Saagu

Saagu is a vegetable curry sort of gravy. In Bangalore, it is commonly served with Set Dosa or Rava Idli or sometimes even with Poori's.

It is a great way to get your daily serving of vegetables when having dosa or rava idli instead of just the daily serving of potatoes ;-) It's one of the few south-Indian dishes that my hubby will gobble up and ask for more.

Here goes:
A few things:
- All vegetables are chopped small.. maybe a 1cmX1cm cube size
- All vegetables shopped to the same size will ensure that things cook evenly.
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped Chayote squash (Seeme badnekai in Kannada)
- 1 cup chopped potatoes
- 1 cup chopped bell peppers
- 1 cup chopped green beans / 1 cup chopped yellow squash/ 1 cup chopped zucchini
- 1 cup peas.
- 1 inch piece whole cinnamon
- 1.5 tbsp whole coriander seeds
- 2 cloves
- 2 black pepper corns
- 1 tsp poppy seeds (optional)
- 1/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut(you could add more if you like it very coconut-y)
- 2 tbsp roasted channa daal (dalia)
- 2-3 green chillies (I say, more the merrier- if you can handle it)
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- Tamarind (paste or whole). I use whole tamarind, and end up taking a ball of inch diameter
For seasoning:
- 1 tbsp oil
- Black mustard seeds - 1tsp
- curry leaves - 10
- Asafoetida (optional) - a pinch

You can add almost any vegetable, I just make sure I add potatoes, 1 squash of any kind, peas, and bell peppers, the rest - feel free to substitute with whatever you want. - Its a great way of getting rid of that stray carrot or squash lurking at the back of your crisper.

Pressure cook all vegetables (except onion) with salt and a pinch of turmeric. 1 whistle is usually enough, remember, we are making saagu and not pav bhaji. On the bright side, if you do end up over cooking the vegetables to a mush.. there is always pav bhaji!


Now for the curry paste:

Dry roast the cinnamon, cloves, poppy seeds, pepper corns and whole coriander seeds until they are fragrant. Cool down.
Grind, coconut, green chillies, ginger, tamarind and roasted channa daal and the roasted spices with enough water to create a paste.

This curry paste will give you a green curry. Some people make a red curry. They use dried red chillies instead of green chillies. If you want to go that route, roast the red chillies with the rest of the dry spices. I think about 5 red chillies should be enough. Also, skip the dalia (roasted channa dal). Instead, roast about 2 tsbp of raw split channa daal until it starts turning brown, and grind this along with the rest of the ingredients.

Once the paste is ready and the vegetables are cooked, we are ready to bring it all together.

- Heat 1 tsbp oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add asafoetida, mustard seeds, curry leaves.
- Add onions and cook until transparent.
- Then add the curry paste and heat it for a couple of minute stirring constantly.
- Now add the cooked vegetable.
- Add water if needed to bring it to a curry consistency.
- Now let this boil for 5-10 mins on low heat to allow the tamarind to cook and the flavors to blend.

When one, garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Enjoy with dosa, set dosa, rava idli, poori or roti's.

Rajasthani Bharwan Bhindi (Stuffed Okra)

I have eaten and relished this dish on several occasions, but tried it out for the first time last week. Turned out to be very simple and pretty good.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

What you'll need:
Fresh Okra - 1Kg
Besan (Roasted black-chickpea flour) - 3Tbsp
Oil - 3Tbsp + 2Tbsp
Kalongi (Onion Seeds) - 1tsp + 1tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp (or more depending how spicy you want it)
Coriander Seed Powder - 4 tsp
Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder) - 1 tsp
Saunf Powder (Fennel Seed powder) - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

