Happy Pongal !

Here’s wishing all of you a Very Happy Sankranti !
Sankranti is a harvest festival , so it is all about celebrating the one element that sustains life – Food !
It starts with buying farm fresh produce at the local market – pumpkins, cow peas/ Avarekayi, sweet potato and the like. It is indeed quite amazing that the spirit of Sankranti has withstood the test of time. In fact, I feel the fervor to celebrate this festival has only increased – very heartening.
The trademark of Sankranti is the dish “Pongal”. Wholesome and tasty and also simple to make- it is a cook’s delight. There is no standard version of Pongal -I will share with you my version.
Talking about sharing of recipes, the recipes of the Royal kitchens of the kings were treated like big National secrets. Here’s something I heard about the Rajah of Raigad . This Rajah was a connoisseur of Food. He had a fetish for all forms of culinary art. He was once served a special delicacy by another monarch when he paid a friendly visit. He knew there was something about the ingredient mix- especially the spices, their proportions that made it taste really delicious. He was cognizant of the fact that the royal recipes were very well-guarded secrets so he designed a plot to procure the recipe. He invited the Monarch to his kingdom and also extended a warm invitation to the Royal Chef. So, one fine day they arrived. After taking care of them for a couple of days- the Rajah of Raigad requested the Monarch’s Royal chef to display his culinary talent and prepare his favourite dish. His idea was that his team can be assisting him while he makes it in their kitchen and learn the recipe. The Royal Chef agreed but on one condition- He will lock himself alone in the kitchen and make the dish.
The King was stumped! The frown on his resplendent face and the knit-brows could have sent a shiver down the spine of a commoner. But he quickly regained his cool and said “That is not a problem. We respect your need for privacy. We will ensure that all ingredients, pots and pans are present in the kitchen and then you can lock yourself and prepare the dish.”
The Royal court sighed in relief – the last thing they wanted is a battle over a Royal Recipe!
So, the next day the sun shone brightly and the kitchen was cleaned and stocked and made ready for the celebrity chef. The King was waiting impatiently for the day’s lunch. And the much anticipated moment arrived. The Royal Chef served the special delicacy with pride. The King ate to his heart’s content and exclaimed in joy “This is just divine! I have never eaten anything better in my life.” He hurriedly relieved his neck off a grand pearls and emeralds necklace and gifted it to the Royal Chef with gleaming eyes. The Royal Chef was mighty pleased both with the encouraging comment on his talent and of course the necklace. The visiting Royal party departed happily to run their kingdom and kitchen. The courtiers watched the Rajah of Raigad sport a wicked smile on his face. He called his chief minister and whispered in his ears – “I have the Recipe!”
The chief minister was really surprised. The King had recorded the measures of all the ingredients in the kitchen and had measured them all again after the chef finished cooking!
When I heard this story , I said to myself “ I hope the King showed this ingenuity in governing his kingdom as well!”

Okay, here’s the Pongal recipe :
Ingredients
¾ cup rice
¾ cup moong dal
1 cup grated jaggery
2 tbspoons ghee
1 tbspoon of grated copra(dried coconut)
1 tbspoon of grated fresh coconut
Few strands of saffron soaked in 1 tbspoon of water
Couple of cloves
Cashews and raisins
Spice Powder-Cardamom seeds (from 4-5 pods) + 1 tsp sugar + a pinch of edible camphor
(Edible camphor is the one used in temples in the holy water- theertha)

Procedure
1>Pressure cook washed rice and dal along with 2 cloves and grated coconut (fresh and dried).
2>Once it cools down, take another pot with a thick bottom (I use an old bronze pot)
3>And add jaggery to it. Cover the jaggery with little water and allow it to melt fully.
4>Once it starts resembling honey, add the cooked rice and dal and Saffron.
5>Keep stirring continuously till the sweetness of jaggery is incorporated into the rice and dal evenly.
6>Meanwhile heat the ghee and add cashew and raisins and turn them golden brown. 7>Toss them along with the ghee into the cooking Pongal.
8>In the end, just before turning off the stove add the ground spice mixture.
This is quite a wholesome sweet dish as it contains rice and dal and nuts.

