Category Archives: Food

Navratri Chick pea Sundal

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Yesterday GG & BB had a small concert in a nearby temple where they, along with their group mates sang one song the Lingashtakam. It was so cute seeing them sing it. I have recorded it and would love to put it here, but you the rules….Instead here is S.P. Balasubramanian singing the same song

 

Anyways, the temple has Sundal as one of the prasadams and so I also wanted to make it at home. It’s very easy and a very traditional Navratri offering.

Chickpea Sundal

Ingredients:

1 cup dry chick peas (Chole), soaked in water overnight, then pressure-cooked for about 4-5 whistles till it is soft

1 tsp oil

t tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp black gram dal or urad dal

a handful of curry leaves

half a tsp of green chilli paste

3 dried red chillies, broken

a pinch of asafoetida (hing)

2 tbsps dessicated cocounut

Salt to taste

coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

In a pan, heat oil and put the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the urad dal and the asafoetida. Now add the dried red chillies, curry leaves and green chilli paste. Stir for a few seconds and add the pressure-cooked chole along with salt. Stir again for a couple of seconds and then add the dessicated coconut. Stir well and switch off the gas, add the coriander leaves and serve.

Minestrone Soup

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I love minestrone soup. This is my to-go soup when I am in a soupy mood. This is very easy to make and is virtually fat-free with the wholesome goodness of vegetables & beans.

I made this soup on Sunday and BB just loved it. He ate it with almost everything I cooked this weekend.

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Ingredients:

  • A handful of dry kidney beans, soaked overnight and pressure cooked till soft
  • Half cup each of chopped vegetables ( you can use any combination, I used a combination of carrots, green peppers, cabbage, spinach and potatoes). Just avoid vegetables like ladies fingers etc which turn to mush when boiled
  • 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
  • 1-2 tsps of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 handful of macaroni (I used fusili)
  • 1 cup chopped onions
  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • Half a tin of tomato paste
  • Seasoning like Italian herbs, salt, red chilli powder, cumin seed powder

Method:
Heat the EVOO and put the chopped garlic in and let it brown slightly. Then add the onions and saute till it turns translucent. After that add the chopped vegetables and saute it for a while. Add the kidney beans and the seasoning now and turn it around a couple of times to mix it well. Next add the tomatoes and the tomato paste and add about a cup of water and let it boil. Once the soup comes to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer till the vegetables are almost cooked. This should be around 20 minutes. When the vegetables are almost cooked, throw in the macaroni and let it cook till al dente. Check for taste and take it off the gas. If at this point, you feel the soup is too thick, add in some water before you check for seasoning. Enjoy…

Tamarind Potato Curry

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It’s food time today. I like to cook – the more exotic and different the better! But at the same time, I am incapable of following a recipe exactly as it is written in a book or website – I have to make some changes to it (itchy fingers I guess)!

I used to make a sweet- sour potato curry long time ago, but didn’t exactly remember the ingredients needed or the way to make it. So I decided to turn to my trusty Internet. While surfing I found an Afghani recipe somewhat similar to what I was looking for and as usual meddled with it to make it all mine. The end result was tasty, albeit a bit sour for my taste. The next time I make this, I’ll go a bit more easy on the tamarind. Unfortunately I do not have a photograph for this as it was all eaten up before I thought of blogging about it, but here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
A small piece of jaggary
A small piece of tamarind, (about the size of a marble) soaked in water for 20 minutes and extracted
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp oil (I used an olive-canola blend)
1 tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of turmeric

Heat oil and when it is hot enough, put the cumin seeds in it. When the seeds start sputtering, add in the turmeric powder and stir for a few seconds.

Now add the onions and stir till it becomes slightly translucent. Then put in the Ginger pieces and stir for a few seconds. Now add the potato pieces, chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Stir well and cover, stirring occasionally.

When the potato is about three quarters cooked, add in the tamarind extract, salt and jaggary. Cook covered till the potato is tender and the sauce has thickened to coat the potatoes.

Switch off the gas qnd serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. This was yummy with rotis.