Mixed Vegetable Raita...with a twist !

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Raita is a simple Indian salad always made with yogurt, some vegetables or any particular vegetable of choice and some simple seasoning. It tastes great when paired with pulao or biryani. If you want to add a salad to an Indian meal you cannot go wrong with raita. This dish features regularly in my kitchen and I never gave any thought to varying the usual recipe. Recently my mother in law was here with us and she mentioned to me that sometimes split gram lentil (also known as udad dhal) is roasted, powdered and added to the raita to give it a different flavor.

Her version of raita piqued my interest and I could not wait to try it the next time I was planning pulao and raita for lunch. This seemingly simple and slight variation really adds an interesting flavor to the raita and a touch of creaminess that really enhanced the raita. In addition when I tasted the yogurt with the powdered lentil in it, just before adding the vegetables, the yogurt taste reminded me of dahi vada (fried black gram lentil fritters soaked in yogurt). Of course once the vegetables are added this strong resemblance in watered down quite a bit. But anything that ever reminds me of dahi vada no matter how slight, wins my approval in the taste department, so this one is definitely a winner in my book :-)





Here is another view of the Raita.....





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Ingredients and Method to make Mixed Vegetable Raita

1 small carrot grated
1 large cucumber peeled and cut fine
1 large tomato cut fine
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (curds/ dahi)

1 tbsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal) (dry roasted until red and ground to a fine powder)


seasoning
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ kadagu)
3 small Thai / Indian variety green chillies (or according to taste) (cut very fine)
pinch of asoafoetida (hing/ perungayam) (optional)

salt according to taste ( I used about 3/4 tsp salt)


Dry roast the split black gram lentil on a medium heat until it starts to turn reddish. Cool thoroughly and powder in your spice grinder until fine.

In a large bowl, add the plain yogurt, the powdered lentil powder, salt to taste and wisk well together until it is smooth.

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds. When the seeds start to splutter, add finely cut green chillies and the asafoetida and give a mix or two until the green chillies start to change color.

Pour the entire mixture of oil + mustard seeds + green chilli mixture on top of the wisked yogurt and mix well.

In another bowl assemble all the vegetables mentioned above and give it a good mix.

Just before serving add the vegetables to the yogurt mixture and mix well and serve immediately

Notes

If the vegetables are added to yogurt well before time, the raita tends to get a little watery because the juices from cucumber and tomato get released, hence the need to mix it just before serving.

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Barley Pinto Bean Soup

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Usually when I eat out and try something different, unique, refreshing and delicious , I cannot wait to try and recreate it. I might make some changes to the ingredients but usually aim to achieve the taste that I remember. For the first time, I faced somewhat of a reverse situation to the one above. I was at a restaurant and I saw a barley pinto bean soup mentioned on their menu.

I thought the soup sounded pretty neat,but when I tasted the soup it was a huge disappointment. It did not taste bad,don't get me wrong,it just tasted so bland and boring that by the time I was done with the bowl of soup I was already mentally recreating this soup the way I thought it would taste good.

And that is just what I did the next week, I made this soup with the main ingredients basil, barley and pinto beans just as the one in the restaurant, only I flavored the soup with spices that I thought would work well and it added far more flavor and taste to the soup. R and I both loved this soup a great deal, it was healthy, hearty and it seemed perfect for the long cold evenings that we face these days.




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Ingredients and method to make Barley Pinto Bean soup

3/4 cup pinto beans soaked overnight in sufficient water with a pinch of soda (the soda is optional)
1 large yellow onion cut fine
2 medium tomatoes cut fine
1 inch piece ginger minced
3/4 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 small bay leaves
3 stalks of celery cut into little pieces
2 large carrots cut into little pieces
1/2 cup pearl barley
salt to taste
1 1/4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp red chilli powder (or according to taste)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin powder
Approximately 6 cups of water (or vegetarian vegetable stock) (I used water)


Drain the soaked pinto beans and fill with fresh water. Either on a stove top or in a pressure cooker cook the beans until soft but not mushy.Keep aside

In a separate pot, cook the barley in sufficient water until soft. Or use the pressure cooker to cook barley too. Do not throw away the water in which the barley was cooked. Keep aside

I placed both the beans and barley in small containers and placed the containers in a pressure cooker and pressure cooked both of them until soft ( for me that took about 3 whistles)

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat olive oil. Add onions to it and saute until onions are transparent.

Add the minced garlic and minced ginger and stir for about a minute.

Then add tomatoes and stir until tomatoes become soft and mushy.

Now add celery, carrots, bay leaves, dried basil, the other spices, salt to taste and water.

Let the vegetables cook until slightly soft, the add the cooked pinto beans, cooked barley. Adjust water if required and let it all simmer together for about 30 mins or so until all the flavors blend together.

Serve hot with bread of choice or crackers.

Serves about 3-4

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Spiced Cranberry Chutney

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Cranberries are not just pretty berries or just a visual treat. These berries, that are cousins to blueberries, are also known for their abundant health benefits . You may have already heard that cranberries are valued for their ability to prevent and treat urinary tract infection. But did you also know that cranberries have recently been recognized for their ability to prevent formation of kidney stones and their ability to lower LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and increase HDL cholesterol (the good one). That was something that surprised me when I first read it....

