khatta

I had all these errands to do and a whole lot of shopping to do as my supplies were running low. So, I was out pretty much the whole day and by the time I came back home, and hauled everything into the house from the car and put everything where it belongs, I was super tired
              But you know, a women's work is never done. I still had to make dinner. So I made the fastest dishes possible. And also great tasting...half because I was so very hungry
             On days like this, I always wish I had some help and help comes in the form of pre-cut frozen vegetables

In case you are wondering what Kanuri is here are pictures of Kanduri or Tindora etc

Urad Dal Kanduri fry (Ivy gourd fried with black lentils)

Urad Dal Tindora fry

Ingredients :

1. 1/4 cup black whole or halfed urad dal soaked overnight (I had them cause I was planning to make Dal Makhani)
2. 1 package pre-cut frozen Tindora thawed (or 1lb fresh Tindora washed, ends cut an sliced vertically into 6-8 pieces)
3. 2-3 tablespoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, cumin
5. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

In a non-stick pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for 3 minutes. Add drained urad dal and fry for 5 minutes. Add drained tindora and fry covered (15 minutes if using fresh) 10 minutes without covering, stirring occasionally. Add salt, chilly powder an turmeric and stir to combine and fry for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Pyaz ka khatta

Pyaz ka Khatta (Onions cooked in Tamarind juice)

Pyaz ka khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup chopped red onions
2. 2-3 cups of juice from tamarind the size of a small lemon
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. 1 green chilly chopped
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon each of chilly powder, turmeric

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the other ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Until Oil floats. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with plain rice

Eggless shortbread cookies

Back in the good 'ol days when I was a kid, there used to be one store which was close to my house and me and my brother used to go there an buy candies and cookies and there were my favourite cookies. But these were also the expensive cookies. When others used to be for 5 Paisa (and an Indian rupee is divided into 100 paise) and 1 rupee= 0.02 dollars , this particular cookie used to be 10 paisa. Double of other cookies.
                   Now I know why it was a very popular cookie in India. Mainly because it was eggless and India being one of the biggest vegetarian nations (Meaning...having the highest population who are vegetarians...atleast in those days)

Shortbread cookies

Shortbread cookies

Ingredients:

1. 1/3 cup butter, softened
2. 1/4 cup sugar
3. 1 cups all purpose flour
4. 1/3 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, salt and sugar in large bowl.  Stir in flour.  If dough is crumbly, mix in an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of softened butter. (I used water)
       Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut dough with cookie cutters into desired shapes.  
Bake about 20 minutes, Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy with tea or as is

Pakodi, Allam Pakodi, Palak Pakoda, Dahi Kadai Pakora

Pakora hari chutney ke saath

In those plain old days, back in my motherland, sometimes my dad used to take me to get some snacks in the evening and his favourite was Pakoda, Bhajia, Pakodi etc etc
           This is a very simple evening snack which my hubby dear says goes best with Tea...i.e the Indian Chai. I ofcourse, don't know because I don't drink tea.
           Today,  I am making the most simplest dinner items and so these Pakoras are the initial preparation for the same. I am making plain white rice and Gujrati Dahi Kadai Pakora

Pakodi (Onion and Chickpea flour fritters)

Ingredients

1. 1 medium sized red onion peeled and choppe roughly
2. 1 green onion chopped fine (seeds removed, if you like it mild)
3. 1/4 teaspoon each of Ajwan (caraway or carom seeds), cumin seeds
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, baking soda
5. 1-2 cups chickpea flour (besan)
6. Oil for deep frying
7. Water for making batter

In a bowl add all the ingredients and add chick pea flour without water first and mix with hand into thick batter. If the water in the onions is not enough add water little by little to make the batter. Heat oil in a pan fry spoonfuls of water till they start turning brown. Drain and serve hot with tea and maggi ketchup and green chutney

Green Chutney (Mint and coriander dip)

Mint chutney

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup packed coriander leaves
2. 1/4 cup mint leaves
3. 1/2 teaspoon dry roasted cumin
4. 2 green chillies (or 1 for milder chutney)
5. 2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Grind all the ingredients together into a smooth paste. All salt and lemon juice. If the consistency is too thick add some water and enjoy with pakoda, samosa, idli, dosa etc
Adrak Pakora (Onions and Ginger fritters in Chickpea Flour)

Ingredients:

