Beetroot Bhaji

Beetroot features often in my house. Esp these days when I'm almost addicted to henna conditioning for my hair and beet juice gives a lovely color when added to the conditioning mix.

I usually make beetroot bhaji (palya) with saaru powder and coconut with urad dal, rai, hing tadka. This time, made a totally different way and we all liked it.



Ingredients:

3-4 medium sized beetroots (peeled, chopped and boiled)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
red chili powder and salt to taste

For the Tadka:
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp saunf (fennel seeds)
3 cardamom pods
3-4 cloves
1-2 1" cinnamon pieces

Method:

Heat oil. Add saunf. Once it starts to sizzle, add cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon. Sauté for a minute, until the aroma of the whole spices are released.
Add the chopped onion and fry until translucent. Add the g-g paste and chopped tomato. Cook until soft.
Mix in the boiled beetroots, coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala and salt to taste.
Cover and cook on low for 3-4 minutes.

Spicy Asian Noodle Salad

Like with many kids, M likes her pastas and noodles more than rice and rotis. So often I include her favorites in our meals too but "adultize" it for us. This Asian noodle salad is one such dish that I made recently. After boiling the noodles, she gets her version and we get this high-on-the-heat-factor salad, adapted from here .



Ingredients:

200 gm egg noodles (or linguine or udon noodles)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp oil, split
4 pods of garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 medium carrot, julienned
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
chopped cilantro for garnish
salt to taste

For the dressing:
1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp honey

Method:

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Drain, toss in about a tbsp of oil. Keep aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, mix the garlic, onion and carrots in about a tsp of oil. Nuke on high for 2-3 minutes. The carrot would still be undercooked and crunchy. Add to the noodles.
Nuke the peanut butter for 10-15 seconds. Whisk together with the remaining ingredients for the dressing.
To serve, pour the noodles into a salad bowl. Toss in the dressing, making sure the noodles are well coated.
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped cilantro.

Note: Add the dressing just before serving. I'd made a huge bowl of this noodle salad. When I had it a few hours later, it was hugely disappointing. The kick of the Sriracha and the crunch of the sesame seeds were gone.