Veg Schezwan Noodles with Homemade Schezwan Sauce

I love Chinese Food. The Soy sauce, Vinegar, Spring Onion's and a bit of ajina-motto all do a great magic to the simple noodles or rice. When I craved for some spicy noodles, i decided to make this schezwan noodles. Though I had all other sauces in hand, schezwan sauce was missing. i googled and gathered bits and pieces from various recipe's and prepared the sauce.

Recipe For Schezwan Sauce

You can make 4-5 servings, with the sauce.


Red Chilli's - 20

Garlic - 10 pieces

Scallions / Spring Onions - White Part - 5

Corriander Leaves - fistfull (5 tbsp's)

Corriander Stem's - 10

Vinegar - 3tbsp's

Kashmiri Chilli Powder - 4 tbsp's

*You can add more kashmiri powder, if you prefer spicy and colour in your sauce. ( i added more)


Method:

Soak the Red Chilli's in hot water for about 3 hours.
Drain the Chilli's and
Grind it along with other Ingredients. Add little water to get a smooth paste.

Heat a Pan. pour 5 tbsp's of oil. heat the oil. add the grinded sauce to the pan and stir well.
Let the pan sit in medium flame for about 5 minutes.
Let the sauce cool and store it in a air tight container.

I was able to cook 5 servings with the above ingredients. and the sauce stayed fresh for about 3 weeks in my fridge.


Veg Schezwan Noodles with Steamed Vegetables.

Ingredients:

Hakka Veg Noodles - 1/2 packet

Oil - 2 tbsp's

Schezwan sauce - 2 tbsp's

Soy Sauce - 1 tsp

Aji-na-motto - a pinch

Dry Red Chilli - 2

Spring Onions - 2 tbsp's (finely chopped)

Method:

Cook the Noodles as per the packet instructions. i always wash and drain the cooked noodles.

Heat oil in a pan, add the red chilli's and saute it. Lower the flame.

Add the Schezwan sauce to the oil and saute it. add the soy sauce and mix well.

Add the Cooked Noodles and mix along with the sauce.

Add salt and aji-na-motto and mix well.

Remove from flame and garnish with spring onions.


Steamed Vegetable Basket:


Cabbage - 3 leaves

Carrot - 1

Beans - 5

Cauliflower - 5 florets

Baby Corn - 2

Broccoli - 4 florets

Method:

Steam the above all vegetables with little salt sprinkled over them.
serve them on cabbage leaves.

Serve it along with spicy hot schezwan noodles. the steamed vegetables will compliment well to spicy noodles.

Now Iam Sending these Schezwan Noodles with Vegetables to Vaishali for her Its A Vegan World - Chinese.

Chettinaad Egg Curry

This Chettinaad Egg Curry is full of flavours. The Pepper, curry leaves elevates the taste of the curry. Few points i learned in preparing egg curry are, adding saunf / sombu is a must for tadka / thalippu. adding green chilli, dry red chilli, chilli powder and pepper powder each in small quantity makes the difference in taste. i always love to add curry leaves powder to my curry. it makes the curry thicker also the flavour it gives is amazing.

Ingredients:

To Crush:

Shallots / Small Madras Onions / Chinna Vengayam - 6
Garlic / Poondu - 5 pieces
Ginger / Inji - 2' inch long
Green Chilli / Pachai Milagaai - 1 and half

Crush the above in your mixer grinder or with your pestle and mortar. (dont add water to crush)

Red Onion / Periya Vengayam - 1 (finely chopped)
Ripe Tomato / Thakkali - 2 (finely chopped)
Boiled Egg's / Muttai - 4
Butter - 1 tbsp


List of Powder's:

Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Chilli Powder / Milagaai Thool - 1/2 tsp
Corriander Powder / Malli Thool - 2 tsp
Pepper Powder / Milagu Thool - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves Powder / karivepillai podi - 1 tsp

For Tadka / Thalippu:

Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Saunf / Sombu - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2
Curry Leaves - 10
Oil - 2 tbsp's

Method:

First Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan / Iron skillet. add mustard and let it burst. Now add saunf and curry leaves. add dry red chilli, curry leaves and roast it.

Add the Crushed Shallots-Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli to the pan and fry till the raw smell of the ginger garlic leaves.

Add finely chopped onion's to the pan and saute them till they turn translucent. add the tomato and fry it along with onion.

Add salt, Turmeric Powder a pinch and mix with the onion-tomato. fry them till they mix togeather.

Add Chilli powder, corriander powder, pepper powder & curry leaves powder one by one and mix with the ingredients in the pan. saute them well, till the oil emits on sides of the pan.

