Semiya Pulav / Upma

This is something which I wanted to try for a long time. I had tasted Semiya Biriyani once, when my aunt made it and it was awesome. So I thought I'll just follow my chicken biriyani recipe partially for this. Since I didnt do the garnishing part and made less rich, thought of calling it Pulav or upma. We had it for breakfast, but I think this would make a wonderful dinner since its so filling and mild. My kids loved every bit of it.

Ingredients

Semiya - 3 cups
Water - 6-8 cups
Salt -  as needed

For the masala (mine was mild, you can increase chilly, ginger, masala quantity if you want it spicy)

Big onion - 1 big, thinly sliced
Green chilly - 1
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Mint leaves - 5-6 leaves
Coriander leaves - 5-6 strands
Carrot (cut to 2 inch long strands) - 1 cup
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

1. Heat a wide mouthed pan, add enough water. Let it come to boil. When it starts to boil, add enough salt and add the semiya. Add a drop of oil, to avoid semiya sticking to each other. Let it cook well. You can add the green peas as well to the boiling semiya so that both will get cooked together. Once semiya is cooked, strain them, sprinkle some cold water on it (to stop the cooking process and to avoid the strands sticking to each other). Keep it aside.
2. In the same pan, add oil. When its hot enough, add the sliced onions and saute them well.
3. Meanwhile, grind together (in a mixer) ginger, garlic, green chilly, mint leaves and coriander leaves.
4. Once the onions are sauteed well, add the ground paste to this mixture and saute till the raw smell goes.
5. Add in the coriander and turmeric powder, and saute for 5 seconds.
6. Add the carrots and saute till its cooked. Sprinkle some water if the masala is bit dry.
7. Now add the cooked semiya & green peas and mix well. Adjust the salt.
8. Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves, server warm!

Pav - Bajji

Street-food of Mumbai..loved by almost every region in India now. They made a lovely dinner for us yesterday. But sorry about the snaps, they haven't come well at all - and this happens to me everytime. By the time I am almost done with cooking, I have 3 pairs of hungry eyes staring into the oven or into the cooking pot. I find it really hard to click sensible pics in between all this staring, shouting, crying etc etc. Something better than nothing...sharing whatever I managed to click! But they tasted awsome..



Ingredients - Pav (Yield - around 13 buns)

All purpose flour / organic bread flour - 3 1/2 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 1 1/2 cups
Raw sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter - 3 1/2 tsp (1 tsp for every cup of flour)

For brushing the pavs
Milk - 1 tbsp
Butter - 1 tsp



Method

1. Mix active dry yeast with sugar and 1/2 cup of warm water (around 80 F). Stir gently and keep aside for 10 min in a warm place. The yeast will become frothy within that time.
2. Once yeast has become frothy, add the measured quantity of flour, salt and remaining water to this mixture. Knead in food processor (dough hook) at medium speed for around 5 minutes until everything comes together. Adjust water/flour to get a soft/elastic dough.
3. Add the butter, 1 tsp at a time and keep kneading (for approx 5- minutes) until you get a really soft dough.
4. Keep the dough aside, covered with a wet cloth, for atleast an hour till it double in size.
5. Once it has doubled in size, punch it down. Make small balls out of it and shape them to round balls. Place them on a floured tray. Keep the balls just touching each other (so that, once proofed, they will ferment upwards giving a rectangular shape like pav).
6. Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg Celsius. Brush the pavs with milk. Place the tray in oven and bake for about 20 min. Mine got done in 15 min, it really depends on your oven, so keep an eye after 15min. Towards the end, you can move your tray to the topmost rack (for 2 minutes or so) so that the tops of the pav get browned beautifully (I should have done that!)
7. Take out the tray and roll a piece of butter on the top of the pav. The pavs might appear slightly hard at this stage, but it will become super soft once cooled.



