Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

1 medium Butternut Squash peeled and cubed
1 medium onion diced
2 large cloves garlic minced
1/2 inch ginger minced
1 green chili
1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
oil
salt
pepper

Recipe

Take the butternut squash pieces in a baking sheet, drizzle oil on top, season lightly with salt and pepper.

Roast for an hour or until soft.Keep aside.

In a pan, add 1 Tbsp oil. Once hot add cumin seeds and let splutter.

Add onions and saute till translucent.

Add ginger, garlic and green chilli. Saute for 30 seconds.

Add Garam masala and roasted butternut squash pieces and puree.

Add milk as needed to get the desired consistency while pureeing.

Simmer for 5 minutes. Add cilantro.

Add more salt per taste.

Serve hot.

Cracked wheat and spinach khichdi

Ingredients

1 cup coarse cracked wheat
3/4 cup yellow moong daal
2 cups spinach chopped roughly
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves
1 whole red chilli
2 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
5 cups water

Recipe

Pressure cook cracked wheat, moong daal and spinach in 5 cups of water for 3 whistles.
In a small pan, heat oil and clarified butter together on medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add cumin and mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add black pepper corns, asafoetida, red chilli. Lastly add curry leaves and immediately add to the cooked cracked wheat.
Add salt to taste.
Drizzle ghee/clarified butter on top(optional).
Serve hot with a pickle of choice.

Idli

Ingredients

1 cup Urad Daal
2 cups Idli rice
1 cup of Regular oats
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
Water as needed
Salt to taste

Recipe

Soak urad daal and fenugreek seeds together in a bowl for 40 minutes. Soak rice and oats in a separate bowl for 1 hr.

Drain and grind urad daal and fenugreek seeds till a smooth fluffy mixture is formed.Use water as needed to aide in grinding.

If a 1/4 tsp of ground urad daal is put in water,it should float and not sink to the bottom.This is when it is done.Keep this aside.

Next, grind idli rice till a coarse mixture is formed. 

Finally, grind the urad daal mixture and rice mixture together with a 1/4 tsp of salt, till everything blends in well.

Put the batter in a tall container and leave it in a warm place for the batter to ferment and rise.It takes approximately 8-10 hrs in a cold climate.During summer it may take much less time.

Once the batter ferments, add required amount of salt to taste(already there is a 1/4 tsp of salt, so be careful while adding more). Mix well.

Take an idli stand. Apply oil/ghee and pour in batter(do not fill batter to the brim,leave some place for the idli to rise while steaming). 

In a cooker/idli steamer, add water and bring it to boil. Put idli stand in and steam for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes take the idli stand out, and let it rest for a minute or so. Use a blunt knife to take idlis out.

Apply ghee on top and serve hot with Sambhar/chutney/spice powder of choice.

Some tips for proper fermentation in cold weather:

• Fill a large container with warm water and place the idli batter container in that. Leave this in a warm place.
• Keep batter in a warm oven. Switch on the oven light.
• Put idli batter container  near the stove while cooking

If batter does not ferment and rise even after doing all this. Make dosa/uttapam with the batter and try again next time.

Tomato Mozzarella and Basil pesto Sandwich

Ingredients

2 slices fresh homemade bread(Recipe here)
2-3 Mozzarella Slices(Do not use the shredded one)
2 Tbsp Basil Pesto (Recipe here)
1 medium Roma Tomato slices
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top

Recipe

Spread basil pesto on both slices of bread.

Layer mozzarella slices and tomato slices on top of the pesto.

Place the other slice of bread on top of the tomatoes to make a sandwich.

Grill the Sandwich. Once the bread is toasty and warm with golden grill marks,it is done.

Drizzle Extra virgin olive oil on top and serve hot.

Basil Pesto Fusili

Ingredients

1/2 pound Fusili
Basil Pesto(recipe here)

Recipe

Cook Fusili in a large pot of boiling water until it is al dente.
Strain and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top.Keep aside.
Add 2-3 Tbsp or required amount of pesto into the cooked pasta bowl. Mix well. Serve hot.

Spinach moong daal

Spinach Moong daal

Ingredients

3 cups of finely chopped spinach
1/2 cup of yellow moong daal
2 table spoons of sambhar powder
1/2 table spoon of tamarind paste
salt to taste
1/2 tea spoon of mustard seeds
1/2 tea spoon of cumin seeds
Pinch of hing
1 dry red chilli
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 table spoons of olive/canola/vegetable oil

Recipe

Heat a pan.
Add oil and warm it up.
Add mustard and cumin seeds. let them splutter.
Add red chillies,curry leaves and hing.
Add the finely chopped Spinach.
Saute till all the water evaporates from Spinach.
Once Spinach looks done, add the turmeric powder and Sambhar powder.
Saute for a minute.
Now add the cooked moong daal into the spinach mixture. (pressure cook moong daal for 3 whistles)
Take tamarind paste and add some water to thin it down.Fresh tamarind can also be used instead of paste. Take a lemon ball size tamarind. Let it soak for couple of minutes in water and squeeze the pulp out.
Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 4-5 mins.
Serve hot with Rice/Phulka/chapathi.