Like many of you out there I am a HUGE lover (read as hoarder) of cookbooks and books based on food writing. I don't need any reason in particular to buy one. Sometimes it's the theme of the cookbook; sometimes the author; sometimes the reviews are so great that I can't stop myself from ordering a copy; sometimes it is as silly as the book cover. Whatever may be the reason, now I have a selection of books that I seldom use and book giveaways to few lucky readers was something I wanted to do since a long time. I handpicked 12 such books that I simply loved for each day of this week. Winners as usual will be randomly picked and there are few more simple ways to increase your chances. Scroll down at the end of the post for more details.
Also, since it's VeganMoFo week, a vegan friendly recipe is a must. Today, I made Mark Bittman's Crispy Noodle Cake Recipe. It makes a fantastic side dish, snack, or base for a stir-fry, where it soaks up all of the savory juices. You don’t need much else to call this a meal, though a beer alongside wouldn’t hurt.
My first memory of my grandmother's cooking is - how she made a simple, yet flavorful lemon flavored rice one night out of just a bowl of stale rice. Things were scarce, times not-so-luxurious back then and being judicious about groceries was the only way to keep the family of five well fed and nourished. Money doesn't define us as human beings only compassion will, she used to say. Whenever I make this Lemon Rice at home, I think of her immense love and exuberance. When I am 60 years old, even if I manage to imbibe half of her qualities, I would feel really accomplished in life!
Learn how to make easy fried rice with ajwain (or carom seeds), one of the quick and easy meals I tend to make during busy weekdays especially to use up leftover (white or brown) rice. Carom seeds are known for their numerous home remedies like to subside acidity, constipation, cold and even flu without any side effects. Ajwain (as it is called in Hindi) is one of the widely used spices in Indian cooking and it is recommended to use sparingly to reap its many benefits.
Left over magic ~ Brown rice flavored with carom seeds
This post should have been published few days ago. But, you know Life. It gets busier when one least expects it and now I have jotted down so many things in my "to-do-list" that I have stopped frantically checking it for every few minutes. I took a deep breath, closed everything else and sat down to - write about my absolute favorite way to make pesto, not in a food processor but the old way, in a mortar and pestle. :-)
Lots of raw, fresh vegetables along with a smooth, creamy dressing and of course noodles is what makes this salad sumptuous and a meal in itself. This is one of the recipes I bookmarked when I was subscribed to Vegetarian Times magazine while in US. I love those stash of old magazines so much that I got them along with me back to India. Every now and then, I flip through them for inspiration on what to try out and today's recipe is a result of one such browsings!
“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.” Federico Fellini
..and I wanted to make some of my own pasta for a really long time, though a box of dried penne, spaghetti or farfalle is a beloved staple in my pantry. I love them so much that every time I watch a food or travel-based show based on Italy, I imagine myself rolling out a sheet of dough and making long pasta ribbons out of it. Such was my craziness! After reading quite a few blog posts on the internet and flipping through Mark Bittman's book - How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cover to cover, last weekend I ventured into the kitchen to make atleast two kinds of fresh pasta. By the end of the day I was super thrilled with the fantastic results. Here I am sharing the first batch of pasta I made - Orecchiette, the easy way. Enjoy!
If there is one kitchen gadget that I can never imagine myself without is my beloved pressure cooker. I have seen my mom use not one, but two of them simultaneously and to this day she swears by its efficiency. Same is the case with my mother in law too. I literally wake up every single morning with whistle whooshing across the kitchen till our bedroom. ;-)
That my friends is the role of a pressure cooker played in our lives. In one word - Quintessential.
Now, when I read Jaya's post on how an cookbook author claimed that Indian-made pressure cookers are unsafe to use and tended to blow up in people’s faces. I was like - What The! That is a total exaggeration. Nothing in this world in perfect, I agree on that but whenever I heard people telling me stories of their pressure cookers blowing up, its always the case where there was a human error.
To err is human...Isn't it?
In order to prove the cookbook author wrong and to put across a point that pressure cookers, especially indian-made are indeed safe, Jaya has asked us to cook a dish in our cookers. Hence, today's recipe - Achari Chana Pulao a.k.a Chickpea Rice spiced with Mango Pickle. That sounds a little bizarre but trust me it tastes wonderfully delicious and no one would believe it has achaar in it ;-). My mom especially was pleasantly surprised.
Go on, take out your pressure cookers today and try this super simple pulao for your meals.
not just mango pickle, you can use any mixed pickle for this recipe..
my cute little 3 ltrs pressure cooker. It never looked this glamorous before ;-)
all whole spices, mango pickle, veggies and beans sauteed. next comes the rice..
out and done.. ready to be fluffed with a fork..
Achari Chickpea Pulao is ready and served..
“I boiled chickpeas and also cooked the Achari Chana Pulao with my Indian pressure cooker and it didn’t blow up in my face”..:-)
wanna grab the plate and sit down for a meal with me? :-)
This is Recipe 14 added to my 2013 Recipe Archive. Check out the rest of the recipes too!
