15-JAN-2011
Chocolate Croissant
Ingredients:
Frozen pastry sheets
Ghiradelli chocolate
Baking chocolate
Hot chocolate mix
Pam cooking spray
Preparation:
Thaw the pastry sheets for 40 minutes. Spread the sheet and stretch them out using a rolling pin. Cut the sheets into triangular shapes. Melt the different chocolates and spread inside the sheet. Roll the sheets from the long edge to the pointed edge.
Spray a little Pam or spread a little butter before baking. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425C.
11-DEC-2010
Pennsylvania Maple Waffles and fruit
Ingredients:
Ready to eat toaster blueberry waffles
Grapes, Oranges, Bananas, Walnuts
Orange juice
Pennsylvania Maple syrup
Preparation:
Toast the waffles in a toaster.
Slice a banana and add walnuts.
Generously pour the maple syrup and serve with fruit.
09-DEC-2010
Kart Club Sandwich
Ingredients:
Sesame seed bun
Onion, Tomato, Cucumber, Mango, Alfalfa sprouts, cilantro, avacado
Vegetable patty
Preparation:
Toast the bun on a stove top.
Deep fry the patty in canola oil.
Cut all the vegetables.
Assemble, stick two toothpicks in and cut in half.
Serve with chips.
23-NOV-2010
Cucumber Kathi Roll
Ingredients:
Ready to eat frozen parathas
Frozen veggie patties
Cucumber cut into squares
Tomatoes, cilantro, spring onions
Bombay Sandwich Spread
Preparation:
Heat the oil. Once hot, add the patty and fry till brown. It takes about 3 minutes if the oil is just right. On a tawa, pan fry the parathas.
Spread the sandwich spread on the parathas. Lay out the tomatoes, cucumber, onions and cilantro. Add the patty after chopping it into pieces. Squeeze the paratha tight as you roll it.
11-NOV-2010
Tostadas with cucumber
Ingredients:
Tostados
Guacamole Mix
Cucumber, Avacados, Tomatoes, Mango, Green Chillies, Lime, onions, cilantro, lettuce, cheese
Black Beans
Preparation:
Guacamole - Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the seed. Then using a spoon scoop out the ripened avocado and put in a bowl. Use a fork to mash the avocado into a paste. Add the guacamole mix and mix well. Add tomatoes, onions, green chillies and cilantro. Mix. Put the mix in the freezer with a cover. Squeeze lime before serving.
Heat the Tostadas in the microwave for 45 seconds. Watch closely and make sure it doesn't burn. Heat the beans on a non-stick pan with salt and red chili powder.
Serve the tostados with the beans, lettuce, mango, cucumber, tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Spread the guacamole on top.
24-AUG-2010
Falafel Sandwich
Ingredients:
Falafel mix
Pita
Cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, onions
Hummus, green chutney
Preparation:
Mix the falafel mix with water. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and flatten. Fry in oil till golden brown. Spread the different pastes on the pita and pack with falafel and veggies.
24-AUG-2010
Pasta al dente with fresh vegetables
Ingredients:
Ginger Garlic Pasta, made fresh and bought from the Farmer's market
Tomatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, onions, green, red and purple (yes purple) peppers from the Farmer's market
Fresh basil from the Deck Garden
Oregano, garlic and italian seasoning
Olive Oil from Croatia (yummy!)
Olives imported from Italy (double yummy!)
Preparation:
Bring water to a boil. Add the pasta. Cook for 3 minutes, remove and strain. The pasta should be firm but not undercooked.
Pour Olive oil in a deep pan and add the basil, the herbs and the garlic. Add the onions and peppers and sautee. Add the veggies. Generously pour more olive oil. Add the pasta back in and keep stirring. Cook for 2 more minutes.
Broil the garlic bread at 350F for 5 minutes, turning it at half-time.
Serve the pasta with the bread.
18-JUL-2010
Veggie Kebabs
Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes, Onions, Green and Red peppers, Paneer
Skewers
Preparation:
Cut the paneer and broil at 350F. Marinate with green chili sauce and lime.
Shallow fry the veggies.
Add each to the skewer with the tomato at the end as the chaser.
05-MAR-2010
Bun Samosa
Ingredients:
Freshly bought samosa from the indian store
Fresh bun from the grocers
Green chili chutney
Red chili powder
Onions, cucumber, tomato, coriander, raw mango
Preparation:
Toast the bun in a pan using butter. Cut the onions, tomatoes and cucumber into thin slices. Cut the raw mango into thin strips. Add these into the bun. Spread the chutney and add the red chili powder with a drop of water to ease the spread.
Place the samosa in the bun and press tight.
25-FEB-2010
Kashmiri biryani
Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice, butter, coriander seeds, turmeric, almonds, cardamom(3), raisins, cinnamon, 4 cups water, salt
Caulifower,broccoli, lima beans, carrots, peas, soy beans, ginger, cardamom, onions, potatoes, raisins and almonds
Preparation:
Clean the rice. In a pan, heat butter, add, the spices for the rice - turmeric, almonds, raisins, cardamom, coriander seeds and the cinnamon and stir. After about 2 minutes, add the rice and stir for a minute more. Then add the water, cover the pan and the let the rice cook for 20 minutes.
While it does, flavor the vegetables. Add a spoon of butter, and mix in the onions and the spices. let the onions brown. Add the vegetables, add a cup of water and cook. The secret is to let the vegetables soak in the flavors. Cook till the water evaporates. Add the veggies to the rice and stir.
Serve with a cucumber raita or with just curd.
23-FEB-2010
Thai Crunch Salad - CPK style
Ingredients:
Napa cabbage, Red cabbage, Carrots, Scallions (green onions), English (hothouse) cucumber, edamame, peanuts, avacados, cilantro, Vadam (fried rice crisps)
Lime Cilantro dressing
Peanut butter dressing
Preparation:
Lime Cilantro dressing - Cut red bell pepper into small pieces, add cilantro, 1 spoon of honey, 1 spoon of wine vinegar, 2 spoons of lemon juice, freshly squeezed, 1/2 spoon of oil, 1/2 spoon of ginger cut thin, 1 cup of EVVO, salt and pepper and liquefy in a mixer.
Peanut butter dressing - 2 spoons of peanut butter, 1 spoon of honey, 1 spoon of sugar, 2 spoons of soy sauce, 1/2 spoon of red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup water and 1 spoon of oil. Wisk in a bowl till smooth.
Salad - Add all the ingredients and toss. Cut the cabbage into squares and the carrots and cucumber in julienne style. Add the dressing, the rice crisps and sprinkle black pepper on top.
13-FEB-2010
Veggie sandwich with samosas
Breakfast of champions
Ingredients:
4 slices of bread
2 potatoes
1/2 onion
200g of peas
A packet of samosas to deep fry
1 orange
Preparation:
Boil the potatoes. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons of chili powder. Add chopped onions. Fry the onions till they are golden brown and keep stirring. Add the peas and cut potatoes and add 1 more teaspoon of chili powder depending on if you want it spicy. Mix and mash till the potatoes are semi smashed. Switch off stove.
Toast the bread. I prefer toasting it on a non-stick with some Lupak butter. Spread Green chili chutney (available in Indian stores) on the bread. Add some tamarind sauce. (Indian store) Add the veggie stuffing in the sandwich. Garnish with coriander. Squeeze a lime if you like a little tangy flavor.
Deep fry the samosas and serve with the sandwich. Make it even more healthier with some oranges.
07-FEB-2010
Karthik's cupcakes
Ingredients:
Betty Crocker cake mix.
Walnuts
Chocolate
Apple sauce
3 eggs
Preparation:
Mix the cake mix, 3 egg whites, the walnuts, the apple sauce (instead of the oil required) and add chocolate shavings. Bake at 450C for 15 mins.
Keep checking the oven.
Add whipped cream if you remembered to keep it refrigerated.
