Ragi Dosa

Most of the people know what Ragi (Finger Millet) is, by the famous Ragi Mudde. Well, for people who didn't know this, Ragi is not only consumed in the form of Mudde but also as dosa & malt (with water, milk or buttermilk).

Ingredients:
1 cup Urad dal
2 1/2 cups Ragi flour
1 tbsp salt
Oil for cooking

Preparation:

• Soak urad dal for a couple of hours & grind to smooth paste.
• Mix Ragi flour with ground urad dal paste, add water if required to make batter.
• Store this mix overnight to ferment.
• Heat tava, pour batter to make dosa.
• Apply little oil & cook turning sides.

Optionally, you can add chopped onions & green chillies to the batter, just before making dosas.
Serve with chutney and/or any side dish.

Bread Bonda

It's a heavy snack. If you eat it late in the evening it can fill your stomach & leave no room for dinner.

Ingredients:
5-6 slices of bread
Oil for frying
Salt
For stuffing:
2-3 potatoes - boiled & mashed
1 onion - chopped
2-3 green chillies - chopped
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 cup coriander leaves - chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp oil
For batter:
1 cup besan/gram flour
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 pinches of Ajwain
3/4 - 1 tsp chilli powder

Preparation:

- Stuffing:

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add chopped green chillies, onion & saute.
• Add mashed potatoes, salt, jeera powder & mix it well.
• Add chopped coriander leaves, lemon juice & turn off heat.
• Mix it well & make into small lumps - ready to be stuffed.

- Batter:

• Add besan, salt, chilli powder, ajwain.
• Heat a tbsp of oil & add to the mixture.
• Add water, mix & make batter.

- Bonda:

• Heat oil in a deep pan for frying.
• Dip slice of bread in water, squeeze out the water keeping bread slice between your palms.
• Place potato stuffing in the bread slice, cover it up round.
• Roll stuffed bread in batter and put in oil.
• Fry them till golden brown.

Serve with tomato ketchup or chutney.

Vangibhath (Brinjal rice)

It's a nice treat when you have invited family/friends over for lunch. Varieties of bhaths can be prepared using the same masala - Vangibhath powder. Add capsicums to this and you have the variety as Capsicum & Brinjal bhath. For these bhaths we first prepare the base & then mix with rice.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice - cooked/steamed
2-3 brinjals - washed & cut to long pieces
1/4 cup peanuts or cashew nuts
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 tbsp Vangibhath powder
1/4 cup curry leaves - chopped
Salt
3 tbsp oil
1/2 cup dry coconut (optional)
1 tsp lemon juice/tamarind juice (optional)

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds & let it splutter.
• Add chana dal, urad dal, peanuts/cashew nuts & fry them till golden brown.
• Add turmeric powder, curry leaves & sauté.
• Add brinjal, salt; mix well & allow it cook for a few minutes.
• When brinjal starts to soften, add Vangibhath powder, coconut and lemon/tamarind juice & allow it to cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Mix the base with hot rice.

Serve with a Raitha.

A quick & usual Raitha to prepare:

Ingredients:
2 cups curd
1 onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1-2 green chillies - julienned
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard
salt

Preparation:

• Add salt to curd & beat.
• Heat oil, add mustard seeds & let it splutter.
• Add green chillies & saute.
• Add chopped onions, tomatoes, the seasoning of mustard seeds & chillies to curd. Mix well.

Fruits and Nuts

Simple yet rich. A quick n easy way to enjoy dessert everyday or even makes a nice replacement for a staple diet. You can prepare it instantly with any fruits you have at home.

Ingredients:
2 bananas
2 apples
1 small honey dew
3 tbsp raisins
3 tbsp cashew nuts & almonds
3-4 tbsp honey

Preparation:

• Cut all fruits & mix them.
• Add nuts & raisins.
  
• Pour honey over a bowl of the fruit & nut mix while serving.
  
  
  

Bread Upma

For days when it can be boring to eat just bread with a spread or toast, bread upma makes a nice breakfast. With less efforts & no pre-preparation, bread upma can be made very quickly.

