Category: appetizer

Poha by Ankitha Gadag

Poha is a traditional South Indian breakfast made with minimal ingredients. The ayurvedic turmeric gives it a beautiful golden color while the warmed cumin adds a depth of flavor.

While Poha goes by a variety of names in South India (Pohay, Chuda Santula, Kande Pohey, Avalakki, etc), the ingredients and flavor profile tend to be the same across the board. In it’s essence, Poha is a spicy rice dish with peanuts that is best served with a piping hot cup of masala chai (mmmm…).

This dish takes me back to my Aunt’s home in Davengere, Karnataka. She is an incredible cook who loves to feed everyone around her. This was one of my favorite dishes to eat around an evening snack-time (although traditionally eaten during breakfast). Today, this dish is something I serve to my friends during a weekend brunch, just so they can experience some of my favorite foods growing up 🙂

Without further adieu, let’s get started!

You’ll need:

Please note: These items can all be found in your local Asian-Indian grocery store

  1. Poha ( Puffed Rice – this one is my favorite) : about 4 cups
  2. Thai green chillies or serranos ( depending on your spice level, I use 4-5 green TC, use less for serranos) : Roughly chopped
  3. Dry, Unsalted Peanuts: 1/4 cup
  4. Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
  5. Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
  6. Onion: 1/2 fine diced
  7. Hing (asofetida) : 1/2 tsp
  8. Turmeric: 1 tsp
  9. Curry Leaves: ~10 leaves torn
  10. Squirt of lemon juice (optional)
  11. Aloo bujia (optional)

To get started:

  1. Start by soaking the poha in a colander with cold water. This helps the texture of the dish go from crunchy to a chewy consistency.
  2. In a shallow pan, warm up roughly two tablespoons of ghee. (Any form of oil you have on hand can be used, but ghee makes a difference in flavor)
  3. In low heat, start by tempering the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they start popping, add in your chilies, curry leaves and saute for a couple of mins.
  4. Next, change the heat setting to medium-high, and add in the peanuts. The trick here is to roast the peanuts without burning them, so watch carefully.
  5. Now, add in your onions, turmeric and hing. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for 4 – 5 mins until golden brown.
  6. Salt your drained poha (to taste) and add in to the mixture. Turn off stove. Top of with lemon juice and combine.
  7. Enjoy! I love to serve this dish with aloo bujia. This crispy potato snack makes a huge difference so highly recommend!

Ankitha Gadag Original Recipe – Mirchi Bajji

A South Indian soul-food, complete with a step by step video tutorial!

Okay, so I lied.

This actually is NOT an Ankitha Gadag original recipe. It is actually passed down from generations within the Gadag family clan. So thank you Mama for sharing the recipe!

Admittedly, this is not the healthiest of recipes…  but trust me it’s worth the indulgence. There is a series of Indian “street foods” that are worth every calorie. Amongst them, a few of my favorites are: Panipuri, Bhelpuri, Samosas, and of course Mirchi Bajjis!

In the Gadag household, this is a regular treat on a rainy evening or when the whole family craves “junk” food. It’s a time for everyone to come together, throw on a 4 hour Bollywood movie, grab a glass of wine and share some mirchi bajji’s with bhel on the side.

From my family to yours, I hope you enjoy this 🙂

What you’ll need:

  • jalapenos (1 serving : 5)
  • thyme seeds (1-2 tbsp)
  • cumin seeds (1-2 tbsp)
  • Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo Flour (1 cup)
  • Chosen Foods Avocado Oil (1 cup)
  • warm water (1-2 tbsp)
  • s&p to taste

Method:

  1. Start by slitting a vertical line through each of the jalapenos. De-seed for less spice
  2. Stuff with Thyme seeds + Cumin Seeds
  3. To make your batter , combine the remainder of cumin seeds, thyme seeds with the garbanzo flour. Add salt to taste. Add a couple tablespoons of the heated oil and WHISK away!
  4. Add in a couple tablespoons of warm water. You want to have a fairly thick consistency so the batter will hold in the oil
  5. Dip your stuffed jalapenos into the batter and fry until golden brown
  6. Serve HOT!

 

Ankitha Gadag’s – Hearty Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

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Hi Guys!

Welcome back to Ankitha Gadag Recipes! Today, I am excited to share one of my favorite soup recipes – a tortilla soup that can be enjoyed all year around. I know some people might disagree about soup being a year around staple, but when it takes 5 mins to make after a long day at work, you will see my perspective. This soup has all the kick thanks to the southwestern flavors while providing you with loads of nutrition from the veggie base. It’s delicious, it’s easy, it’s flavorful!

Let’s get started!

