Brussels Sprouts curry:

Come winter, we have Brussels sprouts in abundance and I think they taste much better now than in off season. I came up with a simple recipe for this veggie packed with nutrients.



Ingredients:

Brussels Sprouts - 10 - chopped
Onion - 1/2 - chopped
Tomato - 1/2 - chopped
Turmeric
Salt
Chilli powder - 1 tbspn
Garam masala - 1/2 tspn (optional)
Curry leaves - few


Heat a kadai, add oil. Add mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add cumin seeds, urad dal. Add onions, curry leaves and fry till onions are light brown. Add tomato, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and let the tomatoes become soft. Add Brussels sprouts and mix well and sprinkle some water and close the lid. Stir once in a while. Garnish with cilantro!

Pita Bread:

I have so many pictures waiting to be posted. I've been very busy with work. Finally I found some time to post this. Enjoy!



You can find the recipe here.

Oven baked Fish:

I have been making oven baked fish for years, but never got an opportunity to post it. I'm glad the time has come. This is a healthy, easy and delicious recipe. I have used fillet, but you could try the same recipe with trout too.


Ingredients:

Fish fillet - 2 pieces
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tspn
Chilli powder - 2 tspns
Salt
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn
Olive oil/sesame oil/vegetable oil - 1 tbspn

Clean the fillet and take out excess moisture using a paper towel. Mix rest of the ingredients in a bowl and apply to the fillet on both sides. Lets the fillet marinate for atleast 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake the fillet for 13 - 15 minutes. Then broil for 4 to 5 minutes, until it starts to get crisp. Serve hot with rice.

Note: Do not broil the fish for a longer time. It becomes hard. So, watch out carefully. Enjoy!!!

Beautiful Autumn:

Autumn is my favorite month. We can experience the beauty and colors of Mother Nature. We planted few fruit trees and an Autumn Blaze Maple tree in our back yard this summer. We have been waiting for our Maple leaves to change colors. So, it did!!!




Scroll down and on the right side, see our fall mums and chillies too!

Vegetable Biriyani:


I love to experiment with new recipes and methods for Pulavs and Biriyanis. When I saw Radhika's Hyderabadi Dum biriyani (made with meat), I thought why not try the same with veggies. That's it, I ended up with a delicious, easy Veggie biriyani. There are 2 ways to prepare this - Either partially cook rice and gravy separately and bake them in the oven or pressure cook. I used the first method. Do give it a try!

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Veggies - (Carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, beans, peas)
Onions - 1 (thinly sliced)
Green chillies - 2 or 3 (cut into thin long slices)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbspn
Thick curd - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tspns
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tspns
Garam masala - 1/2 tspn
Cloves - 5
Cinnamon stick - 2
Cardamom - 3
Bay leaf - 1
Salt

Chop all veggies and put them in a large bowl. Add curd, green chillies, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf, little salt and mix well. Set aside for 30 minutes.


Wash the rice and cook the rice till 3/4th done. Heat a pan, add ghee/oil, add onions and fry for 5 mins. Add the veggies mixture and let it cook 3/4 th. Preheat the oven to 375 degree F.
Take an oven safe dish, spray little oil on the bottom and the sides. This prevents the rice from sticking to the dish while baking. Spread a layer of rice, followed by a layer of veggies.
Repeat and end with top layer of veggies. Cover the dish with foil and bake for about 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot!

Alternately:

Heat a pressure cooker, add ghee/oil. Add onions and fry for 5 mins. Add the veggies mixture and partially close the lid. Let it cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water and salt. Once the water starts to boil, add the rice and cook for 2 whistles. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot!

Brinjal curry:

I made this curry 3 months back. I took the pictures to post it immediately. But......At last today I was determined to share it with you all. This is a great accompaniment to Pongal. It is tangy, spicy and delicious. I got this recipe from a dear friend of mine.

Ingredients:

Brinjal - small - 8 or 9 (I used the small Thai variety)
Onions - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tspn
Tomato - 1 medium
Turmeric
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Coriander powder - 2 tspns
Tamarind paste

Grind into a paste:
Coconut - 2 tbspns
Sesame seeds - 1 tspn
Cumin seeds - 2 tspns

For seasoning:
Whole pepper - 6 to 7
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves


In a kadai, heat 2 tbspns oil. Add mustard seeds, whole pepper and curry leaves. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. Then add onions (thinly sliced) and fry till they turn light brown. Now add cut brinjal pieces into it and saute with little salt. Saute for 3-4 mins and add coriander powder, Turmeric powder and Cumin powder, chilli powder.

Now add the coconut paste to the curry. Add diced tomatoes, and salt for taste. Add 1 tspn of tamarind paste (Optional). Add some powdered jaggery and mix everything well and cook.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Pongal!

Adai:

This recipe comes from a dear friend of mine, Savitha. I have never made adai. When I told her this, she was surprised and immediately asked me to try it. She told me the recipe and very patiently answered my questions. I set out to try it. I just made a little change to her recipe by adding urad dal.
Just before I was about to start making adais, she called me to tell me not to be intimidated because the adais are going to be bit thicker than our usual dosas and they take some time to cook. It was very sweet and considerate of her. Thank you Savitha. So, here it goes:

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Whole Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Urad dal - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 10 to 12
Onions - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves
Asafoetida


Method:

Soak rice and the dals together for 4 to 5 hours. Grind them along with red chillies and salt. Add onions, curry leaves, sprinkle little asafoetida and mix well. Heat a dosa pan, when it medium hot, pour a ladle full of batter and spread it slighty. Add some oil around the adai and let it cook. Once the edges start to lift off from, flip the adai and cook the other side. Serve hot!



I served it with idli/dosa podi. I usually heat some sesame oil and add chopped garlic and fry till light brown and then add it to the podi. My husband likes it that way.

Happy Navaratri to all of you!

Sprouts curry:




This is an easy, healthy recipe made with sprouted moong dal. Tastes very nice with rotis.

Ingredients:
Sprouted moong dal - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 big
Tomato - 1 medium
Garlic - 2 or 3 pods
Curry leaves
Chilli powder - 2 tspn
Coriander powder - 1 tspn
Turmeric - a pinch
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tspn
Salt


Method:

I usually microwave the sprouts for 3 or 4 minutes so that it cooks faster on stove. Heat a kadai, add oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add chopped onions, chopped garlic, curry leaves and fry for 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, tamarind paste and little water and fry well till the tomatoes become soft. Add sprouts and 1 cup water and close the lid and cook until it's done.

Banana Squash fry:





I tried to bake banana squash with salt and pepper. It took a long time and I wasn't really satisfied with the taste. Then I decided to try it the Indian way. It tasted great!

Ingredients:

Banana Squash - 2 cups chopped
Onions - 1/2 - finely chopped
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt
Curry Leaves
Water - 1/2 cup

How to:

Take off the skin of banana squash and cut them into 1 inch pieces. Heat a kadai, add heat 1 tbspn oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal. Add onions and curry leaves and fry for 5 minutes. Add squash, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and water and mix well. Close the lid and let it cook until the squash is tender. Stir gently once in a while. Serve with sambar and rice.

Green Tomato chutney:

This is a yummy chutney and the recipe comes from Mom. It tastes delicious with chapathi or just with plain hot rice. I have tried this recipe with tomatillos, but it doesn't taste quite right. So, if you get hold of green tomatoes, give it a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy.

Ingredients:

Green tomatoes - 3 medium or 2 big
Green chilles - 6 or 7 (adjust to your taste)
Garlic - 3 pods
Cilantro - 1 cup
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tspn ( or tamarind - little)
Cumin seeds - 2 tspn
Coconut - 1 tbspn


Method:

Heat a kadai, add 2 spns of oil. Add chopped green tomatoes, green chilles and fry.
Wondering about red chillies in my snap? I have a red chilli plant in my yard and I used them.

You just let them fry and get cooked and slightly browned, stirring once in a while. This takes about 30 minutes. Do not add any water. This will take some moisture away from the tomatoes actually. Now, add cumin seeds and stir for 2 minutes and take it off the stove and let it cool.

