Spinach Raita

Before proceeding to the recipe, I just wanted to let you guys know that I am going to host the October's Microwave Easy Cooking event. For the theme and more details, check back tomorrow. Thanks. :)) I prefer raitas to go along with my rotis, especially during my lonely lunches on weekdays. Raitas are usually simple, quick, convenient and nutritious. What more you can ask for in a side dish? I have used low fat yogurt and frozen spinach in this version which can be put together in around 10 minutes.

The following are the simple steps for this healthy and tasty raita.

. Thaw and lightly cook about 5 oz (about 150 gms) spinach in the microwave without adding any extra water. After the spinach is done, drain any water if present. . Meanwhile, beat about 2 cups of yogurt lightly with a whisk or a fork. . Now the tadka part in the microwave. Heat about 2 tsp of canola / peanut oil and 1 tsp of mustard seeds in a microwave safe bowl. When mustard seeds start to crackle, add 6-8 red chillies broken into bits, few curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida powder. Heat for a few seconds more. . Add the cooked spinach, tadka and salt to the yogurt. Mix well and serve.

Note: If substituting fresh spinach, wash and roughly chop. Sprinkle a little water and cook in the microwave. If using stove top, you can first do the tadka in a pan and saute chopped spinach till done.

This goes to Srivalli's september 09 edition of Microwave Easy Cooking event.

Post a Comment

Rava - Semiya Payasam

Semolina - Vermicelli Payasam: I prefer quick and easy payasams for neivedyam and yesterday I prepared rava - semiya payasam. This is another delicious, simple payasam from my kitchen for those with a sweet tooth. The filling semolina and vermicelli combine with the coconut which lends a rich, sweet flavor and adds a little crunch to the dish. Ingredients for 8-10 servings: A fistful or 2 Tbsp of each - semiya(vermicelli), rava(semolina) and shredded, fresh/frozen coconut Milk - 4 cups Sugar - 1/4 cup or to taste 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 1 tsp ghee (clarified butter) 1 Tbsp cashew nuts & raisins The 'how' part: Heat the milk, preferably in a non stick sauce pan. Mean while, dry fry the vermicelli and the semolina separately till the vermicelli browns uniformly and rava starts to brown. Add the vermicelli, rava and coconut to the milk and let them cook till done. (You know that it is done when the vermicelli is cooked.) Add some more milk if the payasam is thick. Add the sugar and cardamom powder and cook for a couple more minutes till sugar is dissolved. Heat ghee in a small pan and add cashews and raisins to it. Stir them with a spoon till cashews turn golden brown and raisins plump. Turn off the stove and add them to the cooked payasam. Serve them hot or chilled. Related Post: Carrot - Vermicelli Payasam Post a Comment

