Mathanga (pumpkin) and Vanpayar (red cow peas) erissery

Our first Onam in our newly renovated home. This is one of the dishes that I had not made before , though it is definitely a part of any Onasadya in our homes in Kerala. I was never a fan of pumpkin until I started cooking myself. 

I am going to put up the easiest version. Exactly as I made the dish. With the help of a pressure cooker. 

Pumpkin - 400 gms (peeled , deseeded and cut into cubes)

Vanpayar (red cow peas) - 1 cup or more 

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Green chillies - 2 nos

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt to taste

Curry leaves - 1 stem or more

Coconut oil - 1 tsp 

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

dried red chilly - 2 nos

Soak the peas for 30 minutes and then add about 1 and 1/2 cups water, and pressure cook till three whistles. Once the steam escapes, add the pumpkin cubes, chilli and turmeric powder and cook on a medium flame till the pumpkin turns soft enough to mash. (Leave a few lumps of pumpkin for texture.)

 Do not add any water if possible. Avoid pressure cooking again because the pumkin may be overcooked.

Grind the grated coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds to a fine paste. Add this to the cooker. Once the errisery starts to bubble, turn it off. It should not have too much water or too little. 

In a hot kadai, heat the coconut oil, splutter mustar seeds, curry leaves and the dry red chillies. Add it to the cooker  and stir twice. 

Delicately flavored and great with rice. I think it would make a good curry for chappatis too..

And given below - my husband  and our daughter with our Pookkalam (flower arrangement) -  another tradition of Onam.

Easy plum jam

I saw some great plums and could not resist buying them... I bought two kilos, and we managed to consume quite a few, but still there were just two days before we left for Kerala and i did not want to waste it.. so I searched for a recipe online and found lot of different versions... as usual, I adapted one that was the easiest and thus appealed to me ..especially due to the time constraint...

many of them were not ripened well, so the result was a bit sour. that said, I have to tell you that I absolutely adored it and my daughter also had a great time sampling the jam... in fact, I had to hide it away so she wouldn't keep 'testing' it ..!!!

Plums have natural pectin in them, which is a vital ingredient for making jams. So if you are using this recipe, please make sure that the fruit is either plums, or some other fruit that is as high in pectin.

Plums - 1 kg (ensure they are ripe and add a couple or so of unripe ones to add a slight tang to the taste)

Sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups (add more according to taste. I used less sugar , so as not to overpower the taste of the fruit.

Honey - 1/2 cup

Cloves - 6 (optional - please count the cloves before adding them so they can be easy to remove. This is my own addition to the recipe)

Water - 1 tbsp

Wash the plums well. Slit once lengthwise to the stone. In a thick bottom vessel, put the plums and the water and keep it on a low flame.

Add the sugar and the cloves after about 5 minutes. Stir well. After about 20 more minutes, the stones will separate .

Remove the cloves and the stones.

the plums will become a smooth paste consistency. Add the honey and let the liquid reduce and thicken.

Once the jam becomes the stage where it will coat a spoon easily, but won't run off of it, switch of the stove.

While it cools, it will thicken again. So if the jam is too thick , it will solidify and won't be easy to spread. Likewise, a runny jam won't be nice either.

This recipe yields a sweet and tang jam with a rich and fruity taste. It is easy to spread, but does not turn the bread soggy.

Try it and let me know how it turns out.

Dal and Rava upma (yellow lentils and semolina)

Yesterday was Mahashivrathri and I took the orikkal, complete with keeping awake the whole night. So I was awake till 6:00 AM. In that spirit, I was actually going to post a recipe for 'Sabudana Khichdi', the only food I had for more than 24 hours. But I just googled it and saw more than enough recipes of the same.

So instead, I am posting yet another experiment of mine this past week. Instead of making just the normal rava upma, I decided to add some dal to it. It was quite a tasty combination, and with a pappad, it is a full meal.

