A fabulous gataway to Olympic National Park and everyone's favorite Aloo Mutter

Hi Everyone. Hope everybody had a fantastic weekend. I had an amazing weekend, a trip to Olympic National Park. A place so much abound with the natural resources and beauties. A place with snow clad mountains, glaciers, rain forests, lakes, rives, beaches and tremendous trees. It was just wonderful. So scenic and a true heaven on earth. I felt there is absolutely no need to visit Switzerland. :) It is here in our state, WA. People do visit this Olympic peninsula if you get a chance.

I am uploading few pics of it...

Aloo mutter is made at every body's home :). I now all must be having different recipes of it. Posting mine as well.

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

2-3 Medium size Potatoes

1 1/2 cup Fresh or Frozen Peas

2 Cloves

1/2" Cinnamon Stick

2 Green Chilies sliced

2-3 tsp Garam Masala

2 tsp Dhaniyajeera powder

1-2 tsp Red chili powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder

Oil, Cumin Seeds for seasoning

Coriander for garnishing

Salt, Sugar as per taste

For Puree:

1 1/2 Medium size Tomato
1 Medium size Onion
3-4 Garlic cloves
1" Ginger piece

Method:

1. Make puree of all the ingredients listed and keep aside. Half boil potatoes in a separate utensil. Let them cool.

2. Heat oil in a skillet. Add cloves and cinnamon stick. Saute for a while and then add cumin seeds. As they crackle, immediately add chopped green chili. Saute again.

3. Then add puree from step 1 and stir for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, peel the boiled potatoes and cut them into small cubes.

4. Then add garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder, dhaniyajeera powder (coriander-cumin) and saute well till the oil separates from the puree.

5. Add salt to taste and pinch of sugar. Now add potato cubes and green peas in the gravy and let it cook for 5-8 minutes as the gravy thickens.

Garnish with coriander and serve with garma garam parathas.

Tips:

You can also add milk to adjust taste if it turns out to be very hot, or increase the thickness or even to increase the quantity of it. Just cook again for a while so that milk blends well into the gravy.

Couple Of Awards & Gram Flour Dumplings in Spicy yogurt sauce (Punjabi Kadi Pakora)

I  stayed in hostel for about 6 years from my 11th grade till I graduated. Hostel life is really cool. Variety of people, so many experiences and so much to learn. During my engineering we were 4 girls sharing an apartment. Those were the days when I was damn lazy about cooking. I just remember making tea and maggie most of the time :) . We had some restaurants nearby were we used to go and eat. That was pretty quick. But as we had all the things needed for cooking we sometimes tried our hands on it. There was one senior staying with us. She once made a North Indian kadhi (kari) and rice. Thanks to her for introducing us to such a nice and tasty kadi from North India. I know everyone of you must be aware of it. But during that time when I had less interest in cooking this was totally new to me. I simply love her kadi and we all enjoyed having it with rice, I remember.

Today, when I made Kari Pakora it reminded me of that day when my senior di made that kadi at hostel.

North Indian kadi is slightly thicker than the usual gujrati kadi.  It is yellow in color and has different spices in it. Simply delicious and could be eaten with rice and parathas as well.

 

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

For the dumplings:

1 cup Gram flour (Besan)

2 tsp Ginger (Adrak), chopped

1 tsp or to taste Green chili chopped

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

For the yogurt curry:
2 cups Yogurt (dahi) sour

½ Cup Gram flour

4 cups Water

               For seasoning:

              1 tbsp Clarified butter (Ghee)

              ½ tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)

              Asafetida

              1/3 tsp Fenugreek seeds

              Few Curry leaves

              1 tbsp julienned Onion

              1 tsp Chopped Green Chili

              1 tsp Ginger paste

              1 tsp Garlic paste

              1 tbsp diced Tomato

              2-3 dry Red chilies

              1 tsp Turmeric powder

              ½ tsp Red Chili powder

              Salt to taste

              Chopped Cilantro for garnishing

Method:

For dumplings (pakoras):

Add water, chopped ginger, chopped green chili, salt to the gram flour and prepare a semi-thick batter.

Beat until fluffy.Heat the oil in a shallow pan. Drop small dumplings of batter with your fingers into the oil and fry till brown. Remove and immerse in cold water. Let them dip and then remove.

For yogurt curry:

Mix gram flour in 1 cup water and keep aside. Mix remaining water and yogurt and with the help of a whisk make buttermilk of it. Now heat this butter milk and slowly add the gram flour paste into it, stirring continually. Bring to boil. Keep stirring. Set aside.

For seasoning:

Heat the clarified butter in a pan. Add cumin seeds, asafetida, fenugreek seeds, dry red chilies and curry leaves. Then add onions and sauté till soft. Add ginger and garlic pastes, chopped green chili sauté again and then add diced tomatoes. Sauté again for 2-3 minutes.

