An Italian affair

I've been getting a bit bored of cooking Indian food daily. I mean, Indian food is awesome and I really do like eating it on a daily basis, but it can get a bit monotonous. Sometimes you don't want that spiciness and flavor, like the other day when I wanted to cook some blander food. That's when I realized, I hadn't cooked Italian food in a while. I also had a guest coming over, so I decided on a simple 4 course meal: Cauliflower with parsley, chives, and tarragon for antipasti, Linguini with pea pesto and a wild rice casserole with broccoli for secondi and chocolate pudding with mint lentils for desert. Here's how the final dishes looked like, served with a side of wild rice.

A four course Italian dinner for 5

Make ahead: The chocolate pudding

The pudding can be made ahead 3 days in advance though I'm pretty sure it won't last in the fridge that long. I made the pudding the first thing in the morning and let it set in the fridge for 3-4 hours. I suggest you start with the pudding first.

Dessert: Chocolate pudding with mint lentils

One of my first memories as a child is eating my mom's home made chocolate pudding. Also finds a mention in my other blogpost here. It's such an easy and always loved dessert to make, yet, I have never attempted to make it myself. This had to change today!

Ingredients

Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1 cup (or any other brand you like) Sugar- 1/2 cup Whole milk- 3 cups Salt- a pinch Cornstarch- 1/4 cup Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Method

1. Combine the cornstarch, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Pour in the milk and whisk carefully so that no lumps are formed. Put this on medium heat and continue to stir occasionally for 10 minutes. The mixture should begin to thicken.

2. Now add in the chocolate chips and mix thoroughly for 5 minutes.

3. Take the saucepan off the heat and mix in the vanilla extract. Chill this in the fridge for 4-5 hours. Garnish with chocolate chips and chocolate mint lentils before serving.

While the pudding is getting set, let's make the Secondis. We will start with the linguini pea pesto first.

Secondi: Linguine Pea Pesto

My name is amenable to many nicknames. A new nickname coined thanks to some good friends of mine is Linguini, a take on my name and my professional career. I like it because it does justice to the many different avatars I adorn on a daily basis. Again, similar to the chocolate pudding story, I had never made linguini before! So weird, right? I have always been a fan of pesto, basil pesto actually. This recipe however uses pea pesto. The method remains the same if you want to make basil pesto, substitute peas for basil.

Ingredients

Linguini- 16 oz Frozen peas- 10 oz (If you can get fresh peas, use those 1 1/2 cups) Pine nuts- 2 tbsps (toasted and cooled) Garlic- 1 small, minced Olive oil- 1/4 cup Salt- to taste Parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Cook the peas and keep aside to cool. Set aside half of the peas for later.

2. Cook the linguine al dente. Reserve about 1.5 cups of pasta water and drain out the rest once the linguini is done.

3. In the food processor, mix together the rest of the peas, pine nuts, salt, and 1/3rd cup of the parmesan cheese. Do this for about 2 minutes till the mixture is smooth. Still running the food processor, add in the olive oil. Pea pesto is ready!

4. Put the linguini back on the stovetop and mix in the pesto, reserved peas, and the pasta water. Smoothen out the pesto. Add the remaining parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Next up, let's make the wild rice casserole with broccoli

Secondi: Wild rice casserole with broccoli

I love making European casseroles. They are amazing one pot dishes and they last a couple of days! You can eat this with a side of bread.

Ingredients

Wild rice blend- 2/3rd cup Broccoli- 1 head White onion- 1 diced Butter- 3 tbsps Garlic- 1 minced Cayenne pepper- a pinch Dijon mustard- 1/2 tsp All purpose flour- 2 tbsps Whole milk- 1 cup Vegetable broth- 2/3 cup Cheddar cheese- 8 oz Salt- to taste Pepper- to taste

Method

1. Wash the wild rice blend. In a skillet, saute onions in 1 tbsp of butter. Add the wild rice and saute for a minute. Add water and cook the wild rice on low heat for about 45 minutes.

2. While the rice is cooking, boil the broccoli florets in salted water for about 5 minutes. Keep aside.

3. Time to make the sauce. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter, add the cayenne pepper and garlic. Add the flour and combine for 1-2 minutes. Now add in the milk, whisking constantly, followed by the vegetable broth. Let this mixture thicken by stirring continuously. This should take about 5 minutes. Add the dijon mustard and take the sauce off the fire. Add in 1/3rd of the cheddar cheese and mix till melted. Add salt and pepper.

4. In a 9-inch skillet, combine the wild rice blend with the broccoli and the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake on a preheated oven at 400 F for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Alright, dessert in the fridge. Secondis all ready. Time to make the antipasti now.

Antipasti: Cauliflower with parsley, chives, and tarragon

Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. I like making it into soups, curries, salads, casseroles or just roasted with herbs and some almonds and capers, which is how I made them today. And the herbs, they smell heavenly when combined together.

Ingredients

White cauliflower- 1, trimmed of leaves and diced Purple cauliflower- 1, trimmed of leaves and diced Bread crumbs- 6 tbsps Almonds- 6 tbsps Olive oil- 3 tbsps Dark raisins- 4 tbsps White wine vinegar- 2 tbsps Capers- 2 tsps 2 tsps- Parsley, finely chopped 2 tsps- Tarragon, finely chopped 2 tsps- Chives, finely chopped

Method

1. Cut the cauliflower, and lightly saute in 1 tbsp olive oil till they are browned on both the sides. Isn't the purple cauliflower to die for? :)

2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Now, add the sauteed cauliflower into an oven safe pan and roast them for about 12 minutes till they become tender.

