Ragi Appey - Almost Instant Goodness

 

 

Last month, we had been to the US to attend my graduation ceremony. Before the ceremony, we spent a few days with S's sister. She told me about making dosas without grinding. She merely added water and salt to a mixture of rice and udad flours and allowed it to ferment. I had tried something similar before, but had added baking soda to the mixture. I liked the idea of natural fermentation. I wanted to try it after we got back.
 

In one of my recent posts, I talked about how our blogs have crossed the boundaries of the blogosphere and how we are all connected via social media. This post and the dish it talks about have come about thanks to a food related discussion on Facebook.
 

Aparna started a discussion asking people about mannchattis. Suddenly, the discussion spilt over to kalchattis and kuzhipaniyaram pans. Then as a continuation of that, there was more talk of neiyappams and their pans. I was drooling. I was hungry. And I had to do something about it.
 

 

I decided to make grind free dosa batter. I tweaked the batter by adding ragi flour to the it. The weather happened to be rainy and not very hot. So natural fermentation may need a bit of a helping hand, I thought. And my idea worked. I was rewarded with a plate of hot appeys.

 

1 cup Udad Flour

1 cup Rice Flour

1 cup Ragi Flour

1 tsp Instant Yeast

Salt

 

Mix the flours and the salt and add enough water to make a dosa like thick batter. Add the yeast and mix well. Allow to ferment for an hour or so.

 

As a variation to this plain batter, I also made the masala variation by adding to the batter:

 

1 Tomato, finely chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Green Chilli, finely chopped

1/2" piece Ginger, finely chopped

1/4 cup Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

 

Heat the appey kayli and smear a drop of oil onto each mould. Simmer the flame and pour a spoonful of the batter into each mould. Turn each ball after a few minutes using a pick. Enjoy them fresh off the pan.

 

A, who did not care for dosas made from the same batter, loved these. He called them "ball". They're healthy enough for a toddler, are something he can eat  by himself (when sufficiently cooled) and have everything that makes them a meal. What's not to love?

Zucchini Hummus Parathas

 

 

 

Life stages. Usually, unless you're at a certain stage yourself, or have been past that stage, it is difficult to understand what it is all about. It is nearly impossible to empathize. At least for me, it has been. For the longest time, I couldn't understand why parents fussed over what their children could eat. I saw one set of parents agonizing over their children's lunch and dinner and I saw another set that relied almost totally on prepackaged food.

 

 

Now that I have one of my own to worry about, I realize that I am not the agonizing type. I don't fuss over A's food. He usually eats what we eat. Yes, at times, he may go hungry because he is throwing a tantrum and refuses to eat. Since he is just a year and half, I do offer him one other comfort food option at most meals. If he refuses that as well, I let him be. I know that in these food battles, I am never going to win. My aunt said to me, "My children's paediatrician said that no child with access to food will ever starve." So, when A is hungry, he will eat. My obligation is, then, to ensure that the right kind of food is accessible. And I know that this is me. Every parent is different as is every child.  

 

A has been very fiercely independent for a long time. I see a lot of me in him. I am pretty much the "I-can-manage-all-by-myself-thank-you-very-much" kind of person. When it comes to food, he prefers being able to feed himself. But he is also picky at the moment about textures. He will not touch wet or sticky things. (Or if he does, he will quickly wipe his hands on my clothes!) He is not very comfortable with a spoon and more food falls on his stomach than in. At times, we give him a roasted papad (protein) to eat by himself while he is being fed his meal of rice, dal and vegetable. At times, I make baby sized cutlets for him. He likes to eat oven baked fries (potato, sweet potato, carrot) and I give him a plate as a snack or before his main meal.

 

 

And parathas work very well. I make 'all in one' parathas for him which I cut into bits. He then eats them all by himself. I make the dough, roll out the parathas and freeze them with baking paper in between them. On days when I am feeling particularly lazy, I just pull out two of these, toast them on a tava with a little ghee/oil and cut them up. And then I feel good that he got his carbohydrate, protein, fat and vegetable fix from that one meal.

