Bhinda Sambhariya (Gujarati Style Stuffed Okra)

Okra is my favorite vegetable. It surprises me, as almost everyone, when I say this because I am known for my picky habits where many food items are concerned. 


The humble okra however, to me, tastes good in all forms. The only issue I have with it is, you start out with a lot of okra and after cooking it shrinks to half the quantity! What a loss! One way I make it often is okra smothered in coconut or another is the 'upvaas' or the fasting version, which is a peanut based curry version. But the stuffed version, I believe takes it to the next level! Stuffing does that to most things, doesn't it? Take for example the everyday humble Roti (Indian flat bread) and the big fat potato, match the two, add some spices and viola!you have Aloo Paratha! or, or... take Paav ( bread / burger buns) and use this recipe to transform it into one of Mumbai's favorite street food! See what I mean?


The same theory applies to okra, now there are so many combinations of stuffed okra, what appealed to me about the recipe I am going to present, is the simple list of ingredients and  how well balanced they are to create a harmony in your mouth. The second reason why I zeroed down on this version, it has coconut, an ingredient I indulge in, when the hubby is away from home. he has a psychological allergy to coconut, and this recipe packs in a lot of that! 


Tarla Dalal works her magic with this stuffing and the slightly sweet taste, the natural one in coconut and the added sugar and with the heat coming from ginger and green chilies, cilantro lends flavor and lemon juice the tang! What's not to like?


Here's what you need, right from the Mistress of Gujarati food :



2 cups Okra / ladies finger (bhindi)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp Asafetida (hing)

For the filling

6 tbsp Grated Coconut (fresh or frozen)

6 tbsp chopped Cilantro(dhania)

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp Ginger-Green chilli paste

1 tsp Turmeric powder (haldi)

2 tsp Coriander-Cumin seeds (dhania-jeera) powder

1 tsp Garam masala

1 tbsp Sesame seeds (til)

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp oil - I skipped this

Salt to taste

Wash and cut the ladies finger into 50 mm. (2") pieces and slit lengthwise carefully, so that the segments do not separate. Or choose tender small Okra pods.

Fill each ladies finger with a little of the prepared filling and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the asafetida. A cast iron skillet works well.

Add the stuffed ladies finger and mix well.

Cover and cook on a medium flame for 15 to 20 minutes or till the okra is cooked, while stirring occasionally.

Serve hot.

Note:
You can also add 2 tbsp of coarsely ground peanuts to the filling.

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Coconut Overload ! Okra smothered in coconut. Simplicity and taste.

For the final 3 years of my graduation, we lived in Santacurz, Mumbai. We had moved there from my childhood home in Wadala. I was not very happy about that. I was strongly attached to Wadala and spent my formative years there and  had many memories and found it hard to let go.  On moving to the new place, I promptly fell ill and  in that fevered state of mind, dreamed that I was recovering in my old home. I still could not call the new place home, it just didn't feel like it. I would unfairly compare everything and everyone. I am surprised I ever made friends or the fact that people even looked at me, I looked like a grumpy bear most of the time.

And then, I liked something. To begin with.. there was ( and probably still is) a 'chaatwalla' on the corner from a  Temple ( behind Aarya Samaj, for those who know it) who sold *mind blowing chaat*, hands down the best I'd eaten. My regard for the new place went up just a notch.

Often, a friend and I would walk down a lane ( I cannot recollect the name, but the landmark was near 'Rakhi's Bunglow' and by that I mean Rakhi Gulzar- as in the yesteryear Bollywood actress not any other infamous Rakhi, thank you) and we would feast on the variety of dosas at the street corner there. She and I  were regulars and the bhaiyya  knew just 'how spicy' we needed our dosas. 

These  food haunts were told to me  by my neighbor's son, who was also fond of junk food and that is probably how I  first talked to him. Strange how food is connected to so many emotions. And how food connects people.

There  is this one trait in Indian families and I am sure it is spread across the nation, we like to share good food. 

What I liked about having neighbors (one of the things) is the 'food exchange' that happened. Your neighbor will just knock on the door and hand you a bowl of steaming hot food with a, " I just made this, see how you like it" and pop back home. And then, you make something and give her a sample in her bowl, when you return it.

My neighbor was a home maker and also ran a day care at home. She would often drop in and bring a bowl of something delicious. One day, we got talking and the topic was diverted to vegetables and I mentioned that okra was my favorite. And she came over the next day with a bowl of Okra smothered in coconut, I greedily ate it and loved it. The simplicity and the mild flavors captured my palette. Years later, I made this in my kitchen and no surprise, I still love this version.

 The easy part is you can completely eyeball the ingredients and  it still turns out great!

 

You need: (this is an approximation only)

2 cups chopped Okra

1/2 large Onion chopped

2 Green Chiles ( + / - to taste) slit in the middle  and left whole

Salt to taste

1 tsp. heaped  Cumin powder and Coriander powder- each -

1 Tsp Cumin seed

1/2 cup  Fresh shredded Coconut

2Tbsp Oil

Wash, pat dry and trim the cap and tail end of the okra and  slice into round pieces.

Heat Oil, on medium high, add the cumin seeds, they should sizzle on contact

Add the green chiles , stir fry for  about 15 seconds or so

Add the chopped onion and stir fry to coat with the oil and spices

Once the onion is  translucent, add the okra and  increase the heat to high.

Stir- fry and coat the okra with oil and monitor carefully   to ensure that the okra is not burnt, however, maintain high heat. This will ensure that the okra is not slimy ( though there is a stage when it will look like that and here the high heat will ensure that it goes away)

Sprinkle in the salt , cumin and coriander powder once the okra is cooked. Reduce the heat to med high

Coat the onion and okra in the spice 

Finally add in the shredded coconut and mix well. 

Cook for a couple of minutes till the coconut flavor mingles, but the coconut does not turn brown. 

Serve hot with roti/ fulkas.

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Kairi Aamti / Raw Mango Curry

Before I forget and before this year ends, I need to clear the huge backlog in my drafts folder. I have  pictures and references to the recipes or the actual recipes lying in the drafts for nearly 6 months now. I have some recipes I tried in India, took pictures, and well, I left it at that.

Summer seems like a memory, hot, humid, noisy and mangoes. My whirlwind India visit is still fresh in my memory. The joy of  buying raw mango, thinking of a 100 things you want to make with those, finally keeping one aside,  using the rest to make this nectar .

Panha in one hand I  rummaged thru my old bookshelf, my favorite authors, the books I had patiently collected  in my school, college and MBA days. the books I would read when I was eating alone ( which was frequently as I worked in shifts and was at home at all odd hours), books I read when I could not sleep  or books I carried in my purse to read on my way to work. So many memories, so much I gave up.. of all the things I miss from home I miss my books the most. Sure I can go to the library and borrow what I want, but it isn't the same, it's not the same as holding the copy in your hands and lovingly adding it to the shelf, not the same as running a light finger on the spines of the books and trying to pick one. Not the same as smiling  and picking up an old, old copy of a much loved comic book or delighting in classics  or laughing out loud just looking at my collection of P G W 

And there, among the lowest  shelves are a few old books my Mother had kept, these looked different from my collection. And they were! they were my Mother's  knitting books and some cookbooks!  Now I am no knitter so I glanced at them and pounced on the cookbooks. 

She has this Marathi cookbook, 'Suruchi', which I had never really paid attention to before I got married. But now, things are different and I eagerly read the recipes. 

I absolutely LOVED this raw mango curry, couldn't get enough of it!  the taste, the texture in every bite is a delight. A burst of sour with sweet undertones of the jaggery and a hit of red chili powder, tickles the tongue  and  leaves you wanting more.

Recipe source: Suruchi

1 Big Raw Mango / Kairi

1/2 Fresh Coconut (Grated)

1/2 tsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp Mustard seeds (divided)

 7-8 Curry leaves

1/2 tsp Asafetida

 1 tsp Ghee

3/4  tsp Red Chilli Powder 

1/2 tsp Turmeric 

Jaggery lime size (grated)

1/2 tsp Urid dal 

10-12 seeds Methi  / fenugreek seeds

1/2 tsp Wheat flour / Atta 

Peel the raw mango and make medium bite size pieces. Marinate the raw mango pieces with turmeric , red chili powder, jaggery and Salt.

Place the grated coconut, 1/4 tsp mustard and coriander seeds in the mixer and make a paste

Put ghee in the pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida. Add Urid dal when it turns light brown add Methi / fenugreek seeds.

Add 1 cup water


Add marinated raw mango pieces.

When the raw mango pieces become soft add the coconut paste, water (as per the desired consistency )wheat flour / atta -make a slurry if you want , flour +water,  and salt.

Bring it to boil. Serve hot with rice.

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Mini Idli and chutney

This is just a small post, to show you all my new cute idli stand! When I first came to CA,I got my old but serviceable idli stand, which has been with us for as long as I remember! It is an old 3 idli, 4 tier thing my Mom used .. I would stand by her watching her ladling the batter in to the greased idli stand and set it on the stove top... and after the steam started coming out of the lid, I would glance at my watch to wait another 7 minutes before the idlis were all done ( that is what the Hawkins pressure cooker manual advised), sometimes humming the jingle.."Hawkins ki sitti baje.... khusboo hi khushboo ude... mazzedar, lajjatdar khana hai tayyar...." of course not to apt for idlis as we do not use the sitti (weight/ whistle) but at an age when commercials were not as frequent as now, I found these rather catchy and liked to hum them at odd intervals.

Unfortunately, when I came here I got the old stand and a new pressure cooker (oh a Hawkins alright!) which was smaller and my stand would not fit into it. I was very disappointed and after having borrowed a small stand from my friend a couple of times initially, I decided to go ahead and get my own.. the trouble with that was , the stand in the market here was not one that complied with the cooker size! So it was either don't buy the stand or buy a new cooker! Finally Ma-in-law came to the rescue!! My neighbor was coming to L.A. and Ma-in-law sent me this cute li'll stand!!

Cute, ain't it!!!

It sits perfectly into my cooker and makes 15 mini idlis at a time! i love it! the small idlis are so cute to look at!

I sometimes make idlis in the no-grind method (using urad flour & idli rava) but when time permits I go for the usual method of Soaking 1 cup urad Daal in water for a minimum of 5-6 hrs. Grinding it to a paste. Adding 1 1/2 cup Idli Rava and leaving it overnight to ferment. making Idlis after that is of course a snap! Grease the mould, ladle batter and set it in the pressure cooker without the weight and let Hawkins do the job for you in about 8-9 mins!

I served these mini idlis with coconut chutney

1/2 packet of frozen shredded coconut

3-4 sprigs of cilantro

2-3 green chillies (+/- to taste)

1 inch piece of Ginger

Salt to taste

Sugar (optional)

1 tsp. Cumin seeds

Grind together using little water. (I made this a bit thick so that it would be easier and *less messy* to carry in the lunch box, but you can add more water and change the consistency)

You can also add a 'Tadka' to it , heat 1 tbsp oil, add mustard seeds, when the pop, add a good dash of asafetida, add a few curry leaves and 1 red chilly broken in half.

Another variation to the taste of the chutney is adding a bit of chana daalA (not the one we use in daily cooking in the tempering! the other one, used in chiwda, the one that can be eaten as it is.. whaddya call it??!!!)

That's it guys.. hope to see u all soon ...!!! Pin It

JFI:Coconut, contd. : Rice Payasam and Curried Cauliflower

How can I just sit back with my Mom's contribution to JFI???!!! I wanted to get in something of my own too.. just that blogger has been giving unexpected trouble for a day or two now... has anyone else also faced this?

Anyway.... back to JFI... when I first saw the ingredient.. I thought clever choice! The second thought was... M is not going to like this ~giggle~! My husband is 'psychologically allergic' to coconut! And these recipes I had contained Coconut Milk by the tin! Well... trusting the old adage.... Ignorance is bliss... for the time being, atleast, I went ahead with making these. So here is my contribution to JFI.

RICE PAYASAM

Now, for the rice pudding, the recipe source is a bit obscure, I mean I got it from my Mom, who said she had this cutting from some Marathi news paper.. or a magazine? .. something like that she said.. "you have to try this, it is wonderful!", ok, Mother is right!"
This is a hassle free recipe and quick too if u have a can of coconut milk at hand.

