My son loved Kheema. Mutton kheema. He would ask me, "Amma can I have a second serving? Amma, can you save it for dinner?" He would eat it three times a day if fed. Unexpectedly as half of our family has turned vegetarian recently, I need to be creative in cooking food that is sufficient in Protein and other nutrients. One of the first protein foods that grabbed my attention is Soy. I always loved soy chunks as a kid. I would think it was like chicken. Had a slight partition with it after marriage as S never liked it. Luckily, my sonny loves it and soy chunks found their way into my kitchen slowly.

Except cooking a curry with soy chunks, I didn't know many recipes. One day, I spotted Soy Granules in the Indian store. The cook in me wondered, what can I cook with them? Whatever it could be, I thought I will think about it later and stashed a couple of packs in my cart.

One lazy noon, I decided to experiment with them. So, all you need for your experiment are:

Basmathi rice or Sona Masoori - 2 cups cooked
Butter- a table spoon, Oil - a table spoon
Cardamom, Cinnamon, Bay leaf-5 gm each
Cashews - 1 tbsp
Onions-1 big, chopped into thin long slices
3-5 Green Chilies
Ginger Garlic paste-1 tbsp each
Soy granules - Half of the Nutrela Pack (Boiled, drained and squeeze the water out of it)
Salt-to taste
Garam Masala - 1tpsn
Soy Sauce

• Heat the pan. Add butter. After the butter melts, add oil. Yes. I use half butter, half oil. Just to reduce few calories. 
• Add Cardamom, Cinnamon, bay leaf. After they splutter, add cashews. Roast them till light golden brown.
• Add onions and slit green chilies. Roast them till onions become translucent.

• Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell leaves.
• Squeeze water completely out of the boiled granules. Add it to the onions. 

• Add salt. After few minutes add garam masala or just coriander powder if you want it mild. I add any powder that comes handy. Be it jeera or dhania doesn't matter. :)
• Fry it for few more minutes till you feel it is cooked. 
• Add cooked rice. Make sure there are no lumps. Mix the rice well.

• Sprinkle soy sauce if you want some Chinese flavor to it.
• At the end, sprinkle chopped coriander.

You could beat egg in a separate pan and add it to the soy granules. I normally don't add vegetables as I don't want it to taste like a veggie fried rice.

Pardon the poor quality of my pictures. This is not a cook blog. I randomly post my creations :) But, they are tested and tried. 

* Garam Masala - It is a fine powder made with roasted cloves, cinnamon and coriander seeds.
* Mutton - Goat meat
* Kheema - Ground meat

Yummy Tummy

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I first ate a fruit cake when I was in college. Our neighbors gave a piece of cake. It tasted different. I liked it. They said someone got it from Canada. And that it had brandy or whisky in it. I giggled. Alcohol? in Cake? Umm...I ate the plum cake available in bakeries many times and always loved it. Somehow, the piece of cake from canada stayed with me all these years.

As I have always frequented with cooking/baking experiments, I wanted to try the Pl(R)um cake. My search for the perfect recipe started. I found many recipes but none to my liking. Rather none sounded like the cake I am looking for. Finally, magic happened. I landed upon Manju's Blog. It had the perfect recipe.

Don't be scared on looking at the length of ingredients and the process. Now that I found the perfect recipe, I needed to get Rum. Unlike California, they don't sell alcohol in any store. I had to go to a beverage depot ( First time in my life have I gone to a liquor store). Got the Rum, soaked the dry fruits, waited patiently for the D-day and then baked it. The entire process to get the stuff ready takes one hour and then baking takes an hour. 

I baked it twice and it came out good both the times. Once was for christmas and the 2nd time was for a school reunion. Friends at work would go Y(R)ummmm!!! The only step that I had difficulty was making the caramel syrup. It was a flop but I managed to do something called syrup and mixed it :)

Okay! Okay! Don't get bored! The cake is coming...It's HERE!!!!!

Yummy Tummy

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When I started blogging, I had a great plan to make this an all-in-one blog. As such, I don't have the patience, energy and time to maintain a blog for each of my skills..hehe.
Okay! So, here I come up with another simple recipe for you all to experiment with!
Everyone is health conscious these days, not me though. A wild grin..:D. S has replaced rice for Quinoa (pronounced as keen-wa) and eats it with any curry. Now, if you Google you can get plenty of information on the grain. I spare you. :) Though I am the junk eater of the house,  you know as a mom it takes some responsibility and creativity to feed your kids healthy. I happened to taste them at a friend's place and she was trying this for the first time. They came out really good and what next? I heard people making Upma, Puliohora with these but never tried them. I made them for Rushi's lunch one day and he gobbled them up all.

All you need is:

1/2 cup Quinoa seeds/grains - Boil them in 1 1/2  or 2 cups of water if you want them completely mushy.
Salt as desired
Green chilies chopped or red chilies powder depending on your taste buds
Coriander chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tea spoon
Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tea spoon
(I used Coriander powder as Mr R freaks out if the food is spicy)
Maida or All purpose flour - 1 spoon.

Mix all of the above ingredients together along with the boiled Quinoa.

Make small lemon size balls with your hand and press them into a patty.
Take a pan. Heat it. Add 2 or 3 spoons of oil.
Now place the patties on the pan and flip after a couple of minutes.

 Do this until both the sides are slightly red and crispy. They are ready. Serve with green/sweet chutney or tomato ketchup.

Small tip: If the seeds are falling off and the patty is not staying properly or breaking, mix a spoon of Maida in water and keep adding it in few drops to the patty. It acts like a binding factor.

1/2 cup of Quinoa seeds make around 6 patties.

Real simple. Isn't it? Do try them for sure. It won't take more than 15 mins to cook. 

Yummy Tummy

Posted By Found In Folsom

Courtesy: Nandini aunty.

Before beginning to cook, let me tell you the tale behind the bean dip. After our daughter was born, mom, kids and me went to visit my sis in Chicago. Our aunt's friend Nandini who also lived in the same city took the pain of touring us around the city. We packed some food along with us and had the pleasure of tasting aunty's delicious bean dip. This happened three years back. From then, I wanted to learn how to make it and somehow it just didn't happen. Finally, I asked her to send me the recipe as I have friends visiting us this weekend and decided to make it. So, this is the maiden attempt.

Yummy Tummy

Posted By Found In Folsom

Courtesy: Sivaranjani

Birakaya alias Ridge Gourd. Who likes it? There are many recipes that you can cook with birakaya. My husband loves the curry that my mom in law cooks by adding milk at the end. I think that these curries you cook by adding milk at the end are particularly regulars and famous with us from the coastal part of Andhra.

            Well, this one is not from my family, but from a neighbor and a very good friend of mine. We normally trash the peel of Ridge Gourd. I always felt, oh I wish I could make some use of it. As such it’s one of those expensive vegetables. This is another simple recipe which does not take too long to cook.  And the best part is the fiber you get from the peel.All you need is:

Ridge Gourd Peel

Potatoes – 1 boiled and diced

Onion – 1 small, chopped

Salt – to taste

Chili powder – ½ tsp

For the Seasoning: Oil - 2 tsp, Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp, Chana / Split Peas- 1/2 tsp, Mustard - 1/4 tsp, Cumin - 1/4 tsp, Curry Leaves.

• Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning.
• Add the onions, a pinch of turmeric and stir in between till the onion is soft.
• Add the boiled potato pieces and cover with a lid
• Add salt and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile wash the ridge gourd peel and grind it into a puree. Water can be added if the peel is too dry or not blending well.
• Now, add the puree to the ¾ th cooked potatoes. Sprinkle chili powder.
• Cook till the peel turns into dark green in color.
• You can sprinkle cumin or coriander powder too for an extra flavor.

This goes well with rice, roti and I put in bread and make sandwiches too.

Quick tip: I peel, cut and microwave the potato pieces for 2 mins. As it's just 1 potato, it's time consuming to boil it in an entirely different bowl and more work.

            We get the peel only when we cook ridge gourd. And I think it would be boring to eat two curries of the same vegetable on the same day. So, what I usually do is wash the peel, dry it and wrap it in a tissue and put it in the refrigerator. Normally, the peel stays up to a week without spoiling.

Yummy Tummy

Posted By Found In Folsom

Hmm…not sure how many of you are cabbage fans. I am not either. But, I am still okay with it. This one however is my mom’s own recipe which she makes in like 5 mins. And it tastes yummy and crunchy with hot rice. All you need is:

Cabbage – ¼ or ½ depending on the quantity you want

Green chilies – 4 to 5 again depending on the spice you want

Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp

Tamarind paste – ½ tsp

Salt – Adjust to taste

For the seasoning:

Oil – 3 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Chana dal (Split peas) – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves - few

• Dice or shred the cabbage into small pieces.
• Grind the green chilies with the cumin seeds.
• Then add the tamarind paste and salt and swish the blender once.
• Next add a bunch of the diced cabbage into the blender and blend for a few seconds.
• Then add this ground paste to the rest of the cabbage pieces and mix well.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, once they start to splutter add cumin and rest of the ingredients. Switch off the stove and add the seasoning to the cabbage.
• Garnish with chopped or ground coriander leaves.

