Indian dinner

Let me share a simple dish made with ladies finger…don’t be apprehensive about the curd in the recipe. Trust me, it tastes great. This is one of the very few recipes that I like in Mallika Badrinath’s book.

Ladies finger Masala

Ladies finger - ½ kg
Green chillies – 3
Chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp
Salt
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Sugar – 1tsp (optional)
Tomato – 1
Fresh thick curds – 2 cups
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Cashew – 15
Onions – 4 or 5
Poppy seeds- 1tbsp
Oil for deep frying

Cut ladies finger into 1.5” pieces. Deep fry in hot oil till light brown.
Dice onion and tomato into 1” pieces.
Slit green chillies vertically.
Dry roast poppy and cashew separately.
Fry onions till transparent in little oil.
Grind the onions, poppy seeds and cashew together.
Heat oil in a pan, tamper cumin seeds with a little fenugreek. Add green chillies and ground paste. Stir constantly in medium flame until golden brown.
Add sugar, salt, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Continue frying till oil separates.
Add strained and whipped curds, tomato and ladies finger. Bring to a boil.

I served this dish with chappathis...I guess it goes well with poori too!

Irresistable Italian food!

I like to eat different types of food and I get easily bored when I eat the same stuff repeatedly when I go to a restaurant. Most restaurants have a standard menu and over time it gets monotonous...
This often happens when I want to eat pizza..I love pizza and pasta....but most restaurants in Chennai offer them with a tomato base. So I decided to try something different at home, with a basil pesto. Some day I would like to make the pizza from scratch, but for now I used a ready made Pizza base. Using basil pesto as the base, I made the pizza and pasta.

Basil pesto is best when used fresh. You may also store it in the fridge for about five days. Remember to use an airtight container, and coat the pesto with olive oil.

Pizza Gardenia (Tarla Dalal)



For the vegetable topping-
1 red pepper (Tarla says sliced, but I prefer cubed)
1 green pepper, cubed
1 zucchini, sliced
1 onion, cubed
1 eggplant, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

I also used one yellow pepper

Other ingredients

1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

To prepare the vegetable topping -
Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan, add all the remaining ingredients and cook over a high flame, stirring continuously till the vegetables are slightly browned. remove and keep aside.

Place one pizza base on a greased baking tray.

I always use a parchment paper for my tray when I bake pizza

Spread half of the pesto on top of the pizza base. Top with half of the roasted vegetables and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for ten minutes.

As I mentioned earlier, I tried making pasta using the pesto...it turned out quite well..

2 1/2 cups cooked penne
1/2 cup basil pesto
2tbsp Olive oil
2tbsp grated cheese

Heat oilve oil in a pan. Add pesto. Fry for a few minutes until cooked. Add the cooked penne. Cook till the pesto coats the pasta. Add grated cheese. Simmer until the cheese melts.