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Sauteed ridge gourd peels and green chillies are ground in mortar and pestle along with tamarind and onion finished with cilantro tastes heaven with ghee rice or steaming hot rotis.
You need:
- Peels from 2 large ridgegourds, beerakaya pottu
- 4-5 green chillies
- marble sized tamarind soaked in water
- Onion
- cilantro
- oil
How to:
- Take oil in kadai and saute ridge gourd peels along with green chillies and add some salt
- Once the chillies and the peels loose their raw smell switch off the flame and it them cool
- In mortar and pestle or grinder, ground the mixture, tamarind and cilantro to a coarse paste
- And now pulse the chutney with onions.
- Finish off the chutney with tadka.
- 8 Eggplants
- Oil
- Soaked tamarind or tamarind pulp to taste
- fresh shredded coconut / dry coconut 3-4 2 inch pieces
- 1 cup coriander seeds / dhaniyalu
- 1 cup chana dal
- 1/4 cup jeera seeds
- 10 - 12 red chillies
- asofetedia / hing
- 1 tsp oil
- In a thick bottomed kadai/pan, add oil followed by chana dal, coriander seeds, hing, cumin seeds
- Keep stirring and once the chanadal starts to change ots coor, add red chilies and once the chana dal is brown, you will smell the toasted aroma of the spices.
- keep aside and let it cool, meanwhile, take a pot with water add salt and cut eggplant from one end like a cross with the stem intact and drop them into the water'
- Once the spices are cooled, grind them to powder and keep aside
- In the same blender grind coconut into smooth paste, add the ground spice powder
- Chop the onions fine and mix them with the ground spices paste.
- Slit eggplants/vankayalu on the bottom, like a cross until 3/4 and put them in a big bowl of water
- Stuff the slit eggplants with the spice mixture and set them on a plate
- In a thick kadai/pan, add oil and a minute later sort these eggplants on the pan as show in the picture.
- Cook on medium heat with the pan covered and keep stirring until the eggplants starts to fall apart
- Once the eggplants are cooked to perfection, you can add chopped cilantro and remove them on to a serving plate.
- This is dry curry and if you want gravy, take another pan and add oil and do tadka with mustard seeds and cumin seeds along with curry leaves.
- And then add the 2-3 tbsp spice powder and some tamarind juice/pulp and water. Let it cook until the oil separates from the gravy, add little more water bring to boil and then drop the sauteed eggplants! Tada Sauteed eggplants with gravy is ready!
The best part about Indian Cooking is the delicious marriage between the spices and vegetables. You could create an array of wonderful curries and dishes with the magic of Spices and Herbs. This is what Indian cooking teaches you about, making plain vegetables delectable and nutritious! This is the reason why a lot of Indians who are Vegetarian can stay as Vegetarians for life. Indian cooking is all about making good use of ginger, garlic, fresh herbs and the spices but that too in right proportions just enough to revive your taste buds. I do agree too Indian food( especially in my kitchen ) is spicy, but you sure can adjust the spice to your taste. Thats the magic in Indian Cooking.
- 1 Purple potato
- 1 red potato
- fistful of peas
- 1/4 cauliflower
- 2 - 4 green chillies
- 1 tomato
- 1 inch ginger root julienned
- Mint
- Cilantro
- 1 tbsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- a pinch of turmeric
- 4 tbsp oil
- Seperate cauliflower into florets, rinse thouroughly in warm water with salt and microwave for 2-3 min, cauliflower should still be firm
- Cook the potatoes in microwave until done( should still hold the shape )
- In a kadai / saute pan , heat oil add 1/3 of coriander powder and 1/3 of cumin powder and then stir in cauliflower and dry saute for 2 mins, remove and keep aside
- Repeat the same above process for potatoes too and keep aside
- In the same pan, add remaining oil, add remaining coriander and cumin powders along with turmeric, Stir fry for few seconds and add peas, ginger and green chillies. Fry for a min and then add chopped tomato and salt
- Once the tomato is cooked add the sauteed potato pieces and cauliflower. Cook until everything comes together
- Adjust salt to taste and finish with cilantro and mint
- AWED Indian Cuisine started by DK
- C for Colorful Curries
- Herbs And Flowers in My Platter - Cilantro started by PJ
- Only - Original Recipes started by Pari
Spicy Vegetable Hearts On Valentine's Day For Your Valentine!
