Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

I absolutely love this recipe for everyday cakes. I love the fact that I can use up any berries left over from not eating them fresh which happens almost always. And I must confess - I love my berries real sweet. So more often than not the berries are a bit sour for my taste and I end up making this cake for a weekend breakfast/snack. Since I seem to be making this way too often I decided to make it a bit more healthy and substantial; just so a piece of this cake, a cup of coffee and an egg scrambled makes for a scrumptious weekend breakfast.

Any type of berries will work and I have tried blueberries and raspberries and they both turn out yummy.  I doubled the recipe and have used a 50-50 mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. If using whole wheat pastry flour then you can use that for the entire 2 cups that is called for in this recipe. The one thing with using whole grain flour is that the texture tends to be dense and the cake turns out just a wee bit dry than when using all purpose flour. So to overcome that I make an orange (or any other flavored syrup) to glaze/soak the cake in. This results in a very fruity flavored moist cake which surely is a keeper.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
11/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups fresh blueberry

Orange syrup
1/4 - 1/3 cup fresh orange juice (about 4 clementines)
1 tsp grand marnier
3 tbsp sugar (or more, adjust to taste)


Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and dust with flour.
2. In a bowl mix all the two flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer till it turns pale yellow and airy, about 3-4 min.
4. Add vanilla extract, the orange zest and eggs. Beat until well mixed.
5. Add the flour mixture in three batches and buttermilk alternately to the wet ingredients starting and finishing with the flour. Mix just until the flour is well incorporated.
6. Pour into the prepared 9-inch cake pan and evenly spread the batter. 
7. Scatter the blueberries evenly over the top. Bake for 40-45 min or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
8. Let it cool and then invert it on to a plate.  When the cake is cooling prepare the glaze/syrup. 
9. In a small pan mix all the orange juice and sugar. Heat it over a medium flame for 3-5 min until the sugar dissolves. Add grand marnier, let it boil on low for a minute or two more. Remove from heat.

Assembly - Poke a few holes on the cake with a toothpick or a fork. Spoon the glaze/syrup over the cake. Its ok even if it forms a puddle on the top. With time the syrup will seep into the cake. Let it rest for a few hours before serving.

Enjoy !!

A Taco Dinner - Black Bean Spinach stuffed Tacos with Cilantro Lime Rice

I love Mexican food and this is one type of cuisine I instantly fell in love with when I first came to the US. Mexican cuisine is very close to Indian cooking what with the use of multiple spices and beans. This was the only food I could identify with then and could really enjoy. But over the years my taste buds have certainly evolved with exposure to so many different cuisines. In the past 10 years I have come to love my pastas, burgers/veggie patties, pitas/falafels yet my love for Mexican cuisine remains unchanged. I do like eating out at Mexican restaurants but more often than not the dishes come loaded with cheese which I actually find off putting. Fortunately cooking Mexican food at home is pretty simple and I love the fact that I can control the ingredients that go into it. I try to strike a good balance between using enough beans and vegetables with just enough cheese/sour cream to make a perfect Mexican dinner that suits our tastes.

I made corn tortilla from scratch and having a tortilla maker makes it very easy to roll out the tortillas. But if you dont have a tortilla maker, the dough can be rolled between two pieces of parchment. Feel free to use store bought ones if you are pressed for time (hard or soft shell tacos will work fine). This recipe is more of a method than a strict recipe you need to follow. Any kind of beans and greens can be used and you can vary the fixings (Salsa, sour cream, avocado etc) as you like. I have used chilli sauce that my cousin got for us from Mexico and I must say they were awesome and SPICY. I used green hot sauce and red hot sauce in place where I would normally use jalapenos.
Cilantro-Lime Rice -I normally dont make rice when I can get away with just tortillas but I wanted to try this cilantro lime rice that we had in one of the Mexican restaurants on our trip to Phoenix (the restaurant is Abuelos, in Chandler, AZ). This is a very simple rice to make, nothing too complicated with just 3 ingredients or so.Its a breeze to prepare and it makes this a complete Mexican dinner like the one you would eat if ordering in a restaurant!!

