From yesterday’s leftover green papaya, I made some curry for today’s meal. Peel, cube, do tadka, add onion and papaya. Flavor with traditional Bharath seasoning. We had this type green papaya before, but this is the first time for our parents. They liked it.

For those of you new to green papaya or hesitant to try this veggie-fruit: raw has cucumber like taste and cooked has Chayote (Cho Cho) like taste. Firm flesh, mild sweet flavor and minimal papaya smell. It’s easy to like green papaya even if you don’t like ripe papaya fruit. Give it a try.

Green Papaya Kura

Green Papaya – 1 small fruit. Half is enough for this recipe.
Red onion or shallot – 1
Green chilli – 2
Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon
Coconut – 1 tablespoon, grated fresh
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
Peanut oil – 1 teaspoon
from Masala dabba: tadka ingredients

Cut papaya to half and remove the seeds. Peel the skin. Chop the white flesh to small bite sized cubes (about 3 cups). Finely chop onion and green chilli to small pieces.

In a large skillet, heat a teaspoon of peanut oil over medium heat. From masala dabba, add a pinch each – cumin, mustard seeds and few curry leaves. Saute for few seconds to fragrance. Add onion, green chilli. Saute for couple of minutes till onion becomes translucent. Add green papaya. Cover the skillet and cook on medium-low heat, until papaya is just tender. Takes about 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the turmeric, coconut and salt. Cook and stir for two minutes or more.

Serve warm with chapati or roti. Makes about 4 side dish servings.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Green Papaya Kura with Jonna Roti ~ For Meal Today

Kura (Telugu) = Curry (English)

It was an odd day. We bought green papaya thinking it was red sweet papaya. When cut open, realized that it was really a “green” papaya and not a red papaya. Not going to waste such pretty fruit, I prepared all-raw papaya kosambari by adding mung bean sprouts, onion, tomato and green chilli. Green papaya has cucumber like taste and made a fine appetizer to our afternoon meal.

Green Papaya

Green Papaya Kosambari
(makes 4 servings)

Green Papaya – 1 small fruit. Half is enough for this recipe.
Red onion or shallot – 1
Green tomato – 1
Green chilli – 1
Mung sprouts – 1 cup
Salt to taste
Lime Juice to taste
Few coriander leaves

Cut green papaya and remove the seeds. Peel the skin. Cut the white flesh to bite sized cubes. About 2 cups.

Finely chop onion, tomato and green chilli.

Take them in a big cup. Add mung bean sprouts and coriander leaves. Sprinkle salt and lime juice. Combine. Serve.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Papaya Kosambari ~ for Meal Today

Kosambari: Indian equivalent to western salad. Usually prepared with raw ingredients.

May be it was the long gap of time we had or may be it was the long and tedious journey they did, but they looked much tired than we had expected. Our visual for my parents-in-law is almost four years old now. When we last saw them, they were very energetic and much stronger. I think it was the long tiring journey they had from India. After about ten days, they are now refreshed and active again. More than anything we are happy to see them after a long time and to be with them here. They are also enjoying the new home, place, and people around.

They have also given us hope that it is possible to age gracefully by living happy and eating healthy. That makes us feel better. Well, everything is related to food by some degree. One of the recipe techniques I have learned from them at Nandyala during my one year apprenticeship some ten years ago is pairing green leafy vegetables with some kind of legumes/beans. You can find countless recipes of this type at my old website. Here is one more. This time it is seasonal fresh amaranth leaves and fresh chickpeas. The recipe is simple, tastes great and makes a filling side dish for chapati or rice and dal combination.

Fresh Amaranth Leaf with Green Chickpeas

Amaranth with Chickpeas

1 bunch fresh amaranth
1 cup fresh chickpeas, shelled or frozen
1 red onion and 2 green chillies
1 tablespoon grated coconut, fresh
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
From Masala dabba: tadka ingredients

Wash amaranth and finely chop leaves and tender stems. Chop onion and green chillies to small pieces.

In a large skillet heat a tablespoon of peanut oil over medium heat. From masala dabba, add a pinch each – cumin, mustard seeds and couple of curry leaves. Saute few seconds to fragrance. Add onion, green chilli. Saute for couple of minutes till onion becomes translucent. Add amaranth and fresh chickpeas. Cover the skillet and cook the leaves until they collapse and chickpeas are just tender, for about 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the coconut, salt and turmeric. Cook and stir for two minutes or more.

