Sweet and Sour Chickpeas Curry (To serve with Rice)

I had eaten chickpeas curry as part of a South Indian Thali in a restaurant long time ago. That chickpeas curry was a bit watery than the traditional chana masala and didn't smell of ginger and garlic. This is an attempt to recreate that curry. I was very happy with how it turned out and was even more glad that everyone in the family loved it.

One Year Back - Brownie Biscotti
Two Years Back -  Poppy seed drink / Gasagase Payasa
Three Years Back -  Craisins and White chocolate chip biscottiIngredients: 
Chickpeas - 2 cups (dry)
Oil - 2 TBSP
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Onion - 1 large chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
Red Chilli powder - 1 - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 1/3 - 1/2 cup as per taste
Tamarind extract - 1 heaping tsp (Or extract juice from a lemon sized tamarind soaked in enough water)
Cilantro - chopped 2 TBSP
To powder:
Almonds - 1/4 cup (or cashews)
Cardamom - 2 whole
Cinnamon - 1" stick

Method:
Soak chickpeas in enough water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain all the water and add fresh water to it. Pressure cook the chikpeas till soft. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add  cumin seeds. When they splutter, add onions and stir. Sprinkle some salt, turmeric and stir. Let the onions cook. When onions are cooked, add the tomatoes to it. Add chilli powder, brown sugar or jaggery, tamarind and let the tomatoes cook. It will turn like a sauce.

Meanwhile, take the almonds, cardamom and cinnamon in a blender jar and make a powder. To this powder, add about a cup of cooked chickpeas with enough water and make a paste. You can use the water of the cooked chickpeas to it. Pour this paste to the pan and add the chickpeas reserving the water. Add the reserved water enough to get the correct consistency. Adjust the salt and garnish with cilantro. Let it come to a boil and then turn off the heat. This goes very well with rice. If you want to serve this with rotis, you will have to make it a bit thicker.

Enjoy.

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Lentil and Squash stir fry / Bele Palya

It is not easy to be a blogger. It definitely is not easy being a food blogger unless you have a house full of people who are ready to eat the outcome of all the experiments that you do in the kitchen. How much can a house of two adults and two kids consume food wise? So, here is a post that is a simple, every day dish that was not made specifically for a blog post. This shows how we add lentils to almost everything to get part of our protein in an Indian Vegetarian cuisine.

One Year Back - Brownie Biscotti
Two Years Back - Poppy seed drink / Gasagase Payasa
Three Years Back - Craisins and White chocolate chip biscotti
Ingredients: 
Chana dal / dehusked split chickpea lentil - 1 cup
Chayote Squash - 3 peeled and pit removed and chopped into thin chunks
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Hing / Asafoetida - a generous pinch (optional)
Chana dal/ split dehusked chickpea lentil - 1 TBSP (for garnish)
Coconut - 1/4 cup grated (optional)
Red chillies - 4 - 5 broken
Cilantro - 2 TBSP chopped (optional)

Method:
Wash and rinse the lentil. Take it in a pan with enough water and cook it till tender. You could use pressure cooker for a quick cooking. Drain the water when it is cooked (don't throw away the water - use it in sambar, rasam or even soup).
In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, hing if using, curry leaves, 1 TBSP of chana dal. When the dal gets toasted, add the cut chayote squash. Sprinkle some salt and stir and let it cook till tender. You will have to stir it often to prevent burning. When the squash is cooked, add the drained cooked dal, coconut and mix well. Adjust the salt if needed and add cilantro if desired. Lower the heat and cover with a lid and let it sit on low flame for 3 - 5 minutes and then turn it off. Traditionally it is served with rice and sambar or rasam. But this goes very well with roti, chapathi.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali.  

Notes:
You could use yellow squash or zucchini instead of chayote squash. Just cook it till tender and not mushy.

Enjoy.

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Okra Buttermilk Curry / Bendekayi Majjigehuli

We learn many things every day of our lives. But the ones we learn by making a mistake is something we never forget. Cooking with okra is one such thing for me. I was about 12 years old and I was left in charge of cooking for the grand parents who, couldn't do much around the house. Even though I knew how to cook the usual stuff, I didn't know the finer details of how to handle different vegetables. I had planned on making okra sambhar and I added okra to the washed lentils and cooked it in the pressure cooker. Boy, was I surprised when I opened the lid of the pressure cooker. When I complained about why it is so slimy to my grand mother, she explained that okra needs to be cooked in tamarind water. Every time I pick okra to cook, I remember her.

I have made two variations to my regular buttermilk curry. I used toor dal instead of chana dal just for a change. My mother-in-law had made me use toor dal once to make this curry. I also took a suggestion of a reader who said she adds few corns of coriander seeds to grind the masala paste to intensify the coriander taste. Use whichever recipe suits your palate.

One Year Back - Peanut Butter Cookies
Two Years Back - Avocado Brioche, Roasted Banana Ice cream
Three Years Back - Deep fried cracker ( Nippattu )

Ingredients: 
Okra -  1 pound chopped into chunks(I used frozen already cut okra)
Split Pigeon pea lentil/ Toor dal - 2 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Tamarind - A big marble sized or 1/2 tsp of extract
Turmeric - two generous pinches
Green chillies - 7 -8 as per taste
Cilantro - 1/2 cup chopped
Coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup scraped
Cumin - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 8
Asafoetida /Hing - two generous pinches
Yogurt -  1 1/2 - 2 cups (depending on the thickness desired)

For tempering:
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Red chillies - 2 broken

Method:
Soak toor dal in water for about an hour. Take the soaked dal, coconut, green chillies, cilantro, turmeric, cumin, coriander seeds and asafoetida in a blender jar and blend adding water as needed. Make a nice paste and set aside. Soak tamarind in enough water to extract the juice from it. In a saucepan, take the okra and cover with tamarind water. Add more water just enough to cover the okra pieces and cook. When the okra is cooked, add the ground paste, salt and more water as needed to bring it to a thick chunky soup consistency. Don't add too much water since the yogurt addition will thin it more than what it is at this stage. Keep it stirring frequently to prevent sticking and burning. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Lower the flame to the lowest setting and add the yogurt slowly. Mix well and you can increase the heat after a minute or two but keep it to medium heat. When it comes to a slow simmer, turn off the heat. Check the salt and adjust if needed.

