Recipe for Tofu in Peanut Butter Sauce

This is probably the easiest dish I have tried out in the recent past. It requires no grinding, no chopping (unless you count cubing tofus as 'chopping'), no frying, its ultra super simple and you end up with a creamy side dish for your roti or rice in no time.

I made this for dinner a couple of weeks back, which explains the extra 'warm' pictures under artificial lighting. I wasn't sure if TH would like it since he doesn't like peanut sauces and gravies like they use in gado-gado much (but loves peanut butter, yeah, men are weird no?).

He ended up saying "this is not bad at all" so I guess if you like peanuts then this one will be a winner for you too.

Tofu in Peanut Butter Sauce

Nags' Original Recipe

Serves: 2

What I Used:

1 block firm or silken tofu - cubed

3 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

Salt and pepper

Water

Fresh parsley/coriander/spring onions

How I Made It:

1. Make a loose paste with the peanut butter, soya sauce, vinegar, sugar, and some water.

2. In a pan, heat the oil and add the cubed tofu. Fry lightly (if using firm tofu, otherwise go on to the next step).

3. Add the minced ginger and garlic and fry until the flavour comes out and the kitchen smells really good.

4. Add the peanut butter sauce and mix well, coating the tofu pieces completely. Add about 1 cup water and cook covered for 5 mins on very low fire.

5. The dish will keep getting dry because of the peanut butter so keep adding required water to keep it saucy.

6. After 5 minutes, make sure consistency is right for you by adding enough water and bring to boil. Remove from fire, add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro/parsley or spring onions. Be careful when you add salt since the peanut butter will already have some.

I served this with some simple vegetable rice. I am sure it will go great with roti too.

Variations:

Try replacing tofu with paneer or soya chunks/meal maker. Anything that soaks up the flavours should be a good addition. I am even thinking cubed potatoes. Hmmm.. :)

I am sending this to Culinarty's Original Recipes Event.

Easy Apple Crumble with Vanilla Custard Sauce- Step by Step Recipe

Before I even start talking about this deliciously simple recipe, I want to apologize for not sharing this earlier. The first time I made this was when I was about 16 or 17. My athamma got me this book from Salem since I was quite crazy about baking and Mallika Badrinath was quite the rage back then.

Actually, I lie. This is not the same book. I got this from Chennai this April when we were there because I lose the original one athamma gave me. And with it went the recipe of this super-crazy-easy Apple Crumble Recipe! I had been searching for the book online ever since and finally found it on a road-side second hand book stall in Pondi Bazaar. Such is life :)

An 'after' picture just to keep us going till we make the real thing

What makes this recipe extra yummy is the combination of the apple crumble with the vanilla custard sauce. The ingredients are easy-to-get in India and this is a great beginner baking recipe. Make it and impress guests ;)

Anyway, onto the recipe now.

Let's get started with apples. Good round red apples. Actually, any variety will work. Just go with red apples, ok? So about 500gm of that, or lets say 2-3 medium-sized apples.

Peel them. Or if you hate peeling apples as much as I do, make your husband peel them and pretend you are busy with taking pictures or dusting the furniture or something.

Once peeled, chop them up into small chunks. Its okay if they are going brown. To prevent this to some extend, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on the pieces and mix well.

Add 2 tbsp sugar to the apples and cook on a low fire until soft and mushy. If you feel they are beginning to burn at the bottom, sprinkle some water but don't add more than that. This should take anywhere between 10-12 mins. Throw in a cinnamom piece if you like the flavour.

They will slightly reduce in volume and give out water. Keep aside to cool and resist temptation to snack on them.

Meanwhile, measure out one cup whole wheat flour / atta. Add a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of sugar to this and mix well.

Chop up 100gm of salted butter that's almost at room temperature. The Amul salted butter that you get in India is a 100gm packet and works perfect for this. Remember to reserve a teeny bit to grease your pie dish!

Mix the butter and flour mixture gently with your fingers untill well combined. Don't knead. Remember this is an easy recipe.

The resulting mixture will look like bread crumbs. In the above picture, there is slightly extra butter because I had a 108gm chunk and I added it all in. When you use just 100gm it will be drier and more crumb-like.

Smear some butter all over your pie dish next. For those of you who sighed and thought "but I don't have a piedish!!", fret not.

You can use a small cake tray of any shape. In fact, I used an old aluminium ice tray (that had removable plastic grids where you pour the water for ice) when I was in India. So pretty much anything works! I got this pie dish on sale so I am going all fancy this time ;)

Lay out the cooled, cooked apples evenly on the greased pie dish.

Next, add the butter-atta mixture and spread evenly. Gently press down to make it as even as possible.

Sprinkle some sugar on top. I use brown sugar these days but go ahead and use your white sugar. There is no reason for this. Its just a nice thing to do. Sugar should be added to everything possible, in fact.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 mins until the top turn golden brown. Do you see that crust? Now can you imagine what this dish can do your life? Its going to smell divine, to boot!

