Paavaikai Pitlai

Bitter gourd is called Paavaikai in tamil and paavaikai pitlai is a traditional curry that is usually coupled with rice but it can be had with rotis. This curry is my predilection when it comes to bitter gourd because I do not know any other recipe that uses less oil or no jaggery/ sugar to make a bitter-less bitter gourd dish. I tried this first long back and I can say this is almost the only dish I prepare with karela/ bitter gourd these days. Bitter gourd is highly beneficial in insulin resistance conditions and hence is advised for diabetics. I will strongly recommend this for bitter gourd haters because Kundan was one earlier to eating this.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Bitter gourd – 2

2.    Tomato – 1

3.    Onion – 1

4.    Oil – ½ tbsp

5.     Dry chilis – 1

6.    Bengarl gram – ½ cup

7.     Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

8.    Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp

9.    Asafoetida – 1 pinch

10.  Curry leaves – 1 sprig

11.   Curry/Sambar powder – 1 tsp

12. Coriander powder – 1 tsp

13. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

14.Tamarind pulp or juice as required

15. Salt to taste

16. Jaggery or sugar – 2 pinches (optional)

17.  Ground coconut – 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Chop bitter gourd into semi circles, cut onion and tomato roughly.

Step 2: Blanch the bitter gourd in salted water and cook Bengal gram separately until soft but not mushy. Keep these aside.

Step 3: Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, cumin seeds, sprinkle asafoetida, put in the curry leaves & broken dry chili and sauté onion in it until translucent. Then sauté tomato in it and add turmeric powder to it.

Step 4: Pour a cup of water and tamarind pulp, add curry powder & coriander powder, add salt as per taste and let it boil for few minutes until raw smell goes off.

Step 5: Add the cooked channa dal, bitter gourd and ground coconut and then mix well to boil for a couple of minutes more. Adjust spices and add jaggery or sugar at this stage if necessary.

Step 6: Serve hot with rice.

TIPS:

*You can  roast coconut, red chilies, coriander seeds and a spoon of tur dal separately in a drop of oil and grind it into coarse powder; add this instead of curry powder. This is the traditional procedure but I do it little simple.

Idly Upma

I am very much against recooking the leftovers but Idly upma which is a dish prepared with leftover idlies is a definite exception. In fact I love it so much that at times I make excess idlies for dinner to prepare this for the next day’s breakfast.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 7 minutes

Cooking Time: 3 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Idlies – 5 or 6

2.    Onion – 1

3.    Green chilies – 2

4.    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

5.     Coriander chopped – 1 tbsp

6.    Oil – 1 tbsp

7.     Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

8.    Bengal gram – 1 tbsp

9.    Urad dal – 1 tbsp

10.            Asafoetida – 1 pinch

11.   Turmeric – ¼ tsp

12. Lemon – ½

13. Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1: Soak the idlies in clean water for a minute and gently squeeze it between palms to drain the water. Now crush it and collect in a separate bowl. Repeat for all idlies.

Step 2: Heat oil in a kadai and prepare tempering by: spluttering mustard seeds, roasting Bengal gram & urad dal, sprinkling asafoetida, adding curry leaves & chopped green chilies and sprinkle the turmeric powder.

Step 3: Now add chopped onion to the tempering and sauté for until translucent.

Step 4:  Add crushed idlies, sprinkle enough salt and mix well.

 Step 5: Turn off stove, squeeze lemon and garnish with coriander and serve hot. This does not require any side dish.

Samba Broken Wheat Upma

This had been a regular dish in our home during my school days as my grand-dad had diabetes and heart complaints. Though it was felt as a boring dish back then, now knowing the benefits of samba wheat makes it highly relish-able. This is quite filling as it is high in fiber but low in calories and helps reduce cholesterol and usually counted on for weight-loss. Cook it with vegetables; there you go with a pretty comprehensive yet light dinner.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Samba broken wheat – 2 cups

2.    Water – 4 cups

3.    Salt as per taste

4.    Oil – 1  tbsp

5.     Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

6.    Bengal gram – 1 tbsp

7.     Urad dal – 1 tbsp

8.    Asafoetida – 1 pinch

9.    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

10.            Green chilies – 2

11.   Onion – 1

12. Carrot – 1

13. Bush beans – 8

14. Green peas shelled– ½ cup

15.  Coriander chopped – 2 tbsp 

Method:

Step 1: Clean and chop the vegetables.

Step 2: Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, roast Bengal gram & urad dal, sprinkle asafoetida, throw in curry leaves & green chilies, sauté onion in it until translucent and add other vegetables one by one sauté them for 2 minutes.

Step 3: Add the samba wheat to the vegetables and roast it while you heat the measured water in parallel.

Step 4: Add enough salt to the kadai and pour in the hot water carefully. Mix and let it cook covered in simmered stove for 10 minutes.

Step 5: Open the lid, stir, adjust salt and ensure if it is cooked well.

Step 6: Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot as is or with curds.