Potato Bhaaji 1

Ingredients:

3-4 medium potatoes
2 green chili peppers chopped or 1 Tb chili paste
7-8 curry leaves
1 tsp grated ginger root
4 tsp peanut oil for oil tempering
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp hing powder
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
salt to taste
2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
handful cilantro leaves chopped fine
3 Tsp freshly grated coconut (optional)

Recipe:

Boil potatoes and peel them. Cut them into 1/2"x1/2" pieces.
Add salt, sugar, chili paste and ginger and mix well.
Prepare oil tempering and add hing powder.
Add curry leaves and potatoes and stir well.
Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remember potatoes are already cooked. This is to cook spices.
Add chopped cilantro leaves.
Add fresh coconut and serve.

Notes:

1) Use as a side dish.
2) You need more oil for tempering as potatoes absorb more oil than other veggies.
3) Glossary of Vegetables - Indian Names
http://www.syvum.com/recipes/indian/glossv1.html

Whole wheat pasta and tofu with pesto sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat pasta like ziti, farfalle
2 oz. tofu cubed and fried in non stick pan with few drops of olive oil
1 cup green bell pepper cut lengthwise
2 tsp olive oil for bell peppers
2 Tsp pesto sauce (handful basil leaves, 4-5 almonds, olive oil, tsp Parmesan cheese )
1/4 cup milk any kind - I use 1% milk
salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

Recipe:

Cook pasta, saute tofu and set aside.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add garlic (optional). Add cut bell pepper and saute until it gets cooked. Add peso sauce, milk and mix well. Add tofu and pasta. Add salt and chili flakes. Mix well and cook for a minute or two until milk is absorbed in pasta and tofu.
Add 1 tsp fresh Parmesan cheese on top (optional).
Add 1 Tsp sliced almonds on top to add texture (optional).
Serve immediately.

Notes:

1) Substitute green bell peppers with mixture of multi colored bell peppers, or broccoli, or carrots and peas.
2) Substitute pasta of your choice.
3) Add 2 Tsp of Louisiana hot sauce while serving (optional).

Methi Malai Tofu Bhaaji

Ingredients:

2 tsp peanut oil
4 oz. firm tofu cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup frozen chopped Methi leaves (thaw and squeeze water out)
handful cashew nuts
1/4 cup non-fat milk

For The Marinade:

1/4 tsp fresh garlic paste
1/4 tsp fresh ginger paste
1 green chili paste (optional) add more or add less depending on your taste
handful cilantro leaves chopped fine
1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt
salt to taste
pinch of sugar

Recipe:

Mix all the ingredients for marinade.
Add tofu pieces into marinade and keep in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Grind cashew nuts in milk and set aside.
Heat oil (or 2 tsp water) in a flat non stick pan.
Add Methi in it and cook it for a couple of minutes.
Add marinated tofu along with marinade and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
Add cashew paste and stir well until tofu gets coated well.
Serve as a side dish.

Notes:

1) Methi, also called as Fenugreek, can be found in Indian stores. If you are using fresh Methi leaves 
in this recipe, wash and pluck leaves and discard the stems. Wash the leaves thoroughly in water as fresh methi may have sand in it. I add these leaves in a big pot filled with water and stir them well. Sand settles at the bottom of the pan and remove the leaves to a plate and discard the water. Rinse the pot and fill it with the new water and repeat the process twice. Squeeze the leaves to remove excess water and chop them finely.
2) Glossary of Vegetables - Indian Names
http://www.syvum.com/recipes/indian/glossv1.html

Delicious Kohlrabi Bhaaji 1

Ingredients:  

2-3 medium size kohlrabi
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp hing powder (asafoetida)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (cheaper in Indian store)
1/4 tsp chilli powder (cheaper in Indian store)
2 tsp peanut oil
salt to taste
1/2 tsp brown sugar (I prefer gud)
handful fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves) chopped finely

Recipe:

Wash and peel kohlrabi and cut into 1" x 1/4" x 1/4" pieces.
Prepare oil tempering
Add kohlrabi and 1/8 cup water.
Add salt, sugar and chilli powder.
Cover and cook over medium-high heat until tender.
Add chopped cilantro.
Serve with chapaties or rice.

Notes:

1) Make sure that kohlrabi is tender.  If it is fibrous then discard that part.

2) Glossary of Vegetables - Indian Names
http://www.syvum.com/recipes/indian/glossv1.html

Prepare Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Ingredients:

Sweet cream, unsalted butter - 1 lb or 4 sticks

Recipe:

In a tall stainless steel pan add 4 sticks of unsalted sweet cream butter.
Heat the pan to medium high heat.
Let the butter cook until it starts looking clear. It will have light brown sediment (cooked milk solids) at the bottom. At this stage cooked butter will have a nutty flavor.
Remove from the heat and let it cool a little. Strain and store it in a glass jar. Wait until ghee is thickened and refrigerate.
Do not transfer glass jar to the refrigerator until it is cool to touch or glass jar will break due to drastic change in temperature.

Notes: 

1) Whenever needed, leave the jar out on the counter overnight (if in a hurry...warm it in microwave for a minute) and take out a small amount just enough for a week at a time. You can return the jar to the refrigerator after it gets cold to touch.
2) Ghee gets rancid if you leave it out of refrigerator (it will start smelling bad after a few days).
3) I always store it in a glass jar (I use peanut's empty glass bottles after washing and drying them).
4) Use tall pan to cook butter as it can splatter (it has water content).  You can occasionally stir it to reduce splattering.
5) Cooked butter lasts much longer than the uncooked butter (without refrigeration).
6) Cooked butter does not burn as quickly as butter as milk solids get settled on the bottom of the pan
as sediments.
7) Scrape the brown sediments on the bottom of the pan and add 1/2 tsp sugar to it and eat. It tastes great.

Basic Ghee Tempering

Ingredients: 

Ghee - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

green chilies (or red dried chilies) - 2-3 or to your taste

Recipe:

Heat butter warmer (or a small pan) on a med. high heat.
Add 2 tsp ghee.
Add 1/4 tsp cumin seeds.
Let them get lightly brown (they should get cooked).
Add chillies and remove from the heat.
Add to the food while hot.

Note:

1) Add hing powder, curry leaves, turmeric powder after adding chilies if required by the recipe.
2) Use basic ghee tempering for the dishes for fasting (like tapioka, potatoes).
3) Use basic ghee tempering for many salads that require roasted peanuts or yogurt.
4) Use basic ghee tempering for recipes that use yogurt or buttermilk.

Basic Oil Tempering

Recipe:

Heat 2 tsp peanut oil in a pan on a med high heat.
Add 1/4 tsp black mustard seeds and when they pop, remove from the heat (when mustard seed pop, oil is of correct temperature so it will get mixed with the food properly and will not float on the top).
Add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Add 1/8 tsp hing powder.
Add immediately to the food you are making.

Notes:

1) I like to use peanut oil as it blends in very well with the Indian food and actually enhances flavors of the spices we use. It has 17% saturated fat, 46% unsatutaed fat and 32% polyunsaturated fat. It has smoking point of 437 degrees F. It has 33% lenoleic acids (omega 6), and 48% oleic acids (omega 9) and traces of alpha-lenoleic acids (omega 3).  I make flax seed chutney to get omega 3.

2) Mustard seed is a rich source of oil and protein. The seed has oil as high as 46-48%, and whole seed meal has 43.6% protein.

It has high amounts of calcium -52%, potassium - 15%, magnesium - 84%, phosphorus -120 %, 

Zinc - 60%, Iron - 77%, and Vit. B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, Vit. E, small amounts of Vit. C and Vit. K

3) Asafoetida  is used in our daily cooking as it relieves gas and stimulates digestion.  As a medicine its most common use is in treating indigestion and flatulence. 
Beans are the main source of protein for most vegetarians and these beans have a tendency to produce gas. To a great extent, garlic is also used for the same purpose, other than adding their fragrance to cooking.
I don't use hing powder when I add garlic to the tempering as hing powder has a very strong and pungent smell and because  one neutralises the effect of the other, and the very purpose of adding these spices to our cooking is lost irretrievably or forever.

4) The bioactive compounds found in turmeric are called as curcuminoids. Curcumin is one of the most important or the main active ingredient in turmeric. Curcumin is soluble in fat (oils, ghee etc). It 
has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant and antiseptic.

Cucumber Salad 2

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber or 2-3 pickling cucumbers (or use any cucumber with tender seeds)
1/4 cup mung dal - soak in water for 2 hours - discard water once soaked
1 Jalapeno pepper or 2-3 chillies (like Fingerhot peppers) chopped into 0.25" pieces
Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves) - 3-4 tsp finely chopped
Peanut oil for tempering - 2-3 tsp
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp hing powder
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal *(black lentils) - optional
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Recipe:

Wash and peel cucumbers. Chop them coarsely or grate them coarsely.
Squeeze out water (you could drink the water or apply it to your face as a mask).
Add mung dal.
Add salt, sugar, lemon juice to your taste.
Add chopped fresh cilantro.
Heat ghee for ghee tempering
Add black mustard seeds. After they pop add cumin seeds and black lentils (urad dal) and let them get lightly brown.
Add hing powder and add this to cucumbers.
Mix well and serve right away as a side dish.
I also serve these salads with sandwiches instead of potato chips or french fries.

Notes:

You could substitute cucumbers with
1) finely grated carrots
2) tomatoes
3) 4 med. tomatoes + 1 small onion
4) radishes
5) cabbage - chopped finely
6) cauliflower - chopped finely
7) iceberg lettuce (half head) and spring onions (4-6 stalks)
8) mix two or many from - cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, iceberg lettuce, spring onions, cauliflower, cabbage

*dal - split legume
Buy most of the spices and dals in Indian stores. I store my spices in glass jars in the freezer. It is best to use legumes and dals within 4-6 months but when I purchase them in bulk and need to store them outside the refrigerator, I add 1 tsp of boric acid to them and mix well. I always wash them 3 times before using them in cooking.

Cucumber Salad 1

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber or 2-3 pickling cucumbers (or use any cucumber with tender seeds)
Unsalted roasted peanuts ground coarsely or chopped finely - 4 Tbs
1 Jalapeno pepper or 2-3 chillies (like Fingerhot peppers) chopped into 1/4" pieces
handful fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves) finely chopped
1 tsp ghee for tempering (ghee is clarified cooked butter)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp sugar (to taste)
2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Recipe:

Wash and peel cucumbers. Chop them coarsely or grate them coarsely.
Squeeze out water (you could drink the water or apply it to your face as a mask).
Add chopped peanuts.
Add chopped fresh cilantro.
Heat ghee for ghee tempering .
Add chilies to ghee tempering and add to grated cucumbers and mix well.
Because of ghee tempering less water is released from grated veggies.
Add salt, sugar, lemon juice to your taste (just before you serve it)
Mix well and serve right away as a side dish (salads should be crisp to taste).

Notes:

You could substitute cucumbers with
1) finely grated carrots
2) tomatoes
3) 4 med. tomatoes + 1 small onion
4) radishes
5) cabbage - chopped finely
6) cauliflower - chopped finely
7) iceberg lettuce (half head) and spring onions (4-6 stalks)
8) mix two or many from - cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, iceberg lettuce, spring onions, cauliflower, cabbage, sprouted mung beans, split mung beans (soak dal for 2 hours and remove all the water).  
9) Substitute peanut powder with sprouted mung beans or soaked mung bean dal (use hing powder as antigas in tempering). 
10) If you cannot eat ghee, use oil instead of ghee.  
9) I also serve these salads with sandwiches instead of potato chips or french fries.