Aloo Methi - Dhaba style - Punjabi recipe

In my gourmet journey, sharing with you a winter recipe using fresh potatoes and fenugreek leaves that is a good accompaniment for Rice / Roti / Chapathi / Phulka / Bhakri.

Video recipe is here :-

One Pot Pumpkin Curry / Kadhdhu subzi / parangikai curry / maththan curry

Sharing with you another interesting, simple and easy to cook recipe with you. What is so special & interesting about this? 

• I used my 3 lit Pressure Cooker for making this. you can use even 2 or 2.5 litre PC. Cook on low  flame only.
• No water used. No supervision. No stirring in between. 
• Quick cooking process
• Using pressure cooker saves time, labour and energy. 
• Cooking time is 4 minutes. Standing time for the pressure to come down before opening is 5 minutes. So within 9 minutes we can get absolutely delicious pumpkin curry. 
• In this process,vegetable is let to cook in its own juice under pressure cooking.
• Absolutely a pleasure cooking experience. 
• I got the idea of no water cooking in a Pressure cooker from a group called United By Food (UBF) in facebook where members test and post the recipes where I also participate with my recipes. Though we cook vegetables in their own juice in our daily cooking method, for me it happened over a wok (kadai). Using a pressure cooker for the recipe sounded good and interesting. After members tried and posted, i started making the experiment with my cooking and the outcome is remarkable!

Let us get on to feel the pleasant cooking experience.

Pumpkin Curry

I have kept it for little longer time to make it easily chewable for my old FIL.

Ingredients :-

1. Pumpkin cubes - 1 cup (Pumpkin / Maththan / Manjal Poosani / Lal bhopla / Kadhdhu / kasi bhopla)
2. Garlic Pods - 4 Nos
3. Ginger - 1.5" piece
4. Curry leaves - 5 Nos.
5. Red chilli powder - as per your preference
6. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil for tempering - 1 tbsp
9. Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
10. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. Asafoetida - a pinch

 Procedure :-

• Wash and peel the pumpkin. Dice into cubes.
• Crush with a single hit with a pestle or stone - garlic and ginger. Then with a knife you can easily chop them in seconds.
• Chop the curry leaves finely. (this is to infuse its flavour fully into the recipe and also helps the benefit of this wonder leaf reach the consumer )
• Heat the pressure cooker, add a tbsp of oil (I used coconut oil), add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
• AFter they crackle, add a pinch of asafoetida powder, finely chopped ginger and garlic, curry leaves. mix.
• Add the pumpkin cubes, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder. mix
• Close the cooker and put the weight. Cook on low flame for 4 minutes
• Switch off, let it stand for 5 more minutes.
• Open and serve!

Bhopla Sabzi / Pumpkin Dry Curry

A simple recipe with the humble Pumpkin / Bhopla / Kadhdhu / Maththan / manjal poosani / parangikai

Ingredients :

1. Pumpkin - 750 gm
2. Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp
3. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Garlic pods - 3 nos (big)
5. Ginger - 2" piece
6. Curry Leaves - 5 nos.
7. Dried Red Chilli - 1 No. (pandi mirch)
8. Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
9.  Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Red chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
12. Cumin powder - less than 1/4 tsp
13. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp (optoinal)
14. Salt to taste

 Procedure :

• Wash, peel and dice the pumpkin into cubes

• Crush the garlic pods and ginger using a pestle / stone

• Wash and pat dry the curry leaves

•  Heat oil in a pan, Add Cumin seeds. when they start splutter, add crushed ginger and garlic, curry leaves and saute till raw smell goes. 

• Add a pinch of asafoetida powder, coriander powder and cumin powder, fry for 30 seconds.

•  Throw in the pumpkin cubes 

• Add Turmeric powder, Red Chilli Powder, Salt. Mix well.

•  Keep it covered and cook, Mix in between gently to prevent sticking to the pan.

