Cucumber / Southekaayi / Vellarikaa / Dosakaayi Archives - My Veg Fare

Poha with Cucumber and Walnuts

Jayasri Ravi — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:30:00 +0000

This month Kalyani gave us the two Magic Mingle Ingredients, when she announced I was a bit worried and wondered how will I incorporate these two together as we all loveeeeee Cucumber but Walnuts Mmmm....?, how will I , My kids are not very interested in consuming them even though I keep telling them it is good for your heart.., Teenagers not an easy task to please them..,
The best thing was my kids when they came to know about my combo they immediately said Mum no bread , Cake or Muffin no sweet Pleaseeeee.... Ok! I had to put my thinking cap on and started to think day and night :)), that's a bit too exaggeration right ?.
You will not believe I made four dishes out of it and actually we all totally enjoyed it. This was one such dish which I started with a quick, delicious and healthy Breakfast what else do you need to start your day with..Flattened Poha does not need pre soaking as they so flattened, which is used for making Chivda, they absorb everything quickly.
This is a quick breakfast which I used to have when I used to go to Sringeri around Malnad in my friends house. They make different varities in this, May be some day I will post them all.

POHA WITH CUCUMBER AND WALNUTS
Serves 3
Preparation time 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
1 and 1/2 cup Flattened Poha*
3 tbsp of Oil
1 fist full of Peanuts
1 tsp channa dal
1 tsp Urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1 sprig curry leaves
3 tbsp of freshly chopped Coriander leaves
Salt as required
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1/2 Cup Grated Cucumber

Grind together:
fist full of Walnuts
3 tbsp of dry Coconut (copra)

METHOD:
Grate Cucumber and keep aside, Chop Coriander and keep aside.
In a Pan dry saute walnuts for a couple of minutes, when it cools down, Grind it with grated dry copra into a coarse powder do not grind too much it will become sticky as the walnuts release oil of their own. Keep them aside.
In the same Pan heat oil add all the seasonings one by one in a low flame, Mustard seeds after they splutter add Peanuts and saute them when they start crackling add the dals and fry for few minutes when they change colour, add curry leaves and switch off the stove give a quick stir and add this to Poha then add the Grinded walnut and copra powder add required amount of salt and Lemon Juice then add grated cucumber to it.
Mix well and serve it immediately.
Do not leave it for a long time, it becomes a bit hard..
Enjoy...
will post the other recipes soon.., stay tuned in....

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Subway Sandwich - Indianised !!

Jayasri Ravi — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 03:29:00 +0000

My kids love Subway Sandwich so much.... Just because, as they can add any thing they like in it likes olives, onions, Jalepenos, corn, tomatoes etc..., and can choose the bread they like, I was planning to bake some Khara bun that day, and the bread was in its processing state.., as my kids were talking about Sandwiches I decided to change this recipe into subway rolls and made Indianised subway sandwich !! for a change.
My memory always goes back to those days I would love to eat a Khara Bun on a rainy day with a hot cup of tea/coffee. My mind always revolves around those flavours which I so love... so why not give this a go ?.
I exactly made 4 big ones don't laugh looking at those rolls as they were too big, that was one hearty meal of the day for my kids and they so enjoyed it. One wonderful Sandwich and also they had a fantastic smoothie which was the next thing they had a go at which I will post soon, That was one complete brunch . They relished it so much and I was a very happy mum.

Their is no step wise photos for making these rolls, as I was planning not to take any photos, as I keep making these Khara (spicy) buns and I already have drafts of them which haven't seen the day yet!!. well, anyways this is how the recipe goes..

SUBWAY SANDWICH - INDIANISED

INGREDIENTS:
450 (50 gms etc.., for kneading ) grms All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp Fast action yeast
1and 1/2 tsp sugar
1and 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp of Oil
2 tbsp of fresh Herbs ( coriander, dill )
1 and 1/4 Cup water

METHOD:
In a large bowl add yeast with 1 or 2 tbsp of luke warm water with sugar and leave it in a warm place for few minutes, within few minutes you will start noticing bubbles in it, add oil freshly chopped herbs and salt then add the flour mix well.
Now start adding water until a nice soft dough is formed, knead the dough for 10 minutes with the help of extra flour just for dusting your hands, do not keep adding too much flour, when you are kneading the gluten in the flour stretches and even if the dough is a bit sticky it totally disappears, yeast is such a lovely product, it is not a problem at all to work with it.

