Easy Peasy Apple Crumble for One

Apple Crumble for One

This is the easiest non recipe to enjoy a small individual sized dessert apple crumble. I chopped apples with skin on and added some lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Then a pinch on pumpkin spice (it has cinnamon, nutmeg etc. and the aroma of a baked dessert), a pinch of salt. Then I took a store bought pie crust (cookie crumb kind) and crumbled it up. Added it to the bottom of the cute enamel baking dish, piled on the apples and topped it with a little more crumble on top. This went covered into a preheated 375 F oven for 20 minutes and then took the cover off and broiled for 5 minutes. Well, I made 4 of these little treats and they are absolutely delicious.

Adai Aviyal

This is one of those dishes that is rarely seen on restaurant menus, but is typically made in South Indian home kitchens. As kids, we used to love eating these crispy creations with ghee & sugar or vellam (jaggery). Adults would relish it with gunpowder podi or aviyal (vegetable stew).

For the Adai:

1 C Chana Dal (Bengal Gram Dal)

1/2 C Toor Dal (Pigeon Peas)

1 C boiled rice

4-5 red chilies

2 green chilies

Small piece of ginger

1/2 t Asafoetida

Curry leaves

1 t Cumin seeds

1 small onion diced

Salt to taste

Wash and soak the dals and rice along with the chilies and ginger for 4-6 hours. Grind to a coarse batter with enough water. Add chopped cilantro, asafoetida, salt and mix well. The batter should be slightly thick but spreadable on a hot skillet. Heat a teaspoon of oil and add cumin seeds. Once they turn color, sauté the onions. Add to the batter. Fresh drumstick leaves can also be added if available (the flavor is amazing!). Batter is ready for making Adai. Spread 2 ladles of batter on a medium hot cast iron skillet. Make a hole in the center and a couple of other holes. Add gingerly oil around the Adai and in the holes. Cook on medium flame until crisp. Turn and cook on the other side. Serve hot with desired side.

Aviyal:

Vegetables – beans, carrot, plantain, winter melon, drumstick, peas – all or any combination of veggies – 3 cups chopped

1/4 C Coconut grated

1 t cumin seeds

2-3 green chilies ( as per taste)

1 C plain yogurt

Boil the veggies to crisp tender. Add salt to taste. Grind the cumin, green chillies and cumin seeds with enough water to make a paste. Add to the boiled veggies. When it’s lightly cooled, add the yogurt. Heat 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and sputter mustard seeds. Add some curry leaves and pour over the stew.

Savor the Adai Aviyal combo!

Adai

Veggie Tacos on homemade blue corn tortillas

Having picked up a bag of blue corn masa at our local supermarket, we made use of the tortilla press that we had bought a while back. Tortillas are really easy to make. Just a soft dough with masa and water is needed. Then press it out between plastic wrap on a tortilla press and cook both sides on a cast iron skillet. No additives or preservatives and they are so tasty and fresh!

We filled ours with sautéed peppers, onion and served with a side of guacamole and salsa.

Veggie tacos

Gluten-free Pizza without Oven or yeast

Though I wasn’t trying to make a gluten free pizza, I wanted to make my pizza crust with millet flour. I used bajra flour (pearl millet) to make the base.

This recipe makes 2 8-9” pizzas.

1 C bajra flour

2 T rice flour

2 T arrowroot flour or cornstarch

2 T oil

Seasonings like oregano, red chilli flakes

Salt to taste

Warm water

Method

Mix the flours with salt and seasonings. Add approximately 3/4 C warm water to make a wet dough. The dough should be wet enough to spread out using fingers. Heat a cast iron skillet (preferable as this gives a nice crispy crust) on medium high heat. Oil a silicone sheet, or butter paper lightly. Take half the dough and pat it into a slightly thick 8-9 inch circle. Invert the dough onto the heated pan slowly and brush the top with some water and olive oil. This keeps the dough moist snd prevents cracking. Let it cook on one side well. Flip and top the fully cooked side with pizza sauce and toppings of your choice and cheese. Add some olive oil along the circumference of the dough, cover the pan with a glass lid, and let the cheese melt. Remove the lid and check the bottom for doneness. Cut into slices and serve.

Vegetarian Nachos

Layered crisp multigrain tortilla chips (warmed in the microwave for 1 minute) with vegetarian chilli, chopped tomatoes, plenty of chopped jalapeños, coriander and lime for a zesty mouth-watering vegetarian nacho. It’s warming on a cold evening and super satisfying.