Grind the following first : Green chillies, garlic, salt, tamarind. (Just run the blender or mixie for a minute). Then add the green tomatoes, coconut, cilantro and grind well. You are done!

Nature's Colors:

I picked these colorful bell peppers by myself from the farm. They had U-pick this weekend and I was so excited to see so many colors and such huge ones.










Bell Pepper Fried rice:

Real tender beauties:

Last weekend we had been to a nearby farm and I was really amazed to see these yellow beans. A real love at first sight.

Appam and Kurma:








Appam:

This is mom's recipe and it is different from most of the ones I have seen. The result is heavenly soft appams.


Idli rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Coconut Milk - 1 can


Soak the above ingredients for 4 to 5 hours and grind adding coconut milk. It takes about 1/2 cup maximum. Add salt and mix well and let it ferment. Next day, add the rest of the coconut milk and mix well. Heat the appam pan to medium to high heat. Pour a ladle of the batter and hold the pan handles and rotate the batter so that it spreads into a round shape. Close the lid and let it cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove the lid and take the appam off the pan. Appam is cooked only on one side. Serve hot with kurma or sweetened coconut milk or any other curry.

Cauliflower Kofta:


This recipe was adapted from Indian Breads, Rice and Curries. I made couple of changes to suit my family.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1/2 - cut into large florets
Garlic - 3 - chopped finely
Salt
Green Chillies - 2 - chopped finely
Garam masala - 1 tspn
Turmeric - 1 tspn
Cilantro - 2 tbspn - chopped finely
Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Oil - for deep frying

Steam the cauliflower florets for 4 - 5 minutes and cool. Mash the cauliflower with the rest of the ingredients except oil. Make them into balls and deep fry. Serve hot. It tastes delicious on its own.

Rava Kesari:

This is our usual kesari, but I made with brown sugar, rather than white!!!
One of my friend told me that she tried it, so did I. It was very tasty.




Ingredients:

Rava - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1 cup
Elachi powder
Cashews, Raisins - fried in ghee
Hot Water - 1 cup

Method:

Heat a pan, add ghee, and add rav and fry for few minutes. Now add hot water and mix well till the rava soaks up all the water. Add sugar and mix. Add elaichi powder and then fried cashews, raisins. The whole dish will come together. Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy!

Watermelon Salsa:

This recipe is from the magazine called "Healthy Living" published by Register-Guard newspaper. The article begins like this - "Mixing onions and watermelons?.....It sounds...bizarre....."
It concludes that guaranteed I'll like it. So, I went ahead with a minor change. I'll post the original recipe and my version. The salsa was really really delicious. It was hot and sweet and out of this world.

Original recipe:
Watermelon - 2 cups chopped (seeds removed)
Walla Walla Sweet Onion - 3/4 cup chopped
Canned black beans, rinsed and drained - 3/4 cup
Jalapeno chilies - 1/4 cup chopped, seeded
Fresh Cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped
Brown sugar - 1 tbspn Salt - 1/2 tspn

Stir together all the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors. Stir before serving. Makes 6 servings. Serve with corn or tortilla chips.
Recipe courtesy of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee.



My Version:

I mixed watermelon, red onions, green chillies, cilantro and salt.

So go ahead and give it a try, I'm sure you'll like it.

Tomato Pickle:


Tomato Pickle boiling away.....



Pickle ready and cooling off...





DONE!!!

I dedicate these 2 bottles of pickle to Indira of Mahanandi. I followed her wonderful recipe and of course the result was amazingly delicious. Thank you very much Indira for the great recipe.

Egg Curry:


This is such a fun dish to make. Once you try it, you'll know what I mean. When I get tired of boiling eggs to make a dish or whisking them, I do this.

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1 big chopped
Garlic - 3 or 4 - chopped
Chilli Powder - 1 tbspn
Coriander powder - 1 tbspn
Turmeric
Salt
Eggs - 2


Method:

Heat a kadai, add oil and add onions and fry it till light brown. Add tomatoes and let them cook and become mushy. Add turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and let it cook well. Taste for spiciness and salt. Break the eggs directly onto the curry and gently spread it a little on top. Do not mix it. Close the lid and let the egg cook. Check in after 7 or 8 mins to see if the egg is cooked. Take it off the stove and garnish with cilantro. Have fun!!!

Mango Salsa:



This is my first snap I ever took of my food. It is more than a year old. Finally I felt really bad for not posting it so long.

Ripe Mango - 1
Tomato - 1
Red Onion - 1
Green chilli - 1/2
Cucumber - 1/2
Cilantro
Lemon juice - 1/2 lemon
Salt

Finely chop mango, tomato, red onion, cucumber, green chilli. Add lemon juice, salt and garnish with cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips.

Coconut Milk Pulav:



This is one of my favourite dish and it is the best match for any spicy chicken curry.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Onions - 1 - cut into thin long slices
Green chillies - 3
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tspn
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1 stick
Bay leaf - 1
Salt
Carrots, Peas, Beans - chopped - 1/2 cup (Optional)
Mint, cilantro - chopped - 2 tbspns

Procedure:

Wash the rice and soak it in water for 10 minutes. Heat a pressure pan, add 2 tbspns of oil and 1 tbspn butter. Once it is hot, add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf. Add sliced onions, chillies, ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes. Add mint, cilantro leaves and fry for few more minutes. Add veggies (if using) and fry. Mix 1 cup coconut milk with 3/4th cup of water and add it to the pan. Add salt and let it come to a boil. Now add the rice and stir and close the lid. Close the lid and pressure cook for 10 minutes on medium flame and for 5 minutes on low flame.

You could cook this in a rice cooker too.

Fish Curry/ Chapala Pulusu/ Meen Kozhumbu:

The older the wine, the better it tastes. Same could be told about fish curry. It tastes heavenly the next day than the day it is made. That's why I always make sure I make this atleast 12 hours before serving. All the flavors seep into the fish well.


Ingredients:
Fish - 1 (I used one big trout - cleaned and cut into 5 or 6 pieces)
Tamarind paste - 2 tbspns
Onion - 1/2
Salt
Curry leaves
Oil - 3 or 4 tbspn
Sesame Oil - 1 tbspn (optional)

Grind :
Onion - 1/2
Tomato - 1
Chilli powder - 1 tbpn
Dhaniya powder - 1 1/2 tbspn
Coconut - fresh - little
Garlic
Pepper - 5
Cumin - 1/2 tspn


Method:

Heat a pan, add your usual cooking oil. When the oil is heated up, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds. Then add chopped onions and fry for 4 mins. Add the masala paste and fry till the oil comes out. This may take some time. Meanwhile, mix the tamarind paste in 2 cups of water. (Alternately, you could soak lemon sized tamarind in water and extract the juice.) Now add the tamarind water, add turmeric and salt. Let it come to a boil and
let it thicken. Now add the fish pieces and very gently try to move around and accomodate all the pieces so that they all get soaked in the curry. Close the lid and let it cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Check if the fish is cooked and take it off the fire. Let the curry rest well before serving. Enjoy it with rice.

After a long break....

I 'm back from a wonderful 2-month trip to India. Finally I'm settled and up and about cooking and snapping pictures of my dishes and my garden too.

As soon as I came back, it was time for harvesting my veggies. I planted 6 potato bulbs in March and I harvested them after I came back. Boy, I kept digging out potataoes like crazy. There were so many, in all sizes and the final result was approx 5 pounds of potatoes.
I happily distributed them among our friends. I have enormous number of chillies and I keep plucking them fresh whenever I need. I have lots of tomatoes growing too. They haven't ripened yet.

My first post after my long break is dedicated to my garden. It is potato fry made with home-grown potatoes. It is a simple and well known recipe.

Potato fry:


Ingredients:
Potatoes - 4 or 5 - cubed and boiled
Onion (big) - 1/2 - chopped into thin long slices
Chilli powder - 1 tbspn
Salt
Turmeric - a pinch
Curry leaves


Method:

Heat a frying pan, add 3 tbspns of oil and once it heats up, do the usual tadka - add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, channa dal. Add curry leaves and onions and fry till light golden brown. Add turmeric, chilli powder and salt and mix well. Add potatoes and mix it gently. After 5 minutes stir it once with care, so that the potatoes don't get mashed. And do this couple of more time at 5 minute intervals till the potatoes are fried to your taste. Enjoy!!!

Cheddar biscuits:

AP Flour - 1 1/2 cups, plus extra for dusting
Sugar - 1 1/4 tbspn
Baking powder - 3/4 tbspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Cold unsalted butter - 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) - diced
Buttermilk - 1/3 cup
Low-fat or whole milk - 1/4 cup, plus extra for brushing

Makes 6 to 7 biscuits

Preheat the oven to 425 degree F

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Cut the butter into the flour until it forms pea-sized pieces.

Add the buttermilk and the milk. Mix well to combine.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1 inch thickness, and fold in half, turn and repeat 3 or 4 times for a final thickness of 1 inch.

Cut the dough into rounds using a 3 inch cutter. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut it again.
If you don't have a cookie cutter, use a drinking glass (just dip the edge in flour) to cut it.

Place the biscuits on a ungreased baking sheet. Brush the tops with little milk amd bake till for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Recipe Source: Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America

Strawberry jam:


Our favorite jam ever. But I don't like it too sweet. All the recipes I read, called for lots of sugar. So, I came up with my own measurements and the result - delicious.

Strawberries - 3 cups - chopped
Sugar - 2.5 cups
Butter - 1 tspn
Pectin - 1/2 packet

Keep a small metal plate in the freezer.

Heat a deep bottomed pan and add butter and strawberries and stir for few minutes.

Slowly add pectin and continue to stir.

Slowly add sugar and stir well.

Cook till the jam comes to a boil.

To check the consistency of the jam, take the cold metal plate from the freezer and spoon a little jam onto it and check the consistency of the jam. If you are satisfied with the consistency, take it off the heat and spoon into sterilized jars. If not, add little more pectin and bring it to a boil for 1 minute.

This makes about 2 - 16 ounce jars.

Spinach Pulav:


From the time I heard about this month JFI, I wanted to do something new and different. After much research, I found my recipe. I'm not a great fan of greens, unlike my husband. But this dish has made me want for more. It is delicious.
Recipe Source: Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-Step cooking. But I made few changes to suit my family.

Long-grain rice or basmati rice - 1 cup
Fresh Spinach - 3/4 lb (cleaned, washed)
Onions - 2 (medium)
Garam masala - 1 tspn
Cloves - 3
Salt

Wash the rice well and soak it in cold water with 1 tspn of salt. Let it soak for 2 hours.

Bring little water to a boil in a pan , blanch spinach just until wilted. Drain and let it cool a bit and press down to remove excess moisture. Save the liquid. Chop the spinach finely.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Chop onions into thin long slices. Heat a pan, add oil, cloves and fry. Add onions and fry till light golden brown. Add the chopped spinach and garam masala and cook for 5 minutes.

Drain the rice and add it to the spinach mixture and add 1 1/2 cups water (use the reserved liquid). Add salt and bring it to aboil. Lower the heat and simmer it for 15 minutes stiring occasionally. By now, all the liquid would have evaporated.

Transfer the rice into an oven proof dish and cover it with foil and cut an 1/2 inch hole in the center so as to let th steam to escape. Place it in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot!

Note: If you have a a flameproof and oven proof casserole, you could cook and bake in the same.

This is my entry for JFI - Going Green with Green Leafy Vegetables hosted by Indira.

Onion chutney:

Onions - 2 medium
Tomato - 1
Red chillies - 4 to 5
Tamarind paste - 1 teaspoon
Salt

Chop onions, tomatoes into big chunks. Heat a kadai, add 1 tbspn oil and add red chillies and fry for 2 minutes. Add onions and fry for 6 to 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry for another 5 to 6 minutes. Remove
from heat and let it cool. Put this mixture in a mixie or blender, add salt, tamarind paste and grind it coarsely. If you prefer finer chutney, grind it further. Do tadka with oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and serve with Idli or Dosa.

