Carrot Baby corn Masala

The next few posts of mine will be some old dishes that I had saved as drafts but not posted. Some of them are even as old as last year, and now comes the time to post them all....

I’ve messed up with my camera, or rather Dee’s camera. I tried doing a favor for a friend by recovering her mistakenly deleted pictures and borrowed her card. Just as Dee was trying to stop me from inserting that card into his camera, I just inserted it, and whew.... the camera broke down :(. Now it can’t write on any card nor can we take pictures. I felt so so bad about it that I almost spoiled a couple of days over it.....
Now we should get it fixed over the weekend, and till then no way of clicking food pics. I don’t even have my other old camera here and may be if I get it, I can click some in the next week. So till then, no new recipes to post. But well, I have loads of them in drafts and will be posting them one by one!
This one is a dish I had tried out sometime last year, but hadn’t posted. Here it goes....

Carrot Baby corn Masala

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Carrots - 2, cut into 1’ x ¼’ pieces Baby corn - 8-10, cut into 1’ x ¼’ pieces Onions - 3 medium sized, chopped Tomatoes - 2 medium sized, chopped Green chilies - 2, slit Garlic - 6-8 flakes Almonds - 12-15, soaked in water for sometime Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Ginger Garlic paste - ½ tsp Coriander powder - ½ tsp Garam masala powder - ½ tsp Red Chili powder - ½ tsp Kitchen king masala - ½ tsp Method: • Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and saute half of the cut onions till golden brown• Add the cut tomatoes and cook till done • Once cool enough to handle, add soaked almonds and grind to a puree • Heat the remaining oil in a another pan, and add ginger garlic paste and slit green chilies • Add the remaining chopped onion, and stir till golden brown • Now add the chopped carrots and baby corn and cook till tender. Sprinkle a little water if needed. • Add red chilli powder, garam masala powder, kitchen king masala and coriander powder • Now add salt and the ground paste and bring to boil • Add water if the consistency is too thick and boil for 3-4 min, stirring intermittently. • Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander • Serve it with rotis/phulkas/chapathis. Tips n Tricks: • Do not overcook the veggies, let it be slightly crispy

Matodi Palya - Methi and Dal Stir fry

Here’s one of my mom’s trademark recipes. It’s a combination of methi/fenugreek leaves and chana dal. It tastes and smells so heavenly, and is a great combination to have with rice and a spoon of oil or ghee. Mom mostly plans to make this when I visit her, and I just sit and hog it with rice.... When you’re making it, the flavor of the methi and dal is just tantalizing. I recently made it myself too in a large quantity and saved it in the fridge for a couple of days. It tasted good when mixed with rice and packed for lunch too. Some people call it matodi palya and some call it matwadi palya. I am not sure why the name of it is so, but whatever the name, it is one must-try dish. It takes in very few ingredients and easy to make too. Here’s the recipe....

Matodi Palya

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : 25 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: Chana dal - 1 cup Methi leaves - 4 cups, picked, washed and chopped Coconut - ½ cup, grated Green chilies - 5-6 Dry red chilies - 5-6, vary as per taste Cooking oil - 2 Tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Turmeric - a pinch Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Method: • Wash and soak chana dal for at least 3 hours • Pick and wash methi leaves and chop finely • Once the dal is soaked well, grind it along with chilies, salt and coconut and salt to a coarse mixture. Do not add any water for grinding • In a non stick / heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds allow to splutter and turmeric • Add the methi leaves and sauté for a minute • Add the ground mixture and mix thoroughly • Cook well for at least 15 minutes on medium heat. Stir frequently and ensure the mixture is evenly cooked. • Turn off the flame and let it cool. This can be saved in refrigerator for 4-5 days and outside for ay least 2 days when cooked well. • Serve with hot rice and a teaspoon of oil. Tips n Tricks: • Do not grind the ingredients very finely. Let it be coarse and let there be a few whole grains of dal. This adds a nice taste to the end product. Variations: • The same can be made with other greens, but don’t expect the same taste and flavor as that of methi.

Sending this recipe of mom to Walking Through The Memory Lane hosted by Gayathri

Chili Cookies / Khara Biscuit

Here’s one variety of cookies that I prepare quite often and it always comes out good. I generally bake this along with some sweet biscuits, so that they make a good combination. FIL who has restrictions on sugar intake loves these cookies as he can have them guilt-free.

A hot cuppa chai and these hot cookies make a good evening snack on a weekend.

Here’s how to make them....

