Pepper 'n Spice

 Hash literally means a dish of chopped meat cooked along with potatoes. Hash brown is a popular American breakfast salver. In Mac's, hash browns are potatoes which are shredded, made like a patty and fried. In Sweden, menu's of restaurants have potatoes as the main carbohydrate part of a meal; usually mashed or as pan fried baby potatoes. Here in Kerala, potato is added as an afterthought to curries and gravies or as an embellishment.  I almost followed this to the dot , except for replacing parsley with celery. The integrals of the hash browns are... Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Potatoes - 4, medium Onion - 1, small Garlic - 4 cloves Salt - 1/4 tsp Pepper, freshly ground - 1/2 tsp Celery leaves - a handful The formula... Peel potatoes and dice into small cubes. Peel onion and chop into small slices. Peel garlic and mince them. Roughly chop celery leaves. Warm up a flat bottomed saucepan and add 2 tsps of oil. Add potatoes. Cover with a lid. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, stirri...

 Another great way to use chickpea flour, this is an interesting manner to eat bland boiled eggs . The fragments of the egg dip are.. Chickpea flour - 1/2 cup Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/4 tsp Salt - a little less than 1/4 tsp Lemon juice - juice of 1 small lemon Water - 3 Tbsp The course of action ... Boil three eggs in water with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and remove shells. Divide each egg into three parts.  Put together all the egg dip portions mentioned above. Heat a saucepan and brush olive oil. Dip egg pieces in the chickpea dip mixture and gently place on pan. Cook on slow heat for 5 to 6 minutes and flip sides. It's done when the chickpea mixture is cooked and lightly browned on both sides of the egg pieces. Have a ball with the pakodas with tomato ketchup! Mark Edwards "Here to stay" is about a scientist guy called Eliiot who lives in a beautiful home that he renovated. He falls in love with Gemma and short...

 An Indo-Chinese noodle dish. I added beans, carrot, cabbage and celery along with eggs, innovating on an online recipe . Different elements of the noodle bowl are.. Hakka noodles - 150g Water - for boiling noodles Olive oil, extra virgin - 3 tsp Green chili - 1 Garlic - 4 or 5 Carrot - 2, peeled Cabbage - 1/2 cup Broad beans - 1 cup, ends trimmed Celery - 2 or 3 stalks with leaves Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Apple cider vinegar - 1 Tbsp Organic brown eggs - 3 The strategy for the desi hakka noodles.. Heat water in a deep bottomed pan. Once it starts boiling, add the dry noodles along with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil. When the noodles soak in the water and becomes soft, remove from heat and drain excess water. Chop cabbage, beans and carrot into thin lengthwise strips. Warm up the same saucepan and add oil. When it heats up, add minced chili and garlic. Sautee for 2 to 3 minutes. Break eggs directly into pan and scramble them. Add salt, pepper and stir. Add chopped cabbag...

My daughter's elation at the creamy penne and her eagerness to polish off all vegetables in it (as long as it is in the white sauce) gave me a revelation. Why not add more and/or different veggies in the creamy sauce ;-) And such thoughts spurred me to make lasagna with beetroot, pumpkin, beans, green and red capsicum. The constituents.. Lasagna - 4 or 5 sheets Water Olive oil, extra virgin - 3 tsps Green chili - 1 Garlic - 5 or 6 cloves Tomato, chopped - 1 Beetroot, diced - 1/2 cup Pumpkin, diced - 1 cup Green capsicum, diced - 1 Red capsicum, diced - 1 Broad beans, chopped - 1/2 cup Oregano - 1 tsp Rosemary - 1 tsp Garlic powder - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Cream - 100 ml The approach.. Boil lasagna sheets in water with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil, until al dente. Drain excess water. Warm up a saucepan and add oil. When the oil heats up, add minced chili and garlic. Sautee for 2 or 3 minutes. Add all the vegetables. Sautee for 5 or 6 minutes. Add salt and spices...

The South Indian crepes made from mung beans is originally from the state of Andhra Pradesh. In the local language, it is called pesarattu. I was motivated to try this green dosa when my aunts, Geetha and Sneha, told me that they were addicted to it of late. My initial attempts were a failure as I was pre-boiling the mung beans before the grind. I ended with something that tasted real good , but was too thin and loose to make a crepe out of. So, the building blocks are.. Mung beans - 1 cup Basmati rice - 2 Tbsps Green chili - 1 Pearl onions - 5 or 6 Salt - 1/4 tsp Celery - 1 stalk with leaves Water - a splash Olive oil, extra virgin - for frying the crepes The process.. Soak mung beans and basmati rice overnight. Drain excess water. My mung beans sprouted. It's okay, even if doesn't. Mince chili. Chop onions and celery. Add mung beans, rice, onions, chili, salt, celery and water into a blender and blitz until smooth. Heat a flat bottomed wide saucepan, and brush oil. Add a spoo...

 Simple delights of the day; a pasta with lots of veggies and chicken as an add-on. I used leftover chicken from my previous stir fry for a pasta bliss ;-) With an aha moment after reading a recipe from a food blogging site , I proceeded henceforth... The factors that contributed to the pasta are.. Penne pasta - 3 cups Water Olive oil, extra virgin - 3 tsps Garlic - 3 or 5 cloves Green chili - 1/2 Cabbage, shredded - 1 and 1/2 cup Green capsicum, diced - 1 Broad beans, diced - 50g Chicken, boneless (cooked) - 100g Celery, chopped - 2 stalks with leaves Garlic powder - 1 tsp Oregano - 1 tsp Rosemary, dried - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp The course of action.. In a deep bottomed saucepan, heat enough water to immerse the pasta. Add pasta, a pinch of salt and a drop of oil, Bring to boil. Cook until pasta has soaked in water and has cooked through and through. Drain excess water. Heat oil in a shallow saucepan. Add minced garlic and chili. Sautee for 2 or 3 minutes. Add cabba...

A super easy chicken dish with an Asian piquancy.  The different aspects of the dish... Chicken, boneless - 500g Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Pearl onion - 15 Curry leaves - a handful Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chili - 1 Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp  Celery - 1 stalk with leaves Lemon - 1 Warm up a shallow saucepan and add oil. When the oil heats up, add carom seeds. Then add curry leaves, minced onions, ginger and chili. Sautee for 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt and spices. Add chicken, chopped into small bite size. Sautee for 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Add minced celery stalk and leaves. Squeeze juice of lemon and stir well. Savor the stir fry with hot steaming basmati rice. During my evening walk, I saw this cute kitten with its mother in our neighbor's home... :-)