Adzuki Beans (Red Chori) dumpling

Hello dear reader :-)
How was your weekend? We had awesome weather here, especially yesterday. Got bub's haircut done two days back. Now he looks all ready for spring :-) ...on a side note: I can't stop kissing his chubby hands :-)

So coming to this recipe, it's something I made up along the way while trying innovative ways to finish a plethora of legumes lying around in my pantry just begging me to pick them up, each time I scavenge there to pick something quicker to cook, such as a can of coconut milk for eg.

So in an effort to do something about it, I soaked these Adzuki beans, as the first step in any legumes cooking, which needs soaking. I was confident I could come up with something as my Mung Bean pancakes were a success.

The next day, I drained and saved the water in which the beans were soaked. Then I grinded coconut first , added the beans next, and ground everything to a smooth batter with not too much water, as the beans itself gives out water while grinding and it does not get clumpy unlike ground rice.

Then I let the batter sit for a while, after which I added some shredded cabbage and spinach for crunch and taste. Mixed until everything got incorporated. Checked for salt. And made dumplings using the Idli steamer. It was a hit with my dears at home who were after me to make more "illi" (as bub calls it )

Ingredients

Adzuki beans (red chori) : 1 cup
Water to soak beans
Shredded Coconut : 2/3 cup
Cumin seeds: 1 tablespoon
Dry red chilli/chilli powder : as pet your taste
Hing : two teaspoons
Salt

Shredded cabbage/Spinach or both : optional

How I made:

Soak the beans overnight, or until all beans are well soaked. Drain water and reserve.

First grind the coconut, chilli, and cumin along with a few tablespoons of water sufficient enough for the motor to run and grind it to a smooth paste, it's ok if a tiny bit of chunky piece is left, but not too much

Note: It's critical to grind the coconut alone first (not along with beans) to get the soft chewy texture of the dumpling.

Then add the beans and grind well, you may even do it in batches. Just make sure the beans is really ground well, (it's important that the beans are well soaked just for this purpose to get a good ground batter, else be prepared to bite into unsavory stone like bits of not-so-well-soaked beans)

Now add hing, check for salt. Let the batter sit for say just 30 minutes (for getting soft chewy dumplings).

Then add cabbage and spinach.Check for salt. Drop tablespoons full into Idli moulds and steam for 20 minutes. Now, when you open the lid, you might feel the batter is still not cooked, but if the top feels just ever so lightly hard, it's indication to the doneness. This is because, as it cools outside the steamer, it hardens, but not that hard, it gets chewy but still soft and did I forget to say "yummmm" :-)

Have a wonderful week ! :-)
MK

Banana Flower stir fry

Hey dear readers, how was your weekend? Here it snowed a bit, weatherwise (is there even a word like that??...but you got the meaning right? ;-)
Me and Bub have not been keeping well from last month. In other words or in my Hub's words, it's a case of "Ping Pong ball". Meaning, we have been transferring our stuffy nose and coughs for a while now. Just when I thought Bub was over his cold, I just transferred mine (which I caught from him apparently)....hmm, well yesterday was the worse of the lot , and hopefully this will go away in another few days...
Hub has this way of shopping groceries where he picks up some unique product which both of us have no clue about, and would curiously wait to see what I make out of it. He leaves the R & D part of the product to me. There were successful ones that have since been a staple , and some others that still intrigues us and they eventually either rots in refrigerator making their way to the trash can, or gets bumps and bruises by being used as a pretend play toy by Bub when I run out of ideas :-P
One of the successful ones is the Swiss Chard, they were pretty easy to figure out, and have been a staple ever since. Some that got the fag end of the deal from me includes Belgian Endives ,.... after I used it, the taste was not something I could adjust even on a parched and hungry day. It might have something to do with the way I cooked or the seasoning I added (or the lack of it in both cases :-\ ...Either ways, it's never made a re entry again, lol. Do you have a mystery ingredient that made it or didn't make it ? I would love to hear all about it :-)



All this talk about unique and mystery ingredients has nothing to do with today's post about Banana Flower, since it's something I grew up seeing, tasting, playing etc....But to those who have never seen, heard or used it, it can very well be a mystery ingredient and the chances of it ending up in trash due to insufficient knowledge of handling/cooking it is relatively high :-).....So my intention here is to give a step step pictorial representation, from handling it, to cooking it to delicate perfection :-) (yes you read it right, "delicate perfection", meaning it doesn't need any roasting or super high flame to roast it , unlike what the pic of a Banana Flower might make you believe....read on so that you might not end up tossing it away just yet :-) ....

"Banana Flower" is the dark magenta colored conical thing that you can see on a Banana plant. You may refer wikipedia for all kinda scientific information and terms that might describe it to you. But I was not satisfied or even understood half of the scientific jargons.on wiki this time. Hence I googled further and found this website extremely well explaining it in simple words. It's basically the male bud characterized by it's red/magenta color and conical shape.

It would be incomplete and unfair if I didn't mention that I could not have done the preparation , cooking etc without Bub "helping" me :-) ,you can see his hands doing some serious scrubbing in one of the pics, while playing with the petals in another :-)
How to prepare the Banana Flower for cooking:
Note: This process can stain your hands and maybe clothes, so take precautions accordingly. Also it's quite labor intensive, so it's not for a time pressed day.



