Chana Dal with Spinach

by Trisha Vaz
This post comes with a little bit of a back story. One, that made me very sceptical about trying it out. Back in the day when we stayed over at my in-laws place for a short while, a chana dal with spinach would ever so often appear in the dinner rotation. I usually am very tolerant with food and will eat anything gratefully. So, I somehow ate what was essentially a bland mash of spinach and chana dal. Not one of my favorite food memories. Turns out this dish used to be made very well by my late mother in law, but the gang hasn’t been able to replicate or even come close to the dish she used to prepare. My husband often asked my to try it out. Between you and me, I was not very eager, after tasting the infamous mush.

Eventually I gave in to his requests and decided to try something different, something that essential had chana dal and spinach but was nothing like the original version. The resulting chana dal with spinach is really good. It packs a good amount of flavour and textures and has worked its way into my heart and my dinner rotation.

It is a simple dish and you can choose to serve it with some rotis / chapatis or as a side to your favourite meat dish.

Chana Dal with Spinach

125g Chana dal
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 green chillies, finely chopped (You can use just one if you’d like)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 fresh curry leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 cups spinach leaves, roughly chopped (You can also use baby spinach)
Salt, to taste

Wash the chana dal a couple of times in water and drain.

Soak the chana dal for about an hour. Drain the water.

Boil the chana dal in some fresh water (about 3 cups) and a tsp of salt. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cook the dal till it has softened but still has some bite to it. You DO NOT want a mush.

Drain and reserve some of the liquids.

Heat the ghee in a large pan over medium high heat.

Add the curry leaves, garlic and cumin.

Once the cumin sputters, add the ginger, chilli and turmeric and stir to mix well.

Once the spices have turned fragrant and have mixed well (should take about a minute or so).

Add the chopped tomato and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes, till the tomato softens and breaks down a little.

Add the chopped spinach / baby spinach and stir it into the spices till it has just wilted.

Add the drained chana dal and stir through. You can add a tablespoon or 2 of the reserved liquid, if you think it is too dry.

You want the liquid to all mostly dry up. Add it one tbsp at a time. You just want enough liquid to help warm the dal through without burning. You may not need any of the liquid at all.

Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.

Serve hot.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian

Zucchini Fritters

by Trisha Vaz
UPDATE:

Watch the recipe video here –

This recipe has quickly become one of my absolute favorites. Its a funny story,until a couple of months ago, I didn’t really care much for Zucchini. They aren’t easily available in Mumbai but I’d had it as a side dish at a couple of restaurants and every single time, I personally found it revolting. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about in blogland. I saw so many blog posts with so many absolutely delicious recipes, I figured it was just me, something I didn’t like and was going to have to live with it. Again, this was hard for me to understand, because there aren’t too many things that I don’t like. Anyway, life went on. And then when I moved to Sydney, my aunt invited us to spend the day with them at their place in Woy Woy. At dinner, one of the sides that my uncle whipped up was a simple veg. stir fry, which had zucchini in it and you know what, I loved it, much to my surprise. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a one off thing, so I decided to try my hand at cooking it myself.

After a few minutes online, I had found a recipe I knew would be nice. I bought some zucchini from my favorite Paddy’s market (Haymarket). I had the rest of the ingredients on hand. This recipe is fairly quick to put together, apart from hand grating the zucchini. If you have a food processor that can do the job for you, go for it. Nothing like saving time and effort. Its simple and quick to put the batter together and then all you do is fry it up. Within a short while, you will be sitting down to some pretty amazing fritters. My husband and I love these little guys so much, I’ve made them thrice already. And trust me, I can see myself making these fritters many more times to come. Try it out for yourself and see how good these are.

Zucchini Fritters

2 medium zucchini
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 chilly, finely chopped
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup grated cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp. fresh coriander, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup of bread crumbs, approx
2-4 tbsp olive oil

Grate the zucchini coarsely. Sprinkle a little salt (about 1/4 tsp.) over it and let it stand for about 10 minutes. The salt will draw out all the excess liquid. Place in a colander and squeeze to drain out as much excess liquid as possible.

Place the grated zucchini in a bowl. Add the onion, chilly, flour, cheese, salt, coriander, oregano and bread crumbs. Whisk the egg and add to the batter. Mix all the ingredients together. If the batter is to wet, add a tbsp or 2 of bread crumbs.

Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Place spoonfuls of the batter onto the pan and using the back of the spoon, flatten it out a bit and shape into fritters. Fry on medium heat till it turns golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side till it turns golden brown too.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!

** I have tried this recipe using cream cheese as well as grated cheese and both times, it was delicious. Feel free to experiment with your favorite cheese.

This recipe has been shared at –
Show Me Your Plaid

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Sides, Vegetarian

Curried Red Kidney Beans – Rajma Masala

by Trisha Vaz
A couple of days ago, I found a little treasure. Atleast to me it feels like one. I’ve always loved collecting recipe books or recipes from all over the place in the hope of trying them out someday. About 5-6 years ago, before I’d ever even thought about blogging, I’d printed out a bunch of recipes and filed them, and with time, the file kept growing, but I never really got around to trying too many of the recipes. (The only downside to it was I never really thought about documenting the source of these recipes, so unfortunately can’t credit the source. I will try to hunt them down but haven’t had much luck yet.) Then with the many tasks that occupied my day, not to mention an extremely stressful job, taking care of my home, moving from one house to another, and so on, this precious file of mine somehow fell off my radar and ended up in the deep dark recesses of my book shelf. This my friends, is what I found the other day. I was quite excited and quickly perused through it looking for vegetarian options and to my delight, I found quite a few.

The first one that I tried was the Rajma Masala or Kidney Beans Curry. I’ve tried a couple of recipes for curried Kidney Beans in the past, but this one is my husbands favorite and considering the fact that he doesn’t like kidney beans, that says a lot. I loved the simplicity of the recipe. This one is a keeper.
Rajma Masala 

1 cups red kidney beans
2-3 onions, roughly chopped
3/4″ ginger
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
2 green chillies, slit
2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Soak the rajma in water overnight or alteast for 4-6 hours.
Drain, rinse and cook the rajma in fresh water till it is tender. I pressure cook it for 10-12 minutes on slow fire after the first whistle. Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.
Grind the onions, ginger, garlic and garam masala powder to a paste.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and let them sputter without burning them. Add the onion paste. Saute it till the paste has cooked off and the oil separates. 
Add the chopped tomatoes and continue to saute till the tomatoes are soft and have incorporated with the onion paste and the oil starts to separate.
Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and stir well till mixed. 
Add the green chillies and the beans and stir gently to avoid mashing the beans, making sure the spices coat it well.
Let it cook on high heat for a couple of minutes.
Add the reserved liquid that the beans were boiled in till you have reached the consistency you like. You may not need to use all the liquid or if your reserved liquid is not sufficient, you can add water.
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
Lastly take it off the heat and add the chopped coriander leaves. 
Serve hot.
Note: Sometimes this is served with a dollop of butter on top.


This recipe is linked to –
Full Plate Thursday

                                        

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Dal Khichdi

by Trisha Vaz
Here’s a quick post and an even quicker recipe. Khichdi is a rice dish cooked in a pressure cooker for about 10 minutes and seasoned in many different ways, depending on which part of the country your eating it in. I’ve eaten a Dal Khichdi which is a rice and lentil dish and a Paalak khichdi, a spinach and rice dish. I’ve not yet tried making the Paalak Khichdi at home. If you have I’d love if you could share the recipe with me so that I can try it out too. The Dal Khichdi, however, I’ve tried multiple times. This khichdi should be served with some aachar or pickle. You could also serve it with a side of salad or yogurt, if you’d like. I’ve tried a few takes on this and the one that I made a couple of days ago, I think, was my best attempt so far.

Dal Khichdi


1 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilly, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 garlic peels, finely chopped
1 tbsp veg. oil
1 tbsp. ghee or clarified butter
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 cup rice
1/4 cup split lentils (I use whatever I have on hand usually moong or masoor dal. This time I used a combination of both)
1-2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves and tender stems, chopped
Salt, to taste

Wash the rice and the lentils together and let them soak for 10-15 minutes. You can start prepping the rest of the ingredients in the meanwhile.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the cumin seeds and let them sputter, taking care not to burn them.

Add the chilly and the onion and saute till the onions are soft and pinkish brown.

Tip in the turmeric powder and stir till well mixed.

Drain the rice and lentils that have been soaking and add them to the cooker. Stir gently to mix everything.

Add salt to taste and 4 cups of water.

Stir gently. Cover the pressure cooker and add the stopper.

Cook on high flame. After the first whistle, cook on low flame for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the pressure drop on its own.

Once the cooker can be opened, add the chopped coriander and stir to mix.

Prepare the tempering. In another small frying pan, place the ghee and the chopped garlic. Let it saute gently on low fire till it turns fragrant. Don’t burn the garlic as you’ll lose all the flavor. Add this ghee and the garlic to the cooked rice and stir to incorporate.

Serve pipping hot.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Peas Pulao … yes please!

by Trisha Vaz
I love peas pulao! There, I said it. This mildly flavored rice dish adorned with little green peas is something that I can eat by itself with a fresh garden salad on the side. Having said that, this rice is usually whipped up in Catholic homes all over Mumbai and Goa for a special meal, be it a festive occasion or a birthday or any other gathering. It pairs amazingly well with a variety of meat curries, like pork sorpotel, chicken cafreal and many, many more, and I can tell you it is a real treat. I look forward to sharing my family recipes for these meat curries with you soon.
 
For now, we’ll get back to the peas pulao. The preparation is really simple and the few spices used add a fragrant warmth to the rice rather than a spicy heat. Don’t let the simplicity of this dish undermine its flavors. Try it out and see for yourself.
 
A lot of folks seem to have trouble with the rice ending up very soft and mushy. This happens for a number of reasons like wrong amount of cooking water, too much stirring while the rice is cooking etc. I’ve made this rice hundreds of  times and have never encountered such a problem. So I think if you stick to the measures, you should be good to go.

 



Peas Pulao


2 bay leaves
1-2″ cinnamon sticks
2 pods green cardamom
4-5 cloves
6 black peppercorns
1/2 large or 1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 cup long grained rice
2 cups water
1/4- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A handful of green peas
Salt, to taste

If you’re using frozen peas, keep them out to thaw for a while.

Wash the rice and leave it to soak in some water for about 15-20 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Heat the oil mildly in a vessel and add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns and let them warm up and infuse the oil with their aromas and flavors, taking care not to burn the spices.

Add the chopped onion and saute till the onions and soft and translucent and start taking on a little colour.

Add the turmeric powder and stir well.

Drain the water that the rice was soaking in and tip the rice into the vessel.

Stir gently making sure you don’t break the grains down while stirring.

Once the rice is well coated with the spices in the pan, add the water, salt to taste and the green peas.

Cover and let it cook on a low flame, till all the water has been absorbed.

Fluff up the rice using a fork and not a spoon so that you don’t mash the grains.

Serve hot with your favourite curry.

Please remember that if you’d like to change the quantity of rice used, the rice to water ratio should always be 1:2. That is 1 measure of rice to 2 measures of water to cook it in.

This recipe is linked with –
My Meatless Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays
Mangia Mondays
A Little Birdie Told Me

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Goan Recipes, Mains, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Bombay Street Food Special #6 – Aloo Cheese Frankies – Mumbai Style

by Trisha Vaz
As promised yesterday, today I’m going to share with you a meatless version of the delicious frankie – The Aloo Cheese Frankie. Potatoes and cheese – to me that’s a match made in heaven.

Check out the post on the Chicken Frankie for the naan roti recipe and instructions on how to assemble the frankie.

Aloo Cheese Frankies


For the Aloo Cheese filling – 


2 potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
Salt, to taste
1/8 tsp chilly powder
A pinch of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
A pinch of amchur powder (dried mango powder)

Mix all the ingredients well. Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.

Here are the details on the recipe for the roti and the frankie assembly.

UPDATE: One thing I’ll probably try out the next time I make this, is I’ll make a long sausage of the mashed potato filling and lightly fry it off on a pan and then use it in the roll. I would love to see how that works out.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Tricolored Vegetable Pulao

by Trisha Vaz
This is a recipe I came up with on the go. This Saturday, I was presented with a situation where I had a couple of really great side dishes(one of them being fish cutlets and the other I will share with you shortly) for lunch and I  needed to whip up a nice rice dish. I didn’t want to use my regular pulao recipe (which I’ve just realized I haven’t shared with you yet, but I will), so I decided to try making a vegetable pulao. Usually I only ever use peas in my rice, but this time I felt a little adventurous and used some corn kernels, peas and chopped up carrot. I ended up with a tricolored medley of vegetables in my rice, hence the name Tricolored Vegetable Pulao. Doesn’t it look pretty. I was very happy with the way it looked and it tasted great. I think I’d be able to eat this by itself. This dish is also ideal to prepare if you have kids in the house that don’t each too much spice, I’m sure they’ll love it. Try it out and you’ll see for yourself why this is a kid friendly recipe.

Tricolored Vegetable Pulao


1 cup rice
2 bay leaves
2″ cinnamon
6 cloves
4 pepper corns
2 pods of cardamom, whole
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp vegetable oil (You can use ghee/clarified butter if you prefer)
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 cup green peas (You can adjust this quantity to suit your liking, I used a little more)
1/4 cup corn kernels  (You can adjust this quantity to suit your liking, I used a little more)
1 onion, chopped

Wash the rice and soak it in some water while you prepare the other ingredients for the pulao, about 15 minutes.

Heat some oil in a vessel and add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and pepper corns. Let it infuse the oil with its flavors.

Once you can smell the aromas from the spices, add the onions and saute till they are soft and translucent.

Add the vegetables and stir fry them for a couple of minutes. Add salt to taste.

Drain the rice and add it to the veggies. Stir gently.

Add 2 cups of water. (I use a 1:2 rice to water ratio while making a pulao.)

Stir gently to mix everything. Cover and cook till all the liquid is absorbed.

Turn off the fire and fluff the rice up using a fork.

Serve hot!

This recipe is linked to –
Mouthwatering Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Mangia Mondays
My Meatless Mondays

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Aloo Bhaji

by Trisha Vaz
UPDATE: Over the years, I’ve made one little addition to this recipe, that I think makes this recipe even more delicious. After the mustard seeds sputter, add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and let it release its aroma, should take a few seconds. Then continue with the recipe. Nothing else changes. Keep a close eye on the cumin seeds and don’t let it burn.
Also, I have come to realise that there is a difference in the size of sour limes found in India and other countries. You need just a few drops, maybe a teaspoon of it for a mild change in flavours.

I’ve been having such crazy days of late, I just don’t know where all the 24 hours off the day go. Things such seem to be happening at such a frenzied pace, and that too for no reason in particular. I wonder what brought this on. Since I haven’t been able to devote much time to this space, I decided I was going to make up for it by posting one of my all time favorites – the humble aloo bhaji (A mildly spiced potato stir fry.) I do love my fries and mashed potatoes, but sometimes I find myself longing for a portion of this stir fry.

Making this stir fry can be super quick, not to mention easy, if you have a few boiled potatoes at hand. Make sure that when you’re boiling potatoes for this stir fry, you don’t overcook them, else they will not hold their shape and get all mushy. It’ll still taste great, but just won’t be as much of a visual treat. I usually wash the potatoes and pressure cook them with some water and salt for about 10 minutes after the first whistle. Remember to turn your gas to low after the whistle. If you don’t want to use a pressure cooker, peel and cube the potatoes and cover them in water, add a little salt and boil them on the stovetop till tender.
This stir fry is a versatile side dish. In India, every region tweaks it a little and uses it in loads of different ways.  It can be served with some hot chapatis (Whole wheat flat bread), pooris (savory deep fried flat bread), used as stuffing for masala dosas (savory crispy crepes filled with this potato mix) and so on. I’m going to try to post each of these in the future. Oh! and by the way, this potato mix makes for a lovely topping on a slice of toasted bread or can also be used as a filling for a grilled sandwich. How about that!

Watch the video here –

Aloo Bhaji
(Serves 4)
3-4 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed (about 1/2 kg)
1 large onion, chopped
2 birdseye / green chillies, sliced (or to taste)
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp (scant) turmeric powder
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
1/2 tsp sugar

Heat the oil in a pan. 
On a medium flame, add the mustard seeds and let them sputter.

Add the curry leaves and the chopped chilly. Let it fry for a few seconds.

Add the cumin seeds and immediately after tip in the chopped onions and saute it for a few minutes till the onions have softened and turned a light brown.

Add the turmeric powder and stir well. Let it cook for about a minute. Stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.

Tip in the potatoes and stir well till the potatoes are well coated with the spice mix. 
Add the lime juice and salt to taste and stir well. 

Add the sugar and stir well.

Check for seasoning and adjust, if needed.

Once the potatoes have heated through, sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and toss lightly. Take the pan off the heat.
Serve hot.


This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday
Mangia Mondays
My Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Hearth and Soul

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Goan Recipes, Mains, Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian

Chole (Garbanzo beans curry)

by Trisha Vaz
This is another popular dish in India. There are many recipes you will find to make this curry. This is a simple recipe and one of my favorites. This curry is usually paired with Baturas or Pooris but goes very well with chapatis (whole wheat Indian flatbread) as well. It also goes well with plain boiled rice. I will have posts up on baturas, pooris and chapatis. Stay tuned. This is a thick gravy, also called a chana masala because of this very reason.

Chole (Garbanzo beans curry)


100 gms. dried kabuli channa (Garbanzo beans)
2 kashmiri chillies (dried red chillies)
3 onions, peeled and cubed
2 green chillies (or to taste)
1″ ginger, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, roughly cubed
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. red chilly powder
1 tsp. garam masala powder
1 t 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water.

Rinse out with fresh water the next day and pressure cook with 2 kashmiri chillies and about 1 tsp. salt. Cook for about 15 minutes after the 1st whistle.
If you aren’t using a pressure cooker, simply cook till tender. Reserve the stock.

In a blender, blitz the onions, chillies, ginger and garlic till you get a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a pot/vessel and tip in the onion paste. Sauté for a few minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn.

While this is cooking off, tip the tomatoes in the blender and puree. Keep aside.

When the onion paste has thickened, add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and garam masala powder and stir till well mixed with the onion paste.

Add the tomato puree, stir well and let it cook off on a medium flame till you see a little of the oil at the sides of the masala paste. It should take a couple of minutes.

Add the cooked beans and stir gently. Let it cook in the masala for a couple of minutes.

Add some of the water in which the beans were cooked to the pot till you get the desired consistency. Let it thicken a little.

Check for salt. Adjust if needed.

Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and gently mix through.

Serve hot!

**Check back for the next post which will show you another interesting use of boiled garbanzo beans.**

This recipe is linked to –
Not Baaad
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
My Meatless Mondays
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
The Blog Entourage
Mouthwatering Monday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Bean and Spinach Bake

by Trisha Vaz
This is a baked dish that I really enjoy. I’ve been making it for about 4 years now, though I don’t make it very often. I’ll bet you’re wondering why. Let me start by telling you that this is one tasty concoction, however, my husband isn’t fond of baked beans. He isn’t a very picky eater and he’s had to sample some of my not so good creations as well, and I must say he does that without complaining. But his opinion of whatever I make means the world to me. And to make up for it, I try and keep his not so favorite stuff to a minimum. So if I’m having folks over for dinner or I’m cooking a bunch of other stuff as well, thats when I sneak this one in. This is a recipe from Nita Mehta’s Continental Cooking for the Indian Kitchen.  

 
 
Bean and Spinach Bake
Serves 8
 
200 gms mushrooms, sliced
100 gms baby corn, cut into 1/4″ thick round slices
3 tbsp. butter
4-5 cups spinach leaves, finely chopped
1 cup tinned baked bins
1/2 tsp. red chilli flakes
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
4 tbsp. bread crumbs
50 gms mozzarella cheese
For the sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. cornflour (Sometimes, I use all purpose flour and it works just fine)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3-4 flakes garlic, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Crushed black peppercorns, to taste
In a pan, add 1 tbsp. butter and cook the spinach till all the water dries out.
Stir fry for a couple of minutes, till it appears fried.
Add bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. The bread crumbs prevent the spinach from turning runny.
Transfer to a shallow baking dish.
Layer the baked beans over it.
In the same pan used to cook the spinach, heat 2 tbsp. butter.
Add the mushrooms and baby corn and sauté for 5-7 minutes till it starts getting brown spots. 
 
Add red chilli flakes, salt and pepper to taste.
 
Arrange this over the baked beans.
 
Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together in the same pan used to cook the veggies and cook stirring till it thickens and begins coating the back of the spoon. 
 
Pour the sauce over the baby corn and mushrooms. 
 
Grate cheese on top. 
 
Bake at 200ºC for 15 minutes.




This recipe is linked to – 
Tasty Tuesdays
Tasty Tuesday
What’s on the Menu Wednesday 
Real Food Wednesday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian