Veg Hakka Noodles | 660 Curries

This is a different take on Veg Hakka Noodles by Raghavan Iyer. I always have a standard recipe for Indo-Chinese items and was glad to see a different set of veggies and sauces used :). I could actually taste the sweet-hot-sour combination in this dish in a subtle manner and loved the choice of paneer, cauliflower and carrots for this chinese noodles against the usual cabbage-capsicum-carrot trio. A thumbs up for this dish from 660 curries.

Dump a few ladle full of this noodles in your favorite bowl , carry along a glass of chilled lemonade and relish this dinner watching your favorite program on TV. Completely de-stresses you on a bad day. :)



Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - mild but flavorful
Prep Time - 20 min
Cook time - 10 min

Veg Hakka noodles pack - 110 gms
Tomato ketchup - 1/8 cup
Light Soy sauce - 1/8 cup
Cider Vinegar - 1/2 Tbsp
1/2 Tsp cayenne [ground red pepper] mixed with 1 1/2 Tsp sweet paprika
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Panner - 60 gm , cut into medium sized cubes
Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup, cut into medium sized pieces
Carrot - 1 medium sized, sliced thinly
Garlic cloves - 2 finely chopped
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup , finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium sized , cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Spring onions - 2 , green tops and white bulbs , cut into 1 inch lengths
Ginger - 1 inch piece, cut into thin strips
Bean sprouts - 1/2 cup [ I did not use this]
Salt - as per need

How do you do it

1. Bring a large saucepan filled with 3/4 water and 1 tsp salt to boil, add the noodles and cook as per packet instruction until cooked al-dente.

2. While the noodles are cooking , microwave the cauliflower florets with 1 cup water, a pinch of turmeric and salt for 3 minutes. Stir well and drain the water and keep the cauliflower aside. Drizzle 1/2 tsp oil on a pan and toast the paneer pieces until both sides are lightly browned. Keep aside

3.Drain the noodles into a colander and run cold water through them to cool and stop the cooking process.

4. Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar ,ketchup , cayenne-paprika mix, 1/2 Tsp salt in a bowl.

5. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok. Add the cauliflower, carrot, garlic, half the chopped coriander. Stir-fry until the veggies are browned and crunchy - 5 minutes.Add the paneer pieces now and stir in well once.

6. Fill a large bowl with warm water and dunk the noodles into it to to provide moisture needed to quickly re-warm them. Drain them again and add it to the wok. A little dripping water is alright. Don't omit this step, this keep the noodles soft and moist. Cook, stirring the noodles, until the noodles are warmed through - 3-4 minutes.

7.Add the sauce mix now and stir well so the noodles and veggies are coated well. Add in the tomatoes, ginger and spring onions now. Stir for 2-4 minutes. Check for salt now and add more if needed.

8. Top with remaining coriander leaves and bean sprouts [if using] and serve.

 
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Channa Sundal

I just gone done with cooking and relishing an elaborate meal and I seem to be the right frame of mind to have a really long nap ;). So a quick post this is going to be, a very easy one - Channa Sundal. Channa Sundal makes an appearance only once a year in my kitchen at the time of sarawati pujai. So if I dont click pics of it now and blog about it, we will have to wait a year to see this recipe in this space. :). Enjoy the festival mood, do the dandiya, eat sundal and have fun :)

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - moderate
Prep Time - 8 hrs of soaking time.
Cook time - 5 min

Channa/Chole/Chickpeas - 1 cup
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2
Hing - 1 pinch
Curry Leaves - 2 Sprigs
Jeera/Cumin - 1/2 Tsp
Salt - as per need
juice of half a lemon

How do you do it

1. Soak the channa in enough water for 8 hrs or overnight. Pressure cook the soaked channa for 3 whistles. Drain the water and keep the channa aside.

2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing, mustard and jeera. Let them splutter and roast. Break the red chilli and toss them in along with curry leaves. Stir for a few seconds. Add the channa now, required salt and mix well until the channa is coated well with the tempering and takes in the flavors well - 3-4 minutes.

3. Switch of flame, mix in the lemon juice and enjoy this easy snack


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Thekkady Travel review - Part 1 | Food and Travel

Helooo!, I am back after a fantastic getaway at Thekkady and Kumarakom :-). When I decided that I should blog about this travel, a lot of pieces from the trip formed in my head very incoherently and for me that doesn't happen very often. I have always been known as the woman of few words ;). I realized then there were so many aspects of this trip that struck a beautiful chord in me and thought it would be better to do 3-4 blog posts about this trip - yes I have so much to say :). I like reading my old posts even if they are just food recipes ;), so I am sure I would love myself later for documenting this trip!