Heat oil in a small pan and when it is hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies and curry leaves. When the chillies are toasted, turn off the heat and add it to the curry. Mix well. Serve with rice.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali. 

Enjoy.

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Majjige Huli / Buttermilk curry

Majjige Huli or Mor Kuzhambu is a southern Indian curry which is of the same consistency of Sambar. One of the main ingredients of this dish is yogurt and it does not have lentils in a large quantity in it. It is mixed with cooked rice and eaten and is a part of the meal on any festival or a special occasion. If you are used to north Indian cuisine, you can relate Kadhi to this dish. One main difference being the use of coconut. I love this dish but for some reason, most of my family is not crazy about it. That was just until few weeks ago. My younger one loved it when I served this to her and she has asked me to make it once a week (it is a different thing that I had to feed her the first few morsels until she developed the taste for it).

Notes:
I have used spinach here, but you could use any kind of squash, cucumber, okra, ash gourd etc.  If using okra, cook it in water mixed with little amount of tamarind juice / extract. Some people add a small piece of ginger while grinding the masala paste. My mother didn't and I like it without ginger. If you are a ginger lover, go ahead and add a 1/2" piece of ginger to this recipe.

One Year Back - Tomato Garlic Flat Bread
Two Years Back - Onion Creamcheese spread
Three Years Back - Quinoa Chickpeas Pulav
Ingredients: 
Vegetables -  huge bunch of spinach cleaned and chopped (See Notes)
Split chick pea dal / Bengal gram dal - 2 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - two generous pinches
Green chillies - 7 -8 as per taste
Cilantro - 1/2 cup chopped
Coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup scraped
Cumin - 1 tsp
Asafoetida /Hing - two generous pinches
Yogurt -  1 1/2 - 2 cups (depending on the thickness desired)

For tempering:
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Red chillies - 2 broken

Method:
Soak bengal gram dal or chana dal in water for about an hour. Take the soaked dal, coconut, green chillies, cilantro, turmeric, cumin and asafoetida in a blender jar and blend adding water as needed. Make a nice paste and set aside. In a saucepan, take the spinach (or other vegetables) and cover with just enough water and cook. When the veggies are almost cooked, add the ground paste, salt and more water as needed to bring it to a thick chunky soup consistency. Don't add too much water since the yogurt addition will thin it more than what it is at this stage. Keep it stirring frequently to prevent sticking and burning. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Lower the flame to the lowest setting and add the yogurt slowly. Mix well and you can increase the heat after a minute or two but keep it to medium heat. When it comes to a slow simmer, turn off the heat. Check the salt and adjust if needed.

Heat oil in a small pan and when it is hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies and curry leaves. When the chillies are toasted, turn off the heat and add it to the curry. Mix well. Serve with rice.

Enjoy.

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Green Beans and Lentil stir fry / Matodi Palya

Almost everyone loves their mother's cooking. I am no exception. My mother happens to be one of the best cooks I know. There are a few things I would rather do a little differently than her. She used to be liberal when it comes to using oil. Oil makes it tasty, yes but can I afford to eat that extra TBSP of oil? probably not. No, make it most definitely not. Just because a dish has quite a good amount of fat doesn't mean you cannot make it with less of fat. That is exactly what I did in this dish. My mother used to make it with lot of oil and oil is needed if you use the stove top method to cook since the lentil paste sticks to the bottom. I have cut down on the oil but cook it a little differently and it is also less time consuming compared to my mother's method.

I have been obsessed with few other things than cooking, baking and blogging recently. So, to keep me motivated and post regularly, I and Srivalli came up with this weekend cooking concept where we will post something that we made on weekends. Another blogger friend Vaishali joins us in this venture. Now, for some people, weekend cooking can be special, but for me, it is the total opposite since I plan on getting lot of other work done during those two days. So, meals are actually simple on weekends unless there is company.

One Year Back - Sweet and Sour Tomato Chutney
Two Years Back - Wholegrain Savory Pancakes, No Sugar added applesauce Muffins
Three Years Back - Savory Onion Tart, Sourdough Banana Loaf with almond butter
Ingredients:
Green Beans - 2 Pounds cleaned and chopped into small lengths
Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Red Chillies - 8 - 10  (depending on how hot you like your food)
Bengal Gram dal / Kadale bele / Dehusked split chickpeas - 1 cup
Asafoetida / Hing - Few generous pinches
Cumin - 1 tsp (optional)
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Salt - to taste

For Tempering:
Oil -  3 TBSP (You can use much more than this, but this is sufficient for the method given in this recipe)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 broken
Bengal gram dal - 1 TBSP

Method:
Soak the bengal gram dal in enough water for about an hour or so. Drain all the water. Take this in a food processor fitted with chopping blade or a blender (chutney jar) and blend with coconut, hing, red chillies, cumin, turmeric. Do not add any water and try to make a coarse paste. In a pressure cooker, cook the green beans in enough water to which a little salt is added. When done, drain the water. Use the water in soup or rasam or sambar.
Heat oil in a skillet. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, bengal gram dal (1 TBSP given in 'for tempering' section). When they get toasted, add the ground lentil coconut paste and stir. Keep the flame to low and keep stirring for about 5 minutes. Add the cooked and drained green beans and mix well. Make sure there are no huge lumps of the lentil paste and keep on stirring. Adjust the salt if necessary and turn off the heat. Take the entire contents into a microwave safe bowl. Cover with a microwave safe plate or cover with saran wrap and microwave for 5 to 10 minutes until the lentil paste is cooked and the mixture doesn't have huge amount of moisture. Another option is to steam cook it for 5 minutes. Enjoy with rice and rasam or even chapathis, rotis.

