Mirchi ka Salan

We have a Turkish shop in Lohr which I frequent as it's my main source of coriander leaves. While packed frail leaves are available at times in the local supermarkets, I am able to get the freshest bunch from this place. Yesterday, along with the leaves, I caught a glimpse of these fresh big green chilies calling out to me. With the weather being cold and the incessant rains providing misery, I imagined us relishing piping hot mirchi bajjis. 

Well, this morning turned out with a different plan. Breaking my head for a while about dinner, this particular dish popped to my mind. Since I already had the chillies along with the required ingredients, bajjis were soon replaced with Mirchi Ka Salan.

Mirchi ka Salan is a popular curry of Hyderabad. The chillies are deep fried briefly and then simmered gently in a paste made of spices and peanuts together. The nuts provide a nutty texture to the dish. While traditionally it is served along with Hyderabadi Biryani, it also makes for a great accompaniment with plain rice or rotis.

Source: www.sanjeevkappor.com(recipe adapted to suit our taste)

Ingredients:

• 12 big green chillies
• Oil to deep fry
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 3 dry red chillies(long)
• 1" ginger chopped
• 8 cloves garlic
• marble sized tamarind
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1medium onion chopped very fine
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and wipe the green chillies. Slit them lengthwise gently, taking care as to not break them into two. 
2. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai, deep fry the chillies for a minute. Drain, place them on an absorbent paper and set aside.
3. Dry roast sesame, coriander and cumin seeds.
4. Grind them to a paste along with the roasted peanuts, ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, turmeric powder, tamarind and a little water.
5. Heat two tablespoons oil in a vessel. When hot add the mustard seeds. When they splutter drop in the curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds. Add the chopped onion and fry till golden brown.
6. Add the ground paste and fry for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Take care to not burn.
7. Rinse the mixer with a cup of water and add this to the fried paste. Mix well and bring it to a boil.
8. Reduce the heat and cook it for 10 minutes.
9. Add the fried green chillies and salt to taste. Cook on low heat for a further 10 minutes.
10. Take off the heat and serve with hot rice or rotis.

Vegetable Puffs

One of the reasons I do not see myself making Germany or any of its neighbouring countries as a place to settle down for good is the WINTER. Snow is fine, I can get along with it, the low temperatures, yeah, can live with that too. So what's it that gets me down...................................

it's the definite lack of colour.

And when you add never ending rain, grey skies and bare trees to the picture, it's a sure path to looking grumpy and feeling low. So rather than sit around and brood myself out, I have been spending time in the kitchen a wee bit more than intended. After the cooking, I must be also providing sheer entertainment to my german neighbours with my crazy antics during the photo shoot. Well, a girl's gotta keep herself busy even if it means looking crazy.

Coming back to these vegetable puffs, who would have ever thought that these could be made at home. My memories of the crispy crust with a soft filling of spiced onions, potatoes and peas goes back to the days when mum would thrust a few rupees in my hand and ask me to bring these home on our way back from school/college. On such days, we were a happy lot and couldn't wait to get back home and dig ourselves in. 

When a fellow expat and I were talking about the food we missed so badly, she surprised me by saying that there was puff pastry available and it was good too. The funny part about shopping in Germany is that you've got to know the german terms of your grocery list, else you can simply assume that ingredients are simply unavailable. Thanks to her, I've been preparing these vegetable puffs quite often, more so, whenever I am reminded of home.

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets puff pastry(see notes)

For the filling( for 10-12 rectangular puffs):

• 4 medium sized potatoes
• a fistful of frozen or fresh peas
• a medium sized onion sliced fine
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp bafath powder or red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsps oil

Method:

