Vegetarian Chow Mein

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     I am still working at settling in this new place.  Actually I am all set with regards to setting up the apartment, the kitchen being functional etc. and yet there is something missing.  You will not believe when I say I miss the noisier complex I lived in Tennessee.  Every other hour you could hear the fire engine roaring past since we lived next door to the fire station.  Yeah, it was a nuisance at times but in some strange way I miss them too.  Can you see what I mean?  My new apartment complex is so quiet it borders eerie.  I know its just that its taking time to gel in here but this morning trying to photograph the food I was going crazy.  I am just not understanding why the room is bright and yet I am not getting the light to fall on the food like I want it to.  It will all come in time and I will adjust but moving doesn't seem to be my cup of cake.

 
  Yesterday I made some chow mein. It's simple and yet quite tasty.  You can do a whole lot of variations with different sauces but today's recipe is the simplest with the least number of ingredients. I hope you will enjoy it.


Ingredients:
Noodles - 1 pack (200 gms)
Beans - 30 nos
Cabbage - 1/8th of a regular size cabbage
Carrots - 1
Capsicum - 1/2 of a big one
Celery - 1 stalk
Spring onions - 2
Garlic - 1 tbspn heaped, finely chopped
ginger - 1/2 tspn finely chopped
Soya Bean Sauce - 2 Tbspn
Black Pepper - to taste
Green chilies - if you need it spicy hot
Oil - 2 Tbspn
Method:

1.Cook noodles as per instructions on the cover
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the vegetables starting with the beans
3. Add each vegetable according to the time it takes for it to cook and I like my beans a little well done so they go in first.
4. Once the beans is getting cooked add the garlic and ginger saute and follow up with cabbage, carrots and celery and finally capsicum.  Make sure to cook each vegetable a little, like a couple of stirrings before you add the next
5. Once all vegetables are cooked where I leave the capsicum add soya bean sauce.
6. I have been finding the strength of soya bean sauce to be different for each brand and hence depending on the brand and how thick or thin it is add some, mix and check for taste
7. Add the cooked noodles and if needed add more soya bean sauce
8. Chop the spring onions and top it and when serving you can scramble eggs and top each plate or simply mix it in.

Notes:
1. I add salt and oil in plenty of water to cook the noodles and run it under cold water once cooked and splash some oil to keep the noodle moist

Contributor: Sunitha

Fenugreek/Methi Rice

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Festivals are when I miss being at home and eating what my mom cooks the most.  The last couple of days made me realize how much I keep moving away from the tradition.  Easter would have been a day starting with appam and stew followed with a heavier lunch of cutlets and a variety of curries made of the best fish and meat.  Now, I make do with a simple rice and a chicken or meat curry and say, enough!

You must have guessed I am not in the greatest spirits but its only monday morning blues.  What I hate about holidays is the first day after it.  It's difficult to get past this one without feeling glum.  Without further spoiling your spirits let me share my recipe for fenugreek rice.  The fenugreek leaf is slightly bitter and in abundance may not be to your taste but with the right mix of things this aromatic leaf produces a dish quite scrumptious.

You will need:

1. Rice - 1 Cup

2. Fenugreek leaf - 1/2 cup

3. Coconut - 1/2 cup

Cardamom- 2

Cinnamon stick - 1 inch

Cloves - 2-3 nos

Onions - 1/2 

Peas - 1/2 cup

Beans - 4-5 (optional)

Green Chilis - 2 or according to taste

Oil - 1-2 Tbspn

Lemon juice - of 1/2 a lime

Method:

1. Heat oil in pressure cooker or whichever vessel you use to cook rice. 

2. Add the whole garam masala (cardamom, cinnamon and cloves)

3. Add thinly sliced onions and saute to golden brown

4. Mid way to sauteing the onions add your ginger, garlic and green chilies in this order 

5. Add fenugreek leaves and saute

6. Add coconut ground to a paste

6. Add beans and peas and saute followed with washed and drained rice

7. Mix well and add salt to taste 

8. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and check if salt is enough squeeze 1/2 a lime in now and pressure cook for approximately 4 minutes on medium flame

9. You may garnish with deep fried onions, cashew nuts and raisins

10. Serve with any curry of your choice or just a yogurt salad

 
Contributor: Sunitha

Neychoru with raita/Ghee Rice with Salad

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Neychoru is a North Kerala specialty. To be precise it’s a North Kerala Muslim specialty. I tasted it for the first time at my friend's place and instantly fell in love. It is a rich preparation with clarified butter, cashew nuts, raisins and golden fried onions. The aroma wafting through the house while this is being prepared is enough of an appetizer. All of these qualities make it an ideal treat for our cold, cold weather. Disclaimer: This is not for the weak hearted. Literally. It is so calorie rich that if I call it "healthy" neichoru, it will be one of the best oxymoron you've ever heard.




Ingredients:

Basmati Rice- 2 Cups
Hot Water- 3 1/2 cups
Ghee- 4-5 Tbsp
Cashews- 2 Tbsp
Raisins- 2 Tbsp
Onion- 1 Big
Cinnamon stick- 2 one inch sticks
Cloves- 4-5
Cardamom seeds-From 2
Salt- To taste
Oil- For frying

Method:

1.Wash the rice and soak it in water for at least 30 minutes.Drain and keep aside.
2.Heat 1 Tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and raisins till they turn golden brown in color.
3.Heat the pan in which you are planing to cook the rice .Pour 3-4 Tbsp ghee into it (you could reduce the amount , but the more the merrier !).Add the spices and saute for a minute and throw in the drained rice into it. Saute this for 3-4 minutes.Add salt and mix well.
4.Meanwhile you could heat/ boil the water.
5.Add the hot water into this and allow to boil on high heat. When the water starts bubbling well reduce the heat and continue cooking for another 8 minutes or till the rice is done.
6.Heat the oil for frying and fry the onion.
7.Serve the rice after garnishing with fried onion,cashews and raisins.
8.Best served with raita or chicken/mutton curry.



For Raita:

Ingredients:

Yogurt- 1/2 cup
Tomato(chopped)- 1 small
Onion(Chopped finely)-1/3 cup
Green chillies (chopped)- 2-3
Salt

Mix everything well and serve chilled.

Notes:

1.It's important to use best quality basmati rice and best quality ghee for this preparation. As you know the aroma of rice makes a huge difference to your neichoru, or biryani.
2.Also I've used home made ghee for making this and it is the best :-)

Kanjiyum payarum/Rice gruel with green gram

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For people like me, 'kanjiyum payarum' (rice gruel and green gram) is synonymous with comfort food. I think its pejorative when kanji is symbolized with poverty or ill health. But it is true.  Some consider it the poor man’s food. Let me begin in defense for this hearty meal stating the cultural relevance the food has in Kerala. On Good Friday, Jacobites (a Christian denomination) after spending a day in prayer and fasting eat Kaji at church in fellowship.  The muslims, during the season of Ramdhan often break their fast with kanji and thereafter following up with their Iftar party which serves party food. I need to add, after fasting for an entire day nothing feels as good as 'Kanji and payar' as my friends say.  Hope this helps to see Kanji as an integral part of our culture. Apart from this without any religious connotation this is equally enjoyed as a dinner and some times even for breakfast by many families.  Even though kanji started being used on somber occasions or talked as food for the poor it was clearly a energy booster. It shakes off melancholy.  I know it must be the sugar kicking in but I hope I have made my case.



Now,  let’s do a comparison with soup. If you take a close look, this dish is a healthy vegetarian soup except that starch and protein are prepared and served separately and each has to make his/ her individual soup on the table. The rice gruel is served with cooked green grams spiced with black and red pepper, mustard, shallots and curry leaves. To substitute the bread, crepes, croutons etc that goes with soup we serve pappadam with the gruel. Pappadam is a thin disc or call it wafer made with black gram or urad dal. These are mostly shop bought and fried at home. You can see how spices,  plentiful in our part of the world, are incorporated to make a hearty soup. Now you know why I call it ‘comfort food.’

Ingredients :

For kanji(serves 2)

Parboiled rice- 1/2 cup
Water- 2-3 cups(there should be enough water left after cooking !)

Method:

1. Wash the rice and pour water.
2.Cook in a pressure cooker for upto 2-3 whistles or until rice is done.

For green gram/cherupayar thoran

Moong beans(green gram)- 1/2 cup
Salt- To taste
water- 3/4 cup
turmeric powder- a small pinch
Grated coconut- 2 Tbsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Red chillies- 2
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Oil- 1 Tbsp



Method:
1.Wash and clean the green gram. Cook in a pressure cooker after pouring the water and adding salt and turmeric.
2.Cook on high heat till the first whistle and then simmer and cook for 2 more whistles or at least 15 minutes.( This time period is for my medium sized cooker. This may vary for your cooker !)
3.heat oil in a pan and do the normal seasoning by spluttering the mustard and sauteing the red chillies and curry leaves.
4.To this add the red chilli powder and stir cook for couple of minutes on low heat.
5.throw in the coconut and the cooked green gram , mix well.

Serving Suggestions.

Sprinkle some salt on the kanji and mix well. Serve with green gram thoran, pappad and a pickle of your choice.Sure you will go for a second serving :-). You could serve simple gravies like pulissery with this.
While talking about pulissery I must say that the kanjivellam (water in which rice is cooked) when mixed with some pulissery and a pinch of salt makes a healthy summer drink.

Lemon Rice

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Lemon rice always reminds me of one of my college friends. While most of my classmates lived with me in the hostel this one was lucky to stay with grandparents. She would always bring delicious home made food and her tiffin (lunch box) was wiped clean by the food depraved hostelites. We had a win-win situation in this case because while we loathed eating cafeteria food everyday she was fed up of home made food. Nonetheless, she also had to finish her tiffin or granny wouldn’t be a happy camper. She generously let us gobble down the lemon rice while she enjoyed the coke and puffs form the cafeteria. Win-win situation, you will agree?



Lemon rice is also synonymous with long train journeys. They keep so well that we would take them on our long train journeys. The lemon and oil in the preparation acts like preservatives and stays good even in the hot and humid weather.

Food and music always makes me nostalgic and takes me back to a different time. I am sure you have your own stories and memories surrounding some food. I hope while you enjoy my recipe today beautiful memories conjure up flooding you with happiness.



Ingredients:

Cooked Rice-3 Cups
Cooking Oil- 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 Tsp
Channa Daal- 2Tbsp
Peanuts(raw)- 4 Tbsp
Urad daal-1 Tsp
Curry leaves- 1 Sprig
Red chillies- 4-5
Asafoetida- a pinch(optional)
Lemon juice- 1/3 cup(depending on the sourness of lemon)




Method:

1.Heat oil in a wide pan
2.Fry the peanuts till it is done, take out and keep aside.Fry the channa daal and keep that aside as well.
3.Splutter the mustard seeds and urad daal and throw in the red chillies, saute for a minute.
4.Add salt(if you have added salt while cooking the rice, be careful), turmeic and asafoetida and mix well (should be done on low heat, or else you will be burning the powders)
5.Add the rice (cooked) and mix well.
6.Switch off the heat. Add lemon juice and mix well. Check the taste and add more lemon juice if required.(It should be on the higher side,if you are eating later, since the rice will absorb it if you keep it longer.)
7.Mix in the fried peanuts and channa daal
8.Serve warm or cold with a pickle of your choice, yogurt or as it is.Enjoy !

Notes:

1.The rice must cool down well, if you do not have the prepared rice from previous day.The rice grains should be separated and lumps should be avoided.
2.If you are preparing rice for this dish, you could add salt while cooking the rice.
3.If you are planning to pack this for later, let it cool down completely before doing so.



Contributor : Namitha

Kappa puzhukku/Mashed tapioca aka Cassava

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I know I don't have to explain to a Mallu what kappapuzhukku (cooked tapioca) is. I guess most of us from Kerala love this simple and delicious dish and to me and my family, it's a favorite. One of the best vivid memories from my childhood is a plate of this with mulakuchammanthi(chilli chutney) and a black coffee with sugar.  Have you ever tried this combo, believe me it's divine :-) The puzhukku and the spicy hot chutney along with the sweet boiling hot coffee...aha..Can't explain it ! Kappapuzhukku and meencurry (Fish curry) is one of the famous combinations in Kerala Cuisine.

