Capsicum, Peanut & Besan Sabji

The dry arid regions of gujarat grow little except perhaps green chillies of various sizes. This ingenious sabzi combines pantry staples like peanuts and besan, with these green chillies or capsicum here to create a really delicious sabji. Use different colored capsicums for vibrant dish.

This recipe is from the book Easy indian cooking by Suneeta Vaswani. I highly recommend it for the various sabzis and other vegetarian dishes. More from the same book soon.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chickpea flour(besan)
4 lbs green capsicum or mix of colors
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tsp coriander pwd
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup coarsely crushed roasted peanuts

1. In a heavy skillet over low heat, toast chickpea flour, stirring constantly to prevent burning until lightly browned and aromatic, 3- 4 minutes . Set aside.
You can put this on the stove over low heat while you cut the vegetables.Parallel processing rocks!!

2. Cut bell peppers into 11/2 inch pieces, discarding stems , seeds and membranes
I also added half an onion for onion crazy H.

3. In a large sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat, Saute peppers until softened.

4. Reduce heat to medium. Add coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, salt and sugar. Mix well. Saute for 2 minutes longer. Sprinkle besan on top of peppers . Do not mix.
The mixture of coriander and jeera is distinctly gujarati - called dhana jeeru powder.

5. Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered until peppers are very soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir to mix. Remove from heat and sprinkle with crushed peanuts if using. Whenever I buy raw peanuts from the Indian store, I roast them in the oven at 425 F for about 8 minutes or until you can smell the peanuts smell and store it. Comes in handy whenever you need roasted peanuts.Here the dish is already seasoned with sugar but I highly recommend the gujju style of finishing vegetables with a pinch of sugar, lemon juice and coriander leaves. Brightens the whole dish.



You can also visit suneeta vaswani at her website
http://www.suneetavaswani.com/

Mooli ka kheema

I love vegetables and Indian food is unmatched in its sheer variety and ingenuity in vegetable preparations. I usually use Mooli in Sambhar or simply dressed with a Mustard seed vaghar. This recipe has an enticingly unsual combination of Mooli and peanuts with onions. Be warned that it is really really spicy and would go well with a cooling sort of dinner say Kadhi/Yoghurt and rice.


Recipe: ( from the Spice box by Manju Shivraj Singh)

2 tbsp ghee or oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 medium onions grated
2 cups grated Mooli / radish / daikon
2 dried red chillies, crushed
6 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
a few chopped green coriander leaves
½ cup roasted peanuts
2 tsp mango powder
2 tsp garam masala

In a pan, heat the ghee and fry the cumin seeds, then add the onions and fry until light brown. Add the Mooli ,chillies, garlic, salt and coriander leaves. Cook for about 20 min, until the horseradish is done. Add the peanuts, mango powder and garam masala. Simmer for 10 more minutes.

I actually reduced the garlic to about 2 cloves because garlic available here is so fat. I also reduced the chillies. I used oil but I really recommend using ghee because it balances out the strong flavors of this vegetable dish.

Enjoy!

VoW Bharela Karela: Mango stuffed Bittergourd

I HATE Bittergourd / Pavakka / Karela. Or did, until I tried my Mothers recipe for Stuffed Karela. I had not eaten it for a good fifteen years, until Pooja's VoW Bittergourd event forced me to try it again.

But the things I do for Vow, sigh. Pooja owes me big time!

So I called up my mom to get the actual recipe, and she was ecstatic that I was making it. It is amusing that I now voluntarily make and eat the things my mom used to have to twist my arm to even try.

I tried it. And surprisingly enough....liked it! If a karela hater like me can be converted, I am sure karela enthusiasts will love this recipe.

So here it is.





















BHARELA KARELA:
I only had the heart to try out the recipe for two karelas, so please scale up as necessary.

