Vendakai Pachadi/ Ladies Finger Lentil Curry

I am always reminded of my bachelorette days in bangalore with my two wingies from university- Nivi and Soumi when i make Vendaikai Pachadi . They were quite fond of this preparation of mine, and this post is dedicated to the two of them and to our lovely Indira Nagar days in Bangalore :)

Vendaikai Pachadi

Ingredients

Shallots - 10 chopped
Green chilli - 2-3 , slit length wise and cut in half
Ladies Finger - 1 cup chopped
Toor Dal - 1/4 cup , pressure cooked with a pinch of turmeric, dal must be slightly mashable.
Tamrind extract - 4-5 Tbspn
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Jeera - 1 tspn
Mustard - 1 tspn
Hing - a pinch.
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2tsp + 4tbspn
water - 1 cup

Method

For most of us who cook bhindi, the first thing that probabaly comes to mind is the gooey-ness of it and the time it takes for the bhindi to cook for that gooey thing to disappear. So here is a method that is faster and easier to cook bhindi properly if you have a micowave oven.

In a glass bowl, toss the chopped bhindi,add  2 tspn of oil, 1 tspn salt  mix well, and heat it for 5 mins. Take it out at half-time, stir it and return to microwave for the remaining time. Doing this step, makes the bhindi dry, and when you proceed with the actual curry recipe, the bhindi cooks much faster and you dont see that gooey-ness. Try this,and you will always stick to this method for almost all bhindi featuring dishes.

Take a pan and heat some oil. Add hing, then mustard, let it splutter, add jeera - let it roast. Add the shallots, green chilli, curry leaves,give it a stir for a minute and throw in the microwaved bhindi. Saute it till the bhindi gets cooked well [slightly crispy and zero gooey-ness]. If you have used the microwave method to fry the bhindi, this step will maybe take only 5-7 minutes. Otherwise, if you are adding fresh bhindi , this could go on for 15-20 minutes. Please be patient.After this add in the tamrind extract, 1/2 cup water, salt and let the bhindi boil in the tamrind mix for 2-3 minutes. Now add the cooked dal, stir well. Boil the pachadi in low flame for 4-5 minutes and switch off flame.

We had this along with rice, kara-kuzhambu and carrot-thayir pachadi , the recipes of which will follow soon. :)

Notes

1. If you dont fry the bhindi in the microwave , and add fresh bhindi to the pan, it will take 15-20 minutes for the bhindi to get slightly crisp and for zero - gooey-ness. Add a tbspn of curd, and a tspn of sugar at this step to speeden the process. I used to do this initially before i came to know of the microwave method.

2.While adding tamrind extract tbspn by tbspn, make sure to taste in between, so that it doesnt get too tangy. The way i prepare tamrind extract is more diluted than how it is generally prepared. So adjust the quantity of tamarind extract as per your taste.

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Carrot cake with Cream-Cheese Frosting

I have known this recipe for long now, but never got around to do it. The time seemed apt today as I wanted to clear up the carrots in my fridge and some remaining cream cheese. :). So its almost like the carrots and cream cheese wanted to be made into a cake. :)

Carrot Cake with Cream-Cheese frosting

Ingredients

Cake recipe adapted from - Laura in the Kitchen

For the cake 

Shredded Carrot - 1.5 cups
All Purpose Flour - 1  and 3/4 cups
Chopped almonds - 3 Tbspn
Raisins - 2 Tbspn
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tspn
Cinnamon - 2tspn
Salt - 1/2tspn
Vegetable oil - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 1Tbspn
Grated orange zest - 1Tspn

For the Frosting

Cream cheese - 100 gms
Unsalted Butter - 1/4 cup
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water -1 Tbspn
Vanilla essence - 1 tspn

Method

Preheat your oven at 170 deg C and get that out of the way.Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and line it with parchment/butter paper.Or prepare the baking tray as you usually do while you bake.

