Sprouted Mung Bean Curry

Soaking beans and sprouting them requires a bit of patience or a bit more patience to get it right. I had tough time sprouting my mung beans because of the quality of beans. From one cup of beans, I got only a half cup's worth of fully soaked and sprouted beans ie about 2 cups of sprouted beans. Well the rest of the beans went right into the trash. Anyway a very good recipe that inspired me to make this curry is from the very popular online cooking show 'ShowmetheCurry'. I have modified this recipe according to the ingredients in my pantry and the result was a very yummy,delicious and a tasty curry that I am going to experiment with other sprouted beans varieties too.

Ingredients

sprouted mung beans - 2 cups

curry leaves - 4 leaves

salt - to taste

Masala paste

step1

mustard -1/4 tsp

fenugreek- 5 or 6

pepper corns - 6 or 7

red chillies-3

tomato -1

In a frying pan add little oil and heat it. Now add the above ingredients in the given order. Add to the blender when they are all well fried. Proceed to step 2.

step 2

hing- a pinch

turmeric-1/4 tsp

sweet onion - 1 med

Wipe the frying pan clean and now add little oil.Heat the oil. Add hing,turmeric and the chopped sweet onion.Saute well and combine this 'step 2' mixture and 'step 1' mixture in the blender. Add 70z (I used half of 13.5oz can which is 6.75 oz )of coconut milk to the blender and blend the ingredients to a fine paste. Keep the masala paste aside.

Method

Cook sprouted mung in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles. While cooking, add half a cup of water to the sprouts. Dont add more, since it will make the sprouts mushy. When the sprouts are done, add the paste ,water(about 2 cups approx), few curry leaves and salt to taste. Simmer the curry for about 5 to 7 min. Delicious curry is ready to serve along with rice or chappathis.

I am so happy that this post will be eligible for Susan's MLLA (My Legume Love Affair)Event, hosted this month by Sowjanya of Ruchikacooks.

Navarathna Kurma

This is a kurma that I make quite often at home. My hubby likes this kurma with rice very much and a combination which I totally detest. I can consume this kurma with almost any tiffin item like puri,dosa or chappathi but I just can't imagine eating with rice. But one thing that completely excites me is that Iam sending this post to Nupur's Blog bites event. This is an event that challenges bloggers to use pressure cookers,rice cookers and slow cookers and attempt recipes from another blog. Here is my humble attempt at doing just that. I have followed the recipe from Solai Chidambaram madam's blog.(Pls click the link to go to the recipe) She has a huge collection of veg and non-veg Chettinad recipes and a huge fan base too. My hubby found this website and asked me if I could make this kurma for him and after reading this recipe I wanted to do this immediately because of the easy way she explains this recipe. And here goes the recipe....

Masala Paste

Coconut grated-4 to 5 table spoons or half coconut
Cashews-6
Chutney dhal-1 tablespoon
Poppy seeds-1 teaspoon (optional)
Garlic-6 pods
Ginger-a small piece
Cinnamon-1 small piece
Clove-1
Cardamom-1
Fennel seeds-1 teaspoon
Green chilli-6(according to taste)
Keep the kadai in the stove. In a teaspoon of oil add the cinnamon, cardamom, clove and fennel seeds. Then add all other items one by one and coconut at the end. Fry in medium fire for 3 minutes. Grind it to a smooth paste.
Method

In a pressure cooker heat some oil. Season oil with spices like cinnamon, cardamom, clove and fennel seed. Add chopped onion(1) and tomato(1) pieces.Saute well.Add vegetables of your choice.Do not add more than 1 1/2 cups of veggies. Pour some water along with some salt and a tsp of chilli powder. Close the pressure cooker and cook until the steam escapes or until the veggies are cooked well. It is time to add the ground paste with a cup of water along with remaining salt.Add cauliflower and cooked peas now.Cook for 5 min and if you feel the curry is thick add water to dilute it or just leave it as such. This is such an easy dish that can be prepared less than 30 min.

BBJ (Blue Berry Jam) Toast

These are the same blueberries I was talking about a few days back while making my Blueberry crumble cake. I got them on sale and now I can buy them whenever they are on sale because I can make two perfect items from these bluey blueberries. One is the crumble cake and another is this glossy jam which uses a whole lot of blueberries. I am waiting to find a good recipe for blueberry muffins too but still havent formulated one or even browsed for one. If you guys come across one good recipe please do pass me the link.. My toddler son just loves muffins..especially banana nut muffins.Those are his favorite. Whenever I make it, I dont have to give it to him,he helps himself by opening the fridge and taking it. I have to just nuke a little.So friends, if you find a good recipe for blueberry muffins please do pass it on to me.

Ingredients

blueberries - 1 pint

sugar - 1 cup

juice of half a lemon

Method

1. Grind blueberries to an almost smooth paste.
2. Heat a stockpot. Add blueberries and sugar to the stock pot.
3. Now let the mixture heat up and bubble slowly for about 15 min making sure the temp is med. The reason for keeping medium temp is taking care not to burn the jam.
4. Now add the lemon juice and let it bubble for another 20 - 25 min.
5. Remove from heat and after few min the jam will be set.
6. While making bread toast, apply a layer of butter on the bread,then spread the blueberry jam for a nice,delicious taste.

Peanut Laddus(Senikai Unta)

The recipe for this laddu was given to me by my sister and it is the simplest recipe because it uses only two ingredients namely peanuts and jaggery. There is no syrup making in this recipe like most of the laddu recipes. The main reason I prefer this snack is because it is very healthy.

Peanuts are a powerhouse of protein and roasting them just boosts the level of antioxidants by a healthy 22% and according to Wikipedia these roasted peanuts even rivals the antioxidant content of the very famous berries. Well jaggery is also a harmless,natural, unrefined form of sugar that is very good for the body. It does not enter the bloodstream as rapidly as regular white sugar. People suggest taking jaggery alone for throat infections but after some research I found that it is indeed used in Ayurvedha for lung and throat infections.

My mom uses microwave to roast peanuts. She arranges the peanuts in a microwaveable tray and roasts them for about 3 min maximum, checking every minute taking care not to burn them. Roasting peanuts in a frypan is also fun. It takes a little more time than microwave but you can get the perfect texture.Iam using the conventional oven for the second time and this time I set my temperature to the lowest but took the longest to finish roasting...Next time I will stick to a higher temp like 425F and bake for just half the time...!

Anyway guys here goes the laddu recipe..........

Ingredients

Peanuts - 1 cup(skinless)

Jaggery - 1 cup

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F

2.Arrange peanuts on the tray. Roast for about 35 to 40 min.Once roasted powder these peanuts to about a semi fine powder.

3. Powder the jaggery to a fine powder.

4. Combine the powdered jaggery and peanuts.

5. Make balls and thus peanut laddus are ready.

Blueberry Crumble Cake

I have been buying these blueberries on and off. The very first time I bought blueberries I made a syrup to go with pancakes. I did not want to pop rest of these tart blueberries in my mouth. For the same reason I did not buy these for a long time.

But after watching much television and reading many a blogs, I have come to appreciate what this tiny,mighty and powerful fruit has to offer.So with all this in mind and with the unseasonal sale, I bought these blueberries . I got two boxes for the price of one. This time I certainly had few ideas in mind before buying them like muffins and pancakes but never thought about a cake, that too a crumble cake version. I got this recipe from Food Network by Chef Ina Garten. She has a video demonstration of this cake, but unfortunately I did not look at it until I was done with the cake.

For Streusel

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 pound(1 stick) unsalted butter,melted

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

For Cake

Wet Ingredients

6 tblsp butter(3/4 stick) room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

Dry ingredients

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blue berries

Method

For streusel : Mix all the ingredients and keep aside.

For cake : Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Butter and flour a 9 inch round cake pan. Prepare the dry and wet ingredients.Now add the dry to the wet ingredients and fold in the blue berries. Spoon the batter to the cake pan and spread it neatly. Now crumble the streusel topping evenly over the cake batter. Bake for 40 to 50 min.

Nippatu

Ingredients
Rice flour - 4 cups
udhi pindi powder or roasted urad flour- 1 1/2 handfuls
chilli powder - 3 tsp
salt - 3 tsp
black pepper + jeera - 1 1/2 tsp + 1 1/2 tsp = 3 tsp(crushed into fine coarse pdr)
hot oil - 1 big ladle

sesame seeds - a big handful
chutney dhal/senipapu - 1 1/2 cups(full/half/powdered)
peanuts - 1 1/2 cups(full/half/powdered)

Method
Mix all the above ingredients. Now this whole mixture makes about 80- 90 nipattus. This whole mixture makes about 1 kilo of nippatu powder. So divide it in half and freeze in a Ziplock bag to use later(This powder can last in freezer for about 6 to 8 months). In order to make this nipattu, take some powder (not all of it)like 2 or 3 handfuls of powder. Mix with water to make into a smooth(not wet or runny) mixture. Make balls and then press them down into thin patties on an oiled wax paper and deep fry in hot oil to a golden brown(not reddish brown ).

(In order to know if your oil is ready, just add the sample dough to the hot oil and if it springs back to the surface, the oil is ready) . Fry all the patties in the same manner. This is a very nutty,crunchy and delicious snack at tea time.

Easy Okra Curry

The recipe for Okra Curry given here is the reverse of what we follow in other curries and gravies ie in other curries, we do the seasonings first, then comes the onions and tomatoes and the vegetables, but here we start with the vegetable like okra first and then end with tomatoes. This is a simple variation of the regular curries that goes well with rotis and especially rice mixed with dhal and ghee.

Ingredients

okra - about 16 oz

onion - big handful

tomato- 1 diced

cumin - 1 tsp

curry powder - 1 tsp

chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

Heat oil in a pan.Season with cumin. Add cut okra. Saute well. Add curry powder,chilli powder and salt to taste. Add finely chopped onions. Saute for some time and then add neatly diced tomatoes. Finally garnish with coriander.This curry is good with rotis and dhal rice mixed with ghee.