Pineapple Rasam/Soup

Pineapple...
It is neither a pine nor an apple, and it is not native to Hawaii.
This is one fruit that no one can hate – juicy , sweet ,sour and fleshy. Smell a freshly cut pineapple – it is divine! Botanists call it Ananas comosus.
I am indeed a big fan of this tropical fruit and incorporate it in many of my sweet sour preparations.
Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493, although the fruit had long been grown in South America. The association with Hawaii is more recent and because of the fact that pineapples were first canned in Hawaii.
Sometimes I wonder – Plants make their own food by just using minimal resources – sunlight , water and soil, within their body – Kitchen in the leaf - , how is it that during the course of evolution somehow the animal race forgot how to make food on its own? Having said that, I surely do not like to make my own food. I would think it will be quite boring. If I look at this a little more deeply , life would lose its meaning, as most of the things that we do are directly or indirectly related to feeding ourselves! I vote against a progressive evolution of mankind in specific and animal kind in general towards making their own food. But I also strongly believe that the probability of such evolution is extremely low as I see no signs of an internal kitchen in me or around me!
So let’s get back to our external kitchen and experiment with plant foods – Pineapple Rasam.

Ingredients
--------------
1 Cup chopped Pineapple (You can even use a slightly sour one that you cannot possibly eat as a fruit)
1 Tb Spoon Grated fresh coconut
5 Green chillies( suit your taste)
1 inch ginger
2 Tsp Jeera
2 Cups Dilute Dal (The watery top portion of cooked and well settled tur dal)
1 Tbsp Corainder chopped
Salt to Taste
For Seasoning
------------------
1 twig Curry leaves
1 tsp oil Pinch of hing, haldi, some mustard seeds and jeera

Method
-----------
Cook the pineapple with coconut, chillies till soft (quite a fast process)
Cool it and blend it with ginger and jeera.
Bring this mixture to a boil and add the dilute dal to it . Add water to get the desired consistency. Boil it with some salt for 5 minutes and add the seasoning.
Garnish it with coriander leaves.

You can relish this with hot steamed rice or serve it as a soup.

Karigadubu – Sihi Kadubu

It is so ironical – I could not write because I was either reading(read studying) about food or cooking all the time.
Well, I am breaking my vow of silence with a story.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived a glutton called Thimma.
He was such a foodie that everyone called him “Thindi Potha Thimma”
(that is a glutton in kannada). He was invited to a wedding in the neighboring village. Thimma would not miss a festive lunch for anything. So he went. So he went and so he ate, up to his heart’s content (his stomach was at its elastic best !). The host thanked him for coming (for he had not seen him eating) and asked him if he enjoyed the lunch. Thimma beamed and replied that it was the best lunch he ever had and told him the best part of the meal was the brown crisp, almost crescent shaped sweet. He inquired “What is the sweet called? I will ask my wife to make it.” The host replied “Oh , that one , It is called KADUBU”. Thimma repeated “oh, KADUBU! I will tell her”. Thimma decided to walk back to his village as he was feeling really full. Do not even for a minute assume that he was doing this because he was conscious of his health or his apple shape. Thimma just wanted to save some money he has to shell out for the transport and then there was also the benefit of being ready for the next meal. He came home and rested and the day lapsed uneventfully.
The next morning the sun was shining bright in Thimma’s bustling household. And then, this event occurred – Thimma’s wife Thimmi who was well known for her foot-in-the-mouth exercises asked him lovingly “What shall I make for lunch?” And then Thimma’s dormant brain sprung into intellectual action and he exclaimed “You make that Sweet ! You make that Sweet!” She calmly asked him “Which one?” Thimma replied “Of course, that one ! The one I ate yesterday in the marriage “. She, being an epitome of patience inquired “Ok, which one?”. Thimma started losing his temper “Can’t you understand? That brown sweet “. She shook her head to indicate she does not understand. Thimma almost yelled “ That brown, puffed up , crispy sweet , it was almost crescent moon shaped. Oh my god ! I cant remember the name “. This dialogue went on between the couple for a while – he could not recollect the name and she could not understand. The heated arguments reached a stage where Thimma lost his temper and slapped her on her left cheek. She shrieked in pain. Thimma immediately regretted his action and cast a remorseful look towards her and said “Sorry Thimmi! I did not mean to hurt you. I do not know what came over me in my fit of anger. Sorry, my dear”. Thimmi acknowledged the apology returned to the kitchen grim-faced. Thimma noticed that the cheek by now had really swollen. He was very upset with himself and tailed her to the kitchen to cajole her. At that time, the door bell rang – Thimmi rushed out of the kitchen and opened the door. The Neighbor was at the door with a cup in her hand to borrow sugar. Looking at Thimmi she blurted out “What is this Thimmi? Why is your cheek swollen like a KADUBU?” . Thimma jumped with joy and said “ Oh my God, YES YES it is KADUBU! Thimmi it is KADUBU ” . Thimmi could not help smiling!

