Kaele Phodi(Raw Banana Fry)
Phodi in konkani basically refers to any vegetable with rava coating which is shallow fried on a griddle/tava. Phodis can be prepared using most of the common veggies like Potato, sweet potato, jackfruit, brinjal, ridgegourd, breadfruit, corm(amorphophallus/suran)and raw banana(plantain). Phodis are usually eaten as side dishes in meals. Time taken: 20 minutesServes about 3-4 peopleIngredients Required:1 large raw banana/plantain
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp hing/asafoetida
Oil as per requirement.
Method of Preparation:Peel off the banana using a vegetable peeler and cut it horizontally into 2 equal parts. Then, slit each of these parts lengthwise into thin slices, each slice being as thick as about 5 potato chips put together. Add the red chilly powder, salt and asafoetida which is mixed in about a tsp. of water. Cover the mixing bowl with a plate and shake a few times so that the masala smears itself all over the slices.
Heat a griddle/tava and spread out the chopped plantain over it. Pour a little oil over each slice and cook on medium flame by covering with a lid. When the bottom side turns slightly brown in colour, turn the pieces over and cook until and a sharp fork/toothpick comes off dry when pierced into them.
Labels: Kela, Konkani, Phodi, Plantain, Rava fry, Raw Banana, Veggie
Veggie Cutlet
Vegetable Cutlet reminds me of summer holidays during my childhood when my mom would prepare one tasty snack everyday. This used to be one of the most favourite snacks I used to enjoy with my siblings and cousins. To this day, I relish it everytime it is prepared.Time Taken: 30-40 minutes.
Serves about 4 peopleIngredients Used:4 medium sized potatoes
2 medium sized onions
1/4 inch ginger
7-8 french beans
1/2 cup of sweet peas
1/2 of a medium sized beetroot
2/3rd of a large carrot
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
Coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs or rava for the coating.
Oil-as required.
Method of Preparation:Cook potatoes(cut into halves) in a pressure cooker with a little water. In the meanwhile, chop all the vegetables very finely and keep aside. Then, in a cooking pan, warm up oil and fry the onions until golden brown. Grate ginger into this and add red chilly powder. Toss in the rest of the finely chopped veggies along with peas and cook with closed lid taking just the required amount of water and salt. When it is almost done, add garam masala powder and some of the coriander leaves. Stir for a minute or two.
Deskin the cooked potatoes and mash it. Mix this with the veggie mix prepared. Do not use water anytime because the cutlet mix should be dry, else it will be difficult to make balls. Check for salt and roll this mix with your palm into evenly sized balls(each about the size of a medium sized lemon). Flatten these balls into oval/round/heart shaped cutlets-whatever you prefer . Take bread crumbs/rava(fine semolina) in a plate and coat each side of the cutlet with it by touching each side on to the surface. Shallow fry all these cutlets on a heated skillet/tava/griddle(medium heat)-the bigger the griddle the better since you don't have do too many rounds of frying. Pour a little oil around each cutlet and ensure that each side turns golden brown(the entire frying process should take around 15-20 minutes). Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with tomato ketchup/tamarind+chilly chutney.
Labels: Chatpat, Cutlet, Jhatpat, North Indian, One dish meal, Snack, Vegetable, Veggie
Mixed Vegetable Curry
This is another coconut based curry which has a south Indian touch. It requires a blender or mixer for the paste. So keep that in mind before you try it out, but I assure you that this dish is a pleasure to your taste buds.
Serves about 2 – 3 people
Time taken: 30 to 35 minutes
Ingredients required:
1 big cup of cut vegetables (beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower, potato etc)
(The vegetables must be cut into medium size)
1 handful of toor dal
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 medium sized tomato chopped
4 Tsp of grated coconut
2 pods of garlic
5 green chillies
1 handful of chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
3 Tsps of oil
Salt to taste
For seasoning:
1 tsp mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
3 tsps oil
Method of preparation:
Wash the vegetables and the toor dal and pressure cook it together on medium flame for 2 whistles or till the dal is cooked. Make a fine paste of coconut, garlic, green chillies, jeera, turmeric powder and the coriander leaves with as less water as possible in a blender. Heat oil in a kadai, and fry the chopped onion till it turns soft. Add tomatoes to this and fry till the tomatoes are mashed properly. Now add the green coconut paste to it and fry till the raw smell of the coconut and the garlic is gone. That takes about 5 minutes. To this add the cooked vegetable and toor dal along with water in which it was cooked. Bring it to a boil . Reduce the heat to low and add salt. Simmer for about 2 minutes. In a separate kadai, heat the oil for seasoning. Add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter,add the curry leaves . Now add this seasoning to the curry and mix. The mixed vegetable curry is ready.
