December Decoration

I can't believe the temperatures in this December. It is 11 Degrees C in London. I found some lovely flowers on the road side..... thought to change their location (my home)

Chapathi / Roti in milk

During the christmas holidays, I was feeling very lazy to prepare the meal in the morning. I was pondering about the ideas to escape from cooking. It just clicked me that I had some chapathis left over from last night meal.

Simplly tear 1 or 2 chapathi / roti into bite size pieces and soak them in warm milk for about 5 to 10 minutes. Just before eating, add some honey and nuts of your choice. Adding honey, dry grapes and nuts will enhance the nutrients. Not only that, they will draw the attention of those fussy eaters as well.

This is a nice substitute for cereals. A healthy breakfast too. Though the ready made cereals are branded as healthy, there are loads of hidden sugars and enormous calories which we ignore them unknowingly.

vankaaya Pachipulusu / Roasted Egg plant stew

This is a special variety of rasam / stew prepared especially in Andhra pradesh. Roasted and mashed brinjals are combined with raw tamarind, jaggery, chopped onions, green chillis and seasoned with aromatic spices which intensifies the flavor. This is best served with rice.

Ingredients:

Tender eggplants - 4

Oil – 2 tbsp

Onion - 1 chopped

Green chili - 2

Tamarind - 2 lemon sizes (soak it in hot water and remove the pulp)

Jagerry / sugar - 1 tsp

Salt

For seasoning -

Curry leaves - 2 strings

Mustard + Cumin - 1 tsp

Red chili - 1 or 2

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Turmeric - 1 pinch

Method:

Smear the eggplants with oil, then place them on the fire and roast them till they are charred. If you don't have gas stove then you can roast them in a preheated oven.

Remove the eggplants from the fire and allow them to cool a little bit.

Take the pulp into a bowl and mash thoroughly.

Roasted and mashed eggplant

Now to the mashed egg plant add chopped onion, chopped green chili, jaggery / sugar and the tamarind pulp. Add salt and 2 cups of water to this and stir every thing.

For the seasoning, heat a small pan with 1 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot enough add mustard , cumin and stir for a second. Add curry leaves and the red chili along with hing / asafoetida and turmeric which gives the nice aroma to the stew. Turn off the heat and quickly add the seasoning to the rasam / stew.

Note: Those who can't eat the raw onion, can stirr the chopped onion along with the seasoning, which will reduce the rawness.

Boondhi curry

I have learned this from one of my friend's mom. Boondhi curry is a sort of chewy side dish and acts as a best companion for rice. Nothing is quicker than this curry. I have added a bit of Ginger Garlic paste to give the curry flavour to the recipe.

Boondhi curry

Boondhi – 1 cup
1 large Onion – Chopped
2-3 Green chilli – Chopped
Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp
Cashew nuts – 10 to 15
Oil
Coriander chopped – 1 tbsp

Plain boondhi, chopped onion, chopped green chili and cashews

Method:
Heat a pan with 2 spoons of oil. When it is hot enough, add the cashew nuts. Roast them slightly and add chopped onion, green chilli and ginger garlic paste.

Fry every thing until the onion turns colour. Add the boondhi , stir every thing and cover it with lid.

Allow the boondhi to absorb all the flavours and get semi soft.

Daal with Drumstick leaves / Munagaaku pappu

No greens area exceptional to prepare daal. Drumstick leaves is one among them which has got lots of nutritional values. Also mentioned by the Scientists as potential life saver. The leaves are high in protein and contain essential amino acids and also Vitamin A and C. So why not add these nutrients to our meal.

Ingredients:
Toor Daal – 1 cup
Drumstick leaves – 1 cup
Tomato – 2 large
Green chili – 6-8 (break them into small pieces)
Onion – 1 chopped
Turmeric
Salt
Tamarind – ½ lemon size. Soak in hot water.

For Seasoning
Oil – 1 tbsp
Garlic pods – 2 to 3
Mustard + Cumin – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds roughly ground– 2 tsp
Curry leaves
Coriander
Red Chili – 1 or 2

Drumstick leaves and Toor daal

Method:

Wash and pressure cook / boil toor daal, drumstick leaves, green chili and tomatoes by adding pinch of turmeric.

When the daal is cooked thoroughly and is soft, add tamarind puree and salt and mash the daal mixture.

Heat a sauce pan with oil and do the seasonings by adding red chili, pounded garlic pods, curry leaves, mustard + cumin and ground coriander seeds.

When the mustard starts spattering, add chopped onions and fry them until they become transparent.

Add the daal mixture to the seasoning and add chopped coriander, close the lid and cook the daal for another 5 minutes on low flame and turn of the heat.

Daal is served with warm rice.

Cheese Biscuits

I had some left over soft cheese with herbs which no one wants to have it. Quickly thought of making the cheese biscuits. So simple to make and it takes just few minutes .

Cheese biscuits in duckling and butterfly shapes for the little ones

Ingredients:

Plain flour – 1 cup 

Soft cheese – 3 tbsp 

Salt ( Make sure to add very little as cheese might contain traces of salt ) 

Baking soda – 1 large pinch

Method: 

Add salt and baking soda to the flour and mix thoroughly. Now fold the soft cheese into the flour and mix it well. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of water if required and make a soft dough. Cover the dough and keep it aside for 10 minutes . 

Pre-heat the oven Gas mark – 4 

Roll the dough into thin disc, poke it with fork and make desired shapes or simply cut into diamonds or squares. 

The rolled dough has been cut into diamonds

Spread them on a baking tray and bake for 7 to 10 minutes or till they change the colour and gets crispy. Turn them once in between.

Cheese biscuits

khadi Pakode

Khadis are smooth, yoghurt based dishes served with rice. Either yogurt or buttermilk is whisked with gram flour / basin and then simmered into a creamy sauce with the combination of fritters. I have prepared this with moong daal fritters Khadis are delicious and can be served warm or chilled. 

Fritters in creamy yoghurt sauce

Ingredients:

Yoghurt - 1 cup

Gram flour/Basin - 2 tbsp

Asafoetida / Hing - 1 pinch

Cumin, Mustard, Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp each

Dry chili - 1 or 2

Curry leaves - 1 string

Green chili paste - 1 tsp

Salt

Pakode / Fritters of any variety

Method:

Take a deep pan and pour yoghurt. Add gram flour and mix well with a whisk. Add salt and green chilli paste. Whisk well adding 2 cups of water. Cook on low heat,  stirring continuously for five minutes. Continue to boil for another five to eight minutes.

Heat oil in a small pan for seasoning. Add asafoetida, cumin seeds, red chilli, mustard, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Sauté till cumin seeds start changing colour. Add the seasoning to the yoghurt mixture.

Add the pakodas just before serving, in order to retain the crispiness. Serve this warm rice.