Curried Lentil Soup

Since I am a food blogger here and a restaurant reviewer on Spicerover India with a new excuse to eat out (the golden period after engagement), I tend to eat heavy meals outside at least 4-5 times a week. So, when I am eating at home, I try to have light meals to maintain a balance (and my weight!).

Curried Lentil Soup

A lentil soup makes for a great one-dish meal for a diet. A bowl of this soup is quite filling. It is made with very little oil, it has no carbs (unless eaten with some form of bread) and has lots of proteins. The only downside for the Indian palate is that is has very little spices in it. Therefore, the other day, I read through some basic lentil soup recipes on the internet and I added my twist to it to make a tasty curried lentil soup.

Curried Lentil Soup

The recipe for this yummy soup is as follows:

Curried Lentil Soup

Preparation Time: 2 hours (to soak the lentils)

Making Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow toor dal (split pigeon peas)
1/2 cup green moong dal (split green gram with the skins on)
1/2 cup udad dal (split black gram)
1/2 cup masoor dal (split red lentil)
4 cups water
1 tbsp olive/ peanut/ sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsps red chilly powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Lemon wedges to serve


Method

Wash all the lentils well and then soak them in 3 cups of water for 2 hours at least. Cook all the lentils in a pressure cooker for about 15 minutes till done. Roughly mash them a little after they are done.

In a deep pan heat the oil and temper with the cumin seeds.

Once the cumin seeds begin to crackle, add in the asafoetida powder and let it sizzle in the oil for about 10 seconds.

Now add in the ginger paste and garlic paste and fry in the oil for another 15 seconds.

Reduce the flame to a medium high and add in the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and cumin powder. Fry the mixture for about 1 minute till the tomatoes release the oil and are tender.

Now increase the flame to high and add in the cooked and roughly mashed lentils.

Bring the mixture to a boil and add in the salt and black pepper powder. Reduce the flame and let the lentil soup simmer with the spices for about 10 minutes.

Serve hot with a dash of lemon juice.

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Jaljeera... so many memories! Of childhood summers. Of vacations at Ahmedabad. Of one rupee coins demanded everyday for it. Of carrying so many packets back in our bags. Let me elaborate.

My mother's sister lives in Ahmedabad and we used to go there once every couple of years for summer vacations. I was introduced to jaljeera buy her son, my first cousin. We used to take one rupee coins everyday after lunch from our mothers to buy it. Our mothers at that time would have been relieved from their morning duties and would be free and in a relatively good mood to give us the money.  After some time when the heat lulled them to sleep we would go down in Ahmedabad's blistering afternoon mid-May heat to the shop to buy one packet each of this spice powder. You see, despite their strict warnings that we would fall sick if we went out in the heat, we could not wait till evening to get our daily dose of this yummy, sour, pungent drink. 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

We are old enough now to understand why we were asked not to go out in the heat, but we are never too old to crave and love jaljeera! 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Now that I cook, I have tried to make this summer favourite at home from scratch. It turned out great and I have decided not to buy powder any more but make it fresh every time! It hardly takes 10 minutes to do so! 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Jaljeera in Hindi literally means 'cumin water' and refers to this spiced beverage that makes for a great appetizing summer drink. Jaljeera has mint which has a cooling effect on the body during the hot summer months. It is packed with flavour from spices like black salt, asafoetida, dried ginger powder and cumin that also aid digestion. Jaljeera, like masala chaas, can be served at the beginning of a meal or as a drink any time of the day. 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Making Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves

3 tsps cumin powder

2 tsps rock salt

2 tsps red chilly  powder

2 tsps dried mango powder (amchur)

1 1/2 tsps black pepper powder

1 tsp dried ginger powder

1 tsps asafoetida

2 tbsps lemon juice

Salt to taste

4 cups water

Boondi (fried crispy chickpea pearls) to serve

Method

In a grinder, grind together the mint with the dried spice powders

and lemon juice till they form a smooth paste.

Add in the water and stir till the paste dissolves well into the water. Adjust salt if required after adding water.

You can strain the prepared jaljeera if you do not like the ground mint leaves. I like the way they taste, so I did not strain them.

Serve with some boondi in it. 

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi) Recipe

I have been down with a cold for the past two weeks and have been gobbling down comfort food. Two of my go-to comfort foods when I am sick are tomato soup and khichdi. This time it had to be only khichdi as my doctor had asked me to stay away from sour foods so that I wouldn't get a cough apart from the cold.

