Oondhiyu (Undhiyu) (Gujarati Mixed Vegetable dish)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 3: Gujarati Cuisine 

Day 15: O for Oondhiyu
We are starting third week of our mega marathon 'Journey through the cuisines' and my choice for this week is 'Gujarati cuisine'. The main reason for picking Gujarat is to cook today's dish. I wanted to try this delicious mixed vegetable dish called Undhiyu or Oondhiyu for the mega marathon and initially I was thinking of doing Gujarati cuisine for the last week (so U would have been Undhiyu), but I couldn't find dishes for most of the other letters, so it became Oondhiyu instead.

This was actually the very first dish I cooked for the marathon. Few months ago, I ate Undhiyu for the very first time at one of our Gujju friends and it was absolutely amazing. Since then I had it in my mind and when I sat down to make my list for the marathon, this was the first one on there.

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Jaipuri Vegetable Pulao

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 2: Rajasthani Cuisine 

Day 10: J for Jaipuri Pulao
Today I have a easy to make, colorful and delicious rice dish. Being a south Indian, I am attracted to rice dishes like a magnet and so J is for Jaipuri Pulao it is. This is a great dish to make on a busy weeknight or to serve at a fancy party.

Recipe is from this You Tube video by Ruchi Bharani. Cooked basmati is tossed with colorful veggies and a freshly ground spice paste. So once you have the spice paste ready, the recipe comes together in no time.

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Hakka Noodles (Indo-Chinese Noodles with Vegetables)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 8: H for Hakka Noodles
Can't believe we are the end of Week 1 in our Journey through Cuisines and final Bengali dish I present to you is in fact a fusion Indo-Chinese dish that has it's origins in Calcutta/ Kolkatta, the capital city of West Bengal. H for Hakka Noodles was my first and final choice for the letter. Soma @ Ecurry has a lovely post for Hakka noodles where she talks about the Chinese businesses in Calcutta and the amazing Indo-Chinese cuisine that was developed there years ago.

Calcutta (or more recently Kolkatta) is known to be the first place where Chinese migrated in the late 18th and 19th centuries. They brought along their Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques that were adapted to Indian tastes which developed into the popular Indo-Chinese cuisine that we all enjoy today.

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Bengali Mishti Pulao with Vegetables

I made this Bengali Mishti pulao to go with the Enchor Kofta curry. Typically this pulao is made using Gobindo bhog rice which is an aromatic short grain rice, very popular in Bengali households. I've never seen it in Indian stores here, so I used regular basmati rice. Soma says good quality jasmine rice can also be used instead.

Rice is rinsed, drained and dried for at least 30 minutes before making the dish. It is then sauteed with whole spices until aromatic and then cooked till tender. Care is taken to make sure each rice grain is separate and the dish doesn't end up becoming mushy.

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Charchari (Bengali Mixed Vegetable Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 3: C for Charchari (Bengali Mixed Vegetable Curry)

I'm going to continue on with my journey through Bengali cuisine for our 'Journey through the cuisines' month long mega blogging marathon. It's Day 3 and we are cooking with the letter C. I chose to make a very simple, everyday Bengali dish called Charchari aka Chorchori aka Chochchori.

It is an easy to make mixed vegetable dish and from the different recipes I found online, each family has it's own way of making this humble dish. Each version had a slightly different veggie used and some used mustard paste while some didn't. I followed Sandeepa's recipe to make my Charchari, except for the addition of mustard paste which I omitted.

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Mixed Vegetable Curry in Coconut milk gravy

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: No Tomato Gravies
Dish: Mixed Vegetable Curry in Coconut milk gravy

After yesterday's yogurt based curry, today I have a coconut milk based curry that is creamy and delicious. Coconut milk is a great vegan alternate and is much healthier than using heavy cream.

This recipe is from Mallika Bhadrinath's 100 gravy recipes cookbook. Along with coconut milk, a freshly ground spice paste gives this dish creaminess and a nice spicy kick.

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Thai Coconut Lime Dressing (and a Salad) Vegan recipe

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Cook with Coconut

Dish: Thai Coconut Lime Dressing

Today's dish uses coconut milk in a very interesting way, in a salad dressing. I bookmarked this recipe from Food52 a while back and made it for this week's 'Cook with coconut' theme because who doesn't like creamy coconut dressing with Thai flavors and served with colorful veggies. I sure do :-)

This recipe could not be simpler, mix all the ingredients for the dressing, chop all the ingredients for the salad, cook rice and assemble. Original recipe used fish sauce in the dressing and I subbed it with low-sodium tamari (soy sauce would work well too). I'm sure fish sauce is much more flavorful than just soy sauce, so if you can your hands on some vegan or vegetarian fish sauce, by all means use that. This dressing is great for salads or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or lettuce cups.

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Navratan Paratha

Blogging Marathon# 59: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: Stuffed Dishes

Dish: Navratan Paratha

After a stuffed curry and stuffed paratha, I was wondering what to make for the 3rd day in this series. I had some stuffed desserts and pasta dishes bookmarked but nothing really wanted me to get up and cook. Then I watched the recipe for this Navratan paratha on a cooking show and I knew that the 3rd dish was set.

As the name suggests this paratha recipe is stuffed with 9 gems or Nav-ratan or 9 different veggies and dry fruit. All the 9 ingredients are boiled and mashed along with spices and then stuffed inside the dough to make the parathas.

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Vegetable Makhani Rice

Blogging Marathon# 58: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Bring on your Rice

Dish: Vegetable Makhani Rice

After yesterday's South Indian rice dish, I have this North Indian rice dish. Makhani gravy is a reddish tomato based gravy made with butter and cream (hence the name makhani), commonly used in North Indian dishes. It is very popular on restaurant menus and paneer makhani is quite famous.

Here the makhani gravy is mixed with basmati rice to make this creamy and delicious rice that is equally good to perfect to serve at dinner parties or as a quick weeknight meal. Recipe is from a Telugu cooking show.

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Shahi Mixed Vegetable & Paneer Curry

I made this creamy and colorful mixed vegetable curry to go with the Khamiri rotis. 'Shahi' literally means regal or royal, so any dish with that in the name means it's going to be rich and flavorful.

This shahi vegetable curry is great to make for parties or when you have company. Like most other Indian gravy curries, this curry tastes even better as it sits. So make it ahead of time and warm slightly when ready to serve.

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Grill Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa Salad

Summer is about barbecues, grilling and enjoying the outdoors. I took the kids to the lake last weekend for the very first time and they had a blast. It was a beautiful day and the lake was very scenic too. Kids had fun swimming in the lake and my daughter didn't even want to come out of the water.

Today's recipe is perfect to make for your next barbecue or grilling party. Recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine. I love grilled vegetables and this salad uses in them in the best possible way. Vegetables can be roasted under the broiler too if you don't have an outdoor grill.

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Vegetarian Fajitas

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Tortilla based Dishes

Dish: Vegetarian Fajitas

Second day of tortilla based dishes and today I've some delicious vegetarian fajitas to share. Fajitas happen to be my favorite dish to order at Chili's restaurant. I've never made them at home even though they are quite simple to make.

Vegetarian fajitas are not on Chili's menu, but a nice waitress had it customized for me once and I got totally hooked. Every time I went to this Chili's location, I make sure to order their vegetarian fajitas.

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Indonesian Nasi Goreng for #Food of the World

We are going to Indonesia this month's #food of the world event. I made a very simple Indonesian dish called 'Nasi Goreng'. Nasi Goreng literally means 'fried rice' in Indonesia and it is simple rice dish spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic and chili and is accompanied by other ingredients like egg or other protein.

Nasi Goreng is stronger and spicier compared to Chinese fried rice with the addition of kecap manis and other spices. It can be eaten at any time of the day and many Indonesians eat it for breakfast. It is also a popular choice for late night supper served by street vendors.

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Vegetable Dhansak

Blogging Marathon# 52: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Parsi Dishes

Dish: Vegetable Dhansak
We are going to our regular 3 day schedule of Blogging Marathon this month and my theme for this week is 'Parsi Dishes'. Parsis, meaning Persians, are the followers of the ancient Persian religion known as Zoroastrianism. They emigrated to India from Persia to avoid religious persecution by the Muslims.
While looking for Parsi dishes, I came across this lovely post by Peri. She is a Parsi blogger and her blog has tons of delicious Parsi (and non-Parsi) recipes. In that explains, she explains the different between Indian and Parsi food and how parsi cuisine is unique. Do check it out more details.
For my first day, I made a very flavorful and spicy Dhansak. It is a hearty dish with lentils, vegetables and choice of meat (which I skipped, of course). It is flavored with aromatic spice blend and is usually served with Parsi brown rice and a kachumber salad (cucumber salad). I didn't make the rice, so served the dhansak with some roti.

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Indian Flavored Risotto (Vegan Recipe)

Finally spring seems to have found its way into our neck of woods. I can see the tiny buds on trees and hopefully they'll bloom within a week now. Somehow spring makes me very happy -- everything is waking from a long slumber and with the harsh winter that we had even people seem to be coming out of hibernation -- I mean the heavy jackets, boots and so on.

Today, I'm excited to share with you a dish that is colorful and springy (??) and is inspired from a dish off a specialty menu at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.

I've never been to Vegas and it is one of the destinations on my bucket list. My ex-manager had a condo in Vegas and she used to take a yearly vacation there. I always thought Vegas was all about the casinos until she told me there are many things to do with kids too like hiking, sight seeing etc.

Vegas is a foodie heaven with plethora of restaurants to dine at and a lot of them fine dining with exquisite menu options. So today I'm trying to put my own spin on one of the dish based on Wynn's specialty menus created by famous vegan chef Tai Ronnen.

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Pasta with Curried Vegetable Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: Different Pasta Sauces

Dish: Pasta with Curried Vegetable Sauce

Final day of this week's 'Pasta Sauces'  is an Indian-Italian fusion dish. I was wondering what to make for the 3rd day and then saw this recipe in Tarla Dalal's newsletter in my inbox, so curried vegetable sauce was served for dinner that day.

I think curry powder works well in a lot of dishes, so it's not out of place in this pasta sauce. Also adding lot of veggies makes it colorful and filling too. I used peppers, broccoli and corn along with tomato puree in this dish. A splash of cream or half-n-half is added to make the pasta just a little bit creamy.

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Veggie Burger Sandwich (Beans & Veggie Burger)

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: American Sandwiches

Dish: Veggie Burger Sandwich

Homemade Veggie burgers have a bad rap -- they are flavorless and have a very high tendency to fall apart while cooking. There are quite a few good quality frozen veggie burgers but most of them are soy based and have long list of unnecessary ingredients with very complicated spellings. There are a ton of recipes for veggie burger recipes on the Internet and after going through a number of recipes I found this recipe by Guy Fieri on the Food Network site.

This recipe uses 3 different types of beans; white, chickpeas and black beans. I used only 2 types of beans and the burger worked beautifully, it didn't fall apart on me and cooked perfectly in the skillet.

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Thai Vegetable Red Curry (Vegan Recipe)

Today's dish is a spicy, creamy & slightly sweet Thai red curry made with vegetables. I always have Thai curry pastes, both red and green, in the refrigerator to make quick curries, rice or even noodles. Make sure to check the ingredients on the store bought Thai curry pastes because some might have fish sauce or other seafood related ingredients in them. Even better, use the recipe for the curry paste at the end of the post for your very own homemade version.

This recipe is adapted from 'Buddha's Table: Thai feasting Vegetarian Style' cookbook. I used the veggies listed in the recipe, but any vegetable can be added to this curry. Potato, mushroom, zucchini, baby corn, carrots are all good in here. It is great when served with some steamed jasmine rice.

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Spicy Vegetable Sandwich (Masala VeggieToast)

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Cooking for 1

Dish: Masala Toast

Being a South Indian, eating bread for a meal used to be a blasphemy some decade years ago. But then things and my thoughts changed when I came to the States and it was then I realized anything that fills your stomach can be eaten at any time of the day.

During my graduate studies, I was in Tampa for 3 months for internship and I shared an apartment with 2 American interns. This was still within a year of my stay in US and I wasn't completely used to the American food. I used to slave away in the kitchen cooking my rice, dal and curry (I didn't have a pressure cooker, so cooking used to take for ever). My American roomies on the other hand kept the fridge stocked with their cold cuts, cheese etc. and they used to be in and out of the kitchen with their sandwiches in no time. That was my first step towards sandwiches.

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Vegetarian Thai Massaman Curry

Blogging Marathon# 48: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: 1 Cuisine -- 3 Dishes

Dish: Thai Massamun Curry

After the refreshing first course of yesterday's Green Papaya Salad, I have a spicy, sweet and tangy Thai Massamun curry today. This curry is very aromatic and flavorful and uses a variety of Indian herbs and spices. I thought the curry tasted a lot of tangy, sweet South Indian pulusu.

If you have the curry paste already prepared and ready to go, then this dish does not take long to make. This curry is also very versatile and can be customized to ones likes and dislikes. I added some tofu puffs that I had in the freezer to amp up the protein, but regular tofu or soy chunks can also be used instead.

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