What you need is :
4 tbsp Basmati Rice
2 cups Boiled milk ( I took only 1 1/2 cup milk)
1 tin Coconut milk
1 cup Jaggery
2 spoons Ghee
Almonds, Pistachios,Saffron, Cardamom powder to garnish.

Put 2 spoons of ghee in a microwave safe pot heat it for 30 seconds. Add almonds...etc. and heat it again for 1 minute. Wash rice and add 2 cups of water and cook for 5 minutes in the microwave oven(check your microwave power). When the rice is soft add coconut milk and jaggery and cook for 3 minutes. Stir well and add boiled milk and cook for 4 minutes . When it cools down add cardamom powder and serve.

CURRIED CAULIFLOWER :

The recipe source was the cook book I refered to when I made the Layered Lentil Rice
This was a simple recipe and not too spicy.. plus the cauliflower and coconut milk was adifferent combo I wanted to try!

1 tbsp. Gram Flour (besan)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. Chilli pwd ( I reduced this, but I shouldn't have [:( ] )
1 tsp. ground cumin pwd.
1 tsp. ground corriander pwd.
1 tsp. mustard pwd.
1 tsp. turmeric
Salt to taste
4 tsp. Oil
6-7 curry leaves
1 cauliflower (broken into florets)
3/4 cup coconut milk
Juice of 2 lemons


Mix the gram flour with a little water to make a paste. Add chilli, corriander, cumin, mustard, turmeric and salt. Add the remaining water and keep mixing to blend all ingredients well.
Heat oil in a frying psn, add curry leaves and cumin seeds, add spice paste and simmer for about 5 mins. . If the sauce is too thick, add a little hot water.
Add the cauliflowerand coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook until cauliflower is tender but crunchy (cook longer if you wish). Add lemon juice, mix and serve hot.




The verdict: Both the dishes passed M's test ! He loved the payasam! In both the dishes coconut milk adds its flavour and the subtle taste blends well with rice as well as the cauliflower. Pin It

JFI - Coconut : NARAL WADI

Now for those who are new to the blogger world, or let's say new to my blog (or any food blog for that matter) there is this monthly event called JFI. Whassat you say? oh okay! Read all about it here !! So now you can well imagine how all, we food / cooking lovers ,wait to cook something for this event every month! The best part is when someone else ( a non-blogger) gets interested in it and decides to participate!

This month, Ashwini of Food for Thought is the hostess and her ingredient is Coconut (Cocos nucifera). You see what a devilishly clever choice this is? That's right, used in sweets, savoury items, as garnish... Coconut water, remember all those hot summer days, when this has quenched your thirst? Or those strolls on sandy beaches, hand in hand, 'ek narial, do straw dena bhaiya'( one coconut with 2 straws), watching the blazing sun sink under the waves.....

OR, Think of all those times when your teacher or parent murmured " Oh God, your head is like a coconut! impossible to get anything into it!"

Or, zip back to an old, old television ad jingle.... "ek narial ped se tuta, gir ke hi woh beech se toota.....sek tap se use pakaya, khub kurkura use banaya, Brittania Coconut Crunchy"..

Right, you get the idea!! Hmmm, cut to my statement.... when non bloggers take an interest...so far my parents have only been reading my posts, giving me their opinion. But this time my Mother has gone that 'one' step further and made something for JFI!! I am to post it ofcourse, but the recipe, procedure and photography is all her work!
Here is what she has to say about making 'Naral Wadi'

1 measure shredded coconut
1 measure milk or half measure condensed milk (I have used plain milk)
1 1/4 measure sugar ( if you are using condensed milk use less sugar)
Cardamom powder,
Saffron srtands ,
1/2 spoon ghee

Add coconut, milk, saffron (optional) and sugar in a thick bottom kadhai and cook it on medium heat. Stir it continously and also cover the sides of the utensil to avoid burning. Stir it till it forms a lump and slightly dry from the sides. The consistency is imporatnt. Remove from fire. Add cardamom powder. Apply ghee to a plate. Pour the coconut fudge on the plate and flatten the surface with wet hand or a rolling pin (Apply ghee to the rolling pin).Make diamond shape wadis when it is hot. Let it cool down.It will come out unstuck from the plate easily when cooled down.

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