Samosas

Samosa - a stuffed pastry is how wikipedia describes it. This is probably one of India's most popular and versatile dishes. Its an every occasion dish and you can see so many variations of it as you go from south to north and east to west in India. My personal favorite is the Irani samosa that you get at these Irani Cafes in Hyderabad. It is stuffed mostly with onion and sometimes a little carrot/beans. The samosa itself is a mini size and extremely crisp and flavorful. I have so many memories associated with samosa -

• This small shop in a shopping center that used to sell these small irani samosas and a fruit drink called Soma (that goes back to my first ever memories of my home and family in Hyderabad as a kid),

• Sunday evenings when this queer dude would come on his bicycle and sell hot samosas, of vendors outside my school selling samosas for 25 paise each,

• This sweet shop near my place where dad would bring samosas, pakodas and it would transform into an entire meal paired with maggie ketchup and bread,

• I had hot samosas (called singhara in north east India) in this small tea shop in Darjeeling while it was raining outside,

• The time when I first started making samosas for my hubby out of wonton wrappers during our dating days,

• The hot hot Bharat bazaar samosas my hubby would bring home on his way from work for my folks and sister when we were engaged

I can go on forever:)

This recipe is for a slightly different stuffing than the usual potato filling. It was arrived at in an effort to emulate my favorite Irani samosa but tasted nothing like it. It still tasted pretty good but my taste buds that have memory cells refused to like it. According to my hubby it was still very tasty and is worth a blog post. So here goes -


Ingredients:

1. Yellow onion - thinly sliced, 1
2. Carrot - 1, grated
3. Peas - 1/2 cup
   
4. Curry leaves - 4/5
5. Green chillies - 2, finely chopped
6. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
7. Garam masala - 1/4th tsp
8. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Jeera-dhania powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Salt
11. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
12. Corriander leaves - 1 cup finely chopped
13. Mint leaves - 1/2 cup finely chopped
    
14. Oil - 1 tsp for the filling and a wok full for deep frying
15. Milk - 2 tsps
16. Wonton wrappers

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add the curry leaves and chopped chillies.
2. Add sliced onions and saute until well done.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and after 2 mins, add the grated carrots, peas, chilli powder, salt, jeera dhania powder, garam masala and cook until well done.
4. Add the corriander leaves, mint leaves and lemon juice and cook for 2 more mins.
5. Take a wonton wrapper and cut into half diagonally (This is for the big square wonton wrappers. You can also try the smaller ones).
6. Fill in the center with the stuffing made above and use milk to seal the corners.
7. Heat oil for deep frying and drop the samosas when hot. It only takes a min for each samosa to get done. Enjoy hot with ketchup:)
   

Cauliflower Pulao/Khichdi/Biryani

I was inspired by this recipe one evening and attempted to make cauliflower biryani for dinner. Unfortunately I am trying a new brand of basmati rice and it became really sticky and mushy. It tasted excellent though and made a very nice lunch the next day too. Lately I have been having a lot of rice cravings and been on a rice binge. There is no other comfort food as a rice dish for an Indian and I have been in my comfort zone a lot these days. :) Need to get back to my no rice restriction again and watch those inches but meanwhile I am sure I will be blogging about more rice dishes.

Appe With Chutney and Sambhar

Tonight's dinner reminds me of this song because appe is what you get when you have excess dosa batter. You don't even want to know the actual parody I was humming. Appe is a a dish made in a dutch muffin style pan(below) with leftover dosa batter.
All you do is oil the pan lightly and drop the dosa batter. Flip them using a fork or a skewer and cook on other side. Enjoy hot with sambhar or chutney.

Summer Tomatoes and A Simple Pasta

Its been an unusual summer for me this year. Not as many outdoor activities as I would have liked but have been enjoying my home a lot more. I started my spring cleaning in summer this week and accomplished a lot. Purging all the unwanted things in your life gives you such a good feeling and organizes your life and thoughts. My garden has bloomed wonderfully. Check out the cherry tomatoes and chillies in the pic below. Besides this I have rosemary, basil, thyme and mint which I use from time to time. The feeling of using herbs/veggies from your garden is awesome.



The simple pasta I made to use the cherry tomatoes was nothing more than boiled whole wheat pasta, pesto, pepper, crushed red pepper and tomatoes tossed together. The simplicity of the ingredients brought out the best flavor from the tomatoes.

Pear/Apple Crumble/Crisp

This is a rather easy dessert that I make very frequently when I don't have the patience to make an elaborate dessert. It also provides a good way to use up apples or pears that you have lying around ready to spoil. When paired with vanilla bean ice cream (note, vanilla bean and not just vanilla), it proves to be a super elegant dessert.

Ingredients:

1. Pears/Apples - 3 semi ripe, sliced lengthwise
2. Cinnamon powder - 1/4th tsp
3. Brown sugar - 1 tsp
4. Lemon zest - 1/4th tsp
5. Apple crisp mix - you can get this in the store and usually it is a mix of oats, flour, sugar and some spices
6. Instant oats - 1 cup
7. Butter - 1 stick

Directions:

1. Add the cinnamon, brown sugar, zest to the sliced pears and give them a quick toss to mix together.
2. Place in a buttered and floured baking dish.
3. Mix the oats, apple crisp mix, melted butter and add to the top of the dish as shown in the picture.
4. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the top turns brown.
5. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Recipe for the crisp/crumble topping: Mix together 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 cup of instant oats, 1/3rd cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 stick of melted butter and use this as a topping.

Paneer 65

Its been a long break since my last blog post and the primary reason is laziness:D:D. I know people complain about lack of time and I would too except that I know myself only too well and I know that if I wanted to make time for something, I will. Work has been exceptionally crazy and I haven't been a very creative cook recently either. Hence for the lack of a better dish, I am posting this quick Paneer 65 recipe that relies solely on the magic masala called aachi masala which Vidya akka recommended to me. Its really tasty and gives you that flavor that you get at restaurants. Here goes -

Ingredients :

1. 1 slab of paneer - chopped into small cubes
2. 1 cup yogurt
3. 2 tsps chicken 65 aachi masala (or more if you want it spicier and saltier...A word of warning - the masala itself has a lot of salt, so don't add any more. Although the masala is for chicken 65, the ingredients are all vegetarian)
4. Curry leaves - 10
5. Oil - 1 tsp
6. Geen chillies -3, slit lengthwise
7. Garlic - 2 pods, finely chopped
8. Lemon juice - 2 tsps
9. Corriander - 1 cup finely chopped
   

Directions:

1. Mix the yogurt and the masala and marinate the paneer cubes in it for 2 hours
2. Heat oil and sautee the garlic, curry leaves and chillies in it
3. Add the paneer without the excess liquid and stir fry until the paneer gets well roasted and has brown edges.
4. Sprinkle lemon juice and corriander and enjoy hot!

Comfort Food - Rajma Chawal

I know the pictures are terrible but in my defense it was a lazy Sunday evening with the smell of comforting Rajma and Jeera rice filling my kitchen and I did not have the motivation to go and grab my camera or improve the lighting before I clicked it with my IPhone. Thanks to Neha for inspiring me to make this Rajma Chawal. I declare her Rajma as the best I have ever tasted on this earth and this was my attempt to recreate it in my own way.

Rajma Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Kidney Beans - 2 cups, soaked overnight
2. Yellow Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
3. Tomatoes - 2, finely chopped
4. Oil - 2 tsps
5. Cloves - 2-3
6. Cardamom - 2
7. Star Anise - 1
8. Cinnamon - 1/4th inch piece
9. Bay leaf - 1
10. Ginger paste - 1 tsp
11. Garlic paste - 1 tsp
12. Jeera powder - 2 tsps
13. Dhania powder - 1 tsp
14. Garam masala - 1/4th tsp
15. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
16. Corriander - 2 cups, chopped
17. Green chillies - 2 slit whole
18. Curry leaves - 4/5
19. Salt
    

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pressure pan and add the cloves, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and bay leaves. Roast until you can smell the aroma.
2. Add the green chillies and curry leaves and saute for q min.
3. Add the onions and saute until they are soft.
4. Add the ginger paste and garlic paste and cook for 2 mins.
5. Now add tomatoes and the jeera powder, dhania powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt. Cook until the tomatoes soften.
6. Now add the rajma and water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles (more if you have not soaked for long).
7. Top off with the fresh corrainder and enjoy with jeera rice.

For jeera rice, refer to my previous post here.

Homemade Chai Masala Recipe and Chinese Blossom Tea

What can be better than a hot cup of masala chai when it is raining outside and you can smell the fresh scent of the earth when you open your windows! I got this chai masala recipe from my dear friend Hetvi and I am the biggest fan of her tea:) I make this in huge batches so that I can share the love with my friends:)

Chai Masala Recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Green Cardamom - 1 cup
2. Whole black pepper - 1 cup
3. Ginger powder - 2 cups
4. Cinnamon sticks - 1/4th cup
5. Cloves - 1/4th cup

Directions:

Grind all the above ingredients and mix them. Store in an airtight jar.




While we are on the topic of tea, I tasted some Chinese blossom tea at House of Nanking in SF this weekend. It was very weird at first. It is a green colored liquid with a flower bud dropped inside. The bud slowly opens up as it absorbs the heat and blossoms into a full blown flower. Its beautiful:)


I also had an amazing cup of cappuccino at Steps of Rome, one of my favorite dessert places in the city. This cup was paired with some espresso creme brulee.

Sriram Navami - Panagam, Neer More, Kosumali

Yesterday was Sriram Navami and this one holds a special place in my house as my hubby's name is Sriram:). I made the usual menu which I posted previously but I never posted the recipes. So here goes -

Panagam

Ingredients:

1. Water - cold, 2 cups
2. Jaggery - 3/4th cup
3. Ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Elaichi powder - 1/4th tsp

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients above and enjoy cold:)


Neer More

Ingredients:

1. Butter milk - 4 cups
2. Corriander - chopped finely, handful
3. Oil - 1 tsp
4. Curry leaves - 6/7
5. Green chillies - 2
6. Hing - 1/4th tsp
7. Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped
8. Mustard seeds
9. Salt
   

Directions:

1. Heat oil and add the mustard seed. Once they sputter, add the curry leaves, ginger, hing and green chillies.
2. Once the ginger and other ingredients are friend well and crisp, add it to the buttermilk.
3. Add salt and mix well. Enjoy chilled!

Cucumber Kosumali

Ingredients:

1. Cucumbers - 3 medium sized, finely chopped
2. Moong dal - 1 cup, soaked for 3 hours
3. Grated coconut - fresh/frozen, 1/2 cup
4. Salt
5. Lemon juice - 3 tbsps
6. Oil - 1 tsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. Urad dal - 1 tsp
9. Dried red chillies - 4/5
10. Hing - 1/2 tsp
11. Curry leaves - 7/8
12. ginger - 1/2 tsp, finely chopped
    

Directions:

1. Mix the cucumber, moong dal, coconut, lemon and salt together.
2. Heat oil and add mustard seeds and let them sputter.
3. Now add the urad dal and cook until it is golden brown.
4. Add the ginger, curry leaves, red chillies and hing and saute until done.
5. Add this tempering to the cucumber mixture and blend it.
6. This is almost like a salad and very refreshing.

This weekend I had the opportunity of trying out a paratha like Afghani dish, called Bolani, at a mom and pop store in Fremont. It is basically bread stuffed with boiled potatoes, leeks and spices and it is served with homemade yogurt. Thanks to my sister for recommending this dish and place. It was awesome!

Carrot Kosambari and Dosa Love

I made a very healthy carrot kosambari/salad last night along with a lot of other heavy duty items. This one stood out in its simplicity and freshness along all the other festive foods.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 5 grated
2. Moong dal - 1 cup soaked for 3 hours
3. Oil - 1 tsp
4. Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
5. Curry leaves - 5-6
6. Corriander - handful, finely chopped
7. Lemon juice - 3 tbsps
8. Salt
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Jeera - 1/2 tsp
11. Hing - 1/4th tsp
12. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped
    

Directions:

1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, jeera, hing, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger. Saute until all the aromas are enahnced and mustard seeds sputter.
2. Add to grated carrot and mix in moong dal, lemon juice, salt, corriander. Toss everything together and let it sit for 30 mins and its ready to devour.

We ate some yummy food at Anjappar Chettinad last week. Do you remember ordering a cone dosa like above when you were a kid and lunging to break the top off and eat it? That is exactly what my hubby did:D:D