16 Bean Gravy

The inspiration for this recipe is from a dish called Sundal Rasam by Mallika Badrinath. I have made a few variations to the recipe, like increased or decreased the quantity of Masala and instead of using peas in the recipe I used 16 Bean Soup Mix.


























This is available in most grocery stores and has all the beans in one pack. It is a very colorful mixture of different types of beans. I generally find it in the Goya Foods / Pasta aisle. Pick a packet of 16 Bean mix for a little over a dollar and enjoy a healthy and nutritious meal.








Ingredients

16 Beans mix - 1/2 pound (soak overnight)
Garlic - 3 flakes(chopped)
Onion - 2 medium(chopped)
Tamarind Paste - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery a small piece (about 1/2 tsp)
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies - 2
Asafoetida- a pinch
Curry Leaves, Cilantro for Garnishing
Salt, Oil for seasoning



Grind together

Coriander Seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp
Cumin - 1 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 4
Black gram dal & Bengal gram dal - 1 tsp

Fry the above until golden brown, add 2 tbsp of coconut and grind to paste.



Method:

Heat oil in a pressure pan. Add mustard seeds, when it splutters add asafoetida, 2 broken red chillies, curry leaves, onions and garlic. Fry till onions are brown add turmeric, and the ground paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the soaked 16 Beans, salt and enough water and pressure cook till done.


Allow this to cool. Open lid add tamarind, jaggery and salt if needed and boil for 2 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with Puris/Roti/Jeera Rice











This Yummy, Spicy Gravy is my entry to Tasty Palettes: Announcing MLLA, Sixth Helping - Hot & Spicy hosted by Suganya started by Susan @The Well-Seasoned Cook: My Legume Love Affair - The Host Lineup

Drumstick Leaves Majige Huli / Mor Kolumbu

Drumstick tree is the most nutrient tree in the world, its root,bark,leaves,flowers and pods can cure more than 300 diseases (according to Ayurveda) . "Drumstick" tree (moringa oleifera) is an "all-natural multi-vitamin” and a natural energy booster and its leaves contain high amounts of Vitamin A (four times more than carrots), Vitamin C (seven times more than oranges), protein (twice that of milk), iron(three times the iron of spinach) calcium (four times more than milk) and potassium (triple the amount in bananas) and are low in fat and carbohydrates.The leaves and pods are highly effective in preventing/reversing vision related problems and respiratory ailments, especially in children.

The juice from the moringa leaves is believed to stabilize blood pressure, the flowers are used to cure inflammations, the pods are used for joint pain, the roots are used to treat rheumatism, and the bark can be chewed as a digestive and the gum that exudes from the stem is used to treat headaches

Drumstick info courtesy http://indiacuisine.blogspot.com/2006/02/whb-moringa-tree-drumstick-leaves-soup.html

Drumstick leaves do bring some fond memories back. Growing up it was not available where I lived but used to enjoy it whenever i visited my grandparents. My in-laws had a tree in their backyard too. Strange to say I have never seen anyone selling these leaves, when ever these leaves were needed it was available fresh in the backyard. My mother - in - law saw these leaves in chinese store here and she got it home. Since it had a different name we were still not sure if they were the right kind of leaves but we still braved it and were very happy to have finally found the leaves in the US. The classic way of eating this is to top them over Adai. After reading the nutritious facts of the leaves I felt the need to use it regularly but running out of recipes thought of trying them in Majige Huli. Not bad...Not bad at all

Ingredients

Drumstick leaves - 3 cups

Buttermilk - 2 cups

Toor Dal - 1 tsp

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dhania - 1 tsp

Ginger 1/2 inch

Green Chillies - 2 (adjust as per taste)

Grated coconut 2 tsp

Turmeric and salt

Method

Soak Toor dal, Channa dal and methi seeds for an hour or till they become soft. Take 1/2 tsp oil in a pan fry channa dal, toor dal, methi seeds, dhania, ginger and green chillies till the raw smell has gone. Add coconut to this mixture and grind to a fine paste. Mix this paste to butter milk, mix well without lumps. Now take oil in a pan add the drumstick leaves add little water and cook for about 2-3 minutes till the leaves cook. Add the buttermilk, turmeric and salt mix well. Keep stirring this mixture and cook it in medium/low flame for a few more minutes. Serve hot with Rice and your favorite vegetable.

Paneer Bhurji

A quick recipe of grated Paneer and vegetables that is scrumptious. Paneer or Cottage Cheese is very versatile, it can be used in appetizers, main course or desserts. Paneer is readily available in indian groceries but if you are worried about the fat and calories you can easily make it at home using 2% milk

I made Paneer Bhurji for dinner and had some leftover so used it as spread on some wheat bread and had it for Lunch YUUMMMMYYY!!!

Ingredients

Grated paneer - 2 cups

Onion - 1 small

Capsicum - 1 small

Tomato puree - 2 tbsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1tbsp

Kitchen King/Garam Masala - 2 tsp

Cardamom - 3

Green Chillies - 2 (adjust as per taste)

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Salt, Turmeric

Cilantro for garnishing

Butter

Melt butter in a pan, add crushed cardamom and let it fry a while. Add cumin, onions, capsicum and fry. Add the ginger garlic paste, green chillies and tomato puree. Add turmeric, kitchen king, salt and grated paneer. Mix well and cook till paneer is soft and incorporated with all the spices. Garnish with Cilantro and serve hot with Roti, paratha or Nan.

Variations

Add 1/2 a cup of beaten curd if you want the dish to be in a little gravy form. You can also make this dish using Tofu.

Use tomatoes instead of puree. Use red, orange, yellow and green capsicum.

Cucumber Palya

This is a simple recipe. Really love the blend of cucumber and peanuts in this recipe. I think peanut do add a unique flavor to any recipe and also an extra crunch to this recipe. This palya can be served as a side dish to rice and dal, sambhar or rasam. Try it once and I am sure it will be a regular dish in you home.

Ingredients

Cucumbers - 3 large (peeled and chopped)

Peanuts - 3 tbsp roasted (grind coarsely)

Mustard seeds, Urad dal, channa dal, curry leaves, green chillies, cumin for seasoning

oil - 1 tbsp

turmeric

cilantro for garnishing

Method

Take oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, when they splutter add cumin, urad dal, channa dal when they turn brown add green chillies and curry leaves. Add the cucumbers, turmeric and salt. Mix well and let it cook do not add water. When the cucumbers are cooked add the peanuts and cilantro and mix well. Serve hot

Pineapple Gojju / Vetha Kozhambu

MMmmmmm. Just saying the word Gojju / Vetha Kozhambu makes my mouth water. This dish is a nice blend of sweet, sour and spice along with the flavor of the vegetable or in this case the fruit in it.

Typically the main ingredient in gojju is tamarind for that sour taste but I have skipped tamarind in this recipe because pineapple already has the sour taste to it. Hence the cooking time is also reduced as you don't have to boil the tamarind water to remove the raw flavor.

The first time I tasted this dish was in a temple in India fell in love with it instantly but forgot all about it until recently had a taste of it again in a temple in New Jersey. Well after a lot of trails and errors I finally hit the Jackpot and discovered this amazing recipe. Now I am proud to post this on my blog by popular demand from friends and family. Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients

Dole Crushed Pineapple - 1 tin

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Sesame seeds - 6 tsps

Coconut dry - 3 tsps

Red Chillies - 4 (adjust as per taste)

Curry Leaves, salt, hing, mustard seeds, oil

Method

Dry roast coriander seeds, Methi seeds, Urad dal, Sesame Seeds and Red Chillies seperately. Let it cool. Add coconut to this and grind to a fine paste. Now take oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters add hing and curry leaves. Add the paste try not to add water as the gravy need to be a little thick, add salt and turmeric powder and mix well. To this add the crushed pineapple and mix . Bring it to a boil and switch off the gas it need not cook for long. Serve hot with plain rice and a dollap of ghee on top.

Variation:

You can also make this recipe using Raw Mangoes instead of Pineapple. The only difference is peel and cut the mango in 1 inch cubes and cook it seperately in water with Jaggery, salt and turmeric added to it till it is soft and then follow the above recipe. This recipe was given to me by co-sister Roopa who is also a great cook and never tires experimenting with new dishes.

Dal Fry

Dal and rice is really a comfort food for most of us. This recipe takes about 15 minutes to make, tastes delicious.

Ingredients

Toor Dal - 1 cup

Small Onion - 1

Green chillies - 2

Jeera - 1 tsp

turmeric a pinch

salt,oil

Garlic - 2 pods

Curry leaves

Cilantro/coriander

Mint leaves - 4

Method

Cook dal along with garlic in cooker. Take oil in a pan. Add jeera, when it splutters add green chillies and curry leaves. Now add onions and cook for a while. Add turmeric, dal, salt. Mix well and bring it to a boil. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and mint leaves. Cook some more. Serve hot with rice. YUM

It is ok to skip the garlic in this recipe if you are not used to it

Shown in the picture is Dal fry served with Rice and Beetroot Palya

Beetroot Palya

Lot of people i know are not such big fans of beetroot, I think it is the color that puts them off. I like beetroot though, it is not my favorite vegetable but i can eat it once in a while. Well today we will be making beetroot palya. It is a very simple recipe to make and tastes good with chappati or rice. So here goes.




Ingredients
3 large beetroot(peeled and grated)
1 small onion chopped
3 green chillies slit in the center(add according to taste)
curry leaves a few
jeera 1 tsp
roasted peanut 3 tbsp






Take oil in a pan. Add jeera, curry leaves,chillies,onions and fry for a while. Fry for sometime till the onions turn brown. Now add the grated beetroot, salt and mix well. Let this cook for a while do not add water. Coarsly grind the peanuts and garnish on top of the beetroot. Enjoy!!!!

Sevai

It is one of those days I am really not sure what to make. Don't really feel like make rice/dal /rotis. So just thought will make some tiffen for dinner today. Once again at a loss what to make, was going through the things in my pantry and found a packet of rice vermicelli/Sevai my mom got, well so vermicelli/Sevai it is for dinner tonight. It is easy to make half your job is already done for you, the vermicelli is already made. In south India they make the vermicelli/Sevai from scratch which is a little time consuming but real delicious, it is worth all the effort.

Rice Vermicelli is readily available in any Indian stores. I got a 1lb pack and made 2 kinds of vermicelli for dinner. One is lemon and the other is coconut. You could cook the vermicelli whole and it will look like noodles when done. In this receipe I cut the vermicelli into about 2 inch pieces just because we prefer it that way. Cutting it before cooking makes it easier.



Method

Put all the vermicelli in a big Pan. Boil water seperately and add the boiling water to vermicelli, all of the vermicelli should be covered with the boiling water cover the pan for 5 minutes check to see if the noodles are cooked and then drain all the water.


In a pan take oil. Add mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal, hing, curry leaves and red chillies. When the dal turns brown switch off the heat and add 2 cups grated coconut(fresh or dry ) add salt and mix well add half the cooked noodles and mix. Coconut Sevai is done.

In a pan take oil. Add mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal, hing, curry leaves, grated ginger and green chillies. When dal turns brown add turmeric, mix well add the remaining noodles, salt and lemon juice and mix well. Lemon Sevai is ready.

These dishes taste good by themselves. If u need something to go with it can have it with sundal.

We really loved the taste of these noodles with garlic rasam. Accidently stumbled upon this combination. When I made this sevai at home I also felt like I am starting to get a cold so made garlic rasam and tried the sevai with it and it tastes amazing. Will post the recipe for garlic rasam soon. Till then Happy Cooking !!!!

Tomato Raita

Raita can be one good addition to any meal. Raita can be made with raw vegetables / cooked vegetables. Today we will make tomato raita. It is easy to make, colorful, and tastes delicious.

This raita goes well with sambhar, kootu or chappati. You can use whole tomatoes or tomato puree. With the Puree it is a smooth mixture and also it has a good color.




Ingredients
Tomatoes - 2 large / puree - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Urad dal - 1tsp
Hing
Green chillies - 2
Cilantro (Coriander leaves)
Yogurt - 1 1/2 cup
Oil, turmeric, salt

Method
Take oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When it splutters add urad dal, when the dal turns brown add hing, curry leaves and green chillies. Now add the tomatoes, salt and turmeric and cook well till all the tomatoes are nicely mashed. Add finely cut cilantro mix well and remove from fire. The tomatoes have to be completely mashed and should look like this.


Cool this mixture and add it to yogurt and mix well. Enjoy the Yummy Raita

Cauliflower and Peanut Kootu

This one is my moms receipe. I am not a big fan of cauliflower but this dish I really like because my mom makes it real spicy and also it tastes amazing with Tomato Raita, and to finish the meal Curd Rice with the kootu on the side MMMmmmmmm!!!



Kootu is like Sambhar only thicker. This receipe can also be made using beans / carrot and peas / cabbage or all the above vegetables mixed together instead of cauliflower and peanut.


Ingredients

Toor Dal - 1 cup
Cauliflower - 1
Peanut - 1/2 cup
Channa Dal - 2 tbsp
Urad Dal - 2 tbsp
Pepper - 2 tsp
Red chillie - 2 (since pepper is added this is already spicy so u can skip the red chillie if u don't want it too spicy)
Coconut - 2 tbsp
Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves, cilantro, mustard seeds, Hing, turmeric and salt.




Method

Soak peanut for an hour. Seperate the cauliflower flowerets and wash them. Cook toor dal, cauliflower and peanuts together.

In a pan fry channa dal, urad dal, pepper and red chillies till they are brown. Cool this add the coconut and grind to a smooth paste.

Take oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters add hing, curry leaves and 1 cup water. When the water boils add the tamarind paste and turmeric. Mix and let it boil for a while till the raw smell of tamarind has gone. Now add the paste and mix. Then add the dal, cauliflower and peanut, salt and mix well u can add a little water if you feel it is too thick. Garnish with cilantro.







Serve hot with rice or Chappati

In the picture Kootu is served with Rice and Tomato Raita

Modak

Modak is Ganeshas favorite sweet. Modak can be made it lots of different ways like fried or steamed, using rice flour or wheat flour, with different kinds of filling in the modak.

As a kid our neighbor used to make modaks for sankasti and always send some to our house. One of my favorite fillings was a spicy filling with powdered peppercorn in it. When it was time to do aarti I would eagerly be looking at the door to see if aunty is bringing the modaks.

Now that I have started doing the pooja myself I always try to make some sweet. So this time I tried making modaks. I made fried modak using wheat flour with coconut filling. The recipe for the coconut filling is from my friend chitra. It is a perfect measurement. Thanx chitra for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

For outer covering

Wheat flour - 2 cups

salt, oil and water

Mix all and knead into a dough and keep aside.

For filling

Coconut - 3 cups

Sugar - 1 cup

Cardamon - 3

Ghee - 2 tsp

Cashews, raisins

Put all the ingredients in a pan and cook till the mixtures is completely mixed and leaves sides of the pan. keep aside and cool.

To make modaks

Make small balls of the dough. Roll them using a rolling pin the size of a puri.

Add a couple of spoons of the coconut mixture in the center

Now bring the centers of the puri together, like a semi circle

Bring the left side of the puri together to the center.

Now do the same thing on the right

Join the whole thing in the center in the shape of a modak.

All the time making sure that the mixture is all inside.

After all the modaks are ready. Deep fry them in oil till they are golden brown.

Paneer Masala

One of my friends made this masala for me when she came to my place for a visit. It is very versatile, the base masala is the same and you can add your own variation. You can make this masala ahead of time and refrigerate it and just before serving mix all the remaining ingredients and microwave it. Thanks Vinita for this wonderful recipe.


















Ingredients
Onions - 2 large
Tomatoes -4 medium
Ginger - 1 1/2 inch
Garlic - 4-6 pods
kasoori methi - 2 tsp
MDH Kitchen King/Garam Masala - 2 tbsp
Chillie powder - 1 tsp
Cream - 1/2 cup
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Paneer
Capsicum - 1 small(cut lengthwise)
Onion - 1 small(cut lengthwise)

Method

Take olive oil in a pan. Cut the large onions and add it to the oil. Add chopped ginger and garlic. Fry till the onions are completely brown in color( this is very important as this adds flavor to the dish). Now add chopped tomatoes and again cook till it is fully cooked, the tomatoes have to be completely mashed. Switch off the gas, cool the mixture and grind. This is the base masala.

Now take a little oil in another pan. Add the small onion cut lengthwise and fry. Once done remove it and keep aside. Now add the capsicum and fry it and keep aside. Fry Paneer.

Before serving add all the fried vegetables and paneer to the Masala Paste. Add kasoori methi, garam masala, turmeric, chillie powder, salt and cream and mix well and microwave this mixture for 3 minutes or cook the whole thing on the stove top for 3 minutes. Serve with parathas/rice.



Variation : Another way to do this is instead of adding paneer,onions and capsicum for the same mixture add Cooked rajma.

In the picture I have served Paneer Masala with Mixed Rice

Mixed Rice

Came across this receipe accidently. I had some left over rice without any side dish at home so just tried to mix together a few things at home and the final result was yummy!!! After that day this has kind of become a main dish rather than something made of left over. One masala that i really like and try to always have it in my kitchen is MDH Kitchen King. It is really good and adds a good flavour to any dish.

I am sharing 2 of my dishes that i make using this masala that go well together

Ingredients for Mixed Rice

Basmati rice - 1 cup

carrots - 2

Capsicum - 1 large

Peas a handful

Onion- 1 large

Beans a few

Garlic - 2 cloves

mint leaves a few for garnish

MDH Kitchen King Masala- 2 tbsp(adjust as per taste)

salt

Olive Oil 3 tbsp/ Butter

Jeera -1 tsp

Method

Wash the rice, drain all the water and keep aside. Cut all the vegetables Lengthwise. Boil 2 cups of water. Take oil in a pan. Add Jeera and onions and fry till onions are brown. Add capsicum and garlic and fry some more, now add the remaining vegetables and cook for a minute. Add rice, salt,masala and mix well. Add the warm water and chopped mint leaves and cover and let it cook in medium heat.

When done serve hot with raitha or chips

Potato Halwa

The first time I tasted this dish was in a temple in India. We all enjoyed it so much we tried to make it after coming home. Well after that I forgot all about it until recently when I was in a friends place she was talking about it and it brought back a lot of memories. Well I then tried it during the festival season and here is the yummy receipe.

Ingredients

Potatoes - 4 boiled and grated

Sugar - 1 1/2 cups (adjust as per taste)

Milk - 1 cup

ghee - 1/2 cup

Cardamom

Cashews

a little food color

Method

Fry the cashews in ghee and keep aside. Add potatoes, sugar, milk and some ghee to a pan and keep stirring. Continue stirring and adding ghee gradually until all the ingredients come together. Add cardamom, cashews and color and mix well.

Serve hot

Instead of sugar and milk use condensed milk for a richer halwa

Avial

Avial is a traditional Kerala dish. It has lots of vegetables and is also easy to make. In my house my mom made avial everytime we made bisibelabath because that is considered a good combination. Later on when i started cooking i realised avial tastes excellent with Mysore Rasam, so now whenever i make mysore rasam i make avial. Since it has lots of vegetables the quantity that u get is also a lot but in my house it is never enough. Another popular combination with Avial is Adai (a kind of dosa made with a mix of all dals).

The receipe that i have is given to me by a friend of mine who is from kerala, but she has made some changes to it to suit her taste and i love this receipe because you really can't go wrong with it. It tastes YUM!!!!

Seen in the Picture is Avial with Mysore Rasam.
For Rasam recipe go to http://www.saviskitchen.blogspot.com/


Ingredients
Carrots -3
Potatoes -3
Beans -a few
Drumstick
Plaintain(raw banana) -3
Chow Chow/Choyate/Squash -3
Snake guard -3
peas - a handful
yam
Pumpkin
Coconut -3 cups
green chillies as per taste
cumin seeds 2tbsp
sour cream/curd (personally i prefer sour cream)
curry leaves


Method:
Cut all the vegetables. It is really important to cut all in the same size as they can cook evenly.


Now add all the vegetables in a vessel, add some water, curry leaves, turmeric and let them cook. Do not add a lot of water as the juices from the vegetables will also help cook them.

Meanwhile grind the coconut, jeera, and chillies to a fine paste, in the end add 1/2 cup of sour cream and grind it one last time just enough for everything to mix well.

When the vegetables are cooked add the paste and salt and mix well. If desired sprinkle with coconut oil.

Now it is ready to eat

Variation : Instead of fresh coconut i use dry coconut so it gives the nice coconut taste. In this case you need not sprinkle coconut oil

Microwave Sweet

Sweet is something that i make regularly at home. Not only because i love sweets but also for Pooja as Naivedya. This is one sweet i have made very often because it is really simple and you can make the whole thing in the microwave. The sweet is ready in about 15-20 minutes. I don't really know how i came across this receipe, but i have been making it a lot in my house. Hope you enjoy this sweet as much as we relish it in our family

















Ingredients:
Milk Powder 1 1/2 cups
Condensed Milk (Sweetened) 1 tin
Butter Unsalted 1 stick

METHOD
Melt butter in microwave. Melt it in a big microwave dish so that you can make the whole sweet in the same dish. Mix the remaining ingredients. Microwave in intervals for about 6 minutes. Keep stirring and keep repeating the process till the whole mixture looks brown and can be rolled into balls. Garnish the balls with nuts of your choice.

Variation : You can also spread it in a plate and cut them into cubes and serve in individual butter cups