Brussels Sprouts Pakoras (Fritters)

          Brussels sprouts are these cute green veggies which look like baby cabbages, they belong to the same family and both have anticancer properties. I had tried them roasted, they tasted good, but the last couple of times, it didn't smell good and I gave up cooking this. Only later did I come to know, this vegetable gives out a sulphurous odor when it gets overcooked. After a long time, I bought these again, this time I made these pakoras with them, of course not a healthy way of cooking, but I think, once in a while, you can have them. I was not too sure about making these, but they turned out really superb and delicious..

Need To Have

• Brussels Sprouts - 10
• Gram Or Besan Flour - 3/4 cup
• Rice Flour - 2 tablespoons
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Basil - 1 tablespoon
• Oil For Deep Frying

Method
          Cut the bottom stem portion of the Brussels sprouts and slice them and separate them. Add the rest of the ingredients except oil, sprinkle water little by little, it should be a wet and dry mixture. Heat the oil, take the mixture by the handful and add to the oil, fry it till golden brown, remove and drain the oil. Serve it hot or warm as a snack or even as a side to rice and dal.
Sending it to Chef Al Dente for the Gimme Green event,
                to Tickling Palates for the Let's Cook Greens event,
                to Sumee's Culinary Bites for the Bon Vivant event,
                to Sara's Corner for the Women's Day Celebration event,
                to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event,
                to Srav's Cooking Concepts for the Vegan Diet - Only Plant Based event and to
                to Cuisine Delights for the Spotlight - Colorful Holi event.

Note
The mixture should be of the consistency, where you can spread it while dropping in the oil. Only then, you'll get crisp pakoras.
You can leave out the basil, I had it, so added it.
Don't over fry the pakoras, remove them when they start turning golden.

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Quinoa With Cucumber And An Award

          Quinoa, it's a grain or a pseudograin, high in fiber, protein, manganese, well, the list goes on, but I am not going to bore you, copying everything from wikipedia here. Couple of years back, never heard of it, but now I simply love it. It's so easy to cook and can be had as a salad, can be used instead of couscous in Mediterranean dishes and also tastes great in pulaos, in the place of rice. This dish is very simple, needs very few ingredients, no masalas to grind, it gets it flavor from the sauteed cucumber. I added some black beans and roasted peanuts for the extra crunch and munch..
Need To Have

• Quinoa - 1 cup
• Cucumber - 1 medium size
• Cooked Black Beans - 1/2 cup
• Roasted Peanuts - 1/8 cup
• Red Chilli Flakes - 1 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
• Green Part Of The Spring Onions - 1/4 cup
• Soy Sauce - 2 teaspoons
• Brown Sugar - 1 + 1/2 teaspoon

Method
          Cook the quinoa with 2 cups of water (just like you cook rice) and cool it. Slice the cucumber, don't peel the skin, if there are lots of seeds, remove it. Heat oil, add the cucumber pieces, saute it for a few mins, till they change color but are still crisp. Now, add in the chilli flakes, sugar, salt and soy sauce, mix it, add the black beans followed by the quinoa, black pepper, mix everything well. Finally add in the peanuts and the spring onions, serve it warm.

Sending this to Spicy Treats for the Show Me The Hits - Fiber Rich Foods event,
                   to Food Corner for the Midweek Fiesta event,
                   to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                   to Sara's Corner for the Women's Day Celebration event,
                   to Zesty South Indian Kitchen for the Hearth And Soul Blog Hop event,
                   to Taste Of Pearl City for the Healthy Morsels - Pregnancy event,
                   to Srav's Cooking Concepts for Vegan Diets - Only Plant Based event and
                   to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event.

Note
Do not overcook the quinoa, don't mix it when it is still hot, it'll become mushy.
Also, the cucumbers should have the slight crunch.
Increase or decrease the chilli flakes and pepper according to your spice level.