Oil the bowl place the dough in it and cover it with a cling film and leave it in a warm place until the dough is double in size it might take 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the outside temperature.
Once raised punch it down and release the gas then knead it softly handle it like a flower!!, then shape them into desired shapes, as I was planning to make subway rolls I rolled into 4 long rolls and placed them each between grease proof papers in a large tray then covered them with a tea towel.
Leave the shaped rolls for a second rising for an other half an hour
Meanwhile preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6 spray some water inside the oven carefully not to touch the bulb or on the gas ( even if you don't do this the bread will still bake not to worry).
Place a oven proof bowl with warm water underneath, after 1/2 an hour decrease the oven temperature to Gas Mark 4 and place the tray inside the oven giving it a milk wash ( or you can use egg wash ) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes depending upon the way your oven works or after 25 minutes insert a skewer and check if it is baked, if not leave it for an other 5 to 10 minutes assessing the baking of the bread roll.
Once done, immediately remove them from the oven and place them on a wiring rack after 5 minutes or so remove them from the tray and place them directly on the wiring rack so that that they cool down , otherwise they become soggy underneath.
That's it your rolls are ready now.

Now to Assemble the sandwich you need to keep some ingredients ready.
Make Coriander and Mint Chutney:
1/2 Cucumber ( thinly sliced )
2 carrots grated
1 small Mango ( thinly sliced )
2 small Red onions
2 Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Fresh Roasted sweet corn kernels
Cheese as needed

Slice the rolls in half, apply chutney on both the sides then start placing the veggies one by one of your choice, I placed Mango then cucumber, onions, tomatoes and sweet corn kernels then cheese on top of it close the other half on it and grill them on a panini grill or a sandwich maker for 3 to 4 minutes according to your gadget , Ooohh..., that's it job done, cut them in half place them on a plate and serve it.

Do you like my subway treat if so do tell me.....
Checkout my other sandwich recipe which was amazing here
Make it vegan, using vegan cheese or just omit it :))
Sorry friends was not able to respond to your comments immediately as I was down with Migraine,
Sending this to
1. Kalyani's Healthy Sanwich Diet : Sandwiches, started by priya's Healthy diet event
2. Priya's Celebrate Olympic games started by Jagruthi of cooking odyssey
3. Kalyani's WTML event started by Gayatri of Gayatri's cook spot
4. Sayantani of Home maker's Dairy hosting JCO's - Monsoon of India
5. This Sandwich is also yeastspotted
6. Let's cook breads # 17 of Radhika's
7. Kid's delight evening snacks of co-hosted by vardhini initially started by srivalli
8. Sandwich recipes of Dr.Sameena

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Cucumber Pachadi

Jayasri Ravi — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:47:00 +0000

Of course everybody knows how to make this pachadi, I make it in two ways, I made this method on Thiruvaadipooram, with rava kesari, lemon rice, Aloo curry, my children loved it all! This is a very simple learnt it from mom, and is our all time favourite, when I started making it in my in-laws house my Brother-in-laws used to say, you could just give it in a cup it is delicious to eat just like that !

CUCUMBER PACHADI

Ingredients:

1 cucumber
2 to 3 sprigs of coriander leaves
a pinch of asafoetida
salt as required
2 tbsp of freshly grated coconut
2 flakes of Tamarind
2 tbsp of Roasted gram or chutney dal/daria dal
1 tbsp of Black Til seeds
Piece of Jaggery
4 to 5 green chillies
1 & 1/2 to 2 cups of Plain curds or Yogurt

Seasoning :

1 tbsp of oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves

METHOD

Peel the skin ( if you don't mind having the skin then it is fine too) cut both the ends rub each piece against each end (I will tell you why in my notes)
Wash both the ends and now it is ready to cut, chop them into thin pieces just you make for Kosambaris, and keep it aside
In a wok fry til seeds, till they start like popping up, then allow it to cool
with a tongs hold the tamarind flakes directly on to the fire and just roast it a little bit (i will tell you why in my notes)
In a mixer add all the ingredients , the Til seeds, washed Coriander leaves, Roasted gram dal, Tamarind flakes, green chillies, grated coconut, grind all these into a smooth paste in the last round add jaggery too.
Take this ground paste and mix it with plain curds or yogurt with a pinch of asafoetida and salt as required.
Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds, once they start spluttering add sprig of curry leaves saute for a minute and add it to the pacchadi

CUCUMBER PACHADI II

Ingredients:

1 cucumber
3 to 4 green chillies
salt as required
pinch of asafoetida
sprig of curry leaves
3 to 4 sprig of coriander leaves

METHOD

The method is almost the same only thing is I will not use all the ingredients in the above said method and here I do not chop cucuber into thin pieces but either I grate them or grind the whole cucumber with all the above said ingredients and mix it with curds or plain yogurt and then serve it with seasonings just as in the above method, If you want you can even add 1 tsp of chenna dal & urad dal in the seasoning.

