Category: Vegetable curries/daal

Savory butternut squash

I have been making an effort to eat local and eat what is in season. To help with this initiative, I only shop at the farmer’s market as much as I can. The only exceptions are curry leaves and mango.

My kids sometimes complain that I always find some type of squash in the market, they are right, you will always find some kind of squash in the market. The butternut squash is typically available in fall. The market I go to, one farmer carries organic apples and different kinds of squashes. I love butternut squash since it holds its shape fairly well even after cooking.

When I was ready to cook this squash, my friend Hrushikesh posted this recipe. This recipe reminded me of the subji that is served as a Prasad ( a blessing) at a a very famous temple. I visited it when I was in 7th grade. I fondly remember sitting on the floor and eating this subji with thick whole wheat rotis on a plate made with dried leaves. I did not know what Bio degradable or compostable meant, now I appreciate that plate even more.

So I decided to try the recipe right away and the outcome was delicious. It can be easily tweaked to be eaten as a fasting food as well.

Savory butternut squash

Pumpkin Subji

Ingredients

3/4 kgs of pumpkin chopped in squares of about 2″ x 2″ (peels on)
3/4 cup grated dried coconut
1 tbsp Poppy seeds ( खसखस )
2 green chillies finely chopped
2 medium sized dried chillies
1 tbsp cashews chopped
10-15 fenugreek seeds
2 tsp Corriander powder
1 full stem of curry leaves
2 tbsp Raisins
1/2 cup of water

For tempering
1 1/2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A pinch of asafoetida

Method

Peel the squash and cut in cubes.

If you are using pumpkin, you can leave the skin on as it helps keep the cubes intact and does not get mushy.

Heat the oil in a wok. When hot, add cumin seeds, turmeric powder and asafoetida.

Add the raisins, curry leaves, green & red chillies, cashew nuts, fenugreek seeds,poppy seeds and roast it for about 2 mins.

Now add 1 tsp of corriander powder (the remaining 1 tsp goes in at the end) and roast it for another minute or slow on a low flame.

Add a few drops of water if it starts to burn.

You can add more chillies if you like, since the squash has its natural sweet taste, sugar or jaggery is not required
Now add the cut pumpkin cubes, there’s no need to steam it as these cubes do get cooked well.

Add 1/4 cup of water and cover this with a lid for about 3-4 mins. Check after that add some more water and let it cook for another 4-5 mins or until done.

Add the roasted dry coconut & 1 tsp of Dhaniya powder.

Cook it till its done.

Serve it hot with roti or Teekhi puris.

Tags butternut squash, cashewnut, easy, fenugreek, healthy, quick

Curry Healthy foods Low GI Maharashtrian Vegetable curries/daal Vegetarian

Simple Buttermilk Spinach curry

Post author By Anagha
Post date July 27, 2015
No Comments on Simple Buttermilk Spinach curry

As you learn more and more about Indian cuisine, you will notice that not only every region has its own cuisine and delicacies but also different food is made at different occasions.t is believed that different food bring in different qualities to your body and mind.For e.g. whenever there is a religious occasion, typically food is cooked without onion and garlic.

Yesterday was one such special day, it is believed that Lord Vishnu the creator goes to sleep on this day. A lot of Indians keep a fast on this day.

Today I decided to make a meal which had no onion or garlic. My kids love Indian food, so decided to make their favorites.

This particular curry is very typical of a brahmin household. In brahmin cuisine, you will see heavy usage of milk products along with ginger and Cumin. This recipe can be made with any of the greens except Fenugreek, I feel that it tastes way too bitter.

Ingredients

2 cups of cleaned washed and chopped Spinach leaves

1/4 cup raw peanuts

2 tbsp Chana daal

1 cup Buttermilk ( If you don’t have buttermilk you can use Yogurt blended with some water)

2 tsp Besan ( Chick pea flour)

1 green chili, split in two pieces

1 clove of Garlic ( optional)

1 pinch of Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Jeera ( Cumin Seeds)

1 pinch of Sugar

Salt to taste

Oil or Ghee for tempering

Method

Soak the peanuts and Chana daal in water for 30-40 mins. Add some salt and set aside.

In a pressure cooker add some water. In a steel pot add the chopped spinach with 2 tbsp of water and the bowl with soaked peanuts and daal.

Pressure cook for 2 whistles.

When the cooker is cooled down, take out the spinach and mash with a ladle or your hand.

Mix in the cooked Peanuts and Chana Daal.

In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk with the chickpea flour, sugar and salt. Make sure there are no lumps of chickpea flour. Add water if needed to make a mixture that is like a thin smoothie.

Add this mixture to the spinach mixture.
Now you can make it two ways. You can make Tadka ( tempering) in a pot and add the spinach mixture and cook. Or, cook the spinach mixture and then temper it later. Both work great.

First method:

Heat oil or ghee in a sauce pan. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and saute for 10 sec. Add green chilies, and chopped garlic( if using). If you add garlic, leave out the Asafoetida.

Saute till the Garlic is a little browned.

Add the Spinach mixture and cook on a really low flame, stirring frequently. Cooking on a low flame ensure that the buttermilk does not curdle and allows the Chickpea flour to cook completely.

Here is the second method:

Cook the spinach mixture in a pot.

Make the tempering in a ladle. I use the iron one. I love it since it has a long handle and does not get hot, and it helps me get some extra iron in my diet.

Add the tempering ( oil mixture) to the cooked Spinach mixture

Add chopped cilantro and serve.

If you want to serve it with rice, you can make it a bit thinner. If you want to serve it with Roti/bread, you can make it a bit thicker.

I love eating it even on its own. It tastes great hot or cold.

Tonight I served it with whole wheat roti( Indian bread), sautéd Tondli and home made cultured butter.

Tags buttermilk, curry, healthy, spinach

Curry Indian Vegetable curries/daal

Lauki majedar

I try to eat and cook only what is in season, so I only shop at the farmers market for my fruits and vegetables. You will always find some kind of squash in season. Most of the summer and almost through the fall season, you will get opo squash in the market. It is easy to clean and very nutritious, so I try to include that in our diet as I can, be it in the form of a salad, curry, Soup, Parantha( Indian flat bread) or even dessert. Although it is very good for you, it can be very bland testing and needs some dressing up.

Typically you will find Lauki made with some sort of lentil, or in a form of a kofta. This recipe is none of that, it is very simple and easy to make. I also like the fact that it does not have onion or garlic and hence can be a nice addition to a dinner plate with other curries with onion, garlic.

For last night’s dinner I made egg curry which had onion and garlic, so I made the lauki majedar to compliment it.

Ingredients

1 lauki ( squash)

1 tbsp Panch Phoran

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 inch ginger

1 green chili

1 roma tomato

Cilantro for garnish

Oil

1/2 tsp ghee ( optional)

Method

Peel and chop the squash in fine dice. Chop tomatoes in small pieces. Chop ginger in fine pieces. Chop green chilies in fine pieces as well.

Heat oil. Add panch phoran, turmeric saute for 10 secs. Make sure that the panch phoran does not burn otherwise the methi might start tasting bitter.

Add ginger and green chilies, saute for 10 secs.

Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for 20 secs.

Add chopped squash and mix well. Add salt to taste and cover. Cook on low flame until cooked.

Add the ghee if using.

Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Tags healthy, Indian, vegan, vegetarian

Kashmiri Vegetable curries/daal

Kashmiri Baingan(Eggplant)

Post author By Anagha
Post date August 28, 2014
No Comments on Kashmiri Baingan(Eggplant)

Kashmir- the jewel crown of India, not only is it famous for its beautiful landscape and people but its cuisine is also delectable. Kashmir cuisine has two distinct areas, one influenced by the Pandit community and the other by the Muslim community. You can see influence of Persian cuisine is dishes like ‘Khubani ka halwa, Pomegranate chutney. The recipes use ingredients like the flower extract, dried spices, dried fruit and milk products.

The Pandit cuisine recipes show minimal use of onion and garlic. This eggplant recipe reflects so. I got this recipe from a man whom I met on one of the trips to India. He was very happy that I was interested in learning about Kashmiri cuisine and happily shared a couple of recipes with me.

Kashmiri Baingan

Ingredients:

2-3 long eggplants

salt

a pinch of sugar

oil

Spices:

2 tbsp tamarind pulp ( mixed with some water)

1/4 tsp hing mixed with 1 tbsp of water

1/2 tsp dry ginger powder

1/2 tsp fennel powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder

1 pinch of kasuri methi

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Method:

Slice the eggplant in thick slices and apply salt and both sides. Let rest for 20 min and then dab it dry with a kitchen towel.

Saute the eggplant in a pan with little oil. The traditional version calls for frying the eggplants but I decide to shallow fry them. Take the eggplants out on a plate.

In the same pan heat some oil. Add the red chili powder and turmeric powder.

Saute and then add the tamarind pulp mixed with water to the pan.

When it comes to a boil, add the rest of the dry spices like dry ginger, fennel powder, sugar & salt.

Cook for a min and then add the cooked eggplant slices. Mix well and cover to cook for 1-2 mins.

Add the kasoori methi and mix well.

Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Note: I forgot to add garam masala today. A pinch of garam masala taste good in this dish

Tags dry ginger, fennel, jain, vegetarian

Vegetable curries/daal

Sprouted fenugreek seeds curry

Post author By Anagha
Post date May 7, 2014
1 Comment on Sprouted fenugreek seeds curry

When you think of Fenugreek seeds, you think of its bitter taste. It is amazing how different the same seeds taste once sprouted. I have another post on Methi Sprouts. Today we will be making a curry with these sprouts. My recipe is based on an old cook book.

Sprouted Methi Usal

Ingredients:

2 cups sprouted Methi seeds

1 onion chopped

2 tomatoes finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh coconut

2-3 tbsp of roasted peanut powder

1/2 tbsp jaggery

1/2 tsp goda masala( or any other subji masala)

1/2 tsp red chili powder

oil for tempering

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

pinch of asafoetida

salt to taste

chopped cilantro

Method:

Heat oil in the pan. When the oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric. Once the mustard seeds pop, add asafoetida. Add chopped onions and saute until brown. Add tomatoes and cook a little more. Now add the masala and red chili powder. Add the sprouts and 1/2 cup warm water. Cover and cook till the sprouts are done. It takes about 5-7 minutes. Now add jaggery, coconut, peanut powder and cook a little longer. Add salt to taste. Add cilantro and serve.

It is ready to be served with fresh roti or rice.

Note: The sprouts do have a bit bitter taste which gets less intense if you let the sprouts grow for a little longer time.

Tags choleostrol, diabetic, fenugreek, healthy, sprout, vegan