We live in the 21st century and we need or have got habitual to instant things. We need instant food, we need everything automatic and machine operated. Microwave is one of them. It is a great great appliance in the kitchen and we are just handicapped without it.
I made Instant Rava Idlis in microwave. They were made just in 4 minutes. My mother-in-law sent me the microwave idli maker and i loved it. Thank-You so much. Its been a life saver. My husband loves Idlis and now I can make them whenever i can without fermenting the batter.
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups Rava/Sooji/Semolina
2) Oil
3) 1 tspn mustard seed
4) a pinch of asafoetida
5) 1-2 dry whole red chillies
6) 1 tspn chana dal
7) 1 tspn urad dal
1) 1 cup yogurt well beaten
2) 4-5 curry leaves
3) 2-3 green chillies chopped finely
4) 1 inch ginger grated
5) Salt to taste
6) 1 cup water
7) A handful of cilantro
8) 2 tspn ENO or Fruit Salt
9) Thinly sliced tomato and cilantro for garnishing
Method -
1) Heat oil in a wide skillet and do the seasoning. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, red chillies, chana dal and urad dal. Add the rava and mix well. Roast the rava nicely until it start changing its colour.
2) Meanwhile coat the Idli trays with oil and keep aside.
3) Turn off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.
4) Take the yogurt in a bowl and add all the other ingredients to it except ENO. Mix well.
5) Add this mixture to the Rava and mix it well.
6) Add water little at a time and keep mixing it without forming any lumps. Rest the batter for 10-15 minutes.
7) Add ENO at the last minute and mix well. The mixture should foam up. This step is important as we are not fermenting the batter. Adding ENO takes care of that.
8) Pour little batter in the Idli trays and put them in the mocrowave on high for 4 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes and then remove.
Serve hot Idlis with sambar and coconut chutney.
I kept a thin slice of tomato and a coriander leaf in the idli trays before pouring the batter. Its looks nice and attractive.
Enjoy!!!
Chicken Kadhai, one of my husband's favourite dish. He orders this everytime when we go to any Indian restaurant. I made this at home yesterday and it turned out delicious. A very very easy and a quick recipe. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 pound chicken
2) 2 medium onions sliced lengthwise
3) 3-4 garlic cloves
4) 2 inch ginger
5) 3-4 green chillies
6) 3 medium tomatoes
7) 2-3 dry red chillies
8) 3-4 peppercons
9) 1 tspn turmeric powder
10) 1 tbspn cumin-coriander powder
11)Salt to taste and Ghee
Method -
1) Wash chicken pieces nicely and marinate it with turmeric powder and salt for 2 hours. Its always best to marinate it for a longer time. The longer you marinate the quicker the chicken cooks.
2) Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies to a fine paste.
3) Puree the tomatoes along with peppercons, cumin-coriander powder and dry red chillies.
4) Heat ghee in a skillet and put in the chicken pieces. Fry the pieces for a couple of minutes. Remove them.
4) In the same ghee, fry the onions till they become translucent.
5) Add the ginger-garlic-green chilli paste and saute for a minute.
6) Now, add the tomato puree and saute for a couple of minutes.
7) Add the chicken pieces. Mix well and add 1 cup of water. Adjust the salt at this time.
8) Cover and cook the chicken until its tender.
9) Garnish it with coriander and serve hot with chapatis or rice.
Enjoy!!!
This dal tastes awesomely delicious and is a nice variation to the usual Toor Dal. Its spicy, tangy and flavourful. I also like to have it simply as a soup. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup Toor Dal washed
2) 1/4 cup peanuts
3) 1/2 tspn turmeric powder
4) 1/2 tspn chilli powder or to taste
5) 1 tspn cumin-coriander powder
6) 1 tspn Garam Masala
7) 3-4 Kokum
8) 1 tspn Amchur Powder
9) 2 green chillies finely chopped
10) 1 inch ginger grated
11)1 medium Tomato diced
12)Jaggery to taste
13)Lemon Juice to taste
14)Salt to taste
For the seasoning -
1) 1 tspn Oil
2) 1/2 tspn mustard seeds and Cumin seeds each
3) A pinch of asafoetida
4) 5-6 curry leaves
5) 2-3 cloves
6) 1 small cinnamon stick
7) 1 dry red chilli
Method -
1) Pressure cook the toor dal with peanuts, salt, turmeric powder with enough water. Make 3-4 whistles and let the pressure go down.
2) Transfer the dal to a skillet and add all the dry powders, kokum, tomato, green chillies, ginger and jaggery. Add around 2 cups of water and let it boil.
3) Now, heat oil in a small skillet and do the seasoning.
4) Add this seasoning to the boiling dal.
5) Mix well and check salt at this point. Adjust salt and water according to your taste and allow it to boil nicely.
6) Add enough water as Toor Dal has a tendency to absorb the water and thicken. This dal should be more watery.
7) Garnish it with cilantro.
Enjoy!!!
Guacamole, used in Mexican recipes is made up of ripe Avacados. My friend makes this Indian style. I loved it when I tasted. Since,now I have developed a taste for Avacados, I use them in my cooking very often. I decided to make this Guacamole and I loved it. You can use it as a dip or as a bread spread or as a chutney. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 ripe Avacado
2) about 1 inch ginger
3) 3-4 green chillies
4) Lemon juice and salt to taste
Method -
Cut the Avacado into 2 parts. Remove the seed and scoop out the pulp. Mash it. Grind the ginger and green chillies to a smooth paste and add this paste to the pulp. Add salt and squeeze in the lemon juice. Mash it well once again and Guacamole is ready.
Enjoy!!
We both love South Indian food, Dosas being are favourite. How can I forget the famous Vaishali restaurant on F.C Road in Pune, India. I have not had authentic dosas anywhere else specially the sambar.
For making dosas you need to plan ahead as it requires grinding the soaked dals and fermenting the batter. For us dosas are always a feast. I usually make the batter and store it as it lasts for almost 8-10 days in the refrigerator. With the same batter, I make idlis and uttapams too. So, if you have the batter ready, you have so many options with it.
My husband likes dosas but he needs everything (sambar, ccoconut chutney and potato sabji) with it. Thats why I call it a Feast.
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup urad dal
2) 2 cups rice
3) Salt to taste
Method -
1) Soak the dals seperately for around 6-8 hours or over midnight.
2) Grind them seperately with as much water required.
3) Mix both of them well in a bowl. Add salt and as much water requied. It should be of pancake consistency. It shouldn't be thick and too thin. Remember, you should be able to pour it easily. Keep it covered and allow it to ferment for almost midnight or 8-10 hours. I know, this takes time but as I told you before, this should be planned a couple of days in hand.
4) Heat a griddle/pan. Pour a laddle ful of batter on the pan and spread it roundly over the pan.
5) Put few drops of oil on the sides of the dosa.
6) Let it cook till it is slightly brown and then flip it over.
7) Cook it for a minute and serve it hot with chutney and sambar.
I love to include salads in my meals. Recently I tried Avacados and i simply loved this fruit. Avacado, is a fruit similar to a pear in shape but has a large oval shaped seed inside. It also has a proper way of cutting this fruit. These are grown in Mexico and the famous Guacamoule used in Mexican food is made from Avacados.
I tried this salad giving it an Indian touch to it and we loved it. It can also be served as a side dish.
For selecting Avacados and to check if they are ripe, press it slowly with your thumb and if it gets pressed softly, its ripe and ready to use.
You would need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 Avacado peeled and cut into pieces.
2) 1 small tomato chopped finely
3) 1 small onion chopped finely
4) 2-3 springs of sping onion chopped finely
5) 2 green chillies chopped finely
6) A bunch of cilantro to garnish
7) Salt, black pepper and cumin-coriander powder to taste
Method -
Add all the ingredients except the Avacados to a mixing bowl and mix well. Add Avacados and just give them a quick mix. This prevents them from smashing.
This salad is healthy and nutritious and now i have Avacados regularly in my pantry!
Lasunachi Chutney and Bhakri(a flat bread made of jowar flour) is a staple diet of the farmers in Maharashtra, India. The rural people of Maharashtra are simple and they eat food which is also simple. After the hard working day in the sun, they look forward to this lunch which is Jowar Bhakri, Lasanachi Chutney and a couple of onions smashed with a fist. And with this they are all set to work again in the fields.
Lasun Chutney can also be eaten in various forms. I like it to spread over bread with some butter. It can be eaten simply as a condiment with the meal. Some also like to add a teaspoon of yogurt in the chutney and have it with chapati.
I usually make this chutney and store it in an air tight container. This lasts for almost a week or 10 days. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 8-10 garlic cloves
2) 1/4 cup peanuts
3) 1/2 cup dry shredded coconut
4) 1 tspn red chilli powder. (I had some chilli flakes so I used those instead)
5) Salt
Method -
1) Heat a pan and dry roast the cloves, coconut and peanuts seperately.
2) Put all the ingredients in the grinder. Add red chilli powder and salt to taste. And grind it.
Chutney is ready!!
We live in the 21st century and we need or have got habitual to instant things. We need instant food, we need everything automatic and machine operated. Microwave is one of them. It is a great great appliance in the kitchen and we are just handicapped without it. 
