Fellini Eggs (aka Garlic Bread Eggs)

Source:  Serious Eats

Finding this recipe made me so happy!  Just when I thought I had exhausted all brunch recipes with eggs, I found this.  I felt a little guilty making this because we haven't been eating too healthy lately.  But it's cold and rainy in LA.. we needed some comfort food!

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 teaspoons grated parmesan
• 1 small baguette/ sandwich roll (cut in half)
• 4-5 eggs
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
• 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• Cayenne Pepper/ Red Chili Powder to taste

Directions

1. Stir together butter, garlic, and parmesan cheese
2. Spread the butter mixture on the baguette slices and broil until crispy
3. Let the baguette cool and then cube into chunks
4. Sautee onions, spainch, and tomatoes with salt, pepper, and catenne/ red chili powder
5. Whisk together eggs and heavy cream. Pour on top of onions and spinach and scramble together
6. Spray/ lightly butter a baking pan and toss together eggs mixture with cubes garlic bread pieces
7. Place dollops of ricotta cheese over the top and broil until cheese melts
8. Sprinkle more crushed pepper/ crushed red pepper before serving

Kuty's Twist

I added onions, spinach, and red chili powder to "vegify" and spice it up.

You could probably make the same dish with cubed potatoes instead of bread.  I think the garlic bread makes this dish very unique!

Orange Paneer

Source: Love & Lentils

I haven't made a paneer dish in a while, and I was kind of sick of making the usual matar paneer/ saag paneer.  After a lot of "googling" for an unusual recipe, I stumbled upon this.  I've only had orange "chicken" made from fake meat (soy), so I wouldn't know how close this was to the real thing.. but it was pretty damn good! 

 

Ingredients

• 1 package of paneer (400g/ 14oz)
• 1/2 cup corn flour
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1-2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce*
• 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1-2 tablespoons of ginger
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maggi hot n sweet ketchup (I used maggi masala chili sauce)
• 1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes
• 1 small red onion (chopped finely)
• 1 green pepper (chopped)
• green onions (for garnishing)

*chili garlic sauce: I did not have any of this, but this is just made of red chilies, garlic, and vinegar so I added a little bit more of these ingredients.

Directions

Fried Paneer

1. Cut paneer pieces into triangular shapes (they can be uneven chunks)
2. Combine 1/2 cup corn flour, 1/4 cup corn starch, red chili powder, and salt to make a dry mixture
3. Add in paneer pieces with some water in order to lightly cover all of the pieces.  Set aside for a few mins.
4. Shallow fry the paneer pieces until golden brown

Orange Sauce

1. Grind together chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup water.  (I mainly did this because I was too lazy to cut the garlic and ginger into small pieces)
2. Wisk in 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup water, maggi sauce, and 1 tsp redi chili flakes to the above mixture
3. Sautee red onions and green peppers
4. Add the sauce and cook for a few mins.  At this point taste the sauce.  You may need to add in more of any of the sauce ingredients in order to find a good balance between sweet and spice.
5. Combine 2 teaspoons corn starch with 1/4 cup water and add this to the sauce.
6. After 1-2 mins add the fried paneer pieces
7. Top with chopped green onions and serve with rice and a side of sauteed stir fried broccoli!

Kuty's Twist

I pretty much followed the recipe from Love & Lentils.  I ended up putting a bit too much ginger, so I had to balance it out with more orange juice and water.  The key to this dish is that you have to taste and adjust the sauce ingredients a few times in order to get it right. 

In order to make this vegan, I'm sure you can substitute paneer with tofu.  Enjoy!

Cucumber Peanut Salad

Source:  eCurry

Even though this probably is the simplest and quickest recipe I've posted to date, I must say that I am quite proud of myself for making this.  My 2012 resolution is to #1- Use up whatever I have in my pantry, and #2- Not waste any food in my fridge.  Ironically, Food Network had a show yesterday called The Big Waste which addressed America's food waste issue.  According to the show, 40% of food in America goes uneaten – 200 pounds per person per year!!! I am ashamed to admit that I am guilty of contributing to this.. well not anymore!

Unfortunately my grocery shopping has been driven by the recipes I'm inspired to make.   Most of the time these ingredients end up in the back of my fridge and get forgotten.  One victim of this is the poor cucumber.  I always buy them hoping to make yummy sandwiches throughout the week, but end up with leftovers which slowly scoot to the back of the fridge.. but not today!

Ingredients

• 1/2 - 1 chopped cucumber (use your leftovers!)
• chopped red onion (use your leftovers!)
• lime juice
• coriander
• chopped peanuts
• red chili powder
• chat masala
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Lime juice dressing: Grind together lime juice and coriander
2. Combine rest of ingredients above with lime juice dressing

Kuty's Twist

I simplified the recipe from eCurry.  You can add other veggies such as carrot and raw mango.  Note that I didn't specify measurements above since it's really all up to how much of the ingredients you have and what your taste is.

How easy was that? :)

Masala Corn Sev Puri

Source:  Kuty's Kreations

New year, new recipe, new camera, new resolution to post more recipes!

Wish you all a very Happy New Year!

The following was a late night creation due to laziness to go the grocery store/ determination to start using my overstocked pantry! 

Masala Corn Sev Puri

 Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 can corn kernels (I used baby corn because that's all I had in my pantry)
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp chat masala
• 2-3 tsp coriander leaves, chopped
• salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste
• 25- 30 papdis (small, deep-fried wheat-based crackers)
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese (optional)
• coriander chutney
• tamarind chutney
• 1/4 cup sev

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Heat 1 tsp butter in pan and saute onions
3. Add corn, chili powder, chat masala, salt, pepper and stir for 2-3 mins
4. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and coriander leaves
5. Place papdis on baking sheet and sprinkle cheese over them.  Bake in oven until cheese melts.
6. Layer papdis with corn masala, coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, and finally sev
7. Top with additional chat masala or red chili powder if needed

Kuty's Twist
This is a great recipe to make with whatever you have in your fridge and pantry.  If you don't have papdis, you can even try this with nacho chips, tortillas, or make a sandwich out of it!  The corn masala tastes great by itself too.

Rava Bonda

Source: Kuty's Kreations

What does one do when they have leftover idli batter and leftover oil from frying pooris?  Why they make bondas of course!  Thank you Gits!

Ingredients

• 1 packet Gits Rava Idli Mix
• 550ml thick yogurt
• 200ml water
• 1 handful chopped coriander
• 2-3 green chilies, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• Oil for frying

Directions

1. Mix Gits Rava Idli contents with yogurt and water.  (My yogurt was really thick so I added water. If your yogurt is already watery you may not need to add water.)
2. Add coriander, green chilies, carrots, and red onions (you can put any vegetable you want)
3. Stir to form a smooth batter and let it sit for 10 mins.  (Since I used this mix to make idlis the previous day, I placed the leftover batter in the frig for a day before I used it to make bondas.  I'm not sure if makes a difference or not, but the batter should be quite thick.)
4. Heat oil and place small golf ball size portions of the batter into the oil.
5. Fry until brown to get crispy bondas.  Fry until golden brown to get softer ones.

Kuty's Twist

So this is a great way to use up your leftover idli batter.  If you make all of the batter from a Gits mix into bondas, you are going to have a LOT of bondas!  After making ~16 idlis and 20 bondas, I still have leftover batter from this mix.  I think I may water it down and try to make dosas next... stay tuned!

Dal Makhani

Source:  One Hot Stove

This past week I was traveling for work and as a result consumed all sorts of unhealthy foods.  I was dying to come back and eat some home cooked comfort food.  But I still had to stick to my new cooking resolutions which are: 1. Try to cook based on what you already have in your kitchen, 2. Cook healthier.  I looked at all of the dal sitting in my pantry and realized that I had not touched urad dal in a really long time... so that's how this recipe came about!  :-)  

This was just the perfect food to indulge in and not feel guilty about! 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup red kidney beans
• 1/2 cup black urad dal
• 1/4 cup chana dal
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 2 cups tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1.5 teaspoon red chili powder
• 10 cashew nuts
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

Directions

1. Soak the beans and dals overnight (I ended up soaking them for ~16 hours), then rinse
2. Pressure cook the beans and dals along with 3 1/2 cups water
3. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and add cumin seeds, pinch of asafoetida, and fenugreek seeds.  After they splutter, add the ginger and garlic and simmer for a few minutes. (Add a little bit of water if it starts to stick.)  Note:  The original recipe said to use ginger/ garlic paste.  I used fresh ginger and garlic and just blended them into a paste.
4. Add the tomato puree and paste.  Cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring often.
5. Coarsely mash the beans and dals and add them in. (I drained the beans/ dal and added them in, keeping aside the extra water.) 
6. Add salt and bring everything to a boil
7. Blend the cashew nuts and a little bit of the dal water to form a paste
8. Stir in red chilli powder and cashew nut paste.  Simmer for 10 minutes (add additional water leftover from the dal if it ends up being too thick)
9. Turn off the heat and stir in garam masala
10. Garnish with coriander leaves (and butter if you wish!) and serve with rice or rotis

Kuty's Twist

I slightly modified this to be a healthier version.  I used less butter and replaced the cream with cashew nut paste.  I also added tomato paste, which I feel gives dishes a bit more flavor.  If you have really juicy tomatoes, you may not need this.

Soya Palak (Spinach w/ Soy Chunks)

Source:  SpicyWorld

I have been wanting to try out a recipe with soya chunks for a while now.  I bought a packet a few months ago and just haven't had the chance.  You can get Nutrela soya chunks in any Indian store.  It's high in protein and I've seen a lot of recipes where this is used as a meat substitute.

