Mung dal bites – Healthful Indian snacks

I have been sporadic in posting on this blog this past month. That is because I have been planning my sojourn to India, packing and arriving first at New Delhi and then at Chennai. I have many interesting stories to relate, but I first need to get this off my chest: Indian restaurants and eateries have exploded in numbers in both the cities I am visiting. There are all kinds of eating joints: small roadside carts (with dubious hygiene, so please avoid if you visit India), small restaurants (again, eat at your own risk), medium sized ones (a definite yes, you may find a gem), large, opulent, Maharajah style restaurants complete with turbaned waiters running to fulfill your every command, starched lily white tablecloths and napkins, wonderfully cooked meals, fabulous menus….India has become a gourmet delight in all respects.

Leaving aside all those eating places, my vote for the best eating place is at the place I am staying while in Chennai. It is at a home of a friend who has a full-time cook. The cook is a young woman called Ammu, who keeps complete control of the household kitchen. She comes in each morning to whip up delicious breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Ammu’s cooking has the guests and family members charging in unseemly haste to the dining table in eager anticipation of every meal. Every dish that she makes is a gourmet delicacy that leaves one feeling completely content, replete and prosperous.

In the next few posts I plan to post some of her recipes. Here is a recipe from Ammu – a very healthy snack made of ground and roasted Mung beans. This is very easy to make and is absolutely delicious. Try it – it stores well unrefrigerated for over a week and is a great snack for your school going child.

Here is what you need:
3.5 cups green Mung beans with skin (great if you can get Mung flour, otherwise, powder the beans as fine as possible in your blender)
3 tbsp brown rice flour
1.5 cups powdered sugar (white or brown, your preference)
Scant 1 cup Ghee or olive oil
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup raisins
7 cardomoms (remove peel and powder fine)
pinch salt

Here is how you make this:
Heat and pan and dry roast the Mung flour and rice flour for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool. Heat the pan again and add 5 tbsp ghee or oil. Fry the cashews golden brown and drain on a kitchen towel. Now add the raisins in the same oil. Fry until golden brown and set aside. Cool the cashews and raisins. Chop the fried cashews into small bite-sized pieces. Cut fried raisins in half.

To the roasted Mung flour, add the powdered sugar, powdered cardomom, salt, fried raisins and cashews. Mix thoroughly.

Heat the rest of the ghee or oil in a pan until slightly warm. Pour in a little at the time in the flour mix. Mix and shape into small balls. Set aside. Add more oil or ghee as needed and make the Mung bites until all the flour is used up.

Makes 50-60 Mung bites. Store in a tightly closed container for upto a week.

Sweet Potato Spicy Soup

Winter days always bring to mind, images of my older sister, wrapped cosily in a blanket, on a “charpoy” (rope cot) placed on the lush green lawn, sunning herself after a wonderful lunch.

Those were the days we used to live in Jodhpur, a city in the desert state of Rajasthan. Summers in Rajasthan were usually spent indoors to avoid the frequent sandstorms and blistering heat. But we invariably spent the winters outdoors taking in the sun!

The winter sun in Jodhpur was warm without being too hot and bright without being too dazzling. And Sunday afternoons in winter were meant for dozing in the sun, replete after a great meal. Winter meals too, were different from summer meals. Summer meals were light and cooling with lots of liquids and juices. In winter though, we could indulge in the winter vegetables that were available in plenty: the squashes, pumpkins, the gourds and the sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes were our favorite dish for the winter. They were usually brought in fresh from the fields with the mud still sticking to them, by the local farmers pushing their hand carts.

Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. They contain almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits for only about 130 to 160 calories!

In honor of my sister, here is a recipe for a sweet and spicy winter soup: this is a low calorie, zero fat meal by itself. It is also very quick and easy-to-make. Serve with bread or just eat it hot off the stove!

