3 recipes

i was feeling so lost after not having posted for such a long time...it was a mixture of laziness, bad mood, being busy and just not posting as didnt know what to write...

today i am going to post 3 recipes I have tried recently and were super successes....and very simple to make....and they are stuffed mushrooms, uckdiche modak, and sambar...

so here is recipe no 1: Stuffed Mushrooms
mushrooms are one of my favourite vegetables...and I love experimenting with them and trying every new recipe I set my eyes on....this recipe I found on 28 cooks...i love her recipes, and the best part is that she has many vegetarian recipes....

ingredients

1. 8 to 10 medium to big size mushrooms
2. 1/2 cup grated cheese
3. italian seasoning
4. 4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
5. 1 green chilly (crushed)
6. 5-6 olives finely chopped
7. olive oil/ regular oil
8. salt
9. pepper
10. rawa (semolina) / bread crumbs for rolling the mushrooms

Method:

• wash mushrooms thoroughly and remove the stem of mushroom, and remove the mushroom gills, i just scraped them off using back of a flat spoon...stem can be used in any other mushroom preparation....throw the gills...
• mix cheese, italian herbs, garlic chilly paste, salt and pepper....now stuff the mix into the mushrooms..
• roll it in rawa or just stick some of it on the mix side..
• drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20-25 min at 375 F (till bread crumbs are golden brown and cheese is bubbly) or shallow fry in mixture of olive oil and regular oil
• ENJOY :)

Also read the 28 Cooks Recipe if confused or for more creative stuffing ideas

2. Uckdiche Modak

well they are one of my favourite sweets, I tried making them for the first time on occasion of ganesh chaturthi this year....here is the recipe I learnt step by step from....the lady has shown really well in pictures...the only thing different I did was I halved the quantity as I wasn't sure if I was doing it right...

making the stuffing is really easy, making the dough little tricky, and the trickiest part is making the modaks...

the best part is that the rice flour dough is very pliable and forgiving, hence without tearing you can just reshape it or reseal it....the rice dough is just like the clay we played as kids....so have fun with it!!

3. Sambar:
Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Toor Dal (or red lentils)
2. 2 teaspoons oil
3. Salt to taste
4. 5 small dry red chilies (or to taste)
5. 8 Curry Leaves 
6. 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
7. 1/4 tsp asafoetida
8. 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
9. 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
10. 2 tablespoons sambar powder
11. 1 medium chopped onion 
12. 1 medium chopped tomato
13. 1 cup veggies of ur choice (potato, brinjal, drumstick, carrots etc)

for sambar powder

1. 1/2 cups coriander seeds (dhana)
2. 1/2 cups red chillies or red chilly powder (or to taste)
3. 1/8 cup chana dal or chana dal aata (besan aata)
4. 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
5. 1 Tbsp. pepper corn
6. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
7. 1 pinch of cinnamon
8. 1 pinch ground clove
9. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

 roast the seeds on small flame, add turmeric, chilly powder and besan last...powder everything in chutney mixture. store the powder in cool dry place

Method for sambar:

• in a pressure cooker, cook the dal and grind it in a blender
• take some oil in thick bottomed pan, add mustard let it sputter, add cumin and fenugreek seeds, once they are light brown, add curry leaves, chopped garlic, asofetida and chopped onion.
• once onion is translucent, add chopped potato (optional) and drumsticks as they take maximum time to cook.
• once they are semicooked, add dal, and rest veggies (brinjal, carrots), one cup additional water and 1 tbsp sambar powder..add salt to taste
• let it boil till all veggies are cooked, add more water if it is too thick...

tamarind is one of important ingredients in sambar....but i didnt use it as I didnt have it....and my sambar was just as fine....so dont fret if you dont have one or two ingredients...just go ahead and make this delicious soup and relish with idli and vada or dosa :)

i have another trio ready kadai bhindi, stuffed baigan and saute mushrooms....

wow such a lot to write about....now that I know what to write maybe i ll write again soon!!