Notes

Some cucumbers have a bitterness in them, so we need to take this out, that is why you have to cut both the ends, and rub each piece against the cut portion, then you would notice a white foam like thingy coming out from them, once both the ends are done wash them off and then peel and use the cucumber, these days the skin of cucumber is not peeled just to retain the goodness or the nutritive value or that it is edible too!!.
Long back when I was in India I saw in a TV programme that as Tamarind is not very good if used excessively, the alternate method what you can do is if you are using them like this as in chutneys, pacchadi directly, what you can do is hold the flakes to the flame heat them slightly on both the sides and use them in your dishes. Like wise when I use them making powders and chutneys where I involve frying of the ingredients I fry Tamarind also in the wok.
Spiciness, salt, tamarind, jaggery, yogurt depends on how big your vegetable is!!, think how much you need according to that and use, as it may vary.

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CUCUMBER AND PEAS IN MUSTARD GRAVY (KADAG ARACHA KOOTU)

Jayasri Ravi — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:16:00 +0000

Kadag means Mustard, Aracha means to grind, Kootu means mixed together.

This recipe uses Mustard which is not roasted and quite a bit of coconut spiced with chillies mixed with veggies cooked to perfection.
This is another dish of my Mom-in-law, this was one of her signature dishes. In Bangalore, we get fresh peas during November and December and the price are quite affordable in the season. But these days everything has changed, peas and Field beans (Averekaayi) being sold in all seasons, I used to wonder where they got it from!.

My Mom-in-law always used to make this when peas were abundant, She always loved to eat raw vegetables, when we both used to sit and open up the pea pods she used to select the really petite fresh ones to eat them, I used to laugh and tell her we need to buy more peas if this way it carried on, she just used to smile and keep popping the fresh particularly the little ones saying it was quite tempting, seeing her A (my eldest daughter) used to eat with her, both of them used to like eating raw vegetables like tender beans, knol-khol, raddish, carrot, cucumber, tapioca, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage. When I started writing I never thought I would be writing a long list of so many vegetables which can be eaten raw. Let's get back to our Recipe then.

CUCUMBER AND PEAS IN MUSTARD GRAVY (KADAG ARACHA KOOTU)
Cooking time : 30 minutes
Prep time: 5 minutes
Serves : 5
Level : Easy / Beginner
Cuisine : South Indian
Spice level : medium

Recipe Source : Mother-in-law

INGREDIENTS:
1 cucumber (medium sized)
2 Cups or around 300 grms (Fresh / Frozen) Peas
pinch of turmeric
1 sprig of curry leaves

MASALA TO GRIND

1tsp Mustard seeds
2 to 3 red chillies
1 tsp channa dal
a pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup pressed fresh grated coconut

METHOD:
scrape cut and cut cucumber into 1/2'' cubes with fresh or frozen peas cook them together with a pinch of turmeric, you can cook in a pressure cooker or cook directly, see to it that they don't get mashed.
Take a pan with a tsp of oil roast all the above ingredients except for mustard and coconut gratings, until they change colour or a nice aroma comes out of them
Grind all the ingredients together with mustard and coconut into a smooth paste and mix it with the cooked vegetables, add curry leaves and allow it cook for another few minutes, add salt to taste.

Temper with a tsp of oil 1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
Serve hot with Rice and ghee it also goes well with Chapatis

It has a sweetness because of the peas and cucumber and takes it to a different level and I love this so much, give it a try and tell me if you like it, I would love to hear from you, I do get fresh peas here only in season and they are quite expensive as well. whenever I make it I use frozen peas but the petit pois of Bird's eye brand or sometimes I get it from Waitrose, These days I buy a lot of stuff from Waitrose I have fallen in love their fresh veggies and fruits.

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