Daal me kuch kaala- nahin, peela!

Dal with a twist

I had some sweet corn in the fridge which was drying up. I was making dal and I thought why not!
1 tbsp dal (I use mixed)
1/2 tbsp sweet corn
1 chopped onion and 1 chopped tomato
1 tsp turmeric, salt to taste
Water for daal

Wash the daal, mix all ingredients, add water and pressure cook for one whistle, simmer for 2 mins.
Once the pressure is out, take out the daal in a serving bowl. Temper with-
1 tsp mustard oil
1 tsp jeera / cumin

Serve hot with rotis / rice.
Eden Organic Green Lentils, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6) 

bittergourd / karela - karnataka style!

I don't know what this recipe is originaly called. I have this recipe from my friend and colleague, Lakshmi. We work together at Ibexi. She shared this recipe after I tasted thsi at lunch sometime from her lunch box. She is a pucca Kannadiga and her Mom makes awesome Bisi bele bhath too.
I really liked this dish for how the jaggery and coconut milk sets off the bitterness of the karela. My FIL is also a fan.
Niket is allergic to tamarind, so I always use lemon juice. But I feel the goodness of the recipe comes from the swee-sour taste of tamarind!!

Ingredients:
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 tsp ginger garli paste
2 medium sized bittergourds diced thinly
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala or all spice
2 tbsp jaggery
1 tsp tamarind paste or lemon juice
4 large tbsps coconut milk
1 tsp grated coconut
oil for frying
1/2 cup water
salt to taste

Directions:
Heat oil in a wok. Add onions, cook till they turn pink. Add tomato and ginger garlic paste, cook till the raw smell disappears. Add the diced bitter-gourd. Add all the spices, salt and cook till they turn brown. Add jaggery, tamarind paste, coconut milk and water. Cook covered till half the liquid is absorbed, roughly 10 mins. Serve with chapatis.

Mushroom and eggs bake

We had eggs and mushroom bake and corn bread for dinner, with white homemade butter :)

Ingredients:
2.5 cups mushrooms
2 onions
1 capsicum
1 carrot
1/2 cup peas
2 tomatoes
Clean and chop the veggies.

In a wok, add-
olive oil
Heat and fry the veggies.
Add-
2 tsps pepper
basil and thyme or any other herbsas per taste
salt

Cook till water from the veggies evaporates. keep aside.

2 eggs, beaten
salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese (i subbed with sour cream)

Mix together, add to veggies. pour in a glass dish. microwave for 8 mins and bake at 170 deg for another 10.

Sweet potato bake

Ingredients

• 1..5 cup sweet potatoes boiled and diced
• 1.5 cup apple diced
• 1 ripe banana diced
• 1 cup flour (wheat / multi grain/ maida as desired)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
•  2 -3 tablespoons butter or refined oil
• raisins and nuts as desired
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon / 1 small stick 
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup milk

Directions 

Mix all fruits and sweet potatoes, add honey, cinnamon and milk and raisins and mix well, keep in an oven proof dish.

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, nuts, sugar and oil, mix well. Spread over the mixture in the oven proof dish. Do not mix.

Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 mins till top browns. Tastes awesome, we tried it tonight :)

sweet whole wheat bread

 Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 .5 teaspoons baker's yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 3.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1cup oatmeal
• Optional- trail mix nuts- raisins, currants, anything you like!

Directions

1. Heat the water just enough for the yeast, sprinkle the yeast  and mis the honey into it. Let is stay till the mixture is frothy, keep it in a warm place.
2. Mix the flours in this mixture in a mixing bowl. Knead it well and keep in an oiled container. Cover with a damp towel and keep in a warm place, let rise until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes or more.
3. Knead again and let rise for another 45 minutes. Knead again and keep in a greased loaf pan. I didn't have a loaf pan so I shaped them in loaves and wrapped in aluminium foil.
4. Bake in the oven until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. We finished the two loaves for dinner, else can be stored wrapped in aluminium foil for later.

Babycorn Manchurian

I had some left over babycorn which I didn't want to add in my veggies and I wasn't sure how else to use them. Finally decided to boil them and use them for Manchurian.
I made a dry dish with the following ingredients-
 Boiled Babycorn 8
Onions peeled and separated
Tomatoes  large slices
Peas didn't have capsicum so used this for color :)
Olive oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, chili flakes, oregano and ketchup as per taste

Method-
Heat oil in pan. I used olive oil-taste bhi health bhi. Add onions, saute for 2 mins till they are transluscent. Add rest of the veggies and saute for a few mins. Add the herbs and vinegar,sauces etc and cook covered for a few mins. Remove cover and let the water dry if you want a dry dish. Serve with fried rice. Or serve as a side dish.

