Technical issues

I would like to thank all my followers/readers for their continued support. Currently I am going through some technical issues which I am working very hard to fix. Because of this you may not be able to see some of the pictures. This problem has been going on for a week and a half now. I shall do everything to rectify this at the earliest possible! Until then enjoy the festive season of Diwali!

Happy Diwali to all of you!

Purple Cabbage Slaw with Chia seed dressing; Meatless Monday.

I am always on the lookout for including healthier food items into the everyday food for my family and me. I also try to make salads more interesting. Chia seeds is something I eat daily as part of my oatmeal. Recently on Dr. Oz I came across cabbage slaw using chia seed dressing. I tweaked the recipe a little and made purple cabbage slaw to go with my fish tacos! What a delicious meal I had. Everyone at home was happy! You can find the original recipe here. I am bringing this to Super Simple Tuesdays at Hun whats for dinner?

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Shredded Purple cabbage: 2 cups
Shredded Carrot: 1/4 cup
Onion: 1 small, sliced lengthwise

For the dressing:

Chia seeds: 1 tsp
Honey: 1 tsp
Rice Vinegar:2 tsp
Lemon juice: 2 tsp
Olive oil: 2 tbsp
Garlic: 1 small clove, minced
Salt: to taste
Black pepper: 1/4 tsp

Method:

In a bowl take the shredded cabbage, carrot and the sliced onions. Keep aside.

In a small glass bottle take all the ingredients listed under " dressing". Keep aside for 30 minutes for the chia seeds to absorb the fluid. Shake the bottle well.

Add the dressing to the above bowl as per taste. I use a lot if it.Toss well.

Serve chilled as a side with chicken/ fish/ rice or with tacos!

Cooking made easy:

You could double the dressing ingredients and make a big batch and keep it in the fridge to be used as needed. It should last for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Tip for healthy living:

Chia seeds are a superfood that is extremely good for our health. They are rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, calcium, antioxidants and dietary fiber. Chia seeds therefore have heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory benefit. It not only helps with satiety, also helps keep the bowel regular.They are also easily digestible.

Food for thought:

Friendship is one mind in two bodies. Mencius

Gobhi Mussallam ( Whole cauliflower barbecued and served in a creamy onion-tomato sauce)

Recently we took our kids apple picking to a farm far far away in Long Island. This farm also had lot of fresh vegetables grown locally at the farm. While I came home with a while bounty of fresh vegetables, I especially came home with these humongous orange( cheddar) and white cauliflowers each of which weighed atleast 10 lbs!! Just to provide you with a mental visual: each cauliflower was as big and heavy as a huge watermelon! I also already had 2 "big" store bought cauliflowers sitting in my refrigerator. What did I do with all these cauliflowers? A whole lot actually!! I made stir-fry with just cauliflowers, made sambar with cauliflower,made vegetable pulao, froze 3 gallon-sized freezer bags and of course made this amazing dish called Gobhi Mussallam. I have been wanting to make this dish for the longest now. I always thought that the dish was too tedious to make! But it is not! I  had some sauce put away in my freezer, so, I just marinated the cauliflower,baked it in the oven, heated up and modified the frozen sauce, served the cauliflower in this sauce with some nice peas Pulao. Yummy!!! The cauliflower was nice and crunchy in the smooth velvety sauce. Do give it a try. It will be a novel experience!

Recipe source: Neeta Kumar

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Cauliflower: 1 whole medium head.

For marination:

Greek yogurt: 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste: 2 tsp
Tandoori masala: 3 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste

For the sauce:

Oil: 2tbsp
Onions: 2 medium chopped
Ginger: 1 inch, minced
garlic :  4-5 cloves, minced
Tomato paste : 1 can
Green chillies: 4 medium
Cashews: 6-8 ( optional)
Almonds : 4-6 ( optional)
Haldi( turmeric powder):1tsp
Coriander powder: 1tbsp
Cumin powder: 1tsp
Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Kasoori methi ( dried fenugreek leaves): 1 tsp
Heavy cream: 1/2 cup( can be substituted with almond milk/ coconut milk)
Cilantro leaves: 1 tbsp chopped fine
Sugar:1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste

The Gobhi ( cauliflower):

Clean the cauliflower.

Blanch the cauliflower by keeping it in hot water that has a pinch of salt in it for 5 minutes. Or just keep it in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Now marinate it with all the ingredients under 'for marination'. Mix well and keep it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Line a baking tray with foil, place the cauliflower on it and bake it for 30-45 mins at 350 degrees in the oven turning once in between.

You know it is done when you can cut it easily with a fork. The cauliflower will be crisp ( not mushy).

You could stop at this stage, cut it into slices and serve as cauliflower "steak" with some rice or bread.

