Pumpkin Pie From Scratch

I love pies. Who doesn't? They are yummy. The flaky crust. The delicious filling.The toppings. Pies come in many types and  really did not know how many till my first trip to the US. One trip to Marie Callenders just got me drooling over the sheer variety out there. They had fruit pies, cream pies, cheesecake pies.... the list goes on. The pie we picked up that was a Pumpkin pie. There is only one word to describe it. Delicious. Yummy (well two words). Silky smooth (well, many more than two words). I loved it.

Fast forward many years down. For some reason this pie popped into my head and I just had to make it. Took a recipe with many positive ratings ( recipe courtesy Allrecipes) and followed it to a T (except for the canned pumpkin part). Came out perfectly. Deliciously silky pie.

For the pumpkin pie, the recipe called for one can of pumpkin. Instead, I popped pumpkin cut in half, seeds taken out and cut side down into the oven on low heat of 150 deg C and baked it till the flesh turned soft (about an hour). Scoop out the flesh and blend it in a mixie till smooth. Use two cups of this.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Pumpkin (see above on how to make pumpkin puree)
1 can condensed milk (400g)
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 9" unbaked Pie Crust (Recipe here)



METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C

Whisk the first seven ingredients in a bowl till smooth.

Pour into the crust. Tap till air bubbles are removed.

Bake at 200 deg C for 15 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 170 deg C and bake for a further 35- 40  minutes until a knife inserted into the pie comes out clean.

Garnish with fresh cream if desired.

ENJOY!!!!!!

Gobi Shalgam Gajar Achaar and School Days

I remember my school days with a lot of fondness. I am sure it is exactly like that for most if you out there. The fun times, the innocence, the principals office. Everyone has their most favourite memory of school. The times you got into trouble. The times when you were commended. Appreciated for work well done or punished for a lack of application. And the friends. Chatting away during class times. We always had something to chat about. Always. The assembly. The excitement of getting to read the news or thought for the day. Even writing something on the notice board was something we looked forward to. Hating the times when teachers punished us by making us sit with the boys. 

I studied in a small town so there was not much life beyond school. All friends outside of school hours were only school friends. Everyone knew everyone else. We were neighbours, friends and schoolmates. 

But I think there was a very close bond we girls from the same class shared. Much closer than with the others in the school. And I think this has continued over the years. I find that we can pick up exactly where we left off even though there may have been thirty years in between.

But one of my most favourite memories of school days was sharing of food. different tastes from different homes all brought and shared during the lunch hour. We were exposed to many foods from all parts of the country. But of all those memories the one that stands out is the packing of a little pickle in a piece of torn out notebook sheet. Furtively opening it in class and each one putting their finger in to get a taste. It used to be so exciting. Someone would bring a Punjabi mango pickle, while someone else would bring a sweet pickle. Gleefully tasting each one. I really don't know what draws girls to pickle but at least in our school it was something we all looked forward to.

Anyway to come to the recipe of gobi shalgam achar, it is from the north of India. It is essentially a winter pickle and has very lovely sweet, tangy spicy taste. Goes very well with rotis and parathas but tastes simply wonderful all on its own too. I got this recipe from here. And I am reproducing it exactly like in her blog.

INGREDIENTS;

1 kg each of Turnips, Carrots, and Cauliflower
400 ml White Vinegar
1 kg Jaggery
200 grams Garlic
200 grams Ginger
500 ml Mustard Oil
200 grams Salt
50 grams Red Chilli Powder
10 grams Cardamom
5 grams Cinnamon
5  grams Cloves

METHOD:

Trim cauliflower into florets. 

Cut carrots into thick 2″ long batons. 

Trim and slice turnips into thick quarters. 

Bring 3 litres of water to boil. Blanch the prepared vegetables in boiling water for 2 minutes. 

Drain, spread on absorbent cloth and dry in shade for a day.

Boil vinegar and jaggery together into a syrup.  

Pound ginger and garlic coarsely and fry in oil over medium heat. Take off heat. 

Pound the whole spices coarsely. 

Into the oil mix in all the spices and the vinegar syrup. 

Add salt and the prepared vegetables. 

Mix well and transfer to clean dry stoneware or glass jars.

Leave in the sun for a couple of days for all the flavours to get absorbed.

ENJOY!!!!!!

The vegetables cut and drying:

The vinegar and jaggery boiling:

Adding in the vegetables:

Glazed Lime Syrup Cake

When we were kids growing up in a small township, we lived in a house with a HUGE garden. We grew our own vegetables, fruit, onions, potatoes. I think short of growing rice and wheat, practically everything else came from our garden. My dad would walk around the garden after lunch each day and ask for what he wanted made for lunch the next day. Walk around the fruit trees and pluck what was ripe. I learnt what different plants looked like only from those walks I took with him around the garden. Really fond memories those. 