            Serve it with hot rice and ghee..Yummm..It may look that the cabbage sounds too raw..isn't it? But, no. It's just fine.You don't feel it's uncooked or smells raw.Cutting the cabbage is the only thing that takes time.And for cutting the cabbage, the best tool is the food processor.

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Posted By Found In Folsom

I kept hearing about this chutney from the ladies from various places we lived. I tried once but it came out sweet. My trips to the Indian store kept postponing and had to go to Winco Foods for my veggies.

A couple of weeks back, I see this nice fresh Red Pepper and thought, "Okay, let me try it today" and got just 2. Came home and prepared the chutney for Ragi Dosa. We had an unexpected visitor who we asked to stay for supper along with my colleagues Ranjith and Vinod. Unexpectedly, the chutney came out sooo good and they made a clean sweep of it..I think they would have eaten if there was more.

Ingredients:

Big Red Bell Peppers - 3 (Cut into 1 inch cubes)

Tomatoes                   -  4 (Dice into medium size pieces)

Garlic cloves              - 2

Green Chillies            - 10 (less for a less spicy version)

Oil                               - 4 tsp

Tamarind Pulp          - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds              - 1/2 tsp

Salt                             - 1 tsp

Coriander 1/2 bunch   - (Do not cook with the other ingredients)

Heat oil in a pan. Add all the above ingredients and cover with a lid. cook on low to medium heat. Add salt after 5-10 mins and keep stirring occasionally. The tomatoes and peppers should come together like a mushy paste. The water that oozes out of the tomatoes should be dry.  Let it cool.

Then put this in a blender and blend it in two quick bursts. Make sure not to make the chutney into a fine smooth paste. It should remain crunchy. At the end, wash and grind the coriander and add it to the ground chutney. It taste just yummm with hot dosas.

A tiny bit of note here is,  however spicy you want it to turn, you'll still feel a tinge of sweet and sour taste. 

Yummy Tummy

Posted By Found In Folsom

 I remember eating this for the first time around 7 years back. A friend of mine Rajani cooked and dropped it at my place when we lived in the same apartments at Sunnyvale. I wanted to learn it and googled it. Now, I don't remember the exact place I saw it online. This was in fact the first and only special dish I learned to make after coming to the US. After cooking it for the past few years, I think I simplified it a bit according to my convenience. It tastes good and many of my friends like it..:) Hope you enjoy it too!!

Ingredients:

Capsicum - 2 big ones

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil           - 3 Tsp

Onion      - 1 Big

Peanuts    - 1/2 to 3/4 cup (Depending on the peanut flavour you want)

Coriander Leaves - 1/2 bunch

Coconut  - 1/2 cup (Not dry)

Tamarind Pulp - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Turmeric - a pinch

Chilli powder - 1 tsp (adjust to taste).

Gravy:

1. Dry roast peanuts and let them cool.

2. Dice Onion into 1 inch cubes and roast them in a tea spoon of oil and let them dry.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan and add cumin seeds. After they splutter, add the capsicum.

Cook on a low to medium flame and cover with the lid. Stir lightly so that the pieces do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

4. Grind all the above ingredients except the capsicum and cumin seeds with 1 cup water and make into a fine paste. 

5.Once the capsicum pieces are softened, add this gravy to them and cover with a lid. If you feel the gravy is too thick or tight add little more water.

6. Let it cook for another 20-25 minutes till it thickens a bit.

           Capsicum Gravy curry is ready to serve with roti, vegetable rice or just plain rice.

A small tip here is, you don't have to remove the coriander stems. Just wash them and add to the ingredients.  If you don't have coriander powder, just add a tsp of coriander seeds to the ingredients.

I always have tamarind pulp at home. In case you don't, soak small lemon size tamarind in water and add this to the gravy paste.Always, make sure to taste it while cooking so that you can adjust if the salt/chilli is less.

Courtesy: Internet and my own modifications for simplicity.

Enjoy your delicious curry and let me know how it came out!!! :)

Yummy Tummy

Posted By Found In Folsom