Cabbage Edemami

Makes 6 cups of cabbage edemami.
This is a direct lift-off from my state-in-law, Gujarat's vegetable: kobij-vatana-nu-shaak. This fusion recipe is faster because of longer cabbage slices, more solid because of a big proportion of potato, and I use Edemami beans for their protein content.   

Ingredients

• 2 tbspn vegetable oil
• 1 tspn rai (mustard seeds) 
• 2 medium Thai peppers, finely chopped
• 1-1/2 tspn coriander powder 
• 1-1/2 tspn cumin powder
• 1 tspn turmeric powder 
• 8 cups sliced cabbage - max 1-1/2 inch long, negligible thickness
• 2 cups chopped potato - cross-sections of french fries
• 1 cup edemami 

Garnishing

• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Preparation (10 minutes)

1. Chop the potato.
2. Slice the cabbage.
3. Chop peppers.
4. Defrost edemami beans, if frozen.

Instructions (10 minutes)

1. Heat the oil on High, and add mustard seeds and wait till they pop.
2. Change heat to Medium.
3. Add the curry leaves, and chopped peppers, and stir after one minute.
4. Add potato and stir for two minutes. 
5. Add grated ginger, spice powders, salt to taste and stir every minute for another three minutes.
6. Add edemami, stir and keep on heat for two minutes.
7. Take off the heat.  

Garnishing

1. Sprinkle cilantro on top.

Serving

1. Serve hot with chapati (corn roti).
2. Any conventional Indian flat bread - roti, paratha, puri will do in place of chapati.

Aloo Poha (Bataka Pawa) - flattened rice and potatos

Thanks to the unhealthy love for potato and rice in our household, Saturday morning breakfast is invariably aloo poha (aloo - potato, poha - pressed rice). It is undeniably appetizing, to be enjoyed with a cup of hot adrak-fudina chai.

I personally do not like the flavor of cinnamon with bataka pawa as it is popular known in Gujarat, but it is a popular garnishing. Also, I avoid onions in my cooking. Onions enhance taste but I can vouch for the fact that the onion-less recipe is equally yummy.


Make aloo poha breakfast for 4.

Ingredients 

For the poha

• 6 cups poha (pressed rice)
• 1 tspn coriander powder 
• 1 tspn cumin powder
• 1 tspn turmeric powder 
• 2 medium potato, finely chopped 
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped - optional
• 2 tspn lemon juice 
• 1 tspn sugar 
• salt, to taste

For the tempering

• 2 tbspn vegetable oil 
• 3 medium Thai peppers, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup peanuts 
• 1 tspn mustard seeds
• 6-8 curry leaves, chopped
• 1-2 mid-sized sticks of cinnamon - optional

For the garnishing

• 1 tbspn cilantro, finely chopped 
• 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup sev,  finely chopped - optional
• lemon slices, finely sliced
• 1 cup coconut, grated

Preparation (10 minutes)

1. Chop the peppers, cilantro.
2. Slice the lemon.
3. Chop the white onions and red onion fine.
4. Chop potato fine (cross-sections of french fry sized).
5. Wash the poha in cold water, strain immediately and set aside.  
6. Chop the cilantro.

Instructions  (10 minutes)

1. Heat the oil in a pan on High, and add curry leaves.
2. After a minute, add mustard seeds and allow them to pop.
3. Add peanuts, and stir for a minute.
4. Add the sliced peppers, and white onion, and stir for 2 minutes on Medium heat
5. Add the potato, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt.
6. Stir for 5 minutes, till the potato is done.
7. Add poha, take off the heat and stir lightly for 2 minutes.
8. Put the pan back on the heat, and stir for 1 minute.
9. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir.
10. Take off the heat.  

Garnishing

1. To each serving, add a fine slice of lemon, cilantro, red onions on top. 
2. Sprinkle sev. 

Serving

1. Serve hot.  

Puri

Makes 20 puris.


Ingredients

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 tbspn vegetable oil for dough 
• 1/2 tspn ajwain
• 1 cup water 
• a pinch of salt
• vegetable oil for deep-frying

Preparation

1. Make a dough with the flour, oil and salt - this should need slightly less than 1 cup of water.
2. Cover the prepared dough with a damp cloth for 15 minutes. 

Instructions

1. Heat the frying pan with oil on High heat.
2. Make four logs from the dough.
3. Divide the log into dough balls - this allows all puris to be the same size.
4. Take a dough ball and roll it into a circle. 
5. Brush lightly with oil, and flip and roll it slightly.
6. Lower the heat to Medium and put puris in.
7. If the puri does not immediately rise to the top, the oil is not hot enough. If the puri turns brown in splotches immediately, the oil is too hot. 
8. As the puri immediately rises to the top, hold it down under the oil for one second. This fluffs it up.
9. Put the puri on a paper napkin to absorb the excess oil. I line the puri serving container with 2-3 layers of paper napkins so that any excess oil is absorbed well before serving.

  Serving

1. Puris are best served within minutes of frying.
2. They go well with all vegetables and curries, especially with potatos and tomato curry.
3. In Gujarat, where puris originate from, they are served with all vegetables, and are a mandatory accompaniment to undhiyu, keri nu ras (mango pulp) and shikhand (sweetened thick yogurt).