Colorful Vegetable rice - Cleaning up the fridge recipe

Pin It Now! I looked at my fridge on Thursday evening and found 1/2 red and green peppers, 1/2 a packet of carrots and 1 bunch of spring onions. Wondering what could I possibly do with such half souls.. huh!
Without really having much expectations I got to work. After all a supper had to be made. To my surprise the rice turned out rather colorful and looked good even in our lunchboxes the next day.




Recipe
=====
2 cups basmati rice (cooked so that it is somewhat dry and not mushy)
carrots shredded
1 bunch spring onions
1 cup red, green, yellow bell pepper finely shredded
cabbage shredded

Grind to a powder the foll:
1 dry red chilli (add more for a spicy version)
2 tbsp coconut
1 tbsp sesame seeds

oil to fry
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp biryani masala(optional)
lemon juice
sugar
salt to taste

Procedure
1. In 2 tbsp of oil splutter the cumin. Add curry leaves if on hand
2. Add the vegetbles and saute till the vegetables are tender.
3. Add the chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and all the masalas.
4. Add salt to taste. Also add the dry masala
5. Taste and adjust the spice level.
6. Serve with raita and papad. OR Pack in lunch box with some chips and/ cake.
7. Feel free to adjust the amount of veggies and the rice.

Colorful and flavorful as this rice is, its surely appealing to both adults and kids alike.

Sending this Colorful rice to CFK-LunchBoxes hosted by Neha of Easy and Tasty Recipes and started by Sharmi of Neivedyam. Thanks for hosting this event. Its a great idea !

Chole Quesadillas for the Mexican Fiesta

Pin It Now! I love creating fusion food. Videsi food in Indian-ishtle. So when I read the theme of this month's mingle I knew had to create something.
Off late I have come to realize that mexican food is very much versatile.In fact I look upon it as a process rather than stick with the same ingredients. Tortillas with a spicy filling and a crunchy salsa topped with a cheese form a hearty Quesadillas for me.
This week I made Chole Quesadillas with a leftover chickpea curry. They were delicious and finished in no time. They are equally yummy with potato sabzi or some leftover pav-bhaji.

Chole Quesadillas
=============

1 cup chickpeas curry (chole)
1 cup homemade sala (onion,tomatoes,cilantro,salt,lemon juice,chilli powder/chat masala,red pepper(optional))
1 cup shredded cheese (I used mozarella but any other variety should be fine)
4 tortillas

1. Mash the chickpeas in the curry so that they become paste. Also ensure that the curry is not very thin. If so heat it for 4-5 min in microwave so that it thickens and becomes a paste.
2. Place 1 tortilla on a pan. When its done on 1 side reverse it.
3. Now spread the thickened chole curry on the tortilla.Top with salsa.


4.Now spread the cheese.
5.Top with another tortilla.

At this point the first tortilla would have browned a bit so carefully turn it so that the second tortilla cooks. When the tortillas have cooked remove them from the pan.
Cut and serve as is or with ketchup/chutney.


This goes to the Monthy Mingle - Mexican Fiesta started by Meeta of WFLH and hosted by the Jenny of All things Edible. Thank you both for starting this virtual mingle. I am very excited to participate in this event.

Rava Idly courtesy 365days of Vegetarian

Pin It Now!

My first day at office after a vacation of 3 months. Past 3 months I experienced all the emotions from extreme joy,fatigue to deep disturbence. After all having a baby is no casual affair. But all in all at the end its immensly satisfying.
Now that my little one is here I am on an envdevour to cook and eat healthy but simple foods.
I found this recipe for rava idli on 365 days of Pure Vegetarian and I simply loved it. V loved too.
He was like "how colorful is this !!"

I followed the recipe as given by the lovely Priya. I also added green and red bell pepper as I had it on hand and I omitted it the potato. V also said that the tadka with the dals gave the idlis a nice crunch.

Here are my results :

They will surely be a regular in my house. What better way to have sooji than this ?
Thank you Priya for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Tomato Gravy Two Times Two times Part 2...

Pin It Now! Black Eyed Peas and Spinach Curry
=========================

At first glance this might seem a weird combination. But it works out well. The fiber rich black eyed peas and calcium in spinach make a wonderful combination health wise and taste great too.
The inspiration of this recipe was from the Palak Chana recipe posted by Nupur of One Hot Stove. I did not have chana on hand so i tried it with black eyed peas. A cook's instinct told me it will work.. (ahem ahem)... :)



Ingredients
========

2-3 tomato gravy paste
1 cup black eyed peas cooked till done
1 cup spinach , cut and washed
1-2 tbsp chole masala
1-2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
oil to fry

1. Heat oil in pan and add mustard seeds.
2. Add the tomato gravy paste and fry for 2-3 min till oil separates.
3. Now add the chopped spinach and fry till spinach wilts.
4. Now add the black eyed peas and fry for 1 min.
5. Add the chole masala and chilli powder.
6. Adjust consisitency by adding water.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Let it boil and garnish with cilantro.

Tomato Gravy Two Times Two Times......

Pin It Now! When V asked me to make something spicy this Sunday I realized that it had been a while since we had some spicy curries. His resolution to eat healthy foods required a break :-)
On other such occasions I would pull out packet of readymade curry pastes put in some coconut milk and slide in chiken pieces. But I did not have any of these at hand today. Also V recently removed coconut milk from his diet realizing it being high in cholesterol.
I came up with the following recipe for the gravy. It turned out that I made 2-3 times the paste required for my curry. But I found this paste to be very versatile and I could easily use it for another curry next day.

Tomato Gravy Paste
===============
1/2 finely chopped onion
2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
8-10 cashews
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp coconut fresh/dry
1 tbsp coriander powder
3 cloves of garlic
1 inch ginger
1 tbsp paprika/kashmiri red chilli powder
Handful of cilantro.
1 tbsp oil

Fry all the ingredient in hot oil for 5-6 minutes. The mixture should become as dry as possible. Make into a paste when cooled. Keep aside.

Once this paste was ready the curry was really simple.

Chicken Curry ( My style)
===================



2-3 tbsp curry paste (recipe above)
5-6 curry leaves
1-2 dried red chillies
8-10 pieces of chicken pieces( marinated in salt, turmeric and chilli powder)
1-2 tbsp chilli powder (more/less depending on spice level)
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

1. Heat oil in pan.Splutter the curry leaves and dried red chillies. Add the chilli powder.
2. Add the chicken pieces and fry for a minute.
3. Now add the curry paste and fry for 3-4 minutes till the oil separates. At this point if the paste is too thick then it will take longer for the oil to separate.
4.Then add water to adjust the consistency.
5.Add salt to taste. Adjust spice level.

At this point I always allow my curries to boil and then taste them. Mine felt a tad spicy for V so added some lemon juice and 1/2 tbsp sugar. Garnish with some extra cilantro.
I served it with some in-store baked tortillas. Gone are my days of fresh rotis aka phulkas.Ahh......... With a little one around one has to settle for some outside help...

Next is another recipe using the paste made in this recipe.

Upwas (Fast) Thali

Pin It Now! Upwas Thali as name suggests contains items specially made for fasts. My upwas thali has varayiche tandul (samo/moraiyo/rice), danyachi amti and lime pickle. Danyachi amti(Peanut curry) is hot and sweet and accompanies very well with the rice.



Varayiche Tandul
===============
1 cup samo moraiyo
3-4 cups hot water
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
coriander to garnish
1 tbsp ghee

1. Heat the ghee in pan and splutter the cumin. Add samo and fry for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add 2 cups water and let it boil.
3. The samo will asborb water and will fluff up and become soft.
4. If it starts to dry up add more water.
5. Once cooked simmer and cover with lid and let water evaporate.
6. Server with danyachi amti (recipe below).


Danyachi amti (Peanut Curry)
============
5 tbsp peanut powder
1 tbsp tamrind paste
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp ghee
salt to taste
1 green chilli
coriander to garnish
4-5 cups water

1. Make a thick paste of peanut powder and keep aside.
2. In pan take ghee and splutter the cumin
3. Add green chillies and fry for 2 mins
4. Now add peanut paste.Add water if paste becomes too thick
5. Add salt, sugar and tamarind paste.
6. Adjust consistency by adding more water if required.
7. Let it boil and then garnish with coriander.
8. Serve with varayiche tandul.

This is a complete upwas (fast) meal in itself. We can serve with lime pickle that is also made specially for fasts.
This is my entry for the JFI-Peanuts event started by Indira(themahanandi.org).

This month's event is hosted by the lovely Pavani of Cook's Hideout. Here is the link to the event announcement. This is my very first entry to an event. I am so happy to have participated.

Thank you for reading !

Versatile Vegetable Cutlets

Pin It Now! When we were in school we were asked to get a dozen cutlets to be sold at our class stall at the fun fair. Coincidentally my sister's class also put up the same stall. And so my maharashtrian mom had a task ahead of making 2 dozen cutlets. In those days cutlets were new to her. She neither knew the name let alone the recipe. But like all mom's she had to find a way.
After much research she came up with the following recipe. It turned out so well that they sold like hot cakes ( aka cutlets) at our fun-fair.Love you mom !

Vegetable cutlets
============

1 Beetroot (pressure cook and then grated)
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup onions
1 cup boiled potato (grated)
1 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tbsp green paste (2-3 green chillies, ginger and corianger)
Add more or less green chillies depending on the spice level.
2 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
oil to fry
1/2 cup breadcrumbs or course sooji
2-3 bread slices ( you can use stale bread,white/wheat will do)

1. Squeeze the water out of the grated beetroot so that it becomes little bit dry.
2. In pan take some oil and add onions and carrots. Saute for 2-3 minutes until the mixture does not smell of raw onion.
3. Then in a bowl mix the beetroot, onion and carrot saute, potatoes and the spice paste. Add salt to taste.Make a dough and check if patties can be made.If the dough does not stand then add a few slices of bread. These will absorb the excess moisture.




4. Roll the patties in suji or bread crumbs.



5. Shallow fry in a pan for 5-10 mins until golden brown.



6. Serve with ketchup and enjoy !


These are super healthy since they are mix of vegetables.Feel free to add other mashed veggies like green peas, spring onions.I would not add broccoli or cauliflower due to their bitter taste. But that's just me.. I also made a bigger size and used them as a patty inside burger buns topped with lettuce and tomato.Deeelish ! Makes for a quick weeknight meal or lunchbox if you have the patties made ahead of time.

Thanks for reading and happy cooking !

My first post - Mango Salad

Pin It Now! My first post on the blog.I have been procrastinating blogging for quite sometime now. No don't get me wrong. I love blogging. I have spent countless hours reading cooking blogs and trying out quite a few recipes. However now that I have a little one around i was doubtful if i will be able to give it time. However shoving aside this list of excuses I gathered some time to do my bit. Lets see how far i get.

Its summer time and the grocery stores are loaded with veggies.Wow..they look so colorful..!
I tried this recipe of Mango Salad posted by Nupur from One hot stove(Mango Salad). I made some slight modification to the recipe though, using the ingredients i had at hand. Here is my version of it.Thank you Nupur !
The salad was lip-smacking and my hubby simply loved it !!


Mango Salad
=========

1 apple
1 mango
1 cup cantaloupe
1 cucumber
2 bell peppers (I used green and red)
1 tbsp lime juice
cilantro to garnish
Peel and cut the fruits.
Toss with salt, freshly ground pepper and lemon juice. Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy !!


The salad is refreshing on a hot summer afternoon and is really healthy too.
Thanks for reading !