Pumpkin Stir Fry / Kumbalakai Palya

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Had a wife and he couldn’t keep her!

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

There he kept her very well!

While teaching this rhyme to my little one I did not realize the value of Pumpkin until I ran out of ideas as to what to feed him as usual!!  He is a very picky eater and likes to eat anything sweet!   One of those days, I tried making pumpkin stir fry just to test him if he likes it and I was relieved that I found one more veggie to add into the list of meals he likes. Just mash it with rice and his supper is ready J  He likes to eat it plain without the rice usually. Prior to this experiment, I never cared much to even look at pumpkin for some strange reason that I don’t even know. (In my subconscious mind, maybe I thought eating pumpkin would make me like one….LOL)  I was wondering why I had not tried cooking the vegetable earlier!! After doing some research about its nutritional value, I was quite amazed to know that this common veggie is loaded with nutrition!!  Since, then it has become a part of our menu and I want to experiment a lot of dishes with it.  I have been thinking of trying Pumpkin Pie for many days and I must get to it sometime soon.  A BIG kiss to my bunny who made me realise the importance of it in our daily diet!!

Here goes the Pumpkin stir fry recipe which is prepared in Karnataka Style.  I had to add grated coconut to it.  Since hubby doesn’t like coconut much, I skipped adding it.

Ingredients:

2 cups cubed pumpkin – deseeded and washed (don't throw away those seeds..use them coz it is also loaded with valuable nutrition)

2 Onions chopped finely

3-4 green chilies slit into two

One whole garlic pod – peeled and crushed

1 tsp mustard seeds

1-2 tbsp oil

Handful of curry leaves and Cilantro for garnish

How to prepare:

1.      Heat oil in a wok and add mustard seeds. Once it splutters add curry leaves, crushed garlic and sauté till garlic turns into light brown.

2.      Add onions and green chilis and sauté for a minute.

3.      Add chopped pumpkin cubes and salt to taste.  Give it a good mix and cook covered till soft and done. 

4.      Garnish with grated coconut and chopped cilantro and serve.

You may add a spoon of sugar or jiggery if you like it to be sweeter. It goes well with Chapattis or Rotis.

As the world celebrated Friendship day this past week, I remembered all my friends, though I didn’t get to wish anyone!  I haven’t had many friends in my childhood, since I was very reserved or may be shy in nature!  Just 2-3 of us and even in high school and college just stuck with 3-4 of them. But after I encountered Jesus in my life, I have found a faithful friend in him and made many more Godly friends who have made such huge influence on my life!!   I truly cherish each one of them!

I also cherish the new friendships this blog has brought me …though we don’t know each other in person, but bond well with each other on this essential topic called FOOD!!

Wishing all my buddies a Very Happy Friendship day!!

Points to Ponder:

Faithful friends are very rare to find….shouldn’t we be glad to find such a friend in Jesus himself!

Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you.” 

                                                                                                                         John 15:13-15 (NKJV)

I just love to sing out this Hymn again and again which calms my heart………….

I‘ve found friend, Oh such a friend

He bled; He died to save me;

And not alone the gift of life,

But His own self, He gave me.

Naught that I have my own I call,

I hold it for the giver;

My heart, my strength, my life, my all

Are His and His forever.

Written by  James Grindlay Small

Soya Keema Masala - My First Guest Post!!

When I saw Lavanya’s comment inviting me for a guest post, I was surprised for a moment because I am a newbie in Food blogging!  But when I visited her site, I was quite excited to participate after going through the details, as this was my first guest post!!  Though I have seen this concept on other blogs during blog hops, I was not too sure how this would work out!!  When Lavanya invited me, I was in dilemma as to what would I cook…because first impression is very important! (according to me at least J).  So I decided to send a recipe which is healthy and nutritious that is – Veg-Keema Masala that is Soya Keema Masala. J  Soya being high in protein and other nutrient, it is equal to lean meat which is packed with nutrition.  I have cooked this Soya granules dish in tomato based gravy which goes well with Rice/Chapattis/Dosa/Bread.  Hope you will definitely will give a try!

I sincerely thank Lavanya from Tickle Your Tastebuds and Make Your Life Delicious for giving me an opportunity to guest post in her lovely blog. I feel this is a great concept which is a good platform for new bloggers to explore and interact with other lovely bloggers. Do check out Lavanyas blog for the full recipe and leave your valuable comments there!

