Baby Brinjal and Peanut Masala Recipe

I love adding peanuts to stir-fried masala recipes like you would for variety rice recipes like lemon rice and puliogare. The usual suspect that always needs to share the limelight with peanuts is okra. Any time okra masala is made, in go a handful of peanuts.

The other day I got some gorgeous baby brinjals (new-born, even) and had to make something non-fussy and flavourful. Although vatha kozhambu was on the cards, that didn't end up happening so I adapted a quick dry masala recipe for the baby brinjal and peanuts to have a go at each other. I think they like each other. This is a no-onion, no-garlic recipe.

Baby Brinjal and Peanut Masala Recipe 
Serves: 2 

Ingredients:
8-10 baby brinjal
1/2 cup raw unsalted peanuts
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
A few curry leaves
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
A small piece of tamarind or 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste

How I Made It: 

1. Cut baby brinjal into thin long pieces. I cut each small brinjal into 8 long pieces, lengthwise.

2. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the jeera and curry leaves. Once the jeera sizzles and turns a darker share of brown, add the hing and fry for 5 seconds.

3. Now throw in the cut brinjal pieces and the peanuts. Mix well until well coated in the oil. Reduce flame and cook partially covered until the brinjal is soft yet cooked and the peanuts are sufficiently roasted. This should take about 12-15 mins. Sprinkle water if necessary but don't add too much.

4. Now add the turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and the tamarind and mix well until well combined. Cook for another 3-4 mins, add salt, and remove from fire. Serve hot with steamed rice and any curry of choice.

Crispy Fried Karela / Bitter Gourd / Pavakka Recipe

I can't believe I am posting a bitter gourd recipe. TH and I avoid the vegetable like a plague and although those small, very green, very bitter variety is available here in Singapore, I hardly ever give it a second glance. In Kerala, bitter gourd, or pavakka, is fatter, a very light green, and significantly less bitter than the darker green ones we see everywhere else.

But I've never seen bitter gourd like this before. It was white and very chubby. These are from Taiwan and they were so cute that I had to pick them up, even if its pavakka and TH was gasping at the idea!

I used the same strategy on this bitter gourd that I do on another vegetable that we don't like much - okra. I fried it. It was delicious and for once I didn't mind the bitterness, although TH still didn't have more than one spoon.

Crispy Fried Bitter Gourd
Serves 2
Adapted from the Colocasia Fry Recipe

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized bitter gourd, cut into thin 2" pieces
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
A generous pinch of hing/asafoetida/perungayam
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp pepper powder
Oil for deep frying

How I Made It:

1. Rub salt into the cut bitter gourd pieces and set aside for an hour. Once the hour is up, squeeze all moisture from the bitter gourd pieces and transfer to another bowl.

2. Add rest of the ingredients to the pieces and stir well to dredge. There should be enough rice flour to coat all the pieces well (not too thickly) so if you feel you need more, adjust the quantity. The initial salt you added should be enough but add more to taste if you feel you require it.

3. Let the dredged bitter gourd pieces rest for 15 mins or so while you heat up the oil to deep fry. Fry in batches until dark brown and cooked through. Drain on kitchen towels. Its important that you make sure the pieces are thin, otherwise the inside won't be cooked.

Serve hot with rice, rasam, and vadaam.

Simple Indian Potato / Aloo Roast Recipe

Confession: The Husband doesn't cook often or even at all, but he makes the best basic potato roast ever. I didn't mention this to him the first few times he made this but when I once asked him what he adds to it, he was like "are you asking me for my secret recipe so you can put it in your blog??" Ahem. Maybe.

So here it is. Its simple of course, the man doesn't believe in complicating food, especially when he is cooking! But you will love this. It gets done in 12-15 mins and is such a comfort food that when I was down with fever last month, TH made this and rasam for me after he got back from work! Ah.. yum.