Happy Dasara and Steamed Green Beans with Moongdal & Senaga Guggillu

Happy Dasara to everyone. I prepared a simple neivedyam as Dasara (navarathri) began today. It included green beans koora, eggplant-tomato sambhar, puliyogare, semiya payasam and senaga guggilu. And today I am posting recipes for a couple of them. The first one is steamed green beans with moongdal. Beans - PesaraPappu Koora: Green bean is one of my favorite vegetable and so is frequently cooked in my kitchen. I use them in various ways and here is one easier method to cook green beans. . Wash and soak a handful of moongdal (skinned, split green lentils) in water for an hour or two. Then drain the water and keep the moongdal aside. . Wash, trim the ends and chop the green beans into 1/4 inch bits. (String before chopping, if neccessary. Usually the beans I find here, need no stringing.) Cook 2 cups of chopped beans in a pressure cooker till you hear 2 -3 whistles. There is no need to add water to cook the beans. If you feel like adding, just sprinkle a handful over the beans. When the valve pressure is gone, remove the beans and drain them in a colander. . Heat about 2 tsp of canola / peanut oil in a saute pan. Add 1 tsp each of chanadal, uraddal, mustard seeds & cumin seeds in that order. When the dals turn reddish, add 8-10 red chillies ( broken into bits), a few curry leaves and saute them for a few seconds. Then add the cooked beans, moongdal, salt and about 1/4 cup of fresh (or frozen/dry) shredded coconut to the pan. Saute them for about 3 -4 minutes and turn off the stove. Now the other recipe is for Senaga Guggillu: (Kala Chana Salad) Guggillu / Usli / Sundal or what ever you call them depending upon where you live is nothing but a (South) Indian style bean salad. Dried beans are soaked, cooked till tender and then seasoned with spices and accentuated with some shredded, fresh coconut and lime juice at the end. Senagalu - the brown chick peas are one of the favorite beans used to prepare the guggillu. Often served as prasadam at temples in Southern India, this is a fulfilling snack anytime of the day. For 4 servings, wash and soak 4 fistfuls of dried, black chick peas overnight. In the morning, drain the water, wash the chickpeas twice and cook with about 4 -6 cups of water in a pressure cooker. After the valve pressure is gone, remove the chickpeas from the cooker. Drain the water and wash the chickpeas with fresh water once or twice. Heat about a Tbsp of canola/peanut oil in a saute pan. Heat about a tsp each of chanadal and mustard seeds. When chanadal turns reddish, add a few curry leaves and two finely chopped green chillies. Saute them for about 30 seconds and add cooked chickpeas, 1/4 cup of fresh, shredded coconut , salt and a Tbsp of finely minced cilantro. Saute them for a couple of minutes more. Remove and add juice squeezed from a lemon. Stir well and serve. Kitchen Tip: While buying green beans, make sure they look fresh and green and when bent, they snap with a crisp sound. Other related posts: Kala Chana Sprouts Salad Carrot & Beans with Moongdal Post a Comment:

Easy-Breezy Breakfast on a Lazy Weekend - Godhuma Dosa / Wheat Flour Dosa

I prefer to cook (especially the breakfasts) simple on weekends. On the other hand, my husband who is is not a sugary cereal / bread person prefers Indian breakfasts so that he can devour them leisurely. In the bargain, I vote for dosas -the no ferment, instant kinds. I prepare the batter and if I am not in the mood, he chips in.
While the rice flour dosas are from my mother, these wheat flour dosas are from my MIL's kitchen. Easy to prepare batter and the lacy, crisp dosas would make them any one's favorite. Serve them hot with any chutney or pickle and you would have a decent breakfast (or even a meal). :)

 

How to prepare batter for about 10 - 12 dosas:Mix about a cup of wheat flour / atta and 1/2 cup of rice flour and 2 tsp of salt in a steel bowl /container. Add about 3 & 1/2 cups of water to the mixture and prepare a thin, lump free batter. (I gave the water measurement just for an idea and the cup is about 235 ml, the same one I used for the dry ingredients. However use discretion while adding water just noting that it should be watery like rava dosa batter.)
Heat about 1 tsp oil in a small pan and add 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add a pinch of asafoetida powder to it and turn off the stove. Add this to the flour mixture and mix well.
Use the batter immediately to make dosas.

Making the dosas:
You need the above batter, oil (canola or peanut) and a griddle to make dosas. Heat a griddle or a shallow pan. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the hot pan. If the water sizzles, the pan is ready. Take a ladle full of batter and pour it from a little height on to the griddle. Start pouring the batter from outside circle of the griddle. The wheat flour batter is sticky and so spreading it with the back of the ladle as traditional dosas should be avoided. It will spread on it's own and fill any gaps in the middle with dosa batter. Pour about half a tsp of oil around the edges of dosa and let it cook on medium flame. When the dosa turns browner (the side closer to the griddle), flip it and again pour another 1/2 tsp oil around the edges and let it cook for a minute and remove it.
Repeat the same with the remaining batter.


Post a Comment

Mango Dal / Mamidikaya Pappu

మామిడికాయ పప్పు:
Pappu, the signature dal dish from Andhra (one of the South Indian states) is simple to make with the basic ingredients from an Indian kitchen and usually brings out the flavors and characteristics of the vegetable being used. However, it should be noted that all vegetables are not used to make pappu. If we make a list of pappus being made, some stand out in the crowd. Mamidikaya pappu (mango dal), (leafy greens like) gongura & chukkakoora pappus are mouth watering, absolute Andhra classics.
I have given here the recipe for mamidikaya pappu, which is one of our family favorites. Mango dal, the protein rich dish with the tart mangoes and the flavorful asafoetida and curry leaves would please any palette.



Ingredients required:
1 cup toordal
1 small firm, green mango - peeled, seeded and chopped into cubes (I had about a cup.)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
Thick tamarind juice/puree (Use as needed. I had used about 1/8 th cup.)
Cilantro to garnish (optional)
For tadka /popu: 1 -2 tsp canola oil /peanut oil/ghee, 1 tsp each of mustard seeds & cumin seeds, few curry leaves, a pinch of asafoetida

How to cook:
Wash the dal with water twice and throw away the cloudy water. Cook the dal with 2 cups of water and 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker till done.
The sourness of the mango sometimes doesn't let the toordal cook properly. You can therefore cook the mango cubes in another container (while cooking dal) in the cooker or cook separately in a sauce pan adding a little water.
Mash the cooked dal with the back of the ladle to get a smoother consistency. Add the cooked mango cubes (sans water), salt, chili powder and tamarind if using. Mix all the ingredients well with the ladle. Check the taste and adjust the salt/chili/tamarind if needed. Turn on the stove and let the dal simmer for about 5 minutes for all the flavors to mingle.
Mean while, heat the ghee/oil in a small pan. Add the mustard & cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop and the cumin seeds turn brownish add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Turn off the stove and this tadka to the cooked dal and mix well. Garnish with minced cilantro if using.
How to serve:
Serve this with a small mound of rice and a tsp of ghee. Serve a koora (subzi), pickle and yogurt along and you would have a heavenly, Andhra style bhojanam.


A note from my kitchen:
Pick the sourest kind of green mango you can, for this dal. See that it is very firm to touch and green in color. The signature flavor of the dal is lost with out the sourness.
Some mangoes which appear greener from outside may have a yellow, sweeter flesh inside which will not work for this recipe. That kind is good to eat as it is or left to ripe than cooking.
Also the requirement of tamarind in this recipe depends upon the sourness of the mango being used. If the mangoes are really sour as back in India, tamarind may be omitted. I get sour mangoes but not that mouth puckering variety and so I happen to use tamarind.
For tamarind juice, soak about a lemon sized tamarind in water or nuke it in a microwave (of course, with half a cup of water added) for about a couple of minutes. Squeeze the tamarind using your fingers or passing through a sieve. Discard the seeds and fibre. Use the thick puree extracted as required and save the rest for later use.
If using the ready made tamarind paste, the quantity mentioned above varies.

This goes to Susan's 'My love affair with legumes' -& "The Fifteenth helping' is being hosted by Sia of 'Monsoon spice' this month.

Leave a Comment

Chayote Chutney

సీమ వంకాయ పచ్చడి: I am sharing here another vegetable chutney that goes well with rice. The mild sweetness of the chayote is well balanced with the lentils and the spices used in this lip smacking chutney. Peel a small sized chayote, quarter and remove the center seed. Cut into cubes. (I had about a cup of chayote cubes) Heat about 4 tsp oil in a small saute pan. Add a Tbsp of chanadal, a Tbsp of uraddal and a tsp of mustard seeds to the hot oil. When the dals turn reddish and the mustard seeds start to pop, add 1/8 tsp of fenugreek seeds and 10 red chillies. (Fenugreek seeds burn faster and so are added at the end.) Stir them once and add the chayote cubes, 1/8 tsp of turmeric powder and a little tamarind (a small ball which would fit into a tsp or even lesser. Check the pic below for an idea.) Lower the heat, cover the dish and cook the chayote till it is done (becomes softer.) When the chayote is cooked add a few pinches of asafoetida powder and turn off the stove. When the contents of the pan become cooler, add them to a blender and grind coarsely with about 3/4 tsp salt. Collect the chutney into a bowl and keep refrigerated. Serve with hot rice and a tsp of ghee. Post a Comment