3. While the cauliflowers are roasting, in a pan heat up some olive oil and roast the bread crumbs till they are golden brown. Keep aside. In the same pan, roast the almonds for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside.

4. In a small saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil, add raisins, white wine vinegar, a little water and boil till the raisins become plump.

5. In a small bowl, combine almonds, capers, raisins, chives, parsley, tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.

6. When the cauliflowers get done, sprinkle this mixture on top of the cauliflower generously. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Serve hot.

I served this with a side of garlic bread and some roasted rosemary potatoes. To wash it all down, try some Italian Pinot Grigio such as Bella Sera and some good ol' Merlot.

Shakshouka

I love Middle Eastern cuisine. Apart from being healthy, it also tastes very good, especially when the name sounds so good such as Shakshouka or Shakshuka. There is a certain ring to this word, like you feel this dish cannot go wrong, and you are right. This dish, apparently of Tunisian origin and quite popular across Middle East and some parts of Mediterranea, is very simple to make and makes a great pairing with warm pita bread, or even Indian naan or roti. The name comes from the Berber word 'Chakchouka' which means vegetable ragout. It later became very popular in Israel and they coined the term Shakshuka which means 'to shake things up'. The dish is spiciest version of poached eggs you will ever have, and oh, so yum.

Ingredients Serves 2

Eggs- 4 Onion- 1 medium, sliced Thai green chillies- 6-7, depending on your desired spice level Bell pepper- 1, sliced Tomatoes- 4 medium, sliced Garlic- 2 tsps Cumin- 2 tsps Paprika- 1 tsp Oil- 1 tbsp Salt- to taste

To garnish

Red chilli flakes Cheddar cheese Parsley

Method

1. Heat up the oil and fry the onion till golden brown by constantly stirring. Now add the chillies and garlic, stir constantly for around 2 minutes.

2. Add the cumin and paprika and mix well till the raw smell goes away.

3. Now add the cut bell peppers, mix well.

4. In a bowl, mash the tomatoes slightly with the back of your ladle and add this to the skillet. Add about 1/4 cup of water. Take care not to add too much since the tomato has a lot of water too.

5. Let this cook for about 5 minutes. With the back of your ladle, make 4 dents in this mixture where you can drop the eggs. Crack open the eggs into these dents. Cover the sides of the egg with some of the mixture.

6. Let this cook for about 5 minutes or so. You can cover the skillet and cook. Garnish with red chilli flakes, cheddar cheese and some parsley.

Serve hot with warm pita bread. You can also serve this with a side of fresh home made hummus.

Easy chilli paneer frankie

The weather has been playing havoc in Los Angeles. After weeks of sunshine and really good weather, this morning I woke up to some gloomy, moody weather. You know the days when you want to curl up in bed, watch a couple of episodes of your favorite TV show, and drink some hot coffee. Such days for me are the days I miss my comfort food. These are generally comprised of Indian street food, ranging from samosas, chaat, vada pav, to my all time favorite dosas and coconut chutney. Today I decided to experiment making some chilli paneer frankies. I've always wondered about the origin of the word "frankie" for this famous Indian street food. Popularly known as 'Kati roll'  in Kolkata, this form of paratha or roti wrapped in different kinds of meat or vegetables with spices originated in 1932 at Nizam hotel (Hogg Street, New Market, Kolkata), a popular eating joint for the British babus. The original Kati roll was made with kati kebab rolled up in a paratha. This kind of roll had its origin in Mughlai traditions, heavily influenced by Central Asian cuisine, particularly Afghani cuisine which had a tradition of making meat wraps with Afghani bread or Naan-e-Afghani. The roots of the Mughals in Kolkata (then called Bengal) can be traced back to 12th century when Bakhtiyar Khilji a military general in King Qutub-ud-din Aybak's regime conquered Bengal and other parts of Eastern India, thus spreading Islamic rule to these parts of the country. The Kati roll must have began as an Indian version of a wrap commonly found in Central Asian cuisine (modern day döner kebab). 

Now you must be wondering what is the connection between a 'Kati roll' and a 'Frankie'. Well, they are essentially the same except, according to me, the paratha in the Kati roll is first partly fried in oil on a tawa and then cooked with an egg. This egg is broken onto the tawa, and the semi-cooked paratha is cooked on it. Hence one side of the paratha gets coated with the egg. In a frankie, the egg is mostly avoided. However, there is also another story for the origin of the frankie. This version appeared first in 1967 in Mumbai (then Bombay), in the Western part of India, when Amarjit Tibbs an Indian businessman returned back to India after being sent to London on some work. He stopped over at Beirut, Lebanon where he encountered the Wimpy's burger. According to Mr. Tibbs, a frankie is a mix between the German Frankfurter, a British Wimpy's beef burger and a Beirut boti kebab. The name 'frankie' is supposed to be based on his favorite cricketer Frank Worrell who passed away in 1967. It could also have been a short form of the German Frankfurter.

Today, the Kati roll or Frankie has become a popular food item with many variations and innovative fillings. My favorite version of this is made with paneer. You can try different fillings too, scrambled eggs, spicy potatoes, cauliflower etc. The idea is to innovate and come up with something sumptuous.

Easy chilli paneer frankie Serves 2

Ingredients

Roti/Paratha-- 4 (I used roti bought from the Indian store. It's called 'desi roti' and comes in packets of 12 available for $2.99) Paneer- 1, chopped Onion - 1 medium, chopped Tomato- 1 medium, chopped Bell pepper- 1 medium, chopped Thai green chillies- 4, chopped Cilantro- a bunch, chopped Oil- 2 tbsp Chilli sauce- 2 tbsp Jalapeño sauce- 2 tbsp Soya sauce- 2 tbsp Ketchup- 2 tbsp Salt- to taste

Method

1. Finely chop the onion, tomato, bell pepper, chillies, and cilantro and keep aside.

2. This is the easy version of making chilly paneer, so you need atleast 3 sauces- soya sauce, chilli sauce, and spicy jalapeño sauce. Ketchup is optional. If you use tomatoes, you can avoid the ketchup. If you want it only mildly spicy, you can add both tomatoes and ketchup.

3. Heat up oil. Add in onions. Fry till they are translucent. Add in chillies, bell peppers. Saute for 2 minutes and add the tomatoes. Next add in the cilantro. When the tomato gets all mushy, add in the sauces and saute till the mixture becomes dry. Chop up the paneer into smaller pieces and mix it into the mixture. Add salt. Simmer on fire for about 5 minutes and keep aside.

4. Heat up the rotis on a hot griddle. Keep aside.

5. For garnishing, chop up some onions and grate some parmesan or cheddar cheese. This is optional. You can also optional use chopped chilli pieces.

6. Now to make the frankie. On a roti, spread the chilli paneer mixture in the middle. Garnish with onions and cheese. Roll it up from side to side. Cover it up in tissue or cellophane foil. Yummy frankies are now ready!

Serve this hot with some piping hot Indian masala tea. Perfect for a cloudy and gloomy day!

Blueberry cupcakes

I haven't had the time to blog for a bit due to some academic commitments and deadlines and I've been really missing making all those sumptuous food. Well, the semester has finally ended and I can now get back to all that cooking and baking I've been keeping for summer. To celebrate the end of semester, my friends decided to have a coffee and cake party today at their place. Even though they are from Austria and you really don't want to compete against the Austrians in baking, I thought I'll put my baker's hat and bake up some blueberry cupcakes! And the result was this:

Ingredients Makes 24

For the batter

All purpose flour- 3 cups Butter- 2 sticks (unsalted) Salt- 1/2 tsp Low fat Buttermilk- 3/4 cup Baking powder- 1 tbsp Fresh blueberry- 1/2 cup pureed Freeze dried blueberry- 1.2 oz (34 grams), blended into a paste in a food processor Eggs- 2 Sugar- 2 cups Lemon zest- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

For the frosting

Butter- 1 cup Cream cheese- 8 oz Freeze dried blueberry- 1.2 oz (34 grams), blended into a paste in a food processor Sugar- 2 cups

Method

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together and keep aside.

2. Pulverize the freeze dried blueberries.

You can pulverize the fresh blueberries as well and keep them both aside.

3. Mix together the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and the fresh blueberry puree.

4. In a big bowl, add the softened butter, sugar and lemon zest. I used lemons plucked fresh from a lemon tree and that made a lot of difference. Beat using an electric mixture. Add in eggs, one by one and beat thoroughly. Follow with the pulverized freeze dried blueberries.

5. Now mix in the flour and the buttermilk mixtures in batches of three, by alternating between the two. Mix thoroughly and scrape down the bowl to see that all parts get mixed well.

6. Now comes the fun part! Pick up those colorful cupcake liners and place them in the cupcake racks. Scoop the batter and put in the cupcake liners. Preheat the oven till 350 F. Put them in the oven for about 20 minutes. Check using toothpick to see if the insides are done. Take them out and let them cool.

7. While we wait for the cupcakes to bake, let's make the frosting. I'm not so fond of thick frosting, so I made mine a little watery. If you want a slightly thicker icing, just add 2-3 cups more sugar. In a bowl, add the softened butter, cream cheese, and the pulverized freeze dried blueberries. Beat a little and then add in the 2 cups of sugar. Beat till creamy.

8. By the time this gets done, the cupcakes should be ready. So let's go get them out of the oven!

Don't they look delicious? Now, let's frost them and decorate them and then munch on them :)

Bread upma

I get bored of bread very easily and often look for ways to spice it up and make it interesting. As a kid, my mom used to make this delicious form of bread upma which I used to pack and take to school. It is an easy breakfast item, or a quick snack for tea time. I made some this morning and it was so delish.

Ingredients Serves 2

Bread- 6 pieces, cubed Onion- 1 cup Tomato- 2 Chillies- 1 Turmeric powder- a pinch Oil- 2 tsp Salt- to taste

Method

1. Slice the bread and cut into cubes. I like the crusts but some people don't. If you like it, keep them, or else remove the crusts.

2. Cut the onion, tomato, and chilli.

3. Heat oil, add the onion and fry. Add the chillies and the tomatoes. Next, add the turmeric and fry for a minute. Now, add the bread. Coat the mixture on bread and serve hot with a cuppa tea or coffee.

Spring Smoothie

Inspired by my mango lassi, I decided to make a banana smoothie this morning. We had got some bananas for Vishu last week, and I'm really not a fan of munching on a banana. So the bananas sat on my kitchen sill and they were beginning to ripen a bit too much. Moreover, I had some strawberries in my fridge which needed to be consumed immediately. The result: my spring smoothie!

Ingredients Serves 2

Bananas- 4 Strawberries- 6 nos Milk- 1 cup

Method

Blend the bananas, strawberry and the milk together. Check taste. If sweet is a little less, then add sugar.

Mango lassi

Mango lassi is a drink, famous in North India. You can whip it up very easily and it leaves you feeling refreshed.

Ingredients 2 ripe mangoes Milk -1 cup Honey- 1 tbsp

Method

Peel the mangoes and blend them with the milk and honey. Put in an ice cube or two before serving.

Vegetarian Burrito!!

I seem to be on a burrito trippage. S really loves Mexican food. He starts drooling over nachos and ahem, subway :) So, I do try to make Mexican food time and again. I love making nachos. They are so healthy when you make them at home by substituting all the right ingredients. But today, I decided to make a burrito which I've been wanting to make for a while now. You will probably have some, if not most of the items lying around in your fridge, and hey! the best part about the burrito is, if you don't have an item which I'm going to say you need, you can just skip it! Really all you need for a burrito is some tortillas, beans and some kind of filling. Here is a way to make the burrito a little bit more interesting! Ingredients Serves 2

Tortilla- 6 numbers Refried beans- 1 can (vegetarians: make sure the beans is not cooked in pork broth) Vegetable broth- 1/2 cup Hot sauce- 2 tsp Lemon- 1 Cumin- 1 tsp Minced garlic- 1 tsp Onion- 1 diced Tomato- 1 diced Jalapenos- 2 diced Cilantro- a bunch, chopped Avocado- 2 Cheese- to garnish (I used cheddar, you can use feta as well) Olives stuffed with pimiento- about 10, chopped Salt

Optional Sour cream Romaine lettuce

Method

1. Chop onions, jalapenos, and tomato. First, we will make the guacamole. Take half of the chopped onions, half of the jalapenos, mix them together in a bowl, squeeze the lemon juice over them, season with salt and keep aside.

2. Next up, we'll make the refried beans sauce. In a pot, add the refried beans, veggie broth, hot saunce, and cumin powder. Let this warm up on Medium-low. This should take about ten minutes, the same time as the step 1 should take.  I used:

3. Now, we will make the salsa. This one is simple. Take the other half of the chopped onions, jalapenos, the diced tomatoes. Mix them up. Add chopped cilantro. Season with salt.

4. Next up, heating up the tortillas. Heat up a skillet, put the tortilla on it. It should take about a minute for each side to get warmed up.

5. Now, add the ripe avocados to the guacamole, and mash it all together. My avocados weren't so ripe (I probably put them in the fridge, which I shouldn't have!), but the riper, the better. Chop up the olives and keep aside.

6. Yippie! now it is time to make the burrito. Take a tortilla, spread the refried beans sauce in the center. Sprinkle cheese on top. Top up with guacamole, then salsa. Now, if using the romaine lettuce and sour cream, add those. Then, garnish with chopped olives. Roll it up, munch away.

Wash it all away with a glass of Pinot grigio or merlot! Cheers!

Flavors of East India: Bengal

India is well known for its varied cultural heritage. Among the different languages, different cultures, we are also very proud of our different cuisines. Every state of India has a very vibrant love of food and culinary inkling. One such state, which I'm exceptionally fond of for many, many reasons, is Bengal. The Bengali lives to eat. My aunt who moved to Kolkatta from Delhi a couple of months ago told me how amazing the food is. My love for Bengali food began way back in 2005 in Hyderabad. There is a Bengali Samiti associated with the RamKrishna Mutt there. They had a kitchen which served lunch and dinner, Bengali style. I used to flip for the aloo bhaja and poshto. So yummy! This Bengali connection continued into LA, my colleagues are Bengali, my friends are Bengali. Once, my colleagues and I were heading to San Francisco for a weekend and I was staying over the night with them. One of my colleague's husband made this amazing dish called 'Dimer Dalna'  (Bengali egg curry with potato, yes, they do love potato :)) Ever since I ate the curry that night, I have been wanting to make some in my kitchen. Last week, S and me had been lazy to get groceries and so I finally embarked on making 'Dimer Dalna'. The outcome: pure deliciousness.

Dimer Dalna (Bengali style egg curry with potato) Serves 2

Ingredients

Eggs- 4 (boiled and peeled) Potato- 1 (boiled, cubed) Tomato- 1 Onion- 1 Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tbsp Turmeric powder- 1 tsp Red chilli powder- 1 tsp (or 2) Coriander powder- 1 tsp Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp

Whole spices Cloves- 2 Cardamom- 3 pods Cinnamon- 1 inch stick

Oil- 1 tbsp

Method

1. Boil the eggs and the potato with a little bit of salt till done.

2. In the meantime , make the onion into a paste. After peeling the onion, cut into long pieces and fry in a little bit of oil. This takes away the raw and bitter taste. Let this cool and blend it into a paste.