Paalak Khichdi

I came to Blr from Mumbai with a heart full of memories, one of them being paalak khichdi :)

Here is the recipe-
Ingredients-
1 cut onion
sliced tomatoes
ginger garlic paste as per taste
boiled and pureed spinach - 1 cup for 2 cups rice
2 cups boiled rice
ghee as per taste
Some milk or water to cook along with rice

Method-
Heat oil in  a pan. Sauté onions till translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute. Add tomatoes and cook till done. Add spinach puree and salt as per taste. Add the boiled rice and milk/water (I prefer water, can't imagine making khichdi with milk, yuck). Cook covered and stir in between. Take off from stove and add ghee if desired. Serve hot :)

Check brown rice version and pics here-
http://ambrotos.blogspot.in/2011/02/brown-rice-palak-khichdi.html

Inside view blog- sales 2.0

Check out this blog post by Gaurav Jha-
http://blog.insideview.com/2010/04/27/connecting-the-dots-how-sales-2-0-can-help-you-connect-with-prospects/#comment-1383

Raw mango rice

Raw mango rice is comfort food.
Ingredients-
Peanuts
Oil or ghee for frying
Mustard seeds
Onions-chopped
Tomatoes-if you like
One small raw mango-can be peeled, and grated
Salt and haldi
Cooked plain rice
Method-
Heat oil, add peanuts and fry till done. Add msutard seeds and wait till they splutter. Add onions and fry till golden. Add tomatoes and cook till raw smell disappears. Add haldi and salt and cook for a minute. Now add raw mango and mix well. Don't overcook or the flavor will disappear. Mix plain rice and cook for a minute or so till mixed well. Serve hot.

Check link here for a microwave version and pics-
http://ambrotos.blogspot.in/2011/03/raw-mango-rice-microwave-cooking.html

Arbi ki sabzi

I always make arbi dry till i met niket and realised anything dry means sookha for him and he doesn't like it one bit. arbi-dry is one of my favorite veggies and i thought i'll have to part with it.
Then one day when my MIL was here, she said add some water and try, and it turned out well. Since then, i've been making it often. Check out my recipe-
Ingredients-
Arbi-boiled and peeled and cut in small pieces
Onions-chopped
Tomatoes-chopped
Green chillies, ginger
Oil for cooking
Jeera seeds
Method-
Heat oil and add jeera for seasoning. Add onions and fry till golden. Add tomatoes and cook till done.
For dry arbi-
Coat arbi with sooji and besan and salt- dry mixture. Fry them separately and add to onion-tomatoes mixture. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes. serve with rice or rotis.
For arbi with gravy-
To the onion-tomatoes mixture, add cut arbi and cook for 2-3 mins. Add water for gravy as per taste and cook for a few more mins. Taste and correct seasoning. Serve hot with rotis. Arbi with gravy is slightly sticky, but good to taste.

Check pics here-
http://ambrotos.blogspot.in/2011/08/colocasia-fry-snack-or-side-dish.html#uds-search-results

Pudina rice

I made some pudina chutney, but adding too much pudina to dhaniya and raw mango chutney makes it taste bitter. So i saved some for later use.
Then one day i had some left over rice and pudina rice happened :)
Ingredients-
Plain rice
Mustard seeds
Chopped onions
fresh ground pudina paste
Chopped Tomatoes and green chillies
Salt, haldi, oil or ghee
Method-
Heat oil and add mustard seeds, wait till they splutter.
Fry the chopped onions till golden. Add green chillies and tomatoes and cook till raw smell of tomatoes disappears. Add haldi and salt and cook for a minute. Add pudina paste and cook for another minute. Don't overcook or the flavor of pudina will disappear. Add plain rice and mix well. Add a teaspoon of ghee for flavor. Serve hot with curd :)

Check the link here for a different version and pics-
http://ambrotos.blogspot.in/2012/01/pudina-rice-with-avrekai-hyacinth-beans.html

beetroot rotis

The other day, i had some beetroot which had gone dry and did not taste very good raw in salads. Thought i'd give it a try with rotis. This is the recipe i followed-
2 beetroots
1 large carrot
green chillies
gobi leaves
2 - 3 cups of aata

Mix everything and make the dough as you would. Add salt if you like. You can fry them as pooris or eat them low-cal as rotis :)