Tag Archives: Food

Recipes: Tomato Carrot Capsicum Soup

Posted on by
Reply

Last weekend, S wanted a light lunch as I was planning to make pizza for dinner. When I probed further, S said he wanted a carrot and tomato soup. So I went online and searched a few sites and then came up with this version. It is a keeper and a winner! It kept well and we finished it the next day.

Tomato Carrot Capsicum Soup

Ingredients:

  • 6 medium-sized tomatoes
  • 2 large carrots, chopped
  • 1 large red capsicum, chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1-inch piece of  ginger, chopped
  • 2 dried red chillies (optional)
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • In a large pan or pressure cooker, heat the oil and when it heats, add the cumin seeds and fennel seeds and let it splutter.
  • When the seeds splutter, add the onions, ginger and garlic and let them brown.
  • When the onions brown, add the carrots and stir for a couple of minutes.
  • Make a small cross at the top of the tomato (where the stalk is) and put the whole tomatoes into the cooker or pan.
  • If using a pressure cooker, cover and cook for 3 whistles. If using a pan, cover and cook until the vegetables are completely cooked.
  • When cool, remove the tomatoes carefully and peel the skin and return it back to the pan.
  • Using a handheld blender, blend the cooked vegetables to a smooth paste. If you don’t have a handheld blender, then transfer to a normal blender, blend it and return it back to the pan.
  • Heat the pan again and thin it with water as needed. Season with salt and pepper according to taste.
  • Serve hot with bread croutons.

Recipes: Spicy Vermicelli Upma

Posted on by
Reply

This is another staple dish in Tamil households which I tweaked slightly this week to make it different.

Spicy Vermicelli Upma

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup vermicelli, dry roasted
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp minced ginger
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp pav bhaji (or garam) masala
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 4-5 curry leaves
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Coriander leaves to garnish
  • 1 tbsp ghee (optional)

Method:

  • Heat oil in a pan and when it warms up, add the mustard seeds and let it pop.
  • When the mustard pops, add the curry leaves, asafoetida and turmeric powder and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Add the onions and saute till translucent. Then add the remaining vegetables and saute for 1 minute.
  • Season with salt, chilli powder and pav bhaji masala and let the vegetables cook completely.
  • When the vegetables are done, add the roasted vermicelli and stir well.
  • Add enough boiling water to the vermicelli and cook it well.
  • When the vermicelli is cooked completely, check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
  • Add the optional ghee to the dish and switch off the gas.
  • Drizzle the lemon juice over the dish and garnish with coriander leaves.
  • Serve hot.

Notes:

  • Instead of pav bhaji masala, you can also use garam masala or any other masala lying around.
  • To make a Jain version of this dish, omit the onions and garlic and cook as above.

Recipes: Spinach Rice

Posted on by
1

I love one pot meals. The chance to have a complete meal without getting many dishes and pots and pans dirty is great! The children love spinach and have been asking me to make spinach rice for a while now. So I decided to make it last week. This is slightly different from the way I usually make it, so thought to document it here.

Spinach Rice

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup spinach, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 4-5 pods of garlic
  • 1-1.5 inch ginger
  • 1 large or 2 medium-sized onions
  • 1 medium-sized green capsicum
  • 4-6 green chillies (depending on the size and your spice tolerance)
  • 1 bunch of coriander leaves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 4-5 cardamom pods
  • 4-5 pieces of clove
  • 2 inch piece of cinnamon
  • 2-3 cashew nuts
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Wash the spinach thoroughly and keep aside.
  • Wash the basmati rice well, soak it in water for 20-30 minutes and then drain and keep aside.
  • In a dry skillet, dry roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon till they are done and emit and nice aroma. Keep aside to cool.
  • Soak the cashew nuts in warm water or milk for 10 minutes to soften it up.
  • Chop the onion, green capsicum, green chillies, ginger and garlic and keep aside.
  • In a blender blend everything – the spinach, green capsicum, green chillies, coriander, onion, ginger, garlic, cashew nuts and spices to a smooth paste and keep aside.
  • Heat a pan with the ghee and when the ghee warms up, add the bay leaf and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Then add the spinach paste and stir well. Season with salt and let it cook well, making sure it is still a vibrant green colour.
  • Take the washed and drained rice and add to this paste. Transfer to a rice cooker and cook with 3/4 cup (or as you need for your rice) of water. Once cooked, let it sit for a while before you take it out of the cooker.
  • Serve hot with some crisps and a raita of your choice.

Notes:

  • If you are cooking in your stovetop when you add the rice to the spinach paste, let it mix for a minute, then add the water and any seasoning you want and cook covered on a low to medium flame till done. Let it sit for a while before opening the cover.
  • You can also make the paste in advance and store it in the fridge or freeze it. When you want to make the rice the next day, just add it to the rice in the rice cooker or on the stovetop and continue as above.
  • I didn’t have any coriander with me but had Green Chutney at home. So I substituted coriander with a couple of tbsps of this Chutney.