The other day I was checking out few coupons for a pizza party at work. I have got a few good discounts here - Coupon Raja.com. Check them out and save a few bucks on your next pizza!
"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher." ~ William Wordsworth
It was gorgeous Sunday morning when we set out to go the Horticulture Expo 2013 being held here in Hyderabad. TH is totally into gardening and it gives him immense pleasure to watch the tiny seedlings grow into big living things. We have few vegetables and greensplanted right now along with flowers and herbs as well.
Did you know its now scientifically proven that gardening makes one happy and cures depression. It is said that it triggers the natural production of happy chemicals which in turn keep us joyful. :-) Now, that's one more reason to start working on your very own balcony or roof top garden.
The Horticulture Expo is an initiative to bring all gardening enthusiasts under one roof. It gave us an opportunity to talk to nursery owners directly and buy the tools needed for our roof-top/balcony garden. Right from beautifully crafted bonsai to banana samplings to fresh organic food, the expo had a stall for everything. We both shopped until afternoon, chatted with the stall owners and had a fun time.
Below are few pictures I photographed (using my Iphone 4S) while we were there.
beautiful bonsai for sale
cactus anybody?
purple delight..
these were reasonably priced and I think are perfect as food photography props. I did buy a few for my collection.
Now, let's talk about today's recipe - Arroz Verde (Green Rice) Shall we? Have you ever tried this? It a simple idea where we blend all things green into a puree and cook with rice. A classic Mexican side dish and the green ingredients used in this recipe are - green tomatoes, spinach, green chilli and cilantro. If you have tomatillos, use them instead of green tomatoes. You can also use - arugula, kale, parseley, any kind of chilli variety like poblano, jalapeno in this recipe. Its not too spicy and serves as an accompaniment with beans or any curry. Enjoy! This recipe is being sent as an entry to Healthy Vegan Friday # 27
All things green - spinach, green chillies, green tomatoes and coriander
{Recipe} Arroz Verde | Green Rice
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice,, washed and rinsed couple of times (I used Basmati)
2 green tomatoes, roughly chopped (Use tomatillos if you have some.)
1 cups of chopped greens - I used spinach and cilantro
1 green chilli (remove seeds for a milder version)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cups of water
2 tsp olive oil
Preparation:
Place the green tomatoes, green chilli, spinach and cilantro in a blender cup. Grind into a smooth paste. No need to add any water. The juice from the tomatoes is enough for pureeing. Set aside.
Heat olive oil and add garlic with chopped onion. Saute for couple of minutes. Now, add rice. Let it brown a bit until the rice turns light golden color. Now, add the green puree along with water. Season with salt. Cover and bring rice to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and cook until the liquid is completely absorbed. Don't stir while its cooking.
Once the rice is cooked, remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and Serve it as an accompaniment with almost anything. It tastes delicious as-is too!
Christmas is over and there are just 4 days for 2012 to end. Its simply amazing how fast the time has flown by. This year has certainly brought many good memories, sprang up some unexpected surprises and few bad memories which I wish to completely forget and pray they never ever happen again.
“Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” ~ Brad Paisley
Come early January and its again the time where we come up with our New Year resolutions. Its the sudden burst of motivation and excitement that a new year bestows upon us. A "New Year Resolution" is notoriously well-known to be short-lived where its soon forgotten within first few weeks and the guilt of it starts to set in soon after But, I think its imperative to be more realistic & flexible while choosing the "right" resolutions. Identify the hardships that you are likely to face and have a good, feasible plan to counter them. Most importantly, have fun while you are at it, in whatever you decide to do. It normally takes 21 days for a person to get habituated to anything. Take a day at a time and don't be hard on yourself.
2012 has taught me one thing for sure, that life is too short to be taken seriously and to brood upon, when my dad met with a fatal accident & when a very dear one got diagnosed with breast cancer. Life was perfect one day and the very next day everything was a mess!
“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” ~ Robert Frost
Pasta with Chickpeas, herbs, garlic and chillies.
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce
ingredients for the garlic-chilli paste
pound them coarsely
One of my other resolutions for almost every year to "eat healthy", with yummy flavors, protein-rich and good-carb food. Today's recipe falls into that category. It has chickpeas, pasta, lots of herbs and spicy kick to it.
Enjoy!
{Recipe} Pasta e Ceci with Herbs, Garlic and Chillies
Adapted from Cheeky Chilli and Luisa Weiss's My Berlin Kitchen Serves 1-2 (depending on how hungry they are!) Prep time: 5-6 hours for soaking and cooking if using dried chickpeas Cook time: 20-30 mins
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked (or canned, drained and rinsed) chickpeas**
1 tbsp olive oil
1 or 2 tomatoes (depending on how tart you want the sauce to be)
chopped herbs - I used basil and cilantro. One can use rosemary and/or parsley
1 whole garlic clove + 1 garlic clove (minced - optional)
2 dry red chillies
1/2 tsp salt + more as needed
fistful of dry pasta of any kind. I used farfalle.
