How to make egg fried rice - Recipe for Egg Fried rice | Indochinese recipes

Egg fried rice is one recipe for which you can actually ensure that there's a box full of leftover rice sitting in the refrigerator. Finely chop a bunch of vegetables, scramble a few eggs and you have a wholesome meal ready in minutes. A couple of days ago, I read about Amanda Cohen's Secret Weapon Stir Fry sauce, and the next time I make fried rice, I am going to make sure that I try it out with this green flavour bomb. These cubes comprise of ginger, garlic, spinach, Thai basil, coriander and parsley all blended up and frozen in ice-trays. I love freezing pesto, pasta sauce, veggie mixes and even Kootu masala in the shape of ice cubes, store away in ziploc bags and preparing weeknight meals is just so simple.

Try my kitchen hacks using the ice-tray, to make your life simpler in the kitchen. 

Egg fried rice is also a super quick lunchbox recipe. The protein from the eggs balance out the carbs in the rice, and there's always the scope of adding lots of veggies into the box via this dish. When I'm in a rush, I usually use the chopper that helps me finely chop the carrots, onions, cabbage and any other vegetables to a fine dice in just a couple of minutes, which makes this a super quick dish.

Indo-Chinese Menu

       

Recipe for Basic Egg Fried Rice
Prep time: 15 mins | Cooking time: under 30 minutes | Serves 2-4

Equipment Required
Pressure cooker or Rice cooker to cook rice
Vegetable chopper
Cast Iron / Stainless steel and Non-stick pan

Ingredients
1.5 cups short grained rice
5 large eggs + salt+ pepper + 1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp cooking oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
3-4 green or red chillies
1 cup finely chopped cabbage
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar 


COOKING THE RICE
Leftover rice works best for fried rice. You can cook rice the previous day, refrigerate and prepare fried rice the next day.
To cook rice fresh, wash the rice well and pressure cook with scant 3 cups water for two whistles. Switch off the flame and allow cooker to cool. Remove the rice from the vessel onto a wide plate or bowl and cool well, fluff with a fork and keep aside.

PREPARING THE EGGS
Break the eggs in a bowl and beat to combine whites and yolks. Season with salt and pepper. Grease a large non stick skillet with oil and place on medium heat. Once pan is hot, add the beaten eggs and scramble. Don't make this too try. Break into fork sized chunks and keep aside.

ASSEMBLING
In a large wok, heat the oil. Add the ginger, garlic, chillies. Saute on high heat for few seconds. Add the finely chopped vegetables and keep stirring on high heat for 2-3 minutes. You don't want them to lose their crunch. To this add the cooked and cooled rice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and toss well with a sharp steel spatula so that the rice is not mushed up. Add the scrambled eggs, toss well, remove from flame and garnish with finely chopped coriander. 

You can even use brown rice for this to make it somewhat healthier. Cook and cool the brown rice well before proceeding with the recipe.
You can also add finely chopped mushrooms, corn, capsicum to the veggie mix.

This recipe is part of the endeavor to create a collection of recipes of Indian Chinese Recipes in collaboration with a few bloggers who share the same passion of cooking. All the recipes from #thekitchendivas are pinned on this Pinterest board. 

Other Indo-Chinese recipes this week from #thekitchendivas

Chilli Garlic Chicken from WhiskAffair
Chicken Momos from Sinamon Tales
Potato and red kidney beans stir fry from FunFoodFrolic
Wonton Soup from Archana's Kitchen

Recipe for Tofu Chilli Stir Fry | Indo-Chinese Recipes

Tofu Chilli and Egg Fried Rice

How to make tofu taste more edible is a question I am often asked in my cooking workshops. Tofu is like a blank canvas. Good tofu, that is. Good tofu is clean tasting, with no flavour of its own. Marinate it in a good dressing and it will behave like a most obedient student, taking on whatever flavours you urge it to.

