Vellai Kurma

VELLAI KURMA – RESTAURANT STYLE SOUTH INDIAN WHITE VEGETABLE KORMA

 

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PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

 

South Indian Tamilnadu Restaurant style white vegetable kurma called as vellai kuruma or parotta korma. Finger licking good!

Author: Kannamma @kannammacooks.com

Recipe type: Gravy

Cuisine: South Indian

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

For the raw ground paste

• 1 cup fresh shredded coconut
• ¼ cup cashews
• 1 clove
• 2 cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 2 green chillies

Boiled Vegetables

• 1 cup carrots
• 1 cup beans
• 1 cup potatoes
• 1 cup peas

Other Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 sprigs curry leaves (optional)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Raw ground paste: Grind all the ingredients with about 1-2 cups of water to a smooth paste.
2. Boil about 4 cups of mixed vegetables until al-dente and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add in a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds and 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Let it splutter. Add in the chopped onions and salt. Saute till slightly brown. Add in the ground masala paste and let it simmer in low flame for about 5 minutes.
4. Once the raw smell goes, after 5 minutes add the boiled vegetables. Take a small cup and add a tablespoon of cornstarch or maida (All purpose flour). Add ½ cup water to it and make a slurry. Add the slurry to the gravy. The slurry helps in thickening the gravy. Do not add the corn starch or maida directly as it may lump up. Simmer for couple of minutes more.
5. Serve hot with roti or chapati.

Broccoli with Besan Subzi

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Broccoli – 8 oz, cut into bite sized florets (washed and dried)
Oil – 2 Tbsp, divided
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Asafotida – 1/8 tsp
Garlic – 1 Tbsp, finely chopped
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Salt – to taste
Chickpea Flour (Besan) – 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1/4 tsp
Dry Mango Powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – 1/4 tsp or to taste
Lime or Lemon Juice – to taste for garnishing

Method:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp Oil in a skillet on medium heat.
2. Add Cumin Seeds and allow them to sizzle.
3. Add Asafoetida, Garlic and Green Chilies. Stir for 15 seconds.
4. Add Broccoli and mix well. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Lightly salt the broccoli and continue to cook covered for another 2-3 minutes
5. In a separate bowl, combine Chickpea Flour, Turmeric Powder, Cumin Powder, Dry Mango Powder, Garam Masala, Salt, Coriander Powder and Red Chili Powder.
6. Add 1 Tbsp Oil and incorporate it well into the flour.
7. Uncover the broccoli and sprinkle the Chickpea Flour mixture evenly over all of the florets. DO NOT MIX.
8. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
9. Uncover the broccoli and sprinkle a little water (just enough to moisten the chickpea flour lightly). Mix, cover and cook for another 3 minutes.
10. Garnish with Lime/Lemon Juice and serve hot with chapati or rice and daal.

Keerai molagootal

KEERAI MOLAGOOTAL / KEERAI KOOTU

 

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PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

 

South Indian Keerai Molagootal. Lentils cooked in a spinach gravy and tempered with a pepper-cumin-coconut mixture.

Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh

Recipe type: Dal / Lentil recipes

Cuisine: South Indian

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cups Spinach
• ½ cup Toor dal

For the coconut mixture

• 2 teaspoon Oil
• 2 tablespoon Urad dal
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoon Peppercorn
• ½ cup fresh shredded Coconut

For the tempering

• 1 teaspoon Oil
• ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil about 2 cups of spinach in 1 cup of water for 10 minutes in medium flame. Remove off heat. Grind the cooked spinach to a coarse paste. Set aside.
2. Boil half a cup of toor-dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes or 4 whistles. Remove off heat. Let the pressure release naturally from the cooker. Set aside.
3. Take a pan / kadai and heat 2 teaspoons of oil in it. Add in the urad dal, cumin seeds and pepper. Saute in very low flame until the urad dal is nice and brown. Getting the urad dal nice and brown is the key. It should smell nutty when the dal turns brown. Add in half a cup of shredded coconut. Briefly saute everything to combine. Remove off heat. Add enough water to the mixture and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
4. The Final Tempering: Take a deep pan and add a teaspoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and the turmeric. Let the mustard seeds splutter.
5. Add in the spinach paste, coconut mixture paste and the cooked toor dal. Add in the salt. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove off heat.

Cauliflower pakoda

Fritters are deep fried snacks that are common all around the world in different cuisines. The Indian version of fritters are popularly known as pakora or Pakoda or pakodi or bajji. I have already shared the recipes forbroccoli bajji, bread pakoda, pumpkin bud bhajia, and a common recipe for bhajji with different vegetables.

Cauliflower pakodas are my family favorite. Whenever cauliflower is in season, we make it and enjoy it as an evening snack with a cup of tea. It also goes well as a side dish with rice. Here I have shared my recipe to make cauliflower pakoras. Instead of making the traditional pakora batter, I like to mix the flours with the cauliflower florets adding very little water. I also like to mix some corn flour and rice flour along with gram flour. This way the fritters come out very crispy and tasty.

Ingredients

• Cauliflower - 1
• Gram Flour (Besan/ Kadalai Maavu) - 1 cup
• Rice Flour - 3/4 cup
• Corn Flour - 3/4 cup
• ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• lemon juice - 1 tbsp
• pepper powder - 1tsp
• red food color - optional
• baking soda - pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
• Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - for deep frying

Method

1. Cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets.
2. Boil the florets in salted water for just couple of minutes. Drain the water completely. This step is important to get rid of worms inside the cauliflower as well as for salt to get into the cauliflower.
3. Mix the flours, salt and the spices in a bowl. Sprinkle this spice powder over the boiled cauliflower florets.
4. The moisture from the cauliflower is sufficient to make the spice mix stick to the florets. If needed, just sprinkle few drops of extra water.
5. Heat the oil for deep frying. Take a spoonful of the cauliflower pakora mix and add it to the hot oil.
6. Fry till golden brown. Drain excess oil in a paper towel and serve hot with some ketchup.

Tips

• If you love chatpatta street food style pakoras, sprinkle some chaat masala as soon as the pakoras come out of the hot oil.
• If fried snacks are likely to upset your stomach, add some carom seeds (ajwain, omam) while making the pakoda batter.

Chow Chow kootu

Easy and quick recipe for Chow Chow Kootu with Moong Dal. Chow-Chow (Merakai) cooked with lentils and simmered with coconut and cumin seeds. Chayote Squash Lentil Stew.

Author: Kannamma @kannammacooks.com

Recipe type: Dal/Lentil Dishes

Cuisine: South Indian

Serves: 3

INGREDIENTS

Main Ingredients

• 1 medium chow-chow / chayote
• ½ cup split moong dal
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the masala paste

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 heaped tablespoons fresh shredded coconut
• 2 dried red chillies without seeds

For the tempering

• 1 teaspoon peanut oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoon urad dal
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• ¼ teaspoon hing

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash and peel the chow-chow/chayote. Cut into half and remove the seed in the middle. Dice them and keep aside. Wash half a cup of split moong dal / paasi paruppu and cook it along with the chow-chow in a pressure cooker for 5 minutes or 4 whistles.
2. Make a paste out of a teaspoon of cumin seeds, couple of tablespoons of fresh shredded coconut and couple of dried red chilli. I take out the seeds from the chillies. Add up to half a cup of water while grinding.
3. Now combine the coconut paste with the cooked lentil mixture in a pan and bring it to a boil on low flame. Add the salt. Remove off heat when it barely comes to a simmer. You do not want to boil it too much.
4. The tempering: Add a teaspoon of oil to a small pan on low flame. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add urad dal, curry leaves and hing. Fry till the curry leaves are crisp and the dal is brown. Pour it over the dal.
5. Serve hot with rice.

cabbage thoran

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

• 1 medium sized cabbage/patta gobi
• 1 medium sized onion 4-5 shallots, finely chopped
• 10-12 curry leaves/kadi patta
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds/rai
• 1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
• a pinch of asafoetida/hing (optional)
• 1 green chili/hari mirch, chopped
• ½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
• ½ cup grated coconut, fresh or frozen
• 1 or 2 tbsp coconut oil
• salt as required

INSTRUCTIONS

1. rinse the cabbage and shred or grate it.
2. you can also slice the cabbage thinly.
3. heat the coconut oil in a pan or kadai.
4. first add the mustard seed and fry till they crackle.
5. now add the cumin and fry them till they change color.
6. add the chopped shallots or onion. saute till translucent.
7. add the green chilli and curry leaves and saute for a minute.
8. now add the turmeric powder and asafoetida/hing. stir and fry for 4-5 seconds.
9. lastly add the cabbage and salt. stir and saute for a minute.
10. cover the pan and on a low flame let the cabbage cook. just continue to stir at times.
11. when the cabbage is cooked, add the coconut. stir and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
12. if there is any moisture in the pan, then cook further till the all the moisture dries up.
13. serve the cabbage thoran hot with some steamed rice or chapati,
14. you can garnish cabbage thoran with coriander leaves if you want.

Honey-lemon Crispy Cauliflower

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup med size cauliflower florets parboiled

1/2 capsicum cut into cubes

6 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp honey

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp spring onion greens for garnishing

oil for deep frying + 1 tbsp oil

For the batter

6 tbsp Maida

3 tbsp Cornflour

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 tbsp spring onion greens finely chopped

1 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp freshly crushed peppercorns

salt to taste

For the sauce mix

2 tbsp spring onion greens finely chopped

1 tbsp chilli sauce

1/2 tsp soya sauce

1 1/2 tsp honey 

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

a pinch of orange food colour

1/2 tsp cornflour

salt to taste

Method

For the Fried florets

• Mix all the ingredients required for batter with little water to a fine and semi- thick paste
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan and when its hot dip each florets in the batter and deep fry it till golden brown & crisp, drain on a kitchen towel and keep aside

For the Sauce Mix

• In a bowl Mix all the ingredients mentioned under sauce with little water and keep aside

For the Honey-Lemon Cauliflower

• Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and fry till golden brown, and then add spring onion greens and fry for a second
• Add capsicum and fry till a bit tender yet crunchy, and add the fried florets and toss well
• Add the sauce mix and toss well till it coats the florets
• At the time of serving drizzle honey and then sprinkle sesame seeds and garnish it with spring onion greens and serve hot