Potato and Turnip Rösti

Rösti would be a fancier term for the humble potato pancake. I added a couple of turnips in mine, seasoned with only fresh black pepper and salt.

Savory Indian Pancakes

Inspired by Andrea's Japanese savory vegetable pancakes, here's my Indianized version using leftover vegetables like corn, cabbage, and french beans. Sort of like an eggless omlette or frittata using maida (all purpose flour) as the base, peppered with tumeric and chilli powder.

Mushroom, Potato and Pepper Open Sandwich

I love Scandinavia - I'm currently reading Stieg Larson (the second book); have always had a very soft spot for hunky Scandinavian men - they've got a wicked sense of humor and their blue-eyed/blonde hair look, preferably with a golden tan acquired sunbathing (Cough: naked) in Goa, really does it for me. Indian men are like goats - and not in a good way. And the daily recipe emails from My Danish Kitchen had me yearning for magically being in Sweden or Denmark this morning.

If I can't be magically teleported there, at least I can take my first jab at their cuisine. An open sandwich - what's more Danish than that?! Well, the Danish Pastry is, but I ain't got the time or requisite skill to attempt something so complicated. I had a nice loaf of organic multigrain bread from the farmer's market that was unused. And I had a boiled potato (the advantages of living with your family) and chives (I love chives - they seem so buttery). So, made an open sandwich for breakfast. But Indian that I am, I did make it a bit spicy with some green chutney. Good thing I only made one slice, coz the bread was really hearty and filling.

Mushroom, Potato and Pepper Open Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1 slice bread/baguette
• 1/2 boiled potato
• 2-3 white button mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons coconut milk/cream
• Handul of finely chopped green pepper
• 1 tablespoon green chutney
• 1 teaspoon chopped chives
• 5-8 black pepper corns
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

To make:

• Mash your potato along with some coconut milk to make a thick gooey paste. Ideally, do this while the potato is still hot.
• In a pan, heat the olive oil.
• Chop your mushrooms and add to the pan, along with freshly ground black pepper.
• Saute the mushrooms for 3-5 minutes until brown.
• Slice your bread (fairly thick). You may want to toast/grill your bread if its too flimsy.
• Spread the green chutney over the bread.
• Next spread the mashed potato over the bread.
• Layer the sauted mushrooms next.
• Next come some finely chopped green pepper.
• Finish off with a sprinkling of finely chopped chives and a dash of olive oil.

Cabbage and Sunflower Seed Parathas

Between Bobby Chin's Punjab-special episode, and a live tandoor station at the back of my own building for some function I wasn't invited to, I just had to make some parathas, or Indian flat bread, for myself. These are generally made of spinach, cauliflower, potato, or paneer stuffed inside or mixed alongside the dough made of wheat. I made mine with wheat and soy flour, added sunflower seeds. I would have liked to have added some saffron too, but didn't have any handy. And finally, I used very little water - instead just used extra virgin olive oil and coconut milk to bind the dough. I'm usually very yucky about getting my hands dirty while kneading the dough, but soldiered on nonetheless.

I had the parathas with a green and red pepper relish I got a couple of weeks back from the farmers market.

I wish I had access to that tandoor oven at the back of my building. I later learnt it was 10 days since some old chap died and they were celebrating with tandoor-cooked breads and such.

Oil, water, and flour measurements are approximations only. I just kept adding them as needed.

Cabbage and Sunflower Seed Paratha

Servings: 4 parathas

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups wheat flour
• 0.5 cups defatted soy flour
• Approx 0.5 cups of olive oil
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 green chilli
• 2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons of coconut milk
• Lukewarn water, as needed
• Salt to taste

To make:
Chop your chilli, cabbage, and onion finely.

Mix the veggies with your flour with salt, olive oil and coconut milk.

Add the sunflower seeds and water, as needed, to form the dough. Keep kneading till the dough is not sticky  - when you lift it off the plate, it comes off clean. If its too sticky, add more flour. If its too dry, add more water.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll them into a ball using your hands.

Dust some flour on your rolling board, and roll the dough ball into a thin round roti. Hopefully, more round than mine. :)

In a flat frying pan, add some olive oil. Remember you're not frying the paratha - the oil is just so the paratha doesn't stick to the pan. When the oil and pan are hot, gently place your paratha and let it cook for 3-5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy immediately with some pickle, or yoghurt.

Veg Biryani and Cabbage, Onion, Tomato Upma

Lately, I've been feeling a bit lazy to cook anything for myself and also feeling a bit stifled with having so few fresh ingredients to work with. I'm waiting for this sunday when I can buy a truckload from the farmer's market. So, last night, I just ordered a Vegetable Dum Biryani. It came with a yoghurt raita, which I chucked away. My brother's always amazed why someone would pay Rs. 120 for a vegetarian biryani, when for only Rs. 10 more you get the chicken version. Ten rupees - that's the worth of a chicken's life?!

And this morning, for breakfast, a cabbage, onion and tomato upma, along with my coffee-coconut milk concoction.

Cabbage, Onion, Tomato Upma

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup semolina or an upma premix
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• 1 cup of water
• Teaspoon of olive oil
• Half a lime
• Handful of coriander

To make:

• In a pan, gently dry roast the semolina/upma premix for a minute or two.
• Add water to the roasted semolina and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes.
• Once the semolina is cooked, add the chopped up vegetables and stir for 1-2 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately with lashings of lime juice.

Pepper and Tomato Upma

My mom, seeing that I hadn't eaten anything till 11 am today, was nice enough to make a batch of upma for me today. However, I did supervise the cooking - since she usually loves to cook stuff for much longer than I would like, and does not put in quite as much veggies as I would like. I added green peppers, carrots, and tomatoes this time.

Pepper and Tomato Upma


Ingredients:

• 1 cup semolina or an upma premix
• 1 green pepper
• 1 carrot
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 onion
• 1 large green chilli
• 1/2 cup of water
• Teaspoon of vegetable oil
• Half a lime

To make:

• In a pan, gently dry roast the semolina/upma premix for a minute or two.
• In another pot, heat the oil and saute the onions and the chilli.
• Add the roasted semolina and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes.
• Once the semolina is cooked, turn off the gas and add the chopped up vegetables.
• Serve immediately with lashings of lime juice.

Broccoli, Carrot, and Pepper Upma

A favorite breakfast dish of mine is Upma, or savory semolina porridge. I generally spike it with tons of veggies I am dying to get rid of. In this case, some broccoli, carrot and green pepper.

Broccoli, Carrot, and Pepper Upma

Ingredients:

• 1 cup semolina or an upma premix
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1/2 cup carrot
• 1/2 cup green peppers
• 1 large green chilli
• 1 cup of water
• Teaspoon of vegetable oil
• Half a lime

To make:

• In a pot, gently dry roast the semolina/upma premix for a minute or two.
• Add oil and water to the roasted semolina and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes.
• Once the semolina is cooked, add the chopped up vegetables.
• Stir for half a minute and turn off the gas.
• Serve immediately with lashings of lime juice.
  
  

Vegetable Upma

Upma, or savoury semolina porridge, is a staple of any self respecting South Indian household. This tasty breakfast staple is best eaten piping hot and can be endlessly adapted depending on what you add to the basic semolina mix. Carrots and peas are the most commonly used veggies used to complement this dish.

We also have handy upma pre-mixes available - most famously by MTR, which is what I had and happily used this morning. I was originally going to make a ragi (millet) based upma, but then I realized I hadn't soaked my ragi overnight, so, screw that!

The pre-mix is essentially semolina with all the seasonings - so all you have to do is pour the mix into boiling water. In case you cannot find such a pre-mix, go to the bottom of the post for the full version of the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup upma pre-mix
• 1 1/2 cups of assorted vegetables (I used carrots, onions, peppers, cabbage, tomato)
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
• Coriander to garnish

To make:

Bring two cups of water to a boil in a pot.

Drop the cup of pre-mix semolina into the water and let it cook for 5-7 minutes.

Be sure to stir regularly to ensure no lumps are formed.

When the semolina looks cooked (no more than 7 minutes, usually), turn off the gas.

Add the vegetables. Stir thoroughly.

Garnish with the coriander and squeeze a quarter of a lime over.

Serve immediately.

If you do not or cannot find an upma premix packet, use plain semolina and add the following in addition to the ingredients outlined above:

• 2 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 1" piece of ginger grated
• 3/4 tsp mustard seeds
• Pinch of turmeric powder 

Millet Porridge

Millet is a grain that is totally unknown to most people, including my family. Being dirt-cheap (Rs. 19 for a kilo!) doesn't help its reputation as a poor man's grain. People in the West associate millet solely with bird feed. But there is a dearth of recipes you can make with these tiny little pellets that resemble the tiny beads you find in your bathing/shower gels.

What I have made is an upma, or porridge with red millet seeds. With millet, you definitely need to do some prep work - soaking for 8 hours is a must prior to cooking.

Millet Porridge

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup of red millet (ragi)
• 1/2 cup of assorted greens
• 1/2 capsicum
• 1/2 tomato
• 2 cloves of fresh/green garlic
• 1 green chilli
• 1/4 onion
• 5-10 curry leaves
• Tablespoon of oil

To make:
Prep Work: Soak the millet overnight in two cups of water. Drain the water upon waking and replace with fresh clean water. I'd soaked mine along with some chick pea.

Boil the millet in water with some salt (Twice as much water as millet) for 20-30 minutes. If the water runs out, add more.

Chop the onion, chillies and garlic fine. I've used fresh green garlic - Dried is fine too. With the fresh green one, you can also use the entire green stalk which is also flavorful.

In a frying pan, add the oil, chopped chillies, curry leaves, garlic, and onion for tempering.

Once the millet is done, turn off the gas. Drain excess water.

Add the millet to the frying pan. Mix well for a minute.

Turn off the gas. Lay aside for a minute.

Then add the capsicum, tomatoes and greens so they are still mostly raw. Mix well.