Zucchini peel & Zucchini pulp Chutneys (Thogayals)

Two different tasting chutneys result from zucchinis - The peel chutney and the pulp chutney - Almost the same recipe goes for both as with all thogayals, but one stands on its own while the peel chutney gets a small dose of coconut - coincidentally, as I mentioned in my kadambam idli recipe, I made these chutneys and they color-coordinated perfectly with the the green and orange idlis (spinach and carrot)
In Words
Common Ingredients

2 zucchinis  peeled and cut
1 table spoon each of kadala parrupu (bengal gram)(channa dal) and Urad dal
3-5 dry red chillies (cayenne)
1 teaspoon of oil

For the peel thogayal
1/4 cup or roughly 2 tablespoons of grated coconut

For the pulp thogayal
1 tsp of turmeric

Preparation of the Peel

In a pan heat oil and add the dals and the chillies and fry. When they are light brown add the peel. Add the coconut and stir and cook for a few minutes until the coconut starts turning golden and the peels soften and flag

Remove from stove, cool and grind with some water.

Preparation of the Pulp
In a pan heat the oil, add the dals and the chillies and fry. Add the cut zucchini and allow to tenderize - Note that I tend to salt my chutneys now. Switch off the stove, cool and grind.

For both
Saute in a spoon of butter, curry leaves, mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida.
Enjoy with idlis or on sandwiches or use with rice.
Serving with love

In Pictures

Sending this as another entry to AKheela's Food palette Green

Idli Kadambam (A medley of Steamed Rice Cakes)

Happy Republic Day 2011 to all my friends and fellow bloggers
Sometimes patriotism can induce creative ideas :P My tribute to India and its flag with its most loved dish - IDLIS

So I decided to make tri-colored Idlis - Regular White Idlis, Regular Idlis with spinach and and some carrot Rava Idlis - I was tempted to make blueberry chutney for the wheel - alas! :( you'll just have to imagine that)

Very coincidentally and inadvertently I made some chutneys/thogayals that matched almost exactly with the green and orange idlis - I will be blogging these soon.

Regular Idlis 

You can also refer to http://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com/2010/12/perfectly-pink-idlis-and-dosais.html for a detailed recipe for making idlis

4 cups Ponni Par boiled (available in Indian stores)

1 cup of Urad Dal

Soaked separately for 4-6 hours

 Ground finely separately and mixed with 3 tsps of salt - Allowed to ferment overnight

Consistency should be fluffy yet flowing

Spinach Idlis

Same procedure except

 You use 1 pack of frozen spinach (or 250 gms of fresh spinach)

Cook or thaw in microwave

Grind in blender using appropriate amount of water to grind Idlis

Use this blended spinach in place of water and allow to ferment overnight

NOTE: this blend takes a little longer than regular idlis - i am guess the iron in the spinach inteferes slightly with the fermenting process

I made idlis and dosais - According to my little on :Oscar idlis and Oscar dosais - (Oscar as in the Sesame Street character -Oscar the Grouch ;)

Fine dosais result too - 

Carrot Rava Idlis

Take 2 fresh carrots. peel them and snap them into smaller sticks. Add 2 cups of yogurt/thick buttermilk and blend very finely

I just added the amount of rava that I needed until I reached the correct consistency

Thadka with curry leaves, 1 spoon of ghee and mustard seeds (chillies optional) and mix in with the batter. Add the salt and set aside for about an hour

Then make them like you do regular idlis

Enjoy Y'all brought to you with love and national pride :)) Huamra Indian Mahaan!

 

I would like to send this to Twist the Traditional Idli event by Satya of http://www.myinnovativekitchen.com/2011/01/twist-traditional-idli-new-event.html

Crumpet Delight

This is a recipe from my daughter who pampered me after I returned, jet-lagging and out of it. She prepared this simple yet SO delicious breakfast for me. I am adding this to my own event of fast food not fat food

                           Plain crumpet

Ingredients
2 Crumpets or if you cannot find them - Uthappams
mayonnaise
spring onions (finely diced)
mushrooms (fiely diced)
marinara sauce (or make your own tomato based sauce)
Any pickle/chutney that you may have (optional)
cheese
Herb De Provence
Basil
Chilli flakes

