Category Archives: Recipes

Recipe: Snake Gourd Dal

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IMG_5918Indian vegetables are a staple in my house, especially when we have done shopping in the Little India district. And Snake Gourd somehow makes it home every time this happens. Normally I make a stir-fry with this vegetable and honestly, even I was bored with that every single time. I decided to search and see if anything else can be made and found people had experimented with dal with this vegetable. So I also decided to make a dal and did a very simple dal with hardly any seasoning. The result was a delicious dal which would go  very well with both rice as well as rotis and flatbreads.

trichosanthes_cucumerina_aka_snake_gourdThis is a common vegetable in India and because it’s long and slim (like a snake, it is called Snake Gourd). The vegetable has many health benefits too, including  its ability to improve the strength of the immune system, reduce fevers, detoxify the body, improve the digestive processes of the body, increase hydration in the body, treat diabetes, boost the strength and quality of the hair, and aid in weight loss. More information on this vegetable on Wikipedia and this site.

Snake Gourd Dal

IMG_5919Ingredients:

  • 2 snake gourds, peeled and chopped into pieces
  • 1 cup chana dal (yellow split chick peas)
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 1 tsp jaggery (or sugar, brown sugar)

For the seasoning:

  • 1 tsp ghee or oil
  • 1.5 tsps cumin seed powder
  • 2 whole red chillies,
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 1 inch stick cinnamon
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Wash the dal and let it soak in warm water for 15-20 minutes. Wash the snake
  • In a pressure cooker, add the dal, snake gourd, turmeric powder, a safoetida powder and 2 cups of water and cooker for 3 whistles.
  • If you do not have a pressure cooker, cook this in a large bottom pan on the stove and keep an eye on the water. Keep adding water when it evaporates. The end result should be a mushy dal with the snake gourd completely cooked.
  • Let the pressure subside and when the pressure is fully released, open the cooker and mash the mixture well.
  • In a separate, smaller pan, heat the ghee or oil and add the cumin seeds.
  • When the cumin seeds pop, add in the cloves, cinnamon and red chillies and let it pop. When the red chillies start to brown, remove from the flame and pour over the dal.
  • Close the lid of the dal tightly for 10 minutes to let the dal get infused with the seasoning.
  • Open the lid and check for salt. Add lemon juice, jaggary and garnish with coriander leaves.

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Recipe: Fenugreek and Sweet Corn Pulao

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IMG_5926Now that I am at home these days, I try to cook something different each day, especially since BB & GG are having school holidays.

Today, instead of a dal, rice, vegetable combo, I decided to make some pulao. Digging through the freezer, I found some frozen fenugreek or methi as it’s called in Hindi along with frozen sweetcorn and I had the perfect pulao to make! The slight bitterness of the fenugreek pairs perfectly with the slight sweetness of sweetcorn and this dish comes together in no time!

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Methi Corn Pulao

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup frozen methi (fenugreek)
  • 1.5 cups frozen sweetcorn
  • 1 onion, sliced lengthwise thinly
  • 3 cups basmati rice, soaked in water for a minimum of 20 minutes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 5 cardamom
  • 5 cloves
  • 10-12 cashewnuts
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tsp cumin seed powder
  • 1 inch piece ginger, julienned
  • 3-4 green chillies, cut into big pieces
  • 1 tsp ghee or oil
  • salt to taste

Method:

  • Defrost the methi and sweetcorn and keep aside.
  • Slice the onions lengthwise and keep aside.
  • Drain the water from the basmati rice and keep aside.
  • In a pan, warm 1 tsp ghee or oil and when the ghee is warm, add the cumin seeds and let it splutter.
  • When the cumin seeds start popping, add the dry masalas – bay leaves, cloves and cardamom one by one and stir for a few seconds.
  • Next add the ginger and green chillies and stir them for a few seconds.
  • Add the cashewnuts and let it start browning. Make sure you don’t burn the cashewnuts.
  • Next add the onions and let it become translucent.
  • Once the onions have cooked and become translucent, add the defrosted methi and let it cook for a while. The methi will slightly shivel up.
  • At this point, add the sweetcorn and some salt and let it cook. Cook for approximately 5 mins and then add the rice.
  • Stir well and let the spices get incorporated well and switch off the gas.
  • Pour this mixture into a rice cooker and add the water. Check for salt and add more if needed.
  • Depending on your rice cooker, it should take approximately 30-40 minutes to cook. Once it is done, switch off the cooker and let it sit for a while. Then fluff it up using a fork.
  • If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can also cook on the stove. At the point when the rice, methi and corn is cooked, add the water and check for salt. Then keep an eye on the dish as the rice cooks. This should take around 15-20 minutes. If you feel the water is not enough, add a bit more to let the rice cook.

Delicious corn methi pulao is ready! I served it with a mixed vegetable in a yoghurt sauce (recipe coming soon)

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Recipe: Cabbage Salad

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Cabbage Salad 1I’m typing this from Yogyakarta, Indonesia where we are for our semi-annual holiday. We’ve been here for just a day now, but I love what I saw so far!

Before leaving, I wanted to finish off the vegetables in the fridge and saw this quarter head of purple cabbage. I decided to make a salad out of this and it was such a hit, I made it three times this week! I experimented with purple cabbage and green cabbage as well as other vegetables, and each variation was superb! Even S who would not eat a salad if he could was raving about it.

