GOBI (CAULIFLOWER) MANCHURIAN (DRY)

GOBI (CAULIFLOWER) MANCHURIAN (DRY) RECIPE

Gobi Manchurian - though a Chinese dish is a heart-throb of we Indians!!

I like this dish a lot and so does my son... Hence tried making this @ home...

INGREDIENTS

Cauliflower- 1 - medium
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsn
pepper powder - 1/2 tsn
Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tspn
Salt to taste

For Batter

All purpose flour /Maida - 1/2 cup
Corn flour/Rice powder - 1/4 cup (i used rice powder)
Salt to taste

For sauce

Oil -2 tbsn
Onion-1 large
Ginger -1 small piece chopped
garlic-6-8 cloves chopped
Soy sauce-2 tsn
Tomato Ketchup-2tsn
Vinegar -2tsn
Spring onion chopped 1 bunch
Salt to taste

PROCESS

Soak the cauliflower in hot water for 2 minutes. It helps remove pesticides and kill the germs if any.

Cut the cauliflower in medium size, add turmeric powder into it and boil it.

Cook it for 5 minutes and drain and keep it aside.

Mix the Cauliflower with ginger-garlic paste, chilly powder, salt, pepper powder and keep it aside for 10 minutes. This helps the ingredients to get soaked into the cauliflower pieces.

Chop the onion, ginger, garlic, spring onions and keep them aside.

Mix maida, Corn flour/Rice flour and salt with little water to make a batter (batter must a bit free flowing - such as that of a bhajji batter)

Dip the cauliflower florets in the batter completely and fry them. Once they become golden brown color, remove from oil, drain the oil and put it in paper towels.

Take the frying pan and pour 3-4 tblspn oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and saute well.  Add a spoon of tomato sauce, soya sauce, vinegar and mix it well. 

Then add spring onions, ginger and garlic. Saute these together well. 

Then add the fried gobi and mix well. 

Decorate with some chopped spring onions.

This is the dry version of gobi manchurian... To be served as a starter or with Fried rice, noodles etc.

Cabbage Thoran - Finely chopped Cabbage stir fried with grated coconut

Cabbage Thoran

Cabbage Thoran is a main dish (dry, stir fried) in Kerala for any sadhya / feast incl. Onam / Vishu Sadya.

In northern part of Kerala, thoran is also called as Upperi. 

Cabbage thoran is a very easy make dish and a very good combination for sambar, pulissery. 

In onam / vishu sadya, usually we don't use shallots or onion. Hence, I have not used these here too.

If this is not being prepard for Onam / Vishu Sadya, you can add finely shopped shallots/onion too in this.

There are multiple combinations in which cabbage thoran can be prepared such as carrot-cabbage, but for sadya/feast, its usually plain cabbage.

Click here to see how to prepare Mix Vegetable Thoran

Benefits of Cabbage:

The health benefits of cabbage include frequent use as a treatment  for constipation, stomach ulcers, headaches, obesity, skin disorders, eczema, jaundice, scurvy, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, eye disorders, heart diseases, aging etc. However, I have read somewhere that people with thyroid can avoid cabbage.

Ingredients of cabbage thoran

Cabbage - 250 gms
Green Chillies - 2 nos
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tspn
Grated coconut - 3-4 tbspn
Urad dal - 1 tspn
Curry leaves - 4-5 nos
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn
Dry Red chillies - 2 nos
Salt to taste

Process to make cabbage thoran:

Finely Chop the cabbage as shown below.

Chop the green chillies in small circular shapes as shown. 

Add turmeric powder, salt and chopped green chillies into the chopped cabbage. Mix thoroughly and keep aside for 5 minutes.

Take a frying pan and pour 2 tbspns of coconut oil into it. When the oil is hot, then add mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, put the urad dal. Keep stirring till the urad dal becomes brown. Then cut and add the dry red chillies and stir well. 

Then add the cabbage mix into it. Cover it with a lid and cook in a low flame. 

After around 10 minutes, add the grated coconut into it and mix well. 

Allow the thoran to saute for 5 minutes. Mix well.