           Coming to the award, I had sent my entries to Anzz Cafe for her first event Valentine's Special. She had posted the roundups, couple of days back, it was a huge hit, one would be surprised at the number of dishes and the creativeness of my fellow bloggers. Hats off to you Anzz, you have done an amazing job with the roundups, lovely presentation. I am proud to show off my participation award here.

       
And then, moving on to the exciting part, I was thrilled to know that I was one of the three winners of the giveaway. When I received the email, saying, you have a surprise waiting for you, I was clueless, I had totally forgotten about the giveaway. Well, Iam so happy to get this cookbook, first one of India's first MasterChef Pankaj Bhadouria, and looking forward to browse through it, thank you so much Anzz, am smiling cheek to cheek.
The other happy winners of this book are Manju of Manju's Eating Delights and Rashida of Inherited Spices.

Please do check out the roundups, it's in three parts, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

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Dungaar Baingan Bharta..for a finger licking experience

Hi All!!

I love watching cookery shows, especially the ones which are presented by chefs. When the chefs present a show, not only do I learn new recipes but more than that, I’m always interested in the quick tips and tricks suggested by them especially for enhancing flavour.

In one such shows Devavrata Jategaonkar who is a carving expert had suggested this method of Dungar which is used in the five star hotels to produce the smoky effect. I love the smoky effect and have tried it in various recipes like the Flambéed Capsicum in Red Gravy,  Smoked Cottage Cheese Stuffed Okra and Smoked Plantain kebab with cream cheese filling. The smoked effect takes the recipe to a new unmatched height which is quite impressive.

S is not very fond of the regular baingan bharta, when I mentioned to him that I’ve made bharta for dinner, he reluctantly took it in his plate. I kept looking at his face and the minute he put it in his mouth he said ‘excellent’ and then bombarded me with his questions..how did I make it? What was the special thing that I’ve added? and many more. I just smiled at him and explained him the process. He liked it so much that he shared the recipe with his colleague telling him it’s an excellent preparation. His colleague replied him saying, Sir, you are lucky to have a five star chef at home.

So here’s the five star recipe to the unusual, aromatic bharta. Thanks Chef Devavrata your tip really worked.

Dungaar Baingan Bharta Serves:4 Preparation Time:20mins Cooking Time:10mins Ingredients1 Roasted Brinjal 1 medium onion 1large tomato 2green chillies 2tsp grated ginger 3/4tsp red chilli powder 3/4tsp turmeric powder 1-1/2tsp coriander powder 1/2tsp cumin powder 1thick garlic pod salt to taste oil for cooking For Dungar/ Smoking 2-3 cloves 2green cardamoms 1bay leaf 1piece cinnamon 2tsp ghee 2 pieces charcoal MethodMake incisions on the Eggplant and insert the garlic pod. Smear a few drops of oil and roast the eggplant directly on flame. With the help of water, remove the charred peel of the eggplant and then mash the pulp. The roasted garlic adds a great flavour to the eggplant. Heat about 2-3tbsp oil and add mustard seeds. Tip in the chopped green chillies followed by onion and ginger. Sauté nicely. Mix all the powdered spices and salt to taste. Finally add the tomatoes and eggplant and cook till done. Make a well in the bharta and keep a bowl in it. Put all the whole spices and burning charcoal over it. Put the ghee and cover the pan with a lid so that the smoke gets trapped and spreads the smoked spice flavour in Bharta. Keep covered for 10mins. Remove the lid and remove the bowl. Serve the bharta. The aroma of spices and the smoke flavor spreads in the Bharta and gives it an amazing flavor which is difficult to be described.. Another tasty version of Methi infused Baingan Bharta can be checked here.

