Tawa Pulao

This is supposedly a roadside recipe popular in Mumbai. I have never heard of it before this and never ate it before but it sounded quick and interesting. I think the pav bhaji masala makes all the difference and gives it a unique taste. So I tried it out. I used this recipe as a reference. I just added onions, tomatoes and carrot because that is all I had at hand but you can add any number of veggies to this dish and make it healthier. This is some thing I would make when I have leftover rice and some veggies that I want to get rid of:)

Ingredients:

1. Cooked basmati rice - 2 cups
2. Onion - 1 chopped
3. Tomatoes - Chopped 1 cup
   
4. Carrot - 3 julienne cut
5. Beans - Chopped into 1/2 inch long pieces, 1 cup
6. Potatoes - 1/2 cup small cubes
   
7. Peas - 1 cup
8. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
9. Pav bhaji masala - 2 tsps
10. Oil - 1 tsp
11. Jeera - 1 tsp
12. Cardamom - 2 pods
13. Cloves - 3
14. Cinnamon - 1/2 inch long
15. Bay leaf - 1
16. Whole black pepper - 1 tsp
17. Corriander - chopped 1/2 cup
18. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
    
19. Salt
    

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, jeera and sautee until you can smell the spices.
2. Add the onions and cook until golden brown. Then add the ginger garlic paste and cook for a min. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are well done.
   
3. Add the veggies and salt and cook until the veggies are done. You can microwave the potatoes in advance to cook it fast.
4. Add the pav bhaji masala and rice and mix well.
   
5. Garnish with corriander and lemon juice. and enjoy with boondi raita.
   

Adai

I was inspired by Sindhu's lunch last week and ended up making adai over the weekend. I used Sindhu's base recipes and added tweaks that my mom-in-law uses. The result was very nutritious and yummy. Btw I know this is a really bad picture but its better than nothing:) ...Here is the recipe -

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 1 cup
2. Toor dal - 3/4th cup
3. Chana dal - 3/4th cup
4. Urad dal - 1 cup
5. Red chillies - 8-10
6. Hing - 1 tsp
7. Ginger - 1inch piece
8. Curry Leaves - 10
9. Coarsely crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
10. Grated carrot - 1 cup
11. Chopped cabbage - 1.5 cup
12. Salt
    

Directions:

1. Soak the 4 dals for 2-3 hours. Grind them to a fine paste along with 8 red chillies, hing, ginger and salt.
2. Add the cabbage, carrot, chopped curry leaves, black pepper, chopped red chillies (remaining 2).
3. Spread on a flat pan like dosas and cook on either side. Add a little oil if required. This adai tastes good by itself or with any of the usual dosa chutneys. We at it with ginger pickle and it was awesome.

These days I have acquired a new hobby of making jewelery. I have a friend who shares my passion for jewelery and its great fun to shop for beads and make stuff to match the clothes we have:). Here are some samples of what I have made so far -

Tomato Pappu

I had made this dish last night and my friend really liked it. It is a very simple Andhra dal that can be eaten hot with white rice or rotis. I didn't take a pic but will update this post with a pic next time I make it.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups toor dal
   
2. Methi seeds - 1 tsp
3. Haldi - 1 tsp
4. Tomatoes - 3 or 4 chopped
   
5. Garlic - 3 pods chopped
   
6. Jeera dhania powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Green chillies - 1 chopped finely
9. Dried red chillies - 2
10. Corriander leaves - a handful, finely chopped
11. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
12. Salt
13. Oil - 1 tbsp
14. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
15. Curry leaves - 8-10
16. Asafoetida - 2 pinches
    

Directions:

1. Pressure cook the toor dal with 1/2 tsp of methi seeds and 1/2 tsp of haldi until it is soft. Mash it until it is of an even consistency
2. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and let them sputter. Then add the garlic, curry leaves, green chillies, red chillies, remaining methi seeds and hing (in this order) and let the ingrediets fry until you can smell all the aromas.
3. Add chopped tomatoes and sautee until they are mushy and fully cooked.
4. Add the jeera dhania powder, red chilly powder, salt and dal and cook until well mixed. Add a little water if you want the dal to be runnier.
5. Top off with lemon juice and corriander before serving. The smells in the kitchen will draw everyone to it once it is done:)
   

Masala Vada

I have very fond memories of my dad bringing masala vadas from the streed vendors in Hyderabad along with the hot spicy mirchi bhajjis. I have always meant to try making them at home but only got around to it now. The outcome was authentic especially after sprinkling a little bit of chaat powder on top. I only wish I had a nice coconut or peanut chutney to go with it but I was too lazy to make it after frying these vadas. I searched online for the recipe and also asked my friend Sindhu and arrived at this one. Here goes -

Ingredients:

1. Chana dal - 2 cups (soaked overnight)
2. Ginger - 2 inch piece
3. Corriander leaves- handful
4. Red chillies - 3/4
5. Whole black pepper - 1 tsp
6. Curry leaves - 10/12 chopped
   
7. Hing - 1/2 tsp
8. Garlic - 2 pods (optional)
   
9. Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
   
10. Salt
11. Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. Set aside a few spoons of the chana dal and grind the rest with, ginger, corriander, red chillies, black pepper, hing, garlic (optional) and salt with very little water until coarsely ground.
2. Mix the chopped onions and curry leaves with the ground mixture.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan
4. Now take about 2 tsps of batter on a wet palm and use wet hands to flatten it. SLide it into the oil and fry until golden brown. If you are not able to get it off your palms, you can also use cling wrap for the same. Enjoy hot with chutney or as is!
   

Homemade Pizza Base

I used this recipe from my friend Vinitha's blog to make the pizza base and was delighted with how easy it was:) . One half of the pizza I topped with onions, capsicum, mozzarella cheese and mariana sauce and the other half was pesto, cherry tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheeses and I obviously liked the pesto half better. I am definitely going to make more of the homemade base going forward and do away with the frozen crust I use.

Gudi Padwa

I made the usual gudi padwa spread this year except for the gulab jamuns that I usually make. I posted the recipes before on my Gudi Padwa Recipes post. Happy new year to all of you:)

Baked Broccoli

This picture may not look as appealing but it sure tasted good. I read some recipe online a while back but cannot remember where. So I may fail to link to the right blog/website but the credit certainly goes to whoever blogged about this first. It is very simple and the result is very flavorful. I did make some changes like adding crushed red pepper which made it yummier and I will take the credit for that;)

Ingredients:

1. Small Broccoli florets (about 2 inches each) - 15/20
2. Salt
3. Freshly crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
   
4. Olive oil - 3 tsps
5. Crushed red pepper - 1 tsp
6. Lemon zest - 1 tsp
7. Dried oregano - 1/4th tsp
8. Italian bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
9. Parsesan cheese (I use regiano) - 1/2 cup
   

Directions:

1. Add 2 tsps of olive oil, salt, pepper, oragano and crushed red pepper to the broccoli florets and mix well. Lay it out on a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins at 350 degrees.
2. Once you see the broccoli crisping on the outside but still having the crunch remove it from the oven.
3. Mix in lemon zest with the baked broccoli and top with mizture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and olive oil.
4. Broil for 2 minutes until the cheese melts and bred crumbs become brown.

Enjoy this as a side dish or just by itself. It is really tasty :)

Pineapple cake

This cake was inspired by the Indian style pineapple pastries. It came pretty close to that and I was very happy with the outcome. It was light and yummy. I made this for my sister's birthday. I would have liked to use a proper sponge cake recipe for the cake layers but could not find a good reliable one and since I have never tried it before, I decided not to take a chance with a birthday cake. But I will try it some other time. I was also inspired by a video on youtube and even used the combing technique that he recommends. For the basic cake layers I doubled the recipe here and skipped the nuts in it to bake two 8 inch round cakes. If you have pineapple essence, add 1 tsp for each layer of the cake batter. I did not have it and had to skip and it didn't make much difference. This recipe is relatively easy and hassle free.

Ingredients:

1. Canned pineapple - 1 can
2. Whipped cream- 4 cups
3. Powdered sugar - 2 tsps
4. Sugar syrup - 1 cup (not very thick)
5. Maraschino cherries - 7/8 to decorate

Directions:

1. Drain the pineapples and save some for topping and chop the rest into fine pieces. Save the drained liquid and mix it with the sugar syrup.
2. Place one layer of cake on the cake stand. Slice it into half across if the layer is too thick. Sprinkle the cake with the syrup and pineapple preservative liquid mixture until it is moist. It takes about 3-4 tbsps.
3. Drop a blob of the whipped cream in the middle and spread evenly with a spatula or butter knife.
4. Layer with the crushed pineapples and place the next layer of cake on top. Conitnue this till the topmost layer and for that skip the crushed pineapple.
5. Spread the whipped cream evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Now take a small piece of cardboard and cut one side like the teeth of a comb and used that to finish the sides. Use something smoother to finish the top.
6. Take the remaining whipped cream in a ziploc bag and cut a piece in the corner to use as an icing bag. Or if you have a proper icicing bag, go with that. Decorate with the pineapple chunks and cherries as desired.
   

I would recommend making this cake a day in advance so that all the goodness soaks in to make it taste even better:).

Directions for whipped cream: Take 2 cups of heavy whipping cream in a mixer bowl and to it add 2 tsps of powdered sugar (more if you want it sweeter). Gradually increase whipping speed from 2 to 8 and stop when stiff peaks start forming. A little before that add 1 tsp of vanilla essence. Its as simple as that!!

Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Panini

Here comes yet another panini recipe. This was inspired by a goat cheese sandwich recipe I saw on Barefoot Contessa on food network. It does need a few special ingredients but the end result is really yummy.

Ingredients:

1. Ciabatta bread
2. Kalamata olive spread - 2 tsps
3. Red pepper - 1 sliced thin
4. Eggplant - 1 cup of small chopped cubes
5. Dried oregano - 1 tsp
6. Dried thyme - 1/2 tsp
7. Olive oil - 2tsp
8. Balsamic vinegar - 2 tsps
9. Mozzarella - 3 slices per panini
10. Salt
11. Pepper
    

Directions:

1. Mix the red peppers and eggplant with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and drizzle of olive oil and spread on a tray lined with aluminum foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool for 10 mins.
2. Slice the ciabatta bread through the middle and spead the kalamata olive spread on both the slices.
3. Layer on slice with the cheese, eggplant and red pepper. Sprinkle salt and black pepper and top with other slice. Heat in panini press until done.
4. Prepare a vinegarette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Once the panini is done, open the sandwich slightly and drizzle with the balsamic vinegarette. Eat while it is hot and it lasts :)

Italian Pesto-Veggie Panini

My hubby got me a panini press for our anniversary and valentine's day and I have been obsessed with paninis ever since. I can now make a panini that tastes exactly like the ones they serve in those Italian bistros. This was the first one that I tried out of my most favorite Italian ingredients and its was super yummy! This panini press (the brand is Bella Cucina) is simply awesome and I look forward to trying out a lot many recipes. I already have a dessert panini recipe lined up alongside roasted eggplant panini. Yay!!!



Ingredients:

1. Focassia bread (I had a herb focassia but any other baguette or ciabatta should also be just as good)
2. Pesto sauce - 3 tsps per panini
3. Grape tomatoes - 10 per panini
4. Fresh mozzarella cheese
5. Sun dried tomatoes (julienned) - 1 tbsp per panini
6. Fresh basil leaves - 3 per panini
   
7. Kalamata olives - 1 tbsp chopped per panini
   
8. Olive oil
   
9. Salt
10. Pepper

Directions:

1. Slice the focassia all the way through the center and spread the pesto on the cut side of both slices.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper to garnish.
3. Layer one slice with the mozzarella, tomatoes, olives, sun dried tomatoes and basil leaves and top with the other slice.
4. Pre-heat the panini grill.
   
5. Brush the outer sides with olive oil and press using panini grill so that you have enough grill marks.
   

6. Cook the panini until done and slice into two pieces. Enjoy hot!!!