Cold not-sesame noodles Salad

No, even I don't know why this is named this way... I simply got inspired for this salad from the NY Times salad article and went ahead with it. :-)

However, the name makes this salad feel very exotic, at least to me ;-) If you love peanut butter, you will definitely LOVE the idea of this dressing. What's not to like about peanut butter mixed with soya sauce? :-)

Easy & Healthy Stir-Fry Noodles

Yeah, by now, it is known that I cannot cook something that doesn't a little health associated to it. That means, greens, fresh veggies, some protein etc.

So, this week was noodle mania week at home. I discovered Lotus Foods' Brown rice and millet noodles, and we love the consistency and taste of these.

This is an easy recipe that I made one weeknight.

Lo-Mein Noodles

Berry Crumble

I love a good crumble, the goodness of butter and toasted flour, the sweetness of the berries underneath and the overall package of decadence, though it can all be healthy... I was reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and saw a recipe for Crumble, and bingo. What I thought was a complicated dessert was actually a very simple one.

The recipe mentioned in the book uses white flour, and more sugar. I used this recipe, developed from various sources on the internet and this worked.

I ate the crumble a day after it was baked. The tartness in the raspberries was all gone, and it was delicious.

When I do this next, I'll not be using Raspberries or blackberries, though. Both these berries have seeds in them, which change the texture of the crumble. May be just Blueberries, apple or strawberries from the next time.

Puttanala chutney

I love Idli, and I love it with Sambar or with the Mangalorean pickle, Hindi. But some times I want to eat it with a nice peanut chutney or with the soft legumes chutney. Some times I want to eat it with the ginger chutney. So I've decided to make note of every interesting chutney I've eaten Idlis with. So I am never away from a great chutney :)

This is something I ate at a cousin's place in SFO. She put together this chutney in minutes, and it was a great breakfast.

Ingredients -

Pappulu or soft legumes - 1/2 C

Cashew nuts - 1/4 C

Green chilli - 4-5

Coriander - Washed
Garlic cloves - 4-5
Tamarind paste - 1 Tbsp
Salt, to taste

Instructions -

Mix all these ingredients together in a mixer grinder with enough water till they resemble a chutney like consistency.

Serve with hot idlis.

Pappu Chaaru

Over the past few months, I've taken a particular liking to Pappu chaaru, a simple, Andhra-dish, made with lentils and veggies. I hadn't eaten this before at all when I was in India, but once I ate this at a friend's place, I was hooked. I have to make it at least once a week and eat it with hot quinoa and ghee. Yeah, I know, it should be eaten with hot rice, but we do what we can do, no?

Here is the recipe that I've been using for this dish - Sailu's Food

Ingredients
Choice of veggies - 2 Cups (I use the frozen cut sambar-veggies, minus drumsticks. This is an assortment of eggplants, tomatoes, onions, carrots, French beans and okra. )
Cooked Dal - 1 C
Green chillis - 3-4
Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp
Tamarind paste - 2 Tbsp
Jaggery - 1/2 Tbsp
Water - 3-4 C
Salt - To taste

For the tempering
Ghee - 1 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
Garlic cloves - 4-5, chopped coarse
Red chills - 3-4
Hing - 1 Tsp
Curry Leaves - 5-6

Coriander leaves - 2 Tbsp

Instructions
Mix all the ingredients except tamarind paste and jaggery, together in a large pot, and bring it to a boil. Let the veggies cook on medium heat.
Add the tamarind paste and jiggery and continue cooking for another 10 min. Add salt to taste.

Heat the ghee, and add the seeds one by one, followed by garlic and red chillis and hing. Take off heat, and add the curry leaves. Once the spluttering ends, add this to the pappu chaaru and mix well.

Serve with hot rice.

Nimmakaya Karam Pachadi

This easy to make, instant pachadi can be paired with white rice, or with rice and plain dal.

Ingredients

Chana dal - 2 spoons

Urad dal - 2 spoons

Mustard seeds - 2 spoons

Coriander - 1 spoon

Cumin - 1 spoon

Red chilli - 6-7

Cooking oil - 4 spoons

Hing - 1 spoon

Mustard seeds - 1 spoon

Salt - to taste

Lemon juice - 1/4 C

Instructions

Dry roast all the ingredients in Set #1 together and keep aside. Once it cools down, grind them to a coarse powder.

Heat the oil, and add mustard seeds. Remove off heat and add hing. 

Once the oil cools down, add it to the ground powder. Mix salt.

Add lemon juice and store in the refrigerator. 

Check taste and adjust the juice and salt accordingly. 

Creamy radish, leek and potato soup

Ingredients
Radish, a bunch, sliced thin
Leek - 2 stalks, chopped
Potato - 1 large, diced
Herbs - I used some fresh thyme
Chilli powder- I used a large spoon of chipotle powder
Salt, to taste
Lemon - juice of one lemon, or per taste
Olive oil - 1 tbsp.

Method
Saute the veggies together with the herbs and salt in a shallow pan. Cook them with a closed lid.
Puree the veggies once they get cold.
Add enough water to bring a soupy consistency and bring this mixture to a boil.
Before serving, add the lemon juice, lots and serve hot.

Cauliflower & Peas Soup

A quick soup for a winter-y evening

Serves 4; all measurements to be taken per taste, if not mentioned
Ingredients
Cauliflower - cut into florets, along with some leaves and white portion of the stalk
Peas - 1 C
Leek - 1 stalk, optional
Harissa powder
Thick yogurt - as much as you want the soup's consistency should be
Herbs - I used sage
Chilli powder - I used chipotle chilli powder
Olive oil - 1 Tbsp
Garlic cloves - minced, as many as you think you need

Method
In a pan, roast the cauliflower and peas together along with garlic, herbs and chilli powder till the veggies are cooked. If using leek, add it towards the end to preserve the flavor.
After the cooked veggies cool, puree them. (I've noticed that a hand blender is the best for soup purees)
Some of this puree can be saved as base for the next day in the fridge.
In the same pan, add the yogurt and puree, whisk them well and heat till it boils. Adjust the herbs and salt as required. Serve hot, with garlic bread

Quick & Easy Allam Pachadi

I love allam pachadi - ginger chutney/pickle, and stock up on what Mom makes.
But when in a hurry and when the stocks run low, one has to pick up a new recipe. Here is something that worked for me.

Ingredients:
For the Chutney
Set 1:
Ginger root - 2 inch piece, peeled and diced
Onion - 1, medium sized, chopped
Garlic cloves - 5-6, medium sized ones, chopped

Set 2:
Chana Dal - 1 Tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 Tbsp
Roasted Bengalgram Dal - 1 Tbsp
Green chilli - 4-5, or per taste
Red chilli - 5-6, or per taste

Cooking oil - 3 Tbsp, divided into two parts

For the tempering:
Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp
Curry leaves - a few
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Asafoetida or Hing - a pinch; optional

Instructions
Split the oil into two and roast ingredients in each set together on a medium flame for up to 5 min. You can choose to do them one after the other to reuse the same pan. The onion should be translucent to indicate that Set 1 is roasted enough. The green and red chillis should be roasted and emit aroma to indicate Set 2 is roasted enough. 

Once the ingredients cool, grind them together in a mixer.

Heat the oil for tempering and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds splutter, remove the pan from the flame and add the asafoetida, if using.

Serve with idlis, dosa or pesarattu.

This will stay good for a couple of days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.