Quick Pan Handvo (Gujarati Instant Handvo)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 3: Gujarati Cuisine 

Day 17: Q for Quick Pan Handvo

Q was one of the tough letters to find a dish in Gujarati cuisine (I guess it's difficult in many cuisines). I was almost tempted to make 'Qesar Shrikhand' but it seemed a little odd, so I finally ended up making Quick Pan Handvo instead.

Handvo is a popular Gujarati snack. It is a baked spicy lentil cake made with a fermented batter of rice, lentils and spices. It is crispy on the outside and soft inside. It has been on my to-make list for quite a long time. I was hoping to try the traditional version for this mega marathon, but Oondhiyu dictated the letter selection, so Handvo has to wait for now.

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Spicy Cabbage dry Curry

There are some vegetables that get treated the same way ALL the time. In our household, cabbage is one of them. I usually make a dry curry with grated ginger and coconut which tastes great but after a while I got bored of cooking it. So I bookmarked this recipe from the 'India Cookbook' by Pushpesh Pant.

This is a huge cookbook with 1000 recipes (out of which may be 500~600 are vegetarian) and since I'm borrowing it from the library, I don't have too much time to even go through the recipes in detail. Luckily there are pictures of the dishes at regular intervals in the book and I looked through them to find the dishes I want to try. Even with that I have more than 20 recipes to try and I think I can keep the book till the end of this month. I'll be happy if I can try at least half of what I bookmarked.

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Sikkim -- Vegetarian Momos

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 25
State: Sikkim 
Dish: Vegetarian Momos

Sikkim is a state in northeastern India located in the Himalayan mountains. The state is bordered by Nepal to the west, Tibet to the north and east, Bhutan to the east and West Bengal to the south. Sikkim is the least populous state in India and it is the only state with an ethic Nepali majority.
Because of the close proximity to Nepal and Tibet, Sikkim cuisine is highly infuenced by both of those cuisines. Sikkimese are traditionally rice eaters. Meat and dairy products are also consumed depending on the availability. Besides these, various traditional fermented foods and beverages, which constitute about 20% of the basic diet. Depending on the altitudinal variation; finger millet, wheat, buckwheat, barley, vegetables, potato, soybeans etc., are grown.

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Vegetarian Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi Bokkeumbap)

Blogging Marathon# 37: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Street Food from Around the World

Dish: Kimchi Fried Rice from Korea

My theme for this week's Blogging marathon got me very very excited. It is Street Food from around the world. Learning about the different dishes that are served as street food from various countries was very interesting and there are so many dishes that I wanted to make at home. But since we are posting for only 3 days, I had to narrow down my search to 3 dishes. Hopefully I can make the rest of my bookmarked dishes some time soon.
For the first day, I made Korean street food -- Kimchi Fried rice.From what I've read online, Koreans make fried rice with overripe kimchi that needs to be used up. I personally love fried rice because it s a great use of leftover rice and there are infinite variations to come up with.

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Vegan Kimchi with Ginger & Chiles

New Jersey is one state where you find large Indian population. In some towns it almost feels like Americans are in minority there. Most of the apartment complexes are filled with Indians and streets are filled with Indian stores, restaurants, beauty parlors, these towns look like mini Indias. 

But the town we live in has a majority of Koreans. Most of the stores are run by Koreans and stores have a lot of Korean vegetables and ingredients. Being around so many Koreans, I have always wanted to try Kimchi. It is a tradional fermented side dish made of vegetables and variety of seasoning. It tastes spicy and sour. Kimchi is Korea's national dish and is used to make other dishes like kimchi fried rice, kimchi pancakes, kimchi stew etc.

Our local Korean store has a whole Kimchi section. It's around the corner where fresh seafood is sold, so I never actually saw this side of the store in detail. When I decided to make kimchi and went to the store to get the ingredients, I took a few pictures to share with you guys.

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Tikel Gomen (Ethiopian Cabbage, Carrots & Potatoes)

Blogging Marathon# 36: Week 3/ Day 3
Theme: Ethiopian Cuisine
Dish: Tikel Gomen (Ethiopian Cabbage, Carrots & Potatoes)

The weather has been crazy this winter. We had temperatures waaay below freezing, thanks to the so-called polar vortex and then there was snow and rain. We had a couple of days respite, but the prediction for next week seems to be below freezing again. I can't wait for this winter to get over.

