RM2- Day 25- Kuch Khatta Kuch Meetta Malai Kofta :)

I was tempted to try making Malai Kofta after a recent Potluck at a friend's place. I was impressed with the Malai Kofta made by one of the ladies. Malai Koftas are deep fried or baked Vegetable /Meat dumplings in a thick creamy sauce. Its the first time I tried Malai Kofta today and I am glad to say it came out really good :) I didn't have the usual Cream, so I decided to substitute it with Cream of Coconut (I named it Cream of Coconut because it looked like cream when the Canned Coconut milk solidified when I refrigerated it.
Khatta means "Tangy" and Meetta means "Sweet" , and the ingredients I used for giving it these tastes are a combination of Tomato paste and diced Pineapple. I was anxious initially if the taste of coconut milk would be appropriate forMalai Kofta, but I was craving for this dish and hence decided to go along with the ingredients I had. I didn't want to use just plain milk. This is how I made it:

Ingredients:

For the Kofta
============

2 cups mixed vegetables: I used peas, carrots, beans, cauliflower, spinach
1 medium potato cooked and mashed
Ginger garlic paste- 1 T
Minced green chillies
2 T Besan (Chickpea flour)
Bread crumbs: 1/2 cup
1/2 cup grated Cheese (I used Gouda Cheese, as that's what I had as cheese in my refrigerator)
Salt and Pepper
Oil for deep frying

For the gravy
===========

1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup diced pineapple
1/2 cup tomato puree
Onion powder (you may use sliced onions and caramelise it before adding the tomato puree to the pan)
Mashed Garlic and minced ginger-1/4 cup together
Fennel seed powder : 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida: a pinch
Coriander powder, Cumin powder: 1/ 2 tspn each
Green chilly slit in middle: 4 nos
Garam masala, Coriander leaves (chopped), Pudina leaves (chopped): for garnish
Water: 1 cup
Curry leaves - 3-4


Method:

For making Kofta
=============
Cook the vegetables partially. Drain the water and wipe them dry as much as you can. Chop them very finely (I used my chopper). Add all the other ingredients and mix them well. Form small balls (size of key lime) and deep fry them in oil and drain them on paper towels.

Note: Koftas are added to the gravy only just before serving as they tend to break if soaked early.


For making Gravy:
============
In a flat pan on high heat, add 3 tablespoons oil and when its hot, reduce to medium and add all the spice powder (except Garam Masala). Add the green chillies, Curry leaves, Ginger, Garlic and saute until the raw smell goes off. Add the thickly diluted tomato puree and increase the flame and wait until the mixture starts to boil. Add the Lima beans (optional). Reduce the flame to medium and add little water, just enough to cover the Lima beans. Let the Beans cook. After it is cooked, reduce flame to medium-low and add thickly diluted coconut milk. Stir and add salt. Then increase flame a little and let the mixture heat up and then lower it . Then add Pineapple pieces and stir well. Add little water if the gravy becomes too thick. Keep flame at medium-low and cover the pan . Let the mixture cook for 3-4 minutes (lower the flame if the gravy reduces.Switch off flame and spread the garnishes.


Add the Koftas and serve immediately with Roti, Naan, or even plain rice. I served mine with Lemon Rice :) . It had the subtle taste of Coconut milk accompanied by a tangy taste of Tomato and sweetness of Pineapple. The Koftas when mixed with gravy gave a richness to the dish.

RM2- Day 25 - Check what my buddies are up to in their kitchen:

1) Siri, 2) Srivalli, 3) Ranji, 4)PJ, 5) Curry Leaf, 6) Medha,
7) Priya, 8) Bhawna, 9) Raaji, 10) Ruchii, 11) Anu, 12) Kamala,
13)DK, 14) Divya Kudua, 15) Rekha, 16) Divya M, 17)Lakshmi,
18)Raaga , 19) Lakshmi Venkatesh , 20) Sripriya, 21) Viji,
22) Kamalika, 23)Pavani,>,24)Karuna,25)Roochi

RM2 -Day 24 - Spiced Tomato-Spinach Dosa

I love dosas and I have been looking forward to making different dosas. RM2 gave me an opportunity for that I can say :) My mom used to make dosas by adding Drumstick leaves (in Konkani we call this as "Mishinga Paththiye Polo" where Drumstick leaves are called "Mishinga Paththi" and "Polo" means Dosa)
I never found this leaf in the Indian store near our place or in any US food market. So I decided to find a nice substitute, considering the fact that I had a lot of leftover spinach. From the name of this dosa, you might have already guessed the ingredients and the way to make it. What I am about to share is the situation behind why I made this dosa. It came out of necessity.

