All posts by Dr. Beena Rani Goel

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Beet root sabzi

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This is a quick and delicious preparation that goes well with steamed rice or chapatis.

Ingredients:

1 large beet root
1 small onion
5 flakes of garlic
1 sprig of curry leaf
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp udad dal
1/3 tsp red chilli powder
1/3 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp grated coconut

Instruction:

  • Peel and cut the beet root into rectangular pieces. Chop the onion and crush the garlic flakes after removing the skin.
  • Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add udad dal.
  • When the dal turns light brown in color, add the cut onion and curry leaves. Sauté for a minute, add the crushed garlic flakes and stir for a few seconds.
  • Add the beet root pieces, mix well on high flame, add salt, reduce the flame, cover and cook for about six minutes. Open and check in between, sprinkle some water if needed.
  • Add the red chilli powder, garam masala powder and grated coconut. Stir well and remove from fire.
All Posts, Sides

Kadai vegetables

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Kadai is a small wok like vessel that is used for a lot of Indian cooking.  When I wanted to make a sabzi with different types of vegetables lying in my refrigerator, I searched for the recipe of ‘kadai vegetable’. I modified it a bit and prepared it for a Sunday lunch.

Ingredients

1 medium sized Cauliflower separated into flowerets
1 cup shelled green peas
1 carrot cut into small pieces
3 green capsicums deseeded and cut into small pieces
1 onion sliced
8 flakes of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
2 tomatoes chopped
2 tbsps of oil
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
¼ cup water

Instruction

  • Grind half of the ginger and garlic into a paste. Cut half of the ginger into juliennes.
  • Heat oil in a kadai, add the sliced onion and let them brown.
  • Add the ginger garlic paste and stir for a few seconds.
  • Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and mix well
  • Add the chopped tomatoes, cauliflower, green peas, carrot, salt and mix well on high heat. Pour ¼ cup of water, put salt and cook for about six minutes on low flame till the carrots are done.
  • Now mix in the capsicum pieces and cook for another four minutes. Add the garam masala powder and remove from fire.
  • Garnish with the ginger juliennes while serving.
All Posts, Sides

Cabbage Thoran

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This is a Kerala dish that is fast and easy to prepare, and an awesome accompaniment with steamed rice and dal. It took just 6 minutes to get cooked.

Ingredients

2 cups of cabbage cut very fine
¾ cup grated coconut
½ tsp cumin seeds
3 flakes of garlic
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp udad dal
1 sprig curry leaf
Salt to taste
¼ cup water

Instructions

  • Grind the coconut with cumin seeds, garlic, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
  • Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the udad dal and when they brown lightly, add the cut cabbage and curry leaves.
  • Stir for a minute on high flame, add the salt and water, reduce the flame to low, cover and cook for five minutes.
  • Now add the ground coconut mixture, cover and cook for a minute.
  • Mix everything nicely and remove from the fire.
All Posts, Sides

Carrot Kanji

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In the North of India, as the winter sets in, carrot kanji (a fermented drink with carrots and mustard seeds) will be prepared in the houses.  It has a unique taste that is tangy, and an exotic color.  Fermented vegetables are potential healers. They can enhance the immune system, treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and reduce systemic allergic responses.

Ingredients:

 

250 gms red(or orange) carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch long  pieces

7 cups of water

3 tbsps mustard seeds roughly ground

Salt to taste

½ tsp black salt

A pinch of asafoetida

¼ tsp red chilli powder

Instructions:

 

  • Mix in the ground mustard seeds, salt, black salt, red chilli powder and asafoetida into the water.
  • Add the cut carrots. Pour into a glass jar; cover the mouth of the jar with a cloth.
  • Keep in the sun during day time for 4 to 5 days. Stir it well in the evenings.
  • It can be taken as a drink or served along with lunch.
All Posts, Desserts

Carrot Halwa

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During winter time in the North of India, there will be red carrots available in the vegetable market, and in all sweet shops, one will see warm carrot halwa in big flat vessels. We used to enjoy the sweet in Lucknow. The red carrots are available in Belgaum during December/January. They are awesome for making halwa, though it can be prepared with orange colour carrots too. I always follow the typical north Indian recipe, which I learned from my husband’s mamiji three decades back.  Yesterday my husband spotted the red carrots; he promptly brought them home along with mawa (khoya or khawa). And I prepared his favourite dish, which took 50 minutes.

Ingredients:

700gms grated carrot

500 ml milk

250 gms sugar

250 gms grated  mawa

3 tbsps kismis

1 tsp cardamom powder

3 tbsps broken cashews fried in ghee

Method:

  • Put the milk and grated carrot in a thick bottomed pan and keep on medium fire. Keep stirring in between

  • When the milk is almost dried up, add the sugar and kismis. It becomes watery now. Keep stirring till it dries up again.

  • Now add mawa and reduce the flame to low and stir till it is halwa consistency. Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Remove from fire.

  • Add the cashews fried in ghee.
  • Serve hot, and enjoy the delicacy!
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Baby corn, ladies finger sabzi

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I had some left over baby corns and searched the net to make something with them. Came across this website  (http://food.ndtv.com/recipe-okra-with-baby-corn-99155) and saw the recipe of okra with baby corn. There were some ladies fingers also at home. I modified the recipe and made this sabzi, which tasted good.

baby-corn

Ingredients:

8 baby corns cut in s slanting fashion

10 ladies fingers cut similarly

ingredients

1 tbsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp onion seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

1 onion cut fine

1 red chilli cut into small pieces.

6 flakes of garlic cut into two or three

2 tbsps peanut chutney (made by powdering roasted skinned peanut, salt, garlic and red chilli powder)

Instructions:

– Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add onion seeds and saunf.

