Garden Harvest Recipes- Part 1

When I first came across the Green Blog Project, started by Inji of Ginger and Mango, I was very thrilled by the idea and waited for the spring to come. I went and bought lot of seeds and pots. I don't have a backyard but managed to get pots which can stand on my apartment window. It feels so good to see your veggies grow. Back in India, I had a huge garden with all kinds of trees like peaches, plums, Pomegranate and banana. I also had a veggie garden. Missed all that space when I heard about the green blog project.
This time this event is hosted by Deepz of Letz Cook. Here are some recipes from my small kitchen garden

Beans Stage wise pictures



Aloo-beans ki Sukhi Subzi (stir fried veggies with beans and potato)

Ingredients

1 cup chopped fresh beans
1 cup potatoes diced
1tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/3 tsp cumin seeds
Salt
oil

Preparation

In a pan add 2 tsp oil and add cumin seeds. Once it splutters add beans, potatoes, turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Saute it and cover it with lid on medium heat for about 10 -12 minutes. Uncover the lid and leave it for 2-3 minutes.



Okra Flower



Masaledar Bhindi ( Spicy Okra)


Ingredients

1 cup chopped okra
1cup chopped onions
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp of Tava fry masala (found in the Indian grocery store)

The tava fry masala consists of the following ingredients. If you don't have one, you can use the ingredients with the given measurements.
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp dry mango powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp pomegranate seed powder
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp black salt
½ tsp black pepper powder
1tsp kasuri methi
2 pods of cloves
1/3 tsp cinnamon powder
1/3 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cardamom powder
½ tsp dry ginger powder
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt
Oil

Preparation

The Masala is same as that of I prepared for Bharwan Karela. You can follow the same procedure for making the tomato/ onion masala. In a pan add 2bsp oil and fry the okras till slightly soft and crisp. Add the prepared masala to it and fold together. Let it cook for another 10 minutes. Masaledar bhindi is ready.



Mint Plant

Cilantro just showing up

Lot of them showing up infact

I have some more recipes from my kitchen garden which I will post in Garden Harvest Part 2

Snake Gourd Milk Kootu

This in my 50th post and these day I am lazying around to post recipes. I have successfully completed six months in the blog sphere. During these six months I have earned so much of love and attention from all my talented and friendly fellow bloggers that I never realized how fast six months just passed by.

I couldn't make anything special but can assure you that the snake gourd kootu sure is a winner recipe. Snake gourd is called as podalankai in Tamil, Potlakaya in Telugu, Padavalanga in Malayalam, Padavalakai in Kannada and Chachinda in Hindi. I am making a podalankai pal kootu, a recipe of Tamilnadu.

Ingredients

2 cups snake gourd
1 cup gram dal (chana dal)
1 cup fresh coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp pepper corns
4-5 green chillis
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp turmeric
Salt

For Tempering

1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp split urad dal
1-2 dry red chillies (torn in to tiny portions)
a dash of asafoetida
fresh curry leaves
2-3tsp oil

For garnish

fresh chopped cilantro

Preparation

Pressure cook the dal for just two whistles with water just enough to cook the dal. As snake gourd gets cooked very fast I prefer cooking it for few minutes on stove top with just 1-1/2 cup of water. The snake gourd should not be over cooked, cook until it is just soft.
Grind coconut, peppercorns, cumin seeds and green chillies together. You can reduce the amount of green chillies if you don't want it very spicy because the peppercorns and the red chillies give lot of heat too.
In a deep bottomed pan, add oil and temper with the given ingredients and let them splutter. To the tempering add the ground coconut mixture with the heat on medium low. We don't want the coconut to let out the oil. The kootu should be thick, so strain the water from the pressure cooked dal and add it to the coconut mix. Let the coconut mixture get cooked for about 5-6 minutes. Now add the dal, cooked snake gourd, turmeric and salt to the mixture. Let all the flavors marry in.
Once the kootu starts getting thick turn off the heat and add milk. Garnish with fresh cilantro and delicious Snake gourd milk kootu is ready.

Nut Cutlet and Farm Picking

Nut Cutlet is a crunchy cutlet made of nuts. I tried this recipe from a magazine and it is a great snack for tea time.

Ingredients

2 cups boiled and mashed potatoes
2 tbsp cashews
2 tbsp peanuts (groundnuts) with out skin
2 tbsp almonds (blanched /slivered)
1 slice of bread
2-3 green chillies
1/2 tsp Garam masala (found in the Indian store)
1tsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 cup cilantro
2-3 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
1-2 cups of bread crumbs
Lemon juice (optional)
Salt
water
oil



Preparation

Chop the cashew nuts, peanuts and almonds with nut chopper or knife. They should be of medium size, not to small and not too big.
In a bowl add the mashed potatoes, salt, chillis, ginger, garam masala, the nuts, cilantro, and bread slice. Mix them all well.
In another bowl add very few drops of water to the all purpose flour to make a thin paste.
Make desired shape out of the cutlet mixture, dip them into the flour batter and then coat them with bread crumbs.
Either deep fry or just pan fry the cutlets. I pan fried the cutlets on medium heat by tossing them gently. This way less oil is used.

The whole process including the boiling of potatoes did not take more than 30 minutes. Frying takes about 3-4 minutes each side.
I am contributing this one to Express Cooking Event hosted by Shaheen of Malabar Spices.


Farm Picking Peaches
The farm had many peacocks. You can see one more sitting below.


luckily found some raspberries.
My Son playing Jack N Jill!!

Dad and son taking a long walk in the raspberry fields.

We had filled this basket.
It was so much fun going to this farm. In the middle of picking peaches it started raining and we were taking shelter under the trees. The rain showers were mild and didn't last for long. The fresh smell of soil and the greenery was a very beautiful weekend experience.