Curry with Southern Flavours

This curry has some typically southern ingredients and the flavour that lingers on your tongue after eating it is of the nutty sweet coconut. Hope you enjoy making and savoring another of my experi-mental dishes.

Ingredients

Florets of 1 broccoli, par boiled and kept aside

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms chopped into medium sized pieces
1/2 each of yellow, green and red bell peppers chopped into medium sized squares

For the gravy
2 big onions chopped into long pieces
2 big tomatoes chopped into long pieces
2 tspns of ginger garlic freshly crushed
2 tspoons of white peppercorns, 3 cloves freshly cpounded ( the ones I bought straight from the  spice shop at Coorg )   
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
A handful of curry leaves
1 tspn chilli powder

1 cup thick coconut milk to be used later to add in the gravy

Method

In a pan take some coconut oil and add the chopped bell peppers and the mushrooms, give them a quick stir on slightly high flame, remove once done and keep aside. 

In the same pan take the freshly crushed ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cloves saute till done, now add the curry leaves, onions and the coconut, saute well, add tomatoes and wait till they are soft. Once done, cool and grind this mixture to a smooth paste.

Transfer this into the pan and let it cook well till the gravy leaves the sides of the pan, now add the salt, the chilli powder, and all the vegetables, adjust the consistency, let it cook to a boil, now add the coconut milk, do not keep for too long after adding the coconut milk else it may curdle. You can use fresh corinder for garnishing. I have used fresh tomato pieces and a tempering of slit green chillies. Can be eaten with phulkas, rotis, malbar parathas, and our own simple steaming hot plain rice.

                                         Savoury Jaffle with mushrooms and mixed greens

Watching the show Masterchef Australia,  I have seen a wide variety of savory and sweet jaffles being prepared, this is my own version of a savory jaffles.

Ingredients

Slices of brown bread as per requirement, buttered, I use Amul Lite, very sparingly though, just to give the bread a flavour.

For the stuffing

250 gms of fresh mushrooms
1 bunch of spinach
1 small bunch of fenugreek
1 small bunch of dil
1 small bunch of coriander
All the above cleaned and chopped fine, mushrooms kept separately.

For the masala
2 onions finely chopped
5 green chillies, 5 garlic cloves, 1 inch of ginger, 1 tspn of black peppercorns to be pounded in a mortar pestle
Salt to taste

Method

In a pan take some olive oil, add the pounded spices, saute till done, add the chopped onion, saute till golden, add the mushrooms, let them cook, now add the leafy vegetables including the coriander, salt to taste and cook till it becomes dry enough to be stuffed. 

Now take the buttered bread stuff the ready mix, make a sandwich and toast in the jaffle maker till done, we like them crisp. Make them as per your choice. 

                                                Vegetable made from amaranth leaves

On my recent trip to Rajasthan we travelled from Udaipur to Kumbhalgadh and we saw fields fully green and beautiful with corn growing everywhere.  In between were patches of dark red fields, curious as I am about nature I enquired with the driver what that was. He explained that the seeds were used in fast (vrat),  laddoos are made and so and so. I realised it was the amaranth. Was excited about making the vegetable once I was back and saw fresh amaranth with my regular vendor. Here goes the recipe and the picture of the plant.

Ingredients

2 bunches of fresh amaranth stocks removed washed and chopped finely
3 onions finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic crushed 
4 green chillies chopped
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut 
Salt to taste
A squeeze of lime 

Method

In a pan take some coconut oil, add mustard let it splutter, add turmeric powder and asafoetida, 
add the chillies, saute a bit, add the garlic let it turn light brown, add the onion, let it turn golden brown, add the amaranth and now add salt to taste and cook covered until nearly cooked, add 3/4 of the coconut, cover and let it cook completely, let the vegetable be juicy enough, add the lemon juice, give it a stir and serve garnished with the rest of the coconut. The sweet nutty taste of the raw coconut garnish elevates the taste of the dish.

                               
                                 Dosa made of mixed sprouts with a stuffing of cottage cheese

A dish that can be called a fully loaded health treat. The dosa batter is made of mixed sprouts and the stuffing is made of cottage cheese in a roasted tomato and home grown sweet basil sauce.

Ingredients

2 cups of mixed sprouts, I soaked them for half a day, tied them in a cloth and let them sprout for another day,  I used green gram, horse gram, red lentil and a bit of chick peas ground into a paste with 2 cloves of garlic, 1 spoon black pepper corns, 4 green chillies, made a batter of dosa consistency  and kept it ready for use. Add salt to taste and some semolina if you find the need. 

