Rama Navami Neivedhyam - Paanagam, Neer Mor & Vada Paruppu

"श्री राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे
सहस्र नाम ततुल्लयं राम नाम वरानने"

During one of our summer trips to India, we happened to be in Bombay (in my head it is still Bombay, not Mumbai!) for Janmashtami. We have a tradition of fasting till evening and offering neivedhyam to baby Krishna after reciting the Vishnu Sahasranamam. That year, my father - in - law explained the meaning of  a few lines from the shloka. Goddess Parvati asked the Lord if there is any easier/shorter way of gaining the benefits of chanting the Sahasranama as it may be difficult to recite the whole thing everyday. To this, the Lord replies with the aforementioned lines. The essence of this shloka is that chanting "Rama" just thrice  is equivalent to reciting the thousand names of Vishnu. Such is the power of Rama.

This has been a week of celebrations and festivities on consecutive days - first was hubby's birthday - so I baked cupcakes, the next day was Tamil New Year followed by Vishu Kani, so pigged out on vadai & paayasam! Yesterday was Rama Navami, but guess what, the neivedhyam for this occassion is pretty tummy friendly!

I made paanagam - which is a cool and refreshing thirst quenching drink - sweet and sour - perfect for the rise in temperature, neer mor - which is seasoned buttermilk, again chilled but a tad spicy and finally vadaparuppu - which I guess can be called a protein rich salad ;)

Usually, neivedhyams are rich in ghee and oil - sweets and fried stuff! This is one of those rare occasions when the neivedhyam has health benefits!

Paanagam is as good as an ORS solution - move over Gatorade and electrolyte, we have our own home made version!! In fact, when consumed along with vada paruppu, it supposedly aids in digestion. For that matter, so does neer moru - it is a South Indian version of the salty lassi and is often prepared on a regular basis and served at the end of dinner. It also helps with acidity. And hey guys - its yogurt (read PROBIOTICS) - need I say more?

So, without further ado, here are the three recipes.

Soaking Time: 30 minutes            Preparation: 15 minutes          Serves:4

Ingredients:

For Paanagam:

Jaggery (Gur/vellam) - 1/4^th cup, grated
Chilled water - 4 cups

Dry Ginger Powder (Saunth/Sukku podi) - 1/4^th teaspoon

Cardamom pods  (Elaichi/Elakai) - 4

Holy Basil Leaves (Thulsi/Tulasi) - 4

Lemon - 1, juiced

For Vada Paruppu:

Moong Dal (Split Green Gram)  - 1 cup

Green Chillie - 1, small, chopped fine

Raw Mango - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Cucumber - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Ginger - 1/4^thinch, chopped fine

Coconut - 1 tablespoon, grated

Cilantro - for garnish, finely chopped

Lemon - ½, juiced

Asafoetida (Heeng/Perunkayam) - a pinch

Salt - to taste

For Neer Mor:

Yogurt  - 1 cup

Chilled Water - 2 cups

Green Chillies - 1, small

Ginger - 1/4^thinch

Roasted Cumin Powder (Jeera Powder) - ½ teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Cilantro - for garnish, finely chopped

For Tempering:

Oil - ½ teaspoon 

Mustard Seeds - ½ teaspoon

Curry Leaves - a few

Asafoetida (Heeng/Perunkayam) - a pinch

Method:

For Paanagam:

1. Take the jaggery in a bowl and add the chilled water to it. Stir till all the jaggery dissolves and then filter out the impurities from the jaggery.
2. Add in the dry ginger powder, cardamom pods and lemon juice, mix well and refrigerate.

For Vada Paruppu:

1. Rinse and soak the moong dal for about 30 minutes.
2. Add in all the other ingredients (raw mango, cucumber, chillies, ginger, coconut, cilantro, asafoetida, salt and lemon juice) and mix well.

For Neer Mor:

1. Take yogurt, green chillies and ginger in a blender and give it a good swirl till the yogurt is well beaten.The chillies and ginger will also be coarsely ground by then.
2. Add in water, roasted cumin powder, salt and cilantro leaves and give a quick whisk once more.
3. Heat a little oil and add in the mustard seeds.
4. Once the muster seeds crackle, add in the curry leaves and asafoetida and pour this tempering into the yogurt mixture.
5. Mix well and refrigerate.

Offer neivedhyam and enjoy the prasadam...

Tips:

You can add a bit of pachai karpooram to the paanagam if you desire.
For the neer mor, you can just blend in the  yogurt and water with a hand whisk, slit a green chillie and skip the roasted cumin powder if you wish.

Tofu Bhurji

Its been one of those crazy days following an equally crazy busy spring break! To tell you the truth, when the spring break started, was kind of dreading it and wondering what I am going to do with my little one for 10 whole days. But the days just whizzed past full of activities and fun, get-togethers, picnics, a visit to the Barclay's Center to watch a basket ball match, a day devoted to exploring and learning science at the Liberty Science Center and so on and so forth!

