Capsicum Curry With Peanuts And Sesame Seeds

          As I have mentioned so many times, capsicum is one vegetable, that I always have in my fridge, it is a very versatile vegetable and so many dishes can be made with it. It pairs beautifully with so many vegetables, it takes less time to cook and most importantly, can be chopped in minutes. For today's curry I have cooked the capsicums with some roasted peanut and sesame seeds powder which gives a nice taste and flavor to it. It's again an easy one, very ideal for those busy weekdays and goes well with both rice and rotis..

Need To Have

• Capsicum - 3, diced
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Raw Peanuts - 3 tablespoons
• White Sesame Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste

Method

          Dry roast the peanuts and sesame seeds, cool, peel the peanuts and make a coarse powder with it and the sesame seeds.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the onions and saute till it turns pink, then add the capsicum and saute for 2 minutes.

          Add the tomatoes, turmeric and chilly powders and salt, mix for one more minute, cover and cook till the capsicum is cooked. Now add the ground powder, mix for another 2 to 3 minutes till everything comes together. Finally mix in the curry leaves and switch off.

Note
If you get roasted and peeled peanuts, it saves time, also while roasting the sesame seeds, cover with a lid, it prevents the sesame seeds from popping all over.

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Green Beans And Chickpeas Curry

         Back after a weekend of fun and celebration, hope everybody had a fun filled and safe Diwali. After all the sweets and savories for the past couple of weeks, today's post is going to be a simple curry with green beans and chickpeas/ garbonza beans or chana. It's very simple to make, goes very well with both rice and rotis, very healthy and nutritious..

Need To Have

• Chopped Green Beans - 11/2 cups
• Cooked Chickpeas - 1 cup
• Onions - 2 medium, chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped
• Kasoori Methi - 1 tablespoon, crushed
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method

          Microwave the chopped beans with a little water and salt till cooked. Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering add the onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes, then add the kasoori methi and mix for another minute.

          Now add the chopped tomatoes and saute till it starts to break down, then add the turmeric, chilly and cumin powders along with salt and keep sauteing till the tomatoes become mushy.

          Then add the cooked beans and chickpeas and keep mixing for another 5 to 7 minutes, finally add the pepper powder, mix and remove.

Note
The green beans retain the green color, if you cook them in the microwave.
Kasoori Methi is dried fenugreek leaves, available in Indian stores which gives a unique flavor.
I have added only 2 tomatoes as the ones available here are very sour, if you are using plum tomatoes, you can add more.

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Potato And Bitter Gourd Stir Fry, Urulaikizhangu Pavakkai Vadakkal

          Last month, we had lunch at a Bengali restaurant, though I have tasted Bengali food a couple of times, I cannot talk about the authenticity of a dish. But on that day, I spoke to a girl ( a Bengali student ) sitting at the next table and she told me that she was tasting home style food after a long time, I took that as the verdict. One of the dishes that we ordered that day was a vegetable bajje ( appetizer ), I thought it would be some vegetable, dipped in batter and deep fried. To my surprise, it was a potato and bitter gourd fry, I think both the vegetables were deep fried and then sauteed with some spices. We just loved it, and I wanted to try it at home, I have tried to reproduce it from what I had tasted, I didn't get the recipe, and also I have tried to make it healthy too, try this, even kids wouldn't mind the pavakkai/ karela/ bitter gourd in this..

Need To Have

• Bitter Gourd - 2 medium
• Potatoes - 3 small
• Fennel Seed Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method

          Slightly scrape the outer skin of the bitter gourd, slice into half, scoop out the seeds in the middle and make thin half-moon slices. Peel and slice the potatoes like we do it for French fries. 

          Heat some oil in a pan, add the potato slices and a little salt,  cover and keep sauteing, till the potato fingers turn golden with few brown spots here and there, remove and keep. 

          Add some more oil, now add the sliced bitter gourd and salt and cover and keep sauteing till it gets wrinkled, gets cooked and slightly crispy, remove and keep. 

          Add a little oil, add the fennel seed, chilly and turmeric powders along with the sugar, give a mix and add both the vegetables, mix with the spice powders and keep sauteing for another 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and serve it warm with dal and rice or rotis.

Note

You can deep fry both the potato and bitter gourd, the dish at the restaurant was just oozing out oil.

The final dish should not be crunchy, but sort of soft and crispy at the same time.

The bitter gourd loses most of its bitter taste.

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Drumstick Curry, Murungakkai Pirattal, Curry

          Whenever I bought drumsticks/ murungakkai, the only dish that I made was a sambar with it. Especially, when we were in the US, where drumsticks was a rare thing at least where I stayed, I would never try any other dish, I didn't want to do something that didn't taste good and waste them. After coming to India, where you get this vegetable in abundance, there is even a drumstick tree in my parents' place, I could play around with it. I made a soup with it but I was not satisfied with the result, then I made this curry, this one is a sure winner, it had the perfect balance of spices. It tasted too good when mixed with some white rice and the drumsticks tasted very delicious in this curry, try this when you cook drumsticks the next time..

Need To Have

• Drumsticks/ Murungakkai - 4 medium ones, cut into 2" pieces
• Capsicum - 1/2, chopped finely
• Onions - 2 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Fennel Seeds Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method

          Heat some oil, add the fennel seeds powder, when it starts sizzling, add the onions and saute till they turn translucent, then add the chopped capsicum pieces and saute for a minute.

          Now add the drumstick and saute for another minute, then add the red chilly, coriander and turmeric powders and mix for a few seconds. Then add some water, about 1 cup and salt, cover and cook on medium heat till the drumsticks are done.

          You can check whether the drumsticks are cooked, just press a piece, it should split into 3 pieces as shown in the picture. If it's done, increase the heat and let all the water to evaporate. Now add the tomatoes, keep mixing till the tomatoes break down and the mixture becomes dry again.

          Now, add the grated coconut and curry leaves, mix for another minute, remove and serve it with some hot rice.

Note
When buying drumsticks, pick fresh green ones, that are not too fat.
Don't leave out the capsicum, that gives a nice flavor and taste to the curry.
Choose a nice ripe tomato that has a little bit of sourness.

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Aloo Bhindi/ Potato And Okra Curry

          I love potatoes, this vegetable is so versatile, you can make so many dishes with it, gravies, fries, chips, even sweets can be made from this vegetable. It not only tastes good, all by itself, but combines beautifully with almost any vegetable and gives a wonderful taste to any dish. I have used it in combination with eggplants, green peas, spinach, and now for today's recipe, along with okra/ bhindi/ lady's finger. Even people who otherwise don't like okra because of its sliminess would try this dish with potato. This dish has a nice garlic flavor and goes very well with both rotis and rice..

Need to Have

• Potato - 2 medium, chopped
• Okra - 1" pieces, 2 cups
• Garlic - 5 cloves, crushed with the skin
• Onions - 2 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Chilli Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method

          Heat some oil, add the potato pieces, saute on reduced heat, till it turns golden and is almost cooked, remove the potatoes and keep.

          If needed, add a little oil, add the okra pieces and saute till gets light brown spots and is almost cooked, remove and keep.

          Now add some oil, add the cumin seeds, once it starts sizzling, add the garlic pieces and mix till you get a nice flavor from the garlic and it turns golden. Then add the chopped onions and keep sauteing till it turns pink, then add the turmeric, chilli and coriander powders and mix for a minute.

          Now add the potato and okra pieces, add some salt, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the lid, add the tomatoes, cover it one more time and cook till the tomatoes start to break down. Then, remove the lid, add the curry leaves, if needed a little oil and keep sauteing for 4 to 5 minutes on reduced heat, Remove and serve warm with rice or rotis along with some dal.

Note
You can also deep fry the potato and okra pieces, I have avoided it to keep the dish a little healthy.
Can double the amount of garlic if you like it.

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Beetroot Poriyal/ Curry

          There are very few dishes that I make with beets and I have posted some of them. Somehow whenever I did this poriyal, something went wrong, either I was in a hurry or I couldn't take pictures, so never got a chance to post it. It's in fact a very simple recipe which goes very well with rice and sambar or morkuzhambu. Apart from grated coconut, I also add some grated ginger and coriander powder which gives a nice flavor to the dish..

Need to Have

• Beets - 3 cups, chopped
• Green Chillies - 3 slit
• Grated Ginger - 1/2 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoon
• Urad Dal/ Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method

          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds, then add the chopped beats, mix, add salt and 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook till done.

          Remove the lid, let any extra water to dry up. Then add the grated coconut, ginger and coriander powder and keep mixing for another 5 minutes. Remove and serve it with rice or roti, along with some dal.

Note
If you like you can double the amount of coconut.
If the beets are not that sweet, then add a teaspoon of sugar at the end, this gives a nice taste to the poriyal.
Use homemade coriander powder, it has more flavor.

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Eggplant And Capsicum Subzi

          Sometimes when I run out of vegetables, when I have a little of this and that, I try to make something with what I have in hand, this Eggplant and Capsicum Subzi is one such dish. It's a very simple subzi, the eggplant and capsicum make a nice pair and the garlic and black pepper give it a nice flavor. This would go very well, both with rotis or as a side dish to rice and dal and it's also very easy to put together..

Need To Have

• Diced Eggplants - 2 cups
• Diced Capsicums - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 11/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the onions, garlic and curry leaves, saute lightly till you get a nice flavor.

          Now add the eggplant and capsicum pieces and keep sauteing for another 2 minutes. Then add some salt, cover and cook on reduced flame for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lid, add the pepper, turmeric and coriander powders, mix, saute for another 5 minutes, remove and serve it warm.

Note
Use more or less pepper powder as per your spice level.
Use fresh pepper and coriander powders ( not store bought ones ) for more flavor.
You can use whatever eggplants that is available, big ones or small ones.

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Eggplant And Double Beans Masala

          At last, back to blogging, it's been more than a month, a move and couple of trips had kept me very busy, slowly settling down in Bangalore and missing Chennai very much. Have been missing my fellow bloggers, will catch up soon. Coming to today's dish, Eggplants and Double Beans Masala, this is an excellent side dish to go with both rice and rotis. I have used the small purple eggplants and fresh double beans, which makes this dish really very delicious and the fennel seeds and coconut paste gives a nice flavor to this dish..

Need To Have

• Diced Eggplant - 3 cups
• Fresh Double Beans - 1 cup
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 6 to 10
• Salt - to taste

For The Masala

• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Shallots/ Small Onions - 4
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method

          Grind coarsely, without adding water, all the ingredients given under 'Masala'.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the eggplant pieces and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the butter beans, mix, add the turmeric powder and salt, cover and cook on reduced heat.

          When the double beans are cooked, add the tomatoes, cover and cook for another 2 minutes, until the tomatoes break down.

          Now add the ground masala and curry leaves, keep mixing for another 5 minutes and switch off.

Note
If fresh butter beans are not in season, can use dried ones, soak it and pressure cook it and then add it to the curry.
Can also use pinto beans instead of butter beans.
You can make this like a gravy, just grind the masala into a fine paste and add some water while cooking it.

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Green Beans Paruppu Usili/ Green Beans And Lentils

          Paruppu Usili, this is a very popular dish in South India, is basically a dish made with lentils that is soaked, ground and scrambled. Though I have used different vegetables to the usili, usually it's made with fresh green beans or cluster beans. This is a very healthy dish, good source of protein and makes a perfect combo with rice and moru kuzhambu..

Need To Have

• Chopped Green Beans - 3 cups
• Tuvar Dal/ Split Pigeaon Peas - 1/2 cup
• Dried Red Chillies - 6
• Urad Dal/ Husked Split Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Soak the tuvar dal for an hour and grind it coarsely with the dried red chillies, using as little water as possible.

          At this stage you can make balls with the ground mixture and steam it in a regular steamer ( idli cooker ). I have used the egg poucher used in the microwave oven, greased it, filled it halfway through and microwaved it for 1 to 11/2 mins. Repeat it with all the ground mixture, remove and cool it.

          Break the cooled lentil cakes into small pieces, take a small quantity in the blender and pulse it lightly. Repeat it with all the pieces.

          Remove and keep the lentil crumbles. Heat a little oil, add the chopped beans and salt and about 1/4 cup water, cover and cook it till done, remove and keep.

          Heat some more oil, add the urad dal, mustard seeds and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida and the curry leaves. Now add the lentil crumbs and a little salt and mix for about 2 minutes, on medium heat.

          Then add the cooked beans, mix for another 3 minutes, remove and serve.

Note
You can use just tuvar dal/ split pigeon peas or a mixture of tuvar dal and chana dal/ bengal gram.
As mentioned earlier you can use other vegetables like carrot, beets and cabbage.

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