Ingredients

• 1.5 -2 cups spinach (palak)
• 1.5 cups soya chunks
• 1/2 cup yogurt 
• 2 onions
• 4-5 green chillies
• 2-3 tomatoes 
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 5-6 mint leaves 
• Handful coriander leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

Directions

Prepare Soya Chunks

1. Soak the soya chunks in hot water for 1 hour. Then squeeze out the water completely.
2. Marinate them with yogurt, salt, red chili powder and turmeric powder and a little ginger garlic paste for ~2 hours.

Prepare Spinach and Masala

1. Wash and chop the spinach leaves finely. Chop 1 onion finely.
2. In a pan heat a little oil and crackle the cumin seeds and add one sliced onion. 
3. Stir fry and add a little salt and spinach and simmer until the spinach has wilted and cooked.
4. Grind together one onion, mint, coriander leaves and green chillies.  Add a little water if you need to.  At this point I also added ~half the cooked spinach mixture and ground it together too.
5. Add the mixture w/ masalas, ginger, garlic, chopped tomatoes, salt and simmer for 6-7 minutes.
6. Taste and add more spice/ salt if necessary.  I added the tomato paste at this point because I thought it needed more of a tomato-y flavor.
7. Add the soya chunks and let it cook for a few more minutes.

Kuty's Twist

So this really came out great!  My additions to the original recipe were only because of my own taste preferences.  I added more green chilies, ground the cooked spinach so the gravy would be more smooth, and added more tomatoes.

I also increased the amount of spinach and soya chunks so I would have a lot of leftovers!  This tasted a lot better after 2 days. I think it gave the soya chunks some time to soak in the flavors.

Persian Flat Bread Pizza

Source: Kuty's Kreations!

This was inspired by both a Sunday night pizza craving and a fantastic pizza crust find.  I was doing my weekly grocery run at my favorite Persian market and my eyes popped out when I saw a shelf full of large long pieces of Persian bread!  Why hadn't I thought of this before?  It is the PERFECT crust to use to make an insanely large amount of flat bread pizza.  So much so that I was able to make 4 different types of pizza.

 

Ingredients

• Pizza toppings of your choice. (I grilled red peppers, zucchini, eggplant, red onions, and jalapenos.  I also used peas and corn.)
• Tomato Sauce (I used 1 can of tomato sauce and simmered it with some red chili powder.)
• Cheese (I used asiago, mozzarella, pepper jack, and cheddar)
• 1 Large Persian Bread
• Pesto (I had some leftover spinach and arugula pesto I had made last week)

Assembly

1. Pesto, zucchini, peas, corn, mozzarella and asiago cheese.  This was inspired by a pizza I've had at Bella Vista.  I know it sounds wacky, but it is such a great combo of ingredients.
2. Tomato sauce, grilled jalapenos and red peppers, pepper jack and mozzarella cheese.
3. Tomato sauce, grilled eggplant and red onions, mozzarella cheese.
4. Tomato sauce, grilled onions, mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

 Bake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Place the pizzas directly on the rack (this will make your thin crust pizza crispy).  Be careful not to put too much cheese on the sides of the pizzas.  The cheese on my pizzas melted over and dripped into my oven causing a mess =\.
• Wait until the cheese starts to bubble and brown a little bit

Kuty's Twist

This can obviously become any type of pizza you want.  Have fun, be creative, and let me know what you end up making!  :-)

Breaded Eggplant and Spaghetti w/ Tomato Cream Sauce

Source: Kuty's Kreations!

This is another recipe inspired by a long day at work and a craving for some rich hearty Italian food!  I didn't want to just make pasta and sauce out of a bottle, so I decided to make a semi-homemade sauce.

 Ingredients

• 8oz Spaghetti
• 28 oz dice tomatoes (I used Hunt's Fire Roasted w/ garlic)
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 6-7 Mushrooms, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic (if you don't use diced tomatoes w/ garlic in it)
• 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup cream
• 5-6 Baby Eggplants
• 1 Box Planko Breadcrumbs
• 2 Eggs (You can use buttermilk too)
• 1-2 Teaspoons Red Chili Powder 

Directions 

Breaded Eggplant

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare a baking pan with oil/ cooking spray/ or foil with a little bit of oil
3. Wash and cut each baby eggplant into 4-5 thin round slices
4. Beat the eggs with a little bit of milk and keep aside in a bowl
5. Mix ~1 cup of breadcrumbs with salt, pepper, basil, and 1 Teaspoon of Red Chili Pepper
6. Dip each eggplant piece into the egg mixture, then the breadcrumbs mixture.  Make sure you press down firmly to nicely coat each side. Then place the breaded eggplant on the baking pan.
7. Bake each side of the eggplant slices for 10-15 mins.  You may need to drizzle a little more oil on each side in order for them to brown. 
8. If they don't brown, set the oven to the broil setting and cook for a few minutes on each side to get the eggplants slices crispy.

Sauce

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil
2. Saute the chopped onions until golden brown.  (You can add the garlic at this time.) Then add the mushrooms and remaining red chili powder.  Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and salt. Cook to a boil.  Then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Smash the tomatoes until you get the desired sauce consistency.  I wanted mine to be a little chunky.  If you want a smooth sauce, you'll have to use a food processor.
4. Slowly add the cream and simmer a few more minutes. You can add some parmesan cheese at this point if you want.
5. Add salt, pepper, basil for taste.

Pasta

1. Boil water and cook spaghetti al dente.

Kuty's Twist

If you want to save on some calories, you can grill the eggplant instead of bread it and skip the cream.  I feel that a simple sauce made from canned tomatoes tastes much better than the bottled tomato sauce.

I ended up making way too many breaded eggplants.  I'm just going to freeze them and maybe make some eggplant pizza or sandwiches next week!

Tofu Chocolate Chip Cookies (Eggless)

Source: Mori-Nu

Yes.. you read it right! This is an eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe which uses tofu.  I was skeptical myself when I heard about this, but these cookies taste AMAZING and you cannot taste the tofu at all.  The best part is that they stay super moist for several days after you make them AND you get some protein out of it.  My mom made these over the Christmas Holidays, so all credit goes to her for snagging the recipe from a magazine she was perusing in a doctor's office ;-)

Ingredients

• 1 Cup unsalted margarine
• 1 Cup unrefined cane sugar
• 2 Tablespoons light molasses
• 4 Tablespoons Firm Tofu, pureed
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 Cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 Cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt
• 1.5 Cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat to 350°F.
2. Cream margarine, sugar and molasses with electric beaters or in heavy-duty mixer until light and fluffy
3. Add tofu purée and vanilla; beat for 1 more minute
4. Mix flours, soda and salt in small bowl. Add to creamed mixture and mix at low speed with the electric mixer or lightly with a rubber spatula, blending in all flour
5. Fold in chocolate chips
6. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes
7. Cool on wire rack

Kuty's Twist

My mom followed the recipe exactly from Mori-Nu and it came out great!  One piece of advice I'd give is to flatten out the dough a little after you drop it on to the cookie sheet (don't put it into the oven with a lot of height).  It will cook more evenly.  After you remove it from the oven, it may look a bit uncooked, but after it cools it will be fine.  Try out a small batch first to get the baking time right, since each oven will require different baking times.  If you want really soft cookies, you should always take them out a bit earlier than the full cooking time.

Lemon Coriander Soup

Source: Sanjeev Kapoor

The Christmas holidays is the one time of the year I really look forward to. With my mom, sister, and I all in the same house, food somehow ends up being the center of our activities :-) My mom wanted to try my pineapple fried rice, so I decided to make this soup as a nice pairing. Since we had been eating so much, I decided to make a light soup which was not cream based.


Ingredients

• 1/2 bunch Coriander leaves
• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 1 medium Spring onion bulb, chopped
• 1 inch piece Ginger grated
• 6 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Gram flour (besan)
• 4.5 cups Vegetable stock
• 1/4 head of Cabbage, chopped
• 1 medium Carrot, cubed
• 10-12 Black peppercorns, crushed
• 3-4 Green Chilies, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Lemon juice- 2 tablespoons or more to taste

Directions

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons oil in a pot
2. Add onion, spring onion bulb, ginger, garlic, green chilies and saute till translucent
3. Add gram flour and continue to saute till you get a nice aroma
4. Add vegetable stock, coriander stems, cabbage and carrot cubes and bring to a boil
5. Add crushed peppercorns and continue to boil
6. Add half of the chopped coriander leaves and cook for five to ten minutes
7. Strain and keep aside cooked vegetables (you won't be eating these)
8. Heat the strained soup
9. Add salt, lemon juice and bring to a boil again
10. Season with the remaining chopped coriander leaves. Add more lemon juice, coriander, salt to taste.

Kuty's Twist
The original recipe did not call for green chilies. I made this with 5 green chilies and it ended up VERY spicy, so please add the green chilies with caution :-)

I also thought that straining the vegetables was a very odd step. I understand why we should take out the cabbage, carrots, and coriander stems, since this soup is meant to be a clear simple soup. Unfortunately straining also takes out the onions, ginger, and garlic. What I ended up doing is straining about 3/4 of the vegetables, so it ended up being a vegetable lemon coriander soup. Something I may try next time is setting aside the onion, ginger, garlic, and green chilies once they are sauteed, then adding the vegetables and broth til the soup boils, then removing the vegetables and re-adding the ginger, garlic, and green chilies. I am still curious to know what this tastes like without adding the carrots and cabbage. Does the soup really need it? If you try it, please let me know!
The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of coriander, which I did not feel was enough. I also wasn't able to chop the coriander very finely, so I just chopped it in the blender. I kept adding coriander and tasting the soup until it tasted right.
This is perfect for a cold snowy Christmas Day in the house. Enjoy! :-)

Panchavati Pongal

Source: Kuty's Kreations!

The hubby and I recently took a much needed vacation to the beautiful NZ. The food was absolutely amazing and we had no problems finding vegetarian food. However, after eating such rich foods and after a long flight I was craving a nice hot and hearty wholesome meal. As soon as we came back I wanted to make ven pongal, which is one of the easiest South Indian meals one can make and is the ultimate comfort food. (It is similar to kichadi.) Normally it is made with moong dal, but of course with my luck I had only a few tablespoons left of it. So I thought, why not create a new recipe with whatever I have? And so came about panchavati pongal!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of dhal (Make a mix of moong dhal, urad dhal, tuvar dhal, masoor dhal, channa dhal)
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 15 peppercorns
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
• Handful of cashew nuts pieces
• Dash of hing

Directions

1. Soak rice and dhal for 20-30 mins (optional step)
   
2. Rinse dhal and rice well
3. Add rice, dhal, 5 cups water, hing, and ginger to pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. This really depends on your pressure cooker. It should come out nice and mushy. If it did not come out mushy continue to cook it (add water if necessary). If it is too watery, continue to cook it until some water boils off.
4. Temper cumin seeds, crushed peppercorns, cashew nuts, ghee, curry leaves.
5. Add tempering and salt to taste to the rice/ dhal mixture. Add more pepper and salt as needed. I like my pongal with a lot of pepper.

Kuty's Twist
Like I said, ven pongal is normally made with just moong dhal. You can probably try this with any type of dhal.

This is usually served with chutney or gotsu (an eggplant/ tomato stew). I make my pongal with a lot of pepper kick and am quite happy just eating it plain or with yogurt. :-)

If you have leftovers, I would advise microwaving it with some added water to get back that mushy consistency.

On a side note, it's quite funny how your tastes change as you grow up. I used to HATE eating pongal as a child, especially when it was made with whole peppercorns. Now I can't get enough of it! :-)

Pineapple Halwa/ Kesari

Source: Pakistani Food Recipes

Happy Deepavali/Diwali!!!

So I actually made this for Durgashtami last month, but in the spirit of Diwali I decided to post this. It's a very quick and simple recipe you can whip up in a jiffy! My wonderful m-in-law does a great job of reminding the younger generation about festival dates and what should be made when. This gets tough to do during the weekdays when you come home late from work, and traditionally you are supposed to make these items fresh on the same day of the festival (not in advance). I actually came home at a decent time from work, had some pineapple in the fridge, and thus came out pineapple halwa!

Ingredients

• Suji/ Rava/ Semolina – 1 cup
• Crushed pineapple – 1 cup
• Sugar – 1 cup
• Ghee/Butter – ½ tbsp
• Water – 2 cups
• Saffron – ½ tsp (dissolve in water)
• Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
• Raisins – ¼ cup
• Cashews – ¼ cup coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Dissolve saffron strands in 2 cups of water
2. In a pan, add ½ tbsp of Ghee/butter. Add suji and dry roast it on medium low temperature, till it releases rich aroma. It will look light golden in color.
3. Add crushed pineapple and sugar to the pan and mix well. Immediately add the saffron water, while stirring continuously or it will be lumpy.
4. Add raisins, cashews and cardamom powder to it and mix well.
5. Cook for another 2-3 minutes

Kuty's Twist

I honestly didn't have to alter this recipe at all. I did use fresh pineapple. Next time I'll probably put more as the pineapple flavor was not too strong.

I also used a non-stick pan and was constantly stirring to avoid lumps.

Linguine with Pumpkin Sauce

Source: Indigo's Sugar Spectrum

Fall has come upon us, which means only one thing.. It's PUMPKIN TIME! I have never had pumpkin ravioli, but I heard that it's pretty amazing. After a long tiring Sunday of running errands around town, my tummy had the random craving to try this out. But of course I was lazy and thought, why not just make pumpkin sauce? And so I did... :-)

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat linguine (or any pasta you prefer)
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 15-ounce can of pureed organic pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon red chili powder
• 2-3 cups chopped spinach
  
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• Pepper to taste
• 7 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Flour for thickening

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it and add a little bit of olive oil. Then add the pasta and cook until al dente.
2. Drain the pasta and rinse with cool water to prevent from drying out and sticking together.
3. While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, and red chili powder until softened. Then add the chopped spinach.
4. After the spinach starts to wilt and is cooked, stir in the vegetable broth, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
5. After this simmers for a few minutes, add the cream.
6. Lower the heat and let it simmer until it thickens to a desired consistency. (I had to whisk in about 1/3 cup of flour to thicken the sauce a bit.)
7. Stir in the sage
8. Serve the sauce over the linguine and top with shredded parmesan!
   

Kuty's Twist

I didn't have any "hot pepper sauce" so I went the predictable "kuty" route and added red chili powder. I also added spinach to add some more veggies into the recipe (I had a bunch of spinach which I knew wouldn't be used over the next few days.)

I also didn't have fresh sage, so I stirred in dried sage while I was cooking the onions.

I'm sure this would taste even better with ravioli or tortellini! But I was in a slightly healthy mood and felt like slurping up pasta :-) I am also LOVING this whole wheat pasta. It tastes great and is super filling.

Warning: This definitely is a dish for those whole like a combo of sweet and spice. Many people don't like that hint of sweetness to dishes. This didn't come out too sweet, but I would suggest adding more red chili powder if the level of sweetness isn't to your liking.

Spinach & Artichoke Omelet Muffins

Source: Foodalogue

It's time to post some weekend brunch ideas!

I seriously think I'm starting to dig myself into a dangerous hole. Recently I just don't have a taste for leftovers and have no desire whatsoever to cook something I've already tried to cook. I've basically become ADD (hyperactive) when it comes to cooking!

When it comes to breakfast vegetarian egg recipes (I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian), it gets pretty tough to think of creative recipes week after week. I do love making eggs for weekend brunches, but there are only so many versions of scrambled eggs and omelets one can make. But thankfully I came across Foodalogue's brilliant creation, which is part of her 5 small meals with BIG FLAVORS series. And wow.. did this have some big flavors!


Servings: 7-8 Muffins

Ingredients

Omelet Muffins

• 5 eggs
• 1 small jar of marinated Artichokes
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1.5 cups chopped spinach
• 1/2 cupPepper Jack Cheese
• 3 green chilies
• 1/4 cup corriander
• 3 Tablespoos milk
• 1-2 Tablespoons flour

Sauce

• 8-10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 Tomatillo
• 1-2 Tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup coriander
• 1 Tablespoon pine nuts

Directions

Omelet Muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend together the green chilies, coriander, milk, and 1/4 cup of spinach
3. Whisk together the eggs, green chilies/ coriander mixture, flour, and salt and pepper
4. Spray the muffin pan with non-stick spray
5. Fill up each muffin cup 1/2 way with the egg mixture
6. Place 1 Tablespoon of onions, 1 Tablespoon of spinach, 2-3 small pieces of artichokes, and desired amount of cheese (~1 Tablespoon) in each muffin cup
7. Fill up each muffin cup with more of the mixture so they are 3/4 filled
8. Bake for about 20 mins, until cooked and fluffy

Sauce

1. Blend together tomatoes, chipotle peppers, tomatillo, garlic, coriander, olive oil, and pine nuts. (Note: The chiptole peppers can be quite spicy. Make the sauce iteratively, adding tomatoes and peppers according to your spice tolerance.)
2. Add salt and pepper as you desire

Kuty's Twist
As always, I added an Indian twist by adding green chilies and coriander. You can really vary this with any veggies.

I also couldn't find piquillo peppers, so I used chipotle peppers. I love the smoky taste of chipotle peppers! The original recipe also called for walnuts. I didn't have any, so I used pine nuts. This sauce really made the WOW factor of this dish. It is jam packed with flavor. I will definitely make this again just to use as a regular salsa to serve with chips and Mexican food. My friend even ate it with samosas the other day! :-)

The potatoes you see in the image are just sliced potatoes fried in oil, red chili powder, salt, and pepper.

Barbati (Yardlong Beans) Curry

Source: Tamalapaku

I'll keep this one short and sweet. I'm trying to be better about eating more vegetables and fruit (we'll see how long this lasts). Barbati is a vegetable I've only recently noticed in the Indian Grocery stores here on the West Coast. I think I actually like these better than regular green beans!


Ingredients

• 1 bunch Barbati (Yardlong Beans)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 tablespoons roasted peanuts
• 4 tablespoons coconut (optional. I didn't put this)
• 2 green chilies
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves
• 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera)
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons urad dal
• 2 teaspoons chana dal
• 3 red chilies (crushed)

Directions

1. Chop the barbati into lengths of 2-3 inches, depending on your taste and finely chop the onion

2. Boil the chopped barbati til tender

3. Prepare the peanut-coconut masala: Coarsely grind together the peanuts, coconut, coriander, cumin, garlic, and green chilies

4. Heat oil in a separate pan and add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal and red chilies. Then add the turmeric.

5. Add the onions after the above stops spluttering and saute til golden brown

6. Add the cooked barbati and peanut-coconut masala

7. Cook together for 3-4 minutes, adjust salt and spice accordingly

Kuty's Twist

I wanted this to be a simpe dish so I didn't add the coconut and onion. It still came out great! I would also grind 3-4 green chilies next time to make it more spicy.

This is a nice dish because the peanuts add a twist to the regular beans curry most of us are used to.

Paneer Rajma Parathas

Source: One Hot Stove, Talimpu, and Tarla Dalal

Ok.. I know what you're thinking. This sounds like a wacky recipe! Even my husband said that he would prefer to have Paneer Parathas AND a Rajma Subji (gravy dish).

I've recently become stuck with a huge bag of atta/ wheat flour (they only had a large size left at the grocery store). So that with the combination of a new rolling pin, has motivated me to start making rotis and parathas. I was in no mood to stand in the kitchen for 3 hours (I'm a slow cook) and make a subji along with them. Thus came about a nice hearty all-in-one meal -> Rajma Paneer Parathas!


Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked rajma/ kidney beans (I used canned because I was lazy)
• 1/2 block of paneer (~ 1 cup)
• 7-8 green chilies
• 1 medium red onion (chopped)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• pinch of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp corriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 bunch of corriander (chopped)
• 2 cups atta (wheat flour)
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Place the drained kidney beans, paneer, garlic, and green chilies in a food processor and pulse together.

2. Lightly fry the onions. Then add turmeric, red chili powder, corriander powder, cumin powder, and fennel seeds. Add the mixture from above. Then add the tomato paste and combine. Add salt to taste.

Note: I wasn't sure how the parathas would taste if I didn't cook the ingredients first. Most recipes don't require you to cook the above ingredients so you might be fine.


3. Taste the above cooked mixture and add additional spices accordingly. It should be at a spice level beyond what you are comfortable with because the atta will tone it down.

4. Allow the cooked mixture to cool. I placed it in the frig for 15 minutes to speed up the process.

5. Knead the above mixture and chopped corriander with 2 cups atta. Add 1/4 cup of milk and any additional water (a few tablespoons) needed in order to make a soft dough. Let it sit covered for 30-40 minutes.

6. Make parathas -> Make the dough balls larger than you do for roti; approximately the size of a lemon. Roll out the dough (it shouldn't be too thin), cook for 30 secs- 1 minute on a hot griddle on either side with ghee/ butter. Lightly fluff over an open flame for a few seconds.

7. Taste the first paratha and add more salt accordingly.

8. Serve with homemade yogurt and pickle!

Kuty's Twist

Food Processing:

I made the mistake of blending the kidney beans and paneer together a bit too much. This resulted in not really tasting the kidney beans and paneer in bigger chunks and as individual ingredients of the recipe. If you have the time, I would advise you to just mash the kidney beans separately and grate the paneer. You should still grind the green chilies and garlic.

Letting the atta/ dough sit:
Someone once told me to wrap the dough in a plastic bag or plastic wrap in order to get softer rotis which remain soft even after you put them in the frig. I've been doing that for a while and it seems to be working. Give it a try!

Creating the atta/ dough for parathas:
Many people make the dough for parathas separately, roll out the dough in to a thick circle, place a ball of the filling in the center, and then gather the edges of the dough above the mixture. They then lightly roll out the parathas. I have tried this in the past and it ended up being a huge messy disaster. I'm sure there is a correct way to do this AND the parathas will probably taste MUCH better. Why? Because they will probably taste more layered/ stuffed (i.e. layer of dough, filling, followed by a layer of dough). The parathas I made were definitely not "stuffed" parathas in the true sense, but it did take less time! :-)

Hopefully I'll attempt a "stuffed" paratha again in the near future...

Pineapple Fried Rice

Source: Closet Cooking

My apologies for the lack of posts last month. Although I had been doing PLENTY of cooking, I didn't have time to blog due to family visiting me. The good news is that I was able to try a bunch of experimental recipes on my family, which will be coming your way!

So for some reason, I have never had much luck with creating Asian dishes. I'm convinced it's because I'm not adding some "bad for you" secret ingredient like MSG or fish sauce (which the restaurants love to sneak in even though you are ordering a vegetarian dish.) Well this dish is jam packed with flavor and more! The original recipe has shrimp and fish sauce in it. I stripped it down and added my own veggies to create a vegetarian Thai Pineapple Fried Rice!


*Note: The other dish in this image is a failed attempt at making garlic eggplant tofu so I did not post the recipe :-)

**Update: Due to popular demand, you can find the original recipe to the eggplant dish here.

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked rice (I used basmati)
• Oil
• 1 red onion
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 6-7 red chilies
• 1 red pepper (diced)
• 3-5 tablespoons vegetable broth
• 3-5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1.5 tablespoons curry powder (I used garam masala)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup cashews (roasted)
• 1 medium sized pineapple, cut into small chunks (you can use canned, but I was ambitious and used fresh)
• 1 medium head of broccoli
• 1/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2-3 spring onions (sliced)
• 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)

Directions

1. Cook rice and completely cool. It's preferable if this is day old rice

2. Cut and steam cook broccoli

3. Heat oil in large vessel

4. Add onions, garlic, red chillies and red pepper and stir-fry until fragrant, about a minute.

5. Add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, garam masala powder and sugar and stir-fry

6. Add the cashews and stir-fry for 30 seconds

7. Add the rice, break up any clumps and stir-fry for a few minutes

8. Add 3/4 of your pineapple, peas, broccoli and raisins and stir-fry to mix them in

9. Taste and adjust the following as needed: soy sauce, garam masala powder. You may need to add salt and as well. Add some red chili powder if the spice isn't enough for you. (If it's too spicy, add more pineapple or sugar.)

10. Remove from heat and serve garnished with chopped green onions and cilantro

Kuty's Twist

---

So this dish is actually a good 3 day process. Day1- Cook Rice, Day2- Complete Recipe, Day3- Optimal taste day!

This dish needs to sit for a while for all the spices and pineapple juices to blend together in order for it to have maximum flavor. It should be very spicy after you make it because the spice will die down by the next day. When I made this it was so spicy that I couldn't finish what was on my plate! The next day it tasted perfect because all the pineapple juices had blended in.

You can also add tofu and scrambled egg to this dish.

For the pineapple: Don't be afraid to use fresh pineapple because you have to cut it! I recently embraced my knives set, which I've had for 3 years. Up until now I only used the smaller knives in the first row. I've just started to use the bigger knives and it has made chopping SO much easier and faster. Don't be scared to use the big knives! You'll have your pineapple chopped up in no time. Also, if you want to be fancy, you can serve the rice within the empty pineapple shell :-)

Summer Salads #1- Grilled Vegetable Orzo Salad

Source: Kuty's Kreation

So I think the majority of all of us have a desired "weight range" we strive to be within. Unfortunately summertime has arrived and all the delicious California food has caught up to me. I've found myself past my weight spectrum.. so it's time to buckle down and start cooking some Summer Slimdown dishes!

I'm hoping that this a first in a long series of Summer Salads. My goal is to find healthy yet flavorful recipes.


Ingredients

• 8 oz Orzo Pasta
• 1 Head of Broccoli
• 1 Bunch of Asparagus (8-10)
• 1-2 Tomatoes
• 1 Red Onion
• 1 Cucumber
• 1/4 Bunch of Coriander
• 1 Avocado
• 2-3 Tablespoons Feta (Optional)
• 2-4 Garlic cloves
  

Seasonings:

• Oregano
• Cayenne Pepper (for some spice)
• Pepper
• Salt
• Olive Oil (optional)
• Lemon Juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to the broil setting (Can you tell that I LOVE to broil? :) )

2. Boil water and cook orzo until al dente (don't overcook!)

3. Wash and chop the broccoli into small florets. Chop the asparagus into 1 inch sections.

4. Spray a pan with cooking spray and toss in the broccoli and asparagus. Season with Oregano, Cayenne Pepper, Pepper, Salt, Olive Oil (optional). Broil for 5-6 minutes. Toss around and broil for another 5-6 minutes until fully cooked and charred.

5. Chop the onion, cucumbers, tomato, avocado into cubes

6. Toss together the orzo, all vegetables, coriander with garlic, lemon juice, and salt to taste

7. Sprinkle on some feta cheese for an extra burst of flavor

Kuty's Twist

You can either steam or broil the broccoli and asparagus. I prefer the taste of vegetables when they're broiled.

I wanted to pack this for lunch for a few days this week so I stored the orzo, broccoli, and asparagus separately from the other veggies. The salad has a nice flavor if the orzo, broccoli, and asparagus are warmed up and then combined with the other cold veggies. The avocado should also be added right before serving since it tends to go brown.

Bagara Baingan

Source: Edible Garden

Really, Edible Garden has just NAILED this recipe and even provides step by step pictures. I'll keep this short. This dish came out perfect! I'll try and provide instructions which will help you multi-task and make the dish faster.

Ingredients

• 7-10 purple baby brinjals/ eggplants (depends on the size. My store sells very small ones)
• 2 Tablespoons white sesame seeds (I don't use these often, but was able to buy a small packet for $1 at my local Latin market)
• 2 Tablespoons peanuts
• 2 Tablespoons grated coconut
• 1 Red Onion, chopped fine
• 1 Tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 Tablespoon garlic paste
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds
• 1 Tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder (I used 2 Tablespoons)
• A small lemon sized ball of tamarind
• Salt to taste
• Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to the broil setting

2. Dry roast the peanuts and sesame seeds until golden brown

3. While this is roasting clean your brinjals, trim the stems, and make deep perpendicular slits at the bottom of each. Place on a pan coated with a little oil and broil. Broil on each side for about 7-8 mins until it's soft and slightly charred.

4. Place the roasted mixture along with a little bit of cold water and shredded coconut in the blender. Allow to cool for a little bit.

5. Place the tamarind in 1.5 - 2 cups water. Microwave on high for 1.5 mins. Break up the tamarind and let it soak.

6. While your roasted mixture is cooling, chop up the onions

7. Fry the onions and ginger garlic paste until golden

8. While frying, grind the roasted mixture with coconut to form a smooth paste. You can add as much water as you need to grind it.

9. Add the ground paste to the onion/ginger/garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add water if it starts to stick.

10. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, jeera, coriander powder and salt. Mix well and fry for another minute.

11. Add the tamarind water, mix and cook for 5 mins. Taste the gravy and add more spices/ salt if necessary. If it is too watery, boil it for some more time. (If it is too thick, add more water and boil.)

12. Add the brinjals and cook closed for 5-10 mins

13. Garnish with coriander leaves

Kuty's Twist

As I said before, the recipe from Edible Garden will come out great if you just follow the recipe. The only change I made was how I cooked the brinjals. I like to leave the stems on so it is easy (and more fun :P) to pick them up and take a good chomp out of them. I also broiled them rather than frying them. I am sure frying them (with a lot of oil) will make the dish taste better!