highfibre

Chavli kai palya /Cluster beans and chana dal dry curry:

August 11, 2017

Like any other veggie, even most neglected high fibre, low calorie, nutrition filled Cluster beans also has many names like, Gorikayi, chavlikai, Guvar, Kothavarangai, Goru chikkudi etc. in different Indian languages.

It is a type of green beans, which is short, flat and little bitter in nature. It is a “power house of goodness” but neglected in-between all kinds of veggies.

Yes, it needs some other vegetable, dal or potato to enhance its taste or to tone down the bitterness. Here in this recipe, we use soaked Chana dal and little bit masala to enhance the taste and this recipe is handed down to me by my dear aunty who is a super human being.

It is a perfect side dish for any kind of Indian flat breads or with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Cluster beans – ½ kg

Chana dal – 1 cup

Onion – 2

Fresh Coconut gratings – 1 fist full

Seasoning:

Oil – 3 to 4 tbl sp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Red chillies – 2

Hing – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 1 string

For masala:

Green chillies – 6 to 7

Cinnamon – 1” piece

Ginger – 1” piece

Garlic – 8 cloves

Coriander leaves – 10 strings

Method:

-Wash, soak chana dal in water for half to one hour.

-Cut cluster beans in to bit size pieces after washing and removing both the ends.

– Cook soaked dal and chopped beans for 2 whistles in two separate vessels by adding very little water.

– Put aside one serving spoon of cooked chana dal and pulse remaining amount of dal.

– Dry grind all the items under masala and keep aside.

– Chop onions.

– Take one thick bottomed tawa, Put oil, splutter mustard, hing, red chillies and curry leaves.

– Add onion, turmeric and fry nicely.

– Add ground masala,required amount of salt and fry nicely.When its raw smell vanishes, add roughly ground dal and fry for a while.

– Lastly add cooked cluster beans and dal which we have kept aside.

-Cook this until water becomes dry and garnish with fresh coconut. Mix nicely and heat this mixture for a couple of minutes.

-Serve either with rotti, phulka or hot rice.

Plantain stem and Moringa Rasam:

July 16, 2017

Where to start about the benefits of these two super foods? From my childhood, we used to relish banana stem and its flower in various dishes. Every part of banana plant is useful, be it its leaves, flower, stem, its outer fibre or fruit. No wastage of any part. Usually after the harvest of Banana fruit bunch, we should remove that plant and should allow its baby plant to grow and fruit. Usually after the harvest, banana plant is chopped off, outer fibre is peeled off and it is dried under the sun and used as a thread in tying Jasmine flowers. Inner core or pith is divided into 3 parts. Top most part, which is very slender and less fibrous will be used in raw salads. Middle portion is little more fibrous and used in cooking and making Dosa’s. Bottom part, which is more fibrous, mature and hard to chew will be used in juices, soups or Rasam’s.

Plantain stem is one of the best, natural high fibre vegetable. It also maintains fluid balance in our body and acts as a coolant, especially in Summer season.

Moringa or Drumstick leaves are considered as a “Power food” for its nutritionally rich nature.

Here I have combined these two ingredients and made Rasam and trust me it is very tasty and can be used as an appetizer shot as well.

Ingredients:

Plantain stem – 6- 8 inches long

Drumstick leaves – 1 cup

Tomatoes – 2

Tamarind – ½ tsp

Garlic – 8 cloves

Cumin – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 2 to 3

Salt

Jaggery – 1tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 table sp.

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

Hing – one pinch

Red chilli-1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

– Slice plantain stem into discs, remove thread like fibre while slicing.

– Chop the roundels into thin slices.

– Wash drumstick leaves, here you can use as it is, with its sticks intact. No need to remove intact stalks of these tiny leaves.

– Cook plantain stem pieces, drumstick leaves, chopped tomatoes, green chilli, tamarind in a pressure cooker for one whistle. Cool this mixture, grind and sieve. Discard the fibrous part.

– Dry grind garlic and cumin. Add this to collected solution, add salt, jaggery and boil for a while.

– Garnish with coriander leaves and do the seasoning.

– Heat coconut oil, add mustard, when it starts to splutter, add broken red chilli, cumin and curry leaves.

– Serve this as an appetizer shot before food or as a Rasam with hot rice.

How to Chop Fresh Bamboo Shoot/Kanile:

June 30, 2017

Kanile or Bamboo shoots are a seasonal, hollow grass which is a young shoot of Bamboo and it is available in a very short period of rainy season. It has very distinct subtle, earthy flavour with crunchy texture while eating. It is considered as one of the health foods because of its high contents of dietary fibres,minerals and low in fat.

Preparing Bamboo shoot for cooking is little bit of a work.

Traditionally We follow 2 methods:

– One is Chopping and soaking in fresh water for 3 days by changing the water regularly every day and using.

– I personally don’t prefer this method, because it emits little odour of bamboo shoot and prepared curry will also contain that odour.

– I usually follow this second method, which I learnt from my father in law, who was super knowledgeable in all these traditional cooking procedures.

– At first take harvested Bamboo shoots which we get in hilly sides, some shops or in all Mangalore stores of Bangalore in this season.

– I usually buy my stock from the Mangalore store. After buying, remove outer tough layer, which is brown in colour by peeling one by one starting from the bottom.

– You can use your hand to peel the outer shell.

– After removing this outer woody shell, you will see only inner core which will be white in colour.

– This white inner layer will have 2 parts. One is soft edible part and in between nodes.

– Nodes will be thick, little sturdy and can be used in pickle making by adding lemons or mangoes.

–Now this is ready to chop. Take one vessel, which is filled with water and chop and immerse it in a water.

– You can either chop circular fashion or bit size pieces. It is up to one’s choice.

– Start to chop from top of the conical area, proceed until you find a hard node. When you feel the node (here nodes were thick from 5^th onwards) discard the node by cutting that part and proceed the chopping.

–Now Take all the chopped bamboo, sieve the immersed water and put fresh water and cook this in a cooker for one whistle.

– When you open the cooker lid, you will see the water in yellow shade, discard this water by draining.

Now collect the cooked Bamboo shoot and it is ready to cook by removing its impurities and natural bitterness.Use it in whatever dish you want to make.

How to Use nodes in Pickle making –

-Collect nodes, chop however you want and proceed with the above procedure as bamboo shoot. Cook in a pressure cooker with water and strain the yellow water, cool completely and use in pickle making.

Sautéed Asparagus:

June 15, 2017

Asparagus is thin, pencil like green shoot. It is high in fibre and one of the most nutritious, food. Which is low in fat and calorie too.

Snap them at a natural breaking point and peel the outer tough fibre from the hard part and one can use this in any dish by slicing or as it is.

Asparagus is very delicious when it is sautéed or baked. It can be served as a “crunchy” side dish or salad.

Here in India, we don’t get plump variety and this time when I went to USA, in my sister’s house I tried this and it is much tastier than what we get it in Bangalore.

Ingredients:

Asparagus – 1 bundle

Olive oil – 1 table spoon

Red chilli flakes – 1 tsp

Garlic salt – to taste.

Method:

Wash Asparagus, snap them by hand at a natural breaking point.
If you want to use bottom woody part, remove outer fibre by peeling, either chop them or use inner core as it is in this salad or any other dish.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add asparagus, cook until it blanches. It hardly takes 2 to 3 minutes.
Drain and proceed to sauté.
Take one tawa, put oil and heat.

Drop Asparagus, sprinkle garlic salt and red chilli flakes and toss until you see a charred look.
Serve hot.

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