Tomato Pickle

  

TOMATO PICKLE

INGREDIENTS:

1)   Tomatoes : 8
2)   Garlic : 7-8 (pressed)
3)   Oil : 1/4 cup
4)   Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
5)   Urad dal : 1/2 tsp
6)   Asafoetida / Hing : a pinch
7)   Red chili powder : 1 tbsp ( according to your spice level)
8)   Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp

HOW TO MAKE:

1)    Make tomato puree out of the tomatoes and keep it aside.



TOMATOES

TOMATO PUREE

2)    Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a wide pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal and hing.

MUSTARD SEEDS



ASAFOETIDA OR HING

3)    After it sputters add the garlic, fry them for 2 mins.

PRESSED AND CRUSHED GARLIC

4)    Finally add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, salt and red chili powder.

TURMERIC POWDER

RED CHILLI POWDER

5)    Cook in slow heat until it becomes thick and oil starts leaving on sides and top. Make sure you stir   every 2-3 minutes.

6)    Remove from heat once the consistency is thick and oil starts floating on top. Store it in an air-tight container.

TOMATO PICKLE

7)   You can use it up to a couple of months.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   Easy

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Cooking this dish till thick and till oil comes up (i.e removing the moisture content almost completely) helps to store this for a longer time.

     Preferebly use red ripened tomatoes for best results.

Pepper Chicken

 

PEPPER CHICKEN



INGREDIENTS:

Chicken                -1/2( chopped)

Garlic paste          - 2tsp

Black Pepper pd  - 2 full heaped  spoon

Ginger paste         -2 tsp

Big Onions           - 2 SLICED

Tomatoes             - 1 ( chopped finely)

Chilly powder       - 1/2 tsp

Green Chilly         - 1 (Optional , use it if you need really spicy)

Turmeric powder  - a pinch

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Salt                       - To taste

Coriander leaves  - 1 hand full

Garam Masala     - 1 tsp

Oil                       - 2 tbsp

HOW TO MAKE:

1)  Now first, chop the chicken and clean it.




CHOPPED CHICKEN

 2)  Grind onions,along with half pepper pd and ginger garlic paste.

BLACK PEPPER

BLACK PEPPER POWDER

3)  Heat oil in a pan, add onion paste and fry for 2 min, add chicken and fry well til dry.

4)  Add coriander pd, chilli pd, garam masala pd , salt and pepper powder and fry

CORIANDER POWDER

5)  Add tomato pieces and fry til tomato are soft and add little water and till chicken is done and oil comes up.



CHOPPED TOMATO

6)  Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve with rice or roti.



PEPPER CHICKEN

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   Easy

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Frying the chicken well till dry before adding other spices is an important factor to get a tasty chicken dish.

Bread Pancakes or Bread Dosas

 INGREDIENTS:

BREAD PANCAKES

•  10 slices White Bread
•  1/2 cup Semolina (rawa/suji)
•  1 tsp Rice Flour
•  Salt to taste
•  2 tsp Split Black Gram Skinless (Dhuli Urad Dal)
•  1 medium Onion (chopped)
•  1-2 Green Chillies (chopped)
• 1/2 inch piece Ginger (chopped)
•  2-3 Curry Leaves (chopped)
•  1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 2 tsp Yogurt (whisked)
• 1/2 Tbsp Grated Carrot
•  Oil to deep fry

HOW TO MAKE:

1)  Take the bread slices, cut the brown edges and soak it in water for two minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and gently crush the bread. Keep aside.

WHITE BREAD SLICES

2)  In a bowl, take semolina, rice flour, salt and water and make a thin batter. Add the crumbled bread and yogurt to the batter and blend it well in a mixer. Pour it out in a clean bowl and check the consistency.

SEMOLINA

RICE FLOUR

YOGURT

CRUMBLED BREAD




SEMOLINA,RICE FLOUR, BREAD & YOGURT BATTER MIX



3)  In a pan, heat two tablespoons of oil and add mustard seeds, black gram, curry leaves, chopped ginger, green chillies, onion and sauté till light brown. Allow it to cool a little and then mix it to the batter along with grated carrot.



CURRY LEAVES



MUSTARD SEEDS



GINGER



CHOPPED ONION



GRATED CARROT

4)  Take a dosa tawa, dab it with a little oil and wipe it with a clean wet cloth.

