Madras Style Morkozambu

Time just flies by these days. There are so many things to take care of and all of a sudden it feels overwhelming. Blogging was put in the back burner I guess although there was not a single day that passed by without thinking how irregular I have become in writing down my recipes. Well.. I sure don't want to give up. Its one of the best outlets I have got in a long time and I am not ready to let go of it anytime soon. So, here I am at 11 in the night.. trying hard to stay awake and continue to blog. Now I realize how hard it should have been for all my fellow bloggers to have come this far. Kudos to every single one of them, out there making an effort to give their best.

If there is a very simple South Indian dish with most of the material needed to prepare readily available, I should say it is Morkozambu. The very simplicity of the dish paired with the fact that it can be tailored to ones tastebuds makes it stand out from the rest of the crowd. This was one of my mom's very frequent dishes. Dad, brother and I had different taste preferences. My mom used to go nuts even trying to decide what to get to the table everyday without us killing each other... leave alone the process of preparing it. But this one always came to her rescue. Especially my brother, whose soul is very hard to satisfy, attains its fulfilment when this dish is served. This was universally liked in our household.. no complaints whatsoever. Now on to the recipe that made everyone happy.

Ingredients:

Yogurt / Buttermilk - 2 cups (If using Yogurt, churn it into buttermilk)
White pumpkin - cut into cubes - 2 cups (sauted okra can also be used in its place)
Rice - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 2 tbsp
Green chillies - 3-4 nos
Ginger - 1 inch cube
Jeera - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 2 tsps
Turmeric powder
Hing
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak channa dal, rice, jeera, ginger and green chilles in 1/2 cup water for about an hour.
2. Churn the yogurt adding a little water. Make it into buttermilk consistency.
3. Add turmeric powder, hing and salt to this.
4. Also add the cubed pumpkin.
5. Heat it on a low flame and bring to boil. Mix with a laddle and let boil for 5 more minutes.
6. Grind all the soaked ingredients along with coconut and add it to the buttermilk mix.
7. Let boil till the pumpkin gets cooked and the raw smell disappears. This should take about 7-10 minutes.
8. In the mean time, do tadka with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.
9. Add this to the buttermilk mixture. Add the chopped coriander leaves.
10. Let boil for another couple minutes, slowly stirring in between.
11. Serve with hot steaming rice.

This is one easy recipe to make. Very less time consuming and tastes yummy.

Healthy Vegetable Kichedi

I guess I am back after a short break. Not that anything important has been going on.. but there has been some ad ons here and there that made the normal life Oh so hectic. Well.. now that I am back, I feel good. I have been cooking dishes and taking pictures, with just absolutely no time to do a write up. Sia Dear, Thanks for being concerned. It does make one feel good when people miss you. This week started pretty good with an awesome weekend away with friends to the Oregon coast. It started off with an early breakfast at A & K's place as usual (They are pretty much our food source for the weekend). Then off we drove to the coast, some 15 of us. Played some volley ball.. ate some awesome pizza... and chatted our time away to glory. As my husband described it.. perfect weather, perfect company and perfect Pizza. One of our girls, our dearest friend S is going to relocate. I hope this weekend would be a good memory for her for years to come. Hoping to spend many more weekends like this with my buddies. Well.. I might just get carried away if I start talking about the fun we have.. So onto how Kichedi appeared at my kitchen countertop.

After cooking for the brady bunch (and then some..), for the entire weekend, our dear friend A fell sick. It feels bad to see someone so active and up on her toes all the time, sitting still and suffering. This was probably the only thing I could do to make her feel a little better.. cook up some comfort food. Hot and Healthy to give her some boost. Onto the recipe now..

Ingredients

Rice - 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1/3 cup
1/2 cup Potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup Carrots, sliced
1 long Eggplant, cut into big chunks
1/2 cup Onions, thinly sliced
2 tsps of ginger garlic paste
Mustard - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Roast and grind into powder (I always do this in advance and store)

Red chillies - 2 nos (can adjust according to spice level)
Dhania - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Cloves - 3-4
Elaichi - 1-2 nos
Saunf - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker directly. Add mustard, Jeera, Urad Dal and curry leaves.
• After mustard splutters, add the ginger garlic paste and saute.
• Now add the onions, saute for a couple minutes and add the veggies one by one, sauteing each for a minute as you go.
• Add the ground powder to the veggies along with the salt and turmeric powder and mix well. Saute this for about a minute.
• Now add the rice and the toor dal. Mix everything and immedietely pour water. There should be a couple of inches of water standing above the mixture.
• Close the lid and pressure cook it for 5-6 whistles. This should generally cook longer to get the semi-solid consistency.
• Open the pressure cooker. Pour the melted ghee on top and mix once before serving with yogurt and lime pickle.

Katharikkai Kichedi Kuzambu - JFI Eggplant

Eggplants, Katharikkai as called in Tamil Nadu - a Foe turned into Friend. Never used to like them till before marriage. I guess I started appreciating them only when I stepped foot in the US and truly found how difficult it is to get some good old Indian veggies here. It then dawned on me that I was being punished for hating those cute little "eggplant" guys. I started to crazily buy Indian veggies whenever I see a fresh one .. The love for eggplant should have started then. My mom used to cook many varieties of dishes using eggplant. Her stuffed baingan being my favourite. My brother, who was not a big fan of them then, used to pick a big fight with mom whenever she makes them. Well.. gone are those days. There comes a time when everyone realises the goodness in "Eggplants" :) The huge eggplants that one can find here.. well it was not of much use to me until my husband taught me the art of seasoning and deep frying them. Oh my God.. thats pure heaven. The real winner though was my mother in law, who while visiting US taught me this "Kichedi Kuzambu" using the big eggplants that you get here. I never thought I will like Kichedi Kuzambu using katharikkai.. but one has to taste to know. The dish was a huge success and has become a regular at our household.

So, when the JFI event for eggplant was announced, I immedietly knew what to make. The easiest and the simplest.. but doesn't compromise in taste. Now on to the recipe and then off it goes to the "JFI - Eggplant" event hosted by "Sangeeta of Ghar ka khana". Thanks Sangeeta for hosting the event.

Ingredients:

Eggplant - 1 medium sized
Onions - 1 cup
Slit green chillies - 2
Red chilles - 2-3
Curry leaves
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Mustard
Urad Dal
Channa Dal
Coriander
Turmeric powder
Hing

Eggplant roasted and ready to be peeled
Mashed eggplant

Method:

• Cut the eggplants into big chunks
• Roast them in a deep tava with 2 tbsps oil on medium high until cooked. The skin should be glossy and wrinkled.
• Take them out and let cool. Once cooled remove the skin and mash the eggplant coarsely.
• In the same tava, heat 1 tbsp of oil.
• Burst mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and curry leaves.
• Add the mashed eggplant, 1/2 cup water and the tamarind paste.
• Also add turmeric, hing and salt.
• Let boil until raw smell from eggplant disappears.
• Add curry leaves at the end and let simmer for a couple minutes.
• Garnish with coriander.

Note: This can be had with ghee, rice and pappad.

Happy Father's Day

Belated Father's Day wishes for all the wonderful Dads out there including my very own. My dad has been a great inspiration and a good example for both my brother and I. We will always be grateful to him for that. We would not have become the persons we are now if not for him. Dad, We Love You.

RCI Maharashtra - Kothimbir Wadi

Maharashtra is a nature lover's place, provides loads of fun for adventurers with its lush green and unspoiled landscape. A land of bio-diversity, Maharashtra is a home to rare species of animals and birds. Hmmm.. Is there even an introduction necessary for the cuisine, I can just smell it from miles away. For Maharashtrians 'Anna he poornabrahma', no wonder the food is so rich and satisfying. They consider food equal to the creator himself. The first thought that comes to my mind when I think of Maharashtra cuisine is my friend Suchi's very appetizing meal spread. Maybe because she was the first Maratha I knew. That was probably the earliest influence Maharashtrian cuisine had on me.. and it was a very good one. She had cooked every single marathi dish for us and we have enjoyed each and every one of them.


So, this time I wanted to try something that I never ate before.. that way the traditional recipe won't influence me and I can add my own variations. The choice was made with the help of my dear friends Rady, who is a great cook and a proud Maratha and Deepi, well she is an all rounder, cooks, entertains, knits, embroiders.. the list is never ending. "Kothimbir Wadi" sounded very tempting. Uses lot of coriander, thats always a plus since I simply love the aroma of corianders and it is deep fried.. so its a treat. It could also be a nice evening snack for my hungry hubby. So, I started to look at different recipes for kothimbir wadi including the one Rady sent us. So many variations.. confusion mode.. adding my twist mode.. voila have my own recipe mode. It turned out to be such a simple and easy recipe, that everyone enjoyed including my toddler pie Nikki.

To top it all of.. hubby dear helped with decorating the serving plate and taking pics. He proudly calls himself my "Photo director". Now off this goes to RCI Maharashtra event hosted by Nupur of "One Hot Stove". Thanks Nupur, for taking the time.

Dough ready to be steamed in Idli vessel

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 3/4 cup
Besan flour - 1 cup
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Coriander - 2 whole bunches, chopped finely
Garlic cloves - 7-8, minced
Ginger - 1 tbsp, grated
Cabbage and carrots - 3/4 cup, shredded
Chilli powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - pinched

Steamed dough ready for deep fry

Method:

1. Mix wheat flour, besan flour, coriander, cabbage & carrots, ginger, chilli powder and salt together. Set aside.
2. Do tadka with mustard seeds and pinched curry leaves. Add it to the dough.
3. Add yogurt to this mixture. Knead to incorporate.
4. Now start adding water sprinkling a little at a time till it forms a nice dough.
5. Make small logs out of the dough and steam them in a Idli cooker without weight or an Idli vessel. Steaming should only take 5 minutes. Oversteaming may cause cracking of the dough.
6. Take them out. Let cool and cut into 1 inch thick slices.
7. Heat oil in a deep kadai. Deep fry the pieces. Serve with yogurt mix or mint chutney.

Note: The pieces can be eaten as such without deep frying. Tava frying can also be done in place of deep frying.