Banana stem stir fry(Vazhaithandu Poriyal)

     
   

The stem of the banana plant is widely used in south India which is called as Vazhaithandu.Most of the people will be unaware that banana stem is in fact edible.It has been used for a long time in Asian cuisine,especially South Indian for making soup,salad,raita and other form of curries.It is well known for its numerous health benefits and it’s highly fibrous nature.Some of the important health benefits are

• An excellent cure for Kidney stones
• Good for weight loss.
• Good for diabetic people.
• High in fibre content.
• Good in some of the stomach ailments like acidity, constipation etc.

The common recipe made using banana stem is 'vazhathandu poriyal' a dry side dish where coconut and spices like mustard, jeera etc are tempered in oil, and then freshly chopped veggies are tossed in and sautéed until cooked.The best part of a poriyal is that the tempering and spices are mild and the real flavor of the veggies is left to shine through.

Banana stem (we use only central round part) 

Banana stem is extremely high in fiber content and good for your tummy. The only hard part with this recipe is cleaning and prepping the banana stem. Once you get that done, this poriyal doesn’t take you more than 10 to 15 minutes from start to finish.I got to know about this banana stem dish from my patient cum friend Nandini who is native from kerala.Last Sunday when I had been to local vegetable market I found fresh banana stem and thought of trying the recipe,which turned out to be really delicious.

      Ingredients (serves around 3-4)

• Onion - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
• Salt - 1/4 tsp (adjust per taste)
• Banana stem - 2 Cups (cleaned and finely chopped)
• Turmeric - 1/8 tsp
• Freshly Grated coconut - 1/4 Cup

Ingredients for seasoning

       
        For tempering

• Chopped garlic (2-3 bulbs)
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Hing – 1/8 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Dry Red Chili - 1
• Green chili - 1 (slit)
• Curry leaves (4-5)      

                                                                                                                                                                               

Slit and Remove outer hard part

Inner soft part used for making dish

  

Inner soft part cut into discs

                               
        How to clean the banana stem

• The banana stem is usually available in 8 to 10 inches long sizes. The outer fibrous layers have to be removed.
• Lay old newspapers on the kitchen platform before starting to cut this vegetable.
• Wear an apron as this leaves stains that cannot be removed.
• Remove the outer porous layers. Sometimes you may have to discard two to three layers until you reach the hard and firm inner layer.
• Take a wide bowl and fill it with water, add the curd into this and mix and keep aside. Now you have a cylindrical inner stem, cut this into discs and put them inside the curd-water.
• After the entire stem is cut into round discs, take 2 to 3 discs and stack them on a chopping board and cut them into small pieces.
• Put the pieces back into the curd-water. Drain this water while making the dish.                                                                                                                                 

  

  Discs are then chopped and soaked in water

        Method of preparation

• Heat a pan with oil.Once the oil is hot enough add all the ingredients given in tempering one by one. Saute until the urad dal turns golden brown.
• Add the onion to the pan along with the salt and sauté until the onion turns translucent.
• Now, add the banana stem and saute for 30 secs. Add the turmeric powder, grated coconut and mix well and cook covered in medium flame for about 10-15 mins or until the banana stem is cooked nicely.
• Serve hot as a side dish with rice.

        Note

• Banana stem will appear hard because of high fiber content, but will cook quickly. You do not need to add additional water for cooking but you can add very little water if required.
• Cut banana stem into thin slices. If long, thread like fibers are seen between the slices, wind them round your forefinger and discard. Very tender stems do not have these fibers.

      

        Happy cooking !

Sweet potato gulab jamun

Gulab jamuns is the classic indian dessert which is very famous and enjoyed by all in celebration meals.Gulab means rose and jamun means berry.Gulab jamuns are berry shaped balls dipped in rose flavored sugar syrup. Traditionally they were prepared using khoya at home which was tedious process but now a day people make gulab jamuns using readymade packets. Gulab jamuns made from sweet potato is almost similar to traditional sweet from Bengal called as mishit aloo'r pantua.

For dussehra this year I wanted to try some out of the box dessert recipe.While searching for recipes on the internet I found these one.Sweet potatoes are also easily available in this season. I had tasted many other recipes using sweet potato prepared by mom like chips or sweet potato karanji (nevri) but never tried jamun recipe.This recipe is made with fewer ingredients and easy to prepare. The taste of this jamuns is nowhere near jamuns made with khoya but their taste was different and good with soft texture.

