Oven-baked potatoes with spinach

This is a dish I make often as my family likes it a lot. It is very easy and all you need is a salad to go with it. It has a thick layer of sliced potatoes, then a layer of spinach topped with grated cheese. This dish is quite easy to prepare and once in the oven you can go ahead with other house chores.

So please try it out!! I remember Dipen and Ruta loved it so much and asked me to include this in my blog. Here you go!

Ingredients

Potatoes cut into slices (as shown)

Spinach, deepfreeze or freshly chopped

Grated cheese

1 cup of full cream

2 to 4 cloves of pressed garlic

Black pepper

Knob of butter

Salt to taste

Method

Mix the garlic, salt & black pepper with the cream and pour it over the potatoes & give it a mix.

Add the spinach all over it & add a few knobs of butter all over it.

Now cover the spinach with the grated cheese.

Preheat the oven to 180deg. and place this in the middle of the oven.

Cover the same with an aluminium sheet and bake for half an hour.

After this reduce the temperature to 150deg.  And bake for another hour.

After the potatoes are baking for 45 minutes, check to see if they are cooked. If the potatoes are still raw let them cook under the aluminium foil for another half an hour.

Then remove the aluminium sheet and let the cheese brown a bit.

Serve with a green Salad!:)

Stirfried Farmers Cabbage Kale/Borecole (Boerenkool in Dutch)

This is a tasty vegetable found during the winter time.It is dark green in colour and is often available at the stores washed chopped and packed like shown in the photo. I love this vegetable as it reminds me of the Muringa leaf. Believe me if you follow this recipe you will agree with me that it does taste like the muringa leaves thoran.

Ingredients.
1 packet of the Cabbage (packed vegetables are washed so u dont have to
wash it again)
2 tab.sp Desicated coconut or freshly grated coconut
1 tab.sp.Raw rice / or white rice
One or two dried red chillies
1 or 2 tab.sp of coconut oil
Salt to taste.

Method

Heat 1 or 2 tab.sp of oil and allow the rice to roast on a medium flame
until they turn light brown.

Now add the garlic slices and the red chillies and fry until the garlic is light brwn 

and the red chillies have turnend dark.

Add the salt mix well & now add the chopped borecole & give it a good
mix.

Close pan with its lid and let it cook for 5 minutes on a medium
flame.

Give it a good stir a few times & let it cook for another 8 to 10
minutes.

There is no need to add water when you cook this vegetable.Once done add the
desicated coconut & mix well.

Serve with rice.

Enjoy

Oven Roasted Potatoes

This is another favourite of ours made when the new potatoes are at the market.I have used garden grown Thyme leaves. Often I have asked friends to smell this herb & they all have told me it reminded them of Ajwain, but Thyme is not Ajwain...they do smell very much alike.

Anyway, give it a try.

All you need is:

Fresh / new potatoes ( nieuwe aardappelen) cut into pieces with its skin on.

(2 medium sized potatos per person ,I learned this from my M I L )

Crushed Garlic

Sea salt to taste

Few twiggs of the fresh Thyme
Plenty of Olive oil
Crushed Black pepper.

Method:
Mix all the above ingredients well and bake in a pre heated oven 180 deg. for 1/2 an hour the tray covered with an aluminium foil.

After half hour bring the temp. to 150 deg. Remove cover give the potatos a
stir & bake for another one hour or until they are almost crisp.

Check if they are done before you switch off the oven.

Serve with Thyme & Cucumber in Yogurt Sauce(already shown in my blog) or Mayonaise.

Enjoy!

Sannaas

These are Sannaas.It looks like Idly but they are much softer & easier to
make.

This is the only blog that will have this recipe. Friends have googled to
look for the name Sannaas and have not found any they said.......

Sannaas are not known to a lot of people. If you lived in the South Kanara
part of Karnatakalike Udupi,Mangalore or came from Goa you will remember these steamed rice cakes, served either with a coconut stew or even better Pork/Chicken Vindaloo. 

This is a typical Catholic food you are served if u are invited to an Easter or Christman lunch or dinner. When I introduced this here in my Kitchen it was a big hit, as its very soft
and slightly sweet & went very well with a chicken curry potato stew. Nobody had had this before and were all curious about its origin and, of course, recipe. If you go through the ingredients you will see its almost same as our Appam (Kerala).However, its ground to a  thick paste and not watery like the Appam batter & its steamed.

