Keerai Masiyal

Keerai Masiyal or Mashed Spinach is the most easiest South Indian side-dish. Its packed with wonderful nutrients and an amazing fresh flavor! This traditional dish has only Spinach. The additional flavor comes from the tempering. This dish goes well with rice, vathakozhambu, sambar.. almost every south indian entrée. What's better? You don't have to chop the spinach. Just wash, clean and cook!

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Spinach - 2 bunches
Jeera - 1/4 teaspoon
Urad dhall - 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard - 1/4 teaspoon
Coconut Oil - 1 tablespoon
More Milaga ( Dry Chillies saoked in buttermilk) - 2-3
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Wash and clean the spinach. Add the spinach to a hot kadai. Cook and cover. Do not add water. The spinach will let out some water that is more than sufficient for the final texture.
2. Once the spinach is cooked, let it cool and blend it in a mixer for a few seconds. Take care not to mash the spinach a lot.
3. Heat coconut oil and temper it with mustard, jeera, urad dhall and more milaga. Add this to the mashed spinach along with salt.

Keerai Masiyal is ready to serve! Enjoy with rice and a dollop of ghee. It's heaven!

Punjabi Bhindi Masala

Bhindi/Okra/Ladies Finger is everyone's favorite. I have been an Okra lover ever since I started eating it. Though initially, I was used to traditional Okra recipes, I slowly started to explore many more versions of Okra in the recent years. I am truly amazed at the variety of dishes you can make with Okra. Every time I visit the Indian store here, I make it a point to grab a few pounds of this wonderful vegetable. I have tried various Okra recipes, but I bet this Punjabi Bhindi Masala brought out the flavor of Okra so well, I kind of lost myself while indulging in this flavor-packed sabzi. Punjabi Bhindi Masala has a unique blend of masalas and okra. It goes  Perfectly well with Rotis, Naans and Phulkas. Enjoy cooking this wonderful dish and indulge yourself into the "Okra World"

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Ladies Finger/Okra/Bhindi (cut into 1 inch pieces)- 1/2 kg
Onion (finely chopped) - 1
Tomato (finely chopped) - 2 (medium sized)
Kasuri Methi - 1/4 teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tablespoon
Green Chillies - 2
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Coriander Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Garam Masala Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Amchur Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. In a kadai, add 1 tablespoon oil and fry the okras for about 10 minutes on low-medium heat. The okras will start to darken and will loose a little bit of their stickiness. Do not add water. Just sauté every 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

2. Add 1 tablespoon oil in the same kadai. Add jeera and allow to splutter. Add onions, green chillies, ginger garlic paste and salt and cook well.
3. Once the onions are cooked, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, amchur powder and kasuri methi.  Mix well.
4. Add tomatoes, along with 2 tablespoons coriander leaves and let it cook well.
5. Once the tomatoes are well cooked and oil oozes from the sides, add the sautéed okra and cook well for about 10-12 minutes. Add garam masala.
6.Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Roti/Naan/Phulkas!

Fruit & Nut Cups

Fruit Custard is the easiest and the best dessert for everyone. This recipe is just an example of how you can serve your custard in a creative manner. I bet everyone will go in for couple of more servings. Trust me, they would not want to stop eating this dessert. Fruit Custard along with the wafer cups are a huge hit among my friends circle! Try it and let me know

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

Mixed Fruits - 1 cup (I used apples, strawberries, bananas, oranges, mangoes, grapes & pears)
Milk - 2 cups
Cashews - 1 tablespoon
Raisin - 1 tablespoon
Cucumber Seeds - 1 tablespoon (optional)
Sugar - 4-5 tablespoons
Condensed milk - 2 tablespoons
Vanilla Flavored Custard Powder - 2 teaspoons
Ice Cream Cups/ Wafer cups - 8-10

Method:

1. Boil 1 1/2 cups of milk.
2. To the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, add custard powder and mix well so that no lumps are formed.
3. Once the milk boils, add the custard-milk mix and stir continuously.
4. The milk will start to thicken. At this point, add sugar and cool it in the refrigerator.
5.  Meanwhile, chop the fruits into small pieces and soak them in about 3-4 tablespoons of milk.
6. Just when you are about to serve, add the fruits, nuts, raisins, cucumber seeds and condensed milk to the custard.
7. Transfer small portions of the fruit custard mix into the ice cream cups and serve immediately when cold!

Tips:

1. You can add any fruit that you want. But naturally, don't add watermelons, cantaloupes or any fruit that has high water content. It will make your custard very watery.

Vegetable Jalfreizi

This is the first Mughlai Dish I made and it was the most amazing side dish I have ever had. The name Vegetable Jalfreizi sounds very complicated but it isn't very difficult to make. All you need is fresh vegetables and the spices that already line up your kitchen counter. This dish is very delicious and rich and the best thing.. not very high in calories! So, what are you waiting for, dive in and indulge in the most amazing flavours that vegetarian cooking can offer!

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

Onion (diced) - 1 cup
Carrot (diced) - 1 cup
Capsicum/Bell Pepper (diced) - 1/2 cup
Paneer/ Cottage Cheese (diced) - 1 cup
Tomato (diced) - 2 cups
Cauliflowers (small florets) - 1 cup
Potatoes (diced) - 1/2 cup
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
Pepper Powder - 2 teaspoons
Red Chilli Powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Dhaniya Powder/Coriander Seed Powder - 2 teaspoons
Garam Masala Powder - 1 teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tablespoons
Yogurt - 1 cup
Bayleaf - 1
Cloves - 3
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 tablespoon
Chopped Coriander - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add jeera, bay leaves. Once they are fried, add onions.
2. Add the carrots and Sauté well . Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and mix well.

3. Add Dhaniya powder, garam masala and half the quantity of coriander. Mix well. Let it cook for a minute or two.
4. Add the tomatoes and salt. Mix well.

5. Allow it cook till the oil seeps out of the cooked tomatoes.
6. Add bell peppers, paneer, cauliflower, potatoes and mix well.

7. Add water and salt, if required. Cover and cook.
8. Add the yogurt and mix well. Cover and cook.

9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot!

Enjoy your Vegetable Jalfreize with rotis, chapathis or ghee rice

Tips:

1. You can add the vegetable of your choice. You can add Yellow, Red Bell peppers as well.
2. Mushrooms and spinach can be added. Add them just before you add yogurt.

Keerai Kootu

The best part about Spinach is that it cooks in seconds... and, it tastes great... and, its yummy!

This yummy, healthy dish is a must have every week! My husband loves Spinach and this makes me to try out many Spinach-y dishes. This recipe is specially here for one of my good friends.

Serves: 3 people

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch
Moong Dhall - 3/4 cup
Dry Red Chillies - 5
Channa Dhall/Kadalai Paruppu - 1/2 tablespoon
Hing/Asafoeitda/perungaayam - a pinch
Sambar Powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera or Mustard - 1 tablespoon
Coconut Oil - 1 tablespoon (optional)
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook the moong dhall to 3-4 whistles.
2. Cut the spinach into small pieces randomly. Wash it well thrice to remove any mud sticking to the leaves.
3. Boil the spinach with a few drops of water with turmeric powder.
4. Once the spinach is boiled, add the cooked moong dhall, sambar powder and salt. Mix well.
5. Let it cook well till the smell of sambar powder is gone.
6. For the tempering, heat oil and add jeera or mustard. Add hing, dry chilli and channa dhall. Finally, add it to the spinach mixture and mix well.
7. Add the coconut oil just before serving for an additional flavor.

Yummy Keerai Kootu is ready to serve!

Tip:

1. Don't add a lot of water when boiling the spinach. The spinach will let out its own water.
2. You can also add grated coconut to the kootu.

Vella Seedai

In continuation to my Uppu Seedai Blog, here's my recipe to Vella Seedai.

Makes: Approx 300 grams of seedai

Ingredients:


Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Coconut (grated) - 1 tablespoon
White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Jaggery - 3/4cup
Cardamom Powder - a pinch
Oil - For frying

Method:

1. In a separate bowl, add jaggery. Pour water that is enough to cover the jaggery. Set it aside for about 20 minutes to let it dissolve. Filter the jaggery water to remove impurities.
2. Meanwhile, sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

3. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

4. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.
5. Dry roast the coconut so that the moisture gets evaporated.
6. Boil the jaggery water in high flame for around 10 minutes. Heat until there are a lot of bubbles. Turn off the gas and set the jaggery aside to cool.

7. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter,coconut and mix well.

8. Add the jaggery water, little by little and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.
9. Make balls about 1-1.5 cm in diameter (Bigger than the uppu seedai. You don't want them to be too small or too big.)

10. Heat the oil and deep fry the seedais in medium heat till they turn dark brown. Make sure they turn dark brown evenly.

Yummy sweet,crispy vella seedais are ready to eat!

Tips:

1. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 
2. Dry roast the coconut.
3. Make sure the balls are not very tightly and evenly rolled. Seedais are not supposed to be evenly shaped. Just roll them for two seconds and leave them aside for about 5 minutes.  This allows the moisture to evaporate and thus the seedais will not burst when immersed in Oil.
4. Even after all this, if you are scared, you can prick each and every seedai with a toothpick and fry it. 

                            Hope you have a safe and enjoyable time making Seedais!

Uppu Seedai

I could not wait to try out the seedais for Gokulashtami. I was intially very scared to make Uppu Seedai and Vella Seedai, but once I made them, I realized it is not very difficult. You just need to be "very extra" careful when making the dough. Fortunately, I didnt have any calamities while preparing the seedais... I mean the bursting, of course. At the end of the day, I was very content that I am capable of making yummy snacks at not much a risk!

Everyone generally gets confused with the proportions, so I kind of did some research online and went with Sharmi's Passion. So for anyone who is scared to try out these seedais but really want to make some, here's the recipe.

Makes: Approx 300 gms of Seedai

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Coconut (grated) - 1 tablespoon
White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Salt  - to taste
Oil - For frying
Water - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:

1.Sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

2. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

3. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.
4. Dry roast the coconut so that the moisture gets evaporated.

5. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter,coconut and salt.

6. Add water in three intervals very carefully and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.
7. Make small pea-sized balls and let them stay on paper or a piece of cloth for about 5 minutes.

8. Heat the oil and deep fry the seedais in medium heat till they turn golden brown. Make sure they turn golden brown evenly.

Yummy melt-in-the-mouth, crispy seedais are ready to eat!

Tips:

1. Grease your hand with a bit of oil to avoid the dough sticking onto your palms.  

These tips will help you reduce the instance of seedais bursting:

1. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 
2. Dry roast the coconut.
3. Make sure the balls are not very tightly and evenly rolled. Seedais are not supposed to be evenly shaped. Just roll them for two seconds and leave them aside for about 5 minutes.  This allows the moisture to evaporate and thus the seedais will not burst when immersed in Oil.
4. Even after all this, if you are scared, you can prick each and every seedai with a toothpick and fry it. 

                        Hope you have a safe and enjoyable time making Seedais!