1. 1 small sized red onion peeled and chopped roughly
2. 1 green onion chopped fine (seeds removed, if you like it mild)
3. 1/4 teaspoon each of Ajwan (caraway or carom seeds), cumin seeds
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, baking soda
5. 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
6. 1-2 cups chickpea flour (besan)
7. Oil for deep frying
8. Water for making batter

In a bowl add all the ingredients and add chick pea flour without water first and mix with hand into thick batter. If the water in the onions is not enough add water little by little to make the batter. Heat oil in a pan fry spoonfuls of water till they start turning brown. Drain and serve hot with tea and maggi ketchup and green chutney

Palak Pakora (Spinach fritters in Chickpea flour)

Palak pakora

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup paked fresh small sized red onion peeled and chopped roughly
2. 1 green onion chopped fine (seeds removed, if you like it mild)
3. 1/4 teaspoon each of Ajwan (caraway or carom seeds), cumin seeds
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, baking soda, finely chopped ginger
5. 1-2 cups chickpea flour (besan)
6. Oil for deep frying
7. Water for making batter

In a bowl add all the ingredients and add chick pea flour without water first and mix with hand into thick batter. If the water in the onions is not enough add water little by little to make the batter. Heat oil in a pan fry spoonfuls of water till they start turning brown. Drain an serve hot with tea and maggi ketchup and green chutney


Dahi Kadai Pakora (Fritters in Chickpea and yogurt sauce)


Dahi Kadi Pakoda



Dahi Kadai

Ingredients

1. 4 cups of butter milk (1 cup plain yogurt beaten and mixed with 3 cups of water)
2. 3 tablespoons besan (chane ka aata, chick pea flour)
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, frinely chopped ginger
5. 1 green chilly finely chopped
6. 2 red chillies broken
7. Few curry leaves
8. 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt as per taste

Mix together the besan and butter milk without any lumps. In a pan heat the oil and fry all the items except besan mix and salt, till they start to splutter. Now reduce the heat to low and add the besan mix to it and stir to combine. Simmer on a very low heat for about 15 minutes.

          Add Spinach pakora or any pakora made above and simmer further for 5 more minutes.

Let it cool and add salt and garnish with cilantro and enjoy

It is very important that this is heated on a very low flame or heat else the yougurt will cuddle and it will just break apart and float on top separating from the water

Aalo bhujia with Soupy aam dal

Aalo bhujia is one of the olest and the most popular curry in my house when I was a kid. In those good old days when we used to have only one channel on TV, and there used to be a Hindi movie telecasted every Sunday. So my mom used to cook this curry early and then be ready for the movie. I used to get hungry early on those Sundays cause I loved this curry
                My mom used to serve it with Chaaru or Rasam but I am making a Soupy dal with raw mango

Aalu Bhujia (Shallow Potato fry with cumin)

Aalo bhujia

Ingredients:

1. 2 big or 3 medium potatoes peeled
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, chilly powder, turmeric
3. 3 tablespoons oil
4. 3/4 teaspoon salt

Cut the potato length-wise on the broadside.into half. Lay the flat side on the cuttin board cut half again and slice into 1/4 cm thick pieces. Heat the oil in a non stick pan and fry the cumin till they start to become dark. Add potatoes cover and cook for 10-15 minutes till they become tendor. Stir occasionally. Add salt, chilly power and turmeric and stir to combine. Break some of the pieces with the spatula and fry uncovered till the potatoes become a bit crispy. Serve with rice or roti

Soupy Mango Dal (Lentils with raw mango)

Soupy Mango Dal

Ingredients:

1. 1 raw mango peeled and seed removed and flesh cut into pieces
2. 1 cup roasted toor dal
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/4 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric
5. few curry leaves
6. 1 green chilly, few red chillies broken

In a pressure cooker cook the dal along with mango, turmeric and 2 cups of water for 3-4 whistles. Let all the steam escape and grind it into a smooth paste. In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard for 3 minutes. Add green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves an fry for a few more minutes. Add it to the dal paste and a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add salt and coriander and simmer till you get the required consistency. Serve with rice or roti

Healthy green bean fry

It has been a long time since I got fresh green beans. I find it more convenient to buy frozen or canned cut green beans and my favourite is the French cut green beans. But anyway, the other day I found fresh green beans and couldn't resist getting them. They looked fresh
         So when I started searching for green bean recipes, all I could find is either steamed green bean salad recipes or the heavy calorific green bean casseroles. So I kind of made my own recipe and it is healthy as well as yummy. I made mango Dal  to go with it.

