Tag Archives: Main Course

Recipes: Bhindi Masala or Okra (Ladies Finger) in a Tomato Gravy

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Bhindi or Ladies Finger is one of my favourite vegetables. When fried right, it is crisp and super yummy. I remember my grandmother’s telling us to eat this vegetable when we were young saying that eating this vegetable will improve your brain. Though I have no idea if this is true or just an old wives tale, it did ensure that this became one of my favourite vegetables ever.

Okra is scientifically known as Abelmoschus esculentus, and it might have originated in parts of Western Africa and Asia. It has been cultivated since the 12th century BC. While researching on the benefits of Ladies Finger for this post, I realised that this unassuming vegetable actually has many benefits. Bhindi has one of the richest sources of potassium, folic acid, vitamins B and C, calcium, and fibre. Okra alleviates asthma, lowers cholesterol, protects the heart, manages diabetes, boosts your immune system, improves vision, prevents kidney diseases and is a very good addition for pregnant women to eat.

A note of warning though, this recipe does use more oil than usual, so keep that in mind while making it. If you are on a diet, this recipe is probably not for you. This version of bhindi masala is made using a modified basic Punjabi gravy.

Bhindi Masala

Ingredients:

  • 20-25 ladies fingers, washed and completely dried
  • 1 large and 1 medium sized onion
  • 3 medium sized tomatoes
  • 8-10 garlic pods
  • 1 inch piece of ginger
  • 6-8 pieces of cashewnuts
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp dry mango powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • 3-4 tbsp oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Make sure the ladies fingers are completely dry. Then top and tail them and cut them into one inch pieces. Keep wiping your knife with a kitchen towel to remove all the slime from the seeds of the okra. Keep aside.
  • Chop the large onion vertically into long thin slices and keep aside.
  • In a blender, blend the ginger, garlic, the medium sized onion, tomatoes and cashewnuts into a fio a fine paste. Keep aside.
  • Heat the oil in a pan and when it is hot, add the okra in batches along with a pinch of salt and let it cook. The okra should turn dark green and crisp. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
  • In the same pan, with the balance oil, add the cumin seeds and when the seeds pop, add the sliced onions. Stir and let the onions become translucent.
  • When the onions become translucent, add in the blended gravy and let it come to a rolling boil. Add in the spices – salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and raw mango powder and let it simmer for around 5-10 minutes.
  • Add water to thin the gravy to the consistency you want. Add in the garam masala powder and check for seasoning and add what seems to be missing.
  • Add in the fried ladies finger and give it a simmer and switch off the flame after garnishing with the finely chopped coriander leaves.
  • If you don’t have access to dry mango powder, you can substitute it with 1 tsp lemon juice. Add the lemon juice at the very end, just after you switch off the flame.

This goes very well with both Indian flatbreads and even rice.

Recipes: Chettinad Style Shallots and Baby Potatoes Curry

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Chettinad is a region located mainly in the Sivaganga district ruled by Ramnad kingdom of Pandya Nadu and has a small portion extending into the Pudukottai District of Chola Nadu in Tamil Nadu, India. This region is also home to the Nattukottai Chettiars or Nagarathar who are a prosperous prosperous banking and business community and many in this community have migrated to various parts of south and southeast Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The region is associated with gorgeous and palatial homes as well as a lip-smacking spicy cuisine.

I used to make a shallots and baby potatoes curry from Sanjeev Kapoor many years back, so last week when I found myself with both shallots and baby potatoes in the house, I decided to try to make this curry, but this time tried a spin on the classic chettinad masala. Now this is not an authentic masala as I only used a fraction of the ingredients usually used, but the result was equally yummy and the whole curry disappeared in no time!

This recipe can also be made with normal onions and potatoes, just cut them up to the size of shallots and baby potatoes and you can continue to make it the same way.

Chettinad Style Shallots and Baby Potatoes Curry

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup shallots, peeled
  • 1 cup baby potatoes, washed and scrubbed
  • 1 green capsicum, cut into 1 inch squares
  • ¼ tsp black peppercorns
  • ½ tsp fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp coriander seeds
  • ¼ tsp cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 4-6 dried red chillies
  • 4-6 curry leaves
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Heat a pan on low-medium flame and when the pan becomes warm, add all the whole spices – pepper corns, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and the dried red chillies and dry roast them till they are crisp, but not burnt. You should be able to smell the fragrance of the spices. Switch off the gas and when cool, transfer to a spice blender and blend to a fine powder.
  • Cut those shallots which are big into half or quarters and keep the others as they are. Do the same with the scrubbed potatoes. Those which are big can be halved or quartered. Cut the green bell pepper or capsicum also into the same size pieces. The intention is to keep all pieces roughly the same size so they cook at the same time. Keep everything aside.
  • In the same pan, heat the oil and when the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, tear the curry leaves and add it to the oil. Stir for a couple of seconds and then add the turmeric powder.
  • Now add the shallots and stir for a few minutes. When the shallots start to turn translucent, add the capsicum and baby potatoes and cook covered until they are 50% done.
  • At that point, add salt and the ground masala and stir well, making sure to coat all pieces of shallots, baby potatoes and capsicum with the masala.
  • Let the vegetables cook completely and when done, serve hot as part of any south Indian meal.

Enjoy a delicious and yummy curry!

Recipes: Veg Jaipuri

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I have been wanting to make this recipe for a while now and was searching for a good recipe to play with when I came across this recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor’s website. I mostly adhered to his recipe, but to make it healthier, omited khoya or dried evaporated milk solids and fresh cream, but instead used a low fat home made yoghurt to replace the cream.

