VEGETARIAN | Saute Fry N Bake

Mirchi ka salan

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 15-20 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

Hyderabad is one place, I have not visited yet. Every holiday we plan a trip there but some how or the other it does not work out. Having a huge gang of my school mates from Hyderabad kept me glued ( and is still ) to what they all had to say all about this age old city. Though I got to hear so much about its rich cuisine, never did I get a chance to relish it. Once , at my home town in Tirunelveli. We were invited for a wedding who’s native was Hyderabad. They had served us authentic Hyderabad meal for lunch. The entire wedding hall was filled with the aroma of the Hyderabad biriyani. At the lunch table we were served a grand feast. The mirchi ka salan was my favourite that helped me to gulp in a lot of the mildly flavoured Hyderabad biriyani. Later, I managed to get the recipe from our friend’s family. Once in a while I substitute the regular ennai katharikaaei or katta with this mirchi ka Salan as an accomplishment for biriyani. When ever … where ever served it’s always followed with a “recipe please .. umm and ahh’s “.
Do I need to brag any more about this dangerously delicious side dish.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Bangalore chilly / Italian pepper ( bajji milagaaei in Tamil )	1/2 kg slit from the tail up to the middle of each chilly
Curd	300 grams
Ground onion paste	1 cup
Tamarind pulp	1/2 cup
Curry leaves	few
Poppy seeds	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1 tablespoon
White sesame seeds	1 tablespoon
Coriander powder	1 tablespoon
Tomato	4 ground to a paste
Fenugreek seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Ginger and garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Red chilly powder	2 teaspoons
Groundnut	1/4 cup powdered coarsely
Grated coconut	2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds	1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Oil	4 tablespoons
Salt	to taste

Method

Grind white sesame seeds, grated coconut and poppy seeds together adding little water to get a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once they crackle, top with onion paste and ginger + garlic paste. Sauté until raw smell vanishes for about five minutes, stirring constantly making sure the bottom does not burn and oil separates.
Add red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, groundnut powder, ground tomato, curd and salt to taste. Sauté for seven minutes until oil floats on top. Add ground coconut mixture paste and mix well. Boil further for two minutes making sure the bottom does not burn.
Top with slit Bangalore chillies, tamarind paste and water as needed to cook the chillies. Mix well, cover and cool. Once the chillies are cooked, Simmer for five until oil separates. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot as a side for biriyani, plain rice and pulao.

Kaale channe

Preparation time : 8 hour
Cooking time : 30 minutes
Serves : 4 members

Description:

Chickpeas always reminds me of an incident. Me , in boarding school during tea break having a plate of boiled black chickpeas and hot milk. The mess chechi ( that’s how we were supposed to call the mess staff ) tapped my back and told me phone call for you. The black bull head sort of telephone was placed in the main dining hall were all the senior boys sat. Excited me about the phone call from home, equally scared and nervous me about the senior boys beside me … I ran and the minute I heard my mother’s voice say ” hello, panchu poo ( my pet name ) ” I felt a ball creep up from my tummy towards my trout which chocked me. My eyes welled and tears rolled down my cheeks. I was missing my parents, I was missing home, I was missing their warmth, I was missing their smell, I was missing every micro bit of them. As I was struggling and replying, the tea break prayer was over and the dining hall dispersed . All the senior boys saw me weeping which I felt so shameful about. Roll call time in the evening by six, all students are supposed to assemble according to our house (house was referred to the group which was named after the four seasons – I was in summer house – yellow colour ) to count the students every day for 20 minutes. The girls line is just beside three rows of the boys. I stand in the third place in the girls row. A gang of senior boys came towards me and asked me why I was crying during tea over the phone. My friend immediately replied saying she is home sick and is missing her parents. One senior offered me a chocolate bar and told ” we all also miss our parents but when you have so many friends and brothers like us around who are family here.. you should not think of your parents or home much “. Till date those few words have been the best consoling words of my life time. The bond that my boarding school experience has created with my fellow school mates cannot be expressed through words. Till date the excitement and joy of interacting with my school mates brings the best happiness to me. Food and it’s related memories in my tiny little mind locker… I am just left to smile at myself on this.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Brown chick peas	250 grams ( soaked in water for eight hours )
Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder	2 teaspoons
Red chilly powder	1 teaspoon
Soda bi carbonate	1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon
Kasoori methi	3 teaspoons
Amchur powder ( dry mango powder )	3/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder	3/4 teaspoon
Ginger paste	1/2 teaspoon
Garlic paste	1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies	2 chopped
Ghee	3/4 cup
Black cardamom	2
Cinnamon	2 inch piece
Black salt	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves	few chopped

