Radish And Spinach Sabji

I think I’ve fallen into a food rut lately. I find myself buying the same few vegetables week after week, and cooking them the same way, over and over again. Meals have become very boring and predictable.
I picked up a bag of radishes (again) this week and then proceeded to make this dish just like I had, last week too. I keep meaning to try out new dishes but always end up using it in a kootu or in a thoran or raita, or a simple stir-fry like this one.

This preparation is a simple and easy one and serves as a good accompaniment to rice and some plain yogurt. Also goes well with dal and rotis. I had the leftovers in a sandwich the next day.

Ingredients:
15-20 baby radishes, cubed
¼ cup frozen spinach
Salt to taste

To grind to a coarse paste:
4-5 red chillies
3 garlic cloves
½ medium onion, chopped into chunks (or 4-5 shallots)

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal
A pinch of asafetida

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Temper it with mustard seeds, urad dal and asafoetida.

Add the ground paste (chillies-garlic-onion). Cook till the raw onion-garlic smell disappears.

Add the radish cubes and cover and cook till they start to soften. (Don’t overcook or else they will lose their crunch and that lovely pink color.)

Add the frozen spinach. Mix well and allow the water (from the frozen spinach) to evaporate. Mix well. Serve hot.

Aloo-Methi Sabji (Potato-Fenugreek sabji)

Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
½ medium onion, finely chopped
2 cubes frozen methi (you could use the fresh leaves)
½ tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal/ skinned and split white lentils
A pinch of asafoetida

Method:
Heat oil and add the ingredients for the seasoning followed by the onions. Sauté onions till transparent.

Add the frozen methi cubes and cover and cook for 2-3 minutes till the methi thaws in the pan. (I don’t thaw it separately.) Mix well and add the chilli powder.

Add the cubed potatoes. Cover and cook till tender, 10-15 minutes)

Serve hot with curd-rice.

Moth Beans curry and Cluster Beans sabji

Moth Beans Curry
Ingredients:
2 cups moth beans/matki, cooked
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted & powdered
6-10 peppercorns, roasted & powdered
Salt to taste.

To be ground together:
2 Tbsp coconut
½ tsp cumin seeds

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
1-2 red chillies

Method:
Cook moth beans till done. (I always pressure cook dals/ beans/lentils in bulk and freeze them in separate freezer-safe plastic containers to avoid the hassle of having to use the pressure cooker every single time I need to make something using it. It has been working great for me.)

Roast and powder the cumin seeds & the peppercorns.

Grind together the coconut & cumin seeds.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida and red chillies followed by the chopped onion and garlic. Sauté till the onions are transparent.

Add the roasted powders and the ground coconut-cumin seed mixture. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the cooked beans to this and ½ cup of water & cover and cook for 5 minutes or so till all the flavors blend in.

Serve hot.


Cluster Beans sabji
Ingredients:
3 cups cluster beans/guvar, chopped into one inch pieces
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 big piece of jaggery
Salt to taste

To be ground together:
2 Tbsp coconut
2-3 red chillies
½ tsp cumin seeds

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp urad dal(skinned and split white lentils)
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida


Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the chopped onions & garlic and sauté till the onions are transparent and soft.

Add the cluster beans and cover and cook till tender.

Add the ground coconut mixture to the beans and mix well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Cluster beans are a little too bitter for my taste and I added a big piece of jaggery too. Mix well till the jaggery melts.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Battle at Kruger & a stir-fry with Kale

I first came across this recipe here and then here. I have always ignored these greens during my trips to the grocery store as I never quite knew what to do with them.
Here is my way of preparing these healthy greens.

Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale, chopped fine
½ onion, finely chopped
½ tsp ginger paste
2-3 green chillies
½ tsp sambar powder
½ cup of coconut powder (I was out of fresh, frozen coconut)
Salt to taste

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
½ tsp methi seeds
A pinch of asafoetida/hing
1-2 red chillies

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan & add the ingredients for the seasoning. Sauté the onions. Add the green chillies & the ginger paste followed by the sambar powder.

Mix in the finely chopped kale, stir well & cook for about 8-10 minutes.

Add the coconut powder & mix. Cook for anther 2 minutes or so till all the water evaporates. Add salt to taste.

Serve hot with some rice.


On a totally different note, here is something I came across while I was wilfing on the web. If you have a couple of minutes to spare, do watch the entire thing. It is about 10 minutes long.
I have never seen anything like this before! Do watch this incredible footage captured by an amateur at http://youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Lotus Root/Kamal Kakri sabji

I had actually never bought or tasted lotus root before. Though I have seen this vegetable in the frozen section of the Indian grocery store, I have never been bold enough to experiment something totally new. But thanks to blogging, I am now involved in cooking like never before and look at food in a completely different light.
I bought frozen lotus root over the weekend simply because it looked so pretty!
For those of you interested in knowing more about the nutritional value of lotus root, please see here.

After doing a little bit of research, I gathered that it was not the easiest of vegetables to cook with and I found the root to be almost tasteless by itself with no aroma.

This was the way I ended up preparing it.

Ingredients:
3 cups frozen lotus root
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
½ tsp coriander powder
2 tsp Punjabi garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ cup yogurt
1 Tbsp oil
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method:
Boil the lotus root cubes in water for about 15-20 minutes till tender. (This could take longer too as they don’t get cooked/soft that easily). Drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds followed by the ginger-garlic paste.

Add the onions & sauté till transparent. Add all the spices followed by the chopped tomatoes and cook.

Add the lotus root cubes & cook covered for about 5-7 minutes.

Stir in the yogurt & mix well and cook for a minute or so.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.


To conclude, the great thing about lotus root was its appearance & crunch. The dish turned out to be good with the lotus root retaining its crispy texture and taking on the flavors of anything added to it.

Broccoli-fenugreek /methi sabji

Ingredients:
3 cups broccoli florets (I used the frozen ones)
½ cup onion, finely chopped
1 cube frozen fenugreek/methi, thawed before use.
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
A pinch of garam masala
½ tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste.

For the seasoning:
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal
½ tsp methi seeds
A pinch of asafoetida/hing


Method:
Microwave the broccoli florets.

Heat oil in a pan & add all the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the chopped onions, sauté for a bit, add the ginger-garlic paste followed by the methi, chilli powder and garam masala. Stir well.

Add the broccoli florets, mix well & cook covered for about 5 minutes

Serve hot.

Aloo Gobi