Poosanikai mor kuzhambu (Ash gourd buttermilk curry)

Poosanikai (Ash Gourd) mor (buttermilk) kuzhambu (curry/sambhar) is a signature Iyengar entree that is must have in festivals, weddings and other important gatherings.  The typical recipe that my mom in law uses is one that has coconut, cumin and green chillies as spices, but I thought of giving it a typical "Sambhar" taste with added Rasam spicy mix - Iyer style.

Today you will learn my recipe using the Spicy Rasam mix.

Poosanikai mor kuzhambu
Ingredients
Ash gourd - 1 kg (chopped into big pieces)
Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Rasam powder - 2 tbsp
Water - 2 cups
Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 1-2
Yogurt (nicely mixed) or buttermilk (thick) - 2 cups
Salt to taste
Refined oil - 1 tbsp
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
few curry leaves

Rasam Powder (you can store this as spice mix)
2 tbsp coriander seeds
3-4 Red Chilli 
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp black pepper corn seeds
1 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp asafoetida
Dry fry the above ingredients and grind them into powder.

Directions for Kozhumbu
Cook the ash gourd in 2 cups of water along with tamarind paste and salt. Add Rasam powder and 1 cup of buttermilk/yogurt, so the vegetable cooks in the juice of buttermilk, tamarind and salt/spices.
Meanwhile, grind the coconut (you can use fresh coconut as well) and green chilli and add to this mix and let it cook for 5-10 min. The curry will be slightly watery. You lower the heat and add the 1 cup of remaining yogurt in the end and let it simmer for 2-3 min. In another pan, heat some oil, add the mustard seeds and when they sputter, add the asafoetida, red chilli and curry leaves and switch off the heat. Add this spicy mix on top of the kozhumbu (dish) to flavor it on top.

Serve hot with Rice or with Rice+cooked Toor dal (red lentil). Eating with lentil is typical from my husband's family. My mom in law usually cooks this dish with only green chilli and coconut/cumin as spice. However, my husband liked this new taste that is a fusion of Sambhar and Mor kozhumbu.

Verkadalai, Shengdana aka Peanut chutney (dry)

I have used peanuts in many different ways in my cooking. Peanuts play an important role as an ingredient in South Indian cooking, especially cuisines from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. After living in cities like Hyderabad and Pune, I have started to see how people use it in their cooking.


In Andhra, the "Gutti Vankai Koora" - Stuffed brinjal; or Bagara Baigan (Brinjal curry) (http://servantlesscooking.blogspot.in/2013/07/bagara-baingan-eggplant-dish-hyderabadi.html) is very similar to "Bharlele Karle" - Stuffed bitter gourd (http://servantlesscooking.blogspot.in/2013/06/bharlele-karle-stuffed-karela-bitter.html) in that all these recipes use peanuts as base ingredient. In Tamil Nadu, I have seen peanuts being used to make spicy powder that is used to eat with rice or as base ingredient to make wet chutneys that can be eaten with Idlis, Dosas (breakfast items). I discovered another new use for peanuts from my colleague, Vivek Bibave who started bringing this simple dry chutney from home made of peanuts that was so very tasty.

So, wanted to share with you two unique or different ways of making Spicy Peanut Chutney (dry)

Shengdana Chutney (Sukha)
Courtesy: Vivek Bibave's mom

1 cup Peanuts
4 Green /Red Chilli
Salt to taste

1 clove Garlic (optional)
1 Tbsp refined oil


If you have mortar and pestle at home, grind the raw peanuts, chilli, salt and garlic together to make a coarse ground powder/paste. The oil from the peanut and the water from the chilli will make it a little sticky. Heat oil in pan, and saute this paste/powder until it is no more sticky (2-5 min). The Sukha (dry) Chutney is ready to serve with hot Chapathi/Roti, or Rice.