Preparation
First toast the crumpets
Spread the mayonnaise, sauce and some oinon thokku (in this case)
Lightly sautee the veggies and sprinkle over it
Grate some cheddar/mozzarella cheese and add on top
Add your herbs
Microwave for 30-40 seconds to melt the cheese

Enjoy in less than 10 minutes
This was truly served to me with Love of the truest kind :)))

Bhindi/okra curry

It's a cold and frosty morning as I blog this and snow showers of about 4-8 inches predicted, which pretty much means the kids will be out of school for the rest of the week, because where we live, this much snow is unprecedented and we are ill-equipped to handle it - besides, its all hills and valleys and makes it a lot more difficult to carry on snow-plowing operations. But it is a good day to blog about one of the most favorite and versatile green veggies - OKRA -Lady's fingers, vendakai or bhindi -

These have to be cooked when they are fresh - Did you know that picking okra is an art? yes I remember my mom buying okras from the ladies who cam around selling them, freshly plucked on their baskets balanced so casually on their heads! We could literally smell the freshness and see the green caterpillars that made their way into the basket too ... My mom would bend the tip of the okra and if they snapped off easily, they were tender and fresh - If they bent without breaking, they are over ripe or -Moothal so we would not take those.

We are not so lucky now, but I am thankful that I can get the veggie at all -- The indian stores here are not fond of people testing the tips of the veggie so I gently squeeze on the belly and see if it crackles or remains soft and submissive - you want submission, people!

Anyway, this is not news to Indians, but I thought my "foreign" friends woul be happy for this info. I know most of my friends from the 'south" make gumbo soup with this ... here is another way to consider using this fine veggie!

To serve 6-8 people

Ingredients
3lbs of Okra
2 tablespoons of oil
2 whole red chillies (optional)
3 tsp of curry powder (or sambar powder)
For Sautee
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
curry leaves
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
a pinch of asafoetida

Preparation
Wash and cut the heads and tips of the okra
Cut them into small cylindrical shapes
Heat most of the oil in a big pan, pop the mustard seeds,
Add the turmeric, the red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves
Add the cut okra and stir it into the oil
Close with lid and cook for 3 minutes
Stir again and cook closed for 2 more minutes
Add the curry powder and salt
After adding, add the last bit of oil and keep open and roast briefly, making sure to maintain the greenness of the veggie.

Serve with phulkashttp://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com/2011/01/phulkas-or-whole-wheat-chappatis-indian.html) ( and dal or any which way you fancy it - remember the love you cook finds its way into the bellies of loved ones :))

Ginger Garlic Broccoli

It's easy as ABC... and takes precisely 15 minutes to make this wholesome, healthful and superbly delicious dish/snack/ side --- however you choose to eat it. In this very blog, i will also blog the recipe for Butter Broccoli for your Baby....

Ingredients
1 broccoli head
6 - 8 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of ginger powder (fresh crushed ginger is even better)
1 tsp of olive oil to sautee
3 whole red chillies or if they are super long broken in halves (optional)

Preparation
In a pan, heat the oil, bung in the garlic and broccoli, and ginger
Take 2 tablespoons of water and add some salt to it and throw that into the pan as well
Be sure to be cautious with thee salt - It is easy to go over with this
Close and steam for 2 minutes
Open the lid and allow the water to evaporate
There you have it - A scrumptious dish!
Enjoy with lots of love

 The raw garlic and broccoli washed and ready to go!

 In the pan - adding the salt water

 Steaming for a couple of minutes

In your bowl - to ENJOY :))


Butter Broccoli for your Baby


If you have a baby or a 2yr old like I do, who sometimes gets influenced the right way after watching some TV, this is a great dish - She comes up to me this morning and says, I want to eat some brocklee" in as many words - I kid you not! She is a talker ... This request became a whine and the easiest way to quieten her was to make it

Preparation

Cut broccoli into small florets. And do exactly like you did with the version above without any of the extra ingredients. At the very end, add some butter and stir it into the broccoli - Served with tender and nurturing love~

It's ALL GOOOOOOD


Sending this to: Sara's Corner


And Akheela's

Veggie-Infused Phulkas or Chappatis (Indian tortilla) - An innovative twist to a most popular dish :)

