Vendakya mezhukku varati (Bhindi-fry-2)

Mezhukku varati is a Mallu term for stir-fry-in-oil. Some subjis are thorans(cooked with coconut and some moisture) and some are mezhukku varatis.
In my Bhindi fry 1, I used a very simple spice of roasted coriander-red chillies powder. Here I use a combination of onion, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida to give the bhindi fry a different flavour. And yes, its in coconut oil.

Ingredients
Bhindi washed well, wiped dry and chopped to half inch pieces (remember to wipe the washed bhindis well)
Salt to taste
Green chillies 2-3 chopped
Coconut Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves for seasoning.
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Onion 1 chopped

Method

1. In a pan, heat oil. Burst mustard. Add salt and stir for a second.
2. Add chopped onions, curry leaves, asafoetida, green chillies and stir till onions turn translucent.
3. Add bhindis, turmeric powder and give it a good stir. Do not add water at all.
4. Cook covered for about 5-10 minutes on low heat till bhindis become soft. Initially the bhindi gets gooey, dont lose heart, stir well and cover again to cook some more.
5. Once the bhindis reach the soft cooked stage and have lost the goo, stir fry with lid open, till its a bit caramerlised.

Bhindi fry - 1

Lets face it... bhindis get gooey once salted. And then they refuse to cook. After a long innings of experiments with all kinds of tawas and imli and what not, I got the solution from my ma. :-)

The below bhindi fry goes well with rasam saadam and is a hit with kids.

Ingredients
Bhindi washed well, wiped dry and chopped to half inch pieces (remember to wipe the washed bhindis well)
Salt to taste
Oil, mustard seeds for seasoning.
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Roasted coriander-chilli powder (I call it curry powder).

Method

1. In a pan, heat oil. Burst mustard. Add salt and stir for a second.
2. Add chopped bhindis, turmeric powder, curry powder and give it a good stir. Do not add water at all.
3. Cook covered for about 5-10 minutes on low heat till bhindis become soft. Initially the bhindi gets gooey, dont lose heart, stir well and cover again to cook some more.
4. Once the bhindis reach the soft cooked stage and have lost the goo, stir fry with lid open, till its a bit caramerlised.

Enjoy!

Beans parupu usili

Learnt this from ma. Delicious!

Ingredients
Beans chopped fine 2 cups
Tur dal 1/4 cup
Red chillies 5-6
Chana dal 1/4 cup
Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves for seasoning
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Method

1. Soak tur dal and chana dal in water for 30 mins. 
2. Coarsely grind the dals and red chillies with just enough water.
3. Add salt to taste and asafoetida to the ground paste and steam it for 10-15 mins.
4. Allow the cooked dal mixture to cool and crumble coarsely with hands.
5. Cook beans with turmeric powder and salt to taste with just enough water. The beans should be tender.
6. In a kadai, heat oil, add seasonings and add the beans and cooked dal mixture. Toss it well. The dal and beans should mix thoroughly.

My pa loves it with plain hot rice. :-)

Radish poriyal

The method and ingredients are similar to that of carrot poriyal.

Ingredients
Radishes 3-4 diced
Red chillies 3 broken
Curry leaves a few
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida.
2. Once done, add the redish, turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
3. Cook covered, sprinking water once a few mins for it to get cooked till soft but still firm.
4. Sprinkle grated coconut and sugar and mix well.

Serve hot with rice and sambar.

Carrot poriyal

My boys aren't fond of carrots. I see their faces go down, when served a carrot dish. But this is one dish they eat silently, even enjoy it a bit. But there are many conditions you see.. I shouldn't make it too often, the spices should be just right and so on... Personally if you ask me, I love it. :-)

Ingredients
Carrots 3-4 diced
Red chillies 3 broken
Curry leaves a few
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida.
2. Once done, add the carrots, turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
3. Cook covered, sprinking water once a few mins for it to get cooked till soft but still firm.
4. Sprinkle grated coconut and sugar and mix well.

Serve hot with rice and sambar.

Sweet potato subji

I want to explore the sweet potato, so bought a few. Lunch today is simple rasam and sweet potato subji. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients
Sweet potato 1 skinned and cubed
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Urad dal 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Chilli-Coriander powder 1/2 tsp (I dry roast red chillies and coriander seeds in 1:1 proportion, grind and keep)
Salt to taste
Oil 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Heat oil in kadai. Once hot, burst mustard, urad dal. 
2. Add the sweet potato chunks, turmeric powder, chilli-coriander powder, salt to taste. Mix well.
3. Sprinkle some water and cook covered.
4. It should soften and feel like potatoes once cooked.
5. Give a good toss.  

Serve hot with rice and some curry of your choice.

Beetroot upperi

Upperi is a veggie dry side-dish.   A different treatment of beetroot from what I have grown up with, this dish is just another that I learnt from my mother-in-law.
You can even mix beetroot and carrot in this.

Ingredients
Beetroot 1 or 2, skinned and grated. The volume increases after grating.
Carrot grated 1 (optional)
Onion 1 chopped very fine. We do not want to see bigger pieces of onion in between the grated beetroot.
Green chillies 2-3 chopped
Curry leaves, oil, mustard seeds for seasoning.
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste.

Method

1. Heat oil(I use coconut oil for this dish), add seasonings. 
2. Once that is done, add beetroot, carrot, onion, turmeric powder, salt to taste and mix well.
3. Sprinkle some water and cook covered. Stir occasionally and sprinkle water as needed. The raw smell of onions should disappear and the beetroot should soften.
4. Serve hot with rice and any curry of your choice.

Beans thoran

Thoran is poriyal with coconut shavings and the specific veggie. Most common thoran in 'sadhyas' is cabbage thoran. My personal favourite is beans thoran done the below mentioned way.

Fresh french beans chopped very fine, cooked in coconut-onion-green chilli paste. This is something I learnt from my mother in law. I just love this way of cooking beans. The colour and flavour is awesome.

Ingredients
French beans chopped very fine. The slices should be as thin as possible.
Onion chopped 1 big
Green chillies 2-3
Coconut 3 tsp scraped
Mustard, curry leaves, oil for seasoning. (I use coconut oil for this poriyal)
Turmeric powder

Method

1. Grind the coconut, green chillies and onion to a fine paste. Add water just enough for grinding.
2. Heat oil, add the seasonings.
3. Once that is done, add the beans, turmeric, salt to taste, and the ground masala.
4. Cook covered till beans are soft and raw smell goes. Sprinkle some water to cook.

Enjoy with rice and any curry of your choice.

Khatta - Meetha karela (sweet and sour bitter gourd)

This is one bitter gourd dish that my son loves, so much so that he takes it to school for lunch with curd rice. :-)


This dish is inspired from Archana's Kitchen.

Ingredients
Bitter gourd 1-2 skinned, deseeded and chopped to small cubes. Salt and keep aside.
Oil 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1/2 tsp
Aamchur 1 tsp (Dry mango powder)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp.
Curry leaves few.
Asafoetida a pinch
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Jaggery 1 tsp crumbled well

Method

1. Heat oil, once hot add jeera, asafoetida, curry leaves. 
2. Squeeze out the water from the bitter gourd and add to the tadka. Add all the spices(except the jaggery, which is anyway not a spice).  Add salt to taste. Mix well. 
3. Cook covered till cooked soft. Sprinkle just enough water for it to cook.
4. Once cooked, add the jaggery and mix well. The jaggery will caramelise.

It goes well with rice and sambar or any curry of your choice.

Vazhakkai Podimas

This is a side dish I have most often seen at wedding feasts and hotel meals... Somehow my mother wouldn't make it this way, I generally decided to try it once and it came out like a lump of gooey stuff. I had over cooked it (I am notorious for under-cooking, not over-cooking), so this came as a shocker!

Try it out once, you will love it for its flavours.


Ingredients
Raw plaintain 2
Green chillies 2-3
Curry leaves
Asafoetida
Mustard and Urad dal for seasoning
Grated coconut for garnishing
Salt to taste
Oil - very little for seasoning.


Method

1. Cook the plaintains in water with the skin on. Take care to not over cook. It cooks very fast in a pressure cooker(stop even before the first whistle).
2. Dunk them in cold water, skin them, and grate them.
3. Heat the oil, and once its hot, add the mustard, urad dal, asafoetida, green chillies, curry leaves.
4. When they are done, add the grated raw plaintain, salt and mix well.
5. Add the coconut and mix again.

Serve with rice and any curry of your choice.

Green moong subji

Cooking dinner one day, I realized that the bhindi subji was not going to suffice for the three of us, and thought up of this tasty subji.

Ideally the moong should be soaked in water for 8 hours, steamed till cooked, and seasoned.

You can make this with your own spices to your taste.

Ingredients

Moong soaked in water for 8 hours 1 cup
Onion 1 finely chopped
Red chillies 2-3
Curry leaves
Mustard
Urad dal
Oil 2-3 tsp
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Turmeric powder
Grated coconut 3 tsp


Method
1. Cook the moong in a pan with a little water and salt till soft and easily chewable. If using a pressure cooker, take care to not over cook it.
2. Heat oil in a pan and when it is hot add mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies(broken), asafoetida, curry leaves.
3. When the seasonings are done, add the onion and fry till done well.
4. To this add the cooked moong, turmeric powder and mix well till hot all through and the flavors have blended. Adjust salt.
5. Add grated coconut and mix well. Voilà you are done!

I add a wee bit of sugar to this and it makes it really yumm... This is entirely your choice, and so I have not added this in the recipe.

Serve with rice and sambar or any curry of your choice.

Simple Aloo Palak

Aloo chopped to small cubes
Palak chopped fine
Onions chopped(optional)

For tadka
Oil
Mustard
Urad dal
Red chillies
Curry leaves
Asafoetida.

Spices
Turmeric pow
Cumin powder
Dhania powder
Amchur powder

You can add your own spices to your taste.

I made a dry subji out of this, sprinkling just enough water to cook. Not too spicy since the only hot ingredient is the red chilli in tadka.

I wanted to do non-masala aloo palak and ended up with this.

Method

1. Heat a bit of oil and when its hot add the tadka and fry till they are done.
2. Add onions and fry till transparent and soft.
3. Add potato, palak, spices and salt to taste. Mix well and cook covered till cooked but not mushy. You can sprinkle a bit of water to help in the cooking.
4. Open the lid, stir it a bit to get an even look and you are done!!
5. Serve with roti or rice.