My regular readers will remember that I won a Nature's Basket cook-off that took me to Australia last year, and what won me that contest was a dish called 'Trio of Tofu'. I made tofu three ways - a Korean style tofu-cake, tofu satays with dipping sauce and sauteed marinated tofu in rice paper rolls with another dipping sauce. One of the judges, Michael, who was from the Australian Trade Commission, told me, his wife will be happy he ate something healthy for a change :)

This is a somewhat healthier take on this very popular Indo Chinese dish called Paneer Chilli or Chilli Paneer, where Indian style paneer pakodas (with a cornflour batter of course) are tossed along with strips of bell peppers and chillis in the typical ginger-garlic-green chilli-soy sauce combination. Since I don't deep fry unless my life depends on it, or if it is for a really good Vadai, this is a slightly modified recipe.

Recipe for Tofu-Chilli Stir Fry 
Prep Time 15 minutes | Cooking time 15 minutes | Serves 3-4
Serve as appetiser or a side with steamed rice or fried rice

Ingredients
200 gram tofu cut into finger lengths - around 16 pieces
1 tbsp cooking oil
2-3 green chillies or fresh red chillies
1 tsp finely minced ginger
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1 large green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp corn flour
1/4 cup water
1 tsp rice vinegar
black pepper to taste

Marinade for the tofu
2 tbsp light soy sauce or 1 tbsp dark soy plus 1 tbsp water
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tbsp honey
big pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp of rice vinegar or regular white vinegar

Coriander or spring onion greens for garnish
toasted sesame seeds (Optional)

Directions
Mix all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk well, keep aside.
Place the tofu pieces in a large bowl. Pour the marinade over it and gently toss and coat well. 
Keep aside for 15 minutes at least and up to one hour in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile chop the bell pepper into long strips and the onion into thin slices or cut into quarters and peel each quarter into petals (like you see in the photo of the dish). 
Mix the 2 tsp corn flour, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup water to make a slurry, in a small bowl. Keep aside.
Place a wok on HIGH heat with the oil. Once the oil is hot, quickly stir in the green chillies, ginger garlic. Don't brown the garlic. Add the sliced veggies and stir fry on high flame for 5 minutes or so, with constant stirring, so it doesn't burn.
Next drain the marinated tofu and add it to the wok, toss it gently on medium flame for 2-3 minutes.
Add the leftover marinade plus the slurry and toss until it gets a well glazed look. Add the 1 tsp rice vinegar, give it a final stir and remove into a bowl.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander or spring onion batons and toasted sesame seeds.

If you want to serve with rice, use an extra tsp of cornflour and increase water to around half cup, simmer until a little thick, adjusting the seasoning accordingly. 
You *can* try this with paneer too, if you are still not convinced about tofu :)

Previous Indo-Chinese recipes in this month's series
How to make a vegetable stock in 30 minutes
Lemon-Coriander Soup

Next week: How to make a basic egg fried rice

----------------

This recipe is part of the endeavor to create a collection of recipes of Indian Chinese Recipes in collaboration with a few bloggers who share the same passion of cooking. All the recipes from #thekitchendivas are pinned on this Pinterest board. 

Other Indo-Chinese recipes this week from #thekitchendivas

Crab Rangoon from WhiskAffair
Gobi Manchurian from FunFoodFrolic
Vegetarian Rice Paper Spring Rolls from Archana's Kitchen

{GARDEN TO PLATE} Radish Recipes: Moong Dal with Radish Greens & Quick Radish Salad

I love to grow radishes, more for the greens, than the radishes themselves. Fresh, pungent and full of goodness, I start snipping the leaves as and when they appear (not all, but some from each radish). Use them in salads, both raw and lightly wilted. They happily go into a Sambar and also pair with veggies like potatoes or carrots. Radish greens can also be sneaked into your kid's pasta along with basil and other greens :) You can also make a simple curry using the radish and the greens. 

Radish leaves - Symmetry

Radish greens are said to be more packed in nutrition than the root itself - especially protein, calcium and iron. It is a pity most supermarkets throw them away and stock only the radish root. I treasure them for their bountiful green leaves. Radish flowers bring so much prettiness to the vegetable patch, and bring in the bees too! 

