Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun is a rich, melt-in-your-mouth delicacy of fried globules of milk solids that are dunked in a sweet syrup flavored with rose-water, cardamom, and saffron. It is one of my all-time favorite sweet indulgences. 

While there are several easy to prepare gulab jamun mixes that are available in the market, I decided to prepare this from scratch for Deepavali, and I am so glad I did, because it is extremely easy to prepare and is quite fail-proof. Usually, mawa or khova/koya is kneaded along with all-purpose flour to prepare the balls, which are then deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup. I wasn't too keen on spending time preparing khova, so my mom suggested that I use milk powder instead, and the jamuns turned out great - soft, luscious, and delectable in every way. 

Happy Deepavali to everyone!

Tomato and Beetroot Jam

We've been having a healthy harvest of tomatoes from our vegetable patch. It is a real blessing and a highly rewarding exercise. As summer wanes, my ritual is to prepare some fresh fruit/vegetable jam from the summer harvest. This year, the overflowing bag of fresh, plump tomatoes lured me to make some jam with sweet beets.

Although the flavor combination of tomatoes and beets is not obvious, the two come together to make a really delicious combination. The sweet flavor of the beets perfectly complement the tartness of the tomatoes. I have vague memories of this particular jam stewing and cooking away in my grandmother's (and her sister's) kitchen. My scent-memory can smell the beets cooking in the tomato puree, and my taste buds vividly recollect the subtle bite of the juicy beets and the burst of cardamom that seeps through and perfumes the jam. So, suffice to say this is one of my favorite spreads. After several years, I was happy to make a batch of this jam along with my mom.

Indian Vegetable Sides: Sauteed Cabbage with Coconut

The most simplest way of serving vegetables is to saute them with just a few seasonings; seasonings that truly bring out the flavor of the vegetable and showcase it boldly. 

Along those lines, the recipe I am sharing today is one of the simplest and most elegant forms of preparing Indian vegetable sides. This technique is popularly utilized in South-Indian cooking. There is minimal spice and flavorings, but the presence of coconut gratings and a small amount of green/red chillies and black gram are enough to make the dish tasty. 

This same approach can be used to prepare green beans, carrots, beets, cauliflower etc.

Indian Vegetable Sides: Swiss Chard Masiyal

Leafy greens are plenteous in any tropical place, and India is no exception. It teems with a mind-boggling array of herbs and greens, each of which has some medicinal and nutritious value. So, fresh greens are a common vegetable side that features in our meals. In this version, fresh leafy greens are pureed, cooked, and spiced with red chillies, coconut, cumin, and some black gram to make a delicious side that is extremely nutritious.

I have used chard to prepare this masiyal, but you can substitute it with any greens.

Quinoa Paayasam

Ever since my mom laid eyes on quinoa, she's wanted to make some paayasam (sweetened Indian porridge) with it. Not sure why quinoa triggered that thought in her. But, anyway, she recently acted on it and made some simple and "healthy" quinoa paayasam to mark an occasion.

The porridge tasted really really good, not to mention it is extremely straightforward and simple to prepare! It is truly a guilt-free dessert if you use palm sugar instead of jaggery.

Indian Vegetable Sides: Spicy Tindora Stir-Fry

Tindora, also known as Ivy Gourd is commonly had in Indian cuisine. Until I read the wikipedia page, I had no idea that this fruit had so many medicinal properties! There's always something to learn in this wide world. 

In Indian cuisine, tindora is frequently cooked and stir-fried with a spicy curry powder such as sambar powder to make a vegetable side that goes well with rice or rotis. 

This style of cooking and stir-frying vegetables with spices is one of the most basic, simplest, and common ways of preparing Indian vegetable sides. This is almost like a formula. If you know this, you can pretty much prepare any vegetable by currying it!

(Side note: I know tindora is not exactly a vegetable per se, but we are used to regarding it as one because of its prominence in savory dishes. So, please look past the glaring term!)

Indian Vegetable Sides: Plantain Podimas

Podimas is a classic and unique vegetable side prepared by South-Indians. I am sure it is called by different names, but Brahmins call it Podimas, perhaps because the cooked starchy vegetable is shredded and spiced with a simple combination of ginger, green chillies, turmeric, coconut, and lemon juice. 

Podimas can be prepared with potatoes as well (in the case of potatoes, instead of shredding, just gently crumble the cooked potatoes and follow the same procedure), and other starchy vegetables.

Podimas finds its way on plates and festive banana leaves during special occasions, but it's so easy to prepare that it can easily be a regular vegetable side to feature with simple home cooked food.

Chocolate Fudge Bites

My mom made these simple chocolate fudge balls for my husband's birthday. It's wondrous how just a few ingredients can come together to create a simple treat that puts a genuine smile of happiness and appreciation on someone's face.

This is a soft, chewy dessert that melts in your mouth. This is a variation of a popular Indian dessert called Sandesh. Instead of using paneer/cottage cheese or milk khova, my mom uses condensed milk and milk powder. And of course, cocoa powder. 

Ragi & Jowar Porridge / Sweet Millet Porridge

Millet flours make excellent porridges, grubs, and cereals. They are cooked slightly with water, sweetened a little with jaggery or palm sugar, and served with warm milk. This makes an energizing breakfast, and even a quick and nutritious dinner that's both light and filling. In terms of healthy dessert options, this is really quite a nice one! 

My mom makes different kinds of porridges with millets and whole grains. I have written about one of them here. This is another very simple version with just two types of millets. To tone down the earthy aromas of the millets and to increase the flavor of the porridge, freshly ground cardamom and mace (javetri) are added. 

As a dessert, this is truly a yummy alternative!

Paneer & Onion Ragi Adai

Ragi (finger millet) flour is a hardy and nutritious substitute for rice or wheat. However, it is not always easy to directly substitute this millet for rice or wheat, because its structural properties interfere with the texture of the food and its visual appeal. But, if one looks beyond how the dish looks, there are many tasty, filling, and healthy meals that can be prepared with such millets. 

One among them is this adai (or savory pancake). My mom often prepares these, but when I was growing up, no one was a fan of these, mainly because of a preconceived notion and determination that it would not taste good if it looks weird! And most often, these adais are prepared with no other embellishments, and are simple and bare-boned with just ragi flour and salt. Doesn't sound particularly appetizing if put that way, does it? Sometimes, vegetables such as carrots and beans are added, but again, as kids, very rarely did we look forward to beans or carrots! So, it's partly all about the packaging and bells and whistles.

And like many others, I am also of the belief that one doesn't have to necessarily compromise on taste and flavor by choosing to eat healthy. Therefore, to market this dish, one can add an endless variety of spices or popular foods that carry mass appeal. So, in this adai, I added paneer and onions to boost the appeal and flavor of the dish.

Indian Vegetable Sides: Brinjal or Eggplant With Freshly Ground Spices

South-Indian cooking heavily uses four ingredients to prepare a common spice blend to season vegetables and lentil-based stews. The four ingredients are: bengal gram, coriander seeds, red chillies, and coconut. These ingredients are dry roasted (or roasted in a little oil) and ground to make a distinctly flavorful blend that elevates the taste of any simple dish.

So, it's no wonder that this blend is used to season and spice vegetables. In this version, brinjals (the small eggplant variety common in South-Asia) are stir-fried with turmeric and seasoned with this aromatic spice blend for a truly delicious vegetable side! This can also be mixed with rice for a really delicious brinjal-flavored rice called vaangi-bath. A small difference is that vaangi-bath is commonly prepared with green-colored eggplants that are first cooked by stewing in tamarind juice. Since it's next to impossible (currently) to find green eggplants in many places outside of India, regular brinjals are good enough substitutes. 

Commonly, really small brinjals are stuffed with this spice blend and then pan-fried for a crunchy and spicy dish called yenna kathirikkai. Since we don't get such small and tender brinjals here, I prepare this version, which is the deconstructed form of the former (plus this version takes way less oil)! My mom often prepares this at home.

This recipe can be used to prepare vegetables such as plantain, elephant yams, and other starchy but hardy vegetables. I know many people are not fond of eggplants/brinjals. But this dish might make them reconsider :)

Indian Vegetable Sides: Beans with Moong Dal

I often get asked how Indians cook their vegetables for sides. Do we add them to the spicy tomato-onion gravy served at restaurants? Do we roast them? Blanch them? Steam them? Saute them? Stir-fry them? What spices and ingredients go into them? etc.

So, I am going to be posting some basic recipes on the different ways we prepare vegetable sides. Since, I am most familiar with South-Indian cuisine, most of my vegetable sides are derived/based on that cuisine. 

Here's a very common and simple vegetable side that we prepare with minimal spices/seasonings. In this version, green beans are cooked with some moong dal (mung beans) for a tasty and healthy vegetable side that truly showcases the inherent flavor of the vegetable without the distraction of strong spices and smells.

You can use the same procedure to cook other vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, beetroot, cauliflower etc. (basically any non-starchy vegetable that doesn't have too much water content in it so that it can withstand its texture while being cooked with the dal).

Arachu Vitta Sambar / Sambar with freshly ground spices

Arachu vitta sambar, meaning, sambar made with freshly ground spices, is a slightly special and tastier version of regular sambar (which is a tamarind and lentil stew made with vegetable/s or greens). It is commonly made during festive and special occasions, but in our house, I usually make only this kind of sambar, because it so much more flavorful with just a little extra step. Plus, adding freshly ground spices makes the sambar attain its optimum consistency every single time! It's rich, thick, and a very easy crowd pleaser!

In this recipe, I have added pearl onions and radish/daikon to make this sambar. Pearl onions (chinna vengayam) are a popular choice for this kind of sambar. You can add any (diced) vegetable/s of your choice using this basic procedure. Here's how it's done.

Vella Sevai / Indian Rice Noodles with Jaggery

The last few days, I have been boring people with my posts on Indian rice noodles called sevai. I dedicated some time to make these noodles using two different methods, and prepared the most common savory and sweet versions using the noodles.

In this post, I am wrapping up the series (at least for now!) by writing about another method of preparing the rice (to make the noodles), and summarizing all the different ways in which the noodles can be prepared. Firstly, you can either make a rice batter or rice flour. Then, you can either steam the rice batter to form "idlis" and then put the idlis through a noodle press and make the noodles, or you can make a rice dough with the batter/flour, cook the dough and then press through a noodle maker, or you can put the rice dough through a noodle press to make noodles and then steam the noodles. Sounds a little confusing? I have tried to elaborately list out the steps below. Hope it helps!

I'm also sharing a very simple recipe to sweeten the noodles. Savory versions of the noodles are more common than sweet versions. But, this sweet version is really the easiest of all. All it takes is to make a jaggery (or brown sugar) syrup that's flavored with coconut and cardamom. Mix and cook the sevai in this syrup for a fragrant and soft dessert

Ulutham Sevai / Indian Rice Noodles Spiced with Black Gram

Sevai is a short and delicate rice noodle that's popular in South-India. It takes on the flavor of the seasonings in which it is mixed, so there are many different ways of spicing these noodles. I have been posting some of the more common versions in this space. In this version, the rice noodles are mixed with a simple spiced seasoning made from black gram.

There are also a few different ways of making the rice noodles with either rice batter, or rice flour. I have written about two methods here and here. Today, I am writing about a third method.

This is a method that is very commonly used by most families. My in-laws follow this method, but this requires one to act fast and with skill, because the noodles need to be squeezed out when the cooked rice balls are hot. When they cool down, it becomes hard to squeeze them. This method also works much better using a traditional sevai nazhi made with iron and with a rotating equipment on top to squeeze out the noodles.

Paruppu Usili Sevai / Rice Noodles with Spiced Lentils

Sevai is Indian rice noodles. It is prepared through a slightly involved process with ground rice flour or rice batter that is cooked, thickened, and made into noodles. There are a few different ways of preparing these rice noodles.  I discussed one method here, here is another slightly varied method, which actually works much better using a traditional iron noodle press (sevai nazhi) because it  requires a stronger set of arms! My mom and her side of the family often use this method.

The prepared noodles are mixed with many types of spicy seasonings. In this version, bengal gram and yellow lentils are ground with chillies and curry leaves and fried to a crispy crumbly mixture. The noodles are then mixed with the spiced lentils to make a really tasty dish that is packed with protein, making the dish more healthy and nutritious, in addition to being delicious.

Sevai: Coconut Sevai and Lemon Sevai

Indian rice noodles are called sevai (or idiyappam). In terms of major South-Indian food types, sevai/idiyappam is a prominent category. These rice noodles are thin, delicate strands that are fluffy, airy, and very versatile, because they take on the flavors that you add to them. So there are so many different flavors that can be infused into the noodles, and they all taste good.

