Ambode (aa-mbo-day)

This is a classic from Karnataka. Any festival is incomplete without these golden fried lentil fritters. No one can eat just one!

For this you will need

100 gms - Bengal Gram ( Chana Dal)
1 No. - Large Onion (fine chopped)
3 - 4 - Green Chilies ( fine chopped, optional)
A handful of chopped Mint leaves or Dill leaves
A handful of chopped Coriander leaves
A handful of coarsely chopped cashew nuts
Few curry leaves chopped
3 tspns - Red chill flakes or red chill powder
Salt as per your liking
1 tbspn - Rice Flour

A wok with one thirds oil.

Method -

Soak the bengal gram for 5 hours. Drain all the water and coarsely grind in the blender. To this add all the above ingredients except the rice flour.

 

Give it a good mix and add the rice flour so you can get the consistency to make small balls.

 



 Heat oil in a wok and press the balls slightly to form a disc. Deep fry and serve hot!

 

Dill and Red Cabbage Pasta

I love Italian food, especially thin crust pizzas. I don't make much pasta at home because there are not many takers other than me but recently I had great craving and so bought angel hair pasta and decided to try a simple recipe. Just adding dill made it my favourite! Dill is one of my all time favorite herb, so if you like it, you have got to try this.

For this you will need -

Angel Hair Pasta
Dill leaves (fine chopped)
Red Cabbage (cut long)
Red Onions (fine chopped)
2 nos Eggs (optional)
A pinch of paprika to garnish on top

For the white sauce -

1 tbspn - Whole wheat Flour
2-3 tbspns - Butter
Pinch of Salt
2 tspn - Pepper
Cheese as much as you like
1/4 cup - Whole Milk
2 -3 pods - Garlic (fine chopped or crushed)

Method -

Cook the pasta as per instructions on the packaging till it is al dente.
In another pan, melt the butter with a tspn of oil, so the butter does not burn. Add the garlic and flour and keep stirring till it emanates a cooked fragrance and turns colour just so slightly. Now add the milk little by little, making sure no lumps are formed. If you have added more flour, then you might need to increase the quantity of milk. Basically keep on stirring and adding till you get a thin sauce. Turn off the flame, add the cheese, salt and pepper.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and in the same pan, heat olive oil. Toss in the onions and cabbage. You can add any other veggie that you like, mushrooms, carrots or even meat like turkey, chicken or bacon. Stir till the veggies are soft. Add the eggs and cook well, with salt and another dash of pepper. Finally add the dill, give it a stir. Now add the pasta, stir and mix well. Add the sauce on top and turn off the flame. Give it a good mix and serve with a pinch of paprika on top just for the colour :) You can serve with garlic or any other bread.












 

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Distance makes the heart grow fonder and so it has been for me and the beloved hyderabadi biryani. When we lived in Hyderabad, I fell in love with the chicken biryani, the juicy tender meat and the fragrant rice. I could never get enough of it. So I went in search for a recipe and I did get this one from a local but sadly the masala I use is a store bought one. I never could get my hands on a masala that is made from scratch. If any of you have one, please share.

Having said that, this recipe also makes one heavenly dish. It is really hard to get it wrong and I think the best dish to impress anyone. Excuse the bad pictures. Even though I made it twice, the temptation to eat couldn't be resisted and so the pictures took a backseat.

For this you will need -

To marinate -
1/2 to 3/4 kg - Chicken (cut into pieces)
1 - Large Onions (Finely Chopped)
1 - Green Chilly (Finely Chopped)
2 tspn - Ginger -garlic paste
1 1/2 tspn - Red Chilli Powder
1 1/2 tspn - Turmeric Powder
1 tspn - Garam Masala
A handful of Mint leaves (Chopped)
A handful of Coriander leaves (Chopped)
1 tbspn - Yoghurt
1/2 of a Lemon's juice
2 tspn - Salt

Clean the chicken well and add all the above ingredients and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or up to half a day. You can alter the quantities of the powders and the herbs as per your liking.

Other Ingredients -
3 - Large Onions (Thinly Sliced)
1 1/2 tspn - Biryani Masala ( I used a brand called Shan Bombay Biryani Masala, you can use any that you get)
3/4 kg - Basmati Rice
A Pinch - Saffron in a glass of warm milk
A handful of roasted cashew nuts
4 - Boiled Eggs
1 - Bay Leaf
2 inch - Whole Cinnamon
3 - Whole Cloves
2 - Whole Green Cardamom
10 - Whole Black Pepper Corns
1 - Green Chilly (Slit)
2 tspn - Fennel Seeds
Oil and Ghee

Take a large pot and put some oil and ghee in it. Allow to heat and add the sliced onions. Fry till golden brown, take out three quarters of it and keep aside. To be used for garnishing on top. Now, if required add some more oil or ghee to the pot. Add the marinated chicken to this and cook on low flame for about 20 minutes. Then check for salt and if required add some. Then add the biryani masala and cook for another 5 minutes. By now the chicken should be cooked. You will most likely not need to add any water but if you feel it is dry, add just a liitle bit of hot water. On the other hand, if you feel there is still too much liquid, cook till it is not completely dry but just enough gravy to be absorbed by the rice. Then switch off the gas.

In the meantime, in the pot in which you plan to assemble the biryani, heat ghee and a spoon of oil. Add fennel seeds, bay leaf, green chilly slit, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, cloves and a teaspoon of salt. Fry till you can smell their aroma and add soaked and drained basmati rice. Soak for at least 20 minutes. Don't throw that water away. Fry the rice for a minute or two and add water that is twice the quantity of rice. Use the soaked water, it has a lot of the aroma from the rice. Cook without closing the lid for 15 minuted or so, till the rice is about 80 percent cooked. Take the rice out.

Now, add a layer of the chicken gravy with two boiled eggs (cut in half), then a layer of rice, some of the saffron milk, then another layer of remaining chicken gravy with the eggs cut in half, the remaining rice, rest of the saffron milk and right on top all the fried onion, coriander, mint, roasted nuts and a pinch of garam masala. If you feel you don't have enough for two layers, just make one. Close the lid tight and either you can seal it with dough or if you can place some weight on the lid. In my case I could do neither as it is a glass top, so just shut it and cooked on very low flame for 10 minutes.

You can do the same thing for vegetable biryani, no need to marinate of course :)

 

Steamed fish on a bed of vegetables

We have left the shores of the Indian continent and have now embraced the Pacific shores for close to five months now! New beginnings call for new experiences and new experiments. I have been thinking of trying out a fish recipe for long and it finally happened, here in the United States of America. Seattle is known for great sea food, ranging from salmon, oysters to clams and crabs. I already tried salmon and crab and they are delicious. So the last time I went shopping, I thought it is time for me to make some fish and here it is!

This is a simple steamed fish with veggies and rice.

For the fish and veggies, you will need -

1/2 of a large one or 2 small ones - Eggplant (diced)
1 - Zucchini (diced)
8 - 10 - Baby Carrots or carrots (diced)
1 - Tomato (diced)
Parsley/ Thyme - a couple of teaspoons
2 - Fish fillets ( I have used Tilapia fish here)
Salt as per your liking
Pepper as per your liking
1 tablespoon - Olive oil/ any other odorless oil
A pinch of sugar

Method -

First, marinate the fish with salt and pepper, just a dash of it. Leave it to rest for about half an hour.
Take a wide pan and heat olive oil. Add all the veggies, the sugar and sauté for a few minutes. Adding a pinch of sugar lets the veggies retain their colour. Then add the salt, pepper, parsley and thyme, generously. I like a lot of flavor.