1. Wash and boil potatoes with skin in sufficient water. Cool them, peel, mash well and keep aside.
2. Slice the onion fine.
3. In a handi/vessel heat the oil.
4. When hot, add the mustard seeds.
5. When they begin to splutter, add the onions and fry well.
6. As the onions turn golden brown, add the chilli/bafath and turmeric powders.
7. Mix well and continue to fry for a minute.
8. Add the boiled and mashed potatoes along with the green peas.
9. Mix well and continue to cook till the peas are cooked(5 to 7 minutes). Keep stirring and avoid the mixture from burning.
10. Switch off and let the mix cool down.
11. Preheat the oven to 220C.
12. Line a baking try with parchment paper.
13. Spread out the pastry sheet on a clean platform.
14. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into equal shaped rectangles(see pic above).
15. Place the potato filling in the centre of each rectangle. Do not overcrowd the base.
16. Close or seal the potato filling with the folded flap and seal the edges well(See pic above).
17. Place the puffs neatly in a line on the baking try. Do not keep too close to each other.
18. Place the tray on the middle rack and bake for 10 minutes or till they are golden brown in colour.
19. Remove from oven, let cool(Do not burn your mouth as I did) and have them with a hot cuppa tea.

Notes:

1. Puff Pastry is called BLÄTTERTEIG, available in Edeka, Kupsch, Lidl and Tegut. There are two kinds available, one in the frozen section and the other in the coolers(along with the butter, curd etc). The frozen pastry can be kept upto many months, where as the one in the coolers need to be used within a short period of time. Personally, I prefer the latter.
2. Puff pastry comes in sheets or in different shapes too. It is left to your personal choice as to what you would like to get and how you would like to shape it.
3. You can experiment with the filling. This is a simple recipe which my family likes. You can add minced meat, eggs, vegetables, different kinds of herbs and spices too. Experimentation is the key.

Sprouted Beans in Coconut Gravy(Kirlayle Mooga Ambat)

Source: Sanjeev Kapoor's Konkan cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole green gram(sabut moong)
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds(methi dana)
• 4 whole red chillies(bedgi)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• one and a half cups scraped coconut
• 1 tbsp tamarind pulp
• salt to taste

For tempering:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 small sized onion finely chopped 
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds and a few curry leaves

Method:

1. Soak moong in half a cup of water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain and tie it up in a muslin cloth. Leave it in a warm, dark place for a day to sprout.
2. Boil moong sprouts in one and a half cups of water till it is cooked but still firm and crunchy. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add fenugreek seeds and sauté till light brown. Stir in whole red chillies and turmeric powder and remove from heat.
4. Add to it freshly scraped coconut and grind with tamarind pulp to a fine paste. Add little water while grinding.
5. Combine the ground paste, boiled sprouts, salt and half a cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add more water if the gravy is too thick. Keep aside.
6. For tempering, heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle add curry leaves. Add chopped onion and sauté till the onion turns golden brown(I was in a hurry and so the onion   is not golden in the pic).
7. Pour the seasoning over the curry and cover immediately to trap the flavors.
8. Serve hot with rice.

Note: I like to add a potato cut into cubes to the above preparation. You can boil it along with the sprouts in step 2.

Dahi Kadhi/ Hot Yoghurt soup

The first time I was introduced to this Kadhi was about 12 years ago during one of my visits to my in laws place in Vadodara. The only difference being Kadhi was always got from Baroda dairy.  All that was required to be done was warm it up and serve. Being the mangy that I was, at that point of time my palette was not used to either yoghurt or a yogurt based preparation. Since then, I have come a long way.

Ingredients:

For the Kadhi:

• Yoghurt - 1 cup beaten
• Buttermilk - 1 cup
• water - 2 cups
• Chickpea flour(besan) - 4 Tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
• Ginger - 1/2 tsp grated
• Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
• Sugar - 1 tsp or to taste(optional)

For the seasoning:

• Oil - 3 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Whole red chilly(dry) - 1
• Cumin seeds/ Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds/ Methi - 10 seeds
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. In a pot mix curd, buttermilk, water and chickpea flour well. Stir until there are no more lumps.
2. Add salt, sugar, turmeric powder, grated ginger and chopped green chillies.
3. Bring mixture to a boil on a medium flame, stirring continuously.
4. Reduce flame to low.
5. In another small vessel/seasoning pan heat oil and ghee together.
6. Add the red chilly, cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds and allow them to splutter.
7. Turn off flame, add curry leaves and mix well.
8. Add the seasoning into the boiled yoghurt mixture and allow it to boil once more.
9. Switch off and serve it in a bowl as a soup or as an accompaniment with some rice and veggies.

