Idli Manchurian

Just before the euphoria of Deepawali, we were hit by hurricane Sandy, causing major devastation along the east coast. Our area was pretty badly hit too. We live a couple of blocks from the waterfront of the Hudson river, right across NYC. Once the water started rising, the streets started flooding at an alarming rate. Within a matter of minutes, the streets in front of our buildings were flooded and street parked cars were submerged. Within moments, most of the area lost power. It was disconcerting - you have to live in or across NYC to experience that sudden loss of electricity when the whole city is plunged into darkness, and all you can see in the darkness, is this monstrous rush of water! Don't get me wrong, growing up in the NCR region of India, I have seen my fair share of power cuts. But somehow, experiencing this in the city that never sleeps was something else entirely! The winds were howling like crazy and the building swayed a bit! We even saw a few swift boats from our window!

By God's grace, things quickly got back to normal,or as close to normal as can be expected under the circumstances. Finally the adults are at work and the kids are in school, the stores are stocked and the gas stations don't have lines snaking around the block!

I know, I know, you must be wondering what any of this has to do with Idli Manchurian! Believe me, if it weren't for the hurricane, I doubt I would have come across this yummy dish! We were well stocked with non-perishables and water in expectation of the storm. Just to be on the safe side, I prepared some idli batter and enough idlis to last me a couple of days, just in case we had no electricity and water. Though most of the buildings in our area suffered loss of power and water supply for days together, we were the few lucky ones to scrape through unscathed. But what that did was, I was left with so many idlis that I did not know what to do with them. I mean, there are only so many idlis you can eat with chutney/gun powder. Another option was idli upma. But after that,  I had mutiny on my hands. Even I was fed up. That's when I remembered my cousin mention that he had eaten idli manchurian at his aunt's place and had loved it. So, I decided to try out this dish. After all, anything is better than eating plain idlis for all your meals 2 days in a row! Boy am I glad I did make this dish! It was a big hit with all of us :)

I used left over mini idlis. By all means make fresh ones if you don't have left overs :). Also, if using regular idlis instead of the mini ones, just cut each one into 4-5 pieces.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes (excluding idli preparation)                      Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Mini Idlis - 12-15
All Purpose Flour/Maida - ¼ cup
Corn Flour - 2 tablespoons
Pepper - 1 teaspoon
Green Chilli Paste - 3 teaspoons
Soy Sauce - 2 teaspoons
Siracha Sauce - 3 teaspoons
Rice Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Scallions - 1 small bunch, sliced thin
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 teaspoons
Water - to prepare batter
Sesame Oil - 2 tablespoons
Peanut/Sunflower Oil - for deep frying
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch

Method:

1. Prepare a batter of slightly thick consistency using  all purpose flour, corn flour, pepper, salt, 1 teaspoon green chilli paste, 1 teaspoon siracha sauce, 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste and a little water.
2.  Dip the idlis in this batter and deep fry them till they turn golden in color, remove with slotted spoon and set aside on absorbent paper.

3. Saute the white part of the scallions along with the ginger garlic paste in the sesame oil.

4. When the onions turn golden brown, add the remaining sauces, a little water, sugar and a little bit of salt. Be careful while adding salt as soy sauce is already added to it. 

5. Once the gravy thickens, switch off the flame and add the fried idlis to it. Garnish with the green part of scallions.

Yummy idli manchurians are ready. You could eat them as an appetizer, or increase the gravy and eat it with some hakka noodles or rice.

Kuzhi Paniyaram

In my house, any day of the week you open the refrigerator, there will always be some idli-dosa batter in there. I just find it convenient to keep some batter handy, be it for packing lunch for my husband or kid, or for making weekend dinners after spending the whole day out.

But sometimes, very little batter is left over and it tends to get sour after a week or so. Then, I use that leftover sour batter to make kuzhi paniyarams (or uppu appams). This is a quick and easy snack that my son loves and so do I!

Sometimes I make it with onions, sometimes I make it just plain. If the batter hasn't soured but I still want to make paniyarams, then I add a tablespoon of sour cream to it and that does the trick as far as getting the sour taste is concerned.

I love making this as an after school snack for my kid, though sometimes I just add some steamed carrots and peas to it as well, just to sneak in some veggies! You could also add freshly chopped cilantro (coriander leaves). I was out of cilantro, so did not add any.

I make these in an appa kaarai which is a special vessel with molds used for frying appams. If you don't have an appa kaarai, simply drop spoonfuls in a vessel with hot oil for deep frying.

