The July 4th weekend was our debut at grilling. An all veggie grilling party! Even the rain could not dampen our spirits. We created a canopy over the grill, and dragged all our food items and chairs to the walkout basement, with our drinks of course.

The menu was:

1. Grilled corn – Butta – Neembu aur Masala marke (smothered with lime, chili powder and salt) after grilling

2. Grilled veggies – We built skewers of green peppers, red peppers, grape tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash and pineapple. Basted one batch with olive oil mixed with garlic, oregano and cilantro, any the second batch with yogurt, finely-chopped green chilies, cilantoro and garam masala. Encompassed the veggies in wheat tortillas with lettuce, salsa and sour cream and enjoyed them as burritos.

3. Grilled Veggie Burgers – True semi-homemade style – Got the Morning Star veggie burgers, grilled them till they had the grill marks, and had them with buns, a slice of tomato, a slice of onion, and mom-style coleslaw (finely chopped cabbage with sour cream, salt and freshly cracked black pepper). The cole slaw adds a wonderful moistness to the burger; you don’t miss the ketchup!

4.  Grilled sweet potatoes – Covered them in foil and roasted them in the midst of the charcoal itself

5. Finally grilled slices of pineapple for dessert! Just delicious! Though we barely had space in our stomach to consume the dessert.

Who thought veggie grilling (that too for the first time) could be so much fun? Thanks to KR, BK and RB for making the grilling debut extra special! And of course the mister, who came up with the idea of grilling that lead to a wonderful evening!

Enjoy these pictures!

Mushroom Matar

Leart this recipe from mom! This turns out to be a supremely tasty and hotel-style preparation. Aai, you rock!  

Ingredients:

1. Onion – sliced longitudinal
2. Ginger – 3/4th inch piece
3. Garlic – 2 huge cloves
4. Tomatoes – 2 huge – roughly chopped

5. Mushrooms – 15 – 20 in number – Sliced
6. Green Peas – Half Cup

7. Cilantro – two tablespoons – chopped

8. Chilli Powder – 1/2 teaspoon
9. Garam Masala – Half teaspoon

10. Oil – 2 teaspoons
11. Jeera – 1/2 teaspoon

12. Salt

 
Method:

1. Heat the oil in a vessel. Add jeera. When the jeera starts spluttering add onion, and saute till soft.
2. Once the onion is soft, turn off the heat. Add tomatoes, ginger and garlic and grind to a smooth paste.
3. Add the gravy to the vessel, add the chilli powder and turn the heat on Medium High
4. When the gravy starts boiling, add the mushrooms, peas and salt. cook for 5 minutes
5. Add garam masala and cilantro. Cook for another two minutes and the Mushroom Matar is ready (Aai-style)

It you want to make it shahi mushroom matar, add two tablespoons of cream! Absolutely fantastic! Just had it for dinner this evening.

I have been smitten by salads (of course, accompanying a full meal) this week.

This week, we have had:

1. Greek Salad (The mister’s fantastic recipe!)

2. Califlower salad (http://sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe.aspx?RecipeId=1358&Header=Indian%20Recipe&MenuId=9

3. Sprouted moong salad (http://sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe.aspx?RecipeId=2905&Header=Indian%20Recipe&MenuId=9)

THIS WAS THE BEST SALAD EVER!

4. Bean sprouts and veggie salad (http://sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe.aspx?RecipeId=2702&Header=Indian%20Recipe&MenuId=9)

Salad’s rock! And are the perfect accompaniment for a meal in summer! Soups in winter and salads is summer sound perfect!

Note to self: Try Robin Miller’s Asian Broccoli Slaw (ingredients – Oil, Broccoli Slaw, Salt, Pepper, Soy Sauce, totated Sesame Seeds and Scallion greens)

Oh! And if you are wondering why I am obsessed with salad’s it is because of all the eating I have done in my Orlando trip. This is an effort to get back to the perfect weight. Next blog – Wonderful Eating Places in Orlando!

S’long then!

Mom is in town. Yipee!!! So enjoying all the good food and learning some new recipes as well. This one is a soothing and nutritious kadhi. Tasted wonderful with hot rice and warm chapatis too.