What you will need :

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  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/4th of an onion
  • bouillon cube or 1 tbsp of better than bouillon stock
  • Blend it up Southwest Spiceblend or taco seasoning
  • handful of tortilla chips (crumbled)
  • 1 handful of spinach leaves
  • filtered water (2 cups approximately)
  1. Add all ingredients except half of the tomato, tortilla chips, and spinach into your Vitamix or blender of choice
  2. Add in water, if you are not using a Vitamix please make sure you are using hot water
  3. In Vitamix, change to soup setting or blend for at least 10 mins
  4. Add in remaining ingredients and pulse gently for a few seconds

Hope you guys enjoy this recipe, it’s one of my favorites. For a fun step by step tutorial check out my video snap below!

 

 

Sesame-Garlic Baby Bok-Choy

Ankitha Gadag original recipe for an easy week-night side dish!

Welcome back to Ankitha Gadag Recipes, home of authentic, exotic recipes curated by yours truly – Ankitha Gadag. For all you first timers to the blog, thank you for visiting. I hope you find a recipe that will help you fall in love with food as much as I have! Today’s recipe is an Asian inspired dish, that would work best as a side to a delicious Thai/Chinese/Japanese entree. I personally paired it with Pad-Ka-Prow (recipe coming soon!) a street-side northern Thai dish, and the flavors blended perfectly.

This was actually my first attempt at cooking bok-choy. It is one of those vegetables that is really difficult to mess up. It soaks up all the flavors of the marinade wonderfully. Plus, with only 3 ingredients making this recipe, it is SO EASY to make! It’s great for a week night dinner after a long day, when you don’t want to spend more than 10 minutes whipping up dinner.

Alright, without further ado…

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 baby bok-choy (cut in half, length-wise)
  • soy sauce (2 tbsp)
  • rice wine vinegar (2 tbsp)
  • sesame seed oil (2 tbsp)
  • garlic (1-2 cloves)

ankitha_gadag_seasoning

 

Preparation:

  1. Heat up some oil in a pan, flavor the oil with your crushed garlic clovesankitha_gadag_sizzlingoil
  2. Add your cut bok-choy into the pan face down, and cover for 2-3 mins. ankitha_gadag_boyankitha_gadag1
  3.  Now prepare your marinade, using the sauces from the ingredientsankitha_gadag_choy
  4. Add marinade to your pan and saute together for about 1-2 mins
  5. Serve!

 

How easy is that? 5 steps, 3 ingredients. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

-Ankitha

Ankitha Gadag’s Salata Aswad

Impress your guests with this easy Sudanese side-dish with only 5 ingredients!

Hello & Welcome to Ankitha Gadag Recipes where all the recipes you will find are unique, exotic and curated by myself, Ankitha Gadag. If you are a new follower to Ankitha Gadag Recipes – Welcome! If you are a loyal follower – then I apologize for the long delay in curating a new recipe 😦

To catch you guys up to speed, I have been busy  on the art front, I gave you guys a little snipped of some of my creations in my last blog (Ankitha Gadag’s Baked Whole Snapper Recipe!) Butttt, let me tell you, selling and establishing your artwork is no easy feat! How do you entrepreneur artists make it out there? I am open to any and all advice, suggestions 🙂  I have also been working on framing and customizing packaging for customers. Here is an example :

ankitha-gadag-art

Apart from the art, I have been busy working on my portfolio website for my technology consulting business.  (Yes, I am an artist and a tech-geek :)) If you haven’t checked it out already, make sure you go visit Ankitha Gadag Portfolio  – and don’t forget to send me feedback.

Alright, enough with catching you all up on my life. Back to business. Now, you are probably wondering, what in the world is Salata Aswad and why would I want to make it? Well, let me explain…

Salata Aswad is a wonderful eggplant & peanut butter dip that originated in Sudan. Although there are variations of this dish within South and North Sudan, the version were going with today is the most authentic. The flavors remind me a lot of  baba ghanoj, except better, and all credit is due to the creaminess from the peanut butter.  This dish was inspired by my Sudanese friend’s mother who is an amazing cook herself. I feel so fortunate to be able to share this treasure of a recipe with you all today! It is so easy to make with all the ingredients you most likely already have. Why would you NOT make it, is the real question?!

This recipe can be eaten as  a dip with some pita bread, or served as a side. I personally love to spread it over my scrambled eggs in the morning.

Ingredients:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2-4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 heaping tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 serrano pepper
  • 1 tbsp cumin powder

 

Instructions:

  1. Start by cutting your eggplant in half and drizzling some olive oil on both sides ankitha-gadag-salad.jpg
  2.  Set your oven to broil and bake the eggplant for about 10 mins. You will want to flip the eggplant halfway through
  3.  Your eggplant is done baking when the outer skin is crispy and the inner meat has browned a little

     

  4. With a fork, scoop out the inner flesh of the eggplant and dispose of the outer skin. In a bowl add in the remaining ingredients.

     

  5. Blend well and add salt, pepper and cumin powder. Garnish with parsley (optional)

Serve with some hot pita bread! Enjoy and let me know how you made it yours!
ankitha-gadag-recipe-salad.jpg

-Ankitha Gadag

Ankitha’s Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Easy tomatillo salsa with less than 5 ingredients!

ankitha_gadag_salsa

Tomatillo salsa has an extremely unique taste in my opinion. The green tomato adds a tartness to the mix that can be a little hard to handle if its not blended with the right spices. It needs balancing flavors to take the bite out of it. Originally, I had planned for this recipe with an addition of roasted spicy hatch peppers. I had never heard of hatch peppers before coming to Texas, but they are a BIG deal in the Southwest. There are entire festivals dedicated these roasting events and you can find hatch flavored anything at the grocery stores. Salsas, cornbread, biscuits,cheese, bread, etc. It only made sense that I hop on the bandwagon and incorporate them into a recipe. Unfortunate for me, my hatch peppers sat in the fridge way too long, and um, expired… so we will be omitting that today from the recipe. But, feel free to incorporate them if you are able to get your hands on some hatch peppers! Instead I used a regular tomato to balance the tartness of the tomatillo.

What you need:

  • 1 onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2-3 Tomatillos (green tomatoes)
  • 1 -2 serrano peppers (depending on your spice preference)
  • handful of cilantro
  • 1 red tomato

Method:

ankitha_gadag_veggies

 

  1. Start by setting your oven to broil, and laying all your ingredients in a tray to broil. Leave skin on everything
  2. Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper
  3. Roast until veggies are blistered

ankitha_gadag_tomatillo

  1. Now, dispose of the blistered skin, and blend all the veggies in a blender.

ENJOY!

Oil-Free Arugula salad with Mandarin oranges

A healthy easy week night dinner salad with oil-free dressing!

Welcome to Ankitha Gadag recipes. I am your “host” Ankitha Gadag. Ankitha is the recipe curator behind all of the original recipes found here on Ankitha Gadag’s Recipes. 

ankitha-gadag-salmon

This light and refreshing salad is fantastic when paired with a nice fresh piece of salmon. Most people feel the need to pair a vinegar with an oil. What’s great about this salad is that it’s able to achieve great flavor & texture through champagne vinegar with no added oil! Have you guys tried champagne vinegar yet? I am new to this phenomenon but a definite fan 🙂

To get started, you will need:

  • 1 mandarin orange

ankitha-gadag-orang

  • 1/4th cup crushed walnutsankitha-gadag-walnuts
  • 1 cup arugula salad
  • 1/4 th cup shaved Parmesan cheese
  • drizzle of champagne vinegar
  • handful of raisins
  • S & P to taste

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and serve!  Easy Peezy!

ankitha-gadag-salad

 

Hope you guys enjoy this delicious salad. Let me know how it tastes!

-Ankitha

Chilled avocado & cucumber soup

Light, refreshing and creamy with cool flavors from mint and dill

You don’t normally think of soups in the summertime, especially not in Texas. However, this COLD cucumber and avocado soup hits the spot with its refreshing ingredients. It’s creamy, with a slight heat from the garlic & serrano. It gets layers of flavor from the fresh  dill and mint. Contrary to traditional hot soups, this chilled soup is absolutely delightful on a hot summer afternoon on the patio (margaritas recommended).

I was inspired to create this soup when a friend put me up to a food challenge. Her criterion was “cucumbers” and “chilled.” This was out of my comfort zone. Normally, my recipes pack heat from various spices and they normally involve a protein of some form. This was such a fun challenge, because it was so easy to make with relatively few ingredients that I would never think of combining. More than likely, most of these ingredients are already in your fridge.

Anyways, give it a shot (before the summer ends!), and let me know how it turns out 🙂

chilled-cucumber-soup

You will need:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 serrano
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 english cucumber (peeled)
  • fresh mint (1 bunch)
  • fresh dill (1 bunch)
  • 1 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 1 1/3 cups greek yogurt
  • 1 cup vegetable broth

 

cucumber-avocado-soup

Method:

  1. Combine all ingredients above in your blender.
  2. Puree to a fine, creamy texture
  3. Add salt, black pepper to taste. I topped off with some smoked paprika for a little kick 🙂

creamy-avocado-cucumber-soup

That’s it! Easy peeezzyyyy 🙂

Let me know how it turns out, would love to hear from you!

-Ankitha

 

Cotija guacamole with pepitas

Looking for a creative spin on traditional guacamole? Look no further. This recipe is bursting with flavors  from your traditional guacamole – garlic,  onions and cilantro… while keeping it “fresh”. This guacamole gets an element of salty crunch from the pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and robust full-bodied flavor from the cotija cheese. This recipe is sure to be a hit with your guests.

Ingredients: (2 Servings)

  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 avocados
  • 1/4 white onion
  • 1/2 cup packed cilantro
  • 1 lime
  • sea salt (to taste)
  • pepitas (to taste)
  • cotija cheese (to taste)

 

 

Let’s get started!

 

  1. Chop garlic, onion and cilantro finely
  2. Combine avocados & mash
  3. Add in lime, sea salt and mix well
  4. Top with cheese and pepitas!

 

How simple is that? Leave your thoughts below!

guacamole-pepitas-cojita

 

 

 

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