Healthy green bean stir fry (Green beans stir fried in olive oil)

Healthy green bean stir fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb fresh green beans ends cut and cut into 11/2 inch pieces
2. 1 tablespoons olive oil
3. 1/2 large onion sliced
4. 3-4 deli sliced chicken julienned
5. 1 tomato sliced
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, lemon pepper, italian seasoning,celery salt
7. 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

In a microwave safe bowl put the grean beans add a little water and cover and microwave for 2 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start to caramelize. Add all the other ingredients, stir to combine and cover and let fry for 10 minutes. Add parsley, stir to combine cut the heat and serve, as is or with rice and dal

Vegetable zeera rice with Malai Chicken

The other day my brother and his family were here and I had to whip up a quick dinner for them. Ofcourse I was planning to make chicken anyway, so the chicken breast were already thawed. So the curry was a no brainer cause this version of malai chicken is very delicious and I consider it easy to make. And I also feel it cooks pretty fast if you don't consider the time it is marinating and getting cooked in oven (Atleast you don't have to stand in front of the stove). Set the timmer and sit with the family until the time is up
            Anyway, you might have seen my Zeera rice recipe. This vegetable zeera rice is a modification of the same and it is much more yummy

Vegetable Zeera Rice (Rice cooked with vegetables and cumin)

vegetable jeera rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups basmati rice washed
2. 1 large or 2 small carrots diced medium
3. 1/2-3/4 cup of cut green beans (about 1/2 inch pieces)
4. 1/2 cup turnip
5. 1 green chilly chopped
6. 1 teaspoon cumin
7. 3 tablespoons oil
8. 3 bay leaves
9. 2 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon
10. 3/4 teaspoon salt

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and bay leaves for 4 minutes. Add cloves and cinnamon and fry for 2 more minutes. Add the vegetables and and green chillies and fry for five minutes. Add drained rice and stir to combine. Add 3-31/2 cups of water 3/4 teaspoon salt and cook until rice gets cooked (about 20 minutes). Serve hot

Malai Chicken (Chicken cooked in tomato and cream gravy)

Malai chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb chicken breasts cubed
2. 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
3. 3 tablespoons oil
4. 1 teaspoon salt, chilly powder
5. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder
6. 4 oz tomato paste
7. 1-11/2 cup whole milk or 1 cup cream
8. 1 medium onion ground to paste
9. 2 inch of ginger

Marinate the chicken with salt, chilly powder and turmeric for 20 minutes. Add yogurt and marinate further for 1 hr (This step will make the chicken super tender)
Bake the chicken for 20 minutes at 200 degrees (This step will speed up the cooking process on the stove)
In a pan heat the oil and fry the ground onion and ginger till the onion starts changing color. Add garam masala, cumin and coriander powder and mix well. Add tomato paste and cook till the paste turns dark. Add chicken and the juices from the pan and the milk, stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with roti, rice or zeera rice

Vegetable masoor dal with Qageena

I wanted to make scrambled eggs but was kind of bored with the way I always make it and so started to search for the recipes. And I came across this recipe which is my old favourite but I totally forgot about it. So after being reminded of its existence, I just had to make it. And this dish is very famous in Hyderabad. Its called Hyderabadi Qageena, khagina, etc etc
            To go with it, I made the most amazingly yummy masoor dal. For some reason my mom didn't make masoor dal often when I was a kid. But anyway, I make it. So here are the recipes. Hope you will make them and leave me a note

Qhageena (Scrambled eggs with a twist)

Khagina

Ingredients:

1. 6 eggs
2. 1 large onion chopped
3. 1/3 cup milk
4. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt, chilly powder
5. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
6. 3 tablespoons oil

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they become tranlucent. Add salt, turmeric and chilly powder and stir to combine. Add milk and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium and spread the onions on the pan into a layer. Bread the eggs one by one and drop them onto the eggs and cover the dish (Don't mix or scramble yet). Let it cook for five minutes. Stir in such a way as not to break the eggs into too little pieces. Cover again and cook for 5 more minutes. Garnish generous with cilantro and stir once again and serve with Roti or white rice.
                       Also you may want to take a look at the way i generally used to make Scrambled eggs


Vegetable Masoor dal (Red lentils with Eggplant)

