Sweet Potato Celery Bisque

I just got back from a lovely vacation to Kufri,where all I did was eat, trek, hike, and eat some more. The butter on my paranthas will come back to haunt me, I just know it. So I started eating healthy and light, and found some wonderful gems to support my mission.

This healthy, filling, flavourful bisque is very, very loosely adapted from this recipe, which I have used more for an idea guideline. I always wanted to try out a vegetarian bisque. The beauty of this is its minimal ingredients, and ease of cooking.

Servings: 4
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 12-15 mins.




Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly
1 medium firm, slightly ripe apple, chopped, with skin on (I used Granny Smith here)
1 small celery bunch, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt, as needed
black peppercorns, coarsely ground, 1 teaspoon
Water, about 1 and half cups.
1 tablespoon grated sharp cheddar cheese

Method:
In a deep pan, add the olive oil and onions and slightly sauté.
Add the sweet potatoes, apples, and a pinch of salt. cover and cook for about 2 mins on a medium flame
Add the celery, and cover for another minute.
Add the water, cover, and boil for about 10 mins on high.
Once cool, purée with a hand blender (or in a mixer/food processor), but not too smooth.
Add salt, pepper (I like mine hot so I used more pepper here), and more water if needed.
Serve warm with grate cheese on top.

Cabbage stir-fry

This one goes out to my friend Angana who has been pestering me for "less oil wala recipes". Her lament is that Indian vegetables are not very easily available outside of India (oh well...) so here comes a series of recipes that can be prepared in record time, have a whole lot of optional ingredients, and a lot of flexibility...

SO here's the Cabbage stir-fry

Ingredients
1) 2 cups chopped cabbage(green) (substitues: chopped brussell sprouts, chopped red cabbage, chopped iceberg lettuce chopped chards)
2) 1/3 cup chik peas (chana), soaked and steamed. (substitues: green peas, red beans, black beans, garbanzo beans - pink beans, or any legume)
3) 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander powder
4) 1 teaspoon paprika/red chilli powder
5) Juice of half a lemon
6) 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
7) 2 teaspoons oil
8) salt
9) chopped cialntro (optional)

Procedure:
1) Blanch the main vegetable (put in boling water for 2 minutes and remove from heat)
2) In a pean, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds.
3) Add the legume and stir for a minute.
4) Add the main vegetable, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water, add the salt and cover
5) cook for 3-4 mins on low heat
6) Add the red chilli powder, coriander powder and stir.
7) Add lemon juice and cilantro just before serving

Cold Pasta Salad

This is definitely one of my go to Dishes. About a couple months back P suggested a picnic. And boy was I thrilled! I made a lot of stuff, Packed it, got a bag for trash, a nonsensical book, and I was ready! We sat in a bamboo grove, talked, ate, read, relaxed. Until the monkeys came. I think they liked the pasta too :) else it would have been pretty insulting!

This is something that can be whipped up in 10 minutes flat whether I am making it for 3 people or 30. Definitely my go to dish. With a slice of cheesy whole wheat or rye toast, I think it can pretty much make a complete meal.

You will need

1 handful of mini pasta per person (I'm making this dish to serve 2-3)

1 medium sized carrot, chopped into small bits

1 small handful fresh or frozen green peas

1 small handful fresh or frozen sweet corn

6 medium sized French beans, chopped into small pieces

15 large red grapes or 15 ripe small strawberries, quartered

1 handful chopped black olives

2 pinches dried parsley or one teaspoon fresh parsley

2 pinches dried oregano or one teaspoon fresh oregano

2 pinches dried basil or one teaspoon fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint

juice of 1 lime

1 or 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 or 2 teaspoons cheese powder

salt to taste.

Method:

Boil the pasta al dente, run cold water over it and keep aside (the baby pasta I get here takes me 7 minutes to cook. Just for the white backdrop and color riot, I stick to durum wheat pasta but whole wheat pasta is definitely a healthier option)

Blanch/parboil the vegetables and keep aside.

Mix the pasta, cooked vegetables, fruit (in the interest of both taste and color, these two fruits work the best), and olives.

Add the herbs, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, and stir.

Refrigerate if preferred at a lower temperature. If refrigerating, add lime juice just before serving.

Add cheese powder also just before serving.

Serve on its own or with cheese toasts.

Rasam 1 - Pepper Rasam

My MBA School stirs up some strong memories - very good friends and very bad food. Justifiably, I'm still surprised when one of those very good friends says, "I want to make Rasam, XIME style" Uh. Ok. But there are also memories from childhood, from when my Grandmom would force a big glass of this down my throat the minute I started to cough. Angana, here's a tastier, authentic South Indian variation. I hope it helps you beat the Switzerland cold also :)

You will need

3 large, fresh red tomatoes - very finely chopped or boiled and crushed by hand.

3 large cloves garlic, smashed once with a knife

2 pinches black pepper (or you can take it upto 1 teaspoon if you like it spicy) (available in most Indian stores)

1 pinch turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon Rasam powder (optional, if available, but pepper usage needs to be monitored)

10 curry leaves or 1 tablespoon cilantro/dhaniya patta, chopped

1 teaspoon tamarind paste OR juice of 1 lemon (I prefer lemon for pepper Rasam)

1 teaspoon light cooking oil or ghee

1 large pinch cumin seeds.

Salt to taste

Preparation:

1) Heat oil/ghee and add cumin seeds. When they swell, add the garlic and stir.

2) When the garlic starts changing color, add chopped tomatoes and salt and fry till tomatoes start cooking. If using boiled tomatoes, see step 3

3) When the garlic starts changing color, add the tomatoes and stir for 30 seconds on high.

4) Add the turmeric powder

5) Add about 600 ml of water, and salt if required. If using tamarind paste, add it now.

6) Let the Rasam boil for about 5 minutes, and add the pepper powder. Boil for another minute.

7) Add the lemon if using.

8) Finish with curry leaves/chopped cilantro leaves.

9) Serve hot with rice, or on its own as soup.

Note: Traditional Rasam uses cooked and mashed lentils (dal) as a binder. 1 tablespoon can be added to this version as well, but Pepper Rasam is more watery than the regular Rasam.

(Image Courtesy: rakskitchen.net)

Yellow Pumpkin Soup

Before I got married, I would subsist on soup. Every. Single. Night. Many thanks to Kanchan who made me relive those days. The days where I didn't need to keep stressing on the importance of vegetables, because I would get enough. And to emphasize how awesome a simple bowl of colored goop can be, I start here a soup series.

Soups are the most innovative way to eat vegetables, according to me. They cook enough so that the texture is not a bother, while retaining all the essential components. And the possibilities of experimentation are virtually endless.

This is the easiest, most flavorful and tasty variant I have ever made.

Serves 3-4. Preparation/Cooking time - 20 mins

Ingredients

1) Yellow/Red Pumpkins - about half a kg, or 1 1/2 pounds (You can use any species that belongs to the colored pumpkin family - squash, butternut squash, anything, as long as it is fresh)

2) Salt

3) 2 Bay Leaves

4) Red Chilly flakes - 2 large pinches

5) Coarsely ground black pepper - 1 large pinch

6) Chopped parsley - 1 large tablespoon

7) Saffron strands - a pinch

8) Yogurt (plain) - beaten (optional) - 1/2 tablespoon per cup

9) Toasted pumpkin seeds - optional.

Procedure:

1) Take the skin off the pumpkin - easiest way to to this is to cut the pumpkin into 12-16 pieces, skin and all, and slash off the skin with a knife. Steam the pumpkin in a CLOSED container - a cooker makes the most sense. Add a little salt and the bay leaves to the cooker to steam.

2) Once the pumpkin is cooked, puree the pieces into a smooth paste (after discarding the bay leaves).

3) Dilute with vegetable stock/water, add the chilly flakes and pepper and bring to a boil (on a low flame).

4) Add the saffron when the soup starts boiling.

5) Add 3/4 of the parsley and turn off the heat 5 minutes after doing so.

6) Garnish with a pinch of fresh parsley, a yogurt swirl, and the pumpkin seeds.

