Pepper 'n Spice

In Kerala, pumpkin or mathanga is commonly made into erissery which also finds its way into the traditional sadya. Since my daughter does not eat this, pumpkin cake is an approach to peak her interest in this lovely yellow-orange vegetable. The pumpkin puree can be prepared by steaming pieces of chopped pumpkin (sans skin, seeds and inner fibrous part) until tender and soft. Once it has cooled down, grind it coarsely. The cake might have a few small pieces of pumpkin here and there, but that's okay. Delve in, to know the rest of the process to achieve this super soft, unique cake. The background sketch by my daughter is of the Eurasian Hobby, a falcon. Our neighbor doctor, an avid birder had presented my daughter with a colored sketch of the bird. Here she is attempting to replicate the same.   The ingredients of this fab cake.. Pumpkin puree - 3/4 cup All purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp Dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp Bu...

   Aaloo is the Hindi word for potato. I find that potatoes are used a lot in North Indian dishes. Capsicum is also called bell peppers or just peppers. They can be eaten raw in salads. Since they do not need to cook much, they are added at the end of cooking this item. Also, this helps retain their freshness and crunchiness. The sunset on sea backdrop painting is by my daughter and yours truly :-) The different elements of the vegetarian dish... Cumin seeds - a tad Onion - 1 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 4 cloves Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Capsicum, green - 2 Potato - 2  Water - 1/2 cup   The procedure... Chop onion into thin slices. Mince ginger and garlic. Peel potato, discard stem and seeds of capsicum. Cube potato and capsicum. Heat a deep bottomed steel cooking pan. Toast cumin seeds. Throw in onion, ginger and garlic. After a few seconds, add a splash of water (the secret ingredient for oil fre...

  Oat milk is a vegan alternative to dairy milk. It is prepared from the rolled oats that is used to make porridge. Ice cubes and cold water is added into the blender along with the oats so that the blender does not heat up when the oats is blitzed.  Hope you like the fresh homemade vanilla flavored oat milk as much as I do in my ginger tea.   The fundamental ingredients... Rolled oats (Quaker oats) - 1 cup Ice cubes (small) - 13 to 15 Cold water - 1/2 cup Vanilla essence - 1 tsp     The procedure.. Immerse oats in water overnight. Next day, wash the oats and drain the excess slimy water. Throw into blender along with ice cubes, cold water and vanilla essence. Blitz for about half a minute. Strain using a nut milk bag or a thin cotton cloth. Squeeze out the milk from the bag. Refrigerate. It stays fine for 2 days in the fridge. Use it in lieu of dairy milk for tea and coffee.  

 Mappas is a South Indian dish wherein the vegetable, meat or fish is cooked in creamy coconut milk. There is potato, ladies finger, chicken, beef and fish mappas. The recipe here is mappas with ladies finger. This delectable dish can be combined with roti, appam and puttu. The elements of Mom's lip smacking dish... Rice bran oil - 1 Tbsp Ladies finger - 500g Clove - 1 Cinnamon - 1 small stick  Curry leaf - a few Onion - 3 medium size Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chili - 2 Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Coconut milk - 1/2 cup The method.. Wash the ladies finger and pat them dry on a clean cloth. Trim the ends. Chop into 1 inch pieces. Shallow fry the ladies finger in little oil until cooked through and through. Cut onion into thin slices. Mince ginger and chili. Heat a small deep-bottomed pan and drizzle oil. When the oil warms up, cast in cloves and cinnamon. Stir for a few seconds. Throw in curry leaves, onion, ginger and chili. Fry until onions become translucent. Add in garam masala an...

Parippu vada is a typical item in local thattukadas in Kerala. These crispy lentil fritters that Mom made are one of my daughter's favorites and they were ideal for the heavy rains we had today.     The additives...   Bengal gram (split chickpeas) - 2 cups Water - for soaking the bengal gram Red chili - 2 Shallots - 3 Ginger - 1/2 inch Curry leaf - a sprig Salt - 1/4 tsp Rice bran oil - for frying The method...    Soak the bengal gram in water for over an hour. Wash well and drain water. Grind coarsely. Chop shallots, ginger and red chili into small pieces. Pick the curry leaves from the sprig. Merge the shallots, ginger, red chili, curry leaves and salt with the ground lentil. Shape this mixture into small discs. Heat up a small deep-bottomed saucepan and add enough oil for frying. Drop the discs gently into the oil and fry them until they become golden orange in color. Place on thin tissues to smudge out any excess oil. And dive into the scrumptious snack! :-)...

Matar means peas and malai refers to cream that is added to the gravy. The dairy free version of this curry that we follow here uses blended cashews instead of cream. Hope you like it as much as we did.     The elements are.. Green peas, frozen - 200gm Cumin seeds - a smidgeon Ginger - 1/2 inch Onion - 1 Turmeric powder - a pinch Pepper, freshly ground - a tad Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 3/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Fiber part of green juice - 1/2 cup Water - 3/4 cup Cashews - 5   The technique... Defrost the green peas by keeping it in some water. Strain and set aside.  Soak cashews in water for half an hour so that they soften.   Warm up a deep-bottomed steel pan. Add in cumin seeds and stir for a few seconds. Throw in minced ginger and thinly sliced onion. Add a splash of water and saute until the onions soften. Add in salt, chili powder, turmeric powder, pepper, coriander powder and garam masala. Add a little bit o...

