Sabudana Kichdi Recipe

our Book Club is more than a book club... we are soul sisters, a girl gang, each other's cheering squad... and this morning we also became a Cook-along club... with my Friend Ramya walking us through the steps on how to make the perfect Sabudana Kichidi... as always it was loads of fun... and we all got to eat a yummy breakfast after... totally worth setting up an alarm to wake up at 7:30 am for this... and what a lovely way to start the day...

Ingredients 

1 cup of sago

2-3 medium potatoes 

1/2 cup of peanuts

3-5 green chilies

coriander leaves

grated fresh coconut

lemon 

1 tablespoon of ghee

1 teaspoon of jeera 

a few curry leaves
salt, to taste

Preparation

6 - 12 hours in advance: 

- Take 1 cup of sago and rinse 3 - 4 times or under running water till the excess starch is washed away. Place the sago in a bowl and add water so that the water level is about 1 inch above the level of the sago. Let the sago soak for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of soaking, drain the excess water from the sago, place the soaked sago in the bowl, cover and leave it for 6 - 12 hours. 
- Boil 2-3 medium potatoes. Once they have cooled to room temperature, refrigerate them for 6 - 12 hours. 

Just before cooking: 

 - Peel the potatoes,  and dice
 - Roast 1/2 a cup of peanuts, cool, and grind them coarsely. (Expert Tip: Do not grind the peanuts too much, that may release the oil from them and make it sticky.) 
 - Slit 3 - 5 Green Chilies 
 - Finely chop Coriander Leaves 
 - Grate 1 - 3 tablespoons of fresh Coconut
 - squeeze the juice of a small lemon 

Cooking method: 

- Add about 1 tablespoon of Ghee in a kadai. (Expert Tip: Adding a very small quantity of cooking oil to the ghee will prevent it from burning.) 
 - When it is hot, sputter about 1 teaspoon of Jeera in the hot ghee. 
 - Add the potatoes. (Expert Tip: Add a pinch of sugar so that the potatoes brown well.) Stir till golden brown. 
 - Add the Green Chilies, and Curry Leaves, then stir.
 - Add the peanut powder and stir. 
 - Add the sago and salt. Mix well, then cover the kadai and cook on low heat till the sago turns translucent. 
 - Add the Coconut, Coriander, and Lemon Juice. Turn off heat. 


Serve hot with a dash of coconut on the top, and a wedge of lime.

Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

Pumpkin Puree

Pressure cook pumpkin cut into chunks. Cool, scoop out pulp, blend with a fork or hand blender.

Pumpkin Spice

 - 1 small Nutmeg
 - 2-3 inch long pieces of cinnamon
 - (Optional) 1 inch piece of dried ginger
Grind to a fine powder.

Dry Ingredients

1.5 Cups of Flour
1 teaspoon of Baking Soda
1 teaspoon of Pumpkin Spice

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In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of sugar and 2 eggs
Add 1/4 cup of unsalted Butter, and 1.5 cups of Pumpkin Puree, mix

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and gently fold.

Bake at 175 C for 23 minutes in an oven... Baking time may differ depending on the flour used, type of oven, and size of the muffins, so I rely on the toothpick test to check for completion.

Rest for 15 minutes when you take it out of the oven, then cool completely on a wire rack. Can be stored for 3 days outside in an airtight box, or 1 week in the fridge (microwave for 30 seconds before eating if you store it in the fridge)

Bitter-gourd Stir-fry

Thoran (തോരൻ) is a coconut-based dry dish traditionally made of finely chopped stir fried vegetables in Kerala. I added raw mango, and tomatoes to this dish.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
a large pinch of asafoetida
2 medium sized bitter-gourds, diced
a large piece of raw mango, diced
2 medium sized tomatoes, diced
3 green chilies, slit
salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder
3 tablespoons of fresh grated coconut

Method

Heat oil and add mustard to it. When the mustard starts sputtering, add the asafoetida.

Add the bitter-gourd and stir for about 2-3 minutes. Add the raw mango, the tomatoes, and the green chilies and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric powder, and cumin powder. Close and cook low heat.

When the bitter-gourd is half cooked, add the coconut. Close and cook on low heat till done.

Physalis Salad

I’m not a salad person and will usually avoid salads as much as I can. On the rare occasion, I’ve been persuaded to eat a salad, and even rarer still have I enjoyed or even liked a salad. So while I enjoy experimenting making new stuff in my kitchen, I’ve literally never tried to make a salad before. But #Physalis... I’ve eaten it for years, made it into preserves for a couple of years; and my Human, he likes salads. So today I made a Salad at home and I enjoyed making it and I even liked eating it - it was refreshingly delicious! I’m as surprised as anyone else who knows me well is going to be!

Here's the recipe: 

100 g of Physalis cut into eighths
1 medium sized Cucumber diced
Kernels from 1 Cob of Corn steamed and salted lightly
3/4 Cup of Mint leaves

Salad Dressing: 

Juice of 1 small Lemon
Lemon Rind, to taste
1 tablespoon of Honey
1 tablespoon of Olive oil
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Mix the ingredients for the salad dressing in a bowl. Toss all the ingredients with the salad dressing till it is well combined. Eat!

Physalis Jam - a twist

Physalis or CapeGooseberry Jam was what was cooking in my kitchen a few days back. While this is not my first attempt at making jam, this is my first attempt at making jam from this fruit, mostly because I either was too lazy or had too little time to experiment with and make jam from it; the fruit also being very seasonal. The idea to make jam from it came from looking the fruit up on google; with it came many variations in recipes. I first discovered it in a local market a few years ago and picked it up out of curiosity. At that point in time I did not know what to do with it. I asked a friend and she wove me a nostalgic story about how she and her siblings would pick these fruit that would grow wild in their home town and just eat them. I ate quite a few of these fruit too. I like their sweet and tart taste.

I used 300 g of Physalis; 200 g of Demerara Sugar, and the juice of 1 1/2 limes to make the jam. I prepared the fruit by easing them with salt and water and cutting them into quarters.

Mix the sugar and lime juice in a cup of water and bring this mixture to boil in a thick bottomed pan on high heat. Once the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is bubbling, add the chopped physalis to the pan. Wait till the mixture comes to a boil again and then lower the heat so that the mixture in the pan is simmering.

I tested it to see if it was done after about 30 minutes.

How to test if a jam is done? 

• Place a few drops of the jam on a cold spoon and put the spoon in the fridge for a couple of minutes. 
• Take the spoon out and push at the jam with a finger; if it wrinkles, it is done. 

If not, continue to simmer till it is done; checking at 5 minute intervals. My jam was done in about 45 minutes.