Sprouted moong dhokala

Sprouted moong is a perennial favourite of mine. When I was young, I would consume enormous quantities of it, and I still can. But with age, the tongue gets more demanding, and I need to sprinkle salt on it now. I also love experimenting with dishes that have it as a primary ingredient, and this dhokla was particularly good. 

1 cup sprouted moong

1/2 cups spinach

1/4 cups grated carrot

1 tsp ginger- green chilli paste

2 tbsp besan

A pinch of hing

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp haldi powder

1 packet Eno fruit salt

For tempering:

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp urad dal

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp sesame seeds

Method:

Grind the moong sprouts, spinach and carrot till you get an even but slightly coarse consistency 

Mix in the ginger green chilli paste, salt, hing, besan, haldi powder. 

Grease a flat plate and keep aside

Add Eno fruit salt to the mixture, and while the fizzing is still taking place, spread the mixture on the plate

Steam in a pressure cooker with the whistle removed for 12 minutes. 

Cut after allowing to cool

Heat the oil, add mustard seeds, and after it stops spluttering, add urad dal and sesame seeds. Pour over the dhokla, garnish with grated carrot and serve. 

Carrot potato raita

The kids were having their regular dal- roti-subji, but I thought it was too hot for subji. So I threw in a few veggies into curds, and had a nice cooling raita instead.

1/2 carrot grated
1/2 potato, boiled and cut into small pieces
1 cup curds, beaten
1/4 tsp roasted and pounded jeera
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method:
Beat the curds with the salt, chilli powder and jeera powder till smooth.
Add the grated carrots and finely chopped potatoes and mix well. Serve as an accompaniment- you can increase the amount of potatoes if you want to eliminate the rotis.

Carrot-raw mango salad

Strange things happen to me in summer- for one my appetite turns a few cart-wheels before settling at a place where I crave raw, semi-cooked and cold meals. Naturally, therefore, instead of a normal carrot curry, it was this grated carrot salad that I needed for dinner.

200 gms carrots
1 medium raw mango
3 tbsp peanuts
1 tsp oil1 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste

Method:
Grate the carrots and keep aside.
Grate the raw mango and keep aside.
Mix the raw mango and carrots well. Add salt to taste and mix well again. Put in the fridge and let it settle for about half an hour.
Heat the oil, add mustard seeds and wait till it stops spluttering.
Add peanuts and lightly fry.
Pour over the carrot- raw mango mixture, and mix well.
Goes well with roti and dal.

Modified Kosimbir

I always loved my mother's Kosimbir, which she learnt to make from her mother. The lightest, tastiest, healthiest snack/ salad possible is how I always thought of it. Till I had cabbage kosimbir a couple of weeks back, and realised even that perfection could be made better. This started out as a carrot kosimbir, but ended up as something entirely different. Nobody's complaining!

1 cup split moong dal
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1/2 bunch dil weeds
1/2 lemon
1 tsp chilli flakes
salt to taste


Method
Soak the split moong dal overnight (or at least for 4 hours)
Cut the cucumber into tiny pieces, grate the carrot, and mix both well with the dal
Remove the leaves of the dill weeds, cut fine, and mix.
Add salt to taste, squeeze the lemon on top, and toss well.
Serve chilled, either as a stand alone snack, or with rotis.

Gobi-gajar-shalgam achar

One of my most vivid memories of the first week as a new bride in my marital home is of breakfast. Thankfully, those were the days before size zero brides, and I had no qualms about wolfing down steaming hot stuffed paratas with gobi-gajar-shalgam achar. Seeing their "Madrasi" bride tuck into the typically Punjabi breakfast must also have reassured my in-laws about my ability to fit into a new culture.
Unfortunately, however, that was the first and last time I got to eat gobi-gajar-shalgam achar. My mother-in-law didn't make it herself, and the stuff you got at restaurants was at best a poor attempt at replicating the classic dish.
This winter, I was determined to attempt the recipe myself, and before I could change my mind, bought the ingredients, and even cut the vegetables and kept them to dry. It was easier than I expected, and I wonder why I never attempted it all this while.

1 Kg vegetables (a mix of cauliflower florets, carrot slices, turnip cubes)
65 gms mustard seeds
65 gms salt
150 gms jaggery
150 gms mustard oil
150 gms vinegar
5 tsp Garam masala
100 gms ginger-garlic paste
25 gms red chili pwdr

Method:
Cut the vegetables, and leave them out to dry for 6 hours (I put them in a preheated oven with the heat off).
Heat the mustard oil, let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add the vegetables, fry the vegetables lightly and keep aside.
In the same oil, add ginger-garlic paste, and saute till the raw taste goes.
Meanwhile, heat the vinegar in a pan, add the jaggery, and stir on a low heat till the jaggery dissolves completely. Turn off the fire, and let it cool down.
Mix all the ingredients, including the dry masala. Pour into a sterilized jar, cover the mouth with a piece of cloth, and keep in the sun for a week.

