Potato Capsicum Curry

This is a very simple side dish that pairs equally well with rice – dal and rotis. It is one of those “curry in a hurry” type of dishes. The addition of capsicum to this plain jane potato dish takes it to a whole new level. It is a different matter that I love my plain jane potato dish just as much.

2 large potatoes, washed and scrubbed

2 large Capsicum, roughly chopped
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Cumin-Coriander Powder
Salt to taste

Cut each potato (with the skin on) in two. Cut each half lengthwise in 2 and then cut finely width wise. You will have quarter circles (kind of triangular) pieces.

Heat the oil, add the mustard, asafoetida and cumin seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the chopped capsicum and fry for a minute or two. Add the potatoes, salt, chilli, turmeric and cumin-coriander powders. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. When the potatoes are cooked, remove the lid and allow the potato pieces to crispen to a nice brown.

Sometimes, I mix this with hot rice and eat it as it is. At times, it goes in our lunch box with rotis. At others, it is a side dish with dali saar and rice or sambar and rice. I'd been meaning to post this during the Potato festivals, but it looks like it will now make its way to this month's JFI.

Arbi Ka Saag

For a long time, I knew of 3 ways in which I could make Arbi (Colocasia). I could make Seppankizhangu Fry (Deep Fried), Seppankizhangu Karumadhu, and Seppankizhangu Mor Koottu. All Tamil dishes. So, I'd buy the vegetable only if I knew I was going to make Sambar sometime soon. I never thought I could make a side dish to go with rotis.

When I came across this recipe, I was a bit skeptical about how well it would pair with rotis given how dry it looked. I was pleasantly surprised when not only did I think my lunch was great, my colleagues kept picking pieces off my plate, and S called from work to say, "You should make this more often!"

As with most Rajasthani recipes here, this is also adapted from the Rajasthani Cookbook by Tarla Dalal.

250 g Colocasia (Arbi/ Seppankizhangu), boiled, peeled and quartered

1/4 tsp Carom Seeds

1/4 tsp Mustard

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Coriander Powder

Juice of 1 Lime

1 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

Oil for deep/shallow frying

Shallow fry or deep fry the arbi pieces and keep aside.

Heat the teaspoon of oil. Add the carom and mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the fried arbi pieces, turmeric, chilli and coriander powders, salt and lime juice. Mix well.

Serve hot with rotis.

I deep fried as I made it in the morning when I was short of time. I didn't want to shallow fry then as it really is time consuming. This is off to Padmaja at Spicy Andhra as my second entry to the RCI Rajasthan - Flavours of the Desert event.

Banana Nut Loaf and a Personal Note of Thanks

I was always told that the journey was more enjoyable than the destination, that that was the way with life. When I embarked on this journey, I had no destination in mind. I was sitting at home in the middle of the week as I got the day off for Buddha Poornima. Barely two days after starting a new job. I quit the one I had even though the commute was a mere 3.5 km and chose this one 27 km away. As most people who have interacted with me through this medium would know by now, I love my job. Anyway, I had absolutely nothing to do and, as always, I was blog hopping. Then I did it. It was one of those “spur-of-the-moment” decisions. I didn’t give the URL or the blog name much thought. I didn’t give anything much thought that afternoon. The only thing I thought about was the background colour. It had to be green as this was going to be a vegetarian blog. Cliché!


Why am I thinking of that afternoon today? All that was a year ago. That, my dear friends, is the whole point of this post. The Singing Chef is a year old today. The last 366 days were eventful, to say the least. I shared, I explored, I laughed, I cried. And it wasn’t just about food. Food, at times, seems incidental. But I’m amazed at the friends I’ve made across the globe. People I have never met (except one), but people that I can call, email, chat with. And all the while get the feeling that these are people I have always known.


The journey was initially slow, with a little skepticism here. Then suddenly went into the 5th gear with one Saturday seeing 17 posts on my blog. Participation in events added to the enthusiasm and then it was confirmed. I was thoroughly addicted. The month of July 2007 saw 53 posts while this year’s YTD count is a mere 50. Thank heavens for work. Else, I would have run out of ideas months ago and this would have become one more of those “also ran” blogs. I got well meaning advice from some friends and with time, I have settled on between 10 and 15 posts in a month.


Events in the food blogging arena are really something else. From sending my very first entry to WBB, I have come a very long way and I’m actually guest hosting it next month. I have been a regular with several events: WBB, RCI, JFI, AFAM, TST, MBP, A-Z and I try to participate in as many as I can. At one point, I’d fret over trying to make something to fit in. Now, I’m wiser. I’ve even reached a point where I have loads of dishes in drafts and I just match them to events. But at the end of the day, if I can’t participate, I know that it is not the end of the world. I know that my fellow bloggers won’t be mad at me. I know I won’t be shunned by the blogging community.

The love I’ve received won’t be forgotten in a hurry. The acceptance, the appreciation, the adulation is what I’m thrilled to get. The love and the friendship is what I’m grateful to have. The gifts I’ve received will be cherished forever. It has been a great year, and it couldn’t have been even a tenth as great had it not been for all of you. I cook more, share more, and learn more with each passing day. Thank you all.

Here’s a simple, healthy cake to celebrate this big milestone.

1 cup Flour
¾ cup Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
¾ cup Jaggery, grated
2/3 cup Toasted Walnuts, chopped
3-4 Bananas (overripe), peeled
1/3 cup Oil
2 Eggs

Oil and flour for lining and dusting


Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and dust a loaf tin.

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Combine the bananas, eggs, oil and jaggery in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend all these to a rough paste. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and add the toasted walnuts. Mix well and pour into the prepared cake tin.

