Quinoa & Millet Soup with Cauliflower and Carrots

This is simple and satisfying Quinoa-Millet soup, flavored with ginger-garlic-cilantro and spiced up with green chilies. Cauliflower and carrots made it more appealing and enhanced nutrition,texture.

Ingredients :-

• 1/4 Cup Millet - picked and rinsed
• 3/4 cup Quinoa-picked and rinsed(check for tiny stones even it is pre-washed)
• 1/2 Cup peanut size cauliflower florets
• 1/2 Cup diced carrots
• 1 Medium size onion - finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic - finely crushed
• 1 inch piece of ginger - finely crushed
• 3-4 Green chilies - finely chopped
• 1/2 tspoon - turmeric powder
• 1/4 tspoon - sugar (optional)
• 1/2 Cup - fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 tbspoon oil
• 4-5 cups water
  

Method of making Quinoa Soup :-

1. Heat 1 tbspoon oil in 3 quart heavy bottom pot. Add onions - Saute for 3-4 minutes on medium high heat until onions turn soft.
   
2. Add crushed ginger,garlic and chopped green chilies,turmeric powder - Saute for one minute.
   
3. Add rinsed Quinoa and Millet with 4 cups water. Bring it to boil and let it simmer for 10 minutes on medium high heat without lid. Do stir at interval.
   
4. Now add cauliflower florets and diced carrots ,salt along with few chopped corriander leaves - Cook for another 10 minutes on medium heat..keep stirring at regular interval.
   
5. Quinoa and Millet will absorb water so Soup/curry will thicken after 15 minutes..you may add little more water and bring your desired consistency. Add little sugar and remaining cilantro leaves. Cover it with lid and let it stay on stove for five minutes on very low heat.
   
6. Serve warm in a bowl with dollop of butter or ghee.. or drizzle some olive oil. You may enjoy with rice and roti too.
   

Note :-

This recipe has lot of room for variations. You can use different combination of veggies,greens. Add some spice seasonings like cumin,ajwain,kalonji,black pepper...throw in more herbs..garnish with fresh grated coconut. Quinoa gets very well adapted with Indian style cooking.

Bhajia / Pakora with Sprouted Moong Beans

It was a pleasant evening , cravings were perfect to enjoy some deep fried snack...Cup full sprouted Moong Beans were laying in my fridge..so decided to make Bhajia/Pakora by adding them to regular Bhajia batter. I made delicious chat chutney without Tamarind and Dates. You must try this quick chutney made from Jamaican Jerk sauce which tastes as tempting as Sweet-Sour Chat chutney.For earlier Tofu-Onion-Bhajia/Pakoda recipe click here....

Ingredients :-

• 1 Cup Sprouted Moong beans.
• 1 Cup Besan (chick Pea flour)
• 1 large size onion - roughly chopped
• 5-6 green chilies - finely chopped
• 1 Cup fresh Cilantro -roughly chopped
• 1/4 Cup water
• 1/4 T.spoon baking soda
• 1/2 T.spoon Ajwain seeds (owa)
  
• Oil for deep frying - 2 cups

Method of making Bhajia :-

1. Take a medium size bowl - Add 1 cup Besan with 1/4 cup water. Beat well , remove all lumps and make fine thick paste.
2. Add salt, ajwain seeds, chopped onions, green chilies, cilantro - Combine well.
3. Put sprouted beans and baking soda - gently mix in the batter. If you find batter too dry and thick while mixing then add little water.
4. Heat 2 cups oil in Kadhai or as much as you need for 2-inch depth. (It will depend on your Kadhai)
   
5. To test oil temperature - Drop peanut size batter into the oil , if it quickly raises to surface and floats at top that indicates oil is ready for frying pakora. It should not quickly turn brown and maintain bright yellow color.Always maintain medium heat and in between you may increase little heat but quickly decrease it back to medium heat.
6. For dropping pakodas in oil you can use regular eating spoon . If you are familiar with dropping Pakora with hand then merge tips of all five finger together..dip them in batter and collect walnut size batter , gently place 6-10 pakoras in each batch carefully -Fry frequently turning with slotted spoon or Zara for at least 2 minutes or until each bhajia turns light brown.
7. Take out fried bhajia from oil and place them on the tray lined with paper towel.Repeat next batch..you can make around 20-25 bhajia/pakora. Serve them hot with sweet sour chutney or ketchup.
   

