Sopapillas - Simple recipe at its best

     Puffs flavored with cinnamon sugar and glazed with honey on top ...!!!

A very quick and jiffy tea time snack, perfect to munch with coffee or tea.

Had many puff pastry sheets at home and was wondering what I can prepare apart from the puffs.
found this instant recipe and  was ready to go...!!!

All we need is :
Puff pastry sheets - 5
Cinnamon sugar - 3-4 Tbsp
Honey - to garnish (optional)

Tip:  If u dont have cinnamon sugar u can always prepare one by your own. for 3/4 cup of fine sugar , add 2 Tbsp of ready made cinnamon powder...

Method:
1. Cut the puff pastry sheets into half. And just fold the  sheets in whatever desired shapes u need. Envelopes or rectangular...
2. Preheat the oven for 350 F
3. Place the sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Add extra 5 minutes if not done completely.
4. Place it aside until it gets warm. Now in a bowl keep all the puffs and sprinkle cinnamon sugar generously on top or with the help of a tea filter.

Garnish with honey for that extra flavor..yummm

The Vah Chefs Bagara Baingan

Brinjals cooked in the peanut and sesame gravy

Sorry Ladies..was on a long vacation..My DH celebrated my birthday in LA n Sandiego...A very memorable day as it being my first birthday after my marriage....:)

So here comess yet another gr8 dish on ur platter...

Bagara Baingan...A delicious Hyderabadi dish, served mostly in all the occasions...gr8 combination with biriyani or bagara rice...I love the way my aunt cooks this dish...the gravy in this can be used to make capscicum masala , mushroom masala and yes  mixed veg masala...too

I call this as vah chefs Bagara brinjal as i have taken a few tips from the Vah chef show of frying the brinjals...and followed with my own recipe...
The combo with rice goes good when served as bagara baingan or as capsicum masala....

Ingredients:
Baby brinjals/Regular small brinjals - 7-8
Peanuts - 1 cup
Sesame seeds - 4-5 Tbsp
Corriander seeds - 1 Tbsp
Bay leaf - 2-3
Cloves - 4
Cinammon - 1 whole
Cardamom - 3
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Tbsp
Dry coconut Powder - 2 tsp / 1" piece of dry coconut piece (optional)
Onions - 2
green chillies - 2
Cumin and Coriander powder - 3 Tsp each
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp ( I love spicy..so i add even more :))
Small Lemon sized tamarind - 1
Oil for frying and for cooking
Salt

Method:

1. Wash the brinjals and clean them with a clean napkin. Set aside a pan for shallow frying the brinjals. Once they are 80 % cooked. take them out from the pan and place it on a paper napkin.

2. Meanwhile in a pan roast the peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut and coriander seeds to a smooth paste. If possible add little oil to get a smoother paste. Soak tamarind in 1 cup of warm water and extract the pulp when it becomes soft.

3. In another pan, take 3 tbsp of oil and add cumin seeds, cloves, bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon. When they splutter, add finely chopped onions and slit green chillies. Once the onions become transparent, add ginger-garlic paste. fry for a minute.

4. Now add the above peanut paste to the masala. Add a cup of tamarind water and mix gently. Let it cook for about 10 minutes.

5. You will notice that the gravy starts getting thick. Add cumin, coriander and chilli powders. Mix well by adding sufficient salt.
Tip : If the gravy becomes too thick - add water little by little.


6. Now add the cooked brinjals in the gravy...and cook for about 5 minutes. Cook till u get a good consistency ...Garnish with coriander and serve hot with Biriyani or jeera rice.

Mushroom Pulao

 Mushrooms flavored with Indian garam masalas, herbs and cooked with rice.

I name this dish as Ramani's Mushroom Pulao....As my friend Ramani taught me this dish a few days ago.
I came to know about this dish only when I visited her place for some getogether. ....I had no words to describe...when I had the first spoon of mushroom pulao, it was so very De-li-ci-ou-s....even when my stomach was shouting I m full, my tongue was craving  more...:)

 When I asked her for the recipe,,she herself came to my house and showed me this recipe when I had a potluck at my place.  very sweet of her..:)
So here is the recipe from my friend that I am sharing with u all :)

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice -2 cups
Mushroom sliced  -  1 1/2 cups
Mint/Pudina - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - Handful
Green chillies - 3-4
Onion - 1
Cloves - 6
Cinamon stick - 1 whole
Cardamom - 4
Bay leaves - 4
Curry leaves - 4
Shahjeera/kala jeera - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 Tbsp
Water - 3 cups
oil - 5 tbsp
 Salt - 3 tsp

Method:
1. Wash rice and soak it for 15 min. Meanwhile, make a paste of mint and corainder and keep aside.

2. In a pan or cooker, heat oil, add shahjeera, cloves, cardamom, cinnamom stick, bay leaf and slit green chillies. When they splutter, add sliced onions and saute for a minute or two.

3. Add ginger-garlic paste, mix well for a minute.  Now add the mint-coriander paste and mix well.

4. Add in the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes. The mushrooms absorb the flavor and blen well with the rice.

5. Drain the water from rice and add rice  into the pan/cooker. Saute by adding salt and then add 3 cups of water. close the lid and cook for 10 minutes.