Serve warm with chapati or rice and dal. Makes about 4 to 6 side dish servings.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Amaranth and Chickpeas Kura with Chapati ~ Meal Today

Avocado and Sweet Strawberry

To add a touch of spring sweetness to classic salsa, start with fresh avocado. Mix ripe strawberries, a hint of tropics with limejuice and a zing of black pepper. That’s it. A sweet salsa that is quite different from the traditional chopped onion-tomato mixture. This fruity version is great on chapati or on toasted bread.

Strawberry Salsa
(makes about two cups)

1 Avocado – seed removed and pulp mashed to smooth
1 cup strawberries – finely chopped
1 Small lime/lemon – cut to half
1/2 teaspoon – Black pepper, cracked
1/4 teaspoon – Sea salt

In a big cup, take avocado and strawberries. Sprinkle black pepper and salt. Squeeze limejuice. Combine.
Enjoy this sweet salsa with chapati/crusty bread/chips.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari

Strawberry Salsa ~ for Lunch today

Technorati Profile

I am glad to see a new word “soopa” reintroduced into our cookery lexicon by Pratibha and Jigyasa through Sukham Ayu cookbook. Like the authors I found it interesting that ayurvedic texts refer to watery broth/soup like preparation as soopa. Research is done rarely in centuries old Indic cookery. We are more used to label our food items in occidental and arabic terms, and blindly repeat the colonial self-aggrandizing stories of our food roots. So, for a change, it is greatly refreshing and empowering to know about soopa. I think this Sanskrit word alone is worth the book price. Original research equals to precious gold, don’t you agree? Welcome back Soopa. Goodbye Soup.

Here is a soopa I made from Sukham Ayu. The base is toor dal and the flavor is from ginger and lemon. It’s a familiar, charming soopa, simple yet sublime. Perfect to usher in “I am not cold but not yet warm” spring season.

Ginger Lemon Soopa
Recipe adapted from Sukham Ayu, page-37
(makes about four cups of soopa)

Toor dal: Pressure-cook half cup of toor dal in two cups of water to soft. With a wood masher or whisk, churn the dal to soft, smooth consistency.

Ginger: Take a 1×1 inch piece of ginger. Peel the skin and grate. Add the grated ginger to mashed toor dal. Also half teaspoon each- red chilli powder and salt, and quarter teaspoon of turmeric. Add half cup of water and simmer for about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Tadka: While the soopa is simmering, do the tadka. In a small pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee. Add and toast 10 curry leaves, cumin, and mustard seeds, in that order. When seeds start to pop, sprinkle a pinch of asafetida. Sauté for couple of seconds and pour this tadka into the simmering soopa. Mix and turn off the heat.

Lemon: Flavor the soopa with about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Serve hot. Soothing and a strength saver, ginger-lemon soopa is a great warm-up food and recommended during convalescence.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari

“Everyone says I am bitter…,” Karela catchingly said in a low voice.

“What would you like to be if there is a makeover?”

“I want to be saucy with an attitude.”

“Well, that’s easy. Let’s invite jaggery and tamarind. Our friend red chilli will also be there. How does that sound?”

“Sweet and sour with a spicy-saucy attitude. Yum… I like that. My bitter blues are over. 🙂
Thank you.”

“You are welcome karela.”

Karela, Jaggery and Tamarind

Saucy Karela (Kakara Pulusu)
(makes a side dish for two meals for two adults)

4 to 6-inch length karela – 5
Tamarind pods – 4
Jaggery, crushed – 2 tablespoons to quarter cup
Red onion – 1 medium size, or shallots 2 big ones
Oil, cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, chilli powder and salt
*******
Soak tamarind in water for about 15 minutes and extract thick pulp (about quarter cup needed for this recipe).
Scrape karela ridges with a peeler. Wash and cut karela into small, bite-sized pieces (about 2 cups of cut pieces).
Slice onion into thin pieces (about half cup pieces).
*******

Place a thick-bottomed skillet on stovetop. Add a tablespoon of peanut oil and heat. When oil is hot, add 6 curry leaves, a pinch each-cumin and mustard seeds. Mix with spoon and when seeds start to pop, add onion. Sauté onion for couple of minutes to soft. Add karela pieces and quarter cup of water. Cover the skillet tightly, and steam-cook karela.

Halfway through the cooking, add tamarind and jaggery. Also add half teaspoon each – turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Mix, and cover the skillet with lid again. On medium-low heat, cook until karela pieces become tender, and tamarind-jaggery sauce thickens and start to coat the karela pieces.

Saucy karela tastes sweet and sour with a touch of spicy-bitterness. Great with sorghum roti or chapatis.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari

Saucy Karela with Chapati and Sprouted Mung beans ~ Meal Today

Karela = Bitter Gourd, Indian variety

Friends. We know what they will bring to the table. Mirth, mischief or musings. Like we need shadruchulu, each meet a need. When it comes to vegetable friends, I know exactly what will potlakaaya bring to the table. A delicious bajji. Traditional Andhra food, prepared during festival celebratory meals, potlakaaya bajjis make a great snack item. With a tad of unique potlakaaya sweetness and aroma, they make tasty bajjis. Give the recipe a try when you find this vegetable on your trip to Indian grocery.

Potlakaaya ………………….Potlakaaya Rounds for Bajjis

Potlakaaya Bajji
The recipe is for 12-inch long potlakaaya. Makes about 30 bajjis.

Potlakaaya – 12-inch length
Besan (gram flour) – 1-cup
Rice flour – quarter cup
Red chilli powder and salt – half teaspoon each
Baking Soda – a pinch
Peanut or Sunflower oil for deep-frying – about two to three cups
******

Prepare Potlakaaya: Pick a firm and fresh looking potlakaaya for bajjis. Wash the potlakaaya. Cut and remove the ends. With a sharp knife, cut the body into rounds about quarter inch thick like shown in the photo above.

Prepare Besan Batter: In a vessel, take about a cup of besan. Add quarter cup of rice flour, a pinch of baking soda and half teaspoon each – salt and red chilli powder. Mix thoroughly. Make a well in the flour. Add quarter to half cup of water. Using a whisk or hand, adding water if required, make a thin and smooth batter free of lumps.

Prepare bajjis: Heat about three cups of oil in a deep skillet. When oil becomes hot, dip the potlakaaya rounds into besan batter. Drop them gently into hot oil one after another. Deep fry to crisp.

Enjoy this traditional Andhra snack hot. Great on its own or with rice and daal/sambar/curd combinations.

A Portrait of Potlakaaya Bajji ~ for Ugadi

Homegrown Methi

It was such a beautiful day!

“Pick me, pick me, please,” methi moved.

“Ok darling dainty methi.”

“I want to be with carrot today,” methi murmured.

“That sounds interesting. Your wish is my dish today. :)”

“We now have green and gold. To complement, let’s invite the yellow, mellow mung,” methi recommended.

“Some protein? Good thinking. Let’s get all together.”

Plants brought into home. Leaves plucked and washed. Carrots grated. Yellow mung daal soaked in water for about an hour.

When it was time for nastha, kura was made in ten minutes for chapatis. Carrot’s sweetness, mung daal nuttiness combined with methi’s goodness. It was light, yet filling and extremely tasty. Loved my meal today.

Methi, Carrot and Mung Daal

Methi Carrot
(for one or two meals for two adults)

1 big bunch of fresh methi or about 4 cups of tightly packed methi leaves
3 carrots or 3 cups of grated carrot
1/2 cup yellow mung daal. (Soak in water for about an hour)
Oil, curry leaves, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric, salt, red chilli flakes and coconut

******

Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a wide, thick-bottomed skillet.

When oil is hot, add 10 curry leaves, half teaspoon of cumin seeds and pinch of hing. Sauté for a minute or so, until leaves become golden brown.

Add grated carrot, soaked mung daal and methi leaves to the skillet. Mix.

Add half teaspoon each – turmeric, salt and red chilli flakes. And a tablespoon of grated coconut. Mix thoroughly. Cover the skillet with lid. Keep the heat on medium and cook, mixing in-between. The moisture from carrots and methi steams the mung daal to tender. It would take about ten minutes.

Serve this light and delicious Indian dish with chapatis or rotis.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari

Methi Carrot with Chapati and An Orange ~ Meal Today