Lebanese Green Lentil Lemon Soup

Good morning lovely readers!!!! It's the start of a new week and  new posts here at TECD!!!!!

It's been a while since I did a post for the "On the Plate" segment. And with winter here, I thought the timing was perfect to share a healthy soup recipe.

My family loves Lebanese food. One of our regular haunts to eat at is Lebanese Taverna. The fresh baked breads, shawarma wraps and the hummus is to die for. Have you ever tried the "Lentil Soup" on their menu ???? I loved the soup and tasted every single spoon with the intention of replicating it at home. And I have my version for you and it's packed with flavor and nutrition. The green lentils give it a hearty rustic  flavor and the lemon adds  a nice fresh, clean twist to the soup. And to top it all the super food spinach adds it's healthy quotient to this recipe. I'm one content and worry free mommy when I get my son to eat this bowl full of goodness.  

Lentils are said to be the "culinary all star" as it has protein, fiber, it's heart friendly and the easiest of all legumes to cook. There is no pre-soaking required. Wash, drain and if you've got a pressure cooker about 5 whistles is all it takes.

I usually serve it for dinner. I make a big batch and once dinner is over, the left overs get packed off for my husbands lunch the next day. 

Lebanese Green Lentil Lemon Soup:
Prep Time:20 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients:

11/4 cups dried green lentils (Once cooked, reserve 1/2 cup cooked lentil water) 

10 oz bag of fresh spinach roughly chopped (Swiss chard could also be substituted)

1 medium sized onion - chopped

1 medium sized potato - chopped into 1cm cubes.

1 green chilly - finely chopped ( could add 1 more if you like your soup spicier)

3 pods garlic - finely chopped

2 cups chicken/vegetable broth ( I like my soup fairly thick. Could add more or less broth as per your preference.) 

2 tbsp olive oil

juice of 1 lemon (Could add more or less lemon juice as per your preference.) 

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash and drain the green lentils. Add enough water and pressure cook until soft ( I need 5 whistles in my pressure cooker). Once cooked strain and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooked lentil water.

2. Heat oil and add onions. Saute until translucent. Add garlic and green chilies and saute for a minute.

3. Add cubed potatoes and  1/2 cup reserved lentil water. Cover and cook until 3/4 done.

4. Add spinach and cook until spinach wilts and is cooked through.

5. Next add cooked lentils, chicken/vegetable broth and salt. Let simmer for 10-12 minutes until the broth is completely boiled.

6. Switch off the stove and stir in the lemon juice.

7. Serve hot with pita bread and hummus on the side or just simple bread sticks .

Give this filling and heart warming soup a try and Enjoy!!!!

Wishing you a wonderful week ;)

Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright

Eenai Kathrikai - Eggplant cooked in a flavorful coconut gravy

Good Morning lovely readers !!!! How are we doing today???? It's a delectable recipe and a walk down memory lane for today........

While growing up, I was made to eat all the vegetables. No exceptions were made in this regard. I have my Nanu (maternal grand-dad) to thank for that. An extremely patient man, I can hardly ever remember a time when I got into trouble with him. The only time I saw him loose his cool was at our meal times, when I was little and protested that I would not eat what was served. But it was only later I understood that he was just playing the part of being stern, so that I would eat all my veggies. Going on to explain what "playing the part means"..........if I would ever retort or throw a tantrum at the dining table, my Nanu's face would change to an uncompromising expression and the newspaper would be rolled up by him..... followed by a bang on the dining table !!! In response to the bang, my mouth would be wide-open in horror, while my grand-mom pushed the food down my throat. So having said that, I developed a palate for all things delicious or not (bitter-gourd) at a very early age. I also learnt some life lessons from him that has definitely kept me grounded and my head on my shoulders. I miss him terribly.......

This particular  eggplant curry is my grand-mom's recipe and is one of my favorite. Raised in Chennai, she is a typical South Indian. "Amma" (Mother) as I fondly call her, would grind masalas' (spice paste) on the traditional stone grinder. It was a gigantic stone grinder that sat in the area adjoining the kitchen. She'd sit cross legged and patiently grind the ingredients to the right consistency. She'd let me add water whenever she needed it. She liked to do things the traditional way and would never compromise on the taste. So the fact that the food processor was sitting there on the kitchen counter-top to make her life easy was never an option. The sound of the stone grinder and the smell of the freshly ground paste brings back some fond memories.  Wish I had inherited her resilience.

Now coming to the authentic tamilian recipe "Eenai Kathrikai": 
Serves : 4
Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
16 small eggplant/ brinjal
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
1/4 bunch corriander leaves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup grated fresh/ frozen coconut
1" stick cinnamon
1 green cardamom
3 cloves
1/4 tsp fennel
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp corriander powder
11/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 cup water
5 tsp oil
salt to taste

 Directions:

While shopping for eggplant, look for small ones with the stem if possible. It's awesome to be able to lift them with the stem and eat. Wash and wipe the eggplant and make a + cut leaving the bottom portion with the stem intact. Soak in water until ready to use. This also prevents the eggplant from turning brown.

Next, heat 2 tsp oil and add the whole spices. Next add onions and fry till translucent. Add fennel seeds and corriander leaves and fry for a minute. Add the grated coconut and fry another 1 minute. Once cool add  the dry spices (Chilli powder, corriander powder, and turmeric), ginger-garlic paste and 1/4 cup water and grind to a smooth paste. 

Heat the remaining oil (3 tsp) in a pan and return the ground masala paste and fry till the oil separates. Add tomatoes and fry till soft. Add salt to taste and the cut eggplant. 1/4 cup water (more or less) may be added to the gravy depending on the consistency required. Cover and cook till the eggplant is completely done and the gravy thickens. ( If in a hurry, you could pressure cook the eggplants for 1 whistle.)  
Serve with hot steamed rice or roti.

Do drop me a line if you try it. Have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for an exciting line up of posts coming up next week !!!!

Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.

Quick Misal Pav (Delicious Moth beans gravy)

Hello and How are you'll doing????

I have a wonderful Maharashtrian (Maharashtra is a state in the western part of India) specialty to share with you'll, that is packed with flavor and the goodness of protein the "MISAL PAV". It's a popular street food in Maharashtra and has two parts to the dish. A thick curry of Moth beans called "Ussal" which has less water content and a watery and spicy gravy called "cut". My variation has only one gravy to it and is served in a chat style. I had never tasted it, until a friend's mom sent it over to our place neatly packed for dinner. How wonderful is that. And like we all know,there's nothing as comforting as home cooked food. The misal was polished off in no time and I made every effort to get that recipe into my recipe book.

My friend Manasa was generous enough to share the recipe with me. Thank you girl. This has become a favorite meal for us on the week nights since it's a quick and healthy option loaded with protein. Since, the weather is going to get chilly in the months to come, it's comforting to have hot, home cooked food like this rather than doing a take away. The left overs are great to be packed for office lunch the next day.

Quick Misal Pav

Serves : 4

Cooking time:40 minutes(excluding the soaking and sprouting time)

Ingredients:

1 cup whole moth beans (also known as Turkish gram)

4 tsp oil

4 cloves

1 " cinnamon

8 pepper corns

3 whole dry red chilies

4 pods garlic

2 medium sized onions  chopped

2 medium sized tomatoes chopped

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened  dry coconut

1 tsp cumin powder

1 Tbsp corriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

For the garnish:

Sev (chick pea noodle like snack readily available at Indian stores. Onions, cilantro and tomatoes (finely chopped) and lemon. 

Directions:

Soak the moth beans over night. In the morning wash, drain and tie in a muslin cloth and keep damp. By evening the  beans have sprouted and ready to cook. Place enough water with 1/4 tsp salt in the cooker and pressure cook until well done ( 6 whistles in my cooker). Drain the cooked moth beans and reserve 11/2- 2 cups of the water from the cooked beans.

While the beans are pressure cooking, heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add the cloves and cinnamon and let the whole spices infuse the oil with their flavor and aroma. Next add whole dry red chilies and pepper corns and fry for 30 secs. In go the chopped onions and fry till they are translucent. Add garlic and chopped tomatoes and fry till soft and mushy. Finally add coconut and fry for a minute. Let the mixture cool completely before grinding it. A little water may be added if the paste is too thick.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in the pan and return the ground paste to the stove. Fry for a minute and add cumin, corriander, turmeric and garam masala powders. Fry till the oil separates. Add the cooked moth beans, the reserved water from the beans (amount of water to be added depending on the consistency desired)  and salt to taste and simmer for 4-5 minutes until the gravy is a little thick.

Finally, place the misal in a bowl, Garnish with sev, finely chopped onions, tomatoes and corriander leaves and a generous squeeze of lemon. You could serve the misal with dinner rolls or pav bread toasted with butter. 

So go right ahead and dunk your pav in the misal and let me know how you liked it. 

Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.

Spicy Chicken Bombay Biryani - Nothing less than A Royal Treat

BIRYANI - just the word makes me drool. This dish is a royal culinary treat for the taste buds and all your senses. The aroma of basmati rice, spices and meat cooking together in a richly flavored gravy conjures up an appetite unlike anything else. Wake me up in the middle of the night and trust me I'd get up to eat this. My husband "G", a wonderful cook is to thank for this mouth watering recipe. A warning however, this delicacy is a spicy treat as the spice level on a range of 0-5 is 4.

It's one of those recipes where you don't have to open your masala dibba (spice box) making it easy on yourself but not compromising on the taste. "G" came up with this when we had made an unplanned invitation to one of our friends and had to come up with something quick and delicious. Since then it's what we treat ourselves to on Sunday afternoon lunches and is also one of the most requested items on the menu when friends come over.

Spicy Chicken Bombay Biryani

Serves : 5

Time: an hour excluding marination time

Spice level: 4/5

Ingredients:

To marinate:

1 whole chicken (Preferable with the bones as the goodness is inside the bones and adds a lot of flavor to the biryani) / 3 pounds cut and cleaned

1- 60g  ready made Shan Spice Mix for  Bombay Sindhi Biryani

1 Tbsp ready made Laziza Zafrani Bombay Biryani Spice Mix

3 Tbsp Maggie coconut milk powder mix

1/2 tsp yogurt

1Tbsp ginger-garlic paste

For the Chicken Gravy:

2 large onions sliced 

1 small tomato chopped

1/2 cup mint leaves packed

2 green chilies slit ( avoid if you want to reduce the spice)

2 Tbsp coriander leaves chopped 

1 small potato cut into 1" cubes

3 Tbsp oil

11/2 tsp ghee

2 whole green cardamom

For the rice:

2 1/2 cups basmati rice ( I prefer to use Royal)

salt to taste (this is only for the rice - DO NOT add for the gravy as  the spice mix contains salt)

a pinch of yellow color (as per preference) 

a very small pinch of EDIBLE camphor (adds a wonderful flavor and aroma)

Directions:

For the marination:

For best tasting results combine all the ingredients listed under "to marinate" and refrigerate overnight. If your short on time, marinate the chicken for atleast 1 hour.

For the Rice:
Wash and Pre-soak the rice for 1/2 hr at least before cooking. Heat sufficient water in a pot with salt, a pinch of yellow color and a very small pinch of edible camphor. When the water starts to boil, add rice cover and cook. Stir occasionally and cook until 80% done. Drain rice and wash under cold water. Let drain completely. The texture of rice should be a little chewy but not soft (refer to picture below). Let the rice cool completely.  

For the Chicken Gravy:

As the rice is cooking, heat oil and ghee together in a pan. Add cardamom, sliced onions and fry till they turn translucent and a light golden brown. Next add slit green chilies and mint and fry for a minute. Tomatoes go in next and fry till they turn soft and mushy. Add the marinated chicken once it comes to room temperature and cover and cook until almost done.(Do not add water as the meat releases its juices.)

(If you want it to be quicker, the same process for the gravy could be done in the cooker and chicken cooked for 1 whistle. Again do not add water.)

Once done, reserve 1/2 cup gravy in a separate container and retain the remaining chicken and balance gravy in the same pan. Once the rice is done to 80% consistency, layer the rice on the chicken and top it with the reserved 1/2 cup gravy. It should look like the picture below. 

Cover and cook with a tight lid for 8-10 minutes on the simmer mode.  (This is the dum process where the rice and meat cook completely and the flavors are all come together beautifully.) The Le Creuset dish is ideal for this as the heavy lid seals in the heat and creates a perfect dum. 

Finally, fork the biryani lightly until the rice and chicken gravy are combined together. Serve with lemon wedges and raita of your choice.

Try it out and let me know, how you and your family enjoyed it. If you don't get asked for the recipe, I'd be surprised. Have a wonderful week!!!!!

 Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.

Lemonade with a Twist of Jalapeno

Hello Everybody!!!! 
I'm back from my cruise, feeling rested and energized, with a whole load of wonderful memories and interesting tales to tell. Good times just breeze past you, don't they???? The sun, clear blue waters, white sand and the salty breeze have had a magical effect on me and I feel inspired and raring to go like never before. 
The downside of travel is unpacking and picking up the pace again. So unpacking and doing laundry yesterday was no fun. So by afternoon I needed something refreshing to drink. Looked in the shelves of my fridge and sitting there were lemonade and ginger ale. A light bulb went off and thought of adding some jalapeno too. So came up with this portion and it tastes delightful. I love anything that has a zing to it and this sure does. The ginger ale adds the much needed fizz and the jalapeno adds the tinge of heat . It's a concoction you can whip up in minutes and looks deadly.

Lemonade with a twist

Ingredients: (Serving size 2)

2 cups  fresh chilled lemonade (keep a check on the sugar you add here as the ginger ale has it's own sugar content)  
3/4 cup  chilled ginger ale (I used Seagram's)
3-4 slices of jalapeno (more or less depending on the heat that you can take) 
1/4 " crushed ginger
a pinch of salt

Directions:

Add all the ingredients together and let it sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Once all the flavors come together, pour into glasses and make sure you use a straw to sip into it (you don't want the jalapeno to get in the way of you enjoying your drink). Go ahead and make yourself a glass before summer fades away !!!!  

 

Love the punch  and flavor that a jalapeno brings to any dish

My son was trying to come up with a name for this concoction. Guess how it turned out : GINPENOADE (that's a combination of ginger, jalapeno and lemonade). Let me know what you think!!!

Stay tuned for more on Travel talk coming up this week.

 Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar and Pepper

Summer brings with it abundance of veggies and fruits that are at their peak of freshness and a great time to try out various recipes. In summer, visits to the farmers market are a must for my family. My son loves to pick out the fruits by himself. And I let him do so cause I feel he actually eats what he brings. Last weekend we had picked up a few pints of fresh strawberries and yesterday was the last of them.

Red strawberries pop off the teal blue pail from Target. 

After yesterdays cleaning, I thought "the girl needs to treat herself". So out came an easy recipe that I had book marked from Sweet Paul Magazine (Summer 2013 issue). Such a wonderful easy recipe that combines sweet and sour flavors beautifully. The palate begs for more with every single spoon. You can put this recipe together in about less than 1/2 hr. Now, that's my kind of recipe.

Made with fresh Strawberries from the farmers market.

Dessert after dinner was a sure surprise for my son and husband. The verdict -  we need to make this more often. 

Now for the recipe -  Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar and Pepper
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar (Note: For those of you sending your husbands with the grocery list please let them know that balsamic vinegar is different from the balsamic vinaigrette. The latter is a dressing consisting of oil and various flavoring whereas balsamic vinegar is plain distilled grain and grape juice )
2 tablespoon sugar
1 pint small strawberries hulled
freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Combine the sugar and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until thick. Approximately 8- 10 minutes. Let cool. Place the cut strawberries in a bowl and pour the mixture over. Lightly toss and add desired amount of pepper. Tastes like heaven with vanilla ice cream.

It was hard to keep my son away until I finished shooting the pictures :)

 Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.

Recipe Source : Via

Island in a Glass - Watermelon Cooler

It's mid summer and in my part of the east coast we have a mix of sweltering heat on most of the days and when we are lucky, some cooler cloudy days. But I'm not complaining as 6 months in a year one is cooped up at home with the biting winter cold or the seasonal allergies. 
Well, today I have a watermelon cooler for you and it's the perfect treat to refresh and hydrate. 

Watermelon Cooler - refreshingly delicious

In the good old days when we were in school, we'd come back home, throw our bags on our beds and run into the kitchen to see what was on the menu for the day. I remember mom taking out these huge glasses of watermelon juice for us from the fridge. She would squeeze in some juice of a lime and hand it over to us. The coral color was a visual delight and we'd gulp it down and ask for more. The concoction of mint, ginger and lemon adds the extra zing to it. With this recipe, I'd like to think that you've got yourself an island in a glass.

It's a low calorie drink and it's Gluten Free.

Ingredients: (Serving size 1)

2 1/2 cups of seedless watermelon
6 mint leaves
1/2" piece of ginger
1 1/2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar (or as needed)
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper

Directions:

Cut and chill the watermelon in the fridge before hand. Take all the other ingredients except the lime juice and blend in the mixer. Do not add ice or water as the watermelon has water content of its own. The diluted version would not taste as good. Now add the lime juice to it. Stir well. Garnish with a spray of mint. There you go, it's that simple. Go ahead make yourself a glass and celebrate summer while it lasts !!!

Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.