Podalangai (Snakegourd) Besan Curry

The recipe I have here is what my mom makes quite often with podalangai. Instead of a plain poriyal, this version has a powder besan curry similar to that of a parupusili but with a much shorter and easier way to cook.

Snakegourd (Podalangai) always reminds me of this joke in a tamil movie. The comedian goes to the market to pick up vegetables and picks up a snake and puts in on his shoulder thinking it is a podalangai and walks home. Everyone around him screams and runs away and he looks at people like they are crazy. Remember that scene? I even tried to look for a video online but can't find it. Anyways, what would a snake be doing in a crowded market pretending to be a podalangai..Hmm.

Anyways, this vegetable is not as commonly available here as in India. The Indian stores carry them every now and then and they are short and stout and not very tender – and can be classified as one of the more expensive vegetables in the US. I’d have to spend 5-6 dollars to just pick up a couple of pieces of this vegetable. And you can get a 10lb bag of potatoes for less than a dollar! Go figure! But I still do end up spending my 2 coffees at Starbucks on this coz I do love this vegetable.  It just makes me feel ..well..south Indian!

Wash and chop the vegetable into little bits. Cut them out first, scoop out all the seeds and the flesh inside and discard. It is basically the skin that is eaten. Cut that into thin strips and then further cut into little bits along the sides.

In a pan, dry roast about 1 cup of besan. Add salt to taste and about ½ tsp of red chilli powder.  Heat the besan in low-medium heat and make sure you don’t burn them. Heat up till a nice aroma starts floating up. Remove from heat and move to a mixing bowl.

In the same pan, add a tsp of oil and add some mustard seeds and let splutter. Then, add a couple of red chillies and then add the chopped vegetable pieces. Add salt to taste and let this cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add about ½ cup of water to the besan powder and blend it to a smooth paste. Don’t add too much water and make this too thin.

Pour the besan mixture on top of the veggies.  You’ll see that they start to thicken up almost immediately. Bring down the heat to medium and let this cook for about 5-10 minutes or until the besan starts to brown and become crisp.

That’s it – you’re done. Serve hot with rice and rasam or sambar. Or like me, just scoop up in a cup, grab a spoon and start eating!

Enjoy. Peace Out!

Bhindi Aloo Fry

How many of you believe in food being the astrologer of life? For eg, eating a lot of carrots make your eyes healthy. Eating a lot of Spinach makes you strong. And eating a lot of okra makes you a math whiz. These might be true. But for a fact, I know that I ate okra probably every single day of my school days because it was my favorite veggie at that time. And not because I wanted to become a math whiz. Maybe my mom was desperate and thought maybe my math skills would finally improve. But, all that okra and I'm no math whiz yet. And the modern gadgets come all built in with a calculator and I find myself quite often trying to calculate tip on a restaurant bill using one of those very helpful icons on my phone. How come I can't just add a 15% tip and divide the total bill by four people. I can try. It might be the waiter's lucky day as I'm sure to mess up and pay him a lot more!

Anyways, jumping from my horrible math skills to the much better recipe here, this is a classic and simple Bhindi Aloo sabji recipe. But, the twist here is that the okra is not pan fried but broiled to provide a perfect consistency. I recently learned this from my friend Indu when I had gone to her place and she had the most perfectly done okra sabji - crisp and yet low on the oil. And I was surprised to hear that she broils it in an oven. What a neat idea. 

Also, the thing with the okra here in the US is that they are not as great and tender as the ones available back in India. They are usually much more short and stout and have an extra level of gooeyness inside. So, try to chop them finely and they usually turn up a big mushy sabji. The biggest advantage to broiling the okra is that you don't have to deal with any goo at all. And you also end up using a lot less oil than pan frying the veggie. Just a couple of sprays of Pam on top of the veggie and in the oven it goes. 30 mins later you end up with a crisp perfectly done okra fry. 

Wash some fresh okra and let it dry a little. 