Method

pressure cook the soaked chick peas with water and soda bi carbonate for six whistles until cooked through but firm. Strain and keep aside retaining the strained water.
Heat ghee, crackle with cinnamon, cardamom and green chillies. Add the ginger and garlic paste and sauté to crisp.
Mix cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilly powder, Asafoetida, amchur powder, garam masala powder, black salt and salt with 3/4 cup of the chicken peas boiled water. Dilute with out lumps. Pour over the crisp ginger and garlic paste. Sauté until ghee floats on top.
Add the boiled chick peas. Mix well and sauté for five to eight minutes until the masala flavor infuses into the boiled chick peas. Sprinkle chopped coriander and serve hot as a side dish or a starter.

Panki

Preparation time : 15 minutes + one hour to stand by the flour mix
Cooking time : 2 minutes for each panki
Serves : 4 members

Description

There is no more joy than to get a recipe that had very less oil used and is a healthy one too. This is one such authentic recipe from Gujarat ” the mighty panki “. Made with simple home friendly ingredients, easy to make and high on taste with no high end cooking steps needed. They don’t need much skill or any special equipment to pull off. The spongy yellow mass of tangy, sweet and hot pancake with the flavour of the plantain leaf infused is just lip smacking good. This has become a regular at home on my breakfast table and to dazzle guests as well at times. A simple dish that’s home made isn’t always a crime on the table to entertain.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Rice flour	1 cup
Sour curd	1/2 cup
Green chillies ground	1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves	1/2 cup chopped
Oil	2 tablespoons + to grease
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon
Water	as required
Eno fruit salt	1 tablespoon
Banana leaf	4 ( cut with out the middle stalk to equal squares that fit into your dosa tawa/ griddle )

Method

Mix rice flour, sour curd, ground green chillies, coriander leaves, oil, asafoetida and water together to a semi thick batter like dosa batter consistency.
Add the eno salt and mix well. Set aside to double for one hour.
Heat a dosa tawa / griddle. Grease the banana leaf squares on one side. Place the greased side of the banana leaf facing towards the top over the hot dosa tawa.
Pour a ladle of batter and spread it out leaving 1/4 inch space all over the banana leaf. Cover with another greased banana leaf facing the panki and cover.
Lower the heat, after 30 seconds turn over and cook further for another 20 seconds. Remove from heat. and serve hot with green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney.

Oats vegetable uthappam

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves : 3 members

Description

The universal problem of what to cook for the next meal stands first in all households. Like wise, I have my share of breaking my head over this issue too. It’s nerve racking to see long faces at the dining table when they get to see the regulars. At home, only authentic style of food is welcome. So if I try any high end experimental stuff, it ends with me having to eat the lot. I always prefer to play safe and make sure to come up with recipes that are a twist to our authentic recipes which can be healthy adding more brownie points to me. This oats uthappam also was one such that I did for breakfast. I was in a doubt about the semolina added as I though it might give a rubbery texture to the uthappam. The final result was above the mark perfect with crisp edges, soft uthappam, correct amount of sourness from the lime juice and crunch from the vegetable topping. An all in all one perfect breakfast dish that must be given a try soon.

Ingredients for the uthappam

Ingredients	Quantity
Oats	1 cup
Rice flour	1/2 cup
Semolina	1/2 cup
Sour Curd	4 tablespoons
Lemon juice	3 teaspoons
Soda bi carbonate	2 pinches
Salt	to taste
Water	for the batter

Ingredient for the vegetable topping

Ingredients	Quantity
Cabbage	1/4 cup chopped
Beans	6 chopped
Cauliflower	1/4 cup chopped
Onion	1 chopped
Oil	1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves	few
Coriander leaves	chopped few

Method for the uthappam

Powder oats, rice flour and semolina together with out adding water.
Mix all the ingredients together to get a semi thick dosa batter consistency batter. Keep aside covered for 1/2 an hour.

Method for vegetable topping

Heat oil , crackle the mustard seeds and curry leaves . Add the onions, chopped vegetables and salt to taste.
Sauté to 3/4 cooked by sprinkling water. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and remove from heat.