Cabbage thoran is ready. Serves 4-5 people

#onasadya, #cabbagethoran, #thoran, #keralarecipes, #sadya

Thazhuthama (Punarnava / Mukkarattai) Thoran (Hogweed stir fried with grated coconut)

Thazhuthama Thoran recipe

Have you heard about Thazhuthama? Most of us born and brought up in Kerala know this plant. But few of us know about its immense medicinal values and its extensive use in Ayurveda. 
Its uses include lowering cholesterol, improving eyesight, excellent in iron and hence great to cure anemia etc.

Similar to the amaranth leaves with which we prepared thoran (click here to view that recipe), thoran is prepared using these thazhuthama leaves too and they have a great taste.

Lets get into the recipe now.

Thazhuthama Plant

Ingredients:

Thazhuthama leaves - one bunch (around 500 gms)
Coconut-1/2 grated 
Onions or Small onions (shallots) chopped - 6-8 nos (shallots are prefered since they enhance the taste in a big way)
Green chillies - 4, sliced long
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chillies - 4-6 nos

Thazhuthama leaves

Oil - 2 table spoon
White rice (raw, uncooked) - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Process

Pluck the leaves of the plant. 
Clean the leaves thoroughly multiple times in tap water for removing mud in the leaves. Putting a spoon of salt in the cleaning water helps to remove the mud easily. Once cleaned thoroughly, chop the leaves into small pieces.

Thazhuthama Leaves chopped

Pour two table spoon of coconut oil into a thava (frying pan).
Once the oil is hot, put one teaspoon mustard into it. 
Once the mustard seeds splutter, put the raw white rice into it and a couple of red chillies into it. Stir till the white rice turns light brown and put the chopped leaves into it. 

Add  Turmeric powder, salt and sliced green chillies into it.
Mix these and close the pan for the leaves to cook. 

It takes approx.10 minutes for the leaves to cook. Always cook in low flame. 

Thazhuthama getting
cooked in a frying pan

Then add the chopped onions/shallots into the cooked leaves and again close the lid. 

After a minute, add the grated coconut and mix it thoroughly with the cooked leaves.

Thazhuthama Thoran is ready. Serves 3-4

#thazhuthama, #hogweed, #keralarecipes, #indianrecipes, #vegetarian

Kothamara Parippu Thoran (Cluster Beans stir fried with grated coconut and mixed with Tur Dal - called Yellow Pigeon peas spilt in english) - South Indian recipe

Hi friends... Today I tried something different which is a combination of a vegetable and a legume - Cluster beans (Kothamara in Malayalam / Kothavarangai in Tamil) cooked with Tur Dal and grated coconut.

This is a very simple yet tasty and nutricious dish... 

Ingredients:

Cluster Beans - 250 gms

Tur Dal - 100 gms

Coconut - 1/4, grated

Onion - 1, small

Green Chillies - 2 nos

Turmeric - 1/4 teaspoon

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 3-4 leaves

Dry Red Chillies - 2 nos.

Process:

Cook the Tur Dal in a normal vessel. Avoid using the cooker since it tends to ger over cooked and mashed up. In case cooker is unavoidable, use bare minimum water such that the dal gets just cooked and not mashed. 

Drain the water completely and keep aside.

Chop the cluster beans into small peices - around 5 to 6 mm thick. 

In a separate vessel, add 200 ml of water, add the cluster beans, add salt and cook. Keep aside.

Meanwhile, chop the onion into small pieces. Also chop the green chillies into small circular pieces. Keep these aside.

Tale a frying pan and add 2 table spoons of oil into it and heat in low flame. Once hot, add mustard and wait for it to splutter. Once the mustard seeds splutter, break the dry red chillies and add into the frying pan. Add curry leaves. 

Now add the chopped onion and green chillies into it and saute. Once the onions become soft and transclusent, add the cooked cluster beans into it. Add Turmeric powder and mix well. Allow it to get a bit fried. Add grated coconut and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.

Next, add the cooked dal into it and mix well.

This is the Kothamara Parippu Thoran... Serves around 4-5 members in you family

#kothamara, #dal, #kothamaraparippu, #thoran, #keralarecipes, #indianrecipes, #vegetarian

Vazha Pindi Cherupayar Thoran - Banana Stem and Green Gram Stir-Fried with Grated Coconut / Vazha Thandu and Pacha Pairu Poriyal

Banana tree is called Kalpavruksha in Sanskrit. This means that this plant gives us every thing that is desired. Needless to say, another highly nutrituous part of the banana plant is the Banana Stem or Vazha Pindi in Malayalam / Vazha Thandu in Tamil. 