Coming back to the task in hand, BM# 36, for the last Ethiopian dish of the week, I made a dish with cabbage, carrot & potatoes. This dish is made very similar to an Indian curry and has very similar taste profile as well. I made some Injera to serve along with Mesir wat and this Tikel gomen.

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Kerala Cabbage Thoran & Sambar

Blogging Marathon# 35: Day 1/ Week 2
Theme: Regional Dishes - Course Specific
Dish: Kerala Cabbage Thoran & Sambar

We are starting our Week 2 of Blogging Marathon# 35 and my theme for this week is 'Any Regional with Course Specific dishes'. After seeing Rajani's Kerala Sadya recipes during the mega month long marathon, I have been planning to try my hand at Kerala dishes. Finally I made 3 dishes for this week's marathon.
The twist that Valli put to this seemingly simple theme is that we have to post a different course every day. So for the first day I'm posting 2 Kerala Lunch dishes, a simple Cabbage thoran and a hearty Sambar.

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Aloo Tikki Wrap (Potato patty wrap)

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Combo Dishes - Tikkis/ Burgers
Dish: Aloo Tikki Wrap (Potato patty wrap)

After our month long Mega marathon last month with A-Z Andhra dishes, we are back to our regular 3 days a week Blogging marathon this month. My theme for the for the first week is 'Combo Dishes' involving tikkis and burgers. When I signed up I wasn't sure what I would be cooking for this week. After all the planning, cooking and blogging non-stop for a whole month, this week feels so unplanned and on the spur of the moment. I haven't cooked the dishes for next 2 days, hopefully they will be done on time.

My mom and my sister along with my niece are here with us. I'm enjoying the company and my mom's Andhra dishes. In turn I'm trying new recipes on them -- it's a win-win situation for me, not sure if they think so or not :-)

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Vegetarian Wonton Soup

This is our first International Food Challenge and this month we are exploring Cantonese Cuisine, which comes from Guangdong Province in Southern China and it is one among the 8 great traditions of Chinese cuisine.

The basic cooking techniques of Cantonese cuisine includes roasting, stir-frying, sauteing, deep frying, stewing and steaming. Steaming and stir-frying are most commonly used to preserve the natural flavors of the ingredients. The most characteristic cooking methods of this cuisine are cooking in salt, cooking in wine, baking in a pan.

Saras @ Sara's Yummy Bites and Shobana @ Kitchen Secrets and Snippets selected 4 Cantonese recipes to try. I picked 2 dishes that I have always wanted to try -- Vegetarian Wonton Soup & Scallion Pancakes.

Wonton soup involves quite a few steps; making the filling, cooking the noodles and assembling. But the end result is very hearty and worth every minute of the time spent. I followed the recipe given to us to the 'T' and it came out yummy!! 

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Vegetarian Summer Rolls (Vegetarian Vietnamese Rolls)

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Get it Rolled
Dish: Summer Rolls (Vietnamese Rolls)

We are starting our 2nd of Blogging Marathon# 30 today and my theme for this week is "Get it Rolled". Any dish that is cooked rolled or served as a roll. Summer rolls were the first thing that came to my mind and with the temperatures soaring in the 90s (degree Fahrenheit), these are perfect no-cook rolls that are filling, healthy and delicious. They are salad rolled up into a portable package -- easy to eat and very convenient.

Summer rolls are very versatile and any of your favorite veggies can be used. I followed Nupur's recipe for Summer rolls. The spicy peanut dipping sauce is to die for -- its salty, spicy, sweet and very addictive.

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Cabbage-Chana dal Curry

For day 3 of BM# 22, Cooking with Chickpeas, I have a dish that uses Chana dal, Senagapappu (in telugu).  My mom made this curry with cabbage, but this can be made with green beans, cluster beans or even spinach. A very healthy and delicious side dish for rice or roti.

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Cabbage Poriyal

I'm back to blogging for this month's edition of Blogging Marathon# 18 (BM#18). This month I'll be  joining my marathon buddies for 3 straight weeks and hopefully if time permits, I want to make it to the 4th week as well. My theme for week 1 is "Dry Vegetable Sautes/ Sides".

For the first day, I made this simple Cabbage Poriyal. Recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan's "Dakshin" cookbook. I made the spicy variation given in the cookbook and we loved the addition of ground onion and green chilies paste that gives the curry a little kick. 