17 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 4:53:00 PM
- 3-4 Potatoes
- 1-2 carrots
- 15 beans
- 1/4 cup peas
- <1/4>
- 3-4 green chillies or to taste
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- red chilli powder
- 1/2 tbsp amchur powder
- chopped cilantro
- chopped mint
- breadcrumbs or ground stale bread
- salt to taste
- oil for frying
- Peel potatoes and carrots and chop them into big chunks. Cut beans into 2 inch long pieces.
- In a steamer, add potatoes, carrots, beans, peas and corn and then steam until the vegetables are tender. I usually use a pressure pan, where i will put these vegetables in a steamer basket and then pressure cook for just 1 whistle, once cooked remove and let it cool.
- Mean while chop ginger, garlic and green chillies very fine and keep aside
- If you prefer to use bread, let it dry over the counter and then powder the bread ion a food processor.
- Once the vegetables are cooled, mash them and then add garam masala( chaat masala ), amchur powder, ginger, garlic, green chillies, raisins, cashew nuts, cilantro, mint, red chilli powder, salt to taste.
- You need to add breadcrumbs little by little just to bind everything together.
- Heat either a griddle or kadai with oil for deep frying.
- Shape the cutlets in heart shape, apply breadcrumbs on both sides and wither deep fry or shallow fry until brown on both sides. Let them drain on paper towels!
- Serve these Spicy Vegetable Hearts along with your choice of Ketchup Or Chilli Sauce!!
- Healing Foods - Ginger and Garlic started by Siri
- Herbs And Flowers - Mint
- Fast Food Not Fat Food
- Kids Delight - Street Food
- Deep Fried Snacks
- Only - Cooking with Bread
Bottlegourd( Sorakaya/Anapakaya) aka Lauki is a very simple vegetable yet very versatile. Sorakaya tastes very subtle, mild and easily absorbs any flavors or spices its cooked with like a sponge. I have recently learnt that Bottle gourd aids in weight management, when taken either as raw( juice ) or cooked form. Since its full of water grandma says its very good in bringing down the body heat. Mom made this for me when i was pregnant since it brings down body heat and made sure i eat this veggie regularly ( In telugu, vantiki chalava chesthundi ). One simple sumptuous way to have this vegetable is to cook with Moong Dal( Pesara Pappu ). This Bottle gourd with Moong Dal tempered with Cumin Seeds in very little ghee and curry leaves is very subtle in taste, and i promise you can finish the whole bowl as is and it tastes so good like a soup , or along with steaming hot rice or fresh chapathis. It will be even satisfying as a complete meal when taken as soup along with some fresh Papads. Dont forget to add Cumin seeds as they add earthiness to the comforting Lauki / Sorakaya Pesara Pappu.
Ingredients required:
- 1/2 bottle gourd / lauki / sorakaya
- 1/2 cup of moong dal / pesara pappu
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1 red chilli
- curry leaves1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp ghee / butter
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1/2 -3/4 cup of water
Method Of Preparation:
- Peel, wash the sorakaya / bottle gourd and chop into 1 inch pieces
- In a sauce pan, add water and bring it to boil and then add lentils( moong dal ) and chopped bottle gourd and turmeric.
- You can add more water if the water isn't enough for the lentils to be cooked
- Once the lentils are cooked( they should fall apart completely ), switch off the heat and keep aside
- Now do the tadka aka tempering with ghee instead of oil. Heat ghee/butter add cumin seeds, garlic, red chilli, urad dal and curry leaves. Once the urad dal and cumin seeds are golden brown, remove from heat and add the tadka to the dal.
Mom makes the best Sorakaya Thiyya Pappu. I prefer a lot of lauki( sorakaya mukkalu ) chunks in the dal, so adjust the proportions to your preference. Usually mom makes Chinatakaya Pachadi( Tamarind Pickle ) to eat along with this Pappu, since this dal/curry is mild in taste, Chintakaya thokku( tamarind pickle ) is very sour and spicy in taste along with crunchy onions. Not to mention again, mom makes the best chintakay pachadi(( thokku ). This pappu( curry ) is not even spicy not too many spices and no masalas , yet there is some magic in this lovely dal.
Moms Lauki Moong Dal Curry is on its way to:
- Delicious Dals hosted by Suma
- Vegetable Marathon-Beans hosted by Silpa
- Mothers Day Event hosted by Jyoti
- Cooking With Seeds - Cumin hosted by Priya
- My Legume Love Affair - 23 hosted by Susan
- Green Gourmet Event-1 hosted by Preeti
- 1 half ripened avocado
- 1 vine ripened tomato
- 1 lime
- cilantro
- fresh mint
- 1/4 chopped onion
- 1 jalapeno
- Chop up a ripe and firm tomato
- Use either a ed or yellow onions( red onions would be great )
- You can either use a whole jalapeno or half of it . chop it very fine(you can even remove the seeds to avoid heat)
- Chop up cilantro and mint( you can even tear for that earthy look )
- Spoon out avacado from the peel and chop into chunks, toss them with lime juice right away to stop discoloration
- Mix all the above ingredients dress up with some fresh lime juice, salt and pepper..
My Avocado salad is on its way to:
Vegetable Korma ~ Welcoming the New Year with Moms Mixed Vegetable Curry with Whole Spices and Nuts
3 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 3:28:00 PMHappy New Year 2010. Hope you all had a very good start in this new year and we wish you all good health, happiness and prosperity!!
I want to head start with Moms famous recipe, The Mighty Vegetable Kurma! Sometimes. out of the blue i badly crave for Moms spicy Mixed vegetable kurma and chapathi. This curry is very aromatic with freshly ground spices and herbs like Mint and Cilantro. Also mom adds KhusKhus( poppy seeds aka gasa gasalu ) , cashew nuts and Almonds to bring that rich and nutty flavor to the curry! This recipe is directly from Moms kitchen and it cant be bet!
- 4 small red potatoes
- 1/2 tender small bottle gourd
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 large red onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 15-20 green beans
- 1/3 cup baby green peas6-10 cashew nuts
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds5-8 almonds
- cilantro mint
- 4-5 cloves1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamom
- ghee/butter
- Chop carrots, beans, potatoes, squash and tomatoes into small chunks.
- Chop onions length wise and keep aside.
- Add carrots, beans, potatoes, squash and peas in a steam basket, add water into the pressure pan. keep this steam basket and pressure cook for 1 whistle. You can even microwave each veggies. The basic idea is to cook them with out making them mushy.
- In a blender or jar, finely ground khus khus( poppy seeds ), cashew nuts, cloves, cinnamon,cardamom , red chillies into a very fine paste and keep aside.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, add butter( ghee ) or oil, once the oil is heated add whole spices cardamom,. cinnamon stick, cloves and bay leaf, fry for few seconds and then add chopped onions. Once the onions are fried to golden hue, add ginger garlic paste, fry until the raw smell disappears. Now chopped tomatoes and cook until the oil separates from the gravy, add the khus khus, almonds and cashew nuts paste and fry for a minute.
- Once the paste is cooked, add the boiled vegetables mix well and cook covered for 5 mins.
- You can either add milk or water to get to required consistency( i prefer milk over water as it bring slight sweetness and a subtle taste to the curry ) and then cook well.
- Garnish with chopped mint and cilantro.
Serving Suggestion:
Serve with a good cup of fresh homemade yogurt and sliced onions, cucumbers and tomatoes sprinkled with some salt, pepper and lime juice. Also you can serve with a slice of fresh lemon tobe squeezed over the curry! Don't forget the rotis!!
