KEERAI MASIYAL/ PURÉED GREENS- MY MOM’S METHOD

This is my favorite greens dish. My mom usually makes this on weekends to go along with fish. The ingredients used here are very less and my mom only uses amaranth greens for this dish. I couldn’t find those here in US, so I have used baby spinach. Baby spinach is very mild and doesn’t taste bitter. Any other greens like Swiss chard or regular spinach can also be used, but bitter-tasting greens should be avoided since tamarind is not used here.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Greens like amaranth or spinach, 1 big bunch.

2. Garlic, 1 clove.

3. Green chilies, 2.

4. Salt, as per taste.

5. Dried red chilies, 2.

6. Cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon.

7. Mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon.

8. Grated or dried coconut, ¼ cup. (low-fat dried coconut powder can also be used here)

PREPARATION:

Clean the greens well and remove the thick stalks. The greens need not be chopped. Peel the garlic and keep aside. Steam the greens along with the garlic and green chilies by adding a little bit of water. I usually add everything in a pan and let it simmer closed for 5-10 minutes until the water evaporates and the greens wilt. Let it cool. Once cooled add the contents to a blender, along with some and grated coconut and blend into smooth paste. If needed, some water can be added for the desired consistency. Transfer the contents to a bowl. Heat a small pan with a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the cumin seeds and dried red chilies (can be broken or left whole) and fry for a few seconds. Pour the seasonings over the pureed greens, mix well, and serve with rice.

GODUMAI INIPU DOSAI/ SWEET WHEAT CREPES

This is my grandma’s recipe. She used to prepare this as an evening snack for us when we come home from school. I changed her recipe slightly by switching over to whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour and used sugar-free pancake syrup for jaggery. Agave nectar also works well here, but the pancake syrup gives a nice molasses flavor to the dosas. I make these dosas for a light weekend breakfast. They work well for dinner or as an evening snack too.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Whole wheat flour, 1 cup.

2. Cardamom powder, ¼ teaspoon or 2 crushed cardamom powder.

3. Brown sugar or jaggery or any sweetener like agave nectar (I have used a sugar-free pancake syrup), 2-3 tablespoons depending upon sweetness.

4. Oil for pouring on sides.

5. Salt, a pinch.

PREPARATION:

Mix all the ingredients except the oil with water until it reaches dosa batter or pancake batter consistency. To prepare the dosas, heat a flat cast iron pan or nonstick pan. Rub some oil on surface with a cloth or paper towel. When the surface of the pan is hot, take some batter in a ladle and pour it on the pan, and immediately spread it evenly with the help of a ladle. Add a little bit of oil on the corners if needed. After 1-2 minutes, flip the dosas to the other side and let it cook for another minute. Repeat the same with the reminder of the batter. Enjoy sweet wheat dosais for breakfast or a light early dinner.

FENNEL AND TOMATO RICE

Most of my blogger friends and readers know that I am crazy about fennel. I add fennel seeds in all the savory dishes. It is not only because I was taught to cook like that by my granny but also I think I must have inherited her love for fennel seeds. When making variety rice like these fennel seeds imparts a nice flavor to the dish. I love one-pot dishes like tomato rice. I have tried many variations to my favorite tomato rice by adding dill leaves and spinach. This time I tried adding some fennel and we did like this rice very much. Fennel was not too overpowering here and it was indeed very mild blending along with the onions. If you love the flavor of fennel, then you will love this dish!

I have made this rice with brown rice. These days everybody seems to be change to brown rice, many of my friends have stopped white rice completely and we too started getting brown rice only rather then white rice. This is a quite healthy trend indeed. I have used a short grain brown rice variety that I got from Costco. I think that brown basmati rice is the best choice for anyone switching over from white rice to brown rice to begin with. They seem to hold their shape quite well when making variety rice like briyani or tomato rice.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Cooked brown rice, 1 cup.
2. Ripe Roma tomatoes, medium-size, 3.
3. Red onions, medium-size, 2.
4. Fennel 1 medium-size bulb.
5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1teaspoon.
6. Green chilies, 1-2.
7. Chili powder, ½ teaspoon.
8. Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
9. Turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon.
10. Mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon.
11. Fennel seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
12. Curry leaves and cilantro for garnishing.
13. Salt as per taste.

PREPARATION:

Cook the rice separately and let it cool. The rice should not be mushy. Chop off the stalks from the fennel bulb and discard it. Dice the bulb into small pieces including some of the fronds from the stalk. Dice the onion and tomatoes and slit the green chilies into 2. Heat a pan with 2 teaspoons of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the fennel seeds and fry for 2 seconds. Add the diced onions, fennel, and curry leaves and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn translucent. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes, and green chilies and sauté for a few more minutes until everything is blended. Add the chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt and mix well. Cook closed under low flame for 5 minutes until the raw smell of the spices goes. Now add chopped cilantro and rice and mix everything. Let it sit under low flame and switch off the stove. Serve hot with raita or any spicy side dish.

TRIED AND TASTED: MALAR’S FENUGREEK RICE

This week I also tried Malar’s fenugreek rice and it was really delicious. I had used fresh methi leaves that I had grown in a small pot in my patio. This rice was very mild and went well with potato fry. Click here for the recipe.

TOMATO AND GARLIC THOKKU/CHUTNEY AND MANGO PICKLE

Spring is in its peak for us here in Virginia. The weather is fine on some days, which is so good for long walks. Though I enjoy the weather here, sometimes I feel bad when someone from India call me and mention that it is blazing back in India. It seems that this summer is a little bit harsh and it is only April yet! For me the only good thing in summer are mangoes. I can have them anytime of the day especially sour unripe ones sprinkled with a little bit of salt and chili power. It does bring back so many memories of school days and summer holidays running around with our granny chasing us and riding around in bicycles. Even now, my sister, cousins, and I remember those days ever so fondly.

Coming on to the pickle recipes, the tomato thokku recipe was tried from an Aval Vikatan magazine. My co-sister and I made this dish together from the first time 2 years back. This was an instant hit at my in-law’s place. The whole dish was finished off for breakfast and dinner in a single day and we had to make another big batch later. Canned tomatoes are very good for this chutney. They give a bright red color and the chutney also tastes much better compared to the one made with regular tomatoes. The mango pickle recipe is my mother-in-law’s. She makes this when she has excess mangoes at hand. This is very easy to make, just add the seasonings to the mangoes and let it sit!...as easy as that yet it tastes so good.

TOMATO THOKKU

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1. 

INGREDIENTS:

1. Roma tomatoes, 5-6, or 1 cans of diced tomatoes.
2. Garlic, 4 cloves.
3. Tamarind, 1 small lemon size.
4. Chili powder, 2 teaspoons.
5. Fenugreek seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
6. Sesame oil, ¼ cup.
7. Mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
8. Curry leaves, 1 sprig.
9. Salt as per taste.

PREPARATION:

Dice the tomatoes finely and extract thick juice from the tamarind. Grind the tomatoes and garlic into a smooth paste by adding little water and keep aside. Heat a pan with ¼ cup of sesame oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Reduce the flame and add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes. Once the mixture starts to thicken and loses its raw flavor, add the powders, salt, tamarind juice along with ½ cup of water and cook closed for 15-20 minutes until the chutney thickens and the oil separates. Serve with idlis, dosas, or puris. This can stay fresh for a week in the refrigerator.

MANGO PICKLE

INGREDIENTS:

1. Firm unripe mangoes, medium-size 2.

2. Sesame oil, 2/3^rd to a cup.

3. Chili powder, 2 teaspoons.

4. Salt, 1 teaspoon.

5. Asafetida, a pinch.

6. Mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon.

PREPARATION:

Peel the skin of the mangoes and grate them finely. Heat a pan with the sesame oil. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then lower the flame and add the chili powder and salt and fry for a few seconds. The oil will start bubbling once the chili powder is added. At this point, switch off the stove and add the grated mangoes. Mix everything well and let it sit for 15 minutes. This pickle stays fresh for up to a month when left in the refrigerator. It goes well with any variety rice.

VEGETARIAN CHILI

The inspiration for this dish was from Cook’s Country. I saw this episode this weekend where the chef prepared Cincinnati chili with meat. The interesting thing about this chili was that there were no beans in the chili with some hot spices and ground meat and this chili was served over pasta. I wanted to try this at once and the same evening I made a vegetarian version of it, so that my husband can also have this. I made a few changes in the original recipe by substituting ground soya nuggets for ground meat and also used some pasta sauce to thicken the sauce. This was a hit and the pasta was so good, much better than the store brought sauces. I think this chili can also be served with garlic bread or even as a dip with some pita or corn chips.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Pasta sauce or tomato sauce, 1-1/2 to 2 cups.
2. Tomato paste, 1 tablespoon.
3. Onion, medium-sized, 1.
4. Garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
5. Soy granules, 1 cup.
6. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
7. Cinnamon powder, ¼ teaspoon.
8. All spice powder (can be substituted with garam masala), ½ teaspoon.
9. Oregano, ¼ teaspoon.
10. Fresh parsley, ¼ cup.
11. Brown sugar, a little. (I used agave nectar here).
12. Salt and pepper as per taste.

PREPARATION:

To cook the soy granules, drop them in boiling water and let them cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the stove and let the nuggets or granules sit in the hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the water and wash them twice and remove excess water from the granules or nugggets. Run them in a blender or food processor and blend everything into a smooth paste. Dice the onion finely. Heat a pan with some olive oil. When the oil turns hot, add the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes until it is tender. Then add the garlic and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the powders and fry for a few minutes by adding a little more oil if needed. Then add the herbs, tomato sauce or pasta sauce, and tomato paste along with some salt and pepper. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Add the blended soya nuggets, mix everything well and cook closed for another 5-7 minutes. Serve hot over pasta with some grated cheese on top.

STEEPED BITTERGOURD JUICE/TEA AND SOME FACTS ABOUT HbA1c

I wanted to share a healthy soup idea with this post. This is from my mother-in-law. She always prepares a soup like this just before lunch for my father-in-law to keep his blood sugars under control. This is just bittergourd steeped juice/tea. Steeping the bittergourd like this concentrates all the essential juices even more than making a side dish or gravy with bittergourd. Drinking raw bittergourd juice is also very good for blood sugar control but I found that too bitter for me, so I just drink a steeped juice. I feel that making small changes like these goes a long way in preventing diabetes or pre-diabetes if you are in the risk group. I usually boil some slices of bittergourd (may be from a whole bittergourd) in a cup of water (sometimes I even microwave it for 2 minutes) and strain it and drink the water. I found this bitter for the first couple of times but eventually I acquired a taste for this and these days the bitterness doesn’t bother me.

Lifestyle changes like this (especially with diet and exercise) has helped me in keeping my HbA1c also known as hemoglobin A1c within the normal range for the past couple of years. HbA1c is a test which gives the average blood sugars for the last 3 months. This will give an idea about what our sugars have been running and if it is on the borderline and high, it can be brought down with diet and exercise. Sadly, many people do not know about the existence of tests like these in India. Friends, if you have a relative who is a diabetic or if you have a strong family history of diabetes at an early age (even ladies who have had gestational diabetes and are normal now), ask your doctors to write this test for you. For people with diabetes, this test has to be taken once in 3 months. Other than that it will be ok to have the blood work done once a year to make sure everything is normal. For more information about HbA1c click here

OATS SAMBAR SADAM/LENTIL AND OATS MEDLEY

I made this dish especially to aid my husband’s diet plan. He has been on a weight loss plan for the past 1 month and he seemed to have lost a lot of weight already, almost like 15 pounds. This plan mainly includes salads, soups, and sometimes whole grains like oats, barley, and grains like that. There is no rice in this plan, so I thought of making sambar sadam/kadama sadam, oats, and lots of veggies, so there was no change in any of his “diet plan” and he still got to eat his all-time favorite food. I have used Irish oats instead of regular oats here because Irish oats tend to retain their shape well when used as a rice substitute and there was no difference in taste. This was like the regular dish I make with rice and much heartier. I have prepared this dish in a pressure cooker to save time since Irish oats take a long time to cook. Alternatively this dish can be prepared in a slow cooker or a regular pan under reduced flame for 1 hour.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Toor dhal or red lentils, 1/2 cup
2. Irish oats or any type of oats, 1 cup.
3. Small onions, peeled, a cup, 2.
4. Tomatoes, medium size, 2.
5. Mixed vegetables, like carrot, green beans, broccoli, spinanch, peas etc, all coming around 1 cup when chopped.
6. Green chili,.1
7. Turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon.
8. Tamarind, a small lemon-sized ball or 2 tablespoons of tamarind pulp.
9. Asafetida, 1 pinch.
10. Salt as per taste.
11. Mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon.
12. Curry leaves, 1 sprig.
13. Chopped cilantro, a handful.
14. Vadakam, 1 teaspoon, (optional). This is a mixture of dried onions, garlic, and a few spices. I use vadakam for seasoning sambar, rasams, and kuzambus. This can be omitted if not available.

