Foodie Workz

Podimas is a very well known dish in any typical Tamil Brahmin household.   I decided to try this out differently by adding celery to it.   The addition of celery gave a nice added flavor to the potaotes.  3 medium potatoes 4 long stalks of celery trimmed 2 long green chillies 1/2 tsp mustard 3/4 tsp of urad dal and chana dal ginger small piece  few curry leaves salt to taste lemon juice to taste Boil the potatoes, peel and coarsely crumble them.   Chop the celery into medium size pieces and steam cook them for 2-3 minutes.  Process this in a food processor. Heat up the oil, add the mustard, dals, green chili, ginger and curry leaves and stir the celery first.  Add the potatoes and salt and keep stirring it on medium flame till it combines well with the celery. Squeeze some lemon juice in the end and give a good mix.  

This was prepared before I went on a vacation during winter break.  I wanted to clear out most of the vegetables in my refrigerator especially the chayote squash.  I could have prepared a kurma or a kootu but decided to try out a stew kind of dish using almonds instead of coconut milk. 1 medium chayote squash chopped 1 med carrot cubed 1 potato cubed handful of peas 1 onion finely chopped 3/4 tsp cumin seeds 2-3 green chillies 3-4 garlic cloves 1 inch piece ginger 1 tbsp oil 3 tsp sliced almond soaked in little milk 1 tsp coconut salt to taste 1/8 to 1/4 tsp chilli powder Take oil splutter the cumin seeds, 2-3 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon and pinch of elaichi powder, small bay leaf.  Add onions and saute it on med heat for 2 minutes.  Add the grated ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute for a minute.  Add all the vegetables, salt, pinch of turmeri powder and stir for a minute.  Add water so that the vegetables are just covered and pr...

A very Happy New Year to all of you out there.  I wanted to welcome the new year by posting the Badam Cake which I prepared a couple of days back but as I was not ready with a picture I decided to do this post. I have been seeing and hearing of late about this dish called Methi Mattar Malai that I thought I should try it one day.  I had this bunch of methi leaves which was purchased by my better half without my knowledge and also the paneer which was bought on my request.  I asked for the paneer with the intention of preparing some Mattar Paneer.  So when I noticed this bunch of methi leaves, I could immediately only think of Methi Mattar Malai.  I also had some whipping cream waiting to be used up.  So I decided why not use up all three in one dish and hence ended up with this dish. After looking at some recipes on the net I decided I was going to start off the way I would do Mattar Paneer and add the methi leaves towards the end.  Eventhough I h...

I came across the recipe for this dish when I was in India this summer in a local magazine.  The recipe called for 200 gms of cashews for 3 ridge gourds and curry leaf sprigs but did not have any tomatoes.  I correspondingly adjusted the recipe for 1 ridge gourd but  significantly reduced(used only half of what I should have used for 1 ridge gourd) the amount of cashews.  Nevertheless, the dish turned out to be very tasty and flavorful thanks to the addition of kasoori methi.   Try it out and you will like it too!! 1 long ridge gourd 1/2 of a medium size onion finely chopped 25 gms cashews soaked in water for half hour 1 small tomato 1 green chili 1 garlic clove 1 small piece ginger 1/2 tsp coriander powder 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp chili powder(non spicy one) 2 pinches of kasoori methi First peel and cut the ridge gourd into cubes.  Saute the garlic, ginger and chili slightly in very little oil and grind this with the cashews into...

Dal Makhani is a one of the traditional dish of the Punjabi cuisine packed with proteins and rich in fibre.  A generous amount of butter and cream are also added to lend a rich flavor.  However, I wanted to replicate this dish with some fat milk instead of the rich cream.  And the outcome was quite good and we all got a fulfilling meal!!   1 and a 1/4 cup of whole urad 1/2 cup rajma 1 medium onion finely chopped 3 medium ripe tomatoes pureed 2 inch piece ginger grated 4-5 big garlic cloves 2 slit green chili 1 tsp chili powder 2 tsp coriander powder 2 tsp garam masala powder oil as required 2 tsp butter 1/2 to 1 cup fat milk  Soak the dals together overnight and pressure cook in water about 5 times the quantity of the dal.  Add salt and little amount of the chili powder and some ginger while cooking.  Once the pressure is released, mash the dals with the masher while it is still hot. Take sufficient oil and when it is hot splut...

We all know that white pumpkin is a very widely used vegetable in the South Indian cooking with possibility of varied dishes like the Sambar, Kootu, Morkootu, Aviyal.   However to my knowledge, I have not known or hear anybody say that they have made a subzi with these pumpkins to go well with the rotis.  Today,  I got this wonderful home grown pumpkin from my friend(never seen one like this so firm yet tender and pure white in color).  Since I always like to come with some new innovations,  decided to make a dish out of these pumpkins that could be eaten with the rotis.  Hence, this kootu preparation combining the north and south flavors.   This is my typical preparation of the Kootu for rotis when I do not feel like having any gravy dishes with garam masala. 3-4 cups of chopped white pumpkin 1 small onion chopped 1 tomato chopped 1 green chili 1 tsp grated ginger 2 tbsp chana dal 1/4 cup moong dal 1 tsp sambar powder pinc...