                                                       

Sweet potato before cooking

        Ingredients

• Sweet Potatoes - 2 cup mashed
• All Purpose Flour / Maida - 2 tblspn
• Salt - a pinch
• Baking soda- a pinch
• Oil or Ghee for deep frying
• (Makes around 20 jamuns)
• For Syrup
• Sugar - 2 cup
• Water - 1 cup
• Cardamom Pods - 2 crushed

Sweet potato after cooking

        Method of preparation

• Take sweet potatoes clean them,cut them into half.In a pan take water and let them cook until they are soft.
• Poke the sweet potato using fork to check whether they are fully cooked. Then drain the excess water.
• Now once they are cooled down peel and mash the sweet potatoes nicely.
• Now measure 2 cup of mashed sweet potatoes in a bowl.
• Then add salt,all purpose flour and baking soda in the flour. Knead to make smooth dough.
• Now take small portion of the dough, and roll it into a smooth ball. Now set this ball aside.
• Take sugar and water in a sauce pan, heat and bring it to a boil, boil it for around 10 minutes, it will get thick in this time. Let it cool down to room temperature.Add crushed cardamom powder to the sugar syrup.
• Now heat oil for deep frying, drop jamuns in hot oil and fry on a medium heat till golden. Keep mixing this for even coloring.
• Now drain them and add to the syrup immediately. Let them soak for around one hour.Serve cold.

                                                                                   

Kneading the dough

                                                        

Make round balls for frying

        Note

• Mashing the sweet potatoes is the main step, you can mash them using hand or grate them using a fine grater.
• Add little maida if your mix is sticky, adding too much maida may turn out in making hard jamuns .
• You can enhance the taste of jamuns by adding rose water and saffron to the sugar syrup but it’s optional.

                                                                             

Fried balls ready to soak in sugar syrup

                             

        Happy cooking!

Aluche appe (Colocasia leaf appe)

                                                      

Aluche appe

I innovated this recipe for "monsoon veggies" competition in goan foodmania group on facebook.While thinking about posting creative and healthy dish made out of monsoon veggies I ended up in making Aluche appe.

I stay in Pune where it’s just impossible to find monsoon veggies other that alu (colocasia).So the only option left was using alu in my innovative recipe. This recipe is very healthy, tasty and can be prepared from easy available ingredients. It can be best option for breakfast, tiffin, and evening snack. I have given here very simple recipe; variations of it can bedone as per personal choice.

                      

      
         Ingredients

• Chopped alu(colocasia) leaves ( 1 cup)
• Rawa (1cup)
• Curd (1cup)
• Ginger garlic chili paste (1and half tablespoon)
• Jeera (1tsp)
• Salt (as per taste)
• Baking soda (½ tsp)
• Oil (for brushing appe pan)

                  

      
        Method of preparation

• Take equal quantity of rawa and curd mix together.
• Then add baking soda to the mixture mix nicely and let it rest for around 3 hours.
• After 3 hours add chopped alu(colocasia) leaves, ginger garlic chili paste, crushed jeera and salt.Mix well.
• Heat the appam pan and apply oil in each of its grooves.
• Now add a spoon full of batter in each groove.
• Cover the pan with lid and cook for around 4-5 minutes
• Flip the appam with help of spoon and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Remove from appam pan and serve hot with green chutney.

        
        Happy cooking !

       

     

Valpapdechi kismoor

Kismoor is very famous dish in goa.It can be prepared in veg and non-veg version.Non veg version is more famous which is made from dry salted prawns or dry salted mackerels.