Veg Jaipuri

Ingredients:

  • 2 cup chopped mixed vegetables (I used cauliflowers, potatoes, frozen peas, french beans and green bell peppers, but you can use others also to give it more colour)
  • 1 cup frozen paneer
  • 3 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 6-8 cashew nuts
  • 4 green chillies
  • a few strands saffron
  • 3 medium sized onions, chopped finely
  • 5-6 pods garlic
  • 1 inch piece of ginger
  • 2-3 large tomatoes, chopped finely
  • 1/2 cup beaten plain yoghurt
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1 tbsp raisins
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

  • Chop the vegetables into bit sized pieces. Soak the paneer in hot water for 20-30 minutes, then chop them into bit sized pieces and keep aside.
  • Heat a pan and when warm, add one tbsp ghee and sauté the coriander seeds, cashewnuts and green chilliesfor two minutes. Grind all of this with saffron into a smooth paste.
  • In another smaller blender, blend together the ginger and garlic into a smooth paste and keep aside.
  • Heat the remaining ghee in a pan. Sauté the onions till they turn translucent. Add the the ginger-garlic paste and stir for a few minutes till they turn light golden in colour. Add tomatoes and garam masala powder and cook till the tomatoes are pulpy.
  • Add the chopped vegetables, salt, the ground paste, raisins and one cup of water and simmer for five to seven minutes.
  • When almost done, add the beaten yoghurt and the paneer and let it come to a slow simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes and switch off the gas.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with any Indian bread or rice.

Mixed Vegetables in a Creamy Tomato Yoghurt Sauce

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Last weekend, I was desperate to find something to make, but all ideas seemed to have dried up. So I started cooking, thinking inspiration will come along the way. I started making my gravy dish with zero idea of how it will turn out. This was literally my kitchen experiment. And I must say, this dish exceeded all expectations (which was fairly low to begin with, actually!). It was this mild but creamy dish which was at the same time, slightly tart with a hint of spiciness at the back of the throat. All in all, this recipe is a definte keeper. And the best part, it’s fairly easy (for an Indian dish) to put together.

Mixed Vegetables in a Creamy Tomato Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups mixed vegetables, chopped into small bite-sized pieces (I used broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and green peas, but you could play around with what you have in the fridge)
  • 1/2 cup paneer, chopped to same size as the vegetables
  • 2 medium sized onions
  • 2 medium sized tomatoes
  • 1 tsp white sesame seeds
  • 1/2 tsp carom seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp kasuri methi
  • 10 pieces of cashewnuts
  • 5-6 fresh red chillies
  • 1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 1 bulb garlic, peeled
  • 1/2 cup plain yoghurt
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped to garnish

Method:

  • Heat the oil in a pan and when warm, add the cumin seeds. When the seeds pop, add the turmeric powder and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Then add the chopped vegetables and cook covered, until almost cooked.
  • In the meantime, blend the ginger, garlic, red chillies, onions, tomatoes, cashewnuts, sesame seeds, carom seeds and fennel seeds into a smooth paste.
  • When the vegetables are almost cooked, add in the chopped paneer and stir to cover. Add salt to taste.
  • Then add the blended paste and mix well.
  • In the same blender, blend the yoghurt smoothly with water if needed and add this to the gravy.
  • Add water if needed to thin the gravy to the consistency you want.
  • Add the garam masala powder and stir well.
  • Crush the kasuri methi in your palms and sprinkle in the gravy.
  • Let it simmer on a medium-low flame for about five minutes.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or any Indian flatbread of your choice
  • You could also add fresh cream along with the beaten yoghurt to increase the creaminess and richness to this recipe, especially if you are planning to make this for a dinner party.

Recipes: Dal Akbari

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I first heard of this dish in a television drama where one character cooks a feast and one of the dishes was Dal Akbari. The name really intrigued me and I went online searching for the recipe. I found a recipe, which I bookmarked to make one day. This dish is most likely from the Mughal courts.

That one day came last week when I tried this dish. The dish didn’t look very appealing, but was very tasty. It didn’t take very long to cook, just the soaking time for the dal is quite long.

Dal Akbari

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup whole black urad dal (black lentils), soaked in water for 8 hours or overnight
  • 1/2 cup yoghurt, well beaten
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tbsp dry mango powder (amchur powder)
  • 1 -2 tsp garam masala powder
  • 2 dashes nutmeg powder
  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Wash the soaked urad dal and cook it in a pressure cooker till it is soft and mushy. Beat well and keep aside.
  • If using the stove to cook it, then cook it, stirring occasionally till it is soft and mushy. Keep aside.
  • Heat the ghee or oil in a pan and when the fat warms, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter.
  • Next, add the grated ginger and stir for a few seconds.
  • Then quickly add the well beaten yoghurt and some salt to stabilse the yoghurt and on a medium low flame, let the yoghurt come to a nice rolling boil. Keep stirring constantly to ensure that the yoghurt does not curdle.
  • When the yoghurt starts to leave the sides of the pan, add the dry spices – dry mango powder, nutmeg powder, salt and garam masala powder. You can also add red chilli powder if you like your dal spicy.
  • Pour the cooked dal over this and stir well to mix. Check for seasoning and add what is missing.
  • Garmish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or Indian flatbread.

Note: This recipe will also work well with the addition of fresh cooking cream. If you plan to add it, add it just before you add the yoghurt.