Green gazpacho soup

 There are days when you plan your meal and there are days when you take an inventory of what is there in the fridge and find a way to use the stuff. I had some steamed capsicums left over from last night, and a cucumber, so a green gazpancho it was for me. A cold soup for a warm July lunch.

1 cucumber, peeled and cored

1 capsicum steamed

1 slice stale bread

1 large pod garlic

½ litre vegetable stock

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Method

Moisten the stale bread and keep aside

In a blender, mix the cucumbers, capsicum, garlic and bread, and blend to a smooth purée along with the vegetable stock.

Add the salt and pepper and mix well. Add a little stock, if required to thin out the gazpacho.

Serve chilled garnished with croutons or chopped cucumber.

Cucumber juice

Agni Nakshatram, it is called. The fortnight after Guru Poornima when summer is at its most scotching hot. I promised my children coolers everyday as long as the heat holds up. Today's is a cucumber juice that I threw together. 

2 cucumbers

4-6 mint leaves

6 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 cup water

Method:

Deseed the cucumber and cut into chunks. 

Blend all the ingredients, excepting leaves, together till completely juiced.

Muddle the mint leaves, and pour the juice over it. Chill for a few hours. 

Strain, and adjust salt and sugar. Garnish with mint leaves before serving. 

Cucumber lemonade

Plain old lemonade never goes out of fashion, but if you add a dash of cucumber, it takes it to a whole different level. 

1 large cucumber (or 2 small)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

6 glasses water

Method:

Wash and deseed the cucumber (leave the seeds if there aren't too many). Chop into cubes. 

Blend cucumber, sugar and 2 cups water till smooth. Strain (I used the strained part as a salad dressing). 

Mix in salt and lime juice. Chill

Before serving, dilute 1/3 glass concentrate with water or soda. 

Mixed sprouts with cucumber and raw mango

I had a lot of mixed sprouts left over after making misal pav, and decided to make a simple salad with the rest. This tangy salad with alternating notes of sour and sweet, is a really good snack for a hot summer day. 

1 cup mixed sprouts

1 cucumber

1 raw mango

1 tsp jaggery grated

Salt to taste

Method: 

Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Turn off the flame and put the mixed sprouts in the water and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and keep aside. 

Meanwhile, cut the cucumber and raw mango into small pieces. 

Mix sprouts, cucumber and raw mango and mix well. Sprinkle the jaggery and let it mix. 

Keep in the fridge for 30 minutes and serve chilled. Adjust for salt, if required. 

Kosimbir- with green mangoes

Kosimbir was often made at my place, and come summer and I start making it for myself. This is a slight variation on the old favourite, with green mango slices for the sour taste.

1 cup split moong dal
1 cucumber
1/2 green mango
salt to taste

For tempering (optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 green chilli
1 sprig curry leaves
a little cooking oil


Method
Soak the split moong dal overnight (or at least for 4 hours)
Cut the cucumber and the mango into tiny pieces and mix well with the dal
Add salt to taste, and mix well
If you like, you can make the tempering and pour it over the kosimbir, or you can avoid it with no change in taste.
Serve chilled, either as a stand alone snack, or with rotis.

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.

Fresh and Crunchy Salad

A couple of weeks back, a friend taught me to make mozzarella cheese. Though it sounded very similar to the process of making paneer, I decided to take it at face value and try it. The bad news is that the end product was no different from regular paneer. The good news is that the paneer went straight into a crunchy salad which was quickly consumed with the Sunday lunch!

For the paneer:
1 litre milk
1 tbsp lemon juice

For the salad:
2 large tomatoes
2 medium onions
1 large cucumber
12- 15 black olives

For the marinade
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
4- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp crushed dry mint
Salt to taste

Method:
Add the lemon juice to cold milk, and keep aside for 30 minutes
Bring to a boil, reduce the flame, and keep stirring till the whey separates.
Drain and keep aside.
Cut the cucumber, onions, tomatoes and paneer into 1/2 inch square pieces.
Mix the marinade, toss in the vegetables, cover with cling film and keep in the fridge for 2 hours.
Garnish with olives before serving

Polemo salad

I bought a big fat polemo, and after eating half of it as a fruit, wanted to do something different with the rest. This is adapted from a Vietnemese recipe, and is absolutely lovely. While the original recipe called for shrimps, I dropped it completely and was satisfied with the result.

1/2 polemo peeled and desegmented
1 cucumber chopped into fine pieces
1/3 cup peanuts, roasted and crushed slightly

2 tbsp mint leaves, crushed
3 pods garlic crushed
2 tbsp fish sauce/ soya sauce
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chilli sauce
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

Method:
Mix the fish/ soya sauce, lime juice, chilli sauce, sugar, garlic and mint leaves. Add a little water, if required so the sugar dissolves
Toss the polemo segments and cucumber, add the dressing, and mix well.
Let it refrigerate for1 hour. Add salt to taste, and mix well.
Add the roasted peanuts before serving.

Cucumber-bajra dosa

Thanks to their erratic timings, I end up having to make dosas of some kind or the other for lunch almost every weekday. My mother is a great fan of bajra, and the inspiration for this recipe comes from her.
While you are at it, please admire the table decoration- I was told my cucumber plant needed pruning, and guess what I did with the pruned leaves!

1cup bajra flour
1 cucumber grated
A pinch of baking soda
Salt to taste
Whey or water to make the batter.

Method:
Mix the bajra, salt and soda together.
Add whey/ water gradually, till you get a thick batter. Allow it to stand for 30 minutes
Meanwhile, grate the cucumber, squeeze the water into the batter, add the cucumber to the batter and mix well. Add more water if required to get the proper consistency.
Make dosas, and serve.

Panazella salad with home grown basil

I've been itching to make panazella salad for a really long time, but even though I always have leftover bread, I never really got down to making it. It was when I was looking at my brand new Italian basil plant, that I decided to inaugurate it by making this Italian staple dish.

3 slices day old bread (I took the bread out and kept it in the fridge to dehydrate overnight.
Garlic cloves,1-2
1 tsp butter
2 tomatoes, cut into big chunks
1 cucumber, cut into small chunks
Fresh Basil leaves, torn in half
1 onion, cut into chunks


For the dressing- 1/4 cups olive oil
2 tbsp vinegar (I used sunkissed vinegar to get an additional kick)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
Rub the bread lightly with mixture of grated garlic and butter, and tear into bite sized pieces. Spread on a baking tray, and bake for a few minutes till golden.
Meanwhile, place the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper in a bowl, and mix well.
Add the basil leaves and bread. Toss well, and refrigerate for about 15 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the flavours.

Cucumber pachadi

Like any other Tam Bram girl, I've grown up on cucumber pachadi, and never even knew about the existence of  'raitas' till I was in college. Cucumber pachadi is my favourite.

1 cup curds
1 cucumber grated
salt to taste

For Tempering:
Mustard seeds
Urad dal
Green chilli
Curry leaves
Til oil

Method:
Beat the curds with some water and salt to taste till smooth.
Grate the cucumber, and squeeze the juice out (you can either throw it away, or slather it on your face, or drink it like I do).
Mix cucumber with the curds.
Heat oil, temper with mustard seeds, urad dal, green chillis and curry leaves, and pour over the pachadi.
Mix well before serving.

Patti's meal

My Patti was an excellent cook, but what made her really great was the fact that she cooked not to satisfy her vanity, but to make people happy. She knew the favourite dishes of all the people she was close to, and she always made it for them whenever she could.

This was "my" lunch- vengaya sambar, podimas, cucumber pachadi, rice and ghee- all cooked with love, and served with joy.

This is the first time I have cooked this combination for myself, and I know I will do so again soon.

Summer Salad- with marigold petals

I loved the idea of making a Summer Salad with marigold petals, and impatiently waited for my sunkissed vinegar to mature so I could use that as a salad dressing. The day finally dawned when I could bring the vinegar out, and we had this light Summer Salad to celebrate!

3 or 4 large lettuce leaves per person
1/4 of a cucumber per person, washed and diced
1 large hard boiled egg per person, peeled and halved
2-3 cherry tomatoes per person
2 tbsp sunkissed vinegar
The petals of 1 marigold flower per person
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Arrange the lettuce leaves in a bowl, shredding them if they are very large.
Place the cucumber in and amongst the lettuce leaves and then add the hard-boiled eggs and tomatos.
Sprinkle salt and pepper, and spread the vinegar evenly over the salad
Scatter the marigold petals over the salad.

Besan sooji kachumber paniyaram

When you have to whip up something quick and non-fussy for lunch everyday, you soon run out of ideas. Right now, my kids will be more than happy if I feed them paniyarams or curd-rice every day, but I know that I shouldn't push my luck too much, or they will just stop having both of them.
This was something I whipped up on the spur of the moment, and which was a real hit with the kids!

Ingredients:
4 heaped serving spoons besan
1 heaped serving spoon sooji/ rawa
2 serving spoons leftover kachumber (mine had cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions in lime juice)
salt, if required
a pinch of baking soda

Method:
Mix all the ingredients into a batter, and keep aside for about 15 minutes
Add the baking soda, and mix well to aereate.
Grease a paniyaram pan with a bit of ghee, and pour the batter into the mounds. Cook on a low flame, and when the paniyaram starts to pull away, turn it over till the other side cooks too.
Serve with coconut chutney or ketchup

Cucumber cake

Cucumber cake? If we can have a zucchini cake, why not a cucumber cake?
Cucumber cake, a traditional recipe from Maharashtra. Now, that really got my attention, and since the recipe had so many of my favourite ingredients, I just had to try it out. There were very many recipes on the internet, but I based mine on SNT's recipe, though I halved the quantities.
The result was, well, different. We alternately loved it and merely liked it, but it was something new! And new is sometimes welcome.

Ingredients :-
3 Cups Grated Cucumber( do not drain its water, that lends more taste, will help moisten the cake and prevent it from becoming dry)
2 Cups of Rawa/Suji
2 Cups of Jaggery ( now depending on the sweetness of the jaggery , do reduce or increase the amount)
2 Cups Freshly Grated Coconut
1 Tsp Cardamom Powder
Handful of Broken Cashewnuts
½ a Cup of Raisins ( I didn’t add them)
Pinch of Salt
2 1/2 Tbsp of Ghee
1 Tsp of Baking Powder
½ Tsp of Baking Soda
 
Method:-
Grease your pan with ghee and keep aside.
Mix the cucumber, rawa, jaggery and coconut with your hands till the jaggery has melted well into the mixture. 
Then add ghee, cardamom powder, salt, cashewnuts, raisins. Keep aside for the rawa to absorb the liquids for about 10/15 mins. 
Add the baking powder and baking soda and mix lightly but well. 
Pour into the greased tin, and steam for 15 minutes. Let it cool a while before demoulding it. 
 Serve when totally cooled without any garnishings or sauces

Cucumber dal

This is a dal that my mother learnt from her friends in Bangalore. Native to the region, I love it, because it has so many tastes that I love- raw garlic, raw ground mustard, coconut and tamarind. The cucumber makes it a more balanced dish too.

1 measure tur dal (or channa dal), cooked with haldi powder

1 cucumber cut into pieces and steamed

Salt to taste

For ground masala

2 tsp mustard/rai

2 tbsp grated coconut

1 marble sized ball tamarind

2-3 pods garlic

2 red chillies

Grind the ingredients listed under "ground masala" with a little bit of water, till you get a smooth paste.
Add to the cooked dal, add the steamed cucumber pieces and salt to taste, and bring to boil.
Serve with rice or roti.

Kosimbir

If you are looking for a really healthy snack, look no further than Kosimbir. It is loaded with proteins, is super tasty, and once you figure out what to do with it, you can experiment all you like.
This is the basic version- one  handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me.

1 cup split moong dal
1 cucumber
2 tbsp grated coconut
1/2 lemon
salt to taste

For tempering (optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 green chilli
1 sprig curry leaves
a little cooking oil


Method
Soak the split moong dal overnight (or at least for 4 hours)
Cut the cucumber into tiny pieces and mix well with the dal
Add salt to taste, squeeze the lemon on top, and garnish with grated coconut
If you like, you can make the tempering and pour it over the kosimbir, or you can avoid it with no change in taste.
Serve chilled, either as a stand alone snack, or with rotis.

You can experiment with grated carrots, spring onions, etc.

Whole wheat muffins

Dishing up something different for "lunch" everyday is the greatest challenge for someone of my limited culinary expertise. Left to me, I will probably give them dahi-chawal every day, but I know that if I try that stunt they will soon reach a stage where they will never again eat it. And to avoid that fate, I am forced to innovate.

1 measure whole wheat atta

1 medium cucumber grated
1/2 measure curds

Salt and pepper to taste

Olives for garnish

Mix all the ingredients (except the garnish) in a bowl, and beat a few times till frothy (it should be of the same consistency as idli batter- add water to make it thinner if required).
Grease the paniyaram pan with ghee, pour the batter into the moulds and let it cook on a low flame till well browned. Before turning it over, place the olives on top, and let the other side brown too.
Serve with dahi and/ or butter.

Cucumber dosa

Since the kids were going to have a holiday today, I'd planned a nice, lazy meal for them, but late last night, they informed me that they would not be having a holiday today. Even the best laid plans go awry, and with no dosa batter to fall back on, I had to improvise.

A couple of weeks back, I had found this recipe for a cucumber-wheat-coconut dosa, and I thought this was the best time to try it out. It turned out better than I expected- crispy, yet soft, and with a harmonious blend of flavours.

Wheat flour - 2 cups Grated cucumber - 1 cup Grated coconut - 1/2 cup crushed/powdered pepper - 1 tsp jeera powder - 1 tsp salt to taste water - as required. Make a smooth batter mixing all the ingredients. Keep it aside for 15 mts. Make dosas. You get good soft doasas.Any type of chutney goes with it.

Cucumber-Paneer Cups

A few months back, I tried to shift from "three big meals a day", a more healthy "small meals more often". For someone who doesn't particularly like spending time in the kitchen, the mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals were initially a bit of a challenge, but that was only till I discovered soups and salads! 
This particular dish is adapted from one I first saw in Runner Girl in the Kitchen. I had been intending to make Cucumber-Paneer Cups her way, but on that particular day, I craved something sweet, and this experiment was unexpectedly successful.

Crumble 100 gms paneer, sprinkle 1 tps ground cinnamon, add 2 tbsp honey, and mix well.
Wash 2 cucumbers, cut into two/ three/ four pieces each (depending on how big you want each cup to be), and remove the seeds using the back of a spoon.
Stuff the core with the paneer, and enjoy.

This is not exactly *sweet*, but the predominant taste is of honey and cinnamon, and you know you are eating a lot of goodness.