1/2 unripe mango, peeled and roughly grated
1/4 small onion, finely sliced in long
1 tsp saunf
2 tsp dhana jeeru powder ( equal amounts of dhania and jeera , toasted and powdered)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder or to taste
2 tsp Besan/ kadala maavu
salt

First,take a knife/ peeler and remove the outer rough skin. Then slit the karelas along its length. Remove the seeds. At this point, add salt, the turmeric and half the red chilli powder to the karela. Rub it in and let it rest for about half an hour or so. This should draw out some of the bitter juices.

Prepare the mango and onion, and saute in a pan with a little oil with the red chilli powder, dhana jeeru and saunf until cooked through.Cool.

Add the besan to this mixture and stuff the two halves of the karela and join them together again. My mother used to tie it up using a string. I was too lazy so I just placed the stuffed karelas in a pan with a little oil and fried them up.

The verdict:
The tangy sourness of the mango is really good in counteracting the bitterness of the karela. Next time I would steam the stuffed karelas in an idli steamer or microwave it for five minutes before frying it. That would make it a little easier to bite. Also feel free to increase the quantity of the saunf seeds- they refresh the mouth very well too.

















So Pooja, heres one for you!

RCI Bengal: Saak er Ghanto with Home made Boris

My entry for RCI Bengal hosted by Sandeepa

I know next to nothing about Bengali food, the cooking that is :). The eating, well now that is a long list, from mishti doi and sandesh to the egg cutlet and puchkas of Chittaranjan park in delhi. This stomach has seen them all. I first tried a Bengali Recipe for Brinjal from Ajanta, but it had a strong, pungent mustardy flavor that caught me by surprise.

This time around, I had just finished Chitrita Banerjis book, Eating India. Although I was not impressed by the whole of the book, parts were lyrical and insightful. She had a delightful description of Boris, little pellets of urad dal that are some times added to vegetable dishes, also called saak in Bengal. She goes on to describe that many villages in Bengal and Bangladesh specialize in producing the lightest of Boris. They are similiar to Punjabi Wadis, in a very broad sense.

I wanted to try these delighful protein packed dumplings, so I decided to make them for RCI Bengal hosted by Sandeepa. Now, I did find a recipe for Boris here but no real information on how to make them.

THE WADI ER.. BORI STORY

My first attempt at making Boris was an entire and complete FLOP. Exhibit A on the right hand side of the above picture. Flat, disk shaped and no airy goodness. Gloom Doom. Too much water in the dough.
In my second attempt, I was careful to not add any water during grinding the urad dal and Eureka! Success was mine. Note the successful conical bori on the left with the huge airpocket.

The final recipe is deceptively simple.
1/2 cup of Urad dal
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Ginger powder
1/2 Aniseed powder
1/2 tsp Asofoetida powder
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp baking soda

Soak the urad dal for an hour. Drain completely. Grind finely with the other seasonings and leavening, adding a maximum of 1 tbsp of water. Put in a zip lock bag.

Meanwhile, take a baking sheet and line with aluminium foil. Spray with pam or similiar non stick oil spray. Cut the zip lock bag. Squeeze out hershey kisses shaped piece of bori. Bake at 200 F for about two hours making sure to turn the Boris at the 1 hour mark. Think meringue and you will instinctively do it right.

Saak Er Ghanto Recipe from Hare Krsna here

I then made a saak or sabji with the boris according to the recipe from the Hare Krsna site. Keeping in mind my earlier brush with the Bengali love of mustard, I decided to tone it down this time. I skipped the mustard powder the recipe calls for, although I did use a combination of mustard oil and canola instead of the ghee. Also I made the panchphoran using 1/2 tsp. of each of the spices. Seemed quite right for the amount of vegetables specified in the recipe.

The verdict: The pumpkin was utterly delightful and next time im going to up it to 2 cups. The overall flavor of the saak was very different and very delicious. And what of the sweat of my brow Boris? Well- They were deep fried for this recipe. Once they soak up the juices of the vegetable, they offer some textural contrast. But next time I will try them without deep frying them.