Notes:
Lot of people use Toor dal or pigeon pea lentil for this recipe. I have also seen people using half toor dal and half chana dal. I prefer to use chana dal since on a regular basis, we cook with toor dal and this lentil gives a different variation. 

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Tofu Korma

I am posting two side dish recipes in a row. I have not baked much recently and even though I do want to bake, it is hard to get people to finish it up. Especially in the month of January. Almost every other person's new year resolution is to lose few pounds and until their determination kind of fades away, it is hard to give away the baked goods. Here is a healthy Tofu Korma which tastes great, filling and is filled with protein.

One Year back - Kale and Pineapple Rice
Two years back - Savory/Salt Pongal and Sweet Pongal
Three years back - Moong Dal Halwa
Ingredients:
1 block extra firm tofu
Onions - 2 medium chopped fine
Oil - 1 TBSP
Ginger - 1" piece grated
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
Cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped
Salt - to taste

Marinade:
Tomatoes - 4 medium pureed (to get about 1 1/2 cups of tomato puree.)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - generous pinch
Salt - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 TBSP
Oil - 1 TBSP

To grind into a paste:
Coconut - Shredded 3/4 cup
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2 (optional)
Cardamom - 2 whole

Method:
Drain the tofu block and several paper towels over which a weight has been placed. You will have to change the paper towels few times. Let it drain completely about 2 hours or so. Pat it dry and cube them. Take the tofu cubes into a bowl. Mix everything mentioned in the marinade above and pour it on to the tofu cubes. Let it sit covered for an hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

When ready to make, grind the ingredients mentioned in 'to grind into a paste' above adding as little water as possible. Set aside. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add ginger, garlic followed by chopped onions. Sprinkle a bit of salt and let it wilt. When onions are cooked, add the entire contents of the tofu and marinade to it. Mix well and add a bit of water if necessary to loosen up. Lower the heat and cover with a lid and let the tofu cook. After about 8 - 10 minutes, stir well and add the ground paste, more water if necessary to get the desired consistency. Check for the salt and add if necessary. Let it come to a simmer stirring often to prevent sticking and scorching. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with roti, naan or rice. If serving with rice, you can make it a little thinner. I was serving it with rotis, so made it a little thick.

Notes:
You could add heavy cream or half and half to loosen it rather than water. In that case, reduce the cashews used to 1/4 cup.

Enjoy.

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Fenugreek leaves and peas curry / Methi Malai Mutter - Version II

Even though we eat frozen ready food maybe once or twice a month, my freezer always has a pack of Methi Malai mutter. That is because my kids love it with kulcha or naan. I had tried to mimic the exact dish and you can read about it here. I took the same recipe, added few spices, subtracted few and made a big change in the recipe to use tomatoes or canned tomato paste rather. Result was amazing and I think I like this new recipe more even though the older one is more kid friendly. This is easy to make and perfect for huge crowds since not much effort is put in making it. This freezes well too.

One Year Back - Hakka Noodles
Two Years Back - Tofu Butter Masala, Whitebread with tangzhong starter
Three Years Back - Eggless Almond Brownies
Ingredients:
Dry green peas - 2 cups soaked for at least 6 hours (Or use about 5 - 6 cups of frozen peas)
Onions - 3 medium chopped into chunks
Tomato paste - 6 Oz can (Or use about 4 large tomatoes)
Fenugreek leaves - 1 bunch cleaned and chopped (discard thick stems)
Oil - 3 TBSP
Garlic - 2 pods crushed
Whole raw almonds - 1/3 cup (Or use cashews)
Cinnamon - 2" stick
Cardamom - 2 whole
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste (1 tsp is very mild)
Sugar - 1 TBSP (optional, but preferred)
Salt - to taste
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
Ricotta cheese - 1 cup (I used part skim, you can use whole milk or homemade paneer crumbled)

Method:
If using dried peas, pressure cook them in enough water. Set aside. In a pan, heat 1 TBSP of oil. When hot,  add cinnamon, cardamom, almonds, garlic. Let almonds get toasted a bit. Add onions and sprinkle some salt. Let onions wilt. If you are using fresh tomatoes, chop them into chunks and add it to the onion mixture when onions are cooked. If using canned tomato paste, you can turn off the heat when onions are done. When the tomatoes are cooked, turn off the heat. Let it cool a bit. Take the contents of the pan into a blender and make a puree. You can add a bit of water if required. In the same pan, heat the remaining 2 TBSP of oil. Add fenugreek leaves and stir fry. Let them wilt. Now, add the cooked peas (if using frozen peas, they can be added at this point. No need to thaw) and stir. Add the ground paste and mix well. If you are using the canned tomato paste, you can add that now. Add enough water to get the desired consistency. Add red chilli powder, garam masala, sugar and mix well. Taste for salt and add if necessary. When it comes to a boil and the peas (if using frozen) are cooked, add ricotta cheese. Simmer for few minutes and then turn off the heat. Serve with roti, naan or kulcha. This tastes good with rice also.

Enjoy.

