Okra Stirfry (Ladies Finger/Bhindi Stirfry)

I got this very simple and delicious recipe from my mother-in-law.

Ingredients:

Okra/Bhindi - 250 gms
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Asofoetida - a pinch
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and clean the okra. Chop off the ends and slice them in medium thickness.
Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Add urad dal, asofoetida, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add the sliced okra to this and stirfry so that the oil and powders coat all over. Sprinkle salt and continue stir frying for about 10 mins. Okra will start to shrink in size and get a cooked green colour. Serve as a side dish with rice.

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Kovakkai Poriyal - Ivy Gourd Stirfry

This is the first guest post on this blog, from one of the biggest followers of my blog, my dear husband!
Now that he has started trying his hand in cooking, he surprised me one day when I came back from work, by cooking up this beautiful poriyal. I have never tasted anything like it before and it was scrumptious! He even plated it and took photos for me to post this on the blog. How sweet! Hopefully there will be more guest posts on the way.
This recipe is followed from Solai's True Chettinad kitchen blog.

Ingredients:

Ivy Gourd/Kovakkai/Tindora-1/2 kg
Big onion- 1 (cut length wise)
Garlic - 2 cloves
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Chana dal (roasted and powdered) - 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Mix the sambar powder and salt needed with the kovakkai and keep aside for 15 minutes. Now keep the kadai (wok) in the stove. In one table spoon of oil, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the onions and garlic, fry till golden brown. Now add the kovakkai pieces and sauté in the oil itself for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water, mix well, close the kadai, reduce the flame and cook for 7 to 8 minutes. Check in between if there is enough water in the wok. When you feel that the veg has been cooked till soft, increase the flame and let all the water content evaporate. The oil you added in the beginning will come out at this stage. Now add the Bengal gram mix kept ready and mix well. If you cook for another 2 to 3 minutes stirring continuously, the Bengal gram powder will form a coating on the kovakkai and it will get roasted well. If you don’t have Bengal gram powder, paruppu podi (toor dal powder) can be used.

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Chena Mezhukkupuratti - Stir fried Elephant Yam

Chena Mezhukkupuratti is a very tasty mezhukkupuratti which is easy to prepare and can be served with rice.

Ingredients:

Chena (Elephant Yam) : 1/4 kg
Shallots  - 10 no
Green Chillies - 2 nos (Cut legth wise at the bottom only)
Coconut Oil - 4 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required

Method:

Cut the yam into cube pieces. Slice the onions thin.

Cook chena with salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder (Do not overcook, as mezhukkupuratti will not come out well with mashed chena. I learnt this the hard way. Also cutting them into very small pieces can also lead to mashing up).

Pour oil into a hard bottomed pan and add green chilly and Onion slices.

When the onion turns golden brown, add the cooked vegetable.

Fry for some time until all the water disappears and the mezhukkupuratti appears dry.

Mezhukkupuratti is ready to be served with Rice.

An earlier one I prepared in India:

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Bhindi Masala - North Indian style Okra stir fry

I was working at home again and I had to cook up something really fast for lunch. There was a packet of ladyfingers and I've already mentioned in my previous post that I'm not really a fan of this vegetable. But I didn't want it to go to waste and I was bored with the ularthiyathu recipe and wanted to change it a bit. So I searched and found another blog called Whatz Cooking. Not so fancy but the bhindi masala looked good and different.

Ingredients:

250 gms Bhindi (Lady Finger)
3-4 Onions
4 Tomatoes (puree)
1 Tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 Tsp Dhania Powder (Coriander Powder)
1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 Tsp Kasuri Methi
1 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
5-6 Tbsp Oil
Chopped Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
Salt to taste

Method:

In a pan, take 2-3 tbsp Oil and fry the lady finger. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add more 2-3 tbsp oil and fry onions.
Once the onions become soft, add ginger-garlic paste and sauté.
Add dhania powder, red chilli powder and sauté again.
Add tomato puree and salt and cook till the masala leaves the edges of the pan.
Add the fried bhindi to the masala. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Once the bhindi is cooked, add crushed kasuri methi and garam masala powder.
While serving, garnish with corrainder leaves.

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Chettinad Vazhakkai Kara Poriyal - Plantain stir fry

Credit: http://chettinadthruminu.blogspot.com/2010/12/chettinad-vazhakkai-kara-poriyal.html

Ingredients:

Raw Banana - 1

Turmerric Powder - 1 pinch

Salt to taste

Tamarind - 1 Tbsp

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp

Red Chillies - 3, broken

Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Coconut - 2 Tbsp, grated

Method:

Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water and extract pulp.

Boil raw banana with salt, turmerric powder and tamarind extract. Add extra water if necessary.

It will cook in minutes. Drain and keep aside. Cool.

Heat oil and add mustard, urad dal, curry leaves and red chillies.

Add cooked raw banana and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes.

Add grated coconut (optional) and take off heat.

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Vendakka Ularthiyathu/Okra/Lady's Finger Stir Fry

Credit: http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/vendakka-ularthiyathuokraladys-finger-stir-fry-fid-678870

Ingredients:

Vendakka/Okra - 500gm chopped
Onion - 1 big sliced
Green chillies - 2-3 slitted lengthwise
Curry leaves - few
Chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions, green chillies and turmeric. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add salt, chilli flakes and okra. Stir fry in medium heat until well cooked and dry. Serve hot with rice/roti.

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Pavakka Fry - Fried Bitter Gourd

This is a recipe I found from somewhere but now can't find the source. Since I remember it, as it is so easy, I'm just writing it down here.

Ingredients:

1. Pavakka (Bitter-gourd) - 2
2. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
3. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Oil for frying

Method:

Wash bitter gourd well and cut them into medium thick slices. Put them in a bowl and add sprinkle salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder over them. Mix them by hand to coat all over the pavakka pieces. Leave it to marinate for about half an hour to 1 hour.
Heat oil in a pan and once the oil is hot, put in the pavakka pieces and saute until cooked to your taste. More you cook, lesser the bitterness, more the crispiness but lesser the nutrients. :)
Good accompaniment with rice.

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Chembu roast - Taro fry

Another very easy recipe for those lazy cooks. So few ingredients and the only one that has to be chopped is the chembu itself (or cheppankezhangu as some call it) Those nights when I want to hit the sacks as soon as possible, I make these lovely things that go well with dal and rice.

Credit: http://the-menucard.blogspot.com/2009/09/cheppankezhangu-roast.html

Ingredients:

Cheppan kezhangu/chembu/arbi/Taro/Colocasia - 6
Oil -1 tbsp
Chilli powder-1 tsp
Salt for taste
Asafoetida for taste
For tempering:
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Mustard-1/2 tsp
Urad dal-1/2 tsp

Method:

My note:
I did not pressure cook the chembu as being asked in this recipe. I tried it once but it got really mushy, but tried it again with just one whistle which was fine. I usually take the chembu and wash them first to take off as much soil as possible. Then I boil them in an open pot for a while and check it in between with a fork or knife to see if it has been cooked just enough so that the peel comes off easily. Once cooked, allow it to cool down or just add cold water to it. Peel off the chembu with a small knife and cut them into bite size pieces. Now use them in the recipe.

1.Pressure cook the roots until 2 whistles. Peel of the skin and cut into small cubes.
2.Temper the rest of the ingredients in a tbsp of oil, add all the powders and cooked cheppankezhangu.
3.Roast for 5 mins. Serve.

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Carrot-Potato Mezhukkupuratti : The love of Vazhayila!

One of the best blogs that I have found for the traditional Syrian Christian Kerala recipes are from vazhayila.blogspot.com This one is almost like a cooking bible for me. Most of the recipes are the simple foods that my mom used to cook everyday in our kitchen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. My sister and I took them for granted and complained about eating such boring food when I could try something continental or north indian or mughlai or italian or mexican.... And then those horrible hostel days while studying engineering where most of us would complain at the spiciness or the tasteless food.
But now looking back at those days, I remember that despite all those complaints, we used to eat to our content and some of those staple foods actually did taste quite good, not to forget was healthy too. So now on my journey back to my roots, here are some of my favourite recipes from vazhayila.com

Credit: http://www.vazhayila.com/2010/03/carrot-potato-mezhukkupuratti.html

view original source ! Vazhayila !: Carrot - Potato Mezhukkupuratti http://www.vazhayila.com/2010/03/carrot-potato-mezhukkupuratti.html#ixzz1AM7woeLi

Ingredients:

Potato - 3 nos.

Carrot - 2 nos.

Onions chopped - 1 small

Garlic - 2 cloves

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves 

Salt to taste

Oil

Method:

Crush Onions and garlic in a mortar and pestle.Clean and Slice the carrots lengthwise and put it in water, if not it may cause potatoes to change color.Heat oil in a pan and  curry leaves, crushed onions and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Add chili powder , turmeric powder and Garam masala and toss it well for a minute.Add drained potato , carrots , salt and 1/4 cup water. Cover it with a lid and cook for 7-10 minutes or until its is cooked and dry. Uncover and sautee for another 3-4 minutes , stirring frequently. Serve warm

Cheers!!!

My notes:
1. As I do not have a mortar and pestle, I would just slice the onions finely and add them. Garlic, I would crush them by taking the flat part of a chef's knife and apply pressure to the garlic clove. So the clove gets crushed and its easier to peel its cover away. Now add them to the recipe.
A photographic guide for dummies: http://www.garlic-central.com/garlic-crushing.html
2. I added the potatoes in water as I was more concerned about those off white little cute cubes to turn light brown.
3. You can also add some bell peppers (capsicum) - I always have some leftover and need to use them before they go bad. So I use them and it adds a wonderful flavor to this recipe.
4. The technique used here to cook potatoes is actually a very good one. Some people would also make this mezhukkupuratti by boiling the potatoes first. But boiling them first and then frying them does add the risk of overcooking them and potato will end up being very mushy and would absorb a lot of oil. So if you use this technique of sauteing the veggies first and then adding enough water to cover them in the frying pan, and allowing it to cook, you get a texture that has a slight bite but is cooked well. Serve with steamed rice and dal. Bon appetit!

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