Quick Sweet-Sour Chutney with Jamaican Jerk sauce :-

• Take 1/4 cup Jerk sauce. ( World Harbors Jamaican Jerk Sauce.)
• 4-5 green chilies
• 2 small Galic cloves
• 1 Cup tightly pressed - roughly chopped fresh cilantro
• 10-15 fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 T.spoon Chat Masala
• 1/4 T.spoon black salt (Sanchar)
  
• 1 T.spoon Vinegar
  

Mix and finely grind all above ingredients in a small jar of blender...your sweet and sour chutney is ready... Enjoy with hot Pakodas/ Bhajia...also this chutney can be perfectly relished as "All-In-One-Chat-Chutney".

Bangada Gassi with Byadagi Mirchi - Weekend Bangada Lunch.

Saturday I enjoyed Bangada (Ayala) lunch. I had three frozen Bangda/Mackerel fish from Indian grocery store so decided to part them in curry and tava fry. This curry is cooked based on Gassi style curries served in Mumbai restaurants. Also cooked bhindi subzi with vinegar dash and enjoyed this with Kerala Matta rice. It turned out very yummy lunch combination.

Bangada Ghassi

Ingredients for Bangada Curry :-

• Bangada Fish - three tail and three head parts. ( or 6-7 mackerel pieces of your choice)
• Onion - one medium size - finely chopped.
• Garlic - 4-5 cloves - finely crushed.
• Ginger - 1 inch piece - finely crushed.
• Byadagi chilies - 5-6 boil in microwave for 1 minutes or soak for one hour.
• 1 Tb.spoon - thick tamarind pulp
• 1 Tb.spoon turmeric powder ( part it for curry and marination)
• 1 Tb.spoon extra hot red chili powder (part it for curry and marination)
  
• 1/2 Cup - fresh grated coconut.
• 1/2 cup - fresh chopped cilantro

Spice Blend :-

• 1 T.spoon - Corriander seeds
• 1/2 T.spoon - Jeera
• 1.T.spoon -Fennel Seeds
• 2 cloves

Gently roast above spices for 2 minutes on low heat and grind to fine powder.

Method of Cooking Mackerel Curry :-

1. Clean Mackerel while they are in semi-frozen state and cut each into three parts -head , tail ,middle portion. Give two cuts on each middle portion. (Look picture below). Seperate 6 pieces of head & Tail and three pieces of middle portion. Marinate with salt,chili powder and turmeric. Keep it aside.
2. Grind Soaked byadgi chilies and fresh coconut into thick paste.
3. Heat oil in saute pan. Add chopped onions and fry for 3-4 minutes till they turn soft and translucent.
4. Add crushed ginger and garlic and fry for a minute.
5. Add Spice blend powder and fry for a minute.
6. Gently put all head and tail pieces - mix well with onion and spices. Let it cook for a minute.
   
7. Pour tamarind pulp and chili+coconut paste,little salt,1/4 tspoon turmeric powder,chili powder. Add 1/2 cup water and gently combine all. Let it simmer for 7-8 minutes with covered lid on medium low heat.
8. Add little chopped cilantro and adjust consistency of gravy, since this curry was cooked in ghassi style I didn't add much water. Let it cook for another 3-4 minutes on low flame. Once it cools down little then add remaining chopped cilantro and serve with roti or rice.

Note :-

• Clean Mackerel while they are in semi-frozen state to get firm nice pieces.
  
• Byadgi chilies bring bright red color to curry but are very mild in heat so use extra hot chili powder for heat.
• I crushed extra ginger and garlic and pressed it inside belly portion of frying mackerel pieces for extra garlicky zing.

Method for Pan Frying Mackerel Pieces :-

1. Generously Marinate mackerel pieces with salt,turmeric and red chili powder.Use little water to give proper coating. For extra garlicky zing I pressed finely crushed ginger+garlic inside belly portion.
2. Heat anodized griddle and sprinkle some oil. Place mackerel pieces and fry on medium low heat. It will take around 20 minutes to get rightly fried from both sides. Occasionally do turn mackerel pieces form all angles.
3. If there is any left over marination paste then apply over mackerel pieces after 10 minutes .
4. You may need to sprinkle little oil during frying. Fry them on low flame with frequent attention.

