'One should never shop on an empty stomach' is a good saying. You end up buying more than you need. That is true. In my case I got this can of evaporated milk thinking of making some dessert way back in November which was on sale for Thanksgiving. It had been sitting in my pantry often noticed, but never cared for.
The other day I opened this can to make a creamy pasta sauce from scratch. I did not use it up all and it was sitting in my fridge for a couple of days. One fine morning, I decided to make a creamy blueberry oatmeal hoping that my little one will have for breakfast. He loves anything blueberries. But since he was becoming more picky off late, I offered him his usual favorite cereal with milk. He had happily. Coming again to the point that I had to finish off the evaporated milk I still made this creamy blueberry oatmeal later that morning. When it was done, the food blogger in me nudged 'It looks blog-worthy, why don't you take a few clicks'. And so when I was laying the setup, pulling the table near to the window, placing it in cups to picture, he got all interested and said in a sing-song tone.. "yummy yummy blueberry mum-mum". He did give me 5 minutes to click as much as I wanted and then demanded a taste. We set out to finish one cup later.
Ingredients:
Serves - 2
Rolled Oats - 1 cup
Whole Milk - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Evaporated milk - 1/4 cup
Maple Syrup - 4 tsp or to taste
Salt - a pinch
Blueberries - 1/2-3/4 cup
Method:
In a medium glass (microwave safe) bowl, mix the oats, milk and salt. Microwave for 4-5 minutes, stirring once in between. Add the maple syrup, blueberries, evaporated milk and mix. Microwave for one more minute and allow a standing time of 2 minutes. Divide into two bowls and serve hot.
Alternate Stove top method:
Boil milk and water until just hot. Add the oats and salt and cook in medium heat until most of the milk is absorbed. Add the maple syrup, blueberries and evaporated milk. Mix and heat until warm. Divide and serve.
In the stovetop method, if you need a creamy, gooey consistency of the oats, add the oats and salt when the milk is still cold and then start cooking.
Notes: Adjust sweetness and amount of blueberries to your taste.
Looking for oatmeal with fruits? Check out my Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal and Mango Oatmeal.
I saw these Kachoris my friend Praks had posted in her FB page. Being a foodie, I did not wait long to ask her for the recipe. She was more than happy to share the recipe and added proudly that this is her family recipe. She is from Gujarat and the shape of the kachoris they make are like modaks and is different from the flattened kachoris from the other parts of India. I tried making them in both ways just for fun. Did I say that these were the fastest disappearing snack I made. My little one loved it to the core and asked if there was any leftover "Cat-turi" the next day.
Ingredients:
Makes 12 kachoris
For the filling:
Tuvar - 1 cup (fresh/frozen)
Green chilli - 1
Ginger - 1" piecec
Garlic cloves - 3
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - a fistful
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp + more for deep frying
For the outer covering:
Wheat (atta) flour - 1 cup
Maida / All purpose flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 2/3 cup (more or less)
Method:
Thaw the beans if using frozen. Pulse the green chilli, ginger and garlic in the small jar of the mixie once. Add the beans and pulse until coarse. Heat oil in a pan and add the ground beans mixture and cumin powder. Cook in medium heat sprinkling little water. When the mixture is almost cooked (shouldn't be mashed) add sugar, coriander leaves and salt. Remove from heat and add coconut and lemon juice. Mix well and allow to cool completely. I made the filling earlier in the day and refrigerated until evening.
Mix the flours, salt and oil. Add water little by little and make smooth, stiff dough. Make 12 equal sized balls of the dough. Also divide the filling into 12 portions.
When ready to fry the kachoris, heat oil for deep frying. Roll one dough ball into a 3 inch disc. Place one ball of the filling and bring the corners of the flattened disc together and pinch to make a covered ball. You could pinch of excess dough if desired. This is how the kachoris are made in gujarat. If you want the flattened kachoris after covering the filling roll it ever so slightly to form a thick disc. Do not apply too much pressure while rolling out which may cause the outer covering to tear and expose the filling.
When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and gently slide the kachoris to the oil. Cook in medium heat, flipping over once or twice until the kachoris are golden brown. Serve hot with ketchup or mint/tamarind chutney.
Notes:
It is important to make the dough stiff but pliable. Loose dough will absorb more oil which is not desirable.
Fry the kachoris in medium heat slowly until the kachoris turn light brown. The oil should not be in high heat because it will cause the outer covering to brown faster and the insides will be under-cooked.
If you are looking for something cozy yet spicy to make today, this south Indian style chicken curry recipe is a perfect one for your Sunday lunch with rice. Before now, cooking non-vegetarian at home wasn't a frequent event since DH is a pure vegetarian. Now that I have my LO to give me company to eat chicken at home I find myself cooking it more often. So expect more chicken recipes in this space.
Ingredients:
Serves - 2-3
Chicken - 1/2 kg
Small Onions / Pearl onions - 8, halved OR Onion, chopped - 1 cup
Tomato, small - 2, chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp (optional)
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 2-3 cups
Fresh ground pepper - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Spice paste:
Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds / Sombu - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds / kasa kasa - 1 tsp
Cinnamon / Pattai - 1" piece - 2 nos
Cloves / Krambu - 5
Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
Dry red chillies - 5-6
Ginger, peeled - 1" piece
Garlic cloves - 3
Pearl onions - 4
Coconut, grated - 1/3 cup (about 5 tbsp)
Oil - 2 tsp
Method:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a small pan and add the first 7 ingredients of the spice paste. When it is slightly toasted, remove from heat and allow to cool in a plate. Crush the peeled ginger, garlic and pearl onions with a rolling pin or the bottom of a cup. Add another tsp of oil and fry the crushed ginger, garlic and pearl onions for a minute. Add the coconut and fry in medium heat until it is slightly toasted. Remove from heat to cool. Make a fine paste of the above 2 mixtures together adding water.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a cast-iron skillet (I love the cast iron for this recipe) and add the chicken pieces brown them all over, about a couple of minutes. The chicken may not have been cooked through but it is ok, it will cook in the curry. Remove to a plate. In the same pan add the remaining oil and the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the chopped onion and fry until it is translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they are mushy. Add the ground paste with 2 cups of water. Add salt as needed with pepper (if using) and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken pieces and cook in medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is tender and the kuzhambu is thick. Serve over rice or as a side for idli/dosa.
It was tough deciding which recipe I wanted to post next. Most of the recipes I had in draft was either baked (I had been posting 3 baked recipes in a row the past week) or more of a combination recipes which had to be posted one after the other. But since I had been planning to post a special chicken curry for the weekend, I think this would be a nice one to post for a midweek.
Psst.. the combination recipes I talked about earlier.. here are a few coming up.. well over a couple of days.. Achari Murgh with Kashmiri Pulao; Mushroom Briyani with Zucchini Raitha; Kollu Thogayal with Kollu Rasam.
Ingredients:
Pearl onions - 10
Garlic cloves - 15
Tomato, ripe - 2
Pumpkin / Parangikai, cubed - 1 cup
Tamarind - size of a lemon
Water - 2 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder - 3 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Method:
Peel and halve the pearl onions. Peel the garlic cloves. Soak the tamarind in warm water for 30 minutes and extract 2 cups of juice. Heat oil in a kadai and splutter the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Add the onion and garlic cloves and fry until softened. Add the cubed pumpkin and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes with a pinch of salt and cook until it is pulpy. Now sprinkle the turmeric powder, sambar powder and mix well. Add the tamarind juice and water and check for seasoning. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve hot with rice and pappads.
Notes:
The pumpkin here can be replaced by bitter gourd or brinjals.
Is it still Winter or is Spring already here? The Sun is playing hide-and-seek every other day. Past weekend was pretty warm here in Northern California and the forecast says so for the next few days. Nevertheless, if it is still cold in where you live or just so, you could make these easy oven roasted winter vegetables. It is a versatile dish which can be a side for rice or quinoa or can easily be converted as a main course with just a cup of yogurt.
Ingredients:
Serves - 4
Carrots, medium - 3
Butternut squash - 1/3 of a medium sized one
Red Potato - 1
Sweet Potato - 1
Red bell pepper - 1
Green bell pepper - 1
Eggplant - 1/2 of a large one
Zucchini - 1
Garlic, crushed - 3 cloves
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 3-4 Tbsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Black Pepper, freshly ground - 1/2 tsp
Dried Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
Rosemary, fresh - 1 Tbsp
Method:
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease with a little oil. Cut the vegetables, carrots, potato, sweet potato, eggplant, butternut squash into half an inch cubes roughly. Cut the bell peppers into half and inch discs and the zucchini into half moons. Place the cut vegetables in a mixing bowl and add the other ingredients. Mix well with your fingers to coat the seasoning all over the vegetables. Spread in the baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, tossing the vegetables once midway. Serve hot as a side or a snack.
Notes: I used about 7 cups of raw cut vegetables.
Ingredients:
Method:
