Tiffin Sambar

They say that (having) money takes away your peace of mind. The cycle of making more and maintaining what you have, is sure a strain on the mind as well as the body.

If the above is true, you are looking at a very peaceful person, with absolutely no strain whatsoever in body and mind.

We made our payments to the builder, including the huge extra amount he asked us to dish out at the very last minute. And that sure has squeezed us dry.  Well, I guess our builder needs the money to continue sponsoring the cricket league matches here!

So, instead of getting our kitchen and interiors designed, me and my husband are totally relaxed, not even bothering to check up kitchen designs online. If we were getting our kitchen done, I would either be hunting for an architect/decorator or searching for designs online now.

Blogging would have definitely taken a back seat and all the energy would be in  the interior design. I don’t think I would have been able to write about or enjoy  small things in life, like this tiffin sambar.

Yeah, they are right. Not having money, does bring peace of mind of its own :-).

Ingredients:

• Moong dal                     :       1/2 cup, cooked
• Onion                              :       1 medium, chopped
• Tomato                          :       1 medium, chopped
• Tamarind paste          :       1/2 tbsp (optional)
• Sambar powder          :       1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder      :       1/2 tsp
• Water                              :       2 -3 cups
• Salt

Tempering

• Mustard seeds            :        1 tsp
• Methi seeds                 :         1 tsp
• Curry leaves               :          5-6 leaves
• Pearl onions                :          3-4, sliced
• Oil/Ghee

Method:

1. Mash the cooked dal and keep aside.
2. Heat one tbsp oil in a pan and saute the onions. When they are turn pink, add the tomatoes and cook till they are mushy.
3. Dilute the tamarind paste in a cup of water and add the sambar powder and mix to ensure there aren’t any dry lumps.
4. Add this to the tomatoes and onions. Add one more cup of water and let it come to a boil. Let it cook for about 5-8 minutes, until the ‘raw’ smell of tamarind goes away.
5. Now add the mashed dal and salt and let it come to a boil again. Cook for a further 5 minutes, till the sambar is thick. Check the seasonings and adjusting it. Add some more water and cook for some  more time,  if the sambar is too thick. Take off the heat and keep aside.
6. For tempering the sambar, heat the oil or ghee in a small kadai. Add the mustard seeds and once it splutters, add the methi seeds and curry leaves. When the seeds become darker, add the sliced pearl onions and saute till brown. Add this to the sambar.
7. This sambar goes well with all South Indian tiffin items.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon, Cook By Alphabets theme – the letter ‘T’
• The Kerala Kitchen, hosted this month by Ramya’s Recipes
• My Legume Love Affair #46

Sponge Cake with Glazed Cherries

Ideal : Get up in the morning, looking fresh and beautiful, like they do in the movies.

• Real : The first thing you hear at dawn, is your terrorized kiddo screaming – cause he got scared just by looking at your morning face.

Ideal : Happy family getting inside the AC car, going for long drives, smiling at each other all the times- like they show in the ads.

• Real : Car broken down in the middle of the road at 12 noon. All of us in a pool of sweat, bickering at each other and cursing the sun for the burning heat.

Ideal : New apartment at a relative’s place. The lift door opens and you see the aesthetically designed swimming pool. The view is design to have a calm, soothing effect as you enter the apartment.

• Real : The lift door opens, you see a fat, hairy man with a belly in swimming trunks, trying to float in the water. It does make me laugh out aloud when I think of the way its meant to be, and the way things work out.

Ideal : Bake a beautiful sponge cake, with cherries in it. Have a piece of it with your loved ones, making small talk and enjoying the time spent together.

• Real : Bake the cake, give it as a gift. And worry endlessly whether it turned out to be good or not. Blame the host for not cutting a piece and giving it to you, never mind that they had a hundred other things to do.

The ‘real’ picture is not so glossy at times. But you got to agree that it keeps life interesting :).

Recipe Source : The Book of Baking, by Thangam Philip

Ingredients:

• Flour                                                      :      230 gm
• Baking Powder                                  :      1 tsp
• Salt                                                         :      a pinch
• Butter                                                    :       170 gm
• Sugar                                                      :       170 gm
• Eggs                                                        :       4
• Glazed Cherries                                  :       100 gm
• Milk                                                         :       1-2 tbsp
• Vanilla Essence                                   :      1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175 C/350 F. Grease a 9″ round cake pan.
2. Wash the cherries clean and pat them dry in a kitchen towel. Quarter them.
3. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs,one by one, and beat well after each addition.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate pan.
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet to get a batter of dropping consistency.  Add a tablespoon or two of milk if the batter is too thick.
6. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes free of crumbs.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #15, Cook by Alphabets – Under ‘S’
• I Love Baking @ Tickling Palates
• Bake Fest, hosted by Sumee’s Culinary

Ridge Gourd (Peerkanga) Chutney (Thogayal)

Blogging has introduced many new dishes in our dining table. It has made me open to trying a lot of vegetables too, which I have never tried before. I have never made anything with Ridge gourd before, until I saw this post from Valli.

But ever since the vegetable caught my attention, its in the monthly menu regularly. Why, its even there in my brother’s  shopping list now.

So thanks to blogging and thanks to all the bloggers there, who make cooking really interesting!

Ingredients:

• Ridge gourd                 :     1 small
• Garlic                              :     3-4 pods
• Red chilies                    :     3-4, per taste
• Urad dal                         :      1 tbsp
• Bengal Gram dal         :      1 tbsp
• Salt
• Oil

Method:

1. Wash the ridge gourd and peel only the sharp edges of ridge gourd. Don’t skin them completely.
2. Discard the sharp edges and chop the ridge gourd into 1″ pieces.
3. Heat one tsp oil in a kadai, add all the ingredients. Saute for a minute or two. Cover and cook for about five minutes or until ridge gourd is cooked. You might have to add 1-2 tbsp of water to help with the cooking.
4. When ridge gourd is cooked completely, take off the heat and let it cool. Add salt and grind in the mixer to a semi coarse chutney.
5. Serve with rice.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #15, Cooking by Alphabets. ‘R’ for Day 2.

Carrot Raisin Rolls

When my elder brother got a job and moved out of our house, it was a big change in our lives. Everyone at home would look forward to his bimonthly visits. We all would have a nice time together for 3-4 days.

But we all used to hate the day of his return travel. Not for sentimental reasons. The thing is, my big brother (to this day) is a last minute-r. He would start packing late and would rush out of the house at the last possible minute. Many a times, we have received a call from the bus travel agency, informing us that they are holding the bus for him.

His things would somehow have been scattered all around the house and we would be running in all possible directions to collect them for him. Its a huge sigh of relief when he actually boards the bus and leaves the place. Our BP level would be back to normal then.

This month’s Magic Mingle entry too did the same to me. I had enough and more time to prepare, I just didn’t. So I was rushing around at the last possible minute to send across my entry. I already have a Carrot Raisin Salad in the blog, so I thought I will make a different version of it. I made some Carrot Raisin Uthappam too, but that’s for posting some other time.

Ingredients:

• Chapati                                       :          1
• Carrot                                         :           1/2 of a small carrot
• Raisins                                        :           a handful
• Cream cheese/Sandwich spread/Jam :           1 -2 tsp

Method:

1. Grate the carrot and mix with the raisins. I had some left over crumbled paneer, I added that too to the filling.
2. Spread the sandwich spread or jam on the chapati. Fill with the carrot filling and make a roll out of it.
3. Cut into small rounds or serve the roll as such.

Linked to:

• Magic Mingle

Welcome back, Black and White Wednesday :)

We missed you!

Linked to:

• Black and Wednesdays

MW Chocolate Mug Cake

I believe that sometimes ignorance is a bliss. Life is really uncomplicated and things just happen without you being affected by it.

Like yesterday.

I was sitting on the floor and reading something, when the wall I was leaning on, gave a small shake. All I thought was, honestly, that it was my tummy growling! It was, after all, past lunch time and I hadn’t had my fill then.

The simple me came out, was about to have my lunch when the phone call from hubby came.

‘I am fine. Are you fine? Is the kiddo fine? Where are you now?’ Non stop questions from the other end.

And my answer was,’My tummy made such a big noise that my whole body shook for a second!’.

That’s the precise moment, when I realized that ignorance, though a bliss, can sound pretty stupid too at times. That is also the precise moment in which ignorance and stupidity, which were protecting me until then, gave way to pure terror.

Thank god, everything was fine. Thank god no one is shedding tears over their life, family or property because of the earthquake.

And thank god, the tremor in my tummy stopped!

For this month’s Blog Hop Wednesday, I am paired with Charul Ajmera of Tadka Masala. I made this addictive MW Chocolate Mug Cake from her space, and by addictive, I mean I have made it four times by now! The cake is moist and tastes divine. I added a spoon more of sugar to suit my taste.