*Note**: Soak 2 cups dry chickpeas over night in filtered water and then pour water until they are fully submerged, pressure cook on HIGH heat for 9-12 minutes. Let the pressure be released naturally and there you have boiled chickpeas ready for use. I normally cook at least 5-6 cups and freeze them in small portions. When required, all you have to do is thaw and they are ready for use.
Preparation:
For Chilli-Garlic paste - Soak red chillies in boiling water for 30 minutes so that they soften a bit. Drain and roll them in paper towels. In a mortar and pestle, coarsely pound chilies with whole garlic clove and a 1/2 tsp of salt.
For Chickpeas - Cook chickpeas as per the *Note* above. Save some liquid in which they are cooked in. Reserve half of boiled chickpeas and puree the rest with its own liquid along with salt and cilantro.
1. Heat olive oil in a pan and add minced garlic (if using). Then add little chilli paste (I added about 1/4 tsp). The recipe doesn't require the entire amount pounded. Save rest in an air tight container. Add tomatoes and cook until they break down.
2. Mix in the chickpea puree. Season with some salt if necessary.
3. Boil the pasta until al dente. Add some pasta liquid to the sauce, if its too thick.
4. Drain pasta in a colander and add to chickpea sauce. Add the reserved whole chickpeas and toss gently. Check for the seasoning.
5. Sprinkle herbs and Serve immediately.
...a meal enjoyed all by myself on a cool Sunday afternoon. They say memories are associated with food, most of the times. Its definitely true with this recipe. The empty plate and the burrp are the proof. :-)
During this happy holiday times, bring a smile and make difference into these kids lives at Vaidehi Ashram. Donate and lend a helping hand for their bright future. More details - Click here.
Some tastes of childhood you can never forget and can never fade away. It is a taste you regularly try to recall. Sometimes it works and most of the time it does not, especially if you are in a foreign land away from your home where eating a home-cooked meal by your mother is a distant dream. I was in such a situation for 6 long years until we came back to India for good last year.
After hogging and devouring on festive food, my mother would always make this simple, one-pot meal of Cabbage with Lentil Rice. This year's Diwali was no exception. Its comfort food to the tee.
2 cups basmati rice (or any other variety)
1 cup toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas)
2 cups chopped green cabbage
3-4 green chillies
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp chilli powder
few curry leaves
1 tsp garam masala powder
salt - to taste
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
4.5 cups water
Preparation:
1. In a pressure pan, heat oil. Add green chillies, curry leaves, onions and ginger-garlic paste. Fry until light golden brown in color. Add garam masala, chilli powder and salt.
2. Add toor dal and cabbage. Saute for few minutes. Mix well.
3. Add rice and cook for 2 mins. Add water and stir everything once.
4. After 1 whistle, let the pressure cooker be on heat for 2 more minutes (don't wait until the second whistle) and turn it off.
5. Once the pressure has subsided, lightly fluff with fork and serve with any spicy accompaniment.
Below is a step by step pictorial of how to make Cabbage Lentil Rice.
Rinse rice couple of times. No need of prior soaking.
In a pressure pan, heat oil. Add green chillies, curry leaves, onions and ginger-garlic paste. Fry until light golden brown in color.
Add rinsed toor dal . Saute for few minutes. Mix well.
Add chopped cabbage. Toss lightly.
Add rice.
Add water and stir everything once. After 1 whistle, let the pressure cooker be on heat for 2 more minutes (don't wait until the second whistle) and turn it off..
Once the pressure has subsided, lightly fluff with fork
Serve hot with any spicy side dish and/or raita. Yum!
It is Holiday Season and best time to spread some happy cheer all around. Its time to give-away something special to my lovely readers who support me all along the way. One lucky winner who resides in India only (Others, Check these giveaways and enter there) will be chosen for an opportunity win this fabulous prize. A chance to win a Canon Powershot A810 Point & Shoot Camera(Choice of color - Black, Silver or Red) along with 4 GB SDHC Card + Case + Charger
Here is what you need to do:
1. Leave a comment on this post. As simple as that.
To increase your chances in the random drawing, do one or more of the following and leave a comment once you did so. 2. Follow Cooking With Siri on Facebook and/or Follow me on Twitter. - @sirime
4. Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the below text - {Holiday #Giveaway} #Enter for a chance to #win a Canon PowerShot Camera at @sirime's blog. Details - http://tinyurl.com/canoncameragiveaway
If you are already liked me on facebook, following on twitter or subscribed to RSS feed, just leave a comment letting me know and you are entered in the giveaway automatically! This giveaway is open for Indian residents only and You don't have to be a blogger to win the camera. Last date for participation is November 30th 2012 midnight IST and one winner randomly picked will be announced on December 1st 2012. .