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi)

Moong dal khichdi is a soft, pliant, soupy dish of rice and split green gram. I make mine very lightly spiced by adding whole spices to it when cooking it instead of dried spice powders. This adds a flavourful aroma to the khichdi without being overpowering. 

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi)

Moong dal khichdi is a quick one-dish meal fix for those days when you are in a hurry and want something comforting. It is best served slightly mashed when it is hot with a little bit of ghee. You can eat it with a variety of accompaniments such as salads, yogurt, kadhi, papad, pickles etc. to add different tastes and textures to the meal. 

Moong Dal Khichdi Up Close

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi) Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice

1 1/2 cups split green gram (chhilkewaali moong dal)

5 cups water

1 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilly powder

4-5 whole black peppercorns

1 star anise

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 dried bay leaves

Salt to taste

Mix together the rice and the split green gram, wash them well and soak them for 30 minutes in 3 cups of water.

In a pressure cooker, put in the soaked rice and green gram mixture and the remaining 2 cups of water.

Add in the salt to taste,  the turmeric powder and the red chilly powder. Mix well.

Now add in the whole spices - peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon stick and dried bay leaves.

Pour the ghee on top of the water.

Pressure cook for 4 whistles on a high flame. Then lower the flame and cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove the whole spices from the prepared khichdi and mash it a little using a potato masher or the serving spoon.

Serve hot with the other accompaniments. 

Tuver No Bhaath Recipe (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao Recipe)

Today is my grandmother's (moti's) birth anniversary. This post (like every post I write here) is for her, whose passion for cooking I have inherited. She built my foundation in cooking and life- the foundation that has helped me become the cook and person that I am today.

It was a winter evening about six years ago. Tired of eating the same food my mother cooked, I decided to make something new. I opened my refrigerator and found green pigeon peas (fresh tuver) and a bunch of fresh corriander. Since I loved both, I decided to do something with them. I also wanted a hearty rice dish - it being a cool evening - so I thought why not be completely different? I thought I could flavour the rice with a chutney made out of corriander and use green pigeon peas instead of regular peas to make it like a pulao.

I made the dish and served it. My father had a bite of it and said, "I didn't know grandma had taught you how to make this dish... I would have asked you to make it earlier..." I had goosebumps when I heard it, because she hadn't really taught me how to make it. I had just thought about the idea of this dish. I guess my cooking style had become so similar to her style having learnt from her that my thoughts turned out to be like her dish.

Tuver no Bhaath (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao)

Tuver no bhaath (green pigeon peas or fresh pigeon peas pulao) is a one-dish meal that is made with the fresh pigeon peas that are in season in winter months. Gujaratis use tuver in a variety of dishes such as tuver ni kachori or undhiyu when it is in season. Tuver no bhaath was a particular favourite and specialty of my grandmother's kitchen. If you can't find pigeon peas, you can always substitute them with peas for a different version of your usual green peas pulao.

Tuver no Bhaath Up Close (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao)

Tuver no Bhaath Recipe (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao Recipe)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4


Ingredients:

1/2 cup tightly packed fresh corriander leaves
1 green chilly
1/4 inch piece of ginger
6 cloves of garlic
2 tbsps oil (peanut or olive)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 dried bay leaves
2 pieces of star anise
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 cup fresh toor/ pigeon peas (can be substituted with regular peas)
2 cups soaked rice (preferably basmati)
Water as required for cooking
Salt to taste

Method

Blend together the corriander leaves, the green chilly, the ginger and the garlic to form a chutney-like smooth paste. Keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil.

Temper with the cumin seeds, the cinnamon stick, the dried bay leaves and the star anise.

When the cumin starts to crackle, add in the onion and saute till they turn translucent.

Add in the pigeon peas and saute for about 30 seconds.

Remove the water from the soaked rice and add it in. Add in the prepared chutney and mix it well with the rice and pigeon peas.

Add water as needed for the type of rice you're making and salt.

Close the cooker and pressure cook for about 2 whistles on high flame and then on low flame for about 5 minutes after that till done.

Serve hot with Gujarati kadhi or yoghurt, pickles, papad or salad of your choice. There is really no limit to what all goes along with this dish!