Thanks to those childhood days, I simply love seeing fruit trees in the garden or using the vegetables grown in your garden. There is something very comforting about that. I always wanted to have this large garden and grow my own vegetables. But unfortunately I have zero gardening skills. ZERO. No green thumb at all. So I have accepted it and moved on. 

Now my sister in law in the US has a lemon tree that bears a lot of fruit. I am dying to go there only to use the lemons from her garden to make this bread. But till then I have to settle for using locally available limes. 

The limes here I find are much tarter than the lemons from there.. So when I made this recipe with the exact conversion of lemon juice quantity to lime juice, I felt it was too sour for my taste.So, though I am giving you the recipe as is, I leave it to your better judgement on the exact quantity of juice to be used. (This is my disclaimer just in case you find it too tart)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tablespoon Lime Rind (grated)

1 1/2 cups Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup Milk

For the syrup:

100 grams Icing Sugar

2 tablespoons Lime Juice

For the glaze:

1/2 cup Icing Sugar

2 tablespoons Lime Juice

METHOD:

Grease and line a 8 inch X 4 inch loaf pan. 

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl till creamy. Add in the eggs and rind.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

Stir into the butter egg mixture alternately with milk.

Bake for about 40 mins or till a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.

In the meantime, mix the ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan and heat till you have a clear liquid.

When the cake is done. poke holes and pour the syrup till it soaks completely.

In another bowl mix the glaze ingredients till well mixed and pour over the still warm cake and leave to set.

Slice and serve

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

Podi Vankai or Podi Katrikai - Andhra Food Series

I love brinjal in most forms.  Though my most favorite has to be Baingan Ka Bharta, I also love this method of making it. I don't think my kids have even tasted it once. For some reason they hate it and are not even willing to try it out. We have a rule in the house.  You cannot say you don't want something or you hate something without trying it out once. It is compulsory to try out a nice big sizable amount of it. Even then if you don't like it , then you are allowed not to eat it. But this is one vegetable that they have flatly refused to even try. So this veggie is only reserved for the rest of us in the house. And all of us love brinjal and particularly in this form.

Very delicious, it goes well with rice or rotis. It has a nice nutty taste from all the coarsely ground dals and the first bite is a little crispy and crunchy in the mouth ending with a soft vegetable inside.

INGREDIENTS:

About 10 small eggplants, quartered

For the Powder:

3 tablespoons Chana Dal

4 Red Chillies

1 1/2 teaspoon Coriander Seeds

1 tablespoon White Sesame Seeds

2 tablespoons Grated Coconut

2 tablespoons Oil

Marble sized ball of Tamarind (soaked in few tablespoons of water and juice extracted)

1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

2 cups Water

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

12-15 Curry leaves

METHOD:

Roast the powder ingredients in one tablespoon of oil till golden brown. Cool and grind to a caorse powder.

Heat water and add the tamarind juice and turmeric.

Drop in the brinjal pieces and cook for about 5 minutes or till the brinjal starts getting tender then drain.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves and fry till it starts spluttering.

Add the ground powder and fry for a few minutes.

Now add the brinjal bits and fry on a low flame. Add the salt and chilli powder.

Fry till done and the podi is well fried and a golden brown.

Serve hot with rice or rotis

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Punjabi Saag - On A Strict Diet

No excuses this time for why I have not posted, why its been almost 3 months since I blogged. Its not because I have not been making anything or taking pictures, I think it is just that when I make a half hearted attempt to blog, it just never seems to come out right. That's why I said at the outset - NO EXCUSES.

So now I am on this diet. A very strict one. And since I am very determined this time around, hopefully it should work. But this is a strange kind of a situation I find myself in. I eat so much of the healthy stuff that I am unable to finish my meal. The only compulsory thing I have to eat each day is 2 cups of greens in any form. Now its difficult to get too many recipes that I like featuring greens as its hero. But this saag has to be one of my absolute favorites. Tastes good with both rotis and rice. It is supposed to be eaten with Makki ki Roti (rotis made with maize flour) but tastes good anyway even by itself. The original recipe calls for mustard greens (sarson) but as that is not available in Chennai, we can make it with spinach.

To get the most authentic saag recipe, I had to call my Punjabi niece in law. Thanks Pri. Got the exact recipe and now this is a staple on our lunch table.

Now for the recipe... Don't get put off by the number of ingredients. It is very simple to make. The only pain is cleaning the greens.

