Main Course

Thai Noodles

Ingredients:

Flat rice noodles – Approx 8 oz

Spring onions – 1 bunch (finely chopped)

Baby bok choy – 2 to 3 heads ( chopped)

Bean sprouts – 1 ½ cup

Soft tofu – ½ cup (cut into cubes)

Coriander/ cilantro– ¼ cup chopped

Vegetable stock- 4 Tbsp (optional)

Groundnuts/ peanuts -½ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely ground

Oil

Ingredients to make sauce:

Tamarind paste- ¾ Tbsp

Chilli garlic sauce- 2 Tsp

Soy sauce– 3 to 4 Tbsp

Stir fry sauce- 2 Tbsp

Brown sugar- 3 Tbsp

Water- ¼ cup

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and keep aside.

Preparation:

Soak noodles in hot water for 8-10 minutes or until soft.  Heat a wok or frying pan over medium high. Add 2 tbsp of oil, stir fry bok choy and spring onions until they turn dark green in color. Now add the noodles along with vegetable stock and stir fry for 2 minutes.

Mix tofu with the noodles and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the sauce slowly and continue stir frying. Toss the noodles well so that the sauce is evenly spread to noodles. Add extra sauce if required.

Add bean sprouts, mix well. Noodles are cooked well when they are soft and become sticky. Remove from heat, sprinkle coarsely ground peanuts and garnish with coriander/cilantro.

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Appetizers/Snacks

Ambode

Ingredients:

Channa dal- 1 cup

Fresh coconut- 1/4 cup

Mint leaves- 1 small bunch

Rice flour- 1 tbsp

Curry leaves- 5 to 6

Green chillies/ jalapeño – 6 to 7( or according to your spice level)

Asafetida – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – for frying

Preparation:

Soak channa dal for 2 hours. Chop mint leaves, green chillies and curry leaves.

Grind all the above ingredients (except oil, salt, rice flour and asafetida) with soaked channa dal coarsely without adding water. Add salt, asafetida and mix well. Take a big lemon size mixture in your hand and make small patties out of it.

Deep fry the patties on medium low flame for 6-7 minutes each side or until golden brown. Enjoy the hot crispy ambodes!

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Salads

Raw Mango Salad

Ingredients:

Raw mango -¼ of a mango chopped into matchstick size pieces (choose a mango which is a bit firm)

Bean sprouts- 1 handful

Lettuce- 4 leaves

Peanuts/groundnuts- 1 handful roasted and ground coarsely

Shredded dry coconut- 1 handful roasted lightly (optional)

Spring onions- small bunch, chopped

Coriander/cilantro– ¼ finely chopped

Fresh basil- ½ Tbsp

Dressing:

Soy sauce– 2 Tbsp

Sugar-1 ½ Tbsp

Chilli garlic sauce- 1 Tbsp

Preparation:

In a bowl mix soy sauce, sugar, chilli garlic sauce and keep aside. Mix chopped raw mango, bean sprouts, peanuts and spring onions in another bowl.

Take a lettuce leaf. Add the mango mixture in the centre and sprinkle the dressing as per your need.

Garnish with cilantro, basil leaves and roasted coconut. Now wrap the lettuce so that the mixture do not fall from any openings and enjoy!. We can make four lettuce wraps with the above given measurements

Optional:  If you do not have lettuce, you can have the salad by itself.

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Main Course

HuLisoppu

Ingredients:

Toovar/Toor dal- 1 cup

Black channa dal- ¾ cup

Dantina soppu (or Amaranthus) – 1 small bunch

Spinach- 1 small bunch

Dill leaves- 1 small bunch

Coriander /cilantro– 1 small bunch

Onion- 1

Tamarind- lemon size

Green chillies – 8 to 9

Cumin seeds- ½ tbsp

Fresh coconut- ¼ cup

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds– ½ tsp

Ghee/clarified butter-2 tbsp

Hing/ asafetida- ¼ tsp

Dry red chillies– 2

Preparation:

Pressure cook toovar dal and black channa dal and keep aside. Chop all the greens, onion green chillies and boil them with 2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Grind this boiled mixture with coconut and cumin seeds coarsely.

Add the cooked lentils in a pan and mix the ground mixture. Add the tamarind paste and salt  to taste. Bring the mixture to boil.

Heat ghee in the seasoning pan, add mustard seeds allow the seeds to splutter, and then add red chillies and asafetida.  Add the seasoning , mix well and serve with hot rice or ragi mudde.

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Chaat

Dahi Batata Sev Puri

Ingredients:

Potatoes– 3 (boiled and mashed, while mashing add ½ Tsp of red chilli powder, salt and mix)

Black channa dal– 1 cup (soak overnight and boil with little salt )

Onions – 1 (chopped finely)

Coriander/cilantro – 8 to 9 strands (chopped finely)

Puris-30

Sev – 0 size 1 cup

Mint chutney– 1 cup

Sweet chutney- 1 cup

Curds/yogurt- 1 cup

Red chili powder- 2 Tsp

Chaat masala- to taste

Ingredients to make puris:

All purpose flour – ¼ cup

Fine semolina/ sooji- ¾ cup

Water- ½ cup

Oil- for deep frying

Preparation:

Mix, all purpose flour and semolina with water and knead the dough to a firm consistency. Knead it well and cover it with a damp cloth for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into small balls. Roll the dough to about 2 inch diameter circle and deep fry.

While frying make sure you press  it down in the oil, so that the puri puffs well. Fry until golden brown and flip to the other side and repeat the same process.

Ingredients to make Mint chutney:

Coriander/ cilantro – 10 to 12 strand

Mint leaves – 1 cup

Green chillies– 2 to 3

Ginger- 1 inch piece

Garlic cloves- 1

Pomegranate seeds- 2 Tsp

Cumin seeds- 1 Tsp

Sugar- ½ Tsp

Preparation:

Blend all the above ingredients to a fine paste with little water and bring it to a thick soup consistency.

Ingredients to make Sweet chutney:

Tamarind paste – ½ cup squeezed tamarind juice

Dates – ½ cup (preferably pitted and soft)

Jaggery – 2 Tsp

Red chili powder – 1 Tsp

Coriander powder – 1 Tsp

Cumin seed powder- ½ Tsp

Fennel seed powder – ½ Tsp

Amchur powder – A pinch

Black salt – 1 Tsp

Salt – ½ Tsp

Preparation:

Heat half cup of water in a container, add dates and jaggery.  Boil it for 4-5 minutes and add tamarind paste. Cool down the mixture and add the remaining ingredients and blend it in a mixer to a smooth paste. Add a little water if necessary and bring it to a thick soup consistency.

Steps to make dahi batata sev puri:

Take a puri and make a hole in the centre. Add 1 tsp of mashed potato and 1tsp channa dal

Add 1-2 Tsp of yogurt. Sprinkle some red chilli powder and chaat masala on top.

Now add Sweet chutney, mint chutney according to your taste. Sprinkle some chopped onions and cilantro/coriander.

Top it with sev and enjoy!

Hint: Add all this into the puris as quickly as you can so that the puris remain crisp.

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Main Course

Eggplant Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil-2 Tbsp

Japanese eggplant- 2 cups, diced

Red onion- 1 medium, thinly sliced

Tomatoes-2 medium, chopped

Brown sugar- 3 Tsp

Soy sauce-2 Tsp

Lime juice-2 Tsp

Chilli-garlic sauce- 1½ Tsp

Bean sprouts- 1½ cup

Bamboo shoots- 1 small can, sliced

Fresh mint- 3 Tsp chopped

Preparation:

Heat oil in a Wok or large pan. Sauté onions for 2 minutes, add in eggplant, stir-fry for 10 minutes over high heat or until eggplant is brown.

Stir in tomatoes, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice and chilli garlic sauce. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add bean sprouts and bamboo shoots, stir fry for a few more minutes.

Garnish with mint and serve with hot rice (preferably sticky rice).

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Salads

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Rotini pasta or other short pasta- 8 oz

Olive oil, divided-3 tbsp

Red wine vinegar-2 tbsp

Garlic cloves minced-2 tsp

Cherry tomato-1 cup

Zucchini, cut length wise into quarters-2 medium size

Red bell pepper, quartered and seeded-1

Scallions, trimmed-1 bunch

Pitted Kalamata olives-½ cup

Chopped Fresh oregano-1 to 1½ tsp

Chopped fresh basil-1 to 1½ tsp

Salt – to taste

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse thoroughly to cool. Rinsing also helps to make the pasta not stick to each other.  Transfer to a large bowl and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil.

Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and add garlic cloves, zucchini and stir fry for 3-4 minutes on high heat. Add bell pepper, tomato, scallions and salt. Cook until all vegetables are slightly crispy. Now add the pasta to the vegetables and toss well. Finally add red wine vinegar, oregano and basil mix well and serve.

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Salads

Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

For dressing:

Olive oil-2 tsp

Seasoned rice vinegar-1 tsp

Soy sauce-¼ tsp

Juice of orange-3 tbsp

Honey-1 tsp

Fresh ground pepper-for seasoning

Oregano- for seasoning (optional)

Salt-to taste

Salad:

Orange -3 to 4 slices halved

Baby spinach leaves-2 cups

Dried cranberries-2 tsp

Pecan/walnut-2 tsp halved

Wonton strips- few

Preparation:

Combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk until it is well combined. Add to the salad and mix well. Before serving add a few wonton strips and serve.

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Desserts/Sweets

Godhi Halwa (Wheat Halwa)

Ingredients:

Sugar-1 cup
Whole wheat grains (or broken wheat)- 1 cup
Water for soaking-3 cups
Ghee or clarified butter -½cup

Preparation:

Soak the whole wheat grains in the water overnight or 2-3 hours if using  broken wheat.

Grind the mixture using a blender for a couple of minutes and strain to separate out the liquid and the solid. Take the solid and mix it with 1 cup of water and strain again to collect more concentrated liquid.

Keep this liquid aside for half an hour.  Water separates and forms a layer on top which should be drained carefully without disturbing the thick liquid at the bottom. This step fastens the process of making the sweet.

Add sugar to the liquid and heat the mixture in a low flame. Keep stirring until it is a bit more than semi liquid or halwa consistency (approximately 15-20 minutes).

Note that the entire heating process should be done in a low flame. In between check to see if the sugar is in the right proportion. Also, add the clarified butter during the process. In fact, for this preparation the sugar and clarified butter can be added at any stage while it is cooking.

It is ready when it becomes as thick as dough. Pour it onto a greasy flat plate, and spread it evenly. Once it has cooled, it won’t be sticky and can be cut into pieces. Garnish with raisins, cashews or almonds if desired.

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Appetizers/Snacks

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil

Ingredients:

Roma tomato- 1 finely chopped

Onions- 1 finely chopped

Fresh basil-2 Tbsp finely chopped

Garlic- 3 to 4 cloves minced

Mozzarella cheese- 8oz  finely grated

Extra virgin olive oil- 2 to 3 Tbsp

Salt and pepper- to taste

1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the bread diagonally into ½ inch thick slices.

Place the bread slices on the cookie sheet and rub garlic cloves on each slice and drizzle top side of the bread with olive oil using pastry brush.

Add chopped tomatoes, onions and mozzarella cheese evenly on each slice, sprinkle salt and pepper and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Place the tray on the top rack of the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until all the cheese melts and bread becomes crispy.

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