Fresh frozen Mackerel/ Ayala

Cleaned and marinated Mackerel pieces for curry and pan frying

Cooking in progress

Saturday's Bangada Special Lunch

Summer Grilling with Weber's Portable Charcoal Grill - Skewer Grilled Prawns & Mushrooms

I fired up my grill for this Summer, started with grilling some Prawns/Shrimp and mushrooms.I have Weber's portable Charcoal Grill. I used charcoal briquettes and few dried coconut shells for heat, coconut shells enhanced smokey flavor. I marinated shrimp and mushrooms with salt, red chili power, turmeric and grilled them on Skewers. Enjoy following pictures captured while grilling...Happy Grilling!!

Ingredients & Grilling accessories :-

• 1 Pound prawns cleaned and deveined. Keep tails on.
• 15-20 white button mushrooms - make cross shape cut on top.
• Sea Salt+ Chili power + turmeric for marination.
• 2 coconut shells -( 4 half )
• 15 - 20 charcoal Briquettes
• Charcoal lighter fluid
• Oil spray
• Metal or Bamboo skewers
  

Grilling Method :-

1. Set charcoal briquettes and coconut shell at the bottom of the grill - pour little charcoal lighter fluid and lit the fire. It will take around 10-15 minutes to get red fiery glow.
2. Marinate Shrimp and Mushroom with salt,chili power and turmeric. Insert in skewers and grill for 10-12 minutes by turning sides few times. I used stones at the edge of grill and placed skewers on the stone , this created 2-3 inches of extra distance from the grill plate. Spray oil few times on skewers to ignite fire.
3. Garnish with onions,cilantro, lemon and enjoy as appetizer.
   

Coconut Shells burning in Grill

Well lit Charcoal and Coconut Shells

Prawns & Mushrooms on skewers

Pumpkin & Raw Banana Curry in coconut gravy - Kerala Style

Kerala style curries make a very rich addition to routine meals, they are simple yet very flavorful. This curry is prepared with combination of pumpkin and raw banana by adding minimal spices and fresh coconut paste...all together it blends into Great tasting vegetarian curry.

Ingredients:-

• 2 Cups - Raw Banana or Plantain - Peel the skin and cut into 1-inch cubes.
• 2 Cups - Pumpkin - Peel the skin and cut into 1-inch cubes.
• 12-15 pearl onions ( You can replace with one medium size chopped onion)
• 1/2 grated coconut - yield 1 Cup - tightly pressed.
• 1 Tb.spoon - corriander seeds
• 1 T.spoon - cumin seeds
  
• 1 T.spoon - mustard seeds
  
• 1/2 T.spoon - Turmeric powder
• 4-5 dry red chilies - ( I used byadagi chilies)
• 12-15 curry leaves
• 1 Tb.spoon cooking oil
• 1 T.spoon coconut oil (optional)

Preparing Coconut+Spice paste for Gravy:-

Combine fresh grated coconut + red chilies + corriander seeds + jeera in a blender jar with 1 1/2 Cup warm water and grind to fine paste.

Method of preparing Curry :-

1. Heat 1 tbspoon oil in a heavy gauge pot. Add the mustard seeds ,when seeds begin to sizzle and pop - add 7-8 curry leaves - pause for 15-20 seconds - add 1 tb.spoon fresh grated coconut..saute until it turns brown and aromatic. Now add pearl onions and saute for 2 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add diced raw banana with one cup water and let it simmer on medium high heat for 6-7 minutes until they are partially cooked and water is almost evaporated. Stir frequently.
3. Now add pumpkin pieces, salt and turmeric powder.Combine with raw banana, add one cup water and let it simmer for another 5-6 minutes.
4. Stir in half quantity of coconut+spice paste, Mix well.. cover with lid and let it cook for 3-4 minutes on medium low heat. Make sure there is enough gravy in pot, adjust water accordingly.
5. Add remaining curry leaves and coconut+spice paste, combine and cover with lid - Adjust seasoning and gravy consistency by adding little water. Simmer it for 5-6 minutes on medium heat. Stir gently few times.
6. Finally drizzle one tspoon coconut oil - reduce heat to low and keep it warm until serving. Enjoy with rice and roti.