Here is what you need:
1 large sweet potato
1/4 cup pink lentils
1 habanero or jalapeno (optional – beware the habanero is very spicy!)
2 medium sized tomatoes
2 – 3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chili powder (if you are omitting the habanero or jalapeno)
1 tsp turmeric powder

Here is how you make this:
Wash and chop the sweet potato. Do not remove the skin. Wash the pink lentils. Add everything in a large pot and cook until the sweet potatoes and pink lentils are soft. Serve hot.

Brain food – Stir-fried Curried Okra

As a young child growing up in a South Indian Brahmin household, it was not surprising that I was reared to be a vegetarian, save for an odd serving of eggs, once in a while. We were considered a “progressive” brahmin family because my father ate eggs and my mother cooked them. But eggs aside, our diet was completely vegetarian with each meal having generous servings of vegetables. As my mother set the table for the family meal everyday, my father would sit at the head of the table, (with our beloved Labrador drooling at his feet for slyly dropped tidbits) and regale us with stories about any topic that struck his fancy that day.

The stories would meander through ancient history, Hindu epics, current events and life in general. Sometimes as he spun his yarn, he would suddenly cast a stern eye at whichever one of his daughters who was not eating her veggies and break off mid-sentence to lecture about health benefits of the veggie of the day.

One of those lectures was about Okra or “ladies finger” as it is called in India. My dad, with no real scientific study to back his proclamations, other than old, regurgitated information from his elders, would inform us solemnly that if we wanted to be smart and do well in math, we needed to eat Okra. Okra, according to my dad, was brain food!

Turns out my dad wasn’t too far off in his surmise.

Okra is known for its high vitamin B6, fiber, calcium, and folic acid, which helps prevent neural tube defects in developing fetuses. A serving of Okra contains only 25 calories, so if prepared in a low-fat recipe, it is an incredibly healthy addition to any meal.

In addition, the mucilage and fiber found in Okra helps adjust blood sugar by regulating its absorption in the small intestine. It helps reabsorb water and traps excess cholesterol, metabolic toxins and surplus bile in its mucilage and slips it out.

It is an ideal vegetable for weight loss and is a storehouse of health benefits provided it is cooked over low flame to retain its properties. This also ensures that the invaluable mucilage contained in it is not lost to high heat. Okra facilitates the propagation of good bacteria referred to as probiotics. These are similar to the ones proliferated by  yogurt in the small intestine and help biosynthesize Vitamin B complex.

Now, I know that fresh Okra is somewhat difficult to source in the US, so many people resort to buying the frozen Okra. My curried Okra recipe is made from fresh Okra. I would encourage you to try to locate the fresh Okra for this recipe since frozen Okra invariably becomes slimy when cooked.

The key point to note in cooking Okra is learning how to wash it, how to slice it thin, and how to cook it under slow fire. The recipe itself is very simple but a few missed steps can give this dish an entirely different taste. So try to follow the recipe carefully and you will soon be able to get your family to enjoy this very yummy, low fat, healthy “brain food”!

Here is what you need:
1 1/2 lbs fresh green Okra
1 tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chili powder

Here is how you make this:
Wash the Okra thoroughly before chopping. Now cut the tops and bottoms off and chop into thin slices – see picture. Do not cut the slices too thick and do not wash after chopping or it will get slimy. Set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to crackle and add the chopped Okra. Sprinkle salt, chili powder and turmeric powder. Reduce heat and roast uncovered on a slow flame until brown. If necessary, drizzle a few drops of oil around the edges of the pan as it roasts.

Remove from the stove and serve with rice and rasam or yogurt.

Goat Cheese Salad with Couscous

Are you at wit’s end, wondering how to wean your kids off video games for a couple of hours on the weekend? And all you can think of as a hobby, is to bake sugar and butter-laden cookies with them? Are you worried that the very act of baking cookies with them, while creating those wonderful memories of togetherness, also sets them on the path to become “cookie monsters”?

Well, I have a panacea for you.