When they are bout 50 percent done, place the fish fillets on top of the veggies and cover the pan. Allow to cook in the steam of the veggies. This way the flavours from the summer vegetables get infused into the fish. After about five minutes, flip the fillets and cook till well done.

For the rice, you will need -

1 cup - Cooked Rice
Olive oil
2 pods - Garlic (fine chopped or minced)
1 small - Onion (fine chopped)
Salt
Pepper
1 bowl - Broccoli florets (cooked)

Method -
Take a deep bottom pan, heat the oil. Add the garlic and the onion, sauté. Then add the broccoli. I steam them in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes with a dash of water and salt. Then add the rice and quick fry with salt and pepper. Dinner's ready!

Pecan Cookies with Cold Frothy Coffee

It was the first time I saw these nuts called pecans. They are just like walnuts, slightly smaller in size but more or less the same taste. They are not easily available in India, so you can easily substitute them with walnuts.
So, once I got these pecans, I started searching for an easy, quick recipe and this time I wanted to use the multigrain flour I had too. Again, I got this from the US which contains whole wheat flour oats, flax seeds and what not. I have not seen this here in India, so I will give the recipe with regular flour and oats too.

For the pecan cookies, you will need -

1 Cup - Multigrain Flour or half a cup whole wheat flour and half a cup of oats
1 Cup - Dark Brown Sugar
1 No - Egg
1 Cup - Chopped Pecans/Walnuts
1/2 Cup - Softened Butter
1 tspn - Vanilla Extract
Optional - Choco chip cookies (handful)

Method -

Just stir together all the ingredients in a large bowl till they are mixed thoroughly and form a cookie dough like this.

Drop the dough onto ungreased baking sheets using a tablespoon. You can vary the size as per your choice.

Bake at 180 deg C for 13- 15 minutes till they turn dark brown. On touching they might still be a little soft but keep it to cool and the will harden immediately. Else they will get overcooked!

Now, in the summer, I just didn't want to eat these all by themselves, so I quickly whipped up some cold coffee to go along.

To make your cold coffee rich and delicious add a couple of tablespoons of vanilla ice cream while churning and garnish with grated chocolate or chocolate sprinkles!

Cheers!

Saffron Lemonade and Horse Gram Usli

It is summer and the temperatures are soaring! Any amount of liquid doesn't seem to quench our thirst and generally one feels like eating something light and fresh!

With this in mind, here are two simple recipes to delight your taste buds!

The world famous lemonade has so many variations and forms but in the end, it is so because it is such a delightful drink! Welcomed by all and the most essential drink that needs to be in your refrigerator all summer.

Saffron Lemonade recipe -

Serves - 6

For this you will need -
1 Large - Lemon
2 tbspns - Sugar
4-5 strands of Saffron
6 Glasses - Water

Method -
Squeeze the juice of one lemon and add the sugar. Now add the water and stir till the sugar dissolves. Add the saffron and chill in refrigerator for atleast an hour. Serve cold!

Horsegram (Hurali in kannada) Usli (Salad of sorts!) recipe -

Serves - 6

For this you will need  -

100 - 125 gms - Horsegram
1 tbspn - Oil
1 tspn - Mustart Seeds
1 tspn - Cumin Seeds
1 Large - Onion (Fine chopped)
4-5 Nos - Curry Leaves
1 inch - Ginger
2 Nos - Green Chillies (vary according to your spice levels)
1 tbspn - Fresh grated coconut
Salt as per your taste

Method -

Soak the horsegram for 8- 10 hours and the pressure cook it with a little salt. Give 5-6 whistles so it is well cooked. Drain all the water and keep aside. Use this water in any curries or pulav or just drink it! It is full of flavour and goodness, do not throw it!

Now in a kadai/wok, heat the oil and then add the mustard and the cumin. Once they begin to crackle, add the curry leaves and smashed ginger-chilli paste. Smash using a mortar-pestle. Fry for a minute and then add the chopped onions. Add a bit of salt and saute till they turn pink. Remember there is salt in the horsegram, so add just a little bit here. Now add the gram and saute for 3-5 minutes. Switch off and add the coconut. Give it a stir and serve hot!

Nolen Gurer Payesh - Date Jaggery Rice pudding!

This post is dedicated to my love for all things Bengali! I have never been to Kolkata or any other place in the beautiful state of West Bengal but somehow I strongly feel I have a connection to that place. It's something I feel deep inside. I love everything Bengali from the feisty women to the saccharine sweet rosogullas! The thought of sitting in a café or library and discussing philosophy or books is very much appealing to me :) But alas! I don't know when the day will come when I meet my soul city, so in the meantime, I managed to get this very precious, delicious jaggery made from date palms.
It is something else altogether, hard to describe in words!
Without further ado, I bring to you my most favorite payesh!

For this you will need -

Date jaggery - One cup melted
Milk - 1 litre
Basmati Rice - One fistful
Bay Leaf
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Vanilla Pod
Almond - Pista - Sugar - Powdered

Method -

I can't give exact quantities for this recipe because I did it completely based on my instincts.

The most important part that I learnt from the net is that, this jaggery has the potential to curdle the milk which I am sure we can all guess. So the way to ensure it doesn't happen is this. Take a small cup of milk and put a spoon or two of the jaggery. Wait for it to melt completely and if I doesn't curdle, you have gold in your hands :)

Now, first boil the milk with the bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla pods ( I used this because I love vanilla and had used pods which I didn't want to discard without milking the goodness out of them!) You can omit this and instead add nutmeg or any other flavor that you like.

Once the milk boils, strain and remove the leaves, sticks and pods!
Now, add the fistful of rice and allow to cook for 20 - 30 minutes.

As the rice cooks, the milk cream keeps forming a layer on top. Allow the layer to form and then stir it, so the payesh becomes rich and delicious.

In the meantime, take the jaggery and melt with a little water (maybe 1 -2 spoons) by heating it. Make sure to just lightly heat.

The jaggery will quickly melt and form a most intoxicating syrup that smells of coffee and sweetness and so full of earthiness!

Now check if the rice is cooked, by pressing a grain between your hands. If so, then add about 3- 4 spoons of powdered almond-pista-sugar.

The milk will start to thicken a bit, take it off the heat now. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes and pour the golden liquid in! Stir well and serve chilled!

Kootu

This particular dish evokes so many memories for me. When I was a kid, I never liked my veggies or in fact food in general. It was a big task for my parents to make me eat and they followed one simple rule, I had to eat whatever was placed in my plate and I couldn't move from the dining table, till I'm finished!! (much to my chagrin and disappointment :( ) And this KOOTU was my death knell!

I detested it with all my being and to add to it, my entire family loved it! While I would sit sulking on the table and take forever to start eating it, forget finishing, my dad, mom and bro would relish it like it is manna from heaven!

It took me a total of two decades of my life to understand what it was that made it so delicious and today I am an ardent lover too :)

Pardon me for the not so great shots. This dish is not particularly camera friendly!

For this you will need -

3-4 tbspns - Tur Dal
Beans
Carrots
Potatoes
Peas
Any other "sturdy" vegetable like beetroots, cluster beans, yam etc

Cut them into cubes, ideally big chunks but I cut them smaller so my two year old also eats!

Salt as per your taste

For the ground masala -

1 tspn - Oil
1 tbspn - Bengal Gram (Chana Dal)
2-3 Nos - Red Chillies
2 Nos - Clove
1 inch - Cinnamon Stick
1 tbspn - Coriander Seeds
1 tspn - Black Pepper Seeds
2 tbspn - Fresh Grated Coconut

For the tempering -

2 tspn - Oil
1 tspn - Mustard Seeds
Few curry leaves


Method -

Soak the tur dal for about half an hour. Then cook this with all the veggies in a pressure cooker. Give 3-4 whistles, so the dal is well cooked.