 

 

1/2 cup Chickpeas (soaked and cooked)

1 cup Atta (Whole Wheat Flour)

1/2 cup Green and Yellow Zucchini (diced)

1 tbsp Tahini

1 tbsp Sesame Oil/Gingelly Oil

1 tsp Paprika

1/s tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp Cumin Powder

1 clove Garlic

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Sugar

 

Grind the chickpeas with the garlic, tahini and zucchini. Place this mixture in a bowl. Add the other ingredients. Mix well. Keep adding a little water as necessary and knead into a soft, pliable dough. Cover and allow to rest for a few minutes.

 

Divide the dough into small balls and roll them out with the help of a little flour. Toast on a hot tava until brown spots appear and the paratha is cooked.

 

Serve as they are or with some yogurt on the side.

 

Of late, many friends have been requesting child friendly food on the blog. So, I hope you like this.

 

If you are making these for adults, increase the amount of spices or serve with a side dish. I have started adding sesame paste to many of our meals as sesame is a good natural source of zinc. You could substitute the chickpeas, tahini, garlic, paprika and oil with 2/3 cup of ready made hummus.

Semolina and Vegetable Cutlets

I always quite liked the idea of making food appealing for children. And in doing so, I hope to also let A appreciate a wide variety. To that end, I am quite particular about not making him a paruppu saadam tayir saadam child. (No offense meant to anyone. I just don't believe that food has to be rice and roti.) I would like him to learn that these dishes are food as are many others. By and large, he eats what we eat and I don't have to cook separately for him. From the age of 1, A has wanted to feed himself. I try to give him things that he can hold in his hands and eat. But since he does not want to be fed, I have to ensure that these foods are not mere snacks.

Cutlets are one such item. I remember eating a semolina and vegetable cutlet many years ago at Adyar Bakery's Shakes & Creams. I thought that it would make a good meal for A.

1/4 cup Semolina

2 tbsp Carrots, finely chopped

2 tbsp Beans, finely chopped

2 tbsp Butter Beans, cooked and finely chopped

2 tbsp Onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp Oil

1/4 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp Paprika

a pinch Garam Masala

Salt to taste

¼ cup Bread Crumbs
2 tbsp Flour
Oil for frying (deep or shallow)

Steam the carrot and beans until tender. You could place them in a microwave safe bowl and add a little water and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.

Heat the oil. Fry the onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the semolina and roast for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrot and beans along with the butter beans. Add the paprika, salt and turmeric. Add 1/2 cup of water and cover and cook on a slow flame for 3-4 minutes. Add the garam masala and stir well. Turn off the flame and allow the mixture to cool.

Meanwhile, mix the flour with a little water to make a batter. Place the bread crumbs on a plate. Heat the oil for frying.

Make small balls of the mixture and flatten them. Coat them with the flour batter and then roll them in the bread crumbs until they are evenly covered.

I tried making these by deep frying as well as shallow frying and both methods work very well. To deep fry, slide each cutlet into the hot oil and fry on each side until brown. To shallow fry, place the cutlets on a greased pan and cook on both sides, adding a few drops of oil as necessary.

Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with tomato ketchup.

Now that I have made these, I think even left over vegetable upma would make very good cutlets.



Vegetable Biryani

 

I used to go snack heavy at parties and stick to one main dish. Five years ago, if I made more than two items at dinner for a party, I didn't have to cook for the next few days. By the time people reached the dinner table, they would have snacked enough. Nowadays, I try to stick to a snack or two and go for a larger spread for the main meal. This biryani works well in both settings.

For the longest time, I couldn't tell the difference between a pulao and a biryani. Now, I have a vague idea. I have had many bloggers tell me the difference and Amma also makes a mean vegetable biryani, which is cooked very differently from her pulaos. This is a recipe that comes very close in taste to some good biryanis that I have had, but is cooked like a pulao. I make this very often, and in the rice cooker. So I use parboiled vegetables. If you are cooking it in a pressure cooker, feel free to use raw vegetables and decrease the water by 1/2 cup.

1 1/2 cups Basmati Rice

3 cups Mixed Vegtetables (Beans, Carrots, Cauliflower, Peas and Potatoes)

1/2 cup Onions, sliced

1/2 cup Curd

2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

3 pods Cardamom

4 Cloves

2 sticks Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

2 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tbsp Shahi Biryani Masala (I use Everest)

Salt to taste

Grind to a paste:

2 Onions, roughly chopped

2 Tomatoes, roughly chopped

3 cloves Garlic

1" piece Ginger

2 Green Chillies, roughly chopped

Place the vegetables in a microwave safe bowl with enough water. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes. Drain.

