Sabudana (Tapioca/Sago) Khichdi recipe- a popular Indian breakfast dish!

Pre-Preparation Time: Soak overnight    
 Preparation Time: 25 minutes     Serves: 4

A very versatile ingredient- Sabudana or Sago, is considered to be a delicate, easy to digest and easily prepared food item in India. As is often seen, in a vast country like India, there are of course, regional variations in its preparation/ recipes. I am mentioning here a variant which has been my eternal favourite. This is a mix of the Gujarati style and the Maharashtrian style.

Ingredients:
Sabudana/Sago/ Tapioca- 400 grams ( Soak it overnight or for 6-7 hours in water)
Boiled potatoes- 2 (peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch each)
Roasted peanuts- 150 grams (coarsely crushed)Alternatively you can soak the peanuts overnight.
Salt- 1 teaspoon/ as per taste
Cooking oil- 2 tablespoons- to be sprinkled in a non-stick cookware
Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves- 4 (chopped)
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger- 1 teaspoon (grated)
Asafoetida / Hing- 1 pinch
Green chillies- 3 ( sliced longitudinally)
Lemon juice- 1 teaspoon (or as per taste)
Coconut (optional)- grated 2 tablespoon
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Green Coriander- chopped 1 table spoon

Method:
After soaking the Sabudana/Sago in water overnight , rinse and drain out the water, with the help of a colander. Add salt, sugar and crushed peanuts to the Sago and cover and  keep aside for about 8-10 minutes ( mainly for the sago and peanuts to absorb the salt and sugar).
Heat the cooking oil, in a non-stick cookware and then add mustard seeds to it. As they start spluttering add the cumin seeds too. Now add the curry leaves, green chillies and grated ginger and allow this to cook on a low flame, till the ginger turns light brown.Sprinkle Asafoetida powder too. To this add the potato cubes and Sago/ Sabudana and lightly stir until the potato cubes and Sago are evenly coated with the masalas/ spices. Sprinkle some water on this and cover completely with a lid, reduce the flame to minimum/ simmer and cook this way for about 5 minutes or until the Sabudana pearls look translucent. Remember to stir in-between, otherwise the Sago has a tendency to stick to the base of the vessel.
Once cooked garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander. Serve piping hot and if you like curds/ yoghurt, then have it with a bowlful of curd!

Happy feasting!

Dry spices/masaley-stuffed Tindas/Apple gourd/ Indian Baby Pumpkin

Dry spices/masaley-stuffed Tindas/Apple gourd/ Indian Baby Pumpkin

The tinda, also called Indian round gourd or apple gourd or Indian Baby Pumpkin, is a squash-like cucurbit grown for its immature fruit, a vegetable especially popular in South Asia. It is the only member of the genus Praecitrullus. "tinda" is also called "tindsi" in Rajasthan. In Marathi, it is called Dhemase/ ढेमसे.( Wikipedia)

Much as I disliked this vegetable as a kid, I could not escape its frequent appearances at my home, since Tinda is supposed to be a favourite in Punjabi households! Much later, that is after I finished my University level studies, did I discover the joys of consuming tender, stuffed tindas, cooked on a low flame! The trick was to partly steam them before stuffing them- simple!!

Here goes my recipe for you all to try out too. You can take liberties with the stuffing, in the sense that some people enjoy the taste of onion, ginger, garlic paste in it etc., but I have limited myself to using only dry spices.

Ingredients:

Tender tindas- 300 grams

Dry mango powder/ amchoor- 1 tablespoon

Coriander/ dhaniya powder- 2 tablespoon

*Garam masala powder- ½ teaspoon

Salt- ¾ teaspoon

Roasted chickpea powder/ Besan- 1 tablespoon

Red Chilli powder- ½ teaspoon

Cooking oil- 1 tablespoon

Roasted Cumin powder- ½ teaspoon

*Garam masala is a blend of spices like black pepper, black cardamom, cinnamon, clove, green cardamom etc.

Method:

Thoroughly wash and then lightly scrape off the peel/ skin of Tindas. With a fork make a few jabs on the surface of each tinda.

Now, cut off bits of the top and bottom portions of the tindas. Next, make two cuts in a + way from the top,(one vertical and another bisecting horizontal one), but it should stop just before the base of the tinda.

Steam the vegetables for a few minutes or until you can see that they have become semi-soft.

Now, allow the tindas to cool in a tray or big plate. Meanwhile mix all the dry spices and ingredients mentioned above. Carefully with a tiny spoon stuff the tindas in + cut portion. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan or heavy-based steel vessel, then after carefully placing the stuffed tindas in the vessel, allow them to cook on a medium flame; cover the vessel. Take care to occasionally change the tindas contact with the heated surface of the vessel. Turning over the tindas gently and carefully will ensure that they are evenly browned and do not burn.

When they acquire a golden-brown sizzling look, you can remove them from flame and have them with Indian bread/ roti/ naan etc.

Natal Plum/ Karondey ki Chutney

 Karonda fruit is a rich source of iron, as well as a

 good source of Vitamin C. It is antiscorbutic and also 

 useful in tackling anaemia and anorexia.

 It also has an analgesic and anti-inflammatory 


quality.

 The good ol' natal plum is always welcome on our dining-tables as an 


accompaniment to our daily meals! Last time I had  mentioned the method, to 


prepare the pickled version of natal-plum. This time I am suggesting an equally 


tantalizing version- the chutney of karonda.

Ingredients:

Karonda/ Natal plum- 250 grams 

Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon (roasted)

Asafoetida powder- a pinch (roasted slightly)

Green chillies- 3

Red chilli powder- 1/2  teaspoon

Chopped green coriander- 2 to 3 tablespoons

Salt- 1 teaspoon

Method:

Thoroughly  wash the karondas, green chillies and coriander leaves.

Slice the karondas into two and remove the seeds. Now grind the

 karondas, green chillies and coriander along-with the other ingredients,

into a fine paste. (Add a bit of water, if needed during the grinding

 process)

Wow! The mouth-watering chutney is ready.....!!

Cauliflower - Carrots-Baby Corn in Tomato base.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower florets - 2 cups
Orange Carrots diced- 1 cup
Baby corn - 6 ( cut into rings or thin slices)
Onion thickly sliced - 1 large onion
Tomato purée - 2 cups
Mustard oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt - 1/4 th teaspoon or as desired.
Green coriander sprigs for garnishing.

Method:
In a heavy- bottom pan ( kadhai), heat the mustard oil and then add the onion slices. Cook the onions on a high flame for a couple of minutes, then reduce the flame and let the onion slices turn a darkish brown (not black!). Now add the cauliflower florets, baby corn and carrots and sauté them for a few minutes.Sprinkle salt on the vegetables and then add the tomato purée to it. Allow this to simmer on a low flame till the gravy thickens and the vegetables are coated with the gravy.
Chop the green coriander and sprinkle on the veggies.

Can be served with steaming hot plain rice!