Tomato Chutneys - 3 versions

Tomato Chutney – Version 1

Ingredients :

·         Tomatoes - 2 medium

·         Onion – 2 medium

·         Red Chillies – 3 small

·         Oil

·         Salt

·         Mustard seeds

Cut the tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Fry these in oil till cooked (not brown) along with chillies and cool.

Grind them in a mixer once cool , add salt. Heat oil in pan, add the mustard seeds and pour into the chutney once they splutter. Serve with Idli / Dosa / Pongal .

Tomato Chutney – Version 2

Ingredients :

·         Tomatoes - 2 medium

·         Onion – 2 medium

·         Red Chillies – 3 small

·         Chana Dal

·         Oil

·         Salt

·         Mustard seeds

Cut the tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Fry these in oil till cooked (not brown) cool.

In another pan add some oil , and fry the chana dal and red chillies  till the chana dal changes colour.

Grind all these in a mixer once cool , add salt. Heat oil in pan, add the mustard seeds and pour into the chutney once they splutter. Serve with Idli / Dosa / Pongal .

Tomato Chutney – Version 3

This was my dad’s favorite ! Its pretty spicy ; try at your own peril.

Ingredients :

·         Tomatoes - 1 small

·         Onion – 2 medium

·         Salt

Cut the tomatoes and onion into small cubes. Grind them in a mixer along with the green chillies. Add salt to taste and serve with Idli / Dosa / Pongal . This tastes well without the tomato too :)

Sweet Pongal (Serves 6)

It was pongal season. I made some pongal for Joy , Manisha and Pou last night.This time I did a picture too J

Ingredients :

·         Rice – 1 Cup

·         Water – 6 cups

·         Jaggery – ½ Kg

·         Cashwenuts

·         Raisins

·         Ghee

·         Cardamom

In a bowl , add rice and water and cook till rice is done…there will be a little bit of water left at this point.

In a pan , add a little water. Add the jaggery and mix well till the syrup is done.

In another pan , heat ghee and add cashwenuts, raisins and cardamom powder. Add this and jaggery to the rice and some more ghee and cook till ghee leaves the side.

Tips : You can serve this hot or cold J

Venn Pongal (Serves 2)

Dedicated to all my friends who love my pongal.

Ingredients :

·         Rice – 1 Cup

·         Masoor Daal (yellow) – ¾ Cup

·         Water – 6 cups

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece – sliced

·         Curry Leaves

·         Cumin Seeds – 2 teaspoons

·         Peppercorns – 1 teaspoon

·         Cashwenuts

·         Ghee

·         Salt

In a pressure cooker (in which you intend to cook this pongal) , fry masoor daal till it changes colour (Don’t use any oil). Add the rice and mix till rice becomes whiter. To this add salt and water and pressure cook for 6 whistles.

In a pan , heat the ghee. Add in this order – Cumin Seeds , Peppercorns (grind 2-3 peppercorns coarsely to get taste) . Once the peppercorns splutter , add ginger . Fry on high for a minute , add cashewnuts and switch off the flame. Add this to the pongal once you are able to open the pressure cooker and serve hot with Gotsu / Chutney / Pickle (recipes will follow)

Tips : Do not change the quantities. This is made best in a pressure cooker , but try doing it as you would cook rice if you please.

Cabbage Rice (Serves 2)

With the prices of Onion soaring pretty high , how about having a recipe that doesn’t use Onions ? J

Ingredients :

·         Rice – Basmati – 1 Cup

·         Cabbage – 1 small

·         Green Peas – a small cup

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece

·         Green Chillies – 2 small

·         Garlic – 5 Pods

·         Coconut scrapings – 3 teaspoons

·         Cumin Seeds

·         Cloves - 2

·         Cardamom - 2

·         Tej patta – 1

·         Oil

·         Salt to taste

In a pan heat some oil , add the cloves , cardamom and Tej patta. Now add the cumin seeds. Grind the Green Chillies , Garlic and Coconut using a litte bit of water together and add this mixture to the spices. Now add the cabbage and mix well on high flame for 1 minute. Add the rice and salt and cook in pressure cooker / microwave.

Serve hot with Raita / Pickle.

Tips : Use fresh ingredients. If you like spicy food , you can increase the number of green chillies.

TamBram Curd Rice

Ingredients :

·         Rice – Cooked – 1 Cup

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece – sliced

·         Green Chillies – 2 small – Sliced

·         Raw Mango – Cut into small pieces – 2 teaspoons

·         Carrot – Grated – 2 teaspoons

·         Oil

·         Mustard Seeds

·         Milk – a small tablespoon

·         Curry leaves

·         Curd

·         Salt to taste

In a pan , heat oil. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Then add green chillies, ginger and curry leaves to this and leave on high flame for 1 minute. (This is called Tadka)

Mix hot rice with cooked milk. Add salt and curd and mix well. To this add all the ingredients followed by Tadka and mix well. Serve with avakkai Pickle J

Tips : Some people prefer having curd rice chilled. I like to have this one when its hot

Tapas Potatoes with Salsa Dip

For the Salsa Dip :

·         1 large finely chopped Tomato

·         2 finely chopped garlic

·         Cumin – a pinch

·         Vinegar – ½ spoon

·         Pepper – to taste

·         Salt – to taste

·         Paprika – a pinch

·         Chopped Coriander – 2 spoons

·         Chilli Flakes (Optional)

In a bowl , mix all the above ingredients well. If you are the one that likes extra spice , you can innovate by adding Tabasco sauce to this mixture. This salsa dip tastes well when made with fresh tomatoes and coriander.

For the potatoes:

·         2 Large Potatoes

·         Oil

·         Breadcrumbs

·         Salt to taste

·         Chilli Powder – to taste

·         Paprika – a pinch

Peel the potatoes and cut into nice thick 1 inch cubes.  Deep fry them in oil on low flame for about 15-20 minutes. Once cooked remove from the frier , mix the bread crumbs ( small quantity) and salt. Now fry them on a low flame in about 2 teaspoons of oil to give them the crispiness and crunchiness.

Remove from flame when done. Add the Paprika and Chilli Powder and mix well. Serve hot with the Salsa dip.

Tips : Salsa dip tastes best when fresh. Spanish potates are usually dry roasted, I recommend bread crumbs to give that additional zing and flavor.

Veg Hakka Noodles (Serves 2)

Ingredients :

·         Noodles (Not maggi,  but Chinese) – 1 ½  Cup

·         1 ½  Cups of finely sliced vegetables : carrot , Potato , French beans, Capsicum

·         Onion – 1 Medium – Sliced

·         Ginger – a medium sized piece – sliced

·         Green Chillies – 3 small – Sliced

·         Garlic Pods – 10 – Sliced

·         Soy sauce – 3 teaspoons

·         Balsamic Vinegar – 2 teaspoons

·         Chilli Sauce – to taste (Optional)

·         Salt

·         Pepper

Boil water in a pan. Add salt, oil and pepper to this. Once it comes to a boil , add the noodles and cook till soft. Strain and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan.. Add finely sliced onions , garlic and ginger and sauté. Add the other vegetables, salt and pepper and simmer till the vegetables are cooked well. Once done, add balsamic vinegar and chilli sauce and mix well. Mix the soya sauce with 2 teaspoons of water (you need to do this else the soy sauce gets burnt) and pour this over the cooking noodles. Mix well till the soy sauce has blended well with the noodles. Cook over high flame for about 3-4 mins.

Serve hot with Sauce / Chinese side dishes (recipes will follow shortly)

Tips : Chinese noodles taste very good when they are fried for a longer time to make it a little crispier. Use Non Stick vessels to acheive this. Also use fresh ginger and garlic - the pastes in the market do not give such a good taste

Spinach Pasta (Serves 2)

For the Spinach base:

·         Spinach – 1 bunch – blanched and pureed with two green chillies

·         Onion – 1 large

·         Garlic – 12-15 pods

·         Olive Oil

·         Cream – 3 Teaspoons

·         Butter

·         Salt

·         Pepper

·         Mixed herbs (Oregano, basil and other spices that you like in your continental food)

Heat Olive oil in a pan. Add salted butter to this. Add finely chopped onions and garlic and sauté. Add pureed spinach to this and simmer. Add the cream and simmer. Add salt, pepper and herbs. Once done , add the pasta and mix well. To this add the white sauce and remove from heat and mix well. (refer to pasta and white sauce in earlier recipe)

Put this in a microwave safe dish. Add Cheese(preferably parmesan) and cook on high for 5 mins. Serve hot with a bread of your choice.