It was real fun participating in this RCI Bengal, because I learned something about Bengal. Perhaps I should call this post, Eating Bengal? :)

Pitod/Patod ka Saag

I first ate this Rajasthani specialty at a restaurant called Chokki dhani near Jaipur. I guess because Rajasthan is a desert region it has has many sabzis that are made with staples, the other example being Gatte ki sabji made from besan noodles. Pitod or Patod ka Saag has diamond- shaped pieces made of besan and spices in a spiced yoghurt sauce. Serve with hot rotis or puris. This recipe is from the book Spice box by Manju Shivraj Singh.

Ingredients:
Diamonds:
1 cup water
salt to taste
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cups chickpea flour / besan / patod

Sauce:
2 Tbl ghee or oil
2-3 dried red chilies, broken into pieces
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 med onions, minced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sliced ginger root
1/2 cup yogurt
salt to taste
1 green chili, seeded and chopped, for garnish
coriander leaves, chopped, for garnish


For the diamonds:
Bring water to a boil. Add salt, cayenne, cumin and chickpea flour. Whisk
these into the water carefully. Cook untill the mixture thickens.
Turn out on a greased plate and flatten with a spatula. When it cools, cut
it into diamond shapes.

This recipe serves 8, You can safely halve the recipe like I did. Even at half, the 1 cup of chickpea flour / besan makes a lot of diamonds. The 1 cup of chickpea took about 1 cup of water. So i think the water proportion in Manju Shivraj Singhs recipe isnt quite right. The besan cooks fairly fast, think five minutes for the total. Of course use a greased thali to pour out the cooked besan. Dont worry if the edges of your cooked besan on the thali are a little raggged. Of course , season the besan well.

For the sauce:
In a heavy saucepan heat oil or ghee. Add red chilies, fenugreek, mustard
seeds, onions and garlic. When browned, add turmeric and sliced ginger, yogurt
and salt to taste. Cook. When it thickens a bit, about 10 min later, add the
chickpea diamonds and simmer for 2-3 min. Garnish with chopped green chilies
and coriander.

Donot dump all the spices in. Do let the mustard pop before you add the cumin and the other ingredients. Actually the Besan / chickpea flour diamonds expand quite a bit in the gravy. So when you add water to your curry remember to take care of that. The second thing is, the chopped onions detract from the smooth taste of the gravy/ curry. Next time i will saute the onions in a little oil and then puree them before adding it to the gravy.

I would also highly recommend topping the sabji with a dollop of ghee before serving. Makes a world of difference.

Serves: 8



THE VERDICT:
With a little bit of finetuning, this recipe is very very delicious. When you are flummoxed by the utter lack of vegetables in your referigerator , like I was, this is a go to recipe. Everybody always has besan right?

Tastes very good with rice too, with a dollop of ghee of course!

Ringan Bateka Methi ne Tuvar Lilva nu Shaak

My submission for Poojas VoW Brinjal Event.

Ringan Bateka Methi ne Tuvar Lilva nu Shaak literally translates to Brinjal Potato Methi and Green Tuvar Vegetables (Sabji). Served with Kachumber no salad(Cucumber) ane patli dal.

Brinjal is a typical winter vegetable in Gujarat. Ringan no ollo is a very famous Gujarati bhartha style dish that usually evokes winter for me. While ollo is well known , ive made this lesser known Brinjal Potato Gujarati combination.

What is unusual about this recipe is the addition of fresh Methi leaves and Tuvar Lilva(Green Tuvar), fresh lime juice and of course mandatory in gujarat - sugar. Sometimes I crave the fresh taste of this simple , almost rustic dish from my childhood as a break from the masala gravies i seem to make so often.

Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 Long Japanese Style Brinjal
2 Medium Potatoes
1 Small Onion
1/2 cup Tuvar Lilva( From the frozen section of the Indian Store)
1/2 cup Fresh or Frozen Methi( Fenugreek) Leaves ( Donot use Kasoori Methi)
Salt
2 tbsp dhana jeeru powder
Red Chilli Powder to taste
Lemon Juice
Sugar

For the Dhana Jeeru Powder: Take 1 tbsp jeera in a Skillet and toast until you can smell the jeera (cumin). Add 1 tbsp of dhania or coriander seeds and toast for about a minute more. Powder finely in a spice jar or your mixie.

