All about Balance -Kale & Red Masoor Dal Sabji - Kale & Lentils Curry -Iron & Protein Filled

Kale & Red Masoor Dal Sabji - Kale Lentils Curry - Iron  Protein Filled

It's been a long time since I have posted, last few weeks at work have been extremely busy, had a chance to present my project to my company CEO and executives so that took pretty much every free minute I had. That said I was very excited about the opportunity and here I was in the board room ready to present , I turn around and my heart skips a beat. I realize that I am the only women in the room full of exec's. It then hits you about the gender imbalance at the executive and board level. Even more surprising is the gender disparity is higher in the Silicon Valley where we pride ourselves as pathfinders, liberals and progressive.Well to me this is a representation of my previous generation. My generation sure has a fighting chance but I am hoping the generation that enters work force are far more aggressive and speak their mind and hopefully ask for what is rightfully theirs. A large part also lies in the raising girls confident right from the start , to speak their mind and not be intimidated at their choices and hopefully with times corporations mature and provide a work life balance and women don't have to make hard choices.


Talking about balance last November and December saw myself completely out of balance in terms of eating. All the parties, festivities and a trip to India was very evident on the scale. That said I had to go through a detox routine to get rid of all that extra weight and since the start of the year have been on a balanced regiment of diet and exercise. Have been incorporating lot more fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and lots of grains. So Kale is my newest edition of fresh greens, loved the flavor and when flavored with spices gets even better.

Ingredients
1 bunch of kale
1 cup red masoor dal
tbsp of ginger garlic paste
handful of chery tomatoes
8-10 curry leaves
tbsp of garam masala
1/2 tbsp of jeera/cumin seeds
1/2 tbsp of mustard seeds
tbsp of olive oil
and salt according to taste

Process
1. Wash masoor dal with water and microwave in MV safe bowl for about 5 minutes. At the end of the five minutes Masoor dal should be soft to touch and should not loose it's shape.
2. Wash and chop kale finely. Pressure cook until about 2 whistles and allow to cool and drain the water out and keep aside.
3.Heat a pan add oil and when it gets hot add mustard,cumin ,ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and tomatoes and saute for about a minute or two.
4. Add microwaved Masoor dal and mix well.
5. Now add boiled Kale leaves and mix till dal and seasoning are well mixed. Add salt accordingly.

Remove from heat and serve. Goes extremely well with Rice or roti's.

Want to sign off with Sheryl Sandberg's commencement speech at the Barnard, feel fortunate to be a part of the same generation as her and there sure is hope for Balance.

Pesara Attu - A Savory Green Gram/Moong Crepe

Pesara Attu - A Savory Green Gram Crape

Can't believe we are nearing end of February find it hard to believe two months have passed by so quick , its a good thing in many ways. Being occupied is a very healthy thing. I am of sort who gets really agitated if I am not challenged, I love challenges and would butt them head on and the kind who works well under pressure :) so far the year has been nothing but exciting challenges both at home and work.

Few weeks ago had few friends over for brunch decided to make Pesara attu and Upma, anyone from Andhra Pradesh can vouch what a breakfast darling this savory crape is. It's funny how much I crave for it as I type and then there were childhood days where I would run miles away from it and dreaded Sunday mornings just for this same reason.

Being a vegetarian its always challenging to find dishes low on carbs and high on protein,Pesalu or Green gram fills this void and is an excellent source of protein and iron.

This savory crepe is very easy to make and tastes heavenly and is always served with piping hot Upma and spicy ginger chutney. So here goes the recipe


Ingredients makes for about 8-10


For batter


2 cups whole green gram soaked over night preferably.
2-3 green chillies
about an inch of Ginger
tbsp of cumin seeds
cup of coriander (optional)
2 tbsp of rice flour
salt according to taste


For toppings
1 red onion finely chopped
2-3 tbsp of cumin seeds
green chillies chopped finely (optional)
3-4 tbsp of oil 


Process
1. Soak green gram for about 4 hours overnight works even better.
2. Add all the ingredients for the batter and grind it into a fine paste. My handy Vitamix is sure a life saver.
3. Now heat a non-stick griddle, crepe pan or I used my prized cast iron tawa/griddle.
4. Pour a ladle full of batter on the pan and spread thin and evenly into a round shape, don't worry about the shape  it gets better with experience .