It is very high on fibre and hence extremely good to treat constipation. It is also known to be very effective in treating kidney stones and is also an excellent diuretic.

Banana stem juice combined with buttermilk and taken on an empty stomach helps in weight reduction. 

The juice also relieves ulcers, burning sensation and acidity. 

Banana stem is believed to have a cooling effect on the body and hence, is recommended in tropical climates.

Here we use this banana stem to prepare a side dish for rice which is called Pindi Cherupayar Thoran.

Banana Stem peeled

Ingredients:

Green gram – 50 gms

Plantain stem - 1 no. – around 20 cms long

Onion - 1 big no

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Green Chilly - 3 nos.

Coconut - 1/4 grated

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 6-8 nos.

Dry red chillies - 2 nos.

Cooked Green gram

Salt to taste

Process:

Soak the Green gram in water overnight.

Wash the green gram thoroughly. Cook the green gram. If you are cooking in a pressure cooker, for one glass of green gram one  glass of water would be required. This ratio is applicable only to green gram that has been soaked overnight. 
Add salt as required. Keep it aside.

Banana stem slice

Remove the outer cover of the plantain stem till it reaches a point where there is no cover to peel off. Cut it into circles of around .5 cm thick. While cutting it, remove the web-like fibers with your index fingers. Pour some coconut oil into your hand while doing this to avoid hands getting stained.

Banana Stem chopped

Then chop these into small pieces as shown. Cook this separately in boiled water and add salt while cooking these.Once coked, keep it aside.

Chop onions into small pieces and keep it aside. Also chop green chillies into long pieces and keep aside.

Take a frying pan pour 2 teaspoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, put one teaspoon mustard into it and wait for mustard to splutter. Put 2 broken red  chilies into the pan and stir. Add turmeric powder and mix well so that these get fried. 

Then add the cooked Plantain stem into the pan and mix it thoroughly for it to get sauteed. 

After a minute, add the chopped onions and green chillies into it and mix thoroughly.

After a couple of minutes, once the onions get slightly cooked/become translucent, add the cooked green gram into the pan and mix it thoroughly.

Then add the grated coconut into it. Mix these well and leave for 4-5 min with the pan open for the constituents to get sautéed.

The steps are shown below:

Pindi-cherupayar thoran is ready. Serves 4-5 people.

#vazhapindi, #plantainstem, #cherupayar, #greengram, #thoran, #keralarecipes, #indianrecipes, #vegetarian

Kodappan Thoran (Vazha Poo / Banana Flower stir fried with grated coconut)

The plantain or the banana plant is one perfect example of how all parts of a plant/tree can be used. 
Apart from the banana fruit which is one of the favourite fruits on the planet, raw banana is also used as a vegetable, plantain leaves are extensively used in South India as a plate for eating food and also for many other cooking purposes, the banana plant stem is also used as a vegetable and is an excellent coolant, high fibre vegetable. 
The banana flower is also a highly nutritious part of the banana tree and is used extensively used in south India. 

The most commonly known benefit of the Banana flower is that it known to help increase the female progesterone hormone which reduces bleeding during menstruation. According to Tarla Dalal, the noted chef, consuming the cooked banana flower with curd or buttermilk reduces pain and bleeding during menstruation. 
Banana flower is also a very good source of Vitamin A and C and hence improves immunity and is also is a good antioxidant...

Now lets prepare this tasty Banana Flower dish.

Ingredients:

Banana Flower - 1 no

Coconut - 1/4 grated

Onion - 1 no., big OR Shallots – 10 nos. Shallots are better and add to the taste in a big way.

Green Chilies - 2 nos

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Final banana flower to be used - after peeling off petals

Red Chilly - 2 nos

Curry leaves - 4-6 nos

Salt to taste

Process:
Peel off the outer petals  of the banana flower to reveal  a white inner flower as shown.

Applying little oil (preferably coconut oil) on your hands before you begin to chop prevents banana glue stains on your hands.

Chop the flower into very small pieces. All parts of the flower can be chopped together.  

After the complete flower is chopped, pour 1 teaspoon oil again on your hand and mix the chopped flower well with hands, rubbing the chopped flower between your palms and fingers.

