Saturday, August 22, 2009

Easy and simple dinners

When you have, some tomatillos, an extra large tomato and some beautiful pink radhish :

what does it turn into for dinner?

Mooli paratha and Sev tameta. I can eat mooli only in parathas, that too made my way. I sautee the grated mooli and its leaves in some oil with hing till they are cooked. Then I take some wheat flour, add a bit of besan to it, some salt, chilli powder, turmeric and the cooked mooli. Then I make a soft dough adding water as needed and make parathas as usual.
I used the wrong type of sev for the sev tameta but that was the only one I had at home. Usually, the thick variety is used. Making Sev tameta is really simple. Just make a tadka with some oil, mustard seeds, jeera, hing. Add some chopped onion and garlic if you wish. Otherwise just add some chopped green chillies and turmeric. Add the chopped tomatoes. I had some tomatillos so I used them along with the tomatoes. But tomatillos are more sour than tomatoes so be careful. Cover and cook the tomatoes. Add some salt and sugar. If you have jaggery, better still. Add some dhaniya jeera powder. Add water. We need a gravy and the sev will also soak up the water. Keep tasting to adjust the sweetness and sourness. Let it boil for a 4-5 mins. Add sev just before serving. It was a really nice combination of the mooli parathas and the tangy tomato curry.

Once in a while, I buy the beautiful purple cabbage.

I had some of the cabbage leftover after making a sabzi. I made a colorful salad for dinner along with sandwiches. I had some sprouted brown chana. I added the chopped purple cabbage, onions, grated carrot, finely chopped and deseeded jalapeno pepper or some finely chopped capsicum. Add some salt, chaat masala, pinch of sugar and lemon juice. The sandwiches are the usual potato sandwiches. Boiled and mashed potatoes, seasoned with salt, chillies, dhaniya powder and a tiny bit of garam masala. Mix it up, layer it on bread and toast it on a pan. And you are ready for a nice and filling meal.
The other type of sandwich we generally have for breakfast are the vegetable filled ones along the lines of the mumbai street food sandwiches, but not quite. But it works for us, since it is simpler and still tasty.
For the sandwiches in the picture, I have spread some honeymustard on the bread, layered some boiled and sliced potatoes, sliced onions, sliced cucumbers, sliced beetroot and sliced jalapeno. Sprinkle salt, pepper and chaat masala on top. And roast it on a pan. Sometimes we use green chutney on the bread, if we have a bottle sitting in the fridge. Sometimes, we add some cheese to the sandwich. It all depends on the mood and the availability of ingredients.

3 comments:

A_and_N said...

Sev Tamatar is a fave!! :) We have it on our blog too! :D

We ourselves are looking for good baking books, Nikita. However, I have heard Dorie Greenspan is a great addition to your collection. We found a book called Great cakes by Carole Walter. This, we find a good book. However, I"m not sure its still in print. We found this in a garage sale. I will surely let you know if I can find anymore!

Usha said...

The colorful salad with cabbage looks lovely ! Sev Tamatar is an absolute favorite of mine too...first time here you have a lovely space !

Jayashree said...

This is my first visit to your blog. You have a nice space here.
The tomato sev sounds delicious.