Preparation:15 minutes to soak Chana Dal                Cooking: 10 minutes             Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
Left over Idli/Dosa Batter - 1 cup
Rava/Sooji - 2 tablespoons
Chana Dal/Bengal Gram Dal - 2 tablespoons (soaked in water for 15 minutes)
Green Chilli - 2 (ground into a paste)
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, minced fine
Onions - 1 small, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying the kuzhi paniyarams

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients mentioned above, except the oil.

• Heat the oil in an appa kaarai and pour tablespoon of batter into each of the molds/holes.

Let it cook till the lower side turns brown, then turn it over.

• Cook this side also until done, then remove them from the oil and drain them out on absorbent paper or paper towels.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney.

Khichdi Pattice in Pita Pockets

Another weekend has rolled by. This was a mixed bag weekend with a couple of meals eaten out and one heavy home cooked lunch with friends. And yes, one typical weekend brunch!

On Friday, one of my friends came over and I made some khichdi for her baby. Since I was making it for the little one, I added no spices to it other than turmeric powder. So, all I did was pressure cook some moong dal with some basmati rice, turmeric powder, salt and a cup of finely chopped vegetables (I used beans, carrots, potato, tomato & spinach). Finally, I heated a tablespoon of ghee and added it as tempering. It was pretty yummy despite being such a simple preparation, but it was bland for an adult. So, I did not know what to do with the left over. I suppose I could have had it with loads of pickle on the side, but I tried out something more interesting with it, and it turned out real good - in fact "bloggable" good!

I had some pita pockets and some roasted pepper hummus at home. That's what gave me the idea of using the left over khichdi to make patties! Just added some potato flakes for a good binding, some soya granules for the texture and some spices to remove the blandness - a quick fix recipe to replace falafels in the pita pockets!

For the fresh vegetables, I used left overs from a packet  of classic iceberg lettuce salad mix and just added some sliced olives, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and onions - wish I had some cucumbers though - I was out of them and in no mood to run down to the grocers just for that on a lazy Saturday morning!

Preparation & Cooking:20 minutes                                     Serves:8

Ingredients:
Pita Pockets - 8
Classic Iceberg Salad Mix - 1 cup
Onion - ½ of a small one, sliced
Cherry Tomatoes - ¼ cup, sliced into halves
Bell Pepper - ½ of a small one, sliced
Black Olives - ¼ cup, sliced into halves
Apple Cider Vinegar - 2 tablespoons
Olive Oil - 3-4 tablespoons
Freshly Cracked Pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Roasted Pepper Hummus - 4-5 heaped teaspoons
Left Over Khichdi - 1 cup, approximately
Instant Mashed Potato Flakes - ¼ cup
Soya Granules- 2 heaped tablespoons (I used Nutrela)
Corianer/Dhania Powder - 2 teaspoons
Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 teaspoon
Dried Mango/Amchur Powder - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Water - 3-4 tablespoons
Oil/Cooking Spray - to shallow fry the patties

Method:

• Warm the khichdi in the microwave for about a minute.

• Now add the soy granules and instant mashed potato flakes along with the water and a little salt to taste and microwave for a couple of minutes.

• Add in the coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur powder and red chilli powder and mix well to form a firm mixture for the patties.

• Divided the mixture into 8 portions, pat them into patties and shallow fry them in a pan on a medium flame after spreading a little oil or spraying some cooking spray on it.

• After 2-3 minutes, turn them over and cook for another couple of minutes till the patties are crisp and brown on both sides.

•  While the patties are cooking, get started on the veggies. Empty the salad mix into a bowl and add the sliced olives, onions, cherry tomatoes and bell pepper to it.

• In another bowl, take the apple cider vinegar, pepper and salt  and gradually add olive oil while whisking it to make a dressing.

•  Add this dressing to the vegetables and mix well.

• Now take the pita pockets and warm them slightly on the stove top or in a microwave. If using the microwave, wrap the pita pockets in damp paper towels and then proceed.

• Next, spread a heaped teaspoon of the roasted pepper hummus on each of them.

• Now place a patty in each of the pita pockets along the a couple of tablespoons of the vegetables.

Serve them with a side of fries and tomato ketchup for a perfect weekend brunch...

Tomato Rice

Today was a pretty hectic day. The weekend is here, so wanted to get done with all the chores before then. Can't believe Easter break is almost over! Back to the grind from Monday :(

So, with all that was going on today, I was not in much of a mood for cooking. Thankfully, I had quite a bit of left over rice in the refrigerator. So, decided to use that and make something in a jiffy. Tomato rice was the answer.

