Happy Ugadi

Sarvadhari nama samvathsaraadi subhakankshalu. I wish everyone a very happy Ugadi. Post a comment

Cabbage with Fresh Garbanzo Beans

Adding protein to veggies while preparing subzis is a common thing in our cooking. Adding various beans and dals like toordal, moongdal, fresh soybeans, green peas will increase the nutrition value besides enhancing the taste factor. Today's recipe has the addition of fresh garbanzo beans to cabbage. Unlike the dried version chana, fresh garbanzo are so sweet and tender that one would love to snack on them instead of adding to some thing else. Ingredients needed: Cabbage, finely chopped - 4 cups Green garbanzo beans (removed from the pods)- 1/4 cup A handful of fresh, grated coconut Finely chopped green chillies - 2 Salt For popu/seasoning - 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp each of chanadal, uraddal and mustard seeds, A few curry leaves Cooking part: Heat oil in a skillet and add all the seasoning ingredients in that order. When mustard seeds start to pop and the dals start turn to red, add the green chillies and saute for about 30 seconds and add the cabbage to the skillet. Cook the cabbage till it is done with in between stirring. It would have turned tender. To this cabbage, add the coconut, garbanzo beans and salt and mix well. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, mix agian and turn off the stove. Post a Comment

Carrot & Beans with Moongdal

 

Adding beans (dals) to kooras is what my mother does when she wants to add some protein to the dish or has to avoid coconut or has to increase the quantity of the final product. Today, I added moong dal to the plain carrot - beans subzi for that nutritious punch. Moong need not be cooked for this kind of dish. It is soaked till tender and then added. The quantity of moong can be increased upto a 1/4 cup. Adding coconut is optional and this can be served with rice / rotis.

Ingredients for 4 servings:
Chopped carrots and beans- 3 cups (Trim the ends of carrots and beans. Peel the carrots. Chop them fine.)
A handful of moongdal - soak them in water for about an hour and drain.
A handful grated, fresh coconut
1 tsp each of Salt & chili powder
For popu / tadka: 1 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp of chanadal, few curry leaves

Cooking: Heat the oil in a saute pan and add all the tadka ingredients. When mustard seeds start popping and chanadal starts turning golden brown, add the veggies and salt. Cook on a low flame and keep stirring in between till the veggies are tender and done. Then add the soaked moongdal, coconut and chili powder to the cooked veggies. Mix and cook for five more minutes with in between stirring as the moong tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat.

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Happy Shivarathri and Rasayana

Happy Shivaratri to every one.

Rasayana for Mahashivaratri One of the delicious prasadams offered to the devotees at temples in Bangalore region is rasayana. The recipe usually contains banana, jaggery, coconut and cardamom. Sometimes may be just banana and jaggery. Usually when there were varieties of fruits at home, my sister used to prepare rasayana using all of them. Following her, I added other fruits and ingredients to the standard recipe here. As I mentioned, using other fruits is entirely optional. Only bananas can be used and quantities of other ingredients may need to be altered if done so. You would need: One banana, peeled and sliced into circles One cup of other fruits chopped (I have used oranges, grapes, apple) Powdered jaggery - 1/2 cup Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 cup Cardamom - 1/2 tsp Honey - 2 tbsp Raisins - 1 tbsp

The simple preparation: Add all the ingredients to a serving bowl, mix it well and leave it for at least 30 minutes before serving. By the time, the jaggery would have melted and got incorporated in to the mixture.

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Potatoes with Lemon

Among the umpteen ways of cooking potato, here is one which is our favorite. Not a typical ginger - garlic-garam masala type of curry but a simple one with minimum required ingredients thrown in. Cooked and mashed potatoes are drizzled with just enough lemon juice and lightly seasoned.

Ingredients: Six medium sized Potatoes (I had about 2 cups of mashed potatoes) 2 or 3 green chillies Juice of half a slice of lemon (or as needed) Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Salt For seasoning - 2 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp of chana dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, few curry leaves The cooking part: Peel the potatoes and chop into big chunks. Cook them adding the turmeric powder, in a pressure cooker or in a big pot with enough water till the potatoes are done. Using a blender or a mortar and pestle, mash the green chillies into a paste. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan and add the seasoning ingredients. When chanadal starts to turn red and the mustard seeds start to pop, add the potatoes, green chili paste, salt and lemon juice to the pan. Mash the potatoes with the back of a ladle or a spoon a little bit and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Taste and check whether if more lemon juice need to be added. Remember that the curry should not be very sour. Stirring once or twice, let it sit for about five minutes and then turn off the stove. Serve with hot rice and ghee or rotis. This goes to - A potato feast hosted by DK of Culinary Bazaar. Jihva - Lemon hosted by Coffee of The spice cafe. Ode to potatoes hosted by Sia of Monspoon Spice. Post a Comment

Dondakaya - Kobbari Koora

Crunchy dondakaya (tindora) and tender, fresh kobbari (coconut) come together in this scrumptious subzi. This is lot easier, less time consuming and healthier than the regular tindora fry. This is my mom's recipe and in this version, instead of frying, tindora are steamed and then seasoned.