03-FEB-2010
Sev Batata Puri
Ingredients:
Puris, Sev, Potatoes, Chick Peas, Onions, Tomatoes, Green chili chutney, Ginger chutney, Tamarind chutney
Preparation:
Soak chick peas (yes, I mean soak, no more canned peas) overnight. Pressure cook the peas with a sprinkle of salt. Boil potatoes. Two for two people.
Mash the chick peas and the potatoes, add some chaat masala and mash some more.
The rest is easy but you do have to put it together like an assembly plant.
Spice the plate with the three chutneys. Place the puris on the plate and add the potato and chick peas mash. Add the chutneys, place a few onion pieces and tomato pieces and sprinkle the sev.
You can also add curd (dahi) to make Dahi Batata Puri.
13-JAN-2010
Wok style Stir fry
Ingredients:
Szechuan sauce, Ginger garlic salad dressing
Broccoli, peas, carrots, corn, snow peas, peanuts, onions, babycorn, cauliflower, water chestunts
Preparation:
Heat the wok. Add two tablespoons of oil in the wok and add the onions green chilies into the wok. Fry till golden brown. Add a few pieces of ginger and fry. Add a few drops of Szechuan sauce into the mix. Add all the veggies in.
You can add tofu and egg in too.
Add the dressing, more oil and Szechuan sauce. Stir, Stir and Stir. It is stir-fry after all. Add cooked rice into the mix and more Szechuan sauce. Stir and serve hot.
30-DEC-2009
Masala Dosa Boxes
Ingredients:
Dosa flour - available in indian stores, ready to pour into the pan
Potatoes, green chilies, onions, coriander
Preparation:
Pour a teaspoon of oil onto a non-stick pan. As it heats up, add mustard seeds, and as it crackles, add in the onions and green chillies. Add chili powder, salt and turmeric. Mix and fry the mixture.
Add in the boiled potatoes into the mixture and fry. Constantly stir and mash in.
This is the Masala.
Pour the dosa batter into a dosa pan and using a cup spread the batter into a circle like a pancake or crepe. Add a few drops of oil. Once the bottom side is done, turn the dosa around. Turn it around one last time, add the masala and fold the dosa into a box.
Tip: To get the box, cut the dosa like a cross and fold over.
27-DEC-2009
Pav Bhaji
Ingredients:
Burger bread - pav
Cut onions
Lime
Ginger, Garlic, green chili paste
Vegetables- lots of leftovers - carrots, beetroots, potato, peppers, tomato, peas, cauliflower, green beans, onions
Badshah Pav Bhaji Masala, chili powder, mango powder, daniya, haldi, hing, salt
Preparation:
1. Butter the pav and toast them on the pan
2. Fry the garlic, ginger paste with onions until golden brown
3. Add green chili paste, Mix in all the vegetables and mash thoroughly
4. Add Pav Bhaji Masala, chili power, dry mango powder, daniya powder, haldi, hing and salt. All less than a teaspoon
5. Boil and stir till the consistency gets harder.
Garnish the bhaji with coriander and onions and eat with the pav
25-DEC-2009
Walnut and Chocolate Chip cookies
Christmas without cookies. How can that be? Never knew it was this easy to make cookies.
Ingredients:
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 egg
1 packet Betty Crocker cookie mix
Extra walnuts, cinnamon, coconut as desired
Preparation:
Mix the softened butter along with the egg in a bowl.
Add the cookie flour into the batter and mix turning it into a soft dough.
Add the extra spices and nuts as needed.
Drop a tablespoon full of dough on cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 8-12 mins. Keep an eye on the oven to ensure that the cookies don't burn.
25-APR-2009
Bruschetta
Ingredients:
4 tomatoes: Mix plum, vine, grape
Olive oil
Basil
Italian Bread
Garlic
Preparation:
Parboil the tomatoes. Boil water and then remove from stove. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and strain after 5 minutes. Remove the skin carefully and then remove the seeds and stem. Chop into small pieces. Add 2 cloves of garlic finely minced. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle basil, black pepper and salt to taste. Mix well.
For the bread, toast on a pan and then rub some garlic and olive oil.
Serve the two together.
17-MAR-2009
Bhel Puri
The long awaited Bhel Puri recipe - my orignal dish
Ingredients:
Haldiram's Bhel Puri mix
1 Tomato, 1/2 onion, 2 boiled potatoes
1/2 mango
1 Carrot
Green chillies, Lime
Cilantro
Preparation:
Pour the Bhel Puri mix into a bowl first. Cut the packet for the paste and pour the powder into a cup. Add water and mix till it becomes a paste but with consistency enough to pour. Chop all the vegetables into tiny squares, and shred the carrot.
After about 5 minutes mix the vegetables into the Bhel mix and stir, stir, stir! Stirring is key here as the more the ingredients are mixed the better the flavor. Add the paste and mix some more.
Pour into a plate, top with Sev and cilantro.
13-MAR-2009
Beetroot curry
Ingredients:
Pre-cut beetroot from the Indian store
Mustard seeds
Salt and chili powder to taste
Preparation:
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and drop mustard seeds in when the oil is hot.
Defrost the beetroot (always store in the freezer) and drop into the oil. Watch when you pour as water droplets will make the oil splutter.
Stir fry and serve.
10-MAR-2009
Pumpkin Curry - Kootu
This is by guest chef Shwetha
Ingredients:
Moong dal
Pumpkin - yellow
Coriander
2 tea spoons Cumin
2 table spoons Desiccated Coconut
3 Green Chilies
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Pressure cook moong dal and pumpkin for 1 whistle. Grind the coconut, cumin and chili into a paste.
Mix the two, bring to a boil and salt and some tadka.
10-MAR-2009
Banana Chips
Ingredients:
1 raw banana
Oil, salt and green chili powder
Preparation:
Slice raw banana into thin slices. Quality check is 3 mm max. Heat oil in a pan. Drop the slices carefully making sure you do not splatter. When putting the slices in it is a good idea to lower the oil to low heat. Fry till the chips are golden brown. Another hint is to fry till you can smell the banana being cooked. If the slices are slightly thick, poke holes in the slices with a fork before frying.
Remove from oil, layer on a tissue and add salt and chili powder and mix.
Eat with rice or as an evening snack.
10-MAR-2009
Banana Fry - Vazhaikai curry
Ingredients:
1 raw banana
Salt and mustard
Chili powder
Preparation:
Chop raw banana into small pieces. Shallow fry in oil with mustard till golden brown. Add salt and chili powder as you stir. The banana should be cooked just enough that is soft on the inside and yet looks fried.
Easy and yummy.
08-MAR-2009
Fruit Platter
This is for a lazy Sunday night.
Ingredients:
Mango, Gauva, Red pear, Fuyu persimmom, Grapes
Preparation:
Chop, slice, cut, and arrange.
03-MAR-2009
Quesadilla
Ingredients:
Flour Tortillas
White Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese
Onions
Green peppers
Jalapeno peppers
Avacados for the guacamole
Preparation:
Heat the pan to Medium. Place the flour tortilla and heat till bubbles form in the tortilla. Add the cheese and wait till it melts. Lower the flame to low and add the chopped onions, green peppers and jalapeno peppers. Add the other tortilla. Invert and heat on Medium for a minute more.
Serve with guacamole.
26-FEB-2009
Shwe Swirls
This dish is dedicated to my sweetheart.
Ingredients:
Puff Pastry sheet
Bitter Chocolate (I used fresh chocolate from Mexican cocoa)
Cinnamon
Walnuts
Preparation:
Spread the chocolate on the puff pastry sheet. Sprinkle some cinnamon and the walnuts on the sheet.
Roll the sheet and chop into 8 pieces.
Bake at 350C for 20 minutes.
26-FEB-2009
Vegetable puff
Ingredients:
Puff pastry sheet
3 Potatoes
A handful of peas
1 or 2 green chilies
Salt and chili powder to taste
Preparation:
Spread the puff pastry sheet, grease with a little butter and cut into 9 pieces. Smaller is easier to eat, but if you prefer them slightly bigger, cut into 6 pieces.
Prepare the vegetable stuffing using the potatoes and peas by boiling the potatoes and then cooking it over medium heat with the peas. Add the salt and chili powder and a green chili to add some spice. Add one spoon of stuffing into each square and then fold over. crimp the edges.
Grease a baking pan and bake at 350C for 20 minutes.
08-JAN-2009
Rice and Peas - Jamaican recipe
A blast from my childhood.
Ingredients:
1 can kidney beans (rajma)
1 cup regular rice
1 can coconut milk
Onions, cardamom, cloves
Spring onions
Preparation:
Soak the rice in water for 10 minutes and then drain it.
Fry the spices and onions then add the rice and lightly fry for a minute or two. For one cup of rice, add the 1 can of coconut milk and 1 cup water. Add the rajma. Add alt and cook like normal rice or fried rice. Serve with the Spring Onion.
05-JAN-2009
Pasta with peas
Ingredients:
2 servings Penne Rigate (any pasta will do, but I like penne)
Tomato Basil Pasta sauce or marinara sauce
Broccoli, green peas, onions, green peppers
Cheese to sprinkle
Preparation:
Add the pasta to 4 quarts boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes. keep poking to make sure pasta is soft. Add salt during the process.
Drain the pasta.
In a pan, add olive oil, and the veggies. Stir for a few minutes, and add the pasta sauce. Add the pasta in to the pan and keep stirring. For additional taste, pour a little Cabernet Sauvignon.
Eat with garlic bread.
27-DEC-2008
Veggie Sandwich
Ingredients:
Veggie patty from Trader Joes' Masala Burger packets.
1 Onion, 1 tomato, 1 cucumber, 1 avacado
Pesto sauce from Trader Joes
Lupak Butter
Wheat bread
Preparation:
In a pan add some Lupak butter. It is extremely yummy so add a little. Toast the bread in the butter. Add the burger and fry till the burger is thawed and easy to mash.
Slice the tomato, cucumber and avacado. Spread the pesto on one slice. Add the burger and the veggies, add the second toast and slice diagonally.
25-DEC-2008
Beans
Ingredients:
1 packet cut green beans - readily available.
Mustard seeds, salt, chili powder
Preparation:
To some oil in a pan, add some mustard seeds till they pop. add salt and chili powder and mix till the pan is evenly spread. Add the beans. Pour a few drops of oil on the beans and keep cooking, till the beans lose their crunchiness.
Easy but can be eaten with rice or chappati.
25-DEC-2008
Dal
Ingredients:
1 cup dal
Salt
Preparation:
Add the dal into a cooker, add twice the water and cook with the weight on. After 3 whistles lower the temperature. After 2 minutes switch off and remove. Add salt and eat with rice or plain. You can also turn it into a soup by keeping some of the hot water, mashing the dal and adding some tadka (mustard seeds fried in a little oil).
21-DEC-2008
Bajji
Ingredients:
2 onions
1 potato
1 green pepper
2 cup besan
1 cup rice flour
salt
Preparation:
Mix the besan with the rice flour, add salt and some water and mix till it is not too thick or too watery. Slice the vegetables. Dip the vegetables in the mix and then drop them into a frying pan with oil. Fry till golden brown.
Truly Yummy.
19-DEC-2008
Fruit Salad
Ingredients:
Any kind of fruit/fruits
Preparation:
Cut, mix, add chocolate sauce.
Simple but delicious.
16-DEC-2008
Pizza
Ingredients:
1 Boboli pizza pie (comes in a packet of two)
1 Boboli pizza sauce
1 tomato, few small grape tomatoes
1 Green pepper, 1 onion
2 Green chillies
Mozarella cheese
Oregano
Preparation:
Spread the pizza sauce on the pie. Add the cheese. Slice the tomatoes, onions and green peppers, and the green chillies on one half. If you make a pizza you have to make it half and half. Add more cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 450C for 10 minutes.
Once baked, add oregano and chili flakes. Boboli is an expensive brand but worth it. Yummy!
03-SEP-2008
Plain Plantains
This is a dish I used to eat when I was a kid in Jamaica.
Ingredients:
2 Plantain bananas
1 teaspoon oil
Preparation:
Cut the banana into thin strips. Fry in the pan, till golden brown. It's funny how you know everything is cooked when it's golden brown. :)
To make this dish taste even better, add a sprinkle of brown sugar on the plantains.
03-SEP-2008
Sundar Sundal
Ingredients:
1 tin garbanzo beans (you can use any canned beans)
3 Green chillies
Frozen coconut shredds
Mustard seeds
Salt
Preparation:
In a shallow pan, add a little oil and fry the mustard seeds till they pop. Add the cut green chillies. Mix and then add the garbanzo beans. Keep frying till the beans are cooked and lose the can smell. Switch off the stove and then defrost the coconut shredds and add to the sundal.
This is a common dish during Navarathari time. Yummy!
02-SEP-2008
Alu Tikki
Ingredients:
6 potatoes
1 onion
1 can of garbanzo (channa) beans or yellow gram(this is more difficult, as you might have to buy raw and soak overnight)
Half a raw mango (available in Indian grocery stores in season)
Coriander
Some sev (available in Indian grocery stores)
Tamarind chutney (available in Indian grocery stores)
Channa Masala powder
Oil
Preparation:
Boil the potatoes. See my Dosa recipe for the different ways to boil potatoes. Peel and cut into small pieces. Once sufficiently cooled, put in a bowl, and mash. Use your hands, but put some oil on your hands so it doesn't stick. Take a handful of the mash, roll into a ball, and then flatten to resemble a cake.
In a shallow cooking vessel, add the channa, add some cut onions, add some water, add the channa masala, add some salt and cook till the consistency is easy neither watery nor too dry.
In a heated pan, add some oil, and then shallow fry the potato cakes 3 at a time, till the surface is golden brown but the inside is still soft. Add the channa mix and cook for a minute more.
Remove and serve on a plate, garnished with the sev, coriander and mango.
Yummy!
18-AUG-2008
Tacos
Ingredients:
4 hard shell tacos, available in packs of 12 in all supermarkets
2 avocados
1 Guacamole mix - McCormick Produce Partners packet
Some Kraft Mexican four cheese mix
1 can of black beans
1 tomato
1 onion
Some coriander
Taco mix pre-cut lettuce
Preparation:
Guacamole - Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the seed. Then using a spoon scoop out the ripened avocado and put in a bowl. Use a fork to mash the avocado into a paste. Add the guacamole mix and mix well. Put the mix in the freezer with a cover.
Take the tacos and put in a preheated oven at 400C. Keep for less than 3 minutes till tacos appear toasted. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE TACOS. DO NOT LET THEM CATCH FIRE. Better still, skip this step. The tacos taste just fine out of the box.
Heat some oil in a pan, and add some cut onions to the oil. Lightly fry and then add the can of beans. Remember to drain the water. There should be enough moisture in the beans to give it a good consistency. Keep mixing and frying till the beans start sticking to each other but do not mash.
Finely cut the tomatoes and take the guacamole out of the freezer and add to it. Mix well.
To each taco, in layers, add the beans, add, the lettuce, add the guacamole, add the cheese, and add the coriander. Eat!
Yummy!
17-AUG-2008
Sada Dosa no soda
Actually a Masal dosa but Sada Dosa no soda sounded better
Ingredients:
1 mix of dosa batter, - available in all Indian stores or prepared by mother when she visits. If bought at Indian store remember to add salt.
3 potatoes, 2 green chillies cut into small pieces, 1 onion, Mustard seeds
The yellow powder in you spice rack - Turmeric
A handful of peanuts, cumin seeds, curry leaves, garlic
Some oil in an easy squeeze bottle
Preparation:
Boil potatoes. Use either the cooker with the weight on for about 3 whistles, remember to add water and put the gasket on, or boil in an open top vessel and keep poking with a fork to see if boiled or put in microwave for 10 minutes with a cup of water and keep turning the potatoes every 2.5 minutes.
