Rava Dosa & Coconut Chutney - a quick picker-upper!

On days I am feeling bah for no reason at all, I turn to food that makes me feels good. Here's one that never fails to please - Rava Dosa & Coconut chutney!

Rava Dosa Ingredients -

·         Rice flour-1 cup

·         Semolina/Rava/ Sooji- 1 cup

·         All-purpose flour or Maida- ¼ cup

·         Salt to taste

·         Onion- ½ cup chopped finely

·         Green chillies -  3 or 4 finely chopped

Seasoning:

·         Mustard seeds- ½ tsp

·         Cumin/Jeera seeds – ½ tsp

·         Curry leaves- a few

·         Oil – a couple of tbsp. Use Idhayam brand sesame oil for authentic South Indian flavor.

In a bowl, mix rice flour, maida and rava and add water and salt to it. The batter should be-

·         Free of lumps

·         Watery & thin – you need to be able to pour it.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds, and curry leaves. Add this seasoning, and chopped green chillies & onions to the batter. Mix well.

Heat a non stick or iron griddle/tava – this should be very hot. Take a ladleful of batter, and pour on the griddle starting from the outer edge and finishing off in the middle. It’s okay to have gaps.

Drizzle ½ tsp of oil on the edges. When the dosa browns turn it over, and cook for a few minutes.

Serve hot with sambar/coconut chuntney.

If the batter becomes thick after making few dosas add water to it -  a little at a time. Don’t forget to check for salt.  

Coconut chutney –

Ingredients –

·         Frozen grated coconut – thawed – 1 cup

·         Shallot – 1 chopped 

·         Ginger – 1 inch piece - chopped

·         Cilantro – ¼ cup -  chopped

·         Green chillies – 5 -  chopped

·         Salt to taste

Seasoning

·         Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

·         Black gram (urad dal) – ½ tsp

·         Asafoetida powder/Hing – 1 pinch

·         Curry leaves – a few

·         Dry red chillies – 2 halved

·         Oil – 1 tbsp

Grind the coconut, chopped shallot, green chillies, coriander leaves, ginger, and salt to a fine paste using very little water.

Pour the chutney into the serving bowl and adjust the consistency with water, if needed.

Season with ingredients under the “seasoning” section – Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Stir till the urad dal turns red and pour it over the chutney.

Enjoy!

Kalan - Kerala Yoghurt Gravy

Kalan is one of my most favorite traditional Kerala dishes. I don't have a picture of this dish, but I am sure you can Bing it.  :) I do have a picture of a yam that was harvested recently from our backyard in Kerala. This one weighed over 13 kilos! :)

Here's how Kalan is made -

Ingredients -

·         Green Plantains or Yam (Suran) – cut into cubes  - 1 cup

You can get green plantains in Asian grocery stores that you can peel & chop, and cut frozen yam (sold as Suran) is sold in the frozen section of your Indian grocery store. Some folks are allergic to yam, so use with caution.

·         Black Pepper – ground -  2 tsp (use fresh)

·         Red Chilli powder -1 tsp

·         Haldi/Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

·         Sour Yogurt/Curd – 2 cups
       Homemade yoghurt left outside to become sour works BEST in this recipe. Of course we don’t have access to this yumminess in the US – so I use a combination of store bought fat-free European style yoghurt & fat-free sour cream in 2:1 ratio

·         Salt to taste

Grind

·         Grated Coconut – ½ cup (you can use frozen) 

·         Jeera/Cumin seeds -1 tsp

·         Green chillies -4 or 5

Seasoning

·         Coconut oil -1 tbsp

·         Mustard seeds -1 tsp

·         Fenugreek/Methi seeds -1/2 tsp

·         Dry red chilly -1 (break it in 2)

·         Curry leaves – a few

Add green plantains/yam cubes with chilli powder, turmeric, salt, ground black pepper with 2 cups of water to a pot, and cook covered until the cubes are cooked and soaked up all the moisture. Don’t cook it too mushy.

