PALAK 2 in 1

Hey, here's an easy healthy recipe that you can dish out in minutes. Don't fret if you have that big bag of spinach in the fridge. I know.....you have to come up with umpteen number of creations to finish that huge bag. Today I am sharing a recipe which can be used to make two dishes, hence the 2 in 1, each of which has a personality of it's own.

PALAK CURRY:





Palak/Spinach - 3 cups, chopped roughly
Onion - 1 medium or 1/2 big, chopped
Tomato - 1 small chopped
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 Tbs
Tomato paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp or according to level of spice preferred
Coriander Powder/Dhania Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Whole Cinnamon/ Chakke - 2 one inch pieces
Whole Clove/ Lavang - 2
Whole Cardamom/ Elachi - 1
Red Chilly flakes - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Jeera - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 Tbs
Salt to taste

- Heat Oil in a kadai. When hot, put in the whole garam masalas (cinnamon, cardamom and cloves). When they turn aromatic, put in the jeera and wait for it to splutter.
- Now, sprinkle the red chilly flakes and fry for a few seconds.
- Add onions and fry till it turns transparent and then mix in the ginger-garlic paste. Fry for 2 mins and add the chopped tomatoes. Fry till the tomato is cooked and turns mushy. Mix in the tomato paste.
- Add all the dry masala powders, except garam masala powder.
- Add salt and fry for a few more minutes.
- Now, add the chopped spinach and fry till the palak cooks and blends with the masala. Will take about 7-10 minutes.
- Finally sprinkle garam masala powder and check for salt.

This curry can be served with parathas, chappathis or puris.


You can also use this curry to make PALAK BHATH with left over rice. Just take Rice in a kadai, add the necessary amount of the curry and mix till heated thoroughly. Serve with Papad or chips.

Cooking from other blogs.......Gobi Manchurian, Oats Upma, Stuffed Brinjal Curry, Set-Dosa

Last Night I wanted to make something hot and spicy. I was browsing through all the websites of my fellow bloggers and saw this awesome picture of Gobi manchurian on Seema's "Recipe junction". I must say the Gobi Manchurian tasted soooooooooo good, it was a hit! Thanks Seema for the wonderful recipe. It indeed tastes restaurant style.

You can find the recipe here


Now for some pictures:

The Ingredients:









Gobi Manchurian with pulao: I know the combination is weird but thought it was a nice picture to share.


Enjoy and do try this recipe out.

OATS UPMA:

Here's another healthy recipe from Indira's "Mahanandi"- Oats Upma. It is delicious and you will look at oats in a whole new way. People who don't enjoy oats also might happen to like it. You will find the recipe here





STUFFED BRINJAL CURRY:

Here's another delicious recipe from Prema Sundar's "Prema's Cookbook". You will find the recipe here


The brinjals cut and stuffed with the paste:





Chapathis and curry:


SET- DOSA:

Yup.....seems like I am on a 'cooking from other blogs' spree. Well, here's another comfort food recipe from Seema's "Recipe Junction".

The photos speak for itself. I need not say anything BUT.....follow Seema's recipe right and you will not be disappointed. You will find the recipe here


The batter perfectly fermented. You can see the holes....


The dosa cooking on the griddle


Set-Dosa with Beetroot sagu (I will be posting this recipe soon)

Navrathri 2007

Hi everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Navrathri. I did too. This year, I got my dear hubby and his friend Gopi to build me steps for displaying my golu. The backbone for any golu is the steps. All these years we managed to find cardboard boxes and arranged them to form steps. It worked but was not all that polished. It was uneven. We went to LOWES and bought Deck Steps. We needed two side panels which were already precut into the shape of steps.Then we bought wooden planks which would rest on the side panels and two wooden beams to hold the two panels together. All in all it was a fun project and Sathyan's very first woodworking project. It was a great success and I am indeed very glad with the results. Thanks Sathyan and Gopi.

After the steps were ready, we had to cover it with a cloth before draping my expensive kanjeevaram saree on to the steps. We ripped an old comforter, measured, cut and placed the cloth on the steps, pinning it down as we worked our way from the top. Now it looked nice, hiding away all the wood and gaps. Then came my kanjeevaram saree, draped neatly and cautiously over the five steps. On the topmost step I placed the "Marpachi Bommai" or " Pattada Bombe", which signifies "fertility" and is given to a daughter in her wedding.On the second step, came the sandalwood deities. Originally dolls from mythology are placed depicting stories related to Dussera and Navrathri. But now a days even barbies and other toys have a place on the steps. It's all about keeping your tradition alive and using your creativity.

I made a zoo this time using my son Saakash's train set as the main attraction. Around the tracks i created small areas for animals and put some picnic tables all over. Saakash is 2 years and 9 months old. He was not very happy to see his train but not play with it. So we asked him to be the train operator and he was fascinated. He was the best train operator we ever knew. I finished the display with a rangoli of Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, praying for a smooth celaebration.

So now for the Grand Finale, I invite each and every one of you to come and view my doll display, Navrathri 2007.












Here are some wonderful golu pictures shared by my good friend Priya. She keeps saying that her golu is very simple but I feel it's very elegant. It's the thought and the dedication that goes into it, rather than the enormity. Don't you agree with me?






Golu at my co-sister Vani's place in Singapore: Yet another masterpiece! Seems like creativity runs in the family.

Vegetable Skewers!

We had been camping to Del Valle Regional Park. It was fun. We didn't do much other than cook cook and cook. We made Indian style Grilled Corn, Vegetable burgers and of course Vegetable Skewers. It was really good. You can make this in a gas grill or an oven but nothing like it grilled on coal.



Ingredients:
Paneer - Cubed into 1" pieces
Mushrooms - few button mushrooms or big ones cut into quarters
Peppers - Red , yellow and green, cut into cubes
Onion - cut into cubes
Cherry tomatoes - a few or cut up a regular tomato into pieces
Pineapple - cubed, I used Dole canned pineapple
Zucchini - cubed
Olive oil - 1 tbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of one lemon for garnishing.

For Marinating:
Fresh yogurt or curd - 1 cup
Red Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Tandoori masala - 2 Tbs
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
Chaat masala - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Mix all the above ingredients for marination and add cubed paneer and mushrooms. Marinate this in the refrigerator atleast for 20 mins. Leaving it overnight is good.
Take 1 tbs of olive oil or any other cooking oil in a bowl and mix in the rest of the cut vegetables along with salt and pepper.
If using bamboo skewers, you will have to soak them in water for 1/2 an hour to prevent burning of the sticks on the grill.
Skewer the vegetables in the order of your choice and grill it for 5 to 10 minutes till done.
Enjoy with a drizzle of lemon juice.

Paneer Maggi!

Yes......yet another MAGGI recipe for those who love paneer. My Brother-in-law is an all time paneer-lover. So Vijay, ask Shruthi to make this for you.

When we had been to Boston for a vacation, my cousin's hubby made this yummy paneer maggi. It was "the" comfort food on a very chilly night. People from BITS,Pilani will be more familiar with this dish. It was made in their canteen.

INGREDIENTS:

Maggi Noodles, masala flavor- 1 packet
Paneer- cubed and deep fried- 1/2 cup
2 Tbs onion finely chopped
frozen peas- 1 Tbs
any vegetable of your choice like green capsicum, red capsicum, beans, carrot- 3 Tbs
red chilly powder- according to taste
garam masala powder- optional
salt to taste
oil for frying

METHOD:
Take a vessel and boil about 2 1/2 teacups of water.
Take about 1-2 Tbs of oil in a kadai, fry onions till pinkish. Add vegetables of your choice, add lil salt and fry till half cooked.Add fried paneer and mix. Break the noodle cake , crumble in your hands and add to the kadai. Add the masala powder, lil chilly powder and garam masala powder and mix .Add boiling water and cook the noodles till done. Enjoy hot, yummy noodles with any sauce of your choice.

MAGGI with a twist!

Maggi has been an all time favorite in every household, with the young, the old (and the restless). I always like to experiment with this simple 2-minute noodle and the tastemaker. I have like 3-4 varieties that I make out of this, with vegetables, with extra spices and sauces of different kinds. This is one such innovation. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did. It's a lick-the-plate-clean goooooood.
Sorry guys, no photo of this one. The dish was so tempting.....couldn't wait to dig right in.

Ingredients: serves 2

Maggi Masala Noodles- 2 packets
Maggi hot and sweet ketchup- 2 Tbs
Tomato paste- 1 tsp
Red chilly powder- 1 tsp (optional)
Dhania powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala-1 tsp
Vegetables like diced carrots, peas, beans (fresh/frozen)- 1 cup
Onions finely chopped- 2 Tbs (optional)
Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tsp (optional)
Salt to taste
Cut coriander leaves- a handful
Oil- 1 Tbs

Method:

->Heat oil in a kadai, add chopped onions and fry till it turns pink.
->Add the ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste, red chilly powder, dhania powder and fry for 2 more minutes.
->Mix in the vegetables, sprinkle some salt and saute for a few more minutes.
->Add 650 ml of water to this mixture.
->Empty the contents of maggi tastemaker along with garam masala and tomato ketchup.
->Once the mixture comes to a boil, add the noodle cake and cook till all the water is absorbed. Do not cover the pan as the noodle will turn soggy.
->If you like a little soup in your noodle, switch off the stove as soon as the noodle is cooked and don't wait for all the liquid to be absorbed.
->Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Mixed Vegetable Soup

I had been to my friend Priya's house and she asked me," hey sangeetha, would you like to have some thick soup?" I was thinking it was some fancy out of the box kind and readily said yes. Moveover my tummy was growling of hunger. But wait, she did not get some soup mix out of the pantry, instead she brought out some frozen veggies out of her refrigerator. Believe me, this is the best soup I have tasted ever and you wouldn't believe what goes in it. It's like your personality and it can be associated with you , with your likes and dislikes. It's a total Personalised Soup. Give it a try.



Ingredients:
Frozen veggies like peas, carrots, beans, peppers- 2 cups
Tomato- 1 big
Onion- 1 medium
Green chillies- 3 or 4 depending on your level of spice
Ginger- 1" piece
Garlic- 2 or 3 cloves
Milk- 1 cup
Butter- 1 Tbs
Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Red chilly powder- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala powder- 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste

->Steam cook the frozen vegetables of choice in a microwave cooker or regular cooker. Drain the water and use to dilute the soup or add while mixing chapathi dough.

->Take 1 Tbs of butter in a pan. Add onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic and fry for a few minutes till the onion turns transparent.

->Add chopped tomato and fry.

->Add the steamed vegetables, salt, chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala. You can add or remove any masala to your liking. Fry for a few more mins till the masalas are well coated on the vegetables.

->Grind this with 1 cup of milk to a smooth paste or to a consistency of choice.

->Serve with a dash of pepper with some bread or croutons.

Back to Blogging

Hi everyone......Hope you still remember me. I was on a longggg break from blogging. My mom was visiting me from India and then I was on vacation to attend my sister's wedding. All in all the break was great and now I am back with more recipes.