Chayote Squash Curry

Ingredients:
1 chayote squash, cubed
4-5 curry leaves
1 cup buttermilk

To be ground to a fine paste:
6-7 green chillies
3 Tbsp coconut
A small piece of ginger, grated

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Method:
Cook the chayote squash cubes along with some curry leaves and salt in a little water till tender.

Add the ground mixture to this and cover and cook for about 5 -7 minutes.

Add the buttermilk and cook for another 2-3 minutes on very low heat.

Heat the oil and temper with the ingredients listed above. Serve hot with rice and pappad.

Chayote Squash Curry

Ingredients:
1 chayote squash, cubed
4-5 curry leaves
1 cup buttermilk

To be ground to a fine paste:
6-7 green chillies
3 Tbsp coconut
A small piece of ginger, grated

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Method:
Cook the chayote squash cubes along with some curry leaves and salt in a little water till tender.

Add the ground mixture to this and cover and cook for about 5 -7 minutes.

Add the buttermilk and cook for another 2-3 minutes on very low heat.

Heat the oil and temper with the ingredients listed above. Serve hot with rice and pappad.

Yellow for Bri

First, please do take a look at this post if you haven’t seen it already. This one’s too important to have been missed.

Please contribute generously to help Bri and her family. Let us all keep her in our thoughts and prayers.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

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Mysore Rasam
I am home alone a lot these days and rarely feel like making something nice just for myself unless it’s blog-worthy. I usually make do with leftovers or store-bought frozen meals or even cereal (yes, sometimes I like to have it not just for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner too!). Today I felt like making something special for myself. I was going through my blog list of old favorites and came across Mika’s blog. I went through her archives and saw this recipe for Mysore rasam and decided that it just had to be tried out immediately. I make rasam frequently, but this was something I had only eaten at the typical South Indian hotels back home, and had never prepared before. So I got to work in my kitchen.
Ingredients:
3-4 Tbsp cooked toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
1 ball of tamarind (lemon-sized), soaked in hot water and juice extracted
1 tomato, chopped
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
For roasting and grinding to a paste:
1 Tbsp ghee (using oil just will not give you the same taste!)
2 tsp chana dal (split chickpeas)
1 tsp toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander seeds
6-7 black peppercorns
3-4 red chillies
3 Tbsp grated coconut
A big pinch of asafoetida

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp ghee
Cumin seeds
Mustard seeds

For garnshing:
Coriander leaves.

Method:
Cook the chopped tomato cubes in tamarind water to which turmeric powder and salt have been added.

In a small pan, roast the above mentioned ingredients in a bit of ghee. Cool and grind to a paste.

Add the ground paste and the cooked toor dal to the tomato-tamarind mixture. Adjust to the consistency you reqire by adding desired amounts of water.

Bring to a boil. Season with cumin and mustard seeds. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

I had this along with rice and

this koora.

Yellow for Bri

First, please do take a look at this post if you haven’t seen it already. This one’s too important to have been missed.

Please contribute generously to help Bri and her family. Let us all keep her in our thoughts and prayers.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

******************************************************************************
Mysore Rasam
I am home alone a lot these days and rarely feel like making something nice just for myself unless it’s blog-worthy. I usually make do with leftovers or store-bought frozen meals or even cereal (yes, sometimes I like to have it not just for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner too!). Today I felt like making something special for myself. I was going through my blog list of old favorites and came across Mika’s blog. I went through her archives and saw this recipe for Mysore rasam and decided that it just had to be tried out immediately. I make rasam frequently, but this was something I had only eaten at the typical South Indian hotels back home, and had never prepared before. So I got to work in my kitchen.
Ingredients:
3-4 Tbsp cooked toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
1 ball of tamarind (lemon-sized), soaked in hot water and juice extracted
1 tomato, chopped
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
For roasting and grinding to a paste:
1 Tbsp ghee (using oil just will not give you the same taste!)
2 tsp chana dal (split chickpeas)
1 tsp toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander seeds
6-7 black peppercorns
3-4 red chillies
3 Tbsp grated coconut
A big pinch of asafoetida

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp ghee
Cumin seeds
Mustard seeds

For garnshing:
Coriander leaves.

Method:
Cook the chopped tomato cubes in tamarind water to which turmeric powder and salt have been added.

In a small pan, roast the above mentioned ingredients in a bit of ghee. Cool and grind to a paste.

Add the ground paste and the cooked toor dal to the tomato-tamarind mixture. Adjust to the consistency you reqire by adding desired amounts of water.

Bring to a boil. Season with cumin and mustard seeds. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

I had this along with rice and

this koora.

Tomatillo Dal

The other day, I bought a few tomatillos for making some salsa, but then decided to go with something closer to home- a dal.

I grew up on simply fabulous Indian food and this fruit was not something I had ever seen or even heard of before. It continued to remain unfamiliar to me even after I came here. I remember seeing tomatillos in the produce section of my grocery store here and always thinking of them as green, unripe tomatoes. Thanks to blogging, I know a lot more these days and am also less afraid to experiment.

This is how I “Indianized” the tomatillos.

Ingredients:
2 medium tomatillos, husks removed, washed well and cubed
4 shallots, chopped
¾ cup toor dal (cooked)

To grind to a paste:
3 Tbsp coconut
3-4 cloves garlic
½ tsp cumin seeds
6 green chillies

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal/split pigeon peas
½ tsp chana dal/split chickpeas
½ tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
4-5 curry leaves
Salt to taste.

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the shallots and cook till translucent.

Add the cubed tomatillo pieces and cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the pieces turn soft.

Mix the ground paste along with the cooked mixture and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cooked dal along with the desired amounts of water (depending on the consistency desired). Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

Serve hot with rice.

This turned out to be a very good, spicy and tangy dal. The tomatillos make a very nice addition and lend a very tart, almost lemony flavor to the dal.

Another tomatillo recipe on my blog:
Tomatillo Chutney

Tomatillo Dal

The other day, I bought a few tomatillos for making some salsa, but then decided to go with something closer to home- a dal.

I grew up on simply fabulous Indian food and this fruit was not something I had ever seen or even heard of before. It continued to remain unfamiliar to me even after I came here. I remember seeing tomatillos in the produce section of my grocery store here and always thinking of them as green, unripe tomatoes. Thanks to blogging, I know a lot more these days and am also less afraid to experiment.

This is how I “Indianized” the tomatillos.

Ingredients:
2 medium tomatillos, husks removed, washed well and cubed
4 shallots, chopped
¾ cup toor dal (cooked)

To grind to a paste:
3 Tbsp coconut
3-4 cloves garlic
½ tsp cumin seeds
6 green chillies

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal/split pigeon peas
½ tsp chana dal/split chickpeas
½ tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
4-5 curry leaves
Salt to taste.

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the shallots and cook till translucent.

Add the cubed tomatillo pieces and cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the pieces turn soft.

Mix the ground paste along with the cooked mixture and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cooked dal along with the desired amounts of water (depending on the consistency desired). Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

Serve hot with rice.

This turned out to be a very good, spicy and tangy dal. The tomatillos make a very nice addition and lend a very tart, almost lemony flavor to the dal.

Another tomatillo recipe on my blog:
Tomatillo Chutney

Radish Kootu

Kootus are essentially vegetable and lentil based dishes which are semi-solid, i.e., less aqueous than sambhar, but more so than dry curries. Rice and kootu is a common and simple Tamil meal. In Tamil cuisine kootus are considered substitutes for both curries and sambhar.(Source: Wiki)

I’ve made kootu with a couple of different vegetables depending on what I have available. Most members of the gourd family- bottle gourd, chayote (chow-chow) to name a couple- are excellent choices for a kootu.

This is a very simple and tasty kootu that I often make with radishes.

Ingredients:
10-12 radishes cut into small pieces
1 ½ cups cooked toor dal/split pigeon peas (I pressure cook dal in large quantities and freeze in separate batches for later use.)
A pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste.

To be ground to a paste:
4 Tbsp coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 red chillies

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
4-5 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

Method:
Cook the radish pieces along with a few curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder in some water on medium heat till the pieces turn soft.

Add the ground paste of coconut, cumin and red chillies to this and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cooked toor dal, mix and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning. Add to the kootu and mix.

Serve with steaming hot rice.

Radish Kootu

Kootus are essentially vegetable and lentil based dishes which are semi-solid, i.e., less aqueous than sambhar, but more so than dry curries. Rice and kootu is a common and simple Tamil meal. In Tamil cuisine kootus are considered substitutes for both curries and sambhar.(Source: Wiki)

I’ve made kootu with a couple of different vegetables depending on what I have available. Most members of the gourd family- bottle gourd, chayote (chow-chow) to name a couple- are excellent choices for a kootu.

This is a very simple and tasty kootu that I often make with radishes.

Ingredients:
10-12 radishes cut into small pieces
1 ½ cups cooked toor dal/split pigeon peas (I pressure cook dal in large quantities and freeze in separate batches for later use.)
A pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste.

To be ground to a paste:
4 Tbsp coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 red chillies

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
4-5 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

Method:
Cook the radish pieces along with a few curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder in some water on medium heat till the pieces turn soft.

Add the ground paste of coconut, cumin and red chillies to this and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cooked toor dal, mix and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning. Add to the kootu and mix.

Serve with steaming hot rice.

Pineapple Pulissery (Pineapple in a yogurt and coconut gravy)

Pulissery is a sweet and sour yogurt based Kerala preparation that is regularly made at home. It has been one of my favorites since childhood. It can be made using a couple of different fruits. My mother makes the best pulissery ever, and she does it usually with ripe mangoes or pineapple. She does make it with plantains too, though I do not care much for that version.

This is how I make pineapple pulissery…
Ingredients:
1 20oz can of pineapple chunks, drained (Fresh would definitely be better and sweeter)
½ tsp turmeric powder
5-6 curry leaves

Salt
1 ½ cups yogurt, whipped nicely (Ideally, sour curd should be used. I used some yogurt that I had bought at the Indian store, but it still wasn’t sour enough.)

To be ground to a fine paste:
4-5 Tbsp grated coconut (I used frozen)
½ tsp cumin seeds
5-6 red chillies

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
A pinch of asafoetida(hing)
2-3 red chillies
3-4 curry leaves

Method:
Cook the pineapple cubes along with some curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder in a little bit of water on medium heat till the pineapple pieces turn soft.

Add the ground paste of coconut, cumin and red chillies to the cooked pineapple and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

Turn down the heat and add the yogurt. Mix well and turn off the heat. (This is important as the whole thing starts to curdle with too much heat…not a pretty sight!)

Heat the oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning. Add to
puliserry.

Serve with steaming hot rice,

thoran and pappadams.

Other Kerala style preparations on this blog -
Vegetable Stew
Ulli Chutney (Onion Chutney)
Pazham Pori (Plantain Fritters)
Instant Dosa with Sambar and Chutney
Kaya Thoran( Raw Banana stir fry)
Kale Thoran (a stir fry with Kale)

This is being sent to Jyothsna of Currybazaar who is hosting RCI: Cuisine of Kerala.

Pineapple Pulissery (Pineapple in a yogurt and coconut gravy)

Pulissery is a sweet and sour yogurt based Kerala preparation that is regularly made at home. It has been one of my favorites since childhood. It can be made using a couple of different fruits. My mother makes the best pulissery ever, and she does it usually with ripe mangoes or pineapple. She does make it with plantains too, though I do not care much for that version.

This is how I make pineapple pulissery…
Ingredients:
1 20oz can of pineapple chunks, drained (Fresh would definitely be better and sweeter)
½ tsp turmeric powder
5-6 curry leaves

Salt
1 ½ cups yogurt, whipped nicely (Ideally, sour curd should be used. I used some yogurt that I had bought at the Indian store, but it still wasn’t sour enough.)

To be ground to a fine paste:
4-5 Tbsp grated coconut (I used frozen)
½ tsp cumin seeds
5-6 red chillies

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
A pinch of asafoetida(hing)
2-3 red chillies
3-4 curry leaves

Method:
Cook the pineapple cubes along with some curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder in a little bit of water on medium heat till the pineapple pieces turn soft.

Add the ground paste of coconut, cumin and red chillies to the cooked pineapple and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

Turn down the heat and add the yogurt. Mix well and turn off the heat. (This is important as the whole thing starts to curdle with too much heat…not a pretty sight!)

Heat the oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning. Add to
puliserry.

Serve with steaming hot rice,

thoran and pappadams.

Other Kerala style preparations on this blog -
Vegetable Stew
Ulli Chutney (Onion Chutney)
Pazham Pori (Plantain Fritters)
Instant Dosa with Sambar and Chutney
Kaya Thoran( Raw Banana stir fry)
Kale Thoran (a stir fry with Kale)

This is being sent to Jyothsna of Currybazaar who is hosting RCI: Cuisine of Kerala.