5. Now sprinkle red onions a pinch of cumin seeds and optionally if you wish finely chopped green chillies and pat them into the wet batter gently.
6. Now wet the surface around the crepe with about a tspn of oil, this allows for the edges not to stick and gives a crispy texture to the edges.
7. Allow to cook for two minutes and turn in around and allow to cook for a minute or two.

Remove from heat and serve with hot pipping Upma and spicy ginger chutney or peanut chutney, and I promise your guest will ask for more.

When Life Gives You Lemons & Oranges - You Make Marmalade - The Easy Way

When Life Gives You Lemons & Oranges - You Make  Marmalade The Easy Way !!

I cannot complain about California living, the weather , the diversity, the technology , the bounty and oh ya the weather :). As much as I crib about congested highways, commute time and high cost of living I cannot imagine living elsewhere.

I have a usual suburban backyard , planted Lemon and Orange trees a decade ago, it took good five plus years to see any sign of fruit and then just like that in the last few years trees have bourn more fruit than it can carry. As the years passed by and tree matured Oranges has been the sweetest that you can get.It's been years since I have brought Lemons or Oranges in the store.

With all the fruit decided to try making marmalade, I am usually very intimidated making jams, jellys or preserves. I have a feeling I cannot get the recipe right. With that in mind decided to make a small batch and try it out.

Googled for a recipe that would work for a small batch and found one here however modified it to suit my taste.

Ingredients
2 Navel Oranges
2 Cups fresh Orange juice - For today's recipe I used store brought Orange juice with pulp.
2/3rd lemon juice
4 cups sugar
6 cups water

Process
1.Quater oranges and slice them as thin as possible a good sharp knife would be very very handy.
2. Over a medium heat in a non-stick pot add cut oranges, orange juice,lemon juice and six cups of water and allow to boil for about 1 1/2 hour till oranges turn translucent.
3. Now add 2 cups of sugar and allow the marmalade to come to boil to 220.
4. Remove from heat and allow the marmalade to cool overnight.

Next day morning you will have a perfectly textured marmalade for your toast's ,waffles, muffins etc..
I did not use any pectin yet the texture and taste were out of the world .

Had few friends taste test marmalade and got a thumps up from all of them glad to have found a winning recipe. Since I used store brought Orange juice marmalade tasted just like store brought no difference at all.

Dum Aloo - Baby Potatoes Simmered In Rich Creamy Gravy

Dum Aloo - Baby Potatoes Simmered In Rich Creamy Gravy

It's been a busy busy year so far on all fronts ,time to blog sure seems like a luxury.  Today was the kind of day where head and heart were not in sync and I needed to be just by myself ,sometime a little ME time in the middle of week is all that is required to keep my sanity.

Today's recipe was in draft since summer, made this during my uncle and aunts visit.

This recipe sure takes time to prepare but the end result is so well worth all the effort.

Ingredients

About a 1lb of Small Potaotes, I used store brought frozen baby potatoes

Ingredients for Gravy

1/2 cup of cashews

1/2 cup almonds

1/3 cup golden raisins

pinch of methi/fenugreek seeds

tbsp of kasoori methi

about 1inch of cinammon bark

tbsp of peppercorns

1/2 tbsp of fennel seeds
3-4 cloves

2-3 cardamon pods

1/2 cup corriander chopped.

2 large sweet onion chopped finely

1 bell pepper/capsicum chopped finely

1 medium sized tomato chopped

about 2 cups of milk I used 2%

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp chat masala

Salt according to taste

2 tbsp of oil

Ingredients for the gravy

Process

1, Heat a pan add two tbsp of oil, when oil gets warm add ginger garlic paste and saute for about 20 secs.

2. Now add all the ingredients from the above picture.

3. Saute for about 30-40 sec , this will emit a strong fragrance.

4.Now add onions and saute for about a minute till they turn translucent.

5. Add bell pepper,tomato and salt and saute for about a minute or two.

6. Now transfer the above into a blender and add two cups of milk, I use my very faithful Vitamix, cannot tell you how much I love Vitamix. Add salt ,garam masala and chat masala and blend till it turns into a fine paste.

