Miscellaneous not to be missed !

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.
pasta saffron bake.JPG

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.

channadhal paratha-2.jpg

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.
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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.
jiffy rasam pdr-1.jpg
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.

jiffy rasam.jpg

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
jiffy porichaK Podi-1.jpg

Cool all the roasted ingredients & powder. Sieve in rava sieve.
Jiffy PK-pdr.jpg

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.
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Cook directly in a pressure pan for one whistle & cool.
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Open, mix well & temper mustard seeds & urad dhal, curry leaves in 1 tsp oil.
jiffy PK cabbage-2.jpg
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 - 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.
fettuccini tom sauce.jpg

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Besan - 1 tbsp

Methi leaves - 1 cup

Curds - 2 tbsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt, hald, hing
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Clean & saute methi leaves in 1 tsp oil till they shrink.
methi paratha-1.jpg
Knead to a soft dough adding water.
methi paratha-3.jpg
Roll & shallow fry parathas as usual using oil.
methiparatha-4.jpg

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.
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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.
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Grind with salt & fried methi leaves.
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This is good with rotis, bread, tiffins & white rice-ghee.
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Wheat flour - 1 cup

Salt

Lightly roast dry & grind coarsely:

Saunf & jeera - ½ tsp, each

Ajwain (omum) & Hing - m1/4 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.
kashmiri roti.jpg

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!
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A dip for fruits:
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Poured over mango pulp, sprinkled with nuts:
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Served over vanilla icecream
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Served on 3 minute MW vanilla cake
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