Ingredients:
4-5 slices bread - cut to small pieces
2-3 green chillies - julienned
1 onion - finely chopped
1/2 cup green peas
1-2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera (optional)
1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
salt

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan, add jeera & let it splutter
• Add green chillies, onions, turmeric powder & sauté.
• Add fresh green peas with little bit salt and let it cook for couple of minutes.
• Now add bread pieces, lemon juice & mix well. Cook till bread catches up the spices. (optionally you could sprinkle water to soften it)
  
  

While serving you could also spread some tomato ketchup.

You can also add other vegetables like capsicum, boiled potatoes, grated carrots, etc to Bread Upma.

Set Dosa

It reminds me of the early morning shift I used to work in. Our office was right next to Ballal Residency hotel and breakfast was ordered for us from there. Whenever I used to feel more than usual hungry, I used to order for Set Dosa. They make very nice Set Dosa with ghee; have enjoyed them with Aloo Palya many times. Set Dosa is usually a set of 3 Dosas served with Sagoo & Chutney, and can get quite heavy to finish the set.

Ingredients
1 cup Urad dal
1 cup Rice
1 cup Poha
1/2 cup saboo dana
Salt

Preparation

• Soak Urad dal, Rice, Poha & Saboo dana overnight (5-6 hours).
• Grind it to a thick paste adding water & salt. (The batter need not be kept for hours to ferment).
• Heat tava, pour batter & cook it adding bit of oil.
  
  

Serve with Sagoo & Chutney.

Ragda Patties

With a variation. I've not used white & green peas in Ragda, I've used only chick peas off the kitchen shelf. Preparing Ragda Patties needs a bit of a pre-preparation; have to soak chick peas (or in case of using dry peas) for minimum of 4-5 hours (in warm water would make it quick). Of course when you got to make it and relish it, you ought to make the prior arrangements. It's nice to make Ragda Patties when you want to enjoy chaat at home and also when you want to have a small group of friends/family over.

Ingredients:
3 cups chick peas/Chana - soaked & boiled
2-3 potatoes/Aloo - boiled
1 onion - finely chopped
1/2 cup green peas
3-4 bread slices
1-2 green chillies - finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin/jeera powder
1/2 tsp coriander/dhaniya powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp tamarind juice
1/2 cup coriander/dhaniya leaves
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Salt
Cooking oil

Prepartion:

For Ragda:-

• Soak chick peas for 4-5 hours & then boil them adding salt.
• Take out 2-3 tbsp of boiled chick peas & mash them.
• Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pan.
• Add chopped green chillies, onions & saute.
• Add salt, jeera powder, dhaniya powder & chilli powder.
• Add mashed chick peas (gives thickness), tamarind juice & mix well.
• Add boiled chick peas, bring it to boil and set Ragda aside.

For Patties:-

• Boil potatoes & green peas.
• Dip bread slice in a cup of water, squeeze out the water; add them to potatoes & peas in a bowl.
• Add salt, jeera powder(optional), red chilli powder, lemon juice to potatoes, peas & bread; mash & mix it well.
• Heat pan & apply oil.
• Make small patties out of potato mix, roll them on bread crumbs and place them in pan.
• Cook the patties until they are light brown, turning sides and brushing oil on them. (You could deep fry them too)

To serve, place 2-3 Patties, pour some Ragda on them, dress it with chopped onions, sev(optional), tamarind chutney (I have not used extra tamarind chutney here as I added tamarind juice in Ragda) and coriander leaves.

Appam

Appam in Tamil and known as Yeriappa in Kannada. Usually Appam is made during Navratri; there are lots of dishes prepared in those nine days of celebrations.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice - soak for 2-3 hours
1/2 to 3/4 cup jaggery/gur (add as per the sweetness required)
1/4 tsp cardamom/elaichi powder
1 banana
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups cooking oil - for frying

Preparation:

• Soak a cup of rice for 2-3 hours prior to preparation.
• Grind soaked rice and coconut (adding as little water possible).
• Add banana & jaggery to rice, coconut & grind to a thick paste.
  
• Add elaichi powder to the paste & mix well.
  
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Drop spoonful of paste in oil and deep fry them turning sides until brown.

Serve them as snack or as dessert.

Aloo Paratha

Aloo paratha has been a fav since childhood. The taste of potatoes pleases our taste buds in many forms, parathas being one of the usuals. No wonder it's called the king of vegetables. There are, like other recipes, variations in the preparation of Aloo Parathas. One of the easiest way of preparing the filling is to mash boiled potatoes, add salt, jeera powder, chilli powder to mashed potatoes. And another form is this entry.

