Roasted bell pepper and carrot soup

I've never liked the rainy season. As a kid, July was always the month when school would be in full swing after the initial excitement of a new class and the fresh smell of new textbooks would have faded. The roads would be muddy and the scooters and autorickshaws would splash the muddy waters around. Noses would stuff up and vicks would be your best friend. There were some upsides to the whole thing as well, like playing in the rain with little paper boats, running inside the house, taking a warm shower and sipping on some hot soup as your hair dries. A few days back the nasty Bangalore non monsoon (because it does not really rain)took a toll on the husband and me, unleashing its most dreaded adverse effect, the viral infection on us. This hearty carrot soup was like a blessing as we struggled to stay up.

Ingredients
2 medium carrots
1/2 a red bell pepper
1/2 an onion, chopped
5-6 pods of garlic
500 ml of chicken /lamb /veggie stock
3 big basil leaves
olive oil for frying onions
salt and pepper to taste

To garnish
grated cheese
freshly ground pepper
a dash of balsamic vinegar

Grate and chop carrots into 1/2 inch cubesRoast a bell pepper on open flame till the skin turns black, let it cool. Remove the skin and seeds and chop.

In a cooking vessel, fry the onions till translucent, crush the garlic and add. Add the carrots and stir for a minute.

Add the stock and basil and let it cook till the carrots soften. Add bell pepper right at the end.

Remove the basil leaves from the pot and blend the soup with a hand blender.Add salt and pepper.Serve with a dash of balsamic vinegar, crushed pepper and cheese This is my entry for the Lets Cook Soup Event.

Chocolate chip cookies

My mother in law loves cookies, so this mother's day I decided to surprise her with this simple recipe. These cookies are chewy and highly addictive, we finished up the whole batch over tea!

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups plus all-purpose flour/maida
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 12 tablesppoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 ½ cups chocolate chips ( you can break a frozen chocolate bar into bits too)

Melt the butter in the microwave. In a mixing bowl add the butter along with the sugars.
Add eggs, yolks and vanilla and blend by using a hand blender for about 10-20 secs

Add the dry ingredients slowly. Fold in the mixture. Add the chips and continue folding.

Roll the mixture in to a ball, it is not required to knead the dough.

Cover with cling wrap and place the mixture in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 150. Place the mixture as lemon sized balls on a flat baking tray greased with butter. The dough balls are more like blobs which need not have a smooth outer surface. Be sure to place them about 1 inch apart.
Let the cookies bake for 10-13 mins, they should seem slightly underdone as they continue to cook for a few mins more once out of the oven.

Cool for 20 mins and enjoy.

Kathi rolls

Ramadan Kareem. The holy month is here, a time for prayer, reflection and togetherness. As much feasting as fasting. Every Ramadan I struggle not just with waking up early for seheri but also with trying to come up with non fried decent tasting iftar snacks. Over the years the husband and I have become increasingly averse to the idea of deep frying anything, though we enjoy the occasional samosa or vada, it's not some thing that we naturally gravitate towards in our cooking. So kathi rolls which are essentially a meat / veggie filled spicy wrap makes for a great snack post a whole day of fasting. My husband is a total sandwich and wrap guy who loves rolling his roti sabzi also into a wrap before eating, so this dish won his approval hands down.

Kathi rolls probably originated in Calcutta, but are hugely popular here in Bangalore as well. The most common fillings are chicken, paneer and egg. It can be modified as per one's personal taste, I like egg in mine and since my hubby hates raw onion, I stir fry the onions before adding them.

The kathi roll essentially consists of the roti, any maida based roti works well, roomali or the frozen layered malaysian paratha. I made my own roti using equal parts of maida and atta, they turned out to be quite soft and not rubbery.Next, comes the filling as I said it's per your taste. You can do kebabs or stir fried meat. Can use bite size pieces or shreds.Onions laced with a nice spicy green chutney finishes this tasty snack quite well.

Ingredients

Roti
I did not measure out the quantity of flour but just used 1:1 wheat flour and maida/ all purpose flour
salt to taste
1 table spoon oil and water for kneading
3 - 4 table spoons of ajwain (caron seeds) and zeera(cumin seeds) coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle
Oil

3-4 eggs beaten with a teaspoon of salt added

Filling
1/2 kg boneless chicken cut into nbite size pieces
1 table spoon ginger and garlic paste
a pinch of turnericpowder
1 teaspoon dhanya (coriander seeds)powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
juice of a lemon
oil for frying
salt to taste

1 1/2 cup of onion, bell peppers and carrots cut into strips
5-6 green chillies slit and deseeded

Green chutney
I do not have exact proportions but these are the ingredients that I use for making the chutney- mint leaves , coriander/cilantro leaves, garlic,green chillies, salt, lemon juice and zeera powder

The prep can the done a little in advance and ideally the rolls should be put together just before eating, street food style. I, however made these 2-3 hours in advance and rolled them in aluminum foil and they stayed pretty good. The key is to use a roti that does not become soggy or rubbery, the filling should have no water and the chutney should be added at end just before serving.

Prep

Filling
Add oil in a pan and add the ginger garlic paste stir for a minute or two
Add the chicken and cook for 5-7 mins.
Add the spice powders and cook till the water from the chicken dries up
Add the lemon juice.

In a separate pan stir fry the veggie strips and green chillies with salt red chilli powder.

Roti

Knead the dough with oil and water until its soft.
Take small lemon sized ball, flatten, add the zeera ajwain mix on in and roll it chapati style.

Make the green chutney by blending all the ingredients in a hand mixer.

Assembly
Take a flat non stick pan, add oil and about 3-4 table spoons of egg (equivalent to that of a small omlette) once the sides of the egg curl up and it begins to cook place the roti on it. Turn the roti in the pan around to ensure that the egg coats the roti and is completely cooked.

Place the roti on a flat surface and put in the filling meat and veggies.

Pour in the chutney.

Roll and seal with a toothpick.

I've never taken part in a blog event, but I came across this ramadan food festival over at this blog while scouring for iftar recipes. I don't know how hyderabadi is my recipe but here goes my entry for the The Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival 2012.

Tomato egg drop soup

I have this cookbook by Sanjeev Kapoor called "Khazana of healthy tasty recipes", that has a whole range of low cal healthy indian and 'fusion' dishes, from salads to desserts, in true Kapoor style.
Each recipe is followed by a small nutritional nugget which is guess is a must for such a book. But on a closer look I see that they mention some thing like 225 calories for a Mexican corn pie or 270 calories for a 400 gm spiced chicken bites, but where are the portion sizes !!! I looked through the whole book but could not find any info on how many portions are included per recipe. Bad copy editing /quality check I guess.


In any case, I decided to try the tomato egg drop soup from the book a while back. I personally would not rate the end result very high, I guess bits of tomatoes with egg was not really my cup of tea or shall I say soup, but the husband loved it. So I guess its a personal preference.

Egg whites -2
Corn flour - 3 tblspoons
Vegetablre Stock or water - 4 cups
Tomatoes -3 medium
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Fresh corainder leave -1/4 cup
Oil 1 tblspoon
Hot sauce / tomato ketchup - 4 tblspoons
salt - to taste
White pepper -to taste
White vinegar - 2 teaspoons

1) Beat egg whites lightly. Dissolve corn flour in 1/4 cup water / stock
2)Wash and chop tomatoes finely ( remove and discard the seeds ) Peel and chop the garlic ,ginger and coriander
3)In a saucepan , add oil and heat. Add ginger followed by garlic , after 30 secs add onion and let it saute till translucent
4) Add tomatoes and ketchup and let it cook for 3-4 mins
5) Add the stock / water. Add pepper and salt.
6) Add the the dissolved cornflour and cook till the soup thickens . Add vinegar after that.
7) Pour egg whites in a thin stream , breaking it up with a fork as it falls into the soup.
8) Serve hot immediately.

Beetroot Cutlets

I had no clue about the existence of beet root cutlets till I was in my grad school. Growing up in Hyderabad I don't think I ever came across or ate these red round snacks. Here in Bangalore, beetroots are abundantly available and I routinely include them in my everyday cooking. One afternoon I thought of the cutlets I had eaten years ago and decided to recreate the same. I scouted for a good recipe online but couldn't find one that suited my style of cooking. So I took inspiration from a few a created this one. Must say it turned out great and normally I'm not a big fan of fried snacks but left no time in savoring this batch of these roundies.

Recipe

Ingredients

Beets -2 medium grated

Potato -2 medium boiled and mashed

Carrot - 1medium grated

Green chilli - 1-2 cut fine

Ginger - 1 " grated

Cilantro/ Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp chopped

Coriander powder- 2 tsps
Cumin powder -1/2 tsp

Garam masala -1 tsp

Chat masala -1 tsp

Amchur powder- 2-3 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Oil -1 tbsp + for deep frying

Bread crumbs -1/2 cup or as needed

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan on medium heat and add in the asafoetida. Add the ginger and green chillies and saute them for a minute.

2. Add the carrots and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add in the potato and mix.Add all the masala powders.

3. Add the beets and cook for 5 minutes, add coriander leaves and the 2 tbsp corn starch (that helps in binding add more if needed so you are able to form a ball).

4. Take off the heat and let the mixture cool down. Take water and cornstarch and mix till no lumps. Take out bread crumbs on a plate. Take small amount of the cutlet mix and make into desired shape. Dip it in corn starch mix and roll it in bread crumbs. Repeat with all the cutlet mix. Arrange on a plate and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour.

5. Heat oil (make sure the oil is really hot else they will break apart) and deep fry the chops till golden brown on all sides.

6. Serve hot and eat as a snack or as a side with a meal. You can sprinkle chaat masala or amchur before serving too.

Lamb Kofta Curry

Minced meat or kheema is a favorite amongst most meat eaters. There are numerous ways of cooking this chewy shred of meat but kofta, shaami or the hyderabadi shikampur remain popular. I had tasted meatballs (kofta both in the dry and the gravy form) but always considered the gravy version difficult to cook. I would fear that the balls would break resulting in a mushy inedible paste. The book "Hajra's recipes of life, for life", about which I blogged a while back had a simple and clear recipe that seemed fool proof , so I decided to give the kofta curry a shot.

The key to creating firm kofta I learned was the no water rule in the kofta making and the use of roasted gram dal that gives the required binding.

I followed the recipe to the T and have made this dish two time around, to achieve perfect results both times.

Ingredients

Kofta
500 gms mutton minced ( kheema)
2tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
7-8 green chillies
5 almonds blanched
1/2 tsp garlic paste
2 medium onions finely chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 pinch turmeric
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup husked bengal gram dal / chana dal roasted and powdered
1-2 tbsp yogurt (optional

Curry
2 medium onions finely chopped
2 medium potatoes quartered ( I skipped this)
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 medium tomatoes pureed
1 cut yogurt
Juice of a lime
few strands of saffron soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk

Method

Kofta
1. Wash the mince and squeeze out the water completely, by clenching handfuls in batches. This is really important to ensure that the koftas do not break.

2. Blend coriander leaves, green chillies, almonds, garlic paste, onions, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala powder, salt in a food processor to make a paste, do not add water. Add a yogurt if too dry.

3. Add the mince mutton in to this mix and grind for a short turn only to ensure that its mixed with the paste.

4. Add the powdered gram and mix well

5. Make 2" balls and spread on a steel plate/platter

Gravy / Curry

1. Take a wide flat bottomed non stick cooking vessel. Add oil and fry the onions to a golden brown.

2. Add ginger and garlic when the onion is at the translucent stage and fry with a few sprinklings of water for 5 mins or so

3. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking till oil emerges from the sides

4. Add whisked yogurt gently and cook fo r 5 mins

5. Add some water and bring the gravy to boil. Place the meatballs gently carefully in the gravy , make sure they are well spaced, the gravy should just about be covering the balls. Cook on moderate heat without disturbing.

6. Add the lime juice and saffron and continue cooking to achieve the desired consistency.

7. Serve hot with naan or rice.

Whole spices and tomato chicken

Who does not love a chicken curry? who does not love a chicken curry that is easy to cook and tastes heavenly. This curry recipe uses whole spices , cinnamon , cardamon and caraway seeds to give this lingering yet not overpowering aroma to the dish. Apt for everyday lunch or an elaborate dinner.

