Creamy cauliflower and peas subji

This is something my husband makes when we need a quick subji. I like the addition of yougurt to this subji. It is not much but the little bit goes a long way..

Ingredients:
- 1 cauliflower seperated into florets
- 1 cup cooked peas
- 2-3 tomatoes
- 1 small onion
- 4 tbsp yogurt

Fry and grind to a coarse paste:
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 small stick cinnamon
- 1 bay leaves
- 2 cloves (They are strong so use just a few)
- 2 dried red chili (optional)
- 2 green chilies chopped (Remove seeds if you do not want the heat)
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 tsp oil
Add oil and add the spices first. Fry till they are slightly brown.  Then start adding your chilies, onions, tomatoes, ginger and fry till they become soft.  Cool this mixture.  Grind this to a paste and keep it aside.

Seasoning:
-1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp kalonji/onion seeds
- 2 green chilies chopped (adjust to taste)

Method:
1. In a large pan add the oil, cumin seeds and chilies.  Fry till they are golden brown. Now add the chopped onion. Cook till it becomes soft.
2. Add the separated cauliflower and fry it with the onions. Keep the heat high.  You do not want your cauliflower to become mushy.  After about 5 min add your peas and tomatoes. Cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the ground masala and mix it well. Cover and cook till the vegetables turns soft.   Now turn off the heat and add the yogurt.  You add it at the end so that the yogurt does not curdle. Mix well and garnish with cilantro.

Serve it hot with rice or roti.

Navratna Kurma

Yesterday I made navratna kurma to go with chapathi. It is a very rich and tasty side dish. Forget your diet and try this out. You will not be disappointed.

Ingredients

- 2 cup chopped Vegetable (I used cauliflower,peas,carrot,potato)
- 1 onion
- 4 big tomato
- 2 cloves garlic
- small piece ginger
- 1/4 cup cream 
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp Red chillie powder (Adjust as per taste)
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- handful of mixed nuts (I used cashews,almonds and raisins)
- 1/4 cup chopped pineapple
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste

Method

1.Boil the vegetables in a steamer. The vegetables should be soft and not mushy.
2.Heat oil in a frying pan. Once oil is hot add onion,ginger,garlic. Fry for few minutes and add the tomatoes.
3.Once the tomatoes turns soft cool down the mixture and blend it.
4.In a frying pan add oil. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds and nuts.
5. When the nuts gets brown add the blended mixture. Let it simmer for few minutes. Add the boiled vegetables and the chopped pineapple.
6. Add garam masala,salt and red chille powder. After it simmers for 5 minutes mix in the cream.
7. Give it a stir and put off the stove after few minutes

Watermelon Rind Kootu

We planted watermelon in our vegetable garden last year. This year we skipped it as the watermelon creeper grows everwhere and it becomes very messy. But somehow the watermelon plants sprouted again. There was a medium size watermelon in the creeper. After browsing the net, I decided it was time to pick the watermelon. But I was wrong, the watermelon was not ripe yet. My MIL suggested we make a kootu out of that. Even though I have seen many kootu recipes with the rind, I was still doubtful. We tried it out and it was very tasty. Please try it out the next time you buy a watermelon. It tastes like white pumpkin kootu. My husband could not tell the difference. This is one yummy kootu with watermelon rind, stuff that you would normally discard.

Ingredients

- 5 cups of wateremelon rind (chopped into small pieces)
- 1/4 cup chana dhal
-  pinch of turmeric

To Temper

- 1/4 tsp mustard
- 1/2 tsp uradh dhal
- 1/2 tsp Jeera
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 1 ts Oil

To Grind

- 3/4 cup coconut
- 5-6 red chilli
- 1/2 tsp jeera

Method

1. Boil chana dhal and the watermelon rind with salt and turmeric.
2. In a blender grind the coconut,red chilli and jeera until it become a smooth paste. Add to the watermelon and cook for few minutes
3. Heat oil in a pan and saute the mustard seeds, uradh dhal, jeera, curry leaves.
4. Add this tempered spices to the watermelon kootu.