TO GRIND:

1. Shredded coconut or dry coconut powder, 1 tablespoon. (I have used a low fat shredded coconut here. In US, this is available in stores like Wegmans, Whole Foods, or Trader’s Joe).

2. Coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon.

3. Red chilies, 2-3 depending on spice preference.

4. Fenugreek seeds, ¼ teaspoon.

5. Cardamom, 2 pods.

6. Cloves, 2.

PREPARATION:

Wash the lentils and let it soak for 15 minutes. Dry roast the ingredients given under the “to grind section” one by one for 2 minutes under medium flame and let it cool. Grind it to a smooth paste and keep aside. Extract thick juice from the tamarind. Peel the onions, dice the tomatoes and the other vegetables and slit the green chilies into 2. Heat a pressure pan or pressure cooker with some oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the vadagam and fry for a few seconds. Add the small onions and curry leaves and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are tender. Add the diced tomatoes and green chilies and keep sautéing until everything is blended. Now add the ground paste and fry everything for a minute until the raw smell goes. Add the tamarind juice along with asafetida, salt and 4 cups of water and boil for a few minutes. After 10 minutes (the tamarind mixture should boil at least for 5 minutes to get a good taste, 10 minutes boil is ideal and at this stage the water should have evaporated to 3 cups) add the lentils, the chopped vegetables, and oats, mix everything and cook under pressure for up to 3-4 whistles. Once the pressure is down, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with potato chips and pickle.

CRACKED WHEAT RAVA KESARI – HAPPY TAMIL NEW YEAR

Dear friends, wishing you all a Very Happy New year! It is a beautiful day for us. The morning was spent calling our families. I found out that my mother-in-law, co-sister, and I had prepared the same menu for New Year – this was a sweet surprise. We prepared Rava kesari, venpongal, vadai, sambar and coconut chutney although mine was a little bit trimmed down as hubby dear wanted to maintain his diet even today. I had made a sugar-free kesari with cracked wheat and also cracked wheat pongal. I have posted the recipe for the kesari here. I guess everybody must know this since it is such a common sweet. This is a totally diabetic-friendly dessert, a little bit healthier than the regular one, I hope you all like this idea :)

INGREDIENTS:

1. Cracked wheat, small variety, 1 cup.

2. Water, 3 cups.

3. Sugar or any artificial sweetener, 2/3 cup or more depending upon sweetness.

4. Cashews and raisins, 2 tablespoons.

5. Ghee or any low-fat unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon.

6. Cardamom, 2 pods.

7. Salt, a pinch.

8. Red or orange food color, a pinch.

PREPARATION:

Dry roast the rava for 5 minutes and let it cool. Crush the cardamom pods finely and keep aside. Heat a pan and add the ghee. Add the cashews and raisins when the ghee starts melting and fry for a few seconds until the raisins plump up and the cashews turn golden brown. Add the water along with the food color, cardamom powder, salt, and sugar or sugar substitute. Let it come to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, add the cracked wheat slowly and keep mixing while adding the wheat. Keep stirring under low flame until the kesari thickens. Switch off the stove when the kesari has a slightly watery consistency, it will thicken further as it cools. Enjoy!

SAVORY PANCAKES – UTHAPPAM STYLE

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The name of the dish says everything. I made these pancakes for dinner this weekend. I had used a buckwheat pancake mix from Wegmans. This pancake mixture does not have any sugar in it. I tried turning into a uthappam by adding some yogurt and topped it some grated carrots and onions. This went very well with podi and vegetable kurma. Just one tablespoon of yogurt gave enough sourness to the batter.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Any pancake mixture, (I have used buckwheat pancake mix) – 1 cup. Check out my Chocolate chips pancakes. The same recipe can also be used for this minus the honey, cinnamon powder, chocolate chips.

