Aloo curry

This aloo curry is perfect for pooris or chappatis..I know especially for pooris..But since I made this on a weeknight..no time for that..I mostly make pooris for breakfast or dinner only on weekends..Anyway here's how I made my Aloo..

Ingredients:
Potato, boiled - 3 Idaho
Onions - 2 medium
Green peas - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 3 big
Ginger, grated - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 5 nos
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Besan/Gram flour - 2 Tbsp (optional)
Corn flour - 1 Tbsp (optional)

Method:

1. Heat about 2 Tbsps of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and once it pops, add jeera, curry leaves, urad dal, channa dal and green chilles.
2. Cut onions lengthwise and add it to the pan and saute until the onions are translucent. Add ginger, salt and turmeric powder and sauté for a few more minutes until the ginger doesn't smell raw.
3. Cut the boiled potato into small pieces or just crush it with you hand and add it to the pan. Add the green peas and let it all cook for 5-10 minutes until it all comes together. 
4. If you want more gravy, mix the besan and corn flour with 3/4 cup of water and add it to the gravy and cook for a few more minutes until the gravy thickens. 

In order to boil the potatoes, I just pop it in the microwave in a microwaveable bowl with a cup of water for about 10-15 minutes until cooked. I have not used besan in this curry since it's been a while I made this curry without besan, I wanted to leave it out for a change. But try it both ways and it will taste very different..almost like 2 different curries. 

2 Minute Chocolate Cake

Craving for a chocolate cake out of the blue? anybody?? This recipe will answer all your prayers for an instant chocolate cake that you can make in less than 2 minutes conveniently in your microwave..

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 Tbsp

Brown sugar - 1Tbsp

Sugar - 2 Tbsp

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Vannila Essence - 1/4 tsp

Egg whites - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 1 pinch

Milk - 2Tbsp

Veg Oil - 1 Tbsp

Cocoa powder - 1 Tbsp

Instant coffee - 1/4 tsp

Chocolate chips - 10 nos (optional)

Method:

1. Take a Microwavable bowl or a coffee mug, Mix all the ingredients above except chocolate chips. 
2. Microwave it in 50% power for 1 minute. 
3. If you are adding chocolate chips, mix them with a pinch of flour to coat them so they don't sink to the bottom and add it to the bowl.
4. Now, microwave again for about 30 seconds until it's cooked through. If not done, cook it for 20 more seconds or so..Your delicious chocolate cake is ready!!

If you are a person who takes 2 spoons of sugar for your coffee, like me :) you may add 1/2 Tbsp extra sugar or a splenda pkt to make it much sweeter..You can decorate it with whipped cream or chocolate icing..I couldn't resist the temptation to eat it right away..So no patience for decor :)

Do let me know how this turns out!!

Asparagus Pasta

Asparagus is a healthy vegetable that I am slowly trying to incorporate into my cooking these days. I've always loved it as an accompaniment with fish or chicken at restaurants and always look for ways to include veggies in my daughter's pasta..even though she filters them out most of the times :)

Ingredients:

Penne Pasta - 8oz

Asparagus - 10 nos

Red Onions/shallots, diced - 1/2 medium

Garlic, finely chopped - 5 cloves

Broccoli, frozen - 1/2 cup

Green Peas, frozen - 1/2 cup

Cherry tomatoes - 1/2 cup

Chicken/Vegetable broth - 3/4 cup

Parmesan, shredded - 1/4 cup

Mozzarella, shredded - 1/4 cup

Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp

Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Crushed red pepper - 1 tsp

Olive Oil - 2 Tbsp

Method:

1. Cook pasta in enough boiling water for about 8-10 minutes until it's cooked al dente.
2. Cut asparagus into 1 1/2 inch pieces. tomatoes in half, and broccoli into florets if you are using an entire bunch.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan and add onions and garlic and sauté until the onions turn pink. 
4. Add asparagus, broccoli, salt and pepper and saute until they are cooked through.
5. Add the peas, tomatoes, chicken broth, lemon juice. Add the drained pasta.
6. Mix in the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and crushed pepper and adjust salt to taste and cook for a few minutes until the cheeses melt and forms a guey sauce.

