Spicy Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

8 Medium sized tomatoes (cooked and cooled)
4-5 Green chillies
4-5 Garlic cloves (peeled)
A marble sized ball of Tamarind
½ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Sambaar/Rasam Powder
A pinch of Asafoetida/Hing
1 tsp Mustard
5-6 curry leaves
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:

STEP 1
Grind the tomatoes, chillies, garlic cloves, and tamarind into a fine paste without adding water.

STEP 2
In a heavy bottomed vessel heat oil, add mustard seeds when it starts to splutter add the curry leaves when it begins to pop add the asafoetida (hing)

STEP 3
Pour in the ground tomato paste into the tempering containing vessel and mix so that the tempering blends well with the tomato paste. Cover and cook on medium flame for 2-3 minutes stir occasionally .

STEP 4
Finally add Sambaar/Rasam powder, turmeric powder, salt and stir to blend all the contents well. Cover and cook till the water content from the chutney evaporates.
Once the water evaporates the chutney thickens and changes colour to reddish-brown.
Take it off the flame.

STEP 5
The spicy tomato chutney is ready to serve. Tastes good both with roti/rice.
p.s: deleted the joke as most of them weren't understanding.

Accidental Discovery....

Hi All, I cooked up a new simple recipe, I've called it Soothing Salad :) and am excited about sharing the recipe in my post. It happened to be an accidental discovery. There was a lone Beet snoring in my fridge from quite some time, and that was irritating me coz I didn't want to make the same old Kosambari or stir fry and that sort of dishes :-/ I just did something randomly without thinking much about the end result...at the most what would happen...S would push his share towards me....saying from me to you with lots of love ;) and I would end up eating what I prepared! like the Kannada saying goes 'Maddidunno Maharaaya'...lol which means one should face the consequences of what he/she does....lol God! am crazy to the core sometimes.

Talking about discovery....imagine we ladies feel so good about the accidental discoveries of new dishes we do in our kitchens,how would successful scientists feel?! hmmm... did u know that many useful things were actually accidently discoverd by scientists...hmmm the super-glue was an accidental discovery,the tale behind this is....once when a researcher wanted to stick two prisms for an experiment, the substance he had made to stick two prisms temporarily got stuck permanently! and here we have today in markets the super selling Super-glue which can stick just about ANYTHING! You too could share what you know on this topic :)

Let's leave it at that and move on to what I made today :) here's the recipe, it's simple but I can vouch on the deliciousness ;) and health benifit of this salad so read on....

Ingredients for the Soothing Salad:

1 Beetroot (cooked,peeled, grated)

1 Carrot ( peeled and grated)

3 lettuce (washed, roughly chopped)

4-5 whole pepper corns ( coarsely ground)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp grated cheese (opt)

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 handful peanuts (roasted, crushed)

1 cup yogurt (whisked)

2 tsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)

1 tsp lime juice

salt to taste

Method:

Take a large bowl put all the ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for atleast for 30 minutes before serving.

Notes:

1. You can change the quantity of the salt and spices to suit your taste.

2. Dress the salad with a little grated cheese or any other dressing of your choice and enjoy the salad.

3. You could also add some spring onions to the salad.

Raw Mango -Flavoured Rice

Mango rice is a great transformation of plain rice into tangy- spicy flavourful dish. There are many variations to this dish. This is one of the simplest method am posting and it truly tastes awesome when had with chutney, pickle or any preserve. It tastes good as it is but you know they say ‘Two is a company’ ;) it’s always better to have an accompaniment.
Before giving out the recipe here’s an awesome joke, got it this morning from my cousin brother, I almost fell off the chair laughing…read on

Santa singh went to a Phone booth and slapped the operator twice!
Guess why?....
Because it was written on a board: ‘Dial karne se pehle krupeya do lagaiye! :)


Recipe for Mango Rice:

Ingredients:
1 cup grated raw mango (peeled)
2 cups Rice, cooked and cooled
5-6 Curry leaves
½ tsp Turmeric powder
A pinch of Asafoetida/hing
1 tsp Urad dal
1tsp Chana dal
1 tsp Mustard seeds
2-3 Green chillies slit
Salt to taste
2-3 tsp oil

To Garnish:
2-3 tbsp Coriander finely chopped
2-3 tbsp thinly chopped coconut pieces

Method:

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel.

2. Add urad dal, chana dal when it starts browning add mustard seeds and curry
leaves.

3. When they start to pop add slit green chillies, asafoetida,
salt, turmeric powder and sauté for just a few seconds.

4. Next to the tempering add the grated raw mango and mix well so all the
seasoning blends well with it. Sauté for sometime, add the cooked rice to it and
mix well for the rice to mix evenly with the other ingredients.

5. Check and adjust the salt if necessary.
Take it off the flame and garnish with
coconut pieces and coriander leaves

6.Serve hot with accompaniment of your choice

Note: 1. you could use coconut oil for tempering the dish tastes even better.
2. You can also add roasted and crushed peanuts .

Chana Dal Kheer and more........

Chana daal kheer or 'Madgane' is a Konkani delicacy made on special occassions and festivals like Ugadi and Ganesh Chathurti. This Kheer tastes good in all possible ways :), eat it piping hot... or chilled... the taste gets better and leaves you wanting for more.

We all know that there are a few dishes which taste better the next day of preparation, as the ingredients release their flavour and aroma better sitting for a day after it's made. This kheer also falls in that bracket :) it tastes yummmm... I think that's enough temptation for you all to try it out and go mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....with it's rich taste.

Well, before that here's something I did in the last week,There are so many recipes that I want to try out. I managed to make some out of my long 'to do' list. so here they are:

p.s: please feel free to rotate ur neck to view the snaps properly ;) blogger picture uploading has become really cranky so couldn't do justice to rotate some pictures

:(

1. Strawberry Yogurt from here http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/04/may_day_market.html

The original recipe called for vodka or kirsch, instead I used a teaspoon of vanilla extract, the taste was great. We loved it :)

2.Sushma's recipe of Cucumber in yogurt gravy/Majjige Huli (I used white pumpkin) , here's the link for the recipe.

http://nsushma.blogspot.com/2009/03/southekayi-majjige-huli-cucumber-yogurt.html

Sushma's version had ginger and fenugreek,which I hadn't used in my version. I tried it out and the result was superb :) Thanks Sushma.

3. French Apple and Yogurt Cake from Akkal's Saapadu, here's the link

http://www.saappadu.com/2009/03/gateau-au-yaourt-et-aux-pommes-french.html

The cake was just tooooooooooooooo good! Thanks V for the wonderful recipe :)

4. Ridge Gourd Curry from Deepa's blog. Here's the link

http://deepaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/ridge-gourd-and-broadbeans-curry.html

The original recipe called for broadbeans but I used frozen green peas. It tasted really nice both with rice and roti :) Thanks Deepa.

Now finally here's the recipe for the chana dal kheer.

Chana Daal Kheer:

Ingredients

1 cup Chana Dal (boiled)

1/2 cup Jaggery (crushed/powdered)

2 tbsp cashew nuts (fried in a little oil)

To Grind:

3/4 cup Coconut (grated)

2-3 Cardamoms

2-3 tsps rice flour

Method:

STEP 1.

In a heavy bottomed vessel put the cooked chana dal and powdered jaggery and cook it on low flame stirring often, so that the jaggery melts and blends well with the chana daal.

STEP 2.

Meanwhile Grind the coconut, cardamoms, rice flour with some water and make it into a fine paste .

STEP 3.

Add the ground paste to the simmering chana daal and jaggery mixture and mix well.

STEP 4.

Keep stirring continulously till it begins to thicken, and begins to boil.

Add the fried cashew to the kheer and mix well.

Turn off the flame. Serve it hot or chilled .

Note: 1.If the kheer becomes too thick add a bowl of water and stir it to get the desired consistency.

2. you could soak 2-3 tsps rice in warm water for about 15 minutes and use it for grinding, if you don't have rice flour handy.

3. *My Amma sometimes avoids frying the cashews to avoid oil, if u prefer to skip the frying part you could add the plain cashews at step 3.

