Shrimp/ Prawn Masala

When I was a kid I liked chicken but was not much into seafood. Except certain Indian fishes like Mackerel (Bhangda) and Pomfret in fried form, I was not interested in fish. However I loved prawns. My mom had no complaints about me finishing off my plate, the day she made it. I enjoy a wide variety of seafood now but my love for shrimps and prawns, is still the same. I think it has a taste that not many who eat it can hate. 

I prepare a very simple, quick dish with shrimps these days. It is just peeled, deveined shrimp tossed together with Indian spices. Simple to make but the taste is elaborate. With my husband being a vegetarian, I can have this dish without sharing :-)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 3 tsp oil
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• In a deep pan, take oil and heat it. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter, add onions and saute.
• When onions are browned, add tomatoes and cook.
• Add chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix well.
• Add the shrimps or prawns, whatever you have in hand. 
• Add salt and garam masala and mix well.
• Cover and cook the shrimps with the spices on low heat.
• When the shrimps are done, remove from heat and serve warm with rotis or rice.
• Enjoy

* You can garnish it with cilantro, as it will make a better presentation with some green color in the dish.

Stuffed Broccoli Paratha

I love stuffed parathas and I will never be bored of having a paratha, in fact I bet there would be no desi, who does not like stuffed parathas. Broccoli is not an Indian dish vegetable but with all the good nutrients and health benefits, we Indians would be happy to borrow it into our meals. I went one step ahead and instead of making the western version of steamed, stir-fries and soups, made a stuffed paratha out of it. I hope broccoli was happy with it's new Indian avatar. I have no idea whether broccoli was happy but my husband and I, we were definitely two happy souls after having it.

Broccoli is definitely the healthiest of all the veggies in the market. In States, it is also easily available throughout the year. So there is no excuse for not including it in your meal. Broccoli has many health benefits, it is high in calcium, fibre, vitamin C (helping iron absorption), folic acid (good for women) and potassium (useful for hypertension). Furthermore it has sulforaphane and  indol-3 carbinol, both are anti-cancer agents. Having cancer in the family makes us see this benefit more. Since his mom is going through lymphoma now, hubby has to have a good diet to ensure good health in future. Broccoli is also known to control aging signs in the body because of its benefits. Now that I am interested in, with me hitting thirty this year :(

While making these parathas I used a method which I came across in the blog, Veggie Foodist. It is a life saver, time saver for me. I thank Bharti for this unique method of making parathas, which is quicker and also gives you a paratha with uniform filling. I managed to make parathas the traditional way, but always struggled getting the filling evenly distributed. This method works like a charm in having your filling evenly distributed and also it is just a one fold and roll method. I am not going back to the traditional method and am able to enjoy more parathas now. I only changed the shape of my parathas so I got triangular parathas rather than football shaped ones.

If you roll the dough circular and fold, you will get football shaped parathas

If you roll your dough oblong then you will get triangular parathas

Frankly I do not mind the shape till the end result is yummy.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1and 1/2 cup warm water 

For the stuffing:

• 3-4 heads of broccoli
• 1-2 green chillies
• 1/2 inch piece ginger
• 1/2 onion chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp dry mango powder (aamchur)
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil

Directions:

For the dough:

• Mix salt and flour well. 
• Add 1 cup water first and start mixing. Then carefully add more water only if needed, say 1/4 cup at a time till you feel that the mix has enough water to knead it into a dough. If you add more water than needed and the dough is sticky add little flour and knead. Similarly if you feel the dough is dry add a tablespoons of water, to get it right.
• Now add 1 tbsp oil and knead it into smooth dough. If you have a food processor use it by all means. Keep aside for half an hour.

For the stuffing:

• Cut broccoli florets into small pieces and blend it with green chillies and ginger, without water. A food processor does this job well but if you do not have it, like me, then you just have to spend some time in chopping everything up into small pieces and then blend it.

Blended broccoli, ginger and chili mixture

• Add salt, garam masala and aamchur powder to the broccoli mixture.
• In a deep nonstick pan, heat oil, saute onions till soft and add the broccoli mixture
• Keep stirring occasionally. I think 3-5 minutes on heat is good enough for the moisture to escape from the mixture and cook it, as it will again get cooked when you are making parathas. Let it cool.

The final broccoli stuffing

Making parathas:

• Divide the dough into plum sized balls, also divide the broccoli mixture into equal or a tad smaller balls.
• Roll the dough longish like a naan, use flour to prevent sticking. Place the stuffing on one half of the rolled dough, not in the center like the traditional way, leaving space on the edges.

