More Kuzhambu with Cucumber

I wonder how our taste buds change as we get older. I still remember, my mom literally running behind me with a bowl of vegetables. Since, dad was a picky eater, mom would cook something every day that dad liked and that is how I survived. Being dad's little princess, I loved whatever he liked. Vegetables other than beans, potato and cauliflower were seen as inedible vegetables by dad and me. But slowly, I have learned to enjoy foods that I never liked before. And surprisingly, when dad was here, he ate everything whatever I cooked, even the vegetables that he never used to like before. I called home a couple of days back and mom said she is making cabbage paratha looking at the recipe I had posted. And today I found out that dad loved it and he asked mom to make it again for breakfast today  J

Growing up, I hated the taste of More Kuzhambu. But now, it tastes like heaven. We both loved the taste. I did not have any white pumpkins at home. So I added cucumber to the curry and it turned out great.

Ingredients: Cucumber - 2 cups (Peeled and cubed) Curd - 1 1/2 cups Water - 1 to 1 1/2 cups Salt - to taste Asafotida/Hing - 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon Coriander seeds - 1 1 /2 teaspoon Channa dhal - 1 1 /2 teaspoon Red Chillies - 3 Coconut - 1 tablespoon Fenugreek - 1/2 teaspoon Thoor Dhal - 1 tablespoon Oil - 1 tablespoon Mustard - 1 teaspoon Curry leaves - few  Method: Soak toor dhal in water at least for an hour. To the boiling water, add peeled and cubed cucumber along with little salt and turmeric. Let it cook until the cucumbers turn a little soft. It should still be firm enough and not mushy. Dry roast channa dhal, coriander seeds, red chillies, coconut, fenugreek until nice aroma comes out. Make sure you do not burn any of the ingredients. Transfer the above content along with the soaked thoor dhal into a mixie/blender and make it into a fine paste. Keep it aside. Churn the curd with required amount of milk and dilute it. Add turmeric,salt and the grounded paste to it. Pour the mixture into a kadai and let it boil until the raw smell goes away. Add more water if the curry gets thicker during boiling. I let the curry boil for at least 20 minutes in low medium flame until the raw smell of the ingredients went off. In another pan, add oil and when it is hot, add mustard and curry leaves. Add the tempering to the curry. Serve it over piping hot white rice along with any crispy fries.

Beetroot Curry

When I saw my dad eat this beetroot curry with rotis, I was shocked. He is a very picky eater when it comes to vegetables and I have never seen him eating beetroots till then. My mother-in-law made this curry and so I thought, my dad ate this without having any other option. After he got up from the lunch table, I went to him quickly and asked how he ate the beetroot curry. He replied with a smile in his face “It was really good”. I grew up seeing him and he was my role model even for my eating habits. So I wanted to try it out for myself and I loved the taste. From then on, this beetroot curry visits our kitchen every once in a while.

Ingredients:

1. Beetroot-1 large, peeled and chopped finely
2. Oil- 2 teaspoons
3. Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
4. Onion - 1 medium, chopped
5. Tomato- 1 chopped finely
6. Moong dhal- 1 fistful
7. Salt - to taste

To grind:

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Garlic - 3

Fennel seeds/Saunf -2 teaspoons

Green chilli- 3

Method:

1. Make a fine paste of the ingredients under the To grind section and keep it aside.
2. In a pressure cooker, heat oil and add mustard seeds.
3. After it splutters add the finely chopped onions and let it saute till it becomes soft.
4. Now add the tomatoes and saute for a minute.
5. Add the washed moong dhal and give it a quick stir. 
6. Add the chopped beetroot along with the ground mixture. Add salt and water if needed. The consistency should not be too watery nor too thick.
7. Pressure cook till one whistle and switch off the heat. Check for consistency after the pressure is released and serve with rotis.

Cabbage Kootu

A very easy to make yet very comforting dish. You can have it either over piping hot white rice with ghee or have it as a side dish for chappathi .

Ingredients:

1. Cabbage - 1/2 head shredded

2. Onion - 1/2 finely chopped

3. Oil - 1 teaspoon

4. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

5. Curry leaves - few

6. Coocnut - 2 tablespoons

7. Jeera/cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon

8. Garlic - 3 cloves

9. Red chillies - 2

10. Moong dhal - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Cook the moong dhal till soft in a pressure cooker and keep it aside.