1 kg chicken
6 tblspoon oil
3 medium onions sliced

Whole spices
4 cloves
4 green cardamom
3, 1/2 inch cinnamon  sticks

1tsp garlic paste
1tsp ginger paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
 3 medium tomatoes pureed
few saffron strands soaked in milk
2 tbsp coriander leaves

Method

Wash and clean the chicken and drain out the water. Add about a table spoon of salt and mix well, leave this aside while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Take oil in a thick bottomed pan and fry the onions to a golden brown, the edges should turn crispy. Reserve half the onions for later.

Add the whole spices to the onions and fry for about two minutes. Add the chicken and fry for about 10 mins, adding water as required.

Add the ginger and garlic and fry with the chicken. Add the spice powders next and mix in.

As the spices mature and the chicken starts turning light brown add the tomatoes.

Turn the heat high and stir strongly for 5 mins to create a cohesive gravy.

Add some more water (about 1 cup) and the saffron milk. Let the gravy cook on medium heat till the oil separates.

Crush the fried onions and add to the curry.

Serve garnished with coriander with rice or roti.

Pad Thai, from an Indian kitchen

Pad thai, is one of those dishes that are universally liked, many times re-ordered, always saved as leftovers and  ordered by the non red/green/yellow curry eating person at a thai restaurant. I was first introduced to thai cuisine in the US, where I found myself switching  from the eaten - since - childhood - indo -chinese - food to the lemon grass and basil leaves spiced thai cuisine as my go to comfort oriental food of choice. I was fortunate find a few decent thai restaurants in Bangalore to keep the love going. And on a trip to singapore where thai food is extremely popular I found some very delectable versions of this noodle dish.

When I chanced upon some flat rice stick noodles at a local grocery store I knew that I had to make them, so I  quickly searched for pad thai recipe on  my phone and picked up the rest of the ingredients as well, technology well used.

Making a pad thai involves essentially five steps - boiling the noodles, making the sauce, preparing the meat and veggies, stir frying the ingredients and garnishing the dish. I've used this recipe which is a modification of various versions that I found on the internet. I think the end result was pretty decent, if I were to change something for the future I would make my sauce more tangy and use sesame oil instead of olive.

Ingredients
200 g  rice stick noodles
1.5 tablespoons dark tamarind paste
1/2 cup fish sauce
2 table spoons brown sugar
1 table spooon chilli paste
1 chicken breast (you can use shrimp/large prawns too)
2 eggs
1 spring onion
1/3 of a capsicum
4-5 mushrooms
1 lime/ lemon
5-6 garlic pods
5 table spoons peanuts
white/black pepper to taste
salt to taste
oil as required ( would recommend using sesame oil)
Most major supermarkets in Bangalore like Spar or Spencers stock the thai ingredients.

Preparation:
The sauce: In a saucepan, mix in the fish sauce, brown sugar and the tamarind paste ( I used the boxed one, you can me this paste from tamarind too but make sure it is concentrated). Add little water if required. once all ingredients are mixed in and the sugar is dissolved ( about 5-7 minutes) add the chilli paste. Taste the sauce and adjust the tanginess.

The meat and veggies: Chop the mushrooms, finely cube the capsicum, and finely chop the garlic. Take the chicken breast season with salt and pepper and grill or lightly fry after 20-30 mins. Chopped the chicken breasts into small cubes.

The noodles: Cooking the noodles is the tricky, its is suicidal for the dish to have overcooked soggy noodles. Follow the instructions on the pack carefully. Most rice stick noodles can be cooked by simply soaking in warm water as opposed to actual boiling. When in doubt leave the noodles slightly undercooked and cook gradually by sprinkling water.

The garnish: Take the eggs in a separate pan and scramble them to bits and keep aside,  take the peanuts and dry roast  on a hot pan and lightly crush, chop the spring onion to 1 cm long bits, cut a lime or lemon into 4 pieces and remove the seeds. The long bean sprouts are commonly seen as garnishing, I didn't have any hence I skipped.

