Mixed Vegetable Curry

One of the most redeeming lessons being a graduate student and being in America has been about money. 2 years ago, I didn't have a job and the feminist in me became stingier (I've always been stingy) by the day before I asked A for money. Being a graduate student and paying through my nose without a loan has brought out the stereotypical inner South Indian in me (My rather bindaas about money and generous parents will be horrified) and I think 100 times before doing anything. And the tree hugger in me, of course, wants to buy only food that is 'good' for the body and the world. Unfortunately, these two factors clash in my life right now and I'm forced to be stingy all over again. To this dilemma, let's add a no sugar, most of the times no polished carbohydrates diet and watch the fun unfold.

It has truly been fun - this past year. Customizing food, cooking quick-fix meal, making cakes with honey and applesauce, eating mostly vegetables, eggs, beans (God bless them!), Dals or lentils, fruits at almost every meal has made me way fitter and way more determined to stick to my diet. I tweeted a couple of days ago how my comfort food has moved from Dal-Chawal or Curd rice with pickle to a quick roasted vegetables or quinoa with dal or veggies on top. I do indulge once in a while. Wednesdays are bad days for me. I come home at 9 PM after a rather exhausting day. It's no fun in the cold at least. And I don't take to hunger that well. Earlier, during such times, I'd come home to eat a tortilla while I was cooking or make rice and gobble it up with some curd. Nothing more comforting for a Tamilian :) Nowadays, thanks to my diet, I'm way more creative. I end up using canned beans or frozen veggies on Wednesdays and quickly make myself a meal. Last Wednesday, I made this curry. It was really quick and absolutely lickable, dare I say so myself. This doesn't even require a recipe considering this blog's followers, but this is for all those Twitter friends of mine who tweet every night about food :)

Ingredients

2 small Potatoes - sliced lengthwise

1 carrot - peeled and cut lengthwise

1/2 an onion

1 Jalapeno/Green Chilli, chopped

Any other random vegetable - I didn't have anything else!

1 tsp Kalonji (Substitute with Jeera/Cumin seeds)

2-3 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper (Chilli powder)

1 tsp turmeric (I didn't use it because I didn't have any!)

2-3 tbsp water

1-1.5 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1. Heat oil, add the Kalonji or Jeera. Let it splutter. Add the onions and jalapeno or green chillies

2. Let it cook for 2-3 mins, add the potatoes, sprinkle some water and close and let cook for 7-10mins. Thinner the slices of the potato, the better it is.

3. Add carrots to this mixture and the rest of the spices, some more water IF the mixture is dry and let it close to let it cook.

4. Once they are partially cooked, take the lid off and let it cook for a good 5-7 mins. Stir if you think it's getting burned.

Voila! It's done. The spice level may be high for some people. I love spicy, hot food and so, the cayenne pepper, the Garam Masala and the chilli. You can adjust it accord to your preference. The quantity should be enough for one really hungry person or two people who behave decently when there is food around!

I didn't pay much attention to this curry. I throw one ingredient, wash the vessels lying in the sink or clean up. On this day, I made rotis along with the curry and that kept me occupied. One can think of a 101 vegetables to add to this mixture. Adding cabbage or beans, peas or bell peppers could work brilliantly. Or, even peanuts for the crunch factor. If you are the type to use the Microwave which I admit I have become, you can zap the potato or carrots in the microwave for a quick 3-4 mins before adding to the onions on gas. You can add some coconut milk to make this a gravy or some tomato sauce. I ate a satisfying meal that night - yogurt sprinkled with some Garam Masala (friend's care package again!) and rotis and this curry. The pictures certainly may not scream, 'make me now.' But then, this blog hasn't been about that at all. So, this is all I can manage in the kitchen I have with yellow lights with a camera whose battery is dying as I click and a grumbling stomach at 9.30 PM on a weeknight :)

