Gallo Pinto Rice

The biggest fear that I have while I travel is food. We had gone on a vacation to Costarica last December. The most eco - friendly country of the world did not disappoint me at all in terms of food given the fact as to how choosy I am with food. Gallo Pinto rice is served during breakfast and dinner throughout Costarica.
Since it was an adventurous trip with canopies, tarzan jump, river rafting and hiking, I gobbled up as much as I can during the breakfast and it gave me the necessary energy to stay fit till my next meal.
Anything other than bread is good for me!!

Ingredients
Fine grain rice - cooked 1 cup
Black beans - soaked and cooked - 1/2 cup
Green chilly or Jalapeño chilly (finely chopped) - 1 or two nos.
Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Oil - 1 tbsp
Onion  -  1 cup finely chopped optional
Garlic - a few pods
Cilantro - to garnish

Method

• Heat a pan with oil, add the onion, garlic and saute for a while
• Add the chillies and tomato and saute well.
• Add the beans with water and add the cooked rice and give it a stir
• The rice will get a beautiful coating of brown from the beans 
• Add salt, Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime

Enjoy!!!

Wheat Pongal

That was a great Holy Week vacation!!!  We are back from our vacation to the USA. I enjoyed the trip but didn't bother to take in many pictures since I wanted to soak myself completely in the beautiful nature and the new places that I got an opportunity to visit. The majestic Grand Canyon, the Death Valley, the beautiful Secoya Park, Californian Oranges and Vineyards - Nature is amazing. I marveled at the beauty of the man made wonders at the Hoover Dam, Golden Gate bridges and many other bridges at the Bay Area. I felt sad seeing the drought alert boards all through the state. I became ecstatic watching the mountains and the sunsets on three consecutive days that we travelled west. Yes we watched three sunsets on three different days while driving west. The medley of the colors from red to orange, to pink to pale pink dancing duets with the ever changing colors of the blue sky is a sight to die for.  I only wish we had more time to walk around rather than sit in the car most of the time of our packed journey covering the length and breadth of beautiful California.

My mind was playing its games that I had different moods at different times. While zipping through the streets and walking in the malls of California my mind longed for the tranquility of Guatemala's quiet evenings, I missed the smiling faces of the Chapins who are silent and polite even at restaurants that they talk with the inner voice. But while my vacation came to an end, I longed to stay for more time  to eat the good Indian food in the many Indian restaurants all over the US of A that I miss visiting here, to visit the temples and carefree attitude life over there.

Saffron's Biryani, Madras Cafe's Kushboo idlis ( I haven't seen such softer idlies even in Chennai, wonder how they ferment the batter in cold weather), Isckon's Govinda Meals, the dingy Udupi Palace's full meals and the masala dosas that served two a plate, Dal Bhat at a Nepalese restaurant, Eight Elements's spiciest Mirchi Bajji , the Mexican Chipootle Bowl - Wonder how the Indians are running system so well there.  I will miss all of them till I get to India or US next.

I made this quick and tasty Wheat Pongal for breakfast.
A very easy to make dish.

Ingredients 

Broken Whole Wheat - 2 cups

Moon Dal  - 1 cup

Jeera - 2 tsp

Pepper - 2 tsp

Salt to tast

Method

• Roast the moons dal to golden brown
• Add 6 cups of water to the moong dal and rice and pressure cook for four whistles
• Roast the pepper and jeera in 2 tbsp of ghee and it to the cooked pongal
• Add Salt and curry leaves 
• Enjoy with Sambar, Chutney or Gothsu

Tindora Rice

I miss 'Kovakkai' in Guatemala, but I get it sometimes from Mrs. Patel who has been living here since 35 + years and owns a farm near Coban.
The vegetable is so fresh and tender, I loved making Tindora rice and we enjoyed a simple lunch with Rice Vadams.

Ingredients:

Tindora sliced thin - 2 cups
Peanuts - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - a few
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Bengal gram dal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 4 or 5 to grind and 2 to season
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Mustard 1 tsp , urad dal 1 tsp - to season
Oil - to season
Salt to taste
Cooked rice - 3 cups

Method

• Fry coriander seeds, redchillies and bengal gram dhal and coconut till golden brown and make a fine powder out of it.
• Fry the Tindoras in little oil till crisp and keep aside.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and allow mustard, urad dal, peanuts and 2 red chillies to splutter 
• Add the tindoras and the ground powder and ad curry leaves. Saute a little  and switch off the flame.
• Add the cooked rice and mix well with salt.
• Serve with rice vadam or papad.

Enjoy!!!

Poori Aloo - Tamil Style

Poori aloo is a dish that is served in many restaurants in South India.  Coconut Chutney is also served with  the same. I love both the combinations. Here is the recipe of the Tamil style Aloo that goes with poori.

Tamil Style Aloo Recipe :

6 potatoes medium size
ginger - a small bit
mustard - 1tsp
urad dal - 1 tsp
Bengal gram dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves and cilantro to garnish
Tomato - 1
Oil - 1 tbsp
Green chilly - 3 nos.

Method

• Boil the potatoes and cut them into small cubes
• Heat a pan and add oil
• Once the oil is heated, add mustard, urad dal, bengal gram dal, ginger, green chillies and sauté
• Add chopped tomatoes
• Add boiled potatoes and salt 
• Add a little bit of water if the mixture is too thick
• Give it a boil
• Garnish with curry leaves and cilantro

Enjoy with Hot Pooris.

