Vegetable Upma

Vegetable upma is a very healthy and easy to prepare recipe. This dish is great for break fast but I know quite a few people who have it for dinner too. If not a meal, you could make it in a jiffy and enjoy as a snack.

Ingredients
2 cups, semolina/rava/sooji
4 cups water
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 cup ,chopped,carrots and peas(optional)
Lime juice for garnish(optional)
Cilantro/corriander leaves for garnish
Salt to taste

For the tempering:
1/2 spoon,mustard seeds
4-5 green chillies,slit vertically
turmeric powder, a pinch
a few curry leaves
2 spoons,cooking oil

Heat 1 spoon of cooking oil in a skillet and add semolina to it. Mix well so that semolina gets a little cooked and it coated with oil too. This will take about 2 minutes. Switch off the stove and keep the roasted semolina separately. Again, heat the remaining 1 spoon oil in the same skillet and once the oil is hot add the tempering ingredients followed my chopped onions. After about 3 minutes the onions would have cooked ,now add the other vegetables(if using) and saute for a couple of minutes more. Next,add water and let it start to boil. Add salt.At this point, also,add the roasted semolina slowly mixing it well as you keep adding it. Mis well till semoina gets absorbed well into the water. Cook on a low flame for some time(I cook for about 2 minutes) and switch off the stove. Add lemon juice and cilantro. Serve hot or warm. Upma can be enjoyed with any dip like chutney,sauce or with sugar,pickle etc.

Tomato Rasam #2

I have already posted a recipe for tomato rasam. Here is another variation to the taste and preparation. Again, the main ingredient is tomato.

2-3 cups,dal Water
1/4 spoon,tamarind paste or 1 cup tamarind water
1 medium tomato,chopped
a few curry leaves
1 spoon,Rasam powder
salt to taste
cilantro for garnishing

For the tempering,
1/2 spoon mustard seeds
1/4 spoon turmeric powder
a pinch of asafoetida
1/2 spoon,cooking oil
3-4 green chillies,slit or chopped finely


The trick to preparing this rasam is using Dal water. Dal water is the extra water that is available when dal is cooked. Boil dal in a pressure cooker or any vessel and use the water. Decant this water and this is what is used in Rasam.
Note.:This Dal water can be prepared earlier in the day or the previous day too. But, using dal water more than 1 day old would make the rasam lose a lot of flavor.

Take a pan and add dal water and salt. Add in tomatoes and curry leaves. Once it starts to boil add the tamarind paste,rasam powder and some more water,if needed.

In the meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet and all the tempering ingredients.

After 4-5 minutes, add the tempered ingredients to the boiling rasam and switch off the stove. Add cilantro and Serve hot with rice and your vegetable side.

Tomato Rasam #1

Tomato Rasam is a dish that I make almost twice or thrice a week owing to its wonderful taste and ease of preparation. It can be made easily with just tomatoes and some other basic spices that one would generally stock in the pantry. I make tomato rasam in two different ways and both taste similar. Here is the first recipe .

2 medium tomatoes,chopped
2-3 cups,water
1 spoon,Rasam powder
1/4 spoon tamarind paste or 1 cup tamarind water
1/4 spoon,Pepper powder
2 garlic pods,crushed(optional)
a few curry leaves
salt to taste
Corriander leaves/Cilantro for the garnish
For the tempering,
1/2 spoon,mustard seeds
1/4 spoon,turmeric powder
3-4 green chillies,slit or chopped finely
1/2 spoon, cooking oil( Note that extra oil spoils the taste of the rasam)

Grind the chopped tomatoes to a coarse paste in a blender. In a pan,add this paste followed by water ,salt and curry leaves and turn on the stove.
In the meanwhile, prepare the tempering in a separate skillet. Heat oil, and throw in mustard seeds, turmeric powder and green chillies.
Once the tomato paste comes to a boil, add the tamarind paste/water ,rasam powder, crushed garlic and pepper powder. You may add another cup of water now if you want to adjust the consistency.
After 1-2 minutes, add the tempered ingredients and switch off the stove. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot. Rasam can be had with white steamed rice and a vegetable side. My favorite side for rasam is potato masala.Rasam can be enjoyed as it is too in the form of a soup.