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustad seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera/ cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Yellow lentils /dal - 1/2 cup (I used a mix of masoor and thur dal)

Onion - 1 large (chopped fine)

Ginger piece - 1 inch (grated or cut very fine)

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Red chilly powder - a pinch

Green chillies - 2 (cut fine)

Rava/ semolina - 1 and 1/2 cups

Water - 3 cups (more or less)

Salt - to taste

Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add the jeera, then add the onion, ginger, and green chillies.

Once the onion is yellowish brown, add the turmeric and red chilli powders and fry well. Now add the 3 cups of water, add the dal and cook well. I did not use the pressure cooker for this at all. If mixing the dals, they have a slightly different cooking points. Once the dal comes to a boil, keep the flame to medium, put a lid and cook for about 15 minutes for the dals to cook.

Once the dal is cooked to your satisfaction, add the salt and then then the semolina. Mix well, keep the flame on low and cook for 5 mintes. Add a few drops of lemon juice and some ghee for added taste.

For extra colour, you can add a freshly grated carrot, cooked green peas and a bunch of coriander leaves (cut fine).

Brinjal Pickle

This was my first attempt at a pickling, other than Inji curry.

I haven't followed any traditional way of pickling, this is strictly my own experiment and I am happy with the results.

I used the green long brinjals for this.... have no idea how the purple ones will be..but I think carrots and dates will also be great if pickled this way.

Green brinjals - 500 gms (3 )(cut round into 1 and 1/2 inch pieces, then sliced thin)

Mix with two pinches of salt and keep for 5 to 10 minutes to draw out the bitter taste .

Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Uluva/methi/fenugreek seeds - a pinch

Ginger - a 1 inch piece (sliced thin)

Sugar - 1 tbsp (or more if you want it sweeter)

Vinegar - 1 cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Paprika /kashmir chilli powder - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Remove the brinjal pieces from the liquid that comes out and pat the pieces dry with a towel.

Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, and when they split, add the fenugreek seeds. Add the brinjal and ginger and saute well. Now add the sugar and saute till the sugar melts and coats the brinjal well. Mix the chilli powder and turmeric powders in approximately 1 tbsp of vinegar to make a smooth paste and add that to the brinjals. cook till the raw smell is gone and oil comes on top. Now add the rest of the vinegar and salt and take off the stove.

Store in clean glass jars once it is cool. I have no idea about the shelf life. So I kept the bottle in the fridge.

It is great with curd rice and gets over very soon...

Chewy, no bake, chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal cookies.

I had bought some semi-sweet chocolate chips a while back and wanted to make cookies with them. As I was searching for recipes, I came across these no-bake cookies ... No-bake, with all the ingredients I had at hand.. !!!what more could I ask for? Also the other baked recipes would yield dozens and I wanted a small amount to start with....

Another great advantage is that it takes only one thick bottom vessel for the entire preparation... I haven't changed much in the recipe, but it was also not possible to give credit to just one source, since numerous sites have already posted the same recipe...

So this may not be new to atleast some of you...

Sugar - 2 cups (I used granulated since I saw it written in some versions)

Milk - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/2 cup / 1 stick (I used a 100 gm stick of Amul butter, this is salted)

Peanut butter - 3 tbsp( approx) - I used the crunchy version (optional)

Semi sweet Chocolate chips - 1 cup

Oats - 3 cups (I used quick cooking Quaker Oats)

Vanilla extract - 2 tsp (I used Vanilla essence so added only 1/2 tsp)

Combine the milk, sugar and butter, in a vessel, heat and then bring to a rolling boil. Let it boil for a couple of minutes so that the mixture turns smooth and all the sugar and butter is melted well.

Switch off the heat.

Now add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix well. Then add the chocolate chips.

Finally, add the oats.

On a tray, spread butter paper and drop spoonfuls of the cookie mix on it. Flatten them slightly into cookie shapes if you wish. Let cool.

Chewy cookies are ready to eat. It took me about 20 minutes start to finish, even with my daughter's 'help'..... !!!

Note :

Some recipes called for unsalted butter and a half tsp of salt.. so that is a change I made. Also the peanut butter is optional in a few versions of the recipe.