I like eating this with a slice of toasted brown bread with olive oil dribbled over it. Yumm!!

Red Coconut Chutney

This is a nice variation and a break from the mundane coconut chutney. Goes well with the lighter south Indian stuff like rava dosa, rice dosa, etc.

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup coconut pieces
2) 1 and 1/2 tablespoons black gram (urad daal)
3) 1 and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
4) salt to taste
5) 4-7 dried red chillies (depending on how spicy you like it)
6) 1/4 teaspoon tamarind paste OR 1/4 teaspoon dry mango powder
7) 10 curry leaves
8) 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
9) a pinch of asafoetida
10) 1 teaspoon oil.

Ingredients:

1) Grind Ingredients 1-6 together to a dry powder
2) Add water at room temperature till it becomes a fine paste.
3) heat oil. Add Ingredients 7,8 and 9 till mustard seeds pop and curry leaves are crunchy.
4) Add the oil mixture to the chutney and serve hot!!

Stir Fry with White Sauce

I love any cream-based vegetables. It makes a wonderful accompaniment with bread, pasta, risotto, or a great side dish for an all-crouton salad. The ways to serve it are wonderful, and its a pleasure to eat.

Any vegetable available can be used here. My favorite happens to be zucchini, and a five vegetale mix (ive mentioned it in the recipe)

Stir-fry in white sauce.

Ingredients
1) 1 cup vegetables. Options:
a) Zucchini, cubed
b) mixed vegetables (tossed in boling water for 3 mins and parboiled - my personal favourite is a mixture of carrots, ring beans, sweet corn, peas, cauliflower florets and zucchini)
c) carrots, cubed
d) pumpkin or squash, cubed
2) 1 tablespoon cream (low fat cream, heavy cream, or half-and-half)
3) 1 teaspoon unflavored yogurt
4) 1 teaspoon butter
5) 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
6) 1/4 teaspoon thyme
7) 1/4 teaspoon fresh basil, OR fresh mint
8) salt

Procedure.
1) Heat the butter.
2) Add the vegatables and fry till bright in color.
3) Add salt, cover, and cook on low for 5 mins. Stir twice in these 5 mins.
4) Add the cream, the yougrt, a little water, and cook on high for a minute.
5) When the water evaporates and the sauce thickens, add the thyme and white pepper powder.
6) Add more salt if required, and turn off the heat.
7) Garnish with mint/basil and serve.

Footnotes:
1) Cream may be completely substituted with a think, unflavored, yougrt (even fat free yogurt may be used)
2) DO NOT USE OIL, USE ONLY BUTTER. Remember, always cook dairy with dairy for non-cheese bases (for cream, yogurt, etc, cook with butter, else the plant fat and animal fat can make you feel queasy)

Dal Fry

I know this sounds really simple, but I had to experiment for about two years to get it just right. Last night's was simply yummy so i thought I would share.

Ingredients:

1)Dal - 1 cup (I used the flat lentils here arhar dal but you can use just about any skinned lentils you have in your kitchen)
2)Tomato - 1 small, chopped finely
3)Onion - 1 small, chopped finely
4)Chilli - 1 medium to large, chopped into a long piece n then slit
5)cilantro - 1 teaspoon, chopped

Spices:
1)Mustard seeds - a pinch
2)Cumin seeds - 1/2 a teaspoon
3)turmeric - a pinch
4)all spice powder (garam masala) - a pinch
5)paprika / red chilli powder - a pinch
6)dry mango powder - a pinch (you can also substitute this with about 10 drops of lemon juice for the tang)
7)Salt to taste

Preparation:

1) Boil the dal with slightly excess water.
2) Heat 2 teaspoons oil. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they sputter, add onion. When onions start turning gold add the tomato and chillies.
3) Add the dal once the tomatoes start oozing oil.
4) Add the all spice, paprika, turmeric, dry mango and salt.
5) Add 1 tablespoon of water and boil for about 2 minutes. The dal should be medium watery.
6) Add cilantro before serving.

Peanut chutney

Another old-time favorite that I would love with bread. This too, is a great accompaniment to most Indian dishes.