2. In a wide kadai, heat oil, add mustard seeds. Wait till it splutters and add onions and curry leaves.

3. Let the onions turn translucent. 

4. Meanwhile, make a fine paste of coconut, garlic, jeera and red chillies.

5.After the onions turn translucent, add the ground coconut mixture and cooked moong dhal.

6. Let it come to a boil, now add shredded cabbage and let the cabbages cook by covering the pan with a lid.

7. Once it comes to requirsd consistency, remove from heat.

Serve it over white rice with ghee.... Yumm :-)

Kadai Mushroom

 I am not sure what is the connection between me and kadai preparation. Why do I love to prepare kadai dishes with every possible thing? Or why do I name my dishes kadai? I really don't know what a traditional kadai preparation is. But I love my version of kadai preparation. I started preparing this mushroom dish as kadai preparation, but I guess, it slowly emerged into mushroom butter masala. So this recipe is a hybrid between kadai mushroom and butter mushroom. But the end result was absolutely divine. As you can see, the gravy was so silky and creamy and it was a perfect combination with malabari paratha. I am sure, it will taste very good with any indian flat bread.

 

Ingredients:

1. Mushroom - 1 lb cleaned and cut into bite size pieces(I used baby bella mushrooms but button mushrooms can be used too)

2. Onion - 1Cubed
3. Tomato - 1 big Cubed
4. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
5. Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons/ per taste
6. Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
7. Salt - as needed
8. Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
9. Kasoori Methi - 1 tablespoon
10. Cashewnuts - 10 -12 pieces
11. Butter - 2 tablespoon
12. Oil - 3 teaspoon

Method:




1. In a hot wide deep kadai add one teaspoon of oil, saute onion till it turns translucent.
2. Then add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Let the tomatoes get soft and mushy.
3. Now add chilli powder, coriander and garam masala powder, saute for a couple of seconds and add the cashews. Remove from heat. Let it cool.
4. In the meantime, clean and cut the mushrooms into bite size pieces and keep it aside.
5. Grind the sauteed onion tomato mixture to a very fine paste. This is what is going to give a creamy texture to the gravy.
6. In the same kadai that you used earlier, add the remaining oil. Once it is hot, add the ground mixture.
7.Heat the gravy for a couple of minutes and then add the mushrooms.
8.Let the gravy and mushroom bubble up till it becomes thick. Let it cook with a lid on or else your stove top will be covered with this gravy.
9. Once it reached the required consistency, add Kasoori methi and 2 tablespoons of butter.
10. Remove from heat once the butter starts separating.


Serve it with your favorite bread.

Karela Masala

My mom and dad will definitely be shocked to see this recipe on my blog. Yeah... There is no connection between me and bitter gourd. I used to be such a fuzzy eater when it comes to vegetables. But my taste buds took a roller coaster twist after marriage :-) I was wondering how to cook karela that will suit my taste buds as well as his. And adding a small piece of jaggery did all the trick.

 

Ingredients :

1. Bitter Gourd /Karela - 4

2. Onion - 1 medium finely chopped

3. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

4. Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (or per taste)

5. Turmeric - 1 teaspoon

6. Salt - as needed

7. Jaggery - 1 tablespoon

8. Garlic - 4 finely chopped

8. Oil - 2 teaspoons

Method:

1. In a hot kadai, add oil, add cumin seeds and wait till it splutters.

2. Now add onions and garlic, saute till the onions gets translucent.

3. Add turmeric, salt and chilli powder and saute it for a couple of seconds.

4. Cut the karela into bite size pieces and stir into the masala. Add 1/2 cup - 1 cup of water, close the kadai with a lid and let it cook till the karela turns soft and most of the water is absorbed.

5. Now stir in the jaggery. Wait till it melts and remove from heat.

Serve it with Rotis or as a side with rice and enjoy!

Potato Kuruma for vegetable briyani

Do you sometimes crave for something simple yet classic? With very few basic ingretients that you could find in the pantry, you can have this classic potato kuruma in no time. This goes best with briyani. When I tasted this, it reminded me of the kuruma that used to be served in many Tamil weddings along with the vegetable briyani. 