Method:
1. Slice the Brinjal (Ringan) into 2 inch long sections. Divide each section into half and then proceed to slice thinly. Peel the potatoes and slice into similar pieces ( Long and thin). Slice the Onion into long and thin pieces.
2. Take as much oil as you are comfortable with(:)-The more the better in this case Notice how cleverly i never mention OIL in the ingredient list) in your saute pan.
3. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add all the rest of the ingredients. The order is not particularly important. Add all the spices and saute for about 10 minutes.
4. For the last five minutes , cover with a lid or a plate and let steam. I find that the frozen Tuvar Lilva is for some reason a lot tougher than the fresh ones we used back home. So cover with a lid until you are happy with the softness of the tuvar.

Now the observant might ask, where is the lemon and the sugar? Top the shaak or sabji with fresh lemon juice and Sugar. Im not comfortable with a lot of sugar. I found that a light hand with the sugar and just a squeeze of lemon juice adds a whole another dimension of flavor.

Taste ek dum sakkad thai jai!

I tried to make Bajra rotlas, a thick rustic chappati type bread - which would have accompanied this shaak beautifully. I even found this lovely picture tutorial from Kajal to make them. But alas, my bajra rotlas turned out to be DOA. So ive stuck to chappatis. You could also serve them with puris.

A Foodie Diets: Sambharela Moola

Moola is gujarati for Radish( as apposed to the other moolah that is so very hard to come by :)). A very low calorie dish , really good even as a salad with a splash of yoghurt. I also like the simplicity of the dish.

Ingredients:

Radish, white or red cut in cubes
Radish greens if available
Mustard
Asofoetida
Turmeric
Curry Leaves
Lime Juice
Salt to taste

Heat a little bit of oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to pop. Then add asofoetida.Add the cut radish and also the radish leaves if any on top of the radish. Add turmeric, salt to taste and saute until the radish turns translucent, which is how you know they are done.

Squeeze half a lime on top and you are done.

If you are like me and like a little bite to your food, finish while the radish is just done.

Enjoy with yoghurt.

Stuffed Potato :: Bharwa Aloo

From: The spice Box: Vegetarian Indian Cookbook
by Manju Shivraj Singh


My submission for DK's The Potato Fe(a)st

Ingredients
6 medium raw potatoes peeled
8 tbsp oil, divided
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 medium onions, ground
6 cloves garlic, ground
1 tsp ground ginger root
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cayene pepper
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup yoghurt
salt to taste
1 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp cloves
a few mint leaves or coriander leaves for garnish


Cut off the top quarter of the potatoes. Keep the tops. Carefully scoop out the center of each potato, using a knife. Save the pulp. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add cumin, onions and garlic. Cook till onions are golden.

Add the spices, tomatoes, yoghurt, salt. Cook. When the tomatoes are tender add the raisins and potato pulp. Cook 10-15 minutes more.

Stuff the spice mixture inside the potatoes and cover with the tops of the potatoes. Secure with a toothpick on each potato. Set aside any extra spice mixture.

Heat the remaining 6 tbsp of l and add cloves. Fry 1-2 minutes. Add the potatoes, fry and turn them till they are light brown. Cover with a tight lid and cook until they are tender.
Pour the remaining spice mixture over the potatoes. Garnish with mint or coriander.

Cooks notes: My potatoes did not get as tender just by covering with a tight lid, I added the remaining spice mixture and maybe around 1/2 cup of water to make sure the potatoes ended up soft enough.

Very yummy recipe though.The Raisins really provide a nice contrast to the heavy maasala. Serve with Puris.

