Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala: Recipes from Your Kitchen to Mine

Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala

There are many advantages of cooking from food blogs than cook books. One you get introduced to new cuisines with simple as well exotic ingredients. Second you get to see how the actual dish looks with drool worthy photos posted along the recipes. For me the best part is you can easily contact the blogger and clear all your doubts/queries which otherwise is not possible with cookbook authors. And not to forget, you get all these services without costing you a penny. Yup, the buzz word is FREE.

Since two years of blogging, I have tried many recipes following the recipes posted in blogs. Sometime the end result ended up in garbage but many a times it was licked clean from plates, spoons and even the serving bowl. When I think of those recipes which have become my family favourites, I realised I haven’t posted most of them. So with this new mission of mine, I will be posting at least one recipe per month which I had tried and tested from bloggers. So please look forward to many more delicious recipes cooked in our kitchen tried from other kitchens in a new series called Recipes from Your Kitchen to Mine.

First recipe in this series is from lovely, sweet and chatter box (sorry couldn’t help it;) Swati who rants at Chatkhor. Few days back she had posted her aunt’s recipe for Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala. Being big time Okra lovers, it didn’t take too long for us try it. I was curious as how creamy the yogurt gravy looked as most of the times when yogurt added in a curry ended up curdling with unpleasant texture and taste. My only solution to this problem was to add yogurt just before you switch off the flame. But here in Swati’s recipe she used a paste made using cashews soaked in milk and coconut and Bingo, I got fool proof recipe for getting creamy yogurt gravy without curdling it. Both cashews and coconut are used in many recipes to thicken the gravy, giving it a creamy texture and also to enhance its taste. The amount of cashew and coconut used in this gravy is comparatively quite small without overpowering the actual yogurt based gravy. This cashew-coconut paste is just enough to give creamy gravy without you worrying too much about the calorie. Another intersecting tip was sprinkle little salt on okra pieces and marinate for few minutes before frying. I was not sure about the reason behind it till I decided to give it a try and realised it actually helps in reducing the sliminess of okra. The spices itself used are very little, giving it right flavour. While curry leaves in tadka imparts wonderful aroma to the dish, the pleasantly bitter kasuri methi enhances its flavour. With few modifications to suit our taste, this recipe is a keeper and I will be trying it again very shortly. Thanks dear Swati for sharing this delicious recipe with us which has become one of our favourite yogurt based curry.

Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala

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Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala (Fried Okra in creamy Cashew-Coconut-Yogurt gravy)

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 3-4
Recipe Source: Chatkhor

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Ingredients:
3-4 cups Bhindi/Okra, washed, dried and cut into 1 cm pieces
1 large Onion, finely chopped
2 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1 tbsp Tomato Paste (Optional)
1 tsp Sugar (Optional, to balance the sour taste of amchur and yogurt)
1 cup Yogurt, beaten
1 tbsp Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen
6-8 Cashew Nuts, soaked in warm milk for at least 10 mins
½ -1 tbsp Kasuri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves
1 tsp Garam Masala/Kitchen King Masala
½ -1 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ -1 tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
½ tsp Coriander Powder
1-2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
2-3 Dry Red Chillies, halved
A Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Few Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Oil

Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala

Method:

Sprinkle little salt to okra pieces and mix well. Keep it aside for half an hour. This helps in reducing the sliminess while frying the okra. This step is optional.
Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add okra pieces to it. Fry them continuously at high flame till they turn brown retaining their crispiness, about 7-10 mins. Alternatively you can also deep fry them but I prefer pan frying for healthy option. Transfer these fried okras to a plate lined with kitchen/paper towel and keep them aside till needed.
Grind soaked cashews and coconut to smooth paste adding the milk used for soaking. Keep it aside till needed.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chillies, hing and curry leaves and sauté it for a minute till cumin seeds and dal turns golden brown in colour.
Now add finely chopped onions and fry till they turn light golden. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another minute till their raw smell disappears and onion turns golden brown. Now add all the dry masalas (garam/kitchen king masala, red chilli powder, amchur, turmeric and coriander powder) along with Kasuri Methi and fry for a minute in low heat.
Mix in finely chopped tomatoes and sauté till they turn pulpy and release their juice, about 2 minutes. Now add ground cashew-coconut paste and mix well. Keep stirring for a minute.
Add yogurt, sugar and salt to taste and stir well. Depending on the consistency of gravy required, add ½-1 cup of water and mix well. Simmer the gravy and let it cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.
Mix in fried okra and adjust the seasonings. Add little more water if you think the gravy is too thick and simmer for another 3-5 minutes. Serve this delicious gravy of Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala with any roties or flavoured Basmati rice and enjoy.

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Akki Rotti with Dill-Coconut Chutney: Dill Se...

Akki Rotti with Dill-Coconut Chutney

Pretty to look at with vibrating green colours, herbs add lot of flavour, aroma and colour to any food. Few pretty green leaves floating on soups and carefully placed on top of salad or curries, they do brighten up even the simplest food. But does that mean their sole purpose it to serve as a garnish which you can pick and keep aside while eating?