Serve it with rice or rotis.

Chickpeas with spicy sweet sauce

My fasination with 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer continues. He has a wonderful section on legumes. The combinations he uses are mind-boggling. Take this recipe. He uses two types of chick peas with urad dhal and rajma. Here is how I made this.

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup dried black chickpeas
- 1/4 cup dried chikpeas/garbanzo beans
- 1/4 cup kidney beans
- 1/4 cup black urad - I used split urad
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp hing powder
- 2-3 dried red chilies
- 2-3 green chilies slit into half
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- sugar to taste
- cilantro for garnish

Seasoning
- 1 tsp oil/ 1 tsp ghee
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds

Method:
1. Soak all the dhal overnight and cook till they become soft. If you are lazy like me then just add the dhals in your croak pot/slow cooker. Add water till they are completely immersed. Set your cooker at high. Keep an eye on it and add water as required. They should be done in 4-6 hours
2. Heat a heavy bottom vessel. Add the oil, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let these crackle. Now add salt, sugar, red chilies, cumin coriander, turmeric and hing powder.
3. Once you smell the aroma add the tomatoes and the green chilies. Cook until the tomato has softened. Add this tomato mixture to the cooked dhal. Cook this for another 12 - 20 minutes. If you are using slow cooker then set this to a low heat and you can cook till you serve.

Sprinkle some cilantro and serve hot with rice or roti

I am sending this one to Bookemarked recipe - hosted by Priya

Carrot Halwa

Happy Vinayaga Shaturti to my lovely readers. Hope you had your share of modak (Kolukatai). In our house we had a potluck dinner. Everyone got a different sweet and I choose to make carrot halwa. I do not make too much sweets but carrot halwa is an exception. With juicy carrots, milk, and ghee how could one possibly go wrong. I absolutely love this dish. This recipe to me is pretty versatile too. You can kind of play around with the measurements and still end up with a lovely sweet. Here is how I did it.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup sugar (adjust this to the sweetness of your carrots.)
- 11/2 tbsp ghee (reserve 1/4 tsp to fry cashwes)
- pinch of cardamom
- few cashews (or any nut of your choice) for garnish.

Method:
1. In a heavy bottom vessel add ghee and once it melts add your carrots and cook till they become soft.
2. Meanwhile heat your milk. I used a big microwave vessel and heated it for about 15 minutes. Stir this in between so it does not boil over.
3. Once the carrots are soft add the milk and cook it till most of the milk evaporates. Takes about 5- 7 minutes
4. Add the sugar and mix it. The sugar melts and gives the carrots a glistening color. Cook it for another 3-4 minutes. Add cardamom and mix well. Turn off the heat.
5. In a small pan add the reserved 1/4 tsp ghee and fry your cashews till it becomes golden brown.

Garnish your carrot halwa with your cashews. The cool thing about this dish is it tastes pretty good both at room temperature or hot. Enjoy!

Green tomatoes and Eggplant subji

I borrowed this lovely book from the library - 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. He has some very interesting recipes. I am particularly fascinated by his combinations of vegetables. The recipe I am blogging today combines eggplant with raw tomatoes. The tomatoes have a tangy taste to them and when cooked with eggplant it becomes a delicious saucy dish. This is a good way to use up the unripe tomatoes that you might have in your garden.

Ingredients:
- 1 big eggpant (I used the american kind) cut to bite sized pieces
- 4 medium sized unripe tomatoes cut to bite size pieces
- bunch of chopped cilantro leaves
- 3 -4 green chilies
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds

Method:
1. In a pan heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and once it starts to pop add your cumin seeds. Cook till it turns slightly brown.
2. Add the chilies, eggplant, tomatoes and cilantro. Stir-fry them for about 5 minutes. The vegetable should be tender and seared by now.
3. Add the ground corriander powder, cumin powder salt and turmeric. Pour in 1/2 cup of water and cover the pan. Reduce the heat and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
4. Your vegetables will become really tender now. Mash them slightly with a back of a ladle. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes

Serve it hot with rice or roti.