Sending this to Rasi's I'm Star Event

and Cooking For Myself at Vegetarian Surprises. Sending it to Julie's EP Series- Herbs and Spices, Cilantro and Cumin

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Tofu Bhurji (Scrambled Tofu)

          Happy Women's Day to all my readers and thought to celebrate it, the healthy way, with some tofu burji. Tofu, now we are hearing a lot about it, it's health benefits, especially to women, and it's use in the place of dairy, in so many products ranging from cakes to ice creams. But, growing up, tofu was like Greek and Latin to me, I had tasted it for the first time, only after marriage, while staying in Singapore, even then I didn't cook it at home. Only later, after coming here, I saw the extra firm organic tofu, and started using it in noodles and fried rice and then tried to replace it in the place of paneer. One dish, which comes out very well is this tofu bhurji, to make up for the taste of paneer, I use cashew paste in milk, try this out..

Need To Have

• Extra Firm Tofu - 1 cup, crumbled
• Green Capsicum - 1
• Red Capsicum - 1
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Ginger - 1 tablespoon, grated
• Garlic - 3 cloves, grated
• Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Cardamom - 1
• Milk - 1/4 cup
• Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/4 teaspoon
• Kasuri Methi - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method
          Slice the capsicums, chop the onion and tomatoes, grind the cashews and cardamom with some milk into a fine paste. Heat oil, add the cumin seeds, once it sizzles, add the onion, garlic and ginger, saute for a few mins, then add the tomatoes, keep sauteing for few more mins. Once the tomatoes starts to wilt, add the chilli and coriander powders, mix well, then add the capsicums. Keep cooking till the capsicums are done, add the tofu, cashew paste, sugar and milk, cook for a couple more mins, finally add the garam masala and kasuri methi, mix everything well and serve it with some rotis or naans.
Sending this to Spicy Treats for the Show Me The Hits - Fiber Rich Foods event,
                   to Food Corner for the Midweek Fiesta event,
                   to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                   to Zesty South Indian Kitchen for the Hearth And Soul Blog Hop event,
                   to Sara's Corner for the Women's Day Celebration event,
                   to Roshan's Cucina who is hosting this month Gayathri's WTML event and to
                   to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event.

Note
Don't overcook the capsicums, use chilli powder as per your taste.
If you want this vegan, just grind the cashews with water, but milk or cream will definitely make it more richer.

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Oatmeal Banana Muffins

           For a long time time now, I had been thinking of baking something with oatmeal, and also had a couple of bananas begging to be used and some not so sweet strawberries, so I put everything together and made these muffins with whole wheat flour and oatmeal. Thinking of muffins, I always wonder, what is the big difference between cupcakes and muffins, apart from the icing part, both are made in the same pan and almost made from the same ingredients, to me a lighter and sweeter muffin is almost like a cupcake. Well, coming back to these oatmeal muffins, they turned out to be very moist and not too sweet, a good breakfast or even a teatime snack..

Need To Have

• Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
• Oatmeal - 1 cup 
• Bananas - 2 big, very ripe 
• Strawberries - 3/4 cup chopped
• Milk - 3/4 cup
• Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Butter - 4 tablespoons
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1/2 teaspoon
• Nutmeg Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Lemon Juice - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt - a pinch

Method

         Sift the flour with the baking powder and baking soda, mix in the berries and the oatmeal with it. Now, melt the butter in a bowl, add the sugar, mashed bananas, give a mix, then add in the milk, followed by the vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg powder, mix everything well. Now fold in the flour and strawberries mixture, finally add the lemon juice. Spoon it into greased muffin pans and bake it at 350F for 25 to 30 mins.

Sending this to Spicy Treats for the Show Me The Hits - Fiber Rich Foods event,

                   to Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes for Srivalli's Kid's Delight event,
                   to Zesty South Indian Kitchen for the Hearth And Soul Blog Hop event,
                   to Ramya's Recipe for the Fruit Fiesta event,
                   to Food Corner for the Midweek Fiesta event,

                   to Vegetarian Tastebuds for Priya's Healthy Diet - Baked Goodies event and

                   to Sizzling Tastebuds for Vardhini's Bake Fest event.     

Note

If you like nutmeg flavor increase it to 1 teaspoon.

