How to peel Ridge gourd | Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi | Ridge Gourd Skin Chutney

Well this probably today's post will not exactly fit into the theme of showing all about cleaning and peeling a Ridge Gourd but is essentially about peeling the outer layer and preserving the peel or rather making a proper use of it as a chutney.

Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi  or the chutney with the Rigde gourd skin is a famous Andhra dish and I have already posted a version of the Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi. When I was planning to make the Beerakaya Pappu, seeing that so much skin might come out, I decided that I was going to make the chutney. I went to make Beerakaya Pappu, Snake gourd Stir Fry with Moong Dal and this chutney turned out so delicious that I ended up making it twice in a row.

I was even more elated because hubby dear assumed that the pappu and the chutney were made by Athamma, which I would say was a real compliment. For all the wonderful way I might cook for my friends or my kids, beating Amma or Athamma at their dish is the real thing. And it felt like the adage that "I have arrived"..:)

Anyway both the Beerakaya Pappu and the Ridge Gourd chutney recipes were made as I went on cooking. The pappu was similar except I didn't add tamarind and made it very thick. I almost remembered Amma saying that my Ammamma used to make the pappu that way.

Beerakaya Pappu, Snake gourd Stir Fry with Moong Dal, Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney with Curds and rice ~ Our meal

How to peel Ridge Gourd:

First thing would be to buy a tender Ridge gourd. While buying try twisting softly and not very hard as it might break. When the vegetable is soft and pale green you know the vegetable is still tender.

Also another indication would be those dark black lines on the ridges as in the above, if the line is too thick, then you know it's matured else you can buy.

Wash the vegetable well, if there are black lines on the ridges, slight scrap it out. Then holding the vegetable in your left hand, using a sharp knife scrap it downwards as I have shown in the picture. 

Make a chutney with the peel right away as I did, else freeze it for couple of days. I have refrigerated for a day before making the chutney.

How to make Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi

In a non stick pan, add 1 tsp of oil, add the peels, handful of ridge gourd, Bengal gram, Urad dal, Garlic, Dry red chilies, curry leaves, coriander leaves and saute till the ingredients are cooked.

Here is almost done.

Allow it to cool, grind to a semi coarse paste adding salt to taste.

Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi | Ridge Gourd Skin Chutney

Ingredients Needed:

Ridge gourd peel  - 3/4 cup
Ridge gourd pieces - handful
Bengal Gram / Channa dal - 2 tsp
Urad dal / Black gram dal  - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 10
Coriander leaves - handful
Dry Red chillis - 3 -4
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 - 2 tsp
Garlic - 1 big

How to make Ridge Gourd Skin Chutney

In a non stick pan, heat oil, add the peels, curry leaves, coriander leaves, lentils, ridge gourd pieces, garlic along with salt and dry red chillis. Simmer and saute till the ingredients are well done.

Allow to cool, add enough water to make a semi coarse paste.

Serve with dal and rice as a side dish.

There is no need to do tempering for this. Add as little water as required.

Other Beerakaya / Ridge gourd Dishes

Ridge Gourd Stir Fry ~ Beerakaaya Vepudu!
Beerakaya Thokku pachadi, Ridgegourd Peel Chutney
Beerakaya Kura or Ridge Gourd Curry
Beerakaya Pappu ~ Ridge gourd Dal

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Microwave Tomato Pulao | Tomato Pulav Recipe | How to make Tomato Pulav in Microwave ~ Step By Step Recipe

We are starting the second group of the Blogging Marathon 8th Edition. It's going to be a big group of 21 bloggers for the second group. I hope you enjoy will enjoy this session also.

My first week was Cooking without Fire for Kids and I actually managed to make 7 different dishes that were so well received by my kids. So I am sure I will be making them again for them.

Coming to the second group, I decided to do a 3 day of Microwave Cooking and 4 days of Condiments. Yes you guessed it right, if not like this I might never make any dish for my own events. I am celebrating 4th year anniversary of Microwave Easy Cooking. As I had said earlier, my aim for to create an event that will be helpful for working folks. Initially my thoughts were to have something to do with Lunch Box Recipes. But later based on reader's choice, decided to have one with Microwave. I have my own Lunch Box recipes that I was posting every week for almost 3 years. I want to be regular in posting those, but starting a Microwave Easy Cooking Event, I never really realized the event will get into it's 5th year!

