Zucchini Kofta / Zucchini Balls in Spicy Curry

Zucchini Kofta

I had been to a restaurant in Boston downtown the other day called the Tantric Indian Bistro.  It is a good restaurant, with some genuinely good tasting food. What surprised me and bowled me over was the Lauki Kofta in the menu. Now, having been used to the sweet tasting Malai kofta (which I do not relish much due to the over sweetness many a times), I so wanted to try this tantalising dish, which I have never eaten in my life. The dish lived up to my expectation and it was one of the best koftas I have ever eaten, so much so that, me and my colleagues were talking about it for days. Apparently, this dish is only prepared in the households of northern part of India and does not make an appearance even in the restaurants there.

I had so badly wanted to try this recipe that weekend at home, that I didn’t have the patience to go out and buy lauki. Hence the Zucchini Kofta. I should add that the Zucchinis also added a distinct flavour profile to this otherwise sweet entree. Enjoy!

Lentil Vada / Lentil Popover

Lentil Vada / Lentil Popover

After a long, long wait, I finally got my own Aappakara / ebelskiver pan.  I generally get scared of deep frying anything, but love those fried(for obvious reasons). Hence, a beautiful compromise is to use this ebelskiver pan to transform all those deep fried goodies, in to pan fried ones for a much healthy option. “Paruppu Vada” or Lentil popover is one such item.  Do try this at home and let me know what do you think of it.  If you do not have this pan, do not worry. You can still use the icecream scoop to drop little balls of batter in to the oil  or, do it the traditional way by making patties by your hand. Enjoy!

Red Bean Sprouts Salad

Red Bean Sprouts Salad

If you can really put some effort in to sprouting the beans (Imagine all the prep work described below), rest assured that you will have a nutritious ingredient with which you can plan the meals for the entire week.  Given below is one quick snack. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Red Chori Beans / Azuki Beans – 1 Cup
• Onion – Chopped fine – 1/4 Cup
• Tomatoes – Chopped fine – 1/4 Cup
• Green pepper – Chopped fine – hand full
• Salt  - to taste
• Crushed Pepper  - to taste
• Juice of one Lime

Putting it together

• Soak the Red Chori beans overnight in a bowl of water. The next day drain the water and tie the beans in a Cheese cloth and hang it in hot place. If you have nothing to hang of, take a tall stock pot, put a long laddle / Wooden spoon through the cheese cloth bundle and put the laddle over the mouth of the stock pot (Yes, the lenght of the laddle should be bigger than the mouth of the stock pot)  Take care so that the bundle does not touch the bottom of the stock pot. Keep bundle wet. It take another 12 hours for the beans to sprout. Once the beans are sprouted, put them in an air tight container and store it in fridge. This will last atleast a week.
• Heat a skillet and put down some oil. Add the Red Chori beans and onion and saute just until both are little tender (not more than 5 min). This will take away the smell of raw onion and cook the sprouts slightly. You can skip this step if you like
• In a bowl combine the sprouted beans and rest of ingredients and serve chilled.
• For serving with Rice Pilaf / Biryani add a little yogurt and make it in to a raita
• You could also add any herb like Mint / Cilantro to bring freshness to the plate

Update :

Sending My Recipe to Priya’s Let’s Sprout Event.

Grilled Onion and Carrot Chutney

Grilled Onion and Carrot Chutney

I am a big Chutney / Thogaiyal (as we say in tamil) fan. Reading all the food blogs in the blogsphere has given me confidence that I can “chutneyfy” almost any vegetable. One such attempt is this onion and carrot chutney. This has a distinct sweetness and colour from the carrot and the tang from the onion. It pairs well with just about any entree you choose. I hope its not too late to send it to Sizzling Summer Contest. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Onion – 1 big
• Carrots – 7 baby carrots
• Whole Dried Chillies  - 3
• Urad Dhaall – 2 tbsp
• Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Mustard for seasoning

Putting it together

• Coat the onions and carrot with some oil and grill them until nice and smoky. Alternately, if you do not own a grill, you can pan fry them.
• Roast the Urad dhaal and Dried chillies separately in a pan
• Grind all of them together in a food processor along with tamarind paste and salt
• In a pan, add some oil and mustard seeds. Once they sputter add them to the chutney
• You can use this as pesto, or a spread, or dip or even serve with rice.

Rice Flakes Pilaf (Aval)

Rice Flakes Pilaf ( Aval)

When you want a nice, nutritious rice dish but you don’t want the heaviness that rice gives, using rice flakes is a good alternative.  Once you have the soaked and drained rice flakes, you can use it just like rice in just about everything. Given here is a simple meal thats easy to make and satisfying. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Rice Flakes (Aval / Poha) – 2 Cups
• Peas – 1/3 Cup
• Fresh / Frozen Corn – 1/3 Cup
• Channa Dhaall / Urad Dhaal for Seasoning (Optional)
• Mustard seeds
• Salt to taste
• Crushed Red pepper flakes

Putting it together

• Pour cold water over the rice flakes until the Rice Flakes are covered
• Squeeze the Rice flakes in the water three or four times. Do not overdo it, because then the pilaf will become soggy. if you dont squeeze enough, the flakes may not be cooked
• Drain the water immediately and keep it aside
• In a pan, put down some oil. Add the mustard seeds and let it sputter. Then add the dhaall, red pepper flakes, peas, corn and salt
• Stir fry until the peas and corn are cooked. Turn the stove all the way to low and add the rice flakes in to the pan.
• Leave it aside in the pan to warm and the bottom to crisp up  lightly
• Remove and serve with some good ol’ fashioned sambhar / Soup / Salad or as itself