Pesto Margherita!

N sulks. "why can't we be cool like the Daring Bakers?"

A: Oh we are, we just don't want to show off. N (stares unbelievingly- then decides to believe) : *hmph* I need to do something to show I'm as brilliant as any of them.

A: Let's bake a pizza?

N: Everyone does that. *wail*

A: Hey, how about a pesto pizza?

N (perks up at anything pestoey): Come! We will post it on the 27th. Just when the DB post theirs. Everyone will get tired of the sweet concoctions and come for salvation to our blog no?

A (looking away): Sure thing. Isn't there something else on the 27th?

N: Hmm... oh its Nags' first anniversary! And they love pizza! We are more thoughtful than the Daring Bakers no? I mean, we are making this for a friend, right?

A: Of course, of course. You are the nicest of 'em all. Now pizza or no pizza?

This conversation was held a couple of weeks ago after we debated whether we should join Daring Bakers or not. Quite frankly, if we joined DB, we'd spend more time cleaning the sugar syrup off the kitchen floor than really making the dessert. So, in a very forgiving spirit, we decided to let the Daring Bakers do their thing. We shall do ours. Pesto is my thing, and pizza is his thing, and together, we are the 'leering at pizza' bakers which is a far fun name than Daring Bakers, don't ya think? Also, to cover up for our selfishness, we are posting this in honour of a very dear friend of mine who has forcefully made friends with A too (she wouldn't be my friend if she didn't use force, duh!) who is celebrating her first year of her married life today on the 27th. Nags and her DH, this pizza goes out to you. Really. I mean we made it for you only. Even though our common friends decided NOT to come to my wedding in order to save their vacation leaves at work to come to yours. And all because it was held in a very hot (literally!) Kerala. Anyway, since I'm nice and all, I've forgotten all that and so, here's wishing you a happy, happy Anniversary :) Hope you have as much fun as we are having (not!) :P

We cook 'really' elaborately during the weekends. Okay, we cook elaborately everyday. But during the weekends, it is either high-risk experiments, haphazard timings for meals, some sitting in front of the oven watching the stuff inside. Some fights, some make-up time while the slow cooking dish takes its time ;)

This is one such recipe. I watched somewhere a pesto pizza being made. We'd never eaten a pesto pizza. That aside, I adore pesto. I can live on pesto if my waist wasn't giving me hints. I eat pesto with all types of bread. I decided it was time for a pesto pizza. I also love Margherita. Now, why compromise? Its not like A has a say anyway. So, that is exactly what we made! And it was so beautiful. I'm telling you ti was a beautiful dish to look at (now, this is not a sweet thing made by DB ok? So, we are different. So we are beautiful in our own way ok?). I loved that we baked it in a cookie tray and not our usual pizza stone. Take a look?

Don't you want the recipe? I can almost see you scrolling down to skip my drivel and going to the recipe. (Ah! What confidence!) :D

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 1/4 All purpose flour or Maida

1/3 cup semolina flour or Rava

3/4 cup milk

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Active Dry yeast

2 tsp Sugar

2tsp Salt

1. Warm milk, olive oil and sugar (either in the microwave or gas). Make sure the sugar is dissolved. Add yeast and let it sit for 10 mins until it is nice and frothy.

2. In the meantime, in a large bowl, add the flours and salt. Make a well in the center.

3. Add the frothy yeast in the well and incorporate the flour slowly. Work on it until all of is incorporated. Knead well for 5- 10 mins (Think Michelle Obama arms here :P). If the dough is too sticky, go ahead and add some more flour. Coat dough with olive oil and cover the dough with moist cloth and let it rest and rise until nearly double the volume.

4. Once risen, push dough back to release air and then let it rest for 20 more mins.

Once the dough is ready, stretch it across the cookie tray which is lined with aluminium foil. Ours was - 15"/7" and 3/4" deep. You could of course use a circular pizza stone for this. Before stretching it out on the cookie tray, you can roll it into a rough rectangular shape using a rolling pin.





















