Kale Indianized!

Eggs in green gravy / Anda Saagwala

Kale is another green leafy veggie from the cabbage family. Kale, according to wikipedia is one of the most nutritional vegetables in the world with powerful antioxidant properties! (WOW!) I heard about how healthy this veggie is and decided to experiment with it. Kale is said to go great in soups.

I got a bunch of kale in my shopping expedition and successfully finished & relished it! :D I feel healthy ;) I stir fried a portion of it and used it in noodles and the other portion was Indianized to yield a saag! I made a simple kale puree with spices and added some red peppers for the puree. It gave a nice flavor. I used hard boiled eggs in this gravy. Substitute the eggs with any protein - soy chunks, paneer, tofu or even potatoes. The end result was reaaaally tasty and I'm sure I'm gonna bring Kale home again :)

Ingredients:

Cook together and grind to make a puree (I put it in the pressure cooker - 1/2 whistle):

A small bunch of kale  - A medium sized bowl full of leaves

Tomato - 1 small

Whole pepper corns - about half a teaspoon

Cloves - 3-4

Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch

Fresh ginger chopped - 1/2 tsp

1 Red Bell pepper small sized - or half of a medium sized

Other ingredients:

Hard boiled eggs - 4

Oil - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp (Jeera)

Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tsp

Green chilly- 1 finely chopped (Adjust heat. Avoid if u prefer it mild. The puree already has some heat with the cloves and ginger)

Garlic - 2 cloves finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

1) Cook all the ingredients for the puree and grind to a paste.

2) Heat oil in a pan.

3) Add cumin seeds and let them splutter.

4) Add the green chillies and chopped garlic if any.

5) Carefully pour the puree in(to avoid splattering from the heat) and stir. Add water if required.

6) Let it cook for a minute. Then add the kasoori methi, salt and check for seasoning.

7) Drop in the sliced eggs and serve hot.

Easy Yummy Birthday Cake!

Black Forest Cake simplified.

Waow!That was a long break from blogging for me! I can use work, India trip, laziness as excuses for this hiatus. ;) But now, summer is here, am done with shifting to a new place and the birthday season is here! All this inspired me to increase my recipe collection at iDhaba! 

In the recent years, I have been exposed to a massive variety of desserts. Though I don't have a sweet tooth, these gorgeous looking delicacies you find scattered in cafes and bakeries tempt me to try them. In spite of this, I badly miss the fresh cream cakes you find in India. The Indian black forest and fresh cream pineapple cakes are sooooo YUMMY - Light and fluffy with the right amount of sweetness (as opposed to some pastries with unbearable density of sugar). Bangaloreans need just one name to relate to this - Sweet chariot! :) IMHO, this bakery chain dishes out the best of these heavenly fresh cream cakes. 

Here is my humble attempt to recreate that magical cake. The expert bakers/ dessert champs out there might find this version of my cake unacceptable! I use the store bought cake mix. And pretty much all I do is assemble the cake. I made this cake 3 times during the last 3 months and I must say, everyone absolutely loved it!! Looks fab, tastes AMAZING and hey, for the effort you put in, its magically good! Made this for my hubby's birthday last week and simply put, he was elated. :) Try it, and you'll know what I'm talking about! :)  

Needless to say, if you have more time and skills, you could make your own chocolate cake and go from there. :D

What you need: 

Chocolate cake mix - I got Duncan Hines chocolate cake mix. - 1 pack. Tip: Look for mixes that say extra moist cake.

Eggs + water + oil/butter as per the cake mix instructions.

All purpose whipping cream 

Fresh strawberries - chopped in small pieces

Chocolate bar - grated

Vanilla essence

Confectioners sugar

Any other decoration for cake as desired - nuts, fruits, chocolate chips etc.

 Procedure:

1) Bake the cake by exactly following the instructions on the pack. Use 2 8-inch pans so you end up with 2 cakes for the layering. Let the cakes cool down.

2) Mix whipping cream with vanilla essence and confectioners sugar. The proportions really depend on how sweet you want the cream to be. I added about 2 spoons sugar and 2 drops of essence for about 1 cup of whipping cream. 

3) Beat this mixture with a hand blender till its fluffy and stiff peaks form.  

To put the cake together :

1) Place one cake with flat side up on a tray/large plate. (If the cake has a substantial dome shape rise, cut some off to get a flat even surface).

2) Coat the flat surface completely with about 1 cm thick layer of the whipped cream icing. 

3) Evenly distribute the chopped strawberries on this icing.

4) Now put the other cake on top - flat surface on the icing.

5) With the remaining icing, completely coat the entire cake.

6) Decorate the cake with chocolate shavings. 

Use your creativity to decorate this further as you like it.

Chill for a couple of hours and then serve! :)

I saw a lot of recipes which suggested using sugar syrup or some juice to moisten the cake. I didn't use any.

Hariyali Aloo-Soya Nuggets

Aloo and Soy Nuggets in Green Gravy

There are some food items which are "universal additions", as I would like to call them. They can take the masala/taste of any flavoring and go amazingly well with a whole lot of dishes. Aloo, paneer, soy nuggets are a few examples. Add these to any gravy/dry masala/rice items and they just blend it beautifully! It does make a lot of sense thus, to stock up on these items! Soy nuggets are a great source of protein, and a superb meat substitute for vegetarians. Some people do not like the taste of this however,if you are one of them, either skip the soy nuggets in this recipe (and make a Hariyali aloo :D ) or cut the nuggets into small pieces and watch them become an insignificant part of the curry! 

Collard greens are a nutritious variety of greens from the cabbage family with no strong prominent taste/flavor. They suited this dish just fine, adding body and a chewy texture to the spinach base. The best part about this dish was the mint/pudina flavoring! :) I bought a big bunch of mint and due to lack of better ideas of using it at once, made a paste of it with ginger,garlic,chillies and cilantro, put it in the freezer for future use. This seasoning went very well with the greens, potatoes and the soya and we enjoyed the dish thoroughly!

Hubby, not being a fan of either aloo or soya nuggets, relished it and I only had time for taking a quick pic of the subzi before he polished it off! :-D 

What you need:

1 medium Potato (Aloo) - cubed

1/2 cup soya nuggets (mealmaker)  

1 cup spinach chopped roughly

1 cup collard greens chopped finely

1 small onion finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp Oil

Cumin seeds (Jeera) 

Garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Grind to a paste (to yield about 1/2 cup paste) - 

ginger, garlic, green chillies, mint(pudina) leaves, coriander leaves(cilantro/dhaniya patta) with water.

This pudina paste can be refrigerated/frozen to be used later in curries/rice! :)

Method:

1) Soak and wash the soya nuggets in warm water and squeeze out the water      2-3 times. Cut into small pieces or as you prefer it. :)

2) Heat oil in a pan, add jeera.

3) Add the onion and potatoes. Fry for 2 minutes.

4) Add the chopped greens and cook for 5 minutes.

5) Add tomato puree, green pudina paste, soya nuggets, salt.

6) Add water if needed. Cook for 5 minutes and add the garam masala powder.

7) Adjust seasoning and serve hot with Chapatis/rice. :)

Daliya (Broken wheat) transformed South Indian Style!

Daliya(Broken wheat) Bisi Bele Bhaat(BBB)

Technically this title/recipe name is wrong! Cos there is no rice/Bhaat in this Bisi Bele Bhaat. As most Indians know, Bisi bele Bhat is an extremely popular South Indian Dish made of rice and dal. Its basically rice and sambar mixed in one easy/healthy dish. Add veggies and the distinct bisi bele bhat masala and you get a super yummy one dish meal in itself. Bisi bele bhat is a hot favorite in any traditional meal for a special occasion - be it weddings or house warming or any other function that calls for a meal!

It tends to be a very heavy meal and when we were kids, we often called it cement concrete, cos after eating it you feel very full for a long time.. :-D I tasted this healthy version of BBB without rice, in my friend Ramya's lunch box. Her mom had substituted rice with broken wheat as a healthier option. 

Now I make this version of BBB pretty often as it is super quick to make and serves as a wholesome meal and a perfect lunchbox item! It takes about 10 minutes + pressure cooker time and is really really tasty. In office when I eat this in my lunchbox, I feel like it is the ultimate comfort food in this cold weather - warm, spicy and mushy! :) Ready made Bisi bele bhat masala is very easily available in any Indian store. I toss in the frozen veggies which makes my cooking time minimal. Try it! Its a super quick fix lunch/dinner.

What you need : (Serves 2 people)

-1/2 cup broken wheat/daliya
-1/2 cup dal (I use a mixure of toor dal/moong dal and masoor dal)
-Chopped veggies (beans, carrots, peas, corn, cauliflower, potato... any veggie u like!) Use frozen veggies!

-Onion chopped

-Capsicum chopped (optional - but I really like the taste it adds!)

-1 medium Tomato chopped

-Curry leaves - 3 to 4

-1 tsp tamarind paste (optional)

-2 to 3 tsp Bisi bele bhat masala

-Red chilly powder and salt to taste

-Jaggery - little bit

-Oil, mustard, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric for tempering.

Method :

1) Mix the daliya and Dal in a bowl and wash it well. Rinse about 2 times. Drain the water.

2) In a pressure cooker, heat oil. Add the ingredients for the tempering in that order.

3) Add curry leaves. Toss in a few peanuts if you like.

4) Add the onions and capsicum. Saute for a minute.

5) Add the chopped veggies and tomato.

6) Next add tamarind paste, masala, jaggery and the dal mixture. Mix well.

7) Add about 3 cups of water. Add salt and red chilly powder to taste.

8) Pressure cook for about 4-5 whistles.

Adjust the water and number of whistles depending on how mushy or dry you want your Bisi bele bhat to be.

The above recipe yields a soft and smooth consistency. (Yum :D )

Enjoy when its hot with some ghee on it!!! :) Goes well with raita/salad/papad/chips.

Make your own Burger!

Veggie Burger patty

Frozen and ready to eat foods have revolutionized the lifestyle of students and working population who do not find time to cook! One can find a wide array of Ready to eat foods, all in a packet - from elaborate curries to rasam rice. The parallel market here, is of frozen foods! 

The most popular and convenient form of frozen food, I feel, is the burger patty. Its good to have a heavy snack/lunch waiting in your freezer. I thought of making my own burger patty and freezing it for future use. Advantages include : customize to your taste, add a lot of healthy veggies and minimize the use of oil! :)

During the year end break, when all I did was sleep- read-eat, I thought I should do something useful that will help me once the office drill starts. I accomplished a couple of useful things like making chutneys for chaat and the frozen patty. I'm hoping it will save me the trouble when I'm too tired/bored to cook and resist the urge to eat out! I made about 8 burger patties and froze them. Added kidney beans and lots of spinach to make it healthy. The best part of course is that you can use your imagination and add in any veggies/spices that suit your palate.

What you need :

Potatoes 2 medium sized

Kidney beans - about 1 cup 

Chopped spinach leaves

Corn kernels - 2 tbsp

Ginger garlic paste

Mint/cilantro finely chopped - for flavor

Salt

Chilly powder

Garam masala powder

Corn starch - 1tbsp or more for binding.

Oil - 1/2 tbsp.

Other optional ingredients : finely chopped mushrooms (sauteed or cooked in the microwave oven)/ other varieties of beans/ grated carrots/ cooked green peas/ cooked soya chunks....... 

Method :

1. Pressure cook the potatoes and kidney beans with minimal amount of water. Once cooked, get rid of the water - u can reuse this in some curry. Mash the potatoes and beans to make a lumpy mixture. 

Useful tip here is to let the potatoes stay for a while after cooking them this rids the potatoes of extra moisture and enhances binding property of potatoes. The patty will be easier to shape. This applies even while making Alu parathas. My sister told me this trick where you boil the potatoes and put it in the fridge and use it later. The mess of stuffing leaking out while rolling out parathas is avoided :)

2. Microwave the chopped spinach sprinkled with water for about a minute till it wilts.

3. Microwave frozen corn kernels till soft.

4. Mix all the veggies with spices, salt and chopped cilantro/mint. Add cornstarch to bind the mixture.

5. Make patties of this mixture. Shallow fry the patties in minimal oil on a non stick griddle.

6. Once cooked, use it in a burger right away or freeze for future use.

I packed the patties in plastic cling wrap and stored in the freezer. Today evening, got back from office super hungry and we enjoyed masalewale burgers! Yum! :)

A tribute to Desi Chinese!

Chilly Paneer/Paneer Chilly

I believe that one of the best things Indians have done is created our own version of Chinese cuisine. And I'm sure I can find about five hundred thousand people (or more!! :D ) who will vouch for this statement. Yes, the Chinese dishes that we get in India - at roadside shacks, to your local restaurant, to high end fine dining places are of such exemplary taste and variety that it will leave even the inventor of Chinese cuisine baffled!

You are a vegetarian? No problem. We have modified the chicken and duck dishes and come up with gems of dishes using cauliflower, baby corn, mushrooms and even the "Oh so Punjabi" Paneer! What's more? I did not know for a really really long time that there is no dish called "Manchurian" in authentic Chinese cuisine. That revelation left me gaping for a whole minute, cos Chinese means Gobi Manchurian (GM)to me! Gobi Manchurian is an all time personal favorite for me. I miss the ease of getting GM in US, versus India, where it is available more easily than you find Starbucks here(or Dunkin for Boston-ians)! So, the first time I went back to India, my dad got GM packed to the airport!! At 2.30 in the night I had 4 bewildered people staring at me as I gobbled it up! ;)

Before this post goes totally off track (that's what the thought of GM does to me ;) :D ), coming to the recipe at hand! I think Chilly paneer is like the ultimate tribute to Indo Chinese fusion! Paneer, as I said is totally Indian, this is magically transformed into Chilly Paneer - heaven for a vegetarian who loves spicy food! So, when I had a chunk of Paneer and the weather was cold, with threats of snow - I decided that there is no better fried food for this occasion than Chilly Paneer. It does take some effort- especially the deep frying part is a pain for me! :P But the end result is tohotally worth it! :)

This is for chilly paneer as an appetizer - a dry item. You can increase the quantity of sauce to make it like a gravy dish/side for rice/noodles. 

What you need:

Paneer : Cut into cubes - about 2 cups

Maida for batter

Corn starch - 2tbsp

Salt

Pepper powder

Oil for deep frying.

For sauce:

Onion sliced

Capsicums(Bell peppers) : sliced - 1 cup
Green chillies : sliced - as hot as you want it!
Garlic finely chopped - 2 tbsp(or less as per taste)
Ginger - 1tbsp (optional)
Tomato ketchup 4-5 tbsp
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 to 2 tbsp
Chilly sauce or red chilly powder (optional)
Pepper powder
Sugar - 1tbsp or less, depends on how sweet our ketchup is.
Chopped spring onions(scallions) or chopped cilantro for garnish.

Method:

Make a batter by mixing Maida, salt, water, corn starch and pepper powder. If you wish, add some chilly powder to this too. Some people prefer to add egg in this batter to make it crispy. The batter should be such that it gives a light coating to the paneer and not a thick coating.
You could skip the maida and just used corn starch + egg for the coating. I prefer the maida coating as it absorbs the sauce very well.
Coat the paneer pieces with this batter and deep fry in oil. Keep aside.

In a bowl, mix together tomato sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, chilly sauce, sugar and salt. Taste this mixture and adjust seasonings so that its good enough for the amount of paneer. Keep in mind the chillies and ginger that will be added to the sauce.

In another bowl, mix about 1 tbsp of corn starch with some water.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok. Add chopped garlic, ginger and chillies.

Next add the chopped onions and fry for about a minute or 2.

Add the bell peppers, saute for a minute.

Next add the sauce mixture and cook for a minute.

Add the corn starch mixture and cook till texture of sauce turns glossy.

Add pepper powder.

Put in the fried paneer pieces.

Garnish with cilantro/scallions.

Serve hot, eat immediately! :)

One pot meal.

Beany Pasta.

Talking about Indian meals, there is an unimaginable array of dishes cooked using different ingredients. The basic essentials are of course rice/wheat in some form. As time becomes a constraint and churning out different types of wheat breads like Roti, paratha etc. gets tougher (add to it my refusal to adapting to frozen rotis!), some other forms of basic carbohydrates like Pasta come handy. The pasta dishes available in restaurants, I admit, are yummy yummy. But originally pasta needs to have loads of cheese - bleep bleep bleep ("Unhealthy" sirens! ;) :D ).

I frequently make pasta at home, alter it to have less/no cheese, toss in a lot of veggies and of course add in some masala and chillies to satisfy my urge for the Indian spicy taste I crave for in EVERY meal I eat. :) One variation of this is adding different types of beans - chickpeas/kidney beans/black eyed peas or any bean protein you can think of! Result? A healthy one pot meal complete with your dose of protein and veggies. Adding Tofu might also be a good idea. I will try that next. :)

 I used different kinds of pasta - some wheat sphagetti, bow ties and penne. 

What you need :

Pasta

Kidney Beans + Black eyes peas - cooked with some salt.

Onions chopped

Ginger + Garlic

Green chillies chopped

Bell peppers - green and red

Corn kernels (Optional)

Tomatoes chopped

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp sugar

Chhole masala powder/Garam masala - use any readymade masala powder as per taste.

1 tbsp Kasoori methi (Dried methi leaves)- optional. Or use chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Salt

Oil

Jeera (Cumin seeds)

Method:

Boil pasta as per packet instructions. 

Heat oil, add Jeera.

Add ginger, garlic, chillies and onion. Saute for some time.

Add the cut bell peppers. Fry for 1 minute.

Next add tomatoes and corn. Add salt,sugar and masala powder.

Add the cooked beans, little bit of water and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

Next add kasoori methi.

Add the boiled pasta and mix well.

Cook on low heat for a few minutes.

Serve hot with or without grated cheese. :)


This is my entry to Ramya's event :
Fusion Food -Pasta