Last show - Apr 14th

Here are some recipes and ideas given me by listeners for vegetables found here but not in India. I had requested them to come up with ideas on how they 'Indianise' such vegetables. And I'm sharing them here.

#1 BRUSSEL SPROUTS STUFFED CURRY

Ingredients:
Brussel sprouts 1 pound

Curry leaves 1 Tbl Spoon

Mustard 1 tspspoon

Oil 5 tblspoons.

Grind to powder:

Channa dal 2 Tblspoon

Coriander seeds 4 Tblspoon

Urad dal 2 Tblspoon

Red chillies 4-5

Little salt to taste

Method:
1. Fry the above ingredients in a teaspoon of oil until golden and powder

2. Slit brussel sprouts and stuff the powder

3. Heat the oil in a pan and season with mustard and curry leaves

4. Add the stuffed brussel sprout and fry until crisp and tender.

recipe courtesy : Meera Rajgopal

#2 ZUCCHINI CHUTNEY

Ingredients :

2-3 zucchini, chopped

2-3 green chillies

3 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp tamarind

Pinch turmeric

Salt as required

For seasoning:

1/4 tsp uraddal

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp hing(optional)

Few curry leaves

Coriander leaves, chopped

Method:
1. Heat 1-2 tsp oil in a pan and fry zucchini and green chillies.

2. After few minutes add turmeric, garlic, salt and cook on low flame for 5 - 10 minutes.

3. Grind the whole thing in blender.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add uraddal, mustard seeds and cumin seeds, when they splutter add curry leaves.

5. Remove from heat and add it to zucchini mixture and then add coriander leaves.

recipe courtesy : Meera Rajgopal

#3 Indian Zucchini bread ( Handvo )

Ingredients :

2 cups - handva flour (or cornmeal, as a second option)

1/2 cup - bottle gourd or zucchini, grated

3 tsp - shredded carrot

1/4 cup - fenugreek leaves

1/4 cup - spinach leaves (optional)

2 - green chillies, finely chopped

4 to 5 - garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp - ginger paste

3 cups - buttermilk (or yogurt mixed with water)

1 tsp - soda bi carb (fruit salt)increase it by 1/2 tsp if you don't feel its frothy enough

1 tsp - each urad and channa dal

salt to taste

1 tsp - lemon juice

1/2 tsp - sugar (optional)

For Tempering:

1 tsp - mustard seeds

2 tsp - sesame seeds

2 tbsp - oil

Method :
1.Take buttermilk in a large vessel.
2.Add salt, soda and flour and mix well.
3.As the mixture begins to froth, cover and set aside for 6-7 hours for fermentation.
4.Grate the bottle-gourd or zucchi and squeeze out all excess water.
5.Do this after the fermentation is done, as leaving bottle-gourd in air oxidizes it and makes it turn brown.
6.Now add all the vegetables, bottle-gourd, spices and green chillies to the flour mixture.
7.Heat oil in a pan, add urad & channa dals, and the mustard seeds.
8.Allow to splutter, then pour half of it into the batter and mix thoroughly.
9.Pour the mixture into a steel or aluminum container.
10.Place in a Steam Cooker and cook like idlis, for about 25-30 mins, then check to make sure it's cooked through.
11.Remove from flame and keep it covered for another 7-10 mins.
12.Once cooled, you can slice it into wedges

The above batter can also be used for making individual pancakes.
recipe courtesy: food.sify.com

Tip : One listener, Priya, uses Zucchini in all recipes calling for dudhi (lauki, opo squash) and Parval. She assures me that the recipes come out fine and taste very good too.
I'll be uploading other recipes from previous shows hopefully soon. So this is it for now. Happy Eating!

note: Pictures courtesy of google images. No copyright infringement intended.

Fasting Recipes

Shivaratri feast

Maha Shivaratri has come and gone by. And finally I'm getting the opportunity to write the recipes of the dishes I made. Like I mentioned in my blog that day, food that can be eaten is generally saatvik in nature. This means limited use of spices, which results in the recipes being almost bland. But the true challenge lies in making those few ingredients taste delicious. Well, I was able to do just that with the following recipes. Though I was inspired by already available recipes it takes a couple of tries to get them right. And that's exactly what happened. So I give them here in the hope that you try them on the next major fasting day or otherwise.

SABUDANA KHICHDI

sabudana khichdi - tapioca pearls cooked with spices

Ingredients:

Sabudana (Sago/tapioca pearls) - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (medium size)

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Mustard seeds (rai) - 1/2 tsp

Black gram dal (urad) - 1/2 tsp

Oil for seasoning

Salt to taste

Hing - a pinch

Haldi - a pinch

Peanut powder - 1tbsp or according to taste (recipe follows)

Method:

Soak sabudana for 3-4 hrs. After it has soaked, prepare the seasonings. Heat a couple of teaspoons of oil in a thick bottomed pan. Once hot, add the rai, urad dal and curry leaves. Once these sputter, add some hing and turmeric. Now lower the heat, add the chopped onions and let them cook till translucent. In the meanwhile drain the sabudana, rinse and spread in single layer on a paper towel. Make sure that the pearls are just moist before you add them to the onions in the pan (any excess water will result in the khichdi turning to one gooey lump) . After you put the pearls in, add salt to taste and mix thoroughly. It takes just 3-4 minutes for the pearls to get cooked. A minute before switching off the heat add the peanut powder quintessential to this khichdi. Garnish with some fresh coriander leaves and you have a delicious and filling fast food on your plate.

PEANUT POWDER

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 2tbsp

Urad dal- 1tbsp

Chana dal - 1 tbsp

Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp (optional)

Jeera(cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp

Whole red chillies - 2 ( more if you prefer )

Method:

Dry Roast ( implies roasting without any oil) all the listed ingredients, seperately. Then let them cool and pulse in a food processor to make a coarse powder. Use as required and then store in air-tight container. Stays fresh for couple of weeks. It can be used after that but starts to lose its color, flavor and taste.

PESARA KATTU

Ingredients:

Moong daal (pesara pappu) - 1 cup

Water - 3cups

Salt to taste

For the Seasoning:

Rai - 1tsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

curry leaves - a sprig

Whole red chillies - 1

Hing - a pinch.

Method:

Wash the daal and put in a thick bottom saucepan with the water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it starts boiling, remove the cover. Stir and lower heat to medium. Let it cook till the daal is al dente. We check for doneness just the way you do for pasta. Take a little bit in a spoon and press the daal. If it gets mashed with just a tiny hard kernel inside, that's the end point. Remove from heat, add salt to taste and cover. Just before serving you have to add the seasoning. Heat a couple teaspoons of oil, add rai and wait till it sputters and dances around. Then add jeera, whole red chillies, hing and curry leaves in that order, take off of heat and add to the daal immediately. Stir the daal once and put the lid back on. This allows for all the flavors to marry before we actually eat it.

pesara kattu - a simple soupy daal

This is more like a watery daal soup because of the 3 to 1 ratio of water. And goes well served over hot rice with a smidgen of ghee and a side of aaloo fry. MMMM YUM!!!

Need to run now to bring Princess back so maybe I'll post the other recipes later. And I hope that this post reminds you that observing a fast makes you and your God happy whilst fasting food will definitely make your tummy quite happy.