Cooking pasta al dente (means "to the bite") will help the pasta absorb all the sauces and the flavor better while cooking in it for a few minutes. I did not have cherry tomatoes so I used 1 roma tomato instead. If you dont have the specific cheeses try with ones you have..If you want the pasta to have more sauce, you can add a little bit of milk or cream. Also, I roasted the leftover asparagus in the same pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper for a nice side vegetable :)

Fish Puttu

"Sora puttu" is a very famous dish in tamiladu and its made with shark fish. Shark is not commonly found here everywhere. But you can get it in korean supermarkets if you want to. Traditionally the fish is steam cooked and shredded. This recipe instead uses salmon as it's very commonly found. And I think it's the perfect replacement fish for this dish. I made this once with salmon and was so satisfied that I never tried to find other alternatives.

Ingredients:
Salmon - 2 lb.
Onions - 2 medium
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 5 nos
Green chillies - 2 large
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the fish and pan roast the fish with 1 Tbsp of olive oil for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove fish from pan and keep aside to cool. 
2. In the same pan, heat another Tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves, red chillies and onions and sauté until the onions are well browned. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt.
3. Meanwhile shred the roasted fish and add it to the saute pan and keep frying until the everything is well roasted. 

Breakfast Poha

I learnt this dish from my Gujarati roommate who would make this as a weekend breakfast. This is a yummy light and yet very flavorful dish. 

Ingredients:
Poha - 1 cup soaked and drained in water
Onions - 1 large
Groundnuts - handful
Curry Leaves - 5 nos
Red chillies - 3
Ginger, grated - 1/2 Tbsp
Potato, peeled and cut - 1 large
Salt, to taste
Method:

1. Boil potato and cut into pieces.
2. Dry roast groundnuts in a pan and keep aside.
3. Rinse poha in water and drain immediately and keep aside for a few minutes. Do not let it soak in water, it will become soggy.
4. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chilles and onions and sauté unit the onions are translucent.
5. Add ginger, groundnuts, turmeric powder,salt, potatoes and sauté until the potatoes turn slightly golden.
6. Finally add the poha, cilantro and sauté for 5-10 minutes until the poha is well coated and cooked through.

I let the poha stand in the water for a few more minutes than I should have. Thanks to my daughter :) It needs to be soft yet crunchy and whole.

Traditional Sambar

This is a traditional sambar recipe from my mom's kitchen. In our house growing up, our everyday meal included rice, a gravy like sambar, rasam..etc and a side vegetable, egg or meat. So sambar was one of the most common gravies made..and was everyone's favorite :)

Ingredients:
Dal - 2 cups
Water - 5 cups
Onions, diced - 1 large
Tomato, diced - 1 large
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 Tbsp
MTR sambar powder - 1Tbsp (optional)
Cilantro, chopped - handful
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
For Tadka:
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5-6 nos

Method: 

1. In a pressure cooker, add dal, onions, tomato, asafoetida, water and all the powders, salt and cook for 3 whistles and switch off.
2. Meanwhile in a small pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves.
3. Remove the lid from the cooker and heat in medium flame and adjust salt and sambar powder according to taste and bring to boil. Add the tadka, cilantro and remove from flame. 

Homemade Sambar powder is nothing but a combination of coriander seeds and chilly powder. But if you don't have that you can just add readymade sambar powder. This recipe is for plain sambar. You can add any kind of vegetable to it and it will add more flavor and taste to it..The most common veggie suggestions are brinjal/eggpant, radish, capsicum, carrot..

Aloo Fry

In south India, this aloo curry is probably a very standard side dish in most of the houses and it goes great with dal, sambhar, rasam with rice or even chappatis. It doesn't need a lot of ingredients and when made, this can stay in the refrigerator for a long time.

Ingredients:

Potatoes, cut small - 4 large

Onions, diced - 2 large

Tomatoes, diced - 2 large

Chilly powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Method: 

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the onions and sauté until slightly dark brown. Add the tomatoes keep frying until the tomatoes and soft and mushy and the curry becomes more like a thick paste like consistency.
2. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder, salt and potatoes and keep frying in low flame for about 20-30 minutes until the curry browns up and oil separates.

Frying for a long time in low-medium flame is the key to this curry. It might not look very good initially but just leave it for the time and it will roast and come together very nicely just like in the picture :) And you might have to add oil a little generously as well! I know..but some dishes need more TLC..