Sometimes, I'm so exhausted, just the thought of cooking when I have assignments and deadlines to catch up with tires me. Like this time, I didn't think I was going to make rotis. I thought I'd stuff my tortillas (I always have a pack of Whole Wheat tortillas in my fridge and readymade Rotis just in case) and top it with some cheese or an egg and make a meal out of it. But when I started working on the vegetables, new energy took over and I cleaned the kitchen, made rotis and washed vessels - all by the time this sabzi was ready to eat. Cooking meals like this everyday in order to keep to my resolution of not buying food to eat has made me feel more productive and I feel better at the end of every week. Twitter friends help me a lot in this regard. Every night, someone posts about the #dinner they're eating or they want to eat. And I end up thinking how I can't skip a meal or how I can't eat crap. I feel responsible. I feel responsible as a food blogger who is aware of the positive effects of food and cooking, as a person who believes earnestly that good food makes me and this world better. Then, I cook for myself. It isn't as bad. It is emotionally tough sometimes, but it is liberating most of the time.

Try cooking yourself a meal today. It doesn't have to be as fancy as we food bloggers make it out to be sometimes. It doesn't have to involve a lot of money or eating out. It could be something as soul satisfying as a bowl of dal or a curry made in 15 mins in a pressure cooker. If I can do it, you can do it. There's no one lazier than me and I've been spoiled all my life with adoring grandmothers, fantastic room-mates who didn't let me enter the kitchen, a mother who got interested in cooking for our sake, a food and cooking crazy husband and a chef of a mother-in- law.

Cook something. Eat well. You will help yourself and without knowing, this world that we live in.

Sichuan Slaw

One of my favorite things to do every day is to read the NY Times, and in particular their Dining and Wine section (Under Style -ya!) Bittman is a huge favorite of mine and I love his no-nonsense, healthy, foodie column. So, when he spoke about 101 salads for this summer, I knew I'd find something there. I'm not a salad person. And being an Indian, the first time I saw people grappling at leaves with their forks, I was quite amused :) I tried it myself only to hate it. All because I thought you need a lot of the dressing to make up for the leaves. And all this snobbery when I'm a vegetarian. But now, I'm a convert. Some salads can be tasty. Especially when the dressing does not overpower the actual flavour of the ingredients! Like the Sichuan Slaw. Salad no. 6. As long as it is evil to my hips, even partially ;)

May I say that this salad was as good as great, trashy Chinese take-out that we so enjoy on those depressing nights? Now, I totally understand texture, the amount of dressing to be made, the punch of flavour in soy sauce...the toastiness of the sesame oil. If I'm waxing about the salad so poetically or like a food connoisseur (which I'm not), you can imagine how good it is. As I write this, my mouth waters! I can eat this salad through the year and not complain. The sprouts are crunchy and fresh, the carrots lend the sweetness along with honey in the dressing, the green chillies satisfy my Indian tongue and the peanuts are just the icing on the cake with the sesame oil rounding it all up to create a fantastic feeling in the mouth. Indians will identify the texture to be like a good road-side chaat!

The ingredient list is not measured. I threw in things together, much like the way Bittman's described it. So, please adjust seasonings and the components of the salad per your taste. We all have these ingredients, and trust me, nothing is simpler.

Ingredients

Sprouts - They are the basis of this salad, so use fresh ones and I used around 2 cups
Carrots - Grated or shredded. I grated one carrot
Peanuts - a handful
Cilantro - 1/3 cup - Do add them, because it does magic visually.
Mint - 1 or 2 sprigs, finely chopped
Celery (acc. to Bittman's recipe. But I didn't have it, so didn't add this)

For the dressing:

3-4 green chillies, minced.
Ginger - grated - 1/4 tsp or so ( My addition to the original recipe)
Lemon juice - Per your taste. I used more than a tbsp
Soy Sauce - I used about one tbsp
Sesame oil - 1-2 tbsp
Honey - Just enough to take away the searing heat of the green chillies ( Bittman says to add sugar. I chose to add honey)
Basil (Bittman recommends all the three herbs - basil, cilantro and mint) However, I didn't have any, so didn't add any!
Salt - Per taste

1. Pile all your ingredients in your salad bowl. There's no major chopping really, apart from the carrots, and maybe shelling of peanuts.

