Smart sandwich

This is not for the health-conscious!!

Takes just 2 minutes to prepare, and even lesser to eat!

Ingredients – 2 slices of soft bread, some cheese spread and some mixture (or chevda or whatever you have).

Method – Spread the cheese over one slice, top with the mixture and cover the other slice. Cut into neat triangles, top with a little ketchup and serve.

Can’t say this is delicious, but certainly is an interesting alternative to an ordinary cheese sandwich on a busy day. Enjoy munching the calories away

Mor-Kozhambu (A gravy with yogurt/curd)

Coming to think of it, I might as well rename this blog to “Saras’ Kitchen” as most of the dishes here are my mum’s!!

The foll. is a traditional South-Indian dish, ideal as a rice accompaniment.

Ingredients: (1) Chopped ladies-finger, curry leaves, mustard (fry these until the veggie is reasonably cooked)

(2) Soaked chana-dhal, a dash of ginger (paste is fine), grated coconut, green chilli (I replaced with pepper corn), jeera – Grind these together, add some water and grind a little more.

(3) Yogurt beaten with haldi powder (salt to taste)

Method:

Heat the beaten yogurt till it boils, add the coconut paste, simmer, finally add the cooked veggie. And serve hot with rice or kachori (if you want to try something different). And yeah, the kachori looks YUM, obviously I’ve not made it !!!

Aloo mattar (Peas/Potato gravy)

I have nothing new to share as regards the recipe itself. But I do have some tips, on how to cook it smartly.

Step 1-a: Boil frozen peas and roughly chopped potato in salt water

Step 1-b: parallely, fry (1) Jeera/Mustard (2) Ginger-garlic paste (3) Onion (4) In a few minutes, add chopped tomato / and/or  tomato puree (5) All your masala powders (haldi, chilli, dhania, jeera, garam masala, etc).

Both get cooked around the same time, so just add them together. Let it simmer for 10 minutes or so, add a dash of fresh cream and serve. Yummy!!!

Tip: Cook both parallely

Sambar

This is a very very basic recipe, and I’m sure most people know it. Anyway, a quick recap:-

Ingredients: Cooked thoor dal (2-3 cups), Vegetables (eg, any one of the foll. and not all together!: ladiesfinger, capsicum, drumstick. butternut squash, small onion, or even potato or cooked kabuli chana, etc.), Chopped tomato (1.5 or 2), Hing (asefoetida), Mustard, Haldi pdr, Sambar pdr, Tamarind paste (1 level tablespoon or less), Curry leaves (karvepilai), water, jaggery/sugar.

Method:

Sputter mustard & curry leaves in a teaspoon of oil, add a pinch of hing. Dump in the vegetables, cook for a minute. Then add 2-3 cups of water, and all the above ingredients, except the dhal.

Boil on high flame, until the veggies are cooked. Then stir in the dhal. If you want it thicker, add in some rice-flour paste, and let it boil for a couple of minutes. Add in a pinch of jaggery/sugar for extra taste.

Serve with rice/idli/dosai/pongal/etc.

paneer paratha

Confession: I make awful parathas – do read my chapati making skills at http://writerzblock.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/the-art-of-making-chapatis/

So, do beware while trying out this recipe

Ingredients: Crumbled paneer, chopped onion & tomato, your masala powders (haldi, chilli, salt, jeera, dhania, garam masala – well, whatever you want or have available), and chopped coriander.

Mix all the above and keep ready.

Mix the chapati aata, a little soft (no tips on that, as I’m terrible at it !). Roll out into the size of a poori. place a ball of paneer filling in the centre. Bring up chapati from all sides and cover the paneer (this tip comes from my good friend next door). Then roll out into a bigger chapati.

As usual, cook first on one side, when slightly brown, turn over on the other side and drizzle oil. Once cooked (don’t wait till you get the burning smell ), turn again on semi-cooked side for a few seconds. Serve hot, with thick curd and any other side-dish or accompaniement (is that the right spelling?!) that you like.

pori-urundai (puffed-rice balls)

Challenge: You can make this delicious and healthy sweet snack in just 10 minutes!!!