3. Mix together turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt with a little bit of water. Once the egg is peeled off its shell, make criss cross marks on it using a knife. Smear the paste on the eggs and keep aside. Heat a little bit of oil and fry the eggs and the potato till golden. Keep aside.

4. Heat the remaining oil. When oil is heated, add in the whole spices. Once they start to splutter, add in the onion paste. Saute for a while till the rawness of the onion goes away. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Then, add the coriander powder, some more chilli powder (if using). Now, add the chopped tomato. Add salt. Mix nicely.

5. Once the tomatoes turn mushy, add in the eggs and the potato. Mix thoroughly and add in 1.5 cups of water. Cover and let this cook for about 7 minutes. Just before switching off the stove, sprinkle garam masala on top and garnish with coriander leaves.

I served this hot with rotis, a side of salad, roasted green beans, and some left over masoor dal.

Happy Vishu!

Here's wishing all my readers a very happy Vishu!

Vishu is the Malayali New Year celebrated every year in April. Today for Vishu, I made a mini sadya (feast). It comprised of sambar, beetroot pachadi, beans thoran, cucumber pachadi, rasam, mango pulissery, mango pickle, mint chutney, served with basmati rice. Followed this up with some pal payasam :)

Okra Broccoli stir fry

Two of my friends came over to chit chat and we got talking about this blog. They are both working professionals and after a long day's work, they don't have much time to come home and cook elaborately. This is when quick and easy dinners are handy. I normally whip up some easy vegetable stir fry and eat it with rice and yogurt. This is one such recipe I love making. You should try it too, especially if you want to cook something so delicious in a short time. Recipe: Okra Broccoli  stir fry Serves 4

Ingredients

Okra- 1 cup Broccoli- 1 cup Pearl onion- 5 nos (if you don't have pearl onion, use red onion- 1/4 cup) Green chillies- 2 Mustard seeds- 1 tsp Turmeric powder- 1 tsp Red chilli powder- 1 tsp Coriander powder- 1 tsp Asafoetida- a pinch Curry leaf- a few (optional) Salt- to taste Oil- 2 tsp

Method

1. Clean and cut the okra into small, round pieces. Clean broccoli, cut off the stem, and mix the okra and broccoli together and keep aside.

2. Dice the pearl onions into small pieces.

3. Heat oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and wait for it to splutter. Then add the onions, green chillies and saute. Now add the curry leaf (if using). Add in turmeric, red chilli and coriander powder. Add asafoetida. Saute till the raw smell is gone. Now add in the okra and broccoli and mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes. Okra broccoli fry is now ready! Serve hot with rice and yogurt.

Homemade dosas (Rice Pancake)

I am a dosa lover. I have grown up eating huge dosas, called as paper dosas back in South India. They are huge. Like this:

Dosas are made from a rice batter. At home, my dad makes this batter on a Sunday and it lasts for a week. We have a mixer which helps make this batter. Everyday morning for breakfast, he used to make me these gorgeous looking dosas. So delicious.

In LA, you do get dosas at some Indian restaurants- such as Mayura Amrit, Culver City and India Sweets and Spices (ISS), Glendale. The ISS also has frozen dosa batter as well as fresh dosa batter. Their fresh batter is pretty decent, but I don't live near Glendale and you can't really make that commute often to get the batter. So, I decided to start making my own batter at home. This is pretty simple enough if you have a food processor.

Ingredients

Rice flour- 1 cup Urad dal- 1 cup Water- 4 cups Salt

Method

1. Soak the urad dal in 2 cups water overnight.

2. Soak the rice flour in 2 cups water overnight. 3. Once the urad dal has been soaked overnight, put it in the food processor and make a smooth paste.

4. Mix the smooth paste with the soaked rice flour. Add salt.

There you go- dosa batter is ready!

To make dosas

1. Make sure the batter is at room temperature. 2. Heat a flat iron skillet, sprinkle some cooking oil and smoothen it out on the flat surface. 3. Take the batter in a round bottom spoon, and pour it in the middle of the skillet. With rolling motion, spread it out concentrically. 4. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes till the bottom becomes brown and crisp. 5. Flip it over using a flat spoon and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. 6. Serve hot with pickle, and cilantro chutney.

Quick burrito for lunch

Today for lunch, I had a bunch of leftover items from yesterday's lunch and dinner. None was sufficient enough by itself to satisfy my hungry belly, but voila! put together as a burrito, they were awesome! Here is what I was left with for today's lunch. 1. Vegetable pakodas

If you haven't yet walked down to your nearest Trader Joe's in Los Angeles to take a look at the Indian food that is available there, you are missing out on something! There is pakoda, aloo kati rolls, butter chicken, paneer butter masala, all available in the frozen section, and some of them are not bad. For example, the vegetable pakoda. Yesterday, after a long tiring day at work, I was walking back home after getting down from the bus and I decided to pick a packet of these pakodas from my neigborhood TJs. They are easy to make. Pre heat your oven to 400F, place the pakodas in a baking sheet. Put them into the oven for about 15 minutes. They even give you a tamarind chutney to go with it. So yummy!

2. Mint Pulao

Mint is heavenly! It is one of my favorite herbs. I had made a trip to the Indian store in Artesia a couple of weeks ago and picked up a bunch of mint leaves. There is only so much mint chutney you can make with it, and once I saw the leaves were beginning to die, I decided to make mint pulav with it. Now as you can see, there isn't enough to munch on for lunch. It definitely had to be complimented with something else.

3. Kerala parotta

I know a lot of you out there are huge on Indian breads. You have all eaten your naan, kulchas, rotis, phulkas. I agree they are good. But if you have the chance to pick up some Kerala parotta from the Indian store, you will fall in love instantly and forget all the other Indian breads you have ever had. It is so good, lipsmacking good.

This parotta (NOT paratha) is native to Kerala, my home state. It is made with wheat flour (maida) and egg, kneaded together with water and ghee. Instant love, right?

4. Mango thokku

I love any kind of "thokku". It is a kind of preserve that can be made with any kind of vegetable or fruit. My favorite is tomato thokku. easy to make, easy to eat with rice and yoghurt. This mango thokku was bought from the Indian store in Artesia, but you get it pretty much in any Indian store in LA. It is accompaniment to so many of the dishes I cook.

So now you have met the key players in my quick burrito for lunch idea. This is how I did it. I made the parotta by heating a flat skillet and tossing and turning the parotta till it became done. After this, I took a generous helping of the mango thokku and applied it on the parotta.

Then, I added some mint pulao to it.

Follow this up by crumbling the vegetable pakoda.

Roll it up and munch away to glory.

I washed this down with a glass of cold milk. Who says milk only goes with oreo cookies? :) Happy burrito time!

A dinner for four

I love having people over to my house for food. I guess it is part of my Indian upbringing. A good part of my growing up years has seen my mom meticulously preparing meals for relatives, friends, guests who have been invited to be a part of the big Indian eating tradition. Even today at home, a meal is not complete unless it is a feast. Curries will be served piping hot, accompanied by a side of dry vegetables, rice and yogurt. You grow up having this notion of meal-hood :) Even after moving to LA, that part of me hasn't changed.

S and me had some guests over on friday, and I cooked up a meal for four in 2.5 hours. This is what the spread looked like.

While you are busy admiring my pretty FabIndia curtains, let me give you a run down of the dinner spread (from L-R): Mango thokku pickle (red jar with yellow lid, bought from India Sweets and Spices, Glendale), masoor dal with tadka, kadai paneer, roasted brussel sprouts, baingan vindaloo, espinacas con garbanzo, a side of white rice, vegetable biriyani, and cucumber-dil raita (and some garlic naan and rotis, which I forgot to photograph). So, I made all these in 2.5 hours which obviously means I multitasked and hence forgot to take photographs while making each of the items. You obviously don't want to see my super messy kitchen too :) But, you probably want to make some or all of the items for dinner or lunch, hence, I will provide the recipe's below (apologies for the lack of photos, I promise I'll take some next time).

Recipe 1: Masoor dal tadka

Dal is the easiest thing to make. But not necessarily the quickest thing to make. So start with the dal first.

Ingredients Serves 4

Masoor dal      1 cup (washed) Onion                 1 cup (sliced) Red chilli          2-3 Cumin seeds   1 tsp Potato               1 (peeled and cubed) Turmeric powder  2 tsp Asafoetida        a pinch Salt                      to taste Oil                        1 tbsp

In a pressure cooker (if you don't have one, you can use a saucepan), add the masoor dal, turmeric powder, potato, salt and add water (1: 1). If using pressure cooker, cook for three whistles. If using saucepan, cook for about ten mts. In a skillet, heat oil and add cumin seeds. Next, add the red chillis and onions. Saute for 3 minutes. Add hing. Take off fire and pour the contents into the cooked dal. Check for consistency, if the water is too much boil the dal for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro leaves. This can be served hot with rice or roti.

Recipe2: Kadai Paneer

While the dal is getting cooked in the pressure cooker, you can start working on this yummy looking paneer dish. S loves anything made with paneer. So, I do experiment quite a bit with it. This one though is easy to make and the dish will be loved by your guests.

Ingredients

Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)   1 cup Capsicum                                               1 (cut into squares) Onion                                                       1 (cut into squares) Tomato                                                   3 (pureed) Ginger-garlic paste                            1 tbsp Fenugreek leaves dried                    2 tsp Turmeric powder                                1 tsp Coriander powder                               1 tsp Red chilli powder                                1 tsp Salt                                                            to taste Oil                                                              2 tbsp

Whole spices Cinnamon                                              1 inch stick (broken into smaller pieces) Cardamom                                            2 Cloves                                                     4 Dry red chillies                                   2 (broken into smaller pieces) Bay leaf                                                  2 (broken into smaller pieces) Cumin seeds                                        1 tsp

Method

1. Cut the paneer, capsicum (bell pepper), tomato and onion into squares. Puree the tomato in a blender. Keep aside. 2. Heat oil, add the whole spices and roast for 2 minutes. Add onions, ginger-garlic paste, and saute till the onions turn translucent. 3. Add the tomato puree, salt and let it boil for 2 minutes. 4. Add capsicum, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, a little water and let is boil. 5. Add the paneer, and the fenugreek leaves. 6. Let this cook for about 8 minutes and serve garnished with cilantro leaves.

Recipe 3: Vegetable biriyani

This is a very easy side to make. A difference from the usual white rice accompaniment to Indian food, which I also served by the way.