And here's how you make it:
- Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan, when hot (not smoking), add onion seeds, and then the besan. Continue stirring until the besan is fragrant and changes color. Add the rest of the spices (chili powder, coriander powder, amchoor, saunf, salt) and stir well and roast for a minute more. - This roasted goodness will be the stuffing.
- While the stuffing cools, snip off ends of Okra. Slit the Okra (not into two pieces, just a slit so you can stuff it).
- Now stuff each okra making sure that the stuffing is divided as evenly as possible amongst the Okra.
- Heat a pan, add 2 tbsp of oil, add 1 tsp of onion seeds and all the stuffed Okra.
- Toss well so that all okra pieces are coated with oil.
- Cover the pan and lower heat (I lower it to 2-3). Let the Okra cook for about 10 mins. Stir occasionally.
- Check if the Okra is soft - it should be cooked by now. If not, cook longer until soft and cooked.
- Once cooked, uncover pan, and let Okra roast on low heat. stir occasionally to ensure all side get crisp.

- Thats about it. The longer you roast, the crispier it gets.

Enjoy. Do let me know how it turned out if you try it.

Oreo truffles

Hello!!!
Here is the link to the super simple recipe for Oreo truffles.
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-oreo-truffles/Detail.aspx
The only thing I did different was, once I rolled the "dough" into balls, I let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. I think that helped the chocolate stick to them quick.
Also, I used the microwave to melt the chocolate chips instead of using a double boiler. The only thing to remember is to use the microwave on half power , check/stir the chocolate every few seconds and not to overheat since it burns easily.
Enjoy!!

Brussel sprouts and spring onion curry

Brussel sprouts - 1 lb

Spring onion - 1 bunch

Roma tomatoes - 2

Green chillies - 3-4

Cilantro - 1/4 bunch

Dhaniya powder - 1 tbs

Jeera powder - 1/2 tbs

Red chillies powder - 1/2 tbs

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2

Canola oil - 3 tbs

Salt - to taste

Cut Brussel sprouts into two pieces lengthwise. Chop spring onions and tomatoes. In a kadai, heat oil and put mustard seeds, jeera and let them splatter and then add red chillies and fry for 2 mins. Add spring onion and green chillies and fry them for 5-6 mins and then add tomatoes and cook for 5 mins. Then add all dry powders ( dhania, jeera, red chilli, and salt) mix everything and fry for 5 mins and then add brussel sprouts. Cook till the sprouts are tender. add salt according to taste and when done garnish it with cilantro.

This goes well with rice or roti.

Thayir Semiya or Yogurt/Curd Vermicelli

Ingredients:

Vermicelli-1 cup

Curd/Yogurt- However thick or thin of consistency you want.

Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp

Green chillies-2 small, sliced

Ginger-small bit, minced finely

Curry leaves-few

Asafoetida-Few puffs

Fruits-Grapes optional

Cilantro-For garnish

Procedure:

1.Dry roast vermicelli until raw smell is gone. Now boil it in water and drain.

2. In a dry pan,add oil, mustard seeds, green chillies, ginger, asafoetida,curry leaves and allow to splatter. Now add the vermicelli and mix well.

3. Allow to cool and add curd/yogurt and garnish with cilantro and fruits.

4.Serve with pickle.

Wheat or Godumai Dosa

INGREDIENTS:

Wheat-1 cup

Rice flour-1/2 cup

Yogurt-1 cup

Salt

PROCEDURE:

1. Mix Wheat flour with rice flour and yogurt and water until it reaches a normal dosa batter consistency and pour on dosa pan.

2.Serve hot with onion chutney.

Rava Dosai

Ingredients:

Rava-1 cup

Maida/Wheat-1/4 cup

Rice Flour-1/2 cup

Onions-1/2 of a medium,Chopped

Green chillies-2 chopped

Ginger-1/4 inch-chopped

Pepper-1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp

Asafoetida-few puffs

Salt-As per taste

Curry leaves-Optional

Buttermillk or Yogurt-1 cup.

Procedure:

1. Mix Rava, maida/wheat and rice flour with salt and buttermilk/yogurt and some water until its really watery enough to pour into a thin dosa.

2.In a separate pan, saute onions, green chillies,ginger with cumin seeds,pepper corns, asafoetida and curry leaves and mix with the batter.

3.Pour in dosa pan and serve hot with chutney or Sambar.