Coconut Shavige/Coconut Sevai

Whenever akki shavige/rice noodles were prepared at home, my mom used to prepare two types of savory dishes out of it. I have blogged about the first one, shavige oggarane. Here comes the second, a mildly spiced akki shavige oggarane.

This dish is a little similar to tuppanna(Ghee Rice - recipe coming soon) & is a perfect dish for a festive day(Because it has no onion & garlic!!)

Serves: 3-4
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients:
Rice noodles: 200gms
Water: about 1.5 liters
Salt: As needed

For tempering:
Oil: 1.5 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2tsp
Urad dal: 2 tsp
Cashew nuts: 1 tbsp, slit (mom uses peanuts)
Green chilies: 4 nos, more or less (chopped)
Curry leaves: 2 strings, about 10-15 nos
Asafoetida: a big pinch
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup, fresh
Salt: as needed

Method:

• Cook the rice noodles as per the package instructions. Normally rice noodles is cooked in heavily salted boiling water for 3-4mins. When noodles become soft, turn off the heat & let the noodles sit in hot water for another minute.
• Drain the noodles & run the noodles under cold water. Break the noodles into manageable size.
• Prepare the tempering. Heat oil in a broad wok. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When seeds begin to pop, add urad dal & saute till the dal turns golden. Throw in the cashews & saute. 
• Add the curry leaves, green chilies. Let the curry leaves become crisp. 
• Add the asafoetida, grated coconut & saute the coconut until it leaves out a nice aroma (take care not to brown the coconut). Saute for a maximum of 1 min. 
• Finally add the cooked rice noodles, adjust the seasoning & mix well. 
• Turn off the heat. 
• Serve it warm with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

• Traditionally this dish is prepared using home made rice noodles/akki shavige. 
• For better results, try to use good quality fresh coconut. 
• Do not saute the coconut for  long !
• Cashew nuts could be replaced with peanuts. 

Broccoli ka kheema/Minced broccoli with Indian spices

These days, I am experimenting more with broccoli recipes with Indian spices. This is a very simple, subtle & a crunchy dish that goes well with rice. This is unlike the normal gobi kheema recipe that uses tomato puree. I make this often for weekday lunch. My son relishes this dish with some ghee & rice. I coined the name broccoli ka kheema, could not think of a better one :)

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5-7mins

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
Broccoli: 2 cups, shredded
Garlic: 3 pods, minced
Spice powder: 1.5 tsp (I used this spice powder. Infact you could use any spice powder of your choice)
Red chilli powder: 1/2tsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Nigella seeds/Kalonji: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Salt: According to taste
Lemon juice: 1 tsp, optional
Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Method:

• Shred the broccoli. I let my chopper do it for me!
• Heat oil in a broad skillet. When oil is hot, add kalonji & cumin seeds. When seeds leave out a nice aroma, add the garlic & saute till the garlic turns golden.
• Throw in the shredded broccoli & mix.
• Add the salt, spice powder, red chilli powder & cook it on a medium heat for 3-5mins. Keep stirring in between. 
• After the broccoli is cooked, increase the heat to high-medium & keep stirring continuously for 2-3mins. This step will ensure to remove all the moisture from the broccoli & make it crisp & crunchy.
• Turn off the heat. Add lemon juice & coriander leaves. Mix well & serve it as a side dish for rice.

Notes: 

• Do not get tempted to sprinkle water, we need this dish crunchy! 
• I have tried this dish with variety of spice powders including sambar powder. Some spice powders that could be tried are kitchen king masala, pulao masala, sambar powder, curry powder. 
• You could even mix the spice powder, oil, garlic, broccoli & roast it in the oven! I will try it next time & update the result here. 

Vegetable & Oats Porridge: For a healthier you

Here is the recipe for one of my usual morning breakfast. I make them for myself at least once a week.

Preparation time: 2-3mins

Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients: (Serves a hungry human!)

Quick cook oats: 3/4th cup

Mixed vegetables: 3/4th cup, shredded or finely chopped.

Water: 2 cups

Salt: a pinch, more or less

Pepper powder: a pinch

Parmesan cheese: 1 tsp, optional

Method:

In a saucepan, boil the water along with the shredded vegetables.When water starts boiling add the salt.

Throw in the oats & cook on a medium heat for 2-3mins.

Turn off the heat, add the pepper, Parmesan cheese & mix well.

Enjoy your porridge.

Notes:

• I have used vegetables like broccoli, carrot, french beans, cauliflower, potato to prepare this porridge. You could add any vegetable you have. Ensure to chop it really fine. If you could mince them, there is nothing like it!
• Oats are easily available in India too. I am not sure about the small towns, but in big cities, you will easily find them. 

