Mahanandi

Indian cuisine requires lot of ingredients and utensils which are unique to this style of cookery. When you try to find a picture or details of these ingredients on the Internet, you would seldom find any. This is especially true for some simple cooking tools like a wood masher (for preparing dal) or a spice box, vegetables like drumsticks etc.,

Wouldn’t it be great to share images of Indian Kitchen with the world? I know, I would be very happy to see images of this kind on the Net. If you are interested, join me and please post a picture of your Indian kitchen ingredient/utensil or a tool every Sunday or any day convenient for you. The item could be unique, common or anything in-between. On every Monday, I will add a link of your specific post on my website.

I thought of doing this, because it’s always a visual treat to find the images you are searching for. When these images are put on the net, search engines like Yahoo and Goggle would be able to show them for everybody’s use and ofcourse the main purpose of this fun, group project is creating an online Indian glossary in images.

All are welcome to show off their Indian Kitchen ingredients/things.

I want to do this but with the current settings and features I have on my web site, it’s not going to work as I thought of doing. So I would keep the idea of creating an online “Indian glossary in images” on hold, for a while. Currently I am working to make a detailed categories and subcategories in a new section on this website. When I complete my work on this, I will start asking for your help and participation again for “Indian Kitchen”.

You all have shown lot of enthusiasm in this project, I really appreciate your time and input. Thank you!

What we get here in abundance is banana peppers in all seasons. Italians, the majority of population in this small town love their banana peppers, I guess. Usually I stuff banana peppers and cook them like I did cherry peppers.
Mika, my blog friend, posted a wonderful recipe with banana peppers, last month. I tried it today and we both (Vijay & I) really liked it. It is very easy to prepare too.

Recipe:

Take four banana peppers. Wash & dry, slit them in the middle and remove the seeds. Cut them into bite-sized pieces.
In a pan, heat one teaspoon of peanut oil, do the popu or tadka (toasting cumin, mustard seeds and minced garlic). Add the cut banana pepper pieces. Cover and cook them, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, until they are tender to touch. Stir in spicy dalia powder, pinch of salt and turmeric, then cook for few more minutes and serve.

Tasted real good and hot with spinach dal and rice.

A Meal with Banana Pepper Curry ~ (Banana Pepper Curry, Rice, Spinach Dal and Rice Papads)

Thanks Mika for sharing this recipe, we really liked it.

The first snow of the season has arrived this morning. The rain turned to snow for few minutes, giving us a brief glimpse of coming season. It was cold enough, so to warm the house and the stomach, I cranked up the oven to 400° F and baked cornbread with okra toppings. This is my first attempt at cornbread and it was a success, thanks to the detailed recipe written by Barbara of Tigers and Strawberries. I changed the recipe to my liking and also added crisply fried okra as cornbread topping.

Recipe:

Okra topping :
1 cup thinly sliced okra rounds, one onion, three green chillies and two garlic cloves all finely chopped. Saute them in oil, until they turn crisp and crunchy, like you normally do for a dry curry.

Cornbread Batter :
• Mix together 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, 1 tsp each- baking powder and soda, 1/2 tsp salt.
• In another bowl, mix – 2 eggs (I removed yellows), 1 cup buttermilk, 4 tablespoons of molasses/sugar and 4 tablespoons of peanut oil.
• Combine the dry and wet ingredients.
• I also added half cup watermelon seeds that I brought from Nandyala to this mixture for some nutty crunch and nutritional value..

Baking:

Preheat the oven to 400 ° F. When you are ready with cornbread batter and sautéed okra, place the empty iron skillet in oven and heat it up (Barbara’s tip). Remove the hot skillet from the oven. First place the okra in the skillet, then pour the cornbread batter over it. Spread the batter neat and even with a spatula. Place the iron skillet in oven, bake at 400° F, for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Because this is for our lunch, I also baked some cauliflower florets and some baby lima beans along with cornbread. Just tossed the baby limas and cauliflower florets in some oil, salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and baked until they turn crisp.

We both liked cornbread with okra very much. Thanks Barbara for the wonderful cornbread recipe.

Baked lima beans are good too, but cauliflower florets…oy!. Not that good. I won’t be baking cauliflower again, ever!

Skillet Cornbread with okra toppings, baked baby lima beans and baked cauliflower florets & Ragi malt ~ our meal today.

I make this spinach curry so often but I never got around to post the recipe or pictures till now. Part of basic everyday meal, versatile, feel good kind of curry and also simple enough to make frequently.

Recipe:

1 bunch of spinach, washed and chopped coarsely
1 onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon, coconut powder or grated
Salt to taste, and pinch of turmeric
For popu – ¼ tsp each, mustard seeds and cumin

Heat one teaspoon of peanut oil in a wide skillet over medium heat.
Add and toast the mustard seeds, cumin and garlic (popu).
Add the onion and green chillies and saute, stirring, until soft.
Add the coarsely chopped spinach. Cover and cook them under high heat for about 5 minutes, until they collapse and reduce in volume.
At this stage, remove the lid and sprinkle the coconut, salt and turmeric. Mix and stir-fry for another 5 more minutes, uncovered, until the water from spinach reduces in quantity.
I also added some pre cooked black chickpeas (kala Chana) to this curry.

Serve hot. Make a curry sandwich or enjoy with rice, dal and ghee or with chapati.

Our another Everyday Meal ~ Spinach Curry with Rice, Tomato Dal and Ghee.

Going to be on road for couple of days.

Spinach (Palak, Pala Kura)

This green leafy vegetable is a must buy at least once a week, for me. Spinach dal and spinach curry are the most common ways, how I use this vegetable. Sometimes, when I am in a mood for fancy, restaurant kind of meal, I make the famous Palak Paneer. With rice, roti or as sandwich filler, I like my spinach.

For this weekend herb/food ingredient blogging –
It’s Time for Thyme at Kalyn’s Kitchen and 80th birthday party for her dad. Wow, congratulations Kalyn’s Dad and many more happy returns of the day!
Nature’s complete food – Dates at My Dhaba and also checkout Adarsh, the cute taste tester of My Dhaba.

Sam of Beck and Posh is requesting our prayers for Fred. Please send some goodwill towards her way. Thanks!

Autumn colors at New Vrindaban, Wheeling, West Virginia

Photo by Vijay Singari

Click on the image to enlarge

Kittaya patiently waiting for Clare and Kiri’s comeback.

Dear Clare,
Best Wishes for a speedy recovery from our family.

For more wishes and kitties, check out Masak-Masak

Toast them in one teaspoon of oil or ghee separetly or together in an iron skillet, constantly mixing. Take care not to burn them and let cool to room temperature. Powder them using a spice grinder or mixer. Store in a clean jar. Stays fresh upto 1 to 3 months.

Drizzle some melted ghee into this powder and have it with Idlis. My home state folks go crazy for this ‘Idly – kaaram podi’ combination.

Recipe Source: Attamma(MIL)

I ran out of excuses. I avoided cooking cauliflower till now this year. But when priced at one dollar, I couldn’t think of any more excuses and bought the fresh, big, Lilly white cauliflower from the local farmers market. Even though, it is available year round, Autumn is the season for cauliflower here in US, so the low price.

On my short list of vegetables, I am reluctant to cook, cauliflower occupies the number one spot. It’s unfortunate, but my brain, it doesn’t heart the brain-like cauliflower. Only way I can eat this vegetable is when combined and cooked with other vegetables and some sort of beans following my mother’s recipe. The only thing I did different this time from the original was, instead of dried peas, I used small red beans. Clean, colorful and full of flavor, this hearty stew is extra good with rice or chapatis.

Recipe:

Vegetables
1 fresh, small-sized cauliflower, trimmed and florets cut/separated
1 potato, and one carrot – peeled, and cut into bite sized cubes
1 onion – finely sliced lengthwise
6 ripe, juicy tomatoes – chopped
2 fistfuls of soaked red beans
(Peas, chickpeas or other types of beans also work)

For Masala:
4 tablespoons of coconut powder (dry or fresh)
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
Small pieces of cinnamon and two cloves
Few sprigs of cilantro, small piece of ginger and two garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of red chilli powder
½ teaspoon of salt and turmeric
Take all the above in a blender, add half cup of water and puree them into smooth paste.

Heat one tablespoon of peanut oil in a large, wide pot over medium heat. Do the popu or tadka (toasting mustard seeds, cumin and minced garlic). Add the onion, fry it till golden. Add the cut tomatoes, increase the heat, cover and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes soften when pressed with the back of a spoon.

Because cauliflower can cook easily and when overcooked gives out unpleasant Sulfur smell, first add the cut potatoes, carrots and red beans to the tomato gravy. Cook them until they are almost tender fork, and then add the cauliflower florets to this mix. Add the masala paste and half cup of water. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Finally stir in the finely chopped cilantro and serve, either warm or at room temperature.

Cauliflower-Potato Curry (Aloo Gobi) with Chapaties ~ Our meal today.

I love the taste of cranberries. Tangy and tart! Their flavor, like their color, is intense. Full of Vitamin C and antioxidants, they are perfect antidote to the blues of coming winter. This American fruit of holiday season does not cost that much, when purchased during the harvest time (Sep, Oct). A dollar or two for a bag of 12 ounces. A good thing for budget conscious people like me.

Today, I tried this recipe from W.H MD, changed it little bit to my taste and made an upside-down cranberry cornbread. The result was as the recipe says,- moist, tender cornbread with the sweet and tangy cranberry sauce on the top. Tasted really good!

Recipe:

Cranberry Topping
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries
1 glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed
Half cup of powdered jaggery

Cornbread
1½ cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 large egg

The sauce: In a saucepan, combine orange juice, jaggery and cranberries. Bring to a boil and let it simmer, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes or until berries have popped and sauce is thick.

The Cornbread: Preheat the oven to 400° F. Combine dry ingredients – cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another vessel, beat the egg; combine with peanut oil and buttermilk. Add this to the flour mix and mix them thoroughly. I also added some cut cranberries to this mix. If you want, you can also add some sugar to this mix.

Grease a baking dish or bread pan with peanut oil. Pour the cranberry sauce first, then the flour mixture on top of it. Bake it at 400°F for about 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan, then invert onto a plate, carefully. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Last Slice of Cranberry Cornbread – Just for you Shammy:)

November, when weather changes from colorful and crispy to dark and gloomy is the month of comfort food at my house. Comfort food of India almost inevitably call for some type of lentils/legumes. Among all, my favorite is the famous “Chana Masala or Chole” – this homey and hearty Punjabi fare will make even the most doubtful person worship Indian food. No wonder, it continues to be the most popular food item in Indian restaurants worldwide.

Recipe:

Chickpeas
Soak 4 cups of chickpeas in water overnight or atleast 6 hours. Take them in a pressure cooker, add salt, one teabag(optional) and water and pressure cook them until they are just tender. Take care not to overcook. Drain the water and separate one cup of cooked chickpeas. Blend these separated ones into into thick, smooth paste with little water.
Veggies
2 cups of finely chopped ripe, juicy tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped lengthwise
Seasoning
1 tablespoon of premade Chana masala powder (Badshah or any other brand from an Indian store)
½ teaspoon of red chilli powder and salt
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
Fresh cilantro and lime juice – for garnish

Preparation:

1. Heat one teaspoon of peanut oil or ghee in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add and toast ¼ teaspoon each- cumin and mustard seeds.
3. When seeds start to pop, add the onion, and cook until translucent.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook on high heat until the tomatoes turn to soft. Press with a spatula and mush them.
5. To this tomato sauce, add the cooked chickpeas, pureed chickpea paste, chana masala powder, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric and one to two cups of water. Stir to combine.
6. Have a taste and adjust the spice levels to your liking. Keep the heat on medium and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, until the curry thickened. (The curry should not spread like a flooding river when served on a plate.)
7. Just before turning off the heat, stir in finely chopped fresh cilantro and lime or lemon juice to taste.

Enjoy the chana masala with rice/roti (chapati) or with puris. Keep the leftovers refrigerated. The curry tastes very good next day.

Chole Batura – Chana masala with Puris.

How to prepare Puris : Recipe

Indispensable to my cooking, I can’t imagine preparing food without this herb. More about Cilantro – here and here.

For this Weekend Herb Blogging, it’s Curly Parsley at Kalyn’s Kitchen and Keerai(Amaranth) at My Dhaba.

Did you catch a glimpse of the new, drop dead gorgeous AGA stove, that Barbara of Tigers and Strawberries, purchased for her kitchen last week?

She is in the process of remodeling her kitchen and posting regularly about it. What a beauty that stove is. Quality and perfection, I am sure, enhancing the experience of cooking – Congratulations Barbara for making your dream a reality!

I was in the mood for something new and different. I had some goat cheese in the fridge (Steelers pizza left over), few beetroots, lot of ripe tomatoes, a printout of lasagna rolls recipe I wanted to try, and an idea of how to make it more suitable for our palate. After 45 minutes in the kitchen, the result was Рtasty lasagna rolls, some with goat cheese and some with spicy sweet peanut paste as filling, baked in fresh tomato sauce and served with saut̩ed onions, beetroots and peas as topping.

Recipe:

1.Tomato Sauce: Cook finely chopped 8 ripe, juicy tomatoes, 4 garlic cloves in one tsp of oil. Also add half glass of water, half teaspoon of red chilli powder and salt to taste. Cook until the tomatoes turn mushy and sauce like.

2. Filling: I prepared two kinds of filling. One is goat cheese, that’s an easy one, buy and open the packet, true Italian way. Roasted peanuts (outer skins removed) made into paste by adding little bit of salt, jaggery, red chilli powder and few drops of water – my idea of Indian type filling.

3. Lasagna: Meanwhile, cook 5 lasagna sheets in boiling salted water according to the instruction on the packet (takes at least 15 to 20 minutes), in a big pan. Drain and keep them in cold water so that they won’t stick to each other.

4. Baking: All the prep work is done and our ingredients are ready for the final step. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Spread the filling (goat cheese or peanut paste) on lasagna sheet evenly. Roll the sheet to the end and cut it into two equal rolls, crosswise. Prepare all lasagna sheets in this way. Pour the tomato sauce in a baking dish, arrange the lasagna rolls (cut side down) neatly in the sauce, loosely cover the dish with an aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes at 375° F.

5. Sauté: Finely chop beetroots and onion. Add peas and sauté them for few minutes. Season with salt and red pepper flakes.

Serve the lasagna rolls in tomato sauce with sautéed beetroots, onion and peas as topping.

I have to say I liked both goat cheese and peanut paste rolls equally. Tangy tomato sauce and sweetness from sautéed beetroots, onions and peas perfectly complimented the bland, baked lasagna rolls. Little bit time consuming, but I think these beautiful flower like lasagna rolls are terrific for entertaining because they can be prepared in the morning and baked at the last minute.

After 3 days of heavy meals because of Deepavali, I wanted to try something new, easy to make and somewhat light on stomach kind of meal. Two of VKN’s, My Dhaba recipes – Ragi Dosa and Orange-banana yogurt&honey drink (HOBIY) have caught my eye.

I have all the ingredients including fresh coconut (puja offering) and oranges. So I tried out these two recipes today for lunch and they turned out spectacular tastewise.

I Loved the chewy taste of ragi dosa and the smell is incredible; it’s like the smell of earth when it is raining. I had the fresh ragi flour, perhaps that may be the reason for the incredible aroma.
(You can find ragi flour in almost all Indian grocery shops here in US. Ragi (finger millet) is one of the ancient grains and very healthy source of Calcium. )

Recipe:

3 cups a href=”http://www.patelbrothersusa.com/show_item_details.asp?item_id=163″>ragi flour
1 cup coconut- fresh and finely grated
Onions, green chillies and cilantro – finely chopped, to taste
Salt to taste

I mixed all of the above ingredients with water in a bowl, thoroughly (like dosa/pancake batter consistency) and poured ladleful of batter onto a hot griddle. Adding few drops of oil, cooked the dosa on both sides till brown and crispy. I made four of these dosas (utappams). We had them with coconut chutney.

I also made the HOBIY. When I first read about this drink, I was little bit skeptical. First of all it’s orange and banana, then it’s yogurt. I wondered about the combination. Vijay often makes himself a drink with soya milk, banana and honey. Thinking, he may like this new drink, I prepared the VKN’s signatory HOBIY drink, by blending half cup of home made yogurt, freshly squeezed juice of one naval orange, one small banana and two tablespoons of honey and few ice cubes. Again, turned out to be one refreshing drink. There was no overpowering smell of banana. Orange juice and yogurt completely masked the smell and taste of banana. I, who normally don’t like the taste of banana in drink form, also enjoyed it.

Our meal today ~ Ragi Dosa with Coconut Chutney and Banana-Orange Yogurt Smoothie.

Thanks VKN for sharing these two wonderful, traditional, tasty family recipes with us.