Filipino Adobo Chicken

Another Sunday edition for "The 52 Cookbook Pact" hosted by Ruchina. I had blogged this delicious dish before at my other blog Foodieshope, so used the same picture here.

Filipino Adobo Chicken, from Philippines with my slight changes to simplify as always!

Dark and delicious Chicken bites marinated in soy sauce, lime juice, Apple Cider vinegar, garlic, onions, and bay leaf, and simmered with little brown sugar, with a dash with Sambal Olek or pepper, Adobo from Philippines is surprisingly delectable dish.
Usually Adobo sauce is associated with Spanish Chipotle in sauce and spices which also makes delicious marinated chicken called adobado and this Filipino Adobo dish, I am sure, is influenced by Spanish Adobo but used lot less spices and a bit different than the Spanish one. Either way, juicy Adobo Chicken makes one delicious lunch!

Here is how I made it:
1. Cube 2-3 Chicken breasts into bite sized pieces,place in a bowl. Now add juice of 1/2 a lime, 1 tsp Garlic powder or 2-4 fresh Garlic minced, 1/4 cup light and low sodium soy sauce or dark Soy if you like dark color,1 tbsp dried Onion flakes or 4 tbsp minced onion, 2 tsp brown sugar or dark molasses, 1-2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp Chinese Five spice (my addition), mix everything in a big Ziplock bag, zip up and marinate overnight in the fridge or if you are short of time, keep it for few hrs, 4-5 hrs to develop the flavor.

2. Next day or few hours later, heat 2 tsp butter in a wide non-stick pan, add 1 bay leaf. Pour in the marinated chicken with all the liquid, 1 tsp more dark Soy sauce if you have added light Soy before and pepper or Sambal Olek (my fave red hot chilli sauce) or sweet and hot chilli sauce. Do not add salt until dish is done and unless you need it since Soy sauce has salt in it already.

3. Stir-fry on medium heat until it cooks down and the sauce is thick, shiny and clings to the chicken and chicken is cooked.Taste for salt and sugar, add only if needed. Serve garnished with Green onions and/or sliced green chillies on a bed of white or brown rice.
Cookbook:
Recipe is from "The Adobo Road Cookbook" by Marvin Gapultos with my changes.
Note:
Adjust the spices and sauces as per your taste, some like it tangy or sweet or spicy. Up to you to add or not add certain ingredients. It may not make this dish very "authentic" if we change the exact recipe like I did here slightly but believe me, it's a delightful dish anyway, so make it and enjoy!

Shrimp Dynamite, my style!

Here is my contribution to "The 52 cookbook pact". I hope I can keep up every Sunday with a recipe but will try my best. Thanks for hosting Ruchina :)

Shrimp Dynamite:
a copycat recipe of P.F.Chang's delicious appetizer, my style! My favorite dish to order whenever we visit there but I simplified the recipe to make it easy and quick for a lunch served on a bed of salad or as I did here, just on Romaine lettuce. Perfectly spicy mini satisfying lunch. Enjoy!

1. 12 oz medium sized Shrimp, frozen, pre-cleaned. Thaw, blot excess moisture.
2. Mix 2 tbsp Corn starch, 1 egg, 2tbsp Panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper, add in Shrimps, coat well.
3. Heat about an inch of oil, spread out Shrimps, cook both sides until crisp, keep them on a paper towel.
4. Beat 1/4 cup Mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp garlic pd, 1/2 tbsp Sriracha sauce or more, 1 tsp Sesame oil, 1 tbsp sour cream or 1 tsp Rice Vinegar. Add crisp Shrimp, mix well.
5. Serve on a Romaine Lettuce or side salad, garnish with cilantro, Spring Onions, chilli flakes or more Sriracha for extra burn!
Note:
Adjust the ingredients as you like the dish to be to your taste, mild or spicy, any kind of oil of your choice, fresh or frozen Shrimp you want to use, all up to you. No hard and fast rules, basic sauce is usually deliciously spicy and creamy with Sriracha sauce and Mayonnaise.
Cookbook:
Recipe is from one of the copycat cookbooks "Top Secret Recipes" by Todd Wilbur, where he tries to recreates our favorite restaurant dishes, my favorite is his copycat recipe for KFC Coleslaw! Of course, I always change the recipe slightly to suit my taste and to make it easier. Hope you enjoy.

Samosa Chaat, Baby Butter Beans-Potato-Cilantro Kurma, Menasina Saaru/Pepper Soup

I am on blog break, see you all as soon as I can! :)

Samosa Chaat, goes to Pallavi's "Sunday Snacks-Chaats/Indian street food" event.

Baby Butter Beans-Potato-Cilantro Kurma, goes to Cilantro's "JFI-Cilantro", an event started by Indira.

Samosa Chaat and Menasina Saaru, both go to Mahimaa's "15 minute cooking". If you have store bought Samosas and sauces already, it takes literally 10mins to whip up this delicious Chaat and Soup is the easiest to make as well.

Menasina Saaru/Pepper soup, goes to Trupti's "Comfort Food for illness" event.

