Urad Dal with Tomatoes

I was gone, missing from my blog for couple of months and it happens when one's life gets unexpectedly busy and also when there is absolutely NO motivation to cook something special just - for oneself. But, I have been blog-hopping a lot and bookmarked so many wonderful recipes that the list is unmanageable now. One such recipe is this which I saw long time ago and made it at last.

I always used Urad dal just for tempering and never made a complete dal out of it. I seriously thought this would just turn out very mushy and funny. Guess, I was wrong. Also what I didn't know was, this dal is served as a main course in many punjabi households. I am glad, I explored this 'gentle dal'.. finally!

This is my entry to Susan's 'My Legume Love Affair - 16', guest hosted by Jeanne.

Urad Tamatar Dal (Adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1 cup urad dal (without skins)
4 cups water
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/8 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp ghee (or canola oil)
salt - to taste
fresh coriander - for garnish [which is missing for my dish as I didn't have any]

For tempering:

1 piece of star anise
2 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp minced ginger
2 whole red chillies
a pinch asafoetida powder

Preparation:

1. Wash dal thoroughly and keep aside.

2. Melt some ghee in a saucepan and add water & turmeric. Once it comes to a boil, add washed dal to bring it to a boil again. On medium-low flame, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Now add tomatoes. Continue cooking for 45mins more, until the dal is fully cooked. Remove from heat and add salt. [If you are in a rush, pressure cook the same ingredients for 2 whistles]

3. Heat remaining ghee in a pan and add ginger & other ingredients listed under 'tempering'. Saute until light brown. Finally add cooked dal and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rice (or roti).

Happy Halloween to all!!!

I always come across so many wonderful articles and from now on..at the end of my posts..u will find the 'article of the week'...

Since today is Halloween.. Check out the 'Four Kinds of Vampires that haunt your life' ..:)

- Siri

Foodbuzz Blog Awards

I was so excited to see some of my favorite blogs nominated for this year's Foodbuzz Blog Awards.

Click here to vote for your favorites too.

Deadline: All through October 2009. Winners will be announced on Novermber 7th at Foodbuzz Blogger Festival at San Francisco.

Goodluck to all the nominees and May the best man/woman win :-).

- Siri

Chickpeas and Potato curry and HC update...

Monday & Tuesday - are the only two days I was able to survive myself for the Hunger Challenge week...then came my birthday on Wednesday and it was impossible for me to further continue as the birthday cake itself was more than $10. I should have realized that before I took up this daunting task ..but well, atleast I had a chance to participate for two days which made me realize how difficult it is to sustain oneself on a $4 food stamp per day.

..I made this 'Chickpea and Potato Curry' on Tuesday for the Hunger Challenge.

Chickpeas and Potato Curry (Aloo Chole)

Ingredients:

1/2 can of chickpeas, drained & washed [$0.86]
1 potato, peeled, cubed [$0.99]
1/2 tomato,chopped [$0.56]
1/2 tsp oil
salt to taste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 cup water

How to make:

Heat oil in a saucepan, add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add chopped tomato and cook until mush. Mix cubed potato into it and cook until tender. Mix chickpeas, turmeric, salt, garam masala, chilli powder to the potato mixture. Add water and let the curry cook for 8-10 mins on medium-low. It can be served with rice or any kind of bread.

Here are my advanced Dussehra wishes [September 28th 2009] to you all ..:). May Goddess Durga bless one and all.

Image courtesy

~ Siri

Hunger Challenge Week: Sept 20th - 26th 2009 - Couscous Avocado Salad

I know, I have been missing from my blog for quite sometime due to some personal commitments which took all of my free time. In the meantime, I shifted to a new place and that means - packing, unpacking and settling myself was one helluva job in itself.

...though I was blog-hopping all this while, a little motivation - was the only thing required for me to get back! ...and Amy's post on Hunger Challenge gave me that push.