6. keep checking once in 5 minutes...when the rice is almost done(80%). put it on sim(very low flame) and close the lid and keep aside for 10 more minutes. (this stage is called dum)

7. Finally garnish it with coriander and serve hot with raitha or gravy :)

Mushrooms

Cauliflower curry with colorful toppings

 Cauliflower florets blended with mix veg toppings and Indian spices

A very tasty and interesting curry that goes well with any kind of Indian bread is Cauliflower or Potato curry.
I prefer taking lot of rich fiber food when it comes to the health factor. So I generally opt for either broccoli or cauliflower.

We find toppings on pizzas...ice creams.. and salads...
I thought why not use such  toppings for our regular curry....I had this frozen mixed vege packet at home..that had corn,peas,carrots and beans...so I used this as a topping for my cauliflower curry.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1
Mixed veg  - 1 cup
Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup
cumin powder - 1 Tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Green chillies - 1 -2
Garlic - 3 flaks
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds- 1 tsp
oil - 2 Tbsp
Salt

Method:
1. Separate the cauliflower florets into small pieces and wash them gently and drain it.

2. In a pan , heat some oil and add mustard and cumin seeds. When they crackle add curry leaves, chillies,onions and finely minced garlic. Mix it and add the florets.

3. Add some salt and cover with a lid keeping the pan on medium flame and cook for 5 minutes.

4. now the cauliflower florets would be slightly tender. Now to this add , cumin powder, coriander powder and chilli powder. mix gently and add 1 cup of mixed veg (corn,peas, carrot).

5. cook it for 10 minutes. Give a final mix and garnish it with coriander or parsley.
Serve hot with any Bread, roti or hot rice

Multicolor Dal - Green-yellow-orange

 Lentils cooked with Spinach , mango and garlic

I call this Dal as Triplet ..:D since I used three lentils, namely Split green gram(Moong dal)  , Split red lentil (Masoor dal) and Split yellow lentil (Moong dal yellow)

Though a very simple dal, variations with lentils and the way we cook always differs the taste.
And dal being a very common dish in many households, here is a different variety where one can try it :)

Ingredients:
Spinach/palak - 1 bunch
Raw Mango pieces - 1 cup (optional)
Split green gram - 1/3 cup
Massor dal - 1/3 cup
Moong dal -1/3 cup
Green chillies - 4-5
Garlic - 4
Ginger - 1"
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Tempering:
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - tsp
Cumin  - 1 tsp
Dried red chillies - 3
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, add 1 tbsp of oil. When the oils gets heated up, add crushedgarlic, Slit green chillies saute for a few seconds. Add spinach and raw mango pieces. Mix well for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the lentils and fry for a minute. Add sufficient amount of water with a pinch of turmeric. Cook  till 3 whistles.

3. Cool the cooker and open the lid. Mix the dal gently by adding salt. Finally prepare tempering and add to this mix.

Server this fast and easy dal with hot rice.

Sabudana Khichidi with spicy Peanut chutney

 Great combos:

Sabudana as in Sago..Khchidi is a very famous dish in North Karnataka. Specially when it comes to fasting, many in my family prefer taking khichidi for breaking their fast.

The recipe that  I am sharing  here is  from my grandmother (Aayi). Sabudana khchidi goes very well with spicy peanut chutney. I cannot eat khichidi alone without this combo.

Ingredients:

Sago - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 3-4
 potato - 1 cup
Roasted peanut powder - 2 Tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
coriander - for garnishing
Salt - taste

Tempering:
oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida : 1 pinch

Method:

1. Wash Sago/sabudana cleanly and keep it aside for an hour with very little amount of water in it ( a few sprinkles of water would be sufficient). After an hour the sago will be puffed up and separated
2. Take the sago in a bowl , add roasted peanut powder and salt to it. Mix gently with a spatula and keep it aside.
3. In a pan, put oil and the above mentioned tempering. Once they start to crackle, add curry leaves, green chillies chopped  and  potato pieces, pinch of turmeric and fry them till soft.
4. Now add the sago mixture and mix well. cover with a lid for 5 minutes . Give a final 2-3 mixes and all done.
5. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with spicy peanut chutney.

Pessarattu - Moong bean dosa

I love pessarattu, sply when served with ginger chutney. I always ask myself  who discovered this combo :)
I remember MLA pessarattu in Hyderabad is very famous, where they put upma as the stuffing. Never dared to tried though...but many say  even that tastes yumm...

I generally tend to make  this not only that these dosas are healthy...but as a matter of fact that these are easy..no fermentation required :)
I recently came to know that mung beans are one of the most cherished foods in Ayurveda because they do not create abdominal gas or bloating, infact it helps in our digestion process. Thats why they recommend to consume in the form of mung bean dosas as in pessarattu or khichidis, mixed with spices.

Here is a simple recipe that my Mom shared with me .....

Ingredients:
 Moong bean (whole green gram) - 1 cup
Rice- handful
Green chillies - 6
Ginger 1" - 3
Coriander - 1 sprig
Cumin/ jeera - 1 tsp

 Method :
 1.Take moong (whole) and add a handful rice and soak in water for 5-6 hrs.
 2.Grind to a fine paste by adding  green chillies, ginger pieces,coriander leaves.
 3.Add salt to taste, 1spoon of jeera and make dosas immediately.
(For this no fermentation is required)
Remaining batter can be stored in the fridge.