Masala Egg Fry

Masala Egg fry is a simple and quick recipe that could be put together in minutes. It’s slightly similar to the Egg roast recipe, except we use very less ingredients in it. It consist of hard-boiled egg fried with some mild Indian spices. 

So let’s get started.

INGREDIENTS

3 boiled eggs

2 tbsp cooking oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp saunf/fennel seeds

5-6 curry leaves

salt - as per taste

1 tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp gram masala powder

Method

1. Boil and peel the eggs, cut into two halves lengthwise.

2. Heat oil in a pan, crackle the mustard seeds add saunf / fennel seeds along with curry leaves and fry for few minutes.

3. When the onions have turned soft and cooked; reduce the flame and add chilli powder, turmeric powder, gram masala powder and salt. Mix well and fry for a minute.

4. Now add the eggs, stir well such the eggs are completely coated with the masala and let it fry for 2 minutes in a medium flame.

5. Now turn off the flame, transfer it to a serving dish.

This can be served with roti’s and rice.

Chakka Varatti / Jackfruit Preserve

                                             We did a road trip to Detroit to meet one my husband’s cousin. I really enjoyed that trip….It was wonderful ride through the country side enjoying the scenic beauty. Detroit, adding to it was a beautiful place, we spotted lots of lakes there. On our way back to Toronto my husband’s cousin packed us a one whole jackfruit, knowing our craziness to that fruit.  That was an awesome Jackfruit, prefect ripeness and taste. We ate a lot and shared some with our friends too… But we still had a lot of the fruit remaining. I was quite burdened that the fruit might get spoiled. That’s when an idea popped into my head, Chakka Varrati or the Jackfruit preserve which my grandmother used to make. Usually my grandmother makes this varrati with an entire fruit or even two. It is made in a huge vessel called 'uruli'. It is quite a labor intensive process and takes a long time (about 3-4 hours).

Jackfruit is an aromatic, fleshy fruit with wide sharpy like dotted skin. It can be eaten ripe, and cooked or uncooked. The seeds can also be eaten cooked. Although many who eat jackfruit loves it for its delicious taste, quite a few are unaware of the health benefits of jackfruit. It contains vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, calcium, potassium, iron, sodium, zinc and many other nutrients. Made a quick call to mom for the recipe.

         Chakka Varrati or the Jackfruit preserve is an authentic and most popular kerala delicacy made from ripened jackfruit. Chakka is a Malayalam word for jackfruit and Chakkavarrati is a preserved pulp made out of jackfruit, Jaggery and ghee. Generally the chakkavarrati is made during jackfruit season and preserved for making various chakka(Jackfruit) delicacies.

INGREDIENTS: 

Ripe jack fruit flesh (finely chopped) -6 cup

Jaggery - 1kg

Ghee 1 cup

Dry ginger/chukku -1tsp

Cardamom powder - 1tsp

Water - 2 cups

METHOD:

Deseed the flesh pieces of jack fruit and chop them into small pieces.

Pressure cook the jack fruit pieces with 1 cup of water, for about 10 to 15 minutes until it is soft.

Cool down the cooked jack fruit and puree it in a mixer.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and transfer the jack fruit pulp to this pan. Stir continuously until water disappears.

In the mean while heat another pan and melt Jaggery with a cup of water, to a dry thick syrup.

Pour the melted Jaggery to jack fruit pulp and stir continuously.

Add ghee, chukku and cardamom little by little.

Stir continuously on a low flame. If it is sticking then add little more ghee.

Stir continuously without taking your hands, until oil separates from sides, and it forms into 1 single lump.

Cool and store in an air tight container.

Kerala style Kale and Mushroom Thoran / Kale and Mushroom stir fry with coconut(Kerala style)

Kale is a popular vegetable, a member of the cabbage family It is related to cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Kale, like other leafy greens, is very high in antioxidants. This includes beta-carotene, vitamin C, as well as various flavonoids and polyphenols. Kale is much higher in vitamin C than most other vegetables, containing about 4.5 times much as spinach. Kale Can Help Lower Cholesterol, Which May Reduce The Risk of Heart Disease. Kale is one of the world’s best sources of vitamin K, with a single raw cup containing almost 7 times the recommended daily amount. Kale is actually loaded with compounds that are believed to have protective effects against cancer. Kale is very high in beta carotene, an antioxidant that the body can turn into vitamin A.

I had heard from my aunt in US that she makes thoran with kale and it turns out quite delicious. The other day went I went for grocery shopping I picked up some fresh kale. I decided to make kale thoran with some mushrooms. This is a very simple recipe that can be made up in few minutes and will be definitely a winner in your dining table.

Here you go…. Kale thoran with mushrooms. Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed slightly to bring out the flavor

1 small clove of garlic, chopped fine (optional)

About 4 cups finely shredded Kale

1 cup mushrooms, chopped into small cubes

1/4 tsp pepper powder

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp salt or per taste

1/2 cup freshly grated coconut

Method:

Take a medium size wok or a large skillet and heat the coconut oil in it. When hot lower heat to medium and add the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the crushed cumin seeds and the garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds and chopped mushrooms. Cook in in medium flame till the water evaporates completely. Now add the greens, stir fry for a minute and add turmeric powder, pepper powder and the salt. Cover and steam for about 1 minute. Open the lid and add the grated coconut and stir well for another minute or until completely dry. Turn the heat off.

Serve hot with rice/roti.

Carrot Thoran Kerala Style - Carrot Stir Fry

On our today’s menu we have a very basic and simple recipe that goes well with steamed rice. Thoran is a coconut based vegetable Keralite dish. Thoran is a predominant menu item for a sadhya along with other dishes. The chopped vegetable is mixed together with grated coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaves and turmeric powder and briefly stirred on a pan over a very hot fire.

Today we will be making a thoran out of carrot, a favorite vegetable of many. This vegetable is highly packed with all the essential nutrients.

Here you go….Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

Carrot, grated - 2 cup

Coconut oil / any cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds  -  1/4 tsp

Onion chopped- ½ cup

Green chilies chopped- 2 nos

Garlic chopped – 1 tsp

Curry leaves- few

Cumin powder  -  1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder  - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Grated coconut  -   ¾ cup

Method:

Wash the Carrot and peel and grated it. Combine together grated carrot, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste in a mixing bowl. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Now add onion, green chilies, garlic, curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the prepared carrot and sauté for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and cook with lid on for few minutes or until it is almost done. Remove the lid and add grated coconut and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes.  This thoran can be served with rice.

Punjabi Raw Mango Pickle - Raw mango pieces smeared with Indian spices

This is my 100th post!!! I am too excited and wanted this to be very special. So I decided this post should be a recipe that had got me lots of kudos!. My Punjabi Mango pickle has been a favorite one for most of our family and friends…..So here I am gonna share this recipe with my readers. I hope you will surely love this Authentic Punjabi mango pickle.

As the summer season has already started and everyone is busy making pickles or should be!!! The yearly stock of mango pickle would be high on the to-do list for most of us.

I had already posted the Raw Mango pickle –Kerala style. So this year I want to share my specialty  Punjabi mango pickle, The spice blend in Punjabi mango pickle is slightly different from the regular mango pickle .The spices are slightly crushed, the addition of kalonji(nigella seeds) and ajwain gives it a wonderful taste and flavor.

Here you go….Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

3 kgs Raw Mango

250 grams Fenugreek Seeds

150 grams Mustard Seeds

250 grams Fennel Seeds

4 tsp Nigella Seeds / Kalonji

3 tsp Carom Seeds / Ajwain

3 tbsp Peppercorns

8 tbsp Red Chilli powder

7 tsp Turmeric Powder

3 tsp Asafoetida

300 grams Salt

1 litre Mustard Oil

Method:

