Colocasia Fry

Many people do not like colocasia for texture when cooked or for its taste itself. The leaves of colocasia is also rich in iron and has wider culinary usage; however, fry is the most preferred recipe for making this vegetable edible in tamilnadu and I've not seen the leafy colocasia sold around here. Normally colocasia fries are marinated and deep fried; I do not choose to deep fry because I hate reusing that spice flavoured oil and  so I keep away from such recipes as much as possible. And I made a low oil fry, but it is little time consuming relatively but the taste and texture is equally good if not better.

Ingredients:

1. Colocasisa - 10-15
2. Gram flour - 1 tbsp
3. Rice flour - 1 tbsp
4. Corn flour - 1/2 tbsp
5. Curry powder - 1 tbsp
6. Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil - 2-3 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Wash, par boil the colocasia, peel them and make thick slices out of them.
Step 2: Mix all the given dry ingredients in a cup well.
Step 3: Heat oil in a non-stick fry pan and put the dry mix into it. Fry for half a minute in low flame and add the colocasia delicately into the pan.
Step 4: Toss to coat the vegetable with masala and them spread them evenly on the surface of the pan with a flat ladle.

Step 5: Flip or toss after 5 minutes to brown on the other side of the vegetable. Keep the heat low  to medium throughout.
Step 6: Once crisp and brown, turn off heat. Overdoing would harden the vegetable.
Step 7: Serve with sambar rice or rasam rice or curd rice. 

Strawberry Custard Pudding

Custards are harmless desserts, I mean it is as good as a milk shake without grease or loads of sugar. We can enhance its goodness with fresh fruits and flavours. I use china grass alias agar-agar as the solidifying agent, it is a vegetarian substitute for gelatin and I learn it has certain health benefits as well.

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1/2 litre
2. Sugar - 4 tbsp
3. Custard powder - 2 tbsp
4. Strawberry - 8-10
5.Strawberry essence - few drops (Skip if your custard powder is flavoured or you don't have essence)
6. China grass - 1 tbsp (if it is available as strands take say 5-6 of them)

Method:

Step 1: Boil milk with sugar in a thick bottomed pan.
Step 2: In  few spoons of cold milk dissolve the custard powder.
Step 3: Boil  1/4 cup water in a cup and dissolve china grass in it. Strain it if necessary.
Step 4: Slowly pour the custard mix into the boiling milk and keep stirring to avoid formation of lumps. Add essence if you are using it.
Step 5: Switch off the stove and pour the dissolved china grass into the custard. Let it cool down for sometime.
Step 6: In the mean time wash and cut some strawberry slices and arrange them flat in the bowl you are going to set the custard.
Step 7: Chop or pulp the rest of the strawberries and mix it in the custard.
Step 8: Pour the custard slowly into the bowl and set it for at least 6 hours.
Step 9: Take a big plate whose circumference is larger than the custard bowl's; cover the plate upside down over the bowl and now topple it. Tap slightly if it is not coming onto the plate.

TIPS:
* Pineapple/ Raspberry/ Mango and Vanilla are other common flavours of custard pudding. Caramel forms the crust for vanilla flavour instead of fruits.
* The stiffness of custard pudding depends on amount of china grass used and creaminess depends on custard powder and milk.
* Use bowls without inside grooves else the fruits don't stay in place, also while sliding out they may get broken.

Cauliflower Masala

Phool gobi is a big winter gift; those heap of cute, white blossoms are lovely to just look at in the vegetable market, let alone the umpteen recipes that wait the whole year for these to come in season. I still remember the plain salted and blanched cauliflower that I had in Auroville when I was 4 or 5 years old. Cauliflower is so nice as is; so I usually eat a portion of simply blanched gobi whatever dish I prepare with it after that.

I had prepared gobi masala today with phulkas for lunch. It is perhaps a basic recipe that people adapt for gravies like these.

Ingredients:

1. Cauliflower - 1 small
2. Onion - 1
3. Tomato - 1
4. Cashew nut - 5
5. Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
6. Oil - 2 tbsp
7. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
9. Chili powder - 1 tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Garam masala - 1 tsp
12. Coriander chopped - 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Soak the cashews, poppy seeds and grind them into a smooth paste.
Step 2: Clean the cauliflower well and chop or break it into small florets.
Step 3: Heat some water, add turmeric, salt and blanch the florets for just 2 minutes so that they are cooked but firm. Drain them and keep aside.

Step 4: Heat oil in a kadai, crackle cumin seeds, saute ginger garlic paste, finely chopped onion, then add chopped tomato and saute well.
Step 5: Add little water and the ground paste to it and let it boil. Add chili powder, garam masala and salt as per taste.
Step 6: Once the gravy loses raw smell of poppy seeds, toss the blanches cauliflower to it and mix well. Add water you want to thin the gravy, but make sure you don't boil the vegetable longer else it will become mushy.
Step 7: Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with phulkas.