Geetha's Kitchen

Sweet Potato Pancake with Brown Sugar Syrup and Pecans These delicious and toothsome pancakes are heavenly; they remind me of pecan pralines with the brown sugar "butter" sauce and toasted pecans!  All the recipes I have seen use cooked, mashed sweet potatoes; too much hassle for me!   So, I created and tweaked my own recipe to use raw, grated sweet potatoes.  It goes together rather quickly to produce delectable pancakes.  I serve them with the brown sugar sauce, fresh chunky applesauce and/or luscious orange slices.  The leftover cakes hold up quite well and are delicious with the  cranberry thokku  too for a savory option! These make a perfect breakfast/brunch for company or special occasion.  I am serving these for the New Year's day this year!  Happy New Year's Day Everyone! Any extra sauce may be saved in a covered jar and refrigerated; warm gently until heated through when ready to use.  It makes a great topp...

Quinoa Soup is a treasure I found on a recent trip to Peru to add to my collection of fantastic soups. An Andean lady from Maras demonstrated how to prepare this simple but soulful soup; it is so easy and yet sustaining with all the essential ingredients for good health. Apparently on the cold highlands of the Andes, the day may start as well as end with a warming soup like this. Our hostess chopped and diced the veggies in the order she needed as the soup was bubbling along. She recommended eating quinoa soup twice a week for not only good health but great complexion :) - ladies take note! The first thing I cooked upon returning from the trip was ... any guesses? Absolutely Delicious! I have given the recipe here as I witnessed to the best of my recall; for best results, add the vegetable ingredients in the order given. The soup we had in restaurants had local zucchini, red bell peppers, cilantro, and once, even finely diced tomatoes in addition to the other basic ingredients; s...

These are so delicious and therefore I make them so often that now the recipe is indelibly etched in my brain!  The fact that it is simple and quick doesn't hurt either :).  I have served them to people of all ages and persuasions and everyone loves them.  A fantastic use for overripe bananas that no one wants to eat! Note: If you do not have oat bran, substitute with old fashioned or regular rolled oats. Oat Bran Muffins in the foreground 12 muffins Ingredients: 3 medium sized ripe Bananas, mashed 1 cup Oat Bran 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour 1/2 cup Sugar 1 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Sea Salt 1 Tbsp Cornstarch 1/2 tsp freshly ground Cardamom seeds 1/2 cup Almond meal or chopped walnuts 1 cup non-dairy milk Toppings for decoration: Oats, Sesame seeds, sliced Almonds/Cashews, etc. Method: Peel the bananas and place in a large bowl; mash coarsely with a fork or potato masher. Add the rest of  the ingredients to the bowl...

Dal Paratha with pickles and Checca I made these parathas with leftover dal - an inspiration from Hema! Dal parathas are quite easy to prepare, delicious, nutritious, and filling.  I served them with a side of freshly made  Checca  (fresh tomato salad) and pickles - YUM.  Plain yogurt or a raita is another traditional and terrific accompaniment to parathas. Plain cooked dal may be used to make these parathas; when using plain dal, add some seasonings and herbs to your taste. These Parathas are fabulous in a lunch box  as well as a nice snack with a hot cup of tea!  Ingredients: 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) 1 pinch of sea salt 1 cup cold  Simple Dal  or Chunky Chana Dal Water if needed About 1or 2 Tbsp Oil for cooking A small handful Fresh Fenugreek or dry (optional) Method: Combine the atta (flour) and salt in a large bowl; stir in the dal and knead in the bowl adding a few drops of water if needed to make a pliable bu...

