Raswala aloo curry (Juicy potato curry)

The bedmi puri that I posted about yesterday is usually served with a potato curry. Sans onions and garlic, this curry predominantly has a tanginess from tomatoes and a mild spiciness from the spices used. Paired with spicy bedmi puris, this makes for a filling breakfast or brunch.

What you need:
Potato - 2 medium sized (cooked, peeled and diced)
Tomato - 3 large (pureed along with a 1 inch piece of ginger)
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Coriander - to garnish

Heat oil in a kadai/wok. Add cumin seeds. Reduce the flame and add in the turmeric, red chilli, cumin and coriander powders. Saute for a few seconds until fragrant, taking care not to let the spice mix burn. Add in the tomato puree and let it boil until most of the moisture evaporates. Add the diced potatoes, garam masala, salt and 1 cup of water. Let it come to a boil. Switch off and garnish with coriander.
Serve hot with bedmi puri.

This is my entry to Week 4 of Blogging marathon #85 under the theme breakfast dishes from different places.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

Pizza sauce

A good pizza sauce is a vital ingredient for any good pizza. A robust sauce, few toppings and lots and lots of cheese is the way pizza has been popularized throughout the US. I usually like my pizzas with a good helping of pizza sauce and lots of vegetables, but tend to go easy on the cheese. Here is how I make my pizza sauce.

What you need:
Garlic - 3 cloves, minced
Oil - 2 tbsp.
Tomato - 5 or 6 large, juicy ones, chopped
Basil - a handful, chopped (I used fresh basil. It can be substituted with dried basil)
Italian seasoning - a few generous sprinkles
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Red chilli flakes - to taste

Heat oil. Saute garlic in it. Then add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and cook covered over a low flame until the tomatoes are well cooked and mushy and the sauce reaches the desired thickness. You can choose to blend the sauce if you like it smooth. I like mine chunky and have left it as it is.
Once completely cooled, this can be refrigerated and will stay good for up to a week.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

Kaima idli - Deep fried idli coated in a spicy veggie masala

Kaima idli, chilli idli, fried idli, idli chilli - the monikers are numerous, but what they all refer to is this delectable dish that is made by first deep frying idli pieces and then, if you can resist the temptation of polishing off the plate of fried idli,  coating them with a spicy mix of vegetables.
I first tasted this dish at Saravana Bhavan in Chennai and believe me, it was nothing short of an explosion of flavors on the tongue. Since then, I have eaten this innumerable times at different restaurants and loved all the variations that the chefs with their individuality have brought to the dish. Here is my take on this dish. I have created a collage of the various steps involved in the preparation of this dish so that it can be recreated with ease by anyone who wishes to try it out.

What you need :

Idli - 8, diced
Onion - 1/2 of a large one, sliced thin and long
Green chilli - 2
Carrot - 1/2, grated
Capsicum - 1/2, chopped fine
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped fine
Tomato - 1, chopped
Oil - 3 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Chana dal - 1/2 tsp
Oil - for deep frying
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Dice the idli into pieces. It helps if you refrigerate the idli for at least an hour. Deep fry the cut pieces in hot oil until brown and crisp. Drain off excess oil an set aside.
Heat 3 tbsp. of oil in a pan. Add mustard, urad dal and chana dal. You can also throw in some curry leaves at this point. I skipped that as I didn't have any on hand. When the mustard seeds pop, add the chopped green chilli, ginger and garlic and saute. Lower the heat and add in the sliced onions. Saute until the onions turn pink. Add the grated carrot and capsicum. Stir well and cook covered for a few minutes until the capsicum starts to soften. Add in the chopped tomato, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Stir well and cook covered until tomatoes turn mushy. Add 1/4 cup of water and let it boil for a minute or two or until most of the water has evaporated. Now add in the fried idli pieces and mix to coat well with the vegetable masala. Remove from heat and garnish with some freshly chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot immediately or after a while - the only difference will be that if served immediately the idli pieces will retain their crunch, while if eaten later they will be slightly softened by the moisture from the masala. Either way, it will be a treat for your taste buds.

