My first fall in the USA

It has been almost 6 months here in the US and I finally got my driving license.... so a new adventure awaits.... I hope I do not spend all my time driving to the shopping malls which are plenty in my area. I love the feeling of independence the car and the driving licence brings... !!!

But in the past few months, I walked a lot in my neighborhood. It's a very beautiful place ....especially in the autumn. I clicked a lot of pics with my phone and made a slideshow of some of my favorite pics.

Saw deers today..... :)

I hope u all enjoy the fall with this slideshow as much as I did..... awaiting my first winter here.... :) (please view it full screen)

Tofu coconut noodles

I have been missing Asian food here. Authentic Japanese, Chinese or Thai restaurants...especially thai..... and also thai ingredients..... Things like lemon grass, lime leaves, galangal and basil leaves. Last week, I came to know that my friend Ruchi has a "basil" potted plant at home. She offered the use of her plant and leaves....at my disposal..and as I was craving for some thai inspired meal.... I cooked these noodles....with the ingredients, I found here...

Ingredients:

• 400 gms angel hair or regular spaghetti noodles ( fresh or dried egg noodles would be nice)
• 300 grams of extra firm tofu
  
• green capsicum -- 1 medium sized
• red onion --1 medium sized
• carrot -- 1 medium sized
• frozen corn -- 1/2 cup
• garlic -- 6 cloves
• ginger -- 1 inch piece
• coconut milk -- 1/4 cup
• green chili -- 2-3 according to taste
• oil -- 1 tbsp
• soya sauce -- 1 to 2 tbsp
• spring onion  -- 2 
• basil leaves -- 7 to 8 leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

• Remove tofu from the package and put it in 2-3 paper towels so as to drain the water. Keep aside.
• Boil spaghetti or egg noodles according to the package directions. Drain and wash with cold water and keep aside.
• Chop the onion, capsicum and carrot to long pieces. Grate the ginger and garlic. Chop chilies. Defrost the corn. Keep aside.
• Heat oil, add onion. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Then add capsicum, carrot. Stir-fry till it is soft and cooked another 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and chilies.

• Add frozen corn, mix well. Add soy sauce and season with salt and pepper.

• Chop tofu to half inch cubes. Add to the vegetable mix. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.

• Add the boiled spaghetti/noodles and mix everything well. Keep the heat medium high.

• Add coconut milk and chopped basil leaves and turn off the heat. Mix.

• Add more salt, pepper and soy sauce if required.
• Garnish with chopped spring onion.

• Serve hot off the pan.

Quantity:

• 3-4 servings

Notes:

• I have used italian dried spaghetti noodles. You can use asian egg or rice noodles.
• You can also use buckwheat/soba noodles or glass rice noodles.
• You can add different vegetables like mushrooms, beans or cabbage.... or even chicken or shrimp.
• You can add fish sauce, about a tbsp along with the soy sauce.

Easy 3 ingredient dessert

My kids school restarted after a long long summer break.....and that means I am totally free for a few hours in a day. I like to take long long walks, try out new recipes, photograph stuff and best of all meet other "free" moms for a "kid-free" meet .... :) I may be exaggerating, but a "mom's time out"......without her kids is so relaxing. You do not even have to go out.....just get together at some place, have "chai" and chit-chat. I love these sessions and I am lucky to have found wonderful women to share this with in all the places, I have lived in.

Usually, morning after the kids leave for school works best and me and my friends decided to meet for a potluck brunch. It was an impromptu decision and yet all of them came up with lovely dishes.

For me, cooking something suddenly for anyone other than my kids is bit daunting ... all I make for breakfast is cold cereal, oatmeal or eggs. To cook something out of the blue, requires me to look at fridge 100 times and search google 500 times ..... :D and then I am inspired to cook!! So with all this search...the actual time for cooking is very less.... well, this recipe requires very less time to cook and is delicious.

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry -- 1 sheet
• Strawberries -- 7
• Nutella -- 6 tsps (or more)
• Powdered sugar -- 1 tsp (optional)
• Cocoa powder -- 1 tsp (optional)
• milk -- 1 tbsp (optional)

Recipe:

• Thaw the puff pastry sheet on the kitchen counter for about 40 minutes.
• Unroll, it on a flat surface and cut into squares or rectangles.
• Pre heat the oven and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Put all the puff pastry squares on the sheet with about 1/2 inch space between each.

• Brush the top of the pastry with milk.

• Bake for 15 mins at 400 degrees F(about 200 degrees C )
• Take them out and let it cool on the baking tray.

• Chop the strawberries.

• Spread about half teaspoon (or more) nutella on the baked pastry square.

• Top it with chopped strawberries.

• Drizzle cocoa powder or powdered sugar on top with the help of a sieve.

Quantity:

• One sheet makes 12 pieces (1 inch by 2 inch)

Notes:

• You can use any fruit available, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, mango, banana or any combination of mixed fruit.
• You can make a big fruit tart instead of individual pieces.
• You can sprinkle cinnamon with sugar instead of cocoa.
•  All pictures taken with my phone, as I made this along with the kids lunches and the morning rush of getting them ready.

Gobhi-matar subji (cauliflower and peas curry)

Oh how I used to dislike the gobhi-matar subji ..... until about 2-3 months ago...!! It was my first get-together with my new gal-pals in the US... a girl made this gobhi-matar curry and I loved it..... !! It looked exactly the way, I made it.....but it tasted so better than mine and I wondered how did she make it! She kindly shared the recipe and I m so glad to be sharing it with you.... I got a friend and a new "regular" in my lunch recipe list. Thanks, Ana!!

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower -- about 300-350 grams (I used about half of a medium sized cauliflower)
• tomatoes -- 2 
  
• green peas -- 1/2 cup
• red onion -- about half
• garlic -- 3 cloves
• ginger  -- 1 inch piece
• green chilies -- 2
• mustard seeds -- 1 tsp
• asafoetida -- 1/4 tsp
• curry leaves -- 4-5
• turmeric powder  -- 1/2 tsp
• coriander powder -- 1 tsp
• salt -- about 1 tsp 
• canola or vegetable oil -- 1 tbsp
• coriander leaves -- a handful bunch
• water -- 1 to 1 1/2 cup
• and the last secret ingredient -- Rasam Powder -- about 1 and 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

• Cut the cauliflower to half. Remove the green stalks and break to florets. Clean and wash well in running water. Keep it aside.
• Grate the ginger and garlic and make paste. Slit the green chilies and remove the seeds if needed. Chop the coriander leaves. 
• Chop the onions and tomatoes and grind to a fine paste/puree with a blender. Keep it aside.

• Heat a tbsp or two of oil. Add mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add asafoetida and slit green chilies.

• Add the onion paste. Keep the heat medium and keep stirring till the liquid is evaporated and the paste is darkened and shiny(about 5-7 minutes)

• Add the tomato puree and keep stirring for about 10 minutes.

• Add the ginger-garlic paste and the curry leaves, while continuously stirring.

• Once the "masala" starts coming together (looks like it's getting dry), add the powdered spices -- turmeric powder, coriander powder, rasam powder and salt.

• Stir for 1-2 minutes on medium heat after adding the dry spice powders.

• Add the cauliflower florets and the green peas and saute them in the "tomato onion masala" for 2-3 minutes.

• I cooked this curry in a pressure pan. So at this point, I added about 1 cup of water to the curry, covered the pressure pan with lid and let it cook for 1-2 whistles.

• You can cover the lid, if cooking in a regular skillet or pot after adding water and let it cook for another 7-8 minutes till the cauliflower is done.

• Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve hot as a side to chapatis or rice.