1. Dry the whole spices for a day in bright sunlight to remove the moisture.
2. Coarsely crush mustard, fennel and fenugreek seeds.
3. Kalonji and ajwain should be added whole, so no need to crush or grind them.
4. Wash and wipe mangoes with a cloth napkin.
5. Heat mustard oil to smoking point and then let it come to room temperature.
6. Chop raw mangoes into medium or small size pieces as per your liking.
7. In a big and wide bowl add the crushed spices and all the powdered spices along with the chopped mango pieces.
8. Mix well and keep it covered for a day.
9. Next day cover the bowl with a muslin cloth and keep in sunlight for few hours.
10. Also keep the storage jar in sunlight for a day and dry it completely, now transfer the mango pickle to this jar after a day.
11. Add the mustard oil in the jar, the oil should be at least 1 inch above the pickle level.
12. Cover the jar with the lid and let it mature for a week before start using.

This delicious Mango Pickle stays fresh till it lasts:)

Broccoli and Mushroom Soup

Today was a sunny day and as the day turned to dusk it started to rain and got colder. To make myself warm I had to whip up a soup. I have been sharing some classic recipes in the past few weeks that, while not glamorous, are just solid recipes for every-day dishes. I had broccoli and mushroom in my refrigerator and so I turned them into a creamy delicious soup. Beyond being incredibly delicious, this soup is ready to eat in just about 20 minutes. The real beauty of this soup is that you can walk in to the kitchen, throw together just a few ingredients and then walk out with a bowl of delicious soup in minutes.

This Broccoli and mushroom soup is not just a simple soup to make but it’s also comforting and nutritious too.

Here you go….Do try it and share your comments….

Ingredients:

Fresh mushrooms – 1½cup sliced (I used button mushrooms)

Broccoli – 1 cup(chopped medium-small size)

Chicken broth – 1 ½ cups

Onion – ½ cup chopped

Dried thyme – ¼ tsp

Butter - 3 tbsp

All-purpose flour - 3 tbsp

salt - ¼ tsp

Ground black pepper - ¼ tsp

Cream – ½ cup

Method:

In a large heavy saucepan, cook mushrooms in the broth with chopped broccoli, onion and thyme until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

In blender or food processor, puree the mixture, leaving some chunks of vegetable in it. Set aside.

In the saucepan, melt the butter, whisk in the flour until smooth. Add the salt, pepper, cream and vegetable puree.

Stirring constantly, bring soup to a boil and cook until thickened.

Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve hot.

Andhra Style Brinjal Fry / Brinjal Stir Fry in Indian Spices

Brinjal /baingan, also called by names like aubergine and eggplant in the western world; this purple fleshy vegetable is a versatile thing and fun to cook with. Brinjal, is a very low calorie vegetable and has healthy nutrition profile. The peel or skin (deep blue/purple) of brinjal has significant amounts of phenolic flavonoid, an anti-oxidants that has potential health effects against cancer, aging, inflammation, and neurological diseases. It contains good amounts of essential B-complex vitamins. Further, this vegetable is an excellent source of minerals like manganese, copper, iron and potassium.

This vegetable can be cooked in many different ways. Today we are going to do an Andhra style Brinjal fry. This tastes yummy and goes well with Rice and Dhal/ Sambhar.

Ingredients:

Brinjal / baingan - 250 grams

Red chili powder - ½ tbspn

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Mustard - ½ tspn

Cumin- ½ tspn

Pinch of  Hing

Turmeric powder – ¼ tspn

garlic – 4 to 5 Cloves chopped

Coriander Powder – 1 tbspn

Salt to taste

Oil – 2 or 3 tbsp.

Method:

Wash the Brinjals, cut them into medium size cubes and keep them aside in water.

Heat oil in a wide pan, add cumin, mustard, and allow them to splutter. Now add chopped garlic, sauté till garlic turns slightly brown.

Add the brinjal, turmeric powder, hing and salt and mix well, reduce the heat and allow them to cook with lid on. After some 3 to 4 mins add chilli powder, turmeric powder & Coriander powder toss on a medium flame, till they are cooked.

Add curry leaves and stir everything well. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on a low flame.

Serve hot with rice.