Once the dough is all stretched out on the tray, poke with a fork to create air gaps.

For the Pesto:

2.5 cups spinach

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup Olive oil

1/3 cup roasted peanuts

1/4 cup milk

2-3 green chillies, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp tarragon

This is simple! Just blend all of this to form a thick paste/pesto. You could saute the spinach before putting it in too. We used baby spinach and didn't think we needed it. We used peanuts instead of the traditional pine nuts or any other nuts. No, we were not being inventive. Strangely, we didn't have any other nuts in the house. Apart from A, who I'd loved to throw into the blender, but well, I needed to check on the insurance thing. So, I desisted this time around.


Assembling the pizza

1/3 cup mozzarella

1/2 cup bell peppers - we used the green ones

1/3 cup onion - thinly sliced

Tomato slices - depends on how long/big your tray is and how many you want.

2 tsp oregano

On the cookie tray holding the stretched out dough, spread the pesto and sprinkle some half the mozzarella cheese and then throw in the veggies except for tomatoes. Arrange the tomatoes in rows and and throw the rest of the cheese and the oregano. Drizzle some Olive Oil on top of your creation and bake it for 25-30 mins. The cheese should be all melted and gooey and the sides of the crust should be brown. We also broiled it for a few seconds, but highly inadvisable if you are going to be jumping up and down in anticipation of the pizza, and not really looking at how much broiling is happening!

And, and, we are sending to Neha for FIC: Red and Green, an event conceptualized by the colourful Sunshinemom!

Okay, back to pesto! May I say myself, at the risk of sounding immodest that this was my idea and I'm extremely, extremely proud of this? Can you tell we didn't eat dinner that night? And that we walked for 3 miles and came back and couldn't even drink milk? Can you tell that we still slept with a smile and gooey dreams.

No? Yes? NO? Then, try this pizza and analyze your dreams. Make it with your partner and its more fun ;)

A (eating his nth slice of pizza): BTW, weren't you on a 'lower carbs' thing?

N (licking the cup that had the pesto): I can't hear when I eat. We'll talk later.

Hayagreeva - A Bengal Gram dessert

It was the Tamil New Year a couple of days back and we'd almost forgotten. Last year, being our first New Year together, we made Vadai and Payasam and celebrated it by going to the temple. Being good kids, basically. This year around, we were way too lazy. And I didn't want to make payasam. Or Vadai. I was venting my problems to my friend and she spoke of Hayagreeva. Initially, I didn't remember it. Then, it came back to me. I'd eaten this ages ago in Bangalore when I'd been to Rayara Matha with my grandmother. I loved the idea and A loves Karnataka food and we are always game for something new. So, the sweet was Hayagreeva and then I decided to make Cham's Kuzhi Paniyaram as the savory component of the Naivedyam. I couldn't take pics of the Paniyaram because we were way too hungry and we ate it as soon as we were done! I took the Hayagreeva pics the next day to post it. The pics aren't great, because I'd lost interest by then, but the dish surely lived upto its name. I followed her recipe to make Hayagreeva. I didn't use as much ghee as her and reduced the recipe by half. Also, I ran out of jaggery, so I used some brown sugar too along with the small amount of jaggery I had. It came out wonderfully, much to my surprise and I loved the consistency too! Here it is.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Chana Dal
1/3 cup brown sugar/jaggery
1-2 cloves
1 tbsp cinnamon/nutmeg
1 tbsp cardamom powder
1/2 tsp Khus Khus/Poppy seeds
4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
1/8 cup coconut/coconut milk
1 tsp cashewnuts
1 tsp raisins

1. Fry the Chana Dal in 1-2 tbsp of ghee and once its brown and the aroma wafts through your kitchen, pressure cook it.

2. Melt jaggery/brown sugar with some water to make a syrup.

3. Add the spices - cardamom, cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg to the jaggery/brown sugar syrup.

4. Meanwhile, dry roast the coconut and poppy seeds or, alternately you may fry them in ghee. I preferred to dry roast it. Once its done, add this mixture to the syrup.

