Grated Beetroot Stir fry with Garlic | Easy Beetroot Stir fry Recipe

I have already posted two versions of the beetroot stir fry - Beetroot Stir fry using Coconut and the other version - Spicy Beetroot Curry using Vangibath masala powder. You must be wondering why again this new version and what is it about. I had tasted this simple version of garlic flavored Grated Beetroot stir fry in a meal cooked by a cook during my pregnancy and instantly liked it and from then it has been added to our regular menu. I make it quite often that I prepare this version more than the regular coconut version. I love garlic and the roasted crushed garlic imparts a nice taste to the curry. Also as the beetroot has been grated this cooks very fast compared to the chopped beetroot curry.I also prepare the same version with carrot and even that tastes very nice.

In Kerala, they make Beetroot thoran with grated beetroot and coconut, I would post that version some time later.This is a very basic recipe that even a beginner can prepare it in the kitchen. You can pair it with hot steaming rice or roti, it tastes nice and makes a simple meal.If you like Beetroot then you must check out Bengali Vegetable Chops with beetroot stuffing and also Carrot-Beet Halwa. recipes.

You can check out various vegetables and greens stir fry recipes here to pair with everyday dal/sambar and rice.

Grated Beetroot Stir fry Recipe:

Serves 2 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 5 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins |  Total time: 20 mins

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Stir-fry/Palya

Ingredients:

1 large Beetroot, peeled and grated

1 medium Onion, finely chopped

3-4 pods of Garlic, peeled and crushed

1/2 tsp Red chili powder or Garlic Chili powder

1 Red chili, broken

1 tsp Urad dal

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

7-8 Curry leaves

1.5-2 tbsp Oil

Salt, to taste

Method:

• Wash,Peel and grate Beetroot and keep it ready.

• In a kadai heat oil and crackle mustard seeds and then add urad dal, broken red chili,garlic pods and curry leaves and fry until the dal turns a bit red in color.

• Add finely chopped onion and fry until the onions turn slight brown in color.

• Now add grated beetroot and salt and mix nicely and cover it and cook for 5-6 mins.Add a tbsp of water if needed.

• Open the lid and add the chili powder (Garlic chili powder) and mix nicely and cook for another 2-3 mins.

• Switch off the flame.

Serve it hot with rice/roti/chapati.

Notes:

1. You can replace beetroot with carrot in the recipe and follow the same method by grating the carrot or you can even mix both grated carrot and beetroot and follow the same recipe.
2. Crushed garlic pod is the star ingredient in this simple recipe, do not skip it.
3. Also I have mentioned more oil quantity as it depends on the size of the beetroot and also somehow this simple stir fry tastes best when made with more oil.You can reduce it if you want.
4. Do not cook the curry for very long period.It cooks very fast and tastes best when a slight crunch is maintained in the beetroot.

Technorati Tags: grated beetroot stir fry, beetroot recipes, beetroot stir fry, beetroot garlic stir fry, andhra recipes, simple stir fry recipes, side dish for rice, side dish for rotis

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Drumstick Leaves Curry Recipe | Murungai Keerai Poriyal | Munagaku Talimpu

Drumstick leaves have a very good content of iron and are very healthy and it is advisable to include them in our diet often. But it is a very tedious process to remove the leaves from the stems otherwise these leaves have a peculiar taste compared to other greens.We used to have a tree in my neighbor's house and hence procuring the fresh leaves and drumsticks was never an issue then, but finding good leaves is a challenge in Singapore.When ever I go to Little India I buy the vegetables and greens which are not available in the local markets and specially our Indian vegetables and greens. Sometimes I buy two bunches of each variety that it will last easily for upto a week with a marathon of greens based recipes in that week.

My mom usually makes the stir fry with it and also rasam with it apart from using it in Drumstick leaves Adai.You can even add the leaves to the dosa batter and prepare dosas which is very healthy and nutricious too. Try to include these iron rich greens in your diet often, it is worth the effort of cleaning those greens because of the goodness that these greens provide us.I am posting a version of Drumstick leaves Curry recipe which has small portion of toor dal and coconut but will post another simple version of Drumstick leaves stir fry later.

Drumstick Leaves Curry Recipe:

Serves 2-3 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 50 mins

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Side dish - Curry for Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups Drumstick leaves,removed from stems

2 tbsp cooked Toor dal(pigeon peas)

1 small Onion, finely chopped

2 tsp thin Tamarind extract

1 tsp Red chili powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt, to taste

1.5 tbsp Oil

to grind:

2 tbsp grated fresh/frozen Coconut

2 garlic cloves

2-3 peeled Shallots,optional

Method:

• Carefully remove the leaves from the stems,try to remove the smaller stems as much as possible. Wash the leaves and keep it aside.

• Pressure cook Toor dal until done, do not pressure cook for long that it will become mushy.I usually take from the dal I cook for sambar/dal on that day. Drain it and keep it aside.

• Grind grated coconut with garlicand shallots(if using) to a coarse powder and keep it ready.

• In a kadai heat oil and add finely chopped onions and fry until they turn pink.

• Add squeezed drumstick leaves,salt and turmeric powder and fry nicely until the leaves shrink and get cooked.

• Add tamarind extract,cooked toor dal,ground coconut, red chili powder and mix gently and fry until the curry becomes slightly dry and the moisture is well absorbed.

Serve it hot with Rice/Chapati.

Notes:

1. Try to remove the smaller stems as much as possible as they those stems might irritate you while eating and also is not good for your digestive system.
2. You can avoid toor dal and still make the same, it tastes nice too.
3. You can replace toor dal with moong dal in the recipe. In that case you just need to soak moong dal for half an hour.

Technorati Tags: drumstick leaves recipes, drumstick leaves poriyal, drumstick leaves stir fry, murungai keerai poriyal, munagaku recipes, munagaku vepudu, healthy greens, southindian recipes, poriyal recipes, stir fry recipes, side dish for rice

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Baingan Bharta Recipe | Punjabi stlye Baingan Bharta

Baingan Bharta is a classic Punjabi dish where the eggplant is cooked by roasting it on open fire which gives the smoky flavor and then  it is mashed and spiced up with various spices and onion.Baingan Bharta tastes best with minimal spices and I really like to eat it bit spicy.I add a handful of green peas sometimes just to give the volume to the curry, so it is entirely optional and can avoid it.This curry is more popular curry in dhabas because of the smokyness of the dish which is done by dhungar method,I have mentioned about it in my notes section in case if you are keen to try it and have access to the charcoal.On the contrary few do not like the smoky flavor, for ex- my dad, he does not like the smoky flavor in anything and also does not eat this sabzi when it is made.

In Andhra, we prepare 'Kalchina Vankaya Pacchadi' where the brinjal is roasted on open flame and is combined with various ingredients to prepare pacchadi(chutney) which goes with rice.There is another version of Bharta known as 'Choka' where we add raw and fresh ingredients and spices to the  mashed up roasted eggplant pulp which tastes good in its own way.

Whenever I pick up large eggplants I always pick atleast two of them so that I can prepare this Bainga Bharta and Bengali Begun Bhaja, both are favorite at my place.I have blogged already various brinjal recipes in my blog.

Check out other tasty preparations with Eggplants:

• Eggplant Pakora with Chili Garlic Stuffing
• Rava Vangibath, Vangi Poha, Vangibath
• Brinjal-Soya Chunks Curry, Brinjal Stir fry-with Curry powder
• Bagara Baingan, Bharli Vangi, Kashmiri Dahi Baingan
• Vankaya Kobbari Karam, Vankaya Kothimeera Karam, Vankaya Ullipaya Karam
• Brinjal Sambar, Raw Mango-Brinjal Dal
• Eggplant Pasta

Baingan Bharta Recipe:

Serves 2 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 40 mins

Cuisine: Punjabi | Category: Side Dish(Curry)

Ingredients:

1 large Eggplant/Aubergine(Bharta wala Baingan)

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 large Tomato, finely chopped

a handful of fresh/frozen Green Peas, optional

2 Green chilies, finely chopped

2 tbsp chopped Coriander leaves

2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

3/4 tsp Red chili powder

1/4 tsp Garam masala

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Cumin seeds

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Oil

Method:

• Wash and wipe the large eggplant and apply oil all over the skin and poke it with a fork and place it on a open flame over medium heat. You can make a big slit and include a couple of garlic cloves, it gives a nice flavor to the bharta later. Keep rotating it in between in all directions until the whole eggplant is evenly roasted. Check it for doneness by inserting a knife, if it slides easily which indicates that it is done.Also the eggplant would have become soggy. Put it in a bowl of water immediately and leave it for 10 mins.