Ayurveda, an ancient science of healthy living, has always emphasised on using fresh herbs everyday. Knowingly or unknowingly, we have been following this ancient wisdom on day to day basis. Any Indian kitchen is incomplete without herbs stored safely in a refrigerator or pots of fresh herbs sitting pretty on kitchen windowsill. Herbs are indispensable in my kitchen and I usually end up adding extra handful of herbs in almost all the food I cook.

When I thought about different herbs used in everyday dish, I realised there are just few which make regular appearance. Curry leaves, coriander, mint and fenugreek are the most important ones that are used in almost all the recipes and basil, chives, rosemary and thyme makes few guest appearances now and then. Given my love for herbs I felt I am yet to discover the true potential of every herb which is easily available throughout the year. So here I am, on my way to taste and discover more herbs used in day to day cooking.

My first stop was at our regualr Asian grocery store to buy fresh bunch of Dill. Dill is more commonly known as Dill Weed and has feathery appearance. The fresh dill leaves has fragrant lemon and anise aroma and it tastes like mixture of parsley and anise. High in iron content, dill is available as fresh, dry and in seeds form. Dill is also one of the main herbs used in Karnataka in many recipes. So it was a safe bet to start my journey of rediscovering herbs. One the most loved food which features dill as the main ingredient is Akki Rotti, pan fried Indian bread made using rice flour. I have posted my mother’s recipe of Masala Akki Rotti sometime back and it was one of the most loved and referred recipes on Monsoon Spice. It is gluten free and also vegan and more importantly very healthy and delicious breakfast idea. First time I tasted Akki Rotti made using Dill and Avare KaLu/Surti Papdi Lilva was when I was doing my post graduation in Bangalore. Bangaloreans love Avare KaLu and use them in many recipes. Palya, Saaru, Sambar are the few to name but Akki Rotti with Avare KaLu tops my list of favourites. Coconut, avare kaLu, green chillies, onion and dill mixed with rice flour and directly patted on hot griddle was instant hit with me from day one. Crisp Akki Rotties with little note of sweetness from coconut and lilva, crunch from onions, citrus-y flavour from dill and touch of spiciness from fresh green chillies is one tasty affair which is hard not to notice. Served with just a dollop of freshly churned Butter or Coconut Chuteny/Brinjal Palya/Gojju, this is one meal that is hard to resist. Serve this to anyone who is not fond of dill and see them falling in love with it.

Ingredients for Akki Rotti

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Akki Rotti with Dill & Surti Papdi Lilva (Rice Flat Bread flavoured with Dill and Surti Papdi Lilva)

Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Makes: 6-7 medium Rotties

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Ingredients:
2-2½ cups Rice Flour
¼ cup grated Coconut, fresh/frozen (Optional but recommended)
½ - ¾ cups Surti Papdi Lilva/Avare KaaLu (I used canned ones. If using fresh or frozen boil them in salted water for around 5 minutes and drain or use as it is)
¼ cup Dill, finely chopped
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
2-4 Green Chillies, finely sliced (Adjust acc to taste)
1½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1-2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Warm water for kneading

Akki Rotti

Method:

Add finely chopped onion, green chillies, dill, fresh/frozen coconut, surti papdi, cumin seeds, oil and salt to taste to rice flour and mix well. Now add warm water, little at a time, and mix well to form dough. This dough should smooth and easy to pat directly on tawa/griddle. Alternatively, bring 2½-3 cups of water to boil and add mixed dry contents to it. Give it a gentle stir. Switch off the flame and cover the vessel. When covered, the steam from hot water helps in getting smooth dough. When dough is cool enough to handle, add oil to it and kneed the dough for few minutes.
The best way to make these rotties is to pat them directly on hot tawa/griddle. Trust me, its much easier than it sounds.
Take large lemon sized balls and place them in a centre of tawa. Pat them with fingers to form a ½ cm thick circle. Place that tawa on flame. Add little oil or ghee to the edges of rotti. Cover and cook the rotties for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat till brown spots start to appear on its surface. Flip it around and cook for another minute or two.
Invert the tawa/griddle and place it under cold running water for few seconds to cook it off slightly before you continue to proceed with patting the dough. Dip fingers in cold water to help in patting thin roties.
Serve these rotties with any Coconut Chutney or Gojju or Playa or Badane Ennegai and enjoy.

Akki Rotti with Dill-Coconut Chutney

I served my Akki Rotti with Dill & Coconut Chutney which I learnt from my Amma. Surprisingly Dill in this chutney tastes little bit like Mango chutney. Don’t you believe me? Then try this for yourself and see. This is my entry for FIC-Green, a unique event by Sunshinemom.

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Dill-Coconut Chutney
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: -
Serves: 3-5
Recipe Source: Amma

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Ingredients:
2-3 tbsp Dill weed, chopped
1 cup grated Coconut, fresh/frozen
2-3 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
½ inch Ginger, peeled
1 small marble sized Tamarind Pulp
Salt to taste

Dill-Coconut Chutney

Method:

Place all the ingredients in a mixer jar or food processor and grind to smooth paste adding little water at time.
Serve with Dosa, Idli or Rotti and enjoy.

