Punjabi Chole Masala

We had a friend visiting us from California this weekend. Apart from eating out and gossiping, we also had them over for lunch yesterday, you know, the typical "खाने पे आ जाना"! The menu was Punjabi Chole Masala, Puris, Capsicum Corn Curry, Couscous Pulao and salad. Will eventually put up all the recipes, but for now, let's stick to Punjabi Chole Masala. 

Kabuli Chana/Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans are a very popular in my house. Specially when served with puris. Infact, at my mom's place puri was always served with chole and meetha chutney (another recipe which I hope to put up soon). And how can I forget Shrikhand? Yummy!

For the chickpeas, you can use the canned version, but I am a real snob when it comes to certain recipes! Seriously, in a pinch, I don't mind using canned beans, but if I have the time and I know in advance that I am going to make a certain dish, I definitely prefer soaking the beans over night. This recipe is one such, where I don't like using the canned ones.

I cook the chickpeas with a tea bag. You can put a few tea leaves in a muslin bag/cheesecloth and use that as well. But I usually keep some masala tea bags handy just for this purpose! They impart a nice flavor and color to the chickpeas. How I came about using these tea bags is another story! Once DH got these masala tea bags when I was in India. But he hated the taste and just left them as it is. When I came back, I was left with this box of tea bags, so decided to use them for making chole instead of going through the pain of tying loose leaves in a cheesecloth. I loved it! Since then, I buy some masala tea bags and keep them in the pantry.

Some people cook the chickpeas with a little soda bi carbonate (baking soda) to soften them, but don't feel the need to do so. Soaking them overnight and pressure cooking them makes them soft enough.

Preparation & Cooking: 30 minutes (excluding 10-12 hours soaking time)              Serves:4-5

Ingredients:

Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans/Kabuli Chana - 2 cups
Masala Tea Bag - 1
Onion - 1 medium, chopped fine
Green Chillies - 2, minced fine (almost to a paste)
Ginger - 1 small piece, minced
Garlic - 2-3 cloves, minced
Tomatoes - 4 medium, pureed
Potato - 1 medium, peeled and cubed
Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander/Dhania Powder - 2 teaspoons
Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Amchur/Dry Mango Powder -  ½ teaspoon
Chole Masala Powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons (I use olive oil)
Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoons
Cilantro Leaves - for garnish

Method:

• Soak the chickpeas in water overnight (10-12 hours). They will double in size by morning.

• Pressure cook this with a little salt and a tea bag till they are soft but not mushy. 

• In the mean time, heat oil and saute the onions, green chillies, ginger and  garlic with salt to taste till the onions turn translucent.

• Now add in the cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and amchur powder and mix.

• Before the spices begin to burn, add in the tomato puree and the cubed potatoes and give it a good stir. Add a little water and let this cook for about 10 minutes, till the potatoes get cooked.

• Now add in the chickpeas (after discarding the tea bag) and a heaped teaspoon of chana masala.

• Let this simmer, stirring occasionally for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve hot with puris, bhaturas or chapathis. You could also garnish this with raw onions cut into rings and a couple of slit green chillies.

Handy Tips:

You could use garam masala instead of chole masala.

For the tanginess in the recipe, you could replace the amchur/dried ginger powder with a little tamarind paste. But I feel amchur powder gives it a more authentic taste.

Stuffed Karela

Karela or bitter gourd is one of those vegetables that people love to hate. I was one of those people :) This vegetable has a lot of health benefits. It is used in Ayurvedic medicines as a remedy for diabetes. It is also said to purify the blood and is good for the liver. But its bitterness is the main cause for it not being very popular.

Growing up, my mom would make pitlay and curry with karela, but my sister and me would refuse to eat it! After getting married, at a lunch at my husband's aunt's place, I ate stuffed karela and liked it a lot. So, I decided to try out different recipes of stuffed karela.

