Tostones (Fried Raw Green Plantains) with Mojo Sauce

I made these Tostones or fried green plantains for Cuban meal earlier this week. From what I've read, fried green plantains are very popular and pull together most any Latin Caribbean meal. They have different names (tostones, patacones, tajadas, mariquitas) and shapes depending on the country.
These crunchy slabs of fried plantains make a very addictive snack or appetizer when served with lightly salted or with a garlicky mojo sauce. This recipe is from Viva Vegan cookbook.

Green plantain is fried twice, smushed down just prior to the second frying to create a thinner and extra crunchy treat. There are many methods for crushing tostones for their second frying. The idea is to use a heavy, flat object to evenly apply enough pressure to the cooked plantain to flatten it, but not so much that it falls apart. There's a special Latin kitchen tool; called a tostonera that is designed just for the smashing purpose. I used my handy-dandy poori press for that and it worked great for me.

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Shukto - Bengali Mixed Vegetable Curry

For Day 4 of BM# 5, I made this mixed vegetable Bengali curry which interestingly includes bittergourd along with other veggies. Again recipe courtesy Sandeepa's Bong cookbook. In Andhra bitter gourd or kakarakaya is usually used mostly by itself and as far as I know is rarely cooked with other vegetables. So when I saw this recipe I thought it was very unique (at least to me since I've never tried this combination of veggies before) and wanted to give it a try. The veggies are cooked with mustard and poppy seed paste which gives the curry a totally different dimension. The dish turned out delicious in a very interesting and different way.

I followed the recipe to the T, except that I didn't have green beans on hand, so didn't use any. Also I added 2 dry red chilies to the blender when grinding the mustard and poppy seeds to add some heat to the curry.

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd (Karela) - 1 medium, diced

Ridge gourd (Beerakaya) - 1 medium, chopped into half moons

Plantain (Raw banana) - 1 small, chopped into half moons

Potato - 1 medium, chopped into half moons

Japanese Eggplant - 1 medium, chopped into half moons

Ginger - 1" grated

Moong vadi - 1/2 cup, fried until golden brown

Milk - 1/3 cup

Salt - to taste

For tempering:

Methi seeds (Fenugreek seeds) - 1/2 tsp

Bay leaves - 2

Hing (Asafoetida) - 1/4tsp

For the paste:

Mustard seeds - 2tbsp

Poppy seeds - 1tbsp

Dry red chilies - 2

Method:

• Soak mustard seeds and poppy seeds in water for at least half an hour. Then drain the water and grind to a paste. Since the amount was so little, my blender blade didn't make a very smooth paste. I tried my best and gave up at the end.
• Sauté each veggie separately until lightly roasted about 3-4 minutes per veggie. Remove and set aside. Sauté bittergourd last.
• Add 2tbsp oil in the same pan; add methi seeds, bay leaves and hing and once the seeds turn reddish and hing starts to smell fragrant, add all the sautéed veggies. Add the ground mustard paste and grated ginger. Mix well.
• Next add milk, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook till the veggies are tender and the water is all absorbed.

Add the fried moong vadi before serving. Serve hot with steamed rice at the beginning of the meal to cleanse the palette and get your digestive juices flowing.

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

Aratikaya Kura (Raw Banana Curry)

I usually just fry raw banana and wanted to make something different this time. This recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan’s cookbook, Dakshin-Vegetarian South Indian Recipes, sounded different and delicious. The end result was this tangy spicy curry that went well with hot white rice and some dal.

Ingredients:
Raw bananas – 4-5 small, peeled & cubed
Tamarind paste – 2tsp
Green chilies -2 slit lengthwise
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Fresh grated coconut – 2tbsp
Salt – to taste

For Tempering:
Chana dal – 1tsp
Urad dal – 1tsp
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Dry Red Chili – 2
Curry leaves – few

Poriyal Powder – 1tbsp*

Method:

• Take the raw banana, pinch of turmeric, salt & tamarind paste with 1cup of water in a medium sauce pan. Cover & simmer until the veggie is tender and almost all the water is evaporated.
  
• In a sauté pan, heat 2tsp oil and add all the tempering ingredients.
  
• Once the seeds start to splutter, add green chilies and cooked banana.
• Sprinkle in the poriyal powder and grated coconut. Mix well and cook for 3-5 minutes for the flavors to blend.
  
• Serve hot with steamed white rice.

* Poriyal Powder:
Coriander Seeds - 1¼ cups
Chana dal – ¾ cup
Urad dal – ½ cup
Dry Red chilies – ¾ cup
Oil – 3tspHing – 2tsp
Tamarind ball – Marble size
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Dry roast the coriander seeds & both the dals.
• Fry the red chilies in the oil.
  
• Mix all the ingredients together and grind to almost fine powder.
• Store in a air tight container and use as needed.