Badam Burfi

I love cooking for large gatherings and pot luck meals.  Since I love to cook, I always opt for very special dishes that I can enjoy cooking and serve them to my dear friends and family.
My joy knew no bounds when I was allotted to cook a sweet dish for the upcoming Holi party at the Indian Embassy.

The recipe given below will yield about 30 - 35 pieces

Ingredients - Almonds - 2 cups, Sugar - 4 cups, Safron - a pinch, cardamom - 2 tsp.

Method : 
Soak the almonds in hot water and blanch the skin, Rinse the almonds once or twice and grind them to a smooth paste. 
Add sugar to the paste and keep stirring in a medium flame until the mixture thickens. 
Add saffron, cardamom, 3 tbsp of ghee and keep stirring to form a lump and leave the sides of the pan.
Pour the mixture into a greased tray and cut into pieces. 

Enjoy!!!

Paal Poli

Paal Poli is a very traditional dessert of Tamilnadu.  I made this for weekend tiffin and my entire family relished this dish. 

Ingredients 

Maida - 2 cups

Sooji - 3 tbsp

Pista, safrron and other nuts to garnish

Milk - 1.5 litres

Sugar - 1.5 cups

Cardamom - 1 tsp

Oil to fry

Method

• Make a dough with maida, shoji and a pinch of salt with enough water.
• Make small puris and spread little oil over them
• Fold the puris into triangle (just as you would do for parathas) and roll them again in the shape of a triangle
• Deep fry in hot oil
• I like my puris crisp, so I fried them till crisp.
• Boil milk in a medium flame till reduced to half and mix in the sugar and boil again
• Add the cardamom 
• Pour the milk on the puris arranged in a big plate and garnish with nuts and saffron.
• You could either serve cold or hot (My family prefers it hot)

Enjoy!!!

Aapam

Aapam is a very light breakfast. It is served with stew, coconut milk or kurma in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Ingredients
Raw rice - 2 cups
Cooked rice (kept overnight in the refrigerator ) - 1 cup
Rapid Rise Yeast - 1 tbsp
Salt
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Coconut grated - 1 cup


Method

• Soak raw rice in water overnight.
• Grind the rice with enough water
• When the rice is coarsely ground add the cooked rice and coconut and grind till silky
• Dissolve yeast in sugar and a cup of warm water
• Add yeast to the ground batter and salt to taste
• Let the batter ferment for 3 to 4 hours in room temperature.
• Take a ladle full of batter (see to it that it is in pouring consistency)
• Pour batter in a rounded non-stick pan and swivel it with both your hands to form a circular shape. The center part must be thicker and the outer parts must be thinner.
• Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame
• Once done, turn into a plate and serve with stew or Vellai Kurma or coconut milk.

Enjoy!!!

Cinnamon Rolls

Nothing like a warm cinnamon roll with a hot cup of coffee to lift up someone's spirit.

Ingredients

A sachet of yeast

All purpose flour - 3 cups

Salt - a pinch

Brown Sugar - 2 cups

Cinnamon powder

Melted Butter - 1/4 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2tbsp

For the frosting:

1/2 a cup of cream cheese

1 cup of frosting sugar

vanilla essence

milk - 1tbsp

Method

• Heat Oven to 350 F
• In a small bowl of warm water dissolve yeast and let it rise
• Work the flour, yeast water, salt , milk and sugar to a smooth dough
• Mix a cup of brown sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon powder
• Let it rest for 2 hours to rise well
• Work on the dough again.
• Pinch a small portion of dough and roll them thin on a flat surface using a rolling pin.
• Spread a thin coating of melted butter and sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mix evenly
• Roll the dough into a long strip and cut into even pieces.
• Arrange evenly on the baking sheet leaving space for the dough to rise again.
• Arrange all the rolls cut side down, and bake at 350F for 20 mins.
• Let it cool

Once the rolls are cool, mix all the ingredients listed for frosting evenly and spread it over the rolls.

Take out the rolls and warm them for a few seconds before you eat them.

Enjoy!!!

Jalapeño Thokku / Molaga Thokku

Jalapeño Thokku


I got this recipe from Ramki's OPOS (one pot one shot cooking) in United by Food Forum.
I used jalapeños in the place of Indian chillies in the recipe since it is easier for me to get Jalapeños in Guatemala.

I followed the exact same recipe as given above.

I chopped the jalapeños fine and did not blend them as stated in the recipe since I like my pickle to be chunky.

Let the pickle cool down and Store the pickle in a clean bottle and refrigerate. 

Vellai Kurma

Vellai Kurma or South Indian White kurma is a very popular side dish for Chapathis and Idiyappam served in most of the restaurants in Tamil Nadu. The name suggests that there is no added color to the kurma like turmeric or any other color.

The recipe given below serves 4

Ingredients :

Assorted Vegetables (carrot, beans, cauliflower, peas and potato cut into cubes) - 3 cups
Salt to taste
Green chillies - 2
Bay leaf - a few
Corn flower or maida - 1 tbsp mixed well in a cup of water
Oil - 2 tbsp

To grind :
Coconut grated - 1 cup
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - a small peice
Fennel seeds - 2 tsp

Method

• Pressure cook all the cut vegetables with 2 tbsp of water for just one whistle.
• Heat oil in a pan and sauté the green chillies and bay leaves
• Add the ground paste and sauté for a while 
• Add salt to taste
• Add the boiled vegetables and pour little water to get a gravy like consistency
• Pour in the corn flour / maida water and give it a boil till the kurma comes together
• Garnish with cilantro

Enjoy with hot chapatis or Idiyappams