Gongura Dal

Gongura (Sorrel leaves) comes in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. Gongura is popular in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a very rich source of Iron, vitamins, folic acid and anti-oxidants and is highly recommended for diabetes and heart patients to maintain their diet.

Last night I tried a hybrid version of the Gongura Pappu (dal) with my grand mom's recipe. The quantities used here make a dal that serves 6 people. Adjust quantities according to the number of people you are making it for.

- Gongura leaves 3 cups (chopped and thoroughly cleaned)
- 1.5 small cups chana dal and 1/2 cup toor dal (soaked in hot water for 30 mins before cooking)
- 3 slit green chillies
- 2 tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 3 onions (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp sambhar powder
- Seasoning (mustard, jeera, turmeric, curry leaves)
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt to taste

Pressure cook the soaked dal and gongura leaves with a little salt for 5-8 minutes, drain out all the water and set aside. In the meanwhile, heat oil in a deep pan, add the mustard seeds. once it stops spluttering, add jeera, haldi and the slit green chillies. Saute the onions till they turn transparent. Then add the chopped tomatoes and allow to cook for a while. Once completely cooked, add the gongura dal and mix well. Add the red chilli powder, sambhar powder, some more salt, sugar and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover it with a lid to trap the flavours.As it is a thick dal, can be had with phulkas / rotis or even hot rice.

Thanks for the recipe ajji!!!

Drumstick Gravy (Nuggekayi Gojju)

This one's from Deepti's family. Again simple, quick and easy to make.What also helps is that Drumsticks are a great source of Iron and the tender ones are especially succulent.

Ingredients:

4 Tender drumsticks cut into inch long pieces and pressure cooked
3 Thinly sliced onions
2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 small cup Tamarind water (soak tamarind in a cup of water and squeeze till the ater becomes a thick sauce. Dispose the tamarind)
1 inch cube of Jaggery
Curry leaves
Seasoning (jeera, mustard seeds and hing)
Salt to taste

Heat about 2 tsp oil in a deep pan and add mustard seeds. Once they stop crackling, add jeera, hing and turmeric powder. Add the sliced onions and saute till cooked. In the meanwhile you cna grind together the grated coconut and red chilli powder to make a chutney. Once the onions are cooked, add the red chilli powder chutney to it. Add tamarind water, jaggery cooked drumsticks and curry leaves. bring it to a boil and keep stirring continuously. Add salt to taste and mix well.

This goes well with both phulkas and rice.

What I've cooked since last week

- Palak Paneer (home made Paneer :D)
- Chana sprouts curry
- Carrot / Onion Parantha
- Drumstick curry
- Aloo Matar

And tonight's special: Gulaab Jamoon!!!! :D

Recipes for each of the above will follow.

Cucumber - Mint juice

Desperate for something cold and tasty on a hot summer afternoon?! Try this:

- 4 large, tender cucumbers, diced and de-seeded
- A cup of mint leaves (thoroughly cleaned)
- Jaljeera powder - 3 tsp
- 1 green chilli
- 1/2 an inch of Ginger
- Salt to taste

Blend all the ingredients together in a juicer. Strain and serve with ice cubes.

Simple Potato Subzi

This is the simplest of it's kind and probably one of the quickest too. It takes about 20 mins in all (including preparation time). This is one of the favourites at home and I can eat this subzi every day!

Ingredients (for 4 people)
- 6 large potatoes, cut into small, thin squares (so that it gets cooked quickly). Unpeeled potatoes taste better.
- a pinch of turmeric
- Mustard seeds and Jeera
- Red Chilli Powder
- Chat Masala
- Salt to taste
- Oil for cooking.

Heat oil in a pan and put mustard seeds. Once it stops spluttering, add the jeera and turmeric. After a few seconds, add the chopped potatoes into the pan and stir once. Cover with a lid and leave for 5 minutes. Once the potatoes are slightly soft, add salt and red chilli powder and stir well. Allow it to cook for another 5 minutes. Once they are completely cooked, Sprinkle (generously) chat masala, mix well and switch off the stove. You may add chopped coriancer and curry leaves if you like. Serve hot with Chapatis / Phulkas.

If it's quite oily, you can even mix it with rice to make a quick fix Potato rice. :)

Eggplant with roasted peanuts and sweet sauce

This is something that Amma makes very very well. I just tried it out yesterday and it wasn't too bad. Has a tangy-sweet flavour to it. You can make it with a thick gravy or dry...whichever way you like it. Goes well with rotis and rice.

Ingredients

1. Purple brinjals - cut into thin, long pieces (you can cut it anyway you like..am just used to this :))
2. Jaggery and tamarind soaked in a cup of water.
3. Roasted and coarsely crushed peanuts
4. Jeera
5. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
6. Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
7. Oil for cooking
8. Salt to taste

How to do it:

Heat about 2 - 3 tbsp oil in a deep pan and add jeera and turmeric powder. After a few seconds, add the cut brinjals and sautee till the brinjals become soft. Add a pinch of salt while sauteeing. You can multi-task and soak the tamarind and jaggery (a small piece of jaggery and about an inch of tamarind) and keep squishing the tamarind in the water till the jaggery dissolves completely and the water becomes thick and full of flavour. Add the tam-jag water and the roasted and crushed peanuts to the sauteed brinjals, add salt and let it simmer. If you want a thick gravy, you need to add more of the tam-jag water and the peanuts as well. Let it simmer for a few minutes till the brinjals soak in the flavour completely. Keep mixing well. You can garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve hot. :)

For those who like onions, you can also add finely chopped onions to the brinjals as a variation.

Rice can taste good too...

I've been at home in Bombay and since Amma isn't well, i'm completely incharge of the kitchen. I've been loving it :). Amma needs to eat very very bland food. And dad and I can't deal with bland, almost tasteless food for too long. So, here's what I've been experimenting with---

For Amma:

A cup of diced veggies (carrots, beans, corn  etc.) and 1/2 a measure of rice goes into a cooker. The water is usually a little extra so that the rice becomes soft and easy to swallow / digest. Salt to taste, a spoonful of ghee. Pressure cook for up to 2 / 3 whistles and switch off. The variations i've ben trying with this to ensure that she doesn't get bored with eating the same food:

Rice with chopped spinach leaves, tomatoes and finely chopped onions. In addition to the salt and ghee, a pinch of dhania jeera powder.. to activate the taste buds ;)

Rice, veggies and dal cooked together with the salt and ghee makes a TASTY khichadi which even dad and I couldn't resist. :)

What I do with the leftover rice

And with any rice that's left over from the afternoon, add a few sauteed veggies, some ground spices, a few pods of garlic, a bit of ginger and aquick-fix tasty rice delight is ready!I tried a few options with chopped tomatoes and onions (commonly known as Tomato Rice :); Spinach and corn kernels and Soy chunks and spring onions.