Recipe: White Pumpkin Rasavangi

Posted on by
1

The word Rasavangi is very evocative and exotic, isn’t it? In Marathi (or rather the Bambaiya Hindi which is spoken in Mumbai), Vangi means Brinjal or Aubergine. And Rasa in most Indian languages brings to mind a gravy. So I always thought Rasavangi is brinjal cooked in gravy. It was only recently I learnt that it is, in fact, a South Indian term and most probably used by the Brahmins. All this time, I used to call this dish a Pumpkin Sambhar. Anyway, here’s the Rasavangi I made recently.

White Pumpkin Rasavangi

Ingredients:

  • 1 large white pumpkin, peeled and chopped into small pieces after discarding the seeds and fibre
  • 1 lemons sized ball of tamarind, soaked in hot water for 20-30 minutes, then squeezed so the fibres are removed and the tamarind water separated
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 cup toor dal
  • 2-3 tbsp chana dal

To be ground into a paste:

  • 1/2 cup grated coconut
  • 6-8 dried red chillies
  • 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp chana dal
  • 2 tbsp oil

To Temper:

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp broken urad dal
  • 5-6 curry leaves

Method:

  • Cook the toor and chana dal until they lose their shape. Whisk them well till it becomes a homogeneous mixture. Keep aside
  • In a pan, take 2 tbsp oil and when the oil warms, add the dried red chillies, coriander seeds and chana dal and stir until they start becoming red. Then add the coconut and keep stirring till the coconut becomes reddish brown and loses all moisture and becomes completely dry. Keep aside to cool.
  • When cool, blend to a fine powder. If your blender can’t do this, you can also add water and blend it to a fine paste.
  • In the same pan, put the chopped pumpkin and turmeric powder with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and ensure it does not burn. You can also add a bit of salt here so the pumpkin is not bland.
  • Cook the pumpkin till it becomes tender. At this point add the tamarind water and boil until the raw smell of the tamarind goes away.
  • Now add the cooked dals and the ground paste and check for seasoning. When the Rasavangi starts to boil again, remove from the flame.
  • Take a smaller skillet and pour in the remaining 1 tbsp oil. When the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the urad dal and let it brown slightly. Add the curry leaves and switch off the flame. Pour this seasoning over the Rasavangi.
  • Serve hot as a gravy with rice or even as an accompaniment to a traditional South Indian meal. If serving as an accompaniment, make it thicker than usual. This can also be eaten with Indian flatbreads.

 

Recipes: Raw Mango Thokku

Posted on by
1

A thokku is a pickle which is cooked down to a paste. In normal pickles, you don’t cook them (or barely cook them) allowing the vegetables (or fruits) to absorb the spices from the spice paste that coats them. In a thokku, you cook it down until there is no moisture left in the vegetable (or fruit) and this can also be made with herbs like coriander (or cilantro as it is called in North America) or curry leaves.

A thokku can be eaten not only with rice or flatbreads, but you can eat it as a stuffing in a sandwich. The raw mango thokku is an all-time favourite pickle and I have been known for eating it as it is, that’s how much I love it!

Last year in December, when my mum was with me, one day when I was wondering if I should make my instant mango pickle with the raw mangoes that S brought home, she asked me if I wanted to make this raw mango thokku. Me being me, I instantly said yes and learnt it from her. Since then I’ve made it at least once a month, fine-tuning my recipe. I am now confident of this recipe enough to share with everyone.

This is an easy recipe, just a little tedious. For around 4 largish mangoes, it usually takes me an hour from start to finish. If you are making more, perhaps for the whole year, then yes it can even take the whole day!

Raw Mango Thokku

Ingredients:

  • 4 large raw mangoes
  • 4-6 tbsps gingelly oil
  • 1 tbsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 4 tbsp red chilli powder (approximately)
  • ½ cup jaggery
  • ½ tsp fenugreek seed powder
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Wash and dry the mangoes thoroughly.
  • Peel the skin and chop the flesh into small pieces, the smaller the better. Discard the seed.
  • In a large pan, heat the gingelly oil and when it starts smoking, add in the mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, pour in the chopped mangoes and stir well to cover all the pieces with the oil.
  • Stir well and cover and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Then add turmeric powder and salt and stir well and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Now add the chilli powder and continue to cook. You can do a taste test at this point to check for seasoning and the level of chillies in the thokku. When you feel it is slightly spicier than you can handle, that’s what you are looking for.
  • Add the jaggery (optional, you can omit this completely or even add some brown sugar) and let it cook till the oil starts leaving the sides of the pan. Add more oil if your thokku starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
  • Just when it is ready, add the fenugreek powder and remove from the gas.
  • When the thokku is cool, remove it to a jar and enjoy!

Notes:

  • I have found that the best way to cut the mangoes is to peel them with the peeler (after you have removed the skin).
  • Peel the flesh until you come to the seed, and then chop the remaining flesh finely. This way, the flesh breaks down fast and you get a smooth paste like thokku.
  • In the photo below, (I made this version about a month back), I have chopped the flesh and you can still see the slightly grainy cubes which have not melted into a paste.
  • You can also grate the mango flesh.