Quick and easy Mini Uttapam

Prep time – 15 -30 mins

Cooking time 15 mins

Ingredients:

Home made yoghurt (Dahi)

Sooji

Chopped Onion, coriander leaves and green chillies

Salt and sugar 

White Oil

Method:

Whip the yoghurt with in a utensil, add a pinch of sugar & salt to enhance the taste. Start adding the sooji  into the whipped yoghurt in small quantities. Make a batter that is similar to pancake – not runny but not too stiff that it won’t spread. Let this batter stand for 20 mins. You can chop the veggies during this time. Alternatively you  can prepare the batter and keep it refrigerated, But use it only after it is at room temperature.

Heat oil a non stick flat pan or tawa, take a large table spoon and pour a spoonful of batter on the pan. The batter should spread out on its own, in case it isn’t spreading as desired use the back of the spoon to spread it. Donot make it too thin. Turn flame to low, cover with a lid and let it steam for 1 min. Open lid and check with flat spatula if the uttapam is coming off the tawa surface.  Sprinkle the chopped veggies. Let it cook for another min making sure it doesn’t burn ( that’s why batter shounldnt b spread too thin). Flip the uttapam with spatula carefully; let the other side cook for 2 mins. Transfer from pan to serving dish. 

These are mini sized uttapams so once you have got the hang of it you can make more than 1 at the same time.

You can eat these with any sides as per your taste. I prefer it without any chutney or sauce. 

Enjoy these in your breakfast.

My Life My Quotes 101

Reading List Nov 2k17

I haven’t been reading any new fuction over the last 2 months, instead I have revisited a few books which I felt needed a re-read. Amongst them is Stephen King’s IT which I read after watching the impressive movie. But still my initial difficulty in tracking the convoluted timelines remained, especially towards the ending. Now looking forward to the 2nd chapter if the movie.

Here is my reading list for this month.

1. 

One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest by Ken Kessey has been made into a very successful motion picture and my interest in its orginal story comes from the movie. As far as book adaptations are concerned I have always been a fair in judgement. Most avid readers find the books better. But for me, I also appreciate the amount of work directors and  writers put in to transform a book like Harry Potter or Lord of the rings into a movie. 

The book by Kessey falls short in comparison to the movie in keeping my attention. However the poignant beat of the story is much better highlighted to a reader than a viewer. If you are a fan of the movie you can and should read the book. For me it was a revealation. In fact this book tied up well with the book of Shutter Island also. 

2. 

Drained by E.H. Reinhard is a serial murder mystery with a no real mystery. The book opens with the serial killer in first person narration and follows the story till the obvious conclusion of the killer being caught. The characters are stereotypical and barely scratch the surface of the psyche of the killer. Overall a trash piece to be read and deleted immediately from the ebook library. 

3. 
 Malevolent by EH Reinhard is a police procedural murder story. It’s a simple book with a simple premise and very little in terms if mystery. The main character of Lt. Kane is poorly sketched and even after winning the day doesn’t engage the reader emotionally. 
To be continued … 

Egg-cess Curry

I am a proud eggetarian. I can eat eggs for breakfast ,lunch ,dinner and snacks. So naturally I try to find new ways of having them. Without letting my love for eggs take me away from the recipe, here it is.

Ingrediants 

Serves 2

Eggs 2 boiled, 1 for scramble , 2 for poached

Potatoes diced very small pcs 2

Onion chopped 2

Tomato chopped 1

Ginger-Garlic paste

Turmeric powder, Coriander powdee, Garam Masala powder, Red Chilli powder

Kasuri methi

Salt

White oil

Method

Heat oil in a pan add onions and saute. Add the ginger garlic paste and continue to fry this. Once the raw smell of the mix goes add the tomatoes. Saute this to soften tomatoes. Keep the flame on medium. Add the potatoes and mix well. Add the powder ingrediants and keep cooking this. Once the potatoes are slightly browned,season with salt, it will soften the potoates. Add 2 cups of water. Cover with lid and cook for 5-8 mins. Check if potatoes have softened. Break one egg into the mix and scramble it. This will slightly thicken the gravy. Let this cook for 2 mins and then break in the 2 eggs as a poach. Be careful not break the yolk while handling. You can cover the pan for 1 min to let poached egg set. Sprinkle salt on the yolks. Check for seasoning. By this time the curry should be thick and no excess water should be there. Now slice the boiled eggs and add them. Try to coat these with gravy. Sprinkle Kasuri methi and some garam masala. Take off heat and serve with roti.

Enjoy the egg-cess curry.

Maggi 3 styles

Maggi is a go to snack and breaky item for me. I know a lot of people frown upon its unhealthy contents. But it is a life saver when one wakes up hungry. Here are my 3 styles of maggi. 

Chilli Maggi 

Ingredients 

Maggi and maggi masala

Green chilli chopped-2

Method

Boil 1 &1/2 cup of water in a pan, turn down the heat, add the broken pieces of maggi in the water. Cover the pan with a lid. Let it cook for 2 mins. Remove the lid and add the maggi masala and the chopped chillies. Give it a mix. Let the maggi cook and the extra liquid evaporate. I like the maggi to be dry. Remove from heat. Enjoy.
Cheese Maggi

Ingredients 

Maggi and maggi masala

Amul cheese 

Method 

Boil 1 &1/2 cup of water in a pan, turn down the heat, add the broken pieces of maggi in the water. Cover the pan with a lid. Let it cook for 2 mins. Remove the lid and add the maggi masala and the cheese. Adding chopped chillies is optional. Give it a mix. Cook for a minute. The cheese will melt and thicken so keep the heat low to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Remove from heat. Add a dash of tomato ketchup and enjoy.

Fried Maggi with Soya Chunks

Ingredients 

Maggi and maggi masala

Chopped onion 1

Chopped carrot 1

Boiled soya chunks or minced soya 

Soya sauce

Chilli sauce

Tomato sauce

Method 

Heat oil in a pan, saute the onion, carrot. You can add other vegetables like beans or spring onion. Sprinkle some salt and cover the pan. Cook till vegetables soften. Don’t over cook it. Leave the vegetables a little crunchy.  Add 1 tbsp of tomato sauce and chilli sauce and 1 tsp soya sauce. Mix in the soya chunks or minced soya. Cook for 2 mins. Add the maggi noodles and pour in 1 and 1/2 cups of water to the pan. Turn up the heat. Bring the water to boil. Turn down the heat and cover the pan. Cook for 3 mins. Remove the lid stir and cook for another 1 minute and let the extra liquid evaporate. Note no salt ia added because soya sauce has salt it in. You can adjust the salt if required. Take off heat and serve.