Vegetable Biryani in Slow Cooker

Wish you All a very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2013!!

I don't usually make any resolutions, I believe that if something needs to be changed, it has to be changed right away and there's no need to wait for a new year. But I do have couple of resolutions for this year, to eat as healthy as possible and waste as little as possible. One more resolution for the blog is to try and post as many new recipes as possible.

Today, we begin the 24th edition of Blogging Marathon. Valli came up with some very interesting and challenging themes and for the next 4 weeks I have some delicious recipes coming up.

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Slow Cooker Sambar

Update: My Computer is fixed.. I've updated the post with the pics.

I wanted to use my slow cooker that’s been collecting dust for quite sometime now. So I decided to make sambar in it and it came out pretty good, can’t complain for the minimum amount of work I had to put in.

Ingredients:
Toor dal – 1 cup
Moong dal – ¼ cup
Onion – 1 large, thinly sliced
Green pepper – 1 small, thinly sliced
Yellow squash – 1 medium, thinly sliced

Tomatoes – 2-3 medium, chopped (I used 1 small tomato chopped and 1/3 cup crushed tomato) Tamarind paste – 3 tbsp

Sambar Powder – 2-3 tbsp, homemade or store-bought (I used Ambika brand that I brought from India)
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste

Popu Ingredients:
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Dry Red chilies – 2
Hing – ¼ tsp

Method:

• I combined dal and veggies along with 5-6 cups water, ½ tsp turmeric, sambar powder, chili powder and salt in the slow cooker. Cooked on Low for about 6 hours (or on High for 4hrs).
• So by the time we came home, dal & veggies were done, then I added tamarind extract and adjusted the seasonings. Cooked for another 30 minutes on High.
• When there was about 10 minutes left for cooking, I made the tadka in 2tbsp oil, added it to slow cooker and let it cook.

Serve with rice, idli, dosa, roti, practically anything can be eaten with sambar. With the leftovers I made Sambar Semya which is nothing but vermicelli mixed with sambar.

Here’s how I made it:
Bring 6cups of water to a rolling boil, add 1tsp salt and 1 cup semya (vermicelli like bambino or MTR brand); cook for 3-4 minutes or until semya is cooked through. Drain the water and set aside to cool. Heat 1tbsp oil in a large sauté pan, add 1tsp each of urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds & cumin seeds, 2-3 dry red chilies, ¼ cup toasted peanuts. Add 2-3 cups of sambar and bring to a simmer. Stir in cooked semya, mix well; taste and add salt, sambar powder as needed. Simmer for 2 minutes and enjoy hot for a quick BLD (Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner).

Sambar goes to EC @ Simple Indian Food for her WYF-Side Dish event.
Sambar Semya goes to Sahaja @ Spicy Rasam for her Single Serving Recipes event.

Note: My laptop has gone cuckoo and is probably infected by the conflicker virus. So couldn't upload pics, I will update the post once everything is fixed.

Vegetable Vindaloo in Slow Cooker

The latest addition to my bursting at the seam kitchen cabinet/ counter is a Hamilton Beach Slow cooker. I borrowed this Vegetarian slow cooker cookbook from the library to get a better understanding of what and how to cook in a slow cooker. I decided to make vegetable vindaloo as my first dish in the slow cooker.

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 1 medium, chopped
Carrots – 2 small, thinly sliced
Capsicum – 1 medium, diced
Zucchini – 2 small, sliced into ¼“ pieces
Cauliflower – 2 cups chopped into small florets
Onion – 1 large, chopped
Kidney Beans – 1½ cups cooked or 1 15 oz. can
Tomato Sauce – 8 oz. can

For the Masala paste:
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Ground Coriander – 1 tsp
Ground Cumin – ½ tsp
Turmeric – pinch
White Wine vinegar – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp


Method:

• Blend all the masala paste ingredients into a smooth paste; keep aside.
  
• In a medium sauté pan, heat oil and add onions and carrots. Cover and cook till tender about 5 minutes.
  
• Add the onions mixture to the slow cooker and start it on Low and cook for 1 minute. Add the masala paste, all the other veggies including the beans, tomato sauce and 1½ cups of warm water. Mix well; season with salt and pepper.
  
• Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours (We came back after around 4 hours of cooking and I got a little impatient with slow cooking, so I cranked up to High and cooked for 1 hour.)
  

Serve with Rice (I made Pudina Rice w/ Peas) or roti.

I thought cauliflower was going to crumble up and potatoes were going to be mushy. But even at the end of 6 hours each veggie held its identity and the curry itself was delicious having simmered for the whole day. I will be posting more slow cooker recipes going forward.

On another note, my son is turning ONE on Monday.. OMG.. I cannot believe this past year flew by so fast. I still think he’s this tiny little bundle that the nurse showed me in OT right after he was born. Now he’s crawling around the house pulling everything he can reach. This is him arranging my books (or pulling down the house??)

I still remember waiting for him in the hospital room waiting to hold him. And now I can’t wait to see his smiling/ giggling face when I pick him from the day care. This is him

I still remember how disappointed I was when the nurse said he looks just like his father (and nothing like me). And now I see a little of both of us in him and also this little human being with his own personality. I wish time just takes it a little easy.. He's already leafing through the books (or ready to tear it apart)

I’m planning to make vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for kids in his daycare and Carrot cupcakes for us at home. Will post pics of the cupcakes soon.