Mexican Fiesta @ Hard Rock Cafe - A taste review

I love Mexican food. Always have. When Hard Rock Cafe invited some of us bloggers for a taste review of their Mexican Fiesta Menu, was I thrilled!! I've also always liked Hard Rock Cafe's, particularly their music and ambience. So, Alieana, Madhuri, Suma and I met there one afternoon. 

About the menu - had all the usual mexican fare of tacos, burritos, tostadas and the event being in Hard Rock, there was also a Burger with a Mexican twist. Add some very interesting cocktails to this and you have a winner of a menu. 

It was an afternoon to remember - good food & drinks, great company and nice music. We met there about 1pm, HRC keeps its music mellow till abt 4pm, and then pumps up the volume. When we left the volume was pumped! You get the picture!! 

We met with the Chef, who gave us a brief run down of the menu, understood that 3 out of the 4 bloggers were vegetarians and suggested appropriate menu options for us. And then the food came! And so did the drinks!

We started lunch with the Spicy American Corn & Danish Mozzarella Samosette. This was served with some salsa and a basil pesto dip. The dip alone is worth another visit! The samosette was very good. Little morsels of corn / mozzarella wrapped in phyllo and fried. 

Next, we tried the Tacos. They serve them with grilled chicken, beef chili or cottage cheese. We sampled the cottage cheese tacos. Crisp corn tortilla shells brushed with a tangy / zesty BBQ sauce and filled with your choice of filling (meat or paneer) and lettuce, tomatoes, olives, pinto beans & spring onions. I loved the lively flavor of the BBQ sauce. This was served with house-made guacamole, pico de gallo & sour cream. 

We then moved on to the Burritos. They have a chicken & a cottage cheese version of this as well. Basically a flour tortilla brushed with chili-garlic sauce and filled with lettuce, tomato rice, seasoned cottage cheese, spicy bean ragout, mixed cheese and some veggies. The chili-garlic sauce added a very nice flavor to this dish. The burritos come with a side of fries, guacamole & sour cream. 

After this the tostadas made their way to our table. They have a BBQ Chicken or a Beef Chili. Chef made the chicken for us vegetarians with paneer instead of chicken. It was good. So what is a tostada, you wonder. It is a Mexican Pizza. This was a thin crust base brushed with a chili sauce and topped with seasoned cottage cheese, red peppers, caramelized onions, mixed cheeses & jalapenos. 

By now we were all rather stuffed, but we still had to try the burger and the dessert. The burger was very good, I could just manage a bite! I'd an idea of what the dessert was, so I decided to save my appetite for it!  

While all this food was happening, we also sampled some of the special Tequila based cocktails created for this event - Chapala, Diablo, Ginger Fiasco & Payback. Of the lot I can still taste Diablo & Payback. The other two drinks were good, but they took the back seat! 

The Diablo - black currant infused, with hints of ginger & lime. The Chapala - watermelon based, was nice, but was completely dominated by the Diablo & Payback. 

The other two drinks we tried - Ginger Fiasco & Payback. Off these two again, Payback dominated with the sneaky jalapeno aftertaste and that nice burn. Loved it! The Ginger Fiasco was also good. 

The Payback - kiwi flavored with hints of jalapeno, a definite winner. 

Now came the dessert, chocolate pyramids in white & dark chocolate served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream & a dash of chipotle sauce. The habanero peppers used in the sauce was a good compliment to the sweetness of the chocolate & vanilla ice-cream. 

Wrapping up, I'd say it was an enjoyable lunch and certainly worth a visit. I did feel that the veggies got an overdose of paneer, but that was because we tried all the dishes on the menu. If ordering just a main course, just a burrito would do! This is HRC, their portions are large and the drinks are mixed generously! 

They have valet parking. Check out their website for the promos for this event. The Mexican Fiesta ends on Sept 18th. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a bite @ Hard Rock Cafe, St. Marks Rd. Bangalore. 

Au Bon Pain

I first went to Au Bon Pain when I visited my sister in Pittsburgh. I got off the flight & was hungry, so she took me to the Au Bon Pain in the airport. I went wondering what I'd get there to eat. And hoping it would be healthy and not the usual American fare! I had my taste of broccoli & cheese that day. Now, here I must mention that I am not a fan of broccoli (read I never ever ever ate it before & thought of it as spoilt cauliflower!!!). However sis insisted it was great & since I was tired, I gave in, thinking the cheese would camouflage the broccoli. Was I surprised - the soup was delicious!! So, much that I insisted on taking some back for dinner! :) Since then I've always loved Au Bon Pain.

When I learnt that they were opening in Bangalore I was thrilled. I've been to their outlets in Mantri Mall, Eva Mall, Richards Park & Cunningham Rd. Au Bon Pain has recently opened a cafe in Koramangala at the Sony signal.

Parking there is going to be difficult, but for folks with offices around there, you just got a place to go to for healthy meals! Can you believe in this day & age, they actually do not serve any fried food in their restaurant. Yeah, you read right, no fried food at all!! Interesting isn't it?

We were invited for a preview lunch to the Koramangala cafe. We started off with the soups from the soup counter. They have a different soups every day - 2 veg & 2 non-veg. They provide small glasses, so you can try all the soups available & choose the one you like best. Here's a picture of the soup counter -

Au Bon Pain offers a variety of breads for sandwiches - farmers, focaccia, baguette, whole wheat among others. Veg & non-veg meals are prepared on different counters. Here's a view of the kitchen -

We tried the chicken pesto sandwich on the farmer's bread & a hummus & olives sandwich on a jalapeno bagel- both were good. P being a biryani fan tried the chicken biryani and wasn't very impressed. Considering this is a bakery cafe, biryani might not be the best item to choose from the menu. Au Bon Pain has a variety of salads, baked goods & assorted desserts. I loved the cinnamon roll from the bakery and the espresso mousse (- simply divine) from the dessert section.

Oh, how can I forget the coffee! Really good stuff! And at Rs.20/- very good VFM too! They also had a cold coffee and some iced teas. And all of them reasonably priced too. Well, all items are reasonably priced and made fresh. This is one place I'll be going back to often.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, eat well & eat healthy! 

Chili Biscuits and a Food Blogger's Day at HyperCITY

Fellow food-bloggers Madhuri (Cook-curry Nook), Suma (Cakes & More), Bridget White Kumar (Anglo-Indian Recipes) were asked to come to HyperCITY for a Food Blogger's Day. They had also asked that we come prepared to make / bake something at the store, so I carried with me a batch of chili biscuit dough. Once, there I realized I could have gathered ingredients from the store & put together my recipe!

Now, about HyperCITY. I've been to both their stores in B'lore - Whitefield & Bannerghatta Road. First impression - wow! so much space & so like walking into an US super market. I loved it. They have a wide variety / range / selection of groceries, provisions, utensils, appliances, home-wares and electronics. Here, I must honestly confess I was all agog about the wide variety of vegetables, diary & groceries that I just just quickly peeked at the other sections only. There prices compare very favorably to other stores for speciality products like mascarpone cheese (this is one item I remember, because I am always looking for it!). 

So, we walked through the vegetable & groceries sections and picked up what we wanted to make our stuff, and returned to the demo area. After a few hitches this was all set up. Bridget made some no-cook trifles, Madhuri made an eggless 5-min microwave chocolate cake, Suma made a 2-min microwave brownie & I made the khara (chili) biscuits. We interacted with the customers and amongst ourselves and had a fun time! Thank you HyperCITY for having us over. I'll surely be a regular shopper here!! 

Oh... you want the recipe for the biscuits? Do try it, this is a simple recipe even for novice bakers. Chili or Khara biscuits as they are known in the local bakeries is a hot favorite at home. P loves eating them straight out of the oven. This is my mom's recipe with a few additions thrown in by yours truly! Well, I did say I never follow a recipe, didn't I? 

Ingredients 

Maida - 1 cup + 4a tbsps (see notes) + flour for dusting 

Butter - 3/4 cup 

Castor sugar - 2 tsp 

Salt - 1tsp 

Ginger pwdr - 3/4tsp 

B.pwdr - 1 tsp 

Yoghurt - 2 tbsp
Green chili - 4-6 

Mint - 10-12 leaves 

Curry Leaves - 10 leaves 

Onion - 1 med 

Preparation 

Sieve 1 cup maida, b.pwdr, salt, sugar, g.pwdr 
Chop onion finely 
Mince green chili, mint & curry leaves 

Cream butter till smooth 

Tip in yoghurt beat till blended 

Sprinkle 2 tbsps maida over the onions, mix well 
Toss dusted onion, curry leaves, mint, chilies & mix on low speed 

Add flour a little at a time & combine till all flour is added 

Transfer to a lightly floured surface & knead gently to bring together 

Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness 

Cut into biscuits
Bring the remaining dough together & repeat till all the dough is used up

Place on ungreased cookie sheet

Bake @ 200 deg cel for abt 10-12 mins or the sides turn golden brown 

Notes - 
Please note that depending on the oven, the bake time will vary. So, keep an eye on the cookies and pop them out of the oven when the sides turn golden brown. For every cup of onion you'll need 4 tbsps maida for dusting. 1 medium onion should be around 1/2 a cup. 

