Methi Salad
Methi or Fenugreek salad is a very healthy addition to your meal. It is very tasty at the same time. Am documenting it right now while i'm on vacation to India at my mom's place. We have prepared it for lunch and i cannot believe that there is absolutely no bitterness in the salad. While amma usually uses lemon for sourness in this recipe, today, she has added tomatoes along with lemon. So, what you want to use is your choice. Both taste different and are good in their own way.Serves about 4-5 peopleTime taken: 10-15 minutes.
Ingredients Used:1 big bunch of Methi/Fenugreek leaves
2 small onions
1 tomato(optional)
a big squeeze of lemon juice
a handful of grated coconut
1-2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves
1-2 spicy green chillies
a dash of asafoetida.
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:Wash methi leaves well chop them finely. Put it in a salad bowl and add finely chopped onions, tomatoes(if you want to), grated coconut, lemon juice and salt. Then, in a small frying pan, warm up oil. Sputter mustard seeds. In this, add curry leaves, asafoetida and finely chopped green chillies. Add this seasoning to the salad mix and eat fresh.
Labels: Chatpat. quick, dry salad, Easy, fenugreek, Healthy, Jhatpat, kosumbari, Methi, Salad, Tasty
Cabbage Raita
Raita is nothing but any curd based salad which goes well (as a side dish) with rice items like Pulav/Fried rice/Biryani/Jeera Rice. It could be used as a substitute for plain yogurt in meals especially because it derives extra nutrient value from the veggies added to it. Cabbage Raita, as the name itself suggests, has cabbage as its main ingredient. Learnt it from akka who had eaten it at her office food court. So far, all those who have eaten it have loved it. Time Taken: Approximately 15 minutes.Serves about 3-4 peopleIngredients Used:One quarter of a medium sized cabbage
One large onion
3 green chillies
1 tsp Jeera/cumin seeds
3-4 tablespoons of curd/plain yogurt
2 tsp oil
Water as required.
Method of Preparation:Wash the cabbage and chop it into thin and lengthy pieces(about 2 inch length).
Chop onions too in the same way. Cut green chillies finely. Warm oil in a cooking pan and add jeera to it. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the green chillies and stir a couple of times. Then, add onions and fry until they just start changing colour. Toss in the chopped cabbage and stir for a few more minutes till the cabbage is half cooked(it should retain its crispiness at the same time). Add salt now and wait for it to cool. Then, mix this in dahi/curd/yogurt and add water depending on how thick you want it to be. Check for salt. Garnish with coriander leaves if required and serve.
Note: This type of raita could be prepared with Bhindi/ladies finger/okra as well. However, we need to remember to use a little more oil and fry it a little longer so that okra becomes crispy loses its stickiness. Some even deep fry the bhindi to make it easier Labels: Cabbage, Chatpat, curd, dahi, Jhatpat, mosru bajji, Paththa gobi, Raita, Salad, side dish, yogurt
Carrot Kosumbari(Salad)
Kosumbari/kismuri is the native name given to what we call salad in English. Basically, it is any raw vegetable in its finely chopped form with a little bit of seasoning. Although carrot kosumbari is raw and usually eaten as a side item in meals, my son and hubby love to eat it with chapati as well. Something about its taste reminds me of bhel puri. I'm posting this right now on the blog, keeping in mind a friend, who has really gotten fitness conscious these days and has been asking me for quite a while to post salad recipes. This is good to taste and healthy at the same time.Time taken: 15 minutes.
Serves about 3 peopleIngredients Used:3 big carrots
1 tomato
1 very small onion
2 small green chillies(chopped finely)
Half a tsp of mustard seeds and urad dal
Quarter bunch of coriander leaves
2 tsp of grated coconut(optional)
1 tsp. of lemon juice
Very little oil.
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:Grate the carrots in a wide bowl using a kitchen grater. Those who have a food processor with grating option could use it to make life easier. Toss in very finely chopped onion and tomato into the grated carrots. Add grated coconut, lemon juice and salt to it. Then, warm up some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Wait till they sputter. To this, add curry leaves, finely chopped green chillies and urad dal. Stir with a ladle until the urad dal turns slightly brown in colour and the chillies appear crispy. Mix this seasoning in the salad. Garnish with coriander leaves. Mom adds two or three leaves of mint sometimes. Isn't this easy to prepare?
P.S: The salad in the picture shown above is that which was prepared when i didn't have coriander leaves at home :) You please don't forget to add it.
Labels: Carrot, Chatpat, Healthy, Jhatpat, Kosambari, Salad, Vegetable