Ingredients
2 cups wheat flour
2-3 potatoes - boiled & mashed
1/2 cup green peas
3-4 green chillies - chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt
Cooking oil
Water

Preparation

• Add wheat flour and salt in a container, make it to dough adding water.
• If you are using fresh green peas, boil them. If using frozen green peas, put them in a container few minutes prior to preparation.
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan.
• Add chopped green chillies and saute.
• Then add turmeric powder, mashed potatoes, salt and green peas. Mix them well, turn off heat.
• Flatten a portion of dough, fill with a portion of aloo mix & round it up.
• Flatten filled dough with rolling pin.
• Cook the paratha applying oil on both sides.
  
  

Serve with curd, chutney or any side dishes.

Rava Ladoos - Krishna Janmashtami special

I wasn't used to celebrating festivals alone. Mom or mom-in-law would do the needful and I used to be there as helping hand n participation. This year has been the do-it-yourself time. I sure didn't want to miss out on these occasions. After all, life is full of celebrations and these occasions are more colorful.

So, for Krishna Janmashtami, decided to make some Rava ladoos, Nippattu and of course Poha.

Ingredients:
1 cup Sooji Rava/Semolina
1 cup fine sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup cashew nuts and raisins
2-3 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 tsp cardamom powder/elaichi

Preparation time: 20-30 minutes

Preparation:

• Heat ghee in a small pan/kadhai.
• Saute raisins & cashew nuts, set them aside.
• Saute shredded coconut, set it aside.
• Roast rava in ghee till you get the aroma (you will know the raw smell of rava settling & the aroma).
• Mix all of it - roasted rava, coconut, cashew nuts, raisin, elaichi in a container.
• Add warm milk little by little while you mix till you are able to gather it up as balls.

Chana dal vada

It's called Ambode in Kannada and is usually prepared during festivals, without the onions (and with dill along with all the other ingredients mentioned).

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chana dal - soaked for 1-2 hours
1 onion - chopped
3-4 green chillies - chopped
A few curry leaves - chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves - chopped
1/4 cup coconut - shredded (optional)
1/2 cup dill - chopped (optional)
Salt
2 cups cooking oil - for frying

Preparation time: 20-25 minutes

Preparation:

• Grind soaked chana dal to a coarse paste, adding very little water.
• Add chopped onions, coriander leaves, curry leaves, coconut, dill, green chillies & salt to ground paste and mix well.
• Heat oil in a wok/kadhai for frying.
• Make small flat n round portions of the mix, deep fry them in oil until golden brown.
• Remove from wok, place them on tissue.
  
  

Serve it with chutney or ketchup. It can also be savoured without any sides to go with.

Sagoo

I dislike the Sagoo served in hotels, so far in all of the places that I've tried. The proportion of spices they use is not pleasing to (my) taste buds, so I leave it untouched or even return it. The recipe used to prepare at home is entirely different in its taste from what is served in hotels.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Coconut - shredded or pieces
1 small onion
4-5 Green chillies
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds/Jeera
1 tbsp roasted chana
1 inch Cinnamon stick
3-4 Cloves/Laung
A handful of Coriander leaves
1 cup green beans - diced
1 cup carrot - diced
1 cup potatoes - diced
1 cup green peas
1 tsp ghee (for tadka/seasoning)
Salt

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Preparation:

• Boil/steam all the vegetables adding salt.
• Grind coconut, onion, green chillies, cinnamon stick, cloves, roasted chana, salt and jeera to paste.
• Take out the boiled vegetables to a container, add the paste and cook for a couple of minutes (Add water if required & bring it to boil)
• For seasoning - heat ghee, add jeera and let it splutter. Add the seasoning to Sagoo.
  
  

Serve with Set Dosa or Roti/Parathas or Pooris.

Gobi ke Parathe

My favourite dishes of cauliflower are Aloo Gobi, Gobi Manchurian & Gobi Paratha. We should be very thorough in cleaning Gobi for any of the dishes prepared out of it. One of the good ways to wash it is rinse in water, cut it in portions, put in hot water added with salt and turmeric.