Nachos

Sabudhana Upma

Anyone who tastes this dish once becomes an instant fan. The glassy sabudhana pearls with vegetables and roasted peanuts is a comforting snack on a cold or rainy day. Paired with a hot cup of masala chai, you won’t find me complaining of the extra carbs in my diet 😄

1 C sabudhana washed 2-3 times and soaked in just enough water (1/4 inch above the sabudhana) for 4-5 hrs or overnight

1/4 C roasted and coarsely ground peanuts

Chopped vegetables (potato, carrot, onion) 1/2 C each

Chopped ginger and green chilies

Turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt to taste

Cumin, mustard, asafoetida, curry and coriander leaves

Lime

Heat 2 t oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and let it crackle. Sauté onion, ginger, curry leaves and green chilies. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and chili powder. Add the vegetables and cover and cook. To the soaked sabudhana, add the crushed peanuts and salt and mix well. Sabudhana should be soaked well with no excess water remaining after soaking. It should mush when crushed between fingers. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the sabudhana and stir well to combine. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on low flame. Uncover, squeeze lime juice, garnish with coriander and serve.

Sabudhana Upma

Savory Vegetable Ragi Waffles (Millet flour waffles)

These cute vegetable waffles are a delight. They have crisp edges and the grooves to put in as much gunpowder chutney as you want!

Ingredients

1 C Ragi flour

2 T Rice flour

1/4 C Plain Yogurt

Finely chopped vegetables ( I used carrot, cabbage, onion, ginger, green chillies, coriander and curry leaves)

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and add water to make a pancake-like batter. Rest for 10 minutes. Add a pinch of baking soda before making the waffles. I made these in a mini Dash waffle maker.

Vermicelli Upma

We enjoy this delicious, low fat vegetable Upma for breakfast every weekend. It’s easy to make and versatile depending on the vegetables I have on hand. The recipe is less of a recipe and more of a general method of preparation. The only important point to note is to dry roast the vermicelli and add boiling water in the ratio of 1:2 (vermicelli to water).

Ingredients

1 cup roasted vermicelli

2 C boiling water

3-4 Thai green chilies and ginger chopped finely

Pinch of turmeric

Vegetables of choice (onion, carrot, green beans, peas, etc.) finely chopped

Fresh curry leaves and coriander chopped

Fresh grated coconut

Mustard seeds, asafoetida, black gram, Bengal gram for seasoning in oil

Method:

Add 2t of oil and season with mustard seeds, black and Bengal gram, (let the dals get golden in color) asafoetida, curry leaves, ginger, chilies and sauté. Add onion and a pinch of turmeric. Then sauté the vegetables. Add the vermicelli and season with salt. Mix all the ingredients through and add the boiling water carefully. Let the vermicelli cook on medium high and absorb the water. Garnish with fresh grated coconut and chopped coriander and serve hot.

Vermicelli Upma with a side of plain yogurt

Gluten free moong dal and rice burger

Rice and moong bean burger topped with egg and jicama, cabbage, onion slaw

Leftovers makeover.

We had Tomato rice with moong beans for dinner last night. Took out the surplus from the fridge the next day, added a little arrowroot flour and shaped it into burger patties. After shallow frying, it was crisp on both sides. Served it on a bed of arugula and topped it with beautifully cooked eggs and a jicama, cabbage and onion slaw. An awesome brunch inspired by some leftovers.

Vegetarian bottle gourd and moong dal soup

Bottle gourd and green moong soup

Bottle gourd in the kitchen garden

Every year, we love growing bottle gourds in our backyard garden. Given a chance, the fast growing vine twines on our tall pine trees and climbs to 80 feet along the trunk. My husband meticulously plans a path it can take instead along nylon ropes between tall tress in the backyard. It’s a labor of love but the yield in late August and September is nothing short of spectacular. The gourds are big and the flesh is crisp, juicy and tender. Bottle gourds, also known as lauki, dudhi or opo squash is a mild flavored vegetable and a treasure trove of nutrition.

I paired the bottle gourd with green moong dal, a tiny protein packed lentil and used a vibrant combination of spices: black pepper, cumin seeds, and Madras curry powder. The pepper adds a gentle heat, while cumin’s earthy notes provide depth. The Madras curry powder infuses an exotic, aromatic twist. I cooked it in an earthern pot, which helped infuse the soup with an earthiness that elevates the dish. The slow, steady heat of the pot allows the flavors to meld and intensify, creating a unique base for the soup.

The process:

Start by washing and soaking whole moong dal for an hour. Peel and dice the bottle gourd. Discard the seeds if they are hard. As we harvested our own gourd, it was tender and virtually seedless.

Drain and add moong beans to a pan with water about 1 inch above the vegetable. Bring to a boil; cover and cook. The moong beans should be well cooked and not mushy. Halfway through the cooking of the beans add bottle gourd and a pinch of turmeric powder. Adjust water, cover and cook until done. The bottle gourd will turn transparent and the beans should be whole but should mush when pressed. Adjust consistency; add more water if needed. Stir gently, add salt to taste. Add freshly ground black pepper and cumin (best when crushed in a mortar and pestle) and a teaspoon of fresh grated coconut. Allow to simmer. Season with a tempering of cumin seeds and asafoetida in coconut oil. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Serve with grilled flatbread.

I used:

3 cups bottle gourd

1/4 cup soaked whole moong dal

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp grated coconut

2tsp virgin coconut oil for tempering