You can slice them up once they are cool and warm them slightly in the microwave before serving.

While the apple crumble is baking, you need to cook up the vanilla custard sauce. The combination will make you a slave for it and make you crave it every other day, so consider yourselves warned.

Here are the recipes, all in one place.

Apple Crumble Recipe

Source: Mallika Badrinath's 100 Excellent Puddings

Serves: 4 generous portions

What I Used:

Apples - 500gm (about 2-3 medium-sized apples)

Wheat flour / atta - 1 cup

Salted butter - 100gm + a bit for greasing

Sugar - 2tbsp + 2 tbsp

Salt - a pinch

Lemon juice - a few drops (optional)

Cinnamom stick - 1 (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Wash peel and chop the apples. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent browning. Mix in 2tbsp sugar and cook on a low fire until soft and mushy. Set aside to cool.

2. Mix salt and 2tbsp sugar with the flour. Lightly mix in the butter without kneading until you get a mixture that resembles bread crumbs.

3. Grease a pie dish/cake tray with butter. Lay the cooked apples evenly. Add the flour mixture evenly on top and press down gently. Sprinkle sugar on top.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 25-30 mins.

Serve warm with chilled vanilla custard sauce (recipes below).

There are two options for the sauce. An eggless version and a slightly easier version with egg. I make the one with the egg but you pick depending on whether you cook with eggs or not.

It looks innocent but don't get deceived! Its sinfully tasty!

Vanilla Custard Sauce (with egg)

Beat with a fork, 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon cornflour and add 2 tablespoon sugar with that. Add one cup warm milk and beat well again. Cook on a low fire stirring constantly until pouring custard consistency. Add 1/2 tsp vanila essence, cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (eggless)

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

I don't bother with triangular shaped pieces. Just pile them on, top up with the sauce and dig in!

This goes to Madhuram's Whole Grain (Eggless) Baking Event: Whole Wheat.

Sri Lankan Palak Dal Recipe

Ever since Siri hosted AWED Sri Lanka Recipes event, I got hooked to the cuisine. I had borrowed a book and this is the third recipe I tried from it. A simple palak dal recipe (lentils and spinach) but enhanced in true Sri Lankan way not to mention the addition of the ever-present coconut milk.

Fresh Green Spinach

The book I had only mentioned dal and I wasn't sure which dal they were referring to. So I used toor dal. You could also try this with moong dal and get a totally different flavour. Yummy either ways, I am sure.

Soaked Toor Dal

Sri Lankan Palak Dal /Lentils with Spinach
Preparation time: 40 mins
Serves: 2 to 4

What I Used:

1.5 cups toor dal
A big bunch of spinach, chopped (about 4 cups loosely packed)
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 small tomato, chopped fine
2 dried red chillies
2 garlic pods, crushed
A 1" piece of cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
1.5 cups light coconut milk
Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few pieces of rampe/pandan leaves or curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. The first step is to cook the lentils. Usually I use pressure cooker but for this recipe, its important not to cook them mushy. So, add about 4 cups water to the 1.5 cups toor dal and soak for an hour. Then, keep on a medium fire to cook for about 20-25 mins. The lentils should be cooked yet stay as individual pods.

2. Heat oil and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds start popping, add the cinnamon, chillies, garlic, jeera and onions. Fry until onions turn transparent.

3. Then add the tomatoes and mix well for another minute. Add the chopped spinach now and lower fire. Let it wilt and reduce in size. Keep stirring till the it mixes well with the rest of the added ingredients.

4. Now add the cooked lentils and combine gently. Bring to boil. Reduce fire and add the coconut milk and salt. You can add some chilli powder if you'd like more heat. Simmer for 5 mins and remove from fire.

Serve hot with steamed white rice or roti.

This is my entry to MLLA-13 conceived by Susan of the "Well-Seasoned Cook" and currently being hosted by Sunshinemom of "Tongue Ticklers".

Quick Potato Patties / Aloo Tikki Recipe

Since I posted my entry for Click - Stacks, a bunch of you asked for the recipe which I wanted to post immediately but kinda couldn't :D

Anyway, like I had mentioned, naps make me hungry. The reason why I don't like napping in the afternoon is precisely that. And the fact that I take much longer to sleep off in the night and wake up cranky the next day morning. So not worth it.

Anyway, on this particular Saturday, the heat was unbearable and TH and I had exhausted the movie CDs we borrowed. With no inclination to go out whatsoever, we decided to nap, something we hardly ever do. I woke up 2 hours later feeling oh-my-god-I-am-hungry and of course, there were no snacks at home that I could immediately bite into.
Without thinking much, I grabbed 2 potatoes, grated them, threw in some this and that which I hoped would balance the taste and shallow fried into patties. The measurements are all eyeballed so adjust and add according to your taste.

