Elephant Yam - stir fry

Indian yam stir fry / Senai kilangu pirattal / Suran fry
Hope almost all the regions of India will have a cuisine with this yam.
Fresh yams are a kind of itchy . so carefully chop off its skin by applying tamarind juice in your hands before and after cleaning it. I used the 'frozen surans' which we get in Indian stores.
My mom used to fry wide pieces of senai kilangu (yam) , just like a fish fry and I adore it a lot:) We call it as 'vegetarian fish fry' in my dad's house.(I will post that recipe too , if I see any fresh yam).
But this recipe does not require any deep frying , still maintains a great taste. This 'senai kilangu pirattal' recipe is also from my mom's kitchen notes.
I am sure this is a quick fix recipe to grab the attention of the guests.




Ingredients:
Yam - 200 gms
Onion - 1
Tamarind extract - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds (sombu)- 1/2 tsp
olive oil - 3 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste

Directions:
Clean the yam by removing the skin and washing it in water.
Chop the yam into medium size cubes.
(Or , if frozen suran is used , then just keep it in a colander and show in running water to defrost it.)
Chop the onion.
Heat oil in a wok, add fennel seeds and let it become red. Add the curry leaves.
Then goes the onion and fry till it becomes tender.
Now add the chopped yam with turmeric powder, salt , and stir fry it.
Reduce the flame to minimum .
Add the tamarind extract and close the wok tightly with a lid.
Stir it occasionally.
After the yam gets cooked add the red chilli powder and garam masala and fry it for few minutes.
Senai kilangu pirattal is ready.

Serving suggestions:
It can be served as side dish with any sambar / more kulambu on plain rice.

Note:
We can add the red chilli powder along with yam also, but doing so will emit spicy vapors that no one can stand. So I prefer to add red chilli powder, minutes before switching off.

Beautiful awards:
I felt honored and touched when my friends Malar of Kitchen Tantra , Madhu of Madhu's food journal, Vinolia of Akal's saapadu and Varsha of Will-o-the-wisp hugged me with this award.
Thanks and hugs to all of u there.
I would like to pass this award to all in this blogosphere. So everybody please feel free to embrace each other with this lovely award. Enjoy!

Shama Nagarajan of Easy2cook recipes has passed me 'blogging with purpose' award. I am telling myself, to focus with some purpose :)


Sriharivatsan of Enthaligai and Divz of yum world have passed me all the above awards. I am speechless.
Thanks Shama, Divz and Sriharivatsan.

Moreover, Divz of yum world has made me feel elated with her Jewel of a friend award. Thanks dear for showing me this much love and friendship.

cabbage dhal curry

This is a very simple curry , good for a mild lunch. I use green gram dhal for this curry, but many choose Toor dhal (Red gram) instead. Basically I prefer this kind of vegetable dominated curries to mix with the rice, so that I can reduce my rice intake:)
There is no need to temper this curry , but the choice depends on the individual. The taste will be bland as there is no tomato or tamarind, but it can be paired perfectly with a spicy fry.



Muttaikose paasi paruppu kulambu / cabbage green gram dhal curry:

Ingredients:
Cabbage - 200 gms
green gram dhal - 1/2 cup
green chilli - 2
salt - as required
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 3 pods
ginger - 1 inch
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Directions:
Wash and soak the green gram dhal (siru paruppu / paasi paruppu in Tamil) for 30 minutes.
Start Cooking it in 2 cups of water with turmeric powder.
Finely chop the cabbage , garlic , ginger and green chilli.
After the dhal gets half cooked, add the chopped vegetables.
Cook them without closing the lid. Because green gram dhal has the property to form froth and overflow , if covered and cooked.
After the dhal is cooked to a mushy state, switch off the flame.
Add salt, cumin seeds and mash gently without crushing the cabbage.
Cabbage dhal curry is ready.
No need to temper it.

Serving diections:
The above said quantity is good for 3 people, if served like sambar on plain rice.

Ridge Gourd Peel chutney

Usually we make curries out of Ridge gourd . But many of us will not be aware of making a chutney with its peels. This is one of the signature dishes of my mom.
It pairs well with rice or chapathi.
I am sure ridge gourd is such a yummy vegetable when cooked with dhal. But have you ever noticed the resulting quantity of the curry? If we miscalculate the end product and buy the same quantity as of any other vegetable, then we will face a challenge in distributing the curry. Oh! yes, the curry will shrink a lot after losing its moisture in cooking. So if we generally buy one lb of any vegetable , then we should double the quantity while buying this ridge gourd.
How come we throw away such a succulent peel like this? So if you are planning to make ridge gourd curry next time, then don't throw away the peels. Just save them for a yummy chutney.
Here is the recipe!

Peerkankai thol chutney:


Ingredients:
Ridge gourd - 1
Dry Red chilli - 4
curry leaf - 1 sprig
tamarind - small gooseberry size
salt - to taste
urid dhal - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
garlic - 1 clove



Method:
Wash and clean the ridge gourd.
Peel and save the outer skin , discarding the veins in the ridge.
Chop the skin coarsely.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai.
Add all the above ingredients except salt, garlic and cumin .
saute them till the peels become tender (or) edges turn mild brown.
Then switch off the stove and cool it completely.
Then add salt, garlic ,cumin and grind to a fine paste.
Ridge gourd chutney is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Goes fine with chapathi, dosa or any rice meal.

