Fingerling Potatoes & Cheese Casserole

 Fingerling Potatoes - I have seen these every once in a while when I go grocery shopping, but was never really tempted to buy....However, there is always a first time and there they were, golden, pink and purple all bunched together in a 3 pound meshed sack! And we took it home!
For a person who cooks potatoes in several forms with great ease, I was quite bewildered by what I should do with these fingerlings- It never occurred to me that I could cut them - That was not an option in my head because how does that make these special potatoes any different from the regular ones?  So they had to be in their fingerlingy shape and form....

I scoured the net for recipes - But most of them had cream cheese and mayonnaise as their base - These are good mind you, but I wanted something less heavy and fatty...So here's what I came up with. I used laughing cow swiss cheese cubes (35 calories each)

In Words
Ingredients
About 25 fingerling potatoes

Laughing cow cheese - 8 cubes (35 calories each) basil, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella flavor
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of herb De Provence
1 tsp of sambar powder (optional)
2 tsp of Dosai Molagapodi (optional or can be substituted with 1 tsp of paprika or cayenne pepper crushed)
1 tsp of ground pepper

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes. Peel and set aside
In a pan, bring to boil the milk
Add the 8 cheese cubes and melt
Add the oregano and the sambar powder and the herbs and the ground pepper
Set aside the sauce
Place the potatoes in a baking pan
Set the oven at 425 degrees
sprinkle the molaga podi over the potatoes and turn them(optional)
Add the sauce
Top it with the grated cheddar cheese
Bake for 15 minutes
Serve immediately with garlic bread of carb of choice
And of course with Love :)

In Pictures

Fingerling Potatoes

                                         The cheese wedges

                     Cheese melting in the milk

  Boiled potatoes with Dosai Molaga podi sprinkled over before baking

                                   Smothered in sauce

                                And topped with grated cheddar cheese

                                Out of the oven and ready to feast on :))

Sending this to Veggie of the month hosted by Divya or Dil Se

Paal Poli (Sweet pooris in sweet saffron milk)

Today is Kanu Pongal and technically, I must make the kakai and kannu pidis for my brothers. However the loss in our family took precedence so i did not get to do this. But I still wanted to do something special and I dedicate this to my brothers.

My mom's paal polis were a rare treat and I remember eating them with so much relish with the milk dripping down to my elbows... Strange how we keep trying to recreate those sweet moments so that we may pass on these memories to our children. I am privileged to have my kids at home for the next 2 days and as a mom who has been away from them for 2 weeks, I feel the need to do something special for them. If you like Rasmalai this is not too far a cry from it.

Here is my Paal Poli recipe. Please try it out and I would really love to know how it turns out for you :)) If you are efficient with your preparation time, this dish takes 45 minutes from start to finish.

In Words
Ingredients
1 cup of whole wheat atta flour
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of warm water
1/2 cup of sugar - ground
1 can of carnation condensed milk
5 cups of milk
2 teaspoons of crushed saffron
1/2 teaspoon of crushed cardamom

Preparation
Mix attas and powdered sugar and knead the dough with warm water
make small poori sized balls and roll them out
On the stove, empty the contents of a condensed milk can into a pot/pan and add 5 cups of milk and let it boil
Add the crushed saffron to it and see the milk turn into this beautiful yellow.

In a frying pan, pour enough oil to fry the pooris. Keep a colander handy to drain any excess oil
Also pour the milk into a wide and deep pan - keep on stove at very small flame so that the milk with remain warm and help absorption into the puris

Drain the puris and add to the milk. Let them soak. I turn them over so that both sides get a good soaking.
Serve with Love.

In Pictures

Phulkas or Whole Wheat chappatis (Indian bread/tortillas)

I just love the word phulka - makes me think hot and yummy, esp when someone else is dishing them out. But if you like it as much as I do now, and you know there is no one else who can make it for you, then by golly, you learn to do it yourself! After all this is my biggest lesson living in the US for the past 17 years - In Tamil - thun kaiye thanaku udhavi!
Anyway this is an art I studiously avoided since i always thought it to be laborious and difficult! Pooris were always an easier deal! But with maturity comes the realization that this ain't a big deal and this too shall be conquered...:))

In words
Ingredients for about 20 phulkas

2 cups of whole wheat atta/ flour
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of warm water