They were good. Sinfully good.

Quick Potato Patties / Aloo Tikkis
Preparation time: 15 mins Makes: 8 - 10 patties

What I Used:

2 medium potatoes, grated
A bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp jeera / jeerakam
2 green chillies, chopped
1 generous pinch asafoetida / hing / perungayam
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 to 2 tbsp besan / bengal gram powder / kadala mavu
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

Grate the potatoes and add the other ingredients in. Mix welll. Make into flat patty shapes on palm of hand and shallow fry in a wide pan until golden brown on both sides.

Serve hot with ketchup. Tastes best when really hungry!

Variations

- If you have more time in hand, then add chopped onions and some minced ginger. I haven't tried that but something tells me that would taste even better.

- If you try this recipe with any differences or variations, please do come back and leave your version in the comment section. Would appreciate that.


Note:- I am working on the roundup for Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice. Please bear with me while I sort through some 100+ ravishing entries over the next week or so :)

Beetroot Pachadi Recipe

I made this pachadi the weekend after SJ posted hers here. The reason it took so long to see the light of day is because mine turned out a bit too watery. I used home-made plain yogurt that had turned slightly sour, which is good, but it was also a bit watery and not thick like store-bought one.

Bottom line is, it tasted good but didn't look very glam. And these days I am obsessed with making food look good. Please ignore the pictures on this one and try out the easy pachadi recipe when you have some beetroots lying around :)

Beetroot Pachadi Recipe
Serves: 2
Source: Masala Vade

What I Used:

1 cup grated beetroot
2-3 green chillies
1/3 cup coconut
1.5 tsp mustard seeds
1.5 cups curds or plain yogurt
Salt to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - a pinch
Curry leaves - a few

How I Made It:

1. Cook the grated beetroot with some water till soft.

2. Grind the coconut with the green chillies and mustard seeds into a smooth paste using 1/4 cup curds.

3. Add the above paste to the cooked and cooled beetroots. Add the rest of the curds and salt.

4. Heat oil for tempering in a pan and add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping, add it to the pachadi. Mix well.

Yellow Moong Dal Tadka / Cherupayar Parippu Curry

Plain yellow dal or dal tadka is the most requested recipes in here. I had posted the basic dal recipe with toor dal a while back. I also make this with yellow moong dal (splite green beans) when I run out of toor dal and it gives a very different tasting basic dal for your rice.

In Kerala, or atleast the parts that I am from, moong dal is usually preferred over toor dal. We make a curry with moong dal, any squash or cucumber we can get our hands on and also add coconut (but of course!). Oh wait, I actually have a recipe in here somewhere. Oh yes, here it is. Cherupayar Vellarikka Curry - yellow moong dal cooked with cucumber.

This goes to the 12th helping of the Legume Love Affair event started by Susan and hosted this month at Annarasa.

Yellow Moong Dal Tadka / Cherupayar Parippu Curry

Serves: 4

What I Used:

Yellow moong dal / split green bean / cherupayar - 1 cup

Green chillies - 2, split

Tomato - 1, chopped (optional)

Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

Salt - to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Jeera / jeerakam - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1/2 tsp, grated

Red chillies - 2, torn into halves

Curry leaves - a few

Hing / asafoetida / kaayam - a pinch (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Cook the dal in 4 cups water until soft or pressure cook for 3 whistles with turmeric, green chillies and tomato (if using). Let it cool.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds start popping and the red chillies start to change colour, add the cooked dal to this and mix well. Add salt.

Pudina Pulao / Mint Rice Recipe

A bunch of you have been complaining about the rice recipes I have been posting over the last couple of weeks saying if I post all the rice recipes, then what do you all send me for The Monthly Mingle :D Its a good point, but don't hesitate to send me the same dish. I am sure that the same dish can me made a zillion different ways and it will be interesting to see that too.


Anyway, I made this mint rice about a month back because I got a huge bunch of mint leaves from the Indian vegetable market and had no clue what to do with it all. There is only so much you can use up to make mint chutney, right?

The rice came out super nice and since TH is a huge mint fan, he loved it too!

Pudina Pulao / Mint Rice
Serves : 2 to 3

What I Used:

2 cups rice (I used basmati rice)
2 cups fresh mint leaves / pudina, lightly packed
1 onion, chopped fine
3 to 4 green chillies
¼ cup grated coconut (fresh works best, frozen will do too)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
4 cloves
4 green cardamom pods
1" piece of cinnamon
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp ghee
12 roasted cashews for garnishing (optional)
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. If using basmati, soak the rice in 4 cups water for half an hour and cook in pressure cooker for 1 whistle. Once pressure leaves the cooker, spread out on a plate and let it cool without clumping. If using rice cooker or any other method, cook until the rice is done yet firm.

2. Grind the mint leaves with the coconut, green chillies and ginger / garlic (if using fresh) to a paste.

3. Heat ghee in a pan and roast the cashews until golden brown (if using) and drain. Add the spices - cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and star anise - and saute for about a minute, taking care not to burn them. Then add the chopped onions and saute unil it turns transparent.

4. Add the ground paste to the pan and fry for about 2 to 3 mins until it turns fragrant. Again, take care not to burn! Add salt.

5. Mix in the cooled rice without breaking it too much. Garnish with the roasted cashews and serve with a raita of choice.

Rush in your rice recipes (mixed rice, biryani, pulao, poha, rice flour, etc) for this month's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice event at Edible Garden. Last date for entries is June 15, 2009.

Sri Lankan Beetroot Thel Dala Recipe

Thel Dala refers to a dry stir-fried dish in Sri Lanka. Usually this is made with Potatoes and called ala thel dala. The book I had mentioned in my previous post on Sri Lankan Mango Curry, Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka, actually details a thel dala using beetroots.

I have been quite hooked to the book and reading up on differences and similarities between Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines. I really want to try using their salted chillies in my cooking too. The book mentions how they marinate chillies in salt water and use that in their curries. The use of coconut milk is also quite extensive in their recipes.

Beetroot Thel Dala Recipe

Serves: 2-3

Source: Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka

What I Used:

2 medium-sized beetroots, peeled and diced

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped

10 curry leaves or 2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves garlic sliced

2 green chillies sliced

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tablespoons oil

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, curry leaves, cinnamon and garlic and saute until golden brown - about 1 to 2 mins. Then add the beetroot and toss for another 2 mins.

2. Add the tomatoes, green chilies, curry powder, turmeric and chilli and stir until spices are mixed through.

3. Add 1/4 cup water, bring to boil then simmer until the beetroot is tender - about 7 mins. Mix in salt to taste and remove.

Note:

Instead of thel dala, you can also make a curry with the same recipe by adding coconut milk. At step 3, instead of adding water, add 1/4 cup light coconut milk and cook till beets are tender. 2 mins before removing fire, add 1/2 cup thick coconut milk, simmer and remove.

Serve with rice.

This too goes to A.W.E.D Sri Lankan Cuisine hosted by Siri, conceptualized by DK.

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Have you mingled yet? Make sure your yummy rice recipes reach me before June 15th. Event details here.

Thenga Sadam / Coconut Rice Recipe

Thenga sadam is probably one of my favourite mixed rice dishes. I had it the first time at my sister's in-law's place around the time her wedding got fixed. Amma had never made it before at home (even though we were in the land of the coconuts!) but after that day, this became an occasional treat at home. Its really a simple rice dish and something you can whip up in 10-15 mins if you have cooked rice ready. 

Thenga Sadam / Coconut Rice

Serves: 2

What I Used:

Cooked rice : 4 cups

Grated coconut - 1 cup (frozen works too)

Salt - to taste

For spice powder:

Chana dal / kadala paruppu - 1 tbsp

Urad dal / uzhunnu parippu - 1 tbsp

Dry red chillies - 2 to 3

For tempering:

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp (or any oil you have in hand)

Chana dal / kadala paruppu - 1 tsp

Hing / asafoetida / perungaayam

Dry red chillies - 1, halved

Curry leaves - a few

For garnishing:

3 crushed appalam / papadom (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Dry roast the ingredients for spice powder until the dals turn golden and the red chillies are nicely browned. 

2. Cool and powder coarsely with salt. 

3. Heat oil in a pan and add ingredients for tempering along with the coconut. When it turns golden brown, remove from fire. 

4. Add the roasted coconut mixture and the spice mixture to the cooked rice and mix well. Adjust salt. 

5. Add crushed fried appalam or papadom before serving. 

Rush in your rice recipes (mixed rice, biryani, pulao, poha, rice flour, etc) for this month's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice event at Edible Garden. Last date for entries is June 15, 2009. 

Lemon Rice Recipe

Lemon rice always reminds me of train rides. I am sure some of you associate the two as well because in most cases, whenever we go on an overnight train journey, a small bundle of lemon rice wrapped in wilted banana leaf will be handed over to everyone. We have always had lemon rice with chuttaracha chammanthi, thick coconut chutney ground with smoked red chillies, and curd/raita. 

I also have another distinct memory associated with lemon rice. One of eating it at a temple when I was very little. I forgot where or when but that was probably the best lemon rice I have ever tasted. Its been ages since I have eaten from a temple but if I see it when I pass by, I am grabbing some!

On to the recipe now. 

Lemon Rice

Serves: 2-3

Preparation time: 30 mins

What I Used:

4 cups cooked rice (leftovers work perfect)

3 tbsp raw peanuts

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tbsp juice of lemon or lime

Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tbsp gingelly oil / nallennai / sesame seed oil (Indian version)

2-3 red chillies torn into halves

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp chana dal / kadala paruppu

A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungaayam

A few curry leaves

Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil for tempering in a pan and add the peanuts. Roast until nicely browned. Drain and set aside. 