7. Now in the same pan that you sauted add tbsp of butter and transfer the mixture and allow it to come to a boil.

8. Set the gravy to thicken on medium heat.

9. Now deep fry the pototoes in oil in a seperate pan. Before frying prick potatoes with fork, this allows for gravy to be soaked well.

10, Remove the fried potates from heat and drop them into the gravy.

11. Allow the potatoes to be cooked in the gravy with closed lid for about 6-7 minutes on medium heat.

You can replace potatoes with Paneer and this turns into shahi paneer.

Remove from heat and garnish with corriander and optionally with cream and serve hot with naan's, roti's, Parata's or Poori's.

Remember we have few more days to donate for Vadehi Ashram so please head over and donate as much as you can.

Source

I love going to bed thinking postive gives me energy for next day , saw this and had a contended smile on my face as I call it a day.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers - Oh So Good !!!

Stuffed Peppers  - Oh So Good !!!

This post was in drafts since Thanksgiving, made it for Thanksgiving potluck . A perfect dish to feed crowd, can be prepped ahead, customized according to taste and a sure crowd pleaser. This could be a perfect recipe for your upcoming Super Bowl party.

I used Poblano peppers, which are very mild in taste and are quite meaty and easy to stuff.

Ingredients - Makes for about 12 servings

Half loaf of bread of your choice, I used sourdough bread which was about 2-3 days old.
1/2 a cup of Parsley,Cilantro
1/4 cup of Basil
tbsp of red pepper flakes (adjust accordingly)
1 cup of shredded three cheese mix (Mozzarella,Parmesan,Monterey Jack) you could use Feta or cheese of your choice
2 tbsp of Capers - I love CAPERS
Salt according to taste
1 cup of crushed dorrito's/chips for garnish as topping.
6 Poblano pepper slit in half and deseeded.
1 cup of store brought Marinara sauce.
Process
1. Grind all the ingredients mentioned above except for Peppers and Marinara sauce.
2. Keep the mixture aside.

3. Slit  Poblano peppers in half length wise,deseed and clean the pepper and rub salt and allow them to stand for few minutes.

4. Now stuff the filling into the peppers

s

5. Repeat and fill the rest of the peppers with the filling.

6.Pre heat oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with foil and place all the peppers into it.

7. Top the peppers with a tbsp or two of Marinara sauce.
8. Cover the baking sheet with foil.
9. Allow the peppers to bake in the over for about 45 minutes, adjust according to your oven setting, when you pass a knife through the pepper it should cut smoothly without resistance and that says done.

10.10. You can prep till here and freeze and then place into the oven when your guests arrive,makes for one less dish to prep on the big day.

11. Remove from heat sprinkle with crushed Tostito's /Dorrito's or chips and serve with a cold beverage.
Rest assured your guest s will love it  !!

Gentle reminder about Giveaway and fundraiser for Vaidehi Ashram for destitute girls, there is still plenty of time to donate and for your chance to win a Cuisinart GR-1 Griddler Panini and Sandwich Press - Code RU12 - Remember every small amount counts !!

Giveaway & Fund Drive for Vaidehi Ashram of Destitute Girls, Hyderabad

The first beneficiary of compassion is always oneself. When compassion, or warmheartedness, arises in us and our focus shifts away from our own narrow self-interest, it is as if we open an inner door. It reduces fear, boosts confidence and brings us inner strength. By reducing distrust, it opens us to others 
and brings us a sense of connection to others, and sense of purpose and meaning in life. 


- His Holiness  Dalai Lama

After reading Siri post about her visit to Vaidehi Ashram few days ago, my eyes swell. As a girl myself it's hard to picture what these little girls go through.As a regular volunteer for San Jose shelter I  know what it means to have a hot breakfast a bed to sleep every day. Every time I visit the Shelter I feel myself grounded in more ways than I can imagine, makes me aware of the blessings I have and to draw a definite line between Want vs. Need.  So when Siri announced a fund raising event for Ashram I was MORE than happy to participate/contribute. I am hoping my readers ,friends and family would join and make this fund drive a HUGE success. Read all about the fund raiser, details about the Ashram and ways in which you can be a part right here.