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Spinach-Cabbage Lentil Curry (Palakura-Cabbage Pappu kura)

I know the title is a little misleading, how can a dish be a pappu (dal) and a kura (curry). I wonder too!! My intention was to make a dry curry with moong dal, but ended up adding a little too much water as I wanted to make the curry in 30 minutes, but ended up with a very mushy dal. To add insult to injury none of the pictures I took came out good. But it tasted awesome. Well, in the spirit of blogging marathon, I’m going to post the recipe and the picture, but I’m going to redeem myself and make a better looking curry soon.

I usually make this curry with just spinach, but this time I only had half a bag of baby spinach, so I added half a head of cabbage to make enough curry for 3-4 servings.

Ingredients:
Spinach – 3 cups, chopped
Cabbage – ½ of a medium head, about 4 cups chopped
Moong dal (Pesarapappu) – ½ cup
Garlic – 2 cloves, roughly chopped
Green chilies – 2, slit vertically
Turmeric – ¼ tsp Salt – to taste

For tempering:
Urad dal (minapappu) – ½ tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Dry red chilies – 2, broken
Curry leaves – 8-10

Method:

• Soak moong dal in water for about 5-10 minutes (up to half an hour if you have time), in the mean time get the veggies ready.
• Heat 2tsp oil in a sauté pan, add tempering ingredients and once the seeds start to splutter add moong dal (drained), spinach and cabbage. Add turmeric and mix well.
• Cover and cook on medium flame stirring occasionally until dal is cooked through and cabbage is cooked through, should take about 15-20 minutes.
• Season with salt and cook for another minute. Serve with steamed rice or roti.

Usually there’s no need to add water to cook the lentils since if are soaked and both cabbage and spinach give out water while cooking. I wanted to finish the dish within 30 minutes, so added about ¼ cup of water along with the veggies which ended up making my dal too mushy. Ideally this is a dry curry where should be able to see the dal whole.

Lets see what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up for Day 5 of BM#5.
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

Indian Style Cabbage Rice

This is going to be a short post. Have been a little busy at work and at home today. So will leave you with this simple and spicy cabbage rice. I started out making sauce for pasta with some cabbage, but ended up adding leftover rice to it and the end result was quite tasty. Here's how I made it.

Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups, cooked

Cabbage - 3 cups, chopped (3/4 of a medium size head)

Onion - 1 medium, chopped

Carrot - 1 small, chopped

Red chili powder - 1/2tsp

Kitchen King Masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ginger + Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Tomato paste - 2tsp

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan, add mustard and cumin seeds and once they start sputtering, add onions and saute until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add ginger+garlic paste and cook for another minute. Next add carrots and cabbage; cover and cook for 12-15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
• Add tomato paste, salt, masala and red chili powder. Cook for another 3 minutes.
• Add the cooked rice and mix well. Cook for couple minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for at least 5 minutes. Serve as is or with some yogurt.

Don;t forget to check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking for the 5th day of our 7 day Marathon.

30 Minutes Meals:

Priya Mahadevan

Seven Days of Salad:
lla
Divya Vikram

For Ongoing 7 Events:
Priya Suresh
Harini
Suma Gandlur

Kids Friendly:
Vatsala
Jay
Kamalika

Seven Days of Rice:
Veena Krishnakumar
Priya Vaasu
Padma Rekha

Veg Noodles

It's already the 4th day of our Blogging Marathon. I'm enjoying myself doing this everyday and I'm sure my son's happy too since I'm asking him what he wants to eat, so I can make him something and post it on the blog too (since the theme I've chosen for the marathon is "kid-friendly" dishes).

For today's lunch, I steered him toward noodles since I wanted to make some myself. I asked him "Do you want some noodles for lunch today??", he cheered and said "Noodles, Noodles!!", so there we have Veggie Noodles for lunch.

My 3 year old likes to slurp on noodles, he starts to slurp and blow with his mouth even before putting the spoon in his mouth. I make him "Maggi" noodles occasionally and really like the new "Atta noodles" that Maggi came up with. The seasoning sachets have dehydrated veggies and one pack makes for a quick meal for my little one.

I had some roasted vegetables in the fridge that I used in this dish which made making the noodles a snap, everything got done in about than 10 minutes (not including the time to boil water for noodles). If you don't have roasted veggies, simply sauté the veggies of your choice until crisp tender and proceed with the recipe.

