Palakura Pulusu (Spinach Soup)

I have been thinking of this recipe for quite a while now. With the scare on bagged spinach, I thought its better to be safe than sorry and didn’t buy spinach for almost 2 months. I bought a bunch from Indian store last weekend.

This is my grandmother (Dad’s mom) recipe and I had to call my mom for the exact ingredients and method. It is a very earthy, nutritious and low-fat dish.

Ingredients:
Spinach – 1 bunch, washed and chopped
Red onion – 1 medium, chopped
Green chilies – 4, chopped
Tamarind pulp – 2 tbsp
Rice flour – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste
For tempering (Tadka):
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Menthulu) – ½ tsp
Dry red chilies – 2
Curry leaves – 4-5
Asafetida – a pinch

Method:

• Take spinach and onions with 1 cup of water in a saucepan; cover and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• Add green chilies, salt and tamarind juice (add ¼ cup water to tamarind pulp to make the juice); cook for 10minutes.
• In the mean time, mix the flour with ¼ cup water to make slurry with no lumps. Add this to the spinach mixture and cook for another 5 minutes till the mixture is slightly thickened.
• Remove from heat and add the tadka or tempering. For tempering, heat 1 tsp oil in a small saucepan, add all the ingredients listed, let the seeds splutter. Add this to the spinach mixture. Serve with rice.

Pictures updated: June 2013

Tempeh Jambalaya

I get very excited when I go grocery shopping especially if its specialty store (My husband says I go into a trance when I start shopping.. hehehe). A month ago, we shopped at Whole Foods store and I was really awed by the array of organic products (including fresh veggies, fruits, packaged & frozen food) that they carry. I have to say prices are not cheap and I wouldn’t probably go there every week, but may be once a month for some special products (that are not available in regular grocery stores).
I ended up buying a lot of stuff which also included a package of tempeh*. After looking for recipes online and in my cookbooks, I came up with this Jambalaya** recipe.

Uncooked Tempeh(Photos Courtesy: wikipedia.org)

*Tempeh is a fermented whole soybean product. Tempeh’s fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher protein, dietary fiber and vitamins content compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and stronger flavor.

**Jambalaya is a Louisiana Cajun or Creole dish. It is traditionally a one pot dish made with meats, vegetables and rice.

Ingredients:
Tempeh – 8 oz. package
Celery – 2 stalks, chopped
Carrots – 2 medium, chopped
Peppers (any color, I used red, yellow and orange) – 1 cup chopped
Zucchini – 1 medium, chopped
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Garlic – 3 cloves
Chopped tomatoes – 16 oz. can
Vegetable Broth (low-sodium) – 2 ½ cups (or 1 vegetable bouillon cube)
Long grain rice – 1 cup
Salt and Pepper – to taste

Seasoning blend:
Cayenne pepper – 1 tsp
Paprika – 1 tsp
Pepper – ½ tsp
Dried thyme – ½ tsp
Dried Oregano – ½ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients for the seasoning blend in a small bowl and keep aside. Make sure that all the veggies are chopped approximately the same size, so they cook uniformly.
• Cut tempeh into 1” pieces and fry them in 1 tsp of olive oil till lightly browned on all sides. Remove and keep aside.
• Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy bottom pan***, add onions, garlic, celery, carrots, peppers and sauté for about 5 minutes or until they start to get slightly tender.
• Add zucchini and sauté for another 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, rice, sautéed tempeh, seasoning, vegetable broth (or water) and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered till rice is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.
• Remove from heat, leave covered for another 10 minutes, fluff with fork, garnish with green onions and serve with a dollop of sour cream.
  

*** I used Pressure Cooker and it about me 20 minutes to cook, excluding, of course, prepping time.

This is my entry for this week's Sweet Nicks ARF 5-A-Day Tuesday.

Pachi Pulusu

This is a quick and easy recipe from my mother-in-law. As the name suggests (Pachi=raw; pulusu=soup), there is very little cooking involved in this dish. It tastes awesome with vuthi pappu (plain dal).

Ingredients:
Tamarind paste - 2 tbsp
Onion - 1 medium, chopped fine
Green chilies - 4, chopped fine
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

For tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 6

Method:

• Dry roast sesame seeds and grind into powder.
• Add water to tamarind paste and bring to a consistency of your liking. Add chopped onions, green chilies, sugar, salt and sesame seeds powder. Mix well (you might want to use your hand to get uniform consistency).
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add the seeds and curry leaves. Add this to the pulusu and serve with rice and dal.

Curry leaves Rice (Karivepaku Annam)

Whether you fry curry leaves (Karuveppilai, Kari Bevu, Karri Patta, Karivepaku) in oil or ghee they give out this distinct flavor that’s just delicious. Curry leaves give an oomph factor to many Indian dishes like pulihora (tamarind rice), dals and some curries.

We had a huge curry tree in the backyard of our house we used to live years ago. Fresh karipatta everyday right from the tree. Now I spend about $1 for a small bag with about 6-7 lean stems.

I wanted to make Meena’s Eggs in curry leaf gravy and bought two bags of them last week. But didn’t realize I was out of eggs (duh..) Instead I made this rice dish that’s just simply delicious that’s perfect as a quick weeknight dinner. Recipe is from an old telugu newspaper.

Ingredients:
Rice – 1 cup cooked
Curry leaves – about 4 handfuls
Onion – 1 large
Green chilies – 4
Garlic – 3 cloves
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Method:

• Wash the curry leaves and grind them into a paste with as little water as possible.
  
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, add jeera and fry for 30 seconds. Add chopped onions, green chilies, garlic and curry leaf paste, sauté till onions are soft, about 7-8 minutes.
  
• Add cooked rice to the mixture along with lemon juice and salt. Mix well and serve as is or with any curry or chips.