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!