Few other interesting savory oats porridge recipes could be found here.

Prathibha's savory oats porridge. I love this recipe of hers.

Raks kitchen: Oats savory porridge. Yet to try this. Will try soon. 

Mashed broccoli & cottage cheese/Broccoli-paneer burji

I love broccoli where as my family prefers to avoid it. Hence I try to hide this vegetable. One trick that always work for me is to mix it with the vegetable that they absolutely love. I tweaked the Paneer Burji recipe by adding loads of my favorite spices. This gets done very fast & is a great side dish for phulkas or plain paratha (whole wheat Indian bread).

Bland paneer & broccoli becomes very flavorful with this spice powder & tastes great.The spice powder mentioned below comes handy while preparing many dishes.

Ingredients:
Paneer/Indian cottage cheese: 1.5 cups, grated
Broccoli: 2 cups, shred
Green peas: a fistfsul, fresh or frozen (optional)
Oil: 1 tbsp
Garlic: 2 pods, minced
Onion: 1, med sized, finely chopped
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Kalonji/Nigella: 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp, optional
Spice powder: 1 tbsp, refer below for the ingredients.
Salt: According to taste
Lemon juice: 1/2 tsp, optional.
Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp, finely chopped

For spice powder:
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Amchur powder: a big pinch

Method: 
Spice powder:
Dry roast the fennel seeds, cumin seeds & coriander seeds. Allow them to cool. Make a fine powder of the dry roasted seeds. Scoop out the powder & mix the garam masala, red chili powder, amchur powder. Store this powder in a air-tight container. You could use this spice powder to make several types of stir-fry/sabzi or curry.

For burji:

• Wash the broccoli. Drain it in a kitchen towel & shred/grate the broccoli.
• Grate or mash the paneer. 
• Heat oil in a broad wok/pan. When oil is hot, add cumin seeds. When seeds turn golden brown, add kalonji. Saute for 10secs. Throw in the garlic & saute till garlic turn golden. 
• Add the onion & saute till the onions sweat (around 2-3 mins).
• Add the shred broccoli, green peas to the oil & saute for 2-3mins.
• Add the paneer, salt, spice powder, extra red chili powder & mix well. 
• Cook the mixture on a medium flame for 5-7mins. Turn off the heat.
• Add lemon juice, coriander leaves & mix.
• Serve it hot with a bread of your choice.

Notes:

The measurement mentioned for broccoli & paneer in this recipe is completely your choice. Adjust according to what you have at hand. 

Starfruit appehuli saaru/Starfruit rasam

I see star-fruits in almost all the veggie shops, supermarkets here. I always loved the looks of the beautiful fruit. I even got a couple of them home & ripped them apart. Aiyyo!, looks deceived me & my taste-buds said not a bite more!! That ended my love with this lovely fruit until I saw the recipe from Mangala. I love her blog because of the authentic Havyaka Brahmin (a community of Karnataka) dishes. I love her recipes & the drool worthy pictures.

Rough translation of appehuli, is a kind of rasam/soup that is sour, spicy & sweet. It is served as an appetizer in the Havyaka community. The vegetable/fruit used for making this soup needs to have a strong sourness factor. Most common vegetable/fruit used for making appehuli are mango (a different variety of mango grown in Malnad/coastal region of Karnataka is used), amtekayi (Sorry, I do not have much info about it) & lemon/lime.

When I first saw the recipe in her blog, I was not very convinced to try them. But knowing the fact that Mangala must have grown up eating them & also for my crazy love towards appehuli made me try it.  I loved them so much that I prepared them 2 times in the same week! I have been making them ever since for my lonely lunches. You can have it as a soup too. I bet you will serve yourself more rice to have this heavenly saaru. 

Serves 2-3 

Ingredients: 

Starfruit: 1 no, a greener one* (around 150gms)

Water: Around 2 cups

Salt: As needed

Jaggery: 1 tsp

Thai red chilies: 2 nos, more or less**

For tempering:

Coconut oil: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 4-5 nos

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Garlic: 2 cloves, crushed or finely chopped

*Star fruit is green when raw & as it ripens it turns yellow. Look for a greener starfruit for this dish as raw ones are comparatively sour than the ripened. Have a look below.

** Thai red chilies are very spicy, adjust accordingly. 

Method:

• Cut the starfruit into big chunks. Add water, salt, jaggery, Thai red chilies & starfruit to a saucepan/vessel.
• Boil until the starfruit is cooked properly. It would be perfect if you slightly overcook the fruit.
• Allow it to cool. Take out the cooked starfruit chunks from the cooked water. Mash the chunks, chili using a hand mixer or a masher. You could put it in the food processor too. Add the mashed fruit paste to the cooked water. Adjust the seasoning & mix well. 
• Prepare the tempering. Heat oil. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When seeds pop, add garlic & saute till nice golden brown. Add the curry leaves & turn off the heat.
• Pour the tempering over the appehuli. Mix well & serve warm/cold. 

