Ridge Gourd Curry

I think that one person who was my inspiration to start my own blog was Saffron Hut. She has this most interesting blog with amazing photographs and to top it off, she has a very nice take on life and writes very well.
Her recipes are easy, simple and taste good. I have tried a few, but ridge gourd being one of my favorite vegetables, this is one from her blog ended up being a staple on my table. It is a dish which can be cooked with very little oil, which makes it the perfect food for me. But nowhere does it compromise on the taste.

Ridge gourd ( aka Beerkaya, Beerkanga) has a rather bland taste like zucchini and lends itself very well to the taste of the spices added. Here the potatoes, carrots and ridge gourd come together to make a curry which will go well with either rice or chapatis. The kids also enjoyed this with chapatis.

Here is the recipe exactly as in her blog.




Ingredients:

1 medium ridgegourd diced

2 potatoes diced

1 carrot diced

2 ripe tomatoes chopped

1 onion chopped

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin/jeera seeds

3 tsp sambhar powder or curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 small lump of jaggery

salt to taste


Method:

Chop all the vegetables into medium cubes

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wide pan and add the cumin seeds when the oil is hot.

When the cumin seeds start sizzling, add the chopped onions
Saute the onions well.

Add the sambhar powder and turmeric powder. Fry well till well roasted and aromas waft all through the kichen.

Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes turn pulpy.

Add the carrots, potatoes, ridge gourd pieces and stir well.

Cover and let simmer in its own juices till all the vegetables are done.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Enjoy!!!!

Boorelu - Andhra Food Series

This post has been long on the back burner. I uploaded the pictures and then promptly forgot about it. For some reason, it simply never came to mind. The other day reading about a blog about old memories, the penny dropped and I remembered that I had not finished this particular post.

Boorelu are a very typical Andhra sweet served at most functions and festivals.
I have absolutely no recollection of when I first ate this sweet but the memory of the taste stayed with me for many years. I always imagined that it was this oh-so-complicated dish that I could never aspire to make. Mom never made it ever, so this was something I could only get to taste when I went for a wedding or back home to someone's place for an occasion. I insisted on having it as a part of my wedding lunch menu. Eating one of these balls of yumminess was only a once in a way treat so I made the most of it. I could never stop with one. I had to eat at least 5-6 before I was truly satisfied. (Actually my tummy protested more than my tongue).

Once after I got married I was invited to an aunt's house for dinner. To my pleasant surprise, she served Boorelu as the sweet at the end of the meal. I had no idea that she even knew how to make it. I caught her immediately to come home the next day and teach me.
It was so simple to make. I guess in my mind I had this idea that this was very complicated to make so ... Those were the days before I started a real love for cooking.

It was so simple and the ingredients easily available in all Indian pantries.
Now I do make it though not as often as I would like.

Do try it out and let me know what you think.





Ingredients:

1 cup moong dal
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup grated coconut
20 raisins
1 teaspoon coarse cardamom powder
1/2 cup urad dal
1 cup raw rice
Oil to deep fry


Method:

Soak the urad dal and rice in water about 8 hours before making the boorelu.
When well soaked, grind to a smooth batter using very little water. Keep aside.

Soak the moong dal for about an hour and grind coarsely in the blender.

Steam for 10 minutes till it is cooked through like an idly/dhokla.

When it cools down crumble the cooked moong dal till it resembles bread crumbs. ( see picture below)



Now put a pan on medium heat. Gently roast the coconut till it gets to be a light brown colour and very aromatic. Keep aside. ( See below)



In the same pan, heat the sugar with about 2 tablespoons for water till it dissolves and becomes a liquid.
Add the crumbled moong dal and roasted coconut and mix well. Take off the heat and add the cardamom powder.
When cool enough to handle, make into lime sized balls putting 1 or 2 raisins into each.

Heat oil to deep fry.
Dip into the rice/urad dal batter. Drop into the hot oil and fry till it is a golden brown.

Serve hot or cold.

Enjoy!!!!!

Majiga Pulusu and Mom's Cooking- Andhra Food Series

My mom was quite a good cook and my dad always had this story ( he was secretly very proud of her for this talent) that she would taste something either in someone else's home or at a restaurant and will be able to very accurately identify the ingredients that went into it. She was very rarely wrong or if so, off by maximum of an ingredient. She could replicate dishes at home quite easily and also innovate on them.
I always had an interest in cooking but it did not come to the fore till I got married. Then slowly, I started learning a few things from her and others. But the problem was that I only learnt those things that I personally loved as a kid. I totally forgot that tastes change over time and maybe what I loved then may not be quite what I love now.
Unfortunately, Mom is not in a position to really cook now and thanks to her accident, along with many other things, now has totally forgotten how to cook. From being a cook who could rustle up a meal for ten without any problem, she now struggles to remember simple recipes.
Now thinking back, I am glad that I learned the few recipes that I did from her. It is more special now to me.
My sincere advice to all you readers out there is that one needs to learn things that are important and unimportant quickly and never put it off for later. One never knows how things happen and it is sad that there are so many things that I would still have loved to learn from her, if only to make sure she gets to eat exactly what she likes.

Anyway enough of the morose talk...

