I hope all of you have been having fun blogging and creating awesome recipes. I took a break from blogging just to clear my mind and take care of things. Varalakshmi nombu, Krishna Jayanthi and Back to school  had kept me very busy. For months I have been thinking of making this recipe which actually was very fun to make and delicious to eat. An awesome fusion recipe to try on your kids. They might like to try this because it is Indian-Italian Fusion. My daughter thought it was awesome and ate an extra paratha.

Gadgets:

Cutting Board

Rolling Pin

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Tava

Spatula

Bowl

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Chapathi Dough - 4 golf size balls

Whole Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup 

Filling:

 Ricotta Cheese - 1 cup ( extra liquid drained)

Sun Dried Tomatoes ( dry or strain and use the oil soaked ones) - 1/3 cup finely chopped

Fresh Basil - 10 Leaves finely shredded

Salt

Black Pepper 

Garlic Powder - 1/2 tsp

Crushed Chili Pepper - a dash.

Preparation:

1. Add all the ingredients used for filling to a bowl. Mix well, make into 4 equal balls and set aside. 

2. Roll out the chapathi dough into 5 inch circle. Place one filling ball in the center and cover it with the dough. 

3. Roll it out into a nine inch circle. Use the extra whole wheat flour to roll easily. 

4. Heat the griddle/ tava on medium high and place the paratha on it. 

5. Cook the paratha on both sides. Serve them hot with ketchup or sour cream. 

I  could not resist what I tasted at the farmers market last week. I always buy produce from a set of farmers and by now, they know what I would like to buy from them and even offer some recipes or pick the best produce for me. In that order, there is this place that sells salsa of all types. He had a new one to his collection and it was the cantaloupe salsa and the farmer suggested that I try it. It was so delicious and had great flavors from the chillies, red onions, cilantro and sweetness of the cantaloupe all coming together with a crunchy tortilla chips. As I was exiting the farmers market, there is this melon stall where mostly college and high school kids from a family sell fruits. They always convince me to buy more than what. I intend to. Today, I adding cantaloupes into my basket. I decided to try recreating a salsa with it. Here is the recipe that I came up with.

Gadgets:

Cutting board
Knife
Bowl

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe -1/2 a melon diced
Red Onion - 1/2 diced finely
Cilantro - 2 tbsp finely minced
Lime Juice - 1/2 lime
Jalapeno - 1 descended and diced finely
Salt

Preparation:

1.Toss all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix and serve it with chips.

Yesterday, I had such an awesome time shopping for produce at the local farmers market after a couple of weeks. I really missed not visiting the market since I had been shopping at the local stores. It also made me realize that most people think farmers market prices are very high compared to the store bought produce but, I think they have great taste and are better than what the local stores charge for produce. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and okra are in season. You see them everywhere and I was very intrigued by the purple bell pepper that was available. I wondered if they would taste different from the regular peppers or keep their purple color when cooked. When I cut into it and found that though they were purple on the outside they were light green on the inside. When I cooked them for the raita and served it to my family some of them suggested that it has an eggplant like flavor and the purple color did not stay.

Gadgets:

Frying Pan

Spatula

Vegetable Cutter with Mini Cube Attachment

Cutting Board

Knife

Measuring Spoons

Ingredients:

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Green Chilies - 1/2 seeds removed

Purple, Red pepper, Orange and Yellow Bell Peppers- One of each

Yogurt -  1 Cup

Salt 

Asafoetida Powder - 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the frying pan on high. Add oil, mustard seeds, chillies and allow for the seeds to splatter. Add asafoetida powder, give it a mix. Add the bell peppers and saute them on high so that they would stay crunchy. 

2. Remove as soon as they appear cooked. Cool and add the yogurt and mix. If need be add some water to make it into a raita or pachadi constancy. Garnish with cilantro and serve them on the side with rice or roti. 

