Peanut and Veg Salad

Ingredients:

Raw Peanuts - 2 cups

Cucumber - 1 1/2 cups, chopped

Mango - 1 cup, chopped

Carrot - 1 cup, grated

Cilantro - 2 tbspns, chopped

Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Method:

Cook the raw peanuts in the pressure cooker. Mix the cooked peanuts and chopped veggies. Mix chili powder, chat masala and salt. Garnish with cilantro.

Inspired from Meera Sriram

Kothamalli Rasam with Garlic/Cilantro Rasam/Spicy Cilantro Soup

Ingredients:

Cilantro/Coriander leaves - 10, with stems crushed

Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped or grind to a paste

Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp

Rasam Powder - 1/2 tbspn

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

To crush or grind coarsely;

Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tbspn

Pepper Corns - 1/2 tbspn

Garlic - 4-5 cloves

Cilantro - 10, with stems

To Temper;

Oil -1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hing - 1/4 tsp

Dry Red chili - 2 Nos, broken

Method:

Wash Cilantro/Kothamalli in running water, drain it. Keep it aside.

In a blender, add cumin seeds, pepper corns, garlic and cilantro, pulse it for few seconds and keep ready.

Heat oil in a kadai/sauce pan, add the tempering ingredients. Let the mustard seeds splutter.

Then add crushed cilantro-garlic mixture and fry well for 1-2 minutes. Now add 1/2 cup of water and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling add tamarind paste, tomato and enough salt and give it a stir.

Then add rasam powder and mix well and cook covered in medium heat.

When the rasam starts to boil, add the remaining chopped and crushed cilantro leaves & stems and again close it with a lid.

Switch off the stove when the rasam starts boiling and keep covered in the stove itself for 4-5 minutes.

Serve the Rasam with rice or serve it as a Soup!

Inspired from here

Tandoori Aloo

Ingredients:

Baby Potatoes - 25 Nos

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp

Yogurt - 2 tbspns

Tandoori Masala - 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Coriander Leaves - 1 tbspns, chopped

Method:

Parboil the potatoes and peel off the skin. In a bowl mix the yogurt, tandoori masala, ginger garlic paste, red chili powder and salt. Pour this over the parboiled potatoes and marinate for 8-10 hours, preferably overnight ( the masalas will get marinated well into potatoes).

Grease your baking tray or line the tray with aluminum foil. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 F. Turn the potatoes and bake for another 5 minutes.

Stove Top Method:

In a non stick pan add a tsp of oil and throw in the marinated potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes in medium flame and carefully turn over this without mashing the potatoes. Cook till you find golden spots on all sides.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Inspired from here

Oats Bisibelabath

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Onion Shallots (Pearl Onions) - 6

Oats - 1 cup

Thuvar Dal - 1/2 cup, cooked and mashed

Tamarind - 1 small lemon size or 1 tbspn 

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Carrot - 1, chopped  

Tomato - 2, chopped

Beans - 10, chopped

Drumstick - 1 

Green Peas - 2 tbspns

Salt - as per taste

Cashews - 5

For the Bisibelabath Powder:

Channa Dal - 2 tsps

Coriander Seeds - 1 tbspn

Red Chilies - 3, medium (add more according to taste)

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom - 1

Cinnamon stick - 1

Cloves - 2

Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup

Ghee / Cooking oil - 2 tsps

For Seasoning;

Ghee / Cooking oil - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds  - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Method:

Cook the vegetables(the vegetables should be crunchy) and dal separately in the pressure cooker except the onions and tomatoes.  

Soak the tamarind in the water and take the tamarind extract. If you are using the ready made tamarind paste, mix a tbspn of extract in a cup of water.

Heat the pan and fry the oats for 2 minutes in a low to medium flame. You will get a nice aroma while frying the oats. Keep it separate. Add one tsp of ghee/cooking oil to fry the cashew. Fry the cashew till it turns golden brown and keep it aside. 

For the Bisibelabath Powder;

Add 2 tsps of oil or ghee in the frying pan. Once the oil/ghee gets heated, add channa dal, coriander seeds, pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and red chili. Fry till the color changes to light brown. Add the red chili in the last as it will get burnt quickly. Add the coconut and continue frying till you get a nice aroma from the coconut and the color changes to light brown. It is important that the flame is kept medium and you fry frequently so that the mixture don't get burnt. Switch off the flame and allow this mixture to cool.

Once the mixture is cool, take it to the mixture (blender) and grind it to a fine powder. 

Heat the pan and add oil or ghee. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add curry leaves and fry for 10 seconds. Add the shallots and continue frying for about a minute. Now add the chopped tomatoes and continue frying for about one to two minutes. Also add a pinch of turmeric while frying. Add the tamarind extract and allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.

Then add the salt and the cooked vegetables and mix well and keep in flame for 2 minutes. Next add mashed dal and stir well. Keep the flame low and allow the mixture to boil. Make sure to stir occasionally to avoid dal sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add the Bisibelabath Powder and mix well to avoid lumps. Let the mixture boil in low flame for about 5 mins. Add a cup of water and when the mixture starts to boil, add oats and mix well and keep the flame low and close the pan with a lid and allow it to cook.

In about 2 minutes the oats will cook completely. At this stage add 1 tbspn of ghee and mix well. Also add the fried cashew. 

Serve hot with Cucumber or onion raitha also with potato chips and papad!

Inspired from here

Eggless Brownies

Chitra's Cuisine 3rd Anniversary!

Time flies!! Today marks the 3rd anniversary of my blog Chitra's Cuisine. I really enjoy writing this blog and I would like to thank all my followers and readers. Thanks to all of you for visiting my site. All your feedback and comments mean the whole world to me.

In these three years I have learnt so much about cooking, food photography and made some wonderful friends ! Special thanks to hubby who inspired me into starting this blog and the wonderful home studio!  :) 

I hope you will continue to spread the love, share this blog with your friends and take pleasure in cooking and sharing these recipes with your loved ones.

My recipe this week is one that just makes you melt - Super soft  and moist Eggless Brownies.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup 

Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup 

Powdered Sugar* - 3/4 cup + 2 tbspn (measured after powdering the regular sugar)

Baking Soda - 1 tsp 

Salt - a pinch

Oil (Canola or Vegetable) - 1/3 cup 

Buttermilk** - 1 cup

Instant Coffee Powder - 1/2 tsp(optional)

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Walnuts - 1/4 cup, chopped (any type of nuts)

*If you are using confectioners' sugar add 1 cup sugar

**If you don't have buttermilk boil 1 cup milk. Add 1 tsp of vinegar and stir it well. Let it cool. 

This mixture(include the whey) acts as a great substitute for buttermilk.

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C.

In a bowl beat the buttermilk well. Mix in the oil, vanilla extract. Keep it aside.

In another bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, coffee powder(if using) and salt. Mix the powdered sugar with this and stir well to combine. 

Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold to combine until there are no more streaks of flour left.

Transfer the batter to a greased 8X8 pan and add chopped walnuts on top.

Bake for 25-30 mins until a skewer inserted into the brownie comes out with crumbs.

Let the baked brownies sit in the pan and cool completely before you cut into squares.

Inspired from here