Nadan Mutta Roast - Kerala Egg Roast

Egg Roast is a popular dish served in Kerala, my home state. It tastes awesome with a lot of Kerala Breakfast items like Appam, Idiyappam, Parota etc. You can serve this is roti or rice as well. To me,the key taste ingredient is Curry Leaves. They impart an awesome aroma to this dish.

Sweet Potato Cakes with Spicy Coconut Tomato Sauce - Vegan

Sweet potatoes are quite versatile. They are not as popularly used as it cousin the Potato. They are very healthy for you with high amounts of Vitamin C, B6, D, Iro, Magnesium and also a good source of Beta Carotene. If you are not sold, lets forget all the above. How about the awesome taste? The subtle sweetness, the creaminess. Yumm! Try this simple side made with Sweet Potatoes today. 

Pavakka Theeyal - Bitter Gourd Cooked in a spicy Coconut Sauce - Vegan

Theeyal is a side dish for Rice made in the South Indian State of Kerala. It basically has its flavours coming from Shallots. The spice mix includes red chilli, coriander and curry leaves. The key to a tasty theeyal is the perfect browning of the coconut. The word theeyal itself means charred.

Mor Keerai - Spinach cooked in a coconut and yogurt sauce - Spinach Soup

Mor Keerai is a traditional recipe from Palakkad region of Kerala (in India). As I have mentioned before my one stop for all Palakkad recipes is Palakkad Cooking by my friend Kaveri. This is also adapted from her recipe.



Though traditionally served as a side dish, one other way I loved eating this was as a soup! I call it my Spinach soup with Chilli Oil dressing!

Manoli Kadle - Tindora and Chickpeas Cooked in a Coconut Gravy

Manoli is basically Kovakka or Tindora. Kadle represents the chickpeas. This is a recipe from the Indian town of Mangalore. Mangalore has its unique recipes and flavours. It very closely resembles the Kerala Cuisine due to it border. I have tried a few recipes lately and have loved all of them.

Adapted from here

Chena Kadi - Yam Stew with Lentils and Roasted Coconut

Chena Kadi is a dish that invokes memories of my childhood. It is a dish my mom used to make often and we used to love it. The food prepared in my home was a wonderful mix of all the cultures we have been part of. Tamil food from our origins, Kerala food from the land we lived in, North Indian food cause my dad liked it and then many others that my mom learned from friends and family. This is probably a recipe she learned from a friend cause it is not a common dish among Malayalees nor is it a Tamil dish. This is a dish prepared by the Varma Community in Kerala. 

As I have told you before, I was not too much into cooking when I was younger. So I lost the recipe for this dish with my mom. I have been craving to make this for a long time and finally got a chance to see it being made in a TV show. I was really excited and noted the recipe. When I made it today and tasted the first spoonful, it literally brought tears to my eyes. It was exactly as I remember it. 

Punjabi Rajma Masala - Red Kidney Bean Stew

Rajma Masala is basically a Kidney bean stew and is a staple in Punjabi Households. It is one of those recipes that has to be enjoyed in an authentic kitchen. I have had a few punjabi friends who have made the best Rajma for me and I totally love it (if made right). Yes, you read it. I am not a fan of it if the recipe is messed up.

Coconut Potato Curry with Basil and Cashews - Vegan

As Indians we make our share of 'curry'. Be it the North Indian Style 'Curry' or the South Indian 'Kari', there is always one or the other made at home almost everyday. But what is interesting for me is a Westerner's take on the Indian Curry. So whenever I come across a recipe like that, I make it a point to give it a shot.

One such example is this beetroot masala that I tried a few months back. It is a big hit in our house. Try this new version of potato gravy in a coconut milk sauce.

Zucchini Kara Kozhambu

Zucchini is a vegetable that is widely available here and so I always look out for dishes which can be adapted to include the vegetable. My little loves Zucchini. It is no wonder I make it so often. It makes a great substitute for most Indian watery vegetables.

Kadala Paruppu Kurma - Channa Dal Kurma

Kurma is a gravy usually made with Veggies of some sort (and in many cases mixed vegetables) and a coconut based sauce. It usually has a lot of masala items like clove, cinnamon etc to add flavour to it. I have made my share of Kurma recipes and posted in this blog. Do check them out. This one was quite unique and I found it in my friend PT's blog. Do check her space for the original recipe. Here is my take on the Kurma.