2 cups of boiled chana 1 big bunch of methi - trimmed, washed and chopped coarsely 1/2 cup of chopped onion 1/2 cup of chopped tomato 1 green chilli 3-4 garlic cloves 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp chilli powder 1/2 tsp garam masala powder 1/2 tsp amchur powder salt to taste oil Cumin seeds Heat up the oil in a pan. When it gets hot enough, splutter the cumin seeds. Add the onions and saute them for sometime until it changes color slightly. Add the green chilli and garlic and toss them for an addition half a minute. Add the tomatoes and saute them for a couple of minutes adding chilli powder, garam masala and turmeric powder. Add the chopped methi leaves and continue to cook until the leaves wilt down. Add some salt just enough for the leaves. Remember the cooked chana has already salt in it. Once the leaves are cooked, add the chana and amchur powder give a good stir and cook covered on low heat for about five minutes. You can add little amount ...

You must be wondering what is happening here....but, you have to believe!!! Yes, I made a dish using the white parts of the watermelon which we normally discard without even a second thought. If you have bought this huge full watermelon from the market, that is a lot of the edible portions which end up in the trash. With the intention to use these in the dosa, I saved the white portions when I was cutting up this huge water melon a couple of days back. But I learned from my mother that lot more was possible like kootu, subzi and chutney. After talking to her, I decided I will make a kootu with the watermelon rind. Last night I had soaked some adzuki beans with the intention to sprout them up. However, I remembered about the watermelons this morning and decided to combine these two and cook up a pitlai instead of using the traditional toor dal. My indecisiveness did not end there and after some deliberation decided to use some tomatoes instead of the tamarind as I planned on ...

Sometimes a simple dish makes a wholesome and fulfilling meal.  One such preparation is this Rasdar using the yellow crooked neck squash.  I also make this Rasdar with Lauki or Chayote Squash.  After coming to the US,  I began experimenting with other vegetables like zucchini and yellow squash.  This by itself with hot phulkas make a wonderful meal..Here is how it is done.... 2 long and big yellow squash(mine were like about 8 inches long) peeled lightly and cubed 1 medium onion 2 medium ripe tomatoes 1 medium potato peeled and cubed 1 full tsp each of grated ginger and garlic 1 green chili grated 1 tsp garam masala pinch of chilli powder 1/4 tsp turmeric powder few chopped coriander  leaves  2 tsp oil 1 tsp cumin seeds salt to taste Heat up the oil in a pan and splutter the cumin seeds.  Saute the onions for about 3 minutes and follow it with ginger, garlic and green chili.  After a minute, add the tomatoes, garam masala p...

Oflate, I seem to have been hooked by this wonderful spice blend called the Panch Phoran. As you can see this has been used in my Bhindi Subzi recipe as well. I had this for the first time recently at my friends place and immediately took a liking to this since then. Panch Phoran also known as panch phoron, panch puran, panchpuran, punch puram, punchpuram is a classic Bengali spice blend typically consisting of five spices in equal measure. It is more Bengali and maybe also Oriya than any other region of India. The five spices that make up this wonderful blend are Fenugreek seeds(methi) Nigella seeds(kalonji or onion seeds) Cumin Seeds(jeera) Fennel Seeds(saunf) Mustard Seeds(rai) After some googling, I learnt that this is never ground or used as a powder or paste. Dry roasted panch phoran is however ground to make a powder to be sprinkled on chutneys. In this process, I also came across this lovely appetizing image of Panch Phoran Aloo that I was tempted to try it out in my ki...

300 gms zucchini 350 gms potato 2 tomatoes 1 green chili grated 1 tsp each of ginger and garlic grated 1/8 tsp of chili powder 1/2 tsp pav bhaji powder 1 tsp of salt Cut the zucchini into big cubes.  Peel and chop the potatoes slightly smaller than the zucchinis.  Grind the tomatoes with some coriander leaves and keep it aside.  Take oil in a pan, splutter the cumin seeds, followed by ginger, green chili and garlic.  Add the zucchini, potatoes, chili powder and turmeric powder.  Stir for a minute or two and add the tomato paste and about 2 cups of water.  Add the pav bhaji powder and salt and let it almost come to a boil.  Transfer this to a vessel and pressure cook this for 2 whistles or on low for 10 minutes or until you get the cooked smell of the vegetables.  After the cooking is over, remove it from the cooker and let it come to a boil again on the stove top.  Garnish with coriander leaves.  You can increase the spice acc...

1 Onion 1 big Tomato 1.5 lbs of okra 1 tsp Coriander powder 1/4 tsp chilli powder pinch of turmeric 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp panch phoran(Bengali 5 spice blend) 2-3 tbsp oil Take half of the oil and splutter the cumin and panch phoran ingredients when oil is hot.  Add the onions and saute till they become nice brown in color.  Add little salt while the onion is cooking.  Follow it with the tomatoes and add more salt just needed for the tomatoes and also some chili powder and turmeric.  In the meanwhile, in a separate pan start cooking the bhindi and fry them until they become soft and done.  Now mix the fried onions and tomatoes to the Okra and stir further on high for a minute and turn it off. Serve this with rice or chappatis.