a commonsense approach to eating well, living well and travelling
This is a classic vegetable soup. It does have 5 plus vegetables but it doesn’t have a distinct taste of any particular vegetable. However it is very soothing and sometimes this is all you need on a cold winter’s day. I make my soup with some butter and once blitzed, it just looks so luscious and appetizing.
2 x large carrots washed, peeled and diced
4 x large celery stalks, peeled and sliced 1 centimetre wide
1 x large leek, washed and sliced into half moons
My Amma (Mum) would never waste the stalks whether it is cauliflower or radish greens. If we had cauliflower for dinner, the next day I was sure that the stalks would be served up this way. When I was younger and didn’t know better, I didn’t appreciate it at all. But now I am full of appreciation for my Amma’s resourcefulness.
300 grams cauliflower stalks (peeled and cut into 2-3 centimetres)
75 grams of split chick pea (channa dhal)
50 grams of grated fresh or frozen coconut
2 tablespoons of peanut oil
25 grams of peanuts
Sesame seed powder or nuvvula podi (in Telugu) is like dukkah for Andhras. We use it to sprinkle on hot rice or add it to vegetable dishes to give extra oomph – flavour as well as nutrients.
1 large head of broccoli cut into florets and the stem peeled and cut into 3-4 centimetre pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Continue reading “BROCCOLI WITH SESAME SEED POWDER – Broccoli with Nuvvula podi”
This is one of my favourite ways of cooking beans. This method is popular in Andhra Pradesh and also in Tamil Nadu. It is simple, easy, no fuss cooking.
500 grams green beans very thinly cut (about 2 millimetres wide)
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
1 -2 green chillies finely chopped
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
75 grams of grated fresh or frozen coconut
Continue reading “STIR FRIED GREEN BEANS WITH COCONUT – Kobbari Vesina Binnies Koora”
Gone are the days when I used to make my own paneer. What I miss the most about not making my own paneer is using the whey to make drinks and use it as stock. Paneer is readily available and I like to buy the one in blocks so I can cut to my liking. This dish is rich and creamy, and I make no apologies for it!!
300 grams paneer cut into strips of 7 centimetres long by 1 centimetre wide
300 grams onions finely chopped
3-4 centimetres of ginger
3-4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek available in Indian stores)
250 grams dried black eyed beans, washed and soaked overnight
2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
75 grams fresh grated coconut or defrosted if frozen
450 grams butter nut cut into 1 centimetre dice
½ teaspoon urad dal
½ teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1 -2 dried hot red chillies
Eating root to shoot isn’t a new idea. Long before it became a thing, my mother and grandmother were doing it. Growing up, it was always drummed into me that we need to respect not only food but also the farmers who produce and as a mark of respect, if it is edible, it is not be wasted. So very often we would have the leaves served up one day and the next day it was the stalks. This is a very traditional Andhra dish (the Telugu name is in small) and you can use the same technique to cook amaranth stalks, cabbage, radish or even plantains.
400 grams silverbeet stalks (washed, peeled and cut into a 3 centimetre dice)
Continue reading “SILVERBEET STALKS WITH MUSTARD – Silverbeet kadalu awa pettina koora”
