Tomato Chutney

I had tomatoes from my garden sitting in my freezer from last year. I wanted to make chutney but wasn’t sure how it will taste. I was surprised that it tasted so good.  As the day pass by, the flavor got enhanced, we ate that every day for a week.

Yields: 6 to 8 Servings

 

Ingredients

3 pounds tomatoes (frozen)

1 piece of fresh ginger

Mustard seeds:  ½ table spoon

Cumin powder:  ¼ table spoon

Coriander powder: ¼ table spoon

Turmeric: ¼ table spoon

Cooking oil: 3 table spoon

Red dry chilli (2)

Salt to taste

Directions:

Puree tomatoes (frozen) with ginger in a blender and set aside. 

Heat oil in a pan, crack mustard seeds, and add red dry chili. Add  tomato puree and stir occasionally. Add salt to taste, cumin-coriander powder, and turmeric powder. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the mixture is thick and oil starts to separate.

       

Turn off the heat and let it cool down until you serve. It’s a tasty side for rice and curry. Enjoy!

Hummus

Hummus is a Middle Eastern food dip made from cooked garbanzo beans blended with tahini , olive oil, lemon juice, salt and  garlic.  I used to buy it once in a while in a grocery store until I figured out how simple and easy it is to make it at home.

Yields: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

Garbanzo Beans: 1 Cup (soaked dry beans overnight)

Sesame Seeds: ¼ cup (roasted)

Garlic Clove: ½ large clove minced (optional)

Cumin powder: 1/8 table spoon (pinch of it)

Olive Oil: 3 table spoons

Lemon Juice: (1 medium lemon)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the soaked garbanzos beans until they are soft and tender. Allow it to cool, rinse it and keep it aside.

In a blender, blend the roasted sesame seeds to powder .You have to make it to a powder first. If you mix the seeds with lemon juice and oil and try to blend it, it won’t be a puree. Add lemon juice, salt, cumin, garlic, pepper and a spoon of oil to the powder and blend it to make a puree ( Tahini).Keep it aside.

In a food processor/blender, combine the puree ( Tahini), add half of the beans then process for a minute.  Add 2 table spoons of oil, remaining beans and process until it becomes thick and smooth. If the mixture is not smooth, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until the desired consistency is acquired. 

 Scrape the hummus in to a container then drizzle some olive oil over the top.

 Enjoy the hummus with Pita Bread or any type of  vegetable chips or bread of your choice.

Garbanzo beans Curry

This is a regular curry that I cook often in my kitchen. Once in a while, I keep switching the spices and ingredients though. Sometimes I use store bought garam masala or use lot of spices. Recently, I have been cooking most of the dishes with less spices and without onion and garlic.  I feel no difference in terms of experience and fulfillment. In fact, I like it more :)

Yield: 4 to 6 Servings

Ingredients

Garbanzo Beans: 2 cup (soaked dry beans overnight or canned)

Tomatoes:3 (medium size)

Mustard Seeds:  ¼ table spoon

Cumin Powder:  ½ table spoon

Coriander Powder: ½ table spoon

Turmeric: ¼ table spoon

Cooking Oil: 3 table spoon 

Cloves (5)

Bay Leaves (2)

Cilantro for garnish

Fresh Ginger (small piece), few Green Chilies (optional)

Salt to taste

Directions:

Combine ginger and tomato, blend it to puree, put aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. You can also boil garbanzo beans until tender and cook in a pan.  I normally use pressure cooker as it is convenient for me and is quicker to cook. 

Crack some mustard seeds, add cloves and bay leaves. Add tomato puree, turmeric powder, cumin-coriander powder and stir occasionally until the oil starts to separate. Add garbanzo beans, salt to taste, chilli and mix until all ingredients are well coated.

Add a cup of warm water and close the pressure cooker and cook in medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until 4-5 whistle. Remove from heat and let it sit for a while until the steam is gone.  

 Garnish with cilantro and serve it hot with rice or roti. Enjoy the curry with cilantro rice and tomato chutney.

Cilantro Rice

This dish is inspired from  Peruvian recipe "Arroz Con Pollo".  It is a recipe made with rice, chicken broth, chicken, cilantro juice and vegetables. I wanted to make it vegetarian so modified a little to fit to my taste.  It came out flavorful and delicious.

                    

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings

Ingredients

Rice: 2 Cup (any type of rice can be used) - I used Basmati soaked for an hour

Cilantro Leaves: 1 bunch

Lemon Juice:  2 table spoon (I also used chunk as it gives nice flavor)

Vegetables: Frozen Green beans, Peas, Carrots (½ Cup)

Ginger- small piece

Cooking Oil - 2 table spoon

Mustard Seeds (¼ table spoon)

Cloves (6)

Bay Leaves (2)
Turmeric: ¼ table spoon

Salt and Pepper to taste

 Directions:

Combine Cilantro and Ginger, blend in a blender. I used water to make it smooth. If you like, you can use vegetable broth as well. Set aside.

Heat oil in a cooking pan over medium high heat. Add few cloves, mustard seeds and bay leaves. When seeds start to crack, add vegetables and stir it for a while. 

 After about a minute, add rice, turmeric powder, and  stir to coat everything well. 

Then, pour  cilantro mixture and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add 1.5 cups of warm water or broth into the rice and stir well to combine everything. Bring it to boil, then reduce the heat to low/ medium low. Add  lemon juice and chunks. Cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 10-12 minutes.

 Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 2-3 minutes. Serve it warm with chutney and curry.

                    "Enjoy the Peru Delight in Nepali Version "

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa has become a favorite dish in my kitchen. Three years ago, I was looking for an alternative to rice that we eat quite frequently. Then I happened to eat a sample of Quinoa  at the Whole Foods grocery store. I loved it.

If you cook it in a pressure cooker, it resembles the split rice Nepali dish, puwa, which I am fond of too.

Quinoa has health benefits. It is a complete protein-source high in magnesium, iron, folate, zinc and fiber. You can fully satiate your appetite with Quinoa Salad without having a guilt that you are consuming too much carbs. More health benefits of quinoa can be found here.

I usually cook quinoa in a rice cooker. I rinse and soak it for an hour and add 1 cup of water to a cup of quinoa (if you don’t soak, add two cups of water to a cup of quinoa). I also add a spoon of butter, pinch of salt and turmeric just to enhance the flavor which is totally optional. When the quinoa is half cooked, I take the lid off the rice cooker and let it cook uncovered. This way it is fluffy, not mushy.

Today I am sharing Quinoa Salad recipe I made last weekend.  For salad, options are unlimited. You can add vegetables of your choice (carrot, spinach, bell pepper, avocado, black beans etc), cheese (fresh mozzarella, feta), nuts (almonds, raisins, cranberry), and whatever(edible!) you like. 

Ingredients:

Quinoa: 2 cups (cooked and chilled)

Tomato:  1 medium size (inner portion removed and chopped finely)

Cucumber:  1 medium size (peeled and diced finely)

Lemon Juice:  2 table spoon

Mango: 1 medium size (diced finely)

Cilantro: chopped finely

Salt and pepper to taste (if you like you can use finely chopped green chili as well)

Lemon Zest (pinch of it, as it gives good flavor)

  

Method:

Add all the ingredients in a bowl, mix them well and its ready to serve. You can either chill it in refrigerator for a while or serve it at room temperature.

Enjoy!