Once the break was over and everything was back to routine, I thought things would begin to calm down, but no! Something or the other has been keeping me on my toes. Add to that a whole lot of pigging out and no exercise for all this time, followed by an attempt at being regular at the gym is leaving me sore and tired every night. Hopefully things will get better by next week...

Today kind of topped it all - a major grocery trip took up most of my morning. Add to that the usual chores and workout as well as kiddo's school and extra curricular activities - all in a day's work. But the cherry on the top - some problem with the water supply left us with no water to cook! The repair was done by evening, but the day was beautiful. I mean, after all these months cooped up due to the cold weather, no way was I giving up the chance to let myself and the little one soak up some much needed Vitamin - D with the unusually warm temperature. Finally, was left with 30 minutes to prepare dinner - 30 minutes when I was already tired, hungry - exhausted!

The pressure cooker took care of rice and a simple dal tadka. Fortunately, I had prepared sufficient chapathi dough for the night when I packed my son's lunch in the morning. For the side dish, I opted for Tofu Bhurji.

Wait - don't react to the name. Just try it once - I assure you, it is as good as egg bhurji and paneer bhurji. Infact, if you don't like the smell of egg, this is perfect. No egg smell, yet the wonderful bhurji taste! The best part? Bare minimal vegetable cutting and a quick fix dish!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes          Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Tofu - 1 14 oz package
Scallions - 4-5, green and white parts sliced seperately

Tomatoes - 2, diced fine


Capsicum - 1 small, diced
Coriander/Dhania Powder - ½ teaspoon
Cumin/Jeera Powder - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Sabzi Masala - 1 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin Seeds -  ½ teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 teaspoon
Turmeric/Haldi Powder - ½ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil -  tablespoon

Method:

1. Heat oil and add the cumin seeds.
2. When the cumin seeds start crackling, add the white part of the scallions along with the ginger garlic paste.
3. When the scallions turn a golden brown, add in the tomatoes, capsicum, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder.
4. Let these cook for about 5 minutes. Now break the tofu and add it.
5. Add the sabzi masala and cook stirring constantly till all the moisture from the tofu evaporates about 4-5 minutes.

Garnish with the green parts of the scallion and serve hot with phulkas.

Vegetable Medley In Sour Cream Sauce

Most of us Indians have a tendency to cook vegetables to the n^th degree and add plenty of masala in everything! And us Southies, in addition to the above two propensities, love adding fiery heat to the food - red chillies, green chillies, dry or fresh - you name it, we use it! While I do enjoy food prepared this way, I also like veggies cooked just till they have a little bite left in them. On occasion I also leave out the masalas, keep a light hand on the spices and let the the flavor of the vegetables do all the talking.

While such dishes are too bland to suit DH's tastes, my little one loves them. As far as my kid is concerned, just blanch, flash steam or saute vegetables till they are tender, sprinkle some salt and pepper and serve - he loves it! I used to initially think of it as "बीमारों का खाना " - sick bed food! But over a period of time, I have come to like such stuff.

Today's recipe is one such and for once, DH did not complain! Initially I thought of just mashing a couple of cloves of garlic and adding it to the veggies, but then I would have had to fish it out later as I did not want any chunky piece of garlic in my mouth. So I used my micro-plane grater to directly grate the garlic into the pan. In addition to this, I used just a bare minimum of spices for the flavors. This helps bring out the flavor of the vegetables beautifully, while the sour cream helps enhance the taste.

Preparation & Cooking: 15 minutes        Serves:3-4

Ingredients:
Onion - 1, sliced
Carrots - ¼ cup, sliced
Beans - ¼ cup, halved
Cauliflower - ¼ cup, broken into florets
Peas - ¼ cup
Garlic - 1 tablespoon, minced/grated
Pepper - to taste, freshly cracked
Nutmeg - a pinch
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes - to taste
Sour Cream - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan, add the minced garlic to it and give it a stir,
2. Add the vegetables (except peas) and saute till they are tender but still retain a bit of bite.



3. Mix in the peas, freshly cracked pepper, nutmeg, crushed red pepper flakes and salt to taste.



4. Finally add the sour cream and take it off the flame.


Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Kadhai Paneer

My husband and me belong to the rare breed of species who don't like Paneer! Pretty much everyone I know loves it, so I was really surprised when I heard my husband say for the first time, lets not order any paneer dish, I am not a big fan of it! My sister is crazy about paneer. Growing up she was really glad that I did not like it as I would simply pick out the pieces from my plate and pass it on to her! Nowadays though, I eat it, but am not exactly excited about eating it!

My little one, I can't really say anything. There was a time when he loved paneer and was ready to eat a paneer dish everyday. Now, he hates it. I think this is also a passing phase and he'll be back to his "I want paneer" days very soon.

All said and done, whenever I have people over for dinner, I try and include a paneer dish on the menu, because it something that people love eating, and also because its easier to cook as a side dish when you need something in a larger quantity - cubing paneer any day beats chopping up a ton of veggies!

This weekend we had guests over for dinner and I made kadhai paneer. This is a simple and quick dish well liked by most people.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes               Serves:5-6
Ingredients:
Paneer - 2 cups, cubed
Capsicum/Green Bell Pepper - 3, medium, diced into big pieces
Tomatoes - 4 large, pureed
Tomato Paste - 2 heaped tablespoons
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, minced
Haldi/Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ½ teaspoon
Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
Cumin Powder - 1 teaspoon
Kasuri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves - 2 tablespoons, crushed
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Cilantro Leaves - for garnish
Oil

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and fry the paneer and capsicum separately till they begin to brown. Set aside on a paper towel. Frying paneer is optional, you could directly use it as well.

• In the same pan, reserve one tablespoon of oil and add the cumin seeds to it.
• When the cumin seeds crackle, add the minced ginger and give it a good stir.
• Now add in the tomato puree, tomato paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt, sugar and kasuri methi and cook till the oil begins to separate and ooze out, about 8-10 minutes.

• Finally add in the paneer and capsicum and cook for another minute.

Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with phulkas.

Potato & Kale Curry

 I like to include a lot of green leafy vegetables in my diet. Spinach of course comes into use quite often. But I am also looking at all the other leafy vegetables available at the grocery store.

One such vegetable is kale. I have eaten and liked ready made kale chips. I have also included it in my salads. But I wanted to make a typical Indian side dish using it. When it comes to trying out something new, I try to incorporate it with some other known ingredient that I know will save the dish even if things go a bit wrong. So, in this case, I decided to combine kale with potatoes.

I love jeera aloo, so I decided to make that dish with the addition of chopped kale to it. It turned out really good and went well with chapathis.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes                                                                     Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 3 medium, cubed
Kale - 2 cups, chopped
Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Haldi/Turmeric Powder - ½ teaspoon
Cumin/Jeera Powder - 2 teaspoons
Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

• Take the cubed potatoes in a microwave safe bowl drizzle some oil over it. Microwave for about 5 minutes.

• In the meantime, heat the remaining oil and add the cumin seeds and asafoetida to it. 
• When the seeds crackle, add this tempering to the microwaved potatoes along with the rest of the ingredients. Microwave this for another 8-10 minutes.

• Remove it from the microwave, give it a good stir and serve it hot with phulkas.

Baingan Bharta

Today's post is in response to a recipe request. One of my friends had asked for this recipe a couple of weeks back. So, this one's for you dear friend...

Eggplant or brinjal (baingan in hindi) is one of those few vegetables that neither me nor my husband like! But this particular recipe is the only way we don't mind including this vegetable in our diet. My son likes it too. So, I definitely make it off and on...

Traditionally eggplant is roasted on an open flame to char the skin. This gives it a nice smoked aroma. But unfortunately, living in an apartment with an unventilated kitchen causes the fire alarm to trip if I try making bharta this way!

Another option is to prick the skin of the eggplant with a knife making slits all over, placing it in a microwave safe bowl, covering with cling wrap with a slit in it and nuking it. This works fine, but it does not give the smoky flavor that I like.

Then I tried using the broiler setting by place the eggplant in a deep dish in the oven. This works too, but takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Finally, I placed the eggplant directly in the broiler. This result was perfectly charred skin and nicely cooked eggplant in less than 20 minutes!

Feel free to use whichever method is convenient to you and then proceed further with the recipe...

Preparation & Cooking: 45 minutes (including 18 minutes in the broiler)            Serves:2-3
Ingredients:


Eggplant/Brinjal/Baingan - 1, large & firm
Onion - 1 small, chopped fine
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, minced
Garlic - 1 teaspoon, minced

Tomato - 2 tablespoons, diced fine

Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 teaspoon

Coriander/Dhania Powder - 2 teaspoons

Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 teaspoon
Dry Mango/Amchur Powder - ½ teaspoon
Turmeric/Haldi – ¼ teaspoon
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - ½ teaspoon 

Garam Masala - 1 teaspoon

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Cooking Spray (or oil) – to grease the eggplant before broiling

Cilantro leaves - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons

Method:

• Wash and dry the eggplant, grease it with oil or cooking spray, insert skewers and place it in the broiler for about 10 minutes.

• After 10 minutes, turn the eggplant around and leave it in for another 8 minutes.

• Let it cool for a bit in the broiler and then remove it. By now the skin should have nice charred and it should be easy to peel.

• Peel off and discard the skin from the eggplant and chop it.

• Heat oil and add the cumin seeds. When they begin to splutter, add the chopped onions and the minced ginger and garlic and saute.

• When the onions begin to brown, add the coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Mix well.

• Before the spices can burn, add the diced tomatoes. I use a food processor to chop the tomatoes, so its almost a rough puree.

• Next add in the eggplant and cook for about 10-12 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash the eggplant while cooking.

• Finally, add in the garam masala and let it cook for another minute or so then turn off the heat.

• Just before serving, add the lemon juice and garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

This goes well with chapathis as well as a side to rice dishes.

Handy Tip:

If you have problems peeling off the skin of the eggplant, just hold it under running water for a couple of minutes, the skin will automatically come off!

Sending this across to Vardhini's ”Dish it Out” event guest hosted by Pavani of Cook's Hideout