Mint Paratha with Paneer and Onion

Pudhina Parathas are Indian flat-breads made with layers of aromatic mint leaves and a light dusting of spices. This makes a truly fragrant and delicious paratha, especially if you enjoy minty flavors.

My cousin and I frequently exchange notes on what we are cooking just to inspire and motivate each other, especially on those days and evenings when we are looking for excuses to not cook ;). So, when she told me she was making pudhina parathas for dinner a few weeks back, I needed no more inspiration! I was so motivated that I got carried away and added paneer and onion as well. This is yet another simple and flavorful flat-bread!
 

Pressure Cooker Sambar

To those who are familiar with sambar, the title of this post perhaps makes little sense. This is basically an easier, one pot (well almost) version of making sambar - a vegetable and lentil gravy cooked in a tamarind broth. Usually, yellow lentils are cooked separately, the vegetables and spices are stewed in tamarind juice, and then the two are mixed together. In this version, everything is plopped into a pressure cooker and the sambar is ready within minutes. While the cooker is working, I usually saute some onion and tomatoes in spices and then add it to the sambar to make the dish a little more tastier. If you choose to not do this extra, then this is truly a one-pot-dish!

I must thank my cousin for introducing me to this version. It is one of my frequent go-to methods of making dinner. I rummage the fridge and throw in all the veggies I can get my hands on into the cooker, add the lentils, spices, and tamarind juice and after two whistles, sambar is ready, and surprisingly it's so much more tastier because the flavors of the vegetables truly seep in to the sambar. The only thing to do ahead of time is to soak the lentils for at least 30 minutes so that they cook in time with the vegetables in the cooker.

Vella Cheedai / Seedai

Today is Janmashtami or Gokulashtami - Lord Krishna's birthday. On this festive day, cheedai/seedais, which are deep-fried balls made primarily with rice flour and black gram flour, are prepared. As with most Indian delicacies, there are sweet and savory versions of cheedai. 

I'm sharing a popular sweet version of cheedai today. It is a simple preparation with jaggery syrup sweetening rice flour and black gram flour. Some toasted sesame seeds, coconut and cardamom season the cheedais with crunch and flavor. 

Cheedais have a notorious reputation for bursting when frying in hot oil. It has led to many unfortunate accidents. However, sweet cheedais are less prone to bursting than its savory counterpart. So, if you are attempting this for the first time, be a little cautious and step slightly away from the oil, keeping your face and limbs at a safe distance when the cheedais are frying. But, don't fret much. If an accident-prone clumsy person like me can make this cheedai safely, so can you!

Murukku / South-Indian Chakli

Murukku is a very popular deep-fried savory snack that's made during festive occasions like weddings, Diwali, and other religious days. Tomorrow is Gokulashtami - Lord Krishna's birthday. So, this is one of the many savory dishes that's made to celebrate the day. 

My husband and I love murukkus, however, these murukkus are made entirely by hand instead of using any equipment to press out the spirals. The prepared dough is slowly spun in a twisted rope-like fashion to make the murukkus, as shown in this video. Now, to do this one needs a special skill and dexterity that I lack! My mom always says this skill is something that you are born with - like the ability to touch your nose with your tongue ;). I have resisted this idea and have tried several times to make these murukkus by hand when I was a teenager, but my success rate has been erratic. I don't want to discourage anyone, though! This is just my limitation. 

So, I have started to make these murukkus using a press. After all, the ingredients are the same, and consequently, the end product tastes the same. If the murukkus are made using a press, they resemble chaklis - another Indian deep-fried equivalent of murukku.

Here's the simple procedure to make murkkus.

Tiffin Sambar / Hotel Sambar

Sambar, the most common South-Indian gravy/side dish has many avatars with slight variations. The most common form of sambar is made by stewing spiced vegetables in a tamarind broth and cooked yellow lentils. In this version of sambar that mirrors the version that's served in hotels, cooked mung beans (moong dal) is added instead of yellow lentils. Also, there's freshly ground spices such as coriander seeds, red chillies,  coconut, cumin, ginger, and garlic. Finally, as an irrevocable rule, there's ghee (clarified butter)! Un-apologetically so.

I have added radish, eggplant, onion and tomatoes. You can add any kind of vegetables, but try to always include onion and tomato. They make a difference to the flavor. 

This sambar goes great with dosas and idlis. It's simply a fantastic combination, which is why this is specifically called "tiffin" sambar (in South-Indian lingo, dosas and idlis are called tiffin items). 

Here's how it's done.

Honey Dew & Watermelon Sorbet with Cardamom

Just a few more weeks of summer left! As much as I love Fall, I miss bright sunshines, different colored birds hopping in the yard, and fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and the greens all around. With a thunder-storm every other day, all the colors just look so much brighter to my eyes.

Before summer slips out, I wanted to post this simple sorbet recipe. Sorbets and granitas have been popular choices in the freezer this summer. And this particular sorbet was something I threw together on impulse, more than a month ago. Its simple and refreshing flavors are ideal after a heavy or spicy meal. Since we are fans of honey dew and cantaloupe, and of course, watermelon, we loved this sorbet. Honeydew and watermelon are sweet by themselves, but since I have insatiable people with sweet tooth (teeth, rather), I added some simple syrup made with palm sugar. The guilt level zooms down when I pull out palm sugar, and everything is well with the Universe!

Indian Vegetable Sides: Spicy Tindora Stir-Fry

Tindora, also known as Ivy Gourd is commonly had in Indian cuisine. Until I read the wikipedia page, I had no idea that this fruit had so many medicinal properties! There's always something to learn in this wide world. 

In Indian cuisine, tindora is frequently cooked and stir-fried with a spicy curry powder such as sambar powder to make a vegetable side that goes well with rice or rotis. 

This style of cooking and stir-frying vegetables with spices is one of the most basic, simplest, and common ways of preparing Indian vegetable sides. This is almost like a formula. If you know this, you can pretty much prepare any vegetable by currying it!

(Side note: I know tindora is not exactly a vegetable per se, but we are used to regarding it as one because of its prominence in savory dishes. So, please look past the glaring term!)

Eggplant Masiyal / Brinjal Masiyal

This side dish is called as dosai masiyal, because it is prepared as a side dish for dosais. We don't make this dish often, because dosai is heavenly as it is, and all it needs is a simple sambar, chuntey, or milagai podi to dip into. But, when one has excess eggplants or brinjals in the kitchen and is bored out of their mind to make the same kinds of dishes, this is a nice dish to resort to. 

It is tangy, spicy, and very simple to make - a concentrated mixture of eggplant and tamarind to spice up dosais, idlis, and even rotis!

Mango Dal

Dal (Indian lentil stew) prepared with raw mango is an Andhra specialty. The mango takes the place of tomatoes, tamarind or lemon juice, and it imparts a delicate tartness and a wonderful raw mango flavor that goes really well with savory stews and dishes.

There are many ways to prepare this simple dish. As with most dals, you can either cook the lentils and then stir fry the other ingredients and then add them to the lentils, or you can take an easier, faster route and just cook most ingredients together, and then lightly season. This mango pappu makes an awesome comfort food at the end of a long day.

Indian Vegetable Sides: Plantain Podimas

Podimas is a classic and unique vegetable side prepared by South-Indians. I am sure it is called by different names, but Brahmins call it Podimas, perhaps because the cooked starchy vegetable is shredded and spiced with a simple combination of ginger, green chillies, turmeric, coconut, and lemon juice. 

Podimas can be prepared with potatoes as well (in the case of potatoes, instead of shredding, just gently crumble the cooked potatoes and follow the same procedure), and other starchy vegetables.

Podimas finds its way on plates and festive banana leaves during special occasions, but it's so easy to prepare that it can easily be a regular vegetable side to feature with simple home cooked food.