Ingredients
1) 1 cup peanuts, dry roasted and skin removed (UNSALTED)
2) 2 green chillies
3) 1 clove garlic
4) a pinch dried mango powder OR tamarind juice (if you don't have any of these, use some sour yogurt - you may leave 2 tablespoons of yogurt out overnight to ferment it)
5) mustard seeds
6) curry leaf
7) 2 teaspoon oil
8) A pinch asafoetida (heeng)
9) salt.

Method:
1) Roast Ingredients 1,2,3 in one teaspoon of oil.
2) grind with salt and water and ingredient 4 till you get a smooth paste.
3) heat oil. Add ingredients 5,6,7 and add to chutney.
4) Serve with anything you like.

Apple-Yogurt salad

Healthy, tasty and light. You can throw in your own variations to it by adding spices, or other dried fruit. The basic recipe is what i have given below.

Ingredients:
1) 2 red apples, cored and diced
2) 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.

Dressing Ingredients:
1) One cup curd/thick unsweetened non-flavored yogurt (if you are using home made 'curd', hand it in a cotton cloth for an hour.
2) 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
3) A pinch of brown sugar
4) 2 teaspoon sparkling apple juice
5) 1 teaspoon ginger juice (grate ginger and squeeze)

Method:
1) Mix all the dressing ingredients EXCEPT brown sugar
2) Add these to the salad ingredients and mix well.
3) Garnish with sprinkled brown sugar

Fruit Panzanella

Here's the sweet version of a panzanella. I have tried not to sweeten it too much so that it may be served as a course at a full meal. Something I don't see being very "desserty" and is hence not classified so.

This recipe again takes off the lemon juice. I prefer substituting that with a thicker juice, to hold in the fruit flavors.

Ingredients:
1) half a cored apple, diced into small cubes
2) 1/2 cup diced pineapple
3) 4 black olives, cut into very small pieces
4) 2 slices of bread (multigrain or whole wheat for a healthier option) cut into small croutons and dried till crunchy (either in microwave or the sun)
5) 1 tablespoon walnuts
6) 1 tablespoon pistachio or almonds (the latter tastes better with bread)
7) 7and 8 can be substituted with 2 tablespoon pine0nuts
8) 1 tablespoon raisins

Dressing:
1) 1/2 cup strawberry, cut into large chunks and mashed
2) 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
3) 2 teaspoons brown sugar (can be substituted with 1 teaspoon honey)
4) One tablespoon red wine (optional, but very strongly recommended by me)
5) grated lemon rind.

Method:
1)In a bowl, mix all the salad ingredients you will be using.
2) In another bowl, take the mashed strawberries and stir. Some strawberry juice should separate.
3) Add the orange juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar (quick tip - one sachet of the Barista brown sugar is perfect for these proportions :D ). Keep a pinch of brown sugar aside.
4) Add the lemon rind and red wine.
5) Pour over the salad ingredients
6) garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining brown sugar.

Footnotes:
1)Although the red wine is optional, I love the body it provides to the dressing. Also, the red wine prevents the other fruit from changing color.
2) It might be tempting to try, but please please emlimitae diary in this recipe. Makes it too heavy and adds too many elements in what is to be just a starter. Moreover, this would be a part of the meal and not the meal itself so its important to keep this dish a little disbalanced, ingredient wise.


Variation:
This is a little tricky but gives an amazing result.
Take 3 tablespoons of white sugar and 2 tablespoons water. When the sugar melts add the bread slices. stir till the bread is caramalized. And add it to the salad. Elimitae the brown sugar in the dressing. However, this is a sweeter version and something that cant be consumed in too much quantities at a meal.

Panzanella

A very light Italian salad. Okay, okay. I admit this is not the actual original recipe. I have played around with it in terms of dressing. I personally like crispy ingredients staying crispy, and I have substituted the original light, lemony dressing with a heavier but smoother mixed oil dressing.

It makes for a great summer salad, light on the stomach, and fun on the tastebuds.

