Saaru/Rasam

As per request of dear Dhan uncle i am posting the recipe of Saaru. Called saaru in Karnataka and rasam for the rest of India is a thin broth which is mixed with rice. Like spaghetti and meat balls are comfort food for many people, saaru anna (rice and rasam) is comfort food for may south Indians. What makes saaru or rasam tasty is the masala powder, I will give the recipe to make it. You can also cut it short and use store bought rasam powder...it is totally upto you. I will give a few variations of rasam here today, however, the masala powder remains the same. Make and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1. Toor dal [split lentils] - 1 cup, cooked well
2. Rasam Powder - 1 1/2 tsp, [recipe follows]
3. Tamarind - 1 tsp
4. Tomato - 1 cooked with toor dal
5. Jaggery - 1 small block
6. Salt - to taste
7. Coriander - finely chopped
8. Grated fresh coconut - 2 tbsp [optional]

For tempering:

1. Oil - 2 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Asafoetida  - a pinch
5. Turmeric - a pinch
6. Curry leaves - 1 string

Ramsam Powder:

Ingredients:

1. Coriander seeds - 1/2 cup
2. Cumin seeds -  2  tbsp
3. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
4. Whole black pepper - 2 tsp
5. Red chilly - 1/2 cup [use according to taste]
6. Dry coconut - 1/4 cup [grated or cut into strips]

Method:

• Dry roast all the above given Ingredients one after the other till the raw smell goes away and they start smelling fragrant. Let it cool completely make a powder and use it as and when required.

Method to make rasam:

• Heat oil in a vessel to make tempering. add mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add cumin and let them splutter. add the rest of the tempering ingredients and saute for 2 seconds.
• Now add the water from the cooked lentils. Mash the lentils and tomato to a paste and add them to the vessel. Thin it out further if it seems thick. The consistency should be of butter milk.
• Add tamarind, rasam powder, salt and jaggery and let it boil for 10 minutes.
• Add coriander and coconut, cook for 2 more minutes and rasam is ready to eat.

Variation 2

• Follow the above method. except for cooking lentils. This is plain tomato rasam.
• Make the tempering, add 2 finely chopped tomatoes, saute for a few seconds.
• Add salt and let them cook well. 
• Add enough water and the rest of the ingredients and cook the same way as above... this cooks in 10 minutes and is a quick fix when u need dinner fast.

Variation 3

• Instead of cooking tomato with the lentils, grind tomato, rasam powder, coconut and salt and add them to tempering... cook for 2 minutes to get the rawness out add lentils and rest of the ingredients and boil till done.

Serving suggestions:

Goes best with steaming hot rice, clarified butter [ghee] and tempered green beans.

Tips:

For just the tomato rasam, you can choose to add a pod of crushed garlic, it makes it much more tastier.

Bread Masala Toast

It is simply called toast in Bangalore bakeries. I remember just getting overjoyed whenever someone got us these super hot toasts to eat. I still remember we had to split one single toast between 4 kids and we fought on who got the bigger piece. It was a serious fight back then but now they are all sweet memories. Sad part of it is, now I can buy or make and eat as much as i want to, but it is not as much fun :(... miss my bro and cousins :D. Sorry for getting nostalgic and emotional, let me talk about the toast a bit more. It is good as a snack for kids and adults, good for breakfast too... add some cheese for a little extra flavour. If you are planning a tea party or just an informal get together, this will be a hit with your friends. If you want them to be of  bite size pieces, just cut them after they bake.

