Kerala-Style Sambar
I used to always wonder how sambar tasted so different in every state of south India, until i got to know people from these cultures. The sambar recipe I have here was learnt from my friend's Keralite room mate who had invited us for dinner one day and had it in her menu. It is amazing how we can add or omit one or two spices in the very same basic recipe to give it a totally different taste. Kerala sambar has a very distinct aroma and taste and we all love it at our place. My little one in particular, takes an extra helping whenever I make it. Do try it out and give your comments.Time Taken: About 30 minutes
Serves about 4 people.Ingredients Used:4-5 handfuls of Tuvar/Toor Dal
1 large tomato
One handful each of beans, carrot, tindora, drumstick pieces or
any other vegetable you would like to add.
One potato
2-3 tsp of oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A sprig of curry leaves
a pinch of hing/asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chilly powder
2 1/2 tsp sambar powder
Tamarind(about 2/3 rd the size of a small lemon)
3-4 sambar onions(when not present, use 1 medium sized normal onion)
A handful of chopped coriander leaves.
Salt to taste.
Method of Preparation:Take about a tumbler full of water and pour it into a pressure cooker. Place it on a heated stove and place a cooker vessel containing washed tuvar dal and chopped tomatoes into it. With the whistle on, cook to about 2-3 whistles on medium high flame.In the meanwhile, chop whatever veggies you have into medium sized pieces and keep aside.
Next, in a cooking pot, warm oil and sputter mustard seeds along with curry leaves. Add hing, turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and sambar powder. Mix with a ladle for about a minute. To this, add all the washed and cut veggies and cook until it is almost done using half to one bowl of water and covering the lid of the pot.
Add a little salt now so that the veggies take up salt as well as masala.While you are waiting for the veggies to cook and dal to cool, chop sambar onions finely and fry it in a kadai till it turns golden brown, using very little oil.
Mash tomatoes in the cooked dal and pour it into the cooking pot having the veggies. Add more water and salt as per your
requirement and boil the veggies completely. Mix tamarind paste and boil for another minute. Remove from the stove and add the fried onion. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Labels: Chatpat., Easy, Jhatpat, Kerala, Malayalam style, Malyali sambar, quick, Tasty
Methi Bhaajji
Methi bhaajji is one of the best things you could do with fenugreek leaves. Goes very well with Chapathis. My mom makes it very often at our place since it is not only an easy recipe but also very good for health. I remember that i used to hate methi as a kid because of its bitterness. Later, as years went by, aamma started using more onions and tomatoes in her original curry to reduce the wierd taste that methi leaves behind at the end of every bite(although most methi lovers like it for that very reason). Ever since, i've loved this dish too. Try it if you don't like methi and you'll know what i mean.
Ingredients Used:
1 big bunch of methi/fenugreek leaves
4 medium or 2 very large onions
3 tomatoes
1/8th tsp pinch of turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
2-3 tsp refined oil
Salt to taste.
Serves about 2-3 people.
Time Taken: 20-25 minutes.
Method of Preparation:
Cut onions finely and put them into a heated kadai/cooking pan with oil in it. Stir fry till the onions turn pinkish in colour. Now, add turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Then, toss in finely diced tomatoes. Cook for a minute or two. In the meanwhile, wash methi leaves thoroughly and chop it on a cutting board(need not be fine). Add salt, Mix this well in the masala prepared. Using very little water and closing the lid of the pan, cook it on medium flame until done, ensuring that the curry doesn't have any water, for, that would make it gross in terms of appearance and taste. Serve hot with phulkas/chapatis.
Labels: Bhaaji, bhaajji, Chatpat, curry, dry, Easy, fenugreek, Jhatpat, Methi, quick, sabzi, Tasty
Spinach(Palak) Rice
When you don't know what to do with that big bunch of spinach which is lying in the fridge and are out of ideas, here's an option to explore. Sneaking in spinach this way ensures that those who don't like spinach eat it and benefit from it. Can be eaten with or without raita. As a matter of fact, it tastes better without raita. Time taken: 25-30 minutesServes about 4-5 peopleIngredients used:4-5 tsp butter/ghee(oil for diet conscious ppl)
2 medium sized pieces of cinnamon
2 clove buds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 green chillies
1 medium sized onion
5-6 garlic cloves
1/4 inch ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric powder(optional)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 1/2 large cups of Basmati rice
3 large cups of water.
1 large bunch of spinach.
1/2 cup of fresh/frozen green peas
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:Take ghee in a heated cooker and add cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Stir for half a minute. Add jeera(cumin) Then, chop green chillies and add it to the whole masala. After it appears kind of crispy, add onion and garlic which are both cut lengthwise and fry till they turn golden brown. To this, add the basmati rice and roast till it loses its transparency and appears white in colour. Add all the powders/masalas mentioned above and mix for a minute. Then, pour in the water and add finely chopped spinach and salt. Now, grate the ginger from the top, add the peas and stir well. Close the cooker and cook on medium high flame with the whistle on, until it gives out one whistle. Then, reduce the temp of the stove to low medium flame for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the gas now and wait till the cooker cools.
Note: Adding turmeric here is optional and the rice gets a greenish natural white tinge in the absence of turmeric.Labels: Chatpat, Easy, Jhatpat, One dish meal, Palak, Pulao., Pulav, quick, Spinach, Tasty
Bataate Saung(Potato Song)
This particular variety of 'Bataate saung' does not contain coconut. The very colour of this tangy and spicy curry is enough to tempt you. This recipe is a slightly modified version of the bataate song that my mom used to prepare. Bataate song is eaten with rice, chapathi and as a side dish alongside dal and rice. Try mixing it with dal if you happen to have prepared dal that day. The best thing about this curry is that, it doesn't need too many ingredients and can be prepared on just any day when you haven't rationed your kitchen enough. Time Taken:20-25 minutesServes about 3-4 peopleIngredients Required:3 medium sized potatoes
1 very large/2 medium sized onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 tsp tamarind paste/tamarind water made from a small lemon sized piece of tamarind.
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tsp red chilly powder(depending on how hot you want it)
1/2 tsp coriander powder and 1/2 tsp garam masala powder(in my version of it)
3-4 tsp oil
Salt to taste.
Method of Preparation:Boil Potatoes in a cooker. While you're waiting for the potatoes to get ready, Take oil in a cooking pan and heat it. Chop onions into large squares and toss them in. Fry till slightly brown. Then, add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder and mix with a ladle for a minute. Then, add finely chopped tomatoes and tamarind paste. Cook for two to three minutes. Peel off 2 of the boiled potatoes and cut them into cubes which are about the size of the onion squares. Add the garam masala and salt now. Grate the last potato into the curry to make it gravy-like. Pour in about 1 1/2 glasses of water or more depending on the desired amount of thickness in the curry. Cook to a good boil so as to ensure that the potato has absorbed enough salt. Isn't this easy??? Enjoy!
Labels: Bataate, Chatpat, curry, Easy, Gravy, Jhatpat, Konkani, Modified, Potato, quick, Saung, Song, Tasty
Simple Egg Curry
This is my mom’s recipe. It requires a lot of ingredients, but its very simple to prepare. Tastes best with rice.
Time taken: 35-40 minutes
Serves about 3 people
Ingredients required:
4 large white eggs
2 medium sized onions sliced
2 small tomatoes sliced
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1-inch ginger chopped
4 dry red chillies
1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 Tsp coriander seeds (dhaniya seeds)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
3-4 peppercorns
5 –6 cashew nuts
1 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
3 cloves
1-inch cinnamon
4 Tsp grated coconut
Handful of coriander leaves chopped
2 Tsp heavy cream (milk can be used instead)
2 Tsp kasuri methi (optional)
4 Tsp of oil
salt for taste
Method of preparation:
Take about 3 liters of water in a large vessel and bring it to a boil. Add the eggs with the shells on and let it boil uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes. Once this is done, switch off the gas and cover the vessel for 5 minutes. Drain and peel the eggs, cut it into half and keep aside. To save time, the gravy can be prepared when the eggs are being boiled. Heat 3 Tsp of oil, add jeera and let it crackle. Now add cloves and cinnamon and fry for about 30 seconds. Now add coriander seeds, peppercorns, poppy seeds, cashew nuts and fry for another 30 seconds, now add onions, garlic and ginger. Fry till the onions turn translucent. Now add tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are mashed properly. Then add red chillies and coconut and fry till the coconut starts turning brownish. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes. Now add coriander leaves and fry for about a minute. Switch off the fire and transfer this mixture to a large plate so that it cools down to the room temperature soon. As soon as the mixture cools down , grind it to a paste with a blender using very little or no water.
Now take the remaining oil in the same vessel in which the mixture for the gravy was fried and add the paste. Once it starts boiling, add cream and kasoori methi. Add a glass of water and bring the gravy to boil. More water can be added as per your required consistency. Now add the eggs and simmer for about 2 minutes on low flame. The egg curry is done.
Labels: Anda, Chatpat, curry, Easy, Egg, Gravy, Indian, Jhatpat, quick, Simple
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
Beetroot Rice
Beetroot was the most hated vegetable in our house when we were kids. My mother would use all her tricks to make us eat it and we used to try our maximum best to avoid eating it. She had almost given up hope when one of our newly moved in neighbor gave her this wonderful recipe and ever since it’s been one of my favorites. It’s easy to make and a pleasure to your taste buds. Just try it out to taste the proof.