• Now fold the unfilled half over the filled one and seal the edges with your finger.

• Start rolling it till you get a flat paratha, applying even pressure all over, gently to retain filling
• You will get triangular parathas, which you then place on a hot griddle and cook on both sides applying oil on each side and flip as needed, till you get nice brown spots on both sides.
• Serve hot with yogurt and it is a complete meal, veggie, whole grain and protein.
• Enjoy!

Rajgira Aloo Paratha (Amaranth flour and potato flat bread)

My husband fasts every Saturday, and though he won't admit why he started doing that, I know the reason. He says it is for health reasons. Well you don't need to do a ritual fast for that! He actually started doing it after his mom was diagnosed with lymphoma. It was early this year and I knew the news was tough on him. My mother-in -law is in Mumbai and we are residing here in US. While she was under the care of my sister-in-law, due to the distance we could not do much for her. I think that is why he started fasting, maybe it was his way of doing something for her. I personally am a non-believer of fasts because I just don't get it, you can have cumin seeds but not mustard seeds, and all such funny rules don't make me feel  close to God. Plus most of the fasting foods are unhealthy, except fruits.

The news of my mother-in law having cancer has changed our life too. We have decided to go back to India for good, because it gets difficult managing family issues from here. With all the visa hassles and work pressure, you also can't travel anytime and stay for long, when needed. I loved my stay here in US and kind of feel bad to go back. It is an amazing country. I love its values of independence, I like american sense of humor and its 'work hard party hard' attitude. Not to forget I also picked up cake decorating skills here and would be open to make it a career option in future. I came here as a girl, at twenty-three with my husband, not knowing much about cooking. I explored cuisines from all over the world in my little kitchen here and what would be a better place than US, which is a melting pot of cultures from all over the world, to blend flavors. I have seen, and learnt a lot from, my mother and mother-in -law cooking, but I found my own style of cooking here, and fell in love with cooking. My daughter, too, was born here. So overall I have lot of good memories in this country. However I came here on H4 visa and that has always been a bone of contention during my stay here. So a part of me is also looking forward to go back. I am happy to know I will be going back a woman enriched with experience and skills. I was born and raised an Indian but US will always have a special place in my heart. Well for now we are just praying for my mother-in-law's health and for strength, while going through all the changes in our lives, we know it's not going to be easy.

Well, since my husband is fasting I still want him to eat healthy during that time. Having someone go through cancer in your family reminds you all the more, to eat healthy. Amaranth flour is very nutritious. It is high in iron, is fiber rich, has calcium and protein too. Amaranth is also gluten free. If you mix amaranth flour and whole wheat flour in equal proportions and make roti out of it, it will be healthier than your regular roti. To make rotis out of amaranth flour it is better to have some kind of binder since it is a gluten free flour. Since whole wheat is not allowed as per those fasting rules, I make these Amaranth parathas with potatoes and not only is it healthy, but tasty too.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup amaranth flour (Rajgira atta)
• 2 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 2 green chillies, minced
• a handful cilantro chopped
• salt to taste

Directions:

• Mix everything together and knead into dough, without water. If you think you need water add 1 teaspoon  at a time, the potatoes give the needed moisture and binding to form the dough.
• Divide it into equal parts to make 2"-2-1/2" diameter balls. 
• Roll each ball to make a flat tortilla shaped roti. Roll it very gently flouring it well. If you put too much pressure or try to roll it too thin, it will get very sticky. You will get a 5"- 6" paratha after rolling.
• Cook it on a hot griddle on each side, applying little oil on both sides, till brown spots appear.
• Serve hot with yogurt or vegetable or gravy of your choice.
• Enjoy

Idli Masala

This is a great way of having leftover idlis. All the additional spices and flavor from onion and tomatoes give a zing to the old idlis.  I had tried oats idli from mix to match blogspot by Anudivya. It was great, plus I was happy with including fiber in the meal. I always end up making anything more than we can attempt to finish. We had oat idlis and sambhar for dinner and next day for breakfast turned them into these yummy idli masala.

Ingredients:

• Leftover idlis chopped into 1" cubes, around 2 cups
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1 tsp red chili powder 
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 2-3 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions:

• In a deep non-stick pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, when they crackle add asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Add onions and when they are soft, add tomatoes and let it cook till mushy.
• Add chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt to taste. Mix well.
• Add the chopped idlis, mix well and let it stay on low heat for around 5 minutes, covered.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot.