Zucchini Zunka

It is easy to adopt vegetables of foren places to the tried and tested, centuries-old culinary traditions of India. Gently simmered in dal or steam-sauteed in subjis, surrounded by complimentary spice seasoning, Indian recipes highlight vegetables’ inherently good nature without suffocating them with artificial flavors. Example is the following recipe. Here, in this Marathi based, rural popular Zunka recipe, zucchini is quickly stir-fried and seasoned with nutritious besan flour to a vibrant and crisp-cooked end result. I remember an old Bharat saying – “select your ingredients as if they were your future daughter-in-law”. Here it definitely applies and it’s jai ho to zunka when zucchini does not well up with loads of tears at the touch of heat. Yellow is the best for that reason and that’s why I planted yellow zucchini. But if you make it with green, pick young and firm-fleshed green zucchinis for this recipe.

Yellow Zucchini
Yellow Zucchini

Zucchini Zunka
(for two meals)

2, young and fresh yellow zucchini
1 red onion or shallot
1/4 cup besan flour
2 garlic cloves
2 dried, red chillies
1 tablespoon, grated dried coconut
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
For tadka: from masala dabba, a pinch each cumin and mustard seeds, few curry leaves and a tablespoon of peanut oil

1: Cut yellow zucchinis to bite-sized pieces. (For young zucchini, skin tend to be thin, so don’t peel the skin.) Finely chop onion to small pieces.
Take besan, garlic, dried red chilli and coconut in a mixer or mortar. Add a pinch of salt and grind the ingredients to fine mix.
Now the prep work is done and on with cooking.

2: Place a cast iron skillet on stove-top. Add and heat oil. When oil is hot, add curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds and toast to fragrance for couple of seconds. Add onion and saute to soft. Add zucchini pieces and stir-fry over medium high heat for about five minutes until almost cooked but still crisp.

3: Sprinkle the besan mix, salt and turmeric. Turn up the heat slightly and saute for about two minutes. Scoop into a bowl and serve the zucchini zunka warm with chapati or sorghum roti.

Yellow Zucchini Zunka
Zucchini Zunka ~ for Meal Yesterday

Share

Zucchini Ponganalu

Next year I have to remember how many zucchinis will appear in May, when I plant in March. For now, zucchini will have a culinary journey of its lifetime in my kitchen.

The following is a zucchini experiment, inspired by traditional ponganala recipe of South India.

Zucchini Ponganalu
Zucchini Ponganam ~ for Meal Yesterday

Zucchini Ponganalu
(for 3 to 4 batches)

Ingredients:
3 cups, dosa batter
1 cup, grated yellow zucchini
1/2 cup, finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons, roasted cashew pieces
1 tablespoon, finely chopped green chilli
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon each – cumin and turmeric
2 tablespoons, finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
To prepare ponganalu: a well-seasoned ponganalu pan

Method:
In a skillet, heat a tablespoon of peanut oil. Add and toast cumin to fragrance. Add and saute onion, yellow zucchini and green chilli for about five minutes. When they start to get crisp, add cashew pieces, turmeric, salt and cilantro leaves. Stir-fry few seconds and turn off the heat.

Add the skillet contents to dosa batter. Mix well. This is now zucchini ponganala batter.

Heat a ponganala(paniyaram) pan on medium heat. Add spoonful of ponganala batter in each impression. Cook few minutes on each side to golden brown like shown here in photos.

Serve zucchini ponganalu warm with chutney, honey or sambar. They make a tasty snack or filling mini meal.

Share

Cubed Zucchini in Cashew Sauce

Because zucchini is being so generous in my garden, I decided to return the favor and treat it royally. I picked two zucchinis. Diced them into bite-sized cubes and added them to rich cashew sauce. Zucchini looked like it was in a state of Zen, and that made us happy. This is a good zucchini recipe for those of you who would like to avoid tomatoes but still like to indulge in sauces.

Yellow Zucchini and Cashews

Cubed Zucchini in Cashew Sauce

Ingredients:
2 young and tender, yellow zucchini, cubed to bite-sized pieces
1 small red onion or shallot, finely chopped
1/2 cup crowder peas fresh or frozen (or any beans you prefer) for protein
1 tablespoon, peanut oil
1/4 teaspoon each – turmeric, salt and chilli powder (or to taste)

For cashew sauce:
2 tablespoons, roasted, unsalted cashew pieces
1 teaspoon each – coriander seeds and cumin seeds
4 cloves and half inch piece of cinnamon
1/2 x 1/2 inch piece ginger
Blend the above ingredients to smooth paste in a blender or mortar.

Method:
In a saucepan or skillet, heat oil.
Do the tadka (toast a pinch each cumin and mustard seeds).
Add onion and saute to soft.
Add zucchini and the peas.
Add the cashew paste and also turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Add about half cup water. Mix well.
Cover and cook for about ten minutes. Do not over-cook. Zucchini should remain crisp and tender.
Serve as a side vegetable for chapati or rice or with upma or dosa.

Yellow Zucchini in Cashew Sauce with Dosa
Yellow Zucchini in Cashew Sauce with Dosa ~ Meal on the Weekend

Share

Jihva Workout Vratham ~ Week 3

May 15th:

Vratham Food:
Brunch: 3 Rose Matta rice dosas with cubed zucchini in cashew sauce + 1 sweet mango + 1 cup cardamom chai
Evening: 2 wholewheat vegetarian pizza slices (grimaldi) + 1 glass buttermilk (home)
Workout: Shopping walk

May 16th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: a cup of cardamom chai
Noon: Traditional Kerala-onam style meal at a friends home ( matta rice, avail, mango pulissery, sambar etc served on banana leaf).
Night: Wasn’t feeling hungry much. So, had a glass of plain soda water and a mango.
Workout: Talk and laugh, moved the mouth muscles a lot. It was a pleasant day.

May 17th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: a glass of cucumber lemonade (from Cilantro blog) + 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: a bowl of cucumber kosambari + small bowl of carrot sambar + 1 mango
Evening: 6 Zucchini ponganaalu with honey + 1 glass buttermilk(homemade)
Workout: 15 minutes meditation + 30 minutes walk

May 18th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: A glass of cucumber lemonade + 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: a bowl of zucchini zunka with sorghum roti + small bowl of fruits (pear and mango)
Evening: 1 cup palak tofu with a cup of kerala matta rice + 1 glass buttermilk(homemade)
Workout: 30 minutes elliptical + 30 minutes walk + 15 minutes meditation.

May 19th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: A glass of cucumber lemonade with just a bit of honey (it’s humid here) + 12 rehydrated almonds
Noon: a bowl of zucchini zunka with sorghum roti + small bowl of fruit (pears and mango)
Evening: 1 small bowl of capsicum in sesame sauce + a cup of kerala matta rice + a small bowl of chana dal chaaru
Workout: 1 hour aerobics + 30 minutes weights + 15 minutes meditation

May 20th and 21st:

Enough protein powered lentils and fresh vegetables filled sundal, sambar and subji with some Kerala matta rice sums up my food intake.
Low energy days, so no workout.

Share

Weekend Harvest

Vegetable Harvest for May 2nd Week
Vegetable Harvest for This Week from the Garden
5 cucumbers, 3 yellow zucchinis, 3 green bell peppers and 18 okra

Mango Stand at Houston
Roadside Fruit Stand, Houston

Houston sprawl could make one hurl, but soothing the stomach and the sight are occasional roadside fruit stalls on inner farm roads. While coming back from a friend’s home, we saw this stall and had a sample of sweet mango from a charming boy. Came home with a box of golden yellow mangoes. I don’t know what it is, may be the boy’s charm rubbed on mangoes, they are heavenly delicious. The real miracle is they have that intoxicating ripe mango scent.

Share

Garden to Table ~ Green Beans and Green Peas Poriyal

Green beans and green peas combination is a south-Indian marriage made in garden heaven. The gentle sweetness of plump peas pairs well with herbal flavor of vibrant green beans. Traditional fresh coconut – chilli seasoning at the end ties up everything beautifully, and beckons us to bless the lovely bean-pea poriyal couple. So common at home and in restaurant buffets, yet surprisingly delightful when prepared with fresh ingredients. It’s no wonder, green beans-green peas combination remains a beloved classic in Indian cookery.

Fresh Green Beans and Green Peas

Green Beans with Green Peas
(for two to four, for four to two meals)

Ingredients:
Fresh and young green beans, about a pound
Freshly shelled green peas, about 2 cups
Red onion or shallot, 1 medium-sized one
Freshly grated coconut, about 2 tablespoons
Indian or Thai variety green chillies – 5
Turmeric and salt, about 1/2 teaspoon each or to taste
For curry leaf tadka: 1 sprig fresh curry leaves, pinch each cumin and mustard seeds
1 tablespoon peanut oil

Method:
1. Trim the ends and cut green beans to half-inch length pieces. Finely chop onion.

