Olan - A kerala cuisine.

Our native place is Tirunelveli , a beautiful place in Tamilnadu. It is located very near to kerala. So we have imbibed many cuisines of kerala, one of them being olan made with pumpkin.

Olan can be a wonderful side dish with rice and sambar.This is how I make olan.

Ingredients -

Pumpkin -250gms

Chowli or black eyed bean - 1 cup

Slit chillies - 3/4no.

Coconut milk - 200ml

Coconut oil - 2tsp

Curry leaves

Coconut (grated) for garnishing

Cilantro (for garnishing)

Method -

Soak the black eyed beans for sometime and pressure cook them.

Add chopped pumpkin,slit chillies, salt in a pan and cook them with little water.

Now add the cooked beans and curry leaves and allow all the ingredients to mix and cook well.
Then add the coconut milk and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add little coconut oil for the flavour.

Garnish with coconut and cilantro.

Corn in potato nest

This is a nice healthy snack as corn is of a high nutritious value. Addition of corn to our diet, couple of times a week has many health benefits. You can make corn more interesting especially for the kids by adding things which they love ,like I made with potatoes and cheese.

Ingredients -
For the corn filling-
Sweet corn - 2 no. cooked well and kernels seperated.
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Garlic - 1 crushed
Chillies- 1
Cumin - 1tsp
salt - acc. to taste
Coriander leaves
Oil

For the potato nest -
Potato - 1 big
Oil for deep frying

For garnishing -
Grated cheese
Chaat powder

Method -
Corn filling-
Heat 2tsp oil in a pan and add cumin seeds,garlic,chillies. Then add onion and fry them till they become translucent. Add the corn and mix well. Add salt and coriander leaves.
Potato nest-
Grate the potato and and arrange them on a metal sieve(shape of a cup)and deep fry them.
(You could even arrange potato julienne on a mould and deep fry them.)
If someone has better and easier idea to make the potato cups/basket, please do share with me. My potato basket did not come out that good, but it was ok as I could fill the corn in it neatly.

Assembling - Fill the potato nest with corn. Add grated cheese on the top. Sprinkle little chaat powder on them. Microwave for about 2 minutes till the cheese melts.

I am sending this entry for Vanamala's kids food event.

Spicy Tofu subzi

Tofu or soybeancurd is a highly nutritious food ,rich in protein and a good source of B vitamins, iron and calcium. It is low in saturated fats and contains no cholesterol.
I personally did not find it as tasty as paneer,especially the last time when I made minced tofu (similar to paneer bhurji). This time , I fried them and added the required spices. It sure tasted quite good .

Ingredients-

Firm Tofu - 100gms

Spinach- 1 cup(finely chopped) I used baby kailan.

onion- 2 finely chopped

Tomatoes - 1 big

Ginger garlic green chillies paste- 1 tsp

Jeera/cumin - 1tsp

Turmeric powder - 1tsp

Cinnamon stick- 1

bay leaves

cloves

Oil for frying

Salt

Method -
Cut the tofu into small cubes. Add salt,mix properly and leave it for sometime.Then fry them in 2tbsps of oil till they become light brown in colour. Leave them on a tissue paper to absorb the excess oil. In 2tsps oil, add jeera, cinnamon,cloves and bayleaves. Add the ginger garlic green chillies paste and then the onion till they turn translucent.Add turmeric powder and salt.Mix in the tomatoes and spinach. Add the fried tofu and mix well. Cook them properly. Usually tofu has a good ability to absorb the spices added to it.

Serve hot with chapati.

Carrot apple cake (Microwaved)

I read in the internet (as well as many blogs) that cakes come out very beautiful using a microwave oven. Though it may not turn brown as in the convection oven , yet they are moist and spongy. And as most of the times the cakes are frosted , the browning really doesn't matter much.
So I thought of giving it a try. It did come out well. I liked the colour of the cake due to the carrots added , that I did not feel like decorating the cake in any other way.

Ingredients-
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Butter - 1 cup
sugar- 1 cup
baking powder- 1tsp
eggs-3 nos
vanilla essense-1tsp
Grated carrot- 1/2 cup
grated apple-1/2 cup

Method-
Sieve the flour and baking powder.Add sugar,vanilla essence and butter and beat the mixture well. You can add few drops of milk. Then add the eggs one by one and beat the mixture properly. Stir in the carrots and apple.Pour the cake batter in a greased microwave bowl. Microwave in high for 10 minutes. Check by inserting a knife if it comes out clean. Else microwave for further 1 or 2 minutes accordingly.

Microwave Paneer subji

I wanted to make something really quick and with whatever I had. So for the first time I made subji using microwave. This recipe is adapted from 100%microwave cooking though I made minor changes. It tasted nice.

Ingredients:
Paneer pieces-100gms
capsicum- 1 finely chopped
frozen peas - 1/2 cup
Tomato puree/pizza sauce-2 tbsp
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
jeera- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder- 1tsp
garam masala -1tsp
oil- 1tsp
salt- acc to taste
Grated cheese- optional
coriander- garnishing

Method:
Add little oil in a microwave safe bowl. Add jeera, garam masala,turmeric powder,red chilli powder, salt and pizza sauce, ginger garlic paste.Mix well and microwave for about one minute. Then add the capsicum and again microwave it for 3 minutes. Add water if it is too thick.Then add the paneer pieces and peas and microwave for 2 more minutes. Then add the grated cheese and microwave till it melts. Garnish with coriander.

I did not have tomato puree, so used pizza sauce (which contained around 80% tomato puree and spices and herbs). Tomato puree must have tasted better. Serve with chapathi.

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