thayirsaadham

Hey all,

How was your weekend? I had a really lazy weekend after a long time. I usually cook and do a lot of baking over the weekend. This weekend, I decided to take a break and did next to nothing. Cooked this black chana sambar once and had it multiple times

Do you guys have a “weak hour of the day”? Mine is at around 3 o clock in the afternoon. I start feeling hungry - not ravenous… but hungry enough to want something light. I start squirming in my seat and keep looking at the code but nothing goes in to my head. Our office cafeteria is designed to tempt me to hell and back. They have these really yummy muffins and cakes. But if I eat them everyday, I would require a crane to move in and out of my office. Plus those muffins are too big for a little afternoon snack. But since they are there, I end up finishing them .

I usually pack some fruits and/or granola to work. But sometimes, you want something spicy and the only thing spicy that I get at work is the cheetos from the vending machine. Not a good choice, eh? Plus I hate that my fingers get all orange when I eat that. For a long time now, I have been wanting to make spicy biscuits. I had seen this recipe on RedChillies for savory cookies. As is the norm around here, I was out of one important ingredient to make these - yogurt. I used a little bit of cream cheese (what else?) instead of the yogurt. I also made minor changes in the proportion of ingredients used.

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour - 1.5 cups
2. Unsalted Butter - 4 tbsp (softened)
3. Ginger paste + coriander leaves (chopped finely) + green chillies - 1 tbsp *
4. Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
5. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
6. Cream cheese - 1 tbsp
7. Baking powder - 1 tsp
8. Salt - to taste

Method

1. Sift the flour , baking powder and salt.
2. Add the softened butter, cumin seeds and the ginger-coriander-green chilli paste and knead well to make a soft dough.
3. Add the cream cheese in 1/2 tsp increments and knead it well into the dough. (The idea behind adding it in increments is to stop when you think it is enough. The original recipe used only 1.5 tsp. But I had to use around 1 tbsp to get the texture I wanted)
4. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes - 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350F.
6. Prepare a baking sheet by laying parchment paper or aluminum foil on top.
7. Pinch off a small portion of the dough and roll it out to a disc of 1/4 inch thick.
8. Cut into preferred shapes.
9. Place the cut shapes onto the cookie sheet and prick each with a fork till the tines pass through. (This is to let steam escape while baking)
10. Bake for around 20-25 minutes. ( The cookies will take on a light golden colour)
11. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack and store in an air tight container.

I really loved having these cookies around to snack on. These were crunchy and not at all heavy - perfect for that 3 p.m snack attack with a cup of coffee/tea.

Hey all,

Having a major writer’s block. It is not like I can rival J.K Rowling with my writing skills. (By the way, I have started reading Harry Potter… again… and sooo loving it! I can almost feel myself reaching for my (non-existent) wand at times to do spells ). I don’t like going to the recipe directly.. seems bleh. But that’s kinda what I am going to do today.

Sundal is a dry snack made with pulses and legumes. This is pretty famous in South India during Navarathiri - the 9 day festival. I remember my mother making 9 different kinds of sundal - one for each day. The one made with chickpeas is my favourite. It has a slight crunch from the chickpeas and coconut. The spices used are very minimal - just some mustard, urad dhal and asafoetida. This is a simple wholesome snack and we can get our protein fix from the chickpeas.

Ingredients

1. Chickpeas - 2 cups
2. Olive oil - 2 tsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Urad dhal - 2 tsp
5. Red chillies - 3 (Adjust according to your preference)
6. Salt - according to taste
7. Coconut (grated) - 1/4 cup
8. Curry leaves - 5-8
9. Asafoetida - a pinch

Recipe

1. Wash and soak the chickpeas overnight. Then pressure cook them for 2 whistles. You can also use canned chickpeas. In that case, proceed to step 2.
2. Add the oil to a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add urad dhal and once they start turning light brown, add the red chillies.
3. Saute for around 30 seconds till the red chillies turn darker.
4. Add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Saute till the curry leaves become dry - around a minute.
5. Add the chickpeas and salt and mix everything. Let this cook for 3-4 minutes. Since the chickpeas have already been cooked, we only need to wait till everything is mixed well.
6. Add the coconut and saute for 2-3 minutes.
7. Adjust for taste and we are done.

Wasn’t that simple? This is one of the quickest dishes you can make and is very healthy. If you have the chickpeas ready (soaked and pressure-cooked or canned), this dish doesn’t take more than 10 minutes. So, off it goes to Mahimaa’s 15 minute cooking event. I am very eager to see the round up for that event … as I am sure all of you are. I am always looking for quick-fix recipes and the idea of getting dinner ready in 15 minutes is so enticing .

I just realized that for a person with writer’s block, I have rambled on. Ah..well… if only self-control was easier

Hey all,
Am still here . Things got a bit hectic at work. I actually went 3 whole weeks without touching the stove. Lived on my oldest addiction (fruits) and my latest addiction - oatmeal. Then came a week when I cooked and baked like it was my last week on earth. Actually, come to think of it, I would sooo not enter the kitchen if it was my last week on earth . Anyway, I made traditional south indian food - arachu vitta sambar , kootu, etc. I also baked a banana bread, a cinnamon bread, an orange cake, a pound cake, etc. My waistline expanded in direct proportion to my grocery bill . But I was too lazy to take pictures. I just wanted to cook and eat without obsessing over the bowl colour, placement, background, etc.

I am not a huge fan of the south indian mixture. I eat it very rarely. I prefer the north indian chivda. But I had some cornflakes at home and I remembered Usha’s recipe for mixture and proceeded to make it. I followed Usha’s recipe for the most part except I did not have any golden flax cereal and I have no idea what corn oil is. So, I used vegetable oil. I am reproducing the recipe here with the modifications that I made.

Ingredients

1. Kelloggs corn flakes - 2 cups
2. Peanuts - 1/2 cup
3. pottu kadalai (dalia) - 1/2 cup
4. Raisins - a handful
5. Cashews - a handful
6. Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
7. Red chillies - 3
8. Curry leaves - 6
9. Salt - to taste
10. Asafoetida - a pinch

Recipe

1. Dry roast the peanuts and set aside to cool.
2. Dry roast the pottu kadalai and set aside to cool.
3. Dry roast the red chillies and the curry leaves for 30-40 seconds. Once the curry leaves become crisp, remove and set aside to cool.
4. Grind the red chillies and curry leaves in a spice grinder with salt and asafoetida.
5. Add oil to a pan and add the raisins, cashews, roasted dalia and peanuts. Let it fry for a minute.
6. Add the spice powder and mix. Let this cook for 20-30 seconds.
7. Add the cereal and mix everything well and saute for 1 minute or two,
8. Let the mixture cool and then store in an air-tight container.

As Usha mentioned, the ground spice powder adds a zing to the mixture that cannot be replicated by adding red chilli powder. I should know since me being the lazy me, I tried with the red chilli powder and was totally disappointed with the result. The chilli powder did not mix thoroughly and the end product did not match my expectations. That’s why you should not take shortcuts

With the weather in Seattle being oh-so-annoying and gloomy with the exception of yesterday (which yours truly spent sleeping), this mixture with a cup of hot coffee went a long way towards improving my mood

Vibaas of Delectable Vegetarian Recipes showered me with a bunch of awards. I am really late in acknowledging them. My apologies for the delay and thanks a ton for the beautiful awards dear .

Its snowing here right now and my initial idea was to make bajji or bonda. But then, the amount of oil that would need put me off the idea. I came upon this cumin cookie recipe from Usha
I only changed the amounts of ingredients because I did not want to make too much. And, I cut the dough into small pieces. I tried shaping it like how Usha had made it. But, I had no idea how to get that elegant shape that she had

I am pasting her recipe here for my records.

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. 1 1/4 tsp salt
4. 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
5. 1/4 tsp baking soda
6. 1/2 tsp chili powder (or according to taste)
7. 3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
8. 3 tbsp oil.
9. 1/4 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F
2. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients,then add the oil,ghee and milk.
3. Knead to make a dough that is not too sticky.Add a few drops of water only if required.
4. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin and cut into desired shape or just make small lime sized balls and flatten it a little
5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the cut or flattened cookies on it and bake for about 25 minutes or until pale golden brown
6. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy these with a nice hot cup of tea like I did

Usha has given this site the yum blog award. Thank you Usha
This is my first award - Yayyy!!! I like the fact that I am posting one of Usha’s recipes along with this award.

I am sure everyone else has got this award. But I would like to pass it to the people who inspired me to start this food blog… I am not mentioning Usha here as she has got this award already. But she was a huuuugge inspiration
I am passing this award to Mansi , Srimathi , Mahimaa and Nags.