2. Finely diced onions and cilantro ¼ cup.

3. Grated carrots, ¼ cup.

4. Yogurt, 1 tablespoon.

5. Asafetida, 1 pinch.

PREPARATION:

Mix the yogurt and asafetida to the pancake mix and dissolve it into a smooth batter. Heat a nonstick pan or cast iron pan and apply and thin layer of oil on the pan. Take a ladle full of the pancake batter and pour it over the hot pan. It starts spreading as soon as it is poured over the hot surface. Sprinkle the diced onions, cilantro and grated carrots randomly over the pancakes. The pancakes are ready to be flipped after a minute when bubbles start forming all over the surface. Flip them over and let them cook on the other side for a minute and transfer to a plate. Serve hot with any type of chutney or sambar.

Variation: Around ¼ teaspoon of finely chopped ginger can also be added to the batter for extra taste.

VEGETABLES AND PEANUT FRY/CURRY

This was a dish I made out of some leftover veggies and boiled peanuts I had in the fridge. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought a big bag of raw peanuts for just the two of us and boiled everything the very same day. It was way too much for us. We had it like a snack for 2 days and we were done with it and couldn’t take anymore :( Then I got this idea of grinding it up and making a side dish for chapathis. This was good, the taste was a little bit different from the gravies where I add dry ground peanuts and tasted good too. Next time when I boil some peanuts, I am thinking reserving some just to make this dish again. This curry is on its way to
Leftover Delicacies hosted by Daisy Blue.

INGREDIENTS

1. Chopped mixed vegetables, 1 cup.
2. Boiled peanuts, 1 cup.
3. Onion 1 large.
4. Roma tomato, 1.
5. Green chili. 2.
6. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
7. Salt as per taste.
8. Turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon.
9. Chili powder 1 teaspoon.
10. Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
11. Garam masala 1 teaspoon.
12. Cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
13. Tamarind juice, 1 tablespoon.
14. Curry leaves and cilantro for seasoning.

PREPARATION

Grind the boiled peanuts into a smooth paste with some water. Dice the onion and tomatoes finely and slit the green chilies into two. Heat a pan with some oil and add the cumin seeds, and let it splutter. Then add the diced onions, curry leaves, and green chilies and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn brown. Add the tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste and keep sautéing until everything is well blended. Then add the chopped vegetables, all the powders, salt, boiled peanut paste, and tamarind juice along with 1 cup of water. Mix everything well and let it cook closed for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the curry starts to thicken. Add another tablespoon of oil at this stage and keep stirring under low flame until the desired thickness is reached. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with chapathis, rice or any bread.

CHICKEN SAUSAGE MEAT BALLS/ CHICKEN KOLA URUNDAI

A big thanks to dear Astra for sending me these 2 delicious peanut butter jars. She hosted an interesting guessing game in her blog recently and I won!. Dear friends, do check out her wonderful blog, which has so many traditional and tasty recipes. Thanks a lot dear, the butters are so good, we love it :) We have been having them in sandwiches and also topped on oatmeal. I am really happy to meet such good friends through my blog.

Coming on to the recipe, I made these meat balls from the chicken sausages, which I brought from Trader Joe’s. Sausages are new to me and this is first time I ever brought one but I didn’t like the taste that much, even after adding two of them in regular meat gravies. I finished off the remainder of the sausages by mincing them and making kola urundais. This was so delicious and I liked this version more than the original ones with minced mutton. I tried baking one half of the meat balls and turned out pretty good too. I have followed my mom’s method of making kola urundais except that I changed the meat she usually uses and I have also added some garam masala for some extra taste.





INGREDIENTS:

1. Precooked chicken sausage, 5-6. (I have used small sundried tomato-flavored sausages here).

2. Small onions, 2.

3. Green chili, small, 1.

4. Fennel seeds, ¼ teaspoon.

5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.

6. Chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon.

7. Salt, a pinch only, since the sausages already has salt in them.

8. Garam masala, ½ teaspoon, (optional).

9. Chopped curry leaves and cilantro, ¼ cup.

10. Roasted channa dhal (pottukadalai), 1 tablespoon.

PREPARATION:

Chop the small onions, chili, curry leaves, and cilantro very finely. Grind the roasted channa dhal to a fine powder and keep aside. Chop the sausage into small pieces and add them to a food processor. Add some fennel seeds to this and blend the sausages finely until they turn to a minced meat consistency. Add the remaining ingredients to this mixture and mix everything well. Make small balls from the mixture and deep fry the balls for 5 minutes until they turn to a golden brown color. For baking the balls, arrange them in a greased baking sheet, spray them with a nonstick spray and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the desired color is reached and they turn crispy.