Add Half slitted boiled egg's to the pan and mix with the masala.

Add about one and half cup's of water and let the curry boil for two minutes in slow flame.

Add Butter and close the pan with lid. switch off the flame and let the curry rest on stove for 2 more minutes.

Serve hot with Rice or Dosa.

* I added curry leaves powder little extra. thats why the colour of the curry is different.
* The Crushed shallot-ginger-garlic-green chilli added made the curry different.
* If you wish to add more pepper powder, reduce the green chilli and chilli powder a little.
* Adding Butter at the end is optional. it thickens the curry a little and it gives richness to the curry.

Easy Paruppu Rasam / Rasam Sadham

When it Rain's, I prefer to have hot rasam with steaming hot rice. It can be prepared fast, and there is no way of getting complaints on it from my hubby when served with appalam. Whenever i had fever, my mom comes with a bowl of this hot rasam sadham and feed's me with her hands. soon after getting 5 mouthfull of mom's rasam rice, i could feel refreshed. whats more you need than your mom's hand fed rasam sadham when you are ill. Yesterday it was my turn, to feed my little son, who got fever. i could see, how he turned active and fresh after having this rasam sadham with ghee. Mom's Rasam Sadham are always special to everyone. Isn't it?

Ingredients:

1. Tuvar Dal - 3 tbsp's

2. Tomato - 1

3. Ghee / Clarified Butter - 1 tsp

4. Cumin - 2 tsp's

5. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp

6. Rasam Powder - 2tbsp's

7. Water - 1 and half cup's

8. Chopped Corriander Leaves - 2 tbsp's

9. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


Method:

1.Pressure Cook the Tuvaram Paruppu / Toor / Tuvar Dal with 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of turmeric powder with a small drop of ghee. for about 4 whistle's or till the dal is cooked well.

2.Heat a pan, add a tsp of ghee, add cumin seeds and asafoetida powder. wait till the cumin seeds are roasted.

3.Now add the chopped tomato and saute them along cumin in ghee.

4.Add the Pressure Cooked Toor Dal and one and half cup's of water and stir well.

5.Add Turmeric Powder, Rasam Powder and salt.

6. Add Chopped Corriander Leaves and Let the rasam get heated. do not let it to boil.

Serve Paruppu Rasam Hot over Rice with a tsp of ghee. Make Pappad's and serve it along.

Eggless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

After getting my muffin tray's, can anything stop me from trying muffins in the new tray? Iam glad that i tried Pumpkin muffins, as i easily prepared it by combining the wet and dry mix. The end result's were much appreciable. I did not feel, that i missed egg as it was fluffy or i could not spot the Pumpkin flavour in spite of using fresh home-made Pumpkin Puree. The spice i prepared for this was extra-ordinary. it filled my home with flavours of cardamon and Nutmeg.

First I Prepared the Pumpkin Puree and left it in fridge overnight. Remove the Puree from fridge, just before 15 minutes for preparing muffin mix.

The Spice Mix I prepared had

1. Dry Ginger - 3'inch size (I know its more, but its good)

2. Black Cardamon - 1

3. Green Cardamon - 2

4. Cinnamon - 2'inch round stick

5. Nutmeg - 1/4 (of small nutmeg)

6. Cloves - 3

Grinded the above into a powder and sieved to separate the Ginger's nerves.

* Do not add more Nutmeg, even while preparing in more quantity.

i decided to bake the muffins without egg and butter. am sure, not due to calorie conscious, bcoz i did not have egg's and i wanted to use olive oil substituting butter, to find what difference it makes in taste. I added 2 tbsp's of yogurt at last to get the pouring consistency.

Wet Ingredients:

Pumpkin Puree - 100ml

Olive Oil - 50 ml

Yogurt - 2tbsp's


Dry Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour / Maida - 175gms

Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Spice Mix - 2 tbsp's

Chocolate Chips - 5 tbsp's


Method:


Mix the Pumpkin Puree well with Olive oil. keep aside.

Sift the flour with salt, baking powder and baking soda. sift at least twice.

Mix Powdered sugar and spice mix and chocolate chips with the flour.

Add the Wet Ingredients (Pumpkin Puree + Oil) to the flour and mix it wooden spoon.

Add Yogurt to get the spooning consistency of batter to muffin cup's.

Grease the muffin cup with oil and spoon in the batter.

I topped it with some chocolate chips and nuts and some museli.

Pre-Heat the oven at 180C. for about 10 mins.

Bake at 170C for about 35 mins. check whether muffins are cooked and bake it furthur if not cooked.

Cool them and serve with cream on top.

People at home enjoyed Pumpkin Muffin's and they liked it more than my Pumpkin Pie.
I tried Banana Muffins the same way, but it did'nt turn out well as it was sticky and not fluffy as Pumpkin Muffins. somehow Pumpkin did a magic to these muffin's.

Pumpkin Pie - My First Pie

You can look forward for few more-first attempt's here in this winter. Iam very much interested in baking, but could'nt spare time in finding exact recipe. I feel this is one sort of research work. so here i am documenting my first attempt's. Give your verdicts, I really appreciate your suggestions to bake better next time.

You Bloggers across the sea tempt me a lot with your baking ventures. I thought that i could never find baking tray's / tart pan's / muffin tray's all in Chennai. But Arundathi was kind enough to share in her blog about currim bhoys in adyar and Nirmala has asked me to visit amma nana, for all the above mentioned pan's and trays. I visited currim bhoys, the shop is filled with lovely dinner sets and glasses, I picked few pans, i would have picked half of the shop, if something called money was with me. This Poor Girl is planning to visit monthly such shops with her monthly savings. Man Proposes - God Disposes (Dont Forget Lavi!!)

Coming to the Pie, I baked it with less tension. I was almost sure that it will turn up pretty good with some blind confidence, and i should say it got baked perfect and tasted so Great too. I did not have any idea of getting heavy cream for whipping cream to add it for pie filling, so ended up in adding full cream. any chennai bloggers reading this, suggest me where can i get heavy cream or is any way to prepare that at home?

How I Prepared Pumpkin Puree - By Stove Top Method?

I prepared Fresh Pumpkin Puree at Home. it was so easy to make, i just removed the flesh from skin with some effort and sauted in skillet with some oil till they turned tender. it took some 5 minutes to saute the pumpkin to tender. i cooled them and grinded the pumpkin's into fine puree. i did'nt sieve it. it got a smooth texture. (I bought 0.695 Kg of pumpkin and pureed it) but i used just half of the puree for two pie's.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

Pumpkin Puree - 200gms
Full Cream Milk - 5 tbsp's
Egg's - 2
Cloves - 2
Cardamon - 2
Cinnamon - 1' inch stick
Dry Ginger - 1 'inch
Sugar - 1/4 cup

Assembling Pie Filling:

I grinded the Sugar with cloves, cardamon and cinnamon into powder form. I did not grind them finely, you can see black spots in the pie because of that.

Beat the Egg's.

Add the Powdered Sugar to the egg's beated.

Add Dry Ginger powder to the egg's.

add pumpkin Puree to the egg's.

Now add Whipped Cream to the egg's. i added full cream instead.

Ingredients for Pie Crust:

1. All Purpose Flour - 175 gms
2. Butter (in chilled form) - 5 tbsp's
3. salt - a pinch
4. Powdered Sugar - 1/ 4 cup
5. Ice water - few sprinkles (2 tbsp)

Add salt to the flour and add powdered sugar to the flour and mix well.

Now add the Butter and mix well with the flour. Keep adding butter, till the flour becomes like bread crumbs.

Now sprinkle some ice water to the flour and get the flour togeather into a dough. (like our chapathi dough) don't add ice water more than 2 / 3 tbsp's.

Now flatten the dough and cover it with a plastic cover and put the dough in fridge for overnight or 12 hours.

Get ready with your tart pan. Just before 30 mins to bake the pie, remove the dough from the fridge and let it get back to room temperature.

Roll the dough thinly and spread it over the tart pan. trim the exceedings.

after spreading the rolled dough over the tart pan, put the tart pan in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Bake the Crust in Pre-Heated oven for about 10 minutes at 180C.

Now pour the pie filling into the tart pan.

Bake the Pie for about 45 mins at 160C.

Check the pie along the crust, for it got set or not. and bake them furthur. 45 mins will be a correct time.

Cool them for few minutes and serve them warm with cream / Honey.

It tasted so Great. we all loved it. I liked it in chilled form with cream. Do try this easy pumpkin Pie for Thanks Giving and Enjoy.

Carrot Moong Dal Kosambari ~ Carrot Salad

Me and My dad frequently visit MTR at Bangalore. The first dish they serve is grape juice and next is this carrot kosambari. Eating Raw carrot is very hard for me, this carrot salad made it easy. i love the moong dal in it and lime juice sprayed over the salad makes me crave for one more serving. so here is my favourite MTR Carrot Kosambari.