Ingredients:
2 cups wheat flour
1/2 of small cauliflower/gobi - washed and grated
1 small onion - finely chopped/grated
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
Salt
Cooking oil

Preparation:

• Mix grated gobi, onion in a container. Take lumps of the mix, squeeze out water by pressing the mix between your palms.
  
• Add chilli powder, salt, jeera powder to gobi and onion, and mix well.
• Add salt to wheat flour and make dough.
• Flatten a portion of dough, fill with a portion of gobi mix & round it up.
• Flatten the filled dough with rolling pin.
• Cook the paratha applying oil, on both sides.

Serve it hot with any side dish/chutney/yogurt.

[Addition:]
With the above measures, can make 7-8 parathas.
Preparation time: 20-30 minutes

The eternal combination - Chai+Pakoda

Yes, it is an eternal combination. And even certain weather is described by it :)

It has been Chai-Pakoda weather for us here all this week. Naturally, one of the best ways to enjoy cloudy/rainy evenings are with Chai & Pakodas.

Like all other recipes, there are variations in ways Pakodas are prepared.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups gram flour/besan
1 onion - chopped
3-4 green chillies - finely chopped
1/4 tsp aesofatida/Heeng
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
2 cups cooking oil - for frying
3-4 tbsp sooji rava
Salt

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a deep pan.
• In a container add besan, chopped onions, chopped green chillies, salt, red chilli powder, heeng, sooji rava & roasted peanuts.
• Add 2-3 tsp of hot oil, mix & then add water and mix well to a thick paste.
  
• Drop clods of mixture in oil pan & deep fry them changing sides.
• Once fried to golden brown, place them on kitchen tissues.

Serve them with tamarind/pudina/green chilli chutney or ketchup. Enjoy them with a cup of tea.

Kadhai Paneer

Sree loves chat-pata dishes, with the right mix of spice and sour. Kadhai Paneer suits his taste buds right. The first time I made Kadhai Paneer, I did have in mind of making it a little spicy, but it turned out so hot that I had to use 2-3 tsp of sugar to soothe the taste! Still, enjoyed it.

Ingredients:
1 red onion - chopped
2 tomatoes - grind to paste/puree
1/2 green pepper - diced
1/2 red pepper - diced
1 inch ginger - finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
10-12 cubes Paneer
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 spoon garam masala
1/2 tsp coriander/dhania powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
1/2 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
2 tsp oil
salt
(The above measures serves for 3)

Well, the cherries are not part of the recipe. They are the juicy, farm fresh cherries I couldn't resist buying from Granville Island. They are only there in the pic because I was enjoying eating them while I cooked :)

Preparation:

• Fry Paneer cubes and set them aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and let it splutter.
• Add haldi, finely chopped ginger, garlic, onions and saute.
• Add ground tomato puree, little bit of salt, chilli powder, dhania powder and allow it to cook till the raw smell n taste of tomato and chilli are gone.
• Add little water (if required) to get the paste to desired consistency.
• Add green n red peppers and garam masala, cover the pan witha a lid and allow to cook for couple of minutes.
• Add fried paneer. Mix well and turn off the heat.
  
  

Serve with Roti/Paratha.

Chutney Pudi Paratha

For the times when plain Paratha can get boring and you don't want to spend time preparing the stuffing/filling, this one is a easy way out. Usually I use chutney pudi made at home. We can also use MTR Chutney Powder instead. (Yes, it's the same chutney powder served with Idli, Dosa or Upma).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chutney powder
2 cups wheat flour
Salt
Cooking Oil

Preparation:

• Add salt and water to wheat flour, make dough. Make small dough-balls.
  
  
• Press out dough-ball using rolling pin, spread little oil and then chutney powder over it.

• Roll stuffed dough and round it up.
  

• Press out stuffed dough-ball again.
  

• Cook the parathas both sides applying little oil.

Serve it with ghee, curd or any side dish.

Egg Rolls

It reminds me of our snack time at office. Everyday we used to order rolls from the American Corner (Brigade Road, Bangalore). It always used to be either rolls or pizza in the evenings.

Ingredients:
1 cup wheat flour
1 capsicum - cut thin and long
1/2 onion - cut thin and long
2-3 green chillies - chopped
1/2 tomato - chopped
Coriander leaves - chopped
3-4 eggs
1 tsp oil
Salt
(above measures sufficient for 5-6 rolls)

Preparation:
Add water and salt to wheat flour and make dough. Make Rotis and set them aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add green chillies, onions and capsicum, saute till its light brown. Add salt and cook it for 2-3 minutes. Set the filling aside.

