Soya-granules sesame crunchy fritters

So, there is no excuse nor a reason to justify the absence! Just that I am back ..for now. I am just in a very nonchalant kinda mood.. so my ability to dramatize the trivialities has taken a backseat;) sigh..
There is a lot to feel and express though, but let’s shout out a  ‘halt’ to all that jazz for now. Shall we…

So..when summer heat hits in with occasional monsoon showers, your brains rather senses go all confused.

Nevertheless, the craving to gulp down something filling yet snacky crunchy light, helped me invent these super simple soya balls…a sure-shot hit with the kid inside you!

I fried them up while listening to the amazing soundtracks of “Once”… a beautifully made movie, about love and music and melancholy! Give it a go. To the movie, the songs and the recipe..I meant !

Soya-granules sesame crunchy fritters 

Take about a cup of Soya (Boiled as per instructions) (I like Nutrela), a cup of not-overboiled potato chunks, and run them through your processor briefly. Coarse is good!

Add a tsp of chaat masala or just salt, 2 tbsp garlic seasoning powder , 2 tbsp finely chopped green chillies/red chilly powder .

Make them into firm balls with your palms.

Now, separately crush 2 tbsp sesame seeds, 2 tbsp poppy seeds, one slice of bread in the grinder.

Coat the balls between your hands gently, with this sesame mix.

They would look lovely already.

Let them sit in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Now, in a deep bottomed pan, pour 2 cups of groudnut oil or any good for deep-frying oil, and let it get hot.

Test with a small portion of the balls. Once it swims up successfully you are ready to go.

Pop the balls in one by one.. and wait till they get crispy golden brown… Be careful not to burn them.

Place them in a kitchen towel and serve hot with ketchup or mint dip of your choice..

A quirky healthy nutty inclusion to any party or occasion..!

Equally scrumptious with chai!

---

On an entirely different note.. for the Game of Thrones lovers in you here is a link to a super-cute musical video..

http://time.com/3889619/peter-dinklage-coldplay-game-thrones-musical/?iid=obnetwork

‘by the window’ strawberry shake

pink strawberry evenings

 

Long walks and window shopping.

Narrow lanes. And clatter of evening traffic.

Vendors’ shout. Riot of street colours.

And there sat these these glamourous strawberries beckoning to be turned to something smooth and sexy.

And this afternoon while experimenting with the camera, depth of field..focus, defocus, colour enhancements, I craved for an instant strawberry shake/ smoothie to be sipped at ease sitting by the window.

Easy peasy recipe follows:

Take couple of medium sized strawberries – 10 to 12 units

Vanilla and strawberry essence : 2 drops each

Sugar: 1 tbsp (to cut through the sourness of the naughty strawberries)

Cold milk : 1 big glass

Condensed milk: 2 tbsp

Apple and banana: half an apple and half a banana. Cut into 4 to 5 tiny pieces each.

Blender.

Mix them all and give a nice foamy blend. Taste to test the sweetness you want and relish with a loved one or if alone just indulge in memories of loved ones and beautiful thoughts!

 

 

instant crispy crumbly bread snack

crispy crumbly bread snack

When you want to create something delectable in a jiffy, yet satisfy that craving for something snacky and spicy here is a solution.

For this Dry Bread Upma Dish

Take four to five white bread slices

Tear them into medium-sized square pieces with hand

Heat a pan. Add 2 tsp butter and 1/2 tsp oil. Once hot temper with 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds. Wait till they crackle. Add curry leaves,and a cup of sliced onions. Saute till soft.

Add 2-3 split long green chillies and stir for few seconds.

Now add the pieces of bread and stir dry till slightly brown or crispy. Add turmeric powder , 1/2 tsp sugar, salt to taste, and some black pepper.

Stir and add finely chopped fresh coriander leaves and some red chilly powder to garnish. Don;t forget to squeeze in juice of half a lemon for the tangy sweet flavour.

Awesome when paired with ginger tea and a view of sunset!

Participated in the interactive forum Fiesta Friday hosted at http://thenovicegardener.wordpress.com/

Charred tomato, green chillies Smitten, Gingery-Skinned-Potatoes

---

Rustic old ways. Memories. Earthen. So real. And so inspiring.

When baskety mornings weave unreal dreams. And the thoughts enough to fill the day with shimmery senses.

