Kayi curry, raw plantain slices cooked in coconut milk gravy

I've always wanted to be a vegetarian, if not for anything else, at least to help me lose some weight. But who am I fooling.. the minute I set eyes on some delicious fish curry or chicken fry, I lose all control. I've decided not to give up so easily though.. am on a path of research now, discovering new recipes with vegetables that resemble their non-vegetarian counterparts. And hopefully, I'd be able to cut down on the meat and fish gradually, at least, that's the plan. This is one such discovery, not my invention though.. this one is a specialty of our cook. Upon first look, it can fool you into believing that it's fish curry and tastes equally good too.

For this curry you'll need,

Raw banana, preferably plantain 1, sliced thinly, diagonally
Tamarind juice 1 cup
Shallots 10, sliced thinly (can be supplemented with 1 onion)
Tomato 1, sliced
Ginger 1" piece, chopped
Green chillis 2-3, slit in half
Turmeric 1tsp.
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste

Boil all the above together, till the plantain is cooked. This shouldn't be over-cooked, b'coz the plantain slices should be intact and not mashed up.

Coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups
Coconut oil 1 tbsp
Garlic 3 cloves, crushed
Curry leaves 1 sprig

Pour the coconut milk in and when the gravy starts to boil and thicken, add the coconut oil, garlic and curry leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Gongura Pickle

Gongura pickle is one of the most popular Andhra pickles. Gongura is called Sorrel leaves in English, Pulicha Keerai in Tamil, Gongura in Telugu and Pandi in Kannada. It comes in two varieties, green stemmed and red stemmed. I've used the red stemmed variety here.

Gongura - 3 bunches (Remove the leaves from the stem)
Red chilly powder - 4-5 tsp (Adjust as per your taste)

Fenugreek , roast and ground - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds, roast and ground - 2 tsp

Hing - ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Gingelly oil 6 tbsp

·        Clean the gongura leaves with water and dry them in sun for a day or two. When you are ready to make the pickle, chop the leaves into chunky pieces and set aside.

·        Heat half of the oil in a pan. Add hing, fenugreek powder, mustard powder and chilly powder. Fry it for a minute and remove from heat.

·        Heat another skillet, add the remaining oil to it, and fry the gongura leaves for a few minutes till the leaves shrink completely.

·        Add salt and the powder ingredients to the leaves, mix well so that gongura leaves blend in nicely with the spices.

·        Fry the garlic flakes in a little oil. And pour onto the gongura mixture.

Once the pickle has cooled you can store it in containers and use as required. If it’s stored in the refrigerator, this pickle can last for atleast 6 months.

Baby Corn Manchurian

Baby corn - 1 packet, (about 10 to 15 nos, cut in half) 
Maida – ½ cup
Corn flour – ¼ cup
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - ½ tsp
Crushed ginger - ½ tsp
Crushed garlic - ½ tsp
Vinegar - 1tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Oil for deep frying      

• Cook the baby corn for 1 whistle in the cooker.
• Mix all the above ingredients except the oil. It should be a thick batter.
• Add the corn to the batter; it should be well coated.
• Deep fry till it turns golden brown on all sides and keep aside.

Crushed ginger – ½” piece
Crushed garlic – 5 cloves
Onion (Preferably white onion) - 1 big, (Chunky cubes)
Green chillies - 2-3, julienne slices (As per tolerance)
Red chilli powder - ½ tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Capsicum - 1 (Chunky cubes)
Spring onion 5-6 stalks, chopped
Chilli-garlic sauce - 2 tbsp
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp 
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Corn flour - 1 tsp dissolved in ¾ cup water
Salt as needed
Oil

•        Heat a pan with oil and add ginger and garlic, sauté it for a minute and add the onion and green chillies and fry till onion starts to turn pink.
•        Add the salt, red chilli powder and pepper and fry for half a minute on high flame. Add the capsicum. Sauté for ½ a minute, and add the chilli-garlic sauce, soya sauce and vinegar, sauté a little.
•        Add the fried baby corn with chopped spring onions and mix well.
•        Slowly add the corn flour dissolved in water and stir well, till the baby corns are well coated with the gravy.
•        Decorate with chopped spring onions.

·       Serve hot with fried rice or noodles!

Mochakottai/Avarekkai Sambhar

Mochakottai, also known as Avarekkai, is a very popular bean around Karnataka. There are many many ways of preparing it, but by far I personally feel that sambhar is the best of the lot. This is the way my mother-in-law prepares it. Usually when she prepares it, she has to empty the entire rice to the curry vessel itself coz all 5 of us (my husband, his brother, brother's wife, sister and me) would crowd around her to feed us. I know its disgusting for most people, to be fed by someone else, but ya, that's how I like it, I really love to be fed. Makes me 'feel' like a child again. When I go to my parents place, its the same story there too, its either my dad, mom or my sister (though she's younger to me) who end up feeding me.

OK, now coming back to Mochakottai, there's a preparation with mutton that's really good too, I would be adding that in shortly. Mochakottai can be used without removing the skin too, but it causes slight gastric problems that way, or so I've heard. I decided not to take a chance and peeled the skin even though it is double the work. But the end result pays for the hard work.                                                           

Dal – ½ cup
Potato – 2, cubed
Tomato – 1, cubed
Turmeric – ½ tsp

Cook the dal with the potato, tomato & turmeric, till the dal is almost mashed, in a pressure cooker this may take about 3-4 whistles.

Mochakottai beans – ½ kg

Take the seeds out from the beans, as you would with fresh peas, and soak the beans for a few hours or overnight preferably. Then remove the skin on the seeds. You can do this by gently squeezing from one end of the seeds.
Add these to the cooked dal. Cook for some more time till the beans are cooked and soft. They should not get mashed. 

Tamarind juice extracted from a handful of raw tamarind - 1 cup.
Or, if it’s tamarind extract, then about 1 tbsp mixed in 1 cup of water

Add this to the dal mixture. Boil for 5 minutes.

To grind:

Oil – 1 tsp
Channa dal – 1 tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Peppercorns – 1 tbsp
Methi seeds – 1 tsp
Jeera – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 10-12 leaves
Shallots - 10
Garlic – ½ a pod
Coconut – ½ cup, grated
Asafoetida/Hing – ¼ tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tbsp, or as per heat tolerance
Dhaniya powder – 3 tbsp

In a kadai, heat the oil, roast the channa dal, urad dal, peppercorns, methi seeds, jeera, curry leaves, garlic, coconut and asafoetida. To this add chilli powder and dhaniya. Fry till the raw smell of the masala goes away. Grind this to a smooth paste with little water and add to the dal mixture. Add salt as required. Boil for 5 more minutes.

To temper:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Dry red chillis – 3-4, broken into pieces
Curry leaves – 10 leaves

Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, when it sputters, add the red chillies and curry leaves. Pour this on top of the curry. 

Coriander leaves – 1 handful, chopped 

Garnish with the coriander leaves. 

Serve with hot rice!

Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is originally a Lebanese dish, but is widely popular in many parts of the world now as a very healthy salad. Tabbūle is a Levantine Arabic word which literally means "little spicy". It’s usually made with Bulgur wheat, but I’ve replaced it with cracked wheat here, with almost similar taste, but I wouldn’t say it’s exactly the same. It’s a multi colored delight which is very fibrous and nutritious.

This is my version of Tabbouleh, which is slightly different from the original one.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup vegetable stock (for vegetarians) or chicken stock or water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cracked wheat
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Juice from ½ a lemon
• 1 small green chilli, chopped
• ½ of a red onion, chopped
• ½ capsicum (green or yellow) seeded and chopped
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped with the greens
• ¾ cup parsley, chopped

·        Add the cracked wheat to a bowl. Boil the stock with some salt, pour it over the wheat. Keep this aside for about 30 minutes to an hour.

·        In a large bowl, add the lemon juice, olive oil and cracked wheat, mix well. Add all the other ingredients and combine well delicately.

·        Do a taste test and add more salt, olive oil or lemon juice if required, to suit your taste. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

·        Tabbouleh is ready. Serve chilled.

·        This can be stored in good containers for a few days, if refrigerated.

Koorkka fry

I love this preparation. It’s not a complicated one, but the complication comes in the preparation part, it needs to be fried and fried and fried… for at least 20-30 minutes.. that’s a lot of work for a simple vegetable fry if you ask me.. but the final result is definitely worth the effort though, no doubt..

Koorkka, peeled and cut into small pieces (The small ones taste better than the larger ones)

Onion, 1 big, chopped

Green chillis 3-4 chopped

Turmeric powder ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Mustard ½ tsp

Urad dal ½ tsp

Coconut oil 2-3 tbsp

Curry leaves, a few

Heat the oil, add the mustard, when it sputters, add the urad dal, curry leaves, onion and green chillis. When the onion starts to turn pinkish, add some salt. Now add the Koorkka and the turmeric. Keep frying till the Koorkka is well cooked. Close the lid and let it cook for about 3 minutes, sprinkle a little water if necessary.  But Rosh never adds water, he says adding water spoils the taste and texture of the vegetable. It’ll need to be cooked for at least 20 to 30 minutes, altering between closing the lid and stirring every few minutes.

Karnataka style greens curry, Soppu saaru

Cheera curry (in Malayalam), which is called Soppu saaru (Soppu is 'leaf' and saaru is 'curry' in Kannada), pronounced "Soppsaaru", is one of the most popular vegetarian curries in Karnataka. It's rich in fiber and flavor. Pretty easy to make except for the part of cleaning the leaves.

In Bangalore we're usually woken up early in the morning, every Tuesday and Friday, by the calls of the 'Soppu aunty' as we call her. She comes to our doorstep with a broad smile and a basket laden with freshly cut greens  and fresh flowers on her head. She'll always have at least about 10 different types of greens and around 5 or 6 types of flowers. It's a pleasant sight to wake up to. The reason she comes very early on Tuesday and Friday is b'coz around here these two days are considered very auspicious and almost every Hindu house will buy flowers to decorate the Puja room on these days. On other days she makes her visits a little later in the mornings.

Coming back to Soppu saaru, this was a preparation I had never seen before coming to Bangalore. The way my Mom prepares greens is very different from this and the taste is entirely different too. Frankly I prefer Mom's preparation, but this version is supposed to be extremely nutritious as it contains not 1, but atleast 4 to 5 types of leaves.
 
Mixed greens, 4 or 5 types, which includes spinach, coriander leaves and gongura leaves, washed and chopped, about 4 cups
Toor dal, or sambhar dal, 1/2 cup
Moong dal 1/2 cup
Garlic 10 cloves
Tomato 1
Green chillis 6-8
Turmeric 1 tsp
Water 1 cup

Cook all the above together in a pressure cooker for 5-6 whistles or till both the dals are cooked well. Remove from heat and when it cools, add salt and use a heavy ladle to mash the contents a little.

Coconut grated, 3/4 cup
Jeera, 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Grind the above to make a smooth paste. Add this to the curry.

Tamarind pulp, 1 tbsp (If you are not adding gongura leaves, then you'll have to increase this to 2tbsp)

Add to the curry along with the coconut mixture. Mix well. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

For the garnish:
Coconut oil, 1 tbsp
Mustard, 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies, 2
Shallots, sliced 2tbsp
Curry leaves, a few

Heat the oil, add the ingredients in the given order and fry till the shallots turn golden brown. Then add the curry leaves, pour onto the curry, close the lid for about 10 minutes. You can add a dollop of ghee too, but that would be a lil on the heavier side. I usually avoid the ghee, even though it improves the taste drastically.

This curry goes well with rice, chappati or Ragi ball or Ragi Modde, as its called in Kannada. It tastes best when accompanied with curd and fish fry.

Varutharacha Sambhar, better known as Kerala style sambhar

An unavoidable part of the Kerala Sadya. 

Step 1:


Dal, ¾ cup
Onion, 1 small, sliced
Tomato, 1 medium, cut into small cubes
Potato, 1, cut into small cubes
Carrot, 1, cut into lil longer cubes
Beans, 5-6, cut into 1” pieces
Vellarikka  or Yellow cucumber ½ of 1, cut into small cubes
Ash gourd, 1 piece, cut into small cubes
Curry leaves, 1 sprig

Cook all the ingredients with a pinch of salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker for about 3-4 whistles.

Step 2:

Tamarind extract, 1tbsp, Diluted in 3 cups of water
Drumstick, 1, cut into 4” pieces
Ladiesfinger, 4-5, cut into 2” pieces
Brinjal, 2, cubed
Sambhar powder, 1 ½ tbsp, I used Eastern Sambhar powder

Cook all the vegetables in the tamarind water, with a little salt, for about 8-10 minutes. Just before removing from heat, add the sambhar powder.

Step 3:

Coconut ½ of ½ grated
Red chillies 6
Garlic 8-10 cloves
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Fenugreek ¼ tsp
Jeera 1tsp
Whole dhaniya or coriander seeds 1 handful
Peppercorns 1tsp

Dry roast all the ingredients till the coconut is golden brown in color. Grind to make a smooth paste.


Step 4:

Asafoetida ½ tsp
Salt, to taste


For garnishing:

Mustard seeds 1tsp
Dry red chillies 3, broken into pieces
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Coconut oil 1tbsp
Coriander leaves, a few stems, chopped

• Add the ground paste and the dal mix from the cooker to the tamarind mix. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Add asafoetida and more salt if necessary. Remove from heat.
• In a separate pan, heat the oil for the garnish, add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Pour over the sambhar. Add the coriander leaves.
• Can be served with Idli, Dosa, or Rice.

Vendakka Pachadi

Lady's finger gives a variety of options.. this one is quite popular around Malabar.

Ingredients:

Lady’s finger (Vendakka)  250gms

Thick curd   ½ litre

Grated coconut   ½ cup

Green chillies  4-5

Salt to taste

Mustard  1tbsp

For seasoning:

Coconut oil  1tbsp

Mustard ½ tsp

Dry red chillies  2, broken into pieces

Curry leaves 2 sprigs

Method:

• Cut the lady’s finger into ½ inch pieces. Deep fry it in oil. Move it on to a tissue paper to remove excess oil
• Grind the coconut and green chillis coarsely (couple of spins in the mixer would do), add the mustard and spin some more (the mustard shouldn’t get ground – just crush it lightly)
• Pour the mix into a bowl, add required amount of salt
• Add the fried lady’s finger to it
• Heat the oil for seasoning, add the seasoning ingredients one by one – mustard, red chillis and curry leaves
• Pour this on top of the pachadi
• Serve with rice and dhal

Brinjal fry / Enna kathri

 

This is one more of my Achamma's simple but awesome recipes. Its called Ennai kathri, the literal translation for the name would be Oil-brinjal, which doesn't sound great, so i'll just refer to it as Ennai kathri. This curry has a thick gravy which is dark brown in colour.


You'll need:

1. Brinjal 4, cubed
2. Corriander powder 2 tbsp
3. Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
4. Dry red chillies 4
5. Jeera 1/2 tsp
6. Fenugreek seeds 1 tsp
7. Asafoetida 1/4 tsp
8. Shallots 4-5
9. Garlic 6 cloves
10. Curry leaves 2 sprigs
11. Oil 1 tbsp
12. Tamarind A big lime sized ball (Soak in water and extract the juice. The juice should be thick, as the gravy is of a thick texture as i said earlier)
13. Onion 1 Chopped
    
14. Green chillies 3 Slit in half
15. Ginger 1" piece Chopped

For seasoning:

1. Coconut oil 2 tbsp
2. Mustard 1/2 tsp
   
3. Dry red chillies 2 Broken into pieces
   
4. Curry leaves 1 sprig

Preparation:

• Fry all ingredients from 2-10 in 1 tbsp oil. Grind well with some water, to make a thick paste.
• Mix this with the brinjal. Keep aside.
• Heat oil for the seasoning, splutter the mustard, add curry leaves & dry chillies.
• Add the marinated brinjal to this. Saute till the brinjal's skin becomes soft.
• Then add the tamarind juice.
• Let simmer till the brinjal is well cooked.
• The gravy should be thick in consistency.
• Can be served with chapatti or rice.