Achari Bhendi

I like Bhendi/Bhindi fry (Okra), but then it can get a bit boring.  As usual a google search resulted in a good recipe from Priya's Versatile Recipes ( with slight variation).  It was different from the usual Bhendi Masala and the blend of spices gave it a different flavour altogether..

                

Ingredients:

Bhendi/Okra - 250 gms ( approx) - cut digit size

Onion - 2 nos  ( consider using one more to get a better consistency of the masala)

Tomato  purée - 3-4 tbsp
Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur (dry mango ) powder - 1/2 tsp ( I ran out of amchur and substituted it with chaat masala )
Red chillie powder - to taste
Salt to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves for garnish

Tempering:
Red chilie - dry - 1
Bay leaf dry - 1
Fennel seeds ( saunf) - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek (Methi) seeds - 1/4 tsp
Kalonji (Nigella seeds) - 6 nos
Asafoetida (hing) - pinch

Take a pan, add the oil, heat, shallow fry the bhendhi
Keep aside
In the same pan, add all the ingredients for the tempering and fry till brown , mustard crackles and  you get a nice aroma
Add chopped onions sauté and then the tomato  purée.  
Then the ginger garlic paste.  Wait till the raw taste is no longer there


Add the shallow fried bhendi
The spice powders of coriander, chilie, amchur, garam masala

Toss till the veggie gets coated with the masalas.
Remove off fire. Add the lime juice. Mix
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pie

S has become somewhat of a show-off :-) . She made this and sent pictures just as I was posting an Okra recipe.  That has gone into the draft folder for a while.  This looked super delicious.

Vegetarians : The recipe can be adapted to a vegetarian dish - the filling can be totally different - just substitute the chicken for Spinach, mushroom and corn or leek for a great combination. And modify cooking of sauce accordingly.

Adapted from Nigel Slater's recipe on BBC Foods

Ingredients

• Chicken breast -1
• Peppercorns - 5
• Onion, chopped -1
  
  Bay leaf (dried, use fresh if available) -1
• Milk (enough to cover chicken pieces)
• Butter - 10 gms
• Leek, sliced into ½ inch discs -1
  
  Mushrooms - few - cut into quarters
• Plain flour - 3 tbsp
• Dijon mustard - 3 tsp
• Puff pastry - 500 gms pack
• Egg, beaten, for glazing - 1
• Cheddar, grated, for topping
  
  Take a saucepan. Add chicken, pepper corns, onions, bay leaf. Cover with milk
  Bring to boil, and simmer till chicken is cooked ( approx 25 mins)
  Melt butter, add slice leeks allow to soften.  Followed by mushrooms
  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from milk, flake the meat into the pan with the leeks and mushrooms.
  Add flour and cook for two minutes before adding milk through a sieve to remove peppercorns, bay leaf.
  Add the Dijon mustard. Stir continuously to make a thick sauce.
  Pre-heat the oven to 200C /400F
  Roll our sheets of puff pastry to a round shape at a coin thickness.
  Lay the filling one one sheet and then cover with second sheet and crimp the edges
  Brush the pie with beaten egg and sprinkle grated Cheddar cheese on top
  Bake for 35-45 minutes
  
  

1. 

   
   
   Enjoy !

Milagu (Pepper) Poricha Kootu

This kootu can be made with most vegetables. I only had cucumber that I used and it tasted good.  A dish made with moong dal ( split green gram pulse), that has a nice peppery taste.  This recipe is from Life with Spices.

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1 large - peel, cut in half lengthwise and remove the seeds
Moong dal - 1/2 cup ( pressure cook till soft and mushy - mash well)
Asafoetida (hing) - large pinch
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp for seasoning
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds

Roast and grind to a coarse powder:

Black gram dhal ( urad) - 1 tbsp
Pepper seeds, black - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 3 nos ( dry)
Coconut - 2 tbsp

Cut the cucumber into medium sized cubes.
Heat oil.  Add the mustard seeds, once it splutters add the curry leaves.
Then the cucumber, some water and turmeric.  Cook till slightly tender.  Do not overcook
Add the mashed moong dal and salt.
Mix well, and then the ground masala powder.  Simmer till well blended
Add water if required to bring to the right consistency.
Take off fire.  Serve with hot rice.

Banana Bread Scones

S made this .. The little one has a bit of banana each day and S was left with a pile of over-ripe bananas.  And then browsing through The Kitchn  she found this recipe.  We were chatting with her (on Skype) as she made it and I can swear that the aroma wafted through.

This recipe is a variation of the Banana Bread. The scones are not too sweet.  It can be had with butter and jam, had plain or even with golden syrup.

Ingredients:

Bananas - very ripe - 2 nos ( or 1 cup mashed )
Milk - 2-4 tbsp
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cup
Granulated sugar - 4 tbsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Butter unsalted - 4 tbsp
Walnuts chopped - 1/2 cup - optional - S used almonds

Mash bananas.  Add milk and then the yoghurt.
Keep aside
In a large bowl whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar together
Cut the butter into pieces.
Either with your finger tips or a fork, work the butter into the flour till there are no large pieces at all.

Now add the banana-milk-yogurt mixture into the flour.
Stir just enough to get it altogether
Fold in the nuts.
This is a wet dough.

Line a plate with wax paper.
Turn the dough on to the paper. Pat it into a 1" disk.  Cover with another wax paper
Freeze the scone dough for half an hour

Preheat oven to 200C
Line a baking tray with parchment paper
Turn the frozen dough onto the tray after peeling off the top wax paper
Now remove the second wax paper too
Slice into eight wedges.  Place apart as they expand during the baking

Bake for 25-30 minutes till firm to touch and the edges start turning golden brown.
Cool completely. Cut apart any scone that might have come together with a sharp knife

Note:
S said if you like the scones sweeter to increase the sugar slightly.  Or have them with golden syrup as she did !

If you would like to glaze them with brown sugar - hop over to  The Kitchn link given at the top. Very simple - made in a couple of minutes in a microwave.

Capsicum Curry - With Garlic, but no Onion

This is a tasty capsicum curry.  Without onion, but with the flavour of garlic.  A bit of spice, a bit of coconut and some tomato.  Pretty simple to make.  I just loved it.  And let me tell you , I did not make it, but am taking the credit for it since it was in my kitchen :-)

Ingredients:

Capsicum - 4 medium size

Coriander seeds - (dhania ) - 1 ½  tbsp

Cumin seeds (jeera ) - ½  tbsp 

Dry red chilies - 2 big

Fresh / Frozen grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Garlic cloves - 6-8 nos ( these were small in size)

Oil - 2 tbsp

Tomatoes - 2 nos 

Dry roast the cumin, coriander seeds and the dry red chilies till you get that lovely roasted aroma

Grind coarsely with fresh/frozen coconut and garlic

In a wok, heat 2 tbsp of oil

Add cubed capsicum pieces.  Sauté

When the pieces are slightly tender add the ground masala.

Toss till the veggies are coated and the masala also gets another bout of heating.

Add about half cup water, and in the first boil add two medium sized chopped tomatoes.

Salt to taste.  

Keep simmering till you get a slightly dry consistency.

Just make sure the capsicum has a little bite left for a perfect curry

Wafer Par Ida - Egg and chips Parsi style

K has been asking me to try this recipe from  Evolving Tastes. for some time now.  It did seem not like the ordinary egg curry.  I mean egg and chips.  Separately yes, but together ??  Now that I have made it.  An emphathic YES. These are the perfect way to use the broken bits of chips at the bottom of a pack !  Use any kind - the regular or the branded ones. I modified the recipe a bit.  And I am sure there are many many variations one can make of this apart from the two main ingredients - the egg and the potato chips/fries.  Mushrooms, cheese, capsicum..... endless

I wondered how the chips would stay crisp, how I could remove it from the pan without the whole thing coming apart etc etc. So many doubts.  But it turned out just fine.   I made a single serving with one egg and half a small pack of Lays Party Flavours - Spicy something.  I wished I had made a two egg one and devoured it all !

Ingredients:  ( Single serving - just increase the amounts and use a bigger pan for more ! )

Oil/butter/Ghee - 1 tbsp   ( I used oil )
Spring onions - 1 - the bulb and the greens - chopped fine
Onion - 1 small - chopped fine
Green chilies - 1 finely chopped  ( I did not use more since the wafer was spicy too )
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - for garnish
Egg - 1
Chips/Wafers/Fries - no limit :-)
Salt - to taste - go easy on salt.  The chips have them too

Heat a saucepan.
Add butter / ghee / oil
Add the chopped onion.  Allow to brown a little and get tender
Then the spring onions.   Sauté
Followed by the ginger-garlic paste, green chilies .  Sauté
A bit of salt, and the coriander (dhania ) powder
Toss well.
When they all dry out.  Add coarsely crushed wafers/chips
Make a nest in the chips - a kind of hole 
Break the egg in it.  
Cover with a well fitting lid and cook on a low fire
Season the egg if you like.  Garnish and serve.

Note - Once you add the egg - if you do not want it too runny keep it a little while longer - if you like your sunny side up then you can remove it as soon as the white is no longer transparent. But in any case make sure the chips do not get soggy.

You will find that the chips, the onions, the egg all kind of come together and it is easy to lift it off the pan onto the plate.

Have it with some soft bread/ toasted bread / pav/ plain.......It is delicious.  Try it !

Thai Chicken Curry

Another one of the few Non-Vegetarian recipe that features here. Picture and recipe sent by S.  She told me it was delicious.  Vegetarians could substitute the chicken with a vegetable/vegetables of choice.  And skip the fish sauce. The curry was served with rice noodles.

(Recipe slightly modified - source - BBC Goodfood )

Ingredients:
Shallots - 2 or 1 small onion

Lemon Grass - 1 stalk ( but used only half )

Vegetable Oil - 1 tbsp

Red Thai curry paste - 3-4 tsp  (readymade)

Boneless chicken breasts - cut into bite-size pieces - 2 nos

Fish sauce - 1 tbsp

Brown sugar - 1 tsp

Freeze -dried Kaffir lime leaves - 4

Coconut milk - 400 ml

Fresh coriander - 20 gms

Beans - 7-8 nos - one inch pieces

Ginger - one inch finely chopped

 Peel shallots or onion and cut in half from top to root. Lay the cut sides flat on a board and thinly slice. Very finely slice the lemongrass, starting at the thinner end, stopping towards the base when it gets tough (often described as 'woody' and white in the centre).

 Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan for a couple of minutes until the oil separates (it looks more liquid at this point). Add the shallots or onion. Fry for 3-5 mins, until soft and translucent.  Add the ginger also. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min, stirring all the time. Add the beans and cook for one to two mins

Add chicken pieces and stir until they are coated. Add the fish sauce, sugar, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 mins until the chicken is cooked. Stir the curry a few times while it cooks, to stop it sticking and to keep the chicken submerged. Check and add salt if needed

While the chicken is cooking, strip the leaves from the coriander stalks, gather into a pile and chop very roughly. Taste the curry and add a little more curry paste and salt if you think it needs it. Stir half the coriander into the curry and sprinkle the rest over the top. Serve with Thai jasmine or basmati rice/ or rice noodles as S did. 

Menasina Saaru

This is a nice tangy saaru / rasam - with tamarind - ideal for days you do not want to cook anything elaborate.  Very simple to make.  All you need to take care to make sure you do not overdo the tamarind sauce.  When in doubt add less, you can always add to make it tangier if you wish.  Presenting the Menasina Saaru - a recipe I picked up from Kannada Cuisine.

                              ( Oops - As you can see, I went overboard with the seasoning )

Ingredients:
Tamarind pulp - 1 1/2 tbsp *
 Jaggery powder - 1 tsp **
Salt to taste

For the seasoning
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Pepper - 1 tsp  - crush
Cumin seeds ( jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves
Dry red chilies - 3
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) - a big pinch
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few ( for garnish)

Dissolve the tamarind paste in water - about 2 cups or so.  Adjust the water/tamarind to get the right tangy taste
Add the jaggery powder and salt.
Heat . Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Meantime prepare the seasoning.
Take the ghee
Heat.
Add the mustard seeds.  Allow to splutter
And the rest of the ingredients - red chilies, cumin, garlic, curry leaves, asafoetida, crushed pepper
Once they begin to crackle.  Switch off

Add to the simmering tamarind soup.
And the menasina saaru is ready.

Serve with hot rice, and a roasted papad for a simple meal.

*( like I said earlier - you can always add more later if you want it tangier)
** you get good organic powdered jaggery these days at Supermarkets in India.. less impurities

Whole Moong Adai

In the state of Tamil Nadu, you can have a good hearty breakfast of Adai.  And in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, you can one that is as filling in a Pesarattu - the whole moong or green gram dosa.  If you combine the two as in the recipe that follows, you still get a good hearty meal, which to me felt easy on the tummy as compared to both.  I have christened it the Pesaru-adai.   I found this recipe when I was browsing old posts in The Chef and her Kitchen.   It has been slightly modified.

Raw Rice - 1 measure
Whole moong ( Green gram) - 1/2 measure
Black gram dal (Urad dal) - 1/2 measure
Red chilies - few - to taste
Asafoetida - large pinch
Salt to taste
Onions - finely chopped (optional)
Oil - for making the dosa

Soak rice, moong, urad dal for a few hours
Grind to a fine paste with chilies, salt and hing ( Adai is generally ground to a coarse paste, but we like it this way)
Add onions to the batter.
Heat a pan.
Smear with oil
Spread the dosa batter to make a thin round dosa/crepe
Preferably cover the dosa so that the upper side also gets partially cooked.
Allow the underside to brown.
Flip and keep for a minute or two.
Remove from pan.

Serve hot with chutney, powdered jaggery and ginger pickle

I had some batter left and I put that into the kuzhiappam pan and had that as a snack.

Curry leaf Powder /Kariveppilai Podi

The other day we got this big bunch of curry leaves.  It is so hot already, the leaves were showing signs of drying out. I had made curry leaves podi long long ago and could not remember the measures and followed the one on Shanti Krishnakumar's Cook Book.  These spice powders are always useful for those 'I do not want to cook' days.  Some hot rice, a few drops of oil and the powder makes a good meal.  And if you have some fries with it, you would be forgiven for not cooking anything elaborate.

Ingredients:
Curry leaves - 3 cups - these should be dry * and tightly packed

Roast the following:
Red gram dal ( Tuvar) - 3/4 cup
Black gram dal (Urad) - 1/4 cup
Pepper corns - 1 tbsp
Red chillies dry - 6-7
Salt - to taste

Remove the leaves from the stem.  If the stem is tender, you may use it if you wish.  Wash well. Drain
Place on a newspaper for about 30 minutes or so
And then on a microwave safe plate and microwave till the leaves are dry and crumble when crushed ( this may vary - I put them for about 2 minutes or so)
Meanwhile roast the other ingredients - the dals, pepper, and chilies till you get a lovely aroma. You will know what I mean as the roasting proceeds.  Make sure you do not burn the ingredients.
Put these ingredients into a food processor and grind to a fine powder, then add the dry curry leaves and salt and grind again till well blended.

Enjoy with hot rice, gingelly oil ( or any oil will do ).  Since this is mainly mixed with rice, you may need to add more salt and chillies while grinding.

* if you are not using the microwave, the leaves may be roasted in a pan.  But the microwave method is really quick.

Tip:
If you want to pack it for your lunch.  Mix in the rice and season with a spoon of ghee, mustard, and cashews.  Maybe a few veggies too