Indian Zuchini in coconut milk

Here's a traditional Indian zucchini (aka janhi in oriya, or ridge gourd in English) curry with, guess what - coconut milk. Simply mouth watering, isn't it!

This one is so simple and yet so tasty you won't believe it! Great coastal flavors, and goes great with rice, roti or dosas. I can't decide which combination I like better. With so much good taste all around, it's hard to decide sometimes! Having it with dosa certainly reminds one of the classic appam-stew from Kerala, and with rice it just brings back memories of childhood. It's actually not so well known outside of Odisha, but so many oriya dishes have coconut as their key ingredient. As they say in Oriya 'Padichi Nadia, lagiba badhia' - translated poorly as "Got coconut, tastes great" !!

 

 

So here's what you need:

 

(Serves 2)

 

1 long Indian zucchini (12 inch) peeled and cut into bite sized chunks

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1 green chili (slit)

1 tomato cut into chunks

1 inch ginger (grated)

2 cups coconut milk

Curry leaves

1/2 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

 

And here's what you do with these simple ingredients:

 

• Lightly peel the zucchini. Peeling all of the skin will make them gooey and loose their form and texture.
• Lightly fry the zucchini chunks in oil till golden and keep aside
• In a pan, heat up oil and add mustard seeds. Let them crackle.
• Add the slit green chili and curry leaves.
• Add the grated ginger and fry for 30 seconds
• Now add the chunked up tomato, turmeric and coriander powder and mix
• Cover and cook for 3-5 mins till the raw smell is gone.
• At low heat, add the coconut milk in while stirring
• Cover and cook for another 5 mins
• Now add the fried zucchini and let it simmer for 2 mins
• Add salt to taste and enjoy!

This one is the no-onion-no-garlic version, but you can also add in ginger and garlic in the masala if you like. It tastes heavenly either way. Leave me a comment if you like this one. There's so much comfort in coastal flavors, that when I savor this, I think fresh water ponds with coconut trees on the rims, breezy yet sultry afternoons, yeah and fish.. Yes! Fish, I need to have some fish!

 

Later!

Mushroom Pepper Chili (It's Delicious!)

 You have no idea, how much have I fallen in love with this dish! Mushrooms have become the star guest on the grocery list, ever since this was made for the first time in my kitchen. And you know you like it a lot when you have already eaten most of it from the plate and still trying to go for the last piece (even though you know the other person wants it as bad.) J

And you will know why I am raving so much about this once you make it too. If you love Indo-Chinese food, go, get the mushrooms NOW! J . I am not sure if the exact same dish is served in restaurants, but I do know chilly paneer, chili chicken are similar in some ways.  But quite frankly, this beats them all. For one, it tastes good, second – it’s super healthy. Seriously, give it a try!

I write too much, cause I love sharing the story behind every dish/ recipe. And each time I try to just move on to the recipe, I recollect what else I wanted to share. J . Ok this recipe happened purely because one of my vegetarian friends told me that he eats this mushroom recipe at some place in Bangalore and it’s called Pepper Mushroom and raved a lot about it. And the name sounded so fascinating that I just made something assuming what 'could' it be like. So never know, I could be horribly wrong in replicating that recipe, but it sure does work for me!! J

And one last bit. I usually share recipes with my friends to get their reactions/feedback before posting here. And one of my very good friends/ critics, Shaan had this to say:

“Truly a great dish...esp if u love indo-Chinese cuisine! Pls pls post this and help poor souls like us..:-) we are enjoying it with d-coke! I added all three types of peppers as well...”

You need: (should serve 3 but with me around, it’s good for 2 only!)

Button Mushrooms – 8 Oz or 250 grams

Cornflour – 3 Tbsp

Rice Flour – 1 Tbsp (for crunch)

Salt – to taste

Pepper – about a tbsp. (fresh coarse ground)

Oil – about 2 tsp (can use more if no restriction J )

Ginger – 1 tsp grated, ½ inch cut into juliennes.

Garlic paste– 1 tsp

Onion – 1 no. medium (fine chopped)

Onion – ½ medium size (with layers cut into square shape)

Long green chilies – 5-6nos. (the variety that has absolutely no heat, slit them)

Small green chilies – 1-2 nos (slit and seeds removed, adjust to taste)

Capsicum/ Bell Peppers – 1 Nos (cut into squares, can use colored peppers too)

Dark Soya Sauce – 1 Tbsp

Vinegar – 1 Tbsp

Tomato Ketchup – 1 Tbsp

Lemon Juice – 1 tsp  (optional)

Spring Onion – only green part cut into 1 inch pieces (optional)

1. Dunk the mushrooms in hot water for a minute and run under cold water and decant all water. Let the mushrooms remain a little moist so that the flour mixture sticks well to the mushroom.
2. In a bowl, mix cornflour, rice flour, a 2-3 pinches of salt, and about a 1tsp of ground pepper and mix well. 
3. Now coat all mushrooms with the flour mix. I usually coat them well once and wait for a few min and repeat the process with the remaining flour that didn’t stick the first time. This helps as the first layer soaks all the moisture and then second layer sticks even better but will be a little dry-ish adding to the crunch.. 
4. In a wide non stick pan, add about 1 tsp of oil and pan fry the mushroom on medium high and then on low flame to make it crispy. Pan should be wide enough so that mushrooms have space to fry well, else the moisture will make them soft instead. And if you are generous with oil, you don’t have to worry about all this. J
5. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate once they are brown from all sides.
6. Also fry squarish shaped layers of onion pieces and the bell peppers (typically the kinds u get in chinese gravy) in the same pan and transfer to another bowl.
7. In the pan add remaining 1 tsp of oil. 
8. Add grated ginger and garlic paste and fry well. 
9. Now add fine chopped onions and slit green chilies both big and small. Fry till onions get translucent. 
10. Now add soya sauce, tomato ketchup and vinegar. Fry till a little dry.
11. Now add mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, ginger juliennes and give a quick stir and add the remaining freshly ground pepper.
12. And if you are adding the greens of spring onions, do it now. 
13. Serve on a nice looking plate and squeeze lime if you wish to add some zing!

 *I sprinkle very little, ready ‘very little’ water after I coat the mushroom with flour mixture the first time. This helps more flour stick to mushrooms. But be careful to not make it gooey.

**You can always be generous with oil while frying mushrooms. And infact mushrooms taste very good even as simple stir fry like this.

***If you are not sure about the tang bit, try squeezing lime juice on a small portion only. Only then on the rest if you like.

****The black pepper quantity can be adjusted to suit your liking.

*****I feel this recipe will work well with paneer and boiled potatoes too.  

Shrimps in Mustard Paste

This favorite of mine is a classic for prawn/shrimp lovers, especially so if you like the Oriya/Bengali way of cooking with a mustard paste. It's easy to make - take sless than 30 minutes, and makes you go absolutely slurp-slurp-slurp! The taste differs quite a bit depending on whether you use fresh mustard paste, english mustard or dijon or any of the ready made mustard pastes available in supermarkets. If you have a coffee/spice grinder, I definitely recommend using fresh mustard seeds. So here you go!

You need (Serves 2):

10-12 prawn/shrimps (up to your apetite really!)
Onion - 1 medium, sliced
Tomato - 1 medium chopped fine
Green chili - 2, slit
Ginger-garlic paste (2 tbsp) or if you want to make it fresh, 1 inch ginger grated and 4-5 cloves of garlic crushed fine
Panch phoran (1 tsp)
Mustard seeds (2 tbsp)
Mustard oil
Yogurt/Set Curd - 1 cup (beaten thoroughly)

For the mustard paste:
Soak the mustard seeds for 1 hour, and then grind into a paste with the spice grinder. Add a little water to ensure you get a creamy texture.

Heat 4 tbsp of mustard oil in a fry pan and fry the prawns in on medium to low heat for 5-8 mins
Take the fried prawns out, and to the same oil, add the panch phoran.
Once the panch phoran starts spluttering, add the split green chilis
Add the sliced onions and fry till translucent (I like to fry them a little more, since I like the dhaba effect of extra fried onions)
Add the ginger and garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone. Cover the pan with a lid from time to time to retain moisture.
Now add the tomatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes
Lower the heat, add the mustard paste and the fried prawns and mix slowly. Cover the pan and let it settle for a couple more minutes
Add the curd and mix slowly. Make sure you do this under very low heat, so the gravy does not curdle.
Serve with white rice.

Saunfiana Gobhi Aloo (Cauliflower-Potato stir fry with aromatic fennel spices)

It's always interesting to see a slight difference in spice mix, the way you use them and at what stage you add them, makes a simple dish so elegant!

There is something very simple, nice and comforting about this cauliflower-potato preparation. I have always preferred to have cauliflower in its most natural form - less spice, crunchy, mild and flavorful. This perhaps comes from the way I have grown up eating this vegetable. Mom always kept it simple – either in a thin tangy tomato based gravy or as simple stir fry with lots of fresh cilantro and of course a few variations at times with  paneer, potatoes, peas or onions etc. 

This preparation is called 'Saunfiana' because of the use of  'Saunf' which means fennel seeds in Hindi. Fennel and coriander seeds always compliment the sweetness of cauliflower and potatoes.

Though this preparation has most of the spices very coarsely ground, as if in a very earthy/rustic style but the flavors you get as you bite into seem as if unfolding layers in a very elegant manner. With each morsel you bite into a different spice! 

I would rate this is as a must-make for vegetarian guests! By far, one of my most favorite cauliflower-potato preparation.  And it's super easy and fast!

You need (serves 2) :

Cauliflower – 1 cup (cut into bite size florets)

Potatoes – 2 (peeled and cut into half or quarter, to make it same size as the cauliflower florets)

Coriander seeds – 1 Tbsp

Saunf/ Fennel seeds – 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

Peppercorn – 10-15 nos. 

Salt – to taste

Mustard oil – 1-2 Tbsp

Asafoetida/ Hing – ¼ tsp

Red chili powder – ¼ tsp (adjust to taste)

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Fresh cilantro/ Coriander leaves

Lime Juice – 1 tsp (optional or as per taste)

1. In boiling water add half teaspoon of salt. Add the cauliflower and boil for 1 min. (Don't boil any longer longer as this will cook the cauliflower and make it gooey). Drain the cauliflower and run under cold water immediately. This is to stop the cooking process and retain the color/ texture. 
2. Boil the potatoes till half done. Drain and keep aside. Again make sure they are only half cooked and not any more. This will makes sure the potatoes and cauliflower when cooked together will cook to perfection. 
3. Dry roast on low flame the coriander, cumin, saunf/fennel seeds and peppercorn till you get a nice aroma. Don't over roast as they will burn and lose the flavor :).  Stop roasting once you get the aroma of the spices. Coarsely grind these spices in a mortar-pestle. Don't use a blender you need it very very coarse (as shown in the picture). If you don't have a mortar-pestle, take the spices in a zip-lock bag or roll between a cloth and bash it with any heavy object (no ceramic/ fine china please :))
4. In a non-stick pan, add the mustard oil and heat till it fumes. This will ensure all the bitterness of the oil is gone. Add asafoetida/ hing. 
5. Now add the potato, cauliflower and mix well. 
6. Add red chili powder, salt and turmeric and give it a quick stir.
7. Now cover and cook for 4-5 min.  
8. Now add the ground spice mix and gently stir. 
9. Cover and cook for another 4-5 min or until done. 
10. Now add freshly chopped cilantro and a add a dash of lime (if you like it slight tangy)!

* if you are using baby potatoes, can leave the skin on.

Cabbage Kabab (Super Healthy, Super Tasty!)

Super healthy and super tasty kababs for vegetarians. Don't let the cabbage discourage you! The cabbage and potato mixture make these kababs super moist, succulent. Since I  steam-cook the cabbage almost three-fouth, before adding other ingredients, it has a creamy texture and there is no way anyone will guess whats inside!!  It's a must try!

