Black Bean, corn and mango salad

Ingredients: Black Beans: 1 can Red Onions(finely chopped): 1 medium sized. Fresh Corn Kernels: 1/2 cup Ripe Mango(chopped): 1/2 cup Honey: 1 tbsp Lime Juice: 1 tbsp salt to taste Olive oil: 1 tsp Bell Pepper(chopped): 1/4 cup Cilantro(finely chopped): 1 tbsp Procedure: Add oil to a pan and when the oil is heated add the corn kernels and cook until the corn is cooked. Add the cooked corn to the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilant...

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Coconut Rice

Coconut rice is a simple south Indian dish that can be fixed in minutes. If you have left over rice, this is a great way to use it. I personally like it better with hot freshly cooked rice. When the rice is hot it soaks in the flavors of the seasoning and the coconut very well. Ingredients: Cooked White Rice( long grain or basmati) : 2 cups Fresh shredded coconut: 1/2 cup Salt to taste Seasoning Oil: 2 tbsp Channa Dal: 1 tsp Urad Dal: 1 tsp Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Broken Red Chillies: 3 Green Chillies: 4 Curry Leaves: 5 Asafoetida(Hing): a pinch Procedure: Add oil to the pan and when the oil is heated, add...

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Tofu Cabbage Rice - An article inspired dish

Other day I was reading an article on CNN that had a list of some super foods that are good for you. The list consisted of Cabbage, Tofu, Black Beans, Cinnamon, Tomato, Blueberries, Salmon, Cocoa, Basil, Yogurt. Here is link to the article.While I was reading that, I thought most of them we use on a day to day basis in our Indian cooking.  I don't usually come up with a menu for my meals before hand. I open my fridge stare at the veggies for a while and come up with something. It was lunch time and as always I was staring at the fridge and suddenly remembered this article I read in the morning. Then I was like why not combine...

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Pachi Pulusu - no cooking required

When I started this blog my main intention was to treasure some of the traditional recipes from my family. There are certain recipes from my grand mother that only my mom knows now, after grand mother passed away. If I don't learn those recipes from her and pass on to future generations, that's it. They are gone. Saving those authentic traditional recipes in a blog on the world wide web is a great way to preserve them for ever I thought and that's how this blog was born. This is an instant no cooking required recipe. My mom usually makes this during summer. When the temperatures are in 100s, and the last thing you want to do is stand...

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Tres Leches Cake - 3 milk cake

My friend "S" told me about this Tres Leches Cake some time back and then she sent me pics of the cake she made. I have never heard of this cake before and the gorgeous pics she sent made me drool. When she told me Tres Leches means 3 milks and this cake contains the three milks whole milk, evaporated milk and the condensed milk, I had to try it immediately being a milk fan. I generally like anything made with milk. I am not a sweet person, but tend to like the ones made with milk products. The first time I tried this cake, it was a big flop. I did not beat the eggs properly and the cake turned out to be hard and not at all fluffy. It did...

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Pepper Rasam

I am not a big fan of sweets. Spicy, tangy are my flavors. Today's post pepper rasam is a spicy tangy soup made with lentils and falvoured with freshly ground pepper. Back home in India, our meal often comprised of a dal, rasam/sambar or pulusu and a curry or a fry. Rasam/sambar was a must every day and my mom can cook at least 10 different varieties of rasams. This pepper rasam tastes heavenly specially when you are down with cold/cough. Ingredients: Toor dal: 1/4 cup Pepper Corns: 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Tamarind Juice: 1 tbsp Salt as required. Chopped Cilantro: 2 tbsp Seasoning: Oil: 2 tbsp Mustard seeds: 1 tsp Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Curry...

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Alu Palak/Potato Spinach Curry

Other day when we were watching the soccer finals, hubby asked me if I knew why Holland dress color was Orange. I was like may be it was a color from their flag or a random color that they chose. Honestly, I did not know the answer. Then he told me that Dutch were the first ones to make orange carrots! I laughed and said Carrots were supposed to be orange and what was it that they had to make specially. He then said that carrots were originally in purple color and the Dutch made the first orange carrots. I did not buy that. How could they even make an orange carrot from a purple carrot and even if they did what happened to the original purple...

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Green Beans Fry

Beans fry is a quick fix meal when I run out of options or groceries or when I am just lazy to cook.I usually buy green beans in bulk form cotco/sams, clean them and cut them into small pieces and store in the freezer.That makes it even more easy to cook. No cutting/cleaning required. Just toss the veggies in oil and add the spices. Hardly takes 10 -15 minutes from start to finish. Ingredients: Green Beans( cut into small pieces): 2 cups Channa Dalia: 2 tbsp Salt as required. Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp Seasoning: Oil: 2 tbsp Mustard seeds: 1 tsp Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp Broken Red Chillies: 2 Curry leaves: 4 Asoefetida(hing):...

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Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken..........the name itself makes my mouth water. Who doesn't like butter chicken? Butter chicken and naan......can there be a better combo? This recipe is by my friend 'S'. Vegetarians can substitute chicken with paneer and that makes Paneer butter masala. Ingredients: Chicken – 1.5 lbs, boneless skinless thighs Lemon Juice – 3 tbsp Red Chili Powder – to taste Salt – to taste Yogurt – 1/2 cup Ginger & Garlic Paste – 4 tsp Tandoori Masala – 2 tsp Unsalted Butter – 1.5 tbsp Garam Masala – 2 tsp Big Cardamom – 3 Green Cardamom – 4 Cinnamon Stick – 1″ pc. Bay Leaf – 2 Tomatoes – 3 large, pureed Sugar – 1 tsp or to taste Dried...

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Egg Fry - A simple dish for a busy day

Ingredients: Eggs: 2 Onion(large) : 1 Salt as required Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp Seasoning: Oil: 2 tsp Mustard seeds: 1/2tsp Cumin seeds: 1/2tsp Red chillies(broken): 2 Turmeric: 1/4 tsp Curry leaves: 4 Asoefetida: a pinch Procedure: Boil the eggs in water. Peel them and set them aside. To a pan add oil and all the seasoning ingredients in the order mentioned. When the seeds start spluttering, add onions and fry them until they become soft. Now add the hardboiled eggs to the onions and fry for few minutes. Add salt and chilli powder. Serve with rice or rot...

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