Leafy Paratha roti/oil roti and Kanji with Cherupayar!

Leafy Paratha roti/Oil roti is my contribution to "Tried and Tasted", a new event which is launched by Zlamushka from "Zlamushka's spicy kitchen" blog. This month we are scouting Cynthia of Tastes Like Home blog looking for her recipes. Thanks for hosting Z, it was fun cooking these rotis from her blog. Thanks to you too Cynthia, great recipe! :)


Tried and Tasted is an event which is just launched by Zlamushka. It's similar to our own Coffee's "Monthly Blog Patrolling", except Z chooses a blog each month for us to scout and cook dishes from. I chose Caribbean style Leafy Paratha roti from beautiful and multi-talented Cynthia, who is also a journalist and writes articles related to food and others as well. Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe Cynthia, we enjoyed it with spicy dry peas masala!:)
Please check out her colorful and always very informative blog about Caribbean traditions and food along with the recipe for leafy paratha roti as well, by clicking on the link below.
I always wanted to try Paratha roti or "Buss up shut" (Busted up shirt, by the way these rotis look after cooking!), so this event was a great opportunity for me to try these. Similar Malaysian Roti Canai I made before is here and Kari Ayam, a chicken curry which goes well with these rotis is here.

Leafy Paratha rotis, from Cynthia's blog:


Another look:

Enjoy!:)

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I have chosen Kanji with Cherupayar from shn of "Mishmash" blog, as my entries to Raaga of "The Singing Chef", who is hosting MBP this month. This event is the brain child of Coffee of "The Spice Cafe" blog. Raaga's "Monthly blog patrolling" include a theme of "Salads and Soups" this month. Thanks for hosting Raaga and my thanks to you shn for these yummy treats! :)

I patrolled shn's blog for a unique but very traditional Kerala combo of soup and salad/stir-fry from Kerala of Kanji and Cherupayar for my entires and thoroughly enjoyed eating them both for lunch. That was one comforting food!
Can these be called soup and salad? Absolutely!! Sambhar is Lentil soup for non-Indians, Risotto is another dish comparable to this rice gruel, with no veggies added and lot thinner of course but topped with spicy Moong, Rasam has the similar texture and concept of a French onion soup, aren't they? Salad can be made with Lentils as well like here!

Kanji with Cherupayar Mezhukkupuratti(Rice soup with seasoned Moong salad):

Kanji is nothing but a delicious soup, made with Rose matta or any rice of your choice, cooked in lots of water (or stock, skip the salt if you use stock) salt until it looks like a thin gruel like soup. Cherupayar is a spicy, (seasoned with onion, chillies etc) soft cooked and drained Moong (Green gram) stir fry which is my absolute favorite to have on the side with plain yogurt and rice or any yogurt Kadhi style gravies. Here is my red chori stir-fry, another variations of beans to use in the same salad.
Although Kanji or Ganji as we call it in Kannada is routinely eaten in some parts of South Canara region of Karnataka, I had never tasted the Kanji before at all, so it was my first try! I loved the simplicity and the taste, great with spicy pickle. I added a pinch of cumin pd and crushed peppercorns to rice which made it tastier and always optional. If you want to make it for lunch, you could add some chicken and veggies to rice but traditional Kanji is always eaten plain.
Please click on the link above to check out the original recipes, read the tradition of kanji in Kerala and other very entertaining, fascinating and colorful with photos of Kerala posts about her formative years spent there in her blog, which I always enjoy reading. Thanks again for everything shn, hugs to you!:)

A closer shot! :)


Cherupayar Mezhukkupuratti or seasoned green Moong salad:

Another dish I tried and loved from shn's blog is "Potato stew or Kerala Eshtu", will link at FH later with a photo.See you all later! :)

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!:)

MINTY MASOOR DAL

Mint and Chives flavored Masoor dal with Turnips is my contribution to "Green Blog Project Spring 2007" which is hosted by Mandira of 'Ahaar' blog this Spring.Thanks for hosting Mandira!:)


Some facts about Mint:
Peppermint and spearmint came to the New World with the colonists, who also used them medicinally. They drank mint tea for headaches, heartburn, indigestion, gas, and to help them sleep.They also drank mint tea for pure pleasure, especially since it wasn't taxed.More about Mint here.

About Chives:
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum), a member of the onion family and native to Asia and Europe, have been around over 5,000 years. Yet, they were not actively cultivated until the Middle Ages. The botanical name is derived from the Greek meaning reed-like leek. The English name chive comes from the Latin cepa, meaning onion.More about Chives are here.


My little Mint and Chives Winter/Spring garden! :)


This event is all about growing what you can by April 10th and cooking with it. Sounds like fun,doesn't it? But we had such a cold winter this year,I can hardly grow anything but Mint and Chives in my little pot outdoors and it grew luxuriously with no maintenance at all! I tried growing some Radish but couldn't get them before the deadline.Anyway,I am happy with what I got and made some Mint and Chives dal instead!I love the flavor of mint and Chives in the dal,of course in moderation since Mint does overwhelm the dish if used in excess.(Masoor dal is Red lentils by the way for non-Indians.)