Spicy Potato Masala

Continuing with the potato fest from our home, here's a spicy potato gravy made with freshly ground aromatic whole spices and a smooth chickpea batter. This is a slight variation of the dish my grandma used to make.

Every once in a while, it's nice to turn up the volume of spices in classic dishes to make them bolder and different. So I just tried this to spice up a monotonous evening and get some brownie points from the husband.

Aloo Bonda / Batata Vada

When it comes to indulging my husband with food, potatoes feature prominently and repeatedly in the list. I am sure it tops everyone's list! So, there's been a potato fest at our home recently. 

If there's potatoes and a fest, it has to involve something deep-fried. And one of the most popular Indian street-foods that calls for deep frying spicy potatoes has to be aloo bonda, or known as batata vada in Mumbai. How can a food that calls for deep frying spicy balls of potatoes dipped in a thick and tasty batter not be popular on any planet (involving humans)?

Making these vadas at home brings in the pungent and nostalgic smell of hot oil meeting batter and potatoes - an inescapable aroma that's sure to assault your senses if you take a walk down a busy Indian street that clamors with food, lights, colors, sound, and chatter.

Chocolate Chip and Mocha Ice Cream Cake

What do you give someone that delights in the most simplest things in life? A combination of some of their most favorite things: cookies and cream, chocolate and coffee, ice cream and cake, and all the melodious sweet notes of tiramisu. If I could have included caramel and peanuts, it would have been ambrosia on a plate for him.

Instead of searching low and high and complicating things, the best gifts are the most simplest, easiest of them all - provided they come from the heart. 

So, here is a very easy "cake" that is a breeze to make.

I baked Nestle Toll house chocolate chip cookies (the best kind of cookies that I have baked and that's been approved by my husband) and layered them over mocha-mascarpone cream for a lush and lip-smacking cake. Just follow the recipe that comes on the package of Nestle chocolate chips to get a perfectly baked cookie that's chewy in the middle, crisp on the outside, and that melds the flavors of sweet and salt with the perfect amount of gooey chocolate chips. 

Chocolate Fudge Bites

My mom made these simple chocolate fudge balls for my husband's birthday. It's wondrous how just a few ingredients can come together to create a simple treat that puts a genuine smile of happiness and appreciation on someone's face.

This is a soft, chewy dessert that melts in your mouth. This is a variation of a popular Indian dessert called Sandesh. Instead of using paneer/cottage cheese or milk khova, my mom uses condensed milk and milk powder. And of course, cocoa powder. 

Eggless Black Forest Cake with Whole Wheat and Finger Millet Flour

That's a long title for a post!

My mom has a sweet tooth and is also a chocoholic. So, I knew I was going to make a classic chocolate cake for her birthday to keep it simple and enjoyable. However, as much as she loves sweets and chocolates, she is also very particular (and sometimes obsessive) about eating healthy and staying away from refined flour and sugar. Since millets have always been her favorite, I knew I had to make this incredible cake when I saw this recipe. Prior to this, I'd never heard of finger-millet flour used in baking, so it was quite intriguing to me! I adapted the recipe a little and made a black forest cake with cherries and cream. I was slightly wary about my adjustments to the ingredients, and also a tiny bit skeptical about whether the cake would hold itself and taste ok. 

I needn't have worried. I was beyond amazed and happy with the results (and so was my family) that such a healthy cake could be baked! Let me list the ways in which this is really a "healthy" cake: 1) it has no butter (just 1/4 cup of olive oil), 2) it has no refined sugar (just some palm sugar), 3) it has no refined flour (just a combination of multi-grain whole wheat and finger millet flours), 4) it has yogurt and milk, and 5) bonus points: it has chocolate!!

Such a cake sounds mythical doesn't it? But it exists! In terms of texture, the cake holds well, and it looks and tastes moist and spongy. However (you knew there was one such a pause...), experienced and sophisticated palates can tell that the cake was not made with regular flour. You can taste just a hint of earthy, grainy texture in the cake. But, in the grand scheme of things, this is not really such a flaw!

So, without much rambling, here's how it's done.