Oven timings vary, so check after 20 mins.

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Brinjal (Eggplant) Rice

          My memories of this rice goes back to my school days, a friend of mine used to bring this for lunch, it was in those eat and forget days ( but I didn't forget, I guess). This dish is very popular in the state of Karnataka and Maharashtra, but at home, we had brinjals only in sambars, curries or as the very popular stuffed eggplants. I had this again, only after marriage and after coming out of India, at a friend's place, she makes a slightly different version but nevertheless a very tasty one, will post that recipe later. Well, everybody has their own version of this rice, a small difference in the masala added, this is my version, I added some mustard seeds and black peppercorns to the masala which gave a slightly different flavor to the rice..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 2 cups
• Small Green Brinjals - 7 or 8
• Tomatoes - 3 chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Urad Dal - 1 tablespoon
• Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
• Peanuts - 1/4 cup
• Curry Leaves - 10 
• Coriander Leaves - to garnish

Roast And Powder

• Chana Dal - 2 tablespoon
• Urad Dal - 1 tablespoon
• Coriander Seeds - 2 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 4 
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cinnamon Stick - 2"
• Cloves - 4
• Cardamom - 1
• Coconut - 2 tablespoon

Method
          Cook and cool the rice, dice the eggplants and keep it soaked in water. Roast all the ingredients given under roast and powder, adding coconut in the last, cool and powder. Heat oil, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, peanuts, roast the nuts, add asafoetida, curry leaves followed by the tomatoes, saute till the tomato wilts. Now, add the eggplants, turmeric powder and salt, mix well, cover and cook till the brinjals are just done. Finally, mix in the powder, lastly add the rice and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with some raitha.

Sending this to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                   to Food Delicious for the Only South Indian event,
                   to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event,
                   to Indian Simmer for the Indian Food Palooza event,
                   to Srav's Cooking Concepts for Vegan Diets - Only Plant Based event and
                   to Roshan's Cucina who is hosting this month Gayathri's WTML event .

Note
Add chillies more or less depending on your spice level.
Do not overcook the eggplant, can also add peas or lima beans to the rice.
Can use purple brinjals too, but personally I like the green ones for this rice.

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Sabudana Khichdi

          Sabudana or Javarisi (Tamil) are those white, pearl like balls, also known as tapioca pearls made from the starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems. Until before marriage, I have had this only in payasam or kheer, had never even heard of this khichdi. I came to know about this from a Marathi friend's mother, who used to have this on those days, that she fasted, even then I didn't fancy this much. Only later, when I made the vadas with this, I liked it so much that I tried the khichdi again, and this time, I loved it. This is such an easy breakfast, if only, you remember to soak it the previous night, it tastes awesome with the potatoes and the roasted peanuts..

Need To Have

• Sabudana - 2 cups
• Roasted Peanuts - 1/4 cup
• Potato - 1 large
• Dried Red Chilli - 1
• Green Chillies - 3
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon or more
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
• Curry Leaves - 6
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Lemon Juice - from 1/2 a lemon

Method
          Wash and soak the sabudana, the previous night, in just enough water ( about 1 + 1/2 cup). In the morning, it would have soaked all the water and it will be dry and soft. Chop the potatoes into small cubes, slit the green chillies and coarsely pound the skinned peanuts. Heat oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, once they stop spluttering, add the curry leaves and both the chillies. Now, add the potatoes and salt and saute on low heat, till the potatoes are cooked, add the asafoetida, sabudana, keep mixing till the sabudana starts to look shiny ( about a couple of mins). Lastly add the peanuts, coconut and coriander, mix it well and remove. Add the lemon juice and serve it as such or with some sweetened curd.
Sending it to Srav's Cooking Concepts for the Vegan Diet - Only Plant Based event and
                to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event.

Note
Don't mix the sabudana for too long, it'll become one gooey mess.
Can finely chop the green chillies and add for a spicier version, I prefer it this way.

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