Ingredients:
1) 1 cup bread slices (cut into small pieces and dried till crisp in a microwave, or in the sun - NO toast, PLEASE!!!)
2) 1/4 of a cucumber, diced into small cubes
3) One large tomato, diced
4) 1/4 green bell pepper (optional yellow, but avoid red, it could get too "sweet" for the salad)
5)a bit of Iceberg lettuce or salad greens
6) 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
7) 1/2 a cored green apple (optional)
8) 1/2 cup fresh pineapple - diced (optional)
9) 1/4 cup walnuts - optional

Dressing Ingredients:
1)1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2) 1 tablespoon sesame oil
3) 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4) 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (I prefer Thai ginger here)
5) 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
6) sea salt
7) A pinch white pepper (optional)
8) 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional) (But I personally LOVE this option... especially if you are using herbed bread, balsamic gives a very nice edge)

Method:
1)In a large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients (or whatever you are using)
2) In a separate bowl, mix up all the dressing ingredients
3) Pour over salad and toss.

Footnote:
1) The original recipe calls for only olive oil, lemon juice, and eliminates the ginger. The authentic Italian recipe uses stale foccacia, and the sour-ish taste of the foccacia clashes with the ginger. I personally prefer to get my zest with the lemon rind, so that the lemon juice does not soak into the bread and make the pieces soggy.
2) An all-fruit panzanalla tastes divine. Watch the space. :)

Bread Upma

This is not south Indian. It's a convoluted home-concocted stuff which is great as a brunch item, evening snack or for school lunches!

Ingredients:
1) 2 slices of (brown, or whole wheat) bread, broken into small bits
2) 1 medium red onion chopped (I personally like chives here, they taste great)
3) 1 very small carrot, grated
4) 1/4 green bell pepper, cut into small strips
5) 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
6) half a lemon
7) one green chilli, cut into small pieces
8) a pinch of turmeric
9) 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
10) cumin seeds
11) salt.

Method:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add cumin. Add onions and fry till pink. Add chopped green peppers and fry till tender. Add carrots. Add the green chillies.
2) Chop the bread slices into tiny tiny pieces and add these pieces.
3) Add the salt, turmeric and cilantro and stir.
4) Finish off with the squeezed lemon.

Note:
You may add other vegetables of your choice, like chopped botatoes, boiled beans, green peas, zuccini, etc.

Green Coconut chutney

This has many many many variants, which I will be putting as a footnote. Here's the basic recipe.

Ingredients
1) 1/2 cup chopped fresh coconut
2) 1/4 cup chana dal (green gram - dried, roasted, and split)
3) 2 big green chillies
4) 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, washed
5) a very very small piece of ginger (optional)
6) 3 leaves of mint (optional)
7) 2 teaspoons plain unsweetened unflavored yogurt (optional)
8) salt
9) half a teaspoon oil
10) a pinch of mustard seeds
11) a pinch of cumin seeds
12) a pinch black gram (split)
13) one stick curry leaves.

Method:
1) Combine ingredients 1-8 (whatever you are using) and grind. Add water as required. You should get a smooth paste.
2) Heat oil. Add the black gram lentil. Let it change shade. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Add curry leaves and fry till curry leaves are crispy.
3) Pour this into the chutney (and NOT the other way around)
4) Serve with whatever you want to eat it with.

Onion Chutney

Just made a nice fresh bowl of this stuff for dinner. Its a very typical Andhra dish, but goes with almost everything you can imagine. When I was a kid, I'd butter up some brown bread and spread a bit of dried onion chutney, throw in come carrots and radishes to make one pungent sandwich.

It goes well with idly's and paranthas alike (my personal favourite accompaniement to this is dosas). It make s great dip as well. A version with chopped tomatoes added (mentioned after the recipe) can also be tried out.

Onion Chutney

You will need
1) 2 large red onions, chopped
2) 6-7 dried red chillies
3) salt
4)1 teaspoon oil
5) 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

Method:
1) Heat 1/2 a teaspoon of oil and add the chillies.
2) When the chillies are crunchy, take them out and grind (for a food processor, make sure you use the dry-grinding/spice grinding option)
3) toss the onions in the pan (dont add more oil), till they are pink
4) Add the onions and salt to the food processor and grind till you get a paste.
5) Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat. Add the mustard seeds. Add the onion paste and toss for exactly 30 seconds (we do NOT want to drain out the moisture from the onions)
6) Serve it at room temperature with absolutely anything!

Variation.
To step 3, add one tomato chopped, with the seeds removed.

Kashmiri Pilaf

This is NOT the weird stuff you get at the pseudo-northie restaurants in Bangalore.

This is the simplest possible recipe, and something very close to authentic, with ONE variation (which is also mentioned after the recipe). The rice can be cooked either in a rice cooker, or microwave, a pressure cooker, or just steamed in a wok/vessel. For convenience sake I'm putting down the last version.

Ingredients:

1) 2 cups Basmati Rice (Long grained and fragrant) (approx 200 grams rice)
2) 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit (raisins, roasted almonds, pistachio and walnuts - these make the recipe authentic. Only variation allowed is dried pine nuts. No cashews, please)
3) 2 pinches saffron in 2 teaspoons of warm milk
4) 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
5) One bay leaf
6) Salt

Method:
1) Wash the rice. Drain the water. For 2 cups of rice, add 3.5 cups water (350 - 375 ml) in a deep, vessel (a deep wok works best). Add half one teaspoon of the ghee, 1/3 teaspoon salt and the bay leaf.
2) Cook the rice. Keep the pan closed. The flame should be high till the water boils. One the water boils and you can smell the starch, reduce the flame to medium.
3) The rice is done when the water is soaked up by the grains. Open the wok and stir the rice with a fork. Cooking this quantity of Basmati rice should take about 20 minutes or so.
4) heat a pan, and fry the dried fruit in the ghee. When the nuts turn broen, take off the flame and add to the rice. Now add in the saffron and stir.

Its done!!!

Variation:
Ingredients:
6 peppercorns, 4 cloves, 1 inch cinnammon, 2 cloves or cardamom, 1 star anise, all tied in a small piece of cotton cloth.
1 large chopped onion.

In Step one, add the spice cloth packet while cooking rice.
In step 4, fry onion till golden brown, add dried fruit, and mix with the rice. (Do remember to discard the clothe packet :-p)

(This one's for Nirmal :-) )

Crostinis!

Ingredients:

Common Ingredients (other than topping):

1) A baguette (prefrably the ones without cheese cprinked on top, and whole wheat), diagonally cut
2) Parmesan or cheddar cheese, grated
3) Mozarella cheese, grated (totally optional)
4) 2 teaspoons fresh cream
5) Oregano, white pepper powder and salt
6) totato puree/ (I prefer fresh tomatoes blanched and pureed)
7) 2 teaspoons olive oil

Toppings:

A) Peppers

one red and one yelow pepper (this makes about 10-12 pieces). Roast or bake both n peel off the skin. Take off seeds and chop into small pieces.
Heat olive oil, lightly fry the peppers, and one tablespoon cooking vinegar. Let the vinegar evaporate. Then add one teaspoon cream (this acts as a binder and preverts toppings from falling all over the place.), and one large spoon grated cheese.
Add oregano, salt, pepper, heat some more.

Take the baguette pieces, roast with oilve oil in a pan for 1 min on both sides, coat lightly with puree and add the topping. Garnish with parsley.

B) Zuccini
One small green and one small yellow zuccini. (This makes around 12)
Chop both into small pieces.
Heat olive oil, lightly fry the zuccini, let them vrey slightly brown. add one teaspoon cream (this acts as a binder and preverts toppings from falling all over the place.), and one large spoon grated cheese.
Add oregano, salt, pepper, heat some more.

Take the baguette pieces, roast with oilve oil in a pan for 1 min on both sides, coat lightly with puree, add topping and garnish with fresh tomato.