Masoor dal with Eggplant

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup masoor dal
2. 2-3 indian egg plant (I used half of Japanese purple eggplant) cubed
3. 1/2 cup onion chopped
4. 1 garlic pod chopped fine
5. 1/4 cup chopped green beans (optional)
6. cilantro for garnishing
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds, hing(asafoetida)
8. 3 red chillies broken
9. few curry leaves

Soak the masoor dal in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for a couple of minutes. Add hing, red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a couple of minutes. Add turmeric and garlic and fry again for a couple of minutes. Now add onions and egg plant and fry for 5 minutes. Add green beans if using and reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Add dal and water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until dal getting cooked and the stew becomes creamy. If it gets too thick add 1/2-1 cup water. Add cilantro stir to combine and add salt and serve with rice or roti
You might also want to check my  Other Masoor Dal Recipe

Kaddu Moong Dal

I was searching for some simple dal curry to go with the roti I was making. I made Pesara Pappu Sora Kaaya. This is one of the most yummies dal curry you can ever mae and eat. So njoy

Kaddu Moong Dal (Lentils with bottle gourd)

Lauki masoor dal

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized bottle gourd
2. 1 cup moong dal (toasted)
3. 2 cups water
4. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
5. 1 green chilly cut into pieces
6. 2 red chillies broken into pieces
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and mustard seeds
8. few curry leaves
9. 1 tablespoon oil
10. 1 garlic chopped (optional)
11. 1/4 cup chopped onions

Peel the bottle gourd and cut into small pices about 1 inch. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add dal and bottle gourd, turmeric and water and cook for 3 whistles (Don't add salt here). After the steam escapes, open the cooker and mash the dal and bottle gourd pieces a bit. In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for a couple of minutes. Then add  garlic, green and red chillies and curry leaves and fry till the chillies get dark. Add this on top of the dal and simmer for 5 minutes along with salt. Garnish with cilantro, stir to combine and serve with Roghni Roti or regular roti

Roti (Pan fried Indian bread made with wheat flour)

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups wheat flour (makes about 8 rotis) and extra for rolling
2. water as needed
3. 3/4-1 teaspoon salt
4. Oil or butter for pan frying

In a bowl mix the salt into the flour and add water little by little until you can make soft dough. Take about 2 teaspoons oil in your palm and roll the dough ball. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 parts . For rolling take a rolling pin, add some flour to your cleaned counter top. Put one part of dough on the flour and spinkle some flour on top of the dough and roll the dough until you get about 1/6-1/8 inch thick tortella. Fry it on a hot griddle or pan and apply oil once drak brown spots start appearing on the roti. Remove from heat and serve hot roti with your favourite dal or any curry 

Methi Gosht with Rasam

Methi or Fenugreek leave are not one of my favourite leafy vegetables since it has a bitter taste to it. But this curry I made with lamb and mehi leaves turned out to be super yummy. I just think if you know the proper way to cook anything, you can take even the bad tasting things into the most mouth watering recipes.
            For vegetarians, the same curry can me made by replacing mutton with potato

Methi Gosht (Lamb cooked with fenugreek leaves)

Methi Gosht

Ingredients:

1. 11/2 to 2 cups frozen mehi leaves
2. 3/4-1 lb mutton (lamb or goat whatever you prefer)
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder
4. 1 teaspoon salt divided
5. 1 medium onion sliced
6. 1 green chilly sliced
7. 2 tablespoons oil

Spinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt on the frozen Fenugreek leavs and set aside 30 minutes. (This process removes the bitterness of the leaves). I am not sure how you can do this process with fresh leaves.
                After 30 minutes squeeze out as much water as you do.
In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till golden brown. Add giner-garlic paste and green chilly and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the powder and stir. Add mutton and fry for 5 minutes. Add methi and 1/2 cup water and cook for 3 whistles. After the steam escapes open the cooker and simmer until excess water evaporates. Enjoy with Rasam and white rice or with Roti

Puffed rice upma

Puffered rice as you all know is murmure or Murmuralu or the things that make up rice krispies cereal but ofcourse that rice krispies are loaded with corn syrup and sugar
             This upma I made with the puffered rice brings back so many memories of me playing during those hot summer afernoons during the summer holidays. We would put some puffered rice in water and hear them crackle and imagine as if we were cooking rice and thats the sound of rice getting cooked
             This is a nice variation to you regualar upma. And it tastes great too

