Brussels sprout curry (Indian Style)

My grandmother and mom makes this curry and it tastes real great. I could never make it that way but this is just an effort. Even brussels sprout sambar tastes great.
Brussels sprout contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre. Moreover, they are believed to protect against colon cancer, due to their content in sinigrin.

Ingredients

1 cup Brussels sprout
2 onions
1cup tomato puree
2 green chillies
1tbsp chopped ginger
½ cup tamarind water
1tsp turmeric
1tsp dhaniya powder(coriander powder)
1tsp sambar powder (optional)
Salt
Oil for tempering
Mustard seeds
Asafoetida

Preparation
Cut brussels sprout as given in the pic. Do not cut them into halves, just cut them on the top. Boil it in 2 cups of water for 3-5 minutes. Remember, Brussels sprouts gets cooked very fast so make sure not to over cook them.
In a frying pan , add 2 tsp oil and fry mediumly chopped onions till the raw smell leaves.
After it cools down , grind the onions, chillies and ginger together.
In a sauce pan add tamarind water, turmeric and salt and bring it to boil. Add onion- chilli paste and tomato puree to it. Also add dhaniya powder and any other masala like garam masala or sambar powder if desired.Bring it to boil. When all the ingredients get blend together, add the brussels sprouts and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Make sure they don’t break. Temper it with mustard and asafoetida.
Serve with hot rice.

This is my contribution to Sushma’s Monthly Cooking Tipology . I contribute this recipe in the memory of my grandmother who was an amazing cook.

My Weekend trip

I had been to Sri Venkateswara Temple, Pittsburgh, PA. and New Vrindaban temple in West Virginia. Here are some pics of the New vrindaban temple. A disaster happened with my camera. The LCD of my camera got cracked, so I was disappointed and couldn’t take pics properly.

The Palace of Gold is a beautiful and must visit place. The place is very scenic and amazing. It was too cold for us to get out of the car so couldn’t enjoy the small pond and white peacocks. I had to take pics sitting in my car.

This is called the palace of Gold.

This is the glass painted celing of the temple.

Majestically carved doors


These are some beautiful hand paintings by devotees and some are from India.



This is the hand painted ceiling

This is teak-wood carved doors from India


This is the small pond with white ducks and peacocks. The cottages are for guests who visits.

Punjabi Kadi

Kadi is one recipe, which sounds simple to make but only the right amount of all the ingredients can make a perfect kadi and bring out the real taste. I had this Punjabi kadi in India long back. After that I recently had it at a restaurant where the chef who made it was a sardar himself. Oh my!! The taste was heavenly and so good that I could have the kadi simply without any rice or roti. I owner of the restaurant passed by us asking if everything was fine and I thought this is the chance to make the right move and asked him for the kadi recipe but that guy was too clever!! He said that I would have to join the cooking class offered by them, where they teach 2 recipes a month for $ 40 to learn about the kadi.I know you guys are laughing out loud there.
It was not over. I still was bent upon knowing the recipe and asked him “ do you mix up all the ingredients and the start boiling it on the stove top? Did you add spinach to the pakodis? And so on… you know how that guy answered “ehhh ya something like that and ya something like this” hmmmm I thought!! What a Guy??!!!!

I am very lazy at making deep fried stuff, so I usually make plain kadi, not with the pakodis. This is my first effort to bring out the original Punjabi kadi but the taste wasn’t absolutely the same. It is my first contribution to Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables. "K" for Kadi!!


Ingredients for Pakodis

2 cup Besan (chickpea flour)
½ tsp Ajawain
1cup chopped onions
1tsp kasuri methi
½ tsp chilli powder
1tsp cummin powder
chopped spinach (optional)
Salt
Water
Oil for deep-frying

Ingredients for the kadi

2-cup yogurt
1cup water
½ cup besan
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp turmeric powder
1tsp Cummin powder

For tempering

2tbsp oil
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
Pinch of Asafoetida
Dry chillies (optional)

Preparation

For pakodis mix up all the ingredients with water in to a batter consistency. In a deep frying pan heat oil and make small pakodis and keep aside.