Ingredients.
1 tin coconut milk (450 ml)
4 cups rice (raw or boiled )
1 tab.sp.urid dal
1  tab.sp.sugar
1/2 tea sp.dried yeast
1/2 tea sp.salt


Method:

Clean rice & Urid dal in few changes of water & soak for a minimum of 6 hours

Drain well add all ingredients & blend to a fine paste adding no water unless the batter is too thick.

Empty the batter into a bowl and place it in a warm place.

I often place it insde the Micro Wave / Magnetron & let the door open.This is only possible if you have a lamp inside your micro wave / magnetron. Or place it inside your dish washer after you have emptied your wash. Remember, this is a perfect setting for keeping the Idli or Sanna batter to rise! :-)

In a few hours time the yeast will ferment the batter

Now pour the batter into small Idli bowls or Idli steamer or even into an container & steam them for 20 to 30 minutes.

Make sure the Sannaas have cooled down before you take them out running a spoon all around the steamed Sannaas.

Enjoy!

Yoghurt salad/ Raita

This is one salad that goes with any of the Indian dishes.
If you find Indian curries too spicy all u need to do is mix it with some yoghurt salad to make it less spicy.

Ingredients:
2 cups of Greek or Turkish Yogurt.
1 cup of Buttermilk / Karnemilk
1 cucumber chopped into small pieces
3 ripe tomatos also cut into small pieces
2 Finely chopped Red onions
1 Green chilly finely chopped (option)
1/2 tab. sp. of ginger water (crush & press out the juice)
1 clove of finely ground Garlic (option)
1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Mix all above ingredients well .

Done. How easy was that?

Note: Make this salad only when its time to serve food.I serve it at room temperature and I prefer this than
made hours before and refregerated.

Capsicum/ Paprika Stirfry

I love to have my ripe red or yellow capsicum raw, or even better, its juice extracted from a low juicer. It  took me a while to drink this juice as I was not a fan of the paprika. In Udupi  where I grew up we only got small green ones which were not my favourite at all. These green ones have a strong taste, while the red & the yellow ones are very sweet and you can just  eat them raw.

During hot summer days Jan & myself would bike all the way to the Hague Market just to    buy them in bulk   to extract juice. Once I started enjoying it I realised how SO YUMMY it was ! And full of vitamins too!


Here is also a recipe, to show you how to make an easy stirfry with these 
delicious vegetable.

Ingredients

Mixed Capsicum / Paprica (3nos.)
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 large onions slices.
1/2 tsp.of Turmeric/kurkuma powder
Seasoning(option)Mustard, cumin & dry red chilly

Method:
1.  Slice the capsicum & the onions as shown.

2.  Heat a Tab. sp of oil (you can use any oil here)add when the oil is hot lower the flame   remove pan from fire & add the seasoning i.e.

3.  1/2 tsp. of whole black mustard, allow the mustard seed to crackle.

4.  Then add the 1/4 tsp. of whole Cumin seed & the dry red chilly.

5.  Add then 1/2 tsp. of turmeric powder & Salt to taste.

6.  Bring the pan back on fire & add the sliced the onions& crushed garlic & fry on medium   flame for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.

7.  Now add the sliced capsicum & stir fry for two minutes on high flame.

8.  Sprinkle some freshly grated or desicated coconut .

Serve with a chapati or rice.

Enjoy!

Chicken Biriani

I have been a non meat eater for a while but have cheated when ever Biriani was around, especially Chicken Biriani. I would excuse myself and have a generous portion of the rice and leave the chicken behind. But it's been hard and once again I have gone back to having chicken once in a while (my soul was not satisfied said a friend of mine)..Anyway.
I made this for my team of friends Ilse,Mieke,Sunny,Wilma & Fatna as a thanks giving(belated) for all their help.

I want you to try this out!