Wash the rice and drain.

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Add the onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato-onion paste and fry for a few minutes. Add the salt, turmeric, chilli powder and biryani masala. Fry until the oil separates from the mixture. Add the curd and mix well. Add the vegetables and mix until the vegetables are coated with the mixture.

Add the rice and cook the mixture for a minute. Transfer to the rice cooker and add 3 cups of water. Cook until done.

I usually serve this with some mixed raita and chips/salad. This dish has been as much a hit at weekend lunches as it has been at parties.

Capsicum Rice

This weekend saw a lot of cooking as I had invited two friends from my college days over for dinner. One of them has two children and the older child loves baking. I had never really taught a child how to bake anything and I had a great time making chocolate brownies with the girls. For dinner, we had Bisi Bele Huli Anna, Coconut Sevai, Lemon Sevai, Cucumber Pachadi, and Carrot Peanut Kosumbari. For starters, we had some potato wedges and pizza.

One of my friends stayed over and we had more fun on Sunday too. I woke up this morning thinking of college and all the fun that we had back then. I decided to make Capsicum Rice for lunch today as that is a dish I learnt from another classmate's mother. It is a simple recipe, but it is always a great hit.


1 cup Basmati Rice, cooked
2 Green Capsicum, seeded and finely chopped
2 Onions, finely chopped
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
7-8 Curry Leaves
Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. When the cumin crackles, add the curry leaves. Add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the capsicum and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric, chilli, and cumin powders and stir well. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. Mix the cooked rice into the capsicum mixture and cook for another minute.


This is about as simple a dish as you can think of and it tastes great. I have made it often for train journeys and once when I traveled to Bombay to celebrate my aunt's 70th birthday by taking her to a restaurant, she said the best gift I could give her was to make this capsicum rice for lunch. This has to be the most effortless way to win some appreciation.

Spinach and Cheese Pasta

As an adult, I developed a taste for stuff that I almost always turned up my nose at as a child. Pasta is one of them. Considering how often pasta finds its way into our meals, it feels like my childhood must have been part of another life.

The inspiration for this dish comes from one of the baked dishes I tried almost a decade ago in Madras. It comes together very easily, especially if you always have a stash of processed vegetables in your freezer. For this recipe, I used the Whole Wheat Pasta from Fabindia. I've been hooked to this ever since I tried it for the first time.

1 cup Whole Wheat Elbow Macaroni

1 cup Spinach, chopped and steamed for 5-7 minutes

1 tbsp Butter

1 tbsp Flour

1 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Basil

1 tsp Chilli flakes

1/2 tsp Garlic Paste

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 slice Low Fat Cheese

Boil the macaroni according to the instructions on the pack.

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the spinach and fry for a minute. Add the garlic paste, parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. Add the cheese at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper. Add the macaroni and serve hot.

I served this with some garlic toast. A quick dinner. Simple, yet wholesome.

Rajma Lobia Matar Pulao

It was one of those days. I had the day off and S had to be at work (on a Saturday). Since it was a no-rush day for me, I offered to drop him at work and also told him that I’d make hot lunch and bring it to the office at lunch time. (That way, I didn’t have to rustle something up in a hurry before he left.) On the way back home, I had some bank errands to run and I used all that time to figure out what I could cook. I even decided to have lunch with a friend. But that friend had other plans. She wanted to visit the Book Fair. Now, I wanted to go too, but I’d promised S hot lunch. I had not only promised to take lunch for S, I’d also promised to take lunch for everyone in the office who was forced to work that day. I thought I had all morning to cook, but as it turned out, my friend was leaving for the book fair within the hour.

I rushed home and bought a tub of Jeera Raita from the store within our complex. I had no idea what I was going to do. When I entered the kitchen, I saw some black eyed peas on the counter that I’d soaked that morning. I decided to make a pulao with those and serve it along with a raita. I opened the fridge to bring out some tomatoes and I remembered the cooked kidney beans that I’d stashed away in the freezer. I also found a bag of green peas. So, I made a sort of “everything in it” pulao. Very impromptu, very tasty (hearsay – I didn’t get to taste even a little) and very simple, given the ingredients I had at hand. Here is the recipe if you’re making it for 2-3 people.