Chop into little bits. Foil up a baking sheet and spray on some Pam or brush a little with oil. Fill the sheet with the cut okra and spray a couple of spritz of oil. Sprinkle a little salt on top and pop this in a pre heated oven at 350F for about 25-30 mins and use the broil setting and not just the baking setting. Check in after 20 mins to make sure that they are not done yet and you can give it a gentle mix to make sure that all sides get done evenly. 

Meanwhile, chop up all these ingredients -

Onions - 1 medium chopped into small bits
Ginger - about 1 inch chopped finely
Green Chilli - chopped finely about 1-2
Garlic (optional) - as much as you can take
Tomatoes - 1-2 chopped roughly
Potatoes - cut into small bits

In a wide pan, add about 1 tsp oil. Add 1/2 tsp mustard  seeds and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds. Then, add in the onions, ginger and green chilli and saute for a min.

When the onions are done, add in the tomatoes and fry for a min. 

Then add the potatoes in. The potatoes can also be broiled similar to the okra. Or they can pre steamed in the microwave for about 4-5 mins so they are a little soft and don't take a long time cooking.

Season the veggies with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and a little coriander powder. Mix well and cook for about 5-10 mins or until the potatoes are done tender.

Checking back on the okra and they look perfectly done.

Move the cooked okra and mix with rest of the veggies and mix well so the flavors mix completely. Cook for about 2 mins. Switch off and you're done!

Serve hot with rotis or rice and daal. These work great as a filling for a wrap too. Easy and handy wrap.

This might not help you with math but will provide you a satisfying dinner. And then you can use all that happiness to learn math if you want to. 

Enjoy. Peace out!

Simple Carrot Ginger Stir Fry

Sometimes simple things in life are most beautiful and most enjoyable. Like sipping your morning coffee while listening to the birds chirping outside. Or relaxing on the beach on a hot day under an umbrella and reading a good novel. Or just listening to an infant’s toothless laughter. Or watching your favorite movie for the 100^th time and still getting choked up. And this stir fry is right up that alley.

It just takes a few minutes to prepare this dish. But, you have to take your time to enjoy eating this. And if you’re a ginger lover, do make this today. My dad is a big ginger lover and I made this for him years back as just a impromptu side dish – since carrots and ginger always go well together. From then, this has always been in my must-do-list when dad is visiting.

Do find the juiciest and most tender ginger you can get your hands on for this dish. You don’t want to use ginger that might not get ground in a mixer too! Not for this dish. Also, pick the freshest carrots – firm and juicy.

Peel and chop the carrots and ginger lengthwise into long bits.

Microwave the carrots in water in a glass bowl for about 3-4 mins so that they get a little cooked. You’ll need a just blanched consistency – not too soft and completely cooked. Or you could just blanch them in hot water for a minute. Set aside. You can reuse the water for anything else you’re cooking like rasam or sambar or even to cook rice. Its got some vitamins from the carrots and let’s not just waste it down the drain.

In a pan, add about 2 tsps of cooking oil. When hot, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add some fresh green curry leaves next. Once that sizzles, go ahead and add the cut ginger. Saute for a min.

Then, add the blanched carrots in here and mix well with the ginger.

For flavoring, I keep it real simple and add just salt, a pinch or turmeric and 1 tsp of red chilli powder. You can get creative with seasoning if you’d like.

Cook for about 5 mins and you’re done. Do make sure that the carrots are not cooked mushy – they need to have a bite in them. That is what makes it tasty.

Serve hot.

And yes, please do eat the ginger too. They taste really good. And the carrots get the spice from the gingers and the gingers get a little sweetness from the carrots. It’s a marriage made in the pan. And we can all relish it!

Enjoy. Peace out!

Oven Roasted Veggies

Many of you have seen a preview of this in my previous post Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.

I served these alongside the cabbage rolls and these were indeed a perfect accompaniment! And it takes just a couple of mins to prepare this super tasting dish and then its just the baking time. I love this combination of root vegetables and being such an easy thing to make - I've started making this quite often too. It takes a lot less oil than if you are pan frying these veggies. And the flavor remains the same or even better.

You can use any combination of root vegetable - parsnips, turnips, radishes, all types of potatoes, carrots, beets, yams - except of course Horse radish - that'll just make it too strong. We'll skip that!

I just used the basic veggies - potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and added some onions for flavor! I wasn't stocked up on the other veggies and could not wait to make this another day! Maybe the next time, I'll make it with all the root veggies I can get my hands on.

As you see the picutres - you'll realize what an easy dish this is to make. And I'm hoping you'll read this and go into your kitchen, search for all the root veggies you have and start making this. Because you just have to - you have to taste this to believe how good it is!

Chop up a medium onion into big pieces. Add to a wide mixing bowl.

Then, chop some carrots into big chunks and add to the onions.

Now the potatoes - just wash the skin well and cut along with the skin. You don't have to peel them.

Same with the sweet potatoes. Just wash well and chop roughly.

Now, add some fresh chopped basil. You can also add mint or parsley or even cilantro if you don't have basil. Totally up to your taste buds and what's available in the kitchen.

Now add about 1/8 th of a cup or approz about 1 big tbsp of olive oil or your normal cooking oil.

Next, sprinkle some salt to taste.

And some cayenne pepper or red chilli powder for a little spice! I added my Kashmiri red chilli powder - helps with the color too!

Mix everything together well. Now, did that take you all of 3 mins? Its that easy!

Move the veggies to a baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake in a pre heated oven at 375F for about 20 mins. The veggies are actually at the bottom  - the cabbage rolls were on the top. I love multitasking!

But, you will have to take out the pan every 10 mins once and give the veggies a gentle toss. This is to make sure that they cook evenly and besides you also get a chance to pick and taste a bite while its baking! Shhh...trade secrets!

Its about half done here. I took it out to give the veggies a toss. And the center of the potatoes are not done yet - how do I know? Trade secret.

Once you think that they have cooked well, remove the foil on top and broil for about 5 mins. This will help to get a nice crisp top to the veggies. The veggies will be soft and completely full of flavor - that's when you take them out of the oven and serve hot to your hungry family.

You can serve this as a side to your favorite pasta dishes, or even with Indian rotis or rice.

Enjoy! Peace out!

Stuffed Baby Eggplants!

Many of you are probably quite familiar with this dish. But I still wanted to post it and show you a couple of ways to make this an absolute perfect tasting dish. Guaranteed!

I grew up not liking this veggie here much - this was my sister's favorite - maybe that's why I decided that I should not like it. And so I picked Vendakkai (Bhindi) to be my favorite. Somehow they were opposites. And as sisters you just have to like the opposite things. Vendakkai - Kathirikka. Like Prabhu and Karthik in Agni Natchatiram - you can only like one person. But, now I'm just sad that I wasted many years not knowing this veggie well..not having interacted with it in a very personal manner, not having had the pleasure of licking the very last of the stuffing that sticks to your plate sometimes. So, all you little ones that say you don't like this veggie - give it a try this way. You won't regret like me later in your lives! Really....its ok to like both Prabhu and Karthik in Agni Natchatiram. For all of you who are not familiar with Agni Natchatiram, here's the wiki version. This was is still a classic movie in Tamil by Mani Ratnam..one of his best works ever. Unlike Raavanan.

Every time we make this at home, this gets eaten as is while getting cooked...none of us can wait until its served on the plate! We taste test it every min..hot from the pan.

Here's the low down on the stuffing -

Lots of Dhania - I add about 1/3 cup actually. Love the flavor.
Channa Daal - 1 tbsp
Urad Daal - 1/2 tbsp
Jeera - about 1 tsp
Black pepper - about 5-6 whole peppers
Red Chillies - 4-5 or more if you like it spicier
White Sesame Seeds - about 1 heaped tbsp
Salt to taste. Remember to add a little extra because this salt also needs to work for the eggplants as well.

