Cold Desserts Event

Cantaloupe Salad

Gulab Jamun

Colostrum Milk Pudding/ Kharvas

Custard

Mango Saffron Frozen Yogurt

I saw the Cold Desserts event posted at ToViewToronto.

 Its a nice event to be held now as it will have loads to ideas for cold desserts to try during the summer season. I love cold desserts and I tried making Black Grape Mousse yesterday. Still have have to edit & post the recipe :). But here are some of my cold dessert entries. Njoii the cold desserts!

13 Lentil soup

I found 13 lentils bag at my Oroweat Outlet. I bought this as an adventure to try recipes out of the 13 good lentils. The soup tastes yummy and is a great combination with soft bread loaves. Because of the lentils it is quite a heavy soup and can make a hearty lunch or dinner.



Ingredients
1/2 cup of 13 lentils or any lentils on hand
1 medium onion
1 carrot
3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 stack of celery
1 medium tomato
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder or red chili powder
1 teaspoon vinegar or as per taste
salt for taste

Method
Wash and soak the lentils for 8-10 hours or overnight. Pressure cook the lentils or cook on a stove top with salt and chopped tomatoes. Add the broth instead of water while cooking the lentils. Heat oilve oil in a pan and add chopped onions. When caramelized, add chopped carrots, celery and garlic. Fry for 3-4 minutes. Add coriander powder, cumin powder and chili powder. Mix well with the vegetables. Add the boiled lentils and get the soup to a boil. Add water if a more liquidish consistency is desired. Check for salt and mix in vinegar. Serve hot with french loaves.

Reposting for Siri's Healing foods.

I saw this interesting event "Healing foods" hosted by Siri.  and  Padmajha. I had participated in Healing foods-carrots and Tomato being another of my favorite ingredient, I decided to participate in this event. Here are some of my entries for this event.

Tomato Soup

Margarita Pizza

Pepper Rasam

Tomato Chutney

Portola Redwoods State Park

What to do on a Sunday morning in South Bay Area? Head to Portola Redwoods State park located in San Mateo - one of the beautiful hiking trail in the Bay area. It has a lovely drive leading to the hiking trail. The visitor office has a impressive collection of stuffed wild animals and a small museum explaining the plant and animal life found around.
The trails lead through many majestic redwood trees and rich green vegetation. Beautiful streams are found at various locations on the trails and the sound of gushing water is very sweet to the ears. The Sequoia Nature trail which winds around the Pescadero Creek is beautiful. Banana slugs are found and in plenty around here and much of the park reminds me of the Fern Canyon National Park.
Most of the trail is covered by the canopy of huge redwood trees, so it makes a great option to hike on hot summer afternoons. We had been here in Summer of 2008 and it was pretty chilly out here. Its good to carry a light sweater even if hiking during the afternoons. Many hikers start early in the morning though not many are found in the late afternoons. There are a few horse stables located down the Portola valley and occasionally one can see a horse or two around. A huge camping ground and plenty of benches to sit around the grounds makes it a awesome camping place.

Stuffed Animals in the Park Office

View of the Bay from the highest point

Clear Water Streams

Fallen Redwood Trees

Three Wise Men

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori is a meat dish cooked in a large clay pot called the tandoor. The tandoor is heated by charcoal fire giving it a distinctive smokey flavor. When I was visiting Bangalore my first stop at the Mantri Mall would be at the Tandoori Chicken stall at the food court. The chicken was soft and succulent and was spiced perfectly right.
My earliest memories of eating tandoori as a child are at Alpha Cafe located in Andheri West(Mumbai). I also loved the corn soup they served there. Later I was introduced to the yummy chicken delicacies when we moved to Bhopal. The chicken tikka's sold by a hawker near my home would just melt in the mouth. Then I graduated to the Pune's Blue Nile biryani's and the George's chicken dishes. Lately, my fondest memories of street food are from my my vacation when I went out with my mom or my sister on pretense of a evening walk or getting groceries to eat gobi manchurian, chicken kabab's, tikka's lolipops, chaats, bhel and the latest fad- momos.

Earlier this month we were barbecuing with friends and I had taken marinated tandoori chicken. But I forgot to take the photos. Last week I made tandoori again while having lunch with my friend E and here is my recipe.

Ingredients
1 pound chicken pieces (preferably leg pieces skinned and trimmed of all the fat)
2 tablespoon tandoori masala (available at any Indian store)
2 tablespoon thick curd
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon red food color (optional)
1 teaspoon red chili powder
salt for taste

Method
Wash and clean the chicken well and pat it dry. Make small slits with a knife for the marinate to penetrate well inside the chicken. Mix the rest of the ingredients and apply well to the chicken and inside the slits. Marinate for 8-10 hours. Grill the chicken on a charcoal grill or in the oven till well done on all sides. Serve with raita, onion rings and lemon.

Baigan ka Achar / Brinjal Pickle / Pickled Eggplant

Last few days have been busy with things flying out of the blue at me. Things have left me exhausted and me being a kind of a perfectionist makes life harder for me :) When I was in India I saved all the photos of all the delicacies and my travels in the computer at my home. And I forgot to copy my photo folder from my computer back at my home in India to my laptop while I was returning back to US. Being quite a big folder, the transfer failed quite a few times and I am planning other ways to transfer it. That's another thing on my mind. On my vacation I joined a month of yoga and meditation class. It has made me realize the importance of living in the present and not worrying excessively about things which have not been done or which cannot be done. Yoga has been a wonderful addition to my daily schedule and helps me relax through things which life throws at me. As my friend E says "Start with the baby steps first and things will be fine".

Well, coming back to this interesting pickle made with eggplant. I had two eggplants on hand which I bought from the farmer's market last week. I had made eggplant fritters and sabzi last week so instead of repeating the same sabzi's I thought about this pickle. I got to taste this pickle at a friend's home in India and was instantly hooked to it. It tastes good even if chili powder is not added and it is an excellent choice for kids who do not like spicy pickles. It is also a healthier version as it does not use much salt like the other pickles. I usually eyeball the ingredients so the ingredients listed are not in exact proportion. They can be adjusted as per ones individual taste. A great option to spread on bread instead of jam! Instead of eggplant, combination of cauliflower, carrot, zucchini, turnips (shalgum), green chilies, carrot can be used individually or in a combination. I am not sure how pickling raw banana will taste..but its a sure thing to try! Apricots and prunes can be used to made chunda or murabba kind of spicy bread/roti spread.

Ingredients

2 medium sized eggplant
1 1/2 tablespoon crushed yellow mustard seeds (this can be obtained at any Indian store or black mustard seeds can be coarsely powdered)
1 1/2 tablespoon kalonji or onion seeds
1/4 teaspoon methi or fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon saunf or fennel seeds
2 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt or as per taste
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
2 teaspoon red chili powder roasted for 1-2 minutes (use more if you want it spicy)
15 tablespoon oil (preferably mustard oil)

Method

Wash the eggplant and pat it dry completely. Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Put oil in a pan and add turmeric powder. Add the eggplant pieces and cook on high flames stirring constantly and gently. Cook for around 8 -10 minutes. Mix in salt, sugar, tamarind paste and vinegar. Keep aside. Roast the fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, onion seeds and mustard seeds for 4-5 minutes or till crisp. Pound it very coarsely using a spice grinder mortar and pestle. If using a electric grinder give a pulse for 2-3 seconds. We don't want to powder it but to just bruise the spices so that they will immediately infuse the flavor when added to the oil. Add the spices to the pickle and mix well. Keep the pickle in the sun for 2-3 days and later store it in the refrigerator. This pickle keeps good for around 10-15.