Cabbage palya

You will need

Organic Cabbage 1 medium sized cleaned and chopped fine

Salt, jaggery to taste

For garnish

Grated coconut 3-4 tbsp

Pepper corns about 1 flat tsp

Cumin seeds about 1/2 tsp

For seasoning

1/4 tsp unrefined oil/butter/ghee

Turmeric 1/4 tsp (optional)

Urad dhal 1tsp

Mustard  1/2 tsp

Curry leaf  1 twig

Method

Take a heavy bottomed pan.

Add chopped cabbage, a little water (less than 1/4 cup), salt and jaggery.

Cook covered in low flame (stir every 5 minutes) till cabbage is transparent.

Cook without the lid till water evaporates.

Dry roast and powder pepper and cumin seeds; heat oil, add urad dhal, when dhan is evenly brown,add mustard, when mustard begins to splutter, add curry leaf (and turmeric)

Season cooked cabbage and garnish with grated coconut, pepper and cumin powder.

Capsicum chutney or Capsicum dip

My sister gave me this simple tasty recipe which looks very spicy but is not. My chutney loving husband could not stop eating it.

You will need

1 red capsicum chopped

1 medium sized onion chopped

1 clove garlic (medium sized)

½ tsp oil

1 Tablespoon grated coconut

5 almonds

1 tsp groundnut  or cashew nut (optional)
5 peppercorns

Salt, tamarind to taste

Seasoning: oil, mustard, black gram, curry leaves

Saute capsicum, onion and garlic  with ½ tsp oil till wilted.

Mix all the ingredients (except those for seasoning) add a little water and blend to a fine paste.

Seasoning: Heat ½ tsp oil, add black gram, mustard seeds. Let splutter. Add curry leaf, mix with the prepared paste and enjoy with hot crepe/ dosa.

Upma/Uppittu step by step

The first time I made Upma/Uppittu was in the initial months after my marriage and when my Atte( mother-in- law) and sister-in-law were away. I had only watched Amma cooking Upma but since I had always heard from people that Upma was one of the easiest dishes to make, that morning I decided to make it. I chopped onions, vegetables and found the rawa, but I was confused about the quantity of water to be added. So as usual, called Amma. Since Amma was in the garden, my brother picked the phone and when I told him about the confusion, he immediately told me, 'Ansu, I just made Upma the day before, add double water' I asked him if he was sure and he was positive it was double. Having got this info I rushed to cook as it was already late and my Maava( father-in-law) had to leave in half an hour for his college. So into the pan went oil, seasoning, rava/sooji, double water, vegetables- oops! I remembered, I had to boil vegetables, water separately and add it to roasted rava:( too late, so decided to cook covered till done. Then realised I had used Bombay rava(fine rava) and Amma uses thicker unrefined rava called special or Bansi rava! I prayed and hoped everything would somehow be okey and cursed myself for having laughed loud at the messed up Kichidi made by Maava the previous day. The final product of my cooking was a hard sticky mass. Maava was waiting at the table, ready to eat. I brought the Upma to the table and served him a spoonful. He looked at the plate with amusement, looked at me( by then I wished I had some place to hide my face), laughed out loud till he had tears in his eyes and said ' Yes! my Kichdi was far better than this!'.He then silently finished eating and left. My husband who hated Upma refused to eat my version of it. For a long time after this incident, the thought of Upma stressed me out and when I told Amma, she began the usual, 'I told you to learn cooking before marriage........' but lovingly taught me her wonderful recipe of making Uppittu and I proudly say that today when asked the menu for breakfast, my husband says 'Uppittu!'. I have mastered Uppittu thanks to Amma's recipe, the patience of my husband and Maava.

As usual this recipe makes use of very little oil and does not make use of chillies and tomato.

You will need (serves about 2)

For the seasoning

Oil or butter or ghee: 1/2tsp

1/2 tsp split black gram

1/2 tsp channa dhal 

Cashew nuts 4-5 crushed into pieces (Optional)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Curry leaf 1 twig

Turmeric 1/4 tsp

1 big onion finely chopped( optional)

1/2 a green capsicum (washed, chopped fine)

1/2 red capsicum (washed and finely chopped)

Small bunch of cilantro finely chopped

1.5 cup Unpolished/unrefined Sooji or semolina 

Water 3 cups

1 medium sized carrot (washed, peeled and minced/chopped fine)

1 cup of fresh peas

1/4 inch piece ginger (crushed)

Salt to taste

Peppercorns 5-6 crushed and powdered

Jaggary to taste

Grated coconut to garnish.

Method

Take a heavy bottomed pan, add 1/2 tsp oil, (cashew nut), black gram, channa dhal, mustard seeds and wait till mustard seeds pop and the dhals and nut brown evenly. Add turmeric, curry leaf, (onion), green, red capsicum, chopped cilantro and stir till all water is lost. 

In a separate pan boil water, add ginger, pepper, carrot, peas, salt, Jaggary, adjust taste and cook covered till vegetables are tender.

Add unrefined rava/sooji to the seasoning-capsicum mixture and roast with constant stirring, take care to see that the rava doesn't burn/stick to the bottom of the pan. when evenly roasted (colour of Rava changes from a shade of yellow to whitish yellow and you can smell the nice aroma of roasted sooji) it is time to add water and cooked veggies.