1 cup Basmati Rice, washed and drained

1 cup Red Kidney Beans (Rajma), soaked overnight and cooked

½ cup Black Eyed Peas, soaked for 2 hours

½ cup Green Peas

1 Onion, finely chopped

½ cup Tomato Puree

1 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 2” stick Cinnamon

3 Cloves

2 tsp Ginger-Garlic-Chilli paste

½ tsp Turmeric

½ tsp Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pressure pan and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the cinnamon and cloves. Add the onions and fry for a minute. Add the garlic-chilli-ginger paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric and chilli powder and fry for another minute. Add the tomato puree and allow the entire mixture to boil.

Add the rice and allow the mixture to coat the grains. Add the kidney beans, black eyed peas and green peas. Add 2 cups of water and cover and cook for 2-3 whistles.

Open the cooker when the pressure is released and fluff gently with a fork. Serve with a raita.

While the pulao was cooking, I chopped a couple of tomatoes and a cucumber and mixed them along with the contents of the Raita tub. The pulao was transferred into one box and the raita into another. The boxes were delivered to S along with the car and the car keys. And I left with my friend for a fun filled day at the fair.

Lemon Rice

While I have made Lemon Sevai reasonably often, I haven't made Lemon Rice as much. I tend to stick to making it only on Pongal or during the "Aadi Maasam" (if I remember). Now, I make it when we have people over for a meal. In these parts, a South Indian meal is not complete if there is no lemon rice. I have seen lots of people eat lemon rice with sambar. I don't think of it as a great combination. Sambar goes with Pongal or plain rice very well, not with Lemon Rice.




1 cup cooked Rice


Juice of 1 Lime
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste


For the tempering:


1 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
7-8 Curry Leaves
1/4 tsp Urad Dal
1/4 tsp Chana Dal
1 Red Chilli
2 Green Chillies, slit
1 tbsp Cashews, roughly broken
2 tbsp Peanuts


Mix the lime juice with the salt and turmeric powder.


Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the urad and chana dals. When the urad dal begins to change colour, add the mustard and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, peanuts, cashews, green chillies and red chilli.Take it off the stove and allow to cool a bit. Add the lime-turmeric mixture to this.


Pour the lime juice -tempering mixture over the rice. Mix well and serve with some vadams.


The rice for this dish should not be soft. Sometimes, I cook the rice with a little turmeric and few drops of oil, and add less water than I would for a regular meal. So, a ratio of 1:2.25 for Sona Masoori rice would work very well. Spread the cooked rice on a plate and allow it to cool so that it doesn't get mushy. The dish tastes best when the grains of the rice are separate.

Rainbow Pulao

Pulaos are my go-to dish. It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is or what time of the day it is. I love the fact that a one dish meal (the fill it, shut it, forget it kind) can be so tasty, so colourful and so nutritious. If all I’m serving along with this meal is a raita, I make sure I add soya chunks to for the protein element. I usually add all vegetables that I can find and there are times when the outcome is a complete hash. There are of course others when the resultant dish is a beautiful medley of colours. This pulao is one such.

I tend to use any spice that catches my fancy and do not have a fixed rule about which spices to add in which dish. As a result of this, it is rare that a pulao I make on one day will taste like the pulao made on another day. But when it turns out great, I always make a note of what went in. This time around, I used a tablespoonful of Tortilla soup seasoning (Southwest Spice Blend) that my friend, D, sent me from the US. When she sent it, I had no idea what tortilla soup was or how the seasoning is to be used. (It is a different thing that such knowledge is as far from you as you are from the nearest internet PC.) The spice mix has cumin and paprika among other things, so it works very well in Indian dishes.

