Paal Pavakkai/Bitterguard in milk

Did not find this on the net so far, strange...

2 bitterguards-sliced into discs, leave the seeds in.
2 onions-sliced-quanity should equal the fried slices of bitterguard
1 large tomato-cut into 1" cubes
1tsp fennel seeds
1tsp jeera
1" cinnamon
2 cloves
1tsp corriander powder
2 cups milk
1tsp chilly powder
1/2tsp turmeric

oil for deep frying.

Slice the bitterguard into roundels, not too thin.
Fry them up in oil till they are brown like chips. Rest them on tissues to pull out excess oil.
In a pan heat up a tblsp of oil.
Add the cinnamon, fennel, jeera and fry. Add the sliced onions and fry till translucent. Add the tomatoes, cook till tomatoes soften.
Add the turmeric, chilly powder and corriander powder. Fry for a minute. Add the bitterguard and salt. Cook for a minute. Add the milk and reduce heat to minimum and cook with lid on till it all thickens up. The bitterguard should soften up and almost all the milk should boil away.

Enjoy with roti/toast/rice.

Sweet and sour bitter guard - Pavakkai puzhi kulambu

Bitter-guard-quartered and sliced - 2 cups
One small onion-chopped
one tomato-chopped
1/2 tsp saunf
3 tblsp of thick tamarind extract
3 tsp jaggery
coconut milk-last extract-1 cup - optional
1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
1 tsp of corriander powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp chilly powder

Boil the bitter guard slices in water with turmeric and salt till almost cooked
A tblsp of oil in the pan. Add the saunf, then the onion. Fry till translucent.
Add the gg paste and fry. Add the corriander, cumin powder, chilly powder.Fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt. Let them cook a bit and then add the tamarid extract. Cook for a minute and add the cooked bitter guard. Add a little water if needed. Once all the oil starts separating, add the coconut milk if using it. Check salt/heat. Let it come to a thick gravy and add the jaggery finally.

Pita-the eating kind :D

Found these links most informative and interesting, got to try very soon :
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/salloum135.html
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread

Spicy apple chutney

Apples-Red/Green 3 - chopped
Ginger-1 inch - chopped or julians
Tamarind extract/Vinegar - 1 tbspn
Dates - 5 chopped
Dry grapes - a dozen
Jaggery - 1 cup

Pepper - 1 tsp - dry roast and crush coarsely
Red chilly - depending on how hot they are 1 or 2, dry roast and grind coarsely
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 inch piece, dry roast, keep it whole, so it can be removed later
Cloves - 6 - dry roast, keep it whole, so it can be removed later
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Add the oil to the pan, lightly fry the ginger and cumin seeds, then add the apples, salt, turmeric and continue with a lid on the pan. Once the apple is soft add the vinegar/tamarind, dates, grapes and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Then add the pepper, chilly, cinnamon, cloves, chilly powder and continue for another 5 mins on low. Lid on all the time.

Prepare jaggery syrup by boiling jaggery in 1/2 cup water. Filter this and add to the cooking mixture. Continue cooking till most water is evaporated and the mixture gets a chutney consistency.

You can add a whole lot of things to this if you wish:
Pineapple, green peppers, chopped onion, chopped garlic, palm sugar...let your imagination run.

Sweet Potato Curry

A very simple and quick dish...

1. Sweet Potatoes-250gms-cut into 1" cubes
2. Capsicum-one large-cut in 1" cubes
3. Onion-one large-chopped finely
4. Tomatoes-3 large-chopped finely
5. Garlic-one clove-chopped finely
6. Coriander powder-1tsp
7. Turmeric powder-pinch
8. Chilly powder-2 tsp, green chilly-1-slit
9. Cinnamon-1"
10. Curd-one cup-if you like you can use a sour one
11. Salt , oil, mustard seeds(1 tsp), jeera(1 tsp), urud dal(1 tsp), curry leaf-10-chopped

Heat the oil and add the mustard. Once they are done spluttering add the rest of the items in 11(except salt of-course;) ) and cinnamon. Add the onion and green chilly and fry till the onion are transparent. Add the tomatoes and capsicum and fry for 3 minutes. Add the turmeric, coriander powder, chilly powder and the salt needed. Mix and cook for a minute. Add the sweet potatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Add the curd and cook closed for few minutes, till the potatoes are soft. Should not take more than 8-10 minutes. Add little water if you want a little gravy. Done.

Can add ginger, cardamom, coconut milk/paste, peas, beans, cauliflower...use your imagination.

Came across this one, sounds interesting: Sweet Potato Eggplant Spinach Madras curry

Multipurpose curry base :)

1. 2 tsp ground nuts
2. 1 tsp cashew
3. 3 red chillies
4. 1 tsp till
5. 1 tsp coconut
6. 1/2 tsp pepper corn
7. 2 cloves of garlic(optional)

Dry roast the above.

To the above add:
1. 1 tomato
2. 1/2 onion
3. 1/2 lemon size tamarind

Grind into a fine paste.

This can be used as a curry base for almost any vegetable ;)

I have tried with plantain, brinjal and ridge-guard. They were gooooood....

Veg Chatpata

For Grinding:
1. One small onion
2. One small tomato
3. Cloves-2
4. Cinnamon-1"
5. Jeera-1 tsp
6. Urad Dal-1 tsp
7. Mustard-1 tsp
8. Green Chilly-1
9. Turmeric-a pinch
10. Corriander powder - 2tsp

Fry the above in oil and leave aside to cool. Grind to a fine paste.

1.Potato-1cup
2.Beetroot-1/2cup
3.Carrot-1/2cup
4.Peas-1/2cup
5.Capsicum-1/2cup
6.Paneer-1/2 cup
7. Beans-1/2 cup
8. Coconut milk-1/2 cup
9. Corriander leaves
10. Sugar-1 tsp
11. Fresh cream-2 tbsp
12. Lemon-1
13. Pepper-1/2 tsp


Cut all vegetables into half-inch cubes. Steam for 15mins except capsicum and paneer.
In a pan, heat 2tbsp of oil and fry the paneer and keep aside. In the same oil fry capsicum till it is tender. Add 1/2 tsp of pepper(coarsely ground) and fry.

Add the ground paste to the pan and mix well. Add a cup of water and let it come to a boil. Add the vegetables and paneer. Add salt. Let the mix cook for 2 minutes. Once it starts boiling add a tsp of sugar. Add the fresh cream, corriander leaves. Cook till you get a not too thick gravy. Just before serving squeeze the lemon into it.

Project Vegetable Korma

Recipe from Baawarchi
Recipe from NapaValley
Video from YouTube

Armed with the above information...we set out tonight...unleashing our spoons and knives :D

http://www.aayisrecipes.com
http://vivakarasamayal.blogspot.com
http://bhagavathy.blogspot.com/
http://spicychilly.blogspot.com/