INGREDIENTS:

2 bunches Delhi Palak
2 bunches Methi leaves
2 bunches Radish leaves with the radish
2 Onions chopped
2 Tomatoes chopped
1 Turnip (Shalgam)
1 tablespoon Ginger chopped
1 tablespoon Garlic chopped\
4 Green chillies chopped

1 tablespoon wheat flour (Atta)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon White Butter
1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
1 onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped Garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped Ginger
1 tablespoon Ghee


METHOD:

Clean and chop all the greens, the radish, the turnip, tomatoes, onion, green chillies, ginger and garlic and pressure cook along with a cup of water for one whistle.

Grind it with a handheld blender or in the mixer till it is a coarse paste.

Mix in the wheat flour, white butter and salt. Heat for a while

Heat the ghee in a separate vessel. Fry the onion, ginger and garlic till lightly browned. At the end, add in the red chilli powder and pour the tadka over the greens.

Serve hot along with Makki ki roti.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

Coconut Rice And An Orphaned Blog

My poor poor blog. Its really been orphaned. Left it for so long.. I wonder if it will allow me to blog in these pages again. I have realised one thing. Every time I say I am going to be more regular and post ever so often, I fall off the wagon  and end up not blogging at all. Unforgivable on my part. So from now on no promises of blogging once a day  week month or even year. Posts will appear when they do. And if they are seldom and only once in a way, then so be it. No feelings of guilt. And I hope The Bubbling Cauldron and you , my dear readers will forgive me.

Coconut rice has to be one of V's favorite foods. And so it makes its appearance on the table a little more often than posts do on this blog. Simple to make, it has a richness from its main ingredient, coconut. It takes next to no time. The only painful part is grating of the coconut. Fortunately you get ready freshly grated coconut in the vegetable shops these days. Makes life so simple.

Now on to the recipe..

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Grated coconut
2 cups cooked rice

For tadka:
1 tablespoon Oil
1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 tablespoon Bengal Gram Dal
1 tablespoon Urad Dal
2 tablespoons  Cashew nuts broken
4 sprigs Curry Leaves
2 Green Chillis Chopped
4-5 Red Chillis

Salt to taste


METHOD:



Saute the coconut on medium heat till well roasted and starts getting golden brown.

Cool and mix well with the rice and the salt to taste.

Heat oil. Add all the tadka ingredients. Fry till cashews are golden brown.

Put in the coconut/rice mixture.

Stir till well mixed.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

Rose Cake - Pretty Icing

I saw this cake one day while trawling the food blog sites and I HAD to try it out. It looked absolutely beautiful and the author of the blog  promised that it was the easiest thing to do. I have not iced a cake for the longest time. I have almost forgotten most of the techniques. But looking at this particular cake spurred me on to try my hand once more at it. Immediately requested sister in law to please locate and send me the Wilton 1M icing tip. Got it and then started planning on what flavor of cake I should make. The idea of the usual suspect chocolate was discarded much to the dismay of my chocoholic son. I wanted an icing that looked pretty and light coloured. So made a coffee cake recipe of which will follow.

Then decided I wanted to make cupcakes rather than a regular round cake. So went and bought a new muffin pan. Preheated the smaller oven as my bigger oven was out of action, made the batter, got the cupcake liners out and then poured it into the  muffin pan. Went to put the pan into the oven and.... THE DAMN THING WOULD NOT FIT. What an epic fail. Then very messily poured the batter back, got an older 6 muffin pan which would fit into the small oven. Baked the cupcakes and made a smaller cake.
Went ahead with the butter cream icing and iced both the cupcakes and the cake (few mishaps with the icing, but that is a story for another day). I guess I managed to get both done and was happy with the results (please note I did not say very or ecstatically happy - just happy).

Now you tell me what you think. Looks good?  You are not allowed to compare it to the original one. For precise instructions on exactly how to do this, check out the link above.


BUTTER CREAM ICING RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

100 grams Butter
3-4 cups of Icing Sugar
2 tablespoons Milk
Flavoring ( I used 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder)


METHOD:

Soften the butter to room temperature.
Sieve the icing sugar along with the coffee powder and pour it into the the softened butter.
Mix well. Add the milk a little at a time till a soft consistency is obtained.
Now for icing the cake ( i.e covering ) you need a little softer icing.
For floral and other decorative icing, make sure it is a little stiffer so that the shape will hold.
Ice the cake.
Serve.
ENJOY!!!!!!

Shrikhand - Half Empty Nest Syndrome

My older son has just gone off to study some more ( much against his wishes at first). But now he is thrilled to go and make his own life. No more nagging from mom for a long time. But he did not bargain for a tech savvy  mom who can buzz him on Whatsapp every now and then and ending up being a real pain in the ass caring mom.  People keep asking me how I am feeling now that my nest is half empty. I feel quite guilty to say I am fine and very happy for him. I guess with technology the way it is today, he is just one ping away. So it has really not been that hard. And I always have my second one to keep me on my toes and not have enough time to miss Vish.