Quantity:

• 4-5 servings with accompaniments like rice/chapati, etc

Notes:

• I used only 1/2 of the cauliflower and got a gravy (liquid based) curry.
• If u want the subji to be dry, you can use about 400 gms of cauliflower and cook the subji with less water.

• You can add garam masala or goda masala or any of your favorite homemade mixed spice powder.... that will make it different flavored. I particularly loved the flavor and combination of peas and cauliflower with the rasam masala :) 

Punjabi Tinda Stir-fry

American supermarkets have different vegetables than what I have been using in Asia(like asparagus, brussel sprouts, kale, different salad leaves). Also, Indian grocery stores here do not have as many fresh vegetables as the stores/market in Singapore. (atleast, my store doesn't stock them). However, the indian grocery store near my place stocks up on variety of Indian vegetables in the frozen section. Some of which, I haven't seen in years. Such a vegetable is "punjabi tinda" ...!!  I have never seen this vegetable before, even back in India.

The tinda and plural called tinday (in Urdu ٹنڈه or ٹنڈے), also called Indian round gourd or apple gourd or Indian Baby Pumpkin, is a squash-like cucurbit grown for its immature fruit, a vegetable especially popular in South Asia. It is the only member of the genus Praecitrullus. "tinda" is also called "tindsi" in rajasthan. In Marathi, it is called Dhemase ढेमसे. In Sindhi language, it is called Meha ميها.

The plant is, as with all cucurbits, a prolific vine, and is grown as an annual. The fruit is approximately spherical, and 5–8 cm in diameter. The seeds may also be roasted and eaten. Tinda is a famous nickname among Punjabi families in India. This unique squash-like gourd is native to India, very popular in Indian and Pakistani cooking with curry and many gourmet dishes. Green colored, apple sized fruits are flattish round in shape and 50-60 grams in weight. Plants are vigorous, productive and begin to bear fruits in 70 days after planting. Information source " wikipedia" 

I actually confused it with "tendli" or "tindora" ... which is a different vegetable and i have another "recipe" for it on my blog. The recipe for this vegetable, I made up while cooking and adding the ingredients which i thought would go well and were available in my fridge/pantry. I came to know through my friends that it's not very popular vegetable... people either like it or don't !!!  :) So, if u do not like tinda, do try out this recipe with regular favorites like potato or green peas or beans. 

Ingredients:

• about 340 grams(12 oz. ) bag of frozen "tinda" (fresh would be nice)
• 1/2 red onion
  
• 2 tbsp freshly grated coconut(or frozen)
• 2/3 pieces of garlic
• 1 red dried chili
• 1-2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp each of coriander and cumin powder
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp of garam masala
• lemon juice ... a few drops
• coriander leaves to garnish

Recipe:

• Keep the frozen tinda bag out on the kitchen counter for about 15/20 mins, so that the vegetable gets thawed. Also keep the frozen coconut to thaw.
• If using fresh vegetable, wash the vegetable well and chop in 4 pieces.
• Chop the red onion to long slices.
• Combine the freshly grated coconut, garlic and red chili in a blender or food processor and process it for half a minute. It will come together as a coarse paste. I used a chutney made from these ingredients and a few more. 
• Heat a skillet with a tsp or two of oil.
• Add cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the chopped onions and saute for 3 to 4 minutes till the onions are translucent and slightly browned. 

• Add the coconut-garlic-chili paste and saute further on moderate heat for 2-3 minutes.

• Finally, add the tinda and mix well.
• Add about 1/4 cup of water. Cover the skillet with a lid and let it cook for 5/7 minutes till the vegetable is tender. 

• Add salt and garam masala.

• Turn off the heat and add few drops of lemon juice.
• Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

Quantity:

• 2-3 servings with other accompaniments like roti/rice/salad/dal, etc

Notes:

• Can be made with other vegetables like green peas/ green beans/ potatoes, etc.
• I have used a coconut chutney (dosa chutney) instead of fresh coconut/garlic.