She is very very fond of Majiga Pulusu aka More kozhambu, kadhi etc in defferent parts of the country. Majiga means butter milk and pulusu loosely translates into gravy(?). It is a combination of buttermilk, spices and vegetables thickened with the use of besan or chana dal ( Bengal Gram).
My dad's constant joke went that her pulusus always had more veggies than the gravy and therefore was wrongly referred to as pulusu. Well that is a healthy way of eating and I totally endorse it. More veggies, the better it is..

Now for the recipe...


Ingredients:


1 tablespoon raw rice
1 Tablespoon Bengal gram
2 teaspoons grated coconut
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
1 teaspoon Dhania (coriander seeds)
1 green chillie

1/2 litre sour curds

500 grams of potato, carrot and bottle gourd
2 Green chillies
2 sprigs coriander leaves
1/2 teapsoon Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

1 teaspoon Oil
1/2 teaspoon mustrad seeds
1/2 teaspoon jeera
2 red chillies

Method:

Soak the rice, Bengal gram, coconut, green chillie coriander seeds and jeera in a little water for an hour. Then grind to a coarse paste.

Dice the vegetables into large pieces.

Pour enough water over it just so that it covers the vegetables.

Boil the vegetables along with the green chillies, coriander leaves, turmeric powder and salt.

Mix the curds and the ground paste and cook on a slow/medium flame till heated through and it begins to thicken. Do not let it boil.

Add the boiled vegetables.

Take off the flame.

Heat Oil and fry the popu ( mustard, jeera and red chillies).

Pour over the majiga pulusu.

Serve along with rice.

Enjoy !!!!!

Sticky Toffee Pudding And All Things Sweet

Of late, my blog seems to be peppered with desserts, chocolate, fudge.... What's happening to me? I am supposed to be off sugar completely. The more I want to be off big bad sugar, the more it shows up, insidiously finding its way into my life somehow. I wonder why? The further I run, the closer it gets. Until it is so so hard to say no and I give in.

Well now I say enough is enough and the next few posts are going to be only spicy SPICY all the way (let us see how long my good intentions last !!!).

Recently I was in Singapore on a short, much needed break, when friends of ours took us to the Cricket Club there. The food was amazing. As usual I had to order the dessert ( did you not read the above and figured out my weakness for anything sweet???). I had heard of but never tasted Sticky Toffee pudding. The name itself fascinated me. How delicious does it sound? Sticky Toffee Pudding. Say it a few times. Aloud. See I told you so. Makes you feel like immediately grabbing a spoon and digging in, doesn't it? My friends tease me all the time saying that I think of nothing but food and if I have to be honest here, I have to confess they are right. And in this case, can you blame me?

Well with a name like that I just had to order it. When it came to the table it looked so yummy. This steaming, tiny little perfectly baked brown cake sitting in a little puddle of gooey caramel. And all of it accompanied by a scoop of vanilla icecream. OOOooooohhhhhh. Just delicious.

And the taste.... it was really yummy. Words cannot do justice. I felt like doing a little jig right there. Jumping around with happiness... silly me. Well anyway. To cut a long story short, instead of jigging I just started digging {:)}.. At the end of the meal, I was simply sitting like a beached whale, unable to move but with a beaming face, totally satisfied.

Warning::: Read, make and EAT at your own risk. Please do not blame me if eating this results in an instant weight gain of 2 kgs or an immediate heart attack. ( I mean, have you looked at the ingredients?)

Now for the recipe....

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup deseeded dates
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup cream
1 cup packed light brown sugar

Method:

Toffee Sauce:
Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture starts thickening. This will take about 6 minutes

Pudding:

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and grease a 10-inch round or square baking dish.

Sift the flour and baking powder.

Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. This will foam up. That's fine, it is meant to. When it cools down, belnd in the mixie till it is a smooth paste.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; mix well until blended. Gently add the flour/baking powder mixture. Add the date paste to the batter and mix really well.

Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes.

Poke holes in the cake with a skewer. Pour 1/3 cup of the toffee sauce over it and leave it to soak.

Serve hot with the remaining toffee sauce and with either whipped cream or vanilla icecream.

ENJOY!!!!

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Chocolate Pudding Cake

Chocolate pudding is one dessert that has always been in great demand. This is one recipe that is most requested for whenever we have a pot luck. It is easy, quick and does not call for too many ingredients. To top it off, it is eggless which makes it a perfect dessert for most of our friends.

I am not sure where I got this recipe from but it has been in my handwritten recpe book for a number of years.

I have chronicled my family's addiction for chocolate many many times. This is one dessert that can be rustled up within minutes and will satiate the most demanding chocoholic. I promise you this. Just try it out once and you will be a fan forever. It has a nice fudgey cake like top with a saucey, custardy pudding bottom. It is like two desserts combined to give one heavenly result.

I think the only downside to this dessert is that it can give you a sugar high. My brother insists that it gives an instant hight which lasts the whole day!!!!. But my son did not agree. He feels it is just perfect the way it is.

So here goes with the recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Topping:

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup boiling hot water

Method:

Heat oven to 180 deg C.

Mix all the dry ingredients ( the flour, sugar, baking powder ad the salt) in a bowl.

Add the milk, melted butter and the vanilla essence and mix well togehter.

It will be a thickish batter.

Pour into a greased 9 inch square baking dish.

Mix the dry topping ingredients ( both the sugars and the cocoa) and sprinkle over the cake batter.

Finally pour the boiling water over it carefully without mixing or stirring at all.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve hot or cold preferably with vanilla icecream .

Enjoy!!!!