For the stuffing

250 gms cottage cheese
2 finely chopped onions
2 tomatoes chopped into roundels
2 sprigs of sweet basil
1 tspn of chilli powder
1 tspn of ginger garlic paste
1 tspn garam masala
Salt to taste
1 sprig of sweet basil for garnishing

Any cheese for the topping, cubes, slices or grated.

Method

 On a pan sprinkle little mustard oil, keep the tomato roundels to roast with the sweet basil leaves from 2 sprigs, once done make a fine paste and keep ready to use.
  
In a kadhai take mustard oil, add onions, let it turn light brown, add the ginger garlic paste,the tomato basil paste, let the paste cook and leave oil, add chilli powder, salt and the garam masala, mix well and 2 tbspns  thick yogurt. cook well and its ready.

Now on a dosa pan sprinkle a bit of oil, spread the batter to make a dosa, once you see it is done, spread the cottage cheese stuffing, cheese, keep a sweet basil leaf at equal distance, fold and enjoy. This is how to add the stuffing.

                                         
                                           Egg scramble with fenugreek and mustard cress

This can easily be called another of my experi-mental dishes. Enjoyed by my family and hoping you will enjoy making it too.The mustard cress is from my tiny balcony, fresh and yumm.

Ingredients
6 eggs
A bunch of mustard cress
A bunch of fenugreek leaves
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 tspn ginger roughly crushed
1 tspn of black pepper freshly pounded
1 tspn of chilli powder
2 finely chopped onions
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 tspn of kitchen king masala
1 tspn of aamchur or dry mango powder
Salt to taste
Some fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method

In a pan take some mustard oil, add crushed garlic and ginger, give it a stir, add the onion and let it turn golden, add the tomato and the greens, add all the masalas and salt too. Let this saute till everything gets cooked well, now break the eggs into the pan and make a scramble like mixture, let it remain juicy and moist, remove from the fire and serve garnished with fresh coriander. I was lucky again to find some lovely coriander flowers for the garnish!! Placed them with the tweezer, just like  my favorite Chef George.

Bruschetta made with brown bread and exotic vegetables

Some dishes that I have learnt from my daughter Ashwini Kulkarni are worth a share, this is one of them.

Ingredients
Slices of brown bread

50 gms paneer

1 small broccoi
15 olives
10 french beans
50 gms fresh mushrooms
1 small carrot( all the above should be cut into
1/2 cup olive oil for making the spread and 2 tbspns to saute the vegetables
6 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tbspn mixed herbs chilli flakes as per taste, u want it little spicy then chop and use 4 thai chillies salt as per taste
oregano as per taste

cheddar cheese as per taste

Method

In the half cup of olive oil put the crushed garlic, little salt and the mixed herbs and let it rest for an hour or so,

Saute the vegetables in olive oil, add salt, sprinkle little water so they do not burn, add the mixed herbs stir for a while and keep it ready.
Spread the olive oil mixture on to the slices of bread and both the sides, lay them in the pan, spread the sauetyed veg mix , put the cheese, oregano and cook with lid till the cheese becomes little soft and melts. Serve them as u remove them from the pan to get the best taste.

                                   
                                       Tortilla with Avacado, mushrooms and smoked cheese.

Another of my experi-mental dishes with my own version of avacado sauce and the stuffing of mushrooms.

Ingredients
6 plain phulkas made with whole wheat flour

For the sauce
1 avacado
2 green chillies
2 tbspns of olive oil
8 peppercorns
Salt to taste
Few cilantro leaves
2 tspns of lime juice

Method
Scoop out the avacado pulp, mix all the above ingredients and grind to a chutney or a sauce. Keep ready.

For the stuffing
2 packets of mushrooms cleaned and chopped into small pieces
6 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tspn of ginger paste
4 finely chopped green chillies
Small bunch of cilantro finely chopped
1/2 tspn of pepper powder
Salt to taste
2 tspns of dark soy sauce
3 tspns of grated smoked cheese

Method
In a pan take some olive oil and saute the garlic till golden, add the chiilies and the ginger, give this a stir, add cilantro, now add the mushrooms, salt, pepper powder, soy sauce and saute till semi dry, add the cheese one minute before taking the pan off the fire. mix well and keep rady.

Method of assembling the final dish 

Place a tava to heat, smear some butter, I used Amul lite. Now keep the phulka and spread the avcado sauce on it, spread  the mushroom mix, fold as shown in the  picture, flip over and roast evenly on both the sides for just two minutes and serve hot.