Stuffed Bhindi

Recipe adapted from
http://www.koramangala.com/korabuz/vidhu/june02.htm

Stuffing:
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 teaspoons saunf powder
¾ teaspoon dry mango powder
A pinch of Hing (asafoetida)
2 tbsp besan
Salt to taste

Mix. Slit the Bhindi from tail to head, leaving about 1/2 inch from the head. Stuff.
Fry in a large shallow pan , making sure not to overlap the bhindi. About ten minutes later, take a couple of spoons and turn over each bhindi so as to have even browning on each side.

Serve with dal and sabji.

Kadai Paneer

From CURRY CUISINE
Ingredients:
1 tbsp ghee or corn oil
1/2 tsp crushed dried chillies
2 red or yellow peppers, seeed and cut into strips
1 red onion sliced into 1/2 inch thick
1 pound paneer cut into batons
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves crumbled
juice of 1 lemon
2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and julienned

Basic Kadhai sauce:
1/3 cup ghee or corn oil
1 oz garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, coarsely pounded
8 red chillies, coarsely pounded in a mortar
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 inch piece fresh ginger root
3 green chilliies
1 pound fresh ripe tomatoes finely chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground garam masala
11/2 tsp dried nugreek leaves
1 tsp sugar( optional)

Method:
To make the sauce, heat the ghee in a pan, add the garlic and let it color. Stir, then add the coriander seeds and red chilies. When they release their aromas, add the onions and cook until they start turning a light golden yelow color. Stir in the ginger, green chilies and tomatoes. Reduce the heat to low and cook until all the excess moisture has evaporated and the fat starts to separate out. Add the salt, garam masala, and fenugreek leaves and stir. Taste and add some sugar if needed.

For the stir fry , heat the ghee in a kadhai, wok or a large frying pan. Add the crushed chillies, pepper strips and red onion. Stir and saute over high heat for under a minutee, then add the paneer and stir for another minute. Add the sauce and mix well. Once everything is heated through check for seasoning, add a touch of salt if required. Finish with the fresh cilantro,fenugreek leaves, and lemon juice. Garnish with the ginger and serve with naan.

Cooks Notes: I like to first saute the paneer in a little oil and then soak it in hot water to make it soft. Because paneer available in the US is not as fresh as it is back home. I also reduced the total number of chilies by half, because it was too hot for me.
NAAN
Ingredients:
2 heaping tbsp caster sugar
2 eggs
12/3 cups whole milk
6 cups all purpose flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt
31/2 tbsp vegetable oil

Donot knead too much or the naan will become stretchy. The best way to have a good naan is not to bake it but broil it. Use a heavy cast iron pan, heat it under the broiler and then place the uncooked naan on the cast iron pan and watch it carefully, it will brown very fast.

Soya Kheema with corn

Adapted from Ashwini's Gobi ka kheema
























TVP- Textured Vegetable Protein Soya Granules
Onion
Ginger 1/4rth inch
Garlic 1 clove
Corn kernels
Pureed Tomato
Garam Masala

I have been looking for ways to include more soy products in my diet. Unfortunately, Tofu and I havent exactly hit it off.

Fortunately, I found this TVP or textured vegetable protein to be a palatable soy product. It is basically soy flour that has been extruded by machines into small granule sized shapes.

Follow ashwinis method, grate the onion, saute in oil with jeera. Add the soy granules. Grate the ginger and garlic into the pan. Add tomato puree. Add enough water to cover.

Boil for about 5-8 minutes, until you see the soy granules puff up.

I have not added any cream or even taken any trouble with the tomato gravy like ashwini. Do try that.

Serve.

PS. TVP is usually available in the bulk bins of Food Coops and places like Whole foods.

Bhindi with Cherry Tomatoes

Okra with baby tomatoes
Recipe from Neelam Batra: The Indian Vegetarian

2 pounds young okra
oil
1 small onion , sliced finely
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mango powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
20-25 colorful cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup cilantro.

Fry Okra until golden. Remove. Cook onion with masalas and onion. Add Tomatoes and cook in pan until skin begins to separate. Add the fried okra , season with salt, top with cilantro and serve. Makes a very colorful party dish.