C) Mushroom:
Chop both into small pieces.
Heat olive oil, lightly fry the mushrooms, let them vrey slightly brown. Add one large spoon grated cheese and let it melt (no cream here! GAG!)
Add oregano, salt, pepper, heat some more.

take the baguette pieces, coat with puree, add mushroom mixture, sprinkle more grated cheese.
Microwave on high for 1 min or bake for 6-7 mins in convection, 360/180 (top/base)

D) Tomato -FRESH
Take 3 large fresh ripe tomatoes, chop into very tiny pices, but do remove seeds. Mix with olive oil, a little fresh cruched garlic, white pepper, 4 drops of lemon juice and oregano and salt.

Lightly roast the baguette pieces in olive oil and add the mixture. Garnish with parsley (ESPECIALLY when yu kmake dieshes with fresh garlic, and not cook it, DO use parsley as a garnish)

Raw Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

1) A small-medium fresh, raw mango (one the size of your fist makes a medium cupful)
2) fenugreek seeds (methi)
3) mustard seeds
4) dried red chilli pepper
5) one teaspoon oil

Procedure:
1) Heat the oil and add both seeds till they pop.
2) add the chillies, fry till they become brittle (dont let them go brown)
3) grind above mixture, but not smooth
4) Add mango and grind again (not to a smooth paste, its nice when slighlty rough n yu hav to bite the mango-yum!!)
5)Add salt AFTER its done, else raw mango tends to ooze water.

Goes with anything, especially curd rice n dosas, ( I even like it with bread n cheese :))

Note: 1) This stays for a max os 2-3 days and is best when fresh.
Other variations:
Tomato (Braise the tomatoes on high flame with just 2 drops of oil and continue the procedure)
Green apple (raw apple - this tastes fantastic! Same procedure as the mango chutney)
Roasted brinjal (Roast brinjal on glame, or grill it(or make 3-4 slits in the vegetable, coat with oil, wrap in foil and bake at 360 degrees in convection oven for 15 mins), peel of the skin when cold, and repeat procedure)

Lentil Soup

Telugu: Pappu Pulusu.
Serves: One cup uncooked lentils, this serves 4.

a) the powder.

Ingredients:
1) 15 dry red chillies
2) 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
3) 2 and 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds.

Procedure:
Roast all 3 till dry in a wok/pan (prefrable no color change of chillies)
Grind to a fine powder.

b) the soup base

Ingredients
1) Lentils (yellow, split and dry) (Indian arhar dal OR moong dal only)
2) tamarind paste - 1 teaspoon
3) sugar 1 teaspoon
4) powder (see above) 1 teaspoon
5) 1 teaspoon oil
6) asafoetida powder
7) mustard seeds
8) curry leaves

Procedure:
1) Steam lentils in pressure cooker and mash well.
2) Add water (2 cups) in a pot, mashed lentils, tamarind paste, sugar, salt and powder. stir well. Boil.
3) Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they pop add asafoetida and curry leaves.
4) simmer for 5-7 mins on medium

Variation 1:
Stir onions, boil (but they SHOULDNT be mashed) while soup simmers

Variation 2
Add fried garlic at the end, and boil for a minute.

Variation 3:
Add cooked drumsticks while soup simmers.

Best with rice.

Potato in Onion Gravy (dry)

Telugu : Alugadda ulipaayi khaaram koora.
Helpings: ~4

Ingredients:
a) Potatoes (half a pound baby potatoes OR 3 large ones), steamed/boiled and peeled.
b) 3 large onions, chopped
c) 10-12 dried red chilli
d) cumin seeds
e) mustard seeds
f) cooking oil (I use sunflower oil for ALL Indian cooking. You may substitute with palm or groundnut, but avoid sesame or mustard oils unless mentioned)

Procedure:
1) Roast red chillies till hard and brittle in a dry wok. Grind to a slightly rough powder.
2) Heat half the oil and add cumin seeds. Add onions after they pop. Add salt when onions start turning white.
3) Add onion/cumin to the chilli powder and grind again to a rough paste-like consistency. Avoid adding water, or max 2 tablespoons if required.
4) Heat the rest of the oil and add mustard seeds. Add the paste once they pop. Fry lightly for a min on medium.
5) Add baby potatoes / potato pieces and fry on lkow (without covering wok) for 10 mins.

Goes best with rice, but I think its nice with Roti too.