Some Hunger Facts, in USA -

    * In San Francisco, 150,000 people are unsure where their next meal is coming from.
    * 1 in 4 San Francisco children lack regular access to the food they need to learn, grow and have  a healthy start in life.
    * 1 in 5 San Francisco adults cannot count on the daily meals they need to lead healthy, productive lives.
    * 1 in 4 San Francisco seniors lack the nourishment needed to control chronic health problems.
    * For every $1 donated, San Francisco Food Bank can distribute $9 worth of groceries.
    * San Francisco Food Bank distributed over 33.5 million pounds of food in the past year - nearly 8% more than the year before.
    * Half of the food that San Francisco Food Bank distributes is fresh produce – more than 16 million pounds of it last year.
    * More than 35 million people in our country are on food stamps - up 3 million just since January.
    * About 40% of families now on food stamps have “earned income” – up from just 25% two years ago.
    * 60% of the clients San Francisco Food Bank served last year come from working households.
    * In California, the average food stamp recipient gets $4 a day to spend on groceries.
    * In California, a single person is can get food stamps only if their yearly gross income is $14,079 or less.
    * 5.3 million Californians are living below the federal poverty line ($21,834 for a family of four).
    * The number of households participating in San Francisco Food Bank’s grocery pantry program is up 24% over last year.

...$4 is approximately 200 Rupees in India and there are so many unfortunate people who earn less than 100 Rupees a day and have to feed a whole family on it. Hunger, in any part of the world is a dreadful experience and hope by creating awareness through this Hunger Challenge, I could be of some help - in my own little way.

Hunger Challenge Rules:

1. Spend just $4 a day or $28 a week (per person) for your entire food and drink budget. This is the average amount that food stamp recipients have to spend on food.

2. The $28 limit includes any food and drink consumed inside or outside of your home, as well as any staples or condiments you have on hand (salt, pepper and tap water are considered “free”).

3. Do not accept any free food from family, friends or at work (that means coffee, too!).

4. If you have a garden, please price-out any produce you source from your garden based on supermarket or farmers market prices in your area and include that cost in your $28 total.

It will be just me who is gonna take part in this week's Hunger Challenge and I will try my best to post my progress everyday here, on my blog!

Some useful links:

Hunger Challenge Recipes

Blog posts on Hunger Challenge 2008

Hunger Challenge posts from SuperChef

Hunger Challenge posts from Sig

50 items at Whole Foods for under $1.50

Today's recipe:

Couscous Avocado Salad

This salad, my dinner today is at its simplest best. Just with couple of ingredients, few of minutes of prep and you have a full meal in itself.

1. Boil 1/2 cup of water with 1/8 tsp of salt. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of Whole Wheat Couscous. Cover and keep aside for 5-7 mins. Fluff it with a fork, once done.

2. Meanwhile, slice half avocado into small slices.

3. In a mixing bowl, add couscous, avocado pieces with salsa and some hot pepper sauce. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Variation: Couscous can be substituted with any grain like brown rice, quinoa etc.

16 oz Couscous packet: $3.49; 1/2 Avocado: $0.83; Salsa (one whole bottle): $2.99; Hot pepper sauce (one bottle): $2.76

The quantities used for the recipe vary according to one's taste. But, the total cost would definitely be less than $2.

Have a good week ahead. cya soon!

Siri

Second Blog-O-Anniversary

Image Credit

Am I still dreaming or has it really been 2 years, (with 247 posts) that I started this blog. For someone, who was totally jobless at that time and with absolutely NO experience at cooking, maintaining such a thing is really a big deal.

All thanks to such wonderful people whom I met all along this fabulous journey and have learnt so much from them in this once-an-unknown territory, that it surprises me myself.

Thank you for all your love and support,

Siri

Repost: Preparation Vinayaka Chavithi

Image Credit

Vinayaka Chavithi (Ganesh Chaturthi) is one of the very auspicious festivals observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhadrapada, starting on the Shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). This year it is on August 23rd 2009, which is Tomorrow.

So, I thought why not re-post couple of useful links for performing the pooja, especially for people like me who stay far away from India. :)

Original Post

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja Vidhanam - Text in Telugu and in English.

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja Vidhanam - Audio(Telugu): Part 1 : Puja
Part 2 : Katha*

May Lord Ganesha bless you all and Happy Vinayaka Chavithi.

*Courtesy: teluguone.com

Siri

One stop shop for.. Srilankan recipes

Finally Finally.. here is the roundup of AWED:Srilankan event :)

Without any ado, let's begin the roundup with the entry of patentee of this event ;)


Entry 1: Kiri bath with Lunu Miris from DK of 'Chef In You'


Entry 2: Mun ata Kiribath with Lunu Miris from Sweatha of 'Tasty Curry Leaf'



Entry 3: Kahabath + Potato curry from Dipali of 'Centaur Cooks..'




