Back to the Grassroots of South Indian Cuisine with a simple side-dish

"Cruciferous vegetables have it all: vitamins, fiber, and disease-fighting phytochemicals"...so says WebMD...Here is a simple dish from the Southern part of India using Cauliflower, one of the Cruciferous "Super-foods" Vegetables. This is a very traditional dish in South India - Podimaas, to which I have given a simpler twist, to accommodate my quick cooking sensibilities.  The other vegetables that could be substituted in place of Cauliflower here, could be potatoes or raw plantain."Podimaas" means mashed and stir-fried vegetable...but here I have just finely chopped the vegetable and then stir-fried it. 

The traditional version of this recipe involves some more steps of roasting and powdering spices to add to the dish(I shall post that one of these days as well). The very traditional South Indian chef may frown upon this "quick version" of the famous side-dish, which is served at many festive meals in Southern India...but I love this...plus my kids seem to have taken a liking to this simple, tangy recipe!!! What do you know???!!! So that is why I thought it might be worthwhile to share with you all...no taste test better than that of critical, head-shaking, food-sniffing kids, I guess:))

This recipe for the South Indian Cauliflower Side-dish goes to Yasmeen's Cruciferous Challenge.

This side-dish would be great to serve with Flatbreads, Naans, Chapathis or steaming, hot rice!

Recipe for South Indian Cauilfower Side-dish(aka Cauliflower Podimaas)

Serves: 2 or 3

Prep/cook time: 15 - 20 mins

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1 head finely cut into very small florets or grated

Ginger - 1 to 2 inch piece minced or grated

Green chilli peppers - 2 or 3 finely cut or minced( I used the Thai chillies, sometimes I do use Serrano peppers)

For seasoning: Black mustard seeds, Salt, Turmeric - a pinch, Black Pepper, Lemon Juice - 1 to 2 tsp, Asafoetida(aka hing) - a pinch, a few sprigs of curry leaf and/or cilantro

Optional Garnish: Grated coconut(unsweetened) - 1 to 2 tsp

Cooking Oil - 2 to 3 tsp

Note: All ethnic ingredients are available at Asian Indian grocery stores or in the Asian section of most supermarkets.

Method:

In a pan, add the cooking oil and the black mustard seeds...when they start to crackle, add the finely chopped/grated cauliflower and salt and turmeric alongwith the minced green chilli peppers and minced/grated ginger.

Let cook for a few minutes( takes about 8 - 10 minutes) until the vegetable turns soft.

Finally add the remaining seasoning ingredients one at a time. Stir well. You could optionally garnish with grated coconut.

This is a great side-dish that is wonderful served warm or can be refrigerated for 3 - 4 days as well.

 

SPRING FEVER!!!!

Spring is in the air, the days are getting warmer....when I see all the signs of spring, I feel like celebrating the season. In fact, I would like to run through the grass, singing loudly...BUT STOP!! I am not like one of our Indian movie actresses, who celebrate the season thru song and dance, then I wonder what I can do to celebrate the season, that is practical...something that is practical and wont alarm my husband or make him think I am nuts:)))

Well, coming to the sensible ways to celebrate the season change, I have chosen to do some much-needed spring-cleaning in our house...some decluttering...lets see how far I progress with this noble intention...will keep you all updated. I also see the grocery stores filling up with seasonal fruits and vegs...fresh strawberries, pineapples, plums, peaches, corn...the variety is endless...well, the other practical way to take advantage of the changing seasons would be to use this lovely seasonal bounty in my dishes...so here is a light, refreshing springy dish my family and I enjoyed in the past few days...

The other way I decided to celebrate this season is to give my blog a light, springy template!

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL MY BLOGGER FRIENDS AND I WISH YOU A WONDERFUL SPRING TOO!!!

Recipe for light, fruity sundae:
Serves: 4
Prep/cook time: 7-10mins.

Ingredients:
Bananas - 2 cut finely
Pineapples - 1 cut finely
Plums and/or peaches - 3 cut in thin, round slices
Honey - 2 tbsp
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Dates - 1/2 cup sliced
Vanilla yoghurt (or vanilla icecream) - 2 cups
Milk - low fat - 1/4 cup

Method:
In a blender, puree cut bananas, pineapples, honey, vanilla and milk finely until you get a smooth sauce-like consistency.

In a serving glass,  arrange the sliced plums and/or peaches in a single layer at the bottom. Then, over that, spoon a layer of the icecream and then, a layer of the fruit puree.

