Category Archives: Mains

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Kerala Vegetable/ Egg Stew

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vegetable stew
Egg and vegetable stew with idiappam (string hoppers)

Stew is one of the most soothing, calming dishes I know of. Pairing it with a rice based item like idiappam or appam takes it to another level altogether, although it is also fine with chappatis.

It is wonderful on those days when you’ve eaten something too heavy or spicy and want something to help the body come back to balance. It is soothing, but filling at the same time.

Time taken: 20 min
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 big potato, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
1 cup cauliflower florets
½ cup peas
½ cup sweet corn (optional)
4 eggs, hardboiled (optional)
1 500 ml can coconut milk
2 tsp chopped ginger
1-2 green chilies, chopped
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp coconut oil
salt to taste

Method

Heat coconut oil in a wok, and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the ginger, chilies and the curry leaves.

Add the potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, baby corn and peas.

Add salt, mix, then cover and cook. Stir occasionally and add a little water if it starts to stick to the bottom.

Check to see if the potatoes are cooked – they should be easy to poke through with a knife. Once they are done, add the coconut milk and bring to a boil.

Cut the eggs into pieces and add to the curry.

Take off the heat and adjust the salt if necessary.

Serve hot.

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Twice Baked Potatoes

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twice baked potatoes

There’s something magical about baked potatoes. I’d make them as a young teenager using the microwave, top it up with plenty of butter and it was one of my favorite snacks. What’s more, it just took 10 minutes to make!

I don’t use the microwave anymore, definitely not for cooking, so I just threw them into the oven. I found that they were so much more moist and tasty.

The timings can vary a bit, depending on the size, variety and the quality of potato you are using, so be careful about that. Also, if you are using the microwave, remember not to use foil unless you want to start a fire!

Russet potatoes are the best variety for baking. Look for potatoes with a brown, even skin without any green patches. Avoid potatoes with discolored patches, bruises or sprouts. Pick potatoes with similar sizes and shapes so that the baking is as even as possible.

Time taken: 1-1.5 hours
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 medium sized potatoes (Russet if possible)
3 tbsp olive oil or melted butter
2 tbsp butter, cold
Salt

½ cup green peas
½ cup sweet corn
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup green or red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup grated cheese
½ cup milk or cream
1 tsp Italian herbs or pizza seasoning
salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F

Wash the potatoes under cold water, scrubbing to remove any dirt. Pat dry.

Pierce each potato with a sharp knife or fork, at approximately one inch intervals, on each side. Or, use a toothpick and poke all over. This makes sure that steam can escape easily and the potatoes do not burst.

Coat the potatoes in oil. Put salt in a place, and roll the potatoes lightly in the salt.

Wrap in aluminium foil and place in the oven
> Purists are against the idea of using foil for baked potatoes, but I like the moistness it brings. So skip it if you like your potatoes all flaky.

After 30 minutes of baking, rip the foil open with a knife, so that the steam escapes. Let it continue baking for another 15 minutes, totally 45 min.

While the potatoes are baking, steam the peas, corn, carrots and bell pepper for 10 minutes.

Heat milk and half the cheese together and boil until fairly thick. Mix in the vegetables and season with salt and herbs.

When the potatoes are done, slice them in half and scoop out a bit of the flesh from each half.

Mix the scooped out flesh with the vegetables, and place the vegetables on top of the potatoes.

Sprinkle grated cheese on top and place a little piece of butter on top of each potato.

Bake for another 10 minutes.

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Thai Red Curry

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Serve with brown rice for a healthy meal

It was during my visit to Thailand many, many years ago, that I fell in love with Thai curry. We ate it everyday, and when I got back to India, I figured a way to make it. We didn’t get curry pastes in those days, OR the recipes online, and I had to manage with substitutes.

And then it became popular and Thai restaurants sprung up all over the city. My favorite Thai curries have been at the Nobel House in Jayanagar 4th block, and in Yo China!. Making it at home is also very simple, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money every time you have a craving. I make it with whatever I have at home. So if you’re missing a few vegetables in the list, just increase the quantity of the others.

If you have a lemon bush at home, add those leaves to the curry, it adds magic. If you don’t, well, just sow the seeds of the next lemon you cut, and you’ll have a little bush in no time 😉 trust me, it’s worth it!

Time taken: 20 min
Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 cup sliced halved zucchini
½ cup sliced halved carrots
1 cup broccoli florets
½ cup halved baby corn
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
½ cup red bell pepper chopped in squares
½ cup water chestnuts (optional)
a handful of kafir lime, lemongrass & Thai basil leaves (optional)

1 can (14 oz/ 400gm) or 2 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp chopped galangal (substitute: ginger)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp sesame oil
Salt to taste, a pinch of sugar

Method

Heat the oil and sauté the galangal/ginger and garlic for a minute.

Throw the vegetables in, in the order of time required for cooking. So that means the carrots go in first, the baby corn, zucchini and bell pepper after a couple of minutes, then broccoli and water chestnuts, and lastly mushrooms and leaves. Cover and cook until nearly done, 3-5 minutes.

Mix the cornflour, ¼ cup coconut milk, Thai curry paste and add it to the vegetables.

Add the rest of the coconut milk, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil, take off the heat and serve.

Variation

For Thai chicken or prawn curry, substitute broccoli, baby corn and mushrooms with ½ kg prawns or skinless, boneless chicken. Also add 1 tbsp fish sauce along with the curry paste.

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Rajma Masala

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Rajma Masala with Jeera Rice
Rajma Masala with Jeera Rice

Rajma masala with jeera rice is one of my favorite combinations, and I haven’t met anyone so far who doesn’t like this dish. It is just so wholesome – tasty, nutritious, healthy.

Some recipes don’t call for grinding the masala. Now this, I have found, really pulls down the quality of the dish. I tried very hard to work around it initially, because I was too lazy to do all the grinding, but I have found that the difference is just too much to skip this critical step.

Time taken: 50 min (Overnight soaking required)
Serves 4

Ingredients

1½ cups rajma or kidney beans
4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 green chilies

½ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
½ tsp lal mirch or red chili powder
2 tsp dhania or coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp kasuri methi or crushed dry fenugreek leaves

1 badi elaichi or black cardamom
1 tej patta or bay leaf
2 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
2 tbsp ghee (or mustard oil in the winters)
Salt to taste

Method

Soak the rajma overnight, atleast 8-10 hours. Drain.

Pressure cook the rajma with salt and 4-5 cups of water, for 15-20 minutes. When the pressure has come to normal, open and check if it is cooked through, or simmer for a few more minutes. (If you’re cooking without a pressure cooker, cook the rajma for about 1 to 1.5 hours). Drain the rajma and reserve the water.

While the rajma is cooking, heat 1 tbsp ghee and add the jeera or cumin seeds. Add the onions and cook until soft.

Now add the ginger, garlic, chilies and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are soft and mushy. Take off the heat.

Once cool, grind this into a fine paste.

Heat the remaining ghee in the same pan and add the bay leaf and black cardamom. Add the onion-tomato puree and cook on medium heat with constant stirring, until the paste starts to release ghee. The sides of the pan start to glisten when this starts happening.

Add the spice powders – turmeric, chili, coriander and garam masala.

Add the cooked rajma to this paste, and add 2 cups of the reserved water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 min without a lid.

Check the consistency of the curry and add more water if required. Adjust the salt if needed.

Garnish with cream or coriander leaves, depending on whether you want it rich or spicy. Serve hot with parathas, rice or jeera rice.

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Mavinakayi Chitranna (Mango Rice)

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mango chitranna

I love Ugadi. We hang fresh mango leaves at the door to purify and disinfect incoming air. We start the day by eating neem (a very, very bitter tree) flowers mixed with jaggery, to signify that we will take the sweet and the bitter that life has to offer, in the same spirit. That, undoubtedly, is my favorite part of the day and I often sneak in and eat everything that is remaining.

The next thing I love most about the day, is the mango rice. Oh, how I look forward to lunch. Ugadi heralds the start of the new lunar year, and also of the summer. It is the perfect time to start eating raw mangoes, something that helps the body cool down and stay healthy.

