Chayote Gravy Curry (Chow Chow Gravy Curry)

Today, day 4 of BM# 5, I have a curry that can be made in a hurry in the pressure cooker. Chayote/ Chow chow/ Bengaluru vankaya takes a little while to cook on stove top, but takes just minutes to cook to tender in the pressure cooker.

I didn’t know chayote is a widely used vegetable in Latin American cuisine and it is also eaten raw in salads and salsas. Another thing that I didn’t know that even the root, stems and leaves of the chayote plant are edible. So there you go some wiki gyan to start a conversation at your next party.

Coming back to the curry, I used MTR brand curry masala that I bought recently and it gave the dish the bright orange-red color and subtle masala flavor that was not too over-powering. Dish was mild and not too hot which is how I like my curries, but my husband on the other hand prefers spicier dishes, so increase the amount of curry powder and red chili powder if you want a spicier curry. Also curry powder can be replaced with garam masala, Kitchen king masala would be awesome addition too.

Ingredients:
Chayote/ Chow chow – 2, peeled and chopped
Onion – 1 large, finely chopped
Tomato puree – ¼ cup
Red chili powder – ½ tsp
Curry powder (I used MTR brand) – 1½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Ginger+Garlic paste – ½ tsp
Cashew butter – 2tbsp
Milk – ½ cup (optional)
Salt – to taste

For tempering:
Urad dal – 1tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 8-10

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a pressure cooker, add tempering ingredients and once the seeds start to splutter, add the onions and sauté until lightly browned around the edges, takes about 6-7 minutes.
• Add turmeric and ginger+garlic paste at this point; mix well and cook for 1 minute.
• Add tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Next add cashew butter, red chili powder, curry powder, salt and chopped chayote. Mix well; add ½ cup of milk or water, no need to add too much water since chayote gives out moisture while cooking.
• Close the lid and pressure cook on medium flame for 2 whistles.
• Once the pressure drops, open the lid and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Lets see what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up today.
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma, PJ
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Bengali Egg Curry (Dim er Dhoka)

For Day 3 of BM#5, I made this yummy Bengali egg curry. Eggs are beaten and steamed to make egg cake which is then chopped and added to delicious gravy. Recipe adapted from Sandeepa’s Bong Cookbook. This is my third recipe in a row from Sandeepa’s blog which is filled with ton of yummy Bengali dishes that are easy to make and her posts are always so much fun to read. So if you haven’t already, do check out Sandeepa’s blog.

Coming back to the egg curry, I followed the recipe, but had to make slight changes to suit our palette. Here’s how I made it.

Sandeepa's original recipe here.
Ingredients:

For the Egg Cake:

Eggs – 6

Red onion – 1 small, finely chopped

Green chilies – 2, finely chopped

Coriander leaves – ¼ cup, finely chopped

Ginger paste – 1tsp

Milk – 3tbsp

Salt – to taste

Baking powder – a pinch

For the Gravy:

Red onions – 1 medium, finely chopped

Tomato puree – ½ cup

Panch phoron – ½ tsp

Ginger + garlic paste – 1tsp

Cashew butter – 2tbsp

Ground cumin – 1 tsp

Ground coriander – 1tsp

Red chili powder – ½ tsp

Sugar – ½ tsp

Salt – to taste

Method:

• To make the Egg cake: Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add all the other ingredients and whisk until combined. Grease a stainless steel container with cooking spray and pour the egg mixture into it. Cover and steam in a pressure cooker (without the whistle) for 5-6 minutes from the time it starts to give out steam. Open the lid after 3 minutes and unmold the cake and cut into bite size pieces. Set aside.
• To make the gravy: Heat 2tbsp oil in a large sauté pan; add panch phoron and once the seeds start to splutter, add onions and sauté until lightly browned around the edges.
• Add g+g paste and cook for 1 minute or until they don’t smell raw anymore.
• Next add tomato puree, cover and cook on medium flame for 5 minutes.
• Add spice powders, sugar and salt along with 1 – 1½ cups of water to make the gravy. Let the gravy come to a simmer, whisk in cashew butter and add chopped egg cake pieces. Simmer the curry for 8-10 minutes or until the gravy is thickened. Serve with rice or roti.

I served the curry with rice and a Bengali style moong dal (recipe coming up tomorrow) for a complete Bengali meal.

Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up today:
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala

Easy Pasta Sauce

Today is Day 3 of our Blogging Marathon and I have a simple pasta sauce recipe for you.This is a very quick and easy pasta sauce that I make for my son. Actually this isn’t even an actual recipe; this is the way I jazz up store bought pasta sauce to make it taste fresh. Using store bought pasta sauce cuts down on the cooking time and is very convenient. But I try to make sure that I don’t buy sauces that are loaded with sodium or other additives. I like Trader Joes basic marinara sauce as is for pasta and pizza, but like to doctor it up a little bit once in a while. I also make it from scratch and I’m giving that variation as well in the recipe below.

I use Cashew or Almond butter to add creaminess to the sauce, you can also use light or heavy cream to get the same effect.

Ingredients:
Pasta Sauce – 1 cup (I use Trader Joe’s brand). Use 2tbsp tomato paste with ¾th cup tomato puree instead of the store-bought pasta sauce
Red onion – 3tbsp, finely chopped
Carrot – 2tbsp, very finely diced
Garlic – 1 clove, minced (optional)
Pepper – to taste
Sugar – pinch (optional)

Cashew Butter - 2tsp

Method:

• Heat 1tsp olive oil in a small sauce pan. Add onions, carrots and garlic with a sprinkle of salt and cook on medium-low flame until the veggies are tender, about 8 minutes.
• Stir in pasta sauce, sugar (if using) and pepper. Taste and season with salt if required, which is highly unlikely because pasta sauces are usually heavily seasoned already.
• Simmer for 5-6 minutes on medium-low flame. This sauce sputters and spits out a lot, so be aware and don't where your best white clothes while making this :-).
• Slowly stir in cashew butter and simmer for another minute.
• Mix the sauce with pasta of your choice and enjoy.

Don't forget to check out what the other Marathoners are cooking up in their kitchens.

Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Sowmya, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Mina, Meena, Padma, PJ, Priya Mahadevan, PriyaSuresh, PriyaVaasu, Rujuta, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Srivalli, Suma,Usha,Veena.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo for ICC-November

For this month’s Indian Cooking Challenge, Valli chose a yummy gravy dish from Kashmir. I don’t think I’ve ever made anything Kashmiri and didn’t know that they use ground ginger in cooking. I was excited to try the recipe, but had to make some changes to the recipe due to my husband’s dietary concerns. He doesn’t eat yogurt, I can sneak in couple of spoons of yogurt in a dish but the original recipe from Indian food called for 2½ cups of yogurt, which is a little difficult to camouflage for a super-sensitive dairy hater.

I used the same spices as the original recipe, but changed the sauce ingredients to suit our taste. I used onion paste & cashew butter to make the sauce rich and creamy. I made it in a pressure cooker instead of using the traditional ‘dum’ method due to lack of time. Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:
Baby Potatoes – 12, scrubbed (I peeled them as my potatoes were a little dirty to begin with)
Onion – 1 large, chopped
Tomato paste – 2tsp
Yogurt -3tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp, roasted and ground into a powder
Kashmiri Lal mirch powder – 1tsp
Ginger powder – 1tsp
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Cloves – 6, roasted and powdered
Garam masala – 1tsp
Ginger + garlic paste – 1tsp
Red chili powder – ½ tsp
Cashew butter – 2tbsp
Asafetida (Hing)– pinch
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Poke the potatoes with a fork and drop them in a bowl of salted water for 20 minutes. Drain the water and set aside in a colander.
• In the mean time, heat 2tbsp oil in a large sauté pan. Sauté the potatoes until they are golden brown on all sides. Remove onto a paper towel.
• In a bowl whisk together yogurt, ginger powder, cardamom powder, fennel powder, Kashmiri chili powder and ½ cup water. Add the fried potatoes and mix well.
• In the same pan used for frying potatoes, add onions and sauté until lightly brown. Add ginger+garlic paste and cook for another minute. Let the mixture cool for a bit and grind into a smooth paste along with cashew butter.
• Add 2tsp mustard oil in a pressure cooker, add hing and clove powder and mix well. Add the onion paste and cook for couple of minutes.
• Next add tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour ½ cup water and salt, bring to a boil.
• Add the potato & yogurt mixture and garam masala, mix well and cover with the lid. Cook on high flame for 1 whistle.
• After the pressure releases, open the lid and garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or naan.

Thank you Valli for choosing such a flavorful dish for ICC and I hope you wouldn't my tweaking the original recipe. We thoroughly enjoyed the dish and I’ll be making this whenever I get my hands on some baby potatoes.