Thanks to all of you, enjoy! :)

Samosa Chaat:
Who doesn't love to eat Samosas dipped in sweet and spicy chutney? Why not make the yummy Samosas into yummier Chaat? I know most of you have tried this Samosa chaat and posted it too. I had some leftover Aloo masala, so I thought of making quick Samosas and turn this into Chaat. Loved it. Since I had visited Indian store last weekend, I had all the goodies needed like Farsan/sev, bottled sweet and hot chutney, Chaat masala packet etc to go with it.
I make Samosas with Tortillas or Egg roll wrappers, sometimes I make the traditional samosa dough with atta. I have linked few sites for you to watch how to make or fold Samosas and chutney recipes to save me some time from typing those too! ;D

To make Samosa: (or use store bought Samosas and sauces for quicker Chaat!)
Take 3 large cooked Potatoes, mash it well. Add salt, chilli pd, 1 tbsp coriander pd, 2 tsp cumin seeds pd, 2 tbsp minced onion, 2 tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp garam Masala, 2 tsp Lemon juice, mix well and keep aside. Watch this video to see how to make Samosas.
Take atta dough (wheat flour, salt and 2 tbsp oil, knead with water to a firm dough) (I used Egg or Spring roll wrapper), roll out and cut into half moon shape, make a cone and stuff few tbsps of Potato masala, cover and secure the edges with plain flour+water paste to seal the Samosas. Deep fry these until golden and drain them on paper towel.
To make Chaat with Samosas:
You need to chop 1 large tomato, 1 sweet Onion, 4 tbsp Cilantro, 1/4 cup each of Sweet Tamarind chutney and hot green chutney and Plain Yogurt, some Chaat masala and Sev (thin chickpea flour fried snacks) and keep them ready.
To serve:
Break 1 or 2(if they are small size) Samosas into may be 4 to 5 big pieces and place them on a plate. Sprinkle some Tomato pieces, Onion pieces, as much green chutney and sweet chutney and yogurt as you want, some chopped Cilantro, 1/2 tsp Chaat masala and finally some thin Sev on top of the Samosas.
Serve immediately. I could eat 2 plates of those in one go! ;D

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Baby Lima or Butter beans,potato and Cilantro Kurma:

You need:

2-3 cups of baby Lima or Butter beans, (I used frozen pack), 1 Potato, peeled and cubed, Salt, 1 tsp butter (optional, tastes great if you add it).
Seasoning:
1 tbsp oil, 1 small onion, minced.
To grind:
2 garlic, 1" ginger, 4 tbsp fresh or dry Coconut, 2 tsp Poppy seeds, 2 tbsp Yogurt, 3 cloves, 1" Cinnamon, 1/2 cup packed Cilantro leaves (don't use it's stem which has powerful flavor and aroma, bit too much for this dish), few curry leaves, 2 or more green chillies.

To make Kurma:
1. Thaw the beans and cook with cubed potatoes with half a cup of water in the microwave for about 7mins, set aside.
2. Grind the masala until smooth with very little water.
3. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add and fry minced onion until soft. Add the ground masala and yogurt, saute until raw smell goes and it leaves the side of the pan.
4. Now, add the cooked beans and potato, mix well. Simmer for 3 mins.

Add a dab of butter if you like, mix and serve with Parathas. Tastes better the next day!
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My grandma's comforting cold remedy, Menasina Saaru/Pepper soup!

Trupti is not feeling well, suffering from flu and cold. So she is asked us to send her few comfort food to her which we can cook quickly and helps to feel us better. I don't know or make many home remedies like my grand mother makes at her home but this Menasina saaru seems to be the only one I like to make when I have cold, love it. Freshly crushed pepper seems to open your blocked sinuses quicker than (although temporarily) any Vicks Vaporub!:D

Another remedial drink I vaguely remember that she used to make is ginger and honey juice for Stomach ache or for something like that, I am not sure. I had seen my grandfather drinking it often whenever we visit them during Summer holidays. Anyway, here is my fave dadima's Nushka, Karnataka style! ;D

You need these to make the soup:
1. Heat 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp ghee in a deep pan. Add 2-4 garlic finely chopped and few curry leaves to it.
2. Crush 1 tsp Cumin seeds and 2 tsp Pepper corns coarsely and add to this oil. Let them all sizzle gently. Don't let the garlic burn but very slightly golden on the edges.
3. Mix 1 1/2 tsp (or more if you want it very tangy) Tamarind paste (I use Laxmi brand natural Tamarind concentrate which has nice reddish color which I love than darker Tam paste and paste easy to use too) in 2-3 cups of water well.
4. Add this to the pan with salt, bring it to rolling boil for 2 mins or until the raw smell of Tamarind goes and soup smell good. Adjust the salt and add more crushed pepper if you want.
5. Drink this when you have cold, you feel the relief immediately to make you feel better although it doesn't cure your cold. Tastes great with rice too or just as a warm drink on a cold day.
You can add some cilantro to it too, always optional. That's it for this week.

Feel better soon Trupti, hugs to you.

We had a wonderful weekend, very hot weather. Have a great Summer, see you all later in the Fall! :)

Batata Vada/Alu Bonda, Tomato and mixed Vegetable Avarekalu Uppittu/Upma

Batata vada, goes to Harini's "Recipes for rest of us-Starters" event which is started by Ramki.

Mixed vegetable and Tomato Uppittu, goes to Sahaja's "Single serving Recipes" event.

Thanks ladies, enjoy! :)

Who doesn't like Batata Vada or Alugedde bonda as we call it in Kannada? Here is my quick version I made just for this event. No measurement required for the dishes we send to this event and it should be so easy that even a 10yr old can cook it as per this event's rules. Well... most 10yr old kids can make these I guess, although letting them deep fry without supervision is not recommended.

Want to make Batata Vadas sophisticated enough for grand cocktail party? Make large Marble sized vadas and stick a few colorful Toothpicks on each like finger foods to serve with Ketchup or thinner chutney as dip. You can do the same with mini Chana dal round vadas too. Enjoy! :)

Batata vada or Alu bonda with coconut chutney:

To make Aloo stuffing:

1. Boil 2 large Potatoes until soft, peel and mash. Heat a bit of oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chilli flakes, chopped curry and cilantro leaves.
2. Add Potatoes, salt, lemon juice and mix well. Cool and make about 2" balls and keep aside.
To make batter:
1. Mix 1 portion of Besan/Chickpea flour, few tbsps of rice flour, pinch of bakind soda, enough salt, chilli pd and water to make a thickish batter. Rest it for 10 mins.
To make Bondas:
1. Heat oil to 375F or hot to deep fry. Dip Potato balls in the batter and deep fry until golden.
2. Serve with spicy Chutney; Grind Coconut, green chillies, tamarind or yogurt, ginger, salt with enough water to make chutney. Temper with Mustard seeds. Voila!! :D

Mixed Vegetable and Lilva/Avarekalu Uppittu:
Well... Sahaja wanted a one dish meal and here is my simple yet nutritious one dish Uppittu/Upma I make when I am in a hurry or don't have any left overs to eat. Usually I throw in a frozen mixed vegetable pack here to make veg Uppittu. I love Avarekalu/Lilva/Field beans in Uppittu but fresh beans is not always available to me, so I soak dry ones and cook them to add to dishes or use frozen Lilva. For tanginess, I add Lemon juice at the end or one fresh sliced Tomato.

To make Mixed veg Uppittu:
1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a non-stick pan. Add 1 cup Semolina/Rava and roast until Rava is golden on a medium heat and spread it on paper to cool.
2. Add 2 tbsp oil to the same pan, add 1/2 Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, few curry leaves, (Cashews are optional), 2 tsp each Chana dal and Urad dal, 1 onion, finely chopped, 2-3 green chillies and fry them until soft.
3. Add 2 1/2 cups of water, enough salt, few cilantro. Add 1 cup of pre cooked (Microwave them with little water) mixed veggies like Beans, Carrots, peas, Lilva beans, one Tomato sliced. Let it boil for 5 mins.
4. Taste for salt and turn down the heat to simmer. Slowly add Rava in a stream and stir all the while to prevent clumping. Stri well, cover and let it simmer for 4-5 mins.
5. It's ready to eat. serve with crunchy Sev, Boondi and plain yogurt.

Tomato,Peas and Carrot Uppittu:
Tomato, Peas and Carrot Uppittu is another of my favorite combo to add to make Uppittu. I chop baby Carrots in to rounds. They are very sweet, adds a sweetish flavor to spicy Uppittu and for to balance the hot and sweet, I add some Tomatoes or Tomato sauce to this. Adding 1 tsp of MTR Vangibhath powder or Rasam powder to this adds a excellent flavor as well.
Photo didn't come well for this Uppittu, bear with me. I have too many huge windows in every room, bright and sunny rooms don't help me in photographing anything properly these days.

To make Tomato Uppittu:
1. Follow the same method as above until step 2 and add 2 1/2 cups of water, 1/2 cup frozen Green peas, 1/2 cup Tomato sauce or 2-3 Tomato chopped, 2 Carrots chopped or coarsely grated, 1 tsp spice powder of your choice (optional), let it boil.
2. Follow the rest of the method like the above recipe and you will have fragrant, colorful and tasty Uppittu!

Have a great week, see you all later! :)

Thai spicy salad and a Persimmon pudding to cool you down!

Spicy Thai salad is my contribution to "A.W.E.D.-Thailand" (vegetarian) event which is hosted by DK of "Culinary Bazaar". Thanks for hosting, dear Ms. DK! :))
As DK and I were talking about weight, gaining and losing and all that beautiful things (Mine mostly! :D) last week, I thought I will make a light and spicy dish rather than usual Thai curries specially for DK for her event and went on to search and research to come up with this salad. Then I find this event "Just for you" hosted by Alka of "Sindhi Rasoi" who asks us to cook for a friend, family members etc. So, this salad which I specially picked and made for DK fits perfectly to Alka's event as well! :)
LG of "cooking station" is hosting a "SWC-salads under 15mins" event too, just found out. Here it is for you too LG, enjoy!
Then came this wonderful "AFAM-Persimmon" event, originally conceived by Maheswari and Trupti of "recipecenterforall" is guest hosting this month with her choice of fruit. Persimmon Pudding goes to her.
Since this pudding is baked with fruit, low fat milk and excellent for kids as well as adults, I am sending this to "Cooking for kids-Milk, milk products" event which is started by Sharmi of "Neivedyam" blog and Preety of "Preety's Kitchen" is guest hosting this month.

Thanks for all of you for taking time to host and round up, enjoy the spicy Thai salad and cool it down with delicious and easy to make Persimmon Pudding!! :)

Hot and spicy salad from Thailand:
Well.. I don't know whether Thai people eat this salad in their land (like Taco Bell is authentic "Mexican food", "Curry" is Indian! :D) but in US restaurants, this spicy salad is quite popular as an appetizer. Yes, I have eaten it and loved it, that's where the inspiration comes from for me to recreate this salad.
There is a Thai Beef salad called "Yam Neua", similar to this dish except served topped with grilled Beef. I have adapted this vegetarian recipe with some additions of my own from the Naked chef "Jamie Oliver".

All I can say is, this salad is deliciously spicy and can make a great light lunch as well. Loaded with fresh vegetables, peanuts, Almonds, green chillies, crunchy noodles and topped with sesame seeds oil, ginger, garlic. lemon juice etc in the dressing, it makes a satisfying and low fat appetizer or lunch. Enjoy.



You need these:

Bunch of Romaine lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, fresh Tomato, Cucumber slices, baby red radishes, green, red and orange bell peppers slices, 1/4 minced Jalapeno, bean sprouts if you have it, snow peas, grated carrots, green onions, purple cabbage slices, red onion slices, toasted sesame seeds, toasted Almond slivers, toasted or salted peanuts, store bought crispy flour noodles (Asian "Sev"), fresh Cilantro, few Mint leaves or Thai Basil if you have it. Any fresh veggies you can get your hands will do.

On a salad plate or bowl, add lettuce first to create a bed, add all the other veggies mentioned above one by one and pile up. Sprinkle roasted nuts, crunchy noodles and herbs on top, garnish with green onion. Serve with hot and spicy dressing on the side and just before you serve or eat, sprinkle the dressing on top. Don't mix dressing before hand, fresh veggies and nuts get soggy and soft. Remember, dressing is spicy!

Thai style HOT dressing! Slurp!! :D

For Thai dressing, mix all these well in a bowl and let it rest for an hour or so in the fridge:
3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp canola oil, 1 tbsp sesame seed oil, 2 tsp Soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar or honey, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 garlic, grated, 1 tsp red chilli sauce (I added Sriracha hot sauce, and 1/2 tsp of peanut butter too!), few cilantro. Shake these well in a bottle, pour into a bowl and chill for few mins before serving. Stick a few lemon slices and cilantro to garnish. Adjust the salt, chilli etc to your taste. It should spicy, sweet and tangy, all in one. Sounds good, huh? Enjoy! :))

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Persimmon:
I am happy to give you this delicious and easy to bake recipe. I had neverbought Persimmon before since I didn't know how it tasted. Thanks to Trupti's AFAM, I went and bought 4 Japanese "Fuyus" Persimmon which look like ripe yellow Tomatoes. It smelled so delicious and tasted like Lychees. They say that other kind of Persimmon, which is heart shaped tangy "Hachiya" should be used to cook, and Fuyus should be eaten fresh. But I did use the Fuyus and trust me, they baked perfectly even with a thick sweet syrup under the pudding!! My son ate half of it alone with cream! :D
Hope you try and bake this yummy pudding. It's low in fat and not too sweet, great for kids and grown ups alike, almost a diet dessert if you skip the cream!!

Persimmon Pudding:
This recipe is adapted from "Allrecipes" websites but I did a change a lot, specially cut down the sugar etc. If you don't like the Egg, you can skip it. Pudding is scoopable, not like cake. So it's quite okay to skip the egg, egg makes it fluffy though. Baking time varies too acc. to your oven.

To bake Persimmon Pudding, you need these:
4 ripe Fuyu persimmons, peeled and roughly chopped or squeeze out into chunks,
1/3 cup white sugar, or more if you like it really sweet,
1 egg, beaten, (skip the egg if you like but pudding will be less fluffy)
1 cup all-purpose flour,
1/4 tsp baking soda,
1 tsp baking powder.

1/2 teaspoon ground sweet cinnamon,
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,
1/2 pinch salt,
3/4 cup 2% milk,
2 tbsp melted butter.

To bake Pudding:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly butter or spray a 9" round deep baking dish.

1. In a mixing bowl, mix persimmon pulp, baking soda, sugar and egg and beat until well mixed.
2. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla essence, salt, milk and melted butter to the bowl with fruit etc, mix well again.
3. Pour into baking pan and bake for 50-65 minutes or until needle inserted comes clean. Do not over bake,it's okay if it's little soft in the center, it will firm up as it cools.

(You don't have to do this step but do it if you can. After 20mins of baking, open the oven door and with a fork, stir the middle of the pudding few times and let it bake. It makes the pudding fluffier! Don't open the oven door again)

4. Pudding will rise in the oven and puff but will fall in after cooling, which is normal. Cool the pudding.
5. Serve with creamy whipped cream if you like.
You can use any ripe fruit with pulp in the same recipe instaed of Persimmons. Oven baking times may vary, use your judgment.