Beat egg and pour to pan, to make omelet. When half baked, place Roti on the omelet. Leave it for 1-2 minutes. Take out egg coated Roti from pan, add the filling, dress it with chopped tomatoes and coriander leaves. Roll it and serve.

Stuffed Brinjal

There are two kinds of Bharwas I make. One is of just stuffing brinjals/egg plants with the masala and stir fry (no gravy) and this one with the gravy. The gravy itself can be prepared with onions and tomatoes or onions, peanut and coconut.

Ingredients
For stuffing:
7-8 small brinjals/egg plants
1 & 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice
salt

For Gravy:
A handful of peanuts
1 onion sliced thin
1/4 cup coconut
2-3 green chillies
2-3 cloves garlic
2 inched ginger
1 small cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt
2 tbsp cooking oil

Preparation:

• Wash the brinjals/egg plants and make + incisions in each of them
• In a bowl, mix all the masala ingredients: coriander powder, jeera powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, salt and lemon juice
• Stuff the masala mix in the brinjal incisions
• Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, stir fry these stuffed brinjals and set them aside
• For the gravy, heat 2 tsp oil in a pan
• Add all the gravy ingredients and stir fry them till they are light brown(cinnamon sticks, ginger, garlic, peanuts, green chillies, onion and coconut) and let it cool
• Add salt and grind them to paste
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and jeera seeds, let it splutter
• Add the paste and fry it till light brown (add water if you want to make it more thin gravy)
• Add stuffed n fried brinjals to the gravy and let it cook for 7-8 minutes

Serve it garma-garam with Rotis.

Plain Coconut Chutney

There are so many variations of chutneys. A chutney can be made out of almost any ingredient. I've also tasted Andhra style Brinjal, Cauliflower & garlic chutneys. To start with, here's the recipe of plain coconut chutney.

Ingredients:
1 cup Coconut shred/pieces
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
salt

Preparation:
In a mixer/food processor, add coconut, green chillies with salt & water and grind it. To season, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add this tadka to coconut mix.

Coconut chutney goes very well with Idlis, Dosas and with any other dishes with which you will like touch of coconut.

Honey! I baked you a cake!

There was this planning going on since a while, to start baking. I remember my Mom baking varieties of cakes; butter, coconut and spicy cookies at home, when we were kids. We demanded some variety in our everyday snack. Rather, I demanded, my sis is of good kind and not a troublemaker like I was. So, a little bit of interest and a situation given, finally I baked. And, as a friend said, my Mom's baking genes helped :)

Ingredients:
1 cup Margarin

1 cup Maida/All Purpose Flour

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Eggs
3-4 drops of Vanilla essence
1/4 tsp baking powder


Preparation:
Mix the baking powder with maida. If you are using icing sugar, you could use 3/4 cup. If you are using the grainy sugar, grind it to powder.

Beat margarin until its texture turns to soft and flowing. Add sugar and beat it until the mixture blend and is consistent and you don't feel the grains of sugar. Add eggs and beat the mixture again till its soft. Start adding maida/all purpose flour little by little while you beat. Beat the mixture again to consistent blend, then add a few drops of vanilla essence.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If the oven has an indicator, it will indicate when it's ready. Otherwise preheat it for 15-20 minutes. Apply some butter/margarin to a baking bowl to grease. Spread some maida over the grease and shake off any extra flour from the bowl. Pour the beaten cake mixture to the bowl. Bake it for 30-35 minutes. Usually you would know when to take it out by the smell. You can test the texture by piercing cake with knife. Take bowl out of oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

Wait! That's not it. After 10 minutes...

...of course don't wait, dig in.

Yogurt n Masala Bread

Wanted to try out a new snack/breakfast idea with bread. I had heard of a recipe long time back about yogurt and onions with pinch of chilli powder spread on bread. That sounded a little plain, so wanted to spice it up adding a few more ingredients to it. Well, it was a very pleasant and fruitful trial.

