Heartful Concoctions

JFI - September

2009-08-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,
Long time, No posts. Thalaikku mela vellam maadhiri, too many things on my head. Hats off to other bloggers who manage blogs so beautifully.

This months ingredient for the JFI - September is Bottle gourd.

Will post the Logo soon.

Send your entries with Name, recipe, and Link to heartfulconcoctions@gmail.com.

Thanks
Le@HC

Simple Indian Tofu Curry

2009-05-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

Tofu has its own peculiar characteristics. When tofu is cut into cubes, looks like panneer but made from soy beans and tofu can be substituted in the place of panneer in almost all dishes. Panneer is almost everybody's favorite but there are also days when all one needs is a low fat yummy curry. On such a day, this simple Indian tofu curry comes very handy. It is easy too and since tofu is incorporated into Indian based curry , it is favorable to taste buds craving an indian meal.

Ingredients:

1 packet extra firm tofu
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 green chilly
1 tsp grated ginger
4 cloves garlic sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp dhaniya/coriander powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 curry leaves

Method:

1. Cut tofu into small cubes and pan fry until brown, turning them often. Add oil when the water from the tofu evaporates. That way , the oil helps in browning the tofu.

2.In a pan , heat 2 tsp of oil. Add Mustard , Cumin and Curry leaves. When the Mustard splutter, add onions, green chillies and saute until onion are 1/2 done. Now add ginger and garlic. Cook until rawness of ginger goes away. Add tomatoes and cook until mushy. break them with the back of a spoon and bring the curry together.

3.Add turmeric power, chilly powder , dhaniya powder and salt. Mix well. add 2 cups of water and cook for 15 min with lid closed partially. or pressure cook for 1 whistle. Now add the tofu pieces and cook for 5 more minutes and sprinkle with coriander leaves/cilantro.Serve with rice.

Note:
a. Pressure cooking for one whistle makes the whole process of cooking this curry faster.
b. One can use tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes or a combination of both.
c. Make sure tofu is pan fried for some crunchiness.
d. If u want a dry curry, do not add water. Just sprinkle water as and when u need and fry until the gravy is well done Then add the tofu cubes and mix well . Fry for few more minutes so that the flavors blend together. Serve with chapatis , tortillas or toasted bread.

Collard Stirfry

2009-04-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Stir fry with greens is a healthy way to include them in our diet. One has just got to chop them up and toss it with a few Indian seasonings and spices and cook for a few minutes till done. A bunch of greens (compared to those available in US grocery stores) stir-fried will yield two servings. Collard greens can be chopped finely or the way u chose. I like some texture to my stir-fried greens compared to finely chopped greens sticking together.

Ingredients:
1 bunch collard chopped
3 garlic cloves smashed and sliced
1 small onion chopped
2 green chilly(Indian variety)
2 tbsp shredded frozen coconut or dry coconut
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp Split black gram/urad
1/2 tsp channa dal
1 dry red chilly
1/4 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

Method:
1.Heat a pan with 1 tsp of oil. Add red chilly,mustard, urad, channadal and cumin. Once mustard splutters , urad and channa turns slightly brown,add curry leaves. The flavor from curry leaves will come out immediately. Add garlic and saute well.

2.Now add onion and green chillies and cook till onion is translucent.Add chopped greens. Saute well and then add salt and turmeric powder. Mix the greens and spices together.

3.Cook 7 to 10 minutes or until done, closing a lid partially.Now add Shredded coconut,mix well with the greens and cook for 3-5 minutes and remove from heat.

Note:
a.Coconut adds a lot of flavor to the greens. Add more if u want.One can add bite sized coconut pieces too, to give a crunchy texture.

b.Garlic can be avoided. Make sure you add Hing, in that case to compensate the flavor

c.Traditionally we don't add cumin seed to the greens stir-fry. Cumin is good for our body type. so we include cumin seeds, depending on the moment and mood.

We had collard stir-fry as a side dish to Kohlrabi sambar and rice for today's lunch. With a fruit, its a balanced meal!!

Spring and Click

2009-04-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

When Click:Spring was announced, I just passed it off . When I passed through orange farms, few weeks ago, Click:Spring came back to my mind and felt I could click these orange beauties and participate in the event. It is season for oranges and the following picture is right from the farm and sending it off to Click: Spring hosted by Jugalbandits. It is my first time for this event and kindly excuse my photography skills. While passing the orange farms, there was strong aroma from the orange blossoms all over the place. The villages were called Orange blossoms, Lemon Cove, perfectly named after. One cannot miss the aroma from those Orange and Lemon farms.

Also I would like to share a few pictures of wild flowers we encountered in the Sequoia National Forest with all of you. They added so much beauty and color to our visit. There were many many more..

Enjoy the flowers and will sign off for the day.
Le @HC

Yellow Moong Dal Sambar

2009-04-14T12:21:00.001-07:00

Moong dal Sambar is made as a side dish for Idlis in my household. This combination is unbeatable. We take a piece of Idli , mash it slightly with the sambar and get hold of that portion using our eating fingers or with a spoon and relish it. The mish-mash of idlis with dal heavily flavored with cilantro takes me home. Definitely, this is among my comfort food list. When ever I make Moong dal sambar, we end up drinking a lot of it, though we take care to watch out on Idlis(carbs).

My Mother and Mother-in-law prepares moong dal sambar in the same way. With or without cilantro, this is a great way of relishing Moong Dal. Cilantro is good for the body and its flavor is great. So i wouldn't miss it in my moong dal sambar.

Ingredients:

1 cup Yellow Moong Dal
1 big onion or 20 pearl onions (chopped into halves or whole)
1 medium tomato(size of a medium Roma variety)
1-2 jalapenos slit into thin slices (depending on your spice level)
3 big garlic cloves chopped length-wise
1 tsp tamarind paste
Handful of chopped Cilantro( 1 cup approx)
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp split urad dal
1 tsp Cumin
4 curry leaves
a pinch of hing
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cook the dal with 2 cups of water until the dal crumbles with your hand or pressure cook for 1 whistle. Cooking moong dal for long make it gooey. Mash it lightly with a wooden masher

2. In a vessel, heat oil. Add mustard, urad and cumin . When they start spluttering, add curry leaves, hing, green chillies, garlic, onion in the order and saute well. When onion turn translucent, add tomatoes and cook till mushy. Break up the tomatoes with the back of a ladle.

3. Add turmeric powder and mix well. In a few second, add 2 cups water and the tamarind paste. Mix well. When the mixture is heated up, add Dal and enough salt. Simmer for 10 -15 minutes . Then add chopped cilantro and simmer for 5 more minutes.

4. The sambar thickens with standing time. It is eaten hot with Idlis. Dal is not watery not too thick. It is like toor dal sambar consistency. If u find dal very thick, add hot water and simmer for 5 -7 minutes.

Sending this Sambar flavored heavily with cilantro to JFI-Cilantro hosted by Cilantro and an event conceptualised by Indira of Mahanandi.

Caramel Custard - Eggless

2009-04-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Caramel Custard is one of my favorite dessert. The fact that it can be made without egg makes it to the top of my list. This recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal. Agar agar is used instead of egg to get the texture of a custard. Agar agar is also called as china grass. When I made it for the first time, several years ago, there was so much anticipation about the end result because of excluding egg from custard. The end result, I should say, made me more than happy. One will never miss eggs anymore in their custard.

Ingredients:

Agar agar - 5 gms
Milk- 3 tea cups
Custard powder- 3 tsp
Sugar- 11 tsp
Vanilla essence- 1/2 tsp
Sugar for caramelising -4 tsp

Method:

1.Soak Agar agar in 1 cup of water for an hour and boil it until it dissolves.

2.Caramelize sugar by adding a tsp of water. Spread the caramelized mixture all over the mold.

3.In half a cup of milk, mix custard powder. Keep the mixture aside.

4.Boil rest of the milk with sugar.

5.When milk starts boiling, add the milk-custard mixture.Continue stirring the milk so that no lumps are formed.

6.When the mixture becomes a smooth and slightly thick paste, add the Agar agar Solution and boil for 2 more minutes.

7.Strain the Custard, add the vanilla essence and mix well.Cool it slightly and pour into the pudding mold.

8.Refrigerate the custard for at least 4 hrs.Tilt the custard on to a serving plate and serve .

Notes:

Alternately, make custards in serving cups , chill and serve.

Lentils Brinjal Drumstick Raw Mango Sambhar

2009-03-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

One can call this soup and relish it that way with a dollop of brown rice. Other can call this sambhar without sambhar powder and relish it as a curry for rice. Yes. It is a very tasty vegetable flavored toor dal not_so_spicy curry/soup, with a tinge of sourness from tamarind.. Yumm... Most of the time, Sambhar in my household is made without sambhar powder, for eating with rice. Sambhar for rice is rather flavored with the vegetables that we add and savored with rice along with a side dish. Those who dont like the taste of sambhar powder can try this version and relish toor dal.

