Beans Carrot Mezhukkuparatti or Stirfry

How many kinds of vegetables do you buy? All kinds indiscriminately or do u end up getting the same set week after week? Do you get excited by new veggies in other households? Do the experimentally bought veggies get relegated to the back of the drawer and only resurface during fridge clean up? Do you stereotype veggies as mallu, gujju, punjabi, marathi etc? Do you feel that certain vegetables taste like a particular cuisine no matter what you make with it? I am as guilty as you are and the only reason I can think of is environment. We tend to attach foods to a weather, a place, a cuisine that we first ate it in, a way of cooking...and to break out of that mold is difficult.

Vegetable Pulav/ Pilaf/ Pulao...

A very Belated Happy Vishu to all my readers and blogger friends. I just got back from spending some days with family in CA and I am still stuck between time zones. The West Coast is only 3 hrs behind the East Coast but for the biological clock, it seems like much more. Plus coming to an empty house with all the chatter still ringing in my ears, didn't feel like blogging.

It was no fun to get back to the blow hot blow cold weather we have been having all week long but the wonderfully warm weather yesterday was heaven sent. We went to a park nearby and it was studded with so many families that it looked like we stumbled on a convention. All winter long the parks and lakes lie dormant, empty, cold and uninviting and now the trees there are laden with flowers, there's lush green grass and humans crawling out of the woodwork.

To get back to the west coast stories, it was nicer weather there though it did get cold along the waterfront. We inland people couldn't resist being along the shore at the slightest pretext and so there were all of us at the beach shivering away while the kids were playing in the cold wet sand!! The skies and beaches there are so clear and blue that the photos don't do justice to the beauty.

Got to eat some good stuff from my mom's pantry and also some "healthy" west coast food. The highlight of the trip other than meeting family, having kids of different ages underfoot and pandemonium everywhere was getting live Dungeness Crabs from a fishing boat,(2 1/2 pounds each), getting home in time to cook it, and then eating it 15 minutes before leaving for the airport to come back home. My siblings had warned me that this is not the crab season so don't expect it, and when we got it from the boats, we were skeptical. We were all pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of it. Yummiest crab ever..I even considered moving to CA for the availability of these crustaceans.

We also got to try a new crab in my food vocabulary..Box Crab. We were talking to the fisherman after packing our crabs and he picked up a piece of coral like rock. I thought it was a crab shell and was listening to his description about the other crabs swimming in the tank when the rock suddenly moved and out popped the legs!! It was a live crab so expertly camoflagued as a coral piece!!The thin, spindly legs of box crabs can be withdrawn close to the body, giving them a box-like appearance. I didn't have my camera with me!!If I get any photos from the locals there, I will add to this post. The taste..more like lobster, richer creamier than regular crab. There were mixed reaction to this crab in the house. Some liked it but some didn't.

Vegetable Pulav is an odd item to combine with the crab stories but this is what my mind stopped on. This is my mom' style of veg pulav...quite light and it goes well with almost any curry. It tastes like a cross between veg fried rice and ghee rice.

Note: The combination of vegetables will change the taste of the rice. Red peppers, soft vegetables like zuccini, etc are strong flavorings and personally, I don't think go well in the rice. The green peppers and scallions are the ones which give it the Chinese flavor. You could use this rice as a base and change the flavor to your liking.. add more spice, add some biryani masala to it to make it more pronounced South Indian pulav or add chili garlic sauce to it to change the orientation to a South East Asian rice. I use a frozen bag of diced mixed veggies and add scallions and peppers for a quick pulav.

You Will Need:
Basmati Rice: 2 cup
Onion- 1/2 medium sized one. sliced finely.
Green Chilies -2-3
Ginger- Garlic Paste-1 1/2 tbsp
Vegetables- 2 cup chopped(peas, beans, carrots, green peppers, scallions, cauliflower)
Ghee/Butter- 4 tbsp
Cilantro- 2 tbsp chopped
Garam Masala-1/2 tsp
Ground Black Pepper-1/4 tsp
salt to taste

Wash and soak the rice for at least 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside. Chop the vegetables into small even sized dices. Boil the vegetables in very little water for just 3-5 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of the ghee and saute the onion. When they are slightly brown, add them to the rice cooker along with the rice and 3 1/2 cup water(water to rice ratio is mostly 2:1 for most kinds of Basmati rice but some just need 1 1/2 :1 so check the cooking instructions) Add 1 tsp salt to it and let the rice cooker do its work.

If you are using a frying pan, just add the rice to the pan after the onions are sauteed and then mix them. Add the water and salt. When the water boils, cover the rice and cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes. Fluff it and let it rest covered for 5 minutes. Open and fluff it and let it cool slightly.

When the rice is cooked, open the rice cooker and cool the rice.

Heat the ghee/butter in a pan and saute the ginger garlic paste and green chilies. When they are fragrant, add the vegetables and saute just for 4-5 minutes. They should still have a bite left in them. Add the cooked and cooled rice to the pan and mix well. This is done on medium flame so that the rice is not getting fried again.

If you mix the veggies with the hot rice, the hot rice grains will break up, so wait for it to cool a bit.The veggies are not cooked with the rice to avoid them getting mushy.)

