Dil Se..: April 2009

Apr 30, 2009

Egg Fried Rice

This is a super quick, simple and tasty dish. It is pretty versatile in that you can add pretty much anything that you want to it. You can add any vegetables to this rice. I also added egg for more flavor. It is great for cleaning the leftovers out of your fridge and tasty enough that you would want make it from scratch if you did not have the leftovers on hand. Refridgerated, cooked long grain rice is ideal for this fried rice becuase the grains are seperated and firm.

Ingredients

Cooked long grain rice - 3 cups
Mixed vegetables chopped (carrots, corn, peas, beans, cabbage)
Spring onions - 2 chopped
Eggs - 2
Soy sauce - 3 teaspoons
Vegetable oil - 2 spoons
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tablespoon
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cook the rice with enough water. If using refridgerated rice, bring it to room temperature. In a wok or pan, add half the oil and add the eggs. Scramble the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Remove the scrambled eggs from the pan and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok and when hot, add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper. Finally, add the chopped mixed vegetables and stir. Cook on high heat till they cooked partially and still remain crispy.

Add the cooked rice and mix all the ingredients together. Toss together until the rice gets heated and turns crisp. Fnally add the scrambled eggs and toss together.

Serve warm with a suitable side-dish or just with ketchup!

We had it with Gobi Manchurian..

Sending this to Event for Eggs hosted by Sudeshna

Also to CFK:Rice hosted by Trupti and started by Sharmi.

Apr 27, 2009

Chocolate Nut Cookies

I was inspired by this recipe and decided to make a cookie with dark chocolate. It is a melt-in-the mouth kinda cookie which has the flavor of dark choolate. Not too sweet with a little bitterness of the dark chocolate. If you are fan of Dark Chocolate, you should definitely try this. I used Belgian Dark Chocolate with 86% cocoa and you can use any variety which has greater than 70% cocoa. I used a mixture of cashews and walnuts and they gave a nutty bite to the cookies!

Ingredients (Makes 20 to 24 cookies)

Dark Chocolate - 100 gms ( I used a bar of chocolate)
Butter - 1/3 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 1/4 cups
Cashews and Almonds - 1/4 cup

Directions

Chop the cashews and almonds and set aside.

In a microwzve, melt together the dark chocolate and butter for about a minute. Stir until you get a smooth consistency. Stir in the sugar and mix until it gets well incorporated. Add the nuts.

Finally add the flour a little by little and knead gently to form a smooth dough. The dough should not be too dry or too wet.

Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. Shape the cookies into desired shape and place them on the baking sheet in intervals of about 1 inch.

Refridgerate the shaped cookie dough for about 1 hour so that the cookies retain the shape while baking.

Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 400 F for about 15 to 18 minutes.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Store them in airtight containers.

Sending these cookies to Go Nuts:Cashews hosted by Poornima and started by Aquadaze

EFM:Cookies hosted by SriLekha

For the Love of Chocolate hosted by Poornima

Sending this to Srivalli's Mithai Mela!

Apr 23, 2009

Punjabi Chole

I adopted this recipe from Srivalli's blog. I am glad I tried this recipe. it was so good with rotis and am planning to make it along with naans the next time. We loved every bite along with this spicy chole. I did not have the black cardamoms so i did not use them. This recipe is surely a keeper!

Ingredients

Garbanzo beans/Channa - 2 cups
Onion - 1 large sized
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized
Grated Ginger - 1 inch
Chili powder - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2 spoons
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Green Chillies - 2
Salt to taste

Masala Ingredients

Coriander seeds - 2 teaspoons
Anardana - 1/2 teaspoons
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cloves - 3
Black peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
Cardamom - 4
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Bay leaf - 1
Red chillies - 2

Directions

Soak the channa overnight or atleast for 6 hours.

Pressure cook until 4 whistles or until they turn tender.

In a heavy-bottomed vessel, add all the ingredients for the masala and dry roast them on low heat until they turn golden. Take care they do not get burnt. Allow it to cool and dry roast it into a snooth powder.

Heat oil in apan and add the chopped onions and grated ginger. Fry till they turn translucent and start browning. Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes until the tomatoes turn mushy. Then add the ground masala powder, garam masala powder and red chilli powder. Coo for about two minutes. Add slit green chillies followed by the pressure cooked channa.