Now add red chili powder and turmeric powder.

      Mix and immediately add seasoning to the yogurt mixture. Add the gram flour dumplings as well , add salt to taste and bring to boil again.

Tips:

Make sure that the dumplings get ample time to get soaked into the kadi. Otherwise they remain dry inside.I had plain yogurt, so adding tomatoes helped me to get the sour taste. You can also add a pinch of amchoor powder (dry mango powder).

Now it's the award time again:

I have received Sunshine and Thank You Cake awards from my new friends Gayatri and Beena and again a Circle Of Friends and a Thank You note from Gayatri :)

Thanks to both these lovely bloggers.

ThankYou                                                                      

I would like to pass on this award to some other bloggers :

Rachana, PanchPakwan, Jagruti, Swati, Lizy, Hamaree Rasoi, Aparna

SunShine

Passing on to:

My cooking experiments, Savi Ruchi, AvantiRao, Suja, Rupali, SS 

 

ThankYou Note

Passing this to:

Priya Mitharwal, Priya, Sushma Malya, Yummy team, Simply.food

Circle Of Friends

Want to pass on this to everyone but I am naming few here :)       

Beena, Priya Mitharwal, Priya, yummy team, Sushma, My cooking experiments, Savi Ruchi, AvantiRao, Suja, Rupali, SS ,Rachana, PanchPakwan, Jagruti, Swati, Lizy, Hamaree Rasoi, Aparna, Simply.Food

Have Fun And enjoy every bite in life !!!

My Birthday, A Japanese Treat and Simple Paneer Bhurji (Cottage Cheese Scrambled)

 

Hi Everyone. Yesterday I had a really great day. It was my first birthday after marriage and also in US..:). Kinda different but enjoyed a lot. I thought I should share the eating related part of it with you all foodies out here.

For the dinner party we decided to try out "Boom Noodle" which is a Japanese restaurant. We all knew Japanese cuisine had very few vegetarian options but my husband had already visited it once and so we all trusted him and took the chance of trying something new. After occupying a table we were handed over with the menu cards. Being a vegetarian finding a veg dish really takes lot of time. All the names where new and we started to look for the ingredients.Most of the dishes where having chicken of fish broth. Japanese also make a lot of use of ginger in their food. We could find 2 vegetarian dishes. ThankGod ..."Yakisoba" which had noodles and veggies and other one "Pho Ga". After a while the food arrived. We all were really hungry and the presentations of both the items made it very tempting. Nobody really knew how to use chopsticks and so we had to ask for forks... (I have got one of the pair and gonna practice sometime lol..may be till next birthday I manage to eat with them ).

"Yasai Yakisoba" was spicy and gingerly. The word Yakisoba means fried noodles. It must be an easy dish to make I guess. It had wheat noodles which looked dark brown, must be fried in some ginger flavored sauce. And also had lot of veggies, sprouts and fried tofu. Very satiating it was and what a different taste it had.

Now comes the other one "Pho Ga". I will never order this one again :). It was actually a soup (we were not given proper description while placing the order) containing some kinda broth, long rice noodles in it and raw tofu. I actually don't like tofu and having it in its raw form...no way :). We somehow managed to eat it.

  We were full after finishing both the items. It was great experience once again, trying different cuisines, getting to know few basics of them and then reviewing :). It was fun. I would like to have Yakisoba again or make one at home. Do try out japanese sometime and its sure a great cuisine for Non-vegetarians with diverse set of offerings.

We also made a choclate cake at home which is my favorite. You can find its recipe here. So far i havn't found an eggless option which we can get on such occasions :).

Now here comes my todays recipe : The very basic Paneer Bhurji (Scrambled Cottage Cheese)

Paneer Burji is very easy to cook. Very healthy and fulfilling. Have this with parathas or rotis. Use the leftover and make sandwiches or puffs.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

200gms Cottage gheese (Paneer) - grated

1 medium Onion - chopped

1 medium Tomato - cut into small pieces

2 Green Chili - cut into thin rounds

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1-2 tsp Garam Masala powder

Oil, Cumin seeds, Asafoetida, Curry leaves (optional)
Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan, add the cumin seeds. When they splutter add chopped onions and the ginger garlic paste, fry till brown.

2. Add the green chillies and tomatoes and fry till they are soft.

3. Now add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and little water or milk. Adding water makes sure that all the masala is well combined.

4. Add grated paneer and cook for 5-8 minutes till the paneer blends into the masala.

5. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Tips:

You can add green peas or sliced green pepper to burji.