DOSA TAWA OR PANCAKE SKILLET

5)  Pour a big spoonful of the batter onto the hot tawa and spread wide.

SPREAD BATTER ON THE TAWA

6)  Drizzle a little oil on top and sides and cook for two to three minutes. Turn and cook the other side till brown and crisp.



BREAD PANCAKES

7) Serve with chutney.

GREEN CHUTNEY

RATING NOTES:
              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   Easy

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  To get thin fluffly pancakes, you can add a quarter teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda to the batter just before making them.

     

Kadai Aloo-Gobi or Potato-Cauliflower in a Wok

The Kadai Aloo-Gobi or Potato-Cauliflower in Wok is a side dish that tastes best with a plain rice meal accompanied with Dal/Rasam. This is how the recipe goes.

 



Kadai Aloo-Gobi or Potato Cauliflower in a Wok



INGREDIENTS:

 Oil- 2 tablespoons

 Cumin Seeds - 1 tea spoon

 Mustard Seeds - 1 tea spoon

 Curry Leaves

 Onion - 1 Big sizer Chopped

 Green Chillies - 3 slit

 Cauliflower florets - 1 medium sized bowl

 Potato - 1 medium chopped into small pieces

 Coriander leaves - Chopped a handful

 Red Chilli Powder - 1 full tea spoon

 Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tea spoon

  

HOW TO MAKE:

       1. Heat oil in a kadai/wok, add Cumin seeds,mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add chopped onions.

Kadai or Wok



Cumin Seeds



Mustard Seeds



Curry Leaves





Chopped Onion

Green Chillies

     2.  Fry til onion is soft (need not be golden).

    3.  Add gobi and potato pieces fry till slightly soft.

Cauliflower Florets

Potato Pieces

    4.   Then add red chilli powder, salt and garam masala . Stir well for a while.

Red chilli powder



Garam Masala Powder

      5. Please do not add water anytime till this stage. Everything should be fried in oil itself.

    6. Once the spices are mixed well and if the cauliflower florets are not tender, sprinkle some water and cook till vegetables are done. Garnish with Coriander leaves.

 


Kadai Aloo-Gobi or Potato Cauliflower in a Wok



RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   Easy

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  See to it that the Cauliflower and Potatoes are cooked until tender and dry. As there is a difference in taste if making the dish dry or watery. Do not overcook the vegetables.

     ** This dish comes out best in a Kadai or Wok when compared to cooking in any other cooking dish.

Battle of Wills and Wonts

A busy work schedule directly transforms into reduced blog activity. Yes, I am aware that I have not been blogging much these days. I have been pondering as to what my reasons can be. The sharp increase in my daily assignments relatively coincide with all this. Not to forget, the month of Ramadhan that has filled up my empty nest and also corresponds to a solid reduction in my blogging.

With these occasional posts, I am afraid that this blog may soon be converted into a weekly reader. My immediate mission is to prevent this. This fear has been occupying my mind lately. I have been toying with several ideas as to what I can do to make myself more efficient and enterprising. I have short listed some of them.

My vision for this blog has always been to make it a collection of the various recipes that I experiment on and to summarise my experiences while I cook so that my blog readers can gain a complete insight relating to all information before they can try out the dish.

I also visualised to simultaneously update my diary and note my activities on a daily basis. This is something that does not always have to relate to cooking.

The vision that I have set for myself is also a means of tuning myself into being more effectual, systematic and talented. I intend on boosting the time I spend on my likes or interests and not to fritter away idle time. 

However, I am dismayed that this is not happening always. Sometimes, I am very energetic and work hard on my vision and many a times I while away my time and never indulge in anything useful. This has created a poor picture of my achievements and I have begin to imagine my activities graph as a sine wave since it includes both developments and abatements of myself. The wavelength and amplitude of this sine wave is not always constant. To convert this sine wave into a standing wave is very strenuous, but that is what I would like to aim at and work on before I lose hope in myself.

So how do I start with and with what do I start? Am I lost deep in the woods? Why cant I set  my goals straight and become more determined in life? Why cant I keep my mind clear enough to think of something worthwhile?

I decide to set my goals and be consistent in my way of achiveing them. I know this is a crazy challenge,but its interesting to observe how far this can take me. I vow to come back with my goals set like concrete and pen them in my diary so that I am always reminded of them whenever I go astray.