Surti Val Sabzi With Coconut

I had some surti val left in the freezer and I tried a usal like curry with a blend of Konkani curry. I used the spice or coffee grinder to grind the whole spice and the normal blender to blend the coconut for the gravy. It goes well with roti or chappati.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup surti val
1/4 cup coconut
small piece of tamarind
2-3 red chilies
1 cardamom pod
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3 tablespoon coriander or cilantro chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of asafoetida
1 tablespoon gur or jaggery
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Roast the jeera and coriander seeds and grind it into a fine powder along with cardamom, chilies, pepper and cloves. Pressure cook the surti val with 1/4 teaspoon salt till soft.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Add asafoetida. Add finely chopped onions and fry till it is light brown. Grind the coconut, jaggery and tamarind into a fine paste with little water. Add the masala and val to the fried onions. Get the gravy to a boil. Adjust salt as per taste and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with roti and yogurt.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Serves: 2-3

Yam Pickle

I found Suran (also called Indian Yam or Elephant Yam) the other day at Namaste Plaza. Generally I only find the sweet potato like yam at the chinese store, so I use only frozen yam in my curries. Here is how the Indian Yam looks.

I was thrilled to find this vegetable. Kala Chana-Yam curry, yam fritters, yam sabzi are some of my favorite Konkani dishes. I was in the process of deciding wich recipe to make, when I saw this recipe in Divya's blog. The recently introduced BLOG LIST feature by blogspot has been a great advantage. I just have to add the blogs I frequently follow in my list, and it gives me a update of the most recent recipes they post. I followed Divya's recipe given here, and the pickle turned out to be wonderful. Thanks Divya for the recipe.
I am generally not a great fan of pickles as they contain a lot of salt which is added as a preservative. I guess it is okay to eat these pickles if you live in a place with hot and humid climate like India. But here in US, unless a person is an athlete or exercises regularly to work up a sweat, there is a need for an moderate amount of sodium in the daily diet. Eating lot of salty items can cause a bloating in the body due to water retention.

To make this pickle, I added 1 teaspoon salt for around 200 grams of pickle. I used around 100 grams of fried yam. For this I used 7 byadgi chilies and 2 normal hot red chilies. Great thing about this pickle is that it can be made with less salt as it is preserved like other pickles for a long time. Click here for the recipe.

Onion Bhaji / Kanda Bhajiya / Pyaz Pakoda

One of the perfect snack to make on a cold winter evening---Kanda Bhajiya with Chai. This is an easiest snack to make and is very popular snack every where in India. Everyone who has visited Pune knows the majestic Sinhagad fort overlooking the city of Pune. Seeing the vendor's selling hot kanda bhaji's, pitle-bhakri, and sweet curd after trekking all the way up the fort is a welcome sight.When ever we went for picnics or went on a travel trip, my mom would make vegetable bhajiya including onion bhajiyas. We would place them between bread slices and devour it with tomato sauce as a dipping. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 large red onion
1 1/2 cup besan or chick pea flour
1 tablespoon rice flour
1 green chili chopped
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or as per taste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
1/4 teaspoon ajwain or Caraway seeds
salt for taste
oil for frying

Method
Chop the onion into small pieces. Mix well with choped green chili, coriander leaves and salt. Keep aside for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoon besan at a time and mix well with the onion. Add rice powder. Add 2 tablespoon besan every time and mix it till the onion is well coated with the besan. Mix turmeric powder and chili powder. Now make a thick batter adding very little water. Adjust salt and red chili powder.

Heat oil in a kadai and drop the batter with a spoon into the hot oil till brown. Serve with tomato sauce and hot tea.

Tips:
I mix besan with the onion first and then add water as the onion also gives out some moisture and the besan absorbs it. If I add water and the besan simultaneously, it has many times resulted in a very liquid-ish batter and the bhajiya's don't become crisp.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2-3 people

Pongal

I was introduced to Pongal by one of my friends from Bangalore. I had always thought that pongal was a sweet dish until I had Pongal at her home. She informed me that there was a sweetish pongal recipe for festive occasions and a kichidi-type rice recipe for main course. I often make pongal for dinner as it provides both proteins and carbohydrates in the same dish. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice or any other rice which you prepare for dinner
1 cup moong dal
1 teaspoon pepper corns
2 green chilies or as per taste
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon ghee (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoon chopped cashew nuts
2 tablespoon raisins
5-6 kadipatta or curry leaves
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon oil
salt

Method
Wash the rice and dal thoroughly and cook it with green chilies, pepper corns, salt and ginger. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Fry for 30 seconds and add cashew nuts, raisins and curry leaves. Fry till the cashews are light brown. Add the cooked rice and dal and mix thoroughly. Add the milk and adjust salt. Serve with turai chutneyor dahi.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2-3

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Hakka Noodles

Who does not like the tasty and fiery hakka noodles available at every Chinese fast food joint in India. I usually use soy sauce and tomato ketchup for making noodles. This time I bought knorr's sauces from my Indian grocery store and thought of making hakka noodles on one Sunday. I have put a photo of the sauces. Here, we don't get the manchurian and schezwan sauces which are readily available in India. Back in India, I would often use these sauces for making noodles and sizzlers. Yana's restaurant in Pune served a lot mouth watering Indo-Chinese sizzlers. Kobe's was another sizzler joint. I have never known a sizzler restaurant in the Bay Area. Let me know if you are aware of any good sizzler joint in the Bay Area. Many people may think that noodles are not a healthy dinner option; but use a lot of vegetables in the dish and it turns out to be a nutritious diner. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 packet hakka noodles
2 carrots thinly sliced
1/2 crown of broccoli chopped into small pieces
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 cup beans chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup peas and/or corn
8-9 baby corn
1 cup thinly sliced capsicum or green pepper
2 medium red onions finely chopped
1 handful mung sprouts
1 cup chopped scallions or spring onion
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon green chili sauce
1 tablespoon hot and sweet sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon oil
pepper and salt as per taste

Method

Put the noodles in boiling water with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook till done. Rinse the noodles in cold water immediately to stop the cooking process. Rinsing the noodles in cold water helps in keeping the noodles separate. Heat oil and add ginger, garlic and red onions. Fry for 3-4 minutes on high flame. Add sliced capsicum and fry for 4-5 minutes. Then add cabbage and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the carrots, broccoli, beans and peas. Cook them uncovered stirring them continuously on high flame for 8-10 minutes. Add the soy sauce, hot and sweet sauce, chili sauce and mix well. Add the noodles, spring onions and mung sprouts and mix it well with the vegetables. Add salt and pepper as per taste. Adjust sauces as per your taste and serve hot.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Serves: 2-3