Moms Spicy Vegetable Kurma is on its way to:
Dosakaya / budamakaya in telugu and lemon cucumber or lemon cuke in English is from the family of cucumber similar in taste except for being very firm and sour in taste. You can even eat it raw like cucumber ( but we usually peel off the skin ). They look like either small round or oval shaped yellow skin with green scales or viceversa and usually very firm to touch.
I remember how hard it was to find this cutie in the Indian grocery near by. I looked for this veggie at every farmers market, groceries and i could say almost every nook and corner but went in vain. Finally i found a very good local farmer grocery with some common Indian vegetables but couldn't get lemon cuke there, one day i went up to the grocery owner and asked if he would be able to get this vegetable for me, he was so nice and to my surprise from the very next week this veggie has become a regular item in the list.. Finally my quest was over..
This is my favorite vegetable. Mom makes an array of dishes like Dosakaya talimpu, dosakaya pachadi, dosakaya ooragaaya, dosakaya pappu, dosakaya pulusu, dosakaya sambar and dosakya perugu pachadi( yes a lot right!!) I love this talimpu and pulusu a lot!! Here's is one of my favorite recipe from Grandmas kitchen.
You need:
1 dosakaya / lemon cuke
10 curry leaves
1-2 tsp red chilli powder
1 garlic pod
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp chana dal / Senaga pappu / bengal gram
salt to taste
Preparation:
- In a coffee grinder or blender grind red chilli powder, salt ,garlic and 5 curry leaves to fine powder. You can store this vellulli karam ( Garlicky and curry leaves chilli powder ) in refrigerator for up to a month or longer and tastes so good with idli or dosa.
- Peel the skin off the cucumber( dosakaya / budamakaya ) and chop into pieces as shown in the picture. Chop onions and keep aside.
- In a saute pan / kadai add popu / tadka with oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and chana dal. once they start to crackle add curry leaves followed by cucumber pieces\, turmeric and salt. Mix everything together and cook with the lid in low flame( heat ) stirring occasionally.
- To check for doneness, dosakaya mukkalu / lemon cuke pieces turn into transparent and should still have that crispness. At this time add the prepared garlic chilli powder and mix everything together.
- Adjust salt to taste and finish it off with cilantro.
Note:
- Pick the lemon cucumber that is very firm and has no soft spots, and should be free from any wrinkles
- Check if it is bitter by tasting a little, sometimes only the seeds could be bitter, if so you could discard the seeds and use the rest.
- Weekend Herb Blogging Event hosted by Cheryl from Gluten Free Goodness
- Recipes for the rest of us Dinner hosted by Siri
- Food In Colors: Orange hosted by Aparna started by Harini
There's nothing like luxury of having close friends living 3 houses apart.. I can speak volumes about the fun and the times we spend together and never mention the food we share.. They are from Gujarat and we are pakka Andhrites. My husband loves any North Indian food, especially their chats, rotis, sev and curries.. So they make sure they pack freshly made food( chats , curries, pooris , Sev, Pav Bahjis etc..,) and bring our home exclusively for both of us... This is what i call "Luxury of having Friends near by"... We appreciate each others culinary expertise( hehehe ) so much.. These guys love my dosas, sambar, chutneys, pulaos, cakes and curries... My Friend she would just ask for my sambar in a big bowl,,, yep just some sambar nothing else!! Love them, they are like a family to us!! Here are some authentic Gujarati goodies auntie brought for us and i couldn't stop myself clicking them when she explained how labour intensive those dishes were -- yep you guessed it right! They are Patra and Handvo.
Patra is made from colocasia leaves, besan( chickpea flour ) and some aromatic masalas.. Here's what i remember - Make besan mixture with water and apply the paste on a colocasia leaf and then place another leaf smaller than the first one on top and spread some batter and repeat the same until 4-5 layers.. Roll it and then cut into equals parts.. Steam these packets and then she made some tadka and added some lime juice, sugar(or gur ), grated coconut, cilantro and some seasonings... They were so moist and i could finish them as they were.. So good... they are spicy and sweet at the same time,, has that chat-pata flavour too.. Thanks aunty... absolutely loved them.. Oh, my MIL makes something similar with Colocasia leaves and besan -- Chamadumpa Badeelu( a Pakka Telangana Dish )
Here comes the next authentic Gujarathi recipe Handvo which needs fermentation and expertise.. I remember, She said you need to ferment besan mixture overnight and then add grated Bottle gourd( sorakaya ) .. Just fold the grated dudhi and bake it.. Add toasted sesame seeds and seasonings on top... It was so Good....
