in love with food

November 23, 2007

MICROWAVE MAGIC- TARI WALE ALOO (Homestyle Curried Potatoes)

Srivalli hosts this event every month, and I definitely will try and participate everytime, I guess that's the only way I can put my micro to some good use!

These curried potatoes are excellent with pooris, and I make them for a leisurely breakfast/brunch on a holiday, and end up eating loads of it as a result, really love the sweet-sour and spicy taste!

Tari wale aloo (Homestyle Curried Potatoes)

Ingredients-

(you can vary acc. to your taste)

Potatoes- 4 large
Tomatoes- 2 medium
Sambhar masala- 1 tbsp.
Tamarind- 1 walnut sized ball, soaked
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric- 1/2 tsp.
Asafetida- a pinch
Curry leaves- 5-6
Oil- 1 tbsp.
Sugar- 1/2 tsp.
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Fresh curd/yogurt- 2 tbsp
Salt and red chilli powder to taste

Method-

Microwave the potatoes in plenty of water for 20 minutes or till done, cool peel and chop.Put oil in a microwave safe bowl and add cumin seeds and tomatoes and microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes or till tomatoes are soft , add the rest of the ingredients and the strained tamarind water.Add 1 cup more water and again microwave for another 10 minutes , take out and stir in the curd, sprinkle coriander leaves and serve.

IF COOKING IN A PRESSURE COOKER AND NOT THE MICROWAVE-

Peel and chop raw potatoes, heat oil in a pressure cooker , add cumin seeds and curry leaves, add rest of the ingredients and about 1 cup water, give two whistles and let pressure drop by itself.Stir in the yogurt and Serve.

These curried potatoes are off to Srivalli for her lovely event-

http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2007/08/announcing-microwave-easy-cooking-event.html

Curried potatoes(Home Style) - ready to serve

Technorati Tags: curried potatoes indian style , tari wale aloo

November 20, 2007

FRESH ORANGEY~FRUIT CAKE (Low fat!)

An extremely refreshing, light fruit cake which is low fat too, only about a half cup oil is used for 2 cakes ,so that makes it 1/4 cup per cake!, the best part is that it is so quick- no elaborate beating ,folding, just dump everything into one large bowl it is ready to go into the oven!!

Fresh Orangey~Fruit Cake

Ingredients-

(makes 2 cakes)

Orange juice- 1/2 cup
Milk- 1/2 cup
Flour- 2 cups
Baking powder-3 tsp
Candied mixed fruit- 1 cup
Orange rind, grated- 1 tsp.
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Eggs- 3
Sugar- 1 1/2 cups
Vegetable oil- 1/2 cup
1 orange, cut into segments

For the fat-free glaze-

Combine half cup fresh orange juice with 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cornflour, boil till it thickens, let cool .

Method-

Combine everything together in a large bowl and stir well, pour into prepared pans and bake for 45 mins at 180 deg.C .Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and decorate with orange segments. I am sending this one to Zlamushka for her spoonful of christmas event-http://www.burntmouth.com/2007/10/spoonful-of-christmas.html

Technorati Tags: fresh orangey frut cake , cakes and bakes

November 14, 2007

A DATE WITH CINNAMON ~ HEALTHY SUGARFREE COOKIES!

Cookies!, again! and if you have had enough of my sinful, buttery pistachio cookies then do balance it out with this HEALTHY and most importantly SUGAR-FREE Apple-cinnamon-date combo, I am sure post diwali, these would be more than welcome!

This is a soft ,moist cookie, with the natural sweetness of dates AND honey and a dash of cinnamon flavor. I have used a combination of wholewheat and plain flour as well as apples to make it fibre rich.

Ingredients-

(makes 1 dozen)

Dates- 1/2 cup (pitted and chopped)
Apple- 1 , chopped
Honey- 2 tbsp
Egg- 1
Wholewheat flour- 1 tbsp
All purpose flour- 2 tbsp
Baking powder- 1/2 tsp
Milk- 2 tbsp
Cinnamon- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
Vanilla essence- 1/2 tsp
a pinch of salt

Method-

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together and mix well, drop teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 deg.C, till edges turn golden.

These are off to Chandrika for AFAM-Dates:

http://akshayapatra.blogspot.com/2007/11/afam-november-dates.html

Technorati Tags: healthy sugarfree date cookies

November 10, 2007

PISTACHIO COOKIES WITH ICE-CREAM

"A crisp, buttery cookie studded with pistachios and served with Ice-cream!"

That sums up this gorgeous combo, I am at a loss of words to describe the flavors , but they are so unique and delicious that you gotta HAVE IT TO BELIEVE IT!

All in all -highly recommended! have with Ice-cream(use flavor of choice-here I used store bought Cookies-and-cream ). The cookies are irresistible enough on their own, dip-dip-dip them into garam masala chai and enjoy!

Pistachio Cookies with Ice Cream

Ingredients-

Butter- 1/2 cup
Confectioner's sugar- 3/4 cup
Egg- 1/2
Vanilla essence- 1 tsp.
All purpose Flour- 1 1/2 cups
Baking soda- 1/2 tsp.
Cream of tartar- 1/2 tsp.
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Pistachios- 1/4 cup (whole, unsalted)

Method-
Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl, gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture.
Shape the dough into one of the following ways:

Roll out the chilled dough and cut with cookie cutters.
OR: This is what I did- Form dough into logs 2 inches in diameter flatten into a squarish shape and slice 1/8 inch thick WITH A VERY SHARP KNIFE when chilled ,bake for 7 to 9 minutes

Technorati Tags: pistachio cookies with ice-cream

November 9, 2007

SHUBH DEEPAVALI!

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DEEPAVALI!, ENJOY!

Technorati Tags: shubh deepavali

November 4, 2007

SOOKHA MASALEDAAR KATHAL (SPICY DRY JACKFRUIT)

Jackfruit tree a jackfruit- split wide open the outer spiny cover

From hating to loving this veggie (fruit???), I have come a long way-as a child I could never have so many of these vegetables ,the ghia/lauki family in particular and karela and kathal.

But now... I love them all, and ever since I have started blogging I feel my sense of taste has become keener than ever- do you all , fellow bloggers feel the same or -felt the same (here I am talking to vintage bloggers :) )???I look at unfamiliar veggies with new respect and want to try my hand at making eh! -parval? ghia? karela? tori? tinda? yup -all of em! haha!

Masaledaar sookha kathal

Ingredients-

Jackfruit- 250 gms(chopped)
Onions- 2 medium(chopped)
Tomatoes- 2 medium(chopped)
Ginger and garlic paste- 1/2 tsp.
Garam masala-1 tsp
Salt and red chilli powder to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method-

Deep fry the kathal pieces, keep aside. Heat two tbsp. of the same oil, pour off excess, add ginger and garlic and saute , add onions , let cook . Lastly add tomatoes and cook till masala leaves oil- add the fried kathal, salt and red chilli powder, give it a good stir, serve with chopped coriander leaves on top and a twist of lemon along with hot chapatis ,delicious!

Just writing this post and thinking how great tasting this sookha kathal IS -is making my mouth water! seriously!!