Ingredients:

• All purpose Flour           :      3 tbsp
• Powdered Sugar             :      3 tbsp (+1-2 tsp extra, if you like it really sweet)
• Oil/Melted Butter          :      3 tbsp
• Grated chocolate            :      3 tbsp (optional)
• Milk                                      :      3 tbsp
• Cocoa Powder                  :      1 tbsp
• Hide n Seek Biscuits      :      1 – 2
• Baking powder                 :      1/4 tsp

Method:

1. In a microwave proof cup or bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix thoroughly to ensure that there are no dry lumps.
2. Crush one or two Oreo/Hide n Seek or any chocolate biscuit by hand and add to the flour mix.
3. Add the milk, oil and 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence (optional). Mix well to get a smooth cake batter.
4. Add a tbsp of grated chocolate on top. Microwave in full power for one minute. Do a skewer test (I used a knife) and if the center is dry, then take off the MW. Else cook for another 30 sec, or until done. Mine was done in the first minute itself.
5. Let the cake stand in the MW for a minute and serve with some grated chocolate on top.

Linked to:

• Blog Hop Wednesdays
• Microwave Easy Cooking, hosted this month by Nalini’s Kitchen

Qabooli Pulao

I have no idea where to start this post. The mind is still in a frozen state, not sure whether to be happy about our apartment or just go on worrying about it. The thing is, we received the raw end of the deal – a deal which should have been exciting and fantastic for us.

I think its time to actually leave all the thoughts – positive, negative and neutral, behind and just move on with the flow. The flow of life, that takes decisions for us, when we are unable to do so. That makes life easy for us. That brings back the smile to our face, even when things look really forlorn.

That teaches us to be grateful for what we have, and not to forget about those people, whose struggle in life is a hundred times harder than ours.

Yes, I am grateful. For everything about my life.

Time for Blogging Marathon again and this time I have chosen the theme – Cook by Alphabets. Instead of choosing an easy series from ‘A to G’, I have chosen to start with a dish with ‘Q’ and end with ‘W’, the sole reason behind this weird choice is that I had a recipe draft which started with ‘W’!

I came across this Qabooli Pulao in a recipe book by Sanjeev Kapoor. I saw this at a friend’s place and just noted the measurements and the method.

Ingredients:

• Rice                                  :   1 1/2 cups
• Bengal gram                  :   1/2 cup
• Salt
• Green Cardamoms     :   4-5
• Cinnamon sticks         :  two 1″pieces
• cloves                              :  4-5
• Turmeric Powder      : 1/2 tsp
• Oil                                     : 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste    : 1/2 tbsp
• Green chilies                : 2-3, chopped
• Onions                            : 4 -5
• Coriander                      : 1 tbsp, chopped
• Yogurt                            : 1 cup
• Mint                                 : about 10 leaves
• Lemon Juice                 : 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak rice for half an hour. Boil in 3 cups of water with salt and 2 green cardamoms, cinnamon sticks, and cloves, until done. Drain and keep aside.
2. Soak Bengal gram for half an hour and cook in one cup of water with salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. The dal shouldn’t be over cooked.
3. Slice the onions. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and saute till brown. Remove half the amount and then add the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, green chilies and ginger garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the cooked dal, turmeric powder, coriander leaves and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat, add yogurt and mix.
5. To assemble: Layer the serving dish with half of the dal mix. Layer half of the rice on top of it and top it with sauteed onions, mint, saffron and lemon juice.
6. Top this again with the dal mix, followed by another layer of rice, onions and other toppings. As you can see, I started with the rice layer and so ended up with a dal layer!
7. Cover and cook for 20 minutes and serve hot.

Linked to

• Blogging Marathon #15, Cooking by Alphabets – Starting with ‘Q’
• My Legume Love Affair #46

Should we really shop, for food props?

I am guilty of indulging in shopping. Most of the times, I end up spending a lot on food props (not much now, you calm down after the initial sugar rush). And I find that I don’t use most of the items I purchase. I might use them in a couple of posts, but not more than that.

So now, I have stopped investing in props. What I have now, is plates and bowls that I use on a regular basis and that double up as props when needed. When I made a shift from plastic to china/glass for MW dishes, I bought white bowls, which now act as props too in the blog.