5. Let cook for a minute or two and then add Chana Dal. Mash it a little before adding it. It should not be totally mushy, but at the same time, it should not be whole Chana Dal.

6. Let this mixture simmer for a good 15-20 minutes, until the consistency is such that it becomes gooey, and the Dal has 'almost' absorbed all the liquid. The mixture will also turn a dark brown.

7. On the side, fry some cashewnuts and raisins in 1 tbsp of ghee and add this to the Hayagreeva just before taking it off the gas.

8. Just before taking the Hayagreeva off the gas, add the rest of the ghee - around 1 tbsp is remaining and mix well. Serve hot.

The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of ghee. I reduced this and it still tasted pretty good. This is a fairly simple dish to make. Temples in Karnataka serve this gooey and almost liquidy and with a lot more ghee than even the original recipe asks for!


I'm sending Hayagreeva to MLLA-10, a brainchild of Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook, and hosted this time around by Courtney of Coco Cooks. This also goes out to Srivalli's Mithai Mela. Congrats on the remarkable achievement, Srivalli! :) You have every right to binge on every Mithai that comes your way!

Cucumber-Almond Soup

As a kid, I hated eating cucumber and did not touch them for several years. I felt they had no flavor or anything to offer to my sophisticated palette :P But then, as we grow, we become wise(r) :D and grow in size physically, literally and mentally. And sometimes, the rate of your physical growth demands you eat cucumbers. Only cucumbers, at that ;) That is how I started eating cucumber and have grown to like the fruit (?)

So the dieting mind of mine was elated to see a different version of the regular Raita in Suganya's blog - Tasty Palettes. It seemed rich, what with almonds and I decided that this was what I wanted to try from Sug's blog. Its a different thing that I've made the Gnocchi, the mushroom pizza and all kinds of other stuff from her blog. But if anything helped me keep track of my diet, it was this cucumber soup :) I made a couple of changes to it, though. I added some red onions and coriander or cilantro to just jazz it up! And boy, do I regret not eating cucumber all these years or what!

This one goes out to the Tried and Tasted- Tasty Palettes event hosted by Curry Leaf this time around. The event was started by Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen. Thank you Sug, for this simple recipe. It made my day on a really hot, boring afternoon! I made some sweet potato crisps to go with it and it looked so pretty, that I decided to showcase that too.

Since this time, AFAM is exploring the potential of cucumber, this dish is also participating in the AFAM - Cucumber event held at Neha's Tasty Recipes and conceptualized by Maheshwari of 'Beyond the Usual' fame! Almonds...hmm..I saw a nutty event somewhere. Hmm..here! This one makes its way to you too, JZ!

Take it away, ladies. It was worth it :) And I swear, I didn't think of all these events when I made this. I made this purely because the cucumbers were rotting, and it was hot and I was just way too bored to cook. I hope my pictures have done justice to Suganya's fantastic pictures!

P.S - I'm a linker par excellence no?

Theplas - Perfect when 'on the go'

I decided to write about this phase of my life however disgusted N is about it. I studied in a prominent Engineering college in Gujarat and lived the true life of an Engineering student. I fear N may edit the post if I elaborate more than that. However, one of the perks of living in Gujarat was eating its simple food. Outside. Outside the college hostel mess. Our mess served disgusting food and any legitimate chance to go out and eat was always welcomed. So was going home. The train journey from Gujarat to Madras was long and we mostly travelled unreserved. And we NEVER bought food or packed food for the train. We arrived early on the train for 2 reasons. One, to grab seats and two, to grab seats near old Auntyjis/huge families. It is well-known that Gujaratis love their food and carry lots of food while traveling. Typically in large metal tiffin carriers. Its got a variety of snacks. and invariably one namkeen :D A lot of their food is travel safe. This was just what we wanted. Next step was to make a sad, starved, poor boy face. We looked SO depressed that the families offered food. This trick never failed :D This was the routine.