Time taken: 20 min
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 small raw mangoes
2½ cups rice
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut
1 tbsp udad dal or split skinned black gram
1 tbsp chana dal or Bengal gram
1 tbsp jeera or cumin seeds
1 tbsp rai or mustard
A pinch of hing or asafetida
3 dried red chilies
½ cup peanuts
A sprig of curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
Salt

Method:

Cook the rice and let it cool. A day old rice is also fine to use.

Deseed and grate the mangoes. I like to grate half and chop half of the mangoes, your choice.

Heat oil and add chana dal, udad dal, cumin seeds and red chili.

Fry until light brown.

Grind this along with mustard, coconut and asafetida into a fine paste.

Heat oil in a big pan and add curry leaves and peanuts.

When peanuts are done, add the paste and the mangoes. Cook for a minute and add the rice.

Mix well, take off the heat and serve with coconut chutney.

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Olan (Pumpkin & Black Eyed Peas Curry)

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Olan: A creamy, light, healthy curry
Olan: A creamy, light, healthy curry

It is quite easy to get me to like a dish. Just add coconut milk! I couldn’t stop eating this the first time I tasted it. And now it is the same story every time I make it.

This is another of those super healthy AND super tasty dishes. One may wonder where the taste even comes from, because there are barely any spices here. But make it once, and you’re hooked!

Traditionally, ginger is not added, but it is an addition I love.

Time taken: 25 min (Overnight soaking required)
Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup lobhiya / van payaru or black eyed peas
1 cup cubed elavan/ ash gourd/ white pumpkin
2 green chilies
1 cup coconut milk
2 tsp ginger (optional)
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tbsp coconut oil
Salt to taste

Method

Soak the lobhiya in enough water overnight, at least 8-9 hours.

Pressure cook the lobhiya for 8 min, or open cook until done.

Cook the pumpkin with a little water, salt, green chilies and ginger.

When done, add the lobhiya and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and simmer until it reaches the desired consistency. Check for salt.

Heat the coconut oil, add the curry leaves and pour it over the dish. Serve with rice.

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Pumpkin Rice

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Rice is a fundamental food in many cultural cuisines around the world. It has ability to provide fast and instant energy, regulate and improve bowel movements, and stabilize blood sugar levels, while also providing an essential source of vitamin B1 to the human body. Do you know that rice slows down the aging process? When I learned Vedic meditation from Tim Mitchell (http://www.vedicmeditation.eu/en/ayurveda/), he told me that after the age of fifty, one should eat rice and not wheat.

We love rice and I am always on the look out to create new preparations with rice. Here is a nice dish that combines pumpkin with rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
200 gms pumpkin
Salt
2 tbsps Oil
1 Bay leaf
½ tsp grated ginger
1 green chilli cut fine
A few curry leaves
¼ tsp Cumin seeds
¼ cup roasted and ground pea nuts
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsps water

Method:

• Cook the rice and keep aside.
• Clean and cube the pumpkin, smear with oil, add salt, roast in the pre heated oven at 250 degrees for ½ hour to 45 minutes. Keep a small bowl of water in the center of the pumpkin pieces so that they won’t dry out.
• Cut the roasted pumpkin into small pieces.

pumpkin
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel; add cumin seeds, when they splutter, add the bay leaf, grated ginger, cut green chilli, and curry leaves. Stir for ten seconds.
• Add the pumpkin pieces, sugar and mix well.
• Add the cooked rice, salt, roasted and ground peanuts, and 2 table spoons of water.

ground nut
• Mix well and remove from the fire after about 4 minutes. Serve hot.

Pumpkin rice

 

Mains

Dal Baati Gatta Churma

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As children, we’d wait for our mother to make this mouth-watering Rajasthani dish. Traditionally baked over charcoal, we would bake it in an oven, and I still remember the excitement every time she would open the oven door.

My mom stuffed it with different fillings – potato, cheese, and that would only add to the excitement. The fact that this is served with two curries, one of which happens to be a favourite – gatte ki subzi, only made things better. Most of the times the meal would end with churma, which we would somehow manage to stuff into our very full stomachs simply because it was so tasty.

If you ever have an opportunity to eat this dish in a village or a Marwari household, skip breakfast and lunch and go for it. It is sometimes served with the baatis dunked in a bucket of ghee, but it is an experience you won’t regret!

So, here goes mom’s recipe for one of my favourite childhood memories.

Ingredients:

Baati

400 gm whole wheat flour (atta) [can add 2 tbsp sooji. we don’t)
⅓ tsp baking soda
2 tbsp ghee
Salt to taste
Water

Dal

Green gram, split, with skin – 1 cup
Green gram, split, without skin – 2 tsps
Udad dal ( black gram without skin) – 2 tsps
Bengal gram (chana dal) – 3 tsps
Salt to taste
Asafoetida – a pinch
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Water – 2 ½ cups

To season:
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 5 flakes cut into small pieces
Ginger – ¾ tsp cut into strips
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp in 1 tbsp water

Gatte ki Subzi:

Besan ( Bengal gram flour) – 1 cup
Baking soda – a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tsps
Water
Cut coriander leaves and garlic – 1 tsp each (optional)

For gravy:
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Tomatoes -2 big, grate them
Curds – ½ cup
Turmeric powder – 1/3 tsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Coriander piwder – ¾ tsp
Garam masala powder – 1/3 tsp
Coriander leaves to garnish

Churma:

Baked baatis (in flattened shape) -2
Sugar -75 gms
Melted ghee – 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp

Instructions:

  • Sieve the wheat flour with baking soda and add salt and ghee.
  • Pour water little by little and knead into stiff dough.
  • Divide into eight portions.
  • Roll each portion between the palms with some pressure and make into a ball.
  • Make a depression on one side with your finger tip.

Two of the portions can be flattened, to make churma later.

  • Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
  • Put all the prepared balls on an oil smeared aluminum foil, with the depression on the top, and the two flattened ones and bake for 30 minutes.
  • Now turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes.

  • You can make stuffed baatis too. Make the potato filling that you prepare for aloo paratha, and fill the battis. I like cheese stuffed baatis very much!
  • Traditionally, Rajasthanis keep the baatis dipped in ghee for some time, then take out, break them between the palms, put on the serving plate and pour more ghee over it. Since it used to be a regular dish for us and we didn’t want to consume too much ghee, I never did that.

Dal:

  • Clean and wash all the dals, put inside the pressure cooker. Add salt, asafetida, water and all the masala powders.
  • Pressure cook for 8 minutes, cool and open.
  • Heat the ghee in a seasoning vessel. Add the cut garlic and ginger.
  • When they brown, close the flame, add the chilli powder in water, mix and pour over the cooked dal.
  • Serve with lemon; it has to be squeezed into the dal before eating.

Gatta sabzi

  • Put two cups of water, with a drop of ghee in it to boil.
  • Mix the first five (or six) ingredients into a smooth dough, divide into four portions.
  • Roll each portion between the palms into long rope. Meanwhile the water is boiling.
  • Reduce the flame and drop each rope into the boiling water and keep medium flame for about ten minutes. You will see the crust forming on the surface, which means they are cooked. Remove from heat, take out the ropes and keep on a plate. Don’t discard the water, we will use it for the gravy.
  • Cut the ropes into roughly ¾ cm rounds.
  • Mash about 6 pieces until smooth.

  • Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the grated tomatoes and let it cook for some time.
  • Add all the masala powders, stir, add the beaten curd. Mix well.
  • Add the gatta pieces, mashed gattas, stir and add the water in which gattas were cooked, add salt.
  • Let it simmer for ten minutes on low flame.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves before serving.

Churma

  • Break the baatis into pieces and let them cool.

  • Add the cooled baati pieces to the powdered sugar in the grinder, along with cardamom powder
  • Take it out on a plate, add the melted ghee and mix well
  • You can add mava (khoya) also and mix, if you want to make it more rich.

Dal baati gatta sabzi, churma

Looks like too many things to make? It just needs a little bit of planning, and you can have the entire meal ready within an hour and a half.

Let’s go through the steps. Knead the flour for baati with all the ingredients, place them in the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes. This is important because we are going to be busy with other things and it is easy to forget to turn the battis upside down for further fifteen minutes of baking.

Put  all the ingredients for the dal in the pressure cooker and pressure cook it for eight minutes

Keep the water for boiling gattas on the stove and mix the besan with other ingredients and by this time, the water is boiling. Reduce the flame and slide the besan ropes into the boiling water.

Meanwhile the dal is cooked for eight minutes in the pressure cooker. Remove from the flame and let it cool. Chop the ginger, garlic and put the red chilli powder in water.

Grate the tomatoes. Beat the curds for gatta sabzi.

The besan ropes have developed the crust by now (takes about eight minutes). Drain them from water and cut them into slices.

The timer will go off now. Open the oven and turn all the baatis upside down and keep the timer for fifteen minutes now.

Go ahead and finish making the gatta sabzi.

Open the pressure cooker and season the dal.

The baatis are ready now, so are the dal and gatta sabzi. Set the table with all the things, and before you sit down to eat, break the two flat baatis into pieces and keep on a plate to cool down. After you finish your dal baati gatta sabzi, go ahead and make the churma and enjoy the sweet dish now!

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Kala Chana Pulao

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Kala Chana Pulao
Kala Chana Pulao

There are two kinds of cooks. Those who plan ahead, and those who open the refrigerator when they are hungry and wonder what they should make. I belong to the second category. I have, believe it or not, had to train myself to plan ahead, because as a result of my nature, I ended up never getting to make things like idly, or anything that needed planning.

Anyway, this dish came about as a result of exactly that lack of planning. I was visiting my sister, it was a lazy afternoon and suddenly we realized that we didn’t have a plan. It turned out that there was some soaked kala chana. And rice. I was too lazy to make kadala curry AND rice. So I just threw everything into one pot. We liked the result so much that I had to note the recipe down and email it to everyone 😀

Serves 2
Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

1 cup kala chana
1 cup rice
1 cup chopped vegetables – baby corn, potato, carrot
½ cup chopped onion
1 tsp chopped green chili
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped garlic
½ tsp haldi/ turmeric powder
¼ tsp chili powder
½ tsp dhania/  coriander powder
2 sprigs curry leaves
½ tsp mustard seeds
¼ cup fresh coconut, grated
2 tbsp coriander leaves
1 tbsp coconut oil or ghee

Method:

Soak overnight, and pressure cook kala chana in 2-3 cups water for 10 min.

Drain and reserve the water.

In a pressure cooker, heat oil or ghee, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped ginger and garlic, and green chili. Add onion.

Add the vegetables and chana and cook for a couple of min, then add the rice. Add 2 cups water (can use the water in which the chana was cooking), salt, haldi, chili and coriander powder. Pressure cook for 5 min.

When done, add grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Yummy pulao is ready!!

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Spaghetti w Tuna Marinara Sauce

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spaghetti with tuna sauce

This meal is for those days when you want a fairly nutritious meal but don’t want to work too hard. If you’re really lazy, you could even heat up ready-made pasta sauce, throw in canned pasta, and your sauce is ready in 2 minutes.

The time to cook might look a bit long here, but it’s really about some initial work, and then letting it cook by itself.

Time taken: 20 min
Serves 4

Ingredients

350 gms/ 15 oz spaghetti
1 150gm/ 5oz can tuna in brine, drained
6 big or 8 medium tomatoes
1 onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 tsp dried parsley
½ cup fresh Italian basil leaves
½ cup dry white wine (optional)
2½ tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Method

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Meanwhile, chop up the tomatoes and onion finely. (I like my sauce chunky. If you like it smooth, puree the tomatoes and onion separately)

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the garlic, and the onion after the garlic turns light brown.

Once the onions are light brown, add the tomatoes. Add the salt.

Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes, checking occasionally.

Once the water starts boiling, add the spaghetti and cook as per the directions on the pack. Drain.

Once the tomatoes are cooked and mushy, add the wine and allow it to simmer till the sauce is at the desired consistency.

Add the crumbled tuna. Stir and add the basil and parsley.

Remove from heat, serve on top of the spaghetti.