Serves about 3-4 people
Time taken – 20 to 25 minutes
Ingredients Used:
1 large onion
1 medium beetroot
½ a cup of peas (frozen or fresh, both will do)
½ tsp ginger & garlic paste
2 tsp garam masala powder (preferably MTR brand)
5 to 6 green chillies slit
½ tsp jeera
1 big cup of basmati rice
½ a cup of chopped coriander leaves
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste
2 to 3 Tsp oil
2 Tsp ghee
Method of preparation:
Wash the beetroot and peel it to remove the outer skin. Then chop it into small cubes and keep aside. Soak the basmati rice for about 10 minutes, then drain. Heat ghee in a cooker and fry the basmati rice till it becomes white, then add the beetroot pieces and the peas and fry for a minute. Now add 2 big cups of hot water and salt to this and pressure cook on high flame. After 1 whistle, lower the flame to medium and cook for 3 minutes. Once the cooker cools, open the lid and let this mixture cool down to room temperature. While the rice cools, heat the oil in a wok and add jeera. Once it starts to crackle, add Ginger & Garlic paste as well as the slit green chillies and fry for a few minutes. To this add the onions and fry till they turn translucent. Now add the garam masala powder and fry for a minute. To this add the already cooked rice, beetroot and peas mixture and mix . Taste for salt and add accordingly. Now add the juice of freshly squeezed half a lemonand mix well, Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
Note: Tastes well with onion or tomato raita.
Labels: Beetroot, Chatpat, Easy, Jhatpat, One dish meal, quick, Rice, Tasty
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
Tamarind Poha/Rice Flakes (Huli Avalakki)
Tamarind Poha is a slightly modified version of the regular poha. I would like to refer to it as the sister of Tamarind rice-I find this tastier though. Recollect eating it for the first time when my High School friend had brought it in her lunch box. Having loved its taste, I had then remarked that it must be a really exotic thing and difficult to prepare. However, its recipe is so simple that, if you are wondering what to prepare for breakfast/snack with time constraint, this could be one option. Tried it out recently by listening to a friend's 'mooh bola' version of it and trusting my cooking instincts. Thankfully, it came out really well. Serves about 2-3 peopleTime Taken: 20 minutes
Cooking Tip: Not required here
.Ingredients Required:For soaking the Poha:1 cup Poha/rice flakes
Half a cup Tamarind water(you could use Tamarind paste also to prepare this)
One Inch size of jaggery piece (sugar could be used if jaggery is not available, but it isn't as tasty)
1 tsp Rasam powder
a pinch of turmeric powder
Half a tsp chilly powder/ Red chillies.
Salt to taste.
For Seasoning:2 tsps of oil
Half a tsp Chana dal
Half a tsp Urad dal
A pinch of asafoetida or Hing(some keep it optional)
1 tsp. mustard seeds
One handful of peanuts(groundnuts)
a few curry leaves
Method of Preparation:Grate the jaggery/ powder it so that it easily dissolves in the tamarind water. Add the rasam powder, turmeric powder, chilly powder(omit Chilly powder if you are using red chillies in the seasoning) and salt to it. Check the exactness of the taste now itself because you will not be able to change it later. Basically, the mix should have a mix of spicy, sweet and tangy taste with optimum salt.
Coarsely dry grind the poha in a mixer and soak it in this spicy cum tangy water for about 15 minutes. By this time, the entire mix would have soaked up all the water and become puffy. If you try tasting a little bit of it at this point of time, it should not be crunchy. Ensure that you do not add too much of water because that would make it too soggy.
In a kadai/frying pan, take the oil. Sputter mustard seeds along with the curry leaves in it. Add peanuts, chana dal and urad dal. Sprinkle a pinch of hing/asafoetida also. Stir for 2 minutes until the dal slightly changes its colour. Add red chillies too if you haven't used the chilly powder in the tamarind water mix. Mix this seasoning with the soaked tamarind poha. Eat it cold. No need to cook further. The best thing about this preparation is that it could be kept for 2-3 days without getting it stale.
Some people like to add grated coconut to this item. This however reduces its shelf life.
Enjoy.
Labels: beaten, Kannada, One dish meal, Poha, puliyogare, quick, Rice flakes, tamarind
Rava/Sooji Bhakri.
A jhatpat konkani khana which could be eaten either for breakfast or as a snack in the evenings when you are hungry enough. Covering it with a lid while cooking, makes it one of the quick to make pancakes . Rava or Sooji bhakri is basically a thick roti -like stuff which can be eaten plain without the need any side dish.Serves about 2-3 peopleTime taken: 20 minutes.
Ingredients:Sooji(the upma one) half a cup,
finely chopped onions 2, finely chopped green chillies 2-3,
a few dashes of hing/asafoetida, a little grated ginger, a little sugar(1 sp at the most),
salt and a little curd(optional), grated coconut(if you like it).
Method of Preparation:Mix all the above mentioned ingredients with some water. Make a thick semi solid paste(as thick as idli batter, if you have seen it). Heat the griddle/tava on medium flame and with the help of your clean hands, tap small rounded cakes of the mixture on the tava. Pour a few drops of oil around each of these and cover them with a lid until one side is done. Overturn these bhakris and cook until both the sides are well cooked or slightly brown.
Technorati:
Indian recipes,
recipesLabels: bhakri, Chatpat, doddak, Easy, Jhatpat, Konkani, quick, Rava, semolina, sooji