Ingredients:

1. Spinach – 1 cup frozen

2. Buttermilk – 3 cups

3. Garlic – finely minced - 1 huge clove

3. Sugar – 1 tsps

4. Besan (Chana daal flour) - 2 tsps

5. Green chillies – 3 – fine paste

6. Asefotida – 1 pinch

7. Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsps

8. Jeera – 1 tsps

9. Oil – 1 tbps

10. Ginger – 1 cm cube – fine paste

Method:

1. Pour the oil in vessel. Add asefotida, mustard seeds and jeera seeds when the oil is hot.

2. Add garlic over the oil, and add spinach leaves, chilli paste and ginger paste just before the garlic turns brown. Cook the spinach leaves.

3. In the mean time, mix the buttermilk, salt, sugar and besan.

4. When the spinach leaves are cooked, add the seasoned buttermilk and salt.

5. Reduce the heat and warm the kadhi through. It is now ready for you to enjoy.

You absolutely have to try this nutritious, wonderful recipe.

Muli Parathas – don’t you hear the name splashed all over Hindi movies? Heroine to hero – “Maine tumhare pasand ke Muli ke parathe banaye hain. Aur saath main Gajar ka halwa bhi.” So I decided to see what the hype was all about. I did not go hunting for a recipe, but tried this one with my regular Methi Paratha recipe, and it turned out great!

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup grated radish

2. Wheat flour – 2 and 1/2 cups

3. Besan (chana flour) – 2 tbps

4. Kasoori Methi – 1 tbps

5. Chilli powder – 1/2 tsps

6. Jeera powder – 1/2 tsps

7. Dhania (coriander) powder – 1/2 tsps

8. Salt – per taste

9. Oil – 1/2 tsps

Method:

1. Knead to dough with all ingredients to consistency of chapati dough. Set aside for half an hour.

2. Roll the parathas and roast on tava with ghee

Enjoy the hot and soft parathas with dahi.

Dudhi (bottle gourd) and its family members have never been my favorite vegetables. Suddenly this month, I was reminded of a recipe that mom had made about 12 – 15 years back, which made me like that dudhi sabji for one brief day. The funny part was that when I tried to jog my mom’s memory for the recipe, she could not remember it. So the two of us came up with this one, based on my remembrance of the main ingredient (namely mint) and her vast cooking experience. The end result was fantastic!

Ingredients:

1. Bite sized cubes of medium sized bottle gourd (You can also use spaghetti squash, possibly the huge yellow squash)

2. Split chana daal – 1/3rd cup

3. Onion – 1 – finely chopped

4. Mint – handful, if fresh, 1 tablespoon, if dried

5. Coconut – 1 tablespoon (dried or wet)

6. Garlic – 2 medium sized cloves

7. Ginger – 1/2 inch piece

8. Cilantro – 1/3 cup

9. Asefotida (pinch), Mustard seeds (1/2 tsp), Jeera (1 tsp) – for tempering

10. Oil – 2 tsps

11. Green chillies – 3

Method:

1.  Soak split chana daal for an hour

2. Grind the ginger, garlic, green chillies, mint, cilantro and coconut with half a cup of water, into a fine paste

3. I cooked this in a pressure pan, but any regular vessel should do good too. Heat the pressure pan, add oil. When the oil is hot, add the asefotida, mustard seeds and jeera seeds. When they splutter, add finely chopped onion.

4. Cover with a regular lid and cook till the onions become soft. Add the soaked chana daal and cook till soft.

5. Now add the ground paste and the pieces of  gourd/squash. Cover and cook till the color of the vegetable changes a little bit.

6. Add salt to taste

7. If you have a pressure pan, add half a cup of water, cover with pressure  pan lid and cook for a single whistle. If you are cooking in a regular vessel, add the water and continue cooking with closed lid till the vegetable cooks.

Lo and behold, you have converted a tasteless gourd/squash into a very palatable dish, which your entire family will enjoy.

Soups are the order of the season! I have been trying to learn new soups this year. The ‘green’ mushroom soup was a recipe that mom and dad had at a wedding back in India and just rattled the recipe to me, just based on how it tasted. I made it last night and it turned out to be fantastic!

