Sweet potatoes aid weight loss…

Sweet potatoes as the name suggests are sweeter than regular potatoes. Ironically, sweet potatoes don’t increase our blood sugar compared to regular potatoes which is low in fiber and increases our blood sugar. They have high content of antioxidants and fiber. If you are someone wanting to loose weight include sweet potatoes into your diet, carotenoids present in it helps to stabilize blood sugar level and to lower insulin resistance. Sweet potatoes come in different colors: white skin, purple skin, orange skin etc.

Sweet potatoes when cooked will become more sweet and will make a delicious dessert. Or include as a side dish with your meal, because of its high fiber it will fill your stomach fast, hence you can cut down on your food intake.

I often bake sweet potatoes, when baked it gets caramelized and tastes phenomenal. The other day, I made mashed sweet potatoes. Instead of making mashed regular potatoes, make mashed sweet potatoes. It’s healthy and tastes yummy.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes, large- 3
• Ground cinnamon- 1/4 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Skim milk- 1/3 cup

Preparation

1. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water till it has cooked well.
2. Let cool down and remove the skin.
3. You could even peel off the skin before cooking it.
4. Mash the sweet potatoes taken in a large pan using a potato masher or wooden spoon without any lumps.
5. Place the pan over medium heat, add ground cinnamon, ground pepper and milk to it, combine well.
6. Heat for a couple of minutes and remove from the heat.
7. Serve as a side dish.

Tips:

• If you prefer you could add cream instead of milk.
• Also, you could add any of your favorite seasoning.

Sadya without pulissery, are you kidding me???

Pulissery is such a versatile dish as this can be made with a lot of different veggies. You could make it either with cucumber, pineapple, mango, pumpkin, plantain or sometimes it’s made just with yogurt without the addition of veggies. My favorite is mango pulissery, the sweetness from the mango, the sourness of the yogurt and the aroma from the seasoning makes it such a delightful vegetarian dish. Pulissery is always served in Kerala Sadya and is one of the South Indian vegetarian delicacies. Not just with sadya, it is often served for lunch as a side dish along with rice. I love the combination of red rice, pulissery and pickle…

Cucumber Pulissery

Ingredients

To cook cucumber

• Cucumber, cubed- 1
• Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
• Chilly powder- 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Water- 1/2 cup
• Salt- to taste

To Grind:

• Coconut, grated- 1/2 cup
• Green chillies- 2
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Water-1/4 cup

Other ingredients:

• Yogurt-  1/2 cup

For seasoning

• Coconut oil or vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Whole dry red chilly- 2
• Curry leaves- 4-5 leaves

Preparation

• In a saucepan, combine cucumber with the ingredients mentioned above “to cook cucumber’ and cook covered till cucumber has turned tender. Don’t over cook or mash the cucumber.

• In a blender, grind the above mentioned ingredients “to grind”.
• Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked cucumber, combine well and cook for a few minutes till the raw taste of coconut goes away.

• Remove the cucumber mixture from the heat and immediately add yogurt to it, combine well.

• Taste and add more salt if needed.
• Don’t heat it after adding yogurt.

For making seasoning

• Heat a small pan, add oil, let it turn hot.
• Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
• Add dry red chillies and curry leaves, saute for 2 to 3 seconds.
• Pour this seasoning over the cucumber pulissery and cover the pan with its lid to lock the aroma of the seasoning.
• Serve as a side dish along with rice or for Sadya.

Tips:

• You could replace cucumber with pineapple, mango, plantain, pumpkin etc.

Finally, I started loving brussel sprouts…

I can now confidentially say that I love all kinds of veggies. Until last week I had an exception, Brussel sprouts. Though I admired the cute miniature cabbage look of them, I just couldn’t handle the bitterness of it. Once I had bought a bag of brussel sprouts and cooked it, it turned out to be so bitter that I had to literally thrash them. After that I just ignored them.

Last week, while hanging out at the produce aisle I glanced at brussel sprouts and I had the sudden urge to try that one more time. With a little hesitation I put that it in my cart and headed home to try my luck with it. I did a little research before even thinking of cooking with it. Most of the people had the opinion that cooking it too long would bring out its bitterness and it was better to roast it. i So, I decided to roast it in the oven, well I love to roast veggies till it turns light caramelized.

Towards the end of the baking, I sprinkled parmesan cheese and almonds on the brussel sprouts. The cheese gave a nice aroma and flavor to it, while the almonds imparted the crunchiness. My hubby and I ate the entire roasted brussel sprouts with so much greed.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Almonds

Ingredients

To marinate brussel sprouts:

• Brussel sprouts- 1 bag, about 20 no’s
• Red wine vinegar- 1 1/2 tbsp ( you could use soy sauce instead)
• Garlic minced- 3 cloves
• Thyme- 2 sprig
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Olive oil- 3 tbsp

Other ingredients:

• Almonds, blanched and halved- 1/2 cup
• Parmesan cheese, grated- 1/3 cup

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine brussel sprouts with the above mentioned ingredients to marinate.
3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
4. Grease with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Spread the brussel sprouts evenly over the aluminum foil.
6. Bake for first 20 minutes, after 10 minutes toss the brussel sprouts and bake again.
7. After 20 minutes of baking, sprinkle parmesan cheese and almonds over it and bake for another 5 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and serve warm as a side dish.

Tips:

• You could bake Asparagus in the same way.

My hubby found this recipe, made it and I fell head over heals for it…

If I try a recipe from a cookbook or any other source, I tend to make a lot of changes as it’s very hard for me to follow it blindly unless it’s a cake or pastry recipe. As a result, I can never recreate the original taste of that dish. On the other hand, when my hubby cooks he follows the recipe as it is, so that the original taste of the dish is preserved. A few weeks ago, when he took over the kitchen he made this delicious potato stir fry. That day he was determined enough to not to make mashed potatoes, instead he made this. He got the recipe from the internet by the cookbook author Julie Sahni.

In most South Indian veggie dishes, we make a seasoning by frying mustard seeds, curry leaves in the oil, the aroma when these fries in the oil is just wonderful that I’ll be seen taking deep breaths. For making this dish, first mustard seeds and curry leaves are fried in the oil and then the marinated potato is added and stir fried till it gets browned. Asafetida is the key ingredient for this dish which gives the potatoes a really nice flavor and taste. Asafetida has an intense pungent aroma when it’s raw, but when cooked it imparts a nice aroma to the dish. This spice is an unavoidable ingredient in most of the South Indian vegetarian dishes like Sambar, Rasam, pickles etc.

How to store Asafetida:

Powdered asafetida is usually found in a plastic jar with a rotating lid at Indian stores. You have to make a small hole on the lid and then close it by rotating the lid. If you keep the plastic jar like this, in no time your pantry will have an intense pungent smell imparted by this spice. It’s very very unpleasant.

What I do:

• Place the plastic jar in an air tight container so that the pungent smell is sealed.
• I don’t usually transfer this spice to the air tight container as while transferring the whole place gets the pungent smell.
• A little of this spice goes a long long way. Only a pinch or two of this is required for most of the recipes, don’t even think of adding more than 1/4 tsp in any dishes.

Hot Curry Leaf Potatoes

Ingredients

• Potatoes, fingerling or white potatoes- 8 no’s

For mixing with potatoes:

• Salt- to taste
• Cayenne or chilly powder- 2 tsp
• Ground turmeric- 1 tsp
• Asafetida- 3 pinches
• Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tbsp

For stir frying:

• Oil- 3 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- 10 leaves

Preparation:

1. Peel off the potato skin.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water seasoned with salt.
3. Cook till it’s fork-tender, don’t over cook the potatoes.
4. Drain the water and let cool down.
5. Cut the potatoes into long strips and put it in a large bowl.
6. Add all the above mentioned ingredients ‘for marinating potatoes’ and combine well.
7. Place a wok or large skillet over medium heat, add oil.
8. When the oil gets hot, add mustard seeds and curry leaves, let the mustard seeds splutter.
9. Add the potatoes and stir fry it till the potatoes gets browned.
10. Serve hot as a side dish.

2 minutes in the microwave and it’s ready to devour…

Why do so many people frown upon seeing broccoli on their plate? Apparently, I get along with it quite well. I am not a fan of raw broccoli though. Soups, stir frying and baking have been my usual way of preparing broccoli. Last night for dinner, I grilled drumsticks and wanted to serve a veggie side with it. Broccoli was my pick and I tried microwaving it rather than baking or grilling it.

Over cooking broccoli(or any vegetables) will result in loss of the nutrients, so to retain the nutrients it’s good to steam cook or microwave it. This way broccoli won’t turn mushy, it will still have a crunchy texture. I wasn’t up for just microwaving the broccoli, I wanted it to be flavorful. I added fresh orange zest and orange juice to make it flavorful and juicy. My husband and I loved the orange flavor in the broccoli and it was refreshing.

Orange Broccoli – 2 Minutes Microwave Recipe

Ingredients:

• Broccoli, separated into florets- 1 small
• Orange Zest- grate the zest from half of the fresh orange
• Orange Juice, fresh-  squeeze the juice of 1 orange
• Garlic, minced- 1 large
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Salt- little
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

• Separate the broccoli florets and rinse it under running water.
• Combine all the above mentioned ingredients in a microwave proof glass bowl.
• Microwave in high power for 2 minutes.
• Remove from the microwave and serve as a side dish along with rice pilaf, baked or grilled chicken.

