Purple Cabbage Chana Masala

After coming to the USA I have some vegetables in different colors and I love them. Some of the vegetables I fell in love are purple cabbage, yellow and green cauliflower and my favourite Yellow Watermelon. Oh!!! I was sooo sweet.
Today I am making a regular curry with different colored vegetable and it does taste different. I am not sure what the difference is, but is certainly better tasting

Purple Cabbage Chana Masala (Cabbage and Lentil curry)

Purple cabbage chana masala

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups purple cabbage sliced fine (or a medium small cabbage)
2. 2/3 cup lentils or chana dal soaked in water for 20 minutes.
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, salt, turmeric, chilly powder
5. few curry leaves, 2 dried red chillies broken

In a cooker, add the chana dal and cabbage and turmeric and 1/2 cup water and cook for 2 whistles. Let all the steam escape. heat oil in a pan and add cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies and fry for a minute. Add one finely chopped garlic if desired and fry for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir once and add the cabbage mixture.  Simmer till excess water evaporates. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot hot roti

Green Coconut Chicken

I was searching for some curry recipes with chicken drumsticks but ended up making baked drumsticks and they were awesome. I served them with rice and vermicelli pilaf and steamed broccoli and soya seeds (from the edamame)
The green in this green coconut chicken is cilantro

Green Coconut Chicken (Baked Chicken drumsticks with cilantro and coconut)

Ingredients:

1. 6 chicken drumsticks skin removed
2. 1/4 cup dessicated coconut dry roasted
3. 1 cup semi-packed cilantro
4. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
5. 1 tablespoon plain yogurt
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Marinate the chicken with salt and pepper for 10 minutes. Meanwhile make a smooth paste with the rest of the ingredients and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes(Leave it on the counter)
Bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until the chicken drumsticks get cooked through.
Serve with rice vermicelli pulao and brocolli and soya beans

Instant Sweet Potato Pancakes

There are recipes for Southern Pancakes with Sweet Potatoes from scratch but my instant pancakes with instant sweet potato puree are equally amazing and super fast. Some of the recipes says that "once you taste these sweet potato pancakes you won't go back to the original" and its absolutely true. And its also very good idea to incorporate some fiber into pancakes

Instant Sweet Potato Pancakes (Pancakes with instant pancake mix and sweet potato puree)

Sweet Potato Pancake

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Aunt Jemima Buttermilk pancake mix
2. 1 Gerber Stage 3 baby food- Sweet Potato Puree
3. 11/2 cup water
4. Butter for cooking

Mix the pancake mix with sweet potato puree and mix water little by little. See that the batter is not too thin. Heat a griddle and pour some batter and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon butter around it. Cover and let fry for 3-4 minutes. Turn and drizzle with bitter and cut an X in the middle and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot with Mrs. ButterWorth's sugar free Pancake syrup.

Have a hearty breakfast

Shrimp Po Boy sandwich

Once upon a time we went to San Francisco and the one food I was blown away was San Francisco Sour Dough bread. I read so many things about it and when I ate it, it was very delicious and another I read San Francisco was famous for was the crab sandwich and when I had it I was not disappointed.
                       Anyway, the reason why I am reminiscing about those sandwiches is, its all about the ingredients and since I am not getting any fresh crab lately, I got shrimp and I made a delicious Po-Boy Sandwich with it. It is basically a sub made of fried shrimp. So here is the recipe

Po Boy Sandwich (French bread sandwich stuffed with fried shrimp)

Po Boy

Ingredients for fried shrimp:

1. 1 lb medium shrimp/ prawn shelled, and deviened
2. 1 egg beaten
3. 3/4 cup milk
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground
5. thyme, ground oregano
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt, fresh ground pepper
7. 3/4 cup each of yellow corn meal, all purpose flour
8. Oil for deep frying
9. Extra salt and pepper for sprinkling

Mix the egg and milk with all the ingredients of #4. Marinade the shrimp in it for atleast 30 minutes. Mix the flour, yellow corn meal and salt and pepper. heat the oil and add the shrimp to the dry mix and press a bit so that the ingredients stick to it. Fry the shrimp in hot oil for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper

Ingredients for the sandwich:

1. 6 inch French bread sliced in the middle (I used sesame seed burger buns) 
2.  Chopped Lettuce
3. 1 medium large beef steak tomato sliced thin
4. 1 medium small red onion sliced thin and soaked in( 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1 green chilly chopped) for 15-20 minutes
5. Mayonnaise
6. Sweet relish
7. Pickle slices
8. hot sauce
9. Potato chips on the side

To assemble the sandwich, toast the bread with a little butter and smother with about 1/2-3/4 teaspoon Mayo on both side. Add lettuce, relish, onions, fried shrimp,(drizzle with some hot sauce with desired) tomatoes. Serve with chips

Andhra Bhindi Khatta with Poppy Seed Cauliflower

Bhindi Khatta or Bendakaaya Pulusu from the Andhra region is a very delicious recipe and the way is a little different from how my mom usually used to make the Okra Khatta. I was introducted to this Andhra style of sour okra gravy by my mother-in-law and it is yummy.
                   I made Poppy seed cauliflower to go with it. This recipe is from Oprah.com and it is very good. I hope you will try these and enjoy them as much as me and my family did

Khaskhas Gobi (Cauliflower dry curry with poppy seeds)

Khaskhas Gobi

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized cauflower cut into florets (about 3-4 cups)
2. 2 tablespoon(s) black or white poppy seeds (see Tips & Techniques)
3. 6 small dried hot red chiles,(3 stemmed, seeded, and broken into pieces, and 3 or 4 whole)
4. 1/2 teaspoon(s) ground turmeric
5. 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon(s) sugar
7. 3 tablespoon(s) mustard oil
8. 1/2 teaspoon(s) Kalonji (nigella) seeds

In a medium bowl, combine turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar; add cauliflower and toss until evenly coated. Set aside.  

