Tag: simple curry along with rice

Bachelor-friendly, Dals/OzhichuKootaan/Saaru, Everyday Simple Recipes, Indian, Vegan

Simple Spinach Curry

samagniblog

Spinach/Palak leaves are healthy, rich in iron and nutrition. This super simple palak recipe is made with limited ingredients and goes well with rice as well as roti. In this recipe, I have steamed and pureed the spinach leaves. You may choose to just use chopped spinach leaves. I prefer the pureed spinach. You may also add cooked tur dal/split pigeon peas or split mung dal to this curry to increase volume and nutrition.

Ingredients:
Spinach leaves – 1 bunch
Green chilies – 1-2
Garlic – 1 clove
Onion – 1/2
Tomato – 1
Jeera – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 1/2 tsp
Lemon – 1/4
Salt as needed

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins to steam and 7 mins to cook

Method:
Clean and wash the spinach leaves well in water.
Drain and place in a double boiler or pressure cooker to steam the leaves. You will notice that the leaves have wilted, turned dark green, and reduced significantly.
Peel the garlic and onion. Chop finely and keep aside.
When the steamed spinach leaves cool down a bit, puree it using a mixer. Keep aside.
In a wok, add oil and jeera, slit green chilies and garlic. Saute.
Add finely chopped onion and tomato. Saute for 2-3 mins.
Add the pureed spinach into this. Bring to boil. Add salt.
Add lime juice just before serving.

Bachelor-friendly, Dals/OzhichuKootaan/Saaru, Everyday Simple Recipes, Palakkad Iyer Recipes, South Indian, Vegan

Milaga Pachadi (Green Chilies in Spicy Tangy Gravy)

samagniblog

P7113101.JPGA spicy, tangy, and mildly sweet curry that goes well with rice, idli, dosa, or even roti.

Ingredients:
Green Chilies – 12 to 15
Tamarind – a big lemon size
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Jaggery – 1 tsp
Oil – 1/2 tsp
Water as needed
Salt to taste

For Grinding:
Grated coconut – 1-1/2 cups
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

For Seasoning:
Oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tbsp
Curry Leaves – 2 sprigs

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves 4

Method:
Add half a cup of warm water to the tamarind and let it soak. This is to help extract maximum juice from the dry tamarind. Keep this aside for 10 mins.
Use a mixer to grind the grated coconut along with a teaspoon of mustard seeds to a fine paste. Keep aside.
Cut (halve) the green chilies.
Heat half a teaspoon oil in an pan. Add the split green chilies and saute until the raw smell goes away and the green side of the chilies get roasted.
Remove the pan from fire and keep a vessel containing a cup of water on fire. Add the chilies roasted in oil into the water in this vessel. Add turmeric powder and bring to boil. When the green chilies get cooked, they turn into pale green color.
Meanwhile, use your fingers to squeeze the juice out of the soaked tamarind. Strain and add to the cooked green chilies.
When the green chilies along with the tamarind water starts boiling, add the ground coconut and mustard seeds paste into it and stir.
Add the jaggery powder also. Stir and bring to boil.
Add salt and switch off the flame.
Heat oil in a pan and add half a teaspoon mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds crackle, turn off the fire, add curry leaves, and add this seasoning to the cooked curry. Serve hot with rice.

Dals/OzhichuKootaan/Saaru, Everyday Simple Recipes, Kerala Recipes, South Indian, Vegan

Sprouted Horsegram Curry (Mulappicha Muthiracurry)

samagniblog

Horsegram curryOne of the best ways to include fiber in our diet is to eat whole grains and legumes. Sprouted legume immensely increases the nutritive value of the food. Horse gram is a legume that is high in iron and a good source of protein. It is a fairly good source of calcium as well. Horse gram aids weight loss.

For many years I stuck to the familiar diet that is made at home; sambar, rasam, avial, moloshyam (dal curry), and so on. Recently I have been trying to experiment and include new ingredients in my diet. This is good for a variety of reasons. Most hereditary diseases are passed on due to dietary and lifestyle habits in a family. I personally believe that when you include new items in your diet, it reduces your chances of developing certain hereditary conditions/diseases.

Here is an experiment with horse gram that I am very satisfied with. A simple sprouted horse gram curry.

Ingredients:
Horse gram – 1 cup
Water – as needed
Tamarind – 1/2 lime sized
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste

For grinding:
Coconut – 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds/Jeera/Jeerakam – 1/2 tsp
Shallot – 1
Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies – 4-5

For tempering:
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Sprouted horsegramMethod:
Soak the horse gram in water for 6-8 hours. Drain the water and clean the horse gram. Remove all the non-viable ones. Keep the drained, wet horse gram covered in the same vessel for the next 8-12 hours. The sprouting time varies depending on the weather in your region. Wash the sprouted horse gram with clean water.

Pressure-cook the horse gram with water just enough to soak the sprouted horse gram. Horse gram is a tough legume and takes time to cook and needs cooking time of 2-3 whistles. After opening the pressure cooker lid, you can use a masher to mash some of the horse gram. This helps give a good gravy consistency to the curry. Add turmeric powder and salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Soak tamarind in warm water, extract tamarind juice, and add to the cooked horse gram.

Meanwhile, pour a drop of oil in a pan and add urad dal. Roast until golden. Break the dry red chillies into 2-3 pieces and add it to the roasted urad dal. Roast for less than a minute and turn off. Grind this along with the shallot, jeera, and coconut. Add this to the cooked horse gram. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes. When the curry starts boiling and bubbling, turn off the fire. In a pan, splutter mustard seeds in coconut oil. Add curry leaves to the spluttered mustard seeds, turn off the fire, and add to cooked horse gram curry. Serve with hot rice or roti.

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