Ragda Patties (Indian Street Food/ Chaat) Recipe

Ragda patties is my second most favourite dish of Mumbai street food or chaat after pani puri. It is a very elaborate dish that has many components - soft potato patties, a spicy curry made of dried white peas (ragda), two tangy chutneys- the date-tamarind (khajur-imli) chutney and corriander and mint chutney and garnishing of chopped onions, chopped corriander and sev (very thin fried small noodles of chickpea flour).

The Components of Ragda Patties

Ragda pattice is a very filling and healthy dish. It has all the essential nutrients in one bowl - carbohydrates (and not much fats) from the shallow-fried potato patties, proteins from the dried white peas and various vitamins and minerals from the ingredients of the chutneys like dates and corriander and mint. It can make for a complete meal in itself and is one street food you can't fill guilty about indulging in!

Ragda Patties: The Final Dish

In this recipe, I will share  the recipes of each of the individual components - the potato patties, the ragda (dried white peas curry) and the date and tamarind chutney... I have already done a post on my attention stealing corriander and mint chutney and its recipe can be found here. Apart from this I will also give step-by-step instructions with pictures as to how to serve it in the traditional manner.

It is a long recipe, but worth every minute of the effort. So as the song goes, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start".

Ragda Patties Recipe (Indian Street Food/ Chaat)

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Patties

8-10 medium sized potatoes

2 green chillies

1/2 piece of ginger

3 tbsps cornflour/ potato starch powder

2-3 tbsps peanut or olive oil for shallow frying

Salt to taste

For the Ragda (Dried White Peas Curry)

2 cups dried white peas (soaked 7-8 hours)

6 cups water

2 tbsps peanut or olive oil

2 tsps cumin seeds

1/2 tsp asafoetida

1 medium or 2 small tomatoes finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsps red chilly powder

2 tsps garam masala powder

2 tsps corriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

For the Date-Tamarind  Chutney

1 cup red/brown dates deseeded

1/2 cup water

3 tbsps tamarind pulp

1 tsp red chilly powder (optional)

Salt to taste

For Serving

2 medium onions finely chopped

1/2 cup loosely packed corriander leaves

1 cup sev

Method

The Patties

Potato Patties for Ragda Patties

Grind the green chillies and the ginger into a fine paste without any water.

Boil or pressure cook the potatoes and mash them.

Add the ginger-chilly paste and the salt and mix well with your fingers and hands.

Shape into rounds of around 2 inch diameter, flatten a little between both palms and coat with cornflour  or potato starch powder.

Heat the oil on a pan and shallow fry the patties till they turn golden brown on both sides. 

The Ragda (Dried White Peas Curry)

Ragda: Dried White Peas Curry

Pressure cook the soaked white peas with the water for 4 whistles on high flame and around 10 minutes on a low flame. This will ensure that the peas cook through completely.

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and temper with the cumin seeds and asafoetida.

Turn the flame down to a medium high before adding in the tomatoes. Fry them for about two minutes. 

Now add the turmeric powder, the red chilly powder, the garam masala powder, the corriander powder and the cumin powder and fry with the tomatoes on a low flame for about 4-5 minutes till they start releasing the oil.

Now add the cooked white peas, the salt and some water (if needed to adjust consistency) and mix well.

Bring to a boil and then lower the flame and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes so that the spices blend well with the white peas and make a thick curry.

Date-Tamarind Chutney

Date-Tamarind Chutney

In a pressure, cook the dates with the water for one whistle.

Blend together the cooked dates (minus the water used for cooking if there is any left over), the tamarind, the salt and the red chilly powder (optional) till they form a smooth thick chutney.

For Serving

To serve, first take a deep dish or bowl and put in two of the potato patties.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 1

Pour about 3-4 serving spoons of ragda (dried white peas curry) on the patties to cover them.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 2

Next add the chutneys - the date-tamarind chutney and the mint-corriander chutney.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 3

Now garnish with the chopped onions, sev and finally the corriander leaves.

Serving Ragda Patties: The Final Dish

Enjoy some Mumbai chaat (street food) in the comfort of your home!

Oats Upma Recipe

Nowadays oats have become a cupboard staple in Indian homes. This trend includes me too - I always have a packet of oats at home for making quick and healthy breakfasts.

Oats: The New Cupboard Staple

Many people have heard of oats, their health benefits and have gone ahead and bought it into their homes. This has led to a frequently asked question on food forums that I am a part of - "What are some good recipes for oats?" 

Oats Upma

I am still discovering new recipes and ways in which to use oats in our Indian kitchens. 