Ingredients:

Carrots - 4
Moong Dal - 1/4 cup (5 tbsp's)
Shredded Coconut - 3 tbsp's
Corriander Leaves - 3 tbsp's (finely chopped)
Lime Juice - 1 tbsp

For Tadka/Seasoning:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Split Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Green Chilli - 2 (finely chopped)
Curry Leaves - 6

Method:

Soak the 1/4 cup Moong Dal in 1 cup of water for about 1 hour.

Peel off the outer skin of the carrots and Grate the carrots & place them in a bowl.

Mix the shredded coconut with the grated carrot in the bowl.

Add Soaked Moong Dal to the Carrot bowl.

Mix well with a spoon.

Heat a small Tadka Pan for Seasoning,
Heat 1 tsp Oil,
add Mustard and let in jump,
add urad dal and let it get roasted,
add finely chopped green chilli's and
add curry leaves.

Now Transfer the seasoning / Tadka to the carrot bowl.

Mix well the contents in the carrot bowl.

Add Lime Juice to the bowl and mix.

Add required salt and Chopped Corriander Leaves to the bowl and mix well.

Serve it Instantly Fresh..

Enjoy & Have a Great Weekend!!

Sambhar Rice ~ Sambhar Sadham

My Favourite Food is always hearty sambhar sadham and cool thayir sadham / curd rice. Sambhar Rice with appalam or with potato curry is a perfect combination. I always prepare this sambhar rice, when i have guests. The secret of tasty sambhar sadham depends on the vegetables we add. Drumstick(murungai kaai), Eggplant(kathrikkaai), Radish(mullangi), knol khol (nookal) and capsicum (kudai milagaai) are must. Adding shallots / pearl onions ( sambhar / chinna vengayam ) is must. the other trick is, boiling these vegetables in tamarind juice. I use Sakthi Masala Sambhar Powder. You can use your own sambhar powder. Try using Ghee / Butter to have a tasty Sambhar Rice.

Ingredients: (Sambhar Rice for 2 people)

Vegetables:

Drumstick / Murungai - 1
Eggplant / Kathirkaai - 2
Radish / Mullangi - 1
Knol Khol / Nookal - 1/2
Capsicum / Kudai Milagaai - 1/2
Carrot - 1
Beans - 6
Broad Beans /avarakaai - 6
Double Beans - 10 (optional)
Potato / Urulai - 1

Other Ingredients:

Tomato - 1/2
Shallots - 15

Raw Rice - 150 gms ( 2 small tumblers)
Toovar Dal / Tuvaram Paruppu - 40 gms

Tamarind - a lemon size

Sambhar Powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Ghee / Clarified Butter - 5 tbsp's
Mustard - 2 tsp's
Split Urad Dal - 2 tsp's
Dry Red Chilli - 4
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/ 4 tsp
Curry Leaves - 15

Corriander Leaves - 4 tbsp's (chopped)

Method:

First Pressure Cook the Rice and Dal with 4 cups of water. The whistle count is 6.

Wash the vegetables and dice them in cube shapes.

Soak the Tamarind in warm water for about 5 minutes and extract the tamarind juice.

Now Cook the Vegetables in extracted tamarind juice with little salt.
I Microwave them in high for about 8 minutes. ( Don't cook Capsicum, shallots and Tomato)
Cook the double beans in prior and add along with other vegetables.

Heat a Pan / kadaai,
add 2 tbsp's of ghee, let it melt and get heated,
add mustard and let it pop.
add urad dal and fenugreek seeds, fry them till they turn golden colour.
add the dry red chilli.
add the curry leaves
add asafoetida powder / hing.

Now add the shallots / small onions and fry them till they turn translucent.
add Capsicum and tomato and saute them till they have shrinked a bit.

Now add all the cooked vegetables in tamarind water to the kadaai / pan along with the tamarind water.

Add one cup of water, Turmeric powder and sambhar powder. also add salt to taste. remember salt is already added to vegetables.

Mash the cooked Rice and dal and add to the pan. stir well, to avoid lumps. mix the rice evenly with the vegetables in the pan.

Add 3 tbsp's of ghee and corriander leaves and cover the pan with a lid. slow the flame. and let it rest for 3-4 minutes in slow flame. keep checking and stir in between to avoid burning the rice in the bottom of the pan.

Switch off the flame and keep the lid closed till you serve.

Serve with a dollop of ghee and appalam on side.

This is a great food to pack for picnic. curd rice and potato curry will make a hearty meal togeather.

Sending this Yummy Sambhar sadham to Divya for her Show me your Lunchbox event.