Category Archives: Food

Recipes: Pumpkin, Carrot & Coriander Soup

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IMG_4709Last week I started craving for soup at work. The thought kept me company until I reached home and made this yummy soup. It was sweet with spicy undertones and extremely delicious. It didn’t take very long to make and is perfect for cold and rainy days!

Carrot, Pumpkin and Coriander Soup

IMG_4711Ingredients:

  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 7-8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1.5 inch knob of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3-4 dry red chillies, halved (can substitute fresh red chillies for this)
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 to 1.5 tbsps coriander seeds
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • ¼ orange pumpkin, peeled and chopped
  • Half to one cup chopped coriander (use half for the soup and reserve the rest for the garnish)
  • Low fat milk as desired (to achieve the soup consistency you like)
  • 2 tbsps thick yoghurt
  • 2 tsps Red chilli powder (less or more as per your spice intensity)
  • 2 tbsps Cumin seed powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tsps oil (I used a Olive Canola blend, you can use your normal cooking oil)

Method:

  • Heat oil in a pan and once it’s warm, add in the cumin seeds and coriander seeds.
  • Once they splutter add the dried red chillies (or fresh if that is what you are using) and stir for 30 seconds.
  • Next, add the garlic, ginger and onions in that order, stirring each one for 30 seconds before adding the next ingredient.
  • Once the onions have become translucent add the carrots and stir for a while.
  •  When the carrots become half cooked, which will take around 5-10 minutes, depending on the carrots,  add in the orange pumpkin and a handful of chopped coriander.
  • Add in a bit of salt to help the vegetables cook faster and stir the vegetables once a while.
  • You can also add in some water (about half a cup) and cover the pan to help cook the vegetables faster.
  • Once the vegetables are cooked and cooled, add in the yoghurt and blend using a stick blender or your mixer to a smooth paste. Use milk to help you blend, and get the consistency you like for your soups.
  • Transfer the soup back to the pan and heat it till it achieves a rolling boil. Check for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
  • Add in the balance yoghurt and switch off the gas.
  • Serve with garnishes of yoghurt and coriander leaves.

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Recipes: Thippili Rasam

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One of the forgotten spices in India, Thippili or Long pepper is no longer used in Indian cooking. This amazing ayurvedic medicinal plant or spice has so many benefits that once I started using it, I actually wondered why people were not incorporating it into their cooking.

According to Wikipedia, this spice has been referred to in ancient texts of Ayurveda. It reached Greece in the sixth or fifth century BCE, though Hippocrates discussed it as a medicament rather than a spice. As peppers are wont to be, these are very useful in curing or suppressing coughs and colds.

My kids call this rasam as “Medicine Rasam” and love it when they are sick. You can also drink it as a soup when you don’t really feel like eating and having this on a rainy day is bliss!

It’s not a very difficult recipe, with the biggest challenge being to get the Thippili. You should be able to get it in any Indian stores. There are different versions of the rasam and here’s how I make it…

Thippili Rasam

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Ingredients:

  • 1 small lemon sized ball of tamarind, soaked in warm water
  • 6-8 sticks of Thippili
  • 1/2 tsp whole black pepper
  • 1 cup Toor dal, cooked till it is mushy
  • 2 tbsps Coriander seeds
  • 2 tsps Cumin seeds
  • 4-6 dried Red Chillies (this depends on the spice intensity of the chillies plus your spice tolerance)
  • a pinch of Asafoetida
  • 1-2 tsps jaggery (you can omit this or use brown or white sugar as a substitute)
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 8 – 10 curry leaves
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • 1-2 tomatoes

Method:

  • Soak the tamarind in warm water, then squeeze it out and run the water through a seive to get tamarind water. Discard the paste which is left behind.
  • In a pan, heat 1 tsp of ghee and lightly fry the thippili, coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and red chillies. Once cool, blend it into a smooth paste along with the tomatoes.
  • Next mix together the tamarind water, asafoetida, salt and jaggery and start boiling it. Once the raw smell of the tamarind goes away, add the ground paste and continue boiling. After 10 mins, add in the cooked Toor dal and continue to boil for another 10 mins.
  • In a seperate, smaller pan, put the remaining ghee and heat it. Then add the mustard and balance cumin seeds. When the seeds pop, add the curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. Stir for a couple of seconds, switch off the gas and pour this seasoning over the rasam.

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Delicious Thippili Rasam is ready. Eat with rice or by itself as a soup!

Recipes: Green Coriander Chutney

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An extremely versatile chutney, this green coriander chutney is also sometimes referred to as Bombay Sandwich chutney as this one is found almost everywhere where you have the roadside sandwich sellers (super yums👍). I’ve been making this chutney for ages and I remember friends telling me to make this when they come over for a meal when we were in college. And now, both BB & GG also love it, especially as a spread for sandwiches..

Green Coriander Chutney

IMG_4554[1]Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch fresh green coriander leaves, chopped, washed and drained of water
  • 1 large onion or 2 small onions, roughly chopped
  • 4-5 pods of garlic (optional)
  • 4-5 green chillies ( more or less depending on your spice tolerance)
  • 1 tsp sugar or sweetener
  • 1-2 tsps lemon juice
  • Salt to taste

Method:

This is very easy. Just put all the ingredients except sugar, salt and lemon juice in a blender and  blend till it’s a smooth purée. Add water a bit by bit, just to get the blender going. Avoid adding too much water to make it thicker. Add the lemon juice, sugar and salt to taste and blend till you achieve the right consistency. Remove and put in a bowl with a lid and refrigerate. This should keep for a week (if it lasts that long that is)

NOTE: Refrigerating the chutney will cut down the spiciness a bit, so if you like it a bit spicy, adjust the green chillies accordingly.

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Receipes: Plum Chutney

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I first made this plum chutney on a whim last week. S loved it so much that today he brought loads of Plums for me to recreate it. That’s when I knew it was a winner. This recipe is inspired by Sanjeev Kapoor’s Aloo Bhukare ki Chutney, which I then tweaked to make it my own! This is a super easy recipe with just a handful of ingredients, so read on and enjoy!!

Plum Chutney

IMG_4542[1]Ingredients:

  • 4 red/purple plums
  • 1 small cup raisins
  • 2 tsps cumin seed powder
  • Red chilli powder to taste
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • In a small bowl, soak the raisins in water for while till they plump up and soften. Using hot water may speed this up.
  • Next chop and deseed the plums and blend the plums and raisins together untill they become a smooth purée.
  • Next take a thick bottomed pan and pour this purée in it. Add salt and red chilli powder and let it start boiling.
  • Once it reaches a rolling boil, and cumin seed powder and stir well.  Let it boil for a while till it thickens.
  • At this point, the colour was slightly brownish with a glaze to the mixture. Once it has thickened to your satisfaction, remove from heat and cool. Once cool, it becomes this rich purple colour.
  • Transfer to a covered dish and refrigerate. This should keep well for upto a week in the fridge.

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This chutney tastes sweet, salty and a bit spicy. If you need to make it more spicy, just increase the chilli while cooking it. It goes well with most Indian food and I also loved having it with bread as a sandwich spread.

Milagu Kozambu (Pepper Sauce)

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My Bible and go-to book for everything in traditional Iyer cooking is the “Cook and See (Samaithu Paar)” series by S. Meenakshi Ammal. The series of three book was originally written in the late sixties/early seventies. I refer to them all the time, especially when I want to make traditional food. This book takes the place of calls to my mum, especially since international calls are so expensive!

The recipe I made today is Milagu Kozambu or Pepper Soup as Meenakshi Ammal calls it. I am copying the recipe exactly as it was in the book and I made it also the exact same way it said in the recipe.

Milagu Kozambu

(This recipe prepares 1 cup)

 Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp Peppercorns
  • 6 Red Chillies
  • 1 tsp Black Gram Dal (Urad Dal)
  • 2 tsps Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal)
  • ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 2 tsps Coriander Seeds
  • 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • Tamarind as big as a small piece of lime
  • Salt
  • A handful of curry leaves
  • Asafoetida
  • Oil

 Method:

Heat oil in a kadhai and fry peppercorns, red chillies, Bengal gram dal, 1 tsp black gram dal, cumin seeds and coriander seeds. When the dals turn red, add the curry leaves and fry till the curry leaves are crisp. At this point, add the asafoetida. Grind to a smooth paste with the tamarind, salt and a little water. The paste should be very smooth.

Heat oil and fry 1 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp black gram dal. Mix the paste with enough water to make 1.5 cups of the paste. Add this to the oil and let it cook on a slow flame till it reduces to 1 cup.

This kozambu will keep for about 2 days outside and about a week in the fridge. Eat with hot rice and some papad. So soul satisfying on a cold or rainy day!