Kakarakaya with Onion Besan base

Ingredients
Kakarakaya (Bitter melon) - Scraped little bit and Chopped into big chunks
Onions
Besan
Oil for deep fry as well as for tadka
Jeera (Cumin seeds)
Tamarind paste
Red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method of preparation
1. Take a vessel for deep/shallow fry. Add oil to it. Let it heat and then fry bitter melon's until they turn their color to golden brown. Take them out on a plate with paper towel so that extra oil is absorbed.

2. Fry onions with a spoon of oil and grind them to a paste. To this paste add besan salt, red chilli powder and a little tamarind paste. Mix them all to make it a nice thick paste.

3. Add a teaspoon or two of oil and after it is heated, add Jeera to it. Now add the onion besan paste to it. Add enough water/Tamarind paste. Adjust salt and chilli levels according to your taste.

4. Add bitter melon to above. Cover and cook them until you feel that bitter melon has got taste of the paste. (should take appr. from 2- 10 minutes of time, depending on your stove and taste).

5. Garnish with coriander and mix it. Serve hot wit rice.

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Indian Sandesh

Spring is here.
These cherry blossoms were blooming right outside of the building where my lab is.



And in another part of town (aka my kitchen) something else was blooming (sort of).

Ok, so they may not be as pretty as those cherry blossoms but they sure taste better.
These little blossoms are called sandesh, a really simple Indian dessert made from paneer. Paneer is an Indian cheese that's made by boiling milk, adding lemon juice, and then straining the curds that are produced. I made these desserts with homemade paneer, which is actually really simple to make. No paneer tutorial this time, but I promise there will be one here soon.

I sprinkled a bit of sugar on them and took this picture -- oh, and I also ate two of them.

You can usually buy blocks of paneer from Indian grocery stores. If you use this kind, just use your hands to crumble it up first.

Sandesh

• 1 cup paneer, crumbled
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
• 1 Tb almond pieces

Using a potato masher or your hands, mash the paneer and sugar together. Shape into rounds. Sprinkle with cardamom, almond, and extra sugar. Chill for 1 hour.

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Thakkali thokku - a spicy 'n tangy tomato pickle

The trimurtis (three presiding deities) of my kitchen are onions, potatoes and tomatoes. Without these three ingredients, I'd be lost.....not knowing what to cook.
Like the original holy trinity of Indian mythology, these ingredients too are involved in Srishti (creation of exciting new dishes), and Sthithi (maintenance of our health). Luckily, there has been no Samharam (casualty/death) so far. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we???
The price of tomatoes in my part of the world has touched rock bottom at rupees 4. Not a small drop, considering that a few months back it was being sold for close to Rs 30. So, with a price drop like that, I couldn't resist picking up some at the local market.
Tangy, spicy tomato thokku is something that I love. Though making it takes up some time, it is quite a simple process and most of the ingredients are readily available in an Indian kitchen.What you need:

Juicy, ripe red tomatoes - 12, medium sized - pureed
Gingely oil - 9 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Urad dal - 3/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced fine
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - to taste
Salt - to taste

Heat 7 tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the minced green chillies, mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, and fenugreek seeds. When the mustard seeds sputter, add the pureed tomatoes. Stir well. Add turmeric powder, red chilli pwder and salt. Let it come to a rolling boil. Now reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and let it simmer stirring occasionally. It will take close to an hour for all the moisture to evaporate. When it is almost done, add the remaining two tsp of oil. Once it loses all moisture, switch off the heat and let it cool completely.
Store in a clean, airtight jar.
This can be refrigerated and will stay good for upto a fortnight.
It can be used as an accompaniment to a variety of foods including, but not limited to, rice, idli, dosa, roti,and bread.

Notes:

• If you'd like, you can blanch the tomatoes in hot water first, remove the skin and then puree it.
• Instead of pureeing you can chop the tomatoes into tiny pieces and then follow the same recipe.
• A little bit of tamarind paste can be added if the tomatoes are not sour.
• You can also add some asafoetida along with the tempering ingredients.

This month, Sanghi who is celebrating her 50th post on her blog has asked us to Fall in Love with Tomatoes.....and that's exactly what I've done. This entry goes to her.

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NYT CCC

Since the title of this blog is Chocolate Chip Trips, I think it's only fitting to have a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. So, here it is.

This is the chocolate chip cookie recipe published in the New York Times last July (2008). I have been meaning to try it for the longest time, but something else always got in the way -- that something else being brownies, blondies, muffins, and the like.

The recipe is not particularly difficult to make (actually the BF made this batch, so that means it can't be hard, don't tell him I said that), but it does require some ingredients that I don't normally have off hand. Cake flour, bread flour, and chocolate disks.

Before I say more about these cookies, here's my disclaimer: the BF did not follow this recipe exactly. Unfortunately, we couldn't. Let me explain. The recipe asks you to use "a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment" to cream the butter and sugar. When I read this, I was mad! Why must a recipe just assume that you have a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment? How come recipes don't think of us poor (literally -- broke graduate student here) folks who haven't yet found the courage to spend $300 on a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment? Oh, don't get me wrong. I will love the day I have a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, but unfortunately, living on my university stipend won't get me there too soon. But no fretting -- that's what marriage is for, right? So your family and friends can buy you Kitchen Aid mixers and Le Creuset pots and all those other kitchen gadgets you've been drooling over for your whole broke graduate student life? I can't wait for that special day.