Ingredients:

Hakka Noodles - 1 pkg

Red Onion - 1 small, thinly sliced

Cabbage - 1 cup, thinly sliced (quarter of a medium sized cabbage head)

Roasted vegetables - 1 cup (I roasted Zucchini, Japanese eggplant & red pepper in a 425°F oven for 30-35 minutes with some salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar)

Soy sauce - 2tsp

Sriracha sauce (red chili sauce) - 1tsp (or per taste)

Ginger - 1" piece, finely grated (I use a microplane to grate it really fine)

Garlic - 2 cloves, minced

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Cook noodles according to package directions; drain well and spread on a plate. Mix in some oil to prevent sticking and set aside.
• Heat 2tsp peanut oil on medium-high flame in a large wok; add ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
• Next add onion & cabbage and stir-fry until the veggies are crisp tender, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the roasted veggies, sauté for another minute.
• Add soy sauce, chili sauce, salt and the cooked noodles. Stir-fry for another minute or until the noodles are heated through. Serve hot.

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.

Veggie Pakoda (Balls/ Fritters)

Vegan Mofo Day 19:

I sometimes worry about raising a vegetarian kid in this not-so-vegetarian world. As of now, he eats whatever I give him in day-care/ school and even his teachers in school know about his dietary preference and don't give him anything that has meat. But when I think of him going to a real school, I'm not sure how he's going to fare. How do I tell him that it's not OK to eat meat, but at the same time I want him to respect his friend's eating choices, I don't want him to say something that will hurt other kids. How do you guys teach your kids to say "no" to meat? Any comments and advise will be highly appreciated..

Coming to the recipe on hand. I made these veggie balls when my son's daycare had an International dish day. I was told that the kids really enjoyed them. I made them very mild and instead of deep frying used my Appam pan. So they are quite healthy and yummy too.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 1cup, very finely chopped

Carrot - 1 small, grated

Green onion - 2, finely chopped

Green pepper - 1/2 cup, very finely chopped (may be half of a medium sized pepper)

Chickpea flour (Besan) - 1/4 cup (or more)

Rice flour - 2tbsp

Ginger + garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Red chili powder - 1/4tsp

Salt - to taste

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Method:

• Microwave all the veggies except the scallions with little water until completely cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, add the chickpea flour, rice flour, salt, chili powder, garam masala, ginger+garlic paste and mix into a thick batter. Add more chickpea flour if the mixture is too wet. Add little water if the mixture is too dry (the veggies should be wet enough and no additional water is usually necessary).
• Heat an appam pan, add about 1/2 tsp oil in each hole. When the oil starts to sizzle, add about 1tbsp of batter in each hole and cook on medium-low flame until golden brown on all sides. These cook pretty fast, so constant attention is required. Adjust the heat so that all the balls cook evenly.

Serve hot with ketchup. They make excellent appetizers, just stick a fancy toothpick in each of them and serve with a dip.

Simple Cabbage Curry

The day started on a high note: one extra hour of sleep, thanks to clocks falling back for day light saving and the anticipation of a warm house after getting the heating unit fixed. I made wholegrain waffles for breakfast (not vegan, so no recipe) and made this simple cabbage curry.

But the heating unit is not fixed yet and we are still trapped in an extremely cold house (average home temperatures have been between 54 to 58F). I have my son in at least 3 layers and he started to complain saying "we are not going out Amma, I don't want this shirt". I don't know when this ordeal is going to end. I was wondering if there's any consumer protection groups in US that we can complain about this very unprofessional company we are dealing with. Any suggestions are highly appreciated. We are extremely motivated to complain to anyone who can help us out with this situation.. Thanks in advance.

Moving on to the cabbage kura/ curry recipe.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 3 cups, chopped (I like savoy cabbage, but used the regular one this time)

Onion - 1 small, chopped

Green chilies - 2, slit

Salt - to taste

Grind to a powder:

Putnala pappu (Dalia/ split chana dal) - 2tbsp

Grated dry coconut - 2tbsp

Red chili powder - 1/2tsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Tempering:

Senagapappu (Chana dal) - 1tsp

Minapappu (Urad dal) - 1tsp

Avalu (Mustard seeds) - 1tsp

Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1tsp

Dry Red Chili - 1-2

Curry leaves - 6

Method:

• Heat 2tsp oil in a saute pan; Add tempering ingredients and once the seeds start sputtering, add onion and green chilies and saute till onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add chopped cabbage and cook covered on medium low flame until tender, about 10-12 minutes.
• Season with salt and add the dalia powder. Cook uncovered for another 4-5 minutes.