Spicy and Meethi Vegetable Jaipuri and A Happy Long Weekend :)

I love Jaipur, the Pink City. The Royal Rajwadas and old temples, the famous tradition, the folk dances, the Rajasthani cousin with Choki Dhani, The relishing and royal dishes like dal bati, churma, rabdi, khicdi and so much more, The flavorful mithais and Bikaner sweets ...Wow so many stories associated with Rajasthan. Every tourist here can enjoy a royal kings like treatment.

Today I made Vegetable  Jaipuri. Though this is ofcourse the variation of original one, vegetable jaipuri always consits of varitey of vegetables mixed with some kinda masalas. I have made a dried coconut and onion paste. The vegetables are not boiled but cooked in a steam on a low flame. This is a dry sabzi. Adding raisins, which is a must do step, to Jaipuri enhances the taste of it..

Ingredients:

Serves 4

1 large Capsicum

1 medium size potato

1 Onion

1 Tomato

1/2 Cabbage

Grean Peas (optional)

½ tsp Red Chili powder

1 tsp of Dhaniyajeera powder

1 tsp of Garam Masala or Onion - Garlic Chutney

1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala

Raisins (a must ingredient)

Salt and Sugar to taste

Oil, Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida (hing) for seasoning

Chopped Corriander for garnishing (optional)

For Paste:

1/2 onion

1 small bowl dried grated coconut (you can also grind dried coconut pieces in a mixer)

3-4 garlic pods

About 1/2" piece of ginger

 

Indian version of Vegetable/ Vegan Toast Sandwich and an Award

                    Sandwiches are always fulfilling, healthy, tempting and easy to make. These are very common in India and a very popular street food but the home made sandwiches are always hygienic and satiating. I learned this recipe of  'Vegetable Sandwich' from my mother. I made a slight variation of adding 'chaat masala' and making toast of bread loaves which is absolutely optional. I call this a 15 minutes recipe. :). Yes, very easy and so much liked by everyone at home. The preparation just takes 15 minutes; grind the coriander chutney, slice the veggies and its done. I am making a toast of bread loaves and then a toast sandwich but you can simply skip making toast and go with a regular one.
Serving, you all know..... :)

   

Ingredients: For just 1 sandwich

2 slices of bread (white or brown)
Coriander Green Chutney
Thin slices of each Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, Baked Potato
Baby Spinach
Tomato Ketchup
Indian Chaat Masala - this is available in any Indian store or may buy it here

You will also need a toaster. (optional)

Method:

1. Take 2 slices of a bread and make toast of them in a toaster.

2. Spread green chutney evenly on one of the bread slice.

3. Then on the same slice put sliced cucumber, tomato, onion, potato pieces the way you want. Put some baby spinach leaves. You won't see those in this pictures.

4. On the other slice of bread spread tomato ketchup and sprinkle some 'chaat masala'.

5. Now put this slice on the earlier one and cut into 2 or 4 diagonal or vertical-horizontal pieces.

Tips:

Sandwich tastes great even if you add only cucumber and tomato. I added lettuce leaves once. One can also try beetroot slices. Wear the Chef hats and think of new ideas. Try it...
Some of different veggies/other ingredients which you can add are :

Lettuce leaves

Beetroot slices (blanched)

Grated paneer
Shredded and parboiled carrot

Would like to know different fillings from you gals ???

You can also put butter before applying green chutney, but it would no longer remain vegan :).
This can also be done just with regular bread loaves and not toasting them.


Vegetable Grilled Sandwich

To make grilled sandwich you can use Griller or the Grill plates which come in the sandwich maker.
To make grilled sandwich do not toast the bread. Instead prepare the sandwich with the untoasted regular bread and then apply butter on both the sides of the sandwich (above and bottom) and put it in the griller or the sandwich maker. Grill it till it turns little brown and little crisp.

This one tastes really good and different than the toasted/untoasted sandwich.

Garnish with some cheese  (no more vegan :) ).

Also I received the 'Honest Scrap' award from Cooking Foodie.

Rules for this award :

a) I must brag about it .

b) I have to display the badge on my blog and link to the one who tagged me to prove that I didn't tag myself (See links above)

c) Share 10 things about myself. (Following the rules and other awards)

d) Pass the award to other fellow bloggers by visiting their site

I pass on this award to...Turmeric and Spice team, An Open book of Look Who is Cooking, PanchPakwan , Swati , creative Rachana, My favorite Gulmohar of Collaborative Curry, Gayatri Raj

Here are 10 things about me:

1. I love to learn, experience, eat and know new things each day.

2. I love chitchatting with my dear ones and bugging them :)

3. I love to dance (non-classical :)

4. I want to be a great and a smart cook.

5. Fresca is my favorite soft drink.

6. I am a chocolate addict.

7. I love giving suggestions and free advice. :)

8. I am still confused with my height weather its 5ft 1" or 5ft 2". #$^#^

9. I like movies of Tom Hanks and started loving animated movies these days.

10. I like writing poems. You can find some of them here at my other blog.