What you need is:

• 1 kg of chicken cut into pieces
• 500 grams of Basmati rice
• Ginger garlic green chilly paste.(2 tab. sp. ground garlic paste, 1 tab.sp of ground ginger paste & 4 ground green chillies & salt to taste )
• 2 large onions
• 12 cardamon pods
• 12 cloves
• few pieces of cinnamon barks
• One handful of Coriander leaves 
• One handful of mint leaves.
• 1 tsp. of turmeric powder
• 1 tab.sp of Coriander powder
• 1/2 tab. sp. of cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. of red chilly powder
• 1 tsp. of garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. of Shahjeera / caraway seeds
• saffron in milk (1/2 a cup of warm milk with 1 tsp. of saffron)
• Few tab.sp. of ghee (4 to 6 tab.sp.)
• 1/2 a lemon juice
• Oil
• Salt

Step I:

1 kg. of chicken cut into pieces.

Marinate this in Ginger garlic green chilly paste & keep it over night in
the fridge.(2 tab. sp. ground garlic paste, 1 tab.sp of ground ginger paste & 4 ground
green chillies & salt to taste )

Step II:

2 large onions finely slice lengthwise & fried until golden brown & kept
aside.

Step III:

Take a heavy pan and add 1/2 a cup of oil (I used sunflower).When the oil is warm add:
6 cardamon pods
8 cloves
2 to 3 pieces of cinnamon barks

Fry for a few seconds and add:
A handful of fried onions,
1 tsp. of turmeric powder
1 tab.sp of Coriander powder
1/2 tab. sp. of cumin powder
1/2 tsp. of red chilly powder
1 tsp. of garam masala powder
Fry these ingredients for a while about 2 minutes on a low flame.

IV. Then add:

One handful of the Coriander leaves
One handful of mint leaves.
Stir well and check if it is salty enough.

V. Add then:

The marinated chicken & 1/2 a lemon juice & mix well.
Let it cook for 15 minutes stirring now and then.

After 15 minutes take the pan away from the fire & keep aside.

VI. Prepare the rice:

As you are preparing the Biriani masala ingredients,
Soak 500 grams of Basmati rice cleaned & soaked in plenty of cold water for 15 minutes.
Then pour the rice on to a colander and let all the water drain and rice look almost dry.

While rice is soaking,
Take a pan add 2 to 3 ltrs. of water add:
6 cardamom
4 cloves
few pieces of cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. of Shahjeera / caraway seeds
2 tab.sp. of oil &
Salt

When the water is boiling, add the rice stir just once.
Allow to boil on high flame for 5 minutes and then drain the rice of all water.
Here you can remove all the whole spices if you do not want them.

VII.  Now

We are going to make some layers, first chicken, then rice on top, so;

Keep the chicken mixture back on fire and let it simmer.
Remove half the chicken mixture with its gravey and keep aside.

VIII. Then

Spread a handful of coriander , mint leaves and fried onions on top of the
chicken that is kept to simmer.

Then on top of this half the rice kept to drain and spread it out well.

Now add the rest of the chicken mixture kept aside on top of the rice spreading it evenly around 

Again add on top of it a handful of coriander, mint & fried onions.

Now add the rest of the rice (this is the last)& spread it out well.

Add now on top of this last layer of rice;
Few tab.sp. of ghee (4 to 6 tab.sp.)
saffron in milk (1/2 a cup of warm milk with 1 tsp. of saffron)
Some more coriander, mint & fried oniond.

IX. Then,

Take an aluminium foil and cover the pan well before you put the lid on it.
Now higher the flame for 5 minutes and let the rice cook.
Keep your oven warm at 150 deg. and transfer the pan and let it cook for
half hour and switch off.. 

OR

Cover your pan with a heavy blanket(woolen or a duvet)and let it rest until
time to serve 

OR
Place pan on a large saucepan / tawa then on fire & cook for another 25
minutes on low flame.



Serve with a Yogurt Salad / Raita
Papadam & a boiled egg.

ENJOY!

Bombay Toast / French Toast/ Egg bread

Whatever one calls this white bread item, it is the most tasty way to have white bread for breakfast.

Growing up my mum often made this, but I had forgotten it until we were at Deepthi's parents place last December and her mum (I call her Baby) served this for breakfast.We both loved it & Jan who hardly has any breakfast had 4 slices of them!!!(me too...:-) ).IT was soooooo tasty.

Even though we had Aapam & stew the previous morning we both agreed this was the best breakfast! and once I was back home lost no time to make this. 

I remember we called it as Bombay toast but mostly its called French Toast or egg bread.
Anyway here is how to make this easy bread.

There are two ways of making this...



Ingredients:

Method 1
2 slices of white bread ( usualy left over bread from the previous day is used)
2 Eggs well beaten
1-1.5 cups of milk
2 tab. sp of sugar
A pinch of Cinnamon powder



Method 2
Same as above however no sugar instead Salt to taste & good helping of ground black pepper.




Add milk & all other ingredients to the beaten eggs & mix well.

Now immerse the slices of bread making sure all the milk is absorbed by the bread.

Heat a pan , add a knob of butter or Ghee and fry them on either side until it turns brown.





Enjoy!

Cha /Masala Tea

It took me a while to really make a GOOD cup of tea / cha. It was Sanjeev's Mum who had gifted me a packet of tea from Delhi and taught me how to make a perfect tea. I am so greatful to 'Didi" for teaching me how to make this perfect cup of tea and I even call it 'Diditea'.It may sound funny but thats how I call my cup of tea!


Ingredients:
1 tab.sp. of Assam Tea
1 piece of crushed fresh ginger
2 cloves
1 cup of full milk ( i use preserved milk)
1 cup of water.
Sugar

Method:
Bring to boil all the above ingredients .Let it simmer for a minute.

Switch off the gas and close the pan with its lid and let it rest for 5 minutes..

Sieve & serve hot ! This makes two cups of Cha.


Tips: If you do not have Assam tea use only English breakfast tea bags.Here you will need 2 bags .




Enjoy!

Kwark / Quark /Srikhand

This is a dessert I have been serving during lunches dinners ever since I came to the Netherlands. During one such dinner I heard someone say the Srikhand was tasty and in India it was served with poori (a kind of deep fried Indian bread) and this is when I started calling it 'Srikhand'. I had called it '"Kward met fruit/Quark with fruit."..... This is made with ready made Kwark freely available at the super market... try this out.


Ingredients:
400 Gms. of Kwark
4 to 6 tab. sp. of fine white sugar or Honey
Few pinches of Saffron threads
A pinch of cardamon powder


Method:

Empty the Kwark into a glass bowl & add all the above ingredients and mix well.

Place this in the fridge over night.

When serving give it a stir again& serve with fruit.

Banana & Mango goes very well with Kwark.


Enjoy!


Tips:
A perfect dessert made in no time and well appriciated by all!

Moong Dal Payasam / Kheer

(Cherupayar payasam)

Everyone who has had this payasam at my place just LOVED it!.

In my younger days when mum made this I never liked it as I hated anything made out of jaggery. I never tasted this payasam and on my Birthday I could choose and my Mum made special Pal / Milk payasam for me & I was happy!......

When I started making this payasam I found it very tasty and when I would tell my Mum how good it turned out to be she would ask me surprised if I had tried it. I love this payasam now and anything made out of Jaggery!!!..... and my explaination to all this is perhaps that I got some attention those days when she made special pal payasam for Papa (Papa is my pet name)

Now, everytime I make this payasam I am asked for its recipe and often I have told the guestsin a nut shell  how to make it.

Here is an easy way to make this delicious payasam which I am sure you will all try .....



Ingredients:
1 cup Moong dal
1 cup jaggery syrup( I use palm sugar syrup)
200 ml of coconut milk (I use Kara product)
400 mll water
1 tab. sp.Ghee
Handful halved raw cashewnut
A handful of raisins
4 cloves
Cardamom powder
1 tsp. dry ginger powder(chukku)
Pinch of Salt

This will serve 10 to 12

Method:
Using a heavy pan heat the Ghee and fry the Moongdal om a medium flame until they are all coated in Ghee and half the Moongdal turned dark brown(do not burn)You need to keep stirring as we do not want the entire Moongdal brown.

Then cook or pressure cook* this in water , cloves & salt for about 15 minutes or until they are 3/4 done.

Using a ladel mash half of the contents& stir the entire cooked moongdal well & add the jaggery syrup & the ginger powder & allow to simmer.

Then add the coconut milk give it a good stir and simmer for another 5 minutes. If the payasam / kheer is too thick add some milk or water to dilute.

Garnish with Cashewnuts & raisins &fresh coconut pieces fried in ghee. This garnish is what makes the payasam a big hit!




Garnish for payasam:
Heat another tab. sp of Ghee & fry the coconut pieces until they are almost dark brown but not burnt.

Then add the cashew nut and the raisins. Allow the cashewnuts to brown and the raisins to puff up.

Add this to the payasam & give it a stir.

Finally add the ground Cardamon powder & serve warm.


Enjoy!


Tips:
After you have fried the Moongdal I have seen my mum wash it in water. I have never done this.

I use palm sugar /Gula java available at the chineese or Indonesian stores.Mind you this is tastier than our Jaggery.

If I remember, asa kid when I travelled by train some place near Vadagara in Kerala we could get Ari chakkara / rice jaggery to buy.

This Ari Chakkara tasted very much like the Palm Sugar / Gula Java.

This payasam is at its best when served hot on a banana leaf!!!! the aroma of the leaf adds more flavor to this great payasam....

Onion Baje/ Pakora

First of all, I'd like to wish you all a happy New Year!

In 2014, I'll make sure to give you a new recipe every week so you can make it a year full of delicous food! Starting off  with: Pakora:)

This is a favourite during the lunches and dinners with all of us. I could say Onion at its best!. Very simple to make and done in no time.

This is specially for Marijn ( my little jochie :-) now 18 I babysat :-) )
He is so fond of this that we made it almost every week.The only time he would not have this is when he had to go out with his bunch of GFs and BFs......& I could understand that.... nobody wants to smell after fried onions right? & mind you the entire house smells and I could not wait to keep all windows and doors wide open ...& often Hannie my neighbour would ask me "what are you cooking Hmmm"

But it's definitely worth it once in a while as it is a delicious and simple dish, so please try it and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
1 large onion
2 green chillies sliced into fine rings
Pinch of whole cumin seed
Few pinches of Hing / asefetida
4 tab. spoons of Gram flour
1/4 tsp. of Turmeric powder /kurkuma
A handful of chopped coriander leaves
1 Tab. sp. of ground rice powder


Method:
Remove skin and halve the onion & slice the halves into fine semi circular rings

Add the salt & green chillies and give it a good squeeze and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Now add rest of the ingredients andmix well.

Take a tab. sp. of the baje dough flatten it a bit & drop them into hot oil and fry until golden grown on either side.

Remove & put  them on a kitchen paper and allow all oil to drain.

Serve with coconut chutney or tomato chutney!

Enjoy!

Thalaasaney / Beans stir fried

This is my favourite dish.....Mithil my friend in Bangalore makes sure she makes this every time we are with them. I made it here and sent her the foto to get her opinion and she mailed back saying it looked good & advicsed me to fry the Garlic a bit longer to get more brown. This dish is very easy to make .Whole crushed Garlic is used here and only when you taste the stir fried slow cooked garlic you realise how tasty garlic can be!

Ingredients:
500 gms. of fresh & tender beans
1 to 2 tab.sp. coconut oil
1 tsp. of Turmeric
8 to 10 fresh garlic crushed (dont remove the skin)
1 or two dry red chillies
Few curry leaves
Salt to taste


Method:
Heat the oil and fry the Garlic,red chillies & the curry leaves until the Garlic turnes golden brown.

Now add the beans cut into 1 inch length

Add the turmeric powder and salt.

Mix well and adding a few tab.sp. of water stir fry this on high flame for 5 minutes and then simmer on a low flame for another 5 minutes with the lid of the pan on.

Done!


Tips: 
You need to use coconut oil to get the great flavor. I have also used Groundnut oil / Archideolie to prepare this vegetable.
All you need here is hot white rice to go with it!
At the Hague Market you can buy fresh / tender /new Garlic and they are rose in color.

Thyme & Cucumber Salad in Yogurt Sauce

I love yogurt and I have tried almost every variety of them available at the super market.The yoghurt that reminds me of the home-made yogurt is the Turkish yogurt or even the Greek one.Have to mention these yogurts have high fat contents(10%) while the local ones have very low contents.So not always I would go for these yogurts with high fat contents. But to make this Salad I use one of them.

Its a great yogurt salad which goes well with vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes.



Ingredients:
200 ml of yogurt(Greek or Turkish)
1 large clove of garlic finely ground to a paste with 1/2 tea sp. of salt
1/4 a tab. sp.of fresh Thyme leaves.
2 cucumbers

Method:
Remove skin of the cucumbers grate and press out all the juice.

Add the garlic paste to the yogurt and give it a good stir.

Add now the fresh Thyme leaves slightly crushed to the yogurt .

Serve as a Salad with fried fish / meat or french fries.



Enjoy!

Broccoli Soup

This is a recipe I tried out after we returned from Ireland.
A country I have fallen in love with! It reminded me of my childhood days visiting Interier(country side) of North Malabar with green grass paddy fields and narrow lanes& roads & fences made out of wood and stone even though Ireland had multiple colors of green grass fields...
On our tour we had this soup in one of the restaurants and immediately after returning I made this for my husband who fully agreed it tasted better than the one we had ..:-)
It was one of the best soup I had ever tasted.I love broccoli , want you to try this easy & simple way of making it.

This is specially for Nandu my niece in Bangalore.She had tried this soup when she had visited us & wanted me to put in on my blog.

So Nandu and all of you try it!
Ingredients:

two heads of broccoli
200 ml of cream
3 vegetable soup cubes ( groente bullion)
3 cloves of garlic
600 ml water
Few twiggs of fresh thyme

Method:
Boil 10 to 15 minutes the broccoli & the soup cubes in 600 ml of water.

Then, using a blender puree the same to a fine texture.

Add now the cream , freshly pressed /ground garlic and the Thyme twigs and give it a good stir......

Soup is ready to be served.

I love this served for lunch with toasted brown bread ....Try it out!.

Tips:
I have used the long life cream called '' houdbare slagroom '
Thyme leaves are freely available at the super markts, u can dry the left over leaves for later use.
Get one plant from the garden center, U can keep them in yourindoor or outdoor as its a winter hard plant.
If you need more salt add an extra soup cube.You can even use Chicken soup cubes instead of the vegetable ones.
If its too thick add some water to dilute. However Broccoli soup should be
thick and not watery!

Utappam

This is yet another type of a Dosa.
The base of the Utappam is nothing but the usual dosa batter, but then when we add chopped vegetables or onins & make a thicker version of a dosa we call it Uttappam.
The Uttappam batter should be well fermented and more sour than the usual dosa batter. I usually make Uttappam with the leftover dosa batter.

These are the ingredients for the Dosa batter:
2 cup raw Rice
1 cup Urid dal

1 tab.sp. of beaten rice / poha (soaked along with rice & Urid)
1 tsp. Methi seeds
Salt

Method:

Soak the above ingredients for 4 to 6 hours.Grind to a smooth paste adding little water while grinding.

Add the salt and let it rest to ferment .This will take a few hours or even
over night.

Once it has fermented well keep the batter in the fridge for few hours.Add the fillings* mix well and make thick Dosas.

Sprinkle afew drops of oil on top.
Serve with Coconut chutney / Tomato ketchup or Sambaar.

Filling for the dosa / uttappam

3 Tomatos
2 onion
2 to 4 green chillies
10 to 12 curry leaves
1 tsp.grated ginger
Handful of coriyander leaves
Salt
Few pinches hing/Asefetida
Oil for frying

Method:

Chop finely all the above ingredients and add the hing/ asefetida, ginger, salt and mix well.

Pour onto a hot dosa frying pan and make thick Uttappams.Add a few drops of
oil on top.

Uttappam is ready when the bottom is light brown and the top is off white in color.
Serve hot with coconut , tomato chutney.

Tips:

I usually keep the fermented Dosa batter in the fridge for a few hours before Imix the fillings.
I have noticed when I did this the Uttappams made had small circular depressions & I have often heard people say thats how uttappam should be....
So try this out....

Next week will be about Onion & Cabbage Baje / Pakora,  So keep an eye on my blog!:)

Spinach Stir fry

I Dont remember having heard anyone say they dont like spinach!....Spinach cooked on its own or with meat or even as a salad is very tasty! These spinach leaves we get here are very tender & I don't know if you have
noticed it's the same as the palak we have in India.In India they often let it overgrow......anyway...

This is a very simple and quick preparation & I enjoy it with just rice and yoghurt.



Ingredients:
Spinach
Dried red chilly
Garlic
Oil

Method:
Chop the leaves.

Heat a tab. sp. of oil and add the red chilly & crushed garlic.

Let it fry on a low flame until light brown.

Add the spinach & salt & stir fry on high flame for a minute or two.


Tips:

• Once you have cooked this vegetable do not re-heat it( pl. check the internet for info.) nor serve kids below 6 months.
• Cook the leaves the day you have bought it and eat it once a week.
• Its even tastier if you add a potato and let it cook for a bit longer....
  

Parotta (Instant)

If two things could keep kids happy is serving them with freshly made parottas or patat (french fries). For me making parotta is a long process even though its a VERY tasty roti /chapati like bread with plenty of fat contents in it & I feel kids can afford to have it. Of course adults LOVE it too.

There are times when I have made this in no time. Like I told u making fresh parottas is a big process
(dont we all miss Saabu who did this for us? ) Even though I make them following the long procedure, I also make this instant Parottas when I have an unexpected guest visiting us with kids. So I am sure Mothers would welcome this recipe....

Ingredients:
1 x packet of ready made puff pastry like shown here .Freely available at the deep freeze section of any super market. 

I use one with butter(roomboter)

Method:
Thaw the contents of the packet for 10 to 15 minutes.

Dust the surface with some flour & place two puff pastry on eachother and using a rolling pin roll it into desired size.

Then fry the same on either sides until light brown using NO fat.

Remember this has enough butter in it.

Serve with an egg curry or just a simple dal with spinach.

DONE!

Slibtong / Common Sole / Nangu mien

Recently when I was buying my fish I saw this man in front of me ordering this fish which I have never bought. I asked him how to prepare this fish and he was too eager to tell me, remarking"erg Lekker!.meaning really nice" I looked up its name and knew it was called a common Sole in English and Nangu mien in the south of India. I have seen this small flat fish which often reminded me of a

tadpole(sorry!)
I remembered how the fish monger would ask my mum to try this fish but she never bought it and I often heard her remark that it was not a fleshy fish and was good for her cats and dogs:-) ...so I had never tasted this fish back home. I bought a few and did it exactly the way the man had told me I should, and
wow! yes it was one tasty fish! I wish my mum was around to tell her that & I am waiting to go home to make this for my sisters.....
I want you to try it too.....

Ingredients:
2 slibtong / Sole / Nangu
Butter
Black pepper
Salt

Method:

When you buy this fish,  insist they remove the skin for you. Just clean it and wipe the fish with a kitchen paper and sprinkle salt and generous pinches of crushed black pepper. Then fry the same in butter until brown on either side.This will take about 10 to 12 minutes.
Done!

Note to remember:

- Use lemon juice to clean your hands or even a bit of tooth paste to get rid
of all the raw smell of the fish.
-I have dipped the fish in fine semolina but this is an option.You can sprinkle a bit of white flour / maida or rice powder.
Its an expencive fish but is worth trying.

Spruitjes / Brussels Sprout

This is one vegetable either you love it or hate it!.I love it and it should be cooked just enough to be crunchy. If you overcook, it tastes & smells awful. Its like a small cabbage. You need to remove quite a bit of its outer
leaves when you cook it. I will show you an easy way to make this vegetable.

If you want your children to eat any vegetables you need to start feeding them as young as 6 months old babies. Cook the vegetables(any) with a potato & puree it adding a tab.sp. of milk and try feedin them...that age they are ready to eat anything and very soon you will realise they love what you aren feeding them.

What a joy!

Ingredients:
250 gms. Brussels sprouts
Salt
a good knob of Butter
Few pinches of Nut meg powder
1/4 glass of water.

Method:

Remove the outer skin of the Brussels sprout add the water & salt and bring to boil.

Close pan with its lid and let it simmer on a low flame for 5 to 6 minutes.

Switch off the gas and after 10 minutes drain all the water & immediately add the knob of butter and the nutmeg powder and give it a good stir

Done!This is the only way I would like to have this vegetable.

Tips:
I usually drain the water after I have cooked this vegetable. But steaming this
vegetable is the best as this vegetable has cholesterol lowering benefit.