Lunch at Ramani's

One Saturday, I happened to call my five friends over for an informal lunch at my place. We meet nearly every month at some place or the other but this time I invited them to my house to partake of some recipes I had put up here. I had a variety of dishes which were not the usual formal lunch items. Here goes the menu.

Entrees

- Momos
- Steamed Broken Corn Idlis

Soup

- Scarlett :- a spicy beetroot and coconut milk soup

Main Course

- Chole
- Baked vegetables au gratin
- Stuffed Capsicum Boats

Accompaniments

- Plain Rice
- Bhature
- Cabbage Parcels (Salad)
- Curd

Dessert

- Gulab Hyderabadi :- Vanilla ice cream with faluda and Rose syrup.

Hamper

- Oatmeal Cookies

All of us enjoyed the food because it was different.

Enjoy the montage as well!

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Kamat Kolumbu

Some years back when we were in Chennai and Bengaluru, we used to have meals at some of the good Udipi Restaurants especially Kamat at Bengaluru. There, we became very fond of this particular kolumbu which was served as a side dish. I tried this at home and named it "Kamat Kolumbu".

This has vegetables like ladies fingers (okra or bhindi) and other ingredients which make it lip smacking. Other vegetables can also be tried. It is simple to make but the ingredients make it so tasty.

This recipe serves four to six people.

Ingredients	Quantity
Ladies Finger (Bhindi or Okra)	12
Coriander Seeds (Dhania)	3 tbsps
Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)	1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds	1 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing)	a pinch
red Chillies	3 or 4
Grated Fresh Coconut	¼ cup or less
Thick Tamarind Juice	½ cup
Jaggery	small piece
Curry Leaves	a few
Salt	to taste
Oil	2 tbsps
Water	if needed

Method

1. Cut the cleaned ladies fingers into small pieces and keep it aside.


2. Take a pan and heat it. Add the coriander seeds and fenugreek and red chillies and roast them till light brown. Cool it and grind it with coconut gratings and tamarind juice to a fine paste.


3. Take oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds,asofoetida,curry leaves and fry.Then add the cut ladies fingers and fry them on medium heat till done.


4. Now add the ground coconut paste,salt and jaggery into the vegetable and water if necessary because this dish should be of sambar consistency.


5. Boil all these ingredients well and remove from the heat and dish it out into a serving bowl.


6. Serve it hot with hot rice and enjoy it.


7. Other vegetables like capsicum or beans or brinjal etc can be used instead of ladies fingers.

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Cool Cucumber and Coriander Leaves Salad

Salads are great at any part of the year. However, they are best taken in summer for a cool and refreshing feeling. Also, they are low calorie foods. This recipe has cucumber and coriander (cilantro) with a little lime juice to add a tang to the salad.

Serves a small bowl.

Ingredients	Quantity
Cucumber	2 small or 1 medium
Fresh Coriander Leaves (Cilantro)	2 small bunches
Lime Juice	1 tsp
Salt	to taste
Olive Oil (Optional)	1 tsp

Method

1. Peel and chop the washed cucumber into even sized cubes in a mixing bowl.


2. Grind the washed coriander leaves in a blender with salt and lime juice into a coarse paste.


3. Add this paste to the cucumber cubes and mix thoroughly but gently.


4. Add olive oil if preferred and mix.


5. Cool it in the fridge for about ten minutes and serve it in a serving bowl.


6. Instead of coriander leaves paste, one can use even blanched spinach leaves paste.

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Seasonal Fruit and Vegetable Blend

During spring and summer a nice cool, healthy drink is most welcome. This drink is made with fruits and vegetable and a little ginger to add spice to it. Pepper corn powder can also be added to get that real spicy kick! In this recipe, apple, grapes and carrot have been used. Even tomatoes can be mixed with apple and ginger to make a nice healthy drink. This refreshing health drink is good for your skin and general health if taken daily.

Makes two glasses.

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrot	1
Apple	1
Green Seedless or Chopped Grapes	½ cup
Chopped Fresh Ginger	1 tsp
White Pepper Powder (Optional)	1 tsp
Sugar	2 tbsp
Water	enough to blend

Method

1. Blend all the cleaned vegetable and fruits,sugar,ginger and pepper powder in a blender to a smooth liquid with water.


2. This can be taken as such preferably because it contains a lot of fiber or it can be strained.


3. Serve it chilled in two serving glasses.

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Corn Discs

Corn discs are a fried snack made with corn flour (makki ka atta or mokka jonna flour) which is easily available in the market, rice and plain flour or maida. These are easy to prepare and are nutritious but they are fried. These discs after frying can be used as tortilla chips as a base to serve any filling on them. They can be served with salsa also.

Makes a big bowl of corn discs.

Ingredients	Quantity
Corn Flour (Makki ka Atta)	1 cup
Rice Flour	½ cup
Plain Flour (Maida)	¼ cup
Turmeric Powder	½ tsp
Salt	to taste
Hot Oil or Hot Ghee	2 tbsps
Red Chilly Powder	1 tsp or more
Celery Seeds (Ajwain)	1 ½ tsp
Oil	for deep frying

Method

1. Take a bowl and add all the three flours,salt,red chilly powder,turmeric powder, ajwain seeds and mix well.


2. Heat two tablespoons of oil or ghee and add it to the flour mixture.



3. Add enough water and make a pliable dough.



4. Divide the dough into equal balls.



5. Roll out each ball into flat thin chappatis or circles and cut small circles or triangles with a cutter or with a sharp lid.When all the dough has been cut into circles,keep them aside.



6. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.Add these corn discs a few at a time slowly and fry them till golden brown and crisp.Drain them on a kitchen towel to remove the excess oil.



7. Serve hot or cold as a snack.It can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.



8. To make it gluten free,you can use rajghira powder{amaranth flour} instead of plain flour or maida.

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Spicy Cornmeal Idlis

Usually idlis are made from black gram dhal (urad dhal) and rice, or only semolina (suji). Here, I tried with cornmeal (corn rava) which is easily available in the market. Corn, as you all know is low in calories and has other nutrients. In this recipe very little oil is used and it is steamed. The steaming process is a little longer than other idlis because corn takes a longer time to cook. Here, normal size idlis and cocktail idlis have been made. These cocktail idlis or button idlis can be used as appetizers or given to kids who will enjoy them a lot.

This recipe serves eight normal size idlis or thirty six or more cocktail idlis. Enjoy it!

Ingredients	Quantity
Corn Meal or Corn Rava	1 cup
Sweet Corn	1 ½ cups
Curd	½ cup
Chopped Green Chillies	1 tsp or more
Curry Leaves	a few
Chopped Ginger	1 tsp
Chopped Cashenuts (Optional)	1 tbsp
Gram Dhal (Channa Dhal)	½ tbsp
Black Gram Dhal	½ tbsp
Mustard Seeds	1 tsp
Cumin Seeds (Jeera)	1 tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil	1 ½ tbsp
Water	to mix the batter

Method

1. Take a pan and add oil.When the oil is heated add to it channa dhal,urad dhal,mustard seeds,cumin seeds and fry.When the mustard seeds splutter,add cashew nuts,curry leaves,green chillies,ginger and corn meal and fry lightly for a minute.


2. Remove from the heat and transfer it to a bowl and add curds,sweet corn,salt and enough water to make a not very thick batter and mix it well.Keep it covered for about ten minutes.Unlike semolina, this mix will not become more in quantity after soaking.


3. Take an idly steamer and grease the moulds with a little oil and place a little more than a table spoon of the batter into these moulds and steam it on heat for about ten minutes or more.


4. After steaming, serve hot with coconut chutney.


5. Chopped vegetables can also be added to increase the nutritive value further.

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