Curry Pasta

This is a very simple pasta recipe and a quick fix dinner.

To add a little zing to the  the usual indianised pasta ,I added home made madras curry powder.

Ingredients:

Fusili or any kind of pasta - 1 pound

Capsicum - 1 chopped

Tomato - 1 chopped

Onion - 1 chopped

Ginger and Garlic  grated - 1 Tablespoon each

Salt to taste

Curry powder - 1 tsp

Oil - 4 tablespoon

Method:

Cook the pasta till al dente.Drain and keep it ready.

In a pan,heat oil.When hot,add the grated ginger and garlic.Then add the onion and saute till light brown.

Add the chopped tomato, and saute till it becomes mushy.Finally add the capsicum and cook for 1 minute.

Add the required amount of salt and curry powder.Add the cooked pasta and check for salt.

Serve hot.

7 Cups Cake/7 cups sweet

7 cups cake/7 cups sweet is a traditional sweet usually made for Diwali.

Last year,I tried this sweet for the first time and it came out too good.

This year,I made this for a potluck party.

Ingredients:

Besan/Gram Dal flour - 1 cup

Grated coconut - 1 cup(only the white part)

Ghee/clarified butter - 1 cup (slightly melt it)

Boiled ,cooled Milk - 1 cup

Sugar - 3 cups(But can be reduced to 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cup)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.Grease a plate with ghee.Keep a bowl of water ready for testing the consistency.

In a hard bottomed vessel,start heating the mixture on a medium-high heat.

The mixture will become watery at first and then will begin to boil.

Reduce the heat to medium.

Keep on stirring so that the mixture will not get burnt at the bottom.

After some time,The mixture will start to froth and will start leaving the sides of pan.Take a small amount and put in into the bowl of water and try to roll it into a bowl.

If you are able to roll into a soft ball,then it has reached the right consistency.

Transfer into the greased plate.Level with a greased bowl.

After 10 minutes, cut into square shapes.

Store in airtight container.

Vegetarian Chow Fun Noodles

In our family everybody loves noodles.So I always google for new noodle recipes.This recipe is adapted from website phamtale.com

The ingredients list is indeed long,but the final dish turned out so delicious and wholesome.

Ingredients:

Flat fresh,rice noodles - 1/2 pound(Actual recipe uses fresh,flat rice noodles,but I substituted dry rice noodles and boiled in water till noodles were slightly soft)

Sesame oil - 1/4 cup
 
Extra  firm tofu - 1 (12-ounce) package
 
Garlic, finely minced - 2 cloves 

Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced -2 (I used button mushroom)
 
Baby carrots, sliced - ¼ cup (I used a packet of fancy cut carrots,broccoli and snap peas)
 
Broccoli florets and stems, cut into small pieces-1 cup
 
Palm sugar, freshly grated (or light brown sugar) - 1 tablespoon
 
Ginger garlic paste (see tips) - 1 tablespoon
 
Chili garlic sauce - 2 teaspoons
 
Black bean sauce - 1 teaspoon
 
Vegetarian mushroom flavored stir-fry sauce - 2 tablespoons
 
Dark soy sauce - 1/3 cup

Yellow onion, cut into thin wedges - 1

Salt - to taste
 
Black pepper, freshly ground - ½ teaspoon
 
Cilantro leaves, chopped - ¼ cup

Method:

In a wok,heat oil.Shallow fry the tofu till lightly brown and drain in paper towel.

In the same wok,heat 4 tablespoons of oil and add garlic and cook until fragrant, then add the onions, ginger garlic paste and carrots. Stir fry until they are slightly translucent, then add the broccoli. 

Drizzle with about ¼ cup water. Stir fry for about 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms. Season with salt. 

Toss well. Add the tofu, palm sugar, vegetarian mushroom flavored stir-fry sauce, chili garlic sauce and black bean sauce.

 Finish with the noodles and cilantro. Drizzle with soy sauce

Stir well and allow the noodles to soften for about 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter. 

Drizzle with a dash of sesame oil.

Garnish with more cilantro.

Corn flour Murukku

This is a very simple murukku recipe,made with store-bought flours.I took this recipe from Aval Vikatan magazine

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup

Corn flour - 1/2 cup

Fried Gram Dal/Pottu kadalai Maavu - 2 Tablespoon

Besan - 3/4 cup

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Melted Butter - 2 Tablespoon

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Salt - as required

Water - as needed to make the dough.

Oil for frying

Method:

Mix all the flour,jeera,chili powder,asafoetida,salt,melted butter.

Add water little by little to make a soft dough.

Heat  oil in a vessel.Test by dropping a little bit of murukku dough into the hot oil.If it rises immediately,then the oil is ready for frying.

In the murukku press,fix the thenkuzhal mold/achu(the one with 3 holes) and fill the dough.Start squeezing the handles of the press in a circular motion directly into the oil.

Flip the murukku so that it gets cooked on both sides. When frying sound subsides,remove the murukku form the oil and place it on a tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

Store in airtight container.

Badham Halwa/Almond Halwa

Diwali is just round the corner!Hope everyone is gearing up making lots of sweets and savouries.

This year I wanted to try new recipes of sweets and savouries.So I chose the richest halwa of all,the almond halwa /badam halwa.

Ingredients:

Almond - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 1/4 cup

Ghee - 1/2(1/4 +1/4) cup melted and warm

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp optional

Yellow food color - 1/4 tsp

Boiled Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Soak almonds in water overnight.Remove the skin and grind it in a mixie adding milk.

In a thick bottomed vessel,add the sugar and almond paste and start stirring on a medium flame.

First the mixture will be watery,because the sugar will start to melt.Slowly the paste will start to thicken.

At this point,add the color and ghee.After sometime,the ghee will be absorbed fully.

Keep a greases plate.Take a little bit of halwa and test it by rolling in the plate.If you are able  to make a soft ball,then you have reached the consistency.

In a greased vessel transfer the contents and add the remaining ghee and mix.

Garnish with slivered almonds.

Madras Curry Powder

Madras Curry Powder

I always spend a lot of time in spices section be it Chinese or Indian or Mexican.Spices always fascinate me.

The madras curry powder is one spice blend which is available in all grocery stores.Ive bought this once but completely unsatisfied with the freshness.

So I decided to make my own curry powder and found this recipe in food.com

I halved the recipe.

Ingredients:

Coriander Seeds - 4 Tablespoon

Cumin seeds - 3 Tablespoon

 Mustard seeds -1/2 Tablespoon

Fennel seeds - 1/2 Tablespoon

Cinnamon stick - 3 inches

Peppercorns - 4 Tablespoon

Nutmeg - 1/2 Tablespoon

Cloves - 5

Cardamom pods - 6

Turmeric - 1 Tablespoon

Ground Ginger - 1 Tablespoon

Chili powder - 1 Tablespoon

Method:

In a dry skillet over very low heat, place the coriander, cumin, mustard and fennel seeds. Roast the seeds gently, shaking the pan occasionally, until they begin to pop. When about half the seeds have popped, add the cinnamon, peppercorns, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, turmeric, ginger and chillipowder.

Continue to heat and stir gently until the mixture is quite hot but not burnt. Pour into a dry blender or food processor, or use a mortar and pestle. Grind into a fine powder. Pour into a clean, dry jar, seal, and let it cool before using.