Entry 4: Srilankan Omlette Curry from HB of 'Dew Drop in the Kitchen'



Entry 5: Pol Roti from Lubna of 'Yummy Food'



Entry 6: Aubergine Morju from Sudha of 'Malaysian Delicacies'



Entry 7: SriLankan Egg Curry from Raje of 'Raje's Culinary Adventures'



Entry 8: Eggplant Moju from Vani of 'Mysoorean'


Entry 9: Soyabeans Kofta Curry from Pinky of 'Esho-Bosho-Aahare'




Entry 10: Beetroot Thel Dala from Nags of 'Edible Garden'



Entry 11: Mango Curry from Nags of 'Edible Garden'



Entry 12: Red Onion Sambol (Lunumiris) from Bee & Jai of Jugalbandi



Entry 13: Pol Sambol from Malini of 'Khana Khazana with Malini'




Entry 14: Kiribath from Malini of 'Khana Khazana with Malini'



Entry 15: Mutta Barotta from Malar of Kitchen Tantra



Entry 16: Wambatu Curry from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'



Entry 17: Vegetarian Chilli Sambal from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'




Entry 18: Sri Lankan Paruppu Kari from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'



Entry 19: Wattalappan from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'


Entry 20: Ala Badun (Srilankan Deviled Potatoes) from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'



Entry 21: Srilankan Broccoli Fry from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'



Entry 22: Srilankan Rolls from Priya of 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes'


Entry 23: Mixed Veg Parotta from Sree of Vidya's Kitchen

A hearty thanks to one & all for contributing their recipe creations to AWED :)

Current theme: AWED: German hosted by Lakshmi Venkatesh.

Enjoy!

Siri

Edamame Fried Rice

'For, dear me, why abandon a belief
merely because it ceases to be true?
cling to it long enough, and not a doubt
it will turn true again, for so it goes."

~ Robert Frost, The Black Cottage

Thirty days..this has been the longest time I am missing from my blog without any notice . I guess it happens at times in life when you constantly juggle between work, home, blogging, household chores, groceries, library, work again - that one can't juggle any more. I had to take a moment to breath and get back to myself. :)

Today's recipe features a kind of bean which I have never tried before. We all know that beans are an excellent source of cholesterol-lowering fiber and when combined with whole grains such as brown rice, these beans provide a fat-free high quality protein, which is very much necessary to incorporate in our daily diets.

Edamame is a popular soya bean variety from Japan and is a 'wonder veggie' which has numerous health benefits. The recipe featured today is a simple fried rice with the goodness of both beans and wholegrains. It is a complete meal in itself and can be made as a lunch/dinner item.

Edamame Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1.5 cups shot-grained brown rice, cooked (substitute: white rice,any kind)
1/2 cup edamame beans, boiled in water until tender
1 egg, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tsp soya sauce
1/4 tsp (toasted) sesame oil (optional)
1 tsp canola oil
salt & pepper (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a large pan, add garlic and onion. Saute until golden brown and aromatic. (3-4 mins).

2. Add edamame and rice into the pan to cook for 5-6 mins. Adjust salt & pepper if needed.

3. Make a well into the center of rice mixture. Add a very small amount of oil, then add the egg, cook until entirely scrambled. Stir the egg into rice mixture.

4. Finally add soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Mix through. Serve hot.

Variation: One can add tofu to give it a more sumptuous twist.

This is my entry to My Legume Love Affair 14 hosted by Susan. :)

Have a weekend ahead.

Siri

Personal power

Source: Lifehack.org

I couldn't stop myself from sharing this amazing article with you all...

Take Back your Personal Power

Siri

Potato Chip Frittata Muffins

Waking up 'late' on a Sunday morning is one of the best moments which I always look forward for as it is then I feel relaxed, tension-free & all geared up for the upcoming week. Hey I am true Libran, you can expect me to be a bit lazy. :).
As I was skimming through my bookmarks this morning, I came across this Frittata muffin recipe. I was not sure how adding potato chips would make any difference to our usual frittata and oh boy! trust me it does. I used some salt & vinegar chips which I got last night and they tasted delicious.
One can use any flavor of potato chips and I am sure they would taste equally yummy!!.