Btw, you may also want to have a look at Mango appehuli recipe.

Red chili chutney recipe/Red chili dip

The last couple of weeks I was sick & my taste buds were dead. To rejuvenate them, I wanted something very spicy & tangy. Hence made the red chili chutney as a side dish to the ragi dosa. I loved it; but nobody at home touched it! :( They could not take the spice level of the chutney. This chutney is only for those who love eating spicy, spicy & more spicy food.

Recipe Source: Southern Spice

Ingredients: (Makes around 1 cup of chutney)

Dried red chili: 12nos (I used the round variety)

Shallots or onion: Around 3/4th cup, peeled & coarsely chopped

Tomato: 1 medium sized

Oil: 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Gram dal/channa dal/kadalebele: 1 tsp

Salt: According to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a wok.
• When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add gram dal. Fry till the gram dal turns golden. 
• Throw in the red chilies(along with the seeds, do not forget this is a spicy chutney!). Saute for 30secs. 
• Add the onions & saute for 2-3mins (Sweating of the onions is what we need, don't over fry them). 
• Throw in the tomatoes, salt & saute for another minute or two. Remove it from heat.
• Allow the ingredients to cool. 
• Blend them with very minimal water to a smooth paste. Enjoy it with idli, dosa or rice.

Notes:

1. This chutney tastes better with shallots/sambar onions. 
2. tomatoes could be replaced with tamarind extract. 
3. Shelf life of this chutney is no more than 2 days (when refrigerated). 

Breakfast Burritos - A Mexican Recipe: Step-by-Step

Every article we read about fitness suggest us to eat healthy morning breakfast. Never skip your breakfast! A fruit, vegetable & a source of protein plays a very important role for morning breakfast, but how many of us follow it? (I see many hundreds of nodding heads, including mine!) They are worth reading, nodding & advising :D

Burritos are one such breakfast item for our weekends. While vegetables provide the essential vitamins & fibre, whole meal tortillas & cheese provides the necessary  protein & energy. Here is the recipe for you.

This recipe is inspired from showmethecurry.

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 5mins
Cooking time: Maximum 10 mins

Ingredients:
Tortillas: 4 nos, whole meal (For more information about tortillas, refer here).
Grated cheese: 1.5tbsp, more or less (for each burrito)
Oil/Butter: 1 tsp each (for shallow frying)

For the filling:
Shredded vegetables: 1/2 cup (I have used cauliflower, baby corn & carrots).
Olive oil: 1 tsp
Garlic: 1 small pod, minced
Ground pepper: according to taste
Pickled jalapeños: 1 tsp, chopped fine (optional)
Salt: According to taste
Dried or fresh basil: 1 tsp

Method:
For the filling:
Shred or coarsely mince the vegetables.
Heat the olive oil in a small pan, when oil is hot, add minced garlic & saute for 30secs.

Throw in the vegetables to the pan & saute. Cook the vegetables on medium flame for 2-3mins.

Add the ground pepper, salt, basil leaves, jalapeños & mix well. Turn off the heat.

For burritos:
Heat a griddle.Warm the tortillas.
The griddle must be on low heat. Place one tortilla on the griddle.

Spread the cheese all over the tortilla.

Follow it by spreading the vegetable filling.

Place another tortilla on the filling. Seal the edges. (Melted cheese helps to seal the two tortillas wonderfully).
Carefully flip. Sprinkle the oil. Cook on medium heat, until both the sides are nicely brown.

Repeat the same with the remaining two tortillas.
Cut the burritos & serve them hot with tomato salsa or any dip of your choice.

Notes:

• For those who are new to tortilla, here is a brief. Vague definition for tortilla, it is very similar to Indian chapathi. Tortillas are made using corn flour(makki aata), plain flour(maida), whole wheat flour. I am sure you can easily find the tortillas in any supermarkets in India. I have seen them during my last visit. If you really cant find tortillas & want to prepare these burritos, go ahead making them using your chapathi dough. Roll 2 chapathis (same size) & lightly toast them. Keep them aside. Prepare burritos! For people in Singapore, you get them at Mustafa, Fair price & other shops too. Here is how they look.

• Any vegetable of your choice could be added to make these burritos. I have made burritos with grated potato  filling, paneer filling & many more.Scrambled egg could also be added as a filling.
• Basil leaves could be replaced with fresh & finely chopped coriander leaves.
• If you don't prefer Garlic, replace it with ginger