Bitter gourd and Potato sambar

Bitter gourd and Potato sambar

Ingredients

1 cup of tamarind juice (prepared by soaking tamarind in water and later on squeezing it)
300 gms of finely chopped bitter gourd
4 medium-size potatoes, chopped into medium-size pieces
100 gms of split pigeon peas (lentils)

1 tablespoon of oil

1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
1-2 tablespoon of chilli powder
1/2 tablespoon of mustard seeds
2-3 tablespoon of sambar powder
A pinch of asafoetida

Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Cook the chopped bitter gourd and the chopped potatoes. Cook the split pigeon peas and retain any excess water after cooking.
2. Boil the tamarind juice till it loses the raw smell. Add the cooked lentils and the cooked vegetables to the tamarind juice. Add the turmeric powder to the mixture too.
3. Let the mixture boil for 2-3 minutes (simmer). Add the sambar powder and the chilli powder.
4. Simmer for 2 more minutes and remove the vessel of the stove.
5. Seasoning. Heat the oil in a small utensil (spatula), add the mustard seeds and the asafoetida to the oil. As soon as the mustard seeds starts to burst, add the mixture to the other vessel.
6. Mix well so that the seasoning gets distributed equally in the mixture. 

7. Serves 6 persons.

Options

1. You can skip the chilli powder.
2. Write to me if you want the recipe of the sambar powder.
3. As the name says, bitter gourd could be very bitter. To get rid of the taste, you can add unrefined cane-sugar to the tamarind juice at the beginning.
4. You can skip the potatoes.
5. You can add onions..
6. You can replace asafoetida with finely chopped garlic.

Potato and Green beans fry

Potato and Green beans fry

Ingredients

1 medium-size onion, chopped into long pieces
3 medium-size potatoes, chopped into medium-size pieces
500 gms of green beans, chopped into small pieces

5-6 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive or sunflower)

1/2 tablespoon of turmeric powder
1-2 tablespoon of chilli powder
2 tablespoon of split chick peas
1 tablespoon of mustard seeds

Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and the split chick peas. Add the turmeric powder.
2. When the mixture is slightly fried, add the chopped onions to it.
3. When the onions are slightly fried, add the chopped potatoes and the chopped beans. Keep frying till all the vegetables are cooked and fried. (How to know this - a potato is cooked when a spoon can cut it into pieces and a green bean is cooked when its colour turns to oily green as in the picture)
4. At this point add the salt as needed and the chilli powder. Fry it for 2-3 minutes.

5. Serves 6 persons.

Options

1. You can skip the chilli powder and replace it with an Indian spicy powder like Vangibath powder or Ennegai powder. (Write to me if you want the recipes of the two.)
2. You can skip the chilli powder or any other powder altogether.
3. You can skip the green beans. Such a fry is served with an Indian pancake called Dosa, especially Masala Dosa.
4. You can skip the onions altogether or replace it with garlic.
5. If you are in a hurry, you can cook the potatoes and the green beans before you fry them.

Cold beetroot soup with leek

Cold beetroot soup with leek

A couple of months ago, I was in Poland with a very close friend of mine, "The Boss". I tasted a cold beetroot soup called Chlodnik (pronounced hwodnik). Here comes my recipe for the same.

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive)

1/3 cup of finely chopped beetroots.
1/3 a cup of finely chopped leek
1/2 cup of Yoghurt
Chopped red chillies for topping (optional)
Some chopped scallions
Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the chopped beetroots and half of the chopped leek. Fry till the mixture becomes a little soft. 

2. Add 1/2 a cup of water to the mixture and boil it for 5-10 mins till the vegetables get cooked finely.
3. Let mixture cool down. Add the rest of the chopped leek and the chopped scallions.
4. Add half of the yoghurt to the mixture. Store it in a refrigerator for an hour or two. Don't freeze it.
5. Remove from the refrigerator. Add the rest of the yoghurt to the mixture.
6. Add salt as needed.
7. Before serving, add the chopped red chillies and some chopped scallions as toppings.
8. Serves 6 persons.

Options

1. You can use sour cream, soured milk or kefir instead of
2. You can add goat cheese or cream as a topping.
3. You can use spring onions or welsh onions instead of leek.
4. You can add a boiled egg (as pointed out by "The Boss") or a baked potato without the skin.
5. As pointed out by "The Boss", you can add slices of tender cucumber.

Creamy Spinach soup with goat cheese and leek

Creamy Spinach soup with goat cheese and leek

Ingredients

1 medium-size onion, chopped into very small pieces

150 gms of spinach chopped into very small pieces or ground spinach

2-3 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive or sunflower)

1/2 tablespoon of turmeric powder
30-35 small slices of goat cheese (preferably Greek) - Slices should be half the size of those used in salads
1/2 a cup of finely chopped leek
1 cup of evaporated milk

Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion. Add the turmeric powder. Fry till the mixture becomes a little soft. 

2. Add the spinach to the mixture. Continue frying for a minute or two.
3. Add the evaporated milk.
4. Stir the mixture till the mixture starts to boil.
5. Add 3/4th of the chopped leek to the mixture.
6. Let the mixture boil for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add salt as needed.
8. Before serving, add the goat cheese slices and the rest of the chopped leek as toppings.

9. Serves 2 persons.

Options

1. You can skip the turmeric powder.
2. You can use milk powder instead of evaporated milk (as a last option)

3. You can use spring onions or welsh onions instead of leek.

4. You can skip goat cheese. You can use cream instead.
5. I have used chopped spinach, but it is better to used ground spinach. It would make the soup more even.
6. In summer, you could prepare the colder variant of the soup. Use less evaporated milk. After cooking, the let the mixture cool and place it a refrigerator (Don't freeze it). 30-35 minutes before you serve, remove the mixture from the refrigerator and add sour cream or soured milk or butter milk or sour yoghurt to the mixture. Add freshly chopped leek or spring onions or welsh onions and keep the mixture aside for 20-25 minutes. Add goat cheese if you want else serve it as it is.

Lentils and Spinach (The Indian way)



Lentils and Spinach (The Indian way)

Ingredients

200 gms of yellow or red lentils

1 medium-size onion, chopped into small pieces

150 gms of spinach chopped into medium-size pieces

2-3 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive or sunflower)

1/2 tablespoon of chilli powder

1/2 tablespoon of turmeric powder

1-2 tablespoon of any curry powder
3 slices of garlic chopped into fine pieces
1 red or green chilli chopped into fine pieces
Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Cook the lentils in one litre of water till they are soft. Add the chopped garlic to the lentils and cook them together. If you are using a pressure cooker, wait for atleast 2 releases. (You can add salt to the lentils, when you cook them.) 

2. Empty any excess water after cooking the lentils.

3. Heat the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and the chopped chilli. Add the turmeric powder. Fry them until they become a little soft.
4. Add the chopped spinach to the mixture. Fry them till the fresh green colour of spinach changes to a dark green colour.

5. Add the chilli powder and the curry powder to the soft mixture, stir and fry till the mixture turns light red in colour.

6. Add the lentils. Add 200ml of water only if the mixture is too thick. Add salt as needed. Stir and cook the mixture, until the mixture becomes light red again.

7. Serves 4 persons.

Options

1. You can serve this with rice or Indian bread like Chapati, Naan or both rice and bread.

2. You can some chopped coriander leaves as topping.
3. You can add 1 teaspoon of garam masala when adding the lentils to the nmixture.

3. You can skip adding the chilli powder and the curry powder. Such a lentil dish is called Tadka Dal (Plain Lentils).
5. You can add cumin seeds or mustard seeds to the oil at the beginning before you add the onions.
6. You can skip adding the onions and the garlic along with chilli powder and the curry powder. You can just add cumin seeds or mustard seeds to the oil (1-1.5 tablespoon) at the beginning. Usually during such preparations, the excess cooking water from the lentils is added to the dish. Such a lentil dish is called Masiyal (a South Indian dish)

Corn soup with chilli and spring onions



Corn soup with chilli and spring onions

Ingredients

250 gms of Corn

1 or 2 red chopped chillies (They can be dry and shredded too)

1 small onion, chopped into small pieces

4-5 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive or sunflower)

1/2 a cup of chopped spring onions
1 cup of evaporated milk

Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Cook the Corn in one litre of water till they are soft. If you are using a pressure cooker, wait for atleast 2 releases. (You can add salt to the Corn, when you cook them.) 

2. Heat the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, half of the chopped chillies and half of the chopped spring onions. Fry them until they become a little soft.

3. Add the cooked corn along with the excess water if any to the soft mixture, stir and cook till the mixture is equally distributed.
4. Add evaporated milk to the mixture and stir it well.

5. Add the rest of the chopped chillies and the rest of the chopped onions.
6. Stir (Simmer) the mixture for a couple of minutes.

7. Serves 4 persons.

Options

1. You can serve the soup as it is.

2. You can add milk or yoghurt or even cream to the mixture to make it more soft and tasty, before you serve it.

3. You can use chopped garlic instead of chopped onion if you want. (Usually chopped garlic and chopped onion together don't give a good taste)

4. You can add shredded carrots as a topping before you serve.

Spicy lentil soup with onions and chilli pepper



Spicy lentil soup with onions and chilli pepper

Ingredients

150 gms of yellow lentils

1 medium-size red/green/yellow chilli pepper (capsicum), chopped into small pieces

1 medium-size onion, chopped into small pieces

1 medium-size tomato, chopped into small pieces

4-5 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive or sunflower)

1/2 tablespoon of chilli powder

1/2 tablespoon of turmeric powder

1 tablespoon of curry powder (any curry powder other than garam masala)

Salt as needed

Procedure

1. Cook the lentils in one litre of water till they are soft. If you are using a pressure cooker, wait for atleast 2 releases. (You can add salt to the lentils, when you cook them.) 

2. Empty excess water but make sure some water is left along with the lentils, to have them floating. 

3. Heat the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, chilli pepper and tomato. Add the turmeric powder. Fry them until they become a little soft.

4. Add the chilli powder and the curry powder to the soft mixture, stir and fry till the mixture turns light red in colour.

5. Add the lentils along with the water, that was used for cooking them. Add salt as needed. Stir and cook the mixture, until the mixture becomes light red again.

6. Serves 4 persons.

Options

1. You can serve the soup as it is.

2. You can add milk or yoghurt or even cream to the mixture to make it more soft and tasty, before you serve it.

3. You can some chopped coriander leaves as topping.

4. You can replace the curry powder with black pepper powder if you want.

5. You can add cumin seeds or mustard seeds to the oil at the beginning, before you add the vegetables.

6. You can add chopped garlic if you want. (Usually chopped garlic and chopped onion do not give a good taste)