Cluster Beans & Butter Parota

The health benefits of cluster beans are in the protein and fiber they provide. Cluster Beans (known as gawar or guar phalli, goru chikkudu or kothavara) are a type of green beans which are a flatter, smaller cousin of the regular green (French or string) beans.

In India, cluster beans are commonly used in vegetable curries and lentil dals.  Unlike the regular green beans, cluster beans have a slightly bitter taste. To tone down the bitterness, freshly grated coconut, or tamarind, jaggery, and tomatoes are used.

The recipe for the following Cluster Beans was given by our keen supporter, Dianna Correa.  I tried it at home and have posted it for the benefit of our viewers.  Thank you Diana,  please do send us more of your favourites.  Dear friends/readers,  please do try it out,  its different and nice.

Ingredients :
½ kg. cluster beans
1 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
Salt to taste
½ cup water

Grind to a Paste :
¼ coconut
1 medium onion
4 green chillies
1 small bunch of coriander leaves

Tempering :
1 tablespoon oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
3 flakes garlic, crushed

String the cluster beans.  Break into 1” long pieces.  Chop the onions and tomatoes.  Heat oil, add mustard seeds and when they crackle add the garlic, curry leaves and onions and fry till soft.  Then  add tomatoes and fry till soft.

Add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes till the raw smell disappears.  Add the vegetable and sauté for 5 minutes.  Then add ½ cup water and salt.  Cover and cook till done.  P.S.  Do not add any sugar or jaggery.  The ground paste and tomatoes help to eliminate the natural bitterness of the cluster beans.

Butter Parota :

Want a simple and easy Parota recipe ?    These are a  big favourite with my boys;   who are never satisfied with just one or two.   The recipe I have given makes about 20-22 quarter-plate sized Parotas.   The dough should be kneaded well and should be soft – this ensures soft Parotas.   I use roughly this quantity of water, but it depends on the brand of dough you use.  After it is kneaded the dough should be soft but not sticky.  If it is sticky sprinkle a little more flour and knead again adding just a teaspoon more oil to your palms.

For the Dough :
500 grams White Flour/Maida (roughly 4 english tea cups)
250 grams Wheat Flour  (roughly 2 english tea cups)
Salt 1 teaspoon
Sugar 1 tablespoon
Oil 4 tablespoons
Hot Water to knead the dough (approx 2 -1/4 cup water)
Flour for rolling and sprinkling on the parota
Butter – softened 2-3 blobs

In a bowl sieve both flours.  Add salt, oil, sugar and hot water (straight from kettle)  – mix with a spoon till it cools and then knead with your hands till a soft dough is formed.  Apply a film of oil to your hands and knead for at least 5-8 minutes.  Cover with cling wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.

Make balls.  Roll into small disk, apply butter and on the butter sprinkle a little flour.  Take a knife and cut from the center to the edge.  Lift one of the cut edges and roll into a cone in a clock-wise direction.  Stand the cone (tip up) on the rolling board and press and form a ball.  Apply little flour and roll thin with a rolling pin to approx a quarter-plate size.  Fry on a hot tawa till done.  Let it fry well on one side before you turn it.  Too many turns will  make it tough; so limit to maximum  4 turns.  Press the sides gently with a flat tawa-ladle on the third and 4^th turn, so that they puff up here and there.     Brush with a little butter;  remove and keep warm in a bowl till serving time.

Ma Po Tofu with Steamed Rice

Hi folks – our friend Meira has come up with yet another awesome recipe for us.   Thanks and   “TOFU”  to you Meira ;)!!!!!………………………………..

