Our lunch - Rasam

Many south Indians love their rasam. My husband is not one of them. He refused it completely as a child. As an adult he likes it....... sometimes. Rarely.
But I relish it.

And so today, a variation. Yellow tomato rasam. It does give a different flavour. Perhaps less tangy, but still delicious.
I always put coriander leaves in mine, but didn't have any on
hand today.

Also, there's black channa sundal in the small cup.

Got leftover idli?

Make idli "upma"!

Here's how:
Crumble the idli into smaller pieces.
Heat oil and add mustard, jeera seeds, and kari patta.
Add chopped red onion,salt and fry it well.
Add in the idli and stir. Pour some sesame/gingelly oil on them
and fry for a few minutes.
Finally, sprinkle with chutney podi to taste.

*Don't have enough leftover idli? Add in some soaked poha.
That's what I did here!

Idli and coconut chutney

Simple wholesome meal

Yesterdays meal, made from my new and exciting produce....

Radish moong dal(with heirloom tomatoes)
Fingerling potatoes with the radish greens(tops)

Radically simple radish greens and potatoes

1yellow onion chopped small
4-5 red fingerling (or any) potatoes chopped fairly small
radish(or any leafy) greens chopped finely
1t cumin seeds
2-3 cloves garlic
chili powder,salt
olive oil

Put oil in the pan, heat it, and add the cumin seeds. When they start fry add the garlic and after a minute, add the onion. Fry till transluscent then add the potatoes and salt. Stir. Sprinkle some water and cover until almost cooked.
Then add the green leaves and chili powder. Stir fry until the greens are cooked and the potatoes are slightly browned.

Bountiful

A trip to Whole foods market yielded all kinds of healthy things as you can see...

-Organic cane sugar, whole wheat flour,
-goji berries, raisins,
-potato chips, veggie chips,
-chocolate chips, granola,
-red italian onions, california yellow onions
-heirloom tomatoes, yellow, 2 other kinds
-cameo, gala apples
-Costa rican mango, mineola, banana
-red pear, bartlett pear
-french fingerling potatoes
-easter egg radishes, rainbow swiss chard
-whole, unhomogenized milk
-"homemade" style butter
-some various organic yogurts and other dairy products.
and eggs :)

Variation2- paneer burji

Heat oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Then add chopped onions, green chilies and salt.
When they are well cooked, stir in turmeric, and your fav masala powder( I used sambhar powder).
Then add finely chopped tomatoes. Cook a few minutes and add the crumbled paneer.
Stir well and cook few mins longer.
Eat with roti.

Variations on a theme- paneer paratha

After making fresh paneer, do not press it fully. I added in dried methi leaves, chili powder, and salt.


Then crumble it.
Put this filling inside chapathi dough and roll it out.
Cook on the tava, brushing each side with oil.












Eaten with mango pickle.

Baklava recipe

Has been added!!!

CHECK BELOW.

Well, Y-ellow there!

Easter dinner

Jeera rice
Chicken kulambu
Potato stuffed bread dough
Eggs
Zucchini pachadi

seeing purple

Made a trip to "whole foods market". They do have some interesting varieties of fruits and vegs, but they are usually so expensive. The bad thing about that, is that many of them are not even organic. I could understand paying more, even paying a lot, for organic produce, but at least half are labeled as "conventional"(referring to the farming method). There were small colourful cauliflowers in green, orange, and purple that were SO tempting, but 5 dollars each for nonorganic..... I couldnt bring myself to pay.

But these purple potatoes were at a slightly more reasonable $1.69 per pound, so I couldnt pass it up.

Dinner: Poori, egg curry, Potato masala

Chickoo

I havent been taking pics lately but have cooked a couple nice meals.......

-Parripu usli with guvar beans, mor kuzhambhu with zucchini, plantain fry

-Appam, potato "stew" with coconut milk

-Cauliflower soup (again) but this time with all roasted vegs

and

-Scones

Rice

Clockwise from top... Sona masoori, kali jeera, basmati(Royal brand), Ponni raw
Center... Idli rice(parboiled)


I was trying to capture the size and texture of the grains but the colour looks a little darkish, sorry about that.

mango crisp

I had lotsa ataulfo mangoes so I made mango crisp! Just mixed brown sugar, rolled oats, white flour, cardamom and butter - put it on top of sliced mangoes in a baking dish and bake on 350 for 20 mins or so. Served warm with Breyers vanilla ice cream. MMM!

pakora-curry

I think that lately Ive been sticking to mostly simple and basic foods(besides the baking, which is new), which are good in their own way but havent been making some old favs that take a few extra steps and so last week I made this cabbage pakora curry. Will try to remember to post the recipe soon.