HD's mushroom, bell pepper and potato fry.

5 star mushroom, bell pepper and potato fry.

I was in the doldrums one day and just not feeling like facing the task of cooking dinner.
Doldrums for a diabetic can be caused by anything: unbalanced sugars, muscle fatigue, joint pain...you name it, we have it.
While the challenge of life is to control the sugar and be as normal as possible, there are still days when one just has to let everything go and rest.
One such day, HD (Hubby Dearest) looked at me, went out and returned with a bag of groceries. An hour later, I woke from my nap to the best aromas coaxing me to go to the family room.
From there I have a good view of the kitchen...long long ago HD and I decided we would not trespass on each other's kitchen time...so I just peered in that direction while my salivary glands did a tango.
HD immediately positioned his back to block my view of the dish and said sternly, "Not ready yet!"
I sat down on the couch and opened up my computer...Who was I to worry about a little delay in dinner time when I was going to eat something that smelled so good.
Finally he heated up a tortilla , put some veggie on the side and said, "Here you go. It's not great but it's something."
He always says that every time he cooks. I don't know why.
Over and over these 30 years I have told him the greatness of the dish is not just the taste (though his are great...read on..you'll see why), it's the thought, the effort AND...the greatest part, the fact he leaves the kitchen spotless when he's done! The sad part is that this is the second or third time he's cooked this year, because he gets so exhausted?
Anyway I felt so much better after I ate, that I wrote the recipe down before either of us forgot it. HD says he made it once 20 years ago. I say he has never made anything like this...

Mushroom, Bell pepper,Potato Fry.

I pkt (8 oz) mushrooms, washed, chopped in half and dried on a paper towel.
1 medium onion chopped (our medium onions are equal to 2 large Indian onions)
1 large tomato, chopped
1 medium red potato cubed. (wish he'd put in 2).
1/2 large capsicum/bell pepper chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander/cilantro.
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
Chilli powder and salt to taste.
2 Tbsps olive oil
Optional: 2 Tbsps butter (He puts in more, but this is the quantity he says he puts in. Now you know why he blocks my view of the dish. I just go to the fridge and check the block of butter there and know how much he's used).

Heat oil. Fry onion.
When half done add capsicum and fry till onions turn brown.
Microwave cubed potato 4 mins without any water and add to pan.
Add tomato, mushroom, coriander and spices.
Turn your back so dish is hidden from your other half/children and add butter.

Fry everything well till done.

Eat hot with chappattis or rice. I opted for the former.

Baked matri

Whenever I get sick/feel under the weather, which is very often for a diabetic,I am challenged to come up with quicker and easier recipes... because no matter how sick the rest of me is, these taste buds; reared by a mother who loved to cook the best food and a father who insisted on the best food being served at every meal AND honed by my own work and eating skills...are something to be reckoned with.



My mouth has been watering reading all the recipes for matri BUT as explained before there is a huge gap between 'WANT TO' and 'CAN'.
It took two weeks to remember to get the omum/ajwain/carom seed,then another week to think about making matri.
Inspiration hit when I got some ready made pie crust for another recipes...look for it by the frozen biscuits etc. Two large sheets come in a box.
So here's the recipe, not written up in the traditional manner as it is too simple for that...
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
I rolled one sheet out to 1 mm thickness...next time I'll do it thinner.
I grabbed a round lid, cut out circles.
Then on top of each circle I sprinkled a very little omum...be careful as omum has a STRONG flavor and less is more.
Using my fingertips, I pressed the seed lightly into each round.
(next time I'll add cracked pepper too).
Do NOT add salt as the pie crust has enough for this dish.
I lined a tray with foil, placed my matris on it and baked it for 7 mins, till golden brown..
Watch carefully the first time and note your own right temp down as matris bake/brown quickly and everything depends on your oven.
These were flaky and absolutely delicious...the taste buds reminded me if only I'd had some Punjabi mango pickle made with somph to go with it, things would really have been great but I was too happy to care!!!

This is a healthy conversion of an old time favorite.
Though not deep fried, like the original recipe,there was no loss of taste.
PLUS, the final bonus, HD (Hubby Dearest) looked surprised and then very pleased when he tasted the new matris. He doesn't get enough savory snacks around here.

Sweet Apam

This is one of the nicest things my mother used to make for tea-time, when we had emptied the contents of her tins and she needed a quick sweet at tea-time!
I love the blend of jaggery and now I use whole wheat flour, as the kind we get in the Indian grocery stores are as fine as the maida (all purpose flour) we used in India.
The whole wheat flour is more nutritious, the jaggery does not send my blood sugar soaring as long as I eat one apam only, so this is an all around winner for a diabetic.


1 cup whole wheat flour.
1/2 cup jaggery, broken into small pieces or shaved off the jaggery 'block' with a knife.
(Brown sugar might work here too but I haven't tried it with brown sugar yet).
1/4 cup water.
1/2 tsp cardamom powder.
1 Tbsp raw cashewnuts (quartered if they are whole, halved if they are in two pieces)
1 Tbsp golden raisins (soaked in water for 5 mins to plump them up, and strained).

Melt jaggery in water and strain through a fine strainer. (I always do this with any dish I'm using jaggery for as there are always some impurities in the jaggery).
Watch carefully so jaggery just melts and does not harden...if needed add little more warm water to dilute quickly.
Cool and then add to flour with all other ingredients.
Mix like dosa pouring consistency...for those of you who do not make dosas mix like pancake batter, adding more water if necessary.
Spray a non-stick pan, heat on medium high, pour one spoon of batter to make a 2-4 inch circle...my mother painstakingly did 3 inch circles...with me size depends on how quickly I want the job finished.
Flip apam over and brown other side.
Eat hot, eat cold...delicious both ways.

Tips: If your jaggery is very hard, soften it in the microwave for a minute but be very careful handling it as it starts to melt from the inside out.
Do not make batter too watery.
Do not pour too thick as inside will not cook well...1/4 cm comes out great.
Do not cook crisp.
Apam should be golden reddish brown and soft.
Outer edge just get a little crisp but the rest should be soft.