You can omit the egg and use 2-3 tsp sour curds and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Bake for 35-40 minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean). Cool on a rack for a few minutes.

Cut into slices and share with all your blogging friends. (Also send it to Not Quite Nigella's Banana Bread Bake-off.) My lactose intolerant friends can have a big slice of this lactose free cake.

Happy Birthday Singing Chef. I am, both, proud of and grateful for, what you have come to mean to me.

Macaroni Salad and Anouncing MBP - May

The heat is killing. Much as I love cooking, it is the last thing I feel like doing these days. I don’t even mind cooking in the morning, but when I get back in the evening, the mere thought of entering the kitchen to dish up a meal is enough to kill any remnants of an appetite.

Monthly Blog Patrol or MBP an event started by Coffee of The Spice Cafe, is an event I participated in totally by chance. That too, because I happened to make something from her blog which fit very well into that month’s theme. After that, I have tried to be a regular. I know I've missed one or two, and then I missed the event itself for a good 6 months or so. I am guest hosting this event this month. And what I am looking for is a host of stuff that I cam make through summer without having to really toil over the hot stove. The theme for this month is Soups and Salads.

A few simple rules to enlist yourself in the patrol:

1. Make a Soup or Salad from fellow bloggers posted recipes, not food sites.

2. Post a picture of the final recipe on your blog linking it to the blogger, whose recipe you made. You can either post the recipe, or just the picture. Any variations to the original recipe will make interesting reading. One final picture and a link to the original recipe is a must.

3. Don’t forget your hosts! Please add a link back to this event announcement and/or the logo below, and to Coffee’s MBP page.

4. Email the following details to onlineraga@gmail.com with MBP – Soups and Salads in the subject line.

• Your name
• Your blog name
• Name of the Soup or Salad
• Permalink to your post
• Permalink to the original recipe
• A photograph of the final dish.
  

5. You may send as many entries as you like.

6. The deadline for this event is May 24th.

I will post the round up before the end of May (but forgive me if I am delayed as I am planning a trip to Madras around then!)


Here’s a simple salad to get you all in the mood.

1 cup Macaroni, boiled
1 Onion, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Green Capsicum, chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lime Juice, optional


Add the herbs and chilli flakes to the olive oil and set aside for 10-30 minutes.

Combine the macaroni with the chopped vegetables. Pour the herb infused olive oil over this. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a little lime juice if you like. Toss together and enjoy your meal.

Savoury Vegetable Cake

Cakes aren’t always sweet, are they? While I absolutely love the whole idea of baking a cake and having the aroma of vanilla fill my entire house, I love this savoury cake every once in a while. Again, a microwave cake recipe, but this one is all Indian, down to the “icing”!


1 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
¼ tsp Turmeric
½ cup Onion, finely chopped
½ cup Oil
1 cup Vegetables, finely chopped and cooked
2 chopped Green Chillies or 1 tsp Green Chilli Paste
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp Mint leaves, chopped
2 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp Lime juice

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and turmeric powder. In a microwave safe bowl, place ¼ cup oil and the chopped onions. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Combine this with all the other ingredients. Cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes.

Serve with a tempering of mustard, asafoetida and curry leaves or with green chutney. My favourite way to eat this is by spreading the green chutney over the cake slices like icing. It is a hit at breakfast or tea time.

Off this goes to Srivalli as part of her MEC: Cakes event.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

This is really the simplest cake I have ever made. It is eggless, has just 5 spoons of oil, takes less than 10 minutes from flour to baked product and can me made in a basic microwave oven. The best part is that the people who eat it will “assume” that you toiled for hours to get this cake ready.

I have made this many times in the past and the result has always been “Wow!” I’d been pushing Srivalli to announce cakes for her MEC and finally she did. I think I was drowning in that thing called work and I’d managed to come up for a gasp of air before the sheer force took me in once again and there – I saw the announcement. I thought I was going to miss the bus yet again and then I caught her online and pleaded with her to extend the deadline. And she did.

So without making her wait any further, let me post the recipe for this microwave cake that is definitely a keeper.

1 1/2 cups Flour

3 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 cup Powdered Sugar

5 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 tbsp White Vinegar

1 cup Milk

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the liquid ingredients. Blend well. Pour into a greased 8 inch microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 5-7 minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Your cake is ready. While baking, you could top it with some cashews and brown sugar, coconut and sugar... or just about anything you like.

Chocolate cakes work best in pureplay MW ovens as they don't need to brown on top. A vanilla cake bakes just as well, but the top remains whitish brown. And when one doesn't frost the cake, it looks a little odd. Another thing to note while baking a cake in a MW is to never flour the pan after greasing. The rationale is that the flour-fat mixture actually gets cooked!

Garlic Baby Potatoes

Baby potatoes... I find them extremely cute. I find them a big pain to peel, but hey, the things we do for... love? cuteness? food?

Food is the most likely answer. We buy bags of baby potatoes every once in a while as S promises to make me some Tatties. He made them once when I had no clue how to take decent pictures. And after that, I’ve just done whatever comes to my mind with the potatoes.

This is something my aunt made for us and as kids, we used to get pretty kicked about the dish. It is about as simple as side dishes get (once you’ve peeled all the little ones).

250 g Baby Potatoes, boiled and peeled
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Asafoetida
1 tbsp Garlic Paste
1-2 tsp Chilli Powder
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to Taste

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the cumin seeds and asafetida. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the garlic paste, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Fry this paste for a couple of minutes. Add the baby potatoes and salt. Mix well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Cook uncovered for another 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with rotis or rice and dal.

God must lie in the simple joys of life.