1. Board the train and seat yourself next to a family.

2. Look out for the big metal suitcase (baksaa in Hindi :D). Offer to get water for books/magazines rom the platform every single time the train stops.

3.Don't talk about girls in front of the families.

4. Look sad and homesick always.

Voila! At exactly dinner time or any time (in case of some families which carried snacks also!), we'd have the aunties call us and offer us Theplas with or without sabzi. Doesn't matter. Nothing matters when you have a couple of free Theplas in hand. Home-made, served with achaar or pickle and given with love. Nothing came between us and the Theplas. N gets disgusted at what she calls 'cheapness' every time I reminisce about such events during my college life. However, she did good. She took this as a hint to shut me up and made Theplas for dinner one day. I haven't narrated this story after that day :) Here is the recipe. We adapted it from Manisha's recipe. N loves besan and so, she added more besan than the recipe asked for. Reproducing Manisha's recipe with due credit to her with a couple of changes, in N's words.

Ingredients:

1/2 (or a little more) cup besan or chickpea flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup Methi (fenugreek) leaves- chopped finely
2 tbsp jeera or cumin seeds
1/4 cup onion chopped finely (optional)
1/4 cup cilantro chopped finely
4-5 green chillies, chopped finely
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp ghee
4 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

1. Mix both the flours and salt and keep aside. Make a depression in the middle of the flour mound.

2. Add the greens - cilantro and Methi or Fenugreek leaves to the flours into the depression.

3. Fry cumin seeds/jeera and green chillies in ghee and add on top of the leaves. I didn't hear it sizzle like Manisha did :( though I love the sound and was waiting for it.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients except the yogurt and mix well

5. Use the yogurt to bind the dough. Make sure not to add too much yogurt and make the dough too soggy. It will be tough to roll out later.

6. Heat the tawa to screaming hot.

7. Roll out theplas as thin as possible. Mine weren't as thin but well, I cannot have everything: Good Theplas and A to stop talking about the same incident over and over again ;)

8. Fry on the tawa with little oil or ghee. Serve with a dollop of butter on them. Nothing tastes like good butter. But then, well, some of us have other concerns. So, I ate them with yogurt and Mango pickle leaving the buttered ones for someone else. Sigh. Buttering him up, literally!

The theplas were gorgeous and I loved the extra besan in them :D I felt I should have followed the original recipe thoroughly though. So, next time, I plan to do just that. I love Theplas and this is a regular in our home now :) Sending this to Lakshmi's Meals on Wheels event. This is literally like that for A!

Anything to stop A from talking about how 'efficient and smart' he and his friends were! Really.

Vegan Mexican 'Stuffed' Bread.

First of all, we'd like to acknowledge Jaishree of Ruchi and Trupti of Recipe Center for passing a galore of awards! These include One Lovely Blog, Triple Award, Uber Amazing Blog, Adorable Blog and a Friendship award. Thanks a lot :)

Coming back to the post, well, it was one of those days when N felt like eating some spicy Mexican food and I felt like baking. As N and I walked into the kitchen, our eyes caught a glimpse of a yeast packet staring right at us. So we thought of this really cool dish :) Its like a burrito but instead of a tortilla, the filling is inside a bread...a yeast bread ;) And we had ourselves (yet another!) feast :D


Ingredients

For the Bread

1 packet active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp crushed oregano

For the filling

1 1/2 cups cooked red kidney beans
1 cup firm tofu (crumbled with hands)
1 medium onion coarsely chopped
1/2 cup tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp chili powder (we used Ancho and Chipotle chillies)
2 Jalapenos, finely chopped and not deseeded ;)

1. Dissolve the sugar into the warm water. If it gets cold, warm it again. Add the yeast to the water and let it become frothy. This takes about 10 mins.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients for the bread in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the proofed yeast into the well and slowly work the flour into a dough.

