Low Calorie Vada Curry/Steamed Lentil Dumpling curry

Low calorie Vada Curry
One’s student life is probably the most unforgettable days of our lives and for me my college days are particularly good memories. I enjoyed and loved being in my college and am so thankful for that. As I took a field quite atypical for girls, I was the only girl in my class. While I use to have a group of friends with whom I would have lunch in my class, some of them who were staying away from family would bring lunch from a hotel or mess. That’s how I even got to know of this dish vada curry. I was told by my classmates that it is usually made with leftover vada (now wondering if they were trying to wind me up)and at that time I would not even look at leftover food and that made me have an aversion for this dish. To add to that, the canteen in the office I worked also served this and needless to say that only made my dislike stronger. One of our friends served this for us when we visited them this year and that was when I changed my mind and thought of giving it a shot. I generally do not deep fry for health reasons and also that I am a bit lazy to store the leftover oil and there is no space on my counter. So, I tried a low calorie version of this recipe and here it is:

For vada:
½ cup Bengal gram (channa dal)
¼ cup red gram (spilt pigeon peas/tuvar dal/toor dal)
5-6 dry red chillies
Few coriander and curry leaves
1 onion finely chopped
Salt to taste

For gravy:
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon tamarind extract (optional)
Cooiking oil
To grind
¼ cup coconut (fresh grated or powder)
3-4 green chillies
1 tablespoon poppy seeds(soaked in water for atleast 30 minutes)
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
1 inch long ginger
3-4 garlic cloves

To make the vada, soak the dals for atleast 1 hour and coarsely grind along with dry red chillies and required salt. Add chopped coriander and curry leaves and onions to the ground dal and mix. Make small balls and gently press them to get the vada shape. Steam the vadas until cooked.
To make gravy, add mustard seeds to some oil and after it splutters, fry onions, tomatoes and turmeric powder. Grind all ingredients specified to be ground. Once the tomatoes become pulpy add the ground mixture and required amount of water and cook until raw smell goes. Add required amount of salt. Now add the steamed vadas and boil for couple of minutes. Vada curry is ready to be served.
If you are a vegetarian, this dish will be a different way to get your daily portion of dal. If desired you can add the tamarind once you have added the ground mixture to the tomatoes. I had not cut the onions and tomatoes very fine so just whisked with my hand mixie. This dish is best served with hot rice and some vegetables on the side. This would easily serve 4.

Kothamalli thokku/Flavoured Coriander Paste

Ever since we came back from India, my husband has been finding the mildest of chillies also hot. The devoted wife that I am then started cutting down on the heat and almost used just two chillies only to be told it is still hot. Cutting down the heat so much is not entirely for me so I was desperate to eat something hot and spicy. Around the same time my brother and his wife were going to visit us for the first time. I tried to make some biscuits and a sweet for my brother as he has a sweet tooth and also wanted to make something for my sister-in-law. I always get annoyed when the in-laws family focuses on what their boy likes and not really bothered to make anything the daughter-in-law may like. I thought it is unfair to discriminate. These were the triggers to make this wonderful recipe. I have already talked enough about the health benefits of coriander like it help fighting salmonella infection, urinary tract infection and lowering bad cholesterol. The freshness of the aromatic coriander just made me even more motivated to try this new recipe. I was a bit impatient and tired so could not be bothered cooking on the stove and used the microwave. You could happily do this on your stovetop too. I was very pleased that my sister-in-law really liked this recipe.
2 bunches coriander
½ teaspoon tamarind paste (adjust based on your taste and kind of tamarind)
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Asafoetida
Cooking oil (you will have to be a bit generous), preferably groundnut oil or gingelly oil
10 dry red chillies
Salt to taste
Microwave safe dish
Separate the coriander leaves from the stalk as I prefer to use only the leaves for this dish. Soak chillies in hot water for about half hour. If you are using tamarind block, then you can soak it with the chillies. Grind the red chillies, tamarind and coriander together to make a reasonably smooth paste. In a microwave safe dish add 1 teaspoon oil and heat for a minute. Now add the mustard seeds and heat until it splutters. Add fenugreek seeds powder turmeric powder and asafoetida and heat for 30-60s. Add more oil (about 4-5 table spoons) and heat for less than a minute. Add the ground mixture to it and cook for 10 minutes stirring every 3 minutes. Season with salt towards the end. The longer this cooks, the better. With oil, it is always more the merrier. If you desire, you can even add about half teaspoon of jaggery or brown sugar and cook for a while.
This dish tastes great when mixed with rice or eaten with curd rice. It can also be used like a base spread on wraps and chapattis or even in a sandwich.This tastes as good or even better than the equivalent you get in Grandsweets !

Gobi Mutter (Cauliflower and Peas) in a creamy sauce

Cauliflower is a vegetable from the cruciferous family just like broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts. Vegetables in this family are well known for their cancer preventing abilities. I am made to understand that atleast one serving of cruciferous vegetables every week help prevent prostate cancer in men. The phytochemicals in these vegetables are also said to help detoxify the body especially the liver and also help the body fight against carcinogens. They are also believed to reverse some damage done to cardiovascular system in diabetics. It is these phytochemicals that make them release sulphurous odour while being heated and this only gets worse with cooking time. As repulsive as the odour may be, I have always been a fan of cauliflower. Broccoli on the other hand, I find quite bland and does not even manage to take the flavours from the rest of the ingredients. I usually stick to cauliflower to tap the benefits of the cruciferous vegetables. If all these reasons are not good enough, I am sure the taste and flavours in this recipe will lure you to eat this wonderful vegetable.
I do remember that we used to get it in India only during ’winter’ but as I realised during my recent visit we get it throughout the year these days. As it is my dad’s favourite veggie, I made this dish for him but spared the creamy bit of it. While picking cauliflower, get a clean creamy white flower. If the leaves cover the flower well, even better. Cut the cauliflower florets into required size and put them in hot water for few minutes so you get rid of any insects or worms in it. Never depend on strict stir frying to fully cook the cauliflower as it will take eternity. Before I get into the actual recipe I should mention I used to do this with cream but in view of reducing fat I wanted to find an alternate and bingo – soya milk. Soya milk was a successful replacement for cream and added to the nutritive value of the food. I will elaborate on goodness of soya in a later post, now for the recipe.
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup green peas
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup tomato puree
2-3 green chillies
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
1 inch ginger piece minced
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 tablespoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 teaspoon chilli powder (adjust quantity according to your taste)
2-3 pinch turmeric powder
1 cup soya milk
Cooking oil
Salt as required
Bring water to boil in a pan and add the cauliflowers and peas. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Remember not to overcook cauliflower as they become soggy and mushy.
In a deep dish add 1 teaspoon oil and cumin seeds. Once they turn brown, add turmeric powder and fry the onions, garlic, ginger, chillies
Add tomato puree and cook until it turns pulpy.
Take a hand mixie (grinder) and coarsely grind this mixture. (If prefer not to grind, you may omit this step)
Allow to boil and the mixture come to the centre leaving the oil in the outer. Add chilli powder
Add the cooked cauliflower and peas and season with salt. I usually do until this stage in the morning and leave it until night so the vegetables absorb all the flavours. I finish off the dish with steps below just before dinner)
Add kasoori methi and simmer for 3-4 minutes. The longer it simmers for, the tastier it is.
Add the soya milk and simmer for few minutes. Adjust the quantity of soya milk according to the desired consistency of the gravy. If you want to indulge, use cream instead of soya milk. You may even want to use some milk instead.
Garnish with coriander if desired but not necessary as kasoorimethi is added. Serves best with rice, chapattis, naans,kulchas