My older one is very partial to Shrikhand. This is his most favorite dessert and he can eat it by the bowlfuls.  So this post is for him. Hopefully he will soon learn how to make it on his own using greek yoghurt which does not need draining out the whey.

Simply put, Shrikhand is thick yoghurt drained of every last drop of moisture sweetened with sugar and flavoured with cardamom powder and saffron and garnished with almonds.
Usually, you make curd with full fat milk and tie it in a cheesecloth overnight to strain all the whey out. But this makes it a bit sour thanks to the Indian weather. So our way out is to make the curd and tie it and leave it to drain the refrigerator overnight. By the morning we have this nice thick and creamy yogurt left ready to be made into shrikhand which is not sour.

INGREDIENTS:

2 liters + 2 teaspoons Full Cream Milk

1/4 teaspoon Saffron

1 cup Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powdered

50 grams Almonds 

METHOD:

Make the milk into curd. Tie in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and hang till all the whey has drained out. Remove hung curd into a bowl.

Heat the 2 teaspoons of milk and add saffron to it. Rub well till the milk gets an orange hue.

Mix into the hung curd. Add the sugar and cardamom powder and mix well. Check for sweetness. Add more sugar if required.

Blanch the almonds in a little hot water. Peel and dice the almonds into small bits.

Add to the Shrikhand. 

Serve cold.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

Vegetable Pulao - Another One Pot Meal

This post is literally hot off the stove. I made it, took the pictures while it was still steaming, had lunch and came up to write this post. So here it is .
Don't you just love Sunday afternoon meals? I think this day in particular lends itself very well to a one pot meal consisting mainly of rice followed by a very quick leap into the bed for a nice afternoon siesta. Though, here I have to admit that I did not have the aforementioned siesta. But I still enjoyed the afternoon, tucking into the pulao and spending time with the family.
Except for the lack of protein in this meal, I pack it with a LOT of vegetables. My kids complain about it all the time saying that it has more veggies than rice but I simply cannot help myself. I feel every meal needs to be nourishing and good for the body in some form or the other.
This pulao is different from a biryani in that there are no tomatoes used.  It is just a different tasting dish. A lot milder actually and not so full of spices and masalas. Quite delicious to say the least.

Now for the recipe.

This recipe serves 6-8 people for a meal in itself.

INGREDIENTS:

Masala Paste

Garlic 8 cloves
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Green Chillis - 4
Cardamom - 4 pods
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 2 inch piece
Mint leaves - about 1/4 cup


Basmati rice - 3 cups
Onions - 3 sliced
Bayleaf - 3-4
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Ghee/ Oil - 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Carrots - 1cup diced ( About 350 grams)
Cauliflower - 1 cup cut into small florets
Beans - 1 cup diced
Peas - 1 cup

Coriander leaves 2 tablespoons


METHOD:

Grind the masala paste ingredients with a little water till it is a fines paste.

Soak the Basmati rice in water for about half an hour.

Heat ghee/oil (or a combination of the two) on a medium flame.

Add the cumin seeds and bay leaf till the cumin turns golden.

Add the sliced onions and fry till it turns translucent and then add the masala paste.

Fry well. Add the vegetables other than the cauliflower.

Drain and add the rice. Fry for a few minutes.

Add  4-5 cups of water, salt cauliflower and coriander leaves.

Cook in a pressure cooker or a rice cooker till just done.

Serve hot with onion raita.


ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!

Apple Crumble Topped Cake with a Brown Sugar Glaze

Apple crumble cake - it sounded so interesting. The concept of a cake with a crumble topping and beautiful sugar glaze was fascinating to say the least. Very easy to make, the combination of apple, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter... was just like an apple pie in a cake form.

I really loved the taste of this and felt it made for a lovely dessert.


INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE CAKE;
100 grams Butter
1 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/2  teaspoon Salt
1 cup Yoghurt
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 cups Peeled Cored Chopped Apples

FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
4 tablespoons Butter softened

FOR THE BROWN SUGAR GLAZE;
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons Water


METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 13 X 9 inch baking dish with a little butter.

Cake:
Soften the butter. Cream with sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time till well mixed.

Sift the flour, salt, cinnamon powder and baking soda.

Add little by little to the butter egg mixture alternating with the yoghurt.

Fold in the chopped apples and pour into the greased dish.

Topping:
Combine the sugar, flour cinnamon powder and butter till the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle evenly over the cake batter and bake for  about 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove and cool for 10 minutes before pouring on the glaze.

Glaze:
Mix the sugar, vanilla and water till smooth. Pour over the warm cake and leave to harden.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

Orange Marmalade

We had a wedding in the family recently. It was so much fun. For a wedding which supposed to be short and sweet, it ended up being  a loooooong wedding going over almost three months. Yes. You did read that right. Three months. Each month had a different function. But the good part of that was that  we thoroughly enjoyed each and every ceremony and function. When the ceremonies run continuously over a period of 3-4 days, then you get so tired after the first cocktail party, that  the remaining  events just go off in a blur. You don't remember the food, the decor, anything.

But the point of bringing up the wedding was that when a brides family came home for the first time, it is customary to bring some fruit and sweets. But this family brought these vast quantities of fruit. Enough to feed an army for a month. Really.
In that lot of fruit, were these two bags of little oranges. When I say little I mean little. They were really cute as a button. But not sure what to do with them, we decided to make marmalade with it.

This was my first foray into the world of jam making. It came out quite well but it does not last too long. As there are no preservatives, you have to be extremely careful in sterilising the jars and in using dry spoons to serve.

Very easy to make and not too many ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kilogram Clementine Oranges ( you can use tangerines too)
1 kilogram Sugar
Juice of two Limes


METHOD:

Wash the clementines well. Cut them into quarters.

Take out the seeds and pith (the white part of the peel).

Tie the seeds and the pith in a little muslin bag.

Put the quartered clementines into the blender and blend till the skin is into small bits. Be careful not to make it a paste. It has to have a bite as we are not cutting the peel into slivers.

Put it into a thick saucepan along with 3 cups of water and the juice of the limes.


Add the sugar and bring to a rolling boil. Keep cooking stirring at regular intervals till it starts thickening and reaching a setting point.

Check if it is reached that point by putting a couple of drops on a plate and pushing it when cool. If it starts wrinkling, then the marmalade is ready.

Cool till it is room temperature, then pour into the sterilised bottles and seal.

Serve on toast or use in cakes...

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

Pappu Pulusu - Andhra Food Series

This is the ultimate comfort food as far as I am concerned. Hot steaming rice, a dollop of ghee, pour this dal on top and you have got yourself a perfect meal. Its all very well to want to eat out and try out different foods, but after a while home food is the best.

My mother used to make this the best but I like to think mine is not that far behind in either taste or appearance. Even if I have to say so myself, it is pretty darn delicious!!!!

Try it out and let me know...

INGREDIENTS:


1 cup Toor Dal
1 Large Onion, Sliced
1 Tomato, diced
2 tablespoons Tamarind Extract
2 Green Chillis, sliced

4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped into big pieces.
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
2 Red Chillis
6-8 Curry Leaves
1 teaspoon Coriander Leaves , finely chopped
1 teaspoon Oil
Salt to taste


METHOD:

Soak the Dal for about half an hour.

Pressure cook along with the sliced onions, diced tomatoes, sliced green chillis till cooked.

Mash till onions, tomatoes, dal and chillis are well blended.

Heat oil.

Add the mustard seeds, red chillis, curry leaves and garlic and fry until garlic is well browned.

Pour the cooked dal mixture over this and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Brinjal Peanut Curry

My cook at home comes out with very unusual foods. Sometimes, she makes things for herself, and puts a bit on the table for us to taste. And more often than not, they end up being very tasty and a staple on the dining table.
This is one such dish. I think it is fairly typical of the Nellore region.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 kg Brinjals/Aubergines
2 Onions
2 Tomatoes
2 pods Garlic
50 grams of Roasted Peanut, powdered
1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
Few curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
1 tablespoon Oil
Salt to taste



METHOD:

Chop the onions, tomatoes and garlic finely.

Dice the brinjal into bits and keep in a vessel of water to prevent discoloration.

Heat oil on a medium flame.

Add the mustard seeds.

Once they start crackling, add the garlic and curry leaves.

When garlic has browned nicely, add the onions.

Fry till  it starts getting brown, add the tomatoes and fry till mushy.

Now add the salt and red chilli powder.

Add the brinjal and fry for a few minutes. Add a quarter cup of water and cover.

Check periodically till the the brinjal is cooked well.

Now add the peanut powder, and give one last boil and switch off.

Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

ENJOY!!!!!!

Daily Salad - Kids Favorite

At home, salad is an integral part of each meal. Without fail, we have a raw vegetable salad everyday. 

Fresh vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, fibre and all the goodness which leads to a healthy lifestyle. They offer quantity AND quality and at a low calorie cost. Raw food is nature in its purest form.

Today's theories state that adding a lot of colour to the meal is important. That is,different coloured vegetables add various vitamins and minerals that the body needs. So what I am saying here is the experts believe a plate piled with fruit and vegetables with all the colours of the rainbow will ensure that you eat a wide array of nutrients essential to the body.