Oats Upma

I have been thinking of making oats upma for quite some time now, but every time I think of upma, I think of the classic rawa (semolina) upma or masala upma, so this recipe has been on the back burner for quite some time. I woke up today morning thinking of the same classic upma, but plans changed when I found there was no rawa at home... and that is the story of how I finally tried my hand at making oats upma!

Oats Upma Finally!

Oats Upma Up Close

Oats Upma Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsps oil (peanut or olive)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2/ tsp asafoetida 

10-15 curry leaves

2 green chillies cut into 3-4 pieces

1 1/2 tbsp udad dal

2 medium onions finely chopped

1 cup oats

1 1/2 -2 cups hot water

Salt to taste

Lemon wedges and corriander leaves to garnish and serve

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Temper with mustard seeds and when they start to crackle add in the asafoetida, the curry leaves and the green chillies.

Lower the flame to medium high and add in the udad dal. Fry till it turns reddish brown. 

Now add in the chopped onions and saute till they turn translucent.

Next go in the oats. Keeping the flame medium high, roast the oats in the prepared tempering till they turn reddish and let off a nutty aroma.

Pour in the hot water till it covers the oats. Add in the salt too. Turn the flame to high and cook for about 3 minutes till the oats cook and the water evaporates.

Serve hot with a dash of lemon juice and some corriander leaves! 

Waldorf Salad Recipe

Waldorf salad: an American classic that has been accepted very well and relished by the world. The salad is so named as it was first created in 1893 by the maitre d'hotel of the Waldorf hotel (currently Waldorf-Astoria hotel). 

It was a loved one's birthday very recently and I wanted to make something new, interesting, delicious and yet simple for the occassion. I was thinking of and chalking down ideas when I remembered that Waldorf salad is a particular favourite of this person; rather it is one of the very few salads they eat. Since it is the first time I had bought celery, I thought what better than this salad's surprise. 

Fresh and Crunchy Waldorf Salad

I had a trial run of half a bowl of this salad at around 8 p.m a day before, and it turned out okay-ish, so I put some back in the refrigerator, wondering what the hoopla about it really is! Since I had nothing to show for my efforts and I was still thinking about what to make, I couldn't sleep. So at night at around 11:00 a.m., I went back, took out the salad from the refrigerator and tasted it again to try and make some sense of it... and it was perfect then! The simple thing was to refrigerate it before serving because it makes the salad really crunchy and delicious to eat!

Waldorf Salad

And with this great salad served on fresh lettuce, I could say a very interesting and lovely Happy Birthday!

Crunchy Waldorf Salad Served on Fresh Lettuce

Waldorf Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Refrigeration Time: 1 hour

Total Time:  1 hour 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Salad

1 red apple chopped into 1/4 inch cubes

2 stalks celery finely chopped

10-15 walnuts roughly chopped

For the Dressing

2 tbsps mayonnaise 

1/2 tsp lemon juice

For Serving

4 fresh iceberg lettuce leaves

Method

Combine the chopped red apples, the chopped celery and the walnuts.

Mix well the mayonnaise and lemon juice for the dressing.

Add the dressing to the salad ingredients and toss well so that the dressing coats the salad well. You can mix and add more of the dressing if you wish.

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Around 15 minutes before taking the salad out from the refrigerator to serve, take a large bowl of ice cold water. Dip the iceberg lettuce leaves in it. Arrange them in a bowl and serve the cold salad on top.

Enjoy it cold and crunchy! 

Pumpkin Soup with a Mirepoix Base

I am a big soup person. Which means that the short so-called winter in Mumbai is not really my good friend. When I had made this soup about a week back, there was still some semblance of winter in the air, but now it is already summer in Mumbai. And I already miss the 'cold' weather. Anyways, people around the world who are still enjoying winters can always make and enjoy this soup! And I can for health reasons!

Pumpkin soup with a mirepoix base: the reason why I tried this recipe was I had celery to use up from my recent shopping trip at the Crawford Market about which I have already written in quite some detail. And I am so glad I had that to do that! It gave me the push I needed to try using mirepoix at least once as a base for some soup!

Pumpkin Soup with a Mirepoix Base

Mirepoix or a mixture of onions, carrots and celery in the ratio of 2:1:1 is a traditional base used for soups, stocks, stews and sauces. While I have always read about it, I have never tried using it in any of the soups I have made till date. This time I thought, why not? Also, after my success with making pumpkin parathas, I have fallen in love with the vegetable, and have wanted to use it more often and I thought what better way to display the true flavours of a vegetable than making soup out of it.

Pumpkin Soup

This pumpkin soup is a rich, creamy, lightly spiced, delicious concoction is low on calories and high on nutrients. It can be eaten by itself as a meal with just some bread and a bean salad for some proteins and there is your balanced meal. Or it can form a great appetizer to start a meal in a smaller quantity.

Pumpkin Soup

So, here is my recipe of pumpkin soup using mirepoix  as a base.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time:  30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsps olive oil
100 gms onions finely chopped
50 gms carrots finely chopped
50 gms celery finely chopped
2 bay leaves
500 gms red pumpkin diced
400 ml water
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Method

In a pressure cooker heat the oil.

Add in the onions, carrots, celery and bay leaves and saute till the onions turn translucent.

Now add in the pumpkin and saute for around 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the water till it covers all the mixture, close the pressure cooker and cook for about 8 minutes till the pumpkins are tender and cooked through.

Fish out the bay leaves and then blend the mixture using a hand blender till it forms a thick soup.

Put the soup back on the heat. Add in the milk, salt and black pepper and bring to a boil.

Enjoy steaming hot!

Thai Green Curry

The first time I was introduced to the Thai green curry was in 2010. My best friend had just returned from England after her post-graduation. We had gone to get our quota of some good, intellectual movie or a mindless one (I can't remember which one it was, but yeah, we watch both kinds!) and the mall had a Thai restaurant. My friend turned to me and squealed in her characteristic way that it had been so long since she had had some Thai food. Well, what was to be done? We went in.

I trusted her to order, not having eaten much of Thai food back then. She ordered the green curry as it was her favourite. And I fell in love with it too! I have been cooking for so long, and I have made Thai Red Curry often at home, but this has been a recipe I have not felt confident enough to attempt somehow. I tried it recently and it turned out to be as good as the restaurant one, so here is my recipe of this green soothing
goodness!

Thai Green Curry from Scratch

Thai Green Curry

Thai Green Curry

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the Green Curry Paste

1/2 cup tightly packed Thai basil leaves
1 cup tightly packed fresh corriander leaves
1 lemongrass stalk thinly sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves thinly shredded
1 inch piece of galangal or 1/2 inch piece of ginger
4 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion sliced
2 green chillies
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp corriander powder
1/2 cumin powder

For the Thai Green Curry

2 tbsps oil (peanut or olive)
1 medium green bell pepper diced into 1 inch cubes
1 medium red bell pepper diced into 1 inch cubes

1 medium yellow bell pepper diced into 1 inch cubes
5 baby corns cut into 3-4 pieces each
6-8 button mushrooms cut into half lengthwise (optional)
6-8 broccoli florets (optional)
6-7 Thai brinjals cut into half (optional)
3 tbsps Thai Green Curry paste
400 ml fresh coconut milk (thick)
Salt to taste

Method

Grind together the green curry paste ingredients with about 1-2 tsps water in a mixer/ food processor till a smooth paste is formed. And that is your green curry paste that people buy in stores!

To make the curry, heat oil in a pan.

Add in all the vegetables - the bell peppers, the baby corns, the mushrooms, the broccoli florets, and the Thai brinjals and saute till the vegetables are cooked.

Now put in the Thai Green Curry paste and mix well with the sauteed vegetables.

Finally add in the coconut milk and stir. Bring the curry to a boil while you keep stirring.

Add in salt. Be careful, Thai brinjals add a salty flavour to the curry, so taste and then add based on how much salt you'll need.

Serve with steamed rice. No, it doesn't taste good with any form of bread. It is to be had only with rice or noodles.

Thai Green Curry with Steamed Rice (the ONLY way to eat it!)

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

Yesterday I went crazy (read: shopping) at the Crawford Market with my best friend who has come down from New Zealand for a visit.

Shopping at Crawford Market yesterday!

I got a lot of fresh herbs - parsley, Italian basil and Thai basil, quality cheeses - Kraft Cheddar and Kraft grated Parmesan, pasta - Fettucine, sauces- Thai Sweet Chilly Sauce and Hershey's chocolate sauce, and Morde's dark and white chocolate compound from there without putting a big dent in my wallet. And now comes the best part... menu planning and cooking it all!

