Oven baked Idli fry and Moru Kachiyathu (Curry made with well beaten yoghurt (curd))

Recently I had some left over Idlis that had become hard as stone after a day in the fridge :D .... What I often do is I roast them on the stove by applying few strokes of oil using a brush (I found this method of using a brush to apply oil better than spoon). This time I wanted to use these idlis in a different way. Hence I thought of baking these Idlis in a way similar to making Oven Baked French fries. The result surprised me as the look made it hard to differentiate it from French fries , and the texture was crisp and maybe even better than oven baked potato fries! If you add some seasonings before baking these, the bland taste of idli will be improved :) Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Left over Idli (cut into long pieces like in French fries)
Oil (you may use spray can oil , so that less oil is used )
Seasonings and salt to taste

Method:

1.   Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
2.   Spray the Idlis with the oil and combine the Idlis with seasoning and salt
3.   Arrange these on a oven proof tray laid with Aluminium foil
4.   Bake in the preheated oven upto 30 minutes (depends on the oven) while turning the tray during half time
5. Serve along with ketchup or as is :) Done !

Moru Kachiyathu
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Unlike my V, I was never a fan of curd when it come to having it as is along with rice. But Moru Kachiyathu always tempted me to try curd. So when I felt like having it one of these days, I searched the Internet and found this simple recipe b Annita of My Treasures and My Pleasures who made it even more tempting by saying that this goes well with not just rice but various other dishes that accompany rice.

The only change I made to her recipe was the tampering ingredients where I added Okra (Ladies Finger, Bhindi) along with the tampering in the hot oil and fried until everything turned brown  (tip from fil ;-)

Tomato chutney and 4 years of completion !!

Well, first of all I would like to announce that 'My Kitchen Treats': my 'baby' has turned 4 years old !! :)..... I wanted to mention this milestone atleast this time as I have not acknowledged this occasion in the previous years. This blog has been a source of personal encouragement and motivation during innumerable occasions in my life. I would like to quote something here from the movie 'Julie and Julia' where Julie says (I don't remember the exact phrase, but the meaning can be summed upclose to this): "When things don't always turn out as expected in your daily life, ......there is always something you know for sure when you enter your kitchen, and that is, nothing can go wrong when you use the right ingredients in the right way to make a dish". I am sure at least some of you bloggers might agree to this. (Not that I have any plans to follow her path ;-) , just that I could relate very well to what she was telling). Iliked the movie and I had seen it just recently, hence remembered this sentence today....
Its not complete until I acknowledge, You, my readers , who have been always a source of great joy and encouragement until this milestone. It has been a wonderful journey, which I hope to continue with your support.

The picture below is from our Vishu day Vishukkani :) Thought this was a good occassion to display dear Krishna's photo here.

Coming to this recipe of Tomato Pickle, I would like to say that this was something I started to relish from my college days. The college hostel cafeteria served tomato pickles (don't know the brand as the same bottles were being re-filled over and over again). These tasted great with the afternoon meal or as a dip with Idli-Dosa or snack.

(pic below)A view of my indoor gardening experiments :) The biggest among them is the tomato plant. I am hoping to get at least one tomato this time. I have never been successful in the past. Hence this time I am giving my tomato plant special attention ;-)

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The pic below shows my tomato plant in the background (the tomatoes are yet to come)

One of these past days, we bought Ginger Pickle 'Priya' brand and we both love every bit of it. I was inspired to make a similar pickle and read the ingredients. I didn't have enough ginger, hence settled for a similar pickle with tomato.

I used the same ingredients the pickle had, except that instead of tamarind I used a lot of tomatoes to make a Tomato pickle . Hence this chutney came into existence.

My hubby loves this chutney with Idli/Dosa. The version of tomato chutney I usually make has a lighter taste as it has fewer ingredients than this one. Here is how the recipe goes:

Ingredients:

• Tomato : 3 medium sized ones
• Onion: 1 small sliced into thick slices
• Garlic: 1-2 cloves
• Ginger : small piece
• Jaggery : 1/4 cup
• Fenugreek seeds
• Mustard seeds : 2 teaspoons
• Hing : 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry red chilli : 5-8 medium sized
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Fry all the ingredients except salt and jaggery, in the order of fenugreek,mustard seeds, red chilli, garlic, ginger, hing, onion,and tomato until the tomato becomes mushy and onion is cooked well.
2. Then add jaggery and stir well to combine. Switch off fire.
3. Allow mixture to cool
4. Grind it to paste in mixie without adding any water. 
5. Add water towards the end while emptying  the paste out of the mixie.
6. Add salt to taste. Done :)

Bittergourd Potato dry curry (in konkani: Karathe ukkeri, in malayalam: Pavakka Mezhukkupuratti)

Basically this dish is made only with Bittergourd. But if you want a richer taste to go along with the bittergourd, potato can be added. I always add potato to this curry because its become a hit with my husband. He loves the caramelized well done flavor of potato and bittergourd combo in this curry. Water is a strict no-no in such curries as it can make the curry mushy.

I make this to go with hot rice, dal, rice soup (the water in which the rice is cooked), and some homemade crisps (these are called vattal in malayalam , mostly the ones I eat are made by my mom, she makes these from so many varieties of veggies, such as okra, cluster beans, etc..)...it tastes heavenly and the term Comfort Food stands out in such dishes :)

Ingredients:

• Bittergourd - 2
• Potato - 2 
• Green chilli slit - 3
• Salt
• Oil - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 - 2 teaspoon

Method

1. Slice the bitter gourd into small long thin slices, each slice about a little smaller than your tiny finger
2. Slice the potato the same way 
3. In a hot pan, add oil, reduce heat and add mustard seeds and green chilli, saute until the green chillies get small white patches (meaniing they are fried a little), then add the bittergourd and potato.
4. Turn up the heat to medium and give everything a stir. 
5. Add a little salt (not the amount you require at this point as its sometimes better in such cases to add the salt towards the end of the curry), so that it helps the water in the vegetables to ooze out and help the cooking process without any additional water. Give it a stir. 
6. Then keeping the fire at medium-low cover the pan and let it cook until the vegetables are almost cooked (especially the potato). In between the cooking time, stir the pan one or two times to avoid any food to stick to the bottom of the pan, also check for salt, when the veggies are getting to almost cooked stage, this helps adding the right amount of salt. 
7. When the veggies are cooked, turn the heat to medium-high and give it a stir. After a minute, stir again and if you find that the potatoes are a bit caramelized (some of the bittergourds also will be caramelized), switch off the heat, give a final stir to the veggies and put back the lid. 
8. This is best served hot as a side dish.