Ingredients

- White button mushrooms – about 20-25 in number [I think mini-portabellas will work great too]

- Half a cup of spinach

- Garlic – two big cloves chopped finely

- Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsps

- Oil – 1tbls

Method:

1. Boil the mushroom and spinach in two and a half glasses of water, for approximately 15 mins

2. Cool a little and blend to form a puree

3. Now, heat the soup pot on medium heat and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and garlic. Saute until just before the garlic starts turning brown.

4. Add the mushroom/spinach puree to the soup pot

5. Season with salt and pepper

Lo and behold, warm soup is ready for cold wintry evening! The soup prominently tastes of mushroom. The spinach adds the green color (and of course, nutrition)! Do let me know if you try the green mushroom soup.

Tried these wonderful dishes in the past couple of weeks and wanted to bookmark them for future reference.

Pumpkin Apple Soup – Delicious with garlic bread. Perfect for a cold winter night!

http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe.aspx?RecipeId=667&Header=Indian%20Recipe&MenuId=9

Eggplant Pasta – recipe that I saw on Giada’s show.  Turned out refreshing and delicious due to the mint and the roasted eggplant.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/rigatoni-with-eggplant-puree-recipe/index.html

Handi Chicken (o wow! Sanjeev Kapoor rocks! – is all I can say)

http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe.aspx?RecipeId=1150&Header=Indian%20Recipe&MenuId=28

I did not give it dumm, just cooked it on the stove with a tight lid, and it turned out fantastic.

Do let me know if any of you try these recipes. They are perfect for the season.

I make modaks every Ganesh Chaturthi. It reminds me of the festivities in India – wonderful Ganpati songs blaring from loudspeakers, visits to friends and relatives, hogging on wonderful treats like modaks, alu-wadi, etc. Anyways, I learnt the art of making this favorite dish of mine from my grandmother. Every year I would sit with her (and mom, of course) to craft the coconut and jaggery stuffing and steamed rice flour into a few modaks. I have heard people make modaks of two layers – a one-piece wonder. Hats off to them!

I gifted the mister a DSLR camera. The pictures are a part of the learning. Hope you enjoy them!

I must attribute this recipe to KB. A few years back she found this wonderful Palak Aloo Matar recipe. We were students then; and a hot tasty meal would really revive our spirits in the job hunting phase of our life. While she claims that she does not make it anymore, I have adapted the recipe to make palak paneer and it works wonderfully well. I have tried and tested on quite a few people, including my mother-in-law and everyone has loved it.

Ingredients:

- One bag frozen spinach/Two fresh bundles of spinach/One big salad pack of Baby Spinach

- Medium Sized Tomato (1)

- Green Chillies (4 – 5 small)

- Garlic (2 medium sized cloves)

- Onion (1/2)

- Jeera powder (1 tsps)

- Coriander powder (1 tsps)

- Garam Masala (1/2 tsps)

- Paneer (cube-able)

- Oil (2 tsps)

- Jeera (1/2 tsps)

Method:

1. Cut the paneer into bite sized cubes and set aside (I usually like to cut them the way they serve in restaurants – a little bit longer in length)

2. Heat one to one and a half cup of water in a vessel, along with the spinach. Keep the vessel covered. Allow the spinach to wilt and cook.

3. Cool the spinach and grind along with tomato, chillies and one clove of garlic

4. Now heat oil, add jeera for tempering and garlic. Heat till the flavor of the garlic effuses in the oil and before it turns brown. Now add onions. Saute till the onions are translucent, but not shrunken in size.

5. Add the spinach mixture to the vessel.

6. Add the Jeera Powder, Coriander powder, Garam Masala and Salt to taste

7. Add the paneer cubes, lower the heat and keep on the stove for 2 minutes

Wonderful palak paneer is ready to be eaten with hot parathas!

The original recipe calls for adding pre-boiled green peas and potatoes (for the Matar and Aloo part). Don’t have paneer in the refridgerator? Add the peas and the potatoes over the sauted onions, prior to adding the spinach mixture. Tastes equally delicious!

Well known benefits of spinach:

* contains Iron – beneficial for building energy

* promotes Gastro Intestinal health

We used to eat a lot of spinach prior to the E-coli scare. It took us a long time to trust spinach again. Note to self: Need to get back to eating it twice a week again.