Ranjaka (Red chilli chutney)

This fiery fresh red chilli chutney is a favourite in north Karnataka. Only the brave hearted can take it on. I had a few red chillies that were old and were going to go bad soon, so I decided to make this and store it. It can be eaten with rottis, chapatti or rice. It can also be added to dals and gravies to spice them up.

Ranjaka

Chutney made from fresh red chillies

Recipe Type: Chutney
Cuisine: South Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 200 gms

Ingredients:

1.25 cups fresh Red Chillies
10-12 cloves of Garlic
1 tsp of Tamarind pulp
1/4 cup of Water
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1-2 Tbsp Jaggery or Sugar
1/2 cup Oil
Salt

Method:

Soak tamarind in half cup water for 10 mins

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a kadhai and fry together the whole red chillies and the garlic for 2-3 mins on low flame. Do not slit or cut the red chillies.

Let it cool. Grind together the red chillies, garlic, tamarind, jaggery and salt. Add a little of the tamarind water to obtain smooth consistency.

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the tempering to the chutney.

Add more oil to the chutney as needed. It needs a lot of oil to cut down on the spiciness. Add as per your taste.

I used extra virgin olive oil. You may use regular refined oil.

Baked Tofu Lettuce Wrap

This dish is inspired from a similar dish I had long back. Although, personally I did not enjoy the original so much due to its extreme saltiness, I did enjoy the idea. Very much in need of a healthy snack for Sunday evening, this dish proved a winner. Hubby dearest kept hovering around in the kitchen guessing what was cooking. The end results satisfied him, I must say. You can either bake the tofu or deep fry it. Deep fry as usual definitely tastes better, I, however, prefer baking. You can either use store bought tofu or make your own (the recipe exists on this blog)…

Baked Tofu Lettuce Wrap

Ginger garlic baked tofu, served in lettuce cups

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8-10 wraps

Ingredients:

100 gms Firm Tofu
1 Onion
1 Carrot
½ Capsicum
2 Tbsp Coriander(chopped)
3-4 cloves Garlic
½” piece Ginger
8-10 leaves Iceberg Lettuce
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 Tbsp Chilli sauce
1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup
½ tsp Sugar(Optional)
1 Tbsp Corn flour
½ cup Water
3 tsp Oil
Salt

Method:

Cut the tofu into bite sized cubes and toss them in 1 tsp of oil until evenly covered

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and bake the tofu for 15 mins turning them halfway

Heat the remaining oil in a pan and fry finely chopped onions, finely chopped garlic and crushed ginger until onions are done

Add finely chopped carrot and capsicum and fry for 2 mins

Add all the sauces and 2 tbsp of water and cook for 2 more mins or until the carrots are slightly soft

Mix the corn flour in 2 tbsp of water and add to the pan

Add salt and sugar (if needed). I added a little sugar since all the sauces made the gravy too sour.

Stir in the baked tofu and cook until all the gravy is like a paste. We do not want a very watery gravy.

Wash and dry the lettuce leaves

Spoon the tofu filling in the lettuce leaves and enjoy…

Carrot Fries

Again, the GoodFood magazine carried this recipe and tempted me into making them. I generally make sweet potato fries. So I decided lets give this different fries a try.

Cut the carrot into finger sized pieces

Coat with cornflour, oil and all spices

Baked carrot fries

Carrot Fries

Baked carrot fries

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

2 large Carrots
1/2 Tbsp Cornflour
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp Pepper
Celery Salt or Regular Salt
1/2 tsp Oregano

Method:

Peel and chop the carrot into finger sized pieces
Toss it with the cornflour
Add the olive oil, pepper, oregano and salt
Mix well and spread out on a baking sheet
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
Bake for 20-25 mins

Zucchini, Spinach and Onion Pizza

The GoodFood magazine put me in a zucchini pizza mood. The photo looked so delicious that I just had to eat it. Sadly, no pizza joint close to home serves you such a pizza. So it fell upon me to create one :) The magazine was courteous enough to provide a recipe for the base as well. I added the pesto and the remaining veggies to give it more volume. The recipe for the pizza base and the pesto used can be found on the blog as well.

Place the topping on the pizza base

Grate cheese and spoon olive oil

Pizza after baking

Pizza

Pizza with carrot fries and blueberry muffins

Zuccini, Spinach and Onion Pizza

Pizza with pesto sauce topped with spinach, onions and zucchini

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium sized Pizza base
3/4 cup Pesto sauce
3 Cheese cubes
1 medium Zucchini
1 small Onion
A handful of Spinach leaves
1 tsp Oregano
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Rosemary (dried)

Method:

Spread the pesto on the base and grate one cheese cube and spread on it
Roughly chop the onion into large slices.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and toss the onions in it until soft
Cut the zucchini into fine ribbons. I used a peeler to make the fine ribbons
Toss the zucchini with 1 tbsp. oil. Add a little salt and the pepper.
Add the oregano, rosemary and the onions
Place the spinach on the base.
Spread the zucchini and the onion mix
Grate the remaining cheese on the pizza
Spoon the remaining olive oil on the pizza
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Basil Almond Pesto

I'm a BIG BIG fan of Pesto sauce. In an Italian restaurant, my eyes always look out for pasta with pesto. Once in a while the Arrabbiata makes an appearance on our table. But I'm totally biased towards the pesto. So much so that I started growing Basil in my balcony. One of the easier plants to grow.

Pesto works great as a dip for chips too. And its equally delicious as a sandwich spread. I made a pizza with it. Rather, I topped a pizza with pesto sauce and to tell you, it was amazing, as usual.

I love the fact that it is sooo easy to make and no cooking needed. All you need is a trusty blender.

The original pesto has pine nuts instead of almonds. But the cost of pine nuts had me reaching for almonds immediately. You can use cashews too, it tastes just as good.

Basil Almond Pesto

Sauce made with basil, almonds and olive oil. Can be used with Pasta, pizza, sandwiches or as a dip for chips.

Recipe Type: Sauce
Cuisine: Italian / International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Yield: 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Basil leaves
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
6-8 Almonds
1 tsp Pepper powder
1 Green chilli (Optional)
1 tsp Lime juice
Salt

Method:

Grind together all the ingredients except the lime juice
Mix the lime juice with the pesto
You can use this as a pizza sauce or a pasta sauce or simply as a dipping sauce
This recipe makes around 3/4 cup

Pizza Base (50% Whole Wheat)

I recently got a GoodFood magazine from the library, the masterclass in the book was about pizza, this inspired me to make Pizza for lunch today. The recipe called for all purpose flour, I used a mix of plain flour and whole wheat flour. The below recipe made one medium sized thick crust pizza. Split the dough to make 2 thin crust pizzas

Dough before proofing

Dough doubled in size

Spread out the dough using your hands

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida/ All Purpose Flour
1 cup Atta / Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup Warm water
1.5 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp Olive Oil

Method:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow it to rest for 5 mins
Add the olive oil and the two flours and mix well
Add the salt and knead for 15-20 mins
Cover and rest for 1 hour or until doubled
Sprinkle some dough into the working surface and place the dough on it
Using your hands spread the dough into a circle
For think crust, the thickness should be as much as a pancake
For thick crust, the thickness is around 1cm
Place the dough in the baking tray
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
Use a fork and poke the dough to prevent it from puffing up and allow even cooking
Bake for 10-15 mins until a toothpick comes clean

Kashi halwa / Ashgourd halwa

My mom really liked Kashi halwa and it was her wish that we jointly make it when she was over at my place. So the below recipe was the first for both of us. Turned out very good I must say but the quantity was too little for me :D I could have eaten the whole thing alone...

Ingredients:

Ash gourd / Petha/ Boodhi kumbalkai/ White pumpkin - 3 cups (peeled, deseeded, grated and squeezed)
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 4-5 tbsp.
Elaichi / Cardamom - 3
Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp.
Raisins / Kismis - 1 tbsp.

Method:

Peel the pumpkin, deseed it and grate it
Squeeze out as much water as you can. Save the water for later, do not throw it out.
Heat 1 tbsp. of ghee in a pan and lightly fry the cashew and the raisins until slightly brown
Remove from ghee and keep aside
Add 2 more tbsp. of ghee and fry the pumpkin in it until the raw smell of the pumpkin disappears
Transfer the pumpkin to a cooker, add 1/4 cup of the pumpkin water and pressure cook for 3 whistles or until soft
Transfer this back to the kadhai and cook until the water evaporates and the pumpkin is soft
Add 1 cup sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved and the halwa thickens. Add the remaining sugar if needed.
Add the crushed cardamom and the dry fruits
Add the remaining ghee and serve

Tomato soup

In this cold Bangalore weather, a hot soup is soooo comforting. Everybody's favourite soup at home? Tomato, of course. It doesn't take too much time to make it either. The perfect weekday evening soup. Most store bought soup powders use cornflour or other flours to obtain the thickness, I generally add some other veggies or 2 tbsp of dal to do the same. Makes it healthy as well as thick. Potato is the general thickening agent people use at home, I avoid it and generally use cauliflower or sweet potato.

Ingredients:

Tomato - 3 medium
Carrots - 2
Sweet potato - 1/2 cup (peeled and cubed)
Onion - 1 small
Bay leaf / Tej patta - 1
Cinnamon / Dalchini - 1" piece
Black peppercorns / Kali mirch - 4-5
Clove/ Lawang - 1-2
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Pepper powder / Red chilli powder - 1-2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Water

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a cooker pan
Roughly chop the onions and fry for 1-2 mins
Roughly chop the tomato, sweet potato and carrot and add to the cooker
Add all the whole spices
Add water just enough to cover the vegetables
Add salt and pressure cook for appx 2-3 whistles or 5-8 mins
Cool the vegetables a little and puree them in a mixer
Pour the puree back into the pan, add a cup of water, sugar, red chilli powder or pepper and allow it to boil
Add more water if the soup is too thick.
Boil on low flame for another 8-10 mins.
Serve hot. The above recipe makes enough for 3 people.

Rice tikkis

This was a busy week and an even busier weekend, so nothing much was cooked. Lunches and dinners were eaten out, cornflakes made it to the breakfast table. That left me with a little leftover rice from friday. So I decided to make rice tikkis as saturday evening snacks. These were relished by hubby dearest and one could not tell these were made from leftovers.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1.5 cups (cooked)
Sweet potato / Potato - 3/4th cup (peeled and grated)
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup (Chopped)
Curry leaves - 5-6
Chilli sauce - 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil for frying

Method:

Pulse the rice in the mixer for around 2-5 seconds until it is slightly mashed.
Mix the rice with the grated potato/ sweet potato
Add the coriander leaves, curry leaves, chilli sauce, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt and around 3 tsp of oil
Knead for a few minutes to ensure everything is well mixed
Make small balls from the dough and flatten them
Heat a tava and grease it. You can also deep fry these. Deep fried ones taste better (as usual :))
Place the tikkis on the tava and spoon oil over them. I used at least 1 tsp oil per tikki.
Fry until brown on both sides.
Enjoy with ketchup.

Dal Makhani

Friday nights call for something special. With the heavy rains, eating out was out of question. Who's ready to battle Bangalore traffic when it rains? So it was time to make something easy and special at home. So here comes Dal Makhani. Although the name suggests makhan aka butter, it really does not have too much. Infact, I made it without any butter. You can add a spoonful at the end.

Ingredients:

Whole black urad dal - 1/2 cup
Red kidney beans / Rajma - 2 tbsp
Tomato - 2 medium
Onion - 1 medium or 2 small
Ginger - 1" piece
Garlic - 1-2
Coriander powder / Dhania powder - 3-4 tsp
Cumin powder / Jeera powder - 1-2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp
Salt
Water

Method:

Soak the urad dal and the rajma for around 6-8 hours.
Pressure cook them in water until soft. Urad dal cooks very soon, around 3-4 whistles or 10 mins. Rajma, however, takes much longer. It took me around 45 mins on low
flame after 1 whistle to cook rajma.
Also, while cooking rajma, do not use the water that it was soaked in. Use fresh water.
Puree the onion along with the ginger and garlic
Puree the tomato
Heat oil in a kadhai and add the cumin seeds
Once they brown, add the onion paste and cook for 2-3 mins
Add the tomato puree and all the spices and cook on low flame for 10-12 mins. Add 1-2 tbsp water if it starts burning.
Add the urad dal and rajma.
Add salt and water.Adjust water according to the desired consistency.
Cook for another 5-7 mins.
Serve hot with rice or roti

Instant Wheat Dosa | Savory Whole Wheat Pancake

savory wholewheat pancake goduma dosa godi dosai vegan indian breakfast

Have you had hunger pangs at say about 4.30 - 5 pm? I believe I'm hungriest at that time in the evening. And the worst part is, I'm sitting in a bus on my way back from office at that time. All I can think about is food and I cannot reach out to any food. I tell you that is the WORST situation to be in.

Then what do I do? I obsess about food. I start browsing Pinterest. Isn't it like the most AWESOME app for all us food lovers? So much beautiful food out there. Click here to follow me on Pinterest. Then I realise I'm getting hungrier, and I really really cannot sleep when I am hungry, so on days I have a good book with me, I read, or on other days I look out those large bus windows and keep spotting street food vendor..

And as soon as I get down from the bus, I run to the nearest bakery or street stall for may some crisp Puff or the spicy Samosa. Later on at night, I obsess about having eaten all that fried food or fatty food. Guilt definitely weighs heavy on my heart and my tummy.

To avoid all that I wrote about, I keep a few quick to make yet absolutely HEALTHY recipes up my sleeve. And this Wheat Dosa fits it to a T. Everyone I know knows that Whole wheat is healthy. Protein, good Carbs, Filling, need I go on? No sugar, no frying, no butter - This is perfect for evenings as much as for mornings. Effort required - chop tomatoes, onions (and these are optional) and add to some whole wheat flour. Add water, salt and spices if you love them as much as me. And then just spread on a pan and cook with barely 1 tsp of oil. That's IT!!!

Mix all the ingredients to get a dosa consistency batter

Spread the batter on the tava and spoon oil

Flip when one side browns

Instant Wheat Dosa | Savory Whole Wheat Pancake

Instant savory dosa or pancake made with whole wheat flour.

Recipe Type: Breakfast / Snacks
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 small pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole wheat flour or Atta
1 small Onion
1 Tomato
8-10 Curry leaves
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 cups Water
A handful Coriander Leaves
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Method:

Chop the onion, tomato and coriander finely
Mix all the ingredients except oil and make a dosa / pancake consistency batter
Heat a tava or a griddle and grease it
Spoon the batter on the tava and spread it
Spoon oil onto it
Flip it when one side browns
Cook it until both sides brown
Enjoy it hot with chutney