Sweet Bonda

This is not a common sweet, but a unique dish from south TamilNadu's tea stalls.I had this sweet in my childhood days in Tirunelveli. People in that area have it with tea just like a cake, because of its lesser sweet nature.
Almost all the tea stalls / coffee shops in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin sell this sweet Bonda. They call it as 'cake ' as well as 'Muttai kose'. Muttai kose means cabbage in English. This sweet bonda resembles the shape of a cabbage and hence the name. (You can see some spiky layers around it after frying... My bonda did'nt give any outer layers.)
 One of my blogger friends asked for the recipe. My mom and her friends used to do it as a evening snack at home and I can recall the flavorful recipe now. I am posting it so that everyone may find it interesting.
Here is the recipe for Sweet Bonda.

Ingredients
All purpose flour (maida) - 2 cup
sugar- 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
water - just enough to knead the dough
Oil - for deep frying

Method:
Sieve AP flour with salt and baking soda twice.
(Always use newer baking soda).
Mix sugar to it mix very well in a dry state.
Then add water little by little and mix well.
The dough should not be too thick, it can be of consistency between ulunthu (urid dhal) vadai batter and chapathi dough. Cover it with wet towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Make big balls (in the size of a big lemon / small orange) with wet hands. Drop the balls into hot oil and fry them in medium heat till the outside becomes brown.
Sweet bonda is ready!
Serve with hot tea .

Methi leaf - Tamarind curry

Puli kulambu or Tamarind curry is a basic curry served with rice in South India. These kind of tamarind based spicy curries are the comfort food for many people in Madras.
Last week , I got a fresh bunch of methi leaves and long green brinjals. So made this curry immediately and it tasted great with rice. May be it is my innovation with methi leaf and tamarind curry. It tasted like vatha-Kulambu..no bitterness.
Here goes the recipe.



(Methi leaf tamarind curry / Venthaya keerai Puli kulambu / fenugreek leaf stew)

Ingredients:
Methi leaf (only leaves) - 1 cup / 2 handful
tamarind - a key lime size
Eggplant / brinjal - 100 gms (2)
garlic - 5 pods
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
red onion - 1/2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1 pinch
water - 2 cups
salt - 2 tsp

Method:
Chop the eggplant into small pieces.
Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds with little water.
Heat oil in a pan. Extract juice from the tamarind.
Crackle mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida.
Add the chopped methi leaves and fry till you get a nice smell.
Now add the brinjal pieces, peeled garlic, tamarind paste , 2 cups water , chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and close tightly with a lid.
After the vegetables are cooked add the coconut - onion paste and switch off after it starts boiling.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 2 cups of venthaya keerai Puli kulambu.
It can be served for 5 people.
Serve hot with steamed rice and and any vegetable side dish or with egg omelet.

A humble request.

Dear Friends ,
I came to know that many of the Catholic Churches in USA are collecting grocery items for the food pantry . I have never seen a concept like this before. But I think it is a good mission during this recession period. They request the people to come and leave the new grocery items in the church every Sunday. They distribute the collected items to the needy.
If you are interested , please inquire the nearby RC Church and help them in their mission. You can just google 'Catholic church , zip code' and find their address , phone number.
The most needed items are Cereals,oats, canned - soup, tuna, fruits,vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, coffee,milk powder, cake mix, oil, biscuits, dry fruits, sugar, All purpose flour etc.
Even a single pack of cereal can help a family .
Please kindly bring new and unopened grocery items with valid shelf life.
Why don't we think of the needy atleast once in a month?
This is my personal request and not an advertisement from any organisation.
If you feel it appropriate , then please pass on this word to those who want to help others.
Lets spread the happiness through our blogs.
Thanks a lot,
VikiXavier.


Matthew 25: 35-40 "‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
"Whatsoever you do for the least of My people,
That you do unto Me"

Green beans koottu

Green beans is the most common vegetable that is available in all seasons globally.
Just another koottu (boiled lentil based side-dish) for the people who long to have a variation for the beans fry .



Beans koottu (side dish):
Green beans - 1/4 kg
green gram dhal - 1/2 cup
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida - a pinch
To fry and grind:
oil - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seed - 1 tbsp
cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
pepper - 1/2 tsp
red chilly - 3
coconut - 2 tbsp
To temper:
oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/4 tsp
Bengal gram / channa dhal - 1 tbsp
chopped onion - 1 tbsp
Red chilly - 1
garlic - 1
curry leaf - brig

Method:

1.Wash and soak the moong dhal (green gram dhal for 1/2 an hour).
Clean and chop the beans into small pieces.
Half cook the dhal. Add the chopped green beans, asafoetida, turmeric and cook completely.

2.Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan. Fry all the items given.
Let it cool. Then grind it with little water into a thick paste.
Add this masala to the cooked beans and let it come to a boil.
Add salt to taste.

3.Heat oil in a pan. Add the channa dhal and mustard.
After the mustard seeds Crackle , add the chopped onion, chopped garlic, curry leaf, red chilli and fry till the onion becomes red.
Mix it with the boiling koottu and switch off flame.

Green beans koottu is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Yields a lot of koottu. Serves 6 people.
Serve as side dish with any rice / roti.