The sauce:

Make the sauce while you are waiting for the cauliflower to be cooked.

Soak the cashew nuts and almonds in water for at least 2 hours.Make a paste in the blender and keep aside.

In a sauté pan/ wok heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté chopped garlic, ginger,onion until it starts to wilt. Add the green chillies and sauté for a minute. Switch off the flame and let it cool. Once cooled, put it in a blender  and make a paste.

Heat the same wok/ sauté pan again, add remaining oil. Keep the flame on low.

Now add the  ground onion-garlic-ginger-green chilli paste to it and sauté until it  turns a little golden brown. 

Add the tomato paste and sauté until it begins to leave oil. 

Now add the haldi powder, coraiander and cumin powders and sauté for 30 seconds. 

Add red chilli powder and garam masala and sauté for another 20 seconds. 

Add the cashew-almond paste and  1/2 cup water to thin the sauce. Let it simmer. 

Add Kasoori methi, salt and pinch of sugar and mix well. 

Add the 1/2 cup heavy cream, let it simmer for 1-2 mins.

Putting it together:

To the above sauce, add the baked/ grilled whole cauliflower. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes for it to all come together.

Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serving:
Carve a slice of the cauliflower and serve it with a little sauce.

Serve hot with plain rice/ jeera/ rice/ peas-carrot pulao or just with some kind of roti/naan/bread.

Enjoy!

I am bringing this to the weekly fun-filled party at Angie's Fiesta Friday! Yay! Hilda and Julianna are co-hosting again this weekend! Yay again!!

Cooking made easy:

I tend to make onion- ginger-garlic- green chilli paste and freeze it in batches. Whenever I need it, I take a portion, thaw it, add tomato paste, the spices and whatever vegetable/ chicken/ paneer. Weeknight dinner is ready!

You can also make the whole sauce and freeze it in batches, thawing an using it as needed.

Tip for healthy living:

If you have a cold/cough/sore throat drinking ginger-honey-lemon tea will help soothe it. This you can do by boiling 1 inch ginger that is grated into 2 cups water, reducing it to one cup. Turn off the flame, squeeze quarter of a lemon and a teaspoon of  honey.

Food for thought:

Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing. Salvador Dali

Quinoa Masala Dosa ( Paper thin crispy crepe made with rice-lentil-quinoa batter and stuffed with spicy onion- potato stuffing)

Masala dosa is one of the favorite breakfast items for my husband. My kids and I love dosas( crepes). Since I do not eat potatoes any more I stay away from the stuffing. I eat my paper thin crisp dosas with chutney.
Being that everyone likes dosas, I try to make it as healthy an wholesome as possible. I use 4 different kinds of lentil for my paper masala dosa. The quinoa masala dosa was quite accidental actually. One day, when I was soaking the lentils and rice for masala dosa, I realized that I didn't have any tur dal in my pantry. I believe in making use of what is available. I had about 1/2 cup of quinoa left. I decided to use it in this. I reduced the amount of rice used. Quinoa as you all aware is a superfood with immense health benefits. My little ones do not eat quinoa salad or pulao or cooked quinoa. This was a great way to sneak in the healthy grain into their bodies! The end result was that the masala dosa was delicious and the kids didn't know the difference! They chomped away!

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

For the Dosa batter:

Rice: 1 1/2 cups
Urad dal: 1/4 cup
Chana dal: 1/4 cup
Moong dal: 1/4 cup
Massoor dal: 1/4 cup
Quinoa: 1/2 cup
Methi ( fenugreek) seeds: 1 tsp
Water: to grind the batter.
Salt: to taste

For  the Bhaji ( stuffing):

Potatoes : 3 medium
Onion: 1 big, chopped small.
Green chillies: 2 slit lengthwise
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Urad dal: 1/2 tsp
Chana dal: 1/2 tsp
Jeera(cumin): 1/4 tsp
Haldi( turmeric powder):1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Oil: 1 tbsp
Cilantro ( coriander leaves) 5-6 sprigs
Salt to taste

For the Chutney:

Grated fresh coconut: 1 cup
Green chilli: 1
Red chilli ( dry): 2
Ginger: 1/4 inch
Tamarind: marble sized
Chana dal: 1 tsp
Oil: 2 drops for sautéing
Salt to taste

Method:

The dosa batter:

Soak the lentils, rice, quinoa and methi seeds together in water for 4-5 hours or overnight.

Grind all the ingredients  that were soaked to a batter with fine consistency using water as needed.The batter should not be runny. 

Let it ferment for atleast 8 hours or overnight.

Next morning just before making the dosa, add salt to taste. Mix well.

The stuffing ( baji):

Boil potatoes till tender. When cooled, peel and dice it into 1cm cubes and keep aside.

Heat a kadai/ sauté pan on medium heat. Add oil,temper mustard seeds.

Then add curry leaves, jeera,chana dal, urad dal one after the other and sauté till urad dal turns a little golden brown. 

Now add the slit green chillies and the chopped onions. Sauté until onions turn transparent. 

Now add haldi and sauté for 1 more min. 

Add the diced potatoes and sauté for 2-3 mins. 

Garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

The chutney:

Sauté  chana dal in one drop of oil until golden brown. 

When cooled, grind it together with grated coconut, green chilli, red chili, ginger,tamarind, salt and water into a thick paste.


Putting it together:

Heat a tawa/griddle on medium-high flame. When the skillet is hot, sprinkle cold water. Take a ladle of dosa batter and go in concentric circles from the center to the periphery of the skillet. 

When the dosa is slightly done lightly smear oil along the edges and the center of the dosa.

Once it turns golden brown and crispy, smear the chutney at the center of the dosa and place a tablespoon of the potato baji. Now fold the dosa into a roll as shown in the picture.

Serve hot with chutney and/or sambar. 

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

I have substituted quinoa for 1/4th of the rice used. You could use greater proportion of quinoa.

Any kind of stuffing an chutney can be used depending on individual preferences and taste. The one that I shared is the one that is traditionally used.

For a nice crispy dosa, it is essential that the griddle is hot, the temperature should be maintained evenly at medium high.

Wait for the dosa to be crisp before adding the chutney and the stuffing. This dosa is to be cooked only from one side.

Tip for healthy living:

Adults need at least 7-8 hours of restful sleep to energize the body. Children need more. The time that we sleep is used by the body to repair, recover and re-energize itself. Inadequate sleep leads to fatigue and listlessness. There is nothing called "catching up with my sleep". The body does not work like that!
References:

Food for thought:

Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones. Theodore Roosevelt

Mangalorean Fish Curry ( Fish in a coriander-cumin flavored coconut sauce)

.

I love fish. Given a choice between chicken and fish I will always go for the fish. I like fried fish better than the curried one but I could never say no to the sauce from the fish curry with some rice! Mmmmm heaven on earth! The sauce tastes even better the next day! After the nine-day fasting recently, the first thing I craved for was fish!! Luckily for me, I have a Chinese supermarket that sells fresh fish two blocks away from me! Then why is it that I don't make fish that often?? Well, I predominantly eat vegetarian meals and eat non-vegetarian once in a while when I crave for it. Anyways, this particular fish market also sells live fish. They have a range from live Tilapia to Buffalo fish to carp and even catfish! I decided to buy live Tilapia. This is the first time I am buying live fish! Why?? I don't know why I never bought live fish before! However I do know that I would bring it more often in the future. The fresh fish was so devoid of the "fishy" smell that you couldn't tell that I was cooking/ cooked fish! The fish was firm, nice and fresh. The bland Tilapia perfectly complimented the spicy coconut sauce.

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:

Tilapia fish: 1 medium sized, cut into medium-sized slices( any fish that is cut into medium slices can be used).
Freshly grated coconut: 1 cup
Dried Red chillies: 4
Coriander seeds:1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Black pepper corns:1/2 tsp
Methi seeds ( fenugreek): 1/8 tsp
Tamarind: marble size if using dried, 1/4 tsp if using the pulp.
Onion: 1 medium, chopped fine
Garlic: 2-3 small cloves, diced
Ginger: 1 inch, minced
Green chillies: 2-3, slit lengthwise
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Water: 1 cup + as needed for grinding the paste.

Method:

Clean the fish thoroughly, marinate with salt and turmeric powder for 15-20 minutes.

Grind the coconut with coriander seeds, jeera, pepper corns, methi seeds, red chillies, tamarind and little water to a fine paste in a blender. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a pot.Add the chopped onions and garlic, saute until they turn transparent. 

Now add the green chillies, ginger, the ground masala( paste), salt and one cup water and bring it to a boil. 

Add the marinated fish slices to it, cover and cook on medium heat until the fish is tender( around 8-10 minutes depending on the fish).

Serve hot with steamed rice/ bread/ flat bread.

Enjoy! I am bringing this taste of Mangalore to my friends at Fiesta Friday! Hilda and Julianna are the co-hosts!

Cooking made easy:

You could make the above dish using powdered spices like coriander powder, cumin powder etc instead of whole and use coconut milk instead of grated coconut. It would be much quicker and easier and you would have no grinding to do!

Tip for healthy living:

While buying fish avoid buying big fish. It is better to buy small fish. Why? For fear of mercury in fish. Big fish tend to have a higher proportion of mercury accumulation in them than the smaller fish. It is also better to buy wild-caught fish than farm-raised fish. Farm raised fish have been found to contain several harmful chemicals in them including PCBs.

