San Francisco Trip

One of the most visited cities in the united states, this was on our list for some time , since we live in the greater northwest it wasn't that hard to plan , so this summer we decided to embark into this awesome journey.

Here are a few glimpses of our trip , a snap shot of our sunny days in CA. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words then this should say it all.

Masala Dosa

Every one has one of those recipes that takes to to your happy place, this is one of mine and so is this for my little one and older one . Both of them love masala dosa & plain dosa , relishing  every bite of it .  

Recently on our visit to San franscico we visited a typical south indian restuarant and decided to have brunch there, this place was did  great job of maintaining the same culture and more important the taste of traditional south indian dishes, just like you would find in south India . Long crispy dosas in variety of options with colorful chutneys and sambar to go along and many more savory delicacies 

Thumbs up for dosa

Usually saturday mornings I make something that I grew up eating , so my kids could stick to the roots at least on the weekends :)

Masala dosa is one of the most  demanded on week ends  this savory dish is a crepe with  a filing of boiled potatoes with added spices in crispy layer of dosa .

What you need  for dosa batter :

Idli rice : 1 cup

Urad dal : 1/2 cup

Salt : to taste

Meethi seeds : 1 pinch 

Yeast: 1 teaspoon 

Soak the rice, meethi seeds and urad dal for 6-8 hours, then grind it in a mixer (I use the Indian one I got from back home). Over the last few years, I went through several trial and errors to make soft dosas and idlis in this cold country. 

Quite a few attempts were disasters with idlis as hard as rock, but at other times it turned out to be great.

I tried a little trick , after the batter is mixed into a paste , take a teaspoon of active yeast in warm water let it activate for a few minutes 

Add to the batter just like u would do for making appams but only the quantity is less as compared Cover this batter and leave it over night, next morning the batter will swell up which is a good sign of fermentation , add salt  if the batter is to make dosas make it thin and for idlis keep the consistency thick.

For the filling (masala) :

Boiled potatoes : 2 smashed 

Onions : 1 chopped

Chillies : 1 long slit

Curry leaves : 5-7 

Salt and turmeric as needed

Olive oil : 1 tsp

Urad dal : 1 tsp

Heat a pan . add oil until hot add urad dal sauté for few mins, add the chopped curry leaves, chillies, onions let it cook till the onions are soft and a little brown.

Add salt and turmeric then add the smashed potatoes leave some chunky pieces in gives the masala dosa an authentic taste, if needed you can also add chopped cilantro which is optional.

Add salt and mix well next to make masala dosas use the batter as mentioned earlier. heat a flat pan oil rub then at the right temp which u can check by sprinkling water on the pan it shud bubble ,  pour the batter in a circle form to make fresh piping hot dosas , add the potatoes add some oil on the sides to make it crispy fold from the sides. cook for few secs more then take it off the pan and keep aside try not to cover this as it may get soggy best is to eat while hot and crispy.

Serve with sambar or coconut chutney. Njoy !

Cranberry pickle

As the weather starts to cool down , the cooler breeze is a reminder of darker evenings and cloudier days. But on the flip side also a time to look forward to the winter days with Halloween right around the corner, and Thanksgiving peeing thru right behind, and of course fall colors has started to surround the neighborhood so it's  time to start cooking some fall vegetables.

Pickles have always been a absolute favorite of mine, the spicy , tangy taste that  gets your taste buds going is a perfect compliment to any simple food.

Usually I make a lemon, mango , and fish pickle the other day I crossed by some  good fresh red cranberry bag in the grocery store , a thought crossed my mind that sweet and tangy cranberry in a pickle form YUM !!
Next on my list was to stop my mouth from watering :) and on my way picked a bag and headed to the counter.
Now to the recipe

What you need :

Cranberry : half fresh and half dried (50% less sugar) is what I used

Ginger chopped : 2 tbsp

Green chillies chopped : 2 tsbp

Salt : to taste

Chilly pwd : 1 tsbp

Vinegar : 3 tsbp

Turmeric pwd : 1/2 tsp

Asafetida pwd : 1 tsp

Meethi pwd : 1 tsp

Olive oil : 2 tsp

Mustard seeds ; 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 5-10 leaves

Wash and clean the cranberries and let them dry. Cut the fresh cranberries into halves add some rock salt or regular salt with some turmeric , marinate for at least 1 hour.

Heat a pan add the olive oil , add the mustard seeds let them pop then add the chopped chilles, ginger, curry leaves and saute for 2 mins.

Add the dry spices , later add the cranberries both dried and fresh , saute for few mins add the vinegar , this makes the pickle a little loose let it cook for few mins then put the heat off.

Let the pickle cool before storing in a glass container , check the salt if needed .
Serve with hot rice and Dal Njoy !