Poondu Gravy (Garlic Gravy)    

Of late, I  have started a liking towards other gravies beyond Dal. I already have a recipe of Poondu Kulambhu in my blog, however, in this recipe you can incorporate lots of Garlic . I also find it visually appealing as the Garlic is Grinded and does not float which is something I am not too comfortable with.

                                                                                                            
                                   
Ingredients
Onion - 1 (Large, Peeled)
Tomato - 1 (Medium, Blanched)
Garlic - 20 -25 Pods (Peeled)
Oil - 2 Tablespoons (I used Gingelly Oil)
Red Chilly Powder - 1 Tablespoon
Coriander Powder - 1 Teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 Teaspoon
Black Pepper Powder - A generous Pinch
Fenugreek Seeds - a Pinch
Tamarind Juice - 1/2 Cup (Made from soaking a gooseberry sized Tamrind in 1/2 cup of Water)
Currly leaves - Few Leaves
Salt - To taste

Method

• I have used a food processor for all the chopping work as I wanted them to be finely chopped. If you dont have a food processor you can Pulse them in mixer for a second and ensure that they are not completely pureed but it is chunky.
• Place the Onion and Garlic and pulse them in Food processor or Mixie so they are chunky.
• Puree the Tomato after removing the skin and I also added curry leaves to it and pureed.
• Now place a kadhai on stive and add the onion.
• Once the Oil is warm, add the fenugreek and immediately add the Onion - Garlic Mix and saute till they are cooked.
• This may take sometime between 5-8 minutes.
• Then add the Tomato puree and add the salt and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Once you add the Tomato the mixture will begin to boil so be careful.
• Once the Tomato is done, add the Dry masala Powders (Turmeric, Coriander nad red chilly powder) and saute.
• Saute till the raw flavour of the masala is gone or till the oil oozes out.
• Now add the Tamarind pulp and mix it well.
• Check for salt and cover it with a Lid.
• Cook till the Tamarind Juice is cooked and the Oil separates from the gravy.
• Add the Black pepper powder and serve with Rice and Appalam.
• It also goes well with Appam, Dosa, idli etc.

Brown Rice Vegetable Pulav

The moment I hear the recipe name the one thing that comes to my mind is the Brown Rice ad with Chef  Sanjeev Kapoor. So I was always wanting to experiment different cuisines with Brown Rice. So some time last week, I made my first try with BR Veg Pulav and it tasted really good. So I felt motivated and tried with Brown Rice Dal Khichdi which was also yummy. I will share the BR Khichdi recipe sometime next week.

You can add any vegetables, Masalas that you have in your pantry. I have used what was available in my pantry on that. I have mildly spiced, if you want to make spicy, adjust to your preference.

Even though its seems like lot of work, it is not, each step will take a minute to 2 to complete. If your Rice is ready you can prepare this dish in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients

Brown Rice - 1 Cup (Washed and Soaked in 2.5 cups of water for 30 minutes )
Onion - 1 (Medium, thinly sliced)
Cauliflower - 1/4 Cup (Broken into small florets)
Green Chilly - 1 (Slit)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Teaspoon
Paneer or Cottage Cheese - 1/4 Cup (Cut into 1" cubes)
Potatoes - 1 (Large, washed and cut into 1" cubes)
Cinnamon, Cloves, Bay leaves, Aniseed - 1 Each
Green peas - 2 Tablespoon (Boiled)
Red Chilly Powder - 1 Tablespoon
Green Coriander Leaves - 1 Tablespoon (Finely Chopped)
Mint leaves - 2 tablespoon (Washed and roughly chopped)
Salt - To Taste
Oil - As required
Clarified Butter/Ghee - 1 Tablespoon (Optional)

Method

Cooking the Rice:

• In usually soak my Brown Rice in 3 Cups (For a Cup of Brown Rice) for 15 minutes and cook it for 5 whistles in a pressure cooker.
• As I was making Pulav, I reduced the water by 1/2 Cup and increased the soaking time. So for this pulav I soaked 1 Cup of brown Rice in 2.5 Cups of water for 30 minutes and cooked for 5 whistles.
• The above is only an indication and may change depending on your quality of Rice and maturity of rice etc.
• I have used authentic thick brown Rice and not Brown Rice Basmati Rice. You can use any Brown Rice variant that is available/you like.
• So cook the Brown Rice and keep it aside.

Cooking the Veggies:

• Place a tava/Kadhai on stove and add a tablespoon of oil and arrange the Potato cubes.
• leave on one side for 2-3 minutes and then flip it cook.
• If you think it is taking too long to cook, then cover the tava with a lid.
• Once the potatoes are half done, arrange the Paneer and cauliflower also and cook till the Potatoes,cauliflower and Paneer are done and gets a nice colour.

Onions and Spices:

• Meanwhile, place another Kadhai/Wok and add a little more than a Tablespoon of oil.
• Once the Oil is warm, add the Whole Garam masala (Cinnamon, Cloves, Bay leaves, Aniseed) and saute till they are done. This may take couple of seconds.
• To this add the onions and saute till they are done.
• Then add the Mint leaves, Ginger Garlic Paste and Saute for a minute or two.
• Add the Red chilly powder and saute it around and to this add the boiled Green peas and Saute.
• Now add the sauteed veggies also to this (Potatoes, Cauliflower and Paneer) and saute it around a bit.
• Ensure that you maintain the shape of these veggies and don't mash them.

The Final touch:

• After tossing all veggies together, add the cooked Brown Rice and toss it around.
• Cover and cook for a minute or two to just allow the veggies and rice to come together.
• Garnish with Green Coriander leaves and pour a tablespoon of rice.
• Enjoy your Yummy and Healthy Brown Rice.

 

Detox Water 

I read lots of article around Detoxing our Body. Given our lifestyle and pollution, use of pesticides etc, the body accumulates loads of toxins so the article recommended Detoxing. When I started googling around it one recommendation I saw in many places is to use Detox Water. They were so many articles oh how to make them , sue them etc which one said multiple things though leaving me completely Confused. So I decided to make them at home and try. I tried couple of recipes and I personally liked couple of them. I will post those recipes one by one. 

Today, I will post one of the most basic, easy and famous Detox Water with Lemon and Ginger. 

Mint aids digestion and is good for Stomach
Lemons has a cleansing effect due to the citric acid in it 
Cucumber prevents water retention and has a cooling effect.

Ingredients
Lemon - 1 (Medium, thinly Sliced)
Cucumber - 1/2 (With Skin, Thinly Sliced)
Ginger - 1/2 Inch (Skin Removed, grated)
Mint Leaves - 10
Water - 1.5 Litres

Method

• Except ginger, we will add everything else with skin so wash them thoroughly.
• Use only Fresh Ingredients for making the Detox water, if not they have a very pungent taste and you wont be able to consume them.
• So always use Fresh Ingredients.
• In a Jug, pour clean drinking water, add the Mint Leaves, thinly sliced cucumber, thinly sliced Lemon and Grated Ginger.
• Keep it refrigerated overnight or 8 hours and  filter and drink the water from Morning onward.
• You can refill the jug with some more water and allow it to infuse and drink it throughout the day. 
• I prefer to refill 2 times, however the infusion is diluted compared to the 1st time.

Notes:

• I read somewhere that you should not drink Detox water in drink, so I dont drink them in Night.
• Bring the water to room temperature before drinking as otherwise you may catch cold.
• Throw away the Lemon , cucumber etc after 24 Hours and use the freshly cut ingredients.
• If you unable to consume the water within 24 Hours discard that too as it tends to become cloudy.

Alo Stuffed Bread Pakora(Bhajji) with 1 Tablespoon of Oil 

During one of the sleepless nights, I went about browsing the channels and found a chef using this 1 Tablespoon of Oil technique instead of Deep Frying. I was thinking of some recipe to try it out and I had my lightbulb moment and decided to make some Bread Pakoras using the same technique. I have used Homemade Potato Bread and some leftover Potato Masala  to make this.

Believe me, it was tasting amazing and you can eat them without any guilt. As I used homemade Bread, I made Thicker Slices,you can use thin or thick slices and either way they will taste yum. Instead of Potato you can add any filling or any Sabzi which is leftover. I also had some Leftover Mint chutney that I added which took the Pakora to another level.

The major Trick in the recipe is the consistency of the batter. If you make this think the batter will runny and this technique wont work. On the other hand if the batter is Thick then you will face difficulty in smoothing them over the bread.

Basically take whatever is available in your kitchen and experiment with this technique.

I have found another technique to make these Pakoras with even less than 1 Tablespoon of Oil which I will share with you soon.

Ingredients
Bread Slices - 4 (As much as you need, I have used Homemade Whole Wheat Potato Bread)
Mint Chutney - 1 Teaspoon (As Required)
Potato Curry - As required
Besan/ Gram Flour - 2 Tablespoon
Hing or Asafoetida - A generous Pinch
Sooji or Semolina - 1 Teaspoon
Cornflour - 1/2 Tablespoon (Optional)
Water - 1/4-3/4 Cup (Based on Besan/Gram flour quality)
Hot Oil - 1 Teaspoon
Salt - To Taste
Oil - 1 Tablespoon for Making the Pakoras

Method

• In a mixing bowl, add the Gram flour,sooji,cornflour,salt and hot oil, asafoetida and mix them well.
• Adding Hot oil will ensure that the crust is crispy and the Batter absorbs less oil while cooking.
• Now add water little by little and mix well.This should be of Idli Batter consistency neither too thick nor too Thin.
• Heat a Non stick Tava and add a tablespoon of Oil.
  
• Circulate the Tava or griddle so that the whole Tava is smeared with Oil. 
• Now take the bread slices and smear some Mint Chutney on 2 slices.
• Now place the Potato Stuffing on one of the slices and place another slice smeared with mint chutney on top of this.
• Now take this sandwich and dip it in the prepared batter.
• Ensure that it is coated with batter from all sides.
• This was pretty easy and not as difficult as it sounds, however, if you a beginner then you can insert a toothpick into the sandwich to ensure that they don't fall apart when you dip them in the batter. 
• Once the Sandwich is coated with Batter from all sides, place this on the Hot Oil Smeared Tava or Griddle.
• Allow it to cook on one side (maybe a minute or 2) and flip and cook it.
• It will be crispy and would have got a nice colour. 
• As I had Thicker slices,my cooking time was more. I also cooked them on the sides.
• Now your Alo Stuffed Bread Pakora is ready to be gobbled. 

Whole Wheat Potato Bread

I have read in many blogs and posts that adding Vital Gluten improves the texture of the Bread. However, I was not so sure of whether Gluten is good or bad for Health, so did a Google and found this article.

Then my next search was to look for alternatives and I found that using Mashed Potatoes or Milk or Milk Powder enhanced the quality of the Bread. Here is my first try of making WW Bread with Mashed potatoes. I made it as a Masala Bread, you can skip it and make it as a Potato Bread. 

 

Ingredients

• Potato – 2 (Medium, Boiled, peeled and mashed)
• Whole Wheat Flour – 3 -4 Cups ( I needed around 3.5 Cups of Wheat Flour as this would depend upon on the Potato and its moisture)
• Dried Herbs - 1 Teaspoon (Optional)
• Garlic - 6 Pods (Peeled and Finely Chopped)
  
• Chilli Flakes - A Generous Pinch (Optional )
• Luke Warm Water - 1 Cup
• Dry Yeast - 1.5 Teaspoon (1 Teaspoon Instant yeast, 1.5 teaspoon Active Dry or 3 teaspoon Fresh Yeast)
• Sugar- 1 tablespoon
• Salt - 1 Teaspoon (Adjust to taste)
• Oil - 1 Tablespoon (I used Olive Oil)

Method

•  In a mixing bowl, place the luke warm water and add the sugar and stir it well.
•  To this add the Dry yeast and cover with a plate and leave it aside till it is frothy.
• In another mixing bowl, place the Wheat Flour and Salt and add Butter or Oil and mix it well.
• To this add Mashed potatoes, Dried Herbs, Garlic, salt, Chilli Flakes and Mix well.
• To this add the Yeast water and knead for 8-10 minutes or till you get a smooth pliable dough.
• I felt the dough needed more Flour as the moisture was more so I added Flour Tablespoon by tablespoon till I got a smooth Pliable Dough.
• Now place this dough in a oiled bowl and cover it with a damp cloth and allow it to rise. This may take 1 Hour.
• Once the Dough has doubled, bring the dough to the top of the kitchen counter and punch it down and knead for couple of minutes.
• Then shape it into a loaf and place it in a greased Loaf tin. Cover it lightly with a damp cloth and allow it to rise for 30-45 minutes.
• After 30-45 minutes, Bake it in a Pre heated Oven for 30 minutes at 180C and Broil for 5 minutes.

 .

Bombay Veg Grilled Sandwich recipe 

I am sure you would noticed the new look of my Blog. I simply love it as it is simple and neat. I don't like anything that's too fancy. Anyway, during re-designing of my blog I was updating some tags and that's when I realized I did not have even a single Sandwich recipe on my Blog. This recipe is inspired from here. However I have adapted to my taste and what was available in my pantry.

Ingredients

Bread Slices - 6 or More (Depending on how many you want to eat)
Potatoes - 2 (Boiled, Peeled and Sliced into circles)
Onions - 2 (Peeled and Sliced into Circles)

For Marinade
Oil - 3 Tablespoon ( I used Olive Oil)
Red Chilly Powder - 1 Tablespoon
Salt - To taste
Cumin Powder - 1 Teaspoon

For Spread
Thick Curd/Yogurt - 1/2 Cup
Tomato Ketchup - 1 Tablespoon



Method

• In a plate, add some oil and to it add Red Chilly powder, Cumin Powder and Salt and Mix well.
• To this add the sliced Potatoes and coat them with the marinade. 
• If you have some time, you can allow it to rest for some time,however be careful as it will release water if you leave it for longer time. 
• Also add the sliced onion to the marinade and coat it well with the marinade.
• Now heat a Tava with some oil and once it is hot arrange the marinated potatoes and get them cooked and keep it aside.
• Now in the same tava cook the Marinated onions too.
• Now in a bowl, mix Curd and Ketchup well.
• Take a slice and spread the Yogurt- Ketchup mix on the bread slice. Spread this like how you will spread butter on Bread.
• Now on this place some Cooked potatoes and Onions and Cover with it another Bread slice.
• If you want, you can spread the Yogurt-Ketchup spread on this slice also, I did as I love Yogurt.
• I used a sandwich maker as I have one. So I pre heated my sandwich Maker and brushed some oil, then placed the prepared Sandwich in that and locked the sandwich maker.
• After a minute or so my Sandwich was ready.
• I also tried making this on the Tava top and it also turned out great.