Paneer Burji in Cashew and Tomato Gravy

Ingredients:
1 cup Paneer cubed
1 cup Paneer mashed/crumbled
4 Small Tomatoes ( quartered)
2 Small Onions (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Ghee/oil
2 Bay leaves
2 Red chillies
3 Green cardamoms
2 Whole black Pepper corns
¾ cup Ginger garlic paste
2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 Green chilli (minced)
½ cup Cashew paste
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Jeera powder
2 tsp lime juice
½ tsp Kasoori methi
Salt to taste

Marinade:

1 tsp Red chilli powder
3 tbsp Ginger garlic paste

Note*: To keep the paneer soft in gravy items. Heat about 1 cup fo water , when it almost starts to boil put the flame off. Add ½ tsp of turmeric powder to the water. Drop the paneer cubes in the hot water and keep it covered for about 5-10 minutes. Then drain the water and use the paneer in your cooking. Method:

STEP 1:
Marinate the paneer cubes with chilli powder and ginger-garlic paste and set it aside.

STEP 2:
Heat ghee/oil in a Kadhai and add bay leaves, whole red chillies, cardamoms, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste and sauté , when it starts browning add the tomatoes, salt and cook on low flame till the tomatoes become mushy.

STEP 3:
Blend in the cashew paste and little water stir once and cook on low flame for sometime. Now add the mashed/crumbled paneer mix well. Cover the lid and cook on low flame and stir in between.

STEP 4:
Meanwhile, take another pan and heat ghee/oil in it and add cumin seeds, minced green chillies, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste ands sauté for sometime.
When it starts to change colour add onions and sauté till it turns golden brown. Add red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt, lime juice (add a little water if u want more gravy) and sauté for a few seconds till the rawness fades off.
Put off the flame.

STEP 5:
Add this onion masala to the simmering tomato-cashew mixture and mix well.
Finally add the paneer cubes and mix gently for the masala mixture to evenly coat on to the paneer cubes. Close and cook till done. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/rice.

Simple Potato Tomato Curry

There are times when you are tired after a hard days work and wish to finish cooking in a second. This recipe is the best bet for those days. This is one of S's bachelor-days inventions. He revealed this secret to me on a day when I was too tired to go to the kitchen. You can have it either with rice or rotis. Here it's for you.Ingredients

• 2 finely chopped onions
• 1 finely chopped tomato
• 1 green chilli cut into 4 pieces
• 4 boiled potatoes cut into small cubes
• 1/2 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp garam masala/MDH Kitchen King powder
• 1/2 tsp dry mango powder (aamchoor powder)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat oil in a kadhai and add jeera
• Once jeera starts fluttering, put onions and saute till golden brown
• Then add tomato and saute till it becomes tender
• Now add the garam masala/MDH Kitchen King powder and mix well
• Then add water, green chilli and dry mango powder and bring it to a boil. You can decrease the quantity of water if you want to serve it with rotis
• Now add the potato cubes and salt
• Cover the lid and cook till done

It doesn't take any time to make and tastes great.

Raw Papaya and Coconut Stir Fry

Papaya is a wholesome fruit. It's rich vitamin C, protien certain enzyme content is beneficial for many internal disorders of the human body.This fruit consumed raw or ripe aids digestion and is a boon for having a glowing flawless skin.It's an excellent source of energy too.

I was looking for a raw papaya recipe which is different from the usual simple stir fry, I stumbled upon this one in one of the matrimonial sites :) yes! u read that right ;) It grabbed my attention for 2 reasons, it's unusual placement in a matrimonial site, second it read Raw papaya with coconut! I didn't think much and tried it out, the result was good. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups Raw Papaya (peeled and grated)
½ cup Coconut (grated) ½ cup
2 Potatoes medium (diced)
2 Green chillies (slit)
2 Bay leaves
2 Dry red chillies
1 tsp Methi seeds (fenugreek)
1 tsp Jeera powder (cumin)
1 tsp Garam masala powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp ghee
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Oil

Method:

Deep fry the potatoes and set it aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add red chillies and methi seeds, sauté till the methi seeds turn brownish black.
Next add grated coconut to it and sauté it turns yellowish/golden.
Add the grated papaya and sauté for 5-6 minutes.
Now add the fried potatoes, turmeric, jeera, and red chilli powders along with salt and stir well.
Cover and cook it on medium flame for about 8-10 minutes, stir at regular intervals.
Next add the garam masala, sugar, ghee and mix well.
Cook on low flame till it is done.
Serve hot with rice or roti.

Recipe by: Sunanada Sinha Roy

P.S: Congratulations to all the winners of the MCC contest organised by Gayathri. She's been very kind to give all the participants a nice 'hats off' card as a token of appreciation for participating, I've displayed it on my side bar :) Thanks a lot Gayathri