Verkadalai Podi (Peanut powder)
Courtesy: Dakshin - Chandra Padmanabhan

1 cup peanut
1/4 cup sesame seeds
7 red chilli
1/2 tsp asafoetida
salt to taste

Dry fry the peanuts, sesame seeds, chilli and asafoetida. Grind it well in a powder. Ready to use with Rice or Dosa/Idli.

Peanut Powder Rice
2-3 Tbsp Peanut powder (as above)
1 Tbsp oil
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp black gram
1/2 tsp chana dal (yellow split pea)
1 red chilli
few curry leaves


Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, dals and when the mustard sputters, add the red chilli and curry leaves. Add the rice salt and peanut powder and mix well. Serve hot.

The Shengdana chutney is very common in Maharashtrian cooking, and raw chilli/garlic along with peanuts brings a unique taste to the recipe. You can make this without garlic and it tastes good too. A little bit more salt than usual is typical to this recipe as it is supposed to be eaten as a chutney as is or with yogurt mixed in it with chapathi.

Health tip: Peanut is the protein bank for vegetarians, a poor man's food and an excellent meat substitute for protein. It also provides necessary fat (unsaturated) to your diet.
Eating raw or less processed garlic is a very good for heart as the functional components within it are heat labile and when we fry/saute the garlic to get the flavor, we actually kill the healthy contributors.

Bagara Baingan (Indian eggplant curry)- Hyderabad delicacy

Bagara Baingan is a famous recipe from Hyderabad, where I grew up. It is very popular in weddings served with Hyderabadi Biryani (the eggplants used to float in oil/masala). My mom popularized it amongst our family and it became my signature dish in the US in parties and family gatherings. Recently on a Sunday, my brother (who lives in US) told me that good old Bagara Baingan is for lunch! Found out that Jayashree, my sis-in-law made it (not my mom who is visiting them). So, it truly has become our signature household recipe passing along to next generations. 

The main ingredient in this dish is peanut and small purple baingan (brinjal/small purple, Indian eggplant). Otherwise, it is a mishmash of spices (you name it and it is there in this recipe). The recipe is quite elaborate, but I will try to keep it simple:) I also tried to make it more heart healthy with less oil and more protein (peanuts/dals). You can use Microwave to cook the eggplant and fry them in less oil (similar to what you take for a saute) instead of deep frying them.

Bagara Baingan
Dedicated to my mom, Lakshmi Raman, who taught me how to cook it

Ingredients
1 kg small purple Baingan (Indian eggplant).
6-8 Tbsp refined oil

Preparing the Baingan (Indian eggplant)
Try to pick the smaller eggplants with green stalks (greener the stalks, the fresher the eggplant is). Eggplant is washed and dried with cloth. With a knife, you slit the bottom of the eggplant into 4 quadrants ending the cut at the stalk. You don't cut it completely, you leave it as a whole. Heat oil with 4-6 tbsp of oil and fry the eggplant in oil until completely cooked (crinkled/brown), strain the oil and keep them aside on plate.

Wet Masala
3-4 medium size tomatoes
2 onions coarsely cut
2-3 cloves garlic
2-3 green chillies
1/8 cup grated coconut (you can use fresh coconut)
2 Tbsp Tamarind paste (concentrate)


Grind the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chillies and coconut in a blender until a smooth paste.

3 cups water for cooking dish
1 small bunch of cilantro leaves for garnish
Keep the water for later when you cook the masala.

Dry Masala
1 cup peanuts - roasted
1/4 cup chana dal (yellow split pea)
1/4 cup urad dal (black gram)
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cardamom clusters (8 small seeds)


1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3-4 red chilli

Directions
Heat 1 tsp oil. I will now give you the sequence of roasting. keep them aside after they are completely roasted. The sequence is 1. Peanuts, 2. Dals, 3. Coriander+Red chilli 4. Mustard, fenugreek, cumin, sesame seeds, cloves, cinnamon, poppy seeds, cardamom, asafoetida. Let all the spices cool down and then grind them into a semi-coarse to fine powder.

