Make Your Own Taco Bar

If you are planning to host a party in summer, and want to try something different, try setting up a “Make your own Taco Bar”. This is a huge hit with kids and adults and is super easy to set up.

It takes a little bit of prep work, but you don’t spend hours slaving over the stove and it is easy to customize. People can make it into a burrito bowl (gluten free) or wrap it up into a big tortilla for a loaded burrito. It is also a great dinner to have around the campfire.

While the taco bar provides for a sumptuous meal in itself, I do supplement with a soup and sometimes, tamales.

I forgot to take pictures of the set up, but hope you get the idea. I will update this post with pictures the next time I do this for a party

Make Your Own Taco Bar Prep. time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Serves: 4 - 6 very hungry people Here’s what you need: 10 flour tortillas (small taco size) 2 cups Mexican rice 2 - 15 oz. cans organic black beans 2 cups organic frozen corn salsa, homemade or store bought guacamole 8 oz. shredded Mexican blend cheese 2 cups shredded lettuce 1 can sliced black olives 1 large tomato, diced 1 large onion, diced 2 avocados, diced 1 cup cilantro, chopped sour cream Cholula or other hot sauce Here’s how I made it: Make the Mexican rice. Recipe here Drain out the liquid from the black beans. Wash in several changes of water. Place in a microwave safe bowl and warm for about 1 minute. Add salt/seasoning if necessary  Place the corn in a microwave safe bowl and cook according to package directions Make the salsa and guacamole. Recipes here and here Set up the taco bar, by placing all the ingredients in bowls. Invite your guests to get creative and make their own taco/burrito/ burrito bowl Serve with lemonade or margaritas. Note: You can add fajita veggies as on of the toppings. To do this, sauté different colored peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions on high heat with salt and taco seasoning.

Tomatillo Salsa

Has this ever happened to you? - You stumble on a promising recipe. You think to yourself “I need to try this out”. You then go on to do other things, and a few days later, remember the recipe that you wanted to try, but unfortunately, you can’t find it anymore. This happens to me all the time.

Sometimes, I find a recipe and try it out immediately, but forget to bookmark it or write it down and can’t find it when I want it the next time.

I got this recipe from a youtube video a while ago (may be two years ago?). I made a note of the ingredients. Made it a few times - to rave reviews. Now, when I am trying to write a blog post about it, I have not been able to find the original video to give credit!

Anyway - I make this when tomatillos are in season. It comes out really well and goes great with tamales.

Tomatillo Salsa Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Serves: 4 - 6 people Here’s what you need: 10 small tomatillos, cut in half 2 serrano chiles, slit lengthwise 1 onion, cut into chunks 2 cloves of garlic, sliced 1 cup cilantro, chopped salt to taste Here’s how I made it: Set the oven to broil. Place the tomatillos, serrano chilies, and onions on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the oven. After about 5 minutes, add the diced garlic. Remove after about 4 more minutes. Let everything cool. Blend the broiled veggies, salt, and cilantro, adding water to get the desired consistency. Serve with tortilla chips for an awesome appetizer or as a condiment in a Mexican Fiesta

Restaurant Style Salsa

Everyone in our house loves Mexican food. One of our favorite Mexican restaurants is called Efrain’s. It is about 7 - 8 minute drive from our house, is always packed, and has the best Blue Corn Enchiladas I have ever tasted. They have a pretty good selection of vegetarian friendly entrees and an excellent house margarita!

Like most Mexican restaurants in the U.S., they serve chips and salsa as soon as they seat you. My kids love this salsa. I have tried many store-bought versions, but nothing comes close to the salsa served in Mexican restaurants.

Then, one day, a few years ago, I stumbled upon this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. It looked easy and seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I tried it and was sold!

I have made this several times since then and it has never failed. I made very slight modifications to the original recipe, so that it is a bit more spicy.

Serve this at your next party and let me know what you think.

Restaurant Style Salsa Prep. time: 10 minutes Serves: About 3 - 4 Recipe courtesy: The Pioneer Woman Cooks Here’s what you need: 1 10 oz. can Ro-Tel (original) 1 14 oz. can organic diced tomatoes, with juice 1 - 2 jalapenos, diced ¼ onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced salt to taste pinch of sugar ¼ tsp. ground cumin ½ cup chopped cilantro juice of 1 lime Here's how I made it: Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor.  Cover and pulse a few times till you get the desired consistency. I like mine without any chunks. Note: You can store this in the refrigerator for a few days, but in my house, it gets done quickly. If you have fresh tomatoes from your garden, use those instead of canned tomatoes. It adds more flavor to the salsa! Serve with tortilla chips, or as part of a Taco Bar.

