Hearty Spices

Take in a cup and mix: Roasted Upma Rava - 1 cup Buttermilk – 1½ cup Water – 1½ cup Roasted cashews or peanuts – ¼ cup Salt – ¼ tsp or to taste In a wide skillet, heat and toast: 1 tbsp of ghee or oil ½ tsp ginger, chopped 1 onion, sliced Add a tsp each - chana dal, urad dal, broken red chilli pieces, green chili and curry leaves. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the upma rava-buttermilk-water mixture to the skillet, continuously stirring. Cover and cook until the water is absorbed and the rava becomes fluffy. Serve warm with chutney/spicy powders, or with a tsp of honey/sugar sprinkled on the top.

2 long Zucchini 1 red Onion 5 Green Chilies 1 Tomato Few chopped cilantro leaves ¼ cup Milk For tempering: 1 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 tsp Mustard Seeds 3 tbsp Oil a pinch of Turmeric 1 tsp Red Chili Powder Salt Chop zucchini into 1-inch cubes and onions very fine. In a kadai or sauté pan, heat oil and add mustard, cumin seeds. Once they start to pop, add turmeric, green chilies and chopped onion. Sauté till onion are opaque and add chopped tomato. After the tomato seems to be cooked add the chopped zucchini. Cook until the zucchini is soft and opaque ADD SALT ONLY ONCE THE ZUCCHINI IS COOKED. Add red chili powder. Take off from the heat and add milk & chopped coriander leaves.

1½ cups All Purpose Flour 1¼ tsp Baking Powder ¼ tsp Salt ½ cup Butter, room temperature 1 cup Sugar 1 large Egg 1 tsp Vanilla Extract ¼ tsp Almond Extract (Optional) 1 cup Buttermilk 1 cup Fresh Pitted Cherries, finely chopped Preheat oven to 350F. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Blend in the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract until smooth. Working in two or three additions, gradually mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with additions of buttermilk and ending with an addition of the last of the flour mixture. Stir in chopped cherries. Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack completely before frosting. Makes 16. Quick Vanilla Buttercream: ½ cup Butter, room temperature 3 tbsp Milk 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 2-3 cups Confectioners’ Sugar 16 Whole Cherries Combine butter, milk, van...

Pressure-cook 8-10 Chamadumpalu / Colocacia / Arbi until 2 whistles. When cooled, peel the skin and cut into bite-sized pieces. Heat 3 tsp of Oil in a pan and shallow fry the slices on low heat with a closed lid for 5 minutes. When the slices start to turn golden brown on one side, turn them and remove the lid. Fry for another 10 minutes on medium tossing them couple of times in between. Add Salt, 1½ tsp of Red Chili Powder, ¼ tsp of Turmeric Powder, ½ tsp of Garam Masala Powder (optional) to it and toss them again. Remove from heat once the pieces are crispy. 

2 to 2 ½ cups Water Lemon-size Tamarind 1-2 tsp Jaggery Pinch of Turmeric Salt to taste ¼ tsp Black Pepper Few Curry Leaves Popu: 1 tsp Oil 1 dry Red Chilli (broken) ½ tsp Cumin Seeds ½ tsp Mustard Seeds Pinch of Methi Seeds Pinch of Hing Coriander Leaves for garnish In a small frying pan add oil and fry the seasoning mixture, allow mustard seeds to crackle, turn of the heat and keep aside. In a medium pot add all the ingredients for charu and bring it to boil. Adjust the taste, stir in the seasoning. Bring it to boil again. Garnish with coriander leaves and turn of the heat.

Chutney (Pachadi) - Heat 2 tbsp of Oil in a pan and saute 2 tbsp each of Urad Dal and Coriander Seeds till golden brown. Remove from heat and add  6 Red Chillies to the pan. Saute for a while and drain them off into a small bowl. Add a washed, peeled and cut big Beetroot  along with  1 tsp of Salt to the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes till the pieces wilt. Remove pan from heat and allow cooling. Grind the urad dal, coriander seeds and red chili into coarse powder and then add the beetroot pieces along with the 3 cloves of Garlic to grind. Add 1 tbsp of Tamarind Paste , Salt as needed and grind to paste using little water.  Tempering -  Heat  1 tsp of Oil and saute  ½ tsp of Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds, few Curry Leaves, few Coriander Leaves and Urad Dal till mustard splutters and then add to the Chutney (Pachadi). 

1 cup Sugar ½ cup Butter, room temperature 2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour, divided 1 tsp Baking Powder ¼ tsp Salt 1 cup Milk 1 large Egg 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 1½ cups Cherries (fresh, jarred or frozen) 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square cake pan. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light. Beat in 1 cup of the flour, just until mixture resembles very coarse sand. Remove 1 cup of mixture to a small bowl and set aside. Beat baking powder and salt into the remaining flour mixture (in the large bowl). Add in milk, egg and vanilla and stir well, then mix in remaining flour until mixture is well combined. Stir in cherries. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Add ground cinnamon to the flour mixture in the small bowl. Grab small handfuls of the cinnamon mixture and squeeze, allowing the mixture to clump slightly. Sprinkle the clumps over the cake batter in an even layer. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until a toothpick inser...