Simple & Quick Subzis ~ Cucumber Subzi / Kheera Koora / Southekayi Palya

This simple, south Indian style preparation uses the regular, green cucumbers and is going to be my third day "microwave cooking" entry of BM#8.  Needless to say this one is quick, delicious and goes great with rice.

Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

Ingredients:

For tadka: 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp chana dal, 4 red chillies broken into bits and few curry leaves
2 cups peeled and cubed cucumber

Salt to taste

1/4 - 1/2 cup grated fresh / frozen coconut

(1/8 tsp of turmeric powder may also be added while cooking cucumbers.)

Method:

Heat the oil in a microwave safe bowl and add the tadka ingredients. When the dals turn reddish, add the cucumber and continue to cook until done. Then add the salt and coconut to the cooked cucumber and mix well. Cook for  a couple of minutes more and remove the bowl. Serve with hot rice.

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Microwave Cooking ~ Masoor Dal - Chayote Sambhar

A quick and tasty sambhar prepared in microwave for my "microwave cooking" theme in BM#8. Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking today.

Ingredients: (4 -5 servings)

1/2 cup masoordal

1/2 cup peeled and cubed chayote
1/8 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

3/4 to 1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp sambhar powder

Jaggery to taste (optional)

Tamarind paste / puree as needed

For tadka: 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, 1 red chillie and few curry leaves

Minced cilantro for garnish

Method:

* Wash masoor dal in two exchanges of water. Add the washed dal, chayote, turmeric powder and 1 cup of water to a microwave safe bowl. Cook it in the microwave until the dal is done, about 10 minutes. 

* Now add sambhar powder, chili powder, salt, tamarind and jaggery to the cooked dal. Add extra water to bring to sambhar consistency, about 2 cups. Mix well, taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Put it back in the microwave and bring it to a rolling boil. It may take around 8 - 10 minutes.

* Heat oil in a small microwave safe bowl for two minutes. Then add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asofoetida, chili and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, remove the bowl. Add this tadka to the cooked sambhar and mix well. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot with rice / rotis.

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Microwave Tomato Cilantro Chutney ~ Tomato Kothimeera Pachadi

A couple of weeks ago, both the computers at home crashed, partly because of me. I decided to spare M's laptop and so took a forced blogging break. M fixed one computer over the weekend but I would have continued the break if not for Srivalli's BM#8. It was so tempting that I could not let go even when I am leaving on a weeklong vacation tomorrow. :) As usual, Valli gave us several interesting themes to choose from and I am going ahead with "Microwave Cooking" theme this week.

I thought of preparing a full course meal using microwave during this session and hoping to achieve it amidst my haywire schedule. I am starting today with a lip smacking, spicy chutney prepared with tangy tomatoes and aromatic cilantro.

Ingredients:

2-3 tsp oil

2 tsp urad dal / skinned, split black gram

1 tsp mustard seeds

8 - 10 fenugreek seeds / methi seeds

5 green chillies (I used Serrano peppers. Adjust the quantity if needed.)

2 tomatoes / 1 cup chopped cubes

1 cup packed, cilantro leaves

1/8 tsp turmeric powder

a pinch of asafoetida powder

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a microwave safe bowl for two minutes and then add the black gram, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Heat them again for a couple of minutes until the black gram turns reddish and mustard starts to splutter. Then add the green chillies and fry for about 30 seconds. Then add the tomatoes and cook (stirring in between) until it appears done, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the cilantro, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder to the tomato mixture and cook for one more minute. Remove the bowl and let cool. Grind the mixture to a coarse paste adding salt as needed.

Serve it along with rice or any Indian breakfast dishes.

Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

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Flaxy Peach Milkshake

Truth be told, I don't crave for summers and especially when 80 - 90 deg F weather is thrown at me, a freezing winter season seems like a better option.☺Though I come from a tropical country, I grew up in 'garden city' of India during pre pollution era (compared to now) and relatively when it was cooler. And so, a 60 - 70 deg F weather sounds perfect and very ideal. When the mercury levels start raising, my patience/energy levels decrease somehow.

