Pasta-Beans-Saffron Bake - Flavour and taste combine here ! Boiled pasta - 2 cups ( I used penne) French beans cut into 1” pieces - 1 cup ( boil lightly with salt & drain) Cheese - 50 gms, grated For the saffron sauce: Milk - 250 ml Maida - 1 heaped tbsp Butter - 2 tbsp Saffron - ¼ tsp (warm & powder) Coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tbsp. Salt, pepper For the sauce, heat 1 tbsp butter & sauté the flour. Add milk, gradually, stirring till it simmers to a boil. Add salt, pepper, saffron & coriander leaves. In a casserole add pasta + beans, lightly fried in 1 tbsp butter. Pour the sauce over & sprinkle cheese over this. Bake for 10 mts till the cheese melts.
Channa Dhal Paratha - yet another meal-in-one dish! Maida is added to facilitate the rolling to a thin roti. For the dough: Wheat flour & maida - Each 1 cup Melted butter or ghee - 1 tsp Milk - 2 tbsp Salt For the filling: Gram dhal - ¾ cup Minced onion - 1 tbsp (optional) Minced green chillies, ginger +coriander leaves - 1 tbsp Salt Oil + ghee - to make parathas Knead the dough soft & rest for 15 mts. Make 8 balls. Filling: Soak dhal with twice the volume of water for one hour. Cook till tender & add all other ingredients. How to proceed: Roll each dough ball into a thin round, using maida. Place 2 tbsp stuffing in centre of the round and fold like an envelope from all corners. Place on a hot tava with the open edges at the bottom. Cook for a few mts using ghee + oil. Flip and cook again till crisp. Serve hot with fresh curds.
Instant Sambar - Dhal incorporated, please! This looks like an answer to a “harried” housewife who wants to make sambar in 10 mts flat, when there is no cooked dhal ready. This powder can be stocked and sambar made: With tamarind + tomatoes With tamarind alone With tomatoes alone With or without onions. The proportion is 1 tbsp powder for every cup (200ml) of water – can be a mixture of tamarind paste + water. Salt need not be added separately, except when boiling the vegetables to be added. Boil vegetables separately with very little salt, add powder & tamarind water, stir till it boils, simmer for 5 mts & the sambar is ready. Add coriander leaves, temper in oil – mustard seeds, red chillies (optional) & curry leaves OR mustard seeds and 3 in 1 powder. Fry lightly on a dry kadai, each of the following separately: Tur dhal - 1 ½ cups Dhaniya - ¾ cup Gram dhal, raw rice, salt - each ¼ cup Pepper, methi & mustard seeds - each 1 tsp In ½ tsp oil, fry on a low fire: Red chilli powder - ¼ cup Haldi & hing - 1 tsp each Mix all fried ingredients & powder finr in the mixi. Sieve with a rava sieve. Sore airtight & use.
Instant Rasam Powder - If sambar is posted, can rasam be far behind??? This also incorporates dhal. All that have to be added are tamarind & tomatoes. The advantage is, you can make as less as 1 cup of rasam. For powder: Tur dhal - ¼ cup, level Dhaniya - ¼ cup, heaped Red chilli powder - ¼ cup, level Pepper - 2 tsp Jeera - 2 tsp Salt - ¼ cup Hing powder - 2 ts Haldi - 1 tsp In a kadai, take ¼ tsp of oil & lightly fry red chilli powder. Remove & add all other ingredients, except hing and haldi. Fry lightly till thoroughly hot & finally add hing & haldi. Switch off & cool. Grind in the mixi & sieve in rava salladai. For rasam: For 2 cups of rasam, 1 tbsp powder is necessary. Liquidise 1 tsp tamarind paste (more to taste) + 1 medium tomato. Add water to make up to 2 cups & add 1 tbsp rasam powder. Keep this in a vessel inside a pressurepan or cooker. Cook for just one whistle. Cool, open & temper. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Instant Poricha Kootu/Kuzambu - an amazing one whistle recipe!! A late elderly friend of mine, an authentic Thirunelveli DIL, shared this recipe with me 30 yrs back! Vegetables boiled with this powder +water gives tasty poricha kuzambu or kootu. For kootu add less waterand kuzambu more. Optionally, 1 tbsp of coconut ground with ¼ tsp of jeera can be added at the end. Roast to golden colour one by one: Tur dhal - 1 cup Moong dhal - ½ cup Urad dhal - ¼ cup Roast in ¼ tsp oil & remove: Red chilli powder - ¼ cup Raoast lightly: Pepper - 2 tsp Cool all the roasted ingredients & powder. Sieve in rava sieve. For 2 cups of chopped vegetables, add 2 cups of water + 4 tsp powder + salt . The consistency is your choice. You can increase or decrease powder & water, to taste. Cook directly in a pressure pan for one whistle & cool. Open, mix well & temper mustard seeds & urad dhal, curry leaves in 1 tsp oil. The vegetables like greens, white pumpkin etc will require less water. You can try With: Chow chow White pumpkin Brinjal Snake gourd ( I tried) Avarakkai Cabbage-peas (tried) Broccoli-peas (tried) Greens Drumstick idge gourd. You can combine 2,3 vegetables also.
Fettucini – Tomato Sauce - delicious with vegetables. Fettucini - 1 cup Onion chopped - 4 tsp Garlic chopped - 1 tsp Broccoli flowerets - 4, 5 Babycorn - 6, 7 , sliced long & thin Tomato puree – from 1 big tomato Milk - 2 tbsp Cream - 2 tbsp Oregano - 1 tsp One tsp each of oil & butter Cook fetuccini for 5 mtes till tender & drain. Pour over cold water, drain & spread applying a little oil. Heat oil & butter & add onion & garlic. Saute for few mts, add broccoli & babycorn. Add 2 tbsp water & cover to cook them on a low fire. Add tomato puree, cream & milk . Simmer to boil. Add fetuccini, oregano, salt & mix well till they all blend.
Methi Paratha - different from Methi Thepla. Wheat flour - 1 cup Besan - 1 tbsp Methi leaves - 1 cup Curds - 2 tbsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Salt, hald, hing Clean & saute methi leaves in 1 tsp oil till they shrink. Knead to a soft dough adding water. Roll & shallow fry parathas as usual using oil.
Methi-Tomato Chutney - Super taste!! Do try!! Buy fresh methi leaves, pick, clean & wash. Spread on a cloth till dry. Methi leaves - 2 cups Tomatoes - 2, medium, chopped Coconut - 2 tbsp Ginger - 1-2” Salt Oil - 3 tsp Red chillies - 3-4 Gram dhal - 1 tbsp Hing - ½ tsp. Fry methi leaves first in tsp oil, till they shrink completely & remove. Add the remaining oil & add red chillies, gram dhal & hing. When roasted, add tomatoes & fry well. Next add ginger & coconut. Fry lightly, remove & cool. Grind with salt & fried methi leaves. This is good with rotis, bread, tiffins & white rice-ghee.
Kashmiri Roti - aromatic & delicious!! Wheat flour - 1 cup Salt Lightly roast dry & grind coarsely: Saunf & jeera - ½ tsp, each Ajwain (omum) & Hing - 1/4 tsp each Pepper - 8-10 Milk - to knead the dough (not water, please note) Knead all ingredients to a firm dough. Make 8 balls, roll into rotis & shallow fry on a tava till both sides are golden brown. Serve wth curds & pickles.
Caramel Sauce - a perfect accompaniment to fruits & desserts. This is such a favourite with me that I call it a “designer chocolate”. Sugar - 1 ¼ cup Water - 1/3 cup Heavy cream - ¾ cup Butter - 3 tbsp I substituted for heavy cream thus – add to ¾ cup milk at room temperature, 1/3 cup of butter, melted & cooled to at room temperature. This makes 1 cup. In a pan, add water to sugar, careful not to get any sugar coming up the sides. Gently smudge with finger. Without stirring, boil 5-10 mts. Wait for caramel colour. It takes 10 mts. Remove. Carefully add butter & stir. Carefully add cream & stir. Return to heat . Stir until thick & creamy, just about 5 mts. Cool. Incredibly delicious caramel sauce is ready! Serve as a topping for ice-cream. Drizzle over over brownies, cakes, cheesecakes, cobblers, pastries, pies and tarts. It tastes good with any pudding & popcorn! A dip for fruits: Poured over mango pulp, sprinkled with nuts: Served over vanilla icecream Served on 3 minute MW vanilla cake