In a bowl, toss the shredded carrots, almonds, raisins and 2Tbspn of all purpose flour and mix well with a spoon. Keep aside. This step will prevent the carrots and raisins from sinking to the bottom of the cake while baking.

Now in another large bowl, add sugar,brown sugar and oil. Mix well. Now break in the eggs into them, add vanilla extract and mix well. Now add all the dry ingredients one by one into the bowl,and also add in the shredded carrots/almonds/raisins as well.Mix with a spatula till everything comes together.Pour the mix into the prepared baking tray and even-out the top layer well with a spatula. Bake at 170 deg C for 20 mins. The original recipe called for 176 deg C for 30 min. But my oven heats up pretty quickly and this temperature and baking time worked for me. So if you know your oven , adjust the temperature and timing accordingly.

How to prepare frosting

Make sure the butter and cream cheese are in room temperature.Mix all the ingredients for the frosting till you get a nice smooth creamy texture, add a tbspn of water if needed. You must be able to easily spread the frosting on top of the cake.

After the cake is done [test it by inserting a tooth-pick into the centre of the cake and until it comes out clean], cool it for 30-40 minutes.Once the cake is completely cooled, apply the frosting on top of it. Leave it on for 15-20 minutes till the frosting sets.

Cut a piece of cake and enjoy it along with a cup of hot tea. :)

 
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Tomato Rice

Tomato rice is my back-up lunch on saturdays when i wake up and see its 11 AM. ;). And i must say thats a regular too. :P. So tomato rice, papad, raita and TV figures in our lazy saturdays.

I must give credit to S since i learnt this simple recipe from him and there was never turning back for another recipe.It always amazes me that something this simple and easy can taste so wonderful. This is also a quick lunch box item that can be made in minutes. My version uses regular ingredients and none of those extra stuff like coconut milk/curd , peanuts, mint etc is needed.


Tomato Rice

Ingredients

Serves - 2-3
Spice Level - Medium

Tomatoes - 3 large ones [chopped]
Onion - 1 large finely chopped
Green chill - 2 slit lengthwise
Masala/curry/Chilli powder - 2.5 tbspn
Salt - as per taste
Turmeric powder -  a pinch
Coriander leaves - a handful, washed/chopped well

bay leaves - 1
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cumin - 1 tspn
ginger-garlic paste - 1 tspn

Long grain Basmati rice  - 1.5 cups
water - 2.25 cups

Method

First wash the rice and soak in water and proceed with the following.

Heat oil in a pan. Add bayleaves , cinnamon, cloves and jeera, let them roast. Add in the onions and green chillis. Give it a stir for a minute or two. Now add the ginger-garlic paste. Saute till onions are translucent. Now throw in the tomatoes, stir it, add little salt and a pinch of turmeric powder. Stir it well for a minute and close the lid. Wait till the tomatoes are soft and  let out juices and it should be mashed well. This will take 10-12 minutes. Now add in the curry powder and saute till the raw smell of curry powder vanishes. This will take a minute. Now add in the corainder leaves, drain the water from the soaked rice, and add the rice too to the kadai and stir well for two minutes. Switch off flame.

Now empty the contents of the kadai in to the electric-pressure-cooker vessel, add 2.25 cups of water and salt. Add enough salt till you can taste the salt slightly in the water. That would be the right amount.Cook for 15 minutes.

Serve with papad and raita. Yumm! :)

Notes

1. Dont forget to soak the rice in water for atleast 15-20 minutes , and ensure to saute the rice along with curry mixture. This will help in  rice standing separately from each other.

2. The ratio of basmati rice to water is always 1:1.5 and not 1:2. I initially used to make it with 1:2 ratio, and ended up with rice sticking to each other or it being a tad overcooked.

3. You can skip  the bayleaf/cinnamon/cloves if you dont have them, it will pretty much be the same.

4. Adding little salt and turmeric to the tomatoes, helps them cook more easily and faster. So whenever you add tomatoes to the kadai , in any recipe, follow it up with little salt, a pinch of turmeric and stir it well to make it cook faster.


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