Curry leaves chutney

This is a dry chutney made of kadipatta (curry leaves) and alsi (flax seed). It is an accompaniment to a typical Indian meal of roti-subji or rice-dal. It is as tasty as it is healthy.

Here's how I make it:

1.5 cups curry leaves - washed and patted dry
2 tsp veg/canola oil
3 dry red chiles or to taste
2 tsbp flax seed or flax seed meal (I use the flax seed meal)
1 tbsp dry roasted, unsalted peanuts
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp salt or to taste

Saute the curry leaves in oil in a wide pan till they turn crisp. This should take abt 10 mins on medium to medium-low heat. Add the dry red chiles, flax seed meal and peanuts and roast another 5 mins on medium low heat. Take off heat and cool to room temperature. Dry grind to a fine powder. I use a coffee grinder specially reserved for masalas and dry chutneys, being small in capacity I have to do this is small batches. Once it is all ground up, add the salt, mix well and if necessary run it thru the grinder another time to ensure all the ingredients combine well. I always do this step, but if you have a bigger/more powerful grinder, you may be able to skip it.

Store in a dry, air-tight container. It will stay at room temperature for abt a month.

Lentil kurma

This is a good protein rich side dish for rotis and rice. I have used only whole masur and moong this time, but any combination of lentils works well.

Here's how I make it:

1 cup whole masur (brown lentils)
1 cup whole moong (sprouted are better)
1 tsp veg/canola/olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 tsp ginger paste
1/4 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1/4 tsp red chile pwd
1/4 tsp garam masala pwd
1/4 tsp kitchen king masala
salt to taste
1/4 cup milk
handful of cashews and almonds

To sprout the moong, soak overnight in water. Next morning drain and leave covered in a colander. Depending on the weather, the moong should sprout in abt a day or so. Soak masur in water for atleast one hr before cooking. Now pressure cook the lentils together with 1 cup water for 3 whistles. Or you can cook them on the stovetop till well cooked.

As the lentils are cooking, soak the cashews and almonds in milk.

Heat oil in a pressure pan. Add the cumin seeds and onions. Fry till onions slightly brown. Add the tomatoes, ginger paste, garlic paste and all the dry masalas. Fry well till the tomatoes get mushy. Add the cooked moong and masur. Add upto 1/2 cup water if too dry. Add salt, check and adjust seasoning. Grind the milk-soaked nuts and add to the curry. Adjust consistency with water as needed, it should be a bit on the thickish side.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rotis or rice.

Veggie Club Sandwich

This is my take on the club sandwich, the way I remember eating it at Mumbai's roadside restaurants ages ago.

Here's how I make it, its more a method of putting it all together as there is no recipe or cooking involved:

3 slices of bread
butter, green chutney and tomato ketchup
1 veggie patty (I used Trader Joes Masala burger)
1 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp mustard
1/2 cup veggies - finely chopped onions, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage

Toast the 3 slices of bread till golden brown. I use my pop-up toaster. Apply some butter to one side of each toast. Apply green chutney to one side of one toast and tomato ketchup to one side of another. Cook the patty per package instructions. Or you can use home-made veg. cutlets - here are a couple of recipes I have posted that can be used - Vegetable Cutlets, Hara Bhara Kebab. Place the patty or cutlet between the slices with the ketchup and chutney. Mix the veggies with the mayo and mustard. Heap a tablespoon over the bread slice, press down gently with the third slice of bread.

Cut the sandwich diagonally into 4 triangles. Serve with soup/potato chips/french fries/pakodas/green salad.

Makes for a filling lunch.

Bell Pepper Kadhi

A slight twist on the classic kadhi. Here's how I make it:

Tempering - 1 tsp ghee (or veg oil), 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 4 cloves, 1 small piece cinnamon, pinch of fenugreek seeds (methi daane), green and/or red chillies cut into big pieces
1/2 cup finely chopped colored bell peppers
1/4 cup finely chopped onions (optional, I have not used in above picture, reduce bell peppers if using)
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 cup thin buttermilk
1 tbsp gram flour (chickpea flour)
1.5 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sugar
pinch of turmeric (optional)
chopped cilantro for garnish

Make the tempering by heating the ghee/oil and adding the other ingredients. Fry for a minute on low heat. Add the bell peppers and onions. Fry well till softened. Add the ginger & fry another minute. In the meanwhile, mix the buttermilk with the gram flour, salt, sugar and turmeric pwd if using. Add this to the peppers. Now it is important to keep stirring. You can increase heat to high and let the kadhi come to a boil. Then take off heat. Till this point, keep stirring constantly. This will prevent kadhi from splitting/curdling. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with any rice dish or pulav.