This recipe requires a bit of prep work beforehand, but it is completely worth it!

Cabbage Salad

Cabbage Salad 3Ingredients:

  • 1 half head of cabbage (I used purple cabbage in this photo, but you can also use green cabbage)
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 onions
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

For the dressing

  • 3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsps lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a pinch of sugar
  • a handful of cashewnuts
  • a handful of almonds
  • 2 tsps white sesame seeds

Cabbage Salad 4Method:

  • Shred the cabbage (you can do this easily using a madolin slicer, otherwise, just shred finely with a knife)
  • Grate the carrots
  • Chop the onions and bell pepper lengthwise in fine strips
  • Chop the cashewnuts and almonds into small pieces or silvers and dry roast them in a pan till crisp. Remove from flame and dry roast the sesame seeds till they are slightly brown and crisp. Let this cool completely.
  • Toss and mix the shredded and chopped vegetables well. Add the coriander leaves and keep aside till it’s time to eat. You can pop it into the fridge till needed.
  • Around 15-20 minutes before it’s time to eat, remove the salad from the fridge and make the dressing.
  • For the dressing, in a small bowl, add all the dressing ingredients – olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper and stir well.
  • Pour over the salad and toss well. Add the chopped and roasted nuts and serve.

I also added grated radish to one of my versions, and that too tasted great!

Cabbage Salad 2

 

Recipe: Hummus and Tahini

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I’ve made Hummus years and years back when I was on a food experimentation drive. The past few weeks, in a bid to increase good protein, I was thinking of making hummus again, but somehow this did not happen. Then the other day, I read about someone who was raving about Tesco’s caramelized onion hummus and I was intrigued. This made me want to try making hummus again, and also try it with caramelized onion. As luck would be, I also had some dry chickpeas or garbazano beans which were going to go bad soon and so this recipe of hummus soon saw the light of the day.

When I made Hummus earlier, I didn’t add Tahini paste to it, thinking I won’t get it here in Singapore. Then when I went online and found how to make it, I realised it was very simple and so this time, I made it as authentic as I could….

Hummus and Tahini

Ingredients:

Tahini 2For the Tahini Paste 

  • 2 tbsps white sesame seeds
  • 3-4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Hummus 2For the Hummus

  • 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked in a pressure cooker until soft
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3-4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsps tahini
  • 2 tbsps lemon juice
  • salt to taste

Method:

For the Tahini

  • Soak the sesame seeds in a bowl of water and drain it.
  • In a dry pan, dry roast it till it starts to crackle. This should take not more than 5-6 minutes. Do not let it brown too much and burn.
  • Take it off the gas and let it cool completely.
  • In a small mixer/blender, blend the sesame seeds to a powder, then add the olive oil and blend till it becomes a smooth paste. Keep aside.

Hummus 2For the Hummus

  • In another pan, add 1 tsp oil (I used a canola olive blend) and when it warms, add the chopped garlic and stir, letting it brown and caramalize.
  • When it browns, remove and keep aside. In the same pan, with the remaining oil, add in the chopped onions and let them brown and caramalize. Once it has browned, remove and keep aside.
  • In another mixer blender, add the chickpeas, caramalized onions and garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini and blend well.
  • You can blend it smooth like I did or keep it slightly coarse. You can also keep some onions aside to use as a topping.
  • Check for salt and serve. You can also add some red chilli powder to use as a topping when serving.

I usually eat this plain, or add in my red chilli chutney and eat….

Hummus 4

 

Recipe: Gujarati Dal

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IMG_5632[2]Dal or pulses is the staple of any Indian meal, more so, if its a vegetarian meal as this is the one which supplies the protein to the meal. So every community in India will have their own versions of dal. We also make some sort of dal almost every day, and one of my favourites is this sweet and sour dal from the state of Gujarat. This dal is quite simple to make and uses ingredients found in the pantry. For non-Indians reading this blog, the dal I used can be brought from any Indian store or any supermarket which sells grains.
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Gujarati Dal

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup yellow moong dal, washed and soaked in water for 10 minutes
  • 2 tbsps raw peanuts, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 green chilli, chopped finely
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
  • 1 tsp grated jaggery (sugar or brown sugar can be a substitute)
  • 1-2 tsps lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Water as required
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

To temper

  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
  • 2 inch piece cinnamon stick
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 2-3 dried red chillies
  • A pinch of asafoetoda

Method:

  • In a pressure cooker, add the dal, tomato chopped into 4 large pieces and the turmeric powder and cook till it becomes mushy. This should take 3-4 whistles, but you can cook it on a stovetop also.
  • Once cool, open the cooker, remove the skin of the tomato and mash the dal well and add it to a large pan along with enough water to make it into a thin consistency. To this add the red chilli powder, chopped chilli and ginger and the peanuts (remove from the water first).
  • Add salt to taste and let it come to a nice rolling boil. Let it boil for around 10 minutes and then prepare the tempering.
  • In a small pan, heat the ghee and when warm add the tempering ingredients in the following order: mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dried red chillies, cinnamon stick and cloves, stirring for a couple of seconds each time before adding the next ingredient.
  • Once the spice mixture has sizzled, add it to the dal.
  • Switch off the gas and add the lemon juice and check for salt. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice and a vegetable of your choice.

Delicious Gujarati dal is ready!

 

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