Simply Sun-delicious Lima Beans

Sorry I have not posted my sundals of the day over the weekend - But I made a black-eyed peas sundal and a pasiparuppu (moong dal) sundal. Today I went green and made a lima beans sundal with a green salad. Yep - following the healthy trend!  This turned out to be the most enjoyed sundal.
Sundals are no big deal and usually, the simpler kept the better - I used frozen Lima beans - I believe it is mochakottai in Tamil.

Ingredients:
2 bags of frozen lima beans or 2 cups of fresh lima beans
1/4 cup of fresh grated or frozen grated coconut
Salt

Preparation:
Steam cook frozen pack in microwave (or)
fresh beans on stove top with just enough water covering the beans
Beans should be green and tender - this may require tweaking amount of water used to steam. Add the required amount of salt to the water. The trick is not not allow the beans to get dry and hard! Besides from a taste point of view, you all lose all the goodness of the bean by overcooking to dryness! Sprinkle coconut over tender beans and stir for a couple of minutes
Slightly dry roast the coconut.
Tadka with 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
2 dry red cayenne peppers
a pinch of asafoetida and
a few curry leaves.
Serve hot :-)

Quinoa and Oats Idlis

Has it ever happened to you that you are churning out recipes in your head in your sleep or in the middle of the night, and you can't wait for dawn so that after a good cup of coffee you can get going on those creative juices that were engulfing your brain and made you lose sleep? It starting to happen a lot nowadays, thanks to y'alls encouragement :-)
You might think that oats is the flavor of the month and you'd be right - RICE is the big no-no for many people for weight reasons and also not a good one for diabetics - brown rice is an option but not too many people go for it. But we want our idlis - why not make some healthy life style changes and start making this wonderfully comforting food in a different way? So my journey in search of different idlis - I've made them with ragi, oats and rava and now quinoa and oats, you get your protein and fiber and you are guilt-free as you down these softies. When you've made them and eaten them, you deserve to give yourself a pat on your backs - Good call - AND, the biggest advantage is you can make these idlis in 20 minutes flat start to finish ---How do you like that?!

This is my first time. I went online to get some recipes and there were none that did not include rice or urad and you know those things need to be soaked, ground and allowed to ferment over night...But I wanted my Idlis now...So I decided to put things that I think are healthy together and got going with my imagination!

Presenting...

                                            Quinoa-Oats idlis

Ingredients

1 cup of instant oats

1 cup of quinoa flakes

2 to 2-1/2 cups of  yogurt

all our usual thadka items - your call

1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds,

2 chillies, 

a pinch of asafoetida 

curry leaves

a pinch of urad dal

Salt a pinch

 And get this...

2 teaspoons of Rasa Podi 

Preparation

Get your cereals together mix them and in a small blender, grind half of it coarsely and add to the rest

take a fork and start stirring in the yogurt until all of the cereal is nicely soaked in the yogurt and looks like the picture below

Thadka/garnish in 1 teaspoon of oil all the other ingredients

Pour on top of the batter and mix in well

Get your idli steamer ready 

Grease your plates and  scoop 1 tablespoon of the batter into each cup

You can make approx 22-24 idlis with this amount

Cook for 10-11 minutes 

Remove and serve hot by itself or with chutney.

Secret tip If you want to make it more festive, add 1 tablespoon of grated coconut into the batter

                                            Oats Cereal and Qunioa in a bowl

                                            Dry grind

                                          add yogurt

                                            thadka

                                            add to mix

                                            pour the batter in

                                          And you have yourself some soft and tasty idlis                                  

Enjoy this healthy treat.

Last Word: Don't forget to add a good measure of LOVE to this recipe :-)

Navarathri = Sundal time!

Happy Navarathri to all - this is a good time to sundalize our lives. Today I made channa dal sundal (kadalai parruppu sundal) I've heard this can be challenge, because the dal has to be cooked just so - so that it does not go mushy on you or on the flip side, be undercooked.
Sundals are easy and nutritious, high in fiber - Sundal can easily substitute rice or wheat and can be enjoyed with rasam or plain curd (yogurt)

Very simple and traditional preparation

Ingredients

1-2 cups of channa dal  pressured cooked  - once the the rocker starts moving, turn off in exactly 3 minutes. For whistling cookers, I'll suggest you go one or two less than you normally allow for cooking your  dal. Dal:Water proportion is 1:3/4 cup
1/2 cup of freshly grates/ grated frozen coconut
1/4 spoon of ginger powder
3-4 chillies
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 pinch of asafoetida
1 teaspoon of olive oil
curry leaves
salt

Preparation

Pressure cook dal and let cool. Remove and drain any water remnants - In a pan heat oil and pop mustard seeds; add the asafoetida, cut chillies, curry leaves and ginger powder. Add the dal and salt it and turn it a few times. Dry roast the coconut in a separate pan and add to the sundal - so that it does not go bad. Serve hot.