We had a brilliant vacation in Switzerland earlier this year and for me that is right on top of the chart for the best-est trip ever. I thought hard and long and then decided that thekkady and kumarkom had to be pushed up the order. I really dint want Swiss to lose its place, but this trip deserved the first rank. You know there are so many trips that you plan, but there are only a few out of them that you can relate so well with. With most international locations, you are in cloud 9 about the experience you get there, but not very comfortable with the food, people, culture or the weather, you just have to go along with what you get there. What was so special about thekkady and kumarakom was that we loved all the facets of this travel - food, weather, place of stay, people, culture and the experience :).

I dint think of thekkady as being a very scenic or a must-visit kind of place, but I was so wrong. It is a very beautiful place situated in the town of Kumily-Kerala and it is the location of  Periyar National park. Like all forest/jungle based tourist places, this one is very picturesque and is worthy of the attention it has been getting as a getaway location.

We stayed at the Green-Woods Resort Kumily and I would have to say that the service in this place is the best I have ever received. They took care of us like how close relatives are taken care of in an Indian wedding ;). The staffs were very courteous and ever-smiling and ready to go out of their way to make our stay very comfortable. I loved the traditional welcome at the resort- a lady clad in the typical pattu Kerala saree greeted us with a cardamom garland, deepam and chandanam. The room we stayed in was very beautiful and was done up quite well and there was no reason for me to complain. 

Green-woods resort Thekkady

Now comes the best part - food! I absolutely loved the food at Kerala. I had a fish curry for every meal expect breakfast. S was quite surprised to see me order so much to devour at every meal. I was a true foodie in this trip. Milagu [pepper] fish curry, Meen Pozhichathu, Masala Fish fry, Spicy fish curry,  Masala Fish Fry and so on. Its a really long "fishy" list  ;).

I clicked a few food pictures and here they are. Below is a pineapple starter, it was sliced pineapple sprinkled with some chat masla, diced onion and tomato and some lime juice. I am not a pineapple person and hence just tasted one piece from it and it was okay!

Watermelon juice - pure and fresh as it should be.

Chicken Biriyani for S, he loved it - very spicy and flavorful and yum :)

Chicken chettinadu curry - I wouldnt say its "chettinadu" but was definitely good. Spicy and tangy with just a hint of coconut milk. I had it with roti and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Masala Meen Curry - This was the best of the lot. Very tender fish grilled to perfection with mild spices and then topped generously with a spicy masala made of shallots, tomato, tamarind, ginger,garlic and green chillies. Loved the masala and fish - On my list to try :)

Carrot Halwa and Banana split for dessert. The carrot halwa was too sweet for me to take more than a few spoons, but S likes it that way, so good for him. Banana Split was cardamom grilled banana with 3 flavours of ice-cream , the banana could have been grilled well with more cardamom, there was just a trace of it.  But over-all we were two very happy people after this meal :-).

To be continued .....  Elephant Safari, Boating at Periyar Lake and Tree house stay

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Instant Lemonade using Lemon syrup

A very philosophical take on lemonade for this post, I am so in that mood!. Lemonade over the past week has repeatedly made me think about the saying "when life gives you a lemon make lemonade". I have never thought about this quote as much as I did over the last few weeks. I dont care where it comes from, but it oozes optimism and thats what matters. There is really no point in cribbing about certain things that are beyond your grasp and do not go your way, the best thing to do is to move on with a positive mind-set and make the best of the current situation.

Another positive thought that I heard recently and it couples together well with the lemonade saying - "Don't look for a solution to a problem, turn the problem into a solution". I have been doing precisely that and it works like a charm. So when things that are not in your control get messy, don't sweat it, make sure its a blessing in disguise! :)

Now coming to this instant lemonade, its a very easy one. Its basically mixing sugar syrup with lemon juice to make lemon syrup. The best part is that the lemon syrup keeps well for a month, so you can make huge quantities of this lemon syrup to store. Then its as easy as rubbing your magic lamp to get your instant lemonade. :)

Ingredients

Serves - Makes 10 glasses of lemonade

Lemon - 8
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 1 cup

How do you do it

1. Take a pan and add the sugar and water in it and bring to boil. It will bubble up and start to thicken - 15-20 minutes. When the quantity is reduced to half, switch off flame. Cool the sugar syrup completely

2. Squeeze the lemon juice from the lemons and keep aside. Take care not to squeeze too much to avoid the final lemon syrup having traces of bitterness.

3. Once the sugar syrup is cooled completely, mix it with the lemon juice. This is the lemon syrup that you can use later to make lemonade by mixing water to it. Store the lemon syrup in refrigerator, it will keep good for up-to a month.

4. To make lemon juice, fill 1/4 of a cup with this lemon syrup, and remaining 3/4 with cold water to make a glass of lemonade [adjust proportions according to your taste]. Top it up with few ice-cubes/mint leaves while serving.


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Hurry Burry Paneer Curry

Hurry Burry Paneer Curry being very loyal to its name and also rhyming at the same time, can be made in less than 15 minutes :-). Now thats a good reason for you to try this one. I wouldn't say its over the top delicious, but for something that takes no time at all, its definitely a tasty one to keep in my drafts.And talking about rhyming reminds me of the poems - if it can be called that, that I had attempted when I was 7-8 years old with the only rule that it has to rhyme. Now you can go ahead and have a hearty laugh at my expense by reading one such poem that I can recall. There are so many more that I had written like this, but will spare you from all of them ;).

"Birds can fly
Far into the sky,
The grass is green,
But the Ants are mean"

So on that light note, lets move on :-)

Ingredients

Adapted from Easycooking

Serves - 3
Spice Level - Mild
Prep Time - 2 min
Cook time - 15 min

Paneer - 150 gm , cubed
Salt - as per need
Chilli powder - 1 Tbsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Kasoori methi - 1 Tsp , crushed
Oil - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp

To Grind into a paste

Onion - 2 , chopped roughly
Tomato - 2, chopped roughly
Carrot - 1 small
Green chilli - 1
Cashews - 5
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon, cardamom - 1 piece each
Milk - 1/3 cup

How do you do it

1. In a mixer jar, put all the contents under "to grind" and blend into a smooth paste. The milk should be enough to grind everything together. Keep aside.

2. Spread 1 Tsp oil on a heated dosa pan and place the paneer cubes and toast them on both sides until they turn a light shade of brown. Remove and keep aside.

3. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a kadai. Add the blended paste and close with a lid. Let it boil in medium flame for 10 minutes so that the paste gets cooked completely. Remember to close with a lid, once the paste gets heated it tends to splutter. Adjust consistency of curry by adding water if necessary. Add the chilli powder, salt and boil for another 2-3 minutes. Add the crushed kasoori methi and toasted paneer pieces and mix well. Boil for a minute more. Remove from flame.

Serve with  Jeera Rice  for a delicious lunch


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Jeera Rice 2 | Revisiting Jeera Rice | Cumin flavored Rice

I almost always plan my lunch menu the previous day to make sure I dont spend my morning time standing half-asleep in front of an open refregirator thinking about various options. On those lazy days, when i dont think about the lunch box , I have noticed it becomes a rush routine. But there are also those "bulb glowing behind your head" days when you come up with a super delicious lunch combo in no time. Introducing the 30 minute Jeera Rice and Hurry Burry Paneer lunch combo. :).

I had already posted a recipe for Jeera Rice, where you just have to dump everything into the pressure cooker. I recently tried a variation by mixing the separately cooked rice with the Jeera/Cumin tempering which looks super fresh and inviting than the pressure cooker method. It is also a quicker recipe as there is almost no chopping involved.

Hurry Burry Paneer Curry - coming soon!

Jeera Rice

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Mild
Cook time - 15 min

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
ghee - 1 Tbsp
Water - 1.5 cups
Salt -2 Tsp

Oil - 1 Tbsp
Jeera - 3 Tbsp
Green chilli - 2 , slit length-wise and cut in half
Coriander Leaves - 2 Tsp, chopped well

How do you do it

1. Soak the basmati rice for 15 minutes in water. Go ahead and do the other stuff you need to do on your morning routine. Come back drain the water and keep aside.

2. Heat 1 Tbsp ghee in a kadai, add the basmati rice and saute for 2 minutes until you get a nice aroma. Transfer to rice cooker vessel , add 2 tsp salt , 1.5 cups of water, cook for 12 minutes. Once cooked, take the rice out immediately and spread on a plate.

3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the jeera and let it roast well - 1 minute. Add the green chillies and saute for a minute more. Now add the cooked rice and coriander leaves and mix well. Check for salt, if required add more and mix.

There you go, jeera rice is ready to be served.


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Nepalese Dum Aloo | Baby Potatoes simmered in garlic-chile sauce | 660 curries

I have never waited so eagerly for a cook-book to arrive, leave alone that this is probably the most expensive book I have ordered by far. Raghavan Iyer 660 curries is a modern take on Indian curries written so elaborately that enhances your understanding of Indian flavours/spices. The recipes just entice you. The book is so full of flavorful spice blends, pastes, and 660 curries not just from all over India but also from Nepal/Pakistan/SriLanka . I have spent only 4-5 days with the book and I have already fallen in love with it. If you love "Indian food" this is one must-have Indian cook-book. I will do a detailed review once I am post the honey-moon period with 660 Curries ;)

I had a bag of baby potatoes and as I was flipping through the potato recipe pages, my eyes flirted with the line "Baby potatoes with garlic-chile sauce", I was sold on the idea immediately. Garlic and chili are my two favorite ingredients and it had to be the first recipe I would try from the book. I was blown away with the end dish, the flavors were bursting in my mouth at every bite and it was nothing similar to what I had eaten/cooked before. The sauce was super-addictive and at the end of the meal I was left wishing I had more sauce to lick away :).

I was extremely pleased with my plating for this dish, thanks to Master chef Australia - I have picked up quite a few things from the show. For once I spent more than my usual time visualizing how i wanted to plate it , the idea of running a slit through the potatoes and pouring the sauce over it and garnishing with some leaves worked very well. And S did a splendid job of capturing what I visualized. After-all we eat first with our eyes and nose! :)

Ingredients

Recipe Source - Raghavan Iyer 660 curries

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Spicy and very flavorful
Prep Time - 20 min
Cook time - 20 min

Baby Potatoes - 300 gm [ do not peel, wash and scrub them well]
5 medium sized garlic cloves
2 green chilli
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 Tsp bishops weed or 1/4 tsp dried thyme mixed with 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper [I used thyme with pepper]
1 bay leaf
Salt - as needed
1/2 Tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1/4 Tsp turmeric
1 Sprig curry leaves

How do you do it

1. Bring a sauce pan with water to boil and drop the baby potatoes in and let them cook with its lid covered until they are tender but firm looking - 15 minutes

2. While the potatoes are cooking mince the garlic and green chillies together and keep aside.

3. Drain the potatoes, reserve 2 cups of cooking water.

4. Heat oil in a kadai, sprinkle cumin/fennel/thyme-black pepper mix and bay-leaf. Let them roast to give a good aroma - 30 sec. Add the garlic-chile blend and stir fry until garlic is light brown and you get the pungent smell from the chile - 1-2 minutes. Remove the kadai from flame now, add in salt, turmeric powder, kashmiri chilli powder and curry leaves, and mix well. The heat from oil will be enough to cook this.

5. Return the kadai to the flame and add the baby potatoes with the 2 cups reserved water, mix well and bring to boil. Cook in low-medium flame, simmering/stirring now and then until the potatoes are fall-apart tender and the sauce is thickened.

This was a good combination with pulkas. I am sure it would be go well with a bowl of dal and steamed rice.



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Cauliflower Biryani

Whenever I hear the biryani word, I start expecting a lot from the dish, it has to have that biryani magic. The rice has to have that subtle yet rich flavor, it should just look very pretty and appetizing. I have tried many biryani recipes, but wasn't really satisfied with the outcome and I kept delaying the posting of a biryani recipe on this blog. I made this cauliflower biryani recently and for me this is a winner. S absolutely loved it, and he mentioned he couldn't wait for me to make the same with mutton. A couple of weeks later and we still talk about how great that cauliflower biryani was. This recipe has almost become a benchmark for me to grade the other biryanis I eat at restaurants, and I can confidently say this one is truly worthy of the word "Biryani".

I don't mind saying it over and over again, I absolutely love one pot meals and dishes like these only makes the bond grow stronger. The best part about variety rice dishes are that they can be made in a jiffy and you can get away by serving it with some raitha and paapad. So when a recipe calls for an elaborate process of making the masala separately, rice separately and then mixing them I eye them quite suspiciously. But this time I shed my laziness and decided to spend some extra time for the briyani , when i tasted the final dish I was overjoyed. 