Keep alternating couple more layers of the sliced fruit, icecream and  fruit puree.

Finally, garnish the top of the sundae with sliced dates.

Additionally, for a sweeter finish, you could drizzle some caramel sauce on top.

Small Wonders Series and Reposting for Event

After a hectic weekend filled with activities for the kids, I felt I needed to unwind by posting something(even if it was a repost) and do some bloghopping...my daughter also wanted me to post a Rangoli(also known as Kolam or Alpana) that was her entry for an exhibition at a temple here in the Bay Area this weekend...She was of course very excited to send in the entry(but then there is very little she doesnt get excited about) and even more excited when she got a certificate and plaque for sending in her entry...she was walking on cloud nine the whole of yesterday imagining herself as the next Picasso:))) So here it is, the medium that she  used for the Rangoli was lentils, colored powder/Rangoli powder and glitter powder:

Repost for Usha's Healthy Inspirations Event - Salads:

My first entry is a Recipe for Vibrant Mixed Fruit and Veggie Salad...this salad is not only colorful with varied flavors from fruits, vegs, nuts and dryfruits...it also packs a healthy punch of anti-oxidants and is ready in under 10 minutes...a great accompaniment to breads, pastas, rotis and even great as a snack by itself!!!

My second entry for the same event:  Easy Tangy Green Beans Salad with a crunch.
This is another 10 minute recipe and very versatile as a side-dish or salad...could be served warm or cold.

A Forgotten Favorite revisited / Baking and Me???!!!

Before I post a recipe, I have a confession to make...I am a stranger to the challenges and joys of baking...until recently, my adventures in baking were limited to figuring out if the supermarket carried the mix for the baked recipe I was planning to try out...if they did not carry it...sorry!! that recipe landed in the 'forgotten recipes' folder...

But all that changed dramatically when I recently entered into the world of blogging! Just the sight of all the baked goodies made me want to rush out and go on a wild baking spree:)) But then, I hit a wall...not literally. Though, I have been known to do that on my not-so-agile (read...clumsy klutzy) days! What I mean is that, recently my husband and I decided to change our family's entire eating/food style to a healthily decadent style....well I wont get into that story now, but you can read about  it in my earlier post on the subject. So. how could I go out and exercise my passion for baking without compromising on the health aspect.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I wanted to enter whole-heartedly into the tantalising world of baked yummies but...I wanted to make sure I did not digress from Healthfully Decadent cooking...so thus began my quest for turning all the wonderful baked goods recipes into healthy ones, as far as that was possible...so when I saw this simple, tasty and healthy(!!!) recipe for muffins on the back of a cereal box(of all places!)it just called to me to be tried out!

What attracted me to these muffins was the fact that, this recipe substituted fat and butter with a wonderful combination of many flavors...the other thing was that, it reminded me of a tasty, tasty muffin that I had relished a few years back at a small coffee shop in Washington DC...my husband and I were on one of our first trips to DC after being married...the tour guide was running late one morning and instead of stopping at a regular diner or breakfast place, he just stopped at a small coffee shop and asked us to get a quick breakfast. Well, we ended up feasting on one of the best muffins I have tried...maybe it was because the muffins were so light and flavorful...maybe it was because I was looking at the world thru rainbow-colored glasses after being recently married...I dont know. But the memory of those muffins has remained with me for a while.

So, I baked those muffins based on the recipe I found on the back of the cereal box with some of my own variations, based on the flavors I remembered and ended up with a very, very tasty end-result, that was very moist because of the number of liquid ingredients!!! The best addition was the pomegrannate juice(I used POM Wonderful) which meant I could reduce the quantity of ther liquid ingredients especially the oil and plus the juice is chock-full of anti-oxidants without much sugar! See for yourself...

This recipe goes to Jagruti's Joyful Eating Whilst Traveling event and to Champa's Bake-off event.

Recipe for Muffins loaded with flavor, fruit and chocolate:-
Servings: 12 muffins
Prep time: 10-15 mins
Cook time: 15-17 mins

Ingredients:
2 cups Oat Bran cereal like Quaker(you could  also substitute with 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup oat bran cereal)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup pomegranate juice(I used the POM Wonderful brand because it has very little sugar)
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
1/4 cup honey or molasses
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1 medium mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup white or dark chocolate chips
a little orange zest(optional, but it gives the muffins a very fresh and zingy taste)

Method:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper cups or spray the mold with some cooking spray.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add combined milk, pomegranate juice, egg whites, honey and oil. Add all the fruit and choc. chips.

