If you love eating, you can surely be a good cook, but to be an excellent one, you should have good critics at home. For that I owe to my husband and my children.

I dedicate this blog to the young ladies - "the starters".

Monday, June 13, 2011

Aloo Jeera



Ingredients

Potatoes - 3 large
Mustard oil - 4tbsp
Jeera (cummin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Chili powder - ½ tbsp
Salt
Water -3 tbsp
Chopped coriander leaves -2 tbsp
Lemon wedges

Preparation

In a heavy bottomed vessel pour mustard oil.
Add jeera and as it crackles add skinned and
cubed potatoes.
Sauté till it turns golden brown.
Potato shrinks in size.
Add turmeric, chili powder, salt and stir till it is fried
and well coated to the potato.
Pour water and let it simmer on low flame keeping the lid on.
After a couple of minutes when the potatoes are soft and well
coated with the masala squeeze lime about a teaspoon.
Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and serve with raita and hot chappatis.

For this recipe mustard oil cannot be substituted by any other oil.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Softy Sandwich




Ingredients


Bread -4 slices
Hung curd - ½ cup
Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Green chilies - 1
Onion - ½
salt
Grated cucumber – ½ cup
Honey - 2 tbsp
Sweet mango
or
pineapple - ½ cup
Grated carrot – ½ cup
Tomato sauce -2 tbsp

Preparation


Make green chutney with coriander leaves,
Green chilies, onion and salt
Slice cucumber into juliann and keep aside.
Skin and chop mango or pineapple and mix in honey.
Grate carrot and keep aside.
Keep all these in the fridge in different containers.

Just before serving-

On the first sandwich bread, spread tomato sauce and grated carrot.
Top it with second bread which is spread with a teaspoon of curd .
Spoon in mango or pineapple honey on top of the second bread
and place the third bread spread with curd.
Spoon in cucumber and green chutney mixture on top.
Cover this with fourth bread which is spread with curd.
Slice it to get a triangular shape.
A very soft and healthy sandwich is ready.

To make hung curd – in a fine sieve or muslin cloth
Pour curd and keep on a vessel in the fridge for an hour.
The water will collect in the vessel and you
get thick curd to spread.

To make tomato sauce - In a blender put two cut
tomatoes,two garlic,salt,half tsp sugar,half tsp chili powder
and blend it to a fine paste.On medium flame boil till it reduces.
You get fresh tomato sauce without any preservatives.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Prawn & Egg Noodles



Ingredients

Noodles/spaghetti –a hand full
Prawns - ½ cup
Spring onions green - 3
Garlic - 6
Milk 2 tbsp
Eggs - 2
Parmesan cheese - 20 gms
Olive oil
Pepper
Chili flakes
Sea Salt

Preparation


Boil noodles adding salt and oil in water.
Drain in right time.
In a wok, heat oil add chopped garlic and
Spring onions.
Let it sweat; then add prawns,salt,chilli flakes and crushed pepper.
Stir till the prawns turn pink and is cooked.
Now, add noodles and toss it.

Beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and grated parmesan together.
Pour on the noodles, on low flame stir till egg gets well coated.
Garnish with chopped green spring onions and chili flakes.
Serve hot straight from the pan.

Mangalore friends


Remembering our eagle friends.
I just had to call 'eagle'...
wherever they are, they used to
fly and perch on the coconut tree-
near my kitchen window and were ready to
eat the fish or bread I keep on the
window sill...

We have moved to Trivandrum and do
miss namma Mangaluru and our dear friends..