Cauliflower Biryani

Ingredients

 Adapted from Easy cooking

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Moderately spicy and very flavorful
Prep Time - 40 min
Cook time  - 15 min

Cauliflower - 1 medium sized , cut into medium sized florets
Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Salt - 1 Tsp + 1 Tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 Tsp
Frozen Peas - 1/4 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp
Jeera/Cumin - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 Large,sliced thinly
Tomato - 1 very Large, pureed
Green chilly - 2
Garlic - 4 small cloves
Ginger - 1 small piece
Cardamom,clove,cinnamon - 1 piece each
Masala/Curry powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric  - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Ghee - 1 Tbsp
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Cashews - 7 broken in medium pieces
Water - 1.5 cups
Salt - 2 Tsp

How do you do it

Preparing the rice

Soak the basmati rice in water for 20 minutes and then drain. Heat 1 Tbsp ghee in a kadai, add the broken cashews and saute till brown. Add the rice now and mix well with the ghee and cashews. Saute for 2-3 minutes and switch off flame. Cook the rice in 1.5 cups of water with 2 tsp salt for 12 minutes. Spread the cooked rice on a plate and cool it.

Preparing the cauliflower and Peas

Boil 2 cups of water, add a tsp of salt and 1/2 Tsp turmeric and add the cauliflower florets. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Drain the cauliflower and dry them. This is to remove the worms if any from the cauliflower. Now heat 1 Tbsp oil in a kadai. Add the cauliflower florets, salt and red chilli powder and saute them in medium-high flame, until the cauliflower becomes slightly roasted and crispy. When you start to do this, the cauliflower will let out water and then slowly it will turn crispy. This step takes about 15-20 minutes. So be patient. Keep this cauliflower aside.

Also thaw/cook the frozen peas, and keep aside. I microwaved the frozen peas in 1/2 cup water for 4 minutes.

Preparing the masala and mixing with rice

Make a paste of the garlic, ginger, green chilli, cardamom, clove, cinnamon together and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add jeera and let it roast. Add in the onions and saute till translucent. Add the paste made in previous step and saute till the raw smell vanishes. Add the tomato puree now and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala , little salt and saute for few more minutes . When adding salt be cautious, the roasted cauliflower has salt in it, we have also cooked the rice with salt. Add the peas and roasted cauliflower and give it a quick stir. Now add the cooked rice and mix well with the masala on low flame. Check for salt and add more if needed. Cook the rice in low flame for a couple of more minutes and switch off flame.

Serve warm with raitha and paapad.

Notes

1. The cauliflower needs to be half cooked only and must be firm when finally added to the masala. It should not be mushy.

2. The magic of the dish lies in the ghee-cashew rice, so ensure to use cashews. Also the rice should not be over-cooked. I use my electric pressure cooker, and it takes 12 minutes for me. Use the ratio of 1:1.5 for rice:water for basmati rice.

3. The original recipe skips roasting the cauliflower , but cauliflower by itself is quite bland and if using only boiled cauliflower, you would need to give the rice a few hours of resting time so the cauliflower can soak up the flavors from the masla and rice. I would suggest you to roast the cauliflower for better results.

4. You can leave out the cinnamon, clove, cardamom  while making the paste and add them as whole spices and roast them along with the jeera/cumin.



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Murungakai Puzhi Kuzhambu

I love tangy curries and kara/Puzhi kuzhambu tops the list. Veggies like drumstick, ladies finger, radish are best suited to make this kind of kuzhambu. The tanginess and spice is imparted to the vegetable and they taste awesome. Puzhi Kuzhmabu, a poriyal and some papad - makes for an awesome lunch on a cold day.

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - High
Prep Time - 20 min
Cook time - 20- 30 min

Drumstick - 1 , cut into medium sized pieces , half cooked in a cup of water [ microwave for 3-4 minutes on high]
Shallots/Small onion - 15 peeled
Garlic pods - 10 peeled
Tomato - 1 , chopped
Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs
Tamarind - size of a lemon
Water - 3 cups
Kuzhambu powder - 4 Tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 Tsp
Salt - as per need
Turmeric - a pinch
Oil - 3 Tbsp
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Hing - 1/2 Tsp
Fenugreek - 1/2 Tsp

How do you do it

1. Make a thick tamarind extract by using 1/4 cup water and the lemon sized tamarind piece. Mix 3 cups of water to it, add the coriander powder, kuzhambu powder mix well. Keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing, mustard , fenugreek , curry leaves to temper. Add the shallots and garlic pods and saute well until the shallots turn translucent. Add the tomatoes now, some salt and turmeric and cook till they become soft and mushy.

3. Add the drumstick pieces along with the water used to cook it in and boil for a minute.

4. Add the tamarind extract prepared in step one now, remaining salt, simmer flame and close the lid of kadai.

5. Cook until the curry is reduced in half/thickened or until oil floats on top.

Serve with appalam and steamed rice.


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