Good Bye 2009 with Chinese Fried Rice and Hot & Sour Cabbage

I had never tried Chinese cooking yet. This was my first attempt using Vinegar and Soysauce. I realised its so easy and quick. Just stir fry the veggies a bit, do not ovecook them, mix in the sauces and its ready. We bid 2009 a farewell with some Chinese food. I made some Hot and Sour Cabbage and Fried Rice.


Hot and Sour Cabbage -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup thinly shredded cabbage lengthwise
2) 1/2 cup carrots shredded lengthwise
3) 1 capsicum chopped vertically
4) 3-4 green chillies chopped
5) 3 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
6) 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
7) 2 tsp Vinegar
8) 3 tbsp cornflour dissolved in water
9) Salt and Black Pepper to taste
10)2 sprigs of Spring Onion chopped finely
11)Oil
Method -
1) Heat oil in a non stick skillet and add the carrots. Stir fry them on high flame.
2) Add the cabbage, capsicum and green chillies. Mix well and keep stirring them. Cook the veggies on high flame and for a very short time so that they the veggies does not loose the nutrients in them.
3) Add salt and black pepper and stir. Turn off the flame.
4) Now, heat another non-stick pan and add the tomato sauce, say sauce and the cornflour mixture and give it a quick stir. Turn off the flame. It will thicken and form a paste. Add this to the veggies and mix well.
My veggies are a little overcooked. It was a bit mushy but tasted great.


Chinese Fried Rice -
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups cooked rice
2) 1 small onion chopped finely
3) 1 cup Carrots + Green Beans finely chopped
4) 2 tbsp soy sauce
5) Salt to taste
6) Oil
Method -
1) Heat oil in a wide skillet and saute the onions till translucent.
2) Add the veggies and stir fry them for 2 minutes on a high flame. Do not overcook them.
3) Add rice, salt and soy sauce to it. Mix well. Turn off the flame.
4) Garnish it with the spring Onions.
Serve hot with Hot & Sour Cabbage.
Enjoy!!!

I am glad, I have posted 15 new recipes and stood up to my resolution of posting 1 new recipe everyday. Although i could not post everyday but i did complete the 15 recipes countdown. Now, its another New Year and ofcourse there would be new resolutions.
WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

Dal Makhani

Dal Makhani is a North Indian dish served mostly in Indian restaurants. It is made up of whole urad dal and kidney beans so it is rich in proteins. Now, this is a simpler and a healthier version of Dal Makhani using less oil. I am sure you all would love it. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup whole urad dal
2) 2 tbsp kidney beans
3) 4-5 Green chillies
4) 1 medium onion finely chopped
5) 1 tomato finely chopped
6) 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
7) 1 tbsp Cumin-Coriander powder
8) 1 tsp Garam Masala
9) 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
10)Red Chilli powder to taste
11)2 tbsp Yogurt well beaten
12)1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
13)Oil
14)Salt to taste
15)Cilantro chopped for garnishing
Method -
1) Soak the dals overnight in about 3 cups of water.
2) To the dals add, onions, garam masala, green chillies, turmeric powder, cumin-coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder and salt. Pressure cook the dals until 3-4 whistles. Turn off the flame and let the pressure release on its own.
3) Open the cooker and stir the dals. Check whether they are porperly cooked. Now, put it one low flame and bring it to a boil.
4) Add the yogurt and mix well. Allow it to cook of low flame.
5) In a small skillet heat 1 tbsp oil and add the cumin seeds.
6) Once they crackle add the tomatoes and saute them a little. Do not overcook them.
7) Mix them in the dal.
8) Garnish it with cilantro and serve hot.
Serve with hot chapatis or rice. Enjoy!!

Methiche Mutke

Methiche Mutke can be a nice tea time snack. Its very easy and quick to make with very few ingredients. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups methi(Fenugreek) washed and chopped finely
2) 3 cups Coarse Wheat Flour
3) 1 tbspn garlic-green chillies paste
4) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
5) 1 tbsp sesame seeds
6) Salt to taste
7) 2-3 tbspn Oil
8) 2 tsp water
Method -
1) Mix all the ingredients together and knead them to form a dough with very less water.
2) Apply little oil on your palms and make small mutkes with the dough. Roll a small amount of dough in your palm and then make it flat like a pattice oval shaped. Repeat with the remaining dough.
3) Heat little oil in a pan and shallow them from both the sides.
4) Serve hot.
You can also bake them. The first time I made these, I had baked them in the oven and they were perfect. By shallow frying it, it needs to be cooked a little more from the inside. These were a little half cooked. Also, you need a little more oil than it is needed for baking.
Bake them at around 200 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes from both the sides.

Christmas Desert - Falooda

I made this as a dessert on Christmas Eve. It tasted great and its so easy to make. It can also be made as a make ahead desert. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups milk (I used 2% but would work best if use whole milk)
2) 5 tbsp Rose Syrup (Easily available in any Indian stores)
3) 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
4) 1/2 tsp Basil seeds or Tukmaria (Bought from Indian stores)
5) A handful of store bought Falooda Sev
6) a pinch of cardamom powder
7) Sliced pistachios for garnishing
8) Any flavoured icecream - Vanilla, Strawberry, Kesar Pista. I used a Falooda flavoured icecream
Method -
1) Soak the basil seeds in water for about half an hour. The longer the better.
2) Boil around 2 cups of water in a skillet. Add the Falooda sev and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Strain it.
3) Boil 2 cups of milk in a skillet. Once the milk is boiled add the rose syrup, cardamom powder, Falooda sev and sugar. Mix it well and refrigerate for around 3 hours.
4) While serving, add around 1 cup of Icecream in the milk and mix it well. Let it melt. At this time also add the basil seeds.
5) In the serving glass, add 2 scoops of icecream and pour the milk over it filling the glass. Garnish with sliced pistachios.
Dig in it and Enjoy!!

Sandge

Sandge are small moong dal dumplings. They are made by soaking split moong dal overnight. Then grinding it coarsely with ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, cilantro and salt. Grease a plate with very little oil and keep it ready. Take little batter in your fist and drop small dumplings of batter with your thumb on the grease plate. They are sun dried for around 4-5 days till they become hard as shown in the picture. In India, it can be easily dried on the roofs or terraces. Store them in an air tight container. I have stocked this in my pantry here. It tastes good when you cook them with onions and other spices and can be served with rotis. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup sandge
2) 2 cups warm water
3) 1 small onion chopped finely
4) 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder for the seasoning
5) 1 tbsp Kolhapuri Masala (You can use red chilli powder)
6) 2-3 garlic cloves chopped finely
7) 1 inch ginger grated
8) Salt to taste
9) Oil
10)Freshly chopped cilantro for garnishing
Method -
1) Dry roast the sandge in a pan till they start turning little red. Keep aside.
2) In a skillet heat oil and do the seasoning.
3) Add onions and saute till they turn light brown.
4) Add the garlic at this point. Saute for a minute and add the grated ginger.
5) Add the roasted sandge. Mix well. Add salt and red chilli powder. Cover and cook the sandge.
6) Garnish it with cilantro and serve hot with chapatis.

Palak Mushroom Tikkis

I saw this recipe on an Indian cookery show. I knew spinach with mushrooms is a great combination and decided to give it a try. They were quick and tasted great.
Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup spinach chopped finely
2) 1 cup boiled mushrooms
3) 1 cup wheat flour
4) 1 cup besan.chick pea flour
5) 1 cup peanut powder
6) 1 tspn ginger-garlic-green chillies paste
7) Salt to taste
8) Lemon juice
9) 2 tspn water
10)Oil for frying
11)1 tspn rice flour
12)1 tspn rava/sooji/semolina
Method -
1) Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except oil, rava and rice flour and knead them into a dough.
2) Use very little water to mix these as the mushrooms and spinach itself loose some water.
3) Take a small portion of the dough (a size smaller than a golf ball) and make round tikkis. Repeat this with the remaining dough.
4) Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan.
5) In the meantime mix the rice flour and rava together. Coat the tikkis in this mixture and shallow fry them from both the sides.
6) Garnish it with shredded coconut and cilantro. Serve it eith ketchup or chutney.

Pithale

Pithale is an all time favourite food in Maharashtrian cuisine. Its comforting and in this cold weather it tastes just awesome. It is traditionally served with "bhakri", a flat bread made of jowar flour. I had it with chapati and rice. It also tastes great with rice. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1/2 cup besan or chickpea flour
2) 3 cups Water
3) mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder for seasoning
4) 2 tbsnp red chilli powder divided
5) 1 small onion chopped finely
6) Salt to taste
7) Lime juice to taste
8) Freshly chopped cilantro
9) Oil
Method -
1) Take the besan in a mixing bowl. Add water and mix it properly. Avoid forming lumps. Add salt and red chilli powder. Mix it well. Keep aside.
2) In another bowl, mix the chopped onions, cilantro, 1 tbspn red chilli powder, salt to taste and lemon juice.

3) Heat oil in a kadhai and do the seasoning. Add the besan mixture and keep stirring until its cooked. It should form a custard like consistency.
4) While serving, add a spoonful of the onion mixture over the pithale.
5) Serve it with bhakri, chapati or even plain rice.