Zucchini curry

Zucchini - 1 medium

Onion - 1 medium

Cauliflower - 6 florets

Boiled potato - 1 (opt)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander seed - 1 tbsp

Chana dal - 1 tbsp

Til seed - 1 tsp

Red chilli - 3 

Coriander leaf for garnish

Fry without oil the coriander seed, til, chana dal and red chilli. Grind into a fine powder and keep aside.
Heat oil and splutter jeera and fenugreek seeds.
Add the chopped onions and fry till golden and turn off flame.
Boil zucchini and cauliflower florets in 1/2 cup water with some salt and turmeric powder.
After 3 minutes of covered cooking

add to the onions. You can add the potatoes , if using, now.
Add the spice powder to the vegetables and mix well. Keep aside till serving time.
At serving time mix again , heat and serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

Mathan Erissery or Pumpkin curry

Here you will find 2 recipes of Erissery. One is the Tamil Brahmin version, the other is the typical Kerala style with van-payar.
The difference between the two, other than the addition / absence of van-payar, is in the addition / non-addition of ground coconut.
Both the recipes bank heavily on the 'tadka' or the 'varavvu' ; meaning the final garnish.

These 2 recipes are an ode to pumpkin, coconut and pepper - a combination like no other.
One thing is sure, this is a true blue Kerala dish.

Recipe 1: Tamil Brahmin style
Serves : 10

The below quantity is enough to serve at least 10 people as this is mainly a side dish served with sambar. It is a must for any 'sadya' and the sweetness of the pumpkin counters the spiciness of other dishes.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin (yellow / orange)- 1 kg, skinned and cut into big cubes

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Coconut - 3 cups , heaped

Pepper powder - 2 tbsp,  heaped

Jeera powder - 2 tbsp

Red chilly  powder - 1 tsp

For tadka / garnish:

Coconut oil - 1/4 cup

Mustard - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Coconut - 6 tbsp heaped or 1/2 cup 

Red chilly - 6, broken

Curry leaf - 4 sprigs

Cook the pumpkin in 2 cups water with salt and turmeric water till it softens and can be broken.
Add more water as you go along with the cook as you need to dry out the curry.
Once softened, mash some cubes and leave others as whole pieces.
The water must have all but evaporated by now.

Grind the coconut with the pepper, jeera and red chilly powder into a fine paste.

Add to the cooked pumpkin and mix well. 

Stir with the flame on , for 2 minutes.

Heat oil in a kadai and splutter the mustard.

Add the urad dal and red chillies. Fry till the dal turns red.

Now add the coconut and curry leaf.

Lower flame and keep frying till the coconut starts browning.

Add on top of the curry but do not mix until serving time.

Recipe 2: Kerala style
Serves : 4

Ingredients:
Pumpkin - 1/2 kg , skinned and cut into big cubes
Van payar / red cow peas - 1/2 cup, soaked overnight
Green chilly - 2
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder -1 tsp
Jeera powder -1 tsp

For tadka / garnish:
Coconut oil - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1 tbsp

Coconut - 6 tbsp or 1/2 cup

Red chilly - 6, broken

Curry leaf - 4 sprigs
Jeera powder - 1 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp

Boil / pressure cook the Van payar till it cooks.
Add the pumpkin with some water salt, turmeric water, pepper and jeera powder.
Cook till the pumpkin softens and can be broken. Mash some cubes and leave others as whole pieces. The water must have all but evaporated by now.

Heat oil in a kadai and splutter the mustard.

Add the urad dal and red chillies. Fry till the dal turns red.

Now add the coconut ,curry leaf, pepper and jeera powder.

Lower flame and keep frying till the coconut starts browning.

Add on top of the curry and mix it well.

Aloo Gobi Mutter

A simple curry. Chunky potato and caulflower in a onion tomato gravy. I added some green peas, but feel free to omit it. Tastes great with chappathy.

Potato - 5 medium, peeled and cut into big cubes
Cauliflower - 1/2 medium, cut into induvidual big flowerets
Green peas (optional) - 3/4 cup
Capsicum - 1 small or 1/2 large , diced
Onion - 2 medium, chopped fine
Tomato - 3 large , chopped fine
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaf - 1 tbsp, chopped fine
Oil - 2 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp

Boil the cubed potatoes in water with some salt and turmeric powder.
When half cooked add the cauliflower and cook till both get done but do not lose shape.
Heat oil and splutter the jeera.
Add the onion and cook on low flame stirring occasionally till translucent.
Add the salt, turmeric powder, garam masala and chilli powder.
After stir frying for a minute add the tomato and mix well.
Cook covered for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.The tomato must become pulpy.
Add the potatoes, cauliflower, green peas and continue cooking. Add 1/2 - 1 cup water if there is not much gravy. Cook covered after mixing well.
After 3 minutes of simmering , stir in the capsicum and coriander leaf.
Cook covered on low flame for 2 minutes.
Serve hot with chappathy.

Pasta with lemon

There is something about fresh lemon juice which adds a lot of zing to food and somehow on rainy days it 'ups' the spirit! And no olive oil please - as rains mean you need to stock on calories - so BUTTER all the way. Ha ha!!

Spaghetti - 300gms
Butter (NO OLIVE OIL) - 5 tbsp
Garlic - 2 tbsp
Onion - chopped fine - 1 large
Celery - 1 stalk - chopped fine
Capsicum - (all 3 colours) - 1/2 of each- chopped fine
Tomato - 1medium - chopped fine
Green peas - 5 tbsp
Lemon - 1 large
Salt
Chilli flakes - 1tbsp

Boil spaghetti in ample salted water until al dente. Drain and keep aside coated with (1tbsp) olive oil.

Heat the butter on a low flame and add the garlic, onion, celery and chilli flakes till onion gets translucent (cook on a low flame. So this will take about 5-8 minutes)
Add the green peas and sute for 1 minute. Add the capsicum and tomato. Cook on high flame for 1 minute.

Add the spaghetti and mix well. Taste. Add salt and lemon juice. Mix well and serve HOT.

Chinese Chop Suey

Each time I watch an American film / tv show and I see the characters eat chinese takeaways, my mouth waters. I want THAT! So one day last week - The Big Bang Theory made me make this delicious chinese meal! And towards the end of cooking I was just too tired to top it with deep fried crispy noodles, so I served it topped with spring onion and toasted peanuts. Thus it became 'Healthy'!

Noodles - 200gms, boiled 

                + 50gms boiled and then deep fried (opt)

Carrot - 1 large or  2 small - Julienned (meaning cut into thin strips)

Beans - 4, cut diagonally into thin slices

Cabbage - julienned and then measure 1/2 cup

Green capsicum - 1/2 medium , julienned

Red capsicum - 1/2 medium, julienned

Yellow capsicum - 1/2 medium , julienned

Mushroom - 4, cut into thin slices (opt)

Onion - 1 medium, sliced thin

Garlic - 6 pods, chopped

Chilli flakes - 1 tsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

Sugar - 1tsp

Sauces

The below mentioned quantities are to be adjusted as per your taste. For example if you like your sauce spicy, add the whole 4 tbsp otherwise start with 2 and then icrease if you feel necessary.

Chilli sauce - 2 to 4 tbsp

Tomato sauce - 4 to 6 tbsp

Vinegar - 1/2 cup

Soya sauce - 4 tbsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Mix all the above with 1/2 cup water and taste. Boil and simmer on low flame for 3-5 minutes.

Garnish 

Peanuts toasted

Spring onion 

Deep fried noodles

Note : This recipe has to be made on a high heat. Do not reduce the flame. Therefore keep all the ingredients ready before you start. 

Heat oil and add the garlic. When it starts turning colour, add the chilli flakes.

After about 15 seconds, add the mushrooms and onions.

After a minute, add the carrots and beans.Toss well.

Next goes in the rest of the vegetables - cabbage and capsicums.

When they start wilting, make a well in the middle and add the 1tsp sugar. When this starts caramelising mix well.

Add the boiled sauces and mix well. Boil for a minute.

Arrange the noodles on the serving plate and top with the vegetables and sauce.

Garnish with the peanuts, spring onionsand deep fried noodles. Serve piping hot.

Ghugni

Thankyou Shefali for sharing this recipe with me. This is a bengali street food which like any other chaat is incredibly tasty. And the best part is with a bit of preparation , it is quite easy to make. But now since precooked chick peas and sweet chutney is availale over the counter, this gets ready in a jiffy!

Chick peas / dried peas - 1 cup- soaked for 6 hrs and pressure cooked until soft with a little salt
Potatoes - 2 - boiled and cubed
Onion - 1 big - chopped
Tomato - 1 big -  chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece grated
Green chilli - 2 - chopped
Sweet chutney - 3 tbsp
Jeera powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2tbsp

Coconut - for garnish

Sev - for garnish
Coriander leaves - for garnish


*Spices to be heated and ground spices -
Clove -2
Cinnamon stick - 2cm
Cumin seed - 1tsp
Coriander seed - 1 tsp

* Freshly ground spice is the best but if you are strapped for time use 1 tbsp garam masala instead.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and add the ground spice / garam masala and potatoes with 1 tsp salt. Mix well until the raw smell of spices goes. Add this to the boiled chick peas.
Heat the other tbsp of oil and fry the onion, green chilli and ginger on a low flame till translucent. Add the jeera powder, chilli powder and mix well.
Add the sweet chutney and fry for 1/2 a minute.
Now tip in the boiled peas mix and add upto 2 cups of water.
Add the tomatoes and boil for 5 minutes.
Serve hot garnished with sev, coconut and coriander leaves.

Wheat upma with tomato curry and cabbage thoran / vrat recipe / ekadesi recipe

Tomorrow is Guruvayur Ekadasi. During Ekadesi, mainly fruits and milk are only consumed.
But wheat based-no onion-no garlic diet is also accepted. So instead of making chappaty, you can always cook broken wheat and make a tomato based curry. I also serve cabbage thoran with this. This saves time, tastes good and is very healthy.

The following recipe is what serves me and my family. As I am the only person sitting vrat, I also cook 1 big cup of white rice for my husband and 2 kids.

For 1 person:
Broken wheat - 1 small cup
Water - 3 cups
Oil (preferably coconut) - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 2, broken
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt
Curry leaf - 6 leaves

Method:
Splutter the mustard and fry the red chilli and curry leaves in the coconut oil.
Add the water and when it starts boiling add the salt, wheat and coconut.
Stir well.
Cook covered on a low flame till all the water gets absorbed.
Stir after turning off flame at least 2 times in 5 minutes.

Tomato curry for 4:
Tomato - 8 medium , each diced into 8
oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1tsp
Red chilli - 1 , broken
Green chilli -1 , slit
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp or Chilli powder - 1 tsp
(opt) Coriander leaf - 1tbsp

Method:
Heat oil. Splutter mustard. Fry the red chilli. Add the curry leaf and green chilli.
Tip in all the tomato and reduce flame.
Now add all the powders.
Mix well and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Once the tomato starts getting soft, add 1 cup water and boil.
Garnish with coriander leaf.

Cabbage thoran for 4:
Cabbage chopped / grated - 2 cups
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
(opt) Curry leaf - 5 leaves, torn
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 1

Method:
Grind together the coconut and green chilli without water and keep aside.
Heat oil and splutter the mustard.
Fry the dal until it turns red and add the curry leaf, if using.
Add the cabbage, salt and turmeric powder.
Mix well, reduce flame and cook covered for 5 minutes. No need to add any water.
Open vessel and turn the cabbage again. cook till all water gets evaporated.
Add the ground coconut and mix well with the cabbage.
Turn off flame and keep covered for a further 5 minutes.