Seemebadnekai Palya

Seemebadnekai Palya ( Chao chao / Lanku / Chayote) 

Seemebadnekai is called chayote squash, I guess that's a spanish word, I am not sure. In India the bottom part is kind of elongated but in US it kind of fits into your palm.

Any vegetable back in my days would become a candidate for our tarkari saru. You know kids, they hate every vegetable. I was no exception..as a kid I never liked this vegetable as it feels soft and jelly when boiled in saru. I was hesitant when Mom made palya out of seemebadnekai to go with chapathi. I thought she must be kidding that we will like it. Hmm..to our surprise I liked it. Here goes the promotion of seemebadnekai from tarkari saru to palya forever in my recipe list.

Ingredients:
Seemebadnekai - 2
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 6
Curry leaves - 10
Coconut grated/powder - 1Tblsp
Oil for tadka
Ginger (grated) - 1/2tsp
Coriander Leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Slice the seemebadnekai into small cubes.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and wait for it to splutter.

3. Add channa dal and urad dal, fry until it turns slight brown.

4. Add ginger pieces, green chillies, curry leaves and fry for a min.

5. Add seemebadnekai cubes and fry for 2 mins.

6. Add salt to taste, cover and cook for 5-8 mins on low flame. ( This veggie holds enough water to cook, so no need to add water)

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut powder.

Enjoy the side dish.

Veg Kurma

Veg Kurma

Ingredients

Onions – 1

Vegetables(peas, beans, cauliflower, Bell pepper, potatoes, lima beans) – 2 cup

Biryani leaves – 2

Garam Masala – 1tsp

Butter – 1Tblsp

Oil – 1 Tblsp

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Grind into paste

Onion – 1

Ginger – 1/2 inch

Garlic – 4 big cloves

Curry powder

Mint leaves – 6 stems

Coconut powder/Fresh cocounut – ½ cup

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Cloves - 3

Coriander leaves – 4 stems (not shown)

Pepper corns – 10 (not shown)

Directions

• Saute Biryani leaves and other masala items in the oil.

• Add chopped onions and fry for 3 mins.

• Add vegetables except the cauliflower as they cook faster and fry them for 8 mins.

• Add the ground paste into the pan and add garam masala.

• Then add the cauliflower florets.

• Add butter and cook for 10mins or until the veggies are just cooked.

• Take care not to overcook the veggies.

• The consistency should be like dosa or idli mix.

• Serve hot with ghee rice, poori, chapathi or rotis.

Ghee Rice

Ghee Rice

Hmm..reminds me of the aroma the ghee rice and the veg kurma combination would fill the whole house. This was one of those speciality items then, which was usually prepared in the weddings. I remember tasting this in some marriage and Mom was dissecting the combination, identifying the ingredients, when we were enjoying. Later she tried this one out and hmm..it was yummy..

Next time this will on my list of requests when she comes here or when I go for vacation.

Below is my version of ghee rice.

Ingredients

Onions – 3

Biryani leaves - 4

Ghee or Butter – 1tblsp

Cloves - 10

Rice - 2 cups

Little salt

Directions

• Heat ghee or butter in a pan.

• Add cloves and biryani leaves.

• Next add chopped onions and fry until translucent.

• Add rice and fry for a min.
• Transfer entire mixture into rice cooker or pressure cooker with enough water to cook.
• Add salt and remember the veg kurma also will have salt.
• Serve ghee rice hot with vegetable kurma. (check out the kurma post)

French Beans Palya

Beans Palya

Still snowing today and what better way to spend time at home. TV, movie or cooking.

Had made channa chole, thought of making a simple veggie sidedish. French cut beans gives that wholesome veggie feeling.

Ingredients
Frozen French (string)beans – 300 gms
Onion sliced – 1 big
Tomatoes – 2
Garam Masala – ½ tsp
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Mustard – ½ tsp
Dry Red Chili - 1
Salt to taste

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan, do tadka of mustard seeds and dry red chili.
Fry onions and when translucent add, string beans and let it cook for 10 mins
Add tomatoes, chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric and salt to taste.

Cook for another 5 mins.

Garnish with coriander.

Channa Chole

Channa Chole

Channa in kannada is called as Kabul Kadlekalu. I dont know why it always reminded me of kabuliwala story, we had read in our primary school. Anyone remember the Kabuliwala story. I dont remember much of the story, except for the child and the guy kabuliwala.

Channa was usually made with other veggies like cabbage or as husali to make dry palya or sidedish. Having spent some time with North Indian friends, finally I got hold of the recipe. Everytime I made this, it tasted different. No! its not the recipe's fault. Its just my memory :). Last time when I prepared, it really came out good. Immediately I had noted down the recipe.

This Wednesday, we had major snow blizzard. So worked from home. For dinner, I revisted this recipe and it turned out the same taste. Enjoy my recipe with hot chapathi, rotis, pooris...

I have also posted some photos I took during snow blizzard.

Ingredients
Channa – 2 cups (Soak in water)
Onions: 2
Ginger: ¼ inch
Garlic: 2 pieces
Cinnamon: ½ inch
Cloves: 2
Kasuri methi: 2 Tsp
Pepper corns: 6
Green Chilies: 2
Chat masala: ¼ tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Curry/Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric: ½ tsp
Bay/Briyani leaves: 2
Potatoes – (optional)
Salt to taste:

Directions:
1. If using the fresh channa, pressure cook channa separately, so that they not become mushy but just enough cooked.

2. Mixture 1:Grind 1 ½ Onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, green chilies, cloves, cinnamon in a blender. Keep aside
Mixture 2: Blend fistful of cooked channa for gravy and set aside.

3. Heat oil in pressure cooker/deep pan. Saute remaining onions with bay leaves until brown. Then Add the first blended mixture and fry until they leave the sides or the raw smells evaporates.

Add potatoes if using them. Fry for another 2 mins. Add garam masala, chat masala, turmeric, Red Chili powder, kasuri methi, salt.
Add the second blended mixture of channa gravy and cook in cooker/pan for 10 mins.

Add the boiled or canned channa and pressure cook for 10mins.

Serve with rice or poories or rotis.

Snow Blizzard

Corn Dill Palya

Jola Sabsige Soppina Palya

Came home from office and did not feel like cooking as it was Monday and I had cooked a lot on Sunday. But tonite’s dinner was rice, palak-dal sambhar and I needed a side-dish to go with it. R does not have much demands, he rather wants me to relax when back from office. But me being just me, I tried one of the quickest sidedish, as half bunch of Dill(sabsige soppu) was waiting in the refrigerator. The dish turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:
Frozen Corn – 2 cups
Dill – ½ bunch
Green Chillies – 4
Mustard – ¼ tsp
Cocunut powder - 1Tbsp
Coriander leaves for garnish

Directions:
Cook the corns separately and drain the excess water.

In a pan heat oil and add mustard & green chillies. Add the cut dill and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the corns and salt and fry for 2 minutes.


Add coconut powder and garnish with coriander leaves.

Another view

Serve as a sidedish.

Alu Gobi Mattar Curry

Alu gobi matter

Alu, Gobi & Mattar are really a good combination. Anything made out of this tastes really yummy. Whether it’s the dry version, or veggie Kurma or the below recipe.
The North Indian style, I learnt from my friends here as it would go very well with chapathis and rotis.
Recently I made this as a lunch box with rotis for R.

Ingredients
Onion (chopped) – 1
Tomato – 2 or 1 Tsp Tomato paste
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Red chilli – 1 tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala – 1tsp
Kasoori Methi – 1tsp
coriander leaves for garnishing.

Veggies
Cauliflower – 200 gms approx
Green peas – 100 gms approx
Potatoes - 2

Directions:
In a pan fry chopped onion until the onions are translucent. Add ginger garlic paste. Add the peas and fry for for 3-4 mins and then add the potato cubes and fry for 5-7 mins.

To this add garam masala , red chilli powder, kasoori methi and tomato paste, fry for a min and add 2 cups of water depending on the consistency needed and let it cook for 5 mins.

Later add cauliflower florets and salt and cook for 10 mins in medium flame.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Eggplant Curry

Eggplant Curry ( Yengai Badanekai Gojju)

This is my version of yengai badnekai meaning eggplant fried in Oil. My Doddamma had learnt the original recipe from her friend who is from North Karnataka. I still remember the day she made this, knowing I hated eggplant. But to my amazement I liked the gojju and also ate the eggplant(brinjal).
Mom got the recipe from Dodamma. We(eggplant haters as kids) would eat the eggplant only in this curry. Now, I make different dishes out of eggplant and like them too.
I will post the original version of this recipe when Mom comes here with actual ingredients from India.

Ingredients
Onion (chopped) – 1
Tomato – 2 or 1 Tsp Tomato paste
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Eggplant (round) – 6
Oil for frying
coriander leaves for garnishing.

For Powder:
ü Fried Grams – 1 Tbl Sp
ü Peanuts - 1 Tbl sp
ü Fried (Cumin seeds, poppy seeds) – 1 tsp each
ü Fried Red Chilli – 1
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Dhania powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala – 1tsp


Directions:
Powder all the ingredients listed above and mix the rest of the ingredients below powder list. Add water and make a paste and keep aside.

Cut the eggplant as shown in the image below.

Heat pan with 1 Tbsp of Oil and add the Eggplant and fry them until softly cooked.

While eggplant is getting cooked, Fry Onion, ginger garlic paste until the onions are translucent.

Add tomato paste and cook for 1 min. Add the paste that was prepared and cook this mixture for 10 mins. Keep stirring the gravy frequently.

Add the shallow fried eggplant into this gravy and let is slowly cook for 10 mins.

Remove from heat, garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with Akki rotti, chapathi.