Mix vegetables with grated coconut

Dear All,

Hope everyone had a wonderful time this diwali. This was my first diwali after 3 yrs which i celebrated with my family and friends so was very much special. Things are very much settled down here so now you'll see me active. I have already started dropping by my fellow friends blogs but still i have lots to catch up, so please dont mind if I am a little late.

The recipe I present you today is a very simple one and is perfect with rotis or phulkas. The most important ingredients here is grated coconut. I have always loved the taste of coconut in curries and dry veggies, it not only enhances the taste but also gives a unique flavor which is sure seduce your tastebuds. The combination of veggie I have used are carrots, green beans and green peas but you can use any combination.

Ingredients :-
1/2 cup carrots chopped
1/2 cup green beans chopped
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 big onion finely sliced
1/2 cup grated coconut
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 medium green chillies finely chopped
Salt to taste
2 tbsp coriander finely chopped

Procedure :-

• Heat oil in a nonstick pan, add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies and onions.
• Saute onions for 2 to 3 mins until soft.
• Add in the veggies, cumin powder, salt, turmeric powder, sugar and grated coconut.
• Cover and cook on slow to medium gar for 25 to 30 mins, DONOT add water, the vegetables need to get cooked in steam itself.
• Garnish with freshly chopped coriander on top and serve hot with rotis or phulkas.
• Enjoy!!

In past few weeks many of my blogger buddies have passed awards to me, I thank you all for your love and support. I will acknowledge the awards very soon!

Green Peas Pulav with Toor Dal for Taste & Create

Dear All, First of all, here's wishing you all a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, may lord ganesha bring happiness and wealth to everyone!

For this month's Taste & Create I was paired up with the very talented Shaista Tabrez from MixCalculations. She has some really good collection of recipes so do check out her blog. I chose to make Green Peas Pulav and Toor Dal from here blog and I am so glad both turned out fantastic. It was a perfect sunday night dinner for me and so simple to make! I did make few changes to the original recipe like omotting garlic in the pulav and addition of jaggery in dal. The recipe below will serve 4. This entry is off to Taste&Create event started by Nicole of ForTheLoveOfFood and is hosted by Min of BadGirlsKitchen Green Peas Pulav is also off to Chaitra's RiceFeast event and Toor Dal is off to MyLegumeLoveAffair-14 hosted by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. Nandini and Ammu both have passed the below awards to me, thank you dears, thats very sweet of you gals. Ingredients for Peas Pulav: 1 cup basmati rice soaked in water for 30 mins 1/2 frozen cup green peas 1 medium onion thinly sliced 2 green chillies slit 2 Bay Leaf 1 cinnamon stick 2 whole star anise 2 tbsp cashewnuts 3 cardamon pods 3 cloves 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp butter 1 tsp oil

Salt to taste 2 cups water Procedure for Peas Pulav:

• In a heavy bottom pan heat together butter and oil, add in cashews and sliced onions.
• Fry them for 3-4 mins until golden brown. Remove them and keep aside.
• In the same pan add in cardamon pods, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds and slit green chillies. Saute for 2 mins.
• Now add in the rice, green peas, salt and water.
• Cover and cook until the rice is cooked properly.
• Garnish with brown onions and cashews.
• Serve hot with dal or raita.

Ingredients for Toor Dal: 1 cup toor dal (Yellow pigeon peas) 2 medium onions finely chopped 2 tsp ghee (clarified butter) 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp ginger paste 1 tsp mustard seeds 2 cloves 2 green chillies slit 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp jaggery Salt to taste Procedure to make Toor Dal:

• Pressure cook toor dal along with turmeric powder, salt and red chilli powder. Add enough water about 2 cups.
• In a vessel, heat ghee, add in cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cloves , split green chillies, ginger paste and onions.
• Saute onions for 3 to 4 mins, until they are lightly browned.
• Now add in the cooked toor dal and jaggery along with little water if the dal is too thick. Simmer on medium heat for another 5 to 6 mins.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.
• I had some left over onions and cashews so i used the same for garnishing.

Badami Hariyali

Last weekend we had a farewell party for one of our close friends. It was a potluck party and i took kesar pista rasmalai and this deliciously sinful curry. Initially i thought of making Methi Malai Mutter as its a breeze to make and tastes rich but as i started making i realized i was out of cashews which is the key to make the curry rich and creamy. In such crisis what does one do? Think out of the box..so i put on my thinking cap and thought of various alternatives, after all it was question of 20 empty stomachs :) Few years earlier at one of our family gatherings i had tasted a mix veg curry made with almond paste and it was pretty darn good. So I made few changes to my methi malai mutter and came up with Badami Hariyali. You must have guessed why the name badami, the gravy is made with skinned almonds with onions and as i have used only green vegetables so the word hariyali :)

Verdict? It was fantastic, everybody loved it, few of them also asked me for the recipe and it was over in no time! I would consider this as a BIG hit. Its perfect with naan and phulkas or you can even enjoy it with pulav or jeera rice, whichever way you choose you will surely crave for more!

This is my entry to OriginalRecipes event by Lori.

Ingredients:

5 big white onions, quatered

3-4 green chillies

1/2 cup almonds skinned

2 tsp ginger paste

1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves

1/2 cup methi leaves finely chopped (I used dried ones)

1 cup green beans, chopped boiled

1 cup frozen green peas

2 tbsp fresh cream

2-3 tsp sugar

1 tsp cumin powder

2 bay leaf

2 whole star anise

2 tbsp of oil

Salt to taste

Some fresh crumbled paneer for garnishing

Procedure:

• Grind together almonds, onions, coriander leaves, green chillies and ginger paste with little water into a smooth fine paste.
• In a big vessel heat oil along with star anise and bay leaf for about a min.
• Now add in the onion and almond paste and fry for 2 to 3 mins until the raw onion smell disappears.
• Now add in methi leaves, green peas, salt, sugar and cumin powder and cook for 7 to 8 mins.
• Add the boiled green beans with fresh cream and cook for another 2 to 3 mins.
• Adjust salt and sugar as required.
• Drizzle little cream on top and garnish with fresh crumbled paneer.
• Serve hot with naan and enjoy this creamy and rich goodness!

Luv

Creamy Butter Beans and Green Peas

Let me start by wishing you all a very Happy Independence Day! Today India celebrates her 63rd Independence Day. As children this day is always remembered as a holiday from school, buying national flags and showing them off on your cars, singing national anthem, watching the flag hosting and eating sweets. I have some really special memories attached with this day, back home our residential complex celebrates independence day every year in our building garden. Every year on this day national anthem and other patriotic songs are played from morning 7 am. I remember waking up hearing them :) Light snacks and a packet of Frooti is distributed later on to all the children. Small small children sing patriotic songs and give speeches on indian history. Later on we watch the flag hosting ceremony on the national DD channel, my dad never misses this parade and always insist we too watch along with him. Childrens and students from overall states of india perform in the parade by dancing, singing, sports etc. If you havent watched this parade as yet, i request you to please watch it next time as the efforts taken by the students is worth while and i salute them for their talent! The co-ordination and consistency between the performers is remarkable!

Now coming on to today's recipe, i had seen this recipe at Meeta's blog and immediately bookmarked it. In gujarati butter beans are also known as "Vaal" and usually cooked with usual masalas in a curry style. I loved the idea of making them with cream and I am so glad it came out delicious. I have made few changes to the recipe and used green peas instead of leaks. Its simple and creamy dish and you can enjoy it as a side dish with roti or rice or even have it all by itself.

Sending this to Viki's event Side Dishes for Chapathi and to MLLA 14 hosted by Susan this month.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter beans (lima beans) soaked in water overnight

1 medium onion minced

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp butter

2 tbsp cream

Salt & Pepper to taste

fresh coriander or parsley for garnishing

1 cup water as required

Procedure:

• Heat oil and butter in a pan, add in minced onions and saute for 2 mins.
• Now add in butter beans, salt, pepper and enough water to cover the beans.
• Cover the cook on medium-slow heat for 15 to 20 mins.
• Beans will be halfway cooked, now throw in green peas and fresh cream.
• Again cover and cook for 5 to 6 mins , until butter beans are soft and creamy.
• Garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley.

Once again wishing you all a very Happy 63rd Independence Day!

Luv,