Rocket Dosa

I first saw Rocket Dosa on the kids menu at our local Indian Restaurant Spice Route. My daughter always orders this when we dine there. She's just recovering from the flu, so I thought to make this at home in an attempt to get her to eat something. This is usually made from regular dosa batter, but I did not have this ready on hand. So I made an instant dosa batter this way:

Heat 1 tbsp oil, saute some cumin seeds and 1 dry red chilli in it for 2 mins. Discard the chilli and add this to 1 cup rice flour mixed with 2 cups water. Add 1 tbsp fresh grated coconut, handful of chopped cilantro and salt to taste. Stir till you get a smooth pourable batter.

I made the dosas in my non-stick pan. Spread 2 ladleful of the batter on medium hot tava in a circle. Drizzle some ghee around the edges. Cook till underside gets golden brown, then flip over and cook another 2 mins.

To make the conical rocket shape, cut dosa from outer edge to the center with a pair of kitchen scissors. Then roll into a cone.

Thats it. I served it to her with some mild coconut chutney and bell peppers chutney. Rocket dosa zoomed off the plate and down her tummy in a jiffy!

This Rocket Dosa goes to the Kids Delight event at Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen. This event is the brain child of Srivalli.

Matar Bhaath (Peas Rice)

Matar Bhaath is my dad's favorite dish. It is a quicker version of the traditional Masale Bhaath. My kaku always used to make it the day before Ganesh Chaturthi when we all gathered and brought the Ganpati idol home. Here's how I make it:

1 cup basmati rice - washed & drained

1 cup frozen peas

For tempering - oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafotida, turmeric, few curry leaves

2 tsp goda masala

1 tsp cumin pwd

1 tsp coriander pwd

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd

Salt to taste

1 tsp jaggery

grated fresh coconut and chopped cilantro to garnish

Make the tempering by heating the oil, adding the mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering add the rest of the tempering ingredients. Then add the rice, saute 2 mins on medium heat. Add 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a quick boil. All salt, jaggery and the masala pwds. Mix well, reduce heat, cover and cook about 10 mins. Add the frozen peas, mix gently, cover and continue cooking till rice is cooked, about 5 more minutes.

Serve warm, garnished with grated fresh coconut and chopped cilantro and some papad on the side.

This is ideal comfort food.

This quick Matar Bhaath goes to the Flavors of Maharashtra event at Seduce Your tastebunds.

This event was started by Naina.

Updated 9/27/16 - Here's a recent photo of my ever favorite Matar Bhaath with an easy garnish idea. The tomato flower is from this YouTube video. The cucumber leaves ridges were made merely by running a fork down all sides of the cucumber, then thinly slicing it.

Amrakhand (Mango flavored Shrikhand)

I have posted an amrakhand recipe before. This was the first time I made it with Greek yogurt. Also, I found a can of Alphonso mango slices in the Indian store, I used that in this recipe as I wanted a thick shrikhand rather than a runny one. Here's how I made it:

1 32 oz container of plain Greek yogurt
1 can Alphonso mango slices (replace with any other kind of fresh mango or mango pulp if desired)
1/2 cup sugar (adjust per sweetness of mango)
1/2 tsp cardamon pwd.
pinch of saffron
pistachios to garnish

Empty the yogurt onto a sufficiently large cheesecloth. Tie ends loosely and hang up to drain. I hung it up overnight in my fridge. Keep a bowl to collect the whey that drains. Though this is not used in the recipe, you can use it in your roti dough.

Next morning, place the drained yogurt, along with the cheesecloth covering it, between several layers of paper towels. Place this package between few newspapers on a plate and top with something heavy, like the can of mango I used here. Keep in the fridge again for 2-3 hours. This gives really thick shrikhand.

Thereafter, put the well-drained yogurt, drained mango slices (or pulp), sugar, cardamon pwd and saffron in the food processor and whip well till blended. Taste and adjust sugar as desired. Empty into a bowl, top with chopped pistachios. Chill till ready to serve.

Enjoy with hot puris.

This Amrakhand goes to the Flavors of Maharashtra event at Seduce Your Tastebuds. This event was started by Naina.

Microwave Kofta Curry

I almost always use my microwave to heat food. Only once in a blue moon, I actually cook something in it. On my trip to India in Dec., I had noted this MW kofta curry recipe down from a Tarla Dalal magazine. When Srivalli annnounced her MW curry event, I immediately thought to try this curry out.

Here's how I made it:

For the koftas -
1/2 of a russet potato - boiled, peeled & mashed
1/2 cup chopped spinach
Salt, cumin pwd, coriander pwd, red chilli pwd, chaat masala - all to taste
1 tbsp gram flour

Mix all the ingredients well. Shape into koftas. These made abt 15 koftas for me. Microwave for 2 minutes each side.

For the curry -
2 tsp oil
1/2 cup chopped onions - grind to a paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp cashew pieces
1/4 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk
Salt, 1/2 tsp cumin pwd, 1/2 tsp coriander pwd, red chilli pwd per heat desired, pinch of garam masala, sugar to taste, pinch of kitchen king masala, 1 tbsp kasuri methi
1 tbsp soy flour or corn flour

Mix the oil and onion paste in a microwave safe glass bowl. Cover and microwave for 3 mins, stirring once or twice in between. Add the ginger and garlic pastes, mix well and again microwave (covered) for 2 mins.

In the meanwhile, blend together the cashews, milk, yogurt, flour and seasonings. Add this to the onion mixture. Again cover and microwave for 5 mins, stirring every minute or two. Add some water if required, to get desired consistency.

Just before serving, drop the kofta balls into the gravy, stir gently, cover and microwave for 2 minutes until heated thru.

I was pleasantly surprised by this curry dish. It came together so easily and tasted pretty good. I served it in the same bowl, so cleaning was a cinch.

This Microwave Kofta Curry goes to the Microwave Cooking - Curries and Gravies event at Srivalli's Cooking 4 All Seasons.

Roasted Red Pepper - Carrot Soup

I tried this soup from a recent issue of Vegetarian Times and found it quite delicious, kinda like the roasted red pepper tomato soup from Trader Joes. BTW, any leftovers would make a good base for a pasta sauce as I posted here.

Heres how I made it:

• Roast one large red bell pepper at 350F for 1 hour, turning occassionally until the skin is wrinkled and blackened all over.
• Place it in a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and keep for 10 mins to steam.
• Then rub off the skin and seeds.
• In the meanwhile, heat some olive oil. Saute 1/4 cup onions until softened and one or two cloves minced garlic and saute another 2 mins.
• Add diced carrots (abt 1/2 cup), 1 bayleaf, salt, pepper, cumin pwd, coriander pwd and curry pwd.
• Add 1 cup broth, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour till carrots soften.
• Cool slightly and blend with the roasted pepper.
• Pour back into the pot and heat thru. Check and adjust seasonings. Squeeze in some lemon juice and garnish with finely chopped parsley.

This Roasted Red Pepper - Carrot Soup goes to the Show Me Your Soup event at Divya's Dil Se.

I've already posted a Veggie Noodle Soup for this event.

Here are some of my other favorite soups, all going to Divya's event:

Broccoli Soup
Beans Soup
Minestrone Soup
Quinoa Soup

Stuffed Bread Buns

Since last year I have started baking different kinds of breads at home. I've already blogged about a couple of them - braided bread and zucchini bread. I just enjoy the whole process - kneading the sticky dough, watching it rise, the aroma filling the whole place as it bakes and finally ofcourse the taste of fresh, homemade bread.

This time around, we wanted to have some hot fresh stuffed bread buns for breakfast...right after we rise late on a lazy Sunday morning. But who will get up early enough to knead the dough, let it rise (twice) etc? Certainly not lazy me! I vaguely remember reading someplace that the twice risen bread can be refrigerated, then brought to room temp and baked before serving. So thats what I did this time, with great results. Infact, I didn't even completely bring it to room temp, just left it out for 5 - 10 mins, before sticking it in the oven. So the buns were ready right as the tea was boiling - what great timing, if I may say so myself! From now on, this will be the way to go for me.

I followed the bun recipe from Versalite Kitchen, which I have used a few times in the past, always had good results. I just halved it to make about 7 buns. For the stuffing, I just made a simple potato-onion mix.

These Stuffed Bread Buns go to the Only Cooking with Bread event at Foodelicious.

Spaghetti in Soupy Sauce

I've only recently discovered that some ready-made soups make great sauces for pasta. I'm sure people have been doing this forever...but it was a new discovery for me! I especially like the roasted red pepper and tomato soup for this.

The preparation is really simple and versatile. You can experiment with different soups, veggies, seasonings and pastas.

 Here's how I made the Spaghetti is Soupy Sauce last week.

For the sauce - Saute some onions & garlic in a little olive oil. Add leftover roasted red pepper & tomato soup. Add frozen peas and carrots. Seasonings I used were - salt, pinch of sugar, black pepper pwd, store-bought Italian Herb seasoning mix and some red pepper flakes. Once this simmers, add 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb cheese. Stir till dissolved and well mixed with the soup.

In the meanwhile, cook the pasta per package directions. Drain (save about 1/2 to 1 cup of the cooking liquid) and return to pot. Immediately add the soupy sauce. If you use up all your sauce and the pasta seems kinda dry, use the saved cooking liquid as required. If the prepared sauce seems too much for the quantity of pasta, save it for later. Remember, the pasta will absorb some of the sauce, so if required, u can add some more sauce later.

Top with some grated parmesan cheese and serve with warm garlic bread.

This Spaghetti in Soupy Sauce goes to the Presto Pasta Night # 201, started by Ruth and hosted by Pia.