Sweet and Tangy Tomato Kadhi

This is a tomato based curry with a lovely balanced tangy- sweet combination. This is a recipe by Tarla Dalal from my recipe collection .

When we need a change from the regular sambars and rasams, Tomato kadhi is a welcome change in taste. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 large tomatoes
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 chopped green chilli
5 to 6 curry leaves
2 cloves
2 tbsp chickpea flour (besan), make it into a paste by adding a couple of tsps of water
¼ tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp aamchur powder (dry mango powder)
A pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp grated jaggery
2 tbsp chopped coriander
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste Method:

Roughly chop the tomatoes and cook them with ½ cup of water for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Cool and blend in a mixer to get a smooth puree. Keep aside

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they pop, add the green chillies, curry leaves, cloves and chickpea flour (besan) paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, asafoetida, aamchur powder and pureed tomatoes with 2 cups of water and cook on a medium flame and keep stirring continuously.

When the kadhi comes to a boil, add the jaggery and salt and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the flame.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice/rotis.

Tried, Tasted and Treasured

The Tried Tasted and Treasured Recipes for this month:

Thanks pals for sharing such wonderful and mouthwatering recipes :)

Scrambled chickpea flour from Lisa's Kitchen, we had it with rotis and also with toasted bread it tasted really nice. Here's the link:
http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/2009/04/scrambled-chickpea-flour-with-fiery-red.html
Yet another one from Lisa's Kitchen is the beet root rasam, the minute I saw the pictures and read the ingedients of this stunning dish at her blog,I knew this would be a heart stealer,
and yes it's truly a winner all the way. It tastes awesome. Here's the link
http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/2009/04/beetroot-rasam.html

Being a huge oats fan, how could I miss this gorgeous looking and lovely tasting mango and oats kheer/pudding from Supriya's blog Red Chillies. Here's the link

http://redchillies.us/2009/04/20/oat-mango-kheer-pudding/

I love Benagali cuisine, and when it comes to sweets nothing to beat Bengal ;) Pati shapta is one such sweet that I'd tasted during Durga Pooja and was awed by the simplicity and delicious taste of this dish. I was elated when I found the recipe at Sandeepa's awsome blog Bong Mom's Cook Book, Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.bongcookbook.com/2007/01/poush-parbon-er-pati-shapta.html

Lovely Jackfruit payasam/kheer from Manju's blog Mirch Masala, this dessert has a wonderful strong jackfruit flavour that leaves you wanting for more. Here's the link:

http://superchef-mirchmasala.blogspot.com/2009/04/celebrating-vishu-kerala-new-year-with.html

Awsome Dark chocolate and Oatmeal Breakfast Bread From Priya's blog Easy and Tasty Recipes, this one tasted simply out of the world :) here's the link

http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/dark-chocolate-n-oatmeal-breakfast.html

I tried a couple of recipes more but unfortunately I haven't clicked snaps of the dishes sorry for that but I would like to make a special mention about these recipes coz they overpowered the photgrapher in me and awakened the glutton ;) I also tried tasted and loved ....

Ramya VijayKumar's Mango Kulfi, here's the link: http://memoryarchieved.blogspot.com/2009/04/aam-kulfi.html

Ridgegourd chutney(I made the chutney with peel of Ridgegourd :)) from Sushma's blog,here's the link:http://nsushma.blogspot.com/2009/01/heerekayi-chutney-ridged-gourd-chutney.html

Slow cooked Barley and Bean soup from Manju's blog Mirch Masala, here's the link: http://superchef-mirchmasala.blogspot.com/2009/03/whole-grains-slow-cooked-barley-and.html

Vegetarian Chili and herbed croutons from Indhu's blog Thayirsaadam, here's the link: http://www.thayirsaadham.com/?p=312

Thanks once again dear foodie friends for invoking the happy spirit of cooking in me :)

Cheers to the sharing spirit in each one of you!

God Bless!

TC

Chickpeas and Whole Yellow Peas Masala

It’s no secret that mothers are the best cooks. What ever dish prepared by them is finger licking good… it’s the universal truth ! isn't it? Recently we’d visited my parents, and you know how parents are :) we got pampered big time. Mom had made so many dishes for lunch and dinner. OOOOO everything was so tasty….but the one thing which made me say YUM YUM YUM YUM……many times was the chana(chickpeas) and Whole yellow peas (white vatana) masala. I took down the recipe from her and made it today. I called and told her that chana masala turned out superb but not as good as she had made it! You know it happens….:)many of you agree with me on this I guess?!... neways here’s the recipe…

Ingredients:

¼ cup Chickpeas (Kabuli chana)
¼ cup whole yellow peas (white vatana)

*Soak the chickpeas in water and leave it overnight
Next morning drain the water and clean the peas in fresh water and pressure cook the peas with enough water until tender,
Drain the water and conserve it for cooking, set the peas aside

1 large potato, boiled, peeled, cubed
1 Onion, finely chopped 1 tsp Cumin seeds
½ tsp dry mango powder (aamchur powder)
2-3 tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt and sugar to taste
2 tbsp oil

For the Masala:

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder
1 big tomato, quartered
1 big onion, quartered
1-2 green chillies
2-3 garlic pearls
1” piece of ginger

Method:

Step 1:
Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds and let it cool. After sometime grind it along with the other masala ingredients with just enough water, don’t make it runny.
Step 2:
In a Kadhai/wok heat oil and add cumin seeds, once it begins to pop add the chopped onions and sauté till translucent.
Step 3:
Put the masala paste into the Kadhai/wok and fry till the rawness of the masala fades off.
Step 4:
Add the conserved water (obtained from cooking the peas) salt, sugar, dry mango powder and mix well. Now add the cooked chickpeas, whole yellow peas, cubed potatoes.
Step 5:
Mix well, adjust salt and sugar if required and cook on medium-low flame till you get the desired consistency of the masala.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/rice.

Healthy Almond Blondies and Chocolate Pudding

These days I am shying away from sweets and oily stuffs.Though this phase is only temporary;) it’s a punishment for S in the real sense…coz he has a huge craving for sweets and has the habit of eating a dessert or a piece of mithai (Indian sweet) after every meal not that I don't but am learning the to tame my craving big time :) I have been bad enough to deprive him from eating sweets for quite sometime now….the last I made dessert was about a fortnight back :( I made aamras but then not with puris …we had it with chapattis ;D I’d made mango kulfi too but most of it was over since we had friends visiting …lol.. It was getting a bit too much so I thought I’ll make something really nice for S to make him happy and satisfy his sweet tooth (actually mine too ;))

I had come across some recipes with fewer calories and less sat-fat in one of the magazines. So this was the right time to put them to use. I made Rich chocolate pudding and Almond blondies….these turned out really good. S was a happy guy with the tasty treats, I was really glad about the good health factor and pleasing the taste buds too .

Almond Blondies
Ingredients:

½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 ¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup silvered almonds, divided ( I used toasted almonds cut into thin strips)

Method:

Heat oven to 350* F Coat a baking pan with cooking medium and line the bottom with foil.

Put oats in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.

Whisk together oats, flours, sugar, salt, baking powder in a bowl and set it aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stir in sugar and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and stir until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour into a large bowl
Add vanilla extract and reserved dry ingredients and mix well.

Fold in ¼ cup of the almonds.

Pour batter into prepared pan/tin and spread evenly, and top with remaining almonds.

Bake until a knife inserted comes out with a few crumbs. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until done.

Cool it thoroughly. Lift out the foil and cool completely on the wire rack.

Cut into bars and store in air tight containers.


Rich chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
Pinch of salt
2 cups milk
1 egg
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate bits
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Whisk sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, instant coffee powder, ½ cup of the milk in a medium sauce pan and whisk well.

Pour 1 cup of milk into sugar mixture while whisking. Bring it to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat egg lightly in a small bowl. Pour 1 cup of hot milk mixture from the sauce pan into the bowl while whisking the egg. Pour egg mixture back into the pan.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring for about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Add chocolate. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.

Pour mixture into 4 serving dishes. Chill for 2 hours or over night, covered.