Kitchen-Kollections

Well..its beautiful weather outside..its raining! I feel..something is definetly different about the way it rains in India..i dont know why. May be because of the sweet smell of wet earth or the way everybody patiently waits for rains! In some places..people celebrate when it rains..specially the first rain of the monsoon season. Best thing about delhi weather (coz i lived in new delhi) is i think its predictable. nov to feb its sure shot cold winter..feb to april its spring..april till july its hot hot summer..july to september its raining season or you can say autumn..october is festival season hahaha you know whats going to happen in each month. Here in US..it rains in every season..haha its funny how i am comparing..may be I still have not got used to this climate. Now i will stop talking about weather..lets talk about our onion pakoras…indians love eating endless plates of pakoras..rain plus pakoras plus hot tea..thats it. its a perfect combination! One can easily make all these in a jiffy. So here is the recipe..

Onion Fritters or Onion pakoras

1 cup gram flour or besan

2 tbsp corn flour

2 sliced onions

4 to 5 slit green chillies

A bunch of curry leaves

1 tsp jeera or fennel

1 tsp red chilli powder

a pinch of turmeric

salt to taste

oil

Method

Sieve gram flour and corn flour and mix it with all the ingredients. Add little water and keep mixing it so that there are no lumps. It should have smooth consistency. The more chillies you add..the more spicy it will be..so adjust accordingly. After you have mixed it..keep it covered for 10 minutes. Take a deep pan and add oil to it and heat it on medium. With the help of a spoon, take a spoonful of the batter and deep fry it in the oil. When the pieces are properly friend or become brown in color, take them out and put them on some absorbent paper. Serve hot with dhaniya pudina chutney or hot chilli sauce!

Carrot Coconut curry is another curry which is quite easy to make and very nutritious. This is one of the typical andhra recipe..you will find this curry being served in marriages..its quite common there in india. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups grated carrot

1 cup grated coconut

2 green chillies

salt to taste

Popu or tadka

1 tspn urad dal

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp jeera

2 or 3 red chillies

a bunch of curry leaves

Coriandar leaves for garnishing

Method

Pour 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan. Heat should be on medium. Add the tadka ingredients and keep stirring. Add green chillies and carrot and saute well. Add salt to taste. Put a lid on the pan so that it is properly cooked. After almost 10 to 15 min, add the grated coconut and mix it well. Again put the lid and let it cook. It takes approximately 20 to 25 min to make this curry. In the end, add coriandar leaves on top. Serve hot with chapati aur rice.

Today’s special recipe is brinjal or vankai pacchadi. I remember whenever my mom used to make this chutney in the kitchen..i could recognize the smell from the distance..and i used to just pick a plate..put some rice and thats it..wait wait till the chutney is complete. Best thing about this chutney is the lemon flavour and that tantilising taste of roasted brinjal. 

Basic ingredients are big oval shaped brinjal ,green chillies, dry red chillies,urad dal,mustard seeds
jeera, methi seeds,hing powder, a pinch of turmeric

For more detailed recipe, please email at saroja@kitchen-kollections.com

Cauliflower is identified by its edible, rounded mass of curds. These curds are often mistakenly referred to as florets, but are actually undeveloped shoot tips. White cauliflower is the most commonly grown, but there are also cultivators with purple, green and even pink curds.

The best way to prepare your cauliflower is to simply wash it in cold preferably salted water. Cut away most of the out side leaves so that the cauliflower stands upright. If you make a cross in the base or cut out the first 2cm of the stalk this will ensure that it cooks quickly. It is recommended to soak your cauliflower for 10mins in salted water to draw out any insects hiding away inside.

Here is another simple recipe ..cauliflower fry.

Cauliflower fry

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1 medium size onion
1 medium size cauliflower
1/2 lemon

Method:

1. Wash cauliflower in hot water [you can optionally place the whole flower in hot water with pinch of salt for about 5 mins]

2. Chop onions lengthwise and keep them aside.

3. Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan.

4. Put some jeera and dhania seeds. when they splutter , add the onions and add a pinch of turmeric. Remember to always cook at medium heat setting. High heat only dehydrates food and hence burns it faster. While the onions are frying, you can cut cauliflower into small florets. you dont really need to chop it fine. Just need to separte big florets or curds into smaller ones. so once they cook they would still retain their shape rather than become pulpy.

5. Once the onions are pinkish brown in color, add the florets. The trick to not making a pulp is this—add in 4 batches, each time mixing so all the onions and pieces mix evenly.

6. Once you are done with adding the florets, add salt to taste. Note: if you put a lid on your pan then all you would get is pulp, not fry. So if you want to see cauliflower florets retain their shape, don’t use lid until much later as I suggest in my next step.

7. Cauliflowers generally cook fast so it will take about 15 mins for the pieces to soften. If you want you can add lid for about a min or 2 [just before removing from heat] on sim heat.

9. Before removing from heat, add chilli powder and popula karam [recipe provided below] and mix well. You can even garnish it with lemon or coriander leaves.

This dish is really easy and one can make it in a jiffy. Poha or beaten rice flakes upma is nutritious and quite healthy. One can add colorful vegetables like green,red or yellow bell pepper, carrots, peas..and it increases the taste!! I am sure children who generally avoid veggies would definetely try this one..may be out of curiosity! I added one more ingredient this time..i add boiled corn. Here is the recipe.

Poha upma 

Ingredients

1 cup poha or beaten rice flakes

1 cup – red,green and yellow bell pepper – nicely diced

1/2 cup boiled corn

1/2 cup carrot

1 cup onion

2 or 3 green chillies

a pinch turmeric

1/2 tsp red chilli powder( adjust according to your taste)

salt to taste

Method

Sprinkle some water on poha or rice flakes so that they become soft and keep them aside. Put some oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, jeera, chana daal and urad dal (1/2 tsp each). After they splutter add onion and green chillies and fry for a while. Add all the cut vegetables – carrots, boiled corn, and peppers. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder, mix it well and let it cook for a while. Add the poha and mix it well so that the entire masala gets coated on the flakes. Sprinkle some lemon juice and serve it hot with hot tea! Its an amazing breakfast combination!

Hazelnut and walnut cake

Ingredients

Betty crocker pound cake mix

2 eggs

vanilla essence

Nuts (hazelnut and walnuts)

3/4 cup milk

Method

Pour the mix into a bowl and add milk and mix well. Break two eggs and beat them well so that the whole mix becomes soft. Add half teaspoon of vanilla essence. Finally add chopped nuts. Preheat oven to 350 F for 10 minutes. Pour the mix into a baking dish and bake it for 35 min. To check whether its properly baked, insert a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean that means the cake is fully baked! Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Its the most basic pound cake that one can make..so there are many variations.  I used choclate syrup here and it tasted super!