I love this salad a LOT and so do my kids. They enjoy it and just go though bowlfuls without a murmur. I first had it at the Gymkhana Club when someone ordered it as a starter. Initially I was take aback, salad for an appetiser??  But it tasted good... And now though I may not actually serve it as an appetiser along with drinks, I most certainly adapted it to make it healthier and tastier. 

It is easy enough to make if you discount the the effort that goes into dicing all the vegetable finely..

INGREDIENTS:


1 Red Capsicum
1 Green Capsicum
1 Yellow Capsicum
1 Tomato
1 small Cucumber
1 Carrot
1/2 cup Peanuts
1/2 cup Corn Niblets
3 Cheese cubes (or 75 grams Cheddar cheese)

Juice of 1/2 Lime
Salt to tatse

METHOD:

Dice the Capsicums, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot finely into even sized bits.

Dice the cheese into bits of the same size.

Mix everything into a serving bowl. Top with the corn and peanuts.

Just before serving. squeeze the lime juice over and season with salt.

Keep chilled until serving.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

Sabudana Vada And Rainy Days

Its has been raining on and off here and though we are well into August and September is already peeping round the corner, there seems to be no respite from the heat. The only times it cools down a bit is when it rains. Now rains in my town bring with them not only a much needed drop in temperature but a host of problems as well like traffic snarls, water logging, .... But then I think we welcome the change of weather so much, we are ready to forgive our city anything at that point.

The monsoon set in a couple of months ago for the rest of the country. But in my part of the country we get the retreating monsoon. So it comes a lot later in the year. But the heat sometimes gets too much for even nature to bear and promptly we have some fabulous evening showers.

Now to describe the monsoons in India.... The fabulous musty, earthy fragrance which comes from the dry parched earth, when the first few drops of rains fall just has to be smelt to be believed. The whole garden looks like an emerald green paradise with all the dry dust from the summer getting washed away. The cool cool breeze rushing in , chasing away the heat of the summer months and bringing a freshness to everything. It is the season that everyone really looks forward to.

To come to the point now, dear readers, you need to answer one question of mine. What is the connection between a rainy afternoon and fried food? Samosas, bajjis, pakodas, vadas... The first thing you think of when you see the dark clouds start gathering, is how quickly you can bring the kadai out, the saucepan for a cup of steaming masala chai and a comfortable chair to sit in and enjoy the rains. True? or false? Fried food, tea and monsoons are inseparable and almost a tradition in India. Here I have to say, a very enjoyable and a much cherished tradition.

Now on to the recipe....

Serves 6 ( Makes about 30 medium vadas)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups Sago pearls ( Sabudana)

1 1/2 cups Potato, boiled and mashed

1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts, crushed roughly

2 Green Chillies, minced finely

2-3 tablespoons Coriander leaves , minced

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Salt to taste

Oil to deep fry

METHOD:

Soak the sabudana in water for about 10 minutes. Drain the water and cover with a damp cloth for about 2 hours.

Mix it well with the boiled and mashed potatoes and the roughly crushed peanuts.

Add salt, lemon juice, minced green chillies and the coriander leaves.

Heat oil till smoking hot. Reduce the flame to medium.

For the sabudana mixture in small balls, flatten slightly and deep fry in the oil.

Serve hot.

ENJOY!!!!!!

Vegetable Biryani - A Perfect Sunday Meal

In my opinion, biryani makes for the perfect Sunday lunch. A one dish meal and enough time in the afternoon to change one's persona to that of a beached whale. Sleep for a couple of hours to give the tummy a chance to concentrate and work hard to digest all that food. With all that rich and oily rice intake, there's not much else one can do.

Without further ado, let us get on with the recipe...

From now onwards, I am going to include one very important point that I have been missing out on. The number of people this particular recipe serves. I think that was a big mistake. One I am not sure I can rectify for all the previous posts. But I can at least make a fresh start from now. So here goes...

This is a typical adaptation of the Hyderabadi biryani to suit local tastes and I like to refer to it as the South Indian Biryani.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups or 1/2 kg Basmati Rice

1/2 kilogram Onions, finely sliced

1/2 kilogram Tomatoes, finely sliced

Handful Mint Leaves

300 grams Potatoes, diced

300 grams Beans, diced

300 grams Carrots, diced

Salt to Taste

3 Bayleaves

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

4-5 Cups Coconut Milk

1/2 Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Oil

1 small stick Cinnamon

Masala Paste:

100 grams Ginger

100 grams Garlic

5-6 Green Chillies

12 Cloves

4 inches Cinnamon

6 Pods of Cardamom

METHOD:

Soak the rice in water for about 1/2 an hour.