1 cup Basmati Rice, washed and drained

1 Onion, sliced

2 Carrots, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

1 Capsicum, sliced lengthwise and cut into 2” pieces

2 Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

15-20 Beans, strung and cut into 2” pieces

1 Beetroot, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

A small head of Cauliflower, broken into florets

½ cup Peas, shelled

½ cup Soya Chunks, prepared according to instructions on the pack

2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

3 1” sticks of Cinnamon

3-4 Cloves

1 tbsp Tortilla Soup Seasoning (Southwest Spice Blend)

½ tsp Turmeric Powder

½ tsp Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pressure pan and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the cinnamon and cloves along with the sliced onion. Fry this mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the other vegetables, salt, turmeric and chilli powders along with the tortilla soup seasoning (southwest spice blend). Add the soya chunks and fry the entire mixture for another 5 minutes. Add the rice and 2 cups water and mix well. Cover the pressure pan and cook for 2 whistles. When the pressure is released, open the pan and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve with a raita or plan curd.

We had this with some onion raita and lady’s finger chips from Ananda Bhavan.

I’m also very happy to be a part of the Great Vega’n Vegetarian Project that Cynthia has started. My first post came up yesterday and I hope to be a regular contributor on the blog. Tried & Tasted event event is also currently on and The Singing Chef is the chosen blog for March 2010.

Savoury Bread Pudding

A few weeks ago, I had almost lost all my enthusiasm to cook. I was excited about being in a new house with a slightly bigger kitchen. But because my kitchen wasn't yet organized, I didn't seem to care that much about cooking. Also, thanks to some new cab routing issues, I was also getting home about an hour later than I used to earlier. So dinner was usually something I tried to "get over with" and lunch was anything that came together in 15 minutes or less.

Then came the end of November. And dear Nupur came up with her 40 recipes in 40 days schedule. She is to blame for a lot of things on this blog. Her series A-Z of Indian Vegetables is probably the very first blog event I ever participated in. Then, she very innocently put up this post about Eating Out While Eating In and that resulted in an entire series on my blog. So, I end this year with a mini 7-day marathon that Nupur is organizing.

Through Nupur's blog, I landed at Alanna's blog and bookmarked this recipe. Soon after, Nupur made this dish. I made it one winter afternoon, with several modifications, when I didn't feel like making a big lunch. It was a hit!

1 Onion, chopped

1 cup Spinach, chopped

1 tsp Olive Oil

1 Egg

3/4 cup Milk

2 tbsp Cream

1 tsp Mixed Herbs

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

2 tbsp Mustard (Dijon)

5 slices Bread, diced

1 cup Mixed Vegetables (Carrot, Beans, Peas, Corn), diced and cooked

1/4 cup Cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Butter to grease the baking dish

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion for a minute. Add the spinach and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the salt, stir well and keep aside. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

In a bowl, beat the egg well. Add the milk and cream along with the mustard. Add the chilli flakes and mixed herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Blend in the spinach onion mixture.

In the greased baking dish, place the bread and the mixed vegetables. Pour the egg-spinach mixture. Cover with grated cheese, season with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes.

I thought bread puddings only tasted great sweet, but this recipe is a keeper. Thanks Nupur and Alanna.

If you miss the train I'm on...

... you will know that I am gone. You can hear the whistle blow a 100 miles.

I'm sure you're all wondering what these lines have to do with my food blog. Agreed that this is the blog of The Singing Chef and that music has to be a part of this journey. Read on till the end if you want to unravel this little mystery. This is a long post.

I have always talked about why blogs and cookbooks will co-exist. Each fixes a different problem, a different need. There is a certain joy in going through a cookbook, getting inspired by it, cooking something from it and enjoying it. There is a different joy in blog hopping, finding a recipe, cooking it, letting the blogger know (or even seeking inputs where necessary) and then telling the whole world what a nice recipe that blogger put up. Overall, it fosters a sense of camaraderie. This post is my way of saying thanks to my fellow bloggers for putting up some delicious recipes that have added much needed variety to our dinner table. Some of the recipes that I tried (and we loved) are:

Pumpkin Erissheri from the Jugalbandits.

Tomato Spinach Pulao from Nags' Edible Garden.

Indian Style Baked Tofu from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking.

Pasta the forgotten way from Arundati's Escapades.

Mushroom Stroganoff from Aarti's Life Goes On.

Baby Carrots and Thyme from Nandita's Saffron Trail.

