Happy Diwali !

 

Wishing all my readers and friends a joyful Deepavali.
Wishing you all enjoy the day with family and friends with beautiful rangolis, mehanthi , favorite foods, new dresses, sparkling crackers, lamps (diyas), health , wealth ,prosperity, new movies and most importantly with lots and lots of happiness and smile,
May all the days ahead are filled with happiness in all of our homes,


Happy Deepavali!
Love,
Viki Xavier

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is an Italian appetizer dish prepared during November to taste the newly prepared olive oil.  This is a very quick recipe and easy to follow. I prepared this as a main course meal along with soup. Here we have a farmer's market in the neighborhood that sells freshly baked Italian bread and rolls. There will be a rush for this bread always and I love that freshly baked smell very much. So we pick up three or four big breads for a dollar (unbelievable price:) ) whenever we go there.  I adopted this recipe from various foodnetwork tv shows according to our taste. Try this bruschetta and enjoy !

Ingredients:
Bread rolls - 1
small avocado - 1
butter - 1 tsp
extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)- 2 tbsp
garlic powder - 1 tsp
basil leaf - 3
salt - to taste
pepper - 1 tbsp
onion - 1
cherry tomato - few
tomato sauce (ketchup) - few tsp

Method:
Heat oven to 350 deg F.
Slice the rolls in to thick slices in diagonal way (larger surface).
Mix butter, Evoo, salt, garlic powder, pepper powder , finely chopped basil leaf to a paste.
Brush this mixture over the bread.
Sprinkle few pieces of sliced onion.
Bake for 6- 8 minutes for denser breads and lesser for white rolls.
Spread coarsely mashed avocado and top with sliced cherry tomatoes and tomato sauce.
Bruschetta is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as appetizer or side dish with soup.
Shredded cheese can also be added on top.

Note:
Instead of baking in oven, the bread can be fried in butter in a pan and spread the topping.
Avocado and tomato sauce is purely optional.

Capsicum Ramen noodles

Fresh Capsicums show up in every local market during the summer and mild weather conditions here. I admire them for their gorgeous colors and shapes....the common green chillies, jalapenos, sweet red capsicum, perfectly shaped yellow, rare orange, economical green peppers, locally grown multi colored peppers, long hot varieties and many many varieties. Whenever we go to a farmer's market I will definitely buy one or two peppers. Though literally I don't know much recipes for these capsicums, I will buy as if I am seduced by these colors:) Then only I will think for ways to using them whenever I open the fridge. In this recipe I prepared a noodle dish with a single sachet of Ramen noodles and increased the meal quantity by adding lots of capsicum, so that it serves two.  Here is the flavorful spicy noodles version using Ramen noodles and capsicum.

Ingredients:
Ramen noodles - 1 pack
(Oriental flavor vegetarian noodles - 85 gm sachet - 400 k cal)
green Capsicum / bell pepper - 1/2
red capsicum - 1/2
onion - 1
fresh green peas - 1/2 cup
ginger - 1 inch
flavoring sachet in the noodles - 1 (or) 1/2
tomato puree - 2 tbsp
oil - 2 tsp

garnish:
spring onion - few tbsp
tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp
hot sauce - 1 tsp
chilly flakes - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Cook noodles with 2 cups water. Rinse in cold water and drain. Keep aside.
Saute the finely chopped ginger. Add chopped onion and saute till it wilts.

Then add the sliced capsicum and saute for a few seconds.
Add the tomato puree and cook for 1 minute.  Then  add the cooked noodles, tomato sauce / ketchup, hot sauce, flavoring mix given in noodles packet. Switch off.
Garnish with finely chopped spring onion and chilly flakes.

Capsicum noodles is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve hot as main course with any protein rich side dish.
Makes a good lunch pack too.

Kathirikkai kadalai paruppu koottu

Brinjal curry with channa dal masala, eggplant Bengal gram curry.

This curry made with mashed bengal gram (channa dal) and brinjal is quite common in Southern Tamilnadu weddings. This koottu can be prepared more like a dal or like a thick curry (as I have shown in photo) and both ways it tastes good.

Ingredients :
Brinjal - 200 gm
channa dal (kadalai paruppu) - 1/2 cup
tamarind - small amla size
coconut oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
hing - a pinch
curry leaf - 1 sprig
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

To fry and grind:
coconut oil - 1 tsp
channa dal - 2 tbsp
coconut - 3 tbsp
cumin - 1 tsp
dry red chilly - 4
coriander seeds - 2 tbsp

Method:
Fry the items given one by one and let cool.
Grind to a  fine paste. Keep aside.

Take channa dal, chopped brinjal with turmeric powder, 2 cups water and cook completely (using pressure cooker or stove top).
Add the tamarind extract, salt,  masala paste prepared and bring to a boil. Cook till raw smell goes.

Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a wok. Add mustard and after it crackles add curry leaves, hing and pour over the dhal. (Some times I add onion also while tempering, which is not common for this recipe). Switch off.

Brinjal dal curry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with rice or chapati.