Heat oil. Add the cinnamon and bay leaves.

When well fried, add the onions.

When the onions start getting brown, add the mint leaves. Fry for a few minutes longer.

Now add the paste and fry well till it is fragrant.

Add tomatoes and cook well till mushy.

Add the diced vegetables and the turmeric powder and the salt.

Fry for about 5-10 minutes.

Mix in the soaked rice, add the coconut milk and cook covered till almost done. When about 80 per cent done, mix well and add the juice of the lemon.

Serve hot with a raita of your choice.

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Aam Panna - Perfect Thirst Quencher

Summers in India are long and hot. And homes in India are replete with natural thirst quenchers. You have the Nimbu Paani, Lassis, Tender Coconut water, Sugarcane Juice. It is absolutely essential to have these natural drinks that combat the heat outside. These drinks which contain herbs and spices work with the body to help you cope with the heat.

The mix of ingredients help in replenishing lost salts, cooling the system down, refreshing the palate, repairing the digestive system...

Aam Panna is one of these heavenly refreshers made with raw mangoes and spices. Mixed with a glass of cold water and few ice cubes clinking in the glass, the sweet and tangy taste ensures that one forgets the heat outside and cools down quickly.

Healthy. Natural. Refreshing. Why will one reach for an aerated artificial drink when there is such a wide choice natural drinks to be had? That is one question to which I have no answer. Kids these days are not even willing to try out these healthy choices when confronted with those ubiquitous cola and aerated drinks.

INGREDIENTS:

1 large Raw Mango or 2 small Mangoes

3 tablespoons Mint Leaves

1 tablespoon Cumin Seeds

1/2 teaspoon Rock Salt

6-8 Black Peppercorns

1/2 cup Sugar

METHOD:

Boil the mango whole in the pressure cooker till well cooked and soft.

Cool and take out the pulp.

Dry roast the cumin seeds and powder coarsely.

Put the mint leaves, sugar, rock salt, peppercorns and cumin seed powder in a blender and blend to a paste.

Now add the mango pulp and blend once again.

Keep the paste aside in the refrigerator till needed. It stays for about a week or so without a problem.

When needed, put about 4 tablespoons of the pulp into a glass.

Top up with about 200 ml of water and ice cubes. This amount of pulp should make about 6 glasses of Aam Panna.

Mix well.

Serve cold immediately.

ENJOY!!!!!!

This is going to SpicyTasty for their Quick and Easy Recipe Mela.

Greek Salad

I love eating out. I think that is the absolute single reason I do not end up losing any of the weight that I have gained over the last many years. And going out of town for me is reason enough to pig out. It is a standing joke amongst my friends that I am food obsessed. If I am visiting a new place, I love to research the restaurants there, food specialities there.. Now for the record, that's not the only thing I research. I also look up sightseeing, transportation but checking out food is of paramount importance. Nothing wrong, is there? No wonder I have a food blog...

On a visit to Bangalore, I was determined to eat at Sunny's. Hadn't eaten there for a couple of years. So like a stuck record, I kept repeating Sunnys, Sunnys. Finally out of sheer frustration, my family said okay. Then realised that the restaurant was on the opposite side of the street where we were staying. How fortuitous was that?

When there, my niece ordered a Greek Salad. Tasted divine. Fresh, crunchy with a sweetish tangy dressing. It was outstanding.

This is an attempt to replicate that. A greek salad is a rough country salad.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Red Capsicum

1 Yellow Capsicum

1 Green Capsicum

1 Cucumber

1 Small Onion

10 Cherry Tomatoes

10-15 Olives

200 grams Feta Cheese

1 Head Iceberg Lettuce

Dressing:

1 Lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Powdered Sugar

1 Clove Garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

METHOD:

Place all the dressing ingredients in a small screw top bottle and shake well. Keep aside till ready to serve.

Slice the onions finely.

Cut the capsicums into 1" bits.

Wash the lettuce carefully and tear into bite sized pieces.

Slice the cucumber into half moons.

Use the cherry tomoatoes whole or cut them in half. If you cannot source them, use regular tomatoes with each tomato cut into 8 pieces.

Cut the Feta into 1" cubes. (You can use Paneer instead as Feta is an acquired taste).

Assemble in a bowl.

When ready to serve, pour the dressing over and toss well.

ENJOY!!!!!!

Granola - The Health Revolution

Whichever side you turn these days the conversation only revolves around weight loss, health, fitness, exercise... Agree? It seems to have become an obsession with almost everyone. Each one is trying to outdo the other in losing weight and becoming fit.

