Geetha's Kitchen

Here is an everyday veggie side dish. The ingredients may look simple, but the curry is absolutely delicious with many applications: roll up in dosa, chapatis/whole wheat tortillas, or lavash bread, as sandwich filling, appetizer, with rice and dal , etc. Yellow or green bell peppers, regular eggplant, etc may be used as well. Ingredients: 1/2 large red onion 2 medium Japanese/Chinese eggplants 1 medium zucchini 1 Red Bell Pepper (Capsicum) Thalippu/Tadka: 2 Tbsp Oil 1/2 tsp Brown Mustard Seeds 1 pinch Asafoetida 1/2 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp Salt or to taste 1 hot green chili 1 tsp Sambar Powder (Optional) Method: Wash and dry the vegetables. Cut them in bite sized pieces on the diagonal. Peel and chop the onion. Cut the stem off the chili, remove seeds and chop finely. Heat oil for Thalippu in a skillet or wok and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add asafoetida, green chili, curry leaves, the onions and a pinch of salt. Stir and cook until onions ...

The fruited Lassi (pronounced "Luh-see") make refreshing and good-for-you breakfasts or snacks. Peaches, plums, bananas, berries, etc all work. Freeze the fruit for extra-thick and delicious lassi. Happy Fathers' Day to all Dads! 1 serving Ingredients: 1 cup Fruits of your choice 1 cup Plain Yogurt 1 Tbsp Fresh Lime juice 1 pinch of salt Sugar or other sweetener to taste a handful of ice cubes Method: Place all the ingredients in the blender container and whirl until pureed well. Pour into a tall glass and serve cold.

Paneer with Peppers and Onions is a colorful, delicious, protein and vitamin-rich dish that can be served as an entree, appetizer, or a snack. It makes a wonderful filling for sandwiches and wraps too. Instead of using a combination of the different colored peppers, choose just one or two or according to availability. 6 Servings Ingredients: 1 block Paneer (14 oz) 1 EACH Red, Yellow, Orange and Green Bell Peppers (Capsicums) 1 or 2 Jalapeño or Serrano Chili 1 Red Onion 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Turmeric 1/2 tsp Garam Masala 1 Tbsp Oil or Ghee 1/2 tsp Whole Cumin Seeds (Jeera) 1 Tbsp Kasoori Methi (Dry Fenugreek Leaves) 1/2 cup Fresh Cilantro (Coriander Leaves or Dhania) Method: Cut the peppers in half, remove stems, seeds, and membranes. Cut the peppers into bite size chunks. Cut off the ends from the onion, peel, and slice into bite size chunks. Cut the chili in half, remove stems, seeds and membranes and cut in slender strips. Cut the paneer into strips about the size of your thu...

Lemon or Lime Rice is a classic lemon colored rice dish and one would not think of a picnic without it! It is part of the category of foods called "chitrannam" - beautiful or "pretty as a picture" food. For my delicious vegetable-laden version of lime rice, click here . Lemon/lime rice is traditionally served along with Yogurt Rice  (check out the NON-Dairy Yogurt Rice too) and accompanied by fried yogurt cured chilies, papadams, Indian pickles, etc. As children a picnic was always a mysterious and joyful event to us as we never knew when it would happen. We welcomed them joyously as we knew it would entail a trip to some wonderful place in the huge truck with lots of other families. We would find our Amma furiously preparing lots of traditional picnic goodies before dawn for our potluck meal. We left early in the morning to arrive at the chosen scenic place in time for a morning romp and then the long awaited meal. The ladies had their chance to have thei...

The weather is getting warm - which means picnic season is here! To our family no picnic is complete unless accompanied by the cooling, tangy, yummy, Yogurt Rice. It is an age old tradition to take yogurt rice whether on short trips or a long journey. No one would even think of undertaking a journey without taking the many-tiered Tiffin Dubba along full of various delicious journey food such as Puliyodarai (Tamarind Rice), Lemon Rice , etc and of course the Yogurt Rice. (A tiffin dubba is similar to a Japanese Bento box.) And Yogurt Rice has to be savored with the delicious fried yogurt cured chilies or hot mango pickles - especially the one called Vadu Mangai (tiny mangoes flavored with mustard seeds and chilies). For those who don't do dairy, try this  Non-Dairy Yogurt Rice ! One of the most favored traditional accompaniments to yogurt rice is fried yogurt cured hot chilies  as well as various types of mango or lemon/lime pickles. Of course, papadams and...

My sister makes these during mango season and it is utterly delicious! 1 serving Ingredients: 1 small sweet ripe mango, peeled and roughly chopped and chilled 1 cup cold milk, any type Sugar to taste (Optional) Method: Place all the ingredients in the blender jar and whirl until smooth. Serve cold.

Another refreshing classic Indian quencher we used to enjoy on those hot and humid afternoons while eagerly awaiting the cooling Monsoons! I often make it instead of the afternoon tea in the summer. You can sweeten it or not; I don't. Use the vanilla pods from the banana shake to scent a container of sugar for vanilla scented sugar. Ingredients: 1 cup cold Extra Strong brewed coffee OR 3 Tbsp instant coffee granules 2 Cups cold Milk, any type 1 Cup Ice Cubes Vanilla scented Sugar (Optional) Whipped cream to serve (Optional) Method: Place all the ingredients in the blender and process until uniformly pureed. (If using instant coffee, process it with a few tablespoons of milk first.) Serve in chilled glasses with additional ice cubes if you wish. You can also put a dollop of vanilla scented whipped cream on top of each serving. Cool! Enjoy!!