No onion No garlic : Simple Vegetable Kurma

No onion and no garlic vegetable kurma is a very simple and tasty side dish. Compared to the authentic kurma where all spices are added, there is no compromise on the taste and texture of the kurma. Its a very healthy saathvik food. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Tomato - 2 medium sized washed and roughly chopped

Mixed vegetables - 2 cups washed and chopped into one inch length

I have used carrots, green beans and potato

Oil for seasoning

Jeera/Cumin - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Grind the following ingredients into a smooth paste:

3 tablespoons - grated fresh coconut

1 tablespoon - khas khas

2 green chillis (adjust as per taste)

Seeds from 4 to 5 pods of green Elaichi

water quarter cup

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai and add cumin seeds. 

Then, add roughly chopped tomatoes and fry until tomatoes are cooked.

Now add the chopped mixed vegetables and add salt as required.

Pour just enough water and cook until vegetables are tender and water is almost absorbed.

Now mix in the ground paste and adjust consistency with half a cup water if the content is too thick.

Mix well and allow the content to come to a boil.

Turn off heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Taste and healthy kurma is ready to be served with Set dosa/ Chapathi/ Roti etc.

You will never miss onion or garlic or any other spice in this dish, I bet.

Try this recipe and let me know your feedback.

A vegetable kurma cannot be more simpler than this.

Note: Cauliflower and fresh green peas can also be added to this kurma. 

* In case of adding fresh peas. wash the peas and boil it separately until its cooked and mix it to the kurma in the end.

* In case of adding cauliflower, wash the cauliflower florets, boil in water with a teaspoon salt and half pinch of turmeric. In less than 5 minutes, cauliflower will be perfectly cooked. collect the cauliflower (leaving the impurities and worms if any) and keep it separately and add it to the kurma in the end. 

Cabbage & Green beans Palya

Vegetable combinations make the dish more colorful and healthy. Here, I have used cabbage and beans to make this palya. Fresh peas and/or chopped carrots can be added to this palya. Click here for chow chow and carrot palya.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 1 medium size

Green beans - 250 gms

Oil for tempering - 1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - half teaspoon

Whole urud dal - 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder - half teaspoon

Hing (Asafoetida powder) - a pinch

Water to cook the vegetables

Coconut - fresh - grated - 2 tablespoon (optional)

Method:

Chop the cabbage discarding the core and outer layers.

Chop the green beans after discarding both the ends.

Heat oil in a kadai and temper the mustard seeds and add urud dal. fry till golden.

Add the chopped vegetables, salt, turmeric powder, hing, and give a quick stir.

Add just a cup of water and cook partially covered. 

When all the moisture is absorbed and the vegetable is completely cooked, turn off heat and add the grated fresh coconut. Healthy palya is ready. Stir well and serve when its room temperature. Serve as an accompaniment for rice items like rasam rice, curd rice, sambar rice etc.

If using fresh peas, wash the peas and boil in water for 10 mins before adding to the palya. Because, it takes a little longer time to cook.

Simple Seeme badanekai / Chow chow and Carrot Palya

Including vegetables in our diet is very important. South Indians make a dry vegetable curry as an accompaniment for rice dishes. Carrots, chow chow (otherwise called seeme badanekai in kannada and bangalore kathirikka in tamil), beans, cabbage are some of the vegetables that are cooked in water to make palya. Palya is a nothing but a dry vegetable side dish. Either individual vegetables are used or in combination. Here I have used chow chow and carrot combo. 

Ingredients:

Chow chow - 2 medium - peeled and diced

Carrots - 3 medium - peeled and diced

Oil for tempering - 1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - half teaspoon

Whole urud dal - 1 tablespoon

Red chillis - dry - 2 (optional)

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder - half teaspoon

Hing (Asafoetida powder) - a pinch

Water to cook the vegetables

Coconut - fresh - grated - 2 tablespoon (optional)

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai and temper the mustard seeds and add urud dal. fry till golden and add red chillis if adding.

Add the diced vegetables, salt, turmeric powder, hing, and give a quick stir.

Add just a cup of water and cook partially covered. 

When all the moisture is absorbed and the vegetable is completely cooked turn off heat and add the grated fresh coconut. Healthy palya is ready. Stir well and serve when its room temperature. Serve as an accompaniment for rice items like rasam rice, curd rice, sambar rice etc.

Set Dosa & Saagu

I bet its a winner recipe for set dosa. Perfect recipe to make fluffy, soft and tasty set dosas. Being holiday season, if you are looking for tiffin recipes for your kids, here it is. Prepare a tasty mixed vegetable saagu to go with these dosas. tadaa.....happy tummies :-)

NOTE: The original recipe is adding 5 measures of raw rice. My recipe is a little different but tastes delicious. In the recipe below, the 'measure' that I have mentioned can be a cup that's small or medium size. Even a ladle. The bigger the measure, the larger the quantity of the batter ;-) 

Here is the recipe for Set dosa followed by Saagu recipe.

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 3 Measures

Iddli rice - 2 Measures

Flattened rice ( Avalakki / Poha ) - 1 Measure

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt - as required

Cooking soda - half teaspoon

Oil to make dosa

Method:

Preparing the batter for set dosa:

Combine both raw rice and idli rice in a large bowl.

Wash well and Soak in water adding the turmeric.

In another container, wash the flattened rice (avalakki / poha) once and soak in water separately.

Soak both for over night or minimum 7 hours.

Drain water and grind the rice preferably in a wet grinder.

Add the soaked flattened rice / poha / avalakki, to the rice when its grinding.

Use water as required to make a batter with medium consistency - smooth - not too thick not too thin.

Transfer the ground batter to a large container.

Mix in required amount of salt and a pinch of cooking soda.

Mix really well and keep it closed.

Allow the batter to frement for at least 5 to 6 hours.

Preparing the Set dosa:

Heat a Tawa, preferably the old fashioned iron tawa.

If you are using iron tawa, rub the center with oil.

Mix the batter and make sure its in pouring consistency.

When the tawa is hot, pour a ladle full of batter in the middle and let it spread evenly forming a medium circle.

Oil the sides and cook for about a minute or two.

Cooking closed minimizes the cooking time.

Slowly, flip the dosa to the other side and cook for a minute.

Then, transfer it to the serving plate.

Serve it with hot and spicy saagu.

You will see that the soft and fluffy set dosa with numerous holes, will have a yellow hue because of turmeric that was added while soaking.

Saagu recipe:

Ingredients:

Mixed vegetables - 2 to 3 cup ( diced - potatoes, carrots and chopped beans)

Onion - 2 medium chopped (optional)

Oil for seasoning

Salt to taste

Cloves - 5 to 6

Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 teaspoon

Green chilli  - 2 ( or as per taste)

Coconut - half cup ground or 1 tetra pack coconut milk.

Method:

Usually roasted gram is added to the recipe but my recipe is a little different. Its a tasty saagu cum mild kurma.

Cook the mixed vegetables in a pressure pan (exactly one whistle) or kadai, with water that just immerses the vegetables. Add salt while cooking.

Heat oil in a kadai and temper jeera, green chillis and cloves.

Add chopped onions and fry until colour changes.

Now add the mixed vegetables and allow it to cook for one boil.

Add required amount of salt. Add only little as the vegetables are already cooked with salt.

Now add ground coconut or coconut milk.

Allow the content to cook for a boil and turn off heat. Garnish with cilantro (coriander leaves).

Serve this for Set dosa or Chapathis.

Paneer Butter Masala - Chettinad Style

Its the south Indian version of Paneer butter masala using the Chettinad spices - fennel, pepper and lots of garlic, ginger and curryleaves. Here is the recipe for this lip- smacking paneer masala with a chettinad twist.

Ingredients: 

Fresh Paneer - 200 gms or as required - Cut into 1 inch cubes

Deep frying the paneer till golden is optional.

(used Milky mist paneer - 1 packet - did not fry)

Unsalted Butter - in room temperature - 2 tablespoons

Cashew nuts - 2 tablespoons

Poppy seeds (Khas khas) - 1 tablespoon

Onion - 2 medium - roughly chopped

Tomato - 4 large - roughly chopped

Ginger - 2 inches - peeled and roughly choppe

Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves

Green chillis - 1 to 2 (as per heat and taste)

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Salt as required

Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon (optional)

Coriander leaves - handful - for garnish

Ground Masala Paste:

Roast the following in little oil, adding them in the order given.

Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon

Cumin seeds - half tablespoon

Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon stick - 1 inch

Cloves - 2 to 3

Fennel (saunf) - 2 teaspoons

Green cardamom (Elachi) - seeds from 3 to 4 cardamoms

Dry red chillies - 2 to 3

Add fresh coconut - a little more than half cup and roast all the indredients together until the coconut is roasted.

Turn off heat and cool. Grind using little water and keep it aside.

Method:

Soak Cashewnuts and Poppy seeds (khas khas) in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain water and transfer it to the mixie jar and grind it using very little water. Let it sit in the Mixie jar.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a kadai. Add chopped onions, green chillies, chopped ginger, garlic cloves, curry leaves and fry till onion turns translucent. 

Add Chopped tomatoes, and fry till it is almost cooked.

Cool the content and transfer it to the ground cashew, poppy seed Mixie jar. Grind to a smooth paste and Keep it aside.

Heat a teaspoon of oil with a tablespoon butter.

Add the Ground Masala Paste.

Fry for a couple of minutes in medium heat, until a good aroma comes and the butter/oil separates.

Now add the ground cashew, poppy, onion tomato masala.

When the content boils, add required amount of sugar, salt, red chilli powder (optional) and turmeric powder. 

The content will thicken. Adjust the consistency using little water and allow the content to boil for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Add a table spoon of butter and turn off heat. 

Add the paneer (as is or fried) and stir in gently. Squeezing lemon juice at this point is optional.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Tastes awesome with chapathi or any roti or paratha variety. Truly spicy, tasty, lip smacking curry.

Note: This curry is really spicy. Adjust the green chilli, red chilli, red chillie powder, garlic and ginger as per taste.

Tri colour gravy - Easy mixed vegetable kurma using readymade coconut milk

I wish all my blog readers advance Independence day wishes. Jai Hind !!

Every Independence day, I try exhibit my patriotism by cooking something that is tri colour - saffron, white and green. I would like to share one of those recipes to all my patriotic readers. I am posting this recipe a couple of days before the Independence day, as you can buy the necessary ingredients in advance if you are going to try this recipe.

This is a simple, quick and delicious kurma that's totally vegan. This is a very versatile gravy, so, depending upon the quantity of kurma needed, you can adjust the quantity and choice of vegetables as per your taste. 

Ingredients:

Coconut milk - 200 ml

(I used  one 200 ml carton - Dabur coconut milk)

Mixed vegetables - 2 to 2 and half cups

---saffron colour - diced Carrots

---white colour - diced Potatoes and/or Cauliflower florets

---green colour - Green peas and/or chopped Green beans

Medium red onion - 2 chopped (optional)

ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon (optional)

Ripe red tomatoes - 2 medium chopped (optional)

Oil for seasoning - 1 tablespoon refined oil

Spices - 1 bay leaf, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, seeds from 2 green 

cardamom

Green chillies - 2 if it is too spicy - vertically slit

adjust spice level as per your taste

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Salt as required

Water as required

Coriander leaves chopped - for garnish

Method:

1. Wash the cauliflower florets and add them in boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes and turn off heat. drain water and keep it separately.

2. Heat oil in a non stick kadai. Temper the cumin seeds and add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cloves, green chillies and fry for a minute.

3. Add onions and fry till its translucent and add tomato and cook for a couple of minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Skip onion or tomato or ginger garlic paste if you are not using. 

4. Now add the mixed vegetables except cauliflower florets and fill with water to just cover the vegetables and add required amount of salt and cook closed until the vegetables are tender.

5. Just when the vegetables are cooked, toss in the cauliflower florets and give a quick stir.

6. Now stir in the coconut milk and wait till one boil and turn off heat. Garnish with coriander leaves.

7. Serve hot with Appam / Roti / Phulka / Chapathi / Parotta / Set dosa or Basmathi rice that's cooked in coconut milk.

Alternative method:

Cashewnut paste can be added to the gravy for a rich flavour. Grind a handful of cashewnuts to a smooth paste using little water and add to the gravy just when the vegetables are well cooked. Then, pour the coconut milk. Cashewnut paste and Coconut milk reduces the spice level. So, adjust the green chillies accordingly. 

The other tri colour recipe in this blog is Capsicum Paneer Tikka

Tri color Bell Pepper and Paneer Burji Grilled Sandwich

When it comes to comfort food, sandwiches are the best. Few slices of bread, a couple of vegetables that can be roasted and some seasoning will do. In just few minutes, you can cook up a sandwich that is healthy, tasty, colorful and wholesome. 

There are days when I don't feel like having regular rice for lunch. Those days, I would keep my lunch simple. Just a one pot meal like vegetable pulao, a sandwich or a soup will do. I pair my sandwich with soup when I use raw vegetables for my sandwich. This tri color capsicum/bell pepper and paneer burji that I used as a stuffing for my sandwich  is well cooked and can be paired with raw vegetables like sliced onions, chopped cucumber and sliced tomatoes. 

Few people have a flair for Ketchup. They have the habit of squeezing a dollop of ketchup on any bread based food like pizza, sandwich etc. This sandwich can also be served with ketchup. I have tossed in some crumbled paneer to the roasted vegetables for an extra protein kick, so that will keep me full for a long time.

There is no onion and garlic in the recipe. Adding them is optional. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Green capsicum/bell pepper - 1

Yellow capsicum/bell pepper - 1

Red capsicum/bell pepper - 1

Roma tomatoes/ B'lore variety Tomatoes - 2

Crumbled paneer - half cup - (preferably homemade, I just squeezed 1 lemon in boiling half liter milk to make paneer)

for seasoning,

Jeera / cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Finely chopped green chilles  - half tablespoon

Red chilli powder - half teaspoon

Granulated white sugar - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - half teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil for seasoning

Chopped coriander leaves - handful (optional)

for sandwich,

Ghee / clarified butter - 2 tablespoons

White bread slices - 4

Sandwich maker

Method:

Dice the tomatoes and the bell peppers/capsicum and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add Jeera and finely minced green chillies. 

Add tomatoes and fry until it becomes mushy and water is almost absorbed.

Add the capsicum/bell pepper and fry for a minute.

Add turmeric powder, salt, sugar, red chilli powder and saute the capsicum for a couple of minutes. Do not overcook the capsicum.

Turn off heat and mix in the crumbled paneer and coriander leaves.

This burji can be used as a side for rotis and also as a stuffing for parathas. I have used it as a stuffing for my sandwiches.

For making sandwich, 

allow the content to cool. Heat up a sandwich maker. Preferably a grill sandwich maker.

Alternatively, you can use a grill tawa or even ordinary tawa to toast the bread.

When the sandwich maker is preheated, place a slice of bread.

Spoon in some burji and spread it across evenly.

Lay another bread slice on top and drizzle a spoon of ghee.

Close the lid and toast for a couple of minutes, until the bread slices are toasted golden.

Turn off heat and transfer it to a plate.

Using scissors/kitchen shears half the sandwich.

Serve it hot with ketchup and some chopped onions, cucumber etc.

Sandwich ideas:

1. Use your favorite vegetables. Thinly sliced capsicum, onion and even eggplant will be fantastic.

2. Place a cheese slice and let it melt with the vegetables when pressing the sandwich.

3. Use masala powder like paav bhaaji masala or kitchen king masala or any masala powder of your choice for seasoning instead of red chillie powder and green chillis.

4. Use brown bread if you are diet conscious, but white bread tastes best.

Paruppu Usili / Bele Palya

wow! a long break really. Motherhood being my highest priority, I just had to shutdown my blogging for sometime and that sometime became a year. Now, I feel, it is time for me to get started. Planning to post at least one or two recipes a week. Let's see how it goes. Please wish me good luck. 

First of all, a big hello to all the regular visitors of this site. To start with, here is the recipe for Paruppu usili. It is called Bele palya in Kannada. A recipe cannot be more easier than this one. In a nutshell, bele palya is nothing but roasted spicy ground dal that is mixed with either cooked chopped beans or cooked plantain flower/vaazhaippoo or chopped methi leaves. Here, I have used the green beans. To be exact, the cluster beans. Its other names are  Gavar/Guar/Guwar/Guvar bean. The hero of the dish is of course the Bele or Paruppu or Dal. I have used Toor Dal or Thuvaram Paruppu. Here is the list of ingredients.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 and half cups

Dry red chillies - 5 to 6

Salt - as required

Refined oil - 5 tablespoons

Cluster beans - handful - finely chopped and cooked well with enough salt 

(either Vaazhai poo - plantain flowers or Methi leaves can be substituted)

Mustard seeds - 2 teaspoons

Asafoetida powder - Hing powder - 1 teaspoon

Method:

Wash well and soak the toor dal for one or two hours.

Meanwhile chop the beans and cook with little salt and keep it aside.

Now, drain the water from the dal and grind with salt and dry red chillies using very very little water. (For chillies and salt to mix well with the dal, grind a handful of dal with the chillies and salt first and then add remaining dal and grind all together). Keep it aside.

Take a NON STICK kadai and pour the oil. Always keep in medium heat. 

Temper the mustard seeds. As it pops, add the asafoetida powder and immediately add the ground dal.

Keep stirring until all the oil is absorbed.

Then, stir every one or two minutes. The dal changes color to bright yellow and gets roasted.

In 10 to 15 minutes, you will notice the dal becoming a crumbled mixture. 

At this point in time, add the chopped cooked beans and stir well.

Turn off heat after a couple of minutes.

Serve with Rasam saadam or curd rice or just enjoy it as it is. 

Its a very easy dish. Specially a spicy No onion No garlic dish.

I have also used very very basic ingredients  Using turmeric powder, curry leaves and urud dal is opitonal. Cook this dish and let me know the feedback.

Spicy Vegetable Curry

Though there are many many versions of kurma, masala or other curries, creating a new curry seems to really entertain our taste buds. As the name suggests, this dish is spicy enough, with loads of vegetables in a tomato base, that is flavored with the Indian spices. This curry will go really well with rotis/chapathis, parathas or even pooris. Keeping the base gravy the same, any one vegetable or combination of vegetables can be added. The vegetables I would suggest is, either only potato or only cauliflower or both potato and cauliflower, including or excluding carrots, beans and peas. Here's how I prepared.

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 large - chopped

Tomato - 6 - quartered

Potaotes cooked and peeled - 1 cup

Cauliflower florets - 1 cup

Carrots and Beans - chopped - 1 cup

Oil  for seasoning - 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Ginger - 1 inch - peeled and chopped

Garlic - 4 pods

(ginger garlic paste can be substituted for fresh ones)

Coriander leaves - finely chopped - for garnishing

Roast the following to prepare a curry paste:

Dhania - 3 tablespoons

Cloves - 5

Dry red chillies - 2 to 3 (as per your desired spice level)

Sonf / fennel seeds - 2 teaspoons

Grind it along with 2 green chillis and 1 cup coconut milk.

Method:

Boil the carrots and beans in a quart of water. When it is half cooked, add the cauliflower and allow the content to boil till the vegetables are well cooked. turn off heat and keep it aside.

Mean while, when the vegetables are cooking, heat a teaspoon of oil in a kadai and saute the onion. When the onions turn light brown, add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the chopped tomatoes. Fry for a couple of minutes and turn off heat. Let the content cool.

Puree the onion tomato and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a wide kadai and pour the tomato onion puree. Add water that was used to cook the vegetables and allow the content to boil for about 10 minutes.

Add the ground curry paste and salt and mix well. Let it boil for another 5 minutes and now add the vegetables (carrots, beans and cauliflower) that are cooked along with the cooked potaotes.

Adjust water to desired consistency not make the gravy too watery and allow the content to cook stirring occasionally allowing the spices to combine. Adjust salt.

Turn off heat and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. 

Serve hot with fresh rotis or parathas or pooris.