• Peel out the charred skin of the eggplant and also the stalk and mash it roughly with a masher. You can even chop it finely or run it in mixie in a whipper mode once.

• Heat oil in a kadai and crackle cumin seeds and add finely chopped green chilies and onions and fry nicely until they turn pink.
• Add ginger-garlic paste to it and fry nicely until the onions become brown.If you are adding green peas add at this stage and fry nicely.

• Add chopped tomatoes to it and fry until the tomatoes become mushy and the whole mixture leaves the oil at the edges.
• Add the spices - red chili powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, salt and fry for another couple of minutes.

• Lastly add the mashed baingan pulp and mix it nicely and cook for 5-6 mins until it is well cooked and the flavors incorporate in the bharta. Switch off the flame.

Add coriander leaves and mix.

Serve it hot with Rotis/Phulkas/Parathas/Naans.

Notes:

1. You can also give Dhungar(smoke technique) to the baingan bharta. For that heat a charcoal on open flame until it is red and hot and place it in a small plate and add few drops of oil and place this plate on the prepared bharta and cover it immediately with a tight lid and leave it for a minute or two. This gives a nice smoky flavor to the bharta like how we get it in the dhabas.
2. Add minimal spices to the baingan bharta, it tastes best. Also you need to fry the masala nicely which gives a nice taste to the bharta.
3. I usually add green peas when a baingan is small just to get more quantity.You can completely avoid it.
4. Instead of Ginger-Garlic paste you can just add finely chopped garlic which is good too.

Technorati Tags: baingan bharta recipe, how to make punjabi baingan bharta, north indian side dishes, punjabi recipes, eggplant recipes, baingan recipes

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Mango Sago Pudding | Easy Mango Dessert Recipes

I have been planning to post this popular Singapore dessert from ages but coincidentally I am able to post it only after shifting to Singapore. It is a popular dessert in Singapore and is available in most of the food joints and food courts here.Though the mango season is over, we still get mangoes here and whenever I spot them I buy them for little 'V'. I make milkshakes and smoothies for him and keep those mangoes only for him as he is really fond of mangoes. I have made this Mango Sago recently for his evening snack instead of his usual Mango Milkshake ritual and the kiddo had it happily and said- "mamma, it is yummy!! ", what else I can ask for from a two year old kiddo. It is fairly simple to make and also very filling at the same time.

Mango,as the fruit by itself is a great dessert and one can prepare various desserts with it.The flavor of mangoes is great especially in the desserts, sweets, ice creams, kulfis and puddings. I have posted many mango desserts recipes already in my blog in case if you are interested to check them.Sago is also used in sweets preparation like Sago Kheer, Sago Halwa etc.

Coming to the recipe part, it is extremely simple to prepare and is a mix of Sago Kheer and creamy Mango Milkshake. In short,cooked sago pearls are mixed with the thick creamy mango milkshake just that you need to follow few steps to make it fool proof. In the traditional method, evaporated milk is used but I have substituted with full cream milk and condensed milk for my convenience.There are no hard and fast rules with the quantities in the recipe, one can add them as per their taste buds.Now, off to the recipe.

Check out various mango desserts recipes in my blog:

• Mango Fudge | Mango Burfi
• Mango Phirni | Layered Mango Phirni
• Mango Sheera | Mango Sooji Halwa 
• Shrikarini/Seekarane..a simple mango delight
• Mango Shrikand | Amrakhand | Aamkhand 
• Mango Ice-cream
• Mango Kulfi
• Mango Pound Cake

Mango Sago Pudding Recipe:

Serves 3-4 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 10 mins | Total time: 20 mins

Cuisine: International | Category: Desserts

Ingredients:

1 large ripen Mango

1/4 cup Sago pearls, medium size

1/2 cup Condensed milk or 3/4 cup Evaporated milk

1-2 tbsp Sugar,if needed (more if using evaporated milk)

1 cup full cream Milk

Method:

• Wash and soak sago pearls for an hour and wash it again to remove the extra starch in it.Cook it for 5-7 mins until they turn transparent and gets cooked, if you want you can bite one and test whether it is done or not.Drain the cooked sago pearls and wash again under the running water, this removes additional starch, I skipped this step.

• Wash,peel and chop mango into small pieces.Reserve 1/4 cup pieces for garnish and usage later.
• Meanwhile boil full cream milk until it is reduced to half and cool the milk.

• Grind the cooled milk, mango pieces, condensed milk(or evaporated milk) and sugar as per your requirement to a smooth puree in a blender. The addition of sugar is based on the sweetness of mango and usage of condensed milk or evaporated milk,you can increase or decrease or avoid it completely as per your wish.

• Now mix the pureed mango mixture with the cooked and washed sago pearls to an uniform mixture.The consistency should be slightly thick,not very thin.
• Add reserved mango pieces(reserve 5-6 pieces) and mix nicely and pour into individual bowls and garnish with few mango pieces and chill it for 2-3 hrs.

Serve it cold and Enjoy!!!

Notes:

1. It is ideal to wash the sago pearls, before soaking, after soaking and after cooking, this is to remove the excess starch content in them.You can follow the process you usually use to cook them, it is completely fine.
2. Use nicely ripen mangoes for this dessert for dark yellow color and also for good flavor. If you are in India you can use Alphonsos or Kesar mango varieties for this dessert.
3. The traditional recipe uses evaporated milk and sugar in the recipe but I find it convenient to use condensed milk in the recipe, it gives creamy rich taste to the dessert. If you are calorie conscious you can even avoid it but it will not turn creamy like how it is supposed to be.
4. If you don't have mangoes you can always use canned mango pulp to make this dessert.
5. Pomelo sacs can be also added to this dessert for a variation to make Mango Sago Pomelo Pudding.

Technorati Tags: mango sago pudding, mango sago recipe, easy mango dessert recipes, mango recipes, sago recipes, sago desserts, easy pudding recipes, easy dessert recipes, desserts under 30 mins, international desserts, singapore desserts recipes

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Palak Puri Recipe | How to make Palak Poori

Puri is a popular breakfast in almost all parts of  India and also there are few variations in various regions to the simple puri.While the most common version is by using the whole wheat flour there are variations like the Luchi, which is a Bengali version of puri with all purpose flour.Even at our place we prepare puri with a mix of wheat flour and all purpose flour.Puri is again a versatile recipe that one can flavor the puris with spices like a mix of all masalas to make masala puri or ajwain to make ajwain puri or you can add puress of various vegetables or greens to make vegetable puree or you can even stuff them and make various stuffed puris.

Coming to today's recipe - Palak Puri is a simple puri recipe where I have added pureed spinach while making the dough which resulted in beautiful green puris. There were days that deep fried foods used to be rare at home just to compensate the extra calories we used to gorge on weekends in the restaurants,but now staying in a different country and also an active toddler at home - I have started preparing these deep fried goodies often at home. As my little one ate this puri for the first time he was so surprised to see a colorful puri in his breakfast plate.Also, I prepare puris for him in various shapes using cookie cutter instead of a round puri, so he likes it even more!!

Check out other puri recipes in my blog:

• Mangalore Buns | Deep fried Banana Buns
• Matar Kachori with Alu ki Sabzi  - Delhi Style (must try recipe)
• Methi Poori and Potato Masala
• Poori and Mixed Vegetable Saagu
• Vadappam(Riceflour Poori) and Chintaku Palya

Palak Puri Recipe:

Serves 2-3 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins | Total time: 30 mins

Cuisine: North Indian | Category: Breakfast

Ingredients:

1.5 cup Whole wheat flour

1 medium bunch of Spinach(Palak), 2 cups when roughly chopped

2 Green chilies,optional

2 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

Oil,to deep fry

wheat flour, to dust

Method:

• Blanch the spinach(palak) along with green chilies(if using) in hot salted water until they turn slightly soft .Drain and cool it and grind to a smooth paste.
• In a large bowl, take wheat flour and add ground palak puree, salt and 2 tsp oil and mix nicely.

• Add water little by little until you can make semi-hard dough. Knead the dough nicely for 3-4 mins and apply oil and cover it and leave it aside for 10-15 mins.
• Slightly knead it again and divide the dough into 10-12 small lemon sized balls.

• Roll each ball into 4" diameter puri(slightly thicker than the rotis) by dusting it with wheat flour or by using oil whichever is convenient for you.Roll 5-6 puris and keep them ready.

• Meanwhile heat sufficient oil in a kadai over medium flame.Once the hot is hot enough which you can test by putting a tiny pinch of dough, if it raises immediately means the oil is hot enough.

• Gently slide one puri in the hot oil and try to press it in the center slightly until it puff up and turn them to the other side and fry them.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat the process for all the puris.

Serve the puris hot with Chole/Kadai Chole/Pindi Chana/Aloo Bhaji/Aloo gravy/ Boondi Raita and and North Indian Aam ka Achar.

Notes:

1. If you are preparing it for kids, avoid green chilies in the recipe as I did.
2. You can even flavor it with a tsp of ajwain for making the dough.It is optional.
3. You can make any vegetable puris like the same by using either carrots or beetroots or tomatoes and follow the same process.

Technorati Tags: palak puri recipe, how to make palak poori, north indian breads, puri recipes, breakfast recipes

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Keerai Molagootal Recipe | Palakkad Recipes

Keerai Molagootal is an authentic Palakkad Iyer recipe which is prepared out of spinach,toor dal and coconut mixture. I saw this recipe being posted by many of my tamil friend bloggers all these years but I never thought of making it by myself. Tamil cuisine is a bit unexplored territory for me apart from the usual breakfast recipes.I had mentioned in this post about my helper who had introduced the Chinese chye sum greens to my kitchen, she only has introduced even this dish to us.She had learnt it from her earlier employer who is a Tambram belonging to Palakkad and hence I would say this is an authentic version of the recipe.So, do not get surprised if you see me posting more Tamilnadu recipes in my blog.

I have mentioned many times in my blog that we eat lot of greens in our regular cooking and spinach is one such green which gets featured more.There are lot of options in North Indian cooking but have limited options in south Indian cooking and hence I always end up making spinach dal, spinach sambar and spinach chutney.Repeating the same dishes might be boring and hence a change in recipes is always welcome and this is one such dish which is getting featured now often in my menu.

Check out south Indian green recipes to serve with rice:

• Thotakura(Amaranth leaves) Stir fry
• Dill-Dal Stir Fry/Sabasige Soppu Palya
• Gongura Pulusu Kura, Gongura Pappu
• Thotakura Pesarapappu Podi Kura/Amaranth-Moong dal Curry
• Menthikura Pappu/Methi Dal
• Palakura Pappu / Spinach Dal

Keerai Molagootal Recipe:

Serves 3-4 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 40 mins

Cuisine: Tamilnadu | Category: Side dish for Rice

Ingredients:

1 bunch Spinach/Palak

1/4 cup Toor dal

1/4 cup grated Coconut or 1/3 cup chopped Coconut pieces

2-3 Red chilies

2 tsp Urad dal

3/4 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

to temper:

2 tsp Coconut Oil/ regular Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Urad dal

1 Red chili,broken

4-5 Curry leaves,optional

Method:

• Clean ,wash and cut the spinach roughly and boil it in water for 3-4 mins and drain it.Pressure cook toor dal and keep it ready.

• Heat 1/2 tsp of oil and add urad dal and red chilies and fry until they turn red in color.Cool them a bit.

• Grind the roasted urad dal and red chilies with grated(chopped) coconut and cumin seeds to a fine paste by adding enough water. 

• Add boiled spinach to the ground coconut mixture and grind it again.

• Add the ground mixture to the pressure cooked dal and add salt and turmeric powder and cook for 4-5 mins until the mixture boils.Adjust the consistency as required.

• Heat coconut oil or regular oil in a small tadka pan and crackle cumin seeds.Add urad dal, red chili and curry leaves and fry until the dal turns red and add it to the cooked mixture.

Serve it hot with steamed plain rice, some dry curry and papad.

Notes:

1. You can avoid grinding the spinach and instead add the finely chopped and boiled spinach and follow the recipe, it will not look green like this.
2. Greens like green Amaranth or red amaranth can be used to prepare this molagootal recipe by following the same recipe and also few vegetables like beans, cabbage or a mix of vegetables.
3. The quantity of spinach should be more and the toor dal should be less in the recipe.
4. Coconut oil is said to give the best flavor in the recipe, but I used regular oil in the recipe.

Technorati Tags: molagootal recipe, keerai molagootal recipe, palakkad iyer recipes, palakkad recipes, southindian side dish, tamilnadu recipes, side dish for rice, spinach recipes, keerai recipes

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