2. Take coconut and green chilli in a mixer. Add a pinch of salt and blend the ingredients to fine without adding water.

3. In a wide skillet, heat peanut oil. When oil is hot, add and toast curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds to fragrance. Add onion and saute to soft brown. Add green beans and green peas. Mix. Cover the skillet and cook the beans, until they are soft but still have some crunch left. Just before turning off the heat, sprinkle coconut-green chilli paste, turmeric and salt. Combine well. Saute five more minutes and remove the skillet from heat.

4. Serve green beans-green peas poriyal warm with rice and dal or with chapati. Makes a tasty topping on dosas, pesarattus and pasta.

Green Beans ~ Green Peas Poriyal
From Garden to Table ~ Green Beans and Green Peas Poriyal

Share

Zucchini Pesarattu

This is my first time preparing zucchini pesarattu and I have to say this first try has turned out to be the best garden to table zucchini experiment. The recipe is easy. Pick tender zucchini. Grate and add it to pesarattu batter. Zucchini pesarattu base is power-packed moong sprouts. To stabilize the moong batter, I added little bit besan flour. Grated carrot, onion and fresh ginger made good companions to tender zucchini. Simple and sublime, these delicious pesarattus evoked a longing for a summer supper beneath a large and shady mango tree.

Zucchini, Carrot and Moong Sprouts
Grated Yellow Zucchini, Carrot and Moong Sprouts

Zucchini Pesarattu
(for 10-12 pesarattus)

Ingredients:
1 fresh and firm, medium-sized zucchini
1 medium-sized carrot
1 small red onion or shallot
4 Indian or Thai green chillies
1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
4 cups sprouted moong beans
1/4 cup besan (gram flour)

Method:

Grate zucchini and carrot. Finely chop onion, chillies and ginger.

In a blender or food processor, take sprouted moong beans. Add green chillies, ginger and salt. Blend the ingredients to fairly fine consistency. Add about half cup of water for easy blending.

Take the pesarattu batter in a bowl. Add besan flour, onion and grated zucchini and carrot. Mix well.

Heat a tava or griddle. Pour a ladle full of batter onto the tava. Gently spread into a small circle. On medium heat, cook both sides to golden. They do not require oil or ghee. But drizzle some if you wish.

Serve warm. Good with chutney or raita on the side.

Zucchini Pesarattu with Coconut Chutney
Zucchini Pesarattu with Coconut Chutney ~ for Meal Yesterday

Share

Garden Log ~ May, 2010

Red Radish Flower Bouquet
Red Radish Flower Bouquet

Radish plants are in vigorous bloom. I harvested few radish branches that are full of flowers and placed them in cold water filled flower vase. Radish flowers are tiny but very pretty in light pink shade with sweet scent.

Purple Brinjal Plants
Purple Brinjal Plants

Tomato Plants
Tomato Plants, almost 4 foot in height and with Plenty of Green Tomatoes

Mirchi Plants
Mirchi Plants

Cucumber, Zucchini, Beans
Cucumber, Zucchini, Beans

Vegetable Harvest from My Garden
Vegetable Harvest for this Week

It’s always a pleasurable surprise when vegetables start arriving in quantity – One minute I have single cucumber and four pea pods, next week a surplus. This is what I harvested yesterday. 7 Cucumbers, 4 Yellow Zucchinis, 1 Brinjal, 1 Green Bell Pepper, a bunch of green chillies, green beans and green peas. First major harvest of this season and what a joy!

Share

Jihva Workout Vratham ~ Week 2

May 8th and 9th:

Went out on the weekend to parties and had party food. (Naan, Pulao, Matar and Palak Paneer, Raita and Rasmalai) Not good vratham-wise, but I did do portion control.
At home, for breakfast and evening meal, had ragi malt, fruit salad and upma.
Workout: Shopping walk.