Instant Pot Recipe: Vegetable Pulao

Full disclosure: I am not getting paid to endorse any product, nor will I endorse a product for money

I got my Instant Pot a couple of years ago through a deal on Amazon Prime Day. I was very skeptical about this new “fad” and wasn’t sure if adding another gadget to my kitchen was really going to make life easier. After using it for a while now, I am definitely sold. And not only am I sold, I have also been touting its benefits to my friends.

I met one of these friends recently and he did not hesitate to point out that I have not posted any recipes using the Instant Pot.

So, here is my first Instant Pot recipe. You can adapt this to a pressure cooker or rice cooker easily.

We had a few friends over for dinner a couple of weeks ago. It was a chaat party - sooji dhokla, cocktail idlis, dahi balla, jaal muri, ragada patties, and vegetable pulao. I added the vegetable pulao, because I felt that just serving snacks may not be enough (I can see my husband rolling his eyes at me)

Anyway, since I did not want to make anything else to go with the pulao, it needed to be a standalone dish. I have made variations of this pulao on several occasions and it has never failed me.

This is a great dish to make for parties or for a quick weeknight one-pot dinner for your family.

Instant Pot Recipe: Vegetable Pulao Prep. time: 10 minutes (not including soaking time for rice) Cooking time: 20 minutes Serves: about 4 - 6 as a meal, about 10 - 12 as part of a bigger spread Here’s what you need: 2 cups basmati rice, soaked in water for about ½ hour 2 green chilies, diced 3 cloves garlic ½” piece ginger 3 tsp. ghee 1 tsp. cumin seeds 2 - 3 star anise 1” piece cinnamon 1 - 2 bay leaves 5 - 6 cloves 2 green cardamom pods 1 tsp. black pepper, crushed ½ large onion, diced 1 medium potato, peeled and diced into tiny cubes 1 carrot, diced a handful of frozen green peas salt to taste 1 tsp. cumin/coriander powder ½ tsp. chili powder ½ cup yogurt 3 ½ cups water a handful of chopped cilantro Here’s how I made it: Using a mortar and pestle, and crush the green chilies, garlic, and ginger to a coarse paste. Set aside Turn on the instant pot to sauté mode. Add ghee. When the ghee gets hot, add the whole spices. After about 30 - 40 seconds, add onions. Sauté for a few minutes till the onions turn translucent Add the diced veggies, peas, salt, and chili powder. Mix well Add yogurt. Mix well and cook for a minute. Drain the rice and add to this mixture. Add water.  Check the salt - it should taste a bit salty. Turn off instant pot and turn it back on in rice mode. Mine turns on for 12 minutes Cover and let it cook. Unplug the instant pot when the cooking time is done and let the pressure release on its own. Fluff with a fork. Serve with papads and raitha

15 minute Paneer - Capsicum Gravy

We undertook a bathroom remodel project in April. We anticipated that the project will take about two weeks to complete. Man, were we naive! Not only did it take longer than we thought, but additional minor projects kept cropping up all over the place.

A friend of ours recommended a great contractor. He is meticulous, and pays attention to detail. He is also really busy, handling multiple remodels at the same time. In addition to this, he depends on other people for tiling, and painting. So if they are not available at the right time, his deadline gets pushed back.

But after months of on again and off again construction in our house, I can finally, finally say “We are done” - well - almost.

Saturday night, after the last of the work was completed, would have been the perfect night to celebrate, by either going out for dinner, or doing a take-out. But we couldn’t agree on what we wanted. It was just easier to make something at home, than order in.

I was exhausted, after a long day, and did not want to spend too much time on making dinner. I knew that my younger son will eat anything that has paneer in it, and decided to just wing it with some ingredients that I had.

I also made a mixed dal and an aloo, capsicum, gobi dish (because I don’t like paneer - don’t ask - we are a weird family!)

This dish took all of 15 minutes to make, other than the time it took to thaw the paneer.

15 minute Paneer - Capsicum Gravy Prep. time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Serves: About 3 - 4 Here’s what you need: 2 tbsp oil ½ large capsicum, diced 7 oz. paneer, thawed in warm water and cubed 1 tsp. cumin seeds ½ onion chopped ½ tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp. cumin powder 1 tsp. coriander powder ½ tsp chili powder 10 pieces broken cashew 2 big tomatoes diced 2 cloves garlic ½” piece ginger, minced 2 green chilies Salt to taste ½ tbsp butter 1 tsp. Kasoori methi Cilantro for garnish Here’s how I made it: Heat oil in a kadai.  Add the diced green peppers and paneer. Fry for about 2 - 3  minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Set aside Add cumin seeds to the remaining oil. When the cumin seeds change color, add the onions and sauté on medium heat for a few minutes. While the onion is getting cooked, blend the cashews, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, and green chilies to a fine paste. Once the onions are translucent, add the cumin, coriander, chili, and turmeric powders. Mix well Add the tomato paste and salt.  Increase heat to medium high and let the mixture come to a boil (about 2 minutes) Reduce heat to medium low, add the fried paneer and capsicum. Let this simmer for about 3 - 4 minutes. Turn off heat. Add butter and crushed kasoori methi Garnish with cilantro Serve with naan or rotis.