Stuffed Karelas (bittergourd)

The first time I ever tasted stuffed karelas was when we visited my mom's second brother and family in Hyderabad. Our aunt made this dish for dinner one day and we all enjoyed it a lot.. at that time however, I wasn't too fond of this bitter vegetable. So though I really liked what my aunt made, I would never had bothered to make it...

All that changed when I was pregnant... guess what I craved most at that time...??? yep... bitter gourd... I had severe 'morning sickness' that lasted the whole day, for the first 4 months... at the least provocation I had to run for the loo.. anything from the smell of rice to the sound of daily TV serials ..!!! but I would drool at the smell of bitter gourd cooking and I sometimes would just saute it with a little onions and tomato and have it semi-cooked... my husband never could understand that.. he told me normal people would puke at smelling half-cooked bitter gourd and there I was, in my delicate condition, shoveling it down like it was the tastiest thing in the world..!!!

Four years later, I still love bitter gourd, and if it is fried to cinders, even my husband likes it with curd and rice. When I bought the tiny karelas, I had decided to try stuffing them..but when i checked for recipes, many of them were very complicated, so I just read them and then decided to go ahead and give it my own twist as I normally do to most of my cooking.

Bitter gourd/ karelas /paavakka - 6 small ones

Wash them well, scrape all the spines slowly with a knife and keep it aside to include in the stuffing.

Slit one side of the karelas. Scrape off the seeds inside.


For the stuffing

Oil - 2 tsp
Onion - 1 diced fine
Tomato - 1 diced fine
Aloo mash flakes - 1 and 1/2 tbsp (or mash a very small boiled potato)
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Jeera/ cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander/ dhania leaves - finely chopped about 1 tbsp

Heat oil in a pan, saute onions, then add the tomatoes and saute till the oil comes out. Add the scraped bitter gourd spines, chilli, turmeric and jeera powders, saute and cook for 5 minutes.Add the mashed potatoes, the dhania leaves and the salt to taste.

Now stuff the bitter gourds and shallow fry in a non-stick pan till brown on all sides.

We had it with rice, curd and omelettes. They will be great with chappatis too.I will definitely make them as soon as possible, since I got a thumbs up from my husband too... !!!

Olan/I shtu - stewed lentils and veggies in coconut milk

This is yet another member of a Kerala sadya. But unlike a few of it's counterparts, the main ingredients in Olan usually are very varied...

It is a very simple, yet very very tasty dish to make. Another dish that would be agreeable to most people who are used to totally different cuisines than ours. This one can also be used as a side-dish for rotis or chappatis.

Red lentils / vanpayar- soak overnight or for 4 to 6 hours

Coconut milk - Ist extract , and 2nd extract

This means that the first thicker and creamier extract should be kept separate and then add water to the coconut to get another thinner extract. In case you use the coconut milk powder , 1 tbsp to 1 glass of water for the 2nd extract and 1 tbsp to a little less than half a glass of water for the 1st.

Potatoes - 3 medium (peeled, washed, cut into cubes)

Ash pumpkin/ kumbalanga - 100 gm slice (peeled, washed and cubed)

Green chillies - 5 to 6

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Onion - 1 (peeled and sliced lenghtwise)

Add all the ingredients except the 1st extract of coconut milk in the pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles. Once the steam escapes, switch the stove back on, if gravy is watery, reduce it by evaporating. Now add salt to taste. Finally, add the 1st extract of coconut milk and then add a tsp of cooking oil and curry leaves. Be careful to put off the stove before it boils. Thick coconut milk curdles when boiled.

Variations

Instead of adding onions in the beginning, chope shallots, fry in oil and add last.

Instead of red lentils substitute a tomato.. the taste will be very different.

Carrots and green peas with potatoes instead of lentils and pumpkin make another interesting curry. A half teaspoon of crushed pepper enhances the taste.

Pindi chammandi

This chammandi or chutney is made with vaazha pindi, that is the inner core of a banana tree.

