Bhindi Bhaaja

I sampled this dish at my friend's place and simply loved the flavours. I loved the taste especially of the spices and immediately thought of trying it out yesterday. It turned to be pretty easy and the taste was very different. This dish gels pretty well with hot phulkas.

Serves: 2-3 individuals

Ingredients:
Okra – ¼ kg (chopped vertically and further chopped into 1 inch size)
Mustard oil – 2 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 2 teaspoon
Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
Fennel powder – ½ teaspoon
Green Chillies – 2 (sliced vertically)
Salt – as per taste

Method:
1. Wash the Okra and chop and keep aside. Heat sesame oil in a sauce pan and sauté the green chillies.
2. Now add the Okra (chopped) and add the masala along with salt.
3. Keep on low flame and stir once in a while. Turn off flame once the vegetable is completely cooked.
4. Serve hot with Phulkas.

Update - The oil used here is Mustard oil. I realised using a different oil as base just changes the flavour of the subzi.

Mum's Bachelor Pulao

One quick dish which can satiate your hunger during any day is Pulao. I specially like this one made by Mommy and rejoice the taste when she prepares it. This Pulao is easy and quick to dish out. Specially recommended for Bachelor cooking where one has minimum resources and less time to dish out a quick meal. I also learnt while preparing this dish that adding one spoonful of ghee towards the end adds special aroma to the Pulao. One can use the regular MTR Pulao masala one gets at Food World et al. Try it out and enjoy!!

Serves: 2-3 Individuals

Ingredients:
Rice – 1 Cup
Chopped Vegetables – 2-3 Cups (Cauliflower, Onions, French Beans)
Ghee – 3-5 teaspoon
MTR Pulao Masala – 2 teaspoon
Pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Hot water – 2 Cup
Salt – As per taste

Method:
1.Wash the rice and keep aside.
2.Add 3 t ghee in a pot and saute the vegetables. Once the veggies get a coat of fat
all over, add hot water and leave to parboil.
3.After the vegetables are parboiled and the water evaporates, add the rice
pre-washed.
4.Add rest of the ingredients and once mixed well, add 2 t ghee and leave on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with pickle or Raita.

Gung-ho with Garlic Bread!!

I wanted a warm spread for a very light dinner. Found Bagel French Bread at the local store, so thought of dishing out a light snack with Garlic Bread. The final outcome was very tasty and I was surprised that the dish is actually very easy as opposed to the feedback which I had received.

For all those who have a Daredevil Baker’s spirit and wish to know more about Bread and Bread making, here is a site: http://www.bakeinfo.co.nz/school/school_info/types_of_bread.php).
I found the site useful in terms of providing the history and details related to Bread making. It talk about three types of Breads – High Rising Bread, Mid Volume Bread (e.g French Bread), Minimal volume Bread ( e.g Flat Bread aka Indian Naan, Chapatti, Pita).

Serves: 3-4 individuals

Ingredients:
French Bread – 1 loaf
Garlic oil or finely shredded garlic – 1/8th t for each slice
Unsalted butter – 8-12 t (melted)
Mushrooms – ½ C (thinly sliced)
Parmesan Cheese – 1 Cup (grated)
Paprika – as per taste
Oregano seasoning – as per taste


Method:
1. Slice the French Bread loaf to 1 inch size each.
2. Slather the melted butter and garlic oil on the bread surface.
3. Add mushrooms, parmesam cheese, paprika and oregano seasoning.
4. Place in the microwave grill mode on 100% heat for 1 minute.
5. Serve hot with Lasagna or Cream of mushroom soup.

Pampering with Cheese Pasta

I consider Cheese as a total comfort food. Cheese has this innane sublime quality to lift my spirits especially when it’s a tiring day. I was frantically hunting through my pantry stock to check what I can cook and dish out in 10 minutes flat (this is my highest saturation time when I am hungry). I found Sunfeast Pasta packet lying in the jar. I quickly picked the packet and began my cooking process. Next time around, would try to create my own sauce and cook pasta. Since I was feeling lazy this time aound, I decided to take the short cut route

Serves: 1-2 individuals

Ingredients:
Water – 2 C
Pasta pack – 100 gms
Cheese slice – 1 slice
Herbs – ¼ t

Method:
1.Unpack the pasta content in a pot of boiling water.
2.Add the tastemaker sauce and stir vigourously.
3.Caution: Do not leave the pot unattended. The stirring process
ensures that the sauce does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
4.Stir for around 8 minutes on low flame.
5.Add cheese slice and herbs and continue stirring. When the volume
decreases to half, discontinue and put off the flame and allow the pasta
to settle.
6.After a minute, transfer to serving dish.
7.Serve with bread sticks if you will. Serve when its piping hot.

