Tofu Vegiee Delight

Tofu considered one of the healthiest of the cottage cheese community. Extracted from Soybean.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Tofu- 200gms
Red fresh chilly - 2
Onion - 2
Red tomato - 4
Potato - 3
Green Peas - 50gms
French beans - 5-10
Carrot - 2
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 2 (i have not used here but, if u prefer you can)
Oil - 4tbs
Red chilly powder - 1tbs
Turmeric powder - 1tbs
Jeera powder - 1/2tbs
Coriander powder - 1/2tbs
Garam Masala / Vegetable curry masala - 1/2tbs
Salt - 1 to 1 1/2 tbs
Sugar - 1/2tbs
Water - 2 cups
Lemon - 1

Method:
1. Chop red chilly slantingly. Slice the onions roughly. Cut the carrots, beans also slantingly. Peel the skin and cut the potatoes into cubes.
2. Par boil the carrots, beans, potatoes and green peas.
3. Heat 1/2tbs of oil in pan add onions and saute them till they turn slight brown.
4. Cool them and grind them to paste.
5. In the same mixer jar make the puree of tomatoes.
6. Cut the tofu into cubes of your choice. If, cubes are cut into big cubes it takes bit better.
7. Soak them in 1/4tbs of salt mixed water.
8. In a pan add remaining oil add ginger, garlic if you prefer, onion paste and saute well.
9. Once oil leaves pan add tomato puree saute for a while till the raw flavour of tomato evades.
10. Add dry masalas turmeric powder, red chilly powder, jeera powder, coriander powder.
11. Mix well and add the vegetables.
12. Add salt and mix well. Remember you have already added salt to Tofu.
13. Squeeze excess water from tofu and add to the gravy.
14. Add the garam masala and mix well.
15. Make sure the gravy gets coated over all veggies.
16. Add water and bring them to boil.
17. Stir occasionally soft handed please or else Tofu would break.
18.  As the gravy gets thicker slow down the flame and close the lid. Give it a dum effect for 5-7mins.
19. Turn off the heat and squeeze lemon on top and serve.

Serve hot with Phulkas, Basmati rice, Rotis, Nans.

Mushroom Peas Pepper Fry

Ingredients:
Mushroom - 200gms
Frozen Green Peas -200gms or 2cups (If using unfrozed peas do par boil them)
Onion - 2
Garlic - 2 pods  (not neccessary)
Ginger juliens - 2-3
Green chilly -1
Black pepper powder - 1tbs
Olive oil - 2tbs
Fresh mixed herbs - Oregano+Thyme+rosemary - 1/2tbs
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1 tps (Whenever, you make a green peas dish add a pinch of sugar it makes peas much tastier)
Water - 1/2cup

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Finely chop off onions, chilly, garlic.
2. Wash and chop medium size chunks of mushrooms.
3. In a pan add olive oil. Once it gets heated add onions, chilly, ginger juliens, garlic.
4. Saute them well so that onions turn transparent. Do not burn or make them dark brown.
5. Now add peas and saute.
6. Add salt, sugar and mushrooms. Saute them and mix well for 3mins.
7. Sprinkle some water for them to become soft.
8. Add black pepper powder and mixed herbs.
9. Toss the mushrooms and peas for 2mins.

Serve hot and enjoy simple pepper fry.

Vazappoo Vadai / Banana Flower Vadai

Vazappoo - Banana flower one of the special and full of vital nutrients especially for females. It has the healing properties. Helps to clean up stomach. Helps to clean blood.
It's been ages that people of southern India have been making various delicacies from this flower.
One of the most preferred delicacy made from this flower is VADAI.
It's the most authentic snack recipe of Tamilnadu.
But, its also a pain taking task to clean up the flower bunch and finely chop of the buds.
I wanted to share the step by step process of cleaning process but, unfortunately i forgot to take the snaps. Hence, searched for a correct video which explains to clean the flower and guess what a beautiful video. Thought to share it with you How to clean banana flower?  thanks to http://chakali.blogspot.com/

Wanted to add few more steps to the video above.
1.During the process of cleaning up the flower apply oil on to the hand and proceed as your hand tend to turn black.
2.The black marks do not go that easily.
3.Once you pluck the flower keep them in water.
4.As you start chopping them put them into buttermilk in order to avoid DE-colouring of the flower to black.