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 2

2. Onion - 1 finely chopped
3. Tomatoes - 2 small finely chopped
4. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tablespoon
5. Oil - 2 tablespoons
6. Cardamom - 2
7. Cloves - 2
8. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
9. Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon
10. Coconut - 1/4 cup
11. Poppy seeds - 1 tablespoon
12. Cilantro - to garnish
13. Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons / per taste
14. Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
15. Salt - per taste
16. Frozen/ fresh Peas - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes, peel the skin,chop it roughly and keep it aside.

2. Make a fine paste of coconut and poppy seeds adding little water.
3. In a hot pan, add oil and all the whole garam masala. Saute it for a couple of minutes till you get a nice aroma.
4. Now add onions and ginger garlic paste till the onions turn translucent.
5. Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric and let it cook till the tomatoes get soft and mushy.
6. Then add the chilli powder and coriander powder. Stir in the chopped potatoes ,peas and add 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil.
7. Now add the coconut mixture and let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes till the kuruma thickens to the right consistency.

Garnish with cilantro and serve it with briyani.

Kadai Paneer

I got this recipe from my Gujarathi friend who is a wonderful cook. When we lived in the same apartment complex, we exchanged foods every evening. She would give some north indian chaats / curries and I would give her south indian items like paniyarams, idiyappams, dosa, idlis, etc., Thats how i became a big fan of north indian dishes.


This is definitely not a fat free / low fat version of kadai paneer. The more fat you add, the more tastier it turns out.

Ingredients:


1. Paneer - 1/2 block
2. Onion - 2 (1 1/2 cubed and 1/2 sliced)
3. Tomatoes - cubed 2 big
4. Cashews - 10
5. Chilli powder - 1/2 tablespoon (or more if you want it spicier)
6. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon.
7. Dhania powder - 1 teaspoon.
8. Kasoori Methi - 1 tablespoon
9. Red Capsicum - 1 small sliced
10. Green Capsicum - 1 small sliced
11. Salt - to taste
12. Ghee - 2 tablespoons
13. Oil - 2 tablespoons


Method :


1. In a pan, add little oil. Once it is hot, saute cubed onions. Saute till it becomes translucent.
2. Then add tomatoes and let it cook till it becomes mushy. Add the cashew nuts and switch off the heat.
3. Let it cool. Grind it into a fine paste and keep it aside.
4. Meanwhile, add a little oil in another pan, add the cubed paneer pieces and roast it until all the sides are golden brown. Keep it aside.
5. Saute the sliced onions. It should be crisp.
6. Do the same for the capsicums too.
7. In a heavy pan, add oil and ghee and let it heat. Add the ground onion tomato cashew paste. At this point reduce the heat level, otherwise the gravy will splutter all over.
8. Add salt, chilli powder, dhani, turmeric powder. Mix it with the gravy and increase the heat. Cover it with a lid and let it cook till the oil/ghee seperates.
9. Crush kasoori methi with your palm and mix it in.
10. Now add the sauted onions and capsicums and give it a gentle mix.
11. Add the fried/sauted paneer cubes and mix it in the gravy gently. Be cautious not to break the paneer pieces.


Kadai Paneer is now ready to serve with your favourite naan / roti / poori .


Suggestion:Do step 10 and 11, 10 or 15 mins before serving. That way, the vegetables will stay crisp and not get soggy.

Baingan Bharta

I am not a big fan of eggplant. But I love  two dishes that are made with eggplant. One is Punjabi Baingan Bharta and the other is Italian Eggplant parm. I have an excellent recipe that I got from an Italian friend for eggplant parm which I will post soon.


Now coming to Baingan Bharta, it is a Punjabi dish made with mashed eggplant. Tradtionally, it is pepared by roasting the eggplant over an open flame to give the dish a smoky flavour. But since I dont have a gas range with an open flame, I went the easier way. I microwaved the eggplant. I am sure roasting the eggplant will add so much more flavour to this dish. So, people who have an open flame, go ahead and roast the eggplant without giving a second thought. It is worth all the pain. Most of the Noth Indian dishes that I have tried either uses cream or butter or cashew nuts. This dish does not need any of those ingredients. It tastes delicious, regardless.

