Savoury Pastry Cups

Ingredients

Puff pastry sheets (frozen)	2 sheets
Tomato	2 medium
Onion	1 large
Black olives (pitted and sliced)	½ cup
Tomato paste	50 gms
Butter	60 gms
Brown sugar	1 tbspn
Mozzarella cheese (shredded)	50 gms
Oil	1 tbspn
Salt	As per taste
Oregano (dried)	½ tspn
Italian herbs (dried)	½ tspn

Method

1. Dice tomatoes into small pieces and keep aside. 
2. Slice onion into fine, thin pieces.
3. Leave the pastry sheets to thaw aside, whilst making the tomato and onion mixture.
4. In a pan, heat butter and oil, add onions and fry until they are soft. Add brown sugar and keep stirring until it is caramelised.
5. Now add tomato paste and salt and fry for a few minutes until the mixture becomes thick.
6. Add the herbs and diced tomatoes to the mixture and turn the stove off. Let it cool completely.
7. Pre heat the oven at 160°C.
8. Brush the pastry sheets with butter. Cut them into 6 parts and line them into the greased muffin tray. Alternately you can use patty pans.
9. Spoon the mixture into the muffin trays. Don’t fill it more than half level, as the pastry rises to the top when it is baked.
10. Add sliced olives on top of the mixture and finally sprinkle cheese.
11. Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until it is golden brown in colour. Make sure to keep checking constantly.
12. Once cooked, remove the tray from the oven and let it cool.
13. Serve hot with your favourite cake.

Idli, Vada & Sambar

Idli

Ingredients                                        

Par boiled rice	3 cups
Raw rice	1 cup
Urid dhal	1 ¼ cup
Salt	As per taste

Method to make the batter:

1. Soak the rice and urid dhal separately overnight.
2. Grind the urid dhal in a wet grinder or any Indian blender into a smooth batter.
3. Grind the rice into a paste. It doesn’t have to be smooth; it can be a little coarser than the urid dhal batter.
4. Add all the batter into a container and mix it well. Leave it to ferment overnight.

Method to make idlis:

1. Firstly, an idli mould and an idli cooker are needed to make idlis.
2. Prepare the batter by adding salt and check the consistency of the batter, ensuring it is neither too thick nor too watery.
3. Apply oil to the idli plates so that the idlis won’t stick to the plate after it is steam cooked.
4. With a big spoon, take the batter and fill the idli plates.
5. Meanwhile fill the idli cooker with water (about 1 ½ inch height) and keep it on the stove and let it boil.
6. Carefully place the idle plate stand in the idli cooker and close the lid.
7. Cook for about 10-11 minutes and then turn off the stove.
8. Remove the idli plate stand and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove the idlis from the plate and serve it with green chutney or sambar.

Vada

Ingredients

Urid dhal	1 cup
Pepper (black)	1 tsp
Ginger	1 tsp
Green chillies	2
Curry leaves	A few
Coconut pieces	2 tbspn
Oil	2 cups
Salt	To taste

Method

1. Soak the urid dal in 2 cups of water for about 3 hours.
2. Powder the black pepper coarsely and keep it aside.
3. Chop the ginger into very tiny pieces and keep it aside.
4. Drain the water from the soaked urid dhal. Grind the urid dhal with a small amount of water so that the consistency is thick.
5. Add pepper, ginger and salt to this mixture. If you want it to be spicier, chopped chillies can be added.
6. Heat oil, pat the batter on a foiled plastic sheet and make a donut-like shape. This can also be achieved by using a vada maker.
7. Slip the vadas into hot oil and fry until they are golden brown.
8. Serve hot with chutney or sambar.

 For Thair Vada:

1. Follow the above steps up to step 7.  
2. Prepare yogurt with a little bit of water. Add salt and season it by heating 1 tbspn of oil.
3. Add mustard seeds, urid dhal and curry leaves. When it turns light brown in colour pour it into the yogurt.
4. Add the fried vadas and let it soak for 10 minutes and then garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Tomato and Onion sambar

Ingredients

Thoor dhal	1 cup
Tomato	2 large
Onion	2 large
Channa dhal	2 tbspn
Coriander seeds	2 tspn
Methi /Fenugreek seeds	1  tspn
Mustard seeds	1  tspn
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Oil	2 tsp
Salt	As per taste

Method

1. Cut tomato and onions into long, thin slices.
2. Pressure cook thoor dhal, tomato and onions.
3. Meanwhile, fry all the dry ingredients except coconut and mustard seeds with 1 tsp. of oil until light brown in colour. When it is cool, grind with coconut into a smooth paste.
4. Mix cooked dhal, tomato and onion along with tamarind juice and the ground mixture. Add salt and boil it.
5. Heat oil and add mustards. When it splutters, add curry leaves and pour it over the sambar.

Coconut chutney

Ingredients

Roasted gram	½ cup
Green chillies	3-4
Fresh coconut	½ cup
Coriander leaves	5 tbspn
Ginger	½ inch piece

In a mixer grind roasted gram, green chillies, coriander leaves, ginger, salt and freshly grated coconut with little water and grind it into a paste.

Tomato Rice/ Bath

Ingredients

Basmati Rice	2 cups
Tomatoes	5-6 large
Onions	2 large
Bay leaves	A few
Fresh coconut	½ cup
Ginger	1 inch piece
Garlic	5-6 cloves
Green chillies	3-4
Chilli powder	½  tsp
Cinnamon sticks	2-3 pieces
Cloves	2
Cardamom	2
Salt	As per taste
Cashews  broken	A few pieces
Coriander leaves	2 tbsp

Method

1. Slice onions and tomatoes and keep aside.
2. Grind onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coconut, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and chilli powder into a fine paste.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add cashews and bay leaves. When it turns light brown, add onions and fry until they are golden in colour. Add ground masala and fry for 5 minutes.
4. Now add tomatoes and salt and fry for another 5 minutes.
5. Cook basmati rice and spread it in a bowl and allow it to cool.
6. When it is cool, add the rice to the mixture and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped coriander leaves and serve it with raita.

Ginger Gojju

Ingredients

Ginger	100 gms
Sesame seeds	3 tbsp
Red chillies	2/3
Fresh coconut	5 tbsp
Brown sugar /Jaggery	3 tbs
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Salt	According to taste
Oil	1 tbs
Tamarind	50 gms

Method

1. Wash, peel and grate the ginger.
2. Grind ginger, sesame seeds, red chillies, coconut, salt and tamarind juice into a fine paste.
3. Heat in a small pan 1 tbsp of oil and add mustards. When it splutters, add the ground paste and mix it with brown sugar or jiggery (according to your taste). Cook in a very slow fame.
4. Keep stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick and the raw smell goes and serve. This gojju goes well with rice, idli ,dosa or chapati.

Potato/Aloo Bhajji

Ingredients

Potatoes	2
Channa basin/chick pea flour	200 gms
Chilli powder	1 tspn
Rice flour	2 tbspn
Ingu/Asafoetida	½ tspn
Oil	For deep frying
Salt	To taste

Method

1. Put channa basin in a bowl. Add chilli powder, rice flour, asafoetida and salt. Mix well with water to make a thick paste.
2. Cut potatoes into thin, round slices and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. When the oil becomes hot, dip the potato pieces in the batter and deep fry until it becomes crispy.
4. Serve hot with mint /coriander chutney or tomato sauce.

The same can be done using different vegies instead of potatoes - use zucchini, capsicum, onion, chokoes or egg plants. However, make sure to cut them in round circles.

Navarathna Kurma

Ingredients

Carrots	2
Potatoes	2 large
Cauliflower	Half
Beans	100 gms
Peas	100 gms
Onions	2 small
Tomato paste	75 grams.
Salt	According to taste
Oil and ghee	1 tbs each
Ginger/garlic paste	1 ½ tbs
Dhania powder	2 tsps
Chilli powder	1 tsp
Turmeric powder	1 tsp
Garam masala	1 tsp
Fresh cream and milk	50 ml each
Paneer cubes	50 gms
Sultanas and cashews	A few
Pineapple pieces	50 gms

Method

1. Cut all the vegetables into small cubes. 
2. Boil carrots, beans and potatoes, cauliflower and peas with a small amount of water. This curry should not be too watery.
3. Heat ghee and oil in a heavy based pan and fry ginger/garlic paste. When it turns golden in colour, add onions and fry for a few minutes. 
4. Add turmeric, dhania powder, chilli powder and garam masala and fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add tomato puree, salt and fry until the raw smell goes and the oil separates.
6. Now add all the boiled vegetables, pine apple pieces and mix properly. Let it boil for a few minutes on a low flame.
7. Fry cashews and sultanas in 1 tsp of ghee and add that to the mixture along with fresh cream and milk. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
8. Fry paneer pieces in oil and add to the mixture and mix everything. Serve hot with puris or chapatis along with raw onion rings and lemon wedges.