Potato Ularthu

We've just came back from a long trip. The fridge is empty, no fruits and veggies. I do have potatoes and shallots (small red onions) in the pantry. Perfect! I will make potato ulathu. It will go well with steamed rice, paruppu curry (dal) and pappadams.

Ingredients :

Potato - 3 large sized ones
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp.
Red Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Coconut Oil - 3 tbsp.
Whole red chilly - 2
Shallots - 6
Garlic - 4 cloves
Curry leaves - a handful
Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp.

Method :

Peel and cut the potatoes into 1" long pieces. Marinate them in the turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, salt and pepper and keep aside for 15 minutes.

Chop the shallots and the garlic finely. Tear the whole red chilly and the curry leaves coarsely into the shallots and garlic mix. Crush this mix with your fingers to let the flavors mingle.

Heat a wok and when its hot, add the coconut oil and let it get hot. Add the crushed masala and stir until the shallots are translucent. Now add the potato (without the masala water which has oozed out from the potato) into the oil and stir fry in the hot oil for about 5 minutes.

Now add the masala water from the marinade, cover with a lid and cook on a medium heat. When potatoes are soft and cooked, sprinkle the fennel powder, and give it another stir. Remove from fire.

Serve with dal and steamed rice.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Every Thanksgiving, I cook Brussels Sprouts. My kids love them. I, on the other hand, am a bit picky about the texture. So, I try a different recipe every time or tweak my experience from the previous year, hoping to get them perfectly caramelized on the outside and crunchy on the inside. I hate those mushy ones.

This year is the first time, it has worked to my satisfaction, so I quickly jotted down the recipe. The texture was perfectly balanced and the sprouts were loaded with flavor. I didn't have any leftovers either!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Brussels Sprouts
2 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
3 tbsp. Truffle Oil ( I got mine from Trader Joe's)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 deg. Set a large pot of water to boil. Wash and trim the sprouts. Cut them in half.

Put a tablespoon of salt in the boiling water and blanch the halved sprouts, for about 2 min. Drain the hot water and run some cold water through the sprouts and drain again. This will halt the cooking process inside the sprouts.

Whisk the oil and balsamic vinegar together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk again. Toss the blanched sprouts into this dressing.

Coat a baking tray with a thin layer of oil and arrange the sprouts evenly on it. Make sure the cut side is facing up. Spoon in the remaining dressing into the cut tops of the sprouts.

Bake for 15 minutes in the top 1/3 of the oven. Change the oven setting to Hi-Broil and broil for 5-8 minutes. Its important to keep a watch on the sprouts now to prevent it from getting burnt.

When desired caramelization is achieved, remove from oven and toss the sprouts in the tray to absorb the bubbling dressing at the bottom of the pan.

Roasted pancetta bits on top were a big hit with the kids last year. I like mine with a splash of lime juice and red chili flakes on top. Serve hot.

Tomato Jam

In September, I wrote a 'Garden to Table' column for Seattle Tilth's 'Way to Grow' magazine. Here is a reproduction with a little twist in the end. This change makes it a delightful accompaniment to roast turkey in a Thanksgiving feast.

Harvest season is a nostalgic time for me. I still remember my childhood days in Delhi (India), planting, nurturing and harvesting all sorts of edibles in our garden, along with my mom. I used to then, help her in the kitchen, with cooking and preserving the garden produce - whether it be spicy, mouth-watering lemon pickles or the sweet and tangy mango chutneys. My favorite of all, was the tomato jam - simple yet old-fashioned. For a traditionalist, it tastes great on any bread, for a child licking a spoonful is more fun. Decades later and thousands of miles away, I feel a strong desire to make it again and create a similar memory for my kids.

This is an easy recipe; one can use any kind of tomatoes. I have used ‘orange’ tomatoes here; I find the taste of the heirloom varieties amazingly better. The cloves add a warmth to it while the lime juice helps balance the acidity and the sweetness.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs plump, fleshy, ripe tomatoes
2 cups granulated sugar
4 whole cloves
juice of ½ lime

METHOD:
Blanch the tomatoes, peel the skin and chop them into small pieces. Combine these pieces (along with any juice) with sugar and cloves in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce flame and let it simmer over medium to low heat, stir occasionally.

After about half an hour, put a blob of jam on a plate and tilt it. If the jam trickles down, it has not reached the jammy consistency. As the jam thickens, add a few drops of lime juice as per taste.

Once ready, let it cool down. Transfer to a sterilized jar. It keeps well in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. Can the jars in a water bath for longer storage.

A little twist: add 4-5 tsp red chilli flakes along with sugar and cook as above. Take off the fire before it reaches the jammy consistency to create a sweet and spicy sauce/chutney.

Idicha Chammanthi Podi (or Roasted Coconut chutney)

Most Indian cusines have a whole range of pickles and chutneys that are an essential part of the full-course meal. Chammanthi Podi (meaning chutney powder) is one that you will find in most of the Keralite kitchens. It is a traditonal accompaniment to rice preparations, esp. curd rice. Since it is basically dry roasted coconut with spices, it stays fresh for even upto 3 months. I noted this recipe from my sister-in-law, Rani, during her stay with us in Bangalore. She says that cutting the shallots (or chomnaulli) in half, adds an extra punch to the flavor of the roasted Podi. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Coconut - 4 medium size, grated
Dry red chillies - 15
Shallots (chomnaulli) - 1 cup, cut in halves
Peppercorns (whole) - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1" piece
Curry leaves - a handful
Tamarind - size that of a small lemon
Salt to taste

Method:

In a hot pan, roast all ingredients except tamarind and salt. Fry them on a medium flame till the coconut is brown in colour. Keep aside until it is cool.  Dry grind these ingredients in a mixie/food processor. When coarsely ground, add the tamarind and salt. Grind until well-mixed. Store in an air-tight container, in a cool, dry place.

Lemon-Raisin Pickle

Lazy weekend morning, don't want to cook anything elaborate. A brunch would be perfect... sooji upma, onion omlette and Amma's lemon pickle. Actually this pickle is perfect with anything and everything, even Chicken Biriyani. Every time Amma comes to visit, I make sure she makes me a huge batch. I even jotted down the recipe this time, in case my supplies finish before her next visit ;)

Ingredients:
Lemons - 5 lb or 14 large
Salt - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Raisins - 1 cup
White Vinegar - 1/4 cup
Oil - 3/4 cup
(preferably sesame seed oil, known as gingelly oil)
Red Chilli, whole (deseeded) - 1/2 cup
Garlic (cloves cut in half) - 1/2 cup
Ginger juliennes - 1/4 cup
Musturd seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 1/2 tsp
For Paste
Red chilli powder - 1/2 cup
Musturd seeds - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger juliennes - 1 tsp

Method:
Steam the lemons in a vessel until soft. Note that the skin should not break. Wipe the water off each lemon and let them cool well for a few hours. Its important for the lemons to cool, or else the steam inside the lemon will add water to the juice - water being a big no-no for any pickle. Cut each lemon into 8 pieces and put in a large vessel. Add the salt and the sugar to the lemons and mix well. Keep this mixture for 2 days in the vessel. Make sure there is no moisture in it.

Soak the ingredients for the paste in vinegar. Grind to a smooth paste. Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry red chilli skins, garlic and ginger each seperately and keep aside. Add musturd and fenugreek seeds, let it splutter. Remove kadhai from fire and add the ground masala paste. Cook on a slow fire until the raw smell goes away. Add raisins and let them plump. Add the pre-fried red chilli, ginger and garlic. Switch off and add sugar and salt to this masala mixture. Taste for salt and add accordingly. When cool, add this masala to the lemons and mix well.

Transfer to a dry, airtight bharani or glass jar. Best if used after one month, when the ingredients have blended well with the masala and the lemon is soft.

Note: If no oil floats on top, heat some oil. Let it cool and add on top of the pickle.

Red-Adi or Beetroot pachadi

Now that’s what my husband calls the pachadi that I make with beetroot. The purple color of the beet seeps into the yoghurt giving it the most wonderful pink color. So ‘pache’adi became ‘red’ adi . Got it? Now that what I call a sense of humor… :)

Ingredients:
Beetroot -1 small
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Red chillies –3
Grated ginger root- 1 tbsp
Sliced Shallots - 2
Curry leaves - a few
Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed

Method:
Beetroot is hard to cut and time-consuming (Believe me; I learnt it the hard way). Cook the whole beetroot in a pressure cooker with some water and salt. Once cooked, the thin peel can be easily removed with a kitchen towel. Now chop the beetroot into small cubes and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and pop the mustard seeds. Add in red chilies, curry leaves, ginger and shallots and fry them. Once the rawness goes away add in the beetroot pieces and saute well.

Nallaite vayaanu kaiumbam take it off the fire. Once it cools, mix in the yogurt. Serve with any type of rice and if you like, even Chicken Biryani.

Beta vulgaris, commonly known as beet or beetroot, is a flowering plant species in the family Chenopodiaceae. An average size cup of beetroot would contain approximately 31 food calories; 8.5g of carbohydrate, 1.5g of dietary fiber, phosphorous, potassium and 1.5g of protein. Cooked beetroot is a great source of folate that can protect you against high blood pressure, Alzheimer¢s and dementia. The colour of red beetroot is due to a variety of betalain pigments, unlike most other red plants, such as red cabbage, which contain anthocyanin pigments.Beetroot is good for the health of the heart as it contains soluble fibre with can help to reduce high blood cholesterol levels. It also contains the phytochemicals carotenoids and flavonoids which help prevent LDL ¡ bad cholesterol from being oxidised and deposited in the arteries. Beetroot is virtually fat free and low in calories. It has an extremely low GL which means it is converted into sugars very slowly which helps to keep blood sugar levels stable. Beetroot has for many years been used as a treatment for cancer in Europe. Specific anti-carcinogens are bound to the red coloring matter which supposedly helps fight against cancer and beetroot also increases the uptake of oxygen by as much as 400 percent. Beetroot purifies the blood in general. Cooked beetroot is a great source of folate which is required during pregnancy.
Source: http://www.organicfood.com.au/Content_Common/pg-beetroot-information.seo