So Chappatis/phulkas with a twist - You have your veggies, goodness of garlic and other herbs and carbs in one go - Isn't that a sweet deal :)

As you can see, I am on a roll here (pun intended :) For those who saw my recent blog on phulkas, Indian flat bread, you will know that I recently mastered the art of phulka making and am mighty proud and psyched by it. Enough to say that I decided I will try to be a bit more creative with it. It really helps to have a fussy 2 yr old - She LOVES chappatis and other dry finger foods, but to make her eat her veggies in their actual form has been a bit of a challenge - She does like some veggies and will have them without a fuss - but I reckoned that if i were to somehow insert the veggies into her "liked" food, she would have it so long as the taste does not change too dramatically. We do this even with her Vitamins - just crush them and add to her cereal and juice. 

I always grind the carrots and tomatoes and use that as the base for her upma, which too she likes, although she often says no - no umpa even as she is opening her mouth for a bite of it :)

For those friends who may not understand the difference between phulkas and chappatis, they are both made of whole wheat flour in exactly the same way, except, phulkas are semi cooked on a pan and then transferred on to open fire for the final puffing up - And too, phulkas usually do NOT have any ghee/butter or oil.

Here is my recipe - Again one of those quickie ones - I made about 20 start to finish in 45 minutes.

In Words

2-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour/atta

The strained juice of 2 carrots and one large tomato

3 cloves of garlic

2 sprigs of rosemary

salt

1/2 tsp of turmeric

1/2 of any curry powder/or spice

Preparation

In less than a tsp of olive oil, lightly sautee the garlic and rosemary and other spices to get rid of any raw tastes. Add to the veggies and blend

Strain out the pulp from the veggies into a bowl

To whatever amount of juice you get, add sufficient amount of flour - I added 2 and a half to the numbers of veggies I've used.

Knead well and make lemon sized balls

Roll out

Keep the Tawa or pan ready

Place one rolled out phulka on it and cook slightly on both sides.

Remove the pan from the fire

Holding the pan with the left hand (or right hand if you are a lefty) transfer the chappati on to the open fire (see pic below) 

Allow it to puff up, then transfer into a contatiner

Serve hot with favorite veggies and dal  - which I will be blogging after this one. Serve with Love :)

In Pictures

 The Veggies

 The spices

 In the blender, chopped

 Strain

 The juice

 Knead

And some more

 Roll into balls

 Roll out

 On the Tawa or pan

 On the flame, small puff

 getting bigger and...

 Viola and Presto! there you have it - a blow by blow pictorial demo :)

Shrooms and Garlic rice - Chinese style

I made 2 different kinds of this rice, first one I Indianized by mixing in some garlic podi from Grand sweets and snacks. This tasted good, but I think the second was an even bigger winner and deserves a place on this blog - Another healthy recipe with very little oil...so here goes

Ingredients
About 10-12 good sized shrooms (white ones)
Green spring onions - three stems
Garlic cloves- 4-5 crushed
4-6 green chillies (this can be adjusted according to tolerance levels
the juice of 1 medium sized tomato - strained
1 cup of basmati or jasmine rice
1 tsp of olive oil

Preparation
Cook the rice separately and keep warm
Dice and grind the tomato and strain the juice from the pulp
Finely mince the mushrooms, green chillies and spring onions
In  big pan, heat the tsp of oil, crush the garlic directly into it and add the veggies
Sautee for a couple of minutes before adding some salt and I used a dash of  seasoning herbs (I got a schezwan seasoning spice from Fab India on my recent visit) but any other asian seasoning will do just as well
You want to put just a dash literally!
Add the tomato juice and let it simmer for a minute
Break up the rice so it is nice and fluffy.
Add to the sauce and let it cook
The tomato juice will get quickly absorbed by the rice and will look moist but dry
Allow it to cook for a minute or so longer, stirring so it does not get burnt at the bottom

Serve hot with spring rolls on the side or enjoy as is...
Don't forget the key ingredient - Love - to make it and serve it

 The shrooms, onions and chillies vut and ready to go

 the tomato puree

  The crushed garlic sauteeing in the pan

                       The veggies saute

                    The final product