Pumpkin soup with bread toast

Pumpkins are such an incredible vegetables, you can make a lot of dishes, South Indian,North Indian, continental and Pan Asian cuisine using the humble pumpkin.

The local variety we get here are little yellowish and tastes good.

Ingredients

Pumpkin 200 grams

Cinnamon stick a small piece

Bay leaves one

Ginger a small piece

Garlic a few pods

Yellow tomatoes 6 to 7(homegrown) 

Onion one large

Parsley leaves a few

Dry rosemary 1/2 tsp

Dry parsley leaves 1/2 tsp

Basil leaves a few

Coconut milk one cup

Crushed pepper a little

Method

*Wash,peel and cut pumpkin into large cubes. 

*In a preheated kadai pour olive oil roast garlic and onion. The garlic should turn into dark brown and burnt. Add cubed pumpkin, other Italian spices, bay leaves, salt and basil leave, crushed pepper, Saute for a while. 

*Add yellow tomatoes, mix well. 

*Pour water to the pumpkin and close the lid cook it for two whistles. Off the stove. 

* Grate coconut and extract it's milk by adding warm water or grind it in mixer and extract milk.

* Open pressure pan"s lid, use a hand blender and blend pumpkin to puree, to this add coconut milk and keep the pan back to stove. Heat it further in low flame, adjust salt, pepper. Off stove. Serve hot with bread toast.

I love it cold. I think it taste great when it served in room temperature or chilled in refrigerator with crushed pepper. Yum!

Pulikachal the traditional recipe

Recipe 1

Pulikachal recipe from my Mom's kitchen, this last for 2 to 3 days, so make less quantity. 

7 to  8 green chillies, I have used a special variety green chillies available in Trivandrum

4 to 5 green chillies non spicy

One piece ginger chopped

A few curry leaves

For the seasoning

One tbsp gingly oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dal

1/2 tsp chana dal

2 dry red chillies broken

1 tsp grated jaggery

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup tamarind pulp extracted (One small gooseberry sized tamarind soaked in hot water)

Method

*In a kadai pour oil, add mustard seeds, methi seeds, urad dal, chana dal and dry red chillies, allow mustard to splutter.

*Add chopped green chillies, spicy and non spicy, ginger and saute for a few minutes.

*Add turmeric, salt and curry leaves. Mix in pour tamarind pulp. Cook until  the raw smell to goes.

*Now we will add grated jaggery, reduce the flame, the jaggery quickly gets melted in the tamarind pulp.

*Adjust salt and off the stove.

*Serve with curd rice, dosa, kozhukattai and enjoy with your favourite dishes. 

Recipe 2

This recipe has more shelf life, it can be kept in refrigerator for a weeks time or more if kept in air tight containers. 

Last week I learnt to make pulikachal from my husband's cousin, whose mother was the best pulikachal expert  in our family.

It was a tradition to make batches and batches and distribute among friends and relatives. 

 I have fond memories of our periyammai  make such wonderful dishes whenever she used to come to our home. I will request her to teach me. By helping her in chopping, grinding and giving all ingredients according to her measurements.

Well little preparation is needed for this dish. We've made almost 2  bottles of pulikachal.

The specialty of this dish, it's sweet,tangy,spicy,and salty.

Ingredients

Tamarind one orange size(soak it in hot water)

Green chilies 20 (I used non spicy home grown)

A handful of green chillies bought from Trivandrum, this variety is only available there, I guess. 

Ginger 3 big pieces (home grown)

Curry leaves 1/2 cup(a few of course that too from my terrace garden)

Gingly oil 3 tbsp

Mustard 1 tsp

White urad dal 1 tsp

Chana dal 1 tsp

Methi seeds 1/4 tsp

Red chilli broken into half 2

Red chilli powder 1 tsp ( it's optional. As I used the non spicy chillies we have added a tsp of red chilli powder for spicyness)

Jaggery 1/2 piece

Salt as required

Tips

In a small pan roast til seeds gently crush it.

Extract tamarind pulp using hands, add more water if needed and extract maximum quantity of pulp.

Method

In a thick bottomed kadai pour gingly oil add mustard seeds, let it splutter, add urad dal, chana dal and broken red chillies. Add peanuts and roast it. Now add chopped green chillies, ginger, roasted peanuts and sesame seeds, and curry leaves. Cook it for a while 

In a stoneware/eartern pot pour tamarind pulp add cooked green chillies and ginger, mix well, add turmeric powder. Allow the tamarind pulp to boil, simmer the stove, cook further and add grated jaggery, salt and red chilli powder. 

By now the pulikachal should have reduced to half, if not please let it reduce. The raw smell of tamarind should completely go. 

The whole kitchen will be filled with the delicious aroma of roasted till, peanuts,ginger and curry leaves. 

Puli aval using pulikachal

Ingredients

Aval (Flattened rice flakes) 1 cup (soaked in water and water drained)

For tempering

Gingly oil 1 tsp

Mustard seeds a little

Urad dal a little

Chana dal a little

Methi seeds a few

Peanuts a handful(roasted)

Sesame seeds 1 tbsp(roasted)

Curry leaves a few

Pulikachal a small cup

Method

In a kadai pour gingly oil, add mustard seeds, let it splutter, add urad dal, chana dal, methi seeds, curry leaves, broken red chilli. 

Add roasted til seeds and peanuts.Add a little turmeric powder, 

Now add aval, mix in, sprinkle little water if needed, Mix in pulikachal. Toss gently, adjust salt and serve hot. It's anytime snack. I love it for breakfast.

Drumsticks leaves soup and palak soup

Soups are the most healthiest and easiest option when you really want to shed those extra flab. There are many kinds of soups which you can try.  Noodles, eggs, veggies, greens, millet, grains. The list is endless. 

I make soup as one pot meal, try to add whole grains, oats or broken wheat. Just a little. 

Ingredients

Drumsticks leaves a handful
Carrot 1
Beetroot a small piece
Onion 1
Green chana a handful
Tomato 2
Beans a few
Ragi and kodo millet a handful
Olive oil 1 tbsp
Salt as required
Black pepper powder crushed

Method 

* Wash and chop drumsticks leaves
* Peel and chop beetroot, carrot and onion
* Chop beans
*Pour oil in a heated thick bottomed pan, add onion and saute, add tomato, quickly give a toss, add rest of the veggies and chopped drumsticks leaves.
* Cook for a while add water, and a handful of ragi and kodo millet, salt and cook for 2 to 3 whistles. 
*Once done serve in bowl add crushed pepper and enjoy the soup with bread toast. 

Variations

Moong dal a handful
Palak a bunch
Tomato 1 chopped
Pepper and salt

In a pressure pan cook moong dal by adding 2 cups of water, add chopped tomato and salt. cook for two whistles. In another pan pour a little oil quickly saute chopped palak and add palak to moong dal, mix in add crushed pepper and enjoy.

Ven pongal with gojju

 

Happy pongal/sankranthi.

It's a harvest festival celebrated in the southern states of India.
I have made two variations of pongal, sweet pongal consists of ghee,rice, moong dal, jaggery and crushed cardamom.

The other venpongal consists of rice, moong dal, roasted jeera, crushed pepper, ginger and ghee roasted cashews.

Paruppu vada has channa, tuvar, moong, urad dal,ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, fennel seeds,hing, onion shoots and palak. It's crunchy and crispy.

https://jayanthisindianrecipes.blogspot.com/2018/10/sweet-pongal-sarkkarai-pongal.html?m=0

https://jayanthisindianrecipes.blogspot.com/2014/10/paruppu-vada-and-rasa-vada.html?m=0

Ven pongal

A delicious and simple breakfast on a Saturday morning. Pongal is a delicious dish prepared in many Tamil Brahmin homes as a breakfast dish. Its a whole dish with lentil and rice and freshly ground spices. 

Ven Pongal

Ingredients

Rice - 1/2 cup
moong dal - 1/4 cup
ginger Julian - 1/2 tsp
pepper corns - 1 tsp
jeera - 2 tsp
hing - 1/2 tsp
broken cashew nuts - 2 tsp
curry leaves - a few
ghee - 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation

*In a bowl add raw rice and lentil together wash and pressure cook by adding salt and ginger. Now add 4 cups of water.

* In a small pan fry pepper, jeera  till the aroma releases and ground to a coarse powder.  

* In the same pan pour ghee and fry cashew nuts and curry leaves till golden brown.

Open the pressure cooker add ground spices and hing powder, mi well now add golden brown cashew nuts and curry leaves. Serve hot with Gojju.

Tomato onion gojju

Ingredients

Tomato - 2
onion - 1
green chilly - 2
ginger - a large piece

For frying
oil - 2 tsp
mustard seed - 1 tsp
urad dal - 1 tsp
channa dal - 1 tsp

Method of Preparation

Wash and chop onion and tomato, green chilly and ginger into fine pieces. In a heated kadai pour oil add mustard seed, urad dal, and channa dal. Let mustard crackle. Now add all chopped vegetables and mi well, Allow the onion and tomato cook well. Now add two cups of water and boil till the gojju thickens. Serve as a side dish for Ven pongal.

Variation : You can add brinjal to this dish but make sure the brinjal is cooked well.   

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Mashed potatoes , mustard green subzi and mixed vegetables.

Lunch should be very light after a week full of birthday celebrations and new year eves party. 

Potato with crushed pepper and salt

Mustard greens, turmeric and peas subzi

Mixed vegetables

Pudina, strawberry water.

Blissful.

It's a fulfilling experience when you play with different textures, colours and tastes.

Mashed potatoes

Ingredients

Medium sized potatoes 2
Crushed pepper 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/4 tsp

Method

Wash and cut potatoes into halves, steam it for 3 whistles in pressure cooker. When it reach room temperature, peel off the potatoes and use a fork to crumble it. Add crushed pepper and salt. Mix well, add a little butter if you like the buttery taste, a teaspoon of milk is also optional.

Mustard greens with raw turmeric and peas

Ingredients

Raw turmeric a small piece
Mustard greens a bunch
Green peas a handful
Coconut oil a teaspoon
Jeera a little
Red chilli powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger a tiny piece grated

Method

*wash, chop mustard greens
*peel and chop raw turmeric
*use fresh green peas.

*In a heated kadai pour oil, jeera, let it splutter, add turmeric and peas, allow it to cook by adding a little salt. Once tender add mustard greens, cook in medium flame till its  crunchy. Adjust salt and add red chilli powder. Serve hot as a side dish with phulkas.

Mixed vegetables

A few vegetables like carrot, bell pepper, corn, green peas, potatoes, were sautéed in peanut oil. A little salt and pepper used a seasoning.

Detox water

Ingredients

Water 500 ml

Pudina /mint a few stalks

Strawberries a few cut into halves 

 In a bowl or bottle add 500 ml water, a few fresh pudina stalk, strawberries cut into halves. Leave it for a few hours, and drink it, you can add more water if you like. It remains fresh for a day. Cut new strawberries and add after 24 hours. Pudina remains fresh for 2 to 3 days. It helps you detox your body.