Who doesn't enjoy a delicious lightly spiced flavorful coconut based egg curry? Egg is one quintessential breakfast food loaded with proteins- liked and consumed by all - good thing being a lot of vegetarians also consume it and are known as Eggetarians 😆  Eggs are the most nutritious food on the planet! There is no doubt about it! On top of everything else, they are also cheap, easy to prepare, go with almost any food and taste awesome.

Dalimbi  or Val, also known as butter beans or Bitter Beans and some call it field beans is a very staple pulse in Maharashtra state, Gujarat state etc. Its funny that in most of my posts I have to mention various names of 1 ingredient - such is the culture and global influence we live in today! It can be cooked as a nice dry Usal or as a nice slurpy Rassa. Some even make it with full fledge ground coconut masala called Birde. This is basically my Mother In Laws recipe, which she makes fondly for her ladla beta ..yes.. you heard me right :) Intentional or not the biaseness oozes out in one form or the other hehe.. Well thats how most moms are. Who knows I may turn out the same way, only time will tell :)

Dalimbi Rassa

Frankly at my home while growing up this dish was not cooked very often but I had tasted it at my neighbors home and I simply love anything that is slurpicious with exquisite red color along with that oil floating on top of the curry. I will never say NO to that, cross my heart. After I married, and as my husband loved it so much, I started getting a bag of split Val or whole Val at home. Usually I get split one. But right now beggars are not choosers applies to us because of lockdowns in most of the states. Just grabbing whatever is found :) in the aisle or in shopping cart online.

Veg Thali

 Coming to the recipe, I have already posted Dalimbi dry Usal on my blog. You can take a look if interested. I like Curry style with more Rassa any day. This particular beans has a nice soft bitter taste to it which has to be complimented with sweet so the usage of gud/jaggery is important and as well as sourness, so kokum water is used in this recipe to give that particular unique flavor to the curry. Use of ginger/chillies and goda masala are few other ingredients that bring out a lovely taste to it.

Lets take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup val (or butter beans)- soaked and sprouted preferably- yields approx  2 cups
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp jaggery 
• 4-5 kokum petals - washed and soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water for 10 min
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• big pinch turmeric powder
• 1 1/2 tsp goda masala (or onion masala or garam masala pwd)
• handful cilantro finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh coconut for garnish (optional)
• salt to taste

Boiled Butter  Beans

Kokum Petals

Chopped other ingredients

Preparation:

• Soak the val beans in the water overnight or for 8 hours. If you want to make sprouted val beans  (which is more nutritious) then drain the water and keep it to sprout for 8 hours in a muslin cloth tied up. 
• In a saucepan add enough water till val beans is immersed and on med heat cook for 15-20 minutes. Keep a close eye after 15 minutes. It must be just soft. ( It gets mushy quickly and we don't want that). Switch off the gas and drain the water out. Keep cooked val beans dal aside.
• During this time also soak kokum in half cup water and keep aside for 10 min.
• In a pan, heat oil , add cumin seeds-  once it starts to splutter add curry leaves, then add hing and then chopped ginger - saute for couple of min on med flame. 
• Add chopped onion, saute onion till light brown, then add the powders, red chili pwd, turmeric, goda masala - stir quickly on a low flame. 
• Transfer the cooked butter beans to this mixture, add kokum water and discard the kokum leaves, add jaggery, salt to taste.
• Now add 1 cup + more water as per your required consistency and let the curry simmer for few minutes where you will see a nice red color and some oil floating on top! 
• Add cilantro and grated coconut(optional) Your curry is done, serve hot with rice or rotis.

Health Benefits:

Val or Lima beans (butter beans), like any other beans, are rich in dietary fiber. It is a slow burning complex carbohydrate. Val Beans gives you much energy to burn while stabilizing blood sugar. Also, has a good amount of Iron which is very crucial for the body. It is a power packed protein. A good source of manganese and folate along with potassium and has low sodium content.

Moth Bean seeds are a good source of proteins and other essential minerals and vitamins.
It can make an excellent protein supplement to Vegetarian diet. Maximum benefits can be reaped when it is soaked and sprouted. The coconut base thin spicy curry has all the masala ingredients that provides adequate minerals and nutrients to our body. If we use the oil sparingly (if you are making this dish often) it will prove to be a more healthier dish.

Fish curry preparations from the Coastal areas are hands down the best curries in the whole wide world. Reason, fresh fish, fresh coconuts and fresh stock of dry red chillies...:) My ancestors are from coastal region and have known to survive on rice and seafood for their whole lives.:) My grandmother made the best fish dishes ever, she added just those 2-3 fresh ingredients like coconut, dry red chillies and tamarind to freshly caught and cleaned fish by using her signature eyeballing method(:)) to make a fingerlicking gooooood curry!! Since she was an expert, everybody simply loved it!

The highlight of our visit to my grandparents house was mostly "FOOD" and all that simple life around the house. She loved pets so much that all the dogs and cats of the neighborhood used to be at her house :) She loved feeding and talking to them. Wonder none of her kids got those genes passed down hhehehe :(



Few years back my youngest cousin (was 8 yrs then) had visited my grandmother and even he gave her the certificate of excellence :) saying that it was the best fish curry he had in his life (it was actually so cute that it is now a must to be mentioned story whenever we talk about my grandma)....so we all remember her with these loving memories that she has left behind.


Coming to the fish preparation, we have various kinds of fish curries that are very prominent amongst Konkani clan. Northern Karnataka is known for Teppal ambat (schezwan peppers/coconut curry) and Kandya ambat (onion/coconut curry) and in the south of Karnataka they make Phanna ambat (onion tempered curry), Alle piyav ambat/ghashi (onion/ginger curry).. so these are the few variations one will see. Goan preparation is again little different where they use garam masala (whole spices) in the curry. As we move to the north east side of India, one can see the fish preparation in mustard oil and mustard paste etc. So it's unlimited variety :)


Once you get a hang of making these coconut curries, there is no going back- I am telling ya :)

Let us take a look at this Konkani Fish Curry of Kandya Ambat recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh grated coconut (or frozen coconut)
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 big size pomfret/pompano (makes 8-9 pieces/fillet)
• 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract or kokum or small marble size ball of tamarind
• 1 green chili slit optional
• 7-8 red chilies (byadgi/kumti chillies preferably)
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Getting back to blogging after a short break, feels so good to be back in my comfort zone :)
It was Monday, Presidents day a long weekend in USA. Had a busy rest of the weekend having too much fun! Thought of lazying around while cleaning up the house and at sharp 11:08am had a craving to eat pav bhaji after my eyes wandered on the potato bag in the pantry :) Got lucky as I had all the ingredients in the fridge except pav (Indian bread). After begging for 5 minutes to my Pati-dev who thinks weekends are his right to be a couch potato, sent him off to the store to get the pav while I geared myself to make some YUMM-O street food.


This dish is a big hit at my house and relished amongst my friends. I got this recipe from a Juhu beach vendor in Mumbai on Youtube some years back. Can't go wrong, right? I have customized the recipe just a little bit as per my convenience. I was actually surprised to see couple of ingredients that went into it like kasoori methi and hing. Well, it only adds more great flavors to say the least.

Another huge USP of this dish, can add as many variety of vegetables you want and kids will not even know :) because potatoes overpowers the rest of the clan :)- So yes, Moms can go YAY!!










Pav Bhaji was invented as a midnight dish by street food vendors, made with all the leftover vegetables from the day, mashed up together, with loads of added spice, and butter. Bhaji is the Marathi word for a vegetable dish, and pav probably comes from the Portuguese word for bread.

All I can say is try it and see if you like it.

Ingredients:

For the Bhaji:

• 2 big potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed lightly
• 4-5 ripe tomatoes chopped ( if not sour enough, add extra tbsp of tomato paste)
• 1 capsicum chopped
• 10 flowerets of cauliflower (roughly chopped)
• 1 small carrot chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup peas boiled
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili pwd (to give more color than spiciness)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4th tsp turmeric pwd
• 1- 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala (everest or mtr)
• handful chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves
• pinch asafetida 
• 2 tbsp of oil
• food color orange 1 pinch ( if you want that gorgeous color :))

To Fry the Pav:

• Butter
• Cilantro leaves
• Prepared Pav Bhaji

Garnish Ingredients:

• Chopped onion
• Sev
• Lemon pieces
• Dallop of butter on it

6 Pav (store bought for now)
Minimum 2 Pav each person to relish all that goodness of buttery bhaji :)


Preparation:

• In a non stick pan, heat oil, add capsicum, cauliflower, (carrots if using it) and quickly saute it for 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Add ginger garlic paste and let it cook for little bit more till the raw smell goes away. Add asafetida, kasoori methi and cook for a minute.
• Now add chopped tomatoes and saute it for couple of minutes. You can add 1 tbsp butter now and let it cook till you see some oil coming out from the corners. Stir in between.
• Add masalas - turmeric pwd, chilli pwd and pav bhaji masala, salt mix everything together quickly. 
• Add boiled potatoes and with a masher, start mashing everything together. Add water little by little till you get the consistency of thickness/thinness you want. It is always semi thick. Potatoes basically absorb water. 
• Taste it and see if it needs adjustment, if your tomatoes are not sour enough, add lemon juice.
• Add food color if you want.
• Let it cook on sim flame for about 7-8 minutes. Keep stirring in between and add water as you like. Add another tbsp of butter :)
• Garnish it with Cilantro and switch off the gas.

How to fry the Pav just before serving:

• Cut the Pav in the centre and semi open it.
• On a frying pan, add butter, as it sizzles add bhaji, cilantro and place the pav face down and cook for few sec. Drizzle some butter or oil on top and serve hot.

How to Serve Pav Bhaji:
Serve good amount of bhaji in a compartmented plate, chopped onion, cilantro and lemon slices on one end, you can add onions, sev and butter on top of the hot bhaji, and masala fresh pav on the other side.

Trust me, eating is much easier than writing how to serve Pav Bhaji :):) (joke)

If you are street food junkie, you may also like
Missal Pav,  Baked Potatoes Wedges,  Mumbai's special Masala Sandwich

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits:

Due to the increased interest in foods that are low-carb or low-glycemic index, the potato has unjustly earned a bad reputation. Potatoes consumed in simple roasted, grilled, boiled, steamed manner with little or no oil/butter is very healthy and nutritious for health.
It is loaded with calcium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, iron that helps in having strong bones.
It has vitamin B6 which supports heart health.
Choline is a very important and versatile nutrient in potatoes that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory.

Perfect curry to make when you have no veggies left in your fridge :) All you need is tomatoes, yogurt and papad as main ingredients. A delectable curry will be ready in no time. It is a famous Rajasthani dish, most of us know about it and yes, it is cooked in 10 different ways:) I have tried making it both ways, with and without onions and I like it better with no onions. My husband enjoys this papad ki sabji a lot more than I do actually :) so this curry is here to stay in my household. It goes well with khoba roti or any other paratha or simply with the plain rice.

Making papad (thin, fried accompaniment) is a summer affair and I am sure every kid of my generation must have spent their few days of summer vacation helping out their moms and aunts in rolling, spreading, drying papads in the backyard or on the terrace under the scorching heat and then having a cold beverage like lemon sherbet or sol kadi to cool themselves. :) Real fun days it used to be :)

Let us check out the recipe.
Ingredients:

• 4 big papads dry roasted or fried or done in microwave*
• 2 tomatoes
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup curds/yogurt room temperature
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• handful of cilantro chopped

Preparation:

• In a blender, grind tomatoes, chillies and ginger, keep aside.
• In a wide mouth pan, heat oil, add cumin seeds till they splutter, add hing, kasuri methi and saute for a minute or so.
• Add tomato mixture along with the chilli pwd, coriander pwd and garam masala.
• Mix everything and let it cook till oil separates from the tomato gravy.
• Now sim the gas and add whisked yogurt plus water slowly while you keep stirring the gravy, else it will curdle in the gravy. Bring it to a boil, add salt as per taste.
• Now take the fried/roasted papads, make med-small pieces and slowly add to the gravy. Cover and cook for a couple of more minutes till the papads soak in the gravy.
• Your gravy is ready. Serve it with kobha roti or with rice.

Notes:* Papads can be roasted or fried anyway you want. You can also add raw papad cut in pieces and cook till done.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

recipe adapted from nisha madhulika's website.

papad

fried papad

Health Benefits: This curry is made with tomatoes and yogurt as a base with little spices. The debate that tomato is a fruit or vegetable is still on :), nonetheless, it is considered as a superfood. It is rich in antioxidants. It has lycopene which helps in fighting chronic diseases and helps in delivering other health benefits. It is an excellent source of Vit C, potassium and cholene. Yogurt is no. 1 probiotic food. It is known to be helpful in digestion and is a good source of calcium. Papad is mainly made from peeled black flour (protein), it is seasoned and consumed in either fried, roasted or deep fry form.

STUFFED BRINJAL CURRY

There are various versions of stuffed brinjal recipes. This is one of the easiest and yummiest recipe you can find anywhere which is based out of Maharashtra. I grew up eating stuffed brinjal cooked in coconut base curry, but that recipe some other time. I simply love this sabjiyon ka raja (king of vegetables) Baingan/Brinjal/Eggplant in any form, be it fried, baked, fire roasted, grilled, in lasagna, rice or in curry. This spicy preparation will send you drooling, guaranteed!

Ingredients:

• 8 medium sized brinjals
• 1 big onion chopped
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 pod garlic chopped (optional)
• 1 inch ginger chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup peanuts roasted and powdered
• 1/2 tsp jaggery (or brown sugar)
• salt as per taste
• 1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 10 curry leaves (optional)
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• cilantro for garnish
• 2 cups water (or more)

Preparation:

• Slit the brinjals in 4 parts keeping the stalk intact. Soak it in salt and tamarind water for 30 minutes.
• In the meantime make a mixture of chopped onions, peanut powder, chilly powder, garam masala, ginger garlic, salt.
• Drain the water from brinjals and stuff it with this onion mixture. Keep the remaining onion mixture aside.
• In a wide non-stick pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, once it splutters add curry leaves and the remaining onion mixture and saute it for few minutes. 
• Now slowly add the stuffed brinjal and let it slightly roast on all sides, for a couple of minutes on each side. 
• Now add 1 cup water and close the lid, let it cook for 8-10 minutes on low-med heat. Add jaggery and tamarind pulp. Now very gently turn brinjals over and let it cook till done. Last few minutes cook uncovered. Curry thickens, adjust water and spices accordingly. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with bhakri, roti or paratha. It's finger licking good!

njoY!! happY cookinG!!



Health Benefits: King of vegetables, better provide some royal benefits :) It helps in iron production in our body, keeps chronic diseases at bay, helps quit smoking(who knew?), has good amount of vitamin C and is effective as antiviral and antibacterial source, helps to have healthy strong hair, keeps the skin soft and supple, prevents skin cancer etc. Research on eggplant has focused on an anthocyanin phytonutrient found in eggplant skin called nasunin. Nasunin is a potent antioxidant that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage.

Instant Pot pressure cooker is creating waves in the communities across the world and I am happy I have one at home to make some yummy dishes being absolutely carefree, stress free and mess free :)

Have tried quite a few recipes and I must say, so far so good. Very helpful when you have an errand to run and don't have enough time to cook the dish, switch off the gas and only after that dash out of the house. Instant Pot is a life savior in such scenarios. You wanna run to a grocery store? You wanna pick up your kid from the activities? You wanna go shopping? You wanna linger in your shower little more time :)(hell ya!)? no problemo :) Dump the ingredients of a recipe into the instant pot, set it up appropriately and off you go doing your errands tension free. By the time you get back home, your dish should be ready (hopefully :))


So today I made Tilapia Fish curry using coconut milk and spices. Tastes fantastic. This curry can be enjoyed with the plain rice or noodles. I usually use curry leaves for this preparation but today added thai basil leaves with thai bird chillies and the aroma was so fantastic that I just cudn't wait for it to be done. We enjoyed it as a family-- happily slurping away with the rice.

Very easy to make and a combination of spices and coconut milk gives this curry a heavenly taste and aroma. I actually enjoyed the thai basil twist on it :) It complements well with the aromatic long grained basmati rice or jasmine rice. You can make this same curry adding chicken or shrimp too.


Let us take a look at the Fish Curry with Coconut Milk (Tilapia)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups coconut milk (can use coconut powder or tin)
• 1.5 lb tilapia fish cut into big fillet (take any white fish)
• 2 med onion sliced
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes ( or 1 tomato chopped)
• 4 pods garlic chopped
• 2 inch ginger chopped
• 2 green chillies (or thai bird chilies)
• handful of curry leaves or thai basil
• 1 tbsp coriander pwd
• 2 tsp cumin pwd
• 1 tsp chili pwd (or 1 tsp chili flakes)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek pwd (optional, but it imparts nice taste)
• Either use above 5 powders or 3 tbsp of curry powder.
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp lemon juice to taste

Preparation:

• Press [Saute] to pre-heat the cooker. When the words 'Hot' appear on the display add oil, then drop curry leaves or thai basil (keep 5 leaves aside to add later),  then add onion, garlic, ginger and saute until onion is translucent. (around 3-4 minutes)
• Add all the powdered spices and saute together for 1 more minute. 
• De-glaze with the coconut milk making sure to un-stick anything from the bottom and incorporate in the sauce. Add green chilies (or thai bird), tomatoes, fish pieces. Stir gently to mix everything. [adjust thickness by adding more coconut milk or water if needed]
• Close the lid of the Instant Pot, Press [manual] and use [+], [-] to adjust time. Set on 3 minutes pressure cooking time. 
• When time is up open the pressure cooker using QPR (don't wait on NPR because fish gets done quickly).
• Add salt to taste, remaining thai basil leaves and lemon juice before serving it hot with Rice or Noodles.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Note*:
 This curry can be easily made on stove top too. Pretty much the same process. Before adding the fish to the curry, bring it to a boil, then add fish pieces and simmer the curry for few minutes till the fish is done. Serve hot with Rice or Noodles.
 The color of the curry varies depending on your chili powder. Some chilies are spicy but don't impart that dark red color and vice versa.



Health Benefits: 
Coconut Milk: 
Coconuts are highly nutritious and rich in fibre, vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5 and B6 and minerals including iron, selenium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. Unlike cow's milk, coconut milk is lactose free so can be used as a milk substitute by those with lactose intolerance. It is a popular choice with vegans and makes a great base for smoothies, milkshakes or as a dairy alternative in baking. Coconuts are one of those foods that oscillate between the 'good' food and 'bad' food camps. Coconut milk, especially the lower fat variety, can be used in moderation (1-2 times per week). source:https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-coconut-milk

Tilapia:
It is a bland yet delicious, lean white fish that has a wide variety of associated health benefits, including its ability to help reduce weight, boost overall metabolism, speed up repair and growth throughout the body, build strong bones, reduce the risk of various chronic diseases, lower triglyceride levels, prevent arthritis, protect against cognitive decline, prevent various types of cancer, reduce signs of aging, boost the health of your hair, and strengthen your immune system.