Collard Greens w/ Red Beans Thoran

A vegetable item is a must on my lunch and dinner table. Sounds uncharacteristic coming from a seemingly non-veg oriented blog right?:)But it's true..a meal with just multiple non-veg items makes me uncomfortable and yearn for something green and crunchy for balance. Not potatoes or veg curries, plain old vegetables.

My mom was relating stories of olden days in her mom's house where vegetable were always present, not just as thorans but in exotic combinations with specific menus. Some were kaya-payar mezhukuparatti(plantains with string beans), padavalange-parippu(snake gourd with lentils), spicy okra thottukootan, cheera thoran,muringya ela thoran(leaves of the drumstick plant) payar ela thoran(leaves of the string beans)etc. Of course, we are not as stringent with the combinations now, happily adapting to the local produce instead.

So recently when I tasted a combination of collard greens and vanpayar(red beans), brought home by my better half from a mallu restaurant (more like a thattukada or dhaba)near his office here, it was intriguing. An American vegetable converted into such a mallu taste! So I had to try and recreate it at home.

Collard greens is slightly bitter and rough leaf, local to the US market, available in plenty here. The central stem needs to be removed, it takes longer to cook, and has a pronounced rough texture. As a thoran(stirfry), it is acceptable as the addition of coconut and garlic renders it different but the addition of the beans gave it a pleasing texture. I have tried both red beans and black eyed beans and though both are good, red beans being smaller is better. This can be tried with any green that is made into a thoran, such as kale, Swiss chard, cheera etc but vary the cooking time accordingly.

You will need:
1/2 bunch of Collard Greens
Red Beans(vanpayar)-1/4 cup
Shallots- 2 sliced
Whole Dried Red Chilies-1 or 2
Green chilies- 4 or 5 chopped
Turmeric- 1/4 tsp
Garlic- 2 cloves
Coconut- 1/4 cup.
Salt to taste
Oil- 1 tbsp

Preparation:
1. Soak the greens in lots of water for 5-10 minutes to get rid of the sand. Wash it well under running water. Let it drain thoroughly. Optional, mop up excess water with paper towels. Remove the central thick stem and chop the leaves finely.
2. Cook the red beans with double the water and 1/2 tsp salt in a pressure cooker for 1-2 whistles. It should be just cooked and not over cooked and smashed. (Use your judgement on how much time it would take in a cooker.)
3. Pulse the coconut, chilies and garlic together without water in a dry grinder till it looks scrambled.
4. Heat the oil in a pan and add the shallots and red chilies torn into pieces. Fry till the shallots turns translucent and then add the greens, salt and turmeric. Keep the pan covered on low heat for about 10 minutes to cook the collard greens. They take longer to cook than regular greens so check the pan after 5 minutes and add water by spoonfuls if needed.
5. Open and cook uncovered on medium flame for 5-7 minutes till all the water evaporates. Make a well in the middle of the leaves and add the coconut mix and the cooked beans. Mix thoroughly and adjust salt. Serve with rice.

Three Pepper Fajitas

It's always fun to sit back and smile as the guesses pour in just to see the versatality of everybody's imagination. Jackfruit in a fajita..the prize of originality goes to Sra while Nandita came the closest with yellow peppers. Still, thanks for being a sport.

Its a veggie fajita filled with sauted peppers, onions, cilantro, grated cheese and the optional sour cream and gaucamole. Yep, I did make some quesadillas too with the peppers and chicken but that's next on the posting list.

I buy the multicolored bell peppers from the price club on a regular basis just becacuse they look so good and they are so good for you. Every time, I go there the red, yellow and orange peppers just whistle charmingly to me as I walk past them, their colors making them stand out in the midst of all the vegetables. I force my eyes elsewhere, figuring I can go for a couple of weeks without them. But no,at the end of the shopping, there they are in my cart, and I am already conjuring up new ways to cook them.



So how good are they for you?
Brightly colored bell peppers, whether green, red, orange or yellow, are rich sources of vitamin C and vitamin A (through its concentration of carotenoids such as beta-carotene), two very powerful antioxidants. Red Peppers also contain lycopene, a carotenoid which aids the body in warding off cancer. Additionally, they are low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium while being high in fiber, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Manganese, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Pantothenic Acid and Magnesium. For more info, click here. Did I get any converts? Don't eat this if you aiming to gain weight coz as you read above, they are low in fat.

Sweet peppers are plump, bell-shaped vegetables featuring either three or four lobes. They usually range in size from 2 to 5 inches in diameter, and 2 to 6 inches in length. Inside the thick flesh is an inner cavity with edible bitter seeds and a white spongy core. Bell peppers are not 'hot'. They contain a recessive gene that eliminates capsaisin, the compound responsible for the 'hotness' found in other peppers. When sauted or grilled, they are sweet with a fruity flavor. Here I have sauted them for multiple uses.

You will need:
Bell Peppers-3, one of each color
Onion-1
Red Pepper Flakes-1/4 tsp (optional)
Garlic-1 clove
Olive oil-1-2 tsp
Cilantro- a handful
Lemon Juice-a dash
Salt to taste
Black Pepper-1/2 tsp
Grated Cheese-a handful

Preparation: Slice the peppers vertically along the edges so as to remove the central seed core. Slice them thin into equal size pieces. Slice the onion finely. Crush the garlic. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the garlic and red peppers. Add the sliced peppers and onions, salt and saute them while stirring all the while. Lower the heat to medium and cover for 2 minutes. Open, increase the heat and continue stirring. They should wilt and get cooked in about 5-7 minutes. The high heat is to evaporate the water that the peppers give out. Add lemon juice and pepper. Now they can be used as a topping for fajitas, quesadillas, or even burgers.

Fairly good flour tortillas are available in supermarkets almost everywhere. Select the ones which are 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Warm them up by on a skillet and wrap them in a cloth napkin to bring them to the table.

For assembling the fajitas: Lightly toast a tortilla on a skillet on both sides. Spread a tablespoon of the peppers on it. Add grilled strips of chicken or beef if so preferred. Sprinkle chopped cilantro, grated cheese and a spoon on sour cream. Roll or fold over..Done.

Cheera Thoran/ Spinach stir fry

A thoran is a stir fry but with much less oil, sometimes even steamed partially. Spinach is a regular side vegetable on our rice menu. Most of the time, I make the stir fry with the Spinach available locally. It is easy to make, yummy and highly nutritious too(ask Popeye). But the spinach has more water content than the Kerala spinach and the end result is a wet thoran, unlike the crispy cheera thoran.
When I started my vegetable garden, I was so thrilled to find a plant called the Malabar Spinach which I had to plant. As it grew, I realized, it is a climber variety which is supposed to mature in 55 days and is also called a slippery vegetable, not to be confused with cheera.
Once in a while, I find the red green spinach in Indian and Chinese grocery stores which is the closest approximation to the Kerala cheera in taste. It is called Chinese spinach/ edible amaranth ...thin green leaves with red veins and red color in the middle.


You will need:
I bunch of Chinese Spinach (cheera)
Shallots- 2 sliced
Green chilies- 4 or 5 chopped
Turmeric- ¼ tsp
Garlic- 2 cloves
Coconut- ½ cup.
Salt to taste (use sea salt preferably)
Oil- 1 tbsp





Preparation:
1. Soak the spinach in water for 5-10 minutes to get rid of the sand. Wash it well under running water. Let it drain thoroughly. Optional, mop up excess water with paper towels. Chop the spinach finely.
2. Pulse the coconut, chilies and garlic together without water in a dry grinder till it looks scrambled.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the shallots. Fry till it turns translucent and then add the spinach and turmeric. Keep the pan covered for a minute to wilt the spinach.
4. Make a well in the middle of the spinach and add the coconut mix and cover it with spinach. Let it cook uncovered on medium flame for 5-10 mins till all the water evaporates. Add salt and mix the coconut and spinach. Serve with rice.