When the sunlight playing hide n seek in the early morning hours, lure you to wake up to reality mixed with bitter, sweet hopes..waves of emotions that almost give you a headache, a hangover…that can only be cured as the day passes by with assuring and reassuring moments as the clock ticks by…

Now, coming back to the post..if you want to taste something real different and comforting.. this is the simple recipe to go for.

Charring has such a rusticness and burst of flavours  attached to it. Isn’t it? Never tried. Its never too late!

For this recipe take two big fresh tomatoes and put them over fire. Place it over your gastop directly which is the easiest  to do in an ordinary town kitchen.

Till the pulp goes all charred and charcolish. Aah.. the words itself now blend with the aroma that fills up the room.

Do the same with three to four green chillies. The green chillies should have heat in them to add to the flavours.

Green chilies and tomatoes..charred make for an impactful flavour together.

Parellel, parboil few potatoes with their skins on and some salt sprinkled while boiling them!

Once  the tomatoes and green chillies are ready.. heat a pan and drizzle some mustard oil till smoky!

Mustard oil adds to the real punch of flavours too here!

Add lots of grated ginger (about 2 tbsp) and stir fry on high heat with lotsa chopped coriander leaves.

Stir till they almost turn brownish. Add the tomatoes and mash them with a masher.

And chopped charred green chillies. Lower heat and stir for few secs.

Add the potatoes and mix them up well. Let the potatoes be stirred for atleast 2 to 3 minutes till it almost gets that roasted texture. Add some turmeric powder and salt. Throw in just a pinch of sugar.

Stir and then add very little water. Cover and let cook in slowly for another 10 minutes.

Squeeze some lemon on top.

The goodness of these charred veggies will beg for you to have these with your loved ones amidst a lot of greenery and love and conversations of fond memories! So, have it with steamed rice sprinkled with mustard oil (blissful combination of rice and raw mustard oil) and bites of raw diced onions sprinkled with some salt, lemon and raw chilly powder. Assuring you an unsophisticatedly lovely, charry, smoky, earthy, rustic, heavenly experience!

Do let me know!

Beety Sesamy Flavour-Burst Rice Bowl ! Beetroot, fenugreek aromatic mix rice bowl in sweet, sour, hot flavours

Beety Sesamy Flavour-Burst Rice Bowl

Its good when you feel , intuitive, sure and creative! When certain basics are right and still there is a long way to go, discovering and exploring something never tried or heard before elevates the journey all of a sudden. And such is life. Each day you feel one way or the other.

Well I was feeling red and velvety… not like angry red.. but bright vivid red… and green.. like the fresh, garden green!

And that turned into a gardeny red healthy bowl of rice. I wish I could capture the flavours here. So try it and experience the delight yourself.

Beety Sesamy Flavour-Burst Rice Bowl ! Beetroot, fenugreek aromatic mix rice bowl in sweet, sour, hot flavours

The recipe is a veggie mix rice dish I ended up cooking and relishing with a taste that was exotic, comforting, with true and fresh burst of flavours.

Some key ingredients are beetroot and fenugreek (methi patte) …

“Beetroot is low in fat, full of vitamins and minerals and packed with powerful antioxidants – a health-food titan” (Source: bbcgoodfood.com/)

“Methi contains protein, fibre, vitamin C, niacin, potassium, iron and alkaloids.” (Source: thehealthsite.com/)

Enjoy the process of cooking this simple dish by cutting, chopping, grating, mashing the required ingredients beforehand while you watch your favourite show. Just make sure to visit your nearest veggie seller for fresh vivid green fenugreek leaves and bright red beetroots..

Fenugreek leaves and dhaniya

Pre-preps

First Stage of Cooking the rice :

• Groundnut Oil or sesame/olive oil (I used groundnut)
• Fennel seeds: Just a little more than a pinch
• Finely chopped green chillies(Keep the seeds on!)
• Finely Chopped Garlic
• Finely grated Ginger
• Cooked Kolam or regular rice(not too soggy so that it can mix well later)
• Curry leaves: Chopped
• Hing or asafoetida
• Fresh Methi/fenugreek leaves : Two small bowls
• Beetroot : Two Chopped Coriander leaves for garnish
• Salt for garnish
• Pepper for garnish (peppery delights add punch of flavours)

For the wild tempering:

• Butter(How can there be no butter in my recipe 😉 )
• Oil
• White Sesame seeds (til)
• Sugar granules
• Whole Red Chillies
• Coriander seeds: Just a pinch (I would recommend crushing these already after slightly roasting)
• Grated Paneer

Added and recommended ingredient delights:

• Teeny weeny Pieces of apple : one tbsp
• Boiled potatoes with pinch of italion seasoning : One big potato
• Lemon juice

Mashed potatoes

Coriander seeds goodness

Cheese, green chillies, garlic, coriander seeds

Fennel and asofoetida/hing goodness Asafoetida is one of the spices native to Afghanistan and cultivated near India. It is one of the most common spices used in Asian cuisine and especially the Indian cuisine. Though the odor of the spice is strong, Asafoetida is known for its miraculous health benefits for human body. Used widely in dals/lentil recipes and pickel preparations.

Beety bites

Fenugreek or methi.. the yummier way

Grated cheese

THE RICE

An ingredient : Sesame : used in Indian Cooking since always for the crispy crunch to any recipe. Sesame seeds add a nutty taste and a delicate, almost invisible, crunch to many Asian dishes. They are also the main ingredients in tahini (sesame seed paste) and the wonderful Middle Eastern sweet call halvah. They are available throughout the year. One of my favorite facts about sesame seeds is that they are an abundant source of minerals.

Sesame, Curry leaves, coriander leaves, red chillies, Fenugreek

Let’s begin this exciting culinary journey!

Cook the beeroot in boiling water for say 5 to 7 minutes.

Pass through running tap water.

Peel off the skin and chop into fine tiny diced pieces.

Beetroot in boiling water

Keep aside.

Diced beetroot Maroon red delight

In a preheated deep pan on a gastop, add 1 tbsp oil.

Once heated, add half a tsp of fennel seeds.

Once toasted in the oil, add 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp of chopped garlic goodness.

Stir and let cook for 30 secs. Add the chopped green chillies. Stir for 30 secs only.

Add the methi/fenugreek leaves. Cook for 30 secs.

Beetroot contains betaine, which in other forms is used to help treat depression, and trytophan, the feel good chemical in chocolate. n 1975, during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, cosmonauts from the USSR’s Soyuz 19 welcomed the Apollo 18 astronauts by preparing a banquet of borscht (beetroot soup) in zero gravity.

Add the delightful par-boiled beetroot pieces. Stir till the fenugreek turns slightly crispy.

Add the rice and mix everything well making sure not to break the grains or letting it stick to bottom.

Sprinkle salt and pepper

  Parallel to it now, heat a tapered shallow pan in the othe rburner. Add few drops of oil along with half tsp of salted butter to avoid butter from burning.  Once heated add crushed slightly pre-roasted coriander seeds, raw sesame seeds, chopped red chilles, curry leaves chopped, a pinch of asafoetida and stir well. After 10 secs add a tbsp of sugar granules. Stir it all till sesame gets crispy  (be careful not to burn the sesame or red chillies) (I say just taste a sesame to identify if crispy and well roasted for the perfect topping to this dish)

Keep an eye by continuously roasting, toasting and stirring.

Gardeny tempering

Hey Sugar!    Sugar and sesame together are quite the pair to go for!

Tempering to be added to the main cooking

The ingredients for the tempering should be ready in 20 to 25 secs.

Add the grated paneer/cottage cheese (half a small bowl) and mashed potatoes which has been seasoned with pinch Italian dried herbs. (Italian seasoning is optional) Toast them well along with other ingredients in the tempering pan.

Separately  lightly roast the tiny bits of apples. Keep aside

NOW…

Add all of this except the apples in to the other pan with rice, beetroot, fenugreek mix..Mix well…

Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves on top and lemon juice. On topmost layer add the apple toppings…

Grab the entire bowl and enjoy with your favourite tv show and person!

Coriander, commonly known as Dhania in the Indian Subcontinent and Cilantro in the Americas and some parts of Europe, is an herb that is extensively used around the world as a condiment, garnish, or decoration on culinary dishes.

                                 

Participated in an interactive forum Fiesta Friday hosted at  http://thenovicegardener.wordpress.com/

 

Excerpts From The Forum:

Fridays are usually filled with anticipation for a fun and exciting or relaxing weekend. Fridays feel different and are somehow more special than other weekdays. They’re days to indulge, to let your hair down, and to celebrate by kicking it up a notch.

So, share with us how you celebrate your Fridays.