Rice paper rolls(Cabbage spring rolls and mixed vegetables)

Vietnamese cuisine is so versatile and there is so much to learn and explore. I have tried to make Vietnamese spring rolls for Aru with a few exotic vegetables, home grown basil and spring onion. 

Ingredients 

10 Rice paper 

A few florets cauliflower and broccoli 

1 capsicum/ bell pepper thinly sliced 

1 carrot, peel and sliced

5 button mushrooms,  thinly sliced

A few cabbage leaves sliced

4 baby corns thinly sliced

A small bunch spring onion

A few basil leaves 

3 garlic pods, peeled and chopped 

1 medium sized onion, thinly sliced 

1 green chilli (optional) 

1/2 tsp crushed pepper 

A pinch of mushrooms seasoning 

Salt as required 

Method 

*Pour a tablespoon of gingly oil and add garlic and chopped onion, followed by all vegetables. 

* wash and trim spring onion and basil leaves. Keep aside. 

* wet the rice paper and spread it on a wooden chopping board. 

* Add pepper, salt and seasoning to the vegetables. Cook in high flame for about 5 minutes. Off stove. 

* Take two tablespoon full of cooked vegetables, a few spring onion and bastol leaves on top of the vegetables, fill it in the rice paper and roll the sides. 

* Repeat the process with all the rice papers and till the filling gets over. Iade about 5 spring rolls, infact used two sheets for one spring roll. 

* serve with corn soup and a few basil leaves and spring onions as sides. The dish is usually served with a spicy tangy sauce. 

It's delicious and filling. Aru loved it. 



Recipe 2 

There are many innovative ways to feed children the same subzi we make at home.  Cabbage is a vegetable which can be played around with many variations. I have filled rice paper rolls with freshly made cabbage filling. It's worth trying.

Cabbage spring roll

Ingredients

100 grams cabbage chopped into small pieces

1 tsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Urad Dal

1 broken red chili

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1/2 green chili sliced

Salt as required

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

For the spring roll

5 to 6 rice paper

Method

*Wash, chop cabbage into very small pieces

*In a kadai pour oil add mustard seeds,let it splutter, add urad dal and red chili and add chopped cabbage,

*Cook it in medium flame, add salt and turmeric powder. Mix well.

*It appropriately takes 6 to 7 minutes for cabbage filling to cook. Once it's tender,off stove

*Wet spring roll rice paper,, speed it on a flat wooden chopping board, add a tablespoon of cabbage filling and fold the sides and edges of the rice paper.

* Continue the process till cabbage filling is over. Makes about 5 to 6 spring rolls.

* Serve with sauce of your choice, children would love it.

Variation

Mixed vegetables rice paper rolls 

Ingredients 

1 cup corn kernels

1 carrot

1 cup chopped cabbage 

1 small bunch Blanched fennel leaves 

1/2 tso crushed pepper 

Salt as required 

Olive oil 1 tbsp

Method 

In a heated pan pour oil add corn, carrots and cabbage, cook in medium flame, add salt and pepper. Add fennel stem, blanched. Cook till vegetables are tender. 

Wet rice paper and fill 1 tbsp of stuffing, roll and serve with dark soy sauce. 

It yields about 10 to 12 rice paper rolls. 

Filled the stuffing and rolled into squares. 

Served with soy sauce. 

Vegetables almost done, added a little dilleavesfir fragrance. 

 Vegetables sautéed with salt and crushed pepper. 

Stuffed the filling and rolled into rice paper rolls. 

vegetables chopped into thin slices.

The rice paper I use are from Vietnam. You can buy them from amazon India and in stores were Thai food items are sold. 

Variation

Tawa roasted spring rolls.

Carrot salad

A very simple salad which can be made fresh just before you have your lunch or dinner.

Carrot salad

5 medium carrots grated
1 green chili
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4:tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Urad Dal
Salt as required
1 lemon extract

Method

* Wash, peel and grate carrots.

* Chop coriander leaves

*Thinly slice green chili

*Cut and remove seeds from lemon and extract it's juice.

