Broccoli fry - Indian style

Broccoli is a very healthy vegetable. I bake it with cheese and salt and pepper. But I like the spicy Indian version the best.

Ingredients:

Broccoli
Onions
Red chillies
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Urad dal
Turmeric
Chilli powder
Salt
Oil

How to:

Heat a pan, add oil. Once that warms up, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add Cumin seeds, Urad dal and Red chillies. After they turn light brown, add chopped onions and fry for 5 minutes. Add chopped Broccoli florets, salt and add few tbs of water, mix well and close and cook. Stir often so that Broccoli does not brown. I don't like to add more water and make it little mushy. I steam it with little water and make it dry and slightly brown. End result is yummy!

Caramelized Pears

I like to caramelize apples, pears, figs with butter and little brown sugar and honey. Add a little vanilla ice cream and there is the best dessert!

Heat a pan, melt some butter, add sugar and honey and whisk to mix. Place the cut side of the Pears down and let it cook and caramelize on medium low flame. Once done, serve them warm with some ice cream. Go ahead and drizzle some more honey or chocolate syrup. Indulge!

Zucchini boats with Kale chips

Zucchini boats are a fun way to eat veggies, especially if you have a fussy eater. It is simple, easy to make and delicious. I have tried various stuffing for the boats. You can get creative too. This is one of my versions:

Ingredients:

Zucchini - 2
Onion
Bell pepper
Lima beans - cooked. I soaked them overnight and steamed them.
Tomatoes
Cheese
Salt
Chilli powder/paprika/Pepper
Oil


How to:

Wash and trim the ends if the Zucchini and cut them into half lengthwise. Carefully, scrape out the flesh with a  spoon or fork. Make sure you leave little flesh and not to make any cuts or holes. Set this scraped zucchini aside.

Heat a pan, add oil or butter and saute chopped onions until light brown. Add tomatoes and fry. Add in the chopped bell peppers, reserved zucchini flesh, salt, chilli powder/pepper. Once this comes together, add lima beans and let it cook for few minutes until most of the moisture is evaporated. You could add cilantro. Adjust the spices according to your preferences.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Sprinkle salt on the Zucchini boats and bake it in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes. You will see some mositure come out. Handle the boats carefully and drain out the water. Now fill the stuffing in the zucchini boats base. Top with grated cheese. Bake in the Oven at 400F for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Bread crumbs could be used as a topping as well.

Enjoy!

Variations in the stuffing: Black beans, kidney beans or any kind of beans. Or just vegetables. I guess even fish or meat could be used as a stuffing too.


Kale chips:

Some of us like to eat greens. I think anything crunchy appeals to many, especially kids. Kale chips are easy to make and of course very healthy.

Wash the Kale thoroughly. Cut the leaves part into 3 or 4 inch pieces. Leave the bottom part of the stem as it is thick. Spread them on a towel to remove most of the water. Line a baking sheet, spray with olive oil. Put the kale leaves and add salt and pepper and little more oil and mix well. Bake in the oven at 350F for about 12 to 15 minutes until they become crunchy.

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.