Guide to Simple Vegetarian Cooking

Urad, Rava DoddaK (Dosa)

2012-01-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Preparations for four people -

Ingredients: 1 cup Urad daal, 2 cups of Medium Rava

Step 1. Soak Urad daal in water for 2 hrs (previous evening)
Step 2. Wet grind thoroughly to paste
Step 3. Add salt to taste and keep over-night
Step 4. Mix medium rava and little water (see picture below for consistency)

Step 5. Heat tawa and pour into small dosas, add oil (coconut/refined sunflower), cover the tawa with a lid

Step 6. Turn it over
Serve with fresh Coconut Chutney!

Cauliflower-Cabbage vegetable BhuTti

2011-02-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

Hi again!

I have been learning quite a lot from my latest guru, my wife. Here is an item learnt recently - Cauliflower-Cabbage vegetable BhuTti. One of my favourite side dishes with rice and sambar.

Preparation -

Cut Cauliflower and Cabbage in small pieces
Finely chop an Onion

Prepare Masala with following ingredients in a mixer - 1 cup of grated coconut, few fried red Chillies, a spoonful of Coriander, small piece of Tamarind.

Steps -

Place a deep pan on flame, put 2 spoon of oil.
Once oil warms up add mustard seeds and put few curry leaves.
Add chopped Onion and fry for few minutes
Add the masala paste and fry for few more minutes
Add washed Cauliflower and Cabbage pieces, mix well
Salt to taste
Add half glass of water, close with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes
Stir occasionally.

Cauliflower-potato side-dish

2011-02-13T04:11:00.000-08:00

Needs -

Mix of diced Cauliflower and long-sliced potatoes.

Note-

Cauliflower is typically contaminated (so is Cabbage) so it needs to be cleaned thoroughly.
After cutting soak for some time in warm water, with a bit of salt and Turmeric powder.
Drain water and wash in clean water.

Preparation-

Heat oil in pan
Add mustard seeds and cut red/green Chillies

Add cut Cauliflower and potato

Add salt to taste

Cover with a lid, occasionally stir. Do NOT add water

Wait till the mix roasts a bit

Here is a spicier (and tastier) variation -

Heat 2-spoonful of (coconut/vegetable/olive/sunflower) oil in pan
Add mustard seeds
Add red Chilli powder and stir for few seconds
Add cut Cauliflower and potato
Add a bit of asafetida gum/powder mixed in a spoon of water
Add salt to taste
Cover with a lid, occasionally stir. Do NOT add water
Wait till the mix roasts a bit

That's it!

Radish (Raw Banana/Potato/Cauliflower/Brinjal) Phodi

2011-02-13T03:44:00.000-08:00

Cut radish (or any of Raw Banana/Potato/Cauliflower/Brinjal) in thin long slices
Sprinkle a mix of red-chilli powder and salt
Leave aside for 15 mins
Heat a spoon of (coconut/vegetable/olive/sunflower) oil in wide pan
Roll the pieces in medium Rava (Sooji) and keep on the pan
Close with a lid, on medium flame for about 5-10 mins, till pieces get cooked
Flip the pieces, keep for few more minutes

Cabbage-Onion-Masala-poLo

2011-01-30T05:33:00.000-08:00

Hi there!
If you are in the mood of having an exotic side dish for meal and have some time to prepare it, this is indeed an item you would want to consider.

You would need -

A cup of rice soaked in water,

...some chopped Cabbage,

...and some chopped Onions,..grated Coconut (one half), Tamarind (small piece), Roasted-dry-red-chillies (4-5),

Steps -

Mix grated coconut, Tamarind and Chillies in the Food mixer,

add a bit of water and run for few mins

Add some water, get a coarse paste

Put soaked rice and some more water,

...till it all mixes well and becomes pasty

(no need for making it too fine)

Now mix chopped Cabbage and Onion to this mixture,
add salt to taste

Keep a tawa on stove with few drops of oil

Spread the mixture to form small 'islands' :)

Close with a lid, after few minutes toss them on their back
Roast it properly.

Poke with a spoon to ensure the paste has roasted properly

There you have it!

Vegetable Sambar

2011-01-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Preparation -

Cook cut-vegetables and toor daal in a pressure cooker
Simple seasoning - mustard seeds, curry leaves
Put 3-4 spoon of sambar powder
Put the cooked daal and cut-vegetables
Add water and mix well
Put a bit of tamarind paste and bit of jaggery
Let the mixture boil for some time
Add salt to taste and put some finely chopped coriander leaves

steam the cut-vegetables

seasoning..

.. and some sambar power,

.. mix cut-vegetables,

..pour some water and other ingredients.

Thats it!

Vegetable side dish

2011-01-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

Preparation -

Wash the vegetables (snake gourd, potato, capsicum, beans etc), drain water.

Cut them in thin lengthy pieces.

Steps -

Put seasoning
Add the cut vegetables, and fry on low flame for about 5-8min, constantly sauté the mix
Pour a glass of water, so the cut vegetables are decently immersed. Take care not to put too much water, it will dilute the taste
Close the vessel with a lid
Every few mins check whether veggies are cooked well
Add salt to taste, mix well
Serve hot :)

remove the seeds of snake gourd

put seasoning and add cut veggies

cut potatoes thin so they saute well

sauté well

Vegetable Rice-bath

2011-01-22T03:24:00.000-08:00

If you like rice based dish for breakfast this can be one of your breakfast choices. Can of course be eaten for a meal as well.

Preparation-

Wash vegetables (capsicum, potatoes, tomatoes, round beans, onion) and cut in small pieces.

Wash raw white rice (at approx 100gms per person) and drain water.

Place a cooker vessel on small flame,
Put seasoning
Put harder of the cut vegetables (like potatoes, round beans)
Stir for few mins
Now add the rest of cut vegetables
Stir till vegetables get soften (approx 10 mins)
Put washed raw rice and stir till it turns a bit red
Add water just enough to cover the veg and rice mixture
Add salt to taste
Increase flame, cover lid, put the whistle and wait till four blows of whistle
Keep the cooker aside to cool
Transfer the contents to serving bowl

add cut veggies to seasoning

add tomatoes

add washed rice

mix and saute for some time

pour water, close lid

Serve hot!

Using Pressure Cooker

2011-01-22T01:45:00.000-08:00

If you are first timer at using a pressure cooker, these basic tips should help -

Working -

An early pressure cooker, called a steam digester, was invented by Denis Papin, a French physicist, in 1679. Pressure cookers are generally made from aluminium or stainless steel. Pressure is created at the beginning with boiling liquid, such as water, inside the closed pressure cooker and the trapped steam increases the internal pressure and temperature, which is maintained throughout cooking time.

Small quantity of water is poured into cooker into which the vessel containing vegetables, daal, or rice is placed. Then the gasket is slid into lid so it fits air-tight, and lid is locked in place. As water becomes steam it cooks the contents inside and once pressure goes beyond certain threshold it escapes pushing the weight up.

Tips -

Before and after using cooker take the rubber gasket out and wash in potable water.
Pour potable water to about 2cm from bottom before keeping the vessel into the cooker.
Ensure that the weight and the nozzle on which you place the weight are clean.
When locking the cooker lid, ensure that it is turned enough so handles of cooker and lid align properly above each other.
Lock the lid before lighting the flame to avoid pressure building up inside that makes locking the lid difficult.
Ensure that you never keep less water than necessary for cooking, err on the side of more if you need to.

Cooked Rice

2011-01-22T01:30:00.000-08:00

If you love rice, it probably is a core part of your meal. If not done properly it can spoil your meal. Having said this, rice is the easiest item to prepare.

Rice can be prepared in two ways -

using a pressure cooker,
using an open vessel

Preparation -

Typically one glass of (about 100gm) raw rice suffices one person. You would know when you prepare once or twice how much you would need for a person. Take raw rice in a vessel and wash it thoroughly with potable water. Pour water till rice submerges and wash with hand. Drain water. Do this twice or thrice.

1. In pressure cooker -

If you are a first timer read the post on pressure cooker tips.
Add water little more than twice the amount of washed raw rice. For instance for two people, I would put one and a half bowl of raw rice and four bowls of water.
Next, pour potable water in pressure cooker and keep the vessel
Close and lock the lid, place whistle on the nozzle. Light flame.
Wait for four whistles to blow.
Put off the flame and keep the cooker idle for 15-20 mins till it cools down. This phase is important for the rice to cook properly.

Note -

Some types of raw rice cook faster than other, hence you would need to refine the amount of water and duration of cooking once you cook a couple of times. Some prefer their rice to be a bit pasty while some prefer it bit hard. Regulate water quantity in order to get as per your preference.

2. In open vessel -

Pour water to three times the quantity of washed raw rice in a open vessel
Light the flame and let water boil
After about 10 mins take a bit of rice and squeeze with fingers. If it is hard, let it cook for some more time.
Once it becomes soft, drain excess water completely. Ensure that all water is completely drained else the cooked rice will be bit pasty.

There you have fresh steaming rice!

Seasoning

2011-01-22T01:05:00.000-08:00

Seasoning is the most important part of cooking that gives magical taste to a dish. Knowing this properly will be pretty crucial in making (m)any dishes.

For most of the dishes this is the first part of the preparation. Hence this post by itself does not constitute to be a recipe of a dish.

Ingredients -

Mustard seeds
Fenugreek seeds
Coriander seeds
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Dry red chillies / slit green chillies
Optional: Peeled Garlic pods / Finely chopped Onion
Optional: Asafetida (used as digestive aid)

Steps -

Take a vessel and pour few spoons of cooking oil. You can use canola, coconut, groundnut, or refined oil. Keep on a small flame. Let the oil warm a bit (couple of mins).
Put a teaspoonful of mustard seeds, wait for few seconds. Let it pop.
Put 8-10 fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds, wait for few seconds.
Put 1-2 red dry chillies or slit green chillies
Stir lightly with a wooden spoon.

Next step - transfer contents into the main dish you are preparing (refer to other posts).

Few different varieties of seasoning are possible. While other steps being common you can add either peeled garlic pods or finely chopped onion. You could even use a bit (1-2 grams) of asafetida dissolved into a spoonful of water. This acts as a digestive aid.

Tip - Never keep the flame high, seasoning is a delicate process that gets over in minutes, so you have only few mins to get it all right.

Guide to simple vegetarian cooking

2011-01-21T23:31:00.001-08:00

Hi. I am neither a seasoned culinary expert nor a chef. I decided to write this blog because of a problem I used to face during trips abroad. Being a vegetarian, it was very difficult to get proper vegetarian food, leave alone tasty stuff. I did not know how to cook, and after weeks and weeks of Subway sandwiches I would lose appetite.

So on one of the trips I gave a shot at cooking, with friends helping and teaching me. I found it be quite an enjoyable and 'full-filling' exercise as well a stress-buster.

I intend this blog to be the simple vegetarian cooking guide that I wish had then. If you are living away from home and do not want to eat out every day at the cost of your health, you have found the right place. These are simple recipes without much fanfare.

I consider cooking to be an art form. Start something simple, refine, refine, and refine. With practice one can become quite adept it. Experimentation is an essential part of developing this skill.

If you have a feedback, do drop a comment. If you would like to suggest any recipe that you make, please write to me and I would try them. I plan to update this blog frequently so please feel free to subscribe by clicking the subscription option at the top of this page.

Finally, please take all the care and caution using stove, pressure cooker, hot oil etc.

Thanks!
Bon Appétit!