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Note:

Not too fond of Dill? Replace it with coriander leaves in both the recipes for different flavour.
Keep a bowl of cold water next to you while patting the roties on tawa. This helps in even patting.

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Banana Blossom Patrode: Try Something New and Delicious!

Banana Blossom Patrode

Mangaloreans love two things, one coconut and another curry leaves. Between these two there is another vegetable/fruit which is indispensable to us and it's plantain or banana. Most of the houses in South Canara, even with small garden, will have one coconut tree and a banana tree along with wildly grown Curry plant swinging to cool evening breeze. I grew up with three banana plants in the backyard and hundreds of them in our estate. So it is no surprise that I have tasted almost everything cooked from its stem, fruit and even its flower/blossom using banana leaves as organic and bio-degradable plates.

I have had tasted many recipes using Banana Blossoms ranging from simple stir-fries to delicious Chutneys cooked by my Amma, aunts and Ajji. Our recent summer trip to India I was first time introduced one very novel dish by my mother in law and that dish is Banana Blossom Patrode. Last year during casual chat with my MIL she mentioned about making Patrode/Patra using Banana Blossom and like any foodie I was totally intrigued and couldn’t wait to try it. In spite of being really busy with the last minute wedding preparation of my BIL’s, my Atte managed to cook this for me. And to my surprise it turned out to be one of the very best foods I have ever tasted. I have been craving for this Patrode ever since we came back from India but never got around to make this as Banana Blossom is not easily available at my neck of woods and I was not very sure if I will be able to manage chop them in a right way and cook without any problem.

During our recent trip to down under (nope, not Aussie ;) I couldn’t resist from buying two banana blossoms in hope of making patrode. And boy, did I manage to cook it beautifully or what!!! Traditionally Patrode is made using Taro/Colacasia Leaves by spreading spicy paste on their surface, rolling and then cooked to perfection using a steamer. Same spicy batter is used here but banana blossom is used in place of taro leaves and no rolling is involved. This was the first time I have ever used Banana Blossom in cooking without any help from my mother or MIL and I was really proud with the end result. Except for laborious cleaning and chopping of banana blossom, this is really a very simple recipe and can be cooked very quickly. To top it all, it can be simply stored in a freezer for months together. Banana Blossom Patrode is spicy with mild note of sweet and tanginess from dry red chillies, tamarind, coconut and jaggery used; a taste which is hard to resist and even harder to forget. Without further delay let me give you step by step instructions on how to make Banana Blossom Patrode and please make sure that you go through the instructions carefully before cooking it. I am sening it to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging guest hosted by Zorra & initiated by dear Kalyn.

Banana Blossom & Florets

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Banana Blossom Patrode (Steam cooked & Pan fried Spicy Rice Cakes made using Banana Blossoms)

Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooing Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 4-6
Recipe Source: MIL

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Ingredients:
1 Banana Blossom
1 large Onion, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp Oil, preferably Coconut Oil
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
10-12 Curry Leaves, finely chopped

Grind to thick Batter (Dosa batter consistency):
2 cups Rice, washed and soaked overnight for about 8-10 hrs
½ packed cup Coconut, fresh/frozen/dried
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
½ -¾ tbsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Medium lime sized Tamarind Pulp (Adjust acc to taste)
6-8 Dry Red Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
1 inch cube Jaggery
Salt to taste

Banana Blossom Patrode- Before Steaming

Method:

Drain water from rice and grind it to smooth batter by adding water and all the ingredients listed above. Make sure that you have little thick batter than that of dosa batter consistency. Adjust tamarind, chillies and jaggery according to your preference.
Now comes the little tricky bit of chopping the banana flower. First apply 1 tbsp of coconut oil to your palm and rub well. Applying oil to your palms help in preventing the sticky sap oozing from banana blossom to your hand which leaves nasty black colour for few days. Remove the outer tougher covering and discard, around 2-4 outer tough skins. In my case I had to remove two outer skins. Don’t discard the florets. Now chop this banana flower and florets into very fine pieces.
Usually these chopped pieces are soaked in very sour butter milk to prevent from discolouring. In spite of doing so it discolours to some extent. So you can simply skip this step as we will be mixing them in the prepared batter.
Add 2-3 tbsp of Coconut oil and mix them well. This way you can easily separate layers which otherwise would be sticking to one another.
Now add this chopped banana flower, finely chopped onion, turmeric and chopped curry leaves to the ground batter and mix well.
Here comes the important step of steaming. You can either use usual Idli stand or flat bottomed vessel and steam cook them in a streamer or pressure cooker without putting its weight. Or another best way is to wrap it in banana leaves and steam cook it, same way as Genasale. I have used Tatte-Idli Stand. Grease the plates with oil and pour the batter with ladle into each plate. Place each plate back in the stand and steam cook in pressure cook or Idli steamer or Steamer for about 20-30 minutes till cooked properly.
Let it cool for 5 minutes before opening the lid. Remove cooked Patrode from plates and cut them into desired shapes. You can serve it with Ghee/Coconut oil or proceed to next step.
Heat tawa/griddle and place cut Patrode pieces on it. Add a tsp of Oil/Ghee for each piece and cook on both the sides for about 2 minutes till nice brown spots starts to appear on the surface.
Serve it immediately with or without any chutney or plain tomato ketchup and enjoy. It tastes best when roasted with Ghee/Coconut Oil.

Banana Blossom Patrode- After Steam cooked and Pan fried

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Notes:

Banana Blossom or Banana Heart grows on the end of long stem holding cluster of Bananas and this deep cherry red blossom is id considered as one of the delicacy in southern Indian states, both when cooked or eaten raw. Banana blossom has layers of tightly packed reddish flaps which wrap around rows of creamy florets with black stigma. Usually this black, hard stigma and transparent covering on every floret is removed as they are difficult to cook. I skipped this step as the steaming process helps in cooking them thoroughly. You can go ahead and remove them or just leave them as they are.
Try to stick to the amount of Tamarind and Jaggery used as they helps in mellowing the bitter taste of Banana Blossoms and spicy red chillies. If using old tamarind, reduce the quantity by ¾ th of the original quantity.
To steam cook, add about water depending on the size of pressure cooker you use. In my case I had to add about 2½ cups of water (about 1½-2 inches). Place the Idli stand and cover the lid without putting its weight and steam cook for about 20-30 mins.
The left over Patrode pieces can be stored in zip lock bag once they are completely cooled and can be frozen for about 1-2 months in freezer. When needed heat then in microwave (don’t thaw) and then roast them on tawa with ghee/oil and serve.

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A Campaign to Heal & Some Olan

Dear Valli of Cooking 4 All Seasons is my blog friend and since past few days we have become really close by exchanging long e-mails every other day. Mother of three adorable kids and full-time working woman, she is a good representative of modern Indian woman. Recently she mailed me about Anita Lakshmi, 28 years old with two small children, who is been diagnosed with Coronary Artery disease. Coming from an economically disadvantage family they are struggling to raise money for her surgery.

In Valli’s own words,
The darkest hour is just before the dawn. When in despair, you wait fervently, praying that night passes away quickly. Waiting for the hope to peep in. Wishing that ray of hope, to guide you away from difficulties. But for some unfortunate souls, hope never comes their way. They desperately wish that night never passes, for they don't have help, no means to get away from their difficulties. They, with heavy heart want to forget, slumbering the night away, wishing everything is fine.

Valli has undertaken a fundraising drive to help Lakshmi and the target is to raise enough money for her operation and other costs. To achieve this we need to raise about 15,000 US dollars by 15th September, 2008. Lakshmi desperately needs to be operated within 5-6 months and she needs all our support, in every possible ways.

Few blogger friends have offered to give away exciting raffle prizes for this cause. One lucky winner will get a copy of this wonderful book called “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule” from me. The bidding amount to win this prize from me is $25 and it will be shipped to USA and UK residents only. You can read raving reviews of this book here and here.



Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule
A sweet and sassy guide to baking everyone's favourite treat without using any animal products. This unique cookbook contains over 50 recipes for cupcakes and frostings some innovative, some classics with beautiful full colour photographs.
Bid amount: US $25
Code: Sia_Vegan Cupcake
Shipping: USA and UK only
Book Reviews: Here & Here

Please click the chip-in button to make your donations and be assured it is a secure transaction through Pay Pal and goes directly to Lakshmi’s account. Once you get the confirmation mail from Pay Pal, please forward that mail to Valli at lakshmi[dot]fundraising[at]gmail[dot]com and don’t forget to mention your choice of raffle prize, bidding amount, and location. You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser and also by spreading the word. Please find more information and also updates at Valli’s site. Contributors list will be updated HERE. Check what others have offered for Raffle prizes HERE.

To add this Chip-In button to your site, click on “Copy” within the widget. Copy and paste the code generated on your posts or sidebar.

This month lovely Zlamushka is featuring one of my favourite blogs, Jugalbandits oops, Jugalbandi for her Tried & Tasted event ;) I didn’t want to miss this chance of cooking something from their witty, humorous, and wonderful blog. These two are nature lovers, small time farmers (he he..look at the fresh produce from their backyards), health conscious, wonderful bakers and brilliant photographers. Visiting their blog is a pure joy, enriching and uplifting. One of these days I am sure to get caught by my boss for reading their blog during office hours as most of their new posts show up on my feeder at this time and I simply can’t resist reading it then and there. Bee and Jai, its pleasure knowing you two through your blog and I hope you continue with your Jugalbandi for many more years.

The recipe I chose to cook from their blog is Olan. I was looking for simple and quick recipe which also uses very few ingredients and Olan was one such recipe. First time I tasted this when I visited my close friend’s house in Calicut and her mom served us this delicious coconut stew with Black eyed peas and Winter Melon/Ash Gourd with Idiyappams or Rice Noodles. The aroma wafting from big terracotta pot in which it was cooked was intoxicating and the taste of it still lingers. Wonder why it took this long for me to cook it. Better be late than never.

I almost followed their recipe to T but used British Cucumber in place of Ash gourd as I didn’t have any. The idea to use Cucumber is from our lovely Punjabi Kudi, Musical, who had mentioned it in the comment section. I was not sure if she was mentioning Yellow Cucumber which is what we usually use in cooking or usual Cucumber we get here. I peeled the cucumber and deseed before adding them and to my surprise it tasted almost like Yellow Cucumber and very close to Ash Gourd. And I also cooked potato and beans together in a pressure cooker to save gas energy. I made it in large quantity and the leftovers we had on next day tasted much better than the one on first day. Will I be making this again? You bet. Thank you, Bee and Jai for this delicious recipe and this is on its way to Zlamushka’s T&T event.

Olan - Coconut Based Stew from Kerala

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Olan (Coconut based Stew with Black Eyed Peas and Cucumber from Kerala)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 25-30 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Source: Jugalbandi

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Ingredients:
1 cup Black Eyed Beans/Alasande Beeja
1 large Potato, peeled and halved
½ British Cucumber, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite size pieces (Original recipe calls for Ash Gourd/Winter Melon or Yellow Pumpkin)
4-5 Green Chillies, slit
1 can (approx 1½ cups) Coconut Milk (I used canned ones. Feel free to use fresh one)
2 strings of Fresh Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Coconut Oil (Optional)
Salt to taste

Olan - Coconut Based Stew from Kerala

Method:

Wash and place beans in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. To this add halved potatoes and little salt and cook covered for 15 mins or 1 whistle. Alternatively you can cook the beans and potatoes separately on vessels till they are cooked. Once the pressure is released, open the pressure cooker lid and dice potatoes into bite sized pieces. Keep them aside.
In a sauce pan, bring 2 cups of water to boil. To this add cooked potatoes, diced cucumber and also slit green chillies. Cover and cook for 5-7 mins until the vegetables are tender.
Add coconut milk to the pan and gently stir in under low heat.
Now add cooked beans and curry leaves and mix well. Allow the beans to heat through by stirring at low flame for 2-3 mins.
Switch off the flame and mix a tbsp of coconut oil. You can skip adding the oil but it sure adds more flavour. Cover and let it rest for 10 mins for all the flavour to blend well.
Serve this delicious Olan with Rice Noodles or Rosematta Rice or just plain steamed rice and enjoy. It tastes better the next day.

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Reminder for JFI-Soya:

I invite you all to celebrate Jihva for Ingredients with this month’s theme JFI-Soya. Choice of Soya products, the recipe, ingredients, method etc is entirely left to you. I would greatly appreciate if you can send me any Vegan or Vegetarian recipes but I leave it to your choice. Soya foods include tofu, tempeh, textured vegetable protein (chunks, mince etc), miso, soya sauces, soya oil and margarine, and soya dairy alternatives.

Deadline: 31st August, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and also in your e-mail while sending your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish, Type of Dish and Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.
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Carrot, Beans & Channa Dal Palya - For Simple Food Lovers

Carrot-Beans-Channa Dal Palya

For all the rants, ramblings, and grumblings you read in my blog, I won’t be surprised if you think I am very social and chatty person in real world!!! But people who know me very well in real world would laugh out laud if someone even suggests that. I am one of those people who hate the lime-lights and small social talks and are comfortable when I am with few people who are very close to me. To be frank, I shy away from moments like that. So it is great surprise to my family and friends who read my blog how out spoken and chatty I am while posting recipes and how easily I share my feelings or memories with total strangers. You see, it took them quite long of time and lots of patience to know and understand me ;) Many people I met still believe I have major attitude problem where in reality they fail to notice how difficult I find it when it comes to small talks. Life is full of contradictions and after all we are just humans!!! So that’s why I have many friends but very few close friends.

Likewise, I have many favourite recipes but very few which I like to eat every other day. These recipes are simple and homely, just like me ;) One such recipe which I cook very often and eat is Palya or simple vegetable stir-fry. Vegetables stir fried with a tempering of nutty channa and urad dal and mustard with a hint of spice from chillies, both dry red and fresh green, and sweet note of jaggery, with minimal oil what makes it healthy, quick and utterly delicious side dish. This time I made it bit different from usual vegetable stir fries. Usually my Amma made Carrot-Beans Palya where small pieces of Carrots and French Beans are stir fried with few spices. In the end she would squeeze few tsp of fresh lime juice giving it a little sour note. Addition of channa dal as one of the main ingredient is inspired from Sailu’s Kobbari Senaga Pappu Kura recipe. So please do refer to her blog for another healthy way to eat your vegetables and lentils and to see beautiful photos. I used Runner Beans, which I have become very fond of, instead of French Beans. What I loved the most is the nutty taste of cooked Channa Dal. The Palya was so delicious I ended up eating it as lunch and later at night I served it as side dish with Phulkas and simple Tadka Dal. I am sending this bowl of Carrot-Beans-Channa Dal Palya to dear Pooja for her Theme-Independence Day event and also to Anisheetu who is guest hosting SWC-Karnataka.

