Ragi-Rawa Dosas

Dosas are probably a great salvation food, my kids love them, my husband can never get enough of them either. I found them a good way to also get vegetables into my kids food, so yes, more often than not I end up making Oothapams.
This dosa was inspired by this lovely recipe, I actually ran out of ragi flour so this recipe emerged. This is really quite tasty. A touch of lime gently tempers the sweetness of the sweet potatoes, in this recipe. I had some leftover iddlies, that I actually tempered with some spices and couple with sambhar a wholesome meal was born.

Raji-Rawa Dosas - Finger Millet Flour/Semolina Dosa

Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients

1 cup ragi flour (finger millet flour)
1 cup rawa
1/2 cup rice flour
1 sweet potato, cooked and mashed
2 cups buttermilk
1 large onion, thinly chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
2-3 green chillies, minced
2 tsp salt
1 lime
Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the ragi, rawa and rice flour with the sweet potato and buttermilk.
2. Add some water (upto 3/4 cup) if a thinner batter is desired.
3. Mix in the onion, cilantro and green chillies with salt.
4. Squeeze in the lime juice and let this sit aside for 1-2 hours.
5. Heat a large skillet, test the heat with a drop of water, when this is heated right the water should form a ball and evaporate.
6. Grease the skillet (I use a heavy hard anodized pan to minimize the oil used) and pour the batter in the center, turn the heat on low.
7. Cook for three minutes and then slip some more oil along the sides of the dosa.
8. Cook for one to two more minutes and serve with your favorite chutney.

I am sending this out to the Dosa Mela, being hosted at Cooking 4 all seasons. Am seriously looking forward to the round-up.

Food in Westchester - Mughal Palace

A lot of people keep asking me about eating places, especially good Indian restaurants. We do actually like eating out. The little ones are fairly adventurous eaters. It is a little harder to keep my son on the chair for a very extended period of time, but otherwise he thinks the experience is as much fun as everyone else.

We do not eat Indian a lot, simply because, I do tend to cook so much Indian food at home. However, when you have a restaurant less than a mile away like mughal palace, it is hard not to visit and or eat there. In fact, we were waiting for this one to open. The first time that I tried it we were disappointed by the quality. Over the last couple months, I think they have upgraded their image and their quality has improved quite a bit.

The Food: Overall, the spicing was right, not terribly watered down. They keep a few really bland items that essentially amounts to food cooked in cream, with some spices thrown in without much thought. Their South Indian cuisine is mediocre. What they do really well are kababs, particularly chicken kababs. They have a range of these kababs with lamb and chicken - seekh, boti kabab, mal-mal, hara bhara kababs. Their vegetables have an interesting range this is where their range is most interesting. They do have the staples - very greasy spinach, deep fried bindi, paneer tikka masala. However, they do do have some good porials, a couple of mushroom dishes that are unusual. In general, while not outstanding, they are are a good stop for this neck of the woods.

The Service: The owner is originally from Bangladesh. He loves speaking in Bengali to me. His staff are however warm and personable to all the clients. Their service is prompt and pleasant. They tend to remember their regular customers and greet them with affection.

The ambience and location: This is a spacious location but parking is difficult to find. The decor is fairly mainstream, with some Indian art, burgundy and white linen and standard.
silverware.

Wine and Beer: They have a decent selection of Indian beer, but their wine list needs a major overhaul. Their house red seemed like it had been left open for ages, certainly not worth trying again.

Overall, on a scale of 5, I would give this place a 3.

My forray with wine

I have been meaning for quite sometime to jot my thoughts on wines that I drink. I shall not even dare to call them tasting notes. I am hardly an expert of any sort, but I will tell you I do love this beverage and spend a lot of time with this love, so why not keep track of this that makes me happy. On a note, since I am rambling I should point to a site, maintained by Natalie, a passionate wino. In particular one should subscribe to her newsletter some I did many moons ago and love reading it whenever I have time.

1. Cotes du Rhone - Domain De La Lyre - F1.rance

I have been having the 2000 wine that is actually a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan grapes. Lately this has been on sale at the local winestore. It is a nice clean red. I think it is in general easy on the palate and has a smooth finish.

2. Pindar - Sweet Scarlett, New York

This is lovely slightly sweet wine. I like this cool but not chilled. As soon as you taste it you are hit with rich vanilla flavors. As this settles down the vanilla is more subtle blending with fruits and spices. Actually a good wine for Indian food.

3. Excelsior - Cabernet Sauvignion, South Africa

A good full bodied red that truly opens up after a while. Well, my first sip, I went - gosh you pay for what you get (this is a very affordable bottle), after 15 minutes, I went not bad. We had guests over about 1 hour later, my husband informs me - good wine! I try it and went gosh -rich smooth, full flavored, lots of fruit and oak! Good thing I paired it with lamb!

4. Doc's Draft Hard Apple Cider, New York

If you are like me and do not like beer this is a lovely solution! Lots of flavors, nice, fruity and sparkly! Perfect for festive brunches and it is local. Try it! I have tried the pear and framboise this far!

5. Augustino's Pinot Noir, Chille

Ok, it must be me, for some reason I think if you like red wine a pino noir is a good fit with Indian food. I brought this home, my husband does not look, tells me that he does not like Pinot Noir's - too thin! I tell him that the word he was looking for is finicky. Well, he tries this and goes - nice but what is this? I tell him not to fuss and enjoy the wine. The wine was good! fruity with herbal overtones, good with tomatoey, spiced chicken such as tikka masala or salmon.

6. Casita Mami - Rosado - Spain

This was a fun and pretty rose wine made with Garnacha grapes. The wine as described is indeed good for festive time. It is dry with a touch of sweetness as has a gentle effervecent quality to it.

7. Santa Isabel - Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina

A reliable dependable classic. It is in my opinion as good as it gets. I like this with a good lamb curry. It certainly is for good bold flavors, fruity, jammy ripe flavors with a beautiful purple red color.

8. Cedar Grove - Carbernet Sauvignon, California, USA

This one tasted surprisingly different to my palate, very smooth, fully of vanilla flavors and less chewy than what I normally expect from a Cabernet Sav. A very versatile wine that is good for company and or a quiet night just by oneself.

9. Tin Roof Rose - California, USA

This was recommended by the local wine store guy and I loved the refreshing crisp lightness of this wine. We had this with chicken and eggplant and I think this shall be gracing my table more through this summer.

10. May Wine - Brotherhood Winery, New York, USA

A sweet deep rose/light red kind of wine. A big plus with all the local buffs, actually I know a couple of people who live along the NY wine trail. I later realized that the color was really from strawberry juice, making this a perfect summer wine. This is just great chilled. Works very well with spicy food.

11. Black Dirt Red - Warwick Winery, New York

I had first tried this wine last year at the farmers market. It is interesting, I picked this up at the store without the sales pitch and was very pleasantly surprised by the smooth taste of this Baco Noir. A good wine is a good wine! Your taste buds tell you so! This is a sophisticated, yet fruity wine.

12. Cabernet Franc, Warwick Winery, New York

Yes, this winery has gotten itself a fan, liked the Cab Franc too. A tiny bit of bite, nice fruity notes, we liked it with lamb.

13. Chenin Blanc - Fleur De Cap, South Africa

A crisp tasting lightly fruity wine. It goes well with lighter flavors, worked nicely with a salad that I had made, I would caution against using with terribly spicy creations.

14. Gewurtztraminer - Chateau Ste Michelle, Columbia Valley

A nice sweet, mellow wine, citrus paired with spicy overtones. A very food friendly wine, works well with spicy food as well as wine and fruit pairings.

15. Concha Y Toro 2008 Chardonnay Casillero del Diablo Reserve Chile

This wine is a drier white wine. I am actually putting this down in my list of wines, based more on what my white wine loving friends liked. Most people gave this a big thumbs up, felt that the crisp, clean notes of this wine worked well with lightly spiced offerings.

16. Pinot Noir - Brotherhood Winery, New York

It is difficult to fault this medium bodied red wine. I personally feel that a Pinot Noir is a very good choice when you are not sure of the drinking flavors of your guests. This wine is ruby colored, lightly spiced with some hint of tea and spice.

Jibe Goja - Fried Pastry in sugar syrup

Food events make the food blogging world a little more interesting. I love events, I do not have time to participate in most of them, but ever so often one of them catches my eye and I have stop by later to see what a variety of dishes are offered in the round-up even if I cannot participate. One event that I have been following since last year is RCI-Regional Cuisine of India. I think this event is such an amazing idea, just brilliant of Lakshmi to think of this.

This month RCI-Bengali is being hosted by Sandeepa at Bongmom's cookbook.



There are just so many interesting recipes, I finally settled for trying this sweet simple recipe. Jibe Goja is thinly rolled pastry dipped in a thick sugar syrup. Works wonderfully with tea and actually keeps fairly well for a few days in an air-tight container. The name is derived from the toungue shaped appearance, jib in bengali refers to tongue.

Jibe-Goja- Fried pastry in sugar syrup
Makes about 15 gojas

Ingredients
For the syrup

1 cup water
2 cups sugar

For the goja

2 cups flour
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
water to knead
Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1. Make the syrup by boiling the water and sugar for 10 minutes. It should make a thick (1.5 strand consistency)
2. In the meantime, mix the ghee into the flour with the salt and sugar. This should be evenly mixed in with your hands.
3. Add the water to make a firm and smooth dough.
4. Let this sit for 30 minutes.
5. Break into small pieces and roll into long (toungue shaped) pieces.
6. Score well, to prevent this from puffing up while frying.
7. Fry till golden brown, drain the oil and dip into warm syrup for 1 minute.
9. Remove and set aside on a piece of parchment paper.
10. When this cools the Goja hardens just enough to make it flaky rather than soft.

Inspired Cooking!

Well, maybe its spring, maybe like most of us within the food universe it is this constant yen for doing different things, today's meal was something, that I needed to be different, creative and special. Why - well because I just felt like it!

Anyhow, most of the meal was inspired by other recipes on the web, goodness how did people ever cook prior to the www. Anyhow, what I had with me was some lovely orange roughy and some swiss chard, certainly enough basic components for a good meal. What I needed was something to mix and complete the meal.

To start with the swiss chard, this is what I looked at, what I developed was pretty close,

Sauteed Swiss Chard

Serve 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 shallots thinly slices

1 tomato, diced

3 cups chopped swiss chard

1 tsp seasoning salt

1/4 cup mirin (Japanese rice vinegar)

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the garlic, cook on high and brown.

2. Add the shallots and tomatoe and saute briefly.

3. Add in the chard and cook for 3 minutes.

4. Add in the salt and mirin and cook till the chard is fairly soft.

Next to move onto the fish, I actually dredged this with lime juice, salt and pepper and seared this. I then topped the fish with some lovely chimmichurri sauce that I created from this whole foods recipe. I made some tiny modifications for convienience and practicality, - I used prepared almond meal that toasted up wonderfully and left out the lime juice and reduced the oil by half. Still a pretty rich sauce. Well, I have just started working with fresh oregano, that is my entry for this weeks WHB, that is being host by one of "my food blogger" (just the very few, that I have time to scan on a regular basis, simply because I do not have more time.) - Katie at a thyme for cooking.

Mixed Bean Chilli

I have to tell you, like most mother who juggle the 800 (ok that is an exageration!) but the multiple things that one has to fit in just gets crazier when one has to complete the list with -
800) Cook interesting, flavorful, food that works for both Mommy and Daddy and for the little tykes.

Well, the adapted version of Chilli that I make works pretty well for this and with some really inspired toppings and garnishes makes pretty interesting party food.

To make the process interesting, I use the beans in my pantry, that are a combination of all kinds of Indian beans and lentils - here I have whole dried peas, green chickpeas, black-eyed beans, black beans and small red beans. This time round, I decided to do something that I do not usually do - get some fresh oregano to liven this up!

Mixed Bean Chilli

Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

1 cups of dried mixed beans as described above
2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 onions coarsely, chopped
6-8 cloves garlic
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
3/4 cup ground chicken or turkey
3 cups canned or freshly chopped tomatoes
1 green chilli
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp oregano leaves

For Garnishing

Chopped Scallions
Chopped Green chilies
Chopped Cilantro
Lime Wedges
Tortilla Chips
Grated or Crumbled Cheese
Sour Cream


Method of Preparation

1. Soak the beans overnight and then cook under pressure for 25 minutes with 1 tsp salt. (The beans should be partially cooked.)
2. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat the oil and add the ginger, garlic and onion and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Add the ground meat and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the beans and remaining ingredients with 3 cups water, bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours.
6. Serve over rice or with cornbread and garnish with the scallions, green chillies and cilantro.
7. Place a few tortilla chips and 1 tsp cheese.
8. Microwave for 40 seconds till the cheese is melted add 1 tsp sour cream and enjoy.

Ps. On a note on my favorite bevarage-red wine. I have recently noticed a fun trend amongst CA wine to have funny, homey labeling almost in an attempt to make wine more everyday. Well, I made the chilli for a Friday Night crowd and served it with a wine from the Doghouse Wines. Do not know much about the wine, the "Checkers Cab" in question was a fun down to earth wine that did appropriate justice to this dish.

Green Chickpea and Corn Kadhi

I found these really pretty daity pods at the local store. I had never used these green chickpeas before but wanted to do something with them. After I brought these home, I discovered some very tart yogurt that had been sitting in my fridge for a while.

I am a big fan of Kadhi - that nutrious yougurt based soupy concoction tempered with whole spices and curry leaves thickened with besan or chickpea flour. If you love kadhi as much as I do, you will be convinced that sour yogurt was made for Kadhi not the other way round. Well, I made kadhi mixed in with fresh corn and the results with rice was perfect for a cool day.

Green Chickpea and Corn Kadhi

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1.5 cups very tart yogurt

3 tbsp besan or chickpea flour

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1/8 tsp asafetida

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 dried red chillies

1-2 green chillies

10 curry leaves

1/2 fresh green chickpeas

1/2 cup fresh corn

2 tbsp fresh cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the yogurt, besan and salt with 2 cups water and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add the ginger, cumin and mustard seeds.

3. When the seeds begin to pop add the red chillies.

4. Add in the green chillies and curry leaves and stir well.

5. Mix in the yogurt mixture, bring to a boil reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Add in the corn and chickpeas and cook for another 15 minutes.

7. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

This entry is sent out to this weeks - WHB that is being hosted by Jay and Bee at Jugalbandi.

This blog if you have not checked it out, is a treat for the senses, the photography is amazing, it makes food seem spiritual.