Ingredients

Corn Tortilla

11/2 cups Masa Harina (I used P.A.N pre-cooked white corn meal, available in the international section of most grocery stores)
11/2 - 2 cups warm water (or as needed)
Salt to taste

Stuffing
2 cups cooked black bean (can or fresh)
1 cup spinach, Kale or Swiss Chard, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp Mexican hot sauce or chopped jalapeno
Salt to taste
Garnish - Finely chopped tomatoes, onions (or salsa), avocado, cilantro, sour cream

Method

1. Mix masa harina and salt in a large bowl. Add one cup warm water and mix it well into the dough. Add more water as necessary to form a soft dough. 
2. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 10 min.
3. Pinch a lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it into a ball. Repeat with rest of the dough. 
4. Line the two discs of the tortilla maker with plastic wrap. Place a lemon sized ball of the dough in the lower disc of the tortilla maker. Press the upper disc to form a flat round tortilla. 
5. Heat a cast iron or a non-stick griddle on a medium flame. When the griddle is hot place the shaped tortilla on the griddle. Let it cook just until the bottom gets brown spots. Flip it over to cook the other side.
6. Remove it on to a aluminum foil to keep it warm. 
7. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

Stuffing

1. Heat oil in saute pan, add garlic, jalapeno (if using) and cut greens. Saute for a few minutes until the greens wilt. Cook a little longer if you like the greens to be soft. Add cumin powder, hot sauce and salt. Stir well.
2. Mash half the quantity of the cooked black bean. Add this to the above mixture. Add about 1/4 cup water, lower the heat and close the pan. Let this cook for a minute or two until the spices sink into the beans and the greens. 
3. Now add rest of the beans. Stir and cook for a few more minutes on a medium low flame. 

Assembling
Take a corn tortilla, fill it with 2 -3 tbsp of the beans/greens mixture. Top it with any or all of the condiments listed under garnish. Serve with cilantro lime rice.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1. Cook 1 cup long grained rice (like Basmati) with 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp salt. ( I used a microwave rice cooker but feel free to use any method you would normally cook rice). Set aside for 5 min or so, until the steam settles down. 
2. Fluff the rice with a fork and transfer it into a shallow dish. Pour 2 tsp oil (canola, vegetable oil or light olive oil) over the rice, add 1 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro and juice from 1 lime. Stir to combine and take care not to break the rice grains. Taste and adjust salt and add more lime juice if need be. Serve as a side to tacos, burritos, fajitas etc.

Enjoy !!

Spicy Black Bean Cakes

The first time I had a version of the spicy cake was back in my graduate school days in the small town of Ames, IA. One of the micro brewery/restaurants there had these spicy bean cakes as an entree item. In the early 2000's when I was new to the US, being a vegetarian meant limited eating out options especially in a small town like Ames. Most restaurants would have just one or two vegetarian options and the worst I have seen for a vegetarian option was just a salad with no protein in it whatsoever. Things have come a long way since then and with vegetarianism gaining immense popularity in this part of the world most restaurants have made their menus more vegetarian-friendly. So when I first saw this spicy bean cake in the restaurant five years ago, I was pretty excited. I dont remember much of the what the spicy bean cake tasted - two things stand out clearly in memory though - it was made of black bean and it had a very distinct smoky flavor.

Now to the matter at hand. The recipe I have here uses pretty simple ingredients - I have used roasted cumin powder to give the smoky flavor and the heat comes from the jalapeno peppers. Brown rice is what forms the binding material to keep the cake together. This is a very nourishing all in one meal. There is enough carbohydrates and proteins that a simple salad on the side makes a perfect dinner. Other ways to serve this cake is like a burger between slices of bread or as a wrap in tortilla/roti with condiments of your choice. I made a very simple garlicky buttermilk dressing similar to an aioli.

Ingredients
1 15oz can or 11/2 cups cooked black bean
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrots (optional)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (or any other green chili pepper), adjust to taste
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp oil + more for shallow frying
salt to taste

For Buttermilk aioli
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp cayenne or red chili powder
2 clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp stone-ground mustard
A pinch of dill (dried) or 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh dill
2 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Method
Buttermilk aioli

1. In a medium bowl whisk the buttermilk, add all the ingredients and mix well. 
2. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Set aside.