As a mother of two young boys my heart skips a beat when they go out of sight in a mall for few split seconds, or when they sleep hungry or every time they fall and bruise themselves. It’s hard to imagine the atrocities and pain these young girls have endured, brought into existence for no fault of theirs and left on streets to beg, turning them into prostitutes  agony these girls must have gone through is unthinkable some as young as two.

As fellow human beings I think we share a collective responsibility in reaching out and helping whenever we can so, please I humbly urge you to open your hearts and your WALLETS and help in ways you can, small drops of rain makes an ocean so every small amount that is donated will surely be put to good use and much appreciated.

Supporting this fund raising effort I am donating a Panini Grill which is up for grabs .There are many ways in which you can be a part of this effort and help.

Cuisinart GR-1 Griddler Panini and Sandwich Press

So how can YOU contribute and win this Panini Press and 40+ other  exciting prizes 

 
1. Buy a Raffle Ticket (or 2 or more).

Each raffle ticket is worth $10 (or Rs.500). You can increase your chances of winning the giveaway by buying more than 1 raffle ticket.

For Example, a donation of $20 will fetch you 2 raffle tickets which can be used to choose on any of the raffle prizes. You can use all your raffle tickets on one prize (in turn increasing the chances in the lucky draw) or on different prizes. [Other prizes details in point 3]


2. How to Buy the Raffle Ticket


Use the widget below for making your payment. Once you click it, you will be able to make a payment via Paypal or credit.




Once the donation process is completed, please forward your payment confirmation message to info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com, clearly specifying [RU12 - Panini Press ]

] as the raffle prize you are interested in.

Within 24 hours, your name and contributed amount will be added to the ‘Fund Drive Supporters List’ at the very end of this post. If you want to stay anonymous, please let Siri know in advance. For any correspondence/questions/queries, use the comment section or the email address mentioned.

The fund drive ends on Feb 25th, 2012.


3. Other Raffle Prizes Offered

Quite a lot of beautiful souls have come forward to offer their support to this endeavor by sponsoring other prizes. You can use the same method (as in Step 2) to try your luck with other prizes too. Please refer Siri’s post which has all the details for other Raffle prizes offered..

http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2012/01/fund-drive-for-vaidehi-ashram-of.html 

Spread The Word


Share about this Fund Drive wherever possible - On your blogs, Facebook, Twitter (with hashtag#vaidehiashram) etc. Let your friends and family know about it. Please feel free to use any images and information posted in the Ashram posts below, to make your voice heard. Any help in any form in making this event a success is very much appreciated. :-)

Lets give these girls a hope and show them that world is not all bad but of generous souls that are compassionate enough to care.

Rest assured your funds are going to put to good use. Would end this post with a quote from Bhagwat Geeta which sums up this effort so well.

“Rasksho Raskshati Raskshita” ~ care and you shall be cared for.

Hot & Sour Chinese Noodle Soup

Hot & Sour Chinese Noodle Soup

This post comes after a long hiatus , it just felt hard to resume blogging after holidays. I am glad I found the energy to get started today. Had a beautiful vacation to India came back and celebrated the new years with friends, all in all the last one month has been party every day kind. When in India met up with all extended family, grandparents, uncles ,aunts , cousins and best part had a reunion with friends whom I have met almost after a decade, yet meeting them after so long did not change anything seemed like we picked up right where we left.

Back to the grind in US have been  busy with kids & work, sometimes it feels like I need a mini vacation to get over the tiredness of vacation.

Last few days Bayarea has had freeze warning, near freezing temperatures make it hard  to go into the kitchen, cooking sure seems like a major chore, yet here I am blogging Sweet & Sour soup I made yesterday, was a hit with kids and they slurped down the soup with no complaints.

Soup inspiration comes from my previously blogged recipe 

Click here for recipe however few modification this time to make it a complete meal are added half a packet of Maggie noodles while boiling the soup and shredded cabbage finely and pan roasted till it turned crispy, makes for an excellent topping.

This spicy soup will definitely keep you warm and full this cold season. On an other note I am yet to post the round of Healing foods event, will try and post and announce winner hopefully by the end of the week.