By the way it's my mom's recipe with a slight twist! While she cuts her cabbage a little coarser to have a distinct taste of crispy cabbage, I like mine very very fine (almost minced) to lend a creamier texture and taste. She makes them like patties/ cutlet shapes (to keep them crispier uniformly) and avoids cornflour, while I make mine round so that I get a succulent centre and crispy exterior. Feel free to try my mom's version too as a variety, just chop the cabbage a little coarse and shape them like patties and skip the corn flour. It tastes good too!!

You need:

Very finely grated cabbage - 1 Cup

Boiled potato - 1 medium size (grated fined)

Onion - 1 medium (chopped very very fine)

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tsp 

Green chilies - 2-3 nos. (fine chopped, adjust to taste)

Fresh coriander leaves/Cilantro - 1/2 cup (chopped fine)

Fresh mint leaves - 5-6 nos. (fine chopped)

Fresh ground pepper - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)

Corn flour - 1/2  Tbsp

Gram flour - 1/2 Tbsp

Aamchoor/ Dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 Tbsp (or enough to pan fry)

1. Add a tsp of water to the cabbage and pop it in the microwave oven for 2-3 min. (squeeze out if any excess water remains). You can alternatively cook it in a non-stick pan without adding any water till its cooked three-fourth. The objective is to cook it before making the kabab so that it remains soft, moist and creamy. 
2. Mix all the ingredients other than oil and mix really well so that the kabab mix is homogenous.
3. Cover with a cling wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for 15-20 min. This makes the mixture firm enough to not crumble while cooking. 
4. After 15-20 minutes if you feel the mixture is not firm enough to stay intact while cooking add a little more gram flour to the mixture. Add just enough to hold it as adding more flour would make it less succulent and soft. 
5. Form balls and cook on a non-stick pan with just enough oil to coat the kababs and fry till golden brown in color. The heat should be medium high in the beginning and then low so that exterior gets a little crispy from outside and still stays soft from inside.
6. Transfer to a plate and serve with mint chutney!

* To make roasted cumin owder - slow roast on a pan and crush in a mortar pestle or spice blender)

Pyaz ki Khatti-Meethi Tarkari (baby-onions in sweet-tangy sauce)

Nice sweet tangy onion subzi thats quite refreshing. It's a simple, no-fuss dish that goes very well with any kind of dal and phulkas (puffed indian bread). Perfect on a day when you want to eat something light and easy!

You need:

White pearl baby onions - 12-14 cps. (Substitute with roughly chopped onions)

Green Chili - 2 (slit)

Mustard Oil - 1 tsp

Onion Seeds/ Kaluanji/ Nigella Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ginger Pate - 1/2 tsp

Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp

Jaggery - 2 Tbsp 

Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp (adjust to taste)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

1. Heat mustard oil in pan till it starts fuming. If you are cooking in mustard oil, always make sure the oil is heated till it fumes and only then start adding other ingredients. This takes away the bitterness from the oil and lends only the mustard flavor to your dish.
2. Add kalaunji and green chili. 
3. Once kalaunji splutters add turmeric, ginger, garlic paste and fry for 15-20 sec. 
4. Add the tamarind pulp, red chili powder, salt and jaggery.
5. Add a cup of water and mix all the ingredients well. 
6. Now add the onions and cook till the onions lose their pungent taste and become sweet and soft.
7. Serve with phulkas and dal. 

*If you don't have baby-onions at hand, replace with red onions (quartered and layers separated)

Flavored Water

Ok! This is not a recipe really!

It's summer again! Time to drink loads of water, beat the heat with with fruit-smoothies, a lot of of ice-cream and whether you like it or not, a lot of sugary dehydrating soda too. 

I am one among many who somehow cannot manage to drink the daily recommended quota of water to detoxify and to keep the body hydrated. :(. So here's something that makes me drink more water than I usually do! 

It's amazing how plain simple water when stirred with natural fruits/vegetables can become so refreshing!  I wasn't so hopeful; when I first saw an article in one of the health magazines, but the picture looked so enticing that I decided to give it a try. And ever since, my refrigerator always has a carafe of flavored water!! It has a nice zesty-minty flavor which is very very mild and yet so refreshing. And the ginger adds to a subtle crispiness to the water. That's like a lot of description for pure simple water.. but the end result is so thirst quenching and hydrating, I can't help it! ;)

If you are traveling, going for a picnic, trekking, even going to office or sending kids to school, fill individual bottle for water with these natural flavoring ingredients and sip away to glory!Another benefit - you will end up spending a lot less on bottled water or soda!! Save money, Save plastic!! (And for those who like the idea of glowing skin, this gives a nice doze of anti-oxidants too! :)). Next I plan to use orange, peach and mint!

How to make it: In a pitcher or carafe add water, a few slices of pineapple, sliced ginger and a few mint leaves. Stir them well and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. You can also store it at room temperature if you wish to. After 3-4 hours, if you feel you need a little more flavor from any of the ingredients, just muddle it 1-2 times!

Kalakand / Milk Cake (Can't get easier than this!)

I still can't believe it's that easy!! I have always associated the whole process of making kalakand with a sore arm and a stiff shoulder. The constant stirring, scraping, watching over the milk for hours and hours makes it appear like a foolish project, especially when you can get it in your neighborhood Indian store quite easily. 

But what if you could make kalakand without all that  fuss? What if it was possible in 30 min in a microwave with absolutely no effort? Whenever you wanted! Are you still thinking there is a catch here. Nah! :)

I always liked this sweet meat the way my mom made - a nice nutty, slightly crunchy almost toffy kinds (and not the typical soft and white ones you find in sweet shops). If you like yours the way I like, cook a little longer, else your job will be done 5-10 min earlier! :) 

You need:

Ricotta Cheese – ½ Cup

Milk powder – 1.5 Cup

Sugar – 1/3 Cup (you can add more if you like it sweeter)

Elaichi Powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)

Milk - 1/2 Cup (optional, to be added in the end only if you want to make your kalakand a little more moist)

Now comes the easiest part!!

1. Mix all the ingredients except cardamom powder in a large microwave safe bowl. 
2. Pop it in the microwave for 20-25 Min. Stir every 5 min, scraping the sides to cook evenly. If you like your kalakand a little more nutty and brownish, then cook for a little longer time till you get a nice golden brown color of your choice. If you want your kalakand to have a stronger cardamom flavor, add a little more towards the end. 
3. Add ½ cup milk in the last 5 min, to add moisture so that it binds well. (this is totally optional since you may want to do this only if you like your kalakand a little moist)
4. Transfer to a well greased tray and let it cool for 1 hour. 
5. Let it cool for 30-45 min. Using a knife cut into squares/ diamonds or any shape of your choice. 
6. Transfer to refrigerator and chill the kalakand.
7. This stays good for weeks if stored in clean, dry, air-tight container in refrigerator. 

* Feel free to add chopped nuts of your choice or saffron to get different flavors and varieties. 
**This recipe is pretty much flexible. You don't necessarily need to mix the ingredients in the exact same proportion (unlike baking!). A little here and there will not do any harm.

Tomato Egg-Drop Soup

So my friend Sahana (who has been helping me proof-read my blog and championing salt.pepper.chili) calls me early one morning and comes straight to the point (we have always been like that with each other, having known each other for 14 years now!) - "you know what, your blog has just 1 soup and a very few sandwich recipes! You need to have more!". And this got me thinking. Why had I ignored something, which most of us love, but end up eating completely packaged or processed version most of the time. We feel we are giving our kids (and ourselves too) something really healthy, but are packaged/ canned soups really as healthy as you think? With all the preservatives and salt content, well... probably not! 

So next time you feel like having a nice healthy soup, take some fresh ingredients and make your own. And you will not regret it! I will be posting a few of my favorite, quick and easy recipes!So lets start with a very popular chinese style soup we all love! The sweet, tangy soup with this lovely egg ribbons. Just the way they serve in restaurants!

And if you have spent a little time reading this blog, you would know my love for dimsums/momos! I suffer from dimsum fanaticism, yeah that's true :).  So after a few continuous days of indulgences, soup - dimsum - focaccia bread would be such a nice combo! Since I already had lots of the amazing Tuscany Pane bread at home, decided to toast and slather it with soft butter! 

You need: Serves 2

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Ginger - 1/2 inch (finely chopped)

Garlic - 2-3 cloves (finely chopped)

Tomatoes - 2 medium size (Finely chopped/paste) 

Onion - 1/2 medium size (Finely chopped)

Egg - 2 

Tomato ketchup - 2 Tbsp (if you want spicy, replace 1 tbsp with tomato chili sauce)

Vinegar -  1Tbsp

Corn flour - 1 Tbsp

Fresh Coriander/ Cilantro ( including stems) - 6-7 sprigs (chopped finely)

Black Pepper powder -  to taste

Salt to taste

Sugar - 3/4 - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Vegetable/ Chicken stock - optional (can replace with water)

1. Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk lightly. Set aside. 
2. Mix the cornflour in 1/2 cup of water. 
3. Heat the oil in a wok or a pan, add ginger and garlic and stir-fry for half a minute.
4. Add onion and continue to stir-fry it it turns lightly translucent. You don't have to brown it. 
5. Add the tomato ketchup (or half tomato ketchup, half tomato chili sauce for a spicy soup) and chopped tomatoes and cook on high heat for about two to three minutes. Cook till its all pulpy. 
6. Stir in the remaining vegetable/ chicken stock or water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt, sugar, black pepper powder. 
7. Stir in the cornflour mixture and cook for a minute or until soup thickens, stirring continuously. 
8. Add the vinegar and cook for a min. Taste the recipe for salt sugar etc at this stage. 
9. Pour 1/4 of the whisked egg at a time from a height in a steady stream. Stir gently 1-2 times to form egg threads. REpeat with the remaining eggs. Allow the egg to coagulate and come to the top. Don't stir too much as you will get all scrambled eggs and no lacy eggs in the soup. 
10. Serve hot garnished with the fresh coriander. Coriander is indeed important.

Vegetable Stew - Kerala Cusine (Mild coconut based Veg-Stew)

What can I say! My first appam-stew experience was at my friend's (Leena Mohan) place when I was in school. Ever since I have been absolutely bonkers over this delicious, mild, flavorful stew served with crunchy yet soft sweet appams (pan cakes). Infact I can have this stew just like that as my dinner! One of those things I absolutely adore. 

My love affair with appam-stew continued at Coconut Grove (Bangalore, Church Street). The guys at Coconut Grove (CG) always got some extra stew for me since they knew one bowl wasn't sufficient! The appams were always served one after another so that they come steaming hot into your plate. Of course fried fish was an integral part of this combo in CG. The music was relaxing, the tender coconut water was soothing, the fried fish was tongue tickling and the appam stew was comforting. I still love going to CG on any given day! 

Ok, so since CG can't come here, I have there is work cut out for myslef to re-create the appam-stew magic! So I called my sister-in-law Nisha (who is originally from - god's own country – Kerala) to get the authentic stew recipe. Now I know,  a typical staple food made at home can never have a standard recipe (for that matter there is nothing called the real authentic recipe, each one has their own version based on taste and liking). But then, there is always that one little secret which only mom's know! And Nisha had her mom next to her explaining the recipe to me! That's called luck! And trust me, I got that one secret ingredient from her which no recipe (books, online, cookery show) mentions. And that is saunf/ fennel powder. The minute I tasted the stew, I knew it, I had hit the jackpot!! I have made this stew countless number of times, but this time around, the CG taste was in my stew!!! Ah the stew!!

Just realised, I was here to share the recipe! :) Last quick note - check out the nice dinner menu from 'God's Own Country - Kerala'!

You need: 

(serves 2 – I could have eaten it all alone but there were two of us for dinner :) )

Potatoes – 2 medium size (boiled, peeled and roughly cut into cubes)

Pearl white onions – ½ Cup (or cut onions into big chunks)

Carrot – 1 medium (peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces)

Green chilies – 2-3 (slit)

Bay leaf – 1 no. 

Cloves – 3-4

Green cardamom – 3-4

Cinnamon stick – 1 inch

Curry leaves – 7-10 

Saunf powder – 1.5 tsp (must, must, this is the secret ingredient)

Coriander powder – 1 tsp 

Salt – to taste

Coconut oil – 2 tsp  (will be used in parts)

Good quality coconut milk – 14-16 Oz can (I used almost half, you may want to adjust this as per your taste and the quality of the coconut milk)

1. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pressure cooker, add green chilies, bayleaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick. curry leaves and fry for 30 secs. 
2. Now add the saunf and coriander powder. Fry for 15 sec. 
3. Add carrots and pearl onions. Give a stir and add enough water to just cover the vegetables. 
4. On a high flame pressure cook the vegetables for exact 3 min. Whether whistle happens or not, switch off the heat and ease the pressure. You could either run it under cold water or lift the whistle. This is to make sure the vegetables are cooked but still firm. 
5. Transfer all the contents to a sauce pan, add the potatoes and bring to a boil. 
6. After 5 min, add the coconut milk and adjust the salt. Cook for min, drizzle the remaining 1 tsp coconut oil and mix (you can skip this if you don't like the smell of coconut so much but it does make a difference). 
7. Switch off and serve hot with hot appams! 
8. Once the stew cools it thickens a little so adjust the consistency if you plan to cool it a little and eat. But this dish should be eaten steaming hot!

*You can also make appams with hardly any effort. Try the Appam and Mutta-Appam recipe. 

Egg Patty

Here comes something all eggitarians will love! I have many friends who enjoy eating eggs but don't get many varieties of egg-based snack/ appetizer at home or while eating out. This has a nice mild taste of an egg, even though you never feel you are biting into one. A bite and it will leave you guessing – where's the egg! These nice crisp golden brown bites are heavenly!

This patty is supposed to be deep fried, but nah, that's way too much oil! Pan fried with a little oil works just fine! Remember, always try adding ajwain/carrom seeds when you are using besan/ gramflour to fry something. They compliment each other and at the same time have digestive properties. You will not experience the typical heaviness after gorging on fried stuff if you add the ajwain. 

For your next party, you can make them in different shapes and sizes for a pretty looking appetizer tray! I am posting two pics. One to show you the texture and second one to show you shapes you can try making. But don't worry if the shapes don't come out perfect, the egg patty will still be delectable! Serve it with some hot spicy chili sauce! A word of caution here – always keep some distance from the pan as you fry them, since the eggs just pop a little bit as they turn golden brown. Don't let this scare you, it's all easy and safe, just that a word of caution for a safe kitchen! :)

You need:

(makes 10-12 pcs)

Large boiled eggs – 5-6 nos. (see my note below for a perfectly boiled egg)

Besan/ Gramflour – ¾ Cup

Ajwain/ Carrom seeds – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Green chilies – 2-3 nos. (finely chopped)

Spring Onions – 5-6 nos.  (finely chopped, use both white and green part)

Crushed black pepper – ¼ tsp 

Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp

Water – 2 Tbsp

Oil – enough to pan fry (I used 1 tbsp for a batch of 6 patties in total f)

1. In a wide bowl, grate boiled eggs using a thick side of the grater. Don't use the fine grater as the eggs will get mashed up and the patties will not have any texture. If you don't have a thick grater, fine chop the eggs instead.
2. Add besan, ajwain, salt, green chilies, spring onions, black pepper and baking soda. Add very very little water, just about 2 tbsp of water. This should be enough to bind the ingredients as the egg yolk is sticky enough already.   You may add 1 tsp of water at a time to adjust the consistency of the patty mixture if its still too dry.
3. Divide the mixture into 12 equal parts. Shape them any way you like! 
4. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 Tbsp of oil and fry the patties till golden brown in color. Cook them on medium high so that they cook through and also have a golden brown crispy exterior.
5. Serve with spicy chili sauce, red or green, I leave it to your discretion. :)