Ma-Po tofu (or Mapo tofu) is a combination of silken tofu and stir-fried vegetables in a chilli-garlic and black bean-flavoured/soy sauce. The sauce is a thick, (non-runny) spicy brown broth. It’s a very popular vegetarian dish on the menu of many Chinese restaurants. Now you can make your own without stepping out of the house. You can make it non-veggie by adding thin slices of beef quickly sautéed in garlic and scallions. DISCLAIMER: I normally do not measure the ingredients that I use. Everything is eyeballed and guesstimated but I will try my best to provide you with some type of measurements! You can always reduce the ingredients, especially the salt and chilli and add more if you need, as per taste. Ingredients Yields: 6 servings 1 (12-ounce) packet silken tofu (please note: don’t use firm tofu, it needs to be silken tofu). 3 tablespoons corn starch 4 tablespoons soy sauce (I didn’t have black-bean sauce) 2 teaspoons vegetable stir fry sauce 2 teaspoons chilli garlic sauce, (add more if you want it a little more spicy) 4-5 low sodium vegetable soup/broth cubes, as needed, dissolved in water 250 ml water 2 green onions, thinly chopped 2 fresh Serrano chillies, sliced (they are the hot red Mexican chillies) 1 teaspoon sea salt, to taste 1 cup shiitake/button mushrooms, chopped fine in a chopper 2 large cup carrots, chopped fine in a chopper ½ red capsicum/bell pepper, chopped fine in a chopper ½ green capsicum/bell pepper, chopped fine in a chopper 4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (this is large cloves, if you have smaller cloves add atleast 8-10) 4 tablespoons cooking oil, as needed 1 teaspoon red dry chilli flakes 1 tablespoon coriander leaves/cilantro, coarsely chopped Directions Drain the liquid from the package of tofu. Slice the tofu in two, horizontally. Silken tofu is very delicate and easily breakable. Gently cut the tofu into 1/2-inch square cubes. Set aside. Mix the corn starch, soy sauce, vegetable stir fry sauce, and chilli garlic sauce. Set aside. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a wok. When the oil is hot, Place the slices of Serrano chilli. This will help bring a nice fragrance to the dish. Add a teaspoon of garlic.

As the garlic becomes slightly golden, stir-fry the carrots. When the colour becomes almost translucent, season with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. This will help keep a nice orange colour. Cook for about another minute. Don’t overcook the vegetables as they will continue cooking in the broth later. Add the bell peppers, and the mushrooms. To this vegetable mixture, add the 250 ml vegetable soup/broth. Bring to a boil. Add the corn starch-chilli sauce-vegetable stir fry sauce mixed liquid to the boiling broth. Continuously stir the broth as it will thicken very quickly. Add the cubed tofu into the wok. Check the texture of the sauce, it should be thick and syrupy. (If you find the sauce to be too thick, add 2 to 4 tablespoon of water. If you find the sauce to be too thin, add 1 tablespoon of corn starch to a bit of water and it to the sauce) Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the sliced green onions. Stir gently as the silken tofu can break. If you like it a bit hot/spicy add the dry chilli flakes. Garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves. Serve immediately with steamed rice. I served mine with Jasmine steamed rice. Enjoy!

Steamed Jasmine Rice & Egg Rendang

Eggitarians/Vegetarians rejoice.   This recipe is the brain child of Meira D’silva,  who has mixed and matched a recipe to cater to Eggitarians and Vegetarians.  Now is’nt that lovely!!!!!!.   Non-vegetarians,  no need to look so grim …this is for you too.   EGGSactly Meira eh ?  !!!!!!!!.   So here goes…..

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Jasmine Rice cooked in this manner is a favourite at our place. Goes well with Stir fry and Thai Red/Green Curry.

Since I don’t cook meat at home,  I literally try out every meat curry into an egg alternative. Some taste good and some don’t. This one did and hence sharing it with you all. It took me at least 5 times of trial and error to get this Rendang recipe right. The reason being, it uses a lot of the aromatic herbs (galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass) which can be quite repulsive and strong when eating…You really need to add the exact portions and cook quite a bit to die out the smell.

Steamed Jasmine Rice (Garlic)

Ingredients

4 Cups Jasmine Rice (I use Elephant Brand Jasmine Rice)

2 tsp garlic paste

2 vegetable stock cubes/powder. (Since I use the stock cubes as a measurement, I powder them)

1 Tbsp – Cooking Oil

Preparation:

Jasmine Rice has a high portion of starch content, hence to get the best results use a Rice Steamer.

Wash the Rice in water – just once.

Heat oil in a pan, add garlic paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock cubes or powder. Then add rice. Cook the rice for 3 mins mixing it often.

Transfer this into the Rice Steamer cooking container. Add water as per the guidelines of the steamer.  Check the taste of water to see if you need to add more salt.

Allow to cook.

When ready to serve, scoop into a cup, turn the cup upside down on the serving plate, garnish with dry garlic flakes/pieces

Egg Rendang

Ingredients

6 long dried chillies, seeds removed and torn in half (keep seeds if you like hot food)
150g onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3cm knob galangal, peeled
3cm knob young ginger, peeled and sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 lime leaves (rolled and sliced)
9 Eggs Boiled (You can add Beef or Chicken instead)
1 cup coconut milk
4 tbsp meat curry powder
½ cup water
1 cup desiccated dry coconut, toasted over low heat (until it turns brown) and ground
Salt to taste
1- 2 tbsp thick caramel soy sauce

Preparation

Soak chillies in hot water until soft. Place chillies, onion, garlic, galangal, ginger and lemongrass into a blender. Blend to a paste, adding a little of the soaking water from the chillies.

Heat a heavy based pan. Add oil and then fry the paste adding lime leaves. Mix and cook for 3-4 minutes, until fragrant.

Variation: Depending on your choice of egg/chicken/beef, use the options below

For Eggs:

Stir in coconut milk and then the curry powder. Add the water and the desiccated coconut (which will help thicken the rendang).

Add salt and Soy Sauce as per the taste.

Slit the boiled eggs slightly on 3 sides and cook for ½ hr.

For Meat/Chicken:

Add Chicken or Beef.

Stir in coconut milk and then the curry powder. Add the water and the desiccated coconut (which will help thicken the rendang). Stir and simmer for 1 – 1½ hrs, or until meat is tender.

Lastly, season with salt and soy sauce.

Note : Add additional water if meat is still not tender and continue to simmer. The rendang should have some sauce.

Cereal Savoury Snack

This is a recipe that has been forwarded by our friend and member,  Ms Meira D’silva,  from Melbourne,  Australia.  Thank you dear Meira;  and we hope that you are the pioneer of  a new trend on our Blog “Readers Recipes”. Readers/Members/Friends – please do send us your favourite recipes (with or without pictures) for publishing on your very own Blog;  “Bring On The Chef In You”.    Due credit will be given to you.   Over to you Meira !!!!!

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Most of my cooking or recipes are vegetarian or eggetarian (in search of a better word!), keeping hubby’s taste buds in mind!

I always try something that is easy to cook yet nutritious. This recipe was actually born out of one such search.

I’m not a big cereal fan, and there was this big box sitting in the shelf with no signs finishing. I thought I’d try my hand at making it into a snack, similar to a mixture. This takes about 5-7 mins to make and tastes wonderful with Tea or Coffee.

Ingredients:

• Cereal – 2 cups. I used Kellogs Cornflakes (original Kellogg’s® cereal). Any other unsweetened cereal works well.
• Salt – 1/2 tea spoon (add per taste)
• Chili powder – 1/2 tea spoon (add per taste)
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tea spoon
• Turmeric – 1/2 tea spoon
• Garlic powder – 1/2 tea spoon
• Curry leaves – 10-15 leaves
• Whole peanuts – 1/2 cup (roasted)
• Olive oil – 1 table spoon

Method:
Take a pan and heat it to medium.  Add oil.  Once the oil is heated, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add peanuts and saute for 2 mins. (It’s better to have the peanuts roasted before to get the crunchiness). Turn the heat to low.  Then add all other ingredients except the cereal.  Mix the ingredients well and immediately add the cereal.  Mix it well and turn the heat off.  Let it cool before you eat to allow the cereal to crisp.  Serve it with Tea or Coffee.

(Recipe courtesy :   Ms. Meira Dsilva- Australia)