May 10th:

Vratham Food:
Morning:A glass of lemon(lime) water. (Squeeze half a lime into a glass of water. Mix and drink.)
1 cup mung sprouts lightly toasted and seasoned with salt and black pepper.
Noon: 1 bowl cucumber slices + 1 bowl mango slices with salt and chilli powder + Half glass plain soda water
Evening: A bowl of Kerala matta rice with a cup of turai curry + a cup of okra-toor dal sambar made without tamarind
6 glasses of water throughout the day.
Workout: 15 minutes meditation + 30 minutes brisk walk

May 11th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 big cup, ragi malt sweetened with jaggery + 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 small bowl moong sprouts subji + 1 sweet mango
Evening: 4 zucchini pesarattus + 1 glass ginger buttermilk (from homemade yogurt)
Workout: 1 hour cycling(spinning) + 45 minutes weights class at the gym.
Good day.

May 12th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 big glass of ragi malt, sweetened with jaggery + 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 bowl of guggullu(sundal) with alasanda + 1 ripe, sweet mango (yum!)
Evening: 1 cup cardamom chai
1 cup Kerala matta rice + 1 cup mango dal + 1 cup green beans-green peas poriyal (from yesterday’s harvest, green beans never tasted better)
Workout: 30 minutes walk + 15 minutes meditation

May 13th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt, sweetened with jaggery + 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 bowl green beans-green peas poriyal with a cup of Kerala matta rice + 1 sweet mango
Evening: 2 bajra rotis + 1 bowl cluster beans-Crowder Peas curry + 1 glass plain soda water (so humid here)
Workout: 15 minutes meditation and 30 mins walk + 45 mins spinning class at the gym.

May 14th:

Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt sweetned with jaggery + 12 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 cup cluster beans (gawar)-crowder peas curry with one bajra roti and a glass of buttermilk
Evening: 3 matta rice+urad dal dosas with some zucchini curry + 1 sweet and tasty mango
Workout: Home cleaning and website cleaning (oy, what a mess!)

Share

Garden Blooms ~ Dahlia

Dahlia in Bloom
To Mothers and Daughters Who Make Mahanandi a Home ~ Happy Mother’s Day!

Share

Jihva Workout Vratham ~ Week 1

May 1st:

Vratham Food:
Morning: a cup of moong sprouts. Toasted lightly and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper
Noon: a cup of drumstick sambar and 12 roasted chestnuts
Evening:
I wasn’t feeling much hungry so I had some fruit and buttermilk.
1 cup of pear fruit slices
1 glass ginger buttermilk (homemade)
6 glasses of water, throughout the day
Workout:
15 minutes meditation + 30 minutes walk.

May 2nd:

Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt and 1 cup moong sprouts
Noon: One cup of chole and one cup yogurt
Evening: Big bowl of sauteed amaranth leaves with brown chickpeas
One cup, pear fruit slices
6 glasses of water throughout the day
Workout:
15 minutes meditation and + 30 minutes walk

May 3rd:

Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt sweetned with a tad of jaggery, and 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 big bowl of baby spinach with brown chickpea saute, and 1 glass of buttermilk
Evening: 1 glass of ragi malt sweetened with jaggery
Dinner: 2 rotis and a cup of palak paneer without paneer
1 small cup of cucumber and carrot slices
Workout: 15 minutes meditation + 30 minutes Pilates + 1 hour kickboxing at the gym.

May 4th:
Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt sweetned with jaggery and 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 small cup of palak paneer without paneer, 1 big bowl of toor dal rasam and 1 small cup of cucumber and carrot slices
Evening: 4 stuffed baby karela, 1 big bowl of toor dal rasam and 1 bowl of pineapple slices
6 glasses of water throughout the day
Workout: 15 min meditation + 1 hour spinning + 30 min weights

May 5th:
Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt sweetened with jaggery and 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 cup malabar spinach dal with a cup of rice, a cup of carrot and cucumber kosambari and a cup of sweet pineapple fruit
Evening: 1 cup of cardamom chai
1 cup malabar spinach dal with karela curry, a cup of carrot and cucumber kosambari and a cup of sweet pineapple slices. Not a good day foodwise because I had white rice and chai.
Workout: 15 min meditation + 15 min walk + 1 hour latin dance class at the gym.

May 6th:
Vratham Food:
Morning: 1 glass of ragi malt sweetened with Jaggery and 15 rehydrated almonds
Noon: 1 cup carrot sambar, 1 cup moongdal-cucumber kosambari and a cup of pineapple slices
Evening: 2 pesarattus with chilli chutney and a glass of ragi ambali
Workout: Gardening and Home cleaning + 30 minutes walk
Beautiful day. For the first time this season, I saw couple of hummingbirds in our backyard. They were enjoying pomegranate flowers.

May 7th:
Vratham Food:
Morning: 2 glasses of lemon(lime) water.
Noon: 1 big bowl of fruit kosambari (strawberries+pineapple+pear) and 1 glass of strawberry-almond milk shake with little bit honey
Evening: Friends came over for dinner and I too had some food that I shouldn’t have.
Workout: 15 minutes meditation + An elaborate dinner menu preparation in the kitchen.
Thanks Sailaja and family for the lovely evening and beautiful chrysanthemums.

Share

Jihva Workout Vratham

Doing something with devotion for a cause is called Vratham in Sanskrit. I remember growing up in Nandyala, elders in my family periodically doing vrathams. They would refrain from certain foods and desires for a set period of time and slowdown from life. As a child, I used to wonder why anyone wants to put the body voluntarily through the hard path. But as I get older, I am realizing that suffering could bring salvation or at least gives some knowledge of how sufficient our lives are.

For the first time, I did a workout vratham last year for 14 days. It was a shock to my system and a test to my will power. In the end, the 14 days of refraining led to rejoicing about the realization that I still had the control on my mind and I could motivate myself enough to do something good for my spirit. That Jihva (desire) is back again this year. My guru for the inspiration and motivation is Kay from Live.Love.Workout. And, this is the plan for this year’s workout vratham:

Jihva for Workout Vratham

Vratham duration: May 1st to May 31st.

Vratham Workout:
in addition to the regular homework.

  • 15 minutes of meditation, everyday.
  • 5 days of Cardio (walking/running/aerobics/swimming/etc) – minimum 30 minutes
  • 3 days of Calisthenics (strength training/crunches, sit ups, squats, lunges, etc) and Yoga/Pilates – 30 minutes minimum

Vratham Food – The food will be anti inflammatory – as it will help to cleanse the system and slow down the degenerative forces.

Do’s:

  • Grains : Whole grains. Brown rice, Amaranth, Quinoa, Buckwheat, Steel cut oats, Millet – ragi (finger millet)/bajra(pearl millet)/white millet/African/kodo/Teff/
  • Fresh fruits – all except bananas
  • Fresh veggies – twice everyday
  • Protein – Lentils and beans at least twice a day.
  • Fresh Greens and Herbs: At least one serving of raw greens a day – either in juice or kosambaris
  • Unsalted nuts and seeds in moderate amounts
  • Sweetener – just a tad of honey / agave /stevia /molasses/jaggery
  • Dairy – Just yogurt or kefir.
  • Drinks – water, herbal teas, fresh juices, lemon water, coconut water

Don’ts:
The following are good foods. But in western world, particularly in US, aggressive farming, extreme chemical commercialization and over processing changed the good to somewhat questionable character. So the refrain.

  • No wheat
  • No sugar and sugar substitutes, preservatives, additives, etc
  • No dairy (milk, cheese, sour cream, butter, cream etc)
  • No eggs
  • No corn and corn products
  • No canned products
  • No veggies list – tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, bell peppers
  • No bananas or dried fruits
  • No caffeine – Coffee/Black tea
  • No alcohol
  • No chocolate
  • No fried foods
  • No peanuts
  • No Meat

Calorie Counting:
Portion sizes are important and total calories for a day allowed are 1200-1600. Divide each meal into approximately 300-400 calories for a total of 4 mini meals per day.
(calorie tracking websites – TheDailyplate, fitday, sparkpeople, shape online journal.)

This plan that I am going to follow for the month of May also changes the direction of 4-year old Jihva Event. You, my readers and fellow bloggers, are welcome to participate in Jihva Workout Vratham. Workout duration and food doesn’t have to be like the above exactly. It could be for one week or two weeks or a day and the food could be just vegetables and fruits or meat and dairy free. Giveup something, whatever that is troubling you food wise and workout. Change the vratham parameters to suit your lifestyle and life needs. Maintain an online journal for the duration and share your healthy meal menus and recipes with us all. No blog, then write a comment note at the participant blog you follow. Food is vital to our health and fitness, and group activities strengthen the soul. Jihva workout vratham combines the two.

I look forward to your contributions to Jihva Workout Vratham. Thanks.

Share

Staypressed theme by Themocracy