Vegetable Bonda with Coriander Chutney

 (I know the picture is not good nor presentable. But with 3 hungry mouths waiting to dig in, it was pretty hard for them to be patient while I kept clicking away...:D)

Summer vacations have finally begun and I had been waiting like crazy for this moment. The German classes were finally getting to me(seriously) and I must admit that my multi tasking skills at home were being put to the test!! Unlike India where there is excitement and frenzy in the air and a certain kind of thrill to schools closing for the summer vacation, over here there is absolute no feel at all. Maybe due to the fact that the kids have no annual examination of any sort(they are assessed the whole year through in the form of surprise tests). The last academic year 2010, I was pretty shocked with the whole concept and in fact missed the drama we parents encounter back home in India. From the morning madness to the revision of chapters on our drive to school, on return going through the question papers back at home and finally the day the report cards would be issued....:D  Sigh, I still miss all this. 

Anyway, just like me, hubby too was waiting for me to be at home and don the role of Hausfrau(house wife) for a month..:D His only wish though was for me to prepare bobo everyday for tea( Can anybody please tell me where on earth did this word originate from??) And by Bobo he definitely meant his typical favorite Mangalorean snacks or savories like vorn, ambade, mani and so on.. I also knew the two blogs I would be referring to the maximum this month...:) Ruchik Randhap and Food, Football and a baby. Both Shireen's and Michelle's blog are the kind which take me through flashbacks and help me reminisce over all my favorite food from our home town Mangalore. There are days when just their pictures of food make me miss my homeland like crazy. 

So over to today's bobo, Vegetable Bondas from Michelle's space. To know more about this savory snack head on over to Michelle's blog. The hot spicy bondas taste best on a cold rainy day, though I didn't wait for any showers as we are already experiencing a very cold summer( or early winter??). I have tweaked the recipe slightly to suit our palette.

Ingredients for the vegetable filling:

2 medium potatoes peeled and chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

half a cup of green peas

2 green chillies finely minced(can add more or less depending on your tolerance level to spice)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 inch ginger minced

1 sprig curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp hot chill powder or to taste

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tbsp oil

a few sprigs coriander leaves chopped fine

salt to taste

For the batter:

2 cups chickpea/gram flour

1/2 tsp chilli powder or to taste

1/2 tap garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Enough water to make a thick batter

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Boil the vegetables with salt until soft. Drain well and mash coarsely.
2. In a small pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the curry leaves, finely chopped green chillies, ginger, garlic, chill and garam masala powder. Saute for around 20 seconds and then pour this into the mashed vegetable mixture.
3. Stir in the chopped coriander and mix well. Check seasoning and add more salt if you feel the mash needs it.
4. Shape the filling into small balls and place them in the fridge to firm them up a bit.
5. In another bowl, stir together the gram flour, chilli, garam masala powder and salt. Add water little by little, stirring continuously until a thick batter is formed. The batter should be thick. If too runny add a little more flour. When done, keep aside.
6. Heat oil for deep frying. Take out the vegetable balls. Dip them into the batter so they are covered thoroughly with the batter. When the oil is very hot, carefully drop the balls into the hot oil. Fry the bondas till they are a light golden color. Carefully lift out of the oil and drain on kitchen paper.
7. Serve hot with ketchup, mint/coriander or coconut chutney along with a cup of hot Indian chai..:)

Blend together half a bunch of fresh coriander leaves, 1/2 inch piece of ginger, 1 garlic clove, 1 green chilli, 1/2 tsp jeera powder and a little bit of tamarind along with very little water to make a quick coriander chutney!!

Batata Poha

I am married to a mama's boy....:) And mama's boy has a long list of favorite dishes solely prepared by mommy dearest. Batata poha or beaten rice with potatoes is one of them. For the 12 years that we have been married, I never attempted to learn or prepare these select recipes simply for the fact that they should be enjoyed during our visits back home or when mum in law visited us. Well, things have changed now. With us living so far away, trips to and fro have reduced. Plus when you have a husband pining for his favorite food, you have got to give in some time..:D

Batata Poha makes for a very nutritious breakfast. Rich in iron and paired along with potatoes and groundnuts gives you a power packed breakfast to begin your day.

BATATA POHA (serves 4)
Source: Modern Cookery by Thangam E Philip


Ingredients:

• Beaten Rice                 225 gms
• Potatoes                       225 gms
• Onions                         200 gms
• Groundnuts                    50 gms( added by me)
• Cumin                            1 tsp
• Mustard seeds                1 tsp
• Coriander leaves            to garnish
• Turmeric                        1 tsp
• Curry leaves                   2 sprigs
• Oil                                  4 tbsps
• Salt                                 to taste
• A dash of lemon juice.

Method:

1. Peel and dice potatoes. Chop onions and coriander leaves finely.
2. Heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they splutter drop in the curry leaves. Fry onions till brown.
3. Add potatoes, groundnuts and turmeric powder. Cook on a slow fire till potatoes are cooked. Be careful not to burn them.
4. Put rice in a colander. Hold under a running tap or pour water for about half a minute. Let it drain.
5. Add the rice to the potatoes and salt to taste.. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add a dash of lemon juice to taste. Serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

Michelle's Punjabi Chole.

Hello to readers of my blog. Am sorry for the guest appearances I have been giving. Its just that managing two blogs seems quite hard and am giving more attention to the other fellow..Sorry to The Chef. Please do not get angry. I promise to give attention to you too.

  Well, over the New Years, we as a family decided to have more of vegetarian meals. Okay, I made the decision and husband and kids welcomed it with glee. You heard me right. With glee. What? Aren't we Mangy's who love dukra maas and sannas with toddy?? Oh yes we are, but somehow I have children who are more of the Bangy kind, mosaru ana(curd rice) lovers!! They absolutely love veggies. But being the mangy I am, I never mastered the art of cooking exotic vegetarian dishes.

  So when the kilos in me started piling up, thanks to expat life and non availability of a lot of Indian food, we resorted to eating meat everyday. Being the lazy woman I am who hates to exercise, I thought it is now or never. High time to make some changes in our food would be the first step. Which meant, I had to put in more effort to searching recipes and bring about a change in our cuisine. It has been a month, and am happy to report(that I have lost a kilo without exercising..:D) that the change has been good and the family has been relishing the meals. And we do have our share of non vegetarian meals, thrice a week.

 Michelle, a fellow Mangalorean with an awesome food blog, blogged this recipe last week. Chick peas is an all time favorite with the family. I generally prepare it with bafath powder, seasoned with oil, mustard, curry leaves, onions and coconut(this was my own recipe). Her recipe looked tempting enough to try, and here's how it goes...

• 500 gm chick peas, boiled
• 1 large onion, diced fine
• 250gm chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

For the masala powder:

• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 inch piece cinnamon
• 3 whole cloves
• 4 green cardamom
• 1 tsp whole black pepper
• 2 dried long red chillies
• 1 big dried bay leaf

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight. 
2. Boil them in a pressure cooker till soft and keep aside.
3. Put all the spices on a tawa and roast them well, stirring constantly.
4. Powder them fine in a mixer. 
5. In a kadhai, heat oil and cook the onion till color changes. Add the ginger garlic paste and continue to fry for another minute.
6. Add the tomatoes to the mixture and cook well till the onion and tomatoes become a thick paste.
7. Add the ground spice powder, bay leaf and salt to taste. Cook on a slow flame, stirring for about 10-15  minutes, until the masala is fairly dry.
8. Add the chickpeas along with the water and stir together gently. Simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot with roti or rice.

Michelle, looks like the bafath powder is going to have to take a backseat for a while. The Chole with the blend of spices was perfect to beat the winter blues. 

Scrambled Cottage Cheese.

Didn't mean to do this post, but the plate looks colourful, so I thought let me proceed. Hubby declared yesterday that henceforth he would like to come home for lunch( I think the german potatoes in the cafeteria got to him). I was very glad cause it meant the kids and I would have an hour to chit chat with him and spend time during lunch. He assumed that it would be burdensome for me if he came home. I would not say that, but i do have to alter my schedule now. More so because the kids and I would manage lunch with a quick made meal than an elaborate one. So the more time i spent in the kitchen would be for dinner.

             Today being day 1, I got to working. I made a simple Indian meal for him which the entire family relished. Chapati's with egg korma, spicy chick peas(kabuli channa) and scrambled cottage cheese(paneer burji).