Mix lightly till everything is combined...do not overmix.

Fill the prepared muffin cups till 3/4 full.

Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with some fruit jam or as is.

Flavors from different parts of India - Yummies from Blogosphere!!!

I am so happy to post two recipes for this week's edition of Yummies from Blogosphere...they can be served as a neat combo in a meal. The greatest thing about these two recipes is that, they represent two very diverse sides of Indian cuisine...and they also represent, I think, the essence of the blog that they were originally posted on...A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine...the dynamic duo, Muskaan and Sadhana, who are the creators of that blog, use their space to present the best flavors from Western and Southern Indian cuisine.

So I decided to try out two wonderful recipes from those two cuisines that could be paired together, last weekend...the result...a wonderful, flavorful meal that represented some of the best flavors from Indian cuisine!!!  After this successful meal, my family has urged me to do this kind of combo more often...pairing up dishes from different cuisines and cultures...shakes up things and a departure from the normal, humdrum routine is fun...dont you think???

I chose to make Vaghareli Rotli, a wonderful yoghurt gravy dish from Gujarati(western Indian) cuisine and Eggplant Gothsu, a tangy Southern Indian side-dish...I served this combo with hot rotis(Indian bread)...it was heavenly!!!The best thing was that this flavorful meal was not only tasty but also extremely simple to make...no prep-ahead...no sweat-ahead:)))

Of course, I followed the original recipes as closely as possible...but you know me:)) I did make some minor changes...thats just me!!! For the Vaghareli Rotli...I added some fennel seeds(saunf) and fenugreek seeds(methi seeds) to the items for seasoning...and to the Eggplant Gothsu, I added some tomatoes, for some additional tanginess.

Here are the original recipes as posted on A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine for Vaghareli Rotli and Eggplant Gothsu...Enjoy!!! Thanks, Muskaan and Sadhana!

Recipe for Vaghareli Rotli:
Ingredients:

6 Leftover Roti (Whole Wheat flat bread)
1 C Yogurt, preferably sour
2 tsp Besan ( Bengal gram flour)
Water to dilute
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp coriander-cumin (dhana-jeeru )powder
lemon juice according to taste if yogurt is not sour
1 Tbsp Cilantro, Chopped
Salt to taste.
For tempering:
1 Tbsp Olive / Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Slit Green Chillies
Few Chopped Curry Leaves
1/4 tsp Hing (Asafoetida)


Method:
1. Mix yogurt and besan (gram )flour & add approximate of 1 Cup of water to dilute this mixture, whisk it nice to avoid lumps.
2. Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds, as it spluters, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, then pour above yogurt + besan mixture to it, while constantly stir it.
3. Bring it to boil, add the rest of the ingredients, stir it, and now with your fingers tear apart the flat bread you made (leftover roti) into medium small pieces just like size of potato chips, and put it in this boiling yogurt sauce.
4. Once you add flat bread pieces into this sauce, stir it and put the flame off. Let it sit for a while, as these bread pieces will soak up all the sauce, leaving behind some gravy. Thats perfect consistency.
5. Its ready to serve hot, with some sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

                      
Recipe for Eggplant Gothsu:
Cooking Time: 20 min

Preparation Time: 10 min
Serves – 4


Ingredients
Egg Plant (small) - 4 to 5
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Onion (medium) - 1
Curry leaves - few
Green chilly - 2 to 3 or to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - small piece
Tamarind - goose berry size ball.
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Rice Flour - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste.
Garnishing:
Chopped Cilantro – 2 tablespoons
This is normally made by roasting the egg plant and peeling the skin and using the pulp inside. The eggplant I had was too small to roast and I didn’t have the time to bake it and peel and take the pulp out.


Method
1) Soak Tamarind in water.
2) Heat Oil and add mustard seeds, once they splutter well add urad dhal, channa dhal, and asafoetida.
3) Once the dhal browns a little add green chilly, chopped ginger, onion pieces and curry leaves.
4) Cut the egg plant into small pieces and add it to the above.
5) Now add turmeric powder and salt and cover it for a while till the egg plant gets cooked.
6) Once it is cooked squeeze out the tamarind pulp from the soaked tamarind using water and add it to the egg plant mixture.
7) This should be in-between consistency of rasam and sambhar, so add water accordingly.
8) Once the tamarind water boils well and the raw smell is gone, mix the rice flour in little bit of water and add the paste to this mixture.
9) Simmer for a minute or two till the gravy thickens and is not very watery and switch of and garnish serve with Pongal or Idli.