Spicy Bean Duo

It is not Chili weather in Texas right now, but this afternoon, I set out to prepare a dish with beans, corn and tomatoes. I wanted the dish to emulate a warm salsa and I wanted it to be spicy.

After some deliberations, I came up with a new recipe - Spicy Bean Duo!

Ingredients:
Diced Tomatoes - 1 large can
Sweet Corn - 1 can
Black beans - 1 can
White/Navy beans - 1 can
Onions - 2 diced
Sambar powder - 3 Tbsp
Sesame seed oil - 3 Tbsp
Garnish: chopped curry leaves and cilantro

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, heat-up the oil. Add the onions and brown them slightly.
2. Add the sambar powder, beans, corn and tomatoes. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add salt to taste and garnish with cilantro and the chopped curry leaves.

Bon appetit' :)

Spicy and Creamy Cabbage Stew

I prepared a Cabbage Stew this afternoon. Normally, I would use ginger root for this recipe. However, when I started cooking this afternoon, I noticed that I was out of ginger root. I would normally not be too lazy and ride to the Indian Supermarket nearby and get some, but I had just gone there, prior to preparing dinner this afternoon. I didn't feel like riding out again. So, I experimented with adding black peppercorns to my recipe to add some heat to the stew I was preparing. It turned out that my estimation of the amount of heat put out by fourth of a cup of peppercorns wasn't very accurate. When I tasted the prepared dish, it was extremely spicy. I had to tone it down a notch. I checked my pantry and the only available product that would come in handy was coconut milk. I added a can of coconut milk to the Cabbage Stew and made it "Spicy and Creamy Cabbage Stew". It worked out great!

Here is my improvised recipe :)

Ingredients:
Cabbage- 1/2 head, shredded
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Urad dal  - 1 Tsp
Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1 Tsp
Sesame seed oil - 2  Tbsp
Black peppercorns - 2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
Red chillies - 6-8
Dal/Lentils  - 2 cups (cooked)
Coconut Milk - 1 can
Asafoetida - a dash
Garnish: chopped curry leaves and cilantro

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, heat-up the oil. Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Turn down the heat to medium or below.
2. Add the urad dal, asafoetida and the shredded cabbage. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 minutes.
3. Cook the lentils until soft in a pressure-cooker or in a conventional sauce pan.
4. In a sauce pan, roast the black peppercorns, fenugreek, cumin, red chilies. You may use a drop or two of oil if you like to roast these. I dry toast them.
5. Grind the the ingredients from step 4 and the grated coconut in a blender. Use little water (the mix should be moist/wet but not runny). 
6. Add the mix from step 5 to the cabbage in the pot, turn-up the heat to medium and cook until the cabbage is cooked, but not mushy!
7. Add salt to taste and garnish with cilantro and the chopped curry leaves.

Bon appetit' :)

PS. One can eat most of my vegetable stews/curries/chowders by themselves or with rice/chappathi/naan/pita bread!

Simple Carrot Curry

I am cooking less and less these days. But I am glad I still am eating healthy, thanks to my lovely wife. I made time today to prepare dinner. I made three dishes and I have posted each in its own post.

My recipe for Carrot Curry is a simple, quick-to-prepare recipe, which anyone can follow to make a healthy vegetable dish.

Ingredients:
Carrots - 6-10 diced
Mustard seeds - 1 Tbsp
Shredded Coconut - 1/4 cup
Sambar powder - 1 Tsp
Sesame seed oil - 1/4 cup
Garnish: chopped curry leaves and cilantro

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, heat-up the oil. Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Turn down the heat to medium or below.
2. Add the carrots and coconut. Cover and cook on low heat until the carrots are cooked, but not mushy.
3. Add salt to taste and garnish with cilantro and the chopped curry leaves.

Bon appetit' :)

Black-eyed Peas and Egg Plant Kootu (Stew)!

I haven't cooked anything new in a long time. I have been extremely busy with work and my wife has been doing all the cooking. I finally felt like cooking past Sunday, as I had some downtime. So, I made Black-eyed Peas and Eggplant Stew, which is one of my favorite dishes.Some might call this a "sambar", but I call it a Kootu (stew). The prep is very similar to that of sambar, but slightly different. For instance, I add lots of sesame oil to this dish.

This measurements used in this recipe will make a batch that will feed one (hungry) person approximately 6-8 servings.

Ingredients:
Toor daal (Lentils) 2-3 cups
Black-eyed peas 2 cups
Asian Eggplant - 6 quartered
Tamarind paste - 1 Tsp
Tomatoes - about 5-6 diced/sliced
Onions - 2 Large - chopped
Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
Red Chilies - 6-8
Fenugreek Seeds - 1 Tsp
Shredded Coconut - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp
Sesame seed oil - 1/4 cup
Garnish: chopped curry leaves and cilantro

Preparation:

1. Cook the lentils until soft in a pressure-cooker or in a conventional sauce pan.
2. Soak the black-eyed peas overnight and cook them in a pressure cooker or in a conventional sauce pan.
3. In a sauce pan, roast the coriander seeds, cumin, red chilies. You may use a drop or two of oil if you like to roast these. I dry toast them.
4. Grind the the ingredients from step 2 and the grated coconut in a blender. Use little water (the mix should be moist/wet but not runny).
5. In a large pan, heat-up 2 cups of water. Once the water starts to boil, add the cooked daal, the black-eyed peas, egg plant, and the spicy paste from step 3, to the water. Turn down the heat a notch or two. Add the tamarind paste, turmeric and a pinch of asafoetida. Stir the mix so the lentils don't stick to the bottom of the vessel. Cook the mixture for roughly 5-7 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add the tomatoes and the onions and cook for another 3 minutes. It is nice not to turn the onions mushy.
7. Add salt to taste and garnish with cilantro and the chopped curry leaves.

The finished product!

Black Kitty ate too much of the good cookin', he got all tired and went to sleep :)

Bon appetit' :)