Happy first day of Navarathri

Any time Stir Fry

Change of pace - going oriental on you with this one!
Feel in the mood for something, sweet/sour/salty/and spicy? Here is my super quick stir fry recipe - I made and had this in under 20 minutes, literally....

Ingredients:

The beauty about this dish is you can throw in any veggie of your choice - I included cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and onions - Would have LOVED to add mushrooms, but did not have any :-( Red and Yellow bell peppers will go work well too.
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp of grated ginger
3 tablespoons of Stir Fry Szechwan spicy sauce
12/ teaspoon of Asian spice mix
2 - 3 green chillies
Olive Oil - 2 teaspoons

Preparation:

Shred the cabbage on a cheese grater
Cut broccoli and cauliflower into small florets
Onions chopped finely - TIP: put your onions (I always use red) in the fridge a couple of hours before cutting - You can avoid teary and burning eyes this way.
Grate ginger and use garlic press, if you have one or cut garlic cloves finely
Cut the green chillies down the middle
Add some olive oil to a wok - let it heat up some; then throw in your veggies and let them cook for a couple of minutes or until they are half cooked -
Add the sauce and mix it in and let it cook for a couple more minutes

sprinkle Asian spice mix before removing from flame.
Serve with rice or noodles

Vetha Kozhambu

My sister, whom I love and respect dearly wanted me to make my food blog more anecdotal - so here I go!

A typical fall day outside - overcast and nippy. But the birds seem to frolic in the yard - Shrey and I watched the blue jays and cardinals swooping in and out of the trees, playing tag or peek-a-boo with each other - The clouds are hanging heavily over the house, ready to rid themselves of their bloating - like any minute. I went down to my studio to practice the dance I am learning while Shrey found a pair of dandiya sticks to play around with. We are all still getting over the Endhiran experience - to say it like my brother's good friend used to- a flap! as in flop!


Shrey is now down for a nap and here is my time to churn out a new, quick and easy recipe for you.
I'm am sure most of you out there will agree that the most difficult part of preparing a meal is coming up with a menu! At least for me, it is so much easier if the kids ask for something as opposed to coming up with an idea - On days like these, when ideas are not raging and the weather is kinda ugly, nothing like a Murungakai vetha kozhambu to liven up things. With keerai kootu - it is a favorite combo in our home.

There are SO many way to skin this cat - Vetha Kozhambu is a dish that many people take different approaches too and most often, they are all quite delicious, but I am sticking with my mom's recipe. My father's unforgettable comment is, the test of a seasoned chef is if they can fix a good vetha kozhambu and rava upma! Well, he is not around to pass the verdict on mine, but has left another Leo actually two Leo men - my husband and son - who are equally discerning. I will have them comment :-)

Ingredients
Frozen drumsticks (or fresh for the lucky ones in India and elsewhere) about 10 pieces or 2 drumsticks
2 spoons of tamarind puree/paste (Lakshmi Brand)
1 table spoon of fenugreek seeds or 1tsp of powdered fenugreek
2 1/2 -3 teaspoons of Sambar powder (or vetha kozhambu powder)
1/2 cup raw peanuts

Thaduka - (sautee)
1tablespoon of sesame oil
1/2 spoon of mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida
Optional (1/2 teaspoon of turmeric)

Preparation:

Mix the tamarind past in 3 cups of warm water. Also mix in the sambar powder, salt and fenugreek, if your are using the powder.
Using sufficient water, cook the drumsticks in the microwave or cook top for about 5 minutes and keep ready
In a deep dish, heat half the oil and then add asafoetida, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Wait for Fenurgreek seeds to darken to red, and the mustard seeds to pop.
Add the tamarind mix and let it boil

Then add drumsticks to the tamarind mix and let it cook some more in the mixture. Add the peanuts and allow it to cook as well.
When the water evaporates and the kozhambu starts to thicken slightly (it will still be thin) switch off. heat up the rest of the oil, add the curry leaves and pour over the kozhambu

Secret tip: Mom used to always put a cherry sized ball of jaggery towards the end of the boil - As I've mentioned in other recipes, a little sweet brings together all the other flavors nicely.

Multigrain, veggie dosai

Another night of insomnia - Don't ask. If I were to make up for all the lost sleep, I'd be Lady Rip Van Winkle and not wake up for 2 if not 20 years!

But now that the blog is up, there is a certain benefit to the wakefulness. My mind is crowding with recipes that are old and established and more and more new ideas and creations to be experimented with. I find nothing more exhausting that having to lay in bed when I'm itching to get up and execute all the ideas right away! Get a grip, I say to myself as I peer into the darkness  - Only 3:40 am and the rest of the household is fast asleep.

Just when I lull my mind to rest, the music to the Bhoomanjali that I'm learning starts to play in my head and I am flaying my arms silently in the air, recalling the steps for the music. Again, I want to spring out of bed and try out the movements, but when i try to get up, my head and legs feel like jelly. I pop right back into bed to continue my restless tirade. By 6 am, i am ready to sleep again when I hear the flush followed by the shower from the rooms upstairs. The kids are awake and ready to start the day - bullocks!

Finally it is the right time to try out the new recipe...

Ingredients:

1 cup of buckwheat flour
3/4 cup of red rice flour samba rice)
1/2 cup of bajra millet flour
1 carrot finely pureed with..
..2 tomatoes

1/2 green bell pepper finely chopped
1/2 red onion finely chopped
2 green chillies
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of whole black peppers
1/4 tsp of ginger powder
1/4 tsp of asafoetida
salt

Preparation
In 1/2 cup of water, grind the tomatoes and carrots in a blender
Use the water as the base for the mixture
Stir in the flours one by one into the puree
Add desired amount of water to make it a thinner consistency - The mix should NOT be sluggish
in a teaspoon of oil, slightly fry the onions and add to the mix along with the bell pepper and the other condiments.

Keep you dosa pan ready - and pour on the batter much like you would for rava dosa/ or a crepe - thin... Wait for it to brown before flipping - serve hot with molagai podi -

Red Pepper Chutney

This is a well loved dish in my home and among my friends and family and was definitely making the top 100 list, but has been hastened to publish by request of Gow...

Kudos for this recipe goes to my friend Nithya Hari - It was love at first taste for me and this chutney.
I know sometimes our kids don't like certain vegetables and one quick fix way to make them love it is to make a chutney of it  - Before I go any further with the recipe, I highly recommend a Vitamix blender for your homes - It is the king of my ktichen - the prepaid Slave king I use for all my preparations, starting from the blended fruit mix that we start our day with to making dry powders, wet chutneys, batter for Vadais and Idlis -  the Lakshmi or Kamala, Chandan or Chottu who we cannot afford to hire in the US. Yep - it does it all!

This chutney is great as a spread on bread, as a dip with celery, cukes and raw veggies, or even raw red peppers themselves! on pita bread; or as a chip dip - Indian options - great with vathakozhambu, or chappatis and better yet with hot idlis and dosas. Preparation time is under 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
Washed and diced large - 3-4 red peppers
3 tbl spoons of  Urid dal
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 pinch of Asafoetida
1 stem of curry leaves
5 red chillies (dried cayenne)
1 tbl spoon of olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

I a pan, heat the olive oil and add the urid dal, asafoetida, curry leaves and chillies. Once the dal turns golden, add the diced peppers. Stir well and then keep pan closed for about 3 minutes. The pepper cooks pretty fast.
Add the salt and stir it well and let it cool. Put in blender and grind to a fine paste - NO water required. The water from the pepper is amply sufficient for the job. Gather in a nice container.

Garnish: 1 teaspoon of butter or olive oil - 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds. heat  the oil/butter, add the mustard seeds and allow them to pop; add the cumin seeds. Turn heat off and pour over the chutney.

Secret tip: If your peppers are not already sweet enough, a pinch of sugar does wonders to enhance the taste.

Note: all ingredients are available in Whole Foods or our local Indian store. Photos to follow!