Rasiya Muthiya

                 Rasiya Muthiya is a traditional Gujrati recipe. The Muthiyas are basically rice dumplings and Rasiya means with gravy. So Rasiya Muthiya can be literally translated to rice dumplings with gravy. They gravy here is usually yogurt based and typically spicy.

                 If you have leftover rice, then this simple and quick dish is one of the best to use them. You can add green chilies, ginger or cilantro to it as well. But since I made it for a Jain festival, where green vegetables are avoided, I didn't use any of it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup boiled Rice
• 3 tbsp Whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp Chickpea flour (Besan)
• 2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 4 tsp Red Chili powder
• 2 tbsp Yogurt
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp Oil
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 cup Buttermilk (yogurt+water mix)
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

For the Muthiyas:

• Take a big mixing bowl, add the rice, turmeric powder, chili powder and salt and mix it well

• Now add the whole wheat flour and the chickpea flour and mix well.

• Then add the yogurt and make it in a dough. Make sure you don't add any water to the dough.
• If the dough is too hard, add more yogurt, whereas if the dough is too tough, add some more wheat flour and chickpea flour.

• Make small oval shape muthiyas and keep them aside

For the Gravy:

• Heat some oil in a pan. Add the Asafoetida and cumin seeds.
• Once the seeds start to crackle, add about 1/2 a cup water to it.

• When the water starts to simmer a little, add a couple of muthiyas to it and stir it lightly
• After that add the buttermilk and the remaining water and mix it well.
• Now add the salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder and mix it well.
• Once this mixture starts boiling, add the muthiyas one by one.

• Now let it cook on medium heat till the muthiyas are soft and cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
• If the gravy is less or it dries up, add a little water. Once the muthiyas are cooked, take it off the heat.
• Serve it hot and enjoy.

Cauliflower soup

      
              I am finally back to my blog after a long time. It has been a crazy summer. I took 2 big vacations this summer, first to see my family in India and then an awesome 10 days vacation in Peru. I will post about Peru some other time.
              Today, I am bringing a simple, yet healthy tasty soup recipe. It is a very simple recipe with minimal ingredients. So lets make some Cauliflower soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium chopped Cauliflower
• 1/2 cup chopped Onions 
• 1/2 cup chopped Green Bell Peppers
• 1 tbsp chopped Parsley
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tsp Thyme leaves
• 2-3 minced Garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions: 

• Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. 
• Once the cumin seeds start to crackle, add the garlic and stir it till it golden brown
• Now add the onions and cook them till they are translucent.
• Then add the bell peppers and mix them well
• Now add the cauliflower florets and about 4-5 cups of water. 
• Then add parsley, thyme, salt and pepper and mix it well

• Let it cook until cauliflower is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
• Now, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree it. Take care while handling the hot mixture.
• Return the puree to the pan and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes

• Garnish with some parsley and serve hot

Vegan Iron Chef 2015

        

                  Last week, I participated in SF Vegan Iron Chef 2015 held in San Francisco by Karine Brighten events. The experience was amazing, and I learned a lot out of it. The theme this year was handheld foods and the competition was between home chefs and professional chefs. I reached the final round after winning the first round against pro Chef Maria. 

                In the first round, we were suppose to make Tacos. So, I decided to do my favorite, a fusion Taco. Both Indian and Mexican cuisines are so varied and rich in flavors. And the spices used in both cuisines are similar to each other. So I can say fusion of these cuisines is like a heaven for a spice enthusiast like myself. 

                 For the final round, we had 20 minutes to make the fresh raw spring rolls using Jicama, Hodo Soy Yuba noodles and Mango. That was a nerve wracking and stressful round, especially because I had never used many of the ingredients nor made raw spring rolls. Although, I must say it was a great experience and was happy I could come up with fresh and flavorful spring rolls.  The spring rolls made by my competitor, chef Kevin, were stunning. Unfortunately I didn't get to try them, but they looked amazing.

Here are some of the pics from the event. Pictures by Colleen Holland, cofounder of VegNews, who was also one of the judges for the event.