Mysore Pak:

Krishna sweets in Chennai is my favourite. Their "Mysore Pa" is unbelievable. I miss it very much. I happened to come across this recipe in the book "Curried Favors" by Maya Kaimal. It is a bit tiring, but well worth the efforts.
You don't have to feel guilty of eating this ghee-rich sweet, because you would have burned enough calories while making it. So, sit back and enjoy!!!

1 cup - Besan (chickpea) flour, sifted
2 cups - Sugar
3/4 cup - Water
Ghee - prepared from 12 ounces of unsalted butter and kept warm

I divided the ingredients into half and made the recipe and ended up with 25 pieces.

Butter a 9 inch square baking pan.

In a frying pan, Stir the sifted flour over medium heat until it turns light golden brown and keep it aside.

In a heavy pot, combine sugar and water and let it come to a boil until candy thermometer registers 220 degree F (104 degree Celius). When you sample the syrup it should feel quite gummy.

Add half of warm ghee and keep stirring as mixture starts to bubble. Gradually add beasn, stirring constantly with a wire whisk to break up lumps and to prevent burning.
Turn down the heat to medium and continue to stir until the mixture thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ghee and keep stirring.

Continue stirring as the mixture gets thicker and airier. As you stir, the mixture will start to pull away from the sides of the pan until one point it foams up, expanding to twice its original volume.

Now quickly pour the mixture into the baking pan. It should fall out as a mass without sticking to the pot. Gently jiggle the baking pan to spread the mixture around. After 15 minutes, cut into squares or diamonds and then allow it to cool completely before removing from the pan.

The author has given a Note:
"Timing of removal of mixture from the pan is critical, so watch carefully for signs. If frothing and expansion have not started in the earnets, finished product will have a dense consistency like fudge. If the frothing has passed its peak, product will be too crumbly. It should harden to consistency of shortbread."

Garam Samosa:

Sweet Potato wedges:


Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Peel,wash and cut sweet potato into 1/2 inch wedges. Cover a baking sheet with alumium foil and spray non-stick cooking spray and transfer the wedges to the sheet.
Add turmeric, chilli powder, salt, cumin powder, oregano (optional) and mix well. Spray little oil and mix well. Bake the wedges for 20 minutes. Stir once or twice.

Pistachio Tuiles:

Before baking:



After:




Tuiles (pronounced Tweel) are crisp, thin cookies and are a perfect accompaniment to icecream, sorbet or can be just eaten. They are pretty easy and fun to make. You can have your kids help you too. You can make any shape you want to. The best part is when they come out of oven and are still warm, they are pliable and you can shape them as you wish.

This recipe makes about 25 to 30 cookies:

AP Flour - 1/3 cup
Confectioners sugar - 3/4 cup
Egg whites - 2 (room temperature)
Unsalted butter - 3 tbspns (melted)
Pistachio nuts - 2 tbspns - chopped
Grated zest of 1 Lemon

Using an electric mixer or a hand mixer, combine flour, sugar, lemon zest and beat at low speed to mix. add egg whites and mix just until smooth (about 30 seconds).
Add melted butter and mix until blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spoon a small amount of batter onto a non-stick baking sheet and with the back of the spoon spread it into a thin oval shape (or round or any shape you wish). Form 4 or 5 ovals like this and sprinkle some chopped pistachios. Bake the tuiles for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and using a wooden or metal spatula immediately drape each tuile over a rolling pin, pressing down gently so that it curves, just until set.

Completely cool the tuiles on a wire rack. If you prefer straight tuiles, just remove them from the baking sheet onto the wire rack directly. Repeat the procedure with the remaining batter.
Be sure to cool the baking sheet between batches. Use only non-stick baking sheet, or else it will stick (I tried making few tuiles on an ordinary baking sheet and they never came out!).

Recipe Source: Simply Sensational Desserts by Francois Payard

Chicken masala:

Chicken recipes are one of my favorites. The best thing about cooking chicken is we don't need to grind any fancy masala or need any special ingredient. Just throw in a few spices or as many spices and the end result is always mouth-watering. I don't think anyone could go wrong with it.
I have made this dish quite spicy and you may want to adjust accordingly.



Chicken - 1 lb (cut into pieces)
Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
Onions - 1 - chopped
Tomatoes - 1 - chopped
Green chilli - 1 - chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbspns
Coriander powder - 1 tbspn
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Pepper powder - 1 tspn
Garam masala powder - 1 tspn
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tspn
Salt
Cilantro - for garnish


Heat a pan and add 2 tbspn of oil. Whe it is hot, add cumin seeds and allow them to splutter. Then add onions, ginger garlic paste, green chilli and fry for 5 minutes. In goes coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric, salt, tomatoes. Fry till tomato is cooked, then add chicken, pepper powder, garam masala and add 1/2 cup water, close the pan with a lid and let it cook. Stir once in a while.
Once the chicken in cooked, add cinnamon powder and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove it from the heat, garish with cilantro and serve hot with roti, pulav or plain hot rice!

I like this curry with a little gravy. But if you prefer it to be dry, just fry it for few more additional minutes, until all the wet gravy is absorbed. Either way, it is easy and tasty.

Clam Chowder

Clams are very good source of Iron and a bowl of this soup is a hearty meal on its own. If you like crab, then give it a try.



Ingredients:

Clams - 1 can - minced (I used baby clams)
Potato -1 big - peeled and cubed
Onion - 1 -cut
AP flour - 3 tbspns
Milk - 1/2 cup
Heavy cream - 1/4 cup
Salt
Pepper

• Open the can, drain all the liquid into a seperate bowl and reserve and wash the clams and keep aside.
• Heat a deep bottomed pan. Add 1 tbspn butter, 1 tspn oil and saute the onion and potato for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the reserved liquid, salt and pepper and keep a lid and cook until potatoes are tender.
• Mix the flour with milk and make sure there are no lumps.
• Once potatoes are cooked, add the milk, heavy cream and the clams.
• Let the chowder thicken and start to boil - it should take about 4 to 5 minutes. Done.
• Serve piping hot with some warm garlic bread or french bread.

Go ahead and substitute half and half for heavy cream. You can use whole milk or 1 % or 2% milk.

Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake:

After extensive research, I found this simple, light, tasty vanilla layer cake from a book called "The Perfect Cake", by Susan G.Purdy. It is called 1-2-3-4 cake because of the ingredients used - 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, 4 eggs.
The cake tastes heavenly when it is warm. Though I did icing (that was quite an event! I did see many cake decorating vidoes on the internet and also on TV, did read a lot about them, and I thought maybe I was ready atleast to do the basic decorating, but ...I realised that I have a very very long way to go as far as icing goes!!!), but the cake as such was delicious.


Pan preparation:
Two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Spread solid shortening or butter all over the bottom and sides f the pan, then dust evenly with flour and tap out excess flour.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3 cups
Baking powder - 1 tbspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Unsalted butter - 1 cup (at room temperature)
Granulated sugar - 2 cups
Large eggs - 4 (separated)
Milk - 1 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tspn

Method:

• Prepare the pan. Position the shelf in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degree F (175 degree celcius)
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a large bowl, with a hand mixer or an electric mixer, beat butter till soft and smooth. Add sugar and neat till light and smooth. Add egg yols one at a time and beat after each addition.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour. Add vanilla extract..
• In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir about 1/2 cup of whites into the batter, then fold in remaining whites in several additions.
• Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Smooth the batter level and spread it lightly from the center toward the edges of the pan so that it will rise evenly.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 mins. Then invert them onto the wire racks and cool them completely before frosting.

Kadai Shrimp Masala:


Ingredients:

Shrimp - (I used frozen cooked)
Onions - 1 - chopped
Tomatoes - 1 - chopped
Tomato sauce - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1/2 inch grated
Garlic - 5 to 6 pods - grated
Chilli powder - 1 tbspn
Coriander powder - 1 tbspn
Turmeric - 1 tspn
Salt
Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - few

Method:

Heat a kadai and add 1 tbspn of oil and add onions, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and fry till raw smell disappears. Add turmeric, cilantro leaves, tomatoes and let the tomatoes cook for a while.
Add tomato sauce, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt. Let the whole masala cook till oil comes out. Now add shrimp and cook exactly for 4 minutes or maximum of 5 minutes.
If the shrimp is cooked any longer, it will become hard. If using raw shrimp, cook till shrimp turns pink and remove it from the stove. Serve piping hot!

Masala boiled peanuts:

We all love to eat boiled peanuts just out of their shell. This is just another fun way to eat 'em.

Boil peanuts in thier shell along with salt. After they are cool to handle, remove them from shells. Add finely chopped onions, tomatoes and green chillies. Add a pinch of salt(optional), squeeze half a lemon and finally add chopped cilantro.

Tomato Pulav:


You will need the following ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Onions - 1 ( cut into thin long slices)
Tomatoes - big - 3 or 4 - you would need about - 1 1/2 cups of puree
(Or you could use Tomato sauce - 1 1/4 cups - just add 1/4 cup water)
Green chilli - 1 (cut into long strips)
Cilantro and Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbspn
Peas - 1/4 cup
Turmeric - a pinch
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tspn
Cloves - 5
Cinnamom - 1 stick
Bay leaf - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
Cashews - 10 (fried to golden brown)
Scallions, Cilantro - for garnish


Procedure:

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 10 minutes. Heat a pressure cooker, add 1 tbspn butter/ghee, 3 tbspns oil. When the oil gets hot, add, bayleaf, cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds and fry.
• Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 1 minute. Add onions, green chilli and fry well for 4 mins.
  
• Now add cilantro and mint leaves and fry for a minute.
• Add turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, peas. Mix well and let it cook for about a minute. Now add tomato puree and salt and mix well and lightly close the lid and let the whole mixture start to boil.
• Check for spiciness and salt and add if necessary. Now add the soaked rice and mix gently. Close the lid and pressure cook for 10 minutes on medium flame and for 5 minutes on low flame.
• Garnish with scallions, fried cashews, cilantro. Serve with raita of your choice. Enjoy!

This is my entry for Jihva for Tomatoes hosted by RP of MyWorkshop

Fillo dough Appetisers:

I read about small baklava cups filled with nuts and honey in some magazine and they looked very cute. So, I came up with an idea and made these appetisers. I made the cups with The Fillo Factory Organic Fillo dough.

For the cups:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Thaw the Fillo dough according to the package instructions. Once thawed, take 3 layers of dough and cut them into small circles - so that they fit into the muffin tray cups.
So, cut any number of circles as per your need and brush the top layer with some butter keep them in the muffin tray. Bake them for 15 minutes or light golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven and take the cups out of the tray and let them cool on a plate.

Filling:

Carrot - Julienned
Capsicum - cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Cabbage - shredded
Green chillies - 1 or 2 finely cut
Green onions or Scallions - 2 - finely chopped
Red pepper Flakes
Soy sauce
Salt - 2 tspns
Cilantro

They should retain little bit of crunch in them. Add cabbage, red pepper flakes, salt and mix well. Heat a pan, add oil and add carrots, capsicum, green chillies and fry them for 3 or 4 minutes. Add soy sauce and fry for 2 minutes. Finally add scallions and finely chopped cilantro and remove from stove. Spoon some filling onto each fillo cup and serve!

Cake:

I used the recipe from the blog Samayal by SudhaV. I made whipped cream and decorated the cake with whipped cream, raspberries and chocolate shavings.

Whipped Cream:

Heavy Whipping cream: 1 cup
Confectioners Sugar - 2 Tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Pour the cream into a well chilled mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer at medium speed. After the cream begins to thicken, increase the speed to next level.

Add Vanilla extract and whip until siff peaks are formed. Add Sugar and beat for 1 minute. Decorate.

Creme Caramel:

I got the recipe from this cool website: www.videojug.com
I divided the ingredients into half and made only 4 individual ramekins.