Black bean cakes

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, jalapeno and onions. Saute until the onions turn translucent.
2. Add carrots if using, saute for a minute or two and then add black beans, cumin powder and salt. 
3. Saute for two more minutes. Finally add brown rice, mix well and remove from the heat. 
4. Let it cool slightly, add cilantro if using and then mix well so the black beans and the rice looked mashed and well combined. Taste and adjust for seasoning. 
5. Take a lemon sized ball of the mixture and flatten to make a 1/4 inch thick disc. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. At this point you can either proceed to the next step immediately or  refrigerate for a few hours to overnight.
6. Place a saute pan or a griddle on a medium flame, pour 1 tbsp of oil and swirl so the bottom of the pan is well-coated with oil. 
7. When the oil is hot enough lay the flattened cakes on the pan. Make sure the patties do not touch each other. Cook for 3-4 min or until the bottom is brown. Flip over, cook the other side till brown. 
8. Remove on a plate and serve warm with a salad and dressing.

Enjoy !!

MMC Challenge 7 - Curry Flavored Corn Cakes

Here's the ingredient 7 of MMC challenge - Curry Leaves. This post is long overdue now and finally looks like its time to move it from "draft" folder to "published" :-) When M gave me this ingredient he was very particular that it should not be chutney, sambar or other such traditional recipe. He wanted me to think out side the box and so I did. I am not sure if I succeeded totally but I do think its a fusion kind of a recipe. I let you guys decide which genre this recipe can be categorized as.


Corn cakes are a form of corn bread, a shallow fried version. Its also sometimes called "hoe cakes" or "jonny cakes". Its almost like corn cakes or to compare it to something Indian - its almost like akki roti (Kannadiga dish made of rice flour). This Southern (as in the American South) dish gets an Indian flavor with the addition of curry leaves. While eating the corn cakes I couldnt help but be reminded of vadai. Whatever be the name it sure was delicious and it was a perfect accompaniment to the stew we had on a cold October evening. It doubles up as a wonderful evening snack or appetizer with a dip/sour cream/ketchup.

Ingredients

1/2 cup corn meal
1/4 cup rice flour
2 tsp green chili paste (2-4 green chilies)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup frozen (and thawed) or fresh corn
1/4 cup curry leaves
1 small red onion
A pinch of baking soda
Salt to taste
2-3 tbsp feta cheese (or any mexican cheese) - optional

Method

1. Grind curry leaves in food processor. Add onion, green chili paste and garlic. Pulse it a few times.
2. Now add corn flour, rice flour, baking soda and salt. Pulse a few times just until the ingredients are mixed.
3. Remove the mixture in to a bowl. Add corn and cheese (if using). Adjust seasoning.
4. Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a skillet. Make sure the oil coats the surface of the skillet.
5. Drop lemon sized ball of the mixture into the hot oil. Flatten it (thickness should be that of a pancake).
6. Cook under medium flame and let it brown.
7. Flip to cook the other side. Remove when both sides are brown.
8. Serve warm.

Enjoy !!

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

Its been pretty hectic and fun times training and playing with Tipoo. Guess you guys have to put up with my Tipoo tales for a few weeks now, what with every single one being eventful - happy for most part and really tiring at the end of the day !! For much of the day I am the primary care-taker and am I glad that puppies sleep a lot. But once he wakes up I am running around behind him either playing with him or making sure he doesnt chew everything he finds in his way. By 6 PM both of us are eagerly waiting for my husband to come home, so he will relieve me of the running around :-) If he gets delayed at work for some reason, then I have a crazy puppy on my hands. All those walks and playing fetch saves our day. And its a sight to see Tipoo welcoming my husband home from work. I fade into the back ground for sometime until the two boys have had their little "reunion" :-)

After such a busy day, I rarely have the energy or enthusiasm to cook elaborate dinner. I prefer one pot meals that is both easy on the time and makes a complete dinner. Most of my leisurely cooking now-a-days have been relegated to the weekends when my husband takes complete care of the little guy.


Anyway, coming to today's recipe, I have been planning to make chili for a long time now. Finally I did make some a few weeks ago and it came out very good. There are a lot of different recipes for vegetarian chili and as always I have taken ideas from few different recipes to make one that best suits our taste. I think the addition of bulgur is what gives the texture and body to the recipe. This is a wholesome and healthy one pot recipe since it has everything you need to make a complete meal.

Notes:

1. A combination of black beans and red kidney beans works very well for this recipe.
2. If using fresh beans, soak it overnight and cook it till its done but still firm.
   