Ingredients:
Chopped Tindora - 2 cups
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
For popu /seasoning - 1 Tbsp of oil, 1 tsp each of mustard seeds & chanadal, few curry leaves, a little turmeric powder

Cooking:
Wash the tindora and chop the ends. Then cross wise, cut into thin circles. Take the chopped Tindora into a bowl or small vessel and sprinkle a little water (about a Tbsp). Place the tindora container in a pressure pan / cooker and cook till you hear two whistles. After the valve pressure is gone, remove the container. The tindora would be done not the mush way, but on a crisper side. Put the cooked tindora into a colander, to drain any water present.
Heat oil in a pan and add chanadal, mustard seeds, curryleaves, turmeric powder in that order. When chanadal start to turn red, add the steamed tindora, coconut, chili powder and salt and mix well. Let it sit for a couple of minutes on low flame and then turn off the stove.
Serve with hot rice and a spoon of ghee.

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Palakoora PulusuKoora

I am back. After my exciting trip to India and the after fervor associated to it ended considerably, I am back to my routine.
Though, I haven't had the time to go through the blogs, I know I have missed some wonderful posts from fellow bloggers and some amazing events during my absence. Time to catch up.

Coming to today's post, it's time for some pulusukoora, which my paternal grand mother used to cook regularly in her kitchen.
Simple and healthy greens adorn the center stage in this dish and only the basic ingredients needed to please the palate go along with it. I would say pulusukoora is real earthy and greens used in the dish would be at it's best.
Pulusukoora is usually prepared with gongura or thotakoora (amaranth leaves). I experimented with spinach and this worked equally good. Took me back down the memory lane.

Fresh Spinach
Ingredients required to prepare about a cup of pulusukoora:
A bunch of spinach / palakoora, washed thoroughly (I had about 5 cups of chopped spinach and stalks from a bunch)
1 or 2 small green chillies
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more or less depending upon the spiciness preferred)
About a tbsp of tamarind extract
Salt
And for seasoning - a tsp oil, a tsp of mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida

Cooking:
Chop the spinach leaves and green chillies fine. If the stalks of the bunch are tender, chop them fine as well. Put them in a thick bottomed vessel or deep bottomed pan with a tbsp of water and cook till the spinach is done. (That much of water is enough as pulusukoora has a thick consistency). It takes less than 10 minutes. Then add tamarind, chili powder and salt and let it cook for five more minutes. (Adjust the quantities if required). Mash the spinach with the back of the ladle while cooking. Heat the oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds start to pop, remove and add it to the above spinach pulusukoora.
Traditionally, it is served as a side dish to rice and mudda pappu (plain dal) along with a spoon of ghee.

For microwave version, use a microwave safe bowl to cook spinach and proceed as above.

Palakoora Pulusukoora

This goes to MEC - Greens hosted by Srivalli of 'Cooking 4 all seasons'.

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.
I am going on a vacation to India and therefore would be away from the blog world for a few weeks.
See you next year. :)

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Carrot - Evaporated Milk Payasam

Replace the milk with evaporated milk in this recipe for a more creamier, richer dessert.


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Pomegranate - Cucumber Raita

Here is a simple and refreshing raita prepared using juicy pearls of pomegranate and crunchy cucumbers.

Preparation:

This cool, yogurt dish is quite simple to prepare and takes only a couple of minutes if you have the ingredients ready.

Take a cup of thick yogurt and beat it with a spoon for a few seconds to get uniform consistency. Add a handful of pomegranate seeds, a handful of cucumber cubes (peeled and finely chopped cubes), a Tbsp of finely chopped cilantro and salt as needed.

Heat a tsp of oil and add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds and a pinch of hing to it. When mustard seeds start to pop, remove and add it to the yogurt mixture. Stir well.

Either it can be served with rotis / pooris or can be eaten as a snack.

This raita tastes good when served cold and so, I refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours before serving. If you are left with any raita after serving, refrigerate it. It can be refrigerated maximum for a day since the yogurt goes sour.

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