Delicious in its simplicity – beans palya

 

Myhusband tells me, this palya tasted exactly the same somehow everywhere he had tried it – restaurants, wedding feasts, home
I tell him – that is because it is JUST SO SIMPLE!
That does NOT go to say the dish is too simple.
This palya lights up any south Indian meal, spicy or light. Why I am mom have had an entire meal of just steamed rice and the vegetable!
As usual – it takes not more than 10 minutes.
With a short cooking time, I also feel the nutrients of the vegetable, apparent by the color are retained – how wonderful!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
French Beans – 500gms                        Freshly grated coconut – 1/4th cup
Salt to taste
For tempering
Mustard seeds – 1tsp                                         Curry leaves – Few
Green chillies – 2-4                                             Oil – 2-3 tsp
Steps
– Wash, drain and chop the beans into small pieces
– In a pan, add oil. add mustard seeds once the oil is hot.
_ Once the mustard sputters, add curry leaves and let them crisp
slightly before adding split green chillies.
– Add  the beans, salt to taste, toss and let it cook covered on medium     flame for 5-8 minutes. The beans will lose just a tiny bit of color, but
not the crunch.
– Once the beans are just-cooked, turn the flame off, add grated fresh     coconut and toss.

That’s it!

You would find it so simple yet so delicious, you would end up nibbling into at least half of it even before meal – time. To snack, just roll it into a roti or between two slices of bread, with chutney powder for added taste.

 

 

 

Majjige huli – nothing like the usual sambhar

Majjige literally is sour curd or butter milk and huli is sometimes the name given to sambhar.
I tried coming up with a name that would communicate the simple, yet delicious and feast-worthy dish that it is …but other languages don’t seem to do justice.

It is, in fact a fairly simple and quick dish, but you would find at least 7 out of 10 guests who have never eaten such a thing. I have even managed to surprise south Indian friends of mine!
The variety is amazing too – radish; cauliflower;beans&potato;bamboo shoot, ash gourd

As usual, it wont take you more than 10-15 minutes to prepare it and it goes fabulously with steamed rice (or if you like, hot parathas)
Here goes..

Recipe Serves 4

Ingredients:
For the curry
Coconut – 1cup                                                        Vegetable – 1/2 to 1 cup
Green chillies – 4                                                     Curd 1/4th cup
Red chillies – 2                                                          Salt to taste
For tempering
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp                                              Red chillies – 2-3
Ghee – 1 tablespoon

Steps:
– Par cook the vegetable adding (usually, depending on firmness of the     vegetable used 1 whistle in a pressure cooker or 7-10 minutes in      boiling water would do). Retain with water

– Meanwhile, grind coconut, red chillies, green chillies using curd.
– Add to boiled vegetable and its water, add salt and boil for another 5-    8 minutes
– Temper in ghee with mustard & coarsely cut red chillies (in that order)

Done!

Diwali special – rava laddoos

Years after I moved out of home, I am now at the start of my journey as a mother..creating warm memories for my daughter to cherish..just the way my family did for me

Prepared these two delicious treats for the first time my self..thanks to precise instructions from mom, they turned out pretty well! (Rava laddoos are my absolute favourite – juicy, lightly sweetened little treats..just down one every time I pass the kitchen!)

So happy diwali everyone! I hope you cherish the joy and hope all year through!

Rava Laddoos:

Makes 20-25 laddoos

Ingredients:
Rava/Sooji (Fine) – 1cup                                                         Cardamom – 2pods
Ghee – 4 tablspoon                                                                Cloves – 4
Powdered sugar – 1cup                                                          milk – a few teaspoons
Salt – a pinch
Dried coconut/Khopra (grated or ground)- 1/4th cup or more if you like
Steps:
– Grind sugar with cardamom and cloves to a fine powder
– Heat ghee and roast rava/sooji on low heat. Add salt and roast till the rava turns off white or very lightly golden.
– turn off the heat and add sugar and the coconut
– Sprinkle some milk over the mixture and make small balls and set aside
you can use a little more milk if the mixture has cooled off and you find it easier then to
make laddoos
– In a few minutes, the laddoos will harden slightly and are ready to eat!

Farm fresh produce this summer..

My parents grew up in a small hill town admist farms and greenery..when they could, they settled down on the outskirts of a now over-grown city. For whatever little land they had around the house, they have used every bit of soil to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Now, I live in Mumbai. No space. The closest I can get to a garden – is 10 pots and aloe vera and fenugreek plants for a kitchen garden!

So when we go home, I gorge on home-grown produce like I haven’t eaten in ages. I must have eaten at least 10kilos of just avacados this time! Here’s a glimpse of the produce I enjoyed this summer!
Over the next few weeks, I hope to put up the fantastic comfort recipes these fruits and vegetables are used for by Mom...do stay with me!

There is one green fruit of the lime family, I could not find the English name for..maybe you can help..

Glimpse of greying hair?! Try and save the rest, shall we?

Kadi patta has always been known to help in preventing greying of the hair. It is also very effective in treating damaged hair, adding bounce to limp hair, strengthening the shaft of thin hair, hair fall and treats dandruff. The best part about this benefit is that you can either choose to eat the curry leaves to help with your hair woes or apply it to your scalp as a remedy.
Source: TOI

INGREDIENTS
Coconut oil – 1cup
Caster oil – 1cup
Sesame oil – 1cup
Curry leaves – At least 2large bunches

STEPS
Grind curry leaves without water

Combine all the above ingredients and boil on low flame for 15minutes

Preserve in a glass jar and use

Done!

 

 

 

 

Banana stem – oh yum!

The genius of vegetarianism is probably in the many innovations we come across involving least likely ingredients. Banana stem is so deceptive a vegetable – a novice would not think twice about it if he passed right by the vegetable on a cart.

Nutritional benefits of banana stem, like the fruit are many – Vitamin B6 (helps production of hemoglobin, insulin),it is said to improve the ability of the body to fight infection. Potassium helps in the proper functioning of muscles, including the cardiac muscles. It also helps prevent high blood pressure, and maintain fluid balance within the body. The fibrous nature of the banana stem apparently helps detoxify the body. and It is used prevent and treat kidney stones.

Well, now that we know how beneficial the banana stem is, lets see how delicious it can be!

Here is a simple, delicious preparation..

Recipe serves 2

INGREDIENTS  
Banana stem – 1 finely chopped
(store boughts usually have a standard size, which will do)
For tempering
Mustard seeds – 1teaspoon
Urad dal – 1teaspoon
Curry leaves – few

To grind
Mustard seeds – 1teaspoon
Coconut – 1/2 cup
Red chillies – 5
Turmeric – 1/4th teaspoon
Tamarind – To taste

STEPS
In a kadhai/ wok, prepare tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves in oil.

Add chopped banana stem,salt, stir and let it cook covered on a low flame. Alternatively you can also cook this vegetable in a pressure cooker with a little water and 2-3 whistles.

Add ground mix of mustard seeds, coconut, red chillies, turmeric and tamarind. After frying for a couple of minutes, let the preparation cook further on a low flame.

Done!

I just entered the first of what sounds like a great link-up party! Yeeeii! 
 

So we are now in the company of some fabulous home cooks!
Emily Leary – Recipe of the week  
Priya – First anniversary give away

Sesame & coconut relish (ellu gojju)

It looks fiery,tastes yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Mother ‘s, Grand mother’s and Even my Grand father’s cooking has always been a matter of bold flavors. Till date, when appreciating my mother’s cooking, Granddad would use the words “very nice, very strong” 🙂

Subdued spices and flavors or a dish without a punch is just not their style. This particular chutney is a typical example of it!

Try this superb chutney with akki roti, sooji (semolina) roti, akki mudde (steamed rice balls) you will never look at any coconut based chutney the same way!

Recipe serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS
Urad dal – 1/4th teaspoon
Coriander dry – 1/4th teaspoon
White sesame seeds – 2 tablespoons
Red chillies – 3-4
Fresh coconut – ½ cup
Tamarind – to taste
Jaggery – to taste and optional but highly recommended!
Salt – to taste

For tempering
Mustard – 1teaspoon
Urad dal – 1teaspoon
Curry leaves – few

STEPS
– Dry roast urad dal, coriander, sesame seeds, red chillies (in that order so the sesame is just browned     and not burnt)
–  Grind these roasted ingredients with coconut, tamarind, salt and jaggery (optionally) adding some water when required.
– Temper in oil with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves

Done!

Must try with akki roti, akki mudde or sooji roti

 

Steamed rice-balls (akki mudde)

 

 

 

 

 

Akki mudde literally means crushed (as in rice rolled into balls in your fist). It is a perfect example of how beautifully we can improvise on a regular staple ingredient like rice. This dish is steamed and contains no more than 2-3 spoons full of oil!

Smaller versions of the rice balls make great cocktail snacks..

Now this takes a little prior prep but trust me, it is all very simple..

this recipe serves 4

INGREDIENTS
Akki tari/ broken rice-1cup
Oil – 2.5tablespoons
Water – 3cups

for tempering
Mustard seeds – 1teaspoon
Urad dal – 1teaspoon
Curry leaves- few

STEPS
The coarse rice or akki tari :
Wash uncooked rice and dry it in when you get some sun.  Run it in the mixer once very quickly, so you have a very coarse rice flour. Rice grains should be broken down to about 1/4^th of their actual size.
This can be prepared previously and stored just like regular rice.

The rice balls or akki mudde
– In a heavy bottomed wok, start with a tempering of mustard seeds,urad dal and curry leaves in oil.
– To this, add 3cups of water
– Once the water starts boiling, add salt, 1tspn oil and 1cup of the uncooked coarse rice prepared earlier
– Let this simmer covered, on low flame for about 7-8minutes, stirring  it couple of times in the last 3minutes.
– While the cooked mixture is still hot, make small balls from this  cooked ‘dough’ and steam them for 10minutes.

Done!

I admit this is a tad bit lengthier procedure than the other recipes, but it is totally worth it!
Try this with the very delicious and very typical sesame chutney ellu gojju

No-cook summer green tomato curry

On days that I miss home, I need to get me an immediate fix of nostalgia – a taste of mom’s typical dishes. This is one of those…as soon as as I grind mustard seeds and coconut..the fragrance takes me home…

you have to try this extremely simple yet very tasty green tomato sasive..

 

recipe serves 2

INGREDIENTS

Raw/green tomatoes – 4 medium
Onions – 2 medium
Mustard seeds – 1teaspoon
Coconut – 1/2 cup (grated or coarsely ground)
Red chillies – 2
Curd – 1 cup (should not be sour curd)
Salt – to taste

STEPS

1. Dry grind mustard seeds first.
2. Add coconut and red chillies and grind further coarsely (instead of water, use some of the curd to grind)
3. In a bowl, put together finely chopped onions and green tomatoes, add the above mix and salt.
4. Mix and add more curd to enhance consistency to that of a gravy

Temper with mustard seeds, udad dal, curry leaves in oil

Done!

This goes very well with spicy rice pulav, ragi rotis, steamed white rice

 

radish hasi-beesi palya (sabzi)

You have never had radish like this…it is a supreme example of how a not-so-loved vegetable can become the star of your menu!

our cooking originates from a South Indian town called Udupi.
Most recipes tend to be sweetened with some jaggery. However sweetness is entirely optional..;)

Hasi-beesi literally refers to ingredients ground raw.

Here goes..

Recipe serves 2

INGREDIENTS

Radish – 4 medium sliced round (like potatoes for chips)
Onion – 2 large sliced long
Salt – to taste

To grind:
Coconut – 1/4th cup
Onion – 2 large
Coriander seeds – 2 table spoons
Red chillies – 4-6
Tamarind- the size of a small lemon

To temper:
Udad dal – 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds – 1/4th teaspoon
Red chillies – few
Curry leaves – handful

STEPS
1. Grind the above ingredients to a course paste. With fresh coconut  you may not need any water. If required, add very little.
2. Start cooking with tempering udad dal, mustard seeds,red chillies, curry leaves in oil.
3. Add sliced onion, fry unhook lightly brown
4. Add radish, fry lightly and cook covered for about 5minutes. Its best to cook it lightly till the radish is still crunchy.
5. Add ground mix and salt
6. Adding jaggery at this point is optional.
7. Cover and cook a little longer tossing the preparation a couple of times.

Done!

I bet you would be eager to try some by now…:-)