Khara Biscuit

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15 min Makes : 15-20 Ingredients: Maida - 1 ½ cups (All purpose Flour) Butter - ½ cup Baking soda - ½ tsp (or Baking powder - ¾ tsp) Salt - a small pinch Green chilies - 4-5, vary depending on taste Curry leaves - 4-5 sprigs Ginger - 1” cube grated Curd - 2 Tbsp White sesame - 1 Tbsp, optional Method: • Preheat oven at 180ºC • Grease a baking tray with a little butter and keep aside till the dough is ready • Finely chop green chilies and curry leaves • In a bowl mix flour, soda and salt well • In another bowl, beat butter till fluffy • Fold in the flour, add green chilies, curry leaves and grated ginger. Mix well. • Add the curd little by little, ensuring the mixture is just bound well • Make small balls of marble size, of the dough with the help of your palms and flatten it • Optionally coat one side with white sesame • Place these on the greased tray, coated side facing up, leaving enough space for expansion • Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes. Check after about 10 minutes and adjust the time, not to over bake or under bake. • Let it stand in the oven for 10-15 minutes before serving hot and melting cookies • Allow it to cool completely and then store away the rest in a tight container Tips n Tricks: • Do not forget to preheat the oven Variations: • Finely chopped and sautéed onions and chopped coriander can be added

Sending this entry to Champa’s Bake off event.

Jackfruit Seeds Gojju/Gravy

‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’, I read somewhere. And for me, it’s raining jackfruits this season! Well, I am a big fan of jackfruits. You get me a big ripe yum jackfruit and peel it for me (yeah, I can’t do it myself) and I’ll finish half of it before you even peel it fully!
This year, Dee is getting home jackfruits very often and I promptly do the honors :). And our next task would be to count the number of seeds to see if the amount we paid was worth it!

These seeds taste good when cooked with veggies and added in sambhar, which we do quite often. Other than that, this season, since the quantity of the seeds was more, we had to make something else to use it up, so here is a gojju with jackfruit seeds. It does taste good, with rice or chapathis.

Jackfruit seeds gojju

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 15-20 min Serves : 4-5 Ingredients: Jackfruit seeds – 18-20 medium sized Cooking Oil - 2 tsp Turmeric - a small pinch Chana dal – 2 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds - ¾ tsp Red chilies - 10 -12, byadagi variety (use Guntur variety for spicier version) Coconut - 1 cup, grated Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 15-20 Jaggery - 1 big marble sized ball Tamarind - 2 big marble sized balls, washed and soaked Salt - 1 tsp, vary acc to taste Method: • Peel and break jackfruit seeds. • Pressure cook with a little water and a little salt for 2-3 whistles or till cooked soft. • Meanwhile, in a separate pan, dry roast chana dal, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, red chilies and remaining curry leaves for 1-2 minutes till they become aromatic and golden brown • Allow to cool slightly and grind the roasted spices with grated coconut, salt and jaggery, tamarind pulp adding water if required • Add this ground paste to the cooked jackfruit seeds, and bring it to a boil • Add water to maintain gravy-like consistency • Put off the flame after 5 minutes of boiling • Make tempering with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add to the gravy. • Serve with rice / rotis/ chapathis/ dosas Tips n Tricks: • To break the jackfruit seeds, hit it with a rolling pin or some heavy object. It breaks into smaller pieces, after which it is easy to peel the outer thick skin. Variations: • Green chilies can be used in place of dry red chilies

Carrot Soup

Had seen a carrot soup recipe in Sushma’s beautiful blog and had made a mental note that I should try it out. Last weekend, when it rained heavily, Dee wanted some kind of soup for dinner. I went into the kitchen and saw that there was just one small little tomato and a couple of carrots. Ok, I thought, I’ll try out carrot soup. Frankly, I didn’t remember the recipe so went ahead and made it in my own way. And it did come out well. All of us licked our bowls clean ;)

Carrot Soup

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4-5 Ingredients: Carrot - 2-3 medium sized Tomato - 1 small Butter - 1 tsp Ginger - 1” cube Black pepper powder - 1 tsp Red Chili powder - ¼ tsp (optional) Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Salt - ¼ tsp or as per taste Water - 2 cups, change acc to consistency Corn flour - 2 tsp Milk - ¼ cup Fresh cream - 1 Tbsp (optional) Method: • Peel and chop carrots into large chunks • Heat butter in a pan and add ginger and chopped carrots • Add water and bring to boil • Add tomato and cook till carrots are cooked soft • Let it cool for a few minutes • Grind the cooked carrots, tomato and ginger adding the water used for cooking the veggies if necessary, to make a fine paste • Strain the puree to a vessel • Add salt and chili powder and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. • Mix corn flour with half a cup of cold milk/water without lumps and add it to the boiling soup • Add enough water so that a right consistency of soup is maintained – neither too thick nor too thin • Let it boil for a couple of minutes more • Put off the heat and add fresh cream and stir well • Add pepper powder and serve hot Tips n Tricks: • Use chili powder only if you want the soup spicy. Normally, the ginger and pepper are enough for spice. Variations: • A small onion can also be added to give a different flavor • Sushma uses coriander as well, which gives yet another different flavor

Aloo Paratha - South Indianised!