Basic Indian Potato Roast Recipe

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized russet potatoes

1 medium-sized onion

1/4 tsp mustard seeds/kaduku

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder/malli podi/dhania podi

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp or 2 flakes minced garlic 

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

How its made:

1. Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Chop the onions into similar-sized pieces as the potato. 

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the chopped onions and saute until lightly browned. 

3. Add the coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and garlic and fry for a minute. Add the potatoes, mix well and sprinkle some water. 

4. Cook partially closed until the potatoes are cooked and soft. Add salt. Make sure you mix every 2-3 mins to distribute the heat and avoid the potatoes from burning from the bottom. 

Serve hot with steamed rice and rasam. 

My Notes:

1. TH doesn't like jeera much so he doesn't add it. If you feel the recipe is incomplete without it, then you should add them in. 

2. I've tried squeezing half a lemon over this when its still hot but didn't like the taste much. It still rocks the plain way that TH makes it. 

Aloo Bhindi / Potato Okra Dry Sabzi

Fact: Okra is slimy

Another fact: Potatoes are delicious

Fact 3: When delicious and slimy get together, it creates a pretty great dish. 

When I go to the nearby supermarket, I run out of vegetables to buy. There are about 5 rows of green leafy vegetables which I can't bother with over weeknights, and there are the usual suspects like beans and carrot and broccoli and capsicum. I just have to reach for the okra packet on those nights. 

Aloo Bhindi Sukhi Sabzi Recipe

Adapted from: Sailus Food

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 potato, cut into small cubes
10 okra, cut into 1/2" discs
1 tbsp tamarind water (add a small piece of tamarind to 1 tbsp water. Extract juice, discard pulp)
~ alternatively, use freshly squeezed lemon juice or a generous pinch of amchoor / dry mango powder

1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungaayam
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
1-2 tsp dhania / malli / coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp garam masala or curry powder (whatever you have in hand)
A pinch of ginger powder (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add the rest of the ingredients below in the order given.

2. Once the masalas have been fried for about a minute, add the cut vegetables and the tamarind water. Mix well until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

3. Cook covered, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are tender and the okra is cooked, non-slimy, and has learnt a thing or two from the potatoes. 

Serve hot with steamed rice and gravy of choice. 

Kathirikkai Kariamudhu Recipe / Curried Brinjal from Hebbar Iyengar Community

When it comes to recipes from Chandra Padmanabhan, I mostly follow them blindly, except to suit spice levels to our taste. This very interesting recipe from one of her books had me thinking though, and I adapted it by adding some curd in the end. Very tasty and very South Indian!



The ingredient list and method may look long but its really a very easy recipe to make


Kathirikkai Kariamudhu Recipe 
Adapted from Chandra Padmanabhan's Simply South
Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients:
1 small marble-sized ball of tamarind
10-12 baby brinjals, cubed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp grated coconut
1/4 cup curd / yogurt (optional)
Salt to taste

For Spice Powder:
1.5 tbsp channa dal / husked Bengal gram / kadala paruppu
1.5 tbsp urad dal / husked black gram / ulutham paruppu
2 dry red chillies
3 tbsp coriander seeds (or use 1 tbsp coriander powder)
1/2" stick cinnamon
1 clove

For Tempering:
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
1 dry red chillies, torn into half
A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup water for 10 mins. Extract juice and discard pulp.

2. Lightly fry ingredients for spice powder in a dry skillet over low fire. Toss gently till dals are golden brown, take care not to burn them! Cool and grind to a fine powder.

3. Heat oil for tempering and the rest of the ingredients in given order. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cubed brinjal pieces and saute for 2-3 mins. Then add tamarind juice, turmeric powder, and salt.

4. Sprinkle some water and cook closed over low heat for about 5-7 mins or until the brinjal is tender. Cook open for a minute until all the extra moisture is absorbed. Then add the grated coconut and the spice powder. Stir well to combine, adjust salt, and finally mix in the curd before removing from fire. (For authentic Kathirikkai Kariamudhu recipe, avoid the curd).

