Potatoes and Eggs masala bhurji

Ingredients:

3eggs- beaten with 2 tbsps milk
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed into small pieces
2 onionschopped
2 tablespoons oil
1 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1/2 cup chopped capsicum
2 tomatoes chopped

1 tsp all spice / garam masala

Directions:

Heat a pan. Add oil, and fry the onions. Add the potatoes, capsicum, salt and turmeric. Cook till the potatoes are done. Add tomatoes. Cook till done. Add garam masala / all spice and fry for a min.

To the fried veggies, add the beaten eggs mix and cook just before serving. It tastes best warm.

Here is the pic just before adding the eggs mix. I am waiting for Niket to arrive home for dinner.

I am sending this to E for Eggs

Baati

I chanced upon this recipe at a new blog I am following. Check here- Kichu Khonn

Recipe for Baatis-

Ingredients-

2 cups whole Wheat flour

2 tsps ajwain / carom seeds
Ghee / refined oil (I used home made white butter)
Water to knead

Method-

Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough, it should be firm. After applying a little ghee on palms, roll medium sized balls of the dough. Keep them on a baking tray which has been lined with oil / ghee.
Bake them at 150 deg for 55 mins. Turn them to get an even brown color. I doused them with more white butter and baked them for another 10 mins for extra crunchiness.

Serve with daal and veggie, with a generous serving of ghee / home-made butter I made mix veggie with nutrela.

To the last baati left, we added a generous dollop of butter and served it with jaggery (Churma!)

I am sending the churma to-

CELEBRATE SWEETS - SWEET BREADS/BUNS/CROISSANTS EVENTAlso check Nivedita's blog for the original event posts.

Arusuvai and my recipe with the secret ingredient

I received my secret ingredient on Aug 11, 2011, but never got around to posting about it. This is a long one, and has been long overdue too.

PJ of http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/ sent me the secret ingredient. I was not sure if I would recognize it, but yay! I did! It was a box-full of powerhouse of Omega 3. Yes you guessed it right, Flaxseeds!

Thanks PJ for the sweets and the Nita Mehta book!

And this is what happened after the box of sweets was opened!

The following posts are a part of Arusuvai Friendship Chain-

Read on about Arusuvai, and for all those food bloggers who don't know about it, you would die to be a part of this friendship chain!

Now that you are reading this, you should also check these out, where the chain began-

Sayantani's blog and Bharathy's and again, Bharathy, Srivalli and Lathamma

Here are my recipes with the secret ingredient-

My recipe for Makuni / Sattu filled buns

• 2 cups sattu
• 2 tbsps each of roasted and ground flaxseed, white and black sesame seeds  (One tbsps of flax is good enough for a day, but if you are eating flax daily, you can add upto 2 tbsps)
• 1 grated / finely chopped onion
• Juice of one large lemon
• 2 tbsp Chopped dhaniya
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp ajwain, mangrela (carom and nigella seeds)
• Salt to taste

Mix all this together with hand. Check for salt and it should taste lemony. This is your filling.

• 2.5 cups aata
• Enough water

Make dough.

Fill in the stuffing in medium sized balls. At this stage you can roll them out and make stuffed parathas. We let them be as balls, grease them with ghee / home-made butter and bake them in the oven. These are called littis and are a staple in Bihar and UP.

I baked the littis at 180 deg for 45 mins. I served with aloo- tamatar ka bharta. 

Til ki chutney

I saved some of the roasted and ground flaxseed and sesame seed mix. There is a til ki chutney recipe which I have from my MIL when Yashi was just born. (Now that seems like just yesterday, but no, about 11 months have passed since!)

Ingredients-

roasted and ground flaxseed and sesame seed mix

1 tsp oil

2 chopped green chillies

salt to taste

Heat oil in a tadka pan. Add the chillies and let them cook. Add this to the seeds mix, grind them again. The oil in the seeds makes them blend well together.The chutney is more of a powder than paste. Add salt to taste and a tasty chutney is ready, can be served with rice / rotis.

Everyone is aware of the Omega 3 in Flaxseed / teesi. Sesame seeds, especially the black ones, are rich in calcium, and should be consumed daily by expectant mothers and new moms. I have thought of this chutney because PJ who sent me the secret ingredient, is going to be a mom soon! She is going to have a second baby! She is having a tough time, and she needs all our wishes and prayers. I am awed by her enthusiasm to keep the event going, as she found time herself to send me the packet. Thanks PJ! 

PS- I am looking for fellow bloggers who want to be part of the Arusuvai (You need to be in India). Check the links above, and if you do want to be a part of this chain, leave me a comment.

I am sending the Til ki Chutney recipe to B2B-Back to Basics- Spice powder  at DSM's blog.

Chicken and sweet potato pie

Recipe for Chicken and sweet potato pie

Ingredients-

500 gms minced chicken washed and cleaned
1 large carrot, scraped and grated
1 cup spring onions finely chopped
2 onions chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and green chillies to taste

juice of one lemon

4 tbsps butter
500 gms sweet potatoes, cleaned, boiled and mashed
1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cubed/ grated mozarella cheese

Method-
Heat a wok, add olive oil. Add onions, spring onions, chillies and carrots. Saute on medium flame for 5 mins or so. Add tomatoes and cook till they are done. On high flame, add the micned chicken. Add salt. Stir till the chicken is cooked. It will roughly take 10-12 mins. Turn off flame.

To this mix, add lemon, 1 tbsp butter and spread this out in a baking dish. 

In a separate bowl, keep the mashed potatoes, add the milk and loosen it. Add the remaining butter. Add half the cheese. Combine well. Spread this on the chicken mix. 

Cook for about 15 minutes at 180 deg in the oven, add the remaining grated cheese and cook for 5 more mins, until golden brown on top. Serve warm.

I served this for dinner with rice, like this. It is a bad pic, but the dish tasted awesome! 

You can subb the sweet potato with potatoes. 

I am sending this for Breakfast club- Potatoes. I think this can be served as is or with bread for breakfast as well. Check the Breakfast Club page as well.

Avocado salsa

Pasta, Salsa and grilled pineapple

1 avocado medium size
4 tomatoes - medium size
1 tsp lemon juice / vinegar
Salt to taste
1 tsp mustard (powdered or paste)
2 tsps salad dressing

Peel the avocado, cut it open, remove the pit and cut into pieces. Chop the tomatoes. If you don't like your tomatoes raw, you can microwave them for a couple of mins till the raw smell is gone. You can also add a bit of ginger-garlic paste to the mix for a tastier version of salsa.
To the microwaved tomatoes, add avocado, lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well to combine. Serve!
I served this with pasta and it was a great accompaniment!

Hot curry leaves and tomato chutney

An easy to make chutney with tomatoes and curry leaves, which makes a good addition to any meal!

Cabbage Poriyal and Curry leaves chutney

Ingredients:
Tomato - 4 Nos chopped roughly
Curry leaves - 1 small bowlful
green chillies - 4
1 small piece fresh ginger
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Oil
salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a micro-safe dish, add mustard. Cook for a few secs. Add tomatoes, ginger, curry leaves, chillies and cook till the raw smell of tomatoes is gone. (I cooked for 3-4 mins on 100% power) Let cool.
Add salt and grind to a smooth paste.

This is going to two events-

Dish it out- Tomato and chillies





Flavors of the South

Ridge gourd with kala chana / black chickpeas veggie

This is my mom's recipe which she made with Turai which is called Nenua in Bihar! (not ridge gourd but the softer variety)

Ingredients:
Ridge gourd/ jungli Turai - 2 medium sized (wash, peel / scrapeand cut into 1 inch cubes)
Kala chana or black chickpeas - 1 cup (washed and soaked overnight)
Onion - 1 (chopped)

green chillies - 1-2

Tomato- 1 (chopped)

1 medium boiled potato- cubed
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cumin- 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

1 tsp each of turmeric, coriander and garam masala / all spice powders
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

In a pressure cooker, add the kala chana / black chickpeas with half a cup of water and some salt and pressure cook for one whistle, simmer and allow to cook for about 4-5 mins. Turn off flame, allow to cool.

Heat oil in a wide bottomed pan, add the cumin and let the seeds turn brown. Add the onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Saute until the onions turn soft and transparent. Now add the chopped tomatoes and potato pieces and cook for a while.

Add the ridge gourd pieces, salt and the dry spice powders. Allow to cook covered on medium flame for about 5-6 mins. Keep turning once in a while. The ridge gourd pieces will turn soft.
Stir in theboiled chickpeas with the water, cover and cook for 8-10 mins. Alternately, can cook in the pressure cooker for 1-2 whistles.
Serve with Rice or Rotis.

This is going to the evergreen My Legume Love Affair 38 . The logo is lovely.

Also check Susan's page for the host line up for coming MLLA events.

Rava Upma

This dish is good for breakfast or a light lunch/dinner. My recipe for rava upma-

Ingredients-
1 cup fine sooji
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 onion chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tomato chopped
1 strand of curry leaves
2 tsps coriander leaves
pinch of turmeric
Oil for cooking
water 2 cups
salt to taste

Method-
Heat a wok, add oil. Add mustard seeds and add onions as soon as they start to splutter. Fry till done. Add chopped tomatoes and turmeric. In another pan, roast the rava till golden. Add the water to the onion mix and bring to a boil. Add the roasted rava to the onion- tomato water mix. Stir briskly and remove any lumps that have formed. Cover and cook, stirring in between, on low flame. Add the coriander leaves and cook for a couple of mins. Let it stay covered for a couple of mins before serving.

To serve- Shape in bowls and turn on plate. I served with curd and some namkeen.

This is going to Let's cook Scrumptious Breakfasts.

Wood apple chutney

Information about wood apple- http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/wood-apple.html

This is similar to bel / custard apple, but smaller and not so sweet version. 

To check whether they are ripe, you should drop them on the floor or kitchen counter from a height of 2-3 feet, if they do not bounce, they are ripe and will break easily (though not from dropping)

Ingredients for wood apple chutney-
2 wood apples

1 tsp chopped garlic

2 green chillies chopped

2 tbsps coriander chopped

1 tsp panch phoran
Salt to taste

1 tsp Turmeric powder
Oil for seasoning (1 tsp)

Method-
Wash and break the wood apple, scoop out the pulp. Soak in a bit of water in a medium bowl for 15-20 mins. Mash using a potato masher.

You can also grind the pulp if you like.

Heat oil in a wok. Add panch phoran, coriander, chillies, garlic. Fry till the garlic is cooked. Add turmeric and cook for a few secs. Add the wood apples paste, add jaggery, salt and cook for a couple of mins. Let cool a bit before serving.

I am serving it for dinner with Bhindi and rotis. 

Bitter gourd veggie with raw mango

Ingredients-
2 bitter-gourds chopped
1raw mango chopped into small bits with peel
2 onions chopped

1 large tomato chopped
1 tsp turmeric, coriander and garam masala powder

1 tbsp jaggery (can skip)
Salt to taste

oil to fry
For tempering- 1 tsp panch phoran / mustard seeds

Method-
Heat the oil in a wok, add the seeds to temper, add the bittergourd and cook till they turn a bit crisp. Add onions and cook for a couple of mins, till the onions turn transparent. Now add the raw mango pieces and tomato and the dry spice powders. Mix well and cook for about 10 mins or so, till the mango pieces are cooked well. Turn off flame and let sit for 5-10 mins before serving.

This is going to Radhika's event- Subzis for rotis. 

Colocasia fry- snack or side dish

Arbi / Colocasia fry

2 cups raw arbi / colocasia
4 tbsp rice flour, 1 tbsp semolina and 1 tbsp gram flour

1 tsp red chilli powder (I skipped this)

1 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste
Oil to cook

Wash and pressure cook the arbi, but avoid overcooking it otherwise it gets really slimy.

Let them cool. Peel and cut into small pieces.
Once cooled, peel and cut into small, bite-sized pieces that are of the same size more or less. This is so that when you fry the stuff, it gets cooked uniformly.
Add all the dry ingredients to it and mix well so that the arbi pieces are well coated. 

Now there are 2 ways- you can deep fry this dish, or you can use a nonstick pan and use lesser oil to cook it.

I used the latter. 

Heat the pan, spread 1 tbsp oil. Fry a few pieces on the pan until brown. Turn and brown on the other side. 

The semolina adds a tasty crunch to this dish. You can snack on it or you can serve it as a side dish. 

This is going to Gayathri's event. Also check Srivalli's announcement page.

This is also going to Torview's event-
Food palette series - Black

Roti / chapatis with jaggery and ghee

This is a good way to use up your leftover chapatis.

Ingredients-

2 Left over chapatis- run through a mixer coarsely

2 tbsps ghee

jaggery to taste

can add- cardamoms, dry fruits like raisins and cashews

Method-

In a micro-safe dish, add the coarsely ground rotis, melted ghee and jaggery. Mix with a spoon. Micro for a couple of mins mixing in between. Enjoy spoonfuls or shape into round balls / laddoos. Delish!

Sending this to What's cooking- Kalyani's blog for her MMK - Mithai Mela.
I love food and I hate to see any of it go to waste. And on top of it, I love sweets! Though this is a favorite, I don't try this too often because so much of ghee and so much of jaggery- I put on so much weight!
You can also try this with baked batis, which is a recipe for another day. This is only a different version of churma.

MEC Potato Feast | Event Roundup « Sin-A-Mon

MEC Potato Feast | Event Roundup « Sin-A-Mon

An event I participated in. Check the roundup for some lovely dishes.

My dish was Sweet potato pie

:)

bharwa karela / stuffed bittergourds

For Niket's birthday, Manoj got some organically grown karelas. These were small sized, and the minute I saw the, I decided I had to try stuffed karelas. I tried this recipe sometime back but never got a chance to post it until now.

My recipe for stuffed bittergourds-

Ingredients:

Bittergourds- 4 small sized
1 large onion chopped

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 tsps yellow mustard powder / paste

1 tsp turmeric and coriander powder, and garam masala / all spice

1 tsp dry mango powder / amchur /4 tsps  lemon juice

1 tsp panch phoran / cumin for tempering

Oil for cooking

salt to taste

Directions:
Cut off the tops and tails of the gourds and scoop out seeds, mine didn't have seeds inside. Steam the karelas after rubbing them with a mix of turmeric and salt. I microwaved them for 5 mins. This retains their bitterness, what is the point of having bittergourds if you don't like their bitterness!? Keep aside.

Prepare the filling-

Heat oil. Add tempering, onions, ginger garlic paste. Add yellow mustard powder / paste and cook for a couple of mins. Add all the dry spices, salt and cook. (You can also save the flesh and seeds if you like and cook it for the stuffing) Let cool. 

Stuff the karelas, bake the karelas at 180 deg for 15 mins or till browned. 

Makes a tasty side dish for rice dal.

Veggie Pasta

Pasta, Avocado salsa and grilled Pineapple

Ingredients-
Oil for cooking 3 tbsp
1 large onion chopped

3 tomatoes chopped

salt to taste
1 cup chopped capsicum

1 cup cabbage chopped

1 cup boiled corn / French Beans chopped

1/4 cup spring onions

2 cups mushrooms (I used Oyster mushrooms, which after cooking were less than half cup but tastier than the other mushrooms)

1 tsp each oregano and parsley
3 cups cooked pasta

2 tbsps cheese cubed or grated

Method-
Heat oil, fry onions till brown. Add mushrooms and cook till the water dries up and they are cooked well. Add tomatoes and cook for another couple of mins. Add salt and the other veggies.  Saute.
Add the dry spices and cook till the veggies are cooked well.

Add the pasta, mix well and sprinkle the cubed cheese over it. Cook on slow flame for about 5 mins till the cheese melts. Serve hot!

This is going to Fusion Food Pasta at Ramya's recipes