Murmure wala Upma (Puffed rice stir fried)

Murmurala upma

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups puffed rice
2. 3 cups water
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, cumin, mustard seeds, finely chopped ginger
4. 1 tablespoon peanuts/ ground nuts, finely sliced onions
5. 1 green chilly chopped
6. 1 tablespoon oil
7. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, urad dal

Soak the puffed rice in water for 5 minutes. meanwhile heat the oil in a pan and fry the peanuts for a couple of minutes. Add cumin, mustard seeds and urad dals for 3 minutes. Add onions and ginger and green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add salt and turmeric and stir well. Drain the puffed rice and add it to the pan and stir to combine. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve

Fried fish dinner

I got this packet of catfish nuggets the other day and I was searching for dishes to make with it. I finally decided on Fish and chips for dinner but unfortunately I didn't have any potatos so I made the fish part of the dinner but instead of chips I made mashed potato and crunchy coleslaw to go with it. And it was a great dinner

Fried Catfish Nuggets (Cornmeal battered deep fried catfish)

Fried catfish nuggets

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb cat fish nuggets or about 12
2. 1 egg beaten with some salt and pepper
3. 2 cups butter milk with some salt and pepper
4. 1-2 cups corn meal with some salt and pepper (I used blue corn meal )
5. Oil for deep frying

Wash the catfish nuggets and defrost them if they are frozen. Mix the buttermilk with salt and pepper and soak the fish in it for atleast an hour. On your counter set up the deep frying station with egg and corn meal in a plate and oil heated in a pan. Take a piece out of the butter milk and dip it into egg and then dredge it with corn meal. Dip it again in egg and corn meal if you want a thicker coating on the fish. Fry it for 4-5 minutes on each side or the fish turns dark golden brown. Enjoy with tartar sauce, coleslaw and potatos

Fire roasted pepper tartar sauce ( A variation of the same old tartar sauce)

Fire roasted pepper tartar sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup of fire rosted pepper paste (Grind a fire roasted pepper which comes in a bottle packed in oil)
2. 1 cup mayonnaise
3. 2 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
4. 1 tablespoon minced onion
5. 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
6. salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and let it set in the refridgerator for atleast an hour. Serve with fried fish or fried chicken

Mashed potato (Mashed potatos with green onions and Italian seasoning)

Ingredients:

1. 2 large potatos boiled till they become fork tender
2. 1 tablespoon butter
3. 1/4 cup milk or more if you want creamier mashed potato
4. 1/4 cup sour cream
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
7. 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
8. 4-5 green onions chopped and divided

Peel the potatos and mash them in a pan along with butter, milk and sour cream. Add all the rest of the ingredients and serve pipping hot with butter or sour cream on top and some more green onions

Crunchy coleslaw(Cabbage and carrot salad with mayo)

Creamy crunchy coleslaw

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups of finely shredded green cabbage
2. 1 large carrot peeled and shredded
3. 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
4. 2 tablespoons minced onion
5. 1/3 cup white sugar
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt
7. 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8. 1/4 cup milk
9. 1/2 cup mayonnaise
10. 1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
11. 2  tablespoonseach of  lemon juice , raisins and toasted walnuts

Mix the cabbage and carrots and bell pepper. Mix all the other ingredients except walnuts in another bowl and add it to the cabbage mix and stir well to combine. Chill for atleast an hour. Top with walnuts before serving

  

Rajma paneer with Onion rasam

Its been a long time since I made something with chickpeas and I wanted to make it. But a thorough search of my pantry reveled that I didn't have any garbanzo beans at hand. So I started seaching for some other legumes and found the kidneys beans calling my attention.
               Then, I started seaching for some Indian recipe with kidney beans and all I could find is Rajma...kidney beans in tomato gravy (Will make it and post it some other day) and I didn't want to make it. Then I thought why I can't make Kidney beans along with Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) and let me tell you it turned out Deeelicious.
              And to go with it, I am making Onion Chaaru from the Vegetarian recipe book my mom gave me when I got married. This is so nice and spicy, I can just sip it all by itself

Rajma Paneer (Kidney beans and cottage cheese curry)

Rajma Paneer

Ingredients:

