Vegetable Parathas

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
2 large Potatoes	1 pinch Turmeric	Oil
1 cup Peas	1 pinch Hing	Salt
1 cup Corn	1 tsp Panchpuran	Ghee
Fresh Dhania	1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Fresh Pudina	5-7 Green Chillies

Method
Prepare dough for Rotis. (See here)
Steam the potatoes, corn and peas for about 3 whistles in a pressure cooker.
Mash them up in a bowl and add all the spices.
Add finely chopped green chillies, fresh Dhania and Mint and salt to taste and let the filling cool for about 15-20 minutes.
Take a ball of dough about the size of a lemon and roll it out to about 4-5 inches in diameter and 1/2 cm thick.
Take a tbsp of the filling in the center and seal it up into a ball again.
Roll it out gently dabbing enough flour to make a paratha about 7-8 inches in diameter.
Heat a tawa and cook the paratha with ghee until nice and golden on both sides.
Serve hot with a side of pickle and/or raita.

Vegetable Biryani

Like I mentioned in my previous post, we had a nice Sunday lunch a couple weekends ago with family that featured some delicious Makai Bhari Mirchi, Vegetable Biryani and some soothing Gujrati Dal. My version of vegetable biryani doesn't call for any yogurt (like traditional ones do) because DH is not a fan of the flavor it brings to the biryani. Here are some pictures from the family table and the recipe for the biryani.

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
1/2 head Cauliflower	2 Bay Leaves	Ghee
1 cup Peas	1 Moti Elaichi	Salt
1 cup Carrots	1/2 tsp Kalo Jeera	Sugar
1 cup Beans	1 tsp Jeera
1 cup Bell Peppers	1/2 tsp Whole Black Peppers
1 large Onion	1 tsp Biryani Masala
2 large Tomatoes	1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 cup Paneer	1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 cups Basmati Rice	Garam Masala
	Cashews
	Fresh Dhania
	Saffron

Method
Cook 2 cups basmati rice with 1 and a 1/4 cup water in a rice cooker. Add a tsp of ghee so the grains do not stick together.
As soon as the rice is cooked, spread it on a wide plate and let it cool.
Cut the cauliflower head into medium florets.
Cut the rest of the vegetables into long thin strips.
Finely slice the onions lengthwise.
Finely chop the tomatoes.
In a pan heat 2-3 tbsp butter/ghee and roast the bay leaves, moti elaichi, jeera, kalo jeera and black peppers on low-medium heat for a couple minutes.
Add all the vegetables except onion and tomatoes and saute on medium heat.
Add the biryani masala, salt, turmeric, and red chilli powder. Keep tossing.
Add the grated paneer, finely chopped tomatoes, salt to taste and cook only till the vegetables are half cooked.
Carmelize the onions with a tsp of sugar in 2-3 tbsp of butter. Cook on low heat until they are dark brown. Take care not to burn them.
In an oven safe pot, grease the sides with some ghee.
Spread a layer of rice topped with a layer of the vegetable mix.
Sprinkle some garam masala on top and again add a layer of rice.
Continue until all vegetable and rice is used up.
Add a few strands of saffron to a tbsp of warm water and let it sit for a couple minutes.
Sprinkle some saffron water on the top and spread the carmelized onions as the top most layer.
Cover with an oven safe dish cover or just aluminium foil.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the biryani in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Garnish with roasted cashews, fresh dhania and serve hot.

Makai Bhari Mirchi

A couple weekends ago, we enjoyed dinner at a local Indian joint and they had some very new dishes on the menu. We particularly liked a corn based dish of stuffed peppers and the very next day at lunch, I tried to recreate the dish with my own twists. I served it with vegetable biryani (recipe and more pictures to follow) and some gujrati dal. The sweetness of the gravy from sweet corn and onions perfectly complimented the heat from the peppers...overall, this recipe was a keeper and here I am jotting it down before I forget..

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
3 large Anaheim Peppers	1 tbsp Panchpuran Masala	Oil
1 large Potato	1 tsp Dhania Powder	Salt
2 cups Corn	1 pinch Garam Masala	Butter
1 medium Onion	2 Green Chillies
2 tbsp Fresh Cream	1 pinch Turmeric
1/2 cup Grated Paneer	1 pinch Hing
	Fresh Dhania Leaves

Method
Slit the Anaheim peppers lengthwise from one side.
Boil the potato and mash in a bowl.
Roast 1 cup of corn until golden and add to the mashed potato.
Add the grated paneer.
Dry roast the panchpuran masala for a couple of minutes on medium heat and grind it to a coarse powder.
Add the powdered panchpuran, some turmeric, a pinch of hing and salt to the mixture and blend with the back of a heavy spoon.
Stuff this mixture ino the peppers loosely. Stuffing them too tight will make the pepper break while cooking.
In a pan, heat 2-3 tbsp butter and set the stuffed mirchis to shallow fry.
Keep turning every couple of minutes to fry evenly until the skin turns golden brown and shrinks well.
Transfer the mirchis directly to the serving dish and do not drain the excess butter from it.
Roughly chop the onion and green chillies and roast them in the pan with the butter left over from frying the peppers.
Add the remaining 1 cup corn and continue cooking on medium heat until the onion turns translucent and corn becomes golden.
Puree this in the blender with 1/4 cup water. Do not make the gravy very runny or it won't adhere to the peppers.
Transfer the puree back to the pan and add a pinch of turmeric, garam masala and salt.
Add the fresh cream and bring to a boil for just a minute and turn the heat off.
Cut the slightly cooled cooled mirchis into 2-3 pieces.
Pour the gravy on top of the mirchis.
Garnish with some grated paneer and fresh dhania and serve hot with Rotis or Rice.

Methi Ghia Subzi

Turns out the scheming elves of fate read my blog and found out that I was having a record start of summer picnicking with my favorite people and decided to play games with my upcoming programs. Saturday morning I woke up super excited about a day drenching in the cool water park sipping a nice ice cold slush and had a bummer of a running nose. But we were not to be beat so easily. We picked up a new plan and spent the day at the Golden Gate Park. We rented a paddle boat for an hour and enjoyed boating on Stow Lake. And then we rented a family cycle kinda like the cycle rickshaws of previous centuries and rode the park for an hour. To see an image of our cycle rickshaw, check out the single surrey image at: http://www.wheelfunrentals.com/Content/WhatWeRent.aspx
Had a decent Italian lunch on North Beach and even managed to catch "The A-Team" in action before we headed home. The best part of the exercise was discovering how sportive Gutloo was throughout the day enjoying every bit of the day's activities and the movie. We came back to a nice cool curd rice dinner and went to bed all exhausted. I couldn't help flashing a smug smile at my cold symptoms!
And for a new recipe after a long time, here is a low carb version of the usual Aloo Methi. Its a very simple concoction, takes 10 mins to make and is very wholesome to eat with Rotis, Bread or Rice.

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
1 bunch Methi Leaves	1 tsp Jeera	Oil
1 Medium Ghia	2-3 Green Chillies	Salt
	1 pinch Turmeric	Sugar
	1 pinch Hing
	1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Method
Peel the skin and dice the Ghia into small cubes.
Finely chop the Methi leaves.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadhai and splutter the Jeera until dark.
Add the slit green chillies and saute on low for 1/2 a minute.
Add the Ghia, salt to taste, turmeric and hing and saute for about 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add the methi leaves when the ghia is half cooked and continue cooking on medium until the ghia is translucent and the methi wilts and cooks.
Garnish with a dash of lemon juice, sprinkle a little sugar and serve hot.

I concocted this combination for Preeti's Green Gourmet event. Follow the link to see a wonderful compilation of some very innovative green recipes!

Summer At Last!!!

So I am back after absconding from the blogosphere for about 2 months. I cannot particularly say that I have been very busy but occupied for sure. I had a whirlwind of an India trip end of April, which I won’t quite qualify as a vacation since I was trying to keep my sanity through a toddlers tantrums, the mother of all sore throats, a never ending jetlag, a family function, the “husband not traveling with me” syndrome and still squeezing in about 8 hours of shopping and 8000 calories of junk food inside a two week window. People might call it insane, but I have chosen to call it a productivity increase workshop. The best part of my workshop was the surprise my mom had for me that she was flying back with me. That definitely spared my DH from dealing with my crankiness coz my son was determined to pull my hair apart one strand at a time…what to do! Occupational hazards of motherhood! The one thing that I should most certainly add after all this whining is the my little bundle of joy is a whole different avatar in his familiar surroundings. I just tend to forget that a 24 hour flight followed by erratic sleep cycles and dozens of new people in a place where heat and humidity are trying to one up each other must be a little overwhelming for a 2 yr old...
So after I came back, we dealt with our annual supply of the cold, cough, viral fever and flu germs. Having survived a three week blur caused by cough syrup overdose, we bid them goodbye and managed to dry about 8 loads of laundry sanitizing the house. We finally decided to take control of our lives from the rigid holds of our insane routines and resolved to use every weekend this summer enjoying the outdoors and spending some quality family time. And I am proud to say that we have sustained on our “Enjoy Life” program 3 weekends in a row!
The first weekend we went camping with my cousin and her family. We packed enough food to feed a village for a week and camped for one night. It is only fair to add that we ended up eating half the village’s food to battle the cold. Our fault for trusting that summer is here to stay! It was gorgeous the day before and after we camped and freezing on the day we were on the campsite. The kids however had a ball…one snuggled warm in a bunny suit and the other keeping warm by hiking up and down every visible slope on the campground. We did have a great time though and clicked some memorable pictures.
The next weekend, we had family over for memorial day and my husband and I spent the whole weekend glued to the delightfully soft, sweet smelling cheeks of our 7 month old niece while discussing world politics and the solution to technological clashes (Read As: school highlights and deciding between a Nintendo and an Ipod Touch) with the 9 yr old munchkin. We hiked up coyote hills with the whole gang and some friends from the neighborhood and they all had an amusing time looking at me dealing with my vertigo on the way down.
The third weekend we went cherry picking with family friends and had a super time enjoying a sunny day in the farm. Junior picked two cherries and ate one and spit half of it out. It was fun nonetheless.
And the coming weekend we plan on visiting one of the local water parks and sun bathing and maybe sneaking out to a romantic anniversary dinner to celebrate our 7th year of wedded bliss…..
I have been resolving every week to make sure I send in entries to a couple of blogosphere events I have been tracking (a clean up your pantry event by One Hot Stove and a Green Gourmet event by Write Food both of which I think I have missed the deadlines on. I did however clean up my pantry and I did whip up a very green Methi Ghia Subzi but haven’t posted the recipes with pictures yet. Will do ASAP (Notice how I am not committing to a date? Chances are it might get done by the end of summer!)
So watch out folks for more updates on my “Weekends of Summer 2010” memoir!!!!