The first time I got cottage cheese from the market in Lohr was in February. I proceeded to cook it and upon tasting it had this horrible sour taste. The kids refused to eat it and so it was goodbye to cottage cheese. I later came to know that it is made from goats milk but have no clue as to why it is sour. Now the dumbo in me had forgotten that in India i used to make paneer at home. I came to realise it only yesterday when the milk had spoilt(thank goodness, it means the weather has gotten warm) and voila it was flashback for me to my  paneer making days.

         Here's how it goes. Add fresh milk(however much you like) to the spoilt milk and keep it for 24 hours. Then bring it to a very good boil. Strain onto a muslin cloth and tie it up tight so as to drain the whey completely. When done, it is reduced to a lump of cottage cheese. Cut it into cubes or scramble it if you like. Since I did not intend to do a posting, I have no pictures.

Finally here's how the scrambled cottage cheese goes....Chop an onion, capsicum, and tomato. Heat oil in a shallow pan. Drop the chopped veggies along with the cottage cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low flame till done. Serve hot with chapatis.


  

Vegetables in Spicy Garlic Butter.

Ingredients :

• 200 gm mushroom
• 200 gm broccoli
• 200 gm baby corn
• 2 red or yellow capsicum
• 1/2 cup minced garlic
• 1 tbsp pepper freshly ground
• 3 tbsp butter
• salt to taste

Method :-

1. Combine garlic, pepper, salt and butter. Beat well and set aside to infuse.
2. Wash vegetables and cut into bite sized pieces.
3. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Stir in 1 tbsp salt. Add baby corn, cook for 1 minute, strain and set aside. Blanch broccoli in the same water, strain.
4. Toss vegetables in the butter mixture and bake, steam or microwave for 5-7 minutests till crunchy but cooked.
5. Serve with grilled chicken and Mini Jacket potatoes(to be posted later)

Vegetable Lasagne.

What do you cook on a day you are thoroughly disappointed with the way life is going and are in absolute no mood to cook in the kitchen and yet you have a hungry family waiting for dinner!!! Cook LASAGNE!!!!!!!!!! Yup, just because I was disappointed, didn't mean that the family would compromise on dinner. I have never eaten lasagne before, so i do not know how is it supposed to taste!! Nevertheless, the family did relish what I made and for once the kids devoured their dinner in a jiffy!!! The recipe is from the GOOD HOUSEKEEPING magazine. The only change I made was to replace minced meat with broccoli ...

Ingredients :
For the bolognese sauce :

• 1 tbsp olice oil
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 3 medium carrots finely chopped
• 1 celery stick finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 200 gms broccoli chopped
• 500 gms button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 and quarter vegetable stock(use stock cubes)
• 5-6 tomatoes chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

For the bechamel sauce :

• 2 and a half cups milk
• 1/2 small onion
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 and a half tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp maida
• pinch of grated nutmeg
• Lasagne sheets
• Grated Parmesan cheese( as much as you want)

Method :

1. Make the bolognese sauce : Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add chopped onion, carrot, broccoli, celery and garlic and cook for 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry for 1 minute.
2. Stir in stock, tomatoes, puree and oregano. Season with salt and fresh black pepper. Bring to boil, cover and turn the heat down low and simmer gently till veggies are tender and sauce is well reduced. Check seasoning and stir in parsley.
3. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Make the bechamel sauce : Pour the milk into a small pan and add the onion, pepper and bay leaf. Bring almost to boil, then remove from heat and infuse for 10 minutes. Strain, reserving the infused milk and discarding the onion, pepper and leaf.

      4. Melt butter in a pan; add maida carefully over low heat, bit by bit, stirring to avoid lumps. Cook stirringfor 2 minutes until the mix is bubbling but not coloured. Remove from heat. Gradually pour in the   reserved  milk, stirring constantly. Return to heat and cook, stirring until sauce is thickened and smooth.  Stir in the nutmeg.

     5. Spoon a third of the bolognese sauce into the base of a greased baking dish. Cover with lasagne sheets, then a layer of bechamel sauce. repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of bechamel sauce to cover the top completely. Grate the Parmesan cheese over.

       6.Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and bubbling. Keep aside for a few minutes to allow it to cool before you portion it. Serve with a salad of mixed leaves and finely sliced spring onion, if you like.