For making kadi, mix water to the yogurt and dilute it into buttermilk consistency. Add besan, turmeric, salt, cummin powder and chilli powder to it. Bring this mix to a boil on medium heat. If the kadi gets too thick, water can be added to dilute it. Once the kadi comes to a good boil, remove it from stove and add the pakodis and temper it with the given ingredients.
This is how I made it. If anyone has a better recipe please help me improve it.

I am going on a trip for the long weekend to this place, so taking a small blog break. I will catch up with you all after a week. Wish you all a happy weekend and Happy Easter.

Herbal Chai (Tea)

This herbal Chai contains more then one herb. This is my contribution to the weekend herb blogging hosted by Anh of Food lovers Journey . She has a lovely blog and I couldnt stop myself from contributing.

The first herb is Tulsi. The Tulsi (also known as Tulasi) plant or Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) is an important symbol in many Hindu religious traditions. The name "tulsi" means "the incomparable one". Tulsi is a venerated plant and devotees worship it in the morning and evening in India. The aroma of tulasi is divine.

Tulsi as an Ayurvedic medicine

Tulsi’s extracts are used in ayurvedic remedies for common colds, headaches, stomach disorders, inflammation, heart disease, various forms of poisoning, and malaria. Traditionally, tulsi is taken in many forms: as an herbal tea, dried powder, fresh leaf, or mixed with ghee(clarified butter). Essential oil extracted from Karpoora Tulsi is mostly used for medicinal purposes and in herbal toiletry. For centuries, the dried leaves of Tulsi have been mixed with stored grains to repel insects.

Its aroma is distinctively different to its close cousin, the Thai Basil which is sometimes wrongly called Holy Basil, in shops and on the internet, but they can be distinguished by their aroma and flavour. Holy Basil is slightly hairy, whereas Thai Basil is smooth and hairless, also Holy Basil does not have the strong aniseed or licorice smell of Thai Basil; and Holy Basil has a hot, spicy flavor sometimes compared to cloves
(For more info ask wiki)

The second herb is fennel seeds. It is a aromatic seed usually used as mouth freshner. But it is also used in Indian food for its unique aroma and strong taste. Fennel seeds also have a lot of medicinal properties.

Third herb is Ginger, I need not say much about this herb as many of you know about it. Ginger and its extracts aid digestion, help relieve stomachaches, flatulence, and promote circulation.Powdered ginger is very effective in treating motion sickness. It’s especially given to kids for proper digestion. Fresh mashed ginger root, when applied to burns, eases the pain.The combination of Pepper, ginger along with honey or cane sugar relieves sore throat, cough and cold.

The fourth is cardamom. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic fragrance. It is a common ingredient in Indian cooking, and is often used in baking. In India, green cardamom (A. subulatum), or "elaichi," is broadly used to treat infections in teeth and gums, to prevent and treat throat troubles, congestion of the lungs and pulmonary tuberculosis, inflammation of eyelids and also digestive disorders. It is also reportedly used as an antidote for both snake and scorpion venom.
(Source Wiki)

Ingredients

1cup of water
1cup of milk
2tsp tea powder
3-4 leaves of tulasi
1pod crushed cardamom
1tsp roasted and crushed fennel seed
1tsp grated ginger
sugar.


Preparation

Boil all the ingredients in water for 5 minutes or more and then add milk to this mixture and bring it to a boil. Strain the tea and enjoy. This tea is good for weight reduction, muscle and joint pain. It is very refreshing and aromatic with all the blend of herb and spices. I am serving the tea with some Kaju Pakodis (Cashew savory snack).
I got some dried leaves of tulasi packed from India. Nothing can substitute Tulasi but those who find it difficult to get tulasi can use cloves instead.