Spicy "Apple & Red Pepper" Chutney

Day3 of BM#10: A couple of months ago I took my son for apple picking. The orchards in Northeast were badly hit by a major hail storm  that happened a week prior. Almost 80% of the apples were badly bruised and had black spots on them. :-(. Inspite of hearing about it I went cause I felt bad for those Orchard owners. It was a big challenge to pick bruise-free apples.We came back home with a just a bag of apples instead of 3 or 4 which was the norm everytime we went for apple picking.

Here is what I did with those apples I brought home: I made some apple sauce which I used to make my Vegan Pumpkin apple muffins, then substitued apple filling instead of berries in Lattice-Topped Berry Tart I posted a few months ago. I still had a few leftovers out of which a couple ended up in this chutney- I frequently made mini pepper chutney as sides for Idli/Dosa this summer and wanted to add apples this time. The only change I had to make was to increase the amount of chilies to even out the sweet taste of apples. That's it!

MacIntosh Apple Tree at March Farms:These ripe red macIntosh apples on this tree miraculously espaced the hail storm.A few of those ended up in my bag that I brought home. :-):

Way3 To Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity:  Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In Box." ;-)

What you need for the chutney:

Ingredients:

• 2 Red MacIntosh Apples
• 1 Medium Red Onion, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 8-10 Mini Red Peppers, seeds and membranes removed
• 1" Ginger, peeled and cut diced
• 2 Small Cloves Garlic
• Marble sized Tamarind, cleaned
• 4-5 or less/more Dry Red Chili
• 2 Green Chili
• 2 Stalks Curry Leaves, stems removed
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil

For tempering(Optional):

• 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 Tsp Split Black Gram/ Urad Dhal
• 1 Stalk Curry Leaves
• 1 Tsp Olive Oil

Procedure(Tried with yellow and red mini peppers. Using Red peppers alone gives that intense red color and the taste is much better than that of the Yellow + Red Pepper combo):

• Add the Oil to a wide saute pan. Throw in the cut onions, garlic, ginger, red chili, green chili and curry leaves.Saute till the onions are browned.

• Add the cut peppers and saute till they are browned at edges

• Add the cut apples to the pan.

• Saute till they are browned.The chutney tastes better if they are well and truly browned.

• Add the tamarind at the very end. Switch off stove and sprinkle some salt.

• Grind the whole contents and check for taste.

• Move it to a serving bowl.Tempering is entirely optional.If opting, just fry the mustard seeds, Hing, urad dhal and curry leaves. Pour it over the chutney. I skipped it this time. Enjoy it with hot idli, dosa and such.

Enjoy!

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Baked "Tandoori Chicken" From Scratch

Day2 of BM#10:  I wish all my American Readers a very "Happy Thanksgiving". Sorry no Turkey at my Thanksgiving table. What?? No Turkey??Well,  I am following our President Obama's steps. I have pardoned the turkey at my Thanksgiving table. He He.But no worries.. I have my version of this ever-popular chicken recipe up and available just for you all. Actually this was meant to go on the last day of this marathon but since its Thanksgiving and all, I had to post a "bird recipe". See my dedication?? :-)

Obama pardons the Thanksgiving Turkey(s) "Liberty" and "Peace". This is so funny...you got to watch this-

Way2 for maintaining a healthy level of insanity:  Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something (at work), Ask If They Want Fries with that. **LoL**
Coming to the recipe, this is the first time((Well, it did take a couple more times to perfect the recipe)) I have tried it from scratch and ended up with a successful recipe. I was/am a big fan of Shaan Tandoori mix and Tandoori Chicken recipe made with this mix is quite delicious. So I never veered out of that comfort zone till my MIL persuaded me to give it a shot. So here it is:

Ingredients(For 5 Servings, 2/Person):

• 10 Chicken Drumsticks
• 2 Tbsp Ghee/Clarified Butter, for basting

For the (Wet)Rub:

• 1-1/4 Tsp "Kashmiri" Pure Red Chili Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Paprika Powder
• 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Tsp Salt

For the Marinade:

• 1/2 Cup Thick Yogurt
• 1 Tbsp Ginger/Garlic Paste
• 2 Tsp "Kashmiri" Pure Red Chili Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Fine-ground Black Pepper Powder
• 1 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
• 1 Tsp Coriander Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
• 6 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1-1/4 Tsp or less/more Salt
• Red Color, Optional ( I skipped it)

For the Garnish:

• Red Onion slices
• Lemon wedges/slices

Procedure:

• Make a thick paste with all the ingredients for the rub.

• Skin the chicken. Clean and pat dry with paper towels.

• Put shallow or deep slits on the chicken. Deep or shallow is just a personal preference. Smear the rub over and in-between the slits in the chicken.Add it to a wide shallow bowl.

• In a small bowl add the Yogurt and whisk it. Add all the other ingredients for the marinade into the bowl.

• Whisk it smooth. Check for taste. You may add more salt or chili powder if you wish.

• Pour the marinade over the chicken.

• Mix well to coat the chicken.

• Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate the drumsticks overnight.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a grill rack and add the drumsticks with even spacing between them.

• Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. Once every 15 minutes or so baste the chicken with ghee.

• 30 minutes later, flip the chicken. Baste with Ghee. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for another 15 minutes or so.

• Let the drumsticks rest for 10 minutes before serving it with onion and lemon slices.

Note:

• Don't go swoony after seeing the amount of "Kashmiri" chili powder that went into the recipe. This chili powder is much much milder than the regular one.Even adding this much yields a "mildly spicy"chicken It is available at all Indian stores. The beauty of it is that it imparts that distinctive reddish-orange hue to the chicken without the addition of the red food coloring.

Enjoy!

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Spiced Vegan Pumpkin And Cocoa Muffins

Day1 of BM#10: Has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? Time does fly. Between work and family I am finding it hard to squeeze time for blogging. But I scraped some free time to cook and click for this edition of BM and my theme is going to be "Winter Specials". For me winter is all about spiced bakes, spicy curries and heartwarming foods in general..

What do you find the most difficult thing to do in Winter? For me its slipping out of bed in the morning while its still dark outside and the sun refuses to shine! Seriously, who wants to get up from under that cozy cocoon created by that oh-so-soft-egyptian-cotton-sheet-topped-with-down-filled-duvet,walk the frigid marble floor in the bathroom and do your morning duties? **Shudder**  Well, the clock won't stand still for me just because I am feeling that way every damn day of Winter.Whether I like it or not I need to get up and go about my business cause I ain't no princess and I wasn't born with a silver spoon.Grey and Gloomy mornings such as these need something to look forward to - in the form of Spiced Pumpkin and Cocoa Muffins. **Yum** This with a hot cup of tea is pure bliss! After that I am looking forward to the rest of my morning. :)

A few days ago, I bought a few wedges of Orange pumpkins and thought of making my own Pumpkin Puree. It came in handy when I wanted to make these Pumpkin-Chocolate muffins.Don't you love the color? One evening when I was googling for recipes, this muffin recipe caught my eye that prompted me to make my own batch. I wanted to make a large batch but I have at home only  8 and 6- cup muffin pans. So had to adjust the base recipe's ingredient proportions to yield 14 muffins.

Before I go ahead and give the recipe, I thought I will share (one-a-day) funny ways to "Maintain a healthy level of Insanity" that my co-worker L sent over to me.It cracked me up --"At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and Point A Hair  Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down".

Ingredients( For 6 + 8 Muffins):

• 1-1/2 Cups Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 Cup Store-bought or Home-made Apple Sauce
• 1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2-1/2 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1-1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1-1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice
• 1-1/2 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Tool:

• 8-Cup Muffin Pan
• 6-Cup Muffin Pan

Procedure:

 To Make the Pumpkin Puree: 

• Peel the pumpkin and dice them up. Steam or pressure cook (with very less water). If pressure cooking, it will generate lots of water.Drain the water and cool the chunks.

• Puree in the blender until smooth. Freeze the unused portion.

• Make the Muffins:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.Add Salt and mix well.

• In a bowl add the sugar, apple sauce, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and mix well.

• Add the flour in batches.

• Alternate the flour and oil.Mix only till combined.

• Add the mini chocolate chips and stir with a silicone spatula.

• Grease the muffin wells with little bit of Olive Oil. Spoon the batter evenly into the wells of the muffin cup.

• Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the tooth-pick inserted into the center comes clean.

• Have at it with a hot cup of Coffee or Tea.

Makes 6 + 8 Scrumptious Muffins.

For this week's  "Black and White Wednesday"@Susan's "The Well-Seasoned Cook"- Reminiscing Summer

Enjoy!

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Fruit Salad with Milk and Sooji/Farina Dressing

 How is it going everyone? Sorry I had to abandon the second run abruptly. Blame it on 3 things --

• The computer that had the photos got corrupted with some Malware. Only a few pictures were recovered(Booohoooo!!!)
• The historic snowfall last week that knocked power in my area (Well, I have pictures to prove)
• My chaotic life (You only have to take my word for it)

Fruit Salad that should have been a part of the "Soup and Salads" theme-

While I got the Power back, I feel so bad for so many of the folks who still hasn't - especially for folks who have small kids and for older people.A few pictures of the snowfall. It was raining snow! Big fat flakes that furiously fell all over the place-

Recap of what I cooked for the first-run of BM9(Traditional South-Indian Farmer's Fare):

• Day1: Ragi Dumplings Balls "Kezhvaragu Kali" in Spicy Spinach and Lentil Sauce.
• Day2: Skillet Fried Violet Yams "Chenai Varuval", lovely side-dish for Ragi Dumplings.
• Day3: Creamy and Slick South-Indian Risotto "Venn Pongal" with Cashew-nuts
• Day4: Spicy Lentil Ball Pancakes/Indian Aebleskiver "Kaara Paniyaram"
• Day5: Cracked Pearl-Millet Idli with Smashed Eggplant and Lentil Curry
• Day6: Finger-Millet/Ragi Roti with Creamy and Cooling Cucumber "Raita"
• Day7: Pumpkin and Sago Pudding "Payasam"

Recap of what I made for the second-run of BM9(Salad and Soup):

•  Day1:Radish, Cucumber and Red Onion Salad
• Day2: Roasted Vegetable Bisque
• Day3: Pasta and Meatballs Soup
• Day4: How to Sprout a Mung Bean + Sprouted Bean and Avocado Salad

Sending this and all of the above soups/salad recipes along with Red Lentil Soup to Srivall's Salad and Soup Mela @ Cooking for all Seasons.

Ingredients:

• 1 Gala Apple
• 1 Bosc Pear
• 2 Medium Banana
• 2 Cups Red Table Grapes
• 1-1/2 Cups Reduced Fat Milk
• 2-3 Tbsp Sooji
• 2-3 Tbsp Sugar or more/less

Procedure:

• Boil the milk in the saucepan.

• While the milk is still hot, add the Sooji/Farina, sugar and reduce the flame to low.

• Switch off the stove a couple of minutes later. The milk-sooji mixture will start thickening once the sooji is cooked.

• Pour it into a cup and set it aside.

• Halve the grapes. Chop the other fruits into small chunks.

• Move the fruit chunks into a wide bowl. Pour the milk-sooji mixture over the fruit chunks.

• Mix it up and let it chill for a few minutes.

• Transfer the fruit salad into small serving bowls.

Makes 5-6 Servings.

For this week's  "Black and White Wednesday"@Susan's "The Well-Seasoned Cook"

Enjoy!

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