Tomato salsa- the Italian way

Salsa is mostly defined as a spicy sauce having tomatoes, onions and chilli to accompany Mexican foods like nachos.

Salsa is also a dance...how apt!

You can dance around with the ingredients and make salsa to your liking, just like Mark Bittman

Here is a little something which I made over weekend with Foccacia bread.

You need:

• Tomatoes- 3, chopped
• Parsley- 2 Tbsp , chopped 
• Olive oil- 2 tsp
• Vinegar- 1 Tbsp
• Black Pepper- 1 tsp, crushed
• Kosher salt - to taste

How to

1. Pour oil in a flat pan. 
2. Add chopped tomatoes (you can de-seed them if u like. it'll change the texture a bit)
3. Add the parsley.
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Mix and cook for a minute.
5. Add vinegar. Simmer and cook till its mushy, but still chunky.

Serve at room temperature.

PS: my mom would call it a simple chutney but Rose would smell sweet even if it was called by some other name. 

Toasted sandwich with veggie curd filling

Yes, it looks like we are on a sandwich spree this month.
Am I complaining? Definitely no.


The weather here is turning rainy, which is a perfect excuse for making this toasted sandwich.
The curd filling somehow tastes like creamy mayo. How cool is that! :-)

So what are we waiting for ? Lets get started.


Ingredients
1. Bread slice of your choice (I used brown bread)- 4
2. Thick curd- 1/2 cup
3. Carrots- 2 small, grated or chopped finely
4. Capsicum- 1, chopped
5. Coriander leaves-2 tsp, chopped finely
6. Red onions- 1/2 chopped
7. Salt & pepper to taste
8. Sooji (Semolina) -1tsp (I used this when the curd was too runny)
9. Butter to toast




Method
1. Take the curd in a deep bowl and add all the veggies, salt, pepper and sooji (if required). Mix them.
2. Heat a skillet.
3. Apply butter to a slice. Put the curd mix on the other side (without the butter). Put this bread slice on the skillet; buttered side down.
4. Cover the sandwich with the 2nd bread slice and smear with melted butter on the top.
5. Let it cook on medium flame for a while.
6. Now comes the tricky step; you have to flip the whole sandwich to toast the other side. 
7. Alternatively, you can just cook one slice and cover it with pre-toasted slice of bread. Both ways it'll taste the same. Do the same with the remaining slices.
8. Serve hot with garam garam chai. :-))




Enjoy!

Lauki/ Doodhi/ Ghiya Curry (bottle gourd cooked with tomatoes)

Lauki or Bottle gourd is called by various names at various places in India. This humble vegetable is somehow skipped when we talk about delicious foods.

 
Here I'm sharing a simple recipe which is a regular feature of our household as both me and my hubby relish eating this one. Usually when we both want a light, regular, home cooked meal; this is the one which comes to our mind. Though it can be cooked as a dry vegetable also; we usually use the curried one.

Ingredients:

1. Lauki- 1 (cut into medium sized pieces)
2. Tomatoes- 1 big (chopped)
3. Jeera (cumin seeds)- 1 tsp
4. Ghee (clarified butter)- 1 tsp
5. salt to taste
6. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Haldi (Turmeric powder)- 1/4 tsp
8. Dhaniya (coriander seeds powder)-1 &1/2 tsp approx.

Method:

• Take a pressure cooker and add ghee to it.
• Add Jeera and wait till it sizzles.
• Add Lauki and chopped tomatoes and toss it around.
• Add the remaining spices and 1 Tbsp water (optional).
• Cover and cook at medium flame
• After one whistle, the curry is usually cooked. You might need to cook more if the gourd was very stiff in the beginning.
• Serve hot with Chapati or rice.

This simple vegetable it can be transformed into a delicacy by making 'Koftas'. Will write about that some other time.