SEMI-HOMEMADE SOUP



SEMI-HOMEMADE SOUP
This is a very tasty and easy way of preparing soup in a few minutes. Personally I don’t prefer canned soups because of its preservatives but I love the taste of these soups than the homemade ones. Recently I started getting readymade dried soup packets and these were good too but most of the time the vegetables added in them was less. I tried adding frozen vegetables to the readymade soup mixture and I liked it very much. Then onwards, I started preparing soups this way. In this soup, I added beans, carrots, cauliflower, frozen peas and corn. The soup mixture used here is sweet-corn. The measurements I have used here are for 2 persons. They can be increased or decreased accordingly.

INGREDIENTS:
Instant soup mix, (any kind) ½ packet.
Vegetables like, beans, carrots, cauliflower, peas, corn, everything coming to cup when cut.
Cilantro for garnishing, a handful.
Salt and pepper as required.

PREPARATION:
I have used a mixture of frozen and fresh vegetables here. If frozen vegetables are used, they can be added directly to the soup. Chop the fresh vegetables and cook them in microwave for 2 minutes and keep aside. Heat a pot with 2 cups of water. When the water starts to boil, add ½ pack of the soup and stir everything well. Add the cooked vegetables and frozen corn and peas and keep stirring for a few minutes. Turn off the stove when the soup reaches the desired consistency. Garnish with cilantro, add salt and pepper and serve hot with bread or crackers.

CRISPY PAKORAS







CRISPY PAKORAS

This weekend was as usual for us, lazy! After a late breakfast of Pongal, we had our lunch around 3:30 p.m. I wanted to make something light and simple for lunch as our breakfast was heavy. I prepared vatha kozumbu, rasam, and pakoras as side dish. Making pakoras is very easy if we only know the right consistency for the besan batter. If it is too watery and clumpy, the pakoras end up soggy (I learnt it the hard way). At least, now-a-days, I prepare crispy pakoras. They can go as a side dish for any simple or a tasty evening snack with tea. I have added a little ginger-garlic paste. As for me, I add ginger-garlic paste in almost everything, I simply cannot live without it but it can be omitted if needed. Here goes the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
Besan, 1 cup.
Rice flour, 1 tablespoon.
Onions, small, 2.
Curry leaves, a handful.
Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
Salt as per taste.
Red food color, (optional), 1 pinch.
Oil, 1 cup for deep frying.

PREPARATION:
Cut the onion into long thin strips. Chop the curry leaves into small pieces. Take a cup of besan or gram flour in a dish. Add a tablespoon of rice flour, food color, and salt per taste and mix the flours well. Add the chopped onions, curry leaves, and ginger-garlic paste to the flour mixture. Mix everything well without water. If it is too powdery, add few drops of water and knead everything well. The mixture should not be too powdery also with just enough water to coat the flour into the onions. Heat a pot with a cup of oil. When the oil is hot enough, take some of the pakora mixture and put them slowly into the oil spreading the pakora mixture as they are added into the oil. They should be clumped together and added to the oil. When the pakoras turn golden-brown take them out of the oil, drain them on a paper towel and serve hot.

SPICY CORN FRITTERS




SPICY CORN FRITTERS
I have been making this dish sometimes for an evening snack since the past year. I don’t remember from where I learnt this dish, I think it was from Epicurious. In the beginning, I prepared it according to the original dish just with ground corn, salt, and pepper but it not suit our taste buds, so I pepped it up a little our Indian style. It tasted good nonetheless. For all my dishes, the measuring is for 2 persons. The measurements can be increased or decreased accordingly.

INGREDIENTS:
Corn (Frozen or fresh off the cob), 1-1/2 cup.
Onion, small, 1.
Green chilies, 2.
Garlic, 2 cloves (optional).
Garam masala, 1 teaspoon, (optional).
Salt, as per taste.
Curry leaves and cilantro, a handful each.

PREPARATION:
If fresh corn is used, cut the corn off the cob and keep aside. It need not be cooked. I have used frozen corn here, which I microwaved for 1 min to take out the thaw. Chop the onion, chilies, cilantro, and curry leaves into small pieces. Grind the corn into a rough paste. Two cloves of garlic can also be ground with the corn. Some of the corn can even be left whole. Add the chopped onions, chilies, curry leaves, and cilantro to the ground corn. Add some salt and a teaspoon of garam masala to the mixture and mix everything well. If needed a tablespoon of rice flour or all purpose flour can be added to make it crispier. Heat a pot with a cup of oil for deep frying. When the oil is hot enough take small spoonfuls of the mixture and drop into the hot oil. When the fritters get cooked and start rising, remove them from the oil and drain excess oil in a paper towels. Serve hot with ketchup.

EGG KURMA


EGG KURMA
This is a favorite dish of my husband. I learnt to make this dish from my mother-in-law after marriage. Since my husband is a vegetarian (though he eats eggs), my MIL used to make this on Sundays to go with idlis and dosas. This was new to me as I had never had kurma for idlis or dosas. After tasting it for the first time, I got hooked on to this dish. Now-a-days, egg kurma is a part of Sunday brunch for us. When we were in India I used fresh coconut but in US I started using coconut milk for kurmas. The taste is same as using fresh coconut. Here goes the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
Onion, medium-sized, 1.
Tomato, 1.
Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
Cinnamon, 1 small stick.
Fennel seeds, ½ teaspoon.
Bay leaf, 1.
Eggs, 4.
Coconut milk, 1 cup (or) fresh coconut ground with khus-khus into a smooth paste, 1 cup.
Chili powder, 2 teaspoons.
Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
Turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon.
Salt, as per taste.
Curry leaves and cilantro for seasoning.

PREPARATION:
Chop the onion and tomato and keep aside. Heat a pan with some oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and fry them for 1 minute. Add the chopped onion and tomato and sauté for few minutes. Then add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a minute until everything is well blended. Add the chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and fry for a minute until the raw smell of the spices goes. Add 1 cup of coconut milk with ½ cup of water with salt and cook over a medium flame for 10 minutes. When the kurma starts to thicken break 4 eggs into the kurma. The eggs should not be mixed with the kurma. They should be left whole. Cook them closed for 5-8 minutes. When the eggs are cooked, they start to float on the top. Serve hot with idlis or dosas.

BELL PEPPER CURRY




BELL PEPPER CURRY
This recipe was from my friend. We were invited for dinner to their house and she made this curry served with rotis. It tasted so good. She used green peppers but I tried it at home with yellow, orange and red peppers. They tasted good too and the curry was colorful.


INGREDIENTS
Bell peppers-3.
Onion- 1 large.
Ginger-garlic paste.
Salt as per taste.
Chili powder -1 tablespoon.
Garam masala- 1 teaspoon (optional).
Tamarind juice, 1 tablespoon.

INGREDIENTS FOR GRINDING
Peanuts, handful, roasted.
Sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon, roasted.

PREPARATION
Cut the bell peppers into small, thin strips. I have taken out the seeds of the bell peppers but the seeds can also be left. Chop the onion into small pieces. Heat a kadai with some oil and put the chopped onions and sauté them for 2 minutes and then add the bell peppers and ginger-garlic paste and sauté them till the bell peppers is cooked but not too soft. Then add the ground peanut and sesame paste, chili powder, salt, tamarind juice, and garam masala and add 1/2 cup of water. Cook them closed for 5 minutes on a low flame until the curry thickens up, then add curry leaves and cilantro on top and serve.

KEERAI VADAI


KEERAI VADAI
My grandmother used to make delicious keerai vadais. She will add drumstick leaves to the vada. I have not found fresh drumstick leaves in US, so I have used spinach. Even methi leaves can be used for making these vadas. Here goes the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
Channa dhal, 1 cup, soaked for 2-3 hours.
Fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon.
Rice powder, 1 tablespoon.
Garlic, 2 cloves.
Ginger small pieces.
Green chilies, 3.
Spinach, 1 bunch.
Salt, as per taste.
Red onion, medium-sized, 1.
Curry leaves, a handful.
Cilantro, a handful.

PREPARATION:
Wash the soaked channel dhal and set aside. Grind the channa dhal along with the fennel seeds, chilies, garlic, and ginger without water. Clean the spinach and chop them into small pieces. Chop the onion, curry leaves, and cilantro into small pieces. Add the chopped spinach, onion, curry leaves, cilantro, rice powder, and salt to the ground channa dhal and mix everything well. Heat a kadai with 1 cup of oil. When the oil is hot, take a small amount of the ground mixture and flatten it with the palm of the hand and drop into the hot oil. When the vadais rise up and turns golden-brown, remove the vadais from the oil and drain the excess oil with a paper towel. Serve the hot vadas with tomato sauce.

BLACK BEANS-BELL PEPPER MASALA




BLACK BEANS-BELL PEPPER MASALA:
This dish was a trial and error recipe. I started cooking black beans only recently. I never use canned beans because of its salt content. Usually I buy the dried beans, soak them overnight, and then cook them. I feel that it is healthy this way and worth the trouble. Initially I tried this dish with green bell peppers but after the dish was prepared, I could not find any traces of green in the dish, so I started using colored bell peppers with black beans since then. I prepare this as a side dish for rotis usually. I cooked the beans by using the pressure cooker and not by cooking them on stove top. The beans tasted great and were soft by this method.

INGREDIENTS:
Black beans, ½ cup, soaked overnight.
Bell peppers, yellow and orange, 2.
Onion, large, 1.
Tomato, medium, 1.
Tomato paste, 1 tablespoon.
Ginger-garlic paste.
Garam masala, 1 teaspoon.
Chili powder, 2 teaspoons.
Coriander powder, 1 tablespoon.
Salt for taste.
Curry leaves and cilantro for seasoning.

PREPARATION:
Cook the soaked beans using pressure cooker on medium flame for up to 3 whistles and set aside. Chop the onions and tomatoes into small pieces. Dice the bell peppers into medium-sized cubes. Heat a pan with some oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the chopped onions, tomatoes, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste and sauté them for a few minutes. When the onions and tomatoes are soft, add the bell peppers and sauté them for 2 minutes. Then add the chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt and fry everything for a minute until the raw smell of the spices go. Add the cooked beans and cook them closed for 5-10 minutes until everything turns dry. Turn off the stove, garnish with chopped cilantro and curry leaves and serve hot with rotis.

VEGETABLE OMELET







VEGETABLE OMELET
This dish was made by my husband when I was down with fever. He prepared a simple meal with puliogare and this vegetable omelet. The taste was so good and I started preparing omelet this way since then. He used pre-cooked frozen vegetables for the omelet but I have used grated vegetables here. Any type of vegetable can be used here, even frozen peas, they taste good. Now I have used green beans, carrots, and cabbage here. I have grated the carrots and cabbage and cut the beans into very small pieces. I cooked them a little but even raw veggies can be added to the eggs. They get cooked easily since they are cut into small pieces or grated. This can be served as a side dish for rice or can be taken as an evening-time snack with ketchup. Here goes the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
Eggs-3.
Carrots, grated to ½ cup.
Cabbage, grated to ½ cup.
Green beans, cut into small pieces coming to ½ cup.
One small onion.
Green chilies, 2.
Salt, as per taste.

PREPARATION:
Chop the onions into small pieces and cut the chilies into thin slices. Grate the carrot and cabbage. Cut the green beans into small pieces. Heat a pan with some oil. When the oil is hot enough add the cut and grated vegetables along with the chilies and sauté them for 5 minutes until everything is soft. Transfer the contents into a bowl and break 3 eggs into the vegetable mixture. Add salt according to taste. Beat the eggs well along with the vegetables. Heat a flat-bottomed pan and when the pan is hot, pour the contents into the pan and spread them well. Some oil can be added around the corners. Flip the omelet when one side is cooked. Remove the omelet from the pan when the other side is also cooked and serve hot.

VENDAYA KEERAI-KATHRIKAI KOZUMBU


VENDAYA KEERAI-KATHRIKAI KOZUMBU
This is traditional Tamil Nadu gravy served with rice. There are many variations of this dish. At home, my mother used to prepare it this way. I have used eggplants here. Even plantain, drumsticks, yam, or okra can also be used for this gravy. Drumstick leaves can also be used instead of methi. They add a good taste. For the seasoning, I have added vadakam. It is a traditional Tamil Nadu seasoning made with dried small onions, fenugreek, chilies etc. That gives a real good taste to sambars and other gravies. Back home, my grandmother never cooks anything without vadakam. It can be omitted if not available. Here goes the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
Small onions, 1 cup.
Tomatoes, medium sized, 2.
Eggplants, 3.
Methi leaves, 1 bunch.
Garlic, 3-4 cloves.
Tamarind, 1 lemon-sized ball.
Chili powder, 3 teaspoons.
Coriander powder, 2 tablespoons.
Sambar powder, 1 teaspoon.
Curry leaves for seasoning.
Fenugreek powder, 1 teaspoon.
Salt for taste.
Vadakam for seasoning (optional).
Mustard seeds for seasoning.

PREPARATION:
Extract thick tamarind juice from the tamarind (it usually comes to 1 cup) and clean the methi leaves and keep aside. Chop the onions and tomatoes into small pieces. If small onions are used, they need not be chopped. Crush the garlic into a rough paste. Cut the eggplants into small pieces and put them in cold water to prevent them from turning brown. Heat a kadai with some oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the vadakam and when they start to turn brown, add the chopped onions, tomatoes, curry leaves, and crushed garlic and sauté them for few minutes. When everything is well blended, add the chopped eggplants and sauté them for a minute. Then add 1 cup of tamarind juice, chili powder, coriander powder, sambar powder, fenugreek powder, and salt and cook them closed in medium flame for 10-12 minutes until the raw smell of the spices go off and the gravy thickens. Then add the cleaned methi leaves and cook them for 2-3 minutes and turn off the stove. It can be served with rice, idlis, or dosas.

CAPSICUM-EGG FRIED RICE


CAPSICUM-EGG FRIED RICE

INGREDIENTS
Capsicums (green or any color)-2
Onion-1.
Green chilies-2
Ginger Garlic paste- 1 teaspoon
Fennel seeds- ½ teaspoon.
Cloves-1 or 2.
Bay leaf -1
Eggs-2
Salt as per taste.
Rice (Basmati or any other rice like ponni)-1 cup.
Curry leaves, for garnishing.

PREPARATION
Cook the rice and let it cool. Cut the capsicums and onion into small pieces or long thin strips. I like it in small pieces. Chop the onions and split the green chilies into two and keep aside. Heat a kadai with some oil. When the oil is hot, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, and cloves and let them fry for a few seconds. Then add the chopped onions, chilies, ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves, and capsicums and sauté them for a few minutes until the capsicum is cooked but not too mushy. Add some salt for taste and break 2 eggs into the kadai. Scramble the eggs with the capsicum mixture. Some pepper can also be added for taste. When the eggs are well scrambled, add the cooled rice and mix everything well. This goes well with side dishes like egg curry, chicken curry, or any spicy vegetables. I prepared Gobi Manchurian to go with this.

Weekend Breakfast!


Today's breakfast: Pongal, Sambar, Coconut chutney, Vadas.

PARUPU KEERAI


PARUPU KEERAI
This is a regular recipe at my in-laws, especially on Saturdays, just a simple dish with greens and dhal but tastes real good. After marriage, this was a new dish for me as my mother cooks greens in a different way, usually like a kootu-form with tomatoes. Now I started preparing both ways. This recipe goes well with rice. It tastes yummy with spicy fried potatoes or yam fry.

INGREDIENTS:
Any greens like amaranth, methi, or spinach, 1 bunch. (I usually use spinach).
Cooked toor dhal, 1 cup.
Dried 2d chilies, 2.
Cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon.
Mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon.
Green chilies. 2.
Salt, as per taste.
A clove of garlic, (optional).
A pinch of asafetida.

PREPARATION:
Cook around 1 cup of toor dhal and keep it aside. Take a bunch of spinach leaves (baby spinach tastes better than the regular spinach in this recipe) and clean them well. Cook them well with little water in a closed pan along with 2 split green chilies (we need not chop the greens here as the greens are to be grinded). A clove of garlic may also be added while cooking the greens. When the greens are cooled, grind them into a fine paste along with the green chilies and garlic if it is also added. Heat a pan with some oil. Then add around ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds splutter, add a teaspoon of cumin seeds and 2 dried red chilies. Then add the ground greens and cooked toor dhal with ½ cup of water and some salt according to the taste. Add a pinch of asafetida and cook everything for 5 minutes on a low flame until it thickens up and serve with hot rice.

