Masala Bread Toast

Masala bread toast was a staple breakfast when I was a child. It is a vegetarian version of the French toast but with an Indian twist.

Masala Bread Toast ( Indian style vegetarian French Toast)

Ingredients:

4 Bread slices (I have used white sandwich bread)
2-3 T milk
Butter for toasting

To Grind:

1 bunch of coriander leaves
1/4 cup pottukadalai (roasted gram dal)
1 onion
1 clove of garlic (optional)
2-3 green chillies
salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind items given under "to grind" into a smooth paste
2. Add milk until it is a thick spreadable paste.
3. Heat a flat skillet and add butter. Spread the masala paste on one side of the bread and place that side on the hot skillet.
4. As it toasts spread the paste on the top side. Flip the bread slice and allow the other side to cook as well.
5. Serve hot.

Notes:

1. The toast will be a bit on the softer side. You can try toasting it on a pop up toaster. But remember to keep the paste thick as it should not drip.
2. You can substitute the green chillies with dry red chillies for a different taste. You can even omit the chillies and use pepper powder instead..

Easy Potato Curry

It has been a hectic couple of weeks with school runs, multiple activity classes and not to mention the flu season here resulting in Little A being a bit under weather and not to mention bound to the house. I have been making a lot of flu-fighting meals - lots of soups, peppery rasams and spicy stir-fries. This is an easy potato curry that is an absolute favorite here. There is no prep required and can be done in 10-15 minutes.

Easy Potato Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Potato - cut into small cubes
2 onions - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely minced
1 t Turmeric Powder
2 t Red Chilly Powder or Sambar Powder (I have used sambar powder)
Salt to taste
1/2 t Mustard seeds
1/2 t Broken Urad Dal
1 sprig of curry leaves
Coriander leaves for garnish
1 T Oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Season with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves
2. Add the minced garlic and fry
3. Add the chopped onion and fry till they turn soft
4. Add the potatoes, turmeric, chilly powder and salt. Mix well.
5. Add 1/2 cup of water and allow the potatoes to cook on open pan.
6. Stir well and when the water is fully absorbed and potatoes are cooked, mix well and allow them to brown.
7. Remove from heat. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

Babycorn Pepper Fry

We were bored with usual set of vegetables that are available here and after multiple rotations in dal, sambar, curry and stir fry, we wanted to try something different. There were 3 packets of baby corn lying the fridge (what was I thinking when I picked THREE!!). As I had just ground a fresh batch of black pepper powder, I decided to make a simple baby corn pepper fry and served it with lunch. Its simple fast and quite easy too.


Baby Corn Pepper Fry

Ingredients:

12 - 15 Baby Corn, sliced
1 large onion - finely chopped
1/2" piece of Ginger - minced finely
2 cloves of garlic - minced finely
1 green chilly - minced
1 T corn flour
1 T black pepper powder
1/2 t Jeera
Curry leaves
salt to taste
1 T Oil

Method:

1. Heat Oil in a pan.
2. Add the jeera and curry leaves. Add ginger, garlic and green chilly
3. Add chopped onions and fry till soft
4. Add the sliced baby corn and fry well.
5. Add pepper and salt and mix well.
6. After a minute, when the baby corn is 3/4th cooked, sprinkle the cornflour and mix well. Keep tossing until the baby corn is nicely roasted.
7. Serve hot.

Notes:

• If the babycorn is not tender enough, blanch them first in hot water.
• You can use the same recipe for paneer and cauliflower. Cauliflower needs to be blanched first.
• Adjust the pepper quanitity according to your taste.
• Garnish with coriander leaves or spring onions.
• It goes well with rasam and sambar rice.
• For a slight change in taste, you can replace gram flour (kadalai maavu) instead of corn flour for a Chettinad style pepper fry.