Spicy Puffed Rice (Churmurey Upkari/ Charmuri Pachhadi)

During our childhood days, eating Churmurey was a grand affair. We used to help Mum with her kitchen chores for chopping onions, cilantro and relish the experience. The best I have enjoyed is the one which we get in Udupi Krishna temple premise. They garnish the snack with raw mango (Ambuli) and it tastes amazing. The person there serves it in paper cones and dabs mounds of raw mango on top of the snack while serving.
I prefer Churmuri with Hot Tea. The combination is good and also ensures that your tummy is full with a dry snack and hot tea. A beverage/ drink is always suggested with Churmurey Upkari as the tummy gets dry food alone due to dry-snack nature of Churmurey.

Serves: 1-3 individuals

Ingredients:
Puffed Rice – 6-8 C
Coconut oil – 6 T
Nayak’s Churmuri Powder or Sambhar Powder – 3 T
Red Chillie Powder – 1 t
Finely chopped Onions – 1 C
Finely chopped Cilantro leaves – 1 C
Raw Mango – 1 C (Finely chopped): optional
Salt – As per taste

Method:
1.Fry the puffed rice on kadhai on very low flame (dry without oil). My mum does this exercise before preparing Churmurey Upkari. This also ensures that puffed rice are crispy and fresh and thereby enhance the flavor of the dish. 2.Add the coconut oil, Churmuri and Red Chillie powder. Nayak’s Churmuri powder is easily available in all Mangalore stores in Bangalore and Mangalore. Mix in rigorously to avoid lumps. If one cannot find this powder, plain red chillie powder also serves the purpose.
3.Finally add in salt and chopped onions. This process ensures that onions absorb the oil. Add cilantro leaves while serving the dish.
4.Serve this dish as an evening snack with Cardamom Tea.

Raw Green Plantain Side Dish (Kele Upkari/ Kelichi Bhaaji)

Raw Green Plantain is a rich source of Iron and is often prescribed for women's dietary supplement. I love this vegetable a lot for the simple reason that its a rich source of Iron and Fibre. This recipe has a seasoning of Garlic which adds the extra punch. The Banana to be used for this Side Dish is unripe and bright green in color.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes
Serves: 2-4 individuals

Ingredients:
Plantain or Raw Banana (cubed) - 3 cups
Red Chillies – 2-3
Garlic (crushed) – 8 flakes
Coconut Oil
Salt – as per taste
Water

Method:
Peel the skin from the Raw Banana and chop them into pieces of ½ inch each. Immediately add to tap water and allow the wax to get washed away with water. Discard the water and keep the chopped pieces aside. Take utmost care while chopping the Bananas. Sometimes, the wax (deek as called in Konkani)sticks to your hand. I used hand gloves while chopping to prevent the wax from sticking to my hands.
In a pot, heat oil and add the crushed garlic and sauté till the color of garlic changes to reddish brown. Add the chopped Banana and fry till the garlic gets evenly distributed and mixes well with the chopped bananas. Once mixing is done, break the Red Chillies into bits with your hands and add to the pot. Add enough water and cover for cooking. Since Bananas are hard, water would serve as a catalyst for the banana pieces to cook. Turn over the heat to low flame. Simmer on low flame for 10-15 minutes or till the vegetable is completely cooked. Garnish with grated coconut and serve warm.

Hot Chocolate

It gets very chilly in my area nowadays. Especially during twilight and night time, the temperature drops all of a sudden. I began feeling thirsty and wanted some warm drink.Found a chocolate bar lying in the fridge. Presto! Thought of preparing Hot Chocolate drink. Went through lot of recipes online and then finally thought of preparing something of my own.So here's a simple drink to keep you warm during the chilly days!!


Serves: 1 individual
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Warm Milk – 1 C
Cocoa powder – 1 T OR Chocolate bar – grated (2 cubes of Dairy milk)
Sugar – 2 t
Fresh Cream - 1 t
Cinnamon powder – 1/8 t or one pinch (optional)

Method:
1.Add sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon if desired to one serving of warm cup on milk.
2.Please note that milk should be warm and not hot. You will not be able to enjoy the taste if the milk is very hot.
3.Cinnamon gives that extra dash of spicy feel to the drink and cream adds the much required milky flavour to it. Enjoy your drink!!