This summer has been bad, I should say. The whole nation has been engulfed by heat wave for the past weeks. I have not endured this many 90 deg days in a single summer in Chicagoland as far as I recall. I know it has been worst in the other parts where the relentless heat has been scorching lands causing droughts and setting up new heat records. Some are continuously dealing with three digit numbers. When all that considered, our area seems slightly better. At least each weekly forecast is featuring a few thunderstorms. ☺

A couple of weeks ago, a relative girl who follows my blog had asked me to post some smoothies / shakes recipes. A fair request indeed considering the fact that she lives on the east coast. I could not post earlier because I was tied up with marathon posts and so planning to post at least a couple of them for her, this week.

Deepthi, here you go. This pleasing peach milkshake is for you. For an healthier punch, I added some flax seed meal and that is entirely optional.

Ingredients for 4 generous servings:

4 peaches

2 Tbsp flax seed powder (optional)

2.5 - 3 cups cold milk

Sweetener to taste - (Agave nectar / honey / sugar / any other sugar substitute)

Method:

Peel the peaches and remove the seeds. Blend the prepared fruit, milk, flax seed meal and sweetener to a puree and serve with some crushed ice if desired.

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Sweet - Tart Cowpeas / Alasandala Pulusu

Today is the last day of BM#7 and I am here with a recipe adapted from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries.

I use red chori beans frequently in my kitchen and my MIL's red chori bean - eggplant preparation is one of our favorite dishes. When I noticed several recipes using this bean in Iyer's cookbook, I was fascinated and copied down the recipes (only the list of ingredients to be precise) to try later. And today's post happens to be one of them. A delicious, hearty, sweet- tangy dal that goes well with rice / rotis.

Ingredients: (4 Servings)

1/2 cup cowpeas / red chori beans

3 - 4 Tbsp peanuts - toasted and ground

2 tsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

3 -4 green chillies (I used Serrano peppers.)

Pinch of asafoetida

Few curry leaves

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

 2- 3 Tbsp tamarind juice or to taste

Jaggery to taste

Salt to taste

Method:

* Cook chori beans until soft adding plenty of water in a pressure cooker. Once the valve pressure is gone, remove the beans and drain the water used to cook. Wash the beans thoroughly. If you prefer a gravy, 1/4 of the cooked beans can be pureed.

* Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida. When mustard seeds start to pop, add green chillies and turmeric powder. Fry for about 30 seconds.

* Then add the cooked beans (and puree if using), peanut powder, jaggery, salt and tamarind. Add water if needed, to bring it to a desired consistency. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Lower the heat, simmer for a couple of minutes more and turn off the stove.

For those of you who missed any of my posts in this marathon, here is a recap.

1st week - "Microwave Cooking" Recipes

1. Pear Jam

2. Eggless, 2 Minutes Microwave Brownie  

3. Chocolate Popcorn Trail Mix

4. Danedar Dal

5. Carrot Halwa

6. Vermicelli - Coconut Upma

7. Egglesss Microwave Cake (10 minutes)

2nd week - "Cooking from Cookbooks" Recipes

1. Magori Palak Ki Kadhi

2. Easy, Eggless Lime Cookies

3. Chole Panjim

4. Black Pepper - Cashew Rice

5. Imli Aloo

6. Vermicelli Dosas

Check what my fellow marathoners made today.

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Vermicelli Dosas

Today's recipe comes from a Telugu cookbook named "Vegetarian Vantalu" by Smt. Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani, one of the famous female Telugu novelists. The book is divided into chapters, covering all the topics ranging from soups, salads to pickle making. As the name indicates, it gives prominence to vegetarian style cooking and is really a great gift to novice cooks.

Vermicelli dosas are no grind / ferment dosas that can be served for breakfast or as an evening snack. Soaking the vermicelli for about an hour in buttermilk makes it kind of mushy and one can hardly guess that dosas are made with vermicelli. These lacy thin, crisp dosas taste fabulous along with a chutney / spicy pickle.

Ingredients: (For 10 Dosas)

1/2 cup vermicelli / semya

1 cup buttermilk / majjiga (or whisk the yogurt adding water)

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup water
1 big onion, finely minced
2 green chillies, finely minced
Minced cilantro

Oil to fry dosas

Method:

* Soak vermicelli in buttermilk for about an hour.
* Add rice flour and enough water to the soaked vermicelli to form a lump free, thin batter (like rava dosa batter). Or a thick batter can  be prepared adding less water. Mix onion, chillies and cilantro to the batter.

* Heat a griddle / non stick shallow pan. When it is hot enough, pour a ladleful of batter on the griddle. Start pouring the batter from outside circle of the griddle. You can not spread with the back of the ladle if using a thinner batter. It will spread on it's own and fill any gaps in the middle with dosa batter. Pour about half a tsp of oil around the edges of dosa and let it cook on medium flame. When the dosa turns browner (the side closer to the griddle), flip it and again pour another 1/2 tsp oil around the edges and let it cook for a minute and remove it.

Repeat the same with the remaining batter.

Today, I made triangle shaped vermicelli dosas.

This is my Day 6 post in BM#7 and check what my fellow marathoners are cooking today.

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Imli Aloo

Today's experiment from the book was supposed to be a dish from the Eastern parts of India. I thought I would give an Assamese dish a try since the state's cuisine is an unknown territory to me. However, in the midst of cooking, I realized that 10 baby potatoes + a tomato + a red chilli = bland, baby food in my world and had to shift my focus to this imli aloo from "Pure and Simple". This super spicy, tangy aloo preparation is my kind of dish J and was fabulous with both rice and rotis.

Ingredients:

6 large sized potatoes - peeled, cubed and boiled

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)

1/4 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

3 or 4 red chillies

A pinch of asafoetida

1 Tbsp tamarind juice

Chili powder or to taste

Salt to taste

Garam masala to taste

Coriander powder to taste

Chat masala + Mint powder* (I did not use them.)

Minced cilantro for garnish

* I think the dish would be super spicy if we went along with the directions. The quantities mentioned in the book are

3 tsp coriander powder + 4 dried red chillies + 1 tsp chili powder + 1/2 tsp garam masala + 1/2 tsp chat masala + 1/2 tsp mint powder

Method:

* Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, dried chillies and asafoetida. When the seeds start to brown, add tamarind water. Add potatoes and mix well.

* Then add all the spice powders and salt. Cook on low flame for about five minutes, stirring occasionally.

* Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

This is my Day 5 post in BM#7 and Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

This goes to Akila's "Dish name starts with I".

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Black Pepper - Cashew Rice

My "cooking from a cookbook" themed, Day 4 post of BM#7 comes from "Healthy South Indian Cooking", co authored by Alamelu Vairavan and her American neighbor for the past two decades, Patricia Marquardt. When I was looking for cookbooks in my local library, this book caught my husband's attention for the word 'South Indian" and we borrowed it. J This book has a very good collection of South Indian style recipes, especially the ones belonging to Chettinad cuisine. Some of them are very new to me and I can't wait to try them.

Being a South Indian, rice is a staple dish in my home and I am on a lookout for new rice dishes. For the same reason and the simplicity of it, I tried this savory black pepper - cashew rice. The authors mention that it goes well with both vegetable and meat dishes or raitas. However I served it with plain raita since it was spicy enough on it's own.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice (I used Sona masuri rice. Basmati variety can be substituted.)

For tadka: 2 Tbsp oil / ghee, 1 tsp urad dal (split black gram), 1 tsp mustard seeds, few curry leaves and 1 dried red chilli, broken into bits

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 cup dry toasted cashews

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the rice and cook adding 2 cups of water. Let cool to keep the grains separated.

Heat oil in a pan and add the tadka ingredients. When mustard seeds start to pop, add chopped onion. When onion turns translucent, add pepper and cumin powders, salt and cashews. Mix well.

Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

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Chole Panjim

Chole Panjim adapted from: Gourmet Indian in Minutes

Is anyone familiar with Chole Panjim? I wasn't until I saw the recipe in the above mentioned cookbook. Punjabi style chole is so popular in Indian subcontinent that it needs no introduction. Similar with pindi chana but chole panjim is somewhat unknown I should say. This Goan chole recipe is no way related to the standard chole served at North Indian homes / Indian restaurants worldwide. This colorful dish uses some of the common ingredients of the local cuisine such as the coconut and chillies, replacing the spices of a Punjabi chole preparation. I should say I fell in love with this dish more than the standard chole because of the familiar ingredients and flavors. J A 'must try' for chole / chana lovers.

And for people who are not familiar with Indian geography, Panaji / Panjim is the capital of the Indian state Goa.

Ingredients: (3 - 4 servings)

3 Tbsp oil

1 tsp ginger - garlic paste (I omitted garlic.)

1/4 cup grated, dried coconut (unsweetened)

6 dried, very red chillies (I used Byadagi variety.)

1 tsp garam masala (I sprinkled a little at the end and did not use the whole quantity.)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 big onion, finely chopped

1 tomato, finely chopped (optional and was not part of the recipe.)

2 cups canned / cooked chickpeas

Salt to taste

Minced cilantro to garnish

Method:

* Heat a Tbsp of oil in a pan and add ginger (and garlic if using). Sauté for a few seconds and then add the red chillies and coconut. Fry on low flame until the coconut browns. Turn off the stove and let cool. Grind this fried mixture and garam masala (if using now) to a fine paste adding required water.

* Heat 2 Tbsp oil in another pan and add cumin seeds. When they start to brown, add the chopped onion and fry until translucent. Then add the tomato and cook until mushy.

* Next add the ground paste, cooked chickpeas and salt to the onion - tomato mixture. Add water if needed and bring it to a rolling boil. * Garnish with cilantro and serve with some warm rotis.

Chole Panjim is my "Cooking from Cookbooks" themed, Day 3 post of BM #7. Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

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Easy Lime Cookies

Easy lime cookies are my "Cooking from Cookbooks" themed, Day 2 post of BM #7. Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

These yummy and crispy cookies come from Anjum's New Indian. Honestly until I saw this book in my local library, I didn't know who Anjum Anand was. A few months back, I picked this book randomly for the beautiful images inside and the gorgeous lady on the cover. J I was really surprised to see some regular, easy fare also being featured along with a wide array of mouthwatering dishes in this cookbook. I had copied a couple of recipes that had really caught my attention to try later and these easy and addictive lime cookies are one among those.

These cookies are perfect teatime snack and are known as sweet rotis. They are traditionally cooked in a frying pan on the stove top, owing to the absence of ovens in Indian kitchens. She has provided both oven and stovetop versions. I tried the oven version and shaped the cookies thicker. Vanilla essence can easily replace the lime / lemon zest in the recipe or some colored icing or sugar can be used to decorate. These short and crumbly biscuits become crisp as they cool.

Ingredients: (For 8 cookies)
1/2 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar (or powdered sugar)
3 - 4 Tbsp melted butter / ghee
1 tsp lime/lemon zest
8 pistachios, skinned and sliced (optional)

Oven Method:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
* Mix together flour, sugar, ghee / butter and the zest and work the dough until it comes together. Divide the dough into 8 balls. Flatten each ball into discs as thin as possible, in your palms. Or roll the dough and shape using cookie cutters. Sprinkle the sliced nuts on top.
* Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until coloring on the edges. Remove and cool.

Stovetop Method:
I did not try this method but mentioning it for those interested. Place the flattened dough discs in a cold, nonstick frying pan and sprinkle sliced nuts / dried coconut flakes / lime sugar* if using. Cook over low heat until the base is golden, about 7 -8 minutes. Carefully flip the cookies and cook for about 4 minutes, over very low heat so that the tops do not color.
In stove top method, cookies can be done in batches. Try fitting as many discs as your pan holds.
* See notes

Note:
1. The original recipe uses 2 Tbsp of butter and I couldn't shape the cookies using that quantity. Next time I will try with 2 tbsp of butter plus some milk for shaping.
2. I skipped the following two steps from the original recipe while I prepared this batch of cookies.
a). Sprinkling lime sugar on top. * 1 tsp superfine sugar + 3/4 tsp lime zest is pounded and sprinkled before baking.
b). Also unsweetened dried coconut flakes can be sprinkled on top.

3. The original recipe mentions to bake for 10 minutes and my cookies were still soft by that time. I had to bake five minutes longer. Once cool, these cookies turn crisp. 

These go to "Only Baked" event at Tamalapaku, an event originally started by Pari.

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