Lower the heat and add whipped yoghurt and 1 cup of water.

Simmer and cook for at least 40 min to an hour, stirring occasionally. You will end up with a thick mixture– this can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for over a month if needed.

Whenever you want to eat Kalan, grind the ingredients under the “Grind” section with as little water as possible (don’t use water to grind if you don’t need to).

Add this ground paste + 1 cup of water to the thick yoghurt-vegetable mixture, cook for a few minutes, add salt if needed and season with the ingredients under “Seasoning” section. 

For seasoning, heat coconut oil. Add mustard seeds, and when they splutter, add fenugreek/methi seeds, dry red chilli, and curry leaves and pour it over the Kalan. Serve with rice.

Note - Coconut oil gives you the authentic Kerala taste, but feel free to substitute if you don’t like the flavor.

Veggie Manchurian!

Wikipedia says that Indian Chinese or more commonly known as Indo-Chinese cuisine is the adaptation of Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques to Indian tastes. I say that this is the tastiest food EVER!

Veggie Manchurian is an Indo-Chinese staple - 3 step recipe below!

Step 1  - Make veggie balls

·         2 cups shredded cabbage + carrots (I used a finely chopped cole slaw mix J)

·         ½ cup finely chopped onions

·         2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic & green chillies

·         1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·         Maida + Cornflour – a couple of teaspoons (always in the 1:3 ratio)

·         Salt to taste

·         Oil to deep fry

Mix all the above ingredients– add water (a couple of teaspoons at a time) and mix until you can form balls. Water is only added to aid in the forming of the balls – this shouldn’t be soggy. At the same time the balls shouldn’t be too dry as they might disintegrate while frying.  

Once the balls are done, deep fry them in any healthy oil (ahem…), drain and arrange them in the dish you want to serve it in. This will make about 15-20 balls.

To make cauliflower or mushroom manchurian, replace the shredded cabbage+carrots with slightly blanched cauliflower or mushrooms that have been wiped clean-  the additional ingredients are the same.

Step 2 – Make the sauce

·         2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

·         2 tablespoons or more finely chopped green chillies

·         1 cup of cold water

·         2 teaspoons of cornflour

·         2 teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce

·         Maggi Chilli sauce OR Maggi hot & sweet tomato ketchup

·         Handful of finely chopped cilantro + green onions for garnish

In a hot wok, add a tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, add garlic and green chillies. In a separate cup, mix the cornflour, cold water and soy sauce. Make sure the water is cold, otherwise the cornflour will not mix. Add this to the wok – keep stirring and let it thicken.

When it seems cooked through, add ketchup and as much water to make the amount of sauce you need. I didn’t add much water as I wanted to serve this as an appetizer without much gravy. If you want to make an entrée, add more gravy.

I did not add any additional salt to the sauce as the soy sauce & Maggi ketchup both have sodium.

Step 3 = Steps 1+2 (this is easy! J)

Once you have the consistency you need, add the sauce to the balls in the serving dish. Garnish with cilantro and green onions, serve and watch them disappear.

The sauce and balls can be made and refrigerated up to a day in advance.

Bengali Mustard Fish

This is my new favorite fast-to-cook recipe. Cooking time 7 mins in the microwave...can't beat that!

From here with some minor substitutions

2-3 Steaks of Salmon, cleaned
2 tbsp mustard oil
3 tablespoons yogurt
2.5 tablespoons grated coconut
1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
few green chili, slit for garnish

For the mustard Paste:
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
3-4 hot green chillies
Salt to taste

To make Mustard Paste:
Soak the paste ingredients together in about 1/2 cup water for 30 minutes. Grind this mix into a thick paste in a blender/ mixer. The finer the paste, the better.

Now, add this mustard paste to the coconut, turmeric, chilli powder, mustard oil and yoghurt and mix well. the paste will be thickish, don't add water to thin out.

In a microwave safe glass bowl, coat the dish with mustard oil, and then arrange the pieces of salmon in the bowl. Now, pour the mixture above to cover and immerse the salmon completely. Add a few slit green chillies on top. Cover the bowl with cling wrap, and cook for 3 mins on high in the microwave. The cling wrap will create steam which will slowly steam the fish. After 3 mins, remove and gently stir the fish sauce, without disturbing the fish. Re-cover and put for another 3 mins and repeat till done. It took about 10 mins to cook the fish through.

Enjoy with rice!

Caramelized Broccoli!

This is broccoli roasted at a high temperature for a while. Essentially what happens is that over time broccoli get caramalized and with added salt and pepper taste like a sinful snack, which its totally not :) Try it - you'll see what I mean.

Whole head of broccoli broken into bite sized florets
1 minced garlic
Generous serving of olive oil
Kosher salt and ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg.
2. If you soak to wash your broccoli - make sure you dry it well.
3. Spread the broccoli on a baking sheet, douse it with olive oil, mix in the garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Roast for 20 - 25 mins or until broccoli is bright green and crunchy.
5. I usually thrown in green/red pepper strips as well - they cook to the same effect.

Chicken with wild mushrooms

I often come back to this recipe especially since morels always seem to within reach here in Seattle :) and it makes a impressive dinner party dish.

Serves 4

2 legs, skin on
2 thighs, skin on
Salt and ground pepper
4 tbsps butter
1.5 cups of morel mushrooms (I have used dried porcini and morel mix as well, just soak in warm water for 30mins)
1/2 cup dry sherry
3/4 cup heavy cream

• Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Use a non-stick skillet that is large enough to contain all 4 pieces in a single layer. Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, skin side down and cook until the skin turns light brown (about 5-7 mins on each side). Transfer the chicken out of the skillet and discard the butter-fat mix.

• Add the chicken back into the pan along with the sherry, mushrooms and salt to taste. Cover and simmer gently for about 20 mins. Don't overcook the chicken and check a couple of times to make sure that the liquid hasn't evaporated. Add water as needed.
• Transfer the chicken into a platter and cover with a foil tent.
• Add cream to the mushrooms-sherry mix and simmer for 5 mins.

• Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve with crusty bread.

Butternut Squash and Basil Lasagna

My friend, Aparna, made this delicious lasagna for a dinner party last month. I was absolutely bowled over by the flavors and unique ingredients!

From Giada de Laurentiis' recipe with some modifications. I made the basil sauce by following the steps from Deb's smitten kitchen recipe.

For the Squash puree:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb butternut squash, I bought the cut and cubed one from Trader Joe's
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water

For the Basil Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
3tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
Pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
Red chilli flakes, to taste

12 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:
In a heavy skillet, pour a turn of olive oil and add the butternut squash to it. Add salt, pepper to taste, and coat all the squash. Add the 1/4 cup of water, and cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes till tender. Mash coarsely with a masher or put it into a food processor to puree.

For the basil white sauce, in a pan melt 2 tbsp of the butter and add the flour. Stir constantly till the raw smell of the flour disappears, about 2 mins. Make sure to stir so that flour does not brown. Now add the hot milk and stir (best with a whisk) till the mixture begins to boil. Boil till the mixture thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt, nutmeg and red pepper flakes. Transfer half of this sauce to a blender and add 3/4 cup of basil leaves, and blend until smooth. Transfer this basil mix to the remainder of the white sauce to mix evenly.

Preheat oven to 375F. In a baking dish, grease sides generously and start layering your lasagna. Start with a layer of the basil sauce, a layer of the no-boil lasagna noodles, and then a layer of the squash mixture. Sprinkle a little cheese onto the squash layer (I did not put any cheese except on the top to brown). Layer this way until you end with a last layer of squash. Reserve 1/4 cup basil sauce to drizzle over the top along with some Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375F for 40 minutes.

Serve with a salad!