Chukku Kaapi from Mishmash

I have told you all that I didn't intend for this blog to become what it has. All this is a bonus. I only hoped to create a repository of recipes that I can access easily. Today, there are so many people who write back and let me know they tried something from my blog. I feel thrilled. When my "forced-to-be-bachelors-for-a-week" friends write in and tell me they cooked a simple meal from my blog which spared them another night of Maggi, I feel honoured. Then there are some folks out there who would make it seem like I am a celebrity (one even said as much!) and have nominated this blog in the Best Baking Blog category in the FoodBuzz 2009 Food Blog Awards!

This post is as much one to thank each and everyone of you who has visited this blog, encouraged me to continue blogging (especially at those times when I felt like giving up). I want to acknowledge the friends who have come into my life through this very medium. I want you all to know that I am deeply grateful for your presence in my life today. To all of you, I say:

I'm on the top of the world lookin down on creation

And the only explanation I can find

Is the love that I've found ever since youve been around

Your love's put me at the top of the world

But why am I singing the song by Carpenters, when I started with that beautiful song by Peter, Paul and Mary?

If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,

A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

Lord I'm one, lord I'm two, lord I'm three, lord I'm four,

Lord I'm 500 miles from my home.

500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles

Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home.

Because Lord I'm one, lord I'm two, lord I'm three, lord I'm four, Lord I'm 500 posts from my home. And to reach this wonderful milestone on the day that S and I celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary makes both the celebrations that much sweeter! Happy Anniversary Sachin. You've made the last three years so memorable and I look forward to all the memories we will create together.

Mushroom Capsicum Pizza

This is the pizza I've always spoken so highly of. The pizza we grew up on. Long before Pizza Hut and Pizza Corner or Domino's came into India, this pizza replaced dinner on Monday nights. After talking about it for ages, I bring to you Amma's famous mushroom and capsicum pizza.

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups Flour

1 tbsp Yeast

1/8 cup Oil

1/2 tbsp Sugar

3/4 tsp Salt

1/4 cup Water, boiling

1/4 cup Milk

For the sauce:
1 Onion, chopped finely
2-3 medium Tomatoes, chopped finely
1 Capsicum, chopped finely
4 Button Mushrooms, chopped finely
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste

100g Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1 tsp Oil

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the flour and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

For the sauce:

In a pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Fry for a minute or two. Add the capsicum and mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the oregano, salt, sugar and pepper and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the puree and ketchup and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate.

Spread the dough over the plate. (You could roll the dough using a rolling pin. I prefer doing this by hand.) Spread the oil over the dough. Spread enough sauce over the base. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza.

Bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes. When done, cut into wedges. Enjoy your meal.

Mushroom Broccoli Corn Bake

One of the things I’d forgotten about thanks to my “daily cooking rut” was casseroles. They’re versatile, they’re fun, they’re fuss-free, well almost. And the nicest part is that you can even just pop some slices of bread in the toaster, serve it along with the casserole. “Voila! It becomes a meal!” I’m slowly rediscovering the joys that only casseroles can bring (especially after a back breaking 2 hour drive back home).

1 cup Mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in 1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Broccoli florets, steamed
1/4 cup Sweet Corn, steamed
1 tbsp Butter/Olive Oil

1 tbsp Flour

1 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Basil

1 tsp Chilli flakes

1/2 tsp Garlic Paste

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)
1 tsp Butter to grease the baking dish
3 tbsp Bread Crumbs

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the garlic paste, parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper. Stir in the sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, and corn.

Grease a baking dish with the teaspoon of butter. Pour in the white sauce - vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mixture and bake in a hot oven (400F) for 10 minutes. Serve hot with some Garlic Bread or Garlic Toast.

Chana Salad

When we’re hosting a party, I am either extremely laidback (which means some Haldiram’s kind of items will flow from their packets, some McCain’s stuff will migrate from the freezer to the oven, and we’ll make do with what we have) or go extremely overboard (make cutlets, cut vegetable sticks and make a curd dip to go along with it, bake some savoury biscuits, crackers, muffins, mini pizzas etc, etc). It is very rarely that you would find me walking the middle path. On one of those very rare occasions, I made this salad and served it along with some readymade snacks. It was gone in almost no time.