3. Add the olive oil and continue kneading till you get a nice non sticky but moist dough. Add more flour if the dough is sticky. Coat it with some olive oil and let it rise until doubled in volume.

4. While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions. When the onions start to become translucent, add the tomatoes. Add the turmeric, salt, chili powders and cook until tomatoes absorb some oil and start to disintegrate.

5. At this stage, add the remaining ingredients. Cook at medium heat until a nice thick consistency is obtained. The filling should not be runny. This should take about 10 minutes. Make sure that the filling has cooled down before you use it on the bread.

6. After the bread has doubled in volume, push it back and knead it a couple of times. On a floured work-surface, roll the dough into a 8" long X 5" wide rectangle. Apply the filling lengthwise next to one of the edges, leaving 1" margin on all sides. Wrap it like a burrito such that the filling stays in the middle of this 'roll'. Place this roll into a loaf pan and cover it. Let it rise for 20 mins.

7. Bake at 375 F until the bread is done. A skewer should come out without the bread dough. It might come out with a little filling though ;) We also applied some vegetable oil and broiled it for a few seconds to give it a nice golden crust.

Viva Mexico!!! This thing rocked :D I guess its harder to prepare this compared to a burrito, but I guess as far as I am concerned, very few things beat the smell of freshly baked bread :)

UPDATE: Sending this to Vaishali of Holy Cow for the Vegan- Mexican event, and to Susan of YeastSpotting fame. She is behind the immensely popular blog Wild Yeast.

Lemon Rasam

I always talk of my mother-in-law's cooking (who is probably a better cook than my mom!) and neglect my mom on this blog. And that is only because she's hardly cooked over the years. My grandmother was an orthodox woman who ate only what she herself cooked and so, my mom never got to cook 'her' food. There were days when my grandmother fasted and we feasted on either non South Indian cuisine or some 'hatke' South Indian cuisine. Like this Rasam.


Rasam was a staple in my house. Like, am sure, many other South Indian households. However, my grandmother was a Tamilian settled in Karnataka for ages and had adapted the Kannada style of cooking very well. She always made what is popularly known as the Mysore Rasam. It wasn't a delicacy or a specialty in my house. It was regular. So, I initially hated Rasam. Its only lately that I've fallen in love with Rasam and acknowledge its therapeutic properties. When my granny took a break, and my mom cooked, the Rasams she made were Milagu Rasam, Jeera Rasam and Lemon Rasam. Never Mysore Rasam. So, these Rasams were special meals for us :) Now, for A and me, Lemon Rasam is a staple if we cook South Indian food. I love citrusy flavours and A loves traditional South Indian food. So there, this clicked! Every single time that we've entertained with South Indian food, I've made this Rasam and have received only compliments! Frankly, I'm not a great cook. Actually, I never cooked thanks to my grandmother's rules. But with this Rasam, I'm a natural! I called my mom once for the recipe, and since then, this recipe rules, and works out fantastically well every time I make it. Now, enough has been said! Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup Toor Dal or Pigeon Peas - cooked to a pulp in the pressure cooker or microwave
1 large Lemon
1 Tomato, chopped into chunks
2-3 tbsp ginger chopped, finely. I add more than this, usually ;) (If you don't like ginger, you can remove them later, but DON'T skip the ginger!)
1tbsp Jeera or Cumin
2 tsp turmeric powder
3-5 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp ghee
1-2 cups water
A handful of coriander, finely chopped
Salt to taste

1. Cook the Dal or the pigeon peas until mushy.

2. Fry the Jeera/cumin seeds in the ghee. Add the chillies, ginger and the cooked Dal and let it bubble away.

3. Add water to thin the Dal out. You can add as much water as you want to make the Rasam as watery as you want. I like it watery!