Spaghetti with no meat veggie balls in tomato sauce

I have often heard people talk about how good spaghetti and meat balls are together. Being a vegetarian, i decided to avoid the meat and cook vegetable balls to create Spaghetti and veggie balls. The vegetable balls are cooked in an aebelskiver/appam/paniyaram pan, thereby minimizing the use of oil.

What you need :
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and run cold water over it and set aside.

To make the vggie balls :

Potato - 1, peeled and diced
Carrot - 1, diced
Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Bread slices - 4
Oil - a few tsp

Steam cook the potatoes, carrot and cauliflower and then mash well. Heat a tsp of oil and saute onions in it. Add the mashed veggies and saute until moisture is absorbed. Add soaked and squeezed bread slices and mix well. Shape into balls. Heat an appam/paniyaram pan with a few drops of oil in each depression. On a low flame, cook the balls, turning over once in a while until all sides are browned evenly.

For tomato sauce:
Tomato - large, juicy, ripe - 4
Onion - a small one, chopped fine
Salt - to taste

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Saute onions till pink. Add the pureed tomatoes and salt. Cook on low flame until at least half of the moisture is evaporated and the sauce starts to thicken.

To serve :
Arrange some pasta on a serving plate. Place two veggie balls on it and top generously with sauce. Serve immediately.

Focaccia Caprese

We are already three months into this new year. Yet, this is my first post of the year. Despite intentions to the contrary, the blog has ended up being neglected. As always, the Blogging Marathon is what I've relied on to bring some action back into the blog. This time round, I've chosen to blog on flat breads from around the world for three days. By choosing this particular bread, I am also able to tick off one of the breads from the list of breads that the We Knead to Bake group has chosen to bake.
Focaccia is an Italian flat bread and Caprese refers to something that comes from Capri - an island off the coast of Italy. The topping on a focaccia caprese is tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella and basil. I have made some changes to the original recipe, the major one being that I have used whole wheat flour in place of all purpose flour, and the minor ones being the use of Italian seasoning mix in place of dried oregano and the use of grated mozzarella and parmesan in place of slices of buffalo mozzarella.

What you need:
For the dough :
Whole wheat flour -  3.5 cups
Instant yeast - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 1/8 cup (Original recipe calls for 1/4 cup)
Lukewarm water - 1 to 1.5 cups

For the topping:
Tomato - 3-4, sliced into thin circles
Grated mozarella and parmesan - 1/4 cup
Parsley - some, chopped fine

For the herb oil :
Oil - A little less than 1/4 cup
2 large cloves of garlic minced
Italian seasoning mix - 2 tsp
Mix these ingredients together and set aside.

To make the dough :
Take the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add water, a little at a time and mix to form a pliable dough. Add oil and knead well. Let this rest in a well oiled bowl until doubled in volume. This took approximately two hours.

Divide the dough into two parts. Roll out each part roughly into a rectangle of 11" by 7". I patted it out into a rectangle by hand, to give it a rustic look. Transfer on to a baking tray and let it rise for 20 minutes. Drizzle some oil over it and give it a dimpled look using your fingers.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 - 20 minutes or until the focaccia starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and drizzle the herb oil over the focaccia. Arrange the tomato slices evenly over it and sprinkle some grated cheese and some chopped parsley on top. Top with some more of the herb oil and bake again at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-8 minutes until the cheese just melts. Remove from the oven and top with some more fresh chopped parsley.

Cut into slices/wedges and serve while hot.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

Tomato soup

I have always been partial to tomato based soups. Though I have been making different kinds of soups this winter, the best, according to me, is this simple tomato soup. Vine ripened, juicy tomatoes give it a rich color and tang, which is balanced by the spice from black peppers and sweetness from the carrot.

What you need :
Tomato - 4 large, red, ripe and juicy - chopped
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Black peppercorns - 10-12
Carrot - 1, grated
Butter
Almonds - 8-10
Salt - to taste
Spring onion greens - a little, chopped, to garnish
Water

Heat butter in a thick bottomed sauce pan. I used a pressure cooker for the entire process. Add the black pepper and fry for a few seconds. Stir in the onions and saute on low flame until pink. Add the carrots and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, almonds and salt. Saute until the tomatoes soften. Add 2 cups of water. Close the pressure cooker and let it cook till one whistle. Once the steam settles and the mixture cools down, blend in a blender until smooth. Heat until it reaches desired consistency. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve hot.
This is my first post for Week 3 of Blogging Marathon #47 under the theme Cooking from the menu card of a restaurant - the restaurant of my choice being Puranmal.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 47 

Onion tomato corriander thokku/chutney

The days are getting hotter and hotter. Summer, technically at least, is still a month away but the temperature where I live is already in the 40s. This means that spending time in the kitchen is something that I progressively avoid. These days I have taken to cooking late in the evening so that the sun doesn't glare at me blindingly through the kitchen window. The next day's lunch is usually made,packed and refrigerated during these relatively cooler hours. This onion-tomato-corriander thokku is something that I put together last night. It started out as the tomato thokku that I regularly make as an accompaniment for methi theplas, but then I thought why not add in some onion and corriander, both ingredients which make for awesome thokku by themselves. And as they say, the rest is history and this recipe was born.

What you need:
Onion - 2, medium sized, cut into large chunks
Tomato - 9, medium sized, cut into large pieces
Coriander - 1/3 cup, chopped
Garlic - 6 cloves
Green/red chilli - 2 (adjust to taste - I made mine only mildly spicy)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Split urad dal - 1 tsp
Bengal gram dal - 1 tsp

Grind to a smooth paste onions, tomato, corriander, garlic and chilli. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, urad and bengal gram dal. When the mustard seeds pop, reduce the heat and add the ground mixture to the pan. Add turmeric powder and salt. Mix well, cover and let it cook, stirring every now and then to avoid burning, until all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes thick.

Serve with methi theplas/roti/puri/idli/dosa.....well, it goes well with just about anything. Makes for a flavourful sandwich spread too.

Green peas uttappam

I try to add as many veggies as possible to everyday dishes, so that they look colorful and are nutritious.

What you need:
Dosa batter
Cooked sprouted green peas - 1 cup
Tomato - 1, large, chopped fine
Curry leaves - a handful, chopped fine
Corriander/Cilantro leaves - a handful, chopped fine.

Mix the cooked peas, tomato, curry leaves and cilantro with some salt in a large mixing bowl.
Heat a dosa pan/griddle. Spread a ladleful of batter in a thick circle. Spoon about 3-4 tsps of the veggie mixture over the batter. Drizzle some oil over this. Cook on a medium flame till the underside turns brown.
 

Flip over, reduce the flame and cook for a minute or two.
 
Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other marathoners doing BM#16.
This post goes to Smitha who is hosting Kids' Delight this month 

Tomato baath

These days I find myself clicking pics and letting them stay in the drafts for a very long time. Work has been busy and even on days when it isn't, I find that I don't have the drive to sit down and type out a post. The blogging marathon seems thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo be just the thing that brings me out of this phase every other month.
This week, you will find me blogging about traditional dishes with a twist. I took this topic up, because I find it challenging.....and a challenge is just what I need to start blogging again.
Today's recipe is tomato baath.....a very simple, colourful and flavourful dish. Now, you may wonder, what's the twist in this dish? Well, there's no rice in it. Ever since I made Bisi Bele Baath with broken wheat, I have been amazed by how well this grain lends itself to flavours that are traditionally used with rice. I intend to try out different rice dishes, substituting the rice with wheat rava.

What you need:
Wheat rava/samba godambu rava - 1 cup
Tomato - 4 juicy ripe medium sized, chopped
Onion - 1 large, chopped into large pieces
Green chilli - 2 or 3 (adjust to taste)
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Garlic - 3 or 4 cloves, minced
Cinnamon - a 1 inch piece
Cardamom - 4 cloves
Clove - 4 or 5
Black peppercorns - 3 or 4
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional) - This chilli powder gives the dish a nice colour.
Salt - to taste
Oil/ghee - 2 tbsphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Corriander - to garnish

Grind the cardamom, clove, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, ginger, garlic, onion and tomato to a smooth paste. Heat the oil/ghee in a pressure cooker. Add a tsp of mustard seeds and some urad dal to the oil. When the seeds pop, add the ground paste and saute it in the oil for a few minutes until the raw smell is gone. Add the turmeric powder and chilli powder. Mix well. Now stir in the wheat rava. Add salt and four cups of water. Close the pressure cooker and cook until one whistle. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for another five minutes. When the steam settles down, open the lid, stir well and garnish with finely chopped corriander.
Serve hot with raita/pickle.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#14

Aloo tamatar ki subzi

A very simple, yet hearty sabzi, a bowl of this with some hot, puffed up puris is sure to warm you up on a cold, winter night.

What you need:
Potato - 4 large, boiled, peeled and chopped
Tomato - 3, medium, cut into large chunks
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Hing/asafoetida - a generous sprinkling
Salt - to taste

Take the chopped tomatoes in a microwave safe bowl. Add just enough water to cover the tomato pieces and microwave for 3-4 minutes or until cooked.
Take some oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds to it. When the seeds start to pop, add in a generous sprinkling of asafoetida. Stir in the potatoes. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, amchur and salt. Mix well. Now add in the cooked tomatoes with the water in which it was cooked. Add in an extra cup of water and let it boil for 10-15 minutes until the sabzi thickens.
Serve hot with puri/roti.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#11

Baingan tamtar aur aloo ka chokha

One of the things that I love about blogging is that it helps me learn a lot about food from other parts of the country and the world. A few days back, I would not have know what sattu is or what a thekua is. But today, thanks to the blogging marathon theme of Bihari cuisine, I am actually able to write a post on a very typical, rustic dish that is commonly made in Bihari households.
Let me give you a little background on how I came upon this recipe. Having decided that I was going to cook Bihari food for a week, I spoke to my colleagues about it. One of them is from Bihar and the other 2 had friends in Bihar and so, were familiar with the food. So, we got talking and kept talking for well over an hour and to say that our stomach were all growling by the end of the hour, would be an understatement. So, we decided to cook a typical Bihari meal together for lunch that day. The next few hours were nothing short of absolute, pure fun and a really, really unforgettable lunch.

Today, I will be sharing with you the recipe of one of the dishes we cooked called a chokha. A chokha is basically a side dish which is made up of fire roasted and mashed vegetables. Commonly used vegetables are potato, tomato and brinjal. These can be used separately or in combination. In this recipe, all three have been used together.
What you need:
Eggplant/brinjal - The large, Japanese variety - 3
Tomato - 6 large
Potato - 8 or 9, medium sized
Onion - 3, finely chopped
Ginger - a large piece, julienned
Garlic - 15-20 cloves, chopped fine + a few more
Green chillies - 8-10 (adjust to taste)
Hing - a few pieces
Corriander - a handful, chopped fine
Mustard oil - 1/4 cup
Salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Make 5-6 small slits in the eggplant. Insert a clove of garlic and a small piece of hing into each slit.
Roast the eggplant over a low flame turning from side to side frequently to make sure that all the sides get evenly cooked.

This will take a good 15 minutes. You will know the eggplant is done when the skin starts peeling off as your are turning it and when a knife can be easily inserted into the eggplant. Remove and set aside to cool.

Once cool, mash the brinjals and keep aside in a bowl.
Similarly, roast the tomato over the flame. Use tongs to turn the tomato from side to side to ensure even cooking and to avoid burning.

Once the skin turns black and starts peeling off as you turn the tomato, remove from the flame and allow to cool.

Remove the charred skin, mash well and keep aside.
Potatoes, my friends tell me, are also usually cooked over coal, but we chose to wrap them individually in foil and then bake them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

They were beautifully cooked by then and were mashed and set aside.

Now mix together all the three mashed veggies in a large mixing bowl. Add in chopped onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies, corriander, salt, lemon juice and mustard oil. Mix well.

Serve with parathas. (Recipe for sattu paratha coming up next)
Note : This recipe makes a huge quantity of chokha - enough to feed 12-15 people. The recipe can be easily modified to make smaller quantities.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#11

Tomato-peanut chutney

For the final day of Blogging Marathon #6, I was paired with Pavani of Cook's Hideout, to cook something from her blog. The marathon finished a while back, but it is only now that I am getting down to posting what I made from her blog. This chutney is quick and easy to make, tastes good as soon as it is made and tastes even better the next day. Thank you, Pavani for the recipe.