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal
4-6 Indian brinjals/eggplants roundly sliced
15 drumsticks (frozen)
1 raw green mango - cut into medium sized cubes
1 medium sized Onion – thinly sliced
1 medium sized Tomato – chopped
Chilli powder- 1tsp
Coriander powder- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1tsp
Tamarind paste-1/2 -1 tsp(depending on the sourness of mango)
Mustard-1/2 tsp
Cumin-1/2tsp
Split urad dal-1/2 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds- 4 - 5pods
Hing/Asafetida – a pinch
Salt
Oil

Method:

Cook Toor dal until mushy(Pressure Cook for 3 whistles at medium heat). Mash it. Keep aside
In pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil
Add Mustard seeds,Cumin seeds, Split Urad dal
When the seasoning splutters and urad dal turns slightly brown, Add curry leaves and hing
Add onions and fry till translucent.
Add Tomatoes and cook till mushy.
Add Brinjal and Drumstick. Mix well with the onion -tomato base and cook until brinjals are 1/2 done.
Add Turmeric powder , Chilli powder, Coriander powder
Add tamarind paste and 3 cups water and let it boil.
Add Mango pieces. Mix well
Add dal . Combine well. Add more water if it is too thick.
Simmer for 10-15minutes
Serve as a soup with a dollop of brown rice or eat it as a curry with rice and crunchy papads/chips.

Note:

If u are adding fresh drumstick, add drumstick first and cook till ¾ done and then add brinjal.
Normally when vegetables are half done, i add rest of the ingredients, dal and pressure cook for one whistle so that the dal takes up the flavor of the vegetables and I save some time too.
Drumstick, Brinjal and Mango combination can be substitued with one of the following:
1.Okra - cut into 1 inch pieces
2.Daikon -round and thinly Sliced
3.Brinjal - cut into 1 inch chunks
4.Carrot&Beans - cut into 1 inch slices
5.Chopped Spinach
6.Chopped Beet leaves

Submitting Lentils Brinjal Drumstick Raw Mango Soup/Sambhar to "My Legume Love Affair: Ninth Helping"

It fell of its Mother's Nest

2009-03-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

One day, we were walking to the garage very fast. I was about to place my next step but realized something down there like a miniature of bird. Stopped to take a closer look at that. It was this tiny bird which probably fell of its nest and who knows how many days old it was.

The bird doesn't look that tiny in the picture but it was the size of an egg. We placed the tiny bird, which was so fragile in a corner , very gently under the shade of plant with faith that it will have an opportunity to get back to its mother. We told ourselves that if we find the bird at that place when we come back , we would take it home with us ,feed it and let it go when its ready..

When we got back from our hike, we didn't find it there. Hope it rejoined its Mother... May she have a wonderful bird life in this city.

Onion Fritters - Onion Pakoda

2009-03-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

Pakoda is a South Indian Snack. It is a very versatile snack, which can be had by itself or with Lunches and Dinner as a crispy side dish . The snack has a good shelf life of 2 weeks.Onion Pakoda always cheered the crowd's taste buds, wanting for more.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
1 cup besan/Channa Dal flour
1 medium onion chopped lengthwise
2 chopped green chillies(increase or decrease according to ur taste)
A pinch of Soda(optional)
salt to taste
2 or 3 tsp of ghee or oil

Method:

Mix everything well, adding only just enough water so that ingredients stick to the flour.
Deep fry by taking a couple of onions together with the flour.
Fry until brown and crispy.
Tasty when served hot.

Note:

It is better to make the dough in batches.

Sending this recipe to Lentils Mela hosted by Ashwini's Spicy Cuisine.

About Heartful Concoctions and Me

2009-02-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

Life is celebration of Nature. Like everything on this planet which is a manifestation of creative forces bursting from the Self, so is cooking.

Cooking has a lot to do with Nature and Creativity exuding from within . When cooking with passion, the creative self is at full force. It is an opportunity for expression of Love towards Nature. It is the magnanimity of Nature to give us so many things. With those , we not only eat to live but also play with our creative forces.

Cooking is Divine , in a sense. The attitude with which we cook is absorbed into the food and that’s what we feed our family and friends . Cooking with Love, we feed a soul with Love. Cooking with Divine thoughts, we feed a soul the divinity exuding from within us..

During the times,
Where I feel more enthusiasm inside of me,
there would be exotic dishes on my table.
Where I feel the need for simplicity,
there would be simple dishes on my table.
Where I ache for the food from childhood days,
There would be my mother’s food on my table.
Where I feel like being pampered,
there would my Husband’s food on my table.
And now with a blog,
What more can be on my table?
Excitement!!

We are vegetarians. I have been following food blogs for a while and there is immense joy to feel the celebration of food and creativity among the food blog community. There can be no end to the varieties we can whip up.

I truly believe “Every Pair of Hands working in the kitchen is creating a magic of it own and hence, a recipe is transformed into different flavors, tastes and looks.”

I started this blog to share my magical culinary adventures and celebrate the spirit of enthusiasm and excitement , common to all the souls for giving way to their creativity.

Always welcome your comments, feedbacks , ideas and chit-chats in my space.

Happy to join you all through my blog Heartful Concoctions!!
Le @HC