The banana tree is one of the most versatile plants known to Keralites, second only to the beloved Coconut palms. We use the leaves in lieu of plates, to bake fish, make Adas(a sweet preparation), as disposable lunch packs ....

The raw bananas are ingredients in many delicious preparations like aviyal, kaalan, different mezhukku puratties and the banana chips are famous all over the world.
We also use the purple flowers to make many dishes. The tiny flowers nestled in between the purple petals yield lovely drops of nectar.

Ripe golden bananas are used to make amazing things like pazham pori, unniyappam, pradhamans etc and we all love them on anything from topping on cereals to banana splits..

And finally, even when a banana tree is cut down to make room for the young ones, they yield the smooth, ivory-like cores called 'pindi'. I have had pindi in many forms.. and though it is a bit tedious to clean, it is worth the effort. This chutney is a tasty addition to the numerous recipes we already have, and was passed on to me by Jayachitta, my dad's youngest sister, who is a superb cook.

Pindi - a piece about 6 -8 inches
Cut into rounds,about 1/2 cm thick, clean each side and remove the fibers, keep aside three pieces and chop up the rest.

Boil the three round pieces and keep aside to cool.

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1 tbs (dry roast)
Dried red chillies - 2 to 3
Curry leaves - 2 stalks
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - a very small piece (about 1 cm cube)
Tamarind - a small piece
Salt to taste

In a blender, add all the ingredients, including the pindi and grind till the chutney is half-way between coarse and fine . Mix well till the taste is even. Very tasty side-dish for gruel or kanji.

Refreshing vegetable and pasta soup

I got the recipe for this from my friend Arundati's blog and tweaked it according to my taste. The original recipe is here.

I have always loved soup. It is always associated with our trips to be with our parents, and one recurring memory ... whenever we used to sit down to eat our soup, our little sister had to narrate the story of her first soup-making adventure in kindergarten ..."...I cut the carrots, Tamara and Bushara cut onions , Vineeta and Vinay cut the ....'blah..blah' ..and then Mrs.so and so put all the vegetables and made soup and we all ate it with fried bread...it was VERY tasty ....!!

It has been atleast 20 years since she left KG behind, but we all got to hear the 'Soup story ' so often, that I am sure my mom, dad, brother and atleast my dad's elder brother who was in Doha and had to bear a lot of her chatter, must remember some of it..!!!

So for my version of this very refreshing soup,

Boil a cup of pasta and keep aside. My friend used noodles, but I prefer pasta. If you dont mind the extra starch, you can cook the pasta with the veggies.

Onion - 1/2 cup (cut into cubes)

Tomato - 2 medium sized (cubed)

Veggies - cut into bite sized portions - 1 cup (I used carrots, cauliflower, capsicum and a potato)

Butter - 1 tsp

Oil - 1/2 tsp

Crushed pepper - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 3 cloves (crushed and finely chopped)

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Soy sauce - 5 to 6 drops

Dried thyme and chives - 1/2 tsp each (you may add fresh mint, parsley etc...)

Salt to taste.

In a pressure cooker, heat oil, add the butter, saute the onions till golden, add all the veggies and the rest of the ingredients (even the pasta).Hold the salt.

Add enough water , pressure cook to one whistle . Once the steam is gone, open and add the precooked pasta , a squirt of lemon juice and the salt.

It was so good, that I have already made it twice. Some garlic bread with the soup would make a good meal.

Cherupayar mezhukkupuratty - (green grams/lentils)

I had'nt realised that I had not posted this dish. I have made this so many times, that it was a big surprise when I checked my blog and found that i hadn't posted this so far. I have a large number of photos from the various times I had prepared it though.. but this is from when I made it two days back. 

 

It is one of my favourites because it is very tasty, easy to prepare and you can have it even with tea. In tamil nadu, along with half a cup of grated coconut, it becomes 'sundal'. I live it even more than before because my daughter also likes it. I make it a little less spicy now-a-days because of her.

Sometimes it is better to soak the green gram for a half hour or so before cooking. 