Add salt to taste. Also add a cup of water. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for about ten minutes until the channa absorbs the flavor and you get the required gravy consistency.

Serve hot with rotis or baturas! I served it with masala/spicy rotis. Recipe coming soon!

Apr 20, 2009

Beetroot Poriyal

After the carrot poriyal, am here with a simple beetroot poriyal recipe. It is an easy one to make except the chopping of the beetroot. When i was a kid, i used to have this poriyal with curd rice. Loved the pink colored curd rice!

Beets are very nutritious and knowing its health benefits, I try to include this atleast once in two weeks in our diet.

Ingredients

Beet Root – 2
Red Chillies – 2
Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1 teaspoon
Onion – 1 medium sized
Curry leaves – few
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Urad dhal – 1 teaspoon
Bengal gram dhal / Split peas - 2 tablespoons
Coconut gratings – 2 tablelspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon

Directions

Remove the skin fro the beetroot and chop it. Soak the split peas in a little water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Chop the onion and red chillies.

In a pan, heat oil and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and urad dhall. Once they start spluttering, add the red chillies, curry leaves and onion. Fry till the onion turns translucent. Then add the chopped beetroot and the soaked chickpeas. Season with salt. Add half cup of water and close with a lid. Cook until the beetroots turn tender. Finally add the coconut gratings and mix well.

You can skip the splitpeas if you dont like. However it adds a different flavor to the poriyal.

Serve warm with rice and dhall!

Apr 17, 2009

Carrot Poriyal

This is a great way to consume carrots. It is a simple and easy side dish to go along with rice and dhall or rasam. Since carrots are a bit sweet, you spice it up with more green chillies than the other normal poriyals you usually make.

Ingredients

Carrot - 4 medium sized ones
Onion - 1 medium sized
Green Chillies - 4
Coconut gratings - 2 tablespoons
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida powder - a pinch
Salt - 1 teaspoon

Directions

Scrap the skin from the carrots and chop them into small pieces. Alternatively, you can also grate the carrots. Chop the onions and green chillies.

In a kadai, add some oil and heat. Add the mustard seeds, urad dhall, jeera and asafoetida powder and fry for sometime. Once it starts spluttering, add the chopped onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Once the onions turn translucent, add the carrots and mix well. Add salt to taste. Sprinkle a little water and close the lid. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes until the carrots are well cooked. Finally add the coconut gratings and mix well. Remove from heat.

Serve warm with rice and any curry!

Apr 15, 2009

Khichdi - Comfort Food

This has become our regular weekend brunch.. Ultimate Comfort food.. Everything can be made in a single pot. The rice and lentils cooked together until they get mushy and creamy. Perfect for kids when served with a dollop of ghee. It tastes great when served while it is steaming hot right out of the cooker! It can be served with papads, any thokku or just a simple pickle. No chopping involved!! So it gets done in a matter of minutes. Just throw in the rice and dhall into the cooker with water. And do the seasoning in the meantime. Isn'it simple?

However you can change the recipe by using vegetables while cooking to make it more healthier.

Ingredients

Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dhal - 1/2 cup
Toor Dhall - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Green chillies - 4
Curry leaves - few
Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Ghee - 4 spoons
Milk - 1/2 cup (optional)

Directions

Wash the rice and dhall with water. Drain the water and add them to the pressure cooker.

Add water in the ratio 1:3.5 For rice and dhall (1 +1) which make up to 2 cups, add 7 cups of water. Add salt to taste. Cover the pressure cooker and cook until you get about 4 to 5 whistles.

Meanwhile in a small pan do the seasoning with the ghee, cumin seeds, curry leaves, garlic, ginger and green chillies.

Open the pressure cooker and pour the seasoning over the khichdi.

If you like the khichdi to be more creamy, add half cup of milk immediately after opening the cooker and mix well.

Serve hot!

Sending this to MLLA:10th helping hosted by Cococooks and an event started by Susan

This khichdi also goes to Trupti who is guest hosting "Cooking for Kids-Rice" event, which is started by Sharmi.

And also to 15 minute cooking hosted by Mahimaa.

Apr 13, 2009

My Quick Breakfast Smoothie

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.. But what do you do on days when you are in a hurry to get to work or school and busy packing lunches and you have absolutely no time to fix up a breakfast? Get a bowl of cereal filled with loads of sugar? I guess that is the case with many.

I do have a bowl of cereal once in a while. Elaborate breakfasts are reserved for the weekends. On weekend mornings, we have a bowl of oatmeal with nuts and fruits. Our recent addiction is this quick breakfast smoothie filled with the goodness of oats, nuts and fruits. Yes this smoothie contains oats!

Just add all the ingredients in a blender and blend to the required consistency. And the smoothie gets ready in minutes. You can add ingredients depending on your taste and liking. It contains no sugar. it gets its natural sweetness from the fruits and dates.

The smoothie is also good-to-go. Just fill in a bottle of this delicious smoothie and you can carry it along with you and have it any time during the day!

Here is my version!

Ingredients (Makes 2 tall glasses)

Orange - 1
Banana - 1
Kiwi - 1
Soaked almonds - 5
Dates - 4
Flax seeds - 1 teaspoon
Oats - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup

Directions

Peel the orange and kiwi. Chop the dates and banana roughly. Add all the ingredients in a blender and pulse it for about 3 to 4 times. You can increase or decrease the amount of milk to get the desired consistency. I added orange and kiwi as I had them on hand.

Feel free to use any fruit you like. Other options include oat bran, wheat bran, peanut butter, honey etc.

Enjoy this nutritious and power packed smoothie!!

Sending this quick smoothie to Single serving Recipes hosted by Sahaja

15 minute cooking hosted by Mahimaa

Eating with the seasons hosted at Maninas

RD for Summer hosted at Chandrabhaga

WYF:Breakfasts hosted by EC

Am also sending the following drinks for The RD for Summer event!

Blackberry Smoothie

Mango Lassi

Tangy Panaka

இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்!!

Apr 9, 2009

Blueberry Muffins

I grabbed a box of fresh blueberries last week from the market. I added some of the fresh blueberries to my breakfast smoothie and made blueberry muffins with the remaining. When fresh blueberries are baked their flavor sweetens and their texture softens. I adopted the recipe from Food Network exactly and I got 12 soft muffins. They are perfect for breakfast or with coffee or tea. These muffins freeze well for a while.

Ingredients (Adopted from Food Network)
All-purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 2 teaspoons
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter, melted - 1/2 stick
Egg, slightly beaten - 1
Whole milk - 3/4 cup
Fresh blueberries - 1 cup
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over mix; it's okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out.
Make sure you do not overmix the batter after you add the blueberries or the batter will turn blue.
Sending this to FIL:Fruits

Thanks to everyone who wished me on my Birthday yesterday! I was surprised by hubby dear with this beautiful Tiramisu cake! It was made of thin layers of espresso-soaked yellow sponge cake and marscapone cheese mousse and a lot of chocolate shavings on top!!

Had a wonderful Birthday!!

Apr 6, 2009

Tomato Chutney

This is a very easy chutney recipe which can be prepared in a matter of minutes. It uses very simple ingredients and can be adjustd to suit ones taste. It can be served as an accompaniment to idlies, dosas and rotis. Here comes the recipe for the vibrant, red, tomato chutney!

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 3 large ones
Onions - 1 large
Red chillies - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inc
Coconut - 3 tablespoons
Coriander leaves - a few springs
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Sambar powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhall - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Channa dhall - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Directions

Chop the onions, tomatoes and ginger. Heat some oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute till they turn translucent. Then add the ginger and cook for a while. Add the tomatoes and saute for a whle. Add the turmeric powder, red chillies, and sambhar powder and saute for two more minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool and blend them together along with the coconut and coriander in a mixie.

Heat oil in a pan and temper using the mustard seeds, urad dhall, channa dhall, asafoetida and curry leaves.

Pour the tempered mixture over the blended mixture and serve with idlies or dosas.

Sending this tomato chutney to WYF:Side Dishes hosted by EC and Spicy Fiery Chutney event.

Check out my other chutney recipes

Apr 3, 2009

Think Spice.. Think Pepper Roundup!

Am here finally, with the roundup of the Think Spice.. Think Pepper.. guest hosted by me for the month of March. I thank Sunita for giving me the opportunity to host this great event. I received a lot of entries featuring pepper from my blogger friends Of course, I received a lot of rasam recipes and non-vegetarian recipes. I put forth the round up here. Hopefully, I have included all recipes I received. Let me know if I have missed any. I would be glad to include them.

Have a look at the Peppery Roundup!!

Drinks and Soups