 

I will post the recipes for the tacos as well as the spring rolls soon.

Mocha Shortbread Cookies

                Happy Valentines day, everyone! As mentioned before, my husband is very fond of sweets and desserts. We are also big fans of coffee and love trying coffee from different places and all kinds of coffee beans and roast. So for this occasion, I thought to combine the top two favorites and made some chocolate coffee aka Mocha shortbread cookies. Hope you all enjoy and a sweet day!

Ingredients:

• 2 cup All purpose flour (Maida)
• 3/4 cup softened Butter (Can be replaced with Vegan Butter)
• 1/2 cup confectioners or powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini Chocolate Chips
• 2 Espresso shots or 2 tbsp Instant Coffee powder

Instructions:

• Mix the melted butter and sugar in a large bowl. You can replace the powdered sugar with granulated sugar or brown sugar depending on one's preference.
• Now add the Vanilla extract and beat at medium speed till it is creamy. If you don't have a beater, stir it thoroughly 
• Now add the chocolate chips and coffee and stir it thoroughly.
• Now add the flour slowly and continue mixing it on a low speed
• Mix it till the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a smooth soft dough
• Now divide the mixture in 3 parts, and flatten each part a bit.
• Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for couple of hours
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 350^o F.
• Now, roll out the dough a little more, and cut out the desired cookie shapes. I used the heart shape cutter for the occasion.
• Arrange them on a cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes or till they turn golden brown.
• Remove from oven and then cool on the wire racks.
• Once they are completely cooled, store them in an air-tight container. Enjoy!!

Cabbage Kofta Curry

        What do you do when you have lots of cabbage in the refrigerator and don't want to eat the regular simple curry? I had this situation recently, and I also had some frozen garlic naan. So I decided to use everything and try something new. So here it is, Cabbage Koftas(dumplings) in a rich creamy gravy.
        Malai Kofta is a popular dish in the mughlai cuisine. Typically, the koftas or the dumplings are made from potato and Paneer and served with a rich tomato gravy. But this is a variation, the koftas are made from cabbage. They are delicious and slightly spicier than the traditional ones.
         One more variation is, the traditional gravy has lot of cream for the richness. But the recipe here is vegan, made from cashews and whole spices.

       Hope you all like this variation of the traditional Kofta curry.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded Cabbage
• 1 cup Gram Flour (Besan)
• 2 tbsp Green Chili paste
• 2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 finely chopped Onion
• 2 finely chopped Tomatoes
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 2-3 Cloves
• 1/2 cup raw Cashews
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Chili powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander-Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/2 tsp dry Fenugreek leaves (Kasturi Methi)
• Chopped Cilantro for garnish
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• A pinch of Baking Soda
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Instructions:

For the Koftas:

• Take a big mixing bowl, add the cabbage, baking soda and salt and mix well.
• Add the chili paste, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala and mix well.
• Now, add the gram flour, 1 spoon at a time and mix well to make a dough.
• The dough has to be a little harder than the normal medium consistency. If the dough is too hard, add some water. And if the dough is too soft, add some more flour.
• Now, drop a spoonful of mixture in a heated oil and deep fry till they are golden brown. We can also make discs and shallow fry them with little or no oil.
• Drain on absorbent paper and keep it aside.

• Now heat some oil in a pan. Add asafoetida and cumin seeds along with cloves and cinnamon.
• Once the seeds start to crackle and the spices are fragrant, add the onions and garlic. 
• Saute onions till they are translucent.
• Now add the tomatoes and cashews and mix it well.
• Saute them for 3-4 minutes, till all the raw smell of cashews is gone.
• Take it off the heat and let it cool for some time.
• Now, grind this mixture into a smooth paste. Add some water if needed.
• Then add some oil in the same pan and add the paste.

• Add all the spices (salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander cumin powder) and fenugreek leaves and mix it well.
• Also add a cup or two of water and mix. Simmer the gravy till it thickens and reaches medium consistency.

• Add the koftas only at the time of serving, else they may become soggy.
• Garnish with some cilantro and serve with any kind of Naan, Roti, paratha or rice