Ingredients - Bajji

Roughly chopped vegetables - about 4 cups (You can use any leftover veggies in you fridge. Here is what I used - 2 potatoes, 1 fairly big carrot, 4 beans, 1 small beetroot which gave my bajji a beautiful red colour, few florets of brocoli. You can use greenpeas if available, I didnt have them. You can even use brinjals, cauliflower etc).
Big onion - 1 big
Green chilly - 3
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - handful
Kasuri methi - 2 tbsp, crushed between your hands
Turmeric powder - 2 pinches
Chilly powder - 1 tsp (as per spice level)
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Tomato - 2, chopped
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as per taste
Butter - 1 tbsp



Method

1. Pressure cook the veggies along with 2 slit green chillies and enough water to cover the veggies. Cook till 2 whistles. Keep aside to release the pressure.
2. In a wide-mouthed pan, add oil. Splutter the cumin seeds, add hing. Add finely chopped onions. Saute till they turn transparent. Sprinkle some salt for faster cooking.
3. Add the crushed ginger-garlic (or paste) along the remaining one chilly (chopped). Saute till the raw smell is gone and oil starts to leave.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till oil starts leaving.
5. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and add till oil starts to leave.
6. Smash the cooked veggies with a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon and add this to the onion mixture along with a cup of water.
7. Crush some kasuri methi between your palms and add to the veggie mix. Mix well, allow to boil.
8. Add chopped coriander leaves and cook till it reaches a semi-thick consistency.
9. Add butter and mix well. Switch off the stove.

Serving the pav-bajji

Pav - 2
Bajji - 1 ladle full
Butter - to grease the tawa
Chopped onion - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tsp
Half of 1 lime



Grease a tawa with little butter.
Cut the pav into 2, horizontally. Place them on the tawa. Let them brown well.
Meanwhile, in the serving plate, add a ladle full of bajji. Sprinkle finely chopped onions on top of it.
Sprinkle some coriander leaves on it.
Place a small piece of butter on it and also place half of a lemon on the side.
Now place the hot buns/pavs on the side and serve!!

Oats Khichdi

A healthy, sumptuous, tasty & light dinner, that can be made in a jiffy. This is really a loose recipe, which you can play around with - use as many veggies as you want, or meat - if you like it your oats, use ginger if you'd like, or add grated coconut for an extra taste.

I personally like to have it with curd!



Ingredients

Oats - about 2 cups (I eye-balled the quantity)
Cooked moong dal - 1/2 cup
Chopped vegetables - 1/2 cup (I used carrots, beans, greenpeas)
Big onion - 1 small, chopped finely
Green chilly - 2, slit or chopped, as per your spice level
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1 small clove, crushed
Turmeric powder -  a pinch, optional
Water - about 3 cups (adjust as per yoru consistency requirements)

Method

1. Heat a wide mouthed kadai, and add oil. Add the chopped onions. Saute till they are transparent.
2. Add chillies and crushed garlic. Saute till raw smell is gone.
3. Add turmeric powder, cooked veggies. Saute for couple of minutes and then add the cooked dal and water. Bring it to boil. Adjust salt.
4. Add the oats and cooked till done. Add more water if you'd like so.

Vegetable Pulav

One of my quick-fix lunch menu, when I am really short of time. It comes together in less than 20 min, and you really do not need many side-dishes. A pickle and raita / curd tastes great. The coconut milk adds a delicate yet rich flavour to the rice.



Ingredients

Basmati rice - 2 cups, soaked in water for half hour and then drained
Chopped vegetables - 2 cups (beans, carrots, green peas, cauliflower etc)
Coconut milk - 2 cups (extracted from half coconut, medium consistency)
Water - 2 cups
Salt - as needed
Big onion - 1 small, thinly sliced
Garlic - 2 cloves, crushed
Ginger - 1 inch piece, crushed
Green chilly - 2 slit or Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp



Masala 
Cardamom - 2 nos
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 2 pieces
Bayleaf - 1
Star Anise - 1

Ghee - 1 tbsp



Method

1. Heat a deep bottom pan. Add the ghee.
2. When ghee is hot enough, add the masala items. Let them splutter.
3. Add sliced onions, ginger-garlic and chilly (if using)
4. Let them saute for a while, till the raw smell is gone. If using red chilly powder, add at this stage. Add the coriander powder too and saute till raw smell leaves.
5. Now add the chopped veggies. Saute them for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle from salt at this stage.
6. Add the drained rice and mix together with the veggies. Add coconut milk and water. Adjust the salt. Close with a lid and lower the flame to low (lowest possible).
Cook till the rice is done. Once the rice has absorbed all the liquid, slowly fluff with a fork.