Now in all this madness, my personal opinion is that moderation is the key. Moderation in eating, exercising. I really think that one needs to stop obsessing on each morsel that crossed one's lips, each gram lifted and each step run. It is a lot easier to make healthy choices than it is being made out to be.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that I am the epitome of healthy eating because that is a great untruth. But I for sure do not go crazy about my weight or the food I eat. I try to eat healthy and make the right choices. I try to exercise everyday. But if I feel like eating something sinful, well I go ahead and do it. And I refuse to feel guilty about it. Size zero is not everything...

But at home, in our quest to eat healthy, we introduced granola in the mornings for breakfast. For the first month we bought it from a friend. It turned out to be so expensive. Then I remembered my mother in law making it many years ago. Now with my interest in food, I could not resist the urge to try it out for myself.

Granola is a breakfast or a snack food. It consists essentially of oats, nuts and dried fruit. It is high in calories but very filling and satisfying.

I went through many recipes on the internet and then went off to the market to see what was available for me to put into the granola. The good thing with granola is that you can add anything that catches your fancy. You don't like this ingredient? Just drop it. You like nuts? apples? dried fruit? lot of sugar? more healthy? more tasty? Just add them in. The choice is completely up to you. It is very easy to tweak it to suit you and also to the availability of ingredients.

This is my recipe but feel free to add or subtract as you feel like it....Fair word of warning here. This makes plenty and by that I mean PLENTY. Scale down the recipe to suit your needs.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups Oats

200 grams Barley Flakes

100 grams Sunflower Seeds

100 grams Flax Seeds

200 grams Wheat Flakes

1 cup Almonds chopped

1 cup Walnuts chopped

1 cup Dates chopped

1/2 cup Raisins

1/2 cup Sultanas

1/2 cup Figs chopped

1/2 cup Honey

3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons Oil

3 tablespoons Water

METHOD:

Mix oats, wheat flakes, barley flakes, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, almonds and walnuts.

Mix all the liquids (honey, water, vanilla essence and oil) in a bowl along with the brown sugar and salt.

Stir in the liquids into the oats mixture and mix well.

Bake for 15 minutes at 120 deg C. Stir well and bake again for 15 more minutes.

Add in the dried fruit and bake for another 10 minutes till it starts turning a light brown.

Let it cool down and store in an airtight container.

Serve with milk or over yogurt and fruit.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

Pina Colada Mousse And The Thrill Of Innovation

I love this recipe simply because it was something I invented by myself. I was so thrilled the first time I made it and it came out well. I used to have Pina Coladas in Bangalore at Pub World. The consistency of the drink lent itself very well to conversion to a dessert.

The secret to a good cook, in my opinion, is the constant experimentation in the kitchen. The more you try out you know what works and what does not. I agree it means a lot of hits and misses and the misses end up being a real pain. But then a super hit recipe along the way makes it all worthwhile. This is one such recipe.

But the story of this mousse does not end there. After I made this, I gave the recipe to my sister in law. Now she is a very good cook. But she loves to say that she is just a so so cook. Which is so not true.

Now she started making the dessert and I had just given her the basic recipe and left it at that. I thought my instructions were pretty clear. But I had omitted to tell her that once the gelatin had melted, it needs to cool before adding to the cream mixture. So she went ahead very happily adding the hot gelatin to cold cream mixture. You can guess what the result was. She had this liquid with strings of gelatin running through it. No hope of it setting as it had already set into strings. Too late to set as dessert for the dinner that night. She just strained it and served a drink/dessert...

My lesson learnt? Never give half baked instructions while giving recipes. Now that I have a blog, I hope that I have learnt my lesson well.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tin Condensed Milk

200 ml Thick Coconut Milk

1 litre Pineapple Juice

2 heaped tablespoons Gelatin

200 ml Cream, whipped

30 ml Coconut Flavored Rum (Optional)

For the glaze:

5-6 tinned Pineapple Slices

1 tablespoon Cornflour

3 tablespoons Sugar

METHOD:

For the Glaze:

Puree the pineapple slices in the mixie.

Add the sugar.

Mix the cornflour in a couple to tablespoons of water and mix into the pureed pineapple.

Cook on a medium to low flame till it gets thick and translucent.

Take off the flame and leave to cool.

For the Mousse:

Mix the condensed milk, coconut milk and pineapple juice in a bowl. Also add in the coconut flavored rum if using.

In a small bowl pour about 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle the gelatin on top and leave it to soak for about 20 minutes. After this heat on a very very low flame till the gelatin dissolves.

Cool the gelatin till it is room temperature.

Whip the cream till it has soft peaks.

Mix the gelatin liquid into the coconut milk/pineapple mixture. Let it set for a few minutes in the refrigerator.

Gently fold in the whipped cream into it and leave to set for about 4-6 hours.

Once set fully, pour the glaze on top and garnish as you wish.

Enjoy!!!!!!