Anyway, we didn't have a KA, so we just used our standard hand held mixer to cream the butter and sugar. And we didn't have chocolate disks, so we used high quality bittersweet chocolate chips. And no, I'm not going to list a bunch of other changes I made and then complain about the recipe. Apart from the two I mentioned, we followed this recipe exactly. The verdict? Oh, they were definitely good, rich and flavorful, but still not the perfect cookie I was hoping for. They were a bit too crunchy for my taste.

I'm sorry NYT!! This has to be probably the ONLY semi-negative review of this recipe anywhere. I searched the internet to see if any other poor souls had the same fate as we did, but it seemed that it worked out perfectly for everyone else. I so envy all the KA owners.

Here is a link to the recipe, but I think I prefer this one.

If anyone else had a similar experience with this recipe, I would love to hear! Let's start a club and exclude all the cool kids (aka KA owners)! :P

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Sandwich with Ginger Tea

I was hungry in the afternoon and was looking for something tasty and healthy. Found bread, so though of making some sandwich with garma garam ginger tea. Here is how I prepared.

Sandwich Preparation
Ingredients
Bread
Onions
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Capsicum
Cilantro
Oil - 1 tea spoon
Salt to taste
Black pepper

You can use the sandwich maker or if you don't have one then you can use Tawa to heat the sandwich until it is toasted correctly to your taste.







Method of Preparation
1. Take small pan and add oil to it. after it is heated, add the chopped vegetables. for a minute or two until they are partly done.

2. Add salt and black pepper powder to it. Your stuffing is ready.



3. Put the stuffing on one bread piece and then place another bread piece on top of it. Now place the sandwich in sandwich maker and close the cover.



4. Your healthy, tasty and quick sandwich is ready to eat. Have it with tomato or green chutney along with Ginger Tea.



Ginger Tea


Add little water in a small bowl and add tea powder to it. (for 1 cup I generally add 1/2 tea spoon tea powder). Add sugar depending on your taste. I add Ginger grated at this point. once it comes to boil, I add milk to it to make it enough for all drinking people. Filter it and serve hot.

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Not-So-Far Away Travels

The last blog was about chips (chocolate that is), so this one will be about trips. aahh..things are making sense now, no? See...I didn't just choose this blog title because it rhymes and sounds good, unlike many of my actions, this one actually had a point. So, here goes a trip. It wasn't very far -- just a few blocks from my place.

Actually, I've ran past many of these parts on countless morning runs, and never really thought twice about taking a picture. I'm glad I did though. Maybe it was the cloudiness, or the rain from the night before that left things a bit greener than usual, or maybe because I finally stopped sucking at taking pictures with my new camera...but something about the colors in these photos makes me long for more rainy days.


Doesn't this bench just say "sit here"? Well, it did to me. So I sat down, and noticed someone else must have too. Someone else also ate breakfast on it, and this someone else dropped some Cheerios (click on photo to confirm), woops. Oh well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who liked it. :)

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Muddakura

I love the taste of this simple yet tasty, quick and easy to do item. This can be considered as dal or as a curry. Best combination for this is rice and pachi charu/chintapandu charu.Try it and let me know;



Ingredients
Chana Dal, Toor Dal - 1:1 ratio
Moong dal - just a pistful of it(optional)
Palak/Thotakura (Amaranth leaves)/Chaama kura(Taro leaves) - Chopped
Turmeric
Green chillies
Red chillies
Salt to taste
Besan/Senagapindi
Tamarind juice
Oil
mustard seeds
Cumin seeds (Jeera)
Asafoetida
Urad dal
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves

Method of preparation
1. Cook all the three dals until they are just done but not totally mushy or total soft. For example: if you are using pressure cooker, and in general you need 3 whistles for dal to be cooked then for this item, try switching off stove at 2 whistles.

2. Take a kadai and heat oil in it. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter.

3. Add cumin seeds, green chillies, red chillies, curry leaves asafoetida and at last add the green leafy vegetable you picked (Palak/ amaranth/taro leaves chopped).

4. Wait for two minutes or until the leaf is cooked and then add the cooked dals to it along with turmeric and salt.

5. Add tamarind juice extract (just enough to have a little bit of sour taste, lot of it will make the curry taste sour)

6. Wait for a minute and then add besan to it. The curry will become a little thick at this point. Turn off the stove.

7. Add tadka to the top of it, by heating oil and adding mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, red chillies, curry leaves, urad dal.

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Chocolate Chip Banana Crumb Muffins

I like to make these muffins when I am craving a wholesome dessert, as opposed to the brownies, cupcakes, and chocolate chip cookies, which, although very satisfying taste-wise, often leave my belly grumbling for some more. These muffins are pretty wholesome and filling -- made with bananas, a bit of applesauce, whole wheat (pastry) flour, and walnuts. Of course, I add chocolate chips (did you see the title of this blog?) to make sure no cravings are left unsatisfied.

The original recipe is actually the most popular recipe on allrecipes. Here is my wholesome, chocolate-craving satisfying rendition:

UPDATE: I initially forgot to list one of the most important ingredients: the Chocolate Chips (duh)!! Forgive me, this is my first posting. Clearly, I need practice.

Chocolate Chip Banana Crumb Muffins (adapted from allrecipes)
(Makes 12 muffins)

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/6 cup canola oil
• 1/6 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  

Crumb Topping

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• pinch of ginger
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cups all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, oil, and applesauce. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. Crumb Topping: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

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