Boil 1.5 cups of jaggery until it becomes frothy and like a very soft ball.

Add this to a bowl of puffed rice, sprinkle some cardamom powder. Mix well, quickly.

Apply ghee on palms and shape mixture into balls

If that doesn’t work for you, just grease a plate, pour the mixture into it, then cut into desired shape once a little cool (not cold though). press to make it tight.

Eat right away, after offering it to God

Or store it in an air-tight container till it gets spotted by someone

Crumpzza (Crumpet in a pizza style)

This is a terribly quick, tasty and filling breakfast.

Ingredients:
* Chopped onion, capsicum, tomato (In fact, always store some of this mixture in your fridge).
* Grated cheese (preferably, mozarella)
* Crumpets (the ‘Smart price’ ones are just fine!)

Method:
* pile the chopped stuff and cheese on to the crumpets
* To reduce cooking time, you could try melting the cheese first in the microwave, before spreading it onto the crumpets.
* Toast on a non-stick tava (covered with lid) until the cheese melts. Don’t let it burn!

That’s it buddy! Garnish with some oregano and serve with salad, or whatever you like. Wash it down with a glass of orange juice, and you’re all set for the day!

Mung dhal

This is especially for my friend Ashwini. I must confess however, that the credit for this recipe goes to another friend of mine (Bhuvaneswari). I’ve just customised it to suit my (slightly bland) taste.

Ingredients:
Green mung dhal (1.5 cups)
All your usual masala powders (salt, haldi, jeera, dhania, garam masala, ground pepper & chill pdr, in case you are not going to use green chillis)
1 tomato
For the tadka: curry leaves, mustard, jeera

Method:
1. Soak dhal in water (preferably, hot) for 2 hrs
2. Add the chopped tomato and all the masala powders
3. Cook in pressure-cooker for 5-6 whistles
4. Do your tadka (splutter mustard&jeera in a teaspoon of oil), add the cooked dhal, mix and serve.

—See how simple this is!—

Simple Saag

This is my mum’s recipe, and it easier than you can imagine!

All you need is: 5-6 Boiled potatoes (raw potatoes are also fine, but they must be chopped into smaller chunks so that they cook easily), 2 tomatoes, Jeera, the usual powders (salt, haldi, chilli, jeera, dhania, garam masala), Coriander leaves, Ginger &/or garlic paste, paneer (optional).

What you need to do: Fry 1/2 teaspoon Jeera in hot oil, and fry the ginger-garlic for a few seconds until the raw smell goes. Dump the remaining ingredients, add some water, and let it cook until the tomato is done. If you’re using raw potato, then wait for it to cook fully. Once done, mash, garnish with coriander leaves, and add chopped paneer if you like.

Cheers..

Crunchy & Divine – Thenkuzhal

Now, nobody, I repeat, absolutely NOBODY can resist this Indian snack called Thenkuzhal. It is crunchy, very slightly salty and is absolutely divine. You cannot stop with one!! The best part is, it is very easy to make (if you have the instrument, that is).

First, the Ingredients:

Rice flour: Urid flour (8:1 ratio)

Salt to taste (About 1 teaspoon)

Cumin seeds / Jeera – 1 teaspoon

A knob of Butter

Very little Water to mix flour

Oil, to deep-fry.

Now, Method:

Rub butter into flour.

Add salt, cumin and water to make dough of medium softness (Quite frankly, hard dough consumes less oil and is healthier, but is very difficult to squeeze; on the contrary, Soft dough uses more oil, but is easy to make)

Fill the murukku-maker 3/4th, squeeze out a little into the dough itself (to get the flow started), then squeeze it directly into the hot oil, making it go around in overlapping circles.

Once golden-brown, take out, dry off excess oil, and EAT to heart’s content You can store this for ages, if you can resist the temptation to eat it