Enjoy with a Raita & Chutney and some pickle.

Spaghetti with Meat Balls in Rich Tomato Sauce

As a family, I feel, we are moving closer to Italian Cuisine. Even my fussy eater never shows her attitude towards any of the Italian dishes, in spite being spicy (yeah...I like these dishes to be slightly hot).

Coming to the dish....I just loved these tender, juicy meatballs soaked in rich tomato juice..simmered on low heat for about an hour...On the other hand, the meat balls imparted all its richness to the tomato juice making it even more richer. 

This time around I got rid off the normal white, plastic-tasting spaghetti (which my son disliked) and caught hold of some organic stuff, which had a superior flavour of its own.

Ingredients

Spaghetti - 1 packet

Italian Meat balls

Minced meat (raw) - 500g
Egg - 1
Garlic - 1 clove
Grated cheese (Romano / Ricotta / Parmesan) - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Fresh chopped parsley - 2 tsp
Chopped basil - 1 leaf

Home-made Tomato Sauce
Tomato - 3 big
Onion - 1 big
Garlic - 2 cloves
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Fresh chopped parsley - 2 tbsp (if using dried, use 2 tsp)
Fresh chopped basil - 1 tbsp (if using dried, use 1/2 tsp)
Salt - as per taste
Chilli flakes - 2 tsp (optional)
Water - approx 1/2 cup
Sugar - 2 tbsp



Method

Meatballs
1. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk and keep for around 10 minutes.
2. Mix all the ingredients, including the soaked breadcrumbs using hand.
3. Make small ball.
At this point, you can refrigerate if not using immediately.

Home-made Tomato Sauce
1. Chop the onion & garlic finely.
2. Crush the tomatoes well in a processor
3. Heat a wide mouthed, thick-bottomed pan, add the olive oil
4. Add the onion, garlic and saute till they become transparent, in low heat.
5. Add the tomato, basil, parsley, salt and sugar, stir well.
6. Simmer on very low heat for about an hour (It is best to simmer it for 2 hrs).
7. After simmering for about 15 - 20 min, drop the meat balls into the gravy and let it slowly cook for atleast 45 min.

Spaghetti

1. Heat plenty of water in a wide mouthed pan.
2. When the water is rolling boil, add salt and few drops of olive oil (to avoid sticking of spaghetti).
3. Now add the spaghetti, and gently stir.
4. Let it cook for about 20 min, till spaghetti is cooked well.
5. Drain and serve along with the meat ball - tomato sauce

Aloo Paratha / Potato stuffed paratha

My favourite comfort food....for breakfast as well as for dinner...so yum they are, with a little curd and pickle!!

Ingredients

For chapathi dough

Whole wheat atta - 3 cups

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Water - 1.5 cups

For Aloo masala

Boiled potatoes - 2 medium, peeled and mashed

Big onion - 1 big, chopped fine

Green chilly - 2, chopped fine

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, chopped fine

Garlic - 1 clove, chopped fine

Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup, chopped fine

Chillu powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Salt - as per taste

Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - for smearing the aloo paratha

Method

Chapathi dough

Mix all the ingredients and form a soft, smooth and pliable dough. Cover it with a wet cloth and let it rest for atleast 20 min.

Aloo Masala

1. Heat a kadai, and add the oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the chopped onions. Sprinkle some salt.

2. When the onions turn slight pinkish, add the ginger, garlic and chillies. Saute for couple of minutes. If adding chilli powder, add at this stage.

3. Now add the mashed potatoes and mix up well.

4. Sprinkle cumin powder, mix well and switch off the stove.

5. Add the chopped coriander leaves, and give a good mix.

Making the Aloo Paratha

1. Take a ball of dough, and flatten it in you palm using other hand.

2. Place a heaped tbsp full of aloo masala on this. Close it with the chapathi dough as shown in pic.

3. Now roll it out, as you would roll a chapathi, careful enough not to break it.

4. Heat a tawa, and when its hot, place the rolled out stuffed chapathi on it.

5. Add some ghee on the sides. When one side is done, turn it over and smear some ghee again so that there is enough ghee on both the sides.