In the meantime, fry all the above ingredients mentioned for the masala, except the coconut and grind to a fine paste.

Once the pressure is off from the cooker, add the masala to the cooked dal and veggies and give it one boil. Add desired amount of salt and temper it! Serve with rice or rotis.

Avarekaalu saaru (Hyacinth Bean thick Broth)

Bengaluru got it's name from this bean! It is the life and soul of that city! "Benda kaalu uuru" (Boiled beans' town!) became bengaluru :) That kind of sum's up the foodie in every Bangalorean ! It's just in our blood to be a foodie and love all that is connected to producing, making, eating and talking food.

This wonderful kaalu (bean) is a protein package and was a seasonal one. It grew only during winters and was perfect to turn into spicy broths or eat it in piping hot rottis. No meal in the winter was complete without something being made from these. Even today, it is loved and savored. The only unfortunate thing is that, it is now available almost all through the year, thanks to all the "technology" in cultivation. That really saddens me because things that are supposed to be grown and eaten in a particular season must remain that way. For reasons not just that we wait the year round for those special months but also seasonal produce is best for the body and soul only during that season!

So typically, you should eat it anytime between November and March!

Here's a simple recipe that we love to make and eat!

For this you will need -

150 gms - Avarekaalu
1 tspn - Cumin Seeds
3-4 Nos - Green Chillies
2 tspns - Coriander Seeds
A handful of Coriander Leaves
3-4 tbspns - Grated Fresh Coconut
2 Nos - Medium Sized Onions
5-6 Pods - Garlic
1/2 tspn - Asfoetida (I've used the solid form here)
2 inch - Ginger
1 tspn - Turmeric Powder
6-7 Nos - Curry Leaves
2 tspns - Boiled Averekaalu
Salt as you desire

For the tempering -

1 tspn - Ghee
1 tspn - Mustard seeds
A few curry leaves

Method -

Boil the kaalu in a pressure cooker with  a pinch of salt. Take the rest of the ingredients and two teaspoons of the boiled kaalu and grind to a fine paste.

You can add a little water till you get this consistency.

Now add this paste to the boiled kaalu and some more salt after tasting. Give it one boil. Temper with ghee and crackled mustard seeds and curry leaves!

Serve hot on a bed of white fluffy rice!

Divine Orange Cup Cakes with Orange Apricot Marmalade

On the 5th of March was one of my close friend's birthday and incidentally, I totally forgot about it! Sometime that afternoon, my pet friend, Facebook reminded me! I was then wondering what do I do for her. My basic instincts took over and I decided to bake! I have dried and powdered orange rind just for such special occasions! I love oranges and since they are so in season now, I decided to make orange cup cakes!

And yes when I do things impromptu, they always turn out delicious or the best! So here it is, I guess my best batch of cupcakes ever!

For this you will need -

200 gms - Flour
200 gms - Sugar
1 1/2 tspn - Baking Powder
110 gms - Unsalted Butter
1/4 tspn - Salt (If using salted butter, omit this)
2 Nos - Eggs
1 full pod - Vanilla (If you don't have this, 1 tspn - Vanilla Extract)
120 ml - Yogurt
3 tspns - Powdered Orange Rind
Juice of half an orange

Orange- Apricot Marmalade for filling


Method -

Ensure all the ingredients are at room temperature.
In a bowl, take the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (if using). Mix well with a wire whisk. Now add the butter and beat well till it is completely incorporated. Now add the eggs, one by one and beat each time. Add the vanilla extract/pure vanilla, orange rind and juice of orange. Mix with wire whisk. Finally add the yogurt and beat for a couple of minutes till it forms an airy cake mixture.

Pour this into cup molds lined with paper cups. Make sure you fill only half or two thirds of the paper cup, not more than that.