Palak chi paatal bhaji

This is a simple spinach curry that goes well with rice and rotis.

Here's how I make it:

2 cups chopped spinach - fresh or frozen
Tempering - 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, pinch of asafoetida, 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
handful of chana dal - soaked for atleast 2 hrs
handful of cashew nuts and peanuts
1 cup buttermilk with 1 tbsp gram flour mixed in
Salt to taste, pinch of sugar
2 tsp goda masala

Make the tempering by heating oil and dropping the mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric pwd. Fry for a min. Add the soaked and drained chana dal, fry 2-3 mins. Add the cashew nuts and peanuts and fry another 2-3 mins. Add the chopped spinach. Cover and cook on medium heat for 7-8 mins, stirring in between. Add the buttermilk-gram flour mix, salt, sugar, goda masala. Simmer on low heat for 5-10 mins.

Serve hot.

Picnic Food - Pasta Salad and Fruit Salad

With the Memorial Day weekend just behind us and summer ahead, thought I'd post some of my fave picnic food recipes....starting with this Pasta Salad and simple Fruit Salad I took to a picnic recently.

Here's how I made the Pasta Salad:

1 cup uncooked rotini pasta - cook per package directions
1 to 2 cups chopped veggies - onions, tomatoes, colored peppers, zucchini, mushrooms
Dressing - 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves garlic - minced, 1 tsp black pepper pwd, 1 tsp fennel pwd
1 tsp chopped basil (fresh or dried)
2 tbsp prepared pesto (I used Trader Joe's)
2 tbsp Italian dressing (optional)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese (optional)

Mix the ingredients for the olive oil dressing in a small bowl. Pour over the chopped veggies. Spread the veggies in a glass baking dish. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 20 mins. Sprinkle the chopped basil and stir the veggies around. Bake another 20 mins, stirring in between. As the veggies are roasting, cook the pasta. Drain and mix with the roasted veggies. Add the pesto, Italian dressing and parmesan cheese. Adjust salt/pepper as needed.

This pasta salad tastes good warm, at room temp or cold.

The Fruit Salad I took along is really simple. I used a dressing of 3 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp lemon juice, poured over fresh cut fruits I had on hand - strawberries, blueberries, oranges, apples, mangoes and watermelon.

Goda Masala

Goda Masala is a spice mix commonly used in Maharashtrian cooking. It is an essential part of my kitchen, I use it in several bhajis (veggie dishes) and amtis (daals). I have tried many different kinds of goda masala - homemade and store-bought, but am partial to my MIL's recipe. I only recently started making it at home.

Here's how I make it:

3 cups coriander seeds (dhane)
1 cup sesame seeds (til)
1 cup shredded dry coconut (khobra)
Cinnamon sticks 3 or 4
2 tsps cumin seeds
1 tsp shah jeera (black cumin seeds or caraway seeds)
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup dagad phool (stone flower)
Handful of bay leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp methi seeds
3 or 4 black cardamons
1 tbsp asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp turmeric pwd
1 tbsp red chile pwd
1 tbsp salt
few tsp veg. oil

Take 2 woks. In one, dry roast the following ingredients individually on low heat until aromatic - sesame seeds, dry coconut, cumin seeds, black cumin seeds and mustard seeds.

In the other wok, fry the following ingredients individually on low heat with a little vegetable oil until aromatic - coriander seeds, cinnamon sticks, cloves, black pepper, dagad phool, bay leaves, methi seeds, black cardamons.

Once well roasted, you can keep the dry roasted ingredients together and the oil fried ones together. Let them come to room temperature. Then first dry grind the dry roasted ingredients, followed by the oil fried ones. Mix the two well and again grind them to incorporate all ingredients well. Add salt, turmeric pwd, red chile pwd and hing and mix well.

Store in a dry, air-tight glass/plastic container. It will last for a year.

It is no doubt a time-consuming process, involving lots of ingredients and patience. But for me it is worth the effort 'coz I can't do without it. A little goes a long way here, the above quantity lasts for abt 6 months for me.