* In a small pan pour oil add mustard seeds, let it splutter add urad dal and broken chili.  Off stove and keep it.

*In a salad bowl add grated carrots, chopped coriander leaves, green chili,salt and lemon extract. Give a quick toss. Pour the prepared tadka. Adjust salt and serve.

Beetroot and raw mango salad

A quick salad with beetroot and raw mango. This recipe uses only two different ingredients. It's taste good and is healthy and tasty too. It's delicious and colourful.

Beetroot mango salad

Ingredients

2 Beetroot
1/2 slice of half  rippned tothapuri mango
Salt a little
1/2 tsp Coconut oil
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Urad Dal

Method

*Wash peel and thinly slice beetroot, further cut into small pieces.

* Slit the mango into long stripes, further cut into tiny pieces.

*In a small pan pour oil add mustard and urad dal, once mustard splutter add chopped beetroot,salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

*Once beetroot is tender, add chopped mango. Give a quick toss. Off the stove.

*Serve as a side dish with rice or phulkas.

Notes

*Use fresh tender beetroots

* Half rippned tothapuri taste good in this salad.

Ghuthuk a Tibetan broth

Vegetarian Ghuthuk it's a traditional dish prepared on the night before Losar's eve. It's the only Tibetan food eaten once in an year. The basic broth is similar to Thukpa. The shell shaped small noodles are are add to this dish which is the main attraction of this noodle broth.

Ghuthuk

Ingredients

1 capsicum chopped
1caroot chopped
A few beans sliced
A few broccoli florets
1tomato cut into 8 pieces
3 Tbsp shredded cabbage
A few pieces of ginger chopped
5 to 6 button mushrooms halved
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp hand crushed pepper
1 green chili slit into half
Salt as required
1 tsp Gingely oil

For the noodle

1/2 cup maida
1 tsp oil I used gingely
Salt a little
Water for kneading into a soft dough

Method

1. In a thick bottomed kadai pour oil add ginger, green chilies and tomato,saute for a while.

2 Add rest of the vegetables, salt and soy sauce. Cook for a while.

3.Make small shell shaped noodles or which ever shape desired by you. We made small oval shape.

4. Add 3 cups of water add noodle to it and let it boil. Once cooked the oval shaped noodles will slowly be floating.

5 Off the stove serve pipping hot. It's delicious.

Jack fruit jam (chakkai Jam)

Jackfruit jam. It's probably the most difficult and laborious jam. But it's taste divine and all efforts taken to make this delicious traditional jam is worth try. I have used about 30 to 40 pieces from a large big ripe jackfruit.

Jack fruit jam (Chakkai jam)

Ingredients

30 to 40 jackfruits florets(chakka chulla)

500 grams of jaggery (approximately two jaggery oval shaped ones)

1/2 to 1 cup ghee

5 to 6 green cardamom (Peeled and crushed)

For melting jaggery

1 glass of water

Method

1. Jackfruit pieces (chakka chulla) 30 to 40 remove seeds and outer layer of seeds. Use a large vessel, cook the jackfruit florets in pressure cooker by adding grid and water. Grind pr smash jackfruit pieces to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

2.In a pan add two large pieces of black or golden jaggery, crush it into big cubes, add a glass of water and bring to boil. Use a strainer to remove impurities from jaggery.

3.In a large pan mix in jackfruit and jaggery extract and blend well, add ghee 2 tablespoon and stir. Keep the flame very low and allow jam to slowly cook into a soft consistency by evaporating any excess water. Add two more tablespoon ghee gently stir in so that it doesn't get burnt or get stuck in the bottom of pan. 

4.This task is most difficult as you need to keep stirring and be extremely cautious. The jam starts leaving ghee and becomes like a soft halwa consistency. You can off stove and when it reaches room temperature store in air tight containers.

Notes

*We make chakka pradhaman by adding coconut milk an integral part of feast. Jackfruit jam is served with adai or with rice adai.

*Shelf life of this dish is one year or until it lasts! It generally gets over in 3 months for us. 

*We keep jackfruit jam in small air tight containers and keep it refrigerated.

My recipe appeared on chef at large an year ago. 

https://m.facebook.com/groups/139330489488935?view=permalink&id=1786362154785752

Instant bhature with chole

There are days when you really feel like eating bhature. But the process of making tasty bhature is bit tedious. But here I have tried a recipe which is pretty quick. It hardly takes 10 minutes to knead the dough,rest and 10 minutes preparation. Interesting!?

Bhature 

Ingredients

3 Cups all purpose flour or Maida or whole wheat atta

3 Tbsp Suji/Semolina

1 1/2 tsp Eno fruit salt

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tbsp homemade ghee

1 Cup warm water

Method

* In a bowl mix in all ingredients,add warm water and knead a soft dough. Cover it with muslin cloth. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

* Roll out balls out of the dough. Apply oil in the balls. 

* Use bellan to roll out bhature. I made oval shaped, stretched it a bit. The important point to note while rolling is not to roll sides at all. Roll only the middle of the balls. Use no flour, if needed use a little oil to roll out.

* Keep oil, we need high flame and hot boiling oil about 200 degrees. Dip each rolled bhatures and deep fry by pouring hot oil over the bhature. It puffs up and flip it and follow the same procedure.

* Remove bhature and spread it on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

*Serve it with chole, chopped onion and green chilies. Yum!

 Chole 

1 cup Kabuli Chana)dark black chana

 

1 tea bag 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

3 green chillies

1 tomato  (cubes)

1 onion sliced

1 tsp jeera 

A small piece of ginger chopped

1/4 tsp garma masala

2 tbsp ghee

salt as required

For dry masala

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp coriander/dhaniya

1 red dry chili

2 cloves

3 green cardamom/elachi

Method

*Pressure cook chana by adding enough water,  add tea bag, bay leaf, turmeric and salt. 

*Cook in slow fire till two whistles. When you open the cooker the chana will be lovely black brownish colour.

* Preserve the water. This is a gravy dish we are going to use water in which chana is cooked. 

*Pour little oil in a kadai, add chopped onion, tomato, green chilies and ginger. Saute for a while until the onion turn traslucent. Let it cool, transfer Into  a mixer jar  and grind. Keep aside.

*Dry roast jeera, coriander, clove, elachi,red chilli and make a corse powder. Keep aside.

*In a kadai add 2 tbsp ghee. Add onion tomato paste. Cook well. Mix well allow it to further cook for 2 minutes. Now add cooked chana and water. Add ground dry masala and Cook in slow flame for about 15 minutes.

*Once kabuli chana is prepared, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Bature/Puri

Coffee sponge cake

Coffee flavour is something I love in my cakes, freshly home baked cake in that age old small oven is something I really look forward on a summer afternoon.

Here is the recipe for coffee cake I baked this afternoon.

Ingredients

150g cooking butter, softened

150gram powder sugar/caster sugar

1/4 tsp  vanilla essence

150gram maida seived

1 1/2 tsp  instant coffee powder

3 eggs, beaten, separate egg whites and yolks

2 tablespoons warm water

Method

*Preheat the oven to 180 C, and grease tins.

* Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. I used a flat spatula.

 *Add vanilla essence and mix in.

* Sieve maida and coffee powder.

* Now add the butter mixture carefully with the beaten eggs, folding between. 

*  Add 2 teaspoons of warm water, and stir.

*Pour in to the greased baking tin. 

*Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or use a wooden skewer, do cake test.

*Once the cake has reached normal temperature you can ice it.

* I don't do icing for my cakes. Love it fresh moist and soft with a cup of tea.

Beetroot dal and red amaranth parathas

Chana and tuvar dal with vegetables is a wholesome healthy dish which can be relished with rice or phulkas. I add a small beetroot for the brilliant ruby red colour.

Dals are staple food in our cuisine.

Beetroot chana dal

Ingredients

1/2 cup chana dal
1/2 cup tuvar dal

Cubed vegetables

1 beetroot
1 medium sized Onion
1 tomato
1 potato
2 green chilies
A small piece ginger
1 tsp gingely oil for roasting dals and vegetables.