Did you notice that the entire cooking time on the stove was just about 5-6 minutes?Yes, it is that simple. And, getting the rest of the ingredients ready will not take you more than 5 minutes. This means your tomato rasam can be made in just 10 minutes!!!

Cold Coffee

This is a simple and refreshing drink for those hot days. The recipe of this Cold Coffee was shared to me by my sister who knows tons of such beverage recipes.
For the cold coffee:
2 Cups ice cream (Vanilla or chocolate)
1 Cup Chilled Milk
2 spoons Sugar
1/2 spoon Coffe powder

Blend all the ingrdients together in a blender for about a minute.
Serving Suggestion: Add some whipped cream on top just before serving(If you do not care about the calories)

Sweet Lassi

Summer is round the corner and this beverage will do good for your health as well as the hot climate. It is basically a yoghurt based drink and those who detest yoghurt would be better off keeping away from it.

For the Lassi,
2 parts - yoghurt,plain
1 part - ice
sugar - to taste

In a blender jar,add the ingredients and blend till smooth. Your Lassi is ready. Serve chilled or immediately after blending.
For a variation,try adding some juice just before serving. I added orange juice and it gave me lassi a twist that I enjoyed

Avial

Here's a dish from Southern India that is full of vegetables and rich in taste. Not only is this a versaltile dishes(you could mix and match your own veggies) , it consumes less time as well for preparation.
The origin of Avial dates back to the state of kerala in Southern India. I have tasted many variations of Avial and I still do not know the authentic one and neither have I done any research on this. If any of you probably know,then do post it here for me and others to get educated. This is one dish you will love to cook over and over again.

For my version of Avial, here is what you will need:

Vegetables:

Any of the following(atleast 3-4)

2 medium carrots

3-4 string beans

1/2 of a cucumber

1 medium potato

2-3 Drumsticks

2-3 pieces of cubed brinjal
a few pieces of chooped snake gourd pieces

a handful of peas(frozen or fresh)

Grated Cocunut,about 1 cup(A little more or less is fine)

2-3 spoons,Coconut Oil(I used parachute oil)

a few curry leaves

greenchillies,3-4 or to taste

cumin seeds, 1 spoon

2-3 spoons of plain yoghurt

turmeric,1/4 of a spoon (optional)

Salt to taste

Chop all the veggies that you will be using length wise and keep aside.

Heat a skillet and add a spoon of coconut oil. Add the turmeric and then the veggies. Toss it lightly and then add a little water.Water should be just enough to cover the veggies. Throw in the curry leaves. Cover it and cook for about 10 minutes.Let is come to a boil. The vegetables need to get tender and soft.

In the meanwhile, grind together the grated coconut,green chillies and cumin seeds adding little water.

Once the veggies have cooked, add this coconut paste to it and mix well. Let it cook for another 3-4 minutes.Now,switch off the stove. Drizzle the remaining coconut oil on top of this.

Add yoghurt just before serving. This is a very good side to rotis as well as rice.

Spinach and potato stuffed parathas

I love spinach and had a bunch with me today. In the mood to experiment? Try these spinach-potato stuffed parathas.

You will need:
1/2 bunch spinach - chopped roughly
2 medium potatoes - boiled and shredded
Wheat Flour/Chappati Flour - 1.5 to 2 cups and a little extra for dusting
Green chillies - finely chopped,to taste
Garam masala - optional,to taste
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt to taste
cooking oil, 1 spoon
water for the dough,about 1 cup

In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except water and shredded potatoes. Mix it well. Slowly,add water till it forms a dough consistency that is used for parathas. Let the dough stand for about 20 minutes atleast. Next,make small balls of the shredded potato and keep aside. Using a rolling pin and your kitchen counter top, start to roll out the parathas half-way. Stuff it with the potato filling and again roll it to an even shape.
In the meanwhile, heat a skillet on low flame. Place the parathas on the skillet and let it get cooked for about 30 seconds. Then,flip the side. After 3o seconds,smear both sides with oil and take it off the skillet. The cooking time may take a little longer than 30 seconds too,depending on the flame.
Enjoy with Onion raita and pickle or any gravy side.