Peek into the Past -1 Brunch Specials

Cleaning my hard drive today, I found so many unfinished posts and tons of recipes I never blogged about! It was fun to revisit the  2 years of cooking explorations-some successful, some disasters  :) Most of these dishes were "first times" for me and thus deserve a special mention on this blog!! I will be posting these past pictures in between "real time" posts. This first post documents my experiments with breakfast/ brunch foods! 

A perfect Saturday brunch for me has to be something which is quick to make, requires minimum groceries and can fill me up for the day! (And yes it has to be HOT (as in off the stove), I am not too much  a fan of cold foods. Here are  some of my all time favourites :

Vermicelli Upma

Learnt the recipe from my mom. (Still haven't come across anybody else in my circle who prepares this). Its a fun and easy alternative to  rava upma and very hard to mess up!

Roast the vermicelli (seviyan) in a little ghee till browned. Keep aside. Heat some oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chana dal and urda dal. Roast till the dals are browned. Now add chopped onions and green chillies. Once the onions are cooked you can add your choice of vegetables- (peas, carrots go well). Add salt and red chilli powder, cover the lid and cook for some time. Add the roasted vermicelli and water. cook till the seviyan are soft and cooked completely. We totally relish this upma with Molga podi and dollops of yoghurt!

Tomato Omelet/ Dhirda

The Indian/vegetarian alternative to an egg omelet. Made with besan, a pantry staple in most Indian kitchens. Great for days when there is nothing else in the refrigerator. ! Try it between two slices of bread with some hot chutney. mmmmm..:)

Mix besan (gram flour) with salt, red chilli powder, ajwain, diced green chillies, tomatoes and cilantro. Carefully add water while constantly beating the mix to avoid any lumps. The end batter should be easily spreadable  but not too watery. Pour the batter on a lightly oiled skillet. Cook till both sides are browned. Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

French Toast

When omelets and bhurji seem routine, we love to dig into this more 'exotic' alternative! :)

Beat eggs. Add chopped onions, diced onions, chillies, cilantro, a little milk, salt and pepper. Mix well. Dip bread slices into the egg batter (slightly stale/ hardened bread works better). Fry bread slices on a skillet till cooked completely and browned on all both sides. Enjoy with tomato ketchup!

Pohe

"ayushya he, chulhi varlya, kadhai tale kande pohe.." This new song by Avdhoot Gupte  is enough to describe the importance of Pohe (flattened rice) in a Marathi household..:)

I am still striving for perfection when it comes to pohe, so  I will skip the recipe. Every time I make Pohe there is something or the other wrong-  either the raw pohe smell lingers around, or the potatoes remain slightly uncooked or they end up in a soggy mess! Would love to hear from you guys any tips/ secrets to get this one just right! :)

Chao for now, I really enjoyed writing this post! (This one's for you Aai!! ) :)

Read more...

Some like it Hot..!

I don't have a sweet tooth at all..so when everybody around me is trying hard to keep away from all the cookies and candies and cakes this holiday season, It's no problem for me..:) - that means no post Christmas diets and workouts..;P

I am the other extreme - the fiery-spicy food lover. "teekha khana teekhi ladkiyo ke liye"(Hot food is for hot girls ;P) a dialogue from the Bollywood Hit- Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam very rightfully applies to me..giggles..:) There is no dearth of spicy food in India, specially the quick- light on the pockets spicy street food. From the pani puri water, the wada pav with the red hot chutney to mirchi bhajia, I have had my fair share of all :).  And one of my all time favourite snack is misal pav- the healthy goodness of sprouts in a spicy hot curry. The spicier the Misal the better..:) - it is no fun to eat misal without the red runny nose and watery eyes...:)

I had my first taste of  misal pav in Nashik, during my days in architecture school. And after that first time I couldn't get enough :). There was this place we used to frequent a lot in Satpur industrial area- "shyam Sunder" which has the best Misal Pav in town. The authentic misal pav is an elaborate affair- misal(cooked sprouts) is served with separate cutta(the spicy curry), boiled potatoes, yogurt, onions and slices of pav/bread. Shyam Sunder is an "eat as much as u can" joint, as most misal places are. That means you keep getting several rounds of the misal drowned in the spicy "cutta". I remember not leaving that place once, till our faces were all red..:)

My version of Misal is very quick and easy - by no way authentic but after several experiments, I have  managed to get the end product pretty close to the original. Here it goes:

Misal- Pav Ingredients:

3/4th cup moth

1/4th cup- kala chana and whole moong

1 onion finely chopped

1 small tomato cubed

1 potato diced in small cubes

1-2 hot peppers

2-3 garlic pods crushed

cumin seeds

mustard seeds

salt to taste

chilli powder

turmeric powder

garam masala

goda masala

vada pav masala

The beans- to be sprouted

1.) Soak the moth, moong and kala chana overnight and then wrap it in wet cloth for a day or two till the beans are sprout well.

2.) Pressure cook the sprouts with potatoes and tomatoes.

3.) In a pan heat some oil, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds, once the seeds start spluttering add the chopped onions and garlic. Once the onions are cooked and translucent, add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, goda masala and roast for a few minutes.

4.) Add the cooked sprouts to the masala mixture with enough water. Let it come to a boil and then add salt and a pinch of the dry garlic chutney. Add some lemon juice and mix well.

The Fiery Hot Cauldron

The fixings

In a separate bowl mix curds into a smooth paste.

Keep Chopped red onions, lemon wedges and farsaan (hot mix) ready  for garnishing

To serve

In a deep bowl pour the hot misal and garnish with curds, onions and hot mix. Serve with pav or dinner rolls.

The Bowl that doesn't last more than a few minutes..

I am sending this as my entry to My Legume Love affair- Hot and Spicy event on Suganya's blog- Tasty Palettes. 

My Legume Love affair is a fantastic monthly blog event started by Susan- The Well Seasoned Cook.  Do visit the past entries for tons of wonderful recipes with lentils and legumes.

Thanks Suganya for hosting the Sixth Helping!

And on en ending note -Wishing you all a Sweet and Spicy New Year! :)

Read more...

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 :)

Read more...