Knead well hands and keep the consistency just right -like pizza dough

Preparation
Make lemon sized balls and flatten
Roll them out using dry flour to dab so it will not stick
Put on a heated pan
Allow it to cook slightly on both sides
Remove from the pan and transfer on to direct fire
If it is rolled out well, it will puff up nicely
Serve HOT HOT HOT with a dab of ghee (optional) and a dab of love (not an option)

In Pictures

Baingan Ka Burta - North Indian Eggplant preparation

I was all set to make ChakaraPongal and kootu, but we heard news of my husband's aunt's passing - so all festivities came to a grinding halt - So I decided to keep it simple - do I overuse that word or what! The awesome thing I learned during my visit to India was to make good phulkas - Just by watching mind you! So I made some phulkas (which I will blog next) and a side dish of Baingan ka burta.

I find the toasting of the Italian eggplant over open fire messy and here in the US you have to clean the mess yourself - So my I changed my approach just a tad, but did not compromise on the taste - that is a strict NO NO!

Here is how I went about it
In Words
Ingredients

1 Italian Eggplant (big) peeled
1 big red onion cut in slivers
2 Tomatoes (big round ones)
3small green chillies slivered

Spices
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tsp of sambar powder (more or less is optional)

Preparation

Peel and cut the eggplant into small cubes and cook in microwave for about 5 minutes on high heat
Cut the tomatoes in cubes and the onions into long slivers
Get the pan ready on the stove with a little bit of oil to splutter the cumin seeds.
Add the turmeric powder and 1 tsp of sambar powder and the green chillies
Add the tomatoes first and let them cook until its waters has evaporated
Add the onions and dribble some oil on it and allow this to cook and brown
Remove the cooked eggplant from the microwave and mash it with a masher
Add to the onions and tomaotes and add the last bit of oil and sambar powder and let them all cook for a few more minutes until it turns a happy golden brown
Garnish with crushed cilantro and serve with phulkas (chappatis)

In Pictures

 Saute the tomatoes

 Add the onions

 mash the cooked eggplant

 mix together and cook

On your plate with soft phulkas :))

Serve Hot and with abundance of Love!

Pongal O..ats Pongal

We are coming upon that wonderful time of year people when we will soon be shouting Pongal O Pongal -- Why not change that just a tad and shout Pongal Oats Pongal ;-) Tastes just as delicious as rice pongal, but is healthier for the heart!

I kept it really simple -- As I said, I am totally jet-lagged after a rather nightmarish journey from India back to the US. All our stomachs are a bit queasy and satvic is the only was to calm and settle the belly juices

Ingredients
1 cup quick oats
1 cup moong dal
1 teaspoon each of whole black pepper and cumin seeds (ground)
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of butter
Curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

Preparation
Cook oats as you would normally
pressure cook the moong dal
In a pan add the oil and butter, the ground spices, the curry leaves and asafoetida
Add the cooked moong dal and the oats and allow them to cook together, adding required amount of salt
Add water to make thin it, if it is getting too thick

Serve HOT

Koshumbir Salad

I am back, y'all and I want to kick start my new year blogging with a 5 minute recipe, as tasty as it is easy! This recipe is the direct result of my wonderful stay at Pune at my sister's home! Koshumbir salad is extremely popular with her family and I loved it too...So I made it today - keeping it simple considering I am still jet lagging like crazy! It goes really well with pretty well anything, and is a super dee duper stand alone dish that can be made and had at a moment's notice!

Ingredients

3-4 full sized carrots grated with the smaller teeth
1/2 cup of cilantro finely chopped
1/2 cup of roasted peanuts, powdered
2 green chillies slit
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
salt

Preparation

Add all the ingredients together except the chillies and oil
Heat the oil and put the chillies in it and fry for a minute
Then add to the salad and mix in well...

Serve with chappatis, as a side with rice and more-kozhambu, rasam or enjoy it as a salad.

 The finished product

 The grated carrots

 Cilantro finely chopped

Crushed peanuts added

1/1/11 Happy NEW YEAR

Dear friends and fellow bloggers

A wonderful new year to all with glad tidings and many more healthy and delicious recipes :)
Just back from an Idyllic trip to GOA - Have a huge bunch of recipes I cannot wait to come and try out when I get back home -

Where are your contributions to the event folks?? please start sending them - I cannot wait to see what you'll have come yo with.....

Love you gals and boys :-)