Simple vegan stir fried dry curry made from Onion stalks and brinjals. Ready in less than 30 minutes!
Ever walked by a vegetable aisle wondering what "that" vegetable is and how one cooks it?
Happened to me a few years ago when I saw a lot of vegetable carts on the road side stocking up on green stalks with a tiny white bulb at the end. Curiosity made me ask what it was. And I was introduced to the "Onion Stalk / Flower" or "Eerulli Kaavu"/"Eerulli Hoovu" as they call it in Bangalore. The green stalk is the onion plant with the flower at the end. If you have never seen it or tasted it, the closest thing to it would be green onions or spring onion stalks. It is never sold with the onion bulb attached. While sometimes, it can be pungent like onions, most often it is simply sweet and crunchy.
And the good news is, it is right now in season in Bangalore and you will see it stocked all over the local markets and supermarkets.
I love cooking with seasonal vegetables. They taste so much better and are fresher than those annually available veggies. The first time I saw these onion stalks, I asked the vendor how one cooks it. He told me just stir fry it in oil and add spices. That's it! His recipe was so simple and it was tasty, if you like onions a lot. I do like onions, but I'm not a fan of a bowl full of them. So I went looking for different ways to cook it and I chanced upon this recipe by Chandrima . She added stir fried brinjals or eggplant to the fried onion stalks. Adding brinjal added some substance and texture to this dry curry.
These onion stalks are versatile, I added them to "Thalipeeth" and it tasted really nice. I made this same curry with potatoes instead of brinjals and everyone loved that too.
If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto.
If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!
8-10 Onion Stalks 5-6 small Brinjals 4 tsp Oil 1 tsp Turmeric Powder 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder Salt to taste
Method:
Chop the brinjal into chunks. Heat 2 tsp oil in a kadhai / pan. Add the brinjals and cook on low heat until done. Add in a little salt, turmeric powder and stir fry for 1 minute. Chop the onion stalks into 1" pieces. Heat the remaining oil in the kadhai and add the onion stalks. Add salt and turmeric powder. Mix well. Cover and cook until done. I left mine crunchy, cook longer for a softer texture. Add in the cooked brinjal and red chilli powder. Mix well and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with rice and dal or with rotis.
The Sun dried Potato Chips are the BEST, seriously guys!!!
Who doesn't love potato chips? I'm sure even the Victoria Secrets models who are eternally on a diet wouldn't mind sneaking one in, once in a while. There are so many varieties of potato chips or crisps or whatever else you might want to call them, but I assure you, this is the best. Cause of course, you will make them yourself. And tell me if I'm wrong, but anything homemade tastes so much better than the preservative loaded air filled packet stuff.
Recently, I was reading this really old article on Reddit about what surprised non Americans when they visited the USA, I was definitely surprised with the vastness of the country and the enormous food portions. But something that definitely got me crazy was the size of the Potato Chips packets. I think they are as tall as toddlers. Why are they so big? Are they meant to be family packs? If yes, how large is this family? Don't people get bored of the flavor after going through quarter of the packet? Or is it meant to last a month? I did not get that at all. I went a little nuts over the number of flavors though, you get every flavor under the sun.
Back to the Sun, that's really the focal point today. Did I tell you how the Sun cheated us this year?We had the shortest summer ever, just ONE month. Just April. Summer came and went in the blink of an eye. Summer gets replaced by Monsoons in this part of the world and then everyday is just a dull cloudy day dotted with spells of rain. Usually, I'm a big fan of the rains, I simply love how everything turns bright green, and that fragrance when the rain hits the earth is simply divine. And rains, means deep fried deliciousness and loads of hot cups of chai. But this year I was a little disappointed. I had so many things planned for Summer, and I could barely scramble them in, in a month. But what I did manage to do , was sun dry some potatoes.
You may have only heard of sun dried tomatoes, but believe me sun dried potatoes are even better!! And people have been doing it for ages, just not me though. This was my first and definitely not my last attempt. Potatoes barely take 3-4 days to dry and the drying makes them intense and all the more potatoey (if that were a word).
So...
STEP 1 - Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes.
STEP 2 - Soak the slices in salted boiling water until they are just about done.
STEP 3 - Lay them out on a cloth to dry in the sun.
STEP 4 - Deep fry them and toss them in salt and chilli powder.
Step 4 can be done months later. The chips can be stored for 3-4 months easily if stored in a clean dry air tight container. The good thing here is, you can decide how much to fry, you don't need to fry the entire batch at once and worry about them going soft, however, I assure you, that is not a problem, coz like all potato chips, these are irresistible.
Some tips to make sure your potato sun drying turns out to be the best...
1) Do not slice the potatoes very thin like you would for regular chips. These need to be around 2mm.
2) As you slice the chips, put them in water so they don't darken due to oxidization.
3) The chips are soaked in boiling water until they are just about done. If you take them out too quickly, the chips will darken while drying. If you leave them in there too long, they will be completely cooked. So you need to drain them out in 5-8 minutes. Squeeze a chip in between your thumb and index finger and the chip should give when you apply a little pressure. If it does not, it still needs to be cooked, if it gives too soon, it is overcooked.
4) Dry on a cloth, not a tray or plate or paper. The chips will stick to whatever you have placed under it, and removing them from a tray or paper can be difficult. Preferably, use a white cloth or a light colored one as you don't want color running onto the chips.
5) If the chips turn black on the edges or in small spots, you can still use them, just make sure these are the ones you fry first.
6) If you don't have enough sun, place them in the shade, they will dry there as well, but will take much longer.
And last, you can flavor these chips with whatever flavor you like - curry, mint, oregano etc. Just do it immediately after frying while the chips are still hot so the flavor sticks to them. Or you can just salt them and enjoy the potato flavor to its maximum.
If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.
If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!
3-4 medium sized Potatoes Salt to taste Red Chilli powder to taste Water as required Oil for deep frying
Method:
Wash and peel the potatoes. Slice the potatoes to about 2mm thickness and immerse in water to prevent them from browning. Boil water in a large pot, add salt. Once it comes to a rolling boil, lower heat and add the potato slices to it. Boil for 2-3 minutes then turn off the heat. Let the potato slices soak for 5-8 minutes. Squeeze a slice between your thumb and index finger and it should give slightly after you apply a little pressure. If it does not, allow it to soak longer. If it gives too quickly, it has overcooked, remove from water immediately. Drain the potato chips and lay them out on a white cloth in the sun. Cover with a light muslin cloth to prevent dust from settling on to the chips. You can dry them in shade as well. Leave it in the sun for 3-4 days or until completely dried. Store in a clean dry air tight container. It can be stored for 3-4 months. When you want to eat the chips, deep fry them and toss with salt and chilli powder immediately.
SUMMER has arrived!! Cool down with this Summer with this Jamun Ice Candy / Black Plum Popsicle!
Summer isn't SUMMER, until you've had a brain freeze from all those ice candies. I had a few ones with this Jamun Ice Candy already, not enough though. But hey, summer has just begun. I'm looking at my calendar as I write this and I realise Summer has not "just begun", we are already mid way through it. One more week to go and we are officially mid way in Mango Season. Now that I think, I've barely had mangoes this season. Need to rectify that immediately!!
Anyway back to ice candies. I'm sure all of us have fond memories of buying Rs.1 ice candies from the street vendors who came about pushing their little carts when we were kids, waaaay back in the 80s and 90s (I feel old now :( ). Fun days!! For me summer as a kid meant all play and no work, pigging out on Mangoes, climbing trees to pluck out Guavas, eating loads of ice candies and dreading that report card that was sent home somewhere around this time in April. And of course Rasna!! That concentrated sweet drink that pretty much every house hold made together at the start of summer. I know lots of kids who made ice candies by freezing Rasna in bowls. Each of us had our very own favorite Rasna flavor, I personally loved the Mango. I think I can eat anything that is mango flavored.
Hey, I've been talking of a complete different fruit here. This post is not about Mangoes, not even close to Mangoes. If mangoes is what you are looking for today, you may want to check out these recipes.
Today is all about that purple king of fruits - Jamun or Jambul. While the Mango was termed the king, this extremely healthy wild fruit was very much ignored. Nobody ever spent money to buy them, they were plucked from trees when we all went to our native places and ancestral houses for the summer. The fun part of eating Jamun has always been the purple stain it leaves on your tongue when you eat them. We always had a competition to see whose was the darkest (gross, right?, eh, what can I say, we were kids). It took a long time for people to realise the health benefits of Jamun -the most popular one being the role it plays in controlling diabetes. This increased popularity in recent times has brought the fruit to markets, albeit at an expensive price.
Apart from the health benefits and the purple tongues, there is another reason why I decided to start my ice candy season with a Jamun Ice Candy - it is not commercially available!! There is no popular ice cream brand that actually sells a Jamun Ice Candy, the only place I've ever eaten one is at a small home ice cream parlor in Karkala. I loved it so much, that this season I decided to make them.
Making Ice Candies is a child's play. Literally!! All you need to do is mix sugar, water and the fruit. I blended a part of the fruit into a puree - this is what gives that nice purple color, and I chopped the remaining into small pieces roughly. If you have moulds to make ice candies, then pour the liquid into them and place the wooden stick in the center. But if you (like me) do not have a mould, then just use any small steel glass or paper cups or even ice cube trays to make the ice candies. To get the stick to stand vertically right in the center, just cover the glass with aluminium foil or with plastic cling wrap and in the center of that make a small slit. Insert the stick in the small slit all the way through.
Freeze until completely solid and enjoy your brain freeze.
If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto.
If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!