Preparation of dish

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a heavy pan, and add the wet masala and turmeric, salt. Let it cook so that the green flavor is removed and the masala starts to boil. Keep a lid on top as the masala will get to sputter all over once it starts boiling. Add the 2 cups of water and let it cook in low heat until the oil oozes out of the masala (this is the sign that the masala is well cooked).

Now add the dry masala, add the extra one cup of water and let it cook well for 5 min in low heat until the dals are fully cooked and the oil comes out. Add the fried Baigan at the end and let it all cook for another 5-10 min. You can add more water or salt as needed so the masala is not dried out. You need to give it a good gravy consistency. Cook it in low heat with a lid on. Garnish on top with Coriander leaves.

It is served best with Hyderabadi Biryani, however it usually goes well with Chapathi/Roti or plain white rice. My husband and children all love it, the sign of this is that there are no left overs!

Bon Appetite!

Chole Masala (Spicy Garbanzo beans)

Eating hot Chole with Roti/Chapathi is the best meal one can have a cold winter or rainy days. It is a delicacy through out India and is the favorite amongst Roti lovers.. Also, the most protein rich  vegetable one can have.

Badshah's Punjabi chole ka masala, remains our signature spice mix for Chole masala since late 90's. My husband follows the recipe as given in the back of the pack. However, since I like to make things simple, I use my own way of making it (the quick and dirty way).

Punjabi Chole 
Ingredients
2 cans (1000 g) cooked Garbanzo beans (Kabuli Chana)
2-3 Tbsp refined oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1-2 onions finely chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
2-3 cloves garlic 
1/2 kg Tomatoes - 4-5 medium
1 bunch cilantro for garnish
1 Potato (cooked)
2-3 Tbsp Punjabi Chole Ka Masala powder
 Here is a link to the recipe to make the Masala powder 
http://www.indiankhana.net/2013/03/punjabi-chole-masala-powder-recipe.html

1cup water (you can use water from cooked garbanzo beans)
1 tsp Turmeric and salt to taste

Directions
Soak the Garbanzo beans overnight and cook it pressure cooker with potatoes and salt for 4-5 whistles. Alternative is to get cans of cooked Garbanzo beans (Del Monte). Heat the oil, add the cumin and mustard seeds, once mustard sputter, add the onions, garlic, and ginger and saute until light brown. Add the tomatoes and cook until tender (5-10 min). Add the masala powder and mix well. Now add the cooked potatoes and beans and water and let it all cook for 10- 15 min under low to medium heat. Taste and add salt as needed. Once the dish is a thick gravy (not too watery), you can shut the heat and garnish with cilantro on top.

You will get many recipes out there for Chole Masala with complicated cooking procedures like cooking the beans with tea bags etc. Since I like to make my food simple and quick, I rely on cooking the beans well (soft) and adding Badshah's Masala powder to get the right taste. 


Serve hot with Chapathi.. It goes well with Rice as well. My kids love it with Rice and ghee.

Lemon Rice with Garbanzo beans

Lemon Rice is a classic recipe from South of India that many relish. It is the poor man's diet because all you need is lemons, rice and salt/turmeric, and is thecommon choice for "Annadanam" (Food charity) efforts in temples because of its simplicity. 

During my pregnancy, due to gestational diabetes, I had to restrict myself from eating too much rice. However in many of the festivities, mixed rice (lemon rice) was a common recipe, that I would tend to take no more than one morsel. There is a rise of Diabetes in India and many are going towards low rice and more protein (whole beans/lentil) diet.

So, I thought I will experiment with the lemon rice recipe and make a protein rich alternative, especially for the health conscious folks like me out there. The magic ingredient that I added to Lemon Rice is cooked garbanzo beans (Kondakadalai). The dish retained its signature taste of lemon rice and yet provided the needed protein to the diet in one serving.

