Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

If you like what you see, do leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a suggestion to help me make this better.

You can also request for any recipe you want. Just leave a note in a comment box.

Happy cooking!

Dershana

Friday, September 19, 2008

Spinach (palak) parathas with Green gram masala

Parathas in combination with green gram masala and chopped onions was a dinner favourite at home when I was a kid. This time, I'm just giving my mom's old recipe an extra dose of nutrition with spinach. I generally shred the spinach (palak) that I put into the dough for this recipe but this time decided to liquidise it along with the green chillies and ginger.


For the Palak (spinach)paratha
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Spinach (palak) - 1 medium sized bunch
Green chillies - 3 Nos
Ginger - 1" piece
Fennel (saunf/perumjeerakam)- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste


Rinse the spinach leaves well. Together with the green chillies, ginger, and fennel grind the spinach leaves to a smooth paste. Add to the wheat flour, along with salt to taste and knead to a firm yet pliable dough. Add a drizzle of oil. Let stay covered for atleast half an hour.

Make golf ball sized shapes out of the dough. Dust with loose flour and roll (leaven) out into chappathis (tortillas). Heat a flat pan and rub on a little oil to temper it. Place the leavened paratha on it and cook till done. Turn over and repeat procedure on the other side.


For green gram (moong) masala (cherupayar kari)
Whole green gram - 150 gms
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Small onions (shallots/scallions) - 4 Nos
Cumin (jeera) - 1 teaspoon
Green chillies - 5 Nos
Garlic - 4 cloves
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder (cayenne pepper) - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For tempering
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 4 sprigs

Soak the green gram overnight. Drain and cook till very soft. Grind together the coconut, onions, garlic, green chillies, cumin, chilli powder, and turmeric powder into a paste. Heat a teaspoon of oil and crackle mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves and the cooked gram. Add in the masala and salt to taste. Sprinkle some water if the mixture is too dry. Saute everything together for a minute or two. Take off flame and squirt in some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Sending this over to Tongue Ticklers' FIC - Green event. The event is on till the 30th of September at http://tumyumtreats.blogspot.com/2008/09/round-up-of-food-in-colours-red.html

7 comments:

Yasmeen said...

Beautiful healthy green entries.

Usha said...

Both of these look good,very healthy and nutritious...

Sunshinemom said...

Very nutritious! I love the taste and flavour of green gram whether in dal, kootu, curry or just as sprouts! This should taste yummy. I am curious to try the coconut and onion blend. I know its done in many homes, but I have not used it as yet in gravy! Palak roti is good too - it is doing the rounds this month:)

You were right about the marriage of cultures due to your parents interstate marriage - I see it here;)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Nice green entries for the food event :)

Raks said...

Nice combination! and I always like the flavor of perum jeeragam;)

Unknown said...

I am plannng to make these spinach parathas for a long time..Like the addition of coccnut..

BeadBag said...

Your recipes look very yum! particularly the Paratas and the chocolate recipe. Will give these a try, and will pop in again too.
Kind regards,
Shirley I.

 
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