2. To the hot oil, add the ingredients for tempering. Take care not to burn the chillies. When the mustard seeds start to pop and the dal has turned a golden brown, add the turmeric powder and salt. Now add peanuts, mix well and remove from fire. 

3. Add cooked rice to the above mixture and mix well. Squeeze lime on the rice and mix again. Depending on the lime / lemon you use, the sourness will vary. Make sure you make it slightly more sour than you need it because when you let it sit for an hour or two, the rice will absorb the flavours. 

4. Garnish and serve. 

Notes:

- Lemon rice is fantastic to carry with you on a trip. Wrap in banana leaves or pack it in your throwaway containers with some chuttaracha chammanthi and you are set! 

- The rice tastes just fine when it turns cold but if serving at home, serve warm. 

Rush in your rice recipes (mixed rice, biryani, pulao, poha, rice flour, etc) for this month's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice event at Edible Garden. Last date for entries is June 15, 2009. 

You may also wish to check out Sia's version of Lemon Rice recipe over at Beyond Curries. 

Sri Lankan Mango Curry Recipe

When I saw the annoucement for the May edition of A.W.E.D on Siri's blog, I was thinking atleast this month I should send in something. Due to work, some personal stuff and more work, I forgot about it until the weekend when we visited the library. Guess what stuck its head out of the cookery bookshelf? This book!

I picked it up and once glance through it made me realize how similar Sri Lankan cuisine is to Indian cuisine as well South East Asian ones. I was amazed to see that Pandan leaves, that are a very common flavouring ingredient used in South East Asian cooking, are a staple in a Sri Lankan kitchen too, just like curry leaves are to Indians. In fact, they use curry leaves quite extensively too. I was also surprised to see Kerala aappams, they call it hoppers, as a common street food in SL. They call idiyappam string hoppers, so cute!

Fresh Pandan Leaves

I could go on and on because I am quite smitten by this cuisine. Similar yet so different from what I am so used to.

The first dish I tried from the book is this Mango Curry. Its similar to our mango pachadi recipe but has its subtle differences. I was diappointed to see that the author hadn't mentioned the local name for this dish. I did a search and the closest dish I could find online was Amba Maluwa but the recipe is significantly different from this.

The mangoes I used were semi-sweet semi-sour

Sri Lankan Mango Curry

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 30 mins

Source: Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka

What I Used:

1 raw mango

1/2 onion, chopped fine

2 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp crushed ginger

(or use 2 tsp ginger garlic paste)

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp vinegar

4-5 curry leaves
1 pandan leaf cut/torn into bits

a 1" cinnamon stick

1/2 cup thick coconut milk

1/2 cup light coconut milk

1 tbsp oil

How I Made It:

1. Peel mango and cut into long, thin pieces. I made the mistake of not peeling the mango and the curry came out slightly bitter. So please take the time and do it!

2. Grind mustard seeds and vinegar together to form a paste.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and cinnamon. Saute until onion turns golden - about 5-7 mins.

4. Add the mango, light coconut milk, pandan leaf bits and the mustard seed mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat and simmer until mango is cooked and tender. Add the thick coconut milk and simmer for another 10 mins. Add salt.

Notes

- You can use store-bought coconut milk for this recipe. I used it and to get the light coconut milk, I added equal amounts of water to the coconut milk. It won't curdle if you cook it in very low fire. 

- The dish will taste just fine without pandan leaves. It will be like making an Indian dish without curry leaves - a certain flavour will be missing but that won't break the dish totally, so don't worry :)

This side dish is usually served with rice and some meat curry during a typical Sri Lankan lunch.

Needless to say, this goes to A.W.E.D Sri Lankan Cuisine hosted by Siri, conceptualized by DK.

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Have you mingled yet? Make sure your yummy rice recipes reach me before June 15th. Event details here.

Basic Potato Salad Recipe

This is a quick one. I didn't make it intending to post it actually. I changed my mind after trying to find this recipe online, in vain. Ok, flashback time. 

TH sometimes talks about his childhood days in Abu Dhabi and how they went to Pizza Hut every now and then. He always talks very fondly about the potato salad they served there. Now me, I have not tried salad in Pizza Hut, ever! Pizza Hut is for pizzas. Period. Anyway, recently we attended a colleague's wedding where they had potato salad and TH went for a few helpings and forced me to try some too, which he never does, 'cuz really, I don't need to be forced to eat anything. I was just busy with other more tastier looking things on the table. I tried it anyway and I loved it! It tasted so 'simple', like you could make it with just 3-4 ingredients in the pantry. I didn't bother trying to figure what went into it because I was confident I'd find it online. 

I'm sure its out there somewhere but its not easy to find because there are a million ways you can make potato salad. So I gave up and threw in what I thought went into the salad we tried. Now I am sharing it with you :)

Potato Salad Recipe

Serves 4

What I Used:

Potatoes - 3 medium-sized ones (I used russet potatoes)

Spring onions - 1/4 cup, very finely chopped 

(You can also use celery or leeks or even cilantro instead of spring onions)

Mayonnaise - 1/2 cup (I used Kraft mayo, out of a bottle)

Cream - 2 tbsp

Greated cheddar cheese - 2 tbsp (optional)

Lime juice - 1 tbsp or more

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Boil potatoes until soft and cool completely. I cooked them in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside. 

2.  Whip together cream, mayonnaise and cheese with salt. Add lime juice to this and mix well. 

3. In a bowl, add the potatoes, the whipped cream-cheese-mayo mixture, spring onions and salt-pepper. Mix well without breaking the potatoes too much. 

Serve at room temperature. 

This is a great salad to serve when you have large number of people coming over and little time in hand. Its hard not to like it and it goes great with junk food like chips, burgers, tikkis, etc. Just make sure that you prepare it not too long before you need to serve it. Also, make sure you transfer leftovers to the fridge immediately in case you want to use it the next day. 

Cabbage Poriyal Recipe

In a previous post, I had mentioned how I used think that poriyal is just the tamil term for thoran and then later realized there are subtle differences in the recipes. I have posted thoran recipes here before and that's a very common recipe for almost all thoran dishes I make. TH prefers poriyal since that's what he is used to. Cabbage poriyal is the most often made in my kitchen. 

Cabbage Poriyal Recipe

Serves 2-3

What I Used:

Shredded cabbage - 2 cups

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup (fresh or frozen)

Dry red chillies - 2 to 3

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Chana dal / kadala paruppu / split chickpeas - 1 tsp

Hing / asafoetida / perungayam - a pinch (optional)

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Curry leaves - a few

Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, chana dal, curry leaves, red chillies torn into pieces and the hing. Keep the fire of low and make sure the chillies don't burn.  

2. Once mustard seeds start popping, add the shredded cabbage, grated coconut and turmeric powder to the above and cook closed on medium flame until almost soft. You can sprinkle some water if necessary. Make sure you check the water level in between. Cabbage gives out water when cooking so don't add too much to begin with.  

3. Add salt. Keep on low flame and stir occasionally until the water content leaves the cabbage and coconut and the dish becomes dry - about 4-5 mins. 

Serve hot with rice and kuzhambu. 

Cabbage Poriyal is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Marija of Palachinka. You can find the event details on Haalo's site here. 

I also sending this to RCI - Jain Cuisine, the brainchild of Lakshmi, hosted by PJ this month. This recipe doesn't have any of the forbidden ingredients for Jains and is sattvic, just like the event demands :) 

Easy Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe

Though I have always loved vatha kozhambu and theeyals better than sambar, ever since I started cooking on my own, I love sambar! However, making sambar on a weeknight means also making a thoran or poriyal to go with it. Sambar sadam or Bise Bele Bath is the quick answer for that. Add in all the vegetables you have in hand and there you go - a nutritious one-dish meal in no time that's very forgiving when it comes to what vegetables you add to it.

Here's how I make mine.

Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe
Serves 2-3
Preparation time - 15 mins
Special utensil needed - pressure cooker

What I Use:

Rice - 1.5 cups
I use ponni or basmati but the regular rice you use every day will work just fine.
Toor / tuvar / kandi pappu / pigeon peas - 3/4 to 1 cup
Tamarind - a marble-sized ball or 2 tbsp tamarind paste
Chopped vegetables - 1.5 cups
You can use any vegetables you have in hand like French beans, carrots, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, drumstick, capsicum, etc.
Shallots - 6 (optional)
Green chillies - 2
Sambar powder - 1.5 to 2 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida / Perungayam - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Shallots - 2, sliced thin (optional)

How I Make It:

1. Add 1 cup warm water to the tamarind and extract juice. Discard pulp. If using tamarind paste, dissolve it in 1 cup water without any lumps.

2. Heat oil for tempering in the pressure cooker pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Fry the shallots for tempering, if using, until golden brown. Then add the hing, green chillies, turmeric and sambar powder and mix well for 10 seconds.

3. Add all the ingredients and sufficient water. To cook the rice I use every day, the ratio of rice:water is 1:2. Since I have used 1.5 cups rice here, I need 3 cups water in total. Tamarind juice is in 1 cup water so I added approximately 2 more cups of water to the cooker. Its fine if its slightly more than that.

4. Cook for 3 whistles. If you like your sambar sadam a bit mushy, then cook for 4 whistles and make sure you add slightly more water than specified above.

5. Wait till pressure leaves and serve hot with vadaam / chips / appalam and raita / curd.

This goes to Mahimaa's 15-Minute Cooking Event, EC's WYF - Quick Meals.

Gajar Matar Recipe - Carrots & Peas In A Milk Gravy

The moment I saw this on their blog, I knew I wanted to try it. It seemed so simple and the story behind it was quite amazing. I tried it a few weeks ago and have been wanting to post it ever since! 

The fact that cilantro / coriander leaves was a must and not just a garnishing suggestion made me wait until I had some fresh leaves ready to be used. 

I didn't have onions so added a few chopped shallots instead. I also omitted the cream, but otherwise, the recipe is 'authentic' :D 

Gajar Matar Recipe

Carrots and peas cooked in a creamy spiced milk gravy

serves 2

What I Used:

Carrots - 1.5 cups, chopped
Peas - 1 cup
Shallots - 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Milk - 2 cups
Cumin / jeera- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala -1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Fresh coriander leaves - add as much as you want, chopped

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the jeera. Once they splutter, add the shallots and fry lightly. 

2. Add peas, turmeric and chilli powder to this and stir around for 2 minutes. 

3. Add the chopped carrots and a little water (not more than 1/4 cup) and cook covered, until the carrots are semi-cooked. You can also pre-cook the carrots separately or in the microwave. 

4. Add 1.5 cups milk and top it off with the garam masala and salt. 

5. Keep fire on sim and cook covered for about 10 minutes. At this stage, the curry will be dry and the vegetables cooked. Add the rest of the milk (1/2 cup) and bring to boil. Do not let the gravy thicken too much because it will once you remove from fire. For a more creamy consistency, add err.. cream! 

6. Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy! 

This is my entry to JFI - Cilantro hosted by Cilantro :D Wow! There's going to be a lot of Cilantro at the round up! 

Fried Egg Sambal

Egg Sambal is typically a Malaysian dish but can be found in Indonesia too. I have tried it at various food stalls here in Singapore and always loved the tangy flavour. It seemed like the perfect thing to make after we got back from tiring 3-day vacation in Bali. Yes, I know. We should've come back revived and all that but thanks to the heat, that really didn't happen. I did manage to shop a bit for handmade soap and aromatherapy stuff so no complaints! 

Since I was really lazy to cook up anything, I didn't hardboil the eggs like they usually do for egg sambal. I fried them up and cut them into strips. The gravy used is very similar to the gravy base I made for stir-fried tofu. It made a great side-dish for a simple vegetable rice. 

Fried Egg Sambal Recipe

What I Used:

Eggs - 4

Tomato - 1, finely chopped

Onion - 1, finely chopped

Tomato paste / ketchup - 1 tbsp

Garlic - 3 pods, crushed

Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Coriander / malli / dhania powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Oil - 2 tsp + 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Spring onions - 2 stalks for garnish (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Break the eggs into a bowl and mix well with salt. Pour onto a heated pan with 2 tsp oil and make a thick omelette. Once cooled a bit, cut into strips and keep aside. 

2. In the same pan, add 2 tsp oil and add the onions and garlic. Fry lightly until the onions turn soft and transparent. Take care not to burn them by maintaining the heat at medium-low.

3. Next, add the turmeric, coriander, chilli, salt and tamarind paste and fry for about a minute. Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes break down and the oil separates from the sauce. 

4. Add the fried egg strips and mix well without breaking them too much. If the omelette is thick enough, the strips will hold their shape while mixing. Simmer for a minute or so, remove from fire, garnish wtih cilantro / spring onions and serve warm as a side to any rice dish or even roti. 

Asparagus Thoran Recipe

Yeah you read right. I actually made a thoran with asparagus and it tasted good enough for me to want to share it with you! I originally bought the asparagus to make some baked or grilled dish with it. That's the week I fell sick and couldn't think beyond the simplest recipes like rasam or thoran or dal chawal. So here you go. 

What I Used:

Asparagus - 15 spears

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Jeera / cumin seeds / jeerakam - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Green chillies - 2 to 3

Shallots - 3 to 4, sliced thin (optional)

Curry leaves - a few

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Wash and remove the hard end of the asparagus spears and cut into 1" long pieces. Place in a pan, drizzle some water generously and cook covered on low fire for about 5 mins until the pieces are softer yet crunchy. Note that I used very slender variety of asparagus so probably the cooking time was much lesser. 

2. Grind the coconut with the jeera, turmeric and green chillies. 

3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add the sliced shallots and fry until golden brown. Then add the cooked asparagus and the ground coconut. Adjust salt. Let it cook for about 5 mins more until the coconut and asparagus is well combined. 

Makes a good combination with steamed white rice and some curry. 

Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments Recipe

Here's another easy-to-bake recipe for baking beginners, a cookie this time! Melting moments are classic cookies or biscuits that use cornflour along with normal flour for a melt-in-your-mouth texture. I added a twist to them by making it chocolate flavoured.

I am sorry for not including the cup measurements. I was adding and subtracting ingredients on a hunch so my cup measurements all went out the window. You can use the culiverter tool on the bottom of the right sidebar to get measurements in cups in case you don't own a kitchen balance. Please don't let that deter the aspiring baker in you.