Mads, the pics are on the phone I shall post them in a couple of days! :) 

Bisi Bele Bath Masala Powder

I promised myself that I'd blog at least once a week in 2011, actually that was a New Year resolution. Hmm like all resolutions, that too went out the window right at the start of the year!!!  Oh, I have reasons a-plenty  - in Jan I wasn't in the pink of health, in Feb / Mar I was traveling lots & in April - I wanted to blog, but there were some problems with my account and I wasn't able to.  Nice enough reasons, aren't they? That brings me to something else - for a while now I've been trying to scale up this page & haven't been very successful. So, after much goading from one of my favorite blogger friends, I've decided to shift to the another domain. Yes, I'll certianly give you all the details once I make the transition. 

Now, what was this post about? Oh, yes, Bisibele Bath! A nice one pot meal which is sumptuous by itself. Of course there's always someone like me for whom no meal is complete without thayir-chadham (curd-rice or yoghurt with plain rice) and pickle!!! This post however doesn't detail how to make Bisibele bath, but rather how to prepare the masala powder for it. 

My recipe is from various sources - friends, neighbors & family and with a few tweaks from me. My husband, who's never been a fan of this dish, now absolutely loves it - provided I make it with this masala powder & not something store-bought. I usually make the powder in this proportion & store it in an airtight container. I've been meaning to post this recipe here for a while now, and I just never got around to it. Why, you ask? Pls look above!!! I misplaced this little bit of paper on which I'd scribbled this recipe & though I searched high & low I couldn't find it! So, I made a small batch of powder one day, and made the dish & hubby says "Have you used some store-bought masala, this doesn't taste like it usually does!!". That day I decided that when I find that elusive paper, I'd post it immediately!!! So, here it is!!! I've been rambling on rather a bit, haven't I? Okie.. on to the recipe then!

When I say "cup" in this recipe I don't mean that you should use a measuring cup & measure out exactly. Use any cup, katori, tumbler, measure, just keep in mind the proportions and remember to use the same container to measure all the ingredients. 

Ingredients

Bengal gram (channa dal) - 1/2 cup

Urad dal - 1/4 cup

Coriander seeds - 1/3 cup

Cumin - 1/3 cup

Cloves - 1 tbsp

Cardamom (bada elaichi) - 3 pieces

Cinnamon - 1-2 inch piece

Star anise - 2
Mace - 2
Marati-moggu -  2 tbsp
Red chili (Badige) - 3/4 cup
Red chili (Salem) - 1/2 cup
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Roast channa dal to golden-brown in a non-stick kadai, transfer to a wide plate

Roast urad dal till is turns brown, transfer to plate holding channa dal

Roast badige chilies, and then the salem chilies separately
Transfer to individual plates
Roast hing (asafoetida) till it puffs up
Roast jaggery to remove any moisture
Place coriander seeds in a microwave-safe bowl
Cook for a min, 30 secs at a time
Remove from microwave & transfer to a new plate
Repeat the previous 3 steps for the cumin seeds
Place all the other spices except red chilies and asafoetida in the same bowl
Cook for a min in the microwave, 30 secs at a time
Remove & transfer to a different plate
Allow all the ingredients to cool
Grind in a mixer to a fine powder

You might wonder why I've used two types of chilies in the recipe. The badige chili gives a very nice color & fragrance but is not very spicy, so to increase the spice level of the powder, I've added the salem chilies. Now, if you'd like your powder more or less spicy, then tweak the salem chilies to suit your requirement. Usually there is a good quantity of dry coconut added to this recipe. I've never liked bisi-bele bath with coconut. Ours is a less-to-no-coconut kind of household. So, that might be it. If you'd like to have your powder with dry coconut, add 1/2 cup to the ingredients, roast this individually & grind along with other ingredients.

Plum Cake - Selling!!!

As they say a picture speaks a 1000 words.... :)

Available right now in 300gm packs for Rs. 120. To get one now, leave a comment here or mail me at geethasworld@gmail.com.

Get them while they last!

Lalit 2nd Anniversary Celebrations & Food tasting @ the OKO

My first exposure to Japanese food was 4 years back, when we lived in Japan for about 18 months. P and his friends told me me that "Vegetarian" in Japan means "vegetables also" and not "vegetables only". You can now imagine how that would make a vegetarian like me, feel. So, we got there & settled into our new home very easily. I'll never forget my first few weeks in the country - not knowing the language, it was a rather tense few weeks. On hindsight, I find it comical now.

I was greatly urged (read compelled) to try the cuisine by P and friends. I remember my first tentative dips in this unknown (scary) pool. First japanese food I tried was Inari Sushi - it was yummy. Loved it. From those first tentative steps, trying out Zaru Soba, Yassae Tempura (vegetable tempura), Ume (plum) Sushi, Onigiri, etc., now I have come to love vegetarian Japanese food. It still amazes me, how delicious something as simple as a sour plum placed in a ball of plain rice, and wrapped with seaweed (Ume sushi and Ume Onigiri) tastes! Japanese cuisine has an emphasis on subtle flavors that enhance the natural taste of the ingredients. None of the rich, spicy or heavy flavored stuff that is found in other cuisines.