5. Serve hot with steamed rice or roti.

Chena Vanpayar Erissery Recipe

I have been baking a lot lately and realising how much I enjoy it. But that doesn't mean I should give up on my roots and stop making these amazing Kerala recipes. Nothing can transport me back home virtually like a good Kerala sadya.



The last time I posted Erissery, I got a few comments asking for chena vanpayar erissery. Clearly, pumpkin is not a very favourite vegetable to most. But vanpayar is not easily available here and I couldn't find it in Mustafa Stores which practically means its non existent in Singapore.

So I did what any self-respecting food lover cum food blogger would do. I brought a bag back from my last trip to Kottayam. So today, I can share the authentic Erissery recipe with you. Howzaaat?

I absolutely love chena / elephant yam btw. If you are in Singapore and didn't know this yet, Mustafa stocks frozen cubed elephant yam now. No more buying a huge yam and wasting majority of it or trying to rub oil on your itching palms after cutting up a yam. Hooray!

Authentic Chena Vanpayar Erissery Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups cubed elephant yam / chena
1 cup cow peas / vanpayar
Salt to taste

Grate together:
1/2 cup grated coconut (frozen will work but not dessicated)
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/4 tsp pepper powder
A large pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder

For tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 dry red chillies, torn into small pieces
A few curry leaves
1 tbsp coconut oil (anything else would make it taste less authentic!)

How I Made It:

1. Wash the vanpayar and sift out any stones that may be there. I found two decent-sized ones in my 1 cup of vanpayar. Transfer to a pan with 3 cups water and cook on a low fire until semi-soft. This will take about 20 mins or so. Add the yam to the vanpayar and cook until both turn soft and almost mushy. (I took the easy route and dunked everything into a pressure cooker and cooked for 2 whistles. The vanpayar was done perfectly but the yam became too soft. You can do this if you don't mind the consistency of erissery seen in the pictures)

2. Once the vanpayar and yam are cooked, add the grated coconut mixture and mix well, cooking on low flame until well combined and the coconut loses its raw smell - about 3-4 mins. Add salt. Mix again. Remove from fire.

3. Heat oil for tempering and add all the ingredients mentioned in the list. When the mustard seeds pop and the red chillies glisten, remove from fire and dunk into the cooked mixture. Mix well and serve hot with rice and moru curry.

I've also made a variation of this dish without the coconut - Yam and Black Eyed Peas Curry without Coconut

Konkani Tendli Sukke / Tindora Sukke Recipe

This is inspired by what a Konkani friend brought home one day. Although the dish looked a lot like Kerala Thoran, it tasted very different - sour, spicy and coriander-y. Some basic research online brought up so many recipes for it but I followed the one in Red Chillies.

Tendli Sukke

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1.5 cups tindora / ivy gourd, cut into thin discs
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves
1/2 tsp grated jaggery / raw sugar

A small piece of tamarind / 1/4 tsp tamarind paste

Salt to taste

Dry Roast one after the other:
1/2 cup grated coconut
2 tsp coriander seeds / or just use 1tsp powder
1 tsp urad dal
3-4 dry red chillies

How I Made It:

1. Grind together the roasted ingredients with the jaggery, tamarind and salt. Do not add water.

2. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add the tindora pieces. Reduce flame and cook until the tindora is soft and lightly browned - about 5-10 mins. You can add a pinch of turmeric to this if you wish.

3. Next, add the ground masala to the tindora and mix well. Throw in the curry leaves and cook until they come together - another 5 mins. Adjust salt.

Serve warm with rice and any non-coconut based curry.

Andhra Peanut Chutney Recipe

A friend, Indy, has been asking for a Peanut Chutney recipe for ages now. I do make it now and then but its mostly my own version, peanuts often added to give it some texture or when I don't have enough coconut to make a plain coconut chutney. 

 I wanted to give her the Andhra peanut chutney recipe and I wanted to make it first to see it tasted good enough to share. I took inspiration from both Sailu and Indira but preferred to keep my chutney more dry than watery. The consistency its totally up to you but onto the recipe now. 

Andhra Peanut Chutney Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup raw, unsalted peanuts

5-6 dry red chillies (adjust to taste)

3 flakes of garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic paste)

3 shallots, sliced (or use 1 small onion)

A marble-sized piece of tamarind (or 3/4 tsp tamarind paste)

1 tsp oil

For tempering:

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp urad dal / split black gram

1/4 tsp channa dal / Bengal gram

1/4 tsp cumin seeds / jeera

A pinch of hing / asafoetida

A few curry leaves (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Roast the peanuts in a dry skillet until brown and the skin starts to peel off - about 10 mins or so. Once cool, you can rub them between your palms and remove the skin but I kept them on. 

2. Heat 1 tsp oil and roast the shallots/onions, red chillies and garlic. Once they are browned, remove and set aside to cool. 

3. Once the peanuts and the shallot mixture cool completely, grind to a smooth paste with the tamarind (fresh or paste) with about 1 tbsp of water. If you want a watery chutney, soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup water (extract juice, discard pulp) and use this for grinding. Add salt. Remove and set aside in a bowl. 

4. Heat oil for tempering. Add all ingredients under the list and when the mustard seeds pop and the dals turn golden brown, remove from fire and dunk into the ground chutney. Mix well. 

I served this with rice and vatha kozhambu. If you make the watery version, it goes well with dosa and idli too. 

Asparagus Usili Recipe

TH loves usili. Its one of the first dishes I cooked for him back in the day when we had just started seeing each other. I made it totally 'wrong' - with onions, coconut and garlic - stuff that's not really preferred much in a Brahmin household (expect maybe the coconut).



Of course, you can make Usili with cabbage, capsicum, cluster beans, broad beans and the most popular French beans, so I was tempted to try it with asparagus.

Asparagus Usili Recipe
Serves 2-3  

Asparagus (I used the thinner Thai variety) - 1 cup, cut into 1" pieces and par boiled in boiling water for 3 mins
Toor dal / tuvaram paruppu - 1/2 cup
Channa dal / kadala paruppu  - 1 tbsp
Dried red chillies - 3 to 4
Hing/asafoetida (kayam) - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp (depends on the method you use to cook the dal)
Salt - to taste 

How I Made It:

1. Wash and soak the toor dal and channa dal (you can put them together) for about 1.5 hours.

2. Once soft, grind this coarsely with red chillies, turmeric, some salt and hing and as little water as possible (Sprinkle a few drops so the mixture comes together a bit).

3. The next step is to cook this dal mixture with the asparagus. Its really that simple. There are different ways to cook the dal.

(a) Microwave it till almost done, stirring every one minute. It will take about 4 minutes for it to be almost cooked.

(b) Pat the dal mixture with your hand until you have one thick round roti-like disc and then steam it for 3-4 minutes. This won't work if you added too much water while grinding. Not to worry, either follow step (a) or

(c) Pour copious amounts of oil (you need atleast 3-4 tbsp) into a pan and stir-fry the dal mixture. This will take anywhere between 7-10 minutes and is allegedly the tastiest of them all.

I have tried all three methods and found that the steaming method makes the softest and healthiest usili. The microwave version tends to make it a bit dry but its really not that bad at all. The oil-heavy one is the best of course. It has to be, otherwise it defies the rules of healthy cooking and eating.

4. If you already started out in a pan, then just add the asparagus when the dal is almost done and cook for another 4-5 minutes without adding more oil. If you microwaved or steamed the dal, then heat a pan, add 1 tbsp oil and dump in the dal and asparagus and mix well for about 5 minutes.

Pacha Manga Chammanthi / Raw Mango Chutney

Q: What do you do when you pay $2.50 for one raw mango on a Sunday night?
A: Make chammanthi with it on the same night and take sparkly pictures with unnaturally high ISO and a tripod.



Or atleast, that's what I did.

Chammanthi is a Malayali's comfort food. Although it can be roughly translated to chutney in English, its not watery like chutney tends to be. Pacha Manga Chammanthi is almost always served with kanji or Indian congee, to balance the blandness but I served it with fresh, hot dosas!

