Lady's Fingers if you please!

Finally I get some time to blog after a busy week at work. The weekend was well spent though watching movies, lazing around and catching up with friends :)

I made Bhindi Fry on Friday and intended to post it as my entry to Nupur's L of Indian vegetables, but never got to doing it on time. Still I am contended with the fact that I actually cooked something on a Friday night. Blogging has its own advantages for lazy bums like me:)

Here is a delicious way of cooking Okra/Lady's Fingers/Bhindi dry. Amchoor powder is the magic ingredient in this recipe, which gives the bhindi a tangy twist. This dish goes very well as a side with Dal and Rice.

You need :
1 onion finely chopped
25-30 Okra sliced length wise
Ginger grated
cumin seeds
amchur powder
garam masala
red chilli powder
salt to taste
oil

To make Bhindi Fry

Heat some oil in a skillet and add cumin seeds and grated ginger. Once the seeds start spluttering add the chopped onions and fry until golden brown.Add the Garam Masala, Amchoor Powder and Salt. Mix the spices well and add the sliced bhindi. Mix lightly and cover the lid. Cook well with occasional stirring. Make sure that the Masala does not stick to the pan. Once fully cooked,let the Bhindi cool for a while. Serve as a side with Dal Chawal.

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Weekend Brunch-Toad in the Hole

This recipe is a prefect solution to our weekend brunch crisis when there is nothing substantial remaining in the fridge except the box of eggs, and also when I am too lazy to prepare anything elaborate. Otherwise also I love eggs for breakfast. I learned this recipe from my dear friend Ellen and found a very interesting alternative to omelettes and boiled eggs. Chirayu mastered this recipe long before I did( He is just so much more patient than I am).Its a very quick and easy no mess recipe and does not even require any utensils other than the frying pan. (whoaa! No pots, knives or cutting board)

Here is how to make it:
Take a bread slice and carve out a hole in the middle. ( I use a small katori/vati with sharp edges).Heat some butter in a pan and fry the bread slice till golden brown. Now crack open an egg in the central hole.It looks like one small floating yellow toad :)

Season with salt, pepper and red chilli powder. Let the bread and egg cook properly on a low flame. Whenever I tried to make this in a haste,the yellow remained uncooked. Now I have learned to be patient while cooking:).Once one side is properly cooked and the bread and egg are firmly set together, flip the slice.

Meanwhile also fry the bread hole till golden brown. (In the original recipe you just discard these bread circles, but I hate wasting food and found a better use for these). When both sides of the bread are cooked and set,top it with a slice of cheese and the golden brown bread circle. This is how it looks when done. (Here served with tomato ketchup and spicy potato chips).
Ah! a perfect start for my weekend :)

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Kicking off with K..!!

K is for Kumbh Pulao

I never considered Kumbh or Mushroom a 'real' vegetable back in India. I used to love them on the tomato mushroom pizzas at Nirulas. (One of those occasional royal treats out, long before we got Pizza Hut, or any other real Pizza chains.), but that was about it. Clearly Mushrooms were never a part of my aai's or aaji's home cooking. Even living in Delhi, they always stuck to the usual gilki ( ridge gourd), bhopla( pumkin), vange(Eggplants) type of vegetables ( I hated all of these as a kid) apart from the usual aloo gobhi bhindi etc.

I started experimenting with Mushrooms only after coming to the US, after a friend here gave me a recipe for kumbh matar malai. It came out pretty decent actually. Well Mushrooms are still not a part of my weekly grocery list, but I use them more often now .

I got this very easy and quick recipe for Mushroom Pulav at Recipe Junction.I changed it a bit to make use of all the vegetables I had - my entry for K of Indian vegetables on Nupur's blog.



Ingredeients ( For 2 to 4):

Basmati Rice ( 1 cup)
1 Pack of Mushrooms
1 Onion(thin slices)
Grated ginger ( about 1 Tbsp)
Fresh Garlic chopped ( 2 cloves)
1 capsicum sliced into thin strips
1 carrot( small round thin slices)
2 green chillies

fresh tomato puree ( medium sized tomato)

1Tbsp Soy sauce
Pepper powder
Jeera seeds
Red chilly powder
Salt to taste
Olive/vegetable oil

Soak Basmati rice in water for half an hour. Cook the rice and keep it aside.
Heat 1 tsp of oil and add the cumin seeds. After the seeds start spluttering, add the green chilies, ginger and garlic. Fry for some time and add the onions. Add the rest of the vegetables and soy sauce after the onions turn golden brown. Once the vegetables are semi cooked, add the tomato paste, mushrooms, pepper powder and salt. Cover the pan and let everything cook for a while. On a slow flame add the cooked rice and mix well. Kumbh Pulav is ready to serve.

We had it with Boondi Raitha and Lemonade, quite a hearty meal after a busy day at work :)

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