2. Make the dressing: Mix all the ingredients and make sure to taste it. If it turns out to be too spicy (I used a lot of green chillies for the amount of dressing), go ahead and add some more honey. I also added some extra soy sauce and sesame oil to increase the amount. So, its totally upto you.

3. Pour dressing over salad and mix well. Eat!

Other additions that I thought could make this better were, maybe some roasted garlic? Or, even, some garlic chips sorta thing? Shredded tofu or marinated tofu, made crisp by pan frying or baking? Noodles may be great too! What else do you think can go into this salad? I intend to make this again and I'd love to hear you give your suggestions on this.

I'm actually considering trying out every vegan/vegetarian salad in this list except for a few with a couple of veggies I hate! With an aim to shed some pounds, I love the idea of following a list like this (keeps me sane!) and certainly helps in planning out a meal. The last thing you want to do when you are on a diet is constantly think of what to eat - something that won't pile on the pounds! So, this list works fantastically well in planning my grocery trips. And most of the ingredients are so easily available and almost always stocked at home. So, you don't have to buy dressings, or any expensive, extra ingredients!

I found out through Twitter that Kellypea of Sass And Veracity is doing the same exercise. Go figure out the fun she's having with all the salads. For all you non vegetarians - she is planning to cover all the 101 and the salads sure do look pretty there! :)

So, please do yourself a favour and make this and let your taste buds tell your hips who the boss really is! ;)

Gajar Matar

When I got married and came to A's house, his mom prepared every single thing he liked for the 10 days we stayed there. One of the dishes was Gajar Matar. When she first mentioned she was making Gajar Matar, I assumed it was a stir-fry. She disappeared into the kitchen to make Gajar Matar. A started drooling already! She came out 10 mins later and participated in the discussion going on in the drawing room. She never went back. I thought that she had to go sometime to switch off the gas! Finally, when I had dinner, I found the curry to have a rich gravy. She explained that she cooks the Gajar Matar in a Khoa gravy with some simple spices and in the Microwave. Now that explains it!

So, A keeps talking about it and how we should make this sabzi. I was skeptical of trying one his mom's inventive recipes! I stalled it until I felt like eating it one day! I haven't been a huge fan of carrots in curries. I've seen carrots only in mixed vegetable curries or carrot-beans poriyal. Poriyal is something I hate, and so I hated carrots! Gajar Matar totally changed my perspective on carrots! I cooked it on the stove and with milk instead of Khoa. Since I'm on a diet, I added 1 tbsp of cream to A's portion while I omitted it in my portion! *The cream portion rocked, but hey, I rock coz I eat healthy :D* Here is the recipe. Make it with or without cream. Use cream when you want to indulge and you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

Carrots - 5-6 big ones, chopped lengthwise.
Peas - 1-1. 5 cups
Onion - 1/4 cup finely chopped
Milk - 2 cups
Cumin or Jeera- 1 tsp
Turmeric- 2-3 tsp
Chilli powder - 2-3 tsp
Garam Masala -1-2 tsp
Oil - 2tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander to garnish - a must!

1. Chop the carrots lengthwise. Don't make them too thin. Cook them in the microwave for 5 mins. You can skip doing this and cook it thoroughly in milk. It will just take longer.

2. Thaw peas if frozen. If still in pod, make sure your husband shells them every weekend :D

3. Heat oil, add the cumin seeds, let them splutter, add the onions and fry a bit.

4. Add the peas to the onion mixture and fry them for a good 5 mins until the peas seem to shine

5. Add the cooked carrots now and stir.
*if you are using uncooked carrots directly on the stove, make sure to cook them in a little water and add milk after the carrots are semi cooked.