How to proceed

Heat a dosa tawa / griddle. Grease the base hot tawa with oil. Add more water if needed to the batter to get the right consistency as the semolina when soaked tends to make the batter thick.
Pour a ladle of batter over the hot tawa. Sprinkle the sautéed vegetable. Pour 1/4 teaspoon of oil around. Cover with a lid, lowering the heat.
Cook covered for 30 to 40 seconds. Check if the uthappam is cooked. If not cook further for another 10-15 seconds.
Do not flip over. Remove from heat and serve hot with sambar and chutney of choice.

Banana stem chutney

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 2 minutes to temper
Serves : 3 members

Description

Hubby dear is obsessed with coconut chutney proving to be a typical true blue South Indian. The myth of adding too much coconut into dishes is not healthy is so strong with in me, that I keep telling him to use less coconut chutney to eat. At times I make chutney’s with vegetables and serve but some how his love for the coconut chutney has never ever faded. For a change from the vegetable chutneys I make this time I tried it with a new unexpected healthy twist of adding banana stems in my chutney. The chutney was fibrous but very tasty. An ideal dish to be enjoyed with idli or dosa. I silently served it for breakfast with steaming hot idlis . With no complaints at all, I could see hubby dear gulping down his breakfast. As he was washing his hands, he goes on to say “the chutney was a bit fibrous but tasty”. Then I told him the chutney was made with banana stem. He had a surprised look and smiled. Well that’s his way of appreciation which means a lot to me. I was in cloud nine that I managed to make a welcome change from the usual coconut chutney. This banana stem chutney is healthy yet a comforting treat that needed no hard work to impress. What more do you want?

Ingredients to grind

Ingredients	Quantity
Banana stem	1/4 cup chopped
Grated coconut	1/4 cup
Green chillies	4
Garlic flake	1
Ginger	1/8 inch piece
Salt	to taste
Water	as needed

Ingredients to temper

Ingredients	Quantity
Mustard seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Urad dal	1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves	few
Gingely oil ( sesame seed oil )	1 teaspoon

Method

Grind all the ingredients together mentioned under the to grind column to a smooth paste. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Heat oil, crackle mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Pour over the ground chutney. Mix well and serve with idli or dosa.

Banana stem soup

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Serves : 3 members

Description

In the recent I feel most of us are more keen in buying, cooking and eating vegetables and ingredients that are not native to our region. I fall into that slot as well. So, now I have made it a point to use our native local produce more with putting it to use in many new ways too. This soup was also one such try. I made the soup minus the red capsicum but the color of the soup looked awful so just for an eye popping appeal, the red capsicum had to be added. The taste was so good that all at home wanted more. My cheats way of making my son eat his vegetable was done in a mind blowing clever way. To much more cheating through food, let’s enjoy and celebrate our local produce to the maximum.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Banana stem	250 grams chopped
Red capsicum	100 grams chopped
Tomato	100 grams chopped
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Curry leaves	few
Asafoetida	a pinch
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Water	2 cups
Lime juice	2 teaspoons
Gingely oil ( sesame seed oil)	1 teaspoon
Salt + pepper	to taste

Method

Pressure cook banana stem, red capsicum, tomato and water together for one whistle.
Cool completely. Grind to a smooth paste and strain.
Heat oil, crackle cumin seeds and curry leaves. Pour the strained soup.
Add salt, pepper and more water if needed to the required consistency of the soup and bring to boil. Remove from heat.
Add lime juice. Mix well and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot with a good sprinkle of freshly ground coarse pepper powder.

Raw papaya and vegetable soup

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 2 members

Description :

The papaya tree at home in the back yard falls down with its root due to heavy rain’s here. I end up with having so many raw papayas from the tree.
Raw papaya at home is used to Marinade meats usually to soften. My mother-in-law makes a raw papaya sweet that’s served with biriyani as a side dish. Other than these two dishes,I do know that there’s a Thai salad recipe that I have never tried till date. Hubby dear asks for a soup for lunch,as I was in the middle of making the soup,the raw papaya’s in the counter were like “when are you going to put us into use”. I immediately peeled one and added it to the soup I was making. I was confident that the results will be good as raw papaya has no taste and tends to taste like what other ingredients we have added to it. I just went ahead with what I thought would go well. Asked my cook to do the first tasting. She had a smile in her face and continued saying “amma dhool” which means it’s awesome. My job done with making use of the raw papaya and coming up with yet another new way to cook them too.