As you rub you will see webby fibres – this is to be discarded. Continue rubbing the complete chopped flower this way and you will be left with a small portion that is sticky with a web like fibre. Discard this portion and set the remaining part aside.

Chopped Banana Flower

The above is the most important part of preparing anything with plaintain flower and once the above is done properly, 80% of the job is done!!

Chop the onions/shallots too into small pieces and keep aside.

Next, take a frying pan and pour 2 table spoons of oil into it. Once the oil is hot, put one teaspoon mustard ,wait till the mustard splutters. 

Once the mustard splutters ,break and add the dry red chillies into it and mix it to get fried.

Then, add the chopped banana flower into it. Add turmeric powder, salt into it and mix thoroughly. Close the lid of the pan and allow it to get cooked for 2 minutes. Then add the chopped onions and green chillies, vertically slit, into it. Mix it again and close the pan with the lid.

Cook in low flame for around 5 minutes. Once it is cooked, add the grated coconut into the mix and stir well.

Allow it to get a little fried for 2-3 minutes without closing the pan. Add curry leaves into it and mix.

Delicious thoran is ready…

It serves around 3-4 people in a family

#kodappan, #bananaflower, #vazhapoo, #thoran, #kodappanthoran, #vazhapoothoran, #keralarecipes, #indianrecipes, #vegetarian

Beetroot Thoran (Beetroot stir fried with grated coconut)

Beetroot is a vegetable with a lot of health benefits esp. for ladies and kids since it is an excellent source of iron and helps improve blood. We have seen the health benefits of beetroot in this post on Beetroot pachadi.

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 1 no. (big size)

Onion - 2 nos. (medium )

Green chilly - 4 nos

Coconut – 1/4 , grated

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 4-6 nos

Salt to taste

Process:

Chop the beetroot into small pieces, keep it aside. Chop the onion also into small pieces and keep aside.

Take a frying pan and pour 2 teaspoon oil and once the oil is heat is hot ,put  1 teaspoon  mustard. Wait till the mustard splutters. Once the mustard splutters, break and add  the dry red chillies into it and mix it for it to get fried. Add curry leaves and stir fry. 

Then add the chopped beetroot into the pan. Add salt, turmeric powder and green chillies vertically split. 

Sprinkle a hand full of water. Close it with a lid for some time. After around 5 min., add the chopped onions into the pan and mix it well. Again cover the pan with the lid.

After around 10 minutes, open the lid and check whether beetroot is cooked. If it is cooked, then add 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut into the cooked beetroot and mix it well. Leave it for few minutes in the frying pan for it to get little fried.

Beetroot thoran is ready.. serves 4 people.

#beetroot, #thoran, #beetrootthoran, #keralarecipes, #indianrecipes, #vegetarian

Mix Vegetable Thoran (Mix vegetables stir fried with grated coconut)

Thoran is made using many vegetables, the most common being cabbage, beans, snake gourd etc. Here we make a thoran using multiple vegetables. The idea is that if a little of different veggies is available, use them to make thoran... 

We have used Beans, Carrot and Elephant foot Yam here.

Ingredients:

Beans - 8 to10  nos.

Carrot -3 nos, medium sized

Yam - 100 gms

Turmeric powder - 1/2teaspoon

Onion - 1 big, Shallots can also be used

Coconut - 1/2, Grated 

Green chilly - 3 nos

Dry red chilly - 3-4 nos

Curry leaves - 4-6 nos

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Process

Clean and chop the beans, carrot and yam into small sizes. Keep these chopped vegetables aside.

Chop the onions too into small pieces and keep aside. 

Take a frying pan and pour 2 table spoons oil and put 1 teaspoon mustard into it. Once the mustard splutters, add red chillies and and curry leaves into it. 

Now, add the chopped vegetables into it. Add turmeric powder, vertically split green chillies and salt to taste. Also, add the chopped onions into it, sprinkle some water, mix  well and close the pan with the lid.

After sometime check whether the vegetables have been cooked. Once cooked, add grated coconut into it and mix well. Leave it for few minutes in the frying pan for it to get little fried.

Mix veggie thoran is ready… Serves 3 to 4 people... 

#vegetables, #thoran, #mixvegetablethoran,  #keralarecipes, #indianrecipes, #vegetarian