Green gram - 1 and 1/2 cups 

Water - 2 and 1/2 cups

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 2 (sliced)

Pressure cook the lentils for 3 whistles. Once the steam is gone, open the lid and keep aside.

Onion - 1 large (peeled and diced)

Curry leaves - 1 stalk

Red chillies - 2 

Oil - 2 tbsp

In a wok, heat oil, saute the onion till lightly brown, add the curry leaves and red chillies . Add the cooked lentils and wait till the remaining water evaporates. Now add the salt and mix well. 

Take off the fire and enjoy.

Beetroot pachadi - in coconut and curd gravy

This is a very flavourful curry and really great during the summers....

Beetroot - 2 medium (peeled and cut into small cubes)

Green chillies - 2 (slit)

Boil the beetroot and green chillies , add a pinch of turmeric and red chilli powder. 

Grind together

Coconut - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp

Add the ground coconut and boil . Take off the fire . Add 1 cup of beaten curd . Add salt to taste.

For tempering -

Heat oil - 

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Red chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 1 tsp

Kappa (Tapioca)Puzhukku

Growing up, we were inundated with all sorts of fresh produce from our ancestral farms . Be it tapioca,papayas, mangoes, yams, string beans, bitter gourds, coconuts, bananas... and there was so much of everything that we used to get fed up of even mangoes half-way into the seasons...

And now things have changed so much, than when I got a piece of tapioca and cooked it, I was so delighted with the result, that I called my sis in Pune and my mom in Doha to give them the news!!!

Yep ! things have indeed changed... my sis actually told me that she wanted the recipe too.. 

So this is for you too S, coz I know I will have to give the recipe all over again when you finally get hold of Tapioca..

Tapioca - 1/2 kg  (peel, cut ito cubes and wash well)

Word of wisdom from my mom- always buy One piece of tapioca. Two pieces may belong to different batches of produce and  may have two different cooking points. - not good news......

Bring the tapioca to boil and drain the water. 

Now add 

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Red Chilly powder -1/2 tsp

Water - level with the tapioca

Cook till water is nearly gone and the tapioca pieces turn opaque. Add salt to taste .

Now coarsely grind 

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Shallots - 3 nos

Jeera/cumin - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 2 nos

For tempering..

Heat oil in a kadai ( I used coconut oil)

mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Raw rice - 1 tsp

Shallots - 1 tbsp (finely sliced)

Curry leaves - 1 stalk

Dried red chillies

Add each ingredient in that order. 

Once the shallots brown, add the tapioca and the ground coconut mix. Mix well and take off the flame.

Excellent with fish curry and rice....

Fenugreek leaves and dal (lentils) curry

I love the taste of fenugreek leaves..also known as uluva cheera, methi leaves etc.. The bunch i got was very tender and fresh, so after rinsing them well. I just chopped up the leaves, stems and all.

Assemble the rest of the ingredients

Thur dal - yellow split lentils 1 cup( washed)

Onion - 1 medium (sliced lenghtwise)

Green chillies - 2 (slit lengthwise)

Tomato - 1 (sliced)

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Pressure cook for 4 whistles. Once the steam escapes, open and add enough salt.

Temper with ...

Jeera - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dried red chillies - 2 

Squirt the juice of one lemon for added zest.. 

You may also try adding one potato cut into very small cubes before pressure cooking. This makes for a thicker gravy and good with rotis.

Palak and Channa dal (Spinach and split bengal gram)

My hubby is no fan of spinach curry and I can never resist when I see fresh, beautiful spinach. So to keep us both happy I opted for a dry preparation. This is quite easy to make.

Channa dal/ Split bengal gram - 1 cup (washed)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Spinach - 1 big bunch (leaves washed one by one and finely chopped)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Shallots (small red onions) - 3
Green chillies - 2
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Garlic clove - 1

For tempering
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Dried red chillies - 2

Pressure cook the channa dal with turmeric powder(3 whistles). once the steam is off, just let the water evaporate.
Mince the grated coconut, green chillies, shallots and the garlic. I just pulse twice and they are done. Do not add water.

Now, in a wok, add oil and when hot, add the mustard seeds and red chillies. Add the Spinach , the cooked channa dal and the minced coconut. Cover and cook for 5 monutes or till the spinach wilts. Add salt to taste.

Enjoy hot.

Moutabel (Eggplant dip)

This is a lebanese preparation, which is predominantly served as a starter(Mezze), along with hot pita bread. Also called Babaghanoush.

When I visit my parents, I always remember to order a large salad platter from a Lebanese restaurant . The platter includes Hummus, moutabel, and a lot of other yummy treats.

Most of the recipies given on the web, call for a microwave, or an oven. But since my OTG (oven-toaster-grill)is taking a vacation, I decided to seek an alternate method to make this. My mom had successfully prepared this in the microwave.

Aubergine/eggplant/Brinjal - 1 fleshy large or 4 medium sized ones (approx 250 gms)
Garlic - 1 clove
Tahina - 1 tbsp (or according to choice)
Salt - to taste
Whole Pepper - 1/2 tsp
olive oil - 3-4 tsp atleast
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Blister the eggplants on a flame to get the smoky taste. Make sure they are blistered all over, but not burned. If so, cut off the burned portions.
Steam the aubergines so that the flesh is cooked through.
Scoop out the flesh from the aubergines.
In a blender, add the garlic, pepper,salt, lemon juice,tahina and the eggplant flesh. Just pulse twice, remove to a bowl and add the olive oil. Mix well. It is okay if the constistency is not very smooth. Just adds interest to the texture.But, ensure that the taste is blended all over. In case you want it more smooth, break up the pieces with a fork.

Sprinkle a bit of paprika and serve in a bowl.

Sorry about the bad picture!

Aloo-methi - (Potatoes and fenugreek leaves)

I just grabbed a huge bunch of very fresh methi leaves as soon as I saw them. have very fond memories of my mom preparing the same. They were so fresh, that even the stalks were very tender. So I decided to chop the leaves along with the stalk and add it to the preparation.

Fenugreek/methi leaves - a bunch (finely cut )
Potatoes - 2 medium (peeled and cut into cubes)
Onion- 1 (cut into cubes)
Dried red chillies - 2
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp (can use more or less according to choice)

Take the peeled and cubed potatoes into a thick bottom vessel, add some water (enough to level with the potatoes in it. Add the chilly powder and turmeric powder. Once the water boils, lower the flame to medium and let the potatoes cook through and the water almost disappears. (You may use a pressure cooker to cook the potatoes too)

Now, in a wok, heat oil. (I added some mustard seeds to temper)add the onions and the red chillies (can use chilli flakes for more heat , or can just crush the whole chillies too)Add the potatoes and stir to coat the oil. now put the methi leaves,add salt to taste, put the lid on and wait till the leaves change colour. Slowly mix till the leaves and potatoes are mixed. If so desired, the potatoes can be lightly fried with more oil before adding the methi leaves.

The aroma of methi leaves cooking is out of the world. Superb with just rice, curd and some tener mango pickles...Yum!

Brinja masala

Brinjals/ baingans/ aubergines,are my husband's second favourite vegetable. I like it coz it is easy to cut and the cooking can be over in a matter of minutes, depending on the kind of dish. This is a slightly elaborate preparation and is amazing with rotis, chappatis or rice and curd for company.

Please assemble all ingredients before-hand to avoid mishaps.

Medium sized brinjals - 500 gms (slit lenghtwise, thickness 1/2 inch)

Soak in turmeric water, drain and add salt to taste. Shallow fry with as little oil as possible, till half cooked. Keep aside.

In the same pan that u fried the brinjal, add

Oil - 2 tbsp

When hot, add

Cumin/ jeera - 1/2 tsp
once jeera is fried, add

Onion - 1 ( sliced fine lengthwise)
green chillies - 2 (slit)
Curry leaves - 1 stalk

fry till onions are golden brown.