Pacha Manga Chammanthi
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 of a raw mango or about 1/2 cup peeled and chopped raw mango
3/4 cup grated coconut
3 green chillies
A small piece of ginger
1 shallot
2-3 curry leaves, optional
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Grind the green chillies, coconut and mango pieces well together.

2. Add the ginger, shallot, curry leaves if using, and salt and pulse for a few seconds until well blended. I added a few drops of water to bring it all together.



Serve with kanji or dosa or rice and curry.

Notes:

- Its very hard to give a rigid recipe for chammanthi. The proportion of ingredients is always dependant on persona tastes
- For this chammanthi, adjust the ratio of coconut to mango according to the sourness of the mango and how sour you like your chammanthi
- You can omit the ginger, shallot or both if you want to keep the flavours more plain and focussed on just the mango. I sometimes omit the shallot but love the heat from the ginger
- Add a very small piece of tamarind if your mango is not sour at all. Then again, that mango is not best suited to make a chammanthi anyway

Coming soon: how to take pictures in the night with a point and shoot and no tripod, as part of the food photography series. Stay tuned!

Stir-Fried Indian Radish Recipe

I found some gorgeous Indian radish in Little India the other day and had to buy a bunch. They were fresh, with the leaves still on and quite small so I used up about 5 of them to make enough for the two of us.

Cut radish is one of the prettiest vegetables I know. Such pretty design!



Yes, that's my hand. You may not know this but I have once been a hand model for an ad that featured in a Malayalam magazine called Vanitha. True story.



But the radishes surely don't need my hand to enhance its own beauty. Snobs!



This recipe is uber simple, can be put together in a jiffy and retains a bit of the vegetable's natural flavour and crunch.

Stir Friend Indian Radish Recipe
Serves 2

Indredients:
Small white radish, cut into thin discs - 2 cups
Thinly sliced onion - 1 small (or 8 shallots)
Crushed garlic - 1 tsp
Chilli powder (adjust to taste) -  1 tsp
Jeera / cumin - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Amchur / dry mango powder - 1/4 tsp (or a squeeze of lime juice)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds

How I Made It:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the sliced radish and shallow fry in low heat until almost-cooked. This will take about 10-12 mins. Adjust the amount of oil if the pieces seem to be burning or too dry.

2. Add sliced onion/shallots, garlic, chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera and amchur and stir well to coat the radish pieces for a min or two. Add salt.

3. Top off with the garam masala, give it a final stir before removing from fire. The pieces will be soft yet not too much and will hold their shape.

I served it with steamed white rice and ridge gourd "bajji"(recipe coming soon!)

Gongura Adugula Pappu / Gongura Dal - Thick Version

Remember that Andhra meal I posted a few days back? Yeah, so there I was with a big bunch of Gongura leaves and very resourcefully I decided to make the Gongura Pachadi and the Gongura Adugula Pappu from Mahanandi, my first recipe attempt from that site.



The idea is to cook the toor dal just right, where they can keep their individuality. Quite nice, if you ask me. The only issue I had with this dish is, it ended up a bit too dry. So its advisable to have some rasam or vatha kozhambu or something to kind of balance the texture.

Gongura Adugula Pappu / Thick Gongura Dal Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped gongura leaves
1/2 cup toor dal, soaked for atleast an hour
1 chopped onion
4-5 green chillies
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil

For tempering/tadka
1/2 tsp channa dal / kadala paruppu
1/2 tsp urad dal / ulutham paruppu
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
A few curry leaves
A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida
1 tbsp oil

How I Made It:

1. Heat 2 tsp oil and add onions and slit green chillies. Fry until transparent and pink - 2 to 3 mins.

2. Add the chopped gongura leaves and fry for another 3 mins. Sprinkle with salt and turmeric powder and add the soaked toor dal. Mix well and cook covered on sim for 25-30 mins. Sprinkle some water if necessary - I had to because my gongura leaves were probably not super fresh. Otherwise, the water from the leaves should be sufficient, as Indira points out.

3. Once the toor dal is cooked soft yet holds its shape, remove from fire. Heat oil for tadka and add the mustard seeds and jeera first. When the seeds pop, add the dals. Once they are golden brown, add the curry leaves and hing and mix well.

4. Add the dal mixture to this combine well. Adjust salt.



I got inspired by Indira's picture and served this with rice, ghee, gongura pachadi and some masala vade. Taste of authentic Andhra food!

Gongura Pachadi / Pulicha Keerai Pachadi Recipe

In my 2.5 years in Hyderabad, if there's one thing I had acquired a taste for, its Gongura (called pulicha keerai in Tamil, sorrel leaves in English). Its a predominant green in Andhra cuisine and frequently found its way a lot into the catered food at work.

Although I have seen fresh Gongura leaves many times in Little India, I pretended not to because I didn't want to admit I have never cooked with it. There, I said it!

But even a girl like me can't find more excuses with a brilliant book like Cooking with Pedatha on her bookshelf, so one day I slaved on for 2 hours and ended up with (way too little) of this amazing Gongura Pachadi. High-five Pedatha!



Gongura Pachadi
Adapted from Cooking with Pedatha

Ingredients:
8 cups tightly packed gongura leaves / pulicha keerai / sorrel leaves (discard thick stems and retain the tender ones)
3/4 cup gingelly / sesame oil
Salt to taste

For 1st tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
8 dry red chillies
4 green chillies
A few curry leaves
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp hing powder / asafoetida powder / perungaayam

The 2nd tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 red chillies
1/4 tsp hing powder / asafoetida powder / perungaayam
8 flakes of garlic

How I Made It:

1. Heat 1/2 cup oil and add the gongura leaves. Cook well for about 30 mins until the leaves shrink to almost nothing and all the water has evaporated. The leaves will have a cooked/fried consistency.

2. In another pan, heat 2 tbsp oil for 1st tempering. Add mustard seeds and when they pop, add the fenugreek seeds. Remove from fire and let the fenugreek brown. Then add the red chillies and as they turn shiny, add the remaining ingredients for the 1st tempering.

3. Grind the above mixture into a course paste with salt without water. Then add the cooked gongura and grind some more, but not into a fine paste.

4. Heat remaining oil for 2nd tempering and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the fenugreek seeds and lower flame. When they turn brown, add the garlic and red chillies. As the chillies turn shiny, add the asafoetida. Garnish the ground pachadi with this tempering and mix well.



Serve with warm steamed rice and melted ghee. I prepared an all-Andhra-dishes lunch  recently and this Gongura Pachadi was part of that. Other recipes following soon.

Oh and btw, let me know when you are back from heaven after eating this!

The book, Cooking with Pedatha has been reviewed to death when it came out and won Best Vegetarian Book of that year (2008, I think), but I am still tempted to do my own version. Maybe once I've tried a couple more recipes. Definitely a good book to add to your collection, which I can tell you at this point itself.

PS: its much cheaper to buy it through Flipkart in India, which is what I did.

Kadai Paneer Recipe - Step by Step

I really want to start this post by explaining what a kadai is (an Indian wok, btw) and what paneer is (erm.. Indian cottage cheese) but since I am just not in the mood, let's get on quickly to the recipe, shall we?

Kadai Paneer

I made Kadai Paneer with fresh homemade paneer which is why it looks very crumbly in the pics. But oh boy! It tasted so good!

I thought and thought but I still have no clue why I have never made kadai paneer before in my life. Seriously!



Kadai Paneer Recipe
Serves 2 - 4

Ingredients:
2 cups paneer, cubed
Half a capsicum / green bell pepper, cubed
1 large onion
2 green chillies
3-4 pods of garlic, crushed
1" piece of ginger, crushed (or 1tsp ginger garlic paste)
1 tomato, pureed
1 tbsp tomato paste (or another pureed tomato)
A generous pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves
1 tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder / dhania powder / malli podi (I add a little more than this)
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish



How I Made It:

1. Grind the onion along with the green chillies. Heat oil and fry this paste for 2-3 mins.



2. Then add the chilli powder, turmeric, jeera, coriander powder and crushed ginger and garlic (or ginger garlic paste) and mix well, frying for another minute.



3. To this, add the tomato paste..



4. .. and pureed tomato. Fry for 4-5 minutes until the mixture comes together and the oil begins to separate.



5. Next add the capsicum..



6. .. and kasoori methi, with some salt. Fry for 2-3 mins, until the bell pepper is cooked but still crunchy.



7. Finally add the cubed paneer and mix gently until well combined. Simmer for 2 mins and remove from fire.

I didn't fry the paneer in advance or do the whole dipping in water, squeezing and draining routine because I am very happy adding it as is at the end of this particular dish.



Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis/chapatis.

Cheera Thoran / Stir Fried Spinach Recipe

Before one more person asks me for the recipe of this pic I featured in my taking food pictures on Portrait mode, I am going to post it.

Cheera thoran is a very simple and nutritious recipe, perfect for a weeknight if you are looking for a side-dish for your dal chawal, or sambar rice, or even curd rice. I love spinach and considering the abundance of spinach and most other greens in Singapore, this is a real treat for us!

Cheera Thoran Recipe
Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:
5 cups tightly packed chopped spinach leaves (a bunch)
1 cup grated coconut
4 shallots (or half of an onion)
2-4 green chillies
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera
2 tsp oil (I always use coconut oil for thoran)
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves (optional)
1 dry red chilly, torn into half
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Clean and chop the spinach fine. Drain well and set aside.

2. Grind together - coconut, shallots, green chillies, jeera and turmeric. If you don't have a mixie, use a pestle and mortar to bring these ingredients together. If you don't have that, then just finely chop the shallots and green chillies and mix well with the rest.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and thrown in the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the curry leaves and the halved red chilly. Fry for 10 seconds and add the coconut mixture. Fry that for 30 seconds and add the chopped spinach with some salt.

4. The spinach will give out water so cook well until all the water evaporates and you have a dry dish (about 5-7 mins)

Serve with rice and dal, rice and sambar or rice and moru curry.

Pappadam / Papadom Thoran Recipe

A very simple thoran recipe from Kerala but what makes this special is the fact that Amma made this for me, especially to post on the blog, the day she returned from the hospital after her knee replacement surgery.  The recipe is from Ponnamma, the maid who took care of amma in the hospital. Amma is very adamant, didn't listen to any of us saying she should rest, and went and made this, partially sitting on a chair in the kitchen.

This post is dedicated to her and all other mothers who selflessly love their children.

Pappadam / Papadom Thoran
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
10 pappadam, cut into squares (use clean kitchen scissors)
3 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal / uzhunnu parippu / ulutham paruppu
1/2 tsp jeera
2 cloves garlic
1/2" piece ginger
1/2 red chilli powder
2 green chillies (adjust to taste)
4 tbsp grated coconut
A few curry leaves
Salt, only if needed

How to Prepare:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the pappadam pieces. Drain and set aside on a kitchen towel.

2. If there's too much oil left, remove some. About 1-2 tsp oil is enough for the rest of the preparation. Add mustard seeds and urad dal to the hot oil. When the mustard seeds pop, add the jeera and the ginger and garlic (crushed together in a pestle and mortar or in a small mixie jar).

3. When the ginger-garlic paste is fried (about 2 mins), add the curry leaves, chilli powder, and the green chillies along with the coconut. Mix well and add the pappadam pieces.

4. Mix again for about a minute, test for salt and add only if needed. The pappadams should be salty enough.

Serve hot and fresh with rice and moru kaachiyathu / curry of choice. If you keep it longer, the papads get soft, but not soggy. Still tasty but I highly recommend that you eat it when still hot and crisp.