Lemon Rice with cooked garbanzo beans (Kondakadalai)
Ingredients
Cooked Rice (can use brown rice): 3 cups
Cooked Garbanzo beans - 2 cups
Lime/Lemon (medium size) - 2
Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Chopped Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Black gram seeds (Urad dal) - 1 tbsp
Yellow split pea (Chana dal) - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 2-3
Ginger - 1 tsp (grated)
Refined oil - 3-4 tbsp
Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves
Turmeric - 3 tsp
Salt - as needed

Directions
Cooked the rice and garbanzo beans separately in pressure cooker until well cooked and soft.
Garbanzo beans needs to be soaked overnight before cooking them and cook it with salt and 2 tsp turmeric. You can also use the canned garbanzo beans directly in dish. Heat 1-2 tbsp oil and roast the peanuts and keep them aside. Add the rest of oil in a heavy pan and add mustard seeds, chana and urad dal. Once the mustard seeds sputter, add curry leaves, green chillies (chop these long so we can pick them out) and ginger, 1 tsp of turmeric and salt. Add the roasted peanuts, cooked garbanzo beans and rice and mix it well. Squeeze the lemon and mix well at the end. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro leaves. and serve it hot. It can be eaten alone or with fritters.

The aroma of the lemon comes through when you squeeze it fresh on top after the entire rice is mixed. If you add it in with oil before adding rice, it looses its potency. Lemon is a great antioxidant (has a high percentage of ascorbic acid that is heat labile). Hence it is often recommended to add at the end of the batch right before packing. Similarly, we should add it at the end right before garnishing on the rice and when the heat is off.

The dish was excellent in that it provided the tangy taste of lemon rice and yet had the added protein and fiber from whole garbanzo beans.

Creamy Tomato Pasta - Home style

Pasta is a favorite amongst my kids. They have grown up eating plain cooked and salted pasta (various shapes and colors) since childhood as it was a nutritious alternate to Rice and could be eaten on their own without me feeding it to them.

Back in India, I found couple of stores (some are chains) that provide Pasta at premium prices, directly imported from Italy or US. In comparison to Indian snack or meal options, Pasta is quite costly (4x).  For example: Poha or Suji (Rava) is  30 Rs. per Kg, Pasta is 110-125 Rs per 0.5 kg. However, I spoil my kids sometimes by giving them Pasta dish. When ever they hear that's for dinner,  they shout a Yay! and the good part is I send left overs as lunch option as their school allows it where as Pizza is completely prohibited.

Since I started writing the blog, I have been interested in turning my meals into masterpieces (well, atleast I try) - all homemade. So, this time instead of using a Pasta sauce from outside, I decided to make my own. Also, since kids love cheese, I added cheese into the sauce and made it creamy. It was a very quick fix meal and everyone including the adult in my family loved it..

Creamy tomato Pasta
 
Ingredients
500 g Pasta (any type)
1-2 of Onion
4-5 cloves garlic
1 Kg Tomatoes
1 Tbsp - Italian herb mix
1 tsp - Black Pepper
4-5 Slices of Processed cheese
1/4 cup milk 
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin oil
1 Tbsp Red chilli flakes (optional for heat)
salt to taste

Directions

Cook pasta in hot water with salt for 10-20 min (as directed in pack) and strain it in cold water - Keep it aside. In another pan, heat oil, and garlic, onion and green pepper. Once sauteed, add chopped tomatoes, spices and salt and cook until the tomatoes are very soft. Squash them into a fine paste. Add Cheese and let it melt in the sauce to a nice cream. If the sauce is too thick, you can add milk instead of water. Let the mix get cooked well in low heat for 10 min. Add the pasta and mix it well with Creamy tomato sauce. Serve hot with Garlic bread (Bread with sprinkled garlic and toasted on flat pan with butter or in oven).

Enjoy!

Home made Pizza - Vegetarian

Pizza is a favorite dish amongst kids and hubbies:) We middle aged mommies try to avoid it as 7 seconds in the mouth lasts for 7 years in hip.. right?

I decided to test the Oven side of our Microwave-oven to see if I can make baked items. My husband proudly presented to me the menu option within the Microwave-oven that had three Pizza options. Since he did all the research and got THE multifunctional oven to help me in my cooking, he wanted me to thank his forethought. All I said is that let me see how it pans out to consider thanking you..

Well, the pizza did come out very well.. so hubby, here is my tribute to you (3 idiots dialogue):
 "JAHAPANA TUSSI gr8 HO TAUFA KABOOL KARO!!"

Vegetarian Pizza

Pizza Dough (Courtesy: The little big vegetarian book - Page 952 and 954)

Ingredients
 25g fresh yeast (2 packets of active dry yeast)
150 ml warm water
3 cups all purpose flour (I used whole grain wheat flour - the one I use for Chapathis/Rotis with husk)
1/2 tsp salt

Place the yeast in a small bowl and add half of the warm water, keep it soaked for 15 min. It becomes creamy white white ready. Stir well. Place the flour in large bowl and sprinkle salt. Make a hollow in middle and add the warm water+yeast mix, remaining water and knead it well into a ball as below. It is very similar to how we knead it for Chapatis, except needs a little more work.

Kneading: Sprinkle the work surface with flour aand place the dough on the work surface. Curl your fingers around it and press together to form a ball. Press with knuckles to spread it a little. Take the far end of the dough, fold it a short distance towards you, then push it away again with the heel of your palm Flexing your wrist, fold it toward you aain, give it a quater turn, then push it away. Repeat for 8-10 min. When the dough doesn't stick in your hands, bang it down hard against the work surace a couple of times. this will develop the gluten. The dough should be smooth and elastic., show definite air bubbles beneath the surface and spring back if you flatten it with your palm. Place it in large oily bowl and cover with a cloth. Set aside to rise for 2 hours.

Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
6 tbsp extra virgin oil
2 tbsp finely chopped oregano (can use powder)
1 tbsp marjoram and 1 tbsp basil (can use powder)
2 tbsp Italian herb mix (instead of oregano marjoram and basil option above)
1 kg tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
60 g sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 red or green chilli (Optional to spice it up)

Saute the garlic in oil over low heat until gold. Add the spices, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Partially cover and simmer for 30-45 min until tomatoes are fully cooked. Squash the sauce and let it thicken. Can apply it for pizza, pasta and many other Italian dishes.

Making the Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough
Pizza sauce
Mozarella cheese/any other grated cheese (cheddar, mexican blend)
Vegetables - sliced long or fine - Onions, peppers (green, yellow, red), mushroom, olives, pineapple, paneer, green chilli (these are varieties I have seen in the Indian Pizza Hut - Paneer+Green chilli)

To shape the pizza, place the dough in a pizza pan (you can use heavy porcelain plate), and use your fingertips to press it out, stretching it as you go, until it covers the pan/plate. Set aside for 10 min before adding the topping. This will give time for dough to regain its volume and makes the crust lighter and more appetizing.

Spread the Pizza sauce evenly on the dough. You could use the recipe above or use market available sauces (I used Maggi Pizza sauce). Evenly spread the grated cheese on top of sauce. Spread the vegetables. You can lightly sprinkle the grated cheese on top to give a grilled look.

Bake in preheated oven (350-400F) for 25-30 min (dependent on the ovens). I opted for Thick crust option in my micro-oven and it baked it for 17 min (no preheat).I just checked to see if the dough is cooked and it was done well.

The pizza was truly delicious. I made 3-4 and all were gone. My kids loved it. You can add ketchup and mix it with pizza sauce for the kids (they loved the sweetness from the ketchup). The whole wheat flour did taste odd (healthy:)) compared to Pizza hut crusts (restaurant makes it with all purpose (refined) flour). The kids did not pick the difference for they tasted the cheese. You could also make heart healthy or low carb varieties with less dough (thin layer) and less cheese/more vegetables.


Bon Appetit!