My First CookBook - Soumya Seemakurti

Hey friend! Welcome to my blog and I so glad to that you have subscribed to my blog. I really appreciate it. I always had a idea to make a cookbook sometime and finally I did it. I am so glad I am able to share this with you.

! A little bit about myself, I am mom of 1 year old, apart from spending time with her, I dream - make - eat food. I am a person who always loves food adventures along with my husband and my daughter.  

! It’s been 3 years since I came to USA. I am not only fond of cooking, but I am also very fond of baking. When I came to USA, 3 years ago, I stepped into the house and I was so happy to see the oven. Back home, I used to have a very small oven and I used to struggle to bake in that. So I started baking different kinds of cakes, out of all, red velvet cake was the one which I loved. So when I started trying out various recipes for red velvet cake and I failed so many times. Each time I failed I used to be so disappointed as I wasted time, food, labor etc. So in my blog I made it a point to be a bit more choosy about what I present to you. I take time to develop a recipe, try it out, adjust the flavors in the recipe and then present it to you. The segments of this blog are a little different than the other blogs.

Traditional and FusionMy fusion cooking started not as a hobby but it was a process of adapting to the food available. It happened back in 2010 when we went to a small town called Angouleme near Paris. The first day when we landed into the town, it was like entering another planet. everything was in French including the names of the vari-ous foods. No clue what they meant but luckily we identified some of them and some of them were new. The spices I had in hand were only salt, pepper and chilli powder and trust me it is not possible to cook Indian food with just those 3 spices. The grocery shops were so different….I was both excited and puzzled at the same time. Excited to try out new stuff….but puzzled how to cook traditional food with the available vegetables. As time passed by, I started exploring different foods, tried to incorpo-rate traditional flavors into grains and vegetables those were avail-able. Sometimes things used to work….sometimes they didn’t. Out of many trials I remember successfully treating couscous like rice and flavoring it with different traditional mixes and treating crepe as Indian crepe which is made using Urad dal and rice and making certain Indian sauces which were good along with the crepes

Though we moved out of France, I continued to do such things, because not only I loved them but enjoyed exploring different

Preface

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ways to treat the wonderful vegetables, so that the least interest-ing vegetable can also be enjoyed. According to me, every vegeta-ble has its own set of health benefits and there is no such thing as bad vegetable. So why not incorporate as many veggies into the meal as possible? Get as many health benefits as we can….

Now you might ask why the traditional segment??? First we need to learn the rules to break the rules. My process is show you the recipes how they are done in traditional way, and then show you other ways we can treat the vegetables and ways to incorporate new vegetables into the traditional dishes.My traditional cooking is also modified in a way that it is suitable to our life style. I try to incorporate as many veggies as possible, add least amount of fat possible, no artificial sweetners and of course the most important...without any loss of flavor. Enjoy my recipes!

Eat Healthy! Live Happy!

Soumya

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Copyright © Soumya Seemakurti

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmit-ted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews permitted by copyright law. For per-mission requests, contact deldelights14@gmail.com

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Copyright

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Homestyle Cream of wheat (Upma - South Indian Style)

Back home all of our breakfasts are sa-vory. I still remember my mom telling me - “why sweets early in the morning? You’ll not be hungry anymore!”. For making breakfast, we treat sooji / Farina in a sa-vory way, and savory cream of wheat is called as “UPMA” back home. We do treat sooji / Farina with sugar, but that be-comes a dessert. The recipe which I am going to share with you is quite basic one. There are so many different ways to do this  - like some people add tomato to it along with the onions and call it to-mato Upma, some people add lot of cashew nuts or Garam masala etc. You can just play around with different vegeta-bles, but the important part is the tem-pering. Though vegetables contribute to flavors, tempering is also important part of building flavor.

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Here is what we’ll need ( Serves 3-4) : For the tempering :! 1.$ Mustard seeds - ½ tsp$ 2.$ Cumin seeds - ½ tsp$ 3.$ Hing / Asefotida - a pinch $ 4.$ Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp (broken into pieces and optional)$ 5.$ Green chilli - 2 tbsp sliced (adjust according to taste)$ 6.$ Curry leaves - 1 stem ( optional)$ 7.$ Oil - 1 tsp ( any oil / butter / ghee will work)

Other ingredients! 1.$ Sooji / Farina - 1 cup$ 2.$ Water - 3 cups $ 3.$ Salt - to taste$ 4.$ Sliced onions - ½ cup

Here is how we’ll do it :$ •First place a medium pot on medium heat. $ •Put the oil into the pan and let it get warm. $ •Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. It will take few seconds for that to happen.$ •Then add rest of the tempering ingredients and let them fry for few seconds.$ •Add sliced onions and salt. When we add salt to on-ions, they tend to cook faster. $ •Once the onions are translucent, add water and bring the water to a boil.$ •Taste the water at this point. Add more salt if re-quired. If you want it to be more spicy add some chilli powder or paprika. $ •Once you think everything is good, start adding sooji gradually while stirring continuously. This way there will be no lumps in the cream of wheat.$ •Once the mixture is thick, remove from heat and serve hot.

Tips:$ •For the upma to be thinner, more water can be added - Up to 4 cups of water is good.

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Orange Cream of wheat

I do love the idea of having a sweet breakfast on a weekend as long as has less or no added sugar. So I tried to make cream of wheat with orange, along with almonds and cinnamon. It was so good! It was like eating an orange with differ-ent texture.

Here is what we’ll need : ( Serves 3-4)

! 1. Sooji / Farina - 1 cup$ 2. Orange zest - 2 tsp$ 3. Orange juice - 3 cups$ 4. Sliced almonds - ½ cup$ 5. Butter - 1 tsp$ 6. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch$ 7. Sugar - 1 or 2 tsp (optional)

Here is how we’ll do it :

! • First thing I did was to place a pot on low - me-dium heat and add little butter to it. Once it melted I added the cinnamon stick and let it fry for few seconds.$ • Next add sliced almonds and let them fry for few more seconds. $ • After that, we will add the orange juice along with orange zest and bring it to a boil. Taste the liquid at this point. If you want it to be more sweeter add 1-2 tsp sugar. $ • Then add Farina also called as sooji into the boiling mixture while whisking simultaneously. This will avoid for-mation of lumps.$ $ • Keep whisking it until the mixture becomes thick takes 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Be careful not to have kids around as the mixture may splatter. Once done, re-

move from heat and serve hot with some more almonds and ground cinnamon.

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Baked Onion Pakoda ( Classic Version)

This is the one of the best evening snacks which can be enjoyed any days but it will taste much delicious when it is raining. Pakoda is nothing but vegetable fritters in this case onions, it’s batter is made with chickpea flour and some spices. It is generally deep fried, but to reduce the fat content we are going to bake it. There are so many different varia-tions of pakodas, they can be almost made with any vegetable / bread. The key in making a good pakoda lies in the con-sistency of the batter. So let’s get started!

Here is what we’ll need :(makes 20 pako-das, serves 4)

! 1.Sliced onions - 1 cup $ 2.Green chilli / Jalapeno - 1 (deseeded, cut into ½ in slices)$ 3. Sooji - ⅛ cup$ 4. Rice flour - ⅛ cup$ 5. Cornstarch - 1 tbsp$ 6. Chickpea flour - ½ cup $ 7. Salt - to taste$ 8. Chilli powder - to taste $ 9. Water - Quarter cup + more if required

Here is how we’ll make it :

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with bak-ing paper and keep it aside. $ • In a mixing bowl, toss together all the ingredients other than chickpea flour and water.$ • Next we are going to add chickpea flour, little by little. Start by adding quarter cup of flour and mix every-thing uniformly in a way that all onions are coated with chickpea flour. $ • Then add 1-2 tbsp of water and mix everything well.

At this point the entire mixture should be a little sticky. If not add some more water 1 tbsp at a time. The result should be, the onions should all be coated with thin layer of chickpea flour and the mix should be wet and sticky but the mix should not be too loose. In case water is more the mix will become somewhat loose. In that case add more chickpea flour. $ • Once the mix is adjusted well, start scooping the mix with a tablespoon sized spoon on the lined cookie sheet.$ • Bake the mix for around 15-20 mins until the mix appears to be dry, the color changes a little bit and the onions seem are toasted. The time may vary depending on the oven.$ • Once done, remove them from the oven and serve hot.

Tips

For additional flavor sprinkle some chat masala on the pakodas before serving.

The pakodas can also be served with ketchup.

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Mixed Vegetable Pakoda (Fusion Style)

The classic pakoda recipe above, is defi-nitely healthier than the deep fried ones, but they have only onions and green chil-lies in them, I am not happy with that. So in the process of making some pako-das a little more healthy by sneaking in some more healthy ingredients, I came up with this recipe. And here is the best part….My 15 month old loved it. Now a days, she wants to eat food by herself, so I am making lot of finger foods. But when she ate these pakodas I was so happy, because it had all the healthy stuff. So I can say, this is one of the color-ful snack for us as well as the kids, with all the healthy stuff !

Here is what we’ll need :(makes 25 pako-das, serves 4-5 )

! 1.Leeks - ½ cup - chopped roughly$ 2.Zucchini - ½ cup - grated $ 3.Cauliflower - ½ cup - small florets$ 4. Spinach - ½ cup - chopped roughly $ 5.Rice flour - 2 tbsp$ 6.Sooji - 2 tbsp$ 7. Green chilly - 2 tbsp - minced and deseeded$ 8. Ajwain / Carom seeds - ⅛ tsp $ 9. Flax seeds - ½ tsp$ 10.Chia seeds - ½ tsp$ 11.Pumpkin seeds - 2 tsp$ 12.Besan/ Chickpea flour - ½ cup

Here is how we’ll make this :

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with bak-ing paper and keep it aside. $ • In a mixing bowl, toss together all the ingredients other than chickpea flour and water.$ • Next we are going to add chickpea flour, little by little. Start by adding quarter cup of flour and mix every-thing uniformly in a way that all onions are coated with

chickpea flour. $ • Then add 1-2 tbsp of water and mix everything well. At this point the entire mixture should be a little sticky. If not add some more water 1 tbsp at a time. The result should be, the onions should all be coated with thin layer of chickpea flour and the mix should be wet and sticky but the mix should not be too loose. In case water is more the mix will become somewhat loose. In that case add more chickpea flour. $ • Once the mix is adjusted well, start scooping the mix with a tablespoon sized spoon on the lined cookie sheet.$ • Bake the mix for around 15-20 mins until the mix appears to be dry, the color changes a little bit and the onions seem are toasted. The time may vary depending on the oven.$ • Once done, remove them from the oven and serve hot.

Tips :For additional flavor sprinkle some chat masala on the pakodas before serving.

The pakodas can also be served with ketchup.

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Mom’s Aloo Paratha ( Indian flat bread)

Paratha is an Indian stuffed bread, which is toasted on a flat pan like the one we use for making crepes or pancakes. Para-thas are generally made for dinner and they are toasted with ghee. There are so many variations in Parathas and every household has their own way of making parathas. This recipe is my mom’s ver-sion. The reason I like it is, it is so sim-ple with very few ingredients and is very easy to eat - so makes it a travel friendly food.

Here is what we’ll need :(makes 6-8 parathas)

For the dough :

! 1.Wheat flour / Atta - 2 cups$ 2.Oil - 1 tsp (any oil will work, I used olive oil)$ 3.Salt - to taste $ 4.Yogurt - 2 tbsp$ 5.Water - 1.5 cups ( approx.)

For stuffing :

! 1.Potatoes - 1  and 1/2 cups ( boiled and roughly mashed up)$ 2.Serrano pepper / any green chilli - ½ (adjust accord-ing to your taste)$ 3.Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1 tsp $ 4.Salt - to taste $ 5.Paprika - to taste

Here is how we’ll make this :

For the dough :

! • Place the wheat flour into a mixing bowl, add oil, salt and yogurt and mix everything well with your hands until everything is incorporated well. $ • Then start adding little by little, while kneading si-multaneously. $ • Once a soft and smooth dough is formed, stop add-ing water and knead it for few more minutes. $ • After kneading, wrap it in a clean wrap and chill it for minimum of 15 minutes.$ • While that’s chilling, we can work with the stuffing.

For the stuffing :

! • Make a coarse mixture of green chilli and cumin seeds in a spice grinder and add it to the mashed up po-tato along with salt and paprika.$ • Mix everything well and taste it. If required add some more green chilli mix / salt / paprika and keep it

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aside.

To make parathas :

• Make a medium sized ( approx 2 in dia) ball out of dough and roll it with medium pressure into a 5 in circle.$ • Then place around 1-2 tbsp of stuffing in the centre of the rolled dough.$ • Now close the dough from all ends in a way that it becomes a ball again, but with stuffing in between. Close it well so that the stuffing doesn’t come out.$ • Now roll the entire ball, with very less pressure and carefully into a circle. Stop rolling once you are able to faintly see the stuffing.$ • Place the pan on medium heat and once it is warm, put the paratha on the pan. $ • Once the color of the paratha starts changing on the corners of the top, spray some butter spray ( I use butter spray instead of ghee) and flip. Now spray on the other side and serve after the paratha is toasted well on both sides. If required, flip the paratha few more times.

Tip :The paratha can be eaten as it is or can be served with yogurt or ketchup.

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Phirni (Classic style)

Rice pudding is a very versatile dish. Not only every household has it’s own recipe but every state and country has it’s own way of making rice pudding. This dessert is a Punjab style rice pudding ( classic style) with is made with ground Basmati rice, it is so different yet awesome!

Here is what we’ll need:( serves 3-4, serving size - 1/4 cup)

! 1.Basmati rice - ¼ cup$ 2.Milk - 1 ½ cup + ½ cup $ 3.Sugar - 3 tbsp$ 4.Saffron - ⅛ tsp$ 5.Almonds - ½ tbsp + 1 ½ tbsp

Here is how we’ll make this:

• Soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes and then dry it for 5-10 minutes on a paper towel.$ • Then put the rice into a food processor and pulse it till it becomes coarse powder and keep it aside. Be care-ful not to make it into smooth powder, coarsely ground rice is very important for the texture of the pudding.$ • Next place the coarsely ground rice into a bowl and put ½ cup of milk into it and let it sit for some time.$ • Meanwhile, in a pot, place 1 ½ cups of milk and start heating it on a low medium heat$ • Once it comes to a boil, add sugar, saffron and al-monds one after and another and keep stirring the milk until the sugar is totally dissolved.$ • Then add the soaked rice mixture into the boiling

milk while stirring the milk simultaneously. Keep stir-ring it until the entire mixture becomes thick, it took me around 5-10 minutes. $ • Once the mixture is thick remove from heat and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. ! • I tried having it warm and cold, and I felt either way the dish was delicious. So if you want to serve it warm, serve immediately or if you want to serve it cold, let it chill for 2-3 hours and serve after garnishing it with few more sliced almonds.

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Spiced Chocolate Phirni ( Phirni Fusion)

We do know chocolate makes everything good. So I came up with this recipe which has the texture of the classic Phirni and the flavors we all like - choco-late and cinnamon. It was a fun thing to do and the taste was so awesome! To make it even more fun, I added different varieties of nuts into it, but it is optional.

Here is what we’ll need :(serves 3-4, serving size - 1/4 cup)

! 1.Basmati rice - ¼ cup$ 2.Milk - 1 ½ cup + ½ cup $ 3.Sugar - 3 tbsp$ 4.Cinnamon - ½ in stick$ 5.Mix of nuts - 4-5 tsp ( Almonds, Pista, Pine nuts, cashew nuts ground coarsely and adding nuts is optional) $ 6.Chocolate - ½ cup ( semi sweet chocolate chips)$ 7.Powdered cinnamon - To garnish

Here is how we’ll make this :

! • Soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes and then dry it for 5-10 minutes on a paper towel. $ • Then put the rice into a food processor and pulse it till it becomes coarse powder and keep it aside. Be careful not to make it into smooth powder, coarsely ground rice is very important for the texture of the pudding.$ • Next place the coarsely ground rice into a bowl and put ½ cup of milk into it and let it sit for some time.$ • Meanwhile, in a pot, place 1 ½ cups of milk and start heating it on a low medium heat$ • Once it comes to a boil, add sugar, nuts and cinna-

mon stick one after and another and keep stirring the milk until the sugar is totally dissolved. $ • Then add the soaked rice mixture into the boiling milk while stirring the milk simultaneously. Keep stirring it until the entire mixture becomes thick, it took me around 5-10 minutes. $ • Once the mixture is thick add chocolate and let eve-rything cook until the chocolate has melted completely. Then remove from heat and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.$ • I tried having it warm and cold, and I felt either way the dish was delicious. So if you want to serve it warm, serve immediately or if you want to serve it cold, let it chill for 2-3 hours and serve after garnishing it with some powdered cinnamon.

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Rose-Saffron Lassi

Rose and saffron are very popular flavors in India, especially while making any-thing sweet. In India Yogurt is consumed in many different ways and one of those ways is Lassi. Basic lassi consists of Yo-gurt blended with sugar and then diluted with water and served in an earthen pot. It is a perfect drink for summer. There are so many lassies I tasted the lassi which inspires me the most is the one I had with my cousin, in her town. Every time I used to visit my cousin’s house, we used to go and wait in the line in the noon when it was really hot, but the min-ute we used to have the lassi, we used to forget about the hot day and enjoyed it so much. It was totally worth the wait. I don’t have the recipe of that lassi, but I came up with this inspired by those flavors

Here is what we’ll need : ( serving 3-4, serving size - 1/2 cup)

! 1.Yogurt - 1 cup$ 2.Crushed saffron - ⅛ tsp$ 3.Rose water - ¼ cup$ 4.Water - 1 cup$ 5.Honey - 3 tbsp

Here is how we’ll make this :

! • In a bowl, place yogurt, honey and saffron and whisk it well until honey is totally incorporated.$ • Then slowly add rose water and water into the yo-gurt mixture while whisking it simultaneously. $ • Let it chill minimum of 1-2 hours and serve cold.

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Nectarine Lassi ( Lassi Fusion Flavors)

This is the fruit lassi recipe I came up with when I was bored of biting into the fruit itself. For this recipe, I did not dis-card the skin, as I know it does have some benefits. This is also very easy like my previous lassi recipe, but it is a very interesting variation.

Here is what we’ll need:(serves 3-4, serv-ing size 1/2 cup)

! 1.$ Nectarines - 1 cup (medium chopped)$ 2.$ Sweetened condensed milk - ¼ cup$ 3.$ Cardamom seeds - ⅛ tsp - ground $ 4.$ Yogurt - ½ cup$ 5.$ Water - 1 cup

Here is how we’ll make this:

! • Blend the nectarines along with the skin with as lit-tle water as possible to make a smooth puree. $ • Place the puree into a bowl and add sweetened con-densed milk, cardamom seeds and yogurt.$ • Whisk everything well and start adding water while whisking simultaneously.$ • Once all water is added, give it a taste, if you want it little more sweeter, add some more condensed milk or powdered sugar. Chill it for a minimum of 2 hours and serve cold.

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