Garlicky Tindora/tondekai subzi/ ivy gourd side dish

I've always been a vegetable lover, well at least as far as I remember. (My mom is probably rolling her eyes, because I probably wasn't one when I was very young! ;) Honestly, I don't remember!) We were always forced to try every vegetable as they are good for you in some way or the other. I'm glad these things got forced down my throat when I was probably refusing to eat. I totally appreciate all these different tastes, flavors which would be unknown to me if I hadn't tried them in the first place! -- this comment is specifically directed towards my dearest hubb whose first reaction to every new food and esp vegetable is almost always NO! ;) But, he has taken so much s*** on this topic from me, that he is actually open and enthusiastic to try new vegetables now before announcing he doesn't like it :D There have been times when he's pleasantly surprised, and I'm SHOCKED and almost clutch my heart dramatically (Tee hee hee!!) and he says that he likes/loves the new taste!!

Some veggies haven't been that lucky though! The humble tindora/tondekayi is pretty popular and a staple in Indian cuisine. It is usually made into a simple stir fry or sauteed and eaten as a side with rice and rasam/dal.

This is a version with some onions and tomatoes that goes well with chapati too! Very very simple, but extremely tasty! To some people, if I may add. I'm yet to come up with a form of tindora that hubbs will like/love! :) Meanwhile why not please myself! :D

What you need :
Tindora/tondekayi/ivy gourd - cut into long slices (I prefer slicing them vertically into 4) - about 2 cups
Chopped onion - 1/2 cup or more
Chopped garlic - 2 tbsp or lots more! Love the flavor of it.
Chopped tomato - 1/2 cup
Oil - I used olive oil - 1tsp

Spices :
Cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - as per your taste
Rasam powder - 1 tsp You can substitute rasam powder with any store bought spice mix (garam masala, curry powder)
Salt


Method :

1. Wash and cut the tindora.
2. Add oil in a pan, add garlic, jeera and onion. I like the flavor of garlic as it heats up along with the oil
3. Fry for about 2-3 mins on medium heat.
4. Add the cut tindora and fry it for about 5-8 mins till its a little tender but not fully cooked.
5. Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric, chilly powder, rasam powder and salt. Give it a good stir.
6. Cover and cook on very low heat for about 5 mins.

Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Serve hot with rotis or rice. :)

Shrikhand (A tasty popular Indian dessert)

Having grown up in the Karnataka/Maharashtra region I always believed that every Indian knows what Shrikhand is! :D Shrikhand to me is one of the most popular sweets churned out by families for festivals or weddings. Puri shrikhand, I thought was almost as famous and well known as Taj Mahal! :P Hey you can't blame the kid who was almost sick and tired of eating this sweet for every special occasion and the elders could never get enough of it ;) So it made me believe that everyone has to know what it is. You can't even blame the older me who ended up making a many friends from different parts of India who happened to know what shrikhand is and hence I happily concluded that everyone knows Shrikhand! :P

But as I came out of my shell and met more people, I realized there are a ton of people who don't know about this humble yummy and reasonably healthy dessert. There is no ghee, no heavy cream/milk and unlike most Indian sweets/desserts, sugar is probably the only bad thing about this one. Yes, its made from curd/yogurt which is hung overnight and flavored with simple yet divine ingredients like saffron, tons of nuts and cardamom. Use 2% or 1% yogurt to make even less guilty! :) :)

I used store brought yogurt. I usually make 2 versions of this. One of them is "Amrakhand" which is mango flavored and the other is cardamom and saffron flavored. The only effort is hanging the curd and there is no cooking involved. Easily scalable to cater large parties and I haven't met anyone so far who does not like this dessert! :)

The quantities of ingredients can be easily altered. The flavoring is totally up to you. Taste your shrikhand (repeatedly if needed ;) ) to get that perfect level of sugar and flavoring. One guideline is that the final quantity of shrikhand is almost less than half the amount of curd you start with.

What you need:

Plain yogurt (whole or 2% fat)
Sugar - should be fine (use powdered if they are big granules)
Muslin cloth to hang the curd

Saffron - 8 to 10 strands or more.
Milk - to soak the saffron (about 1/4th cup)
Powdered cardamom
sliced or crushed nuts - Pistachios and almonds.


Method:

1. Tie the curd in a large muslin cloth (a light cotton towel should do too.).
-- The way i do it : Spread the cloth on a large bowl/container. Pour the curd into the cloth taking care to restrict it to the container. Tie up the ends of the cloth in the center and make a tight knot as shown in picture. Lift this tied cloth up while keeping the container under it all the time as the water from the curd is going to start dripping. Suspend this arrangement at a convenient spot where it hangs freely with the container below it. I hang it to one of the kitchen cabinet handles and leave the container on the counter to collect the water.

2. Leave this arrangement overnight. The curd is going to release all water and you will end up with a thick curd.

3. Beat this curd with a spoon to remove any lumps. Traditionally there is a special kitchen tool called "Shrikhand paatra" which was used to remove lumps. But I don't use it and the shrikhand turns out just fine.

4. Soak the saffron in warm milk for about 15-30 mins until saffron releases its flavor.
5. Add sugar, saffron milk mixture and cardamom powder to the curd and mix well.
6. Taste and adjust the flavoring ingredients.
7. Add the nuts.
8. Serve chilled with or without puri. YUM! :)

Update(Tip) : My friend Shruti tried this dessert out and she said using Greek yogurt yielded a creamy yummy Shrikhand.

Carrot dessert

There are times when you really like a dish, get the recipe and make some changes to add your own touch. The result? Some times, a wonderful tasty dish, albeit different from the original thing you planned to make. It could be just the addition of a new ingredient or changing the quantity of an existing ingredient.

I had this really tasty carrot kheer my friend made and was happy when she said that it is a really simple and easy to make dish. The original kheer she made was of liquidy consistency. I wanted a dessert which was more pudding -ish or custard-ish. So here is my recipe for carrot pudding?/custard?/ thick kheer? Let's just call it carrot dessert! :)

What you need:
Carrots - 3
Milk - about 3 cups
Cashews - 8 to 10
Custard powder(vanilla flavor) - 1 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 2 to 3 drops
Saffron strands - 4 to 5 (optional)
Ghee 1 tsp
Chopped Almonds, raisins and/or any other nuts you like in your dessert
Sugar - as per your taste, depending on how sweet or fresh your carrots are :)

Method:

1. Dice the carrots into big chunks.
2. Pressure cook the carrots with 1 cup milk and the cashews. Once cool, puree the carrot+cashew+milk mixture
3. Dissolve the custard powder in some cold milk.
4. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the almonds and raisins if you are using them
5. Add the milk and bring to a boil.
6. Add saffron.
7. Then add the carrot paste and cook for 5-10 mins on medium heat.
8. Add the custard powder+milk mixture and let it cook till the mixture thickens.
9. Add sugar and vanilla essence
10. Check taste and add more sugar if needed
11. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

Serve chilled, garnished with a few almond slivers.

Broccoli Tofu stuffed paratha (Stuffed flatbread)

This is one delicious dose of health! Broccoli, tofu, whole wheat flour.. What more can you ask for in a meal? :) And good news is, my broccoli-averse  hub loves this! And everyone would! Its just so yummy! I usually make the stuffing in advance and making parathas in the morning is quick.

The thing with parathas is I can never go by a set quantity of ingredients. Just mix some amount of basic ingredient (broccoli and tofu), adjust seasonings as per taste. Ended up making more stuffing, great! Reuse it to make grilled sandwiches with cheese. :) Less stuffing = plain chapatis. :) So, there are no quantities specified in the ingredient list.

What you need :

Dough:

Wheat flour

Water

Ajwain seeds (Carom seeds) - optional

Stuffing:

Broccoli

Tofu - mashed 

Ginger

Garlic

Green chillies

Cumin powder

Pepper powder

Cilantro - finely chopped

Garam masala, a pinch - optional

Salt

Method:

1. Make a soft dough by mixing flour and water. Almost double the amount of water to flour. Mix in some crushed carom seeds if you like the flavor. You could add other ingredients to the flour like salt, oil, seasoning. But I just used flour, water and carom seeds.

2. Knead the dough well. Apply about half a teaspoon of oil to the dough and keep it covered for about 15 mins. Knead again and your dough is ready.

3. For the stuffing : Pulse Broccoli + green chilly+ ginger + garlic in a food processor till its coarsely powdered. Alternatively you could grate broccoli and mix in ginger garlic chilly paste. Microwave this mixture for 3 - 5 mins till the raw smell goes away.

4. Mix in the crumbled tofu, spices, finely chopped cilantro, salt and mix well. Adjust seasoning.

5. Make parathas by stuffing the broccoli mixture in the dough.

6. Roast with few drops of oil.

7. Serve hot with raita! YUM! :)

Thai Basil Noodles with Tofu

Thai Basil Noodles

My version of Thai basil noodles - with the preferred amount of spiciness, preferred veggies, smaller cut tofu pieces - sauteed to a lovely golden brown and tonnes of flavor from the basil! :) YUMMM... And of course added peanuts for hubby! (NOT YUM!) :P  

 

What you need :

Noodles - Rice noodles/Thai flat noodles

Tofu - cubed and shallow fried/sauteed
Fresh Basil leaves - About a handful
Salt
Pepper powder
Oil

Veggies:
Capsicum
Carrots
Broccoli
Mushrooms

Finely chopped or ground to a paste: Ginger + Garlic + Green chillies

Sauce: Mix together. Vary the proportions based on your liking for how sour/spicy you want.
Soy sauce 2 tsp
Vinegar 1 tsp
Sugar 3 tsp
Fresh Lemon juice 2 tsp
Chilli Sauce 2 tsp
Salt

Scallions/Spring onions
Coarsely ground peanuts for topping if desired

Method:

 
1. Soak/cook noodles as per packet instructions. You could use fresh noodles too, me thinks it might be tastier.
2. Heat Oil in a wok. Stir fry the veggies with a little bit of salt till almost cooked. You want the veggies to be crunchy yet done. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger garlic green chillies mixture. Add fried/sauteed tofu and the sauce mixture. Then add half the basil leaves. Cook for about a minute.
4. Add the stir fried veggies and cooked noodles.
5. Keep stirring until well mixed and noodles are a little fried.
Note: Depending on the type of noodles you are using, the frying time will vary. Check that the noodles don't get soggy.
6. I used flat rice noodles and fried them for about 4-5 mins.
7. Check seasoning. Finally add the remaining basil leaves, chopped scallions and mix well for about a minute.

DONE! :)

Serve hot hot with a dash of lime, ground peanuts and some chilli sauce if desired! :)