Mix Veg Butter Masala

I've often sympathized with pure vegetarians wondering how thay would manage with only veggies on their dining table and very less creativity in their dishes. But I guess it is high time I change that opinion. There is a huge scope for variety and creativity in vegetarian dishes too. Try this Veg butter masala inspired from our very common chicken butter masala.

Ingredients

MixVeg – 1/4 Kg (Carrot,Capsicum,Green Peas, French Beans)
Tomato Sauce – 1/4 cup
Kasoori Methi – 1 tablespoon
Fresh Cream   - 1 cup
Cold Milk – 1/2 cup
Cashew Paste – ½ cup
Onion  - 4 no's pureed
Tomatoes - 8 no's pureed
Garlic  – 1tablespoon paste
Ginger - 1 tablespoon paste
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder  - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - A bunch
Orange –Red colour – ¼ teaspoon
Oil - 8 tablespoon
Garam Masala Powder – 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Method

Put kadai on gas, add oil and heat it well.
Add onion puree, kasuri methi and ginger-garlic paste, saute on high flame.
Let the water of onion and ginger-garlic evaporate very well. The colour should become crispy golden brown .
Switch off the gas and add salt to taste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala.
Mix them very well , now add tomato puree and Switch on the gas to a high flame.
Fry it till you hear a sizzling sound and till each particle of tomato contracts and the oil separates from the corners of the kadai.
Switch off the gas to add the milk ingredients.
Now add orange or red colour, tomato sauce, cream, cashew paste and cold milk.
Boil the Vegetables and add them into the gravy.
On the gas on high flame, mix it and let it boil once only and turn off the gas .
To garnish add green coriander leaves.

Vegetables in Tomato Gravy

I need to owe complete courtesy to my dear husband for this dish. This one is his master piece. Once in a while he would enter our kitchen and come out with amazing  dishes like this and this is just another one of the numerous reasons why I am so amazingly proud of him. This is a perfect side dish with rotis and chappathis and my favourite too.

Ingredients

4 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup carrots chopped into small pieces and 1/2 cup green peas
1/4 cup peeled potato cubes and 1/4 cup sweet corn kernels
1/2 cup beans sliced into small pieces
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 pinches of asafoetida
5 curry leaves
salt to taste
2 tsp ginger-green chilli paste
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garam masala

Method

Combine the tomatoes and 2 cups of water in a deep kadhai and cook on a medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes or till the tomatoes are soft.
Remove from the flame and allow them to cool slightly.
Once slightly cooled, blend the tomatoes in a mixer to a smooth pulp. Keep aside.
Heat 2 cups of water in a deep kadhai.
Add the potatoes, beans, greenpeas, sweet corn and carrots, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 5 to 7 minutes. Don’t drain the water and keep aside.
Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
When the seeds crackle, add the asafoetida and saute on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the curry leaves, tomato pulp and all the boiled vegetables (including the water), mix well and cook on a medium flame for another 5 to 7 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
Add the salt and ginger-green chili paste, mix well cook on a medium flame for 5 to 7 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
Add the sugar and garam masala, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 more minute.
Serve hot with rice or parathas.

Blackeyed Beans Thoran

This is a very tasty side dish with rice gruel or matta rice. It always reminds me of our good friday service in Church. After the completion of the full hymn service, all the church members would be served a helping of rice gruel and vanpayar thoran with pickles on an earthern dish. It always tastes out of this world. So it has an element of nostalgia and homesickness in it for me. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Black eyed beans-1/2 cup
Water- 2 ½ cups
Salt to taste
Turmeric-powder- a small pinch

Freshly grated coconut-1/4 cup
Chumannulli / Shallots-6-8
Dry red chillies-3-4 nos
Jeerakom (Cumin seeds)-1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves-2
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

Coconut oil-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
Chumannulli / Shallots -2, sliced
Curry leaves- few

Method
Pressure cook black eyed beans with water, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt and keep aside.
Ground coarsely, coconut, shallots, dry red chilies, garlic, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and salt to taste.
Make a well in the centre of Vanpayar and add the ground coconut mixture in the centre and close the lid of cooker and cook on low heat till steam comes out. Open lid and stir the mixture well. Turn off the flame.
Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a non stick pan and splutter mustard seeds then add sliced shallots and curry leaves and sauté till shallots are golden brown.
Now add cooked black eyed beans-coconut mixture, stir well for a minute and turn off the heat.
Serve hot with Kanji.

Payar Mezhukkupuratti(Beans Mezhukkupuratti)

This is a simple Mezhukkuperatti recipe and undoubtedly my husbands favourite mezhukkupuratti dish. When ever i tell him to buy some grocery from the market, he always comes home with a bunch of payar neately tied up. He likes it with matta rice. I always use a bit of wayer for getting it cooked easily. But for better taste, you can avoid it. Enjoy.

Ingredients

Long beans -500g
Coconut oil
Mustard seed-1/4 tsp
Curry leaves1 sprig
Onion (medium)-1 number
Ginger(crushed)-1 tsp
Garlic (crushed)-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Chilli powder-1 tbsp
Salt

Method

Cut long beans into 1.5 inch long pieces. If the beans are matured, take out the seeds and use only seeds. Thinly slice onion. You can also use shallots instead of onion.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Splutter mustard seeds and then add curry leaves.
Add chopped long beans, sliced onions, ginger, garlic, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Add 1 tsp oil and stir it well until well combined. Cover and cook with little water. Don't add much water. It naturally has a lot of water in it, which releases when they are cooked.
Cook in medium heat until water gets almost dried up. Stir in between, otherwise it can get burnt. It might take around 15 - 20 minutes.
Add 1- 2 tsp oil, saute it for around 5 minutes in medium flame until it gets roasted well. Serve with rice

Vanpayar curry(Red cowpeas curry)

This preparation was not at all planned in my Onam sadya's "To-do" list. But after I made the erissery with mathanga, I had some left over vanpayar. This made me to make this easy vanpayar dish. This is very tasty and you can have it with kanji or matta rice. We even have it with puttu for breakfast.