Garnish with cilantro, garam masala and pepper if you like the flavor and mix it in.

Note: You could combine all the steps into one pot method for a weekday. Don't boil the veggies. Just mix the oil and ghee( use less ghee), saute onions, and add veggies. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir well. Add the washed rice and stir fry for a minute till the rice turns opaque. Add salt and water and cover and cook for 10-12 minutes on medium heat. Open and fluff the rice and add garam masala and pepper.

Chicken Soup and Frozen Herbs...

Herbs are the most expensive item as per the quantity, in my grocery list at least and I can only keep them alive for 10 days (maximum!!) before they lose their flavor. So I end up buying the cilantro-mint-curry leaves weekly while the other non-desi herbs are relegated to be the dried variety. Then last summer I had a small container herb garden and just loved the flavor of the fresh herbs...all became my best friends.....with such pretty names, how can you ask them not to... for anything, I would just hop out and get a sprig or two...oregano in kebabs(yeah, they taste great) and fresh basil in pasta sauce, thyme in grilled meats and potatoes...Rosemary and I don't get along so well so didn't invite her to my container party.

Then the winter set in and my herbs were freezing so I brought them in..I don't have a sunroom or a really sunny ledge so had to place them in the side tables in the living room next to the window...The next day there was dirt and a worm crawling out ..eeek.. squeamish me, banished them to the cold, apologizing and promising to revive them in the summer.



Then a month back, Matt of Daregal Gourmet offered to send me samples of a new product they were marketing...frozen herbs. The idea was so quirky that I had to try it out.
Usually during my supermarket stroll, something new finds it way into my cart..some end up in the cabinet, only to be thrown out, still unused after months, some become the new staple. But this one was interesting as they claimed that the herbs are cut at their peak, chopped, and quickly frozen.

They arrived packed in a box so huge that I forgot all about the go -ahead I had given to the herb people and opened it quickly...much too quickly to read the "Danger-Dry Ice- Do not touch with bare hands"...argh!!

Eight containers of herbs ..was a pleasant surprise. I had expected just one or two...Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Original Blend, Dill, Italian Blend, Basil, Grilling blend... each box had a particular herb or herb blend, chopped fine. On opening, they looked a funny shade of green, like someone had gathered the grass with the frost off my front lawn. But they smelled good, just like the herbs, so I hesitatingly tried them in some of my cooking. It took me a week before I gathered the courage to use it. All you do is keep them frozen until you're ready to use a particular herb, give the container a quick shake to loosen, and shake out on any dish you are making.

My uses:
I used the herbs to season and marinate chicken for grilling. The chicken marinated in a blend of the oregano along with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika came out very nice and the leftovers can be used for other chicken stirfries or wraps.
The grilling blend works very well with fish to get a good combination of herbs in a hurry. I grill salmon and flounder often for the kids and the light parsley-butter-garlic-pepper is what they prefer so this is easy to use for that.

The Italian blend, Parsley and Basil, I used in pastas and pasta sauce and tasted good.
The Dill was particularly good in soups as shown below.



In general, the herbs work well in cooking uses and it smells really nice. They dissolve very fast but I didn't like the wet feel and taste when used directly on salads as garnish. The cilantro was the weakest herb as cilantro by itself is so delicate that I feel freezing damages its crisp taste. So, for our curries garnish, I still prefer the fresh cilantro.

They are expensive but not too much.. almost the same as the dried herbs. Compared to the amount I buy and have to discard, it's cheaper in the long run. If you do a lot of non-Indian cooking, grilling etc, then these herbs are a handy tool to have. You don't have to buy a lot for the tiny bit that you need for each dish and throw the rest away. They fit well in the freezer door too, so storing space is not a problem. All in all, I feel these frozen herbs are an improvement over the dried ones, though I do have to use them more to conclude fully.



All American Chicken Soup
This is a light soup that really is a kid favorite...they like the soup from restaurants and cans(disgusting over salty things!!urgh!!)so this is one soup that I resist adding my touch and make it as it is. You probably see this recipe everywhere in books and shows. The ingredients when bought are too much in quantity, so sometimes I chop it up and store it in the freezer in soup combination.


You Will Need:for 4 servings
Chicken pieces with bones-1 pound
Garlic-6 cloves
Onion-1 1/2 medium sized ones cut into 1/6ths.
Carrots-3 long ones, peeled and cut into big chunks
Parsnips-1/2 (optional)
Celery- 2-3 stalks ends trimmed and cut into 1" lengths.
Water-4 cups water
Dill- 1 tsp
Whole Peppercorns-1/2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp or as per taste.
Preparation:
Remove any fat from the chicken and wash it well. It's better to keep it as big pieces for ease of removing the bones later.
Put the chicken and all the ingredients except for salt in a large heavy stock pot( open pressure cooker will do) and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30-40 minutes. If there is any impurities, skimming the broth will remove it. Add salt as per taste and adjust the seasoning with fresh parsley, dill and/or black pepper. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and return to the soup. Serve hot with a spot of butter or cream.

Note:
The parsnip and celery together add a sweetness to the soup that didn't appeal to me much, but the kids loved it, so try it either way and modify accordingly.
If you are making a large quantity, there will be fat in it. Skim off the fat by refrigerating the soup and removing the solidified fat.
You could add any kind of noodles (boiled separately) to this soup, but the ones that go best are the egg noodles. We like the wide twisted noodles.

 Spicy Modifications: 

1. Add scallions chopped up with ginger for a different twist. 
2. Add 1/2 tsp paprika for a slight spice kick
3. Shorba style: Omit the dill and parsnip. Add 1/2 tsp garam masala before cooking. Remove the chicken. debone and reserve. Smash up the rest of the veggies and pass the soup thru a strainer to get a semi- clear liquid. Do a seasoning of a pinch of cumin seeds and 1/2 chopped onion to the stock and add the reserved chicken.  Add more pepper and indianized soup ready.
   

Wah! Wah! Gajar Ka Halwa/ Carrot Halwah..

The last of the warm weather.. dark mornings, brr.. awakenings and stepping on the cold tiles in the kitchen now requires me searching out the warm socks and jackets. Outside too, fall is setting in, with the leaves changing color backstage, getting ready for their annual fashion show.

A slight dip in the temperatures evokes memories of even tempered places elsewhere and the invitations from my West Coast families are so tempting..sigh.. This is the weather that sends me running to the comfort food zone...warm, sweet and rich food..It's festival time too every where so what better to make than sweets..

When the first hint of winter sets in, the juicy super sweet blood red carrots would start appearing in the markets. When they flooded the market in super abundance, my father couldn't resist the deal and would get kilos of it just because it was fresh, cheap and so obviously good for you. A quarter would get peeled and get used for snacking, a quarter for later and the rest would get converted to my favorite form of eating this vegetable..gajar ka halwa!! My way to get the big five veggies in my diet (at that time.):)

So when I started writing the recipe down, I couldn't pin down the exact ingredients. We just make it with any amount of carrots and adjust the ingredients according to taste. This is the closest I could get but use your judgment and reduce or increase the quantity of sugar and milk(enough to get the carrots cooked to a mush). We used to use "Khoya", a form of concentrated milk solids in the end so that you get tiny morsels of it along with the halwa..like adding powdered kalakand to the halwa. Khoya is available at Indian stores but you could substitute with heavy cream added earlier or even concentrated ricotta cheese. Though the khoya here is not as fresh as the ones back home (here it's a little dry and not as creamy) it still adds a lot of flavor at the end.

Serves 6-10( reduce quantity in proportion if you want to make less)
you will need:
Carrots- 8 cups grated
Whole Milk- 9-10 cups milk
Sugar-approx.1 1/2 cups..add more or less as per taste.
Cardamom seeds- 1 teaspoon seeds crushed into powder
Water- 3/4 cup
Ghee-3 tablespoons...substitute ghee +khoya with 1 cup cream
Khoya(Milk solids)- 1/2 cup(optional)
Raisins, Almonds, Cashew nuts- to taste


Preparation:
Wash, peel and grate the carrots. Grating gives the best result but is not so easy on the arms. If possible, convince the muscle building husband/brother in law or brother to do the grating. So if you want, use a grater/chopper attachment in a food processor and finely chop the carrots and then pulse it in the mixie/blender twice...don't grind it to a paste. This will homogenize the texture.

Set the water and half the milk to boil in thick bottom pan( a pressure cooker pan or non stick pan will do) and when it starts boiling, add the grated carrots. Cook on a medium flame for 1 hour (or less)stirring occasionally. When all the milk has been absorbed, add the rest of the milk. The approximate proportion of milk is a bit more than the quantity of carrots.

Mix well and cook on medium heat again till all the milk has been absorbed.This should take about another 40 minutes more or less (depending on quantity)and the carrots should have been full cooked by now. The milk should be on a simmer all the time, else the flame is too low. The time is really an approximation and may take more or less.
After that, the milk will soon start to evaporate so keep an eye on the flame. Add the sugar and mix well and keep cooking. After all the milk is gone and the carrot starts darkening in color, add the ghee. Keep stirring and mix well till the halwa starts to move together as one mass without any much liquid left. Add the crushed cardamom powder and the crumbled khoya. Mix well and saute for just 2 more minutes.

If you don't have khoya, use condensed milk but omit sugar in the recipe, or use 1 cup heavy cream after the carrots gets cooked and keep cooking. The cream will give it the richness and you won't need to add ghee after that.
The substitutes should be added in the beginning..only khoya is added in the end. The khoya just adds a rich milky taste at the end and it should be as tiny morsels in between the halwa.
Garnish with cashews,almonds or pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room temperature.
This is my entry for the JFI sweets hosted by Srivalli..cooking for all seasons.


On another note, I was given this really cool award by Geeta of Paytpooja. An award by a fellow blogger is one thing that never fails to brighten up the day. Thanks Geeta!
The rules of the award are: Put the logo on your blog. Add a link to the person who awarded you. Nominate 10 other blogs. Add links to those blogs on yours, and leave a message for your nominees on their blogs. I am happy to pass on this award to my fellow blogger friends.
So I nominate the following for the cool blogs. Enjoy!!
When my soup came alive
Live to eat
Solai's chettinad kitchen
Peppermill
Cooking and me
Cooking for all seasons
A Delighted Foodie
Comfort food network

Vegetable/ Tomato Soup

This is my version of a tomato soup, initiated when my not-so-little one got hooked on the tomato soup and the grilled cheese sandwich meal at pre-school. Tomato soup in itself is too tart for one or too sweet for the other person and its very uni dimensional in taste for me. "No Flavor", says my little one.:)
Playing around with different variations over time, we have a standard soup acceptable to everyone in the house now. And all I did was add a handful of carrots, onions, celery or leeks or fennel, and a small piece of potato to thicken it. Pair with a crusty bread, grilled cheese sandwich or Panini and that's our Sunday evening meal!

Panini itself is another addiction if there is some good bread available. So if there is soup, we make a beeline to get some bread and if there is bread, then soup has to be made. The panini can be as varied as you like it with whatever leftover meat and veggies going into it, all grilled to a crisp.

That's it. Each of our taste in soups are unique and one person saying "this is the best soup ever" never works. So try this soup, vary it to your taste, add or subtract the ingredients as you like it and you will get a soup that everyone in your house likes.


You will Need:
Tomatoes-2 big ones(beef steak or 3-4 plum ones)
Potato-1 half of a small sized one.
Onion-1 small one
Garlic-1 fat clove
Carrots- 2 thin full ones
Celery-1 stalk (substitute with 3 scallions or 1 piece of fennel)
Pepper-1/4 tsp or as per taste
Paprika-1/8 tsp
Salt to taste
One bay leaf
Good EV olive Oil-1 or 2 tablespoon
Water-2-3 cups of water (or low sodium chicken stock)

Preparation:
In a pressure cooker, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, onions and celery. Saute for a minute and add the rest of the ingredients except salt. Saute on medium heat for about 5 minutes, add the water, close the lid and pressure cook for a couple of whistles. When it cools down,, open, remove the bay leaf and puree using a hand blender or the blender jar. Add salt and add more water if it feels too thick. Serve with a dot of butter and pepper to taste.

Variations: The amount of carrot and potato determine the taste of the soup so be careful before you get excited and add too much. It may end up as a carrot or potato soup. So if the carrot or potato is too big, reduce the quantity. If you have leftover tomato diced or tomato sauce in a can, add that too as that really gives a nice flavor and color. Add cilantro or parsley or basil as desired.

A Soup A Day To Keep The Cold At Bay..

When I started this post last week, I was cribbing and tired, recovering from a bout of flu. The weather plays havoc being warm one day and cold the next day leading to a spate of sickness all around. One after another, domino style, everyone in the family came down with the flu! (Apparently 6 out of every 10 people here in the NE are down with the flu.) So while the rest of my siblings were vacationing in warmer climates, our taste buds were the only ones here on vacation. I was surfing the blogs and everything looked so appealing but food generally tasted like variations of cardboard.My cooking was horrible to say the least! Only soups managed to sear a hot path down the throat!

Of course I love the naturality of the change of seasons (and the nice new clothes that a change of season signifies)and the white blanket of snow and hot chocolate and so on etc but seriously, I can only take so much of this cold weather. I guess its necessary to renew the earth and my family in the other hemisphere needs to have their summer now and the so on..My toes are so cold that I think blood froze on the way down to them and only hot liquids i.e. soups and tea, fed intravenously would keep me warm.

But then it snowed and my faith in the necessity of winter was reaffirmed. If it has to be cold anyway, at least it should snow like last Friday so that schools close and the kids can have a snowball fight and make snow mans. (I can say this now, as I am at home and not scrambling for alternate day care or forced to take leave on an unexpected holiday unlike last year.) So my cribbing post had to be modified to a "I love snow" post.:)

There is something about the quietness and beauty of a snow "storm" that is soothing and refreshing. The whiteness of the snow just blankets out the dead lawn and ugly twiggy trees to become a beautiful winter wonderland. Even the ugliest house on the block gets a makeover and becomes a charming cottage and I get reminded of Robert Frost's poems.

Well, everyone wants their version of soup at home and so I decided to do a soup festival. If anyone wants to join my soup fest, just link back to this post all through the coming two weeks! We can have a soup party for the flu ridden.

Red Velvet Lentil Soup



So for the first of this soup series I chose a Red Velvet Lentil Soup. It came out in the NY Times Dining Section some weeks back and I had to try it immediately. The author, Melissa Clark described the texture and color of the soup and only the term "red" and "velvety" stayed in my head.
It seemed so apt that I added it to the name. You would think, "its just some "dal"(lentils)..whats the big deal about Americans suddenly discovering our staple"...but taste this..It's dal, its tomatoey, its lemony, its a bit spicy, but the pureeing and the drizzle of olive oil elevates it from a humble dal to a soupy taste to be savored on its own. Pour the leftovers over some bulgur or rice and you have a meal.

If you can't see the recipe at the link, here is my version of it with some minor modifications.

You will need:
2 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste( Substitute with fresh/canned tomatoes but fry them a bit)
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 tsp red chili powder
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth (I tried with chicken stock and water...both taste good)
1 cup red split lentils(Masoor Dal)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.

1. In a large pot or pressure cooker, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Reduce heat to medium and add onion and garlic, and saute until golden, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in tomato paste or tomatoes diced, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder and paprika, and saute for 2 minutes longer. Don't be tempted to add more chili powder as I was..its a soup, not dal. Take care not to burn the spices.

3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. (Use a pressure cooker for one whistle to save time.)

4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, puree half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

Yield: 4 servings.

Pasta With Meat Sauce

Some weeknights when I drag myself home, I am hungry enough to eat the first person in sight, but my fridge is empty, and only my pantry is stocked. If my little one and I discuss the options for dinner, it always ends up in pasta. Pasta is wholesome (mix regular white and whole wheat pasta and it's no worse than rotis or rice!!)and can be made and ate with minimum fuss. No grinding, no coconut, no rolling of rotis, no seasoning..A one pot dish.

Normally the sauce is made before hand and ready in the freezer or fridge on the weekend itself. Or I start with a jar of the simplest pasta sauce and customize it. It all depends on how much time there is before dinner. If I have 20 minutes, and pasta sauce ready, that's all it takes to prepare the entire dish. Making a good sauce is not difficult at all but needs a half hour (at least) or more(up to 1 2/2 hrs)which you may not have all the time.


A note on ready made pasta sauce:If you are buying pasta sauce, look for the one with the least amount of sodium (10% or less),and least amount of ingredients on the label. The lower the ingredients, the purer is the product. Go for one which says natural or organic and has no meat, no mushrooms, and no cream in it..all those add hardly any flavor and adds tonnes of calories. Try Trader Joe's Organic Marinara Pasta Sauce or Roasted Garlic Sauce which is the closest to home-made and has no aftertaste of preservatives.

Growing up, pasta was Bambino's macaroni and mom made tomato sauce. Then I saw the whole world of pasta shapes and names and recipes here and calling all of them macaroni seemed silly. It's like thinking all Indians look alike. Now the elbow macaroni is reserved for Mac N Cheese. I used to just buy by the shapes as the names eluded me..(just the faces stayed after the introduction)..but now over time, I got to know a couple of the common pastas..(some of them are our constant companions ):))Penne, Bowtie, Fusilli, Cavatappi, Rigatoni...and they are mostly welcome in my house any day.
Any shape which has ridges in it would work well with this chunky sauce.


For those who want to make the Meat Sauce from scratch:Serves 4
Olive oil -2 or 3 tbsp
Onion- 1 medium sized one
Garlic-3 cloves
Carrot -1
Celery stalk- 2
Red/Yellow/Orange peppers-1
Lean minced Beef or veal-1/2 lb (1/4 Kg)
Ripe Red Tomatoes-4 medium ones or 1 lb (1/2 kg)
Salt - 3/4 tsp or to taste
Milk- 1/2 cup
Dried Parsley-1/4 tsp
Dried Thyme- 1/4 tsp (optional)
Fresh parsley- 1 handful
Black Pepper-1/4 tsp


For Pasta:
Pasta-1 lb
Salt-1 tbsp
Olive oil- 1 or 2 tbsp
Fresh Parsley-one handful
Parmesan Cheese- grated 1/4 cup

Preparation:
1. Chop the vegetables into small even sized dices. Wash the meat and let it drain. Chop the garlic or mince it. Chop the parsley finely after washing. Chop the tomatoes and puree them. If you have the time, cook them in boiling water for 5 minutes and when cool, remove the skin before pureeing. Else use 2 tbsp tomato paste and 1 can (16 ounce)of the whole or crushed tomatoes.

2. Heat the oil in a large deep heavy pot or nonstick deep pan. Saute the onions, celery, carrot, and garlic over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the meat and cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up lumps, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes.

3. Stir in tomato paste, milk, 1 cup water and spices/herbs and gently simmer, covered, until sauce is thickened, 1/2 hr to an hour.(Keep checking to see if the sauce has thickened too much or not. Add water or meat broth if it sticks too much.) The sauce is ready when you see flecks of oil rising to the top of the sauce. Add salt, fresh parsley and pepper and remove from heat.

Sauce may be made 2 days ahead and cooled, uncovered, before chilling, covered. Frozen, it keeps for 1 month.

4. Making sauce from bottled pasta sauce: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil, add 2 cloves garlic and when it sizzles, add the meat and let it cook for about 6-7 minutes. Keep stirring to distribute the heat and when it starts looking brown, it is cooked. Optionally, add 1 cup chopped carrots and red/yellow peppers. Add the whole bottle of pasta sauce, 1 cup milk (or 1/2 cup half and half) and let it simmer for as much time as you have..15 minutes to 1 hr. The milk cuts the acidity of the ready made pasta sauce and makes it creamier. If you are using low fat milk, you will need more to get the same effect. 2-3 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese can be added to the sauce for flavor at the end.

5. Making Pasta: Bring a big pot half full of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta. Cook for 8-11 minutes(or according to the package directions) till the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite. Drain the pasta. Toss the pasta with the oil to avoid it from getting too sticky. Some people like the sauce soaked into the pasta and some like it separate. So as per taste, either add it to the meat sauce just before serving or add it to the pot/pan and let it simmer on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with fresh finely chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

Related links:
Kalyn's Yummy Garden Tomato Sauce
Nabeela's Penne Strascicate
Another Favorite: Nabeela's Bell Pepper Pasta.. It uses roasted peppers pureed into a sauce and its an excellent way to get veggies in at the same time.

Vegetable Kurma/Stew

Vegetable stew or kurma is an easy way to use up all the loose veggies languishing in your crisper and surreptitiously makes up the vegetable requirement in my family's meals. There are two kinds of vegetable stew. One that we make without any spice powders, getting its flavor from just green chilies, pepper and whole spices. That is off white in color and delicate in flavor best eaten straight off the flame with a spongy appam or puttu. Traditionally this is made with just potatoes and onions.

The other stew or ishtoo is a spicier version of the same, with an assortment of vegetables using coriander, turmeric and chili powders to give a depth of flavor and spice. My mother, being a purist would make the potato ishtoo over the vegetable stew, preferring the blend of coconut milk and potatoes to the myriad flavors of the vegetables. I prefer the spiciness to compliment the blandness of the puttu and to get vegetables in at one go. The choice of vegetables are usually potatoes, carrots, peas and beans, but you can also try with cauliflower, kovakka, ash gourd etc.

Now kurma is a similar in recipe to the stew except that I understand it uses ground coconut and not coconut milk. Being partial to the silken texture of the coconut milk and the vegetables suspended in it, this is my version of the kurma. Call it a veg stew or kurma, it goes well with any kind of flat bread.


You will need: For 4 servings
Onions- 1 small one
Green chilies – 4-6
White/Idaho Potato-1
Beans- 8-10
Peas- 1/2 cup
Cauliflower-1/2 cup of florets
Carrots-1 whole one
Tomatoes-1 small plum one
Garlic – 2 cloves (1 tsp)
Ginger- 1/2 inch piece (1 tbsp)
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper Powder- 1/2 tsp
Whole spices: 1”long Cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 2 cardamom
Coconut milk- 1 1/2 cup
Curry leaves- a small sprig
Salt to taste
Oil-2 tbsp

Preparation
1. Wash and cut the vegetables into even sized strips or cubes. Slice the onions and green chilies. Grind the ginger and garlic into a fine paste. Grind the coconut and extract the second and first milk or use the coconut milk powder and prepare 1 ½ cup of coconut milk.
2. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add the whole spices and curry leaves. Saute till the fragrance fills the air and then add onions and chilies.
3. Fry onions till just slightly transparent and immediately add the ground paste and fry it well. Keep stirring and add the spice powders and a tablespoon of water to avoid the spices from getting burnt. Cook this for a couple of minutes or so. The coriander has to be really cooked at this stage or gives a raw taste in the curry. Then add the potatoes, tomatoes and continue stirring. Add 1 cup of water (or the second milk of the coconut) and the rest of the vegetables and salt. Cover and cook till the vegetables are done. (10-12 minutes) Keep checking and add 1/2 cup more water if all the water has evaporated.
4. Add the thick coconut milk. Allow it to simmer (but not boil) just for a couple more minutes and then switch of the flame. Adjust salt and seasoning.
Serve hot with pathiri, appam, puttu or just paratha.

Related Links: Kerala Kitchen's Korma is the traditional version with ground coconut. Vegetable Korma


Shown here are Kallappams, which I started making following Annita's recipe and I am in love with them. Appams are what I grew up with but now kallappams are a hot favorite in my house.
Just follow Annita's recipe for Kallappam. It is too good and easy to make in larger quantities than appams.

WHB-Karakka Achaar/ Carrot-Date Pickle

Before I started accepting dates as a fruit, I used to eat it with gusto in pickle form. My mom always kept a bottle of home made dates (Karakka) pickle. Karakka achaar is a staple in the Malabar households. No Biryani or Neichoru is complete without it. Either they make it at home or get it from the Bombay Hotel near the beach in Calicut. The Bombay hotel sells their delicious pickle which is more sweet than spicy which goes so well with their awesome Biryani. Now I am homesick!

The other pickle I was very fond of was made by my friend Ki while we were at college. A simple carrot pickle with garlic and green chilies and ginger all cut up into slivers. I wonder if that would count as our vegetable intake while surviving on the hostel food (cafeteria). She made it and got it after every trip back from home and it used to last for a week with all of us preying on it. Unlike all our mom based food memories while at college, this was my Ki-based memory. At that time, I was amazed that she could make a pickle while I didn't even know how to make a tea.

I tried a lot of times to recreate it but it didn’t have the same zing. And over time, my taste for the date pickle and carrot pickle got muddled up. So now when I got the recipe from her, it was amusing to see that she has also started adding dates also to it. Yippee! Thanks Ki! So here is her recipe for the carrot pickle to which I have added dates. You could make with the dates or without. If making without the dates, add one more carrot to offset the spice powders.

You will need:
Whole Carrots -2 or 3
Ginger -1" piece
Garlic - 6 or 7
Green chilies- 5 or6
Fresh Dates- about 7-10 (increase or decrease as per sweetness)

Red Chili Powder- 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder- 1tsp
Salt- 2 tbsp (Add after tasting)
Vinegar- 1 cup

Preparation:
Peel the skin from the carrot .Cut the carrots and ginger into even thin (about 1” long) pieces. Add some salt and turmeric to it and keep aside for 1/2 hour or so. Then gently squeeze out the excess moisture from the carrots by hand. Alternately, dry the cut vegetables in the sun for a couple of hours. This will get rid of the excess moisture which makes the pickle spoil fast.

Wash all the ingredients and dry very well. Remove the seeds from the dates and cut each date into 6-8 pieces lengthwise .Slice garlic and chilies also into thin long slivers. Mix them in a non reactive glass bowl and add vinegar and red chili powder. Add the carrots and check seasoning. Add more salt if needed. Keep refrigerated. The pickle is edible after 3-4 days but the dates start breaking down and sweetening it only after a week or so. The pickle gets better with age. You could add dried cranberries or raisins to it also.

This is a good spicy sweet relish to be enjoyed with any rice main course, naans and maybe even in other combinations. So I am sending some of this to my friend Meeta Of What's For Lunch,Honey? who is guest hosting this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. Weekend Herb Blogging was started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen to showcase recipes involving fruits or vegetables or herbs from different regions and now is hosted by enterprising bloggers each week.

Date Pickle,Carrot Pickle, Malabar Recipes,Weekend Herb Blogging

Spring Rolls..Chicken/Vegetable

Spring Rolls are made with pastries filled mostly with julienne vegetables (such as cabbages, carrots, or mushrooms). Some include semi cooked ground meat which is cooked in the steam while frying, while others have seafood in them. The filling is wrapped in a thin, flour wrapper, and usually deep fried. Pork is typically used for Vietnamese fried spring rolls.
Till recently I did not know how easy it is to make spring rolls, especially since here we get the wrapper ready to roll.

I had stopped ordering it from restaurants since they almost always contain pork. Here I did not try making it with semi cooked ground meat, instead just cooked the chicken lightly and shredded it.The vegetables are a creative combination, so feel free to change it. Just remember to keep the size of each vegetable very thin.
This appetizer tastes just as good without the chicken, with all the flavors and textures from the different vegetables.

Somebody suggested baking the wrapped rolls instead of frying so thats a healthy alternative. I used the 5 inch pastry sheets available in the Asian/Indian grocery stores.
Freezer Note: These rolls also freeze well. After making them, lay them quite seperated on a plate/tray and freeze them uncovered for an hour or so. When they are well frozen,they will not stick to each other. Remove them from the tray and pack them together in thick freezer bags. When you need them, defrost outside for half hour or microwave for a very short time (20-30 seconds) and then fry them.

You will need: For about 20 small rolls or 12 big rolls
2 small chicken breasts (Optional)
Carrots-1/2 cup cut into thin pieces.
Green chilies-3 finely chopped
Cabbage-1 1/2 cups very finely shredded
Coriander /cilantro- 1/4 cups finely chopped
Scallions/Sping Onion-1/2 cup very finely shredded
Bean sprouts-1 cup (Optional)
Cooked thin noodles- 1/4 cup cut into pieces.
Light Soy sauce-2 tablespoons
Garlic clove --1 finely chopped
Black pepper- 1 tsp
Salt-1/2 tsp or to taste
20 small spring roll wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation:
1. Cut all the vegetables very finely along its length. They should be thin and almost of the same size. Cut the cabbage into half and slice it from the inside surface to make thin strands. The vegetables and spices have to be all cut up and handy before you fire up the pan. The cooking time is minimal so there is no time to stray from the pan searching for something. ( Which is what I end up doing most of the time.) If using chicken, cut chicken into medium sized pieces and cook with salt, 1 tsp pepper and 1 tsp soy sauce for about 7 minutes. When cooked, cut it or shred it into tiny pieces. Instead of chicken you could add cooked shrimp or mushrooms.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large shallow pan or wok and when it is very hot, stir fry the chicken. Then add all the vegetables and garlic for about 2-4 minutes. Keep stirring while the heat is high to distribute the heat evenly. The vegetables should not be cooked/wilted fully. Add the salt, pepper and soy sauce, stir thoroughly and check seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Do not put too much soy sauce. The cilantro and green part of the scallions(spring onions) should be added only after the pan is taken off the flame.Remove from heat and let it cool.

3. On a board, place 1 spring roll diagonally. Spoon about 2 tsp of filling on center half of skin. If using bigger wrappers, add more accordingly. Fold roll over filling, away from you tucking the point under filling. Fold side points over filling, and roll away from you toward the remaining corner. Moisten top point with a little water, folding over and pressing to seal.
4. Heat a deep skillet with oil, and fry spring rolls on medium heat until brown. If the oil is not hot enough, the spring roll will absorb more oil so maintain the heat. If it is too hot it will brown unevenly. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with spicy sauce for dipping.

Sweet and Spicy sauce:
2 tbsp Rice Vine Vinegar or Regular Vinegar mixed with 1 tsp sugar.
3- 4 whole red chilies or 1 tbsp red chili flakes packed in oil.
1 tsp sugar
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp soy sauce.
1 tbsp tomato sauce

Soak the red chilies in the vinegar for 10-15 minutes. Grind all the ingredients together. Add salt and sugar if needed.

Vegetable Samosa Malabar Style

Malabaris do not usually make vegetable samosas. They make it only when they run out of meat.:) But seriously, there is a vegetable version which I like to call Ulli/Onion samosa since it mostly has onion content in it but it tastes so good. The origin of this samosas are probably the large scale caterers in Calicut. When you order samosas from a caterer, they add onions to reduce cost and increase the filling quantity. Over time, the onion proportion went up so much, that it became a type in itself.
Somehow potatoes were never added in the mix. (I do love the Punjabi potato samosas so much). These are much smaller than the giant potato samosas and the shell is more a crisp puri than layered pastry. I do not think it needs chutney with it but any chutney may complement it. You can eat quite a few at a sitting along with a good cup of tea. Try it,it is unusual but you may end up liking it.

For Vegetable Filling:For about 12 samosas
Onions – 4 large ones
Carrots- 2 long ones.
Peas- a handful (optional)
Ginger -1/2 inch long piece
Garlic -5 cloves
Green chilies- 6
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Roasted Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder -1 tsp
Fennel powder -1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Small green chilies -6
Curry leaves- A handful
Oil- 2-3 tbsp
Slice the onions and curry leaves very finely into long pieces. Chop the green chilies,ginger,garlic and carrots into small pieces. Saute everything together till the onions just get wilted. When it cools use for stuffing. Make the samosas and frt them as shown in the latter part of the Meat Samosa post.
Related Links:
Potato Samosas by Manpasand
Potato samosas by Coconut Chutney

Three Pepper Turkey Chili

Fall is slowly creeping in here, lurking in the cooler temperatures in the mornings, sending the sun skittering back home earlier every day. My garden is looking forlorn, with some plants yellowing and giving in to the frost, while some are holding on, but with fatigue in their branches. The last storm was the turning point. They got so damaged; I could taste it in my bland new crop of vegetables. Not long before I will have to pull them all out.
And I have started on my “hot food” fetish. Hot as in spicy and hot as in hot. I was craving chili, a taste acquired from my colleagues and now made at home too.
Chili/Chilli is essentially a spicy soupy stew of beans(sometimes), chilies and meat cooked together. An easy recipe for the meat lovers, it is full of protein and vitamins, and it varies in taste from region to region in southern US. There is even a vegetarian version of this with tofu substituting for meat.
My first brush with chili was with a lot of trepidation, thinking it is some overly spicy concoction. It was not spicy and I was surprised when I tasted Kidney Beans ( good old rajma). “Arre, this is our rajma curry with meat in it.” But it was not just Rajma. When Kidney beans are mixed with bell peppers and celery and tomatoes, they take on a different set of flavors.
As time went by, I tasted chilis of different types and mixes and realized that the ones served in the North East are not spicy but if you travel south, closer to its Mexican roots, it starts getting hotter and has less beans. The names they go by are as interesting as their recipes-2 Alarm Chili, Texas Two Finger Chili, and Four Dead in O-hi-O Chili, Male Chauvinist Chili, Heaven and Hell Chili.
My turkey chili is a take off from different chili recipes, tried and customized to include more veggies and flavor. This time I substituted turkey for the beef, in an effort to cut down on red meat intake. We could hardly make out the difference in taste. It has three peppers in it hence the name. :) Bell Peppers, Green Chilies Peppers and Dried Black Peppers.
You will need:
Ground Turkey/ Beef/Chicken-3/4 lb
Red Kidney beans-1 ½ cup cooked
Onion-1 ½ cup chopped finely
Carrots-1 cup chopped finely
Celery-1/2 cup chopped
Any Bell Pepper(Red/green/yellow/orange)- 1 cup chopped.
Green Chilies/Any hot chili-6-8 crushed
Garlic-6-8 crushed
Tomato-about 1lb(4 medium tomatoes)or 1 1/2 can stewed tomatoes.
Coriander/Cilantro leaves-1/2 cup chopped
Milk - 1/4 cup( optional)
Salt-1/2 tsp (to taste)
Seasoning:
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground oregano
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1 dried chili pepper, crushed, seeds removed
Dry grind them all together.

Preparation:
If using dry kidney beans, soak overnight and cook in the pressure cooker for 5-10 minutes. Else, you can use canned kidney beans after rinsing it once. Add more or less kidney beans than specified depending on how meaty you like the chili to be. This is a good recipe for the crockpot for those who have it. Mix everything together, leave it cooking in the crockpot, go out and come back to a delicious chili.
Cook ground turkey or beef in a large pot, add onion, celery and stir until onions are transparent. No need for oil. The oil from the meat cooks and flavors the onions. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the milk and leaves, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Open and add milk, coriander leaves and check seasoning. Top with some cheese and chopped cilantro/Coriander.
Serve with corn bread or rice or rotis/tortillas.
Spicy Chili Recipes, Turkey Chili, South Beach Recipes