Pavakkai kulambu / Bitter gourd Gravy

This one has surprised my North Indian friends as they had not heard of karela gravy. They mostly make stuffed karela or karela fried (chopped). Even our helping staff were taken aback when I made this gravy. My sister makes it often and it's liked by everyone at home. I followed her method and it turned out well. I do not make it very often as it involves a lot of tamarind and my hubby  is not very fond of it. But for those who like tangy and pungent taste would love it. Now for the recipe, made from home grown fresh organic karela!

INGREDIENTS TO GRIND :

• Onion sliced : 3 nos
• Chana dal : 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
• Coriander seeds : 2 tablespoons
• Cumin seeds : 1 teaspoon
• Red chillies : 3 or 4 nos
• Curry leaves : A few
• Coconut, grated : 1/2 cup
• Oil : 1 tablespoon

FOR SEASONING;

• Oil : 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry leaves : A few
• Sliced bitter gourd : 2 nos
• Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Tamarind juice : 1 and 1/2 cup
• Jaggery / sugar : 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

• Soak the tamarind (lemon size) in a cup of water. Squeeze out the juice from it.
• Slice the bitter gourd, remove the seeds and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, fry red chillies and channa dal till golden brown.
• Now add sliced onions (I've used shallots)  coriander and cumin seeds and fry till they turn golden brown in colour. Add the curry leaves and give it a nice toss.  
• Remove from heat and add the coconut and let cool.
• Grind to a fine paste adding enough water.
• Heat oil for seasoning add mustard seeds. After it splutter add curry leaves and the bitter gourd, saute for a few minutes.
• Add the tamarind juice and a cup of water. Add turmeric powder, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and cook till the bitter gourd is nicely cooked.
• Now add the ground masala adjust salt and water and let it boil for a few more minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with plain rice.

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Beginning of the winter bloom..

   
   About a month ago, we had a worrying and tiring time. Abi had not been keeping in good health and after trying a cocktail of home remedies, homeopathy and antibiotics, after almost 2 weeks his health started improving with great difficulty. During this time, we missed our classes, that too two papers of his half yearly exams.

   Since we did not send him to school on the first day of falling sick, every consecutive day he was so anxious about it that he kept asking 'soh kar uthne se Sunday aa jayega'? (if I sleep and get up,will it be Sunday? He knows Sundays are no school days!). When we asked him to brush his teeth, wash, change or eat, he would ask 'iske baad school jana hai kya'? At every step I had to explain to him that he is not well so he will not be going to school. Naanu also told him that he will not be sent to school as he is not well. Only after being completely assured on all fronts would he do as I asked him to! 

   Next morning as soon as he got up he would tell me, 'dekho naani, meri tabiyat theek nahi hai, isliye main school  nahi jaunga' aisa naanu ne bola hai (I'm not well so I'll not go to school, naanu said)! Meanwhile once I went to school leaving Abi behind as his mother was at home. When he saw me getting ready, he asked me where I was going? I told him that I was going to school. Pat came the reply - 'okay, aap toh school jao aur A,B,C,D... seekh kar aana' (ok, you go to school and learn A,B,C,D and come).  

   During this troubled week the only good thing was that we could sit out in the winter sun, enjoy the sunlight and the beautiful flowers blooming in our garden. Once Abi was better enough to step out, we went around clicking photos of them and Abi also learnt some of the flowers names. On the weekend when his dad was here, he taught his father a few names of the flowers too! The cutest thing in the world is to hear this little boy slowly and carefully tell his father - " ye yellow flower chrys-an-the-mum hai"!

Egg Drop Soup

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As I mentioned in a previous post, Abi is a very picky eater. To add protein to his diet, I give him boiled or poached eggs. But after his initial interest in egg, he is now creating difficulty in eating it. Since he doesn't eat protein in any other form, I don't want to stop giving egg. Similarly, he doesn't eat vegetables, so I make a soup of all vegetables (in different combination) for him every evening and somehow force it down his throat. 

Having chosen egg as an ingredient for the BM, I was thinking on what to make with egg. I struck upon the idea of making this soup. It perfectly combines vegetables and eggs (in fact, it can be made with chicken stock also, which I am planning to try next time). The best part was that Abi actually relished it and kept asking for more! I think I'm going to call this my dream-come-true soup!!!

Egg Drop Soup:

Ingredients for the soup:

1. Veg/ non veg stock -  2 cups (recipe for veg given below)

2. Eggs - 2

3. Cornstarch - 1.5 tsps

4.Salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

pouring the egg into the broth

1. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and keep aside. Its best to keep the eggs in a bowl/cup with sharp edges.

2.Take a saucepan and pour all but 2 tablespoons of the stock into it and bring it to a boil.

3 Mix corn starch with the remaining 2 tablespoons of stock.Then pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Let it boil for a minute while stirring it gently. The stock will get a bit thicker.

4. Lower the flame to the minimum.

5. Now, here's the part to be careful. Slowly pour the egg into the broth through a fork so that the egg does not lump up.Switch off the gas immediately.

6.Add the chopped chives for garnish and mix.

7. Let it sit for a minute and then serve.

How to make a Veg Broth:

Ingredients:

1. Leftovers from cut vegetables like cauliflower stem and leaves, peas shell, potato skin, etc.

ingredients for the stock

2. Some cabbage leaves, 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped turnip with leaves, chopped chives

3. Whole spices:

   a) ginger - 1/2 inch

   b) star anise - 1

   c) cloves - 2-3

   d) bay leaf - 1 piece

   e) cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch

4. Water - 3 cups

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a cooker. 

2 Bring it to one whistle and simmer for about half an hour.

3. Once the steam is gone from the cooker, take out all the veggies in a strainer and mash it nicely so that the juices pass through the strainer.

4. Vegetable broth is ready!

in the cooker

after cooking

Green thumb-Green garden

Our kitchen garden

   What can be healthier and tastier than the home grown vegetables ?  If u can pickle them, nothing like it. Even Times Life! carried an article 2 weeks back about the goodness of pickling and fermenting food. Indian food and pickles ZINDABAD!!!!! 

    After living in a multi-storey building for ages, I am living in an independent house with lots of space for gardening. Upon seeing the open space my long buried interest in gardening  raised its head. So I started the process of gardening-clearing, ploughing,manuring  sowing, watering  etc.

my size lauki

 I should not forget to mention the "monkey menace"! There are a lot of monkeys here. They are more health conscious than us. They love eating veggies - especially those from our garden! Abi enjoys shooing them away with his catapult every evening. Another  interesting thing is he has learnt most of the vegetables names without any difficulty. The most amazing part is he can even identify the plants. I find this amazing because when I was teaching in school, a student of cl V once asked  me, "ma'am from which tree do we get tomatoes?" Going back to Sec’bad days, one of our friends daughter who was in cl viii, came to our house to see and click a few snaps of brinjal plants. Such is the practical knowledge about plants of children these days. So you can imagine our joy when Abi identifies the vegetables and plants.In fact I think even my daughter won't be able to identify as many plants as Abi can!!

sambar shallots

   

 After months of hard work, we are reaping the benefits now. From my vegetable garden, I have got most of the seasonal (winter) vegetables. After sharing them with my friends and helpers, I had enough left to make some pickle also.I will post the recipe for the pickles later. For now, enjoy the photos of our lush green garden :)

tempting turnips

evergreen mint

coriander in bloom

cauliflower-cabbage collection

my collection!

green edition