Garden fresh Mint and Chives ready to go in the Masoor dal:





Minty Masoor dal with Chives and Turnips:





How to make the dal:
1. Cook 1/2 cup Masoor dal,2-3 Turnips peeled and chopped,1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp oil with enough water in the pressure cooker or Microwave until soft.
2. Heat 2 tsp butter or oil, add 1/2" Cinnamon(Dalchini),2 cloves, 1 red dry chilli,1 tsp Cumin seeds,1 crushed whole cardamom, 2 tbsp Peanuts and 1 small onion minced,1 garlic minced,fry until reddish.
3. Add in cooked dal,salt,1 tbsp Coriander powder,1 tsp cumin powder,1 tsp Chill pd,1/2 Tomato sauce or 2 chopped Tomatoes,1/2 tsp Garam masala, 1/2" grated ginger,2 tbsp each tender mint leaves snipped from the top and Chives chopped finely,small piece of Jaggery or a tsp of sugar and heat through.
4. Do not boil too much.Garnish with some more Mint and Chives.You can remove the whole spices now so you don't bite in to them later.
5. Serve with plain white rice and wafers on the side.


That's it! A beautiful pot of Minty Masoor dal is ready!





Enjoy!:))

FRENCH ONION SOUP

French Onion Soup is my contribution to Kalyn's "Weekend Herb Blogging" I am cooking with Scallions or Spring/Green Onions this week.This week's host is Ulrike at 'Küchenlatein' Thank you for hosting Ulrike!:)





Spring/Green Onions or Scallions:


Scallions are also sometimes known as green onions in the United States.They tend to be milder tasting than other onions and are typically used raw in salads in western cookery. Diced scallions are often used in soup, noodle, seafood, and sauce in eastern dishes.(WIKI)More info here.


French Onion Soup with Scallions: Serves 4(1 cup)servings


Here is how I make an easy French Onion Soup.You can use Gruyere or any cheese on the French bread.Toast it just until you get a little color on top and place on the soup.If you like thicker soup,add 2tsp plain flour on the onion rings and saute before adding the stock.You can add some wine too in addition to the stock.

You Need:
1 tbsp butter,1 Bay leaf,2 medium onions cut into rings,1/2 cup Spring Onions chopped,2 Garlic minced,4 cups low-sodium Beef stock (or chicken stock or veg stock or water),1 tsp dry Thyme or 1 tbsp fresh Thyme,salt and pepper.4 thick slices French Bread,8 tbsp cheese of your liking,2 tbsp Parmesan,fresh Thyme and some Spring Onion for garnish.

How To:



Melt butter,add Bay leaf,onion rings and saute until they get reddish on the edges.Put in chopped Spring Onion and minced Garlic,stir for 2 mins.Pour in stock of your choice(Beef stock is used for this soup usually),salt(stock already has salt,go easy!),pepper and boil for 10 mins.Discard the Bay leaf.




Meanwhile,preheat broiler.Sprinkle 2 tbsp Cheese on 4 thick sliced French bread,1 tbsp Parmesan cheese on each and broil just until they get little color,take them out and cool on the cooling rack.Sprinkle some Spring Onion on top.

To Serve:
Serve the hot soup in a bowl,float one slice of French bread on top and serve immediately.




That's about it. Have a great meal!:))

SIXTEEN BEAN SOUP!

I am sending this dish as my second entry to Coffee's MBP(Jan)2007 event! It's all about choosing and cooking dishes from fellow bloggers.This month's theme is "around the World!"

Linda of "outofthegarden" blog has posted this wonderful wholesome "Sixteen Bean Soup" a while ago.I have made the same with some additional ingredients. Thank you Linda!:)


So, here it is that delicious "Sixteen Bean Soup":





To make this soup you need:




What else but a pack of sixteen beans,(1 lb bag came with Ham flavored pd!)
2 cups of Chicken stock,
1 small minced onion,
1 tsp Garlic powder or 2 garlic,
1 tsp dry Italian herbs,
salt and Pepper.
1 tsp Heavy Cream to top each cup of soup.

How to make it:
1. Soak the beans over night,wash and drain the water.
2. Add enough water again to cover the beans and cook until soft.I cooked in pressure cooker to speed up the process but you must cook it on low for about 10mins,so they don't get mushy.Beans must be soft but till whole.
3. When done,open the cooker and add about 2-3 cups of Chicken stock to thin it.
4. Add all the above other ingredients except cream and simmer.
5. Your delicious and nutritiou soup is ready to serve garnished with a tsp of cream on top and a slice of crusty bread.

Note: For veg version,add veg stock or more water to thin after cooking.Click on above for Linda's original recipe.

ENJOY!!:))