Kale Saute

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   I keep buying Kale and throwing it out.  Yeah! I love them in soup, so I see fresh Kale and get drawn to it like iron to magnet.  However, the minute they come home all the magnetism is lost so to speak.  The last trip to the store had me doing the same but I sauteed then today.  Its good.  It has a bite to it which is quite interesting.  You might want to cook it on low fire covered to get it well done..  You may also add a couple of spoons of water to soften the leaf while cooking.  Even now my best way of having kale is in a soup but I have been munching on the leaves for a while now as I write and its growing on me.  So here is how I made Kale today.

Ingredients:
Kale - 1 Bunch
Green Chili - 3
Onions - 1/4
Garlic - 2 cloves
Soya Bean Sauce - sprinkle
Oil - 1/2 Tbspn
Salt - to taste

 Method:
1. Tear the leaves off from the stem
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil and once heated add chopped onions and garlic and follow it with the leaves
3. Stir well add some soya bean sauce.  I sprinkled some on maybe about a tspn
4. Close and cook on low fire and stirring in between till done. Check for salt and sprinkle some if needed

Notes:
The leaf is quite chewy and the flavor has a bite to it which I quite liked.  I am sure we could make an Indian style thoran and it will be quite tasty too.

Contributor: Sunitha

Paal Payasam/Rice Kheer to say "Happy B'day Sunitha" !

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Dear Sunitha,

I wish for you to have people to love, people in your life who will care about you as much as I do. Happy birthday dear !



Dear Readers,

I wanted to make something special for Sunitha to wish her on her birthday and to let her know how special she is to me .So here is her favorite payasam and I would love to share this virtual treat with her and also with you all. I hope you all will join me in wishing her a very happy Birthday.

Everyone in my family likes pal payasam and I'm sure you will also love it. I am giving you the easiest and simple pressure cooker method and the original method.Believe me, both tastes the same. But it is all up to you, whether to follow the contemporary or authentic approach:-)

Ingredients:

Red Rice (unakkalari) - 1/2 Cup
Milk (whole milk)- 5 Cups
Sugar- 1 Cup
Ghee (optional)- 2 tsp

Method:
In pressure cooker:

1.Clean the rice by rubbing it on a cloth.If you are a cleanliness freak, wash the rice (quickly, don't soak it even for a minute!) and dry it completely before making payasam.
2.Throw in everything together in a cooker and let it boil, without the weight on.
3.When the steam starts coming keep the weight on and reduce the heat to medium low/simmer.
4.Let it sit on this heat for about 40 minutes.(no single whistle during this time)
5.Switch off the heat and let it sit for at least 2 hours before opening and transferring the payasam to serving dish.The more you keep the more pink color you will get.



On Stove Top:

1.Clean the rice as I have explained above.
2.Heat the ghee in a thick bottom pan and trow in the rice to saute for 4-5 minutes on medium heat.
3.Add 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of water and let it boil.
4.Once the milk starts boiling reduce the heat and let the rice cook well, but not mushy.This takes about 30-40 minutes depending on the variety of rice you use.
5.When the water is almost absorbed, add the sugar and keep stirring till you get a clear path behind the spatula you use to stir.This takes about 15 minutes on medium low heat.The more the time the more tastier it will get .(Then you should keep it on medium low heat )
6.Pour the remaining milk slowly after keeping the heat on medium high and let it boil after each addition.
7..If you want to have more watery consistency then you may add more milk.



Notes:

1. The authentic recipe doesn't call for any cardamom, cashews or raisins.But feel free to use it.
2.You could replace the red rice with Basmati/Sona Masoori/Long Grain rice varieties.But you will not get the dark pink color.
3.After preparing the payasam gets thicker once it cools down. You could adjust the consistency at any time by adding boiled milk into the payasam.

Pork Curry

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  I have been so out of the blog world.  My husband and I relocated to Ohio and for the last month or so decisions, waiting, biting nails and more waiting took up all the time.  Yes, I was cooking and eating and could have probably taken some pictures and blogged.  However, I was feeling frozen in place with inactivity for some absurd, inexcusable reasons.  Believing you will forgive my lack of visits to your blogs and enthusiasm in blogging generally, I have a recipe for this very tasty pork curry.

 I cannot boast of any new techniques of cooking here.  The taste is familiar and yet slight variations I made while cooking gives it a refreshing newness.  It all started when I visited a friend recently and he served an  awesome chicken curry.  I asked him how he makes it and the way he rambled along with the recipe it was all the same thing that I do. Yet, it tasted different and very good.  Some variations I gleaned from his rambings were that he had added a lot of coriander leaves and his ratio of chili to coriander powder was different from mine.  Having been reminded again how much fresh coriander leaves can break or make a dish I gave this one an abundant dose.  I am not disappointed!

Ingredients:
Pork - 2 lbs
Onion - 1 large
Ginger - 1 Tbspn
Garlic - 1 Tbspn
Potato - 1
Tomato - 1
Curd     - 2 Tbspn
Green chili - 4
Chili Powder - 1 Tbspn
Coriander Powder - 2 Tbspn
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn
Garam Masala - 1 tspn
Tejpatta/Indian Bay Leaf - 1
Coriander Leaves - 1 bunch
Salt - to taste

Method:
1. Marinate pork in curd and salt for an hour
2.. Saute onions till translucent and add green chilies, ginger and garlic and saute
3. Add chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric
4. Add tomatoes
5. Add the marinated pork and a cup of water and pressure cook till done. (I kept it for one whistle and then lowered the fire and cooked for a while about 10 minutes
Garnish with plenty of coriander leaves and serve with rice or roti

Contributor: Sunitha