I don't have step by step pictures for this but its really not as complicated as a cake or a brownie. I do have a picture of the dough, which is not very pretty but I felt you'd like to see it.

Its really simple with no complicated ingredients or steps. Not even an egg! So all you vegetarians out there, you can go for it too! Probably a good cookie to bake for easter too.

Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments Recipe

What I Used:
(makes 12)

125gm butter, at room temperature
60gm icing sugar + more for dusting
100gm plain flour / maida
25gm cornflour
20gm cocoa powder

How I Made It:

1. Beat butter and sugar using a hand beater or an electric beater on low until smooth, creamy and combined.

2. Sift the plain flour, cornflour and cocoa together into a bowl (if you don't have a sieve, just make sure you mix them well until combined).

3. Add the flour mixture little at a time to the butter mixture and mix until its all combined.


4. Make small balls with the dough and press gently. Space them a good 2 inches apart on a tray. The cookies spread while baking. I didn't need to use a baking sheet, the cookies were quite well-behaved and didn't stick to the tray at all.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C. It took about 30 mins to bake. Let it cool completely before removing from the tray and dusting with some icing sugar. Its hard to tell when its done because of the colour but I would recommend that you check after about 20 mins, probably by taking out just one cookie, letting it cool a bit and tasting it.


Notes:

- You can store these for about 4 days in an air tight container.

- Its great to pack and send people, or to take to someone's house when you are visiting, which is what I did.

- If you want a more rounded shape for your melting moments, shape into balls and don't flatten. The cookies flatten as they bake so the rounder you start off, the more rounded the end result. I wanted flat ones, so I flattened the dough a bit.

This pic was taken 4 days after I made them. Still pretty and tasty, I can tell you ;)

Yellow Dal / Dal Tadka Recipe

I had used the pictures of this recipe for one of my photography series posts - angles in food photography. Like I mentioned in that post, sometimes the simplest of dishes can make a great meal, like we enjoyed that weekend. I just wanted to jot down the recipe here for those of you looking for a comforting bowl of yellow dal for your dal chawal. 

What I Used:

Toor dal - 1 cup

(you can also use masoor dal / red lentils)

Tomato - 1, cubed

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Asafoetida / hing - a pinch

Amchoor / dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp 

(if you want it tangy)

Sugar - a pinch (optional)

Salt - to taste

For Tempering:

Onion - 1/4 cup, chopped fine

Garlic - 3 pods crushed (optional)

Jeera / cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 3 to 4, halved

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

For Garnishing:

Chopped fresh coriander leaves (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the dal, tomatoes and turmeric powder with 3 cups water. I cook it usually for 4 whistles since it takes longer to cook dal in Singapore. 3 whistles should usually be enough. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook in a closed, thick-bottomed pan for about 20-30 mins until the dal is cooked soft. 

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds start to pop and the onions turn transparent, add the cooked dal. 

3. Next, add salt, hing, sugar and amchoor and mix well. If the dal is too thick, add some water. If too watery, let it remain on fire for longer until the desired consistency is reached. 

4. Garnish wtih coriander leaves and serve with steamed white rice, papad and pickles. YUM!

NOTE

You will see that a lot of ingredients I add are optional. This is because the basic yellow dal recipe is plain and simple with minimum flavours. Customize according to your taste and use just the bare minimum ingredients. It tastes great any which way. 

Carrot and Baby Corn Stir-Fry Recipe

This recipe is from Das Sreedharan's Easy Indian, and he is right, it is easy! The book is a good mix of really simple recipes like this one and ones that require a bit of practise, like Indian dumplings. Even then, the entire book has recipes with easy-to-get ingredients and something all Indian kitchens stock up on anyway.

Though there is nothing much that's unique or different about the recipe, the combination was quite new to me, something I hadn't tried before - carrots and baby corn! The crunchiness of the baby corn offset the soft cooked carrots and the simple masala mix gave it a nice twist.

Carrot and Baby Corn Stir-Fry Recipe

What I Used:

Carrots - 1 cup, cut into long thin pieces
Baby corn - 1 cup, quartered into long pieces
Onions - 1/2 cup, chopped into thin long slices
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala or curry powder - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Fresh cilantro / coriander leaves - to garnish (optional but highly recommended)

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the onions and fry until soft and transparent.

2. Add the chilli powder and salt and fry for another 30 seconds. Then add the chopped carrots and sprinkle some water on the it. Cook closed for about 5-7 minutes until the carrots are cooked through. Make sure to check in between to ensure that they don't burn and the carrots don't get too mushy.

3. Increase the heat to high and add the baby corn, stirring continuously until the vegetables mix well. Lower the heat, mix in the garam / curry masala and adjust salt if required. The baby corn should still be crunchy so remove from fire about about 2 mins.

4. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or wrapped in a chapati / roti.