Spinach in coconut milk!

I used to like spinach gravy so much.  My mom used to make it with ground spinach, tamarind and regular spices. But last few times I had that with rice, I felt the gravy had quite a strong flavor, may be the tamarind, and suddenly stopped eating it.

After a while, I twisted the regular gravy by adding some coconut milk minus the tamarind. It turned out really well and light and my OH and I had an immediate liking to it and I prepare spinach regularly this way on week ends. On one such week end, I had enough patience to click this pic before going for it!

Ingredients: 2 cups of coarsely chopped spinach, 1 whole onion chopped, 1 cup of coconut milk, salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 2 whole red chillies, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 3 cloves garlic and some cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick. some curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, oil and some salt.

Heat some oil in a pan, and add some mustard seeds, once it splutters, add some cumin seeds and the cardamom and cinnamon pods. add the curry leaves and chopped onion and chopped garlic. Once the onion turns translucent, add some turmeric and red chilli powder and stir it till the onion starts turning slightly brownish. Add the ground spinach and let it cook for a few minutes. Then add the coconut milk, black pepper powder and adjust the spices. Cook till the spinach is cooked.

 Serve hot with rice!

Karunaikilangu Puli kulambu/Spicy Yam gravy

I was so happy to find yam in the supermarket, a relief from all those regular veggies! So, I decided to splurge on oil and make this tastier!

So here goes the recipe:

To make this we need, a couple of yams, peeled, washed and chopped into small round pieces. I used amchur powder along with a small ball of tamarind, a pinch of asafoetida,

Salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, few red chillies, some oil, one big onion, chopped and one tomato, chopped and a sprig of curry leaves, along with some garlic cloves, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Abt half a tsp of garam masala too!

Heat some oil in a pan, and add some mustard seeds and once it splutters, add some curry leaves and cumin seeds. Then add all the chopped onion and garlic and once the onion starts turning slightly brown, add the red chillies and chopped tomatoes. add some red chilli powder and turmeric powder and keep stirring till the tomatoes cook and the raw smell of turmeric powder goes off. mix the amchur powder and tamarind powder with some water and pour the mixture into the pan. Add about 2 more cups of water and adjust the salt.

Let this sit on the stove for about 20 mins or so, but now the water would have reduced to less than half in quantity and the oil would  separate as seen in the picture.Switch off the stove and serve hot with rice!

Karamani Vadai/Black eyed peas Fritters

One of my friends made this for a potluck and that was the first time I had it. It tasted soo good and I also make it frequently as this makes a very healthy snack too!

Ingredients:

Black eyed peas - 2 cups

toor dhal - 2 tbsp

onion - 1, chopped

curry leaves - chopped

green chillies - 4

cilantro leaves - few,chopped

salt, and a pinch of asafoetida and a pinch of turmeric

Method of preparation:

Soak the black eyed peas in water for about 3 hrs. Heat a pan, add a tsp of oil and fry all the remaining ingredients (Onion, toor dhal, chopped green chillies, turmeric, salt,curry leaves and cilantro.) just till the raw smell goes off. Add this with the soaked and drained black eyed peas and add the asafoetida, and coarsely grind the mixture. Make small balls and deep fry in oil. Serve hot with cilantro dressing! I also added a tbsp of rava to add to the crispness. Tastes yumm!!! :)

Mooli Paratha/Radish Stuffed Paratha



Mooli Stuffed Parathas!

 This is probably the third or fourth time I made stuffed Parathas and the last few times, I guess i have achieved consistency! They turned out pretty well, among all stuff parathas, I like the taste of Mooli Paratha the best!

To make this we need:

Grated Radish -  2 cups (Sqeeze the water out and it can be used to prepare the dough for the roti base)
salt
oil
chopped corriander leaves leaves
turmeric powder
chopped green chillies and half cup finely chopped onion

For the dough:
ashirvad atta - 2 cups
oil, salt and water as required

The onion and green chillies need to be very finely chopped, otherwise it will tear up the parathas while being rolled.Heat a pan, add some oil and add the chopped oions and fry till translucent. Add chopped green chillies and turmeric powder and salt as required. Add the grated radish and keep frying till the radish gets cookes.

Put the heat off and make the stuffing into small sized balls. Prepare the dough for the paratha and make them into small balls.

Flatten each ball with a rolling pin. Make sure its a bit thick on the middle and thinner around the edges. Stuff it with radish and close the dough on all sides. Flatten again with rolling pin and hands and cook it in medium flame on a dosa tawa..

Parathas served with butter and Curd..