Guest EVENT coming to Now Serving

Let’s greet VALENTINE MONTH with some SWEET Love!

Announcing the BEST ‘WESTERN’ DESSERT EVENT

Feb 1- Feb 28, 2011
IMPORTANT : PLEASE USE LINKY BELOW TO SEND IN YOUR ENTIRES

 Jan Silverman, a good friend, makes some of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted. It just seems to come naturally to her. And for people who have read my blog or my comments on your desserts, you’ll know that this is the one food area that I am still a fledgling. And then it struck me who better than Jan to come and present and where better than my blog J  I decided to learn a few tips from the master. And I get to blog the recipes I learn on my blog. Fancy that. However, I will not be entering these for the awards.

So I decided to make this a Dessert event and would like to invite you all to participate…  Jan has kindly accepted to judge the top 3 entries who will receive a “Best Western Dessert” award, while all the other participants will receive an award for the excellent contributions. This will be both interesting and tough, since I know the immense creative capacity of my fellow bloggers – Not kidding!

I hope you will all join me in welcoming Jan to Now Serving and also be privy to her outta-sight dessert-making talent J

Look for JAN IN MY KITCHEN coming soon...

RULES:

For those who are already following this blog, Please feel free to send in your entries with a maximum of which 3 and at least 1 should be new.

For those who are new, please sign in to follow and RSVP the event – Same blogging rules apply to all entries

NON-bloggers welcome 

Please link your entries with the linky tool at the bottom of the post - 
If you have any questions, please email me at

priyamahadevan@hotmail.com

One more thing - no Indian sweets entries at this event- sorry :( 

All entries must be linked back to this event. with the logo. Please take the logo from my blog and display on yours along with dessert you have entered for the event.

Luv ya!

Uber healthy Sindhi Kokis

All right y'all, it is officially pelting down ice and I am waiting anxiously for my older kids to come home - early dismissal - I am unable to pick them up because the little one is down for a siesta and would panic if I was not here when she awoke - Murphy's law - just when you think you can sneak out for a few minutes is when the little one's antenna perk up and pick up mom leaving signals (sigh)
But rather than pace around the house, I decided that I will treat my kiddos when they come home wet and cold to a delicious lunch/snack, call it what you will.

And for those onion lovers, you know it makes any dish taste better - well, mostly. Kokis came to mind. These are decadently delicious chappatis that the Sindhis make for breakfast and serve with dahi and wheat halwa. I dispensed with the halwa part right away... Kokis are made with pure ghee where the atta or dough is kneaded in ghee. A family friend who is Sindhi told us that their day started off with a good dollop of wholesome ghee... well, those days are long gone, I think?

I have enjoyed these plentifully during my Delhi days and I have tried to make it a few times in the past, but I think this healthier version turned out best. So here we go

 Prepares in 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups of multigrain atta (available at the India store -
1 big red onion
1/2 cup of cut or crushed cilantro
4-5 green chillies
4 tsp of olive oil
salt
a dash of herb de provence and a little thyme

Preparation

I don't like my onions raw mostly, so i sauteed slightly in a tsp of olive oil

Add the oil, salt, herbs and chillies & the lightly fried onions to the batter 

Knead the dough like you would for I want to say pakodas a little loose or oodhiri - this means use very little water and keep checking to see if you can make a ball...

Once this is done, go ahead and roll the balls out like you would chappatis - 

Cook both sides on the pan and serve hot with yogurt 

A couple of tips: Serve these up with dark brown sugar or jaggery and yogurt - THey are to die for since the three combined satisfy your tastebud's requirement for sweet, salty, hot, and sour 

Tip 2 is just to keep the fun of decadence and not feel guilty at all, I crushed about 10 cashews and kneaded it into the dough -

Presented to you with love!

Persian Spinach and Black-Eyed Peas

This is a Persian recipe which I pulled out of WIKI (http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Persian_Spinach_and_Black-Eyed_Peas) when I googled Persian recipes to contribute to the AWED event
This again reminded me of our very own keerai kootu or spinach gravy curry and I add some legumes to my kootus simply because my kids love it

Here is how I made it

Ingredients

1 pack of frozen spinach
1/2 cup of black eyed peas boiled
1 tsp of tamarind pulp (instead of the suggest lemon juice)
I replaced the cinnamon and parsley recommended with cilantro and ginger powder
I did not have leeks so did not use it
Preparation
Followed the instructions on the website almost exactly except I mixed the tamarind in some water along with the spinach.
I am pasting the instructions below

1. In extra-large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until wilted and tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add spinach, parsley, scallions and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook just until spinach has wilted, about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in black-eyed Peas, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook, uncovered, just until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve hot.