Milagu Kozhambu - Pepper Kozhambu - Spicy Black Pepper Sauce for Rice

I have been trying to make a proper South Indian (read tamil) lunch on Sundays lately. Given a choice my husband would request for Sambar with Potato fry every week. And my son would want Rasam with Vendakka Fry. After going thru weeks of doing this, I decided it is time to change. Now I have convinced them that I will try something else for a change. I run it by them a few days before so that I can buy the ingredients.

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Butter Stew - Vegan

Do you have days when you want to make a dish and it kind of never happens? This is one such dish for me. I have been planning to make this for quite some time now. And even bought sweet potatoes a couple of times. Each time it was turned into some other dish (tasty, but not this dish).

The finally I got a chance to make it. To be honest, I am not sure how authentic it is! Cause I have never been to Africa or eaten in many African restaurants. The only cuisine I know is Ethiopian. Oh Wow, that is some food. Well, that is a discussion for another day.

Murungakka Sambar - Drumstick Sambar - Arachu Vitta Sambar

Arachu Vitta Sambar is a special kind of Sambar. It is made with freshly ground spices, without the use of Sambar Powder. This adds to the taste of the Sambar. Today I present to you a very popular sambar made in Tamil Nadu with Drumsticks (Murungakka). Drumstick has an awesome fragrance that is imparted to the sambar making it a wonderful delight.

Poodu Kozhambu - Garlic Gravy for Rice

Garlic is one of those ingredients used in all parts of the world. Sometimes it is just used in little portions to add flavour, while some other cases it forms the key ingredient of the dish. Kozhambu is a south indian gravy usually served with rice and a vegetable side dish. This Kozhambu has loads of Garlic and is full of flavour. It kind of reminds of delicious Non Veg gravy. You can serve this as a side dish for Dosa or Idli as well.

Original Pav Bhaji - Mumbai Juhu Beach Style - Authentic Recipe

Mumbai (Bombay) is famous for its Chaat Recipes. I guess it is safe to say that Chaat has spread its wings all over the country and even abroad. Most of us love eating an evening Chaat as a snack. These days even when you are shopping in a mall, getting a plate of Chaat is becoming a tradition.

So where did all this begin. Chaat is quite famous in the beaches of Bombay. The other day I was talking to some of my English friends about Beach! Here as you know people go to beach during the day and mainly to lounge in the sand and picnic.

Gobi Musallam - Cauliflower Roast - A Vegan Thanksgiving Roast

Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US on the 4th Thursday of the month of November. The origins can be traced to celebration of harvest or even some religious aspects brought by the English to New England. In the present day, it marks an occasion of family reunion. It is a major holiday in America. Usually most establishments offer day off on Friday as well making it a 4 day weekend end! It together with Christmas and New Year marks the holiday season.



When it comes to celebration and family reunion, food plays a major role. That is irrespective of which country you are from. Don't you agree? In US, Thanksgiving dinner has a huge significance. I have felt people take it even more seriously than Christmas dinner. Christmas Dinner is mostly low key with immediate family.

Now coming to the Thanksgiving dinner, I just love all the food served in the meal. The most important part is the Turkey Roast. Then whole bunch of sides like Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Beans, Roasted Vegetables, Casseroles, Cranberry Sauce are served. Not to forget the stuffing, gravy and the dinner rolls. The perfect dessert for a Thanksgiving meal would be a pie made with the things that are in season - a Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie or Pecan Pie. My fav is Pecan Pie!



I always believe in adopting different aspects of the country you live in to my own life. So Thanksgiving holds a place in our hearts! But being Vegetarians we can't of course make a Turkey Roast. I wanted to do something that would make a great Thanksgiving centrepiece and I really liked it when my friend Anu made this version of the Cauliflower Roast. I adapted it from there and made it and we totally loved it.

Does this not look like a roast? Oh common, a Vegan/Vegetarian also needs the honour of Carving the Roast. Don't you agree? You can change the sauce to suit your family's preference and send it to the Thanksgiving table.



