Bitter gourd fry

Ingredients: 

1. Bitter gourd – ½ kg

2. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp.

3. Chilli powder – 1 tsp.

4. Gram flour (Besan) – 1 tbsp.

5. Sugar – 1 tsp.

6. Coconut oil – 1 tsp.

7. Curry leaves 

8. Monosodium glutamate (ajinomoto) – 1 pinch (only if you prefer)

9. Salt to taste

10. Oil to deep fry (whichever you prefer)

Method:
Deseed the bitter gourds and cut them into 1 inch pieces. Wash and dry the pieces thoroughly. Mix all the ingredients from 1-9 well and marinate for some time.
Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry.

Note:
You can add/decrease the chilli powder, sugar and salt to suit your taste and the variety of bitter gourds available to you.   

Baked pasta

This is another of my brother's creations. Needless to say, I do not know the exact recipe.

He boiled the pasta and strained it. He also made a sauce out of vegetables (onions, tomatoes, capsicums, carrots, spring onions etc. etc.), eggs and pieces of chicken sausage. He layered the pasta and the sauce in a vessel, covered the mixture with cheese and baked it.

When it came out of the oven, it looked like this:

When it was served, it looked like this:

And, of course, it was delicious!

A long hiatus and wonderful pizza!

It has been long since we have posted here - certainly not because we did not cook anything but because me (the daughter) was caught up in a lot of other things and was so lazy that I did not record anything. :D
Today, my brother baked pizza - base and toppings - the whole lot. So I thought what better way to restart and try to maintain this blog.
Our sincere gratitude to all our visitors and followers. Hope to post more frequently.

Vegetable-mushroom-chicken pizza courtesy my brother:

The topping - onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken pieces, green chillies, capsicum, two types of cheese, spring onions, coriander and mint leaves...yum!

Indescribably delicious end result!

Simple vegetable rice

INGREDIENTS:
Basmati rice – 3 cups
Water – 5 cups
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Onions – 1 large, chopped
Green chillies – 6, chopped
Carrots – 1 cup, chopped
Green peas – 1 cup
Capsicum – ½ cup, chopped
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves – a little, chopped
Mint leaves - a little, chopped

METHOD:
Wash the rice and keep aside.
Heat oil and ghee in a pan. Add onions and green chillies and sauté them. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and garam masala powder. Mix well.
Add all the vegetables and sauté for some time. Add the rice and sauté well for 5 minutes. Add water and coconut milk, followed by salt and sugar. Close the pan with a lid and cook until there is no water content.
Remove from the stove and garnish with coriander and mint leaves.

Postscript:
Ensure that you change the amount of water according to the rice (quality/type) you have.

Vegetable curd rice

INGREDIENTS:
Rice – 4 large cups, cooked
Curd – 4 cups
Vegetables (cabbage, carrot, onions, tomatoes) – 1 small cup each, finely chopped/sliced
Green chillies – 5/6, finely chopped
Ginger – 1 inch piece, diced
Salt to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp

Seasoning:
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Red chillies – 4/5
Mustard seeds – 2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Toor dal – 1 tsp
Cashew nuts – 10, split
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves

METHOD:
Mix the rice, curd, salt and sugar well. Keep aside.
Heat ghee in a pan. Add cashew nuts and sauté until light brown. Remove them and keep aside.
Add oil to the remaining ghee. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add urad dal, toor dal, red chillies and curry leaves. Add green chillies and ginger and sauté for some time, followed by the vegetables and 1/2 tsp salt. Sauté well.
Add the rice mixture to it and mix well. Add cashew nuts and take off the stove.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Avial

Ingredients:
Vegetables – cut into inch-long pieces
Coconut – grated
Shallots
Garlic – one clove (optional)
Green chillies
Curd
Cumin seeds
Chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Salt
Sugar (optional)
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves

Method:

Boil the vegetables with chilli powder and turmeric powder. When they are half done, add the salt.

Grind the grated coconut, shallots, green chillies, garlic, cumin seeds and curd into a coarse paste.

Add the paste to the vegetables and bring it to a boil. Take off the stove.
Add oil and curry leaves.

Postscript:
1. We used carrot, long beans, frenc beans, melons, ash gourd, yam and raw plantain. You can also use drumsticks, beetroot and bitter gourd. Boil the yams separately as they are tougher to cook than the other vegetables.
2. Usually curd is not added along with the ingredients that need to be ground. The procedure is usually: boil vegetables with chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt – add ground paste – add curd – bring it to a boil – take it off stove - add oil and curry leaves.
3. Most people don’t use garlic in avial.

Momos (Dumplings)

Ingredients:
For filling
Vegetables (My brother used cabbages, carrots, onions, ginger, green chillies)
Chicken (optional)
Cheese
Paneer
For dough
Butter
Salt
Maida
For chutney/sauce
Chilli powder
Red chilli flakes
Vinegar

Method:
Cut all vegetables, cheese and paneer into tiny pieces. Braise the chicken without oil and shred it.
Mix all these together using your hands (If you don't like raw vegetables, you can saute them).
Make dough using maida, salt and butter. Ensure that it is a bit looser than the dough for pooris.
Take small rounds of dough and roll them into flat, circular pieces. Place a little of the filling mixture and close it using the dough piece. This can be done either as a round pocket or as a half moon shape or crescent. We did a round pocket version.

Cook the momos in a steamer (we inaugurated the steamer given to us by my friend).

Serve with red chilli chutney/sauce (made by mixing vinegar, red chilli powder and chilli flakes).

You can also deep fry the momos.

Noodle Soup

This is an easy recipe (easy for us because most of its contents came from packets!)

Ingredients:

Onions, Bell peppers, Baby corn, Cabbage, Carrot (or whichever vegetables you prefer) - all cut into small pieces

Green chillies

Eggs

Instant soup powder

Instant noodles

Salt (optional)

Pepper powder (optional)

Method:

Scramble the eggs.

Saute the vegetables in a little oil, with salt and pepper.

Make the instant soup according to the instructions on the packet.

When it is almost done, add the noodles and cook until they are done. Add the sauted vegetables and the eggs.

Garnish with the green chillies.

Postscript: I know this is sheer laziness but who cares when the endproduct gives you such comfort :D!