Radish flowers with seeds forming in the pods

This recipe is a dry curry with moong dal, which I must confess, is not my favourite lentil to start with. It's a slimy thing and that slime that really destroy a dish. In this subzi, I do everything possible to keep the dal dry. No slime in my curry, thank you!

I used up the radish root in a crunchy pickle or salad, call it what you like. The pungency of the radish mellows down a bit while soaking in the spices for an hour and also gives it an ever so slight fermentation, that is absolutely great for your gut health. 

Radish Greens and Moong Dal Curry

Recipe for Moong Dal with Radish Greens 

Prep Time: 1 hour, includes soaking time | Cooking Time: 20-25 mins | Serves 3-4

Eat with roti / naan / steamed rice

Ingredients:

3/4 cup split moong dal (small yellow lentils)

500 grams of radish greens* (just the leaves and tender stems)

1 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida

3 cloves garlic

3 dried red chillies

sprig of curry leaves

1 medium onion

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp salt

juice of 1 lemon

to garnish- 1/4 cup freshly grated coconut or frozen (unsweetened)

Preparation:

Wash and soak the moong dal in plenty of water for an hour.

Wash the radish greens in 2-3 changes of water until thoroughly clean. Slice finely.

Crush and mince the garlic.

Peel, halve and finely slice the onion.

Directions:

• In a large pot (approx 3 Litre capacity), bring 1.5Litre water to a boil with a 1/2 tsp of salt. 
• Meanwhile, drain the soaked moong dal and keep it ready. Add to the boiling water. 
• Boil on high flame. Remove any scum with a slotted spoon and discard. 
• After 5-6 minutes of boiling, check on the dal, it must be nearly cooked, but with a bite to it- something like the al-dente texture of cooked pasta. 
• At this stage drain the nearly cooked dal well in a sieve and keep aside.
• Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed pan / kadai / wok, heat the ghee. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. 
• Once they splutter, add asafoetida, garlic, red chillies, curry leaves and stir around for 30 seconds. 
• Add the sliced onion and stir on medium flame for 5 minutes until translucent. 
• Add the finely sliced radish greens and stir fry on high flame. They will wilt in 2 minutes or so.
• Add the drained nearly cooked moong dal to this, along with turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt and toss well but gently, taking care not to mash up the dal. 
• Cover and steam cook for a couple of minutes allowing the dal to cook fully, but retain its shape. 
• Pour lemon juice, give it a final stir. 
• Garnish with fresh coconut and serve hot. 

*If you don't find radish greens, by all means use spinach, amaranth or any other local greens you can find. Do mind the cooking time of some greens like swiss chard or collard greens may be much longer, and may not fit this recipe well. 

Recipe for Instant Radish Pickle / Salad 

Prep time: 5-7 minutes | Inactive time: 1 hour | Cooking time: nil 

Serves 3-4 as a condiment 

Ingredients

2 small radishes 

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp white vinegar

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper powder

1/4 tsp paachphoron powder (if available)

Directions

Scrape or peel the radish. Chop into small cubes.

Add all the remaining ingredients. Rub the spices and seasoning well into the radish using fingertips. Cover and keep aside for an hour at least. Leaving this outside for one hour gives rise to a mild fermentation, which is good for health. While serving, drain off excess liquid with slotted spoon.

This is crunchy with tons of flavour. I have kept the salt low, but you can increase by 1/2 tsp for a better flavour.

If you have the whole paachphoron spices at home, just crush them lightly with mortar pestle or in a coffee grinder and then add to the salad for a stronger punch of flavour. 

My experience with ChefKraft [Coupon Inside]

PL USE COUPON CKSPL2010 - Coupon valid until 5 March, 2015

Ever wanted to cook up a fancy meal, but felt overwhelmed by the number of ingredients required? Also, specialty ingredients that cost a lot, sold in larger packages / bottles, makes one wonder about the cost effectiveness of it all, especially if you are not going to cook that particular cuisine regularly. How do you like the idea of a company home delivering you a foolproof recipe PLUS all the ingredients required to prepare it, all ready-to-cook?