Start by peeling of one petal at a time. You will see a neatly arranged layer of finger shaped flowers. Pluck them together away with care. You basically don't use the purple petals, only the finger shaped flowers , that has to undergo some more preparation. Keep peeling the petal, and the flowers. What you will notice is that the petals , flowers, and thereby the cone gets lighter and lighter in color. Continue until the petals can no longer be peeled away. Do not discard of what remains of the cone (cut the stalk at the base of the cone at this point, it's not used for cooking like the petals). The cone can be chopped into smaller bits to be used in the stir fry.



Remember I mentioned that the flowers too gets lighter in color? They also get too delicate to dissect with hands. Why I mentioned the dissect part is because, there is a stalk inside each one of those flowers, that needs to be discarded, else can completely spoil the dish. It's distinguished from the rest of the stalks by a round nub like tip (you can see that I marked this stalk in the pic) . Just pluck them out and away from the flower. Do this for all the dark colored flowers. The ones inside the lighter ones are tender and don't matter when it's cooked.
Once this is done, the preparation part is as good as over, ....just mince the prepared flowers. Add the flowers and the chopped cone in lots of water. Swirl with your hands to separate any debris. Discard the water. Do this three times to get rid of dirt and maybe a bit of the sticky sap like residue.


How to make stir fry:
You need these ingredients:
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup
Garlic minced : 1 tablespoon
A pinch of turmeric, hing, and salt to flavor oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoons oil
Salt



In a pan heat oil, and reduce flame to medium. Splutter mustard seeds, a pinch of chilli powder, and hing (asafoetida), and pinch of salt to flavor the oil. Add the minced ingredients, and a pinch.of turmeric. You may also add a teaspoon of minced garlic for extra taste :-) .Cover and cook until it's lost the raw flavor (it tastes extremely starchy while raw, think raw potato), and after cooking, tastes less starchy, yes that's all I can come up with to describe it's taste.It tastes great with grated coconut.
So once it's all cooked, add grated coconut, mix well, then cover and let it cook another minute for the flavors to infuse. Check for salt. And it's ready to serve with hot rice, and dal.
Hope this post has inspired you to try this vegetable. And it's less a mystery than before ? :-)
Happy experimenting !
MK

Green Mung Bean Pancake

It feels like I have been sick almost every month this winter. And because my little one just doesn't understand the meaning of "let me take a breather" yet (though he is slowly getting aware that it's not much fun when I am not well), it feels like a drag to do everyday chores. Why , oh, why does the cold virus have to be this adamant and nasty !! ? It's come to a point where no amount of chinese take outs , soups are making the mark they should when one falls sick (you know what I mean, don't you?)...

The thing about Parenting I learnt through this experiencd is, you can't just take a decision like " I am not feeling upto it today, so I won't do it. I am going to sleep to oblivion today " , and neither will this kinda thought, cut it : " Maybe I will just order from out just until I feel better ", no....coz, (1) There is a pair of little hands and feet all excited about playing peekaboo (2) take outs works for max two afternoons, then it's just "blah" for little tastebuds :-P .....hmm

So with these thoughts, I decided to go the middle way, do something easy as well as healthy . These whole green Moong Bean pancakes are super easy because the batter does not need fermentation, and it's tasty and loaded with fiber and nutrients (did I get your attention now ? ;-) , well then read on.....

I had posted the recipe of lentil pancakes a very long time back. This one is different though, since it has Mung Bean as the main ingredient than several lentils. Infact it's a cup of mung beans, and a little less than1/4 cup of rice ground with onion and ginger for the awesome flavor. You can sprout the Mung Bean if you like before grinding it (though it will take few says), or buy sprouted ones (according to me, not worth buying as it's every bit expensive, when you can as easily sprout at home).

I made these Pancakes today and topped it with sliced onion before flipping it to cook both sides. It was very well enjoyed by me and bub.

Here goes the recipe:

To soak together:

1 cup Green Mung Bean
White rice : 2 tablespoons

To grind with the above soaked ingredients:

1/2 cup sliced onion
1 tablespoon ginger minced
Salt
Leftover Cooked rice : 1 cup (optional, but I believe, helps crisp the pancake)

Water: just enough to run your grinder or blender.

How to make the batter:

Make sure the beans and rice are soaked atleast until the beans look well hydrated. I soaked overnight to make things easier. Grind everything to a smooth batter.

How to make pancakes:

The batter will be thick, bit spreadable. I will share a tip that works everytime for me when I make "dosa" or Indian Pancakes. I hope it works for you too.
Make sure your (nonstick) pan is fairly hot, not very very hot (else the batter will disintegrate while spreading), but  medium high hot. Then reduce the burner to low, just before dropping the batter and spreading. Once you finish spreading in concentric circles starting from center, again increase the heat back to medium high.

Arrange few thin slices of onion when the batter is still raw so that the onion sticks. Apply few drops of oil along sides and few drops on top. Cover for few seconds (10-15), uncover, if the edges start looking a little more than light brown , flip over to cook the other side. Reduce heat. Then fold it and stack it on a plate. Don't forget to again crank up the heat before making the rest of the pancakes the same way.

These go well with Ginger chutney, Coconut chutney or Sambar. But we enjoyed it as it is for breakfast. Bub enjoyed it with his cup of "Meekkh" (as in milk ;-) and I enjoyed it with my Ginger - Lemongrass chai :-)

Hope you liked this post as much as I loved sharing it with you :-)

Stay warm this remaining winter dear readers :-) ..... Spring is not far far ahead !

Cheers
MK :-)