Last time I had posted this recipe using bitter gourd. This time it’s made by using French beans which is called valpapdi in goa. Normally we use French beans to make subji(bhaji), mix veg gravy (tonak) or in rice dishes like pulao.But believe me this dish is very tasty as compared to normal subji. It can be prepared using very few ingredients and less oil.I have learned this recipe from my friend vatsala.She had prepared this dish when i was at her place.                                                                                                                                              

        Ingredients (serves 2-3)

• French beans (around 200 grams)
• 1 finely chopped onion (small)
• ½ tsp of tamarind paste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric Powder
• 1/2 tsp chili Powder                 
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil for frying
• 2 tablespoon grated coconut
• Salt (as per taste)

                       
                                                        

        Method of preparation

• Wash and remove both the ends of french beans.And chop nicely in the similar way how we do for subji. Sprinkle salt over it, mix nicely and keep aside.
• Now in a pan, add oil and fry the chopped french beans over low flame till it turns light brown in color and becomes crispy.It takes around 15-20 minutes.
• Now gently grind (just for 5-6 seconds) the grated coconut, chili powder, turmeric powder, salt (adequate for coconut dry chutney) and tamarind without adding water just to mix them thoroughly.
• At the time of serving in a bowl add the coconut dry chutney, chopped onion and crispy french beans pieces. Serve fresh.                                                                                                           
        

        Note

• I prefer gentle grinding of coconut with seasoning while making this recipe but some people directly mix these ingredients with hand. This step can be personal choice.
• Since we have used raw onion these dish has to be finished soon. Otherwise the raw onion gives typical smell if it’s kept for long time.
• I prefer to use coconut oil in this dish as it enhances the overall taste, but the selection of oil can be personal choice.  

         Happy cooking !

Aloo gobi (dry)

Aloo gobi 

Aloo Gobi is a classic dry vegetarian Punjabi side dish made with Aloo (potatoes) and gobi (cauliflower) mixed with spices and stir fried.You can add mutter in the same recipe to make aloo gobi mutter.This simple dry curry goes wonderfully with roti or dal tadka and rice.

                                                              

Grind tomato,onion and chili to thick paste

       
        Ingredients (serves 2-3)

• Potato cubes (1 cup)
• Cauliflower florets (1 cup)
• Salt as per Taste
• Coriander powder (1Teaspoons)
• Garam masala( 1Teaspoons)
• Tomato (1 medium size)
• Red chili powder (1Teaspoons)
• Turmeric powder (1/2Teaspoons)
• Ginger-garlic paste (1Teaspoons)
• Cumin seeds (½ Teaspoon)
• Oil (2-3 tablespoons)
• Onion (1 medium size)
• Asafetida (¼ tsp)
• Green chili (1)
• Amchur powder (1/2 Teaspoons)
• Chopped coriander leaves (handful)

                                                            

Prepare gravy 

        
        Method of preparation

• Coarsely grind tomato, onion and green chili in a blender and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, sauté cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste,turmeric powder and asafetida for a minute.
• Then into the pan add tomato, onion and green chili paste cook for a minute or two.
• Now add rest of spices like coriander powder,amchoor powder and chili powder sauté and cook .
• Add very little water if required then add potatoes, cauliflower, garam masala and salt.
• Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.
• Put off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with rice or roti.

        Happy Cooking !                               

Add seasoning to gravy then add veggies

       

Masala Tendli talasani

‘Talasani’ are the dishes prepared by shallow frying the vegetables in oil.So water should not be used at any point.Tendli (Ivy gourd) talasani is the konkani dish prepared by stir frying tendli in oil,it is very easy to make and amazingly delicious dish.Me and my aai are big fan of this dish.

The original recipe of this dish is very simple which my mother taught me but I have added some spices in the dish to make it more chatpata (tasty).Hot rice,a simple dal and fried ivy gourd is a complete meal i would cherish anytime.

Talasani tastes best if coconut oil is used as it imparts a very nice flavor to the dish.However coconut oil is not a must and any other cooking oil can be used.The flavor of the tendli,oil and seasonings used takes these tiny gourds to another level.

                                                   

Tendli cut into long pieces and apply salt 

        
        Ingredients

• Ivy gourds/ tendli 2 cups (cut in long pieces)
• Red chili powder (1tsp)
• Turmeric powder (½ tsp)
• Coconut Oil (3-4 tablespoons)
• Chat masala powder (½ tsp)
• Coriander powder (½ tsp)
• Jeera powder (½ tsp)
• Lemon juice (1-2 tsp)
• Salt (as per taste)

        Method of preparation 

• Wash tendli well.Remove both the ends and cut into long  pieces.
• Apply salt(as per taste)and set aside for 10 minutes.
• In a kadhai, heat oil and transfer the tendli into it.
• On the medium flame fry them slowly,uncovered.Stir them in between.
• When they are half done add chili powder,turmeric powder,chat masala powder,jeera powder,coriander powder and mix well.Now fry them for some more time on low medium flame.
• When the tendli(ivy gourd)turns crispy brown and cooked well sprinkle some lemon juice.Mix well.
• Put off the flame.Serve hot with rice and dal.