Ingredients

White basmati rice                4 cups Peas                                             1/2 cup Carrot                                         1/2 cup Onions                                        1 Biriyani mix                             2 tbsp Salt                                               to taste Ghee                                            1.5 tbsp

Whole spices Bay leaf                                     2 Cardamom                               2 Cinnamon                                 1 inch stick Cloves                                        4 Black pepper                           4

Method

1. Soak the rice in water and little salt for at least an hour before cooking it. I soaked the rice first, before I started to make the dal. 2. In a pan, heat the ghee and fry the whole spices. Now add the onions and fry till translucent. 3. Add the peas and carrots and mix well. 4. Add the salt, and the biriyani mix. 5. Add in the rice, mix everything well. Add in water to cover the rice and let it boil. Once the rice is ready, serve hot.

Recipe 4: Roasted brussel sprouts

S doesn't like brussell sprouts. But I love them. So, I'm always looking for interesting ways to make them yummy. Roasting them is by far my favorite way of devouring brussell sprouts.

Ingredients

Brussell sprouts                   1 cup Lemon juice                           2 tbsp Garlic                                        1 tsp (minced) Salt                                             a pinch Olive oil                                    1 tsp

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. 2. In a small bowl, mix the minced garlic with the lemon juice and salt. 3. Spread the brussell sprouts in a oven friendly baking dish and sprinkle the mix prepared. Coat the sprouts nicely. 4. Pour some olive oil on top of the sprouts. 5. Roast them in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, turning them over at least once in between.

Recipe 5: Cucumber and dil raita

Last but not the least, serve the food with a delicious raita. Cut some cucumbers, mash it with some dil and dunk it into yogurt, sprinkle in a little salt, whip it up and serve.

And there you go, a simple Indian meal for four is ready. I also made two other dishes, eggplant vindaloo and garbanzo beans with spinach (also called espinacas con garbanzo) but those recipes will have to wait for another occasion! I also served a side of mango thokku pickle (bought from India sweets and spices, Glendale).

To finish it off, my guests dug into this Rava Kesari and a slice of this cheesecake.

Kotthu roti

There are days when you still want to eat healthy but you are just too tired to spend more than ten minutes making dinner. Today was one such day. That's when I decided to make 'Kotthu roti'. There are different avatars of this dish which originated among the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. The one I made today is the simplest of all.

Recipe: Kotthu roti

Ingredients Serves 2

Roti                   6 numbers Onion               1 cup Green chilli    2-3 Eggs                  3 Minced garlic 1 tsp Oil                       1 tbsp Curry leaf        1 sprig Red chilli         2-3 Salt

Method

1. Make the rotis on a flat skillet.

Once you are done with the 6 rotis, stack them up and cut them into thin, long strips.

2. In a saucepan, heat oil and add the onions and green chillies.

3. Once the onions begin to brown, add the curry leaf, red chilli, and minced garlic.

4. Saute for a couple of minutes, and add the eggs.

5. Scramble them, add the roti and mix well. Add in salt.

This dish can be served as a tea time snack, or as a light dinner along with a red kidney bean curry as accompaniment.

Rava kesari

Rava kesari is an easy to make Indian sweet. It is made in South India as a breakfast item in Karnataka, accompanied by uppittu. In Kerala, where I hail from, we have it as a desert. I often make this at home, especially when we have an impromptu guest and they love it. Try it at home and let me know how you liked it.

Recipe: Rava Kesari serves 6

Ingredients Rava or semolina       1 cup Saffron                            couple of strands Sugar                                1 cup Water                               1 1/2 cup Cashewnuts                   2 tbsp Raisins                            2 tbsp Ghee                                 2 tbsp

Method

Dry roast the semolina and keep aside. In 1 tsp of ghee, roast the cashewnuts and raisins and keep aside. Boil water and add the saffron. After a couple of minutes, the water should become orange in colour. Now add the semolina and mix well. Add the sugar after a minute or so and mix well. Pour in the ghee and mix in the cashewnuts and raisins. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Spring bake!

One of the perks of being a graduate student is the number of "extra" holidays one gets. These are school holidays, such as spring break in March! and boy, do I love spring break. It is the time where I can afford some spring cleaning in the truest sense and get down to starting many things on my always-brimming-to-the-full to-do list, like this food blog for instance. Being on spring break also gets me more time to experiment with my culinary instincts. I've been cooking regularly but yesterday I decided to put on my baking hat. From my childhood I have been fascinated with baking, in fact, the first cooking class I ever went to was a baking class by Sevanti Jayaratnam. She baked these amazing, gorgeous, beautiful cakes. I had eaten one of her cakes for my 13th birthday and I was hellbent on attending her baking class that summer. I learnt so much from her class, the basics of baking, the importance of timing and consistency, and some tips and tricks to get that cake in your oven to look and taste the best. When I grew up, however, I was more interested in the cooking side of things. I did bake occasionally, but having access to baking goods, an oven were things I did not have during my long hostel stint in my graduation days. The last couple of years have only seen me bake the chocolate cakes and banana cakes, so when I baked this new york cheesecake yesterday I was apprehensive about how it would turn out. First verdict: not bad, second verdict: yum, yum, yum :)

Who doesn't love a classic NY cheesecake? I do, and I'm sure you do too. So, here is the recipe if you want to whip one up for your loved one.

Recipe: New York Cheesecake with cherry topping serves 4+

Ingredients

for the sauce (optional) Cherries                  16 oz       (I used Maschino cherries, but you can use fresh ones too) Sugar                       1/4 cup Lemon juice         2 tbsp Corn flour             2 tbsp       (mixed into a paste with a little water)

for the cheesecake Cream cheese         5                (I used philadelphia cream cheese) Vanilla essence     1 tsp Sugar                         1 3/4 cup Eggs                           5 large Yolk                           2 All purpose flour 3 tbps Lemon zest             1 tsp          (I used freshly plucked lemons from my friend's garden) Orange zest             1 tsp

for the crust Graham crackers   18 oz or 15 sheets of crackers   (I used Honey maid) Butter, unsalted      4 oz  or 1 stick                                  (I used lucerne) Sugar                           1/2 cup Salt                               1/4 tsp salt

gadgets Food processor 9 1/2 inch springform pan Baking plate Grater

Preparation

The first golden rule of baking cheesecake (or any cake for that matter) is to bring all the ingredients to room temperature. Pull out the eggs, butter, cream cheese, lemon, orange, vanilla essence from the fridge. Let these come to room temperature. I can't stress how important it is to do this. You don't want to end up with a clumped up cheesecake, so put aside ample time for ingredients to come to room temperature. Wash the eggs and pat dry them. Remember, not even the tiniest amount of water in your baking.

Preparing the crust

First step, let's get started with the crust. The best part of the cheesecake is the crust. So yum and crunchy. Take the graham crackers and finely ground them. I started mistakenly by thinking I can grind them with my own hands, wrong, very wrong. You won't be able to grind them finely. After the unsuccessful attempt, I tried to grind them using a masher (I believe a muddler would work just as well). This worked a little bit better than my own hands, but not by a whole margin. Finally, I just dumped everything into my food processor, and voila, the graham crackers were ground in a jiffy. After this, melt the butter on stove top and mix this thoroughly with the finely ground graham crackers. Mix in the sugar and the salt. Mix everything together. Grease a 9 1/2 inch springform pan with butter and stick the crust on it, first the bottom of the pan and then the sides of the pan. You can also put the mixture in the freezer to set before greasing the pan. I did put it in the freezer and then pull it out just as I was ready to put the cheesecake into the oven. Keep the pan aside while you prepare the batter.

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Preparing the cheesecake batter

This is the part I love, making that goey, oh so yummy batter, the core of the cake. Take the cream cheese, transfer them into a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese. Remember before this step, make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. After you have swirled around a little bit, add sugar and mix thoroughly. Next, add the flour. In between, use a spoon to make sure everything is getting mixed evenly. Add the vanilla essence, beat once. Now add the 5 eggs, one by one, mixing thoroughly, followed by the 2 egg yolks. Ensure that the mixture is even. Now, grate the lemon and orange using the grater. Add these one by one to the mixture and beat again. Next, take the greased pan with the crust and pour this mixture into it. The batter will cover the entire pan.

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Baking

Preheat the oven till 475 F. Since I used a teflon coated nordic ware, sprinform pan, I started baking at 475 F. This is because the maximum temperature withstood by non stick is 475. You can go upto 550 F if you are using some other baking pan. At 475F, bake the cheesecake in the center of the oven till the top starts browning. This depends on your oven, but approximately should take 10-15 mts. Keep eyeballing your oven, because you don't want the cake to brown too fast. Once it browns and rises slightly, lower down the temperature to 200F and continue to bake for another hour or until it is set. To test whether your cake is baked, tap the side of your pan with a spoon. If the cake wiggles as one semi solid body, you are done baking. If it wobbles too much and still feels too liquidy in the middle, continue baking. Remember, it is okay that the center of the cake is wobbly. It will set when you put the cake in the fridge. Take out the cake and let it cool to room temperature. Put it in the freezer for at least 6 hours, the longer the better.

Preparing the sauce

While the cake is setting in the fridge, prepare the sauce and keep it aside. In a saucepan, bring the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and corn starch to a boil. Let it boil for 3 minutes or so. Cool to room temperature.

Once the cake has been set (I left it in the fridge for 8+ hours), open the side of the pan. Now pour the sauce all over the top. Devour immediately or keep chilled and slowly devour it for about six days. Call your friends over for some tea and cake, trust me, they won't be disappointed :)

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Welcome and all that!

I have always wanted to blog about food, I mean who doesn't want to blog about food. It is the single most delicious part of our day to day existence. We consume food, lots of it, all kinds of it. You can even think of yourself in terms of the food you consume, for example, my (sigh) muffin top (thanks pizza!). The last year and half I blogged a little bit about food here. It was still pretty much work in progress because hey, being a graduate student living in expensive Los Angeles, I didn't have a full fledged kitchen. Well, I am still a graduate student living in expensive LA but I now have a sort of workable, bloggable kitchen (thanks marriage!). Cooking for two people instead of your own hungry belly is, I think, worth the effort of blogging. When I used to live alone, food used to be prepared in bulk. Lentil curry (dal) would easily last for 3 days in the fridge, and the microwave spoiled me to bits. This was of course not blog worthy. It was only the occasional, more effortful recipes that made it to my previous food blog. So this new blog here is from my new kitchen. Hope you enjoy making these recipes, because after all food blogging is all about sharing, creating new delicious, yummilicious food, and keeping your tummy happy. Looking forward to an exciting journey through the world of food.