Ingredients

Cauliflower 1
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Onions 2
Tomato 3
Cashews 2 tbsp (Omit to make it Nut free)
Milk 1 cup (Use soy milk or almond milk to make it Vegan or just use water or stock)
Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp
Cumin 1 tsp
Ginger 1 inch piece
Garlic 4 pods

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation



1. Clean the Cauliflower of the thick stems and leaves.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add turmeric powder and salt to it. Place the cauliflower in it so that it is immersed.

3. Blanch for about 8 min turning once in between. Take it out and keep aside.

4. In a pan, heat a little oil. Add the cumin, chopped onions, ginger and garlic. Saute till it starts to brown.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cashews. Saute till the tomatoes are cooked.

6. Add the chilli powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well.

7. Let it cool and puree into a paste without adding any water.

8. Preheat the oven to 200C.

9. Place the Cauliflower on a bakng sheet. Pour the gravy (about 1/2 of it) on the cauliflower. Brush it around so that the whole cauliflower is coated. Try and avoid anything on the base of the roasting pan as it will burn and stick while roasting. You can line with foil if you choose.

10. Roast in the oven for 30-45 min turning in between. Keep checking after 30 min cause the time taken depends on the size of your cauliflower.

To Serve - Pour the rest of the gravy on a serving dish. Gently place the Roasted Cauliflower on the gravy

Potato Stew - Vegan Recipe - Potatoes and Onions cooked with coconut milk and spices

Last week I presented to you the Recipe for Aappam. The lacy, spongy crepe from my native place, Kerala. What good is a dish without its perfect accompaniment. So here you go! Hope you enjoy it.

Check out other Stew recipes in my blog
Soya Stew
Vegetable Stew



Ingredients

Potato 8 medium (about 500gms)
Coconut Milk 1 can

Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Cardamom 4
Clove 4
Star Anise 1
Bay Leaf 1

Onions 2 sliced
Garlic 5 pods sliced
Green Chillies 4 sliced
Ginger 1 inch piece sliced
Curry Leaves 2-3 sprigs

Pepper powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp

To fry
Onions 1 sliced
Cashews 10-15

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. In a pan, heat some oil. Add cashews. Fry little till it browns a little. Remove to a bowl.

2. In the same oil, add 1 sliced onion. Saute till it is nicely browned. Keep it along with the cashews.

3. In the same pan, add the Cinnamon, cardamom, Clove, Star Anise and bay leaf.

4. When it sizzles, add sliced onions. Saute till it starts to brown.

5. Add sliced garlic, ginger, green chilli and curry leaves. Saute till the onions brown a little.

6. Peal and cube the potatoes. Add to the pan. Saute till it is almost cooked.

7. Also add the pepper powder, garam masala and salt.

8. Take part of the coconut milk (about 1/2 to 1 cup). Mix with 1 cup of water and add to the pan.

9. Close and cook in low-medium heat till the potatoes are cooked and everything comes together.

10. Finally add the rest of the coconut milk and cook in low flame for 5 more minutes. Adjust seasoning as required at this stage.

Serve with some Aappam, Kerala Parota, Idiyappam. 

Zucchini Kootu - Zucchini cooked in a coconut sauce - Courgette Kootu

Kootu is a South Indian preparation of Vegetables (mostly watery kind) with dal (lentils) and spiced with coconuts, green chillies and curry leaves. It is finally given a tempering with mustard, urad dal and red chillies.

So now the question is - What is Zucchini or Courgette doing in a Kootu? A very valid question. The simple answer is that it is something that is easily available for me in the British Supermarket. So no need to make a trip to the Indian Store.

Now you might ask - How was it? The simple answer to that question is, it is out of the world. It works great in kootu. To be honest a perfect vegetable born to be cooked as a kootu!

So what are you waiting for? Go on, make a kootu this weekend with Zucchini/Courgette and let me know what you think!



Ingredients (Serves 6)

Zucchini 4 (about 8 cups)
Moong Dal 1 cup
Turmeric 1 tsp

To ground to a paste

Coconut 1/2 cup
Jeera/Cumin 1 tsp
Green Chilli 1
Curry leaves few

Tempering

Mustard 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli 1
Urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves few
Hing a little
Coconut oil 2 tsp (or any oil)



Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water till it is well mushed. I have added lot of dal here as I feel it makes the curry filling, tasty and healthy. You can add just 1/2 cup or may be 3/4 th. We liked it this way with 1 cup of dal.