Have a great weekend, see you on Monday! :))

POTATO, APPLE, ARUGULA SOUP AND FRUIT CHAAT

Potato, Apple, Arugula soup is my contribution to Lisa from "Food and Spice" for her "No croutons required" event. For this month's theme, she asks us to cook a "vegetarian soup" which makes even carnivorous diners drool! Hope they all drool over this yummy soup!! Thanks for hosting Lisa!:))


About "Soup":
According to the dictionary, "Soup is a liquid food prepared from meat, fish, or vegetable stock combined with various other ingredients and often containing solid pieces."
The word soup originates from "Sop", a dish originally consisting of a soup or thick stew which was soaked up with pieces of bread.
One of the first soups made is dated back to about 6000 B.C. and was made of hippopotamus or the hearts of 5 sparrows!! Ahhhh!!!:D (Info from WIKI)

I found the recipe for this soup in a one pot dish cookbook. Combination of hearty chunks of Potato, sweet-tart Apple and spicy, peppery Arugula which is rich in Vitamin C and iron, with added beans, red peepers and light spices, it sounded great to me. So here it is, enjoy and absolutely no Croutons needed for this soup at all!:)

Potato, Apple and Arugula soup:



You need:

2 tbsp Butter,
2 large red waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed,
1/2 red Onion, chopped into big pieces,
2 Tart Apples, cut into chunks,
2 cups Arugula, chopped to half if they are large,keep them whole if they are young and tender.(You can use baby Spinach too to replace Arugula)
1 large bottled roasted red bell pepper,chopped,
1/2 cup canned Kidney Beans,
4 cups Vegetable Stock,
1 tsp Allspice powder,
salt and pepper and 2 tsp Lemon juice.

Any crusty bread you like to serve with soup. I had Pretzel bread roll.

To make the soup:
1. Heat the butter in a heavy bottomed deep pan. Add onion and potato cubes and saute for 5-7mins stirring constantly.
2. Add in Apples, red pepper, Kidney beans and stir. Pour in the veg stock, Allspice pd, salt and pepper to your taste.
3. Bring to boil, turn down the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15mins.
4. Add Arugula (or Spinach), lemon juice, simmer until potatoes are fork tender.
5. It's ready eat now but if you want the soup creamy, take out 1/4 of the soup and blend and pour back into the soup. I prefer chunky veggies in thin stock.
6. Garnish with Apple slices or few Arugula and serve it warm in bowls with crusty bread. This serves four people easily. Great comforting soup for cold Winter days!

One more look:


Enjoy!:)

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I made a popular Indian savory and sweet "Fruit Chaat" for Marta from "An Italian in the US" blog for her "Fresh Produce of the Month" event. She has chosen "Orange" this month. Thanks for Marta!:)



Fruit Chaat is a popular Indian savory "fruit salad" and with added tangy, spicy Chaat powder to chilled sweet assortment of fruits makes it a very refreshing, lip smacking dish to have in Summer or any day! It also makes a great side dish with Barbecued meat too!:)

Fruit Chaat:



You need these to make Fruit Chaat:
1/4 cup each of Mandarin Oranges or any kind of Oranges including blood oranges, Tangerines etc, sliced Bananas, ripe Mangoes cubed, Apples cubed, Melon cubes, Pineapple cubes, Pears, Grapes, 1 tsp Lemon juice.
Spices: 1-2 tsp Chaat powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp Sugar, 1/8 tsp pepper powder, 1 tsp finely minced fresh Mint leaves.


To make it:
1. Mix all the assorted fruits in a bowl with lemon juice, chill it in the fridge for an hour.
2. Add the spices, mix gently and chill again to serve on it's own or with BBQ meat.

Chaat Masala: Chaat masala powder packet is available in any Indian store. If you want to make it at home, here is how to make a simple Chaat pd, some have cloves etc but I like this. Amchoor is the main ingredient which is a tangy powder made by dry Mango slices.

2 tbsp Mango powder (Amchoor), 1 tsp Cumin seeds powder, 1/2 Ginger powder, pinch of salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/8 tsp each of red chilli pepper and black pepper. Mix all this and store in air tight container and use as much as you need to mix with fruits or to sprinkle on snacks.
Have a great week!:)

HERB SWIRL BREAD AND KODUBALES FOR THE ROAD!

Herb swirl bread is my "Show us your Flour" entry to Jai and Bee of "Jugalbandi" blog's "Click" event with the theme of "Flour" this February. My thanks all the judges and JaiBee!:)


Herb Swirl Bread:



Camera: Cannon PowerShot SD600 Digital ELPH

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Kodubale, a popular Karnataka snack, is my contribution to Easy Crafts from "Simple India Food" blog. Her new event "Travel Food Festival" is asks us to make something vegetarian to carry when you are traveling. Enjoy EC!:)



Kodu+Bale literally means "Bangles with Horns" in Kannada, which is referred to their bangle shape with two upturned ends which looks like a Bull's horn!!!
These Kodubales are made of flour and spices and rolled into rings and deer fried, a very popular snacks in Karnataka, India. They keep well in a airtight container for atleast 10 days ie if you can resist them that long!:D
You can bake that Swirl bread too to take it on the road, makes a great lunch as well! Enjoy both of them, why don't you? :)

Kodubale:

Kodubales are great to take to your friends for a party or a potluck as appetizers or take a bag of these when you travel or excellent snacks to munch on with a cup of hot coffee.There are many recipes to make these Kodubales. You can see the others here and here for Plain flour Kodubales. Hope you make them!:)

To make them, you need:

You can cut down the recipe to half if you just want to try a few first. Adjust the salt and chillies according to your taste and adjust the size of the circles to your liking.
2 cups Rice flour,
1 cup fine grained Semolina/Cream of Wheat/Rava,
1 cup Wheat flour/Atta,
3 tbsp smoking hot oil,
Salt.
Grind these to a slightly coarse paste or powder:
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut or dry coconut,
4 Red dry chillies,
1 tbsp Cumin seeds,
1 tbsp Sesame seeds.

To make them:
1. Grind the ingredients for paste or powder and set aside.
2. Mix all the flours, salt. Heat 3 tbsp oil until very hot and add to the flours.
3. Add in the ground paste and mix well with enough just until they look like thick dough. Do not add too much water. Knead well, cover and let it rest for 15mins.
4. Heat oil to 370F to deep fry. Take a small ball out of the dough, roll it with your palm on your kitchen counter top to a 1/2" thick rope.
5. Cut the rope into 6" long and join the ends, press to seal to make a circle. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover them with clean towel so they don't dry out.
6. Deep fry them until reddish and crunchy. Cool and store in a air tight jar.

Enjoy!:)

SOUTHERN HUSH PUPPIES & MY LAST MEME!

Mansi from "Fun and Food" blog has asked us to make some snacks, drinks for the all the games that are going on here these days. This event is called "Game Night Party" and I am bringing my favorite crunchy and delicious "Southern Hush Puppies". Thanks Mansi, enjoy!:)



About Hush Puppies:
These traditional southern Hush puppies, also called "corn dodgers", are made of mixing plain flour and corn meal with added spices with a hint of sweet and they do make the most delicious, crispy, handy snack for any game night. There are several stories about how these little snacks came to be called "Hush Puppies".
According to WIKI, here are some interesting stories;
1. The name “Hush puppies” is often attributed to hunters or fisherman who would quickly fry corn meal and feed it to their dogs to “hush the puppies” during cook outs or fish frys.
2. The other legend surrounding the Hush Puppy dates back to Civil War days. Southern soldiers would sit beside a campfire, preparing their meals. When Union soldiers came near, they would toss their barking dogs some of the fried cakes with the command "Hush, puppies".
3. During the time of the underground railroads, escaping slaves would feed these to the dogs tracking them while coaxing them with hopeful commands such as "hush, puppies"!

Southern Hush Puppies:

You need:
1 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup plain flour,
1 tbsp Soy Flour(my addition,not traditional. Optional)
2 tsp baking powder,
1/2 cup buttermilk,
1 tablespoon sugar,
1/8 tsp Baking soda,
1 egg, beaten (optional for vegetarians),
1/4 cup finely chopped onion,
1 tsp garlic pd,
1/2 tsp chilli flakes or chilli pd or minced Jalapeños,
2 tbsp hot oil and enough water and salt.

To make them:
1. Heat oil to 370F or on medium high heat. Meanwhile, add and mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Add all the liquid to the dry flour, mix first to see the consistency and then add enough water to make a thickish batter like we make for Indian Pakoda batter. Adjust the spices, let it rest for 15 mins. Do not make the batter thin, Hush puppies will become hard.
3. When oil is hot enough, with the help of a spoon, drop little balls of that thick batter in to the oil and fry both sides until they are golden. Drain on paper towel.
4. Stick a few attractive toothpicks in them and serve with Ketchup or spicy Mayonnaise.

Traditionally in the south, these are served with fried Cat fish.

Other snacks you could choose to make for game night:

Cheddar Cheese Spritz,
Chana dal Vadas,
Fenugreek leaves and cornmeal fritters
Spinach Pakodas.

Enjoy!:))

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Dhanggit from "Dhanggit's kitchen" and Uma tagged me for this "Five favorites" MeMe. Reading her MeMe makes mine very bland in fact but I will try it anyway!:)
This would be my last MeMe. I have revealed myself enough already with all those MeMes I have done so far.There is nothing else to tell, don't you think? :D
Thanks for the tag Dhanggit!:))

What were you cooking/baking 10 years ago?
10yrs ago, I had a 6yr old and a 2 yr old kids!! What else but I was baking cakes shaped like cars, trucks and butterflies, topped with colorful frosting and sprinkles!

What were you cooking/baking one year ago?
A year ago, I was experimenting with Creme Brulee after tasting it in the restaurants. Breaking the hard caramelized sugar crust and digging into the most luscious creamy custard inside made me want to try at home! It was a great success but so much heavy cream makes me hesitate to make it often but will try again and post it for you next time.It's a beautiful dessert!

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Chakli (Indian)
2. Kodubale (Karnataka)
3. Cheddar Cheese Spritz cookies
4. Spinach and Feta Spanakopita
5. Spinach Pakodas (Indian)

Five recipes you know by heart:
All of the above!!

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire:
Well...
1. A World tour and to taste every cuisine in the World!! Egypt, China, Russia etc. I would love that.
2. A HUGE kitchen with marble counter top, walk in pantry and all that!:)
3. Every modern kitchen gadgets I can get my hands on!!
4. I have more than 200 cookbooks in 2 1/2 bookshelves and spilling over! I do need a walk in library right next to the pantry!:D
5. I will never allow anybody else to cook in my kitchen, so I do need several appliance to make it easy for me!:D

Five foods you love to cook/bake:
1. Any traditional Indian dish which calls for elaborate preparation.
2. My grandmothers' dishes, makes me feel good and eel at home.
3. Baking bread. I love the smell of freshly baked bread.
4. Making Cardamom flavored Indian sweets, reminds me of India and the festivals.
5. Pizza! And the way it makes my kids eyes twinkle and make them smile from ear to ear!:D

Five foods you cannot/will not eat:
1. Octopus, fried or not.
2. Any whole Fish with head intact and eyes wide open staring at you.
3. Caviar.
4. Sushi.
5. Worms! Like those contestants who chew them on TV shows to win a million dollar! They can keep the million dollar, thank you very much!:D

Five favorite culinary toys:
1. My KitchenAid Mixer/blender (don't know what would I do without it!:D) and all my Calphalon Total pots and pans!:)
2. My flat surfaced electric cooking range, so easy to clean, looks great and so efficient too.
3. My bread box Machine, specially to make any kind of dough.
4. Ice cream machine, which makes the creamiest Ice Cream!
5. All those little kitchen gadgets like Ravioli maker, Gnocchi board, Wafle maker, Panini press, sandwich maker etc. Not essential to a kitchen but makes my cooking easier and fun too.

Five dishes on your "last meal" menu:
Oh, this is morbid!!:D
I want to live for now and not think about my "last meal"!!:D
Besides, who cares about last meal when you are about say "Sayonara" to the World!! I want to see my kids before I go! HeHe!

Five happy food memories:
1. Cappuccino in Venice, Italy! It gave me a stomach ache after the fact but was happy to be sipping that THERE!:D
2. First time I ate Creme Brulee and the sensation of crack and swoosh into that delicious custard!
3. Eating Bhelpuri from the street cart as a teenager in Belgaum, India with another teenage boy standing beside me munching on Pav Bhaji! Can you guess who? That would be me and Arvind, same guy I am married to for 21 yrs!!!:D
4. Looking at my kids happily gobbling up the food I make and say "thank you mommy"! What more happiness could a mother need?!:)
5. Lastly, one happy (and almost silly!) memory is associated with Switzerland for us, not necessarily connected to their traditional cuisine though. I am not saying they don't have great food, they do!
But let me tell ya, after eating all those almost unfamiliar food in small Swiss towns where they don't have fast food restaurants like UK or US, we drove to Zürich for sight seeing and we saw a McDonald there for the first time in a week!!! Oh boy!! We were soooo happy!!! We were literally hopping and skipping to that Mickey D's! Hahaha!!!

That's it for the MeMes!! Enjoy the rest of the week!:)

KHANDVI

Khandvi, a Gujarati dish is my contribution to Nupur from 'One Hot Stove" blog's "A to Z Indian Vegetables"'s event.This week's letter is "K", thanks Nupur,love the cute A to Z button!:)

This week's K dishes were easy.I could find so many dishes starts with K,it was hard to choose for a change!:)
I decided to make Tarla Dalal's Gujarati Khandvi. Now, I have eaten this dish many time in the restaurants but never made it at home.Even Tarla Dalal says it's a hard dish to make!
Well ...I dared to make it anyway and I didn't find it hard at all expect when spreading the batter,you should do it quickly before batter gets cold and lumpy.If you have somebody to help you,that would be great.I cook alone,so such luck for me.I had to discard the last two spoonfuls.The rest came well as you can see and tasted so good almost like spicy Pasta!!They make a wonderful snack.It's definitely worth the effort I say!:)


Khandvi:





You need:

3/4 cup Chickpea flour(besan), 3/4 cup Yogurt,1 tsp green chilli-ginger paste, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder , a pinch asafoetida (hing), salt to taste.
For the tempering:1 tsp mustard seed, 1 tsp sesame seeds(til), 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing), 3 to 4 curry leaves,2 dry red chillies. 2 tbsp oil.
For the garnish:2 tbsp grated coconuts, 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro and half a lemon.



How to make Khandvi:

Whisk the Yogurt with 1 cup water,the Chickpea flour, curds, green chilli ginger paste, turmeric powder,asafoetida and salt and make a smooth paste.Transfer into a non-stick pan and heat on a low flame, stirring constantly so that you don't get lumps.Keep stirring until the batter becomes thick.


Taste the batter to see if the gram flour is cooked. This will take about 7-10 minutes.Spread the mixture by spoonfuls, as thinly as possible on the reverse side of a baking sheet with a rubber spatula while the batter is still hot.Let it cool and roll up carefully like a swiss roll. Repeat with others.Cut 1" pieces of each roll to get bite sized khandvis.Place these on a serving dish.


To assemble the dish:
Prepare the tempering: Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and red chillies and stir for 30 seconds.Pour over the khandvis.
Serve ; garnished with the Cilantro and coconut.Squeeze some Lemon juice on top.Wasn't that easy? I think so,turned out great for a first try!

Enjoy a nutritious and very tasty snack!:)

CRISPY TORTILLA-POTATO SNACK

TS has launched a wonderful monthly blog event called "Little Chefs in the Kitchen"! We are supposed to cook something simple and kid friendly which involves kids to participate in cooking something they like.Thanks TS!:)



Well..this time my daughter Trisha would like to present a Chaat or snack which is very popular in India, called "Masala Puri".Trisha loves these kind of crispy and tangy quick dish to snack on when she comes back from school. Like me,she is a snack lover too!I keep all the ingredients ready so she can mix it up in the evening.Of course,this snack for older kids who loves spicy tangy snacks and can make it for themselves.

Trisha is hard worker,a great student, and an honest person.A teacher's pet,(hope she doesn't read this!;D) sometimes she skips lunch at school and utilizes that time to study in the library for a test.Unfortunately,she is not into cooking that much now,hopefully that will change! I am very proud to be her mom.


Tortilla-Potato snack,her portion:(Easy Alu Masala Puri)


Instead of frying flour crisp or Puris,I bake or saute some flour Tortilla rounds until crisp and make it the easy way without the fried Pooris and spicy Greenpeas gravy,unlike the authentic one which takes a little a time to prepare.Here is our quick Masala Puri.


Trisha mixing her snack as she likes it:





How To Make quick Masala Puri:



Take 1 or 2 Flour Tortillas,cut circles and fry,saute or bake until crisp.Cool and set aside.Boil 1 large Potato,peel,cube,place in a bowl.Boil 1 cup frozen Greenpeas until soft,drain,add to the Potato.Add salt,1 tsp Chaat masala,pepper and a little squeeze of lemon juice and mix well,set aside.



In a plate,place one 1 Tomato chopped,4 tbsp cilantro minced,4 tbsp minced red onion,1 cup Sev, a fried Indian snack made of Chickpea flour,1/4 cup beaten Yogurt to sprinkle on top.
You also need sweet chutney,hot green chutney,or any sauce you like.I used store bought Delhi Chaat,Green hot sauce and Tangy PaniPuri chutney.



To make Masala Puri,place few crushed or whole Tortilla rounds on a plate,add 3-4 tbsp Potato mix on top,sprinkle enough onion,Tomato,cilantro,some more Chaat masala,Yogurt,Sev or flour snacks and sprinkle some of all 3 sauces over the top and enjoy the sweet,spicy,tangy and crunchy Masala Puri.




Masala Puri,my piled up portion.Oh yeah, that is my lunch!;D




For people who don't have the ready made sauces,here is how to make them at home:
Green Chutney:Blend few Green chillies,cilantro,lemon juice,salt,mint leaves(Optional),Garlic to a smooth paste.
Sweet and Tangy Chutney:Grind few dates or raisins,sugar,Tamarind Juice,salt,chilli pd,garlic pd,onion pd to a smooth paste.
Chaat Masala: Mix Mango powder(Amchur),Ginger pd,cumin seeds pd,small amount of coriander seeds pd,salt,pepper pd(optional).

Enjoy!:)

FENUGREEK LEAVES FRITTERS

Fenugreek leaves fritters/Methi Vadas for "F", is my contribution to Nupur's "A to Z of Indian Vegetables" weekly event. This week's letter is "F". Thanks for hosting Nupur!:)

Fenugreek Leaves:




More info about these Fenugreek leaves are here at WIKI.
This beautiful is picture from "foodsubs", which has great info about this herb, thank you foodsubs!:)








Unlike last week for "E",I got very creative this time for "F" and here they are, my Fenugreek leaves fritters or Methi Vadas as we call them in India!
What's so special about this dish?! Corn meal of course, which is not a usual addition in Vadas and makes these fritters very crispy and keeps them crisp for a quite sometime after frying!! Can you guess what is the other Southern US (without the Methi leaves of course) name for these fritters?!:))

Fenugreek Leaves fritters/Methi Vadas:


You Need:


1 cup Yellow Cornmeal,1/2 cup Plain flour,1 tbsp Cornstarch,1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup frozen Fenugreek leaves(Methi),1/2 tsp sugar(yes,sugar!),salt,few green chillies chopped,1 medium Onion minced,1 tsp grated ginger, 1/4 tsp baking soda,3 tbsp hot oil,and some Cilantro(optional)






How To:



Mix all the above dry ingredients and add hot oil and mix.Add enough hot water to make a thickish dough and keep it aside for 10 mins.It must not be thin which makes it soggy and too soft to make shapes and fry.






Heat enough oil to deep fry around 370F, and take 1-2 tbsp of dough and drop it carefully into the oil.Fry rolling them on all sides to a golden color and drain on paper towel.Make sure oil is at the right temp. Too hot,Vadas burn on the outside and still raw inside.If oil is not hot enough, Vadas sucks too much oil and becomes very soggy.






Serve these delicious tasting and very crispy Methi fritters with any sweet and tangy sauce you have like Delhi Chaat sauce or just as they are with coffee or Tea or with Kadhi and rice as a sidedish as well.





Enjoy the Indian style Hush Puppies!!! ;D