Now moving on to the steps to prepare vadai's after you know how to clean the flower.

No.of vadai's can be made - 25
Ingredients:
Banana flower / Vazappoo - 1
Channa dal / Kadala parupu - 1 medium size cup
White or Red onion - 2
Green chilly - 2
Ginger - 1 tps chopped (avoid if you dont preferred)
Curry leaves - 15-20
Rice flour/Arici mav/Chawal ka atta - 3tbs
Red chilly - 2
Oil - Enough to deep fry.
Water - 3cups
Buttermilk - 1/2cup
Salt - 1- 1 1/2 tbs (Depending on your taste)
Asafatida - 1tps

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Soak channa dal in 1 cup water for 3-4 hours.
2. Finely chop of the banana flower and put them into 2 cups of water and 1/2cup buttermilk liquid.

3. Finely, chop of onions, green chilly, ginger, curry leaves.
4. Take out the channa dal after 4hrs. Drain the excess water. Grind them along with red chilly into paste.
5. Keep 1 tbs of channa dal soaked without grinding.
6. Put the ground the paste into a bowl.
7. Add onions, green chilly, ginger, curry leaves, asafatida, ground paste, channa dal- 1tbs which were kept aside from the soaked one's before grinding them to paste.
8. Drain and squeeze excess water from chopped vazappoo.
9. Put them on to the onion mixture.
10. Add salt and mix them well.
11. In order to bind them well add rice flour and mix well.
12. Meanwhile, heat oil to fry the vadai's.
13. Make sure that the oil is hot enough to fry the vadai's
14. Make medium sized balls and flatten them up with 1/2inch thickens by tapping them with your fingers on to your palm.
15. Make sure that the vadai batter is not too hard nor too liquid.
16. It has to have enough dampness to make vadai shape as well as soft.

17. Once the oil gets hot make balls from the batter and flatten them and drop from side walls of the pan to the centre of the oil pan.
18. Never make balls before the oil gets heated up the water would start leaving from the batter.
19. Lower the heat while you drop the vadai's slowly raise the heat.
20. Fry them in medium flame.

21. Once the bottom side of the vadai leaves the pan turn other side.
22. Fry them till they turn golden brown.
23. Press them gently so that they cook well.
24. Once, they are done drain them on to tissue paper.t

Serve hot with pudina chutney or coconut chutney.

 

 

Mangai Veppam Poo Vella Patchchadi - Raw Mango Neem flower Jaggery Patchchadi

This Patchchadi/ liquid sweet is made during the Tamil new year down south of India in Tamilnadu.  Though its been a week past the Tamil new year i still thought its never to late to share this recipe.

Ingredients:
Raw mango - 1 big
Veppam Poo / Neem flowers/Neem ke phool - 1tbs
Jaggery - 1 1/2 big cup
Green chilly -1
Mustard - 1tbs
Oil - 1tps
Water - 2 cups

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Wash the mango and scrape them as shown below in the photograph.

2. Pluck the flowers from the stem and wash them well as they contain small white insects.
3. In a pan add the water add the scrapped mango and green chilly.
4. Boil them till the mango turns half cooked.
5. Meanwhile powder the jaggery and add the same to the water and stir well.
6. Boil them till they become slightly thick.
7. In a small pan splutter the mustard seeds and pour them on to the jaggery mixture.
8. Add the raw neem flowers to the boiled mixture.

Serve as a condiment chill/hot.

Tip :
Do not cook for long after adding neem flowers or else the bitter taste would turn strong from the neem flowers.
If, the Patchchadi is not turning thick then you can add the thickening agent "Rice flour mixed in water-approx 2tbs and mix well" this should make the job.
You can make this even in pressure cooker. 2 whistles must be perfect.