Chayote & Carrot Dry Curry

Blogging Marathon# 58: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Dry Vegetable Sautes

Dish: Chayote & Carrot Dry Curry

We are starting a brand new week of blogging marathon and my theme for this week is 'Dry Vegetable Sautes or Dry Curries'. I just realized that all the themes I picked for this month require easy to make, everyday dishes which was just perfect because with the upcoming festive season, it is going to be a food fest wherever you turn :-)

This first curry doesn't even need a recipe, it is extremely easy to make. Just saute the chopped veggies until tender and sprinkle some grated coconut on top. My mom used to make a lot of dry curries like that using cabbage, carrot, green beans, snake gourd, chayote and so on.

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Masoor Dal Sambar (Indian Style Red Lentil Stew)

VeganMofo Day 10: I had plans to post everyday for this year's Veganmofo. So much for my wishful thinking, little did I realize that tending for a newborn can be so time consuming, even though all I'm doing is holding her so she doesn't spit up or rocking her to sleep. It's been 5 years since we had done this with my older one and I don't really remember what we did when he was a little baby. Time surely flies..

Thankfully my mom is here to help me out and for today's post I have this delicious Masoor dal Sambar that she made for our lunch. I usually use toor dal to make sambar. Masoor dal makes a smoother and milder tasting sambar. Vegetables like eggplant, bottle gourd, carrot, potato, chayote etc can be added to the sambar to make it more substantial.

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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

Bengaluru vankaya Gravy Kura (Chayote gravy Curry)

I never understood why chayote is called bengaluru vankaya (literally translated as Bangalore brinjal) in telugu. I know for a fact that it is no where close to brinjal family, but I’m not sure of its relation with Bangalore. May be one of you can let me know the connection if you happen to know.

Anyway, the only way I used to cook chayote was sautéing the pieces in little bit of oil (it doesn’t need a whole lot of oil) and add grated coconut at the very end. But I learnt from various blogs that it can be cooked similar to bottle gourd or zucchini.

This recipe is from the aunt who lives next to our home in India.

Picture Courtesy Gourmet Sleuth

Ingredients:
Chayote – 2 medium, chopped

For the Masala paste:
Green chilies – 4
Red chilies – 2
Sesame seeds – ¼ cup
Coconut (fresh or dried) – 3 tbsp
Rice – 1 tsp, soaked in water for at least ½ hr
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Tamarind paste – 1 tbsp
Jaggery – 1 tbsp
Salt – ½ tsp

For Tempering:
Chana dal – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 6
Method:

• Boil chayote pieces in water until tender. Alternately you can either pressure cook or microwave the pieces until tender.
  
• Grind all the ingredients for the masala paste with water to make a smooth paste.
  
• Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, add dal and seeds and when the seeds start spluttering, add curry leaves, boiled chayote and masala paste. Cover and cook on medium-low heat till the flavors mingle. Add water if you it gets too dry.
  
• Season with salt and red chili powder (if needed). Serve with rice.

Chayote curry, Tomatillo pachadi and Red Lentil dal with Rice (our weekend meal)