Tomato Pulp and Crunchy Capsicum

Ingredients

• Tomatoes (ripe) – 2
• Onions (big) – 1
• Capsicum – 1
• Green chilly – 1
• Mustard seeds and black gram – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Red chilly powder – 1 ½ tsp
• Salt – according to taste
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Cumin (jeera) seeds – ½ tsp

Preparation

• Chop the tomatoes, capsicum, green chilly and onion.
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan and add the mustard and black gram. After the mustard seeds have popped, add the chopped onion, capsicum and green chilly.
• Add a little salt and fry until the onions becomes tender.
• Add the tomatoes. Add salt, turmeric and red chilly powder.
• Keep frying till the tomatoes turn into a pulp.
• Mash the cumin seeds with both your palms and sprinkle the cumin seeds over the pulp.
• Taste for salt and serve hot.

Note:

• Capsicum becomes tender along with the onions. I prefer capsicum to be crunchy in this dish. So, I add the capsicums after the onions have become tender.
• The riper the tomatoes, the tastier the dish.

Boring Chapatti?

Tired of having to make a proper side dish for your chapattis? Try this.
Ingredients

• Chapatti – 2  
• Onion – 1
• (optional) Vegetables of your choice – 1 cup
• Oil – 2 ½ tbsp
• Red chilli powder – ½ to 1 tsp
• Salt – according to taste

Preparation

• Tear the chapattis into small pieces and keep aside. Chop the onions and the vegetables.
• In a deep frying pan, pour oil and add the onions. Add a pinch of salt. Let the onions caramelise.
• Add vegetables and stir well.
• Add the chapattis and a little more salt.
• Stir for a minute or two and serve.

Skip the vegetables and this dish makes for a great evening snack!

 

Omelette Curry

Ingredients

Eggs – 2
Tomato (ripe) – 1

Onion(big) – 1

Small onions (sambhar onions) – 4

Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp
Coconut (chopped) – 3 to 4 tbsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Cumin (jeera) powder – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 2 to 3
Mustard seeds and black gram (urad dal) – ½ tsp

Oil – 3 tbsp

Salt – according to taste
Water – 2 cups
Coriander leaves – for garnishing

 

Preparation

• Grind the coconut with coriander, red chilli, and cumin powder into a fine paste.
• Transfer the paste to a bowl and mix with water; this is the masala for our curry.
• Peel and cut the small onions into two.
• Peel and chop the onion for making an omelette.
• In a deep frying pan, pour oil and add mustard and black gram and curry leaves.
• Add the small onions and fry till they turn tender.
• Add ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a minute.
• Add the tomatoes and fry till they turn into a pulp.
• Pour the masala and add salt. Adjust the gas flame to medium.
• In a bowl, beat the eggs with the chopped onion.
• Make a thick omelette (with a little salt) and cut it into pieces.
• Add the pieces to the boiling curry.
• Let the curry simmer until the desired consistency – gravy, semi-gravy- is attained.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

 Serves two, and tastes best with everything!

 Note: 

• You can use readymade tomato puree and coconut milk available in the market instead of tomato and coconut pieces. Dilute readymade coconut milk with water before using.
• Instead of ginger-garlic paste, you can use finely chopped ginger (about a tsp) and garlic (6-7 cloves).
• It is better to make the curry a little watery as the omelette pieces absorb the curry once removed from fire.

Kitchen Essentials for Singletons

(This post has been written keeping the typical Indian singleton in mind.)

 A list of things that you would need to set up your kitchen.

•  An electric rice cooker.
• A single burner gas stove, preferably Klix (if your cylinder runs out of gas, you have the electric rice cooker as a backup).
• Six small air-tight containers with spoons (one each for mustard seeds and urad dal, turmeric powder, red-chilly powder, garam masala powder, sugar, and dairy whitener).
• Three large air-tight containers (one each for rice, dal, and atta).
• One large chopping board (can be used to roll out chapattis, too).
• One rolling pin.
• A cooking-oil dispenser.
• A three-rack stand for onions, potatoes, and other vegetables.
• One flat frying pan (for making omelettes chapatis, dosas, etc).
• One deep frying pan with lid (for making mouth-watering curries).
• One long flat spoon for flipping omelettes.
• One long spoon for frying the ingredients in the deep frying pan.
• Two medium-sized vessels that can be used directly over fire and can double up as serving dishes.
• Glasses, spoons (both large and small), and forks (you are going to invite friends over for a brunch or two, aren’t you?)
• Two stainless steel knives with firm handles, one for chopping vegetables, and the other for meat (do not be tempted to buy a seven-knife set; you hardly use the other five).
• A salt and pepper shaker.
• Two or three cloth napkins.
• A pair of tongs.
• Two small bowls (the size of a soup bowl).
• A large vessel for storing drinking water (make sure that you boil the water before drinking it or using for cooking purposes).
• A stainless steel basket that would hold all the vessels. You will need the basket to dry out the vessels after washing them.

For cleaning purposes

• A good pair of washing gloves.
• Liquid soap.

Optional items

• A two-litre rice cooker (needed if your meal is incomplete without rice and you aren’t planning on buying an electric rice cooker).
• A mixer (needed if you love freshly ground spices).
• A small refrigerator (needed if you are going to cook regularly and can’t find the time to shop for vegetables and meat).
• A water purifier (needed if you find boiling water tedious; alternatively, you could buy canned water. My personal opinion is investing in a water purifier; you could strike “remember to get refill for water” on the “things-to-do list.”)

Check http://personalden.blogspot.com/2009/11/compact-containers-for-kitchen.html to get an idea about the containers used in kitchens.

Quick Recipes using Cooked Rice – Recipe 2

Lime Rice

Ingredients

• Cooked rice – 1 cup

• Lime (ripe) – 1

• Mustard seeds and Black gram (white and split) – ½ tsp

• Groundnuts – 1 tbsp (or more)

• Curry leaves – 2 to 3

• Ginger (optional, chopped) – ½ tsp

• Turmeric powder – a pinch

• Oil – 1 ½ tbsp

• Salt – according to taste

Preparation

1. In a deep frying pan, pour oil and when the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds and black gram. When the mustard seeds have burst, add the curry leaves.

2. Add the groundnuts and fry for a minute or two. Keep the flame in medium and fry for one more minute.

3. Add the turmeric powder and mix well.

4. Remove the pan from the fire.

5. Take the rice in a bowl and add the contents of the pan into it.

6. Cut the lime into half and squeeze its juice into the bowl. (Use a ripe lime so that the rice doesn’t taste sour.)

7. Add salt and mix well.

8. Taste the rice. If it is sour, add some more salt.

Have lime rice with crunchy potato chips!

Garlic Rasam

Eating at irregular intervals, snacking on junk food, no time for exercise, and eating out a lot are going to take a toll on your digestive system. Try this Garlic Rasam that helps in digestion and also reduces bad cholesterol.


Ingredients

• Garlic – 5 cloves (chopped)
• Tomatoes (ripe) – 2
• Mustard seeds and black gram – ½ tsp
• Curry leaves – 2 to 3
• Pepper powder – a pinch
• Oil – ½ tbsp
• Water – 3 cups
• Salt – according to taste
• Coriander leaves – for garnishing

Preparation

1. Cut the tomatoes into half. In a deep frying pan, pour a cup of water and boil the tomatoes. Cover the pan with a lid and your tomatoes should be done in 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Transfer the tomatoes along with any remaining water to another vessel.

3. Rinse the pan. Pour oil into the pan and add mustard seeds and black gram. Then, add the curry leaves and the chopped garlic. Fry for a minute or two.

4. Mash the boiled tomatoes with your hand. Add the mashed tomatoes to the garlic and pour two cups of water.

5. Add salt and pepper. Taste the rasam and add more salt if required.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves.

7. Turn off the gas when the rasam comes to a boil.

Note:

1. Taste the rasam without adding pepper powder. If the rasam tastes pungent, avoid pepper. Alternatively, you can add a pinch of jaggery to balance the pungency.

2. You can also avoid the mustard seeds and black gram as they are used just for tempering.

Quick Recipes using Cooked Rice – Recipe 1

Ingredients

• Cooked rice – 1 cup

• Onion – 1 medium-sized, cut into cubes (diced)

• Capsicum – 1 medium-sized, diced

• Green chilly – 1 finely chopped

• Mustard seeds and black gram (white and split)– 1 teaspoon (tsp)

• Garam masala powder – 1 ½ tsp

• Oil – 2 tablespoons (tbsp)

• Chopped coriander leaves – for garnishing

• Salt – as required

Preparation

1. In a deep frying pan, pour oil and when it heats up, add mustard seeds and black gram.

2. When the seeds burst, add onion and green chilly. Fry till the onion turns translucent.

3. Add capsicum and fry till it turns tender. Add more oil if required.

4. Sprinkle a little salt and mix well.

5. Add rice and keep stirring as the rice would stick to the pan.

6. Sprinkle garam masala powder and mix well.

7. Taste the rice and add more salt if required.

8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Instead of onion and capsicum,

1. Use peas, cauliflower, potatoes, or any combination of vegetables of your choice. In this case, boil the vegetable(s) before you start with the recipe.

2. Use scrambled eggs.

3. Use shredded chicken or mutton. In this case, add a bit of red chilly powder or chilli sauce to make it a little spicy.

Rasam

When you are down with a particularly bad bout of cold or fever, you tongue feels like rubber and you can taste absolutely nothing. At times like these, you wouldn’t want to eat as you would find everything bland. Try this simple recipe for “rasam” to make your taste buds happy.

Ingredients

• Tomatoes (ripe) – 2

• Lime – 1

• Rasam powder – 1 tsp

• Red chilly – 1 (optional)

• Mustard seeds and black gram (white and split) – ½ tsp

• Curry leaves

• Water – 3 cups

• Coriander leaves – for garnishing

• Salt – according to taste

Preparation

1. Cut the tomatoes into half. In a deep frying pan, pour a cup of water and boil the tomatoes. Cover the pan with a lid and your tomatoes should be done in 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Transfer the tomatoes to another vessel. If there is any water remaining in the pan, pour it along with the tomatoes. Rinse the pan and keep it aside.

3. Add two more cups of water to the tomatoes. Wait till the tomatoes cool down. Cut the lime into half, and add its juice to the tomatoes. Mash the tomatoes with your hand (careful, it might still be hot!)

4. Pour oil in the pan and add mustard seeds and black gram. When the mustard seeds stop bursting, add curry leaves and the red chilly (broken into half). Pour the mixture of tomatoes, lime juice, water, and rasam powder into the pan.

5. Add salt and stir well. Garnish with coriander leaves. Turn off the gas when the rasam comes to a boil. Serve hot or cold, either way, it’s delicious!

Tastes best with rice, but no one is stopping you from drinking rasam from a glass!