Ingredients:


1. Eggplant - 1 large
2. Oil - 1 tablespoon
3. Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon
4. Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
5. Onion - 1 finely chopped
6. Garlic - 4 minced
7. Tomatoes - 1 1/2 finely chopped
8. Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon
9. Dhania powder - 1 teaspoon
10. Turmeric - 1 teaspoon
11. Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons / per taste
12. Salt - as needed
13. Cilantro - to garnish


Method:


1. Wash and pat dry the egg plant. Apply oil on all sides of the eggplant. Microwave it for 10 minutes. Time may vary depending on the power of the microwave. You should be able to peel of the skin just by pulling it.
2. Remove the skin, mash the eggplant and set it aside.
3. Heat oil in a tawa, add mustard and jeera.
4. Once it splutters, add chopped onions and minced garlic. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
5. Now add the chopped tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Let it cook till the tomatoes get soft and mushy.
6. Now add all the masala powders and the mashed eggplant and cilantro. Give it a quick stir and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
7. Shhhhhh..... add a teaspoon of ghee and mix it well with the bharta. It adds so much flavour to this dish. But it is really optional.


Serve this healthy dish with roti, naan or rice.

Navaratan Korma

Navaratan Korma comes from the mughal origin. Navaratan literally means nine gems and this dish got its name because of the combination of nine vegetables and dry fruits used in this recipe.Traditionally, pineapples and grapes are used in this recipe. But I somehow did not like the concept of mixing fruits with the korma. So for the sweet taste, I added raisins and cashew nuts. Cream can also be added along with milk. It gives a nice creamy texture to the gravy. I have prepared this with and without cream and both tastes excellent . I usually prepare gravies for two meals, dinner and for next day's lunch. But every time I prepare this dish, how much ever I prepare, it never seems to be enough. It will all be done just with one meal :-) . 

Ingredients:

1. Chopped vegetables - 3 cups(potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, green peas, beans, capsicum)

2. Paneer - 10 cubes
3. Onion - 1 finely chopped
4. Tomato - 3 pureed
5. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
6. Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
7. Chilli powder - 1 to 2 teaspoons
8. Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon
9. Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
10. Garam masala powder - 2 teaspoons
11. Milk - 1 1/2 cups
12. Cashewnuts - 10 to 12
13. Raisins - 10 to 12
14. Ghee - 1 tablespoon
15. Oil - 3 tablespoons
16. Salt - to taste
17. Cilantro - to garnish

Method:

1. Heat ghee and oil in a pan and add  ginger garlic paste and saute it till the raw smell goes away.

2. Add the chopped onions and saute till it turns pink and add the pureed tomatoes and saute till the ghee separates.
3. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add all the chopped vegetables and add milk to it. Bring it to a boil.
5. Let the vegetables cook.
6. Meanwhile, make a paste of cashewnuts and raisins.
7. Once the vegetables cook just right,add the cahewnuts and raisin paste and cook until the gravy becomes thick.
8. Add paneer to the gravy and stir well.
9. Add chopped cilantro leaves to garnish.

Serve it with naan or any of your favourite roti.

Chow- Chow/ Chayote Kootu

This is such a simple dish that goes very well with rice as well as rotis.

Ingredients:


1. Chow- Chow/ Chayote-1 (Cut into small pieces)
2. Moong Dhal- 1/2 cup
3. Onion- 1 small chopped
4. Garlic- 4
5. Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
6. Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
7. Green chillies- 2
8. Curry leaves- few
9. Oil- 2 teaspoons.
10. Turmeric powder-1 teaspoon.
11. Salt- to taste.
12. Water- 3 cups


Method:


1. In a pressure cooker, add 2 teaspoons of oil. Once it heats up, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After it splutters add some curry leaves
2. Add chopped onions, garlic and green chillies. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
3. Add turmeric powder and washed moon dhal, salt and water.
4. Once the whole mixture comes to boil, add the cut chow chow. Pressure cook for one whistle.


Tasty chow chow kootu is ready to serve with rice/ roti.


If it is too watery, just cook it without a lid for few more minutes.