Ingredients

Vanpayar – 250 grams
Onion, sliced – 1
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
Tomato – 1/4th
Chilli Powder – 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon
Water – 4 cups (you can add more later to get the consistency you desire)
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tablespoons
Curry leaves

Tempering

Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
small onion, sliced – 3
curry leaves – garnishing

Method

Wash the vanpayar couple of times with water.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the onions. Saute till it’s translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste, Chilli powder, coriander, turmeric powder. Stir.
To this add the chopped tomatoes and saute all together till the tomatoes are mushy.
Now, add the washed vanpayar to this and saute for a minute to coat it with the masala. Add salt.
Pressure cook this in 4 cups of water for about 4-5 whistles. Add more salt, if needed.
Meanwhile, in another pan heat oil, for the tempering. Splutter mustard seeds. Add sliced small onions and saute. Then add 1 sprig curry leaves. Add this mixture to the cooked vanpayar.

Mathanga Vanpayar Erissery(Pumkin and Cowpeas Erissery)

I love this dish. This has a definite nostalgia in my mind simply because I always make it for Onam. We never buy pumkin in our home except for special occassions when I have to make special dishes. So this curry is a welcome guest in our home during festival times. It is very very tasty and an important dish in Onam Sadya.

Ingredients

2 Cups - Chopped Yellow Pumpkin
1/2 Cup - Van payar/Red Beans/ Black eyed beans
3/4 tsp - Red Chili Powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric Powder
2 - Slit Green Chilies
4 or 5 - Curry Leaves
To Grind
3 tbsp - Granted Fresh Coconut
1/2 tsp - Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp - Turmeric Powder
1 tsp - Chopped Garlic
3 - Shallots or half small onion
For Tempering
1 tbsp - Oil (Preferred Coconut Oil)
1/2 tsp - Mustard Seeds
6 or 7 - Curry Leaves
2 - Dry Red Chilies
2 tbsp - Grated Coconut

Method

Wash and soak  red bean (vanpayar) over night, rinse 2-3 times in fresh water and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles with 1 cup water and little salt.
Cut pumpkins along the lines in it like in wedges this way we can peel it easily.
Remove the flesh part, peel and chop pumpkin in small pieces, peel and chop shallots or onion, and garlic keep aside for grinding.
In a pan or wok heat 1 cup of water add pumpkin pieces, curry leaves, turmeric powder, red chili powder,salt and slit green chilies.
While pumpkin gets cooked grind together all the items listed under 'To Grind' to fine paste, use 1-2 tbsp of water if required.
Cook pumpkin for 10-12 minutes or until pumpkin gets cooked.Once pumpkin gets cooked, mash slightly with the  back of ladle. Add cooked beans and mix well.
Add ground coconut mixture mix and add 1 cup water (or use lobia boiled water, add more water if want thin consistency) and bring it to boil.  Simmer for 5 minutes or until desire consistency is reached, off flame.
To prepare tempering, in a tadka or small pan, heat oil. Now add mustard seeds and allow to splutter, add curry leaves, dry red chilies and coconut.
Saute in low flame until coconut becomes golden brown. Switch off flame. It takes 3-5 minutes in slow flame.
Pour the tempered coconut over erissery and mix it well.

Avial

This is the most common of all onam sadya recipes. I've never in my life seen a sadya without Avial proudly spread on the banana leaf. It is an integral part of every onam sadya. Highly nutritious because of the presence of a wide variety of vegetables and very tasty too.

Ingredients

Brinjal-1/4 cup
Ash gourd -3/4 cup
Cucumber - 1 cup
Carrot -1
Drumstick -1
Beans -6-7
Potato -1
Raw plantain -1
Raw Mango - few pieces (5-6 medium size pieces)
Elephant foot yam -100 grams
Curd -2 tbsp

For the grinding

Grated coconut - 1 cup
Cumin seeds /Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli -3

For the seasoning

Coconut oil - 2-3 tsp
Curry leaves - few

Preparation

Peel the skin and cut all the vegetables into 2 inch long piece.

Coarsely grind grated coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds. Keep it aside.

Since each vegetable needs different time for cooking, I cooked cucumber, plantain, brinjal and ash gourd together in a pan separately adding salt needed for that alone. When it is half cooked, add chopped raw mangoes.
Pressure cook the rest of the vegetables adding salt and turmeric powder for 2 whistles.You can cook in open pan also.The vegetables should be soft but not mushy.
Add the grounded coconut paste and cook for a few minutes. Remove from flame.
Add curd and mix well. Check for salt. Season with coconut oil and curry leaves.

Bean Sprout Salad

This one is a gluton free, fat free high fiber salad recipe.This simple, fresh salad is loaded with bean sprouts, tomatoes and zesty lime juice. You can ssemble just before serving. The best way to fill your stomach without regrets.

Ingredients

2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 cup diced red onion
3/4 cup diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 tbsp peanuts
1/4 teaspoon  salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Mix bean sprouts with onion, peanuts, and tomatoes in a serving bowl. Stir in lime juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.