When Madhuri of Cook-Curry-Nook called me, and gave me details of the event and venue, I went online to find out more about Oko. When I found out it was a Pan-Asian restaurant, the first thought that came to my mind was - wow - I hope they have good Japanese food. The next thought was, Pan-Asian. To me, Pan-Asian means two things - Thai food and Japanese food - and I love both cuisines. But the two cuisines cannot be more different from each other - while Japanese food has the subtle flavors, Thai food can cause your eyes to water, with how spicy it is! And the flavors in Thai food are also a lot more complex - with Kafir Lime, Lemon Grass, Ginger, Chilli, Sugar, all contributing strong flavors.

Somehow I don't consider Chinese cuisine to be part of Pan-Asian - possibly because of how familiar Chinese food is to me - but in Tokyo, I realized how different Indian Chinese was, to Chinese Chinese! I think we should send an Akshay Kumar "From Chandni Chowk to China" - to teach the Chinese how to make good Chinese food - Gobi Manchurian and Hakka Noodles ;-) Maybe that will fatten them up a bit, so we can win a few more medals at the next Asian Games!

So, then I met Suma, Shubadha, Ramya & Madhuri (whom I knew from before). We met, we talked & we were in the thick of conversation. Didn't feel for a minute there that we'd just met! Here's a picture of us -

From left to right - Suma of Cakes & More, Shubhada of Shubhada's123, Madhuri of Cook-curry Nook, Ramya of Mane Adige& me!

At Oko, I was impressed by the ambience - the covered terrace gives the feel of an open air restaurant, but still shields you from the elements. The view of "Namma Bengaluru" was impressive - lights glimmering in the distance, and long lines of tail lights of vehicles reminding us of how better off we were where we were, rather than stuck in a Satuday evening traffic jam - a contrast that was highlighted even more by the giant peaceful Buddha at the entrance.

Even though I had never met any of the other bloggers before, it was just a matter of minutes before we were all chatting away like friends catching up after a long time. It was amusing to note that all of us were vegetarians - trying out cuisines that are renowned for their non-veg options! Thankfully the Chef at Oko's was up to the task of preparing vegetarian options for us.

We started off with Char grilled Okra with Teriyaki sauce. I havent had such a dish before, have never even heard of something like this, so I was a bit apprehensive - but there was no reason to worry - the dish was awesome, right from taste, texture, presentation, and it turned out to be a winning start. The Vietnamese skewered Tofu was also done right, with the Tofu having a silky texture.

While the veg Sushi rolls were nice, I really missed Inari sushi and Umesushi. These two dishes could be good additions to the menu, and improve the choices for vegetarians.

The Yasai Teppanyaki was a bit of a letdown - simply because Teppanyaki cuisine is as much about the art of preparation as it is about the ingredients and presentation. In Teppanyaki cuisine, the chef prepares the food right at your table - in fact the table is usually set around the chef's cooking surface. At Oko however, the Teppanyaki dishes were just bought to our table like all other food.

For desserts, while the selection looked good, unfortunately only Azuki Bean Jelly was available. This was probably a touch overcooked.

Service was prompt and polite. However, I think the staff needs a little bit more exposure to the cuisine, so they can answer questions about the menu, and help with ordering decisions.

On the whole we had a very pleasant evening, with great food and even better company. The only thing that would have made the evening better would have been to have P around. He would have totally totally totally loved the food, and would have done justice to it, he being a real foodie and a non-vegetarian too.

Oh - before I forget... the highlight of the evening was the signature Lalit cocktail - A peach iced tea with a hint of vodka and hiding some other mysteries. This is something I'd go back for!

No-Bake Cookies - Bachelor's Buttons

Well, like I said, I am back again today with the no-bake cookies. I stumbled upon this recipe while looking for something else!! I saw the link in google and thought, how do u make a cookie without baking it? Now, this I must read!! After reading the very simple recipe, I bookmarked it for another day. And that day was today.

Here's the link to the original post and below my version. I didn't use any butter or milk in the recipe.

Ingredients

Marie Biscuits - 30

Sweetened Condensed Milk - 2/3 cup

Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp (adjust based on your cocoa pwdr)

For the topping

Icing sugar - 2-3 tbsps

Sugar flowers or Cadbury's Gems

Preparation

Quarter biscuits, powder and sift

Add cocoa to the sifted biscuit powder

Sift into a large mixing bowl

Pour in condensed milk

Bring together to form a ball, if it doesn't come together add a tsp of milk

Divide into equal sized balls

Roll in icing sugar

Place sugar flower or cadbury's gems on top

And it is ready to serve!! I got around 22-25 cookies from the above measures. I am sending this off to Madhuri @ Cook-curry nook for her Blog's 1st anniversary event - Choco Fest! Happy First Anniversary Madhuri!!! :)

Just another ramble

So then we had another food fest in my community. And this time around I made some sugar-free butterscotch blondies, vegan banana walnut bread and 2-3 varieties of muffins & cupcakes.

Needless to say I have no pictures, but this time I do have the recipes. Will post them over the next few days. Those of you looking to make Plum Cake this Christmas, watch this space!

Madhuri of - Cook-curry Nook gave me the details for a Bloggers event @ The Lalit Ashok. It was a wonderful evening - great food & wonderful company. I'll be writing abt that separately. I was really happy to catch up with the other food-bloggers in B'lore. Next time perhaps there will be a lot more of us.

I've been debating for a while now about starting a home baking business. A couple of my friends were already doing that. I decided to hop on board with them. Check us out at www.sonrisadesserts.com. Our site is still under construction, so if you don't see something that you want, leave me a comment here or shoot us a mail. We are now taking orders for Plum cake.

Alright, let me go now & dress up the No-Bake cookies. Oh, didn't I say I was making those today... well I am. Will post the recipe later tonite.

Till then!

No Recipe in this one

hey... I just wanted to say that I made and sold 3-4 batches of muffins & about 30 vegetable puffs!! I made the pastry sheets too!! And am mighty pleased with myself!!!

Where? How?, you ask.. well there was a food festival organized in the community where we live. So, I asked my husband - "What do you think I should make?" and he says "Vegetable Puffs, of course!!" Then we went hunting for puff pastry sheets in Bangalore, and didn't find them.

I've been thinking of making the pastry sheets for a while, but the process is lengthy., and I couldn't make the time. And now I did!! (rather had to, since I'd already committed to making the puffs!!!)

Made a batch with wheat flour & butter substitute - this didn't get all flaky on baking. Stuck that in the freezer & made another batch with all-purpose flour & unsalted butter - these were melt-in-the-mouth good!!! Yay!!!

I made 4 kinds of muffins - chocolate chip, banana nut, oatmeal raisin & rum & raisin - yes, with real rum!!

Recipe? Hmm now that is what I am so irritated about - I haven't had the time to post the recipes yet!!!

Beetroot Halwa

Had been to Mysore over the weekend. Had a scrumptious lunch at the Metropole. One of the items on the dessert table was beetroot halwa. It was the star of the show. All of us loved it. So, soon after we were back home, I made it. Here's the recipe -

Ingredients

Beetroot - grated 2 cups (got 2 cups from 1/2 kg)

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 1/3 cup

Milk - 4 tbsps

Ghee - 4 tbsps

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Preparation

Wash, dry, peel skin & finely grate beetroot

Measure sugar & water into a pan

Heat till the sugar completely dissolves, add a few tsps of water if required

In a separate non-stick pan (kadai) heat 3 tbsps ghee

Add beetroot & saute for about a minute

Pour in the sugar / water mix

Sprinkle the cardamom powder

Stir occasionally, adding ghee as needed

You know the halwa is ready when it leaves the sides of the pan forming a ball. Don't wait till it gets very solid. This halwa sets well & solidifies as it cools.

Microwave Therettipal & an Award!!!

Am back after a long hiatus. Well, for those of you wondering where I disappeared to - I was in the midst of moving back to Bangalore. It is good to be back. Took some time to settle into our new house and all the other nitty-gritties involved with moving countries. Will be posting about that soon on my other blog.

So, this morning the milk got spoilt (curdled) while boiling, so I decided to make a version of therettipal with it. Don't know if it can even be called therettipal - but that's what I call it!! And, so I make it, and then I log in to my blog to post & what do I see - an award!! Yay!!! Got the first award!! Its time to celebrate...

Anisheetu of My Kitchen gave me this award long long long back - jan 2009 if u must know! Thank you Anisheetu!

With no further blah blah, here's the recipe.

Ingredients

Curdled milk - 1 ltr

Curd - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 2/3 cup (I used Splenda)

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder - a dash

Preparation

Add curd to the (hot) curdled milk. Stir & let it stand for 5-10 minutes

Drain whey from the milk. Let it stand for about 10 minutes. You should get about 1 cup of solid milk from this.

In a microwave-safe bowl place drained milk, sugar (or splenda) & ghee

Stir well and make sure there are no lumps

Set microwave power to high & cook for 3 minutes

Stir to break lumps & cook for 3 more minutes. You know the dish is ready when it is crumbly.

Cook for another 2 minutes, to get a nice burnt brown color.

Sprinkle some elaichi powder & serve

Microwave ovens vary, so what took me about 8-10 minutes might take a little more or a lot lesser in your microwave. Take care not to over-cook the dish. It might appear runny / not fully done. However, if you let it stand for a few minutes, it quickly hardens. I didn't realize that and ended up getting crunchy therettipal!!

Rajma

This is among many items in the drafts folder for the last 1-2 weeks. Picked this one to post today. I usually keep boiled rajma, channa or peas in the fridge regularly, for quick-fix meal days. So, one wednesday I made rajma & we ate it up alsmost immediately. As we were very hungry, I didn't take a picture. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
Rajma - 1 cup
Tomato - 2 medium
Onion - 1 large
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Punjabi channa masala - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil

Preparation
Soak rajma overnight in about 3-4 cups of water
Drain and wash rajma
Pressure cook with a little salt for 3 whistles & keep aside
Chop onion & tomato
Heat oil in a skillet, saute ginger & garlic pastes for a minute
Add onion, saute till it starts browning
Sprinkle on all the spice powders, saute for 1-2 minutes
Add tomato, saute till it is cooked
Add cooked rajma
Adjust salt
Sprinkle a handful of water if required
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves
Serve with chhapathi or rice

We had the rajma with plain brown rice and also with yoghurt & rice (curd rice). It was delicious. If the rajma is already cooked, this dish can be cooked up in 10-15 minutes.

Aloo Gobi / Potato Cauliflower

This is among P's favourite dishes. Actually he likes most things made with saunf (fennel). While grocery shopping the other night, I saw fresh cauliflowers and decided to make this for him.

Ingredients
Potato - 2-3 medium
Onion - 1 medium
Cauliflower - 1 large
Green chili - 1
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Hing - 1 big pinch
Fennel - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 stalk
Coriander - a little
Punjabi Channa Masala - 1 tsp (can use garam masala instead)
Salt to taste
Oil

Preparation
Wash and cut potatoes into cubes. Put in a microwave-safe bowl, add enough water & salt. Cook for 3 mins & then another 2 mins. If potatoes are not soft to the touch yet, cook another 2-3 mins or as needed.
Wash and cut cauliflower into medium sized florets. Throw away the thick stems. Boil water in a saucepan, add the florets, salt and turmeric. Cook till the florets are done. 3-5 mins.
Chop onion, curry leaves & coriander, slit the green chili lengthwise
Heat oil in a skillet, splutter mustard and fennel, add curry leaves and green chili, saute for a minute
Add onion, saute till it starts browning, add punjabi channa masala (or garam masala) and saute till the raw-powder-smell is gone
Drain water from potato & cauliflower
Add cooked potato & cauliflower to the skillet.
Toss well, add salt if required.
Garnish with chopped coriander.
Serve with chhapathi or rice.

I usually add the required salt to the cauliflower and potato while cooking. This makes sure that the dish is evenly salty. This is a very easy to make dish and can be cooked in about 20 minutes.

Oats Upma

My sister told me that she had made upma with oats & it was really tasty. I have been thinking of making it myself, since I saw the recipe here. So the next day I went shopping and bought a box of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats. I followed Suganya's recipe for the basics & the rest I did what I usually do, tossed in ingredients that I thought would go with the dish.

Ingredients
Old-fashioned Oats - 1 cup
Water - 1.5 cups
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 large
Carrot - 1/2 cup
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Green chili - 1 large
Mustard - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Hing - 1 big pinch
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil or Ghee

Preparation
Dice onion, tomato & carrot, slit chili lengthwise
Heat oil in a skillet, splutter mustard & jeera, add channa & urad dals, saute till dals turn brown
Add hing & green chili, saute for a minute
Add onion, saute till it turns transparent, then add other vegetables & peanuts
Saute for a few minutes
Add garam masala and saute till the raw-powder-smell is gone
Pour water and bring to a boil
Add salt
Add oats and stir well.
Cook on low-flame for 10-15 minutes, or till the oats are cooked
Serve with yoghurt

I made this upma with ghee instead of oil, however that is because upma is not my most favourite food! Ghee does give it a nice flavor, but I am sure this upma tastes just as great made with oil.

The oats were nice & chewy and the peanuts & dals gave a nice crunch to the dish. Me, a person not known for her like of upma, loved this dish. Oats Upma will now be a regular in my kitchen!

Sprouted Fenugreek (Methi) Rice

The spice for this month's Think Spice event is Fenugreek / Methi. I use this all the time in my cooking, but I couldn't think of a dish where this was the key ingredient. Now what, I wonder? Along comes P and says, "Hey, I wonder if those methi seeds will sprout!" Ah ha... inspiration! I soaked the methi for a day, and then kept them covered in the pantry for another day and there I had it - sprouted methi!!!

We both loved the taste of the sprouted methi - it wasn't bitter, was crunchy and slightly bitter-sweet. Lovely!! I wanted to make something that will only have the taste of these sprouts. Read on for the recipe.


