Friday, December 17, 2010

Potato's In Tangy carrom Gravy/Khatte Aloo ajwain main

I was going through Priya's http://priyaseasyandtastyrecipes.blogspotcom post on this recipe yesterday , preparing a dish with Ajwain/carom as the main ingredient caught my fancy and I checked to see if I had all the condiments to prepare this. I was so thrilled with this preparation as it turned out much more than I had  expected,I knew it would be good but it would taste exquisitely fantastic was beyond my expectation.This dish also comes in handy whenever you find yourself in ," No vegetables" situation. I was  also caught in one of those dire situations yesterday :( with just potato's and thankfully tomato's to my rescue.

Priya has made this without the potato's and for all I know probably this is how this dish is supposed to be,but being the huge fan of potato's that I am, I knew I had to add potato's to this tangy ajwain sauce. So apart from adding  the potato's to this recipe,I have not made any big changes. Yes-I have sliced the onions instead of chopping them  and increased the number of tomato's and dry roasted the masala fresh.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Ajwain/carom seeds: 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp
Red chilli dry: 3
Cumin: 1tsp
Black peppercorn: 1/2 tsp

 Take all these and dry roast them and then wait for these to cool down. Grind these in a coffee grinder to a fine powder .

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Methi dana/Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 7-8

Gravy:
Onion: 1 large finely sliced
Garlic cloves: 6 finely chopped
Tomato: 2 medium sized sliced
Potato's: 2 medium -sliced into 8  long pieces vertically
Tamarind pulp: 1 cup
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp
salt: 1 tsp

Method:
Take 2 tbsp oil in pressure cooker and when hot add the seasonings to it along with chopped garlic. Now once these start to splutter add onions and saute them till they turn translucent. Now add tomato's to this and  continue to cook till you start to see the oil appear at the edges. Now add potato's and  mix thethe dry masala powder  with the tamarind pulp and add this to the tomato's & onions and cook till everything blends together well and evenly. Now add 1/2 a glass of water and pressure cook it for 4-5 minutes. Wait for  the steam  to release and take the lid off and garnish with chopped coriander before serving,I kept the gravy a little thick as I wanted to enjoy this with roti's.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Awards And Some More Pictures On Popular Demand :)

I genuinely want to express how Lucky and Happy I feel on receiving these awards by my dear  blogger friends,who have accepted me right from the word Go and have always been very very encouraging at every step with their constant flow of  wonderful comments and appreciation. I love you all and want to wish everyone here a ,Happy Everything :)!!!!

The first award is by Nancy of http://kitchengypsies.blogspot.com/
The second one is by Gayathri of http://gayathriscookspot.blogspot.com/
The third one is by Suja of  http://kichencorner.blogspot.com/

Please do walk yourself  through their creative space,and discover  their amazing and finger licking recipes. It would be an understatement to say they are amazing cooks-Please do check out their blogs . Thanks and Best,Kavita


This award was given  by Nancy & Gayathri & Suja

Fire place mantle with snow flakes

Small Santa on the corner table

Sideboard with all the Christmas & new year greetings



Kitchen Window overlooking the deck

I wanted the maple to look festive

The small tree in the family room
Add caption
Manasi wanted every corner to have a Christmassy flavor,the regular things went in the basement and the Christmassy stuff took their spots:)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Stuffed Mushrooms

 Yesss:)!!! Another mushroom recipe, I can't seem to get enough of this earthy sensuous fungi,that me and my family is head over heels in love with :) Especially these stuffed mushrooms, I had put about 15 of these in the oven and you will be surprised to hear how many came out,most of them got wiped out during the process of checking how they were doing in the oven.Nooo, I am too embarrassed to reveal the number  but the picture tells it all -see for yourself ;)

It is hard for me to pick one mushroom dish over another,I love all mushroom preparations,but this one after yesterday holds a special mention of how superbly yummy these stuffed mushrooms were,and if you are fond of mushrooms then I bet you-You are ought to love this stuffed delicacy !!! I also have to make a special mention of how simple this recipe is,I had not planned on making these,but after my daughter got back from Sunday YG,she announced she was  hungry,which is unusual,as they get snacks and sometimes food also at YG ,anyways she got home famished and me and my husband were done eating,and there were no left overs either,so I quickly pulled out the remaining portobello/crimini mushrooms and quickly washed them and pat dried them with a paper towel. In a jiffy I took panko Italian style bread crumbs in a bowl,took out the mushroom stems,and put them in the chopper along with  green chilli,garlic ,parsley .Scooped that out from the chopper and mixed it with the bread crumbs and added grated sharp cheddar cheese and a tiny amount of parmesan along with kosher salt and cayenne pepper. Yes- I kept throwing in the ingredients, no I am not trying to look or sound smart here,but it is actually this simple and let me tell you-You can actually play with the stuffing ,go for the seasonings and the stuffing you fancy. You can also add sauteed onions and also saute the chopped mushroom stems along with garlic,I have not done any of this and YET this recipe is a keeper and a  true winner and much healthier than the ones which use a lot of oil .I have used just 1 tsp oil :)
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 -25 minutes
Ingredients:
portobella mushrooms: 15
 Italian style bread crumbs: 4 tbsp
Mushroom stems from these 15 mushrooms: Chopped very fine
Sultan's golden fried onion from Indian store: 2 tbsp for topping
Grated sharp Cheddar: 4 tbsp
Parmesan: 2 tbsp
Cayenne pepper: 1 tsp
Lime Juice: 1 tbs
Oil spray to spray the mushrooms
Kosher salt: to sprinkle on mushrooms
Garlic Crushed: 2 cloves
Parsley: 1 tbsp chopped

Method:
Take the mushrooms,wash them thoroughly and pat dry them with a paper towel. Remove the stems very carefully and put them aside for later use.

Pre-heat the oven on broil setting at 350 degree F

Run the mushroom stems in the chopper for 20 or 30 seconds.You don't want to puree them,just make sure the pieces are very tiny to fill in the mushroom cavity with other stuffing's.

Now take all the above ingredients except the mushrooms and  golden fried onions &mix these well along with the chopped mushrooms.

Fill this mixture in the mushroom cavity and press it a little with your thumb to make it nice and compact. Crush the golden fried onions with your hand and then top the stuffing with these to add a nice crunch to the mushrooms.

Now take a baking tray and cover the surface with aluminium foil and spray this with some oil. Arrange the mushrooms with the stuffing side on the top,sprinkle some kosher salt and some olive oil on these and broil them for 20- 25 minutes or till they turn golden brown and the stuffing starts to bubble. You can also remove it with the tongs blow on it hard and pop it in your mouth to see if they are done. Please don't burn your tongue and tell me I asked you to do so.....I mentioned Blow hard...the stuffing is sizzling hot :)

Note: You can use minced meat or turkey or chicken and finely chopped onions for the stuffing. You can also add some dry white wine to this stuffing . You will have to cook the minced meat or saute it in little oil along with fine chopped onions if you like and then add the white wine,and let the mixture become dry. Then you can add the seasonings to your taste and use this mix to stuff the mushrooms.




Sujatha here's the photo of the christmas tree . It has lights on it but they are not showing well in the picture,I should have probably subdued all the other lights in the room :( I will post some more, with the lights and the small tree as well:)

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Mushroom,sweet Peppers & Thyme Toast And An Award

Yesterday was a very productive day,we set up our Christmas tree ,the small one and the big one (I know it is late for those of you who do it right after thanksgiving ) ornamented it and put up the lights,the home now looks so festive with candles and greetings and the Christmas classics playing softly in the background. Manasi loves this time of the year and it is fun to have her participate whole heartedly in all this. She enjoyed her hot cups of coco while decking up the tree.Mahir & myself were enjoying cups of tea as usual.

I was looking for something simple  for lunch which could be fixed in less time and was complete in nutritional values along with being tasty :) I looked through Light Bites And Lunches by Readers Digest and came up with this amazing recipe for Mushroom & Thyme Toast. I loved it ,it was healthy & tasty with fewer calories and we all love mushrooms. I have tweaked the recipe a little and  trust me the result is YUMMY !!!

Ingredients:
Ricotta Cheese: 4 tbsp
2 celery sticks finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Good pinch of cayenne pepper
chestnut mushrooms: 1 pound
sweet peppers: 6 yellow & red
Garlic clove: 1 crushed
fresh Thyme: 1 tbsp chopped
creme Fraiche: 2 tbsp OR Sour cream
Lime Juice: 1 tsp
8 Thick slices cut from a small loaf of mixed seed bread
Salt & pepper

Preparation & Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Note: This recipe will serve 4, so you can increase or decrease the amount of ingredients according to your requirement.

Method:
1. Put the ricotta,celery,parsley and cayenne pepper in  a bowl and mix well together.Set aside in a cool place until needed. Preheat the grill to high.

2. Leave any small mushrooms whole and halve larger ones. Place them in large heavy frying pan,preferably non-stick along with sweet pepper rounds and add the garlic,thyme,and sour cream or creme  fraiche  and 1 tsp of water. Cover and cook until the mushrooms are tender but crunchy to the bite. The mushroom should give up its juices,before you turn off the flame. Add 1 tsp lime and salt & pepper.
3.While the mushrooms are cooking,toast the bread slices on both sides under the grill.While still warm spread on one side of the toast some ricotta mixture and then spoon out the mushrooms and peppers on this spread & enjoy  it while it is crunchy and warm :)
Note: I have used the weight watchers bread for this recipe.
I have substituted dried parsley for fresh.

Ricotta Cheese:
Like other cheeses, ricotta is a good source of protein and calcium. Because of its high moisture content,it is lower in fat than many other varieties of soft cheese.

Are you on the look out for some lip smacking and drool worthy recipes look no further,here is where you should be http://tastyappetite.blogspot.com/  Jay the proud owner and my dear friend who owns this  special space has some amazingly wonderful recipes. For those of you who have not yet visited her blog please do,you will thank me for it:) And here is the award that was given to me & my blog by Jay.Thank You so very much Jay,I love it,it is so sweet of you and I loved those 5 petal roses they are my favorite and I have them in my backyard and they smell so wonderful when they just start to bloom in summer.