THE SERVICE

This is where a company like ChefKraft aims to fill the gap. You can cook up a fancy menu, with all ingredients accurately measured out, cleaned, prepped and packed. All you need to do is cut open these packs and follow the recipe given in the accompanying cards. They have partnered with First Agro to get you the best quality pesticide free produce. The recipes for the menu have been created by chefs. You can browse through their menu  which is divided into Salads, Minis, Casual Dining and Main Course.

Ingredients for Thai Green Curry

Instead of the overhyped eating out on Valentine's Day, we decided to resort to ChefKraft menus. The husband was the designated cook, of course. He is a (very) occasional cook and will only cook if his life depended on it (or mine). He is also super-organised in his cooking, unlike me. Before you give too much credit to that, let me clarify that it is always possible to be precision driven and super organised when you cook only once in a while (I do hope he's not reading this!) He always ensures that the pans are ready, ingredients laid out etc. before he starts cooking. And me, I'm diametrically opposite (as all good wives should be). I first keep the pan on the hob and then proceed to open the refrigerator and then go hmm....what do I cook now? 

OUR COOKING EXPERIENCE

We asked for a Thai Green Curry - Jasmine rice- Lettuce Wraps menu and a stand alone salad to serve the 3 of us (once you have a kid, and until that kid grows up, Valentine dinners are always for 3, yes! Unless you have a retinue of family members or househelp to take care of the kid, and we have neither).  The package arrived on time. The ingredients were neatly packed in cardboard boxes (which the delivery person took back, I'm happy about this being recycled). The salad and other veggies came packed along with an ice pack to keep fresh. 

Husband's precision style cooking- with timer to calculate simmering time

Husband decided to have a go at (cooking) the curry and rice. The green curry paste, coconut milk, veggies, rice and herbs were all packed separately and all he needed to do was follow the recipe card and keep snipping open the right packet at the right time. The jasmine rice was the real deal. It was incredibly fragrant, and the kind of aroma that makes you want to dig into the food rightaway, even if it was just 5.30pm. I did manage to quell those cravings until dinner time somehow. 

Filling for the wraps in the making

The task of preparing the filling for the lettuce wraps was promptly transferred to me after the curry and rice were ready (husband is all for equal distribution of chores). I went about making it, feeling very 'cheffy', as though an invisible sous chef had prepped all the ingredients for me. The filling could be prepared in advance, and assembled into the iceberg lettuce leaves at the time of the meal.

We also got the green lentil salad with goat cheese. The salad base ingredients came packed in a recyclable box made from corn (which I was later informed). The dressing and cheese came in two different packs. I'm happy to report that it was real goat's cheese and not crumbled paneer masquerading as goat's cheese. The quantity of the cheese to go on the salad was also decent. The salad was said to serve 2 people and the quantity was more than generous.

Dishes are ready

THE TASTE TEST

Like they say, we first taste the food with our olfactory senses. The process of cooking itself held the promise of a great meal from the intense aromas that were swirling around our kitchen. 

Lentil Salad

The salad which I had mixed ahead had absorbed the flavours of the dressing and it was fresh. The quantity of dressing provided along with the salt and pepper was quite perfect, that I didn't have to make any adjustments to the seasoning. The goat cheese added a nice touch of gourmet to everyday ingredient like green moong, potato, raw mango and tomato, and the dressing gave it a good burst of flavour, along with the finely chopped parsley.

Filling for lettuce wraps

The filling for the lettuce wraps had bags of flavour from the Hoisin sauce and the ChefKraft secret sauce and a good crunch from the corn and bean sprouts. I did a quick taste of the tofu in its raw state, before cooking and it was clean tasting, with no funky smells or residual taste, indicating that it was of good quality. This filling inside an iceberg lettuce cup is such a healthy appetiser, and delicious to boot. I often make one such dish, but a raw salad kinda filling instead of a cooked one. 

Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice

The jasmine rice was SO aromatic that it got our appetite all revved up for the main course. The Thai green curry was perfectly balanced in terms of spice and flavour. I do wish they had included mushrooms and baby eggplant, apart from the other veggies included in the pack. The quantities would serve 2 good eaters quite generously. Since we ordered an extra salad in addition to this Thai menu, we had some curry and rice leftover too.