This recipe that I am about to share with you is healthy, filled with the goodness of fresh vegetables, brimming with taste and textures, so quick and easy to make that even someone with no prior experience in cooking can put it to together in just 10 minutes flat.

So try this recipe out with your children and you can have a proud little ones who made an entire meal by themselves. Depending on their age, set them to help you peeling the cucumbers, crumbling the soft goat cheese, measuring the olives and helping you make the couscous. You will have the benefit of a fun time with your youngsters while teaching them to cook and enjoy eating healthy meals.

I serve this with Whole grain Couscous and it makes a complete meal.

Here is what you need:

2 large Cucumbers (rinsed, peeled and chopped)
2 Green Peppers (rinsed and chopped)
1 bunch Cilantro (rinsed and snipped)
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes (rinsed)
1 bunch Basil (rinsed and snipped coarsely)
1 cup Kalamata Olives (in a jar, buy the pitted variety or pit them)
1 tube Goat cheese

For the Dressing:
1/2 cup Olive Oil
3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
Pepper: to taste

Here is how you put this together:
Combine the ingredients for the dressing. Toss into salad. Crumble and add the goat cheese right at the end, just before serving because it is very soft and has a tendency to melt. I buy the french variety of Goat Cheese, pictured above. You do not need to add any salt to this salad, because both the Goat Cheese and the Kalamata olives will provide a slightly salty taste.

For the Cosucous, follow instructions on the package. It takes just 10 minutes to make. In order to make this even more sumptuous, healthy, and satisfying, I use whole grain couscous, pictured here. You can also try the Parmesan Cheese Whole Wheat Couscous with milled Flax seed and Soy with this recipe. It tastes fantastic with this salad.

Enjoy!

Green Apple in Yogurt Sauce

South Indian Brahmins are known for their enormous affinity for yogurt. In India, people refer to yogurt as “curd”. No meal, and I mean literally no meal – breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack, is complete without a bowl of homemade curd.

Yogurt in India is usually home-made with live culture. Every night, before the housewife winds down and closes her kitchen, the last chore of the day is to add culture to pre-boiled milk to set yogurt (curd) for the next day. And every morning, the first chore is to refrigerate the new yogurt.

The new yogurt is used in a multitude of ways throughout the day: eaten plain, with sugar, made into Thair sadam, used a base for various sauces like “More Kozhambu” or “buttermilk sauce”. It is also used with fresh cut cucumber and onions to make “Raitas” or “Pachadis”.

I am a big fan of yogurt. My family consumes vast quantities every day. When I moved to the US, I tried to buy yogurt because no one I knew seemed to make it at home. I have tried various brands of buttermilk and yogurt. I found the unsweetened yogurts pasty and tasteless; I am not sure what they add in it to make it so. The sweetened yogurts are too sweet to be eaten as a meal accompaniment or used in Indian sauces. So I have finally decided to go back to my roots and now I make yogurt fresh and use live culture, just like I did when I lived in India.

Now that I have fresh home-made yogurt everyday, I am tempted to try all those Indian dishes that have yogurt as a base. I am also tempted to try out new dishes. One those new dishes is the “Green Apple in Yogurt Sauce”.

I first saw a green apple in the US. In India we used to get one variety of apple and that was the red apple. When I first tried a green apple, I was surprised at its tart taste. It isn’t very easy to eat as a fruit. But I have since read a lot about its fantastic nutritional qualities, most notably its Vitamin C, fiber and pectin content. So I have learned to use the green apple effectively in various dishes – combined with peppers in the Colorful pepper salad, and now in this simply fabulous recipe of “Green Apple Pachadi”.

This dish is simply heavenly – the tartness of the green apple combined with the natural sweetness of the yogurt and the hot spiciness of the habanero pepper panders to all the flavors the human tongue is used to: tart, sweet, sour and hot!