Potato-Chip Frittata Muffins (Adapted from epicurious)

Ingredients:

6 eggs
2 tbsp milk
salt & pepper
1/2 cup spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
a handful of potato chips, crushed
1 tsp extra virgin oil

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Whisk in a bowl- eggs, milk with salt & pepper.

2. Heat oil in a pan, saute onion, tomatoes and spinach for 2-3 mins. Add this to the egg mixture.

3. Grease the muffin pan with oil and fill it some cheese and egg mixture - until three-quarters full. (Tip: If you have any empty cups left, fill them with some water to bake all the muffins evenly.)

4. Bake for 8 minutes and then sprinkle crushed potato chips over each of them. Bake for 5-6 more mins. Let them sit for a minute or so. Run a knife around the edges to loosen. Serve!!

As this is one of those breakfasts I truly enjoyed, I am sending this to Divya's 'Show me your breakfast' event :)

Coming up next is AWED: Srilanka roundup and I truly apologize for the delay. I was caught with an urgent deadline at work and blogging had to take a back-step for a while.

Hope you have a great week ahead.

Siri

Butter Bean Pualo

From past few weeks, I reach home exhausted with absolutely no energy to do anything - let alone cook & blog. So, I have been cooking pretty simple (and more often eating out!) and in my very little free time, I am engrossed in New Moon. I just started it 3 days ago and thought it was as engaging as it predecessor. :)

Today's dish is something I tasted at one the potlucks at my office. - a tasty yet simple 'Butter Bean Pulao'. It takes 20 mins flat to make it and with a spicy side dish as an accompaniment, it would make a healthy lunch/dinner.

This is my entry to My Legume Love Affair: 12th Helping, guest hosted by Anarasa, a brainchild of lovely Susan @ The Well Seasoned Cook.

Butter Bean Pulao

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice, soaked for 30 mins
1 cup butter beans (or lima beans) [ I used frozen!]
1 medium onion, sliced into thin strips
2 cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
2 tsp butter
Salt to taste
1/8 tsp turmeric
2 tsp biryani masala
1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
few mint leaves

Preparation:

1. Heat butter in a flat bottom pan, add cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Saute onion until golden brown on medium heat.

2. Add all the dry powders - turmeric, salt, biryani masala and coriander-cumin powder. Drop the butter beans with mint leaves. Mix well. Let it cook for 1-2 mins. Add a tbsp of water if needed.

3. Now add soaked rice and fry for 2-3 mins. Add 3 cups of boiling water and cook it covered for 15-20 mins on medium-low flame. Once done, let it sit for 2 mins and serve with any side dish!!

Yummy..:)

Have a great week ahead.

Siri

Veggie Flatbread Pizza with Bean puree

Pixar has done it again - with 'UP' - a heart-touching story, amazing screenplay, with cleverest talking animals and what not! I absolutely adore the Russell kid in the movie. He is sooo cute!!!. The best part of the movie though was a lovely dialogue-free montage, in the beginning of the film which follows the sweet relationship of Carl Fredricksen and his wife Ellie - from their contented marriage to old age. It a highly recommended movie for everybody and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!



Today's recipe is kid's favorite too. Its pizza time folks but with a healthy bean puree twist. :)

Veggie Flatbread Pizza with Bean Puree (Adapted from here & here)

Ingredients:

For Flatbread dough -

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of warm water (105-110 F)
1 tbsp olive oil

For Bean puree -

1 cup pinto beans, canned & rinsed
few rosemary sprigs
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup oil-drained sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil


For assembling Pizza:

I used - couple of small cherry tomatoes, chopped onion, bell pepper and mozzarella cheese.

Preparation:

Pizza dough:

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, instant dry yeast, salt and oil. Make a well in the middle and add water little by little to make a dough.
Remove from bowl and knead. Place in a clean oiled bowl and let rise, slowly, about 2 1/2 hours.
Knead, divide dough into 2 portions, let rise again for 1/2 hour, and then roll out as desired.

Bean Puree:

Add pinto beans, rosemary sprigs and onion to about 3-4 cups of water & bring it to a boil.
Puree drained beans and onion, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped rosemary in processor. Add oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, puree until smooth paste. if desired, add 1/2 cup boiling water while blending in the processor. Ready to served as a dip or a spread.