Prep time: 20 mins

Bake time: 15 min

Pieces: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1. Grated carrots: 3 cups
2. Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece grated or 1 tsp paste
4. Garlic - 2 pods grated or 1 tsp paste (optional)
5. Tomato - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
6. Green chillies - 5 to 7 finely chopped (use according to how hot you want the toast)
7. Garam masala - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp (use on how spicy you want it to be)
8. Cheese - about 1/2 cup, grated (optional). If you have slices, use them 1 per each slice of bread.
9. Bread - 6 to 8 slice. (any bread of your choice, I used whole wheat.)
10. Coriander/Cilantro - a handful, finely chopped.
11. Curry leaves - 4, finely chopped.
12. Oil - 2 tsp
13. Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil on medium heat in a pan and curry leaves.
• Add onions and a pinch of salt and saute till it gets slightly transparent.
• Add ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute till the raw smell goes away.
• Add carrots and saute till well cooked.
• Add tomatoes and saute till well cooked.
• Turn the stove off, add coriander and mix well.
• Preheat the oven at 350F and on a baking sheet arrange the bread slices and sprinkle cheese on top of them. 
• Spread the curry you just made and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. [check after 10 mins, bake time may vary depending on the oven]
• If you do not have an oven, toast the bread on a pan over the stove top.  Flip the slice and sprinkle with cheese while the other side gets toasted. Then spread the curry.
• If you toast bread in a toaster, sprinkle cheese when the toast is hot and spread the curry, toast is ready to eat.. Enjoy!

Paneer Butter Masala [PBM]/ Indian cottage cheese in spicy tomato gravy

Here is the queen of all dishes according to me. I have always loved it with naan in dhabas and restaurants. I bet nothing can beat a road side dhaba in it's taste. As the name suggests, it is a high fat side... however, in my kitchen, most of the high fat recipes shape up to medium to low fat.  Excellent for parties and to take to lunch. Goes well with roti, chapati and naan. My guess is it will also go well as a dip for pita bread and usual bread... try it, who knows, you may discover a new way to eat this dish. Here goes the recipe.

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Servings: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1. Indian cottage cheeses/Paneer - 80oz/250 grams (chopped into small cubes and fried)
2. Onion - 1 medium sized, roughly chopped
3. Garlic - 2 pods or 1 tsp paste
4. Ginger - 1 inch roughly chopped piece or 1 tsp paste
5. Cashew - 4 to 5 pods
6. Tomato paste - 2  tbsp (6 oz can), 1/2 to 1 cup puree or 3 to 4 whole tomatoes
7. Garam masala powder- 1 to 2 tsp (depending on the spiciness you desire)
8. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
9. Cuminn powder - 1 tsp
10. Chilli powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp (according to taste)
11. Dry fenugreek leaves / Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
    
12. Salt - to taste
13. Milk - 3 to 4 tbsp
14. Butter - 2 tsp
15. Oil - 2 tbsp
16. Water - enough to make a runny paste of masala and to thin out the gravy to desired consistency
    
17. Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tbsp for garnish

Method:

• In a blender jar, make a paste of onions, gineger, garlic and cashew by adding very little water.
• Heat oil in a nonstick pot on medium heat and add the onion paste plus a pinch of salt and let it get slightly brown.
• in a bowl, take tomato paste and thin it out to consistency slightly watery than puree. If you use puree skip this process. If you use whole tomatoes, blend them in the blender without using water or as little water as possible and set aside.
• When the onion paste seems to get slightly brown, add the tomato puree and let it cook for a minute. 
• While the tomato puree is cooking, in a bowl, add garam masala, coriander, chilli, cumin powders, dry fenugreek leaves and add water to make a runny paste. Add this paste to the tomato cooking tomato puree and let it cook for 2 minutes or till it starts smelling aromatic.  If you think the mixture is getting too thick, add water to thin it down as much as you desire. Keep in mind, the gravy should not go thinner than tomato puree consistency.
• Add desired amount of salt at this point, stir in to mix all the ingredients. 
• Add fried paneer cubes to the gravy and cook for 5 minutes or till the paneer pieces absorb the gravy.
• Add milk and stir in to mix it. Adding milk gives a creamy texture without adding too much butter. 
• Now add butter and stir it in. You can save a small piece of butter and let it afloat when you serve.
• Transfer it into a serving container, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot bread.
  

Serving Suggestions:

Along with any kind of bread, serve a few lime wedges and sliced onion...Let your guests squeeze the lime to their PBM and after they put the roti and PBM in their mouth let them take a bite of an onion slice... you will see how much they will love it. Some serve very mild green chillies too... yummm.

Tips:

You can make this ahead of time for parties and heat it up the next day. If you refrigerate, it will absorb more Flavour.

To fry paneer cubes, Heat 2 tbsp oil in a big skillet, add these paneer pieces and saute them till they become golden brown on two sides atleast. You can also rub 1 tbsp oil on them and arrange them on a cookie sheet and bake the at 350F for 15 minutes on each side or till they become brown on both sides.