My surprise visitors

I have a small roof-top garden at home where I grow a variety of roses and a few other common flowering plants. I remove the weeds once in a while to ensure the plants get the most of it all from the manure. As I was doing it one day, I noticed a few tiny seedlings of what it appeared to be of the same plant. The tiny leaves were elongated with a tapering tip and resembled those of a chilly plant. Curiosity I blame, wanted them to stay for a longer time till I actually come to a conclusion of what that was.

A week passed and the seedlings were shooting out very well and there was a slight modification in the shape of the leaves. The newer leaves were tooth like and the small stem had tiny hair like structures of what I remember seeing on the tomato plants. So are these the tomato plants? Wow! My joy knew no bounds. I was literally jumping out of surprise and happiness because I had never actually sowed them. I assumed those seeds were in the manure I had got from a friend.

I watered them well, spoke to them every day (No, I ain't retarded) =P and the flowers started blooming after a month, tiny tomatoes started peeping out and this is how they are today:

Just when I was having this dying urge to start an organic terrace garden of my own and have been quite researching into it, this comes as a great boost to me! Hoping to grow more of them sooon!

And yes, will make something out of this after the harvest guys! ;) Cheers!

P.S: Did you notice the tomatoes by the way? =P

Mushroom Munchurian

I've always thought mushrooms tasted slimy until my cousin forced me to taste this at a restaurant a year back. I had it along with fried rice, which I think by far is the bestest combination for this Indo-Chinese dish.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms (cleaned and quartered) - 10-15
Cooking oil - for frying

For the batter:

Maida - 1 cup

Corn flour - 2 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Red chili powder - 1 tsp

Pepper (powdered) - 1 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

For the sauce:

Garlic cloves (sliced thin) - 6-8

Ginger (finely chopped) - 1/2 inch

Green chillies (finely chopped) - 3-4

Spring onions (sliced thin) - 4-5

Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
Sweet chilli sauce - 3 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1-2 tbsp
Ajinomoto - ¼  tsp
Corn flour (dissolved in ½ cup water) - ½ tbsp

For garnishing:
Spring onion greens/coriander (finely chopped) - as required

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients mentioned under 'For the batter' in a bowl. Mix them well without any lumps. Make sure the batter is of dosa batter consistency.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Dip the mushrooms into the batter allowing it to coat well and slowly drop them one by one into the wok.
3. Deep fry the mushrooms in batches until they are crisp. Drain and keep them aside.

To prepare the sauce:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. Add garlic and saute till it turns golden brown.
2. Add ginger, green chillies, spring onions and saute for a minute or two.
3. Add tomato ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, soya sauce, ajinomoto and mix well.
4. Add the cornflour dissolved in water slowly in low flame and keep stirring till the sauce starts to thicken.
5. Allow the sauce to boil and remove from heat.

Serving:

1. Add the deep fried mushrooms to the sauce and mix well.
2. Serve garnished with finely chopped coriander or spring onion greens.

Instant curd vada / Dahi vada

Hello guys! Hope you are melting in the summer heat just like me :D I've always liked the way summer is in the movies... The sunbaths, bikini strolls, surfing! But Chennai heat leaves me with ONLY one option - To sit indoors and hog on something cool with the normal snack being a bore! So here's a cool evening snack that's  not only finger-licking-good but also with just the minimum ingredients and hold on... Did I tell you this vada is made out of bread? Sounds cool, doesn't it? ;)

Ingredients:

Bread - 5-6 pieces
Onions (finely chopped) - 1
Carrots (grated) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies (finely chopped) - 1-2
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
Curd/Dahi (beaten smooth) - 1-2 cups
Cooking oil - To fry
Salt - To taste

Method:

1. Remove the sides of the bread slices and break the bread into small pieces in a bowl.
2. Add the onions, 1/4 cup of carrot, chillies, cumin seeds, 1 tbsp of coriander, salt and mix them well along with sufficient curd so as to get a batter consistency.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Wet your hands and take a small ball of the mixture and pat it gently on your palm to flatten it.
4. Gently put it into the oil. Deep fry till they turn golden brown.
5. Repeat the same for the remaining mixture. You can do it in batches. 
6. Drain the vadas and keep them aside. Pour some curd over them and refrigerate for half an hour.
7. Garnish with the remaining grated carrots and coriander leaves while serving.

Just out from the pan

After garnishing

Crab fry

Okay! So here goes my first non-veg recipe. One of my favorite too. Who doesn't love seafood, or crab to be more specific? Here's a very simple recipe that will keep you wanting for more!

Ingredients:

Crab - 2
Onion (finely chopped) - 2
Tomato (finely chopped) - 2-3
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - For garnishing
Coriander leaves - For garnishing
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil water (1 to 2 cups) in a vessel with salt and turmeric powder.
2. Add crab to this and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain water and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Saute till they turn golden brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.
5. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and water from step-1. Fry till oil separates.
6. Add the crab and cook till the spices get mixed well with the crab.
7. Garnish with coriander and curry leaves.

Chocolate French Toast

Okay! So I had this sudden craving for something chocolaty and something that had to do with bread. Ummmm.. Bread + Chocolate = NO, not that chocolate bread spread again! The only proper thing I know to make with bread was the bread toast. So why not a simple, easy-to-make chocolate toast? ;)

Ingredients: 

White bread slices - 4 (Preferably thick ones because I used normal ones and they broke off)
Milk - 1 cup
Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Table salt - 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Sliced bananas or strawberries - For garnishing

Method:

1. Mix granulated sugar, cocoa powder and table salt together in a bowl. 
2. Pour half a cup of milk and the eggs into this bowl and blend till there are no lumps formed.
3. Arrange the bread slices in a plate and pour this mixture over the bread slices.
4. Poke the slices with a fork so that it absorbs well. Let it soak for about 20 minutes, turning it once in between.
5. Heat butter in a nonstick tawa and fry the bread slices until they are well cooked (usually 3-4 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and garnish with bananas or strawberries.

I know this doesn't look like the original French toast. It was because of two reasons:

1. The bread was of the normal size. I should have used the thicker ones.
2. I didn't include a lot of ingredients which actually go into the making of the French toast. Will try the original version soon.

Cheers! ☺

Sumer coolant - Iced tea / Lemon iced tea

It's summer and I'm beginning to crave for anything and everything that is cold. I'm a tea addict but having hot tea in this hot climate really didn't seem a good idea. That's when ice tea stuck me! Yes, a better alternative to those canned sodas. This has become a part of me now. In the mornings, for brunch, in the evenings and sometimes, even at midnight :D Introducing you'll the ice tea:





























Ingredients:

Teabags - 4 (Black tea or green tea)
Water - 8 cups (4 cups of ordinary water and 4 cups of cold water)
Sugar - 1 cup
Lemon - 4 tbsp (optional)
Ice cubes - 4-5 for a glass
Mint - A sprig (optional)

Method:

1. Boil 4 cups of ordinary water in a pot and dip in the teabags. Allow the tea to steep for not more than 4-5 minutes (You don't want a bitter tea, do you?) and discard the bags. 
2. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 4 cups of cold water in a jar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Pour the brewed tea into this mixture and stir.
4. Refrigerate this for a good half an hour and serve in glasses over ice cubes.
5. Garnish with mint.

For the lemon iced tea:

         Add 4 tbsp of lemon juice along with sugar and cold water in step-2.

►  Sweetness is a matter of taste and it varies from individual to individual. So add or subtract sugar as per your taste ☺

Indo-Chinese veg / egg noodles

Is there anybody who doesn't love noodles? Here is a simple recipe of an Indian-type Chinese noodles.

Ingredients:

Noodles - 1 pack
Onion (finely chopped - lengthwise) - 1
Vegetables (beans, cabbage, capsicum, carrot - chopped finely lengthwise) - 1 cup
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Green chilli (slit lengthwise) - 3
Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1-2 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Black peppercorns/pepper (powdered) - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste
Cooking oil - 4-5 tbsp
Eggs (optional) - 2

Method:

1. Boil water with 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tsp of salt. When water starts to boil, add noodles and cook. (usually 5-6 minutes)
2. Once cooked, remove from flame and drain the water. Run some cold water over the noodles so that they don't stick together. (You can place the noodles in a hollow sieve and then run water through it)
3. Meanwhile, heat 3-4 tbsp of oil in a wide pan and add chillies, ginger-garlic paste and fry for half a minute.
4. Add onions and saute till they turn golden brown. Add veggies and fry till they are half cooked.
   
   
   For veg noodles:
   
   
5. After step-4, add noodles, tomato ketchup, soya sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, pepper powder and salt. Keep mixing till they are well-cooked. Serve with sauce.

      For egg noodles:

1. After step-4, move the veggies to one side of the pan and pour eggs on the other empty side and scramble it.
2. Add salt and pepper powder (for the eggs alone) and mix it well with the egg.
3. Once the egg is done, proceed with step-5. 

Indo-Chinese veg/egg noodles is ready :)