VERDICT

It's a great service for an occasional cook who finds it difficult to stock up on all ingredients as well an enthusiastic cook who finds it painful to source all the ingredients. The salad boxes can also be great to eat healthy at the workplace, where you get everything in a box, just pour the dressing, add seasoning, toss and eat. For corporates, it is worthwhile exploring delivery options with ChefKraft to make your employees eat healthier. The only downside, which I already discussed with ChefKraft was the use of lots of small plastic pouches to carry individual ingredients and I am happy that they are conscious of this and they are already on the lookout for alternatives.

If you want to be a chef, without even wielding a knife (just wield a pair of scissors) this is the service for you. Find the details below. You may follow them on the various social media platforms to keep abreast of new menus and other offers. 

Like all other cool things (umm, except traffic woes), this service is currently available only in BANGALORE. Sorry, the other cities will have to wait :) 

ChefKraft has been kind to offer a discount coupon to the readers of SaffronTrail. After you place your order, don't forget to use CFSPL2010 as the coupon code to get the discount on your first order. This coupon is valid until March 5, 2015. 

Details:

Website: Chefkraft.com

Facebook: Fb.com/chefkraftindia

Twitter: @chefkraftindia

Instagram: @chefkraftindia

This product was sent to me complimentary from ChefKraft. I have shared an honest and unbiased account of my experience.

Recipe for Lemon Coriander Soup | Indo-Chinese Recipes

Soups are a big deal in Indo-Chinese cuisine. The names listed on most menu cards of Indo-Chinese restaurants are sure to elicit a few laughs, thanks to their sheer entertainment quotient. Manchow Soup, Mein Chow Soup, Main Chow Soup, Manchou Soup - I have spent many a quiet moment pondering on the real spelling and pronunciation of Manchow soup. Not really, but you get my point, right?

 Now given that big food brands are using the word Manchow on their products, I suppose that is the spelling to be taken seriously. Since the Indo-Chinese cuisine is entirely homegrown, there are no set spellings or pronunciations. You cook it, you set the rules, like the little Chinese food cart on an Indian street in the pic above. They make the food in front of you, fast & furious and fresh and surely that counts for something.

Image Credit: @prats_39

Lemon-Coriander soup is another popular item listed in most Indo-Chinese menus. I like to think of it like a clear soup or a broth, perfect to sip on without killing your appetite for the main course, like it often happens with a big bowl of Mein Chow Manchow soup thickened with cornflour and topped with fried noodles. Do take some time out to make a vegetable stock, it makes all the difference to the flavour. I have written about a pressure cooker method to make a vegetable stock, that takes very little time as compared to the original simmer for an hour method, you can try that. There is no soya sauce, chili sauce or vinegar to call this an Indo-Chinese soup but given that it features in most such menus, I am including this as a part of our #thekitchendivas Indo-Chinese recipe series this month.

This soup has the delicate flavours from the stock and the vegetables. The carrot and squash give it a mild sweetness that balanced the lemon and the chili perfectly. Surely, something comforting to whet your appetite in the winters and a healthy dish to add to your repertoire for the other times of the year. 

Healthy Indo-Chinese Soup | Lemon Coriander Soup
Serves 3-4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
600 ml vegetable stock (unsalted)
1/4 cup finely diced Kabocha Squash* or any other squash / pumpkin
1/4 cup finely diced carrot (use red variety when in season)
1/4 cup finely diced French beans
3 fat cloves garlic, finely minced
1 green chili, finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
Juice of 1 big lemon

Directions

To make in Philips Soupmaker
Put all the ingredients except coriander and lemon into the jar.
Turn on the CHUNKY soup option.
In 20 minutes, the soup will be ready.
Pour into a serving bowl, add the chopped coriander and lemon juice. Mix well and it is ready to serve.

To make on stove top
Saute the garlic and vegetables in 1 tsp cooking oil for 1 minute or so. Add the stock, salt and cover and cook for 20 minutes or so, until the veggies are cooked. Remove into a bowl, mix in the coriander and lemon juice and serve hot.

