Heavenly Sesame Potatoes in Hot n Sweet Tomato Sauce

This recipe has probably spent the maximum number of days in my bookmarks. At the time I read this, I had just  moved to Singapore and didn't have a kitchen, let alone sesame oil and the rest of the ingredients this recipe requires. I finally made it a few weeks back and it was as yummy as I had imagined. Thank you Rajani for a keeper of a potato recipe that's both easy and delicious.

Heavenly Sesame Potatoes in Sweet Tomato Sauce
Adapted from: Rajani's EatWriteThink


Ingredients:
Serves: 2

2 large potatoes, cut into wedges (I used russet potatoes)
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 tomatoes, sliced into small pieces
1 small capsicum (or half of one), chopped fine
2 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp brown sugar (white sugar is also fine)
1 tsp crushed garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic paste)
1 tsp red chilly powder
2 tbsp gingelly / sesame oil (must use this oil)
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves or spring onions, for garnish

How I Made It:

1. Shallow fry the potato wedges in oil until golden brown. Set aside to drain on a kitchen napkin.

2. In the remaining oil, add the onions and garlic and fry until golden brown. Then add the chilly powder and fry for a minute. Then add the tomatoes and saute until soft and mushy.

3. Turn heat to high and add the soya sauce and sugar. Fry on high for a minute and lower to medium heat. Add the capsicum and salt and mix well. Remove from fire after about 3-5 minutes.

4. Spoon this sauce over the potatoes and serve warm with garnish.

Beans Mezhukkupuratti / Stir Fried French Beans Recipe

What do you get when you lightly fry up any chopped vegetable and a paste of shallots and garlic in some oil and  add salt and some chilly powder? Mezhukkupuratti! Its a quintessential Kerala side dish, often made to complement a gravy that's coconut-rich (is it wrong that my mouth is watering as I type this?).

Anyway, this beans mezhukkupuratti is not just any mezhukkupuratti. This is Pennamma chechy's recipe. Pennamma chechy was my best friend's maid. Yeah, I will give you a minute to figure that out.

Ok so, Deepa, my BFF, had a maid called Pennamma chechy, a typical Catholic lady who cooked amazing Kerala food and each time I eat at Deepa's place, there's always mezhukkupuratti and its always always yummy. Once I asked her for the recipe and since then, I have never made mezhukkupuratti any other way.



Beans Mezhukkupuratti
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
1 cup French beans, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 small onion, thinly sliced (optional)
8-10 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp jeera / jeerakam
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of turmeric
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds and jeera. When the seeds pop, add the onions (if using), beans and the curry leaves.

2. Lower fire to sim and stir fry the beans until almost cooked. This will take about 12-15 minutes.

3. Grind the shallots and garlic with the turmeric powder and add to the cooked beans. Increase the heat a bit and fry, stirring well, until the shallot-garlic paste is golden brown.

4. Add salt and chilly powder. Fry for another minute.



Serve hot with steamed rice and any coconut based gravy, like thella pulusu or theeyal.

Soya Chunks Kurma Recipe

We like soya chunks, for its meaty texture, for its flavour-absorbing nature and for all that protein it hides in there. What we are not a fan of is the smell it gives out. Here are a couple of tips shared by readers in my Chilli Soya Chunks Recipe post. 

- Add some minced garlic to the nuggets and boil in water for 5 mins. Cool, squeeze out extra water and use

- Soak nuggets in a bowl of hot water along with 3-4 spoons of milk - that takes away the raw soya taste and leaves the soya nuggets creamy and smooth.

I have tried and they both work. I used the second method for this recipe. The list of ingredients may seem long but its all pantry staple in an Indian kitchen so you won't need to go running for anything, hopefully :)

Soya Chunks / Meal Maker Kurma Recipe

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

1.5 cup soya chunks

1 large onion, sliced long

1/2 cup chopped mixed vegetables (carrots, pea, beans, cauliflower, anything you have in the fridge)

1/4 cup grated coconut, ground in a mixer

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chillies

1 tsp red chilli powder (optional, or adjust to taste)

A pinch of turmeric powder

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Spices:

1 bay leaf

2 pods cardamom

3 cloves 

1" piece of cinnamon

1 star anise (optional)

1 tsp roasted jeera / cumin powder

1 tbsp coriander / malli powder

How I Made It:

1. Soak soya chunks in a bowl of hot water along with 3-4 spoons of milk. After about 20 mins, drain, squeeze out all excess water and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry until transparent and add all the spices. Fry for 2 mins until the flavour and smell comes out. Then add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and chilly powder/green chillies. Fry for another 30 mins. 

3. Next, add the ground coconut, mixed vegetables and soya chunks. Mix well and cook closed for about 10-12 mins until the vegetables are soft. There's no need to add any water, the soya chunks will give out water as they cook. 

4. Once the vegetables are done, add salt, lower flame to sim and add the coconut milk. Mix well, bring to a soft boil and remove from fire. 

Goes very well with chapatis, rotis, nan and pulao.

Aloo Posto - Bengali Aloo / Potato Recipe

Reema sent me this recipe for Bengali Aloo Posto ages ago (over a year back, to be precise). I had to first get some poppy seeds from India because apparently they are not available (aka banned) in Singapore. Poppy seeds are said to induce a high and generally make you sleepy if you take it in large quantities. Although this aloo posto disappoints in that regard, there's a payasam / payash they make in Karnataka that is said to have this effect, and that's next in my agenda ;)

Poppy Seeds

Poppy seeds are also used in Kerala cooking, although sparingly. It is a good substitute for coconut (definitely not in flavour but in consistency) and I used to make this chicken curry with poppy seeds / khus khus that was such a hit that each time we bought chicken at home, which was rarely, I would insist on making this dish with some of it. 

Soaking is necessary to get the seeds rolling. Always soak in warm water for 15-20 mins before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. 

Kalonji

Meet kalonji. It looks a lot like black sesame seeds but kalonji is actually Nigella, or black caraway or popularly known in Bengal as Kala Jeera (black jeera). I have no relationship with these seeds, mind you. I am using them for the first time in this dish and they give a nice crunch to the aloo posto. Ah, the joys of experimenting. 

Bengali Aloo Posto (Potato in Poppy Seed Paste) Recipe

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes, cut into 1" cubes

2-3 tbsp khus-khus / posto / poppy seeds

1 tbsp mustard oil (I used normal cooking oil)

1 tbsp kalonji / kala jeera / nigella seeds

2 Green chillies, slit (I used 3 dry red chillies since I was out of green chillies)

1 tsp ghee

A pinch of sugar

Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Soak the poppy seeds in 1 cup warm water for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain (use a tea strainer, the seeds will stick to your fingers and generally annoy you) and grind to a smooth paste. Add water by the tsp while grinding if it gets too thick. 

2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the kalonji. Fry for about 2 mins. Then add the potatoes and cook for 5 mins, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Make sure that your flame is kept to medium. 

3. Now add the poppy seed paste and the red chillies, broken into halves (or the green chillies which is what you should actually be using).  Fry for 3 mins and then top off with about a cup of water and cook covered for 10-12 mins until the potatoes are cooked through. 

4 .Stir in salt and sugar. The mixture should be thick and the poppy seeds paste should be sticking to the potato pieces by now. 

5. Remove from fire, stir in the ghee and serve warm with rice. 

The flavour was like nothing I had ever tasted. We immensely enjoyed this simple dish although next time I think I would make sure I add green chillies or maybe throw in a couple more red chillies. 

Roasted Brinjal / Eggplant in Tomato Ketchup

I don't think I need to talk again about how much we love eggplant or brinjal. I buy it every week and end up adding this vegetable to one thing or the other - sometimes to sambar, or a simple brinjal palya, or a quick Vangi Bhath, or if I have time, Bagara Baingan, which is our favourite.

  

This recipe, however, doesn't really have a traditional name because.. well, its not traditional! Amma used to make this often and as a kid, it was my favourite because it was not spicy and the sweetness the tomato ketchup gives to the dish is just delicious. 

A must-try if you like brinjal or have kids at home who refuse their vegetables.

Recipe for Roasted Brinjal in Tomato Ketchup 

Ingredients:

2 cups brinjal, sliced into slightly thin pieces

1 medium sized onion, sliced long

2 cloves garlic, sliced long

1 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)

2 tsp coriander powder / malli podi

A pinch of turmeric powder

1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

Curry leaves (optional)

1 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup

Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Slice the brinjal and add the pieces to a bowl of water to prevent browning. Set aside. 

2. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they pop, add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry until golden brown. 

3. Add the masala - turmeric, coriander, chilly, curry leaves if using - and fry for another minute. 

4. Now add the brinjal pieces, reduce flame to low and mix well. Cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice in the middle to prevent the vegetable sticking to the pan. 

5. Once the brinjal is cooked almost mushy, add the ketchup or sauce and mix well. Add salt. 

Goes well with rice, roti, dosa, idli, anything! I used to mix this with rice and eat just that as a kid. 

Chena Vanpayar Curry / Yam 'n Black Eyed Peas Curry Recipe

This is a slightly varied version of the popular Kerala recipe - Erissery. I didn't have coconut in hand so I had to improvise since I was really in a mood for some mushy curry type thing with yam and it also had to go with roti and rice. I remembered amma putting together something like this but I was almost sure she wouldn't remember the dish nor the recipe because it was her own concoction. So I went with what I had and instinct.

By the way, I used black eyed peas because red cow peas (vanpayar) is not easily available here. Traditionally, that's what's used in erissery.

I guess you can call this:

Chena Vanpayar Erissery without Coconut!
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups elephant yam, cubed
3/4 cup black eyed beans / vanpayar

To grind:
4 green chillies
6-8 shallots / pearl onions
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin
A pinch of turmeric

To temper:
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 dry red chilli,  broken into half
A few curry leaves
2 tsp oil

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the black eyed beans with sufficient water for 3-4 whistles. Alternatively, you can cook in a closed pot with enough water to cover it for 45 mins to an hour until soft but not mushy.

2. Grind the ingredients in the list under 'To grind'. Set aside.

3. Cook the yam in a pan with enough water to cover it, until soft. This should take about 10-12 mins. Once done, drain any remaining water and set aside.

4. Heat oil for tempering in a pan and add the remaining ingredients. When the mustard seeds pop, add the ground paste. Fry for 10 seconds and add the cooked yam and beans. Add salt. Cook for 5 mins until well mixed.

Serve warm with rotis or rice.