India celebrates its 64th Independence day today. I couldn’t be any happier and feeling so proud to be an Indian. While I was in the kitchen I was struck with the idea of making a tricolor chutney which represents Indian flag. Luckily, I had all the ingredients to make the three chutneys. For green color, I first thought of making cilantro chutney and ended up making spinach chutney. This was the first time I’ve tried making spinach chutney, it tasted pretty good. For white color, I made coconut chutney which is a popular chutney in my hometown which is often served with Dosa or Idli. And for red color, I made my favorite tomato chutney which is also served with Dosa, Idli and rice.

Tricolor Chutney

Spinach Chutney

Ingredients:

To grind:

• Spinach- 2 cups
• Coconut, grated- 1/2 cup
• Green chilly, chopped- 1
• Ginger, chopped- 1 inch slice
• Salt- to taste
• Water- 1/3 cup

For seasoning:

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Red whole dry chillies- 2 no’s
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Preparation:

1. Grind all the above mentioned ingredients to grind to a smooth paste along with water.
2. Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add oil when it gets hot, add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
3. Add dry red chillies and curry leaves, saute for a second.
4. Pour the ground spinach paste to it and let it come to a boil.
5. If the chutney is too thick add some water to thin it down.
6. Taste it and add more salt if needed.
7. Serve warm with dosa, idli, rice etc.

Coconut Chutney:

Ingredients:

To grind:

• Coconut- 1/2 cup
• Green chilly- 1
• Ginger, chopped- 1 inch slice
• Tamarind, fresh and pitted- 1 inch slice
• Water- 1/3 cup

For seasoning:

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Red whole dry chillies- 2 no’s
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Preparation:

1. Grind all the above mentioned ingredients to grind to a smooth paste along with water.
2. Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add oil when it gets hot, add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
3. Add dry red chillies and curry leaves, saute for a second.
4. Pour the ground coconut paste to it and let it come to a boil.
5. If the chutney is too thick add some water to thin it down.
6. Taste it and add more salt if needed.

Tomato Chutney recipe

This pickle has been very popular in my family and is prepared during almost all occasions mostly to serve along with Biryani. At the end of the meal, almost everyone will be seen licking their fingers and requesting for more. This pickle is also served at Malabar weddings, in fact I believe this dish belongs to Malabar cuisine.

I tasted this for the first time at my cousin’s wedding several years ago and it tasted so unbelievably good that this particular dish captured almost everyone’s attention and we talked about it for a few days. After that, my mom got the recipe from someone and prepared it for us. Since then, she has been making this quite often and sharing the recipe with others.

I make this whenever I make biryani, as this is a perfect accompaniment for biryani. Last Sunday, I made chicken Biryani and of course dates pickle was there too. The sweetness of the dates, spiciness from the green chillies and the tanginess from the tamarind; all these flavors will dance in your mouth and will tickle your taste bud.

Dates Pickle

Ingredients:

I’ve always been a baby corn fanatic, and I couldn’t help remembering how I used to load them up in my bowl when I create my own ingredients for stir fry at Stir Crazy restaurant, Chicago. Obviously, I will have more baby corns than any other veggies. Though it doesn’t have much taste by itself, I adore them greatly. I mostly throw them into stir fries, haven’t thought of frying them until recently. Since I got so bored of stir frying it, I was very excited to fry them.

Considering my husband’s gluten free diet, I made the batter with just corn starch, you could use a mix of corn starch and all purpose flour which will give a better coating for the fried baby corns. Just the fried baby corns tasted very bland, hence I had to season them to make it flavorful and delicious. Along with the seasoning, it tasted really fabulous. Needless to say, we finished the whole plate in just a matter of minutes.

Fried Baby Corn:

Ingredients:

• Baby corn, canned, rinsed- 1 can or 15 no’s
• Oil- enough for deep frying

To make batter:

• Corn starch- 1/2 cup
• Egg- 1
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Cold water- 1/4 cup

To make seasoning:

• Oil, used for frying- 2 tbsp
• Garlic, minced- 3 cloves
• Dry whole red chillies- 2 no’s
• Red onion, chopped small- 1
• Soy sauce- 3 tbsp
• Chili paste- 1/2 tsp
• Water- 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice- 1tsp
• Green onion, chopped- 1 stalk
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handfuls

Preparation:

• Gluten free batter: In a large bowl combine corn starch, egg, ginger-garlic paste, ground pepper and salt, add cold water and make into a thick batter.
• You could even use 2 tbsp of all purpose flour and little more water while making the batter.
• If you are using canned baby corns, rinse with water and pat dry them.
• Place a frying pan over medium heat, add oil and let it turn hot.
• Dip the baby corns in the batter, coat well and put them into the hot oil.
• Make sure the baby corns are dipped well in the oil while frying.
• Fry till it turns golden in color.
• Transfer on a paper towel.
• Place a skillet or pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of oil used for frying baby corns.
• Add garlic and fry till it starts to turn golden in color.
• Add dry red chillies and saute for a second.
• Add the chopped onions and saute till it turns light brown.
• To the onions, add soy sauce, chili paste and water.
• Let the sauce come to a boil.
• Now, add spring onions and cilantro, combine well.
• Add the fried onions to the mixture and drizzle lemon juice over it.
• Combine with the sauce and remove from the flame.
• Serve hot as an appetizer or as a side dish.

Nutty, crunchy and yes it’s slightly bitter…

Besides blooming flowers, sprouting green leaves, chirping birds and drizzling rain, another good thing about spring is that I get to see and buy a lot of variety of greens at farmers market or at regular grocery stores. The view of fresh greens itself is soothing and refreshing to my eyes. Every time I go to the farmers market, I get astonished to see new varieties of greens that I have never seen or tasted before. Last weekend, I came across rabe rapini which has vibrant green leaves with green buds which closely resembles to broccoli florets. I had no idea how it would taste nor its origin, yet I bought it as I love to try new veggies.

From Wiki, I learned that these greens are quite common in the cuisines of Southern Italy and China and are related to turnip family. It has a nutty, bitter and pungent flavor. I wasn’t that happy to read about the bitter part. Nevertheless, I did give it a whirl.

I stir fried the rabe rapini along with garlic, small onions and flavored it with soy sauce, finished it off with sesame seeds and peanuts. I wouldn’t say that it was totally bitter free, but the addition of brown sugar did help to cover up the bitterness to an extend. The truth is that it is a good source of Vitamin A, C, K, potassium, calcium and iron, may be this will encourage you to try this green.

Peanut Rabe Rapini Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Garlic, chopped- 3 cloves
• Dry Red whole chilly, slightly crushed- 2 no’s
• Small onions, chopped- 6 no’s
• Rabe Rapini, washed thoroughly- a bunch
• Water- 3 tbsp
• Soy sauce, low sodium- 3 tbsp
• Brown sugar (optional)- 1 1/2 tsp
• Sesame seeds- 2 tbsp
• Peanuts, roasted- 1/4 cup
• Salt- if needed

Preparation:

• Wash the rabe rapini thoroughly under running water and pat dry it.
• Place a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil.
• When the oil gets hot, add chopped garlic and saute till it is aromatic.
• Add dry red chilly, saute for a second, add small onions and saute till it turns light golden in color.
• Add the rabe rapini, add water and cook covered for about 5 minutes.
• Open the lid, stir fry the greens, let the water dry out.
• Add soy sauce, stir fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add brown sugar and combine well.
• Taste and add salt if needed.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds and roasted peanuts over it, stir fry for a minute.
• Serve warm as a side dish.

Ironically this dish is called cauliflower rice or cauli rice, but there is no rice in it. It’s made using just cauliflower florets which has been smashed into tiny pieces which apparently gives the look of rice. Since it’s been already named as cauli rice I am not trying for a name change here.

I tried to make this dish more flavorful by adding some Indian spices and it worked really well. You could serve this as a side dish or make a bed of cauli rice on a plate and top it with grilled or baked chicken. It’s absolutely delish!

Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower, separated into florets- 1 small or use half of the large one
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Dry red chilly, whole- 2
• Onion, minced- 1 medium
• Ginger, minced- 1 1/2 tsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
• Tomato, chopped- 2
• Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1 tsp
• Tomato sauce- 3 tbsp
• Soy sauce, low sodium- 1 tbsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Heat a large pot filled with water over medium heat, let the water come to a slight roll.
• Add the cauliflower florets into the boiling water and cook it till tender.
• Drain the water and keep the cooked cauliflower aside.
• Place a saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil.
• When the oil gets hot, add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
• Add cumin seeds and dry red chilly, saute for a second.
• Add onion and salt, saute for a few minutes.
• Add minced ginger and garlic, saute till onions turn tender.
• Now, add the tomato and cook till it gets mashed.
• Add the cooked cauliflower florets.
• Using a wooden spoon, break the florets into really small.
• To the cauliflower, add chilly powder, coriander powder and cumin powder, combine everything together.
• Add the tomato sauce and soy sauce, stir fry the cauliflower for a few minutes.
• Stir fry till all the water dries up.
• Finish it off with chopped cilantro.
• Serve as a side dish or make it as a bed and top it with grilled or baked chicken.