6. Add milk and follow with the masalas or spices and salt.

7. Close the dish and let it cook for a good 10-12 mins. Keep stirring once in a while to avoid burning of milk or the carrots.
*You may add 1tbsp of cream at the stirring stage.

8. Once the curry achieves a creamy consistency and slightly thick, but not too thick, garnish with coriander!

* If the curry gets too thick (which it has a tendency to!), do add water. You do not have to add milk or cream all the way. Water will do fine too! :)

This curry turned out to be so, so, so delicious that I'm going to make it every week and if A gets bored, I'm going to say: You asked for it :D But then, the man said that this curry was as good as his mom's. I guess I'm happy with it for the time-being! And hey, this dish is so healthy for your kids too! Carrots, milk, peas, hardly any oil - How much healthier can tasty get, I say!

Oh, oh, oh! With this, I'm answering Aparna's clarion call to paint the blogworld Orange, a colourful initiative by Sunshinemom whose name has orange written all over it :P (Pop quiz: How many times did I use the word 'orange' in this sentence?)

Mixed Vegetable Curry!

N and I love to experiment with food! We try all kinds of cuisines. Also we always seem to have guests for who we are cooking. We generally cook elaborately for our guests. After one such draining week, we craved for simple food and regular desi khana. No other cuisine on the planet offers more regional diversity than Indian cuisine. You travel just a couple of hundred miles from Chennai to Andhra Pradesh and the food is very different! Travel a couple of hundred miles to the west and you enter Karnataka, a whole new culinary world!. You travel a few hundred miles southwest and you enter Kerala. All these 4 states belong to the southern part of india and they all have very different and unique ways of preparing and eating food. I haven't mentioned the other states across India which offer tremendous variety in terms of ingredients and the style of cooking. And I'm not talking subtle variations. There are truly some dramatic variations in Indian cuisine depending on the region.

Coming back to the weekend, I love my South Indian roots, but N and I suddenly had this craving for some good old North Indian Roti-Sabzi. It also helps that with Roti-sabzi, there are fewer dishes to wash :P So, we came up with this on a spur and made it every time since then to entertain guests.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cubed onions
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced beans
2 potatoes, cubed
1 green bell pepper, deseeded and cubed
1/4 cup peanuts
1/4 cup poppy seeds (khas-khas)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tsp garam masala (I used MDH brand)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Red chilli powder to taste
salt to taste

1. Microwave the cubed potatoes with some water for some time until they are semi-done. By this, I mean the outer part should start to soften. A fork should still not be able to cut through it.

2. Roast the peanuts and poppy seeds, cool them completely and pulse them in a blender or food processor into a semi-coarse powder.

3. Add 2 tbsp oil to a pan on high heat. Add the cumin seeds when the oil is hot. Add the cubed belle peppers first. I love the burn marks on my bell peppers. I think it goes really well with the smoky flavor of bell peppers and imparts additional 'smokiness' to it. Keep stirring to avoid burning.

4. After half the pieces have acquired the burn marks, add the onions, beans and carrots. Reduce the heat to medium-high. When the onions are translucent, bring the heat to medium and add the salt and all the dry spices. Keep stirring to avoid burning the veggies.

5. After 2-3 mins., add the potatoes. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil. This way, I make sure that my potatoes are roasted but dont overcook and turn mushy.

6. When the potatoes are almost done, add the peanut-poppyseed powder. Mix well and cook for 2 more minutes.

7. Garnish with finely chopped coriander or some more peanut-poppyseed powder and serve hot with rotis

This dish was so simple and easy to make! Also, the nut mixture makes this dish seem rich, but there is hardly any bad calories playing here! Try it for a weeknight meal and let us know how it came out! Of course, you can add some paneer to it to lend more richness, and any other veggies that you like :)