Spicy bell pepper linguine

Since yesterday it suddenly got a lot colder here and it seems fall has finally arrived. On Sunday we were still trying to beat the heat and now it’s chilly and windy and feels more like huddling up with a blanket on the couch. Coming to today’s recipe, I made pasta for lunch, since we didn’t have it for over a week because of fasting and everything. Since I am a huge pasta lover, I have to have it at least once or twice a week. The nice colours and spice of this recipe go well with the beginning of fall.

Ingredients:

- 1 packet linguine
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 cup vegetable stock/broth
- 2 generous Tbsp. Tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 1 Tsp. Red chilli flakes or to taste
- Salt to taste
- 3 Tbsp. low-fat sour cream
- 1 Tsp. dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley

Method:

Boil pasta according to packet directions and drain.
In the meantime heat olive oil in a large sauce pan and add onion and garlic. Saute until translucent. Add bell peppers and tomato. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add vegetable stock/broth. Let it come to a boil and stir in tomato paste, salt, oregano and red chilli flakes. Cover and let simmer for some minutes. Turn heat to low and stir in sour cream and parsley. Mix with the linguine and serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Pizza Margherita with arugula

Hey to all my dear readers on this Monday. Hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend. So Navratri is over and that means back to normal cooking. The first thing we were craving after the fasting time was pizza, so I made some today and it was too good. Pizza Margherita is actually made with basil instead of arugula, but I didn't have some at home and found arugula to be a good alternative.
Wishing you all a very nice day and good start into the week.

Makes 1 large pizza (17x11 inches).

Ingredients:

For the dough:
- 2 ½ cups unbleached white flour
- 3 Tbsp. Olive oil
- ½ Tbsp. Active-dry yeast
- 1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
- 1 Tsp. Salt
- about ¾ cup lukewarm water

For topping:
- 2 generous Tbsp. Tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 4-5 Tbsp. Water
- ½ Tsp. Oregano
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 large tomato, sliced
- 1 mozzarella cheese, sliced
- ½ cup black olives
- Handful fresh arugula leaves, chopped

Method:

For the dough mix flour with yeast, sugar, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Step by step add the water and knead with your hands until you have a smooth, elastic dough. It should not be sticky. If your dough is too dry add more water, if sticky add some more flour. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Then knead again well.
Preheat oven to 400 F and grease a baking sheet. I used 17x11 inches.
For the topping mix tomato paste with 4-5 Tbsp. water and olive oil. Add salt, black pepper and oregano.
Roll out the dough on a smooth surface and place onto the baking sheet. Cover bottom and sides. Now spread the tomato paste mixture evenly on top. Distribute tomato slices, mozzarella slices and olives over the pizza. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and distribute the arugula leaves on top. Serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Kala channa (black chickpeas) for the 8th day of Navratri

Today being Ashtami the 8th day of Navratri the fast is broken. On this day a special menu is prepared in the morning, consisting of Kala channa (black chickpeas), sooji halwa (semolina pudding), puri and fresh coconut. In my family in India nine girls, who represent the different forms of the female divinity, are invited to the house. As honouring of the goddesses the prepared meal is served to them as a Prasad (offering to god).

I made chapatti instead of puri for this meal as S. isn’t supposed to eat too oily food.
You can see a snap of the whole meal here and I have given the recipe for Kala channa (black chickpeas). I wish everybody a very nice rest weekend!!! :-)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup black chickpeas (kala channa)
- 1 Tsp. cumin seeds
- Pinch hing/ asafoetida
- 3 black cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Tsp. cumin powder
- 1 Tsp. coriander powder
- Salt to taste
- Red chilli powder to taste
- 2 Tbsp. ghee
- 2 Tbsp. chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Drain, rinse and place with 1 cup water in the pressure cooker. Cook for 7-8 whistles. Wait for steam to release.
In a pan heat ghee and add cumin seeds. When they turn golden-brown add bay leaf, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and hing/asafoetida. Fry for some seconds. Add the chickpeas along with cooking liquid. Then add salt and other spice powders. Mix well and let simmer till all liquid has evaporated. Add the coriander leaves and serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Simple aloo sabzi (potato vegetable)

Today being the 6th day of Navratri, I am posting one more dish suitable for fasting. My mother-in law makes this simple potato dish every day during fasting, except she doesn’t add tomatoes. If you prefer your dish without tomatoes as well, go ahead and skip them.

Oh btw before I forget, I am now a member of Petitchef, a site with many nice recipes and blogs. Do check it out some time http://en.petitchef.com/.

Ingredients:

- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. Ghee
- 1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
- 1-inch piece ginger, finely chopped
- ½ Tsp. Coriander powder
- 1 Tsp. Cumin powder
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Salt or sindalu salt to taste
- 2 Tbsp. chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Heat ghee in a pot and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the tomatoes, salt, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes along with 3-4 Tbsp. water. Cover and cook till potatoes are soft. Stir couple of times in between to prevent potatoes from sticking to bottom. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice. Mix and serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Sabudana kheer

Hi to everybody on this nice and sunny day. Fall already started but it is still very warm over here.

Today I am posting one more recipe which is common with my family in India for Navratri. Sabudana kheer or tapioca pudding is made from tapioca pearls and is a nice alternative to the common kheer made with rice.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup sabudana/ tapioca pearls
- 5 cups milk
- 1 Tsp. Cardamom powder
- ¾ cup crushed jaggery

Method:

Wash sabudana and soak in 1 cup of water for about 5-10 minutes. Heat milk in a pot on medium heat and add the sabudana along with the soaking water. Let it come to a boil and turn heat to medium-low. Add cardamom and jaggery and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. The kheer will be ready when the sabudana pearls are soft but not mushy. Serve hot or cold.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Happy Navratri...!!!

I am a bit late but still didn’t want to miss to wish everybody a happy Navratri. It already started on Saturday and for all who don’t know, Navratri is a festival celebrated for 9 days in which the female divinity in her different forms is worshipped. In these days many people keep a fast or at least abstain from certain foods. In my family in-law most of the people keep a fast either for all days or just 2-3 days. In this fasting time only some foods are allowed and just one meal per day is consumed. Foods that are allowed include dairy products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, buckwheat and some spices (rock salt or sindalu salt, black pepper, coriander and cumin seeds).

I will be posting some Navratri recipes over the next days which are common with my family in India. On our first fasting day I made kuttu roti, tomato-cucumber raita, aloo-mutter sabzi (potato- peas vegetable) and sabudana kheer (tapioca kheer) and was also able to snap a picture of this for you to see.
Today I start with the recipe for Kuttu roti (Buckwheat roti) which is made every day in my mother-in laws house during fasting time.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups buckwheat flour ( kuttu atta)
- 2 medium potatoes, boiled and peeled
- Pinch rock salt or sindalu salt
- 2-3 Tbsp. water
- 2 Tbsp. chopped coriander leaves
- Ghee for brushing

Method:

Mash the potatoes without any lumps in a bowl. Add salt, flour, coriander leaves and water. Knead to a smooth dough. Heat a pan or tava on medium heat and form the dough into 7-8 balls. Grease your hands with some drops of ghee and flatten one ball, flipping from one hand to the other to make it bigger and rounder. You won’t be able to roll this dough with a rolling pin as it is very fragile and tears easily. Cook the roti on the tava till small bubbles appear on one side, then flip and brush some ghee on top.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

German cheesecake

Hi to you all. Hope you had a nice weekend and a good start into the new week. Today I am finally posting the recipe for the German cheesecake. The difference between German cheesecake and the one you get here in the US is curd. In the US mostly cream cheese is used for the filling, which I find makes the cake very heavy. I was hardly able to finish half of a piece the first time I tried it here and have since then never liked to eat it again. Using curd instead, makes the cake very light and fluffy. S. who also doesn’t like the cheesecake here, liked the German version so much that he couldn’t stop eating. :-) As I said in earlier posts it is almost impossible to find curd in stores here, so I again used 2 lb of yogurt, lined a mesh with thin cloth and drained the whey over night. This works very well and can be substituted in all recipes which call for curd.

Ingredients:

For the dough:
- 1 ½ cups unbleached white flour
- 1 Tsp. Baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon zest
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ cup cold butter, cubed
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla essence

For the filling:
- 6 Tbsp. Butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tsp. vanilla essence
- 3 eggs, separated
- 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 lb yogurt ( drain the whey over-night to get 2 cups curd) or use 2 cups store-bought curd
- 2 Tbsp. corn starch
- Pinch salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Method:

For the dough combine flour, baking powder and salt. Sift in a large bowl and make a hole in the middle. Add the egg, lemon zest and vanilla essence. Sprinkle the sugar over it and add the butter cubes. Knead everything to a smooth dough and shape into a ball. Wrap in a wet cloth and keep in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a spring form.
Roll out the dough on a flour dusted surface and place into the form. Cover bottom and sides. With a fork make small holes into the bottom.
For the filling combine butter and sugar and beat till fluffy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla essence and whipping cream. Mix, add the curd and sift the corn starch on top. Mix well and make sure there are no lumps. In another bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch salt until stiff. Fold carefully into the filling. Pour the filling over the dough and spread evenly. In a small bowl mix the egg yolk with 2 Tbsp. whipping cream and brush on top of the filling.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool in form for about 10 minutes and the flip over onto a wire rack. Let completely cool before taking off the form. Dust some powdered sugar on top.
The cake will sink in while cooling.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Cookie hearts with lemon glaze

So I am back after the long weekend and hope you all had a nice time and week so far. Yesterday I suddenly got in the mood to make some cookies, so thought of sharing these cute hearts with you. I normally don’t bake cookies often, unless it’s Christmas time and then I love to make all kinds of different cookies. Will share some of the recipes with you later. Wishing every one a nice day and rest week.

Makes 12 large cookie hearts.

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups unbleached white flour
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup cold butter, cubed
- ½ Tsp. Cinnamon
- ½ Tsp. Ginger powder
- 1/8 Tsp. Clove powder
- Pinch salt
- 1 Tbsp. Water
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla essence
- 3-4 Tbsp. Lemon juice
- ¾ cup powdered sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl combine flour, ½ cup powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger powder, clove powder and salt. Add the butter on top and incorporate with your hands. Add 1 Tbsp. water and vanilla essence and knead to a smooth dough. Shape into a ball and roll out on a smooth surface with a flour-dusted rolling pin.
Cut out cookies with a heart shaped cookie cutter and place onto the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze mix ¾ cup powdered sugar with lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Brush onto the cookies and let dry.
Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Buttermilk-seeds bread

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I mostly bake bread on my own instead of buying it. So with time I have tried out quite a lot of different breads. I also bought a bread maker to save some time and work, but somehow I still prefer the complete self-made breads more. I like to work the dough with hands and I especially love the smell of the bread baking in the oven, which then fills the entire kitchen and house.
This bread recipe has become one of our favourites, as it is crunchy on the outside and has the right softness inside. It tastes great as a sandwich as well as topped with some jam.
Since it is Friday today I wish everybody a nice weekend!!! See you next week with some new recipes. :-)

Ingredients:

- 5 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 cups buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. Active-dry yeast
- 1 Tsp. Salt
- 2 Tsp. Brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. Flax seed
- 2 Tbsp. Sesame seeds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 1 Tbsp. Coriander seeds
- Some seeds to sprinkle on top

Method:

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the buttermilk step by step and knead to a dough. Cover and let rise at a warm place for about 20 minutes. Then add all the seeds and knead again well. The dough will be a bit sticky. If it is too sticky add a little more flour. Shape into a ball and cover again. Let rise for 20 more minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form the dough into a round shape. Place onto the sheet and make about 5 slight cuts with a knife on top. Brush with some cold water and sprinkle some seeds on top. Let it rise for about 10 minutes and then bake for about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Baked potatoes

This is a very short post today as this recipe is very simple. Still it is a very tasty way to make potatoes and I have been a fan of it for many years. I usually serve it with some other vegetable dish like peas and carrots. It tastes even good when eaten cold.

Ingredients:

- 10 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (it is best to use fresh potatoes and cut them not to small)
- 4 Tbsp. olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 Tsp. dried thyme
- 1 Tsp. dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- Salt to taste
- Red chilli flakes to taste
- 1/8 cup water
- Black pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a bowl mix together olive oil, lemon juice, water, salt and spices. Add potatoes and garlic cloves and mix well.
Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or till soft.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Tomato-sesame rice

This rice dish is easy and quick to make and is a favourite in our house. It is great for using up leftover rice and when I make rice I almost always make more just to make this dish later. :-) Of course you can make it with fresh rice as well. It makes a whole meal by itself and we mostly have it with just some raita.

Ingredients:

- 6 cups boiled basmati rice
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Sesame seeds
- 1 Tsp. Black mustard seeds
- 1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
- 3 Tbsp. Grated coconut
- 1 Tsp. Coriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp. Peanuts
- Pinch hing/asafoetida
- ¼ Tsp. Turmeric
- Red chilli powder to taste
- Salt to taste
- 2 Tbsp. Sesame oil

Method:

In a pan roast peanuts, coconut, sesame seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and coriander seeds till golden brown. Make sure not to burn it. Then grind into a coarse powder. In a large pan heat the oil and add hing and the onions. Fry till translucent, then add the tomatoes, spice powder, salt and red chilli powder. Cook till tomatoes are mushy then add the rice and mix well. Serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Zucchini daal

Today I was thinking what I could make for lunch and since I had zucchinis in my fridge I decided to make daal. This dish is nutritious and easy digestible as well. It goes perfect with rice or roti.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup toor daal
- 2 medium zucchinis, cubed
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- ½-inch piece ginger, finely grated
- A pinch hing/ asafoetida
- 1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
- 1 Tsp. Coriander powder
- 1 Tsp. Cumin powder
- ½ Tsp. Turmeric powder
- Red chilli powder to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp. Canola oil
- 2 Tbsp. Chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Wash daal and cook with 3 cups water in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. Wait for steam to release.
In a large pan heat oil and add cumin seeds, hing and onions. Fry till onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, spice powders, ginger and salt. When the tomatoes become mushy add the zucchinis and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the daal and mix well. Adjust the water. (I added about ½ cup more). Let it come to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.