Category: Turai (Beerakaya)

Badam Beerakaaya (Almond Turia)

The badam-beerakaaya combination is a new recipe that I have come up with the beerakaaaya harvest. This recipe really concentrates the flavor and brings out the sweetness of both beerakaaya and badam. Dice the beerakaaya, saute and add ground badam paste. Simple vegetable curry with some protein profile, badam-beerakaaya makes a delicious filler for chapatis or pav-wiches on low appetite days.

Beerakaaya (Turai/Turia)

Badam-Beerakaaya Kura
(for 2 or 4, for 2 to 1 meal)

    3 beerakaaya – fresh and firm, about arm length each
    3 tablespoons – badam butter paste (ground almonds)
    4 green chillies – finely chopped
    1/4 teaspoon – turmeric
    1/2 teaspoon -salt or to taste
    For curry leaf talimpu:
    1 tablespoon, peanut oil, 1 sprig of fresh cury leaves, pinch each-cumin and mustard seeds

Peel the beerakaaya ridges. Wash and dice beerakaya to bite-sized pieces.

In a big pan over medium heat, heat peanut oil until hot and do the curry leaf talimpu. Add curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds. Saute to fragrance, stirring frequently.

Add beerakaaya and chilli pieces. Cover and cook on medium heat. After about ten minutes, remove the lid and stir in ground almonds, turmeric and salt. Mix well and cook for another five minutes or until the beerakaya juices have reduced and sweetened with almond paste.

Serve badam-beerakaaya kura warm with chapati, bread or rice and dal for a tasty meal.

Badam-Beerakaaya Kura with Chapati
Badam-Beerakaaya Kura with Chapati ~ For Meal Today

For Homemade almond paste:
Soak 8 almonds in water for about an hour. Drain the water and peel the almond skins. In a mixer or mortar, take almonds, add a pinch of salt and grind to smooth paste.

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Turai with Chana Dal

Garden dreams – When they come true, it’s a glorious feeling.

One of my lifelong garden dreams has been growing turai at home. This summer, beautiful turai vines smiled with pretty yellow flowers and it has been turai tanmayam ever since. Total number of turai harvested so far was around 60 from four turai vines. Garden goddess is in good mood, it’s the only reason I could think of for this blessing.

Turai is such a lovable vegetable with succulent, white flesh and delicate, sweet flavor. Tender turai doesn’t take much time to cook and digests easily, nourishing the spirit. We love our turai and we have been cooking many great turai recipes to our hearts content for the past one month.

The following turai recipe is Vijay’s creation. Tasty turai, little bit tomato and some chana dal, cooked together, it was a good meal and a simple solution to overwhelmed brain with excessive turai.

Homegrown Turai
Homegrown Turai

Turai with Chana Dal
(for 2 or 4, for 1 or 2 meals)

    3 fresh and tender turai, arm length each
    1/4 cup chana dal, soaked in water for about two hours
    2 semi ripe tomatoes
    4 green chillies, finely chopped
    1/4 teaspoon, turmeric
    1/2 teaspoon, salt or to taste
    For cumin tadka: 1 tablespoon peanut oil,
    pinch each-cumin and mustard seeds and few fresh curry leaves

Peel turai ridges. Rinse the vegetable well. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
In a heavy pan, heat peanut oil. Add and toast cumin, mustard seeds and curry leaves to fragrance.
Add the rehydrated chana dal to the skillet. Saute the dal to pale red.
Add tomato and cook to soft.
Add turai pieces. Sprinkle turmeric. Mix well. Cover and cook the turai for about five minutes or until the pieces become soft.
Stir in salt. Sprinkle a tablespoon of grated coconut if you wish. Cook another couple of minutes and turn off the heat.
Serve the turai with chana dal warm with rice, chapati or bread for a light and tasty meal.

Turai with Chana Dal
Turai with Chana Dal ~ for Meal Today

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Summer Garden Harvest ~ Beerakaaya(Turai)

This is a video of the beerakaaya plant from my garden. Filled with pretty, yellow flowers and long, ribbed vegetables, beautiful beerakaaya vine is a sight to behold during peak summer time.

Beerakaaya (Turai) Harvest
Beerakaaya Harvest for this Week

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Methi Turai Dal (Menthi Beerakaaya Pappu)

Methi in my garden is now fully grown. Thanks to the frequent rains and pleasant weather we had for the past few weeks. I dug out few plants and plucked the fresh leaves and tender stems to prepare methi dal for today’s meal. I also added turai, because I thought mildly sweet turai would complement methi’s herbal flavor. Individually also they are best friends with toor dal. Together, methi and turai made an excellent team-toor dal day.

Methi is easy to grow in garden beds or in small containers, tastes good and known to balance blood sugar levels. If you have never tried growing methi, please do try this season. Go to an Indian grocery and purchase a packet of methi seeds. Soak some in water for a day. Wrap the soaked seeds in a wet muslin (cheese) cloth for a day or two. Seeds start to sprout. Plant the methi sprouts in soil where it gets sunlight. Water once a day. Within a month methi will be ready to harvest for dal, curry or roti.

Fresh Methi and Turai

Methi Turai Dal (Menthi Beerakaaya Pappu)
(for 2 or 4, for 4 to 2 meals)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup, toor dal (kandi pappu)
2 cups, fresh methi leaves and pinched tender stems
2 cups, turai pieces (peel the turai ridges and thinly slice)
1 small red onion or shallot. chopped
8 to 10, Indian or Thai green chillies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon, tamarind pulp
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Method:
In a pressure cooker, take toor dal. Wash and clean the dal. Add the methi leaves, turai, onion, green chilli, tamarind and turmeric. Add about 2 cups of water. Mix. Close the lid and pressure-cook the dal to soft consistency. Allow the pressure to come down and then remove the lid. Add salt, about half teaspoon or to taste, and mash the cooked ingredients gently with a wood masher or a sturdy whisk.

Season the dal with garlic tadka. For garlic tadka, heat a tablespoon of peanut oil in a medium-sized pot. When oil is hot, add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, 8 curry leaves, and a pinch each – cumin and mustard seeds. Saute the ingredients to fragrance. Add the methi-turai dal to this garlic tadka. Mix well and serve the methi-turai dal with rice or roti.

Methi Turai Dal with Rice
Methi-Turai Dal and Turai Curry with Rice ~ For Meal Today and
for Suma’s Delicious Dals From India Event

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Masoor Sprouts with Turai

For me, lunch is the ideal meal of the day. Less bustle than breakfast and less stressful than dinner. And this is what I prepared for our lunch today. Masoor dal sprouts cooked with fresh turai and served with chapati. Tasty combination.

Masoor sprouts are the next best thing after mung sprouts. The taste buds are in chorus. Any fans of masoor sprouts out there?

Masoor Sprouts
Masoor Sprouts

Masoor Sprouts with Turai

Masoor Sprouts – 1 cup
Turai (beerakaya) – 2
Red Onion – 1
Green Chillies (Indian variety) – 2
Grated Coconut – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
From Masala Dabba: Tadka ingredients

For masoor sprouts: Purchase whole masoor dal from Indian grocery. For sprouting, we need the whole dal with skins, not the split, orange ones. Soak a cup of whole masoor dal in water for 6 hours. Drain and take the rehydrated dal in a muslin cloth. Cover and keep it in warm place. The sprouts will appear in a day or two.

Turai and Onion: Peel the ridges of turai. Wash and cut the turai to small, bite sized pieces. Finely chop onion and green chilli.

Cook: Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a skillet. From masala dabba, add 6 curry leaves and pinch each – cumin and mustard seeds. Toast to fragrance. Add onion and sauté to soft. Add turai pieces, green chilli and masoor sprouts. Cover the skillet. Cook, stirring often until the sprouts are tender. Turai cooks easily and doesn’t take much time. Just before turning off the heat, add coconut, turmeric and salt. Mix and cook two more minutes. Serve the curry warm with rice or chapati.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Masoor Sprouts with Turai
Masoor Sprouts with Turai, Wrapped in Chapati ~ Meal Today

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