3. Use Jalapeno sparingly, I did go a bit overboard and my chili turned out a bit spicier than what I would have liked.
4. I havent included celery in my recipe but if you have it on hand you can surely use it for the added flavor.
5. Bulgur makes the soup to be a bit on the thicker side. So adjust the quantity according to the final consistency you'd like to have.

Ingredients
1 14oz can Black beans
1/4 cup bulgur
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (adjust as per heat)
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
2 tbsp molasses
2 tsp oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cups water or vegetable stock (or as required)

Garnish:
Sour cream
Monterey Jack or mexican blend cheese
cilantro

Method

1. Heat oil in a large heavy-bottom sauce pan or a dutch oven. Add onion, garlic and jalapeno.
2. Saute it for a few minutes until onions turns brown, almost 4-5 minutes.
3. Now add carrots (and celery if using). Saute it for 2 minutes.
4. Add bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes and tomato paste. Saute it well until the tomatoes are well cooked. It takes about 5 minutes or so.
5. Now add all the spices, starting from chili powder to oregano. Add bulgur and stir well.
6. Let it cook for 2 minutes and then add water starting with 2 cups.
7. Bring this to a boil, close with a lid and let the soup cook for 15 minutes or so.
8. Keep a close watch to make sure it has enough water. Add more water as the chili cooks as necessary.
9. Finally add salt, adjust seasoning and spices.
10. Allow it to boil for 5 more minutes or until done.
11. Ladle it in a bowl, garnish with cilantro, sour cream and cheese.
12. Serve with corn bread on the side.

Enjoy !!

Spring Orzo Salad

We have been reeling under damp and gloomy weather for the past couple of days. Spring here refuses to go away and its unseasonably cold. Maybe I angered the "Spring gods" with my ramble a few posts ago, claiming my less than friendly relations with the spring season :-) So if an apology will make this cold spring go away and warm summer to arrive, I can very well offer a thousand "Sorrys" :-) And if sorry wont cut it, here's a salad honoring the season !!


Farmer's market hasnt sprung up yet in our region what with the cold spring, frost etc. But there are some really fresh vegetables that have started arriving in the grocery stores. I havent been cooking much of late and I've been looking for ways to avoid cooking or even if I do, spend as little time as possible in the kitchen. I have subsisted on sandwiches (with hummus or cheese) for the past few days but realized I wasnt getting much veggies. Also, I had some green squash and bell peppers that needed my immediate attention before they lose their freshness. I wanted a complete quick-cooking meal using up the vegetables I had on hand. I figured salad was probably my best option to both use up the vegetables and do so in minimum amount of time. So I cut them up, sauteed a little bit to take the edge off and tossed them with some orzo and a very simple dressing. There was my quick dinner, all healthy and tasty.

Notes:

1. Asparagus or any other spring vegetable will work fine in this salad.
2. If you like the "garlicky" taste, add an extra clove of garlic.
3. Fresh herbs like basil or parsley can be used as a garnish.
4. I made a very simple dressing but feel free to use any oil/vinegar based dressing.

Ingredients
3/4 cup Whole wheat orzo
1 medium-sized Zucchini
1 medium sized bell pepper
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
Basil or parsley (optional)
Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice (or as required)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 pinch red chili flakes (adjust according to taste)
Salt to taste

Method

1. Cook orzo in a large pot of boiling water for about 7-9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a bowl whisk all ingredients under dressing. Taste, adjust salt and lemon juice. Set aside.
3. In a saute pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add red chili flakes and garlic.
4. Add chopped vegetables. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Just until the vegetables are tender but firm.
5. Add salt, taste and remove from heat.
6. In a large bowl, mix the cooked orzo and veggies. Add the dressing, toss well. Taste, adjust seasoning.
7. Garnish with fresh basil/parsley and/or parmesan.

This will be my entry to Preeti's "Green gourmet" event.

Enjoy !!

Ragi Dosa (Finger Millet Crepes)

Ragi or Finger millet is very healthy and I remember my mom making porridge or kanji with ragi. One other dish that I remember from my "wonder" years, though only vaguely is Ragi urundai or Ragi Mudha where boiled raagi is mixed with jaggery. Since I do not seem to remember much about the ragi urundai, I think its safe to assume it wasn't one of my favorites. Maybe if I try it now, I might have a different opinion but that's for another day. Anyway, coming back to the present, I am trying to include a variety whole grains in our diet to make a healthy meal without sacrificing the taste. I find that the best way to incorporate these without having to try too hard is to substitute whole grains in places where we use rice or refined flour. Thus was born Ragi dosa.


I wanted to try the instant dosa variety but surprisingly I had the mood and enthusiasm to actually make fermented idli/dosa batter. So I decided to use ragi in place of rice and grind it along with urad dal, ferment it for 12 hrs or so as we would do for the traditional idli. Looking up online I found a number of recipes for making ragi idli/dosa batter and I realized it might not be wise to remove rice completely from the equation. So I used 2 parts ragi, one part rice and one part urad dal for my batter. I should say I am pretty pleased with the result.

Note:

1. Ragi flour is widely available in Indian grocery stores. You can also use whole ragi if you have them on hand. Soak it for a few hours and then grind it separately.
   
2. Fermentation of this ragi containing batter took longer than my usual idli batter. I had to wait almost 18 hrs or so before I could say it was fermented enough.
3. Once the dal is well soaked, decant the water. Set aside half a cup of this water and discard the rest. I find that using the water that the urad dal soaked in, while grinding helps the fermentation process.
   
4. I started out with making idlis with this batter as soon it was fermented enough, 2 days later I made dosa and a few more days later I made uttapam. All three dishes came out just fine.

Ingredient
2 cups ragi flour (Finger Millet flour)
1 cup Idli rava (Cream of rice)
1 cup whole urad dal (White lentils)
Salt to taste

Method

1. Soak urad dal for 5-6 hrs in water. Set aside half a cup of the water that the urad dal soaked in. Discard the rest. Grind it to a smooth paste with just enough water in a food processor, a blender or a wet grinder.
2. Mix the idli rava and ragi flour (or ground ragi, if using whole grain) to the urad dal paste. Add more water to get a thick consistency. You can mix it by hand but I find using a food processor much easier to mix all the ingredients evenly.
3. Transfer to a large bowl. Add salt, mix well. Make sure your bowl is large enough to hold the batter once it ferments and rises.
4. Place the bowl in a warm place and let ferment. This takes anywhere between 12-24 hrs.
5. Now you can use this batter to make either dosa, idli or uthappam.

For Dosa:
For dosa, pour a ladle full of the batter on a hot griddle and spread it into a thin circle.
Drizzle a tsp of oil (preferably sesame oil) around the dosa. Flip when the bottom turns light brown in color and cook the other side for a minute or so.
Remove the dosa from the pan. Serve hot with sambar, chutney and/or milagai podi.

This will be my entry to Divya's "Show me your whole grain" event.

Enjoy !!

Buckwheat Galette/ Buckwheat dosa

Galette, the recipe in today's blog may sound fancy but it is just another name for crepes. There are two forms of galette, one is the thick crusty variety and the other is a thin crepe like variety. I present here my version of the thin crepe like variety. I love dosa and crepes of any form. Any flour lying around the house becomes dosa batter for a quick meal at home. And buckwheat flour is no exception .....

The first time I had galette was in a small french cafe in NJ. The name and the description of the dish so reminded me of dosa (not to mention that it was one of the few vegetarian options in the menu) that I decided to try it. The dish was a big buckwheat crepe/dosa filled with sauteed spinach - needless to say, it was a wonderful, hearty meal and the inspiration for my recipe here.

A few quick ideas for the filling are:

Savory filling
Potato masala filling (Masala dosa version of galette?)
Spinach with ricotta or cream cheese filling
Mixed vegetable filling or Ratatouille

For the sweet version:
Any fruits with mascarpone cheese or caramelized bananas with ice cream would be wonderful. Chocolate filling - perfect!

With a bit of imagination there sure are a hundred possibilities.

After a long day's work I was in no mood to make the filling and then make the crepes. So I took the short cut !! I grated carrots, ginger and cilantro and mixed it right into the batter. I am sure any other vegetable and/or herbs would work just fine. Normally the galette recipe calls for eggs, but I didn't have any. So I substituted it with some oil and it works perfectly well. The whole process of mixing the batter can be done in a food processor. I normally grate all the vegetable in the food processor, then add the flour on top of this and continue with rest of the steps.

Ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
1 to 1-1/2 cup water
salt to taste
finely grated carrots (optional)
finely chopped cilantro (optional)
2 tsp minced ginger (optional)

Method:

1. Mix both the flour and salt.
2. Now add any vegetable or herbs that you would like. (If you aren't going to add any, skip this step).
3. Add the oil, buttermilk, mix well and slowly add water. Add just enough so that you get a thin pourable consistency (like a dosa batter or crepe batter).
4. Heat a girdle or a crepe pan if you have one.
5. Pour a ladle full of the batter and swirl the pan so you get nice circle with uniform thickness.
6. Cook on medium heat for 2 min or so.
7. Remove it from the pan when the galette looks brown underneath and the top portion looks cooked.
8. You dont have to cook the other side but if you are not very sure if the top portion is cooked, you can flip it and cook the other side for 30 seconds or so.

Fill it with a filling of your choice or just roll it up even without it and serve with chutney and yogurt on the side.

This is a good dish to have for breakfast, lunch, dinner or anytime in between.

This will be my entry for WYF: Breaksfast event hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food blog.

Rava Kesari/Saanja (Semolina Sweet Pudding)

I cant believe its been almost 9 months since I blogged.....When I started out I was pretty sure I would keep blogging no matter what, but as always, its easier said than done. Well, in my defense I did have a real busy few months with lotsa good things and a bit of recession induced not-so-good stuff. Anyway, things are promising to look better or so I would like to think :-) - enough personal stories I guess. Moving on to the recipe for my blog, I thought I should come back from my hiatus with a sweet treat. Here is a simple Indian dessert that I made for Varalakshmi viradham. This is one of the least time-consuming and easiest desserts that I know of and has always been my "go-to" one ....

Ingredients:
1 cup rava/semolina
1-1/2 cup sugar (adjust to taste, can range from 1-1/4 cup to 1-3/4 cup)
2 cups water
A few drops of red or orange food color
1/4 cup ghee/melted butter
1 tsp powdered cardamom
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp cashew pieces

Method

1. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee.
2. Roast the raisins until it plumps up; set aside.
3. Roast the cashews until golden brown; set aside.
4. Roast rava for a 3-4 minutes, until it turns light brown; set aside.
5. Boil 2 cups of water in the same pan.
6. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the sugar. Let it boil for a few minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the water gets a little viscous.
7. Add the food color and then the roasted semolina.
8. Stir vigorously so that no lumps are formed.
9. Keep stirring until semolina absorbs all the water, about 3-5 min.
10. Add the ghee slowly, half a tbsp at a time.
11. After a few minutes the whole mass will start pulling away from the side.
12. Check to make sure semolina is fully-cooked (by now it should have).
13. Add the cardamom powder, raisins and cashews. Mix well, switch off the heat.
14. Serve warm.

Adjust ghee and sugar according to your taste. I sometimes add as little as 2 tbsp or so of ghee. The more fat you add, better is the taste but feel free to adjust the amount as per your requirement. Also, the ratio of semolina to water depends on the variety. If you are using a coarse semolina it might need more water. I normally start with a nominal quantity of water. If the semolina absorbs all the water and still looks uncooked, then I add a ladle full or so of boiling water and keep doing this until the semolina is cooked well. You can adjust the quantity of the ingredients in this recipe right until the end of the cooking process to get the desired result.

Enjoy!

Cracked Wheat Idli

A recent addition to my cook book collection is Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India by Chandra Padmanabhan. It has some really good pictures and I can't resist a cookbook with pretty pictures :-) This book has a wonderful collection of South Indian recipes, most of them traditional but a few that were very new to me. I hope to try them in the near future and post them soon in my blog. Idli is a staple in most Tamil (as in Tamilnadu) homes and Ms. Padmanabhan dedicates a whole section of the book to idlis! I have been eyeing rava (semolina) idli for a long time having come across quite a few in the blog world. So I decided to make rava idli for dinner from the recipe in the book except that I substituted rava with cracked wheat and tweaked the recipe to suit our taste. I love the taste and texture of cracked wheat - not to mention the whole lot of goodness packed in it. These idlis turned out to be very soft and yummy.... Guess this will be added on to my oft-repeated-recipe collection. Bulgur is a good substitute too and for people who are wondering isnt bulgur and cracked wheat the same, do read this very interesting article.

Ingredients:
11/2 cups cracked wheat
1/2 cup rava
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped/ground ginger
5-6 cashews halved or quartered (optional)
2 tsp chana dal
1 tsp split urad dal
2 tsp jeera
2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp asafoetida
few curry leaves
Salt to taste
1 tsp coarse ground pepper
3 cups buttermilk or more if required
2 tsp oil

Method:

1. Mix cracked wheat, rava and soda together.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add chana dal, urad dal, cashew, jeera and mustard. When they crackle add chillies, ginger, asafoetida and curry leaves.
3. Remove from the stove and add this to the wheat/rava mixture.
4. Add buttermilk, salt, pepper and mix well until a smooth batter is obtained. Consistency should be similar to idli batter.
5. Grease idli plates and fill it with the batter. Steam for 10-15 min until a knife/toothpick inserted at the center of the idlis comes out clean.

I served the idlis with tomato korma though idili powder or chutney will work very well. I hope to post the recipe for tomato korma soon :-)

This will be my entry to Tasty Palettes "JFI - OCT '08 - Whole Grains".

And here is my first blog award presented by Easy Crafts of Simple Indian Food blog, yay :-) Thanks a lot Easy Crafts for the encouragement. I appreciate it. As per the rules of this award, you are to pass this award to at least 7 other blogs whose content/design you find brilliant. I am guilty of being a silent visitor sometime and I use this opportunity to let my blogger friends know how much I appreciate their work.

I present this award to:

Asha of Foodie's Hope
Manasi of A Cook at Heart
Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons
Usha of Veg Inspirations
Kitchen Flavours
Meeta of Whats for Lunch Honey
Vaishali of Holy Cow

A Middle Eastern Dinner

Lemony Couscous with Eggplant Salad

It was a Tuesday evening and the mid-week syndrome was just setting in. All I was looking for was a simple meal that I can have on the dinner table in half hour or so. I could have looked up on the Internet to see if Rachel Ray had any vegetarian dish to get me through the evening in under 30 min but I wasn't in the mood to browse for 30 min trying to get some ideas to make a 30 min meal :-) I opened the fridge and the same old veggies stared at me: eggplants, beans, bell peppers. Now that we have been regulars at our neighborhood farmers market, we do not have the luxury of choosing between 30 different varieties of veggies ( Pardon me, am going crazy with the 30's but some of you out there might understand :-)). We have to buy whatever is in season and now is the season for eggplants, beans, bell peppers and of course, summer squash. The produce tastes so good that I am for once not complaining about having to cook with just these few veggies for 3 straight weeks now. Anyhow, I decided to make a simple eggplant salad with no fuss, dress it simply and let the flavor of the veggie speak for itself.

Indian cooking uses a lot of eggplants and so do middle eastern and Mediterranean cooking. In my recipe here I have used a very typical middle eastern flavor, Tahini for the salad dressing. Also, I had some left over falafel in the freezer which I used to make the salad more filling. Addition of falafel is completely optional. The salad is quite substantial even in the absence of falafel. And for the carb part of this dinner, I made couscous with a tangy lemony flavor. It sure turned out to be a flavorful and delicious meal just enough to beat the mid-week syndrome at least temporarily!

A few things to note: drain and dry the eggplant really well so the salad doesn't get soggy. If you think the eggplants are soggy, sprinkle some all purpose flour along with the dry seasoning, this will help absorb the excess moisture. Also the amount of tahini can be adjusted according to your taste.

Ingredients
For Couscous:
11/2 instant couscous
3 cups water or vegetable broth
1 handful raisins
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tbsp lemon juice (or more if reqiured)
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
For salad:
4 medium sized eggplant
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp tahini paste
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar or honey
Salt to taste
Falafel (optional)

Method
Couscous:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan, add fennel, cumin, raisins, garlic and onion.
2. Saute till onions get soft and translucent.
3. Add peas, lemon zest, thyme, salt and 3 cups of water/broth. Let it come to a boil.
4. Now add the couscous, turn off the heat and close the pan with a lid.
5. Let it rest for 5 min or until all the water is absorbed.
6. Fluff the couscous with a fork, add lemon juice, pepper and stir well.

Salad:

1. Dice eggplant into 1/2" cubes, soak it in salted cold water for 15 min.
2. Drain the water and dry it well.
3. Mix cayenne powder, cumin powder and oil. Coat the eggplant evenly with this mixture and spread it out on a sheet pan.
4. Bake it in a 425F pre-heated oven for 15-20 or until crisp (take care not to burn it).
5. In a large bowl, mix rest of the ingredients, except tomatoes to form a vinaigrette.
6. Toss in the tomatoes and the crispy eggplant with the vinaigrette. Falafel can be added at this point if you are using it.
   
7. Serve this on a bed of lemony couscous.

This is my entry for AFAM event for Aug '08: Lemon, hosted by Simple Indian Food blog.

Enjoy !!!

5 PM Hunger Pangs!!

Here we are, working hard for 8 hrs and you come home to what......"the 5PM hunger pangs" :-) Its that time of the day when its too early for dinner and a light snack is all we need to stave off hunger till dinner time. A quick option is the vending machine, if available or the snack in a packet which may not always be healthy. This blog is all about a few relatively healthy snacks that can be conjured up in just a few minutes. Make it ahead of time, freeze it and voila... you have a snack in less than 10 min.

Keeping up my promise of giving more recipes using mint pesto, here's a snack/appetizer that is easy to make, healthy but delicious. Any bread that you have on hand will work and for a more classic touch a baguette may be used.

Bruschetta with Mint pesto
Ingredients:
6 slices of multi grain bread (any kind would do)
Mint pesto
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Spread each slice with generous amount of mint pesto.
2. Sprinkle with cheese (salt and pepper if required).
3. Toast in a 400F pre-heated oven for 5-8 min or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
4. Cut into pieces and serve warm.

Corn Meal Appam (Savory appam)

I used a non-stick appam pan that I hauled all the way from India. Little did I know that it is available in many stores for around 20 dollars, only that it is called Aebleskiver pan rather than an appam pan.

Ingredients:
1 cup corn meal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 small onion
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin (Jeera)
1 tsp fennel (saunf)
1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
3/4 cup buttermilk or as required
2 tbsp cashew nuts or peanuts
salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients well. Add buttermilk as necessary to get a thick batter.
2. Heat an appam pan and grease well with oil (Normally just a few drops in each slot is just sufficient).
3. Pour batter in each slot and cook on a medium heat for few min or until one side is browned.
4. Turn over to the other side and cook until golden brown.
5. Serve with tomato ketchup or chutney.

Happy munching :-)

Fusilli with Mint Pesto

Mint is the star ingredient of my blog today. Spring usually brings along with it a whole range of fresh veggies and herbs. Mint is one such herb that abounds the supermarket shelf this time of the year. As with any fresh herb, mint does not remain fresh for more than 4-5 days. Hence it becomes imperative that it be used as early as possible. Given that mint has an especially strong flavor, a tiny bit goes a long way. So to run through a big bunch in a single meal is quite difficult. I was looking at ways to preserve mint for more than just a few days and presto! - I thought of pesto :-)

Pesto is a sauce made of crushed herbs and garlic. Pesto is usually made of basil with pine nuts, garlic and olive oil. Here is my version of pesto made with mint, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil. This pesto lasts for more than a month when frozen.

Mint Pesto:

Ingredients:
2 cups mint leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Coarsely chop all the ingredients except oilve oil in a food processor.
2. Stream in olive oil and grind until a smooth consistency is obtained.
3. Freeze in air-tight container.

Fusilli with Mint Pesto:
A variety of dishes can be made with mint pesto and here's a hearty pasta dish made with mint pesto. I have used whole wheat fusilli, though penne will work fine too.

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup spinach (thaw, if frozen)
1 can black eye peas (if using dried beans, soak for 24 hrs and cook until tender)
1 tsp red chilli flakes
2 tbsp mint pesto
2 pinches nutmeg powder
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
8 pitted kalamata olives (optional)
1 big roasted red pepper (optional)
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 lb whole wheat fusilli

Method:

1. Cook fusilli in a big pot of salted boiling water. Cook al dente.
2. Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add chilli flakes, garlic and onion. Saute until onions are soft and translucent.
3. Add spinach and saute for 2 min.
4. Add wine and let it cook until spinach gets tender.
5. Add mint pesto and sprinkle nutmeg powder.
6. Add drained black eye peas and cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Add fusilli. A little of starchy boiling water can be added if it gets too dry.
8. Mix in parmesan cheese and lemon juice.
9. Garnish with olives and roasted red peppers.
10. Enjoy...!!

A closer look....

I will post more recipes with mint pesto in subsequent weeks.
Ciao.....