Add boiling water with the vegetables to roasted Rava mixture, mix well, turn down the flame and cook covered for 3-5 minutes.

Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot with coconut chutney or yogurt.

Note:

You may include your choice of vegetables.

Amma also makes tasty Uppittu by adding pieces of organic Nendra banana with the skin to the boiling water, cooking it till soft and adding it to roasted rava.

When visiting Egypt, my sister's Atte made a ready to cook version of Uppittu by seasoning and roasting the rava. All we had to do was, boil veggies in an electric rice cooker and add the mix to get delicious Upma!

   

Beans sambar (step by step) Chilli tomato free

Amma is our inspiration for cooking healthy. Here is a healthy and tasty recipe of Sambar which is one of the first recipes I learnt from Amma. It is different from the normal Sambar as the recipe does not use green chilly/red chilly and tomato which is normally a part of any Sambar.

You will need:

Beans about 250 gm or more

1 cup of toor dhal or any lentil (preferably unpolished) washed, soaked overnight and washed  before use.

Water sufficient quantity

Salt to taste

Jaggary to taste

For the masala

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds or Jeera

3-4 fenugreek seeds

1/4 tsp peppercorns 

a pinch of hing or Asafoetida

1 teaspoon tamarind pulp

Half a coconut grated or cut into small pieces

Seasoning

Musatrd seeds 1/4 tsp

Unrefined oil 1/2 tsp (I use coconut oil)

Turmeric 2-3 pinches

Curry leaves 5-6

Method

Wash beans and cut its ends. Cut each into 2-3 pieces (or to your liking)

Pressure cook soaked and washed toor dhal with beans and water (approximately double) up to 3 whistles.

In a small cast iron skillet, dry roast (low flame) the spices for masala. Add in the following order- pepper, fenugreek, cumin, coriander. Stir gently till the sweet aroma of toasted spices hits your nose. Now add a drop or two of coconut oil and a pinch of hing or asafoetida. Turn off the flame, stir well.

 Blend coconut, roasted spices, tamarind with a little water till you obtain a fine paste.

Take the cooked lentil and beans from the cooker, transfer into a bigger vessel add salt and jaggary to taste and bring to a boil. Turn down the flame and add the spice-coconut masala, mix well and  adjust taste

.It is time to turn off the flame when you see the Sambar begin to boil at the sides ( this is exactly what Amma showed me when I watched her cook). 

For seasoning heat oil in the skillet, add mustard seeds. when they pop, add curry leaf, turmeric powder, mix well.

 Add to the Sambar, stir well and serve hot with rice, chapati or bread.

Healthy Bhel puri- Tomato free, Chilli free

Last week my sister, her kids (aged 8 and 5), sister-in-law were all visiting us. In the evening I made this modified version of Bombay bhel. Though it didn't contain green/red chilly, tomato, deep fried sev, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. My nephew enjoyed assembling the chat and passing it over to all of us to eat.

Here is how I made the chat.

You will need( for about 6 people)

Bhel or puffed rice about 250 g

For the sweet red chutney/ sweet sauce

1/2 tablespoon tamarind pulp/paste

1 fistful of deseeded dates

1 fistful of jaggary

Peppercorns 1/4 tsp (powdered)

Salt about a teaspoon/to taste

1/4 cup water

For the green chutney or green sauce

1 fistful coriander leaves/cilantro

1/2 fistful Pudina/mint leaves

A piece of green capsicum

A piece of ginger

6-10 peppercorns

2 cloves of garlic(if large)

For garnishing

1 medium sized onion finely chopped/minced

1 small green capsicum finely chopped/minced

1 small red capsicum (or a piece) finely chopped/minced

1 fistful coriander leaves and Pudina/mint leaves finely chopped/minced

Pinch of garam masala or chat masala made at home without chilly.

A cup of roasted peanuts or any nut of your choice

Khakra 

Method

Sweet red chutney

Grind all the ingredients for sweet red chutney and add to boiling water. Keep stirring and let the sauce thicken and turn translucent. Keep it aside and let it cool to room temperature.

Green Chutney

Blend all the ingredients mentioned under the green chutney to a paste without adding water and keep aside.

These go into the green chutney

 Bhel, vegetables, green chutney, red chutney, roasted  peanut ready to assemble

Assembling

In a plate sprinkle a tablespoon of  finely chopped vegetables, 1 crushed Khakra, 1 teaspoon peanuts, a teaspoon green chutney , a cup of puffed rice, 1 tsp or more of red chutney and top it with a pinch of chat/ garam masala. Serve immediately.

To eat
Carefully mix all the ingredients in the plate and enjoy a healthy snack!


Note: I didn't know there were two varieties of puffed rice. One is the thicker variety and the other a thinner variety which almost instantly absorbs the liquids and turns soggy. Out of the two packs I picked in a hurry from the supermarket, one turned out to be the second variety and I was surprised how one set of bhel turned soggy soon after assembling. Later my sister- in- law pointed the difference to me.

Though I have not added chillies, the chat tasted hot and spicy due to the raw onions.

You can alter the order and  proportions of the vegetables, chutney, nuts, Khakra, as per the persons liking.