Snake gourd Bengal Gram Kootu

Kootu is one of my H's favourite side dishes. He'd eat it anytime with any dish. Besides rice, he'd eat it with chapathi and naan.

I love to eat hot and spicy side dishes for naan and chappathi. This also includes my children who are 'ma' kids.

This time I have used only Bengal gram with snake gourd.

Ingredients:
Snake gourd - 1 cup (heaped & chopped)
Bengal gram - 1/2 cup
Shallots - 10 (peeled and sliced)
Tomatoes - 1 (chopped)
Curry leaves - few
Salt (to taste)
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Coriander leaves - few (chopped)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Green chilli - 1 (slit)

To grind:
Arhar dal - 1 tsp.
Urad dal - 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds - 5 to 6 seeds
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Black peppercorns - 1/2 tsp.
Dry whole red chillies - 2
Coconut flakes - 1 tbsp.
Asfoetida - a pinch
Oil - 1/2 tsp.

Method:
Soak the Bengal gram for an hour.
Pressure cook the Bengal gram, snake gourd and turmeric powder with required salt.
Heat oil and fry the given ingredients from "to grind" list except asafoetida. Cool and grind into a powder with asafoetida.
Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add onions, curry leaves and green chilli.
Sauté till the onions turn translucent.
Add the tomatoes and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the spice powder and mix.
Add the cooked snake gourd mixture and bring it to a boil.
Sprinkle coriander leaves and remove from fire.
Serve as a side-dish.

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Rava Sakkarai Pongal/Semolina Sweet Pongal

Sweet pongals are prepared during festivals and offered as neivedyams to  god or goddess. Sweet pongal is also offered as prasadams in temples. It is prepared during special occasions in families such as a reunion with a favourite relative. Traditionally pongals are prepared with raw rice, moong dal and jaggery. These days we get a lot of grains easily in the markets. In my house, pongal is prepared with these. Of course, they do contribute to the overall nutrition. Today, I prepared with rava/semolina/sooji. Usually whenever I buy rava , I dry roast it and then cool and store it in an air tight container. I use them within 1-2 weeks. For this pongal, I roasted the rava with ghee to get an enhanced flavour.

Ingredients:
Rava - 1 cup
Yellow moong dal - 1/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup (powdered) or as per taste
Whole cashewnuts - 10
Raisin - 12
Ghee - 1 tsp. + 3 tsp(heaped).
Green cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp.
Hot water - 2 cups

Method:
Dry roast the moong dal and wash them. Pour enough water and cook them till they become mushy. Keep aside.
Add a little water to the powdered jaggery and melt. Bring the jaggery syrup to a boil and strain away the impurities. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tsp. of ghee. Split the cashews and roast till they turn golden brown colour. Then add the raisins and when they puff up, remove and keep them on a plate or in a bowl.
In the same kadai or pan, add the rava and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Pour the hot water and cook the rava without forming lumps. Now add the cooked dal and mix. Meanwhile in another burner, again boil the jaggery till you get a lot of foam. Pour this syrup carefully to rava and incorporate.
At this stage, lots of lumps are formed. Break them and mix simultaneously. Add the remaining ghee. Add the roasted cashews, raisins and cardamom powder. Remove from heat.

Note:
Saffron strands, a pinch of nutmeg powder, a very small pinch of edible camphor, grated coconut or flakes can also be added to this pongal.

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Mysore Bonda

Mysore bonda is a bonda made with black gram and spices. Coconut flakes and crushed peppercorns are added to this batter and are deep fried as balls. However, in the case of Mangalore bonda or goli baje, it is made with plain flour or maida with sour curd and spices.

Ingredients:
Whole black gram (dehusked) - 1 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2 (long) or as per taste
Ginger - 1 pinch (peeled)
Black peppercorns - 1 tsp. (lightly crushed)
Coconut flakes - 2 tbsp.
Asafoetida powder - a pinch
Salt (to taste)
Oil (to deep fry)
Curry leaves - from 2 stalks (finely chopped)
Corinder leaves - few (chopped)

Method:
Soak the black gram in water for 2 hours.
Reserve some water in which the black gram is soaked and drain the remaining water.
Grind the black gram into a thick smooth batter. While grinding, sprinkle a little water from the reserved water.
Remove the batter and pour it into a bowl.
Grind green chillies and ginger without adding water. Add this to the batter.
Add all the other ingredients except oil and mix.
Heat the oil to deep fry.
Check if the oil is heated enough for deep frying.
Take a bowl of water and keep it near the batter.
Dip your fingers and palm into the bowl of water.
Take dollops of the batter and roll them into balls and drop them in the oil carefully. Deep fry till they turn golden colour.
While deep frying, the bondas should be turned on all sides every 2 minutes with the help of a perforated frying spoon.
Put the bondas on a paper towel.
Serve with coconut chutney, tomato ketchup or sambar.

