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!! ) :)