If the long strands of coiled noodles are served as such, it is called Idiyappam. When the long strands are broken to short strands and flavored with some seasoning, it is called sevai. Sevai is commonly had during certain religious days when people take a break from regular meals. Idiyappam is an extremely common breakfast food in most parts of South-India, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

It's amazing that almost every culture has its own version of starchy noodles. The interesting fact about noodles is that it's a great way to economize on raw ingredients. In this case, rice. I find it incredible that home-cooks and women who'd been in kitchens all their lives had the ingenuity to come up with a series of labor-intensive processes to effectively convert rice into noodles. So, this is yet another dish that was on my to-blog list for a really long time. And every time, I put it off because I am hesistant of the manual labor required of this dish.

Mint & Coriander Thogayal / Pudina Kothamalli Thogayal

Everyone in my family is a fan of mint. I am thankful for that, because I know some that hate the smell and flavor of mint! I can't even imagine how people could hate mint! Anyway, this is a very common side-dish that's prepared at home. My mom loves green chutneys and thogayals, and everything green, and she makes them well too (my husband has his answer for why I'm obsessed with all things green ;)). And pudina (mint) thogayal, cilantro thogayal, and curry-leaf thogayal are her specialties.

Now that summer is in full swing, there is no shortage of herbs, fruits, and vegetables, especially mint. They take over your yard in no time and are so hard to control or get rid of (if you really wanted to). So with fresh mint galore, this is a wonderful way to make a flavorful, fragrant condiment that perfumes the entire house as it cooks. Every year, I wait for summer to make rich mint chutneys and thogayals. So, here it is!

Vendhaya Keerai Sambar / Methi Sambar

After almost 350 posts and three years of writing about South-Indian food, I finally get to sambar, the most ubiquitous of all South-Indian foods. What a cardinal sin this is! I have no excuse for putting off this post for so long, other than mere intimidation and self-doubt.

 Do I know enough about making a good pot of precious sambar? Good enough, at this point. But there's always things to learn and improvise.

Anyway, sambar is a basic lentil gravy/stew that is flavored with sour tamarind extract, vegetables or greens, spiced with a rich set of spices that make sambar powder, and seasoned with ghee or coconut oil to make a truly one-of-a-kind dish.

The recipe I am sharing today is the most basic form of sambar - no frills attached. This is the kind that is made almost every single day in most families in South India. In subsequent posts, I will write about slightly more nuanced versions of sambar.

Making sambar is all about knowing how much water to add. Water? Yes, water :). You can measure the water/liquid you add today and try to replicate it tomorrow, but if the chemistry is not just right, you will upset the sambar Gods. I am not saying this to make it seem like this is an unconquerable, finicky, complicated dish! But just to highlight the fact that although the procedure is simple and straightforward, there is a certain amount of skill (and a rabbit's foot) that is required to make a pot of sambar that truly balances all the spices, tartness, and flavors from the vegetables such that it hits all the right notes on your palate. But, worry not, I have a little trick that I mention in the end to make sure you can work around the uncertainties of sambar :)

Sambar is usually prepared with vegetables and very rarely prepared with greens such as fenugreek leaves. As I have mentioned before, fenugreek leaves are also nutrient rich like most greens. They have a slightly bitter taste to them, so stewing them in sambar with tamarind juice and spices is a great way to cut down the bitterness. But the leaves also have a nice aroma, so the whole dish becomes infused with a lovely aroma, thanks to the greens.

Paal Poli / Milk Poli

Soft, fried discs of all-purpose flour soaked in a sweet, delicious and fragrant milk spiced with cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, pistachios and almonds, this is an elegant and classic South-Indian dessert!

My mom makes excellent polis (both jaggery based polis and this milk based polis), but specifically, her milk polis are always stellar winners! It's one of my absolute favorite desserts. Just the aroma of the spiced and sweet milk draws me to this dish. The milk base is very similar to that of ras malai, so this is sure to be a hit with everyone.

During a recent dinner with a big group of friends, my mom made these polis for dessert. They disappeared in no time and people couldn't stop gushing! So, this is perfect for entertaining too. Just a little planning a day ahead will make the process even more simpler. It was great to make this dish with my mom and learn some of the finer nuances of making this dessert taste really good!

So, here's the recipe (I halved the measurements for a smaller group).