Tomato Macaroni Soup

This is a yummy monsoon treat recipe. Soups are very comforting during rainy days. In here its been heavily pouring since a week. I couldn't think of anything better than this delicious bowl of soup. And that too when you make it at home then definitely you are in heaven.. The herbs makes the soup flavorful and aromatic. 

It's so easy and versatile. Try this soup recipe with different pasta or just the soup. I have added spinach which is totally my idea. You can also try adding kale or any other greens. Customizing your soup is not difficult. And most people end up making soup when they need to clean up their refrigerator :). 

Are you ready to ladle your soup into bowl, swirl and slurppp ;) ????

Servings: 2
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Level: Easy

Ingredients:

Macaroni (Uncooked) 50 gm Tomato 450 gm/ 4 medium sized Onion 100 gm/ 1 small Celery 50 gm/ 2 stalks Carrot 100 gm/ 1 medium Spinach 75 gm Garlic 2 cloves Olive oil / Butter 1 Tbsp Basil (Dried) 1 Tsp Orgeno (Dried) ½ Tsp Fennel seed powder ½ Tsp Chicken/ Veg broth 4 cups approx Black pepper powder For taste Salt For taste

Method :
	1. Cook macaroni as per the instruction given on the package. Drain water from macaroni     completely and keep aside. It took me around 10 mins to cook them.
	2. Immerse tomatoes in the boiled water for 3-4 mins. Peel off the skin and crush them using     fork or spatula.
	3. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add garlic and onion. Saute for 4-5 mins and add the     broth/water, crushed tomatoes, chopped carrot, celery and salt.
	4. Bring it to boil. Now add fennel seed powder, basil and oregano. Reduce the heat to low and       close the lid. Cook for 15 mins or till the vegetables are soft.
	5. Add the spinach. Stir for few secs and cook for 10 more mins.
	6. Season with pepper powder.
	7. Add the cooked macaroni to the soup and give a stir.
	8. Turn off the heat and garnish with fresh basil and shredded cheese on top.
Notes:
	1. You can also use any other pasta instead of macaroni.
	2. Additionally use any vegetables of your choice
	3. Add the macaroni to the soup only if you are about to serve immediately. Otherwise it will    soak well and reduce the quantity of soup making it thicker.

"This recipe has been linked to Shama Nags Event Fast food - Pasta" &  EP hosted byFoodomania

Stir Fried Bok Choy & Awards

Hi friends,

After few busy days, I am back here to share and follow :) ... Hope all are quite busy trying new recipes and sharing with fellow bloggers.. All these days I too was partly busy  in kitchen preparing new recipes which some turned fab and some not oops!!. Was pretty busy on the other things in life so couldn't capture or share my kitchen trials.. Anyways hoping to give more time on blogging again. 

Back to my post, I and hon' always loved Chinese cuisines (No, I am not talking about Indo-Chinese manchurian and fried rice ;) ). Traditional Chinese cuisines are much more interesting than we expect a cuisine would be. You will discover every meal has been well calculated for proper proportion of  greens & meat... Apart from that they also use fermented goodies for flavoring the things up. Which is why their food habits are more healthy and balanced. About their wok and extreme heat I will share in next post since lot many things to talk about it.. 

Being in China almost 4 yrs we are addicted to their food and culture. We do cook Chinese food at home 2 or 3 times a week. Never thought of sharing one :( That's bad.. So this post is all about "Bok Choy" lovely green from China which has a very old history. You can find them as a main dish as stir-fried alone or with some meat and also garnishing. The picture I used to share the recipe is a year old. 

Since the Chinese food are best when eaten hot and warm, photographing is really a pain. No one has patience in front of steaming hot dish ;)..  

Kumbalanga Moru Koottan / Ash Gourd in Yogurt Gravy (Kerala style)

Yet another mom's signature dish straight from Kerala. Moru kuttan is very common in Kerala and easy to make. This is a yogurt based vegetable curry flavored with coconut. Traditional tempering adds more flavor to the curry. This simple yet yummy curry will woo you for sure.

Aloo Palak / Spinach & Potato Masala

Aloo palak is a subtle spinach dish with potato. This is a healthy and delicious veggie delight to go with roti or any other Indian bread. I have seen some people use pureed spinach in this. But I use chopped spinach along with stems. I believe pureeing would kill all the nutrition the spinach holds. Anyways thats all upto to you.. For me I like the texture of my aloo palak more than that of pureed spinach masala.. And also I use to saute them in brief so that I can get most of its vitamins ;) Such a health freak huh??... So here's my Aloo palak in my style.. 

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Crostini

It's been a while I made this luscious appetizer. This is one appetizer never be left lonely on the plate at the end of a meal. Creamy & nutty red pepper pesto is divine, comfort & lip smacking sauce I ever made. Goes well with pasta, as a dipping sauce and in crostini. The roasted red pepper adds more flavor to the pesto. Never be lazy to roast the pepper.

Whenever I see the vibrant red peppers I just dream of the pesto I used to make long back when we were in North China. You find ample quantity of red pepper there. I used to make in large quantity and freeze them for later use. Here in Guangzhou I see them on & off. So I bought them last week when I found them in farmers market.

Here we go with nice & crisp crostini with red pepper pesto. I am bit unhappy that I totally lost the original recipe owner as I have been making this pesto since long time & never had any record of the original recipe. Anyway I am very much grateful to the person who shared this awesome recipe in web. :)

Poori Masala / Deep fried Indian Bread with Mashed Potato

Poori Masal or Poori Kizhangu as referred by my dear hubby is a classic south Indian breakfast combo. Pooris are deep fried indian bread made with wheat flour. And masala is nothing but mashed potato with Indian tadka.

Alas, I have a slight food aversion towards this dish since many years :( , but on the other hand my sweetheart crave for poori kizhangu ;).. I rarely prepare this at my kitchen due to my aversion. I cooked poori masala last week since he was starving for it for long time. I am glad to dedicate this wonderful recipe to my sweet hubby.

Mixed Pepper Salad

This colorful salad holds so many nutrition. Red and yellow peppers are attractive in color & contains plenty of health benefits. Here's the recipe for making easy and tasty Mixed pepper salad with vinaigrette dressing in my way.

Vegetable Biriyani

Biriyani!!! This dish stands for herbs and spices... Travelled long way from Iran to India..Biriyani is a dish made of rice with the combination of veg/non veg and spices. It is enormously popular in India and liked by many. While dining out I have seen many people consider this dish as mandatory to be in the table. Yogurt sauce called "Raita" is served along with biriyani to calm down the spiciness. Raita is a simple yogurt seasoned with selected vegetables.

Pavakka Theeyal/Kaippakkai Theeyal/ Bitter gourd curry

Another vegetarian dish from Kerala "Kaippakkai Theeyal". Kaippakkai meaning "Bitter gourd". You could also use vegetables like yam, pearl onion, raw mangoes, eggplant in place of bitter gourd. It's a curry made with roasted spices,coconut and the vegetables are boiled in tamarind water.  

When we hear the name bitter gourd most of our face changes to no no mode..  But trust me, this

recipe is full of flavours. From sourness from the tamarind, sweet from coconut & jaggery, to slight bitter from the bitter gourd makes this dish delicious.

Bhindi Fry (Okra/Lady's finger Fry)

When I was a kid, I hated my vegetables like all other kids do. I'd always tried to get away from the veggies my mom used to pack for lunch. It was like eating something which isn't meant for human beings ;). I never ever thought I'll have to come across a person who loves the veggies and without them will not survive. Yes! That's my hubby.. He doesn't care if I haven't cooked any curry for rice. Instead he needs a large portion of poriyal/veg side dish for his rice/roti.
I started liking subzi /vegetables after going to the beautiful city "Surat" in Gujarat. I have been there for almost 5 years and I hope that changed our palate. I can proudly say Surat food changed my perspective on food. The way they cook their food and feed the guests with lots of passion is  never forgottable and will always remain with us.
My passion towards food and cooking is all started from there. And now it's never ending journey..
From wide vegetarian dishes served in Gujarat, we love our Bhindi ki subzi (Okra/Lady's finger). Lady's finger is unique in taste and texture. I have posted Bhindi fry recipe with Gujarati touch, which I usually prepare to accompany roti (Indian wheat bread) 

Sunday Breakfast 3

Hi friends!!
This Sunday was very beautiful. After so many days being cloudy, we got to see our bright sun. Anyways we had no plans to go out since we'd been BBQ partying the whole evening of Saturday.
I remember when we were staying in North China, our friends would invite us for a get-together event. We'd be around 7-8 people from different countries. Collection of breads, sausages, sauces, cheese were the dinner themes. We loved the slices of brown bread layered with cheese and sausages of our taste topped with mustard sauce. Yummy!!
After we moved to Guangzhou, We missed all of that.. Our friend Martin is from Germany. Few days back he went to Germany for holidays.We requested him to bring us German brown bread. We were excited when Martin brought us the bread. But we had no sausages or cheese with us. So I made some mashed potato salad and fried egg to go with the bread. And some fresh pineapple juice We loved the potato salad.. I added pickled gherkins and olive to it for extra kick..