6. Remove from tawa, when both the sides are done.

Enjoy with some curd and pickle.

Carrot Rice with Challas

I am always in look out for quick one-bowl rice recipes, as my husband prefers home-cooked lunch and he has to leave home sharp at 6:45 in the morning for work...thanks to Dubai traffic. So you can imagine my kitchen on a normal day morning.. the breakfast, milk, tea, coffee need to be ready 6:15 am and lunch box to be ready by 6:45. I also have to pack 2 tiffin boxes for the kiddos..and no junk items allowed in the school. So that's a lot of work in the morning, but atleast satisfied that the family is eating healthy stuff.

The carrot rice is one easy recipe, which I accidentally discovered one day when I had to prepare lunch in 15 min and all I had as curry/sidedish was a carrot thoran. So I just cooked some white rice and mixed with the thoran. From then on, carrot rice has been my trusted partner on very busy mornings. You can have it along with Challas or simply curd and pickle. Its simple, yet delicious and healthy. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

Carrot - 1 big, chopped fine (I just popped it into the food processor, and pulsed twice)
Big onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
Green chilly - 2, finely chopped
Garlic - 1 clove, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece, finely chopped
(Again, I used food processor for chopping onion, chilly, garlic and ginger..all will be done in a matter of seconds!!)
Curry leaves, parsely - optional

Basmati rice / Jeerakasala rice - 2 cups, soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained
Hot water / water - 4 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp



Method

1. Heat oil in a deep bottom heavy pan.
2. Crackle the mustard.
3. Add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, chillies. Saute them till the raw smell goes.
4. Add the chopped carrots. Saute for couple of minutes.
5. At this point, if you want to spice up your dish, you can add chilly powder.
6. Add 4 cups of water, and allow it to boil
7. Add salt.
8. Once water boils, add the drained rice, stir gently and cover and cook on the lowest flame. The rice should be cooked in about 10-15 minutes' time depending on the variety of rice you are using and also on the soaking time.
9. Once cooked, and all the water evaporated, remove the lid and fluff up the rice with a fork. Do not close the lid fully as it will over cook.
Your healthy, delicious carrot rice is ready!!

Challas

If you haven't tastes this salad yet, you are definitely missing out on something!! Trust me..you really are missing out!! It is such a tasty and healthy salad which can never go wrong. Try it for yourself and see.

I think this was authentic salad used Syrian Christians long back, before the salad with curd took over. As per our tradition, we do not use curd along with meat or fish dishes. So in earlier days, for weddings and other functions, this challas was served along with meat cutlets.

Ingredients

Big onion - 1 small, sliced

Green chilly - 1, slit

Thick coconut milk - 1 cup

Vinegar - 1 tbsp

Salt - as per taste

Mashed potato - 2 tbsp (optional)

Grated carrot - 1 tbsp (optional)

Method

Take the sliced onion in a bowl and add salt and vinegar. Mix up these three thoroughly with your hand and squeeze the juice out. So that will leave you just with onions, with all unwanted juices removed. Now add the thick (yes, it should be really thick to get the authentic taste..I used 2 cups of loosely pasked grated coconut to get 1 cup of milk) coconut milk and add salt if more is needed.

Add the slit green chilly.

If you want to make the salad little more thick, you can add the mashed potato.

Also if you want to make it a bit more colourful, add some grated carrots.

There you are!! Enjoy your meal...

Chicken Pizza

Pizza is one of the "global" comfort food, enjoyed by almost any nationality. Not blabbering too much about its goodness (we all know it anyway), I am straightaway going into the recipe. 

I am mainly giving here the recipe of the pizza base / dough. Rest of the stuff (pizza sauce & toppings) should be according to your liking and depending on whatever is available in your pantry.

Ingredients - Pizza Dough

Yield - 4 small size pizzas or 2 medium size pizzas

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups (If you are using All purpose flour alone, it should be 3 1/2 cups

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups (yeah, I like whole wheat is almost anything that I prepare. It gives the dish an earthy feeling, and a lot more crunchiness compared to APF alone).

Oregano - 1 tsp

Instant yeast - 2 1/4 tbsp

Warm water - 1 cup

Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Salt - approx 1 tbsp (I didnt really measure :))

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Method

1. Take 1/2 cup of warm water (keep aside the other half cup water) and dissolve the sugar in it.

2. Sprinkle yeast over this water and keep it aside undisturbed till it becomes frothy. It may take around 5 to 8 minutes. If water isn't warm enough, it might take longer. 

3. Place the flours & oregano in the food processor bowl, with dough hook on.

4. Switch on the processor (low speed), and while the flour is getting mixed up, add the salt and olive oil. 

5. Add the yeast - water mixture, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for approximately 5 minutes

6. Take the remaining half cup of water and keep adding 1 tbsp to the dough, while its kneading.

7. Continue the process until you get a smooth, non-sticky dough. Add more water if needed. 

8. Smear some olive oil in the bowl and on the dough. Cover the bowl with a cling film and place the bowl in a warm place for almost an hour for the dough to rise and double its size.

While the dough is rising, you can prepare your pizza sauce and topping. Here is what I used.

Pizza sauce

I was too lazy to prepare the sauce from scratch. So I used a mix of below sauces.

Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp

Nandos Lemon and Herb sauce - 1 tbsp (to make the sauce a bit tangy)

Nandos Peri - Peri (medium hot) sauce - 1 tbsp (to spice it up a bit)

Toppings

Big onions - 2 medium, cut into chunks

Sausages , cut - 1 cup

Carrot - 1 small, sliced

Capsicum - 1 small, cut into chunks

Pork (had to finish off the pork left in freezer) - 1 cup (cooked and slightly roasted with li'l salt and chilly powder)

Basil leaves  - 2

Parsely - 1 tsp

Oregano - 1/2 tsp

I slightly sauteed the all the above (except pork) with very little olive oil to get rid of its rawness.

Pizza (contd)

9. Pre-heat the oven to 220 deg atleast for 30 min.

10. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide them into 4 balls. 

11. Take one ball at a time, flatten them using a rolling pin (you'll need to dust it with some all purpose flour) or with hand. Try to make the center part thin and slightly thick towards the edges.

12. My oven could handle only 2 small size pizzas at a time. Since I don't have a pizza stone, I arranged the flattened bases on an aluminium foil. Cover and keep it in a warm place for approx 30 minutes.

13. After 30 minutes, they would have risen slightly. Place 1 tbsp of pizza sauce on top and arrange the toppings. Top it up with 2 tbsp of grated mozzarella cheese.

14. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese has melted and browned slightly. 

15. Take it out, slice them up and enjoy a sumptuous meal.

Tomato & Basil Pasta

Pasta is fast becoming a hot favorite on the dinner table...not only with the food-lover; even the fussy eater licks her plate clean if pasta is served. And she prefers it for breakfast too. So my life has become slightly better as this particular pasta preparation is a very quick and easy one.

Ingredients

Penne pasta -1 packet (300 gm)

Tomato - 2 big, chopped finely

Crushed garlic - 1 tsp

Chilly flakes - 1 tsp (as per tolerance)

Big onion - 1 big, chopped finely

Parsely - 1 tsp, chopped

Basil - 2-3 leaves , if using fresh or 1/2 tsp dried

Thyme - 1 small strand

Parmesan cheese, grated - as per taste

Salt - as per taste

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Cooking cream - 2 tbsp

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Method

In a pan, add the olive oil. When hot, add the crushed garlic and saute for a while. Then add chopped onions and saute till they are translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and herbs. Saute till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add the chilly flakes and needed salt. Sprinkle the pepper powder too. Saute for a while. Now add 1/4 cup water and cook for about 5 min, closing the lid. When whole thing is cooked well and mushy enough, open the lid and add the cooking cream. Stir well and switch off the stove. 

15 min before the dinner time, cook pasta in enough water. Add salt as directed in the pack. When the pasta is cooked well, drain water and add pasta to the tomato mixture (turn on the stove). Mix well. Add Parmesan cheese, thoroughly mix and serve hot.