French lentil and vegetable soup

It was the second day of the Diwali vacation, and the maid had taken off. With two hungry kids (and a grandmother) to feed, I decided to try out a recipe I had seen and liked a very long time back. Since I trust SpiceRoots like I trust few other blogs, I presumed the recipe would work, and didn't worry too much about making a few changes. Needless to say, I skipped the wine, and served it as a regular "dal" to my mother, but it was absolutely fantastic.

1/2 cup masoor dal, rinsed
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced
4-6 cloves of garlic minced
1 bunch spring onions, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
1 tsp fresh oregano
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp dhania powder
2 carrots, diced
4 cups water
2 tablespoons dry red wine
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Salt and pepper as per taste

Method:
Rinse the masoor dal, and pressure cook it for 20 minutes with 2 cups water.
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, spring onions, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very tender.
Add the carrots, and jeera and dhania powder, and cook until the carrots begin to soften.
Add the two cups of water and the cooked dal, and let it simmer for a few minutes.
Add the grated cheese, and let it bubble for half a minute till the cheese melts in with the soup.
Add in the wine, stir and cook half a minute.
Serve with garlic bread.

Carrot- beet root salad

Ever since I got back to working full-time, my time in the kitchen has dwindled to near zero. While I am happy for the time I got to experiment in the kitchen for nearly a year, if I am totally honest, I do not mind not having to slave for hours everyday to produce something that may or may not be palatable. But, I do miss trying out new recipes, and today, I decided to make a "top up" dish because I felt like doing so.
It ended up tasting much better than I expected, and for that I am glad.

2 medium carrots

1 medium beetroot

1 tbsp melon seeds (peanuts might be better, but I had run out of them)

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 green chilli (or more, as per taste)

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

Method:

Grate the carrots and beetroots.

Mix the olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice and salt, and pour over the grated vegetables. 

Break the green chilli in half and add to the grated vegetables. Mix well, and allow to marinate for 1 hour.

Add melon seeds and mix well. Garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

Serve cold.

Tiranga dosa

With Independence Day around the corner, I thought of making a tiranga dosa instead of the regular one. While the dosas definitely looked good, and tasted good too, the kids didn't seem overtly thrilled with the novelty of the dish, and I might just stick to the regular dosa in future. Those are far less labour intensive.

For the batter:
2 measures boiled rice
1 measure urad dal
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt to taste

1 carrot
3/ 4 sprigs coriander or mint or broccoli
Cooking oil

Method:
Soak 2 measures boiled rice and 1 measure urad dal overnight, along with 1 tsp fenugreek seeds. 
Grind it smoothly, with minimal water, and let it ferment for 6 hours. 
Take about a third of the batter, and grind it again with one chopped carrot
Take another third of the batter and grind it with either broccoli or coriander or mint (chillis if you like)

Heat a pan, bring the temperature down by sprinkling water on it, put one spoonful of orange batter. Place one spoonful of white batter on it, and one spoonful of green batter over that. Grease the edges, turn over when the edges start lifting off. Serve hot.

Pasta in creamy carrot sauce

"Can we have pasta tomorrow?", asked my older one. How could I say no, specially since my Italian basil plant was in need of a haircut? This is a recipe I made up, and it worked superbly well.

200 gms pasta
1 carrot
1/2 onion
1 tomato
3 pods garlic
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp paprika powder
Salt to taste
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp grated cheese
Basil leaves for garnish

Method:
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet. Drain and keep aside, and reserve some of the drained water.
Heat the butter, add sliced garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add chopped onions and saute till it turns transparent.
Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes and carrot til you get a fairly smooth paste. Add to the frying onions, and saute till the raw smell goes. Add the spices, mix well, then add milk.
When the milk comes to a boil, add the cornflour, and mix so it forms a nice sauce. Add grated cheese, and let the sauce bubble for about a minute.
Add pasta to the sauce, mix well, and add the reserved water if needed.
Garnish with torn basil leaves, and serve.

Carrot Curry

There are days when you just don't feel like spending more than the minimum time required in the kitchen, and when you also need to feed a family on those days, you have no choice but to turn to the simplest dishes there are. Whether this is a Traditional Dish or not, I do not know, but this is exactly how my mother and her mother made carrot curry.

250 gms carrot, diced

Mustard seeds
Urad dal
Curry leaves
Gingerly oil
1/2 lime
1/2 tsp haldi powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powdera pinch of hing
salt to taste

Method:
Heat the oil, and add mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering, add urad dal and curry leaves and saute till the dal is browned lightly.
Add chopped carrots, and the dry masalas, and saute for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and let it cook in its own steam till soft.
Squeeze lime juice before serving.

Rose Soya Delight

Sometimes, you look at a recipe and decide you need to try it right away. This recipe by Ros Ruby was one of them, and since all the ingredients were available at home, there was no reason not to make it right away. Frankly, I had no idea what to expect, but when the flavours exploded in my mouth, for a moment, I was in heaven. Definitely a keeper.

Soya Chunks -100gms (I used granules)
Carrot grated-40gms
Yellow Split Lentils-10gms
Jaggery-150gms
Cardamom-7 Pods (Powdered)
Cashew nuts-20gms
Raisins-20gms
Rose Essence-1 Tsp (I used rosewater, because it was available at home)
Salt-1/2 a pinch
Vegetable Oil-4Tbsps

Method:
Powder the Soya Chunks. Set aside. (even if you are using granules, like I did, powder it well)
Melt the jaggery in 200-225 ml of water. Set aside.
In a thick bottomed vessel, fry the yellow split lentils in oil, drain and set aside.
Into the same oil, add the powdered soya chunks and sauté until lightly fried.
Into this add the melted jaggery followed by the grated carrot.
Keep mixing. Add the salt.
Soya tends to absorb water, so add a little more water, if necessary.
To this add broken cashew nuts and raisins.Keep mixing at intervals until the mixture become soft and cooked.
Add the powered cardamom and turn off the heat source.
Sprinkle the rose essence and garnish with a few split cashew nuts.
Transfer the mixture into a greased container.

Methi carrot subji

Life is different when you have a cook. You know that she can make only a couple of dishes, and you just rotate them as best as you can. But when decide to take over cooking responsibilities, you want to innovate as often as you can. And it is fun. Specially when you come up with something your family really likes. This was one of those.

Ingredients:

Carrot- 250 gms, diced

Methi leaves- 1/2 bunch, washed, de-stemmed and chopped

Mustard oil- 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves

Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Haldi pwd- 1/2 tsp

Hing- a pinch

Kasoori methi- 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat the mustard oil, and when it is really hot, reduce the flame and add the jeera. When the jeera stops spluttering, add garlic and hing and fry till the raw smell goes. Add carrots, and fry on a low flame for 2-3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, cover and let it cook till carrots are soft.

Chilkewali moong dal ki khichdi

I love khichdi. I really do. But however much you love something, sometimes, you crave the same thing, but different. I wanted khichdi, but not the yellow, runny stuff that I was used to. I wanted the essence of khichdi in something different.
This chilkewali moong dal ki khichdi fitted the bill perfectly.

1 measure chilkewali moong dal

1 measure rice

2 tbsp ghee

1 tsp jeera

3-4 cloves

1 green chilli slit

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 medium carrot grated

Salt to taste

Soak dal and rice in four cups of water for one hour. Drain. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon, green chillies, carrot and sauté for two minutes. Add dal and rice and mix well. Add salt, peppercorns and four cups of water. Cover the cooker with the lid and pressure cook till one whistle. Serve hot, may be with hot ghee.

Super moist Carrot Cake

Carrot cake!
The name itself is enough to conjure images of divine goodness packaged into a beautiful slice of cake. The kind of cake that you could eat by the dozen, without a twinge of guilt. And then, I came across this quote- "We looked at an online recipe from a celebrity chef ...(for a carrot cake)... There it was, in all its splendor, weighing in at 1,460 calories and 28 grams of saturated fat in one gargantuan three-layer slice."
Ouch! Not so healthy after all. But the heart still craved for a carrot cake. Tarina's recipe for a super moist carrot cake seemed perfect, and I was contemplating substituting some of the flour with wholewheat flour to keep up the "healthy" charade, till I heard Tarina say, "baking is completely scientific. If you have a recipe which has been tested before you have to follow it to the last gram. If you do want to make substitutions e.g. wheat flour, then you are basically creating a totally different recipe and you will have to make your own trials and see what works. You cannot make one substitution in an existing recipe and expect the result to be the same, it doesn't happen as you have basically changed the formula!"
That decided me. This cake follows the recipe to the letter, except two substitutions- regular flour instead of self rising flour and regular sugar instead of brown sugar. 

2 eggs
150 ml vegetable oil
200 gms soft brown sugar*
300 gms carrots (peeled and grated)
75 gms walnuts
175 gms self raising flour
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 tsp cinnamon powder
pinch of salt

MethodHeat oven to 180 C. Line a 8 inch baking pan. Sieve all dry ingredients together. Whisk all wet ingredients till well mixed. Fold in all dry ingredients. Crush the walnuts slightly and add at the end. Pour into muffin liners, and bake for 25-30 mins till a skewer comes out clean. Serve warm!

I halved the quantities, and that gave me a dozen cupcakes.


 *- I didn't have brown sugar, so used regular sugar

Gajar ka halwa- Xmas is here

The first gajar ka halwa of the season. Photograph banta hai!!!!

I bought the carrots intending to make halwa, but it languished in the fridge for two days, because I was too lazy to actually make it. I had a really long run today (one kilometer short of 25 miles), and decided we were having Mc Donalds because I was too tired to cook. And then, at 7 pm, I started grating the carrots, and gave my arm muscles a great workout. After dinner, in a fit of madness, I started on the gajar halwa, and it was done by about 11:30.  After all that, don't you think it deserves a picture at least?

Recipe here

Andhra style carrot curry

There are only so many vegetables my family eats, and life often seems like a constant struggle to escape the commonplace of recipes. This Andhra style carrot curry that was made by combining a couple of recipes from the internet is one I am definitely making again.

Carrots - 2, large cut into small pieces
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Asafoetida - pinch
Green chilies - 2 or 3, whole
Ginger - 1/2", grated
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsps
Toasted sesame seeds - 2 tbsps, lightly crushed
Red chili flakes - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

Heat oil in a cooking vessel. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, and after they start to splutter, add the curry leaves, green chilies, asafoetida and ginger and saute for 5 to 6 seconds. Add the chopped carrots and mix.
Cook without lid on medium flame for 4 to 5 mts, mixing the contents once in a while. Reduce flame, add salt and cook till the carrots are soft, approx 25 mts.
Remove lid, add the coriander powder and mix. Cook for 2 to 3 mts. Add the crushed toasted sesame seeds and crushed red chili flakes and mix.
Turn off flame and remove into a serving bowl. Serve warm with rice or rotis.

Carrot-Zucchini Muffins

It is the last day of the school holidays, and I wanted to make something a little memorable for the kids. Carrot-zucchini muffins sounded perfect- something different, yet loaded with goodness.
Unfortunately, though, the kids both binged on biscuits an hour before lunchtime, and didn't exactly enjoy these as much as I hoped they would. But they were good, and I am definitely tempting them with it again, before giving up.

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cooking oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup grated zucchini
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup white whole what flour (or all-purpose flour)
1/2 cup wholewheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Prepare a pan with 9 standard muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, salt, and egg. Add zucchini, carrots, and cinnamon powder.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the batter. Stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Let the muffins rest for 10 minutes before placing them into the oven.

Bake the muffins until the edges are lightly browned and they feel firm if gently pressed, about 18 to 25 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes; transfer to a rack, and cool completely.

Carrot-cucumber cold soup

I had a cucumber that was ready to die on me, and a whole bunch of carrots that were no longer suitable either for putting into a curry, or for making gajar-ka-halwa with. Google to the rescue- before I knew it, I had a bunch of carrot-cucumber soup recipes to mix 'n' match with. Perfect for a day when the weather seems to be turning to warm.

Serves 1 potion:
Chop 1 medium carrot, and 1 medium cucumber, and blend both together with 3 tbsp sour curds, salt, pepper and parsley, till smooth. Dilute with water, if required.
Serve cold garnished with fresh parsley (I used dried parsley).

Carrot-apple smoothie

In my quest for post-run proteins, I end up making a whole bunch of smoothies. This I adapted from a recipe for juice, and liked it so much, I've made it three times already these last two weeks.

Blend 1 apple (peeled, and chopped into small pieces after removing the core), 1 medium carrot (the maroon one, peeled and diced), an inch piece of ginger grated, and 1/2 cup milk, till smooth.
Vitamin A, calcium and proteins in a cup.

Gajar ka halwa

Gajar Halwa has always been one of my favourite sweets. Every winter, my mother would wait for those maroon carrots to come to the market, so she could make gajar halwa. I don't know what quantity she made it in, but I do remember that in winters, there was always gajar halwa for lunch, and dinner, and inbetween.

Hubby being a proper Punjabi prefers gajar halwa with mawa and ghee, but this is the version I prefer to make, because it is also so healthy.

This was the gajar halwa I made to celebrate 15 years of marriage.

4 cup grated carrots
4 cup whole cream milk
1 cup sugar
cardamon powder
ghee
dry fruits for garnish

Grate carrots. Measure the volume. Keep aside.
In a non-stick kadhai, head the same volume of milk as you have grated carrots. When the milk comes to a boil, reduce the flame, add the grated carrots and cook (with constant stirring) till the milk thickens.
When almost done, add sugar as per taste (for 4 cups of carrots, I added 1 cup of sugar), powdered cardamon, and a little bit of ghee, stir well, and keep cooking till most of the milk evaporates.
Can be had hot or cold.