Our lil Einstein

Hello all,

After a long time making myself free to post. We've been doing well. Not trying anything new in the kitchen because of all the post pregnancy restrictions :( But will be back soon.

Yes we are proud parents now of a cute adorable boy, Siddhanth. He was born on the 12th of July. So been very busy. The three things during a day that happens continuously without any delay are feed, clean & sleep :) I'm back to my good old call center days. I can manage staying up all night looking after him. But for his dad, it's a bit too much to ask for. My parents come in handy during the night. They have practised all the songs that are needed to keep Siddhanth quite. :) My MIL does the day duty :) This has been our story for the last 21 days.

Hope everyone had a nice festival on Friday. Happy friendship's day to all of you.

Fried Rice

Got some time to post the Fried rice recipe which I'd tried over the weekend. At the moment I've restrictive access to the Kitchen as my MIL does most of the cooking. She'll be getting a companion soon, (my mum) to deny me any access to the Kitchen till October.

This is a simple fried rice, which I cook quite often.

Ingredients: -

1 cup boiled Rice (Spread the rice on a plate & allow it to cool down completely)
1 medium sized green capsicum, finely chopped
1 medium sized carrot, finely chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped into strips
1/2 cup sprouts
1/4 cup green peas
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato-chili sauce
A bunch of 3-4 Scallions / Spring Onions (green leafy part & the onion part separated & finely chopped.)
Salt
Oil

Method: -

1. In a wok, heat 2 tbsp of oil & add onions. Saute till they start to sweat.
2. Then add all the other veggies & cook till they get fried evenly.
3. In a cup mix soy & tomato-chili sauce. Add little water & then drop it into the wok.
4. Mix well so that the sauce coats the veggies well.
5. Now add rice along with enough salt & fry for 3-5 minutes. If the oil has become less, add 1tbsp again.
6. Garnish with green leafy part of the spring onion & serve hot.

I made the red tomato Rose. This is my first try at vegetable carving. It was quite easy. I selected a round red tomato that was not too ripe. Then with the help of a knife, I started to peel the skin in a continuous strip. The strip was not even though. But it was OK. Then I carefully wound the strip to get the shape of a rose.

Bendekayi Majjige huli

Recently my co-sister in Bangalore mentioned about this majjige huli. I forgot to ask her the recipe. After searching on the Internet, found a couple of them here & here. I referred to them, but made the usual way how I make the majjige huli.

Ingredients: -

15 - 20 bendekayi or Okras, washed, dried & cut in to 2" pieces.

1 tbsp besan

2 cups yogurt

1/2 cup grated coconut

1 tsp mustard seeds

a pinch asafoetida

10-15 curry leaves

2-3 green chilies

1 tbsp coriander seeds or dhania

1" ginger piece

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Coriander leaves to garnish

Salt

Oil

Method: -

1. In a blender, add yogurt, grated coconut, ginger, dhania, green chilies, besan, salt & pulse well.

2. In a wok, add 1 tbsp of oil & heat on medium flame.

3. Add mustard seeds & when they splutter, add asafoetida, curry leaves & turmeric powder along with the Okra pieces.

4. Mix well so that each okra piece is well coated with oil. Add little salt.

5. Fry for about 5 minutes or till the threads formed on the okra pieces disappear.

6. Pour the beaten yogurt mixture into the wok.

7. Bring it to boil & then remove from flame.

8. Garnish with coriander leaves & serve hot with rice.

Adlak's recipe of Peanuts in Masala Gravy

As the name suggests, I got the recipe from Adlak's blog (Hema). It's the same excuse I've too :), no veggies at home & lazy enough to go out in this hot & humid weather. Thanks dear for the wonderful creation. It was great!

Ingredients: -
1 cup Peanuts, soaked for 5 hours & pressured cooked with little salt
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp amchur (I'm into eating lot of spicy & sour food these days)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
2-3 green chilies, slit lengthwise
Salt

Oil

Method: -

1. Prepare the regular Punjabi masala, using the onion & tomatoes along with the masala ingredients. Grind it to a fine paste.

2. Bring the gravy to boil by adding enough water. Now add the peanuts & let it cook till the oil starts to leave.

3. Garnish with coriander & serve with rotis or rice :).

Paneer Makhanwala

I was looking for new recipes online which use Paneer. I found a huge list of yummy dishes here. I decided to try Paneer Makhanwala. I found a few variations of the masala by different bloggers. I made it in my own style. It tasted yum finally :)

Ingredients: -

Paneer made out of 1 lt milk, diced
200 g cream
2 tbsp butter
1 big onion, finely chopped
3-4 medium sized tomatoes, cut into pieces or use tomato puree
2-3 green chilies, slit lengthwise
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp cumin
1 clove
1” cinnamon stick
2 black pepper corns
2 tsp garam masala
½ tsp turmeric powder
4-5 cashew nuts
1 tbsp Kasoori methi
Salt
Coriander leaves & onion rings to garnish

Method: -
1. In a pan, roast Paneer cubes to golden brown by adding 2 tbsp of butter. Remove & soak them in Luke warm water.
2. In the same pan (medium flame), add another tbsp of butter & add cumin seeds. When they start to splutter, add cinnamon, pepper corns & fry for few seconds.
3. Add onion pieces along with very little salt & turmeric powder.
4. When they begin to sweat, add cream, garam masala, cashew nuts, kasoori methi & tomato pieces. Give it a good stir. Allow the tomatoes to cook well & become tender. Remove from flame & cool.
5. Grind the above cooled mixture to a fine paste. Don’t add water.
6. In the pan, now add the roasted Paneer cubes along with the paste. Add little water if the consistency is too thick & bring it to boil. Add salt.
7. Allow the Paneer pieces to absorb the masala well. This should take around 5 – 10 minutes.
8. Remove from flame, garnish with coriander & onion rings. Serve hot with any Indian bread or rice.

This was our dinner yesterday; Honeydew milk shake, Paneer Makhanwala with Naans.

Honeydew milk shake

Its becoming unbearly hot & humid here. We are expecting rain during the weekend. Hopefully we'll have pleasent weather next week. Today is a holiday here. As AmAr would also be home I wanted to make some fresh juice or milk shake. Yesterday bought a big honeydew. So here goes the recipe I tried. I made it twice; yesterday night for dinner & today for lunch. :)

Ingredients: -

½ Honeydew melon
2 tsp honey
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 cups milk

Method: -
Grind all the ingredients in a blender or mixie. Add crushed ice & serve cold.

Optional: - Add a tsp of fresh lemon juice or amchur if you like it sweet & sour.