Ingredients:
1 bell pepper/capsicum - cut thin and long
1/2 red onion - chopped
1-2 green chillies - chopped
1/4 cup Paneer - grated or diced to tiny cubes
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 cup yogurt
5-6 bread slices - toasted
1 tsp cooking oil
Salt

Preparation:
Heat oil in a pan. Add onions, green chillies, bell peppers and saute until they are translucent. Add salt and red chilli powder and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Add grated paneer and turn off the heat.

Toast bread slices with pinch of butter (butter is optional, you can toast it plain too). When serving, spread a thin layer of yogurt on toasted bread and then spread the masala prepared (with onions, paneer and bell peppers) on bread.Do not spread yogurt on bread and store for long time, bread can become soggy. Spread it just before serving.

Steamed Dal Rolls

That's a nice fancy name given to what we call as Nucchina Unde in Karnataka. These Dal rolls can be prepared using only Toor Dal or mixture of assorted Dals. Just Toor Dal tends to make it feel heavy to be eaten, mixture of Dals helps keep it a little lighter. The best part is there is no frying involved.

Ingredients:
1 cup Toor Dal
1/4 cup Chana Dal
1/4 cup Yellow Moong Dal
1 red onion - chopped
3-4 green chillies - chopped
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Salt

Preparation:
Soak the mixture of all three Dals for 2 hours. Drain out the water completely, add curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt to the Dal mixture and grind it coarse (not fine) with very little (almost no) water. The base should be thick and not like usual batter texture. Add chopped onions and green chillies to this paste. Make rolls by pressing the dough between your palms. Apply little cooking oil to Idli plates (or any other plates you usually use for steaming). Place the roles in the plates and steam them for 10 minutes.The traditional combination is - it is served with Majjige Huli (in Kannada) or Mor Kozhambu (in Tamil). Majjige Huli is made out of yogurt and vegetables. Or we can even serve with ghee and chutney.

Aloo Bhindi

There is not one week that goes without a Bhindi recipe at home, otherwise, we start missing it :) Love Bhindi that much. This one is a simple side dish that goes well with Rotis or Dal & Rice or Rasam & Rice.

Ingredients:
2-3 Potatoes/Aloo - washed and diced
1/2 kg Okra/Bhindi - washed and diced
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Salt

Preparation:
Heat oil in a pan. Using a non-stick pan consumes less oil and does not get sticky. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add Bhindi and Aloo, keep mixing it until it does not stick to pan. Add salt, chilli powder and jeera powder. Stir fry it for 7-8 minutes.

Methi Rice

Every time me and my sister hear someone or one of us say Methi rice, we go like "mmmm.... yummm". Now Sree likes it too, but more when it is prepared with potatoes than just plain Methi leaves.

The masala used in this is Vangibhath powder, which can be bought off the store or even made at home. Sometime I will write about the masala powder preparation too.

The preparation of Methi and Aloo base and rice (cooked/steamed) are separately done. We then mix the base with rice.

Ingredients:
2 cups Basmati rice - washed and cooked/steamed
2 bunches Fenugreek/Methi leaves - washed and chopped
2 potatoes - washed, peeled and diced
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp chana dal
1 handful peanuts/cashew nuts
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
3-4 tbsp Vangibhath powder
2-3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt

Preparation:

• Heat cooking oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
• Add urad dal, chana dal and fry them till they are half brown. Then add peanuts and fry them all to full golden brown. (If you are going to use cashew nuts, you should fry them separately in the end and add them to Methi Rice).
• Add potatoes, turmeric powder and 2-3 pinches of salt. Let the potatoes cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add Methi leaves and Vangibhath powder. Add more salt, cover the pan with a lid and allow it to cook.
• Then add lemon juice and mix well.

You could either add more salt to the base or add it while mixing it with rice, as per the required amount. The base is now ready to be mixed with rice. You can prepare the base, refrigerate it and use it over a couple of days too. Though nothing can beat cooking it fresh every time.Mix required amount of rice with the base, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with any Raithas.

Broccoli Soup

I had Broccoli soup in Ashwini's place after a very long time. I loved it and took the recipe from her. After more than 2 weeks, I finally got the chance to make it at home. It came out quite well.

Ingredients:
1 cluster Broccoli - washed in hot water, cut to small buds
1/2 Onion - chopped
1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Corn Starch
1 bowl Milk
1 bowl Water
2-3 pinches of Pepper Powder
Salt

Preparation:
Melt butter in a pan. Saute chopped onions, add cut Broccoli and fry them. Add salt and pepper powder, cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add water and corn starch, let it cook up to 5-6 minutes. (For the corn starch not to form lumps, mix it with a cup of cold water and then add). Add milk and bring the soup to boil.

Serve the soup with bread crumbs or even bread toast.

Aloo Gobi

I hear Aloo Gobi is favorite of many. How do I know that? Well, I was looking through some recipes & variations in which Aloo Gobi is prepared and read lot of them say how much they like it.

Ingredients:
2 big potatoes/aloo - washed and diced
1 cauliflower/gobi - washed in hot water and cut in bunches
3-4 green chillies - chopped or slit long
2 tomatoes - chopped
1 onion - chopped
1 inch ginger - chopped
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1 tbsp oil
Salt

Preparation:
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add cut green chillies, ginger, onions & saute. Add chopped tomatoes, red chili powder and let it cook for 4-5 minutes until it forms a nice base for Aloo and Gobi. Then add potatoes and cauliflower, add salt, sprinkle some water, cover the pan with a lid and let it cook. After a couple of minutes add garam masala and mix it well. Cover the pan and let it cook for 8-10 minutes. (If you want it to be mushy, you could add more water)

Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve with Rotis or Pulao/Rice.

Stir fried veggies

It's quite hard to break our habits of regular meals and get into a different diet, suddenly. But, the trying never stops. A healthy, quick and easy way to make a lunch /dinner.

Ingredients:
1 potato - diced or cut thin and long
1 cup carrots
1 cup green beans
Broccoli - cut to small bunches
Parsley - chopped
1 small cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oil
3 pinches pepper

Preparation:
Heat 1/2 tsp oil in pan and add all the vegetables to it. Stir fry the vegetables for a couple of minutes. Add chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables, cover the pan with a lid and cook it for 4-5 minutes.
You could also fry the cucumber, if you like them that way. Can also add the bell peppers and lettuce to this salad.

Penne Arrabiata

Penne Arrabiata is a anytime-eat-it favorite dish for Sree. He likes made out of Penne, Spaghetti, Fusilli, Farfalle, or any type of pasta. I was not at all a pasta person, 'cos I don't like cheese, except that I can't avoid it in Pizza. I tried Penne Arrabiata for the first time in Brio and that's where savoring it all started.

Ingredients:
2 bowls penne pasta - boiled/steamed
2 big tomatoes - chopped
1/2 onion - sliced thin and long
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
1/2 bunch of parsley - chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful of grape tomatoes
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt

Preparation:
Heat oil in pan and saute onions. Keep the onions aside. Add garlic, tomatoes to the oil, saute. Add salt and red chilli powder and cook this till it becomes paste. Add steamed pasta, parsley (basil can also be used), fried onions and mix well with the base (Here is where you also add the cheese, for the people who like it with cheese). cook it for 4-5 minutes for the flavors to blend.
I dress it with a few slit grape tomatoes and serve.

The best part is, you can make this for breakfast, or when having a small get together with friends or even for dinner.

Peas Pulao

Peas Pulao is my all-time favorite. It’s simple n easy to make and always relished.

Ingredients:
2 cups Basmati rice - washed n uncooked
1 cup green peas - fresh or frozen
1 onion – sliced long n thin
3-4 green chillies - chopped
1 inch ginger - chopped
2 cloves garlic – chopped
2 tbsp butter/oil
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
Salt

Preparation:
Heat butter/oil in pan. Add cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add green chillies, ginger, garlic, onions & sauté. Add rice; mix it well with the flavors and then add peas, salt, water and cook it.
Garnish it with fried onions & coriander leaves. Serve it with any Raitha.

Aloo Raitha

I love the Aloo raitha my mom makes. It goes well with almost all dishes and is very easy to prepare too.

Ingredients:
2 Boiled potatoes
1 cup curd/yogurt
2-3 green chillies
1 tsp salt

Preparation:
Add pieces of boiled potatoes to curd.

Heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Add a pinch of turmeric/haldi & cut green chillies. Mix this seasoning with the curd & potatoes.
As a variation to this, we could grind green chillies & coconut and add this to curd & potatoes mix.

Serve this with any Pulao/Rice.