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Carrot-Beans-Channa Dal Palya (Stir Fried Vegetables with Lentils)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 25-30 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Inspiration: Sailu’s Food

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Ingredients:
½ cup Channa Dal/Split Bengal Gram
1 cup Carrot, peeled & cut into 1 cm cubes
2 cups Runner Beans, cut into 1 cm pieces (alternately you can use French Beans or other beans of your choice and availability)
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Jaggery (adjust acc to taste)
2 Green Chillies, slit
1-2 tbsp grated Coconut, fresh/frozen
1-2 tbsp Fresh Lime Juice (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
1 tsp Channa Dal
1-2 Dry Red Chillies, halved
Big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Few Curry Leaves
½ tbsp Oil

Carrot, Runner Beans & Channa Dal

Method:

Wash dal, 2-3 times, in clean water till the water turns clear. Place it in a pressure cooker or any thick bottomed vessel with lid. To this, add turmeric powder and few drops water. Cook covered in 1½-2 cups of water till it is cooked thoroughly, stirring in between. Make sure the dal should not turn mushy and should retain its shape. I cooked using thick bottomed pot and it took around 15-17 mins to cook. If using pressure cooker, cook for 8-10 mins or just one whistle. Drain water and keep it aside till needed.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. Once mustard starts to pop and splutter, add urad dal, channa dal, broken dry red chillies, curry leaves and hing. Sauté till dals turns light golden yellow. Now add jeera and sauté for few more seconds till it turns light brown.
Mix in chopped carrots, runner beans, slit green chilli, salt to taste and jaggery. Add about tbsp of water and cook covered for about 5 mins on medium to low flame. Open the lid and mix cooked channa dal and mix well. At this stage add another tbsp or two of water and mix well. Cook covered for further 5-10 mins on medium to low flame, stirring in between to make sure vegetables doesn’t stick to the pan.
Mix fresh/frozen grated coconut and fresh lime juice and switch off the flame. Serve this hot with Rice/Chapatti/Phulka and Rasam/Dal or serve as evening snack.

Carrot-Beans-Channa Dal Palya

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Note:
Same dish can be prepared using other vegetables like Cauliflower, French Beans, Potatoes, and Capsicum/Bell Peppers.
Vary the quantity of carrot, beans and channa dal used according to your preference and taste.

Other Palya recipes blogged so far

• Tondekai/Tindora Palya
• Tender Jackfruit Palya
• Masala Badane/Eggplant Palya
• Fried Bendekai/Bhindi Palya
• Bell Pepper-Carrot Palya
• Sweet & Sour Badane/Eggplant Palya
• Green Peas-Cauliflower Palya
• Uppu Mavinakai (Mangoes in Brine) Palya
• Tondekai/Tindora-Cashew Palya
• Green Peas-Cabbage Palya

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Reminder for JFI-Soya:

I invite you all to celebrate Jihva for Ingredients with this month’s theme JFI-Soya. Choice of Soya products, the recipe, ingredients, method etc is entirely left to you. I would greatly appreciate if you can send me any Vegan or Vegetarian recipes but I leave it to your choice. Soya foods include tofu, tempeh, textured vegetable protein (chunks, mince etc), miso, soya sauces, soya oil and margarine, and soya dairy alternatives.

Deadline: 31st August, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and also in your e-mail while sending your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish, Type of Dish and Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.
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Another Milestone and Another Palya: Tondekai Palya

Tondekai Palya

Did you know I was and I am busy these days? If not, now you know;) I have been and I am extremely busy these days. What with new project I started working on which takes most of my time and attention, it feels like I am walking on some tight rope balancing home in one hand and office in another! And strangely I am quite enjoying myself! Oh, I can be wild and crazy sometimes and I do surprise myself many a times.

The main agenda of this post is to let you know my infrequent blog hopping these days. As much as I love to visit your blogs and leave my very "valuable" feedback(he he he;), I am simply not able to do it because of my work schedule. You see my boss won’t be impressed when he comes to know I am spending more time by reading blogs instead of working on meeting my deadlines. And with this shooting inflation and drowning job market scenario I don’t think it will be wise on my part to blog-hop and then en up job-hopping ;) And another reason was I wanted to quickly reach another milestone of making 200th post. I had to choose between either spending time in leaving comments or making my 200th post and selfish me opted for the latter. And horrors of horrors I just realised that I had crossed my 200th post without knowing!!! Now you know how busy I have been. In fact this is my 204th post!!! Now raise your glass and toast for reaching 200 mark ;) Thank you, Thank you…

Ok, I won’t bore you with my rants. As much as I like to rant I know I should stick to main purpose of this blog which is food. Today I am posting one simple recipe from my home town. Yes, another Palya or stir-fry recipe which is one of my favourite. This time it is Tondekai Palya or Ivy Gourd/Tindora Stir Fry. Crunchy Ivy Gourd is stir fried with fresh Coconut and very few spices. What you end up having is one delicious stir fry of crunchy tindora with light note of spices used in tempering and sweet touch of coconut. I usually like to have it with Rosematta Ganji/Kanji with a dollop of Ghee (Indian clarified butter). You can also serve this Palya with Chapatti and Dal or just warp it in Chapatti for picnics and light meal. Less fattening, less time to cook and tastes delicious, what more we can ask for!