For garnish

A little coriander leaves

For tadka

Ghee 1 tbsp
1/2 tsp jeera
1 red chilli broken
A pinch of hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder

Method

*Wash both the dals, drain water add little oil and roast it.

* Peel and Chop beetroot, potato, ginger, onion and cut into small cubes. Cut tomato and green chilies. In a separate pan pour little oil and saute vegetables for 3 minutes. Keep aside.

* In pressure pan add dals, sauteed vegetables, turmeric,red chilli powder and salt. Mix well and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

* Open lid, adjust salt, use the same pan pour ghee, add jeera and broken red chilies. Once jeera splutter pour it in prepared dal.

*Garnish with coriander leaves.

* Serve with phulkas or rice.

Red amaranth parathas

Ingredients

1 bunch red amaranth
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp jeera powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
Salt a little

Method

* I have added a bunch of freshly plucked red amaranth from kitchen garden.

*Chopped it into very small pieces added that to two cups of whole wheat atta,rest of the ingredients, added water and knead into dough.

*Rolled out about 10 parathas and cooker it in medium flame by applying ghee both sides until done.

*Served with green chili pickle, beetroot dal and salad.

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Short story

Puffer fish, fishermen, ocean and secrets of nature

***

Fisherman trying to separate catch of the day. 

While the lucky ones goes to be prepared into delicious meal, the puffer fish along with the net will be thrown out in the shore.

Beaches, walking  barefoot while the golden sand makes impressions of your feet. 

The cool breeze, waves gently touching your feet. 

Seashore filled with sea shells and unknown creatures. 

A visit to the fisherman village, the small boat they use to bravely row to the rough sea. 

Evening as the sunset the entire sea will be light up with the small lanterns. 

As though the beach is wearing Queens necklace. 

Clear star-studded sky, moonrise, the gentle murmur of the waves hitting on the rocks. 

An occasional curious dolphin pop out of the calm sea. 

The restaurants will come to full life with display of catch of the day. 

From shark, crabs, lobsters, prawns, tiger prawns to other bright coloured fishes in big chunks of ice cubes carefully displayed.

A small rivelet joining the sea. 

The evening sky changes its colour in every possible combination.

 The restaurant tables will have a tiny lantern with a small candle for that nights candlelight dinner.

You never know how times flies in such ambience. 

Your gazing eyes and camera will be busy capturing the nature, her calm yet strong changes. 

A group of enthusiastic tourists pass by looking cheerful and happy. 

While we silently admire the finest details of the dinner served. 

You will be tempted to run to the sea after dinner as its alluring beauty attracts you from the cliff. 

We have to climb down about 30 to 40 steps down to reach beach.

Which even locals don't dare. 

Its left for the sea, her unknown mysterious secrets.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/calreaders/permalink/336740803643856/

Mango pickle

It's raw mango season and a festival like Vishu is incomplete without mango pickle. I was wondering what to make as accompaniment for the dishes we had prepared for Vishu.

I love mango inji, a very simple pickle with sliced mango and ginger. A little salt is added, that's all you need for this yummy pickle. It stay fresh for about 3 to 4 days.

To make mango pickle we need a few spices, finally add  mustard tadka.

Mango pickle

1 1/2 raw mango (these mangoes were bit sour)
A pinch of hing
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp red chili powder (spicy)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp gingely oil
1 tsp mustard seeds

Tips

Make less quantity, it's store life is 2 to 3 days.

Method

* Wash, chop mango into very small pieces.

*In a mixing bowl add mango slices, turmeric, salt and red chili powder. Mix well.

* Heat a small pan,  pour oil add mustard seeds, method seeds and allow it to splutter.

*Off stove, quickly transfer mango into this tadka and give a toss.

*Bring it to room temperature,transfer into a clean, bottle or jar. You can consume it immediately.

*Store life in normal conditions is 2 to 3 days.

*Enjoy pickle with Vishu feast, best with curd rice.