Note:
Cumin seeds and chopped onions can also be added but I didn't so anyway.

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Schezwan Pasta

Whenever I prepare ven pongal or upmas, my children have no choice but to end up searching for pickles and sambar.  Even if I make chutneys as side dish, they'd prefer left-over sambar (or freshly made) or pickle.

But if the meal is pasta, there wouldn't be any noise in kitchen and no searching around. I just happen have store-bought sauces and various types of pastas in handy. They're all cooked with fusion most often.

Ingredients:
Bow-tie pasta - 3 cups
White onion - 1 (chopped)
Garlic - 4 cloves (peeled & finely-chopped)
Green bell pepper- 1 (chopped in small pieces)
Desi coriander leaves - few (finely-chopped)
Tomato ketchup - 1 tsp.
Schezwan sauce - 3 tbsp.
Oil -  1 tbsp.
Salt (to taste)
Pasta seasoning
Garlic herb seasoning

Method:
Cook the pasta in water with required salt and few drops of oil till they become soft.
Drain the water and keep the pasta aside.
Heat the oil and add onions, garlic and bell pepper and sauté for 2 minutes (no need to brown the onions).
Sprinkle pasta seasoning, garlic herb seasoning, tomato ketchup, Schezwan sauce, coriander leaves and sauté.
Finally add the pasta and mix well.

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Amaranth Leaves and Potato Stir- fry

These days, my hubby insists on adding greens in meals everyday. I didn't want to bore him with plain stir-frys and masiyal, since I got bored of cooking them as well. Since then, I have started to mix greens with vegetables and made sure enough that they are tasty.

Yesterday, I prepared lemon rice for lunch and for side dish, this stir fry. Even though I have cooked potatoes with spinach and methi, this is my first time I've actually cooked them with amaranth leaves. Any greens that are edible are fine with potatoes.

Moreover, I didn't entertain the idea of adding  more greens as my children are quite repulsive to them. My children ate without any fuss and nothing was left in the kadai, which was slightly surprising.

Ingredients:
Amaranth leaves - 2 fistfuls.
Potatoes - 4 (medium-sized, boiled, peeled and diced)
Shallots - 10
Garlic - 4 cloves
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Cumin seeds -1 tsp.
Dry red chilli - 1
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp.
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Salt (to taste)

Method:
Peel the shallots' skin and wash the shallots. Chop them finely.
Peel the garlic and crush them with the help of a knife.
Wash the amaranth leaves and chop them.
Heat the oil in a kadai and add mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard crackles, break the dry chilli into three pieces and add them to the kadai. Sauté for 30 seconds.
Add the shallots and garlic and sauté till the shallots change colour.
Add the leaves and sauté.
Sauté now and then to avoid burning.
After few minutes, sprinkle a little water and continue cooking.
When the leaves are fully cooked, reduce the flame.
Now add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and sauté for a minute.
Sprinkle a little water and mix.
Add the diced potatoes.
Mix the greens and potatoes.
Finally sprinkle garam masala and mix.
Serve as a side dish for lemon rice, sambar rice, rasam rice and chapathi.

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Baby Corn, Capsicum and Paneer Gravy

Ingredients:
Baby corn pieces - 100 gm (boiled)
Paneer cubes - 200 gm
Capsicum - 1 (diced)
Onions - 2
Garlic - 6 cloves
Ginger - 3/4 inch
Tomatoes - 2
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Roasted and powdered cumin - 1/2 tsp.
Kasoori methi - 1 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp.
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - few

Method:
Peel the onions and wash. Cut them into halves and boil them in water for 5 minutes. Remove and cool them. Grind the onions into a paste.
Peel the garlic and ginger. Wash them. Crush both in mortar with pestle.
Chop the tomatoes and grind them. Keep aside.
Heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add crushed ginger and garlic and sauté till golden colour.
Now add the onion paste and sauté till light brown colour along with the release of oil.
Add the tomato paste and sauté till the oil  separates.
Now add red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder and mix well for a minute.
Crush the kasoori methi and add. Toss in the baby corn, capsicum and paneer. Sprinkle required salt.
Pour required water and allow the gravy to boil for 3 to 4 minutes.
Now add garam masala powder and coriander leaves. After a minute remove from flame.
Enjoy with toasted pavs or chapathi or roti or naans or plain kulchas.

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