Cabbage Karumadhu

I have met many cabbage haters so far. They seem to hate each and every member of its family. I’ve heard stuff like, “Ooooh, cabbage stinks”. I don’t know if I am oblivious to the “smell”, but I am definitely not a cabbage hater. I like in this form, I like it in a jhunka, I like it when it is paired with green peas. The only dish I really hate with cabbage is khichdi. I made it a couple of times with cabbage and found that I couldn’t stand to eat it. This simple dish is what I crave with sambar and rice. It is relatively bland and compliments the "spicy" sambar very well.


1/4 kg Cabbage, chopped finely
1 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp Urad Dal
1/4 tsp Chana Dal
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 Red Chillies
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
1 tbsp Coconut, scraped
7-8 Curry Leaves
Salt to taste


Heat oil in a kadhai. Add the urad and chana dals, mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves and the red chillies. Fry for a minute. Add the cabbage and the salt. Sprinkle a little water. Cover and cook 7-8 minutes.When done, add the coconut and mix well. Serve as a side dish with rice and Sambar.

Carrot Peanut Kosumbari

When we have guests over, I usually end up making this carrot kosumbari. But this other version is a personal favourite. I don’t even need rice and dal or any of those things if I’ve made this kosumbari. I am extremely content eating this version by the bowlful. I made this a couple of times when we had some people over and it was a great hit.



2 large Carrots, grated
1 Onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup Roasted Peanuts, coarsely powdered

2 tbsp scraped Coconut

1 tsp Green Chilli-Ginger paste
½ tsp Lime Juice

Salt to Taste

Coriander leaves for garnish


Mix all the ingredients together and garnish with coriander leaves. The addition of roasted peanuts gives this simple salad its crunch. Whenever you’re not in the mood for heavyweight cooking, this salad may just be the answer.

Soyabean Curry

I think I’m on my way to becoming Ms. Bean! I’ve started including beans and lentils into meals at least twice a week. I find the resulting dishes simple, tasty and healthy. I was clearing out a shelf when I came across a bottle of pigeon peas. I set to work and made bendi. I found this bottle of white soyabean right next to the pigeon peas. The only thing I’ve ever had with white soyabean is bendi again. I didn’t want to make the same dish twice in the same week. But I soaked the soya beans anyway.


Armed with my bottle of Aashirwad Multipurpose Cooking Paste, I set out to make this very simple side dish.



1 cup Soya Beans, soaked overnight and drained
3 tbsp Multipurpose Cooking Paste
1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Chilli Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Kitchen King Masala
Salt to taste

If you do not have this paste or would like to make the paste yourself, this is the recipe.

2 Onions, sliced

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

1-2 tbsp Oil

2 Tomatoes, blanched and sliced

Heat the oil in a kadhai and fry the onions along with the ginger-garlic paste. Add the sliced blanched tomatoes. Fry this for 2-3 minutes.


Heat the oil in a pressure pan and add the cooking paste. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and the kitchen king masala along with the salt. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the soya beans and enough water to cover the beans. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.

You could garnish this with coriander leaves if you wish. I forgot to do any of that. This dish was really a treat at lunch time and I’ll be sure to make this often.

Green Tomato Chutney

There was this time when we ran out of tomatoes. I simply continued to cook without using them in my cooking. I either made recipes that didn’t need tomatoes or dropped tomatoes from any recipe that did. Then finally when we did get to go shopping, I didn’t find any tomatoes at all. I was about to give up hope when I found a cart of green tomatoes. I thought something would be better than nothing and picked up a few. But I had no idea what to make with them until I came across this recipe at Lakshmi’s My Rasoi. I modified it a little bit. I decided not to add any tamarind as I thought the green tomatoes would be sour enough. I omitted the garlic from the seasoning, but added an onion to the chutney.



Ultimately, this was the recipe I followed:


4 Green Tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 Onion, chopped
3-4 Green Chillies, slit
1 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp Oil
½ tsp Mustard Seeds
7-8 Curry Leaves
2-3 Red Chillies, broken
Salt to Taste


Heat ½ a tablespoon of oil and add the cumin. When the cumin crackles, add the green chillies and the onions. Fry for about 2-3 minutes and then add the salt and the tomatoes. Cook for about 5-7 minutes and then take off the flame. Grind the mixture and transfer to a bowl.


Heat the other tablespoon of oil in a frying ladle. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the curry leaves and red chillies. Fry for a minute and pour over the ground mixture.



We had this with some steamed rice for dinner the day I made it and I spread it over my toast for the next three days. Less is definitely more and off this goes to Nupur’s MBP: Less is More. Since this dish makes use of a vegetable (or fruit?) that I can see only in summer, I am sending this to Sia for her edition of WBB: Summer Feast.

Breakfast in a jiffy

I’d asked everyone to send me a breakfast that’s ready in 15 minutes. What I didn’t realize was that this round up would definitely need much more than 15 minutes. I had an ulterior motive behind the choice of this theme. I really am hard-pressed for time in the mornings (not that my evenings are any different) and I’m perennially on the lookout for wholesome meals that can come together in a jiffy. And all of you have sent me so many entries that I haven’t classified the entries I received by the type of food item. I’d have loved to. After all, so many of you have sent in my favourite: Upma! But lack of time and the overwhelming desire to post the round up have made me take all kinds of crooked shortcuts. And that includes merging all your lovely photographs into one collage. But hey, this was an event designed to save time, wasn’t it?


These mini photographs are in alphabetical order. Top to bottom, left to right. For ease of identification, I will list the entries row by row. I had posted a big collage earlier, but half the pictures didn’t show and so for the moment, I’m going with the small sized collage. Should I find time during the course of this month, I shall reorganize the photographs. I’m participating in the NaBloPoMo this month and shall be posting once a day. Considering it took me three hours to just get home last night, I doubt I’ll find much time. But if I do, I’ll get to this. Going through this round up will cost you more than just 15 minutes!

Row 1


Archana of Archy’s Recipes: Wheat Sweet Pancakes
Arundathi of My Food Blog: Mango Jam with Cumin

Arundati of Escapades: Besan Roti (Picture not included in collage)
Arundati of Escapades: Upma
Asha of Aroma Hope: Baja Kichuri
Becke of Columbus Foodie: Sublime Scrambled Eggs
Bharti Khemani of VeggieFoodist: Chocolate Oatmeal
Bharti Khemani of VeggieFoodist: Oatmeal Seera
Cham of Spice-club: Wheat Idlis
Deeba of Passionate Baker and Beyond: Dropping Scones



Row 2

Deepa of Culinary Adventures: Roti from Leftovers (No Picture attached)
Deepthi Shankar of Vegetable Platter: Poha
Divya of Divya's Cookbook: Sweet Puttu
EC of Simple Indian Food: Mixed Flour Dosas
EC of Simple Indian Food: Ragi Sevai
Jaya of Spice and Curry: Tropical Smoothie
JZ of Tasty Treats: Middle Eastern Onion-Mushroom Omelette
K of K for Khichdi: Dhokla
Kalva of Curry In Kadai: Kiwi Strawberry Smoothie
Kamala of Mom’s Recipes: Rava Idli
Laavanya of Cookery Corner: Cucumber Sandwiches

Row 3

Latha of Masala Magic: Masala Kharabhaat
Meera of Enjoy Indian Food: Phovva Usli
Miri of Peppermill: Baked Eggs
Mona of Zaiqa: Upma

Nags of For the Cook in Me: Wheat Puttu (Picture not included in collage)
Nidhi of Charche Chauke Ke: Choode Matar ki Tehri
Nupur of One Hot Stove: Tikhat Sanja
Priya of Akshayapaatram: Berry Tasty Pancakes
Priya of Live to Cook: Express Potato Pancakes

Radhika of Tickling Palates: Coconut Pancakes
Radhika of Tickling Palates: Rava Upma
Ramki of Ramki Cooks: One page cookbooks - 1001 quickie breakfasts (Picture not part of collage)
Ramya of Ramya Cooks: Quick Dosa


Row 4

Ranjani of Wake up and smell the masala: Eggs Benedict
Ranjeetha Prabhu of RB Cuisines: Onion Wheat Dosa
Remya of Spices and Flavors: Vermicelli Veggies Upma
Renuka of FUSION: Onion Roti
Sharmila of Kichu Khon: French Toast
Sheetal of My Kitchen: Bhagar Swang
Sheetal of My Kitchen: Pangi
Sheetal of My Kitchen: Pumpkin Paratha
Sheetal of My Kitchen: Wholemeal Pancakes

Row 5

Sheetal of WhatzCooking: Besan Ke Cheeley
Shifa Firoz of Voiz Out: Upma
Sia of Monsoon Spice: Khatta-Meetha Khaman Dhokla
Sia of Monsoon Spice: Sabudana/Sago Kichidi
Sireesha of Mom's Recipes: Phodnichi Poli (Queen of leftovers)
Sireesha of Mom's Recipes: Batata Poha
Sireesha of Mom's Recipes: Tomato Omelette(vegetarian)

Siri of Siri's Corner: Akoori

Sita of Andhra Flavors: Simple and Healthy Avocado Sandwich


Row 6

Skribles of Food with a Pinch of Love: Samosa Sandwich
SriLekha of Me and My Kitchen: Bread Upma
SriLekha of Me and My Kitchen: Curd Rice
SriLekha of Me and My Kitchen: Temple Rice
SriLekha of Me and My Kitchen: Vegetables Noodles

Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons: Sevai ~ Coconut Rice Noodles
Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons: Ragi Idli

Suganya of Tasty Palettes: Eggs En Cocotte
Sujatha of Spicy Khazana: Tomato Uthappam


Row 7

Suma of VeggiePlatter: Coconut Poha
Suma Rajesh of Suma's Cuisine: Quick Upma
Sumi of Sumi's Kitchen: Mixed Veggie Egg Scramble
Supriya (who doesn’t have a blog as yet): Couscous Upma with Edameme Beans (Recipe Below)
Supriya (who doesn’t have a blog as yet): Scrambled Tofu (Recipe Below)
Sushma of CookSpot: Semolina Steamed Balls/Rave Unde
Trupti of Recipe Center: Carrot Sandwich, Eggless Tomato Omelette, Karela Fritters, Multigrain Cucumber Vada , Poha, Ragi and Karela Dosa , Shewaya

Uma of Telugu Ruchi: Millet Dosa
Usha of Spicy Kitchen: Murmura Upma

Recipe for Couscous Upma:

I soaked 1 cup dry couscous in warm salted water for 5 mins. In the meanwhile, heated 2 tsp oil in a non-stick fry pan, tempered with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Then added 1 small chopped onion, 2 dry red chillies (broken), handful of broken cashew pieces. Next went in about 2 cups of frozen edamame beans (soy beans) and few tblsps of water. Covered and cooked this for about 5 mins. Then mixed in the soaked couscous, salt, sugar and lemon juice. This can be garnished with coconut and coriander, but I didn't have any on hand on Saturday.

Recipe for Scrambled Tofu:

This was Sunday's b'fast. I heated 2 tsps olive oil, added 1 tsp jeera seeds, then 1 small chopped onion and 1 chopped green chilli. Fry this for a few mins. In the meanwhile, I drained 1 14 oz. packet of firm tofu and roughly chopped it. I added this to the onions, increased the heat to high and sauteed the tofu for about 5 - 7 mins till all the water that the tofu leaves dries up.Then add turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Row 8

Vandana Rajesh of Cooking up Something Nice: Bread Cutlets
Vidhya of My Receipes: Kunukku
Vani of Ilatharasi: Fried Idlis Capsicum Sandwich

And lastly, my own entries:

Gava Pittye Doddak
Potato Peas Peanut Poha
Dal Paratha
Undyo
Capsicum Semia Upma
Instant Semolina Dosa


Now you have no excuse to not eat breakfast. "I didn't have enough time" is such a redundant excuse now. Happy breakfasting everyone!

Peach Streusel Cake

I’ve been baking for a very long time. But there have been times when I really need a push to break away from my comfort zone. Baking with yeast was one such turning point. Making cookies was another. Making cakes with fresh fruit has been a third. The only thing I really ever did with our summer bounty each year was to fill our fruit boxes with them. Every once in a while, I’ve made some shakes or stews, but I didn’t venture beyond that. I’ve used apples and pineapples in pies, but almost never in a cake.



Then it happened. I was chatting with my namesake after a trip to Madras and was telling her about the stuff that I took to my parents’ place. I always feel I have to share my summer bounty with them. I sent a kilo each of peaches, litchis, apricots and cherries with S when he visited Hyderabad and I did quite the same when I visited my parents. Just that I always take extra peaches to Amma. Arundati asked me why I was wasting these fruits in a milk shake when I, the “baby baker” as she calls me, could do a lot more.



I thought about various options and finally made this peach streusel cake. It was gone in no time. I know I’ll make this again before these blushing beauties go out of season. The only change I’d make to this recipe is to use more peaches. So, please feel free to add another peach or two. This is the recipe that I followed.


2 cups Flour
6 tbsp Oil
¾ cup Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg, beaten
2/3 cup Milk
4 Peaches, peeled and sliced

For the Streusel Topping:

¼ cup Butter
½ cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Flour


1 tbsp Icing Sugar for dusting


Grease and line two 8-inch cake tins. Mix together the ingredients for the streusel topping.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar together. Add the oil, milk and beaten egg and whisk together. Divide the batter between the two cake tins. Arrange the peach slices on top of the batter and sprinkle the streusel topping over the fruit layer.


Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.


Dust with icing sugar and serve.


We enjoyed this cake fresh out of the oven and it tasted great when cool as well. I didn’t dust any icing sugar as I thought the cake was very sweet already! During my trip to Madras, I made Almond Raisin Muffins, Mava Cake, and Carrot Cake for my parents and brother. But as it turned out, Amma’s baking powder didn’t seem to work and I was left with very tasty, but flat, cakes and muffins. I sent this with S when he visited Madras on work and I am really happy my folks were able to enjoy it.

This cake has come about thanks to my dear namesake, Arundati. We’re two girls who have more in common than we even know. We’ve lived in the same cities, the family background that we came from and some facts about the guys we’re married to are uncannily similar, we’re about the same age and our husbands are the same age, we have similar interests and qualifications, we have the same initials and almost identical handwriting, and to a large extent, similar views on life, food included!). She sent me packed dinner along with a host of other things when she was told that S was in her city for a day.

She’s a gem of a person and I am so glad to have found her. As she celebrates her birthday, I’m sending this little cake her way. It isn’t half as elaborate as the ones she makes for her loved ones, but it is filled with all good things, peaches and love. Happy birthday!

Spring Onion Jhunka

Another acquired taste. Spring Onions were not freely available in Madras at one time. I remember attempting to make Chinese food merely because I’d found a bunch of spring onions. Now they’re freely available everywhere. And I couldn’t be happier. But there was a time when I hated Jhunka made with spring onions. I think it was merely because Amma would use up “my” spring onions to make “her” dish, that too an Indian one. When I look back, I realize what she must have gone through. Imagine when your daughter, in all her enthusiasm, picks up a bunch of spring onions, which are “exotic” to some extent and then goes back to being her normal lazy self, quite forgetting the bunch that’s beginning to wilt. What would you do? I think I’d make Jhunka!



1 bunch Spring Onions
1 tbsp Oil
¼ tsp Mustard
¼ tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 tbsp Gram Flour (Besan)
Salt to taste



Separate the whites and the greens and chop the spring onions finely.


Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the asafoetida. Add the onion whites and fry for a few minutes. Add the greens, salt, chilli and turmeric powders. Add the gram flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Serve hot.

I find this one of tastiest and easiest ways to use spring onions. I make it very often when these beauties are available in abundance. This pairs very well with rotis but tastes even better if you use it as a stuffing in a grilled sandwich. So, the next time life hands you spring onions, you know how to make jhunka!