 Amla is the Indian gooseberry. The light green round fruit is bitter but very high in Vitamin C. The sourness of amla is camouflaged in the pulao by the addition of carrot. The spices added render the pulao an appetizing aroma. This one pot recipe is plain sailing.   The constituents are... Basmati rice - 1 and 1/2 cup Water - 3 cups for cooking rice + additional 1/4 cup for sauteing onions and peas Cinnamon - 1 small stick Clove - 1 Green cardamom - 1 Pepper - 3 Star anise - 2 petals Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp Onion - 1 Green chili - 2 Carrot - 2 medium size Gooseberry - 2 Salt - 1/2 tsp Green peas, frozen - 1/2 cup   The method.. Wash the rice and souse in water for 15 minutes. Strain and set aside. Defrost peas by keeping it outside in some water. Strain and save it for later. Slit chili till midway. Chop onion into thin slices. Peel carrots and grate them. Discard outer skin of gooseberry, grate and remove seed.     Warm up a pressure cooker. Cast in clove, ca...

 Almond milk Almond milk is made from almonds that are soaked overnight. A blend of these softened almonds and water produces this milk. It is free from lactase and hence can be consumed by those who are lactose intolerant. Store bought almond milk comes in sweetened, unsweetened, vanilla and chocolate flavors. The innards... Cashew, raw and unsalted - 1 cup Almond milk (cold) - 1 cup Honey - 2 Tbsp Vanilla essence - 1 tsp The process... Soak the cashews overnight in order to soften it.  Blend the cashews with half a cup of almond milk. Add the rest of the almond milk, honey, extract and blend for a minute. The result will be a smooth, creamy mixture. Freeze overnight. Keep outside for 15 minutes before scooping the ice cream into bowls. Delight in the lovely ice cream along with a brownie.

]] The integrals... Chickpeas - 1 and 1/2 cup (soaked overnight) Water - for boiling chickpeas + additional 1/4 cup Carom seeds - a pinch Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 4 cloves Green chili - 2  Fibre remnants from green juice - 3/4 cup Salt - 1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1 tsp Celery leaves - a few The formula... Pressure cook the chickpeas in water with a bit of salt. Drain excess water. Set aside. Mince green chili, garlic and ginger. Heat a deep-bottomed steel pan and throw in carom seeds. After 3 seconds, cast in green chili, ginger and garlic. Saute for a few seconds. Just before it starts to stick to the pan, add in a splash of water. Stir around for a minute. Add in salt, chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala and a drizzle of water. Mix until the raw smell of the masalas diminish. Add in the strained fibre remains of green juice. Stir to intermingle well. Cast in cooked chickpeas and unify everything. Garnish with cho...

Did you know that tomato is a fruit; a berry! The plant is a vine and grows well in our climate. This is a one pot recipe; you use only a pressure cooker. Take care to use stainless steel cookers over aluminium cookers. Also stainless steel pans are better preferred over teflon coated nonstick pans. This is because when the coating starts to peel off, it could mix with the food and this is cancer causing. Also, when the nonstick cookware is heated, the plastic polymer which forms the teflon coating can release toxins. So choose your cookware carefully :-) The components... Basmati rice - 1 and 1/2 cup Water - 3 cups for cooking rice + additional 1/4 cup Cinnamon - a small piece Cloves - 1 Pepper - 3     Green cardamom - 1 Onion - 1 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 3 cloves Green chili - 1 Salt - 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1 tsp Tomato - 4 small Lemon - 1/2 Celery leaves - a few The means...   Wash the rice and souse in...

Peanut butter It is a spread made from roasted peanuts. It comes in two varieties : crunchy, with some coarsely ground peanuts and creamy, with a smooth texture. The butter is salty, pairs well with bread, crackers and is frequently used in baking cookies, cakes and brownies. A dab of this butter on banana is yumm! Flax egg A vegan alternative to eggs is flax eggs. It is prepared by combining ground flaxseed with water. A gelatinous mixture results when it is allowed to sit for a few minutes, which can be used instead of egg. The rule of thumb is that 1 tablespoon of flax with 3 tablespoons of water equalizes an egg. The ingredients are... Flaxseed, ground - 2 Tbsp + 5 Tbsp water Oats flour - 1 cup Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Almond milk -  3/4 cup Peanut butter, unsweetened - 3/4 cup + additional for drizzle Jaggery, powdered - 3/4 cup Vanilla extract - 1 tsp Dark chocolate shavings, 99% cocoa - 2 Tbsp  The technique... Combine oats flour, c...

Gooseberry Commonly called amla, it is a small round light green fruit with an inner pith. It is sour and bitter in taste and is often pickled. Being rich in Vitamin C, it is ideal for juicing. The elements of the drink are... Apple - 1 Gooseberry - 4 Carrot - 2 Ash gourd - 200g Cumin seeds - a pinch Spinach powder - a bit Plant-based collagen powder - a tad Turmeric ginger powder - a little Lemon - 1/2 Salt - a smidgeon Water - 4 glasses   The process..   Peel apple, carrots and slice them roughly. Remove outer skin of ash gourd, gooseberry and discard the seeds too. Chop them also. Throw all the slices into a blender along with cumin seeds and some water. Blitz. Strain the juice into a tall jug. Squeeze juice of lemon into it. Add in water, salt, spinach powder, collagen powder and turmeric ginger powder. Stir well. Pour into tall glasses and drink up. The juice can also be prepared beforehand and refrigerated overnight too. A drawing by my daughter with acrylic colors :-)

Methi refers to fenugreek. Its leaves and its powdered form is used abundantly in Indian cuisine; in the preparation of pickles, sambar powder, in potato dishes (aaloo methi) and other dishes. Mom added a tablespoon of dry methi leaves into the chapati dough to prepare this lip-smacking bread.        

A creative breakfast prepared by my daughter from leftovers. She stuffed chapati with veg chow mein, rolled it and cut into smaller rolls. It tasted different, but pretty good!