This is a simple and quick dish that is wonderfully spicy, aromatic and delicious. In fact it was the "go to" dish for my mom, as in whenever she was short on time or out of ideas, she would make this and me and my sis would wolf it down with enthusiasm! I have stuck to her recipe, except that I did not use green chillies as I was going to share the meal with my little one. The one thing that stands out about this dish, as compared to how other people (whose cooking I have tasted) prepare it is that, my mom uses sambar powder instead of red chilli powder. This, I feel, enhances the flavor and takes it up a notch.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes             Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 2 cups
Onion - 1 small, chopped
Tomatoes - 2, chopped
Ginger - a small bit, minced
Capsicum - ½, diced
Sambar Powder - 1 heaped teaspoon
Haldi/Turmeric Powder - ½ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon

For Tempering:

Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - ½ teaspoon
Urad Dal/Split Black Gram Dal - ½ teaspoon
Chana Dal/Bengal Gram Dal- ¼ teaspoon
Curry Leaves - a few
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Red chillies - 1 or 2 broken

Method:

• Heat the oil and add the ingredients for tempering.
• Once the seeds splutter, add the onions and minced ginger and saute till the onions turn translucent.

•  Then add the tomatoes, capsicum and salt and cook till the tomatoes begin to soften and turn mushy.

Now add the sambar powder and turmeric powder and give it a good stir.

•  Finally add the rice and mix it thoroughly, taking care not to leave any lumps. 

Serve this hot with a dollop of yogurt and some fryums or papad.

Handy Tip: If using fresh cooked rice, spread it out and cool it before using so that the rice does not turn lumpy or mushy and the grains separate nicely.

Pasta in Moong Tomato Soup

I had made some moong tomato soup for dinner last night, and as always, there was some left over. So, I decided to use it as a base for pasta for my son's lunch to school. It contains moong dal for protein and has tomatoes, celery and carrot for the vegetable representation, what more could I ask for! I also happened to wake up really really late! So, this left over soup proved a blessing in disguise and worked perfectly to get lunch prepared and packed in no time at all.

Preparation & Cooking: 10 minutes    Serves: 1

Ingredients:
Left over moong tomato soup - ½ cup
Water - ¼ cup (for diluting the soup)
Pasta - 2 tablespoons, any kind (I used the tricolor rotini)
Goldfish Crackers - a handful

Method:

• Puree the soup into a smooth paste, add water and dilute it to required consistency and set it aside.
• Cook the pasta as per the directions on the package.
• Add this pasta to the soup and bring it to a boil, then take it off the flame. That's it! Lunch is ready to be packed!

I packed a handful of goldfish crackers in a separate container, so my little one could add it to the soup at lunch time for that extra crunch!

Left Over Veggie Wrap

Most days my lunch comprises of maggi, dosa or whatever is left over from the previous day. Today belonged to the latter category. I had a bowl of cauliflower potato curry in the refrigerator, but nothing to accompany it. I also had some Vietnamese rice paper in the pantry (bought with the aim to make these yummyVietnamese Garden Rolls - but that is for another day and another post!). So, decided to put the two together and make a quick lunch. I liked it so much that I decided not to make chapattis for myself for dinner. Instead made another variation of the same wrap. Try it, am sure you'll agree it makes a wonderful lunch for those hurried and hassled days!

Preparation: 2-3 minutes            Serves:1

Ingredients:

Vietnamese Rice Paper - 1 sheet
Water - to soak the rice paper
Left over veggies - 2-3 tablespoons
Lettuce - 2 -3 leaves
Turkish Salad - 2 tablespoons (I had the Sabra brand handy)

Method:

• Heat the left over veggies in the microwave for about a minute. In the meantime, soak the rice paper in a plate filled with enough water to immerse the paper completely, for about a minute.

• Drain out the softened rice paper and spread the Turkish salad on it. Take care not to rip the rice paper as it will be extremely soft.

• Now lay out the lettuce leaves on this and add the veggies on top.

• Roll up the rice paper to form a neatly sealed wrap.

That's it! It was a nice light lunch along with a glass of chilled ginger ale.

For dinner, I replaced my potato cauliflower curry with a mixed vegetable sabzi and the Turkish salad with cream cheese with onion and chives. Tasted absolutely delicious. In fact my little one wanted to try this funny looking wrap and loved it! Feel free to experiment with different spreads and vegetable combos.

                                                                      
Sending this across to Let's Make Sandwiches event hosted by  Nayna of simply.food