Lemony Poppy Seed Muffin Lemony Poppy Seed Muffins are the best muffins ever!  These fragrant muffins are easy to make and very satisfying with their tangy taste. This recipe is adapted form Isa Chandra Moskowitz's cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance; I added lemon juice for a more lemony taste that my family adores. I like to make a double batch and freeze the extra muffins. Moskowitz recommends freezing the batter - to freeze the batter, pour into muffin liners placed in muffin pans and freeze until solid; place the frozen muffin batter in re-closable storage bags and keep frozen.  When ready to bake, place the frozen muffin batter back in muffin pans and bake - frozen batter will require about 8-10 minutes extra time. These muffins may be baked using the mini muffin pans as well; for mini muffins, bake at 375*F for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted close to the center of a muffin. Makes 12 large muffins Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups...

Avocado Toast Topped With Green Chile Chutney  With its inimitable and lovely chile flavor, Chile relish is a delicious all purpose seasoning to have on hand; it is wonderful to spice up whatever you are cooking, as a chutney/pickle with meals, Dosa, burgers, bajjis or other snacks, and as a sandwich spread.  I concocted this so that the members of the family who love their food hot can spike their foods to their hearts' content :).  I love to add a little dollop as a side with rice and mild curries.  It is fantastic as a starter spread atop yogurt, ricotta, or cream cheese surrounded by crostini or crackers; a little schmear makes plain old grilled cheese come alive!  Once you start making and enjoying chile relish, I am sure that you will find it indispensable and discover many uses for it. Try both green and red chile relish; each has its own unique flavor - the green chile has that fresh, crisp  taste while the red is a bit sweetly fruity.  ...

Potato Chat With Radish Salad & Green Chutney Roasted potato starters are a treat for the eyes as well as the palate! And Very Yummy without extraneous calories to make one feel guilty to boot.  These are so good, I make a meal of them just like baked potatoes! Make the salads and the roasted potatoes a day ahead; then heat the potatoes to serve when you are ready.  Also, if it is too much to make all three of the salads, make the one you like.  Roasted potato chat is an adaptation of Sheelu's recipe. Simply superb! Some radishes (both daikon and regular) tend to be a bit spicy; the lemon, salt and spices tone it down. Sometimes I like to add either fresh turnips or Jicama to the radishes to tone it down for those who prefer a milder salad. Sheelu added a little chat masala to the mooli (radish) salad also.  Any leftover salad may be served with other meals. Chat Masala is a mixture of spices and salts used to sprinkle on fruit and veggie salads; it...

          Kozhakattais with  Sweet Potato Chutney I Kozhakattais are steamed rice dumplings - the South Indian equivalents of gnocchi - albeit made with ... you guessed it - rice! It is amazing what one can do with rice :D. These kozhakattais are delicious hot, warm or cold (room temperature cold, not ice cold) anytime at all. I made mini ones to serve as starters with Sweet Potato Chutney - they were very quick to disappear - not a single one remained! Kozhakattais were often prepared as fasting day foods. Some of the fasts were more like food festivals (lol) - fasting meant only that plain cooked rice was not eaten; but delicacies made from it or other grains were. And believe me, nobody felt even a tiny pang of hunger on these fasts! We loved eating the leftover kozhakattais for breakfast especially with the beloved kozhakattai story. I made these kozhakattais with converted rice aka parboiled rice, Uncle Ben's, etc.   Plain raw rice ...

This is a delicious but simple dal - great with rice or other grains, roti, and/or by itself.  We love the nutty taste of the chana dal which is really split and decorticated (skin removed) chick pea! I believe that it is made from the brown Indian chick pea rather than the golden type known as Kabuli chana or garbanzo bean. Chana dal (unlike mung or masoor dal) retains its shape and does not easily cook up mushy; hence the name 'chunky' :-).  I used a pressure cooker to cook this dal; it is a great tool to cook all dals, whole beans and grains quickly. Notes:  This is a versatile dal that changes its flavor based on the spices used - instead of the mustard and cumin seeds, substitute 1 tsp of panch phoron for a lively but different taste; or saute some leeks/onions after the thalippu is made and stir in some tomatoes before adding the dal.  Yellow or green split peas may be used instead of chana dal; one or the other dals may be omitted or used in any combinat...