To start with I was trying to use Urad flour and Rice flour to make the batter in the ratio (1 cup urad dal:2 cups Rice flour). I even added a very little pinch of yeast and a teaspoon of powdered fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) . The batter did not rise even a bit and I guess its because I failed to add enough water. So I added little more water and a little bit more yeast and kept it for fermentation another 3 hours. So total hours of fermentation = 12 hours + 3 hours = 18 hours. Still I couldn't see even a faint rise in the level of batter. I had enough of this and I was anxious that the whole batter would get spoiled if I kept it out any longer, so I took the batter out of the oven and transferred to the refrigerator. Today I added a little more water to the batter and a little more salt and did a quick taste testing, mmphh, no sour taste, just bland and nothing special like a dosa batter :( ....Thats when I decided to spice it up with my spices and Spinach and for that sourness a bit of tomato paste and a yet another piece of taste maker , the ginger. I minced it fine and added it to the batter and made crisp dosas. mmmm it tasted good at last :)

Note:
Methi leaves are also tasty leaves to add while making dosa. I had tried it and it had also tasted equally good.

RM2- Day 24- Check what my other friend's have prepared:
1) Siri, 2) Srivalli, 3) Ranji, 4)PJ, 5) Curry Leaf, 6) Medha,
7) Priya, 8) Bhawna, 9) Raaji, 10) Ruchii, 11) Anu, 12) Kamala,
13)DK, 14) Divya Kudua, 15) Rekha, 16) Divya M, 17)Lakshmi,
18)Raaga , 19) Lakshmi Venkatesh , 20) Sripriya, 21) Viji,
22) Kamalika, 23)Pavani,>,24)Karuna,25)Roochi

RM2- Day23- Roasted Bell Pepper and Garlic Sandwich

I am on a mission to use my broiler to its maximum benefits:) I used it to make a lot of recipes in RM2 especially :) You may view them under the label "Broil" in my blog. So thanks to DK for hosting this event, hence I have been making good use of my broiler :-) . I made this easy sandwich which is healthy and equally tasty.
I seasoned the bell pepper with salt, pepper, olive oil, Italian seasoning, and onion powder. Meanwhile I microwaved few garlic cloves with the skin for 20 seconds , so that garlic is partially cooked. Then I slit the garlic and applied the same spices and oil to the garlic as I did for the bell pepper. I kept the garlic inside the Bell Pepper and broiled until the colour changed to a beautiful charred colour.
I then sandwiched them along with various cheese and also added some tomato flavoured roasted Potato (You may refer this link for the recipe of Broiled Potatoes , there is a variation I did this time and that was to add tomato paste as a flavour to the potatoes before broiling)between 2 Pumpernickel Bread slices . Then I added few drops of hot sauce to give it a hot shot :)


I sprayed some olive oil on both sides of the bread which was exposed and broiled until the bread became crispy. The bread was crunchy and tender every bite :) I would make this again as I now have another way to use up my bell Peppers. I would also caramelize onion the next time I make this sandwich :)


Check what's happening in my fellow buddies's blog:)

Here are their links:
1) Siri, 2) Srivalli, 3) Ranji, 4)PJ, 5) Curry Leaf, 6) Medha,
7) Priya, 8) Bhawna, 9) Raaji, 10) Ruchii, 11) Anu, 12) Kamala,
13)DK, 14) Divya Kudua, 15) Rekha, 16) Divya M, 17)Lakshmi,
18)Raaga , 19) Lakshmi Venkatesh , 20) Sripriya, 21) Viji,
22) Kamalika, 23)Pavani,>,24)Karuna,25)Roochi