It was very tasty and I served it with home made chappatis and love :)
http://sweetartichoke.com/2011/01/06/a-w-e-d-event-announcement

Breaded Mozzarella (Bhajjis)

This is a cinchy quick fix if you are want to eat something cheesy and well - fried :) You gotta get in the fried stuff once or twice or month or, if you are like me, you will have a craving for it and go berserk when you get your hands on them -- Just a small dose of the bad stuff, every now and then :P

Ingredients:
Fresh Mozzarella balls diced to your preference (you do not want to cut them too thin)
For the batter:
1/2 cup of either gram flour or all purpose flour
spices of your choice (I used rosemary, and some herb De Provence)
For spicing
1 tsp ground peppers or
I used 1 tsp of rasam powder
1 cup of bread crumbs
Water to make batter consistency of pancakes or slightly thicker (FOR FLAVIA)

Preparation
Heat sufficient oil to fry
Make the batter fairly thick
Keep the mozzarella slices, the batter and the bread crumbs organized and follow the pick, dip, roll and drop formula
Pick up a slice, dip in the batter until it is covered
Then roll them a few times in the bread crumbs
Then drop them gently in the oil
Keep the heat in medium, so that the outer shell and the inner batter layer have time to cook - should not take too long at all -
When the color is just right (see photo) remove them from the pan and drain in a paper-toweled colander

Serve Hot - with your favorite dip -
I made a really quick yogurt dip which i will blog soon :) Happy snacking

Daily dose of fruits smoothie - Drink Up!

Ever since we got out Vitamix, which i want to say is about 4 years, at least, we have had the morning ritual of fruit smoothies going - I remember clearly, we were in Queenstown, NZ and every morning, we would walk down the main drag and there was this incredible smoothie/fresh juice place. The Fruits and veggies looked SO fresh and SO inviting and tasted SO delicious that we came back and as providence would have it, Sam's Club was having a promo on Vitamix, we grabbed one right away! I must say that the Vitamix has been the best addition to my kitchen helping me grind idli batter, giving me smoothies, lassies, chutneys, thogayals, soups  --you name it..Vitamix, I LOVE you!  But Any blender will do the trick!

Going back to the smoothie, I also learned,  from the several health shows I watch and health magazines and websites, to add a flax seed powder and wheat germs to the smoothie. We also add some Gojji  berries for good measure (these are available like dried raisins and are a great snack to have around as well) I found out too that Gojji berries are none other than our Yellandha Pazhams!!! Fancy that :)) Does that bring back the fond memories of LR Eshwari's crooning of that fruit?? yellandha payeh... It did for me:)) besides, my dear sister who does one helluva an imitation of LRE never lets me forget any of her songs...
But seriously the beauty is they blend in so well, unless you want to be fussy about it, it is totally unnoticeable. Now I present your 5 servings of fruits a day in one delicious glass - Drink up!

Here is the dope on Wheat Germ and flaxseed
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed

Wheat Germ Can Be Used As A Natural Supplement

As with vitamin supplements, wheat germ can be used in the same way, but in a natural form.

Wheat germ is a good source of:

* B vitamins such as folate, niacin, thiamin, and vitamin B6
* Calcium
* Complex carbs
* Fiber
* Iron
* Magnesium
* Manganese
* Omega-3 fatty acids
* Phosphorous
* Potassium
* Protein
* Selenium
* Vitamin E
* Zinc

Ingredients: All the fruits you like, or are available (frozen or fresh)+ 1 tbs of Wheat germ + 1Tbl spoon of Flaxseed powder + 1 Table spoon of Gojji berries - Blended. -

NOTE: If your fruits are too sour and not sweet enough, add a couple of spoons of brown sugar or sugar substitute...You want to enjoy what you drink even if you're doing it to get your 5 servings of fruits 

Tip for moms with little ones who don't like their fruits - Blend the fruits and add their oatmeal or rice cereal and feed. MY little one has practically been raised on this since she started on solid foods.

Here's to a healthy start to your days :) Signing off with Love until I blog about my veggie smoothie :)

http://fussfreeflavours.com/

Clementine Orange Rasam/ Tradional Indian tomato-lentil soup with a hint of clementine

Oh My darling, Oh my darling, Oh my darling clementine season is upon us :)) The crates are home, esp with my son popping one in each time he passes the kitchen counter - But i had my first taste of it in the rasam tonight and I must confess (with modestly) that this was a superb impulse -

E-How describes Clementine oranges a cross between an orange and a mandarin orange. They were crossbred to be seedless, sweet and easy to peel. It is pretty much like what we in India referred to as loose jackets (with perhaps tighter jacket or santras and no seeds) Although on second thoughts, I think loose jackets could be tangerines

It really tasted amazing and I wish some of my blogger friends or even follower friends lived by me to taste it :))

Ingredients

1 can of diced tomato/tomato puree

1/4 cup of finely cooked and mashed toor dal (split pea) 

the pulp of 1 clementine orane

2 table spoons of rasam powder

cilantro to garnish

Ghee or butter to sautee with

Mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves to sautee with

Preparation

If you are using diced tomatoes, put in the blender along with the rasam powder and the dal and turn it for a minute to blend them together

Put in a deep pot and allow the blend to come to boil

Add salt

In a small pan, palce the ghee or butter - wait for it to heat and then pop the cumin and mustard seeds and the curry leaves.

Pour into the rasam or soup and swtich off the stove.

Peel the orange and run it in the blender until it is juicy

Pour into Rasam and serve HOT

As with lemon rasam, do not heat after - I have no proof of what might, since the pot was cleaned out :)

Love to please and tease your tastebuds

Sending this to Veggie Hut's winter warmers event!

Zucchini peel & Zucchini pulp Chutneys (Thogayals)

Two different tasting chutneys result from zucchinis - The peel chutney and the pulp chutney - Almost the same recipe goes for both as with all thogayals, but one stands on its own while the peel chutney gets a small dose of coconut - coincidentally, as I mentioned in my kadambam idli recipe, I made these chutneys and they color-coordinated perfectly with the the green and orange idlis (spinach and carrot)
In Words
Common Ingredients

2 zucchinis  peeled and cut
1 table spoon each of kadala parrupu (bengal gram)(channa dal) and Urad dal
3-5 dry red chillies (cayenne)
1 teaspoon of oil

For the peel thogayal
1/4 cup or roughly 2 tablespoons of grated coconut

For the pulp thogayal
1 tsp of turmeric

Preparation of the Peel

In a pan heat oil and add the dals and the chillies and fry. When they are light brown add the peel. Add the coconut and stir and cook for a few minutes until the coconut starts turning golden and the peels soften and flag

Remove from stove, cool and grind with some water.

Preparation of the Pulp
In a pan heat the oil, add the dals and the chillies and fry. Add the cut zucchini and allow to tenderize - Note that I tend to salt my chutneys now. Switch off the stove, cool and grind.

For both
Saute in a spoon of butter, curry leaves, mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida.
Enjoy with idlis or on sandwiches or use with rice.
Serving with love

In Pictures

Sending this as another entry to AKheela's Food palette Green

Idli Kadambam (A medley of Steamed Rice Cakes)

Happy Republic Day 2011 to all my friends and fellow bloggers
Sometimes patriotism can induce creative ideas :P My tribute to India and its flag with its most loved dish - IDLIS

So I decided to make tri-colored Idlis - Regular White Idlis, Regular Idlis with spinach and and some carrot Rava Idlis - I was tempted to make blueberry chutney for the wheel - alas! :( you'll just have to imagine that)

Very coincidentally and inadvertently I made some chutneys/thogayals that matched almost exactly with the green and orange idlis - I will be blogging these soon.

Regular Idlis 

You can also refer to http://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com/2010/12/perfectly-pink-idlis-and-dosais.html for a detailed recipe for making idlis

4 cups Ponni Par boiled (available in Indian stores)

1 cup of Urad Dal

Soaked separately for 4-6 hours

 Ground finely separately and mixed with 3 tsps of salt - Allowed to ferment overnight

Consistency should be fluffy yet flowing

Spinach Idlis

Same procedure except

 You use 1 pack of frozen spinach (or 250 gms of fresh spinach)

Cook or thaw in microwave

Grind in blender using appropriate amount of water to grind Idlis

Use this blended spinach in place of water and allow to ferment overnight

NOTE: this blend takes a little longer than regular idlis - i am guess the iron in the spinach inteferes slightly with the fermenting process

I made idlis and dosais - According to my little on :Oscar idlis and Oscar dosais - (Oscar as in the Sesame Street character -Oscar the Grouch ;)

Fine dosais result too - 

Carrot Rava Idlis

Take 2 fresh carrots. peel them and snap them into smaller sticks. Add 2 cups of yogurt/thick buttermilk and blend very finely

I just added the amount of rava that I needed until I reached the correct consistency

Thadka with curry leaves, 1 spoon of ghee and mustard seeds (chillies optional) and mix in with the batter. Add the salt and set aside for about an hour

Then make them like you do regular idlis

Enjoy Y'all brought to you with love and national pride :)) Huamra Indian Mahaan!

 

I would like to send this to Twist the Traditional Idli event by Satya of http://www.myinnovativekitchen.com/2011/01/twist-traditional-idli-new-event.html

Crumpet Delight

This is a recipe from my daughter who pampered me after I returned, jet-lagging and out of it. She prepared this simple yet SO delicious breakfast for me. I am adding this to my own event of fast food not fat food

                           Plain crumpet

Ingredients
2 Crumpets or if you cannot find them - Uthappams
mayonnaise
spring onions (finely diced)
mushrooms (fiely diced)
marinara sauce (or make your own tomato based sauce)
Any pickle/chutney that you may have (optional)
cheese
Herb De Provence
Basil
Chilli flakes

Preparation
First toast the crumpets
Spread the mayonnaise, sauce and some oinon thokku (in this case)
Lightly sautee the veggies and sprinkle over it
Grate some cheddar/mozzarella cheese and add on top
Add your herbs
Microwave for 30-40 seconds to melt the cheese

Enjoy in less than 10 minutes
This was truly served to me with Love of the truest kind :)))

Bhindi/okra curry

It's a cold and frosty morning as I blog this and snow showers of about 4-8 inches predicted, which pretty much means the kids will be out of school for the rest of the week, because where we live, this much snow is unprecedented and we are ill-equipped to handle it - besides, its all hills and valleys and makes it a lot more difficult to carry on snow-plowing operations. But it is a good day to blog about one of the most favorite and versatile green veggies - OKRA -Lady's fingers, vendakai or bhindi -

These have to be cooked when they are fresh - Did you know that picking okra is an art? yes I remember my mom buying okras from the ladies who cam around selling them, freshly plucked on their baskets balanced so casually on their heads! We could literally smell the freshness and see the green caterpillars that made their way into the basket too ... My mom would bend the tip of the okra and if they snapped off easily, they were tender and fresh - If they bent without breaking, they are over ripe or -Moothal so we would not take those.

We are not so lucky now, but I am thankful that I can get the veggie at all -- The indian stores here are not fond of people testing the tips of the veggie so I gently squeeze on the belly and see if it crackles or remains soft and submissive - you want submission, people!

Anyway, this is not news to Indians, but I thought my "foreign" friends woul be happy for this info. I know most of my friends from the 'south" make gumbo soup with this ... here is another way to consider using this fine veggie!

To serve 6-8 people

Ingredients
3lbs of Okra
2 tablespoons of oil
2 whole red chillies (optional)
3 tsp of curry powder (or sambar powder)
For Sautee
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
curry leaves
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
a pinch of asafoetida

Preparation
Wash and cut the heads and tips of the okra
Cut them into small cylindrical shapes
Heat most of the oil in a big pan, pop the mustard seeds,
Add the turmeric, the red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves
Add the cut okra and stir it into the oil
Close with lid and cook for 3 minutes
Stir again and cook closed for 2 more minutes
Add the curry powder and salt
After adding, add the last bit of oil and keep open and roast briefly, making sure to maintain the greenness of the veggie.