Cauliflower pakoda

I think Cauliflower is one of the most favorites in every household. Some years back (at least for people in my home town)getting some English vegetable like cauliflower was rare. Also those kind of veggies were more expensive because of transportation. I have never come across a Tamil word for Cauliflower (there will be a Tamil equivalent for most of the words in English), so I guess it is definitely a vegetable of modern days:) Thanks to the globalization in everything we get what we desire. While growing up, Cauliflower being an apple to our eyes, mom would make only chosen dishes with it. She would make very crispy fries with cauliflowers or put a tiny flower in vegetable briyani...that's it, we all would love whatever she made:). But nowadays I make many dishes with it and it became my regular in this part of globe we live and I love it:) Here is a pakoda / bajji with cauliflower and we had it did with sambar and rice :) 

Cauliflower pakora / bajji.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 (300 gm)
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Besan flour (kadalai mavu) - 3/4 cup

rice flour - 2 tbsp
corn starch - 1 tsp  (optional)
salt - to taste
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
hing (asafoetida)- 1/8 tsp
red food color - a pinch (optional but I didn't use)
garam masala - 1 tsp (optional)
oil - to deep fry (200 ml)

Method: 
Wash the cauliflower and break it into medium size florets.
Bring few cups of water to boil with 1 tsp salt and turmeric powder.
Put the cauliflower pieces in boiling water and boil for only one minute.
Switch off, drain water completely. Keep aside.

In a separate bowl mix besan flour, rice flour, corn starch, salt, hing, red chilly powder  with 1/4 cup water to a thick batter. The batter should be thick and should not be runny (otherwise the bajjis will absorb more oil). If there is more water , then add some more rice flour.  Heat oil in a wok. As it gets smoky hot, reduce flame and keep in medium flame. Dip the semi-cooked cauliflower pieces in the batter and put in hot oil.
Flip and fry both sides. Drain oil and take out.

Cauliflower pakoda / bajji is ready!

Serving suggestions: 
Serve hot as snack along with hot coffee or tea during rainy / winter season.
Tomato ketchup / sauce is a nice side dish for this fry.
I usually make them for some weekend lunch along with sambar rice or curd rice.

Kambu puttu

Kambu - pearl millet, bajra ; puttu - steam cooked food.

 Kambu is a native cereal of India. It can be grown in any soil with minimal care and believed to be one of the few existing ancient crops. No wonder it was one of the major crops before green revolution, but changes in culture has brought newer grains.
Preparing porridge (kool / koozh) using kambu is a common breakfast in South Indian villages. I prepare many dishes with kambu like kambu dosai, kolukkattai, urundai etc. Kambu has a very nice flavor when roasted. Recently I prepared puttu with kambu and it tasted many folds yummier.  Here is  a virtual treat to your eyes...Enjoy!

Kambu puttu

Ingredients:  (for 2 people)
whole pearl millet  (bajra/Kambu) - 3/4 cup
shredded coconut - 3 tbsp
salt - pinch

Method:
Sort the millet and remove any stones or sticks (nowadays they are stone-free).
Dry roast the kambu till it turns mild red and starts smelling nice At this stage it will start popping.
Now switch off and pour enough water. Wash the millet very well (thrice).
Keep it soaked for 10 to 30  minutes.

In the meantime prepare the puttu kuzhal or steaming vessel. Bring the water in bottom vessel to a boil. Click to see my rice kuzha puttu recipe for detailed instructions with photo.

Grind the kambu with pinch of salt, shredded coconut in a mixie to a 'medium coarse to fine' powder. Don't add water while powdering the kambu. Just pulse in intervals and it will be easily done.
Put it in puttu kuzhal and steam cook for 10 minutes after steam comes through the top holes.
We can make puttu in idly plates also. If need to prepare in a big batch,  tie the prepared kambu flour in a thin cloth and steam cook over an idly stand. We can feel the nice flavor filling the whole kitchen when it is completely cooked.

Puttu gets easily cooked than making a kambu choru (cooking like rice).

kambu puttu is ready!

Serving suggestions:
serve with powdered jaggery or white sugar or brown sugar and more shredded coconut.
It can also be served with green gram sundal.
Kadalai curry also makes a good accompaniment.

Brinjal buttermilk curry

Kathirikkai more kulambu, Eggplant curry with buttermilk, South Indian more curry.

'More' is the Tamil word for Buttermilk . 'Kulambu' means 'stew' poured over rice.So 'More kulambu' means a stew prepared with Buttermilk. This kulambu is a must if you prepare a traditional TamilNadu style lunch. More-kulambu should be served over steamed rice , after serving sambar and vathak kulambu.

I used our homegrown eggplant which was nearly 350 gms. As it was very big for a more kulambu, I halved it and used one half to make more kulambu one day and used the other half to prepare sambar the next day.

More kulambu.....our favorite curry with our favorite vegetable.

Another beautiful aubergine / eggplant from our garden.

I used the largest brinjal to make serwa .

The largest aubergine brinjal from our garden

Brinjal serwa I made using our largest brinjal. It tasted absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:
curd (Indian Yogurt plain) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Brinjal - 150 gm
Ginger - 2 inch
green chilli - 2
Bengal gram / channa dhal - 1 tbsp
rice - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
coconut oil - 1 tbsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilli - 2
curry leaves - 1 sprig
water - 2 cups

Method:
Soak channa dhal and rice for 30 minutes.

In the mean time prepare the brinjal.
Wash the brinjal and cut it into long thick slices.
Heat oil in a wok and add the brinjal pieces.
Fry well in low heat. Cook till it is almost done with a mild red color.
Take out and keep aside.

Grind ginger , green chillies , rice and channa dhal to a fine paste.
Heat 2 cups of water in a cooking pan and add the ground paste along with turmeric and salt.
Cook for few minutes till raw smell goes.
Now add the fried brinjal and bring it to a boil.
Before switching off add the curd. Mix well.


Now heat 1 tsp oil in a pan (that we used to fry brinjal).
Crackle the mustard seeds and add chopped dry red chillies with curry leaves.Add this tempering to the prepared curry.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Brinjal more kulambu is ready.

Serving Suggestions:
Serves 4 people.
Serve over steamed rice.
Potato fry is a good side dish for More Kulambu.