      Note

• These should be fried on low medium flame.If they are not fried till they become crispy brown they remain tender from inside and do not taste good.
• While selecting the tendli for talasani all the ripe ones should be discarded as it will not taste good.
• If you like to make simple version of this dish the just add salt,chilli powder and turmeric powder to the dish and omit all the other ingredients.

        Happy cooking!

Paneer makhani / Paneer makhanwala

                                                         

Paneer makhani (makhanwala)

Paneer makhani or Paneer makhanwala recipe is a dish where paneer in simmered tomato cashew gravy, topped with milk cream. One of the simplest & popular Indian paneer recipes that can be made easily by a beginner. It can be served with naan, roti, paratha or with biryani rice or jeera rice.

This recipe is made with very few ingredients and uses no onion making it distinct from the butter paneer or paneer butter masala. This makhani dish becomes rich with an addition of few cashews and cream. Cashews can be optional and doesn’t affect the taste much since cream is used. To get the right taste i suggest sticking on to the quantities mentioned.Fully ripened red tomatoes and a good quality chilli powder that is not very hot contribute to the best color of the gravy.

       Ingredients (serves 4)

• 8 to 10 cashews
• 2 cups tomatoes (around 250 Gms)
• 200 Gms paneer
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 green cardamoms
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 1 green chili slit
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• Salt as per taste
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp kasuri methi (crushed)
• 2-3 tablespoons milk cream.

      Method of preparation

• Soak cashews in hot water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile chop the tomatoes.
• Add tomatoes and cashews in a blender. Blend to a smooth puree.
• Heat butter in a frying pan. Add slit chili, cardamoms, cloves and small cinnamon stick.
• When they begin to sizzle, add ginger garlic paste. Saute for a minute or two.
• Pour the tomato puree in the pan. Cover the pan and continue to cook until the tomato puree thickens.
• Now add red chili powder and salt. Stir and cook until it begins to leave the sides. You can adjust more or less chili powder as per your taste.
• Next is the time to add garam masala.Mix well then add about 1 cup water, sugar and mix.
• Cover and cook on a medium flame until the gravy thickens.
• Add paneer to the gravy. Sprinkle crushed kasuri methi over it.
• Gently stir, cover and cook on a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Lastly add milk cream to the dish and stir gently.
• Serve hot with rice or Indian bread.

       

        Happy cooking!

Whole wheat pav (pao)

Whole wheat pav

Pav or bread rolls are very popular in almost all the parts of India mostly because of recipes like pav bhaji,vada pav,bhurji pav,missal pav etc.Pav means a small loaf of bread, this word has been derived from pão a Portuguese word for bread. Portuguese were the first one to bring yeast to india, which produced the doubled bread loaves. 

The art of bread making is a legacy which came to goa by the Portuguese.The Goan pão is a culinary masterpiece.Growing up in the Goa we had no use for the alarm clock.Our early morning wake up call was in the form of typical horn Ponk! Ponk! by poder on his bicycle.It was part of being goan and the the tradition still continues.

I always wanted to bake my own bread but I wanted healthier version of it. I planned to prepare famous goan dish chicken xacuti today which is served with pav. Pav with xacuti is the perfect combination instead of roti or chapati.

Being a doctor by profession I know the unhealthy effects of refined flour so I tried the healthy version of ladi pav using wheat flour. No butter or milk or eggs used in the recipe which makes it even healthier.The pav had a great soft texture and my hubby was also delighted.I made smaller buns instead of bigger ones.Nothing beats a homemade pav in terms of taste, texture and hygiene.

                                       

Yeast soaked in water and sugar 

        
        Ingredients ( serves 8-10 pav)

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cup water
• ½ tbsp dry active yeast
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt                                                                                                                                            

  

  Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough 

        Method of preparation

• Warm the water. 
• Dissolve sugar in the water.
• Sprinkle the yeast and stir.
• Keep aside for 10 minutes or till the yeast bubbles up and froths.
• While the proofing is happening, sieve the flour with salt.
• Add the oil to the flour.
• Now add the frothy yeast.
• First mix everything, and then start kneading the dough.
• The dough has to be smooth and light. Grease the dough with oil.
• Keep in a large bowl and cover loosely with kitchen napkin.
• Keep aside for around 2 hours until the dough doubles up.
• If it requires keep aside for some more minutes. Take the dough on a lightly floured surface. This naturally deflates the dough.
• Now make balls from the dough. Shape the balls into circular shape and place these on the greased pan.
• To get the ladi pav, keep some gap between the pav.
• You can also make small buns and let these bake separately without touching each other.
• Cover again loosely with the kitchen napkin and let it rise again for about 30-40 minutes till it fully doubled up.
• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C and bake for around 35-40 minutes till you get the pav are all done and baked.                                                       

Round dough balls kept in  greased tray for baking

         Note

• You can also brush the pav with oil or melted butter once they are baked to give them a glaze. 

         

        Happy baking !

                                                                             

Pav ready after baking 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Chum Chum (Bengali Sweet)

                                                        

Chum Chum 

Chum chum  also known as chom chom or cham cham is one of the other Bengali delicacies apart from rasgulla, sandesh and rasmalai. Oval shaped chena  balls are cooked in sugar syrup just like the rasgulla.Then garnished in different ways.Few variations of the garnishings are to stuff with mawa/khoya or dunk them in rabri or just serve them with coconut garnish.

Unlike the rasgulla this is not served with sugar syrup, so the sugar syrup can be reused for other recipes like gulab jamuns. Commercially sold chum chum are colorful as food colors are used while preparing. Since I do not prefer colors, I have not used. If you want to make chum chum colorful, then you can add few drops of it while kneading the chena.

Once my husband’s friend had brought this bengali sweet in the office from Kaka halwai in pune; my hubby had liked its taste very much.Hubby has a sweet tooth and it was his demand to make this dessert.Today I had around a litre of milk extra in my fridge. I remembered this recipe and thought of giving it a try.I prepared this recipe for the first time and it was ultimate in taste and shape.

                                                           

Chena mixed with semolina

        Ingredients

        To make chena

• 1 litres or 4 cups full fat milk
• 2 to 4 tsp lemon juice or vinegar diluted with 4 tsp water
• Semolina (1 tsp)

                                                          

Oval chena balls

        For the sugar syrup 

• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 3 ¼ cups of water
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder

                                                       

Chena balls cooking in sugar syrup

        For filling

• 4 tbsp mawa/khoya
• 1 tbsp sugar (powdered, adjust to suit your taste)
• Chopped dry fruits (1-2 tablespoon)
• Few strands of kesar
• Cardamom powder (1/4 tsp)  

                                                           

Ingredients to make  filling

        For garnishing

• Few pistachios and desiccated coconut.                                                                                             

                                                               

Khoya filling is ready

                                                   

        Method of preparation

• Boil milk on a medium flame. Add diluted lemon juice to the pot and stir. Use as needed until the milk curdles completely.
• Add ice cubes or ice cold water to the curdled milk. Drain it off to a muslin cloth.
• Rinse it under running water. Squeeze excess water from the chena.
• Hang it for about 1 hour.
• Knead it well for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth. Add semolina to kneaded chena .Make equal sized oval shaped balls.
• Make sugar syrup by adding sugar and water to a pot. Bring it to a boil. When it begins to boil, then add cardamom powder and cham cham balls.
• Cover and cook on a moderately high heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
• After a while, transfer the cham cham to a plate and cool completely.
• Slit them length wise using a knife (do not cut into half)
• Make mawa stuffing by mixing mawa with powdered sugar,kesar,chopped dry fruits and cardamom powder.
• Stuff the cham cham with this mawa mixture.Garnish the cham cham with pistachios and desiccated coconut.
• Serve chilled.                                                                                                                                       

  

  Slit the chum chum in the middle

      Note

• Do not boil the chum chum on a low flame, they may not puff up.
• Do not overcook; they can turn rubbery and hard.
• If you do not knead the chena properly,chums chum might break while cooking in the syrup.
• Filling of the chum chum can be personal choice.
• Some people also use kewda or rose flavor to sugar syrup in which chena balls are boiled.

        Happy Cooking !