Dry roast each of these ingredients separately. Once they are roasted golden, move quickly to a bowl. Once all the ingredients are roasted, we can move on to the next step - grinding them.

Move all of the roasted ingredients to a mixie or blender. Add about 1/2 cup of grated coconut on top. Fresh or frozen is fine.

Then, add about 1/2 cup of roasted peanuts too on top. I roasted with the skin on and  left the skin on too - you're not going to taste it anyway, why waste 10 mins trying to deskin them? Use that time to go catch up with friends on Facebook!

Grind everything together to a nice coarse powder. Now get ready for the fun part.

Stuffing the baby eggplants!!

A little background here. Just like almost all of us, I never cared how my mom cooked our food when we were growing up. But I should have noticed this before and should have remembered it for life. Instead, when I started cooking years back, I googled and found recipes for stuffed eggplants and would cut my veggie into 4 pieces all the way to almost the bottom and then stuff the powder in and cook. Yes, those would turn out good too. But, this time when I was making it, my mom came over and she said she'll cut the veggies. I said yeah, sure go ahead and I got into making the stuffing. A few mins later, I turn back and I see this. Darn. Why did I not remember this the last million times I made stuffed eggplants? My mom always cuts the eggplants into almost 16 partitions and not 4!! You can imagine how the flavor of the stuffing would reach the insides of the eggplants! All the way inside..all the way around. No thick layers, but all thin and tender and still a whole eggplant when cooked and completely flavorful. That's when I decided I will blog about this so that all of you reading can also try stuffed eggplants this way and see the difference for yourselves!

So cut the veggies and stuff it well with as much stuffing as you can get inside without ripping the poor thing apart.

And here's how I like to cook them.

Take the widest pan you have in your kitchen. Heat the pan. Add about 1 tbsp of oil. Swirl the oil all around the pan so that the pan is evenly coated with oil.

Now, turn the heat to simmer.

Then, place the little eggplants starting from the edges and move towards the center of the pan. Try your best to get a pan that can hold all the eggplants in a snug fit! Like mine here.

Now, be patient. Let this cook in simmer. Keep the pan covered and let the steam cook the veggies too. 

After about 7-8 mins, when you think the bottoms would have cooked well, gently turn each eggplant to its side. Let it cook on this side for a few mins. Again, keep it covered and in simmer. Add a few drops on oil on top ...just to make it more tasty - no other scientific reasons!

Now, using a skewer or even a toothpick, gently rotate the eggplant so that you introduce a new side to the heat. You can poke right at the center to get a strong hold of each one to rotate. Once again, let this side cook for a few mins, covered and in simmer. Follow this step until you think all sides have cooked well.

Do not use a spatula or karandi to turn these over. Be really gentle with them so you don't break them up. They have a heart too - be nice.

You will actually start seeing some sides getting a good roast. This is where we start doing the so called taste testing - essentially, that means I've run out of patience and I start eating these...first start with one, then a couple in a spoon, and then a few in a cup. Finally by the time this comes to the table, there are only a few pieces left!

When you taste and think its all done including the center is fully cooked, switch off the stove, drag a chair near the stove, sit on it and start eating this right from the pan. Who cares where you eat your food?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the fruit of my labor - The most delicious tenderly cooked Stuffed Baby Eggplant. Look at it quick because it will be gone in a min.

Here's my new thali plate that I bought from a friend who sells these here. I absolutely love these plates and use it on any occasion I get to feed more than 3 people! You can see our partial menu for the day here below - pearl onion sambar, rice, baby potatoes fry, stuffed baby eggplant and spinach with daal. Looks like the theme of the day was baby vegetables! And then we had rasam and dahi and pickles too!

If any of you in the LA/OC area are interested to get these plates, let me know. I'll provide you her details! These are really heavy stainless steel thali plates. They are dishwasher safe too but I prefer hand washing them.

Of course, I have to leave you with another parting shot of the juicy tenderness!

Enjoy! Peace Out!