Beans Palya - Sauteed Beans Fry

Beans Palya or Sautéed Beans Fry is one of the most common dishes in the kannadiga household, at least in mine! This is so easy and so famous, be it any family event like weddings, naming ceremony, house warming ceremony..this Palya finds its way on the platter.

If it were to be beans palya for breakfast, on the previous night you would find my mother sitting in front of the TV with a chopping knife and board. She would snip-off the bean tips on either side and chop them (beans) to thinly slice. She says that beans palya with very finely chopped slices makes it look and taste better. She never approves if I cut the beans to say even 5cm apart! Phew!!! I am sure she would disapprove if she saw these pics! (I could blame it on the macro mode. Smarty pants aren’t I?)

Ingredients:

French Beans: about 1/2 Lbs or Kg
Onions: 1 Small (Optional)
Green Chillies: 3-4 as per taste
Ginger: 1 small peice
Garlic: 2-3 clove
Grated Coconut: For garnishing. About 2-3 spoons

For tempering:
Oil: 2-3 spoon
Mustard Seeds, Jeera, Channa Dal, Urad Dal, Red Chillies, Curry Leaves and a pinch of Asafoitida

Method:

Wash and remove the ends of the beans. Finely chop and keep aside.

Chop Onions and green chillies.

In a Cooking Pan, heat oil and and temper it with the above mentioned ingredients.

Add ginger, garlic, green chillies and onions one after the other Stiring in between.

Saute till the onions are tender.

Add Beans and saute for another minute.

Add about 1/2 cup of water and salt as per taste. Cover and cook in medium heat till the beans are cooked tender. Don't over cook the beans. It tastes better when it is almost tender with a little crispiness.

Turn off the heat. Garnish it with grated coconut and freshly chopped Coriander leaves (optional)

Serving Suggestions: Beans Palya can be eaten alongside chapathi's, Akki Rotti and like wise.
Can be a used as an accompaniment with Rice and Sambhar.

Note: Adding chopped carrots along with beans is a good variation to this palya. Also, cooked dal can be added to this beans to enhance its flavor.


See, its that easy. It takes not more than 15 mins to make this one.

Corn Dip

Yet another corn-y dish from me!! Learnt this from my good friend R. She is an amazing cook and is also kind enough to share with me and teach me her recipes. Thank you R!

One of the dishes I've learnt from her is this easy and healthy Corn Dip with no cheese or butter involved. :) The creaminess of milk combined with the sweetness of corn and a tinge of hot bursts from black peppers and Jalapeno's makes this Corn Dip Cornilicious err... I mean Delicious! Read On.

Ingredients


Corn Kernels: 2 cups (Frozen corn or fresh corn can be used)

Spinach leaves, chopped: 1 cup

Milk: 2 cups
Plain Flour / Rice Flour: 1 tsp
Olive Oil: 2 tsp (Or any cooking oil)
Jalapeno or Green chilli: 1
Onions, finely chopped: 1 small (1/2 cup)
Garlic: 1 clove. (For those of you who are garlic-haters, you can omit this)

Salt and black pepper: as per taste


Method



Finely chop onions, Jalapeno (remove seeds if you want to). Roughly chop spinach leaves. Defrost the frozen corn kernels (not necessary when using fresh corn!)


In a thick bottomed pan, pour 2tsp of olive oil. Add in chopped garlic, jalapenos and onions. Sauté those till onions turn translucent Add in corn kernels and sauté for a minute. Add about 2 cups of milk to the mixture and cook. Stir intermittently.


In a small bowl, add Rice Flour and a little water to form a paste. Add this paste to the corn mixture and stir. After a minute or two, the mixture tends to thicken. Season it with salt and black pepper powder.

Turn off the heat. Add chopped spinach, stir and cover the lid.

Corn Dip is ready to be served. Add finely chopped Cilantro (if required) for garnishing.

Note: As the dip gets colder, it tends to thicken further. Reheat it with little milk/water before serving.



You can serve it as an appetizer with chips / tacos or toss a spoonful over a toasted bun and you'll have a great kids-time/ tea-time / game-time snack in a jiffy!

Papaya Paratha

The other day, when I was doing my regular grocery and vegetable shopping at Kroger, I came across raw green papaya. I've seen it many times before lying there but never paid any attention. But this time, it was different. It suddenly reminded me of this blog event. Back to when I was in school in Bangalore, we had a huge garden around our house and in one of its corner we grew a papaya tree. So, I started remembering the ways my mother cooked with this raw papaya. She made something like a curry/palya and also something like a sweet similar to carrot halwa. She also made paratha's with them. So, with that in mind I got the papaya home and derived my own version of the recipe. Here it goes....

Ingredients:

Raw Papaya: 1 small

Onions: 1 small
Green chillies: 3-4

Ginger: 1 small piece

Coriander leaves: a small bunch
Methi Leaves: a small bunch (Optional)
Garam Masala: 1 spoon

Jeera: 1/2 spoon

Salt to taste

Sugar: a pinch

Wheat Flour: 4 cups

Oil

Method:

1. Wash and peel papaya. Remove the seeds. Grate the papaya. You will need about 2 cups of it for 4 cups of flour.

2. Finely chop onions, green chillies, ginger, Methi leaves and corainder leaves

3. In a mixing bowl, add in wheat flour, grated papaya and chopped onions, green chillies, ginger and corainder leaves. Add jeera, garam masala, a pinch of sugar and salt as per taste.

4. Start mixing the flour with as little water as possible to form a dough for chapathi consistency.

Do not add more water, as the papaya contains lots of fluids in itself.

5. Make equal sized balls of the dough and roll it as usual to form a chapathi. Use little dry flour to help in rolling out the paratha's as the dough may stick to the flat surface.

6. Heat a non-stick pan/tava and roast the paratha's on either side with help of little oil.

Papaya Paratha is ready! This tastes better when its served hot, right from the pan.

Suggested accompaniments: Thick curds/yogurt, pickles or any gravy items.

This recipe is off to Nags for her AFAM-Papaya. Details can be found here.

Life is Beautiful!

When: Pic taken in the morning of Jan 26th 2008.

Where: Little Rock, Arkansas

Mood: Life is Beautiful!!!!!!!!! :)

Mixed Vegetable Stew: Kerala Style

When RCI-Kerala was announced, I was delighted. This is one event I didn't want to miss. Kerala holds a special place in my heart. I did my high schooling from a school that was run by a Kerala Society. And few of my best friends are keralites. They are one of the nicest people I know.
So, for this event, I buzzed my friend P to give me a Kerala recipe, and she being the coolest, gave me a list of websites to go through!!! :) After searching many sites, I thought I will begin my experiments with the simplest of the lot. And so, I chose to make Mixed Vegetable Stew and it turned out so good; my husband came asking for more of it. :)

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Stew : A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in water or other water-based liquid, typically by simmering, and that are then served without being drained.
Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables (potatoes, beans, etc.), fruits (such as peppers and tomatoes), meat, poultry, sausages and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, wine, stock, and beer are also common. Seasoning and flavorings may also be added. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature (simmered, not boiled), to allow flavors to marry.

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Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

Onion: 1 Medium
Potato: 1 medium sized
Green Peas: 1/2 cup
Beans: 3-4 in number
Carrot: 1 small
Green Chillies: 3
Ginger: a small piece (finely chopped or grated)
Garlic: 1 clove (finely chopped or grated)
Coriander Powder: 2 tbsp
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Thick Coconut Milk: 1/2 can
Diluted Coconut milk: 1 cup
Salt as per taste

For tempering:
Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Dry red chillies: 2
Curry Leaves: few
Small Red Onions: 3-4 halved.



Method:

1. Chop all vegetables and keep them ready.


2 In a large cooking pan saute the onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies.

3. When onion starts becoming transluscent, add the vegetables and stir.

4. Add coriander powder, salt and stir for 1 min.


5. Add 1 cup of diluted coocnut milk and mix well.


6. Cover and cook in simmer until the vegetables are done. This may take a while (about 20 mins)


7. Once cooked, stir in about a 1/2 can of thick coconut milk and and cook on low heat.


8. Add garam masala and turn off the heat.


9. In another small pan, heat ghee and add mustard seeds, small onions, red chillies and curry leaves. Turn off the heat after a minute.


10. Add the above to the stew and serve hot.

This Mixed Vegetable Stew goes well with kerala Style Appams.
The above quantity serves 4 people.




This recipe is my contribution to RCI-Kerala hosted by Jyothsna.

Baby Corn n Bell Pepper Gravy

Happy New Year to my fellow blog friends and to all my readers. :)

The last two months have been very hectic with us taking a vacation in November and later friends and family visiting us over. Long drives n dinners, non-stop chit-chatting n cooking, shopping (yeah!) and late night movies have become a part of our lives these days. And I have been enjoying every bit of it.
Thank you Archy n Deepa for enquiring about my non-existence in the last few weeks. That was very sweet of you girls :) I am fine, just that I had been caught in a whirl of activities.

I am hoping to be regular with posts henceforth. And will also read n leave a comment on my fellow blogger’s post. I know I have a lot of reading to catch up with. But I did take a sneak-peak here n there :)

I am beginning my New Year post with Baby Corn n Bell Pepper Gravy. This is also another in the very-simple-to-make dish list. It's adapted from one of Sanjeev Kapoors cook book collection.

Ingredients:

Baby Corn: 1 small can (or 10-15 in number)
Red Bell Pepper: 1 (you can also use green, yellow peppers)
Onion: 1 Medium
Tomato: 1 Medium
Spinach Leaves: few leaves (8-10) This is optional
Oil/Butter: 2 tsp
Jeera: 1/2 spoon
Ginger-Garlic Paste: 1/2 spoon
Dhaniya Powder: 1 spoon
Kitchen King Masala: 1-1.5 spoon
(You can use Garam Masala instead. I like Kitchen King Masala for all baby corn dishes)
Red Chilli Powder: as per taste
Salt: as per taste
Cashew nuts: 8-10
Cilantro: for garnishing

Method:

1. Soak cashews in a little water for about 5-6 mins

2. Finely chop onions, tomatoes and red bell peppers. Cut baby corn into halves or quarters.

3. Heat oil in a cooking pan. Temper it with a little Jeera seeds.

4. Sauté onions till they are translucent. Add in ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a minute again.

5. Add in chopped tomatoes and sauté until the tomatoes start leaving the oil on the sides. This takes about 1-2 min on medium high heat.

6. Add Dhaniya powder and fry for a minute again.

7. Now add in chopped Red Peppers and Baby Corn. To this add about a cup of water and cover and cook.

8. In the meanwhile, using a blender quickly make a paste of cashew nuts with water.

9. Check if the vegetables are cooked. Add in salt, red chilli powder and Kitchen King Masala.

10. Once the vegetables are done, add in cashew paste to this and stir for a minute. Add a little more water if the gravy gets too thick. Turn off the heat.

11. This step is optional: Add finely chopped Spinach leaves to this and cover the pan with a lid. The leaves will get cooked in the heat.

12. Garnish with cilantro before serving.

The above quantity serves for 4 people. Serve it hot with Roti's, Naan or even Rice. It's very yummmm....

Have a wonderful year ahead, my friends. CHEERS!!!!!!!

Mini Vegetable Spring Roll's and Mint Chutney

It's such a beautiful world out here in this season. We went on a drive this weekend, and theres bright fall colors everywhere. It was such a beautiful sight. Beautiful is an understatement I suppose. This is my first fall color since I moved to USA and man, I am so excited seeing it all. My husband who has been living here is this city for a while now says that in the next 1-2 weeks, the colors will get more brighter. I am so eagerly looking forward to that.

The tree in my garden is changing its color too. Every morning I wake up to see few more leaves joining the color party. Will share the picture as soon as its all yellow. :)

Now, coming to the recipe. This is one of those recipes I had book marked long long ago and never got a chance to make them. But on one of the days last week, I made this for a evening snack and it turned out great. You know, how every 'firsts' are nice........ this made me feel nice too. :))

Mini Vegetable Spring Roll's and Mint Chutney

Ingredients for Mini Vegetable Spring Rolls

Small Spring Roll wrappers

(I used TYJ Spring Roll Wrapper. These thin delicate wrappers are sold frozen and should be defrosted and separated before use. While working with the wrappers, keep them covered with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.)

For the Filling:

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

3 large spring onions/scallions, finely chopped.

Very finely shredded half piece of a small cabbage

Hoisin Sauce : 3 tbsp (I used Soy Sauce)

Garam Masala: 1/4 sp

Oil for deep frying

A little Milk, may be about 1 spoon (you can use one lightly beaten egg)

Make the filling:

In a bowl, add the carrot, spring onions, cabbage, Hoisin Sauce and Garam Masala powder. Mix until it's well combined.

Make the spring rolls:

Take one wrapper and place it diagonally on a board such that the corner faces you. It should look like a diamond.

Place a tablespoon of filling just up from the edge of the corner.

Fold the corner tightly over, fold in the sides.

Brush the wrapper with milk (or beaten egg), then continue rolling to form a tight roll.

Set this to one side (rest it seam side down) while you make the other rolls.

Fry the spring rolls:

Heat oil as you would normally for frying.

Dip in few rolls and deep fry them until golden brown. It takes about 2-3minutes since the contents inside are raw. Ensure you don't over fry them.

Remove them from oil and spread them on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Serve these Mini Vegetable Spring Roll's while they are hot. Mint chutney goes great with this.

An easy and quick way of making Mint Chutney. This type is best used as dips for samosa's , spring rolls etc.

Ingredients for Mint Chutney:

Fresh Mint leaves (Pudina Leaves): 1 Cup
Fresh Coriander Leaves: 1 Cup
Ginger: a small piece
Green Chillies: 2
Tamarind pulp: 1/2 spoon
Sugar: a pinch
Salt as per taste

Method:

Heat a small pan and slightly dry roast the green chillies and Mint Leaves.
In a blender, add in all the ingredients with a little water and blend them all together.
Mint Chutney is ready to be served.