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Vegan Navaratna Kurma (Easy version)

I wouldn't call this an authentic Navaratna Kurma recipe. To be honest, I don't even know what is the authentic recipe for this. There are numerous variations available in books, online for this famous dish. Paneer is one of the main ingredients of this dish which, I have not used. Not that I want to keep it vegan, but because I didn't have any on hand. Also, I am not very fond of using heavy cream in these side dishes and heavy cream is also a very important ingredient in this dish. I have used coconut along with nuts which probably disqualifies it to be called Navartna Kurma, but it tastes better than all the navaratna kurma I have eaten in many restaurants, so here is the recipe for those who enjoy a good side dish without a lot of fat poured in and is quick to make too. You can make this on a week night for dinner without much effort.

One Year Back - Sweet Couscous and Apple Salad
Two Years Back - Sweet Milk Rolls/Buns
Ingredients: 
Frozen mixed vegetable bag - 2 1/2 pound bag or 2 lb 12 Oz bag
Frozen Cauliflower florets - 1 bag of 16 Oz or 1 lb
Potatoes - 2 medium chopped into chunks
Red Onions - 2 medium chopped into chunks
Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped fine (Or about 1/2 cup of tomato puree)
Oil - 3 TBSP
Ginger - 1" piece chunked
Garlic - 2 pods crushed
Cardamom - 3 pods
Cinnamon - 2 sticks of 2" length
Cloves - 8 - 10
Cashews or almonds or a combination - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Shredded coconut - 1/3 cup
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Cilantro leaves - chopped 2 TBSP (optional)

Method:
Place the mixed vegetables, potato chunks and cauliflower in a pan and add about 2 - 3 cups of water. Add some salt and cover with a lid and bring it to a boil. When this is cooking, heat oil in another pan. When hot, add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves. When the spices splutter, add cashews. Let them toast. When they are almost browned, add raisins, coconut and mix well. Now, add ginger, garlic followed by onions. Stir and sprinkle some salt. Add chilli powder and turmeric to the onion mixture and stir. When onions are cooked, add tomatoes or tomato puree to it and let it come to a simmer. Turn off the heat and when cool enough to blend, blend it in a food processor or mixer adding very less water if needed. Set aside.
When the vegetables have become soft, add the ground paste to it and add water if needed to get the correct consistency. Stir well and bring it to a slow boil. Adjust the salt if needed and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with roti, naan or plain rice.

It is pretty creamy without the addition of heavy cream, but if you want it even creamier, you can add some thick coconut milk to it.

Enjoy.

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Radish Curry in Peanut sauce

I have a few friends who make the same kind of food on a regular basis. I am not saying everyone has to be obsessed with food, but they don't try anything new. The reason they give is that their spouse don't like the changed flavors. I don't have that problem. As long as it tastes good, my husband eats whatever I make and that is a good thing otherwise there wouldn't be this blog. Right?
There aren't too many recipes that I make using radish/daikon. So, I experimented this dish which is very lightly spiced. Addition of peanuts make it protein rich too.

One Year Back - Summer Salad with asian dressing
Two Years Back - Chocolate Loves Vanilla Bread
Ingredients:
Radish - 2 pounds cleaned and sliced into chunks (I used red radish, but you could use the long white ones too)
Red onion - 2 large sliced into chunks
Green chillies - 8 - 10 as per the heat needed (also depends on the type of green chillies)
Peanuts - 1/2 - 3/4 cup (Use the larger amount if you like a lot of gravy)
Tomatoes - 3 medium or 2 large chopped
Cumin - 1 tsp
Fenugreek / methi - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - generous pinch or two
Oil - 3 TBSP divided use
Salt - to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cilantro - chopped 3 TBSP

Method:
Heat 2 TBSP of oil in a pan. When hot, add cumin, fenugreek, coriander and peanuts. When the seeds pop and peanuts are toasted, add green chillies and onions. Add turmeric, sprinkle some salt and let the onions cook. When onions are cooked, remove from heat and take the contents into a blender or mixie jar. To the same pan, add the remaining 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds pop, add chopped radish, little bit of salt and cover and let it cook. When the radish is half cooked, add tomatoes and cover and let them cook completely. Meanwhile, grind the contents in the blender adding little water into smooth consistency. When the radish is cooked completely, add this paste, add enough water to your desired consistency and bring it to a boil. Adjust the salt if needed and garnish with cilantro. Serve with rotis, chapathis or rice.

Notes:
I served with rotis and made them thicker. You can add more water to serve with rice. You could add about 2 TBSP of jaggery, but I didn't since the green chillies I used were not that spicy.

Enjoy.

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Chana Masala in Coriander Sauce / Hara Chana

I don't know about you. But I can never tire myself out trying different dishes using legumes. One main reason being their protein richness, other one being I can skip chopping lot of vegetables. If there is something that I do not like in cooking process, it is chopping vegetables. I make the regular Chickpea curry/ Chana Masala which is great for any occasion but involves quite a few steps in making it. I wanted to have another version of the chick peas curry which would be totally different from it but at the same time easy to make and delicious. This is what I came up with. It is easy to make, has no onions or garlic so people who don't eat them have no issues with it and is just delicious.

One Year Back - Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread
Two Years Back - Mango Ice Cream
Ingredients:  (This makes a huge pot, scale it down as per your requirement)
Dry Chickpeas / Kabuli Chana - 3 cups
Tomatoes - 1 large or two small chopped
Oil - 5 -6 TBSP
Cumin - 1 tsp
Coriander Cumin Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Amchoor powder / Dry Mango Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

To grind:
Cilantro - 1 bunch cleaned stalk part included (about 2 cups roughly)
Ginger - 1 1/2" piece peeled and chopped roughly
Cashews - 1/3 cup
Green chillies - 10 - 12 or as per taste
Coconut - 1/2 cup grated

Method:
Soak chickpeas in enough water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and add clean water. Add a pinch of salt and pressure cook till soft. When the pressure is released, drain reserving water. Grind all the ingredients given in 'To Grind' section above using enough water to make a smooth paste. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add cumin seeds. When they splutter add the ground paste and mix. Add salt, coriander cumin powder, amchoor powder and mix. Stir frequently to avoid burning and let it come to a full boil. If the paste is too thick, you can add a little bit of reserved water from cooking the chickpeas. When it comes to a full boil, add tomatoes and mix. From the drained chickpeas, take about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of the cooked chickpeas. Add enough reserved water and grind them in a mixie or food processor. Add the remaining whole chickpeas to the pot and mix. Add the ground chickpeas and mix well. Use the reserved water to get the correct consistency. It should be a bit liquidy since it thickens as it cools. Bring the entire pot to a boil and check for the salt. Adjust if needed and turn off the heat. Serve with rice or roti.

Notes:
If you like your curries to be rich, you could use heavy cream instead of reserved water. I am very sure it would be awesome and creamy. If you are cooking this for a crowd or for a party, try adding about 2 large potatoes cubed into 1/2" pieces. It will not only be great but also you can stretch the buck longer by using potatoes. You could leave out tomatoes if you don't have it. It still will be fine.

Enjoy.

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Tovve / South Indian Dal

Legume/Lentil preparation is almost a daily routine in any Indian kitchen. Be it in the form of Sambar or legume based curry or this simple dal. For some reason, North Indian style preparation of dal is pretty famous every where. People associate dal with garlic, onion, tomatoes. That is not really the case in reality. Every state of India has its own way of preparing dal. This one is from Karnataka where I come from. This is a very simple dish, but very flavorful.

One Year Back - Thomas the train Cake
Two Years Back - Pav Buns
Ingredients: 
Toor Dal / Red Lentils - 1 cup
Water - 2 1/2 - 3 cups
Turmeric - two generous pinches
Salt - to taste
Lime juice - from half a lime
Cilantro - 2 TBSP chopped
Veggies of choice - About 1 - 2 cups of chopped vegetables precooked (I have used about 4 cups of spinach here) optional
Coconut - 3 - 4 TBSP grated

For tempering:
Oil - 2 TBSP divided use
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies - 2 broken
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - Grated about 1 generous TBSP
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 - 1 tsp as per taste
Black Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida/hing - generous pinch
Curry leaves - few

Method:
Wash and rinse the lentils. Add water, turmeric and a drop of oil. Pressure cook till soft but not mushy. When the pressure is released, prepare for the tempering - heat the remaining oil in a small saucepan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida, cumin. When the cumin pops, add grated ginger, black pepper powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder. Add the cooked dal and mix well. Now add the spinach or cooked vegetables, salt and let it simmer. Adjust the water if required. When it comes to a slow boil, check for the salt and adjust. Add coconut, cilantro and mix well. Turn off the heat. After 10 - 15 minutes, add the lime juice and mix well. Serve warm with rice. This can be eaten with chapathi or rotis too.

Notes:
If you use spinach or any other greens like I did, there is no need to precook it. It gets cooked pretty fast unless it is a tough green like kale.

Enjoy.

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White Beans Masala / White beans stew

When I came to this country 13 years back, most of the Indian restaurants in the area where we lived were north Indian restaurants. And most of the curries or side dishes would taste very similar except for the vegetable or legume. Lot of people have a misunderstanding that if you use ginger garlic paste, add garam masala and some red chilli powder to any vegetable or lentil base, you can create a curry. That is one option but one option only. Number of spices in Indian cuisine is such a nice number that if you do combinations of spices, you won't have to eat the same tasting dish often. Fennel is the star in this dish. Coconut and raisins lend the sweetness to this dish which balances out so well.

One year back - Sourdough Focaccia, Butternut squash spinach curry
Two years back - Chocolate almond spread,
Ingredients:
Northern beans / white beans - 1 cup dry
Red Onion - 1 large or two medium ones divided use
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized or 1/2 - 3/4 cup crushed tomatoes
Oil - 3 TBSP divided use
Garlic - 1 pod chopped
Ginger - 1/2" piece peeled and chopped
Turmeric - generous pinch
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - 1 - 2 tsp or as per taste
Fennel seeds /Saunf - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 5
Cinnamon - 1/2" stick
Cardamom - 1 - 2
Raisins - 1/4 cup (I used black ones, you could use golden ones if you wish)
Coconut - 1/4 - 1/3 cup grated
Cilantro - 2 TBSP chopped for garnish

Method:
Soak white beans in enough water for 6 - 8 hours or overnight. Pressure cook the beans in enough water till soft. Drain the water reserving it. Mash about half cup of cooked beans with a potato masher. Set aside.

Chop half the onion into big chunks. Chop remaining onion finely. In a pan, heat 1 TBSp of oil. When hot, add fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves. When they pop, add garlic, ginger followed by big chunks of onion. Sprinkle turmeric, some salt and let it wilt. When onion is cooked, add coconut, raisins and crushed tomatoes or chopped tomatoes. When tomatoes are cooked, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.
Meanwhile, in another pan, take the remaining 2 TBSP of oil. When hot, add the finely cut onion and mix well. Sprinkle some salt and let the onion cook. When this is happening, take the ingredients of the first pan in a blender and make a puree. You won't need any water to do it. When the onions are cooked, add the ground paste, cooked beans, mashed beans. Mix all well and add enough water from the reserved water (in which you cooked beans) and bring it to a simmer. Add chilli powder and adjust the salt if needed. When the whole mixture starts boiling, garnish with cilantro and turn off the heat. You can serve it with rotis or rice.

Enjoy.

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Sweet Potato Chili

Did you know sweet potato is much better for health than regular potatoes? I was surprised when I learned it too. Try telling that to my in-laws who wouldn't eat anything that I cooked with this veggie. They would say it is bad for diabetic people even when I explained that it has low glycemic value than potatoes, which happens to be one of their favorite vegetable.

I usually make couple of Indian dishes with Sweet potato. Wanted to try something different and I happen to read a eating well magazine at a doctor's office. This recipe is largely adapted from that.

One year back - Vegan Mango Cake
Two years back - Butternut squash Pasta, Eggless Blueberry Coffee cake, Chewy Granola Bars 
Ingredients:
Sweet potato - Peeled and cubed 2 small or 1 large
Red Onion - 1 large chopped or 2 small
Tomatoes - 1 can of diced tomatoes 14.5 Oz (Or use about 4 medium tomatoes)
Green chillies - 4 - 5 chopped fine or as per taste
Garlic - 4 cloves minced
Oil - 2 TBSP
Black beans - 1/2 cup dry (Or use 1 15 Oz can drained and rinsed)
Red kidney beans/Rajma - 1/2 cup dry (Or use 1 15 Oz can drained and rinsed)
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Cilantro - chopped 3 - 4 TBSP (optional)

Method:
If using dried beans like I did, soak both the beans in water overnight. Pressure cook the beans till soft. Drain the beans reserving 1 1/2 cups of water that you cooked the beans in. If you are using canned beans, skip this step. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add green chillies, chopped onion, garlic. Mix and sprinkle some salt and let it cook. When onions are cooked, add sweet potatoes. Add cumin, red chilli powder, cooked beans, tomatoes, reserved water. If using canned beans, add about 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix well and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and cover and let it cook till the sweet potato is soft. Add cilantro, adjust the salt if required and serve either with some bread or as is. We ate it as is like chunky soup.

Notes:
Adjust the water quantity as per your need. You could use more veggies if you like. Something that goes very well is squash with this.

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White beans and Fenugreek Curry / Beans and methi subzi

There was a guy who worked with me few years back. I don't know what he ate for breakfast or dinner every day. But lunch used to be the same thing. Peanut butter sandwich made with whole wheat bread and a granny smith apple. He never even changed the kind of apple except when brown pears were in season. Then, we would see him bring that instead. I always wondered how one could eat the same thing over and over all the time.

Since beans/lentils are an important part of our vegetarian diet, I come up with different ways to make it so that it is not boring. Here is one such variety which is great for people who do not like garlic.

One year back - Tofu Butter Masala, Whitebread with Tangzhong Starter
Two years back - Black Eyed beans curry in peanut sauce
Ingredients:
White beans - 1 pound or 2 cups dry (Great northern beans is what I used)
Fenugreek leaves / Methi - 1 bunch cleaned and leaves and tender stem chopped
Potato - 1 large or 2 small peeled
Oil - 3 TBSP
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds/methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Asafoetida/Hing - a generous pinch
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 TBSP or to taste
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Red Chilli powder - 1 - 2 tsp as per taste and the kind you are using
Tamarind - a big lemon size soaked in water (Or use about 1 tsp of tamarind paste)
Jaggery - 1 TBSP (optional)
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste

Method:
Soak the beans in enough water over night. Drain the water and add fresh water covering the beans and is 1" in height above the beans level. Peel the potato and place it in the same pot as the beans. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. When the pressure is released, take it out and mash the potato in the pan itself. It will crush some of the beans too, and that makes it creamy. Soak tamarind in some water and extract thick juice. Skip it if you are using the ready paste.
In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add curry leaves, asafoetida/hing, methi seeds, black pepper powder, cumin powder, coriander powder. Stir and add chopped fenugreek immediately. Mix well. Add turmeric, some salt and let the greens wilt a bit. Now, add the chilli powder, beans and potato mixture. Stir well and add the tamarind extract plus more water to get the required consistency. When it comes to a boil, adjust the seasonings, grated coconut and simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. serve with rotis, naan, or even rice.

Notes:
You can make this with any other beans and greens. Spinach makes a good alternative to fenugreek leaves.

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Carrot Kurma

After a month long baking, here I am with a totally Indian, non-baking dish. In my opinion, carrots are underrated in Indian cooking. Carrots are used of course, but not as a star ingredient. When I was flipping through the folder that is full of photocopies of recipes (I do not know the source of this book), this carrot kurma recipe caught my attention. It was perfect since I wanted to use up quite a few carrots without making halwa or salad out of it. It is largely adapted and not the same and goes perfectly with rotis or rice.

One year back - Cranberry Thokku
Two years back - Thengol
Ingredients:
Carrots - 8 - 10 medium ones peeled and diced
Red Onions - 3 medium chopped into chunks
Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped into chunks
Oil - 2 TBSP
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Cardamom - 2 kept whole
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - chopped 4 TBSP for garnish


To grind into a paste:
Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Green chillies - 6 or per taste
Ginger - 1/2" piece peeled
Garlic - 2 cloves
Cashews - 10 - 12
Poppy seeds - 1 TBSP


Method:
In a saucepan, cover carrot piece with enough water and cook with a pinch of salt until tender. Set aside. Grind all the ingredients mentioned in 'To grind into a paste' with very less water. Set aside. In another saucepan, heat oil. When hot, add cinnamon and cloves. When they are toasted, add onions. Sprinkle some salt and let it cook. When onions are almost cooked, add the ground paste to it and mix well. Add some of the water that was used to cook carrots to loosen up the mixture. When it comes to a boil, add tomatoes, carrots reserving the liquid. Add the reserved liquid if needed to get the correct consistency. Adjust the salt if needed and garnish with cilantro. Serve with roti or rice.

Notes:
It is better to use less water to cook the carrots so that you do not waste any of the cooked water which has nutrients too.

Enjoy.

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Caponata

Caponata is nothing but an italian side dish or cooked salad made with eggplants and capers. If you search for the recipe, you will get a lot of them with different variations. I looked up on foodnetwork website for this since I wanted to make it as a topper for the crostini. I did not use one recipe, but combined couple of them based on our taste preferences. We don't like celery and I omitted it. Among my visitors, there was someone who doesn't eat nuts, so omitted pine nuts. I however, increased the squash to compensate for not using celery. Overall, this recipe is based on Anne Burrel's Caponata recipe.

One year back - Coconut Chocolate Rolls/Buns
Two years back - Cake Decorating Basics - 1, Blondies from a Cake mix
Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1 large chopped into 1" cubes
Yellow squash or zucchini - 2 medium chopped into cubes (Or use part celery and just one squash)
Olive oil - 3 TBSP divided use
Salt - to taste
Red Onion - 2 medium chopped or sliced
Diced tomatoes - 1 15 Oz can with juice (Or use about 4 plum tomatoes)
Red chilli flakes - to taste (I used 1 TBSP and it was spicy and perfect for us)
Sugar - 2 tsp
Red wine vinegar - 3 TBSP
Capers - 1/3 cup
Green Pitted olives - 1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced
Golden raisins - 1/4 cups
Mint - chopped about 3 TBSP (Or use parsley)
Toasted pine nuts - 1/4 cup (I omitted since I wanted to keep it nut free)

Method:
In a skillet, heat 1 TBSP olive oil. Add eggplant chunks and stir. Sprinkle some salt and cover and let it cook stirring occasionally to make sure they don't burn. Set aside. In the same skillet or another one, heat the remaining two TBSP of olive oil. When hot, add chopped onions to the pan. Sprinkle some salt, add the squash pieces and celery if using and mix. Let it all cook. When the onions are cooked and squash is soft, add the eggplants, tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar, and chilli flakes. Let them simmer till almost all the water has evaporated. Add golden raisins, capers, olives. Mix well and adjust the salt if necessary. Add mint and mix well. Close the lid and turn off the heat after 2 minutes. When it cools to room temperature, store in the refrigerator. This actually tastes better after sitting in the refrigerator for a day. Heat lightly before serving. I served it on crostini as an appetizer.

Wondering what bread it is? it is an italian bread for which, I will post the recipe soon. And if someone wants to drool over this, here is another picture for you.

Enjoy.

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Kale Saute with black eyed beans, Sweet potatoes

My friends tease me on not repeating the dishes every so often. They are right. I make something new in some way every day. Or almost every other day. They tease my husband even more saying he doesn't get to eat the same thing more than once. It is not true, there are a lot of staple things that I keep making, but I do make something new a lot of times in a week.

I feel bad about this obsession of mine when my in-laws stay with us. They are used to eating same thing every day. All they want is stir fried veggies, rotis, sambar and traditional Iyengar dishes. They don't complain, at least in front of me though.

One year back -  Roti making simplified, Homemade Yogurt making
Ingredients:
Black Eyed Beans - 1 cup (dry)
Kale - 10 Oz bag (You can use up to 1 pound)
Sweet potato - 1 huge
Oil - 1 TBSP
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Broken red chillies - 2
Salt - to taste
Lime or lemon juice - from half of a lime/lemon or to taste

To grind: (this is totally optional, but gives a great taste)
Coconut - about 1/2 cup grated
Green chillies - 4 (optional)

Method:
Soak black eyed beans in enough water for 4 - 6 hours. Alternately, you can soak them in hot water for 1 hour and then cook them in the pressure cooker. Whichever method you use to cook, cook them till they are very soft. Drain and set aside. Peel the sweet potato and chop them into chunks.
In a skillet, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter,  add broken red chillies. Add the sweet potato chunks and sprinkle some salt. Mix well and close the lid. Let the potatoes cook well. When they are soft, add the chopped kale (I was using pre-washed already cut kale). Mix well. If you want, you can even add some spinach to it but spinach leaves out water which, kale doesn't. Keep that in mind. When kale is cooked down a bit, add the drained black beans. Adjust the salt if needed. Cover with a lid and keep the heat at the lowest possible setting.
In the mean time, take coconut and green chillies in a blender and blend them without adding water. If you opt not to use the green chillies, you can skip this step. Add the coconut green chilli mixture to the pot and mix well. Turn off the heat after a minute and squeeze some lemon or lime juice to taste. Mix well. This one can be eaten as is or as a topping on bread, pita or tortilla. I served with Indian tortilla or roti.

Enjoy.

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Kidney Beans and Mango Curry

There is something that I am pretty good at. That is picking up good fruits and vegetables. Don't ask me to explain the tips and tricks (I probably won't do a good job of that), but I can pick good stuff except for watermelon. It might be bland and I cannot make out that by looking at the whole watermelon.

When we went grocery shopping, there were these nice looking mangoes. I  picked and tried to smell it. It had no smell whatsoever and I kept it back and moved on to the next fruit. But my mother-in-law who was walking behind with my husband picked two of those mangoes. When we came home, she chopped one of them. It was ripe alright, but was sour. Somehow one was used up and nobody wanted to touch the other one. I made this curry to use it up. If you are using a mango that is very sweet, you can add about 1 tsp of amchoor powder or dry mango powder to get the tang.

One year back -  Whole Wheat Eggless Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
Kidney beans - 3 cans rinsed and drained (or soak 1 cup of dried kidney beans over night and pressure cook till soft)
Red Onions - 2 medium divided use
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 TBSP divided use
Green Chillies - 4 -5 depending on your heat tolerance
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp divided use
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Salt - to taste
Red chillies - 2 broken
Curry leaves - few
Cilantro - chopped 2 TBSP
Ripe Mango - 1 medium to large peeled, seeded and chopped
Water - 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup

Method:
Chop 1 onion into chunks. Chop the other onion finely. In a pan, heat 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add 1/2 tsp of cumin. When they splutter, add green chillies (whole, no need to chop them). Add cashews and let it get toasted. Add the onions that you chopped into chunks. Sprinkle salt lightly and let it wilt. When onions have become soft, take the whole mixture out and set aside to cool a bit.

In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 TBSP of oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add remaining 1/2 tsp of cumin, fenugreek, broken red chillies, curry leaves. When they are all toasted, add the onions that is chopped fine. Mix well, add turmeric, a bit of salt and let it cook.
Meanwhile, take the already set aside onion, cashews mixture and blend in a blender or food processor. When they are ground coarsely, add the chopped mango and blend further to make a puree (it need not be very smooth). When onions in the pan are cooked, add the cooked, drained kidney beans and mix well. Add the puree to the pot. Mix well and add enough water to get the consistency of the gravy. Let it come to a simmer. Adjust the salt if required. Add the cilantro and turn off the heat. Serve with rice or rotis. It tastes great to eat just as is like a beans stew.

Enjoy.

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Yam in Yogurt sauce / Genasu Mosaru Bajji

A quick post for you all. This is one of those dishes which can be whipped up with few minutes effort. No chopping of vegetables and no stir frying. It is one of those dishes that is economical too. Yams are cheap and you can serve this for entertaining a large crowd for very less.

One year back -  Eggless Vietnamese Fried Rice, Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients:
Yam/Genasu - 1 large (When you cook it and mash it, you should have 1 cup of the puree)
Yogurt - 1 - 1/4 cup depending on how thick you want
Salt - to taste
Coconut - scraped about 4 TBSP (optional)
Cilantro - chopped 2 TBSP

For tempering:
Oil - 1 TBSP
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dried red chillies - 3 broken
Curry leaves - few
Asafoetida/Hing - a generous pinch

Method:
Steam cook the yam with its skin. Run under cold water and peel the skin. Mash with a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon. Let it come to room temperature. Mix it with yogurt, coconut if using, salt and cilantro. Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, curry leaves, hing. When they are toasted, add it to the yam and yogurt mixture. Adjust the salt if needed. Serve with rotis or rice.

Enjoy.

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Stuffed Eggplant Curry / Tumbida Badenekayi Palya

I am not fond of restaurant food. I don't even crave to eat at a certain place. There is just one exception though. Every time I visit India (mainly Bangalore), I have to go to 'Kamat Yatri Nivas' to eat their Thali. It is a full service restaurant where in they come and keep on serving till you say you are done. It is kind of waste for me, but there are people who make use of this deal and eat to their heart's content. One of the main attractions for me to go there is Jolada rotti and this stuffed eggplant curry.

Coming to the point of this post, almost every Indian state has its own way of making stuffed eggplants curry. They are either made a bit dry to go with rotis or Indian tortilla or a bit watery to go with rice. They are delicious either way.
Here is the version that I have come to like. Inspired from the state of Karnataka that too northern Karnataka. These are typically served with 'Jolada Rotti' or 'Jowar Roti' in northern Karnataka but can be served with wheat flour rotis too.

One year back -  Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients:
Round small eggplants - 20
Red Onion - 1 big finely chopped (optional - See Notes)
Oil - 4 TBSP (Or more)
Tamarind - size of a lime
Red chillies - 2 broken
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few sprigs

To Powder:
Peanuts - 2/3 cup
Cumin - 1 tsp
Coriander - 1/2 tsp
Powdered Jaggery or brown sugar - 2 TBSP 

Asafoetida / Hing - generous pinch (Or Garlic - See Notes)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Salt - to taste

Method:
Wash the eggplants. Pat them dry. Soak tamarind in enough water. In a blender or a mixie take all the ingredients mentioned in 'To Powder' section above and pulse till you get fine powder. Take it in a bowl. Extract thick tamarind juice from the tamarind. Add the tamarind juice to the powder to make an easily spreadable paste. Do not make it too watery. Set aside. Adjust the salt of the paste if necessary.
Slit the eggplants into quarters leaving the stalk part intact. You will have four quarters of the eggplant attached at one end. Stuff all the eggplants with the masala paste. You might be left with some paste. Keep that aside. You will use it in the curry. Heat oil in the pan. Preferably a non stick pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they pop, add broken red chillies and curry leaves. Add chopped onions and sprinkle a bit of salt. Let it wilt and cook. When it is cooked completely, add the stuffed eggplants to the pan. After about 3 - 4 minutes, gently turn them around. Cover with a lid and let it cook in low flame. After about 10 minutes, add the remaining masala paste to the pot and extract second and third extracts of the tamarind juice. Add this extract as much as needed depending on how thick or thin you want your curry to be. Cover with the lid and keep stirring gently every 5 minutes or so. When the eggplants are cooked to fork tender and are falling apart, and oil is separating from the masala, curry is done. Turn off the heat and serve with rice or rotis.

Notes:
Many people use garlic instead of hing. I have made it like that too. Since I was cooking this for someone who doesn't eat garlic, I omitted it and used just hing. Many people do not use onion in the curry. Just eggplants. That makes it a wonderful dish too. I add onions to get the texture.

Enjoy.

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