4. Add the tomatoes, turmeric and salt, and let the mixture simmer until it comes to a boil. Add more turmeric if this doesn't give you a nice bright yellow colour.

5. Turn off the gas, let it rest for a minute or so, squeeze the juice of one full large lemon into the Rasam. Adjust the lemon juice per your desire for tanginess. I like it tangy :)

6. Add the chopped coriander and serve hot with some rice!


My mom was super smart about leftover Lemon Rasam too. She added onions and thickened the leftovers (they hardly need any thickening coz the liquid part is usually the first to be consumed!) to make Dal for Roti the next day. Since Roti-Dal was quite North Indian for us, that was a treat too!

This recipe goes out to MLLA, hosted by Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska and conceptualized by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. and to the Lentil Mela hosted by Ashwini.

Back in India, we drink/eat soup only when we dine out. I don't want to generalize this, but even the concept of a 'three course meal' is quite different than what is perceived here in the U.S. For a lot of Indians, a three course meal consists of three entrees and eating one entree with rice or roti comprises one 'course' ;) Of course, yoghurt or curd (that is the more common term used in India again :) could also be considered as an entree. Rasam in many ways is our soup. So, this one goes out to Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen, the brain and host of No Croutons Required. Literally, in this case ;) Or, or, or, you can dunk some papad in the Rasam like A does, always and slurp them up. There you go, you can have the croutons and eat it too!


But then, this post really goes out to Amma. My Amma. Like I said, I've always neglected to acknowledge my mom. I've fought with her, still fight like crazy with her and disappoint her all the time. However, there have been very few instances that she's disappointed me, and its hardly been a disappointment as I learn now, years later, sitting away from her. She's changed too. She understands me, my feminism, my activism better now, and I appreciate her for that. It takes courage and a lot of love to do this and Amma, thank you for that.

Now Amma, I wish you'd stop asking me to eat well and exercise well. Just eat well will do ;)

P.S. - We are seriously working on our pictures. With lights, angles, background etc etc! Unfortunately, we chose to showcase Rasam in a steel utensil this time. LOL! So, we'd LOVE direct and honest feedback on our pictures going forward. Hey, suggestions and tips will do too! For some entertainment, see how nimble the man is, standing on a chair taking a pic of the Rasam on top of a chair on top of the table :D

Keeping it simple: Pasta!

I'm N posting this recipe and it does come as a surprise for people who know me and my likes and dislikes regarding food. I do like Pasta but am not in love with it like A is. He can live on pasta and is known to eat one whole pound of pasta in a single day. I was introduced to 'proper, authentic' pasta only after I moved to the US. A made pasta for over 3 months once or twice a week. With Marinara sauce. And Alfredo sauce. I was okay with it. I needed the sauce to eat the pasta. However, no longer do I need wet pastas to whet my Pasta love! Now, I love it dry, loaded with veggies and less cheese. So, when Soma of Ecurry asked for pasta recipes, I was unsure. You see, I NEVER make pasta. Every time we've had pasta, A's made it and I've eaten it. However, this time around, I decided to give it a try. This one goes out to Hay Hay Donna Day, an event hosted by Soma this time around and preceded by Bron Marshall.

I usually skip lunch or eat a fruit when I'm alone and bored to cook for one. However, yesterday, I got enthusiastic about the rotting green bell peppers in the fridge and decided to make this Pasta. I love bell peppers -all colours and types. The recipe is simple and not fussy at all. I had my lunch ready in 10 mins and I loved it.

Ingredients

1 large bell pepper, chopped lengthwise
1/4 cup onion, chopped lengthwise
A pod of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup Pasta
Water to boil the Pasta
Salt
Pepper and Paprika
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 tsp oregano
Some Parmesan cheese for garnishing

1. Cook the pasta per instructions on the box. I used Penne coz I love Penne pasta. I'm not a huge fan of Rotini. I like the smooth texture and the almost invisible ridges of Penne. Cook it and add olive oil after draining to prevent the pasta from sticking together in the colander.

2. Throw in the butter on a hot skillet, add the onions and garlic and let it cook for 2 mins. Add the bell peppers, close the skillet and let it cook for a good 3-4 mins.

3. Add salt, oregano and pepper. I also added some Paprika. Stir this mixture well to avoid burning.

4. Add the cooked and drained pasta and add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil (optional). Mix well. Let it cook for 2 mins. I like my pasta 'almost' roasted.

5. Serve garnished with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled over it!

See? Wasn't it simple! This was a weekday lunch and I got back to my studies in 10 mins after I entered the kitchen to make lunch. And it was scrumptious. This is from a girl who is not too fond of pasta. I added more bell peppers because like I said I love my bell peppers and the crunch it adds to the dish!

Soma, take it away. Its all yours! :)

Green Thai Curry - Off to Healthy Cooking!

While I racked my brains on what to submit to Mansi's Healthy cooking event, and almost gave up, Sireesha came along with an award for us (I cannot believe it, still, though) and I thought that we couldn't give up now! After all this! So, A and I concocted this Green Thai Curry for the event. Two days ago, we ate at Top Spice, a popular Thai-Malaysian restaurant here in Atlanta with my cousin and her family and I was a convert. I'm not the Thai food type while A pigs on Thai food. Tofu is his life saviour and I do not consider Tofu at all. Like, I do not think its food. Blame it on its colour or its texture!

Speaking of colour, I love colour in my food. I love chaat not just because of its taste, but because of the medley of colours on the plate. I love bright looking food than pale food. I like my food messy and colourful than neatly arranged and all that. Well, you get it. I'm not one of those perfect food blogga types ;) So, ya, getting back to the food! A came home from work and decided to make a Thai curry. I was game since I've started loving Thai food in the last two days :) Our fridge had remnants of veggies from a long-gone Farmer's Market trip. And this situation was perfect for a Thai dinner. So, here it is - the colours, the flavour, the richness, and all the proteins, vitamins that one can have on a plate, presenting to you the Green Thai Curry!

Ingredients (serves 2-3 people):

1lb (454g) Tofu

1 medium green bell pepper (capsicum)

1 medium red bell pepper

2 carrots

1/2 bunch spinach leaves

1 bunch spring onions

5-6 pieces dried red chillies

2-3 pieces of fresh green chillies

1 tbsp peanut butter (substitute with 20-25 pieces of peanut ground into a paste)

2 cups water

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

1. Divide the block of Tofu into two equal portions. Grind one half with the spinach leaves, half of the red chillies, all the green chillies, lemon juice and ginger. This forms the 'green' gravy or base.

2. Cut the other half into cubes and saute them in 1/2 tbsp oil until they are crisp and golden. Set aside.

3. In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil and saute the spring onions and all other vegetables in that order. You can choose to add different vegetables to create your own curry. Broccoli, baby corn, mushrooms, even potatoes! Add the remaining red chillies and let this cook for 10 mins. Add salt in between.

4. Add 1 tbsp peanut butter (or the peanut paste), water, honey and the gravy. Let this simmer for 15 mins.

5. Now add the crisp tofu cubes and let it cook for a few more minutes.

6. Finally, add the coconut milk/cream to the curry (take pictures ;)) and mix well and let it cook for a couple of mins. Once done, serve hot with steamed rice.

Thanks again Sireesha for the award! We received the 'Nice Matters' award from her and would like to pass it on to: Nags who is one of the inspirations behind this food blog and Mom's Cooking (another one I know personally!) and Sameera, two absolutely new bloggers like us :) So, there! Yes, I repeat again, this healthy Thai curry goes to Mansi's event - Healthy Cooking! Here is another picture of our wholesome dinner, little rice and loads of veggies: