Masala Lauki Chana Dal

I have stopped counting the number of people who tell me they can’t stand Lauki/Ghia/Bottle Gourd/Sorekkai. I really don’t know why. It is not even like bitter gourd that has such a distinct bitter taste. I’ve always found that Bottle Gourd has almost no distinct taste of its own and, as a result, blends in beautifully with just about anything. I experimented with this last week and was so pleased with the results. I am going to be making this more often this summer. It is quick, it is tasty, it is healthy. Do you need any more reasons to try this recipe?

One of the reasons I was able to make this in a jiffy was the inclusion of Aashirwad Multipurpose Cooking Paste. I discovered it many years ago in Hyderabad and rediscovered it a couple of months ago. According to ITC, “The Multi-Purpose Cooking paste is the latest offering from the ‘Aashirvaad’ brand. The ‘Aashirvaad’ Multi-Purpose cooking paste is positioned as a kitchen aide. The product, ‘Bhuna hua taiyaar masala’, is a fried paste of onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic shallow fried in refined sunflower oil. It is a basic paste used for most north Indian dishes. It is suitable for all tomato-based dishes.” At just Rs. 10 per packet, it is a big hit in my kitchen.

2 cups Bottle Gourd, peeled and cubed
1 Packet (100g) Aashirwad Multipurpose Cooking Paste
¼ cup Chana Dal, washed
1 tsp Chilli Powder
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala
1 tsp Oil
¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a pressure pan and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the cooking paste and fry for a minute. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and pav bhaji masala and fry for another minute. Add the bottle gourd pieces, chana dal, salt and a little water. Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.

That’s all it takes to get a mouthwatering side dish ready. It feels like zero effort, but tastes quite the opposite. Try it and let me know if you like it. If there are any bottle gourd haters out there, let me know if this doesn't change your opinion of the vegetable and I shall do some more R&D.

This recipe is part of a recipe marathon and my fellow runners have come up with these dishes for Day 1:

Bhags: Tomato Shorba.

Dhivs: Bhindi Jaipuri

Swati: Dum Ka Murg Zafrani

Divya Vikram: Peas Kurma

Srivalli: Chicken Semi Gravy.

Lakshmi: Sour Cream Cake

Arundathi: Kuwaiti Tea

Siri: Baked Cauliflower

Cucumber Kosumbari

Simple recipes are keepers. Much as I can bring myself to cook elaborate meals every once in a while (read once in a blue moon), I prefer keeping things simple. A few days ago, I decided to make a simple Iyengar meal of Ash Gourd Sambar, rice and Seppankizhangu Karumadhu. I wanted to make Vellarikkai Pachadi, but decided to make this instead. Simple and devoid of fuss.


Ingredients:
2 medium Cucumbers, grated or cubed

1/4 cup Moong Dal, washed

2 tbsp scraped Coconut

1 tsp Green Chilli-Ginger paste

Salt to Taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

For the tempering:

1 tsp Oil or Ghee

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

Place the washed moong dal in a large bowl. Add the chilli-ginger paste, cucumber, salt, and scraped coconut and mix well. In a small kadhai, heat the oil or ghee, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida, and when the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves. Add this to the cucumber mixture.

While you read this, I’m away in the Himalayas again, but blogger will keep you updated even when I’m climbing a rock or kayaking in the waters. So, don’t forget to send in your entries for this month’s MBP. The theme is Soups and Salads.

Kairi Panha

This is a summer drink that I have come to love. I must admit that when Amma first made this, I thought she was crazy to go to class(canning and preservation class) and learn how to make weird drinks. I must have been all of 6 at the time. Like beer, I’d call this an acquired taste. This drink would, however, win hands down as a summer drink when compared to beer. After all, while both are summer drinks and both are acquired tastes, this is a delicious drink. (You can rest assured I’d almost never use that adjective with beer.)


I tried this sometime ago using the microwave and I was very happy with the result.

1 cup Raw Mango, peeled and diced
1 tbsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1 tsp Rock Salt, powdered
½ tsp Black Pepper Powder
2-4 tbsp Sugar

Place all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl with a little water and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Allow to cool and then blend to a paste. Mix this with two glasses of chilled water and serve.

This is traditionally served as a breakfast drink in Rajasthan and goes by the name of Kairi ka Pani. So, this is off to Padmaja at Spicy Andhra as my fifth entry to the RCI Rajasthan - Flavours of the Desert event. Since this is a breakfast number featuring mangoes, I am sending this to Arundati of Escapades, who is hosting this month's Weekend Breakfast Blogging # 22, the theme of which is Mango Madness.

Chocolate Cake with Butterscotch Icing

I’m wishing you another year

Of laughter, joy and fun

Surprises, love and happiness,

And when your birthday’s done,
I hope you feel deep in your heart,

As your birthdays come and go,

How very much you mean to me,

More than you can know.

I came across this wonderful poem on a site called www.poemsource.com. This site is a wonderful resource for poems and these are wishes I am sending my brother’s way. Fifteen years ago, I baked a Black Forest Cake from scratch for his birthday and today I’ve arranged for a Black Forest cake to be delivered to him.

Fan and critic rolled into one, he’s the “guy” I always wanted to be. There was a phase in my life when I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to wear shorts (and use the washroom without having to sit down). I wanted my “curfew time” to be the same as his. Never mind that he was almost 5 years older. I always made it look like he’s being allowed whatever because he’s a boy and not because he was much older. (Something which irritated my parents no end.) Then came a phase when I wanted to be nothing like him. I was becoming my own person, with my own likes and dislikes. Though, in retrospect, I realize that even when I didn’t want to be like him, my likes and dislikes were governed by his. Just that, now, his likes became my dislikes. So, I really don’t know if I hate hard rock and lady’s finger that much any more.

When it comes to food, I’ve made him the guinea pig for loads of stuff that I cooked. He had, and continues to have, a keen eye for detail and a fantastic sense of good food. Some of our food related conversations that stand out are:


While making potato curry:

H: Now put the mustard.
Me: OK
H: Wait till it splutters.
Me: No, let’s put the potato.
H: No, Amma always waits till the mustard splutters.
Me: But that’s only to check if the oil’s hot. We know it’s hot.


All this when I was 6 and he 10 and my mother was working late.

Later, when I was 13 and he 17 or 18, my parents were away in Holland and I was cooking for the two of us.

H: I’m going A’s house.
Me: I’ll come along. Drop me at S’s place please.
H: No way. I’m going alone.
Me: OK, you eat bread till Amma gets back.

It was pure blackmail. I knew he’d succumb and he did. The way to any man’s heart is really through his stomach. So what if he’s your brother?

Today, he still relishes stuff that I make, but we haven’t really lived under the same roof for 16 years now so the occasions are few and far between. He’s also a lot more conscious about what he eats and so, in a way, I figure I can’t blackmail him with food anymore. He does return the favour by making me dosas when I visit. He makes better dosas than even Amma. When I took S home for the first time to meet my family, H very lovingly made dosas for his “Alludu” as well.

We don’t fight as much anymore. In fact, I’d say we don’t fight at all anymore. He does tease me the same way he used to when I was 3 and my reaction is almost, “Amma, to makka chidaytasa. (Amma, he’s teasing me.)” And then I have to stop myself and deal with it differently. The 4 ½ year gap seems a lot less in our thirties than it did in our twenties and teens. Despite everything we’ve gone through in life, and despite anything that will come our way, I know we’ll be there for each other.

Here’s a small chocolate cake to celebrate H’s birthday.

1 1/2 cups Flour
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
4 tsp Baking Powder (Or 3 tsp Baking Powder and 1 tsp Baking Soda)
1 1/4 cups Sugar (Indian sugar is sweeter, so 1 cup will do)
a Pinch Salt
1/2 cup Oil
2 eggs
1 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla

Butter and flour for dusting

For the icing:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Icing sugar
3 tbsp Butterscotch Syrup
1/3 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Sprinkles for decoration

Sift all the dry ingredients for the cake together into a food processor jar with the dough blade. Pour in all the liquid ingredients and run the processor for 2 minutes.

Prepare two 8 inch round cake tins by first smearing a little butter all over the tin and then dusting it with flour.

Divide the batter equally between the pans and bake for 30 minutes at 350 F. The cakes are done when a knife or skewer inserted into them comes out clean. Remove the cakes to a cake rack and cool completely.

Cut the tops of the cakes to make them even.


For the icing:Beat butter in a mixer jar. Add powdered sugar and butterscotch syrup alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in the vanilla essence.

Place one cake and spread the icing over it. Place the second cake over this and cover with icing. (I found the icing a little too sweet even though I cut down the sugar content from the original recipe.) Decorate with the sprinkles.


This is one horrible attempt at frosting a cake! But it is still made with a lot of love and sent his way. H, here’s wishing you every happiness. You deserve it! Happy Birthday!

Mango Muffins (Rasayan inspired)

Indian sweets and I share a very vague relationship. You can’t even call it love-hate. There are a few sweets that I absolutely love (kaju kathli, gulab jamun, rasmalai, badam kheer, sheera, kulfi) and there are those that I really wouldn’t care to look at (rice kheer/pal payasam, falooda, jangiri, rajbhog...). There is one part of me that is, without doubt, Mangalorean. Much as I love my Paruppu Urundai and Milagu Kuzhambu, I love the sweet-sour-hot combination of Saraswat cooking.



I love mangoes and can eat them everyday for every meal (yes, regardless of the eruptions on every inch of my anatomy) and I have been doing just that. Instead of cooking for just one person when I have to, I sit down with a large bowl of cut mangoes and enjoy every piece.


Rasayan is a 5 minute dessert/sweet dish that I absolutely love and it is the dish that I sent to WBB – Summer Fruits last year. That was my first WBB entry. And this year’s entry to WBB is inspired by that very recipe. I saw blueberry cinnamon muffins in some book and thought, “Mangoes and cardamom make a good pair… why not I try?” So with a few substitutions here and there, I came up with my own version of Rasayan inspired Mango Muffins.


3/4 cup Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1 cup Mango, chopped into fine pieces
1 cup Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ to ¾ cup Jaggery
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cardamom Powder or Essence
1 Egg
1/4 tsp Salt



Grease 12-muffin pan or line with paper cases. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place all the ingredients except the mango pieces in a food processor jar fitted with the dough blade. Run the food processor for 2 minutes until the ingredients form a batter.

Blend the mango pieces into the batter and pour spoonfuls of the batter into the muffin moulds. Bake for 20 minutes.

Muffins are a great breakfast on the go and going the whole wheat way is a healthy option too. Mangoes take them to a very different level. My namesake, Arundati of Escapades, is hosting this month's Weekend Breakfast Blogging # 22, the theme of which is Mango Madness. WBB is the brainchild of Nandita of Saffron Trail and I am happy to send these muffins to her.

Masala Tinda

I've gone on tirelessly about how I eat all vegetables and how I am not a fussy eater and all that. And I feel sorry for all of you for having believed me all this while. There is one vegetable that I actually "hate". No, it isn't bitter gourd. But it is a gourd nonetheless: the round gourd. This is more popularly known as Tinda. I ate this once some 9 years ago at someone's house in Bangalore. Everyone at the lunch table seemed so excited that Tinda was on the menu. I hadn't eaten Tinda before and I really did eat everything at the time. And so I did. I hated it. Good upbringing made me finish everything that was on my plate and I politely declined further helpings. A few months later, I moved to Gurgaon. Tinda featured in every menu during the summer that followed. Since I "had" to eat vegetables (I've always preferred eating vegetables and dal to rice), I would end up with Tinda on my plate. And when I moved back south, I was happy to get rid of this vegetable.

Now that I am back in Gurgaon, I have let one entire summer go by without as much as even looking at Tinda. But my colleagues kept telling me that it is really a tasty vegetable when made well. So, despite my hatred for this vegetable, I bought some and made this dish last week. It wasn't intended as an entry to any event, but merely as a means of trying out a new vegetable. But since I found this recipe in Rajasthani Cooking by Tarla Dalal and adapted it, this is off to Padmaja at Spicy Andhra as my fourth entry to the RCI Rajasthan - Flavours of the Desert event.

2 cups Tinda, sliced

1/4 tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Dry Mango Powder
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste

Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the asafoetida and the Tinda slices. Add the turmeric powder along with a little water. Cover and cook for a few minutes until the vegetable is cooked.

Add the spices and the salt and mix well. Cover and cook again for a few minutes.


Have my feelings towards this vegetable changed since? Not really. But I know it is tolerable now and with time and a few more experiments, I will be able to incorporate this otherwise sorry vegetable into my regular menu.

P.S. Tinda lovers: Please do not take offence. I am looking for ways to relish the vegetable. So, please help.

Aloo Ki Subji

My cookbooks form a big part of what I'd consider my most prized possessions. And I have talked earlier about the lady I think of as my foster mother. My interest in cooking was shaped almost as much by her as it was by my own mother. Today, her cookbooks are far easier to use and the recipes seem uncomplicated. I don't know if the books have changed or I have.

When a recipe appears to be simple, I am tempted to try it. I also like using a variety of ingredients in my cooking so that the taste seems different each time. While earlier, I'd cook a certain vegetable a certain way, now I am more than willing to check out new methods. Potatoes are not a regular feature in my kitchen. Incidentally, the day we happen to make potatoes is the day my mother in law will specifically ask S what we ate. As soon he tells her, I'll get a lecture on how we should cut down on potatoes. To her, it is almost as though we eat only potatoes everyday. Irony!

I made this dish a few weeks ago. It is adapted from Tarla Dalal's Rajasthani Cookbook. I sometimes wonder if I might actually buy a book on Saraswat Cooking if she authored it. There is a certain amount of faith I place in her recipes and that faith has been built over years. Again, I modified the recipe to suit my bland palate and I was not disappointed. The dish turned out to be so like the one in the picture that I couldn't resist clicking the two together.

4 Potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut into wedges

1 cup Curds, beaten

1 tsp Bengal Gram Flour

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 tsp Fennel Seeds

1/2 tsp Nigella Seeds

1 Bay Leaf

2 Cloves

2" Stick Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Cumin Powder

1 tsp Coriander Powder

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tbsp Oil

Salt to taste

Coriander Leaves for garnish

Whisk the curds with the gram flour, chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and coriander powder.

Heat the oil and add the mustard, cumin, fennel and nigella seeds along with the asafoetida. When the mustard seeds crackle, add the bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon and fry for a minute. Add the curd mixture and bring to a boil over a low flame. Add the potatoes and salt. Bring the entire mixture to a boil. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This wonderful recipe adapted from my "foster mother's" cookbook on Mother's day is off to Padmaja at Spicy Andhra as my third entry to the RCI Rajasthan - Flavours of the Desert event. Paddu, I hope there are no limits to the number of entries. Happy Mother's Day All.