Serve with steamed white rice or roti.

Chinese (My) Style Green Rice

Vegan MoFo DAY 2:

This is an extremely easy and versatile dish that is quick to prepare and makes for a great weeknight meal and the leftovers are awesome for lunch. I add all available green vegetables and the variations are endless. I used green pepper, cabbage, green onions, edamame & avocado, but broccoli and any green leafy veggies will work just as well. I love to add buttery avocado just before serving so it doesn’t change color on me (in more scientific terms oxidize).

Ingredients (Serves 2):

Green pepper – 1 small or ½ of large, diced
Cabbage – ¼ of a head, finely chopped
Green onions – 1 bunch (5-6 stems)
Edamame – ¼ cup (thawed if frozen)
Avocado – 1 Brown
Rice – 2cups, cooked
Garlic – 2 cloves
Red Pepper flakes – a pinch (or more to taste)
Soy sauce – 1-2 tsp
Sriracha (or any other hot sauce) – to taste
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Heat 2tsp oil (preferably peanut oil) in a medium sauté pan; add crushed garlic cloves and red pepper flakes; once garlic starts to turn light brown, add all the veggies.
• Sauté on medium flame until the veggies are tender (I like them lightly browned around the edges so I cook them on medium-high flame), season with soy sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper.
• Next stir in the cooked rice, mix well; check the seasoning.
• Just before serving peel, slice and dice the avocado and mix into the rice and Enjoy!!

I packed this up for lunch and added avocado before eating, so picture has none of the buttery goodness.

Veganmofo III: Day 4 - Cabbage Leek Curry

Weekends are extremely lazy in our household. I cook more during the week than on the weekends. I just want to take it easy and not bother with cooking, but that doesn't mean we go out to eat. We eat all the left overs from the weekdays (I know that sounds kind of weird, but that's what we do). Today I made a small change and cooked for lunch. I made this simple cabbage curry and tomato-spinach dal and served them with steamed white rice.

I planned on making a soup and bought some leeks last week, but never got around to make the soup. So I used leeks instead of onions in this dish and it turned out delicious.

Ingredients:
Cabbage - 4 cups, finely chopped (about 3/4th of a medium head)
Leeks - 4 medium, chopped and rinsed properly to remove any grit and dirt
Carrots - 2 medium, chopped in small half moons
Curry Powder - homemade or store bought
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - t0 taste
Mustard & Cumin seeds - 1tsp each
Method:

• Heat 2tbsp oil in a large skillet; add the seeds and once they start spluttering, add leeks and cook on medium flame until they turn light and limp, about 5 minutes.
• Next add chopped cabbage & carrots along with turmeric; cover and cook till the veggies are tender.
• Increase the flame to medium-high and let the veggies lightly brown along the edges, about 2-3 minutes. Keep stirring otherwise the veggies will burn and that is not what you want.
• Add the curry powder and salt; mix well and cook on medium-high for another minute. Serve with rice or rotis.

Spicy Cabbage & Fried Tofu

Today's dinner is Chinese style spicy cabbage with battered fried tofu. I bought Nasoya Chinese spice firm tofu and wasn't sure if I wanted to make a soup or something else. I didn't feel going the healthy route with this one and I decided to shallow fry the tofu.

I mixed some all purpose flour, chili powder and salt in a ziploc bag; added the drained & cubed tofu; swished the pieces around in the flour; pan fried in 1tbsp oil until gloden brown all over. Remove and keep aside.

These tofu nuggets were yummy as is, but I made some gravy with the left over flour mixture. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil, whisk in the flour mixture and fry it loses the raw smell about 2-3 minutes stirring often. Add 2-3tbsp crushed tomatoes, 1/4 cup veggie broth, salt and pepper (remember there's chili powder in the flour) and simmer for 5-6 minutes until thickened. Serve over fried tofu pieces.

I also made Bryanna Clark Grogan's spicy cabbage with chinese black bean sauce. I added red & green peppers. For some reason my sauce was extremely black, but it tasted just awesome.
I made some quinoa to go with my tofu and cabbage. It was a filling meal.. yumm....