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.

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.