Note : It tastes very well with roti as well as with rice also. If you are having it with rice, then make the consistency of the curry a little thinner by adding more water.
Labels: Chatpat, Coconut, curry, Easy, Indian, Jhatpat, quick, South, Vegetable, Veggie
Mixed Vegetable Pulav
The credit of this pulao goes to a hungry afternoon which stimulated my brain cells a little more than usual and made me try out this short cut method. I would confidently vouch for this particular recipe. This method has been tried and tested by many friends of mine and complimented upon. Please follow the instructions to the dot.
Serves about 3-4 people
Time taken-25-30 minutes
Cooking Tip- Using frozen mixed vegetables reduces the time taken to cut them.
Ingredients Used:
3 cinnamon sticks
2-3 buds of clove
Cardamom -2
Bay leaf
(The above four items are referred together as whole masala)
1 large onion
Half an inch ginger
Half a tsp each of turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder and biryani pulao masala
One and half tsp coriander powder
1 big cup of rice(preferably basmati rice)
1 big cup or equal amount of mixed vegetables like beans, carrots, green peas and corn
6-7 cloves of garlic
1 tomato
2-3 tbsp oil
2 tsp ghee
Method of Preparation:
Warm the oil in a cooker and put the whole masala into it. Stir it with a ladle until you get the aroma of the masala. Add chopped onions to this and fry till golden brown. Then, add plain unwashed basmati rice to this and roast it until it turns slightly white/loses its transparency. This ensures that the rice doesn't become sticky and cooks well too. To this, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, Garam masala and Biryani pulao masala and grated ginger. Mix it well. After about a minute, add medium cut mixed vegetables, two big cups of water, salt, grated garlic and chopped tomato. Pressure cook on medium high flame until one whistle. After the whistle, lower the flame in to medium level and cook for 3-4 minutes. The pulav is now almost ready. Once the cooker cools, open its lid and pour in the ghee for extra flavour. It also changes the consistency of the rice.
Note:Pulav tastes good as it is or with raita prepared by mixing finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber and a little bit of salt in curds(plain yoghurt). You could also toss in a few mint leaves to this mix while preparing pulao to add extra flavour.
Labels: Chatpat, Cooker Pulao, Easy, Jhatpat, Mixed, One dish meal, Pulao, Pulav, quick, Vegetable, Veggie
Philly Veggie Sandwich
Philly Veggie Sandwich is something that I first tried out at a mall here in the USA. We liked it so much that, everytime we visit this mall, we make it a point to not come out before grabbing a biiig bite of it. It is very filling. Since the cook out there prepares it right in front of us, we get to see how it is made and this is now being made public so that, those of you who find it tempting enough could try out. Happy eating!!Serves about 2 people.Preparation Time: 15 Minutes.
Cooking Tip: While the stuffing is being prepared, one could get the buns/subs ready for the stuffing..that could save a few more minutes.
Ingredients Required:2 subs-foot long (Indians could use burger buns, but it tastes better with subs)
Two onions
Quarter bell pepper(Capsicum)
One tomato
10 mushroom slices
15 pickled slices of jalapeno(In India, if jalapenos are not available, maybe 2-3 chillies+salt could help)
15 sweet peppers(we like to replace it with small pieces of pineapple)
4 slices of cheese
Mayonnaise (you decide the fat content and the variety of cheese/mayo you want to use)
Olives(optional)
Lettuce(optional)
Method of Preparation:Chop onions, capsicum, mushrooms and tomato lengthwise(thin) into half an inch long pieces(ref the pic provided). Toss them into a flat based pan(preferably) which is heated and leave for three minutes. No oil is required. When the veggies catch some heat, add the jalapenos, sweet peppers(or pineapple pieces) and olives. Stir for a while giving a minute before every stir, until the veggies become cooked enough and yet have that crunchy feel(not golden brown ). Then, add the cheese slices on this mix and allow to melt (refer pic). In the meanwhile, spit each sub horizontally and spread a layer of mayo along the base of the sub. One the veggies are fried, fill in the sub. Decorate with two or three slices of tomatoes. You could spread in some fresh chopped lettuce too. Your Philly veggie Sandwich is ready to devour.
Labels: Chatpat, Easy, Jhatpat, One dish meal, Sandwich, Snack, Tasty, Veggie