Cucumber Dosai (No fermentation required)

A couple of weeks ago, a dear friend’s daughter got married. It was a beautiful wedding. Among the many events leading up to the wedding was the Mehandi and Sangeet evening. I volunteered to make food for this event. The bride wanted it to be a chaat party and they were expecting about a hundred people. My menu included dahi balla, ragada patties, jaal muri, and ras malai. They ordered samosas and dhoklas from a catering service.

The event went off well, but since it was my first time cooking for this big a crowd, and because I had grossly overestimated quantities, I ended up with a ton of leftovers. We were able to donate the leftover ragada and ras malai to temple nearyby. I froze the remaining patties, chutneys, the fresh cut onions, and tomatoes (from the jaal muri ingredients). I used up the boiled potatoes to make aloo bondas.

I had to come up with creative ways of using the cucumber. I did serve it as a salad for a few meals, but that was getting repetitive. I used it in dal (Vahchef has a nice recipe for cucumber dal), made another batch of jaal muri, just for us, and still had some left. Then I remembered a dosai recipe my friend Poorni had told me about.

This is a quick and easy recipe and the batter does not require fermentation. Dosas come out really well. You can adjust the consistency of your batter depending on how you like your dosas (crispy or soft)

Cucumber Dosai (No fermentation required) Prep. time: 2 hours (soaking time) Cooking time: 15 minutes Yield: about 8 - 10 dosas Here is what you need: 1 cup raw rice 1 cucumber, finely chopped (I used English cucumber and did not peel the skin) 1 tsp cumin seeds 2 - 3 green chilies ½ cup grated coconut salt to taste ¼ cup urad dal flour or rice flour (optional - see note) oil to make the dosas Here’s how I made it: To make the batter: Soak washed rice in water for a couple of hours. Drain the water and grind the rice with cucumber, cumin seeds, green chilies, coconut, and salt, adding very little water. Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding water if necessary. If the batter is too runny, either add rice flour or urad dal flour, till you get the desired consistency. To make the dosas: Heat a tawa or a griddle.  Pour a ladle full of batter onto the heated tawa and spread it out as thin as you can. If you don't like crispy dosas, you can make it slightly thicker. Drizzle oil around the dosa. Wait for a few minutes – maybe about 2 - 3 minutes and then carefully flip it over, using a flat spatula. Cook on both sides till the dosa is crispy. Serve hot with chutney, sambar or milagai podi Note: I added a little bit of urad flour to my batter because it became very watery. It is completely optional. I forgot that cucumber also had a lot of water content and did not reduce the amount of water I used while grinding.

Dosai Milagai Podi / Chutney Podi / Idli podi

Idlis with milagai podi (also called Gun Powder) is a divine combination. I prefer this to the more well known pairing of idli with sambar. When I make idlis at home, I make sambar for everyone else, but I eat mine with milagai podi. I especially love it when the idlis have been soaking up the flavors of the podi for a while (mix the powder with some sesame oil and coat the idlis with this. Let them sit for a bit and then eat them - you, my friend, have now experienced bliss 😁)

 

For the longest time, my mom used to make milagai podi for me. It is the one thing I absolutely will bring back every time I go to Chennai. If she is visiting us, she will make a big batch of it for me before she leaves. Over the years, she has somehow found a way to keep me well stocked. I never learned how to make it, because there really was no need. But sometime a couple of years ago, I ran out. I tried several store bought versions, but nothing ever came close to the taste of her podi.

I finally caved, and asked her for her recipe. My mom is not very good at sharing recipes. She hardly measures anything, and cooks by instinct. So, after several failed attempts, and several phone calls, I have a version that comes close to hers.

Dosai Milagai Podi / Chutney Podi / Idli podi Recipe Prep. time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Yield: about 3 cups Here’s what you need: 1 tsp. oil 1 cup split urad dal with skin (you can use the one without skin too) 1 cup channa dal ¼ cup white sesame seeds  45 - 50 red chilies (my red chilies were not too hot) 10 - 15 curry leaves (optional) ½ tsp. hing (asafoetida) salt to taste Here’s how I made it: Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet or kadai. Add the urad dal and roast it on medium flame till the dal turns golden brown. Remove and set aside. Add the channa dal to the same pan. Repeat the process and remove when the dal is rasted fine Repeat with the sesame seeds (these will change color quickly) and then the red chilies. Finally dry roast the curry leaves till they lose their moisture. Add hing and salt. Let this whole thing cool completely. Grind to a coarse powder in a blender. Store in an airtight container.

Note: My podi is darker becasue I used urad dal with skin. My mom makes it with de-husked urad dal.