I also got the certificate of participation from Lavanya...wow! that looks cool I must say :)

Spread the good taste and be Blessed =)

Quick Cauliflower / Gobhi Stir Fry

Cauliflower / Gobhi is a good choice for all the folks who are on diet as this humble vegetable is low in fat and carbohydrates.  It is packed with high nutritional density with dietary fiber, folate , vitamin C and water.  It also contains phytochemicals  common in the cabbage family, which protects the body against cancer and helps in slowing the growth of cancer cells.  One of these chemicals (Indole-3-carbinol) is also known to enhance DNA repair process.  High intake of Cauliflower is also associated with reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer, according to a journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Wow, with all these health benefits one should definitely make sure that this veggie is a regular on the dining table in every home.  I usually don’t like the overcooked Cauliflower dishes that we prepare at home. To keep the food healthy, I usually avoid deep frying as required for preparing Gobi Manchurian!  So, I tried this simple stir fry for a change and everyone liked it.  My little boy liked it so much that he finished everything from his grand fathers plate J.  For once I was glad that he liked something, as he has been getting very fussy about food!  He has got some terrific tiny taste buds at this tender age of 16 months!  Give him anything bland, he spits it out without a second thought. Very hard to please him I must say!  Am just keeping my fingers crossed as he grows up. :P

Ingredients:

Cauliflower florets - 2 cups

Red Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Chat Masala – ½ tsp

Cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Onions – 2 finely chopped

Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp.

Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

1.      Boil water and add 2 tbsp salt. Soak cauliflower in it for 10 minutes and remove and rinse again with cold water for couple of times to get rid of all the worms if any. Drain and set aside.

2.      Heat oil in a Kadai, add chopped onions and sauté till transparent. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a minute.

3.      Add red chilli powder and stir and add drained cauliflower, salt and stir fry till the masala coats well and cauliflower gets cooked a bit. (avoid over cooking to preserve nutrition level) Add little water if the bottom starts to burn.

4.      Sprinkle with chat masala and remove from flame. If you don’t have chat masala you can use a pinch of pepper powder, jeera powder when you add Chilli powder and squeeze in 1 tsp of lime juice before serving.  Omit lime juice if you are using chat masala as it already contains souring agents.

5.      Serve hot as a side dish.

As Easter is around the corner, I have come across some easy Easter recipes to try out.  Hopefully I will be able to post them after the celebrations.

Wishing everyone a Blessed Resurrection Sunday! Aka Happy Easter J

Leena JD

Points to Ponder:

Praise be to the God and father  of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy, He has given us new birth, into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

                                                                                                                          1 Peter 1:3

Jesus said to her, “ I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and who ever lives and believes in me will never die.

                                                                                                                          John 11:25-26

Bitter Gourd Curry / Hagalakai Gojju

Sometimes life tastes more bitterer than the bitter gourd! Dont you agree?? I have a reason to start this post with bitterness and pain in my heart as we lost a dear colleage at the office last week! It was an unexpected and untimely death of a fine human being! Life seems so uncertain, when unexpected things happen in our lives. Though hundreds of people are dying out there, every day due to various reasons, the reality bites in, only when we lose a person close to us and around us. The last time I felt like this was when I lost my own father seven years ago, leaving behind two young daughters and a little boy who didn't even understand what it feels like, after losing a father! Being a first born daughter in the family, I felt like I had a huge responsibility  on my shoulders and I was holding my sister and bro. so tightly thinking of the uncertain days ahead of us!! Hats off to my Mom who was brave and calm even in those uncertain days!! So thankful to God that he comforted us through kind hearted and godly people.

God has been extremely gracious to us and has guided us through out these years! It is very reassuring that once we die we don't have to go through the pain and sorrow that we face on this earth. Its better to be at the feet of God singing Halleluiah in heaven than suffer physical and emotional pain on earth. I am glad my father is at the right place now where there is no pain and suffering! My only regret is that he couldn't see his daughters get married and could not enjoy being with his grand children! Yes, birth and death are two things a person cannot have control on! The rights belong to only one, the Almighty God who is the Alpha and Omegha!

I dedicate this Bitter Gourd curry to the loss of our loved ones, as they leave us with this bitter taste in our hearts!  Just as life throws in moments of joy, pain and sorrow in order to live a complete life, Bitter Gaurd is also very essential in our diet to keep our body in good health !! This is one of my Mom's recipes and hope all of you will like it and make BG a part of your diet :)

Ingredients:

• Tender Bitter Gourds 2-3
• Onions finely chopped 2 
• Mustered seeds 1 tsp
• Curry leaves 10-12
• Oil 2-3 tbsp
• Red Chilli powder 2 tsp
• Jeera powder 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tbsp
• Tomatoes finely chopped 2
• Tamarind pulp 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustered seeds and let it cracle. Add curry leaves and onions and saute until onions turn light brown.
2. Add cleaned and chopped bitter gourd and turmeric powder and saute for 5 minutes.
3. Add red chilli powder, jeera powder and mix. Add in tamarind pulp and mix well.
4. Add finely chopped tomatoes, jaggery and salt to taste.
5. Cook covered on medium flame for 8-10 minutes. Keep stiring in between and remove from flame once tomatoes become soft and the curry thickens
6. Serve with chapati or rice and dhal as a side dish.