So, is the story of Kadubu. A lot of things can happen over a KADUBU!

Here is the recipe of Kadubu – I make them on Ganesh Chaturthi day to offer to the God.
This time we did not even wait for lunch, we devoured it for breakfast!

Ingredients
For the dough

¾ cup Maida
¼ cup fine semolina(rava)
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp hot ghee

For the Filling

2 cups grated coconut
¾- 1 cup grated jaggery
Cardamom powder (suit your taste)
2 cloves
3 tsp fine rava

For Deep frying

Refined Oil

Method

Mix the dough with very little water to form puri dough consistency.
Keep it covered for 45 min.
Meanwhile mix jaggery and coconut and roast it on low flame. Keep turning it over so that it does not get burnt. Add cardamom and cloves. Once it is fully mixed switch off the flame. This is relatively a quick process. The filling has to be a little dry not a lump.
Adjust the consistency while roasting by adding rava.
Now, take the dough and knead it nicely. Beat it up on your granite counter if you please. You can treat this as a de-stressing activity! Unleash all your anger on the dough till it becomes soft and mouldable.
Roll it out like small puris- roll them thin without any punctures or folds. Add maida lour to aid you in rolling.
If you have a puri presser you can use that too.
Time to use the kadubu mould – Spread the puri on the mould. Add one tbsp of filling on one side of the circle and fold , press the mould. Open it, use wet fingers to paste the edges firmly.
If you do not have a mould , no worry – You just fold the circle into half and seal the semi circular edges nicely using wet fingers. The idea is the filling does not escape into the oil while deep-frying.
Heat the oil to smoking point and deep fry the kadubu on medium flame. Take them out when it looks inviting and turns golden brown. Drain on tissue.
This recipe can make upto 21 kadubus (just enough to offer to Ganesha!).
If the filling or dough is left you can use them in/as other dishes – add the filling to your rasam or make puris out of the dough.

Try it. Else it may become extinct!

2-D Wada

Yes, you read it right- 2D wada. Let me clarify that this wada though called 2D is a 3D (three dimensional) physical object. Can you guess the expansion/full form of 2D?
Talking about 3D, lot of fond memories tucked away in some remote corner of my long term memory emerges. Do you remember the first 3-D movie “Chota Chetan”?
Well, it was a big event for the kids to watch it in the theatre. There were talks about the goggles that you had to wear and return it to the theatre folks!
I have to admit that it was truly an exhilarating experience watching it with my siblings in the theatre (don’t remember which one). The ice cream cone is right in front of your lips , you want to just take a lick at it! It felt so real and we could hear all the kids screaming! And then there was this monster man trying to swing his dagger right across your chest and then again making the kids scream and yell with horror! And of course, the gravity – defying movements of all the kids on the walls , ceilings ! Oooogh ! It was fun!
I recently watched “spy kids” 3D movie with my kids and it turned out to be utterly disappointing! Not even close !
I hope they re-release Chota Chetan sometime…

Ok after the ride back in time, back to the wada – it is DAL-DILL (2D) Wada. You can add the third dimension to this wada by serving it DIL SE !
I made them while we were enjoying the evening showers in Bangalore signaling the beginning of monsoons. They came out crisp and yummy and they disappeared from the plate in no time!