1 cup Chickpeas, soaked and cooked
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
1 Carrot, chopped
1/2 cup Coriander Leaves

2 pods Garlic

1" piece Ginger

2 Green Chillies
Juice of 1 Lime

Salt to taste


Prepare the chutney by grinding the coriander leaves with the garlic, ginger, green chillies and salt together. Add the lime juice and mix well.


Place the chickpeas, tomato, onion and carrot in a salad bowl. Add the chutney like a dressing and toss well.


Tasty, healthy and great with drinks. There’s precious little you could ask for over and above all this. No, really!

Bisi Bele Huli Anna

Almost everytime I visit my parents, I ask for this dish. On some days, I get potato roast. On some, I get pachadi. On some days I get both. This picture doesn't capture the essence of this dish. But it is easily my favourite one pot meal. And a very tasty one at that. No trip home is complete without a meal that comprises the well know Bisi Bele Huli Anna. This is a recipe that is very sacred to me. I don't know for how long it has been in my family. I now share it with you.

1/2 cup Toor Dal

1/2 cup Rice

1 cup Mixed Vegetables (Carrot, Beans, Peas, Ash gourd)

1/4 cup Peanuts

2 tbsp Tamarind Paste

Salt to taste

For the masala:

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

4 Red Chillies

1 tsp Urad Dal

1 tsp Chana Dal

1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds

1 tbsp Peppercorns

2 tsp Coriander Seeds

1/4 cup Coconut or Copra, roasted

1 tsp Oil

For the tempering:

1 tsp Ghee or Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

Coriander Leaves for garnish

Pressure cook the rice, dal, vegetables and peanuts. When done, mash the rice and dal well.

In a small kadhai, heat the teaspoon of oil. Add the asafoetida and the red chillies and fry until the red chillies turn bright. Add the urad and chana dals, cumin, coriander, peppercorns and fenugreek seeds. Add the roasted coconut (or Copra) and take off the flame. Grind to a chutney like consistency.

In a large vessel, heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the asafoetida and the curry leaves. Add the vegetables, peanuts, salt, ground paste and tamarind paste. Add about a cup of water. Mix well. Add the mashed rice and dal to this mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This is the perfect Sunday meal. I'd call it the south Indian's answer to the Rajma rice tradition. This is my way of celebrating the New Year. Happy New Year folks! Happy Vishu, Bihu, Baisakhi and Poila Baishakh (and any other festival that I am missing out). Iniya Puttandu Nalvazhtukkal.

Mushroom Cheese Melts

I bought a packet of burger buns. I hoped to make cutlets and stuff them inside these buns. As it turned out, I didn't seem to have the time for cutlets. I didn't want to see a bag of 6 burger buns go waste. I also had a packet of mushrooms. I had some sort of a light meal in mind, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. I experimented with what I had and the fact that I'm posting this here means that it was a great success.

4 Burger Buns, cut in half and toasted lightly

200g Mushrooms, chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp Garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

1 tsp Thyme

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 tbsp Cheddar Cheese, grated

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and thyme. Fry for a minute or two. Add the chopped onions and fry till the onions turn translucent. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Place a little bit of the mushroom mixture on each bun half. Sprinkle a little cheese over the mushroom mixture. Place the bun halves on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Serve immediately as a snack or along with some soup to make it a complete meal.

Baked Soy-Vegetable Cutlets

Cutlets in some form make their way into our lunch boxes at least once a week. Sometimes they get inside a bun and take the form of burgers, sometimes they’re a snack and not the main meal. And while I pan fried them initially, I found that baking takes far less effort. And I can get other things done while the cutlets are baking away. Healthy, effortless and quick, these tasty cutlets are great at any time of the day.


1 cup Mixed Vegetables, cooked
1 cup Potatoes, cooked
1 Onion, chopped
2 tsp Ginger Chilli Garlic Paste
2/3 cup Soy Granules, prepared as per instructions on the pack
3 tbsp Bread crumbs
Salt to taste
1 tsp Oil + oil for greasing the baking tray


Heat the oil and fry the onions for 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger chilli garlic paste and fry for another minute. Add the potato and vegetables and mix well. Add the salt and mash the mixture.


Drain the soy granules and add to the vegetable mixture. Add the bread crumbs, mix well and shape into cutlets.


Grease a baking tray and place the cutlets on it. Bake at 200F for 15 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes.


Serve hot with sauce or chutney. I got around 12 cutlets from this recipe.

Kidney Bean and Pasta Salad

There is nothing permanent except change. That’s something I completely believe in. About a month ago, our diet plan underwent a complete makeover. The weather has also been very conducive. We eat stuffed parathas, salads, and filling snacks during the day and end the day with hot soup. While I try to plan ahead, there are times when I have no idea what to make. I usually try and buy vegetables for the week over the weekend. I then chop them according to different needs and then freeze them in freezer bags. That way, I can throw in a handful of vegetables into just about anything and turn any dish into a complete meal.


This is one of those “make-it-up-as-you-go” salads. I had a can of kidney beans and wanted to use it up. Rajma wasn’t on my mind. So I decided to pair it with some pasta and vegetables. Nothing unusual about that, I agree. The dressing is what took this salad to the next level. I was in an experimental mood that morning and this colourful salad was the result.



1 cup Pasta, prepared according to instructions on the pack
1 can Red Kidney Beans, drained
1 cup Mixed Vegetables, diced and cooked


For the dressing:

1 tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 pods Garlic, chopped
1 Onion, diced
¼ cup Capsicum, chopped
¼ cup Carrots, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
2 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Oregano
½ tsp Basil
½ tsp Parsley
Salt to taste


To prepare the dressing, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and onion and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the capsicum and fry for another minute. Add the chilli flakes, oregano, basil, parsley and salt and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato and carrots and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Grind this mixture to a paste.


To proceed, place the kidney beans, pasta and vegetables in a bowl. Add the dressing and toss well.


The dressing is like chutney. It works very well in sandwiches and with crackers. All in all, this is a keeper recipe.

I'm sending this to Sug as she hosts this month's edition of My Legume Love Affair.

Penne in Tomato Sauce

I am a big fan of one dish meals and a bigger fan of pasta. For the longest time, I only ate white sauce based dishes as the tomato sauce versions almost always gave me very severe heart burn. I figured I could make tomato based sauces slightly differently at home. So, now I can make my pasta and eat it too. Just when I figured out a way to make tomato sauce that I can enjoy, S declared his undying love for the bechamel variety. So, this is one of my "once in a while" treats. Simple, easy, quick and filling.

1 cup Penne

2 tsp + 1 tsp Olive Oil
2 Onions, ground to a paste
1 tbsp Garlic Paste
3/4 cup Tomato Puree
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 slice Low Fat Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the 2 tsp Oil. Add the onion and garlic pastes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chilli flakes, parsley, basil and oregano and fry for a minute. Add the tomato puree and allow the mixture to boil.

Boil 2 litres of water with a little salt and 1 tsp oil. Add the penne to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Drain.

Add the cheese slices to the sauce and stir briskly till it blends well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the cooked penne in the sauce and serve hot.

Mixed Dal and Dalia Cutlets

There's a huge downside to taking things other than roti-sabzi to work: we get very little for ourselves. But I'm determined to break away from that routine. It is difficult for me to eat the same kind of food on a daily basis. Moreover, we currently don't have a microwave at work. I try and pack things that taste good when cold. While sandwiches and salads are quite welcome, I figured about a year ago, that I can't eat that everyday either.

I made these cutlets a few days ago. Part of this idea came from my recent success with Paruppu Usli, part of if came from Amma's cutlets, and one part came from Nandita's bulgur patties. It was an experiment, and a successful one at that.

1/2 cup Mixed Dal, soaked for an hour

1/2 cup Dalia (Cracked Wheat), cooked

1/2 cup Mixed Vegetables(I used carrots, peas and beans), finely chopped and cooked

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Oil + Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Grind the soaked dals to a coarse paste.

Heat the teaspoon of oil and fry this paste. Add the turmeric and chilli powders along with the salt and fry for about 4-5 minutes. Add the cooked dalia along with the vegetables. Mix well and take off the flame.

When cool, shape the mixture into cutlets. Shallow fry on a lightly greased tava until brown on both sides.

I packed this with a tomato coriander chutney. That recipe will feature here soon. I am glad I packed at least a couple of extra cutlets each. They were an instant hit at work. This recipe yielded around 12 cutlets.

I'm sending this to Sug as she hosts this month's edition of My Legume Love Affair.