This is a healthier version of lemon coriander soup, which is almost like a clear soup, and I haven't added the cornstarch slurry that is usually added in the end to thicken the soup. You can do that once the veggies are cooked, bring back to a simmer so that the cornflour is cooked and then it's ready to serve. 

*Kabocha Squash is a pumpkin variety that comes in white, light pink and orange colours. Here, it is grown by First Agro and available in Bangalore. 

Read my review of the Philips Soupmaker and do participate in the Giveaway from Philips which is on until end of the month. 

This recipe is part of the endeavor to create a collection of recipes of Indian Chinese Recipes in collaboration with a few bloggers who share the same passion of cooking. All the recipes from #thekitchendivas are pinned on this Pinterest board. 

Other Indo-Chinese recipes this week from #thekitchendivas

General Tso's Chicken from WhiskAffair
Schezwan Egg Fried Rice from Sinamon Tales
Crispy Honey Chilli Chicken from FunFoodFrolic
Veg Momos from Archana's Kitchen

Recipe for Keerai Vadai | Spinach & Herbs Masala Vadai

You'll find the South Indian vadais at two antipodes of the food spectrum - from crisp, light and a delight to bite into to a heavy, doughy mass and something you'd rather use to injure someone. The medu vadai / vada with its minimal ingredients is a tough one to get right. If you don't get it right, there's nothing much you can do, except may be dunk it into boiling hot rasam and pray to all the food goods that somehow the vadai gets a second chance to be counted as edible.

Then there's the more exciting paruppu vadai, that is made using split Bengal Gram dal - chana dal. When made for festivals and prasadam (offering in pujas etc.) it is made without the onion-garlic mix and other herbs, using just the soaked dal, asafoetida, chillies and salt. This one has huge scope for tasty improvisations, and it is reasonably easier to get right as compared to the medu vada. There are numerous variations, and keerai vadai with its plentiful greens is one of my favourites. There's also a Chettinad specialty called 'Vazhapoo vadai' which used the banana flower as an addition. The use of fennel seeds in this recipe gives it a lovely fragrance is a Chettinad touch. When one bites into this, the fennel is what makes your guests ask you, "what's this unusual flavour I'm getting?".




This recipe is from my househelp Krishnaveni, who is an excellent cook. Her layered parathas are divine, and I can't seem to like tea made by anyone else. While she doesn't do the general cooking on a daily basis, she is always happy to pitch in when I am cooking for a crowd.

Tambrahm Menu Thali

When it was my turn to host the bi-monthly Bloggers' lunch for #thekitchendivas, I drew out a Tambrahm menu, taking care to include items which my fellow bloggers might not have had before. This Keerai  (Spinach) vadai was one of them. Krishnaveni took responsibility for this, while I went about the rest of the cooking. They turned out absolutely delicious. The aromas of coriander, mint, curry leaves, fennel seeds meant they needed no accompanying chutney. She says that you can even add dill leaves as a replacement to one of the herbs listed here for an even more unusual flavour. And don't be shocked at the largish quantity of garlic, frying mellows their flavour considerably and it's not a strong garlicky taste at all.

Keerai Masala Vadai | Recipe for Spinach-Masala Vada
Makes around 35-40 small vadais

Equipment needed
Mixer to grind
Kadai to deep fry

Ingredients
250 gram chana dal
1/8 tsp asafoetida
1.5 tsp grated ginger
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste
1 large onion, finely chopped
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 cup packed spinach leaves (washed, dried)- finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped mint
1 sprig curry leaves, finely chopped
1.5 tsp salt
1 pinch of baking soda
roughly 300 ml cooking oil, for deep frying (depends on size of your kadai)

Preparation
Wash and soak the chana dal in lots of water for 5-6 hours.
Drain well and grind to a coarse paste, without adding any extra water. 
Add all the remaining ingredients to the paste, mix well.
Keep the oil to heat in a deep heavy bottomed pan / kadai. 
Once the oil is hot, you can test by dropping in a small round of dal mix into the oil. It should immediately sizzle, go to the bottom of the kadai, and come straight up to the surface.
On a greased palm or a cling film, pat vadais of around 1.5" diameter and 1/2 inch thickness. As you form each vadai shape drop it along the sides into hot oil. 
Allow this to fry on medium heat, for around 4 minutes or so on one side. Once the bottom side turns golden and crisp, you can flip it around and similar fry this side for 3 minutes or so. 
Drain on a colander covered with a few layers of kitchen paper / tissues to absorb the excess oil.

Prepare ahead tip:
You can grind the chana dal and keep it refrigerated overnight. Add the rest of the ingredients just before shaping the vadas and frying, or the onions and greens will release water and make the vada mix soggy

Deep frying tip:
Deep fry on medium heat, so that the insides cook as the outside turns golden and crisp. 

Review of the Philips Soupmaker + Giveaway + Recipe for Tomato-Red Bell Pepper Soup

When I first heard of the SoupMaker from the Philips team, it got me all curious. A machine where you can just put in all the ingredients, it's cooked into a soup,wow! You get to choose whether you want the soup to be blended or chunky, and it also keeps the soup warm. The principles seem simple enough and something that simplifies our cooking process to a great extent. Whether it is their water purifier, AirFryer, I have personally experienced simple principles put into play in a sleek looking gadget. 

WHAT IS A SOUPMAKER
It is like a kettle which cooks your soup ingredients. The fitted lid comes with a blade that is helpful to blend the soup to a creamy texture (if needed). The body of the soupmaker is like a thermos that will keep the soup warm for 40 minutes. The detachable cord helps take the elegant looking kettle to the table and pour straight out of it, as it has a convenient spout. 

The interface is so ridiculously simple that one might get stumped how to use it (!!) because you are expecting something more complex.
The panel comes with a start/stop button and a function selecting button. Each time you press the button, it moves on to the next function and once your desired function is selected, all you do is press the start button and allow the soupmaker to go about its business.

SOUPMAKER - PANEL

FUNCTIONS
Why 5 functions for soup, you may wonder! 
The first and second functions are for creamy and chunky soups respectively. The creamy soup function uses the blender in the end to give the soup a smooth consistency. 
The third option is for making compote. This is great for converting seasonal fruits into compotes for going on top of toast or desserts. 
The fourth option is for smoothies. So if your health conscious lifestyle demands a soup for dinner, you can have a smoothie for breakfast. Just throw in all the ingredients and hit this function, pour into your glass and you're set! I have a feeling this will be great for lassis, frozen yogurts and even churning ice creams / kulfis.
The last function is the manual blender function. If you feel you want to blend your creamy soup further or blend just about anything, you can select this function and use the start button to blend for as long as you keep it pressed. And blending stops as soon as you release this button.

ADVANTAGES
-I make soups very often and my usual way would be to lightly saute all ingredients directly in my smallest pressure cooker- wait for the stuff to cook, the cooker to cool, then blend them to a puree and bring back to a simmer with the rest of the ingredients. While it is quite effortless, there is a bit of monitoring and waiting around involved. With the soupmaker, there's no need to hang around. Select the function and come back to it just when you need to pour yourself a mug or bowl of soup. 
-The soupmaker is quite a multitasker, if I go by the recipes given in the recipe book -all manner of soups, smoothies, frozen yogurts, compotes etc. 
-It is reasonably compact, fitting easily in a small space on your kitchen counter. It's better kept in a handy location, so that you'll be inspired to make soups everyday, that's the whole point of this gadget - a healthier lifestyle, right?
-The soupmaker makes 4 servings or 2 large servings if you are having the soup as a meal. 
- It makes soups with no addition of fat whatsoever. You can always garnish with some extra virgin olive oil, but those who are counting their calories, this is a blessing. (I don't personally advocate oil-free eating though, just saying :)
- It is easy to clean thanks to a steel jar with straight sides. I added tap water, a drop of liquid soap and used the manual blending function to get it clean in a jiffy.

A word of caution: The soupmaker body gets very hot while it is in use, so use only the handles on the side and on the top to open / handle the gadget while it is in use or when the soup is ready. It does have a 'hot' caution sign as you can see in the photo of the panel above. 
I was wondering if the hot liquid will splash out during the blending process, like it usually does in a blender and I was relieved to note that there were no such accidents. 