For the better part of my microwave usage of my old mw oven, I mostly used it for re heating etc. But after I got my new one, I made sure I make the best. I never realized how easy and useful it has been since. Even when I am not working entirely in my microwave, I use it extensively as a help to my regular stove top cooking. I mostly boil my vegetables in microwave. But just for the event and to generally use the microwave oven more, I end up making the entire dish in the oven.

Since I have a Microwave Convection Oven, most recipes come with a combination mode of cooking. But I wanted to concentrate on recipes that are done only microwave mode.

Tomato Pulao is a favorite at home and since I wanted to make some party dish, this naturally came to mind. I made this for Sunday lunch and none could recognize that it was completely made in microwave.

I also make Thakkali Sadam which is a favorite mixed rice variety.

Step by Step Picture Recipe

Add 2 tsp ghee, 1 tsp oil in a microwave safe bowl along with cumin seeds, javathri. Microwave for 2 mins.

Remove and add the ground spices, micro for 2 mins. the ground masala was very stiff, maybe 1 min is fine.

Remove add onions, green chiles and micro for 2 mins.

After 2 mins, it looks like this.

 Added fresh peas

 Microwave for 2 mins

Washed Rice that was soaked for 15 mins.

 After mixing well.

Added tomato juice, added chili powder, turmeric pw

 This is after 15 mins.

After 20 mins

After 25 mins,

Kept it covered for 5 mins

Served with Aloo Paneer Kofta curry, our Sunday lunch.

Microwave Tomato Rice / Pulao

Basmati Rice - 2 & 1/2 cups
Tomatoes ripe and juicy - 5 medium
Onion - 1 big
Fresh Peas - 1 small cup
Green chillies - 4 nos
Bay leaf - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Javathri / Javatri / Mace - 2
Turmeric powder a pinch
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Ghee - 2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Spices to be ground

Garlic - 7 pods
Ginger - 3"
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 2 "
- Make about 1 & 1/2 tsp of paste.


How to make Tomato Pulao

Soak basmati rice for 15 mins. Drain and keep aside

Make a coarse paste of the spices to be ground. Puree the tomatoes and keep it aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, add ghee and oil. Add cumin seeds, javathri. Micro for 2 mins.

Then add onions julienne and slit the green chillies. Micro for 2 mins. Followed by the ground masala for 2 mins.

Once done, add fresh peas and micro for 2 mins.

Drain the rice and add to the bowl. Mix everything well. then add the tomato puree which is added to 4 glass of water. If you are using regular rice, you can use 1: 2 ratio, if you are using Basmati, then make it 1 & 1/2 cups. When you add tomato puree, the water measurement will increase, so take care.

Add chili powder and turmeric. Salt should be added in the last 10 mins of cooking.

Microwave for 20 mins.

Check after 10 mins is done, stir well and keep it back.

After 15 mins, remove, add salt and mix well. Micro again for the remaining time. If required you can microwave for 5 more mins.

Once done, keep it closed for 5 mins. This way the rice gets done well.

This goes for my MEC : Potluck party to celebrate my Microwave Easy Cooking Event Anniversary! Do join me in the celebrations.



Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#8

Coriander Rice | Kothamalli Sadam | Step By Step Recipe | Cooking for 100

Yes you read it right! Couple of months back when we had a visitor from our US office, I was requested to cook for the entire staff along with our guest who is a Mexican. She prepared a Mexican rice dish and a delicious salad. I once made Channa Pulao and that lead to cooking an entire meal for the staff. We are about 100 of us and planning an entire meal was really tough, not to mention scary for me. 

But with a supportive team, we got it right. This time round since it was going to be for evening, plus being just one dish, I thought I could easily manage myself. I had the cook to assist me of course. It was utterly fun. And the Mexican dishes turned out superb too. Will be sharing those two recipes soon.

Since the cooking had to be done in one shot, I had to choose something that can be cooked and simply mixed. I was planning to make Karuvapillai Sadam / Curry Leaves Rice. But it was a period even getting a twig of Curry leaves was proving to be toughest task for us. So there was no question any vendor sparing us 14 kg of those leaves.I got it confirmed with Amma on the amount of leaves I will have to use. Even if I can measure the quantity, I feel happy confirming with her. It always feels like we are planning a grand extravaganza!