After much experimenting, I have settled on two different kinds of stuffing - one potato based and the other onion and coconut based in gravy. Today, I made the latter one.

For stuffed karela, use small karelas that are firm. If they are soft, they will be over ripe and the seeds will be reddish - we do not want to use those.

Some people don't mind the bitterness, so they leave the skin on, but I peel it off. Also, sometimes, the seeds and skin are used as a part of the stuffing, but I prefer to discard them.

Preparation & Cooking - 1 hour               Serves:2

Ingredients:

Karela - 4-5 small firm
Onion - 1 smal, chopped
Ginger - a small piece
Coconut garlic chutney powder - 2 tablespoons
Sambar Powder - 1 tablespoon
Besan/Bengal Gram Dal Powder - 1 tablespoons
Sesame Seeds - 2 teaspoons
Khus-Khus/Poppy Seeds - 2 teaspoons
Peanuts - 2 tablespoons
Fennel Seeds/Saunf - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric - 2 tablespoons
Salt - to taste
Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoons
Sugar - ½ teaspoon
Oil - 3 tablespoons

Method:

• Peel the karelas and remove the seeds from them. Discard the skin and seeds.

• Rinse the karelas and apply turmeric and salt liberally to them. Set aside for at least half an hour.

• In the meantime, in microwave safe bowl, add 2 teaspoons oil and cook the onion and ginger along with salt for 3-4 minutes. Let it cool.
• Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds, fennel seeds and poppy seeds till they turn a brownish tinge and give off a fragrant aroma.

• In a mixer, powder these then add the sambar powder, besan, turmeric powder, onion ginger mix, lemon juice, coconut garlic chutney powder and sugar and make a smooth paste. The stuffing is ready.

• After half an hour rinse the karelas, this will help wash away the bitter juices from the karelas.
• Now stuff the karelas with the stuffing mix prepared.
• Heat the remaining oil in a wok and shallow fry the karelas till both sides are crisp and brown.

• Now add the remaining stuffing diluted in water, such that the karelas are fully covered.

• Cover and cook on a low flame till most of the water evaporates and the gravy thickens, about 20 minutes. By now the karelas will be thoroughly cooked.

Remove from flame and serve with chapathi or rice.

Handy Tip: The coconut garlic chutney is the chutney used in vada pav - I use store bought, you could make it at home.

Cannelloni Beans - Desi Style

I usually keep a tin of cannelloni or white kidney beans handy as I like to add them in my soups. But for tonight's dinner, I decided to cook them in typical Indian flavors. The blend of dry spices along with onion, ginger and tomato gave this bean a wonderful aromatic taste. I use the microwave quite a bit in my day to day cooking to quicken the process and multi-task, as I don't have to baby sit most food in the microwave. Feel free to use the stove top if you so desire.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes           Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Cannelloni/White Kidney Bean - 1 can
Onion - 1 small, chopped roughly into chunky pieces
Tomatoes - 3
Ginger - 1 small bit
Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Coriander Seeds  - 1 teaspoon

Fennel seeds - ½ teaspoon

Cinnamon Powder - ½ teaspoon

Cardamom Powder - a pinch

Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon

Sour Cream - 1 teaspoon

Salt - To taste

Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Make a few slits on the tomatoes using a knife and microwave them immersed in water for about 4 minutes.





2. After they cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.







3. Microwave the onions and ginger along with a little salt and a tablespoon of oil for about 2 minutes.





4. Roast the spices on a low flame until they turn reddish brown and give out a nice aroma.
   





5. Now, blend the tomatoes, onion-ginger mix and the dry spices together in a mixer to form a smooth puree.


6. In a pan, heat the remaining oil and add the pureed mixture and the sour cream. 





7. Bring  it to a boil and add the cannelloni beans. Add water at this stage if you find the gravy to be too thick. Gradually bring it to a boil and take it off the flame.

Quick & delicious cannelloni beans are ready to accompany your rice or chapatti.

