Sudha's Veggie & Vegan Flavours

NEEM FLOWER POHA UPMA

I'm really surprised to notice the significant transformation in my taste perception. Earlier,I deplored bitter dishes in my meal. But now, they have become an integral part of my menu . With abundant neem flowers in hand,I'm exploring diverse healthy recipes with it.Yesterday, I prepared poha upma,spiced up with neem flower podi. This podi is mostly relished with plain rice with a dollop of ghee.Dried neem flower is ground along with lentils,red chillies and other ingredients in preparing this podi or powder. I spattered the podi over the soaked poha in preparing this upma. Since its an instant version,I added jaggery and tamarind. If you want to stock this powder, then you need to skip these ingredients (jaggery and tamarind) to prolong the shelf lifeof the powder.

INGREDIENTS FOR NEEM FLOWER PODI / POWDER :

DRIED NEEM FLOWERS- 3 TSP

URAD DAL- 2 TSP

GRAM DAL- 2 TSP

RED CHILLIES- 3 NOS

TAMARIND- Small piece

POWDERED JAGGERY- 1 TSP

FOR TEMPERING :

GHEE- 3 TSP

GROUND NUTS- 4 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

ASAFOETIDA- 3/4 TSP

OTHER INGREDIENTS :

FLATTENED RICE / POHA - 1 1/2 CUPS

SALT TO TASTE

PROCEDURE :

1. Wash,rinse poha thoroughly to discard the impurities. Allow the poha to soak in water for twenty minutes to soften it.

2. In a pan add a teaspoon of oil and roast neem flowers till changes colour and turns crisp.

3. In the same pan roast lentils,red chillies,tamarind and keep it aside.

4. In a mixer jar,take all the roasted ingredients and jaggery and grind to a coarse powder and keep it aside.

5. Prepare the seasoning in a pan with the ingredients cited above. Now transfer the soaked poha over this.

6. Sprinkle the neem flower powder,ground nuts over the poha and mix well.

NEEM FLOWER RASAM

There is a big neem tree beside my house. The large branches almost protrude into my terrace. During summer,the strewn neem flowers cover up my entire terrace with a mild aroma. I collect the sun-dried flowers for incorporating ,it in a few recipes. I wash the flowers thoroughly to get rid of dust particles and dry it again to remove the moisture content. Besides rasam,I use these flowers in gojju- A tamarind based tangy gravy prepared in Karnataka. As you all know,neem has a plethora of medicinal properties. Hence, this rasam too has immense health benefits : home remedy for indigestion,bloating and stomach related ailments.

INGREDIENTS :

DRIED NEEM LEAVES- 3 TSP

TAMARIND- GOOSEBERRY SIZE

TOMATOES- 2 MEDIUM

TURMERIC POWDER- 1/4 TSP

SALT TO TASTE

GHEE- 4 TSP

POWDERED JAGGERY- 1 TSP

FOR TEMPERING:

MUSTARD- 1 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

TOOR DAL- 1 TSP

RED CHILLIES- 2 NOS

ASAFOETIDA- 3/4 TSP

PROCEDURE :

1. Soak tamarind in warm water and extract syrup.

2. Add 2 tsp of ghee in a pan and roast dry neem flowers till it turns crisp.

3.. Wash and squeeze chopped tomatoes in the tamarind syrup. Add salt,turmeric powder and half the amount of asafoetida to the tamarind syrup and allow it to boil.

4. Prepare the seasoning with the ingredients cited in the column.

5. When the rasam starts to froth,add the seasoning,powdered jaggery and boil for a couple of seconds and switch off.

6. Now add in the roasted neem flowers to hot rasam and mix well. Don't boil the rasam after adding the roasted flowers.

The fastest way to chop carrots

I always find chopping carrots a grueling task. I stumbled upon this easy method in one of the Insta posts. If you don't possess food processor or chopper,then you can well resort to this amazing method. I used pressure cooker for steaming carrots. You can even steam it in rice cooker or steamer. Here is the method :

1. Wash carrots thoroughly and wipe it using a clean cloth.

2. Now peel the outer layer using a peeler.

3.Fill water in the pressure cooker and place a stand. Place a vessel on the stand.

4. Place the peeled carrots in the vessel and close the lid of the pressure cooker.

5. Place the pressure regulator on the vent pipe and steam for one or two whistles and switch off.

6. When the heat subsides,slowly remove the lid and take out the steamed carrots.

7. Now chopping steamed carrots is quite easy and time saving as well !

RAW ONION CHUTNEY

About a decade ago, I visited Rameshwaram- A popular pilgrimage spot in Tamilnadu. While returning from Rameshwaram, I had idlis for dinner at Karaikudi . Karaikudi is situated in Sivaganga district in Tamilnadu. The region is famous for its Chettinad cuisine. Normally, I prefer dosa to idli. But the idli and chutney at this place was very tasty.

The idli was little coarse ,grainy and spongy in texture. I postulated the presence of rice rava in the idli, but my mother inferred that the coarsely ground rice batter imparted the texture. Spicy raw onion chutney was a perfect complement to the idli. As an avid cook, I was able to decipher the ingredients in the chutney.

Onions ,red chillies,garlic cloves,raw tamarind is blended to thick paste using very little water. The chutney is then seasoned with mustard and curry leaves. I fell in love with the flavour of the chutney and replicated the same on returning home. Then on,this chutney has become a mainstay in my breakfast menu. This chutney can be paired with idli,dosa,idiyappam,vadai. I personally love this chutney with idli and upma

INGREDIENTS :

RAW ONION- 1 LARGE OR 2 MEDIUM SIZE

RED CHILLIES- 2-3 NOS

TAMARIND - Small piece

GARLIC CLOVES- 2 NOS

SALT TO TASTE

FOR SEASONING :

OIL- 3 TSP

MUSTARD- 3/4 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

PROCEDURE :

1. Chop onions,garlic cloves and keep it aside.

2. In a mixer jar take chopped onions,tamarind,red chillies , garlic cloves and salt and grind to fine paste.

3. Prepare the seasoning and add it to the chutney.

4. You can store this chutney for maximum of 2-3 days in the refrigerator and not more than that.

ROASTED GRAM DAL VADAI

If you intend to whom-up a super crispy,tasty snack,then you should definitely try this vadai.This vadai tastes pretty darn good can be easily prepared,as it involves only a few simple ingredients. Roasted gram dal is high in fibre content and protein ,besides other minerals and vitamins. This vadai doesn't absorb much oil,when fried,hence you don't have to bother about the oil consumption.

INGREDIENTS

ROASTED GRAM DAL- 2 CUPS

RICE FLOUR- 1/4 CUP

CHOPPED ONIONS- 2 NOS

CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES- 1/2 CUP

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLIES ( Medium)- 2 NOS

GINGER GRATED- 1 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER- 1/4 TSP

SALT TO TASTE

FENNEL SEEDS- 1 TSP

PROCEDURE

1. Dry roast the gram dal till crisp and allow it to cool. On cooling,grind to fine powder in a mixer jar.

2. In a wide bowl take the powder,rice flour and all the above cited ingredients. Also add 2 tsp of hot oil while mixing. It will lend a nice crispy texture to the vadai.

3. Sprinkle water carefully over the flours and mix to a tight dough. If the dough is soggy,your vadai will not be crispy. Divide the dough into equal balls.

4. On a clean plastic sheet,apply some oil and flatten the dough on it.

5. Heat oil in a pan. To check the temperature of oil,drop a small portion of the dough in oil. If it pops up immediately, then it is the right temperature for frying. If the piece of dough sinks in the oil,then the oil is not hot enough. Always adhere to this method while,preparing any deep- fried dishes.

6. Now gently slide the flattened dough in oil . Fry on both the sides till it turns golden brown in colour.

SNAKE GOURD SPICY MASALA CURRY

I'm not a fan of snake gourd. The one that's available in the market is a hybrid variant. Hence the flesh and peel is little hard. I always try to discover varied recipes to make this veggie palatable. I mostly prepare kootu- a lentil based gravy. Hence,to break the monotony, I tried a spicy masala curry this time. You can pair this curry with chapati ,plain cooked rice and curd rice.