I finally settled on Kothamalli Sadam, hoping we will be able to source this in bulk from the main market. I requested for those herbs to be bought ahead, fearing their unavailability. We were supposed to serve at 5 but I ended up starting the process only at about 3 pm or later. Since we had those other two dishes being prepared, time simply flew. Plus the distraction of others dropping in to check what's happening, made sure we crossed the decided time. 

Well I am talking about cooking 7 kilos of rice, that used nearly 15 huge bunches of Coriander leaves. Anyway when you cook for 4, this hardly takes time and very quick to get done.

 Coriander Rice ~ Kothamalli Sadam

 Coriander Rice, Mexican Rice and a salad - complete meal

Please excuse the pictures as the lighting was bad in our office pantry and I was trying to manage clicking pictures with a messy hand, while stirring the pot literally!

For 100 people, I used about 7 kilo of rice, 15 Bunches of Coriander leaves, 2 bunches of Mint leaves, 500 gms of Green chilies, 250 gms of Whole Coriander Seeds, 100 gms of Whole peppercorns. I actually ended up using only 5 kgs of rice, and shared some of the coriander leaves with my colleague for her dish.

Serving for 4 you can use this measurement.


Coriander Rice

Ingredients Needed

Rice - 2 cups
Coriander leaves - 2 big bunches
Mint leaves - 1 cup tightly packed
Green chillies - 4 -5 medium
Whole Coriander seeds - - 2-3 tbsp
Whole Peppercorns- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Roasted Cashew nuts for garnishing.

Method to prepare:

Trim and wash the leaves, let it drain aside.

Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins. Once done pan cook the rice with 4 cups of water and keep it aside.

Roast both the coriander seeds and peppercorn separately and powder to a fine texture.

Grind the leaves with using very minimal water. Since you will have to get a thick paste you should not use lot of water. Sieve to ensure you don't get the fiber. Grind Green chilies separately.

Heat a pan with 3 tsp of oil, add the paste, major amount of the chili paste. Cover it with a lid and continue cooking. It takes about 10 mins, you will have to keep stirring in middle so that the bottom doesn't get burnt.

Increase the spice if you require too. Once the paste comes out real thick, remove from flame.

Mix this paste directly to the cooked rice, add the ground coriander and pepper powder. Adjust the taste with salt.

Add some cashews to the rice and mix well. Finally garnish with roasted nuts on the top.

Serve with papad.

Notes:
Grinding the Green chilies separately is best as you can always add more if required.
Same goes for the coriander and peppercorn powder.
Rice has to be cooked as grains and mushy.


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Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me

Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma  
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh  
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani  
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali  
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Vegetable Poha for a Quick Meal!

Ok I decided I will take the easy way out today with few other things coming my way. Meaning the post that I wanted to do today is not yet ready and instead I thought I will share this quick meal, rather a tiffin if you consider for an adult. But this I sent to my daughter's lunch. So I take the liberty to tag it as 30 min meal too.

Anyway this recipe is really one of those dishes that gets done in flat 10 minutes. Works out best when you want to clean up your fridge or have something for a quick bite. I am used to making the regular Poha with the thick variety of Poha where one needs to soak and cook the poha. This one needs to be added as such. Add whatever vegetable you have on hand to increase the nutrition value

Vegetable Poha for a Quick Meal

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients Needed:

1 cup Flat Poha / Thin Poha / Atukulu
1 cup Finely chopped vegetables like Carrot, Capsicum, Beans
Handful of Fresh Green Peas
Onions a quarter of a medium
2 Green Chilies
Handful of Roasted Peanut
1 -2 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method to Prepare:

1. Heat a non stick pan with oil and sauté onions well along with green chilies and roasted peanuts.
2. Add finely chopped vegetables, salt and cover with a lid for 5 mins. Remove the lid and sauté again.
3. When the vegetables are almost done, remove from heat, add the beaten rice and mix well.
4. Since the beaten rice is very thin, it need not be cooked or soaked.

Notes:

• When you are using the thinner type, you got to ensure you don't cook it. It gets soft with the heat that is already there in the cooked vegetables.
• Add your vegetable of choice. This really one of those dishes that can be adapted to our liking.
• Roasted Peanut gives such a wonderful crunchy taste to the entire dish.

Sending this to Mina who is hosting Kid's Delight, themed on Healthy Vegetarian and Colourful recipe using fruit and vegetable.

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Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me
Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma  
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)  
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh  
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali 
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli