RED SPINACH STIR FRY or CHEERA MEZHUKKUPURATTI

RED SPINACH STIR FRY or CHEERA MEZHUKKUPURATTI  : Red Spinach is one of the vegetables I hated as a child. My mom used to make only thoran out of it and I truly hated it. I discovered this one at my in laws place. A simple and good recipe. It tastes better than thoran though. I find this as a better option, even though thoran is a healthier option. I guess you can try it too, if you are a person who finds it hard to eat leafy vegetables. You may even try it with green Palak. Red Palak or Cheera as it is known in Kerala is more popular and available in abundance there.

The health benefits related to red spinach are plenty. Due to its high Fibre content, helps in bowel movement. Helps in boosting the Kidney Function. Good for anaemic patients as it is rich in iron.  Improves eyes sight and strengthens the hair. 

INGREDIENTS:

Red Spinach – a bunch

Dried Red chilly sliced – 2

Or

Green Chilly sliced – 2

Red Onion – 1 big

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tablespoon or less

Mustard seeds – a pinch

Urad Dhal or uzhunnu parippu or white lentil split – a pinch (optional)

METHOD:

Slice the onions, chillies, and red spinach separately. Take a pan and add oil. Splutter the mustard seeds and add Urad dal till it turns golden brown. Add chillies and sauté for few seconds. Add onions and sweat them. Add the cut spinach and salt and mix well.  Cover the pan with a lid and cook on medium flame. 

Once the spinach is cooked for few minutes, you may turn off the stove. If you do not like the crunch of the leaves, then cook till it becomes really tender. It is advisable to cook till it is lightly tender and yet crunchy.

BANANA FRY Or KAYA MEZHUKUVARATTY

BANANA FRY Or KAYA MEZHUKUVARATTY: This is a very easy fry. It is crispy and spicy. You may have it with rice or Thali. It adds a variety to everyday food. This dish is widely made in kerala. This is a dish which we would have all cherished as kids. I am sure; it would be an instant hit with kids.  It is made with Green, unripe banana.

INGREDIENTS:

Unripe Banana – 2 or 3

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon or less

Curry leaves – 4 to 5

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 to 2 tablespoon

METHOD:

Clean and cut the green bananas into thin slices. Heat oil in a pan and add the banana pieces and salt. Close the pan with a lid and cook till tender. Add turmeric powder and red chilli and curry leaves and sauté till lightly crisp. Serve!

NB: stir once a while very gently, so that the pieces do not stick to the bottom. Using coconut oil would give more taste and aroma. 

BEAN SPROUT Or CHERUPAYAR MULAPICHATHU or MOONG DAL THORAN

BEAN SPROUT Or CHERUPAYAR MULAPICHATHU or MOONG DAL THORAN: Bean Sprout as we all know is a very healthy and nutritious option. But none of us are fantasised by the option of having it. Some of us adults and even very small kids cannot have sprouts raw because of gastric issues. Sprouts for babies and toddlers should be cooked as they are prone to gastric issues as their digestive system is not well developed. Some of us even do not like its raw taste too. This recipe would definitely bring a change to all that. But always remember sprouts are highly nutritious in their raw form. The more we cook them, the nutrition level decreases.

The speciality of moong dal apart from its high level of protein and fibre content is that it has zero cholesterol and has good amounts of magnesium also. Around 100 grams of cooked moong dal provides only  105 calories. Sprouts are even called as super foods. The carbohydrates and calories decreases almost by 15% in moong dal sprouts as compared to the ordinary moong dal where as their protein and other vitamin and mineral contents increase significantly.

This recipe should very well be incorporated with your breakfast, lunch or even dinner. You may have it with rice, chapattis, khuboos, pita bread or even bread.

INGREDIENTS:

Sprouted Bean, cooked – 1 to ½ cup

Red onion – 1

Scraped coconut – 2 to 3 tablespoons (optional)

Dried red chillies – 2
Turmeric powder - a pinch

Mustard seeds – ½ tablespoon

Curry leaves – a sprig

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Cook the sprouted beans in Pressure cooker, about a whistle or two. In a pan, heat oil and splutter the mustard seeds along with the dried red chillies. Add the chopped onions and sweat them. Add curry leaves and salt along with scraped coconut and turmeric powder and sauté for a minute. Add cooked sprouts and mix well. Serve!

NB: Do not overcook the sprouts. This is a dry dish, so do not add too much water while you pressure cook the sprouts. Scraped coconut gives a crunch and added taste to the dish. 

CARROT AND BEANS THORAN

CARROT AND BEANS THORAN: I simply hate the taste of beans thoran. But my husband loves it. So each time I make it he ends up eating it alone. That does not work as well as I will be forced to eat it despite my efforts to convince him that I hate it. That is when the idea of mixing both these veggies came to me. I love carrots. So the combination of French beans and carrot.

INGREDIENTS:

Carrot – 1 big

French beans – around 20

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Scraped coconut – 5 to 6 tablespoons

Garlic clove – 1

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder -½  teaspoon

Cumin seeds or jeerakam – ½ tablespoon

Mustard seeds – ½ tablespoon

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 to 2 tablespoon

Dried red chilli – 1 or 2

METHOD:

Clean the veggies and chop them separately. Roughly grind scraped coconut, turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin seeds, curry leaf and garlic clove.

Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds along with dried red chillies. Add carrots and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add French beans and the ground mixture with salt.  

Cover with a lid and cook over low heat.  Check and sauté once in a while to avoid burning. Serve!

NB: If you are using a chopper, no need to grind the mix. You may add it along with the french beans for chopping. 

POTATO MASALA FRY WITH LIME

POTATO MASALA FRY WITH LIME: Potatoes has always been one of my favourite vegetables. I just love its taste especially when you season it with salt and chilli. Just these two ingredients and it taste so great. This masala fry has been a result of my love for potatoes, masala and of course the taste and smell of fennel seeds. The smell and taste of the fennel seeds is so kind of addictive. The secret actually is that it has the smell and taste of meat masala. This is the prime ingredient in it. And each time you get the smell, you actually think of the spicy meat curries....yum!

The potato masala fry is a simple and easy thing to make. You may use it as a side dish or use as a salad (when we went to a restaurant they had potato salad and it was made with masala). But that was too hot. The thing that would give a twist to this fry is the use of lime juice. So here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Potato – 1 large

Red Onion – 1 small

Fennel seeds – ½ teaspoon

Red chilli to season

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Garam Masala Powder – 2 pinches

Salt to taste

Lime juice – 5 to 6 drops or the juice of 1 small lime

Oil – 1 to 2 tablespoon

Coriander leaf to garnish

METHOD:

Clean and dice the potato. Thin slice the red onion. 

Take a pan and heat some oil. Add the diced potatoes and salt and cook till almost done. 

Add fennel seeds. Cook till potatoes are done.Add the onions and sauté.

 Add turmeric powder and sauté. Add chilli powder and sauté. Add garam masala and sauté. 

Turn off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves. Drizzle or squeeze the lemon on top. 

  Serve hot!

NB: The chilli powder, garam masala powder and turmeric have to be put and sauté separately so that it gets uniformly spread. Make sure no lime seeds fall into the fry. 

BROCCOLI EGG SCRAMBLE WITH GARLIC

BROCCOLI EGG SCRAMBLE WITH GARLIC: I was thinking about trying out the broccoli garlic combination for some time now. Started making having that in mind and I ended up with the broccoli egg scramble with garlic. I had no idea how it would taste. But after cooking it, it actually tastes good and it is so simple. Since, I cooked it for the first time, the quantity measurements are for one small serving. So adjust accordingly. You can have it for breakfast or as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

Broccoli florets– ½ cup

Garlic clove minced – 2

Egg – 1

Chilli powder or pepper – ½ teaspoon

Oil – ½ tablespoon

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Clean and separate the broccoli florets. I do not usually take the stalk. Mince the garlic.

Heat oil in a pan and add the minced garlic and salt. Saute till garlic turns brown. Add broccoli and chilli powder. Sauté till the water starts oozing out of the broccoli. Add egg. Scramble till the egg is cooked. Serve!

TENDLI STIR FRY or KOVEKA MEZHUKUVARATY or KOVEKA UPPERI and KOVEKA THORAN

 TENDLI: My memory with this vegetable goes back to my childhood. We had this plant at my father’s house. We used to pluck it and eat it raw. It tastes good when it is ripe. Tendli is referred to as kovekka in kerala.

Tendli or koveka has a wide range of minerals and vitamins like A, C, iron, phosphorous, etc. It also seems to have blood sugar lowering capacity.

I have made two dishes with it. Both the recipes are being penned down here. This is a side dish and can be used along with rice.this will provide a variety to your everyday veggie list.


TENDLI STIR FRY or KOVEKA MEZHUKUVARATY or KOVEKA UPPERI

INGREDIENTS:

Tendli – 150 gms

Red onion – 1 small (optional)

Chilli powder – ½ teaspoon

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tablespoon

METHOD:

Clean and cut the tendli and onions. Heat oil in a pan and add the tendli and onions. Add salt and mix. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder and mix. Place a lid over the pan and cook on low flame. Once, the tendli is cooked, the colour changes to dull green.  Serve!

TENDLI THORAN

INGREDIENTS:

TENDLI – 150gm

Mustard seeds – ½ tablespoon

Cumin seeds – ½ tablespoon

Scraped coconut – 4 to 5 tablespoons

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder – ¼ tablespoon

Curry leaves – a sprig

Salt to taste

Oil -1 tablespoon

METHOD:

Clean and cut tendli. Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Add cumin seeds, scraped coconut, tendli , curry leaves and salt. Mix well. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over low heat. Serve!

SPRING ONION THORAN OR UPPERI

SPRING ONION THORAN OR UPPERI: This is a very simple thoran. This recipe does not use the traditional thoran mix. It can be had with rice and can substitute for any other thoran.

For those who do not know what thoran is – “it is a keralite dish made with vegetables mainly and coconut mix. The mixture is cooked on low heat for a small amount of time. Hence a very healthy option”.

Spring onion has 45% vitamin C and has potassium also. It also has vitamin A and K. It helps in digestion and improves blood flow. It should take less than 5 minutes to prepare it.

INGREDIENTS:

Spring onions – a small bunch (around 5 or 6)

Mustard seeds – a pinch

Fennel seeds – a pinch

Coconut scraped – 2 to 3 table spoons

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder - ½ teaspoon

Garam masala powder – a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil - ¼ tablespoon

METHOD:

Clean and chop the spring onions. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds and add fennel seeds. Add the chopped spring onions. Sauté and immediately add salt, scraped coconut, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder. Sauté for about one minutes and serve!!!!!

NB: Do not overcook the spring onions.

ELEPHANT YAM STIR FRY or CHENA MEZHUKUVARATTY:

ELEPHANT YAM STIR FRY or CHENA MEZHUKUVARATTY: This is a very healthy option, I would say. This can be used as a side dish for your plain rice. It is easy too!

The reason I thought of doing this is that we always have left over fresh yam after making sambar or aviyal. I should say both won’t go together in a week (sambar and aviyal). I have strict instructions...either one please!!!!!!!!  So I had no other go than to make yam stir fry. I hate wasting food.

Yam is a very important vegetable in terms of health especially for ladies. It is known to help with increasing the female hormone estrogen.  It also has vitamin B and is high in fiber content. So ladies gear up...here is the recipe, especially you are having PMS or hormonal issues (I bet you are already taking medicines with yam in that case).

INGREDIENTS:

Elephant Yam – 1 cup diced

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Curry leaves – a sprig

METHOD:

Clean and dice the yam. Heat oil in a pan and transfer the yam to it. Add salt and curry leaves. Cook on low flame. 

When almost done, add pepper and cook for another minute or so. 

Serve!

NB: It cooks fast, so be careful. It just takes few minutes. If your hands are itching after cleaning and cutting yam, do not panic. It will go after sometime. You may even apply some coconut oil on that part after washing your hand.

My grandmother used to say, the itching will disappear as soon as the yam gets cooked. And it has worked out so far for me.

Some Yams may even itch after cooking, so have a taste test. In that case realise that the yam you bought is a bad one.

BROCOLI POTATO AND CARROT STIR FRY

BROCOLI POTATO AND CARROT STIR FRY: This is the easiest stir fry one can make. It’s healthy and tasty. It can accompany with rice as a side dish. You may even have it as such as a snack.

INGREDIENTS:

BROCOLI - 1 small to medium

Potato – 1

Carrot – 1

Salt to taste

Oil – 2 teaspoon

Pepper powder – ½ tablespoon

METHOD:

Chop all the vegetables.  Keep the broccoli aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped carrots and potatoes with salt.  Cook on low flame till the potato and carrots are 3/4^th cooked. Add broccoli along with pepper and cook till done. Reduce pepper depending on your spice levels.  Serve it.

EGG BURJI or SCRAMBLED BOILED EGG - MY STYLE

EGG BURJI - MY STYLE: Normally Egg burji is the other name for scrambled egg. But the one I am going to pen down is made with boiled eggs. It is simple, healthy and tasty.  It can be served hot with rice or chapattis. For kids, you may even toss them between their dosas or chapattis and take them as a roll or put them between bread slices and you have a good egg sandwich.

INGREDIENTS:

Egg - 3 whole (I have used chicken eggs)

Red Onion – 1

Mustard seeds – ½ tablespoon

Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Fennel Seeds – around 10 nos.

Oil - 2 teaspoon

Coriander leaves to garnish

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Boil the 3 eggs and slice them. Slice the onions. Take a pan and heat the oil. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add fennel seeds. Once they turn brown add onions and sauté till light brown. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder. Sauté till the raw smell goes. Add the egg slices. Mix the eggs into the onion masala. Add coriander leaves for garnishing. Serve hot.