Along with these she even brought Besan Sev and Spicy small pooris( Khatta Pooris with ajwain ).. Oh they were sumptuous!! I would try to make these myself soon..
Spicy Whole Wheat Noodles And Vegetable Stir Fry - Indian Chinese Ishtyle
53 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 3:37:00 AMWho wouldn't love Noodles? Its a family favorite for us though.. Maggi introduced to the wholesome delicious family of noodles, and back then when we were kids having noodles was like a Once in a Blue moon thing like a delicacy and would slurp up every bite of it... even now sometimes i do really crave for Oriental flavors and the quick and easy meal within reach for me is always a packet of Maggi or Top ramen Noodles, and build layers of flavors to make it Earthy and Satisfying.. My noodles with vegetables is the most versatile quick and healthy meal that i could think of, ready in minutes. I brought these Maggi whole wheat noodles once long back( yep, sometimes i act like a whole grain freak... looking for whole grains everywhere ) and it wasn't that bad.., i couldn't see any difference from the regular noodles and from then the whole wheat noodles became a regular item in my pantry...
I would say a big NO-NO if you want to eat a packet noodles ( as it is ) without any vegetables and i like to always sneak in fresh and crisp vegetables along with some protein say eggs, tofu or Edamame. In this week's trip to farmers market i bought some fresh baby Portobella mushrooms, scallions and crisp Red and Green peppers, and i couldn't restrain from using them in my favorite noodles. Using whole wheat noodles , Edamame and fresh green veggies give this meal a good dose of Fiber and Protein..
You need( 2-3 servings ):
- 1 packet whole wheat noodles
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 4-5 green chillies
- 7-8 baby Portobella mushrooms
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 tomato
- 1-2 scallions
- Cilantro
- 1 cup shredded Cabbage
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 - 2inch ginger root
- 2-3 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 1 tsp ajinomoto
- Cilantro and Mint
- 1 packet seasoning ( if you are using packaged noodles )
- 2-3 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp soya sauce
- black salt to taste
- Cook the noodles separately, drain in cold water apply oil and then keep aside.
- Julienne all the vegetables, onions, green and red bell peppers, scallions, cabbage except for tomatoes and mushrooms
- Slice mushrooms thin and tomatoes into chunks(optional )
- Chop green chillies, ginger and garlic very fine
- In a bowl mix in the seasoning( if you have one ), soya sauce, tomato ketchup, black salt sugar to taste and keep aside
- In a wok/ kadai heat oil ( use highest heat setting available) and then add onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic followed by Edamame and ajinomoto( i can get only frozen soy beans that too from Whole Foods only )
- Cook for few seconds and then add green and red bell peppers saute for a minute and then drop in mushrooms , cabbage and scallions( in order ). Saute all the veggies and make sure they are not overcooked( they should still be crisp ).
- Mix in noodles and tossing or mixing vigorously( you don't want the noodles to stick to the wok )
- Add cilantro and Mint( last layer of flavor ) and adjust salt to taste...
- Serve hot with Ketchup / Maggi Tomato Sauce or even better Sriracha Hot Sauce....
Note:
- I usually use veggies twice the amount of noodles, just another easier way of having veggies without any complaints
- Make sure you cook at very high heat and keep tossing until the veggies are cooked, most of the times they will be cooked in no time..
- The key for these noodles is to keep all ingredients ready even before you try to lit the wok up.
My Spicy Whole Wheat Noodles and Vegetables Stir fry is on its way to these wonderful events:
- Eat Healthy -Protein Rich hosted by Sangeeth
- A.W.E.D. "China" hosted by DK
- One dish meals hosted by Archana
- Herb Mania hosted by Dee of Ammalus Kitchen
