Tomato & Carrot Soup

Craving for that creamy tomato soup on a chilly afternoon with some toasted bread has become a common practice for me. After trying all the canned soups and the local grocery stores that have freshly made soup, still did not reduce my craving for a good homemade soup from scratch. Then I went to India and the cook in my sister–in-law’s house made the most amazing tomato soup I’ve had so far. So, got the recipe and couldn’t believe some of the most simplistic recipes are the tastiest too!

I used the pressure cooker for this recipe. If you do not have a pressure cooker, you could use a large pan, close the lid while cooking.

Here we go… I guarantee you after you try this one; you would not touch those canned soups again.

Ingredients:

Tomato (ripe) – 10
Carrot (large) – 3
Garlic     – 10 pods
Ginger – 2 tsps chopped
Pepper – 2 – 3 tsps
Sugar – 3 tsps
Salt – 2 tsps
Corn flour – 1 tsp

Method:

1. Cut tomatoes, carrots, garlic & ginger. Add all the vegetables in a pressure cooker. Add pepper, salt & sugar. If the tomatoes are not juicy, add a cup of water and close the lid and pressure cook.
2. After cooking the tomatoes and carrots, let it cool. Grind the veggies in a mixer grinder and strain the mixture to catch the tomato skin.
3. Mix the corn flour to half a cup of water and add that to the tomato-carrot mixture.
4. Let it come to a boil and shut of the heat.
5. Taste the soup and adjust the salt/ pepper according to taste.

Serve the soup with croutons, and a grilled cheese sandwich. Yumm…. Do leave your comment after you try this dish.

Cilantro, Carrot & Onion Tortillas (Parathas)

Have you recently visited Whole Foods or Trader Joes? All the frozen parathas are now available in most of the American grocery stores. These have been real saviors after a long day of work. But when you turn the label to read the content and the nutrition table, it is shocking to see how much of fat is packed in all these frozen parathas. So, I started freezing my own parathas. I typically do them during the weekends and they are so handy during the week days. In fact, weekend cooking has become a practice and my freezer is filled up every weekend. Anyways, coming back to parathas, here are three easy recipes that you can make ahead and freeze.

Cilantro Paratha:

Atta (unbleached wheat flour) – 2 cups
Cilantro – 1 bunch finely chopped
Mint – 4 sprigs finely chopped
Onion – 1 medium size finely chopped
Green chilies – 4 finely chopped
Salt – 1 tsp
Chili Powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Oil – couple of drops for every paratha
Water – ½ cup

Onion Paratha:

Atta (unbleached wheat flour) – 2 cups
Onion – 2 medium size finely chopped
Cilantro – 2 tsps finely chopped
Green chilies – 4 finely chopped
Salt – 1 tsp
Chili Powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Oil – couple of drops for every paratha
Water – ½ cup

Carrot Paratha:

Atta (unbleached wheat flour) – 2 cups
Carrot – 2 large finely grated
Onion – 1 medium size finely chopped
Cilantro – 2 tsps finely chopped
Green chilies – 4 finely chopped
Salt – 1 tsp
Chili Powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Oil – couple of drops for every paratha
Water – ½ cup

Method: (The method is the same for all the three parathas)

1. Mix all dry ingredients & the veggies for each of the parathas in separate bowls. Mix all together, add water and knead into a soft dough. Let it stand for an hour.
2. Heat a griddle/ pan
3. Make the dough into small balls and flatten it using a rolling pin.
4. Place it on the hot griddle and cook with a drop of oil spread on the paratha.
5. Let it cool a bit and make a pack of five or ten paratha using aluminum foil.

You can either eat the parathas fresh with a side dish or you could freeze it like me for the rest of the week’s use. Enjoy hot, homemade parathas devoid of all the extra fat and eat guilt free. Do drop your comments after you try out the parathas.

Fire roasted garlic and onion in lentil & cabbage broth

The title sounds sooooooooooooo yummy! Doesn’t it? Actually this dish is indeed very tasty. It’s a cold Saturday, December morning when you feel like having one of those yummy hot stew kinda dish that will warm up your tummy and soul.

This is an age old dish called Kadan in Maharashtra which is also very similar to the bassaru in  Karnataka. The twist is in the fire roasting of the garlic & the onion. This process caramelize the sugars in the garlic & onion and it lends such a wonderful smoked taste it is just awesome.

Here is how you can make it:

Ingredients:

Onion (large) – 1 fire roasted
Onion (large) – finely chopped
Garlic -1 whole fire roasted
Cabbage – 1 chopped or grated
Tomato – 1 large
Ginger – 1 tsp chopped fine
Green chillies – 6 – 8 slit
Coriander – 1 small bunch finely chopped
Grated coconut or desiccated coconut – 2 tsps
Thuvar Dal (yellow lentil) – 1 cup
Jeera (cumin) – 2 tsps
Pepper – 1 tsp
Sambhar powder – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

For Grinding:

Cooked dal
1 fire roasted onion
1 whole fire roasted garlic
Tomato
Ginger
Half of the chopped coriander
Jeera
Pepper
Sambhar powder

For Seasoning:

Oil – 2tsps
Mustard seeds – 2tsps
Urud dal – 2 tsps
Red chillies – 5-6
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Method:

1. Fire roast the whole garlic and the onion. If you have an electric stove, you can bake them in the oven. Once roasted, remove the skin. You could just squeeze out the pulp.
2. In a large pan wash the dal and cook it in 4 cups of water. When it is half boiled add the chopped cabbage. Add some more water if required. Shut off the heat when the cabbage is fully cooked but still crunchy.
3. The cabbage will be afloat on top of the pan. Remove the cabbage. It’s ok if you get a little bit of dal along with the cabbage.
4. Strain the remaining dal and set the water in a stock pot.
5. Grind all the ingredients listed under “For grinding”. Pour the ground mixture into the stock pot and mix it well. Season this by heating 1 tsp of oil and mustard, 3 red chilies and curry leaves.
6. Add salt and let it boil for 7- 10 mins.
7. In another pan, add 1 tsp of oil and add 1 tsp of mustard seeds, urad dal, 3 red chillies, and a sprig of curry leaves. Add the cabbage, green chilies, salt and mix it all together. Let it cook for 3 – 5 mins. Add the grated coconut and sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy the Kadan and the cabbage curry with hot rice. Do leave a comment after you try this recipe.

Mung Bean Crepe/ Mung Dosa/ Pesarattu/ Pachai Payaru Dosai

Mung bean is one of the most used lentils in the Indian & Chinese cuisine. Because of its detoxifying quality, it is used in various Ayurvedic diets. Mung bean is also rich in nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, fibers, minerals, vitamins and lipids, among others. Mung bean flour is extensively used in skin care and it is effectively used in treating acne and blackheads. A monthly regimen of a spoon full of mung flour mixed with a spoon full of turmeric, milk and used as a face mask keeps your skin clean, smooth and supple.

 Mung Bean crepe recipe (makes 12 – 15 crepes)

Ingredients:

Mung beans – 1 cup

Rice – 2 tbsps

Ginger – 1 tsp coarsely chopped

Salt – 2 tsps

Sugar – 1 tsps

 For topping:

Onion – 1 finely chopped

Cilantro – ½ cup finely chopped

Green chillies – 5-6 finely chopped

(mix all together)

 Oil  – ¼ cup

 Method:

1. Soak mung and rice in warm water for an hour and grind it in a food processor into a thick batter (similar to crepe batter consistency)
2. Heat a skillet, pour a spoonful at the center of the skillet and spread it to a circular shape.
3. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil around the crepe.
4. Sprinkle the toppings on the crepe and fold and slowly remove from the skillet

 Serve the crepes with green chutney and enjoy a quiet evening with family.

Quinoa (Kin – Wa) – Incas called it as “Mother of all grains”

Grown in the Andes Mountains in South America, quinoa is one of the oldest seeds known to the mankind that was consumed as food. Quinoa is stocked with life-sustaining nutrients all across the board, including all eight essential amino acids. There are other highly beneficial compounds, vitamins and minerals in this food that the Incas reverently called “chisaya mama” (mother of all grains). Quinoa leaves are also used in the South American cooking very similar to spinach.

 I got introduced to Quinoa only recently at a Mexican store. Quinoa is pronounced as “Kinwa”. Quinoa is usually thought of as a grain but it is actually the seed. After reading a lot about it I realized that as a vegetarian Quinoa may as well be part of my essential ingredients in my food preparation. So, the dilemma was how to incorporate it into my typically Indian vegetarian cooking regimen. Have tried a few and every single time it worked. You can toast, sprout, steam and grind and it never goes wrong.

You can cook quinoa very similar to cooking rice. I toast the seeds first before cooking as it brings out the subtle and divine nutty flavor of the seeds. Here is a quick and easy quinoa salad I made the other day.

Ingredients:

Quinoa – 1 cup

Carrots – 3 grated

Onion – 1 large finely chopped

Green peppers (capsicum) – 1 large finely cut

Green chilies – 3-4 slit (according to the level of heat you can take)

Garbanzo beans – 1 can

Cilantro – ½ cup chopped

Lemon – 1 large squeezed

Raisins – ½ cup soaked in hot water

Almonds – ¼ cup chopped

Salt – according to taste

 Method:

1. Dry toast the quinoa and add 2 cups of water and cook like the way you would cook rice. You can also cook in a pressure cooker or a rice cooker. When you see the ring-shaped sprouts popping out, you’ll know the quinoa is almost ready. Stir the quinoa so all the water gets absorbed. Cool to room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, mix all the other ingredients and add the cooled quinoa.
3. You can serve the salad at room temperature or you can make the salad ahead of time, chill in the refrigerator and serve.

 

This is such a crowd pleaser and tastes out of this world!  You can also mix other vegetables such as cauliflower, spinach, broccoli to this salad. Try it and pls. drop your comments on this blog.

SSSSSSpicy Grilled Egg Plant Chutney (Brinjal/ Aubergine/ Kathrikka/ Baingan)

It’s one of those occasions when you send hubby to buy vegetables, you land with three HUGE egg plants! What do I do with so many of them? Typically I would have done Baingan burta. This time I tried a modified version of my friend Kiran’s chutney. Typically she doesn’t grill but I did and it was delicious.  I did my own combination and have to chronicle it before I forget! This is very easy to make, stores well and will come handy during one of those busy times.

Ingredients:

 Egg Plant – 2 large

Tomato – 1

Green chillies – 12

Garlic – 1 pod

 

To fry:

Oil – 1 tsp

White Til – 3 tsps

Urad dal – 4 tsps

Cumin (Jeera) – 1 tsp

Dried red chillies – 6 – 8

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Asafetida – 1 pinch

 

To grind:

Cilantro – 1 bunch

Tamarind – a small piece

Salt – 2 tsps

 

Seasoning:

Onion – 1 finely cut

Oil – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

 Method:

1. Wash the egg plant and tap it dry. Roast the eggplant on a cook top placing it directly on the flames. Turn and cook the egg plant on all sides till the skin is completely charred and the inner flesh becomes soft.  Let it cool and remove the skin and mash the flesh and keep it aside.
2. Heat a pan and add oil and the rest of the ingredients given under “To fry”. Fry till the dal turns golden in color. Now add  the diced tomatoes, fry for a couple of minutes and add the mashed egg plant and mix it all together and cook for five minutes.  Let it cool .
3. Microwave the tamarind in a little water in a cup.
4. Now, add all the ingredients, the cooked mixture, cilantro and salt and grind it coarsely. Do not grind it fine. Collect the ground chutney into a air tight container.
5. Add the raw onions to the ground chutney.
6. Heat the oil and add mustard seeds and urad dal. Let the mustard splutter and add it to the chutney and mix well.
7. Taste the chutney and add a little salt according to your taste.

It is delicious with rice, rotis or as a spread on bread.  You can make a big batch and use them in small quantities as required. It stays fresh  for more than 2 weeks if you keep it in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. If you do the big batch, do not add the onions and seasoning. Do that just before you serve for the quantity you plan to use.

Steamed Vermicelli

Wish you all a very happy New Year! Few months have passed by since I penned a blog and decided to get back on track. Shall we say it’s one of my New Year resolutions! Let me see how much I can keep up. Another resolution I am trying to hold on to is low levels of fat and carbs in my cooking. I believe I’ve done pretty well so far. Here is a neat recipe with wheat vermicelli and very small amount of oil. It tastes yummy and family loves it. What else can I ask for right? Typically we make a dish called “upma” and when vermicelli is used, in order to keep them separated we use extra oil. This time, I boiled the vermicelli in water like we do pasta and seasoned with vegetables. This helped in the use of very little amount of oil without compromising on the taste.

Steamed Vermicelli

Ingredients:

1. Whole wheat vermicelli – 1 packet
2. Onion – 1 large finely chopped
3. Green chilies – 4-5 slit ( according to your taste)
4. Ginger – 1 tsp finely chopped
5. Mixed veggies – 1 cup (I used peas, carrots & beans)
6. Lemon juice – 1 lemon
7. Salt – according to taste
8. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

 For seasoning:

1. Oil – 2tsps
2. Mustard – 1 tsp
3. Urud dal – 1 tsp
4. Cashews – 5-6
5. Curry leaves – 1 sprig
6. Asafetida – 1 small piece

Method:

In a large pot bring water to boil and add the vermicelli. Cook till al dente. Strain the vermicelli under cold water and add half tsp oil and mix well. This will help vermicelli not to stick together.

1. In a pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard and let it splutter. Add the rest of the seasoning ingredients.
2. Now add the onions, green chillies and ginger. Fry till onions turn translucent. Add the vegetables, salt & turmeric and cook till the vegetables are soft. Don’t overcook. Switch off the stove.
3. Now add the vermicelli and the lemon juice and mix well.  Taste and add salt if needed.

This dish is excellent for snacking as well as a light dinner. Healthy, tasty and less than 30 mins to prepare. Enjoy and pls. leave a comment on my blog after trying the dish.

Baby Potato Fry – Absolutely divine

It’s happy times at home! My son is home for a complete two months this summer after FOUR years! He is home to do a summer internship with a local company in Pittsburgh.  Our dinner this evening was the humble rice and sambhar (vegetable stew) and baby potato fry. This is a perfect combination for a quiet evening and one of my son’s favorites.

Potatoes are a good source of complex carbohydrates, vitamin C and dietary fiber and supply good amounts of potassium, magnesium, niacin and thiamine. Their reputation for being fattening is quite undeserved. Its not the potatoes which are at fault, but the way they are cooked. Many people say that the skin of the potato contains most of the nutrients. This isn’t entirely true. While the skin is a good source of fiber and vitamin C, containing about 20 percent of the recommended daily allowances for these nutrients, the majority of the potato’s nutrients are found in the pulp. You can almost double your intake of most nutrients when you eat both the pulp and the skin of a potato. There are more than 5,000 known varieties of potatoes.

Baby Potato Fry

Ingredients:

1. Baby Potatoes – 15-20
2. Rice flour – 1 tbsp
3. Besan ( Chick pea flour) – 1 tbsp
4. Kashmir Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
5. Salt – 2 tsp (adjust according to taste)

For seasoning:

1. Oil – 1 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds – 2 tsps
3. Urad dal – 2 tsps
4. Curry Leaves – 5-6 sprigs
5. Asafetida – a small pinch

Method:

1. Boil the potatos for 5-7 mins. Do not let the potatoes cook fully as it will break the potatoes.
2. In a large pan mix the rice flour, besan, Kashmir chilli powder and salt and keep it aside.
3. Peel the skin of the potatoes and mix the potaoes and the dry ingredients together. Make sure to coat all the potatoes with the dry ingredients.
4. Heat a large pan add the oil. Once the oil heats up, add all the seasoning ingredients.
5. Now add the coated potatoes and cook under medium heat till all the potaoes are cooked and turns golden brown in color. We eat with our eyes too and the consistency and colr makes the entire dish very appetizing.

Enjoy this simple dish and do post your comments.

Veggie version of Spaghetti & Meat balls

My meat eating friends can talk for hours on their favorite spaghetti & meat balls which made me do this veggie version.  A thing or two I learned in the process is this dish is super freezer friendly, easy to make and delicious! Of course, this is not for a day when you want those squeaky clean low carb/ low fat diet days. This can be a safe bet when you want to indulge yourself once in a while. It is indeed high in protiens due to the use of the vegetables and soya granules. You can make the veggieballs in large batches and store it in your freezer.

Spaghetti & Veggie Balls

Ingredients:

For the Spaghetti:

Spaghetti – 1 pack (use whole wheat spaghetti for a healthier option)

For the Sauce:

1. Pasta Sauce – 1 bottle (Tomato & Basil is a good option)

 For the veggieballs:

1. Soya Granules – 1 cup (I used Nutrela Soya granules available in Indian stores)
2. Beasn (Gram flour) – 1 tbsp
3. Onion – 1 large finely chopped
4. Garlic – 3-5 pods finely chopped
5. Ginger – 2 tsps finely grated
6. Potatoes – 1 cup boiled & mashed
7. Mixed Vegetables – 1 cup (peas, carrots, beans) boiled
8. Green chilies – 3-4
9. Cashews – 2 tsps roughly chopped
10. Cilantro – 1 tbsp finely chopped
11. Cumin powder – 2 tsps
12. Coriander powder – 2 tsps
13. Garam masala – 1 tsp (available in Indian stores)
14. Bread crumbs – 1 cup
15. Salt according to taste
16. Oil – ½ cup

Method:

1. Bring to boil 4-5 cups of water in a large sauce pan. Add a tsp salt and add the soya granules. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Strain the granules. Squeeze any excess water and keep it aside.
2. In a mixing bowl add the soya granules and all the ingredients except the bread crumbs and oil. Mix them all together and make lemon sized balls.
3. Coat the balls with bread crumbs and shallow fry them over medium heat.
4. Bring Pasta Sauce to a boil over medium-high heat in a saucepan. Gently stir in the cooked veggieballs. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until the pasta sauce and the veggieballs are all well mixed.
5. Serve over hot spaghetti and garnish with parmesan cheese – optional.

Cauliflower Burji

Cauliflower in my cooking always had a limited use as I typically added the vegetable when doing vegetable biryani or a mixed vegetable curry. I came across the cauliflower burji recently and loved it. With some alterations and additions to the dish, it was a yummy treat with rotis (Indian tortillas).

Cauliflower is low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate, water and vitamin C, possessing a very high nutritional density. Low carb dieters can use cauliflower as a good substitute for potatoes as they can produce a similar texture or mouth feel, without the starch of potatoes.

Here is the recipe for Cauliflower Burji:

Cauliflower Burji

Ingredients:

1. Cauliflower – 1 cut finely cut or grated
2. Carrot – 4 grated
3. Onion – 1 large finely cut
4. Ginger – 1 large piece grated
5. Green chilies –  4-5 (adjust according to your taste)
6. Peas – 1 cup (optional)
7. Salt – 2 tsps
8. Turmeric – 1 tsp

For Seasoning:

1. Oil – 2 tsps
2. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
3. Cumin (jeera) – 1 tsp
4. Channa dal – 1 tsp
5. Urud dal – 1tsp
6. Asafetida – a small pinch
7. Curry leaves – 3-4 sprigs

For garnishing:

1. Lemon juice  of 1 lemon
2. Cilantro – ¼ cup

Method:

1. Heat  a wok or a pan. Add oil and the ingredients for seasoning. Let the mustard splutter.
2. Add the ginger and green chilies to the seasoning. Add onions and the rest of the grated vegetables and the peas.
3. Mix all the ingredients and add the salt. Let it cook for around five to seven minutes under medium flame. No need to add water. The water in teh vegetables will aid in the cooking process.
4. Add the lemon juice and cilantro and mix it all together.

Serve the hot burji with rotis, naans, rice or parathas. I am sure you will love this simple dish and it will become a staple in your home cooked lunches and dinners.