HOMEMADE BABY FOOD
Given how it works, the soupmaker can be a great gadget for baby food and weaning foods. New mums have a dozen demands on their time. Some organic vegetables, herbs, lentils and grains put into the soup maker with stock - can be left on chunky mode for the mum, and the soup/meal topped with some spicy seasonings such as black pepper or a tadka and the remaining 'soup' can be blended and given as babyfood. Surely healthier than what comes out of a bottle and with a bare minimum effort.

HEALTH QUOTIENT 
Steaming inside a closed container helps retain the nutrients and since you don't discard any of the liquid in which the veggies / meat has been cooked, you get the full nutritional advantage from your soup. 

A soup is a low calorie, high fiber, high nutrition substitute to a full meal and I'm talking about soups without cream, cheese or any such high fat/calorie ingredients. Replacing dinner with a soup each evening can help cut down considerable calories and thereby aid weight loss, in a healthy way, without compromising on the nutrition.

WHAT'S MISSING
The only improvements I could imagine in this gadget are proper labeling of the panel- such as Smooth, Chunky, Smoothie etc., instead of just a graphic representation so it is easier for new users. An electronic timer that shows the time remaining would have been a useful feature.

I shall update this review soon with the other functions such as Compote and Smoothie, once I have tried them. 

Kitchen gadgets such as these are inspiring. I have been thinking of all the things I can try in this one - a mix of fresh ingredients, seasonal greens and veggies and there are literally tons of combinations you can come up with. 
Since I had just made a batch of Vegetable Stock that morning, I promptly tried a chunky soup (which I shall share a recipe soon) and today for lunch I made a tomato and red-bell pepper soup and to go with that multigrain bread rolls. 

It's super convenient and almost magical, how I simply poured the stock into the soupmaker, the roughly chopped veggies, switched it on and came back to beautiful aromas wafting around the kitchen.

Tomato-Red Bell Pepper Soup 

Recipe for Tomato-Bell Pepper soup in Philips Soupmaker
Serves 3-4
Prep time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
5 medium tomatoes
1/2 large red bell pepper
3 fat cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium onion, peeled
600 ml of unsalted vegetable stock or use water +stock cube  
1 tsp salt
2 tsp oat flour + 3 tbsp water
To garnish
Basil leaves
Mustard flowers
Single Cream

Directions
Quarter the tomatoes. Chop the bell pepper into 2 cm squares (small dice). Slice the onions and finely chop the garlic.
Add all of this along with the stock into the soupmaker. Close the lid properly.
Switch on the power and select the first function (creamy soup). Press the start button.
This will take 25 minutes in all.
Once it's done, add the salt, oat flour + water slurry, and close the soupmaker, select the 'Chunky soup' option. In two minutes, this would have come to a boil, at this point use the Manual Blender option to ensure the oats has mixed into the smooth to give a creamy texture. 
Pour into bowls, garnish and serve with your favourite bread rolls. 

You can check out the Philips Soupmaker on Amazon.in 
The Giveaway
Philips has been kind to gift one of their rice cookers to a reader / subscriber of Saffron Trail blog. Here are the details.

 Philips Rice Cooker  

[GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. WINNER HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED]
The giveaway is open to residents of India.

Here is what you have to do to enter the giveaway:

Subscribe to my Youtube Channel. 

Like SaffronTrail and Philips Home Living India

Leave a comment on this post on Facebook with what soup you would like to prepare in the SoupMaker.
If you are not on Facebook, you can leave a comment on my blog itself, but please make sure you enter a valid email address so we can get in touch with you!
The last step is to leave a comment on this post that you have done all the above.
One random winner will be picked from the comments below at the end of the month.

Thanks in advance for your participation :) 

Disclosure: 
I was sent the Philips Soupmaker for a review on my blog, from Philips. I have shared my unbiased opinion and experience. 
The Amazon Link to the Soupmaker is an affiliate link. Your purchase via the link will not cost you more, but will help support the blog in a small way.