What you need:
Tomato - 2
Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Red chillies - 3
Tamarind extract - from a gooseberry sized ball of tamarind
Salt
For tempering:
Oil - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 3/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Take the tomatoes in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover and microwave for 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes turn mushy. Let it cool.
Toss the peanuts and red chillies in 1/4 tsp of oil and microwave for 2 minutes. Let it cool.
Add salt,tamarind extract and grind the tomatoes, peanuts and red chillies to a smooth.
Heat the tempering ingredients. Once the mustard seeds pop, pour it over the chutney.
Serve with idli/dosa.
Don't forget to leave your comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Cooking at home with Pedatha, an award winning cookbook.

Simple pizza sauce

The little girl and I both love to read.....we often go to a library nearby where we take ages trying to decide which books to take back home with us. On the last visit, LG picked up this book called Golgappu makes pizza which tells a story about a little boy who, with the help of his mother, makes pizzas for a pizza party with his friends. Soon after reading this book, she wanted to make pizza. So we did and here's the simple tomato based pizza sauce that we made.

What you need:
Tomato - 4 large, juicy ones
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Garlic - a few cloves
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a little

Heat oil in a pan. On a low flame, saute the onions until pink. Crush the garlic slightly and stir it in. Add chopped tomatoes, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes on low flame. Crush the tomatoes with a ladle. Add salt, sugar and a cup of water. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
This is the sauce that we used on our pizza. We kept it simple and non-spicy because that's how my daughter prefers it. However, this can be spiced up with some chillies or chilli powder. You could also add your favorite herbs to make it more flavorful.

Tomato soup

I started this blogging marathon with a soup and today, on the last day of the marathon, I have another bowl of soup to serve.
My daughter, like many other kids her age, often gets cold and cough. When she falls ill, she refuses to eat rice. At these times, soup comes to the rescue. Lentils, vegetables, even a little bit of rice.....all these can be added to make a healthy soup. The soup that I have made today is a basic one that includes some vegetables. The vegetables can be changed according to your choice.

What you need:
1 large, juicy tomato
1 small carrot
Cabbage - a few large pieces
Pepper corns - to taste
Salt

Microwave the tomato, carrot and cabbage for 5 minutes or until well cooked. Let it cool. Add peppercorns and salt. Blend till smooth. I usually do not strain my soups or remove the skin of the tomatoes. You can do that if you choose to. Also, the soup I serve for my daughter is thicker in consistency than what I would make for myself because I feel that it is easier for her to drink and less messy.
Warm the soup up and serve topped with some butter or a dollop of cream.

Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Onion tomato sandwich

The good thing about a sandwich is that it is so easy to put together....it gets done within a matter of minutes, and you can be as creative as you want to be with the filling. Most kids don't seem to mind eating veggies as long as they are sandwiched between two slices of bread, slathered with butter and drizzled with ketchup.
This is a very simple sandwich that makes use of ingredients which are commonly available in an Indian kitchen.

What you need:
Bread - 12 slices
Onion - 2, finely chopped
Tomato - 3 large juicy ones, chopped fine
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Garlic - 4 cloves, chopped fine
Salt
Sugar - a little
Red chilli powder/sambar powder - to taste
Corriander leaves - chopped, a handful
Oil/butter - 3 tsp
Butter - for spreading on bread
Heat oil in a pan. Add the onion and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until they start to brown. Add ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Add salt, sugar, chilli/sambar powder. Mix well. Cover and let it cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Remove the lid and heat till all the moisture evaporates.
To prepare the sandwich:
Spread butter on the bread slices. Spread some filling between two slices of bread and toast it in a sandwich maker.
Serve with ketchup on the side.
Do take a look at my fellow marathoners' kitchens....Srivalli,
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma,  Pavani,PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena

Tomato kurma

In my journey from culinary zero to culinary something, it is Mallika Badrinath's books that have helped me along. It is her simple and do-able recipes that helped me learn the A-B-Cs of cooking. One of the first books of hers that I got is 100 Vegetarian Gravies. A look at this post of mine will tell you how much I've used this book. Today, I tried out the tomato kurma recipe in this book. I am amazed by the simplicity of the recipe and by how good it tastes.
To make tomato kurma, you need:
Onion - 2, medium sized, chopped fine
Tomato - 3 large, chopped fine
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a little
Oil - 1 tbsp
Grind to a smooth paste:
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cashewnut - 7 or 8
Dhania - 2 tsp
Green chilli - 2 (adjust to taste)
Red chilli -2 (adjust to taste)
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the onions and fry until they start turning pink. Add chopped tomatoes and let it cook on a low flame till mushy and soft. Add salt and sugar. Stir in the ground masala. Add water if needed. Let it boil until the raw smell goes and the gravy thickens.