Food for thought:

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. Twyla Tharp

Potato Mezhukkupuratty ( Spicy pan-fried potatoes); Meatless Monday

Years ago when I lived in a hostel, I had a roommate who was from Kerala. I learnt quite a lot about their cuisine. One of her favorite, easy, go-to dish for lunch/ dinner was this one. It has so few ingredients in it, yet tastes absolutely delicious! My husband who is a die-hard potato fan just loves it! Here is the simple recipe that is perfect for weeknight dinners. It can be eaten during fasting too as there is no onion-garlic in it.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Potatoes: 4 medium
Coconut oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 sprig ( optional)
Haldi ( turmeric powder): 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder: 1 tsp ( adjust based on your spice level)
Salt: to taste

Method:

Peel the potatoes and chop them lengthwise into pieces that are approximately 1. 5 inch in length and 1 cm thick. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan/ sauté pan. Add mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and turmeric powder. Sauté for a few seconds.

Now add the potatoes and the salt in and mix well. Lower the flame to the lowest possible, cover the pan and cook until the potatoes are 3/4 cooked. Make sure you open the pan frequently in between and turn the potatoes over or else they will burn.

When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the chilli powder and mix well. Cover and cook until the potatoes reach your desired level of tenderness.

Serve hot with steamed rice / flat bread / roti/regular bread.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

Chopped potatoes discolor when left open to air. You can prevent this by soaking it in water with a pinch of salt in it.

Tip for healthy living:

Exfoliating your skin often results in shiny, healthy looking skin. You can make an exfoliating scrub by mixing 2 tbsp quick oats with 1/2 tsp honey and 1 tbsp milk. Mix well to a paste. Rub the skin with it and rinse with cold water.

Food for thought:

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. Frank Lloyd wright

Crunchy Aloo Gobhi for Vrat ( Potato-cauliflower stir fry)

This post was meant to be posted on Friday, 3rd October.That was my last day of fasting and after work, we rushed to the temple for Saraswathi pooja for the kids, came back home, did the laundry and when I actually sat to post this, I fell asleep on the laptop!!! Well, I did not want to not post this. So here it is!

Today is Vijaydashami. Vijaydashami marks the end of Navrathri. Vijay means victory and Dashami means ten. This day is also known as Dusshera. Dasha Hara is a Sanskrit word which means removal of ten bad qualities within you.These being:
Kama vasana (Lust)
Krodha (Anger)
Moha (Attachment)
Lobha (Greed)
Mada (Over Pride)
Matsara (Jealousy)
Swartha (Selfishness)
Anyaaya (Injustice)
Amanavta (Cruelty)
Ahankara (Ego)

 So on the 10th day of Navrathri, we end the fasting and celebrate the victory of good over evil. We have cleansed ourselves physically with the fasting and mentally by praying.

On this auspicious day, I present to you a nice, tasty easy to make cauliflower-potato stir fry that can be eaten when fasting ( vrat) as it does not have onions and garlic. For me, this is a perfect marriage between cauliflower and potatoes. Also I can achieve several objectives with just one dish. It is not to spicy so the kids are happy( of course, you can make it spicy if you wish to!). My husband loves the potatoes and I love cauliflower. I give all the potatoes to him and take mainly the cauliflower for myself. I love the roasted cauliflowers in this dish!Mmmm

I am bringing this dish to Fiesta Friday to Angie, Selma and Elaine who are co-hosting this week and all the wonderful gals out there.  I am sure they will love it!

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Cauliflower florets: 3 cups
Potatoes: 2 medium, peeled and sliced into thin wedges.
Coconut oil: 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Haldi ( turmeric powder): 1/2 tsp
Red chilli  powder: 1/2 tsp ( adjust based on your spice level).
Garam masala powder: a pinch ( optional)
Salt: to taste

Method:

In a sauté pan or frying pan, heat oil. Add cumin seeds, sauté for 10 seconds.

Add haldi,coriander  and chilli powder.

Now add the cauliflower florets and sauté on medium heat until three-quarters tender. It should turn slightly brown and crisp. 

Now add the potato slices , salt and sauté for a minute. Cover and cook on low until the potatoes are tender. 

Add a pinch of garam masala powder, mix well.

Serve hot with steamed rice/ flat bread/bread.

Yummy!!

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

If you are in a rush and want the cauliflowers to be cooked quickly, just put it in an oven-safe bowl and cook it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes before sautéing it in the pan. This significantly reduces the cooking time.

Tip for healthy living:

If you have an insect bite, make a paste of cornstarch with water, apply it to the area for 1 hour. The bite should feel significantly better.

Food for thought:

Romance is everything. Gertrude Stein