ALOO METHI

Until recently I was not a big fan of "Aloo Methi" Some months back I happed to taste this dish cooked  by a Maharashtrian lady and it was different from the ones I had tasted from the  North Indian restaurants here. The secret ingredient was nothing but jaggery which was added to reduce the bitterness of methi leaves.

INGREDIENTS

1. Potato - 1 large (1 1/2 cup when cubed)
2. Methi (Fenugreek) leaves chopped - 1/2 cup
3. Chopped onion - 1/4 cup
4. Garlic chopped - 1 table spoon
5. Cumin seeds - 1 pinch
6. Cumin powder - 1 pinch
7. Red chilly flakes - 1 tea spoon
8. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
9. Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon
10. Jaggery - 1 tea sp
11. Salt
12. Oil - 11/2 table spoon

METHOD

1. Put the methi leaves in salt water for 5 minutes. Squeeze to remove excess water.

2.  Heat oil in a pan and fry cumin seeds

3. Add chopped garlic and saute till light brown. To this add onion and saute till the colour changes

4.  Add potato cubes, stir well and cook till almost done.  Add the powders and red chilly flakes and stir for a minute. Add salt and cook again till the potato is soft (if boiled potato is used the powders can be added immediately after step 3). Add jaggery and mix.

5. Add methi leaves, stir and cook covered for 2 minutes.  Mix well.

   

NAVARATAN KURMA

There is one vegetarian restaurant named "Green Land" in the Old Souk in Kuwait City. The place is small but they are famous for their tasty and not so rich North Indian vegetarian dishes like palak dal, baignan bhartha,paneer pasanda, sabzi maharaja etc.

It was after visiting Green Land 3-4 times that I gathered the courage to try these dishes at home. As usual I searched all over the net to get a general idea about the recipes. I visited sites like SMTC and sanjeevkapoor.com and came out with recipes which suited my family's likings.

Navaratan Kurma is one such customized recipe tried and tested by me and yes, certified by my husband.  Eventhough navratan means nine gems sometimes I use more/less than nine vegetables/fruits to make the kurma.

INGREDIENTS

1. Diced vegetables - 2 cups (potato, carrot, green peas, beans, cauliflower)

2. Paneer cubes - 1/4 cup

3. Pineapple diced - 1/4 cup (apple, orange and grapes can also be added)

4. Cashewnut - 20

5. Kismis - 2 table spoon

6. Ghee - 1 tea spoon

7. vegetable oil - 1 table spoon

8. Cumin seeds - 1 pinch

9. Cardamom - 4

10. Cloves - 4

11. Bay leaves - 2

12. Cinnamon - 1" piece

13. Milk - 1/2 cup

14. Onion - 1 (cut into very small pieces)

15. Ginger (grated or cut into extremely small pieces) - 1 table spoon

16. Green chilli chopped - 2

17. Cilantro chopped - 2 table spoon

18. Tomato - 1 diced

19. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch (optional )

I use milk instead of cream. To make a richer kurma garnish with fresh cream.

METHOD

1. Cook potato, carrot and beans with 1 cup water. Add fruits, green peas and cauliflower towards the end. Finally add paneer. (grapes if used are to be added along with tomato - step 5)

2. Grind half the cahewnuts with 1/2 a cup of water to get a loose milky paste.

3. Heat ghee in a small pan , fry cashewnuts and kismis and keep aside. (Another option is to fry the cashew and kismis in a big pan, keep them aside, wipe the pan and use it for making kurma)

4 Heat vegetable oil in a big  pan and fry cumin seeds. Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves and stir. Immediately add chopped onion, ginger and green chillis. Saute till the onion changes colour. ( turmeric powder can be added at this point)

5. Add cashew paste and allow to thicken on low heat. Add tomato pieces, salt and the cooked vegetables and fruits.

6. Add milk and continue cooking on low heat for 1 minute, stirring continuously.   Add cilantro and switch off stove.

7. Add  fried cashew , kismis and the left over ghee.

PALAK CORN SABZI

I had been thinking of trying  this recipe ever since I tasted it onboard the Jet Airways flight to Mumbai. I had opted for "Asian Vegetarian Meal"and what I got was a tasty combination of ghee rice, vegetable masala and palak corn subzi.

Yesterday my friend Vasantham asked whether I knew the recipe of any curry with corn. I told her about this subzi and promised to post the recipe soon. I had fresh corn and some left over palak paste in the fridge and decided to give it a try today itself.

INGREDIENTS

1. Corn - 1 cup

2. Palak paste - 1/2 cup (palak put in boiling water with salt for 1 minute and ground to a paste)

3. Oil - 1 table spoon

4. Cumin seeds  - 1 pinch

5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tea spoon

6. Chopped onion - 1/4 cup

7. salt

8. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

9. Green chilly chopped - 1

10. Garam masala powder 1/2 tea spoon

METHOD

1. Cook the corn with a little salt (canned corn can also be used)

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry cumin seeds.Add ginger garlic paste and when it changes colour add chopped onion and green chilly. Saute till the onion turns light brown.

3. Add turmeric and garam masala powders. Stir well and add palak paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes and add the corn. Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.

POTATO STEW

We call this "Ceylon Stew". I learned it from my mother in law who got the recipe from one of her relatives settled in Srilanka. This is good with chapathi, rice or even idli.

INGREDIENTS

1. Potato - 2
2. Big onion - 1
3. Green chillis - 3 or 4
4. Ladies Finger (vendakka/bindi) chopped - 2 table spoon
5. Tamarind juice - 1 table spoon
6. Lime juice - 1 table spoon
7. Thin coconut milk - 1 cup
8. Thick coconut milk - 1 cup
9. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
10. Salt

PREPARATION

1. Cook the ladies finger with tarmarind juice, salt and a little water.

2. Cube the potatoes. Dice th onion and split the chillis. Combine these three in a pan. Add 1 cup of water and cook till the potato is soft.

3. Add  thin coconut milk, salt  and curry leaves and cook again.

4. Add the ladies finger , stir and add thick coconut milk followed by lime juice.

5. Allow the curry to boil for 2-3 minutes. The coconut milk should curdle. Stir well and remove from fire.

DAL CURRY

This is an easy dish that goes well with chapati and roti. Either masoor dal (red lentils) or split peas dal (peas parippu or vada parippu) can be used for making this.

INGREDIENTS

1. Split peas dal   or masoor dal - 1/2  cup
2. Big onion - 1 -chopped
3. Tomato - 1 (cut into 6 or 8)
4. Ginger - 1 cm cube
5. Garlic - 1 clove
6. Green chilli - 1
7. Cilantro (malliyila) - 1 table spoon
8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
9. Turmeric powder 1/4 tea spoon
10. Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon
11. Chilli powder - 1/2 tea spoon
12. Garam masala powder - 1/2 tea spoon
13. Lime juice - 1 tea spoon
14. Salt
15. Sunflower oil - 1 table spoon

METHOD

1. Cook the dal well. If split peas dal is used pressure cook  with 2 cups of water. ( reduce heat to low after first whistle and cook for 5 minutes). Mix with 2 more cups of water.

2. Heat oil in a kadai. Fry cumin seeds and add ginger (cut like matchsticks), garlic and chilli and saute for 15-20 seconds. Add the onion and  saute till it it is light brown in colour. Add the powders and stir.

3. Add  tomato and stir fry. To this add the dal and salt. When it starts frothing reduce the heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes

4. Switch off the stove, add cilantro and mix well.

5. Add  lime juice and mix.