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.

Chilli Soy Nuggets

I adapted this recipe from a magazine called New Woman that I was browsing thru on my trip to India last year. It can be served as an appetizer or side dish with fried rice.

Here's how I made it:

1 cup soy nuggets - soak in warm salted water for 15-30 mins
Veggies - Onions, colored peppers, carrots - cut into matchsticks or smaller pieces as desired
Oil - 2 tsp
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
additional salt if needed
pinch of sugar (I used brown sugar)
Spring onion, cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a large wok. Fry the veggies till slightly cooked but still crunchy. Fry the ginger-garlic paste for a minute. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce. Drain the soy nuggets, squeeze out as much water as possible. Add to the wok. Stir fry on medium high heat till nicely coated with the sauces. Add salt and sugar. Take off heat. Garnish with cilantro/spring onions and serve hot.

Orange Cake (Eggless)

I adapted this recipe from a Clementine Cake recipe from Mache magazine. A co-worker had made it & brought it in, I loved the moist sweet-tart combo so much, I immediately made it at home converting it into an eggless version. At that time I had a bag of clementines that were begging to be finished. This time I made the cake with oranges, with equally good results.

Here's how I made it:

1 cup Flour
1 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp all spice pwd (all spice is a mix of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg - can substitute or omit)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tbsp grated orange zest

7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup melted butter or veg. oil
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

First mix all the dry ingredients (from flour to zest) well in a big bowl.
Mix the condensed milk, butter/oil and orange juice in a separate bowl.
Then add the wet ingredients to the dry mix. Fold in gently. Pour into a cake pan and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 1/2 hour. Test by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Glaze - As the cake is baking, make the glaze by heating 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice and 1/3 cup sugar until simmering. Do not heat on very high heat. Take off once it starts simmering.

Pour the glaze over the cake right after you take it out of the oven or when it is still hot and in the cake pan.

When it cools, slice and serve.

 

Updated 11/29/13 - I make this cake very often, below is a recent picture. I've dusted with some powdered sugar and  garnished with orange peel cut into flower shape.

 

 

Eggless Vanilla Pudding Cookies

Hello everyone. Wish you all a very happy and healthy 2012. We are back in Seattle after a wonderful vaction in Mumbai and Singapore.

We have had snow for the past 6 days and except for a brief respite last Tuesday, have been pretty much home-tied since last Saturday. My daughter has been after me to bake some cookies, so today we made these lovely and easy Eggless Vanilla Pudding Cookies from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking.

Here's how I made these:

6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tbsp Jello Vanilla flavor instant pudding mix
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp All Purpose Flour
few drops of vanilla essence
Handful of chopped and toasted walnuts

Cream the butter, pudding mix and sugar together. I used an electric hand blender for this. Add flour in 2 - 3 installments and keeping folding it in gently until well incorporated. Add the vanilla essence and walnuts. Knead gently. The dough will be like chapati/roti dough.

Divide the dough into 12 - 14 portions of abt 1 tbsp each. Roll each gently into a ball and flatten a little. Place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Bake these cookies in an oven preheated to 375F, for abt 11 mins. Remove and cool 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

My daughter and her friends loved these and they were gone in no time. My dad also liked them, he said they tasted like the Indian cookie - Nankhatai.

I loved them for the delicious taste and ease of preparation. I will surely make them over & over again.

Squash Curry

This unique and delicious curry is based on a recipe I read in Raghavan Iyer's cook book. My cousin who is an ophthalmic dr always advises us to include orange/red squash/pumpkin (laal bhopla) in our diet as it is very good for the eyes. So I try to make a squash or red bhopla dish once a week. But it is hard to get my daughter to eat subjis containing cubed pieces of this veggie - she picks them out and eats the rest! I do make squash puris (gharges) and a squash sauce for pastas, both of which she loves. So when I came across this recipe, it opened up a new way for me to sneak in this healthy veggie in our diet.

To make the squash curry - if using cubed pieces, boil them with 1/2 cup of water for 15 mins until very soft. If using the frozen cooked squash, you just need to thaw it to room temperature.

To make the masala for the curry - dry roast 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 2 tsp udad dal, 1/4 tsp methi seeds and 1 or 2 dry red chillies per taste. Roast at low heat till aromatic. Take off heat, cool. Grind this along with the cooked or thawed squash.

To proceed - Heat 1 tsp oil and make the tempering by adding mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering add cumin seeds, asafotida, turmeric pwd and curry leaves. Add veggies of choice. I usually use colored bell peppers, onions and potatoes. Saute well for 5 mins. Add the squash curry. Season with salt to taste. Add 1 tsp jaggesry and 1 tsp tamarind paste. Stir in upto 1 cup of water, cover and cook on medium heat till veggies are cooked. Adjust seasonings and water per desired consistency.

Garnish with chopped cilantro. Excellent with rotis. The first time I made this and set it out on the table, my daughter stopped right in her tracks as she was passing by and remarked "This looks very interesting!". And proceeded to lap it up, eating it with twice the rotis she usually has. What more can I ask for!