Tondekai Palya

Print This Recipe

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Tondekai Palya (Tindora/Ivy Gourd Stir Fry)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 10-15 mins
Serves: 4-5

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Ingredients:
20-25 Tondekai/Tindora/Ivy Gourds, washed, dried and cut into ½ cm discs
½ cup Coconut, fresh or frozen
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1-2 Green Chillies, slit (adjust acc to taste)
½ tbsp Jaggery (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
½ tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Gram
1 tbsp Channa Dal/Split Bengal Gram
1 Dry Red Chilli, halved
Few Curry Laves
Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida

Tondekai/Tindora/Ivy Gourd

Method:

Heat oil in a pan or wok and add mustard seeds. When it starts to pop and splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, halved dry red chilli, hing and curry leaves. Sauté till channa and urad dal turns golden brown in colour, about 1-2 mins.
Mix in tindora discs, turmeric powder, slit green chillies and jaggery. Stir fry it on medium flame for 3-5 mins till tindora starts to turn light brown on edge.
Now add salt to taste and about ½ - ¾ cups of water and mix well. Cover and cook for another 3-5 mins till tindora is almost cooked. Open the lid and let it cook for another minute or two till all the water is absorbed and tindora is cooked but retains its crunch.
Switch off the flame and mix grated coconut. Serve it hot with Chapatti, Rosematta rice or any other rice or your choice and enjoy.

Tondekai Palya with Rosematta Rice

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Note:
Other Palya recipes blogged so far can be found HERE.
Other Tindora recipes blogged so far on Monsoon Spice

• Huli Menasina Kodhel
• Tindora-Cashew Palya

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Reminder: WBB-Summer Feast

For this edition of WBB, your challenge is to cook anything with summer fruits and vegetables. Yes, the theme is WBB-Summer Feast. Go to your town/city’s Farmer’s Market and pick fresh season’s produce and make your favourite breakfast or brunch and join in the Summer Feast.

Deadline: 31st July, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

Continue Reading...

A Block & A Palya: Tender Jackfruit Palya

Gujje Palya

There are times when I come back from work and wonder “What will I blog about today?” Suddenly I feel I have nothing left to write and panic strikes me. Just the thought of running out of blog contents is one horrifying experience for me.

But usually everything turns out all right when I reach home and read the comments on my current and previous posts (yeah, yeah… I do read my archived posts and comments), I get ideas and often inspiration to write my next post. But today here I am sitting cross legged with my lappy on my lap and staring blankly at one of the photos I took last week and I have nothing write about it!!! I have lot to share about this particular recipe which takes me down the memory lane whenever I cook it but I just can’t seem to put it into words. I can think about it but I simply can’t seem to write about it.

Yeah, this is one of those days where I don’t see any ‘bloggable’ (hell, that’s not even a word!!!) thoughts to share with you all. This is one of those days where I would like you to write to me about your thoughts about my blog. While going through all those comments I couldn’t help but wonder why people visit my blog? Is it because of all that lengthy prefaces (I seriously can’t imagine people reading my rants), or recipes (hmm…most likely as I am still getting few recipe requests), or photos (really?), or god knows what (that will be really interesting thing to know)!!! I would love to know why you visit Monsoon Spice, what makes you spend your precious time going through my posts? What is it that makes you come back again and go though my posts (hopefully if you are not put off by my rants and lengthy posts). So tell me whatever you want to say… I am all ears ;)

Here is the recipe for Gujje Palya/Tender Jackfruit Stir Fry which is one of my childhood favourites. Gujje is a Tulu word for Tender Jackfruit which is often used in South Canara in cooking savoury dishes. My all time favourite is Gujje Kodhel and Gujje Palya. Me and my siblings would always end up having competition as who got highest number of ‘eyes’ which are nothing but tender jackfruit seeds. This stir fry is one of best example of delicious Udupi-Mangalorean cuisine as very ingredients are used to bring out the true taste of this sticky vegetable/fruit. This almost bland tasting tender jackfruit transforms into delicious side dish or simple snack when cooked with crunchy red onion with enough heat from green chillies. I used canned tender Jackfruits here which tasted really good but it tastes best when cooked with fresh ones.

Print This Recipe

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Gujje Palya (Tender Jackfruit Stir Fry)
Prep Time: 5 mins (When using canned ones)
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 2-4

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Ingredients:
3-4 cups fresh or 1 can Tender Jackfruit, drained and rinsed
1 medium Red Onion, finely chopped
2-3 Green Chillies, slit (adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tbsp Jaggery (adjust acc to taste)
¼ cup fresh/frozen Coconut
Salt to taste

For Tempering:
1 tsp Black Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
2 tsp Channa Dal
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1-2 Dry Red Chillies, halved
Few Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Oil, preferably Coconut Oil

Gujje Palya

Method:

Chop washed canned young jackfruit pieces into small pieces (about ½ cm slices) and keep them aside. If using fresh ones, then cut them into big chunks and cook them covered with little salt , turmeic powder, jaggery and 1-1½ cup of water till tender. It will take around 10-15 mins if using pressure cooker and little longer if cooking in a vessel. Once they are cooked and cool enough to handle, cut them into ½ cm slices and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they start to pop and splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, broken red chillies and hing. Sauté it till dals turn golden brown.
Now add chopped onions, curry leaves and slit green chillies. Sauté it for a minute or two till onion turn transluscent.
Now add chopped tender jackfruit, turmeric powder, jaggery and salt to taste and mix well. Add ½ cup of water and cover and cook for about 10-12 mins till all the flavours blend well and jack fruit is cooked properly. Make sure to check in between so that the Palya doesn’t stick to the bottom of pan.
Cook uncovered for another 2-3 minutes till all the water is evaporated. Switch off the gas and mix in fresh/frozen coconut. Serve it hot with Rosematta Rice or any rice of your choice or Chapatti or simply serve it as a snack and enjoy.

Gujje Palya

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Reminder: WBB-Summer Feast

For this edition of WBB, your challenge is to cook anything with summer fruits and vegetables. Yes, the theme is WBB-Summer Feast. Go to your town/city’s Farmer’s Market and pick fresh season’s produce and make your favourite breakfast or brunch and join in the Summer Feast.

Deadline: 31st July, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry, Perm Link of original recipe along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

Continue Reading...

Puffy & Creamy: Phool Makhani Curry

Phool Makhani Curry

Blogging has its own advantage. I was used to cooking same food with same ingredients before I started blogging. I must admit that the time I am referring goes back to the era of me being a novice cook and I was not in a position to identify and differentiate one ingredient from other, especially when it came to lentils and flours. There were times when I mistook channa dal for toor dal and ended up using fine rice flour in place of maida to make Naan. And horrors of horror when I ended up using all that expensive Basmati rice in preparing Dosa batter, fit for one small army to feed, back in India. It’s a different story that I use Basmati rice quite often to make Dosa batter as they are much cheaper than Idli and Dosa rice we get here.

It’s since I started posting recipes in my blog that I learnt numerous recipes from different part of the world and discovered new ingredients which were unheard of while growing up. My Amma is an exceptional cook who even today fascinates me with her innovative recipes using rarest of ingredients. Fortunately I am like her when it comes to experimenting with ingredients and learning new recipes., just moving little away from comfort zone. Food blog world is one such place where you get to see and learn something unique every single day. Everyday I go through fascinating and adventurous journey of innovation in cooking with rare ingredients and I must say I am enjoying it thoroughly.

But there are sometimes when I get recipe requests from readers of Monsoon Spice with few ingredients which I have never tried or tasted. Some time back I received a recipe request from one of the readers to post Phool Makahni aka Puffed Lotus Seeds recipe. Till then I was not that familier with lotus seeds and I had no idea that there was puffed lotus seeds just like puffed rice or pop corns. Yes, they do look like pop corns and I felt to some extent they did taste like one especially when they are deep fried. Before I knew, I ended up eating half a cup of fried phool makhani sprinkled with little chilli powder and salt and had to fry little more for the curry. I had to stop myself from popping few more puffed lotus seeds and proceed into making this delicious Phool Makhani Curry.

This is a recipe I put together from various recipes found all over the web world. Most of the recipes had three things in common, coconut, cashews and poppy seeds. And all the recipes asked I deep fry these Phool Makhani before adding it to base gravy. But next time I am going to pan fry these puffed lotus seeds with little oil till they turn golden to reduce little amount of fat and calorie. And one more thing lesson I learnt is to buy extra pack of these puffed lotus seeds just to eat with little sprinkle of salt and pepper ;) In the end we had this delicious tasting bowl of curry which was creamy from addition of coconut, poppy seeds and cashews with touch of little spice notes to it from aromatic whole spices and spice powder used. Fried Phool Makhani, which is quite crisp when deep fried, transforms into melt-in-mouth creamy delight when added to the base gravy is one whole new experience we really enjoyed. This is my entry for Kayln's WHB guest hosted by Joanna.

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Phool Makhani Curry (Puffed Lotus Seeds Cooked in a Spiced and Creamy Coconut Gravy)

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 4-5

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Ingredients:

2-3 cups Phool Makhani/Puffed Lotus Seeds
1 large Onion, finely chopped
2 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Kitchen King Masala (Optional)
1-2 tbsp Sugar (Adjust acc to taste)
Small bunch of Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp Oil + Oil for Deep Frying
Salt to taste

Ground to Smooth Paste:
½-¾ cup Coconut, fresh/frozen
1 tbsp Cashews
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds/Khus-Khus, dry roasted till light golden
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
3 Cloves
3 Green Cardamoms
1 inch Ginger, peeled

Phool Makhani/Puffed Lotus Seeds

Method:

Deep fry phool makhani in heated oil till it turns light golden brown in colour and place them on paper towel to drain excess oil.
Grind cashews, roasted poppy seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and coconut to smooth paste adding little water at time.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add finely chopped onion and sauté till they turn golden brown.
Mix in ground paste and keep stirring for about 4-5 minutes till the masala paste turns light brown in colour and becomes dry.
Now add finely chopped tomatoes, garam malasa, kitchen king masala, sugar and give it a good stir till tomatoes turn pulpy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add around 1½-2 cups of water and mix in salt to taste. Cook this gravy on medium-low heat for about 10 mins, stirring in between.
Now add fried phool makhani and mix well. You can ad