Heart(h) and Home: Vidya's Kool Kitchen

Showcasing a simple yet very functional Indian Kitchen..(my Sister in law's) . :)

A very homey kitchen :-)..and Prachi's mention of the indian dish rack/utensil stand prompted this post :)

Joining Patty's "In the Zone" Link up :)

Stuffed Capsicum ~~ anyone!!

dug out a very old folder and thgt id document my stuffed capsicum on AnR....

ingredients
1/4 cup each - grated potatoes, chopped  capsicum (i used yellow and green ones this time)
three whole capsicums
cumin, salt, turmeric, garlic crushed
2 tbsp mozarella
1 tsp olive oil

how its made: :)

use a pan to saute chopped veggies with some oilve oil & add salt, cumin, garlic and turmeric

In the meanwhile, rub some salt on the capsicum shells and microwave them for 2-3 minutes with two tbsp of water

Stuff the half done capsicum with the sauted mixture and arange in a baking dish and cover it with a foil

bake at 350 F/180C for 20 minutes 

take off the foil and top it with grated mozarella and bake it with out the foil until the cheese melts (roughly 3-5 minutes)

was great as is or with pulka or rice and dal

Bharwa(n) Bhindi - Oven roasted and yummy!

Learnt it from a friend's mom and made them for the first time while in my Under-graduate program. I should say they turned out ok then, and my amma was impressed!!  Have been making them ever since...off and on before the wedding and then almost once a month for hubby dearest, a huge okra fan...so wouldnt he be the happiest! Flavour and texture of the batch I make has definitely improved over time.

You need

20 medium sized okra/bhindi

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves/cilantro

tempering

2 cloves of garlic (crushed)

1tbsp olive or sunflower oil

1tbsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1tbsp oil (olive or sunflower)

filling

1/3 cup chick peas / besan flour

1tbsp red chilli powder

1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

3 tbsp lemon juice or 1 tbsp amchur powder

2-tbsp cumin+coriander powder (I use kuzhambu powder) 

1/2 tsp hing/asafoetida

2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Goda masala (for that extra punch- you can skip it) 

Procedure

Wash and drip dry/ pat dry the bhindi and slit them vertically; keep aside

Make the filling - mix in all the ingredients and stuff the okra 

prepare the tempering - in a kadai/pan pour 1 tbsp oil and put in crushed garlic, jeera (cumin) and hing and gently place the okra and fold in to coat the okra with the oil

Take the mixed in and tempered okra and place them on a baking tray

Bake your yummy okra for 25 -30 minutes at 350F/180 C (middle rack)

Pull the tray out of the oven and garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves and Voila!!

Works well with mooru kuzhambu and rice! or with plain roti and dal as well. Of course, my hubby has it as a snack :P... 

Trivia

I also use ragi /millet powder instead of besan

If you were to cook it on the stove and skip the oven, then just make sure you cook it on low to medium heat and never cover the dish. Covering leaves the dish limp (steam does its job!!)

Oven Roasted dishes consume less oil, hence the recipe!

Tried serving them as starters too and they were a hit
Garlic and hing/asafoetida are to balance the hard to digest chickpeas flour

Any variation to the recipe are all welcome...never hurts to learn :)

Kool Kitchen Inspirations

Would you like to cook here

desiretoinspire.net

Eggless Banana Chocolate Bread

Pillayaar Chathurthi meant, we bought a whole load of fruits. For just tw of us its definitely too much :).

Extra bananas promptly turned into Low Fat Eggless Banana bread. This is an easy bake recipe. you could substitute the whole wheat flour with all purpose as well.

What you need : makes 15 (1/2") slices

1 cup mashed bananas - (it took me three ripe ones)
1 1/4 Cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup yogurt or 1/4 cup butter milk (optional / substitute with 1/4 cup warm water)
2 - 3tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp Elaichi (cardamom) powder

1 tbsp unsweetened Chocolate powder (any baking choc powder is fine)

2 tbsp water (as needed) (skip this if you use butter milk)

What you need to do

Preheat your oven @350F/180C

In a mixing bowl, mix in the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, cardamom powder, chocolate powder

Add yogurt/butter milk and mashed banana to the dry mix and fold well. 

Add olive oil, and water to bring it to a cake batter (dosa/idli batter) consistency

Bake for 35-40 minutes in the middle rack @350F or 180C

Do the fork test. Extend the bake time by another five minutes if needed

Want to see how  mine turned out this time