Without much ado, here is the recipe. This is a fabulously healthy dish, which is also very low-fat and low calorie. Make it in just 5 minutes! Enjoy!

Here is what you need:
1 large green apple (granny smith) (the tarter, the better!)
1 cup thick unsweetened yogurt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

To Garnish:
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp split, peeled urad dal (for the crunch, optional)
1 pinch asofoetida powder
1 habanero or jalopeno pepper (finely chopped) (optional – but take heed, this is what brings out the flavor of the apple and yogurt and gives this pachadi a fantastic taste)
1 sprig fresh green cilantro leaves

Here is how you make this:
Wash and chop the green apple. Add to the yogurt. Add salt and sugar and mix well. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to crackle. Now add the urad dal and brown until crisp. Now add the asofoetida powder and the chopped habanero and fry until crisp. (Ensure the habaneros are fried crisp – this will cut down the spice but retain the flavor of the habanero). Pour garnish over the pachadi. Decorate with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve as an accompaniment to any spicy dish and rice. I generally serve with rice and sambar or with aloo paratha.

Potatoes in a jiffy – Paani Aloo

As an Air Force brat, I have traveled the length and breadth of India during my formative years. Every two years we would pack our bags and move yet again.

During one of those trips, I came across a sight that remains seared in my mind. Our train had stopped at a station in Rajasthan for an hour long break. My family got off to stretch limbs and get a drink of water, when I happened to look around.

The platform was teeming with life. Urchins were running around. Stray dogs were sleeping on the benches. People sat or stretched out on their bags to safeguard them from pickpockets and thieves. In the midst of all this din, I saw a Rajasthani couple squatted on the floor of the platform. They were poor but obviously not starving. They were switching trains and awaiting their connection.

The husband was imposing in his traditional Rajasthani garb of a wrapped around dhoti, a beautifully embroidered vest, and a huge turban on his head. His young wife wore a long red skirt embroidered with mirrors, a beautiful blouse cut low, exposing her back and her slender waist. The blouse was held together with strings at the back. Her ensemble was topped off with a veil.

It was lunch time. The young wife squatted on the floor and had in front of her a little gas stove. She pumped it and watched the flames leap. Then she rolled wafer-thin, perfectly round, chapathis (whole wheat bread). She would place each one on the griddle, her movements swift and sure from years of practice. As each chapathi unfailingly puffed up, she would place it very carefully on her husband’s plate. Along with the chapathis, she served “paani aloo” or “liquid potato”.

I watched in amazement as she cooked the entire meal for her husband on a railway platform! And she had done that with such grace, such artistic flair and such concentration in the midst of so much chaos. It was a gourmet meal made by a very poor woman, who was so focused on her culinary art that she was completely oblivious to her surrounding. She was a sea of calm in that pell-mell.

And that was a picture that I never forgot.

In that stranger’s honor, here is my recipe for the “paani aloo” – “liquid potatoes”. I think it looks like the dish she made all those years ago. It certainly tastes good and is a very quick and easy dish to make. When your life is chaotic, just take a deep breath and remember that strange Rajasthani woman who valiantly cooked a meal in all that pandemonium and you’ll do fine!

This recipe for “Paani aloo”, is  yet another low fat Potato recipe that can be made in a jiffy. This is made with just 1 tsp oil and is very yummy. Serve with plain parathas, naan, rice or any other bread.

Here is what you need:
3 large boiled potatoes (mashed coarsely with large lumps)
2 cups water

Spices:
1 tsp red chili powder (I buy the Kashmiri chili powder available in Indian stores. It has a deep red color but is not very spicy)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala powder (optional)
1 -2 tsp salt (depending on how much water you add)
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds

Garnish:
A few sprigs chopped cilantro

Here is how you make this:

Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. Brown for 20 seconds. Add the coarsely mashed potatoes, water, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt. Bring to a boil. Take off the stove and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve hot over rice or chapathis.

Fusion French Toast

As a child living in India, I had only heard about but never tasted the French Toast. In my imagination, it seemed like a very fancy breakfast dish, somehow akin to the French souffles. It brought to mind romantic images of the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame.

For a very long time, I remember, I used to wonder how exactly the French toast was made and as soon as I had an opportunity during a visit to the US, I ordered it for breakfast at a restaurant. I was amazed at being served 4 huge, simply huge, thick slices of bread covered with egg and smothered with maple syrup, sweetened fruit and the whole mound decorated with a dollop of cream. I cannot honestly say I liked the dish. It was too sweet for my Indian trained palate which was used to eating Idly, Dosa and Vada for breakfast.

Besides, I am a big fan of food textures. I need to be able to chew and taste the sensations that accompany food textures. In my mind, wolfing food down before even tasting, because a dish is so refined or so smooth was OK for smooth desserts or ice cream but main menu dishes needed the satisfaction of textures so one doesn’t feel the need to binge. I am a firm believer that eating is not just to fill a stomach but a sybaritic experience as well. When one does not receive that wholesome experience while eating a meal, one tends to binge in order to obtain that satisfaction.

So, suffice to say that I had to convert the french toast to a fusion dish. Here is my attempt – as usual, low calorie and low fat – made with just 1 tsp oil. I hope you like it.

Here is what you need:
4 thin slices 7 grain or 9 grain organic bread
2 eggs
dash of milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder (optional)
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil

For Garnish:
Sprig of Cilantro
Tomato Ketchup

Here is how you make this in just 5 minutes:
Break the eggs in a bowl. Add the milk, salt and chili powder and beat for about 30 seconds with a fork.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Hold up a slice of bread and spread the egg mixture over one side just like you would spread jam. Place face down on the pan and drizzle a few drops of olive oil around the slice. While it is cooking, spread the egg mixture on the side facing up. Flip over and drizzle oil around the edges again. Remove from the pan and repeat for all four slices.

Now add the chopped red onion in the pan and sear on high heat for about 30 seconds (if you like them crunchy). Remove and ladle over the french toast. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Drizzle with tomato ketchup (optional).

Serve hot.

Fusion Egg Sandwich

My mother is a meticulous cook. She is also a patient cook. She’ll spend hours in the kitchen, preparing, chopping, mincing, slow roasting over the fire, tending to her dishes with love and it shows. The epicurean delight that her meals evoke is something that I aspire to, and am constantly working towards.

I, on the other hand, can lay claim to the dubious accolade of being a lazy cook. I love easy dishes – ones which are not involved. I do not like recipes that have me poring over instructions – one eye on the stove and the other on the printed recipe. Seems like too much work! By now, you must have experienced first-hand from the recipes I have posted so far, that I love to whip stuff up in a jiffy and use whatever I have at hand.

I also love fusion food. I love the idea of taking two different kinds of cuisines and blending ingredients to enhance the taste and tempt the palate.

So, here you have it – my 2 minute Fusion Egg Sandwich. Just 2 minutes to put together, if you have boiled eggs at hand.  As always, healthy, fulfilling, low fat and mmmmmm!

Here is what you need:
2-4 slices of whole wheat, 7 grain or 9 grain bread
1 tsp Olive oil
2 tbsps green coriander chutney (I make this in advance and store in the fridge -  lookout for my recipe in the upcoming posts. You can also buy this at any Indian store)
2 large eggs (hard boiled)
1 pinch red chili powder (optional)
Salt to sprinkle (sea salt, or black salt or good ole plain salt)

Here is how you put this together in 2 minutes flat:
Spread olive oil sparingly on both sides of the bread slices. Heat a pan on medium heat and toast the bread until crisp. (My husband loves pan toasted bread and says it tastes much better than oven toasted bread when eaten cold). Cool the slices and spread the coriander chutney on the slices. Cool the hard boiled eggs and slice into rounds. Place the sliced eggs between the bread slices and sprinkle with red chili powder and salt. Cut the sandwich into squares or triangles and pack for lunch.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings!

“You ARE what you eat!” an 8 year-old voice solemnly proclaimed from the back of my car. I swung around to look at my son’s friend, seated next to my son, and nearly hit a curb. Then I turned back to the road and pretended not to hear so the boys could continue with the precocious chatter. Peter went on to say advise my son that if he liked to eat potatoes, he’s going to look like a potato!!

Well, nearly everyone in my family likes to eat potatoes and I am determined that we shalln’t look like one.

If you made the aloo parathas I have described in one of my previous posts, and if you are like me, you would either have extra whole wheat dough left-over or you would have extra spiced potatoes left-over. Now, when you have extra dough left-over, there is no problem at all, just follow the same recipe as aloo parathas and make plain parathas without the stuffing.

But what do you do with left-over potato? I remembered the 8 year-old’s advice when I came up with this recipe. Here you go – enjoy these crisp, nutrient rich aloo tikkis without the added fat and huge amount of calories that normally go with the tikkis. Instead of the traditional shallow fried tikkis (cutlets) these are baked with very little oil. Yeah, potatoes without added fat!

Here’s what you need:
2 cups  spiced potato mixture
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated carrots
2 tbsp Olive oil

Here’s how you make the tikkis (cutlets):

Pre heat oven to 350 F.  Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

Make flat cutlets with the potato mixture. Roll each cutlet in more breadcrumbs.

Brush with Olive oil. Place on a greased tray and bake for about 15 minutes. Take the tray out and flip the cutlets over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve with Tamarind date chutney or ketchup.

Universal Truth!

Tis a truth, universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in need of a wife! – so wrote Jane Austen in the opening lines of her famous “Pride and Prejudice”.

I agree! I agree! “Tis a truth universally acknowledged, that only people who love to eat, can really cook very well!” To be able to dish up means that you know which flavors tempt, which ones tease, and which ones elicit gluttony, which satisfy and which haunt!

With that in mind, I started breakfast today – I mulled over what was in my larder and decided to make the very basic Upma – a steaming hot, satisfyingly filling, rice semolina concoction, which is one of the very first dishes taught to a young girl who is being groomed to cook in her in-laws joint family kitchen after marriage. All I had seen was a bland, oatmeal kinda dish – yummy, nonetheless, cause my mother is a chef non pariel. She would whip this dish with chopped onions, a bit of chopped ginger and it would taste just fantastic.

But I always have to go a step further and make it a healthy meal, so here’s what I decided to put into the dish:
Semolina: 1 cup
Carrot: 1/2 finely grated
Green pepper: 1/2 finely chopped
Onion: 1 finely chopped
Ginger root: small piece finely grated
Potato: 1/2 finely chopped
Chili: 1 red
Water: 2 cups
Oil: 1 tsp
Black mustard seeds: 1/4 tsp

As I started to cook this meal, I got a call from a friend in India. Normally, I cannot multi task while cooking because I need to concentrate, but since this dish (remember, I had mentioned that this is one the first dishes a young girl learns to make?) was something I could make while blindfolded, I continued to talk and cook.

First, I roasted the semolina in the dry, hot pan with no oil.
See picture on the right. Then I removed it from the pan and dropped in the oil. Waited until the oil was hot to drop in the mustard seeds. When the seeds crackled, in came the chopped onions, red chili, grated ginger and chopped potatoes. Few minutes until the potatoes cooked, turned down the heat and added 2 cups of water. Added salt and waited for the water to boil. Once the water boiled, added the roasted semolina in slowly until all the water was absorbed. Now added the chopped green peppers, and closed the dish to let the green pepper partially cook in the steam. 2 more minutes, and this dish is done – add the grated carrot and here it is – a heart-healthy, low-fat, satisfying, breakfast dish – just eat it- you need no accompaniments with this.