This mixture makes about 15 cup cakes. Bake at 180 deg C for 20 - 25 minutes. A fork inserted should come out with a few crumbs of cake, this means they are ready. These cup cakes don't actually forma golden brown top, so don't wait for that too happen. If you do, you may end up with burnt cakes.
Take them out and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Then scoop out the center of the cup cakes.

I had this incredibly divine Sarabeth's orange apricot marmalade. It is simply the best! If you can get it from New York, please do. Thanks to my brother, I had it! Now pour 2 tspns of the marmalade in the center and voila, you have with you a moist gooey centered delicious cup cake!

You can substitute with any other marmalade or jam or even plain cream with orange rind in it!

Chicken Chettinad

Chettinad cuisine originates from a region in the state of Tamil Nadu in the south of India. These people are known to ge great tradesmen and with their trade, their food travelled. Today, it is considered to be one of the spiciest and earthiest of cuisines. They use a variety of spices and specialise in non-vegetarian cooking.

I got this recipe from a TV travel show, where the host actually went to one of the tiny restaurants in the Chettinad region and got the recipe from the chef himself. I guess this is as authentic as it gets until someday I meet a chef from that region and check if indeed this is authentic :)

For this you will need -

250 gms - Chicken (It should be with bone, but here I've used bonelss as that's what I had that day!)
1/2 inch - Ginger
5 pods - Garlic
3-4 nos - Red Chillies
1 tspn - Fennel Seeds
1 tspn - Cumin Seeds
2 tspn - Black Pepper Seeds  (Add depending on how spicy you want it to be)
2-3 - Cloves (Add depending on how spicy you want it to be)
1 inch - Cinnamon Stick
1 tspn - Cumin Seeds (Into the oil)
2 nos - Onions (Chopped fine)
5-6 nos - Curry Leaves
1 no - Tomato (Chopped fine)
1 tspn - Turmeric Powder
2 tbspn - Oil
Salt as per your taste


Method -

Wash the chicken thoroughly and keep aside.

Grind all the ingredients from ginger to cinnamon to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the cumin seeds and then the curry leaves. Now add the chopped onions and allow to turn golden brown. Then add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes. Then add the chopped tomato and the turmeric powder. Fry till the tomato softens and then add the salt. Now add the chicken pieces one by one and allow the masala to coat each of them. Fry for 4-5 minutes and then add hot water till you get a gravy like consistency. Close and cook till chicken is tender. Garnish with coriander and serve.

The leftover, if at all, can be used as a delicious pizza topping! That's what I did!

 

C3 Cake with a surprise!

Ha ha! Wondering what three Cs have I used?! Well, Carrot (Yes it is), Coconut and Chocolate! And the surprise, read below! Some very different ingredients but turns out to be one delicious thingummy :)

For this you will need -

3 Nos - Eggs
200 gm - Flour
100 gms - Dessicated Coconut
150 gms - Sugar
5 Tbspns - Oil ( Any odourless one)
150 gms - Grated Carrot
50 ml - Milk
1 tspn - Vanilla Extract
1 tspn - Baking Soda
100 gms - Dark Chocolate (Cut into big cubes/chunks)

Method -

Grease the cake tin and sprinkle flour all over. Keep aside.

Take the eggs in a bowl. And whisk them well. Now add the sugar and oil. Beat this for a minute. Now add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate, one by one and keep on mixing, till you get a batter that looks like this.

 

 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Now press the chunks of chocolate into the batter with a spoon at various places. Basically scatter it and press enough so they are hidden inside. So when the cake bakes you will have melted chocolate surprise in your mouth!!

 

Bake this in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 30 mins or till a fork inserted comes out clean.
If you want dust with dessicated coconut and icing sugar. I didn't do that, didn't have time that day. Had to rush this to a friend's place, so took it straight out of the oven and dashed to the car!

All the photos of the baked cake are taken by my friend Manogna Reddy. Click to see more great pictures from her!