Jamun Ice Candy | Jambul Ice Candy | Black Plum Popsicle is a 3 ingredient frozen fruit dessert made with jamun (jambul) or black plums.
Recipe Type:Dessert Cuisine:Indian Total Time:3-4 Hours Yield:Makes 7-8 ice candies
Ingredients:
250 gms Jamun / Jambul / Black Plum 6 cups Water 5-6 Tbsp Sugar
Method:
Deseed all the jamuns. Keep aside a quarter of the jamuns, and blend the rest with a little water until smooth. Roughly chop the jamuns that were kept aside and add it to the puree. Add water to the puree. Add sugar by the spoonful. Stir until sugar dissolves. Depending on the sweetness or sourness of the jamuns, the quantity of sugar required may vary. Pour the ice candy mix into the moulds. Place the ice candy stick in the center. Freeze for 3-4 hours or until frozen completely. If you do not have a popsicle or ice candy or a kulfi mould, you can freeze the ice candy in steel glasses or paper cups. Cover the glass with aluminium foil or plastic wrap. Make a small slit in the center and push the ice candy stick through it. To remove the ice candy or popsicle, just run the mould or the glass under water.
Tender Coconut Ice Cream recipe with step by step video instructions. This Naturals style Tender Coconut Ice Cream is made with only 4 ingredients and WITHOUT an ice cream maker!!! Tender Coconut Ice Cream is glutenfree and fits a Jain diet.
Heat Wave ALERT!! Bangalore is reeling under a heat wave right now and temperatures are soaring to mid thirty degrees C. Time to wallow in ice cream!
I have half the mind to move on to a chilled liquid diet until the heat wears off. But you know me, I wouldn't last a day without any food. So I'm doing the next best thing, well... not the next, but the BEST best thing, and that is loading up on ice cream. Chilled sweet perfection.
Everyone who's anyone in a town which has a Natural's Ice Cream Parlour has definitely tried their signature flavor - Tender Coconut. It's even in their logo. My family's favorite flavor. I personally die for their Custard Apple flavor but Gee and Raj love the Tender Coconut. You have to cook what the family will eat. Well, there is no cooking involved here, just like my last recipe of Bircher Muesli (Overnight Oats), which was also chilled, keeping in the spirit of Summer.
Cut to last Saturday, while we were walking back home from one of our ridiculously long weekend walks, we picked up 4 tender coconuts from a local seller. Tender Coconut water is supposed to cool the body, and this heat definitely necessitates cooling. So the plan was to keep the coconut water in the fridge and drink it over the next few days so that we do not reach for any sugary sodas or drinks.
I was then left with the meat or flesh of 4 coconuts. I don't mind eating it just like that or with a little jaggery, but 4 is a little too much for us to eat in a day. Light bulb moment!! Why don't I try making Tender Coconut Ice Cream! and the idea was born. I've made pop-sickles before, but never an ice cream. We usually just drive down to Natural's and buy a scoop of our favorite flavor. But Sunday was a first in my recipe book. I made Tender Coconut Ice Cream....
I don't own an ice cream maker and I don't know anyone who does, so this ice cream is something anyone can whip up. All you need is a whisk or a spatula. If you have a hand mixer, then you have all the power you need. This ice cream needs only 4 ingredients. Yup, that's it - FOUR!! Cream, Sugar, Coconut Meat and Coconut Water. Since there are only 4 ingredients, make sure you use fresh and the best quality you can find.
I used fresh medium fat cream. Low fat cream may not work well. The cream needs to be chilled before use, else you may end up with butter instead of whipped cream.Whip the chilled cream until you have soft peaks. Blend a part of the coconut meat with 1/2 cup of coconut water. Fold in with the cream along with powdered sugar and chopped coconut meat. Pour in a freezer safe container and cover loosely with aluminium foil. Every 45-60 minutes for the first 3 hours, remove the ice cream from the freezer and whisk once completely and refreeze. This will prevent it from getting icy in places.
If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto.
If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!
400ml medium-fat Cream (chilled) 4 Tender Coconuts Meat 0.5 cup Tender Coconut Water 400gms sweetened Condensed Milk or 6-7 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
Method:
1. Blend the meat of 3 tender coconuts along with the tender coconut water to a smooth paste. 2. Chop the remaining tender coconut meat finely. 3. Whisk the chilled cream until you have soft peaks. Be careful not to over whisk, the cream will curdle into butter. If you feel the cream is getting warm, chill it for 10 minutes in the fridge and restart whisking. 4. Fold in the coconut paste, condensed milk or powdered sugar and the coconut pieces until combined. 5. Pour into a freezer safe box or baking pan. Cover with aluminium foil and place in the freezer. 6. After every hour for the first 3 hours, remove the ice cream from the freezer and whisk it again with the handheld mixer or with a spatula to prevent formation of ice crystals. 7. Leave it in the freezer until completely frozen. 8. Scoop and serve.