After it is boiled, peel the potatoes (remember to keep the hot potatoes under cold water before you attempt to peel) and chop into small pieces.
In a frying pan, pour some oil, and when it is reached a certain warmth, add some mustard seeds. Then add the onions, fry till golden brown and then add the chillies and fry some more. Come on, fry till you can't fry no more. Then add the potatoes, mix, add half a cup of water, and mash the potatoes slightly into the rest of the mix. Add some of the turmeric powder. Let it cook and simmer till the water evaporates. Your masal is ready.
Heat some oil, add garlic, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Lightly fry. Then let the mixture cool. Add this to the peanuts, roasted, and put in a coffee bean grinder. Mix till it becomes a paste. This is your chutney for the dosa.
Heat the Pan (tawa) on medium till you can feel the heat about 2 inches above the pan. Do not touch the pan. The best pan is apparently a cast iron one and not the non-stick ones. It is also better apparently to keep a separate pan for dosa and chappatis.
Take 1 scoop of batter in a karandi and pour at the center of the pan. With a graceful yet manly, but yet fancy wrist action swirl the batter around the tawa till it is spread thinly in a round shape.
After about 10 seconds squeeze drops of oil around the edges of the batter. With gloves on, rotate the pan such that the oil now flows around the contour of the dosa.
After a few seconds, 30 maybe, using a flat karandi, turn the dosa over so that the other side can cook. Keep this side on the pan for a shorter period. Turn it over once again and add a portion of masal into the center and fold over.
Keep on the pan for a few more seconds and then remove and serve onto plate with the chutney.
Yummy!
11-AUG-2008
Curd Rice with Raw Banana Curry (Vazhakai curry)
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
3 cups curd
Mustard seeds, ginger
Grapes
2 Raw bananas
Salt and chili powder
Preparation:
Let's cook the curry first. Cut the bananas into small pieces. Fry in a shallow pan with a tablespoon of oil. Add the salt and chili powder and keep stirring. It's done when the banana is soft, yet juicy.
Cook the rice with 2 cups water in a rice cooker. Cook the seasoning by adding the mustard seeds and ginger to a teaspoon of oil till they burst. Take the rice and mix well the curd. Add the mustard seeds and ginger and add the grapes.
Eat! Make Merry! Sleep!
04-AUG-2008
Corn on the cob
Ingredients:
Corn, Butter, Red chili powder, lime, salt
Preparation:
This is one of the easiest but healthiest snacks. Boil the corn, available in a packets of four in the supermarket or if you have more time, you can buy fresh corn and peel.
Once boiled remove from vessel, let it cool just enough for you to be able to touch.
Spread a little butter on the corn. Skip this step if you don't have a naturally high metabolic rate.
Cut the lime into two halves and pour some red chili powder and salt into each half. Then slowly squeeze the lime onto the corn, touching the surface of the corn at all times.
Yummy!
04-AUG-2008
Rava Idli
Ingredients:
MTR Rava idli packet (available in Indian grocery stores)
2 spoons curd
Preparation:
Cut and pour the contents of the packet into a bowl.
Add water and the spoons of curd and mix till you get a paste.
Oil the Idli plates and pour the paste into the plates.
Put the plates in the cooker, add water to the bottom of the cooker and cook.
Enjoy my favorite dish. Yummy.
11-FEB-2007
Vegetable Biryani
Ingredients:
Cut vegetables (beans, peas, carrots, green peppers - all available in pre-cut form)
2 potatoes
1 cup rice (serves two)
Salt
Chili powder
Preparation:
Easy. Cook the rice with the vegetables. For 1 cup rice add 2 cups water. Halfway through the rice cooker, open and mix salt and chili powder and mix the preparation well. Let it finish cooking.
Yummy!