Make a thick paste with water and

red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
garam masala powder - 1 tsp

Fry well till the oil is seen.

Now, blanch, peel and grind

Tomatoes - 3 medium sized (or about 1/2 cup of ready made tomato puree)

add the tomato puree till it is thickened and the oil is seen. Now add the fried brinjals, coat well with the masala, put on a lid and cook well till done.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) and serve.

Muringakka , parippu thoran (Drumstick n dal)

Our mom used to make a lot of dishes with drumstick fairly often since we had a drumstick tree in our home. This was a favourite with all of us. Mom also used to make a exquisitely tasty things with the flowers from drumstick tree as well as the leaves.

Drumsticks - 2 (choose fleshy ones)

Thur dal - 1 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Cook the thur dal with water over 1/2 an inch over it's level. when the dal is half-cooked, add the drum sticks till everything is cooked through , add salt to taste and make sure the water is nearly gone.

Coarsely grind

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Garlic cloves - 2 nos

green chillies - 2 nos

Add the ground coconut to the cooked drumstick and dal.

In a deep pan, heat 2 tsp oil , temper with

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp (I prefer a bit less)

Raw rice grains - 1 tsp

Dried red chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 2 stems

mix well and serve hot.

Cheera Thoran - (Red spinach with coconut)

I got my hand on an amazingly fresh bunch of Red Spinach..hadn't seen any like that in a while... Just grabbed them....

The worst thing about store bought leaves, (as opposed to home-grown, and we have had that in plenty!) is that sometimes no amount of rinsing can get rid of the DDT..when u finish soaking the leaves,pick them leaf by leaf and the slice them finely, and finally cook it and lo and behold, instead of the amazing aroma of cooked spinach, u smell the awful powder used to kill ants !!!

But this time the whole bunch was perfect.........

Clean the spinach as much as possible in lots of water...
Drain well. Towel dry if needed(especially if the leaves are limp.)
Cut very thinly, stalk and leaves.

Grind coarsely
Coconut - 1/4th of one ( scrapped )
Green chillies - 2
Small onions - 3
Jeera/ Cumin - 1/4 tsp

To the cut spinach, add the ground coconut, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder and mix well.

Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves and add the spinach. Keep a lid and steam the spinach for 5 minutes or until they are evenly steamed. Slowly stir to ensure even cooking and turn off the heat.

Great combination with rice, curd, pappad n pickles....And I could just eat it by itself too!

Hummus (Chickpea dip) - Tuesday Toot

Anyone who is familiar with Hummus making will be wondering what there is to toot about...aah..but my hummus is made absolutely the tedious way..hence the toot!!!

Hummus is an absolute must in Middle Eastern cuisine. It is a great dip, and can be great combined with the various salads, kebabs, and other meat preparations.

Hummus is absolutely vegetarian and made predominantly from chickpeas (white kadala). Now a days it is very easy since there are canned chickpeas available. The next essential ingredient needed is tahina or paste made from white sesame seeds. (ellu /til). Yet again, tahina is also readily available in the market.

Despite all this wonder why I made mine from scratch? Simple..just to see if I could..!!!So this is how I made hummus..

Chickpeas dried - 1 cup
Soak overnight, wash and drain and cook them till tender.
Or drain 1 1/2 can of chick peas

Sesame seeds - 2 tsp
On a non-stick pan, dry-fry the sesame seeds, keep shaking or stirring to roast evenly, dont let them brown.

Olive oil - 4 tbsp
Garlic - 1 clove, crushed and minced
salt - to taste

Add the sesame seeds, salt, garlic and 2 tbsp oilve oil and grind to a paste. Now keep aside a few whole chickpeas for garnish and grind the rest. Mix well.

Lemon juice - 3 tbsp (or according to taste)

Add the lemon juice, the chickpea paste and another tablespoon of olive oil and blend well. (Take note that from 4 tbsp mentioned, we had used only half that)

Garnish with the whole chickpeas, olive oil and a spinkling of paprika powder.

Superb with fried chicken or kebabs.