Archive for October, 2007

Autumn in Edinburgh (2007)

October 22, 2007 at 12:35 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Me, Sandhya and her little boy Hari had been to Edinburgh Botanical Gardens yesterday. The colours of the leaves were so enchanting and beautiful, I found myself in dreamland. I had just one song in my mind going on and on…and that was…..”Pachai Nirame” from the Tamil movie.

You can view this song on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnsGq5v88fY

Here are some of the photos that we took while we were at the Botanical Gardens.

a small waterfall among plants

a squirrel searching for food

resting moments

All of us including little Hari enjoyed the trip….

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Happy Dassera

October 22, 2007 at 8:31 am · Filed under Uncategorized


Here is me and Rajesh wishing all of you a very Happy Dassera…. :)

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Crunchy Veggie Salad

October 12, 2007 at 1:49 pm · Filed under Cucumber, Lettuce, Tomato, salads

When we were kids, me and suchi meow hated veggies….salads….We would only go after veggies only if they had masala in it…..but things have changed drastically with our eating habits now (however one thing has remained same…me an evergreen vegetarian…and suchi meow an everready fish and meat eater).

Coming back to salads, When I was reading through Sailaja’s blog, the salads appealed to me. I was thinking of making some salads for the summer. In Edinburgh, this year the summer was playing hide and seek with us….there was hardly any sun…rains rains and more rains. However that made me think why should we let our tummy go off salads.

Lettuce (one of the great components of salads) makes my brain go…..”Lets get you cute leaves”. I have used Romaine, iceberg, round and curly ones. However while making salads, we mostly use iceberg and curly ones. Iceberg is more crunchier and curly a bit leafy.

Crunchy Veggie Salad

When I make salads, I use dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, basil, mint. This is to let a different flavour each time we have salads. Dried herbs go great on salads.

With this salad I used oregano and mint, two opposite tasting herbs. Oregano is a bit like ajwain a bit punjent on tongue whereas mint tastes sweet and refreshing.

For 2 people

Ingredients:

  • a piece of Iceberg lettuce chopped in thin strands
  • 1 whole cucumber deseeded and diced
  • 1 carrot peeled and diced
  • 1 tomato deseeded and diced.

My dried herbs collection from Sainsbury’s

For dressing:

  • two tablespoons of Yogurt
  • dried herbs like oregano , mint
  • black pepper powder
  • salt


Method:

  1. In a bowl add all the cut salad vegetables.
  2. In a separate small bowl add two spoons of yogurt, salt, pepper, a pinch of oregano and mint.
  3. Mix well and pour this dressing on top of the bowl with salad vegetables.
  4. Mix, chill and serve.

Goes great with parathas and sabji…..

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Bombay Pav Bhaaji

October 12, 2007 at 8:58 am · Filed under Mumbai Street Food, capsicum, cauliflower, potato ·Tagged

My favourite street food from Mumbai…..is Pav Bhaji….Whenever we went out, my ideal choice would evidently be Pav Bhaji. I would promise my best friend Saroj…naa this time I am ordering something else….but after reading through the menu….my choice would be Pav Bhaji….hehee

May be the colour and the aroma makes me go….”I need to have that”. Well I do miss all the street foods from Mumbai….especially Pav Bhaji.

Every month we try to make Pav Bhaji at home. What I have heard from some friends in Mumbai that the street vendors add red food colour to it. I am not sure about that. But when you make Pav Bhaji at home how do you get the red colour without adding artificial colour to it. When Saroj makes Pav Bhaji she adds beetroot to it. This gives a beautiful red colour to the dish. When I make Pav Bhaji I try to add all the reds : Tomatoes, red Pepper, Paav Bhaaji masala.

This time I added beetroot. :)…Thanks Saroj….


Pav Bhaaji

For 4 people:

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cauliflower cut into florets, some green long beans, 2 carrots peeled and diced, a bowl of green peas. (You can also use the frozen packet. Many superstores sell the frozen vegetables) Boil these.
  • 1 beetroot peeled and diced
  • 2 red peppers (capsicum) diced (You can also use other coloured peppers)
  • 2 Potatoes skin peeled
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 2 onions chopped finely
  • 3 garlic cloves and a piece of ginger, and 2 green chillies. Crush them together.
  • Pav Bhaaji masala ( I use the brand called MDH).

For serving:

  • 8 pieces of Paav (buns)
  • a lemon piece cut into quarters.
  • 1 onion chopped finely.
  • fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Method:

For Bhaaji:

  1. Boil the cauliflower florets, beans carrots and green peas till they become tender.
  2. In a separate pan boil the potatoes, red peppers, and beetroot pieces.
  3. When they are done, keep the boiled vegetables aside. (don’t drain the water).
  4. In a pan, add some oil. When the oil is heated add the chopped onion. When the onion turns pink add the ginger and garlic pieces and chilli pieces. Add the tomato pieces.
  5. Saute for a while. Now add the Pav Bhaji Masala. Saute for a minute till the masala coats the onions and tomatoes.
  6. Now add the boiled vegetables and mash them to attain the required consistency. Add salt.
  7. You can add the drained water if you don’t like the dry bhaji.

For Paav:

Heat a tava (or a nonstick pan). Cut the Pav horizontally. Add some butter in the tava. Roast both sides as you would do with the chapatis.

While serving:

When serving the bhaji, you can enjoy it with chopped onion and chopped coriander. A dash of lemon would bring out the flavour of the street food….:)….Hope you like it.

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Aloo Mirch Masala - Potato, Peppers in gravy

October 4, 2007 at 3:08 pm · Filed under capsicum, peppers, potato ·Tagged

If you are craving for peppers, this is one of the simplest sabjis. A mixture of diced potatoes and peppers in tomato gravy.

Aloo Mirch Masala - Potato, Peppers in gravy

Portion for 2 people …

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced.
  • 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper diced.
  • 1 onion chopped finely
  • 2 tomatoes cut and blended in blender to form a paste
  • ginger-garlic paste
  • garam masala powder, chilly powder ( I also used MDH Kitchen King Masala)
  • salt, cumin seeds, and fresh coriander leaves chopped finely.

Method:

  1. Add some oil to the saucepan. When the oil is heated add some cumin seeds. When they crackle add the chopped onion.
  2. Saute for a minute. Mix it with ginger-garlic paste. Add the tomato paste.
  3. Add the garam masala, chilly powder. Cook for a minute.
  4. When the mixture loses oil add the green and red pepper pieces.
  5. Saute and add the potato pieces. Add some salt. Cook for 5-10 minutes till the pieces are cooked.
  6. Once cooked garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with chapatis, phulkas, rice….Hope you like this one….

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Aloo Saag - Potatoes in Spinach Gravy

October 3, 2007 at 6:03 pm · Filed under Spinach, potato ·Tagged

This is one of Rajesh’s(my husband’s) favourite dishes. Boil the baby potatoes and saute them in the spinach gravy. Hmm…not much of hard work…but there is some hidden hard work here…hehe…

Aloo Saag - Potatoes in Spinach Gravy

Ingredients:

  • A packet of boiled baby potatoes (or potatoes cut and boiled) and peeled.
  • A bunch of spinach(Palak) leaves, boiled.
  • A small onion chopped
  • 1 tomato chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves and a ginger piece chopped finely
  • 1 green chilli chopped finely
  • Garam masala, turmeric powder, ajwain seeds

Method:

  1. Boil the potatoes and peel the skin off.
  2. In a pan shallow fry these potatoes for a while till they turn golden. Keep aside.
  3. With spinach leaves, boil some water in a pan and add the spinach leaves to it. After a minute or drain the water. Blend the spinach, garlic, ginger and form a coarse paste.
  4. In a nonstick pan, add some oil and when the oil is heated add some ajwain.
  5. When they sputter, add the chopped onion. Saute them and now add the tomatoes. Again saute this for a while.
  6. Add the garam masala powder, turmeric powder.
  7. Add the fried potatoes. Cook for a while till the potatoes are coated with the masala.
  8. Now add the coarse spinach paste and cook for 5-10 minutes till the dish is cooked.

You can garnish it with some cream. Hope you enjoy it… :)

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Baingan Bharta - Roasted Aubergine in Spicy Gravy

October 2, 2007 at 3:42 pm · Filed under Aubergine, Baingan ·Tagged

Hi again, was busy with my work at workplace….so finally got to post one of my favourite dishes today…We made this two weeks ago….might be making it again this week.
Baingan Ka Bharta (Roasted Aubergine in spicy gravy)

The most vital part whilst making this side dish is to roast the aubergines accurately. But if you like burnt ones better no hassles. I roast it on the stove and once cooled, we need to peel the skin off and mash it with a masher (the ones used to mash Pav Bhaji). Some people use the grill…I need to try that once.

For 2 persons:

Ingredients:

  • 1 large Aubergine (brinjal) roasted and peeled and mashed.
  • 2 medium-sized onions chopped
  • 2-3 tomatoes (deseeded and diced)
  • 2-3 green chillies depending upon the hotness
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed, cumin seeds, curry leaves, garam masala, turmeric powder.
  • Fresh chopped coriander leaves .

Method:

  1. In a nonstick pan, pour some oil and when the oil is heated add the cumin seeds. When they sputter, add the curry leaves.
  2. Add the chopped onion. When they turn pink add the crushed garlic pieces. When they appear fried add the tomatoes, chopped green chillies, and saute them.
  3. Once sauted add the turmeric powder and garam masala powder. Cook for 5 minutes .
  4. Now add the roasted and mashed aubergine.
  5. Cook for 5- 10 minutes.
  6. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Mouth watering with chapatis, phulkas, or puris….hmmm…hope you like it. All suggestions and comments welcomed.

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