Ingredients
¾ cup Bengal gram dal (soak for 1.5 hrs and drain)
¾ cup chopped dill
½ cup finely chopped onion
Ginger 2 inches(grated)
6-8 Green chilllies (ground)
1 tbspoon corn flour
2 tbspoon rice flour
1 tbsp hot oil
salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method

Coarsely grind the dal without water. Make sure you dont soak it for too long
To this add the dill, onion, green chillies, ginger.
Mix in the corn flour and rice flour.
Add salt and hot oil only when you are ready to deep fry.
Heat the oil for deep frying and when the oil smokes make wadas from the
batter and deep fry on medium flame till it browns on both sides.
Serve and watch it disappear in minutes.

Choco-Nut Kheer

A never before interview with a chocoholic nutritionist !

Q : Pray, what are the four food groups ?
A : The four basic food groups are: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.
Q: Is Chocolate bad for health ?
A: OMG! Absolutely not ! On the contrary, Chocolate is a Vegetable: chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable. To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So chocolate is health food.
Q: How does eating chocolate help ?
A : Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate.
Q: According to you, what is a balanced diet ?
A: A balanced diet is a chocolate in each hand!
-------------------------------------------------

Dear Chocoholics, perish the guilt and now indulge in this chocolaty Kheer that is truly low-calorie.
An Indian kheer with a choco twist and crunchy nuts to top it.
I have adapted this recipe from my friend Deepali’s chocolate-walnut rice kheer.

Ingredients

¾ cup dalia (broken wheat)
1 lt milk (skimmed)
1 heaped tbsp vanilla custard powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup Sugar
8 cashews (roasted and broken into tiny pieces)
5-6 almonds (blanched and broken into tiny pieces)

Method
Mix the custard powder and cocoa powder in ½ cup cold milk
Pressure cook the broken wheat with 2 cups milk
Add sugar and remaining milk to this mixture and bring it to a boil , stirring all the way
Add the custard, cocoa mixture and let it cook for 5-8 minutes. Keep Stirring.
Add the nuts and take it off the stove
Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

You will be surprised that this creamy kheer is made without butter, ghee or full cream milk ! Enjoy it without a pang of guilt!

Cream of Spinach

Another Wednesday , another soup, this time it is spinach …


"Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?"
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Well, it seems Queen Victoria herself enjoyed Alice In Wonderland so much that she suggested Lewis Carroll dedicate his next book to her, and was accordingly presented with his next work, a scholarly volume entitled "An Elementary Treatise on Determinants", a serious mathematical work. He was a great mathematician too!

Sorry about the off-topic, random rambling!
Back to the spinach soup recipe , here it is !

Ingredients

2 Cups spinach (washed and chopped)
2 Tbsp butter
1 tbsp maida
1 small onion chopped
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
Pepper powder (suit your taste)
Salt
Method
Melt 1 tbsp butter add chopped onion.
Add chopped spinach to this and sauté it thoroughly.
Cool this and blend it into a puree.
Melt 1 tbsp butter , add bay leaf and maida to this.
Add milk to this and make sure there are no lumps.
Add salt and pepper.
Add water ( 1.5 cups) to alter the consistency and bring it to a boil
The soup is ready!

I tried serving this with cheeselings instead of the usual bread croutons – tasted good !

Carrot Sago Fusion

Holi Hai! – A riot of colours in my kitchen!

Colours , Colours ! so many shades and hues
Can truly wash away the daily blues;
The VIBGYOR in this kitchen of mine …
Well,To enjoy this rainbow I don’t need to put up with the rain !

I always enjoy the confluence of colours in the kitchen- even in the simplest form – be it a Vegetable Upma , or a Brinjal Gojju.
The combination of beans, carrots, capsicum, green peas, sweetcorn and tomatoes is vibrant and colourful and I use them in most of my creations. Every time I sauté them together I feast my eyes on the mix of yellow, orange, red and the shades of green!
Well, they (don’t ask me who) say “cooking is an art” and what is an artist without colours?
So, next time when you are cooking, enjoy all the beautiful colours around you, soak them in!

The Sweet dish for Holi this time was an experiment (a successful one of course, if it had failed nobody would have known about it).
Fusion of Sago and Carrot Kheer. Try it , it’s different !

Ingredients
¾ Cup Nylon Sago (soaked for 3 hours)
5 medium sized tender carrots ( diced)
1 cup Sugar (add more/less to suit your taste)
3 cardamoms
1 Clove
6-8 Cashew nuts
2-3 Cups Milk
Few drops of ghee
A few strands of saffron (optional)

Method

Pressure cook the carrots in one cup milk along with the lone clove , cashews and cardamoms.
While it cools, cook the soaked Sago in 1 cup of water with a 3-4 drops of ghee and the saffron strands.
Stir it occasionally.
Once the carrots have cooled, discard the clove and puree it in the blender to a creamy consistency.
Add this to the boiled sago.
Time to transform this into a sweet-dish – so add Sugar , bring it to a boil, stirring all the way.
Enjoy the dessert!

PS- The flowers in the pic are from my balcony garden!

Water Melon Salsa

Summer is here and so are water melons!
On every other pavement there are mountains of water melons. Needless to say it has become the main ingredient in all my culinary endeavors this month- Hand crushed Water melon juice with pepper, melon scoop fruit salad …
Here is one of the recipes I tried for a get-together we had last weekend. I also decided to carve a water melon basket to hold the salsa gracefully.
It is easy to make and friends approved its good taste!
So here it is..

Ingredients

3 cups water melon (chopped fine)
2 cups Capsicum (finely chopped)
1 cup Yellow pepper (finely chopped)
2 firm and ripe tomatoes (cored and chopped)
2 cups sweet corn (steamed)
3 medium sized onions (finely chopped)

2 Tablespoons Olive oil
Dried Basil
Oregano

For the dressing
2 Table spoons vinegar
2 tsp sugar
Salt
2 table spoons red chilli sauce
2 table spoons tomato ketchup
1 tsp white pepper powder

Method

Sauté onions in olive oil.
Mix all the veggies in a large bowl except water melon
Mix all the ingredients in another bowl
Add the dressing and toss the veggies gently
Add oregano, basil liberally
Add the water melon just before serving as it makes the salad watery.
Again toss gently and serve with a smile !

You can fill this in the water melon shell or carve a basket and fill it with the salsa. You can top it with water melon balls scooped out using a fruit baller.

QED (Quite Easily Done OR Quite an Easy Dish)
PS: This recipe is for a party(15-20 servings) , so halve or quarter the measures if it is just for your family.

Rich Tomato Soup

A hot soup with garlic bread on the side can really brighten up a dull evening!
Wednesday is our “Soup Day” at home. So, look forward to some healthy soup recipes !
Tomato Soup is everyone’s favorite. It is a cook’s delight as it is very hard to get it wrong!
Someone said “ Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor. “
Senti stuff – but still very true...
I truly enjoy making and eating soup !
The aroma that fills your kitchen when the lightly flavoured soup is simmering in a pot on your stove top – mmmm…I just love it....
One of those rare dishes – that is simple, healthy and yet very very deli.cio.us
Go ahead and make this one for your family.
But then, at the end don’t forget to add the secret ingredient – A dash of love .

Makes 4 servings (large)
Ingredients
5 ripe tomatoes (medium size, use the egg shaped ones, if you like it more tangy , use a mix of round and egg shaped ones)
1 medium sized carrot (diced)
1 medium sized onion (chopped fine)
2 teaspoons butter (or refined oil)
1 inch cinnamon
2 cardamom
1 tsp pepper powder
4 tsp sugar(or as per your taste)
Salt to taste
Method

1. Heat the butter in a pan and add the chopped onion. Sauté till light brown.
2. Add the spices and carrots
3. Quarter the tomatoes and add them
4. Add 1 cup of water and pressure cook it nicely
5. Once cooled , skin the tomatoes and remove the spices.We want it lightly
flavoured not strong
6. Blend the mixture fine.
7. Bring it to boil and add sugar, salt, pepper
8. Serve hot with Garlic bread or dinner rolls

Crispy Rice Ribbons

Sinful Indulgence – Blame it on your Basic Instinct!
Recently, one of our friends was seriously telling us that humans have a innate tendency to eat fried stuff. He was citing from a study that said : Early humans never knew when and where their next meal came from – so the instinct was to eat fried stuff as it allows you to store energy for a long time. I just loved this theory ! No! I am not poking holes in this one (though I do it for all other theories that I read about!). This suits me fine, just fine enough to savour my crispy rice ribbons.
I strongly urge you to believe in this theory and indulge once in a while!

Crispy Rice Ribbons

Ingredients
2 cups Rice flour
1 cup fried gram/hurigadale flour
I prefer this to besan
2 tsp ginger (grated)
3 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp hot oil
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method
Sift the flours together.
Add sesame seeds, ginger, chilli powder, salt and mix well.
Add the hot oil, mix well.
Take a little of this mixture , knead this into a dough with little water.
Ensure the batter does not become too loose.
Put this into the press with the ribbon disc(vertical stripes)
Press it in hot oil. Take it out when it is golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.
Repeat this for the entire mixture.

This surprisingly does not take too much time.
For this measure it takes roughly 20-30 mins.

Sweet corn Macaroni Soup

This is one of the dishes I demonstrated on the cookery show on TV (etv-kannada).
Of late, I have developed a great weakness for sweet corn. In all the three shows I have done so far there was at least one sweet corn dish!
Ingredients
1/2 cup sweet corn
½ cup boiled and cooled macaroni
½ cup mixed veg chopped (carrot, capsicum, cauliflower florets)

2 cups milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp maida
1 tsp white pepper powder
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
Oregano (optional)

Method

Melt the butter and add the maida
After a minute add the milk little by little stirring continuously
Add the salt and pepper
If you want to make it more creamy – this is when you add some cheese spread (1 tbsp)
So this is your white sauce.
Meanwhile bring 1.5 cups of water to boil and add al the veggies and sweet corn in it.
Cook it for 5-7 minutes else they become too soft – we need them crunchy
Add the white sauce and macaroni slowly into this and bring to a boil.
You can add a dash of oregano for additional flavour if you wish.
I give it to my kids with dinner rolls or garlic bread
It is very wholesome indeed!

Pineapple Kesaribath

Long time no write !

Here’s again a simple and quick dish with pineapple flavour.

Goes well with Upma, Shavige bath. This breakfast combo is a common one in Kannada-weddings.

It is also something that people used to serve when the boy-sees-girl meetings happened in the past.

We used to refer to this as UK meetings – Upma-kesaribath meetings – where marriages are made!

So, that’s a divine connection indeed!

Nothing should stop you and me to make this on a normal or a festival day and enjoy the taste and laugh about the UK meetings of the past!

Ingredients

1 cup fine (chiroti) rava

1 3/4 cup water

Few Strands of Saffron

1 cup sugar

½ cup chopped pineapple

2 tbsp Refined oil

2 tbsp Ghee (or more !)

Nuts and raisins

Method:

Roast the rava slightly with 2 tbsp oil (should not become brown at the same time should not smell raw)

Boil the water with pineapple and saffron.

Add the roasted rava slowly while stirring to remove lumps.

Allow it to cook for a minute and then add the sugar and stir well.

Cover it and simmer it for a couple of minutes.

Heat the ghee and add nuts and raisins and add to the Kesaribath.

Voila! The pineapple is ready to be savoured !

Variation : You can use mashed ripe banana or even chopped apple with fresh grapes instead of pineapple.

Shokolade Kuchen

This is Chocolate cake in Deutsch (german).

There was a simple recipe in my recipe book that I had written around 14 years back. It was lying there without anyone trying it. Patience pays! And this sunday it attained salvation and magically transformed itself from a dull bunch of words on a old paper into a sumptuous delicacy waiting to be devoured !

Heres the recipe for the low-calorie , egg less , easy to make chocolate cake.

Try it -you will be surprised that such a simple recipe can yield such a delicious treat!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups Maida
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup sunflower oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Sift all the dry ingredients twice
2. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl and mix lightly.
3. Add the dry ingredients slowly. Do not beat just mix
4. Bake at 180 deg C in the oven (or convection mode in your microwave oven) for 40 min.
5. Prick and check if it is done and cool it before serving!

I made this in a Silicone baking dish that my sister got me. It is just superb !

The cake tiptoed so gracefully out of this !

So, all in all it was a Happy Sister’s day!

Idli Reigns Supreme!

Yes ! In the kingdom of breakfast ,Idli is the undisputed king!
Healthy, tasty and filling !

What more can you ask for?
I used to hate them when I was small – but you can't hate it for long !
Not when you are born in a south Indian family ! It grows on you and one day you will crown it …
So, here’s the easy formula for fluffy , soft and nutritious Idlis. I bet you will like this …

Ingredients
1 Cup Urad Dal
2 ½ Cups Idli Rava/Idli Soji
4-5 Tablespoons Poha/Avalakki
Salt to taste

Method

Soak Urad dal and poha for a min of 4 hours
Wash the Idli rava in water
Soak the idli rava in warm water for 30 minutes
Grind the urad dal and poha into a fine paste
Squeeze out the water from Idli rava nad add it to the dal mixture
Blend it in the mixer for a couple of minutes
Ferment it for at least 8 -10 hours (tropical climate)
Add salt and water to get dropping consistency (thicker than dosa batter)
Set in greased moulds and steam it for 15- 20 minutes
Cool it for a couple of minutes before scooping it out.
Allow the moulds to stand in a cold water bath for faster cooling

QED ! (Quite Easily Done)

Savour it with sambhar or chutney!

MultiGrain Rotti

Who says healthy food is not tasty – Try this…
Rotti cannot get more nutritious than this one !
This is a mix of 4 different cereals and is really yummy when you eat it hot.
You could pack this for lunch too.

Ingredients

• ½ Cup Rice Flour
• ½ Cup Ragi Flour
• ½ Cup Fine semolina
• ½ Cup Maize (JoLa ) Flour
• 2-3 Tsp Jeera /Cumin Seeds
• 2 Medium onions finely chopped
• 1-2 carrots grated
  
• 6-8 Green chillies (paste)
• ½ Cup Coriander chopped
• Salt to taste
• Oil
  

Method

1. Boil 2 cups of Water (1:1 of all the flours). Add salt and Jeera.
2. Switch off the flame and add the flour Mixture.
3. Mix thoroughly using a spatula (I use a thin rolling pin).
4. Add green chilly paste, carrot,onions and coriander.Mix well with your hands.(Warning: hands will be messy!)
5. Smear a little oil on a brown wrapping paper with a plastic sheet.Pat this mixture( size of a small orange) on a plastic sheet as thin as you would want.
6. Transfer the Rotti onto a hot Tawa. Leave it on the tawa with the wrapping paper for a few seconds and then carefully take the sheet out.
   
7. Dribble 1/2 tsp oil all over the rotti. Cover it and cook till one side is done.
8. Reverse the rotti and cook till done.
   
9. Serve hot with chutney or just like that.

Roasted ShavigeBath

This is quite a tasty variant of the rice sevai or the lemon shavigebath.

It is a real quickie – can give Upma a run for its money!

Keep the roasted vermicelli (made out of wheat and available ready in stores) handy. You can dish this up really fast. It has a mild flavour of spice yet not too harsh on the stomach . I make this for breakfast and everyone likes it!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Roasted vermicelli
• 2 onions – chopped
• 1 tomato – chopped
• 1 tbsp grated coconut(optional)
• 2 tsp red chilly powder
• 1 cardamom
• 1 cloves
• ½ inch cinnamon
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Jeera
• dash of turmeric
  
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt to taste
  

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, jeera, turmeric.
2. Add cinnamon, cardamom and clove.
3. Add curry leaves and onions and sauté till onions are done.
4. Now add chilli powder and sauté it for a minute.
5. Add tomatoes and add 3.5 cups of boiling water,vermicelli and salt.
6. Keep this covered and let it simmer on low flame.
7. Mix it a couple of times and switch off once the vermicelli is cooked.
8. Garnish with coconut and coriander.

Poori and Jhunka

Imagine :You have been planning to go to the super market to pick up veggies but have found no time.
Couple of onions are staring at you and that is all you have in the kitchen.
And you still want to dish up something for the couple of friends who decided to stop over !
Don’t fret ! This is an ideal situation for preparing Jhunka – a simpleton's side dish with no frills that goes best with pooris and also gives Bhakri (jowar roti ) and chapathi good company.
Jhunka always reminds me of Simhaghad (a fort on a hilltop near Pune ). We trekked uphill exhausted and met this lady who makes Bhakar-Jhunka and we gobbled it up at lightning speed and ended the meal with a Chaaz (masala majjige/buttermilk) , hmm.. fond memories …

Jhunka

Ingredients

• 2 level tbsp besan
• 2 sliced onions
• 1 tomato(Firm and chopped)
• 4-5 green chillies
• 1 tsp sesame seeds(white)
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• ½ lemon size tamarind
• salt to taste
  
• Oil for seasoning

Method

1. Heat the oil and season with mustard, cuury leaves, sesame seeds and slit green chillies.
2. Add thinly sliced (length-wise) onions and sauté it till golden.
3. Add chopped tomatoes.
4. Meanwhile mix besan with the tamarind juice and salt. Add enough water to make this mixture around ½ cup.
5. Now slowly add this to the seasoning and stir it well.
6. Let it cook for 6-8 minutes and keep stirring it. Add little water if it becomes too thick.
7. Take it off the stove and garnish it with coriander.

Poori
Ingredients

• 2 Cups Wheat Flour
• 1-2 Tbsp Fine rava
• 1 tsp ghee (to make it crisp)
• 1 tsp sugar(for browning)
• 1 tsp salt
• Water
• Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients into a tight dough and cover it.
2. If the dough is really tight , its easy to roll out the pooris.
3. While rolling out pooris I use a dot of oil instead of flour as it spoils the oil fast.

Dal Chutney Powder

Another chutney powder that is a “must” on any south Indian dining table !
Be it with rice or idli or dosa this makes a perfect spicy accompaniment.
Shelf life is 4 weeks without refrigeration.

Ingredients

• ½ Pav Urad Dal
• ½ Pav Channa dal
• 2 Tbsp Ground nuts
• 10-15 Red Chillies (Guntur-hot variety)
• 10-15 Red Chillies (Byadagi – the one that imparts a dark red color)
• 1 bunch curry leaves (washed and wiped)
• 1 big lemon size tamarind
• Little jaggery
• Salt to taste
• 1.5-2 cups grated dry coconut(Copra)
• Hing to taste
  

Method

• Roast Urad , channa dal and ground nuts till light brown separately
• Use few drops of oil if necessary
• Roast the chillies with a few drops of oil
• Roast the curry leaves till fully dry
• Roast tamarind with little oil(few drops)
• Roast the grated copra till light brown
• Add salt and grind all the ingredients except copra coarsely
• Once it is done , add the copra and grind it again.

Variation :

1. You can use more curry leaves – very healthy – full of iron
2. You can use a big bunch of mint/Pudina instead of curry leaves. You have to wash and pat it dry before roasting. The shelf life w/o refrigeration reduces with mint. Finish it up in 2 weeks :)-

Creamy Kheer

Since the festival season began last week, I wanted to start it off with a kheer at least.
I made Daliya / broken wheat kheer with milk and sugar. However, I always like Kheer to be creamy - but alas i cannot perish the guilt of using sinful cream, condensed milk and the like...
I decided to try something very simple. Some of you might have tried this already ...
I just mixed 1 tablespoon of vanilla custard powder in cold milk and added that to the kheer and brought it to a boil. Believe me - it was delicious - creamy yet not sinful!
Try it with any milk based kheer. Be careful about any other flavor that may want to add - like cardamom. I would suggest mild flavouring as the vanilla will also blend with this.
Anyway let me know if you tried it!
Sorry, did not take a pic of the kheer -:(

Palak Maharani

Etymology : Palak is spinach and since there are all dals in this one - it borrows Maharani from Dal Maharani which is a mix dal preparation :)-

My kids love this spinach and dal concoction!
It is extremely simple and fast to make .. try this ...
Goes very well with rice or roti - just eat this hot on a monsoon evening watching the rains through your window !
Needless to say - very healthy yet tasty!
Ingredients

• 4 Cups Chopped Spinach
• 1/2 Cup cooked Tur Dal
• 1/2 Cup washed Moong Dal
• 1/2 Cup washed Channa Dal
• 3 Tbsp Ground nuts
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 3 green chillies
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 chopped onion
• 2-3 chopped tomatoes
• Dash of turmeric
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix Spinach , all dals and ground nuts in the cooker
2. Add chopped tomatoes, green chillies, chilli powder and salt
3. Add 1.5 cups of water and pressure cook it for only 1 whistle
4. After it cools, add garam masala and boil it for a minute
5. Season with cumin seeds, turmeric, ginger paste and chopped onion

Ready to serve !