Its been in the back of my mind to make mango salsa and I had an opportunity to make them yesterday. Its the best part of summer when I get to spoil my nephews and nieces by cooking and baking for them.  They expect a lot of fun, unexpected gourmet food, mind blowing desserts and very comforting breakfast. In that order, we had Mexican food and I made mango salsa as one of the sides to go with chips. My nephew loved this salsa and enjoyed it a lot. I thought I would blog after I managed to take a few photos of the salsa. It looked very colorful and went perfect with the tortilla chips. I will have to get more mangoes from sprouts and make this salsa for him before he heads back home.

Gadgets:

Cutting Board

Knife

Peeler

Bowl

Measuring Spoons

Ingredients:

Mango - 1 that is firm to touch and beginning to ripe

Jalapeno - 1 finely diced 

Cilantro - 1 tbsp finely minced

Salt to taste

Crushed Red Peppers - a dash or two

Lime Juice - 1/2 a lime

Preparation:

1. Peal the mango and dice it into small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients and give it a mix. Serve it with chips. 

A quick and easy way to fix for breakfast, lunch, tiffin or dinner is rava pongal. It gets done very fast and is delicious too. It has the same flavor and taste of rice ven pongal. The texture is very important in rava pongal. It has to be soft and fluffy like upma. Roasting the rava or not toasting does not create any difference in texture according to me. It helps in not allowing clumps to form while cooking the rava. There are many ways of preparing this recipe. Here is my version of making it. I served it with pottukadalai chutney. 

Gadgets:

Frying Pan With Lid
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Spatula
Seasoning ladle

Ingredients:

Rava/ Cream Of Wheat - 1 cup
Water - 3 cups
 Moong Dal - 1/2 cup cooked with turmeric powder
Green Chillies - 1
Ginger - 1 tbsp grated
Cumin Seeds - Freshly crushed 3/4 tsp
Pepper - Freshly crushed 3/4 tsp
Whole Peppers - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Curry Leaves - a few
Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp ghee in the pan. Add curry leaves, green chillies, pepper and cumin freshly crush and ginger. Give it a good mix. Add water, salt and moong dal and bring to a boil after giving it a good stir.

2. Add Rava slowing into the boiling liquid while stirring continuously and avoiding lumps. Lower the heat to low, mix and cover with lid. In a minute or two the rava pongal will be well cooked.

3. Heat 1 tbsp on ghee in the seasoning ladle, add the cashew nuts, pepper and cumin seeds and toast them until the pepper pops and cashews gets golden brown. Add it to the pongal and serve it hot with chutney and sambar or gothsu.

Cooking couscous based dishes is one of my favorites. I love their texture and they seem to absorb the flavors that you add to them easily. I wanted to try them with saffron and pistachios this time. I also cooked them differently from the pulao and salad recipes that I have posted earlier. I learnt that this method of cooking the couscous creates the best texture. I loved the nutty flavors they emit from roasting. I just could eat them just as is, because it was very delicious. If you ever want to enjoy some delicious couscous give this a try.

Gadgets:

Frying Pan and Lid

Spatula

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Cutting Board

Knife

Ingredients:

Israeli Couscous - 1 1/2 cups

Water - 1 3/4 cups

Salt to taste

Butter - 1 tbsp

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Garlic - 1 tbsp minced

Ginger - 1 tbsp grated

Red Onions - 1 medium

Crushed Red Peppers - 1/4 tsp ( I used the Trader Joe's brand which has a lot of spice)

Saffron - a pinch

Pistachios - 1/2 cup toasted

Cranberries - 1/2 cup

Chives - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the frying pan with some butter. Add the couscous and roast it till it turns lightly golden.  Add water, salt and saffron and cook until the water starts to boil. Allow for the water to reduce and turn the heat to low, cover and cook until they get fluffy. Remove and place in a bowl.

2. Heat the pan with oil. Add garlic, ginger and onions with some salt and crushed peppers. Cook until the onions are half cooked, add in the nuts and cranberries. Mix the couscous, garnish with chives and serve them warm.