SOYA-PEAS FRY


SOYA-PEAS FRY

The inspiration for this recipe was from the magazine Aval Vikatan. When we were in Hyderabad, I used to purchase these magazines just for the free cooking booklets issues that come with it. Those collections were a good source, usually the booklets contain around 30 recipe for specialties like dhals, curies, side dishes etc. Coming to the recipe, I tried this from a gravy special issue but somehow I screwed up the recipe and in the end I had to fry everything to a dry form to bring it to something at least looking good to the eye. Then wonders of wonders this turned out to be real good. We had this with idlis and dosas that day but this goes well with rotis too. I used soya nuggets here instead soya granules because cleaning the soya granules was a bit tough as the little granules went down the sink when I rinsed them. Rinsing the nuggets and then mincing them to fine granules works out well for me.

INGREDIENTS
Soya nuggets around 1 cup.
Onions, large-1.
Tomatoes, medium sized-2.
Ginger-garlic paste- 1 teaspoon.
Chili powder.
Fennel seeds-1 teaspoon.
Garam masala (optional, tastes good even without garam masala).
Salt, as per taste.
Peas (frozen or dried peas cooked well)- ½ cup.

METHOD
Take a cup of soy nuggets and put them in boiling water for 2 minutes until the nuggets are puffed up. Let the, sit for 5 minutes, then rinse them well, drain them, and cut into very fine pieces or they can be minced well using a blender. Take care not to make them into a paste, just one or two pulses in the blender will be fine. In case dried peas are used for the recipe, soak them for 6-8 hours and cook them (or frozen peas can be used). Chop the onions and tomatoes into small pieces. Heat a kadai and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the fennel seeds and let them fry for a few seconds, then add the onions, and later the tomatoes when the onions have turned brown. When the onions and tomatoes are sautéed well and blended together, add a teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a minute. Then add a tablespoon of chili powder and garam masala and required salt and let the spices fry for a minute on a low flame. Add around 3 tablespoons of water and add the granules and peas and cook them closed on low flame around 5-8 minutes till they turn dry. Turn off the heat, add cilantro and curry leaves on top and serve with rotis, idlis, and dosas.

VARIATIONS:
Fried paneer cubes can be added at the end.

PEAS MASALA
This is a easy to cook recipe. The cooking time takes around 15 minutes, useful for packing lunch boxes with some rotis or rice. I like the taste of dry peas, so I use dry peas most of the time and the taste difference also varies with the dry and frozen ones.

INGREDIENTS:
Peas, dried ones soaked for around 6-8 hours, around 1 cup.
Onions, large-1.
Tomatoes, medium-sized, 2.
Salt as per taste.

INGREDIENTS FOR GRINDING:
Ginger -1 small piece.
Garlic 3-4 cloves.
Cinnamon- 1 small stick.
Fennel seeds - ½ teaspoon.
Cardamom seeds - ¼ teaspoon (optional).
Red chilies, 2-3 depending on the heat level preferred.
Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon.

PREPARATION:
Heat oil in a kadai and add cinnamon, fennel seeds, cardamom seeds, chilies, coriander seeds and fry them for a few minutes without letting them get burnt. Let them cool and grind them into a fine paste along with the ginger and garlic. Cut the onions and tomatoes into small pieces. Take a small vessel used for pressure cooker cooking or a pressure pan can also be used without any vessel. Put the chopped onions and tomatoes into the vessel or pan, then add the ground masala to this, and add the soaked peas. Add required salt and water enough to cook the peas and pressure cook for 2 whistles until the peas and the other ingredients are cooked well. When the pressure is off, heat oil in a small kadai, transfer the contents from the vessel into the kadai, and fry the peas masala for 5-6 minutes until you get the desired consistency. Then add chopped cilantro and curry leaves for garnish and serve with rotis or rice. This goes well with just plain rice and rasam or curd.

My own food blog finally!

Hey guys, here’s another foodie on roll. I am a homemaker who loves cooking and trying out new recipes. The so, so many food blogs available now has inspired me to create my own food blog. Here I go with my own blog and ideas. See you with many of my tried and tested recipes soon.