Chinese Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• Rice ~ 1 cup
• Carrot, julienned ~ ½ cup
• Cabbage, julienned ~ ½ cup
• Spring onions, slit into discs ~ 3 sprigs
• Salt, Black pepper ~ to taste
• Oil ~ 2 Tbsp.
• Soy sauce ~ 1 tsp.

Steps:

• Soak rice for about 30 mins before cooking. Cook the rice and keep it aside.
• In a pan on medium heat, add the oil and once hot, add the white portion of the spring onions and saute for a couple of mins.
• Turn the flame to high and add the carrots and saute for about a min, followed by the cabbage which also should be sauteed for a minute.
• Now add the salt, pepper and soy sauce and stir for another minute or two.
• Mix in the green portion of the spring onion, give it another stir and mix this with the cooked rice.

Recipe Adapted from Rak’s Kitchen

Spinach Stew

Ingredients:

• Spinach, cut roughly ~ 1 bunch (about 2 cups)
• Onion, slit lengthwise ~ 1
• Tomato, chopped into chunks ~ 1
• Tamarind paste ~ 1 tsp.
• Salt ~ to taste
• Oil ~ 1 Tbsp.
• Urud dal, mustard ~ 1 tsp.
• Red chilies ~ to taste
• Water ~ ½ cup, or as needed for desired consistency

Steps:

• In a pan, add the oil, and once hot add the mustard seeds and the urud dal, and once the mustard splutters add the red chilies.
• Immediately add the onions and saute until they turn soft.
• Now add the tomatoes and saute until they soften as well.
• Add the rest of the ingredients – spinach, tamarind paste and salt, and give it a good mix.
• Now add the water, cover and cook until the spinach has wilted.

Notes:

• Have this mixed with rice, and a curry (potato fry) on the side.

Beans Curry

Ingredients:

• Beans, cut into 1-inch pieces ~ 1 cup
• Coconut flakes ~ 2 Tbsp.
• Mustard, urud dal ~ 1 tsp.
• Salt, Red chilies ~ to taste
• Oil ~ 1 Tbsp.

Steps:

• In a pan, add the oil, and once hot add the mustard seeds, urud dal and red chillies.
• Once the seeds splutter, add the chopped beans & salt, sprinkle some water, cover and cook on low heat until the beans are cooked.
• Add in the coconut, mix well and turn off the stove in a couple of mins.

 

Chow Chow & Mochai Kootu | Chayote & Lilva Beans Kootu

Ingredients:

• Chow Chow/ Chayote, chopped into 1 inch pieces ~ 1 cup
• Mochai / Lilva Beans ~ ½ cup
• Moong dal ~ ½ cup
• Jeera ~ 1 tsp.
• Turmeric ~ a pinch
• Salt, Sambhar powder ~ to taste
• Oil ~ 2 tsp.
• Urud dal ~ 1 tsp.

Steps:

• Soak the mochai overnight and pressure cook it for about 4 whistles, until done. Also pressure cook the moong dal with the turmeric.
• In a pan, add the mochai, moong dal, chow chow, jeera, salt and sambhar powder, along with some water, and cover and cook until the veggie is done.
• In a separate pan, do the tadka – add the oil and once hot add the urud dal. Once the dal is brown, add this to the kootu.

Chickpeas Kuzhambu

Ingredients:

• Chickpeas/garbanzo beans ~ one 15 oz can
• Tomato, chopped into chunks  ~ 1
• Onion, slit lengthwise ~ 1/2
• Salt ~ to taste
• Mustard seeds ~ 1 tsp.
• Oil ~ 1 Tbsp.
• Water ~ 1½ to 2 cups

To blend:

• Onion ~ 1/2
• Coconut ~ 2 Tbsp.
• Sambhar powder ~ to taste
• Coriander powder ~ 2 tsp.
• Pottukadalai/Roasted gram ~ 2 Tbsp.

Steps:

• Blend all the ingredients under the “To Blend” list into a course paste with some water.
• In a pan add the oil and splutter the mustard seeds.
• Add the onion and saute for a couple of minutes. Now add in the tomato chunks and salt and saute until the tomato turns mushy.
• Mix in the chickpeas, blended paste and water, and let it all come to a boil.

Aapam / Rice crepe

Ingredients:

• Raw Rice (Pachai Arisi) ~ 11/2 cups
• Par boiled rice (Pulungal Arisi) ~ 1/2 cup
• Urud dal, Fenugreek seeds ~ 2 Tbsp. each
• Coconut flakes ~ 4 Tbsp.
• Salt ~ to taste
• Baking soda ~ a pinch

Steps:

• Soak the rice, dal and fenugreek seeds for about 8 hours.
• Grind these together with the coconut until it’s a smooth batter.
• Mix in the salt, and let this ferment overnight.
• Just before making the aapam add a pinch of baking soda to the batter and mix well.
• To make the aapam, take some batter and pour it in a aapam pan (or any non-stick pan with a lid), swirl it until it coats the interior of the pan, cover and steam until done.

Notes:

• The aapam does not need to be cooked on both sides. Just cooking/steaming on one side is enough.

Tomato Sambhar

Ingredients:

• Tomato, chopped into chunks ~ 3
• Onion, slit lengthwise ~ 1
• Toor Dhal ~ ½ cup
• Water ~ 2 cups
• Tamarind extract ~ 1 Tbsp.
• Mustard Seeds ~ 1 tsp.
• Fenugreek ~ 1 tsp.
• Turmeric ~ a pinch
• Sambhar powder, Corriander powder ~ to taste
• Salt ~ to taste
• Oil ~ 1 Tbsp.

Steps:

• Boil toor dal with water (1:3 ratio) and turmeric in a pressure cooker until well cooked.
• In a pan, add the oil, and once hot add the mustard and fenugreek seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the onion and saute until it turns translucent.
• Now add the tomatoes, sambhar and corriander powders, and saute for a couple of mins. until the tomatoes turn mushy.
• Add the tamarind extract, salt and the remaining water and let it come to a boil.
• Finally, add the mashed/cooked toor dal and let it all come together.