Serve hot with idli/dosa. I paired this with idiyappam.

Lentil soup

I can count on my fingers the number of times I have made soup since I started living in Chennai. The last three days have been unusually cool(for Chennai that is), windy and rainy.....and I felt that a bowl of soup would be the perfect thing to warm us up.
This is a very simple, yet creamy and hearty soup. There are no measurements because I just threw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that to come up with this.

What you need:
Moong dal(green gram dal)
Tomato
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Turmeric powder
Corriander - to garnish

Take the moong dal, tomato and garlic in a pressure cooker. Add a little bit of turmeric powder, salt and plenty of water and cook till one whistle. Reduce the heat and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Once the steam escapes, allow it to cool down a bit, and then blend until smooth and creamy. Add some more water if needed. Pour it back into the pressure cooker and let it boil. Add crushed black pepper. Garnish with corriander. Serve hot.

Just my kind of recipe - S.I.M.P.L.E & G.O.O.D

Sometimes, things just click....you are not in the mood to cook, but you have to eat....so you throw in a few things that you have on hand and come up with something that tastes really good. This is something that came out of just such a situation. The prep work required is minimal....you don't even have to chop onions. Doesn't get simpler than that, does it??? There are no measurements 'coz I just used up whatever I had on hand.

Here's what I did:
Boil some potatoes, peel them and dice them.
Grind together some tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green chillies.
Heat some oil. Add some jeera to it and then the ground paste. Boil for a few minutes until the raw smell goes away, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and a little bit of sugar. Stir well, add some water if needed and then add in the diced potatoes and heat for a minute or two.
There....that's it.....you're done.
Didn't I tell you it was simple???

Thakkali thokku - a spicy 'n tangy tomato pickle

The trimurtis (three presiding deities) of my kitchen are onions, potatoes and tomatoes. Without these three ingredients, I'd be lost.....not knowing what to cook.
Like the original holy trinity of Indian mythology, these ingredients too are involved in Srishti (creation of exciting new dishes), and Sthithi (maintenance of our health). Luckily, there has been no Samharam (casualty/death) so far. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we???
The price of tomatoes in my part of the world has touched rock bottom at rupees 4. Not a small drop, considering that a few months back it was being sold for close to Rs 30. So, with a price drop like that, I couldn't resist picking up some at the local market.
Tangy, spicy tomato thokku is something that I love. Though making it takes up some time, it is quite a simple process and most of the ingredients are readily available in an Indian kitchen.What you need:

Juicy, ripe red tomatoes - 12, medium sized - pureed
Gingely oil - 9 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Urad dal - 3/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced fine
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - to taste
Salt - to taste

Heat 7 tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the minced green chillies, mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, and fenugreek seeds. When the mustard seeds sputter, add the pureed tomatoes. Stir well. Add turmeric powder, red chilli pwder and salt. Let it come to a rolling boil. Now reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and let it simmer stirring occasionally. It will take close to an hour for all the moisture to evaporate. When it is almost done, add the remaining two tsp of oil. Once it loses all moisture, switch off the heat and let it cool completely.
Store in a clean, airtight jar.
This can be refrigerated and will stay good for upto a fortnight.
It can be used as an accompaniment to a variety of foods including, but not limited to, rice, idli, dosa, roti,and bread.

Notes:

• If you'd like, you can blanch the tomatoes in hot water first, remove the skin and then puree it.
• Instead of pureeing you can chop the tomatoes into tiny pieces and then follow the same recipe.
• A little bit of tamarind paste can be added if the tomatoes are not sour.
• You can also add some asafoetida along with the tempering ingredients.

This month, Sanghi who is celebrating her 50th post on her blog has asked us to Fall in Love with Tomatoes.....and that's exactly what I've done. This entry goes to her.