Corn Snack ( with peanuts and sesame)- Vaghareli makai

I declare  Migraine Season open. The temps are mounting and stepping out feels like I am stepping into a furnace. Thank god for 24 hr stores, shopping after sundown will be a bit more bearable.

But on the sunny side.... there are mounds of luscious fruit, just waiting to be devoured, sitting comfortably with the air-conditioning humming in the background and books to read are compensation enough. 

What are your favorite summer time activities?

Summer also means a season to picnic (after sundown or on the days rain is predicted, for me). And picnic means food (like I need a reason! ) 

My friends and I planned a small picnic for the Fourth of July. There are plenty of parks and lakes around where I live and though it was crowded we found  a nice spot and opened our chairs and laid out a groundsheet and piled the food and water and juice there and enjoyed our evening.

The kids had fun splashing in the lake and playing Frisbee (and not quite catching it) and as the time for fireworks drew closer, we  sat down for our favorite activity, eating.

As with a picnic, we had a lot of snack-y food, sandwiches , Vada-paav, paneer pulav and I took along this corn snack. 

It is a breeze to make and great for picnic food. 

The recipe is adapted from Prashad by Kaushy Patel.  This book is a treasure. I am so glad and really, really lucky to have won it! 

A vegetarian cookbook featuring Gujarati cuisine as well as many popular North Indian curries. A wonderful selection of recipes in every section ( appetizer, mains, desserts etc) and with simple to follow instructions.  

Many recipes are vegan (or can be made vegan) and are also labelled, nut-free, wheat free or onion and garlic free etc. 

The book however has measurements in grams and those who are not used to the metric system may have to puzzle it out! 

2-3 Tbsp Oil (the author recommends Sunflower, but I used Canola)

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafetida

2 tins Corn Kernels ( I used one small packet of frozen corn- rinsed under tap water and microwaved for 1 minute- this is optional)

1/3 cup raw, unsalted Peanuts (coarsely chop)

1/2 tsp Salt

2 handfuls Fresh, finely chopped Cilantro

2 tsp. Sesame seeds

Sev

1 lemon quartered

Grind to a paste:

3 Green chilies ( less if you want mild taste or for children)

2 cloves Garlic

2 cm Ginger piece

Pinch Salt

Make the spice paste.

Heat oil in a wok / kadhai over medium high and add mustard seeds. After the seeds pop, add asafetida and corn. Combine well, raise the heat to high and stir fry for a minute.

Add turmeric and the masala paste and mix well to combine and cook for  30-40 seconds, add the peanuts, cilantro, salt and sesame seeds.  Reduce heat to medium and cook the mixture for  3-4 minutes, uncovered.

Remove from heat, check seasoning, add salt if needed. If not, cover and let it rest for 10-15 minutes to let flavors mingle.

Serve with a sprinkling of sev and keep a lemon wedge on the side.

NOTES:

I used roasted unsalted peanuts as I seldom have unroasted peanuts at home.

I skipped sev when I made this the first time and we liked it even without!

M wants me to try it without garlic the next time I make some. It will make a nice variation.

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Corn pilaf

When I last blogged, I had no idea I was about to go on a break, a forced one, I must mention. Our old faithful ( laptop) valiantly survived many an attack at little S's little fingers. 

It withstood the plucking of it's keys, sticky fingers smudging it's face, sometimes even bearing  the weight of a toddler and most often, I  guiltily add, bearing the weight of the pictures I would keep adding. 

M kept reminding me, often, to take a back up, I'd nod  and go my way picking up this, cleaning that, chasing S, yelling at M to stop lecturing and get on with 'actually doing' something. 

I'd remember the back up late, late night and postpone it, I couldn't drag myself out of bed, I was too tired.

And then it happened, the old faithful gave up with a moan. I looked on helplessly  and quietly bundled it off into another room away from prying tiny fingers. It lay there, forgotten ... almost. Every few days I'd sadly glance at it, tsk, tsk,  hear a murmured " I told you.." from M and get on with life. I mourned the loss of my precious pictures, I had SO many waiting  to be blogged, blamed myself, to think I could 'atleast' have put the pictures on a post and saved it in the drafts! 

Then a couple of days ago, for no apparent reason, I picked up TOF (the old faithful) and trembling slightly plugged it in and powered it on, groan by groan the wretched thing started and thankfully I rescued a few pictures before it collapsed yet again.

Glad I had at least something, I spat on my hands ( well, not really... c'mon!) and got down to blogging! 

I had this recipe scribbled on a sheet of paper with no more than just that. Looks like it is an old  recipe that I had scribbled and forgotten  all about. 

Simple and delicious  describes this rice dish well and is an excellent idea for a lunch box or a potluck.

1 Cup Basmati Rice
1 Tbs Ghee
1/4 tsp. Black pepper
1 inch Cinnamon stick
1/2 cup Spring Onions chopped
1/2 cup Green Bell Pepper chopped
1 cup corn kernels ( I used frozen)
2 Cups Water
Salt to taste

Wash the rice thoroughly in 3-4 changes of water and soak in fresh water for 30 mins. Drain

Heat Ghee, add black pepper and cinnamon stick

Add  chopped spring onion (i used the greens as well) pepper and corn for half a minute

 At this stage I transfer the vegetable mix to my rice cooker and add rest of the ingredients and let it cook away.

For stove top method :

Add soaked rice, water and salt to taste, bring to a boil

Cover and cook  till water evaporates  and rice is cooked

Serve hot with pickle and papad. Enjoy.

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White Corn Pulav (A-Z Of Vegetables)

Do you ever get the feeling that you eat rice ALL the time? Every meal? I do... M is a rice lover. Whereas I like to eat Rice as well as Roti /Parathas /Naans /Puri /Bread.....

But since I ma the 'only' customer for the bread items, it is not frequently made. So I usually end up making Rice with some variation or spices....

With the 'W' of Nupur's A-Z of Vegetables coming up.. considering my options (Wadi, whole Wheat, Wheat... naaaaaaah.... I could just see M wrinkling his nose and launching into how much he dislikes roti or any cousin of a roti!) I finally pounced upon a packet of frozen white corn at Trader Joe's.

A favourite way of eating corn is of course the 'bhutta', on the beach.. huddled under the umbrella if it is raining... biting off the roasted kernels smeared with lemon juice and salt-red chilly powder!!! And then again you have corn soup... corn cutlets.... corn tortillas... makke di roti..

My first idea was to make cutlets/ patties .. but after a long day at work, I decided to make an easy meal... White Corn Pulav and Daal Fry (damn right! Daal Fry for RCI!!!!)

This is a VERY simple Pulav.. quick and easy to make and good to eat!!

All you need is:

1 1/2 cups rice (basmati)

1 Med. onion chopped lengthwise

1 cup White Corn

2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Jeera/ Cumin

1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste

1 Green Chilly (+/- to taste)

Salt to taste

*Pulav Masala ( I used Shan Pilau masala)

3 cups Water

Cilantro to Garnish

Prep: Wash the Basmati rice in 2-3 changes of water. Drain All water and keep aside for 20 mins. Slice the onion Lengthwise, chop the chilly. Cook the corn as per instructions ( I used the microwave)

Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin, next add the ginger-garlic paste (be careful at this stage, as the paste will sputter a lot, keep a lid close at hand) , add the chilly.

Next add the onions and saute for a few mins. Add the rice and mix well (so that each grain is coated with oil) add the pulav masala. Add water and cover and cook till it is 75% done. At this stage, add the corn, add salt and mix well, but not with vigour, that will break the rice... . Cover and cook till fully cooked
* Shan masala has a the badi elaichi(big cardamom) and clove , cinnamon pieces and is not in the powder form.

M hates all the ingredients (*) - they make his ears smoke or so he says!!! So I add minimal masala to any Pulav, in this case it was 1 big elaichi, 1 half a centimeter pieces of cinnamon, 1 clove and 2 peppercorns.

This in fact made the pulav even tastier (in my opinion). There was no overwhelming flavour that spoilt the taste of biting into the juicy and ever so slightly sweet corn .

Corn Pulav with Daal Fry

This is my entry for the W, of the A-Z of Vegetables at Nupur's One Hot Stove!

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