Ingredients:

Ingredients	Quantity
Raw papaya	150 grams chopped
Carrot	50 grams chopped
Tomato	50 grams chopped
Gingelly oil	1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Garlic	2 pods finely chopped
Celery	2 stalks finely chopped
Coriander leaves	1 teaspoon chopped
Water	2 cups
Lemon juice	1 teaspoon
Salt + pepper powder	to taste

Method :

De-skin the raw papaya and remove the seeds.
chop carrots and papaya.
simmer cook the papaya and carrots along with tomato in a steam cooker for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Add one cup water and grind in a food processor until mashed and smooth.
sieve the ground mixture and bring to boil on simmer adding salt and pepper powder to taste.
Temper with cumin seeds, garlic and chopped celery in a teaspoon of gingelly oil. Add to the soup mixture. Remove from heat.
Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Notes :

Papaya,carrot and tomato are rich in beta carotene, lycopene and vitamin A. They help maintain glowing,soft and supple skin. They also enhance ones vision.

Foxtail millet pesarattu/ Thinai pesarattu

Preparation time : soaking in water 6 hours + fermentation time 6 hours + 20 minutes

Cooking time : 2 minutes for each pesarattu
Serves : 8 members

Description

Ancient recipe’s festival was held at my home town recently. It was such a good effort taken by the seed foundation and jeyendra school to showcase forgotten age old recipes that our forefathers had and relished upon. I made sure to take part in the cooking work shop where we got to see many innovative recipes that can be made with locally produced millets. A class worth that alerted me with the fact that there is no ending to learning in this world. I got to know so much more about food and cooking. I made sure to have at least one meal a week made with millets mainly to support the local farmers and the Eco system. I know you all must be thinking what does Eco system have to do with eating millets? Well, when we start to eat more millets and it gets to become a demanding crop. Framers grow more millets, birds feed on them and spill the seeds all over. When it rains, the seeds grow again. This is what was happening years ago but the day we stopped respecting our local produce and started to focus more on food and produce that are flown down from other countries.. That’s when every thing around us started to work in a reverse way. So here is my first try on the andhra special pesarattu made with foxtail millets. My small first step towards helping the world to become a better place so that our younger generation too get to enjoy this earth as we did.

Foxtail millet pesarattu/ Thinai pesarattu

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Foxtail millet / thinai	1 cup
Green gram	1 cup
Dry Red chillies	4
Green chillies	2
Salt	to taste
Tomato	1 big
Ginger	1/4 inch piece
Garlic	2 flakes
Onions	1 chopped
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves chopped	1 teaspoon
Oil	to drizzle

wash and soak fox millet and green gram together in water for six hours.
Grind together to a coarse semi thick paste.mix well with salt to taste and let it ferment at room temperature for six or more hours.
Grind dry red chillies, green chillies, ginger and garlic together to a smooth paste. Add it to the fermented fox millet batter and mix well.
Add Asafoetida, chopped onions and chopped coriander leaves to the batter and mix well.
Heat a tawa in medium flame. Pour a ladle of batter in the centre and spread to a circle just like we do for dosa. Drizzle one teaspoon oil all around. Cook for 40 seconds to a minute until you see bubbles on top. Flip over and cook for another 40 seconds. Remove and serve hot with chutney of your choice.
Repeat the same for more pesarattu’s.

Kethandapatti mambhazla kuzhambu

Preparation time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 15 -20 minutes
Serves : 4 members
Description

Getting to try out of the box recipes that are apt to entertain for a grand feast spread or festive times is an easy go thing to be done as we get lost with the number of recipe choices to be tried but getting to find and try new every day curry recipes that can be served for lunch at home with a true blue South Indian hubby dear is a hard feet to crack. This recipe is one such trial I did with an authentic iyengar kozlambhu (curry ) that was shared to me by my fellow foodie friend Rakesh ragunathan. I was amazed with the out come of a curry that had no onion , no garlic and no coconuts.. If not for this curry trial , I was strongly itched with the myth in my mind that a perfect home style curry was impossible to cook with out these three ingredients. Well Rakesh did share his recipe which was made with white lobia ( black eye kidney beans ) but I made my twist by trying it with whole country ripe mangoes. Was a bit nervous at the lunch table as hubby dear likes his regular curries and seldom does he approve anything new specially curries. Uff , he liked it and I have added this to my regulars now at home. I did share the recipe with my friend bharathi. Her trial was another super hit with her son having raised eye brows seeing ripe mangoes in a curry. Well this is how food has its way of surprising you. which is why I am deeply, madly in love with it no matter what, why, where and when .