I picked up two packets of Italian basil for making (surprise surprise) my favourite pesto sauce. I also found the Fettucine (flat noodle pasta) that I have been looking for for quite some time and decided to put the two together into a quick pasta dish for a late lunch today - Fettucini in Pesto Sauce.

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

 For the Pasta

250gms Fettucine pasta (if you can't find it Spaghetti or Fusilli will do just as well)

2 litres water

1 tsp salt

For the Pesto Sauce

20-25 leaves Italian basil (2 packets)

5 walnuts deshelled

5 cloves of garlic

2 tbsps olive oil 

1 tbsp grated Parmesan (optional)

For the Final Dish

2 tbsps olive oil

Cooked pasta

2 tbsps pesto sauce

30 ml milk (optional)

30 ml cream (optional)

Salt to taste

2 tsps grated Parmesan to garnish (optional)

Method

Cooking the Pasta

Put the pasta to cook first as it takes the longest to cook. Add the salt to the water and bring it to a boil. 

Put the pasta in and let it cook for 9-11 minutes on the high flame till it is al dente (basically just underdone such that it sticks to the teeth while chewing). Drain and keep.

Pesto Sauce

For making the pesto sauce, first grind the walnuts and the garlic in the mixer. The walnuts will break down faster and better this way so that you don't have to keep grinding for long or risk having chunks of walnuts in it. 

Put in the Italian basil next and grind till the leaves break down to a chutney-like texture. 

If you like the Parmesan cheese and are adding it now would be a good time to do it. Blitz till it is incorporated into the rest of the mixture.

Add in the olive oil last and blitz till it all comes together into a smooth paste.

You can store this in the refrigerator for at least two weeks if you have additional pesto. It makes for a good sandwich spread.

The Final Dish

Heat the olive oil in a pan. 

Put in the cooked pasta.

Add in the pesto sauce and salt and stir well till it coats all the pasta.

You can serve now with grated Parmesan cheese or add in the milk and cream if you wish it creamier. 

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce garnished with Grated Parmesan

I served it with my favourite Tomato Mozzarella Salad to make it a complete meal! It took 30 minutes and was a wonderful break from dal-chawal-roti-sabzi!

My lunch today!

Dal Fry

It was a cold winter's evening about five years back. We had thrown a small surprise party for my mom's best friend and her husband who were celebrating their 25th anniversary that day. We had gotten a cake and some great food (Paneer tikka masala and some starters) from a restaurant we all love. And I had committed to make my best dish (then) Dal Fry for all.

At around 8 in the evening, aunty's son-in-law (jiju) and my brother came home with all the food from the restaurant. We took our plates and served all the food. We had the first few bites, and then jiju turned to my brother and asked, "Did you order the dal fry? I do not remember ordering it..." I had a huge smile on my face as I tell him, "No, I made this at home". The sound of great laughter followed!

Dal Fry

This memory is so clearly etched in my memory that whenever I make this Dal Fry, I am reminded of those words.

Homemade Dal Fry

Dal Fry

Preparation Time: 2 hours (including soaking time for the lentils)
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 cups cup toor dal
4 cups water

For the dal

2 tbsps peanut/ sunflower/ olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
2-3 dried red Kashmiri chillies
1 medium tomato finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
2 tsps corriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsps garam masala powder
Salt to taste

For the second tempering

1 tbsp peanut/ sunflower/ olive oil
2 tbsps ghee (clarified butter)
2 green chillies thickly sliced
8-10 cloves of garlic finely chopped
15-20 fresh corriander leaves finely chopped

Method

Soak the toor dal in the 3 cups of water. Pressure cook with another cup of water apart from the water already in the dal till it is cooked through.

In a deep pan, heat 2 tbsps oil.

Temper with the cumin seeds, the asafoetida and the dried red Kashmiri chillies.

Add in the chopped tomatoes and the turmeric powder, the red chilly powder, the corriander powder, the cumin powder and the garam masala. Fry the tomatoes and the masalas till they release the oil.

Now pour in the cooked dal and add salt. Stir it in well.

Lower the flame to simmer, cover the dal and cook for another 10 mins till the masalas seep into the dal.

In a small pan, heat the oil and ghee for the second tempering. Add in the garlic first, then the green chilly and the corriander last. Fry for about 30 seconds and pour over the dal.

Cover and cook with the second tempering for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot with rice, jeera rice or rotis.

Dal Fry with the second tempering

Enjoy!

Pink Guava Curry- An Adapted Recipe

Hello, again! I am back!

It has been a lovely vacation with loved ones, full of food adventures and lazing around doing nothing more than eating, sleeping, reading and chatting. The reading also included a lot of food-related reading and thinking which has helped me bookmark or write down a whole selection of recipes I want to try or haven't written about yet. With all of these ideas buzzing around in my head, my fingers are itching to cook and write!

I came across the BBC Good Food India magazine when travelling back from my vacation and I have read it twice already from cover to cover. They had a whole write-up on recipes with pink guavas that are in season currently. I enjoyed this article immensely, especially because they had only one dessert recipe and the rest were all great savoury dishes. 

Pink Guava Curry: Doing Something New

The recipe idea that I really liked among the others was the pink guava curry. However, it had jaggery to sweeten it a little, which I don't like, despite being a Gujju. So I change a few ingredients and the steps in cooking (like adding the curd at the end) and made a slightly different and quite yummy version of this recipe. 

Pink Guava Curry

Pink Guava Curry Up-Close

Here is the adapted recipe as I made it in my kitchen.

Pink Guava Curry - An Adapted Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsps oil (peanut/ sunflower/ olive)

1 tsp mustard seeds 

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp asafoetida

6-8 curry leaves

1 green chilly sliced into 3-4 pieces

1 medium sized tomato chopped

3 semi-ripe pink guavas deseeded and diced into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup warm water

3 tbsps curd

1 tsp red chilly powder

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

Salt to taste

Fresh corriander to garnish

Method

In a pan heat the oil and temper with the mustard seeds, the cumin seeds and the fennel seeds.

When they begin to crackle, add in the asafoetida and curry leaves. 

Once the curry leaves start to splutter, add in the green chilly and fry it for 30 seconds till it splutters. 

Add in the tomatoes and saute them till they soften and start releasing the oil. Keep stirring the tomatoes to prevent them from sticking to the pan. 

Now add in the pink guavas and stir them so that the tempered tomatoes mix evenly with them. 

Lower the flame, pour in the warm water, and cover and let it simmer for about 5 minutes till the guavas cook through. the best way to check is to use the edge of the stirring spoon to cut through a couple of pieces. If they give in easily, then the guavas are cooked. If they are hard, cover and simmer for another 2-3 minutes till they cook through.

After the guavas cook, tip in the curd, the garam masala and the salt. Keep the flame lowered as cooking the curd on high heat will lead it to sour quickly.

Add in the garam masala and season with the salt. Give it a quick stir to mix well.

Garnish with fresh corriander and serve hot! 

Mixed Vegetable Kofta Curry

Not all first attempts are always successful - but they do make for  good learning and great stories. My first attempt at this kofta curry has such a story behind it. I followed the instructions I had gotten for this recipe to the 't'. And when I was about to turn off the gas I tasted a bit of it as usual, and it tasted, well, not so good!

Mixed Vegetable Kofta Curry

So I was wondering what was it that I had missed? The first thing I adjusted was my usual - the salt - which I always end up putting too less of in a dish. And in adjusting it I got overexcited and put a bit too much of it. But thanks to plain parathas and rice, it was okay at the end. The second thing I learnt about this dish which is very important to this dish was not frying the koftas till they become crispy. This is because by the time you put them in the curry to cook they will go too dry and harden.

For those who are not aware of this dish, kofta curry is a delicious main course dish from North India, specifically Punjab. It is made of fried balls of vegetables such as bottle gourd, cabbage, carrots etc with gram flour, or minced meat balls served in a rich onion-tomato gravy cooked with spices.With these in mind, here is the recipe for this beautiful, rich dish.

Mixed Vegetable Kofta Curry

Mixed Vegetables Kofta Curry

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Koftas

1/2 cup grated cabbage (patta gobhi)
1/2 cup grated bottle gourd (lauki/ ghia)
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
2 tsps garam masala
1 cup gram flour (besan)
2 tbps water for binding
Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

For the Gravy

2 tsps oil
2 tsps ginger-garlic paste
3 medium sized onions pureed in a mixer
3 medium sized tomatoes pureed in a mixer
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsps red chilly powder
4 tsps garam masala powder
1 cup water
Salt to taste

For Garnishing

Fresh corriander leaves/ stalks

Method:

Koftas

Koftas

Put the oil in a deep pan for heating to ready it for deep frying.

Mix together the grated vegetables. Sprinkle all the dried powder spices - turmeric, red chilly powder, garam masala and a little salt on these and mix it evenly with the vegetables with your fingers.

In a couple of minutes, the vegetables will start releasing their water. Now add the gram flour (besan) and using the water released bind the flour together. Add a little water if necessary. The flour should be moist enough to be able to be binded together into balls.

Make about 12 balls of 1-11/2 inch diameter from this mixture.

Check if the oil is hot enough for frying by putting in a little bit of the gram flour-vegetable mixture. If it rises immediately, the oil is hot enough.

Lower the heat and fry the balls in the oil on low heat till they turn a little reddish brown. Do not increase the heat or make them too golden and crispy as they will harden.


Kofta Curry with the Gravy

Mixed Vegetable Koftas in the Gravy

In a deep frying pan, heat the 2 tbsps oil. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and fry for about 30-40 seconds.

Add in the pureed onions, lower the heat to a medium high and fry them for about 8-10 minutes till the onions lose their raw smell and turn pinkish-red. They will also start releasing their oil when they start to cook. Don't keep the heat too high, it will not speeden the process, just lead to uneven cooking of the onion puree, with parts staying raw and parts almost burning.

To the cooked onions add the pureed tomatoes. Fry them on the medium high flame for about 4-5 minutes. The tomatoes need to cook through well otherwise they will leave a raw sour flavour in the dish that will just taste weird. So cook it for a couple of minutes longer if you have any doubts- you can't overcook them but you can definitely undercook them!

Add the dried spices - turmeric powder, red chilly powder, garam masala powder and cook on a medium high flame till the mixture starts releasing the oil. I have often heard this being called 'masale khilna' (blooming of the spices) or 'masale khulna' (opening up of the spices) in Hindi. This will take about 5 minutes on the medium high flame.

Add  the water to adjust the consistency of the gravy.

Lower the flame to a simmer, add in the koftas and mix well till the koftas are covered with the gravy. cover the pan and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Add salt to taste (and not too much like me!).

Garnish with fresh corriander and serve with your favourite parathas, naans, steamed rice or jeera rice.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapés

And I have reached my 100th post!

It has been quite a journey writing about food the last one-and-a-half years. I have indulged in creating as well as learning new recipes, food memories from the different home kitchens that I love, one food experiences at my favourite restaurants and some learning and fun in food thoughts and food creativity. This blog was always meant to combine my two loves: food and writing... and it has helped me bring them together with a lot of fun and learning adventures!

For my 100th blog post I was planning to create a new recipe. I was wondering what the theme should be when I realised that the holiday season that the entire world celebrates - Christmas and New Years' Eve - are just around the corner. It brings with it some really great parties and holiday food. I am part of a lot of food-related groups on Facebook and I follow a lot of food blogs (not surprising, really) and I see the Christmas trends of bakes and cakes in full swing. I am not a baker, so the best way I can contribute to this party season is through some savoury party food.

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapés

These Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapés are a quick preparation making them a perfect party food. They are cruchy yet cheesy, non-spicy, cheesy, creamy and dotted with sweet corn and have been liked by fussy kids and adults alike.

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapés 

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapé

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapés

Preparation Time: 15 mins (to steam the corn)
Cooking Time: 10 mins

Makes 25 canapés

Ingredients:

5 tbsps butter
5 tbsps refined flour (maida)
2 cups milk
1 tbsp grated cheese
1 cup sweet corn steamed
½ tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste

For serving:

25 basket puris/ tart shells

Method:

In a pan heat the butter till it melts. Lower the flame, add in the refined flour (maida) and keep stirring and roast till the flour releases a roasted aroma. This takes about 4-5 minutes.

Keep the flame low and while stirring the roasted refined flour and add in the milk, ensuring that there are no lumps.

When the sauce starts to thicken to a thick soup-like consistency, add in the grated cheese, the salt, the black pepper powder. Mix well so that the cheese melts into the entire sauce and flavours it.

Finally, add in the steamed corn and mix it in well in the white sauce.

Fill about a tablespoon of the prepared mixture into the basket puri/ tart shells and serve immediately.

Tips:

Using a whisk while stirring can ensure that there are no lumps in the sauce.

Make sure the white sauce doesn’t get too thick on the flame, as even after the heat is turned off, the sauce will thicken in the residual heat. This will make the filling mixture very dense.