The good thing is dried cranberries have always been a staple in my pantry. In addition to snacking on these dried cranberries regularly, I also use them in my bakes as I did in my Orange flavored cranberry oatmeal bar. Fresh cranberries sadly, have never caught my attention or interest until this time. Available only around Thanksgiving, these tart, healthy and pretty cranberries suddenly caught my interest recently and I could not wait to try some chutney with it.

Although I used the reference of this chutney when I started out, I modified the recipe quite a bit to suit our palate. While making the chutney I tasted a little of it when it was almost ready and it seemed to be begging for some heat from red chilli powder to balance out the tart and the sweet flavors. I loved the subtle flavors of this chutney, the spices are mild and toned down and there is just a hint of heat from the chilli powder, overall this chutney reminded me a little of the south Indian apple pachadi / chutney .





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Ingredients and Method to make Spiced Cranberry Chutney

1 12 oz packet of fresh cranberries which yielded about 3 cups of cranberries (washed well and drained)
1 red sweet apple skinned, cored and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup of dried apricots cut into small pieces
1/2 cup of dark raisins
1/2 cup sugar + 4 tbsp sugar
1 cup water
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (increase to 1 tsp if you like more cinnamon flavor )
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (or according to taste) (optional)

In a large heavy bottomed pan, assemble all the ingredients mentioned above, place on heat and allow it to come to a boil.

Lower heat and let it simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly. (Total time it took me from start to finish was about 25 mins)

When the mixture starts to thicken it is done.

Cool and place in glass jar or glass dish and serve

Refrigerate the unused portion and use within a week or so.

Notes

Please do not use a plastic container, dish or jar to keep or store the cranberry as I have heard that the cranberry reacts with the plastic. Safely use a glass or steel container for storage and serving of cranberry chutney

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Cilantro Peanut Chutney and a hearty potato sandwich....

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Peanuts, I read recently, are not really nuts and actually belong to the family of legumes and are related to peas, lentils and chickpeas. I was quite amazed to read that they were not really nuts, who would have thought it.Anyway, peanuts in addition to being extremely versatile and tasty also pack a nutritional punch and are a good source of monounsaturated fats that are good for heart health. They are also good sources of Vitamin E, Niacin, Folate , Protein and Manganese.

My cousin S and I look for inspiration when planning our menus by asking the other what she is making for dinner/lunch. One such conversation led to a discussion of recipes which led my cousin S to mention that she regularly uses roasted peanuts in her cilantro chutney to lend some creaminess to it. I loved the idea and have since been regularly making this chutney, slightly varying the ingredients until it has evolved into this, what I call more or less a final version of the chutney. I love how this chutney works with pretty much everything but especially love it when I used them in veggie sandwiches.

As I mentioned in my post on Potato curry with flax and quinoa, this time I used the curry as a filling and this chutney as a spread to further flavor my sandwich. Needless to say the sandwich was such an enjoyable and fantastic treat for lunch that I am looking forward to making this combination soon again...





Here is a picture of the sandwich....




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For the Chutney

Ingredients and Method to make cilantro (coriander leaves) peanut chutney

1 cup packed cut cilantro (coriander leaves)
1 inch piece ginger cut fine
5 green chillies or according to taste cut into small pieces
1/2 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts
1/2 tsp salt or according to taste
1 tsp lemon juice


Wash and drain cilantro well, cut it fine and keep aside.

Depending on your blender jar add a little cilantro or all of it along with ginger, green chillies and dry roasted peanuts and grind together until it forms a smooth paste.

Add salt according to taste ( I needed abotu 1/2 tsp salt) and lemon juice and give it another turn in the blender.

Remove and use as required either as a dip, spread or to go with Indian flat bread or Indian crepes/ dosai etc
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You can keep any balance of the chutney in the refrigerator and use within a couple of days.

For the sandwich

Ingredients and Method to make Potato Sandwich

2 slices of any type of bread ( I used light honey wheat sandwich bread)
Chutney as required
Potato curry as required
Smart balance butter (or any other vegan butter or any butter )

Spread the chutney on one side of each slice of bread.

Add some potato curry to one slice of bread.

Close with the other one.

Heat your sandwich maker and when hot add a few drops of vegan butter to it and place this sandwich on it and close the sandwich maker.

Wait until it browns sufficiently or the green light comes on.

In case you do not have a sandwich maker, toast the bread with butter/vegan butter on a flat pan/ griddle / tawa, apply chutney and fill with potato curry as required.

Serve hot with ketchup or tamarind chutney

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Potato Curry with Flax and Quinoa

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Before I became aware of concepts like cutting carbs to lose weight , potatoes was one of my favorite vegetables and used to feature regularly in my kitchen. They also functioned as my favorite fall back plan, either when I ran out of ideas or the vegetable drawer in my refrigerator started to get empty. Unfortunately as is the case with many other foods I like...., potatoes too are neither very diet friendly nor superlatively healthy. So it rarely appears in my menu now and even when it does, it is included along with a chock full of other vegetables that satisfy my need for nutrition.

Yesterday though, I had a serious craving for some type of potato curry that I could use as filling for sandwiches that I planned for lunch. My mind refused to budge from the idea of making potatoes, so I decided to try and make it as nutritious as possible. And what can be more nutritious than a combination of sesame, flax, quinoa and peanuts. I dry roasted each of these along with other spices, powdered it and used it to spice up my curry. I absolutely adored how this curry turned out, it was very subtly flavored and tasted fantastic in sandwiches.I am sure this will taste just as good as a side for rice and dhal or stuffing for parathas (Stuffed Indian flat bread) or just to go with plain chapathis or rotis (Indian flat bread)




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Ingredients and Method to make Potato Peas curry with flax and quinoa

4 medium white potatoes cooked and mashed (Yielded 2 cups of mashed potatoes)
1 cup green peas (either fresh or frozen)


For the ground spice mixture
3 tbsp raw or roasted unsalted peanuts
3 tbsp quinoa (see notes)
4 tbsp brown sesame seeds
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
3 tbsp flax seed meal (powdered flax seeds ) (see notes) ( also known as Alsi)
3 dry whole red chillies (or according to taste)
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt according to taste (I used approximately 1 1/4 tsp salt for this quantity)

Cook the potatoes with their skin either in a pressure cooker or on the stove top. Cool slightly, skin the potatoes and mash it roughly. This yielded me about 2 cups of mashed potatoes

In a heavy bottomed pan dry roast each of the ingredients mentioned in the ground spice mixture until it turns reddish/ brownish and exudes aroma. If using roasted unsalted peanuts skip the roasting for the peanuts. Keep the roasted ingredients aside to cool thoroughly.

In the same heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds to it. When the cumin seeds splutter, add turmeric powder and green peas to it and saute the green peas until it is soft and cooked but not mushy. ( I used frozen thawed green peas so it cooked within a few minutes, fresh green peas may take a little longer to cook. If using fresh green peas sprinkle a little water to cook it faster)

Powder the roasted spices in a spice grinder until it turns into a fairly fine powder and keep aside.

The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.comAdd the cooked mashed potatoes to this, then add salt to taste and sprinkle the spice powder and mix well.

Let this mixture cook for a few minutes until all the flavors blend.

Serve hot with Indian flat bread (roti's) or as a side dish with rice or use it as a filling in sandwiches (as I did.... )

Serves approximately 4

Notes

In case you do not have quinoa try using 1 1/2 tbsp of flax seed/ flax seed meal and 1 1/2 tbsp sesame seed in its place

I used flax seed meal (powdered flax seeds) because I had that available, you could just as easily use flax seeds and powder it fine along with the other spices

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Sprouted Mung bean salad

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Salads when made right, can be such an invaluable resource in maintaining a healthy diet. But in addition to their health benefits, their visual appeal on any dinner table is not to be under estimated. I find myself turning to salads more and more often these days. In salads I find myself drawn to those that include some form of protein in them like this one with mung beans in it because it can be such a complete meal in itself.



I flavored this salad very simply with cilantro, lemon and green chilies and thought it turned out both refreshing and hearty. Try this if you want to include a colorful, flavorful and healthy salad in your diet :-)



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Ingredients and Method to make Cilantro flavored moong bean salad

1/2 cup mung bean (moong bean/ moong dhal/ paasi parappu) soaked in sufficient water overnight and allowed to sprout (see notes)
2 small tomatoes de-seeded and cut fine
1/2 of a large green bell pepper (capsicum ) or 1 very small one de-seeded and cut fine
1 large carrot grated
1 large cucumber skinned (or 3 to 4 small ones ) cut  fine
1 small Indian or Thai variety green chillies cut very very fine ( or according to taste)
a generous handful cilantro (coriander leaves)

salt to taste
2 tsp lemon juice (or to taste)

After soaking the moong for 8 to 10 hours, remove from water and tie in a fine muslin cloth or place in a sprout maker for another 8 to 10 hours to allow it to sprout.

Either pressure cook or stove top cook the soaked mung beans with just enough water for it to cook until soft yet firm. Once cooked keep aside the cooked mung until thoroughly cool. I prefer the stove top because it allows me more control over the cooking process and the beans retain their shape better.

In a large bowl assemble together the green bell pepper cut fine, grated carrot, diced cucumbers and mix well and keep aside.

Add cooked mung and green chili(es) to the assembled vegetables.

Also add salt to taste and lemon juice and mix well.
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Garnish with cilantro, serve immediately at room temperature, or chill for a few hours and serve this salad chilled. ( I prefer this salad slightly chilled but it tastes good even at room temperature)

Like all salads this one too tastes best fresh, but any leftover can be stored in the refrigerator for a few hours or a day at most.

Serves approximately 3 to 4

Notes:
If you do not want to wait to sprout the mung beans. Just soak for 8 to 10 hours, drain, cook until soft yet firm and continue with the rest of the recipe.

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