1. 1 can kidney beans (I used red kidney beans in chilli gravy)
2. 1 cup paneer rectangles 3/4 cm x 3/4 inch (Basically trying to keep the paneer the same size as the kidney beans)
3. 1 medium onion
4. 1 inch ginger piece
5. 1 medium tomato chopped
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilly powder, salt, cumin, coriander powder, turmeric
7. 3 tablespoons oil divided
8. 1/2 cup water

Here is How to make fresh Paneer
Grind the onions and ginger to a fine paste and set aside. Fry the paneer pieces in oil till they turn golden brown. Drain and set aside. Add the cumin to the oil and let them crackle. Add the onion paste and fry till it starts changing color. Add chopped tomatoes and cook covered for 5 minutes. Add kidney bean to it and all the other ingredients except paneer, stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add paneer stir well and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with Zeera rice or white rice and onion rasam

Onion Rasam (Onions and tomato in Tamarind juice)

Onion Rasam

Ingredients:

1. 2 tablespoons each of chopped onions, chopped tomato
2. 1 teaspoon grated jaggery or brown sugar
3. 1 big or 2 small green chillies sliced
4. 4 cups of water
5. 1 cup thick juice from a lime sized tamarind
6. 1/2 tablespoons oil
7. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida(Hing)

Bring the water to a boil and add chopped onions and boil for a couple of minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients and boil for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and add hing to it. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Add it to the rasam and boil for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy

Variety Egg Curry and Rasam

This recipe has been a staple in my house for as long as I remember. I don't know who made it for the very first time but my people in my own extended family don't know how to make it. This is a variation of hard boiled egg curry but I like this curry better than the hard boiled version
          And to go with it I made a simple rasam. There are a million versions of this rasam but this one I am giving here is again my house recipe

Variety Egg Curry (Simple egg curry with a variation)

Amazing egg curry

Ingredients:

1. 6 eggs
2. 1 large red onion chopped fine
3. 2 green chillies slit
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, salt, chilly powder, turmeric
5. 1 cup water
6. Cilantro for Garnishing
7. 2 tablespoons oil

In a pressure cooker (else use a pan with a tight fitting lid) heat the oil and fry the onions till they become golden brown. Add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add salt, chilly powder and turmeric and stir to combine. Add water and reduce the heat. carefully break the eggs over the dish, slide the onions and make space for the egg and drop it into the pan or the pressure cooker. Add all the eggs 1 inch apart. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles or cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes on medium heat. DO NOT TOUCH THE CURRY. After the steam escapes, open the cooker garnish with cilantro and simmer till all the water escapes. Again don't touch the eggs. carefully dish the eggs onto a platter and serve with rice

Rasam (Tamarind juice with spices)

Rasam

Ingredients:

1. 1 lime sized tamarind
2. 4 cups of water
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, coriander powder
4. 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds
5. 1 teaspoon sliced onions
6. Few curry leaves and 3 red chillies broken
7. 1 tablespoon oil
8. 1 teaspoon decicated coconut (optional)
9. Cilantro for garnishing

In a pan add the tamarind along with water, salt, turmeric and coriander powder and bring to a boil. Let it boil on medium heat for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for a minute. Add red chillies and curry leaves and fry for 3-4 minutes. Cut the heat, add the coconut if using and stir for 1/2 a minute. Add this temepring to the tamarind water and bring to a boil. Boil again for 5 minutes, garnish with cilantro and serve

Nutty Brinjal fry and Tomato Dal

I need to get dinner ready in a hurry because I had to go out for some work. I wanted to made stuffed brinjal or eggplant but its too much work and takes a little while to make. So instead I made this delicious and eay nutty eggplant fry and Tomato dal which is one of my favourite dal dishes. The photo for this dal does not do any justice because it doesn't look as good as it tastes. Make it and decide for your own self and may be you can contribute a nice photo to my blog.