Note: You can alter the quantity of jaggery to suit your taste. Can also use sugar instead of jaggery! 

Do take good care of your precious families!

 

Leena JD

Points to Ponder:

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son (Jesus Christ), that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."                                                John 3:16 (NIV Bible)

"Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."    

              Isaiah 57:2 (NIV Bible)

Baingan ka Bartha / Eggplant Chutney

Eggplant Chutney / Baingan Ka Bhartha!!! Hmmm just by thinking of it, my mouth is watering already! I have always enjoyed my MIL’s preparation of Bhartha, but never ventured into preparing this dish until last year, when I discovered the North Karnataka version!! We had a friend visiting us from there for few days. When she saw the fresh Eggplants, she volunteered to prepare it in North Karnataka Style. I can never forget the taste even after nearly a year. The secret behind that taste is, she actually pounded each ingredient meticulously by hand and kept it raw, except the roasted eggplant.  I have tried this recipe several times now and never got the same taste!! That is because I don’t take the pains in pounding each ingredient, and always look for shortcuts to reduce the time it takes to cook :P.  But I encourage you to pound each ingredient, if you want the authentic taste, it is worth all the effort!!

Eggplant / Baingan ka Bhartha

Preperation Time: 30 minutes

Serves 6-7 persons

 

Ingredients:

Eggplant – 2 large and roasted

Whole Jeera/Cumin 1 ½ tbsp

Red Chili powder 2 tbsp

Garlic peeled – 15-20 pods

Tamarind – small size of a lemon

Coriander/Cilantro – ½ bunch

Curry leaves 10-15

Jaggery / sugar 1 tablespoon

Onions chopped finely – 1 large

Oil -1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

1.   Apply 1 tsp oil on Eggplant/Baingan and roast it on direct flame on the stove cook top, till the skin turns charred and eggplant turns soft. Once done, peel the charred skin and mash them roughly.

2.   Chop onions, washed Coriander and curry leaves

3.   In a grinding stone, first pound jeera/cumin, add garlic, coriander and curry leaves and pound coarsely.

4.   Add red chili powder, tamarind and pound again, add jiggery /sugar and salt, pound until the spices mix thoroughly. By this time you can smell the aroma of freshly pounded spices.

5.   If the grinding stone is large enough you can add the roasted eggplant and mash roughly until eggplant juices and spice mixes well or you can give it light whip by using your hand or blender.

6.   Heat a pan and add oil. Season it with mustard seed if you like, mix the blended eggplant mixture into it, add chopped onions and mix well.

7.   Serve the spicy and aromatic Eggplant Bhartha with Rice/Roti/Bread.

Since this dish doesn’t require much of cooking, it gives a raw/pungent smell and taste. If you do not like the rawness you can cook it for 5 minutes on low flame to tone down the pungent taste.  When I don’t have much time in hand, I just put all the ingredients in a mixer and grind it coarsely and add the roasted eggplant and give it a whip and follow step 6 directly for convenience. It tastes as good as the original one. J  It keeps well for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator!

Points to Ponder:

Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.     Proverbs 12:24 (NIV Bible)

Aloo Palak & Matar Korma

This is one of my mom’s spontaneous recipes which turned out quite delicious.  As I said earlier, she is an enthusiastic and spontaneous cook at any time. She just sees what is available at that moment and dishes out some drool worthy food that only an experienced mother can prepare.  Since, my Mom is staying with us to care for our baby, I am enjoying her tasty food every day.  Many a times it will be a surprise for me after returning from work.  From the time I have started this blog, I am taking every opportunity to record such good recipes and photographs so that I can post them on this blog.  I can’t believe the number of dishes that I have captured in a short span of one month.  I am yet to find time to post all of them J    

I am looking forward to capture as many dishes as possible that Mom cooks before she goes back home! Here goes my mom’s first recipe on this blog...

Aloo Palak & Matar Korma/Sabji

Preperation Time:20-30 minutes

Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients:

Aloo/Potatoes  - 3-4 medium sized

Matar/Green Peas fresh or frozen – 1 cup

Palak/Spinach – 1 bunch

Chili Powder – 1 tsp.

Dhaniya Powder – 2 tsp.

Garam Masala Powder ½ tsp.

Turmeric powder ¼  tsp.

Cumin Powder – ½ tsp.

Ginger/Garlic paste – 2 tsp.

Onions – 2 chopped

Tomatoes – 2 pureed

Coriander/Cilantro few springs.

Oil 2 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Method:

1.   Wash the peas, peel and wash potatoes ( don’t peel if its clean. My mom never peels the potatoes or most of the veggies, because the skin has more nutrition than the insides) and chop them into small cubes and cook them with a little salt until soft and done. Save the stock to add  in step 4 if you need more gravy. 

2.   Chop onions and spinach roughly.

3.   Heat oil in a large kadai and add onions and sauté till translucent. Add palak and sauté till the raw smell goes away. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté. Add turmeric, red chili, dhaniya & cumin/Jeera  powder and fry for few second.

4.   Add precooked peas and potatoes and cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes. Finally add tomato puree and veg. stock, garam masala and salt to taste and cook for 8-10 minutes or till the raw smell of masala and tomato disappears. 

5.   Garnish with Coriander/Cilantro and serve hot with Roti/Rice/Bread.

Points to Ponder:

"A mother understands what a child does not say."      
                                                                               - Jewish proverb

Bell Pepper & Babycorn Stir Fry - glazed with honey

This is one of the recipes which is quick to prepare and delicious as well.  I had seen this preparation on a Kannada TV channel sometime ago…may be 2 years ago and I don’t even remember if I ever prepared it, though I had taken note of the recipe.  The original recipe actually called for Paneer , baby corn and capsicum, but  I only had the baby corn and red/yellow pepper that busy morning, where I had no way of getting paneer from the store. So, I gave paneer a miss and was delighted that It turned out quite delicious and never missed paneer in it.  The aroma of freshly ground spices at home truly enhanced the flavour.  

These days, I prefer to grind / powder the spices at home than buying them from the stores, since there is a lot of food adulteration going on and you never know what goes behind those powdered stuff.  The taste of the readymade stuff can never match the authentic produce.  It is very sad to see, to what extent people go just to make extra money, no matter how it affects other people’s lives and their health.  In the recent past, the media is trying to bust all kind of scams that are going on around us.  Inducing drinking water with harmful chemicals to soften the hardness and taste,  creating fake milk, butter, ghee etc.,  colouring and injecting veggies/fruits with harmful chemicals to retain its colour and size, injecting chemicals to poultry etc., to develop their muscles which are hard to digest from human body is to name a few. The list goes on. Please check out this link Kitchen Tricks  where you will find some useful information to check the level of food adulteration in your own kitchen.    

Sometimes I keep wondering, it is better to settle in a village and cultivate a farm of our own and get fresh and unadulterated produce!! Yeah…it seems so easy to talk but it, but when it comes to practicing it, our mind goes numb, just to imagine leaving all the comforts that the city life can offer which our bodies get adjusted to!! 

Yeah, I will bury my farming aspirations for now and present you the picture and recipe of the delicious dish below!

BabyCorn & Pepper/ Capsicum Honey Stir Fry

Total Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

300 grams Baby corn

1 Red Pepper/Capsicum

1 Yellow/Green Pepper/Capsicum

1 Big Onion

1 Big Tomato

½ teaspoon ginger garlic paste (optional)

1 teaspoon Jeera

1 teaspoon Black pepper

4 Red chillies

2-3 tablespoon Honey

1 tablespoon oil/ If you are health conscious use Olive oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Clean and Chop baby corn , capsicum, onion and tomato into 1 ½ inch strips and keep them separately.  Slightly roast Jeera, black pepper and red chilies on a pan and grind them into a coarse powder.  Heat a large frying pan and add oil, onions and sauté till translucent. Add chopped baby corn and stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add chopped capsicum and salt, sauté for a minute.  Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for few seconds and add tomatoes immediately to avoid burning the bottom.  Add the ground powder and mix well and simmer for 1 minute.  Take off the stove and glaze it with honey and serve with rice or roti.

P.S. Don’t overcook the veggies if you want them crunchy and to retain high nutrition level. J

Some drool worthy food is always good for the tummy!! What say!

Till the next one comes up, Share the good taste and stay healthy!

Points to Ponder:

"It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory. He that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."

Proverbs 25: 27-28