Are we all not so accustomed with tastes that are native to us? Whenever we learn something new from some other place, we make sure that we tweak it to suit our tastes... this is especially true with elders who are so used to their taste familiar to them. They find it hard to get used to some new taste.....

A similar situation has given rise to this South-Inidianised form of parathas! My inlaws, esp my MIL, likes her south Indian form of cooking with lot of coconut and stuff, rather than garam masalas, ginger garlic pastes and so on! And since we all love parathas, and she too wants to have it but in her form, she has tweaked it so much that it hardly resembles the actual paratha in taste, except that it has stuffing of aloo in atta dough! She uses the famous south Indian aloo palya - that we serve with Masala dosa, to make these parathas. And the accompaniment here is the very familiar coconut chutney, and not pickle and curd.

However, I must confess this is a great weekend breakfast item that we all drool over. It is worth a try, if you want variety in your usual parathas....
Here’s her recipe....

Aloo Paratha - South Indianised!

Preparation time : 20 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: For the stuffing: Potatoes - 4-5 medium sized Onions - 3-4, medium sized Oil - 2-3 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Green chilies - 3-4, depending on taste Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs, leaves chopped Coriander leaves - 2-3 sprigs, chopped Turmeric - a pinch Salt to taste For parathas: Atta / Wheat flour - 3-4 cups + more for dusting Salt to taste Water to knead the dough Oil - for smearing on the parathas Method: For the stuffing: • Cook potatoes in a pressure cooker till done • Peel and mash roughly • Meanwhile chop onions finely, slit green chilies • In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seed and allow to splutter • Once done, add the urad dal, curry leaves, green chilies and sauté till done • Add chopped onions and stir till translucent. Add turmeric. • Once onions are done, add roughly mashed potatoes, salt and chopped coriander • Mix well, and sauté for a couple of minutes • The stuffing is ready. Allow to cool for some time • One cool, make small lemon sized balls For parathas: • Knead the flour and salt into soft dough using required amount of water. • Allow to stand for 15-30 minutes • Make lemon sized balls of the dough • Roll it into a 3 inch circle, with the middle thicker than the edge • Place the stuffing ball into the middle and cover the edges evenly and pat the ball flat • Roll it using a rolling pin dusting with atta, ensuring the stuffing does not come out. Do it very gently. • Heat a tawa and cook the paratha well on both sides, smearing teaspoon of oil for each till brown spots appear. • Repeat for the remaining dough and filling • Serve hot with a dollop of butter and some coconut chutney. Onion-coconut chutney tastes best with this version of parathas. Tips n Tricks: • Knead the dough to be soft, if it is too tight rolling parathas will be difficult. • Roll gently to avoid the filling to ooze out • Mash the boiled potatoes so that there are no lumps, which otherwise will be hurdles while rolling

Onion Coconut Chutney

Make a little tweak in the ingredients of chutney, and off you get a totally different variety! Replace one ingredient with another, and you get a new variety. This way you’ll end up not repeating the same variant, and making the variant that most suits the main dish.This chutney is almost like any other coconut chutney that I’ve posted here, but with onions. And taste wise, I bet it’s totally different from all of these....
This tastes best with dosas, (South Indianised) aloo parathas (coming soon).

Onion-Coconut Chutney

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 5 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Coconut - 1 cup, grated Onions - 2 small sized, chopped into big chunks Green chilies - 5-6, depending on taste Chana dal - 2 tsp Coriander leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped Cooking oil - 1 tsp Jaggery - a small pinch (optional) Tamarind - a small marble sized ball Coriander and Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs each Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste For Tempering: Cooking oil - 1 tsp Curry leaves - A few sprigs Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Method: • Roast chana dal, green chilies and chopped onions in a tsp of oil till the mint leaves change color • Grind the above with all other ingredients, adding a little water if needed • Transfer the ground chutney to a serving bowl For tempering / tadka: • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves • Garnish the chutney with tadka Tips n Tricks: • Do not make the chutney too smooth – a little coarse consistency will give a better taste Variations: • Use raw onions and you get yet another version!