Guests Dexterity

We intend to feature posts from our guests here - food blogger or not you are free to send in your recipes or any food musings. We will be happy to have you featured in our blog.

You may send in your recipes to kitchenspellsblog@gmail.com

Vendekka Mezhukkupuratti/ Lady's Finger Stir Fry/ Okra Stir Fry

Vendekka or Lady's finger has never been my favorite vegetable. I found it quite slimy and difficult to eat. Marriage makes you do things that you never thought you would.
Yes, I do cook Vendekka now and eat it as well because my husband loves it. What my mother could not do in years my husband managed in months! That's what marriage can do to you:)
No regrets!

Here is a very simple recipe for you this Onam straight from the USA. Safeera is a college mate of mine who sent across this recipe and managed to click some impressive pictures as well using yam leaf plucked from her backyard instead of banana leaf for a change.

There you go -

Ingredients

Vendekka/ Okra/ Lady's Finger - 1/2 kg
Tomato - 1 chopped
Onion - 1 chopped
Green Chilly - 1 to 2 slit
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Coconut Oil
Salt to taste

Method

Slit the vendekka and cut into 2 inch long pieces.

Pour the oil into a skillet, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter add curry leaves and green chilly. Saute it and toss in the vendekka, tomato, onion and salt.

Cook it covered for about 10 minutes.

There it is your Lady's Finger Stir Fry.

You may also note -

• Wash and pat dry the vendekka before you slice.

Ishtu - potato paalu curry

When I was on the lookout for Onam recipes, it was Vineetha who suggested Ishtu. I had no idea that this was an Onam dish that is pretty popular in the Thrissur region. It is quite fascinating to  note that same dish is called by different names with very slight variations in the recipes. Had I not begun a quest of Onam recipes may be I would not have known either.

Oh I forgot to introduce Vineetha - she is my TALL friend - yes I mean it literally. One thing I hate doing with her is posing with her for a photograph - so my height is left to your imagination. She is miles across in Brisbane and is currently busy shopping for Onam. This is a recipe from her kitchen.
I miss you Vineetha and there goes your recipe -

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 medium diced
Onions - 2 medium sliced
Ginger - 1 inch piece finely chopped
Green Chilly - 2 slit
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Coconut Oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Add the potatoes, onions, ginger and green chilly to a pressure cooker with water and required salt. Pressure cook it to 2 whistles.

Once the pressure is released, you can mash a few pieces of potato and put it back into the gravy.This thickens the curry.
Next add the coconut milk and bring it to a boil.Cook it on a low flame for a few more minutes till it becomes thick.
Finally add the curry leaves and drizzle some coconut oil.

Simple is it not? So why not make this a part of Onam Sadhya this year.

Sambhar

Sambhar is a traditional South Indian dish. I am not sure which state it belongs to - Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu seems to have adapted it as per their flavors and taste. It adorns the banana leaf for the festivities in each of the states. Sambhar is a popular dish for Onam as well and again the taste differs from the north to the south of Kerala. Here is an easy recipe for Sambhar, if you are hunting for one. 

The recipe was sent by Vinitha, my cousin. She is a wonderful cook, probably inherited our grandmother's cooking traits. We have had our fair share of cooking experiments together during the summer vacations at school.

Here is the recipe she has for you - 

Ingredients

Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Kaayam/Hing/Asafoetida - 1 small piece
Onion - 1 sliced lengthwise
Lady's Finger - 4 sliced
Potato - 2 medium sized sliced
Brinjal - 1 medium size sliced
Carrot - 1 sliced
Green Chilly - 2 slit
Tomato - 1 medium sized sliced
Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball
Sambhar powder - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste


For Tempering 

Mustard seeds -1/4 tsp
Red Chilly - 2
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Shallots/Sambhar Ulli - 2 tsp chopped

Method
Pressure cook the dal with salt and turmeric powder.Soak tamarind in warm water for about 15 minutes and strain the water. Keep this aside.In a skillet, heat oil and saute the kayam for a minute and then add the onions. Once the onions are slightly cooked, add all the vegetables except tomato . Saute it for few minutes and pour the excess water from cooking the dal into the vegetables and let it boil on low flame covered. Add a little bit of salt and turmeric powder to the vegetables. While it begins to boil, add sliced tomato, cooked dal and the tamarind water. Let it boil. Add the sambhar powder, mix well and let it boil. Once the potato is cooked, switch off the flame. In another pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter, add shallots, saute it well till translucent. Then add the red chilly and curry leaves. Pour it onto the hot sambhar and mix it well.Yummy yummy sambhar ready!

You may also note - 

• Add any veggies as per your choice. Each veggie may have a different cooking time, so you may add the vegetables one after the other. I also love using drumsticks and cucumber in my sambhar.
• It is a great way to have lot of veggies at one go.
• Avoid pressure cooking the veggies, it may get overcooked.

Kootu Curry

I had Kootu Curry just once before for a Onam Sadya at a friend's place. Somehow, I did not quite think of trying it out myself until this Onam season. And I am inclined to believe that I just got the perfect recipe for it. Thanks to Sreelakshmi or should I say her Mom?

Sreelakshmi is a good buddy of mine and we have had some really wonderful times together. Hoping to catch up soon:)

Thank You Sreelakshmi for this amazing recipe. We just loved it!

With no further ado, let us get to the recipe.

Ingredients

Raw Banana - 2

Yam/ Chena - 1/4 kg

Brown Kadala/ Black Channa - 1/2 cup (soaked overnight)

Jaggery - 100 gms grated

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated + 2 tbsp

Green Chilly - 2-3 

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Dried red chilly - 4-5

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 3/4 tsp

Coconut Oil

Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

Method

Soak the kadala overnight. Pressure cook with chilly powder and turmeric powder. Slice Raw Banana & Yam into small cubes and add this to the kadala. Let it cook for about 20 minutes on medium flame. 

Grind the grated coconut with jeera, green chilly and a pinch of turmeric powder. Add this mixture to the cooked vegetables and kadala. Add the grated jaggery to it and mix well (without mashing your veggies) Heat oil in a skillet, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add dried red chilly and 2 tbsp coconut. Fry till coconut turns brown and add the curry leaves.

Toss this to the curry. Tada! Its done.

You may also note -

1. Do not over cook the kadala or the veggies.
2. This is a dry curry, ensure to add just enough water.
3. Be careful while stirring, do not mash the vegetables.

Pineapple Pachadi (Mathura Curry)

The recipe of pineapple pachadi sent by my friend - Vani, who has also been a guinea pig for my cooking experiments before marriage:) The bubbly and talkative girl shares my love for cooking as well.

Here goes her recipe and what she has to say about it -

Pachadi is a traditional kerala dish usually served as a side dish for meals. Pineapple pachadi is quick to make and delicious to eat. Alternatively, beetroot, cucumber and carrots are also used to make pachadi. This dish is a awesome combo of flavours.If you love the combination of sweet and sourness, you should definitely give this recipe a shot.

Ingredients

1. Pineapple chopped-1 cup
2. Green chilly-2-3 (You can alter the spice quotient by going easy on the chillies)
3. Turmeric-1/4 tbsp
4. Curd-1/4 cup +(2-3)tsp
5. Salt -As required

To grind:
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green Chilly - 2 to 3

For Seasoning:

Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 3/4 tsp
Red Chilly - 2 tsp
Curry Leaves

Method

Skin the pineapple and chop into small pieces. Cook the pineapple adding slit chilly, turmeric ,salt and water in a covered vessel(add very less water as water tends to ooze out from the pineapple). Cook until the pineapple becomes soft.

Grind together coconut,cumin seeds,green chilly and 1 to 2 tsp of cooked pineapple into a fine paste. Add the ground coconut paste and cook till the raw smell of the coconut goes and the water evaporates. Add the whisked curd and mix well and switch off the flame.

Do not boil after adding curd. Let mustard seeds splutter in hot coconut oil. When it splutters, add red chilly and curry leaves and pour it over the pachadi.

Serve it along with rice.