Ingredients
Brown basmati rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Sprouted methi - 1/4 cup
Raw mango, chopped - 2 tbsps
Black eye beans - 2 tbsps (optional)
Green chili, slit lengthwise - 1
Coriander - 2 tbsps
Jeera / Cumin - 1/4 tsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Hing - 1 pinch
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Preparation
Cook brown rice in a pressure cooker with the water
Soak blackeye beans for an hour, wash & drain water, microwave for 5 mins, keep aside
Heat oil in a skillet, add mustard & jeera - let them splutter
Add hing and green chili, saute till white spots appear on the chili
Add blackeye beans & raw mango, saute for 2-3 mins
Toss in the sprouted methi / fenugreek
Add salt, toss well
Add rice & coriander, mix well

I used a little more water than I shud have with the brown rice. It tasted quite alright though. Vary water to suit your rice. Blackeye beans just happened to be in the fridge, so I tossed them in for the texture, it is not necessary at all for the dish.

Sending this off to Kittie at Kittens in the Kitchen for the Think Spice Think Fenugreek event.
This will also be my third entry to the JFI: Whole Grains event, hosted by Suganya of Tasty Palettes.

Raagi Adai / Finger Millet Patty

I was looking for something to make with raagi when my mother gave me a recipe. She'd seen it on a tv cooking show. I took the main ingredients of this recipe & added a lot of other stuff to it to make it mine. With no further ado, here's the recipe. I was in a hurry when I made this dish, so I used store-bought ginger, garlic & tamarind (not tamaring concentrate) pastes.

Ingredients
Raagi flour - 1.5 cups
Blackeye Beans (Vella Kaaramani) - 1 large handful
Green chili, finely chopped - 1
Ginger - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 2 tbsps
Hot water to make dough
Salt to taste

Preparation
Soak blackeye beans for about 30 mins. Wash & drain water. Microwave (loosely covered) with a few spoons of water for 3-5 minutes. Drain water & keep aside. The beans should be partially cooked, not too soft or too hard.
Mix raagi flour, tamarind, ginger & garlic pastes, green chili, jaggery and salt in a mixing bowl.
Heat some water - not very hot, just bearable hot.
Add water as required to the raagi mixture and knead into a smooth dough.
Add cooked blackeye beans. Knead well.
Pat into discs and steam for 8 -10 minutes.

I used my idli plates to make these patties. The blackeye beans were a little hard and that gave a nice texture. Microwaves vary, so cook the beans for as long or as less as needed - they shouldn't be fully cooked, as they cook further while steaming.

There are at least 2 whole grains events going on right now in foodie blogosphere. Sending this dish off to both.

Suganya of Tasty Palettes is hosting JFI - Whole Grains. Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen is hosting WBB - Grains in my Breakfast, an event originally started by Nandita of Saffron Trail.

Dum Biryani

After 2 days of I-don't-feel-like-cooking, today I was eager to cook. I haven't made this dish after moving here - 6-8 months now. I got this recipe from a friend and augmented with further internet research. So, what I serve up here is a combination of my friends recipes and suggestions picked from the internet. As I don't remember the details of the sites, am sorry can't provide the links.

P loves dum biryani, and he's asked me many a time to make it. But I always hesitated. Seemed too big a project for just 2 people. First time I made it was for a diwali pot-luck in Tokyo. I decided to do a trial run the weekend before, just to be sure - making for the first time and all that. Friends of ours - husband & wife - were the official tasters. Needless to say I was nervous. Had also made a salan that time.

So, our friends came home and the first thing that he said - "Wow, smells good! But this is too much food! This is enough for 7-8 people." He he he ... By the time the night was over, the biryani & salan were both wiped clean!!! And so was the mango kulfi that she had made. That was one of the most memorable meals :) Total nawabi dinner it was!!!

Alright, now for the recipe. Dum biryani is traditionally made in layers - rice, vegetable & garnish. So, it is as simple as that!! First off, it is not that difficult to make, you just need to be a little patient. Yes, the ingredients list seems endless, the recipe seems to go on forever, but hey, you'll realize it is worth the effort when you get your first taste. Maybe even before, when you get that first whiff of it cooking.

Ingredients
Rice Layer
Brown basmati rice - 2 cups
Water - 5 cups
Salt to taste (only for rice)
Star Anise - 5-6
Black Cardamom - 4-5
Mace - 4-5
Nutmeg - 1 whole crushed
Cinnamon - 1.5 - 2 sticks
Cloves - 3/4 tbsp
Black Pepper - 1 tbsp
Fennel - 1 tbsp
Shahi Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Nigella - 1/4 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsps

Aroma Milk
Milk - 1/2 cup
Green Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron - 1 big pinch
Rose essence - 1/2 tsp
Kewra essence - 1/2 tsp

Vegetable Layer
Potato - 1 large, diced
Carrot - 1 large, diced
Cauliflower - 1 cup
Peas - 1 cup
Onion - 1 large
Cottage Cheese - 12 -15 1/2 inch pieces fried to a golden brown (optional)
Ginger - 1-1.5 tbsp, minced
Garlic - 1-1.5 tbsp, minced
Green chili - 1 tbsp, minced
Yoghurt - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Chili powder - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasuri Methi Powder - 2 tsps
Salt to taste (only for veggies)
Ghee - 2 tbsps