– Add cut onion, stir till they become transparent, and add cut garlic and red chilli.

– When the onion becomes lightly brown, add the cut baby corn and sauté

– Add the cut ladies fingers and  salt. Keep the flame medium, and partly cover the pan.  Stir in between and sprinkle water if needed.

– When it is cooked, add the peanut chutney, stir, keep on low flame for two minutes and remove from fire

-Serve with chapatis or steamed rice.

All Posts, Sides

Bali vegetable curry

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bali-veg-curry

I had Bali vegetable curry and rice for the first time at the Jimbaran beach. Sitting on the beach on a warm day and having this lunch was so soothing that I wanted to prepare it at home. And I succeeded in getting the exact taste. The flavor of this curry comes from garlic, galangal (which I brought from Bali), lime leaves, lemon grass bulb and stem portion, and of course coconut milk.

A wide variety of vegetables, sprouts and leaves can be added in this curry. You have to keep sautéing the vegetables starting with the one that needs maximum time to cook (like potatoes and carrots), gradually adding others one by one, and finally the leaves.

Ingredients:

 

  • 1 Potato, 1 carrot, ½ cup green peas, ½ cup cauliflower pieces , 1 capsicum, ½ cup cut cabbage, 2 tbsps sprouts, ½ cup cut spring onion
  • 1 inch piece of galangal cut into small pieces
  • 6 flakes of garlic cut into pieces
  • 3 pieces of 2 inch size lemon grass bulb and stem
  • 2 lime leaves cut fine

ingredients

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 ½ cups of coconut milk

Instructions

 

  • Heat the oil, add galangal and garlic. Sauté for some time and add lemon grass and lime leaves.
  • Start adding vegetables one by one- potato, carrot, green peas, cauliflower, capsicum, cabbage, sprouts, and finally the cut spring onion.
  • Add salt and coconut milk, stir well.
  • Cover and cook for about 6 minutes.
  • Serve with rice.
All Posts, Sides

Hadjod chutney

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During our visit to a friend’s farm in Kerala, we saw this cactus like plant growing wild in a corner. Our friend told us that a lot of local people come and take twigs of the plant, which is supposed to be highly medicinal. The medicinal value, he was not aware of. My husband took a twig and planted it in our back yard.

hadjod

 

Then he contacted an Ayurveda group and was astonished to know what a treasure this plant was. It is known as bone setter or edible-stemmed vine. It has many names: Vajravalli, Hadjod, Mangaravalli, Asthisrinkhala, and Vajralatha. It resembles the shape of bones and joints in the body, and is indeed very effective in strengthening the bones and joints.

 

I was curious how it was consumed and a net search gave me the recipe for hadjod chutney here: http://samagni.com/2015/06/pirandai-thogayal-adamant-creeper-chutney/comment-page-1/

 

I added coconut scrapings as in Kerala, we like to have coconut in our chutneys.

chutney

 

Ingredients:

 

While chopping the hadjot plant, you have to take some precautions or you will get itching on your hands. Smear oil on your palms and fingers nicely. Remove all the joints from the plant, as also the ridges. The leaves are used. Wash and chop them into small pieces.

hadjod

2 tbsps of chopped hadjod

2 dried red chillies broken to small pieces

¼ cup Udad dal

2 tbsps black sesame seeds

¾ cup grated coconut

Salt to taste

A pinch of Asafetida

A small ball of Tamarind. This neutralizes the itchiness of hadjod

2 tbsps Sesame oil

 

Instructions:

 

  • Pour some oil in a thick bottomed pan and roast the broken chilli pieces. Transfer to a plate.
  • Add the udad dal and sesame seeds to the pan and roast till the color of udad dal changes and aroma comes.
  • Now roast the coconut and asafetida, till the coconut turns light brown in color.
  • Lastly, roast the hadjod till they shrink and change to light brown in color.
  • Let everything  cool a bit.

ingredients

  • Grind all the ingredients with salt and tamarind to a powder.
  • It can be eaten with steamed rice as it is, or made into thin chutney by adding water and served with dosa or idli.
Easy Recipes, Sides

Mango murabba

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Some of the mangoes from our back yard tree fell down when there was a heavy rain. They were half ripe mangoes, some had cracks. We were thinking hard how to utilize them. My husband decided that murabba was a good idea and he did some search on the net. And came up with this idea. The result was delicious.

Four

Ingredients

1 kg half ripe mangoes skinned, poked with a fork all over and cut into pieces.

1 kg sugar

Instructions

Mix the mango pieces with sugar and keep aside for an hour for the mangoes to leave water.

One

Two

Keep on slow fire and keep stirring.

When the mango pieces turn slightly translucent, remove from fire.

Three

Cool and bottle.

Five

It goes very well with either rotis or steamed rice.

 

 

 

All Posts, Easy Recipes

Scones

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Scones are the easiest English teatime treat. A scone is a single-serving cake or quick bread. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent. Ever since I enjoyed it in England, I bake it once in a while at home.

Ingredients

250 gm refined flour – for 12 scones
2 tsps baking powder
A pinch of salt
2 tsps powdered sugar
20 gms of butter cut into pieces
75 ml of milk
50 ml of water

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 220 degrees.
  • Sieve all the dry ingredients.
  • Rub butter into the flour with a fork.

scone

  • Mix in milk and water, and lightly knead on a floured surface
  • Pat out to 2 cm thick round.

Scones1

  • Cut out with a floured scone cutter.
  • Place scones on a lightly oiled tray.

Scones2

  • Brush the surface with some extra milk.
  • Bake at 220 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Scones3

  • Serve with cream and jam.

scones