Tag Archives: Curry

Recipes: Corn, Peas and Peanut Curry

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Some weeks back, I had to make a sabzi for lunch, but was not in a mood to cook and also had nothing really likeable in the fridge. So I decided to raid my freezer and see what I can come up with and this curry was the result. This took me about 30 minutes in total to make, including about 20-25 minutes of soaking time with the actual curry taking less than 10 minutes to make. It was quite delicious to eat.

Corn, Peas and Peanut Curry

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup frozen green peas
  • 1 cup frozen yellow corn
  • ½ cup raw peanuts
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste

Method:

  • Soak the corn, peas, and peanuts in a bowl with hot water for at least 30 minutes.
  • Salt the water, cook the vegetables and peanuts on the stovetop or microwave for 5 minutes, and drain.
  • Heat the oil in a pan, and when the oil heats up, add the cumin seeds and let them pop.
  • Once the cumin pops, add in the drained vegetables and stir well.
  • Season with salt and pepper and let it cook covered on a low to medium flame for 5 minutes.
  • Switch off the gas, drizzle lemon juice if using, and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Recipes: Mixed Vegetable Stew/Curry

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Most weekends, we don’t want to eat rice or chapati which is our staple diet, so I am always on the lookout for new dishes to make which can be eaten without rice or rotis. One of my recent experiments was this dish which is inspired by dishes originating from the western part of India, my home state of Maharashtra and our neighbouring state of Goa. We ate it as a stew with a crusty French loaf, but S also mentioned that it would be lovely to eat with rice or even rotis.

Mixed Vegetable Stew or Curry

Ingredients:

  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
  • 1 medium sized cauliflower, chopped into small florets
  • 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
  • 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
  • 2 medium sized onions, chopped into bite sized pieces
  • 1 green capsicum, chopped into bite sized pieces
  • ½ cup mixed dals (I used moong dal and toovar dal)
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ cup grated coconut
  • 1 lime sized piece of tamarind
  • 5-6 fresh red chillies
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Blend together the coconut, tamarind, red chillies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns and fennel seeds to a smooth paste and keep aside.
  • Soak the dal in hot water for about 20 minutes and then cook it till it becomes a smooth paste. You can cook the dals in a pressure cooker and then whisk it with a beater or even in a blender when it is cool. Keep aside.
  • Heat the oil in a large pan and when the oil warms up, put in the onions and let the onions cook and become translucent.
  • Add the other chopped vegetables, the turmeric powder, salt and cook covered till the vegetables are about 80% cooked.
  • When the vegetables are almost done, pour in the blended coconut paste and the whisked dal and stir well. At this point, add water to thin the stew or curry to the level you want. Remember, the dal and coconut will thicken the stew, so add a bit more than you think you need.
  • Let it all come to a nice rolling boil and then cook on a low to medium heat for about 10 minutes.
  • Check for seasoning and add what you feel is missing, switch off the gas and enjoy it with some crusty bread, rice or flatbread.

Notes:

  • If you don’t have access to fresh red chillies, you can also use dried red chillies, and depending on the spice intensity, reduce or increase the number of chillies
  • When blending the tamarind, make sure you remove any seeds in it as well as any extra fibers. You can also use about one to two tsps of tamarind paste or pulp.
  • The dal should be very smooth so that when you add it in the stew, it will disappear. So make you cook it completely and then whisk or blend it.

Vazhakkai Masala Curry (Raw Green Bananas Masala Curry)

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I had the urge to try something different to the usual saturday cooking and so decided to make this raw green banana curry. I usually make this with just salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder with a tadka of mustard, asafoetida and some curry leaves. Today was different. Here’s what I did.

Vazhakkai Masala Curry

Ingredients:

–   4-5 vazhakkais (raw green bananas), peeled and cubed

–   3 tbsps oil

–   1 tsp mustard seeds

–   ½ tsp turmeric powder

–   A pinch of asafoetida

–   3-4 sprigs curry leaves

To be ground into a coarse paste

–   4 tbsps fresh, grated cocounut

–   2 tsps coriander seeds

–   2 tsps cumin seeds

–   1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

–   6-8 dried red chillies

–   A small pebble-sized ball of tamarind

Method:

Grind to a coarse paste the ingredients for the paste, using as little water as possible.

In a deep bottomed pan, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves.

Next put the ground masala paste and sauté it for a few minutes. Now add the cubed vazhakkai and mix well. Add salt to taste. At this point, if you feel the curry is not spicy enough, you can add some red chilli powder also. Let it cook well and enjoy. This goes well with rice and dal or sambhar.

Verdict: This was a very different from what we normally eat for this vegetable. It was spicy, but not overtly spicy and my children could eat it with complaining. There was also a tangy undertone to the curry due to the tamarind in the masala which I liked a lot!