Tag Archives: Recipes

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!

Mint Rice

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This super easy and yummy rice recipe was lying in my drafts for a longest time. I think I made it around 2 months back and took photos with the intention of blogging about it! Anyways, here it is, better late than never…

Mint Rice

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Basmati (long grained) rice, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
  • 2 packed cups fresh mint
  • 1 large onion, chopped roughly
  • 4-5 green chillies (depending on the spiciness of the chillies, use more or less)
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 inch piece of ginger
  • 1 cup coriander leaves
  • salt to taste
  • a handful of cashews
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • ¼ tsp cloves
  • 1 tbsp ghee or oil

Method:
In a blender blend together all the following: mint leaves, coriander leaves, garlic, ginger, onion and make it a soft, smooth paste with no lumps.

Next, heat ghee and fry the cashews and keep aside. Leave the leftover ghee in the pan and using that, put the following in the this order: cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinammon, cardamom and saute for around 30 seconds. Then add the mint paste and saute for a minute. Now add the drained rice, add salt to taste and saute till all the grains of rice get coated with the mint paste.

Now transfer this to a rice cooker and add approximately 1.75 cups of water, switch it on and let it cook till done. When the rice is cooked, open and check and add some more water if needed. Leave it closed for a while and then fluff it with a fork.

Sprinkle the cashewnuts just before serving. Serve with a serving of raita.

Minty Benefits

  1. Mint is a very good appetiser and also aids in digestion.
  2. It is also very good for soothing upset  stomachs.
  3. The smell of mint also aids in relieving nausea
  4. Mint is also very good in giving relief to respiratory illnesses, opening up the congestion in the nose and throat etc.
  5. As mint oil is a very good antiseptic, you can use it to get rid of pimples
  6. Last one, promise – Mint is a very good mouth freshener, so after you eat something, if you  pop a few mint leaves of mint in your mouth, it will  leave it smelling fresh and well, minty!

Baby Potatoes in Yoghurt Gravy – Kashmiri Dum Aloo

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I wanted to make something different for lunch today and searched for an exotic, yet easy to make recipe, something involving potatoes and yoghurt. I came across this yummy recipe by Honey from Honey, what’s cooking. I followed her recipe almost to the tee and so will not show the recipe here, but here’s the link if you want to read/see it. She’s got photos of the entire process so it’s easy even for a non-cook. Here’s how mine came out.

Verdict: It was tasty and not very spicy as I controlled the spice factor in the recipe. BB & S can’t eat spicy food and so all my cooking has to be less spicy than I like. I also made Pudina/Mint rice to go with this and will blog about this soon. I also made it a bit more watery than usual, but this was because I was going to eat this with rice. I would make this more thick if I was to eat it with rotis. This would also be an excellent accompaniment to rotis/chapattis/puris/nans.