Nutty Eggplant fry (Eggplant stirfried with peanut powder)

Nutty eggplant fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb or so or about 6-8 of Indian egg plants cubed
2. 1/2-3/4 cup chopped onions
3. 1 green chilly chopped
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, cumin, coriander powder
5. 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
6. 1/4 cup peanuts
7. 2 tablespoons oil
8. Cilantro for garnishing
9. 1 garlic clove minced

Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds and cumin and grind to powder and set aside. (If you have this powder on hand it makes the process of cooking this curry fairly fast)
In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start to change color. Add well drained brinjal or eggplant pieces and fry covered till the pieces seem to be almost done. Add the rest of the ingredients stir to combine and cover and fry for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with Tomarto dal and hot rice

Tomato Dal (Lentils with Tomato and Tamarind Juice)

Tomato dal

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Toor dal
2. 2 big or 3 medium tomatos chopped
3. 2 cups juice from a lime sized tamarind
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1 clove of garlic chopped
7. 1/2 taspoon each of cumin and mustard seeds
8. Few curry leaves and 2 dried red chillies broken

In a pressure cooker cook the dal and tomatos for 3-4 whistles along with 2 cups water and turmeric. After the steam escapes open the cooker and mash the dal. Add the tamarind juice and bring to a boil. In a pan heat the oil and fry cumin, mustard seeds, red chillies for a minute. Add garlic and curry leaves and fry for a couple of minutes. Add this tempering to the dal and salt and chilly powder and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot white rice 

Waffles with Strawberry syrup

Sunday is always a special day. Either you spend the whole day lazying around home and go out and have fun. Whatever it may be, its a day to eat something special.
            Summer is finally here this year and this is one season I really love and really hate. I love it because of all the nature's bounty that is available and the days are so long and nice. You have more time to do things. And I hate it, because somedays become way too hot and you can't go out and sit inside with the AC on. Which makes my skin really dry and itchy. Anyway, I guess everthing has its own +ves and -ves.
           My daughter loooooooooves strawberries and I got a big box the other day and then she didn't want to eat them. KIDS!!! So that box was sitting there and the berries rotting. So I decided to make my own strawberry syrup for waffles and pancakes and icecream and shortcake and pastry and cheesecake and any other million things you can think of. I love this home made one because its low in sugar and its fresh

Strawberry Topping (Strawberries cooked in sugar)

Strawberry syrup

Ingredients:

1. 1 12 oz box of strawberries, washed and the top cut and sliced into 3-4 pieces each
2. 1/3-1/2 cup sugar
3. 1/4 cup water

How to wash strawberry: Take a bowl fill it with water. Add the strawberries to it (don't cut the tops yet) and give them a swirl for about a minute. Set the bowl aside for 5 minutes. Drain the strawberries and enjoy

After you have washed the strawberries slice them and add to a pot. add the water and sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Refrigerate the syrup and enjoy on waffles, pancakes, ice cream etc

                I served with waffles made according to the directions on the box using Aunt Jemima pancake mix. And I served them topped with Whipped cream

Waffles with strawberries and cream

Mint grilled chicken with Pita Bread

Yesterday, I asked my li'l girl what she wants to have for dinner. She said "Woti"...i.e Roti, for some reason she can't pronounce "R" properly. So we went shopping to get her favourite Woti...the middle eastern bread which is found only in (atleast I found this oply at this place) Trader Joe's. But the store was out of those rotis so instead we got little Pita bread or the pocket bread. To go with it I made all the fixings for a mediterranean lunch
                 I made the most suculent and flavourful grilled chicken and the mediterranean salsa or salad but unfortunately I didn't have cucumber so I didn't add this very important ingredient to it. So here are the recipes. I hope you will enjoy them as much as my whole family did

Mint Grilled Chicken (Chicken marinated in mint and grilled)

Mint Grilled chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 package or about 1-11/2 lb chicken thigh meat boneless skinless (or chicken breast , whatever you prefer)
2. 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
3. fresh Juice from 1/2 lemon
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt, fresh ground pepper
5. 1 tablespoon olive oil
6. 2 cloves of garlic

Grind the mint leaves along with garlic and all the other ingredients into fine paste. Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces and mix the marinade into chicken and set aside atleast an hour (I did it over night)
Heat an indoor or outdoor grill and grill the pieces till you have a nice brown crust and the chicken gets cooked through. Serve with pita bread, grilled onions, fet cheese and mediterranean salad

Mediterranean salad (Simple salad with fresh veggies)

Mediterranean salad

Ingredients:

1. 1 cucumber peeled and cubed
2. 1 medium small red onion chopped
3. 1 tomato chopped into the same size as cucumber and onion
4. Fresh juice from 1/2 lemon
5. 1/4-1/3 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
7. 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
8. 3-4 green onions chopped (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside for 15 minutes. Serve with chicken and pita

I served the above two with pita bread, grilled white and red onions and grilled green onions and lemon wedges. Delicious and healthy lunch/dinner

Pita bread with chicken