Ingredients for the kuzhambu powder

Ingredients	Quantity
Whole black pepper	1/2 teaspoon
Dry Red Chillies	5
Asafoetida	1 tsp
Coriander seeds	2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds	1 pinch
Fenugreek seeds	1 pinch
Oil	2 teaspoons

Roast all the ingredients in hot oil until golden brown in colour .
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Grind to a fine powder using a coffee grinder.

Ingredients for the Kuzhambu

Ingredients	Quantity
Ripe small country mangoes	5 peeled with seeds
Tamarind	1 medium lemon size ball
Oil	3 tablespoons
Jaggery	1 tablespoon or more to taste
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Green chilly	2 slit
Rice flour powder	1 teaspoon
Curry leaves	10 to 12
Salt	to taste

Method

Heat oil in a wide kadai. Add curry leaves and green chillies. Once they splutter, top with turmeric powder and peeled mangoes. Sauté for a minute.
Add tamarind pulp, jaggery and salt to taste. Bring to boil. Then add water and boil to done making sure the ripe mangoes are cooked through but firm at the same time.
Add the roasted and powdered spice powder. Mix well and boil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Dilute the rice flour in little water. Add it to the kuzhambu. Keep stirring until it thickens. Adjust the consistency of the kuzhambu adding more hot water if too thick.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Simmer for five minutes until oil floats on top. Serve hot with hot white rice.

Notes

The same recipe can be done by substituting ripe mangoes with black eye kidney beans which is the authentic way of making this curry.

Viragu arisi adai

Preparation time : 2 hours for soaking and 20 minutes
Cooking time : 2 minutes or less for each Adai
Serves : 2 to 3 members

Description

The regular Adai that most tamilians have as a main course for breakfast. The twist here is adding kodo millet to this humble dish. I am addicted to a new habit of sending pictures half way through of preparing a dish and sending it to foodie friends asking them to guess the dish. I did the same with this dish as well. After the guessing game was done, I did get a suggestion to add drum stick leaves to the Adai. I grabbed the idea and did so.. Lucky me as I have drum stick trees in the back yard at home .. This elegant vegetarian main course with its contrasting flavors and textures made it an absolute hit at home. For me the best kind of cooking involves experimenting with common ingredients you are sure to find in your pantry and leftovers from elaborate weekend lunches. Umm our desi – inspired dishes are guaranteed to chase away blues. So this new experiment of mine turned to be a true hero of comfort cooking.

Ingredients	Quantity
Kodo millet / viragu arisi	1 cup
Moong dal	2 tablespoons
Thoovar dal	1/4 cup
Channa dal	1/4 cup
Urad dal	2 tablespoons
Poha / aval	2 tablespoons
Curd	4 tablespoons
red chilly flakes	3 tablespoons
Asafoetida	1/8 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Onions	1 medium sized chopped
Curry leaves	few chopped
Grated Ginger	1/4 teaspoon
Grated Garlic	1/4 teaspoon
Drumstick leaves	1 cup
Mustard seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Oil	1 teaspoon + to drizzle over adai
Soda - bi - carbonate	1/8 teaspoon

Method

Wash and soak Kodo millet in water for two hours. Soak washed dals and poha together separately in another bowl for two hours.
Drain the Kodo millet and grind to a semi thick coarse paste adding curd. Grind the drained dals and poha together to a coarse paste.
Mix both the ground batters together along with chopped onions, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, chilly flakes , salt and turmeric powder. Mix well to a semi thick batter by adding little water.
Heat oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Top with asafoetida. Remove from heat and add to the adai batter mix. Finally add drumstick leaves. Mix well. Taste and adjust consistency. Set aside for half an hour.
Add soda – bi – carbonate mixed in 1/2 teaspoon of water to the better and mix well. Heat a greased griddle. pour a label of adai batter and spread to a circle like thick dosa. Drizzle with little oil around. Cook until crisp and golden, flip over and cook further for 50 seconds. Remove and serve hot with chutneys of choice.