It was a friend who shared the history of how Tapioca was introduced in Travancore (South Kerala).  The king of Travancore; Vysakham Thirunal Maharaja, who was also a botanist, introduced this quintessential laborer's food in the 1860s.  Later, in the beginning of 19th century, when people from central Travancore started to migrate to the Malabar region they took tapioca with them introducing it to the locals.  The cultivar was not very popular until the break of world war.  Now, tapioca has a special place in the hearts of most Keralites.  Maybe its due to social conscienseness and in an effort to break stereotyping but whatever the case I am into it solely because of it tastes.



There are so many names in Malayalam itself for Tapioca, kolli,kappa, cheenikkizhangu, maracheeni etc to name a few.  I made some fish fry to go with this the recipe of which I will post soon.

Ingredients:

Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca- 2lbs
Coconut grated-2/3 cup
Green chillies- 3-4
Shallots-3-4
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt

Method:

1.Peel off the skin from Tapioca and clean and cut it coarsely to get medium sized pieces.
2.Boil water enough to cover the tapioca in a deep pan.Cook with salt and a pinch of turmeric until it is done. The time varies from 5 minutes to 20 minutes once it starts boiling.So keep checking.
3.Meanwhile grind the coconut, chillies,turmeric and shallots coarsely.
4.Drain all the water once tapioca is cooked.
5.Throw in the ground ingredients and salt and mix well.Mash the tapioca pieces well while mixing.
6.Heat on medium with lid for 3-4 minutes or until steam starts coming.
7.Switch off the heat and serve hot with Fish curry, fish fry or mulaku chutney (Grind green chillies with salt, add oil or yogurt and mix well )



Contributor :Namitha

Vegetable Fried Rice

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Hope you all had a fun Halloween. We had double fun since it was 'M's birthday too. Anyways he didn't play any role other than that of a wonderful Dad, but we had an angel and a lil pumpkin here. Though we had a very busy day, I wanted to make something special for the B'day boy. He likes my fried rice a lot and I thought that would make a great lunch. So, I made fried rice and baked a cake.

The credit for the recipe goes to my wonderful sis in laws.  I have already mentioned to you that I learned cooking after my marriage. Once, when I had some guests over and wanted to make something simple, yet delicious this rice which is always a winner in my new family came to mind. I rang up my SIL and she gave me the recipe over the phone and voila... it came out well at my first trial itself.  And now I have cooked it n times for my multinational guests and always get complimented. I have tweaked the original a bit here and there. We had it with chicken curry, fried pappad and a salad.

Ingredients
Ghee- 2Tbsp
French Beans- 5-6
Carrot-1(medium)
Bell Pepper(Capsicum)- 1 small
Green peas (frozen)-1/4 cup
Spring onion- 1 small bunch
Cashews-2 Tbsp
Raisins-2 Tbsp
Onion-2 small(sliced thin)

Basmati Rice- 2 cups
Water-3 1/2 cups
Lemon juice-1 Tbsp
Salt-to taste
Cinnamon-1 small stick
Cloves-4-5
Cardamom- 1/4 tspn
Tejpatta/Indian Bay leaves-2
Soy sauce(optional)-2tspn

Method

1. Wash and drain the rice and keep aside.
2. Cut the vegetables into thin pieces.
3. Fry the cashews and raisins in 1/2 Tbsp ghee and remove from pan.
4. Throw the beans and carrot pieces into the same pan and cook.
5. When it's half done add the frozen peas, bell pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Switch off the flame.
6. Fry the onion till it turns golden brown and keep aside.
7.Meanwhile heat the pot you use to cook rice and add the remaining ghee . When it is warm add the dried rice into it and fry for 4-5 minutes on low heat.  Throw in the spices and stir.  Add salt and lemon juice into it and stir for a minute.
8. Add water and let it boil. Simmer once it starts boiling and cook covered on medium low till rice is done. It takes about 12 minutes to cook.
9.It is always great if you cook the rice in advance and let it cool a bit. The rice won't break away, while mixing then.
10. Layer the rice and the fried vegetables in this order or at your wish. First rice, followed by fried onion, vegetables, spring onion, cashews and raisins and a little soy sauce.
11. Serve with any curry of your choice and pappad. Garnish with coriander leaves



Contributor: Namitha