Tips : Always use enough cream while cooking spinach else it will end up tasting sour. Also , add more garlic to enhance the taste of this dish

Vegetable Upma (Serves 2)

For the Special Powder :

·         Red Chilli -1

·         Chana Dal – 1 teaspoons

·         Coriander Seeds – 1 teaspoon

·         Cumin Seeds – ½ teaspoon

·         Turmeric – small piece or a pinch of turmeric powder

·         Methi (Fenugreek Seeds) – few seeds

Heat a pan and dry fry all above ingredients till you get a nice aroma. Powder these together and keep aside.

For the Upma :

·         Semolina/Sooji/Rava – Raw – 1 Cup

·         1.5 Cups of finely chopped vegetables : carrot , Potato , brinjal, Peas (whole green fresh) , tomato, capsicum, beans (and any other vegetable that you fancy)

·         Onion – 1 Medium – Finely chopped

·         Ginger – a small piece – chopped

·         Green Chillies – 1 small – chopped

·         Curry leaves to taste

·         Salt

·         Water

·         Ghee

·         Mustard Seeds

Heat Oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add curry leaves , green chillies , onion and ginger. Fry till the onion starts changing color. In a separate pan start boiling about 4 cups of water. To the pan containing the onions , add salt and the tomatoes. Fry for 2-3 mins. Add all the vegetables and 1 spoon of special powder (recipe above)and cook till vegetables are done. Once the oil starts leaving the sides of the pan , add Sooji  and mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and mix well. You need to keep mixing this till Sooji turns a light brown color (very very light brown – do not overcook it). Now, add boiling water to this (after reducing the flame) and keep stirring – so that no lumps are formed. You need to add water enough to just cover the sooji. Keep stirring till it reaches serving consistency (I like upma semi solid) . Serve hot with Avakkai Pickle J

Tips : The ginger in this dish adds lot of taste to it – so be very generous with Ginger. The special powder can be made in bulk and stored for future use (You can even use it in other curries etc).

Stuffed Thai Omlette (Serves 2)

For the Stuffing :

·         Capsicum – 1 Medium – finely Chopped (you can use diff colored bell peppers to give your omlette a colorful look)

·         Spring Onions – 2 medium – finely Chopped

·         Tomato – 1 small – finely chopped

·         Green Chillies – 1 small – finely chopped

·         Mushrooms – 3 small – finely chopped

·         Bean Sprouts – ¼ Cup

·         Soy Sauce – ½  tsp

·         Balsamic Vinegar – ½ tsp

·         Optional – 2 cloves garlic (I know many who don’t like Garlic in their omlettes)

·         Optional – Minced or Ground and cooked Pork / beef

·         Fish Sauce / Oyster Sauce – 1 Teaspoon

·         Butter – 1 Teaspoon

·         Salt

·         Pepper

Heat Fish / Oyster Sauce in a big saucepan . Add butter and some salt to it.. Once the butter melts , add garlic (optional) and onions to this. Once the onions are cooked (not brown) add green chillies and capsicum. Cook for 2 mins and add the tomatoes. Once cooked , add all the other ingredients and cook well. In the end , add the Soy Sauce and Balsamic Vinegar and cook for 2 minutes. Keep aside.

For the Omlette:

·         2 big eggs

·         Fish Sauce – 1 Teaspoon

·         Butter – 1 Teaspoon

·         Milk – 2 teaspoons

·         Flour – 1 teaspoon

·         Salt and Pepper to taste

Beat the eggs well in a bowl – they should get lot of air. Once aerated , add the fish sauce and Milk and mix well. This will make the eggs light.Add Flour and mix well. Add salt and Pepper to taste .Heat butter in a saucepan and the eggs to it. Cook on both sides till the omlette is golden brown and crispy at the edges.

Add an appropriate  quantity of stuffing in the middle of the omlette , close on all four sides and serve hot with some Chinese Tea J

Tips : Aerate the eggs well. Thai omlettes are best eaten thin , crisp and very hot.