Category: vegetarian

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!

Somali Corn in Coconut Cream

Ankitha Gadag shares a recipe for cooking corn with a spin!

Here at Ankitha Gadag recipes, we love all things exotic with an abundance of FLAVOR! Ankitha’s cooking motto is flavor=God when it comes to serving dishes. Ankitha Gadag recipes is not new to African cuisine, so this recipe is definitely one for the books! Enjoy!

 

Corn is a staple food in much of Africa. Cooking it with coconut is one of the favorite ways of preparing corn. Somali Corn in Coconut Sauce/Galey iyo Qumbo is usually served as a side dish and it goes well with meat or vegetables and steamed rice – by Tara’s Multicultural Table. What a crazy month this has…

via Somali Corn in Coconut Sauce/Galey Iyo Qumbo – Global Recipe Month Series – 7 — Cookilicious

Ankitha Gadag ‘s home-made spicy chili from scratch!

Ankitha Gadag shares an original recipe for a savory delicious chili…with an exotic twist!

I don’t know about you guys but I love a week-night meal that keeps on giving. Giving heartiness, nourishment, warmth, fulfillment… what I call healthy soul-food. A delectable meal that gets prepared in a batch-style quantity, yet you don’t get bored of it two meals later. That is precisely what this savory spicy chili is.

I used ground beef (85% lean) for this recipe, but feel free to use whatever protein floats your  boat. If you are health conscious and looking for a protein dense meal, use bison. If you want a more melt-in-your-mouth chili, use a less lean version of beef/pork/turkey.  If you’re trying to keep it vegetarian, try using Tofu crumbles, Tempeh crumbles, Seitan, or even just red beans. Make the recipe YOURS!!! 🙂

OK, let’s get started…

You will need:

  • 2 carrots (chopped)
  • 2 celery sticks (chopped)
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1-3 green chillies (1 = mild; 3 = spicy)
  • 1 cup veggies of your choice (I used mushrooms & bell peppers)
  • 1 lb protein of your choice (ground beef, turkey, red beans, tempeh, tofu, other)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp cumin powder
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 3-4 cloves
  • salt & pepper
  • *optional: 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • *optional: 1 can garbanzo beansankitha_gadag_veggies

To prepare:

  1. Start by chopping all your veggies in bite size pieces
  2. Saute the onion and garlic in about 1 tbsp of oil of your choice. Pro-tip: Add salt here, it makes the onion lose it’s water content to cook it faster.
  3. Add in the rest of your veggies
  4. Add in your seasonings. Cover and let it cook for about 10 mins.ankithagadag
  5. Now add in your protein
  6. Add in some water or broth and let it simmah simmah.
  7. Enjoy in about a half hr to an hr!

Let me know how you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for reading! P.S- this tastes great with some crumbled tortilla chips or avocado and toast!

Ankitha Gadag

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 2-Step Basil-Parsley Pesto

An Ankitha Gadag original recipe for a super easy pesto

I absolutely love pesto. Not only is it simple and quick to make, it is one of the most versatile recipes ever! Why would anyone ever buy pre-packaged pesto when it is such a cinch to make?! By making your own pesto, you can avoid all the artificial preservatives that come with most store bought products. The recipe I’ll be sharing today is an Ankitha Gadag original recipe! The key here is of course the fresh basil & garlic, but as you will see, every other ingredient can be a concoction of your favorite herbs, nuts and spices.

You can use pesto with pretty much everything. I use mine with eggs, pasta, as a spread in a sandwich, or even as a sauce to a good steak (it’s the italian chimichurri ;))

For this recipe you will need:

Ingredients:

  • Parsley (1 bunch)
  • Basil (1.5 bunch)
  • Garlic (1 bulb)
  • Nuts (1 cup of your choice, I prefer cashews or pine nuts… you can use almonds if you want to keep it healthy)
  • Parmesan cheese (1 cup)
  • Serrano (1)
  • S&P to taste
  • Olive Oil
  • lime juice to taste

ankitha-gadag-basil-pesto

Steps:

  1. Add all ingredients except olive oil into your blender ankitha-gadag-pesto

 

  1. While blending, slowly pour olive oil until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency

ankitha-gadag-vitamix

Enjoy!

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!

Ankitha Gadag original recipe- Easy Curried Tofu Scramble

An easy recipe for a Sunday brunch recipe that’s all vegan!

As you may have picked up by now, I, Ankitha Gadag, am NOT a vegetarian or vegan or any variation of that. Ankitha Gadag is and will always be, a  (proud) Carnivore. No offense to anyone who is Vegetarian/Vegan/Other, but I am still primitive in the sense that my hunter-gatherer ancestors and I had one thing in common – our love for MEAT!!!!

That said, this recipe will blow you away. It’s dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, etc and it still tastes delicious. I had to get creative when cooking brunch for a vegetarian friend (FYI, brunch options get REALLY limited when you can’t use eggs…).

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy it. It’s relatively easy to make and  needs few ingredients!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of firm tofu, drained and pressed
  • 3/4 can of coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp of ginger
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ red bell pepper
  • 4 white mushrooms
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • Lemon zest
  • Paprika
  • 1 serrano pepper

    1

ankitha_gadag_veggies_tofuankitha_gadag_tofu_stirfryankitha_gadag_curryankitha_gadag_tofu_curryankitha_gadag_tofu_scramble

Method:

  1. Saute onions, garlic, ginger and sliced serrano pepper in some olive oil to let out the flavors
  2. Add in the bell peppers and mushrooms and let it cook till soft
  3. Add in tofu and coconut milk
  4. Add in your spices
  5. That’s it! Scoop up some and serve hot.

 

 

 

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

Vitamix Pear-Green Smoothie

Great for a detox after a long weekend or as a juice cleanse! This green smoothie is low sugar, low carb and great for weight loss goals!

healthy-green-smoothie

Green smoothies are a great tasting alternative to get in all your daily vitamins and key nutrients. If taken in the morning they provide a great source of energy and keep you feeling full longer. If you prefer to drink them in the evening they are a great way to end the day with a meal that won’t be too heavy and keep your metabolism working all night. If you live a busy lifestyle, then this recipe is perfect for you. It’s super easy to make and involves little to no prep time (AND if you own a Vitamix – you know how easy clean up is :))

Feel free to mix up this recipe to incorporate your favorite greens. Remember, keeping a variety of deep greens is key to getting all the important nutrients.  You can also switch up the fruit – fruits that I find go well with green smoothies are:  apples, limes, lemons, and pears.

You will need:

pear-green-smoothie

  • 1 leaf rainbow chard (substitute with any green you like, for example: Kale)
  • handful of spinach
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 1 pear
  • 1 small handful of parsley
  • 1/4 th large cucumber

 

Method

  1. Add all your ingredients to the blender
  2. Add about 1 cup of water and a few ice cubes

vitamix-green-smoothie

  1. Blend and Enjoy!

 

Let me know how you like it guys!!

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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