Serve with phulkashttp://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com/2011/01/phulkas-or-whole-wheat-chappatis-indian.html) ( and dal or any which way you fancy it - remember the love you cook finds its way into the bellies of loved ones :))

Ginger Garlic Broccoli

It's easy as ABC... and takes precisely 15 minutes to make this wholesome, healthful and superbly delicious dish/snack/ side --- however you choose to eat it. In this very blog, i will also blog the recipe for Butter Broccoli for your Baby....

Ingredients
1 broccoli head
6 - 8 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of ginger powder (fresh crushed ginger is even better)
1 tsp of olive oil to sautee
3 whole red chillies or if they are super long broken in halves (optional)

Preparation
In a pan, heat the oil, bung in the garlic and broccoli, and ginger
Take 2 tablespoons of water and add some salt to it and throw that into the pan as well
Be sure to be cautious with thee salt - It is easy to go over with this
Close and steam for 2 minutes
Open the lid and allow the water to evaporate
There you have it - A scrumptious dish!
Enjoy with lots of love

 The raw garlic and broccoli washed and ready to go!

 In the pan - adding the salt water

 Steaming for a couple of minutes

In your bowl - to ENJOY :))


Butter Broccoli for your Baby


If you have a baby or a 2yr old like I do, who sometimes gets influenced the right way after watching some TV, this is a great dish - She comes up to me this morning and says, I want to eat some brocklee" in as many words - I kid you not! She is a talker ... This request became a whine and the easiest way to quieten her was to make it

Preparation

Cut broccoli into small florets. And do exactly like you did with the version above without any of the extra ingredients. At the very end, add some butter and stir it into the broccoli - Served with tender and nurturing love~

It's ALL GOOOOOOD


Sending this to: Sara's Corner


And Akheela's

Veggie-Infused Phulkas or Chappatis (Indian tortilla) - An innovative twist to a most popular dish :)

So Chappatis/phulkas with a twist - You have your veggies, goodness of garlic and other herbs and carbs in one go - Isn't that a sweet deal :)

As you can see, I am on a roll here (pun intended :) For those who saw my recent blog on phulkas, Indian flat bread, you will know that I recently mastered the art of phulka making and am mighty proud and psyched by it. Enough to say that I decided I will try to be a bit more creative with it. It really helps to have a fussy 2 yr old - She LOVES chappatis and other dry finger foods, but to make her eat her veggies in their actual form has been a bit of a challenge - She does like some veggies and will have them without a fuss - but I reckoned that if i were to somehow insert the veggies into her "liked" food, she would have it so long as the taste does not change too dramatically. We do this even with her Vitamins - just crush them and add to her cereal and juice. 

I always grind the carrots and tomatoes and use that as the base for her upma, which too she likes, although she often says no - no umpa even as she is opening her mouth for a bite of it :)

For those friends who may not understand the difference between phulkas and chappatis, they are both made of whole wheat flour in exactly the same way, except, phulkas are semi cooked on a pan and then transferred on to open fire for the final puffing up - And too, phulkas usually do NOT have any ghee/butter or oil.

Here is my recipe - Again one of those quickie ones - I made about 20 start to finish in 45 minutes.

In Words

2-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour/atta

The strained juice of 2 carrots and one large tomato

3 cloves of garlic

2 sprigs of rosemary

salt

1/2 tsp of turmeric

1/2 of any curry powder/or spice

Preparation

In less than a tsp of olive oil, lightly sautee the garlic and rosemary and other spices to get rid of any raw tastes. Add to the veggies and blend

Strain out the pulp from the veggies into a bowl

To whatever amount of juice you get, add sufficient amount of flour - I added 2 and a half to the numbers of veggies I've used.

Knead well and make lemon sized balls

Roll out

Keep the Tawa or pan ready

Place one rolled out phulka on it and cook slightly on both sides.

Remove the pan from the fire

Holding the pan with the left hand (or right hand if you are a lefty) transfer the chappati on to the open fire (see pic below) 

Allow it to puff up, then transfer into a contatiner

Serve hot with favorite veggies and dal  - which I will be blogging after this one. Serve with Love :)

In Pictures

 The Veggies

 The spices

 In the blender, chopped

 Strain

 The juice

 Knead

And some more

 Roll into balls

 Roll out

 On the Tawa or pan

 On the flame, small puff

 getting bigger and...

 Viola and Presto! there you have it - a blow by blow pictorial demo :)