The plates, yes, I have bought a lot more than I need, just for the blog. So the house is full of single plates in different sizes and shapes, most of them useless too, I should add.

The things that I really do use, are the everyday spoons and trays – or old cups and plates, that were always lying around in the kitchen. Some of them came in the form of gifts, sitting idly all this time, but now getting used up finally.

The lesson learnt is that, you don’t have spend anything on props, instead start off with what you have. A bit of green (pudina, curry leaves, chilies or coriander leaves) or some chopped nuts (pista, almond, cashews) brings in a lot of color to the picture. A piece of fruit, a cup of coffee / black tea, a cloth napkin or adds as a good prop. I even use blouse piece materials as background/props.

So I thought I will just pin down the props that I used for the last Blogging Marathon posts, just to tell you (and me, mainly) that one needn’t spend a fortune in props.

You can click on the picture to navigate to the post.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

• Background :  The lattice wood work is actually is Carrom board turned upside down!
• Props
  • Cup of green tea – Part of an old set which came as a gift. Strategically placed to cover a spot in the board :D
  • Spoons – Everyday spoon
  • Bowl – Bone china MW safe bowl, cost me around Rs. 50/-. Gets used regularly in the Microwave.

Grrr…Where is the Tiger? DB Mar 2012 Challenge

Lets leave this, Shall We? No? Ok then.

• Background  : A table with unpolished plywood surface in our car park
• Props:
  • Bread Basket :  For my brother in law’s wedding, fruits were given to us in these cute baskets. I use bigger ones for storing onions and potatoes and have kept small ones for food photos
  • Yellow dry flowers:  My neighbor’s gift. She got these from Kodaikanal. Some pine cones and a beautiful flower bouquet also came from her.

Ammini Kozhukkattai

• Background :  The same table with unpolished plywood surface in our car park area. You are going to come across this table a lot!
• Props:
  • Spoon : This antique spoon (it is 30 years old!) was my friend’s. Not anymore, its mine now ;-)
  • Chilies and twine made of jute
  • Bowl/Plate used for the dumplings: MW safe white color bone china. Cost around Rs.80/- or so. Gets used regularly in the Microwave.
  • Ketchup : MW safe white color bone china. Around Rs.20/-. Shouldn’t have bought this, since I hardly use it.

Kuzhi Paniyaram

• Background : An old, sun-kissed table at my in-law’s place
• Props:
  • Vessel for Chutney       : An old aluminium pan, used for tadka
  • Vessel for the paniyarams: A shapeless bone china vessel, which came as a gift for Navaratri. LOVE it!
  • My son’s masterpiece :). Doesn’t cost a penny and makes me immensely proud!

Carrot Halwa

• Background : A green banana leaf. I paid 3/- rupees for this
• Props:
  • The bowl : Part of a very old gift set, being used only now
  • Ice cream spoon : My brother’s gift, Rs. 5/- a piece. Love this one a lot.

Corn Halwa

• Background : White color chart paper (Rs.4/-) on top of which an old white towel is laid
• Props:
  • Rectangle Plate : Bought for food photography. Awesome purchase. Cost around 250/- rupees.
  • The bowls : Part of an old set that came as a gift
  • Napkin : My mother in law bought a set of four, some 5 years back, at 5/- rupees a piece. I bought another four of these at 50/- a piece.
  • Dry yellow flowers: From my neighbor
  • Spoon : An old spoon, very useful for reaching those last pieces of pickle in the jar!
  • Leaf of a Money plant : Free of cost :)

Leftover Magic

• Background:  Again, its the same old table in our car park area.
• Props:
  • Green square plate : Bought for food photography. I have hardly used this anywhere else.
  • Napkin : Blouse piece that we get as a standard gift for the weddings
  • Mat : Bought four different mats just for food photography, but these are now used regularly. Around 70-80/- per piece.
  • Chutney Bowl : A light yellow tupperware bowl, without its lid
  • Fruit basket : Same as the one in Tiger Bread. Came as a gift for my BIL’s wedding.

Aval (Poha) Dosa

• Background: The same old, same old table in our car park!
• Props:
  • Regular utensils used for serving: Stainless steel plate, steel bowls for chutneys, cup and ‘davara’ for filter coffee.
  • News paper to add the touch of a breakfast
  • Chilies and curry leaves as garnish

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So lesson learnt by me: Don’t waste money in food props! Use the things that are available to you already.

But then….who listens!?

Until the next food prop shopping session…