Garnish
Onion - 1 large, sliced to 1inch pieces
Cashew - 2 tbsps
Raisins - 2 tbsps
Almond Slivers - 2 tbsps
Coriander - 3 tbsps, finely chopped
Mint - 3 tbsps, finely chopped
Ghee - 2 tbsps

Preparation
Wash and soak rice for 15-20 mins.
Chop all required veggies and keep them separately
Drain water completely from the rice and spread out to dry on some paper towels

Rice Layer
Heat the water in a pan, add all the spices (for rice layer), cover & simmer. Let it steep for 20-25 minutes, then switch off stove, add salt & keep covered.
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed skillet.
Add rice and saute for a few minutes, till the rice changes colour. Take care not to fry the rice too much. We need soft, yet separate grains of rice for the biryani, if over fried, the rice gets too crisp, we don't want that.
Strain 4 cups of water into the rice (keep 1 cup water aside for later), cover & simmer.
Cook covered till almost all the water is absorbed. The rice should be a little crunchy now.

Vegetable Layer
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed skillet, add the onions and saute till it becomes transparent
Keep heat medium to avoid burning the veggies / spices. This layer needs to cook slowly.
Add ginger, garlic, chilies, jeera, dhanya & turmeric powders, saute 2-3 taking care not to burn the spices
Toss in potatoes, saute till they turn brown.
Throw in carrots, keep sauteing
Add peas, cauliflower, & cottage cheese
Pour in yoghurt & water
Sprinkle on chili powder & salt
Cover and cook for 2-3 mins
Toss well and remove from heat.
Keep aside. The veggie layer should be moist, but have no gravy.

Garnish Layer
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed skillet
Fry onions, cashews, raisins & slivered almonds separately.
Keep aside separately

Assembling
Now all the layers are ready and the biryani can be put together. The first and last layers are always rice.

Take an oven-safe dish.
Put a layer of rice at the bottom
Add a ladleful of spice water in a circle
Add a ladleful of aroma milk in a circle
Spoon in a layer of veggies
Sprinkle some chopped coriander and mint leaves over the veggies
Throw some fried onions over the leaves
Top off with a layer of cashews, raisins & slivered almonds
Finish with a layer of rice
Repeat steps as needed.
Add spice water & aroma milk only for the top & bottom layers of rice.
Keep aside some nuts, onions and coriander & mint leaves to garnish top of biryani

Baking
Pre-heat oven to 410 degrees F
Seal the assembled biryani with foil, cover & place in oven
Bake for 15 -20 minutes
Reduce oven temp to 280 degrees F
Bake for 15-20 minutes

Do the baking an hour or so before serving the dish. Kept in the oven too long, the rice gets too crisp - not nice! They say the true test for biryani is, when put on a plate, each grain of rice should be separate without any lumps.

Cooking time for rice varies and so does the required water. Vary both to suit your rice, remember to make 1 cup extra spice water than required to cook the rice. Spices can also be varied, though I don't recommend it. This is the first time I made biryani with brown basmati, usually make it with white basmati. I recommend the brown, it has a lot more texture & flavor.

I am sending this veg biryani to Zaiqa who is hosting RCI:Authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine.

Also to Suganya of Tasty Palettes who is hosting this month's JFI:Whole Grains.

Kosambari

A long long time ago, I used to eat a different kind of salad everyday. Not so long ago, just about 2 years back. Time is very relative, isn't it? This one is for my sister. She was asking me if I knew how to make this, so G this one is for you.

I've had kosambari at various occasions. And every time I had the dish, I'd want to make it, but I never did. After all, this does seem like the indian version of the salad. This dish requires no cooking, and apart from the soaking, takes only about 5-10 minutes to make.

Kosambari can be made with any lentil. Sometimes it is garnished with mustard & curry leaves too. I prefer this fresh version. Makes a colourful picture, doesn't it?


Ingredients
Yellow Moong dal - 1 cup
Cucumber - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 large
Carrot - 1 medium
Onion - 3-4 tbsps
Coriander - 4-5 sprigs
Lemon juice - 1/2 large
Chili powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Salt - to taste

Preparation
Soak moong dal for about an hour
Chop cucumber, onion, tomato & carrot into small pieces
Finely chop the coriander
Squeeze juice from lemon into a small dish, stir in the salt & chili powder
Wash moong & drain water completely, and microwave for 1-2 minutes
Add chopped veggies, coriander & lemon juice
Toss well & serve

Finely chopped fresh green chilies can be used. As I don't like biting into a chili in my salad, used chili powder. After an hour of soaking, the moong was still rather hard, so I put it in the microwave for a minute or so to soften it a little. It was still crunchy. Don't do this unless required.