•  When the cubes are tender, add grated coconut at this stage in raw or roasted form. I didn't use coconut today so presented the simplest form of it here :-)

• The subzi is ready to be relished with Chapathi / rice / curd rice 

Vazhapoo Thoran

Vazhapoo / Vazhai poo / Plantain flower  is good source of fibre, helps control heavy bleeding during menstural cycle. It is rich in iron content and antioxidants. Believed to be good for diabetics.

This wonder flower can be taken in various forms. As a dry curry or can be cooked and added to the lentil pancake called 'adai', mixed with vadai batter and made as vazhapoo vada etc.

Now I am sharing with you the dry curry recipe called 'vazhapoo thoran' using a combo of tuvar dal and is served as a side dish in dry form.

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How to seclect a flower : If you open the petal, the bunch inside should be fresh i.e. it should not be dull or dark in colour.

How to clean the flower : Cleaning the flower may sound tedious but it is not so. It may also stain your palm. But you can remove those stain by following tips given below :

1. rub oil in your palm and clean the flower (or)
2. after cleaning put some tablesalt and gently scrub it with the regular vessel scrubber sponge (or)
3. Keep washing your palms & fingers in between. That's all

The outcome after a hard labour will always be very good. So is this dish.

Now roll up your sleeves and let us get into cleaning the flower :-)

Open the pink petals and take out the bunch of florets. Remove the florets till it become too much brittle to remove. (about 7-8 layers will come intact)

Take the bunch and rub it over your palm. The florets will be open now. Inside each floret you will see the black stamen. Hold the staemen (black in colour) and remove it. It is difficult to digest hence it need to be removed. The petal, if not tender also need to be removed. (shown in the picture below)

cleaned florets

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Ingredients :-

1. Plantain flower - 1 No.
2. Toor dal - 1/4 cup
3. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Grated coconut - 4 tbsp
6. Green chilli - 2 Nos. 
7. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
8. Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
9. Asafoetida powder - a pinch
10. Urad dal - 1 tsp 

Procedure :-

• Boil toor dal adding a pinch of turmeric powder, till it is done. The dal should not turn mushy but only to be cooked till it become soft. Drain and keep aside. (the water can be used in rasam making or to cook any gravy / sambar)

•  Finely chop the cleaned plantain florets.

• Heat a wok, add oil.  Now throw some mustard seeds into it. When it starts spluttering, add a pinch of asfoetida powder.

• Add the chopped florets, turmeric powder, salt. Mix well. Add a tsp of water to it. Now place a deep dish (thali) over it. Pour some water into the thali. This will help the florets to cook without much water and prevent it from sticking.

• Keep stirring in between, lifting the plate.

• In a mixer, add the grated coconut, Green chilli and grind it dry (no water need to be added)

• When the flower is cooked well, add the  cooked & drained toor dal, ground dry masala. Mix well for two minutes. Remove from fire.

• Heat a tsp of oil in a small pan, add a tsp of urad dal and fry till it turns golden brown in colour.

• Add this to the prepared plantain flower, mix well. The crisp dal will make the preparation even more interesting.
• Serve as a side dish to sambar rice / curd rice / morkootan (morkozhambu) rice or just mix with the plain cooked white rice and have.

With tuvar dal (toor dal / arhar dal) it tastes even more yummy and makes it a good combo with rice.

Koorkankizhangu mezhukku piratti

Koorkai / koorkankizhangu mezhukkupiratti :-

Koorkai / Koorkankizhangu / Siru Kizhangu / Chinese potato / country potato :- is a very tasty seasonal root vegetable which is rich in calcium, iron and other essential vitamins. Palakkad district (kerala) is famous for cultivating this vegetable.

If you have a kerala / Tamil store in your area, you can look for it during inter season i.e. between December and March.

The peeled one will look like this :-

This is used in traditional kootu preparation and in dry dish preparation called mezhukkupiratti / mezhukuvarati / mezhukku puratti (this requires little more oil)

Cleaning this vegetable is a little messy procedure as you have to get your hands dirty. Traditionally at our house it is washed and then rubbed on a rough stone or floor to peel the skin. At home you can also use a peeler. "The amount of labour put in adds to the taste of the dish" is a saying but you need not trouble yourself anymore in cleaing it. Here is an easy tip to peeal this vegeable quickly

Let us get on to the mezhukkupiratti preparation :-

Ingredients :

1. Koorkai Kizhangu - 250 gm
2. Coconut oil - 3 tbsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Turmeric powder  - 1/4 tsp
5. Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
6. Salt to taste
7. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure :-

• Wash it thoroughly to get rid of the mud and then rub it on a rough surface or peel using a peeler. Drop them in water after peeling otherwise it may turn dark.
• Dice them into small pieces and immerse in water
• Your hands may get stained like how it leaves a dark patch in your palm but apply oil and rub little salt to get rid of that stain.
• Heat a wok, add oil (traditional dish use coconut oil. You can use olive / sunflower oil too)
• Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add curry leaves. Then add the chopped koorkais
• Add Turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste
• mix well
• Cover and cook while stirring in between till they turn tender and gets roasted nicely.

(I used less oil hence i didn't roast them but just cooked them till tender.)

• Delicious and aromatic koorkai mezhukkupiratti is ready to go with rice dishes. It tastes best with morkootan / morkozhambu and curd rice.

Gavar ki sabzi - Kothavarangai / cluster beans

Cluster Beans / Gavar / Guar / Kothavarangai :-

 

Cluster beans has calcium, phosphorous and little iron. 

How to buy :- Beans should be tender and look fresh. Avoid over ripen (very pale in colour) as it becomes chewy.  Avoid buying stained ones or beans with black spots as it means the beans are old. 

How to clean :- Some people feel cleaning is laborious but it is not so if you use a knife and chopping board. Wash it thoroughly, put inside a colander to drain. arrange few beans at a time (say 6 nos) with same sides together and chop off using a knife. Do the same with the other end too. Now the beans are ready to use.

This beans in Indian cuisine is used alone or along with potato and is prepared in different ways. It is also processed, dried and stored to use as a fried accompaniment (vaththal) along with curd rice.

The method i shared here is Maharashtrian preparation which goes well as a dry side dish with rotis, rice. It can also be directly mixed with plain white rice to make a variety rice for lunch box.

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Ingredients :-

1. Cluster Beans - 1 cup
2. Onion - 1 (medium)
3. Tomato - 1 (Medium)
4. Grated coconut - 3 tbsp
5. Roasted & powdered groundnut - 2 tbsp
6. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp (or as per your prefernce)
8. Coriander Powder - 1tbsp
9. Ghoda masala - 1tsp (maharashtrian garam masala or normal garam masala or you can do without this too)
10. Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
11. Curry leaves - 1 sprig (finely chopped)
12. Oil for tempering - 2 tbsp
13. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
14. Salt to taste 
15. Jaggery - 1tsp (optonal)

 

Procedure :

• Wash the cluster beans, drain & remove the ends as mentioned above. Chop in to 3 or 4 pieces
• Finely chop onion and tomatoes
• Finely chop the curry leaves
• Heat oil, add little mustard seeds. After they splutter add, asafoetida powder & chopped curry leaves
• Add the finely chopped onions and fry till they turn translucent.
• Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy.
• Add Red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, peanut powder and ghoda masala mix well.
• add required water, jaggery (optional) cover and cook until done. Keep mixing in between.
• Or you can pressure cook till two whistles, let the pressure come down. Then open the lid, switch on the flame.
• In the last stage, add grated coconut, mix well and cook for 5 minutes stirring in between.
• Delicious Gavar ki sabzi is ready!

Potato Podimas / Potato curry

A traditional recipe for the potato lovers. A dry subzi goes well with sambar rice or curd rice.

Ingredients :-

1. Potato - 4 medium
2. Grated coconut - 4 tbsp
3. Green chillies - 3 nos
4. Ginger - 1/2" piece
5. Salt to taste
6. Oil for tempering
7. Mustard seeds
8. Urad whole
9. Curry leaves
10. Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch

 Procedure :-

• Pressure cook potatoes for 3 whistles. Cool and peel the skin. Gently mash it into rough medium pieces 

• Dry grind the grated coconut, green chillies without water.

• Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, add whole urad, curry leaves, hing powder. 

• When urad turns golden brown, add the potato pieces and ground coconut masala, salt 

• Cover and cook for two minutes by stirring in between.

• Yummy potato curry / Podimas ready

In this traditional recipe, i used coconut oil which is more flavourful. 

PS : You can also squeeze in few drops of lemon before serving which adds to the flavour & taste and make it more yummy.

Cabbage Channa Subzi / முட்டைகோஸ் கொண்டைகடலை பொரியல்

A delicious looking, tasting dish with a touch of protein using cabbage and kabuli chana.

Ingridients :-

1. Cabbage - 1 cup (finely shredded)
2. Kabuli channa - 1/2 cup (soaked overnight)
3. Oil - 1 tbsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
5. Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
6. salt to taste
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Green chilli- 1 or 2 nos. (coarsely ground or very finely chopped)

Procedure :-

• Pressure cook kabuli channa adding salt.
• In a wok, add the grated coconut & roast it till it turns golden colour
• Transfer it to a plate or bowl
• Pour a tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds
• After they pops up, add the green chilli, shredded cabbage, turmeric powder, salt.
• Add a tbsp of water
• In a thali or a shallow plate, pour some water and keep it over the kadai covering the cabbage.
• This will help it cook in its juice and prevent it getting burnt
• Occassionally stir in between
• Once the cabbage is cooked, add the boiled channa (draining water) and the roasted coconut and mix well, let it cook for a minute.
• Delicious cabbage, channa subzi ready to relished with roti / rice

Pumpkin vegetable / Kaddhu subzi / Mathan Upperi

Pumpkin / manjal poosani (Tamizh) / Mathan (malayalam) is a vine, the fruit is orange in colour. It is rich in anti-oxidant Vitamin-A,  minerals etc. It is believed to be very good for prostate problems.

Sharing with you a simple and easy, dry vegetable dish using pumpkin.

Ingridients :-

1. Pumpkin cubes - 1 cup
2. Grated coconut - 2 to 3 tbsp
3. Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp
4. Mustar Seeds - 1 tsp
5. Urad dal - 1 tsp
6. Hing powder - 1 pinch
7. Red chilli - 1 no. cut into two
8. curry leaves - 5 nos.
9. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Sat to taste
11. Water

Procedure :

• To the pumpkin cubes, add turmeric powder, salt, water and boil till they are tender.
• Drain and keep aside. (you can drink the water like soup, or check out for my forthcoming easy masala daal recipe for which you can use this water)
• Heat oil in a wok, add hing powder (Asafoetida), Mustard seeds, urad dal and let the seed splutter, the urad turn golden brown.
• Add the grated coconut, curry leaves and red chilli and saute till the coconut turns golden brown in colour (this is optional - enhance the flavour. you can just saute it for a minute too & continue the process)

• Add the cooked pumpkin cubes, saute for two to three minutes on low flame.

• Transfer to a serving dish. Declicious, pumpkin vegetable is ready.

Brinjal Roast

Brinjal Roast
This is a low calorie recipe as only little oil is used. Its advisable to use a non-stick pan for any roasting purposes as it will also help you consume little oil. Always keep the flame very low. Small regular brinjal can also be roasted in the same method.

Brinjal Roast

Serves : 2 

You will need :-

• Big Bartha Brinjal - 1
• Salt to taste
• Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder to taste
• Oil - 3 tsp
• Non-stick pan and a suitable lid

Procedure :

1. Cut Brinjal into roundels
2. In a thali, put the rice flour, Turmeric Powder, red chilli powder, Salt and mix well.
3. Take each piece, rub them in the flour mixture and keep them aside for 15 minutes.
4. Heat a non-stick pan, arrange the pieces and apply oil in drops around them.
5. Keep the pan covered. Till it is cooked to tender and the side touching the pan is roasted. 
6. Flip and again, apply oil in drops around it, cover and cook till the other side is also done.

Yummy roasted brinjal is ready to be served with rice or chapathi.