Vishu 2012!!

I took a while to post our "Vishu" feast since I thought to post the menu recipes at first. Our menu had few of traditional dishes. It's been always difficult to plan whole meal for two persons. So I selected few main dishes to serve along with rice. For those who haven't read my past posts about "Vishu" here goes a brief description 

"Vishu" is the New year in accordance with Malayalam Calender. It falls on the next day of Tamil New year. The most important event in Vishu is the "Vishukkani" meaning "the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". Vishukkani consists of arrangement of various fruits, mirror, konna poo (Yellow flower), raw rice and urli in the pooja room of the house.

Another famous ritual is "VishuKaineettam" where elder people gift money to the young people.

This year I prepared Aviyal, Olan, Cabbage Thoran, Brinjal Sambar with rice and Ada prathaman served as dessert. It was almost like being in hometown. 

Olan

One another Side dish from Kerala. Very simple to cook yet tasty. Olan recipe has very few ingredients and less time taking dish to prepare. During any festivals in Kerala you can find "Aviyal" , Olan, Kalan, Thoran etc.. served as side dish for steamed brown rice. And most of the recipes including dessert will have coconut as an ingredient. I prepared this recipe for "Vishu".

"Vishu" is the New year in accordance with Malayalam Calender. It falls on the next day of Tamil New year. The most important event in Vishu is the "Vishukkani" meaning "the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". Vishukkani consists of arrangement of various fruits, mirror, konna poo (Yellow flower), raw rice and urli in the pooja room of the house.

Another famous ritual is "VishuKaineettam" where elder people gift money to the young people. We used to wait the whole year to get the gifts from our elder members from family ;).

 Olan is prepared with Ash gourd and coconut milk. In some places it is prepared with Ash gourd and black eyed bean as well. Here I have posted Olan recipe which uses only Ash gourd and coconut milk.

Aviyal

One of my favourite side dish is Aviyal which is from my motherland Kerala. I used to be very proud whenever I'd to say I am from Kerala. Mostly the reasons behind feeling that way are it's been my birthplace, as it got the title "God's own country"and undoubtedly the cuisine.

My family migrated from Kerala to Tamil nadu even before my birth. So I can say that the relationship between me and Kerala is just my birth and the summer vacation we have at our Grannies home during schooling.

Everytime when we visit Kerala I'd always have these jobs to do, jumping into the lake, walking by the sides of deep Canal (even if I feel nervous), collecting the fallen mangoes, having our meal served in banana leafs 3 times a day ;).. 

Picking the mangoes was always my routine job. We had 4 mango trees of different kind. Since we always go in summer which is the mango season, we would grab a basket half of our size and go to each tree, collect the mangoes and of course one in hand to bite.  

The good thing about their food is they grow vegetables at their garden. And most of the days they cook with their garden vegetables. Hardly few times I see them buying from markets.

So Aviyal is a side dish for rice, prepared with many vegetables whatever available at your garden cooked with Kerala's identity "Coconut" and a touch of sourness from curd.

Only recipe you need not worry about unavailability of any vegetables I mentioned in here.. But you definitely require coconut and curd. I got this recipe from my mom. Hope you guys find it easy to cook. Traditionally, vegetables like Yam, Drumstick, Raw Banana, Raw Mangoes Carrot, Ash gourd, Pumpkin, Bitter gourd, Cucumber, Green beans and Cow beans are used. Here I don't get Yam, Drumstick, Raw banana. So it's all upto you to add or omit any vegetable.

Sambar

Sambar is very common side dish for rice in South India. Every home prepare sambar everyday for rice, idli, dosa etc.. It's a mixture of split pea and vegetables. Throughtout the south the sambar has been cooked in different way and the recipe varies widely region to region. I know to cook sambar in three different ways, one from Kerala which i got it from my mom, the second one a Tamil nadu style and the third one is easy & fast sambar cooked in pressure cooker. This recipe is from Tamilnadu. I will post the other ways of preparing sambar later. I have used brinjal in this recipe.

Vegetable Cutlet

One more delicious tea snack is veg cutlet. Crispy outside moisture inside makes it the perfect mid day snack for children of any age. Potato as a main ingredient, you can add any vegetables of your choice to it. Children who are fussy at their vegetables will never complain about this veg dish instead they will love it..

Ingredients: 

1	Potato	400 gm
2	Beans	50 gm
3	Carrot	50 gm
4	Garlic	10 gm
5	Ginger	8 gm
6	Onion	50 gm
7	Green chillies	2 nos
8	Garam masala	1 Tsp
9	Red chilli powder	1 Tsp
10	Turmeric pdr	1/4 Tsp
11	Amchur	1/2 Tsp
12	Cumin seeds	1/2 Tsp
13	Salt
14	Coriander leaves
15	Cornflour	320 gm
16	Bread Crumbs	150 gm

17.       Vegetable Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Boil all the vegetables till they become soft. I used carrot, beans along with potato. You can use peas, cauliflower along with carrot, beans and potato.

2. Mash the boiled vegetables 

3. Add ginger garlic paste, onion, green chillies, garam masala, turmeric pdr, chilli pdr, Amchur, Cumin seeds, salt and coriander leaves

4. Add bread crumbs & cornflour little by little until it absorbs all the moisture from the mixture. 

5. Mix the remaining cornflour in water

6. Make equal sizes of balls out of the mixture and make it flat

7. Dip the patties in the corn flour mixture

8. Roll the patties in the remaining bread crumbs and deep fry

9. Serve hot with ketch up

Note:

1. Oil should be in medium heat.

2. You can also make coriander chutney or tamarind chutney as accompaniment.

3. For fun side you can shape the patties as you wish. eg: Heart, oval, cone etc

4. The cutlet can also be used to make veg burgers.

Masala vada

When i hear about vada of any kind first thing come to my mind is not the Indian festival but the rain at dusk. Wow!! Garam chai with masala vada never beatable combination during rainy season. In most festivals it will be served as appetizer. Also available in most of the bakeries as tea snack. Many friends of us who are from other part of world likes masala vada and often compare it with their meatballs. But Masala vada is pure vegetarian making it healthier than the meat ball with nutritional value of Dal (Bengal gram) and goodness of spices. Goes great with tea. Usually we hear elders saying there is no feast without vada and payasam. I prepared this recipe during one fine snowy day with all my childood memories of monsoon.  

Paruppu vada aka Masala vada.

Servings : 10 pcs

Preparation time: 20 mins + soaking time 3-6 hrs

Cooking time: 15-20 mins 

Level:  High

             

Ingredients: Kadalaparupu (Bengalgram)      150 gm Onion                                         75 gm Green chilli                                4 nos Dried Red chilli                         2 nos Asofoetida                                1/2 tsp Ginger                                       15 gm Fennel seeds                             2 Tbsp Coriander leaves                       2 Tbsp   Salt as req Vegetable Oil  for deep frying

Method:

1. Soak channa dal in water for 3- 4 hrs.

2. Grind the dal along with ginger, asofoetida, red chillies and salt. Do not add water. Grind it coarsely leaving some whole chana dal

3. Mix finely chopped onions, green chilli (I used red one due to unavailability) , chopped coriander leaves and fennel seeds to the dal mixture.

4. Don't let the mixture sit for a while.  Take lemon size portion from the dal mixture and pat it either using hands or by throwing onto smooth surface (Zip lock cover) and fry them till brown and crisp.

5. Serve hot with coconut or coriander chutney.

Ragda Patties

Hi guys!! 

Being in China my husband and I miss lot of Indian food.. First thing, we don't see Indian restaurants and other thing we don't get Indian groceries. Despite of all  hurdles, I thought of surprising my hon' on Valentines day by making him Our all time favorite Ragda patties. We used to enjoy this street food when we were in Surat... That was our first try since this kinda street food is not common in Tamilnadu. The one goodness in this which makes us mouth watering whenever we hear the name is its tanginess. Also can't forget the crunchiness which comes through its topping. So guys!! I am dedicating this recipe to all chat lovers in the world!! May find too many recipes in this single recipe, but each recipes are less time taking and effortless to make. Even if u miss one sub-recipe you are gonna miss the authenticity ..

Servings : 3 

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time : 45 mins

Level: Moderate

Index:

1) Ragda

2) Patties

3) Green chutney

4) Tamarind chutney

1) For Ragda

1. Dried Peas - 50 gm
2. Onion - 1
3. Tomato - 1
4. Green chilli - 2 nos  (finely minced)
5. Garlic - 4 cloves (finely minced)
6. Ginger - 15 gm (finely minced)
7. Cumin seeds - 1/2 Tsp
8. Red chilli powder - 1/2 Tsp
9. Cumin powder - 1/2 Tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp
11. Garam masala powder - 1/2 Tsp
12. Asafoetida - a pinch
13. Salt - to taste
14. Sesame seeds - 1/2 Tsp
15. Lemon juice/ Dry mango powder

Preparation:

1. Soak peas overnight/6 hrs and pressure cook for 15 mins
2. Heat oil in a tawa and add cumin
3. When cumin stops spluttering add asafoetida , minced garlic, ginger and chillies
4. Add sesame seeds and mix well stirring continuously
5. Add onions along with little salt. 
6. When the onion turns translucent add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and cumin powder
7. Mix well and add finely chopped tomatoes
8. Stir well. Now add the boiled peas with required water.
9. Mix well and allow it to boil for 10 mins in low flame
10. Finally add garam masala powder, lemon juice/dry mango powder and garnish with coriander leaves

2) For Patties

1. Potato - 300 gm/ 2 nos
2. Green chilli - 2 nos  (finely minced)
3. Ginger - 30 gm (finely minced)
4. Coriander leaves - 2 Tbsp
5. Salt - to taste
6. Sugar - 1/2 Tsp
7. Cornflour - 2 Tbsp
8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 Tsp
9. Red chilli powder - 1/2 Tsp
10. Garam masala - 1/2 Tsp
11. Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp
12. Lemon juice / Dry mango powder 
13. Chat masala - 1/4 Tsp (Optional)

Preparations:

1. Pressure cook potatoes for 3 mins.
2. After cooling the boiled potatoes mash them well
3. Add  minced ginger, cumin and chillies
4. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, chat masala, lemon juice/dry mango powder, coriander leaves, salt, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and sugar
5. Add corn flour little by little while kneading 
6. Make patties from the mixture by dividing the mixture into small portions (i got 6 patties) and roll using hands
7. Heat little oil in the tawa and fry both sides by turning them

Plating:

1. Keep 2 nos of patties in the bowl
2. Add half of chopped onion
3. Pour some tamarind chutney and green chutney (Recipes given below)
4. Top again with remaining chopped onions and coriander leaves
5. The authentic way is to top with sev but as i mentioned earlier its not available so i omitted tht. Instead i added more onion for crunchiness
6. Even you could add curd and chat masala. All upto you.

3) Green Chutney:

1. Coriander leaves - a bunch
2. Mint leaves - quarter of the coriander bunch
3. Jalapeno - 2
4. Green chilli - 1 no
5. Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
6. Chat masala - 1/2 Tsp
7. Ginger - 1"
8. Sugar - 1/4 Tsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Curd - 2 Tbsp (Optional)
11. Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp

Grind all the above ingredients without adding water.

4)Tamarind chutney:

1. Tamarind - lemon size
2. Dates - 1/2 cup
3. Jaggery - 1/2 Tbsp
4. Red chilli powder - 1 Tsp
5. Salt - to taste
6. Cumin powder - 1 Tsp
7. Fennel seed powder - 1 Tsp (Optional)

Preparations:

1. Soak the tamarind and dates (deseeded) in hot water separately.
2. When its manageable to touch squeeze the tamarind and extract the paste
3. Grind the dates with jaggery, chilli powder, salt, cumin powder & fennel powder 
4. Boil the tamarind extract  by adding the ground paste
5. Turn off the heat when the chutney becomes thick.

Note:

• I hvn't topped my patties with sev due to unavailability. So it looks unappealing. Sorry for that guys..
• Sourness, hot and sweetness can be varied according to ur palate. 
• Just remember to plate when u r ready to dig in. If you have more time between the meal and preparation keep ragda and patties separately.