The other day I had a delicious tomato and drumstick soup at my friend, Mala's home. I liked it so much that I asked her for the recipe and promptly tried it out the next day. It turned out just as good as Mala's and is one of the simplest recipes that I have come across. So here I am sharing it with you -

Tomato & Drumstick Soup

Ingredients :-

1. 4-5 red and firm tomatoes
2. 2-3 drumsticks
3. 2-3 cups of water
4. salt and pepper to taste
5. few Coriander leaves finely chopped, for garnish (optional)

Procedure :-

Wash and scrape drumsticks and cut into large pieces, about 3 inches in height. Cut tomatoes into big pieces. Put chopped tomatoes and drumsticks in a pressure cooker, add water and pressure cook for two whistles. 

When cool, open cooker, scrape out the pulp of the drumsticks and put back into the cooker and throw away the skins. Now put the cooked tomatoes and drumsticks pulp in a blender and blend till smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

If you find the soup too thick, dilute with a little hot water. 

Serve hot, either by itself or with garlic toast or croutons.

When I opened my Fridge this morning to take a look at both raw and cooked vegetables to decide what to serve for lunch, one of the things I saw was a bowl of cooked cabbage leftover from last nights dinner. Instantly, I decided to use the cabbage , but make something different out of it. Here's what I did.

I mashed one large boiled and peeled potato in a large thali/plate. I put the cabbage in the mixer and gave it one spin. The mashed cabbage was then added to the mashed potato.. To that I added the following: 1 small onion finely chopped, 1 green chillie finely chopped, 1 tsp finely chopped ginger, 1 tsp rawa or sooji, 1 bread slice soaked in water and squeezed out, 1/2 tsp dhania powder, 1/2 tsp jeera powder, 1/2 tsp shah jeera, 1/4 tsp red chillie powder, salt to taste and a few coriander leaves finely chopped. I mixed all the ingredients well into a nice dough. Made small balls from it and flattened each into a round cutlet and lightly coated each with breadcrumbs. At lunch, these were fried in just 2 tbsps of oil on a non stick pan, till both sides were golden brown and served with green chutney and ketchup. 
The patta-gobi aloo tikkis/cutlets turned out to be quite a hit and will probably feature often on my weekly menu!

Dal Pakwan is an all time favourite for Sunday breakfast/ brunch among Sindhis.
Here's how you can make it at home and perhaps invite family/friends enjoy it with you.

CHANA DAL (for serving with Pakwan)

Ingredients:

1. One bowl Chana Dal (soaked in water for about one hour)
2. one medium sized onion finely chopped
3. 1 medium sized tomato (grated)optional
4.One inch piece of ginger finely chopped
5. 2 green chillies finely chopped
6. 3 tbsps oil
7.1 tsp coriander powder
8. 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
9. Salt to taste
10. Few coriander leaves finely chopped

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add ginger, green chillies and chopped onion. Sauté for a few minutes till onions are translucent. Now add Chana Da land stir for a few minutes. Then add dry spices and mix well. Add grated tomato and turn around for a couple of minutes. Finally, add salt and 2 cups of boiling water, mix well and close the pressure cooker. Lower flame after first whistle, cook for 5 minutes and turn off flame. Allow cooker to cool for a couple of minutes. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

TANGY TAMARIND CHUTNEY

Ingredients:

1. A golf ball sized ball of tamarind, soaked in a cup of water
2. 1 small onion finely chopped
3. 1 green chillie finely chopped
4. 1/4 tsp red chillie powder
5. Few coriander leaves finely chopped
6. 1 inch piece jaggery(optional)
7. Salt to taste
Procedure:
Soak tamarind for about 30 minutes. Squeeze out pulp mixing well and draining through a sieve. Put pulp in a bowl. Now add all other ingredients and mix well. Serve with Dal and Pakwan

PAKWAN

Ingredients:

1. one bowl maida or refined flour
2. 4 to 5 tsps oil( for making the dough)
3. Salt to taste
4. Oil for frying the pakwans

Procedure:

Empty out flour on a flat tray/Thali . Add oil and salt and mix well. Now make a chappati like dough by adding water. The dough should be harder than that for chappatis. Mix the dough very well and smoothen with a little oil on your hands. Divide dough into small balls. Cover each ball with dry flour, flatten and roll out round and thin like a chappati. Prick holes in the rolled out pakwan with a sharp knife or fork . Heat oil in a Kadai. When hot, lower flame and put one rolled out pakwan at a time. Fry on low flame till both sides are golden brown. Drain out excessl oil and remove on a tissue.
Serve freshly made pakwans with Dal and Tangy Tamarind chutney.

With the extremely busy lives that most of us lead, we have very limited time for cooking, but still don't want to eat out all the time. Tomato chutney is a very quick and easy recipe to make and very versatile too. It can be had with bread as breakfast, used as a pizza sauce, base for egg curry or Bhajia curry, filling for sandwiches , can be used to transform left over rice with a tadka of ustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Here's how you can make it

TOMATO CHUTNEY

Ingredients:

1. 4 medium sized tomatoes
2. 2 green chillies finely chopped
3. Few coriander leaves
4. 2 tbsps oil
5. 1 medium sized onion
6. 1 inch piece ginger finely chopped
7. 1 tsp coriander powder
8. Salt to taste

Procedure:
Chop all vegetables fine and keep separately. In a thick bottomed kadai, heat oil. Add finely chopped ginger and green chillies. Lee them crackle for a minute, then add onions and stir on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes till translucent. Add tomatoes, coriander powder, salt and half the coriander leaves. Cover with tight lid and cook on low flame for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix well with wooden blender. The tomatoes should now have a thick puree like consistency. Serve hot, topped with remaining coriander leaves, with plain or toasted bread. Can also be used as a sauce for pizza or converted into a main course by adding slit boiled eggs.

Continuing with the seasonal American Corn! Here is a recipe that you could tr over the weekend.

BAKED CORN AND CAPSICUM



Ingredients

1. 1 packet American corn / Corn of one cob
2. 1 Capsicum (finely chopped)
3. 3 - 4 spring onions (finely chopped)
4. 1 glass milk
5. 2 tbs butter
6. 1 tbs Maida / cornflour
7. 2 tbs cheese spread / grated cheese (for the sauce)
8. 1 tbs of grate cheese (for the crust)
9. 1 inch piece ginger (finely chooped)
10. Half tsp dry parsley
11. Quarter tsp garlic powder
12. Salt & Pepper (to taste)
13. 3 - 4 thin slices of capsicum

Procedure

Steam the corn for 5 - 7 minutes and keep aside after draining the water. Make white sauce - Heat butter in a pan and add Maida / Cornflour to it and mix well. slowly add the milk, while stirring continously to avoid lumps and so the Maida gets well dissolved in the milk. Add 2 tbs of grated cheese and ginger and mix well on a low flame.

After the sauce has thickened, add steamed corn, chopped onions, capsicum, salt, pepper and garlic powder and mix well for a minute and turn off flame.

Empty out in a baking dish. Arrange capsicum slices on the top and sprinkle grated cheese lavishly. Bake in pre - heated oven for 10 - 15 minutes till the crust is golden brown. Serve hot with garlic toast and Tabasco sauce.

While American corn is available round the year in Mumbai, its particularly fresh and in abundance in the monsoon months. In this weather, a delicious hot snack is always relished!

MAZEDAR AMERICAN CORN

Ingredients :-

1. 1 bowl of American corn
2. 1 tblsp finely chopped ginger
3. 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
4. 1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
5. 1 capsicum finely chopped (optional)
6. 1 tsp chaat masala
7. Half tsp red chilli powder
8. Salt to taste
9. Juice of half a lemon
10. Few coriander leaves finely chopped

Procedure :-

Steam the corn for 5 0- 10 minutes. Drain the water out and take the corn out in a pan. Add all the ingredients except coriander leaves and mix well.

Serve in an attractive glass bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

A walk on the streets of "Hamara Bharat" can always bring out a burst of laughter!!