Foodie Workz

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...

This is one of my favorite ways to eat cabbages with rotis.  The addition of bell peppers give a nice flavor to it, the green one being the best. 12 oz cabbage chopped 2 medium size potatoes chopped 1 orange capsicum chopped 1 small onion chopped(optional) 2 garlic cloves ginger piece 1-2 green chili 1/2 tsp each of cumin and dhaniya powder 1/4 tsp chili powder salt to taste 1/2 tsp garam masala Take a table spoon of oil and splutter 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds.  Add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes and add the ginger, green chili and garlic all finely chopped.  Saute further for a minute and add the potatoes.  Saute these for about 2-3 minutes before adding the cabbage and the orange peppers.  Add salt, dhaniya jeera powders and the chili powder and stir together well.  Lower the heat and cook the vegetables covered until soft.  Add the garam masala in the end and stir everything well. Enjoy these with some nice hot chapathis!!...

This is a very easy preparation which I usually come up with whenever I have some squash at home like the chayote or lauki or yellow crooked neck.  I prepare this in combination with potatoes or sometimes with more vegetables like carrots, peas and beans.  I usually add some milk in the end but instead used some leftover cream which I had in the fridge. This cannot typically come under the category of kurma as I am not grinding any coconuts or cashews.  However, since I am using some cream to enrich this dish I would like to think of this as a kurma. 1 chayote squash 1 potato 1 carrot small handful of frozen peas 2 tbsp cream 1/4 tsp turmeric salt to taste 1 onion chopped 2 tomatoes blanched and pureed few sprigs of coriander leaves 2 green chili( instead used some chopped green bell peppers about 2 tblsp) small piece ginger 2 cloves of garlic 1 tsp paprika powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1/2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp garam masala powder 2-3 pinch...

I found this lovely bunch of collard greens last week at the farmers market and brought them home(for the first time) thinking I will make a simple south indian type of dal with this.  Whenever I buy some bok choy I like to combine them with moong dal which is to be cooked directly on the stove top after soaking them for half hour to one hour.  I decided I was going to prepare these greens  in the same manner. However, I changed my mind later on and decided to go ahead with a dry preparation.  Along the way,  I decided to add some onions and garlic. Some facts on Collard greens.....widely used in Southern US cuisine it is widely eaten in the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan.  A common dish of that region is haak-rus a soup of whole leaves cooked in water, salt and oil and consumed with rice.  They are a good source of Vitamin C and soluble fiber with potent anti cancer properties. 1 bunch collard greens trimmed and chopped as fine as pos...

I was suddenly tempted to try this paruppu usili dish out using spinach as I was bored of cooking the same old spinach preparations in South Indian style.  I cannot recall having eaten the spinach in this manner, but when we have spinach in dals, adais and vadas,  I thought why not in Usili.  And here I was giving a pat on my back for this little innovation after the dish was made as I could not get enough of it. 3/4 cup toor dal and chana dal together combined  equally or in 2:1 ratio 5 ounces of spinach leaves(trimmed) 3-4 chillies long variety salt to taste pinch of turmeric powder oil pinch of hing powder 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp urad dal Soak the dals along with the red chilies for at least two hours.  Drain the water completely and grind into a coarse paste with salt, turmeric, red chilies and hing.  I also added about a table spoon of oil while grinding.  Grease a container in which you are going to cook the paste.  Spr...

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...

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.

 Whenever the asparagus are aplenty in the market, I end up making them almost once a week.  I usually cook them in South Indian style with a simple mustard tadka(seasoning) and chilli powder.  Sometimes,  I do in the same manner in combination with potatoes and carrots. Today, I wanted to get the North Indian flavor for which potatoes, an all time favorite, work as a good companion ingredient.  This makes it interesting for both the adults and the kids.   This turned out to be really good and we had this subzi and a simple moong dal with rotis last night for dinner.   1 bunch  asparagus 15 oz potatoes peeled and chopped 1 onion 1 plus 1/2 big tomatoes 3-4 garlic cloves sliced into thin rounds 1 green chilli slit 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp chilli powder 1/4 tsp paprika powder 1/2 tsp garam masala salt to taste 1 tsp cumin seeds Wash the asparagus, trim the hard end and chop up the rest into half inch long pieces. Heat up a ...

I was sitting down and wondering what to come up with for dinner when my younger one suggested I make some potatoes with green leaves. I usually make aloo palak or aloo methi which my daughters love. Today, I did not have both of them......so, I decided to use the turnip leaves ( I am probably doing this turnip potato combo the second time). I always have these frozen greens like collard, mustard and turnip in my freezer all the time. These come in handy when you decide to make a simple dal and want to include some vegetables. You just throw in a few handfuls of these greens into the dal and you have a very simple and nutritious side dish. My daughters enjoyed their meal with some phulkas and a cup of yogurt. 2 big potatoes (about 1/2 a kg) cut into big cubes 1 cup chopped frozen turnip greens thawed 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 full teaspoon of chopped garlic 2 teaspoons of chopped ginger 1 green chilli chopped finely salt to taste 1 tbsp oil 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/4 teaspoon turme...