Masala Capsicum

What to make for a quick lunch? Today is grocery day and the only thing I had left in my fridge this morning was green bell pepper & onions. Kinda short for ingrediants I whipped up this tasty dry side to go along with the Lemon rice I made for my husbands' lunch. It cooks very fast & it is one of those no-brainer dishes.

Ingrediants
1 tbs oil
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp mustard seed
1 whole red chilli
1 green chilli, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 whole bell pepper, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
salt to taste
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tbs corriander pwd
2 tbs sherreded coconut
cilantro to garnish

Directions
Heat the oil in a open fry pan, add the cumin, mustard seed, red chilli, green chilli, ginger & garlic. Saute onions till they are pink,together with the salt and tumeric. Then add the peppers, on med-low flame, cook without covering the pan, as this will make the peppers go mushy and loose the texture you are looking for. The peppers should be cooked in 5-7 mins. If it starts to burn in this process add a dash of water. garish with shredded coconut and cilantro.

Serve hot with rice/roti & dal

Methi Aloo

I love potatoes.. They are my favourite. Frying potatoes with methi leaves for me is Sindhi cuisine. I do know that Methi Aloo might be some north-indian cuisine too. I always like this with hot steamed rice and dal or chapatis. Combing the benefits of methi with the ever popular potatoes, mildly seasoned with turmeric, chilli and garlic.
Fenugreek or methi has been used in ancient Indian and Chinese medicine to treat a number of ailments from bronchitis and arthritis to inflammations, rashes and digestive disorders and promoting healthy metabolism. Recent studies have shown that fenugreek lowers blood glucose and cholestrol levels and are hence used in treating diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Turmeric, popularly used in Indian cooking is considered a cleanser, blood purifyer, antiseptic and most importantly for it anti-cancer properties.This healthy combination of fenugreek and turmeric in the form of methi aloo makes an appearence on our table whenever fresh methi is available at the indian market. Methi aloo is clearly not a favourite among many due to the bitterness of methi. Sauteing the methi leaves with the salt till they wilt lightly removes the bitter taste.

Ingrediants
1 small bunch Methi, cleaned and cleaned again (it is usually very dirty)
1 tbs oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1-2 green chilli / to taste, minced
1 small onion
1 large tomato
2 medium red potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp tumeric pwd
salt to taste
1 tbs corriander pwd
dash of garam masala pwd

Directions
Heat the oil in a saucepan with a lid, add cumin, chilli, ginger & garlic, saute for a few mins. Add the onion and saute till pink-golden in color. Now add the tomatoes, over the pan with the lid and let the tomatoes get mushy, 4-5 mins. Stir well, add the potatoes, tumeric, salt, corriander pwd, & garam masala. Cover and cook for 4-5 mins. When the potatoes are half cooked add the methi leaves. Cook till potatoes are fully cooked.

Serve hot with rice / roti. Enjoy!!

Lemon Rice

My husband usually takes lunch from home every morning. This is a recipe that I tried out this morning for the first time. I have eaten it before many a times but had never made it myself. I ate it for breakfast, pretty good. I had lots of left over rice from last night's egg curry and rice dinner, so I gave it a shot. I packed this Lemon Rice with Masala Capsicum (Green Bell Peppers cooked in spices, recipe to follow), fruits and a salad. I hope he ejoyed it.


Ingrediants
2 portions cooked white rice, not mushy
1 tbs oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp channa dal
1 tsp urad dal
2 whole dried red chilli
1 green chilli, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
5 curry leaves
3 tbs peanuts
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp salt / to taste
juice of one lemon

Heat the oil in a wok type pan. Add mustard seeds, let them pop or they will be bitter. Add channa dal, urad dal, red chilli, green chilli, ginger. Fry for a few seconds. Add the curry leaves and peanuts, fry for a min. Lastly add the tumeric, salt & lemon juice and the cooked rice. Stir them gently until the rice is coated with the spices. Serve hot.

Egg Curry

This is one of the recipes that my mum used to make when we were kids. It has a Kerela influence. Since my dad grew up in Kerela and because of his addiction to all things Kerela, we too grew up eating the same food he grew up eating.. Not that I am complaining.. It is delicious. You will eventually notice that all the South Indian dishes that I make have the same South Indian Masala Powder that I make at home ( this I will post it in a seperate recipe ). I serve this egg curry with rice, papadums & yoghurt. I hope you enjoy it.

Ingrediants
4 hard boiled eggs, shelled
1 tbs oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 whole dried chillis
1 medium onion, small dice
1 tomato, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 tbs South Indian Masala Powder
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 - 2 cups water


Directions
In a heavy bottom saucepan heat the the oil on medium heat, add the mustard seed. After they have sputtered add the dried chillis, and curry leaves. Add the onions saute for a min until they are pink. Add the ginger, garlic, stir, then add the tomatoes, salt, tumeric, & stir. Cover the pan with a lid and let them simmer in their own juices but keep a eye on it and stir once in a while. After 10 mins you will notice that the tomatoes have become mushy, now add the South Indian Masala powder, stir. Add the water and let it come to a boil. Make small slits in the eggs and add to the gravy. Let it simmer for 5 mins or so, add the coconut milk simmer again for 10 mins.

Serve

Pound Cake

This Pound Cake just melts in your mouth and smells so good. I don't usually like pound cake because it's heavy and dry and not my favorite, but this one has definitely changed my mind.
Its a simple to make and the results are amazing. I like to tweak it once in a while by marbling it with 2 tbs cocoa powder in half the batter. I also like to add orange extract to it sometimes. I want to try it with Madeira wine and candied ginger next. Will post how that goes. This recipe makes a big cake. Most of the time I half the recipe and make it in a loaf pan, but the baking time remains the same. It may be a bit sweet, so if you want you can cut down the sure by 1/2 - 3/4 cup. So here goes



Fail-Proof Pound Cake

Ingrediants
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (you may use lemon or almond flavoring instead)

Directions
Generously grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan. Do not preheat the oven.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternately add flour mixture and heavy cream to butter-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in flavoring.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Put into a cold oven and set the temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes without opening the oven door. Bake for an additional 15 minutes if necessary. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto cake plate. For a real treat, serve yourself a slice while it's still warm.

Classic White Bread

I have been making bread at home for about 9 months now. They all didn't look so good or even tasted as good as the Kalamata Olive bread I made this week. In the beginning they didn't even taste like bread. But my pledge in Feb'09 to never again buy a loaf of artisan bread from the fancy bakery, kept me going. Without bread thinking of what to make for breakfast and those simple weekend brunches would have been a nightmare.
So I have been trying alot of different recipes for that simple loaf of bread, some work some don't. Some just have too many ingredients for an everyday loaf. I like the recipe below because it is simple, few ingredients, and it tastes pretty damn good. Although the recipe calls for All-Purpose flour, if I have unbleached white bread flour on hand I like to use it. It gives a much better texture to the bread that you just don't get with all-purpose. I usually like to make half the recipe just for one loaf which is enough for my little family of 2. Oh and I failed to mention this is a Julia Child recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups water (105-115 F)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 7 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• Optional Kalamata olives, pitted, 2 handfuls
  

Directions

1. Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl and mix with yeast and sugar til foamy.

2. Let sit for 5 minutes until creamy.

3. Put the yeast mixture, rest of the water and 3 1/2 cups of the flour into the mixer with the dough hook.

4. Mix slowly until blended then add the rest of the flour.

5. Increase speed and scrape down the sides til the dough comes together.

6. (If it doesn't add a tbsp of flour at a time til it does.) Add salt and mix at medium speed for 10 minutes (or do half in mixer and half kneading) til dough is smooth and elastic.

7. Back in mixer add butter 1 tbsp at a time (dough may come apart, but mixing will pull it back together). You can now add the olives.
   

8. Turn dough out on lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball then place in a large buttered or oiled bowl.

9. Turn dough so it is completely coated in the fat, then cover in plastic for 45 minutes to an hour, til it has doubled in size at room temperature.

10. Butter 2 loaf pans.

11. Deflate the dough, cut in half and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

12. Roll out into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle.

13. With the short end facing you, fold the dough into thirds like a sheet of paper to go into an envelope, creating a roll.

14. Pinch the seam closed, and pinch the ends enough so it will fit in the loaf pan.

15. Drop in the loaf pan seem side down, and repeat.

16. Cover the loaves with buttered plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place (80°F) for 45 minutes, until they double in size.

17. Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the center of the oven.

18. Bake for 35-45 minutes til they are honey brown.

19. Immediately turn out of pans onto a rack to cool.

20. Once almost completely cool, they can be cut.

21. Store in a brown paper bag for a day or two.

22. Once cut, turn cut side down onto a cutting board and cover with a kitchen towel.

One of the first things I did after the loaf cooled down is make a Cheese sandwich. Yummy with cheddar and fresh basil.