lazy cooks kitchen

Thursday, 9 February 2012

lazy cooks dalitoy

First I'll give you a little background.I am a north indian (punjabi-himachali mix) married to a south indian(a manglorean GSB....a konkani fellow).I have been married for 15 years and this dal(taught to me by my sister-in law) is made practically everyday in my house.......always called arhar dal (or the kids call it yellow dal).The other day i happened to see the similar dal at

ruchik randhap and it was called dalitoy/dali tove....i told my husband of 15 years about this great discovery..and he told me that WE..call it dalitoy...huh??i asked him why he did'nt tell me and he said i hadn't asked!aaaaaaaaagrrrh.MEN!Onto the recipe...
INGRDS
1. 1/2 arhar dal(red gram)..if there is another name for it please let me know.
2. 1 big tomato chopped into small pcs
3. 1 inch pc. of ginger chopped fine

4. 1 green chilli chopped fine
5. some cilantro chopped fine.
6. salt and red chilli pdr to taste
7. a nice and healthy pinch of hing(asfoetida)
for the tadka
1.1 tablespoon coconut oil
2. 1 teaspoon rai(mustard seeds)
3. 2 dried red chillis
4. a sprig of curry leaves
METHOD
1.Put the dal and water in a presure cooker(1:4 ratio...1 dal:4 water).Give it one whistle.Let the pressure drop.
2.Open the pressure cooker and put everything till 7 in it.Close the cooker and give it one more whistle.When the pressure drops...put it in your serving bowl.
3. Heat the coconut oil,add all the tadka ingrds..after the spluttering stops ,put the tadka in the dal.This dalitoy tastes great with plain rice...and some fried fish or chicken on the side !

P.S..Old habits are hard to break...we're back to calling it arhar dal!...but you be wise and call it by its name:)

lazy cooks creme apple caramel

Apple creme caramel?...........Creme caramel apple? ...caramel custard with apple?..apple caramel custard?I give up !Whatever the name..this turned out pretty good.You know how it is...you go to the market and pick up apples coz they look good,initially everybody eats them happily..then nobody wants to touch them.This is when that poor apple makes is way into food ..at least in my house!
INGRDS

1. 450 mls milk
2. 3 eggs
3. 2 apples(i know there's just one in the pic..i added another one..i have a lot of apples!)
4.. 1/2 tsp cinnamon pdr
5. 3 tablespoons sugar
7. 1 tsp vanilla essence
8. 5 tsp brown sugar
METHOD
1. Beat the eggs,sugar,vanilla essence till nice and frothy.Grate the apples into this and add the cinnamon pdr.
2.Heat up the milk,get it to a boil..then let it cool a bit..add to the eggy mix stirring constantly.

3. Put a tsp of brown sugar in each ramekin,now pour the apple caramel mix into all 5 equally.,place the ramekins into a roasting tin.Add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.

4.Bake in a moderate oven(180degC)..for 50-55 mins(put a skewer into the custard..if it comes out clean..then the custard is done) .Remove from the oven and cool and serve.Take it out of the ramekin onto a dessert plate ONLY after its completely cool.
sending this tohttp://sravscc.blogspot.in/2012/01/announcing-cooking-concepts-7-dish-for.html

and tohttp://anjali-cooklog.blogspot.in/2012/02/announcing-my-first-event-cakes-cookies.html

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

lazy cooks banana bread

Banana is one of those spellings,that once you start..you wonder where to stop!..I do each and every time(wonder that is).Hello everyone..this is a really easy banana bread and one of my all time favourites for baking when I feel like doing nothing.....its that easy.
INGRDS
1.3 ripe bananas
2.2/3 cup sugar
3. 2 eggs
4. 1/2 cup oil

5. 1 1/2 cups flour(maida)
6. 1/2 tsp each of salt,baking pdr and cinnamon
7 1/4 tsp baking soda
8. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
METHOD

1. Take ingrds 1-4 and put them in your blender...blend away.
2. Take the rest of the stuff , sieve it together then add the chopped walnuts.

3. Pour the wet stuff onto the dry stuff,mix well and pour into a greased and floured loaf tin.....bake at 180deg C for 45mins(till a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean).
sending this tohttp://sravscc.blogspot.in/2012/01/announcing-cooking-concepts-7-dish-for.html

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

lazy cooks gajar,gobi shalgam ka achar(cauliflower,carrot and turnip pickle)

This is a pickle that my grandma used to make...her recipe...I make this every Jan.(which is when all the stuff is in season)..I make a huge quantity and then happily distribute it to friends and family.....I must also add that my grandmother used to win a lot of prizes for her pickles..this is one of the prize winning recipes:)
INGRDS
1. 5 kgs of veg(carrots,cauliflower and turnips.i normally get 2kgs each of the first 2 and one kg of the turnip)
2.1 bottle(700ml)white vinegar
3. 750 gms-1kg jaggery(depending on how sweet you want it)
4. 1 lt.mustard oil
5. 250 gms ginger garlic paste
6. 300 gms salt
7. 100 gms red chilli pdr
8.100 gms garam masala

9. 250 gms mustard seeds(the big fat fellows)..you'll need to grind this.i used the ready made pdr(150gms)
METHOD
1.Prepare the veg...wash ,peel and then cut all the veg into same sized pcs(approximately)
2.Scald veg by immersing them in boiling water for about 2 mins(do it in batches..unless you have a really huge vessel!)......drain,then dry them in shade for 8-10 hours.
3.Boil the vinegar and jaggery together,strain and keep ready.
4.I normally do the steps 1-3 at night,then the next morning fry the ginger-garlic in mustard oil,add all the seasoning.Let it cool down..then mix the veg,add the vinegar mix..and pack in sterilised containers.

5. Its actually ready to eat but if you want you can keep the jar outside in the sun for a week to 10 days.

Monday, 6 February 2012

lazy cooks scotch eggs

Why scotch eggs?Are they scottish?God alone knows......and probably Wikipedia...what I know is that I' ve grown up eating them...and now my kids are growing up eating them!These can be made with a mincemeat covering(infact then they would be genuine scotch eggs),I however mostly do these with a covering of nice and flavourful mashed potato
INGRDS

1. 5 hard boiled eggs..shelled.
2. 5 boiled potatoes

3. 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
4. 1 green chilli finely chopped
5. 2 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro
6. 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
7. 1/2 inch pc of ginger finely chopped
8.2 slices of bread soaked in water and squeezed dry
9.cornflakes(powdered)
10. 1 egg
11.salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
1.Mash the boiled potato,add everything to it(onion,green chilli,ginger,garlic,cilantro,bread,salt and pepper)....mash away.
2.Now divide the mix into 5.Cover a boiled egg with this mix...now cover the rest of them

3.Beat the egg well in a bowl..then take these mammoth covered eggs,roll in beaten egg....then roll in crushed(powdered )cornflakes(I prefer the taste of cornflakes..you can def. use breadcrumbs..whatever rocks your boat)..then deep fry in hot oil,drain on absorbent paper and serve with coleslaw and sausages!
sending this tohttp://ramyasrecipe.blogspot.in/2012/02/abc-series-egg-recipes.html

and to http://sravscc.blogspot.in/2012/01/announcing-cooking-concepts-7-dish-for.html

lazy cooks fig newtons

Hi there folks...I love fig newtons.I have always bought them..this time I thought that I would try and make them at home(the fact that they are not available here,goes a long way in convincing to make my own)Anyway after going through a hundred recipes on the net...I decided to combine a few and came up with this!They don't look very professional but......WTH they're homemade..right?BTW..they taste just the way they should
INGRDS

1. 2 cups flour(1 cup wholewheat and 1 cup plain flour)
2. 2 eggs
3. 1/2 cup brown sugar
4. 100 gms butter
5. 1/2 tsp baking powdr
6. 1/2 tsp cinnamon powdr
7. 1 tablespoon honey
8. grated orange rind-1 tsp.
for the figgy mix
1. 12 dried figs
2. 3 tablespoons of brown/white sugar
3. 1/2 cup orange juice
Put these three ingrds in a pan and boil till the liquid gets absorbed by the figs....then grind to a paste and keep ready.

METHOD
1Sieve the dry ingrds together(flour,baking pdr,cinnamon pdr).

2.Beat the butter and sugar together,add the eggs,honey.Add the flour...the mix will come together.

3. Now divide the mix into 4 parts,spread a little flour on a clean surface and roll out long cylinders,then use a rolling pin to flatten it.Spread the figgy mix on one rolled out piece,put the other one on top of it and press down lightly..........transfer to a greased baking tray.Repeat with the other couple.
4.Into a hot(preheated )oven they go at 180deg for 12-15 mins.
5.Take it out of the oven and cut them into 1/2 inch pcs.Store in an airtight container.
sending this to...http://vardhiniskitchen.blogspot.in/2012/02/zesty-palette-series-4-sweet-luv-event.html

and toLinking to Kid's Delight hosted by Edible Entertainment

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

lazycooks orange choco pots

Decadent.Divine.Delicious.Dooey(gooey actually..but i wanted the word to start with D.This has been modified from nigella lawson's choco hot pots.Now Nigella is a goddess and her recipe's are great..but we're a slightly" healthy" family...OK..i'm the "healthy" one in my house so i gotto tweak the recipe to suit me.As it is ..truth be told tweaking recipes is a bit of a failing of mine ....I added oats and wholewheat flour..so that i feel good 'bout all the calories going in.The orange marmalade,went in because orange and chocolate is a match made in heaven.

INGRDS
1. 125gms dark chocolate
2. 75 gms butter
2. 3 eggs
4. 2 teaspoons orange marmlade(optional)
5.3/4 cup brown sugar
6. 1 tablespoon each of oats,wholewheat flour anf regular flour
7. 5 ramekins buttered lightly
METHOD
1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler(put one vessel with water to boil,put a smaller vessel on top of it not touching the water..there you have it ..double boiler,bain marie..call it what you want)

2.Beat the sugar and eggs till nice and fluffy,add the marmalade,add the chocolatey goo.....and finally the flour and oats.
3.Pour into the buttered ramekins,put in a preheated oven at 180deg C and bake for 20-25 mins till the top looks done but there is a wobble.Wobble is good ....it hints at the absolute divinity thats going to come your way.