Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving !

Wish all a very happy Thanksgiving !

If you are planning on a Desi American style of Thanksgiving dinner, then my list may come handy. Enjoy !
Thanks be to God, Happy Thanksgiving,

Pumpkin pancake
Garlic bread
Chicken 65 
Cranberry pickle
Turkey curry (vaan kozhi kulambu)
Turkey biriyani(vaan koli biriyani)
Tamilnadu Muslim style chicken biriyani 
Easy Chicken biriyani in cooker 
Hyderabadi vegetable biriyani 
vegetable biriyani in cooker
Carrot cake
Pumpkin pie
Mango lassi

A week before 'Thanksgiving ' , I gave a small 'Friends-giving ' for my friend Raji . We meet on most days of the week in our fitness center. That's where we first met almost a decade back :)  I made this as a vegan version and we enjoyed it very much. She had brought us a fabulous Almond cake. That Almond cake is one of her many specialities and we all love it very much.
I prepared a vegan spread:  black bean chili (soup), Idli, Ulunthu  vadai, Coconut chutney, Sambar, Pasi paruppu payasam. Hope you all find this interesting.

Friends-giving menu 2019.
Blackbean chili in Instant pot.


Blackbean chili












Raji's Almond cake (Badam barbi). 

Friday, November 22, 2019

Red cabbage Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut (shredded raw cabbage fermented under specific conditions) is an Eastern or Central European dish. It is a simple probiotic rich pickle like salad. 
In olden days it started as a way to preserve cabbages that grow abundantly and stock them up for freezing weather conditions.
In USA, we use this in salads, sandwiches and soups. Sometimes it is served as a side dish in Thanksgiving dinners.

Variations:
It should traditionally contain only few ingredients like cabbage and salt.
I have added little vinegar (it slows down fermentation and it is not necessary).
I added vinegar to keep it long and safe. You can feel free to omit vinegar and just use salt to preserve the cabbage (that's the best way to create a probiotic rich sauerkraut).
I have used red cabbage, as I am fascinated by this purple color and by the health benefits. Still feel free to use any cabbage you can get.
I find any kind of pickling as a 'feel good' phase for me and so I do this often :).

Where did I buy these ?

I bought the red cabbage from the nearby Asian grocery store, 'Organic Apple cider vinegar with mother' from Aldi, Sea salt (Chettinad brand) from Indian grocery stores,  32 oz glass Ball jar from Walmart.

Tools I used:
Cuisinart 13 cup food processor - adjustable slicing blade. (Believe me, a food processor makes everything easy 😃)
Or we can use a cutting board and a knife.
A mortar and pestle as weights.
A mixing bowl and a clean glass jar with lid.



Ingredients : Red cabbage , Apple cider vinegar with the 'mother culture', A clean glass jar, sea salt
My hubby presented me in 2017 for Christmas  💕
use the slicing attachment in food processor.
Add salt and mix well.


Or keep it like this.


Transfer everything to a clean dry jar and close well.


Save in fridge or at room temperature. 
A simple salad with onion, purple sauerkraut,  chickpeas , arugula, lettuce and beets pickle.

Ingredients:
Red cabbage - 1 (2 .5 lb)
Sea salt - 1 tbsp
apple cider vinegar - 2tbsp

Method:
Using a cutting board or a food processor (slicing blade) , shred the cabbage into thin slices.
Transfer it to a mixing bowl. Add salt and mix well. Place a weight above the cabbage , so that it releases lot of water and stays inside the water it releases. This is the important phase in preserving the cabbage. Cover it with a thin cloth and let it remain in room temperature for 2 days.
By this time we will notice that the cabbage has shrunk in volume and the amount of juice it is giving out.
Now our Sauerkraut is ready to serve !
At this stage (after 2 days), I have added 2 tbsp 'vinegar with mother' to make sure that it stays safer and I keep it inside fridge for further use. You can feel free to keep it in room temperature too, as that's how everyone is doing globally.

Serving suggestion:
Serve as salad ingredient or sandwich filling or simple side dish or as an ingredient in soups.
This is good for digestive health.

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