Gobi Manchurian

This is an indo-chinese dish that is loved by a lot of people and it goes well chapathi or noodles or just as an appetizer. I have categorized this as an appetizer since I didn't make it too gravy.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower/Gobi- 2 cups (big size florets)
Onion- 1- chopped (to teeth size)
Green pepper-1/2 chopped(teeth size)
Green onions/spring onions- 3 or 4 bulbss
Greens of spring onions- for garnishing
Ginger/Garlic- 2 tbsp grated
Green chilly- 1 tbsp chopped (or Green chilly sauce 1 tbsp)
Tomato ketchup- 1/2 cup
Soy sauce
Corn flour- 2 tbsp
Maida/All purpose flour- 2 tbsp
chilli powder- 1 tbsp
salt
oil


Cut the cauliflower/Gobi into big florets and microwave for 2 mins in water with salt. Gobi shouldn't be overcooked.
Take out the cauliflower florets and let it drain on a paper towel.
Make a batter(like bajji batter consistency) of maida, cornflour, water, 1 tbsp of hot oil, chilli powder (1/2 tbsp) & salt. Dip the Gobi florets in this batter and deep fry and place it on a paper towel and let this cool.
In the meantime, in a skillet to hot oil add grated ginger/garlic, green chilly & chopped spring onion' bulbs. sauté for a min and then add chopped onions, add a pinch of salt and sauté this. then add all the sauces & tomato ketchup, a pinch of salt, chopped green pepper & chilli powder.Take 1 tbsp of corn flour and add a little water to it to make a paste and add this to the skillet. This will be absorbed by the saute'ed onions and would thicken the gravy. Now add the gobi florets and mix it well and sauté it for a min. Add more soy sauce if needed. Garnish with greens of spring onions.

Note :Adding hot oil to the batter makes the gobi crispier
It is important to cool the deep fried gobi before adding to the gravy. Otherwise it will get soggy.
A little bit of vinegar could be added along with the sauces. I skipped it bcos I didn't have it at home.

Veggie Noodles

I choose the healthier multi grain Thin Spaghetti to make noodles instead of the usual noodle sticks which is usually made of refined all purpose flour. Muliti grain provides the necessary omega 3 for our body. And this comes out as tasty as the usual noodles.
Ingredients:
Thin spaghetti- 3 fistfuls
Onion, carrot, beans, carrot, green peppers, cabbage, cauliflower- thinly sliced
Green onions/Spring onions- 3 or 4 bulbs chopped
leaves of green onions- for garnishing
Green chilly- finely chopped- 2 tbsp
Ginger & Garlic- 1 tbsp grated
Soy sauce
Tomato sauce/ketchup
Boil the spaghetti in boiling water as per instructions on the package. Then strain the hot water, add cold water to the spaghetti, strain & keep it aside.
In a skillet, add chopped green chilly, ginger garlic to really hot oil and fry for abt 30 secs. Now add the chopped Onion, green onion bulbs and sauté. Then add the other vegetables (except for cabbage & green peppers) one by one . Sprinkle some salt to help cook the veggies and sauté it in high flame. The veggies have to be a bit crunchy.Now add the green pepper and sauté for a min. Now add the sauces, and then the cooked spaghetti and mix well. Now goes the cabbage and sauté till everything is mixed well, add extra soy sauce if needed and then garnish with the leaves/greens of the spring onions.
Serve hot!!! I served this with crunchy Gobi Manchurian...recipe for that will follow soon...

Rava Idly -Home Made!

I used to buy the MTR Rava idly instant mix for a long time until I learnt that it might be cheaper & also easy to just make my own rava idly mix at home. Since then I have always made my own mix at home to make those soft fluffy rava idlies. I used the same ingredients that are used in the instant mix.
Ingredients:
Rava- 1 cup
Curd/Yogurt- 1.5 cups
baking soda- a pinch
salt
chopped coriander leaves- 1 tbsp
cashewnuts- 1 tbsp
channda dhal- 1 tbsp
Urad dhal- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tbsp
Green chilly- 1 finely chopped
Ginger- 1 small piece- finely chopped
curry leaves- few- chopped
hing- a pinch
ghee- 1 tsp
oil

Method:
1. heat oil+ghee in a skillet and add cashewnuts, channda dhal,Urad dhal & mustard seeds for tempering.
when mustard seeds splutter, add chopped green chilly, ginger,curry leaves, and then the rava. roast this until a nice aroma of rava comes. Let this cool down.




In the meantime, beat the yogurt nicely in a bowl. Add salt, hing & chopped coriander leaves.

To this add the roasted rava mixture and mix nicely to get a thick idly batter. add very little water if the mix is too thick. Now add a pinch of baking soda and set it aside for 20- 30 mins.

Then steam the idlies for 10 mins and serve with chutney or saagu or just milagai podi.

Chilli Porotta

Chilli porotta is a spicy dish made with porotta torn into pieces and sautéed with green chilly & spices. I genereally use the frozen porotta we get here in the indian store, thaw it and then tear into pieces. The last time I luckily got frozen kothu porotta in the indian store so didn't have to do the tearing, but this is not common to find. Also, remember look for Porotta and not Paratha, though they sound the same they are totally different.
Ingredients:
Frozen Porotta- 1 pack or about 6-7 pieces
Onion-1 thinly sliced lengthwise
Tomato- 1
carrot- 1/2 thinly sliced lengthwise
Green pepper- 1 thinly sliced lengthwise
Cilantro leaves- few
Ginger & garlic- finely chopped 1 tbsp
Green chilli- 4
chilli powder- a pinch
Garam masala powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- a pinch
salt
oil
For Tempering:
cumin seeds- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds-1 tbsp

Tear the thawed porotta into thin pieces and set it aside
In a pan, add jeera & mustard to hot oil and when the mustard seeds splutter, add the ginger/garlic & green chilly and fry for a min.
Then add the cut onions and sauté really well. The add tomatoes until it gets mushy,followed by carrots and sauté until the carrot is soft.
Now add the green peppers and sauté it a bit. Green pepper has to be a bit crunchy.
Now add the torn porotta pieces and add all the 3 powders mentioned above, salt and mix well.
Cook for a couple of mins and then garnish with cilantro leaves.
Serve with onion raitha.

Poori & Kizhangu

Poori:
Wheat Flour- 1 cup
Rava- 1 tbsp
salt
water to knead
oil

Mix all the above four ingredients and use water to knead it into a nice dough.The dough should not be too soft like chapathi. It has to be a bit firmer that that. I add rava to retain the fluffiness in the puris. I usually make the dough right before I fry them unlike chapathi where making the dough 2-3 hrs before making the chapathi helps. Take medium sized balls of dough and use a rolling pin to flatten them into small round puris. Now fry this in hot oil. Hot hot poori is ready!!

Potato/Kizhangu:
This potato masala is a traditional accompaniment to puris in Tamilnadu. I added carrots to my recipe because I didn't have enough potatoes at home that day:). But generally just cooked with potatoes only...

Ingredients:

Potato- 4

Onion- 1

Turmeric powder- 1 tbsp

Gram flour- 1 tbsp

For Tempering:

Urad dhal- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1 Tbsp

Channa dhal- 1 tbsp

Green chillies- 3 or 4 finely chopped

Ginger- small piece finely chopped

Curry leaves- few

Cilantro leaves- few

Oil

Hing

Add the tempering items to hot oil and when the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped onions and sauté the onions and add a tbsp of turmeric powder.

In the meantime boil the potatoes, peel the skin and dice the potato into medium sized pieces.

when the onion is sautéed really well, add the potato pieces, salt, water & hing and let this cook.

If the potato masala is too watery, take a tbsp of gram flour and dissolve it in water without lumps and add it to the masala and let it cook for another extra 2-3 mins.

Finally add chopped cilantro leaves and serve with the hot puris.

Mutter Paneer

Ingredients:

Paneer – 200 gms

Green peas (frozen)- 1 cup

Onion- 1

Tomato- 2

Green chillies- 4

Cashewnuts- 5

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Coriander powder-1 tbsp

Cumin powder- 1 tbsp

Chilli powder- 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder- ½ tbsp

Kasoori methi- crushed (1 tbsp)

Salt

For Tempering:

Cloves- 2

Cinnamon- 1 big stick

Cardamom- 1

Bayleaf-1

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Oil

Sauté sliced onions+ tomatoes+ green chillies+ ginger garlic paste+ cashews +turmeric powder really well.

Let this cool and then blend it to a fine paste.

In a pan, add the tempering items to hot oil & when you get the nice aroma of spices, add the blended paste.

Add Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Chilli powder & salt. Cook this is medium flame for about 5-7 mins.

After the 1^st boil, add the green peas & then finally cubed paneer, salt & cook on medium flame for about 2 mins & then cook on slow flame for another 5-7 mins.

Finally add crushed Kasoori methi & cream (optional- I didn’t add any cream, it was still good) & serve with chapathis.

Cracked wheat (Kothumai) Upma

Samba wheat upma is a very healthy tiffin item that my mom used to make quite often in my house. Now I try to make it atleast once a week because of its nutritional value. For those of you trying to shed some pounds this might be a good choice.

Ingredients:

Cracked wheat -1 cup

Water- 2 ½ cups

Onion -1 big cut lengthwise

Lemon juice

For Tempering:

Urad dhal- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1 Tbsp

Channa dhal- 1 tbsp

Jeera seeds -1 Tbsp

Green chillies- 2 or 3 finely chopped

Red chillies- 2

Ginger- small piece finely chopped

Garlic - small piece finely chopped(optional)

Curry leaves- few

Oil

Hing

In a pressure pan add the tempering items and when the mustard seeds splutter add the finely chopped onions & sauté till soft.

Now add the cracked wheat and sauté for 1 or 2 mins. To this add water, salt & hing and close the pressure pan & cook for 2 or 3 whistles.

After opening the pan, squeeze some lemon juice and serve.

Note:

Sour buttermilk could also be added instead of lemon juice

I pressure cooked it bcos I use the cracked wheat variety which are bigger wheat kernels, so it takes time to cook in open pan but if the smaller kind is used then this can be cooked in open pan like usual upma.