I got these cute little red radishes the other day for making salad. But sometimes things get forgotten on the plethora of produce from the farmer's market stuffed in the fridge. I found the radishes a couple of days later and I was skeptical if they would be good for the salad. So I made a simple chutney aka thogayal to go with rice for our lunch that day.
Ingredients: Adapted from Mallika Badrinath cookbook Red radishes - 1 bunch (about 7-8) Shallots / Pearl onions - 8 Garlic - 3 cloves Red chiilies - 1 or 2 (based on heat level) Tamarind - a small piece Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp Salt - to taste Oil - 1-1/2 tbsp Method: Wash and cut the ends of the radishes. Slice them into thin coins. Peel and halve the shallots and garlic. Heat oil and add the chillies, onions, garlic, tamarind and radishes. Saute until the radishes take a light brown shade, it could take a while in medium heat. Add the grated coconut and mix well. Turn the heat off and let it cool in the pan. When cool grind in a blender with salt. Do not add any water while grinding. Serve topped on rice. Linking this to Priya's Vegan Thursdays.
There are a few recipes which are really good when home-made. This Bahara Baingan is one such recipe. I tasted this at our friend's house months ago. She was from Andhra and a wonderful cook. She was newly married but her dishes were perfectly made and tasted great, liked made by an experienced cook. Bahara Baingan was one of the dishes in the menu. I had wanted to get the recipe from her, but never got to do because she was busy with her studies (she is doing her Masters in US now) and I didn't want to disturb her. But the taste of that Bahara Baingan lingered in my memory. When I bought brinjals aka baby eggplants on my produce shopping, I decided I was gonna make Bahara Baingan. I googled for the recipe and ended up making a fusion of the recipe here and here.
Ingredients: Baby Brinjals - 10 Onion - 1/2 cup, chopped Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp (adjust based on heat) Garam masala powder - 3/4 tsp Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp, heaped Salt - to taste Tamarind - size of a lemon Spice paste: Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp Peanuts (skin removed) - 3 tbsp Grated coconut - 3 tbsp Method: Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract about 2 cups of juice. Dry roast the sesame seeds until it pops. Heat about a tsp of oil and fry the peanuts until a nice aroma arises. Grind the roasted sesame seeds, fried peanuts and coconut with water to make a smooth paste. Wash and wipe the brinjals clean. Make 'X' shaped slit at the bottom of each brinjal until about 3/4th of the way up with the stems still intact. Heat 1 tbsp of oil a flat pan. Place the slit brinjals and cook them turning over often. When all the sides are roasted and the brinjal is almost cooked and soft (a knife inserted should pass through easily), remove from heat. In a saucepan heat about 1 tbsp of oil and fry the onions until it turns soft. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute in medium heat for about a minute. Add the spice powders now with salt and mix well. Now add the ground paste and mix adding a little water. When the paste becomes a little dry, add the tamarind juice and little more water. At this stage the curry will be little watery. Add the roasted brinjals and allow it to come to a boil. Then reduce the heat to simmer until the curry thickens. Serve hot with naan or pulao.
I have this book Holiday Baking by Fine Cooking. I bought it few years ago to put my new-found interest (baking) into use. But I never really got into trying many except for the Vanilla Cut out cookies. Recently when I flipped over that book this Coffee cake caught my eye. I did not have plum in hand so I used pear. If you love the carbs but it loves you back too much, don't worry you can still enjoy this without all the guilt. Three words.. Share with friends. I made this decadent coffee cake one Friday. After reserving some for our road trip the next day, I shared the rest to our neighbors who were moving to a different city.
Ingredients: Adapted from the fine cooking - Holiday Baking magazine Serves - 9 For the Cake: All purpose flour / Maida - 1-1/2 cups + more for the pan Baking powder - 1-1/2 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom - 1/2 tsp Butter - 1/2 cup (cold and cut into little cubes) Eggs - 2 Sugar - 1/2 cup Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup Whole milk - 1/4 cup Vanilla extract - 1-1/2 tsp Pear - 1 large (see notes below) For the Streusel topping: Butter, melted - 3 tbsp All purpose flour / Maida - 1/2 cup Brown sugar - 1/4 cup Salt - a dash Ground cardamom - a pinch
Method: For the Streusel, mix all the ingredients (except butter) and whisk well to mix. Pour the melted butter and continue whisking until the flour mixture resembles crumbs. Cover and refrigerate. Peel and core the pear and cut into thin slices. Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9" square pan with butter. Add a tbsp or so of flour and coat the pan rotating the pan well so that all the butter is covered with flour. Do not coat too much with flour. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugars and vanilla until the eggs are well blended. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom until well mixed. Add the cold butter and cut with a pastry blender to incorporate the butter to the flour. I just placed the flour mixture and the cold butter in a blender and pulsed a few times. To this add the egg mixture and mix with the wooden spoon and mix well just until there are no lumps. Pour into the prepared baking pan. Spread to form a even layer. Arrange the pear slices, slightly overlapping each other on the pan in three rows. Sprinkle the streusel topping all over the pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center of the pan comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Slice and serve.
Summer is Berry season and we are making a great use of it. My LO's recent favorite is the blueberries. He loves to pick them up with his little fingers and eat them. I have been buying these beauties whenever I go for produce shopping. Other than eating it for snacks I had been adding it to the meals. This simple blueberry coconut pudding is creamy and delicious.
Ingredients: Cooked cooled rice - 1 cup (I used Basmati) Coconut water - 1-1/4 cups (see notes below) Coconut milk from can - 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries - 1/3 cup or more per taste (pureed) Sugar - 1-1/2 tbsp or more per taste Cardamom - a pinch
Method: Bring the rice and 1 cup of coconut water to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium. Stir with a wooden spoon frequently to avoid sticking to the pan. When almost all of the water is evaporated add 1/4 cup of coconut milk with cardamom. Mix and remove from heat. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Now add the remaining coconut milk, pureed blueberries, sugar and mix well. Now if the texture is too thick for you, thin it out with the remaining coconut water. Mix and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Serve topped with fresh blueberries. Linking this to Priya's Vegan Thursdays.