Soak the poppy seeds in 2-3 tablespoons water for 15 minutes. Combine with 2-3 red chillies and grind to a smooth paste.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add cauliflower and stir-fry 4 to 6 minutes, until begins to brown in spots; Drain and set aside.

Okra Khatta

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add Kalonji and whole chilies. Stir-fry 15 seconds, then add poppy seed paste. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant; stir in cauliflower until cauliflower is coated. Add 1/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until cauliflower is just tender and sauce is absorbed. Sereve with rice and Andhra Bendakaaya Pulusu or my mom's Okra Khatta 

Andhra Bhindi Khatta (Savoury Okra Gravy)

Andhra Bhindi Khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb okra/bendakaya, wash, pat dry and cut into 1 1/2″ pieces
2. 1 small onion finely chopped
3. 1 tomato finely chopped
4. 2 green chillis, slit lengthwise
5. Few curry leaves
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of red chilli pwd, coriander pwd, brown sugar, cumin, methi seeds, mustard seeds, ginger-garlic paste
7. 1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
8. Thick Juice from  small lemon sized tamarind
9. salt to taste
10. coriander leaves for garnish (optional)
11. 1 tablespoon oil

 Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin, mustard seeds and fry for a minute. Add methi and curry leaves and broken dried red chillies and fry for a minute.  Add the chopped onions and green chillis and saute for a minute. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for one more minute. Add okra and fry on medium high for 5-7 minutes. Stir occasionaly. Add tomatoes and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Add the tamarind juice along with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cover with lid. Let it cook for 8-10 mts till the gravy thickens slightly. Garnish with cilantro chopped roughly and serve

Marsala fish curry with Chicken flavored Pilaf

Today being Sunday, its time for some special dishes. It has been a long time that I made any fish curry and hubby dear got some fish yesterday. It was Sierra and I don't know if I had eaten it before. This fish has only bones in the center, so its pretty easy to eat (if you are as picky as me about picking each bone) and its easy to feed the kids also
                Anyway, I made this fish curry with marsala wine with Thai flavoring and it was delicious. I made Chicken flavored rice and vermicelli pilaf, (pulao, palao, fried rice . flavored rice) to go with it and everybody enjoyed it. So here is the recipe

Marsala Fish Curry (Sierra fish in marsala and coconut flavored gravy)

Marsala fish curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized sierra fish cut into 3/4 inch steaks
2. 1 medium onion sliced thin
3. 2 medium tomatoes sliced
4. 1/4 cup marsala wine
5. 2 tablespoons each of oil, worsteshire sauce, peanut butter ( peanut powder)
6. 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, red chilly powder, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste
8. 1 big green chilly or 3 thai green chilly sliced
9. Generous amount of fresh cilantro cut into 2 inch stalks

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes and all the spices and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add fish and fry on each side for 3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients except cilantro, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. Turn the fish midway. Garnish with cilantro before taking off the heat. Serve hot with Chicken flavored pilaf

Chicken Flavored Pilaf (Flavored rice and vermicelli cooked in chicken stock)

Chicken flavored rice pilaf

Fish and rice plate

Ingredients:

1. 1-1/2 cup basmati rice
2. 1/2 cup vermicelli
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of grated garlic, butter, red chilly flakes
4. 1/2 tablespoon oil
5. 1 carrot grated
6. 1/2 cup french cut green beans
7. 1/4 cup white corn (optional)
8. 3 cups chicken stock
9. salt to taste

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the butter and oil and fry the garlic for a minute. Add rice and vermicelli and fry till they start to get brown. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the vegetables, stir to combine and simmer till the rice and vermicelli get cooked. About 6-8 minutes. Serve hot

Stuffed Karela

Most people don't like bitter melon or bitter gourd for obvious reasons but , and I have already said this before, if you know how to cook it, it will be the most delicious dish you would ever eat. There are different ways to cook this vegetable and different house holds have various ways to removing the bitternewss of the vegetable. So here is my way of cooking it and it is one of the most delectable dishes I make

Bhara Karela (Bitter gourd stuffed with onion and peanuts)

Bharwan Karela

Ingredients:

1. 4 karela or bitter gourd scraped and cut into 1-11/2 inch pieces
2. small lime sized tamarind soaked in 1/4 cup water
3. 1/4teaspoon turmeric
4. 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
5. Oil for shallow frying (about 2 tablespoons)

Ingredients for the stuffing:

1. 1 medium red onion peeled and chopped
2. 1 inch fresh ginger
3. 2 tablespoons Peanut Powder divided
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder

Pressure cook the karela pieces along with tamarind water and turmeric for one whistle. Open the cooker and let the pieces cool a bit
In a microwave safe bowl, microwave on hight the onion along with ginger and salt and turmeric for 2 minutes. Grind to a paste.
Mix the onion paste with the remaining ingredients for the stuffing
Fill the karela pieces with the stuffing and lay it in a single layer in a heated pan with 1 tablespoon oil. Cover and fry on medium high for 5 minutes. Carefully turn the pieces and sprinkle any remaining stuffing and some sesame seeds.FRy for 5 more minutes. Repeat for 4-5 more times. Add oil if needed. Serve at room temperature with rice and Ambada Dal