Veggie Flatbread pizza:

Pre-heat oven to 400 deg F.
Roll out the pizza dough into desired shape. I ended making a rectangular one. Lightly sprinkle the pizza peel (or a flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Place the flattened pizza base on to the baking sheet. Spoon on the bean puree, place the veggie toppings and sprinkle lots of cheese :). Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm !!

Enjoy!

Before signing off, there is a sweet treat to you all - Blueberry Pound cake :) made by Shri, who is a very dear friend of mine!!

Have a great Sunday ahead.

Best,
Siri

....I got one and bought one...

I was quite surprised today, when I had two big parcels at my doorstep.:)...

..Every Saturday, you would find me shopping at Trader Joe's and my excitement had no bounds when Susan informed me that I was the lucky winner for her give-away! How lucky I am. Thanks Susan. You can surely expect some yummy recipes from this book on my blog soon. I can't wait to get started...:)



..a sneak peek into the TJ's cookbook.



..next is my recent purchase..'The Bread Baker's Apprentice' by Peter Reinhart..:) Yeh Yeh! It was on my list for a really long time and finally I bought it.:)


...a sneak peek into the BBA book.....


Chao for now friends..

Have a great long weekend ahead.

Siri

Friday Humour...

-- A married woman writes to a technical support guy --

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and I noticed a distinct slowdown in the overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NEWS 5.0, MONEY 3.0 and CRICKET 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Married Woman

Tech Support Reply -

Dear Married M'am,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 under any circumstances (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.

We recommend: Cooking 3.0 and Hot Looks 7.7.

Good Luck Madam!

Source: My friend's email.

Eggs in Purgatory

Life has been a roller-coaster ride from past few weeks. It all started with heavy stress at work, resulting in slowly skipping of my meals, constantly worrying about upcoming deadlines and the result is something, which I never expected to happen to me. It was in those painful 2 weeks, that I felt leading a stress-free and healthy life is so important.

Now, my god's grace and early diagnosis of the problem, I am doing fine and that was when I pledged again not to let my work pressures to control my life.


...On another note, recently I received my copy of Sukham Ayu, authored by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Gain, which I ordered from Indira's blog. I was always intrigued by the goodness of Ayurveda and hopefully this book would be my stepping stone towards a healthy lifestyle which I am aspiring for. Here is a quick review about the book and I will get back with mine soon.

Coming today's recipe, it can be considered as the best breakfast dish ever. It is comforting, delicious and tasted amazing when served warm. 'Everyday Italian' is one of my favorite shows and this was an instant hit at my place. Give it a try sometime and I am sure you will surprised too about how well the flavors blend in with each other making it a hearty breakfast item. :)

Eggs in Purgatory (Adapted from Giada's recipe)

Ingredients:

For tomato base -

1 cup tomato puree
1 garlic pod
1/2 medium onion, very finely chopped
some fresh cilantro
salt - to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 cup water


For Potato pancakes-

1 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 tsp paprika
salt - to taste
2 tbsp all-purpose-flour

For Fried egg-

2 eggs
salt & pepper

Preparation:

1. Tomato sauce - In a saucepan, heat oil and add bay leaf, minced garlic & onion. Saute for couple of minutes and then add tomato puree. Season it with salt and add about a cup of water and let it simmer on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Finally mix in fresh cilantro leaves and keep aside. [One can use store-bought marinara sauce and skip this step].

2. Potato pancakes: In a mixing bowl, stir in mashed potatoes with all-purpose-flour, salt and paprika. Heat some oil in a fry pan. Form the potato mixture into pancakes and shallow fry them until golden brown for 2 mins each side. Transfer the pancakes to paper towels to drain. Keep the pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven.

3. Fried eggs: In a heated pan, crack the eggs, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the white is firm for about 2 minutes. Turn the eggs over and cook for 30 sec longer.

4. Serve: Spoon the sauce on serving plate. Place a pancake on the top of sauce. Slide a fried egg on the top. [Sprinkle some cheese over the top].

Note: All the three - sauce, pancakes and fried egg are to be seasoned moderately or else the final dish might turn out to be too salty!

Enjoy!

Siri