Easy appetizer - spinach potato savory puff

Vegetable puffs are very common in India. But here in the US, I have seen puffs to be sweet rather than savory (except in Indian restaurants/ bakeries). Making puff pastry involves rolling out the dough very thin and layering with butter. It is a lot of hard work and I prefer to get puff pastry squares (available in all grocery stores) which makes this recipe a lot simpler. I substituted half the portion of the potato with spinach.

To make the filling, I sauteed cumin (jeera) seeds, thinly sliced onions, boiled and mashed potatoes and chopped spinach (if frozen thawed, if canned drained) in 1 tsp oil. I added salt, cumin powder, red chilly powder and turmeric powder and mixed well. I added little water and covered to cook. Then I removed the cover and stirred continuously (to avoid burning) until all the water is evaporated. I cut the puff pastry squares into triangles, placed the filling, folded into half, stuck corners with water and baked at 375F for 10-15 minutes. Tasty savory puffs are ready to be served.

Dinner Tonight - Hearty Vegetable Soup with Rosemary Bread

It does sound like a simple dinner... Yes it is... But, I baked my own bread for the first time!!! I know nothing of bread making - not even witnessed someone making it.. So I was exited!!

It all started with some fresh cut rosemary someone gave me. I dried it and bottled it up and went about searching for a rosemary bread recipe. I followed a recipe word to word from recipezaar.com. I used wheat flour (the chapati type) instead of all purpose flour (Maida). I killed my first batch of yeast as the water was very hot. The recipe called for kneading by hand for 10 minutes or using a food processor for 5 minutes, which I do not have. I kneaded by hand on a hot summer afternoon (100 degrees), sweating like crazy, and it was a great workout :).

Now coming to the bread, I am not sure what went wrong - I messed up with the dough consistency or messed up with the yeast may be... it turned out not as airy and fluffy as it was meant to be. But it tasted pretty good. The smell and flavor of rosemary was great. My husband did not like the texture much, so I toasted it up a little and it was a bit crispier and he ate it. I'll surely try and perfect this one again...

The soup turned out wonderful. It was one of the best soups I have ever tasted!! Really!!! I am not a big soup fan (My husband is) and still loved it!

I soaked red kidney beans (Raajma) overnight and pressure cooked it with salt. I sauteed slit garlic cloves, diced onions, diced tomatoes and tomato paste (added in the same order) in little butter. Then added diced carrots, red and green bell peppers, celery stems and few leaves, and potato and sauteed for some more time. I added vegetable broth to cover the veggies, salt to taste, red chilly powder and cumin powder and covered to cook. Then added the cooked beans and brought it to boil again. I turned the heat off and added chopped green onions and cilantro. I finished it of with the juice of one lime. It was better than "Sweet Tomato" hearty vegetable soup (which we love).

Badal Jaam - Spiced and baked eggplant (Brinjal)

I did not know such an Indian side dish existed until I saw the episode of "Rachael Ray's vacation" on Food network in which she visits San Francisco. She eats Badal Jaam in an Indian restaurant in Berkley and also gives a glimpse on its preparation. I searched food network site for this recipe and found that it involved shallow frying. Instead, I tried to broil in my oven to reduce the amount of oil used. I served it up with good old Jeera-saffron rice and chunky cucumber raita and it tasted wonderful. Here is how I prepared it.

Ingredients
Eggplant - 2 medium sized
onion - 2 medium sized, finely chopped
green bell pepper - 1 diced
tomato - 2 medium sized, finely chopped
green chillies - 4 or to taste, finely chopped
red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
turmeric - 1/8 tsp or a couple of pinches
ginger paste - 3/4 tsp
garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
coriander - 1 tbsp finely chopped (save some for garnish)
cumin (jeera) powder - 1/2 tsp
lemon juice - 1 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
salt to taste
mango powder and/or chaat masala for garnish (optional)


Cut eggplant into 3/4 inches thick slices. Rub both sides with salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. This will make the eggplant lose some water. Pat the slices dry with a paper towel. Line a baking pan with foil and smear oil on it. brush little oil on both sides of the eggplant slices and smear garam masala. Preheat the broiler at high heat and broil the slices 8 inches under the source of heat for 7-8 minutes (Broiler times vary, so keep an eye. It can burn food very quickly). Turn the slices over and broil for another 6-7 minutes and set aside.

Preheat the oven at 400 F. In the mean time, saute the onion, green chillies, ginger paste and garlic paste in a tbsp of oil. You can a little salt at this stage to bring out the sweetness of the onion. when the onions are slightly brown, add tomatoes and bell peppers. Saute for another 2-3 minutes. Now add the remaining salt, turmeric powder, cumin powder and red chilly powder, and 1/2 cup of water. Mix well, cover and let it cook for 5-7 minutes. Then remove the lid and stir until all the water evaporates. Turn the heat off and then add lemon juice and coriander and mix well.

Divide the vegetable mix equally among the eggplant slices and spread evenly on each one. Now cover the baking pan with foil. close the ends tightly and bake for about 20-25 minutes (Baking times vary). Let it stand for 3-4 minutes before removing the foil. Garnish the slices with a dollop of yogurt, chopped tomatoes, coriander and dry mango powder and serve.

Note: If your yogurt is not very thick, hang it in a muslin cloth to remove excess whey water.