The frying: Once all the prep is done take a wok (or a kadhai) and heat it up on high heat. Make sure you break down the pad thai ingredients into smaller portions according to the size of your wok so that you can work in batches. One the wok if fuming hot add 3-4 table spoons of oil and reduce the flame marginally (I did this because I was using olive oil). Add the capsicum first followed by the mushrooms let it fry for half a min and then add the garlic, and in go the chicken next. Traditionally the chicken would have been put in raw and then cooked in the wok itself but I precooked it, perhaps if you are using shrimp you can add them directly. Add the noodles stir vigorously to avoid clumping (I took the help of spaghetti tongs to move them apart). Add in the sauce so that all ingredients are coated with the brown liquid. Add in the salt and pepper to adjust the flavor.
Add in more oil if required. The entire frying should not take more than  8 minutes. Finally just before turning the the flame off add squeeze the lime and add the egg.

Serve immediately in individual serving plates topped with spring onions, peanuts, sprouts and lime wedges.

Ande ki kadi (tangy egg curry)

I love eggs. If my husband and I ever happen to take part in one of those game shows where you are asked questions about your spouse like his/her favorite color, dream vacation, celebrity crush, favorite food, I think he has it easy on the food question (not sure about the rest though!).
As a kid, I remember I was forced to eat eggs in a attempt to make me gain weight and grow tall. Though I loved eating them, I became extremely fussy about the way it should be cooked, I liked it fried the masala way with loads of onions and coriander along with red chilli powder and ginger garlic paste fried to a brown ( not yellow ) color or the sunny side up with the yolk both intact and liquid and the edges browned to a thin crunchy lining. As the years went by my equation with weight reversed and eating eggs became a not so routine affair and other forms such as poached, boiled and scrambled whites (shudder) made inroads into my meals. Now my relation with eggs rests comfortable with two good fried eggs once a week. And or other occasions I manage to sneak in boiled egg as 'garnishing' on curries and rice.

Enough said about my adulation for the little humpty dumpties, the recipe that I have to share today is an elevation of status of some sorts for my oval friend, it makes its foray into the main course and is not relegated to a garnishing or a scrambled to bits sharing space with five different ingredients in rice.


This ande ki kadi is a tangy gravy that perfectly offsets the blandness of eggs.

Ingredients
Curry
1 onion sliced
1tsp garlic paste
2tsp red chilli powder
2tsp zeera powder
1tsp coriander powder
1 pinch turmeric

1tspsalt

4 tablespoon tamarind pulp
1 tbsp fresh coconut paste
6 green chillies slit
6 eggs hard boiled and shelled

Seasoning
6- 8 tbl sp oil
1/2 tsp mustard leaves
12 curry leaves

Ground to paste
1 medium onion
4 medium tomatoes
2tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Method
Pour the oil in a cooking vessel and let it warm. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and let it splutter
After a minute or so add the onion and fry till brown.
Add the garlic paste and fry for 5 mins with sprinkling of water as required
Add all the powders and fry for 5 mins
Pour the pureed onions and tomatoes, cook for 15 mins.
Add the green chillies and coconut and cook for 10 mins.
Drop the hard boiled eggs just before serving . Leave to simmer for 5-10 mins


Enjoy with steamed white rice

Comfort Food - Khichdi

There are some foods that you always associate with being simple and  home cooked. The humble khichdi may not make it to the menu of a gourmet restaurant (yet!), does remain fairly popular across different Indian cuisines. Most versions involve cooking rice to a soggy consistency, but this one, the hyderabadi style retains the grains intact and can be eaten on any day regardless of the condition of the stomach!

Ingredients
150 gms rice
20 grams masoor dal
Around 3 cups of water
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 an onion
1/2 inch cinnamon
1 cardamom
1 table spoon oil
Salt to taste
a few sprigs of cilantro leaves

Method
Wash and soak the rice and dal separately for about 15 mins.
Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel and fry the onions to translucent.
Drain the water off the dal and add to the onions. fry for about a minute.
Add turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon and mix for about half a minute.
Add the drained rice and water; sprinkle salt let in cook with the lid closed for 10 mins
One the grains are about 80 % cooked, check to see if a sprinkle of water in required. Add cilantro and let is cook for about 5-7 mins.

Serve hot with til ki chutney ( will do a post on it), tamatar ki chutney or kheema.