Bottle Gourd Kootu (Opo Squash)

Kootu in my house is prepared without onions. I guess its the "Iyer" influence! This is a different kootu, using onions from guest blogger Nutmeg.


Prep & Cooking time: 30 minutes   serves: 4-5

 

Ingredients:

1. Medium size bottle gourd (Opo squash /Sorakaya) – 1 no
2. Moong dal (Paasi paruppu) – 1/2  cup
3. Small onion – 1 no
4. Tomato (medium) – 1 no
5. Turmeric Powder – 1/2  tsp
6. Green chilies – 4 nos
7. Cumin seeds – 1tsp
8. Asafoetida – couple of  pinches
9. Salt to taste
10. Grated coconut – 1/2 cup

 Seasoning:

1. Mustard seeds – 1tsp
2. Curry leaves

Method:

1.      Peel the skin, remove the seeds from the squash and cut into small cubes.

 

2.      Pressure cook the squash with moong dal and all other ingredients (except coconut).

3.      After 5-6 whistles, remove the cooked kootu and bring to a boil.

 

4.       Heat the coconut oil in a cooking vessel, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and wait till the seeds splutter, then add the cooked kootu

5.      Cook, till the water content is reduced, then add grated coconut and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

6.      Bottle gourd kootu is ready and it goes well with Chapatti and Rice.

-Nutmeg

Schezuan Broccoli

My family is really fond of Chinese cuisine. We also love spice in our food, so Schezuan dishes are real popular with us. And my son belongs to the rare species of kids who love broccoli – mind you, not just like, LOVE broccoli! 

So, today I decided to make broccoli in schezuan sauce. Fortunately, DH & DS are extremely sportive about being guinea pigs to my kitchen lab experiments! So, I do try out a lot of different dishes, making my own modifications to recipes. Sometimes they are a hit, sometimes a miss! Tonight’s was in the former category, thereby making it to the blog!

I used readymade schezuan paste this time (Ching’s brand to be specific), but if anyone has their own recipe for the same, go ahead and use it.

Preparation and Cooking: 15 minutes                       Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Broccoli – 1 small head, broken into florets

Onion – 1 medium, chopped

Ginger – small piece, grated

Garlic – 2 cloves, minced

Schezuan paste – 2 teaspoons

Soy Sauce – 2 teaspoons

Sriracha Sauce (hot red chilli sauce) – 2 teaspoons (omit this if mild food is preferred)

Honey – 1 teaspoon

Vegetable Stock – ¼ cup

Sesame Seeds – 1 tablespoon

Salt – to taste

Sesame Oil – 2 tablespoons

Method: 

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a nonstick pan till they turn a light brown shade. Set them aside.
 

2. Heat the sesame oil and sauté the chopped onions along with the minced ginger and garlic (I grate them with a microplane grater), till the onion begins to brown.

3.       Add the broccoli florets and mix it well.

4.       Add the schezuan paste, soy sauce and sriracha sauce.

5.       Now drizzle some honey over this and add salt to taste. The salt added should be less than what  you would normally add, since we have already added soy sauce. Now add the vegetable stock and cook for a couple of minutes.

6.       Empty this into a serving bowl and top it with the toasted sesame seeds.

Schezuan broccoli is ready. Tastes really good with rice (I used basmati rice). The heat from the schezuan paste and sriracha sauce provided a nice contrast to the saltiness of the soy sauce and the subtle sweetness of honey. The crunchy sesame seeds sealed the deal!

Chow Chow Kootu

Trust everybody had a wonderful valentine’s day!  I know, I know, it’s nothing but commercialization of love, blah blah blah!  But can you blame a girl for melting at the sight of flowers and chocolates? I will take any excuse for receiving chocolates (a girl’s second best friend – diamonds being the first!) from dear hubby.  And I am sure most married women would identify with the sentiment (newlyweds and those approaching or just past the first anniversary don’t count!)!!

Ok, so after drooling over and gobbling all the goodies (had a Valentine’s Day celebration party at kiddo’s school too!), decided to take it easy for dinner tonight. With the lousy cold rainy weather and the sniffles, rasam, rice and chow chow kootu seemed like a good idea. Will post the recipe for rasam (and rasam powder) some other time, but for today’s post; let us take a look at chow chow kootu.

Here in the US, this starchy vegetable is sold by the name of Chayote Squash. It is quite popular in South India as “Bengaluru Katthirikai” which literally translates to “Bangalore Brinjal/Eggplant”! In fact, I feel chow chow bhajji tastes a lot like brinjal bhajji!

Anyways, now for the recipe… Normally I make this kootu with moong dal, but today, I was in such a lazy mood, that I cooked it with toor dal (which I had to anyway cook for my rasam), thereby killing two birds with one stone!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 mins approx.                               Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Chow Chow (Chayote Squash) – 2 (diced)

Toor/Arhar Dal/Red Gram Dal/Tuvaram Paruppu – ¼ cup

Turmeric Powder/Haldi – a pinch

Salt – to taste

To be fried in 1 teaspoon oil and ground into a paste:

Coriander Seeds/Dhania – 2 tablespoons

Channa Dal/ Bengal Gram Dal/Kadala Paruppu – 2 teaspoons 

Dry Red Chillies – 4-5

Grated Coconut – 1 tablespoon

 






 












For Tempering:

Coconut Oil – 1 teaspoon

Mustard – 1 teaspoon

Urad Dal – 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch

Red Chillies - 2

Curry Leaves – a few

Method:

1.  Pressure cook the toor dal with some salt and turmeric and set it aside.

2. In another vessel cook the chow chow in some water with a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste.

 3.Once the vegetable softens (about 15 minutes), add the cooked dal and the ground paste and bring it to a boil. Now take it off the heat

 4. Heat the coconut oil and add the ingredients for the tempering.

 

5. Once the mustard seed splutter, add the tempering to the kootu.

Handy Tip: You can directly cook the chow chow with the dal in the pressure cooker and then proceed from point 3. I cooked it separately because I needed part of the toor dal for my rasam. The recipe is pretty spicy; if you prefer mild food, reduce the quantity of red chilli used.

Sending to  SYF&HWS - Cook With SPICES" Series - CORIANDER SEEDS  started by Anu and hosted at Kalyani's Sizzling Taste Buds.

                                                                                      

                                                                                    

                                                                                      

Chicken Salna

A non-veg recipe from guest contributor Cardamom provides a change from my usual vegetarian recipes.

Preparation and cooking time - 45 minutes

Serves - 4 people

Ingredients:

Chicken - ½ lbs

Oil - 3 teaspoons

Onion - 1

Tomato - 1

Green chilies - 2

Chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger garlic paste -1 ½ teaspoons

Mint leaves chopped - 1 ½ teaspoons

Coriander leaves chopped - 1 ½ teaspoons

Yogurt - 1 teaspoon

Fennel seeds powder - ½ teaspoon

Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons

Poppy seeds - 2 teaspoons

Cinnamon - 1 piece

Cardamom - 3

Cloves - 1

Coconut milk - 1 tablespoon

Grind poppy seeds, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves in a mixer and then add coriander powder and grind again. Add 4 to 5 small onions. Add water and make a paste as shown in the picture below.

 

1. In the pressure cooker, put onion and saute it until golden brown

2. Add tomato, saute it and then add chopped coriander and mint leaves

3. Add ginger garlic paste and chilies.

 

4. Add chili powder and then add chicken and salt

5. Saute it until the chicken turns white.

6. Add the paste, yogurt and fennel seeds powder and cook on a low the flame until the oil floats on top.

 

7. Add coconut milk and ¾ cup water. Allow to cook for one whistle sound in the pressure cooker.

 

Chicken Salna is ready and it goes well with Idli, Dosa, Idiappam and Ghee Rice.