Egg pockets using sandwich maker

It was a delightful to discover a different way to use a the sandwich maker when I came across this recipe for Pillow cakes. One Sunday when the sandwich maker was used for a lazy Sunday breakfast for the kids, in no time I was rushing to wind up lunch preparations. Being short of time, I thought of skipping sabzi and just making omelettes. Then it struck me, how about I use the sandwich maker for the omelette instead. And that is how this recipe came about. Well, the same recipe as a masala omelette but prepared and presented in a different way. 

Recipe (Makes 12 pockets):

Ingredients:

Eggs - 6

Onion, finely chopped - 1 small

Green chillies, finely chopped - 2

Tomato - deseeded, finely chopped - 1/2 medium sized

Salt - to taste 

Coriander, finely chopped - 1 tbsp

Method:

Crack the eggs into a bowl. Whisk until frothy. Add the chopped onions, chillies, tomato, salt and coriander. 

Whisk until incorporated. 

Heat the sandwich maker. Brush oil generously and once ready, use a spoon to fill in the egg mix in the moulds. close the sandwich maker and let it cook for a minute at the most. 

Remove and brush some oil before making the next batch. 

Verdict: A fun way to present the regular omelette. 

Sweet Pongal

Sweet pongal or Sakkarai pongal is a usually served as neivedyam on pooja days. I usually say, the menu as offering to the Almighty during Pooja, is typically an excuse for humans to have something special to hog on.

Sweet pongal is made from rice, jaggery and optionally moong dal, boiled soft with excess water, mashed up with ghee and milk. 

The simplest version of this is with just rice, jaggery and ghee. But I always prefer the extra smooth texture and taste that moong dal adds to it.

Recipe

Ingredients:
Rice - 1/2 cup
Moon dal - 1/2 cup (you can omit and use just 1 cup of rice for the recipe)
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Jaggery (shredded) - 3/4 cup (you can go upto 1 cup if you prefer your pongal sweeter)
Cardamom seeds (crushed) - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup (optional)

For garnishing: Ghee - 1tbsp
Cashews - a few split
Raisins - a few

Method:

Wash the rice and dal thoroughly. For this recipe I used 3 to 3 1/2 cups of water. Add a pinch of turmeric and ghee.

Pressure cook for about 1-2 whistles.

When the cooker has cooled down, mash the cooked rice and dal well and add the jaggery, mix well. 

Add cardamom and a bit of milk to make it a little runny.

Heat a tablespoon of ghee in the tadka maker and add the cashew when hot, temper the cashew until golden brown and turn off the flame. Watch out, as the ghee tends to heat very quickly and char the cashews black in to time.

Add the raisins to the tadka, and give it a whirl before adding to the pongal.

Now hot yummy pongal is ready to be served. 

 

Verdict: This is mostly a preference based dish. Some love it, some do not mind it, some just do not like anything sweet. At my home, only my elder daughter and parents love pongal, payasam etc. But if you are one to love pongal, this recipe will certainly be to your taste. Do try it out!

Lemon yoghurt chicken

I personally love the quick recipes. I mean who doesn't? The fewer the ingredients, and lesser the processing, the more authentic the taste is. Especially the Indian spices overpower the taste of the vegetable or the chicken that is cooked in the gravy. So when there is an opportunity to make simple gravy recipes like Khadi, dal, I just jump on them. This is one such simple easy to cook and yummy recipe. 

I looked up online thinking there must be something simple like the chinese lemon chicken and then came across this Indian version of the same. I decided adapt this recipe for a Sunday lunch. I made coconut milk rice, this lemon yoghurt chicken and rasam and the entire meal was cooked in less than an hour. 

Tangy chicken goes well with fried rice or pulav, while the less spicy rich cashew/coconut based gravies go well with Biryani. So for the coconut milk rice recipe, I decided to pair it with this tangy spicy yoghurt based chicken gravy. 

Recipe (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Chicken (marinated in curd and spices for an hour) - 500g (see note)

Olive oil - 2 tbsp 

Curry leaves - 8-10

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1tsp 

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp 

Crushed Ginger - 1 tsp

Crushed Garlic - 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 1 lemon (approximately 1 tbsp) 

Salt - to taste 

Yoghurt, smooth and beaten - 1 cup 

Note: I used frozen marinated chicken. I buy the chicken, clean it, mix up the spices in the curd marinade and let it sit fo an hour or so on the kitchen top. Then pop it into the freezer for use within the next week or so. 

Method:

Pressure cook the chicken after it has thawed for the usual time.

Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed kadai. When the oil is hot, add the curry leaves. Add the boiled chicken pieces, keeping the stock aside. 

Add the spices (cumin, chilli, coriander, garam masala, ginger, garlic, salt) and let them mix well with the chicken. Add another tbsp of oil. Let the chicken fry until it is aromatic. 

Finally add the chicken stock from the cooker, the beaten yoghurt and blend well. Add lemon juice and mix again. Cover and cook for about 6-7 minutes until the raw smell of the yoghurt dissipates. 

Tangy, thin chicken gravy is ready to serve. 

Verdict: Personally I prefer thin gravies with rice. However this does taste good with roti as well. This just took about 10 minutes to cook and the preparation time was about 15 minutes. 

 

Coconut-milk Pulav (Mom's recipe)

The aroma of coconuts wafting from the kitchen bring back fond memories of childhood. This isn't comfort food, but it is incredibly comforting to walk down memory lane, triggered by the culinary senses, especially those that remind me of mom. This is her hit coconut milk rice - thengai paal saadam that was made on special occasions and sometimes just on Sundays. I just tweaked it a little bit to use basmati rice and cooked it in the kadai rather than in the cooker like mom used to. And every time I cook this, I share some incident or memory with the kids about their grandmother, chewing the cud of by-gone days. It is a fond way to remember. 

Recipe (serves 4) 

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup

Coconut milk - 2 cups

Carrots, green peas, beans - 1 cup

Curry leaves - 8-10

Cumin - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 3, slit lengthwise

Onion - 1 small

Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

Salt - to taste

Garam masala - 1 tsp 

Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp, + as needed for frying

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Garnishing:

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Cashews - 10 split

Coriander leaves, finely chopped - 1tbsp 

Method:

Wash and soak the basmati rice for about 15-20 minutes. 

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. When the seeds start to sputter, add onions and ginger garlic paste. Add the turmeric powder and fry until the onions are transparent. Add the vegetables, garam masala and stir fry. Add more oil if needed and fry until the vegetables feel slightly soft. 

Drain the water from the basmati rice. Add it to the fried vegetables, and continue frying for a couple of more minutes until the rice is aromatic. 

Add the coconut milk and salt to taste. Mix well and when it comes to a boil, close the lid and reduce the flame. 

Let the rice cook for about 5-7 minutes. Lift the lid and check until the rice is cooked, and there is no water in the pan. 

Switch off the flame, splash about 1 tbsp of ghee on top and leave the rice undisturbed for a few minutes. 

Fold in the rice in the pan once to mix the ghee well.

In a tadka pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and the split cashews and heat until the cashews turn golden brown. Turn off the flame and continue frying the cashews. Add it to the cooked coconut milk rice and garnish with coriander leaves on top. 

Yummy coconut milk rice is ready to serve.

Verdict: The rice is best paired with some spicy curry - channa/rajma masala, kofta curry, chicken gravy are some combinations.