2. Chop the zucchini and add to a pot with a couple of cups of water. Add turmeric and salt. Bring to a boil. Let till cook till it is almost done.

3. In the mean while make a fine paste of coconut, green chilli (more for a spicy dish), curry leaf and jeera adding enough water.

4. Add the coconut mix and dal to the zucchini. Add more water and salt if needed. Simmer for a little while till everything comes together.

5. For tempering, heat a little coconut oil in a small pan. You can use any oil. Coconut oil gives it a nice flavour. Add mustard. When it sputters, urad dal. When it starts to brown, add red chilli, curry leaf and hing. Let it sizzle. Add to the pot of Zucchini.

British Style Beetroot Curry - Beetroot Masala

Britain has a huge Indian population. So it is no surprise that it has developed it own variation of Indian food. Living here I like to explore and see their take on our food. This one is one such experiment. Read this Vegetable Curry recipe as well to see another one such inspired dish.

Inspired from here



Ingredients

Beetroot 1 kg (about 5 big ones)
Onions 2
Oil and salt to taste

To Grind to paste
Ginger 1 inch piece
Garlic 4 pods
Fresh Red Chilli (or use green) 1
Coriander leaves 1/2 cup packed (plus some for garnishing)
Cardamom 1 pod
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
Fennel seeds 1 tsp
Clove 2
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Tomato Puree 2 tbsp
Cooked Beets 2 cups (see below)

Method of Preparation

1. Peal and roughtly cube the beets into big pieces. Add 2-3 cups of water and cook till it is almost ready. Drain and reserve the water.

2. In another pan, heat a little oil and add onions. Saute till it is slightly browned.

3. Make a paste of all the ingredients under 'to grind' adding a little water. Add  2 cups of cooked beets as well to this.

4. Add to the pan and saute for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the beets, some salt and a some of the reserved water (as required).

6. Bring to a boil and simmer for sometime.

Serve with some rice or roti or Naan!

Musur Dal er Bora - Masoor Dal Dumplings in a spicy sauce - Bengali Recipe

Bengali Cuisine reminds me of two things - the amazing fish dishes and the sweets in no particular order. Avant Garde Cookies decided to make something Bengali. I loved this recipe from here. I decided to make it. It was awesome. Just out of the world. The only issue was the it was supposed to be a gravy. But the dumplings absorbed all the liquid. Well another issue was we were fighting at home to decide who gets more.

(sorry about the poor photo)



Ingredients

For Dumplings
Split Red Masoor Dal 1 cup
Ginger 1" piece
Green Chillies 1
Water 1/4 cup (or as needed)

Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Salt as needed
Onion finely chopped 1
Coriander leaves chopped 1/4 cup

For the sauce

Cinnamon 2" piece
Bay leaf 1
Cardamom 4
Cumin 1/2 tsp

Potato cubed 2
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Tomato 2 (pureed)
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green Chilli 1

Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp

Warm Water 1 - 1.5 cups (as needed)
Salt as neeed
Sugar 1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Soak Masoor Dal in water for an hour.

2. Drain water and add the lentils, ginger, green chillies and water (as required) to a blender. Make a thick paste.

3. To the paste cumin powder, salt, onion and coriander leaves. Mix well.

4. In a pan, heat oil and deep fry tablespoon of this. (i did not do this). I used a pan called Paniyaram pan to shallow fry. It looks like the ebelskiver pan. Keep aside.

5. Heat some Oil in a pan. Add cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom and cumin seeds.

6. When the spices sizzle, add the potato.and Turmeric Powder and saute till the potatoes start to cook.

7. Make a puree of the tomato along with ginger and green chillies. Add this to the pan along with some salt. Cook till the tomato is done and oil starts oozing out.

8. Now add the cumin powder and chilli powder. Saute for 3-4 min till a nice reddish colour develops.

9. Add 1 cup of warm water. Add salt and sugar to taste. Cover and cook till potatoes are done.

10. Finally add the fried lentil fritters. Let them simmer in the gravy at low heat for a few minutes. The fritters will soak up the gravy. I did not get the liquid consistency that the original recipe had, but tasty nevertheless.

Serve with rice or roti.