Thursday 31 August 2017

Karela (Bitter Gourd) with Peanuts and Tamarind

We all have a relationship with this gourd. And mercifully, it's uncomplicated. We either love it or hate it - there's no middle path here! Thankfully, I belong to the karela fan club. I don't remember how and when I fell in love with this bitter version of gourd but I do have my Mom to thank, as she always made me eat whatever was cooked. I have a very fond memory of this sabji.

This gourd is considered very good for diabetes. So, add it to your table to keep diabetes at bay.

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 4, peeled and cut in rounds
Peanuts - A handful, roasted and crushed
Tamarind - lemon sized ball, soaked and strained
Jaggery or sugar - 1 tablespoon or according to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Spices - coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, 


Way to go:

1. Peel and cut bitter gourd in round pieces. You can mix the roundels with salt and leave for a while. Wash them thereafter.
2. Add oil in a heavy bottomed pan. When oil is warm, add jeera, fennel seeds and curry leaves.
3. Add bitter gourd. After 5 minutes, add salt, red chilly powder.
4. When it's almost done, add coriander powder.
5. Towards the end, add coarsely grounded peanuts. Add tamarind juice. Add jaggery or sugar.
6. Cover and let cook for a while. Eat with hot chapatis.







Mix Daal

On a lazy, normal day, I heard a knock at my door. When I answered, there was a bunch of friends, springing a belated birthday surprise on me! Now, who doesn't love surprises? I was overjoyed with this loving gesture. The thought was so touching and beautiful. 

They came armed with cake, gifts and food. We had a lovely time, chatting and lunching together. There was homemade cake, appas, puliyohara, paneer, mix daal, kheer and tandoori roti. Everything was delicious. I took recipes and whenever I make them, fond memories are sure to waft around, along with delightful aromas :)

Thankyou for this recipe, Pooja!


Ingredients:


All whole lentils and beans available at home. For e.g. black gram, chickpeas, black eyed beans, whole masoor, whole moong, split toor, chana, kidney beans, pinto beans, whole dried peas, black urad, dew gram. 

Onions - 2, chopped
Tomatoes - 2, chopped
Garlic - 6-7 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Green chillies - 2
Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)- 1 teaspoon, crushed
Oil or ghee - 1 teaspoon
Bayleaf - a couple
Raw mango powder - 1/2 teaspoon (I substitute raw mango powder with dry gooseberry powder or with lemon juice).

Way to Go:

1. Soak lentils overnight. 
2. In a pressure cooker, heat ghee. I use an Instant Pot - which is a programmable electric pressure cooker. 
3. When ghee gets warm, add cumin seeds and chopped garlic. Sauté garlic for 10 seconds. Add onions. When onions turn transparent, add tomatoes, ginger and green chillies. 
4. Add spices like coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, red chilly powder and turmeric. Add bayleaves. 
5. When the mix is well cooked, add lentils. Add water so that it is two inches over and above the lentils. 
6. Cook in the same way as you would cook daal makhni. First a couple of whistles, then let it simmer on low flame for a few more minutes. Or put it on Bean/Chilly mode for 40 minutes  . 
7. Add raw mango powder towards the end. My friend also adds a magic paste made by her Mom. I'll update it when I get to know the ingredients for the same:) Edit : I just posted a recipe for this garam masala paste.
8. The consistency can be as desired. A little loose if you want to eat with rice or just mushy, to be eaten with piping hot chapatis. It's an excellent and filling meal for cold winter days. 


Tips:


1. You can use it as ragda for ragda patties.

2. It can be eaten as a chaat on its own. Add a bit of curd, coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, chopped onions, tomatoes, shredded carrots and garnished with chopped coriander. Yum!!



Coriander Chutney

What's life without some spice! If this spice comes with no oil and cholesterol, what better can one ask for? 

This coriander chutney can be used with stuffed parathas, chaats, pakoras, sprouts, sandwiches, rolls etc. The options are endless. As coriander leaf is a good source of potassium and antioxidants, this chutney is high in both nutrition and taste.

Though there are tons of recipes for making chutney, this one  is courtesy my friend Arti. I often make it this way since onion and tomato give a good body to the chutney. 

Ingredients:

Coriander - 1big bunch
Onion - Half 
Country (desi) tomato - 1 small or half medium
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green chillies, hot - 
Ginger - half an inch 
Salt - according to taste
Black salt - according to taste
Red chilli powder - half teaspoon 
Cumin seeds -  1 tablespoon
Lemon juice - half 

Way to go:

Clean. Wash. Grind. Enjoy!

Tips:

1. Lemon juice and tomato provide enough moisture for grinding. If not, add some water.
2. Add a bit of raw mustard oil to your portion. My Bengali cook gave me this tip and I love it!
3. This chutney can be made weekly or fortnightly. I make a batch and freeze half of it. When needed, I remove it from freezer and keep in fridge overnight.